Apple Kheer - Easy 15-Min Apple Kheer (Indian Apple Pudding) Recipe

When I shared the list of 12 easy diwali sweets under 20 mins, it wasn't complete and I had left the last one as a surprise. This apple kheer is the 12th surprise diwali sweet but I must confess the reason why I left it blank - it's because I hadn't decided what to make :D. I went through a number of options but really needed a sweet recipe without ghee since I didn't have any in hand and also wanted to use up the leftover condensed milk from making coconut ladoo, palkova, and chocolate burfi.

So, apple kheer. I love fruit in dessert but hadn't tried any type of kheer with fruits. I had an apple which was handed out as prasad at the temple we went to over the weekend and it seemed like a good way to use it up. I pretty much made up the proportions as I went about preparing the apple kheer but the idea to saute the grated apples is from Priya's recipe.

I made the kheer in the morning (took me ~15 mins to make two servings), took pictures, let it cool, and then refrigerated it before heading to work. In the evening, I found that the apples had absorbed the liquid part and the kheer had become thicker. It was still delicious but check notes after the recipe to see how you can adjust the consistency to your preference.

APPLE KHEER RECIPE

Preparation time: 1 minute
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 2

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups of full fat milk
1/2 cup of grated apples
2-3 tsp of sweetened condensed milk
A pinch of cardamom powder
A few strands of saffron
8 almonds, chopped
1 tsp of butter or ghee

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Bring the milk to boil in a pan and let it simmer on low flame. Stir frequently to prevent it from burning.

2. Meanwhile, in a smaller pan, heat the butter (or ghee) and roast the almonds until light golden brown.

3. Add the grated apple to this and saute for a while. The mixture will turn dry and the apples will soften a bit but still retain the crunch. I did this for about 3 mins or so.

4. Turn attention back to the milk. In about 10 mins or so, the milk would have reduced to half the original amount. At this point, add the cardamom and saffron. Mix and let it cook for another minute.

5. Now add the condensed milk

... and cooked apple-almond mixture.

6. Mix well and turn off the flame.

Apple kheer is ready! How easy was that?

NOTES:

• You can add raisins to the almonds when roasting them. Also, use any other nuts that you prefer, like cashews, instead of almonds. I just feel almonds are apples are a good combination
• Increase the amount of milk if you want a thinner kheer. As I mentioned. the kheer became quick thick on refrigeration
• Adjust the amount of condensed milk to your preferred sweetness levels
• It's normal for the milk to curdle slightly when the apples are added. This is perfectly fine and enhances the taste of the kheer. Don't fight it or despair that it happened :)
• Apple kheer is best served chilled. This is also a great Diwali sweet recipe for kids to get involved in since it's easy and can be enjoyed by them too

Here's a list of easy diwali sweets you can try this festive season.

For apple kheer recipe in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu, etc, please use the Google Translate button in the sidebar.

10-Min Palkova Recipe - Easy Condensed Milk Palkova Sweet for Diwali

Palkova in 10 minutes. Really. What has the world of cooking come to? Traditionally, palkova and thiratipal would require you to painstakingly stir a pan of milk constantly to avoid burning until it reduces to a delicious mulch which is then sweetened. The resultant palkova cannot be compared to this 10-min microwave or stovetop version (let's not kid ourselves) but it's still quite magical to get a good bowl of hot palkova in just 10 minutes. During Diwali, nothing can be more convenient than getting some super quick and easy sweets on the table so you can concentrate on other festival activities at hand.

{Also check out this Rasmalai from Rasgulla Recipe}

On the subject of this particular method of making palkova in the microwave, I must admit that it has some negatives and flaws, in my humble opinion. I followed the method mentioned in tons of blogs around and it worked like a charm, but the resultant palkova was heavy, too sweet, and turned very hard on refrigeration. Also, I found the process of making it in the microwave very messy and, ironically, time-consuming because you have to turn the MW on and off every time the condensed milk threatens to boil over, which is all the time!

