Rakhi with coconut barfi / नारळाच्या वड्या

Raksha bandhan is round the corner so what sweet are you making? ?

Well in Maharashtra rakhi is associated to coconut sweets as this day is also called as "नारळी पूर्णिमा".

So it's considered auspicious to make नारळ or नारियल or coconut sweet that day.
Known as नारियल बर्फी or नारळाच्या वड्या in Maharashtra

Sharing my mom's simple recipe of nariyal barfi/ नारियल बर्फी or नारळाच्या वड्या

Ingredients 

1 coconut grated

2 cups sugar

2 cups milk if you have mava or khoya then reduce milk and increase khoya

If milk or khoya both are unavailable we can use milkmaid tin also by decreasing sugar as milkmaid is already sweet.

Method

Heat desk ghee or clarified butter a spoonful in pan and add grated wet coconut to it. Roast properly till it's milk is reduced. Add milk/ khoya/ milkmaid to it with sugar.

Keep stiring continously till reduced to thick paste.

Add cardamom powder before switching off gas. 

Once warm spread on greased steel plate abd cut in desired shapes.

Enjoy the sweetness of Rakhi with this sweet.

Raw Mango/ kacchi kairi/ aaambi

Ahh the tingling taste of raw mango or saw kairi or say aambi...is mind boggling.
Come summers and we are blessed with mangoes.
Be it ripe or raw there are endless things we can make with it.

Just to enlist few of raw mango recipes-
Aam panha
Kairi chutney
Kairi sweet pickle
Kairi murrabba
Kairi loncha or say pickle
pickle too is made in many varieties be it with grated raw mango or pieces.

Salad/ Koshimbir

Koshimbir in maharashtra is a must have side with lunch. Its a salad where in all ingredients are grated or finely chopped so as to consume more quantity and more ingredients instead of just picking up one single at one time.

There is no set rule for what to add.
this is a simple example to add the basic salad ingredients...

onions -2 finely chopped
cucumber - 2 finely chopped
tomatoes - 2 finely chopped
carrots - 2 finely chopped
reddish -1 finely chopped
cabbage - 1/4th or say 1/2 cup finely chopped

green chilies 2-3 finely chopped
coriander - 2 tbsp finely chopped
salt, pepper sugar to taste

all this can be just mixed and eaten or we can temper it with 1 sp oil n rai or
to enhance taste add curd to it.

chilly coriander chutney

Chilly coriander chutney

Ingredients

coriander - clean n cut approx 2 cups
green chillies - 5-6 as per spicy taste
cumin seeds/ zeera - 2 tsp
salt to taste
lemon juice of one lemon

Grind all in  a mixer pot to fine paste and squeeze lemon juice

Chooocolate Cake

The Basic simple yum chocolate cake....everyone's favourite...

So what we need...

Ingredients

Flour/ Maida        - 1.5 cup
Baking Powder    - 1 tsp
Cocoa powder      - 2 tpsp
Coffee pdr            - 1 tsp
Eggs                     - 4 numbers
powdered sugar   - 1 cup
vanilla essence    - 1 tsp

How to bake chocolate cake...

Add sugar, then oil and then eggs one by one in a bowl or mixing pot.

side by side seive flour + cocoa powder + baking powder and coffee.

No pre heat oven for 15 mins at 180° C in convection mode.

Now add flour mixture to oil egg mixture and beat a little more

Now bake cake for 45 minutes in oven.

Suggested serving - Coffee liquour poured on cake adds taste to this cake
Coffee liquor - 1/2 spoon coffee + 4sp grounded sugar + 1 cap rum.

Eggless chocolate cake

2 cup maida/ flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp cocoa powder

100 gm butter (white preferable)
1 cup milk
1 cup milk powder

sieve all dry ingredients
mix all wet ingredients
Mix both and bake me up in oven for 30-40 mins at 200 deg C

Malai cake

1.5 cups (175 gms)flour/ maida
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup malai/ home made cream
1 cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp baking soda
few drop vanilla essence
few dry fruits

seive flour, BP and BS

mix sugar, oil, milk, malai till its sift in touch

add essence and dry fruits

bake in pre heated oven till light brown say approx 60 mins