Nendran Pazham Halwa/ Banana Halwa

Mohan Puri/ Chandrakala

Pineapple Kesari/Pineapple Sheera/Pineapple Pudding

Sooji Halwa/Semolina Pudding/Sheera

Pumpkin Halwa/Kaddu Halwa/ Pumpkin Pudding

Moong Dal Halwa

Moong dal Halwa is an Indian dessert made from yellow lentils. It is basically a fudge and is very rich because of the amount ghee/ clarified butter added to it. Though I make many sweet varieties and desserts, I’m not generally the one who will stay until dessert. I’m immensely intuitive while I create sweet dishes, but I don’t crave sweets much. But this halwa is very close to my heart because it probably is the first sweet dish I ever liked. Thanks to our stint in Delhi, I have got to taste the best ones.

Infact, I liked this sweet dish so much that I have attempted to make it in the past, failed miserably and had given up on ever trying it again. But last year during the pandemic lockdown I was craving it badly, and as you know “ when you want something very badly, the universe conspires to make it happen” ????. So I had a viola moment during Diwali,  while I was documenting the sweets and savoury prepared by me, when a simple method to make this halwa struck m

If you have attempted making this halwa any time or have searched the net for the recipe, all of them will tell you it takes 3 to 4 hours to get this sweet dish done. The actual recipe asks to soak and grind the lentils and them cook it in milk/ water and then add the sweetening agent. As I have claimed here on the blog before, I will take a short cut as long as it does not alter the taste, flavour and texture of the dish. And I took a short cut to this recipe and I don’t regret it because the outcome was just like the original. 

If you follow the procedure as given here by me without altering I’m sure it’s a no fail recipe. And why stand by the stove for hours when you can get the same taste and flavour in an hour’s time? Having failed at this recipe many times, and knowing what went wrong each time, this time the recipe was made with so much conviction of technique that it turned out wonderfully. 

While you are here do check out other dessert recipes like Carrot kheer, Strawberry and Lemon loaf, Red Poha Ladoo, Shrikhand, Malpua with Gulab Jamun mix, Akkaravadisal, Sweet Poha, and more…

Here is the recipe of Moong Dal Halwa-

 

      PREP TIME: 10 Mins                                      COOK TIME: 50 Mins
     TOTAL TIME: 60 Mins                                      COURSE:  DESSERT
     CUISINE:  INDIAN                                            SERVINGS: 6
     AUTHOR: Rajni Ram

 

 



    Ingredients:

    Moong dal split ( yellow lentils) 1 cup

    Milk 1 cup

    Water 2 cups

    Sugar 1 cup

    Saffron strands a few (optional)

    Yellow food colour/turmeric powder for colour 2 pinches

    Ghee 100 GM approx

    Cardamom/ Elaichi powder 1/4 tsp

    Almonds and Pistachio chopped a few

 

    Directions:

The foremost and important step is dry roasting the dal to a light brown colour. This has to be done patiently on low heat. On this depends the entire recipe. First put a pan/ kadai on flame and warm it. Now put the dal and start the roasting procedure by stirring constantly. This step can be done ahead. Cool the roasted dal and grind it in a blender. For a smooth texture of halwa grind it finely, for a grainy texture grind it coarse. Whole dal should not be visible. Now put this ground dal powder in a pan, add one cup milk, followed by 2 cups water, and stir to make it lump free. Now put the pan on the flame, add the food colour/turmeric powder, and start cooking the mixture on medium flame. Slowly the mixture will start thickening. If adding saffron strands, add now. Keep stirring gently, scraping the sides of the pan from time to time. Once the mixture thickens, check if there is any rawness in the smell. That is, if the dal smell/ taste is still coming. If yes, add another ladle of milk and continue to stir again. If your mixture has thickened and there is no raw smell or taste, add the sugar gently and start stirring again. As the sugar melts the dal mixture will liquefy. Don’t worry and continue to stir. The mixture will start thickening again. Now is the time to start pouring the ghee. Pour one ladle at a time and stir until the ghee is absorbed. Continue this process until no more ghee gets absorbed, but remains on the halwa. You will also notice that at this stage your mixture/ halwa no longer sticks to the pan/ kadai bottom, but comes out clean while stirring. Another way to tell the Halwa is done, is when you take a little of it in your fingers and try to form a ball, you should be able to do it. Add the cardamom powder and nuts and transfer the halwa to a container.  The delicious Moong dal halwa is ready to relish .

