CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: PLUM CAKE

Christmas is all about cakes, muffins and other desserts. Plum cake is one of the most common Christmas cakes which is very popular and can be prepared in household. Plum cake is prepared with a variety of dry fruits and cherries. If you want to prepare the traditional plum cake on Christmas, then check out the recipe. Here is a simple home-made Christmas plum cake recipe that is soft, spongy, sweet and delicious cake for celebrations!

Ingredients:

1. Maida Flour – 1 cup

2. Baking powder – ½ tsp.

3. Cashewnuts – 3 tbsp (chopped)

4. Mixed dry fruits (dates, cherries, orange peels) – 3 tbsp. (chopped)

5. Raisins – 3 tbsp

6. Cherries – 2 tbsp. (chopped)

7. Brown sugar – 1 cup

8. Vanilla essence – 3-4 drops

9. Eggs – 3 nos.

10. Butter – ½ cup (softened)

11. Lemon zest – 1 tsp.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

2. Sieve the refined flour and baking powder.

3. Now add Cashewnuts, Mixed dry fruits & Raisins and mix well.

4. In another bowl, whisk the butter and brown sugar. Whisk well till it becomes creamy. And then add vanilla essence, eggs and lemon zest.

5. Slowly add the sieved flour and mix.

6. Grease a cake tray with butter and then pour the mix into it.

7. Bake it for 15-20 minutes. Once done, let it cool.

8. Christmas plum cake is ready to be sliced and enjoyed.

EASY PAALADA PRADHAMAN – ONASADHYA SPECIAL SWEET

Since tomorrow is the “Thiruvonam”, the day of big Onasadhya, but unfortunately there is no way to take a leave, so we decided to celebrate it a day before on today. And surely, I was not at all willing to miss the sweets part of it. So I went for the easy one, Paalada Pradhaman.

Ada Pradhaman is a traditional and inevitable sweet serve in Sadhya, especially Onasadhya, prepared out of coconut milk and jaggery. And Paalada Pradhaman is a variant of Ada Pradhaman prepared from Ari Ada, milk and sugar, which saves you from the difficulty of getting the coconut milk and all. Even though it is easy, but not missing the folly and fare of Ada. Ya, it is really Yummy Delicious. Try it and comment.

Ingredients:-

1. Ari / Rice Ada - 1 cup (can get ready-made, and I used that only)

2. Creamy Milk – 4 cups

3. Sugar – 1 cup

4. Cardamom – 3 nos.

5. Cashew nuts – 6 nos.

6. Raisins – 6 nos.

7. Ghee – 1 ½ tsp.

Method:-

1. Wash the ada thoroughly. Soak it in boiled hot water for 30 minutes and wash again for 2-3 times in cold water. (Else ada will stick each other). Drain the water completely and keep it aside.

2. Heat the Ghee in a pan and fry the cashews and raisin till becomes brown. Keep it aside.

3. Boil milk along with a cup of water. As it starts boiling, add the washed ada and cook it in low flame till ada is soft. Stir continuously. (It takes almost 30 minutes)

4. Then add sugar & cardamom and cook for another 5 minutes till the sugar dissolves completely and the colour changes to light cream. Add the ghee in which cashews and raisins are fried. Stir it and take off the flame.

5. Garnish it with the fried cashews and raisins and the Paalada Pradhaman is ready to serve hot or chilled. (I like it chilled)

Enjoy!!!

PAAL PAYASAM (PRESSURE COOKER VERSION)

Paal Payasam is a traditional and classic dessert in Kerala Cuisine which is prepared on occasions of celebrations and festivals. So without doubt, it is an unavoidable part of Onasadhya’s dessert section. This is an easy-to-cook recipe which requires minimal ingredients. I hope you all will try and enjoy this, and come out with your comments.

Simple & Easy-to-Cook Onasadhya Special Recipes @ BACHELOR's ONASADHYA

Ingredients:-

1. White Rice (Pachari) or Basmati Rice – ¼ cup

2. Full Cream Milk – 5 cups

3. Sugar – ½ cup

4. Ghee – 2 tsp.

5. Nuts – few, to garnish

Method:-

1. Wash the white rice and dry it completely. Crush it in a mixer just for a pulse movement just for a second.

2. Heat the ghee in a pressure cooker and roast the nuts and keep nuts aside.

3. Now roast the rice in ghee till it release a nice aroma. (N.B: colour of rice should not change)

4. Then add 1 cup of milk to the rice. Pressure cook it for 2 whistles on medium flame and put off the flame.

5. Once pressure releases, open lid and add milk along with sugar. Switch on the flame again and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Stir continuously until a thick creamy consistency is reached. In between mash up the rice with the ladle.

