Chocolate Dipped Dry Fruit Chikki

It has been a tradition of giving and receiving gifts on diwali. Most people give or take sweets or dryfruits as gifts.
As we receive dryfruit hampers as gifts on Diwali I thought of making dryfruit chikki, which is healthy, tasty and easy to prepare.

Ingredients:
1. Badam 4 oz(approx. 1 cup) (Roasted and chopped)
2. pista 4 oz(approx. 1 cup) (Roasted and chopped)
3. cashew 4 oz(approx. 1 cup) (Roasted and chopped)
4. jaggery ¼ cup (grated)
5. kesar-few soaked in milk
6. ghee 2 big spoons.
7. Semi sweet chocolate bar(7 oz) - 1

Method:
1. Grate jaggery.
2. Put grated jaggery and add ghee in a kadai, mix well and melt nicely to a fine paste.
3. To this add kesar, badam, pista and cashew nuts & mix well until the mixture leaves the sides of the kadai.
4. Spread little ghee in a tray and pour the dry fruit mixture and spread evenly,
roll flat to 1 cm in thickness
5. Cool it and cut into squares cool it.
6. Grate the chocolate and melt it on a double boiler. Double boiling is very easy - take the chocolate in a glass blow and put it on boiling water to melt the chocolate.
7. When it melts dip half of the chikki in it. Put it on a parchment paper. Dry it and store it in a air tight container.

This is my first entry for JFI: Diwali Treats hoasted by Vee of Past, Present and Me.

Ras Malai

Ingredients
1/2 lbs (appr. 250 gms) Paneer/Chhena
1/2 galon whole milk
2 lbs sugar
4 tbsp. Flour
10 strands saffron
1/4 cup sliced pistachios
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Method
1. Knead and mash paneer/chenna, add 2 tablespoons flour and mash again to make a dough.
2. Divide it into equal portions, make balls ,flatten them and keep aside.
3. Prepare a sugar syrup by dissolving 1/2 lbs sugar in the 500 mls. of water.
4. Now add the dough portions in it and cook over a high flame for 6- 8 minutes.
5. Add half a cup of water and again bring it to a boil. Cook for another 5 minutes.
6. Remove them and keep them in the sugar syrup .
7. Now take milk in a pan, bring it to a boil, Keep on stirring continuously. Simmer until it is reduced to a thick consistency.
8. Add rest of the sugar and keep on a boiling till the sugar is completely dissolved.
9. Remove from the flame and refrigerate for an hour.
10. Add the soaked balls and Sprinkle the saffron. Keep in refrigerator for another half an hour.
11. Swirl the milk with a light hand just before serving as it will give beautiful yellow color of saffron and the white of the milk.
12. Serve cold, garnished with sliced pistachio nuts, almonds.

Double Ka Meeta

Ingredients :
1 Loaf of Bread
1 litre Milk
500gms Sugar
250gms Double cream
250gms Pure Ghee
100gms Chopped & roasted cashew nuts
100gms Almonds (soaked and chopped)
10gm Saffron
5 Cardamom powdered

Method :

1. Cut each bread slice into four pieces.
2. Fry them in ghee till golden brown.
3. Make a sugar syrup by adding half a litre of water to the sugar and boil it for 15 minutes. Add the powdered cardamom and the saffron dissolved in milk to the sugar syrup. Boil milk until it is thickened.
4. Arrange the fried bread pieces on a flat tray and sprinkle the chopped nuts on them. Pour the sugar syrup, double cream and milk alternately over the bread pieces while they are still hot.

Finally refrigerate and serve as dessert.