Monday, 18 January 2016

Crispy Paper Dosa with Tomato and Onion Chutney...

Dosa
Ingredients
500 grams  Idli Rice
250 grams Urid dal
Salt to taste
Ghee to drizzle

Method
Soak the dal and rice in water over night. Grind the soaked dal and rice into a thick batter. Ferment it for 8 hours. Add salt and mix it. Take a non stick dosa tawa. Add 2  ladle full of batter and sriwl the batter on the tawa. Drizzel some ghee. Cook on medium low flame cook the dosa till crisp.

Tomato and Onion Chutney
Ingredients
6 Tomatoes roughly chopped
2 Onions sliced
2 Green chillies
6 Garlic cloves
2 tbsp Coriander leaves
Few Curry leaves
1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Coriander seeds
1 Dry Red Chilli broken
1/2 tsp Tamarind paste
1 tbsp Jaggery grated
Salt to taste
Pinch of Asafoetida
1 tbsp Coconut oil

Method
Take a grinder, add tomatoes, garlic, green chillies and  coriander leaves.  Grind the ingredients coarsely. Take a pan. Add oil. Let it heat. Add mustard seeds, coriander seeds and dry red chilli. Let it crackle. Add Curry leaves and asafoetida. Add the onions. Saute it for 2 minutes. Add the coriander paste, tamarind paste, salt and jaggary . Stir and cook for 3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water. Cook for 10 minutes. Serve hot with dosa.
Tomato and Onion Chutney
Ingredients
6 Tomatoes roughly chopped
2 Onions sliced
2 Green chillies
6 Garlic cloves
2 tbsp Coriander leaves
Few Curry leaves
1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Coriander seeds
1 Dry Red Chilli broken
1/2 tsp Tamarind paste
1 tbsp Jaggery grated
Salt to taste
Pinch of Asafoetida
1 tbsp Coconut oil

Method
Take a grinder, add tomatoes, garlic, green chillies and  coriander leaves.  Grind the ingredients coarsely. Take a pan. Add oil. Let it heat. Add mustard seeds, coriander seeds and dry red chilli. Let it crackle. Add Curry leaves and asafoetida. Add the onions. Saute it for 2 minutes. Add the coriander paste, tamarind paste, salt and jaggary . Stir and cook for 3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water. Cook for 10 minutes. Serve hot with dosa.

Vanilla Cake with Fresh Fruit Compote, Chocolate Ganache and Fresh Fruits

Vanilla Cake with Fresh Fruit Compote,  Chocolate Ganache and Fresh Fruits

Basic Egg less Vanilla Cakes   
Ingredients
1 cup All purpose Flour
1/2 cup Powder Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 cup Oil
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1 cup Milk + 1 tbsp Vinegar ( Mix)
    OR
1/2 cup Curd + 1/2 cup Milk ( Mix )

Method
In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Keep it aside. Take oil and sugar. Beat it well till the sugar in cooperates with the oil. Add vanilla essence and Milk vinegar OR Milk Curd. Beat it once more. Add the flour mix 1/2 cup  at a time and beat it until  you get a thick batter. If the batter is too thick then add 1 or 2 tbsp milk. The batter should be thick dropping concestency. Grease the baking tin. Fill in 2/3 rd of the baking tin. Bake at 180 degrees for 25 minutes or till done. Insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean it is done. Cool the cake completely and frost with  favorite frosting.

Fresh Fruit Compote
Ingredients
1/4 cup of Red Grapes chopped
1/4 cup of Strawberries chopped
1/4  of the Pineapple chopped
1 Kiwis chopped
2 tbsp of Sugar
1 tbsp  of Honey
Pinch of Salt

Method
Take a pot.. Add Sugar, Salt, Honey and all the fruits. On a low flame, stir and cook till the sugar has incorporated well with the fruits and the liquid have reduced...

Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
2 cups  Chocolate chips
1 cup Heavy Cream

Method
In  the microwave bowl, melt the  chocolate chips for 30 seconds.  Keep melting again for 30 seconds till it melts completely. Heat the cream, combine the two and whip it together  until smooth. Let it stand for 2 hours before use.

For Assembling
Cake
Fresh Fruit Compote
Chocolate Ganache
Any Fresh Fruits for decorating the cake..

