Tilachi Barfi

 (sesame and peanut fudge)

If you are not the person who likes to bite into til-gul brittles, this one is for you! My aji's innovation :) This is not like any other tilgul you have eaten! It has vanilla for flavoring, but you wont even know it has vanilla, what the vanilla does is takes the tilachi barfi to a different level! such a modern twist on tilgul. I made it for this sankranti. Havent since, gotten time to put together this post. Anyway, its never too late. At least this way you will have it in time before next snkranti :P

This is the kind of recipe I will usually stay away from. It involves sugar-syrup making (which freaks me out). But for this particular preparation, I stood right by my aji's side and observed each step and learnt how to make the perfect consistency sugar syrup for this application!

Ill walk you through the steps with pictures, hope it makes sense to you..

You will need:

1 cup powdered sesame seeds (roasted, then ground)
1 cup powdered peanuts (lightly roasted and ground)
3/4 cup sugar
whole milk
vanilla extract (seriously, trust me! also, if you can get hold of the 'viola' indian brand, it will be better)
1 tsp Ghee

1. take the sugar in a pan
2. pour milk until all the sugar is covered and some more
3. start heating this mixture on low flame, stirring constantly. This is how it will look, as the sugar dissolves and the milk starts to boil

4. To make sure you get the perfect consistency, after every 1-2 minutes, take a tiny dot of the syrup with a spoon onto a glass dish. The picture below shows the results you will get.

5. From left to right in the picture, you can see how the shape of the dot changes. Notice that the one on the far right is homogenous and 3D (if you know what you mean. It does not splutter on the plate, stays like a hemisphere!
6. Thats exactly how much you want to cook the syrup. At this very instant, add the peanut and sesame powders and mix vigorously.
7. The mixture will be liquidy at first, but will start getting dry immediately

8. You dont want to let it become too dry, while its still soft take it off the heat (this happens in a few seconds, be alert)
9. keep mixng while off the heat. When a little warm, add Ghee and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and mix
10. transfer onto a greased sheet, while still warm. Press flat and cut squares.
11. Let cool and remove. Enjoy!

Coconut Barfi

Khobryachi barfi, Naralachya vadya- Indian style coconut fudge

One of the many things I patronize is Baby Atya's Khobryachya vadya! They just hit the spot. And she is extremely sweet to make it for me everytime I go visit her. Now this is not her recipe which is maybe way too complicated for my coking skills :/ on top of having a record of never turning out the same way :(

So here I designed a new easy recipe :P Its almost as good as Baby Atya's! very easy, takes only 15 minutes, although looks complicated and elaborate! Make it next time when you have guests over instead of buying expensive and unhealthy sweets..

You will need:

1.5 cup shredded coconut (fresh or frozen-thawed (approx 1/2 packet))- cleaned
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh khawa (mawa) OR 1/2 cup mawa powder+2 tbsp milk
1 heaped teaspoon of ghee
a dash of powdered cardamom
a pinch of saffron (toasted slightly)
chopped pistachios for garnish (you can use almonds or silver foil too!)

Keep an aluminium tray greased with ghee ready (i used a cake tin)

Take a non-stick pan and start cooking the coconut on low flame
stir constantly and cook until the coconut gets a little dry (do not let it turn golden/brown) (10 min)
add sugar and mix well
cook coconut-sugar mixture, until all sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes dry and soft (3 min)
Do not overcook, or sugar will get sticky.
add the wawa and mix well (1 min)
add ghee and mix (1 min)
turn heat off. Add cardamom and saffron.

Transfer mixture into the greased tin
Press flat with hand to desired thickness
add chopped pistachios on top and press with hand
cut squares while still warm and soft
let it set for a couple of hours
remove and separate squares..

Karanji (olya naralachi)

Fried dumplings with a sweet Fresh coconut filling! Made specially for festivals.

This is the best karanji recipe that I know of. It is crisp, golden and perfect on the outside and the filling is soft, juicy and just perfect. Whats more perfect about this recipe is that, its super-easy!! Could it get any better?! 

All thanks to my brilliant mom :) Hats off to her for such a genius recipe.. It has a secret ingredient in the filling, that you will find hard to believe, but just trust me and try this!

You will need:

(makes 15 Karanjis)

Dough:

1/2 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 cup semolina, fine (sooji, rawa)

milk (room temperature)

2 tbsp hot oil

Filling:

1 cup grated coconut (press it to remove all moisture and then measure)

3/4 cup sugar (fine or powdered)

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

saffron

2 tbsp whole wheat flour (atta) ****secret ingredient :)

1.5 tbsp ghee

equipment:

rolling board and pin

pan with oil for frying

ravioli cutter (i did not have one, so i folded the edges decoratively)

To make dough:

First of all, make the dough and keep. The longer it sits, the sooji hydrates better and is easy to work with.

mix all the dough ingredients, and knead a stiff dough (not too stiff but not too hard)

Wrap in saran wrap and keep aside.

