Basundi

Anything I have heard about this sweet is alI through the jokes and stories published in Ananda Vikatan (Tamil Weekly), and in tv dramas where the protaganist goes to a restaurant and order for basundi. There are a variety of sweets available and native to our town, so that we, or I, never felt that any treats were never needed from outside my locality.

Finally, my mom made this one day, from a recipe book which had come with our mixer. Personally, I have made this once or twice and after soooo long, I've made this, and that too with a twist that was created from what was originally supposed to be rasamalai. 

The twist was to add some baked and shredded ricotta cheese. If you don't have ricotta you can add khoa or just exclude the whole thing.

 This new ingredient added an exotic touch to this rich sweet, and I thought of sharing this new recipe with my readers. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS :

3 Cups Whole Milk

3/4 Cup Sugar+2 Tblsp

3/4 Cup Heavy Cream

1/4 Cup Ricotta Cheese

Pinch of Saffron

4 Green Cardamoms (powdered)

2+1 Tblsp Chopped Pistachios

METHOD :

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix 2 tablespoon sugar to the ricotta cheese and spread in a small tray and bake in the preheated oven for about 15 mins or until the surface starts to turn brown.

Remove from oven and let it cool.

Heat the milk in a deep pan along with sugar, 2 tablespoons powdered pistachios, powdered cardamom and a pinch of saffron. Keep stirring as needed until the milk thickens and reduces to half its quantity.

The saffron gives that yellow color and the flavor along with cardamom.

Once done, remove from stove and strain the whole thing. Once it's warm, mix in the cream and the baked shredded ricotta.

Cool completely and chill for about 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Serve with chopped nuts and a strand (or two) of saffron on top.

Avocado Almond Chutney

Some avocadoes were sitting in the refrigerator for quite some time. The week went by so fast that there wasn't enough time to even think of making use of it. However, I managed to find a recipe for it when I decided to forgo the routine chutney for dosa and try something new.

Brainstorming lead to this idea and so I gave it a try! But believe me, my kids loved it and insisted eating with both their dosa and chappathi (the next day's dinner). I used almonds, which can also be substituted with grated coconut. The color might not seem too appealing, but the taste is what matters, and in that department, this chutney did not dissappoint!

INGREDIENTS :

1Avocado

1/2 Cup Almond soaked and de skinned

1 Small Onion 

4 Green Chillies

2 Cloves Garlic

1/2 Tsp Tamarind Paste

Salt to taste

2 Tblsp Chopped Coriander Leaves

4 Tsp Oil

METHOD :

 Cut the avocado, remove the seed and scoop out the pulp. Mash it thoroughly with a fork and keep aside.

 Heat a pan over medium heat and pour two teaspoons oil to it. Once hot, add the chopped onion and green chillies and fry until light brown. Add the garlic cloves and coriander leaves along with a pinch of salt and the tamarind paste. Fry this mixture for about two minutes.

Cool this mixture and grind in a coffee grinder or a small mixer. Half way through the grinding add the soaked almonds and grind it to a coarse paste.

 Add this to the mashed avocado and mix well. Add more salt and adjust taste as required.

Heat the other 2 teaspoons of oil, add mustard, curry leaves and the dried red chillies and season the chutney.

Chicken Kurma

Chicken Kurma is another beloved speciality of my mom's. I still remember those childhood days when my mom made this kurma. This is made to accompany ghee rice or coconut cream rice. Its fragrant aroma always fills the house, and even wafts down half the street (believe me). Her key ingredient is white pepper powder, which gives that added bite of flavor. You can use black pepper powder if you don't have white and also you can grind two teaspoons of poppy seeds along with coconut to get that extra richness.

The potatoes in the gravy provide extra creaminess. You can make vegetarian kurma by adding vegetables like potatoes, carrots, cauliflower or peas.

INGREDIENTS:

2 lb Chicken

2" Inch Piece Cinnamon

2 Green Cardamoms

4 Cloves

1 Small Bay Leaf

2 Tblsp Oil

2 Onions

1 Small Tomato

4 Green Chillies

2 Tblsp Chopped Coriander Leaves

2 Tsp Ginger Garlic Paste

1 Medium Potato cut into pieces

To Grind:

1/4 Cup Grated Coconut

2 Tsp Coriander Powder

2 Tsp White Pepper Powder

1 Tsp Cumin Powder

1/2 Tsp Garam Masala Powder

Salt to taste

METHOD:

  Clean and cut the chicken into medium size pieces.

