Sweets To Prepare For Diwali 2011

Sweets served during the days of Diwali have a special meaning. Serving sweets to guests at home this Diwali is a symbol of joy and prosperity to the receiver. As Diwali is just a few days away, your Diwali calendar would now be full with things to do. There’s the shopping, cleaning, decorating, inviting and organising. Plus the preparation of delicious dishes to serve to guests when they arrive. Here are two simple and easy to prepare recipes to help you lighten the load this Diwali 2011;

1. ABC Halwa (Apple, banana, carrot Halwa)

Ingredients:

• One cup Grated apple (without the skin)
• One cup grated carrot
• One cup mashed bananas
• One cup Milk
• Two cups of sugar
• 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
• Grated dry fruits mix
• Three tablespoon pure ghee

To prepare:

• Boil the milk and add the grated carrots to the milk.
• Cook on a low heat till the carrots are soft and cooked.
• Add grated apple and the mashed banana and simmer till the mixture thickens.
• Add sugar and cardamom powder then mix well.
• In a separate pan heat the ghee and add the mix to it.
• Keep on stirring to prevent the mix from sticking to the bottom.
• Cook till the ghee separates from the mix.
• Remove from heat and cool
• Garnish with dry fruits.
• Serve hot

2. China grass (Agar0agar) burfi (fudge)

If you don’t have much time and need a quick sweet for this Diwali then this is the one you should try;

Ingredients:

• ½ liter of milk
• 8 grams of china grass strands
• Sugar 250 grams
• One cup of warm water
• Grated dry fruits for garnish
• Edible silver leaf for decoration

To prepare:

• Cut the china grass strands into small pieces. Soak the strands in warm water for few minutes till they are soft.
• In the meantime boil the milk
• Drain the water out of the china grass strands and add to the boiling milk
• Lower the heat and simmer the milk till the pieces are full dissolved
• Add the sugar and stir to dissolve and prevent the mixture from setting or sticking to the bottom.
• Grease a flat pan and pour the mix into the pan add the dry fruits (you can also add the dry fruits when boiling the milk).
• Let is set and cut into the desired shapes and your Burfis are ready to serve.
• Decorate with edible silver leaf

Surprise your family and friends this Diwali 2011 by cutting the Burfi in interesting shapes and adding smiley faces with dry fruits. You can even add a little food coloring to the milk to get more exotic results.