Safna's Cook Book

Diwali means festival of lights but foodies like me its festival of sweets. I really started enjoying Diwali celebration after reaching Mumbai.Most of the homes and buildings are decorated with lights and bakeries full of Diwali hampers packed with sweet and savory bites like Diwali fruit cake, Anjeer ki barfi, dry fruits, cookies and more.The other thing which flashes through our mind during Diwali is of multicolored and impressive fireworks in the night sky.So for kids, it's really a good time to enjoy with sweets and crackers.

Diwali, the festival of lights is the most loved festival in India. Wherever we go outside, we can see buildings and houses decorated with lights, candles, and divas. All the streets, marketplaces, and local shops are flooded with a variety of  crackers, gift boxes, and divas. People exchange gifts and burst crackers on this day. But for me, it is a festival of sweets with gift boxes packed with sweets, chocolates, and dry fruits. Ingredients Full cream milk powder - 2 cups Condensed milk - 1 tin (approximately 400 g) Butter(unsalted) - 100g Milk - 2 tbsp Saffron - few strands Badam - for garnishing

This is sago payasam or Paal Vazhakka. I had posted my mom's style of paal vazhakka earlier. This is a classic Malabar style dessert which I learned from my mother-in-law. The main ingredient is sago cooked in coconut milk with ripe plantain. A very easy and delicious kheer that can be made during special occasions.

Ingredients Moong dal - 250 g Chana dal - 50 g Coconut - 3 nos Jaggery - 500 g Cardamom - 4 pods or 1/2 tsp Cashew nuts - 50 g Coconut pieces - 1/2 cup Ghee - 1/2 cup Preparation Melt jaggery with 1/2 cup water and filter it to remove impurities. Keep this aside. Grind coconut in three stages.Remove the thick coconut milk out of it.This is first milk. Second milk can be removed by grinding the coconut with 1 cup of water. Again grind that coconut with 2 cups of water and remove the third milk. Heat a pressure cooker and add 3 tbsp of ghee. Fry moong dal and chana dal for 3 minutes. Mix fried dals  with third stage  milk and pressure cook for 1 whistle. Transfer this to a thick bottomed Kadai and add the second milk, melted jaggery, cardamom powder. Let this cook over medium heat till the consistency becomes thick stirring continuously. Add the thick milk and mix well. Do not boil the payasam too much after adding the f...

Ingredients Samba Broken wheat - 350 g (2 cups) Coconut - 3 nos Jaggery - 500 g Cardamom - 4 pods or 1/2 tsp Cashew nuts - 50 g Ghee - 3 tbsp Preparation Melt  jaggery with 1/2 cup water and filter it to remove impurities.Keep this aside. Grind coconut in three stages.Remove the thick coconut milk out of it.This is first milk. Second milk can be removed by grinding the coconut with 1 cup of water. Again grind that coconut with 2 cups of water and remove the third milk. Mix cleaned broken wheat with third stage milk and pressure cook for 5 whistles. Transfer this to a thick bottomed kadai and add the second milk, melted jaggery, cardamom powder. Let this cook over medium heat till the consistency becomes thick stirring continuously. Add the thick milk and mix well. Do not boil the payasam too much after adding the first milk. Switch off the flame. Heat 3 tbsp of ghee and saute the cashews until it turns golden brown.Add this to payasam. Serve this warm or c...

Paal vazhakka / plantain in coconut milk is a super delicious as well as a healthy dessert.Plantains cooked in coconut milk will take me back to my childhood days where my grandmother prepares this with her gifted hands that taste awesome.It is one of the famous Malabar desserts.Most of the people make this dessert with plantain, sago, and coconut milk.But I have followed my grandma's style without using sago. Ingredients Coconut milk - 1 cup (thick) Plantain - 1 (cut into small pieces) Coconut milk - 2 cups (thin) Cardamom powder - a pinch  Salt - a pinch Sugar - 4 tbsp Ghee - 1 tbsp Cashews - 6 nos Raisins - 5 nos Shallots - 1 tbsp (finely chopped) Preparation Take a thick bottomed Kadai and pour the thin coconut milk along with plantain. Cook for 10 minutes on medium flame until plantains become soft. Add the cardamom powder, sugar, salt and mix well. Add the thick coconut milk and keep on simmer for 5 minutes. Heat ghee in a...

