Raw Mango Dal

Summer is here and raw mangoes have flooded the market. So I thought of making hay (or should I say Mango Dal) while the sun shines. Since mangoes are seasonal, we do not get a chance to cook this dish everyday. But preparing it is quite simple. Moreover, the dish breaks the monotony of having regular Dal and makes for a refreshing change.

Ingredients:

1. Raw Mango - 1 (Peeled and chopped into 1 cm cubes. You can retain the peel if you wish to)
2. Toor Dal - 1 cup
3. Garlic - 5-6 pods (chopped finely)
4. Ginger - 1 inch piece (chopped finely)
5. Red chilies - 4-5 (broken into halves)
6. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp.
7. Salt - to taste
8. Mustard - 1 tsp.
9. Oil - 1 tbsp.

Procedure:

1. Cook Dal ( with water) and the raw mango cubes separately. I used the cooker to cook the Dal and microwaved the raw mango at maximum for 2 minutes. Mash the Dal completely.
2. In a pan, heat oil. Season with mustard seeds. when they splutter, add the ginger, garlic and red chillies. Saute for a few seconds.
3. Add the raw mango and salt and turmeric and saute for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the mashed Dal and a little water if required. Let it boil for around 5 minutes till the raw Dal smell is gone.
5. Switch off the stove and serve with hot rice and papad.

Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1. Oats - 1 cup
2. Wheat flour - 1 cup
3. Butter - 100 g.
4. Sugar - 1/2 cup
5. Baking soda - 1/2 tsp.

Procedure:

1. Melt the butter to room temperature.
2. Sieve the wheat flour and baking soda together.
3. Mix in the wheat flour, oats and sugar into butter and mix to make a crumbly cookie dough (pic 1)
4. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
5. Make small balls out of the cookie dough and flatten them on a baking tray (pic 2). Make sure there is space in between in case the cookies expand while being baked.
6. Bake at 200 degrees C for 25 minutes and cool to room temperature. (pic 3).

pic 1

pic 2

pic 3

Cucumber Raita

This is a salad I usually make to accompany Pulao or even Vatta-Kozhambu Sadam.
It has a cooling effect because of the curds and the cucumber.

Ingredients:

1. Cucumber - 1
2. Curds - 200 ml
3. Green chillies - 2 or 3 
4. Oil - 2 tsp.
5. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
6. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
7. Coriander leaves - for garnishing

Procedure:

1. Cut the ends of the cucumber, peel it and grate it. You can also finely chop it alternatively.
2. Add the cucumber to the curds and add salt as per taste.
3. In a small kadai, heat oil, add mustard seeds. After the mustard splutters, add slit green chillies and chopped curry leaves. Season the Raita with this.
4. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Tomato and Onion Raita

Raita is a kind of salad made with curds. In Tamil, it is called Thayir Pachadi. Tomato and Onion Raita is a basic Raita used to accompany Pulao or Biryani.

Ingredients:

1. Tomatoes - 4 (diced)
2. Onions - 2 ( thinly sliced
3. Curds - 200 ml.
4. Green chillies - 2-3 (slit length-wise)
5. Salt - to taste
6. Oil - 2 tsp
7. Mustard - 1 tsp.
8. Coriander leaves - for garnishing

Procedure:

1. Add the tomatoes and onions to the curds.
2. Add salt as per taste
3. In a small kadai, heat oil, temper with mustard seeds and add green chilies. Season the Raita with this.
4. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Italian Salad

This is one salad I really love. I can substitute an entire meal with multiple helpings of this.

Ingredients:

1. Bell peppers ( Red, Yellow and Green) - 1 each
2. Baby Corn - 2-3
3. Sweet Corn - 1 tbsp.
4. Broccoli - 15-20 small florets
5. Olives (gutted and sliced) - 1 tbsp.
6. Fresh Basil leaves ( optional) - 5-6 (finely chopped)
7. Olive oil - 1 tbsp.
8. Italian seasoning (oregano, basil, chilli flakes, thyme, etc.)
9. Salt - as per taste

Procedure:

1. Cut the bell peppers and baby corn into 2 inch long thin strips.
2. In a pan, heat olive oil, add in the peppers, baby corn, corn, broccoli and saute for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the basil leaves and olives. 
4. Add salt and seasoning as required and serve.

