Blog Hop – Mini Kaja

I feel like I am perpetually running these days and always getting late for something or the other. Late for S’s school, my work, to cook dinner, to sleep and so on. Its no wonder then that I am late for posting for the Blog Hop too.

I was paired with Sreevalli of Ammaji Recipes for this week and I had decided on what to make from her blog, long back but things were veru hectic and so everything was delayed. But I here I am finally posting Mini Kaja, an Andhra sweet which seemed so simple to make that I read the recipe 2-3 times before I was convinced.

 

Mini Kaja

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Plain Flour (Maida)
• 1 pinch of Baking Soda
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup Yogurt
• 1 tblsp Ghee (Clarified Butter) + 3 tblsp while rolling
• 1/4 cup Rice flour
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
• Water
• Oil for frying

 

Method: Combine the plain flour, baking soda and the ghee. Use the yogurt to knead all this into a dough. Cover this and let it rest for about 2 hours.

To prepare the sugar syrup, take the sugar in a deep pan, cover it with water and let this come to a boil. Once it starts boiling, reduce the flame and simmer until the syrup almost reaches a one string consistency. Add the cardamom powder this, mix well and switch off the flame.

Heat the oil in a kadai for frying. Divide the dough prepared earlier into 3 equal parts, roll each part to a thickness of about 0.5 cm. Spread 1 tblsp of the ghee on to this and sprinkle some rice flour. Now gently roll this and cut into small strips. Repeat with the remaining 2 parts of the dough and use up the 2 tblsp ghee.

Drop these kajas into the hot oil and fry ona  medium flame until they turn brown and crispy. Drain them on to a kitchen towel and after 1-2 minutes, drop them into the prepared sugar syrup. Keep them soaked for about 15 minutes before transferring to an air tight container for storage.

My  Notes: As is evident, it is quite simple to make but the end result is addictively delicious. We couldnt stop munching them even though I am not too fond of sweet things!

Currant Slices with spiced Apple syrup

Having missed a few of the recent Sweet Punch challenges, I was determined to make it this time. The challenge itself for the month of February helped a lot because it was very simple. The end result though was absolutely delicious and provides me with a great option for dessert whenever we might have guests over.

There was however only one hitch. Since I got down to make it only at the last minute, I didn't have enough time and could not find black currants, which are supposed to be the main ingredients – after all they were supposed to be currant slices! But as I said I didn't want to miss out on the challenge, so I went ahead and substituted the currants with something that was readily available – Sultanas. This tells you more about both of them.

Currant (Sultana) Slices with spiced Apple syrup

Recipe Source: 1 Mix, 50 Cakes

Ingredients

• 175 gm (1.15 cups) Black Currants (I used Sultanas)
• 300 ml Apple Juice
• 1” Cinnamon stick
• 175 gm (1.75 cups) Plain Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 175 gm (0.75 cup ) Butter
• 175 gm (0.9 cup) Sugar
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

 

Method:

Mix together the apple juice, sultanas and the cinnamon stick in a saucepan and bring it to boil. Once it starts boiling, switch off the heat and let this mixture stand for a few hours. I left it for about 6-7 hours.

Once the waiting is over, strain the Sultanas, reserving the juice too. Press slightly on the Sultana to get the juice out. Pick out the cinnamon stick and add it to the reserved juice. Keep both the juice and the Sultanas aside.

Pre heat the oven to 180 deg C. Grease and flour a 12”x9” rectangular tin and keep ready.

Sift together the flour and the baking powder. Cream the butter and sugar together till it is pale yellow and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs and the vanilla extract and beat together. Now add the flour little by little and mix to get a smooth batter. Add half the reserved Sultanas and mix well. Spoon this mixture into the prepared tin and sprinkle the remaining Sultanas on the top.Bake in the pre heated oven for about 30 minutes until its cooked.

Take out of the oven and let it cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning it out on to a wire rack.

While the cake is cooling a bit, bring the reserved apple juice along with the cinnamon stick to a boil and continue to heat on high till it reaches a syrupy consistency.

Once done, discard the cinnamon.

Serve a warm slice of the cake along with the apple syrup spooned over it. Enjoy!

My Notes: This was as simple as it could get. I could put together everything in under 15-20 minutes once the Sultanas were soaked and ready.

I did find the batter to be a little on the dry side and at one point had to add a little milk to get it going, but once the cake was done I thought that it could have done without it too.

The tangy syrup and the tangy Sultanas were a good contrast to the sweet cake. I felt that it would be great with some custard too, will try that combination next time!

Dink Ladoo (Antina Unde)

It has been quite a while again since my last post and I did promise myself that I will try to maintain the flow of posts this time but my health just wouldn't let me keep it up. I am still recovering from a viral fever that saw me tucked up in the bed for most of last week and is still making me feel like lying down everytime I think of doing something! But being bound to sit does give you a little spare time on hand and I am utilising it by typing this much needed post for the blog.

While there were quite a few posts waiting to be published here, I am starting off this year with a basic and traditional recipe. Dink Ladoo, in Marathi or Antina Unde(Kannada) is almost exclusively (I think!) associated with the post pregnancy care since it is packed with essential nutrients. I can still remember my mum making them for me and insisting, quite forcefully, that I eat at least two of these everyday.

But Dink Ladoo is definitely not only about that. It has a lot more going for it since it is delicious as well as being nutritious. This is one sweet that you will not feel guilty about, after having consumed one. Now there are various versions of this Ladoo but what I am giving here is the basic and traditional way they are made at home, which means I haven't used any nuts other than what is called Godambe in Marathi and Kaer Beej in Kannada (I am not sure about the English name, does any one know?)

The original process involves roasting edible gum & then pounding it roughly. Also Kharik (dried dates) are used by pounding them into a coarse powder too. I made my life a bit simpler by bringing both these items already powdered. Believe it or not, you can get almost everything prepared for you these days, all you have to do is get all the ingredients home, assemble and then enjoy the ‘home-made’ stuff.

 

Dink Ladoo (Antina Unde)

Makes about 12-15 medium sized Ladoos

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Dink (Edible gum) (I used powder*)
• 1 cup Kharik (dry dates) Powder*
• 1.5 cups dry coconut, grated
• 1/4 cup Khus Khus (Poppy Seeds)
• 1/4 Cup Godambe (Kaer Beej), roughly crushed
• 2 tblsp Ghee (Clarified Butter)
• 1 cup jaggery, grated

Method:

Take 1 tblsp of ghee in a thick bottomed kadai. Once it melts, roast or fry the edible gum in it for about 2-3 minutes till it darkens a bit and fluffs up. Drain and collect in a big bowl.

Next dry roast all the other ingredients except for the Jaggery and add them to the same bowl and mix properly.

