Rasgulla

                                        
                                          Celebrations in my Kitchen!!

Celebrating 100th blog post with spongy and juicy Rasgullas!! Making this Benagli sweet at home was so easy, I never knew it till I tried a recipe posted by a member in a Facebook food group last year.

Trust me you'll never look for store bought ragullas once you try making them at home.

Ingredients:

• 1 liter Full cream/fat milk 
• 1.5 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1/2 tbsp all purpose flour/ semolina
• Sugar - 2 cups
• 5 cups Water 
• Few drops of rose essence (optional)
  

Preparation Time : 30 mins
Cooking Time : 10-12 mins
Yields : 18 to 20 rasgullas

Directions:

• Take milk in a saucepan, let it come to a boil. 
• Once the milk is boiled, take it off the heat and let it sit for 2-3 mins.
• Next, add lemon juice and mix gently, the milk will to start curdle.
• Once the whey is separated from the milk and the milk solids have curdled completely, 
• Put the milk solids/chenna in a muslin cloth, and wash it under running water thoroughly to stop it from getting cooked further.
• Squeeze the chenna  with your hands to remove excess whey water, tie a knot and hang it over a tap or keep it under some heavy object and leave it to drain for 20-30 minutes.
• Now, take the chenna in a mixing bowl and knead it gently, with your palms till you get soft and little greasy chenna dough. 
• Add apf/semolina to the chenna to act as a binder, and knead for 1 or 2 minutes more.
• Divide the dough into 18-20 equal portions and make smooth crack-free balls from it.
• Now add sugar and water in a pressure cooker, cook till it comes to rolling boil. 
• Drop the balls into the sugar water and cover it with lid and whistle on and cook on full flame till one whistle and then turn the flame on lowest setting for 5 to 6 mins.
• Switch off the flame and let the pressure release on its own. 
• Open the lid and transfer the cooked rasgullas along with few drops of rose essence to a bowl and let it chill for 5 to 6 hours.
• Serve chilled.
  

Instant Paneer Peda

Deepawali is just around the corner and its time for indulge, enjoy sweets ignoring calories and guilt.
Since there is lot more to this festival than spending time in preparing sweets, I'm here sharing with you easy and quick no cook, hassle free Peda with a few easily available ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 200 gms. cottage cheese.
• 2-3 tbsp. gulkand/ rose preserve.
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut.
• 1/2 cup milk powder.
• 1/2 cup or little less powdered sugar 
• 1/4 th cup chopped cashews
• A handful of  for silvered almonds for garnishing.
  

Preparation time: 2 minutes
Total Time : 5 minutes
Yields : 6 pedas

Directions:

• Take all in ingredients, except the nuts in a mixing bowl.
• Knead everything to make a soft dough. 
• Divide the mixture into six equal portions.
• Grease your hands, take one portion from the dough, flatten it with your hands and place chopped cashews in the centre.
• Gently shape them into pedas.
• Garnish with silvered almonds. 
• Your pillowy soft cheat pedas are ready.

Enjoy!!

Til Bhugga/ Til Mava Ladoo

Just around the new year kicking in, several festivities start across India in different names and ways of celebration, but all marking the beginning of new year- Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Pongal. India being an agricultural community, while these are all celebrated at different dates but around the same time, they all essentially celebrate the new harvest.

Makar Sankranti is one such festival celebrated in praying the Lords for a healthy harvest by the agricultural community. Celebrations include offering prayers and preparations such as Khichdi, Moong Dal ki pakodi, Til ke Laddo, Til ke gajak.

Starting the year with Til Laddos!

Ingredients :

• 250 gms white sesame seeds
• 250 gms powdered sugar/boora
• 250 gms khoya/mawa
• 1/4 tsp green cardamom powder

Method:

• Dry roast sesame seeds in a non stick pan on medium heat till golden brown, leave them aside to cool and grind it coarsely.

• In a separate pan roast khoya till it gets softened, switch off the flame and add to it sesame, sugar and cardamom powder, mix everything well.

• Divide mixture into equal portions and shape them into balls to make 'ladoos'.

You can also add some chopped nuts to them to make them more nutritious and tasty.
These ladoos can be stored in an air tight jar for 10 -12 days.

Motichoor Ladoo

Melt in mouth Motichoor ladoo is a famous Indian dessert. No occasion is complete without them.Motichoor ladoo is made up of very small and fine boondi. Moti means pearl and the laddo look like made of small beautiful pearls.

Boondi is made with a special ladle called perforated ladle or bundi jhar. I could not find that so had to compromise with a normal small perforated ladle.

Ingredients:

• 11/2 bowl chickpea flour/Besan
• 1 tbsp semolina
• 1/2 tbsp rice flour
• Ghee for frying

For syrup:

• 11/2 bowl sugar
• 1 1/4 bowl water
• 1 tbsp milk
• few saffron strands
• Few Cashews Almonds and Raisins
• Cardamom powder
• Few drops of rose water

Method:

In a pan add sugar and water and bring it to boil. As it boils scum will rise to the top. Sieve with a strainer. Boil syrup till it reaches one thread consistency.

In a bowl mix chickpea flour, semolina and rice flour, add water gradually. The batter should be smooth lump free and little thick consistency.

Heat Ghee in a kadhai/ wok.

Pour a tbsp of batter to the perforated ladle, keeping the ladle on the top of the oil.

Let the boondis fall into the oil.cook boondi on high flame till they are soft. We don't want crispy bundi for ladoo. Add boondi to the warm sugar syrup and mix well. Repeat the process for rest of the batter. Every time you pour batter, wash and dry the ladle.

Add few drops of rosewater and cardamom powder and dry fruit to the bundi, transfer to a mixer and pulse for few seconds (I forgot to take picture for this :( )

Take out, grease your palms with ghee and make ladoos.