chef & host - Akanksha Khatri | Zee Zest

Akanksha Khatri

Christmas cakes are made many different ways but a Christmas is incomplete without a Plum Cake. Christmas Plum cakes have plums as the primary ingredient. Dried fruits like grapes, raisins or prunes or fresh fruits are added to it depending on personal taste and preference. In various countries Plums soaked in rum are used for this cake. Chef Akanksha makes a moist, spongy and delicious Christmas Plum Cake with a little bit of orange flavour. This cake is super delicious and makes Christmas truly merry.

Plum Cake is a must for Christmas celebration or festive occasion. Chef Akanksha Khatri shares the recipe of classic Christmas Plum Cake.

Delight In Chef Akanksha Khatri's Plum Cake Recipe On Zeezest, A Sweet Treat Perfectly Suited For Any Occasion, Promising Indulgence And Delight In Every Bite.

Master Plum Cake Recipe by Chef Akanksha Khatri | ZeeZest

Christmas Plum Cake

In a bowl and add all the dried fruits and nut along with orange juice, let this mixture soak for minimum 24 hrs or 2-3 months in advance. 

Combine butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with the help of an electric whisk till light and fluffy. 

Add eggs one by one along with vanilla extract and beat till until combined.

Now using cut and fold technique, fold in refined flour, baking powder, clove powder and cinnamon powder. 

Now add in 3-4 tbsp of soaked mixture along with its liquid to form a smooth batter. 

Pour the batter into a greased mould and bake at 180°C for 30-40 mins or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Once the cake cools down, de-mould the cake dust with icing sugar and decorate with glazed cherries. 

butter

castor sugar

eggs

refined flour

baking powder

vanilla extract

cinnamon powder

clove powder

soaked mixed dry fruits

sultanas 

dried figs

glazed cherries

almonds, chopped

dates, chopped 

cashew nuts, chopped 

raisins

orange juice 

Chef Akanksha Khatri shares the recipe for a classic Christmas Plum Cake.

Meetha Toh Banta Hai

Plum Cake

 Akansha Khatri

mtbh_ep 12_plum cake

Khaja is a deep-fried pastry that is either filled with fruit or soaked in sugar syrup. It is very popular sweet in Andhra Pradesh and is also offered as Prasad in Puri Jagannath Temple. Chef Akanksha takes this traditional sweet to Italy and gives it an international twist by simply deep frying the Khaja dough using the cannoli rods and filling the Khaja’s with a filling made from ricotta cheese and strawberry compote making it lip-smackingly delicious.Khaja Cannoli with Stawberry Ricotta Filling is a tempting and delicious dessert.

Khaja Cannoli is a fusion of Indian and Italian cuisines. Chef Akanksha Khatri brings the recipe of this traditional sweet with a twist.

Indulge In The Delightful Fusion Of Flavors With Chef Akansha Khatri's Khaja Cannoli Recipe On Zeezest, A Tantalizing Dessert Blending Richness And Exquisite Taste.

Savor Khaja Cannoli Recipe by Chef Akansha Khatri | ZeeZest

Khaja Cannoli with Strawberry Ricotta Filling

In a large bowl take 1 cup refined flour, add ghee and crumble it.

Slowly add water and knead into a tight dough.

Divide the dough into two and roll out the dough into thin big sheet. Roll as thin as possible.

Apply ghee and sprinkle some flour then start to roll tightly from one side.

Roll the cylinder tight to remove any air gaps if present.

Cut it into 1-inch pieces and roll it in to a poori. Now take out the cannoli pipes and wrap the khaja poori around the pipe securing with water.

Fry on low-medium flame till they turn crispy and golden in colour. Gently remove the pipe.

Mix ricotta cheese along with strawberry compote and put it in a piping bag. 

Pipe the strawberry ricotta filling the Khaja cannoli and serve. 

refined flour (maida)

ghee

ghee for brushing

oil for deep frying

Ricotta cheese

strawberry compote

Chef Akanksha Khatri's Khaja Cannoli is a fusion of Indian and Italian cuisines. 

