Besan ke Ladoo

Vasant Panchami refers to the following festivals: the religious Hindu festival of Saraswati Puja also called Shree Panchami; the seasonal spring festival of Vasant Panchami observed in many regions; the Basant Festival of Kites of the Punjab region; observance in Gurdwaras as a Sikh festival; the birthday of the Deo-Sun God in Bihar and a harvest festival.

Vasant Panchami has a specific meaning: Vasant means "spring,"and Panchami means "the fifth day." Vasant Panchami falls on the fifth day of spring. The festival is observed in the northern part of the Subcontinent. Although it is notified in the ritual calendar of South India, it is not celebrated as a household or public event but in temples as a religious festival.The same rings true of the central region of Madhya Pradesh.  

Vasant Panchami is the first and more minor of two spring-themed festivals in Hindu culture. Vasant Panchami initiates the spring festive cycle and heralds its summation that occurs with Holi. The 40-day period between Vasant Panchami and Holi corresponds with the 40 days of Rati's penance after her husband, Kamadeva was reduced to ashes for shooting the eye of Shiva with his love arrows. Between Vasant Panchami and Holi, preparations are made for numerous burnings in effigy of the demoness Holika. Starting on Vasant Panchami, a log with a figure of Holika is placed in a public place and during the next 40 days, the faithful add twigs and other combustible material to the log to form a pyre which is lit on Holi.

The color yellow plays an important role in Vasant Panchami as it is related to the bloom of mustard flowers during this period. Celebrants usually wear yellow garments, Saraswati is worshiped in a yellow dress, and sweet saffron rice and yellow sweets are consumed within the families. So on the basis of this celebration we all #Foodiemonday people are celebrating Vasant or Basant Panchmi with our Bloghop event, and our theme is #Vasantpanchmicelebration. For this beautiful occassion I tried to make something in yellow, which is Besan ke ladoo. Everyone loves Besan ke ladoo,
They are made by roasting gram flour along with a generous amount of ghee - just the aroma that comes from this process is enough to create a big appetite. Crunchy almonds and nuts added to this mixture and then shaped into laddoos. there is one point that needs to be considered well. It is very important to roast the chickpea flour really well until it gets golden brown and fragrant. Besan ladoo are very easy to make and can be stored for longer duration in any air tight container. Check out the recipe below and Enjoyyy the sweetness!! I have followed this recipe from Nishamadhulika.com

Ingredients:

    2 Cups Chickpea flour
    1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
    1 Cup Ghee
    20-25 Almond, chopped
    20-25 Cashew, chopped
    1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
    Some saffron strands


Method:

1. Heat 1 cup of ghee in a pan (keeping 50 grams save for later). Let the ghee melt and then add chickpea flour to it and start roasting it.

2. Stir and roast the gram flour until it gets golden brown and fragrant. Add more ghee if required. Keep the flame medium and medium-low. The flame while roasting the gram flour should not be too high.

3. When the flour turns golden brown and fragrant, sprinkle 1 tbsp water to it to make it grainy. Now stir the batter constantly until the form settles down. Then turn off the flame as the gram flour is now roasted well. Keep stirring the gram flour constantly as the wok is still warm else it will burn from beneath. Now transfer the gram flour to another plate so that it cools down completely. Then use it to bind ladoos. Mix the chopped dry fruits to the chickpea flour. Also add cardamom powder and some saffron strands to the gram flour.

4. Now mix Powdered Sugar to the mixture. You can adjust the quantity of sugar as desired. Avoid adding Sugar when the gram flour is hot else it will melt. Mix everything with your hands and the mixture for binding ladoos is now ready. The mixture is perfect for binding the ladoos.
   
5. For making ladoos, take little amount mixture in your hands and shape it into round. Now keep rolling it in your hand till you get smooth and lustrous surface. You can make the ladoos small or big as desired. Place the prepared ladoo on a plate and similarly bind the ladoos from the rest of the mixture as well. Garnish the ladoos with nuts or saffron.

Enjoyy the delicious Bresan ke ladoo in this upcoming Vasant Panchami festival. :)

Fruit Cocktail Terrain cake

The term Anglo-Indians can refer to at least two groups of people: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or living in the Indian subcontinent. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The Oxford Dictionary, for example, gives three possibilities: "Of mixed British and Indian parentage, of Indian descent but born or living in Britain, or (chiefly historical) of British descent or birth but living or having lived long in India". People fitting the middle definition are more usually known as British Asian or British Indian. During the centuries that Britain was in India, the children born to British men and Indian women began to form a new community. These Anglo-Indians formed a small but significant portion of the population during the British Raj, and were well represented in certain administrative roles.