Ingredients Semolina (Rava)            -  1 cup Dried coconut                -  1 1/2 cup Sugar                              -  1 1/4 cup Melted Ghee                   -  1/2 cup Cardamom powder         -  1/2 tsp  saffron (kesar) strands    -  a pinch Preparation Dry roast the  rava in a non - stick pan on slow flame for 3 minutes. Switch off the flame, add the dried coconut and mix well. Take sugar in a thick bottomed pan with 1 cup of water. cook on a medium flame for 5-6 minutes while stirring occasionally.put saffron strands to this syrup.keep this aside to cool slightly. Heat ghee in a pan, add rava-coconut mixture to this and cook on medium flame for 5-6 minutes. Add cardamom powder, sugar syrup an...

Ingredients All purpose flour                -  1 tbsp Melted butter                      - 1 tbsp Milk powder                       - 1 cup Baking powder                   - 1 tsp Egg                                     - 1 (large) Sugar                                  - 1 ½ cup Water                                  - 2 ¼ cup Cardamom powder             - ½ tsp Lemon juice                       - 1 tbsp Preparation Lets start wi...

Ingredients  Milk                     -  1 litre Lemongrass         -   2 strands China grass           -   8 g Water                     -   1/2 cup Condensed milk    -   1 tin Sugar                     -   4 tbsp Preparation Boil milk and condensed milk with lemon strands in a thick bottomed pan. Add sugar and slow down the flame. Soak china grass in 1/2 cup water for 10 minutes and heat until it dissolves completely. Add china grass mixture into the hot condensed milk through a strainer and mix well. Reduce the quantity until the mixture thickens. Pour this mixture into a pudding tray and refrigerate.

Ingredients Milk                          -    500 ml Condensed milk        -   1/2  tin Falooda sev strands   -   a handful Basil seeds                 -   1 tbsp Custard powder         -    2 tbsp Rose syrup                 -    1 tsp Dry fruits                   -     for garnishing Preparation Soak basil seeds in 1 cup of  water with 2 tbsp sugar. The seeds swell and turn in slimy, translucent small balls. Boil water and add falooda sev strands.once they are cooked , rinse them in water and  keep aside. Boil  450 ml milk and add the 50 ml milk to custard powder to make a smooth paste. Keep the flame low and add custard paste slowly into the milk.Stir...

Ingredients  1   Milk                             -    2 cups 2   Sugar                           -    1/2 cup 3   Egg                              -    5 nos. 4   Vanilla essence            -    1 Tsp  5   Sugar for caramelising-    3 Tbsp Preparation Beat eggs with vanilla essence and sugar. Add beaten egg mixture to milk and mix well. Heat pudding tray and add 3 Tbsp of sugar to this. Take care to heat on low flame until the sugar caramelises.  When the tray becomes cool, pour in the pudding mixture into it. Place some water in a steamer and one metal bowl upside down  Over this, place the pudding tray to...

Ingredients Vermicelli (Semiya )                - 1 cup Sago (chewer/sabudana)        - 1 cup Milk                                          - 1/2 litre Condensed milk                       - 1 cup Raisins & cashew nuts            - 1/2 cup Cardamom powder                  - a pinch Ghee                                        - 2 tbsp Sugar                                        - to taste Preparation Boil water in a pan and add sago.Allow it to cook. When it is cooked,drain...

Pineapple pudding is a delicious dessert that can be made for any parties.My sissy taught me to make this pudding.She is a good cook and I inspired the way she cooked.Pieces of pineapple in homemade custard give yummy taste to this recipe. I prefer fresh pineapple over canned ones as it gives a natural flavour to that dessert.Everyone should try this!! Ingredients Pineapple                - 2 cup Condensed milk      - 1 tin Milk                        - 500 ml Sugar                      - 1 tbsp China grass             - 4 g Water                      - 1/4 cup Preparation Grate the pineapple into small pieces. Add 1 tbsp sugar to the grated pineapple and heat in a pan till water evaporates completely. Boil milk...