Puran poli : Dussehra special

Happy Dussehra to everyone reading this :))) Last year i had posted the recipe of Coconut Barfis (Naaralachya vadya - click on the link to read more about the festival) and today, i am posting that of Puran poli. Yes, it had to be a sweets-post since it's festival time, and how can the celebration be complete without making or eating sweet :) Some of the combinations are all-time favourites in a Maharashtrian home like Shrikhand- puri, Basundi-puri or Puran poli-kataachi amti etc. 

Puran poli is basically a flat-bread stuffed with a sweet filling of skinned split bengal gram and jaggery. The best part about Puran poli is, it tastes good even when it's cold ( or even a day old :)) . Usually eaten with a generous amount of tup (ghee) on top, it can also be eaten dipped in milk or with Kataachi Amti. As we say, the food and water changes every 10 kms in India, the same way - the method of preparation and ingredients vary in different regions in Maharashtra. Some add grated coconut to the sweet filling, some make the filling with sugar or a mix of jaggery and sugar both. For the covering, some make it with wheat flour and some with maida (all purpose flour) or a mix of both. Recently, one of my sister in law told me that in her village, the covering is made of suji (rawa). For flavouring, nutmeg and/or cardamom powder is added.

So, the recipe is actually quite easy- less ingredients and not much of cooking time. But the tough part is to roll the polis (breads) without letting the filling come out. If the filling comes out (which surely will, the first time you make it), it will burn while cooking the roti. So, to avoid it, just dust a little flour on the filling, and roll again.

You can fry the rotis with oil or ghee as per your liking, but ghee of course adds the flavour. So, diet conscious people, let the dieting stay away during festivities, what say? :) Also, you can make Puran one day prior and keep in the refrigerator. Puran(the filling) stays good in an air tight container in refirgerator for even a week. You can also eat Puran as it is with a plain roti adding little ghee on top... Tastes absolutely divine :)

Preparation time : 35-40 minutes

Cooking time : 20-25 minutes

Serves : 2-3 people

Recipe type: Indian flatbread

Ingredients:

Chana daal (Skinned split bengal gram) - 1 cup

Jaggery - 1 cup 

(The right amount of sweetness is always to take equal quantity of lentil and jaggery)

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Wheat flour - 1/2 cup

Oil - 5 tbsp

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Ghee - to fry the polis

Recipe:

Wash the chana daal well. Pressure cook the washed chana daal along with 2 n half cups of water for 4-5 whistles. Switch off the flame, let the pressure subside. Now drain the daal and remove water thoroughly.

Use this water to make Kataachi Amti.

Sift the all purpose flour and wheat flour together. Add in 5 tbsp oil and mix well.

You can also add a little of turmeric powder for colour. 

Now, add water little by little and knead into a nice elastic dough. Put the dough in a bowl, cover and let it rest.

Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a kadhai, and add the cooked chana daal. Add in the jaggery and mix well. The mixture will turn to a thin consistency as the jaggery will melt. Let it cook till the mixture forms a nice thick ball. Keep stirring in between to avoid burning or sticking to the kadhai. Lastly add in the cardamom and nutmeg powder and mix well.

Now traditonally this mixture used to be put through the Puran Yantra (Puran Maker) for a very thin soft puran, but since i didn't have that, i just mashed it with a masher and it was fine. I tool the idea of mashing the puran from here.

Now, make equal sized balls of the puran and the dough both.

Make sure the filling in each dough-ball is good enough for the taste to come.

Roll the dough in a small puri-shape and add the filling in the centre. Now with your fingertips, gently close the sides of the dough in the centre to cover the stuffing. Now roll this into a roti. You can use all purpose flour or rice flour to roll the roti.

Heat a tawa. Place the roti on the tawa and fry on both sides till golden in colour adding ghee on top. 

Puran polis are ready. Don't forget to enjoy one served hot right from the tava with ghee on top. 

Happy Cooking :)

Talniche modak : Anant Chaturdashi special

In my last post of Hartalika which i posted a day prior to the start of Ganesh festival, i had mentioned that i will make modaks and write a post the next day. Unfortunately, am writing this post on the last day of the festival, since last few days were very busy. For those who know my profession, i was surrounded with 3 mischievous babies past 10 days, and there was just no time to edit pictures or write a post :) But modaks are so delish that one can eat it anytime, right? We don't really need a festival for that!!!

