Diwali Wishes and Sweets

Cashew Cookies with Filling

A very Happy Diwali to everyone!

Last night, on returning from office, I saw a mail from my Mom with a picture of all the sweets and savories she has prepared for the festive season. This is a yearly custom she follows, and the picture is mailed to relatives the world over to salivate and drool over that which they cannot have.

It was around 8:30pm and I felt it just wouldn't be Diwali if I didn't prepare something. So, I set out to prepare 3 dishes ( 2 sweet and 1 savoury ) in 3 hrs flat.

I started at 9 and I was done by 12:15am. Not too shabby, huh? Ofcourse, I chose easy to make things - Festivals are not a good enough reason to stop being lazy. I got all the recipes from some delightful food blogs that I follow.


Chilli Biscuits

1. Chilli Biscuits
Followed the recipe exactly from FingerLickingFood.
On hind sight, I would have added a teeny pinch of haldi, and some ajwain to the dough for added flovour.
The Mint leaves were easy to get since I grow them, Curry leaves presented a bit of a challenge since my Kadipatta Plant is still rather small - but it made the sacrifice of 1 twig of leaves.

2. Cashew Cookies
I followed this recipe from : foodiezone
I substituted almonds with cashews, this made the dough a little wetter so in went more flour ( about twice the recommended quantity ). On being taken out of the fridge, the dough was not as pliant as expected, so i rubbed some butter on my fingers and found it easier to shape. I also added a few drops of Vanilla essence. I filled half the cookies with Strawberry jam and the other half with some left over orange flavored chocolate.


Orange Flavored Chocolate with Nuts

3. Orange Flavored Chocolate with Nuts.
This was my own creation, inspired by this recipe: from fingerlickingfood
It was my first experience with melted chocolate ( I used 1 full bar of cooking chocolate - semi sweet ) For orange flavour, since I didnt have orange juice or zest, I added 1 cap full of Orange vodka. This caused the chocolate to seize and become very pliable and easy to handle.
I tossed in whole cashews and almonds and rolled them into little balls and left them to set over night.

Note:
All the photos are taken by Keshav with his camera ( my fingers were all buttery ). He was also the first taster - I can never take the first taste of anything I cook.