Rasgulla

Rasgulla / Rosgulla is a famous Indian Bengali sweet. It is usually served as dessert along with some jeera (syrup).
It is my hubby's top pick whenever we visit some Bengali sweet shop. So I prepare this often in small batches before he starts craving :)

There are two ways to make the rasgulla. The authentic version is to slow cook in a half closed pan and the modern type is to pressure cook it.
I am used to the authentic one, which my mom taught. I feel it as more safer to make soft rasgullas. My mom's recipe note book would emphasize the usage of lemon instead of vinegar and rose essence instead of cardamom. I followed her way completely and got the best result.

Here comes the well known recipe.

Chenna after straining:


Rasagulla soaked in sugar syrup:


Ingredients:
Milk (full fat) - 1 litre (5 cups)
AP flour (maida) - 2 tsp
Lemon - 1
(or)vinegar - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Water - 1 cup
Rose essence - 3 drops
(or)cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Boil milk in a vessel.
Squeeze the lemon and mix 1/2 cup water to the juice.
Add the lemon juice / vinegar to the boiling milk and stir slowly.
Put off heat.
Now the milk gets curdled to form paneer (a cheese variety).

(Chenna preparation is beautifully explained by Vinolia. So just click to see if you need more clarity.)

Place a cheese cloth / new white cloth over the strainer and pour the curdled milk.
Pour some cold water to remove the lemon's sourness.
Squeeze out all the water and make a bundle using the cloth. Place it on the strainer or hang over a kitchen sink to loose all the water content.
Let it remain in this position for 45 mins to 2 hours , depending upon the quantity.

The hard cheese we get is called chenna. We can buy it in Indian grocery stores also.

Now knead the chenna to make a smooth dough. Add flour and knead again.

Make small balls of equal size of 1.5 cm diameter approximately and keep aside.

In another vessel mix sugar and water in a saucepan and bring it to boil.

Once it starts boiling add the chenna balls and cook covered for 30 minutes (with lid partially open).

The rasagulla will become double the size.

Drop one ball in cold water and if it sinks to the bottom , then it is cooked well.
If not so , then cook for another 5 minutes.

Switch off flame and add rose essence / cardamom powder.

Rasgulla is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve chilled as dessert.
The above said quantity is enough to make 15 - 20 rasgullas.

Tips:
Apply some ghee and roll the rasgulla balls , as the cracked ones may disintegrate quickly.
some people prefer pressure cooking the rasgulla instead of my pan method.
We can add 1/2 the quantity of sugar and some Zero calorie sweetener to get a more healthier version too.

Advent season, an award and some reposts.

Anu Ramesh of Anu's Kitchen has presented me the below award. Before that I would like to mention here a few things about this wonderful budding blogger. Anu has a lovely collection of recipes along with adorable pictures. Moreover she has the spirit to appreciate and encourage others. I am so glad that she passed me this inspiring award.


Thanks Anu, I feel honored.

Smart Chef award:
Now I am wondering...OMG ! people are showering me with love and how should I reciprocate!
I can't think of anything else but a group hug and to create an award:)
I am sure everyone who loves to cook surely deserves this award.



Actually I wanted to present this cute award to all of my friends and to all those who love to cook. But now I am crowning a very few of my friends.

Anu of Anu's Kitchen
Ann , my friend.
Gita of Gita's kitchen.
Malar of Kitchen Tantra.
Sanghi of Sanghis food delight.
Sumathy of Sumi's kitchen.
Vino of Akal's saapadu
Vineela of Vineela Siva
Usha of Ushanandhini's recipes.

Please accept this well deserved award my friends! You can pass this to as many as you wish.

Re-post:

I am reposting the following recipes for Sanghi's FIL-Fruits event. Happy hosting and Best wishes dear.


Mixed fruit jam.

