Cham-Cham (Cottage Cheese-based, syrupy sweet dish)

Posting a Cham-Cham recipe when I am pretty upset with myself. How ironic is that now! Yeah, it’s been so long and I have been MIA. Not that I haven’t been indulging in good food, it’s just that I have focused only on indulging and been too lazy to take measurements of the ingredients, pictures and writing the recipe. Ok, I am only trying to tell myself what not to repeat next time around!

Isn't the name itself so cute - 'Cham - Cham'!! (pronounced chum-chum). Anyways, there were two reasons why I wanted to resume my blog with my all time favorite sweet Cham-Cham. One was that it’s nice to restart on a sweet note, especially if you have a sweet tooth like mine J . And second reason, is to welcome my newest niece - Niketa!

Ok just to give you some background, I just love sweets made from Chenna/ Paneer (Cottage Cheese). I just love the way most of them look so pearly white, delicate and elegant but once you bite into them, they just go burst with all the juices and the texture makes you want to chew on it as much as you can, but your mind wants you to just gobble it up so that you could pop another one into your mouth. Ah, sweets!

Ok. So it’s fairly simple. 3 simple steps. Make paneer/ cottage cheese, dunk it in light sugar syrup and cook, then chill in refrigerator and serve. To serve you could have many variations. I prefer it plain but many in my family like it with saffron flavored malai/ clotted cream topping with some dry fruits like pistachios or sliced almonds.

You can only guess how irresistible these were - while pictures were being taken, cham-cham's were disappearing! :)

You need: (makes 7-8 nos.)

For Cham- Cham

Whole milk -  1 Ltr  (1 Qrt)

Lemon juice – 2 (milk you get in  US takes some effort to curdle!!)

Sugar – 2 Cups

Rose/Kewra water – 1- 2 drops (optional if you like the essence)

For the Malai/Clotted Cream

Full  cream milk – 3 Cups (look for cooking cream)

Sugar – 2 Tbsp (adjust to taste)

Green cardamom powder – ¼ tsp

Saffron – a pinch soaked in 3-4 tbsp of warm milk for 20 min.

To garnish:  Sliced pistachios or almonds. 

1. Bring milk to a boil and add the lemon juice.
2. Keep stirring and boiling till you get lumps of paneer/cheese in pale green water residue. You will know that the cheese has totally separated from the water content.
3. Pour this mixture through a muslin cloth placed on a colander and run under cold water to remove any sour taste from the lemons.  Remove any lemon seeds that might have sneaked in somehow.
4. Squeeze out as much water as you can. You will know if its dry enough if you take a small sample between you both palms and rub for sometime and then when you roll it into a ball its smooth without obvious big cracks.
5. Now on a smooth clean surface, knead the paneer/cheese till it forms a crack free, clay kind of dough. This should take 5 min for a person like me who is a little challenged when it comes to muscle power. So pass on this job to someone who is more efficient.  J
6. Now divide this into 7-8 equal portions. Remember these will be almost double in size when they are ready.
7. Roll into small cylindrical shape and gently flatten them. Just enough so that they don’t start rolling when placed on a plate. No, taste will not differ if they roll, this example is just to tell you how gently should you press to flatten them a bit.  J
8. Now in a wide and deep pan boil 5 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar and stir to dissolve completely. The pan should be wide enough to accommodate chum-chums that will almost double in size. Please don’t make them fight for space and sugar syrup. J
9. Now add those paneer/cheese dumplings to the syrup and bring it back to a boil. Now reduce the heat to medium and cover the pot. Cook for 10 minutes.
10. Now flip the dumplings on the other side,  add rose or kewra essence if you wish to , cover and cook for another 15 minutes.
11. Now switch off the heat and keep it as is with lid on for another 10 min.
12. Time to remove the cham- chams from the syrup and transfer to refrigerator to chill.

To make Saffron Malai/ Clotted Cream:

1. In a heavy bottom pan bring milk to a boil. Now on medium low heat, reduce to half  stirring every now and then to avoid sticking to bottom.
2. Now add the 2 tbsp sugar, cardamom powder and saffron.
3. Reduce further to desired consistency. This will thicken a little more once cooled, so take that into consideration while adjusting the consistency.

To serve:

Serve cham-cham with almonds/pistachios or plain. Or drizzle cham-cham with malai and garnish with almonds or pistachios.

