Delicious Kesar Pedhas (Delights of Blogging)

Hi all ! Hmmm ... I must say I was a bit disappointed to see only one comment to my Mango Moods post. I am  sure though that many of you have read it and are also giving  a good thought to what you can make and send in . So do that people and send in as many entries as you like . Let me tell you entries have actually started trickling in. So I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyway let me get back to this post because this too is  a special post. I call it my "Delights of Blogging" kind of post and that's because it is a recipe I have followed from someone else's blog and has turned out delightfully well. All the credit for this recipe  goes to Ramya of Foodie Catalog. Thankyou Ramya for this awesome recipe I have always been on the lookout for a good recipe for Pedhas. I just love Pedhas and always wanted to make some at home especially as the ones we get here in UK come nowhere near the ones I am used to eating in Pune. So when I saw Ramya's recipe and her photos I just had to make some. I barely managed to wait until I could go out and buy some condensed milk.

The verdict on the Pedhas?  SUPERB !! Simply Superb!! They taste  so fresh and delicious. I shared some with a couple of friends and they were full of praise. One of them even said that had I not told him that they were homemade he would never have known. So there you are.

Now me being me I had to tweak the recipe a little, for the usual reason of not having one or the other ingredient at home . This time it was the butter. I did not have any, so I used ghee. That's it .

Ingredients:

Milk Powder – 2 cups

Condensed Milk – 1 can (14 OZ)

Ghee – ½ cup

Saffron – few strands

Water – 2 tsps

A pinch of salt

For decoration I used  milk masala , which is nothing but a combo of crushed pistachios, almonds, cardammom and saffron

Method:

1.Take a large wide mouthed microwave safe bowl and heat the ghee just until it melts.

2.Now add both the condensed milk and milk powder and microwave on full power  for 4 –5 mins stirring after every minute.

3.Heat water and add saffron. Mix with the dough and microwave again for another 4 to 5  more mins. The mixture kind of begins to thicken and also rise up . Be very careful when microwaving the hot mixture. Do not forget to stir frequently.

4.Cool the mixture  for a good 10 mins until it  is warm enough for you to handle . It get's the consistency of  chapati dough.

5. Now roll the pedhas. If tyou do this while the dough is still warm the Pedhas will roll into smooth balls. Give the pedhas a slight dent in the centre so that they look like the shop bought ones. Sprinkle with my suggested milk masala or any other dry fruit of your choice.

These Pedhas taste even better the next day. After a day or two store them in the fridge so they keep longer. Just microwave as  many as you want for 5 secs before eating or serving and they will taste fresh again. Next time you have a Pooja at your place amaze your guests with this Prasad.

Wheat and coconut cream pudding

A couple of days back my good friend Kavita left UK and went back to India for good. Before leaving she gave me a bagful of groceries that she had left over and obviously couldn't finish before she left. This is a normal practice amongst us friends . Whenever one of us is leaving for good we kind of have a grocery distribution programme between us . The person who is leaving accumulates all the store cupboard groceries that she cannot use up and asks us to take what ever we fancy . So everyone kind of gets to explore her groceries which is fun . Although of course it is no fun to have one of your group leave forever. It leaves a kind of empty void that is very difficult to get used to.

So this time along with other things I got something that I had never used before. She had a container full of hand-threshed whole wheat from her family farm back home in India. So it was of the best quality ever. K said her mom-in-law and sisters in law make a kheer out of it although she had never tried it herself it UK. My initial enthusiasm on recieving it faded a bit when I saw the whole grain and wondered how I would cook it. I have cooked bulgar wheat before but this was something else altogether.

So I tentatively cooked it in my pressure cooker with some water. Thankfully it cooked beautifully and the kheer or pudding that I made from it turned out just fabulous. I cooked it in coconut milk and the taste was mind-blowing. So thanks to K for that! Bulgar wheat being widely available and imparting the same taste is my recommendation as a substitute to the wheat I used for this pudding

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Bulgar Wheat,

1 can of coconut cream

1/2 cup fresh grated coconut,

3/4 cup jaggery (or use light brown muscovado sugar)

a generous pinch of saffron,

1/2 a tspn of cardammom powder

1/2 cup approx milk (to thin the kheer if needed)

2 tblspns ghee (clarified butter)

Method:

Cook the Bulgar wheat with the grated coconut and some water in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles.

