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.

Raj Bhog....

This is one of the sweet delicacy of Bengal. It is another variety of rosogulla which is made from paneer or cottage cheese but it is little bigger in size, yellow in colour and has a mawa and milk masala stuffing inside. 

For the Paneer / Cottage Cheese 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 liters Cow Milk 

3/4 tsp Citric Acid 

3/4 cup Water 

Method 

Dissolve citric acid in water. Heat the milk and when it just starts to boil, reduce the flame. Take a ladle full of milk and add it in citric water, mix it and pour it back in the remaining milk and stir. Once the milk curdles and separates from the whey, then switch off the flame and let it stand for an hour and half. Strain the paneer through a muslin cloth till all the water drains out completely. 

For the Suffing 

1 tbsp Mawa

1 tbsp Milk Masala powder 

For the Sugar  Syrup 

3 cups Sugar 

7 1/2 cups Water 

For the Raj Bhog

Ingredients 

Paneer made from 1 1/2 liters Cow Milk 

1 tsp All Purpose Flour 

1 tsp Semolina 

2 pinches of Yellow food colour 

Method 

For the Stuffing, mix the mawa and milk masala together, make 8 or 12 equal small portions as many portions of the paneer balls and keep it aside. 

For the Rajbhog, take the paneer, semolina and all purpose flour together and knead it well till a smooth soft ball is form. Divide the dough into 8 or 12 equal portions as per the size desired. Take one portion,  flatten and create a hollow in the centre of the dough. Add a portion of the stuffing, seal the edges of the dough and roll it back into a ball. 

To make the Sugar syrup, mix sugar and water in a heavy bottomed pot. Heat it on full flame. As the syrup begins to boil add the balls one at a time into the sugar syrup to make the Rajbhogs. Lower it on medium heat and cover the lid for the first 5 minutes. Then half open for the next 15 minutes and for the last 10 minutes remove the lid. Serve it hot or room temperature. 

P. S. Instead of the milk masala powder you can ground 2 Almond, 3 Pistachios, Few Saffron Strands, 1 Cardamom seeds together. 

Nutty Chocolatey Mawa Donut Gujjiya.......

Nutty Chocolatey Mawa Donut Gujjiya.......

Holi hai Bhai Holi hai....

Khelo Rango ke Sath.... 

Gujjiya kha ke mast raho....

Aahi hai Subhakamnaye Hmara Apke Sangh..... 

Gujjiyas are classic dish made with all purpose flour dough and Mava filling, deep fried and dipped in Sugar syrup... 

This is a Gujjiya with a twist... 

For the Donut dough

Ingredients 

2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour + 1/4 cup extra for handling the dough and rolling the dough 

3 tbsp Melted Butter 

2 tbsp Powder Sugar 

Salt to taste 

1 1/4 tsp Dry Yeast 

1/4 cup Lukewarm Water 

1 tbsp Sugar for the Yeast 

1/4 cup or more Lukewarm Milk for kneading a soft dough

Method 

Add yeast, sugar and  lukewarm water in a cup and keep it aside till it rises. Take flour in a mixing bowl,  add salt and powder sugar. Mix it.  Mix in yeast and milk little at a time as per the milk is required for kneading a soft dough. Add a tbsp of butter and keep kneading the dough for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the remaining butter on the dough and  keep it aside cover till the dough rises. 

P. S. If the dough gets sticky sprinkle some flour and knead it. 

Knead the dough well. Stretch the dough and fold on a flat platform.

For the Nutty Chocolate Mawa filling 

Ingredients 

3/4 cup of Mawa

1/2 cup of Chocolate Chips 

Handful of Almond and Pistachio flakes or chopped

Method 

Take a pan, add the mawa and cook it till the mawa starts to form a dough, take it off the flame. Add the Almond and Pistacho flakes and mix it. Add the Chocolate chips, mix it well and keep it aside.

For the Donut Gujjyas 

Ingredients 

Dough

Filling 

Oil for frying the Gujjyas

Method 

Take the dough and knead it again. Divide the dough in to two portions. Take one portion and roll the dough, cut circles out of the sheet with a round cutter. Add the filling and fold one side to the other side. Press it and fold the edges. Keep it for 20 minutes. Heat the oil. Fry the Gujjyas till brown. Take it out. Cool it. Sprinkle it with coloured sugar powder... 

