Kache Papaye Che Modak

Ganapati Bappa Morya.

Wish you all a happy Ganesh Chaturthi. 

Modaks have a special significance during Ganesh festival,  as it is believed to be the favourite food of Lord Ganesha, due to which he is called Moniker Modakapriya (the one who likes modak) in Sanskrit.  Originally in some parts of Indian Modaks are made with rice flour and jaggary coconut stuffing  which are steamed. There are fried Modaks too. Now a days there are different varieties of Modaks available like Mava, Chocolate, Cake, Dry fruit Modak etc.

Today I have made raw papaya Modak for Ganesha... 

A recipe with love from my Kitchen. 

Ingredients 

1 cup Raw Papaya cut into cubes 

100 grams Khoya

1/2 cup Cashew / Almond powder

3 tbsp Hot Milk

2 pinches of Saffron 

1/4 tsp Cardamom powder 

Pinch of Salt

1/2 cup Sugar 

2 tbsp Ghee

Method 

Take a pot. 

Add 2 cups of water and papaya cubes into the pot. 

Simmer it for 2 minutes. 

Drain the water out. 

Add saffron into the hot milk and keep it aside. 

Blend the papayas in a blender into a paste. 

Add a tbsp of ghee into a pan or a pot. 

Add the papaya paste, stir it on a low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. 

Add the cashew or almond powder. Continue to stir occasionally. 

Add salt, cardamom powder and khoya. Keep stirring on low flame till the khoya incorporates well with the other ingredients. 

Add the saffron milk and sugar. 

Stir and cook the mixture on a low flame until it starts to form a dough. 

To check, take a small portion and roll it. It should form into a ball. 

Switch off the flame.

Let it cool a bit.

Take a modak mould.

Apply ghee into the mould. 

Take a big lime size portion.

Place it into the mould to give it a shape.

Repeat the same process to make the other modaks.

Take few strand of saffron to garnish the modaks.

Pepper Plastic Chutney....

As chutney is a part of a Bengali meal, here is an unique type of Bengali chutney which is served in functions and ceremonies with papad bhaja. 

  It's a very easy and simple recipe with the two main ingredients - green raw papaya and sugar. It's called plastic chutney because of it's looks. The papaya after cooking in sugar syrup turns translucent and looks like plastic. 

Ingredients

2 cups Kacha Peppe / Raw Papaya sliced into small thin pieces like chips

1 tbsp Raisins

3/4 cup Sugar

1/4 tsp Salt

2 tsp Lime juice

1 1/2 cup Water

Method

Take a pot or a pan.

Add water and the papaya chips.

Let it simmer on low - medium flame for 10 minutes.

Add salt and sugar.

Let it continue to simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the raisins.

Let till continue to simmer till the papaya chips become translucent and the syrup thickens.

Add the lime juice and simmer it for another minute.

Switch of the flame.

It's ready to be served.

Chanar Pantua

It is a traditional Bengali sweet made from cottage cheese and khoya, which is kneaded into a soft dough, divided into small equal portions and deep-fried. It is then dipped into sugar syrup.

Pantua is a Bengali version of Gulab Jamun.

For Sugar Syrup

Ingredients

2 cups Sugar

1 1/2 cup Water

2 Green Cardamom

Method

Add all the above ingredients in a pot and let the sugar dissolve and simmer till it becomes into a one string consistency. Remove it from the flame and keep it aside.

For the Pantua

Ingredients

Cottage Cheese made from one liter Cow Milk
approximately 150 grams 

100 grams Khoya

3 1/2 tbsp All Purpose Flour

A pinch of Salt

2 pinches of Baking Powder

1 tsp Milk if required 

1/4 tsp Ghee

Sugar Syrup

Oil for frying

Method

Drain the whey from the cottage cheese. The cottage cheese has to be dry, but moist. Add the cottage cheese, khoya, all purpose flour, salt and baking powder into a plate. Mix and knead all the ingredients together. If you fill the dough is hard, then add the milk otherwise not need. It has to be a soft smooth dough. Add ghee and knead it well. Divide the dough into equal size round balls or you can give it an oblong shape if you desire. Heat the oil. On a low flame fry the pantuas till golden brown in colour. Keep stirring the pantuas while frying to obtain an uniform colour. Directly dip the pantuas in sugar syrup. Let it soak for 15 minutes before serving.

Eggless Beetroot Brownie...

This is my daughter's one of the favorite dish. Very often there is a request to make it.

 It's an ideal lunchbox recipe for children or a tea - time snack recipe.

 I have used Whole Wheat Flour, Almond Flour along with All Purpose Flour. I have added fresh Beetroot juice to the batter. That makes it a bit healthy.

