Indian Delicacies – Most delicious form of dessert

I wonder how a meal can be complete without sweets. Indian sweets also known as mithai are the most delicious form of dessert items in India. Sweets hold a different traditional significance in Indian culture. On Diwali, one of the biggest and auspicious festival of India, People meet each other and distribute sweets to their closed one .It signifies happiness and prosperity. Not just diwali but at all other important festivals or happy occasions, distribution of sweets are made sure. When marriage ceremonies takes place, the first thing done to express the joy is sharing of sweets. It’s considered that starting such occasion with sweet will bring sweetness in the lives of the new couple all lifelong. There are different types of sweets.Those vary in shape as well as taste. Few of them can be easily made at home and rest can be bought from the online store. Most of the sweets are made with milk and milk products .So you never have to think twice about your health and diet as well before having any Indian dessert. I am going to share few of the recipes which you can find being made 365 days at every home in India. Western Indian sweet named as shrikhand is made from yogurt and can be very easily prepared at home. So I would like to share the recipe here. Ingredients used:

• Yogurt-2 kgs
• Saffron – 7-8 strands
• Milk – 2 tablespoon
• Almonds – ¼ cup
• Sugar – to taste
• Green cardamom powder – 1 ¼ teaspoon

Preparation:

1. Hang yogurt in a muslin cloth, in a refrigerator until all the liquid from the yogurt has drained off. (Approximately three hours.).
2. Dissolve saffron in warm milk and set aside.
3.  Blanch almonds, cool and cut into slivers.
4. Mix together the hung curds, sugar, saffron mixture and cardamom in a bowl and churn using a hand blender. For every cup of thick yogurt, add three fourth cup of sugar.
5. Mix well and transfer to a glass bowl and refrigerate till cold.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="590"] For hygienic and healthy Indian desserts trust only www.indianity.com[/caption] Kheer also known as Payasam is a rice pudding which is the favorite dessert in south India.It is made with rice and milk. Again a very simple and healthy recipe which is easily made at home. Ingredients used:

• 1/4th cup long grain rice (washed and drained)
• 2-3 crushed cardamom seeds
• 2 tbsp almonds
• A pinch of saffron threads
• 2-3 tbsp sugar or as desired
• 1 tbsp raisins (optional)

Preparation:

1. Put the rice, milk and cardamom in a pan, bring to boil and simmer gently until the rice is soft and the grains are starting to break up.
2. Add almonds, pistachio, saffron and raisins and simmer for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the sugar and stir until completely dissolved.
4. Remove the rice kheer from heat and serve either warm or chilled.

“Gajar ka halwa” made form carrot which is made in almost every Indian house during winters. Having hot halwa during winters not just makes you feel relaxed but also is healthy is so many ways as it’s made of carrot and milk.Ingredients used:

• 1 Kg carrot
• 1 Liter milk
• 2 tbsp almonds, rasins and pista
• ¾ Cup Water
• 3 tbsp ghee
• 450 grams sugar

Preparation:

1. Wash and grate the carrots. Soak the raisins in water for 30 minutes. Blanch and shred the nuts.
2. Put the water to boil, when it starts boiling add the grated carrots. Cook for 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the milk. Cook on a low flame for 1 hour stirring occasionally. Add sugar, mix well and cook till the sugar has dissolved and all the milk has been absorbed.
4. Add ghee and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add the slightly crushed cardamoms and the raisins. Mix well.
5. Remove the gajar halwa from heat and arrange in a serving dish. Garnish with almonds and pistachios. Serve cold, hot or at room temperature.

No matter which part of India it is, Sweets with different varieties and specialties of each region are found everywhere. Indian meal is always incomplete without these sweets. No matter where you are, you can taste these sweets delicacies by ordering online. For checking out few of them log on to www.indianity.com .