In another pan heat the ghee and add the cooked wheat and stir for a couple of minutes

To this add the coconut milk/cream from the can and stir it in well,

Next add the jaggery/sugar and the saffron . (you can soak the saffron in warm water or milk for some time but it's not neccessary)

Now simmer the kheer /pudding for a good 20 to 25 minutes on a very low heat, stirring occasionally so it does'nt stick to the bottom of the pan.

If you would like it a bit thinner in consistency add the milk. Remember it becomes thicker and thicker as it cools down, so it a good idea to have it a bit thinner than you would like when it is hot.

Switch off the heat after 25 mins and sprinkle the cardammom powder and stir it in well.

This pudding tastes good warm or chilled. We love it chilled. So I chilled it in the fridge for an hour before serving. To serve decorate with cashews or almonds or any dry -fruit of your choice.

Mango Mastani (It's seriously addictive)

My memories of enjoying a Mango Mastani go back a long long way, right to the time when I was about 10 years old. I mean today Pune has some fabulous Mastani places where the Mastani is sold in many different flavours but back then my dad used to take us to a small place , a stall actually, located at Saras Baug (readers from Pune will know the location ) . It was called Vasant Cold Drink House . It belonged to a friend of my dad's and he and sold the most awesome Mango Mastani made from fresh Alphonso mangoes and made in a hand turned ice cream maker. Eating this Mastani was a luxury and at a price as low as Rs.10.00 per glass it was practically free considering today's prices. A Mastani today costs around Rs.60.00 to 70.00 at Sujata Mastani in Pune .

So every time I think of Mastani I always remember that small place which gave me my first taste of this beautiful beautiful dessert. No wonder it's also got this royal name . Mastani was a danseuse and wife to Bajirao Peshwa . She was a stunning combination of beauty and bravery that history recollects and it is said that her skin was as smooth and delicate as porcelain. Well our Mastani is just as beautiful, don't you think?

So here's my version of the Mango Mastani:
As it the Mango season I used fresh mangoes but otherwise just go ahead and use canned mango pulp, but preferably Alphonso mango.

To make 2 tall glasses of Mastani you need:
Pulp of 1 large Alphonso Mango or 2 medium ones (or of course the equivalent in canned pulp)
1.5 glasses of cold whole milk,
4 tpns sugar
lots of ice cubes
And good quality mango icecream or mango kulfi (I used kulfi)

Method:
Whizz up the milk ,mango , sugar and ice in a blender until thick and frothy. Pour out into tall glasses upto three quarters. Then put in 2 scoops of mango icecream on the top and decorate with cubed mango and some whipped cream . Put in a straw and a long spoon and serve chilled. Or drink it and go straight to heaven.

Other good variations are :
Rose milkshake and mango icecream,
Rose milkshake and pistacchio icecream,
Strawberry milkshake and vanilla icecream
But of course nothing comes close to the total mango version.

Kesar Rasmalai (Bollywood Cooking)

Blogging has changed my outlook towards cooking. Cooking for me is no more just something that I do to fill our stomachs but it has acquired a completely different facet. I go to extreme lengths now to make the food look as good as it tastes. And when there is a blog event that challenges me to bring out the best in me I am definitely game. That's exactly what Meeta's Monthly Mingle has done. The theme she has presented us (or rather challenged us with) this month is Bollywood Cooking. It's a fabulous theme with a wide variety of dishes to explore. Glamorous as Bollywood is , I thought my dish had to be equally glamorous . And my Kesar Rasmalai is just that. It's elegant, sophisticated, and has just the right balance sweetness and creaminess. I also wanted to try out something from a different culture than mine.

The other reason why I chose to make a Bengali sweet like Rasmalai is to celebrate all the beautiful Bengali actresses in Bollywood. Right from the beautiful Suchitra Sen and talented Aparna Sen, Jaya Bhaduri and Sharmila Tagore to current heartthrobs like Rani and Bipasha, Sushmita and Konkana the Bengali babes have ruled the silver screen in every decade. So here's to you girls!

Coming back to the recipe now, I an really surprised myself as to how well it came out. It is not difficult at all just a bit time consuming. My suggestion to all those who try it out is to make it at leisure when you have plenty of time on hand. Preferably when hubby and kids are out of the way.

Ingredients :
For the malai (or paneer balls):

1 lt cow milk,

1/4 cup lemon juice or ordinary vinegar,

6 cups water to cook the balls,

1 cup sugar,

1 tspn cardamom powder,

1 tray of ice cubes to be kept handy.

