Festive cooking

Balehannina Berati Payasa / Payasam by plantain preserve:

April 7, 2019

First, I want to wish a very very happy “Ugadi” to all my readers. Ugadi marks the beginning of the new Hindu lunar Calendar, which is based on the change in the moon’s orbit. Ugadi is a Lunar New year for us.

On the eve of this festival I made our traditional payasam and enjoyed with my family.

“Berati” is nothing but preserved fruit pulp, which is cooked until it forms into thick mass and usually made when it is in abundance and stored for future use.

How to preserve jackfruit and Banana / Berati is already shared in my blog.

In Coastal region we love jack and Banana in many forms. Berati Payasa (preserved Banana or Jack) is one of them.

Now we will see traditionally how it is made:

Ingredients:

Berati / Banana preserve – 1 bowl

Coconut – 1 (To extract milk)

-OR-

Thin coconut milk – 2cups

Thick coconut milk – ½ cup

Salt – ½ tsp

Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

For Seasoning:

Ghee – 1 tbl sp

Thin Coconut slices – 2 tbl sp

Cashew pieces – 2 tbl sp

Toasted black sesame – 1 table spoon

Fresh coconut slices – 1 to 2 table spoons

Method:

Take out Berati from your freezer and keep aside for some time to attain room temperature.

Slice coconut by using small knife, chop these sliced pieces into small bits.
Toast black sesame and keep aside.
Take little ghee and fry coconut bits and keep aside.
If you want to, you can add ghee roasted cashew bits as well.
Grate coconut (coconut should be fresh), put one cup of water and grind this in a mixer jar and extract milk by sieving this ground mixture. This is thick coconut milk and you should keep this separately. We use this at the end stage of Payasa making.
Do this procedure a couple of times to get a thin extract and lastly discard coconut fibre.
If you are using readymade coconut milk, please skip this step.
Now take one thick bottomed vessel, put Berati, thin coconut milk and dissolve Berati and keep this on a gas stove to boil.
Usually while making Berati, we put Sugar, so no need of additional sugar.

Lastly add thick extract of coconut milk and give one boil. Don’t boil it much. Add Cardamom powder and mix.
Remove from fire and add fried coconut pieces, toasted black sesame or cashew brittles to prepared Payasa.
Serve with lunch thali or as a dessert.

NOTE:

Traditionally only toasted sesame and coconut bits are added.
Vegans can omit ghee and roast all the items, instead of frying.

Nolen Gur Payesh / Rice kheer with date palm jaggery:

March 22, 2019

Rice kheer or Paramanna is an integral part of any festivities in many parts of India. Every region has its own method or style. Usage of ingredients would differ according to the region. Such as the addition of plain milk or coconut milk. Usage of Jaggery or sugar. So, in west Bengal, they use date palm jaggery, which is known as Nolen Gur, which is available only during the wintertime; they make a lot of delicacies by using this special jaggery. It ranges from Nolen Gur Payesh, Nolen Gur Rasgulla, Nolen Gur Sandesh are the few. I wanted to try this out in my cooking and bought it online.

They usually use plain tiny grain rice or dried rice-shaped vermicelli, which is known as Chushi pithe. Chushi pithe is nothing but handmade Rice vermicelli. In Mangalore, we make rice noodles known as Halittu or Paradi and use them in a Payasa/ kheer, and we usually use coconut milk. So, I tried my regional method and proceeded. It tasted divine!! Usage of coconut milk and taste of the palm jaggery was the best decision, and it was very rustic and flavourful in taste.

Ingredients:

Chushi Pithe/handmade rice vermicelli – 200 grams (you can use small grain rice as well)

Almond or Cashew – ½ cup (slivered)

Nolen gur – 300 grams (used Patali gur)

Coconut milk – 200 grams

Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

Ghee – 1 tsp (vegans can skip this)

Method:

-Take one thick bottomed vessel, add ghee and fry almond and rice vermicelli (Chushi pithe) or if you are using plain rice.

-Add around one litre of water and cook until rice cooks perfectly. Whenever it’s needed, add extra water little by little and cook.

-Now, add jaggery of your choice, boil until it smells divine and the aroma spreads. Here, the raw smell of the jaggery should vanish.

-Lastly, add one tetra pack of coconut milk, give one boil. Garnish with cardamom powder and mix.

NOTE:

-If you are using fresh homemade coconut milk, extract three times, preserve thick (1^st extract) and add at the end.

-thin coconut milk of 2^nd and 3^rd extracts can be added while boiling or cooking rice vermicelli.

