Rasmalai

Ingredients

(makes 10-12 pieces)

milk - 7 cups

sugar - 2 cups

water - 3 cups

lemon - 1

cardamom powder - 1/2 tbsp

Chopped nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews)

saffron - few strands

Steps

For the syrup

1. Take a thick bottomed pot and boil 3 cups of milk on medium heat for about half an hour. The milk level should be slightly reduced by now.

2. In a bowl, add about 2 tsp of custard powder with a bit of milk/water and mix it into the pot. Take care that you do not add too much of custard powder and cardamom powder as the milk should not be too thick. The milk should be light yellow in colour. Keep stirring regularly so that the milk does not burn and stick to the bottom. Pour this in a bowl and cool.

For the patties

1. Boil 4 cups of milk in a pot. Squeeze out the lemon juice into a separate bowl.

2. Add the lemon juice to the milk and stir it continuously at the same time. The milk breaks and water will separate. Turn off the heat.

3. strain using a muslin or cotton cloth. Pour some cold water immediately over the paneer and squeeze it thoroughly. Hang the paneer in this cloth for atleast 40 minutesto get rid of the remaining water.

4. Now knead the paneer and make small patties out of it. Pat the edges as they tend to crack up.

For Rasmalai

1. In a pot,boil 3 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar. Add the paneer patties and boil for 5 minutes. They will swell up.

2. Put them into cold water for a minute or two to stop the cooking process.

3. Now transfer them into the cooled syrup and sprinkle the chopped nuts and saffron on it.

4. Let it rest in the fridge for atleast two hours before serving so that the syrup is absorbed into the rasmalai.

Tips

You can add powdered cashews and almonds to the milk (for the syrup) while boiling and strain it before adding the custard powder. This enhances the flavour further.

Rasmalai tastes very good when you rest it for a few hours after cooking. All the flavours get absorbed by then.

Cashew nut Halwa

Ingredients

Cashew nuts - 1 cup

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Milk - 1 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Cardomom powder - 1/2 tsp

Steps

1. Soak the cashew nuts in water for 30 minutes.

2. Grind the cashews, milk and sugar into a paste.

3. Heat the ghee in a pan. Fry a few cashewnuts and set aside.

4. Add the cashew paste and cook it on slow flame till it leaves the sides of the pan and becomes lumpy.

5. Garnish with fried cashews.

Tips

You can use this halwa as a stuffing to make other sweets. For example, cashew puffs and cashew poli.

Poli / Bobbattu / Baksham / Holige

Poli - Bobbattu - Baksham - Holige...... the name can be anything. But it tastes the same - heavenly. In AP, these are made especially for Ugadi, the Telugu New year's eve.

I have some 'sweet' memories associated with it. The day before Ugadi, I would be almost as busy as my mom - putting colourful rangolis all around the house, stringing fresh flowers to hang over the doors, setting up the puja mandir and grinding the dal and jaggery in a big mortar for making polis. Yes, we did it the old way and it was fun. My mom and I used to take turns grinding the dal and jaggery and talk about everything under the sun during that time - so busy yet so relaxed and talking.

To bring some of the past sweetness into the present, I've made all sorts of polis which I've listed at the end. But in my home, the most traditional and original one is the chana dal poli my mom makes on Ugadi which I've listed here.

Ingredients

Chana Dal - 1 cups

Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup

Grated Jaggery - 1/2 cup

All purpose flour (maida)- 1 Cup

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Salt - 1 pinch

Oil

Ghee/Butter - 1/2 cup

Steps

2 hrs before..

1. Make a soft dough of Maida with ghee/butter and water. Knead it well and rest it for 2-3 hours. It should be sticky.

2. Soak the chana dal for 1/2 hr.

1 hr before..

1. Pressure cook channa dal till it turns very soft. Drain the dal and grind to a smooth paste. Keep the drained water aside. It can be used to make a delicious rasam called poli charu or bakshala rasam.