Swiss Roll/ Jelly Roll

Oh! You have no idea how excited I am sharing this recipe with you. This comes from a pastry chef himself. So you can be sure that it works – perfectly! While you might have seen numerous recipes giving you 20 different steps to do it, a list of do's and dont's, separating the whites from the yolk,   making simple syrup,  folding 4 different ingredients in a specific order, and still not got it right! But now, the secret of awesome swiss roll is out. Such a fool proof recipe you will be compelled to make it at every given opportunity! Diligently follow measurements and the steps and you won't go wrong ever! (Do read notes at the bottom for tips and tricks!)

Two ingredients that make this super moist and flavorful is the warm mixture of milk + oil, and addition of honey respectively. Your cake will fold very easily and not crack and will have a lovely dewy flavor of honey!

I decided to make two swiss rolls each with a different flavor, since eating just one flavor can a little monotonous at times :). And if you can get two varieties from baking just one cake, why not! Oh, did I give this secret out too!! :)

So one swiss roll was made with strawberries, for which I used home made strawberry jam. While strawberry and cream is a classic combination in itself, but don't under estimate lemon and cream duo, as it is a super vibrant, fresh, zesty and bursting with flavor kind of combination. The tartness of the lemon and the sweetness of cream with the mellow honey flavored cake is a pure joy!!! You just HAVE to give it a try. Buy a bottle of good quality lemon curd, and you will know what I am talking about!! 

I still can't get over this !!!

You need:

For the cake:

Large Eggs – 4 

Egg yolk  of 1 large egg- 1

Sugar – 80 Grams

Honey – 30 grams

Flour – 80 Grams

Milk  - 30 Grams

Oil – 20 Grams

For the strawberry filling:

Whipped Cream – ½ – 1 Cup (depending on how creamy would you like it)

Strawberry Jam – ½ Cup (adjust as per your liking)

For the lemon curd filling:

Whipped cream - ½ – 1 Cup (depending on how creamy would you like it)

Lemon Curd– ½ Cup (adjust as per your liking)

1. First keep the baking pan ready before starting with the cake batter because once the cake mixture is ready you will have to immediately bake it without wasting any time. If you wait for too long, the cake will not rise and will be chewy. To get started apply butter on the baking tray and line the baking tray with a parchment paper. Use a block of butter straight out of fridge and smear it all over the baking tray.  That makes the baking paper stick nicely to the pan. Now place another parchment paper repeat the butter application. Now sprinkle some all purpose flour on the tray and tap it gently as you rotate the tray to uniformly coat the entire baking tray with a thin layer of flour. This will stop the cake from sticking to the tray. and with 2 layers of parchment paper, this becomes fool proof. Makes life easier :)
2. Preheat the oven to  390°F (200°C).
3. Add the eggs, egg yolk, sugar, and honey into a bowl and mix well.
4. Now on a double boiler whisk this well till the mixture becomes lukewarm. If you have a candy thermometer the temperature of the mixture should be roughly 102°F (39°C ). If not, check the temperature with your finger, it should be lukewarm and not too hot, else you will have to a bowlful of sweetened scrambled eggs. And trust me they taste awful!! Some experiences are worth sharing :) 
5. Once the mixture is 102 F, take the bowl away from the heat and start mixing with an electric mixer. Note: this 
6. The mixture will turn into a cream. Keep mixing until there are no air bubbles left. This can take up to 10-12 minutes or more. Basically it should not fall off the whisk when you lift this mixture in your whisk. 
7. Add the sieved flour (all at once) and fold in slowly using a flat spatula. Be gentle as the mixture will lose all air bubbles and cake will fall flat if not folded in gently.  Warm the milk and oil in the microwave and add it to the dough. Again fold in gently. The liquid tends to sink to the bottom of the bowl, so mix with a bottom-to-top movement. 
8. Pour the dough onto the baking pan and level it gently. Yes, please be gentle, this cake is a delicate baby. 
9. Here’s one more trick: To make sure that there are no big air bubbles left in the dough, drop the pan on the table once. OK OK.. I meant face up to let the gentle tap of hard surface at the bottom of the pan push all the air out. Ok, to simplify it further, hold the two ends of the tray and place it an inch above the table. Gently drop the tray. That's it!
10. Put the pan into the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes at 390°F (200°C) until the surface turns golden brown.
11. While the swiss roll is in the oven, make your tea/ coffee and enjoy it. (This is not a part of the recipe, you silly!)
12. Once done, take it out of the oven and heavily drop it onto the table to let the steam in the dough go out. This steam could turn to water later and make the roll soggy. No we don't want a soggy swiss roll after all that whisking! 
13. Next, put another parchment paper on top of it and turn it around to make sure the cake is not sticking to any part of the tray. Carefully strip the baking paper from the top side. 
14. Now evenly spread the strawberry jam followed by whipped cream for the strawberry swiss roll, and lemon curd followed by whipped cream for the latter one.  
15. Gently roll with both your hands to form swiss rolls. The cake will be moist enough to easily roll without cracking. However, you can also use the following technique. Starting from the side closest to you, start to roll the cake using the parchment paper. Gently peel back the parchment paper as you keep rolling. Once done, keep the seam at the bottom so that it doesn't open up. 