{Easy 20-Min Chocolate Peda Recipe, perfect Diwali sweet for kids and adults}

So, while I have taken pictures step by step of making palkova in the microwave, I urge you all to try this on the stovetop. The extra time you need to cook the condensed milk should be fine since the MW method needs constant monitoring too. I also have some suggestions to offset the sweetness of the condensed milk (pls check notes below), do let me know if you try any of these and I would love to update this post with the details since I don't have enough time (or condensed milk) to try this palkova on the stovetop again. Check out this list of Diwali Sweets all under 20 minutes.

10-MIN CONDENSED MILK PALKOVA RECIPE

Preparation time: 1 minute
Cooking time: 9 minutes
Makes 1 cup palkova

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp of plain yogurt
1/4 cup of roasted nuts of your choice (see notes)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Please note: I made this batch of palkova in the microwave and have step by step pictures of that process. Although I haven't tried it myself, I suggest following this process on the stovetop using a heavy-bottomed pan and low heat. The stages of palkova should look very similar as below.

1. Pour the condensed milk in a large glass bowl (if using the MW). The condensed milk will boil and rise substantially so make sure you use a large enough bowl.

2. Microwave for 1 minute on high power. If the condensed milk seems to be almost bubbling over, stop the microwave, let it settle (for a few seconds), and then switch it on again. My MW, as do most, has a stop-start option so I used that.

3. Add 1 tsp curd to the hot condensed milk

mix well, and cook in the microwave for another minute.

The condensed milk will keep bubbling to the top so stop and start the MW as many times as you need. I had to do this roughly every 10 seconds and it was quite annoying and time consuming. If on the stove stop, you can just keep mixing the condensed milk as it curdles due to the yougurt we add (which is the desired result).
4. Repeat this step of adding curd one more time and cook again for 1 minute.

By this time, the condensed milk would have curdled well (if not, you can do one more round of yogurt+cook but this shouldn't be necessary for this amount of condensed milk).

5. Keep cooking in the MW in bursts of 10 seconds until the palkova forms - thick and curdled like in the picture below.

You don't want it to become too dry because the mixture continues to cook even after you stop - it's very very hot - so be careful when handling it or if you decide to take a taste.

NOTES:

• I added 1/4 cup of dry-roasted pistachios to the palkova when it was still hot and mixed them in well. This is to cut down the sweetness. As you know, condensed milk is very sweet on its own and when you are cooking it down removing moisture like in the above process, you are making it even sweeter. I have a sweet tooth but even for me, this palkova was too sweet
• You can add some milk to the condensed milk (maybe equal amounts) and cook it down on a stovetop following the above process of curdling with yogurt. This will help make the palkova softer and less sweet. Worth a try
• I am wondering how it would taste if we add some flour to the condensed milk. I haven't tried this either but I am just trying to think of how to make the consistency a bit softer and make it optimally sweet. Adding unsweetened cocoa powder is another option, of course. It may end up a lot like this chocolate burfi, but more grainy in texture
• Most recipes around suggest adding a tsp of ghee or butter. I didn't feel the need for it since the condensed milk turns quite greasy as it cooks down and didn't feel sticky. Feel free to add it if you'd like the enhanced flavour though

Any ideas for making this easy palkova taste better?

For palkova recipe in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, etc, please use the Google translate button in the sidebar

15-Min Coconut Ladoo Recipe - Coconut Laddu Sweet for Diwali

I love coconut so making coconut ladoo has been high on my things-to-cook list. This coconut laddu recipe has only 2 key ingredients and takes not more than 15 mins to come together, so it's perfect for those looking for quick and easy sweet recipes for Diwali. I had bought some desiccated coconut for rolling the date nut ladoos in and it seemed like a good idea to use them up to make some coconut ladoos for Diwali. They are perfect to be packed and gifted too and takes so little time that I made them on a weeknight after cooking and washing up. Total win!

Now, coconut ladoo snobs (do they exist?) may claim that this is not the real recipe or not the traditional coconut ladoos they know. I don't claim that at all. As I said, this Diwali is all about easy, simple sweets for me that pack well and these ladoos fit the requirements perfectly. You can play with the ingredients and proportions a bit depending on how you like them. I was conscious of too-sweet ladoos so went a bit heavy on the coconut and added a generous portion of roasted almonds too. They tasted delicious and fudgy due to the condensed milk.

You may also want to check out my list of diwali sweets recipes that all take under 20 mins to make.

