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Chocolate’s reputation is rising for having antioxidant effects and reducing risk factors for heart disease courtesy its cocoa content but even if not for that, a chocolate is the only cure for Monday woes. Let Monday blues be a sweet excuse to binge on Indian desserts with some easy-to-make chocolate fusion recipes at home.
Apart from lifting up your mood in a jiffy or being a mood enhancer, chocolate has several other health benefits like being aphrodisiac and helping to protect your skin against the sun by acting as a sunscreen. On that note, check out the recipes of Nuts Barfi, Nachni Choco Halwa and Choco-Elaichi Peda below and thank us later.
Nuts Barfi
Ingredients:
1 cup cashew powder
½ cup sesame paste (toasted sesame ground, like tahini)
1½ tablespoons chopped almond
1½ tablespoons chopped pistachios
1½ tablespoons chopped cashewnuts
1/3 cup Strawberry flavoured syrup
Method:
In a heavy bottom pan, add ghee to heat a little. To the ghee, add cashew powder, sesame paste and chopped nuts. Cook all this together till the moisture evaporates, but beware not to brown the mixture.
Add strawberry flavoured syrup and cook till its combined and semi dry. Place barfi trays on your work platform and tip the mixture into the trays enough to fill the trays evenly. For garnish sprinkle pista on the tray.
Overturn the tray, on your worktable, and turn it back to let the pistas stick into the halwa. Set the hallway for a 3 - 4 hours. Cut the halwa into bite sized squares, plate and garnish with some more pista.
Nachni Choco-Halwa Fingers
Ingredients for ragi halwa
6 tbsp ghee
½ cup nachni flour
1 cup hot milk
½ cup chocolate flavoured syrup
1 tsp cardamom powder
Method:
Heat ghee in a non stick pan. Then add nachni flour. Keep stirring the flour for 3- 4 mins on low heat. The mixture will bubble. When the mixture starts bubbling, then add the hot milk. (The milk has to be hot. So, heat the milk separately in another pan.)
Continue stirring the ragi mixture, till it starts thickening. Now add ¼ cup chocolate flavoured syrup and stir well. Soon the mixture will start leaving the edges of the pan. Now sprinkle cardamom powder.
Switch off the flame and transfer the ragi halwa into a tray and let it set properly. Once it’s set, cut into fingers and enjoy.
Choco-Elaichi Peda
Ingredients:
300 g Marie Biscuit
150 ml Condensed Milk
150 ml chocolate flavoured syrup
1 tsp Cardamom powder
50 g Desiccated Coconut
10g Sliced Pistachios
Method:
In a food processor add Marie biscuits and crush finely. Take the crushed biscuit in a mixing bowl and add chocolate flavoured syrup, condensed milk and cardamom powder. Mix the ingredients thoroughly to form a dough.
Apply butter or ghee on your palms and divide the mixture into equal portions. Form smooth round balls and flatten them to resemble peda. Tuck in the desiccated coconut and pistachios in the centre of the peda.
Refrigerate and use.
(Recipe: Hershey India)