Anant Chaturdashi is the 10th or last day of Ganesh Utsav. On this day, Ganesha is given grand farewell and the idols that were placed in homes or colonies for the festival are immersed in a nearby waterbody. Since a lot of the idols were made of POP (plaster of paris) earlier, immersing them in water bodies would only pollute it and the next day we could see broken idols floating on top or on the banks of sea or river. This was really saddening, and though the practise continues at a lot of places, there are people who for eco-friendly Ganeshas and also immerse the idols in man-made temporary water bodies. Well, Ananta in Sanskrit means eternal (The immortal Lord Vishnu) and chaturdashi is 14th day of the bright fortnight. 

Although Ganesh festival is celebrated across India, mostly in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, most of the other states also worship Lord Vishnu on this day. There is a very interesting mythological story about this day. Sumant was a Brahmin and had a daughter Sushila with wife Diksha. When Diksha died, Sumant remarried but the stepmother would torture little Sushila. So, when she grew of age, she eloped in the forests with a young man named Kaundinya. One day, when Kaundinya went for a bath in the river, Sushila met some women on the way worshipping Lord Ananta and got to know about the pooja and 14-year vow. It is said that if one fasts and does pooja on this day for 14 years in a row, one is blessed with Lord Vishnu's blessings to regain lost wealth or well being for family. Sushila took the oath, tied the sacred vow-thread to her hand and followed all the tradition religiously. Indeed they became rich and successful. 

One day when Kaundinya got to know about the vow, he got angry as he believed he is self-made man and his riches are not due to any vow. He throwed away Sushila's vow-thread in fire and soon after, they became poor. Kaundinya understood the power of the Ananta and took the 14 year vow restoring his belief and regaining his lost wealth. 

Well, such stories are always interesting to hear, ain't they? Coming back to the modak post, there are two types of modaks popularly made : One is Ukadiche (the white steamed ones with rice flour) and one is Talniche (deep fried ones). On my paternal side, and my in-laws side, they make Talniche modak as prashad for Ganesha. On my maternal side, though, the Ukdiche modaks are made. Here, i am posting the deep fried ones (yes, they are easy as compared to the others), and hubby's favourite! :)

It is a tradition that always with modaks, one karanji is made or vice versa. Modak represents male and karanji is female, so to signify it is "shubh" (auspicious) that the male and female stay together :) Just as we make one Kadbola with Chakli or one puri with shankarpale :)

Preparation time : 25-30 minutes

Cooking time : 30 minutes 

Serves : 2-3 people

Recipe type: Sweets and dessert

Ingredients:

For dough : 

Maida/All purpose flour - 1/2 cup

Atta/ wheat flour - 1/2 cup

(You can also make the dough with only wheat flour or only all purpose flour)

Salt - a pinch

Ghee/oil - 2 tbsp

For filling :

Grated fresh coconut - 1 cup

Grated jaggery/ sugar - 1/3-1/2 cup 

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Ghee - 1 tbsp

If you are adding sugar, you can also add 2 tbsp khoya or fresh cream (optional).

Addition of nuts is optional and as per choice too

Oil - for frying the modaks

Recipe:

Mix the wheat flour and all purpose flour and add in salt. 

Heat the 2 tbsp ghee/oil (make it real hot - this is what we call 'Mohan'). Add this to the flour mixture, and mix it with a spoon. Remember it's hot, so don't use hands.

Now add water little by little and knead it into a nice smooth soft dough. Cover the dough and keep aside for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, lets make the filling:

Take 1 tbsp ghee in a kadhai.

Add the coconut and saute for a minute, stir continuously to prevent sticking/browning.

Now add the sugar or jaggery. It will melt and become liquid. Let it cook till all the liquid is absorbed and a nice aroma comes.

Now mix in the cardamom powder and nuts. You can also add a pinch of jaiphal (nutmeg) powder for taste.

Switch off the stove and let this filling cool down.

To make modaks:

Knead the dough again for a while, and divide it in equal sized balls. (This proportion makes 12 - 11 modaks and 1 karanji).

Now roll these balls in small sized puris. Roll them as thin as possible, especially the sides of the puri. You can dust some flour to roll the puris, but i didn't need it. The mohan made the dough so soft, that the puris rolled very well by itself.

Now, take the puri in your palm and add a spoonful of the filling in the centre.

Now pinch the edges of the puri one by one and then bring all the pinched ends together in the centre. Seal it well.

