What is Deepavali without traditional Indian sweets? The Festival of Lights will hardly be complete without a striking rainbow platter that will satisfy the toothiest of sweet-tooths!
Here are some of the goodies you may well be able to savour when you visit your friends and loved ones this festive season. Alternatively, why not support local Indian vendors by buying your fill of these and other delectable treats?
Gulab jamun is a kind of Indian donut infused in a rose-flavoured sugar syrup. (YouTube pic)
What is Deepavali without traditional Indian sweets? The Festival of Lights will hardly be complete without a striking rainbow platter that will satisfy the toothiest of sweet-tooths!
Here are some of the goodies you may well be able to savour when you visit your friends and loved ones this festive season. Alternatively, why not support local Indian vendors by buying your fill of these and other delectable treats?
Check back in for part two of this article tomorrow.
1. Gulab Jamun
A kind of Indian donut, these classic berry-sized balls are drenched in a rose-infused sugar syrup. Its main ingredient is khoya, which is basically milk heated on a low fire until the water content evaporates.
The milk solids are then mixed with flour and sugar before being shaped into small balls. They are then deep-fried in oil to golden-brown perfection.
Finally, these little spheres are soaked in syrup infused with rosewater or saffron.
Soft and spongy, gulab jamun is available in instant mixes at your local supermarket – but nothing beats the fresh variety hand-made from scratch!
2. Jaleebi
Sweet, sticky and sugary, making these orange-flavoured spirals is an art form. (YouTube pic)
Making jaleebi is an art form – one that results in sticky, sugary orange spirals that are wholly enjoyable on their own or soaked in warm milk.
Jaleebi is typically made from a highly refined wheat flour called maida, which is mixed with ghee, saffron and sugar. Done the traditional way, the process requires the batter to ferment for between 12 hours and one day.
Thereafter, it is squeezed into pretzel-like shapes before being fried in hot oil and then soaked in citrus-infused syrup.
The trick here is to ensure the batter has a flowing but thick consistency. Too thick and it won’t be crispy; too thin and it won’t retain its shape.
3. Kheer
Kheer is similar to western rice pudding, albeit cooked with milk, sugar and cardamom. (YouTube pic)
Kheer is the twin of America’s rice pudding: the only difference between them is the flavouring ingredient – Americans love vanilla, while Indians love their cardamom powder.
There are many variations of kheer out there, the most popular of which is rice kheer. Cooked with milk, sugar and cardamom, it’s rich, creamy and absolutely delicious.
Slow cooking with raw rice is the key here, but if you are in a hurry, cooked rice can also be used: it might not impart the same richness of flavour, but it will still do the trick.
4. Ladoo
Ladoo is perhaps the superstar of Indian sweet treats. (YouTube pic)
Known and beloved universally, there’s barely an Indian household that doesn’t know how to make these golf ball-sized orange-coloured desserts.
That said, each home might have a different recipe because of its plethora of varieties. Coconut ladoo, for instance, bears some similarity to our pandan putu bamboo – without the pandan and brown sugar, of course.
The typical ingredients used to make ladoo are gram flour, ghee, semolina and sugar. Cardamom powder or chopped nuts are often added for a boost of flavour.
5. Rasmalai
Rasmalai is akin to an Indian cheesecake, without the crust. (YouTube pic)
Ever wondered if India has its own type of cheesecake? If you guessed yes, well done! Rasmalai is akin to a cheesecake, albeit without a crust; instead, this is commonly served in the form of balls in a thickened milk known as ras.
To make it, water is first drained from curdled milk, leaving behind the cheesy solid known as paneer. This is whisked until smooth, before being moulded into balls and drenched in boiling sugar syrup.
The sauce, on the other hand, is easily made by boiling milk until it thickens slightly. Add a little flavouring and you’re done.
The key to perfect rasmalai is to use fresh full-cream milk – forget about low-fat or skim. Also, when forming the balls, be careful not to overknead as this releases oil; and make sure there are no cracks to prevent the sugar syrup from dissolving the balls.
Done right, every bite melts in the mouth!
This article first appeared in butterkicap.com, a food and culture platform and community that enables anyone to experience Malaysia through stories of its people, food and places.