Best Indian Dessert Recipes

A typical Indian wedding is judged by the people, on the basis of the vast buffet of desserts. There is no denying the fact, dessert are very important for every Indian. Especially Indian desserts, ranging from Galub Jamun's to Payasam to Kulfi, this article brings to you, the top 10 best Indian deserts.

These easy to make recipes are definitely a try. Who would, in their right mind not want to try these amazing desserts with such easy recipes!

So take the yum factor up a notch with these invincible classics. And get lost in the divine tastes of these Indian classics which portray Indian culture, richness and diversity in the best possible way.

So shut your eyes, and enjoy the incredible tastes of incredible India.

Bring to you, this is our take on the top 10 best Indian desert recipes that we think are a must try! 

On your marks, Get set. And COOK!


Gulab Jamun
Recipe by Aditya Bal

The old favorite made with khoya, flour and dipped in sugar syrup infused with saffron.


Gajar Ka Halwa
Recipe by Akhtar Rehman

Pakistani style grated carrot and condensed milk pudding.


Sandesh
Recipe by Niru Gupta

Bengal's super hit sweet, made with sweetened cottage cheese and flavored with cardamom and kesar.


Modak
Recipe by Shilpa More

Sweet flour dumplings stuffed with coconut, jaggery, nutmeg and saffron. Steamed to perfection. A famous Indian dessert consumed highly during the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.


Aam Shrikhand
Recipe by Karan Suri

Mildly sweetened yogurt sprinkled with mango pieces, served with a zesty mango salad.


Payasam
Recipe by Kishore D Reddy

A delicious rice and milk pudding with cashews and raisins. Also called as kheer or payesh in different parts of the country.


Kaju ki Barfi
Recipe by Niru Gupta

Cashew nut and milk based sweet traditionally served at special occasions, topped by silver leaf.



Shahi Tukda
Recipe by Marut Sikka

The earliest visitors to India called it the land of milk and honey. Marut Sikka whips up a rich, saffron infused shahi tudka from Awadh. 


Phirni
Recipe by Vicky Ratnani

Pista and elaichi flavored phirni great for a festive occasion. served in 'mitti ke kasore' or mud pots.


Kulfi
Recipe by Niru Gupta

Popular kulfi recipe but with a twist, flavored with mango. Sinfully rich and creamy.


Other Indian dessert recipes.

Caramel Shortbread

Caramel Shortbread

Recipe Cook Time	:	45 Minutes
Recipe Rating	:

Tags: caramel, desserts, kids, shortbread, tea time

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3

Ingredients

• 300 gm flour
  
  125 gm castor sugar
  
  200 gm butter
  
  
  For Caramel:
  
  100 gm butter
  
  100 gm castor sugar
  
  2 Tbsp golden syrup
  
  1 large tin condensed milk
  
  
  Topping:
  
  200 gm melted chocolate

Method

For the shortbread, combine flour and sugar in a bowl.

Rub in the chilled, diced butter. Knead until mixture forms soft dough.

Roll out on a floured surface. Line a 12x9" tin with the dough.

Bake at 180 degrees C for 15-20 minutes or until golden in color.

Remove from oven. Cool.


For the Filling:

Melt butter, stir in remaining ingredients.

Heat gently until sugar dissolves. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring continuously.

Pour over shortbread. Allow it to set.

When cool, spread melted chocolate over caramel.

Cool, cut into squares and serve.

Santa Claus is on schedule as NORAD tracks flight path

Santa's sled is escorted by a pair of fighter jets in this still image taken from an handout NORAD animated video released November 27, 2013. (Reuters)

New York:  Santa Claus has made an on-time departure from the North Pole, at least according to a U.S. military command that has made it a tradition to track the progress of Santa's reindeer-guided sleigh for millions of children.

Santa was "sticking to the same flight plan as he provided us," Lieutenant Commander Bill Lewis, stationed at the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, said on Tuesday.

For nearly 60 years, NORAD has tracked Santa's flight path in a popular Christmas tradition that last year drew 22.3 million visitors to its website www.noradsanta.org and generated 114,000 calls.

NORAD says it can keep up with Santa's swift pace by using satellites and an "infrared sensor to detect heat signatures from Rudolph's nose," as the lead reindeer helps pull Santa's sleigh across the sky.

This year, NORAD said it was sending animated warplanes alongside the sleigh, a move that drew criticism from some child advocates who said children might worry if they believed Santa was vulnerable to attack.

NORAD says it began depicting jets following the sleigh in the 1960s and the planes would only be deployed to help Santa enter North American airspace. He would then be "on his own to do his work" Lewis said.