Repeat the procedure for other modaks. For karanji, roll a puri and fill the filling in the centre. Now life one side of the puri and roll it on to the other side and seal it with your fingertips. (I think the next time i make modaks, i have to click pictures of the procedure too).

Now heat oil for frying in a kadhai and gently fry modaks one by one till golden brown on all sides. Remove on a tissue paper and let it cool.

It is said, that one should not taste the filling or modak before giving it as "Prashad" to the God. So, do your pooja and then pop them in your mouth :) It will be full of goodness :)

Happy Anant Chaturdashi to all of you :)

Happy Cooking :)

Happy Hartalika: Celebrating female friendships!!

I love this part of the year... there are so many festivities and celebrations one after another, that it truly brings out the joy of life. Smiles, food, laughter, shopping, meeting families and friends and the age-old traditions that are followed along with it. One such interesting mythological story is that of Hartalika. Hartalika is observed one day before the Ganesh Chaturthi. (Bhadrapadh Shudh Tritiya)

On this day, girls and women pray to Goddess Parvati. Unmarried girls do pooja to get that prince charming they have always been dreaming about and married women pray to get the same husband in all the lives, also for happy successful married life. It is a belief that once you take the oath of Lord Shiva, you shouldn't break it, hence women continue to do this pooja each year till they are alive.

Parvati was the daughter of Himvan (the king of Himalayas). "Parvat" means Mountain, hence being the daughter of the king of mountains, she was named Parvati. It is said, when Parvati grew of age, Narad Muni brought in the message of Lord Vishnu to marry her. Himvan was very happy to hear this, but Parvati had secretly loved Lord Shiva. Hence, without telling her parents, she ran off with her female friend into the forests. Harit ( = Haran =abduction) and Alika ( = alichya = friend). Hence the name, Hartalika.

On the banks of the river, Parvati made a "Shivling" of sand and started meditating and praying to Lord Shiva. Initially, she ate raw leaves, but later on even left that. This we call as "Upvas" meaning fast. Seeing this, Lord Shiva was pleased and agreed to marry Parvati as per her wish. 

Seeing his daughter's willpower and faith, even Himvan agreed to get Parvati married to Lord Shiva. So, since all this was achieved by the help of Parvati's female friend, girls and women(known as suvasini's) fast all day long on this day and then do pooja together of idols of Shiva and Parvati made of sand. The fast is then broken the next day as the Suvasini's stay awake all night long playing games such as Jhimma, Phugdi, Tiprya etc.

This day also celebrates the friendship among female friends. Having a friend to tell your secrets to, and one whom you can count on in moments of need is a part of life. So lets say cheers to all our women friends as they are our true support and let us decide on this day, to cherish the relationship for lifetime. 

Unfortunately i don't have any recipe of Modak on my blog yet, so i am going to make some tomorrow for Ganesh Chaturthi and post one. Meanwhile, if you don't want to go traditional and enjoy some other lip-smacking sweets, here are some ideas :

1. Gulkand Chocolates : http://cookininpajamas.blogspot.in/2013/11/gulkand-chocolates.html

2. Coconut ladoos : http://cookininpajamas.blogspot.in/2013/10/coconut-ladoos.html

3. Pajama "Pop in the mouth" Ladoos : http://cookininpajamas.blogspot.in/2014/02/pajama-pop-in-mouth-ladoos-rose-day.html

4. Naaralachya Vadya : http://cookininpajamas.blogspot.in/2014/10/dusshera-special-naralyachya-vadya.html

Happy cooking and wish you all a Happy Ganesh Chaturthi :) Let us all say, "Ganpati Bappa Morya" :)

Shrikhand

Tomorrow is Akshay Tritiya, a holy day for Hindus. I had already explained about Akshay Tritiya in my last year's post of Dudhi Halwa. As it is said, that Akshay Tritiya is a good time to purchase gold, experts had a different view published in Economic times. Low inflation and rising interest rates are bad news for the metal, they say. The dollar prices might rise, and hence the gold prices would drop down by 10 % by the end of year. So, all my friends who are wanting to purchase gold tomorrow, just buy a token. For people like me though, purchasing kitchen items is as good as buying gold :) (All my blogger friends here would agree, won't you?) So i have treated myself to a new Mixer-grinder on this Akshay Tritiya. My old mixer started showing tantrums two days ago (Guess it knew some festival is coming!!!)

