diwali sweets

Easy Marshmallows | No Egg No Corn Syrup Marshmallows |Celebrating Veena’s Curryworld’s 5th Birthday

Posted by veeenajan on November 5, 2020
Posted in: dessert, Desserts, diwali sweets, sweets, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Hello dears ..

November 3rd, a special day in my life…. 

5 years back, I began my channel Veena’s Curryworld on this particular date with Trissur Fish Curry. I still can’t believe that we have crossed 5 years! 

Happy to have all the support from my family, friends and near and dear ones for the last many years and expecting the same always. Got to know many people, made friends, aunts and sisters. A big sister for many teenagers and youngsters too. A moment that brings in tears of happiness!

All the changes that you see in me and my family today are truly because of the love and affection we have received from our extended family, Veena’s Curryworld!

On this special day, here I am with the recipe of Marshmallows! A perfect sweet treat that can be made at home and turns out any day to be special. Kids will love it for sure!

Marshmallows are a type of confectionaries that are made of sugar, water and gelatine. It is found in many colours and shapes. An all-time favourite for most of the kids all over the world. 

It’s an easy recipe with just few things to be careful with while making. Follow the recipe as it says and do watch the video on our YouTube channel to have a clearer picture. 

Try them out and don’t forget to share your feedback with me. 

Ingredients 

Powdered Sugar -1/2cup 

Corn flour -2tbsp 

Sugar-1cup 

Water -1/2cup 

Gelatine -2tbsp 

Method

Salt-one pinch

Powder the sugar and measure ½ cup and add this to a siever. 

Add 2tbsp cornflour over it. Sieve both well. Keep this aside. 

Grease a tray with sunflower oil or any odourless oil. Or you can even cling wrap a glass mould or tray too. 

Sprinkle little of the sugar cornflour mix in the tray. You can dust it using a siever. This is done to avoid the marshmallow sticking to the tray. 

Take ½ cup cold water in a bowl and add 2tbsp unflavoured gelatine to it. Mix this well and leave it aside for 10 minutes. 

After 5 minutes, take a saucepan and add 1 cup sugar and ½ cup water. Bring this to boil on medium flame stirring continuously till it reaches a thick consistency. 

Keep a bowl of water next to you to test the consistency when the syrup is done. 

Add a pinch of salt and keep stirring continuously on medium flame. 

When you add a drop of syrup to the bowl of water, you should be able to make a soft ball of it. That’s the stage we need. 

I took 7 minutes to reach that stage. 

At this stage, reduce the flame and add the soaked gelatine. Mix this well till the gelatine melts completely. 

In 2 minutes, the gelatine will melt. Switch off the flame. 

Pour this into a deep bowl and keep it to cool down slightly for nearly 5 minutes. Beating the syrup when its very hot is dangerous. So wait for it to cool down slightly. 

Place a turkey towel under the bowl so that it doesn’t slip while beating. 

After 5 minutes, when the syrup is still warm, start beating it with a hand beater on medium speed. 

Be patient, it takes time to reach the correct consistency. In 3 minutes, it becomes frothy. Keep beating on medium speed. 

In 5 minutes in would look like a semi whipped cream. Add 1tsp vanilla essence and beat it again till it reaches a ribbon consistency. 

If you want your marshmallows to be in double colour, fist pour half of the white mixture into the tray and then add few drops of colours to the remaining mix and pour it over the white mix. 

It begins to set fast, so the final stage should be done soon. 

Tap the tray few times. If you see any air bubbles, prick them with a toothpick. 

Sprinkle a good amount of sugar cornflour mix over the marshmallow spread. 

Keep this out for 4 hours or more to set. 

Once set, lift the cling wrap from the tray and place it to a flat surface or cutting board. 

Remove the cling wrap from it and sprinkle the sugar cornflour mix vigorously over the cutting board. 

Coat the back and sides of the marshmallows in this. 

Dust sugar cornflour mix over a knife too and then cut the marshmallows to the size you want. 

Coat all these pieces in the sugar and cornflour mix and cut them to small cubes or as you prefer. Dust away the excess sugar from the marshmallows once they are done. 

Our Marshmallows are done. 

Now you have soft pillow like textured marshmallows made at home. 

I am sure kids are going to love this. 

Do make these squishy marshmallows at home from scratch and enjoy them with your loved ones!

Don’t forget to send me your marshmallow pics and feedback 

Happy Cooking!

Love

Veena ❤️💕

Kappalandi Mittai | Peanut Chikki |Peanut Candy – Nostalgic Delicacy

Posted by veeenajan on October 30, 2020
Posted in: diwali sweets. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

Who doesn’t love Peanut Candy!