 

    STEPWISE RECIPE FOLLOWS:

1. First out a pan/ kadai on flame and warm it. Now put the dal and start the roasting procedure by stirring constantly. This step can be done ahead. Cool the roasted dal and grind it in a blender. For a smooth texture of halwa grind it finely, for a grainy texture grind it coarse. 

 

 

2. Now put this ground dal powder in a pan, add one cup milk, followed by 2 cups water, and stir to make it lump free. Now put the pan on the flame, add the food colour/turmeric powder, and start cooking the mixture on medium flame.

 

 

3. Slowly the mixture will start thickening. Keep stirring gently, scraping the sides of the pan from time to time. If adding saffron strands, add now. Once the mixture thickens, check if there is any rawness in the smell. That is, if the dal smell/ taste is still coming. If yes, add another ladle of milk and continue to stir again. If your mixture has thickened and there is no raw smell or taste, add the sugar gently and start stirring again.

 

4. As the sugar melts the dal mixture will liquefy. Don’t worry and continue to stir. The mixture will start thickening again. Now is the time to start pouring the ghee. Pour one ladle at a time and stir until the ghee is absorbed. Continue this process until no more ghee gets absorbed, but remains on the halwa. 

 

 

 

5. You will also notice that at this stage your mixture/ halwa no longer sticks to the pan/ kadai bottom, but comes out clean while stirring. Another way to tell the Halwa is done, is when you take a little of it in your fingers and try to form a ball, you should be able to do it. Add the cardamom powder and nuts and transfer the halwa to a container. The delicious Moong dal halwa is ready to relish .

 
 

 

 
    NOTES:
 
1. The foremost and important step is dry roasting the dal to a light brown colour. This has to be done patiently on low heat. On this depends the entire recipe.
2. Ensure the Kadai is warm before you put in the dal for roasting. This way the Dal will get roasted evenly and quickly.
3. I like a grainy texture, so while grinding, I stopped just before super fine.
4. Adding more ghee than required will subdue the taste of the dal. When the dal mixture no longer takes in the ghee, as soon as poured and stirred, stop adding any more ghee.
5. I used a non stick pan for making the Halwa and recommend the same for now. I will soon be trying in a regular kadai and shall update the recipe then.
6. I have kept my Halwa colour yellow, by frying it to a light brown and then adding turmeric powder(which is a natural colour). If you prefer a browner version, roast the dal to a deeper brown and proceed with the recipe. 
7. I have used turmeric powder instead of food colour, as it is natural and two pinches of it do not make a difference to the taste of the halwa.
 

If you tried this recipe and liked it please comment below. I would love to hear from you. If you have a query about the recipe email us and ill respond as soon as I can.

If you would like to receive our recipes on your mail please leave your mail id at the homepage. Every time Rajjo’s Kitchen has a new post we will mail the recipe to you.
 

 

 

GAJAR HALWA/ CARROT HALWA

Gajar Halwa/ Carrot Halwa is a very popular Indian dessert. Mostly a winter dessert. Though it is made frequently with the regular carrots ( English Carrots), using the Delhi Carrots or Red Carrots as they are called gives the best results.

This is one dessert I love and consider it very sacred, so if you are looking for an easy, one pot or microwave recipe, you are going to be disappointed. As far as Gajar Halwa is concerned I am old school. I cook it in milk( and a whole lot of milk) so that the raw taste of the Carrots is gone and the milk crumbles to a Rabri like texture. The taste of such a Halwa is divine. This is one recipe I have never made with regular carrot except in my dessert recipe- Gajar halwa Barfi where I was shaping  it like fudge( Barfi) and using Khoya to speed up the process. Whereas this recipe of Gajar Halwa is a slow cook process. The slower it cooks the better it tastes. Am I disappointing you? Well, make it like this and you will be hooked to it for life. Remember the best things in life come with a lot of patience.

