Sweets of India - Major families

For more variations check out Laddoos, Halwas, Brittles, Bengali Sweets, Shrikhand, Kheer and the simple no-cook Indian desserts

Easy Jam Cheatsheet

Granita Cheatsheet ( Frozen Italian Dessert)

Instant Sorbet Cheatsheet ( Frozen dessert)

Instant Ice Cream Cheatsheet

Fool Cheatsheet ( British Dessert)

Panacotta ( Italian Dessert) Cheatsheet

Trifle Cheatsheet ( No Cook British Dessert)

10 Sharbat families

One Page Cookbooks 10 Sharbat families All recipes copyrighted. No reproduction / commercial use without permission. Siramki@Gmail.com
Master Recipe : Bring a cup ( 200 ml) of water to a boil. Gradually add two cups of sugar and keep stirring till all sugar is dissolved. Mix in the juice of a lemon.Remove from fire. Mix in a base ( or a mix of bases) from the column below. Bottle. Serving Suggestion : 1. Mix one part of sharbat with three parts of water / soda/ milk add ice cubes and serve. 2. Take a handful of grated ice. Press to form a tomato sized ball, pour a spoon of Sharbat over it and serve as Ice gola. 3. Mix one part of sharbat with three parts of water, pour into popsicle moulds and freeze until it is a soft slush or hard ice. Serve as slush / popsicles.
1 .: Fresh flower Sharbats Sample recipe : Gulab Sharbat : Take four handfuls of rose petals. Crush them . Add a cup of boiling water. Let sit overnight and strain out solids.( Use Rose, saffron, hibiscus, Kewra/ screwpine etc)	Sharbat – A Primer: Sharbat ( Persian / Turkish) from Arabic Sarba:drink denotes a sweetened, diluted liquid. The French sorbet / Italian Sorbetto arise from the same root, but now refer to a frozen version of the Sharbat. The moguls loved Sherbet and brought it with them to India, where it was accepted with a small twist. Unlike the Persian version which often uses egg, Indian versions skip egg completely. During the Mogul reign, huge loads of ice were shipped daily from Himalayas to cool Sharbats. Baburnama records Babar’s love for Sharbat. It was a favourite of the later mogul emperors too. The logic behind Sherbats is simple - Steep aromatic compounds in hot water to extract their flavouring. Mix this flavoured liquid with sugar syrup which acts as a preservative. .A shortcut is to skip the steeping process altogether and mix in an essence directly with sugar syrup to create an instant sharbat. Hydrodistillation is the scientific name of the Sherbat making process, where water is used to extract aroma. This process works best for dried aromatics like dried flowers, roots and spices. Use alcohol as a steeping liquid in place of water and the Sherbet becomes a liquer. This process is even easier as alcohol is a better solvent and so need not be boiled like water. A variety of aromatic flowers, grasses, spices, fruit, wood, roots, resins, barks and seeds, leaves & gums can be used in Sherbet / liquer making. Though the same principle can be used to extract flavour from animal secretions (castor, musk, ambergris etc), they are not very common Sharbat Additives : To add some texture to a sharbat, it is usually served with one of these additives. 1. Soak a spoon of Basil seeds (Tukmaria seeds,/ Subza seeds) in water overnight. Drain, Mix into Sherbat and serve. 2. Mix in a spoon or two of falooda (thin corn starch / rice / wheat noodles). Sharbat with falooda and ice cream is a Persian delicacy and a favourite of the emperor Shah Jahan. www.ramkicooks.blogspot.com
2 .: Herb Sharbats Sample recipe :Pudina Sharbat Take four handfuls of mint leaves. Crush them. Add a cup of boiling water. Let sit overnight and strain out solids.(Use basil, oregano, rosemary etc)
3 .: Root Sharbats Sample recipe : Khus Sharbat Take four spoons of khus syrup ( or simmer half a handful of root in a cup boiling water for 30 minutes. Let sit overnight and strain out solids. (Use Liquorice, Khus (Vettiver), Ginger, Young turmeric etc)
4 .: Seed Sharbats Sample recipe: Elachi Sharbat Take a spoon of cardamom seeds. Crush them Add a cup of boiling water. Let sit overnight and strain out solids. (Use aniseeed, large cardamom etc),
5 .: Bark Sharbats Sample recipe : Cinnamon Sharbat Take half a handful of crushed cinnamon sticks .. Add to a cup of boiling water. Simmer for 30 minutes. Let sit overnight and strain out solids.
6 .: Dried flower Sharbats Sample recipe : Saffron Sharbat Take 8 - 10 cloves .. Add to a cup of boiling water. Simmer for 30 minutes. Let sit overnight and strain out solids.( Use clove, saffron etc)
7 .: Fruit zest Sharbats Sample recipe : Orange Sharbat With a grater, gently grate the skin of an orange till you get half a handful of zest. Add to a cup of boiling water. Simmer for 5 minutes. Let sit overnight and strain out solids. ( Use lime zest, citrus zest etc)
8 .: Nut Sharbats Sample recipe : Badam Sharbat Take a handful of almonds. Soak in a cup of boiling water. Peel off skin and blend to a paste and strain through a muslin cloth. ( Use Almond/ Pistachio/ cashew/ walnuts etc)
9 .: Fruit Sharbats Sample recipe :Jamoon Sharbat Take two spoons of fruit syrup ( or simmer two handfuls / dry fruits in a cup of boiling water for 5 – 10 minutes, blend to a paste and strain out solids. ( Use Bel, Jamoon, Tamarind, Lemon, Mango, Plums, Grapes etc)
10 .: Other Sharbats Sample recipe : Chandan Sharbat. Take a spoon of sandalwood powder tied up in a cloth as a small bundle. Steep in half a cup of boiling water overnight. Remove bundle. Use ( Sandalwood, Vanilla, mace, etc)