Green Moong Sprout Salad

This is a salad I really hate, but G loves it a lot. So here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Whole Green Moong - 1/2 cup
2. Onion - 1 
3. Tomato - 1
4. Salt - to taste
5. Pepper - to taste
6. Lemon juice - 2 tsp.

Procedure:

1. Soak the Green Moong in water for 3-4 hours and tie it up in a wet muslin cloth and leave it overnight to sprout.
2. To this sprouted Moong, add very finely chopped onion, very finely chopped tomato, salt and pepper .
3. Add a dash of lemon juice and toss well.

Sweet Corn and Pomegranate Salad

This is the new age salad served in most South Indian weddings of the present day.

Ingredients:

1. Cooked sweet Corn - 2 cups
2. Pomegranate seeds - 1/4 cup
3. Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
4. Oil - 2 tsp.
5. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
6. Salt - as per taste

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a kadai and temper with mustard seeds.
2. Add in the cooked corn seeds and salt and switch off the stove.
3. Add in the pomegranate seeds and grated coconut and toss well.

Carrot Kosambari

I'm on a salad recipe spree. Here's another salad which is easy to make and adds to health.

Ingredients:

1. Carrots - 2 or 3 (grated_)
2. Green chillies - 2 (finely chopped)
3. Lemon juice - 1-2 tsp.
4. Salt - as per taste
5. Oil - 1 tsp.
6. Mustard - 1 tsp.
7. Coriander leaves - for garnishing

Procedure:

1. In a small kadai, heat oil, temper with mustard seeds, add green chillies. Season the grated carrots with this. 
2. Add salt as per taste and garnish with lemon juice and finely chopped coriander leaves

Cucumber Kosambari

Kosambari is South Indian salad. Although salads never take the center stage in a S.I. meal, it is usually prepared as part of traditional and elaborate meals to fill in a part of the banana leaf. Given that there is an emphasis on eating healthy these days (which is actually catching up as a trend), why not revive a few age old healthy recipes and make them part of our everyday meals?

Ingredients:

1. Cucumber - 1 (very finely chopped)
2. Moong Dal - 1/2 cup (soaked in water for 2-3 hours)
3. Grated coconut - 1 tbsp.
4. Salt - as per taste.
5. Pepper powder - as per taste
6. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
7. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
8. Coriander leaves - for garnishing
9. Oil - 1 tsp.

Procedure:

1. Keep the chopped cucumber separate. If mixed with the other ingredients, it would leave out water and the salad would become soggy. Mix it into the salad only while serving.
2. Drain out the water from the soaked Moong Dal.
3. In a small kadai, heat oil, temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves and season the Moong Dal with this. Mix in the grated coconut into this and add the coriander leaves.
4. Just before serving, add equal amounts of chopped cucumber and the seasoned Moong Dal, add salt and pepper as per taste and toss well.

Imarti

Unlike the average human whom I have met in life,I knew right from childhood that Jalebi and Jahangiri were two different sweets. I used to like the crispness of Jalebi and the syrup sticking onto it, but not its sour filling and its dirty yellow colour. I used to like the colour and sweetness of Jahangiri but not its sogginess ( at least that was how the ones I have eaten always were). The fact that they had a reputation of being "boring"(they were served invariably in South Indian weddings on the left side of the leaf  and more often than not, these remained on the left side even after the eater has gotten up) didn't help too. In fact the South Indian way of pronouncing Jahangiri was Jaangri, which sounded really local. What I didn't know was that there was a North Indian version of Jahangiri, called Imarti which used the same ingredients, but was fried crisper and didn't look as heavy as Jahangiri. This was introduced to me by Rumi Foods in our FC. Now Imarti was the right combo. It was crisp, orange in colour, sweet and had a coating of the sugar syrup on it. And it is one of the rare Indian sweets that can be served as dessert ( will write more about the eligibility criteria for desserts in another post). Not as a dessert as is, but definitely in combination with Rabdi.

I googled for the recipe and found multiple sources which were more or less the same. But I was really scared if I could execute this mega-plan. But having successfully done it in the first go, I can confidently say that it isn't as complicated as it sounds. As I have already mentioned in my earlier blogs, its best not to mess around much with sweet recipes. Just follow them akkakka (copy-paste).

