Kerala Sweets-Recipes

Kerala.

State;known as Gods own country,a tropical paradise of coconut palms and warm sandy beaches, Kerala is a narrow strip of coastal territory sloping down from the Western Ghats in a riot of green, luxuriant vegetation. Kerala is also one of the richest states in India with forests and plantations of rubber, cashew, and coconuts everywhere. The meeting place of many cultures, Hindu and Muslim, Christian and Jewish, Kerala has a particularly rich heritage of dance and drama and the people are among the most industrious and well educated in the country.

Rice is the main food of Keralites or Malayalies(language-Malayalam).Sweets also plays an important role in the life of Keralites.Here are some of the famous recipes;

Carrot Halva.

carrots(grated)- 1cup

milk-1/2 cup

sugar-3/4 cup

cashew nuts

cardamon

ghee-1/2 cup

pour milk in container and simmer until the milk thickens a little.Add the grated carrots,cook on a low flame till the carrots soften. Add sugar and cardamons, stir occasionally till halva starts to leave the sides of pan.Remove from flame and garnish with roasted cashew nuts in ghee.

Pal Payasam.

Long-grain rice -1/2 cup Cardamom -4 Sugar - 1 1/4 cup Blanched Almonds water-2 cups Milk- 2 1/2 cup Blanched unsalted pistachio nuts

rose water-1 tablespoon Wash the rice and boil in the water over medium heat for 5 minutes, until the rice is 1/4th done. Drain it and set aside.

In a heavy based pan, boil the milk with cardamom over medium heat. Add the rice and cook for 40 minutes, until the rice is fully cooked and the milk becomes thick. Stir constantly to prevent sticking. Then add sugar, almonds, and pistachios & cook for 5 more minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Stir constantly. Sprinkle rose water & Remove from heat. Remove the cardamom .Serve warm or chilled.

Parippu Payasam

Green daal -1/2 cup Thick coconut milk- 1/4 cup Whole milk- 1/4 cup Sugar -1/4 cup Ghee -2 tablespoons Soak the green grams in water overnight. Boil it with water for 20 minutes, until the green gram is cooked(over low heat). Then add whole milk, coconut milk, sugar & cardamom pods. Stir constantly for 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the ghee. Serve hot.

Milk Peda

milk- 4 cups

sugar-1 cup

ghee

cardomom powder

Boil milk in a thick bottom vessel in a low flame,stir continuously to avoid sticking to the bottom. Keep heating till milk reduces to 3/4 of its original quantity.Then add sugar to it ,keep mixing thoroughly.When the mixture starts leaving the sides of the vessel, add cardamom powder.

Remove the mixture from the flame cool it and cut it into squares.

Mysore Pak

gram flour -1 cup

sugar-2 cups

water 1/4 cup

ghee melted- 1 1/2cup

Pour the sugar and water in a pan.. Heat till the sugar dissolves completely. Lower the heat and pour in the ghee. Let the mixture gently bubble.Add gram flour and cook, stirring occasionally. After approx. 5 to 7 minutes, the mixture begins to rise and leaves the sides of the unit. Remove from heat and immediately pour into a suitable greased rectangular tray. Cool for about 2 mins. And cut into squares. Serve cool.

Laddu (Rava)

Rava/Sooji - 1 1/2 cups Sugar - 1 1/2 cups Pure Ghee - 1/2 cup Milk - 3/4 cup Powdered cardamon - 4 or 5 Cashew Nuts - 2 tbsp Raisins - 2 tbsp

Cut the cashew nuts into small pieces. Wash and dry the raisins. Fry them lightly in a pan with little ghee and keep aside. Fry the rava in 2 tbsp ghee till it turns into light golden color. Mix the sugar, milk and cardamon powder with this roasted rava till the mixture becomes sticky. Add the fried cashews and raisins to this. Now make small round balls of this mixture. Serve when cool and dry.

Semiya Payasam

Vermicelli -1 cup Sugar- 1 cup Milk -1 liter Raisins -10 to 12 Cashew nuts- 10 to 12 Ghee -2 to 3 tsp, and powdered cardamom(4)

Grease a pan with 1 or 2 tsp of ghee and heat it on a medium flame.When the pan is hot, toss in the vermicelli and fry on low heat till golden brown. Remove from the unit and spread on a grease absorbent paper. In the same pan, fry the cashew nuts and raisins adding one more tsp of ghee. Set aside in a serving dish.Heat the milk in a vessel on a medium flame till the milk thickens a little. Add the fried vermicelli and simmer, stirring occasionally, till it softens. Mix in the sugar and thicken to the desired consistency. Garnish with cashew nuts, raising and cardamom powder. Serve hot or cold.

Jalebi

200 gms. plain flour (maida) 20 gms. gram flour (besan) 200 gms. sugar few drops yellow colour 2 tbsp. milk ghee to deep fry a plastic easy squeeze bottle

Sieve 100 gms. maida and besan together. Make a batter using warn water. Keep aside for 24 hours. Add remaining maida and food colour and more warm water if required. The batter should fall easily when poured - Not too thick not too thin, keep aside. Make syrup of the sugar by adding water and boiling. Add the milk and all the scum to form while boiling. Make one string syrup. Strain. Fill bottle with batter. The nozzle should have a hole the thickness of a knitting needle. Heat ghee well in a shallow frying pan and form jalebis in the form of concentric circles about 2 inches on the outside. Fry till crisp, drop into hot syrup. Drain with a perforated spoon, serve hot.