Apple rasam

Pineapple rasam

Vaazhai Pazha paniyaram

Tomato sweet

Christmas plum cake

Panchamirtham

Apple pie

Cranberry sauce


Christmas is around the corner and it is the advent season too . Advent means a time of preparation, just like the Mother Mary and St.Joseph got prepared for the arrival of Jesus. It is the time of expectation, anxiety and cleanliness.
Let's look around for the needy people in our neighborhood and help them .

Thanks and Happy blogging friends!
Cheers,
Viki.

Mixed fruit jam (natural)

Some days back I had some fruits left behind while making a salad. Hated to leave all those cuties loose their color and simply chill in the refrigerator. How about a JAM...just like my homeland's kissan mixed fruit jam. I am sure no other jam in the world can charm me like this old fashioned Indian kissan jam. I am obsessed with that jam, but still wanted to do it.

The ingredient to get a perfect glossy jam is the pectin (available in stores in powder form). The problem was , I couldn't get the preservatives and gel bases at that late hour. Some thing sparked me....why shouldn't I make my own pectin? Then I searched for the natural pectin sources and to my surprise it can be an apple or any citus fruit. I just crushed an apple along with 1/2 a can of pineapple and got my base.

So here is a jam without any artificial preservative or store bought pectin. This one will resemble that kissan mixed fruit jam, but still I love that store bought one also very much:) Anyways I got 2 bottles of jam and a lot of satisfaction too. Hope you all like it.





Ingredients:
(Any combination of fruit 3 cups)
Raspberry - 1/2 cup
pomegranate - 1/2 cup
pear - 1 cup
seedless grapes - 10
apple - 1 (1 cup) ......(MUST)
(The natural pectin in the apple is used as a base to make the jam)
pineapple - 1/2 can (1 cup)
water - 1/2 cup
sugar - 3/4 cup

Method:
Bring water to boil along with raspberry , pomegranate or any small fruit of your choice. Mash gently with a ladle.
Coarsely grind the fruit chunks like apple , pear and pineapple together.
Mix all the fruits , sugar and cook till the jam gets a thick consistency.

It will thicken perfectly in about 20 minutes. So keep stirring occasionally in low flame.

Mixed fruit jam is ready.

Store in dry container and keep refrigerated.

Serving suggestions:
Wash the glass bottle (or any container) with hot water and dry completely before filling. I dried it overnight:)
Let the jam cool completely and stock them up.
Great to go with breads or yogurt, cake or ice cream topping.

Tomato rice (home style)

It is the habit of Tamil people to make different colors of variety rice like elumichai / lime rice (yellow), puliyotharai / tamarind rice(brown), thakkali / tomato rice (red), kothamalli / cilantro rice (green), thengai saatham / coconut rice, curd rice (white) , milagu saatham/ pepper rice , ellotharai/ sesame rice (black) etc during their family get-together.
They are generally called kalantha saatham (mixed variety rice) or chithrannam in Tamil.

Tomato rice is the most favorite for many of us. Hope all are familiar with a tomato rice with fennel , cinnamon and a biryani like flavor in tomato rice. But this is a very humble variety with unbeatable tangy taste that would tempt us to eat more.
Moreover I have devoured this kind of tomato rice along with paruppu thogayal and masal vadai in vegetarian restaurants of Tirunelveli. But couldn't find it in Madras. So I guess it as a very native / homely method to make this simple thakkali saatham.

I am describing my mom's way here, as she (as well as me) had appreciated this version over the biryani flavored one always. In both way tomato blends well with rice and that's what we like...right:)



Ingredients:
Uncooked rice - 1 1/4 cup (for 2 people)
Ripen Tomato (juicy variety) - 3
green chilly - 5
Shallot onion - 6
Turmeric powder - a pinch
red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
salt - 1 tsp
Sesame oil - 3 tsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
channa dhal - 1 tbsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig
cilantro (chopped) - 1 tbsp

Method:
Bring to boil 5 cups of water along with 1/4 tsp salt.
Wash and add the rice.
Cook till it becomes soft (but individual grains). Using a colander strain and discard all the water. Keep the cooked rice aside.

