Tag Archives: Desserts

Gaajar Halwa (Ayesha’s Kitchen Way) (The BEST)

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Gajar Halwa is one of the most popular and favourite desserts of South Asia, specially in winters as it is served hot rite from the wok and garnished with dry fruits. People serve this on special occasions like Eid, Diwali, Birthdays, Weddings, Home Dinners, Parties, etc.
It  is also known as “Mausam – e – Sarma ki Saughaat” (The Gift of Winter Season) in Pakistan. Mums make this for their children so they can consume the nutrients of seasonal vegetable, Carrot, which is also very good for eyesight and health.

Just imagine! In cold month of December, you and your friends are gathered in open air canopy for BBQ dinner and you get this hot, milky, sweet, cardamom scented carrot dessert………… wow!

Anyway, Its Summer in Pakistan and people are waiting for mangos so lets dedicate this recipe to our Australian mates! How about “Mausam-e-Sarma ki Saughaat forAussies”………….. 🙂

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Give it a go and let me know how you go with it.

Ingredients:

  • 250 gms home made khoya (recipe given below)
  • 1lt. full cream milk
  • ½ tspn cardamom seeds
  • ½ cup slivered almonds
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
  • ½ cup chopped pistachios
  • ½ cup cashew nut halves (unsalted)
  • 250 gms butter/ ghee
  • 1kg grated carrots
  • ½ cup sulatana
  • 250 gms sugar

Procedure:

-Take a thick bottomed deep pan and cook grated carrots in sugar and milk until the water of carrots and milk gets dry. This process will take around 20 – 30 minutes on medium heat.

-Meanwhile, for Khoya combine 250gms of full cream powdered milk and 250gms (1 cup) of thick cream and microwave for 1 minute. Take it out, mix and microwave for 2 more minutes. Allow to cool. Khoya is ready to put in stuff like kheer, gajar ka halwa, kajrela, etc.

-Now getting back to our Gajar ka Halwa, melt butter in a frying pan and fry sulatana until it is puffed up. Sauté other dry fruits and add this mixture to the carrot mixture. Mix and cook for 5 minutes on medium high heat.

-Now crumble khoya with your fingers and add it to your dish. (reserve 3 tbspns of Khoya for garnishing). Mix and cook for another 5 minutes.

-Take it out in your serving dish, garnish with some crumbled khoya, dry fruits, etc. and serve hot.

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

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This recipe for Chocolate fudge brownies is very easy to make and by very little effort you can amaze your guests or that special someone. Give it a try and let me know what you think about it ……

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • 200 gms bittersweet/ semi sweet or dark choc
  • 180 gms unsalted butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tspn vanilla essence
  • ¾ cup plain flour (NOT self-rising)

Procedure:

-Prepare the pan: Grease a 20cm square pan and line its bottom with the piece of parchment paper.

-In a microwave proof deep mixing bowl, combine chocolate, sugar and butter and melt for 2 minutes in the microwave.

-Mix well until it is smooth and shiny and keep aside for 5 minutes.

-In a separate mixing bowl, beat 3 eggs with vanilla sugar. Use wire whisk to beat, NO ELECTRIC MIXER NEEDED.

-Now gradually add chocolate fudge mixture to the egg mixture with constant stirring. Mix well until well combined.

-Sift in 1 cup of flour and mix with a light hand.

-Bake in a preheated oven (180 degrees Celsius) for 30 minutes.

-Take it out and allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

-Flip over, peel off the parchment paper, cut the brownies and serve hot with chocolate ganache or with ice cream scoop.

Chocolate Walnut Fudge Cake

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On our 5th Nikah Anniversary …….

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • 4 eggs
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • ¾ cup caster sugar
  • 4 tbspns melted cooking chocolate (melted in double broiler/ chocolate syrup)
  • 1 cup self-rising flour
  • 1 tbspns cocoa powder
  • 2 tbspns melted butter + extra for greasing
  • ¾ cup chopped walnuts

FOR ICING AND DECORATION

  • Some walnut halves to decorate
  • 2 tbspns milk
  • 2 tbspns cream
  • 3 tbspns melted chocolate (melted in double broiler/ chocolate syrup)
  • 100gms butter
  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 1 tbspn honey
  • 2 tbspns nutella spread

Procedure:

-Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

-Grease a spring form pan (18cm).

-Sift the flour and cocoa together.

-Melt the chocolate (75gms chopped dark cooking chocolate) in double broiler or over boiling hot water. (Make sure when you are making the cake mixture, you have everything ready and handy).

-In a mixing bowl, crack 4 eggs and add both the sugars. Beat for 10 minutes with an electric beater until the mixture is pale and fluffy and trail is left when the whisk is dragged across the surface of the mixture.

-Add sifted flour and fold into the eggs and sugar mixture with a wooden spoon or palette knife.  Fold in the melted butter, chocolate and chopped walnuts.

-Pour into the prepared spring form tin and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until springy on the touch.

-Leave to cook in the tin for 5 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack and leave too cool completely.

