Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun

My favourite sweet, after Besan Laddoo, is Gulab Jamun.  They are simply out of the world.  Melt in mouth texture and super soft.  I love them so much.  I often make them with readymade gulab jamun mix or with milk powder.  They are just yum in any way.  I have also made them with bread, bread crust and even with sweet potatoes.   Loved these variations too. 

Today I am going to share my Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun recipe with all of you.  Making these jamuns is very easy.  And you know what once you will take it in your mouth, I can bet you won't be able to stop yourselves to take another one.  These Jamuns are that delicious. The natural sweetness of sweet potato makes them more yummy.  

By the way, I do not like sweet potato but these jamuns are my favourite ones.  I can have them any time :)  I specially buy sweet potatoes to make them.  So I think nothing more left for me to tell you for making you go and try these jamuns :)

Before making, just read the notes at the end of this post and you would never go wrong.  

A nice dessert for your family and friends.  Do try. Happy Cooking :)  

Ingredients:

Sweet potato	2 medium size
All purpose flour /  Maida	1 tbsp
Milk powder	½ tbsp
Baking soda	1 big pinch
Sugar	1 ½ tbsp
Desiccated coconut	1 ½ tbsp
Oil	For frying

For sugar syrup:

Sugar	1 cup + 4 tbsp
Water	½ cup
Green cardamom	2 (crushed)

Method:

• Take sugar and desiccated coconut in a bowl and mix well.  Set aside.
• Wash sweet potatoes very well and put them in a pressure cooker.  Add 2 cup water and cook for 2 whistle.  Remove from the flame and let the pressure go.  Shift the boiled sweet potatoes in a strainer and let them dry for 10-15 minutes.  
• After drying, peel and mash / grate them and shift to a mixing bowl. (I got 1 cup mashed sweet potato). Add in baking soda, milk powder and maida.  Mix well and knead to a soft dough.  
• Take a little potato dough and make small lemon size ball. Push it between your palms to flatten a bit.  Take some sugar coconut mix and put it in the center of the flatten ball.  Roll it again to a smooth ball.  Repeat the same with remaining dough.  Set aside.
• Put a pan on the flame, add sugar and water in it.  Let it boil till a little thick consistency.  Add in crushed cardamom and cook for a minute.  Remove from heat and set aside.
• Heat oil and deep fry the jamuns on medium flame.  Keep stirring to get the even color.  Fry till golden brown.  Remove on a paper napkin.
• Drop the fried jamuns in the sugar syrup and leave for 10-15 minutes or till they soak the syrup perfectly.
• Shift to the serving bowl.
• Serve hot or cold and enjoy.

Notes:

1. Grating the boiled sweet potato would give a lump free dough.  If mashing, make sure no lumps would remain.
2. If you find that there is not enough moisture in the dough to roll the smooth balls, you can add 1 tbsp milk.
3. If you find the dough a bit wet, add a little more maida.  (Adding more maida than required would make the jamuns hard so be careful while adding).
4. Adding desiccate coconut is optional instead of that you can add finely chopped dried fruits too.
5. While making balls, make sure they are smooth with no cracks else they would break in the oil while frying.
6. While frying, add the jamuns in the pan one by one and do not stir immediately.  Leave for 3-4 seconds and then move the balls.
7. These sweet potato balls are a bit delicate so do not stir vigorously in the beginning. 
8. Make a bit thick sugar syrup to get the best taste.
9. If making thin syrup, do not leave the jamuns in it for long else they would become soggy.
10. Instead of cardamom, you can use saffron strands or rose water.

No Bake Mini Strawberry Cheese Cake

Today's recipe is a no-bake cheese cake that I made using my homemade cream cheese.  

Yesterday I shared my cream cheese recipe with the detailed description of my love for cheese cakes :)  I made that cream cheese especially for this cheese cake.

As my cream cheese was ready, I was all set to make this cake but then I realised that I had no loose bottom pan for making it.  It was so depressing :( I thought about all possible options but all in vain.  Then my toddler, who loves to explore my kitchen, came out with my plastic cookie cutters.. Then the idea came to my mind.. My very own cookie cutters. They were perfect for making these cheese cakes. Though their size was so small (palm size) but deep enough to accommodate all three layers of my cheese cake.. It was so pleasing to imagine my mini cheese cakes.  

