Easy Rasmalai | Ricotta Rasmalai | American rasmalai

Sweets are my weakness but I am not a sweet tooth. Well thats confusing, I know. Let me explain. I am not a person who is in desperate need of a dessert after every meal but when there is an availability I enjoy it to the fullest. I love gulab jamun with icecream and gajar ka halwa with ice cream and then there is rasmalai for which I am the greatest fan on earth, the one thing that I craved for during and after pregnancy. This recipe is the cheat's method to make rasmalai. Well it can never scale up to the original version where you have to knead the chenna, cook it and then dunk it in the ras . But for the 30 mins of labor that you put in, it yields good flavors.

~*What U Need*~ For the cheese discs: Whole milk Ricotta cheese - 15 oz Sugar - 1/4 cup Cardamom - 2 For the ras/syrup: Evaporated milk - 1 can Sweetened condensed milk - 1/4 cup Whole milk - 1/2 cup Sugar - 2 tbsp, ground with 2 cardamom Cashews, Almonds, pista - 1/4 cup, coarsely chopped How I Made it: Pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Powder 1/4 cup of sugar and cardamom and mix them with ricotta cheese. In a muffin pan, divide this mixture equally and bake for 20- 25 minutes until it is set. Let cool completely, and remove from pan. To make the syrup In a sauce pan, boil the evaporated milk , whole milk. Simmer on low flame and add the condensed milk and sugar. Simmer till the desired consistency is reached. Add the nuts, mix well and cool to room temperature. Add the cheese discs and chill overnight.

Serve chilled!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Maida Murukku | Diwali snacks | Guest Post for Arthy

When Arthy of Sumanarthy's kitchen asked me to do a guest post for her in the month of November, I was first hesitant to accept it. Seriously, I just can't find the time to even blog these days and a guest post was totally out of question. But when she gave the theme as Diwali recipes, I thought that I could squeeze in a guest post sometime. After all, I had decided to make quite a few Diwali sweets and snacks and I just had to pick one for her.

I am a sucker for traditional South Indian snack items. And by sucker I mean not in eating it but to make it. The first time I tried Omapodi at home, it drank so much oil that I had to bin it. The second time I tried seedai and most of you know what happened. And to those who are new, it burst right out spluttering my entire kitchen with oil and it took me 2 hours to clean up the mess. And thus come everything to an end. The huss, the brother, and the whole family asked me to stop venturing out of my league. And so have I. Until Diwali came and I started browsing for some easy recipes. The huss was so adamant that I make the muruku under his vigilance. Grrrrr... As for the recipe, I saw this one in a TV cookery show. Its an easy and go-to recipe for beginners like me... So why wait, head over to Arthy's kitchen for the step by step recipe.

Updated recipe on 12/24/2013

~*What U Need*~ Unbleached all purpose flour - 1 cup Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp Sesame seeds - 1/2 tbsp Ghee - 1 tsp Salt - to taste Warm water - to knead dough Oil - to deep fry How I Made it: Place the maida in a clean cloth and steam for 10 mins. Once done, remove and when it is warm, crumble it with your hand. Once it is completely cool, sieve it and collect the flour. If you want you can run it in the food processor or mixie once. In a mixing bowl, add maida, ghee, sesame seeds, cumin seeds, required salt and mix it once. Then add hot water little by little and combine to form a dough. Then divide them equal portions and set aside. Put each ball into the murukku press. Heat oil in a kadai and when hot drop murukkus (you could either pipe it directly into the hot oil or pipe murukku on a greased plastic cover and drop it carefully into the oil. I piped it directly into the oil. Cook on both side till golden brown, remove and drain in kitchen towl. Crush into bite sized pieces and store in an airtight container. Always fry the murukku in medium low flame.

Serve with tea!!!

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Rasmalai | Diwali Sweet Recipes

First let me share a very exciting news. I ordered a Kitchen-aid Professional stand mixer yesterday. Yessss, a brand new one, a shining empire red one, one which I have been longing to own ever since I started baking. Its due to arrive between Dec 3 and Dec 6 and the wait is just killing me. I will share photos as soon as I get it.

