Sankat Chauth and offerings to Ganesha - Pua recipe

This is one of the numerous fasts that are observed by Hindus in India. It offers the prayers to Lord Ganesh. We observe the fast for the day and eat a meal after the seeing the stars in the evening.

We make sweets with white Til (sesame seeds) called "tillbugga" and "pua" (deep fried sweet, flattened discs, made of flour).

I have posted about "Tillbugga" here

So we'll be making "Pua".

Makes 8 puas
Ingredients

Sugar- 5-6 tsp
water- to cover the sugar
Wheat flour-1 and 1/2 cups approximately
Ghee/Oil for frying
Cardamom powder(optional)

How to:

Soak sugar in water.Rest for a few hours so that it dissolves.
Add cardamom powder to the syrup.
Mix wheat flour and make a hard but pliable dough. Add a spoon of Ghee while mixing.
Pinch off a little dough and roll it into a circular disc.
Heat oil in a wok/Kadai.
When the oil becomes hot lower the flame to medium and fry the disc to make a pua.
Repeat and make till all the dough is used.

Enjoy the sweet treat of the new year.

Sooji kheer/ Semolina milk pudding

Sooji kheer is one of the easiest things to make and is ready in a jiffy. It can be served hot as well as cold, depending on one's preferance. My baby loves this one so I make it practically everyday, hence I'm giving measures for a single serving. You might need to add more milk though, if you feel that its gotten too thick and adjust the sugar accordingly. The sooji has to be toasted but not burnt to get a proper flavor.

You need: (for 1 serving)

1. Sooji - 2tsp
2. Milk- 1/2 cup
3. Sugar- 1 tsp
4. Ghee/clarified butter- 1tsp
5. Cardamom- 1, peeled and crushed
6. Dry fruits (optional)- crushed almonds, cashews, pistachios etc.
7. Kesar/saffron- 1 strand (optional)

Method:

1. Take a thick bottomed wok/Kadhai and put it on the flame. Put ghee and let it melt.
2. Add sooji and roast it till a cooked smell comes and it is slightly golden brown.
3. Add milk and let it come to a boil. Lastly, add sugar and cardamom. (add kesar too, if you are using it)
4. Remove from flame and garnish with dry fruits.
5. Serve immediately or after cooling for a few hours in the refrigerator.

Aamrus/ mango pudding

This is one of my favorite summer recipes. The scorching heat of summers had only one welcome respite.. MANGOES!!
 With mangoes arriving in big crates at home and made into "aamrus" in every single meal! I used to to ape my father by dunking 2-3 chunks of ice into it and relishing it to the last spoon (or lick in my case..:) ). Bliss.

The recipe is super simple and easy and basically if you have nice juicy mangoes, you can't go wrong with it. In my mom's version, milk and dry fruits were not a daily happening. Just mangoes, sugar and a little water would go a long way but my mom usually used ripe Alphonso/ Haphous variety which is the most juicy and flavorful variety of mangoes.

As I said, you can't go wrong if you have some ripe good quality mangoes.

Ingredients

1. Mangoes-2 small sized
2. Sugar- 1 tsp for sweet mangoes (you may need more for ones which are a  little sour)
3. Milk- 2 Tbsp
4. Dried fruits (optional)- chopped,for garnishing

Method

1. Peel the mangoes and remove the stone/seed.
2. Take the mango pulp, add milk and pluse it in a blender. (If you want mango chunks to remain then add less milk or just stop blending before its totally smooth)
3. Add sugar and blend again.
4. Pour into a bowl, garnish with nuts and enjoy!

PS: You can omit the milk and replace with water for a vegan version.
You can increase the quantity of milk and add ice to make a mango shake.
Diabetics can enjoy this by omitting sugar because the fruit itself is sweet enough. People with very high sugar will have to avoid it though.

Sheera / Halwa/ Sweet semolina pudding

There is something about the rainy weather. You feel nostalgic. 


You want to eat something hot/warm and gooey. 


The only word i can think of now is  Sheera. It is a thick-yet-flowing sweet goodness.


I like that....I feel like making it…


So let's get started.


Ingredients (1 serving)
1. Fine Semolina/ Sooji- 2 spoons (3 tsp)
2. Ghee (clarified butter)- 3tsp (if you want, you can put more)
3. Milk (full cream)- 50 ml+ additional to thin consistency
4. Almonds/ badam- 2-4 (make coarse powder by pounding)
5. Kesar /saffron- 1-2 strands
6. Green cardamom/elaichi-2, remove seeds and crush them
7. Sugar- 2 tsp




Method
1. Take a small thick bottomed kadhai/wok. Heat ghee in it.
2. Add sooji and cook while continuously stirring. It avoids burning of the semolina.
3. When the color and smell of sooji changes to a darker shade and a cooked smell then add milk and cook. The semolina will swell. If it gets too thick, add more milk. You can add water also.
4. Now add sugar and mix well.
5. Add kesar, badam and elaichi.




Footnotes:
Sheera is a common Indian sweet and you will find a number of variations to it.
6. Jaggary /gur also can be used instead of sugar.
7. Water can replace milk in the above recipe.
8. Other dry fruits like raisins, pistachios etc. can also be added to this recipe.
9. Whole wheat flour  can be used instead of semolina.
10. Some people add a small amount of rosewater to it to add a touch of royalty and beautiful fragrance.
11. You can soak saffron in warm milk before adding, I skipped the step.


Enjoy the wholesome goodness of this Indian sweet pudding and appreciate life.
Life is good.