Khaja Cannoli With Stawberry Ricotta Filling

mtbh_ep 11_khaja kanoli

Rabri is a sweet condensed milk dish made by slow boiling of milk on low heat till it becomes thick and changes colour, jaggery or sugar is added to sweeten it. Rabri has a long history; it finds mention in ancient Indian scriptures of the early 1400s. Laccha means loop or coil, while the Rabri is made the top layer of cream is set aside to the vessel to let it flake. Once the Rabri is done these flakes are removed and used as garnish on top of the Rabri making it more delicious. Chef Akanksha pairs the Laccha Rabri with Sevai tart, a vermicelli mixed in condensed milk This makes this dish more lip-smacking and completely yummy.

Laccha Rabri with Sevai tart is a wedding delicacy. Chef Akanksha Khatri shares the recipe in detail. 

Satisfy Your Sweet Cravings With Laccha Rabri Recipe By Chef Akanksha Khatri On Zeezest, A Luxurious Dessert Promising A Sensory Delight With Its Flavorful Taste.

Watch Laccha Rabri Recipe by Chef Akanksha Khatri | ZeeZest

Laccha Rabri with Sevai Tart

Heat milk in a pan. When the milk starts to boil, keep collecting it on the sides of the kadai. Keep repeating the process till the milk has reduced to almost 1/3rd.  Now add sugar and boil for another 10 minutes, till the sugar dissolves.

Now add cardamom and switch off the flame. Let it come to room temperature. Add rose water and mix well.

Combine crushed sevai and condensed milk and mix well. 

Take a spoon of this mixture and press down in a round mould to form a tart. Set in refrigerator for an hour. 

Place a spoonful of rabdi on the tart and top it up with laccha malai. 

Garnish with saffron milk, chopped pistachios and varakh.

full fat milk

sugar

cardamom powder

saffron

rose water

roasted sevai

condensed milk

Chef Akanksha Khatri shares the recipe for Laccha Rabri with Sevai tart, a wedding sweet. 

Laccha Rabri

mtbh_ep 10_laccha rabri

Mutta in Malayalam means egg and mala means string, as the name suggests it a sweet that is in string shape and made from eggs. It’s a sweet that’s made during the wedding festivities of the Mappila community in North Kerala. This dish is simple as it requires minimum ingredients and time.The soft and creamy Mutta Mala is so yummy that it is a must in weddings.

Mutta Mala is a Malabar dessert that is made during the wedding festivities.  Chef Akanksha Khatri brings this traditional wedding dish from the Mappila community to your kitchen. 

Chef Akanksha Khatri shares the recipe for Mutta Mala, a Malabar wedding dessert. 

Watch Mutta Mala recipe by Chef Akansha Khatri

Mutta Mala 

Take 5 eggs and use two bowls to separate the egg whites and yolks. 

Set aside the egg whites and strain the yolks. 

Next, make sugar syrup by boiling sugar and water until it is at a one string consistency. 

Pour the egg yolks (using a bottle with a hole or a coconut shell ladle with a hole) in a circular manner into the hot syrup to make a netted necklace of yolks.

When the Mutta Mala is ready, gently remove it from the syrup. 

water

Mutta Mala

Akansha Khatri

mtbh_ep 10_mutta mala

Gond is edible gum that is used in sweets that are made North India where temperatures drop drastically during winter. Dry ginger helps in keeping the body warm and gond helps in boosting stamina and also helps in fighting cold and cough. Chef Akanksha enhances the taste of these sweet meats by adding makhana, dry fruits and coconut along with jaggery and ghee making it a complete dish that provides nourishment and delightful taste.

Gond Ke Laddo is a winter sweet that is great in taste and highly nutritious. Chef Akanksha Khatri shares the recipe for this yummy treat.

Chef Akanksha Khatri shares the recipe for yummy and healthy Gond Ke Laddo. 