In the same kadai, melt the remaining 1 tblsp of ghee and add the jaggery to it. Keep the flame low and heat this until all the jaggery has melted,

Switch off the heat and add all the roasted ingredients to the melted jaggery. Mix well to form a sticky mixture.

Pinch off small portions and shape them into ladoos while the mixture is still hot/warm. If the mixture goes cold or if you find it hard to shape it, warm it a bit on the flame and continue. You can also add a teaspoon or two of ghee if requi9red, although there is enough ghee already in the mixture.

You can add other nuts such as Cashew, Almonds etc instead of or in addition to Godambe. Follow the same procedure as for Godambe.

* In case you dont find the powders, whole dry dates and edible gum. For the gum, fry in the ghee and then coarsely powder it. For the dry dates, break them into pieces and discard the seed. Dry roast it slightly and then pound into a coarse powder.

Molten Lava Cake

I cant believe how difficult it is to resume writing once you have had a long break from blogging, never mind that it was unintentional. There are no specific reasons for the lack of posts. Of course I had been cooking everyday during this time and some of the things I made definitely deserve to be mentioned here but somehow I didn't get around to it. As usual I will blame it on the hectic schedule. The daughter has started her nursery and is away for 3 hours everyday now, but I still dont seem to have the time to do what I want. Thank god for some events which jolt me back into realising that I need to take care of this blog in addition to numerous other things!

The Sweet Punch this time was really sweet and something I have wanted to bake for a long time. I seem to be saying this for every other challenge but thats how it is. My ‘to-cook’ list is so long that any challenge that I attempt will already be on that list anyway!

Anyway, we made Molten Lava cake (recipe from Show me the curry) this time and while mine did not really have any ‘lava’ in it, it was delicious all the same.

 

Molten Lava Cake

 

Ingredients

• 113 gm Baking Chocolate (I used Milk chocolate)
• 113 gm Butter + extra for greasing
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup plain flour

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 180 deg C. Grease 4-5 ramekins and keep them ready.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Once melted add the butter and mix till it melts into the chocolate. Resist the temptation to finish this bowl off! Keep aside.

In a bowl whisk together the eggs and the sugar till the mixture turns light and fluffy. I used an electric hand mixer for about 5-6 minutes to achieve this.

Add the chocolate mix to the egg mix and combine. Add the flour and mix well.

Pour the batter into the ramekins till they 3/4 filled. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes.

Ideally serve warm with cream or vanilla ice cream but they taste great on their own too.

My Notes: I had to increase the baking time since mine were completely uncooked at 10-12 minutes. So I baked them for an additional 10 minutes but by then I had lost the gooey middle and the end result was soft cakes almost like chocolate fudge. I wasn't complaining though as we liked them very much just like that.

Ras Malai for ICC

This month’s chosen ICC dish was the classic favourite Ras Malai. It is always my preferred dessert when eating out, for the simple reason that it is generally not too sweet but satisfies that craving for something sweet after a meal.

It might look very complicated to make but this is one of the simplest dishes to make with very few ingredients. Although I have made it earlier, it helped to have the exact measurements on hand while making it for the ICC.

 

I halved the recipe but still got 10 well sized paneer balls. The rest of the steps were followed exactly.

Ras Malai

Makes about 10

Ingredients

1.5 L whole Milk
1.5 tblsp Vinegar
1 tsp Plain Flour (Maida)
8 + 8 tblsp Sugar (Adjust acc to taste)

6-8 strands of Saffron
2-3 Cardamom pods, shelled & crushed
Coarsely chopped/crushed nuts (I used almonds)

Method:

To make the Paneer, boil 1 litre of the milk and allow to cool down completely. Remove the layer of cream collected on the top. Bring the milk to boil again, switch off the flame and then add the vinegar. This will make the milk split into the Paneer and whey. Wait for 2-3 minutes and then strain the paneer collecting the whey.



To drain all the remaining liquid from the paneer, tie it in a muslin cloth & leave hanging, squeezing from time to time, for about 1-2 hours. I didnt actually do this, but placed a small kadai with some things to add weight, on top of the above arrangement & it worked out fine.

Meanwhile begin to prepare the milk syrup by bringing to boil the remaining 500 ml milk in a thick bottomed sauce pan. Reduce the flame and let it simmer till reduced to half the quantity. Add 8 tblsp sugar, saffron and the cardamom powder. Continue to heat for 3-4 minutes & switch off the heat. Add the nuts and keep aside.

Once the paneer is almost dry, take it in a wide vessel and knead well for about 5-7 minutes till it is a smooth mixture. At this point at the plain flour and mix well. 

At the same time, add 3 cups of water to a pressure cooker & bring to boil. Add the remaining 8 tblsp Sugar and mix.

Now, pinch off small balls and shape them into slightly flat discs. Put these discs in the boiling water, cover and cook on low flame for about 10 min. Alternatively put on the pressure cooker lid and cook for 2 whistles.



Please keep in mind, that the paneer discs will expand in size as they cook, when choosing the pressure cooker or vessel to cook them.

Once they are cooked transfer them to the milk syrup and allow to cool completely.  Chill in the fridge before serving. Garnish with more nuts if required.



My Notes: I am always wary when I adjust the recipe for things like this but the Ras Malai turned out to be perfect. This will be another regular dessert for us now. A great one to impress your guests, I say!

Aathirasallu/Ariselu for ICC

The timing for making these couldnt be better.
I wish everyone a very Happy Gudi Padwa!

We call them Anarasa or so I had thought, because while they tasted a lot like our Anarasa the consistency & looks were different. I don't know if that is how they are supposed to be or if it was the way I made them. Anarasa is supposed to be a little coarser in texture and darker in colour. The colour must have been because of the type of Jaggery I used.

Nevertheless the Ariselu, that was the challenge for February month, turned out to be quite delicious, couldn't stop at one! I took the easy way out and followed the second recipe which uses readymade Rice flour. Maybe that was the reason for the difference in the texture as compared to Anarasa. If I had opted for the first method, the result might have been different but the only way I will know that now, is either from fellow ICC members who have tried the first recipe or by making it again!

Ariselu

Makes about 8-10 (medium Poori sized )

Ingredients
1 Cup Rice Flour
1/2 Cup grated Jaggery
1/4 Tsp Cardamom Powder
2 Tsp Grated Coconut
1 Tblsp Sesame seeds
Oil for deep frying

Method:
Take a pan and put the jaggery in it. Pour water over the jaggery just enough to completely cover it. Heat this on high flame and bring to a boil. Remove the scum if any.

Now, add the cardamom powder and the grated coconut and bring to boil again.

Add the rice flour a little at a time and keep stirring to mix well. The quantity of the flour is just enough to form a soft dough. Adjust the quantity if needed.

Switch off the heat and allow this to cool just enough for you to handle the dough.

