PLUM PISTACHIO DESI DELIGHT- MY FIRST PRIZE WINNING DISH IN CONTEST

Hello everyone

It's too long I wrote in my blog. Having lots and lots of recipe in queue to write but somehow couldn't manage to draft them. Anyways, will try to return back in form again , very soon.

Till then , I have a very good news to share with you all near and dear ones, which made me to come back to my blog once again☺☺....

There was a time , I got scared of even thinking about cooking. But nothing is impossible if you have a loving and supportive family, friends and well wishers. And I am one of lucky fellow to have all these in my life. Thanks is not enough to show my gratitude towards my loving ones ☺☺. You all are treasure of my life and inspired me to such an extent that today I am here with an unexpected achievement, which I could never ever think off few years ago.

Earned first place among dessert category in cookery contest organized by ILA. So delighted to have one of my favorite master chef , Nikita Gandhi and Radio Mirchi RJ Tamanna Wahi as one of the judges.

Would like to thank all of the ILA members, judges and all my loving ones. A big thank you to all of you dear from bottom of my heart.

Here goes the recipe of my winning dish .

PLUM PISTACHIO DESI DELIGHT:

1.Pistachio sponge cake

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour-1 1/3 cups - 2 1/2 tbsp
2 1/2 tbsp corn flour
1/3 cup pistachio, toasted and ground to coarse powder
Granulated Sugar- 1/2 cup
Baking Powder-1/2 tsp
Baking Soda-1 tsp
Salt-a pinch
Milk-3/4 cup
Yogurt-1/2 cup
Oil-1/2 cup
Vanilla Essence-1 tsp

 Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Grease and line a 7″ round cake tin.
In a bowl shift together flour, corn flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda 2-3 times.

Now add ground pistachio to it and mix well . Keep aside for later use.

Take  yogurt and sugar in a bowl and whisk till sugar is dissolved.

Add oil and vanilla essence, mix well.

Now add milk and whisk together.
Now add flour in 2 batches and fold to form a smooth batter.
Pour it into the prepared cake tin.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Rest it on the wire rack for 10 minutes.
Flip on the wire rack .
Cool it completely before wrapping in cling wrap.
Refrigerate until assembling.

2. Plum filled pistachio kalakand


Plum compote

Ingredients

10-12 medium to big plums, desseeded and chopped in even pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla essence


Method:


Add water and sugar in a pan and boil till sugar dissolve.
Now add chopped plums and cook on low flame till they become soft and mushy. Approx 20-25
mins.
Add vanilla essence and mix well.

Remove from flame and cool ,then chill till needed.

Pistachio Kalakand

Ingredients

400 grams soft and crumbled paneer
400 ml condensed milk
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup pistachio, toasted and coarsely powdered

Method :

Mix condensed milk, milk and paneer in a non stick pan and cook at low flame, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking to bottom.
When it starts leaving sides of pan add vanilla essence and pistachio powder.
Mix well and switch off the flame.

Layering:

Now spread half of the kalakand mixture in  a greased tray .
Now spread chilled plum compote all over it evenly, reserve some for final garnishing.
Finally spread remaining half kalakand mixture over compote , and spread evenly.
Let it chill till needed.

3. Creamy plum Custard

Ingredients

1/2 lt milk
25 gm custard powder
Sugar to taste
Fresh plum pieces for serving

Method:

Boil milk in a heavy bottom pan.
Make smooth paste of custard powder in little milk.
Pour prepared paste in milk, stirring constantly to avoid lump formation.
Cook till desired thickness .
Add sugar and cook for another 2-3 mins.
Switch off the flame and cool.
Chill till needed.

4. Pistachio Brittle

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup toasted pistachio

Method:

Take sugar, corn syrup and salt in a non stick pan. Cook on low flame till it turn amber colour .
Be careful not to burn it.
Take off the flame and immediately add pistachio, butter and soda. Quickly mix well and pour over greased foil.
Spread with help of greased spatula.
Make desired shapes using cookie cutter.
Let it cool completely and use when needed.