My belief is that when I wait a whole year for the Red Carrots to appear in the Market and then make the Halwa, then it should be made the authentic way. Which does not involve adding condensed milk or Koya or milk powder but in cooking the carrots in milk( whole cream), to perfection.

I use only whole cream milk to make this dessert. So the taste of the Halwa depends entirely on the quality of milk. A full/whole cream milk Halwa will give you better taste and I can say this because I have tried it will all milk varieties available in the market and what works best is whole/full cream milk.

So after the whole mega write up, taking you to the recipe. While you are here do check out my other carrot based desserts like Carrot Kheer( another speciality from Rajjo’s Kitchenn) and Gajar Halwa Barfi.

 

    PREP TIME:30                                   COOK TIME: 1hr
   TOTAL TIME:1hr.30Mins                     COURSE:  DESSERT
   CUISINE:  INDIAN                               SERVINGS: 6
   AUTHOR: Rajni Ram
 

 

 

 

    Ingredients:

 

    Carrots ( Preferably Red ones) 1.5 kilo grated

    Milk whole cream/ full cream 2 litres

    Sugar 300 gm

    Cardamom/ Elaichi powder

    Ghee 4 tbsp

    Cashews a new broken

 

    Directions:

Wash, peel and grate the carrots and keep aside. In a huge thick bottomed vessel/ kadai/ or urli boil the milk. When it comes to a boil, reduce the flame and put in the grated carrots. Start stirring the mixture. The flame can be increased now but constant stirring is required . This process has to continue until almost all the milk dries up. The texture will look like Rabri stickng to carrot. Once all milk dries up, reduce the flame and add the sugar. Continue to stir again. Once the sugar is added the mixture will liquify, continue to stir until all the moisture is absorbed. The halwa will come together but it will not be gooey. Now add the cardamom powder. Fry the nuts in ghee and pour it over the halwa along with the nuts. The healthy and delicious Gajar Halwa is ready.  Serve warm. Bon Appetite. 

 

    STEPWISE RECIPE FOLLOWS:

1. Wash, peel and grate the carrots and keep aside. In a huge thick bottomed vessel/ kadai/ or Urli boil the milk.

 

 

 

 

2. When it comes to a boil, reduce the flame and put in the grated carrots. Start stirring the mixture. The flame can be increased now but constant stirring is required . This process has to continue until almost all the milk dries up. Showing you the stages of reduction in pictures below that are self explanatory. 

 

 

 

3. Once all milk dries up, reduce the flame and add the sugar. Continue to stir again. Once the sugar is added the mixture will liquefy, continue to stir until all the moisture is absorbed. The Halwa will come together but it will not be gooey. (forgot to click a picture finally to show the final consistency, so have included the one showing the cardamom powder. Please follow that texture for final consistency of Halwa).

 

 

 

4. Now add the cardamom powder. Fry the nuts in ghee and pour it over the Halwa along with the nuts. The healthy and delicious Gajar Halwa is ready.  Serve warm.

 

 

 

 

    NOTES:

1. While cooking at high heat keep stirring constantly to avoid burning the contents at the bottom of the pan.

2. Actually after sometime of cooking the milk and carrot mixture , it does not overflow from the vessel. That time the stirring can be relaxed a bit, but stir every couple of minutes. If you are following this reduce flame when not stirring.

3. Good quality full cream milk yields the best result, the Halwa can be made with milk of any consistency though. The results may not be what I have described .

4. Feel free to try this with regular Carrots too. Method being the same.

5. Sometimes people try to over power the subtle carrot flavour by adding huge amounts of ghee. This is not required. Pouring ghee at the right time is very important, such that the flavour is enhanced and a lot of ghee is not poured unnecessarily. Check out my Cakkara Pongal post for the directions on how to pour the ghee.

