Gil-e-firdaus, a classic Dakhni dessert from the kitchens of Hyderabad has its presence in wedding feasts, celebrations and gatherings. A luscious and melt in the mouth dessert made with Sabudana, bottle gourd, khoya, cashew paste and milk. I remember having this dish during my stay in Hyderabad, I fell in love with this kheer instantly. This divine dessert can be served chilled or warm and traditionally served in earthen bowls, which lends an earthy taste. Hence the name GIL-E-FIRDAUS, meaning clay of paradise. 

         This classic dessert Gil-e-firdaus is commonly known as Kaddu ka kheer/ Kaddu ki kheer, as Bottle gourd is known as Kaddu in Hyderabad. As The holy month of Ramadan sets in, the intoxicating aroma of Haleem, Kababs and various desserts linger in the air around the bustling streets of Hyderabad. This divine Gil-e-firdaus a.k.a Kaddu ki kheer is also sold in the small eateries and stalls on the streets. It’s rich and luscious consistency makes it absolutely irresistible. 

The addition of khoa(khoya), cashew paste, and simmering sabudana and bottle gourd in full-fat milk makes it utterly creamy and divine.We have used Sabudana and kaddu(bottle gourd) here, but some add finely ground basmati rice as well to make it aromatic and more creamier. But simmering everything on low flame for longer period time is the key for this divine pudding. 

Ingredients needed to make GIL-E-FIRDAUS

• Bottle gourd
• Sabudana / Tapioca pearls
• Full fat milk
• Sugar
• Cardamom powder
• Khoya
• Nuts

How to make this dessert VEGAN?

Substitute the full fat milk with plant based milk like coconut milk/soy milk/almond milk. And also substitute the Khoya with Cashew paste or Almond paste to get that rich consistency. 

Let’s get into the recipe now, before that check out more desserts from my blog.

Basava Kajjam

Kanda gadda Bakshalu

Pappu Bakshalu

Badusha

Pala poorilu

Godhuma thalikala paasham

Aanapakaya shegala paasham

Kesar mewa phirni

Gajar ka halwa

Healthy Sabudana payasam

Print

GIL-E-FIRDAUS

A classic Hyderabadi dessert made of Bottle gourd, sabudana, milk, milk solids and enriched with nuts.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Telangana

Keyword Festive food, Indian desserts, Pudding

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Soaking time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Author Shravani Abhishek

Ingredients

• 1 cup Bottle gourd peeled and grated. Discard the seeds and core.
• ½ cup Sabudana / Tapioca pearls
• 1 litre Whole milk / Full fat milk
• ¼ cup Khoya / Milk solids
• 1½ cups Sugar
• 3 tbsp Cashew paste
• 1 pod Cardamom
• ½ tsp Cardamom powder
• ¼ cup Water

Instructions

• Wash and Soak the sabudana pearls for 1 hour.
• Soak the cashews in warm water and keep aside.

Let's prep for the dessert

• Peel the bottle gourd, cut into halves, scoop out the core and grate it into thick shreds.
• Take a large mixing bowl, add cold filtered water and add the grated bottle gourd shreds to it. Squeeze the juice out of it and drain the water.

  Repeat washing the grated bottle gourd shreds for one more time until water runs clear.

  Note : This step helps in preventing the curdling of milk when we add bottle gourd.

Let's start cooking GIL-E-FIRDAUS now!!

• Heat a Saucepan, add full fat milk, one cardamom pod and bring to a boiling point. Then reduce the flame to low.
• In a small mixing bowl add khoya and a cup of hot milk to it. Mix it thoroughly until khoya completely incorporated well.
• Heat a thick bottomed pan, add grated bottle gourd, water. Close the lid and cook for 10 min on low flame until bottle gourd turns tender.
• When the water dries up, mash the bottle roughly and sauté again till the water dries up completely. Keep this aside.
• To the boiled milk, add soaked sabudana(drain the water). Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes on low flame till the sabudana turns translucent and tender.
• Add cashew paste, milk mixed with khoya mixture to the milk and sabudana. Give it a good Stir thoroughly to prevent the formation of lumps.
• Remove the cardamom pod from the milk and then add in sautèed bottle gourd mixture, sugar and give it a good mix.
• Reduce the flame to a low flame and cook until the kheer thickens up and keep stirring continuously to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.
• Once the kheer thickens, turn off the stove and let the kheer cool down to room temperature.
• Serve chilled or warm GIL-E-FIRDAUS / Kaddu ki kheer by sprinkling some chopped nuts on the top.
  

