Homemade Date Cardamom Almond Milk Recipe

Makes about 4 cups

Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds
1-2 cardamom pods
4-6 seeded dates
4 saffron strands. Optional

Method
1.Soak the almonds in plenty of water over night, about 8 hours.
2. Drain the soaked almonds, and put them into a blender (I used my Vitamix), along with 3 cups of water. Add the cardamom and dates to the blender.
3. Blend on medium-high speed till all the almonds are well blended into a homogenous puree, about 2 minutes.
4. Line a fine mesh strainer with two layers of cheese cloth. Place a bowl under the strainer. Pour the pureed almonds into the strainer, gather up the cheese cloth into a ball, and gently squeeze till all the almond milk comes out.
5. This first extract of almond will be thick. Add more water to it to dilute it to your preferred consistency.
6. If you wish, you can make a second extract – scoop the almond meal in the strainer and put it back in the blender. Pour 1-2 cups water and blend. Strain the second extract of almond milk through the strainer. This extract will be thinner. You could also use this thinner second extract to dilute the thicker first extract.
7. Sprinkle saffron strands, if using, on top of the almond milk.
8. Home made almond milk will keep in the fridge, in an air tight container for about 5 days.

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Diwali is around the corner and this besan laddoo or laddu is one of the easiest sweets you can make to celebrate. Diwali is the Indian festival of lights. It celebrates the victory of good over evil and light over darkness. Its one of India’s most important festivals and we celebrate it with fire crackers, new clothes and by sharing sweets and snacks. If you are looking for a simple Diwali sweet recipe, try this besan laddoo. Its gluten free too!

Besan laddoo is made with chickpea or garbanzo or gram flour, ghee, sugar and cardamom. It takes about 30 minutes to make, but most the work is just stirring. There really is nothing complicated about this sweet. If you are new to making Indian sweets, this is a great one to start with.

Some tips
- Make sure you use medium-low heat and stir the flour and ghee  mixture constantly to prevent burning

- You can use fine ground besan or the coarse ground variety. Both work. But I like the fine ground besan, it makes the laddoos melt in your mouth. If you like more texture in your laddus, use the coarse besan.

- The laddu mixture is ready when it turns golden starts to smell nutty. This will happen approximately around the 30 minute mark. If you can smell the besan getting toasted and nutty, taste a small pinch of it. It should taste cooked and not raw. Then its done and ready for the sugar and cardamom.

- When forming the laddoos, if they are too dry and falling apart, add extra ghee to the mixture one teaspoon at a time, mixing well after each addition, untill you can form it into balls.

How to Make Besan Laddoo – a Video 

http://youtu.be/tRWTPOZwJ5Q

Besan Laddoo Recipe

makes about 15

Ingredients
1/2 cup ghee or melted butter (melt 1 stick of unsalted butter). But I recommend you use ghee.
1 1/2 cups besan (chickpea or gram flour)
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 tablespoon slivered almonds, or cashew halves, optional

Method
1. Take a large non-stick skillet and add the ghee or melted butter to it. Heat it on medium-low heat. Once the ghee or butter is warm, add the besan (chickpea or garbanzo flour).

2. Cook this mixture on low-medium heat, stirring constantly. The laddu mixture is done when it looks golden and smells toasty and nutty. This will take 20-30 minutes. Look at the video above to see the different stages of the mixture cooking, and how it looks when its done.

3. When the laddu mixture smells toasted and looks golden, taste a little. It should taste cooked. There should be no sour after taste, if it tastes sour or raw, you need to cook it more. When the mixture is cooked, turn off the heat.

4. Let it cool for about 3 minutes. Then add sugar and cardamom, and mix well. Taste the mixture. If you want, you can add more sugar and or cardamom at this point.

5. Let it cool completely. Then gather about 2 tablespoons of the mixture in your palm of your hands, and press it to form a ball. (See video above).

6. If the mixture is too dry and wont form balls, or if the balls crack or dont hold together, you need to add more ghee or melted butter. Add 1 teaspoon of ghee or melted butter and mix well. Now try to form balls again. If its still too dry, add another teaspoon of melted butter or ghee and mix well. Try again. Keep doing this till you can form the mixture into balls. You shouldn’t need to add more than 2 teaspoons (if that) of ghee or melted butter for this recipe. And make sure you don’t add so much ghee that the laddoos become oily. And add the extra ghee or melted butter only if you need to.

7. When the laddoos are shaped, press an almond sliver or cashew half onto the top. This is optional.

8. Store laddoos in an air tight container, they will keep for a week.

These chocolate cardamom fudge balls recipe take just 5 minutes of work. And the results are mouthwatering. I’m making this for Diwali the Indian festival of lights this year, so I added a little Indian twist to it by adding the cardamom, because nothing reminds me more of Indian desserts than cardamom. This fudge recipe will be great for Diwali,, or simply as an easy sweet treat.