To make the filling:

roast the wheat flour with the ghee on a pan till golden (like besan ladoo)

let the roasted mixture cool- should be grainy, golden and smells very aromatic

once cooled, add it to the coconut in a bowl.

add sugar, cardamom and saffron to the bowl 

*note: only the wheat flour is cooked. rest of the ingredients are just mixed cold.

To prepare the karanjis:

roll out a small ball of dough into a flat circle, without dusting the board (use oil, if it sticks)

Place filling in the centre

Apply little water to the edge of half of the circle (as shown)

fold over the circle and press, to secure the filling inside a semi-circular dumpling.

Cut the excess edge with a ravioli cutter (i did not have one, so i pressed and foldede the edge), this makes sure that the karanji does not burst while frying, also makes it look pretty :)

Once you have a few Karanjis ready, you can start frying on low flame, in already heated oil. Fry until golden. Best enjoyed when warm!

Happy Diwali!

Meredith's Banana bread

Who would have thought that a dish made with mashed over-ripe bananas tastes this delicious???!!

I have never in my life eaten bananas! I would not eat it even when I was a baby, tells my mom!! Just thinking about blackened mushy bananas made me sick!! However, my manager Meredith Bishop at ConAgra foods Inc; got me addicted to this delicious bread :P 

Although I am writing it in 'A Perfectionist's cookbook' I have realized, I am not perfect at it :( I think it lacks Meredith's personal touch. She is one of the sweetest people I have ever known. She surprised me with loaves of banana bread every once in a while and it simply made my day. She shared the recipe with me and also gifted me the book she referred to for this recipe! She is the best!

Its been over a month that I stopped working at ConAgra, and I missed it so much, couldn't wait! I am crazy about this bread. Its sweet, its made with bananas, and yet its my favorite ;) This ones for you Meredith :)

This is a slightly healthy twist (also, if you replace the egg with alternatives, its a vegan recipe!)

You will need:

A greased bread loaf tin

3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup atta (or regular whole wheat flour)

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup mashed bananas (over-ripened **not photogenic :P)

1/4 heaped tsp ginger (finely grated)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

My cousin helped me :)

Bake oven to 350

sift/mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda

In a large bowl, blend together the bananas and oil, followed by egg and sugar. Beat until fluffy.

Mix in the ground ginger and lemon rind

blend in the dry mixture

stir in the walnuts

pour batter in greased bread tin and bake for about 50-55 minutes

serve warm, stays good for a couple of days at room temp. freeze-thaws well!

*Note: You can add 1/4 tsp cinnamon if you like.

             I did not have a loaf tin, so I used a 9" square tin (that way     

             I get more surface area for the crust- I reduced baking time

             to 45 min (adjust baking time according to the shape and 

             size of you tin))

yields one loaf of yummy, golden, moist.......well, just the 'perfect' Banana bread ever!

Masaale Bhaat

(Spicy Maharashtrian rice, a must-have in wedding menus)

It's so difficult to get hold of authentic traditional maharashtrian style masaale Bhaat. I wish I had appreciated it more in the past! Now I crave for it :P

A few years back I had masaale bhaat for the last time in waadi (a pilgrim place in Maharashtra). We were there for my cousin's threading ceremony, and they make it at the temple kitchen! And it was soooooo good, I got up at 6.00 am to watch them make it from scratch for someone else's wedding :P

Of course I had to hear a bit from my mom for disappearing like that! But she melted when I made it for her after we got back to Pune using a packet of masala the sweet lady over there gave me :)

Now that masala of course is the soul of this dish and unfortunately I finished all of the sample she gave me :/ so I made this using regular maharashtrian goda (kala) masala.. And it tastes good.. Not as good as the waadi one, but quite good!
This recipe serves 6 ppl. U can make half too. In the pictures I have made double of the following recipe.

