a new Indian grocery store just opened 5 months ago around the corner from my apt. I asked the shop keeper what was a good sweets gift for Diwali and they had the assortment box on display for just that reason, and then i found the other ones, the pink and white ones, in the refrigerated section (they have
a syrup) so I got them both.
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Ladoo burfi halwa in all forms! Yes pls.
This was basically my whole week - Diwali breakfasts, lunches, snacks (separate category!), dinners, and SWEETS!!!
After insisting that Iâm not bringing back more than a single box of sweets, my carry on was packed half full of Diwali sweets and half full of Diwali snacks - to âdistributeâ if I âinsist on not eating themâ (theyâre already packed in smaller boxes, because giving/sharing is part of the holiday).
In many parts of India, the sweet component is part of the main meal, not after, to balance the flavors out. This is how we eat it in my family (plus more after, because, you know, DIWALI!)
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Pink and white are Bengali sweets, made from chhena ie ricotta. Yummy.
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they totally did balance out the flavors of the meal!
Also, most of both boxes ended up back with me because both my friend and her mother said NO, TAKE THEM OUT OF HERE, WE DONâT WANT THAT SUGAR LEFT IN THE HOUSE! this was after the mom said I was their angel for bringing them so we had them for the Diwali dinner. But also, they still had most of a gallon of jack fruit ice cream left over.) Not a prob, Iâm not a big sweets person anyway, and the BF will polish them off.
Melissa Clarkâs IP coconut-curry chicken (excellent - I added a little Turbinado and more coconut milk) over red quinoa. Butternut squash âfriesâ to break the toddlerâs will against veggies (it worked). 
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I forgot to mention this before - now this is interesting and new! (No, my picky mouth wouldnât eat it, but itâs intellectually interesting!)
Pretty sure this was my familyâs plan re sending me off with the bulk of the sweets.
Did you like the Bengali sweets? (They look like âmalai sandwichâ to me - cream/ricotta in the middle.)
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How do they compare to sweet potato fries?
Meal looks delicious!
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the jack fruit ice cream was very mild, just sweet. since Iâve only had it canned from TJs, and turned it into pulled BBQ âporkâ (which we hated), Iâm really not sure what jack fruit tastes like in the wild.
Late last night I made this âsoupâ:
suffice to say, mine needed a lot more broth. But it tasted heavenly. No shit - three kinds of pork, how can you go wrong?
We have leftovers to freeze, so next time we serve it Iâll add it to some chicken broth.
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and they were very coconutty, although coconut is not a listed ingredient.
I actually liked the assortment better than those, but they were all really good.
No recipe. I âmarinateâ slivers of steak in soy/cornstarch, sear in canola oil in a wok, remove and toss in a ton of sliced green onion, then cooked rice noodle/soba/Shanghai noodle, what have you. Return meat, toss, add more soy or oyster sauce to taste. This is my slipshod method. Thereâs a lot better advice out there. 
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Floppier?
Iâm so making this . Yes , yes . Thanks . Iâll add more broth. I was taught by my father to make soup . A master Lithuanian cook .
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Unripe vs ripe (I donât eat either, despite years of convincing by my jackfruit-loving grandmother).
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De Cecco Rigatoni, âNew York style Hotâ Italian sausage, and bottled " Cucina and Amore " arabiatta sauce. Sweet!
Okay, but what to do with the leftover rigatoni??? I canât EAT it!!!
I hope itâs okay to say here; carbs make life so much simpler. Thatâs not political, is it?
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so the recipe calls for 6 cups of broth to 1 of lentils. I used black lentils because thatâs what I found near me, and used maybe 5 cups. i guess i thought the black ones wouldnât soak up so much liquidâŚ
yes, make it! itâs SO GOOD.
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Looks like theyâre sprinkled with desiccated coconut as a âgarnishâ 
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Thanks for the info . Same , Iâm going to use whatâs available at Berryvale for lentils . Our local health food store . Its actually a good store for organics , vitamins, and such .
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