Final assembling:

Put spoonful plum compote in a dessert glass . Round cut cake slice and place over it . Pour a little custard over it.
Now place round kalakand piece.
Pour more custard over it with some fresh plum pieces, followed by spoonful of plum compote.
Spri
nkle some roasted pistachio and top with pistachio brittle.

Enjoy and happy cooking☺☺☺☺☺

SEMOLINA PUDDING ( SOOJI KA HALWA OR RAWA KESHARI)

Hello everyone

Semolina pudding or sooji ka halwa is a very simple yet super Delicious dessert you can prepare in minimum time and enjoy any time. It is also called rawa keshari with little orange ( keshari) colour in it.

The ideal proportion for this pudding is 1:1:2:4 :: semolina:ghee:sugar:water

But being a calorie conscious mom I used to balance ingredients according to necessity only . Even then the end product was nothing less than ghee and sugar laden authentic rawa keshari.

In addition I added lots of almonds and few walnuts too for making it much more nutritious to my fussy eater.

This is one of the important dish from Navratri bhog also. So this navratri prepare it and offer to Goddess Durga .

Sharing mine version of sooji ka halwa. Hope you all will enjoy this healthy cum yummy delight.

Recipe is given below. Couldn't  take stepwise pictures as prepared for kids tiffin in hurry but will explain to my knowledge best. Do try and share your experience with me.

SEMOLINA PUDDING ( SOOJI KA HALWA OR RAWA KESHARI)

Serves:3-4

Time: 20-25 mins

Ingredients

3/4 cup coarse semolina ( sooji / rawa)

Ghee as per need

3/4 +cup sugar ( as per taste)

3cup +Water ( as per need)

Handful almonds and few walnuts, ground to fine powder along with 2-4 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp green cardamom powder

Few drops edible orange colour ( optional)

METHOD:

Heat 2-3 tbsp of ghee in a wok and add semolina. Saute stirring constantly on medium flame till golden brown  and nice aroma starts to come . If going to add colour then saute till just golden .

Now add water with few drops of colour ( if using)and let it cook till semolina is nicely swollen. Now add dryfruits powder and sugar. Mix well and add some ghee , little at a time, till halwa starts leaving edges of the wok. Finally add cardamom powder and mix well. Switch off the flame and serve with some dryfruits garnishing.

* Amount of water added is on your choice of halwa consistency. If want nice fluffy halwa then add less water but for porridge consistency use more water.

* As My Lil one don't like any dryfruits that's why I added powdered one. You can add any dryfruits of your choice and chopped too.

* You can also use some milk to make it rich.

This is one of the simplest dessert you can prepare in jiffy and satisfy your sweet craving. Either prepare for kids tiffin or as an offering to god. Either in breakfast or as a dessert for guests . In every way you will be satisfied to the core.

Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

EGGLESS CHOCO VANILLA ZEBRA CAKE WITH COLORFUL PATTERN

Hello everyone

Yesterday I got a note I my kids diary that next day they have to bring some food item for sharing with their classmates. As their 9 days long vacations are going to start from this weekends. Suddenly baking a cake idea stuck to my mind but thought why not to bake some different than usual but attractive cake for kids so that they will like it even more. My kid like chocolate and vanilla flavour most. So to use it , tried my old tried and tasted recipe of zebra cake but with some more colours to make it even more presentable and eye catching and it turned out so soft, moist and yummy that no one can resist eating another serving. My kids loved it a lot and finished nearly 1/3rd of cake at home only😀.Best part of it is , that it's eggless too. Easiest recipe with handful of ingredients and result is awesome delicious beautiful stripped cake.

Stepwise recipe is given below. Do try and don't forget to share your experience with me.

