Indian Recipes using Dry Fruits

We all know that in India, it can be difficult to use up the heaps of dry fruits left in the aftermath of the myriad of festivals, weddings, housewarming parties and other social occasions and celebrations. While re-packaging them and recycling them is often the popular way to get rid of all the ‘extra’ calories at home, dry fruits and nuts do have an advantage of having a long shelf life. It means that you can use them up in your own sweet time.

Here are some of the easiest Indian ways you can use to finish off your dry fruits in style and earn the title of ‘smart chef’ at the same time:

 

Cashew Nuts (Kaju)

In India, we love 'kaju'. We eat them raw, and most of us love to munch on a handful of freshly roasted and salted cashews. Here are some super-duper ways to use cashew nuts that are included in almost every dry fruit box you receive during festivals:

 

1. Quick cashew munchies or sweets: Chop your cashew nuts with a sharp knife – vertical or horizontally (as per your preference) and roast them (or toast them without oil) a bit. Then:

 

• Coat them in honey and sprinkle a little salt to make Honey Roasted Cashews.

 

• Roll them in milk chocolate or high-quality dark chocolate (as you like it!) for the instant chocolate hit for festivals and parties.

 

• Cover them with different kinds of masala mix powders for distinctive Masala Kaju flavours.

 

2. Natural Halves: Cashew kernels broken even in two halves come in economy packs. However, these splits are crisper at times. They can be fried in oil, ghee or butter and can be added as a topping to any snack, rice or vegetable preparation.

 

3. Chopped or Crushed Cashewnuts: Finely chopped or coarsely crushed cashew nuts come in handy when you want to present your desserts such as halwa or kheer with the flair of an expert.

 

4. Cashewnut Paste: You can soak cashew nuts in a little water or milk for about an hour and then use a blender to make a smooth paste. Add it to your curries or baked vegetables to augment their flavour. That’s the magic ingredient in your beloved Shahi Paneer! Blend it with milk and sugar for a refreshing glass of cashew-flavoured milk.

 

Homemade Kaju Katli: Mix cashew nut paste with powdered sugar. In a deep frying pan (kadhai), put two tablespoons of ghee and cook the mixture at slow flame for a few minutes until it thickens up. You may want to mix in powdered cardamom to the mixture once you take it off the flame. When the mixture cools down, put some ghee on your hands, on the rolling pin and a butter paper. Take small balls of the mixture and roll it out to desired thickness and cut in desired shapes. You can use fun moulds for kids’ parties.

 

Almonds (Badam)

Since times immemorial, Indian parents have been urging their kids to eat 'badam' or almonds for great eyes, hair and skin. Soaking almonds overnight, shelling them in the morning and chewing them up during exams is most Indian moms’ favourite success mantra and is believed to give some extra boost to our mental power. Besides eating raw and salted almonds, there are some yummy easy-to-cook badam recipes that can help you make the festive mood last longer than it usually does:

 

• Almond Slivers: Slice your badam with a sharp knife lengthwise, roast them and they can stay good in an airtight container for upto 3 month. Almond slivers are often used for garnishing sweets and desserts like kheer, halwa, barfi, mishti doi or kulfi. They also make a great salad dressing. They complement chocolate icing quite well and make great topping for your hot fudge sundae. You can make almond biryani by using these roasted almond slivers along with other ingredients in the recipe and the biryani masala mix.

 

• Secret Nawabi Paste: Do you want to know how restaurants come up with your favourite Mughlai dishes in such a short time? They prepare this paste, pour it in food-grade zip lock bags or airtight containers and store it in a refrigerator or deep freezer for a few weeks. It does use a lot of ingredients though. Put together 1 table spoon each of chopped almonds, broken kaju, and khus-khus, and one tea spoon each of dhania seeds, saunf, and chopped green chillies. Add two tea spoon each of chopped ginger and jeera, 3/4 cup chopped onions, two cloves, one cardamom, 1" cinnamon stick, seven curry leaves and salt to taste. Blend them all into a smooth paste using a mixer and as little water as possible. To use it in the gravy, thaw it out first. You may also want to add 1 table spoon coconut milk towards the end of the recipe and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Isn't that a neat trick to impress your guests with your cooking skills?