The recipe was made easier by mom. She spared me some Urad batter while grinding for Idli batter and that reduced my effort greatly.

Ingredients:

1. Whole Urad Dal - 1cup
2. Rice flour - 2 tbsp.
3. Sugar - 1 cup
4. Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp.
5. Saffron colour ( Kesar powder) - 1/4 tsp
6. Saffron petals ( optional) - around 10-15
7. Oil - 5-6 tbsp. ( for frying)
8. Ghee - 1 tbsp.

Procedure:

1. First we need to make the syrup for soaking the fried Imartis. To one cup of water, add one cup of sugar, saffron petals, a pinch of saffron colour and cardamom powder and boil for 10-15 minutes or until the syrup becomes sticky. Experts call it one string consistency, but in layman terms, if you take a drop of the syrup between 2 fingers, it should stick. Intuitively, it should not be so thin that the Imarti soaks it up immediately and tears apart ( and become jaaangi!) and also not so thick that even after soaking for quite some time, the Imarti doesn't soak it at all. The syrup should be at room temperature or slightly warm, definitely not to be used as soon as it is prepared.
2. The Urad must be soaked for around 3-4 hours and ground in the grinder for around half an hour. (like it is done for Idli batter). In fact I borrowed around 2 cups of ground Urad batter from mom while she was making Idli batter.
3. To make the Imarti batter, mix 2 tbsp. of rice flour with 2 cups of ground Urad batter and a pinch of saffron colour (optional; you really don't need to add this; i just added it out of enthusiasm) and whisk well to form a lump-free batter with a cake dough like consistency. If its like cookie dough consistency, we can add very little water. It will be a little slimy and will not pour easily like idli batter.
4. Take a milk cover and wash it well. We need to make a small hole at the bottom of this. Heat a match stick or a toothpick and pierce it through the cover to make a hole of the size of this alphabet: o. Maybe a litttttle bigger. The idea of using a hot stick is that the sides of the hole get sealed and will not expand due to pressure. Fill the cover with the Imarti batter.
5. In a flat-bottomed kadai ( it is important that the kadai is flat bottomed), heat oil and ghee. The height of the oil/ghee in the kadai must be around 2 cm. The oil should not become too hot. Do not use a copper bottom kadai as it heats up very fast. Nonstick pans are best to use.
6. When the oil is slightly warm, start pressing the cover and pour in the batter in the shape of Imarti ( a circle in between and then spiral rings around the circumference).Its actually quite easy to make the shape, considering I (with my abysmally low art quotient) could do it decently. It is of utmost important that the Imartis are laid when the oil is not hot. Otherwise they may break or burn. Around 4-5 Imartis can be poured in a single batch.
7. Slowly increase the heat (not very high) and fry the Imartis till they turn crisp. You can feel this when u touch the ladle against the Imartis. They will be flexible initially, but will soon turn more crisp/solid. Turn over and fry till it turns slightly golden. Do not fry for too long a time ( it will turn brown and get burnt) and for too less a time ( It might not be crisp or the raw Urad taste might remain).
8. Now remove from the oil and soak in the syrup for 2-3 minutes. For the next batch of Imarti frying, you might want to switch off the stove for a few minutes, pour in the Imartis and then light it again. This will prevent the Imartis from getting burnt.
9. Remove the Imartis  from the syrup after 2-3 minutes and serve as is or with Rabdi poured over it.

The syrup

The batter

Imartis getting fried

Second batch

Ready to eat

Milagu Kozhambu

Ingredients:

1. Urad dal - 5 tsp.
2. Pepper - 2 tsp.
3. Red chillies - 3
4. Curry leaves - a lot ( around 30-40 leaves)
5. Asafoetida - 1/2 inch piece
6. Tamarind pulp - 1 cup 
7. Salt - to taste
8. Jaggery - a small pinch ( optional)
9. Oil - 3 tsp.
10. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.

Procedure:

1. In 2 tsp. of oil, roast asafoetida, pepper and red chilies. Keep them aside. In the same oil, roast urad dal till it turns slightly reddish and keep it aside. Now roast the curry leaves in the remaining traces of oil. Grind them all together.
2. In a kadai, heat a tsp. of oil and season with mustard seeds.
3. Add tamarind pulp and boil till the raw smell of tamarind is gone.
4. Add salt and the ground masala.
5. Boil for 5-10 minutes till the gravy thickens. Add a pinch of jaggery to neutralise the spicy taste.

