Rasmalai

Ingredients:

Rasagullas                         --     15 nos
Whole Milk                        --     4 cups
Sugar                                   --     to taste, approximately ½ cup
Saffron                                --     a pinch
Cardamom Powder       --    ¼ tsp
Pistachios & Almonds  --     2 Tbsp, roughly chopped

Preparation of Rasmalai:

Boil 4 cups milk  in a pan. The milk needs to be reduced to half the quantity so once it comes to a boil, keep the flame low stir occasionally.  Grind saffron with a small amount of sugar and add it to the milk while boiling.

       

Add sugar to taste, cardamom powder and nuts. Switch off the stove and keep milk aside.

        

Squeeze the rasagullas out of the sugar syrup and keep in a serving dish.

Pour the prepared reduced milk over the rasagullas and chill in the refrigerator.

      

Garnish with chopped nuts. Serve chilled.

Recipe Courtesy: Show me the curry

Snow balls / Melting Moments:

Ingredients (Yields 30+ ):

All purpose flour        --   1½ cup
Cornstarch                    --   ½ cup
Salt                                   --   ¼ tsp
Confectioners sugar --   ¼ cup
Unsalted butter          --   1 cup , room temperature
Vanilla extract           --   1 tsp

Topping:

Confectioners sugar --   ½ cup

Preparation:

Sieve together the flour, cornstarch and salt in a medium size bowl.

Beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth. Add the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Cover and refrigerate the batter for 2 – 3 hours, or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with foil / parchment paper.

When batter is firm, make 1 inch balls out of it and place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Keep them about 1 inch apart.

   

Bake for about 10 - 14 minutes or until the edges of the cookies turn light brown.

Remove from oven and let it cool. Place the wire rack on a large plate / on a sheet of parchment paper. Transfer the cookies onto the wire rack. Put the confectioners sugar in a sieve and sprinkle the tops of the cookies with it.

Recipe Courtesy: Joy of baking

Marble Cake:

Ingredients :

All purpose flour     --   1½ cup
Baking Powder        --   2 tsp
Salt                                --   ¼ tsp
Butter                           --   1½ cup
Granulated Sugar   --   ¾ cup
Large Eggs                 --   2
Vanilla extract         --   1 tsp
Sour cream or plain yogurt --   ¼ cup
Milk                               --   ½ cup
Chocolate                   --   4 oz / 115 gm

Preparation of the cake:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F . Butter and lightly flour a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
Melt the chocolate, along with ¼ cup of the milk. You can either double boil(safe) or can directly do it in a sauce pan or microwave. Make sure you do not burn the chocolate while melting directly. Remove from heat and keep aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt.
In a small bowl whisk the sour cream with the remaining milk, and the vanilla extract.
Beat the butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well combined.
With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and sour cream/milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.
Divide the batter into two.  Add the melted chocolate into one half of the batter and fold in until combined.

With the help of 2 spoons, scoop the batter alternately into the prepared loaf pan. I did my first layer with vanilla - chocolate - vanilla and the second layer with chocolate - vanilla - chocolate and the third layer again with vanilla - chocolate - vanilla. Run a knife or skewer through the batters to get a marbled effect.
Bake in preheated oven for about 50 - 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely.

Recipe Courtesy: Joy of Baking

Uzhunnu Vada(revisited) with Coconut Chutney

I was not satisfied with the pics of Uzhunnu Vada which  I had posted earlier. So here comes the next version with some coconut chutney. I was relying on the store bought coconut chutney distributed by Deep. And one fine day I was out of stock and then came back to my mom’s good own recipe.



For Uzhunnu Vada, I followed the same old measures. Please link back my old post for the recipe.



Coconut Chutney:



Ingredients (Serves 4 - 5):

Coconut, grated   --   1 cup
Channa dal             --   1 tbsp
Green Chillies        --   2 - 3, use according to the spice level
Coriander leaves  --  ¼ cup, loosely packed
Tamarind                --   a very small ball / ½ tsp of tamarind paste
Ginger                      --   1 inch piece
Salt                            --   to taste
Water                       --   approximately ¼ cup. Adjust according to the consistency required.
Oil                              --   1 tbsp
Mustard seeds      --   1 tsp
Red chillies            --   2 - 3
Curry Leaves        --   1 spring

Preparation:

Coarsely grind together coconut, channa dal, green chillies, coriander leaves, tamarind, ginger,salt and water. Empty it into a bowl.
Heat oil and splutter the mustard seeds, add red chillies and curry leaves. Switch off the flame and pour it over the ground chutney.

Serve with hot Vadas. This goes well with idly, dosa, upma etc. I add more water if preparing for idly or dosa.


Recipe Courtesy: Amma