Over generations, Anglo-Indians intermarried with other Anglo-Indians to form a community that developed a culture of its own. Their cuisine, dress, speech (use of English as their mother tongue), and religion (Christianity) all served to further segregate them from the native population. A number of factors fostered a strong sense of community among Anglo-Indians. Their English language school system, their Anglo-centric culture, and their Christian beliefs in particular helped bind them together.

Anglo-Indian cuisine is the cuisine that developed during the British Raj in India, as the British wives interacted with their Indian cooks. There are most of the non vegetarian dishes in this cuisine. But when It comes to bake a cake, Many more variations can be there, Like in this cuisine Plum cake and Bole cake are famous. 

By taking the theme of #Colonialinspiredcuisines for our 76th #Foodiemonday Bloghop event, with some twist of using Fruit cocktail and most of the chocolate and Orange flavor, Here is the Fruit cocktail Terrain cake is ready to serve with lots  of Chocolate sauce, which truly make this cake super tempting and delicious. I made this cake on Saturday, and was thinking to pack some slices of this cake to my dear friends here in doha. They all loved the delicious taste of this cake and all my efforts to bake this cake are paid. In this cake I haven't used any butter even No egg. So its a Egg less and Butter less cake. Which you guys really should give a try. Check out the recipe below and leave a comment if you try it or going to give a try ;)

Ingredients:

400 gm Condense milk
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
2 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Fresh Cream
150 gm Dark Chocolate
3-4 drops of Vanilla essence
3-4 drops of Orange Essence
1/2 tsp Orange Zest
1 small Can of Fruit cocktail Fruits
21/2 Cup Orange Juice or as needed
21/2 Tbsp Cashew, Chopped


Method:

1. Line up all the Ingredients. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease the Terrain cake pan. Dust with flour; tap out excess.

2. In a medium bowl, combine Condense Milk, brown sugar and both the Essence mix this mixture until fluffy.

3. Heat the cream and add chocolates let it melt and combine properly. Add melted chocolate and in the above mixture and again mix it well until the better becomes fluffy.

4.  Sieve the All purpose Flour, Baking Powder and Baking soda at least for two times and Add them all with chopped cashew in the wet ingredients, Drain the water of Fruit cocktail can and add all the fruits in the batter Fold them very well.

5. Add Orange juice to reach the pouring consistency of the batter.

6. Pour batter into prepared Terrain pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes on 180 degree C or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

7. Cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes. Cover the whole cake by the splash of sugar syrup. Invert onto wire rack; invert again and let cool completely on rack.

8. Serve the cake with lots of chocolate sauce and some sprinkled Powdered Sugar.

You can not take away yourself from this beautiful and Super delicious Fruit cocktail Terrain cake.


Enjoyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mini Bread Pizza Bites

You must have tried so many versions of Pizzas, Including this Bread Pizza too. But the best part of these Mini Bread Pizza bites is that, They are so easy, quick and instant. I mean when you think to serve pizza, and top of that you want to serve them as homemade??? Hmmm, quite fussy and long job. So why not to serve something easy yet yummy and delicious.

So yesterday Night dinner was with these cute and yummy Mini Bread Pizza bites. Prisha loved them a lot. She was telling I am not going to eat them, They will go to my tummy and they will be hurt ;) Well, The big thing was her paa feed her these pizza bites and she was sitting on his lap and enjoying them with ketch up. I actually loved that picture the way they both were enjoying the stuff. he is eating his pizza, in between feeding her also. yaa yaa, very rare set up I can see ;) But felt good by watching this. Meanwhile I baked 4 more bread slices to bake, as From his plate, two slices were already in my tummy ;) and quickly I baked that 4 slices and gave him. It was a very quick and instant Sunday dinner for us.

It was a wonderful theme selection from #Foodiemonday bloggers. We guys selected the #Bitesizedfood theme this time for our 79th bloghop event. and This is my contribution of Mini Bread Pizza bites, which is perfect for any party or as we enjoyed them in our dinner. you can give them in your kid's lunch box too. Check out the recipe below and Enjoyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ingredients

6 round bread slices, lightly buttered
6 tbsp grated processed cheese or Mozzarella cheese

For The Pizza Sauce
1/2 cup blanched, peeled and chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
2 bay leaves
4 black peppercorns
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup finely chopped capsicum
2 tbsp tomato puree
1/4 cup tomato ketchup
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp dry red chili flakes
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp finely chopped basil
2 Tbsp black olives
Jalapeno as required
2 Tbsp Corn kernels
Capsicum chopped as required
5-6 Cherry tomatoes


Method:

How to make Pizza Sauce:

1. Heat the olive oil in a broad non-stick pan, add the bay leaves and peppercorns and saute for a few seconds.

2. Add the onions, garlic and capsicum and saute on a medium flame for 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes, tomato Puree, tomato ketchup, sugar, chili flakes and salt, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 2 to 3 minutes, while stirring occasionally.