 

If you tried this recipe and liked it please comment below. I would love to hear from you. If you have a query about the recipe email us and ill respond as soon as I can.

If you would like to receive our recipes in your mail please leave your mail id at the homepage. Every time Rajjo’s Kitchen has a new post we will mail the recipe to you.
 

Malpua With Gulab Jamun Mix & Paneer

Malpua is a sweet dish close to my heart and I have taste both the Bengali version and the ones made in the north. I like both of them equally. My hands have been itching to try out this recipe that I thought of and scoured the internet to find if such a one exists. There are a hundred recipes of Malpua with Gulab Jamun mix, but what makes this one different is the use of Paneer(cottage cheese) and Wheat flour. Using Paneer makes the Malpuas soft and fluffy on the inside and wheat flour gives it a little crunch on the exterior.

This is the first time I’m trying out this version and I am happy that it turned out well. Sometimes our hunches do work, and this time the hunch was to use paneer with the mix. The Bengali version of Malpua uses Chenna or paneer along with refined flour though.

The sugar syrup here is a very thin one as it is only to keep the Malpuas moist. I have also made an instant Rabri, the recipe of which I am posting, but I am not uploading the pictures as I couldn’t click any, since the Rabri here was made as an afterthought.

I have a Pineapple Rabri recipe here on the blog which you can refer to. This is the authentic way of making Rabri. Whereas what I have made with the Malpua is a shortcut one, which was made as an accompaniment with the Malpua.

While you are on this page please check out my other sweet/dessert recipes like      Apple cake, Carrot Kheer, Unni Appam, Blueberry Cheesecake, Maa Ladoo,          Berry Smoothie Icecream, and more…

Here is the recipe of Malpua from Gulab Jamun Mix-

PREP TIME: 10Mins                                      COOK TIME: 30 Mins

TOTAL TIME: 40Mins                                    COURSE: DESSERT/SWEET

CUISINE:   INDIAN                                        SERVINGS: 4

AUTHOR: Rajni Ram

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

Gulab Jamun Mix 1 cup

Paneer 100 gm minced

wheat flour 1/2 cup

Sugar 1 tbsp( for batter)

Milk 1 cup (or more if required)

Sugar for syrup 1 cup

Water for sugar syrup 1/2 cup

Elaichi/green cardamom 2 pods

Fennel seeds 2 pinches

Oil for frying

Directions for making the batter:

In a bowl take the Gulab Jamun Mix. Mince the paneer in a blender and add it to the Gulab Jamun mix in the bowl, add the wheat flour followed by the 1 tablespoon sugar. Nicely mix them all together to a dry mixture. Now adding milk little by little whisk to form a pouring consistency batter( like dosa batter or a little thicker). Now add the fennel seeds to the batter and mix. 

 

Directions to make the sugar syrup:

In a pan/ flat vessel take one cup sugar, add 1/2 cup water, and put it on the flame. Stirring continuously so that the sugar dissolves, allow it to boil for 2 to 3 minutes, and put off the flame. String consistency of the syrup is not required in this recipe. Add 2 cardamom pods while boiling the syrup. 

Directions for making the Malpua:

Next, take oil for frying in a flat Karahi or pan preferably and heat. The flame should be medium-high. The oil should not be too hot, nor warm. When you put a little batter, it should sizzle. Now take a scoop of batter in a ladle and pour it into the hot oil. The batter will spread out by itself, like pancakes. Cook on one side and flip it over and cook on the other until both sides are equally golden brown. Remove from oil and drop in the sugar syrup for 10 seconds. Remove and store in a container. If storing for more than a day, let the Malpuas remain in the sugar syrup itself, so that they stay moist. Enjoy the sweet dish. Bon Appetit.

Directions to make instant Rabri ( optional) No pictures for this.