-To make the icing combine everything together in mixing bowl and whisk until its smooth, use electric beater for smooth icing.

-Cut the cake into two halves.

-Spread the icing on one half and sandwich it with the other one.

-Spread the icing on the top of the cake and on the sides.

-Decorate with some walnuts and refrigerate for 2 hours.

-Serve.

“LIFE IS  A PIECE OF CAKE”

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Gulab Jamans/ Gulab jamuns

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Gulab Jaman is one of the most favourite and most popular dessert/ sweet of South Asia. It is made of milk solids soaked in cardmom scented sugar syrup and served hot with slivered nuts. This is the easiest and the tastiest recipe I know…… Please try and comment 😀

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • ¼ to ½ cups of cold milk
  • 1 cup full cream milk powder
  • 1 tspn self-rising flour
  • 1 tbspn ghee
  • Few cardamom seeds
  • 1 ½ tbspn semolina (soaked in ¼ cup of lukewarm water for 2 minutes)
  • Oil for frying (fresh oil) and 6 tbspns ghee

SHEERA

  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • Few cardamom seeds

Procedure:

-In a saucepan, mix water, cardamom seeds and sugar and put it to boil. Stir and keep boiling until the gulab jamans are ready.

-In a mixing bowl combine milk powder and ghee. Mix it well until u form small crumbs.

-Add flour and mix.

-Drain and discard water from soaked semolina and add the soaked semolina into the mixture. Add cardamom seeds too and mix well until everything is uniformly mixed and small crumbles are formed.

-Now gradually add milk and mix. Add milk slowly in batches and when this mixture takes the place of smooth, soft dough, keep it aside to rest for 10 minutes, covered with damp cloth.

-Meanwhile, heat oil. Be very careful about the temperature of the oil. You do not need very high or very low temperature. The best way to check the rite temperature for frying gulab jaman is drop a very little piece of the dough in to the oil, if it rests at the bottom and rise to the surface of the oil in some seconds, then it is ready to fry gulab jamans.

-Now make 12 small (walnut sized) balls from the dough.

-Put them in oil and keep stirring the oil slowly with the wooden spoon. This will give your gulab jamans even colour and texture and the oil temperature will also remain uniform.

-After 10 minutes of frying you will get the right Gulab Jaman colour and that is when your gulab jamans will be cooked from inside too.

-With a slotted spoon take them out and put them in boiling sugar syrup (sheera). Let them cook for 5 – 10 minutes on low heat in the sugar syrup.

-Take a deep serving bowl and pour the sugar syrup and gulab jaman thing into it.

-Garnish with some slivered almonds, pistachios, shredded coconut and silver edible foil and serve hot after as a desert

OR

-After cooking them in the sugar syrup for 10 minutes take out the gulab jamans and arrange them on a serving dish, garnish with some shredded coconut, etc. and serve.

Ayesha’s Kitchen Special Kheer

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Ayesha’s Kitchen Special Kheer is a refined recipe. I have created this recipe after listening to many people. Try this at home and treat yourself with the most indulging and rich taste of kheer ……

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup basmati rice (rinsed and soaked in water)
  • Water for boiling rice
  • 1 ½ litre. Milk
  • 1 cup water
  • 6 – 8 tbspns raw sugar/ sugar
  • 8 small green cardamoms (crushed)
  • ½ cup almonds (slivered)
  • ½ cup pistachios (slivered)
  • 2 – 4 chaandi ke warq

Procedure:

-Boil water and add rice. Strain and discard the water and keep the boiled rice aside.

-Boil milk and add crushed cardamom, rice, sugar and half of the almonds and pistachios.

-Cook covered on low heat for about 2 – 3 hours. Use non-stick pan.

-When the rice is mixed with milk and it gives a pinkish orangish colour, it means your kheer is ready.

-Dish is out and refrigerate for about 6 hours. Garnish with some chaandi ka warq, almonds and pistachios. Serve.

Ayesha’s Kitchen Special Sevayyan (with khoya)

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This is Ayesha’s Kitchen special recipe for vermicelli…… It is a Pakistani dessert which is often served on Eid – ul – Fitr and other occasions……

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • 160 gms vermicelli (Bareek Sevayyan)
  • 4 tbspns sugar
  • 4 tbspns raw sugar (Shakkar/ gur)
  • 2 ltrs. Milk
  • 1 cup raw khoya (unsweetened Barfi/ Kalakand) (Easily available at South Asian Mithai shops)
  • 1 tbspn cardamom seeds (crushed)
  • ¼ cup almonds (slivered) (for garnishing)
  • 2 tbspns crushed pistachios (for garnishing)
  • Chaandi ka warq (Edible silver foil)

Procedure:

-Boil 1 litre milk and add cardamom seeds. Add vermicelli and mix well. Now add khoya and sugar. Mix well. Now when you notice that the mixture is getting thick, add rest of the milk and let it cook on medium heat until you get the desired consistency.

-Take it out in a bowl. Garnish with some pistachios, almonds and chandi ka warq. Serve hot ot refrigerate for at least 6 hrs for serving it as dessert.