EGGLESS  CHOCO VANILLA ZEBRA CAKE WITH COLORFUL PATTERN

Serves: 10-15 ( depend on serving size)

Time: 50-55 mins

Ingredients 

3 3/4 cup all purpose flour/ chapatti flour ( I made big cake , you can make it half or 1/3 easily)

2 1/2 cup yogurt ( curd), beaten 

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla Essence 

1 1/2 cup sugar ( you can add more as per taste, I kept mild)

3/4 cup oil

1/4 cup cocoa powder

Few drops of orange and blue edible colours

Method:

First preheat the oven at 180°c.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt together, keep aside for later use.

Add baking soda to beaten yogurt and give a quick stir and keep it aside for 8-10 mins or till it become nice frothy.

Now mix  vanilla essence, sugar and oil together till sugar dissolves and mixture become smooth and fluffy. Don't over mix otherwise all the bubbles will sink.

Mix dry and wet mixtures together and fold to get lumpless smooth batter . 

*** Batter should neither too thin nor too thick. If needed add some milk/water , little at a time to get proper consistency.

Now divide the batter in four equal parts ,add cocoa powder to one , orange and blue colour to other two and leave fourth one as it is. Mix well but don't over do.

*Add some milk/water in Cocoa batter to get same consistency of all the batters. 

In a greased baking pan , lined with butter paper , pour one big spoon of one batter and tap the pan to spread .then pour  one big spoon of other batter over it and again tap the pan and do it alternatively till batter finished. 

**Now using a knife or skewer make 6-8 lines on cake starting from center of cake towards edge, at equal distance and cleaning knife/skewer every time. 

Now again makes lines, in between these lines but in reverse direction, from edge of cake towards center. This will give a nice pattern on the cake. This step is completely optional, you can skip it without getting any change in final product.

Then bake it for 50-55 mins. But keep an eye after 40 mins on it as baking time may vary oven to oven.
I baked on convection mode for 55 mins.

Check it with knife or skewer by inserting in middle of cake ,for doneness. If knife/skewer comes out clean then cake Is done otherwise bake for some more minutes.

Let it sit for 5-10 mins then invert on wire rack and let it cool completely.

Its so soft and moist cake that you cannot have just one piece.

*You can also use half or 1/3 the quantity as I made bigger cake for kids sharing day.

Enjoy this scrumptious Cake and do share your experience with me. Your valuable comments and suggestions are always welcomed, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

CHHENA KHEER OR PUDDING

Hello everyone

Though festive season is on and it calls for lots and lots of festive dishes too. Few days back we had our fast of teej , so I made this dessert for my sargi , early in the morning. It is so easy to prepare and require only few ingredients and quick too, that any amateur can also make it perfectly.

If you are craving for ras malai and don't have courage to try at your own then give this a try. It's taste is much more alike ras malai . That's why my lil fussy eater, who is big fan of ras malai , also loved it.

Now a days ganpati Mahotsav is going on with all celebrations and offerings. So you can prepare this too for your ganpati as bhog. Recipe adopted from food food Chanel .

Stepwise recipe is given below, hope you all will love to give it a try.

CHHENA KHEER OR PUDDING

Serves: 4-5

Time: 20 -25 mins ( leaving chilling time)

Ingredients

2 cup milk

2 cup soft cottage cheese ( paneer), crumbled

3/4 cup sugar ( you can use as per taste)

5-6 green cardamom

1 pinch saffron ( kesar), soaked in 2 tbsp milk

Sliced pistachio and cherry for garnishing

Method:

First of all grind cardamom and sugar together to fine powder. Keep aside for later use.

Now put the milk in a thick bottom pan to boil. Let it boil for 5-6 mins then add powdered sugar with cardamom and mix well. Now add saffron milk and again stir.

Add crumbled paneer and mix well. Let it simmer for 4-5 mins and switch off the flame. 

Let it come to room temperature and then keep in fridge to chill for atleast 3-4 hrs or overnight.

Now serve in individual dishes and garnish with pistachio and cherry.

Your super easy tempting dessert is ready to win hearts.

** You can also serve warm but chilled one tastes best.

**** Never overcook paneer after adding to milk otherwise it will become chewy.

*** Always use soft paneer for best result.

** Grinding cardamom with sugar is just for ease of grinding cardamom. You can also use cardamom powder and sugar separately without grinding.

