Bansi Rava Kesari

Bansi Rava is also called as Godumai Rava/ Samba Godumai/ Broken Wheat/ Dalia. It is rich in fiber and very nutritious. Kesari is usually made out of Sooji. Kesari/ Kesari bath is usually made of milk and sugar. But this Bansi Rava Kesari is made of jaggery. It is a very delicious and simple recipe. This is how I made it.

Ingredients:

Bansi Rava - 1 cup                                            

Jaggery (powdered) - 1 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 teaspoon
Cashewnuts - For Garnishing
Raisins - For Garnishing
Ghee - 4 Tablespoons
Water - As required



Method:

• In a Pan/ Kadai roast 1 cup of Bansi Rava in 1 table spoon of ghee.
• Then boil the Bansi Rava in about 2 cups of water or as required. Cook till it is completely cooked.
• In a different pan, add the Jaggery and add 1 cup of water and boil the Jaggery. 
• Once the Jaggery is boiled and dissolved completely, remove it from heat and strain out the Jaggery water.
• Mix the strained Jaggery water into the Bansi Rava, add 2 table spoons of Ghee and stir it well.
• Take a Tadka pan and add the Ghee into it. Once the Ghee is melted, add a few Cashewnuts and Raisins. 
• Then add this to the Rava Jaggery mixture and stir it well till the Ghee leaves out on the sides.
• Remove from the pan and serve it hot.Enjoy the Bansi Rava Kesari.

Paal Khova

Paal khova is also called as Doodh Peda in Hindi. I am from Bangalore and I am absolutely in love with Nandini Paal Khova that we get there. Since I live very far from home, occasional cravings to eat the sweet crops up in my mind and makes my mouth water. One day while talking to my cousin brother, he mentioned to me about how he tried to recreate the paal khova. After a lot of trials with measurements of the ingredients, I finally found the right way to make it. It tastes absolutely fabulous and just melts in your mouth. This is how I made it.

Ingredients:

Sweetened condensed milk - 1 can (14oz)

Milk - 2 tbsp

Yogurt - 2 tbsp

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients together in a microwave safe bowl.
• Microwave it for approximately 5-7 minutes in 30 sec intervals.
• Stir it well each time a 30 sec microwave cooking is done.
• It will start to get solid and small granules of khova starts forming.
• The Paal Khova is done and ready to be served.
• A tbsp of this yummy dessert goes a long way!!
• Try this and enjoy..And yes, let me know how it was.
  
  
  
  
  

Notes:

• Different microwaves come with different powers. So use your judgement to keep it for 5 mins or more or even less.
• Always remember to NOT microwave for more than 30 sec.

Kesari Baath

Hello all..

Happy Republic Day!!

 Welcoming fellow bloggers and all lovely readers with my first recipe post of the year. A sweet post. I made Kesari Baath, DH's favorite sweet.  It had been a while since I had prepared anything good for DH. A sudden wave of sympathy for him and Lo and Behold..Came out this yummy Kesari Baath..A very simple recipe and easy quick steps. The final product, I promise, will be a yummy, mouth melting Kesari Baath.

Ingredients:

Sooji/Semolina/Rava - 1 cup
Milk - 2 cups
Ghee/ Clarified Butter - 1and1/4th cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Cashews - 7-8
Golden Raisins - 7-8
Orange Food color - 1 drop

Method:

• In a shallow fry pan, add 2 tbsp of ghee and roast the cashews and raisins, drain out the ghee from them and set it aside.
• In the same pan and with the same ghee, add the sooji / rava and roast it till a nice aroma comes out of it and set it aside.

• Heat milk in a sauce pan and allow it to boil. Once the milk boils, gradually add the sooji and keep stirring it well ensuring no lumps form and a creamy consistency is reached.
• Also add the cup of ghee right after this step and blend all the ingredients well to make a smooth and a creamy  mixture.

• Keep stirring the mixture gently for about 5-6 minutes to avoid burning of the mixture at the bottom of the pan.
• Once the sooji is cooked, add the sugar, food color and the roasted cashews and raisins.

• Mix all the ingredients well and serve hot.
• Hot, yummy and delicious Kesari Baath is ready to melt in your mouth.

Serving Tip:

• Before serving, warm the Kesari Baath (if cold) and add a tsp or two of ghee on top and garnish with silvered almonds.

Notes:

• You can add any food color of your choice.
• You can adjust the level of sugar according to your sweetness level.
• You can also choose to NOT add food color and make it a white sheera.
• You can add small pineapple pieces or banana pieces to have a different variety of Kesari Baath (add it before adding the food color).
• The quantity of Ghee can be altered but the taste may not be as good as the one with the required quantity of ghee specified here.
• Best to serve it hot with an additional tsp of ghee.

Oma Podi / Sphagetti Sev

Diwali brings with itself a lot of joy and brings families together. There is an atmosphere of happy celebrations in every household. Gifts and sweets are exchanged. When I was young, I would help my Grandmother and  Mother in making sweets and savories for Diwali. Oma podi is a savory that is made for Diwali. It is a very easy snack and can be made in very limited time.

