Share recipes and cooking tips. Every fortnight, a selected entry will be featured in What’s Cooking? and its sender crowned NRI Pulse’s Gourmet Chef. Pls. send contributions to contact@NRIPulse.com with What’s Cooking? in the subject line.

Kaju Barfi

Ingredients:
2 cups cashew nuts soaked in water for 2 hours
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tbsp. ghee/clarified butter
1/2 tsp. cardamom powder

Method:
Drain and blend the cashew nuts to a fine paste. Use as little water as possible when blending. In a heavy saucepan put sugar and paste. Cook on 
a medium heat. Keep on stirring continuously till a soft lump is formed. Add ghee and cardamom powder and mix well. Spread on a clean greased 
work surface. Roll lightly with a rolling pin, to a desired thickness. Cool and cut into diamond shaped burfis. 


Peda

Ingredients:
1/2 kg. soft white khoya 
2 1/2 cups (approx. 300gms) confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp. cardamom powder 
1 tsp. cardamom seeds semi crushed 
1 tbsp. slivered or crushed pistachios 

Method:
Grate khoya with a steel (not iron) grater. Add confectioner's sugar and mix well.
Put mixture in a large heavy or nonstick pan. Heat first on high for few minutes.The on slow till done.
Make sure to stir continuously, while on heat. When mixture thick and gooey, add cardamom. 
Mix well, and take off fire. Allow to cool, gently turning occasional
Use cookie moulds, or shape pedas with palms into patty rounds. 
Mix pistachios and cardamom seeds and press a bit on top of each. 
If using moulds, first sprinkle some at bottom. Take some mixture and press into mould. When set well, invert and carefully remove.

To above recipe add any of following for varied flavors: cashew powder 1/2 cup, cocoa 2 tbsp. (then increase sugar by 1/2 cup), walnuts 
powdered 1/2 cup, etc. Add when the mixture is half cooked. 

Gujia

Ingredients:
250 grams flour 
500 grams khoya
A few raisins a few
100 grams (finely chopped) almonds
3 tbsp cooking oil 
100 ml water 
250 grams sugar

Method:
Mix the oil and flour properly to form a binding consistency of breadcrumbs. Add some water and knead lightly the entire mixture. Make it soft 
dough and set it aside with a damp cloth covering it. Fry the khoya in cooking oil till it becomes light brown and then mix in the sugar. Add the 
almonds and raisins, and fry for a few more minutes. Remove from fire and let it cool. Make small thick chapattis out of that kneaded dough. Fill 
half of the chapatti with the khoya mixture and, rolling it, seal the sides of the chapatti keeping the khoya inside it. Make the sealing look 
decorated by giving a look of hemming. Deep-fry these gujias until it becomes light golden brown, keeping the flame at low. Take out the gujias 
on a newspaper and let the oil get soaked. Serve hot or store it in an airtight container for using it on that special day.