***You can prepare this dessert on fasting day too as it's pure falahar and not containing any grain.

** If you wish to add dry fruits to it , just go for it.

Hope you all will prepare it at your home and do remember me too. Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions ,they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

MILKY BAR DELIGHT

Hello everyone

This name is given by one of our lovely group member GayatRishi Chopra, so I want to thank her to suggest such a lovely name to my dish. Thank you so much dear.

Actually this one is complete experiment dish. I was having full two liters of milk which I had to use at any cost as it was going to expire very next day. Suddenly idea stuck to mind , why not to make mawa of it and I poured whole milk in a wide pan and started thickening it. But in mid way, I changed my mind and thought , no I don't want mawa .... Let's make some sweet out of it and till then my milk reached to the consistency of rabdi. Suddenly I remembered about left over ghee residue in my fridge , which no one is interested to eat as it is. So used that too and viola the end product is superbly delicious and beautiful sweet . Actually I tried to recreate a very scrumptious sweet , we used to relish on from our childhood days and even now have craving for that. It was UP college ka lal peda. Our grand father used to bring for us without fail, whenever he visits us. And this one is more alike that one, not exactly but too much.

If you are having ghee residue at your home then try this simple and only three ingredients scrumptious delight, you will never regret. Although it is time consuming dish but at the end you will forget everything before it's heavenly taste.

Caution: Not for calorie conscious fellows ☺️☺️

Stepwise recipe is given below. Do try and don't forget to share your experience with me.

MILKY BAR DELIGHT

Yield: 30-32 regular size pieces

Time: 2 - 2:30 hrs

Ingredients 

2 liters full fat milk ( you can half the recipe as per your ease)

1 1/2 cup golden brown ghee residue ( not black one) 

1 1/4 cup sugar ( you can use as per your taste)

1/2 tsp Kewda essence ( optional)

Sliced pistachio for garnishing

Method:

First of all boil milk in a wide and thick bottom wok. Let it thicken at medium flame, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking to bottom.

When it become like rabdi ( almost 1/3 rd of initial quantity) then add ghee residue. It will start thinning and spluttering a lot. So cover it with lid and continue cooking on high flame , stirring in between. But be cautious as it splutters a lot.

Now when it become little dry then add sugar and again cook covered , stirring occasionally till it starts leaving ghee.

*** Don't forget to stir it every now and then, as it may burn at the bottom.

Now lower the flame and continue cooking, stirring constantly till it become a nice mass and not having any moisture trail.

*** Cooking for 3-4 minutes more even after the mixture started leaving ghee is must for nice chewy texture. Don't skip this step if you love chewiness in your delight.

Switch off the flame and add Kewda essence to mixture and mix well. 

Now spread the mixture in a greased tray with the help of spatula. 

** Be careful as the mixture will be very hot.

Sprinkle sliced pistachio all over it and press a little. Now let it cool , when it is still warm, make cuts of desired shape and then let it cool completely.

Now serve this super delicious milky bar delight to your guests or give in kids tiffin. 

You can also prepare it as an offering to God. It can be a center of attraction of a festive preparation.

* You can easily half the recipe as per your requirement.

*** Squeeze all the ghee from residue before adding to thickened milk. Otherwise you will end up with super greasy end result.

* For cooling it fast for slicing  , you can keep it in refrigerator.

* This is not only delicious but long lasting too. This can be kept on room temperature for weeks.

Although it is a time consuming dish but not difficult at all . It needs very less ingredients as well as equipments , so do try it and tell your success stories here.

Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

CHAM CHAM ( COTTAGE CHEESE SWEET)

Hello everyone

Today I am having another very delicious Bengali sweet recipe, which is loved by almost every sweet tooth. My son is a fussy eater yet he always love to relish on ras malai and once again he demanded me to make the same. But I made extra chhena to try my hands on Cham Cham too. He always want to have ras malai but after having Cham Cham , now he became fan of it too.Though the chhena ( cheese) made from carton milk is not as easy to roll into a nice dough but I managed to prepare these. That's why shapes are not as smooth as we get in market but taste wise, full marks given by my lil one.  Hope you all will love to try this delicious treat and come up with your feedback.

