Indian fusion Truffles | Diwali Truffles

Wishing everyone a wonderful Diwali this year. Despite all the pandemic chaos, lack of get togethers, parties or celebrations I still decided to celebrate by making some treats to share with neighbors and close friends. I love making Fusion desserts. An example are these Gajar Halwa Chocolates that I made couple years ago. This time I decided to try some Indian fusion flavored truffles using both white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate.

I took a whole lot of pics, too many as usual, so I may papparize this post with some of those, let the pics do the talking huh... ;-)

I made one batch of white chocolate ganache and divided them to make two different flavored truffles: Kesar Pista and Rose

Similarly made another single batch of Chocolate Ganache and divided them to form 2 different flavored truffles : Almond Joy and Chocolate Orange

I personally felt each truffle flavor came out better than I had expected. Can't wait to try more flavors. Let’s get to making these shall we? :-)

White Chocolate Ganache for Truffles

You’ll Need

2 cups White chocolate chips

½ cup Heavy Cream

Directions

1.       Heat heavy cream in a saucepan until it just begins to boil and pour it over the chocolate chips.

2.       Let it stand for 2 mins and then mix gently until all the white chocolate chips melt and form a smooth flowy ganache.

3.       Divide the ganache in two bowls equally.

 

We will now make Kesar pista flavored truffles and Rose flavored truffles from each bowl of white chocolate ganache respectively.

Kesar Pista Truffles

(makes 14)

You’ll need

1 batch White chocolate ganache

1-2 teaspoons Kesar or Saffron strands

1 teaspoon Water/Cream

¼ teaspoon Kesar essence (optional)

Few drops of Yellow food coloring (optional)

For pista filling:

2 Tablespoons crushed pistachios

2 teaspoon powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon Almond flour

Few drops Water

For garnish

1 cup crushed pistachios

Directions

Prepare the kesar flavored ganache

1.       Crush kesar (saffron) slightly with your fingers.

2.       Soften the saffron by warming kesar and water in a microwave for 10 seconds

3.       Add this kesar to the slightly warm white chocolate ganache. (If more flavor is required add kesar essence.)

4.       Use yellow food coloring for a vibrant color (optional)

5.       Allow the ganache to cool and set in the refrigerator for 2hours.

Prepare the pistachio filling

1.       Mix together all the ingredients with few drops of water, just enough to form a smooth and sticky dough.

2.       Grease both palms with oil/ghee and form small ¼ teaspoon sized balls of the pistachio filling. This will be added to the center of the kesar truffles once the ganache sets.

Make the Kesar Pista truffles

1.       Once the ganache has set, use a teaspoon to scoop enough ganache to form the truffle.

2.       Grease both palms with oil/ghee and roll the truffle.

3.       Make a small indent in the center and place the pista filling in the center and roll back to form a smooth round truffle.

4.       Roll each truffle ball into the crushed pistachios and place on a plate.

5.       Refrigerate the Kesar Pista truffles to set completely.

 

Rose Truffles

(makes 14)

You’ll Need

1 batch White Chocolate Ganache

2 Tablespoons Gulkhand

Few drops pink food coloring

For garnish

½ cup white chocolate candy melts (outer coating)

crushed dried Red Rose petals 

 

Directions

1.       While the ganache is still warm, add gulkhand and few drops of pink food coloring and mix well to combine.

2.       Allow the ganache to cool and set for 2hours in refrigerator.

3.       Once the ganache has set, use a teaspoon to scoop out the ganache to form the truffles.

4.       Grease your palms with oil/ghee to smoothly roll the truffles.

5.       Melt white chocolate candy melts until smooth, roll each rose truffle with the white chocolate and place on parchment paper.

6.       Garnish with crushed dried rose petals.

7.       Refrigerate the Rose truffles to set completely.

 

 

 

Chocolate Ganache for Truffles

You’ll Need

2 cups Semi-sweet or Dark chocolate chips

½ cup Heavy Cream

Directions

1.       Heat heavy cream in a saucepan until it just begins to boil and pour it over the chocolate chips.

2.       Let it stand for 2 mins and then mix gently until all the white chocolate chips melt and form a smooth flowy ganache.