Heat the oil. Pinch off lemon sized portions of the dough and pat to form a medium poori sized disc. To do this you can either use a greased plastic sheet or do it on your palm using a little oil. I found the later easier and quicker.

Deep fry these in the hot oil till they turn brown. Drain them on a kitchen towel.



My Notes: Although the recipe didn't specify the type of coconut, I used the dry variety. I am assuming that is what is supposed to be used.

The Ariselu were very crunchy and mildly sweet which was great. A definite keeper!

On another note don't forget to send in your entries for this month’s Cooking For Kids event, where we are rounding up Breakfast dishes for kids.

Moong Dal Halwa

When I saw the recipe for the this month’s ICC, I was a little disappointed, not because I don't like Moong Dal Halwa, in fact I love it! The reason was that I knew I would have to miss this month’s challenge because I would be travelling to India during the month of January and I felt very bad that I will be missing making the Moong Dal Halwa. But I somehow could not give it a miss, so I made it today, just a day before I leave for India. Needless to say, this a scheduled post and will appear on time for the ICC.

I always knew that making Moong Dal Halwa was a simple process but never knew it could as simple as this. This is the best thing about ICC, if you ask me. Because of the monthly challenge, I make things I have been thinking of trying to make for such a long time!

I did not want to use Khava, so used the second recipe.

 

 

 

 

Moong Dal Halwa

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Yellow Moong Dal
• 1/2 Cup Ghee (Clarified Butter) – I needed more
• 1 Cup Sugar (Increase if you like it sweeter)
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1-2 tblsp Chopped Almonds/Pistachios

Method:

Soak the Moong Dal for at least 6 hours.

Grind the soaked and drained Moong Dal into a smooth using as little water as possible.

Take half the quantity of Ghee in a Non Stick Pan. Add the Moong Dal paste and cook on a very low flame.

Keep stirring to avoid burning as the Moong Dal will cook & thicken very fast.

Keep adding the remaining Ghee in between and stir to mix and cook, avoiding any lump formation. But don't worry if you do get some lumps, they will eventually go away because of the high quantity of Ghee used.

Keep cooking the Dal till it lets it out aroma & the Ghee begins to separate.

Mix together the milk and the sugar & bring to a boil in a saucepan. Add this to the cooking Dal, stirring at the same time.

Mix properly and let it cook till the Ghee starts to separate again. Switch off the flame before the Halwa gets too thick as it will slightly thicken when cooled.

Garnish with chopped nuts and serve warm.

My Notes: The Halwa was very good. I was a little disappointed by the colour, because I have always seen Moong Halwa with a deep dark brown colour. I am not sure what brings that colour.

Also the amount of Ghee and Sugar had to be adjusted, I needed more than the suggested quantity in both the cases.

But as always, this was a great experience and I cant wait to make it again!

Gulab Jamun…

…from scratch! Yes, I have wanted to try this out since a long time but every time I made them, it was for an occasion & so I didn't want to take a chance and ended up using the Gits pack. They always turned out fantastic for me, although I have heard from others that there might be problems even there. So making them from scratch was something very daring and I was not prepared to do it until ICC came by.

Turns out that these Gulab Jamuns are also for an occasion, a milestone to be precise. This is my 100th post and what better way to celebrate than with these universally loved Jamuns!

So here they are, Gulab Jamun from scratch, right from making the Khava/Khoya at home. Well, almost. The challenge gave 2 options, either make the Khava/Khoya at home using milk or start with readymade Khava/Khoya. I found a midway. I made the Khoya at home but not with milk but Ricotta Cheese instead as per this recipe.

This recipe has been one of the most useful ones I have come across through blogging. Staying in London, it is quite difficult to find Khoya, so all those recipes having Khoya as one of the ingredients were just buried in a folder. But thanks to this I can make them now! Ricotta Cheese is easily available & as it turns out, this is quite economical too.

Gulab Jamun

Makes about 25-30 Gulab Jamuns:

For the Khoya

• 500 gm Ricotta Cheese
• 1/2 tsp Ghee (Clarified Butter)

For the syrup

• 2.5 cups Sugar
• 1.5 Cups Water
• 1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
• 6-8 Saffron strands
• 1/2 tsp Rose essence

For the Jamuns

• 1.5 cups Khoya (The recipe for khoya here, yields the exact amount)
• 3/4 cup All purpose Flour (Maida)
• Milk (As reqd, approx 1-2 tblsp)
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• Oil for frying

Method:

To make the Khoya: Take a non stick saucepan & heat the ghee in it. Add the Ricotta cheese and continue to heat this on a low flame. The cheese will appear to be melting in the beginning but will start losing the moisture after some time to get converted into Khoya. Keep stirring in between to avoid burning. The whole procedure will take about 30-40 min.

To make the syrup: Take the sugar in a deep saucepan, add the water and bring to boil while dissolving the sugar. Once it starts boiling, reduce the flame to lowest and add the cardamom powder, Saffron strands and Rose essence (if using). Mix properly & heat on low for another 10 min and then turn off the flame.

To make the Jamuns: Heat the oil for frying. Take the Khoya in a mixing bowl and add the maida and soda. Add milk a few drops at a time to make a soft dough. Make small rounds by taking small amounts of dough and shape them into jamuns, taking care that they turn out with a smooth surface and do not have any cracks on them. For this you might have to press the dough between you palms while shaping them. Fry these Jamuns in the hot oil at a medium-low flame till they turn brown.

Remove and drain them. Then add them to the prepared sugar syrup. Wait for some time for the jamuns to soak up the syrup and then they are ready to be devoured. If they don't get over immediately, store in a closed container. Although the recipe for ICC mentions that they should not be stored in the fridge, I have always kept them in the fridge and never saw any problem. And we do like cold Jamuns :)

My Notes: This was a fabulous experience. I had a sense of achievement at having attempted & successfully made Gulab Jamuns at home without using any ready made packs! The best part was when GM said they were better than the the ones made with Gits packet! I am sure this is the way I am going to make them from now on, sorry Gits, you have just lost a loyal customer!

Naivedya: Shanvige Payasa/Shevaya chi Kheer (Vermicelli Pudding)

23rd July marked the start of the Hindu Shravan month, considered to be the most auspicious month. This heralded the beginning of what I call ‘a series of worshipping’. Starting with Naag Panchami which was on the 26th July, there is the Mangalagauri Pooja every Tuesday, Lakshmi Pooja every Friday, Rakshabandhan on 5th Aug, Janmashtami on the 14th and so on.

Now Festivals or Pooja call for special food items made with some restrictions, the major one being that the use of Onion & Garlic is prohibited. There are others as well, e.g. Tomato & Brinjal can not be used for a Naivedya item. But the No-Onion, No-Garlic is the one that affects me the most. I am so accustomed to using both these items, that as soon as I start preparing to make something, the first thing I do is chop an onion & peel some garlic. So I have to be very careful nowadays whenever I am making food for the Naivedya Thali. Plus there are the sweet dishes to be prepared with each Naivedya. Not having a real sweet tooth doesn't help since I have to keep thinking of a different sweet dish to make every time.