Now lets talk about the diwali sweet recipes that I have been posting decades late. Okay here's the deal, I swear that this is the last of my diwali posts. Well, I still have one more but that is a guest post for a loved one but that is the end of the series. Finally, right?? I am sorry, truly for dragging it so long but I have been left with no other option. Blogging is just not what my son and I want rite now which leaves me to the fact that I have to sit late nights, which is not what I want. 2 hours is all that I can spend for the blog these days and that just doesn't seem enough.

But then you don't need it to be Diwali to indulge in sweets right? And when it is a rich juicy one like this rasmalai, all you need is a simple reason to pop one in your mouth, like the day is bright and sunny, why don't I have a rasmalai. Atleast that was our case (where our = me+pappu). Since it was my first time, I tried it using half a litre. That is me, I always use the smallest possible quantity for the first test batch that I run. But the recipe could be easily doubled or tripled as per convenience.

~*What U Need*~ Whole Milk - 2 cups Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp Ice cubes - few To Make syrup: Water - 1 3/4 cups Sugar - 3/4 cup Cardamom powder - 1/8 tsp Pistachios/Cashews - to garnish For Rabdi: Milk - 1/2 litre or 2 cups Condensed milk - 1/4 cup Cardamom powder - a pinch Saffron threads - 1/8 tsp soaked in warm milk Pistachios, almonds, cashews - chopped, 2 tbsp Ghee - 1 tsp How I Made it: Bring milk to a boil and then set to medium flame. Add lemon juice and stir well. Keep stirring till the milk solids separate and the whey water is clear. Remove from heat, add the icecubes or place this in a cold water bath. I added icecubes. Take a clean cotton cloth, pour the curdled milk and collect the whey water. Wash the chhena in running water to remove the lemon smell. Squeeze the excess water and hang it for 30 mins. After 30 mins, the chhena should be crumbly in texture. Knead well till it forms a smooth dough, say 5-10 mins. Make flattened discs or balls of desired size. I made small balls for pappu's sake. Heat water in a deep wide bottomed vessel, add sugar, cardamom powder and keep stirring till sugar dissolves completely. When it starts boiling, put it to medium heat, and slowly add the balls. Place the lid and cook for 10-12 mins till the balls are doubled in size. Immediately remove the balls and place them in a pan with cold water. This is done to stop the balls from cooking more. Cool both the rasgullas and the sugar syrup completely, add the rasgullas to the syrup and chill in the refrigerator overnight. Now lets make the rabdi. In a small saucepan, add 1 tsp ghee and fry the nuts till brown. Once brown, add the milk and boil. Add the crushed cardamom and boil till reduced to half. Add the saffron soaked milk and boil. Now add the condensed milk and boil till the milk is thick and syrupy. Squeeze the rasgullas gently to remove excess sugar syrup and then drop into the rabdi. Give it a boil and then remove from heat. Chill overnight.

Serve chilled.!!!

So thats it Folks...
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Coconut Burfi | Thengaai Burfi | Diwali sweets

I have never been a big fan of coconut burfi until I tasted my MIL's preparation. Lets come to that part later. Something about that overly sweet, chewy fudge is just not my type. And then after marriage I tasted my MIL's thengaai burfi. I would never say that it was love at first sight or rather say taste. It has made be go from a definite no-no to I-can-taste-one-piece. And that to me is a huge transition. The huss on the other hand is a lover for the sweet. And that is what tempted me to try this burfi for Diwali. It turned out well, it had to when you get the recipe, tips and tricks from the expert herself.

Prep Time: 10 mins; Cook time: 8-10 mins; Makes: 12 ~*What U Need*~ Coconut - 1 cup, grated Sugar - 1 cup Cardamom seeds - 1/8 tsp, crushed Cashews - 2 tbsp, broken Ghee - to grease tray How I Made it: Toast the cashews till golden brown. Grease a tray with ghee and set aside. Take a non stick pan, heat coconut and sugar together. Mix well. Continue heating in medium flame. The sugar will start melting. Continue cooking till the mixture starts leaving the pan and forms a mass with very little moisture content. Add the cashews and cardamom powder and mix well. Pour into the greased tray and smoothen the top. While still warm cut into pieces. Once completely cooled, remove from tray and store in air tight container.

