Seembaal/Junnu

Seembaal/junnu is a tamil/telugu word for a sweet, which is prepared from first day milk of cattle usually cow or buffalo.This is my favourite sweet which i think I am missing here in US.But it was a few days back and when I was blogging saw this delicious recipe for seembal.I loved the idea of using condensed milk and I was so happy to learn we can make it even without lactating milk.Finally I tried this yesterday in home and the taste and texture looks exactly the same as seembal that it almost satisfies our craving. Thought to share with you girls(Guess some of u knew this already). Thanks ramya for the woderful recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

Egg – 2
Whole milk – 11/2 cup
Sweetened condensed milk – 1cup
Black pepper – 1 tsp
Cardamom Powder – 1tsp

METHOD:

Beat the eggs thoroughly. Take a bowl and add egg mixture,condensed milk,whole milk and mix well.Now transfer this mixture into a bowl which fits in your pressure cooker.Sprinkle pepper powder and cardamom powder. Place this bowl in the pressure cooker with little water and cook on low flame for 30-40 minutes without whistle.A knife inserted should come out clean. Cool for few hours in the refrigerator and serve.

For all of us that love real seembaal milk..... it’s now possible to buy it in USA.Milk is called colostrum and sold in most states, where raw milk is sold.It’s a little pricey but it’s worth every penny.They (the one in Fresno, CA ) usually Ups it the same day and it’s at our door by next day(heard from friend).

visit here

Select your state

Search for the word colostrum

Ramya has posted her vegetarian version too..but i tried egg version only..will let u know once i try that..

RASGULLA

Rasgulla - A very popular Bengali sweet, which is soft, Juicy & Spongy made from milk and the most popular sweet delicacy in Calcutta as well as rest of India and the world.Yesterday I happened to go through the cooking Manual which has been sent by my friend and found this delicious recipe for rasgullas.Immedietly decided to make for RCI.For these we have to make paneer using milk and cook it in sugar syrup. Here we go with the recipe....

INGREDIENTS:

Milk – 1/2gallon
Lemon juice or vinegar – 1/4cup
Sugar – 1cup
Water – 3cups
Saffron (optional)

METHOD:

In a heavy bottomed pan, put milk and bring it to boil. When it starts boiling add lemon juice/vinegar and stir continuously until the milk curdles completely. As soon as you see the water is clear while curling add some ice cubes and switch off the flame to stop the process of curdling. The intention here is to make soft paneer. Let it cool and set. Then drain using a cloth/strainer so that just the solid part remains, looked like paneer.

Hang it under the sink or put the cloth-covered paneer in a bigger bowl, which will collect the water dipping from the mixture. The intention here is to separate the solid curdled milk from the water or liquid part. Keep it for at least a couple of hours and squeeze the excess water by pressing the cloth. Make sure that there must not be any water remaining or the paneer balls, will break when put in sugar water.

When the water is completely drained, remove the paneer from the cloth and take it in a bowl. Now rub it well using your hands to form a smooth mixture. If the paneer is too dry, add a few drops of water, using the water squeezed from the paneer.You have to rub it for a long time to make it really smooth. Make the dough into equal parts and roll each part into a ball taking care to see that there are no cracks on the surface.

For sugar syrup mix the sugar and water in a in a pan on medium high heat and bring to a boil. Add all of the balls in one shot and close the lid. Cook for about seven minutes. Make sure the pan is large enough to accommodate the finished Rasgullas as they will expand to about double their size while cooking in the syrup. Close the heat and wait a few minutes before you open the lid.The Rasgullas should be little spongy. Serve the Rasgulla chilled with sprinkled saffron.

A Spoon for u!

Sending these Rasgullas to RCI-Bengal hosted by Sandeepa of "Bong Mom's cookbook".

JANGRI

Jangri –A famous Indian sweet which look alike jelabi but they have different flavor and texture.Jangiri is made from urad dhal and jelabi is made from Maida flour. This crisp sweet is very famous in the southern states of India. How can we forget the sweet vendors on the street selling hot Jangris!!!!!My mom used to make using separate cloth stitched by our tailor. I got this Ziploc idea when I was goggling sometimes back. Since this was the first time I tried this, I was skeptical of how it would turn out. But it did very well. Easy to make one yet so tasty.

INGREDIENTS:

Urad dal – 1cup
Saffron color – 1pinch
Rice flour – 1tsp
Ziploc bag (for piping)

(For sugar syrup)
Sugar – 1cup
Water – 2cup
Lemon juice – 1/2tsp

Another view to tempt u:)

METHOD:

Soak urad dal for atleast 3 hours. Dissolve sugar in water and bring to boil.Now add 1tsp lemon juice into the syrup to avoid forming crystals.

Drain the water and grind dal into a fine paste in the blender by adding little water. The consistency should become like glue sticking.

Add little bit of rice flour and mix it for 3 –5 mins.Then add saffron color and mix it well. Now a take a Ziploc bag and turn it upside down and make a small hole in the center using a big safetypin or iron nail.

Put the colored mixture and into the ziploc bag and hold nozzle of the ziplog bag(as shown in the pic) just above the surface of the oil, and pipe it to make circles with the batter, starting from the centre and sealing the end in the last half round.. If the oil is too hot the shape wont come. Better practice in an empty plate and then pipe it in oil.

Make sure the temperature of oil is to be low while piping. Deep fry on a medium heat till crispy and golden on both sides. Turn frequently.