This kheer always comes to rescue when I cant think of anything else to make. It is easy to prepare & uses common ingredients available in every kitchen (if you have the vermicelli that is…)

Shanvige Payasa (Shevaya chi Kheer)

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Shanvige/Shevayi (Vermicelli)
• 1 tsp Ghee (Clarified Butter) - optional
• 2-3 cups Milk
• 1/2-3/4 cup Sugar (adjust according to taste)
• 1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
• 1/2 cup Nuts (Almond, Cashew, Walnuts etc), roughly broken & roasted
• 4-5 strands of Saffron (Optional)

Method:

In a saucepan, heat the ghee if using. To this add the vermicelli and roast on a medium-low flame till they just start colouring. If you are not using ghee, dry roast the vermicelli, there is only a slight difference in the end result.

Once the vermicelli starts to colour, add the milk, increase the flame and bring to a boil.

Now reduce the flame and let it simmer for about 10-12 min until the vermicelli is cooked.

Add the cardamom powder, saffron(if using) and continue to heat on low flame.

When the milk has reduced to about half the quantity, add the sugar and mix well. Add the roasted nuts and mix.

Keep heating till you reach the desired consistence, add more milk to adjust. Both of us like it to be quite thick in consistency so I cook it that way.

Serve hot or cold.

My Notes:

• The taste of this kheer depends a lot upon the type of Vermicelli used. There are store bought, home made and the in-betweener which is bought but is almost like the home made. Usually the latter two have a bit of salt added to the shevaya. In that case it is a good idea to boil the milk before adding it to the roasted shevaya since otherwise there is a chance that the milk will curdle.
• For a richer taste, add condensed milk 4-5 min before you switch off the flame, double cream also serves the purpose.
• You can roast the nuts along with the shevaya to save an additional step :) and add raisins as well if you like them.

This blog will be seeing a sudden surge of posts in the Naivedya series this month. I know this will be quite contradictory with my ‘Healthy Eating’ series, but I will try to maintain a balance :)

Broken Wheat Kheer (Godhi Kuttida Payasa)

Attending traditional kannada (North Karnataka) weddings was one of the things we enjoyed a lot about our annual trips to the village during the summer vacation. The celebrations, meeting the relatives and most importantly the food.

But we did have a major problem with the food – that it seemed like rice was the only thing being served

• Anna – Tavvi - Saaru (Rice with cooked lentils & Sambhar)
• Chitranna (Lemon Rice)
• Masale Bhaat (Spiced Rice)
• Mosaranna (Curd Rice)

And so on.

But at the same time there was one item we always looked forward to and that was the sweet. No, not the dessert but the sweet which was a part of the main meal and would be served between any two of the above mentioned rice varieties.

The sequence would go something like this – A full adorned thali
(or rather Banana Leaf) and the first thing to be had was the payasa or kheer. This would be followed by some rice, cooked lentils, a spoon of ghee (clarified butter) and a serving of Saaru (Sambhar) in a Donne (bowls made of dried …). After this would come either the masale bhaat or the chitranna. Followed by the star of the meal – the sweet,  mostly one of the following

• Jalebi – served along with a glass of buttermilk. A sip of the buttermilk would wipe away the sweet taste of the Jalebi and you are ready for more!
• Boondi Ladoo – Huge ones, almost like the prasad you get in the Tirupati & having a similar taste too. The size of the each boondi also was huge!
• Holige (Puran Poli) – Consumption of Milk & Tuppa (Ghee) along with this is mandatory.

While brother D, would eagerly wait for this course to arrive, I was happy licking away the payasa/kheer from the first serving. Not any payasa, but only if it was Godhi kuttida payasa, kheer made from broken wheat. The only sad part was that since the kheer was a part of naivedya, it was usually served in small quantities and unlike other items, we were not asked for a second helping either.

This kheer was and still is my favourite. I had promised myself that if I do get married in the village (which didn't happen BTW), I would definitely have this on the menu, not just as a Naivedya but as the main dish!

The traditional method to make it involves soaking the wheat to soften it a little, drying it and then ‘beating’ it to ‘break’ it coarsely using a large mortar & pestle, but wooden ones and not metal. The metal being heavier breaks the wheat into pieces while the wooden one being a little lighter, removes the husk without breaking the wheat into pieces and achieves smaller grain like consistency of the wheat. Also my mom tells me that the wheat used is a different variety, I cant recollect the name though.

Nowadays people have started making this in the mixer/grinder but the results definitely vary. I have taken the modern adaptation a step further and make this with the ‘Lapsi’ wheat available in the store. While this gives the payasa a very ‘Dalia’ like taste, this is the closest I can get to Godhi Kuttida Payasa, sitting here in London.

Broken Wheat Kheer

Ingredients

• 1 cup broken Wheat (Lapsi)
• 1.5 cups milk
• 1 cup grated Jaggery
• 1 tsp Cardamom Powder
• 1/4 cup mixed nuts, broken into small pieces (I used Almonds & Cashew)

Method:

Cook the broken wheat with 1 cup of water in a pressure cooked for about 2-3 whistles, depending upon the type of the cooker. The idea is to cook the wheat without turning it into a mush.

Transfer the cooked wheat to a deep pan, add milk and bring to boil. Add the grated Jaggery & Cardamom powder and  mix well.

Cook on medium flame while stirring frequently until the milk reduces a bit.

Add the nuts and continue to cook till you get the desired consistency which ideally should be like a thick paste.

Serve warm as a dessert or as part of a meal and don't forget the ghee.

Apart from being delicious, this makes a very good Naivedya & is specially made during weddings (as mentioned above).

This goes to Srivalli’s Mithai Mela which celebrates two years of her blogging at Cooking 4 all seasons.

Tiramisu for a one year old???

Absolutely! Its sweet, its rich and best of all this one happens to be eggless too! And it has been made specially for the one year old. After all there has to be something fitting to mark the first Birthday, a very important milestone.

In case you are still wondering, its the blog that has completed one year. Taste Buds started on this day last year after much deliberation and some inspiration from my dear friend. 75 posts, various blog events, lots of encouragement from fellow bloggers & readers later I am very glad that I 'took the plunge'. Its great to be here amongst all of you, sharing the love for food (I didn't say cooking!). For the record though, I enjoy cooking but  then everything has a burn out time :)

Blogging has become an integral part of my life now and so has reading other blogs. My day starts with having a peek at others' space to see what they are cooking or 'saying' on their blogs. In the past year, apart from posting my recipes, I have tried out a lot of recipes successfully from fellow bloggers, learnt a lot about ingredients (thanks to events such as JFI, Think Spice etc) that were taken for granted by me and started using a lot many 'new' veggies, spices etc which I was not very familiar with.