Yummy burfi ready!!!

** My Notes:
** Donot cook till all the moisture leaves, the mixture will start to crumble.
** Donot allow the sugar to caramelize.
** If you are using frozen coconut, MW for 1 min till fully defrosted.
** I used frozen coconut, I just left it on the counter for 2 hours.

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Rasgulla | Bengali Rasgulla | Easy Diwali Sweets

Advance Diwali Wishes to ally my readers!!!Let the festival of lights fill your days with joy, fun and happiness.

That being said, its just like any other day for us. No crackers, no family and no sound!!! And so there is no Diwali feel. We have been enjoying sweets but that longingness to be in your homeland among friends and relatives is there. I miss the early morning crackers, the diya lighting, the non-stop tv programs, Adyar Ananda Bhavan sweets and more of all the biryani that amma makes on Diwali. Other than the small pot-luck party that few friends over here have arranged there is nothing special here.

Thanks that the occasion falls on a weekend, atleast we will be together for the day. And so I have been making plans for lunch and dinner. Vadakari and dosa is the huss's favorite and that is definitely gonna be there for breakfast. Lunch has to be none other than pressure cooker biryani, my version of my MIL's chicken masala and finally ending it with a sweet note. I have made a big batch of rasmalai and it is there chilling in the refrigerator stewing in all that flavored milk. Dinner might be light with some chicken tandoori, naan bread and pickled onions. I still have to make sweets and savories to distribute to neighbors and friends and that is gonna be tomorrow's task... And there goes the schedule for another hectic weekend.

Coming to this recipe, I made this last weekend when the huss's friend came over to visit us. I served him this chilled as dessert after a hearty meal of biryani and he said that it was a perfect way to end the lunch. The balls were soft and melt-in-the-mouth kind filled with all that sugary syrup. Since this is my first time, I used only 1/2 litre of milk but the next time I make it, it is definitely gonna be a bigger batch. I missed taking the pictures for few steps but I will update a detailed post in the rasmalai recipe which is up next.

Prep time: 20 mins; Cooking time: 25 mins; Makes - 10 mini ~*What U Need*~ Whole Milk - 2 cups Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp Ice cubes - few To Make syrup: Water - 1 3/4 cups Sugar - 3/4 cup Cardamom powder - 1/8 tsp Pistachios/Cashews - to garnish How I Made it: Bring milk to a boil and then set to medium flame. Add lemon juice and stir well. Keep stirring till the milk solids separate and the whey water is clear. Remove from heat, add the icecubes or place this in a cold water bath. I placed in an ice bath. Take a clean cotton cloth, pour the curdled milk and collect the whey water. Wash the chhena in running water to remove the lemon smell. Squeeze the excess water and hang it for 30 mins. After 30 mins, the chhena should be crumbly in texture. Knead well till it forms a smooth dough, say 5-10 mins. Pinch balls of desired size and smoothen them out. Heat water in a deep wide bottomed vessel, add sugar, cardamom powder and keep stirring till sugar dissolves completely. When it starts boiling, put it to medium heat, and slowly add the balls. Place the lid and cook for 10-12 mins till the balls are doubled in size. I missed taking a picture of this. But you can see the difference in size right!!! Immediately remove the balls and place them in a pan with cold water. This is done to stop the balls from cooking more. Cool both the rasgullas and the sugar syrup completely, add the cashews and chill in the refrigerator overnight.

Serve chilled!!!

** My Notes:
** Do not discard the whey water. I use it to make chapathis which makes them super soft.
** Give room for the rasgullas to breathe. Do not overcrowd the pan.
** Always serve chilled.
** Adding ice cubes to the pan stops the chhena from overcooking and so does placing the cooked rasgullas in water.
** Also cook the rasgulla balls in medium flame. Donot let the syrup to boil and as this might lead to cracks.
** It generally takes 10-12 mins for the rasgullas to cook.
** Be careful when removing the cooked rasgullas as they are so soft at that stage.
** I missed taking step by step pics for the icecubes part and adding the uncooked rasgullas but I will update them in my rasmalai post.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Khoya Burfi | Easy Diwali Sweets

After the vacation trip, getting back to normal is becoming emotional for me. And the dipping mercury levels is an added reason. I so wish that I am always with family. I know that this is just an aftermath of meeting friends and family and things are gonna be just like before as days pass by but I just can't get that clinging feel of loneliness out of my mind. In fact I have been diverting myself with shopping. Yeah, I have been winter shopping, prop shopping and bakeware shopping.

