Delhi-based Chef Manish Mehrotra shares nutritious dessert laddu recipes for Eid

Eid menu has to be special. And every year, I try to update it with at least one new entrant. It’s either from some recipe that I have saved specially for the occasion or a new culinary experiment, with the hope that it turns out to be delectable. Last Eid though the sticky chocolate dates, drenched in butter disappointed me, to my surprise, the guests liked it. (Given that they were my friends I am not sure if the reviews were genuine). Nevertheless, this year too, there will be at least one new entrant, though owing to social distancing my friends will have to savour it virtually. If you can relate to me and wish to try out something new then check out the two dessert recipes by Delhi-based Chef Manish Mehrotra.

Almond and Carrot Halwa Crumble

Serves: 6

Ingredients                                                       Quantity

For Carrot

Carrot                                                               ½ kg

Full cream milk                                    ½ litre

Sugar                                                                 ½ cup

Cardamom (powdered)                                4 nos.

Ghee                                                                 2 tbsp

Almonds (blanched)                                          ¼ cup

For crumble

All- Purpose flour                                             ¾ cup

Butter (unsalted)                                             ½ cup

Sugar                                                               ½ cup

Ground almonds                                              ½ cup

Method:

• In a pan, add milk and carrots together and keep on cooking till the milk reduces to 3/4th.

• Add cardamom powder, ghee, and sugar to it. Mix it well.

• Add the sliced, blanched almonds and mix well.

• For the crumble, rub the flour, butter, sugar and ground almonds together, till it resembles breadcrumbs.

• Bake the crumble at 180°C till the colour turns golden brown.

• Serve the gajar halwa with crumble and roasted almonds.

Nutritional Analysis

Almond and Goji Berry Boondi Laddoo

Serves: 4 people (2 Boondi ladoo each)

Ingredients                                                        Quantity

For ladoo batter

Besan                                                                    1 ½ cup

Water                                                                   1 cup

Cardamom powder                                         ½ tsp

Roasted Almond slivers                                 ¼ cup

Goji berry                                                            3 tbsp

Ghee                                                                     ¾ tbsp.

Sunflower oil                                                     for deep frying

For the Sugar Syrup

Sugar                                                                     1 ½ cup

Water                                                                   ¾ cup

Saffron strands                                                 a pinch

METHOD:

●        Take sugar, saffron strands and water in a pan, and put it over low flame. Cook the syrup till a single string consistency is achieved. Keep the sugar syrup hot.

●        Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan.

●        Mix besan, cardamom powder together and add water to it to form a batter.

●        To check the consistency of the boondi batter drop a few droplets of the better in hot oil, if it becomes flat, the batter is thin and if it has peaks, the batter is thick.

●        To make the batter thick add some more besan and to make the batter thin add some water.

●        To make boondis, hold a perforated ladle over hot oil, using a spoon spread the boondi batter over the perforated spoon; make sure that the perforated spoon and the pandon’t have much height between them or else the boondis will not be round.

●        Do not over fry the boondis and do not crisp them.

●        Remove them from oil once the oil stops to sizzle and put it in the sugar syrup. Strain the boondis from the syrup.

●        Mix the boondis with almond slivers and goji berries and add around a tbsp of ghee for the binding.

●        Make golf sized roundels and shape them. Use ghee so the mixture does not stick on hands.

Nutritional Analysis