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Traditional sweets are usually prepared during festive occasions in our home and its been a while since I made any Indian sweet at home. I have been craving Rasmalai since quite some time but did not get myself to make a visit to our neighborhood Indian sweet store. Today, when Nehal asked me for ‘Rasgullas’, I got down to preparing them at home. This is the first time I ventured out to prepare home style ‘Rasmalai’. One of the greatest culinary creations that has won the hearts of millions the world over. My humble Pranam (salutation) to the makers of these divine specialties!

Rasagulla

Rasgulla and Rasmalai are milk based desserts prepared with freshly prepared chenna aka cottage cheese balls. For Rasagulla, the chenna balls are cooked in sugar syrup till they double in size and are ready to be served. For Rasmalai, chenna balls that have been cooked in sugar syrup are gently squeezed off the sugar syrup and further immersed in saffron flavored sweetened thick milk to cook till soft. One of the most elegant Indian dessert delicacy with sweet and fragrant flavors!

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Methi thepla is a quintessential Gujarati snack. It is a flatbread made with whole wheat flour, gram flour, fresh fenugreek leaves, spices, and yogurt.

Gujaratis are known for traveling far and long amongst all the Indian communities. Since ancient times, when long-distance travel was not so easy and you wouldn’t find food to your liking everywhere. So they perfected the art of travel food. If you have ever traveled with a group of Gujaratis, you would know their khakras, fafdas, and theplas! When we lived in Baroda a few years back, thepla was the most common picnic and road or train travel snack.

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Happy independence Day

Made these boondi laddu yesterday. Very simple yet traditional taste is just so on the point. But the laddus could have much better in shape. This was my first attempt trying to make laddu, but making boondi is like a normal thing.

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Besan Ladoo is one of the most popular Indian sweets.

Made with gram flour, sugar and ghee, this dessert requires only a handful of ingredients but tastes amazing!

Festivals are incomplete without sweets and in India festivals are incomplete without ladoos.

Ladoo, an Indian sweet can be made using various ingredients and is round in shape.

We make ladoos out of so many ingredients, there’s motichoor ladoo, aata ladoo, coconut ladoo, rava ladoo, this ladoo, that ladoo and this list is endless.

Out of all these amazing ladoos, besan ladoo is my absolute favorite.

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It is believed that anything auspicious should be welcomed with some sweet dishes. The pomp and show witnessed in Indian festivals is incomplete without traditional sweets. If tomorrow India has to choose a national sweet dish, the most likely contender should be the “Traditional Boondi Laddoo”. And for some good, hearty reasons to begin with, it is an omnipresent sweet. And by this I do not only mean its unmistakable presence in every festival and occasion, but the fact that every region in India has a variety of its own. Today I’m going to share with you Traditional Boondi Laddoo.

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Poha Chivda is a wonderful healthy snack, non-fried with roasted dry fruits. Poha Chivda is a very common and popular snack in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka. Poha Chivda is a low fat snack and also is very easy to prepare at home, a very quick and instant fix which get ready with all the stuffs available in pantry. Poha Chivda is a recipe of crispy beaten rice flavored with dry fruits and spices makes a delicious any time snack.

Poha Chivda is made by many families during Diwali festival. Basically Chivda or Namkeen as we call, is a savory sweet or spicy mixture. There are many variations of making Chivda. This one is I made using thin verity of poha called nylon poha or thin poha.

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Kaju Katli

Kaju Katli or Cashew Burfi is the king of all the sweets (according to me and not wiki :P) It is rich, decadent, not too sweet, leaves a great after taste and is elegant to look at plus you cannot stop it at one, it is an addictive sweet! Hands down the most gorgeous looking diamond cut burfi.

Kaju means Cashew and Katli means a slice. It is also known as Kaju Katari or Kaju Burfi. It is one of the most expensive sweets available in the market and extensively gifted to friends and family on the occasion of festivals or family events.

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Rajgira ladoo is a healthy and delicious sweet ball made from popped amaranth seeds and jaggery. Rajgira ladoo is a gluten-free , calcium-rich , protein and fiber rich snack that can be had at any time of the day. Made with just 3 ingredients, making these rajgira ladoos is a breeze if you have popped seeds ready at hand. The recipe is very simple and does not call for checking the right jaggery syrup string consistency. You just melt the jaggery, add the popped seeds and roll them. These rajgira ladoos are soft and nutritious and make a perfect snack for all ages including toddlers and the elderly. These ladoos serve as an ideal fasting food for festivals like Shravan Somvar, Ekadashi, Ganesh Chaturthi and Navratri. They have a good shelf life of about 2 weeks at room temperature when kept  in an air tight container.

#momskart

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Patato Chips:-

Although potato chips producers surprise us almost every day with innovation in terms of new flavors launched, the classic assortments always remain on the shelves.

This makes me think that most people are just like me and my close ones: whatever new aromas can be found on the savory snack aisle, it is good to go back to the classics from time to time, and salt chips are an all-time classic.

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Although potato chips producers surprise us almost every day with innovation in terms of new flavors launched, the classic assortments always remain on the shelves.

This makes me think that most people are just like me and my close ones: whatever new aromas can be found on the savory snack aisle, it is good to go back to the classics from time to time, and salt chips are an all-time classic.

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Besan Burfi is a popular Indian sweet made with gram flour, ghee and flavored with cardamom.

This homemade recipe for besan burfi will give you melt in mouth burfi every time!

Sweets made with besan are some of my favorite sweets.

Like besan ladoo and this besan burfi!

They both have essentially the same ingredients-  besan, ghee and sugar but the way you make and shape them is what makes then different.

In India, burfi is the term used for a sweet fudge and it can be made with anything from lentils to nuts, fruits and in this case from besan.

The ingredient list for making besan burfi is small (ghee, sugar a but as it is most Indian sweets, it takes some skills to get it right.

No, I am not trying to scare you guys. You can definitely make the perfect besan burfi even in first attempt but if it doesn’t turn out perfect, don’t be disheartened.

Indian sweets always need some practice. It has taken me many years of practice to get them right.

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Garlic bread, a delicious Italian appetizer that only requires 6 ingredients and is ready in 30 minutes. This version is healthier, but extremely tasty.

Garlic bread has always been my favorite Italian appetizer. Some recipes include dairy products like butter or cheese, but it’s so delicious with extra virgin olive oil, which by the way is the fat we use the most here in the Mediterranean countries, including Italy.

I think this recipe is just perfect, but feel free to add more or less garlic, parsley, salt or ground black pepper, depending on your taste.

If you’re oil-free, just try my oil-free garlic bread, it’s made with tahini and water instead of oil and it’s also so good. I couldn’t tell you which one I like the most.