The baking pan I use has a size of 30x33 cm. If your baking pan has a different size, you need to scale the amounts of all ingredients accordingly.

For example, if you use a 40x40 cm baking pan, you will need to multiply all the amounts with: (40*40):(30*33) =1.6

If you plan to make two different rolls, each with a different flavor,  cut the cake lengthwise into two long rectangles. Please, please, PLEASE don't cut into two squarish cakes even by mistake as you won't be able to roll it then. So to make it simple, imagine how the roll would look once its ready. And NOW, if you were to cut  this swiss roll into 2 halves how would you cut. Just slice the cake along that very same line!!! Please don't tell me you still did it!! :)

Kalakand / Milk Cake (Can't get easier than this!)

I still can't believe it's that easy!! I have always associated the whole process of making kalakand with a sore arm and a stiff shoulder. The constant stirring, scraping, watching over the milk for hours and hours makes it appear like a foolish project, especially when you can get it in your neighborhood Indian store quite easily. 

But what if you could make kalakand without all that  fuss? What if it was possible in 30 min in a microwave with absolutely no effort? Whenever you wanted! Are you still thinking there is a catch here. Nah! :)

I always liked this sweet meat the way my mom made - a nice nutty, slightly crunchy almost toffy kinds (and not the typical soft and white ones you find in sweet shops). If you like yours the way I like, cook a little longer, else your job will be done 5-10 min earlier! :) 

You need:

Ricotta Cheese – ½ Cup

Milk powder – 1.5 Cup

Sugar – 1/3 Cup (you can add more if you like it sweeter)

Elaichi Powder - 1/2 tsp (adjust to taste)

Milk - 1/2 Cup (optional, to be added in the end only if you want to make your kalakand a little more moist)

Now comes the easiest part!!

1. Mix all the ingredients except cardamom powder in a large microwave safe bowl. 
2. Pop it in the microwave for 20-25 Min. Stir every 5 min, scraping the sides to cook evenly. If you like your kalakand a little more nutty and brownish, then cook for a little longer time till you get a nice golden brown color of your choice. If you want your kalakand to have a stronger cardamom flavor, add a little more towards the end. 
3. Add ½ cup milk in the last 5 min, to add moisture so that it binds well. (this is totally optional since you may want to do this only if you like your kalakand a little moist)
4. Transfer to a well greased tray and let it cool for 1 hour. 
5. Let it cool for 30-45 min. Using a knife cut into squares/ diamonds or any shape of your choice. 
6. Transfer to refrigerator and chill the kalakand.
7. This stays good for weeks if stored in clean, dry, air-tight container in refrigerator. 

* Feel free to add chopped nuts of your choice or saffron to get different flavors and varieties. 
**This recipe is pretty much flexible. You don't necessarily need to mix the ingredients in the exact same proportion (unlike baking!). A little here and there will not do any harm.

Phyllo Cup Desserts - A Gourmet Finger Food

Well, now here's the proof that I have really fallen in love with the Phyllo dough/sheets! I initially started with Phyllo Cup - Appetizers and ended up making Phyllo Cup - Desserts too! 

These bite size devils. give you ample opportunity to taste lot's of desserts and finally pick your favorites and gorge on them! Just the game begin with these tiny bites that maybe gooey, or fruity or cheesy or crunchy or creamy or plain simple irresistible bursts of flavor !! :)

You can fill anything you fancy. Just let your imagination drive you crazy!

You can see in my other post "Phyllo Cup Appetizers - A Gourmet Finger Food". The steps for making the Phyllo cups are exactly the same and I have mentioned it again here (at the bottom of the post) for your easy reference.  