Mixed vegetable with spinach:

March 5, 2019

Sweet potato is a versatile veggie and it blends very well with any veggies. Made this side dish to use my little harvest of spinach and Sweet potato by mixing with seasonal favorite cauliflower to make it attractive. . It is a perfect healthy side dish for Roti’s.

How I do-

Ingredients:

Spinach – one bundle.

Cauliflower florets: one bowl (cleaned, washed)

Sweet potato – one bowl (washed and chopped)

Capsicum -1

Tomato – 2 to 3

Green chillies -2

Ginger – 1”

Oil – 2 tbl sp

Hing – ¼ tsp

Cumin – ½ tsp

turmeric – ½ tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Salt

Black pepper – 6, cloves -3, cinnamon – ½ “, cardamom -2

Method:

-Take one bowl of water, add salt, cook sweet potato and drain, keep aside.

-by using this same water blanch cauliflower florets, drain and keep aside.

-Now add chopped spinach to this water, add a pinch of sugar to retain green color and blanch. When it is cool, blend this and keep aside.

– Now make coarse powder of black pepper, clove, cinnamon and cardamom.

-Make a paste of tomato, green chilli and ginger.

-Take one pan add 2 tsp of oil, when it is hot, add capsicum fry a little. Then add blanched cauliflower and sweet potato, toss and keep aside.

-In another tawa add oil, hing, jeera, powdered spices, tomato paste, turmeric, coriander powder, fry till oil leaves from the sides.

-Put spinach paste, check for salt and add tossed veggies. Mix till all the veggies are coated with masala and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

-Enjoy with any kind of Indian flat breads or roti’s.

Baked Carrot Halwa:

January 1, 2019

Baked halwa is an experiment to attempt halwa in an easy manner. This halwa is not a grainy textured one, it is very smooth and flavourful.

I was thinking of trying out carrot halwa by baking and felt like using my regular carrot halwa ratio in this as well to maintain nice colour and flavour by using Delhi Red carrot which is available only during the winter months as well as the regular orange one.

In this recipe, at first, I have cooked the carrot, then pureed and baked. The recipe goes like this –

Ingredients:

Red carrot – 1 kg

Regular carrot – ½ kg

Milk – ½ cup

Sugar – 2 to 3 cups (according to your taste)

Cardamom – 1 tsp

Saffron – 8 – 10 strings (optional)

Salt – one pinch (it really helps in balancing the taste)

Ghee – ½ cup

Slivered almonds – (roasted)

Method:

-Wash, slice the carrots. Take one pressure cooker and cook carrot by adding milk and saffron until 2 to 3 whistles.

-When cooked carrot comes to room temperature, churn it into a puree by adding sugar or you can do it like me.

-Now take this puree, mix in sugar, cook until sugar dissolves and add ghee, salt and cardamom. check the sugar and if needed adjust according to your taste.

-Transfer this mixture into a baking dish and bake this in a pre-heated oven at 180 °C for 40 to 60 minutes or until top layer becomes dark and bubbly.

-Remove from the oven and spread the almond slivers at the top and you can proceed to enjoy as it is or with a scoop of ice cream.

Lemon thumb print cookies:

December 21, 2018

When I have homemade lemon curd, I use it in my baking and enjoy the tangy taste. Usually I make lemon thumb print cookies by using All-purpose flour and now a days, due to my healthy baking concept wanted to use healthy flour. I thought of using my Oats cookies recipe as a base and proceeded. It worked out and I am sharing the procedure of thumb print cookies using lemon curd. I have already shared my home-made lemon curd recipe as well as oats cookies recipe separately in my blog. Link will be open, if you enter the highlighted words.

Now we will see how I made this.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour -1 cup

Powdered oats – 1 cup

Sugar -1 cup

Baking soda -1 tsp.

Vanilla essence – 1 tsp.

Ghee /Clarified butter – ½ cup

Milk – 2 table sp to 3 tbl sp (to bind)

Lemon curd to fill the indent.

Method:

-In a mixer jar, powder oats, measure and keep aside.

-powder sugar and keep aside.

-Now take one mixing bowl, take all the dry ingredients like whole wheat flour, oats powder, sugar powder, baking soda, vanilla essence and mix it thoroughly by using hand ,so that flavor will spread uniformly.

-Now mix in melted ghee and bind it together. If it is a little dry, add one to two table spoons of milk, if it binds and holds a shape well and good. Otherwise add one more table spoon of milk and make a ball like Chapati dough.

-Now pre-heat your oven in 170°C. Line the baking tray with butter paper.