Watch Gond Ke Laddo recipe by Chef Akansha Khatri

Gond and Sonth Laddo

Heat 1 tablespoon ghee in a heavy bottomed pan. Add gond and fry it on a low flame until it puffs up and turns slightly brown in colour. Remove from pan and transfer it to a large plate. 

In the same pan, add Makhana and roast till light brown until it gets a crunch. Transfer it to the same plate as gond.

Next, dry roast grated coconut and nuts for a minute. While the nuts are roasting, crush the gond and makhana using a mortar and pestle.

Meanwhile, in a small pan roast ginger in ghee.

In a new pan, roast whole wheat flour until it releases its aroma and the flour turns brown. Then add the remaining ghee to the pan.

Once flour is roasted add ginger and turmeric to the flour mixture.

Remove the flour mixture in a parath along with gond, makhana, roasted ginger, dry fruits, bura sugar and coconut mixture.

Make lemon sized balls out of the mixture and store it in an air tight container.

gond (natural gum)

makhana

dry grated coconu

cashew nuts chopped

almonds chopped

pistachios chopped 

grated ginger

whole wheat flour

dry ginger powder

turmeric

jaggery powder

Gond Ke Laddo

mtbh_ep 09_gond and sonth laddo

Pati Shapta is a Bengali sweet made during the harvest festivals. Indian cuisine is so versatile that our ancestors had separate dishes for winter taking in to account the availability of the ingredients and climate and nutrition the body requires. Pati means mat in Bengali and Shapta means folded - the dish looks like a neatly folded mat. The filling is made with freshly grated coconut and date jaggery as jaggery aides blood flow and coconut gives the needed nourishment for the skin during the winter months.Pati Shapta is an amazing winter dessert.

Pati Shapta is a Bengali sweet dish that is unique and tasty. Chef Akanksha Khatri brings the recipe of this great winter treat to your kitchen.

Chef Akanksha Khatri shares the recipe for PatiShapta, a Bengali sweet dish.

Watch PatiShapta recipe by Chef Akansha Khatri

Patishapta 

Take water and Patali Gur in a sauce pan and cook on medium flame to dissolve the jaggery completely. Switch off the flame.

In a bowl, add rice flour, refined flour, mix semolina along with melted patali gur and pinch of salt.

Add milk to the batter to adjust it to pouring consistency. Cover the batter and rest it for 2 hours.

Heat a pan on a medium flame, add coconut and sauté it for a minute. Add khoya and cook until it melts.

Now add Nolan Gur and cook on low flame to get a thick mixture. Add a spoonful of ghee to the mixture and mix well.

Pour a laddle of batter into a hot pan. Twirl the utensil so that it evenly coats the surface and forms a thin layer.

Cook for 30-40 seconds only on one side. Now place 2 tbsp of the filling on one side of the crepe lengthwise and roll the crepe.

Place the rolls on the serving plate and garnish with Nolen Gur & dried rose petals. 

patali

rice flour

semolina

milk

pinch of salt

fresh grated coconut

khoya

nolen gur

Chef Akanksha Khatri shares the recipe for Pati Shapta, a Bengali sweet dish.

Patishapta

mtbh_ep 09_patishapta

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User - Akanksha Khatri | Zee Zest

In India, sweets form a major part of celebrations. Honouring this love for sweets and desserts, chef Akansha Khatri presents some of our most loved sweet dishes from across the country. Be a part of this sweet journey and indulge in giving a gourmet twist to our regular desserts. 

Learn about regional Indian sweets and their preparation with Chef Akanksha Khatri on Meetha Toh Banta Hai. Watch now!

Indian Sweets & Regional Favourites with Chef Akanksha Khatri | Zee Zest

Indian Sweets

Baked Desserts

Gourmet Desserts

Akanksha Khatri

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Shows By Host

RECIPES BY CHEF

Christmas Plum Cake

Khaja Cannoli with Strawberry Ricotta Filling

Laccha Rabri with Sevai Tart

Mutta Mala

Gond and Sonth Laddo

Patishapta

OTHER CHEFS & HOSTS