Ideas for the Filling:

• Whipped cream topped with strawberry jam/preserve or even fresh strawberry. 
• Ricotta cheese with fresh chopped berries like blueberries, strawberries, mango
• Chopped banana with cream or nuts
• Melted chocolate topped with nuts.
• Custard of your choice.
• Flavored yogurt with chopped fresh fruits.
• Chocolate chips drizzled with caramel

I could just go on and on!!

*How to make phyllo cups: 

You need: Phyllo dough/ sheet ( found in any Grocery store), Melted butter - approx. 1 tbsp, Small muffin tray 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
2. Place a phyllo sheet and apply melted butter all over the side facing up using a pastry brush.
3. Place the next sheet on top of this sheet. 
4. Apply butter all over the second sheet making sure there are no big air bubbles in between. Repeat this step to add one more layer. So total of 3 layers of phyllo sheets is what you are looking at. 
5. Now cut these layered  phyllo sheets into 2.5 inch x 2.5 inch squares. 
6. Place one square over another in such a way that it forms an eight end star. Ie; don't place one square on top of another, but a little dispersed so that it looks like a star/ flower and does the job of a cup once placed inside the cups of the muffin tin.
7. Lightly grease the muffin tray. Now place sheet on the cup of a  muffin tin and push the centre so that it forms a cup.
8. Now bake it for 7 min or until its golden brown. 
9. Flip the cups gently and bake for 2-3 more minutes so that the base too becomes crispy.  
10. Now they are ready to be filled with anything you fancy!

**As mentioned in my previous post - You can also make these phyllo cups well in advance and store them in an air-tight container. And then just before your party starts fill them up! If you have something that has a lot of syrup or juice, fill the stuffing just before the guests arrive.

Quick Gajar Halwa (Carrot Pudding)

As mentioned in my Fat-free & Sugar-free Gajar Halwa post, I made two batches of gajar halwa to experiment/ compare. Half of the grated carrots were used to make the diet version and the second half to make the rich, creamy gourmet version. This sure is a party winner. Serve this hot halwa with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or gulab jamun (deep fried dumplings in sugar syrup)!

It's a quick recipe if you have khoya (khoa) or mava ready. See my note below to make quick khoya in microwave.

You need: (serves 2)

Carrots – 7-8 nos. (preferably the red variety, grated - use the thick grater in your food processor or hand grater)

Sugar- 4 Tbsp

Cardamom powder – ¼ tsp

Ghee/ Clarified butter – 3 Tbsp

Khoya/ Mawa – 1 Cup

Dry fruits- ¼ Cup (Almonds, Pistachios, Raisins, Cashew nuts, roasted in a little ghee)

1. In a pressure cooker add the grated carrot, sugar and about 2 tablespoons of water. Give a pressure on high flame. Switch off as soon as the second whistle goes off. Immediately ease off the pressure by either lifting the weight or running under cold water. Be careful if you using a big pressure cooker and the carrots are very few, they may burn by the time the second whistle happens. So depending on the kind of cooker you may have to adjust the timing.The idea is to quickly get the moisture out of the carrots and not cook them too much. That is how you will get a juicy halwa but with a good texture. 
2. Add ghee, khoya and cardamom powder. Mix well.
3. Now cook till you get gajar halwa with consistency of your choice.
4. Add the dry fruits once its ready.
5. Serve hot or chilled.

*Remember the halwa will thicken a little once it cools down. So if you plan to eat chilled then stop cooking a little before the consistency you would like to eat your halwa. But if you plan to eat hot, then dry it till the consistency you would want.

**To make instant khoya take a cup of full cream milk powder and add whipping cream enough to get a thick batter kind of consistency. Heat in microwave oven for approx 3 min. Depending on you microwave oven time may vary. When the mixture becomes a little thick and has khoya consistency, it is ready.

***Another way to make khoya - Take full cream milk in a deep bowl. Cook in a microwave oven for 30 min, giving it a stir every 6-7 min.

****Finally one more option – Reduce whole milk on a low flame, stirring intermittently till it reduces to khoya consistency.