COCONUT LADOO (LADDU) RECIPE

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Makes 12 ladoos

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of sweetened condensed milk
1 cup of desiccated coconut + more for rolling
12 raw almonds, chopped
1 tsp of butter or ghee + more for greasing

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat the butter/ghee and toast the almonds until golden. Drain and set aside.

2. To the same pan add the condensed milk and desiccated coconut.

3. Mix well and cook on low flame

until the mixture turns quite thick and starts to roll into a ball. This took me about 8 mins but will totally depend how much heat you are using, type of pan, etc. The mixture will stick to your spatula and generally refuse to get stirred anymore. At that point, give in and turn off the flame.

4. Add the roasted almonds, mix them in and let the mixture cool enough for you to handle it.

5. Make ladoos of the desired size and roll them in more desiccated coconut. You can grease your hands with some soft butter or ghee if the mixture is sticky but if cooked right, it shouldn't be hard to shape them. If the ladoo mixture is too sticky, return to the pan for a while longer and cook until ready.

6. Transfer to an airtight container and let them cool completely. Refrigerate for up to 4 days, just remember to keep them out for some time before consuming since the ladoos turn a bit hard when refrigerated.

That's it! How easy are these coconut ladoos? I took them along on a road trip we went to this weekend and they were great to snack on between meals.

NOTES:
1. The sweetness was perfect since I used equal amounts of coconut and condensed milk but you can alter this to your taste
2. Use any nut(s) of your choice or leave them out completely
3. You can also use fresh coconut but the shelf life will be lower and you may need to cook the mixture longer since fresh coconut will be more moist. Desiccated coconut tasted great actually, not at all dry like I was worried it'd be

For coconut ladoo (laddu) recipe in tamil, hindi, marathi, urdu, gujarati, telugu, etc, please use the google translate button in the sidebar

12 Quick Diwali Sweets Under 20 Mins - Easy Diwali Sweet Recipes

Diwali is the best time to enjoy all those few-times-a-year sweets and snacks and this year has been the year of quick and easy sweets recipes for me. Just because you are busy or working or traveling doesn't meant you can't make any sweets at home for the festive season - we just need to get a bit creative about it and not be too finicky that the sweets be 'traditional' and 'authentic'. If you can make a great-tasting sweet or two under 20 mins for Diwali, why not right?

The two biggest time-savers, in my experience, have been:

(a) Condensed milk - needless to say, condensed milk works really well as a base for Indian sweets. Since a lot of our sweets start with thickening milk, this really speeds up the job. The only downside is that it's often hard to regulate the amount of sugar. I made 10-min palkova last week and it was really too sweet, even for me. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious, but I had to add a handful of chopped nuts to cut the sweetness levels. This is just a minor inconvenience compared to the lusciousness condensed milk can bring to Indian sweets though.

(b) Readymade powdered cardamom - this may not be so obvious, but we use cardamom to flavour almost all our sweets and powdering it takes more time than we realise. Buying powdered cardamom is more expensive but the amount of time it saves, especially when you are making lots of sweets (or more than one!), it's definitely worth it. Also, the texture is more uniform than when we pound one or two cardamom pods in a pestle and mortar. I don't like biting into cardamom bits so this is perfect for people like me. Buy the smallest packet you can find and you will be amazed at the convenience it offers.

On that note, here's a list of 12 Diwali Sweets you can make in under 20 Minutes. The list is work in progress so please bear with me. It will be fully updated by next Friday. Enjoy!

1. 10-min Rasmalai (using readymade rasgulla)
2. 15-min Date and Nut Ladoo
3. 10-Min Sandesh (needs fresh chenna)
4. 20-Min Chocolate Burfi (using condensed milk)
5. 20-Min Rava Laddu
6. 20-Min Kaju Katli
7. 15-Min Chocolate Kalakand (using readymade khoya)
8. 15-Min Besan Ladoo
9. 15-Min Maladu
10. 10-Min Paneer Kheer
10. 15-Min Coconut Ladoo
11. 10-Min Palkova
12. 15-Min Apple Kheer

Disclaimer: the times mentioned against the recipes are likely to differ according to your cooking experience level, heat used in cooking, general speed in the kitchen, and how fast you can open a can of condensed milk. Please plan accordingly and take it as a guideline only :)

Have a wonderful Diwali 2013 you guys. And let the sweets flow and make it even more special.