No auspicious or holy day is complete without a sweet. So, here i am posting the recipe of Shrikhand. A simple meal of homemade Shrikhand, puri and batata bhaaji (Aloo sabzi) completes a Maharashtrian festival for me. Shrikhand-puri is a match made in heaven. I have stressed on the homemade, because the store bought Shrikhands are way too sweet these days. Shrikhand has a lot of Maharashtrian charachter to it, i feel, and has mixed flavours of sweet, sour, smooth, rich and yet simple to make. My hubby almost finishes 2-3 vaatis of shrikhand at one go, so i have gone easy on the sugar addition here. 

Shrikhand is basically saffron infused yogurt. I normally make yogurt at home, but you can use thick readymade yogurt too. If you get Chakka (Yogurt cheese) readymade, then this dessert is ready within minutes. I couldn't find Chakka near my place, so i made it at home the traditional way. When we were kids, there used to be a machine(Puran Yantra) which would have to be operated manually to uniformly mix the chakka and sugar. So me and my brother would take rounds to turn the knob round and round to see the thin noodle like shrikhand coming out of the yantra. In the end our hands would pain, and mom would always end up cleaning the mess :) Nostalgia!!!

For a fruity version of Shrikhand, check my recipe of Aamrakhand - Mango Shrikhand .

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 and half litres of whole milk (You can't eat shrikhand if you are calorie conscious. This dessert will not taste good with skim milk or any kind of toned milk)

Yogurt - 1 tbsp

Sugar - 1/2 cup (Adjust according to taste)

Saffron strands - 4-5 

Nutmeg - 1/4 tsp

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Nutmeg and Cardamom powder is optional. You can use both or one or omit them altogether. Traditionally, Charolya or chironji is used too, but i didn't have them handy.

Recipe:

To make yogurt: Boil the milk and let it cool to room temperature. Pour the milk in a wide bowl.

Add the yogurt to this milk and stir it along with the cream on top. Cover with a lid.

Let the yogurt set in a warm place undisturbed till firm. If the place is warm, it should set in about 6 hours or so.

You can set this yogurt the previous day and refrigerate and prepare the shrikhand the next day.

To make Yogurt Cheese/Chakka: Place a muslin cloth (pancha as we call in marathi) in a strainer (or colander) over a bowl. Make sure you take a big cloth, so you have enough space on the side to tie it later.

Pour yogurt in the cloth. Now bring the sides of the cloth together and tie a knot tightly just above the yogurt. It looks like a firm ball. The whey starts draining out of the cloth.

Now you can either put some weight on this and let it drain or tie it to a place from where it keeps dripping or draining. The whey can be used to knead doughs or make gravies.

After about 4-6 hours, the ball of yogurt would look dry. 

To make Shrikhand: Remove the chakka in a bowl. You can refrigerate the chakka in an air tight container for upto 2 days.

Now, beat the chakka well till it becomes smooth.

Grind the sugar to powder.

Warm about 2 tbsp of milk, add saffron to it.

Make a coarse powder of cardamom seeds in a mortar and pestle.

While beating the chakka, add the powdered sugar little by little and keep mixing it well.

Now add the cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and saffron milk to it. Add more milk if you require a thinner consistency. The shrikhand should not be runny. It should be as thick to remain on a plate. 

Mix everything well till smooth.

Tastes best when served cold, but even at room temperature. 

Happy Akshay Tritiya to all of you readers and May you be blessed with peace, happiness, success and satisfaction :)

Happy Cooking :))

Anokhi kheer : Royal cuisine

I always have a conflict in my mind over "Tradition v/s Modern". I don't mean here in the sense of clothes, fashion or freedom but the cultures and values that that make us who we are. In the age of modernization, the originality is somewhere lost and we are losing connection with our roots. I am not being judgmental here or biased, but i would love to see kids play outdoors than play X-boxes and Playstations. I would love to see them having their food hearing the birds chirp or watching the sky than watching Doremon's and Chota Bhim. This definitely doesn't mean you are raising a Tarzan, but life's teachings are the best than those learnt with technology. A very dear friend of mine from Spain closed his Facebook account recently and while we chatted on email, he gave me a very good reason on "Going natural". He said, we are so dependent on "Apps" that we have lost our tendency of natural instincts. No doubt, we rely so much of G maps (For some reason, i find those even more confusing :)) when we have a tendency to find the places ourselves.