Channar Payesh / Chenna Kheer (Cottage Cheese Pudding)

You know India is not just a big, but a diverse country too, when words like Chennar / Channar / Chenna, paneer, all essentially mean cottage cheese and Payesh, payes and payasam refer to pudding. OK now to the food! :)

Its delicate, its super delicate. Not only in the context of texture or the way it should be handled, but in taste too. Very refreshing almost like a palate cleanser kind of dessert. Everything is in such harmony - the texture, the look, the taste. You wonder if you could compare it to fine wine. 

It would be an amazing dessert for diabetics and the calorie conscious too! You can cut down on calories to bare minimum and still find this dessert delectable. But remember, its not a typical super sweet, syrup-y, sticky, deep fried Indian dessert,  it's 'paneer- ki-kheer'. Made from cheese and should be savored liked fine cheese.

In my personal opinion, its again one of those desserts that would also be enjoyed by people  who are not used to typical Indian sweets or even those who don't have a very sweet tooth.

One request! Please, please, please don't use store bought paneer/cottage cheese. Making fresh paneer is the only way to do it right. Spend extra 15 min making paneer, and you won't regret it! For those who have never made paneer at home, just follow the steps as is, and you won't go wrong!

You need: Serves 4

For paneer/ cottage cheese

Milk – 1 Ltr. (you can use whole milk or 2% , for diabetic use 2% milk)

Lemon juice of 1.5- 2 lemons. (yes, you do require that much, sometimes even more)

For the payesh/ kheer:

Milk – 500 ml

Evaporated milk – 200 ml (Can replace this with another 500 ml of milk but then you will have to reduce this till half in quantity over low flame. Adding evaporated milk makes my job easier and faster too)

Light brown sugar – 2 Tbsp (replace with regular sugar but the brown sugar gives a nice earthy, nutty taste and works as a substitute for date-jaggery which is traditionally used for this recipe, but don't panic, regular sugar works just fine! For diabetics or weight watchers, replace with sugar substitute)

Saffron – 6-7 strands

Chopped dry fruits like Almonds, Pistachios, Raisins and Cashews

Making the paneer:

1. In a deep heavy bottom sauce pan bring milk to a boil. 
2. Now add the lime juice and continue boiling till the whey completely separates from milk solids. You know all the milk has curdled, when milk solids are lumpy and the whey  becomes pale yellowish transparent liquid and has absolutely no milky texture at all.  In fact the whey will almost seem, as if screaming – I have no more left in me!! :). 
3. Pass this over a cheese cloth placed on a colander. 
4. Run cold water over it quickly. This helps in keeping the paneer soft and creamy.
5. Hold the end of the cheese cloth and squeeze out all the water. Just be careful when you do this as the heat of the paneer can sometimes be harsh. 
6. Transfer to another bowl and lightly crumble it with your fingers. Keep aside.

Making the payesh:

1. In a heavy bottom pan (preferably non-stick) bring milk to a boil. Reduce flame to simmer and let it reduce to almost half the quantity. Stir intermittently to avoid sticking to the base and burning. 
2. Optional step for calorie conscious folks or diabetics – Cut down both milk and evaporated milk to half.  Boil on low flame to reduce to 3/4th of the quantity. Add 1 slice of bread (with brown edges removed) that has been blended with a little milk to form a smooth paste. This will give the same texture of reduced milk and the flavor will come from the saffron anyways. This is a nice cheat sheet for most recipes that call for reduced milk !:)
3. Add saffron strands, sugar. Boil for another 7-10 min making sure the milk and sugar doe not stick to the base of the pan. 
4. Add paneer and dry fruits. Stir for 1 min. This payesh thickens a little when chilled. So adjust the consistency at this stage by adding a little milk or evaporated milk. 
5. Switch off, cool and transfer to the refrigerator. Chill for 2-3 hours. 

*The milk in India curdles very fast, but in the US, I have no idea what gives milk so much strength to resist curdling :). It takes 2-3 big lemons to do the job. So don't worry, just add more lemon juice if you are not sure if it has curdled completely. You can always wash it off under water to remove too much lemony taste later.

**Make sure you don't use the same spatula used to make paneer while making payesh. You don't want to make more paneer!! :)

***Unlike most Indian sweets, there is no cardamom used. This is to retain the delicate taste of saffron and paneer. Though I am a cardamom addict in sweets, personally prefer this without cardamom. But then, you are free to use it if you like. 

****While there is a lot of debate over sugar substitute not being good for health,  I use Truvia as a sugar substitute whenever required. Not that I am endorsing this product but it does claim to be made from plant extract. I still need to read up more to know how genuine these claims are. Till then, Truvia it is! 