Ingredients for the flavoured milk:

1 can 400 gms evaporated milk,

750 ml whole milk,

15 tspns sugar,

1 tspn saffron soaked in a little warm milk,

1 tspn cardamom powder

Method for Malai balls:

1. Boil the milk in a heavy bottom pan.

2. Add to it the lemon juice when the milk begins to rise. This will instantly curdle the milk. As soon as the milk curdles switch off the gas and pour in the ice cubes to stop the cooking at once. Place a lid on the pan for a few minutes.

3. Remove the lid and strain the curdled milk through a clean muslin which is placed in a colander. Wash the paneer under running water to remove all the traces of the lemon juice.

4. Tie the ends of the muslin and hang the paneer for at least 1/2 hour so that all the water in it is completely drained out.

5. Meanwhile mix the evaporated milk and the whole milk and put on the heat to boil in a non-stick pan . Once it comes to a boil lower the heat to minimum and continue stirring the milk until it thicken just a little. This will take about 1/2 an hour. Continuous stirring is important or the milk might stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.

6.Once the milk thickens switch off the gas ,stir in the sugar , saffron and cardamom powder. Keep aside and let it cool a bit.

7. Before removing the paneer from the muslin give it a gentle knead through the muslin so that it comes out smooth in texture.

8. Now roll out small balls and flatten them slightly with your palm. Just like to see in the pic below. 1 litre of milk will make about 15 . Balls should not be too big as they do swell after they are cooked in the sugar and water syrup. 9. Boil the 6 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar in a large pan till sugar dissolves. The syrup should be kept boiling on a high flame when you drop the paneer balls in it. This is very important. If the lower the heat the balls will simply break in the water and disintegrate. Place a lid over the pan and let the paneer balls cook for 6 to 7 minutes on high flame.
10. They rise to the top and get fine cracks on the surface when they are completely cooked. To remove them first take a few ladles of the hot syrup in a bowl and then place the cooked balls from the pan into this bowl. They stay intact and firm when they are kept in liquid. Let them cool down a bit .

11. When you add the paneer balls to the flavoured sweet milk remember that the balls and the milk should both be lukewarm. Add the balls gently to the milk and place in the fridge to cool the dish thoroughly before serving. This dish is best made one day in advance. Before serving garnish generously with sliced almonds and pistachios for that special touch.

I really urge all of you to try this dish out at least once. It's just too delicious for words. I hope Meeta tries it out too. Knowing her, she will!

Anjeer (Dry Fig) Milkshake

Whenever we go to the foodstore we have to stop at Whole Foods section. Hubby being a great fan of pumpkin and sunflower seeds ,it is neccessary to top up the supply of seeds in the pantry every 2 weeks at least. I am not much of a seed eater (read: I can't stand them) but I do occassionally like to eat dried berries and nuts in a combo. So while buying those a few weeks back I don't know why I picked up a packet of organic dry figs. I really don't know why I bought them because I never ever liked the stuff . I enjoy fresh figs but dried figs are a completely different story. It is as if it's a totally different fruit. But they were beautifully packed and the word "Organic" probably lured me into buying them.

Well after that they just lay in the pantry cupboard being moved this way and that way whenever I wanted to get something else from the cupboard. I put some in my son's lunch box but they came back half nibbled. I guess he takes after me where dry figs are concerned. Every few days I would just open the pack to see whether they were still in good condition or ready to be thrown away but surprisingly nothing happened to them. I kept saying to myself "You bought them , now do something with them." Than I remembered my mom saying that fig icecream and fig milkshake had to be made from dry figs as the fresh ones tasted bitter when blended.

So I soaked the figs in cold milk for 3 to 4 hrs. They absorbed a little of the milk and got quite plump and soft. I knew I was on the right track now and the milkshake turned out really well. A bit thick but really yum. And I was happy that I had put the figs to good use.

Here's what all I used:
6/7 figs soaked in 1 glass of cold milk for 4 hrs,
2 glasses whole milk,
2/3 tspns sugar (can be omitted)
some crushed ice or simply 3 to 4 icecubes.

Method:
Just blend the figs, milk, sugar and ice till creamy and frothy. Pour out into glasses and enjoy .

Next time I am going to try out making fig icecream. If it turns out well You know you will see it here on Food-n-More .