Heat oil in a wok.
Splutter the mustard seed, add channa dhal, curry leaf, cilantro and fry well.
Now add the chopped shallot and fry till it becomes soft.
Then add the finely chopped tomato , green chilly, turmeric powder, chilly powder, salt and cook covered till the tomato gets mushy.

Now open the lid and cook the tomato gravy till it becomes a thick gravy. Put off fire.

Then add the cooked rice and mix carefully without breaking the grains.

Tomato rice is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve along with paruppu thogayal, masal vadai , potato chips or any poriyal.

Chicken Kickers

Being a big fan of Domino's chicken kickers , I never believed if I could make a similar one. Then I formulated my very own version to match their taste and it was a pleasant success.
Anyways lazy me love to order that too:)

This is my favorite part of cooking. Just mix all the ingredients to marinate the chicken , put it in the oven and JUST RELAX......



Ingredients:

To marinate:
Boneless skinless chicken breast - 1 lb
Salt - to taste (1.5 tsp)
Egg - 1
Italian seasoning - 1 tsp
Garlic paste(fine) - 1 tbsp
vinegar - 3 tbsp
chilly powder - 1 tbsp
pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
All purpose flour - 1 tbsp
Olive oil / butter - 1 tbsp

Others:
Bread Crumbs - 1 cup
(I powdered 3 slices of toasted dry bread to make the crumbs)
Oil / butter - 1 tsp
(to coat the baking foil)

Method:

Clean and wash the chicken breast. Pat dry. Cut it into 1.5 inch cubes.
In a mixing bowl add salt , vinegar , Seasoning powder, pepper powder and chilly powder . Soak the chicken pieces and marinate for 4 - 6 hrs.

In another bowl mix olive oil , egg and all purpose flour.

Powder the bread pieces to get the crumbs. Place it on a wide plate.

Preheat the oven to 400 deg F.

Line a baking tray with an aluminum foil. Coat the aluminum foil with olive oil / butter .

Dip the chicken in egg , flour mixture and roll it over the bread crumbs and place on the foil. Just like that place all the pieces on the tray.

Bake for 20 minutes one side, flip and cook next 15-20 minutes on the other side (middle rack).

Hot Chicken kickers is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Enjoy it with pizza or as a meal itself with tomato sauce and a drink of your choice especially a coke:)

Vegetable Biryani (Tawa method)

Nearly an year before , I posted a recipe for layered vegetable biryani. After that many times I have made this simple version of vegetable biryani and publishing it now.
Here I should say, my mom had an extraordinary passion for cooking and our lunch boxes would tell it by the variety and flavor. Vegetable biryani would accompany us to school as a surprise lunch to triumph her hug whenever she wanted to convey a congrats or best wishes or a smile. Sweet memories again:)

Mom's method employs a pressure cooker. But I have never achieved a perfect one through pressure cooker...sometimes they get mushy too. So I prefer a tawa method, that is placing the briyani over a hot girdle and slow cooking it.



Vegetables:
Cauli flower - 1/4 flower (chopped 1 cup) , green beans - 10 , carrot -1 , green peas - 1/2 cup .

Ingredients:
Basmathi rice / Jeeraga samba raw rice - 3 cups
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red onion - 2 (medium size)
green chillis - 5 (uncut).
Lemon - 1
ghee - 2 tbsp (to add at the end)

To temper:
Fennel - 1 tsp
bay leaves - 2
star aniseed - 1,
cinnamom stick - 2 inch
cardamom - 2
cloves - 4
ghee - 1 tbsp
Any cooking oil - 3 tbsp
cashew nuts -10
raisins- 10.
salt - to taste

Masala 1:
Tomato - 4

Masala 2:
cilantro- 10 stems
mint leaf -1 handful.
green chilly - 10
black pepper - 1 tbsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp

Masala 3:
Ginger - 2 inch
Garlic - 5 cloves

Preparation:
wash and clean the vegetables. peel the skin of carrot and cut into long thin slices.
Cut the green beans in to long pieces.
Pluck 5 -6 florets from the cauliflower.
Defreeze the green peas.