Ingredients:

Milk 1 cup

Sugar 2 tsp

Milk powder 2 tbsp

Directions for Rabri: Take one cup of milk and boil. When it reduces to half, add 2 tsp sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk powder and stir nicely. Within 2 minutes it will reach the desired consistency. Put off the flame and let it cool completely before plating.

 

STEPWISE RECIPE FOLLOWS:

1. Assemble all ingredients. In a bowl add the Gulab Jamun mix, Paneer, wheat flour, sugar, and mix. Now add milk little by little to make a batter of flowing consistency. Add fennel seeds, mix it in, and keep the batter aside.

 

2. To prepare the sugar syrup, add 1/2 cup water to 1 cup sugar and put it on the flame to boil. Keep stirring for the sugar to dissolve and boil for 2 to 3 minutes, not more. Put off flame and cool. Add 2 cardamom pods while boiling.

 

3. In a flat pan/Karahi take oil for deep frying and heat. The flame should be medium-high and the oil should be hot, but not smoking hot. When the batter is poured, it should sizzle.  Now take a scoop full of batter and pour it in the oil. Let it spread by itself. Fry until it turns golden brown on one side and then flip it and fry until golden brown on the other side too.

 

 

4. Now put the fried Malpua into the sugar syrup and remove after a few seconds if serving immediately. If storing for a day, let the Malpuas remain in the syrup so that they remain moist.

 

5. Serve warm with Rabri or just as it is. 

 

NOTES:

1. If the sugar syrup solidifies after some time, add a tablespoon of water and put it on the flame and keep the flame very low. The syrup will loosen. Put off the flame. You can keep repeating this process until all the Malpuas are fried,  if required.

2. A flat pan or Kadai is the perfect one for frying this sweet as in a curved Kadai the batter may turn to a ball and roundish, instead of a flat pancake-like shape.

3. Before pouring the batter, check if the oil is hot, by dropping some batter gently into the oil. If it sizzles immediately, the oil is ready for frying.

 

If you tried this recipe and liked it please comment below. I would love to hear from you. If you have a query about the recipe email us and ill respond as soon as I can.

If you would like to receive our recipes in your mail please leave your mail id at the homepage. Every time Rajjo’s Kitchen has a new post we will mail the recipe to you.
 

 

 

Chakkara Pongal/Sweet Pongal

The month of Aadi(as per Tamil calender) or Aashad is a very auspicious one in South India as it marks the beginning of festivals which begin with Ganesh Chaturthi and Janmashtami and goes up to Pongal in January which is the month of Thai(Tamil) or Paush. The Chakkara Pongal is considered to be the prime offering to the Mother Goddess. This sweet Pongal is also the offering to the Sun God on the Makara Shankranti day/Pongal festival.

This being the Aadi month I made Chakkara Pongal too and it came out well as always. But there is a lot to tell about the proportions and how I arrived at the current one after a lot of hit and trial methods. Is it that tough you may ask? Certainly not. In fact, it is the most simple one provided the right proportions of Rice, Dal, and jaggery is used.
Chakkara Pongal was my favourite sweet dish as a child(the only one I liked as I was not fond of sweets, now I like most of them) and I would get my mom to make it frequently. As I grew older I learnt to make it from my mother and eventually my mother in law. I believed our’s was the best Chakkara Pongal as compared to most South Indian households(as it is very common to make it here often) until I had it as prasad(offering) in a temple around 10 years ago and that Chakkara Pongal wowed me. I so fell in love with that taste and it was unlike any other Sweet Pongal I had tasted before. From then on started my quest for the right proportions to make this recipe. I asked a lot many people of the proportions they used, I browsed many websites to check out the best recipe, and also tried all these whenever I made the Sweet Pongal but “that” one recipe always eluded me. It is not even that this recipe has many ingredients, whatever it is we have to play around the proportions of Rice, dal(moong dal/ Chana dal) and Jaggery. So I tried many permutations and combinations until I arrived at the current one. I have used the one-pot method, but the same recipe works well for pot in pot method too. Hope you all will find it easy to prepare and also delicious. Looking forward to your comments.
While you are here please do look up other traditional sweet dish/deserts by Rajjo’s kitchen like Pineapple Rabri,  Atte Ka Sheera, Carrot Kheer, and Akkaravadisal.
Here is the recipe of Chakkara Pongal for you.
PREP TIME: 10 MINS                                   COOK TIME: 30 Mins
TOTAL TIME: 40 Mins                                  COURSE:  DESSERT
CUISINE: SOUTH INDIAN                           SERVINGS: 6
AUTHOR: Rajni Ram