   Make a smooth paste of the items given under "to grind" along with water as needed.

Heat a deep pan on medium flame. Add oil once the pan is hot enough and fry the  whole spices cinnamon, cardamom, clove and bay leaf. Then add the finely chopped onion along with a pinch of salt (this lets the onion sweat and helps brown quicker). Once it turns light brown add the slit green chillies and ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute or two.

Then add the chopped tomato and let it wilt, about 3 minutes.

Potatoes are added now and fry for a minute.

Now add the chicken pieces along with 1/4 tsp salt give a nice stir and let it turn color.

Now its time to add the ground coconut spice paste. Stir everything together and add 1/4 cup or little less water (depends how liquidy the ground paste is) and bring it to a boil. Now reduce flame and cook with a closed lid for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Take care and stir in between because the coconut paste tend to stick to the bottom and might burn.

Once the chicken gets cooked add more water if needed, check for salt and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. This kurma is an excellent combination for coconut cream rice though it can be served with chappathi or roti.

Spinach Channa Curry

I was looking for a way to cook spinach but doesn't want to get into an elaborate cooking procedure. Also it should be protein rich.Bumped into this recipe when surfing (I meant the net), and thought of giving it a try.

It's good and great with any bread and so fulfilling. An easy one if you have canned vegetables and chopped frozen baby spinach. But no worries you can plan ahead and soak and cook the chickpeas and get fresh baby spinach too. Either way it tastes so good. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 Medium Onion Chopped 

4 Garlic Pods Chopped 

2 inch Ginger Chopped

2 Tomatoes (1-12 ounce canned diced tomatoes)

3 Cups Cooked Channa (2-15ounce canned Chick peas)

3 Cups Chopped Spinach (12 ounce baby spinach bag)

2 Tblsp Chopped Coriander Leaves

2 Tsp Coriander Powder 

1 Tsp Red Chilly Powder

2 Tsp Cumin Powder 

2 Tblsp Oil

Salt to taste 

METHOD:

Heat a deep pan over medium heat. Pour the oil into the pan and let it get hot.

Add the chopped onions and fry until they become transparent.

Then add the chopped ginger and garlic and fry for a minute. Once the raw smell is gine add the coriander powder, chilly powder and cumin powder along with s little salt and fry for about two mins. 

Now add the tomatoes and then the chick peas.Give it a nice stir along with some salt and close the lid, reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 mins.Note that the peas are already cooked.Add a little water if needed.

Then add coarsely chooped spinach and close the lid and let it cook for another 10 mins or so.

Finally add the chopped coriander leaves,check for salt and switch off the stove.

Its ine curry to be served with rice, chappathi, naan or any bread.

Carrot Halwa

Diwali is a festival of lights celebrated in India. Though it has religious importance for hindus this festival is celebrated as a time to light up your fire works by most Indians. Next to fire works Diwali is associated with too many varieties of sweets.

To wish all my friends this happy occasion I thought of blogging this recipe, a favorite and speciality of my sister. There are two versions, one is a rich variety made with milk khoa and a lighter one with just milk. Here I'm sharing the quick and lighter one. 

INGREDIENTS:

1lb Fresh Carrots

3 Cups Milk

11/4 Cups Sugar

4 Tblsp Ghee/Clarrified Butter

4 Green Cardamom Pods

A Pinch Saffron (optional)

1 Tblsp Almond Slivers (or cashews)

2 Tblsp Raisins

A pinch salt

METHOD:

   Clean, peel and grate the carrots. 

Soak the saffron threads in a tablespoon of milk and keep aside.

In a deep pan add a tablespoon of ghee and fry the almonds and raisins and keep aside. In the same pan add the grated carrots and fry them for few mins.Add the milk to this, bring it to a boil.Reduce the heat and let it cook until almost 3/4 of the milk gets absorbed. Stir often and take care it doesn't get burned.

Now add the sugar with a pinch of salt and mix well. The sugar dissolves and makes the mix looks watery but eventually it will thicken so stop worrying now 😀😀.

Increase the heat and a tablespoon of ghee now and keep stirring until the mixture begin to leave the sides of the pan. At this stage add the saffron soaked in milk, powdered cardamom and the fried nuts. Then add the remaining ghee,switch off the stive and transfer it to a serving bowl.

This halwa tastes best when aerved warm with vanilla ice cream.

Can be cooled and stored in refrigerator for about ten days.