-Line your cookie tray with butter paper or aluminium foil and keep it ready.

-Take one small cookie scoop or a Table spoon to shape the dough into semi-circle balls and place at a lined tray.

-Make an indent at the centre, by pressing your index finger.

-Fill the indent with lemon curd.

-Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until base becomes light brown in colour and seeing some cracks around the edges.

-Now don’t disturb these beauties and allow them to cool completely. Then you can store this in an airtight container.

Broken wheat Huggi:

December 17, 2018

Huggi is a very popular, semi solid dessert of North Karnataka and each house has its own method. It is a sort of homely recipe and you would not find in any restaurant. Broken wheat is known as Godhi nucchu in Kannada language. I learnt Some of my favourite North Karnataka recipes from my previous neighbour aunty, who hails from Solapur near Gulbarga. I used to enjoy whatever she used to offer, starting from simple triangle chapati, obbattu, obbattu saru, chapparadavarekai palya, chavlikai palya and khara byale saru to Godhi nucchina Huggi, which she used to offer to God, every Friday evening and used to offer as a prasadam to us.

Aunty used to use hardly 3 ingredients and it used to taste divine. It is no coconut dessert and you can feel the texture of wheat as well as flavour. Preparation is very quick and simple and needs hardly any pre-preparation.

Recipe goes like this-

Ingredients:

Broken wheat – 1 cup

Jaggery – ¾ cup

Salt – ¼ tsp

Ghee – ¼ cup

Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

Cashew pieces – Roasted (Optional)

Method:

-Wash broken wheat twice. Cook with 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt for 2 to 3 whistles.

-Mean time, heat jaggery by adding ½ cup of water. Strain the liquid and remove the impurities.

-Add strained jaggery syrup to cooked wheat and cook further at a very low temperature.

-When raw smell of jaggery vanishes, add ghee and cook further by mixing in between.

-Lastly when mixture becomes like a mass, add cardamom powder, garnish with roasted cashew and serve.

DATE CAKE:

December 7, 2018

I must say, this cake is my Signature dish and very close to my heart. When I was trying my hand in baking, I experienced a lot of failures, but this recipe has uplifted my faith in trying and achieving my goal.

Whenever I made this, everyone liked it for its soft, moist texture. As a little treat to help you relax and settle into Christmas mood, I will share my very easy Date cake recipe with very minimal ingredients. If anyone wants to try their hand at baking, this is just the recipe for you. Just go ahead and try this, you will never regret it.

Now we will see how to make this,

Ingredients:

Dates – 1 cup

Butter /oil – 1 cup

Sugar – 1 cup

All purpose flour – 2 cups (you can mix whole wheat and all purpose too)

Eggs – 2 (beaten)

Water – 1 cup

Cooking soda – 1 tsp or little less.

Method:

– De-seed the dates and chop it either by using food processor or knife, keep aside.

-Grease the baking tray (you can use bread tin as well). Line this with butter paper, keep it ready.

– Take water in a small bowl and boil. When it starts boiling switch off the gas, add chopped dates, butter, sugar, and cooking soda to boiled water and keep aside at least for 20 min.

– After it cools, add beaten eggs and mix nicely.

-Now fold in All-purpose flour, mix gently and pour this batter to greased and lined baking vessel.

-Bake this in a pre- heated oven for 35 -40 min or until done at 180 C.

-If you want to check its doneness, use tooth pick or knife. Insert this, if it comes out clean, remove the tin, keep it outside.

-After some time, remove butter paper and cool further.

-When it reaches room temperature, you can slice it or cut according to your wish and enjoy with cup of coffee or tea.

Note: For the Eggless Version, use 1/2 cup of flax gel and you can refer my earlier post for the preparation.

Peek a Boo “Baked Gulab Jamun cheese cake”:

November 29, 2018

Long ago, I mean in and around 2015 I tried the No bake cheese cake with hidden Jamun inside on the event of my hubby’s birthday. I was wondering what to make, and I thought, why not a mix of what he likes? He loves Badam milk and Gulab jamun; so, I thought of combining these two flavours and made a jamun cheese cake and he did wonder about the flavour. The upper layer of almond milk flavour went well with the Gulab jamun and the cheese cake was a very big hit! At that time, my recipes used to publish on Readoo and you can see it over here.

Today, we are celebrating our 20^th year of marriage as well as 2^nd year of my blogging. So, I thought of improvising my idea and went ahead with the same flavour but baked version as well as non-baked top layer.