Ingredients:

(This makes 4-5 omapodi's)
Gram Flour / Besan - 2 cups
Rice Flour - About 1 tbsp
Salt - To taste
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (Optional)
Asafoetida / Hing - To taste - a few pinches
Ajwain - 1 Tsp
Jeera - 1 Tsp
Water - To make the dough
Oil - To deep fry the sev

Method:

• Sift the gram flour to remove any lumps in it.

• Combine all the other ingredients and mix well.

• Add water little by little and make it into a stiff dough.

• Use the Sev maker/ Sev press and select the cutter with many holes in it.

• Fill the dough in the sev press and close it.

• Heat a kadai or a wok and add oil in it. 
• Press down and rotate the sev press or press down the sev press (depending on the model of the sev press you have) in a circular motion. 

• Make 2 at a time and fry it till the sizzling of the oil stops. Drain it on a paper towel and set it aside. 

• Once cooled, store it in an airtight container and it will stay good for a week to 10 days.

Notes:

• You can double the quantity to make more of the dough.
• Make sure that the oil is hot before you drop in the sev's.
• You car crush and eat the sev with other snacks such as bhel puri or sev puri.

Instant Microwave Doodh Peda

Wishing everyone a very Happy and a Bright Diwali.. Due to lack of time to prepare elaborate sweets, I tried making this instant Doodh Peda that was taught to me by a friend. The recipe is very simple and requires just 3 ingredients. All the ingredients are available easily at any supermarket. Surprise your relatives and guests by serving them this instant and traditional delicacy.

Ingredients:

Milk Powder - 21/2 cups
Condensed milk - 1 14oz can (sweetened)
Unsalted butter - 1 stick

Method:

• Sift the milk powder and set it aside.

• Melt one stick of butter in a microwave safe glass bowl.

• Once the butter has melted, add the milk powder and condensed milk and mix well.

• Microwave it for 4 minutes. After every minute remove the bowl and mix the contents well.

• After 4 minutes, the mixture would have thickened and now let the mixture cool for 10 minutes.

• Take a spoon or a mini ice-cream scoop. Scoop out a small portion of the mixture and roll it out into a ball and flatten it.

• You can stick an almond, cashew, pistachios or any dry fruit you like in the center of the Peda.

• Enjoy your Diwali delicacy.

Happy Diwali to all.

• You can shape the Pedas in any form you like.
• Else you can pour the mixture on a greased tray and cut it in diamonds or squares.
• You can also remove the entire mixture and flatten it out about 1/2 an inch thich and cut it using a cookie cutter for getting the desired shapes.
• You can use edible silver foils, cake decoration materials to decorate the Pedas. You can get creative and decorate it the way you like.
• Every microwave has a different power setting. Some may meed 3 minutes and other many need 5 minutes. Ensure that you remove the mixture every minute and mix it well so that it does not burn the milk solids.

Celebrations with Paal Payasam / Milk Pudding

FINALLY !! After a gruelling month of assignments, deadlines, exams and ultimate torture were two long months of non-stop travelling. Enjoyed every single place visited and had loads of fun. Though I missed celebrating my Baby Blog's 1st birthday in all this chaos, I was remembering my baby so much... Happy Birthday my dear Bloggy!!

Today the day has finally come to celebrate with a simple yet very special dish "Paal Payasam". Getting back to my routines gradually and I thought better late than never. Have been able to catch quite a few glimpses of most of the blogs out there, but I guess I need more than a year to stay updated with what all I have missed.

One of my friends was talking to me and casually remarked that the last post I saw in your blog was an award. You seem to have disappeared and run away with the award, never to come back..Aaahh..Her words were more than enough for me to get revived..It just stuck me like a sharp arrow directly onto my heart {just kidding :)}.. Good that she told me..I know how much my dear friends missed me..So did I miss you guys.
And so I will stop blabbering right here and give you the yummy yummy recipe for Paal Payasam.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - About 1 Tbsp
Ghee - 2 Tbsp {1 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp}
Cashew nuts - 5-6
Sliced Almonds - 4-5
Milk - 1 liter (About 4 cups)
Sugar - 1/4th cup
Saffron - A couple of strands dissolved in a tablespoon of milk (optional)
An empty stainless steel cup


Method:

• In a small pan, heat 1 tbsp ghee and roast cashew nuts and set aside.

• In a Pressure cooker or a small pan, add 1 tbsp of ghee.

• Roast the Basmati rice until a nice aroma comes from the rice.

• In the same pressure cooker add 4 cups of milk. Also drop in the empty stainless steel cup. The cup is added so that the milk does not boil over while cooking.

• Cook the milk on low flame for about 30-45 minutes.

• Once done, remove the lid, stir the milk well and then add the sugar in the milk. Cook for an additional 15 minutes on low flame.

• Add the saffron strands dissolved in milk for additional flavor and color and add the cashews roasted in ghee. This step is optional for those who do not use saffron or cashewnuts.

• Garnish with sliced almonds and serve hot.

• Yummy Paal Payasam is ready to be served.

Notes:

• Do not add sugar while cooking the milk, else it will not cook properly.
• Use of raisins, cashews, saffrons and almonds is completely optional. Since the dish is Paal Payasam, the taste of milk is supposed to be the dominant one.
• An empty stainless steel cup is added to the milk while cooking so that the milk does not boil over and spill.
• If you do not like the long strands of basmati rice, you can use a potato masher and mash up the rice in the milk.