Ingredients

3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 cup Almond Flour

1/4 cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 cup Chocolate Chips

2 tbsp Walnut chopped

1 tsp Baking powder

1/3 cup Caster Sugar

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 cup Beetroot Juice

1/4 cup Curd

1/4 cup Oil or Melted Butter

Method

Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper and keep it aside. Mix the whole wheat flour, almond flour, all pupose flour, baking powder and salt together. Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave and stir it till the chocolate chips melts properly. Take a mixing bowl, add the melted chocolate and oil. Whisk it. Add the brown and caster sugar. Whisk it till the sugar dissolves properly. Add the curd and whisk it once again. Add half of the flour and half of the beetroot juice. Whisk it well, now add the remaining flour and juice. Whisk it once again. Pour the batter into the pan, sprinkle chopped walnuts on top.

Bake it for 30 to 35 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 degrees celsius. When done,insert a tooth pick to check. It should come out clean. Cool it for 15 minutes, before removing the brownies from the pan. Cut into pieces and serve.

Aloo Cha Phadphada or Aloo Che Patal Bhaji...

This is a traditional Maharashtrian dish, which is made on special occasion. It's a very old and simple dish. This dish is made with Colocasia leaves which is also known as Taro leaves. These leaves are easily found during monsoon. This dish can be prepare in various ways.

Ingredients

12 medium sized Colocasia Leaves and stems chopped

2 Green Chillies cut into halves

4 to 6 Curry Leaves

1 tbsp Coriander Chopped

1/2 cup Raw peanuts soaked in water for 30 minutes

1/2 cup Split Bengal Gram soaked in water for 30 minutes

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Goda Masala 

1 tbsp Tamarind paste

1/4 cup Ground Coconut paste

1 tbsp Jaggery

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

2 tbsp Oil

Method

Take a pressure cooker. Heat oil. Add the mustard seeds and allow it to crackle. Add the curry leaves and green chillies and sauté it for few seconds. Add the colocasia leaves, peanuts, split bengal grams, salt, turmeric powder, goda masala and Jaggery. Stir the vegetable. Add 1 1/2 cups of water. Cover the lid and let it give 3 to 4 whistles. Let the pressure release. Add the tamarind paste and coconut paste. Let it boil for 5 to 7 minutes more. Add coriander leaves and serve it hot.

Honey and Apple Bundt Cake....

This is an eggless tea time cake. Honey and apples are the key ingredients. It's healthy and good for children. It can be served as evening snacks or packed in lunch boxes. This recipe is with love from my kitchen. Please do try it out and share your reviews with me. 

Ingredients

2 Apples peeled and grated

1/2 cup Honey

150 ml Milk

2 tbsp Vinegar

1 tsp Vanilla Essence 

3/4 cup Oil

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1/4 cup Caster Sugar

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Soda bicarbonate

1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp Nutmeg powder

1/4 tsp Salt

Method

Grease the Bundt pan with oil and keep it aside. Sieve cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, baking powder, soda bicarbonate and flour together. Take another bowl and add honey, oil, vanilla essence, vinegar and milk together and whisk it. Add brown and castor sugar and whisk it again till the sugar dissolves.

Gradually add the dry ingredient little at a time and whisk the batter well. Add the apples and mix it. Pour the batter into the bundt pan, fill the batter only upto ¾ level of the pan. Tap the pan gently. Bake the cake at 180 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Insert a toothpick deep into the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. Cool the cake for 15 minutes and gently remove it from the pan. Cool it further before frosting.

For Icing

Ingredients

1 cup Icing Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

1 tbsp Milk

Method

Sieve the icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Add vanilla essence and milk into the icing sugar. Whisk it till the icing is thick in consistency.

Pour the icing into a disposable piping bag. Cut the tip of the piping bag and pour the icing over the cake. Allow icing to dry completely before slicing and serving.

P.S. If you don't have a bundt pan then you can use any other baking tin.  

Chicken Kachori....

Kachoris are very popular as snacks and can be enjoyed with hot tea. The stuffing can be anything of your choice and the outer cover is made with All Purpose Flour. It is deep fried and it is served with sauce or green chutney. 

Here I have stuffed the Kachoris with chicken mince.

For the stuffing

Ingredients

150 grams of fine Chicken mince

1 Onion finely chopped

1 Green Chilli chopped

1 tbsp Coriander Leaves chopped

1 tbsp Mint Leaves chopped

1 tbsp Ginger - Garlic - Chilli paste

Salt to taste

1 tsp Garm Masala powder

(1/2 tsp of Cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp Coriander seeds, 1 small Cinnamon stick, 2 Green Cardamom, 2 Cloves and 6 Peppercorns - ground together )

2 tbsp Oil

Method

Take oil in a wok, let it heat. Add the onion. Let it sauté till translucent. Add the ginger - garlic - chilli paste. Stir and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the chicken mince. Mix it and cook for 2 minutes. Add the salt, garam masala powder, chopped chilli, mint leaves and coriander leaves. Stir and cook till the liquid from the chicken mince has dried up. Keep it aside.