To mark the occasion, I made my signature cheese cake flavour with a little additional twist and here is the recipe-

Ingredients:

For the first layer (Crust):

Choice of any crackers biscuits – 1 ½ cup to 2 cups (powdered)

Sugar – 5 to 6 table spoons

Melted butter – 1/3 cup

Gulab Jamuns – Dried (sugar syrup removed)

Method:

-Pre- heat oven at 165°C

-Combine all the ingredients from biscuits powder, sugar and melted butter. It becomes like a wet crumb.

-Take a 9 to 10” spring-form baking dish, press this crumb at the base by using any one of your measuring cups.

-Crumb should be slightly above the base at the edges.

-Before heading towards the second layer, arrange all the Gulab jamuns according to your wish.

For the second layer (Filling):

Cream cheese – 3 tubs (238 grams or 250 grams)

Sugar – 1 ½ cup

Eggs – 4 (separated)

Lemon juice – 1 table spoon

Vanilla extract – 1 tea spoon

Method:

-Mix together Cream cheese, sugar, 4 egg yolks, lemon juice and vanilla.

-In another bowl, beat 4 egg whites until frothy and little stiff as well as creamy.

-Fold egg white with cream cheese and pour the mixture over the first layer/Gulab jamun layer.

-Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until done, in a preheated oven at 165°C.

-When it is done, you will find a raised dome like a structure and 2 to 3 slits at the centre. After switching off the oven, leave the cake inside the oven at least for an hour with the oven door closed.

-After an hour, remove it and chill in the refrigerator by enclosing it in cling wrap, if you are not adding the 3^rd layer immediately or proceed for a third layer.

For the 3^rd Layer (Glaze):

Milk – 1 ¼ cup

-Veg gelatin -1 tsp

Badam milk – 4 tsps

Custard powder – 1 tsp (vanilla flavour)

Saffron strands – generous amount

Method:

-Dissolve gelatin in ¼ cup of milk.

-Dissolve custard powder, Badam milk powder and add saffron to one cup of milk and start heating.

-When it is hot, add in gelatin added milk and boil for 2 minutes.

-Pour the mixture over the ready cooled cake. When it is set and becomes cool, cover the cling wrap and keep it a refrigerator to cool.

-It needs at least an overnight or 8 hours of cooling. I kept it for 20 hours. It tasted as I was expecting and loved the outcome and it surely made my special day a memorable one.

Chole Bhature (Chana Bhatura) and Alu subzi:

November 26, 2018

Do I need to introduce every one’s favourite dish? It is basically a deep-fried bread with the fermented / proofed flour dough which Is served with semi dried chick pea curry and potato dry Subzi. This is how we eat or were introduced to this loved-by-all dish.

To prepare we need –

For Chole:

Ingredients:

Chana / white chickpea – 1 cup (soaked and swelled)

Black salt – 1 table spoon

Amla powder / Anardana powder – 1 tea spoon

Oil – 1 table spoon

Ghee – 1 table spoon + 1 tea spoon

Onion – 1 (chopped)

Green chilli – 1 (slit)

Ginger – ½ inch (sliced)

Garlic – 4 (crushed)

Tomatoes – 2 (chopped)

Turmeric – 1 ½ tea spoon

Red chilli powder – 1 tea spoon

Coriander powder – 2 tea spoons

Cumin powder – 1 tea spoon

Garam masala – 1 ½ tea spoon

Kasuri methi – 1 table spoon

Salt

Coriander leaves – chopped

Method:

-Cook soaked chana with enough water, black salt and amla powder. It would take any where between 5 to 6 whistles in the pressure cooker.

-Take one tawa, Heat oil and 1 table spoon of ghee. Add onion, green chilli, garlic and ginger fry until it is transparent and light brown.

-Add in all the masalas, from turmeric to Kasuri methi and salt fry for a while. Add tomato, continue frying until tomato wilts. If needed sprinkle some cooked water from the chana and cook tomato well.

-Cool this mixture and grind this into a smooth paste by adding ladle of cooked chana as well. (it would help gravy to thicken)

-Now mix in this paste with cooked chana and start boiling until oil oozes out and garnish with chopped coriander leaves and 1 tea spoon of ghee.

Now we will move towards Bhature / Bhatura :

Ingredients:

Whole wheat – 2 ½ cups

Maida – 1 cup

Chiroti Rava – 1 cup

Curd – ½ cup

Water – ½ cup

Salt

Sugar – 1 tea spoon

Yeast – 1 tea spoon

Oil – 2 tea spoons

Method:

-Take Luke warm water- mix in curd, sugar, salt and yeast. Close the lid and wait until it proofs and bubbles.

