Sep 26, 2014

Rasgullas
















Ingredients:

  • Milk - 1 liter (5 cup)
  • Sugar - 1.5 cup
  • White vinegar - 2-3 tbsp
  • Cardamom powder - 1 tsp


Method:

  • Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy-bottomed pan till it starts foaming;  cool down the milk a bit. Add 1 cup water in milk for making it cool quickly. This makes chena softer and rasgullas comes out spongier. 
  • Add the vinegar little at a time and stir. It will curdle right away. You should see the milk solids (chenna) separate from the whey. Pour into a colander lined with cheesecloth; rinse the chenna with cold water to get rid of the vinegar. Allow the water to drain completely.
  • Gather the muslin cloth edges together and express as much water as possible; this is a soft paneer. Turn the paneer onto a rolling mat or other smooth surface. Knead the paneer well to make a dough. Roll into a ball and divide into 15-20 equal portions.
  • Add sugar and 4 cup water in pressure cooker and let it boil. When it starts boiling place the entire prepared balls in cooker one by one. Cover it with lid and let it simmer once and bring to pressure. After it simmers once reduce the flame and cook for 7-8 minutes more.
  • Take cold water in any utensil and place pressure cooker in it. Cool the cooker or place it below water tap so that it becomes cool quickly. Open the lid carefully and take out rasgullas along with sugar syrup in a bowl. Add cardamom powder and make them cool down. After 5-6 hours rasgullas become more sweet and tasty. Serve chilled rasgullas.



Sep 16, 2014

Mix-Flour Laddoos
















Ingredients:
  • 2 Cup Rice Flour
  • 2 Cup Mung Dal Flour
  • 2 Cup Wheat Flour
  • 2 Cup Powdered Sugar
  • 1 Cup Ghee
  • 1 tbsp Cardamom powder

Method:
  • Mix all the flour together. Heat ghee in a vessel with a thick base and fry the mixture on a low flame until you get nice aroma and well roasted. This will take around 15-20 min.
  • Let the mixture becomes luke warm and can be handled with hands. 
  • Mix the grounded sugar and cardamom powder in the mixture before making laddoos out of it.

Ukadiche Modak Using Mould
















For the dough
  • 1 cup rice flour
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 tsp ghee or oil
  • a pinch of salt


For the filling

  • 1 cup grated fresh coconut
  • 1 cup jaggery powder
  • 1 tbsp roasted poppy seeds
  • 7-8 cardamoms, powdered
  • 10-12 cashew nuts, chopped


For the dough
  • Mix water and milk in a sauuce pan or in vessel & boil 3.  
  • Add  little bit of salt to it. 
  • Reduce the flame to low and add rice flour to it. 
  • Keep stirring till the rice fllour cooks and become a lump. 
  • Remove from the flame. Cover with a lid and keep it aside and allow to cool. 
  • Knead the  rice flour  lump into a smooth dough by using ghee or oil.
  •  Keep it covered. If you feel dough is hard or dry, just add 2-3 tsp of water and knead it.


For the filling 

  • Mix the coconut, Jaggery, roasted poppy seeds and cashew nuts together. 
  • Heat this mixture in a pan over a medium flame, stirring continuously till the jaggery melts. 
  • When the jaggery release nice aroma and start to thickens, switch off the flame. 
  • Allow it to cool and add the cardamom powder. Mix well.


Preparation of  Modak using mould
  • Divide the dough into equal portions  and  also divide the  filling into equal portions.
  • Grease the mould lightly with ghee. Use 1 portion of the dough to stuff  in the mould's cavity. 
  • Keep aside a small portion of the dough to seal  the  modak to bottom. 
  • Fill the cavity with  portion of  coconut filling. 
  • Seal the surface with the rice dough. Now open the mould and place the modak on a plate. Make sure you keep prepared modak covered to avoid dryness.
  • Repeat the same process to all modaks. Once all the modaks are done, place them to the steamer decks, which is lined with muslin cloth. Steam in a modak patra for 15 minutes. 
  • You can use idly steamer for stemming modak. While steaming modak you can use banana leaf or turmeric leaf. It gives a good aroma to the modak.