India has a vast and delicious food culture and it is even truer when it comes to sweets that are part of their tradition. From celebration events like festivals to a family occasion or just the feeling of craving for something sweet, Indians always find their dessert in such events. Although you can always order Indian sweets online or even have Indian sweets shipped to your home in the USA there is something unique about preparing these sweets at home. Check out these five simple Indian sweet recipes that you can make at the comfort of your home.
1. Gulab Jamun: Classic Dessert
Gulab Jamun is a popular Indian dessert, especially during festive seasons and is pretty simple to prepare at home. This sweet dish is prepared from milk solids called khoya, which is prepared by kneading the dough, making round balls and then frying them. The fried balls are then soaked in a delicious sugar syrup which has cardamom and rose water added to it.
Ingredients:
1 cup of khoya (or milk powder)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 tablespoon rose water
Ghee or oil for frying
Instructions:
In a bowl mix khoya, flour, and baking soda for the same. Work into a stiff dough with your hands.
Roll the dough into small portions without any cracks.
In another pan heat oil or ghee and fry the balls at low heat until they turn golden.
In another pan, dissolve the sugar in water by boiling the two together to prepare the sugar syrup. Now put cardamom powder and rose water.
After frying the balls, allow them to cool before soaking them in the warm syrup for not less than 30 minutes.
2. Coconut Ladoo: The Quick Fix
Coconut Ladoo is one of the simplest and easy to prepare Indian sweets and it doesn’t take long to prepare it. These are sweet coconut balls which are easy to make and need few ingredients which makes them one of the easiest desserts to prepare.
Ingredients:
2 cups grated coconut either fresh or unsweetened frozen or canned-solid pack
1 cup condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 tablespoon ghee
Instructions:
Take a pan and heat ghee in it and add the grated coconut to this pan.
Add the condensed milk and cook the mixture until thick and starting to caramelise on the sides of the pan at medium heat.
After that add cardamom powder and stir them well to make the mixture more uniform.
When the mixture is still hot and begin to cool down a little, roll it into small balls (ladoo).
Finally, you can roll the ladoos in some more grated coconut to give it a finishing coat.
3. Rava Kesari: The South Indian Delight
Rava Kesari or Sooji Halwa is another simple and tasty dish made from semolina, which is popular in North India. This sweet dish is also prepared with saffron which makes this dish golden yellow in color and smell delicious.
Ingredients:
1 cup semolina (rava/sooji)
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1/4 cup ghee
Make sure you rub your palms with some warm milk that is prepared with a few strands of saffron.
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
Cashews and raisins for garnish
Instructions:
In a pan put ghee and fry the rava on slow flame, till turns light brown and gives a nice aroma.
In another pot, warm water is boiled and this is gradually poured into the roasted semolina stirring to ensure that lumps do not form.
Now add sugar, saffron milk, and cardamom powder in it and Stir well.
It should be thick and sticky and should start pulling away from the sides of the pan.
The dish is best eaten with fried cashews and raisins put on top of the dish.
4. Shahi Tukda: The subsistence called the Royal Treat
This royal dessert Shahi Tukda is an easy Mughlai recipe one can make within a short span. It requires to fry slices of bread, coating them in sugar syrup, and then pouring over rich rabri which is thickened milk. This is most definitely a royal-worthy dessert!
Ingredients:
4 slices of white bread with the crusts cut off.
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
2 cups milk
1/4 cup condensed milk
1/4 cup ghee
Saffron strands to be sprinkled over it plus chopped nuts.
Instructions:
The bread slices should be cut into triangular shapes and then fried in hot ghee until they turn brown.
In order to prepare the sugar syrup the water and sugar have to be boiled together. Add cardamom powder.
In another pan boil the milk and then simmer it, finally add condensed milk and saffron.
Drain them on absorbent paper before soaking the fried bread slices in the sugar syrup for several minutes.
Layer the bread slices on a plate as they are soaked pour the rabri on top and sprinkle nuts.
5. Kaju Katli: Nutty Delight
Kaju Katli or cashew fudge is part of sweet that is offered as a gift item in Indian festival. This delicious dish is made of ground cashews and sugar syrup Cashew cheese has both a fatty and sweet profile.
Ingredients:
2 cups cashew nuts
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
Silver leave (optional) for garnishing
Instructions:
Mash the cashews into a paste-like consistency and then blend in a food processor until powdery.
On medium flame, melt the sugar in a pan for preparing sugar syrup.
Finally, add cashew powder to the syrup and mix it on low heat until it thickens up by stirring it continuously.
After the mixture becomes rather thick and if it starts to come away from the sides of the pan turn it off to cool.
After that divide the dough in a smooth mixture and roll these out and shape it in a diamond shape. Silver leaf may be used as garnishing should one desire to do so.
Conclusion
Baking Indian sweets at home is quite a fulfilling experience and what’s even better is that you can get to taste the originality and the freshness of Indian sweets right in your own kitchen. But sometimes when one does not have time or the stock to prepare Indian sweets, one can order them online. There are numerous ways of getting Indian sweets delivered in the USA and enjoying authentic and tasty Indian sweets in USA whether self-made or bought.
Therefore, you can go right ahead and attempt these simple recipes, or else you can scour online for Indian Sweet Shops Offering Traditional Sweets in the USA for more delightful Indian sweets.