4. Finally, add the dried oregano and basil and mix well. Remove the bay leaves and peppercorns and discard them.

5. Divide the pizza sauce into 6  equal portions and keep aside.

6. Spread a portion of the prepared pizza sauce evenly over each bread slice and sprinkle grated cheese and vegetables of your choice. I have used black olives, Jalapeno, Cherry tomatoes, Capsicum and Corn kernels.

7. Add more cheese on the topping, and Bake in a Pr-heated oven at 200°c for 5 to 7 minutes or till the cheese melts. sprinkle some chili flakes and oregano as required.

Serve hot!!!

Green Peas and Paneer stuffed Paratha

The paratha is an important part of a traditional indian breakfast. Traditionally, it is made using ghee but oil is also used. Some people may even bake it in the oven for health reasons. Usually the paratha is eaten with dollops of white butter on top of it. Side dishes which go very well with paratha are curd, Raita, jeera aloo, Pickle daal, and raita as part of a breakfast meal. It may be stuffed with potatoes, paneer, onions, Green peas or chili peppers.

These Green peas and Paneer parathas are the perfect breakfast recipe to enjoy. They are so mildly spiced and satiating breakfast and main course that helps keep acidity at bay. It goes well even with any Raita or with simple mango Pickle too. I made these Parathas in our yesterday's dinner. Nowadays me and himanshu both are working on our diet, So I will try to make only some healthy stuffs in my next blogposts. We are trying to loose some weight in this next couple of months. Well, That is also a thing, that we used to take this for sure in every six months, and dont follow at all ;) Lets see this time how much serious we are ;) But Will going to try for sure atleast for month, andso need to try some healthy and fat free recipes. So, The point is anyways, I have to make some healthy, cheesy and full of fat dishes too for Prisha!! So two type of dishes are going to be serve at my home...Ooooomg, Hmmmm going to be a tough time for me. Well, So meanwhile ypu guys check out the recipe below of these delicious Green peas and Paneer stuffed Paratha and Enjoyy!!!

Ingredients

3/4 cup Whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Oil
1/2 tbsp Ghee
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp finely chopped green chilies
1 cup Frozen Green peas, crushed
1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese (Paneer), Grated
Salt to taste
1 tsp oil for cooking


Method

   1. Sieve the flour with the salt. Combine the flour and oil and knead to make a soft dough using enough water.  
  
2. Divide the dough into some equal portions and keep aside.
  
3. For the stuffing Heat the ghee in a pan and add the cumin seeds and fry till they crackle. Add the green chilies and cook for 1 minute. Add the mashed peas and grated Paneer salt and mix well.
Cool completely and divide the stuffing into 4 equal portions. Keep aside.
  
4. Roll out one portion of the dough into a circle using flour for rolling. Place one portion of the stuffing in the Center of the circle.
   
5. Bring together all the sides in the center and seal tightly. Roll out again into a circle  using flour for rolling.
   
6. Heat non-stick pan and cook each Paratha, until both sides are golden brown using Oil.
      
Serve hot parathas with raita or with any Pickle or chutney.

Nutella Chocolate dessert

The first post is on this New year is must be something sweet, and what can be the best option by using Nutella in the form of dessert glass. Coming in from the old, nothing beats a nice glass of hot cocoa unless it's a nice warm glass of Nutella chocolate dessert. Nutella, for anyone who hasn't yet had the pleasure, is a creamy chocolate-hazelnut spread. Prisha love it with peanut butter, or in place of it. My family eats a lot of Nutella. I keep at least a couple jars of this chocolate hazelnut spread in my fridge at all times. It has become a household staple we use for sandwiches. It’s an easy snack that tastes so good on bread, apples and even all by itself. We also eat Nutella Banana sandwiches. And now, thanks to this homemade hot chocolate, We have a new way to enjoy Nutella. I’m sure you’ll agree Nutella makes a delicious hot cocoa drink. 

This Nutella chocolate dessert is full of the flavor of chocolate and hazelnuts. and the dollop of whipped cream will make this dessert more delicious. This is our 73rd #Foodiemonday #bloghop event and this time we are back with #Newyear any dishes, and I have selected the very easy and quick recipe with Nutella and this is a 5 minute recipe. Check out the recipe below and enjoyyy!!!!! Happy new Year to Everyone!! :)

Ingredients:

11/2 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Nutella
Unsweetened whipped cream, for serving

Method:

Combine milk and Nutella in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, whisking until smooth. Serve it in any glass, with dollop of Whipped cream.