Paan ki Rasmalai

Rasmalai is a Bengali dessert which is very popular throughout India. The name translates to "Juicy cream". Paan ki Rasmalai has an additional taste of Betel leaf.

Rasmalai is Rasgulla soaked in creamy milk. Rasgulla is the disc shaped sweet which is taken without soaking in creamy milk.

Ingredients:

• Paneer (Cottage cheese)
• Saffron induced milk - 1 cup
• Sugar - 1 + 1/2 cup
• Gulkand (Sweet preserve of rose petals)
• Almonds - randomly chopped
• Betel leaf - 1
• Clove - 1
• Cardamom - 1
• Maida/ All purpose flour - 1 spoon
• Rawa/ Semolina - 1 spoon

Preparation of Rasgulla:

• Knead paneer thoroughly till it becomes very soft. Add 1 spoon of rawa/ semlina while kneading.

• Make it into a tube and cut into equal pieces. Then make small balls out of it.

• Using hand, flatten then to small discs and keep it in a plate dusted with maida/ all-purpose-flour.

• Grate or finely chop the betel leaf/ paan and keep aside.

• Take a cooking pan and boil 2 and a half cups of water. Once it boils, add 1 cardamom, 1 clove and 1 cup of sugar and stir well. Sugar syrup is ready.

• Now bring the flame to low and slowly drop the rasgulla discs to the sugar syrup. Be careful to not get the rasgullas sticking to each other.

• Close it with a lid and let it cook in low flame for 15-20 mins and switch off.
• Let the rasgullas be in sugar syrup for an hour.

Preparation of creamy milk (malai):

• Take a cooking pan and boil the saffron induced milk.
• Add half cup of sugar and mix well.

• Keep stirring till the milk reduces to half and switch off the flame.

• Milk would have become creamy by now. Let it cool down for 15 mins.

Preparation of Paan ki Rasmalai:

• Take the rasgullas and squeeze out excess sugar syrup from them.
• Once the creamy milk has cooled down, add the rasgullas to the malai (creamy milk).
• Top it with a very small spoon of gulkand.
• Garnish with chopped almonds (pistachios as well if you have) and the grated Paan (betel leaf).
• Refrigerate for 5 mins. 

This dessert will taste it's best when served cold. Enjoy!

Breakfast special: Bread Upma (pudding)

This simple breakfast usually comes into picture when you have some left over bread pieces and you don't want to waste them. Very quick, very tasty. My version of Bread Upma is not very crunchy. It is slightly spongy, spicy and tangy.

Preparation and cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

• Bread pieces - 5
• Tomatoes - 2 large or 3 small
• Onion - 1
• Green chilly - 1
• Chopped and crushed ginger
• Turmeric powder - 1 spoon
• Sambar powder - 1 spoon
• Salt
• Curd/ Yoghurt - 2 spoons
• Mustard seeds
• Curry leaves
• Edible oil
• Ghee/ Butter

Preparation:

• Cut the bread pieces into cubes or tear into random pieces.
• Heat a frying pan, add ghee/ butter and fry the bread crumbs. Let them turn to golden brown. Keep aside.

• Heat a cooking pan, add edible oil, mustard seeds and let them splutter.
• Add chopped onions, split green chilly, curry leaves and crushed ginger. Saute well till onions turn golden brown.

• Add chopped tomatoes and saute till they become very soft.

• Add sambar powder, turmeric powder. Mix yoghurt/ curd and salt and add it as well. Stir well for 2 mins.

• Add the bread crumbs and mix well.

• Close it with a lid and cook in low flame for 4 mins.

• Serve hot!

This is a good way to not let your bread pieces go wasted. A breakfast which would be loved by both kids and adults!

Kadai Paneer

Kadai panner is a very easy and tasty curry made out of paneer (cottage cheese). This one is a dry curry and goes well with rotis/ phulkas/ naan.

Preparation and cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• Paneer cut into triangles (Cottage cheese)
• Tomatoes - 3
• Onion - 1
• Capsicum - 1
• Ginger-Garlic paste or crushed
• Red chilly powder - 1 spoon
• Turmeric powder - 1 spoon
• Salt - 2 spoon
• Edible oil

For garam masala:

• Bay leaf - 1/2
• Dry red chilies - 2
• Cinnamon stick - 1
• Cardamom - 4
• Cloves - 4
• Cumin seeds
• Coriander seeds

Preparation:

• Take a small frying pan and dry fry all the spices for garam masala for less than 2 mins. Be careful not to burn it. Once it cools down, grind it to make garam masala (powder). Keep aside. If you do not want strong garam masala taste, you can use exactly half of this powder.

• Shallow fry the paneer triangles in 2 spoon of edible oil for 3 mins. Keep aside.