On the other hand, I experienced a "hands-on" example of "Benefits of technology" recently, when my Cylinder gas finished all of a sudden on Saturday night. It wouldn't have been so much of a worry if we had just two mouths to feed (Me and Hubby). But here we had three 4-legged paws with us (My pet sitting clients) who ate home-cooked meals. So, the microwave came to the rescue. Rice, chicken and veggies - everything went straight inside and my pet-paws licked their bowls clean with wagging tails :) If not for microwave, i would have had to scratch brains what to feed them. (Of course, there is always an option of raw veggies, fruits, curd etc but some paw kids won't taste food without chicken :))

So, the conflict always remains but somehow i am a little inclined towards the traditional, old-age, historical stuff. With food too, i love to dig out old recipes, read how it's traditionally cooked and try them out. This curiosity has definitely got me hooked to this "Lost recipes" program on Epic channel. In one of the episodes, they covered all about the Hyderabadi cuisine. Normally they show 3 recipes in one episode, so one of the recipes in that was Anokhi Kheer. The recipe sounded so simple, that i at once, tried it and it tastes delicious. 

The recipe was shown cooked by Mrs. Geeta Devi who belongs to a family that worked closely with Nizams and thus has access to all the royal recipes, which are published in her book : The Jewels of Nizam - Recipes from the Khansamas of Hyderabad. Geeta Devi has been associated with the Golkonda Hotel, Hyderabad as a food consultant, and hence i believe this kheer is available at their restaurant. She describes her expertise as "Deccani cuisine" and dug into the history of Nizam cuisine to find out the traditional recipes and their methods of cooking. Cooking during those times was mostly subjected to availability of raw materials, hence this Anokhi kheer came into existence.

Anokhi kheer she says basically would have been influenced from Afganisthan and is made of dry fruits and onion. Yes, a kheer made of ONION!!!!This kheer was also eaten by poor men, as onions during those days were cheap and would be a part of the ration that one got. This kheer was eaten during summer time as onions lower body temperature. In winters, "Gobi ki kheer" or "lasan ki kheer" was made to keep the body warm. 

Ingredients:

In the program, she used 100 gm onions for 2 litres of milk, but i made it into half quantity. 

Milk - 1 litre (I used full cream, but you can use toned or skimmed milk too)

Onions - 50 gms (about 1/3 cup)

Cardamom - 8-10

Almonds - 1/4 cup (Add more according to choice)

Pistachios - 1/4 cup (Add more according to choice)

Sugar - I added about 5-6 tsp (Adjust according to taste)

Recipe:

Boil the milk and simmer on low flame till it starts to thicken.

Meanwhile, slice onions lengthwise and wash them about 4-5 times to remove the bitterness or spiciness if any (Depends on the kind of onion you are using).

Soak the almonds in water and when soft, chop them lengthwise or crush them lightly in a mortar and pestle.

Also chop the pistachios lengthwise.

Remove cardamom seeds and make them in a powder in a mortar and pestle.

Once the milk has reduced to half, add the onions. 

Keep stirring at intervals and scrape the cream from the sides.

Once it turns pinkish, add the cardamom powder.

Stir in sugar and mix well. Simmer till sugar dissolves and milk reduces little more.

Add half of the dry fruits and mix well.

While serving, add rest of the dry fruits on top to garnish.

Anokhi kheer is ready :)

By the way, for all my friends who don't know Hindi, Anokhi means "Different or unique". An onion kheer is definitely unique, isn't it?

I have purposely kept the consistency a little thin, but you can thicken it as much as you want. Just make sure it shouldn't be too thick like a halwa.

Happy Cooking :)

Dinkaache laadoo

We all know of the famous quote "Change is the only thing constant in life". As much as it is true when applied to life, i think it is true with one's food habits too. We all liked some ingredients/dishes as kids which now we don't fancy much, or vice-versa. Take laadoo for example. As a kid, I would eat rava laadoo or besan laadoo which was made during Diwali (I still do, but just 1-2 is enough now for the taste as compared to when i was younger, i would love and relish eating lots of them). I am not much of a fan of Motichoor ladoos, but we Maharshtrians make "Aalivache laadoo". I don't know if you all are aware of it. My mother used to make them at home. Ahh, the name has got me drooling as i haven't had them in ages! It's definitely one of the blog post soon (though they are best eaten in winters).