This kozhambu can be stored for upto a week in the fridge like Vattal Kozhambu.

This tastes good when eaten with paruppu sadam. Add a tbsp. of this as a side-dish for dal rice or just plain white rice with ghee/gingelly oil.

In case you need some cultural introduction to Milagu Kozhambu and do not know how much of  it must be consumed, here is a bit of caution: Since this is quite spicy, make sure you add the kozhambu in a moderate quantity and not pour it into rice like rasam :P

Once I had made this kozhambu and kept in the fridge and my m-i-l thought it was ordinary "saaru" and poured a huge amount into rice. And the rest is history. So be careful!

Mor Koozhu with Ragi

Mor Koozhu is traditionally a poor man's dinner made by boiling together rice flour and buttermilk with spices. This version is Paatti's innovation in order to consume other grains like Ragi which do not feature in many recipes in Tam-Brahm cuisine. This is a quick recipe and ideal for breakfast or a light snack too.

Ingredients:

1. Ragi flour - 2 tbsp.
2. Curds - 1 cup diluted with 1 cup water (to make buttermilk)
3. Green chilly or red chilly or Mor Milagai(preferable) - 1 broken into 3-4 pieces.
4. Curry leaves - 5-6
5. Oil - 2-3 tsp.
6. Mustard - 1/2 tsp.
7. Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp.
8. Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp.
9. Salt - to taste

Procedure:

1. Dissolve Ragi flour in the buttermilk making sure no lumps are formed. Add asafoetida powder and salt to this and stir.
2. In a kadai, heat oil, season with mustard seeds, urad dal, chilly and curry leaves.
3. Pour in the dissolved ragi and cook on medium flame with constant stirring.
4. Keep stirring till the mixture reaches a glue-like consistency. 
5. Switch off the flame and cool for 5 minutes and the mixture will turn more solid.
6. Serve immediately while it is still warm.

For the original Mor Koozhu recipe, use rice flour instead of Ragi flour.

Ragi flour dissolved in buttermilk

When glue-like consistency is reached.

Corn in a Cup

I do not remember seeing sweet corn ever in my life till a few years ago unless they were found in sweet corn soup in a Chinese restaurant. I was then under the impression that the soup tasted sweet and it contained corn,  hence the name. I didn't know that "sweet corn" existed.
But a few years ago there seemed to be a revolution where sweet corn was getting popularized in India by small stalls which sold "corn in a cup" as an eat-in-between snack. You could find these stalls outside malls, multiplexes, supermarkets, amusement parks etc. In fact the first place where I found it was in Infy campus. Of course these days its found at every street corner, but back then it was available only at places where you come with a mindset of paying more than what the stuff is worth and you can guess why.  The cup used to be "small","medium" or "large". I personally felt they should have been called "extremely small", "very small" and "small". Of course the price for these used to be "expensive", "very expensive" and "extremely expensive".
Soon we started getting corn in different forms - frozen; fresh,but processed with seeds separated; fresh sweet corn packed etc; which made it feasible for us to make "corn in a big cup" at home. Among the various available forms, I suggest you go for the "fresh sweet corn with the cob" version. The seeds are juicier and fresher in this case. You get these in all supermarkets or even on the roadside in some places like Commercial Street or Chat Street.

Ingredients:

1. Fresh Sweet Corn - 2 cobs
2. Seasoning as per requirement.

Procedure:

1. Boil the sweet corn in a cooker (with enough water to submerge) it for 3-4 whistles. Break the corn cob into two if it doesn't fit into the cooker.
2. After cooling it to room temperature, remove the seeds from the cob. This is much easier than it sounds, actually. You just need to use a blunt knife as a wedge between the vertical rows of corn seeds as shown in pic 1. The seeds will come off easily with a little pressure. 
3. The seeds will look as shown in pic 2. Season it as follows according to your favorite flavor.

