Kitchens in typical Indian households have strict borders that allow room only for native flavours. Often, curiosity gets the better of us, and we no longer resist exotic sights, smells, and sounds, such as a platter of classic Scandinavian sizzlers, or the aroma wafting from an oven of French muffins-in-the-making. But, when it comes to sweets and desserts, Indians have a soft-corner for some of these easy dessert recipes, which are quick to prepare, and ideal for festive occasions, that call for large-scale preparations.
Easy Dessert Recipe 1: Mango Kulfi
Come summer, you can find streets and markets in India adorned with carts of ripe mangoes. In fact, India is the largest producer of mangoes in the world; needless to say that Indians are obsessed with mangoes! There are a zillion mango-based Indian desserts, and mango kulfi is one the easiest dessert recipes.
Health Benefits of Mangoes:
- Improved vision and resistance towards diseases, owing to Vitamins A and C.
- Improved immune systems, due to presence of flavonoids, such as alpha carotene, beta-carotene, and beta-kryptoxanthin.
- Prevention of heat stroke and regulation of blood pressure
Easy Dessert Recipe 2: Laddoo
While there are many types of laddoos, one of the most commonly prepared laddoos, is the semolina laddoo. The aroma of semolina being roasted in ghee combined with a waft of cardamom is bound to drive you down the memory lane! Follow this easy dessert recipe and rock your kitchen!
Health Benefits of Semolina:
Semolina has a GI (Glycemic Index) of just 44. Therefore, it is an ideal diabetics. In this recipe of semolina laddoo, you can substitute sugar with coconut sugar or palm sugar, to make it healthier for people with special dietary preference. Semolina also impressive amounts of thiamine, niacin, and magnesium.
Ingredients
mango puree: 1 cup
condensed milk: ½ cup
double cream: 2 tbsp
condensed milk: 1.5 tbsp
Sugar: 1 tbsp
cardamom powder: 1 pinch
A few strands of saffron
corn starch dissolved in 1½ tbsp milk.: 1 tbsp
water
Semolina: 100 gm
Ghee: 2 tbsp
Sugar: 75 gm
chopped nuts: ½ tbsp
desiccated coconut: 2 tbsp
How To Make Easy Dessert Recipes
- Heat 2 tsp water and infuse saffron strands.
- Blend mango with double cream and condensed milk to smooth.
- Add cardamom powder and infused saffron (along with the water) to the mango-cream-milk mixture and stir.
- Transfer the blend into popsicle moulds, insert sticks, and freeze for four hours.
This recipe serves 3 and takes 10 minutes to prepare.
Tips:
- You can use almond milk instead of condensed milk, in which case, you need to slightly warm almond milk and add sugar, before adding the other ingredients.
- Chopped pistachios and nuts can be added into the pureed mix for texture and taste.
- Pre-heat a thick-bottomed pan on low flame.
- Add ½ tbsp ghee and roast chopped nuts until slightly brown. Set aside.
- Add 1 ½ tbsp ghee, roast semolina until you get a waft of the aroma and its color changes lightly.
- Stir in milk and sugar and let thicken. Once sugar dissolves, turn off the heat.
Note: to prevent semolina from clumping, add milk in parts and keep stirring.
- When the heat is still intact and tolerable to touch, make lemon-sized balls.
- Let the laddoos cool at least for an hour before serving.
Tips:
- You can also add khoya or condensed milk instead of regular milk, in which case, you have to negate the sugar, because condensed milk already has a good dose of sweetness.
- Grease your hands with a little ghee to make glossy laddoos.
- You can decorate each laddoo with a stud of cashew!
- Note that the semolina, while roasting, doesn’t have to become brown. It just needs to change color a little and give out an aroma.
This recipe makes 6 – 8 laddoos. It takes about 15 minutes to cook and 15 minutes to prepare.