 

Ingredients:
Rice 1 cup
Moong Dal 1/2 cup
Milk 1/4 cup
Jaggery 1 cup
Sugar 1 tbsp
Cashewnut around 7-8
Raisins around 7-8
Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp
Edible camphor/Pacha karpooram 1 pinch
Nutmeg powder less than a pinch(optional)
Ghee 1/2 cup
Directions:
Dry roast the Moong dal until light brown on a low flame. In a vessel take the rice and add the roasted moong dal to it. Wash the rice and dal together and put them in the cooker. Pour 4 cups water and cook for 5 to 6 whistles. Once the pressure releases mash the rice and dal nicely with the back of a ladle or masher. Set aside. Take the jaggery in a vessel or pan and add 1/4 cup water. Switch on the flame to low and dissolve the jaggery until it froths up. switch off and cool for 5 minutes(the jaggery mixture can be prepared when the rice is cooking, it will save time later). Now strain the liquid jaggery directly into the mashed rice-dal mixture in the cooker. Switch on the flame, add 1/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup water. Stir the mixture nicely and cook on low fire for 5 minutes or until the Pongal comes together and the jaggery is not runny anymore. Switch off the flame. In a tempering Kadai take 1 tbsp ghee and heat. Add the Cashewnuts and fry, followed by raisins. Pour this mixture on the cooked Pongal and also add the cardamom powder, raw camphor and the nutmeg powder(optional). Pour the remaining ghee over the Pongal. The delicious Pongal is ready. Enjoy. Bon Appetit.
STEPWISE RECIPE FOLLOWS:
1. Assemble all ingredients.

 

2. Dry roast moong dal over a low flame until light brown.

 

3. Take the rice and roasted dal in a vessel and wash nicely and put them in the cooker.
Add caption

 

4. Add 4 cups water and cook for 5 to 6 whistles. While the rice is cooking take the jaggery in another pan/vessel and add 1/4 cup water and put it on the flame. On low flame dissolve the jaggery and allow to boil until it froths around 2 minutes from dissolving. Switch off the flame.

 

5. Once the pressure in the cooker releases, strain the liquid jaggery over the rice – dal mixture in the cooker. Pour 1/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup water(warm) and stir nicely such that the jaggery is well mixed with the contents in the cooker, add 1 tbsp sugar. Let it cook for 5 minutes on low flame. The Pongal will come together as a nice gooey mixture. Switch off the flame.

 

6. In a tempering Kadai or pan add 1 tbsp of ghee and heat. Add in the halved cashew nuts and fry, followed by raisins until they fluff up. Add the cardamom powder, and a pinch of raw camphor(a mini pinch of nutmeg powder too if using). Drop the ghee with nuts and raisins into the Pongal. Top up with remaining ghee. The delicious Chakkara Pongal is ready to serve.

 

NOTES:
1. I have used 1 cup jaggery, but depending on the sweetness of the jaggery the amount may vary by 1/4 cup.
2. Adding a spoon of sugar to any jaggery based sweet dish they say helps in the jaggery getting integrated into the dish and raises the taste they say. So I have always followed this.
3. Edible Camphor and Nutmeg powder should be used sparingly and only the mentioned amounts. Using more makes the dish bitter.
4. A trick I learnt from my mother in law is to always pour the ghee in the end on top of the sweet dish while it is hot and to not stir it in completely. So when you scoop out the sweet dish the ghee on top will automatically flow down, so you actually won’t have to flood the dish with a lot of ghee.
5. Adding the ghee while it is still hot helps in even spread of the ghee on the dish. Don’t mix the ghee after pouring on the Sweet dish, it makes it heavy and also the dish will keep absorbing how much ever you pour.
If you tried my method of the Chakkara Pongal and liked it please comment below. I would love to hear from you.

