Diwali’s sweet memories

With Diwali just around the corner, we got chefs to help you prepare a festive sweet platter that includes a Gulab Jamun Boondi Cheesecake, Motichoor tart, Beetroot Tikki Chaat and more. It’s a mix of sweet and savoury treats that you  can gorge on as you gear up to celebrate Diwali.

A classic is reinvented

Chef Ajay Chopra on his favourite Diwali treat. He shares, “Motichoor ladoo is a classic Diwali mithai but nowadays fancy cashew-based and chenna-based mithais are in vogue. It seems like a good time to give the Motichoor laddoo a facelift.”

MOTICHOOR TART

For the tart

• 1 cup flour 
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 pinch baking powder

Method 
Sieve the flour, mix baking powder add butter and sugar and make a sweet paste. Line the mould and bake in a pre-heated oven at 170 degrees for 12 minutes.

For filling

• 2 cups milk
• 2 pinches of cardamom powder
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp whipped cream
• 2 pcs motichoor laddoo 

Method 
Boil the milk and reduce to granular consistency on low flame, add cardamom and sugar, allow it to cool. Fold the whipped cream. Fill the mould with rabri. Crust the mould with motichoor laddoo. Garnish with edible flowers and nuts.

Festive treats and cheesecake

Amit Sharma, chef and co-founder, Love & Cheesecake and Poetry by Love & Cheesecake reminisces about gorging on gulab jamuns and boondi laddoos. He says, “My childhood memories of Diwali in Punjab are full of sweets. As a child, I remember going crazy over homemade boondi laddoos and gulab jamuns. In fact, no special occasion was ever complete without these two sweets. The gulab jamun boondi cheesecake brings back many childhood memories and I hope our guests make their own memories with this special cheesecake.”

GULAB JAMUN AND BOONDI  BAKED CHEESECAKE

Ingredients

• 20 Marie biscuits
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 450 gms cream cheese
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp rose water
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 10 Gulab Jamun balls cut in half
• Fresh rose petals 
• Butter
• 1.5 cups of water

Method 
Grease your cheesecake pan with butter and set aside. Grind the biscuits in a grinder to crumbs. Slowly add butter to this mixture to make it moist. Empty the mix into the cheesecake pan and press down until it forms a firm crust using your fingers. Place the cheesecake pan in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. In a blender, add cream cheese, sugar, rose water, all-purpose flour. Blend till you get a silky texture. Scrape the sides of the blender, in between blending, to make sure all ingredients are mixed well. Add in the whipping cream and one egg. Pulse for a few seconds. Add in the second egg. Pulse for a few seconds. Remove the cheesecake pan from the freezer (the crust should be set). Pour half of your filling into the pan and gently tap the pan to make sure it is evenly dispersed. Layer the cut gulab jamuns over the filling, cut side down. Pour the remaining filling over the gulab jamuns in the pan. The gulab jamuns should be completely covered. Place the cheesecake mould inside a bigger pot filled with water. Make a sling out of aluminum foil to make it easier to remove the mould out of the bigger pot. Cover the cheesecake pan with a paper towel (to catch any water droplets from falling into the cheesecake). Bake in a pre-heated oven at 177°C for two hours. Place the cooked cheesecake in the refrigerator for 12 hours. Place your cheesecake on a serving dish. Garnish with additional halved gulab jamuns and rose petals.

Add sparkle to your festivity

Chef Saransh Goila says, “Diwali is about light, colours and happy moments! This dish truly represents the same spirit in a chaat plate — innovative, tasty and colourful! The beetroot tikki is a unique take on the deep-fried aloo one I associate it with the celebrations. The combination of flavours, chutneys and celebratory atmosphere will sparkle any Diwali party!”

BEETROOT TIKKI CHAAT 

Ingredients

• For beetroot tikki
• 300 gms Beetroot (grated)
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp garam masala
• ¼ tsp elaichi powder
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 green chilli
• 1-2 tsp coriander
• 1 potato (boiled)
• 100 gms paneer
• Salt to taste
• Oil, for pan frying

Method 
Saute the beetroot for five to seven minutes on medium flame. Boil and mash the potato till smooth, chop the coriander and green chilli, grate the paneer. Mix it all and blend well. Make medium size roundels andpress them to get a semi-flat tikki shape. Heat oil in a non-stick pan and pan-fry the tikki’s on medium heat. Do not overcrowd the pan and remove on absorbent paper once golden brown on both sides.

For ragda

• 1 cup ragda or dried yellow peas
• 1-1.5 cups water
• A pinch of jeera powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste

Method 
Wash and soak the ragda overnight in two to three cups of water. Drain and boil them till soft to touch or pressure cook them for two to three whistles and keep aside. In a pan, add the boiled ragda, water, jeera powder, turmeric and salt and simmer on medium heat. Using the back of the spoon, mash some of the ragda to get a thick texture. Cook for five to six minutes and remove from heat.

To assemble

• 2 cups ragda 
• 10 pcs beetroot tikki
• 2 tbsp green chutney 
• 1 tbsp date and jaggery chutney 
• 1/4 cup potato straws or salli
• 1/2 cup beaten hung yoghurt 
• 1 pomegranate 
• 1/2 tsp jeera powder
• 1/2 tsp chaat masala
• 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 3/4 spoon chopped coriander
• Salt to taste

Method 
Whisk the yogurt in a bowl and add the chilli powder, jeera powder and salt. In a plate, add some ragda and place a beetroot tikki on it. Drizzle with some green chutney, date-jaggery chutney and yoghurt. Sprinkle some potato straws and chaat masala. Garnish with some chopped coriander and serve immediately.

Going back to roots

Anshuman Bali, executive chef, JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar, says, “I have very fond memories of Diwali and the Panjiri (it’s a mixture of whole wheat, sugar, edible gum and dry fruits that is tossed and fried in ghee, which is a staple in North India during winters, around Diwali). Everybody in the family would contribute to the making of the dish. I would be assigned to crush the nuts in a pestle and mortar, my brother would be assigned to take the dried stems out of the raisins and so on. But one thing that I really cherish apart from the taste of that Panjiri is my mom planning to make laddoos of it and me insisting that she keeps it loose. My reason being that way she couldn’t keep track of how much me and my brother gobbled up.”

PANJIRI

• 450 gms whole wheat flour (coarse)
• 100 gms crushed almonds
• 100 gms crushed cashewnut
• 50 gms raisins
• 50 gms acacia gum
• 20 gms poppy seed
• 150 gms powdered sugar
• 175 gms desi ghee

Method: 
Dry roast all the nuts in a pot and keep aside. Now dry roast the whole wheat flour till it gives a nutty aroma, add the ghee and cook till the ghee blends in. Add all the other ingredients and roasted nuts, cook and stir till it’s a nice mixture. Cool it down and then pack in an airtight container.