 

• Kesar Badam Milk: Soak almonds overnight and peel them off in the milk. Mix a few saffron strands, sugar to taste and 1-2 peeled off small cardamom and blend them all to a smooth paste using very little milk. Boil rest of the milk till it reaches desired consistency and mix the almond paste in it. In winters, serve it hot. In summers, cool it in the refrigerator and serve it chilled.

 

Pistachios (Pista)

Pistachios are usually either eaten raw in Indian homes or used for garnishing desserts. But here we will suggest you some mouth-watering ways to use pista in kitchen befitting of a smart new-gen chef:

 

• Pista Barfi: Soak 1 cup pistachios in a bowl of warm water for about 30 minutes. Drain the water, peel the pistachios and blend them to a fine paste using a mixer. In a non-stick pan, make syrup of 1-string consistency by mixing 1/2 cup of sugar with 1/2 cup of water and cooking them on a medium flame for 6 to 7 minutes while stirring occasionally. Add pista paste to the syrup and cook on slow flame for another 5 to 7 minutes till the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan. Use ghee to grease a plate and transfer the paste in it. Allow it to set for 1 hour. Use moulds to cut beautiful pista barfis. You can store it in an air-tight container and serve to guests during festivals.

 

• Pista Paan: Pista barfi is impressive, but pista paan is certainly more desirable. Prepare a filling in a bowl with 1 table spoon each of powdered sugar, blanched, peeled and chopped pistachios, and khus-khus (or poppy seeds); 2 table spoon each of gulkand, and blanched, peeled and chopped almonds; 1/4th table spoon of cardamom powder and a few saffron strands. Put the pista barfi dough (recipe given above) between 2 sheets of plastic and roll it to about 1/4" thickness. Cut 3" by 3" inch squares. Spread the filling on half of the each pista barfi square diagonally and use the opposite ends of the square to shape it like a rolled-out paan. Cover your pista paan with a silver leaf and serve.

 

• Pista Kaju Sandwich: This is another exotic look for your pista barfi. For the filling, put 3 table spoon of sugar in about 4 table spoon of water in a pan and prepare a syrup of 1-string consistency. Mix 1/2 cup of dried nuts (such as peanuts, almonds, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts and pecans etc.), 3 table spoon of powdered cashew nuts, 1/4 spoon of cardamom powder and a few saffron strands to the syrup and mix well for 2-3 minutes. Let it cool in a bowl. Now, take the pista barfi (recipe given above) dough in 2 equal parts. Put them between plastic sheets and roll them out. Put one pista barfi circle, evenly spread the filling mixture on it and put the second pista barfi circle on top of it. Allow it to set for 20 to 30 minutes. Cut barfi in traditional shapes or using interesting moulds. You may want to cover it in silver varq (or leaf).

 

• Malai Kofta with Pistewaali Curry: Make malai koftas by mixing 1 cup grated paneer with 3 table spoon of maida, salt to taste and 1/3 tea spoon of levelled baking powder. Divide into 12 equal-sized balls and deep-fry them until they are golden brown. Keep them aside. For the curry, heat ghee in a kadhai, add two tea spoon of ginger-garlic paste and sauté for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup boiled onion paste and sauté for another 3-4 minutes. Add coriander powder, white pepper poser, salt and garam masala and sauté for two more minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water and a pinch of sugar and bring to boil. After removing the curry from flame, mix cream in it well. While serving, arrange koftas on a serving dish and pour hot gravy on it.

 

Walnuts (Akhrot)

Walnuts not only grace our dry fruit boxes but also make up a popular part of 'prasad' or sacred offerings in Hindu households. Here are some smart recipes for these brain-shaped nuts:

 

• Walnut Raisin Truffles: They are so easy to make that you may help the kids make these cool, chewy, chocolate delights. Pour a 400-gram can of condenses milk in a saucepan. Add 3 table spoon cocoa powder and 2 table spoon of butter to it. Keep stirring it for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool. Add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup of raisins to it along with 1 cup of biscuit crumbs to the mixture and stir it well. Roll the mixture into balls and refrigerate for an hour.