Drain the jangries and immerse in warm sugar syrup for a minute, and serve hot or cold.

Arusuvai Food Chain – Coconut Ladoo With clove Tea

The Arusuvai friendship chain has been going on for quite sometime now in India. It was started here, in the US, recently by The Yum Blog, Bhags & Bharathy. I was wondering what would be the surprise ingredient that I would receive from Seema. Finally I got the surprise ingredient yesterday. I guessed the ingredient before opening the package from the smell which spreads everywhere in my mailbox and apartment. It was a small package of cloves (kirambu) with a friendly note. Thank you seema for sending such a nice ingredient over.

My hubby was nagging for a long time for ladoos.Really I want to make something different so I added Coconut and rava to make ladoo and it came out very well and we thoroughly enjoyed it with a cup of clove(kirambu) tea. Both recipes are easy to make and you’ll be amazed by its taste. Here are the recipes how I made them….

INGREDIENT:
(For Coconut ladoo):

Rava(sooji) - 1/2cup
Grated Coconut – 1cup
Sugar – 2cups
Milk – 1cup
Cardamom powder - 1tsp
Cashews - 10 (fried in ghee)
Raisins – 10(fried in ghee)cloves – 4
Ghee – 1/2tsp

Method:

Pour ghee in a kadai. Fry cashew and raisins until till golden brown color and keep aside. Fry sooji in the remaining ghee. After the sooji is fried add the grated coconut also and fry for 2 minutes.

Add milk to the pan. The consistency should become watery. Grind sugar and the fried cashews(5) into a smooth powder .Now add this powder to the milk. Keep stirring it till becomes thick. It takes about 30-40 mins to become thick.

It has to become thick enough to make rounds balls with hand. Remove from the fire and add the remaining cahews,raisins and cloves.Cool it and make this mixture into small round balls it by pressing gently with your hand.

Serve with hot tea or allow to cool and keep in airtight dry container.

CLOVE TEA:

Clove tea is good for health and has been used by the Chinese to treat indigestion. Cloves are stimulating and aid digestion and this is used to break up intestinal gas and to treat nausea and heartburn. This makes a strong flavored tea. If it’s too strong for your taste dilute it, or start with a smaller amount of cloves and gradually increase. You might enjoy the Clove Tea recipe below as well.

INGREDIENT:

Tea powder – 3tsp
Milk – 1cup
Sugar – 3tsp
Sukku(dry ginger) – 1tsp
Pepper – 1tsp
Clove – 5
Cardamom powder –1/2tsp
Cinnamon – 1tsp

METHOD:

Grind cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and make it as a powder. Bring water to boil. Add tea powder in to water. Now add sukku and allow boil it for 2 mins.Then add cloves,cardamom,cinnamon and pepper one by one and boil for another 2 mins. Cover and let simmer for few minutes. Add sugar, milk and stir for another mins. Steep for 5 minutes. Pour through filter to remove spices. Enjoy with delicious snacks......

I am passing on the Arusuvai Friendship Chain to a couple of my friends ....

Cham from Spice club

Sagari from Indian cooking

Divya from Dilse

Enjoy everybody as the Arusuvai Friendship Chain continues......Cham-mailed you the stuff today morning..Sagari and divya will mail you the stuff tomorrow and confirm it with you girls. Hope you like your secret ingredients!Good luck and expecting the superb dishes you will come up with...

Papaya Halwa

When i started thinking of papaya recipes halwa came into my mind.I used ripe papaya here....I dropped my plan of adding color powder since it ended up with this nice color.Here we go with this colorful recipe...

INGREDIENTS:

Ripe papaya(medium size) - 1
Sugar - 2 cup
Ghee - 4-5 tsp
cashew - 10 nos
cardamon powder- 1/2 tsp
milk - 1 cup

METHOD:

Make cashew into small pieces. Fry the cashews in ghee and keep aside.Boil the milk for 15-20 minitues in medium heat until gets thick.Heat one tbsp ghee in a pan, add the papaya pulps and fry till the smell vanishes.Cook it in medium heat and stir occasionally for 5 minutes.Now add the milk and boil it until milk evaporates,then add the sugar and stir continuously in low heat.Now add the remaining ghee and stir on low heat till the mixture collects in a soft ball or the ghee oozes out.Serve with decorated cashews and cardamon powder.

This post is my entry to AFAM hosted by Nags....

Carrot halwa

Carrot halwa is a very nutritious and tasty indian sweet dish. Carrot is very important for growing children. For children who do not like to eat carrot either raw or cooked, you can try giving this sweet dish and they will ask you more.

INGREDIENTS:

Carrot - 1/2 kg
Sugar - 2 cup
Ghee - 4-5 tsp
cashew - 10 nos
cardomom powder- 1/2 tsp
milk - 1 cup

METHOD:

Grate the carrots and keep aside.Heat ghee in a thick vessel. Make cashew into small pieces. Fry the cashews in ghee and keep aside.Boil the milk for 15-20 minitues in medium heat .Once it starts thickening, stir continuously.Put little ghee in a pan and add the grated carrots.cook it in medium heat and stir occassionally for 5 mintues.Now add the milk and boil it untill milk evaporates,then add the sugar and stirr continously in low heat .Now add the remaining ghee and stir on low heat till the mixture collects in a soft ball or the ghee oozes out.Serve with decorated cashews and cardomom powder.