sweets

I made doodh peda, coconut laddu, mysore pak and sunnundalu yesterday.

It was quite an experience. I usually dont make sweets. All these sweets need ghee, but I used butter. I started with doodh peda. Recently I learnt of my sister's affinity for peda. Peda is a sweet we enjoyed a lot as kids. My parents got her a big box full of peda. I didnt think I would get a chance to use this recipe. I had to make 4 kinds of sweets. Another restriction was that they had to be solid with no syrup or run. What a convenience it is that safeway's dry milk has 3 packets in it, each of 1.5 cups, just the size the recipe asks for. While making it I realised that the mixture was leaving the sides of the pan. Why is this important? The next coconut laddoo was a breeze. Mixing condensed milk with cocnut. I used the shredded flakes for its shape even though the recipe called for dessicated coconut. If you ask me for the definition of perfect - 2 words - condensed milk.

Move on to mysore pak. My mom wasnt up for it with the need for syrup making expertise. When the time came for decision making of having put enough water for the sugar to dissolve, I enlisted H's help. He said the granules made noise as they hit the bottom. More water into the pan. After putting 1 cup of butter, I didnt have the heart to put in the other cup of butter that the recipe calls for. The recipe said that the sweet is done when the mixture leaves the side of the pan and I knew exactly what they mean after having made the peda. Then I made sunnundalu, they refused to get round. On top of that, they had a raw taste. I should have roasted the flour for long. My mom thinks the flour lost its stickiness. I used the urad flour and then roasted it. The actual procedure calls for roasting the dal and then grinding it. So much for short cuts.

1.4.11
A friend who is a big fan of mysore pak wanted to watch me make it aain. This time we measured the water to make syrup - 1/2 cup water.