Yesterday I went to Walmart and I grabbed a mini angel food cake pan, a doughnut cutter and some Christmas cookie cutters and I have no idea when I am gonna use it. And today I have been rummaging through the bin to get hold of that receipt so that I can return it. To put things in short, I think I am out of my mind and am out-of-the-world lonely. Well, hope things change soon cos I think I am driving the huss a teeny-weeny bit crazy too.

Coming to today's recipe, remember the homemade khoya that I posted last week. This is what I made with the khoya, khoya burfi. Its sweet, its fudgy and its an easy sweet that could be made for Diwali, and super easy if you buy khoya from the store or follow shortcuts to make khoya at home (which I will share soon). As for the texture, it was just like store bought, a bit crumbly. BTW I didn't add curd to get that texture, my khoya didn't dissolve completely and that must be the reason. As for why my khoya didn't dissolve, I think I made it too dry and crumbly. But thanks be to that cos we love our burfis to be crumbly and not too smooth. But if you are a fan of smooth burfis then do not make your khoya too dry.

Prep Time: 5 mins; Cooking time: 15 mins; Makes - 7-8 pieces ~*What U Need*~ Khoya - 1 cup Sugar - 1 cup Cardamom seeds - 1/8 tsp, crushed Milk - 2 tbsp Ghee - to grease Cashews/pistachios - to garnish How I Made it: Crumble the khoya, sugar and milk in a non-stick pan. In medium flame, mix well to dissolve. Now add the crushed cardamom seeds and keep mixing till it forms a mass and leaves the pan without sticking. Grease a pan with ghee, pour the mixture into the pan and level with a greased spatula. Allow to cool and cut into desired shapes. Garnish with pistachios or cashews.

Serve with love!!!

** My Notes:
** You could add saffron soaked in milk to get kesar burfi.
** My khoya was dry and crumbly and so the khoya did not dissolve properly. If so don't panic, just go ahead in the process. You will get burfis just like the ones you get from stores, fudgy and crumbly.
** Cook the khoya till it leaves no trial of water when swirling around the pan. If you feel that it has some water content, then return to the pan, heat for some more time and then make pieces.
** Keep refrigerated but always serve at room temperature.

So thats it Folks...
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Ghee Milk Solids Laddoo | Nei Urundai | Leftover Recipes

When amma makes ghee, she usually ditches the milk solids that settle down after the heating part. We usually make ghee from small amounts of butter and so it didn't matter. But this time when I made ghee, I used a one pound butter block and there was quite some milk solids left over. I didn't want to waste them, after all it is just solidified milk. When I was talking about this with amma, she gave me this idea to make laddoos. Sounded simple and knew that the huss would love these.

I used wheat flour but you can use urad dhal or moong dhal flour too. And tastewise, it was great ~ crunchy from the milk solids, melt in the mouth from the ghee and nutty from the wheat flour. One point that needs attention is roasting the wheat flour. You have to get a nice nutty aroma and the colour should be a golden brown.

Prep Time: Nil; Cooking time: 15 mins; Makes: 7-8 ~*What U Need*~ Left over milk solids from the ghee Wheat flour - 1/2 cup Sugar - 3 tbsp Ghee - 3 tbsp or more Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp How I Made it: Put the wheat flour in the pan which has the milk solids and mix well to combine. The flour should become wet. Transfer this to a kadai and in medium heat roast till you a rich aroma and the wheat flour turns golden brown. Remove from heat, add the sugar, give it a stir and allow to cool. Heat 3 tbsp ghee in a pan and fry the cashews. Once the wheat mixture becomes hand-bearable, add the cashews and the ghee, mix well and start forming laddoos. Add more ghee if you cannot form balls.

Store in an air-tight container!!!

So thats it Folks...
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