RICE AND JAGGERY PAYASAM

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

A quick and very easy dessert. Healthy for people who are sick(suffering with normal fever or cold). The day doctor suggests that you can give jaggery to your baby, this is the best food(minus the coconut milk). No need to buy anything extra for it. You will usually have all these at home. Its quick dessert for unexpected guests. Believe me, it looks bland but the taste is really very good.

Coming to the recipe,

Ingredients:

Rice flour  - 1/2 cup

Jaggery - 1/2 cup or less (grated or powdered)

Water - 1 cup

Milk - 1/2 cup

Coconut milk powder - 2 tbsp or freshly  coconut milk - 1/4 cup

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Almonds and cashew nuts - 1 or 2 tbsp, crushed or cut into small bits

Ghee to fry the dry nuts

Method:

Keep water to boil in thick bottomed pan.

Take half the milk in a bowl and mix the rice flour in it to remove lumps. 

In other half milk add the coconut milk powder and mix well to avoid lumps. (skip this step if you are using fresh coconut milk) 

Once the water start boiling add the jaggery and allow to melt. If you see any dirt in it please sieve and keep again to boil. 

Now add the rice flour and milk. Mix well to avoid lumps. Boil on a medium flame for few minutes. Add the coconut milk cardamom powder. Boil till the rice flour is cooked. The color will change and you will get the nice aroma of the cooked rice flour. Remove and keep it aside. Heat ghee in another small pan, fry the nuts.

Add it to the ready payasam.

Isn't it easy? And its really delicious, the coconut flavour is really a blessing in this dessert.

Keep Smiling,

MANGO PAYASAM(Food Remake)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Living in a season where you are  breathing mango, I am here with one more recipe with mango. I brought it from OUR Potluck Party partner ,  Sini of Sini's Menu.....The Kitchenmagic......., MANGO PAYASAM. 

Should I say I am lucky to get this recipe? Yes, because its easy, its quick, its tasty and yummy, its available now and I would not have tried it if I was not in Potluck party.

It has gone into my favorite dessert list to prepare when more guests are in. The best thing is you can use canned mango when its out of season. 

Coming to my recipe,

if you check Sini's blog, her dish looks different, the payasam looks different color, may be because, we both used different variety of mango or may be the jaggery I used is darker and more red in color than her. And her paysam looks thick, again may be because of the thickness of the coconut milk. 

Whatever, my payasam was really very good, tasty and different. My family loved it and again, I got little to taste :-(.

Ingredients:

Mango - 3, ripe, (I used the small ones with fibre, though Sini has told to use without, but I did not had any option)

Jaggery,- I pureed the mango and checked the qty of the puree and took the jaggery 1/2 of it, because the mangoes were very sweet.

Water -little more than the qty of jaggery

Coconut milk - 3/4 cup, thick(see notes)

Coconut milk - 1/2 cup, thin (See notes)

Ghee - 1 tsp+1 tbsp

Salt a pinch

Cashew nuts - 1 tbsp,

Raisins - 1 tbsp

Dry ginger powder - a pinch

Dry coconut pieces - 1 tbsp 

Method:

Wash, peel and puree the mangoes.

check the quantity and take half of  the jaggery.

Melt the jaggery with water and cook till its dissolved . 

Strain it to remove the dirt and keep it aside.

Take a thick bottomed kadai, add mango puree and the jaggery syrup in it .Mix well and boil it for a minute.

Add 1 tsp ghee and keep on cooking on a low flame, stirring continuous.

Cook till thick consistency.

Add ginger powder and mix well. 

Add the thin coconut milk slowly and cook till it turns thick.

Now add the thick coconut milk and cardamom powder. Mix well and DO NOT allow to boil as it curdles the payasam.

Take it from the heat.

Heat 1 tbsp ghee and fry the nuts and coconut pieces separately.

Add these to the payasam.

Allow it to cool,

have it warm or chilled :-)

linking it to Potluck party, Cyber style! - Fun and the Challeng... 

Thanks Jagruti once again.

Keep Smiling, 

You will be missed Jayasree :-( / Vella Avil and Whole Wheat Choco Chip Cookies

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Death is inevitable. We know it, but the pain is also unbearable when it happens in the family or friend circle.  I was in this pain when I heard about Jayasree's death. Sometimes, we really do not know people personally but they become close to us for some or the other reason. Blogging world has given me a chance to know many good people among whom many are my  very good friends. 