Peanut candy or rather known as chikki is a traditional brittle Indian sweet which is made of peanuts and jaggery. Lonavla, India is the most famous place where chikki is mostly found. In the colder regions, they are mostly consumed during winter to keep your body warm. 

Making the perfect chikki is an art that requires little patience and is totally worth the effort taken. When they are made at home, you can make them with mixed nuts too. It’s a great sweet treat that can be eaten at anytime of the day. It’s made from just 3 ingredients and is free from refined sugar. 

All you have to be careful is about the jaggery syrup cooked to the right stage. You can adjust the sweetness as per your taste from 1.25-1.5 cups. Be alert while making this dish. It’s a tricky recipe. 

There are different types of peanuts in stores. Use the small peanuts that we usually get and not the big ones. Both taste different. Small ones taste the best. If using the big ones, crush it slightly to small pieces. 

Make sure to cut them only after it has cooled down completely. You can mark lines over them when they are half cooled and cut over it once they have cooled down too. 

The ones you get to buy at stores are hard ones but these are crispy. I’ve had the sugar candy one from Tamilnadu but I prefer the taste of jaggery. 

Store them in air tight containers and it will stay fresh for 1-2 months. But usually they don’t last so long. 

Do try out the easy peanut candy at home and don’t forget to send me your feedback. 

Kappalandi Mittayi

Ingredients 

Peanuts – 300 gm or 2cup 

Jaggery -250gm or 11/4 cup 

Salt-one pinch 

Water -4tbsp

Peanut Chikki

Method

Grease a tray or spread a butter paper on a plate or tray and keep aside. 

Roast the peanuts well till they are done. 

Let it cool completely but still crunchy. Only then start to prepare the candy. 

Powder the jaggery and keep aside. 

Melt the jaggery on low flame by adding 4tbsp water. 

Sieve it to a flat kadayi and add a pinch of salt to it. 

Boil this on a low flame of a medium burner till it begins to bubble up. 

Keep a bowl of cold water aside. Drop little melted jaggery to it and see it you are able to form a soft ball. That’s the correct consistency where we have to stop cooking the jaggery. 

Switch off the gas and add the roasted peanuts to it. 

Mix this well for nearly 30 seconds and then transfer it to the greased tray. 

I greased the back side of a steel bowl to press and spread the candy in the tray. 

You can spread it thick or thin as you like. It’s easier to spread by placing a butter paper over it and then pressing. 

It took me 5 minutes to get the correct consistency. Might slightly vary for one another. 

Some add cardamom to this for a flavour. Some add little ghee or oil too. But I haven’t added any of these. 

If you feel the jaggery wasn’t enough for all the peanuts to mix in, you can melt little more jaggery and brush it over this. 

kappalandi Mittayi

Once it has cooled down completely, you can cut it to squares or any size of pieces you like. 

Our crispy peanut candies are ready. Some like them chewy and some crispy. 

You can store them in airtight containers and they stay for long. But the fact is that they don’t last that long. 

Happy Cooking! 

Love

Veena Jan

Soan Papdi | Panji Mittayi | Easy Way to Make Soan Papdi

Posted by veeenajan on October 16, 2020
Posted in: Desserts, diwali sweets. 1 Comment

SOAN PAPADI

Soan Papdi is a famous Indian dessert with a crisp and flaky texture. It’s a simple yet delicious recipe which can be made at home without putting in much efforts. Just few tips and tricks to be noted and then BINGO! You’ll have the most luscious and scrumptious sweet made in your kitchen from scratch. 

Its prepared at home with some easily available ingredients. You can enhance its flavour by adding green cardamom powder and make it more delicious by topping it with some roasted pistachios, almonds or rose petals. 

Making it at home and impressing my loved ones was a dream come true for me. I got into the mood one weekend and tried it thrice the same day. Though it took me 6 times to reach perfection, each and every time I was just a step away from it. The final result gives you such a feel that I don’t have words to express them. 

I thought of sharing my happiness with you too. For a visual detail, you can refer to our video in our YouTube channel.

So what are you waiting for? Lets get started!

Do try out our style of Soan Papdi and enjoy them with all your near and dear ones. 

Looking forward to your feedback and experiences. 

Stay home and stay safe! 

Ingredients 

Besan | Chick Peas Flour -1cup 

All Purpose Flour -1/2 cup 

Ghee – 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp 

Sugar -1cup 

Salt- one pinch 

Water -1/2 cup 

Lemon Juice -1 tsp

Soan Papdi

Preparations

Measure and keep all the ingredients in different bowls ready to use. 

Make sure to use the same cup to measure all the ingredients which is a very important factor here. 

Keep aside the tray and other things required for the recipe and only then start preparing. 