-Dry mix all the flours or you can take only Maida as well. Make a dough by using yeast water and apply an oil and keep aside for 2 to 3 hours or until doubles the volume.

-When it is ready or time to serve, roll a small disc and deep fry.

Now one more dish, which is purely an optional item:

Alu Subzi / potato dry:

Ingredient:

Potatoes – 5 to 6

Mustard oil – 2 table spoons

Sun flower oil – 2 table spoons

Cumin – 1 tea spoon

Turmeric – ½ tsp

Coriander powder – 1 to 2 tsp

Red chilli powder – 1 to 2 tsps.

Amchur powder – 1 tsp

Garam masala – 1 tsp

Little Subzi masala – 1 tsp (optional)

Sugar – 1 pinch

Salt

Coriander leaves – chopped (to garnish)

Method:

-Cook potato in pressure cooker for 1 whistle. Peel the skin and dice.

-Take one tawa, heat oil, cumin, diced potatoes, all the powders and fry until masala is coated and becomes little crispy.

Garnish with coriander greens.

For deep fried chillies and Onions :

I normally slit the chillies, put a drop of lemon and salt inside and marinate. While frying bhature, deep fry and serve.

Half the onion, slice width wise and separate the layers by hand and sprinkle some salt and chopped coriander.

While plating, place Bhature, chana , potato, little onions and one chilli and serve with love

Gujiya / Dry fruits Karanji/ Karjikai:

November 5, 2018

Deepavali aka Diwali is an important festival of India and is spread between three days. Indian festivals are incomplete without sweets and savouries. In India, each festival has its own significance in celebration as well as its menu. Gujiya is one of them and has a very important role during Diwali.

Gujiya is a deep-fried flour-based delicacy, with different fillings in different regions. It is known by a different name in each region. Outer cover will be the same and inner stuffing varies from Rava – sugar, coconut – jaggery, coconut – sugar, mawa (milk solids) with dry fruits or with only dry fruits are traditionally seen. Nowadays you get to see so many variations from chocolate to cheese filling as well as baked version.

In North India, after frying the Gujiya, they usually dip it in a sugar syrup and outer cover would be wet and shiny. In south India, we normally deep fry and serve as it is and it’s known as Karanji / Karjikai.

I used to follow Chef Sanjeev Kapoor and learnt so many recipes from him and this is one such recipe. Over the years, I tweaked it a little and adjusted it according to our taste and it has one added advantage of longer shelf life, due to the usage of milkmaid instead of khoya.

Ingredients:

For the outer cover / shell:

All-purpose flour – 2 ½ cups

Salt – ¼ tsp

Ghee – 6 table spoons

Water – As needed (normal water)

Oil – for Deep frying

For the stuffing /filling:

Desiccated coconut – 200 grams

Semolina – 2 table spoons

Almonds – ¼ cup

Cashew – ¼ cup

Raisin – ¼ cup

Cardamom – 1 tsp

Condensed milk – 1 tin (400 grams)

Method:

For the outer cover-

-In a bowl, add flour and pour ghee. Rub the ghee and flour by using your hand for 5 to 10 minutes.

-After a while, flour would resemble like a semi wet crumb.

-Now add required amount of water to make a firm dough.

-Cover the dough with wet cloth and keep aside for half an hour.

Note: Dough approximately holds ½ cup of water.

In the meantime, prepare the stuffing –

-Roast semolina in a low flame, switch off the gas. Mix in all the other ingredients from almond to condensed milk.

-Keep it until mixture is non-sticky while touching.

-Now comes the actual procedure. You can use three methods.

Use Gujiya mould.

2.Take a dough, roll into big thin circle, use cookie cutter to make small, uniform circle.

Take little dough, make small poori like discs.

Here I have followed the third method.

This quantity has yielded 28 Gujiya.

-Divide the dough, make roundels, fill the stuffing, close into half.

-Dip your hand in water, now, start folding the edges from one corner and go on folding like a half diamond shape at regular intervals until you reach the other end.

-Keep this ready, stuffed, yet to fry Gujiya to air dry.

-Repeat the procedure and finish off the filling work.

-Heat the oil for deep frying in low temperature.

-When oil is hot, drop one by one Gujiya, fry in a low flame to get good results.

-When everything is fried and cooled, store it in an air tight container.

NOTE:

To get a perfect Gujiya – these points are very important.

1- Rubbing the ghee + flour.

2-Frying in a low fire