 

• Walnut Pralines: Easy to make, walnut praline has many uses. Put 3/4 cup sugar in a non-stick pan and cook on medium flame until it melts. Immediately, remove from the flame and add about 3/4 cup of roasted and chopped walnuts to it. Spread the mixture on a greased plate and allow it to set. Once it hardens up, you can break it and serve it as home-made candies. Or you can scrape it out of the plate and powder it coarsely using mortal-pestle and store it an air-tight container. This walnut praline mix is great to make gateaus or Mount Pleasant cakes.

 

• Walnut Vegetable Pate with Toasted Triangles: It’s hard to see diabetics being stoic and sitting sadly in a corner on festivals because it takes all their will power to say ‘no’ to all the sinful desserts and savouries served to them now and then. This is what you can make for them. Toast 8 while wheat triangles and cut it into triangles. Tear a few lettuce leaves and cut about four cherry tomatoes in halves. Heat 2 tea spoon of olive oil (or refined oil) in a kadhai, add finely chopped mixed vegetables (such as spring onions, mushrooms, carrots etc.) to it, and sauté them on medium flame for 2 minutes. Remove them from the flame and add 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, 1/2 tea spoon garlic, and 1/2 tea spoon dried mixed herbs and salt to taste in it. Blend everything in a mixer to get a grainy puree. On each triangle toast, put a small lettuce leaf, spread little pate you have just prepared, and top it with a few drops of tabasco sauce. Garnish it with cherry tomatoes and serve.

 

• Akhrot ka Halwa: This halwa has to be cooked only on slow flame. Combine 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar and cook it till the syrup reaches 1-string consistency. Keep stirring it occasionally. Meanwhile, heat 3 table spoon ghee in a kadhai, add 1 table spoon rawa to it and sauté it over a slow flame for a minute. Add 1 cup crushed walnuts to it and cook it on a slow flame for about 15 minutes till the mixture turns golden-brown. Keep stirring it continuously. Add sugar syrup to it slowly to the mixture and do not stop stirring it. Cook until the mixture is dry enough to be a halwa. Add 1/3 cup milk to it and cook it for about 10 minutes. Add 1/2 tea spoon of cardamom powder and mix it well. Garnish it with 1/4 cup of crushed walnuts and serve.

 

Raisins (Kishmish)

There was a time when two jars of raisins could have bought you a slave in Rome. In Indian kitchens, they are widely used for garnishing desserts, breakfast cereals and ice-cream toppings. Here are some other culinary uses of raisins that may prove handy to you:

 

• Soaked Raisins: Wash raisins under running water and soak them in lukewarm water until they soften up. Then, mash them into pulp and use them to enhance the flavour of any dessert or cake recipe!

 

• Baked Foods: Chopped, sliced, or whole raisins make great additions to baked items like muffins, bread, cookies and cakes. In fact, they keep them moist and soft for longer period of time.

 

• 'No Pimple' Drink: Are you dreaming of a smooth, glowing skin? Try a raisin and saunf drink. Combine 1 table spoon each of black raisins, saunf and sugar and let it soak in 1 cup of water for 4-6 hours (or overnight). Blend it in a mixture until it is smooth. This tasty smoothie is great for skin.

 

• Raisin Coconut Pulao: This South India dish is best paired up with sambar or any vegetable curry for a main course meal. Wash basmati rice and soak it about half an hour. Heat ghee in a pan and add 2 table spoon each of kaju and kishmish to it and sauté for 2 minutes. Keep it aside. In the same pan, add two each of cloves, tejpatta, and cinnamon sticks, four small cardamoms, 8-10 curry leaves and 1/2 tea spoon of mustard seeds and sauté for 3 minutes. Add 1 cup grated coconut and sautéed for another 5 minutes. Add rice, 2 cups milk and 1 1/2 tea spoon of salt to the pan and let it simmer until the rice is cooked.

 

Do you have other tips and recipes to use up dry fruits and nuts? Share with us at info@gujaratgifts.com