Semiya Payasam...

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Ingredients
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Vermicelli - 1  Cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Water - 2 cups
Ghee - 2 Tbsp
Milk - 2 cups
Garnish
Cashews - 1 Tbsp , Broken
Raisins - 1 /2 Tbsp
Cardamom Powder - A pinch

Optional
Condensed Milk -As desired
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Method
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1. Heat 1.5 Tbsp of ghee in a kadai and add the vermicelli.
2. Fry till it is crisp and add the water.
3. Keep in medium flame and allow the vermicelli to cook
4. Once it is cooked nice and soft, add the sugar and keep stirring.
5.  The sugar melts and the mixture becomes sticky
6. Take it out of the flame.
7. Fry the cashews and raisins in ghee and add it to the vermicelli along with the cardammom
8. Once the mixture is all cool , add the milk

Suggestion :
To make the payasam more yummy,  add condensed milk as a topping while serving. It sure does add to the taste :)

Mango Seekaranai

Yummy.......
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Ingredients
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Alphonso Mangoes - 2 , medium sized
Sugar - 1/2 Tbsp
Jaggery - 3 Tbsp
Cardamom Powder - 1 Tsp
Milk - 2 Tbsp ( Optional)
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Method
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1. Peel the mangoes and smash the pulp. The pulp should not  have any big lumps
2. Melt the jaggery and add it to the mango pulp
3. Add the sugar and the cardamom powder and mix till the sugar dissolves
4. If desired , milk can also be added to the above
5. Refrigerate it for about an hour and serve hot with puris / maida rotis

Besan Ladoo

Besan Ladoo is the first sweet I make for Neivedyam for Shivaratri.. This ladoo just melts in your mouth..

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Ingredients
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Besan Flour – 4 cups
Powdered Sugar – 2 cups
Ghee – 1.5 cups
Cardamom Powder  - a pinch
Cashew - 10
Raisins  - 6

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Method
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1.       Heat the ghee in a kadai and add the besan flour.
2.       Keep at low flame and slowly keep stiring the mixture.
3.       Try to make the mixture without any lumps .
4.       Keep mixing slowly so that the besan flour and the ghee are mixed nicely .
5.       The color of the mixture will turn brown after some time
6.       Switch off and allow it to cool.
7.       Fry cashews and raisins in ghee .
8.       Add it to the mixture
9.       Finally , add the powdered sugar and mix properly.
10.   Allow no lumps to be in there
11.   Make small round balls and store it for a week.

Badam Burfi ( Almond Sweet )

Easy to make and very tasty. Ideal sweet for a festival like Diwali

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Ingredients
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Badam / Almonds - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 cup
Ghee - 2.5 cups
Milk - 0.5 cup
Saffron - a few strands

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Method
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1. Boil water and soak the almonds in hot water for half an hour
2. Peel of the almond skin and chop it into small pieces
3. Put the chopped almonds in a blender and add the milk. Make a fine paste
4. In the kadai , add the sugar and 2 tablespoon of water and allow it to become a syrup
5. Once the sugar is completely dissolved , add the almond paste .
6. Add the ghee now and then little by little whenver the mixture seems to sticking to the kadai
7. Keep stirring continuously until the mixture starts coming off the kadai without sticking. It might take around 12 minutes to reach this consistency
8. Take a plate and spread ghee all over.
9. Pour the almond mixture and spread it evenly in the plate
10. Make pieces using the knife once the burfi cools down.
11. Store it in an air tight container and it will stay good for about a week

Pal Poli

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Ingredients:
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Cashew – 1cup
Khus Khus – 2 Tblspoon
Coconut – ½ cup
Milk – 3.5 cups
Sugar – 1 cup
Maida – 2.5cups
Salt


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Method:
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1. Soak Cashew and Khus Khus in 1 cup milk for about 1.5 hours
2. Make a fine paste of the soaked cashew , khus khus and the finely grated
coconut.
3. Heat the rest of the milk , bring it to a boil and then lower the flame . Add
the sugar and allow it dissolve.
4. Add the paste to the milk and cook in low flame for about 12 min till the kheer
is ready.
5. Mix maida with a pinch of salt and make a dough . The consistency should be same
as puri dough.
6. Make small round balls of the maida and roll them into small puris
7. Heat oil in a kadai and deep fry the rolled maida into puris .
8. Once cooked , drop the puris directly from the oil kadai to the kheer .
9. Allow it to cool .