Step wise recipe is given below.

CHAM CHAM ( COTTAGE CHEESE SWEET)

Serves: 6-7 ( will make 12-14 regular size dumplings)

Time : 1 hr

Ingredients 

For chhena:

1 lt full cream milk ( cow's fresh milk is best)

2 tsp white vinegar/ lemon juice( as per need)

For syrup:

1 lt water

2 cup sugar

Few drops lemon yellow edible colour ( optional)

For garnishing :

1/4 cup dry desiccated coconut

Sliced pistachio and cherries

Method: 

For chhena:

Boil milk and switch off the flame. Add vinegar , 1 tsp at a time and mix well. Let it sit for some time and check whether it is cuddled or not. If needed add more vinegar and check. 

When all the milk is cuddled and whey is separated , strain it in a muslin cloth. Now wash it under tap water thoroughly to get rid of any vinegar in chhena. 

Now tie a knot on muslin cloth and hang it for 3-4 hrs or till all the extra water drips from it and it remain only moist not water laden. 

* don't cook milk after adding vinegar/ lemon juice, it hardens the chhena.

* But don't over do hanging your cheese as if the chhena become dry you can't make proper dough with it.

* don't add too much vinegar or lemon juice at a time, it will make your chhena hard. Add little at a time  and give some time to curdle and then use next batch.

* Always use only required amount of vinegar/ lemon juice. Vinegar gives much better result , so if possible go for vinegar instead of lemon juice.

Now your chenna is ready to be kneaded as dough. Knead this for 5-6 mins using your Palm to a smooth greasy non sticky dough ( it will release ghee when kneaded well).

 

* I used carton milk so my dough was not as much greasy and was sticky too. If you are using carton milk then don't expect a clean dough and knead for at least 8-10 mins. 

** While making it again this time , I used fresh cows milk available here in plastic gallon and is pretty better than carton milk to make chhena.

To get best chhena and sweet like store ones , I will advice to use cow's milk. 

** Here only packaged milk is available, so I used that. It's little tricky to use packaged milk for making chhena dough but not impossible. Just have some patience 😊, as I did 😜.

For cooking chhena dumplings in sugar syrup:

Boil water and sugar in a wide deep pan ( as chenna expands to double on cooking) till rolling hot. Add few drops of yellow color to the syrup. Now make small rolls of chhena dough as shown in pic and put in rolling hot sugar syrup . 

* Let it cook for a while to check it is not breaking during cooking. If it is breaking then knead your dough for more 2-3 mins and then make rolls.

If it's not breaking while cooking then add all the prepared rolls one by one carefully in boiling suger syrup.

 Cover with lid and Let it cook on high flame for 10 - 15 mins then lower the flame and let it cook for another 10 mins. Switch off the flame and let it cool down .

** If you feel your syrup is getting too thick, You can add some water to it while boiling.

* always add chenna rolls in rolling hot sugar syrup. If it's not boiling then rolls may scatter in syrup.

* To check whether your chhena rolls are cooked well, dip one cooked roll in normal water in a bowl. If the cooked chhena settles down then it is completely cooked otherwise cook for more minutes and check again for doneness.

* let the chhena cool completely in sugar syrup before removing it from pan to avoid breaking your chhena dumplings as they are too delicate to handle while hot.

Now remove all prepared chhena dumplings one by one on a plate. Now roll it in coconut powder and garnish with pistachio and cherry.

Let it chill in refrigerator before serving. You may also serve warm.

Your super delicious cham Cham is ready to please your guests and loving ones. 

Prepare these easy and tempting sweet dish and earn lots and lots of praise . 

I tried to short out all the do's and don't in my post but even if there is any thing left then please let me know in the comments box below so that I can clarify at my best. 

Hope you will love to try this super delicious sweet treat and don't forget to share your experience with me here, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....