Pineapple Rabri

Rabri is a sweet-dish made by boiling and reducing milk until it gets a thready texture and becomes dense. It is flavoured with cardamom and nuts and served chilled. In this recipe, I have added fruit to the Rabri instead of dry nuts. Usually, Rabri is served as an accompaniment for Jalebi or Malpua, but this recipe of Pineapple Rabri can be relished just by itself. Let’s get to the recipe right away.

 

PREP TIME: 20 Mins                                       COOK TIME:1 hr 30 Mins
TOTAL TIME: 1 hr 50 Mins                             COURSE:  DESSERT
 CUISINE: NORTH INDIAN                           SERVINGS: 4
                                                                           AUTHOR: Rajni Ram

 

Ingredients:
Pineapple 4 slices chopped fine
Milk 1.5 litres
Brown sugar or unrefined sugar 1/4 cup
white sugar 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder of 3 pods
Milk Powder 1/2 cup(optional)
Saffron strands a few(optional)
Directions to make Rabri:
Cut the pineapple into fine cubes, put them in a pan add 1.5 to 2 cups water and cook them on slow fire. The pineapple should be just cooked and not mushy. The water should have dried up, it takes about 15 minutes. After the water dries up add 1/2 cup brown sugar/unrefined sugar and saute. Keep stirring once you add sugar as there are chances of the sugar burning. Let the mixture become dry. Put off the flame and cool it. Now in a thick bottomed vessel pour the 1.5 litres of milk and boil. Keep stirring continuously, otherwise the milk we stick to the bottom of the vessel and burn. Add the Saffron strands now. Keep stirring until the milk reduces to half the quantity. It will start getting denser. The texture also changes. Add 1/2 cup milk powder(if using, at this stage) continue to stir, add the white sugar and continue stirring until the milk becomes semi-dry, that is, it should not be of flowing consistency but a little denser. At this stage put off the flame. Cool the Rabri and put it in the refrigerator. To serve add the candied pineapple pieces to the Rabri, mix, put some pieces on top and the desert is ready.
STEPWISE RECIPE FOLLOWS:
1. Assemble all ingredients. Please note that the pineapple can be cooked a day ahead and put in the refrigerator.

 

2. To cook the pineapples, cut them into small cubes, put them in a pan add around 2 cups water and cook. They should become soft, but not mushy. Add the brown sugar and continue to cook. Once the mixture dries up, put off the flame and let it cool.

 

3. Pour the milk into a wide-mouthed, thick-bottomed vessel and begin to boil. Keep stirring constantly as the milk should not stick to the bottom of the pan. Add the saffron strands now.

 

4. Continue stirring until the milk reduces to half, it will become denser and the texture will start getting thread. Add in the milk powder(this is optional) and continue to reduce the milk.

 

5. Add the sugar when the threadiness increases and continue to stir. Put in the cardamom powder.  Put off the flame when the mixture is no longer in pouring consistency, it has to be scooped out. Cool the mixture and put it in the refrigerator.

 

6. To serve add the candied Pineapple into the Rabri and mix. Reserve some for putting on top. Decorate with cherries or berries and the refreshing Pineapple Rabri is ready to serve.

 

NOTES:
1. It takes about 1.5 hrs to make this dish. But don’t be disappointed, it will be worth the effort.
2. The time taken will depend on the fat content in the milk used. I have used toned milk, so it took me more than an hour to reduce the milk. If full cream milk is used the time will be lesser.
3. If making this for a get-together or party, you can make this the previous day and put it in the refrigerator in an airtight container. If doing this keep the fruit separate and add before serving.
4. I have used white sugar for Rabri, unlike the pineapple, as adding brown sugar to the Rabri will change its colour.
If you tried this recipe and liked it pls do comment below. I would love to hear from you.