Aaliv is water cress seed or garden cress seed, also known as "Halim" in Hindi. Just as aaliv ladoos are eaten in winters, Dinkaache laadoo are best eaten in winters too. So, though i am late for this post, i thought of posting it seeing the cold windy airs and "rains in February" climate doing the rounds in India. Dink means gum in marathi , also known as "Gond" in Hindi. I was not much of a fan of these laadoos until my mother in law made them for me once! Since then, she always makes a point to pack these laadoos for me. These laadoos are sent by her from Pune and i thought i will archive the recipe, so in future i can make them too.

I have had Dinkaache laadoo at the famous Chitale Bandhu in Pune. No doubt, they were good, but the saazuk tup (homemade ghee) or the amount of dry fruits or good quality edible gum that my mother in law uses beats the commercial laadoos any day. One laadoo and a glass of milk serves as a nutritious breakfast for kids, or even adults. These laadoos are given to lactating mothers for fast recovery and it is known to increase milk production. When eaten in winters, it helps keep the body warm. So these laadoos definitely have loads of pluses - one more to add to be known as great energy boosters.

There are various ways in which these are made. Some add whole wheat flour instead of daal. Some add more of coconut instead of dry fruits. The nuts and dry fruits choices varies according to people, and some add jaggery/sugar according to choice. Now my Mother-in-law here has made these with urad daal and without sugar/jaggery.

Ingredients:

Urad daal - 250 gms

Kaju (cashews) - 250 gms

Badam (Almonds) - 250 gms

Pistachios - 250 gms (optional)

Kharik (dry dates) - 250 gms

Dry coconut (grated) - 250 gms

Dink (Edible gum) - 100 gm

Khajur (Dates) - 1/2 kg (You can use less of these, if adding jaggery or sugar)

Ghee - Between 1/4 kg to 1/2 kg

Nutmeg powder - 1 tsp

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Recipe:

Take a pan and dry roast the urad daal. Keep stirring till it becomes brown. Now let it cool. After it cools down, make a powder of it in the mixer-grinder.

Remove seeds from the dry dates and make them into small pieces. Dry roast it for a while and let it cool. Now powder them in a mixer-grinder.

Follow the same procedure for the dates, if you don't have seedless dates. 

Dry roast the kaju, badam and pistachios lightly and grind them to a powder in mixer grinder or just coarsely grind them with a mortar-pestle.

Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a kadhai and fry the edible gum (they will puff up immediately). Remove when they are light coloured.

In the same pan, roast dry grated coconut till it becomes light brown.

You can grind the roasted coconut and edible gum to a powder in mixer and grinder or just coarsely grind it in mortar pestle.

Add little more ghee to the pan (around 2 tbsp more if required), and now fry the urad daal peeth (powder we made earlier) for about 8-10 minutes. Make sure it doesn't burn or become dark brown, so keep sauteing it.

Now add the remaining ghee to this. Mix well.

Remove from stove and add the coconut, edible gum, the dry fruits and nuts, cardamom powder and nutmeg powder and both the dates.

If you feel they are less sweet for your taste, add little powdered sugar or melted jaggery.

Roll into ladoos and store in an air tight container.

Happy Cooking :)

Gazarachi kheer : Carrot Kheer

I'm on a carrot-cooking spree!!! Gajar halwa, Gajar pickle and i even made gajar chutney of which i will post the recipe soon. Guess, it's just the season (or the fact that i got 1 kg carrots at a steal price at the Sunday market :)). Whatever the reason, can't deny the fact that carrots are good for health and hence, a little overdose of them won't do any harm. Of late, my sweet cravings have increased that after every meal, i at least need a bite of chocolate if not anything, just to satisfy myself. So, every other day a dessert is made in the kitchen! Me and hubby both are kheer lovers. So, i digged into my refrigerator and found half a can of milkmaid and carrots! There! My dessert recipe was done!

Carrot kheer can be made with or without addition of rice. I have added rice, just because i wanted something wholesome to our otherwise light dinner of Maggi and egg :

Have any of you tried this combination?It's unbeatable, right? 
So, you can make the kheer without rice. Also i have added milkmaid, but you can replace it with sugar or add both according to personal preference. We like it a little less sweet and since i had milkmaid in the fridge, i decided to make with the same. Addition of milkmaid also gives it a thick consistency - somewhat like pudding. 

But trust me, whichever way you make it, you are going to lick the bowl clean. It tastes absolutely delicious!!!

Ingredients:

Carrots - 3

Milkmaid - 3 tbsp

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Almonds - a few

Raisins - a few

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Rice - 1/4 cup

Full cream milk - 1/2 litre

Recipe:

Soak 1/4 cup rice in a little water for about 15 minutes and then drain. Set aside for another 15 minutes.

