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Ritu Khosla
Our moms and grandmoms dished out gleeful goodies for families and friends during festivals. We, however, chose to slur over the effort, conveniently tucking away the memories of those eats in some deep recesses of our mind. Today, as we realise their worth, we also realise that our younger generation does not want to eat them! They would rather munch on the snacks available in the market. We wonder if we could ever bait them into those classical sweets, maybe with a little twist of taste that they appreciate... Let’s try these out!
Bonbon gulgule
Simple to make, our very own Punjabi gulgule, which are made by kinsfolk on every Diwali and Holi, have taken a new avatar and have been designed in such a way that your younglings and seniors would not just stop at one!
Ingredients
Whole wheat flour ½ cup
Maida ½ cup
Baking powder ½ tsp
Fine sugar 1½ tbsp (2, if you like it very sweet)
Egg 1; for vegetarian recipe, add 2 tbsp thick curd
Milk 1 cup (add according to consistency of the batter)
Vanilla essence 2 tsp
Bourbon biscuits 12-14
Oil for frying
Powdered sugar for garnishing
A pinch of salt
Method
Mix well the whole wheat, maida, salt and fine sugar with a fork. To this, add egg or curd; though we personally feel they are tastier with egg. Add vanilla and make a smooth batter with the whole milk, adding a little at a time so that you know when to stop. We should be aiming for a smooth, thick batter and not a lumpy and runny batter. Heat oil for frying. Now dip the bourbon biscuits, one at a time, in the batter and fry in hot oil. Cook for just about a minute and a half on each side until light golden brown. Keep them on absorbent paper or towel for a while. Serve with powdered sugar sprinkled on them. The soft chocolaty, mushy bourbon creates the magic inside. No one will stop at just one!
Toshas
These toshas are quite similar to our traditional age-old toshas. The 21st century twist is that we embed some choco chips and half dip the cooked toshas in chocolate sauce. For those who do not want to eat too much fried food, this has been made in an air fryer.
Ingredients
Maida 1 cup
Whole wheat flour ¼ cup
A pinch of baking soda
Jaggery 50 gm (diluted in 1 tbsp hot water)
Salted butter 2 tbsp
Choco chips 1 tbsp
Chocolate sauce ½ cup
Chocolate setting trays for designing toshas
Method
Preheat the air fryer to a setting of 15 minutes. Meanwhile, we can prepare the dough. Mix both the flours well with baking soda and rub it with butter until it starts to form shapes. Add the molten jaggery and make a smooth, but, very firm dough with it. Take the chocolate candy mould and fit in small portions of the dough with 2-3 choco chips in each. Set in the fridge and then unmould the dough and transfer the toshas into the air fryer. Let them cook for 12 minutes. Remove from the air fryer and keep them on a cooling rack. Half dip each tosha in chocolate sauce before serving.
Waffles
Some English recipes are as easy as making an omelette, and some we are just not used to making in our kitchen. Like waffles, for example. The original waffle making involves long processes like yeast feeding, fermenting, resting and raising the batter. Here is such a super quick and super easy recipe that you would love to eat a waffle daily!
Ingredients
- Maida 1 cup
- Baking powder 1 tsp
- Egg 1 (yolk separated)
- A pinch of salt
- Milk ¼ cup
- Unsalted butter 2 tbsp
- Vanilla extract ½ tsp
- Nutella or honey and cinnamon for accompaniment
Method
Before mixing the batter, heat the waffle iron according to the company’s manual. Mix the dry ingredients well in a bowl with a fork. Put the egg yolk, molten butter, milk and vanilla in another bowl and pour in the dry ingredients. Mix well. Add a little more milk if the batter is too thick. Now beat the egg white into stiff foam and add it gradually to the batter. Mix well. Let the batter rest for 10-15 minutes and without disturbing it much, add a ladleful to the preheated waffle iron. The amount you pour again depends on the waffle iron’s size. When the indicator turns green, the waffle is ready. Relish it hot with your choice of accompaniment. You can make a big batch and store it in the freezer for about a week. Just pop them in the regular toaster before eating and they are as fresh as ever.