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Today I’ll share the recipe of Choco Mawa Roll with Saffron. I know cocoa and saffron together seems to be a bit unusual combination as dessert but believe me it is damn delicious and looks very tempting with its spiral design in the middle. Top of all it is easy to prepare and within 30 minutes you will be able to serve them. Does not that sound exciting enough to try your hands on a new dessert item? If you ask me I will not ask for anything more in today’s busy schedule apart from a quick fix dessert which looks and tastes equally good
Many of us think thatwe shouldn’t try out new things for the first time on any special occasions. But I chose this Choco Mawa Roll with Saffron as my Diwali dessert. Okay fine, I’m accepting the fact that I actually forgot to make any special dessert on this Diwali. And when I realized about my blunder I had only 1 hr. left to be done with. I quickly went through few quick fix dessert recipes in the internet but found nothing special. Then suddenly I remembered about swiss cakes which I adore all the time for its spiral design with double layered flavors. So instantly my second thought was why not try an Indian dessert with the design of swiss cakes.
I rushed to local sweet shop and bought some milk to make chenna. But then again on the way back I realized Diwali is a National festival which is celebrated mostly by North, West and South Indians. And they normally don’t use chenna as core ingredient for any of their desserts. Instead of Chenna they use khoya or mawa and combine it with Kaju, Almonds, pistachio, anjeer etc. dry fruits. I changed my decision and finally made it with khoya. As Diwali is all about lights and colors I wanted my dessert to be very bright and colorful. So I used cocoa and saffron for flavors. Initially I chose pistachio with cocoa but then I realized saffron will be brighter than pistachio so I finalized with saffron. You can choose any two of your favorite items as core ingredients and follow the same procedure.
There is no shame in accepting that initially I was quite scared as I never tried my hands on khoya as core ingredient. But as I started I even forgot that I was trying it for first time. It is that much easy. And as you progress you will be more excited to see the final product than scared.
Wanna make your loved ones fall in love with you once again in a new way??? Here is the recipe of Choco Mawa Roll with Saffron for you.
Ingredients:
Mawa orKhoya: 500 gms
Sugar: 1/3 cup
Cocoa powder: 1 tsp
Saffron: 5-6 threads soaked in warm milk
Rose essence: 1-2 drops
Chopped Pistachio: 1-2 tsp (optional, for decoration)
Warm milk: 4-5 tsp (for kneading, if needed)
Yellow food color: 1-2 drops (optional)
Preparation:
Grate the mawa or khoya in a large non-stick pan.
Pour the sugar over grated khoya.
Mix sugar with khoya as much as possible with a ladle.
Switch on the flame and keep it on simmer. Place the pan on flame. Keep stirring continuously. Don’t stop stirring in between otherwise khoya will burn at the bottom.
Quickly it will be more like liquid milk. Don’t panic. Keep stirring on slow flame.
After 3-4 mins it will start to thicken. This is the crucial moment. Don’t stop stirring now.
Within a few more minutes you will notice khoya is not sticking to the pan and it is forming a smooth lump. (See Tips)
This is time to switch off the flame and keep the mixture in the pan itself to cool down completely.
Once the mixture is cool add rose essence to it. Make two separate portion of it.
While working on one portion keep the other portion covered with plastic. (See Tips)
Mix cocoa powder in one portion.
Knead well to make a smooth dough. If you feel your dough is two dry add 1-2 tsp of warm milk. If you find the dough is not tight enough, apply 1 drop of ghee on your palms and continue kneading. (See Tips)
Place the dough on a butter paper and cover it with another butter paper. (See Tips)
Now gently roll the butter paper covered dough to a ¼” thick sheet with a rolling pin. Be patient and very gentle at this point. (See Tips)
Try to make a rectangle instead of a circle though no perfect shape is needed here. (See Tips)
Keep it covered and set aside.
Take other portion and mix the saffron colored milk little by little and keep kneading the dough. (See Tips)
Place the saffron flavored dough between another set of two butter papers. Roll the dough exactly the way you did the cocoa flavored dough.
Now gently remove the cover of both sheets. Place the saffron flavored sheet on top of the cocoa flavored sheet. (See Tips)
Now gently pull the bottom butter paper and try to roll it with the entire content. (See Tips)
It should be rolled in such a way that cocoa flavored sheet cover the saffron flavored sheet evenly.
Now slowly wrap it tightly with the same butter paper like a toffee and refrigerate it for 10-15 mins or until firm.
After the specified time remove the butter paper. If you find any tiny winy cracks on the surface press that area very softly to make it smooth. Don’t push it hard though.
Now cut the roll into ½” to 1” thick slices. You will find circular disks with spiral design inside of it.
Place them on another layer of butter paper and refrigerate for another 10-15 mins to set.
Now garnish with grated chocolate or pistachio or whatever you have in mind.Serve at room temperature.
Tips:
1. The entire process of cooking of khoya will take 6-10mins maximum for 500 gms. khoya.
2. If you leave the dough open in air while you are kneading the other one, it will lose its moisture and will become too dry to handle.
3. While kneading the khoya you may feel grains in between your fingers and palm. Don’t be afraid. It can happen due to over cooking of the khoya. Just keep kneading the khoya with little pressure and keep mixing 1-2 tsp of warm milk. After a while you will feel smooth grains free dough.
4. Be careful while you are placing the dough on the butter paper. Once the dough is placed press it gently against the bottom butter paper by your palm and flatten it out to keep the surface clean..
5. Don’t make any hurry while rolling the dough. Otherwise the surface will have cracks and it will fall apart.
6. As we are planning to roll the dough sheet for the final product it is important to shape the sheet as rectangle. Cause if you make a circle it will minimize the total length of the roll.
7. Don’t add the entire saffron milk to the dough. It can ruin the consistency of the dough. Keep adding the saffron milk and kneading the dough for best result. Add the color at this point (if you are using any).
8. Yes it is a bit tricky to place one sheet on another one but it is not difficult. Just place as upside down.
9. While you are rolling the sheets be patient and very very gentle with the moves of your fingers. Try not to make any cracks on the upper surface.
@Mannylinn,
First of all thank you very much. Now coming back to your queries.
1. I'm afraid this recipe needs more time than 1 hr. You can use either homemade khoya or store brought one. Both will be appropriate for this recipe. There are few procedure of making khoya at home which I had described in the blog already.
Khoya recipe: http://scratchingcanvas.blogspot.in/2012/11/How-to-Prepare-Khoya-or-Mawa-at-home-An-Indian-Dessert-Delight.html
2. Rose essence is not compulsory. Vanilla essence or any other essence will also work fine.
Now, lastly but most importantly Do Try This Recipe at home before you perform at school.
Thank you! And one more thing: can I use turmeric in stead of saffron threads? Because I don't think we'll afford saffron threads for this school project.
Hii Mannylinn, again I'm afraid turmeric can't be a substitute of saffron. Turmeric has it's own flavor which is strong enough to destroy any preparation if handled in a wrong way. This preparation is a dessert item and turmeric is strictly for savory cooking. But you can definitely use any edible yellow food color instead of saffron. Even you can choose your favorite color for it. If you can't find any edible color around your place just leave the dough as it is. The dough will have a very pale yellow colored shade naturally. My hearty best wishes for your school project 🙂
Thank you so much! Yes, I have food color at home, and I even think I have yellow (:
Love the way, the recipe has been explained and the pictures add to the whole experience.