Diwali Sweets

Indian sweets or Mithai are type of confectionary that heavily depend on sugar,milk  or condensed milk .
Most sweets are made by making thick sugar syrup and adding of flour, grounded almonds,ghee etc and stirred continuously until thicken and then leave to cool. Flavouring of cardamom is commonly used for additional taste.Some are made and soaked in sugar syrup while others are dipped and leave to cool. However the sweets are prepared ,they are one of the richest Indian delicacies that one should not miss in enjoying in one's life, and that too homemade ones!!
Today, MD would like to share two sweet recipes, Gram Ladoos and Soft Almond Squares. The laddos are really mouthwatering , and  one should get about 18 ladoos from this recipe .The squares will give about  less than 20 pieces , depending on the size and thickness of the squares.

~**~Gram Ladoos/ Besan ka ladoo~**~

This round, rich, and obviously delicious ladoos are a must eat this season. Every house has its favourite choice of ladoos and people are more than willing to stuff their mouth with one or more than one variety. So you are bound to expect a mouthful reaction by the end of the visit.

 1 cup /250gms chick pea flour

½ cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar  (powder the sugar in a mixer)

80-90gms ghee  (unmelted)

¼ tsp cardamom powder ( or lesser)

Decorations

Small paper cups

Fried halve cashewnuts

Heat the wok, pour 2 small ladleful ghee,(use the sambar spoon), melt it,add in the flour and stir in low heat.Mix until well incorporated and keep stirring until the batter turn into a golden brown colour.Keep stirring until it becomes liquid by itself.

Do not leave the batter unattended at anytime as it can burn .You have to keep on stirring for at least 35 -40mins.

Leave to cool slightly .Mix in cardamom powder to sugar.

Do not reduce the amount of sugar,the mixing of sugar will solidify the ladoos and help in  retaining   its shape.

Then add a bit by bit the sugar to the mixture.By now,use your hand to distribute the sugar well with the mixture.

It will become solid at this stage and can be easily made into rounds.

Place in paper cups and place a cashewnut or pistachio nut in the middle.

~~**~~Soft Almond  Squares~~**~~

Ingredients:

1 cup (250gms) almonds

¼ cup + 1 tbsp fresh milk

1 ¼ cup sugar

125gms butter

¼ cup water

¼ tsp cardamom powder

Decoration

Coloured almond nips

Method:

1.       Soak the almond in hot water for 30mins.

2.       Then remove the skin and grind with  milk

3.       Grind it like smooth paste, keep it aside.

4.       Take a thick bottom vessel, place on the stove at medium heat with sugar and water.

5.       While the syrup is thickening cube the butter into large cubs (4-5 pieces).

6.       Once the syrup has thickened, add almond paste stir it well in medium flame.

7.       It will take about 10 minutes to cook keep the stove on little less than medium flame, keep stirring so that the paste does not burn or stick to the bottom.If you feel the heat is too high, occasionally take the pan from the heat and keep stirring ,once the temperature of the pan has lessen ,return the pan back to the heat.In this way, you can control the heat of your pan.

8.       Now add the butter little by little, until it gets glossy then keep it on very low flame.

9.       After 5 minutes this paste won’t stick to the bottom.

10.   If you want it soft then you can stop stirring and pour into a greased pan.But if you want it solid then stir further .

11.   Take the plate and smear it completely with 1 tbsp of ghee.

12.   This cooked mixture should be like thick..

13.   Pour the cooked mixture into the  greased plate and spread it evenly across the plate.

14.   Let it cool down, in between decorate with  almond nips  and cut into desired shapes..If you find it the almonds difficult to stick then use some milk.

Note :I had taken it slightly in a softer texture, therefore had refrigerated the squares.

Ideas: You can cut into smaller shapes ,square or rounds , and place into a silver or gold foil cups and then decorate with coloured almond nips.

Variation: can replace the cardamom powder with rose essence and use some pink colouring .

Above recipes are submitted to :
Foodie Friday hosted by A Room With A View For Two
Inspire Me Monday hosted by Create With Joy