The country is gearing up to welcome the cold weather with woolen wear and room heaters. At the same time, the kitchen’s pantry is filled with ingredients that will soon be put together to make delicious desserts during the winter season. While a steaming mug of tea/coffee, hot chocolate or a bowl of hot and creamy soup might sound perfect, nothing compares to the feeling of relishing warm winter desserts. The sweetness and warmth of these dishes taste differently in the winter season and are absolutely worth the cravings because of their nutritional value.
Here are a few winter desserts that you must try this winter:
Gajar Ka Halwa
An Indian household’s staple winter dessert is the famous Gajar Ka Halwa. It is rich and nutritious and is usually served hot with dry fruits as garnish.
Recipe-
The first and most important step is to grate the carrots. Take a kadhai and pour around 500ml milk and combine the grated carrots with it.
When the mixture starts to boil, reduce the flame and let it simmer while stirring it occasionally until the milk has reduced to at least 70%.
Add ghee, elaichi powder, and sugar to the mixture.
Keep stirring and cooking it on a low flame. Add your chopped nuts, saffron, and raisins to the mixture when the milk has completely dried out.
Patishapta
A popular Bengali recipe that is ideal for winter is Patishapta. It is a pancake-like dish with shredded coconut and jaggery filling.
Recipe-
In a kadhai, add shredded coconut or khoya along with sugar or jaggery If you are opting for khoya filling, make sure to add some milk. Add a few cardamoms to it. Keep stirring until the mixture turns sticky. Take it off the flame and let it cool down.
In a bowl, take maida, semolina and rice flour and add milk to it. Mix it well by making sure there are no lumps. Let it rest for 30 minutes.
On a non-stick, drizzle a little oil. Take the maida mixture and pour a thin layer just as you would make a pancake.
Then add the filling in the centre and roll it. As soon as it turns brown, take it off the pan. You can serve it hot or cold.
Adadiya Pak
Adadiya Pak is a popular dessert in Gujarati cuisine and is made of urad dal.
Recipe-
Soak urad dal and then grind it to make powder, or use store-bought urad dal flour.
In a pan, add some ghee and roast edible gum (gond). After it cools, crush it and put it aside. In the same pan roast almonds, pistachios and raisins.
Add more ghee and urad dal powder/flour along with milk. Roast till the milk gets absorbed. Then add some coconut powder and let it cook.
Add crushed gond, gur, cardamom and ginger powder and mix well.
Remove from the flame and let it cool. Cut it into the shape of barfi and enjoy.
Panjiri
This is a famous Punjabi recipe that will leave you wanting more.
Recipe-
In a kadhai, add a cup of flour and roast it. Then add 4-5 tablespoons of ghee and mix it well.
Add cashews and roasted almonds. After the flour is cooked properly remove it from the flame.
Add sugar in parts and mix properly till everything has been incorporated properly. Then add some raisins.
Let it cool. Serve it plain or with a cup of warm milk.
Gajak
Here is the final dessert on the list, Gajak which is again a winter special.
Recipe –
In a kadhai, combine sugar and ghee with a few drops of water and cook till it becomes syrupy. Remove from the flame and add some roasted peanuts. Then transfer it to a greased plate and even it out.
Cut it when it’s hot. After it cools down, serve it or store it in an air-tight container.