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All images courtesy AFP

HTC Desire 400 dual-SIM Android smartphone with 4.3-inch display unveiled

HTC has expanded its Desire range with the introduction of a new mid-range smartphone, the Desire 400 dual-SIM. The Taiwanese handset maker quietly listed the Desire 400 dual-SIM on HTC's Russian and Ukrainian sites. However, there is no word on the availability and pricing of the Desire 400.

The HTC Desire 400 dual-SIM runs Android Jelly Bean OS with HTC Sense UI on top featuring BlinkFeed. However, it's not clear at this stage whether the OS version in the Desire 400 dual-SIM smartphone is Android 4.2 or Android 4.3.

The HTC Desire 400 dual-SIM as the name suggests comes with dual-SIM functionality and supports micro-SIM instead of regular SIM. It comes with a 4.3-inch WVGA display with a 480x800 pixels resolution. It is powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 200 processor along with 1GB of RAM, according to the Russian site, which also lists an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and BSI sensor, apart from a 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera.

However, the Ukrainian HTC site features slightly different specifications, listing the Desire 400 with a dual-core processor (unspecified chipset), and a 5-megapixel camera instead.

The HTC Desire 400 dual-SIM packs an 1800mAh battery that according to the listing gives up to 12 hours of talktime and up to 435 hours of standby time. Connectivity options on the device include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G.

Bitcoins: RBI cautions users of potential risks

More From Forex

• Rupee ends at 61.79 per dollar, gaining for third day

• Rupee rises to 61.83 per dollar; seen in tight band

• Betting on Bitcoin

• BSE currency turnover crosses Rs. 10,000 crore mark

• As Fed tapers, don't count out emerging market currencies

• RBI to issue Rs. 10 banknotes with rupee symbol shortly

Mumbai: With growing interest and reporting about virtual currencies like bitcoins, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has  said these are highly speculative and unregulated instruments, cautioning users about the potential financial, operational, legal security risks.

(Also read: What bitcoin really is and how it is used)

The RBI said in a release on Tuesday that the creation, trading or usage of "decentralised digital currency" or "virtual currency" (VC), including bitcoins, litecoins, bbqcoins and dogecoins, as a medium for payment is not authorised by any central bank or monetary authority.

"No regulatory approvals, registration or authorisation is stated to have been obtained by the entities concerned for carrying out such activities," it said, adding that it is keeping tabs on the developments.

Stating that virtual currencies have no underlying or backing of any assets and their value seems to be a matter of speculation, the RBI said, "The users are exposed to potential losses on account of volatility in value."

Since virtual currencies are stored in digital or electronic media - called electronic wallets - they are prone to losses arising out of hacking, loss of password, compromise of access credentials and malware attack, the apex bank cautioned.

Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party picks its ministers, sends six names to Lieutenant Governor

New Delhi:  Arvind Kejriwal, set to be the next chief minister of Delhi, has refused to move into the government bungalow he is entitled to as the head of the government. His party today finalised six cabinet ministers and recommended the names to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.

HERE ARE THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

1. Manish Sisodia, who is among the Aam Aadmi Party's 28 newly-elected legislators, is expected to get an important portfolio. (Pics: Meet Team Kejriwal's ministers) The 41-year-old journalist-turned-activist-turned politician trended on Twitter earlier this week after he stood by Mr Kejriwal's side to announce that the AAP will form the government.
2. Rakhi Birla, 26, will be the youngest member of the cabinet. She defeated heavyweight Rajkumar Chauhan, the Public Works Department Minister in the outgoing Sheila Dikshit government, by about 10,500 votes. (Read: Kejriwal to head youngest Cabinet with first-time MLAs)
3. The AAP placed second in the Delhi election - a King Kong political debut for the one-year-old party.
4. The BJP was in first place but did not manage a majority and said it would not try to form the government. The Congress - which had governed Delhi for 15 years - was relegated to a paltry third place, and is supplying external support to AAP. (Read)
5. Today, senior Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi admitted that a large section of the party does not believe it should support the AAP.
6. Senior AAP leaders have said they expect the Congress to work against them, and pull the plug on the government.
7. In a video released in seven languages on YouTube, Mr Kejriwal has justified why he decided to accept the Congress' support and form the government.
8. AAP says that a public referendum it held last week proves that voters want it to take a shot at governance.  
9. Mr Kejriwal has refused police security and a large house as chief minister. He says he wants to live in a small flat instead in the capital. (Read) He has repeatedly asserted that his to-do list includes decimating the "VIP culture" that politicians are attuned to. (Foreign media on Arvind Kejriwal's "no thanks" to VIP perks)
10. As Mr Kejriwal met Delhi's Lieutenant Governor yesterday to stake claim to form government, a workshop was held to give the party's MLAs a lesson in "swaraj" or good governance.