Notes

• You can add in tiny pinch of edible green food color to give the dessert a traditional look.
• This dessert tastes best when served chilled. 

If you’ve tried this recipe, please share your valuable feedback in the comments below. Also you can Tag your photo and share it with #mycurryveda on Instagram @mycurryveda  or on Facebook . 

The post GIL-E-FIRDAUS appeared first on mycurryveda.

Basava Kajjam, a divine dessert and one of the ancient recipes from the Land of Telangana. Tiny wheat flour balls cooked in milk and creamy moong dal, sweetened with jaggery and topped with roasted nuts. Any Celebration is incomplete without a nice sweet dish to relish, and this dessert is just the one to brighten your day. The people of Telangana savor a special porridge/pudding kind of preparation made of moong daal, wheat flour, milk, sugar and dry fruits. This delicious dish has a nice rich aroma that is enhanced with the use of fresh ghee.

More about Basava kajjam 

Basava kajjam is an age-old traditional dessert prepared using Moong dal, whole wheat flour, milk, jaggery and nuts. And what makes this dessert special is the mini wheat flour balls, we call them as undalu. Traditionally they are shaped as tiny balls similar to the size of split moong dal. Making these tiny wheat flour balls requires huge amount of patience, but trust it is all worth it. Just a tablespoon of this dessert will take you back to your grandma’s kitchen. 

This traditional dessert is absolutely comforting, and nourishing, each spoon of this dessert feels like a warm hug. Even though I’m from Telangana, I have never tasted or heard about this dish until my dear friend Chandana has shared her heirloom recipe with me. She was sweet enough to share the details of the recipe and allowed me to share it with you all. Please do checkout her Instagram page, she’s a passionate cook and has immense love for her culinary heritage of Telangana.

She told me that her Grandma used to make this dessert specially for her in her childhood. And that this dessert is traditionally made on festivals like Maha Shivaratri and Bathukamma as an offering to the deity. Also I have done a little research on this regional delicacy, where some people call this dish as BASAVA GARJANAM. With the rustic Telangana dialect, the name could have been slowly settled as BASAVA KAJJAM. 

Ingredients needed for BASAVA KAJJAM

• Moong dal
• Whole wheat flour
• Jaggery
• Milk
• Nuts
• Ghee

How to prepare this Dessert?

Initially we need to soak the lentils for about an hour or two, which helps in cooking the lentils quickly. In the meanwhile we need to make a firm dough of whole wheat flour. Rest the dough for 30 min, later make tiny balls/undalu using dry flour and keep aside. 

Now we need to cook the wheat flour balls in the boiling water, add soaked moong dal and cook until the wheat flour balls are 90% cooked. Add in jaggery, milk and cook for 5 more min. Later roast some nuts in ghee and add it to the cooked moong dal and wheat flour balls. Basava Kajjam is all ready to Serve now.

Is this dish VEGAN ?

You can make this dish VEGAN-FRIENDLY by substituting the regular cow milk with plant based milk. Skip roasting the nuts in ghee and add them directly while cooking the wheat flour balls.

And if you have GLUTEN INTOLERANCE, I would suggest you to use gluten-free flour to make Undalu/balls.

Checkout more traditional festive foods and more Telangana delicacies.