3.       Divide the ganache in two bowls equally.

We will now make Almond Joy flavored truffles and Chocolate Orange flavored truffles from each bowl of chocolate ganache respectively.

 

Almond Joy Truffles

(makes 12)

You’ll Need

1 batch Chocolate Ganache

2 tablespoon roasted and crushed Almonds

For garnish

½ cup sweet Coconut flakes

 

Directions

1.       Add the crushed almonds into the chocolate ganache while its still warm and mix to combine well.

2.       Allow the chocolate ganache to now cool and set in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.

3.       Once the ganache has cooled and thickened, scoop out enough ganache using a teaspoon to form small truffles as desired.

4.       Grease both palms with oil/ghee to smoothly roll the truffles.

5.       Finally coat the truffle balls into the sweet coconut flakes and refrigerate it again to set completely.

 

Chocolate Orange Truffles

(makes 12)

You’ll Need

1 batch Chocolate Ganache

1 Tablespoon fresh grated Orange zest

¼ teaspoon Orange essence

For garnish

½ cup Chocolate candy Melts (outer coating)

Edible Gold leaf

 

Directions

1.       Add the orange zest and orange essence into the chocolate ganache while it’s still warm and mix to combine well.

2.       Allow the chocolate orange ganache to now cool and set in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.

3.       Once the ganache has cooled and thickened, scoop out enough ganache using a teaspoon to form small truffles as desired.

4.       Grease both palms with oil/ghee to smoothly roll the truffles.

5.       Melt the candy melts and coat the truffle balls in the melted chocolate and place each truffle on a parchment paper.

6.       Decorate each truffle with edible gold leaf as desired.

7.       Refrigerate the chocolate orange truffles to set completely.

 

 

I do hope you will give these a try or create a whole new flavor of your choice and enjoy some and share some and have a wonderful and festive time!! Stay safe and have fun.

Regards,

Manju

 

Kesar Badam Peda | Diwali special sweet with condensed milk

Wishing everyone a Very Very Happy and fun filled Diwali!!
I look forward to Diwali every year to try out some new Indian sweet and snack recipes. I don't make too many Indian desserts thinking they might be difficult, but I was amazed at how easy these Kesar Badam Peda turned out to be.

My parents are visitng us this Diwali making it all the more special and mummy and I had made some Mango-Coconut Laddoos last weekend. Mummy had never made a Mango laddo and she and daddy enjoyed it. 
We also made couple of other snacks like Diamond shaped Namak Pare, Sweet Boondi last weekend and last night even tried a hand at some Cashew Murukku and Ribbon Pakoda. 
I'm yet to share all these recipes on the blog, which I will share shortly. We've just been so busy spending time with each other and visiting friends and their family that blogging is taking a back seat. :-)

I had some condensed milk left over after making the Mango Laddoos, so to make use of it we tried this super easy Peda recipe which mummy had learnt from a friend while she used to stay in Mumbai couple of years ago. The recipe was actually for Dhoodh Peda (Milk peda) but I did not have Milk powder and instead substituted with Almond powder and made them as Badam Peda (Almond Peda).
The addition of some saffron flavored milk adds a unique and amazing flavor to these sweet chewy fudge like sweet. I also love the way how the saffron stands show out in the peda. 

The whole thing comes together in just about 10-15 mins, it's that easy. I tried taking some stepwise pics which'll help me as well when i want to make these another time :-D
If you have couple of Diwali parties to attend and haven't yet decided on what to take, make these...they look festive and seems like you slogged a lot in the kitchen to prepare and tastes amazing too...no on needs to know how quick and easy they are to make :-)

They taste chewy and fudge like and has a lovely nutty flavor of the badam. The sweetened condensed milk adds enough sweetness and does not require any additional sugar. The saffron definitely elevates the flavor.