Laapsi (Sweet Bulger)

This is a traditional Rajasthani sweet.  Whenever I have to serve something special and traditional, this one comes real handy. It's easy to make and is usually bang on target!

In my home, it was usually made in the Diwali (Popularly known as, the festival of lights) "Annakoot" poojan (the traditional prayer with offerings during Diwali time). A lot of times it was a feast-feature when we had gathering of the whole family (yes, I happen to have a huge joint and extended family).

This recipe is associated with old memories of childhood, where we just went running about the place and ate everything served on our plates (since we were at least 4 kids sharing a big plate).The kitchen would be crammed, because most women would be in there with aroma of goodies floating around.
Those were the days…

Recently my hubby got a taste for it! So he requested me to make it and I happily obliged. With a recipe that tasty & easy…who wouldn't?
Laapsi
Ingredients
1. Daliya (broken wheat, Bulger)-1/2 cup
2. Jaggary/ gur-1/2 cup
3. Clarified butter/Ghee- 1 Tbsp
4. Green cardamom (crushed)- about 1-2 pinch, discard the shell
5. Dry fruits- (optional)
6. Water for cooking

Method
1. Heat ghee and soak jaggary in water
2. Roast daliya in this ghee till its golden brown.
3. Pour water and let it cook on medium flame for a 5-10 minutes
4. Strain the jaggary soaked in water and collect the water. The remaining jaggary can be kept for further use.
5. When the daliya is cooked add jaggary water to it
6. Let is cook for a few min. The visible water should evaporate.
7. Add the crushed cardamom. You can also add dry fruits (almonds, cashews, raisins etc.) to this mix.
8. Serve hot.

New Year and some sweetness!!

Wishing all my readers a very happy and prosperous new year!!
and a joyous Makar sakranti!!

I know its a bit too late, but hey one has to recover from the new year parties and then festivals which continuously pop up on the traditional Indian calender.

Sakranti is a festival which marks the nearing end of the winter and it is believed that the sun changes hemisphere during that period. It is also celebrated as "Uttarayan" in Gujrat, "Makar Sakranti" in Rajasthan and "Pongal" in Andhra Pradesh & Kerala.

Here is a recipe of a sweet, savoury item which is usually a winter staple and is especially made in our household on the occasion of Sakranti.

Makes only 1 bowl

Ingredients
Til seeds-1 Tbsp
Sugar- 1Tbsp
Nuts- a handful
Green cardamom- 2-3 crushed

Method
1. Dry roast the Til seeds til just fragrant and slightly browned.
2. Pulse in a blender with sugar and nuts.
3. Add the fregrant elaichi aka cardamom.

Isn't it simple! Just about perfect for winters too.

Enjoy!

Sandesh : Indian Cheese Fudge

Every now and then you feel like appeasing your sweet tooth and end up shuffling through your recipe books or searching the internet to make something new. I did the same and came accross this appealing recipe. This is a traditional Bengali sweet and a little less famous than its well known cousin, 'Rasgulla' (pronounced rass-gul-la or raso- gul- la).

Bengal is an eastern state of India with its own unique cuisine. The sweets made there have created their niche among the plethora of sweet dishes made all over India.

This is a recipe which I took from a very inspiring blog called Ecurry authored by Soma .

Ingredients
1. Full cream milk- 750 ml (3 cups)
2. Sugar- 1/4 cup
3. Juice from 1 lemon (you can also use vinegar to curdle the milk)
4. Saffron/ kesar- 1 pinch
5. Crushed cardamom/elaichi- a few pinches

Method
1. Bring the milk to a gentle boil by keeping it on medium heat.

2. Add lime juice in small amounts till the milk is coagulated or curdled.

3. The moment you see clear greenish colored water, turn off the heat.

4. Line a colander/sieve with a cheesecloth and transfer the contents to it. Spray it with cold water and to wash off the lemon flavour. This step has to be done thoroughly otherwise, the Sandesh will take up the lemon flavor which is unbecoming of the dish.

5. Now gather the cheesecloth and twist it into a knot. Let this drain for 45 -60 min.

6. After draining , take out the "chenna" and knead it with hand.

"Knead evenly for about 7-10 minutes. During the last 3 minutes, add the sugar & the crushed saffron. Knead the chenna/cheese along with the sugar. By this time the chenna/cheese should be very smooth & not grainy at all. To test if it is done & ready for the next step, take a portion of the chenna/cheese & roll it in a sphere between your palms. The sphere should be very smooth on the outside with no cracks."..Ecurry

7. Take a non-stick pan and spread the chenna on it. Cook it on low heat while continuously stirring it,so that it does not stick to the bottom. This step should remove the raw smell , but should not be prolonged in order to avoid crumbly texture, due to which it won't remain good to mould.

8. The cooking which change the shade of cheese a little. It should take about 12-15 minutes to cook it. When its done it'll no longer stick to the pan and will come together.

9. Quickly, remove it from heat and transfer it to a bowl.

10. Mould it into balls/other shapes in decorative moulds while it is still warm to touch. Once cooled, you wont be able to mould them, though it will still be edible.

11. Take a mould and press down some portion on it. Smoothen the edges with fingertips. Keep a bowl of water handy for this task. Wet your fingers for smoothening.

12. Once set, they hold their shape and can be garnished with nuts (pistachios and almonds) or saffron or coarsely grounded green cardamom.

This recipe sounds like a lot of work. Yeah, maybe a little..but its totally worth it. I'm sending this recipe to Tina's "CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE" which is a monthly event, encouraging the blog newbie's to spread their stories over yummy recipes borrowed from each other.

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