EVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: DIWALI SWEETS AND SAVOURIES RECIPE: KESAR RASGULLA What is Kesar Rasgulla? Kesar Rasgulla is a saffron flavored traditional sweet dish that is famous in the Indian Subcontinent. Kesar means saffron in Hindi. And Rasgulla is a sweet dumpling made from cottage cheese, paneer or chenna. The balls are rolled and then allowed o cook in a sugar syrup. The sugar syrup is usually flavored with cardamom and sometimes other ingredients like rose essence, rose petals, saffron, mint, chilli, etc are added. This adds a different flavour to the rasgulla. As a matter of fact, one is rasgulla and plural is rasgullas. Translated into simple language ras is juice and gulla is a ball. So actually rasgulla means a juicy ball.…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #266 EXOTIC SAFFRON RECIPE: SAFFRON TAPIOCA PUDDING What is Saffron Tapioca Pudding? Saffron Tapioca Pudding is a sweet dish prepared by cooking soaked tapioca pearls or sabudana in milk till it becomes thick. The pudding can be enjoyed hot or cold. Once the tapioca pearls are soaked well enough making this pudding is very easy. I generally soak them for 4 – 6 hours in plain water. Adding saffron is optional but I’m a huge fan of saffron so look for any opportunity to use it whenever I can. What is Tapioca Pearls? Known as tapioca pearls as they look like little tiny pearls or sabudana. Dana in Hindi means small round beads or grains. They also go by the name of…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #261 MILKY WAY RECIPE: APPLE KHEER Apple Kheer is creamy, different from rice pudding, easy to make and delectable. Perfect for any festival or prepare it to enjoy a healthier dessert. Best served chilled. This Week’s Theme on FoodieMonday/Bloghop Group: This week, the group has to use milk or its products like yogurt, paneer, milk powder, evaporated milk, condensed milk. If possible the main ingredient has to be milk or its products. This interesting theme, suggested by Swati who blogs Food Trails, offers so many options. With the Ganesh Chaturthi over the weekend, I thought of making an easy and not too sweet apple kheer. Frankly, I’ve ordered too many apples this week so thought of using up some to prepare Apple…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #260 MEETHE PAL RECIPE : CHOCOLATE MODAK This Week’s Theme on FoodieMonday/Bloghop Group: This week, the group has to prepare any sweet dish of their choice, be it an Indian Sweet or any dessert. My choice is Chocolate Modak. Sujata who blogs at Batter Up With Sujata suggested this week’s theme. Sujata’s blog is a mixture of Bengali dishes and bakes. When I’m able to source banana leaf or arbi leaves, I really want to try her Chhanar Paturi recipe. Its steamed paneer with mustard. Why I made Chocolate Modak? While I’m always pulled to making desserts, at the same time wanted to make some quick and different kind of modak as Ganesh Chaturthi is just round the corner. I know of…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #218 DIWALI DHAMAKA RECIPE: MAGAS/ CHICKPEA FLOUR FUDGE What is Magas/ Chickpea Flour Fudge? Magas/ Chickpea Flour Fudge is a famous sweet dish or mithai in the Gujarati Cuisine. Its a popular sweet fudge that is enjoyed by both adults and children. Some kids refer to it as ‘bavo’. Any Patel wedding you attend, or go to their homes during Diwali you will definitely find Magas. During weddings, huge quantities are made by the bride’s family and sent to the groom’s family and also shared with all those who attend the wedding. Made from chickpea flour, ghee, sugar and cardamom, its not a difficult mithai or sweet to make at all. After roasting the flour in ghee, sugar is added and then…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #210 ULTA PULTA RECIPE: BOMBAY MIX/ NAMKEEN CHOCOLATE BARK Bombay Mix/ Namkeen Chocolate Bark is tasty, unique & different . Get the slightly salty, chilli, sweet & crunchy taste all rolled into one. The namkeen or Bombay mix adds a bit of the saltiness and spiciness to the the sweetness of the chocolate. So go on, try something totally different to nibble on. It goes down well at gatherings or parties. What is Namkeen/ Bombay Mix? is fast becoming a popular snack option world over especially with some beer. You can buy a variety of Namkeen or Bombay Mix at any Indian Grocery Store. There are so many different varieties that are available.Namkeen or Bombay Mix is the generic name given to…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #201 JAMVA CHALO JI RECIPE: KANSAR – PATEL STYLE Kansar – Patel Style is an important, simple and yet very delicious sweet dish that is prepared during important ceremonies and festivals. It just needs four basic ingredients, semolina or coarse wheat flour, ghee, jaggery and powdered sugar. Importance Of Kansar Any religious or happy occasion like Diwali, weddings, birth of babies, etc begins with kansar in a typical Gujarati home. This dish preparation varies from region to region in Gujarat. As we begin Diwali celebrations kansar is made and offered to the deities. It is also offered to Ganeshji on the day of pre-wedding ceremonies. For many communities in Gujarat kansar is what is offered to the bride and groom to…
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Continue ReadingEVENT:FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME:#190 MINICAKES RECIPE: THANDAI MUFFINS Thandai Muffins baked with thandai spice mixture make a delicious treat for the Holi Party. Both kids and adults love them along with chilled thandai drink. Eggless, these muffins come together in no time. Bake them a day ahead, they stay fresh for a couple of days. Just before Holi, I had baked some thandai muffins to share with my neighbors. The recipe did not make it to the blog on time for Holi. I kept it in the draft file thinking that I’ll use it next year. Yeah, I know its a long time to keep it, but I’m quite good at storing stuff 🙂 FoodieMonday/Bloghop Theme When Preethi suggested a few themes for the #190, I opted…
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Continue ReadingEvent: FoodieMonday/Bloghop Theme: 178- Harvest Harmony Recipe: Til Gud Ke Ladoo Til Gud Ke Ladoo is an easy recipe whereby roasted sesame seeds are mixed with powdered jaggery, peanuts, coconut, spices and ghee and rolled into balls. Perfect recipe for the harvest season or Makar Sankranti. The best part of this recipe is that you don’t need to make the jaggery syrup. Making jaggery syrup perfectly can be a challenge. Festivals In India Festivals are always a memorable part of my travels to India. Last year we missed celebrating Makar Sankranti, Lohri and Pongal in India as we left before the 14th of January. However, what I remember is that whichever market area we passed by in Mumbai, the whole scene was a feast…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: DESI BLOGGERS CONNECT THEME: DIWALI DHAMAKA The Group Desi Bloggers Connect: My contribution for this theme is Coconut Laddoos/ Coconut Fudge Balls. Bloggers Connect is a Facebook Group where members support each other by sharing and commenting on each others post. I’ve met many food bloggers though this group. For this Diwali Festival, the admins decided that we should prepare a sweet and savory or either dish to share for the theme. My Story: When I volunteered to take part in this event, I had jotted down a few options. One was a recipe that my mother in law use to make often during Diwali. However, its a bit time consuming and it will have to wait for another time. After I got back from…
