Dry fruits stuffed instant sondesh

Durga pujo brought in lot of excitement,happiness and joy to my life. I went berserked with food,pandal hopping and dressing up,leaving almost no time to blog any recipe here. Hence,writing after a long break,although not a very long one. This time of the year is my favourite as it not only brings joy with so many festivities,but also the climate is super cool,making me feel to travel around more.

Diwali being just a few days away,I thought of sharing this recipe which is fast to make and involves no cooking,once the chana has been prepared. This recipe will be less sweet in taste and can be consumed by those who are on diet. 

Ingredients

1. Full cream milk - 1 litre

2. Dry fruits chopped - 1/2 cup approx

3. Milk powder - 1/2 cup

4. Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Method

Boil and curdle the milk with curd. You can also curdle with lemon,in that case wash the chana with water so that the lime flavours gets removed. I generally prefer using curd while making sweets. The trick is once the milk starts boiling,lower down the flame and keep adding curd in small portions in intervals till the milk curdles. Strain in a muslin cloth and squeeze hard to remove all the moisture from it. I made almost 1/2 cups of chana,the ratio should be 3:1 of chana to milk powder. Once it cools down completely press with the lower side of your palm and knead for at least 5 mins till it has a smooth texture. Add milk powder to the chana and further knead till smooth texture. Make small balls and fill small amount of chopped dry fruits inside the balls. Layer with some dry fruits on top and press slightly. Repeat till you have used the entire mixture. Refrigerate for minimum 1 hr and serve.

Mishti potol - sweet parwal(pointed gourd)

Mishti potol is one such sweet of Bengal which is v less talked about as compared to other sweets and deserts. First time I saw it in a sweet shop in Kolkata(I am a probashi banagali belonging from MP), I found it very innovating and appealing. This sweet is rarely seen in sweet shops there. It was too sweet for my palate,but nonetheless  I liked it. Originally it's made with khoya filling,but in Noida where I stay khoya is seldom found. So I went ahead and made this with paneer,coconut and jaggery and can safely say that I liked the taste better.

Durga puja celebration has started in full swing and along with food expedition,I am busy planning with my sarees and listing pandals to be visited. For many of us this time is special be it Navratri or Durga puja celebration.Hope you enjoy this sweet and enjoy with family.

Ingredients

1. Potol/parwal/pointed gourd - 6 nos

2. Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

3. Jaggery - 1/2 cup

4. Paneer - 1/2 cup

5. Sugar - 1 cup

6. Green cardamom - 1 no

Method

Peel the potol, cut from one end and scoop out the seeds. I find it easy to scoop with the lower side of a spoon. Pressure cook the potol for 1 whistle,drain and keep aside. Now in a pot add sugar with 1 cup water,boil till the sugar dissolves. Add potol to the syrup along with green cardamom and boil for 2 to 3 mins. Let it cool in the syrup itself.

In a pan add paneer,grated coconut,jaggery and cook till all the moisture has evaporated and oil starts releasing. Once it cools down,fill this stuffing in the potol. Refridgerate for 2 hrs.Tastes best when served cold.

Gurer(jaggery) payesh

Finally the best days of a bong has arrived,Durga puja. These 10 days are to rejoice with your family and friends. Food ,wearing new clothes,pandal hopping,all are integral part of Durga puja. Generally the idol is brought on panchami,that is on the 5 th day,but the happiness,excitement starts with Mahalaya itself.

 I kick started my food tour this Mahalaya with our very own basic gurer payesh. It is simple to make but delicious to eat. In Noida,in my nearby local market I bought this sugarcane jaggery,which in bengali we also term as "bheli gur", but in Bengal gurer payesh is mainly made with khejur means date palm gur. The bheli gur here,is equally tasty and it tasted yummm after preparing.

Ingredients

1. Full cream milk - 500 ml

2. Gur - 1/2 cup(almost 50gms,increase if you want sweeter)

3. Green cardamom - 1 no

4. Chopped dry fruits for garnishing

5. Rice - 4tbsp

Method

Wash the rice and soak in water for 30 mins. In Bengal we use gobindobhog rice,as it cooks well and faster,but here it is not available so I used basmati rice. The key being that it takes longer time,but I cook until its done.Boil milk and simmer till it is reduced to half it's volume. Next add rice,cardamom ,simmer and cook till the volume of milk is reduced to 1/4 th. Meanwhile break the gur into small pieces. Once the rice is cooked,switch off the flame and add gur. Give a nice stir and allow it to rest for 15-20 mins,till the entire gur gets dissolved and give a final stir.I prefer adding gur after switching off the flame,so that the milk doesn't cuddles in case there is any impurity in the gur. To be on the safer side, this is the preferred stage to add gur. Garnish with chopped dryfruits and enjoy.

Mutton nawabi

We all know that red meat/mutton is best eaten occasionally,due to high level of animal fat. Since yesterday was a national holiday,so thought of cooking mutton,which should be made with less oil,but also a riot of spices. Although you may find the recipe elaborate,but it is very simple once we get all the ingredients sorted. Let me confess,I just mixed and matched whatever was available in my pantry. In case you don't have the particular ingredient or spice,just try to substitute or cook without it. Still I would recommend to use all the ingredients as it tasted to be one masterpiece.

I named it "nawabi" only because I was using some nuts and raisins. You may give your own name if u so wish.

Here in Noida,winter is settling in and it will be doubly beneficial for me as Durga puja is round the corner. I enjoy pandal hopping,dressing up traditionally in a saree and obviously relishing some street food available in the pandals. Therefore better the weather,better for me.

Ingredients

1. Mutton - 500 gms( medium size pieces)

2. Onion - 1 big size(chopped)

3. Ginger - 2tsp

4. Garlic paste - 3tsp

5. Tomato - 2 medium size( chopped)

6. Curd - 100gms

7. Turmeric powder - 1tsp

8. Red chilly powder - 1tsp

9. Salt to taste

10. Mustard oil - 4tsp

For the paste

1. White til seeds - 4tbsp

2. Peanuts - 25-30 nos

3. Almond - 10 nos

4. Raisins - 25 nos

Soak the above in warm water for 30 mins and make a paste with some water.

For the garam masala powder

1. Green cardamom - 3 nos

2. Black cardamom - 1 no

3. Cloves - 5 no

4. Cinnamon - 1 inch

5. Javitri - 1 flower

6. Black pepper - 1 tbsp

7. Cumin seeds - 2 tsp

8. Coriander seeds - 2 tsp

Dry roast and grind them coarsely,keep aside.

Method

Heat oil in a pressure cooker,add onion,ginger,garlic,tomato one by one and stir fry till oil starts separating. Since we are using less oil,cook in low flame stirring frequently. Next add mutton and stir fry for 3-4 mins. Next,dissolve turmeric powder,red chilly powder in small quantity of water and add it to mutton. Stir fry for 10 - 15 mins in low flame,covering with a lid,stirring occasionally. Now add some water,salt and close the lid of the cooker. After the first whistle,lower the flame and cook for 25 mins approx or till the mutton is cooked. Open the cooker only when the entire steam has released naturally. Next in a large bowl,whip curd,to it add the paste and dry garam masala powder. Add some water to it and pour on the mutton. Mix,add some water,if required and cook for one more minute. Garnish with cucumber,carrot shavings and serve hot with steamed rice.