For Garnishing 

Use coloured sugar powder..... 

P. S. Take 2 tbsp of Sugar in a grinding jar and add few drop of colour. Mix it with the spoon.  Grind the sugar. The colour will get mixed with the sugar. If darker shade is required then add more drops of colour and grind again. This coloured powder sugar canbe used to decorate cakes and other desserts...

Tiranga Barfi (Green Pea,Carrot Mava Barfi)

Happy Republic Day to all.....
Tiranga Barfi (Green Pea,Carrot Mava Barfi)
Ingredients
750 grams Mawa
750 grams Cottage cheese  (Paneer )
11/2 cups Condensed milk
2 cup Green Peas puree
2 cup Carrot puree
3/4 tsp Cardomom powder
3 Pinches of Salt
Sprinkle of  Pistachio powder and few Almond flakes for garnishing
Ghee for greasing

Method
Take a plate and make crumbs of mawa and paneer. Divide the mava, paneer, condensed milk, cardomom powder and salt into 3 parts.  Take a heavy bottom pan add  the green pea puree, stirring occasionally reduce the water content in the puree, Add  mawa and paneer and stirring it  continuously cook it for 10 minutes till the liquid in it dries up a bit. Add the condensed milk, salt and cardomom powder, stir and cook on low flame till the mixture forms almost like a dough. Take it out and spread the mixture on a greased plate while it is hot. Take the another  pan, add only the mava and paneer, salt, condensed milk and cardomom powder, repeat the process. After the middle layer is done, take a pan and repeat the same with carrot puree. Take it out and spread the mixture on the white mixture.  Sprinkle with pistachios powder and almond flakes. Let it sit in the fridge for 6 hours till it sets. Cut into pieces and serve.

Kheerer Perakhi

Kheerer Perakhi 

My Ma was an excellent cook during her era. I remember my Ma making many types of sweet dishes during the festive season. One of the dish she prepared was Kheerer Perakhi.  My Ma passed away 2 years back. This Diwali I thought of celebrating in her rememberence. This sweet dish is not seen much in the shops now a days. 

Perakhi in other places outside Kolkatta is called Mawa Kachori / Candrakala/ Suryakala. The ingredients for the Perakhi and Kachori is more or less the same except in Mawa Kochuri / Candrakala / Suryakala  stuffing,  coconut, semolina and poppy seeds are added in some places. Kheerer Singara / Samosa Ingredients and the method is the same except for the shape is different. Perakhi is made with khoya stuffing filled in between the 2 rolled dough and then it is fried and dipped  into the sugar syrup. 

For the Stuffing 

Ingredients 

250 grams Khoya 

3 tbsp Sugar or as required 

2 tbsp Mixed Dry Fruit flakes (Almond and Pistachio)

1/2 tbsp Raisins 

2 Pinch of Cardamom powder 

Method 

Take a pan , heat it.  Add khoya and on low flame stir the khoya till it turns light brown & soft. Add sugar, stir it. Then mix  the dry fruit flakes, cardomom powder and raisins with the khoya. Keep it aside. 

For the Dough

3 cups All Purpose Flour 

3 tbsp Ghee

Salt to taste 

Cold Milk or Water to knead the dough 

Method 

Mix APF, salt and ghee, mix it. Add milk or water little at a time. Knead into a firm dough, cover and keep it aside for 30 minutes. 

For Sugar Syrup

11/2  cups of Sugar

2 cups of water 

Method 

Mix the sugar and water in a pot. On a low flame cook the sugar syrup till 2 string consistency. 

For the Kheerer Perakhi 

Ingredients 

Stuffing 

Dough 

Sugar syrup 

For garnishing Pistacho flakes 

Ghee for frying 

Method 

Take the dough. Divide the dough into equal small lime size portions. To make the Perakhi, take 2 dough balls  and appy a drop of ghee on the rolling board. Roll the dough balls out into small size pooris. Place one spoon of filling in the middle of one poori and close the stuffing by placing  another poori. Now pinch and fold the edges inwards. Repeat the process to make other perakhis.  Deep fry the perakhis in the hot ghee over a low flame till it turns golden brown in colour. Drain on absorbent paper. Dip the perakhis in the hot sugar syrup. Let it soak for 5 minutes.  Take it out from the sugar syrup on a plate. Garnished it with  pistachios. Serve after it cools down.