6. Garnish it with roasted nuts and Paal Payasam is ready to serve hot or cold as per your preference.

RASGULLA

Bengali sweets are the most loved among Indian sweets.  As I am a big fan of sweets, Rasgulla which is a Bengali Sweet, without a second question is one in my favorite list. Usually I used to buy Rasgullas from sweet shop. But since tomorrow is Rakshabandhan, I thought of giving my sister some homemade sweet, specially made by myself, as a token of care and love. Though, it is a little time consuming, this is worth the effort. This Rakshabandhan, give your sister or brother some sweets prepared with extra sweetness of love and express your care. 

On this Rakshabandhan, I’m dedicating this recipe to my one and only sister as token of gratitude for her love and care.

Ingredients:-

1. Paneer – 250 g (yields around 15 balls of small lemon size)

2. Water – 2 cups

3. Sugar – 1 cup

4. Cardamom – 2 nos. (Crushed)

Method:-

1. Knead the Paneer well for 10 minutes. Once it become a smooth pliable dough, make it into smooth small lemon sized balls and keep aside.

2. Heat water in a wide bottomed vessel, and add sugar and crushed cardamom. Stir well till sugar dissolves completely and let it boil.

3. When the sugar syrup starts boiling and bubbling, introduce the balls slowly one by one. Simmer it for 3 minutes. Then cook it for 10 minutes closed with a lid in medium flame. Open the lid every 3-4 minutes to allow the vapour escape. When it is ready, the balls will be almost double in size.

4. Cool it completely, chill it for an hour and serve chilled.

Note:- Normally it is made from home-made paneer, by curdling the milk and filtering it. I skipped all those and bought paneer from diary and made it. It saves time and difficulty of making paneer, which needs muslin cloth for filtering and all. I took 250 g of paneer, which only cost me 50 bucks.

PINEAPPLE RAITA

Pineapple Raita is a refreshing and mouth-watering side dish for any meal, with a perfect blend of pineapple chunks with creamy curd or yogurt and slightly spicy too. It can also be enjoyed as a desert after the meal. I’m a big fan of Pineapple Raita.

Ingredients:-

1. Pineapple chunks – ½ cup

2. Thick curd – 1 cup

3. Cumin powder – ¼ tsp.

4. Sugar – 1 tsp.

5. Coriander leaves (finely chopped) – 1 tsp.

6. Black pepper powder – ¼ tsp.

7. Salt – a pinch

Method:-

1. Add sugar, cumin seed powder and salt with curd in a bowl. Beat the curd until it is smooth.

2. Add pineapple chunks in it and mix well.

3. Take out pineapple raita in a serving bowl and the sprinkle the black pepper powder over it.

4. Garnished it with chopped coriander leaves and serve chilled.

Note:- If you want it little spicy, add a green chili chopped into the raita, making it sweet n hot in taste.

GAJAR KA HALWA (CARROT HALWA)

It is celebration time for my Muslim friends as it is Eid-Ul-Fitr now. And of course, a celebration call for a sweet treat and when I thought of adding an easy-to-cook sweet in Eid-Special Menu for my folks, the first thing that came to my mind is Carrot Halwa, known as Gajar Ka Halwa in Hindi, an easy and delicious sweet dish made of grated carrots cooked in milk. It is so yummy to have a bowl of warm Gajar ka halwa.

Ingredients:-

1. Carrots- 500 g

2. Milk- 500 ml

3. Milkmaid- 3-4 tbsp.

4. Sugar- 3-4 tbsp.

5. Cardamom Powder – ¼ tsp.

6. Ghee/ Butter- 2 tbsp.

7. Dry fruits- a handful

Method:-

1. Fry the dry fruits in a teaspoon of ghee/butter till golden brown. Keep aside.

2. In a pan, heat the carrots along with milk and let it cook on low heat till the milk is absorbed.

3. Add the milkmaid and sugar and stir well till well blended.

4. Add the ghee/ butter and cardamom powder and cook for a couple of minutes more.

5. Switch off the heat, garnish with dry fruits and serve warm.

Done!!!

Note:- You can increase or reduce the quantity of sugar to suit your liking.