Seasoning:

1. Classic Salted: In a kadai, mildly heat a tsp of butter ( just enough for it to melt). Add 2 tbsp of corn seeds. Add salt as per taste. stir well and serve.
2. Lemon Pepper: To the classic version, add half a tsp. of pepper and a dash of lemon juice. Stir well and serve.
3. Masala: To the classic version, add chilli powder/sambhar powder/pav bhaji masala and a dash of lemon. Stir well and serve.
4. Chat: To the classic version, add chat masala powder and a dash of lemon. Stir well and serve.
5. Italian: In the classic version, along with butter add a tsp. of cheese spread and add Italian seasoning ( Oregano+ Chilli flakes leftover from a pizza delivery will also do). Stir well and serve.
6. Chinese: Crush 1/4 inch of ginger, 2 pods of garlic, 1/2 tsp. soya sauce and 1/2 tsp. vinegar. Add this paste to the classic version. Stir well and serve.
7. Pudina: Grind 2 green chillies and around 10-15 mint leaves. Add one tsp. of this paste and a dash of lemon to the classic version. Stir well and serve.

pic 1

pic 2

Yield from one sweet corn

Milagu (Pepper) Rasam

Ingredients:

1. Toor Dal - 2 tsp.
2. Coriander seeds - 1 tsp.
3. Pepper - 1 tsp.
4. Red chilly - 1
5. Jeera - 1 tsp.
6. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
7. Thick tamarind extract - 1/2 cup
8. Turmeric - a pinch
9. Tomato - 1 finely chopped
10. Salt - to taste
11. Ghee - 2-3 tsp.
12. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
13. Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp.
14. Coriander leaves - for garnishing.

Procedure:

1. Lightly roast pepper, red chilli, toor dal, coriander seeds, jeera and curry leaves in a tsp. of ghee and grind them to a powder. Do not roast them till they change colour. They should be very lightly roasted.
2. In a vessel, heat the tamarind pulp with tomatoes and a pinch of turmeric powder and allow to cook till the raw smell of tamarind is gone. 
3. Add the ground powder, salt and cook on medium flame for 5 minutes or till  the rasam starts boiling.
4. Add more water (around 250 ml) to dilute the rasam and bring to a boil.
5. In a small kadai, heat a tsp. of ghee, splutter mustard seeds. Add Hing powder to it and season the rasam with it.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves.
7. Serve with hot rice.

Milagu rasam is supposedly good for you when you catch a cold.

Vattal Kozhambu

Vattal means dried food. This kozhambu called so because it is not generally made with fresh vegetables, but with dried vegetables, usually, dried manathakkali or sundakkai, but in rare cases it is prepared with other vattal like lady's finger vattal also.
Kozhambu can also be made with fresh onions or fresh lady's finger or methi leaves. For the fresh vegetable version of this Kozhambu refer to Vendhaya Keerai Kozhambu. That recipe differs from this slightly, although both recipes can be used interchangeably.
This is Paatti's version of Vattal Kozhambu.

Ingredients:

1. Manathakkali (Black Nighshade) or Sundakkai (Turkey Berry) Vattal (dried form) - 2 tsp.
2. Tamarind pulp - 1 cup
3. Asafoetida - 1 inch piece
4. Urad dal - 2 tsp.
5. Methi seeds - 1 tsp.
6. Curry leaves - 2-3 sprigs.
7. Coriander seeds - 1 tsp.
8. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.
9. Toor Dal - 1 tsp.
10. Red chillies - 2 (optional)
11. Gingelly oil - 1 tbsp.
12. Salt - to taste

Procedure:

1. Dry roast Methi seeds. Roast Urad Dal, Hing, Dhania and Curry leaves in 1 tsp. of oil. Grind them all together to make the powdered masala.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. Season with mustard seeds,. When the mustard splutters add toor dal and fry lightly till toor dal starts turning reddish. 
3. Add the vattal and roast till the aroma emanates. Add one or two red chillies if you like a little extra spice.
4. Add tamarind pulp and the masala powder and boil till the raw smell of tamarind is gone.
5. Add salt as required and boil for 3-5 minutes or till the gravy thickens.
6. Switch off the flame.
7. Serve with hot rice with a spoon of gingelly oil and sutta appalam (roasted rice papad).

