Watermelon Burfi

This is an Indian sweet that I've made for over 30 years. A few years back I saw them decorated as watermelon slices and have since adapted that design in my own way. Feel free to color and shape the burfi from this recipe into any design. The recipe given here makes about 60 mini watermelon slice burfi pieces.
Ingredients:

• 15 oz part skim ricotta cheese
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup dry milk
• 1/2 tsp grinded cardamon seeds
• whole cardamon seeds
• green food coloring
• red food coloring

Directions:

Place two paper towels on a dish and empty the ricotta cheese on top of them. This will help absorb the extra water. While waiting, blend the dry milk in a blender to break up the larger chunks of and create a finer powder. 

Put the ricotta cheese in a nonstick pot on the stove top. Add 1 stick of butter to the pot. Turn on the stove to med heat and stir the ingredients to break up the butter. Continue stirring for about 10 minutes. 

Ricotta cheese and butter being stirred.

Then add 1 cup of sugar to the pot. Continue to stir for about 7 more minutes. Be careful of splashing at this stage. Constantly stirring will avoid burning or drying out the bottom portion in the pot. Next add 1.2 tsp of grinded cardamon seeds. Continue stirring for about another 3 minutes. You'll note that the ingredients should be thickening at this point. Add 3/4 cup dry milk to the pot and stir for another 4 minutes. Then reduce the heat to med-low. The ingredients should be forming a batter. 

Forming the batter.

Turn the heat off and divide the batter in half. Transfer the second half into another nonstick pot. Add roughly 4 drops of red color to one half and stir it in. Do the same with green color in the other half.
Remove the batters from the pots.

Red and green batters ready to be shaped.

Lightly lather your hands in butter to prevent sticking when working with the batter. Roll spheres of the red batter that are about 1.5 inches in diameter. This recipe should make roughly 15 balls. Spread out the balls on a dish and place them in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Red spheres ready to be frozen for 10 mins.

Divide the green batter into an equal number of pieces (roughly 15). Once again, lather your hands in butter to prevent sticking. With each piece, create a flat disk that will be wrapped around the cool red spheres and cover them evenly and completely. Place the spheres in the fridge for at least 2 hours to harden. 

Cover the red spheres with our green disks.

Spheres after being refrigerated for a few hours.

Cut the spheres into quarters to create 4 slices per sphere. Then decorate each piece with the cardamon seeds to make them look like mini watermelon slices. Enjoy!

Finished!

Bhindi Masala

This is my favorite vegetable recipe. When I was younger, my mom used to make it specially for me when I frowned at the other vegetable options for dinner. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did in my childhood! This recipe should be enough for 2 people.
Ingredients:

• about 30 whole okra
• cooking oil spray
• 2 tbsp corn oil
• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/8 tsp hing powder
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tsp dhanajiru
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp red pepper (extra for more spiciness) 
• 3/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp corn meal
• 2 tbsp grinded unsalted peanut powder

Directions:

Wash the okra and wipe them dry with a paper towel. Dice them into 1/2 inch round slices and disregard the ends of each piece. Lightly spray the chopped okra with cooking oil in a microwavable dish. Cover the dish with a microwave top and warm up for 2 minutes. Then shake the container around to flip the okra pieces and rewarm again for 2 minutes. 

Okra pieces after warming.

Place a pot on high heat on the stove. Add the 2 tbsp of corn oil and the mustard seeds. Wait until the mustard seeds begin to pop. Then turn the heat down to med-hi. While waiting, peel and crush 2 cloves of garlic with a garlic presser and keep it read on the side.

Add the hing powder and garlic to the pot. Stir the ingredients until the garlic is slightly golden in color. Continue stirring while adding the okra to the pot. Then add the dhanajiru, turmeric powder and red pepper. Feel free to add extra red pepper powder to make the shaak more spicy. Next add the salt and lime juice. The salt may need to be adjusted to taste. Add the corn meal powder and grinded peanuts. Make sure the peanuts are unsalted. They can be grinded in a blender prior to starting. The best kind to use is the ones from Patel Brothers.

Okra after adding the spices.

Place the lid on the pot and reduce the heat to low. Keep it on the stove for about 5 minutes before removing. It's now ready to eat!

Finished okra!

