From Halwa to Cakes: Cult Classic Desserts That You Can Make in a Kadai Like a Pro

After the pressure cooker, the kadai (wok) is the most relied-upon utensil in Indian cooking. What makes it a kitchen staple is its versatility: you can use it to saute, steam, shallow fry, and even deep fry. This may seem a tad bit obvious, but the kadai's utility extends beyond cooking savory dishes. It's not just for sabzis, curries, and pakodas! You can whip up a diversity of desserts in this vessels, like these cult classics:

Gulab Jamun

These dumplings, soaked in sugar syrup that’s often infused with green cardamom, rose water, saffron, or kewra, are simply sinful. Preparing them can be labor-intensive, especially if you opt to make khoya from scratch—a process that involves boiling down full-fat milk until it reaches a dough-like, pliable consistency. However, for beginners or those aiming to reduce cooking time, you can replace the khoya with milk powder and maida.

Ingredients:

For the jamun

• 1.5 cups milk powder
• 1 cup refined flour (maida)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp of ghee
• Milk for kneading
• Ghee or oil for frying the jamuns

For the sugar syrup

• 4 cups sugar
• 4 cups water
• 3-4 green cardamom (crushed)
• ½ tsp saffron
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp rose water

Instructions:

• Mix all your dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then add 3 tbsp of ghee and just enough milk to make a soft dough. Some amount of eyeballing is required with the milk, so trust your gut.
• The dough doesn’t require any kneading so you can set it aside to rest.
• Now mix sugar, water, cardamom and saffron in a saucepan, and bring to a boil.
• Stir occasionally to ensure that the sugar has completely dissolved. The syrup should be ready in about 8-10 minutes on medium flame.
• Roll out as many gulab jamuns as you can with the dough.
• Heat the ghee or oil in the kadai, then slowly deep fry all of them till they are a burnished brown color.
• Drain well and immerse them in the warm sugar syrup.
• Soak them in the syrup for about an hour. Garnish with nuts of your choice and serve warm.
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Kheer

Preferences for sweetening agents vary; some use sugar, while others opt for jaggery, which gives it a delicious caramel color. And some also prefer condensed milk, for it can provide the perfect balance of sweetness and richness. Kheer can be made with white rice (not limited to Basmati), vermicelli, tapioca, and even wild varieties of rice.

Ingredients:

• ½ rice of your choice
• 6 cups milk
• ¾ cup condensed milk
• ¼ sugar (you can adjust the sweetness to your liking)
• ½ powdered green cardamom
• 3-4 tsp of slivered almonds (save some for garnish)

Instructions:

• Clean and soak the rice for about 20 minutes to an hour. After soaking, rinse the rice one more time.
• Then, add the milk and rice to a kadai. Let it simmer on low flame for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Next, stir in the condensed milk, ensuring it’s completely homogenous with the rice and milk mixture.
• Then come the cardamom, sugar, and almonds. Mix all these ingredients thoroughly; however the sugar won't take too long to dissolve.
• Try not to abandon your kadai because the milk might just burn or stick to its bottom. You definitely do not want your kadai to taste like burnt milk.
• Serve hot or cold with a garnish of slivered almonds. You can also use pistachios.

Halwa

Halwa is a fan favorite dessert suitable for all ages. Whether you're young and toothless or old with dentures, enjoying halwa is never much of a problem. And there is a long list of halwa's iterations. It can be an easy dessert to whip up if you're making a simple semolina halwa or a complex task if you're making something laborious like gajar halwa. Nevertheless, it's a sweet treat that is popular across the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup ghee
• 2 cups besan (gram flour)
• 3 cups milk
• ⅔ cup of sugar (adjust the sweetness to your taste)
• ½ tsp of cardamom powder
• Almonds or pistachios (optional)
• Saffron soaked in some milk (optional)

Instructions:

• Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy bottomed saucepan, and set it aside once that’s done.
• Next, melt the ghee in your kadai and add the besan. Roast the ghee and besan mix in the kadai for around 14 to 15 minutes. The besan will take on some color and a nutty aroma will fill up your kitchen.
• Once the besan starts releasing the ghee, slowly add milk with or without the saffron to it by the cup. Don't add all the milk at once, as that will result in a clumpy mess. The aim is a smooth, silky consistency.
• Once you’ve stirred in all the milk, add the sugar.
• After this you will notice the mixture thickening, so keep stirring so there aren’t any lumps.
• Add the cardamom powder and the optional nuts.
• You will soon notice the besan mixture releasing ghee, and it will start pulling away from the sides of the kadai.
• Switch off the heat. As the halwa cools down, it’s going to become thicker in consistency.

Cake

There’s no replacement for a rich, moist, and flavourful cake. You can have it for special occasions, or for breakfast with a cup of tea or coffee. But did you know that you can bake a cake without an oven or even a microwave? Here’s a recipe for a simple sponge cake that you can flavor with vanilla or even Cadbury cocoa powder mix.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup refined flour or wheat flour
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ cup room temperature butter
• ½ cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• ½ cup cocoa powder if you want to make a chocolate cake

Instructions:

• Sieve the dry mixture of baking powder and flour multiple times.
• You can either use the granulated sugar as is or turn it into powdered sugar in your mixer-grinder. Add this to your room temperature butter along with the vanilla and cream it. It should be fluffy and pale yellow.
• Mix in the milk until it is homogeneous.
• Then add your sieved flour till you have a soft dosa-like batter.
• Grease your cake tin and dust the surface evenly with flour. This will give your cake a uniform, golden-brown crust.
• Pour the batter into the tin and tap to level it.
• Create a thick lining of table salt on the bottom of the kadai and heat on high flame it with a lid on.
• Then place your cake tin in the kadai for 30-45 minutes or till you think the cake is set. Insert a toothpick or skewer, and if it comes out clean then your cake is completely cooked.
• Let it cool before you serve or dive right in.