Kesar Badam Peda

Makes 16-18 small peda

You’ll Need

1 cup Almond powder

200 gms (about ½ tin)  Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 teaspoons Ghee

1 Tablespoon warm Milk

A pinch of Saffron strands

Chopped Pista/Almonds for garnish

Directions

1. Sift 1 cup almond powder through a sieve. Add a pinch of saffron to 1 tablespoon warm milk. Chop the pistachios for garnish and keep aside.

2. In a bowl mix together the kesar-milk mixture, condensed milk and Almond powder and make a smooth paste.

3. Heat a non-stick pan and add this paste and cook on medium heat until it starts becoming thick. Add 2 teaspoons ghee at this stage and continue to cook until it starts coming together forming a smooth dough and should come off the pan without sticking.

4. Place the peda dough on a greased plate. Grease your palms and while still warm, start rolling out bite-sized balls from the dough and flatten it slightly. Press down the centre and arrange them on the plate. Add the chopped pistachios as garnish in the center.

I have some other simple Diwali recipes which I have tried over the years. Sharing the link in case you want to try any...I hope you will :)
Mango Coconut Laddoo
Kaju Katli (sweet Cashew Fudge)
Gajar Ka Halwa (Carrot Halwa)
Spiced Mango Kalakhand (Ginger spiced Mango Fudge)
Whole Wheat Murukku
Ring Murukku

Happy Diwali once again to all my dear redaers, family and friends!

-Manju

Ring Murukku

Indian snacks are always a class apart. And Diwali is the perfect time to make a whole lot of sweet and savoury snacks to share with family and friends. I love trying something new each year. In my previous post I had shared my favorite Chakli recipe made with whole-wheat flour. I’m sharing another quick and simple snack recipe perfect for Diwali and one that you can make even at the last moment, Ring Murukku or murukku with a hole ;-)

These Ring shaped crunchy snacks are to die for.  I absolutely love them and have always until now just bought them from the snack section at the Indian store. With the Diwali fever doing it’s rounds I felt I should try making this at home atleast once and I was very pleased with the results. They turned out super crispy and crunchy. I wanted a slightly savory aka spicy snack so I added a little extra red chilli powder than the recipe called for to the dough and the ring murkku had a good bit of heat and was perfect and just my taste.

They are so easy to make, you don’t need any special equipment, just shape them into small rings and fry until golden brown.

I did not take a lot of step-wise pics but have shared a few that I managed to click. It's not a fun task to take pics while handling flour and oil ;-)

Ring Murukku

You’ll Need

1 cup Rice flour

1 Tblsp Urad dal flour/Moong dal flour  

1 tsp Red chilli powder  

1 Tblsp Sesame seeds     

1/8 tsp Asafoetida            

1 tsp Jeera         

1 cup water 

1 Tblsp Butter     

Salt - as needed

Oil - for deep frying

Directions

1. Make urad dal/moong dal flour – roast a handful of urad dal/moong dal  until mild brown and fragrant, powder it and sieve it and keep aside 1 Tblsp of the powder.

2. Boil 1 cup of water in a non-stick vessel or any vessel. Add butter and salt to the boiling water and then Rice flour and 1 Tblsp Urad dal flour, mix well. Immediately switch off the flame, cover and let the dough cool down. If too sticky then add some more flour. When the dough becomes cool enough to handle, add jeera, red chilli powder, sesame seeds and knead to form a dough.

3. Pinch out small round balls of dough of equal size and roll them into a thin rope and join the ends of the rope to form a ring.

4. Deep fry few per batch in hot oil. While one batch is getting cooked, you can make the next batch. Or make all the rings together and fry little by little. Fry in high flame until the rings are golden brown, but do not let oil fume.

This is a perfect Tea-time snack and is best eaten the day it is made. But if stored in a good air-tight container you can enjoy them for couple more days. So enjoy snacking and have a fun filled and Happy Diwali!

