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.

Chocolate Cheese Macaroni

A relaxing afternoon..Lazing on the couch..Watching food network and watch the pretty and overly expressive (it is nice though) Giada De Laurentis cook with mascarpone cheese, ricotta cheese, pasta and yummy cake laden with chocolate. My stomach rumbles and craves for cheese and chocolate (though I kept reminding myself that I need to work out and lose some fat). Finally something flashed in my occasionally brilliant mind and EUREKA!!

I went into the kitchen and picked exactly 3 ingredients from the pantry. And a delicious Friday night dessert was ready in less than 15 minutes. Lets take a look at how this yummy delicacy is made.

Ingredients:
(Serves 2)

Elbow Macaroni - 1 cup
Nutella Chocolate and Hazelnut spread - 2 tbsp
Ricotta cheese - 1/3rd cup

Method:

• Add the elbow macaroni in a pan of boiling water and cool till it is Al-dente. Drain the pasta and transfer it into a bowl.

• Add 2 tbsp of Nutella and mix well. The Nutella will melt with the heat of the pasta and become a creamy sauce.

• Finally add the ricotta cheese and mix well.

• Add chopped walnuts and garnish. Serve it warm or chill it and serve it cold.
• Enjoy your Chocolate Cheese Macaroni!!

Notes:

• You can use any kind of pasta to make this dish.
• You can alter the amount of Nutella and cheese depending on your taste.
• Add a pinch of salt and a tsp of ghee or melted butter to the pasta water so that the pasta does not stick together.
• You can add chopped nuts of your choice.

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.

Somasi / Sweet fried Dumplings

Somasi - The name sounded very funny to me when I first heard it. It was like some Samosa or something I imagined. But I was wrong. It is a sweet that they make out of dates and coconut. I learnt to make this when I was at my granny's place. It is very easy to make and tastes very delicious. These dumplings are very yummy and very rich in taste.

Ingredients:

For the filling:

Khoya - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 4 Tbsp
Cashews - 1/4 Cup
Raisins - 1/4 Cup
Freshly grated coconut - 1/2 cup

For the Dumpling cover:

All purpose Flour - 2 cups

Fine semolina - 2 Tbsp

Salt - A pinch

Oil for frying

Method:

• Heat 3 Tbsp of ghee in a pan and add the khoya to it. Mix it well until the khoya becomes soft.

• Now add freshly grated coconut to this khoya.

• Add cashews and raisins and mix well.

• Turn off the heat once the above ingredients are added. Add the sugar when the mixture is just warm.

• In another bowl, add the all purpose flour, semolina and salt and make it into a stiff dough.

• Let the dough sit for 30 minutes. The filling will also cool down completely by then.
• Take a small portion of the dough and roll it out into a small circle.Place a spoon full of the sweet filling in the center of the dough.

• Cover the dough over it in a semi-circular shape.

• Take a fork and use its edges to form a design over the corner of the dumplings.

• The Somasi/ Dumpling is now ready to fry.

• In a pan heat oil. Once the oil is hot drop the dumplings and fry until golden brown. 

• Enjoy it hot or cold!!

Notes:

Do not add the sugar when the mixture is hot, otherwise the mixture will melt.

Mini Sweet Puri's

I was wanting to make Puri's from a long time. But wanted a sweet taste to the Puri's. So I tried making something different and ended up with Mini-Puri's. They are small puffed breads and are coated with a sugar glaze and makes a perfect tea-time snack.

Ingredients:

All purpose Flour - 1/2 cup
Semolina - Fine Sooji - 2 Tbsp
Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup
Clarified Butter / Ghee - 2 Tbsp
Water- To make the dough
Oil - For Frying

For the Glaze:

Water - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup

Method:

• In a bowl,sift the flour, powdered sugar and mix well.

• Now add the semolina and mix all together.

• Add the Ghee / Clarified butter and mix well to form a crumbled mix.

• Add water little by little and knead it into a firm dough.

• Now make very small balls out the dough and roll out mini - puri's.
• Make as many as you want and keep it aside.
• In a pan heat some oil.Once the oil is hot, add the mini  puri's one by one.

• Fry then until the sizzle from the oil stops and they are light golden in color.

• Drain out the excess oil by placing them on a paper towel and allow them to cool.
• Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, add 1/4 cup of sugar to make the glaze.

• To the sugar add about 1/2 cup of water and heat it.

• Heat this mixture till the solution thickens to form a string like consistency and take off the flame and allow it to cool.

• Once the puri's and the glaze liquid have cooled, take a pastry brush and glaze the sugar solution on the Puri's.

• You can add roasted and chopped dry nuts or dry fruits on these puri's to give it a rich taste.
• Enjoy the Mini Sweet Puri's.

Notes:

• You can also use a cookie cutter and make different shapes if you want to. It will be a favorite homemade snack for all the kids.