Rasaswad

 In a thick bottomed pan, heat 1 tbsp ghee, add 1/2 cup fine broken wheat (jheeni lapsi), and roast on a low flame till golden brown (about 10 minutes). Add 1/2 cup water and 1 cup milk, mix, bring to a boil, cover and simmer till all the liquid is absorbed. Add 1/2 cup sugar, stir, cover and simmer for a few more minutes. Add some crushed cardamom and serve.   

 This is hands down my more favorite sweet, and I still struggle to really get it right...plus those recipes that require two different sugar syrups and such seem too fussy. Here's one I found that's fairly streamlined, and worked ok. I wouldn't say great, but can hit the spot.  Add 2 tbsp white vinegar to 1 cup water. Bring 1 litre milk to a boil. Once the milk comes to a full boil, add the vinegar mixture and immediately turn off the gas. Milk will separate. Put a thin, wet kitchen towel on a strainer, and strain out the whey. Add some water to "wash" the chenna. Tie and hang for half an hour or so. Remove the chenna in a plate, and knead until soft and pliable. In a large pot (I washed and used the same pot), heat 1 cup sugar, 5 cups water, 4 whole cardamom broken,  and 2 tbsp of kewda water. While the syrup heats, make smooth balls from the chenna dough. Once the syrup comes to a boil, add the balls, cover, and cook on a high flame for 5 mins. Stir, reduce the...

 Soak whole moong, whole udad and chana daal. In a pressure cooker, add this, plus crushed ginger garlic and chilli paste, turmeric, red chilli powder, dhania powder, salt and butter and cook for 3-4 whistles.  Make a tadka with cloves, cumin, onion, ginger garlic paste, tomatoes, masalas and add to the daal. Boil, and add butter.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBo3T2Yt3TQ&t=21s

 Fafda:  200 gm Besan (I took about 12/3 cups) - sieve (do not skip) + 1/2 tsp each of salt, papad khar, ajwain + 1 tbsp oil. In one version, I mixed hing and papad khar in water, and added that to the dough. Make a semi-soft dough with water, and knead for about 4-5 minutes. Set aside for 10-15 mins. Heat oil in a kadhai, dip the whole dough in hot oil and knead. Repeat that process a few times, and then make small, oblong shape balls. On a wooden chopping board, push the fafda with the palm of your hand, and remove it with a very thin knife in the opposite direction. Then fry on low-medium heat. Sprinkle with blak salt and black pepper powder.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OODx6IrHoYo&t=202s Jalebi:  In a small pot, add 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup water and heat until sugar dissolves. Add saffron, and let it come to boil twice. Turn off the heat, and add some cardamom powder. Set aside. In a shallow pan, heat oil for about an inch or so, and add a tbsp of ghe...

 This is a riff on the original lonavala fudge, but slightly healthier and faster. In a vitamix, grind walnuts (plus throw in some almonds, cashews and pistachios too) with a bit of sugar until it turns almost into a butter. Remove. Now grind majdool dates (I happened to be using the dry grinder). Add back the nuts, coco powder, milk powder, some ghee, and a splash of vanilla. Grind everything till it all mixes well. Take out in a plate, then microwave in two bursts of 30 seconds, mixing in between. Add more ghee as required, grease hands and make small balls. Cool and store.