Now for the Tiramisu. I have wanted to try out this Italian dessert for a long time but the use of almost raw eggs always put me off, so also the wine. I know the wine is supposed to be an integral part of Tiramisu but I just don't like that taste in my dessert. Any recipe I looked had one or both of them in addition to sounding a bit complex. Then I came across this one from Gordon Ramsay. Although there is no egg, it does have the wine in it. It was time I realised that there might be no recipe without the wine in it. So I took the eggless recipe & made it wineless too. I replaced the wine with Pomegranate & cranberry juice (same colour, you see :). It seems to have worked because the end result was almost like the real one without the winey taste. Of course those who swear by the 'real' Tiramisu might find this appalling - no eggs? no wine?? whatever next??? But it works for me (& GM too), we liked this version a lot.

The original recipe assembles the tiramisu in separate serving glasses, but I have made it in a square dish (approx 3"x3") and two individual ramekins.

Tiramisu (Eggless)

(Adapted from a recipe by Gordon Ramsay)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Mascarpone
• 1 cup single cream
• 4 tblsp Caster Sugar
• About 16 Sponge Fingers (Also called Lady Fingers)
• 2 tblsp strong instant coffee granules dissolved in 1/2 cup water
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 3 Tblsp Pomegranate & Cranberry Juice
• Cocoa powder for dusting

Method:

Whisk together the Mascarpone, vanilla extract, pomegranate juice and 1/3 of the coffee.

Whisk the cream with caster sugar until stiff and smooth. Now fold in the above Mascarpone mixture to this cream and set aside.

Line the dish you are using with the sponge fingers dipped in coffee. Spoon in the Mascarpone mixture to form a thick layer.

Chill in the fridge for about 1-2 hours for the flavours to infuse.

Dust with cocoa powder just before serving.

Note: Since this one is eggless I found that its a bit heavier/denser than the Tiramisu available in restaurants & stores, but I preferred this one.

Thank you everyone for bringing Taste Buds this far. I hope to receive the same encouragement in future and I will keep posting my experiments and experiences in the kitchen.

Til-Gul (Sesame-Jaggery) Ladoo for Sankranti

Sunday evening, when we were in the midst of deciding what to make for dinner or whether to just dial in a pizza, our family friends here in London called & informed us that they were coming over in another 10 minutes. What followed was a mad frenzy to make the house look like there were civilised people staying in here! It is almost always like that on weekends, since there is no pressure of getting things done on time, most of the time they don't get done at all!

Anyway, we somehow barely managed for the house & the family to be in a presentable state and they arrived, along with a basket full of goodies for the occasion of Lohri, which was yesterday. Lohri is a festival of bonfire which is celebrated in the northern part of India. This festival has its counterpart in almost all the regions- Pongal in the south, Sankranti in the west and so on. It marks the beginning of Uttarayan (when the earth starts moving towards the sun). It also signifies the starting of the Harvest season, a period of rest before the harvesting actually begins. Read more about it here.

Coming back to the basket full of goodies, apart from a box of sweets it had Revadi (A candy like preparation of sesame & sugar with a slight rose flavour)  and groundnuts in the shell.

The first Revadi that went into my mouth took me straight into the open ground of Lodhi Road Complex in Delhi, which is where the bonfire used to be every year for Lohri. Sweets made from Sesame are exchanged on the occasion of Lohri, since it is celebrated during winter and sesame is considered to be a "heaty" substance. The groundnut denotes the harvest of the season.

Makar Sankranti, which is what we call this festival is celebrated in almost the same way and on the 14th of January, a day after Lohri. 13th January is celebrated as Bhogi, but more about this in another post. On the occasion of Sankranti, sweets made from Til (Sesame) & Gul (Jaggery) are exchanged with a chant of "Til Gul ghya gode gode bola" in Marathi & "Yellu (Sesame) Bella (Jaggery) tagondu Yellu  Bellada haage irona" in Kannada, both of which basically mean "Let our relationship be as sweet as this combination of Sesame & Jaggery".

The name Makar Sankranti, where Sankranti means transition in Sanskrit, is derived from the fact that on this day the sun begins the transition from Dhanu Rashi (Sagittarius Zodiac) to Makar Rashi (Capricorn Zodiac). The festival holds special significance for new born babies and newly wed ladies and they are gifted black clothes with white designs and ornaments made of halwa (sugar), another sweet specially made for the occasion.

As with all other festivals, food again plays a very vital role during Sankranti also. As I have mentioned earlier, sweets made from Sesame & Jaggery are a must and this is what this post will cover. Apart from this, on the day of Bhogi (13th Jan), the spread usually consists of Bhogi (a spicy khichdi), Shejji Bhaakri (Flatbread made from millet) and accompaniments such as Lassun Chutney, curd, Brinjal bhaji etc. But for now I am presenting the recipe for Til-Shenga-Gul Ladoo (Ladoos made form Sesame, groundnut & Jaggery)

 

Makes about 20 small sized Ladoos.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups Til
• 1/2 cup Groundnut
• 1 cup Jaggery, grated
• 1 tblsp Ghee (Optional)

Method: Roast the Til lightly, taking care not to burn it. Allow this to cool down.

Roast the groundnuts separately till you see dark specks on the skin. Allow to cool & then remove the skin by rubbing between your palms.

Reserve 2/3 tblsp of Til and Coarsely grind the remaining Til & Groundnut separately. Mix both of them along with the grated Jaggery and also the ghee. The ghee is added to aid in the Ladoo making process.

The mixing process takes a fairly long time. This is because the Jaggery has a tendency to form lumps and this has to be mixed properly by rubbing between the fingers to separate it out and form a uniform mixture. This is very similar to mixing cold butter with plain flour that we do for the cookies, crusts, puff pastry  etc. Also add the reserved Til now and mix.

If the mixture seems too dry for making Ladoos, add some more ghee, but this will alter the taste. Alternatively, warm the mixture a bit. This will make the Jaggery melt a little and it will be easier to make the Ladoos. Prepare small lemon sized Ladoos from the mix by continuously pressing the mix between your fingers. The pressing action will release the "oil" from the Til & groundnut which will help in holding the Ladoo together.

Do not store, distribute among friends & relatives with the above mentioned in whichever language you are comfortable!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Makar Sankranti! Let our friendship continue to be as sweet as it has been and more!

 

 

Naivedya Series: Puran Poli / Holige

To complete the Puran (sweet filling made of split chickpea) trilogy, I am now presenting the most famous of the lot - Puran Poli or Holige as it is called in kannada. Although it needs no introduction, if I had to describe it to some one who hadn't heard of it, I would say that it is like a Parantha (stuffed flatbread) with a sweet stuffing. It is the ultimate festive dish, almost always made during Holi and also features as a favourite on any other special occasion.