For the Dough

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour

1/2 tsp Baking powder

Salt to taste

1 Egg

2 tbsp Oil

Method

In a mixing bowl - add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix it. Add the egg and little water at a time and knead it. Add 1 1/2 tbsp oil and further knead it into a medium hard dough. Apply oil on the dough, cover and keep it for 15 minutes. Knead it once more.

To make the Kachori

Ingredients

Stuffing

Dough

Oil to fry

Method

Heat the oil in a fry pan. Take a big lime size portion of the dough. Apply oil on the rolling board and pin. Roll it into a small 
disc. Add a tbsp of the stuffing. Bring the edges to the middle over the filling and pinch them together and seal the edges together, roll it once more into a small disc. Fry the Kachoris on a low flame till golden brown on both the sides. Serve it hot with tomato sauce or chutney.

Karela Yakhin

This recipe is adapted from a Kashmiri cook book I own from many years called Kashmiri Kitchen. The bitter gourds are cooked in curd gravy with out onion, garlic, turmeric powder and chillies. I absolutely love this recipe. Believe me the dish is absolutely scrumptious to have it with hot steaming rice.

Ingredients

6 to 8 medium size Bitter gourds

1/2 cup Curd beaten

2 Cloves

2 Green Cardamom

Pinch of Asafoetida

1/2 tsp Ginger powder

1 tsp Fennel seed powder

1 tsp Garam Masala

Salt to taste

1 cup Oil to fry

Method

Scrape the outer skin of the bitter gourds and give a slit on them. Remove the seeds of the bitter gourds. Apply salt on the bitter gourds and keep it aside for 5 minutes. Wash and drain out the excess water from the bitter gourds. Heat oil in a wok. Lightly fry the bitter gourds in the oil. Remove the bitter gourds and the excess oil from the wok, leaving 2 tbsp of oil in the wok. Add the cardamom and cloves in the oil. Let it crackle, add the asafoetida. Stir and add the curd. Stir it for a minute. Add the salt, ginger powder, fennel seed powder and garam masala powder. Stir and let it simmer for a minute. Add 1/2 cup water. On low flame, let it simmer for 2 minutes. Add the bitter gourds. Let it simmer till the bitter gourds have cooked and the gravy has thickened. Serve it hot with rice.

Langcha

On the way to Shantiniketan in West Bengal, you will cross Shaktigarh. This place is known to be the birth place of Langchas.

Langcha is a sweetdish which is made with cottage cheese mixed with other ingredients. It is long cylindrical in shape. It is deep fried till a darkish brown crust is formed and then it is  dipped in sugar syrup till it becomes soft and juicy. 

I have used a food processor to blend the ingredients together, but the actual process is to knead it with the help of your palm.

Thin Sugar Syrup

Ingredients

1 cup Sugar

2 cups Water

Method

In a pot add the sugar and water, let it simmer till the sugar dissolves. Keep it aside.

Thick Sugar Syrup

2 1/2  cups Sugar

1 cup Sugar

Method

In a pot add the sugar and water, let it simmer till the sugar dissolves. Let it boil and switch off the flame just before the one string consistency. Keep it aside.

To make the Langcha

Ingredients

300 grams Cottage Cheese

100 grams Khoya / Mawa

1/4 cup Rice Flour

1/2 cup All Purpose Flour (AFP)

1/4 tsp Nutmeg powder

1/2 tsp Cardomom powder 

2 tsp Sugar

1/2 tsp Soda bicarbonate

1/2 tsp Ghee

Thin Syrup

Thick syrup

Oil to fry the Langcha

Method

Add the cottage cheese, khoya, rice flour, apf, nutmeg powder, cardomom powder, sugar and soda bicarbonate in a food processor and blend it till all the ingredients are blended well. Remove the mixture on a plate and knead it. If you feel that the dough is too soft to handle then add a tbsp of apf or more and knead it. Apply ghee on your palm and knead it, till a soft dough is form. Divide the dough into equal portions. Take a portion, apply oil on the palm and give it a long cylindrical shape. Take oil in a wok, heat it. On a low flame fry the langchas till darkish brown in colour. Keep stirring the langchas while frying to get uniform colour on the langchas. Remove the langchas from the oil and drop them into the thin syrup and let it soak for 20 minutes. Then remove the langchas and soak them in the thick syrup for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes serve it.