Note - for Diwali sweets recipes in tamil, hindi, marathi, urdu, gujarati, telugu, etc, please use the google translate button in the sidebar

Challas or Sarlas - Kerala Onion Salad for Biryani, Parotta, Cutlet

Challas or Sarlas is a very Kerala thing and I wouldn't be surprised if many people outside have never heard of it. Challas is basically thinly sliced red onion that's soaked in vinegar, salted, spiced, and served commonly with Kerala biryani, cutlets, parotta, fried rice, etc. It has a wonderful tangy-sweet flavour from the vinegar and onions and I am sure is a Keralised version of some anglican dish introduced by foreign visitors many years ago.

I have made challas a few times but never thought of sharing the recipe, mainly because it's so ridiculously simple. So this is not much a recipe-sharing exercise but more of me introducing something possibly new to you all :) There are a few different variations to Challas across Kerala but this is how we Kottayam folks make it. It's a variation of raita in a way, but curd is not added to this onion salad.

Challas with Egg Biryani

Try some challas the next time you make biryani and you'll fid how addictive it really is. The onions turn very soft and the pink-purple gets distributed through the salad making it look really pretty. The challas in my pictures above hasn't soaked for too long so it still holds its colours well but in time, it gets softer and pinker overall. A cucumber tomato raita is another excellent accompaniment to Biryani.

CHALLAS OR SARLAS RECIPE


A Kerala-style onion salad popularly served with biryani and cutlets.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 1 cup

Ingredients:
- 1 cup red or purple onions, sliced thin
- 1 green chili, chopped
- 2 tsp vinegar
- 1/3 tsp salt (adjust to taste)

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together and set aside for 30 mins. The onions will let out water during this time. Squeeze out the water and place in another bowl. Add more salt if required.

Serve challas with biryani or cutlet for optimum taste! Be sure to hand out some mint afterwards, because true to their nature, the onions will cause some bad breath ;)

Variations: Add 2 tbsp of grated carrot and/or 1/4 tsp of grated ginger to the challas for a different flavour.

Date & Nut Balls: 15-Min Date Nut Ladoo (Laddu) Recipe for Diwali

Date and Nut Balls or Ladoos (Laddus) are probably the quickest and easiest sweet you can make for Diwali this year. There are many variations of these delcious ladoos and mine are probably the most stripped down and basic version. I cooked down the dates a bit and mashed in the nuts to give it a nice texture but you can easily skip this step and make raw date nut balls too.

Most supermarkets here have pitted medjool dates which are perfect for making date ladoos. Medjool dates are large, very soft and fleshy, and have tons of fiber in them. Since dates are naturally sweet, you don't need to sweeten these ladoos although you can if you want to. To make vegan date nut balls, skip the butter or ghee and add some neutral oil or coconut oil for shaping the balls.

As it often happens with ladoos, you can decide what you want to add to these along with the dates. The dates form the perfect base being sweet and sticky, and you can add dry fruits, nuts, chocolate chips, sesame seeds, desiccated coconut, etc. These ladoos are also much healthier than tranditional sweets like maladu, besan ladoo, sandesh, gulab jamun, etc. I won't argue that they are tastier but these dates nuts balls are surely a great treat and quite addictive too. Try them this Diwali and share with friends and family. I really wanted to add 2 tbsp of chocolate chips in them but didn't have any in hand. Try that for me, won't you :)

15-MIN DATE & NUT BALLS (LADOO)

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Makes 12 balls

INGREDIENTS:
12 medjool dates (or any soft dates)
1 cup of raw mixed nuts of your choice
1 tsp of butter or ghee
1/2 cup of desiccated coconut (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Remove seeds and grind the dates to a coarse paste. Set aside.

2. Dry roast the nuts one kind at a time until they start to brown in patches.

3. Pulse this in a mixie or food processor until you have a coarse mixture. It's best to leave a few chunky pieces for some texture in the ladoos.

4. Heat the butter or ghee in a non-stick pan.

5. Add the dates and cook on low flame until it turns soft - about 3 mins. It will absorb the butter/ghee completely too.