Making Puran Poli is considered to be difficult for the basic reason that if all the proportions and the timing is not taken care of, they can turn into real disasters. In fact, it is said in our part of the country that if some one can make good Puran Poli and Jawar Bhaakri (Flatbread made from Sorghum) then the person is a complete cook!

I have started to make Puran Poli only after I came to London after marriage. I have had my share of disasters during the initial attempts but after a lot of trials & errors, I would like to believe that I have reached at a personal formula for making very good Puran Poli.

The most important part is of course making good Puran, having the right consistency and perfect sweetness, not too much and not less either. It has to be soft yet firm for it to be rolled out between the dough.

Here I would like to add that the significance of Puran is not only limited to these delicacies but it also takes part in the actual pooja in the form of Aarti. Puranachi Aarti or Hurnadda Aarti is performed by making small diya shapes, out of the above prepared Puran. Batti/Vaath (wicks) soaked in pure ghee (clarified butter) are placed in these and lighted to form the Aarti. Once the Aarti is completed, this Puran is distributed as Prasad. The taste of this Puran prasad can only be described as divine because it is totally different from the normal puran because of the presence of the  burning wick on it.

 Puran Poli

Makes 8-10

Ingredients

For the filling (Puran)

• 2 cups Chana Dal (Split Chickpea)
• 1.5 - 2 cups grated Jaggery
• 1 tsp Cardamom powder
• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

For the Poli

• 2 cups Maida (Plain Flour)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat Flour
• A pinch of salt
• 2 tsps oil

Method:

Pressure cook the dal . Drain and mash it very finely.

Put the dal to heat in a kadai. Add the grated Jaggery, cardamom powder and nutmeg and mix.

Continue to heat until all the water has dried and a homogenous mixture is obtained. Take care that the puran does not dry out completely otherwise it will be very difficult to roll it out. Make small balls of this puran, each one having about 1 1/2 tblsp of the puran.

Put a Tawa (griddle) to heat and divide the dough into equal large lemon sized balls. Roll out to Poori size and fill it with the puran and seal it from all sides just like that for a stuffed Parantha.

Place on a floured surface and carefully roll out into 2-3 cm thick Poli(roti/flatbread).

Place this on the heated tawa. Cook till small bubbles start appearing, at this point flip the puran poli and let it cook on the other side. Drizzle some oil/ghee on the sides and take care not to tear the Puran Poli while flipping it. Cook well on both sides till brown spots/freckles appear and then remove.

The most ideal way to have Puran Poli is with lots of Toop/Tuppa (Ghee) and some milk. In fact I have been told of functions & marriages where Puran Poli was served with bowls full of both Ghee & Milk! Although the amount of Ghee has considerably reduced since those times, the milk still holds good.

My favourite way to have Puran Poli is with just a tsp of Ghee,  a bowl full of Katachi Amthi / Kattina Saaru (recipe coming soon) and some coconut chutney on the side. Yes, I do have weird taste (read food combinations) when it comes to certain food items :) Go ahead and try this combination & let me know what you think!

Naivedya Series: Kadabu

On the occasion of Dasara, I am continuing with the Naivedya series with yet another Chana Dal (Split chickpea) based sweet dish called Kadabu in kannada. Lookswise Kadabu is similar to the famous Karanji but made with whole wheat flour as opposed to Maida (Plain flour) and the filling is also different.

In kannada, specifically in the North Karnataka region, Kadabu is also used as a slang for a beating! A story associated with this comes to mind.

A man once gets to taste Kadabu for the first time at a friends place and likes it very much. He comes back home & tells his wife about it but forgets the name of the dish.

After a few days, he feels like eating them and asks his wife if she can prepare them, but since he hasn't told her the name of the dish, she is not able to understand what to make. he then tries to describe it to her saying that its fried, has a sweet filling and so on. She still doesn't understand anything and keeps asking him about it. They have a huge fight over this and in anger the husband slaps her hard.

Just as all this is happening the lady's father comes home & gets worried on seeing his daughter crying. He goes to her & asks her what the matter is & why her cheeks are puffed up like a Kadabu? The husband jumps at this & finally remembers the name!

We used to laugh at this story every time it was told, which means practically every time we made kadabu at our place :)

These Kadabus are on their way to Srivalli's Cooking for all seasons, who is the host for this month's JFI - Festival Treats.

Also sending this to Sweet Series hosted by Mythreyee of Paajaka Recipes.

Kadabu

Makes about 8-10 Kadabus

Ingredients

• 1 cup Chana Dal (Split Chick Pea)
• 3/4 cup grated Jaggery
• 1/4 cup chopped small pieces of Dry coconut
• 1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
• Dry fruits such as Cashew, Almonds, Walnut, raisins etc (Optional)
• 2 cups Wheat flour
• Oil for frying

Method:

Pressure cook the Chana Dal and drain the water. Mash the Dal properly and put to heat in a pan . Add the grated jaggery and mix properly.

Add the grated coconut and Cardamom powder and conitnue to cook till all the water dries out and you get a homogenous mixture. This is called the Puran, the filling. Add the dry fruits if using and mix well.

Prepare a stiff dough with the wheat flour using some water. Make small lemon sized balls and roll out small slightly oblong pooris. Avoid using any flour while rolling out the dough as much as possible. I generally use a drop of oil in place of the flour. This prevents the oil from getting contaminated with burnt flour, while frying.

Place some of the filling in the middle along the length and close the poori to cover it. Seal the edges by pressing them together very tightly. This has to be done properly since we don't want the filling coming out while frying the Kadabu.

Heat oil in a deep kadai and fry the Kadabu over medium slow flame, turning them from time to time, until brown & crisp.

 

The classic way of serving them is to make a small hole in the middle and fill it up with Ghee/Toop/Tuppa (Clarified Butter), the more the better :) festivals are after all for indulging!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Dasara!

Naivedya Series: Haygreev

Food is the most important aspect of life. Its no surprise therefore, that it plays a major role in our celebrations as well. Thanksgiving is unthinkable without the Turkey. Christmas Pie is so named because its a must during Christmas. In India also, all the festivals and occasions are marked by specific food items that are absolutely necessary for these celebrations to be complete. Modak for Ganpati, Puran Poli for Devi and so on. On a lighter note, we made sure that we went to the Sai Baba Temple near our house in Delhi every Thursday for the prasad - Poori, Halwa & Kala Chana :)

The point is that food plays such a major role in the worship of God, that I decided to dedicate a whole series to food items particularly meant for the 'Naivedya'.

'Naivedya', in sanskrit means the offering made to God. And this offering is very special, not anything would do. There are some rules to be followed, some specific dishes to be served and a format to be taken care of. Any 'pooja' is not complete without the 'Naivedya'.