Apple Fritters (Bajji)

I wouln't say this is the tastiest snack I have ever made, but if you have bought apples and they turn out to be sour and you don't feel like eating it as fruit, this is a good alternative.
This is paatti's recipe and she suggested it when I was bugging her for some idea for a snack this evening.

Ingredients:

1. Apple - 1
2. Besan - 1 cup
3. Rice flour - 1/2 cup
4. Cooking soda - a pinch
5. Asafoetida powder- a pinch
6. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp. or as per taste
7. Salt - as per taste
8. Oil - for frying ( around 5-6 tbsp)

Procedure:

1. Mix all ingredients except the apple and oil in a bowl, add water and mix to make a thick homogeneous batter ( pic 1). The batter must be thicker than idli batter. When u take it in a spoon and pour it, it should drop down in blobs and not smoothly like dosa batter. Cooking soda is optional. Paatti's tip: If you do not want to use cooking soda, you can add a tbsp. of dosa batter instead for the fermented effect.
2. Core the apple and cut it into semi circular discs (pic 2).
3. Heat oil in a kadai.
4. Dip the apple slices in the batter so that they are coated with a thin layer of batter all over and fry it in the oil on a medium flame. You can add 5-6 such pieces at a time ( pic 3).
5. Turn over and fry evenly till they turn golden brown.
6. Remove the fritters using a strainer, and place on a paper napkin to remove the excess oil ( pic 4).
7. Serve with imli chutney.

Experimental variation:
Try adding a pinch of cinnamon powder instead of asafoetida powder in the batter.

pic 1

pic 2

pic 3

pic 4

Gajar (Carrot) ka Halwa

This is one of the most popular sweets and also one of the first sweets any Indian would try their hand at, probably second only to Gulab Jamun, in both aspects.
I found these really tempting juicy red carrots in Yelahanka Farmers' market the other day and immediately decided to make halwa for no particular occasion. I could not see any better reason for those red carrots to be born in this world than to be part of my halwa. Although carrot halwa can be made with both red and orange carrots, red carrots are sweeter and give a deeper colour to the halwa, enhancing its taste and visual appeal.
The recipe is a classic one with no improvisation. One basic thumb rule that I apply in making most sweets is "Do not improvise or experiment. It could be disastrous". This is exactly the opposite of the philosophy I follow for my other dishes, where I always give a signature twist to the existing recipe, use my intuition a lot and remix multiple recipes from the net and create one that suits me best. But probably sweet dishes were meant to be made akkakka... akkakka means "copy paste". Or WYGMIWYM ( What your grandmom made is what you make). Of course, I safely make minor variations like adjusting the amount of sugar/ghee depending on my momentary health-consciousness-index, but I havent ventured farther than that.....yet.

Ingredients:

1. Carrots - 1 kg
2. Milk - 1 litre
3. Sugar - 200- 300 grams ( depends on how sweet you like the halwa to be)
4. Ghee - 1 tbsp or even less if you like it less fatty.
5. Cardamom - 3 pods ( powdered)
6. Raisins - 2 tsp
7. Cashews ( broken in half ) - 2 tsp.



pic 1



pic 2



pic 3



pic 4



pic 5



pic 6

 
Procedure:

1. Grate the carrots ( pic 1)
2. In a large (preferably non-stick) pan, add the grated carrots and milk and boil on medium flame. (pic 2)
3. Keep stirring occasionally, making sure the milk does not boil over and the mixture does not stick to the pan.The carrots should get cooked in the milk and the remaining milk should condense/evaporate.  This would take around 45 minutes to an hour. After this stage the mixture would look lighter in colour. (pic 3)
4. Now, when there is no liquid milk remaining in the mixture, add sugar and cardamom powder and stir continuously. As soon as we add sugar and stir, the mixture will become more liquid and also darken in colour. ( pic 4). Keep stirring until the liquid evaporates. (pic 5)
5. In another small pan, heat the ghee and roast the cashews in it till they turn light golden. Add only the cashews to the mixture and in the remaining ghee, mix in the raisins. There is no need to heat/fry the raisins. The raisins will swell up in the hot ghee even without being on flame. Add the raisins and the ghee to the mixture and stir in well till the ghee is absorbed. (pic 6)
6. Switch off the flame.
7. Serve as dessert. It can be served hot or cold. Best served with ice-cream.