Platter of sweets – Lavang Latika and beetroot sondesh

This is a platter of two different sweet varieties made during the Holi festival, the Hindu festival of colors celebrated in the month of March.

Another one from my archive and there will be many more to come 😉

There are several mythological legends associated with this festival 🙂

We have been hearing these legends since childhood, like the story of Prahlad and Hiranyakashyap, story of Radha and Lord Krishna, and the story of Lord Shiva and Kaamdeva…….whichever story or legend you might hear the essence of them remains the same …….victory of good over evil 🙂

Lavang latika is a traditional Bengali sweet, usually made during Durga puja or Sankaranti,  where the one can be innovative with the filling. I went along with the traditional filling of Indian condensed milk (khowa). ‘Lavang’ means clove, so the name means ‘sealed with a clove’, and dipped in sugar syrup.

Beetroot sondesh is the innovation 😉 So it was a platter full of tango of tradition intertwined with innovation 🙂

Top : Lavang latika

Bottom : Beetroot sondesh

Here’s what i did……..

Beetroot Sondesh

INGREDIENTS
2 nos- medium sized beetroot
200 gms- chenna(fresh home made cottage cheese)
200 gms – mawa (khowa- Indian condensed milk popularly used for sweet making)
¼ tsp-  cardamom powder
2/3rd cup-  sugar
Dry fruit of your choice to decorate
METHOD
Peel and boil beetroot. Cool. Grind it to a smooth paste. Grind the chena and mawa together. Cook all the three in a pan/wok. Add the cardamom powder and sugar ( adjust the sugar as per taste). Cook on a low flame till it reduces to half its original quantity. Keep stirring as it cooks or else it’ll stick to the bottom. 
Take off the fire. In a plate apply some clarified butter and pour the mix. Level it out. Refrigerate for an hour once it cools to room temperature. 
After an hour, cut it into a shape of your choice, decorate. Serve.

Lavang latika

makes 7 -8

INGREDIENTS

For the crust:

1 cup – refined flour

1 tbsp – ghee/clarified butter/oil

7-8 nos – cloves

1 1/2 tbsp – powdered sugar

pinch of salt

warm water to knead the dough

Oil to deep fry

For the filling:

Mawa/ khowa – 100 gms

2 tbsp – sugar (powdered)

1/4 tsp – cardamom powder

1 tsp – crushed pistachios

For the syrup :

1 cup – water

3/4 th cup – sugar

METHOD

In a bowl, mix together the refined flour, powdered sugar , salt and ghee. Make a soft dough with the warm water and keep aside, covered for 30 mins.

Prepare the filling by cooking the mawa in a wok over medium flame. Add the sugar, cardamom powder and cook for approximately 7 -8 mins, till the mawa starts releasing oil. Keep aside and cool. Add the pistachios.

In a heavy bottomed pan, pour the 1 cup water and the 3/4th cup sugar. Make a two string consistency syrup.

Heat oil in a wok. While the oil heats up, roll out small roundels of the dough. You may continue with round shape base or trim the edges to make it square.

Put a spoonful of the filling in the centre and fold the sides. Seal it with a clove.

roll out a small roundel and put a spoonful of the filling in the centre

seal with a clove

Deep fry over medium flame till lightly brown. Dip it in the syrup for a few minutes. Remove from the syrup and arrange on a plate.

Serve at room temperature or chilled.

 

 

 

 

 

Advertisement