The Naivedya consists of the complete thali containing everything right from Chutney, Koshimbir, Sambhar/Saaru, Bhaaji, Kheer, Poori, Bhaat, Masale Bhaat/Chitranna, Papad/Kurdai/Bhaji etc. But as mentioned earlier, all these items have to be made with special care. Garlic & Onions are not allowed. Any vegetable will not do. Some, like Brinjal, Okra etc are not allowed. And depending on the pooja, some specific dishes have to be included.

Naivedya can take on various forms depending upon the type of Pooja, timing of pooja and even the Gods/Goddesses it is offered to. In this series I will try to cover all these items, specifically those prepared in our household.

I am starting off with a 'Sweet', a must, when it comes to Naivedya.

Generally while worshipping the 'Devi' the Naivedya should include Hoorna (kannada) or Puran(Marathi) made of Chana Dal (Split chickpea) and Jaggery. Now, this can take on various forms such as the very famous Puran Poli, the not so known Kadabu and Haygreev,  which is almost like Kheer. Of these, Haygreev is the easiest and quickest to make.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup Chana Dal
• 1 cup grated Jaggery
• 2 tsps Khus Khus (Poppy seeds)
• 2 tblsp grated dry coconut
• 1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder

Method:

Pressure Cook the Dal till it is properly cooked but not completely mashed. For Puran Poli, we require the Dal to be cooked till it mashes but not so for Haygreev.

The water in which the Dal is boiled along with some Dal is usually reserved. This is used to prepare Kattina Saaru/Katachi Amthi, recipe to follow in a later post.

Once the Dal is cooked, transfer it to a pan and put on heat. Add the Jaggery and other ingredients and mix properly.

Cook on medium flame till the water reduces and it achieves paste like consistency with some bits of Dal in it. The Dal is never to be mashed.

This is almost always had with Tuppa/Toop/Ghee (Clarified Butter), which anyway is a must for the Naivedya.

Variations can include the addition of dry fruits such as Cashew Nuts, Almonds, raisins etc. Around 1 tsp of Nutmeg powder can also be added for extra flavour.

Having said so much about the pooja & Naivedya, I would also like to add that these food items are never restricted to be made on these days only and can be made any day to turn the daily meal into a special one!

Saffron & Cardomom Panna Cotta

Update on 6th Aug: Zlamushka has agreed to accept this for the event as the entries have not yet been compiled. So this post is going to Tried & Tasted after all :)

 

I got everything ready to make the Panna Cotta. Heavy cream (Extra double, it says!), the gelatin (my first time with this wonder ingredient), the spices (lovely combination) and so on. But most importantly the recipe, from none other than the 'Queen of Desserts' herself - Meeta (What's for lunch Honey)!

With everything done, the ramekins safely put away in the refrigerator, I sat down to write this post and thought of confirming the deadline for Tried & Tasted, where What's for lunch honey, 'is' the featured blog.

One look at Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen and I felt as if I had studied for Mathematics and on reaching the Examination hall, discovered that the today's subject was Science! The deadline had already passed me by and in my enthusiasm to get all the things in place before I thought of making the dish, I had missed the event altogether!

Jugalbandi is the featured blog for this month now, and I am going to make sure that this time I don't repeat the mistake.

As for the Panna Cotta, I followed Meeta's recipe exactly as it is, just like an obedient student and was rewarded with a rich, delicious dessert. Read the original recipe here.

Makes about 5 small ramekins.

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 Double Cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 1 cup of milk
• 2 1/2 teaspoons gelatin
• 5 Cardamom pods
• some strands of saffron
• Coarsely chopped almonds for garnish

Method:

Combine the  cream, sugar & salt in a saucepan and heat the mixture without boiling it. Turn off the heat and add the cardamom & saffron and keep aside for approx 25-30 min for the flavours to infuse in.

Sprinkle the gelatin in the milk and keep aside for about 10 minutes for the gelatin to soften, without stirring it.

Add the gelatin mixture to the cream and heat again. Keep stirring to dissolve the gelatin. The mixture has to be heated but not boiled.

Take some ice & water in a bigger bowl and keep a smaller bowl immersed in this. Strain the Cream into this small bowl. Keep stirring until the mixture cools and thickens.

Pour into ramekins, cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 10-12 hours.

I served them as it is in the ramekins, sprinkled with almonds and some saffron strands.

This was the first time I attempted a Panna Cotta and we absolutely loved it. This is going to be a regular dessert for us now onwards, keeping in mind of course the calories it carries! Thank you Meeta for this recipe.

This Panna Cotta is on its way to DK (Culinary Bazaar) for her A.W.E.D.-Italiano event

Bollywood Cooking

I am writing this straight from Bollywoodalaya, which translates to 'Abode of Bollywood'. Bombay/Mumbai, the commercial capital of India also happens to house most of the Film studios where Hindi films are made, along with the 'Stars' of these films. Although the city has a lot more to it than just the Bollywood connection, this is the most obvious thing one thinks of when talking about Bombay. I remember when I was shifting to Bombay, people told me that I was very lucky as I would now get to see & meet all the stars :) As if all of them were waiting just to meet me!

Coming back to the real purpose of this post, ever since the Monthly Mingle was announced, I have been thinking what should be my entry for this lovely event from Meeta at What's for lunch, honey? The theme for this month is Bollywood cooking. I thought about various dishes and dismissed them for one reason or the other. Then it struck me that nothing could be more 'Bollywood ish' than the good old Gajar ka Halwa and that too Maa ke haathon ka!

There is hardly any Hero who doesnt like it. In fact it would seem that it is one of the criteria if you want to become a hero in a bollywood potboiler(pun intended!). What? You dont like Gajar ka Halwa? Then how can you become a hero???

Every second Bollywood movie has the Hero rushing in bringing one of these good news
a) Maa mujhe naukri mil gayi maa!
b) Maa main paas ho gaya!
c) Maa tera beta aaj vakil/Inspector/Dr ban gaya!
And the 'Maa' would invariably reply saying " Accha ? Yeh toh bahut khushi ki baat hai. Moonh Haath dho le beta, aaj maine tere liye tera man pasand Gajar ka halwa banaya hai!"

But just as the face of Bollywood has changed a little with time, this Gajar ka Halwa also has a 'recipe mein twist'. I have used Dates along with carrots. This has been adapted from one of the recipes of Sanjeev Kapoor, Khana Khazana.

Added on 5th Feb '09 (Made without dates):

Ingredients
2 cups grated Carrots
1 cup chopped Dates
1 cup Sugar (This can be changed to suit your taste, keeping in my mind that Dates also add to the sweetness)
Cardomom powder
1/2 cup grated Khoya/Mawa (Dried thickened whole milk)
Dry fruits such as Almond, Pistachio, Cashewnut, raisins etc
1/4 cup milk
2 tblsp ghee

Heat the ghee in pan. Add the carrot and dates and roast them. Add the sugar and cardomom powder, mix properly and cook for sometime.
Add the nuts and the milk and cook for some more time. Now mix in the grated khoya. Stir properly and turn off the flame. Gasrnish with some more dry fruits.
This simple sounding recipe is as rich as it can be!
So 'Maa ke haath ka Gajar ka Halwa' is my entry to the Monthly Mingle 20.