You melt together chocolate chips, condensed milk, cardamom and butter in a pan. When it all melts, let it cool a little and form into delicious chocolatey cardamom fudge balls. Easy, no?!

Cardamom powder is available in Indian stores. You can also make your own – break open cardamom pods, and remove the seeds inside. Using a spice grinder, grind the seeds into a fine powder. I grind extra cardamom and sprinkle it on my morning coffee. 

Other flavoring ideas
Keep everything in this recipe the same, except for the cardamom. Substitute the cardamom with one of these:
Mexican style fudge – 1/4th teaspoon powdered cinnamom, and a good pinch of cayenne pepper
‘Regular’ flavored fudge - A few drops of vanilla extract
Salted chocolate – 1/4th teaspoon sea salt sprinkled on top of the rolled fudge right at the end

Chocolate Cardamom Fudge Recipe

makes about 24 walnut sized balls

Ingredients
one 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup)*
6 oz bitter sweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour, optional
1/4th cup slivered almonds, optional
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom, see post above for other flavor ideas

* This makes a pretty sweet fudge. If you like it less sweet, use more bitter sweet chocolate and less semi sweet (but keep the total amount of chocolate chips the same – 12 oz or about 2 cups)

Method
1. Place all ingredients in a medium non-stick skillet. Heat on low heat, stirring occasionally till everything melts, about 5 minutes.

2. When the fudge looks completely melted, smooth and silky, remove pan from heat.

3. Let the fudge cool till its cool enough to touch. Then roll it into walnut sized balls. Place them in a single layer on a plate or cookie sheet.

3. Let the fudge balls cool completely. Store in an air tight container.

..a guest post by Pavithra of Dishes from my Kitchen

I have just completed a cross country drive across America (read about it here and here!) and moved to Portland, OR. While I’m settling in, I’ve asked my good friend and talented blogger, Pavithra to guest post today. Pavithra and I made an instant connection because we are from the same city in India. And I have followed her beautiful blog and seen it grow into a hugely popular destination for Indian food lovers. You are going to love this sweet yogurt recipe! Take it away Pavithra.

First of all I should say thanks to Sala for giving me an opportunity to do this guest post. I am truly honored! Who can say no when your favorite blogger friend asks you to guest post?

I am here today with very rich dessert but really simple to make. Mishti Doi is a Bengali dessert. Bengal is a part of East India and Bengalis are very famous for their sweet preparation. Mishti Doi is among their well known dessert, I have enjoyed having them from my childhood days. Whenever my dad visits Bangalore he will never miss to have them, similarly whenever he takes us to Bangalore we used to enjoy them in a cute earthen pot in a famous Bengali sweet shop.

Mishti Doi is a sweet yogurt. It is made with milk and sugar. A part of sugar is caramelized to give lovely caramel flavor. This is a very popular dessert. Earthenware is always used as the container for making this because the gradual evaporation of water through its porous walls not only further thickens the yogurt, but also produces the right temperature for the growth of the culture. Very often the yogurt is delicately seasoned with a hint of elaichi (cardamoms) for fragrance, but this is absolutely optional. I some times make with Saffron, elaichi or just with caramelized sugar. You can prepare the way you like.

I am giving you two ways of preparing this delicious and flavorful yogurt. If you have evaporated milk and condensed milk handy then go for ver I else you can do the ver II.

Mishti Doi Recipe 1

makes about 4 cups

Ingredients
 1 can (12 oz) Evaporated Milk
 1 cup boiled whole milk
1/2 can (7 oz) Condensed Milk 
2 tablespoons Sugar
1 tablespoon Water
1/3 cup Yogurt

Method
Preheat the oven to 175 degree Fahrenheit and switch off the oven.

1. Pour the evaporated milk and whole milk in a vessel.
2. Heat them until it is above body temperature.
3. To this add the condensed milk.
4. In the mean time heat 2 tbsp of sugar in a pan on low heat until the sugar is caramelized to nice golden brown. Turn off heat. Now add 1 tbsp of water and stir with a spoon.
5. Add this caramelized sugar to the milk mixture.
6. When the milk mixture is warm add the yogurt and blend well.
7. Pour them in individual serving containers.
8. Close with lid or foil. Let the yogurt set overnight in the preheated oven (dont turn on the oven!)
9. Then refrigerate set yogurt for at least few hours before serving.