Boil the milk and simmer it. Keep stirring in between so it doesn't stick to the bottom and also scrape the malai from the sides of the vessel.

Wash, peel and grate the carrots.

Heat ghee in a pan, add carrots and saute for about 3-4 minutes. Don't saute it a lot till they change colour (like we make halwa), this is just so they turn a little soft. Now add the rice, mix and saute along with the carrots for about 4-5 minutes.

Add this to the simmering milk and mix well.

Keep stirring in between and cook till milk starts to reduce (it almost reduces to half). By that time, the rice is cooked too and the carrots become soft and one with the milk.

Now add in the cardamom powder and raisins.

Crush the almonds with a mortar and pestle (just so it breaks uneven) and add to the milk.

Lastly, add in milkmaid. Check the sweetness. If desired, add more milkmaid and/or sugar and cook till sugar dissolves.

Garnish with chopped almonds.

Note: If you are adding sugar instead of milkmaid, add it to the milk before adding the carrot and rice. If you feel the kheer has thickened a lot, add little milk. I added homemade cream (saay, as we call it in Marathi - the cream on top of milk boiled). Or you can refrigerate it and have it as a pudding.

Happy Cooking :)

Payesh

Having Bengali friends around and not posting a single Bengali recipe was not going so well with me. I have tried making a lot of Bengali dishes lately of which Baingan Bhaja and Payesh are my favourites. Aloo Poshto tastes lip smacking too, but i havent tried making it yet. Guess that's this weekend menu, since i do have khas-khas (poppy seeds) in my kitchen! 

Every cuisine have their own distinct flavours and methods of preparation. Let's take Payesh - a kheer made from rice and boiled milk. There are so many different ways of preparing it. Some would boil the rice and milk together, some would boil the milk and then add rice. Some would add jaggery, and some would add sugar or a mix of both. People even make it with condensed milk or a mix of all. A friend of mine doesn't add jaggery but a paste of cashews and sugar. As they say...the food, water, taste changes every few kilometers in India.

I always feel that a particular dish tastes different related to a lot of factors. Lets say a simple bread butter toast would taste different sitting at home or at a dhaba or sitting by the riverside on a picnic or some 5 star hotel. The ambiance, the weather, the people you are with everything matters for the food that we eat. The taste also matters in regard to who is it cooking , and in what frame of mind. The same dish would taste different if i am cooking it with feelings of anger/frustration or so of happiness/ calmness. And it applies to the one eating it too. A dish would taste different if my mind is preoccupied with something else, or if i am watching television while eating or if i am reading a book or watching nature. Don't you all feel so? Give it a try.

Well, coming back to the post. A dear friend of mine got me some nolen gur (Date palm jaggery)during her visit back home. 

Since it was Sankranti yesterday, i thought of making Payesh. I couldn't post any recipe/picture yesterday, since my internet was down for almost 2 days for some reason. Yes, i definitely did make Til-gul (which i had posted last year), and here's wishing you all "Til gul ghya goad goad bola" :)

Payesh, as i made it with Nolen gur (Suggestions from 2 bengali friends):

Ingredients:

Full cream milk - 1 litre

Rice (i took Basmati rice) - 1/4 cup

Nolen gur (Jaggery) - little less than 1/2 cup (add according to taste)

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Bay leaf - 2

That's it! 5 ingredients and you are done!! You can add nuts, nutmeg powder, sugar etc according to your wish but i preferred keeping it basic.

Recipe:

Wash the rice till water is clear, drain and keep aside.

Bring the milk to boil and keep boiling it on sim to reduce it. 

Make sure you keep stirring it in between, and also scraping the cream from the sides.

After about 10 minutes, add the 2 bay leaves to the boiling milk.

Once milk reduces to 3/4th, add the rice. Now let the milk boil till rice is fully cooked. The milk will start changing colour to little yellowish.

Once the rice is cooked, the milk will have reduced to almost half. Now add the cardamom powder and mix.

Turn off the stove. Now add the jaggery (Add little pieces or grated jaggery and stir - it will melt automatically when you stir- no need to boil/cook it).

Payesh is ready!!! This one was loved by hubby's colleagues at office :) The nolen gur takes the taste to almost another level, but you can add normal jaggery instead too. 