No cook Indian Desserts

Click the image on the left to see the cookbook listing 10 easy no-cook Indian desserts. For detailed recipes and pictures, check out my fellow bloggers below…

1.: Anjeer Laddoo A huge variety of ball shaped laddoos are cooked across India. Most use sugar syrup / hot ghee as a binder. Anjeer laddoo uses the stickiness of dates / figs to bind the laddoo

2.: Panchamirtham (Tamilnadu)

This no cook jam was invented in the temple town of Palani, Tamilnadu. Tonnes of panchamirtham is distributed as Prasad to devotees everyday. Roasted and ground millet flour (Thinai) mixed with honey is another delicacy served here.

3.: Kesar Kulfi (Punjab)

When milk is frozen it sets into a hard crunchy ice. The western world discovered that when milk is constantly stirred and mixed with air while being frozen, it sets into creamy ice cream. Indians discovered that if most of the water in milk is removed by boiling it for hours, and the thickened milk is then frozen, it sets into a thick chewy ice cream – the Kulfi.

4.: Shrihkand (Maharashtra)

Varieties of thick creamy yogurt / yogurt cheese exist across the world. Mixing in powdered sugar and flavouring agents makes it the much loved shrikhand.

5.: Sweet Poha Long before corn flakes and cereals became popular in the west, rice flakes (poha) were common in India. You can in fact look at this recipe as a muesli variant. Mixed in with milk / yogurt, this recipe can double as a breakfast cereal.

6.: Elaneer Payasam (Tamilnadu)

A Kongunadu delicacy which relies on the delicate flavours of sweet coconut water and tender coconut flesh.

7, 8, 9.: Doodh Kela, Ambyache Shikran (Maharashtra) . Mavina hannu Rasayana (Konkan)

The flesh of fruits like banana / mango is mixed in with milk and sugar to create these simple desserts. Try using condensed milk / cream in place of milk and jaggery / honey in place of sugar. Using custard apple flesh gives Mumbai Haji Ali’s famous Sitaphal cream.

10.: Aam ras (Maharashtra) Though this can be eaten as a dessert, it is usually served as a dipping sauce along with pooris.

Shrikhand ( India's sweet yogurt dessert)

Yogurt cheese also known as  hung yogurt/ chakka is just yogurt from which most of the water has been removed. It then resembles a thick, creamy paste. This paste is mixed with fruit paste, sugar and flavouring to prepare  Shrikhand, a sweet very popular in north India, especially Maharashtra and Gujarat. Though primarily a dessert, it  is also served as a ‘curry’ with pooris. Shrikhand forms a part of many North Indian wedding feasts. It is befittingly prepared to celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna, the divine cow herd.

Indian desserts can be split into four major classes.

1.       Desserts soaked / cooked in sugar syrup ( jalebis, katli, mysorepak, burfi, halwah,… )

2.       Desserts based on cooked down milk ( rabri, payasam, kheer, peda, kulfi,… )

3.       Desserts based on milk solids ( rasgulla, rasmalai, kalakhand, ..) and

4.       Yogurt Desserts (Shrikhand & Bengali Mishti doi).

Vary Yogurt : Though common yogurt made from cow / buffalo milk is used to make traditional shrikhand, a variety of yogurts made from goat/ other milk can be used. Flavoured yogurts or even soy yogurt can be used to make fusion shrikhand.

 

Making yogurt cheese (Chakka) : :: Line a colander/ sieve with a cloth. Pour in  2 cups( 400 ml) of yogurt. Keep colander raised so that water can drain away overnight ( or gather edges of cloth & hang the bag of yogurt to let water drain).

Making fruit puree : Skin and deseed ripe fruit. Mash them to a coarse / smooth paste as per your taste.

Making yogurt : Boil two cups of milk. Let cool till lukewarm. Stir in  a spoon of yogurt. Rest in a warm place for 3 -5 hours.

