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satay
28 August 2007, 08:55 AM
Namaste All,
I thought to start this 'light' thread thinking of all the sweets I used to enjoy when I was a kid growing up in India, especially on rakhi and diwali.

What's your favourite sweet?

Mine are listed below (in order of preference):
1. burfi
2. besan ka laddoo
3. halwa
4. gulab jamun
5. jelabi

saidevo
28 August 2007, 11:50 AM
Namaste Satay.

Wow, at last we get some food in the Canteen! Now that you have started with sweets, I think it would be good to make this thread a full-fledged menu of snacks and meals, specially vegetarian, because that can be enjoyed by everyone.

My most favourite sweet is wheat hulwa. As a kid I used to watch my mother make it at home, endlessly grinding wholesome wheat grains in a manual wet grinder, squeezing the milk out of them, and then adding the flour and suger and caser powder (plus other things needed) and boiling and stirring it again endlessly in the kerosene stove. When it was time, she poured the heap and flattened it on a stainless steel plate, later drawing the demarcating lines with a knife to later wrench them gently to pieces. And it tasted divine! The halwa today I eat in the sweet stalls doesn't have that taste. As a boy I was angry with a relative of ours who wasted two or three pieces of the halwa served to him by my mother, and she prevented me from venting out my anger vocally on him!

My mom (she's no more) was also an expert in preparing soft mysore pa made with pure ghee, and that was my second favourite sweet.

Among the sweets in the stalls, I like the following in that order:
1. Baasanthi
2. Badam Halwa
3. Kaaju Katli

In the savouries my favourites are:
1. Butter mixture
2. Cashew pakoda
3. Oma Podi

And my favourite appetizer is the sweet corn soup.

For a write up on popular Indian dishes check this thread:
http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showpost.php?p=7772&postcount=6

satay
28 August 2007, 01:25 PM
Namaskar Sai,

Mothers are really blessed when it comes to preparing food, isn't? Thanks for sharing.

Halwa is also one of my favourites ! (how did I forget this?).

Okay you will have to tell me what are: Baasanthi, Katli and Oma Podi. I haven't heard of, seen or eaten any of these in the north.

By the way, I just came back from a visit to my mom (during lunch hour), she does rakhi to me as she has no brothers and sisters of her own. So I have double duty of being a son and a younger brother to her!! Anyway, I just had the best 'Gajrela'. Not sure how to pronouce this in south indian style. It is made from carrots, cashews, khoya and sugar etc...

But halwa, I agree is the best, especially home made and especially for the purposes of parsad. Actually, you know where to get the best halwa? It is in any sikh gurudawara! I used to go to sikh temple just for the parsad...:)


Amazing...

Agnideva
28 August 2007, 01:37 PM
Namaste All,

This thread sounds absolutely yummy. My favorite Indian dessert is boondi laddu hands down (also Lord Ganesha's favorite!). I could go for dessert right about now :).

A.

indianx
28 August 2007, 04:47 PM
Two words: Tirunelveli halwa. Absolutely amazing.

Znanna
28 August 2007, 08:19 PM
Chocolate :)


ZN

saidevo
28 August 2007, 08:26 PM
Namaste Satay.



Okay you will have to tell me what are: Baasanthi, Katli and Oma Podi. I haven't heard of, seen or eaten any of these in the north.


1. Baasanthi is a semi-liquid sweet (thicker than the keer) made from bread, milk and badam. Here is a recipe for it: http://www.bawarchi.com/contribution/contrib4977.html

2. Omapodi is the sev used in bhel-puri, tasting of thymal seeds. Here is a recipe for it: http://www.recipezaar.com/75760

3. Kaju katli is a sweet made of cashews and sugar and is perhaps the most expensive sweet in the stall (Rs.400 per kilogram). Here is its recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/9313



By the way, I just came back from a visit to my mom (during lunch hour), she does rakhi to me as she has no brothers and sisters of her own. So I have double duty of being a son and a younger brother to her!! Anyway, I just had the best 'Gajrela'. Not sure how to pronouce this in south indian style. It is made from carrots, cashews, khoya and sugar etc...


Your Gajrela is perhaps the equivalent of our Carrot Halwa that tastes delicious!

By the bye, how many of us gents can cook? For my part, I can make rice, rasam, curry, uppuma, iddlies and dosa (if the flour is ready) and chapatis. There are young vegetarian Indian boys working in the USA, specially in the IT sector who practically live on bread and sandwiches three times a day the whole week, preparing their own full meals only during weekends.

I invite our Western friends to talk about their desserts and vegetarian dishes in this thread.

Nuno Matos
30 August 2007, 11:07 AM
Namaste

I like vegetarian food cooked like Mediterranean. My favorite grommet is fried Tofu, or Tofu mixed with Seitan, on olive oil joined with a superb Mediterranean salad. Especially in the Summer.