13 recipes that use powdered sugar, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Quick grapes delight, takes 15 minutes. It is most often cooked with butter, cardamom and saffron.
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Raw cauliflower florets marinated in a little oil and vinegar, then mixed with sweet dates, banana, crisp red apples and celery on crunchy salad leaves. It is served with a creamy orange and mustard yogurt dressing. The mix of sweet, crunchy and tangy makes it a refreshing side for a summer lunch.
This is the big festive chevdo: crisp potato straws and rounds, fried chana dal, green grams and pawa, with cashews, peanuts and sultanas, curry leaves and green chillies, all coated in a sweet-hot seasoning and a fragrant whole-spice tempering with lemon. It makes a large batch for Diwali and keeps for weeks in air-tight tins. Golf potatoes are small, round potatoes.
Adadiya pak is a classic Gujarati winter sweet: coarse black gram (urad) flour is rubbed with milk, roasted slowly in ghee until brown and sweet-smelling, then mixed with popped edible gum, almonds, pistachios, sugar and plenty of ginger, mace and cardamom. It's rich, crumbly and warming, eaten a piece a day through the cold months. Makes about 30 squares.
Shrikhand is a classic Gujarati dessert of yogurt hung until thick and creamy, then sweetened and flavoured with saffron, cardamom and ground nuts. It's cool, tangy-sweet and silky. Serve it chilled with hot puris, or on its own as a dessert; add fresh fruit for fruit shrikhand.
Kesar mani is a rich, crumbly Gujarati sweet of gram flour roasted in ghee with popped edible gum, then mixed with milk powder, coconut, ground nuts, cinnamon, cardamom and saffron. It's nutty, fragrant and warming, a favourite in the winter months. Makes 25–30 pieces.
A simple, wholesome Gujarati sweet: doughnut-shaped dumplings of coarse and fine wheat flour with gram flour are steamed, then ground into soft crumbs. Each person mixes in hot ghee and powdered sugar to their own taste. Serve warm as a filling winter treat.
Pretty little plaits of saffron, almond and pistachio pastry, deep-fried until golden and dipped in a light saffron syrup. They're crisp outside, soft and nutty inside, and finished with almond and pistachio flakes and cardamom. Makes about 30; lovely on a festive sweet platter.
A smooth, rich chocolate mousse made without eggs or gelatine: milk, cocoa and dark chocolate are thickened with custard and set with agar-agar, then beaten with sweetened cream. It's silky, chocolatey and fully vegetarian. Serve cold, decorated with whipped cream and chocolate curls.
Classic choux pastry éclairs filled with sweetened whipped cream, topped with coffee icing and a zigzag of melted chocolate. They're crisp, light and creamy. Note that choux pastry is made with eggs. Serve them the day they're filled.
A five-minute layered pudding of whipped vanilla cream, crushed chocolate chip cookies and halved black and green grapes, served in a glass bowl so you can see the layers. It's creamy, crunchy and fresh. Serve chilled, sprinkled with brown sugar.
Little eggless ring doughnuts made from a simple soft milk dough, fried until golden and coated with melted chocolate. They're crisp outside and soft inside. Serve them with ice cream, or dust with icing sugar instead and serve at tea time.
A homely apple pie: crisp shortcrust filled with cooking apples simmered with lemon, cinnamon, sultanas and walnuts, finished with a pastry lattice brushed with butter and brown sugar. It's tart-sweet and warming. Serve warm with ice cream or hot thick custard.
A no-cook pudding of crushed ginger biscuits soaked in apple juice, topped with fresh coconut, cashews, kiwi and grapes and finished with sweetened cream. It's fresh, creamy and gently spiced. Serve chilled; it's ready in minutes.