I was not so regular visitor to Jayasree's blog(Experiments in Kailas Kitchen), but have tried few of her recipes. So this post is to tribute to her. Her blog is full of amazing and very interesting recipes with an authentic touch.

I tried two of her recipes:

ONE is 

VELLA AVIL : The taste was really good and was perfect for my Thursday Offer to Sai Baba.

and the 

SECOND one is 

WHOLE WHEAT CHOCO CHIP COOKIES with a little change in it. I added little oats powder to make it more healthier.

You will be missed Jayasree.

May her soul rest in peace. May God give her family the strength to face this loss as its not possible to fill the loss by anything.

There are many more recipes in her blog to try and learn.

Remixed and Reposted recipes for the event

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

When I was checking my recipe list, I got many sweet recipes, which are sugarless. This made my work easy to post the recipes for the event. I wanted to try new recipes, but could not because of my poor time management.

Here I am reposting the recipes.

First one is,

Steamed Sweet Dumplings(ಕುಚ್ಚಿದ ಕಡಬು)

Second one is,

Sesame seeds poli(ಎಳ್ಳಿನ ಹೋಳಿಗೆ)

Third one is,

Biscuit Poli for Holi

Sending these to

Sara's ongoing event 

Celebrate Sweets - Sugarless Event Announcement !!... 

which is started by me.

Keep Smiling, 

Antina Undi(Dry fruits laadu), Reposting

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Sweets always make you feel guilty after you finish eating the last bite. But here comes the healthy sweet, which is good for everyone.(except weight watchers)

A funny thing about this is the name of the dish, even though it is called antina undi(edible gum laddu), the quantity of gum we add is very less compared with dry dates, total quantity of dry fruits  and jaggery!!!  I do not know why this name has come!!

This laddu is given to new mother after one month of delivery. It gives them strength and good for back.

Nursing mothers get more benefit from this. But always try to have with one glass of milk.(not only nursing mothers, but any body who wants to eat it regularly).

I had more laddus  for my second delivery. And one more same type is prepared only being the difference is adding sugar powder instead of jaggery. And it is called as Kobhari Khara. These both are very common in North Karnataka during delivery. 

AND THESE THINGS MUST BE TAKEN ONLY AFTER ONE MONTH OF DELIVERY AS THESE ARE VERY HEAT TO THE BODY FOR PREGNANT LADIES.

Coming to the recipe,

(I did not get English words for Ker beeja and Aalvi, so if any one knows please let me know)

(Dry dates) Uttatti - 1/2 kg

Dry coconut - 1/4 kg,  desiccated

Jaggery - 1 kg,  powdered

Khuskhus (poppy seeds) - 100 gm

Cashew nuts - 100 gm, cut in to pieces

Raisins - 100 gm

Edible gum - 100 gm                                                                                                              

                                                     after frying the gum in ghee
Almonds - 150 gm, cut in to pieces

Ghee to fry dry fruits and gum

Gher(Ker) bija - 100 gm

This is Ker beeja, It is very heat to the body. So it should be taken in a small quantity, but is must for this laddu.

Elaichi (cardamom) - 8 to 10, powdered

Jaaji kaai (Nut meg)  - 1/2, tsp powdered

30 to 35 laddus can be prepared with this quantity.

Step by step, I will give the recipe :

1. Remove the seeds from uttatti, crush in to 4 pieces. Fry in thick bottomed pan for 3 minutes. Keep aside to cool. Put in a mixie and churn to coarse powder. Keep it aside.

2. Separately, dry fry each ingredient 30 seconds on medium hot tawa : dry coconut, khuskhus, ker bija. Keep aside.

3. Fry the gum in one tablespoon of ghee and  keep it aside.

4. Keep other dry fruits also in a  plate.

5. Except Jaggery.  mix all the ingredients in a large plate( in North Karnataka, in the houses there will be a big plate to make Jowar rottis which is called as Parath)

6. Add little water to the jaggery and bring to boil to make it one layer syrup(pak). (you can see in the photo).

7. When it is done, Add it to the dry fruits mix. Keep it for 10 to 15 minutes so that all the ingredients will bind with the jaggery syrup.

8. Take little quantity and form the laddus with the help of both the palm.

When you are planning to give this to new mother, you should add aalvi with other ingredients.

Alavi is good for new mothers and especially nursing mothers. She should have alavi payasa  twice a week.

Aalvi : Dry fry just for 30 seconds on medium fire.