Mishti Doi Recipe 2

If you don’t have the condensed and evaporated milk called for in recipe1, no worries here is another recipe for mishti doi without using condensed milk or evaporated.
Makes about 4 cups

Ingredients
3 cups whole milk 
3/4 cup Sugar
1/3 tablespoon Plain Yogurt, whisked
1 tablespoon Water

Method
1. Heat the milk in the heavy bottom pan. Reserving 1/3 cups of the sugar for caramelizing and add the rest to the hot milk. Let boil and reduce to half the quantity.
2. In the mean time heat reserved 1/3 cup of sugar in a pan on low heat until the sugar is caramelized to nice golden brown. Turn off the heat. Now to that add 1 tbsp of water and stir with a spoon.
3. Add this caramelized sugar to the milk and stir until well blended.
4. Let the milk cool just until it is warm (but not hot). Then add the yogurt and mix well.
5. Pour in serving dishes/ pots and set overnight in a warm place*.
6. Once the yogurt is firm, put it in the refrigerator for few hours before serving.

Notes
- Mishti Doi taste’s best when served in earthen pot but it’s optional. But we love making them in earthen pot it really comes out very creamy its my personal experience.
- *Using the warm oven is optional, if the weather is really hot just put the pot in a cool dry place and let them set overnight. If the weather is very cool then opt for oven method to set the yogurt.
- If you want to flavor the yogurt using cardamom or saffron, just omit the caramelization part of sugar. Instead add less then 1/4 tsp of cardamom powder or Saffron (mixed with hot water) to the milk mixture before the yogurt is added

Take the everyday, all-American cherry pie, add some cardamom to it, and turn it into an exotic flavored pie. The cardamom scented filling is easy to make – just mix cherries, lemon juice, suagr, corn starch, and cardamom. 

I dont have a cherry pitter, so I just cut around the pit with a knife.

I made Ina Garten’s pie crust recipe which is buttery, flaky and delicious. You can keep things simple and use a store bought pie crust. However, keep in mind that most store bought pie crusts, pie shells, and pie dough are not vegetarian, they may contain lard. The only vegetarian pie crust I’ve seen is Mrs.Smith’s pie shells.

Here is a cherry pie recipe on joy of baking using some kirsch (a type of cherry liquor) on the filling – a great idea! This baked fresh cherry pie recipe on all recipes  also sounds delicious. If cherries arent in season and if you want a more fall time recipe, 6 bitter sweets blog has a lovely apple cherry pie recipe

Notes

- make sure the butter, shortening and water for the pie crust are very cold, this is what makes a flaky crust

- if you are not crazy about cardamom in the pie filling, use almond extract instead

- you can make the same recipe with apples instead of cherries

- if you dont want to use shortening, try this all butter pie crust recipe from simply recipes 

- Vegan yum yum has a vegan pie crust recipe using Earth Balance

Fresh Cherry Cardamom Pie Recipe

serves about 8

for cherry pie filling
4 cups pitted sweet cherries
6 cardamom pods
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons lemon juice
a pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or a few drops of rose essence

other
1 recipe (two 10 inch crusts) home made pie crust (see recipe below) or store bought pie crust
1 egg, beaten with a teaspoon of water
1 tablespoon sugar to sprinkle on top

Pre-heat oven to 400f.

Place pitted cherries in a large bowl. Smash the cardamom pods using the back of a wooden spoon. Remove the little seeds from inside the cardamom pods. Place these seeds in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle and grind to a powder. Add cardamom powder and all other ingredients for filling to the bowl, mix well. Refrigerate while you work on the pie crust. See pie crust recipe below.

Place one pie crust on a 10 inch pie dish. Pour the cherry filling into the dish. Place second pie crust on top. Cut away over hanging bits. Tuck edges in. Crimp the edges to seal.  Make a few slits on top to vent steam. Brush the top with the beaten egg wash. Sprinkle sugar all over. Cover the crimped edges with a strip of foil to prevent from burning. Place on a baking sheet and bake till the crust is golden, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove foil half way through baking.

Ina Garten’s Pie Crust recipe

makes two 10 inch crusts

12 tablespoons ( 1 1/2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
1/2 cup ice cold water
Ina uses a food processor. I used a pastry cutter and my hands.

Place a large bowl in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Cut butter into small cubes. Add all ingredients except water to the cold bowl. Using a pastry blender, mash the butter and shortening. Dont over do this, stop when the butter is pea-sized. You could also take hand fulls of the flour mixture and rub it in both your hands to form a coarse dough.

Add cold water to dough and gently mix just until it forms a crumbly ball. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Take out the dough and divide into 2 portions. Roll out each portion on a well floured surface. Proceed with cherry pie recipe above.

I love both Indian chai tea and Turkish apple tea. Chai tea is strong and scented with cardamom and cloves. Turkish apple tea (elma cay) is golden, refreshing and tastes quite like apple juice. This recipe combines the best of both teas – the aromatic spices from chai tea and the bright apple flavor of apple tea. Serve this tea cold in a tall glass with ice on a hot summer afternoon. Or serve it warm in tea cups on a chilly autumn day. 

Use a good quality loose leaf black tea. I used assam tea. If you dont have loose leaf tea, you could use tea bags instead. You’ll also need some apple juice and spices – cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Star anise or saffron will also be nice..use whatever spices you like.