Finally, everything was in my hands. I made these no bake mini cheese cakes without wasting any more time.  They came out very nice and cute looking.  I was not feeling to cut these little cuties but I had to :)  The taste was so good and I was fully satisfied with the results.  

For the third layer I used strawberry jam but you can use any kind of jam, jelly, fruit crush, chocolate ganache, mashed fresh fruits and so on.  The list it endless.  

I didn't follow any recipe. Added things as per my choice and measured them keeping in mind the size of my cookie cutters.  It was my first meeting with Gelatin :)  Fortunately, I got the perfect texture even without knowing the exact measurements.  Now I feel confident while doing experiments :D

These cheese cakes are just perfect to end a meal.  As they are bite sized (almost) you can serve them in kids party too. 

So here is the recipe for you to try.  Enjoy. Happy Cooking :)

                   

Makes - 3 mini cheese cakes (palm sized)

Ingredients:

For the base:

Marie biscuits / Digestive biscuits   -   7

Butter                                                -   1 tbsp

For the second layer (Cream Cheese) :

Homemade Cream Cheese      -    3 tbsp

Condensed milk                       -    2.5 tbsp

Vanilla essence                        -    few drops

Gelatin                                     -    1/4 tsp

Hot water                                 -    1.5 tsp

For the top layer:

Strawberry jam     -    5 tbsp

Gelatin                  -    1/4 tsp

Hot water              -    2 tsp

To decorate :

Glaced cherries (halved)    -    2

                              

Method:

(Here I would call the cookie cutters as Moulds).

Base:

• Take the cookies in a ziplock bag and powder them with the help of a pastry roller.  Shift to a clean and dry bowl.  Add in butter and mix well with your fingers for about 2 minutes.  Set aside.
• Take a tray or any serving plate.  Cut out three squares (big enough to accommodate the moulds) from a wax paper.  Set the wax paper squares on the serving plate.  Put one mould in the center of the wax paper square and hold it firmly.  Throw in some cookie-butter mixture and press it firmly to make an even layer.  The more firm this cookie layer would be, the more neat base your cheese cake would get.  Repeat the same process with other moulds too and put the tray as it is in the fridge to chill the base for about 30 minutes.

Second layer:

• Meanwhile, take 1.5 tbsp hot water in a small bowl and add in gelatin.  Let it melt. Once melted, give it a stir and set aside.  
• In a bowl, take cream cheese and whisk it well for about 2 minutes.  Add in condensed milk and vanilla and whisk again for 2-3 minutes.  Add in gelatin mix and stir well.
• Take the moulds out of the fridge.  Now, its time to put in the second layer i.e. of cheese cream.  Take two tablespoon of cream cheese mix and spread it evenly over the cookie base.   Repeat it for other two moulds too. Again keep it in the fridge to chill overnight or atleast for 3 hours.

Third layer:

• For the third layer i.e. of Jam.  Take the strawberry jam in a bowl and mix it well till smooth.  Take hot water and add in gelatin. Let it melt and stir well.  Add it to the jam and mix well. Take sufficient jam in a spoon to top second layer (cream cheese) and spread it evenly over it.  Again put it in the fridge to chill for about 1 hour.
• For removing the cake, from the mould, you need to be a little patient and careful.  Take one mould carefully in your hand and slowly push it upwards from the bottom with your finger.  Do not push from the center in the beginning.  Start with the sides and then center.  It would neatly come out.  Put it back on the wax paper.
• Decorate with glaced cherries and serve.

Homemade Cream Cheese

Cream Cheese Cream Cheese.. the name itself is enough to tempt the taste buds.. so creamy.  I had no idea about its taste till the day I made it at home as it was my heartiest wish to make my own cheese cake from scratch.  

