Chocolate Balls: (the small brown balls at the right of the cake)
Every little child can make this, so let your children/grandchildren start their kitchen debut with this one. This was a recipe brought home from school by my daughter when she was in Nursery 10 years ago. She also brought back some grubby samples that the children had made at school that day. This ‘cooking’ can be an exciting play-dough session - but do ensure clean hands please!
300 gms Marie biscuits
3 tablespoons Amul butter
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tin condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Crush the biscuits in a mixie to a fine powder. Melt the butter on a low flame (do not let it bubble), and add to the biscuit powder. Then add in the cocoa, the condensed milk and essence, and mix well to make an even dough. Form balls or mould the mix in different shapes. The children can have fun making stars, little Xmas trees or anything they fancy! Refrigerate the balls (or whatever else you have made) in an airtight container - though it can stay at room temperature for a few days too. When refrigerated, it stays well for 2-3 weeks.
Rava Ladoos: (the cream-coloured balls, just above the chocolate balls)
This is a tasty ladoo, originally from Karnataka, though these days the overlap of delicacies across States is quite common.
½ cup ghee
100 gms raisins
100 gms cashewnuts (halves or quarters)
2 cups (250ml each) fine rava
1½ cup sugar
½ litre milk
Fry the raisins and cashewnuts in a little ghee on a low flame. Then remove them and keep aside. Fry the rava in the remaining ghee on a low flame, stirring all the time, till it turns light brown and gives a crackling sound. Then add the milk, sugar, raisins and cashewnuts and stir well. Next, add the vanilla essence. Stir till the mixture becomes thicker and no longer sticks to the sides (around 20 minutes). If you think the consistency is too hard for moulding into balls, you could add a little more milk or ghee. Finally, form the mix into balls, while it is still warm (wet your fingers to avoid it sticking to them). Leave the balls to cool. Then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Do not keep longer than a week, as these balls tend to turn hard beyond that.
Cheese Straws: (the cream coloured sticks between the cake and the chocolate balls)
These are the savoury item, which balance the sweet. Being in a minority, they get polished off quite fast - but also because they are irresistible!
100 gms white butter
1½ cups flour
1 egg
100 gms grated cheese
Salt, pepper, mustard to taste
Break up the butter (at room temperature) and mix in the flour till it resembles the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk, salt, pepper and some flavour (I prefer a little mustard powder; you could also add tomato sauce). Then add the grated cheese, and mix well to form a dough. You can add a few drops of cold water, to ensure the consistency of the dough. It needs to be rolled into a sheet 1cm thick. After making the sheet, cut it into thin strips and place these on a greaseproof paper in a baking tray. Bake in a pre-heated oven (175oC) for 15-20 minutes. When baked, the straws should have a golden brown look. They will be a little soft when they are removed from the oven, but become crisp once cooled. Store them immediately in an airtight container. They stays well for upto a month. Warning: it is an item that vanishes faster than you can bake!
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