Making flavoured yogurt : Boil two cups of milk. Let cool till lukewarm. Stir in  a spoon of yogurt. Mix in a pinch of cardamom / cinnamon / nutmeg / mace / dry ginger powder or mix in a drop of your favourite essence. Rest in a warm place for 3 -5 hours.

Making Mishti Doi ( sweet yogurt) : Bring four cups of milk to a boil. Reduce flame and simmer on low flame  till milk is reduced by half. Mix in a cup ( or less, to taste) of powdered jaggery. Let cool till lukewarm. Mix in two spoons of yogurt. Rest covered for 3 - 5 hours in a warm place.

Using Yogurt cheese : In middle east yogurt cheese is popular as labneh and is served as small balls steeped in olive oil. Yogurt cheese is mixed with chopped garlic, cucumbers & olive oil to make the Greek dip Tzatziki. It can be used as a dip / spread / cake icing / in parfaits.  Yogurt cheese made from fat free / low fat milk is  a low fat substitute for cream cheese. It has a rich taste and a creamy mouth feel without being laden with calories. It is also a good source of calcium. 

For detailed recipes and great pictures, check out the model recipes from fellow bloggers below : 

Kesar Shrikhand

Berry Shrikhand

Mango Shrikhand

Kesar Pista Shrikhand

10 Easy Indian Halwa

Click the image on the left to view the cookbook.

This cookbook lists 10 easy Indian halwas listed below. 

1.:   Carrot Halwa   

2.:   Beetroot Halwa  

3.:   Kasi Halwa    

4.:   Chayote Halwa      

5.:   Bottle gourd  Halwa     

6.:   Bread Halwa    

7.:   Apple Halwa    

8.:.  Jackfruit Halwa  

9.:   Pineapple Halwa 

10.: Papaya  Halwa  

And that's my entry to Paajaka's sweet series and to SHF - Aug 2009

1001 Kulfi ( No cook Indian Ice cream)

Click the image on the left to view the cookbook. 

Kulfi is traditionally made from thickened cow / buffalo milk. However, a variety of bases as listed in column 1 can be used . A variety of  ‘plant milk’ like Almond milk, Rice milk or Cashew milk can be easily made at home and used as a base for kulfis. The most common ‘plant milk’ used in India is coconut milk.

Kulfis can be flavored in various ways as listed in column 2

 Almost anything edible as listed in column 3 can be used in a Kulfi. 

 This simple, no cook, fail proof  dessert never fails to please !

10 Homemade Kulfi ( Indian Ice cream)

Click the image on the left to view the cookbook.

This cookbook lists ten easy to make Kulfis listed below:

1.:   Kesar Kulfi ( Saffron Kulfi)

2.:   Elaichi Kulfi ( Cardamom Kulfi)

3.:   Badam / Pista kulfi ( Almond / Pistachio Kulfi)

4.:   Kismis Kulfi (Dry fruit kulfi )

5.:   Mango Kulfi

6.:   Malai Kulfi.( Creamy Kulfi)

7.:   Coconut Kulfi

8.:   Vanilla Kulfi

9.:   Cinnamon Kulfi

10.: Chocolate Kulfi

 

1001 Yogurt Parfaits

Click the image on the left to view the cookbook
This cookbook lists 1000 yogurt parfaits, greatly simplified, so that a first time cook can easily assemble them.  10 different types of yogurt ( listed in column 1) is combined with ten different flavouring (see column 2) and 10 different additives ( column 3) to create a thousand different parfaits.  

10 Easy Microwave Halwa ( Indian fudge)

Click the image on the left to see the cookbook.This cookbook lists 10 Indian halwas listed below:

1.:   Carrot Halwa

2.:   Beetroot Halwa  

3.:   Kasi Halwa    

4.:   Kaju Halwa      

5.:   Bottle gourd  Halwa     

6.:   Badam/ Pista Halwa     

7.:   Mango Halwa    

8.:.  Jackfruit Halwa  

9.:   Pineapple Halwa 

10.: Papaya  Halwa  

And that's for Kamalika's MEC - Halwa.

10 Easy Indian Chikkis ( Brittles)

Click the image on the left to see the cookbook. This cookbook lists 10 Indian Chikkis ( Brittles) . The following chikkis are listed in this cookbook:

1.:   Peanut Chikki   

2.:   Cashew nut Chikki  

3.:  Almond Chikki   

4.:   Pumpkin seed  Chikki     

5.:  Copra  Chikki    

6.:  Walnut  Chikki    

7.:  Poha  Chikki    

8.:. Til  Chikki  

9.:   Rajgira  Chikki 
10.: Dry fruit  Chikki  

Reposted for Susan's All that glitters,    Jennifer's Sugar High Fridays, Vaishali's Sweet Vegan event and to All thingz Yummy's Festival feast.