The story goes like this that after seeing so many kinds of cheese cakes umpteen times on the internet, I was dying to make one at home.  Here in food stores I  had seen Cheese Creams but they were flavoured ones so my making cheese cake was getting postponed again and again. One fine day I decided to make it at home :)  Googled it and found a plethora of recipes and all were just the same as there is nothing to experiment with.  Simple milk curdling, making cheese and blending it with some milk or curd and your cheese cream is READY.  Incredibly simple.

I made yummy Mini Strawberry Cheese Cakes with it. (Recipe soon).  So here I am sharing my cream cheese recipe.  Do try it and make wonderful desserts with it like Tiramisu, Cakes, Tarts and so on.. not to forget my Cheese Cake :D  Happy Cooking :)

Ingredients:

Full fat milk      - 1 Litre

Lemon Juice     - 3 tbsp (strained)

Fresh curd        -  2 tbsp

Method:

• Boil the milk in a deep pan.  Once boiled, remove from the flame.  Add lemon juice and stir. 
• Slowly milk will start to curdle.  Mix again.  Let the milk completely curdle.  
• Strain through a muslin cloth or clean kitchen cloth and wash with the clean water to remove the lemony flavour.  Hang the prepared paneer for 20 minutes to get the excess water drained.  After 20 minutes, remove it from the cloth.
• Take the prepared fresh paneer and curd in a blending jar and blend to a smooth paste.
• Shift it to a muslin cloth or a strainer and strain it again.  Keep it in the fridge overnight.
• Use as per requirement.

Focassia with onion & olives

I love making different kind of breads at home.  While baking the bread, the wonderful fragrance wafts throughout my home and I simply love it..  I have tried quite a few kind of breads at home and loved the taste and texture of all of them. 

Today's recipe is Focassia bread.  Its an Italian flat bread which is, traditionally, seasoned with olive oil, salt and herbs. 

Focassia was in my TO TRY list since quite a long time.  So I finally tried my hands on it yesterday and it came out very well.  The taste was so fresh and flavourful.  The texture was also so soft and fluffy.  The whole batch finished up in a jiffy, it was that good.

Making Focassia at home is so easy.  Make the dough and stud it with your favourite toppings, bake and dig in.  I had a bottle of green olives so I used them as topping with sliced onion.  I sprinkled some mixed herbs too that enhanced the flavour nicely.  
Making breads at home gives you liberty to customize it as per your taste.  In this recipe you can top it up with black olives, cherry tomatoes, capsicum, basil, fresh veggies, coriander or even cheese.  Just let your imagination work here.  Whatever topping you use, I can bet, the taste would be superb.  

I used my pizza base recipe for the dough.  Its so simple and easy.  Traditionally, for topping up Focassia base a lot of oil is used but in this recipe I have used just two tablespoon of extra virgin oilive oil.  I was apprehensive about the results but the finished product was awesome with no compromise in taste and texture.  Now its a fail-proof recipe so I am sharing it with all of you.  Do try it.  Happy Cooking :)

Ingredients:

Dough
Maida	2 cups
Dry Active Yeast	1 tsp
Sugar	2 tsp
Salt	1 tsp
Olive oil	2 tbsp (30 ml)
Water (lukewarm)	¾ cup
Topping
Sliced green olives	¼ cup
White onion	1/4th of a small onion
Mixed dried herbs	¼ tsp
Crushed black pepper	¼ tsp
Salt	To taste

Method:

• In a bowl, take all purpose flour, salt, sugar and active dry yeast.  Mix well.  Add oil and mix again.
• Add lukewarm water little by little and knead a soft dough.  Knead it well for about 5-7 minutes.  Shift it to another bowl and cover with a cling film or wet cloth.  Keep it in a warm place for 2 hours.
• Take a baking tray and line it with a butter paper.  Set aside.
• After 2 hours, punch down the dough and flatten it on the lined baking tray evenly.  Prick with a fork on the top.  Make deep indents or dimples on the top with your finger (as shown in the pic below).  Spread one table spoon on the top evenly.  Cover the tray with a damp cloth and set aside for 20 minutes.