Gajar halwa- 'Fat-free & Sugar-free'! Oh Yeah!!! ( Carrot Pudding)

Yeah! That's true! And trust me, it tastes decent enough too! In fact made two batches of gajar halwa today to experiment/ compare. Half of the grated carrots were used for nice rich creamy halwa and the other half for diet halwa. And it feels nice to say diet halwa was no disappointment. Of course you can't expect the diet one to beat the real stuff, but can you imagine eating gajar halwa to your heart's content with absolutely NO guilt! This is like dream come true! 

Its super quick, super super low calorie dessert. Don't need many things to make it! You still don't believe me when I say its awesome, do you! ;) I am in awe myself! Try it out!


You can also try the regular Gajar Halwa recipe which has all the richness your guests may be looking for!

You need: (serves 2)

Carrots – 300 grams (grated - use the thick grater in your food processor or hand grater)

Sugar-substitute – 4- 6 Tbsp (adjust to taste)

Non-fat milk powder – 12- 14 Tbsp

Cardamom powder – pinch (since there are very few ingredients, be careful while adding as even a little cardamom gives a lot of flavor)

Butter flavored spray or spread  - Totally optional (just to give it a glossy texture, treat this like make-up to please your eyes! :) )

Dry fruits- Almonds, Pistachios, Raisins, Cashew nuts (totally optional)

1. In a pressure cooker add the grated carrot and a tablespoon of water. Give pressure on high flame. Switch off as soon as the second whistle goes off. Immediately ease the pressure by either lifting the weight or running under cold water. Be careful if you are using a big pressure cooker and the carrots are very few, they may burn by the time the second whistle happens. So depending on the kind of cooker you have adjust the timing.The idea is to quickly get the moisture out of the carrots and not cook them too much. If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can use a wide pan to dry out the carrot moisture. Do not cook with a lid on, that's it! 
2. Now you can either continue cooking in this pressure cooker or transfer to a non-stick pan. I just continue in the pressure cooker to avoid extra cleaning. Just that you will have to be a little extra watchful to not let it burn or stick to the bottom when it dries out. 
3. Once all the moisture has disappeared, add the sugar and milk powder and stir well. 
4. Once it's almost dried up add the cardamom powder and adjust sugar and milk powder to taste. Some like it real sweet, and some don't. 
5. If you feel it looks too crumbly and dry, just dissolve a little milk powder in some water and add. Mix well and adjust the consistency. But this preparation will be kind of crumbly since there is no fat!! No Fat - Ah nice!
6. Spray the butter flavored oil (e.g., PAM)  or the butter flavored vegetable oil spread at this stage and switch off. Mix well. (this is totally option as mentioned before)
7. Adding dry fruits is totally optional.  

* While there is a lot of debate over sugar substitute not being good for health,  I use Truvia as a sugar substitute whenever required. Not that I am endorsing this product but it does claim to be made from plant extract. I still need to read up more to know how genuine these claims are. Till then, Truvia it is! 

Baklava

Sweet-Tooth or No Sweet-Tooth, this one is difficult to resist. 

I learnt 3 important lessons while making this sweet meat. Never use butter substitutes to layer phyllo sheets, don't grind all the nuts together. I meant the dry fruit nuts, you silly! And lastly, treat the phyllo sheet like a friend and handle it with confidence- it will listen to you and not break/ fall apart. 

Please read my remarks in the bottom before you  proceed to avoid disasters and heart breaks! :)


You need:

Phyllo dough – 1 pkt (around 10 sheets will be used)

Butter melted - 1 Stick 

Finely chopped nuts of your choice – 1.5 Cups (I used equal qty of pecans, almonds and pistachios)

Sugar - 1/8 cup (2 Tbsp)

Clove powder – 1/8 tsp (optional) 

Nutmeg powder - 1/8 tsp

Cinnamon - 1/8 tsp

Ground Pistachios – To garnish
For the syrup:

Sugar - 2 cups

Water- 1 cup

Lemon juice - 1 tsp 

Rose water - 1 Tbsp

Orange blossom water – 1 Tbsp (skip if you don't have)

Making the syrup:

Place sugar, water and lemon in a pot and let come to a soft boil, simmer for 10 minutes then remove from heat and add rose water and orange blossom water. Now simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely before adding to the sweet. (You can make this syrup once you have put the baklava in the oven for 35-40 min. By the time baklavas come out, syrup would have cooled)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Coarsely grind all the types of nuts in a food processor (one type at a time)
3. Now mix nuts, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon powder and sugar in a bowl. 
4. Butter the baking tray on all sides. Place a phyllo sheet. Now apply butter all over this sheet using a pastry brush. 
5. Place the next sheet on top of this sheet. Apply butter all over the second sheet making sure there are no big  air bubbles in between. Repeat this step to form a layer of 10 phyllo sheets.( simply put, butter each later of the phyllo dough and layer 10 sheets to form a base)
6. Sprinkle nuts uniformly.
7. Repeat the layering process with 5-6 layers on top of the dry fruit filling.
8. Carefully cut the pastry into any shape, most common is square or diamond shape. 
9. Place in oven and bake for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Drizzle the baklava while in the pan with the simple syrup and then let cool completely before serving. Top each piece with ground pistachio.

*Use only unsalted butter and please don't use any other spread or vegetable spread. I tried to avoid butter and instead decided to use melted vegetable spread that tastes like butter. I melted the spread in a dish and soon had a film of vegetable oil floating on water. The phyllo sheets got only water between the layers and I ended up with a sticky gooey baklava instead of the flaky layers. I had to redo to perfect it! :(

** Try using an organic phyllo dough. Keep them frozen till you have everything ready for stuffing, melted butter for layering. These sheets thaw in minutes. Keep a moist kitchen towel handy to cover the those sheets which are in the queue.

***Grind each type of nut separately as each takes different time to grind. If you grind them all together, some may become too fine, paste like and leave oil. 

Jalebi

Ah Jalebis!! 

You need:

Maida/ All purpose flour – ½ Cup
Cardamom Powder – 2 Pinch

Active dry yeast – 1/2 tsp 

Corn flour – 1 tsp
Oil – 1/2 tsp
Yogurt – ½ Tbsp
Warm Water – 2.5 Tbsp (6)

Sugar – 1 Cups

Water – ¾  Cup

Saffron – pinch

Lemon Juice – ½  tsp

Cardamom Powder – 1/8  tsp

Vegetable oil/ Ghee (Clarified butter)  - For deep frying

Making the Jalebi batter:

1. In a mixing bowl, add maida, cardamom powder, dry active yeast and corn flour. Mix thoroughly.
2. Mix oil, yogurt and water in a bowl. Mix well. Add little at a time to the flour mix so that there are no lumps.
3. In a larger pot add very warm water and place the bowl with the batter  inside the larger bowl. Just make sure that the water does not spill  into the batter. Cover the larger bowl with a cling wrap and allow the batter to rest for 30 minutes. You can also pre heat the oven to 180 F for 5 min. Switch off and keep the batter inside the oven, with the door closed. After fermenting batter will be a little lacy. So don't panic. :)

Making the sugar syrup:

1. In the meantime, start making the syrup by mixing water, lemon juice, saffron and sugar in a heavy bottom pan. Cook for 15 minutes on medium heat till you get single thread consistency. You can also use a candy thermometer to make your job easier. Once the syrup reached 200 F/ 95 C, reduce flame to low, simmer for 10-15 min. Add cardamom powder in the end, when the syrup is ready. Else cardamom loses its flavor. Once the syrup is made, switch it off. 

Making the jalebi:

1. Mix the fermented jalebi batter well and put it in a ketchup or mustard bottle with a spout . You can also use a zip lock bag  and snip one end once the batter is filled up. Another option is to use a piping bag (nozzle  number 3). 
2. Squeeze out the batter into the hot oil in small circular motions. To check if the oil is ready, put one  drop of batter in the oil, the batter should sizzle and come up without changing color right away. Jalebi should be in a pretzel shape about 2-3 inches in diameter.
3. Fry until both sides are golden color.
4. Gently remove jalebi using a tong or skimmer.  Shake off excess oil and place directly into sugar syrup.
5. Allow jalebi to remain in the syrup for just a minute (flipping to coat both sides), shake off excess sugar syrup and transfer onto a plate.
6. You can store jalebis in an air tight container for 4-5 days unrefrigerated.

*Traditionally jalebis are deep fried in ghee/ clarified butter. If you don't want to use ghee to deep fry and still want that hint of ghee, just add 2 Tbsp of ghee in the oil you plan to fry jalebis in.