A common problem that everybody faces in the kitchen is deciding on what to do with the leftovers after a hearty meal. If not used quickly, leftover food can lose its taste and is often discarded, as it outgrows its shelf life. So, what can one do to ensure that such food wastage is minimized? An ingenious way of doing this is by using your leftover food to create some interesting desserts. Kitchen staples like leftover rice, the last pieces of bread and the last few biscuits left in a packet can be given a makeover and turned into a delicious new dessert.
Turn your leftover rice into kheer
The most sustainable method of cooking is by using the leftovers to create a new dish. In most Indian households, rice is cooked every other day for lunch and dinner, and oftentimes, one is left with surplus rice after everyone’s through with their meal. The best use of leftover rice is by utilizing it to make a dessert that can be enjoyed by the family like some sweet rice pudding or kheer. In order to make kheer with leftover rice, you will need two cups of leftover cooked basmati rice, four cups of milk, half a cup of sugar and 3/4th tablespoon of cardamom powder. Add all the ingredients into one pot and cook it on medium heat, stirring the dish continuously to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Cook for around 15 minutes and as the kheer thickens, take it off the stove. Finish by garnishing the dessert with grated almonds.
Nutella cookie pudding
Are you fed up with the last bit of Nutella that rests in a jar in your fridge? Are the last bits of discarded cookies left in a packet, an eyesore for you? Here’s the perfect recipe in which you could utilise both these ingredients and whip up a yummy dessert. The ingredients needed for this dessert is one cup of milk, 1/4 cup of Nutella, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of corn flour, and a few chocolate cookies. In a bowl, mix the corn flour with some milk to form a slurry. In a pan, add milk and sugar and bring it to a boil. Add the corn flour mix to the pan and whisk it till the mixture thickens. Pour in the Nutella now and mix it well. Set this aside to cool. In a petite glass, crush some chocolate cookies and pour the Nutella mix that you created on the top of the cookies. Enjoy your dessert with a scoop of whipped cream on the top.
Make a regal Shahi Tukda using leftover bread
Leftover bread becomes problematic for every household with many choosing to discard the last few breads. Here’s how you can use these breads to make a dessert that came from the courts of the Mughals! Shahi Tukda is a dessert that can be made by using 6 leftover bread slices, 1 cup of sugar, 2 cups of milk, 2 tablespoons of corn flour, ghee and half teaspoon of cardamom powder. Start by cutting the bread into triangles and shallow frying them in ghee until the bread turns golden brown. Prepare some sugar syrup by melting 3/4 sugar in water. Set it aside to cool after it comes to a boil and gets thick.
To make Rabri, boil milk in another pan and add to it - corn flour mixed in cold milk along with the previously made sugar syrup. Add some cardamom powder to this Rabri mixture. As the mixture thickens, switch off the stove. Soak the fried bread in some sugar syrup. Serve the dish by arranging the slices in a plate and pouring the rabri over it.