2. Heat a pot and add the ground dal paste, coconut powder, cadamom powder and powdered jaggery. Cook till all the moisture is gone and they form a thick lump. Add cardamom powder, mix well and let it cool.

Prepare small lemon sized rounds for stuffing and Keep aside.

Take a plastic sheet or banana leaf smeared with oil. Place a medium sized round of maida dough and flatten it like small puri. Place the dal-jaggery stuffing in the center and close with maida dough from all sides. Roll out again like parathas.

On low heat, roast the polis on both sides till you see brown spots. You can use ghee or oil while doing this.

Serving ideas

Serve the poli with a small cup of ghee or milk.

Meal Today: Polilu smeared with desi ghee

Tips

.. For soft polis make sure you rest the dough well and get rid of moisture in the filling.

.. You can make the polis with tuvar dal or moong dal or a mixture of any of these (chana,moong,tuvar) dals.

.. Get creative and try out different fillings. For example you can make many alternative polis like -

Mango poli (Mix mango pulp while cooking the dal and jaggery in step 3)

Kesari poli (Instead of the dal-jaggery-coconut filling use rava kesari)

Carrot poli (Carrot halwa filling)

Almond/cashew poli (use almond/cashew halwa as filling)

Til (Sesame) poli ( pound the sesame seeds and jaggery together)

.. For a healthier version, use wheat flour for the dough and mix freshly grated coconut and honey to make instant stuffing. This Coconut-honey poli is fast, easy and healthy.

Strawberry-Orange Shrikhand

This is one sweet dish that is great for the health-conscious and is very easy to make. It requires no ghee/butter but sure is delicious.

Ingredients

Strawberries - 1/2 Dozen

Orange - 1/2
Yoghurt - 3 cups
Cardamom seeds - 1/2 tsp
Almonds/Pistachios - 1 tsp (sliced)
Sugar (optional)

Honey

Steps

1. Place the yogurt in a muslin cloth and hang it for 4 hrs to drain off the water.

2. Puree the strawberries and orange along with sugar and/or honey. Strain so that you get a smooth sauce.

3. In a bowl, mix the yogurt with the pureed sauce so that there are no lumps. Add in the cardamom and sliced almonds/pistachios.

4. Garnish with sliced fruit and serve chilled.

Serving ideas

You can mix in sliced fruits with the shrikhand.

If you like to have some texture to this dish, do not strain the sauce.

Tips

You can use any fruit to make this dish. Stewed fruits also do well.

The amount of sugar needed would depend on your taste and the tartness/sweetness of the fruits used.

The whey from the curd can be used as stock in other dishes.

Carrot Pie

Ingredients

For the filling

sugar - 3/4 cup

chopped carrots - 2 cups

eggs - 2

cinnamon powder - 1 tsp

Ginger - 1/4 tsp (ground)

vanilla extract - 1 tsp

milk - 3/4 cup

For Pie Crust

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, chilled and diced

1/4 cup ice water

Directions

Steps

For the crust

1. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Add in butter until and mix till the flour resembles coarse crumbs. Add water and knead the dough. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate overnight.

2. Roll out the dough to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Place crust in pie plate and press evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate. You can make a pattern on the ends.

For the pie

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Bake the pie shell for 3 to 5 minutes to firm it up and set aside.

2. Boil the carrots and mash them using a food processor along with sugar and eggs using a food processor. Add the cinnamon, ginger, vanilla and milk and mix well.

3. Pour the mixture into the partially baked pie shell.

4. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes at 375 F or until set.

Serving ideas

Top the pie with rice crispies and whipping cream.

You can also use the pie as part of a trifle.

Tips

Use condensed milk for better setting of the pie

You can also use a cracker crust for the pie.

Ingredients

finely ground graham cracker crumbs - 1 1/2 cups

white sugar - 1/3 cup

Butter - 6 tbsp

Steps

Mix cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Press mixture into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate. Chill for 1-2 hour. Pour the mixture and bake.

Food Article @ life123 - 1

Papaya Halwa