-Manju

Whole-wheat Chakli / Murukku

It’s Diwali season again, the Festival of Lights! People are all busy cleaning up their homes, buying pretty new clothes and lots of fire-crackers and diyas. Many even draw beautiful Rangoli in front of their homes surrounded by lamps of light (diya). It’s a fun festival, colorful, bright and noisy with all the fire-crackers bursting away….and that’s just how we like to celebrate Diwali.

Oh! and the best part…of course the goodies. So many lovely sweets and snacks are prepared and shared and the preparation starts from few weeks before the big day. Some prefer to just buy the snacks, others prepare them at home themselves…either way it’s a lot of fun.

I have celebrated Diwali in our own small ways after our marriage. I still remember our first Diwali when we were just newly married and living in Chennai. Wanting it to be extra special, I made Besan Laddo, Chakli and Gujiya (karanji), all for the first time, and apart from the chakli getting semi-burnt, the rest all came out fine!!  We decorated the house with lots of light and along with my sis-in-law and bro-in-law (who were also newly married), we burst lots of crackers and had a lot of fun. My sis-in-law’s name is also Manju.

Manju chechi (as I call her) had called us to her home for dinner and she made some amazing Dal kachori, Veg Biriyani, raita and Gulab jamuns that evening and it was just splendid. I remember all this just like it happened yesterday…Nostalgia is a weird thing! :-)

After that our next Diwali’s have all been here at Minneapolis and it has been fun every year. We usually go to the temple and burst crackers there and then have a grand potluck dinner at our friend’s place followed by more bursting of crackers. It’s a festival we eagerly wait for each year. We have been lucky to have friend’s whom we can proudly call next to family and we don’t miss a chance to celebrate any festival.

Last year I made some Ring Murukku and Chakli along with some fusion sweets like Gajar Halwa and turned some of it into Carrot Halwa filled Chocolates and Spiced Mango burfi. 
I will share the ring murukku recipe soon as well. Apparently it has taken my lazy bones a whole year to share this with you :) I’m yet to decide what to make this year…Lol!

I love crunchy snacks and chakli (murukku) is my favorite of them all. My mom’s elder sister, my velliammachi, used to make the most awesome chakli’s I’ve ever eaten. Infact these don’t come quite close to how she used to make them, but for my first try it came out very decent I should say and they are made with whole wheat flour. 
Well apart from the frying in oil, you can say it’s a bit healthy :-P 

Whole-wheat Chakli / Whole-wheat Murukku

Makes : approx 12-20 chakli depending on size

  

You'll Need

1 cup Wheat flour             

¾ tsp Red chilli powder               

1 ½ tsp Jeera/ ajwain               

1/8 tsp  Asafoetida         

1 tsp hot oil

Salt - as needed

Room temp water - as needed to form the dough

Oil - For deep frying

 Directions

1.  Place the atta powder in a clean white muslin cloth and tie it up like a pouch. Using a steamer or idli vessel , steam cook atta. Cover and Steam cook for 15 mins to 20 mins.

2.  Untie and when it is warm enough to handle, break it roughly and sieve it into another bowl and break any bigger pieces with hands.

3.  Heat oil in kadai, meanwhile you prepare the dough. Add red chilli powder, asafoetida, salt and jeera and a tsp of hot oil and Make dough with water. It should be a stiff yet smooth and non sticky dough. 

I used the star shaped hole plate to make these chakli.

4. Press the dough using the pressing gun and form into a concentric circle shape or coil shape. I pressed in onto my silicon mat (you can use an oiled plate or wax paper to shape the dough onto)

5. Make sure the oil is hot enough and Using a spatula transfer each chakli into the hot oil and deep fry both sides until crisp and golden brown. 

Drain over a paper towel and store in an air-tight container.

Notes:

1.  Never let oil fume at any point, regulate the heat now and then

2.  Make sure water doesn't enter the wheat powder while steaming and once steamed the whole-wheat flour (atta) should look dry and devoid of moisture.

Recipe Source: Rak's Kitchen

Have a fun and safe Diwali!

-Manju