• After 20 minutes, again pour one tablespoon oil on the top evenly and arrange the sliced olives and onion on the top.  Press the toppings a little.  Sprinkle crushed black pepper, salt and mixed herbs (as in the pic below) and again cover the tray with a damp cloth and set aside for another 15 minutes.

• Meanwhile preheat the oven at 200 degree.
• After 15 minutes, put the tray inside the oven and bake for 25 minutes or till the top turns golden brown.  
• Remove from the oven and shift it to a wire rack to cool down.

• Slice it as per your choice and serve warm.

Notes:

1. Adjust the water quantity as required and add it little by little.
2. Do not leave the dough to raise for more than 2-3 hours.  It would nicely double up in 2-3 hours.
3. If not using active yeast, take the lukewarm water in a bowl, add sugar  and mix well.  (Do not let the water cool down).  Add yeast and let it sit for 5-7 minutes without touching.  Once it become frothy and bubbly, add it to the flour, sugar, salt and oil mixture and knead it to a soft dough.

Eggless Jam Doughnuts

I love doughnuts and whenever I get a chance, I make them at home.  Be it jam doughnuts or chocolate glazed doughnuts I simply love them.  Making doughnuts at home is fun.  I enjoy making dough and getting it doubled up in just 1-2 hours.  Its a kind of joy seeing the dough raising up :D

Today I am sharing my recipe of Jam Doughnuts.  Tasty, melt in mouth and super soft is all I can say about these doughnuts.  You got to try them to understand my words.. Try these doughnuts once and I can bet you would make them again and again, they taste that good.  Above all, anybody can enjoy these doughnuts as they are completely eggless :)

Now lets come to the recipe. Here I used strawberry jam for filling but you can use any jam of your choice, even marmalade would work.   As for filling the jam inside the fried doughnuts, I used an icing bag but instead of it you can use a butter paper cone or any plastic sauce squeeze bottle.  For dusting the fried doughnuts you can use icing sugar or mixture of icing sugar and desiccated coconut or icing sugar and chocolate powder/coco powder mixture. Options are endless.

Now lets start making these wonderful jam doughnuts.  Happy Cooking :)

Ingredients:

All purpose flour	1 cup
Active dry yeast	½ tsp
Unsalted butter	2 tbsp
Salt	1/8 tsp
Milk (lukewarm)	¼ cup
Sugar	3 tbsp
Jam/Marmalade (for filling)	As required
Icing sugar (for dusting the doughnuts)	As required
Oil	For frying

Method:

• In a bowl, take all purpose flour.  Add dry active yeast and sugar and salt.  Mix well.  Add butter and rub it well with the flour.  Add lukewarm milk to the flour little by little to make a soft dough.  Knead it well for about 5 minutes.  Shift the dough to another bowl and cover it with cling film.  Keep it at a warm place for 2-3 hours for raising. It would get double in size in 2-3 hours.
• Once raised, knead the dough once again and make small balls with it.  Arrange the prepared ball in a greased tray and again leave it for 1 hour for raising. Do not forget to cover the tray with a damp cloth.  The balls would double up in the size after one hour.  
• Meanwhile, Keep the icing sugar ready in a large plate.  Fill the jam in the icing bag and set aside.
• Once the dough balls puffed up, heat oil in a skillet and on medium heat, fry them until golden brown.  Keep stirring to get even coloring.  Do not increase the heat else the doughnuts would remain uncooked from inside. 
• In the same manner, fry all the doughnuts.  Take out on a tissue paper and roll them in icing sugar.  
• Now take the icing bag filled with jam.  Make a small hole in all the doughnuts.  Insert the nozzle in the hole and fill the jam.  Do not over stuff,  Fill the remaining doughnuts likewise.
• Serve warm and enjoy.

Notes:

1. Icing sugar can be substituted with powdered sugar.
2. If using salted butter, skip the salt.
3. Do not over ferment the dough or it would get sour.  Keep it not more than 2-3 hours for raising. 
4. If you want to store the dough, shift it to an airtight container and store in the deep freezer.  Thaw well before use.
5. Fry the doughnuts on medium heat.
6. Coat the hot doughnuts in the icing sugar.