Shortbread Recipe

Imagine, a golden cookie. You take a bite and it simply melts in your mouth. And you feel the rich warmth of butter with hints of sweetness from sugar. Well, you can experience it too. How? Simply try this very easy recipe at home!

Shortbread Recipe

Shortbread, a cookie of Scottish origin, is a basic butter, flour and sugar cookie. It celebrates butter in ways that makes your tastebuds happy to join in!

Shortbread Recipe

Oh, I am not done counting it's pros (I know you're sold already, but still!). This is a no-egg, pure vegetarian recipe, which is perfect for a lot of Indian households. And it is so easy to make; you don't need very high level of skill. So if you are a new baker, like me, try out this recipe. Be prepared to collect praises like what my husband said, "it's better than some of the cookies I've had in Europe!"

Shortbread Recipe

Here's the recipe of this buttery delight.

Shortbread Recipe

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Makes: 12 cookies

Ingredients:

100 gms butter plus more for greasing
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (maida) plus more for dusting
1/4 cup white sugar

Method

In a bowl whisk the butter and sugar together till the sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes fluffy. It will turn whitish and increase in volume.

Add in the flour and fold it in lightly with a spatula or very light fingers.

Slightly dust a work surface with flour. Lightly roll out the prepared mixture into a 1 inch thick layer.

Cut into desired shape of cookies. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C for 10 minutes.

Lightly grease a baking tray. Arrange the refrigerated cut dough on it with a 1 inch space in between.

Bake at 180 degrees C for 12-15 minutes till they turn golden.

Remove onto a wire rack and cool.

Enjoy fresh!

Gula Melaka Sheera with Caramelised Banana Topping Recipe

Hello dear readers. I am back. Sorry for being out for so long without so much as a word. My health took a bit of a tumble because of the weather. A cold and throat infection got to me! I was completely keeping away from any electronic devices. I just was not in the mood to type. Trust me, I have had quite an earful from quite a few people about being so offline!

Gula Melaka Sheera with Caramelised Banana Topping Recipe

During this last week, my one hubby has been by my side constantly. He was amazingly caring, kind and supportive. He took such great care of me, my doctor's appointments, medicines and my moods. I have known my husband since we were young 20 year old undergraduates and in this week I saw how mature my best friend has become. And how he has lovingly taken on the role of a husband.

Gula Melaka Sheera with Caramelised Banana Topping Recipe

When I got better (thanks to his loving care), I wanted to thank him in my own way. So I created a dish, trying to put together things he'd love. First it HAD to be sweet. My husband has the proverbial sweet tooth. One of his most favourite sweets is sheera... so I thought why not make sheera for him with a twist. The twist comes by sweetening it with gula melaka which I still have in stock and which he likes! He also likes the bananas his grandma puts in the sheera we make as a prasad for Satyanarayan Pooja. I thought, why not add in a element of this. So I said lets add in some caramelised bananas on top for a lovely take on bananas in sheera. Thus was born my recipe of Gula Melaka Sheera with Caramelised Banana Topping.

Gula Melaka Sheera with Caramelised Banana Topping Recipe

Well, here's my warm and sweet thank you to my hubby. It was a big hit with him! The smile on his face was amazing! And this Diwali, I had a new recipe to make for the family too!

Gula Melaka Sheera with Caramelised Banana Topping Recipe

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup rawa
3 tbsps ghee
1 cup grated gula melaka or any other jaggery will do
3 cups heated  milk
1 tbsp butter
1 banana cut into chunks
3 tbsps sugar

Method

In a pan heat ghee. Add in the rawa and roast till brownish.

Add in the milk and let the sheera cook for about 7-8 minutes.

When it is almost done, add in the gula melaka/ jaggery and cook for anther 3-4 minutes.

In a shallow frying pan, melt butter.

Add in the banana and fry for about 30 seconds.

Pour in the sugar and let it caramelise on low heat for 3-4 minutes.

Arrange the caramelised bananas over the prepared sheera and serve hot.

Gula Melaka Syrup Recipe

It must have been so thankful to see the light of the day. It's been lying in the refrigerator since I got it from Singapore almost a year back. Oh, I am talking about gula melaka.

Gula Melaka

Gula melaka is a palm sugar made from the sap of coconut trees. Gula melaka has a beautiful rich, malty taste with notes of butterscotch flavour. It is a regular ingredient of South East Asian cooking, especially desserts. It is served over shaved ice in a kechang, poured over sago in a sago pudding, put into falooda-like drinks with sago, coconut milk and fresh tropical fruits. To every dish, it brings a uniquely sweet flavour that you will crave.

Think of innovative ways to use this syrup. I am coming up with some in the next few days!!

Gula Melaka Syrup Recipe

It is very easy to make a syrup of this sugar. It takes 2 ingredients and 10 minutes. The results, however, are priceless!

Gula Melaka Syrup Recipe

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

150 gms gula melaka chopped
60 ml water

Method

Chop the gula melaka into small pieces.

Heat a small pan and add the water and gula melaka.

After the water warms a little, lower the flame.

Keep stirring till the gula melaka melts gently into the water. Do not put it on high flame, or it will burn the sugar.

Remove from heat, and pour it in another cold vessel.

Let it cool completely into a thick golden syrup before you store.

Bhai Beej Special: Sheera

Today is a day of brothers and sisters... Bhai Beej... I am very close to my brother and over the years sibling rivalry has turned into sibling revelry for a variety of reasons. Of course this post is not dedicated to him (thought I am sure people who know me know I can end up talking for hours if I talk about my brother!) the dish I attempted for the first time today - sheera is dedicated to him.

Sheera is a surprisingly simple versatile sweet dish that can be had as breakfast dish in its simplest form, and is a traditional prasad for Satyanarayan pooja in a modified form. It also can be made with different bases like there is rawa sheera (the one which I made today), atta sheera (made from wheat flour) and can be made of various fruit flavours like banana, pineapple etc etc.

The one I made today was a simple rawa sheera with no jazz- just homely comforting sheera had hot...!

Rawa Sheera

Ingredients

1 cup rawa (semolina)
5 tbsps ghee (clarified butter)
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 - 1 cup sugar

Method

Heat the ghee in a kadhai and add the rawa in it to roast. When its roasted well, it will release an aroma and ghee will start to separate. At this stage add the milk and the sugar and keep stirring. The sheera will cook in the milk and when cooked will start to separate from the sides of the kadhai.

Garnish with dried fruits and serve hot!

Note: you can add a bit of green cardamom powder or seeds for more flavour.