Custard Fruit Salad

Fruit custard is one of the easiest dessert. It is loaded with the goodness of milk and fruits and is yummy. This is a good way to include fruits in your diet. Even a beginner in cooking can prepare this dish easily. It's hard to get this wrong :)

Ingredients:

 Milk - 1/2 liter
Vanilla flavored custard Powder - 3 heaped tablespoon
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Mixed fruits chopped - 1/2 cup

Procedure:

Mix 3 tbsp custard powder with 5 tbsp of warm milk to make a smooth paste with any lumps. The custard paste is now ready. Custard powder is available in various flavors. I have used Vanilla flavored custard powder in this dish. You can used any flavor of your choice instead.

Boil the milk and add sugar to it. If you have a sweet tooth, you can increase the amount of sugar.

Now add the custard paste to milk and keep stirring continuously on low flame till the mixture thickens.
It is important to keep the flame low and stir continuously. Otherwise the mixture may burn.

Switch off the flame once the mixture thickens and let it cool to room temperature. When it cools, refrigerate it. The mixture will become more thick as it cools.

Cut the fruits of your choice. You can use any seasonal fruits for this dish. Mango, Banana, Dates, Grapes, Pomegranate, Pineapple, Strawberry, Apple, Musk Melon etc. are some of the options. You can also add dry fruits like Cashew, Raisins, Walnuts, Badam, Pistachios etc.

Arrange the fruits in a bowl and pour the refrigerated custard mixture over it.

Serve chilled. Enjoy !!!

Carrot Halwa (Gajar Ka Halwa)

Carrot Halwa or Gajar Ka Halwa is a very popular dessert. I believe many of you would have already tasted this dish. It is rich, nutritious and equally yummy. If you haven't tasted this, do go ahead and give a try. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Ingredients :

Carrot - 4 medium sized (After grating, this measured about 4 cups)
Ghee   - 4 tbsp
Milk    - 1/4 litre
Sugar  - 2 cups
Powdered cardamon - 1tsp
Dry fruits(Cashew, Badam, Raisins etc) - 2 tbsp

Procedure:

Grate the Carrots and keep them aside.

 Heat 2 tbsp Ghee in a thick-bottom Kadai. Add dry fruits and fry them.

Now add the grated Carrot and fry them in medium flame till they shrink in size. Keep stirring and ensure that the Carrot doesn't stick to the bottom of vessel.

Add Milk to the mixture. Simmer and let the Carrot cook in milk completely. Wait till all the Milk is absorbed and Carrots become soft.

 

Add Sugar, powdered Cardamon and keep stirring. Cook for 3-4 minutes till all the moisture in the mixture dries up.  Finally Add 2 tbsp Ghee to the mixture.Put the mixture in serving bowl and garnish with dry-fruits.

Carrot Halwa is now ready to serve :) .

Wish you all a very Happy New Year 2015 !