• Take a cooking pan, add 2 spoons of edible oil and add some cumin seeds and wait till it crackles.
• Add chopped onions and saute. Also add crushed ginger-garlic (or paste).
• Saute for 5 mins till it becomes dark brown.

• Add the chopped tomatoes and saute till it becomes a puree. This could take 10 mins.

• Now add chopped capsicums (chopped into big pieces). Stir well.
• Add red chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt and 1/2 cup water and stir well.

• Close it with a lid and let it cook well for 10 mins.

• Once the capsicums are cooked and the water is dried, add the paneer pieces and garam masala and mix well.
• Close is with a lid and let it cook in low flame for 5-10 mins.
• Garnish with coriander leaves.

Delicious Kadai paneer is ready to serve. Enjoy it with hot phulkas. To make soft, fluffy and puffy phulkas, visit: http://she-simple-healthy-elegant.blogspot.in/2013/11/soft-and-puffy-phulkas.html

Christmas special: Plum cake

After a small break, I'm back with a yummy Christmas recipe. Plum cake.

Ingredients:

• Nuts
• Raisins
• Cashews
• Almonds
• Nutmeg
• Tutty Frutty
• Rum - 1 cup
• Eggs - 2
• Butter
• Maida/ All purpose flour - 1 cup
• Baking powder - 1 spoon
• Vanilla pod or Vanilla essence
• Sugar - 1 + 1/2 cup
• Spices 
• Cinnamon roll
• Cloves - 4
• Dry ginger/ chukku - 1 piece
• Nutmeg - 4 
• Caraway seeds / Kaala jeera

Preparation:

• On day 1, soak raisins, tutty frutty, cashews, almonds and nutmeg in rum. Keep it in a closed vessel for a week.

• Keep mixing the ingredients every day. The ingredients will become double sized in a week's time.

On the day of cake preparation:

• Take the eggs and separate the egg white and yolk. Add vanilla pod or vanilla essence to the egg yolk. Whisk egg white and egg yolk separately and keep aside.

• Take a frying pan and caramelize half cup of sugar. For this, add the sugar in the hot pan and stir for 3 mins. Now slowly add water and bring it to a dark brown state. Be very careful while adding water.

• Grind all the spices and keep aside.

• Mix all purpose flour and baking powder and keep aside.
• Mix one cup of sugar and butter (at room temperature) and knead well.

• Add whisked egg yolk slowly to the butter-sugar mix and mix well.
• Add the caramelized sugar and powdered spices to the mix and blend well.

• Now add the all purpose flour (maida)- baking powder mix and mix well.
• Add the soaked nuts/ raisins and mix well.
• Now also add the whisked egg white and mix well.

• Take a baking bowl and grease it with butter thoroughly.

• Pour the cake mix to the baking bowl.

• Pre heat the oven for 180 C. This will take around 10 mins.
• Place the mix in the oven and bake for 45 mins at 180 C.

• Let it cool down before you remove it from the baking bowl.
• Make sure that the cake has cooled down before you start serving it.

Enjoy this rummy-yummy plum cake. Merry Christmas to all of you!

Soup series: Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I had my first Broccoli Cheddar yummy soup at Panera Bread. OMG, the thick soup just melted in my mouth and I fell in love with it. One year later, I have attempted to prepare it at home. This is the recipe I have followed. Tasty and also so filling. It is more than a simple soup.

Preparation and cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• Broccoli
• Cheddar cheese
• Milk-Water 50-50 (half n half) - 1 cup
• Ghee/ Butter - 1/4 cup
• Garlic powder (or garlic paste)
• Chopped carrot - 1
• Chopped onion - 1/2
• Maida/ All-purpose-flour - 4 spoons
• Assorted vegetables boiled - 1 carrot, 1 potato, 3 broccoli
• Pepper powder
• Salt

Preparation:

• Take a cooking pan, pour 2 spoons of ghee/ butter and saute the finely chopped onions. Saute till it becomes transparent and keep aside.
• Pour 5 spoons of ghee/ butter and let it melt. Add 4 spoons of maida/all purpose flour and stir well. It should become a thick paste (roux).

• Add the half n half (milk-water) to the roux and stir well. 
• Mash the boiled vegetables.

• Add the mashed vegetables to the pan and continue to stir.
• In case the mix is very thick, add more milk-water and keep stirring for 5 mins.
• Add the chopped carrots, sauteed onions and chopped broccoli and stir well.
• Add salt, pepper powder, garlic powder/paste and stir well.
• Close it with a lid and let it cook for 10 mins.

• Blend the mix using a food blender.
• Add grated cheddar cheese, stir well and cook for another 2-3 mins.

Broccoli cheddar soup is ready. Have it with some potato chips or toasted bread. I love it with the chips. Yummy!