Anshu's Food Odyssey

Gujiya is a traditional Indian sweet dumpling or an empanada filled with a delicious stuffing made of roasted nuts, semolina and mawa (milk solids) that is subtly flavored with some cardamom powder for that beautiful hint of sweet fragrance. It is known with different names across different regions in India: Karanji in Maharashtra, Ghughra in Gujarat, Purukiya in Bihar and Nevri in Goa. Though a perfect-make for any Indian festival , Gujiya finds a special place during the Holi celebrations, when it is made in tonnes and you would find it being sold at any and every sweet shop with another festive favorite, the very delicious and irresistible, Thandai (chilled milk flavored with nuts and cardamom powder). Dry Gujiya with White Chocolate, Nuts and Mawa Stuffing | Indian Sweet Fried Empanadas Coming to the variety of Gujiyas, it generally comes in two versions: dry one and another, which is soaked in sugar syrup. Personally, I like the dry version more as its not o

Malai Peda is one of the most popular Indian sweets . These little discs of deliciousness are primarily made using fresh chhena (cheese curd), khoya (dried milk solids) and condensed milk. There are numerous variants of Malai Peda that are available in the sweets shops these days; while the plain peda and kesar peda are the most common, what I am fond of the most is the chocolate flavored one. Absolutely decadent and melt-in-mouth, these chocolate pedas make for an apt sweet for any festival or special occasion.  Well, I am making them for the upcoming Raksha Bandhan , if you too are looking for some homemade sweet recipes, do try them out. I promise, you won't be disappointed. Chocolate Milk Peda | Milk Peda Recipe Before I jump to the recipe, let me tell you that I have used fresh chhena. For that, bring about a liter of full fat milk to a boil. Let it cool for 5 minutes and then slowly start adding a little vinegar until the milk is nicely curdled.

If you remember, about 2 weeks back I had posted the recipe of " KHOYA PANEER GULAB JAMUNS " on my blog. To my utter happiness, the recipe was loved by a lot of my readers and I was swamped with appreciative comments on social platforms, especially on Facebook and Instagram . These Gulab Jamuns were so addictively delicious and melt-in-mouth that as soon as the batch got over, I was again bombarded with demands from my family and friends to make another batch at the earliest. Since its the Diwali time, I thought of fulfilling their demand and instead of making the usual big sized Gulab Jamuns, I made these mini ones which came out equally inviting and finger-licking. I even packed a few in individual decorative boxes and distributed them amongst my friends in the form of Diwali Goodies.  If you too are looking for some Diwali Gifting Ideas , then I must say this recipe is just for your sorts. Do try and I promise, you would thank me later!!    Angoori Gula

Barfi is an Indian fudge mostly made with milk solids known as khoya or khoa in Hindi. Needless to say, it is one of the most common delicacies to be served during festivals like Diwali , Holi , Eid and Ganpati Utsav to name a few. While this traditional sweet comes in a lot of flavors, the " khoya chocolate barfi " is the one that is most liked in our family. Again, there are a lot of variants to khoya choco barfi as well; the layered variety is the most conventional and is widely available in markets. Besides, there is another version that looks a complete chocolate barfi but is actually a blend of khoya with cocoa. What I make often around the time of festivities is yet another variant of this delicious fudge that is not only an amalgamation of milk solids with cocoa powder but also has a beautiful touch of almond paste which helps impart it a great flavor and adds to its nutritional value. Also, I love to shape this simple barfi into a roll for that added appea

One of the most popular sweets from the land of Bengal, Ras Malai or Rosh Molai does not need any introduction. The juicy and melt-in-mouth cottage cheese balls dipped in a thick and flavorful sauce of milk makes for an excellent treat during festivals and other auspicious/special occasions in India. Well! the most crucial part of this traditional sweet lies in making the cheese balls, which can be a daunting process at first but once you get the hang of it, you would not be able to resist yourself making this dessert time and again....and not to explicitly mention, this is what exactly happened with me; I tried making Ras Malai a couple of times in the past but, it always came out a disaster with cheese balls always turning out hard and not absorbing the milk even when kept in the same overnight. So, it was only last week that my perseverance to make these little sweet balls to a perfection paid successful results; it won't be an exaggeration to say that me and my husband