Godhuma thalikala payasam

Kanda gadda Bakshalu

Pappu bakshalu

Nuvvula bakshalu

Vadapappu bellam panakam

Godhuma Nooka sheera

Shegala payasam

Sattu Pindi

Print

BASAVA KAJJAM

A divine and delicious moong dal and wheat flour balls porridge, which is sweetened with jaggery. An age-old recipe from the Land of Telangana.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian, Telangana

Keyword Bathukamma special, Porridge, Telangana cuisine

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Soaking time 1 hour hour

Total Time 2 hours hours

Servings 4 Servings

Author Shravani Abhishek

Equipment

• Saucepan

Ingredients

• ½ cup Split moong dal
• ½ cup Whole wheat flour
• ¾ cup Jaggery
• ⅓ cup Milk
• ¾ cup Water
• ½ tsp Cardamom powder optional
• 2 tbsp Ghee optional
• 1 tbsp Melon seeds optional

Instructions

Prepping

• Wash and soak the moong dal for about an hour.
• Take a mixing bow, add whole wheat flour, add water gradually and knead to make soft dough. (Similar to the Indian roti dough)
• Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 mins.

Make the Tiny wheat flour balls

• Take a wide plate and sprinkle some dry wheat flour on it. Now take a handful of dough at a time, take a tiny amount of dough to the size of moong dal/coriander seed and roll into a ball.
• Now place the rolled tiny wheat flour ball on the plate with dry flour.
  
• Repeat the process for the remaining dough.

  Note : You can skip this time-consuming process by rolling the dough into flatbread and then cut into diamonds.

Let's make BASAVA KAJJAM now!!

• Heat a saucepan, add water and bring it to a rolling boil.
• Now add in rolled tiny wheat flour balls, soaked and drained moong dal and give it a good mix.
• Cover the pan and let them cook on a medium flame until the moong dal is fully cooked. This will take around 15 min.
• Now add in milk, grated jaggery, cardamom powder (if using) and cook until everything is cooked thoroughly.
• Heat a small pan, add ghee and once its hot add in melon seeds and fry for 30 secs. Add these roasted melon seeds to the cooked BASAVA KAJJAM.
• BASAVA KAJJAM is done and it's all ready to be served. Dig in and enjoy.
  

Notes

• You can skip the rolling of wheat flour balls and instead roll the dough into flatbread and then cut into diamonds using knife or pizza cutter.
• If you want a vegan version, substitute the Regular milk with Plant based milk or you can just totally skip adding it. Also, do not roast the melon seeds in ghee, instead add them while boiling the moong dal.

 If you’ve tried this recipe, please share your valuable feedback in the comments below. Also you can Tag your photo and share it with #mycurryveda on Instagram @mycurryveda  or on Facebook . Also follow @taste.of.telangana on Instagram for more traditional recipes, culture and stories.

The post BASAVA KAJJAM appeared first on mycurryveda.

 Bread Bonda is a deep-fried Indian snack with spicy potato filling wrapped in a moist bread slice and deep-fried until crisp and golden brown. This is one of the nostalgic tea time snack I have grown up eating.  I remember tasting this irresistible snack at home, when amma saw it on a cooking show and tried at home. We all loved it, although we love eating traditional Aloo bonda that we grew up eating, this bread bonda has surely made its special place in our hearts.

What is Bread Bonda ?

Bread Bonda, an indulgent deep-fried snack, which is utterly crispy bread on the outside and flavor-packed soft filling on the inside. This dish is a twist to the traditional snack, Aloo Bonda which is also known Potato Vada, is flavor-packed with Indian spices. That one bite of these hot and crispy Aloo Bondas will surely make you fall in love with them. 

While You find Aloo Bonda in almost all the tiffin centers and in Many Indian restaurants across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka popularly served for tea time snack. Bread bonda is more kind of made only at homes. This tea time snack will surely make your day brighter on rainy days. Also, this bread bonda makes a great snack to serve for guests or get togethers. 

What all ingredients do we need ?