Keep a big steel plate ready to mix the besan and flour. 

Grease the tray with a parchment paper.(we need Good Quality Paper )

Method

Heat a wide pan and add ½ cup ghee which is 125ml. 

We will be needing more ghee later. Don’t add all of them together. 

Mix the besan and the plain flour together in a bowl and add this to the melted luke warm ghee. 

Switch off the flame and mix the flours and ghee. 

You will see some lumps now, don’t worry. They will melt off when getting cooked and little more ghee can be added if required. 

Switch on the flame between low – medium. 

Keep stirring continuously with patience. You can see the texture changing and it becomes smooth as it gets cooked. 

If you don’t see a watery ghee oozing out after 5 minutes, then add little ghee to it. 

I added 2 tbsps more of ghee and now it has become a smooth texture. Cook this till it bubbles up. 

So totally ½ cup earlier and now 2tbsp again of ghee.

If you want you can substitute the whole of ghee to half ghee and half oil or dalda. I always prefer only ghee. 

When you start to see it bubbling, stir continuously Switch off the gas and pour it into a steel plate that we had kept ready earlier. 

Keep this aside to cool down. 

Next add 1 cup sugar and ½ cup water to a thick bottomed pan to caramelize the sugar. 

Switch on the flame on high till it thickens. Add a pinch of salt to balance the sweetness. 

Stay alert and concentrate on the syrup. It’s a very risky and dangerous stage. Be careful. 

Some sugar may have dirt in it. You can add 1tbsp milk to it when the sugar boils and remove the dirt that bubbles up. 

Keep swirling the pan on medium flame until the sugar thickens and caramelizes. 

Add 1tsp lemon juice to avoid crystallization. 

I have greased a butter paper over a tray. I will be pouring the caramelized sugar over this

If you don’t have a tray or butter paper, you can use a big steel plate or a non stick plate. 

Grease whichever tray you are using so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom and can easily be handled. 

It took me 11 minutes to caramelize the sugar. It will vary in each one’s stove. Just make sure it reaches golden in colour. That’s the stage we want it to be. 

Don’t wait for it to turn brown or else it will taste bitter. 

Once its golden in colour, switch off the flame and keep swirling till the syrup stops bubbling. 

Pour the syrup over the greased butter paper tray. 

If you leave the caramel idle like this, it will begin to crystalize from top. 

So fold and open the butter paper from all the sides alternately so that it doesn’t crystalize but thickens as it cools. 

If you are using a plate, then keep swirling it till it thickens. It will roll around if the plate is well greased.

I prefer doing it this way and it has come out perfect and was easy to handle too. 

After some time, you can see that as it cools it begins to form a shape.

Keep folding it from all the sides alternately till you are able to use your hands to work on it. 

I prefer using a butter paper than a foil paper due to safety and health reasons. 

Once you are able to use your hands to handle it, take it and start stretching it from both the  sides and then again folding it. 

Repeat this process for some time and it should be done when the sugar is slightly hot itself. 

Keep stretching and folding it for a while until the golden colour changes to a yellow colour. 

Join the ends to form a circle and pour half of the besan mixture over it. 

Mix the caramel and the besan mixture by stretching and folding again and again until the besan has been absorbed into the caramel. 

Pour the rest of the besan mixture and mix and pull from both the sides till its completely absorbed. 

Its still luke warm at this time. You don’t have to use much of force. It will break off. Just keep letting the caramel absorb all the besan mixture. 

Stretch all the sides slightly to loosen and absorb as it thickens and hardens. But make sure it doesn’t break off.

You can refer to our youtube video to see the way I have done it. 

Now the texture has begun to change. All the besan mixture has absorbed into the caramel mix. 

Stop working on it once you see the sugar strands like a net. 

Cut, layer and set this in on a greased tray with parchment paper. 

Place them as per your tray size or you can even press small amounts of them in moulds. You can turn them over once they are ready and don’t have to cut them later if they are set in moulds. 

Sprinkle some pistachios and almonds over the layered soan papdi. 

Use a roller to flatten and smoothen the top of the layers. Its to get a perfect finish. Its optional. 

Once its slightly set, cut it to the size you like. Its so satisfying to see the way it looks. Absolutely drooling 

Slice them only once its cool enough. Or else it will begin to break off. Make sure to line it when its slightly hot and then cut it once it has cooled down. 

You may have to use little force if it cools down too much. So cut accordingly. 

I have layered them thin. You can layer them thick if you want.

The texture is just like the ones that you get to buy at stores. 

Our super yummy Soan Papdis are ready!

Try it out at least for once and experience the happiness as I did!

Do share your feedback and enjoy cooking 

Love u all 🥰🥰

Veena Jan