Thanks Radhika for reminding about Alavi, and thanks to Rupali Apte for giving the information about it. Here is the link for the details.

http://www.tarladalal.com/glossary-garden-cress-seeds-409i

Sending this to 

Nithu's event Event Announcement :Celebrate Sweets - Ladoo 

which is started by Me.

Keep smiling,

Rasagulla (Food remake)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Bengali Sweets is my weakness since childhood. I had made a rule in my house for my aunts and uncles. If they are coming home they MUST come with a box of Bengali sweets. And no one missed it any time.My mother's sister and her husband used to bring 2 boxes for me. Till today my aunty brings the box for me! So sweet of her!

 When I was in UAE, I learnt making Ras Malai with eggs but never thought of making rasagullas at home. After coming back to India, I tried  2-3 times, but rasgullas became stonegullas!! The whole bowl I had to throw in the dustbin, and you know I hate wasting food.

But few days back, I was determined to learn it. Again hunting started for the recipe and AGAIN I landed up in Sailu's Kitchen. She is a darling with her wonderful recipes. 

So, here I am with Yummy bowl of Rasagullas, which were gulped in  by me and my daughter within 24 hours after I made!!!!

CLICK for original recipe. 

Ingredients:

For Paneer :

Milk - 1/2 litre

Lime Juice - 2 to 3 tbsp

Keep the milk to boil. Once the milk starts boiling, add lime juice and boil for few minutes. You will see the milk curdled. the milk and water becomes separate. Close the lid and keep for 5 minutes. Now strain the whey and discard it. Take the curdled milk in a steel sieve. Wash it with cold water for 2 times to remove the smell of lime. Transfer it into a muslin cloth. Tie it and hang it for half an hour. You can keep some wait on it, if you can not hang it. 

After half an hour, take the paneer and knead it nicely with the hands.

Paneer is ready.

Make small equal size ball with the panner as shown in the photo. Remember the balls becomes bigger in size once boiled. Take care there should not be crack in the balls.

Now for the Syrup ;

Sugar - 1 cup

Water - 3 cups

Cardamom Powder 

Keep the water and sugar in a thick bottomed vessel or cooker(the best option). Once the sugar is melted and the water starts boiling, Add the paneer balls slowly in it. Keep the heat on HIGH. Add cardamom powder. Cover the cooker lid and give one whistle. Off the heat. Allow it to cool by itself. Do not remove it before only.

If you feel they are not cooked, cook for few more minutes.

If you are using vessel, take care to cover the vessel with thick lid so that the steam should not be allowed outside.

Allow to cool and transfer into desired glass bowl and refrigerate before serving.

Sending it to Ruchika's event 

BSI-PANEER which is continuation from BSI

and

Priya's  Bookmarked Recipes - Every Tuesday Event.

Keep Smiling,

Eggless Chocolate Cake (Food Remake)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

I pinched myself for many times!! Is it a dream or real!Is it me who did this! 

Wait, Wait! I am not writing any suspense story. 

I baked an egg less cake and it came out real! It was spongy, it was moist, it was sweet, it was just perfect except the top crust. That was my mistake as I baked it on High temperature than mentioned.

After I brought OTG, I am not getting full time to concentrate on baking. But today I made it a point to bake a cake. But I am restricted to use Egg because of Shravana Month. So my hunting started to browse for egg less cake. As usual I landed into Sailu's world. You search anything related to food. There are few blogs where you will be directed and Sailu's  Sailu’s Kitchen is among one of those.

Ohh, she got many egg less baking recipes with her. As all of you know about my daughter's love for chocolate, I chose THIS one.

And I followed her recipe 99%, my 1% mistake was I baked it on 180degree C whereas she had mentioned to bake it on 150 degree C.

So the top crust was cracked. 

And best thing what I did was, I took little batter and put it in cup cake mold to bake. Check the click to see my wonderful baby cakes!!

My camera has some ego problem it seems! It never gives me proper flash or light when I need it. Its become difficult for me to take good photos. I don't want to buy new one now. I have to carry on with my this old friend only. I could not take nice photos of my big cake. (Please do not compare my click with her's when you visit her blog!)

I cut the top crust and took the photo. The taste was tooooo good and I never thought I can bake a cake like this.

Thanks Sailu for such a wonderful and easy recipe. I have also given the recipe with little extra tips.