You will need:
2 cups rice-washed, soaked for a bit and drained
Medium size chopped/cubed vegetables:
Cauliflower, potatoes, peas, tondli (tinda), are typical to masaale bhaat. (a total of 1.5- 2 cups of vegetables)
1/2 capsicum cut in squares


Oil
6-8 Curry leaves
Turmeric
extra Asafetida
2-3 dried red chillies
1-2 green chillies- slit
1 heaped tablespoon+ Goda masala
1 tbsp Coriander powder
1tsp Cumin powder
Whole spices: cumin seeds (1 tsp), bay leaf (2), black pepper (6-8)
sea salt or normal salt
1/4 cup minced Jaggery
Chopped cilantro

For garnish:
Fresh grated coconut
Chopped cilantro
Ghee :)
Wash and soak rice for at least 30 min. Then strain dry.

boil 3 cups water in a pan.

in another pan Heat oil (in a heavy bottom metal pan (if you have brass, perfect))

Add cumin and other whole spices
Add a little extra turmeric and asafetida (very important for the typical flavor profile)
Add curry leaves, chillies, chopped cilantro and capsicum

Add the other vegetables and fry or a bit
Add the masala and the powdered spices, followed by sea salt.
Stir in the strained rice. 

After a couple of minutes add the boiling water (with jaggery and salt mixed in for uniform mixing) to the rice and veggies.
Once it starts boiling, add minced jaggery stir and cover with a lid.
Cook on low flame for about half an hour.

Serve hot topped with cilantro, ghee and grated coconut if you like :)

I made this for my lab potluck dinner and got the opportunity of witnessing this! Masaale bhaat being eaten by chopsticks :) Thanks for posing Lin!

Sabudanyachi Khichadi

Tasty breakfast snack made with sago pearls. Eaten during fasts.

Today is my Aji's birth Anniversary. And whats better than sharing the recipe of the most amazing thing she made?! Sabudanyachi khichadi. Theres a 100 different ways people make this dish, but of course I like it only. this. one. way. Cannot (and in my opinion should not) be made in any other way :P 

I have had certain nightmarish experiences with khichadi. So let me make it clear: Curry leaves, hing, turmeric, mustard and the likes are not acceptable in the taste profile. At least not in the authentic maharashtrian style upawasachi khichadi.

She used to make it (on demand) every time we had guests or any fast. And I just longed for such occasions :) She was the best at the whole 'fast-menu' actually, but well khichadi is, was and will always be my favorite. Its utterly unhealthy and super fattening, but I dont care!

Sorry no pictures this time, but considering how much I crave for it right now, they will be up soon ;)

Pre-preparation:Soak sabudana (sago pearls)- take a cup of sabudana wash it 3-4 times with cold water, drain not to well and keep it overnight. The next day it should be dryish on the outside but every pearl should be soft and hydrated when crushed. 

Dry roast deskinned peanuts and crush them to a grainy powder in the grinder

Boil, peel and dice potatoes

Other ingredients needed:
Ghee and/or oil
Cumin seeds whole
Chopped (or crushed) green chillies
Chopped fresh cilantro
Lime juice
Salt to taste
Sugar (a lot- a little more than you would expect a savory dish to have) or you can completely omit this. My grandmom made it sweet!

Procedure:

Add salt and sugar in the sabudana and keep aside.

Heat oil and ghee mixture in a non-stick pan. 
Crackle cumin seeds and add green chillies and diced potatoes. 
When potatoes become golden add the peanut powder and stir. (It will cook and give off a nice aroma and become a moist oily pasty mixture. )

At this point add the sabudana. Stir and taste. Add more salt and sugar if needed ( I usually have to). The khichadi has to taste hot and sweet. And enough salty :)Cover for a few minutes, open and drizzle ghee on top and turn the heat off and cover again. Uncover after a couple of minutes and season with finely chipped cilantro leaves and lime juice. The end result should be moist but not a rubbery chunk. If its too dry sprinkle water and steam for an extra couple of minutes. 

Shrewsbury biscuits (cookies)

Yes! The buttery, crisp yellow cookies.. And this recipe yields perfect results. If you hail from Pune, you know what exactly I am talking about. 

The recipe is egg-less and soooo easy, great to do with kids.

I did these this weekend with my cousin! And look how much she enjoyed it :) we made one huge batch after another until we had almost 200ish small cookies!! She took them to her school! (The recipe below yields 50-60 small cookies or 25-30 large (actual shrewsbury size) cookies)

If you don't have Custard powder replace that by corn flour and vanilla extract.. The result won't be the same but not bad. Will still turn out like tasty shortbread cookies.

Perfect Christmas gift, this time well in advance :)

100g Amul butter (or 1 stick salted yellow butter)

1/2 cup sugar

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp vanilla flavored custard powder

Milk

1/4 tsp soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven at 300 F.

Mix flour, soda, baking powder and custard powder.

Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy.

Mix the dry mixture little at a time 

Knead into a dough.

Add milk as needed (I added a couple of tablespoons)

Roll manageable portions onto a clean surface and cut cookies

Bake on a greased sheet for 12-15 minutes at 300F.