6. Add the chopped nuts and blend in. Turn off heat.

The mixture will be sticky and a bit tough to blend but keep going with your spatula and soon you will have mass of dates and nuts blended in perfectly.

7. When it's cool enough to handle, make ladoos of your desired size and roll in the desiccated coconut. You can also use roasted sesame seeds, poppy seeds, etc in place of coconut. Or just leave the dates ladoos plain.

I hope you make these delicious dates and nuts ladoo for Diwali this year. They keep well at room temperature for up to one week and make a great, healthy snack in addition to being a nice sweet to distribute to friends and family for Diwali since they pack well and won't crumble or lose shape easily. Check out a list of easy Diwali sweets here.

For Dates and Nuts Ladoo recipe in hindi, tamil, marathi, telugu, urdu, etc, please use the Google translate button in the sidebar. 

Sandesh Recipe - How to Make Sandesh - Easy Diwali Sweets

Sandesh (Sondesh, Shondesh) is a Bengali sweet that's made from fresh chenna. It's absolutely delicious the best part about making sandesh at home is that you can choose the type of flavours you want and more importantly, sweetness levels. I like my milk sweets mildly sweet if possible, so my sandesh is a bit on the less sweet side. I decided to flavour it with a hint of kesar (saffron) and some cardamom powder, that's it. I am not a fan of heavy kesar flavour too so I chose to just dab the sandesh with it.

{Also check out super easy gajar ka halwa recipe made in a pressure cooker}

I won't be able to make a lot of sweets and snacks for Diwali this year but these quick and easy sweet recipes do come in handy for those strapped for time. Although you do need some fresh chenna to make sandesh, it's very little hands-on cooking time to make chenna, just make and hang it there and go about some other work while it gets ready to be converted into something delicious. Here are the step by step instructions to make chenna.

The difference in colour in the above two pics is due to lighting. The first one was taken in the late evening immediately after making the sandesh and the second one next day morning after refrigerating them overnight. It took every ounce of my will power not to pop them all into my mouth fresh after making them!

For making enough chenna for 6 sandesh, you need 500 ml milk. Check detailed recipe to make chenna at home and scale the amount of milk to get the required number of sandesh. I definitely recommend making more than 6 at a time.

{Easy 10-min rasmalai recipe - a definite crowd pleaser. Make some this Diwali}

SANDESH RECIPE

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes
Makes 6 sandesh

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of chenna
2.5 tbsp of sugar
A small pinch of cardamom powder
A few strands of saffron
1 tbsp of warm milk
A tiny pinch of salt (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

0. Soak the saffron strands in the warm milk.

1. Once you have made the chenna and kneaded it to a smooth-ish consistency, add the sugar, salt and cardamom powder to it.

2. Knead again lightly with your fingertips until the mixture is well combined.

3. Transfer to a pan and cook on low heat to remove the rawness of the chenna.

4. The mixture will start to let out some moisture and turn soft and mushy. Keep stirring until it starts to leave the sides of the pan. If you overcook, the chenna will turn dry so stop when the mixture is moist and coming together as a lump.

5. Transfer to a bowl and add the saffron+milk if you'd like (I just dabbed the strands on after shaping). When the mixture is warm, shape into small balls, and flatten lightly. You can use moulds at this stage (check notes) too.

If you want a milder kesar flavour like me, add some saffron strands on the shaped sandesh.

You can serve this immediately but I wanted mine chilled so I refrigerated it. That's it! An easy Diwali sweet is now ready :)

NOTES:
- I referenced sandesh recipes from BongMom and Dassana before making this. Both of them use jaggery which I am sure tastes amazing but I didn't have any in hand. I also used proportions to my own taste. (BongMom has used some very cool stone moulds for making sandesh!)
- Buy powdered cardamom to make your sweet-making a much easier process. It costs more than cardamom pods but totally worth it, in my opinion
- You can add some cocoa powder before cooking the chenna for a chocolate sondesh. I was very tempted to do this as well but refrained

For sandesh (sondesh) recipe in tamil, hindi, marathi, urdu, gujarati, telugu, etc, please use the google translate button in the sidebar