Coming to the recipe:

Butter - 1/2 cup(at room temperature)

or 

Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup

Brown sugar - 2 tbsp(if you do not have, use normal sugar and let me know, I think it should not make much difference)

Water - 2/3 cup

Sweetened Condensed milk - 1 tin(400gm), I used Nestle

Maida or APF - 1 3/4 cup

Cocoa Powder - 1/4 cup

Baking Soda - 3/4 tsp(Use new one, the cake will not come out good if Baking soda and powder are old)

Baking Powder - 1 3/4 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Vanilla Essence - 2 tsp

1. Grease and dust an 8" baking pan of desired shape
2. Preheat over to 150degree C.
3. Sieve APF, baking powder, Baking soda, cocoa powder and salt at least 3 times and keep aside.(It helps the flour to get mixed properly and get aerated. 
4. Mix the sugar, butter, condensed milk and water with blender or beater.
5. Add the Vanilla essence and flour slowly in batches to this to get the batter of ribbon consistency.
6. Bake in preheated over for 40-45 minutes of till you get clean toothpick out of the cake when you insert it.
7. PLEASE FOLLOW THE RECIPE TO GET GOOD RESULT.
8. DO NOT OVER BEAT THE BATTER.
9. DO NOT KEEP THE BATTER OUTSIDE FOR LONG TIME ONCE IT IS READY.IT SHOULD GO DIRECTLY INTO THE PAN AND THEN INTO THE OVEN.

Wonderful cake is ready to serve. If you are lucky to get the ingredients to decorate the cake you can do it. I do not get whipped cream here, and I still have to learn to make it at home. Till then enjoy my cake without makeup!

Sending this to,

Priya's  Bookmarked Recipes - Every Tuesday Event.

And  the  Bake Off event by  Champa of Versatile Kitchen
And this is going to
EFM - Cakes and Bakes Series! hosted by  Sri of  Me and My Kitchen .

Keep Smiling,

Sev Ladoo (ಸೇವಿನ ಉಂಡಿ)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita 

Hi All,

Naga Panchami is over. And I am late in posting my ladoo recipes. Sorry for that. But got little busy with other things also. But I am happy that I have many recipes for Ladoo to post which you are going to enjoy this whole month. Once in a week I will post one recipe for different ladoos.

My first Ladoo recipe is Sev Ladoo. This is usually done in Naga panchami. But I do remember those tiny Sev ladoos(smaller than a small lemon) we used to get in shops. One ladoo's cost was only  5 Paise!!!! 

In the house we make bigger size. These ladoos are my brother's favorite. 

Here is the recipe for Sev Ladoo.

The Sev is readily available in the market in sweet shops. But you should use salt less and plain Sev for that.

The sizes also vary. We usually prefer the thicker one. You can use the thinner one and smaller also.

Plain Sev - 250gm

For Jaggery syrup : 

Jaggery - same as Sev(Measure the sev in a cup, and take the same amount of jaggery)

Salt  - a pinch

Water -1/4 cup or less

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Other ingredients:

Dalia powder - 1/4 cup

Dry coconut - 1/4 cup, grated

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Take Sev in a big and wide plate. 

Add  dry coconut, cardamom powder and dalia powder to it. Mix it well and keep it ready.

To make Jaggery syrup is little tricky. You may not succeed the first time! I am making it since childhood and closing my eyes I can tell the correct consistency of syrup(hehe, boasting!!)

Practice makes you not perfect but brings you near perfection. 

So, don't worry as you will also get after trying 2-3 times, but if you know the trick before only, then I am happy.

Grate or powder the jaggery and transfer into a thick bottomed kadai or small cooker(which I used). Add  half of 1/4 cup water and keep it to boil with salt.

Till it boils and reached the above stage as in photo, keep one saucer or steel plate with little water ready.

(Look closely the saucer in the right click, you can see a tiny syrup ball)

Now take few drops of this syrup and put in the water. Wait for few SECONDS. Then touch the syrup in the water and check. If the syrup binds together to become a tiny ball, then the syrup is ready. Add ghee and remove it.

Now you should be quick:

Put this syrup to the Sev plate. Spread it slowly so that the Sev gets the syrup evenly. 

Now take a small quantity and make balls by mildly pressing with both the palms to give proper ball shape and bind the Sev properly.

Repeat with other Sev. This will make around 20 ladoos.

Keep it to cool for sometime. Store it in a jar or box.

Sending this to 

Nithu's event Event Announcement :Celebrate Sweets - Ladoo 

which is started by Me.

Keep Smiling,