Thursday, March 26, 2009

Desserts with Gram flour (Besan)!!

INDIA is a culturally rich country. Different regions follow different cultures and so the New Year traditions also vary.People in various parts of the country celebrate New Year as per their traditional calender. And since its festive season in the deccan region of India, i thought of posting some interesting desserts which will be apt for festivals of this kind. I'm going to share 2 recipes made with Gram flour (Besan) in this post.

Besan Halwa/Gram Halwa:

Besan Halwa is one of the authentic Indian sweets, it is usually served with main dishes, in an important occasion. It is a heavenly dessert different from any western dessert. The gram flour releases an aromatic nutty flavor when it starts browning. The cardamom and almonds add a subtle dimension in taste. Its main ingredients are gram flour, milk, sugar and ghee. Kids love this sweet.
You will Need:

...1 cup gram flour/chick pea flour (Besan)
...1 cup milk
...¾ cup sugar
...½ cup pure ghee
...1 tsp. cardamom powder
...2 tbsp. finely sliced almonds
...2 tbsp. finely sliced pistachios
Directions:
...In a sauce pan, heat the ghee and add gram flour to sauté until it turns golden color and an aroma emanates from it (approx for 5-6minutes).

...Be careful not to burn the Besan.

...Now add milk, sugar and cardamom.
...Keep stirring until the mixture turns thick. ( 8-10minutes).

...Then place it on a serving dish.

...Garnish with almonds and pistachios. I used only almonds.

Serve hot. Do not refregirate this dish. A chilled dessert might not be so tasty as it loses its softness.
Remember...hot foods should be served hot and cold foods should be served cold.

Besan Laddu/Chickpea Flour balls:

Besan Laddu or Chickpea Flour balls are an all-time favorite. The best way I can describe this dessert is a cookie ball. These Laddus are popular all over North-India. Thanks to my friend Raji for sharing this recipe and wonderful pics.
You will Need:
...1 1/2 cup gram flour/chick pea flour (Besan)
...4 tsps Sooji/semolina
...3/4 cup Sugar
...1/2 cup Ghee
...2 tbsp. finely sliced almonds
...2 tbsp. finely sliced pistachios
Directions:

...Take a non stick pan. Put besan, semolina, ghee one by one and mix them thoroughly for 5 mins.(without flame)

...Now turn on the flame to low heat and keep on stirring for 15-20 mins until....

A)The raw smell of besan goes off and pure aromatic smell comes out of the pan.
B) The besan begins to start browning.

...Be careful not to burn the Besan.

...Remove the cooked flour from the heat and add sugar, Pistachios, almonds.

...Mix them thoroughly with hands to make into a dough.

...With Ghee greased hands, make the dough into small lemon sized balls(laddus).

...Garnish them with almonds and pistachios.

Tips to Garnish:

Gently dip the top most tip of the laddu in ghee and then dip in the nuts.Also, alternatively you can roll the Laddus in sugar.
Hope you find these recipes interesting. To all those who are celebrating the new year today, i wish a harvest of happiness and prosperity.
Wishing you good luck for the year ahead!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE N ALL!!
Time for me to say adieu. Will come soon with yet another interesting post. Till then stay tuned and keep visiting my blog!!!!!

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Aruna. Thats another wonderful combination.Tried other halwas till now,yours sound different n yummy too. Its going to be an eye-catchy definitely. and, thanks for giving me an opportunity to share my Laddus with your yummy halwa..good luck my friend

Anya said...

besan laddu.. hungry..

you sure know how to play with blue red green violet colours dont ya.. makes the work look appealing.. artist you are


www.chronicwriter.com

ARUNA said...

Thanks Raji for being so supportive. And Chriz tx for ur sweet comments, yeah i love to play with colors, i should have been a painter...lol!

Unknown said...

hey, Very good presentation latha.I can almost smell it and this particular recipe made me feel home sick! Thank you.

Readers Dais said...

Hi! Aruna,
im new to your blog,which is really wonderful & very useful,especially for people like me,who live alone far away from family(not got a family visa yet)in this hot desert.i hve a taste for cooking(especially spicy dishes),hope to see more picy dishes in your blog.

ARUNA said...

hi akka, so looks like i made u feel nostalgic! Nirmal, thanks for visiting my blog....i will surely try to present spicy dishes!

Usha said...

Aruna, the besan halwa looks wonderful, reminded me of mohanthaal, a Gujarati sweet! The besan laddus look pretty yum too, but I definitely favor the halwa and am bookmarking it to try soon !

ARUNA said...

Tx Usha, gujju sweet is new to me, never heard of the name...will google it today!

Cilantro said...

Firts time here. You have a nice blog and true to its name" Temptations".

ARUNA said...

hey thanks for peeping into my blog....i cudn't figure out ur name but Cilantro is a nice name :)

Indian Khana said...

Wow...both looks so delicious...am big fan of besan laddu and this looks so perfect...yummy yum...

ARUNA said...

hey thanx for visiting my blog Priti....looks like u have a yummy blog too, will visit it now!

Nisha said...

Excellent preparation Aruna!!Glad I had a chance to taste the halwa today!!Happy Ugadi!!

Anil Sawan said...

why do i come here every time i am hungry :( it luks so delicious!! i am h-u-n-g-r-y!!! :(

Pooja said...

Nice blog aruna..halwaa is looking yummm

ARUNA said...

Glad u liked it Nisha......Sawan, hungry kya!!.....Hi Pooja, thnaks for visiting my blog, ur blog looks tempting too!

के सी said...

hi aruna not only halua every thing is perfect @ The temptations. you are doing nice , good and sweet work. jee chahata hai choom loon apni ungaliyon ko main...

ARUNA said...

Kishore ji.....taarif ke liye bahut bahut shukriya!!

workhard said...

Oh that looks soo tempting...

Write poetry

ARUNA said...

thanks for visiting my blog Haiku!!

Keshi said...

looks so yummy OMG!

Keshi.

ARUNA said...

thanx for visiting my blog Keshi!

Meenal Mehta said...

yummy sounding recipes Aruna , love them all..thanks for sharing

ARUNA said...

Thanks for visiting my blog Meenal!

Vibaas said...

this looks so yummy. i like the way you have garnished.

ARUNA said...

thanks for visiting my blog Vibaas.......looks like u have interesting blogs too, will go thru them and let you know!

Shubha Ravikoti said...

U know Aruna.. I love besan ladoo its my all time favourite... will try ur recipe dear..:)Maybe 2morrow itself... somehow I am having a craving for besan ladoo now..:P
Glad u liked my blog and my stuff... we shud visit each others blog often...I have become ur follower..:D