Method
Cut the cake from the centre horizontally. Keep the top cake slice aside.   Fill the cake with fresh fruit compote in the centre.  Cover it with the cake slice. Apply chocolate ganache all over the cake. Decorate with fresh fruits.

Thursday, 14 January 2016

Date Jaggary Cookies

Date Jaggary Cookies..
Ingredients
2 cups All Purpose Flour
3/4  cup Ghee
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp Date Jaggary grated
1 cup Water
1/4 tsp Salt

Method
Take a pot, add water, 3/4 cup date jaggary and salt. Boil the water till the date jaggary dissolves. Take it off the flame. Take a mixing bowl, add the flour and ghee. Mix it well. Gradually add Jaggary water and knead the dough. Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into 5 equal portion. Roll each portion into same size sheets. Brush ghee on the sheets. Place the sheets on top of the other sheet.Start rolling the sheets from one end so that one is layered inside the other. Now there will be a long roll, cut this roll with a knife about one inch each. Keep all the pieces aside. Take one piece at a time and press it a little sideways with your finger and flatten it with a rolling pin. Cut the roll into half. Repeat the process with the other rolls. Place the cookies on the baking tray. Take 1 tbsp Jaggary and make small balls out of it, place the balls on the cookies. Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 20 minutes in a preheated oven. Cool it completely before having.

Pitha (Rosh Bora Pitha, Chushi Pitha Kheer, Dudh Puli, Bhaja Puli andGurer Shoru Chakl,Patishapta, Gokul Pitha , Mung Dal Pakun Pithe)



Poush Sankranti ar Pitha....
In West Bengal, Sankranti, also known as Poush Sankranti is named after the Bengali month, it is celebrated as a harvest festival Poush Parbon. It falls on 14 th January according to the western Calendar. The freshly harvested paddy ( Nobo anno) and the date palm jaggery in form of liquid called Jhola Gur or solid block form called Notun / Nolen / Patali gur are used along with coconut and milk to prepare sweet dish called Pithas. There are many kinds of Pithas made. 
Few of the Pithas are
Chitui piṭha
Aarisha Kakara pitha
Teler piṭha 
Bhapa piṭha 
Pakan piṭha
Puli piṭha
Gokul pitha 
Beni piṭha 
Dudher piṭha 
Chôndro puli
Muger puli
Dudh puli
Paṭhi shapta
Mug pakon
Rosh Bora 
Chushi Pitha (Traditional Old Dhaka Pitha)....

Here are few common pitha recipe links that I would like to share with you. Please click on the names to see the recipe. 


             Click here 👉  Bhaja Puli





              Click here 👉Dudh Puli


   Click here 👉 Gokul Pitha


Click here 👉 Khejur Gurer Shoru Chakli





Click here 👉 Patisapta


Click here 👉 Chushi Pitha Kheer




Click here 👉  Rosh Bora

            Click here 👉 Moong Dal Pakon Pitha



Pathisapta



For the Stuffing
Ingredients
2 cup Coconut grated
3/4 cup Date Jaggary grated
2 tbsp Sugar or more as per the taste
4 tbsp Mawa / Khoya
1/4 tsp Cardomom powder
Pinch of Salt
1 tsp Raisins
Method
Take a pan, add the coconut, sugar, Jaggary and salt, stir it on a low flame till the coconut becomes dry. Add Mawa, Cardomom and raisins.Cook for another couple of minutes till the mixture is dry. Pour in a bowl and let it cool down.
For the Crepe
Ingredients
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Semolina
1 cup Milk or more
Pinch of Salt
1 tbsp Sugar
Ghee for drizzling on the pan
Liquid Date jaggary for drizzling (optional)
Method
Take a mixing bowl. Add flour, salt, sugar and semolina. Mix it. Add milk little at a time to make the batter. Cover and let the batter stand for 30 minutes. The batter will be just a little runny-consistency that is easy to spread and swirl on the pan. Heat a small heavy bottom non-stick pan on medium-low heat and add just enough oil or ghee once the pan is hot. Add 1 or 2 ladle full of batter to the pan and immediately tilt the pan and swirl the batter to cover the entire surface. Soon it will start to set. Give the pan a gentle wiggle. If the crepe moves, it is ready. Add 1 or 2 tbsp of the stuffing lengthwise in the center. Fold the crepe from both the sides. Drizzle the Jaggary syrup on top of the pathisapta (optional).