Wash the rice and soak it for 1/2 an hour.

Grind all the pastes separately.

Chop onion and keep aside.

Method:
Heat 2 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp ghee in a  broad vessel.
Add fennel ,star aniseed , cinnamon stick,cardamom ,cloves, bay leaf , cashew, raisin.

Then goes the chopped onion .

Fry it till golden brown and add the ginger garlic paste and stir well till the raw smell goes.

Now add the tomato paste and cook till the oil oozes out of it. Add all the powders given.

Then add the cilantro , mint paste and cook till the oil start oozing out. Now put the vegetables and add salt. Just stir well. Don't cook them now.

Now add the soaked rice and uncut green chillies. Squeeze some lime juice over.

Pour water to immerse the rice and let the water stand 1 inch above rice.

Mix well now and check for salt in this stage.Let it come to a boil.

Close with a tight lid and place this vessel over a hot dosa tawa (girdle / flat pan) . Reduce the flame to minimum.

After 20 minutes the biryani will be ready!

Serving suggestions:
Garnish with 2 tbsp ghee , chopped cilantro , mint leaves.
Serve vegetable biryani hot with onion raitha .
Serves 6 people.

Note:
Instead of tawa , we can pressure cook it for 1 whistle also. But if we want the grains to be non sticky then follow the tawa method.

Click here to see my Layered vegetable biryani.

Mochai payaru curry

Every simple dish in the Indian houses would have a story behind it, just like the dad bringing pakoda for rasam rice on a rainy night or brother's surprise parotta or loving aunt's instant vadai for curd rice etc.

I have seen this delicious mochai payaru curry in the households of Kovilpatti , Sivakasi (small towns of TamilNadu, India) etc, where each and every member of family would be employed in a cottage Industry. In that area, we can see small food stalls selling this curry wrapped in banana leaf in the late evening, which can reduce a bit of the females' burden after a long day. May be they can make a quick meal with some rice and rasam to have with this super spicy curry.

Here is the recipe for that spicy mochai kai curry.

Other names: Mochai payaru (Tamil), Val dal (Hindi),Hyacinth bean or field bean (English)



Ingredients:
Dry Mochai payaru - 1 cup (or) Fresh ones - 1/2 kg
Shallot onion - 4
Shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
oil - 1 tsp
fennel seeds (sombu)- 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
coriander powder - 2 tsp
red chilli powder - 1 tsp
turmeric powder - a pinch
tomato - 1 (chopped)
salt - to taste

Preparation:
(If you are using the fresh beans then just start from the method.
otherwise go for pre soaking.)
Dry roast the mochai kottai to get dark spots on the outer layer and a nice aroma with some popping sound.
Then rinse it with water twice. Add water till it gets well immersed. Soak for an hour.
(We can soak it overnight also, if we don't want to roast it.)
Pressure cook for 3 whistles.
(we can cook it in stove top also, but it will take an hour).


Procedure:
Shell the val dhal , wash and clean the beans inside.
Bring to boil enough water and cook the beans to tender.

In a blender , grind the shallot, coconut and cumin seeds together to a coarse paste.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. Add the fennel seeds and let it become red. Then goes the curry leaves.
Immediately add the cooked beans along with the remaining water.
Now add coriander powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt.
Slide in chopped tomatoes. Close the lid and cook for 5 minutes.

Then add the ground masala and keep stirring occasionally, till the koottu / curry becomes a thick gravy.

Mochai kottai koottu is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Serves 4 people .
Serve hot with chapathi, roti , curd rice, rasam rice or sambar rice.