Happy cooking :)

Gajar Halwa using condensed milk

I have already posted the traditional method of making Gajar halwa using khoya before : Gajar ka halwa . This time, i made the recipe using condensed milk (Milkmaid). Not only did it make the halwa quicker, but the thick consistency and texture was perfect! I saw this recipe on a food show on television and decided to try it out, since i wanted to make a quick dessert for guests coming over.

Yes, grating the carrots is no quick thing, and requires tremendous efforts and patience if you are making the halwa in bulk quantity. But one spoonful of the halwa melts in your mouth, and all the efforts seem worth it :) And when better to make it than this season!!! The carrots these days are so red and juicy, that we are eating it as a salad with almost every meal! 

Adding milkmaid already makes the halwa sweet, so there is no need to add extra sugar (we like it a bit less sweet), but if you like it very sweet, then do add more milkmaid or some extra sugar on top. Adding kesar is totally optional, but i somehow love it.

Ingredients:

Carrots - 1/2 kg

Ghee - 3 tbsp

Milkmaid - A little less than 1/2 tin

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Nuts - Almonds, cashews, raisins - add any of your choice. I crushed almonds and cashews coarsely in a mortar and pestle. Keep some aside to garnish.

Kesar - a few strands

Milk - 1 tbsp

Recipe:

Wash, peel and grate the carrots.

Warm the milk and add the kesar strands to it and keep aside.

Heat ghee in a pan and add the carrots. Saute them till they are cooked. They will change a bit of colour and leave water. Keep stirring in between to avoid burning.

Now add the condensed milk. Stir well and then add the cardamom powder.

Always keep the flame low. Keep stirring to let the halwa cook. You will know it's cooked when it dries up and starts forming a ball.

Check the taste if you need to add more milkmaid or sugar.

Now add the kesar and nuts and mix it all well.

Garnish with some nuts and tastes best when served warm in this season.

You can store it in air-tight container and refrigerate. The halwa stays good for almost a week.

Happy Cooking :)))

Dusshera special : Naralachya vadya

Naralachya vadya or coconut barfi is an easy to make sweet and is usually offered as a "Prashad" (offering) to God on auspicious days. Today being Dusshera (Dasra as we call it in Marathi), i made these and some kheer as prashad and thought of sharing it with you all. So here's wishing everyone reading this a very Happy Dasra!!!!

The significance of Dasra is not just burning the Ravana idols, but removing the evil from within. This is the day we start fresh and new removing all impurities from ourselves. Dasha Hara is a Sanskrit word which means removal of ten bad qualities within us:

Kama Vasana (Lust)
Krodha (Anger)
Moha (Attachment)
Lobha (Greed)
Mada (Over pride)
Matsara (Jealousy)
Swartha (Selfishness)
Anyaaya (Injustice)
Amanavta (Cruelty)
Ahankara (Ego)

This day is also known as Vijaydashmi which literally means "Vijay" (victory) over all these 10 bad qualities. In mythology, it is victory over 10 heads of Ravana from the Ramayana. Mythology is really interesting, if you add real-life meanings to each verse/poetry or story.

So, while introspecting myself and deciding to start meditation from today religiously, i made these sweets. After all, cooking is also meditating right? :)

Ingredients:

Fresh grated/scraped coconut - 1 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup ( If you like it too sweet, add 3/4 cup)

Alternatively you can also add jaggery, it fives a very nice texture and taste to the vadis. About 3/4 jaggery for a cup of coconut will be good.

Milk - 2 tbsp ( I read somewhere that this little amount of milk adds richness and white colour to the vadis)

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Sliced almonds - Garnishing

Ghee - to grease a plate

Recipe :

Grease a small plate with ghee and keep aside. This quantity of ingredients made about 12-14 vadis for me, so choose your plate accordingly.

In a non stick pan, put the coconut, sugar and milk and mix well. 

Keep the flame low, and stirring in between let the mixture cook.

The sugar will dissolve and the mixture will get watery...After some time, it will start leaving sides and form a lump of mixture.

Once the lump is formed, switch off the heat. If u overcook, the vadis will still taste great but will turn out to be little hard.

Now mix in the cardamom powder.

Put this mixture on the greased plate and with the help of spatula or the back of a small katori, spread it even.

Let it rest about 15 minutes and then cut the desired shapes and garnish with the almonds.

It stays well for 3-4 days without refrigerating, but i put them in the fridge since it's too hot here. 

Remove the vadis from the plate only after they are well cooled down.

Happy Cooking :)