Homemade Pizza

Pizza is so delicious that everybody like it. I am using wheat flour in my recipe so it is good for the digestive system. My daughters love our homemade pizza.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup water + 1 tablespoon water (warm water)
• 1 teaspoon yeast
• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Bisquick
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon oil
• pizza sauce (about 7 oz)
• 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded) 
• 1/2 cup mild cheddar cheese (shredded)
• green bell pepper (optional)
• onion (optional)

Directions:

Take warm water and add yeast, keep about 5 minutes to soak it then stir with spoon to dissolve evenly in water. 

In a large bowl  add wheat flour, all purpose flour, Bisquick, salt and oil. Mix well and then gradually add the water to make the dough. Knead well and cover it with an airtight lid.

Mixed dough.

Preheat the oven to 200 F and then turn it off. Put the dough container in the oven. Keep it inside for at least 3 to 4 hours to let the dough rise. 

Dough after rising.

After the dough has risen, make a large ball and roll the pizza dough on counter or on a big wooden board with a rolling pin. Place the pizza on a large pizza pan. Cover it with a cloth to let it rise again for about 30 to 40 minutes. Puncture it with a fork so it cannot bubble up when you bake it. 

Rolled out dough.

Pizza ready to bake.

Preheat oven to 400 or 425 F and place pizza in the oven. Keep inside for about 7 to 8 minutes or when top surface is a little bit baked. Then take it out from the oven and spread pizza sauce over it evenly. Spread mild cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese and toppings if you desire. Bake it for about 12 to 15 minutes (varies from oven to oven) until the edge of the pizza becomes light brown (make sure the bottom of the pizza is also light brown).

Added sauce and cheese.

Optional toppings.

All finished!

Enjoy our homemade pizza, you'll love the taste!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (Made with Splenda)

These classic cookies are a favorite in our house. We came across a similar recipe online and created our own family version in the past few years so my diabetic husband could enjoy a sweet treat that uses Splenda. He has had diabetes for over ten years but has always kept in shape and never gave into eating sweets -- not even on his own birthday. My kids used to eat extra desserts saying, "This bite is for daddy." We finally found and created a cookie recipe that tastes great, isn't too bad for you, and uses Splenda as a sweetener. Now he always looks forward to the girls coming back home because he knows they'll make him a big batch of these oatmeal raisin cookies. This recipe makes about 40 small 2 inch diameter cookies. 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 cup granulated Splenda
• 1/2 cup egg beaters
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups uncooked old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup raisins (or dates)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. In a separate large bowl, mix the butter and Splenda until it is fluffy. Then add the egg beaters, honey, and vanilla extract to the fluffy mixture. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients until the dough is consistent throughout. Mix in the oats, walnuts, and raisins slowly to the dough. You can also substitute the raisins with chopped up dates if you want a cookie that's a little bit sweeter. 

On two greased cookie sheets, create dough balls that are about 1 1/2 inch in diameter. When you place them on the sheet, you need to shape and press them so they become flattened and about 2 inches in diameter since they do not expand very much in the oven. 

Cookies before being placed in the oven.

Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes in the oven. They will look a little crispy on the outside and golden brown on the bottom. The inside remains very soft. Let them cool down and then enjoy!

Ready to eat!

Bhakhari

This is a traditional Indian crunchy bread from the state of Gujarat. It is a simple recipe that takes only 15 to 20 minutes to complete and compliments a dinner meal with vegetables or a quick snack with yogurt. 


Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup cream of wheat
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoon corn oil
• 2/3 cup and 1 1/2 tablespoon water
• Butter for spreading

Making the Dough:
In a large bowl, add wheat flour, cream of wheat, salt, and oil. Mix together thoroughly. Then gradually add water while kneading the dough. The consistency of the dough should be a little dry and not too soft, but still should not fall apart. Separate the dough into 12 compact balls. 

Dough.

Shaping and Baking:
Take one ball of dough and flatten it into your hands. Place it on a clean wooden surface and begin rolling it with a pin. Create a round shape until the bhakhari is about 5 inches in diameter and has an even thickness throughout. 
Place the bhakhari on a medium heated skillet on a stovetop. After about a minute, turn the bhakhari over. The other side should appear whiter in color. Turn it over once more after another minute. Use a spatula to press on the bhakhari in the skillet. Continue turning and pressing until both sides appear to be a golden brown color. 
Remove the bhakhari from the skillet and place it on a cool surface. Spread the top surface of the bhakhari with a thin layer of butter. Then stab the surface with the butter knife about 8 to 10 times in order for the butter to be absorbed. 
Repeat the same process with the other dough balls. Then eat and enjoy!

Shaped dough.

Rolled dough.

Dough - ready to flip over.

Finished!