To Manni, with love...

Back when I started my engineering, my college was a good 2 hours away from my place and even then if I got all the connecting trains on time. It was getting really tedious and exhausting to travel daily. So we (Me & another of my friend) were very happy when our friend N shifted close to the college. She immediately offered for us to move in with her, even before she had shifted actually :) And so I went in to stay with her family for that one semester and ended up staying there for the whole course...4 years! 'visiting' my family only on weekends...:)

The things I was looking forward to when I shifted was having a good time with friends & of course the convenience in commuting. I did not know that I would be getting an extended family there. I was comfortable & felt at home instantly. This was the first time I was staying away from home, but it never felt as if I was in a different place, staying with N & her family seemed completely natural. Although everyone made me feel like a part of them, the one person I became very close to, of course apart from N, was her mother. Everyone called her Manni, meaning Mami in Tamil. So I did too.

She is ever smiling & jovial in nature. I have never seen her upset except when she is concerned about the health of any one at home. She was almost like a friend to us (N, her elder sis, her younger sis & me) We shared jokes, college tidbits, funny incidents and almost everything with her. Having stayed in Bombay all her life, she speaks very fluent Marathi, so good that people will find it hard to believe that she is actually a Tamilian.

Whatever little Tamil I know today is because of my stay with N plus I got introduced to the Tamil cuisine here. I did have some exposure earlier also through another of my best friend S, but had never experienced it so closely. I got to learn a lot of things from Manni - Kolumbu, kootu, Gojju, Puliogre, Paal Payasam, Mysore paak etc and of course the Sambhar. The day I
learned the sambhar powder from Manni, I went back home & made it and my Mom was really impressed :). Till date I am using the same recipe for the Sambhar powder & my sambhar is always a hit with everyone. I will be posting it soon on this blog.

But the most important thing I learnt from her was to knead the Chapati dough :) I had tried a number of times back at my place but could never get it right. My mom tried her best to get me to do it properly but all in vain. I actually had to get a dough maker at home so that I could make chapatis whenever my mom was out of town. Funnily the same week that we brought the dough maker home, Manni taught me her method and I caught it instantly. I don't know what she did right or what I was doing wrong until that day, but I could finally make pliable dough & consequently soft chapatis! The dough maker has been lying at my place unused...

Amongst the memories that I cherish, is how we used to sit & have the filter coffee made by her. It is the best coffee I have ever tasted in my life and I love it! She knew that I liked coffee very much, so whenever she made a fresh decoction, she always asked me if I wanted some & I never said No..:) We would call it 'Pehli dhaar ki coffee' ...:) The last time I met her was just a day after I had delivered little S and guess what she had brought for me? A Thermos flask full of Filter coffee! I was so touched that she remembered and cared so much.

The recipe that I am going to share now is for Mysore Paak, which is again a Manni speciality!

Makes about12-15 medium sized pieces

Ingredients

• 1 cup Besan
• 1 cup Toop/Ghee/Tuppa/Clarified butter
• 2 cups Sugar
• 2 tblsp Milk

Method:

In a pan, melt the sugar in a little milk on low flame. Add the besan and cook while continuously stirring for about 5 min. Take care that no lumps remain. Add the ghee and mix properly. All the ghee will get absorbed by the besan.

Cook while stirring continuously until the mix thickens & reaches a pinkish colour and perforations start appearing. Also at this point the mix would become very viscous and it will actually be a struggle to stir :)

Grease a plate and pour in the mixture and cut into blocks before the mixture gets hard. Allow to completely cool. This recipe yields Mysore Paak which is slightly soft to bite and not like the store brought ones.

This is my entry for JFI, an event started by Indira of Mahanandi and being hosted this month by Jigyasa & Pratibha at Pritya. They have chosen Jihva for Love as the theme.

Its only fitting that I write this now & make this sweet delicacy because its Manni's Birthday on 4th May. This is a very special day for me as another of my best friend's Birthday also lies on the same day. This ones for Manni & Swaps! Happy Birthday to both of you in advance!

Ugadi/Gudi Padva Special

Wish you all a very Happy Ugadi/Gudi Padva!

Ugadi/Gudipadva denotes the New year day according to the Hindu calendar. One of the major memories of this festival being celebrated at home is the 'Prasad' made on this day. It mainly consists of 'Neem flowers' & 'Jaggery'. Me & My brother D, used to devise new means every year to escape having to eat that. This prasad actually denotes the 'sweet' & 'bitter' things in life in the coming new year.

The festive meal usually consists of Shrikhand - Puri. Shrikhand is a sweet made from Curd and it can be served as a dessert as well as one of the main dishes along with Puri. We rarely get good Shrikhand here in London. So I prefer to make it at home. Although the taste is not quite the same as what you get in shops in India, I at least have the satisfaction of having made it myself at home :)

I so wanted to participate in the Monthly Mingle that I made a slight change in the recipe to accommodate Strawberries in it :) and now it is called Berrykhand, just like there is Amrakhand. For those of you who don't know, Amrakhand is a Mango flavoured Shrikhand and one of my favourite desserts.

But for now here is Berrykhand!

Makes about 4-5 bowls.
Ingredients
1 kg Curd
1/2 cup Sugar
10-12 Strawberries
1-2 pinches Nutmeg powder
Almonds (As many as you like)

Method:
Tie the curd in a muslin cloth. Place it on a height & put some heavy object on the cloth such that the curd is hanging down loose. Place a container beneath this to catch the water. This has to be kept for approx 2-3 hours till the curd looses all the water. Sorry I completely forgot to take snaps of this stage.

Meanwhile blend the strawberries to get a puree. Pass this through a sieve to get rid of the seeds.

The curd obtained after the first step is called the Chakka (the 'ch' pronounced as in 'church') and looks something like this...


Add the sugar to this chakka & stir till all the sugar is dissolved. Now add the Strawberry puree, nutmeg powder and mix again. You may have to adjust the sugar a bit if the strawberries are a little sour in taste. I had to add 2-3 spoons more of sugar. Add the chopped almonds and refrigerate. You can also use other nuts, I think Pistachio would be very nice but I had run out of them yesterday. Serve chilled.

This Berrykhand tasted a lot like Strawberry flavoured Yogurt :) but we liked it.


This is my entry for the Monthly Mingle - Spring Fruit Sensation being hosted by Abby of Eat the Right Stuff. I am also sending this off to Simple Indian Food for the 'Fun n Sun' Event.