For the Covering: Bread slices

For the Stuffing

• Potatoes
• Spices – Turmeric powder, green chilies, salt
• Onion
• Curry leaves
• Cilantro
• Lemon/lime
• Mustard seeds
• Cumin seeds
• Ginger
• Garlic

You can adjust the amount of green chilies, as per your taste. If making for kids, you can avoid adding green chilies and add some grated paneer or cheese.

Please check out more delicious festive treats and tea-time snacks from my blog.

Bebberla garelu

Chegodilu

Odappalu

Makka garelu

Palm jaggery whole wheat biscuits

Perugu wada

Vegan millet cutlet

Vegan potstickers

Print

BREAD BONDA

An indulgent deep-fried Indian snack with crispy exterior of bread and soft spicy potato filling.

Course Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine Indian

Keyword plant based, Tea time snacks

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 10 Bondas

Author Shravani Abhishek

Equipment

• Pressure cooker
• Deep frying pan / Kadai / Wok
• Skillet

Ingredients

For the covering

• 10 slices Bread

For the stuffing

• 3 Potato boiled and peeled
• 2 tbsp Cooking oil
• 1 Onion
• ½ tsp Mustard seeds
• ½ tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 inch Ginger minced
• 3 cloves Garlic optional, minced
• ½ tsp Turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 3 Green chilies finely chopped
• 1 sprig Curry leaves
• 3 tbsp Cilantro finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Lemon / lime juice

For deep-frying

• Frying Oil

Instructions

Prepping

• Boil the potatoes, peel the skin and keep them aside.
• Chop the onions finely, coarsely mince the ginger and garlic, finely chop the green chilies, cilantro.

Let's prepare some flavor-packed Potato stuffing

• Heat a wide skillet, add oil and once its hot add in mustard seeds, cumin seeds and let them splutter.
• Now add in minced ginger minced garlic(if using), curry leaves, chopped green chilies and fry for until raw smell of ginger fades away.
• Now add in finely chopped onions and cook until they turn translucent.
• Add in turmeric powder, salt to taste and give everything a good mix. Gently mash the potatoes with your hands and add them to the onion mixture.
• Give everything a really good mix and cook until have absorbed all the flavors.
• Time to add in finely chopped cilantro, mix it and turn off the heat.
• Now add in lemon/lime juice and mix until everything is well combined.
• Let this stuffing cool down to room temperature. Later divide the stuffing into equal portions and roll them into balls.

Time to make Bread bonda now!!

• Heat the wok / kadai, add oil enough for deep frying.

  Note : Use oil suitable for frying like sunflower or peanut or canola.
• Now trim off the sides of the bread neatly using a knife. Give the bread, a quick dip on one side and take it out.
• Take a broad vessel(wide enough to dip the bread) and add water say 1 inch high. Give the bread, a quick dip on one side and take it out.
• Keep the rolled potato ball on the dry side of the bread and cover it as you squeeze it and roll into ball/ bondas. While shaping, make sure to squeeze out the water too.
• Place the rolled bread bondas on a plate until oil is hot enough for deep-frying.

  Note : Oil shouldn't be fuming hot, else the inside remains uncooked and the outside burns easily.
• Gently slide few rolled bread bondas into the oil at a time and keep turning gently with ladle to ensure even browning. Cook in medium flame to get crispy outside. 
• Drain the deep-fried bread bondas on to a paper towel. 
  

Serving suggestions

• Serve hot bread bondas with the dipping condiments of your choice. We love to have it with szechuan sauce, but these taste great with ketchup or mint chutney too.
• Dig in and Enjoy. Bon Appétit.
  

Notes

• If you are making for the kids, adjust the spice level according to their taste preference.
• If you are comfortable with using diary, then add some grated paneer or cheese to make it more fun for the kids.
• For added nutrition, you can also add in some steamed veggies like carrots, beans, green peas, beetroot to the stuffing.

If you’ve tried this recipe, please share your valuable feedback in the comments below. Also you can Tag your photo and share it with #mycurryveda on Instagram @mycurryveda  or on Facebook . 

The post BREAD BONDA appeared first on mycurryveda.