Coconut Burfi

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh grated Coconut.
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/4 Tsp Cardamom powder
• Fresh mango pulp (completely optional)
• Saffron (optional)

Coconut Burfi

Preparation:

1. Grease a plate with ghee and keep it aside.
2. Take a think bottom pan and pour 2 Tsp of ghee. Once ghee is hot add coconut and saute it for 2 mins. 
3. Then add Sugar. Again saute the mixture on medium flame till the mixture starts to leave the bottom of pan and forms a single dumpling. (at this point you can add fresh mango pulp and stir for a minute to make it thick. The coconut and mango combination tastes divine together. You can also add few saffron strands.)
4. Now pour the mixture onto the greased plate(no 1) and spread the mixture to thick layer with spatula.(apply some ghee to spatula as well to avoid sticking)
5. After 5 minutes when the mixture is still hot/warm, cut the spread into pieces like in above picture.
6. Sprinkle finely chopped almonds/cashews for decoration if desired.
7. Let it cool down completely then store in airtight container.

Gulamba

Happy to return to blogging after a while. Today I am posting my ultimate favorite seasonal preparation preserved from generation to generation, Gulamba i.e raw mango jam. Its tangy and sweet taste is treat to taste buds. It is served side to main dish like pickle and can be served with hot chapati/puri/paratha.

Ingredients:

• Raw mango 2 cups peeled and grated. 
• Jaggery 2/3 cups grated as per the sweetness desired.
• cardamom powder.

Preparation:

1. Peel the raw mango and grate it. Squeeze the grated mango slightly to remove some juice out of it, to reduce the sourness.
2. Grate the jaggery.
3. Mix them together and keep aside for 2 hours so that jaggery and mango gets mixed well.
4. Now add cardamom powder and keep the mixture on low/medium flame till mixture gets thicken.(it gets a silky texture and thick consistency). Stir in between to not stick to bottom of pan.
5. Let it cool down completely and store it in glass jar. It can be refrigerated for 4-5 months.

Kadakani - Dasara Special

Kadakani is made on the occasion of Dasara/ Vijayadashami in Maharashtra.

Ingredients : 

• 1/2 cup semolina.
• Powdered sugar - 1 cup
• All purpose flour - 2 cup
• Oil to fry kadakani
• Salt to taste.

Kadakani

Procedure : 
1. Soak semolina in some water for 20 minutes and then grind it in mixer.
2. Add powdered sugar to it and mix well till sugar melts.
3. Mix in all purpose flour to it. Add salt. Add some hot oil so that they will become crunchy.
4. Now make a dough out of this mixture. Make sure it is not too soft, or Kadakani will dissolve in oil while frying. Keep this dough covered and set aside for at least 3 hours.
5. Heat oil in wok/Kadhai. 
6. Make small balls of dough. Roll the balls with rolling pin to the size of poori making it as thin as possible. (use plastic sheet to avoid dough sticking to the board) and fry them one by one in oil.
7. Keep them aside for 15 minutes and then you are good to eat the festive special sweets.