Peas Kachoori with Natun Alur Dom!

Ingredients:

• Green Peas : shelled and mashed in a mixie without adding water
• Ginger and Green Chilly Paste
• Salt & Sugar
• Hing (Asafoetida)
• Kalonjee (Kalojeera)
• Flour (Maida)
• Ajwain
• Refined oil
  

Procedure:

Heat a nonstick pan and grease it with 1/2 tsp oil. Pour the greenpeas paste, salt, sugar a pinch of asafoetida and dry the mixture on high flame till it does not stick to your finger. Finally add the ginger-greenchilly paste. Flatten the mixture on a large serving dish and put inside the refrigerator. Take out the mixture after 2 hrs and make small balls from it. This is the kachuri-stuffing.
Mean while knead the flour with ajwain, salt, a pinch of asafoetida and refined oil along with water to make a soft dough. Make small balls from the dough. Put the small green stuff inside the flour ball and roll it like a puri. Deep fry the kachuris.

Serve hot with alurdom.

 

SINGARA PITHE

Ingredients

• Maida
  
• Refined Oil for frying and 2tbsp for the dough
  
• Ghee 2tbsp
  
• Baking Powder 1/2 tsp
• Coconut (grated)
• Khejurer Gur

Procedure

Knead the maida with ghee, 2tbsp refined oil and baking powder to make a tight dough. Cover it with a soft wet cloth for 1/2 an hour. Meanwhile make the filling of the samosa(singara) by heating khejurer Gur and coconut together till no syrupy liquid is left. Let it cool.
Cut the dough into small balls (normal size of a puri(luchi) ) and flatten each ball like a puri and cut into two equal halves. Then fold each of the semi-circular puri in a triangular way and fill it up with the coconut stuff. Deep fry the samosas in refined oil.
Serve hot with NALEN GUR.

MOONG-SAMALI...a PITHE

• Moong Dal : 1 cup
• Grated Coconut : 1 cup 
•  Khejurer Gur : 1/2 cup
•   Rice Flour  
•   Sugar : 1tsp 
•   Mustard Oil : for deep frying                

PROCEDURE:


Dry fry the Moong Dal in a wok till it becomes golden brown in colour. Boil the dry fried dal in a pressure cooker on a slow flame by adding water which is just sufficient to soak the dal. Remove from fire. Take it out from the pressure cooker and spread it on a thali. Mash the dal with your palm and let it cool. Sprinkle rice flour on the mashed dal to knead the dal to make a dough.( don not add too much of rice flour) Finally add the 1tsp sugar into the dough to make the fried PITHE a bit porous. Make small balls out of the dough. Meanwhile make the stuffing by mixing grated coconut and boiling Khejurer Gur together. Put the coconut stuff inside each ball and seal the PITHE in desired shape. Deep fry the "Moong Samali" PITHE in mustard oil.
Serve hot with NALEN GUR as an evening snacks. 

RAS-VADA

Toor Dal (Biuli) [ from 100 gms of dal you can make 20 small VADA's]
Sugar
DatePalm Jaggery (Khejurer Gur) [ for 20 VADAS  you need to use 50gms]

Saunf (Mouri)
Mustard Oil for frying

Soak the dal in water for overnight. Paste in mixie with adding water (not too much) into a smooth paste. Sprinkle saunf on the batter. Heat oil and deep fry 1tsp batter at a time to make the VADA. Fry till the VADA is golden brown in colour.
Meanwhile boil Khejurer gur and Sugar(1:1) in water to make the syrup (CHUSNEY). Immerse the hot VADAs into the syrup while hot.
Serve as a delicious snacks or simply as a dessert !!

Doodh Pooli

Sankranthi, or Sankranti (Sanskrit: मकर संक्रान्ति ), Makar Sankaranti marks the transition of the Sun into Capricorn on its celestial path. This is significant considering the Winter Solstice marks the beginning of the gradual increase of the duration of the day. Traditionally, this has been one of many harvest days in India.

In West Bengal, Sankranti, also known as Pous Sankranti after the Bengali month in which it falls, is celebrated as a harvest festival Pous Parbon (Bengali: পৌষ পার্বণ). The freshly harvested paddy along with the date palm syrup in the form of Khejurer Gur (Bengali: খেজুরের গুড়)and Patali (Bengali: পাটালি ) is used in the preparation of a variety of traditional Bengali sweets made with rice flour, coconut, milk and khejurer gur and known as Pithey (Bengali: পিঠে). All sections of the society particpate in a three-day begins on the day before Sankranti and ends on the day after. The Goddess Lakshmi is usually worshipped on the day of Sankranti.

I am going to post some of my favourite PITHE recipes for this month to mark the POSH PARBON usually celebrated by Bengalees.

• Milk - 1 litre
• Semolina ( sooji ) - 1 cup
• Grated coconut - 2 cups
• Date Palm Jaggery Liquified ( Khejure'r Gur ) - 2 cups
• Date Palm Jaggery Solid ( Patali Gur ) - crushed
• Ghee - 1 teaspoon
• Flower ( Maida ) - 2 teaspoon

1. Boil the milk in a flat pan (dekchi ) for about 30 mins to "thicken" it somewhat ....
2. Meanwhile, knead the semolina with hot water and 1 teaspoon ghee to make a soft dough
3. Boil the liquified date palm jaggery (khejure'r gur ) and add the grated coconut. Stir continuously until the mixture attains a consistency thick enough to be made into balls that can be stuffed into a shell -- to be made in the next step
4. Make 12 small balls from the semolina dough and after dusting it with the flower, make them into flat discs that can be converted into shells to hold the stuffings made in the previous step.
5. Make the "pooli" by placing the stuffing (step 3) inside the shell (step 4) and sealing it
6. Place the  "pooli"s one-by-one into the pan of boiling milk ... do not stir, simply let them simmer for about 5 minutes
7. Add the crushed Patali Gur, to the "pooli"s in the boiling milk and simmer for another 5 minutes
8. Remove from the heat and allow the pan of  "pooli"s to cool down to room temperature before serving.

"PATISAPTA"

Sankranthi, or Sankranti (Sanskrit: मकर संक्रान्ति ), Makar Sankaranti marks the transition of the Sun into Capricorn on its celestial path. This is significant considering the Winter Solstice marks the beginning of the gradual increase of the duration of the day. Traditionally, this has been one of many harvest days in India.

In West Bengal, Sankranti, also known as Pous Sankranti after the Bengali month in which it falls, is celebrated as a harvest festival Pous Parbon (Bengali: পৌষ পার্বণ). The freshly harvested paddy along with the date palm syrup in the form of Khejurer Gur (Bengali: খেজুরের গুড়)and Patali (Bengali: পাটালি ) is used in the preparation of a variety of traditional Bengali sweets made with rice flour, coconut, milk and khejurer gur and known as Pithey (Bengali: পিঠে). All sections of the society particpate in a three-day begins on the day before Sankranti and ends on the day after. The Goddess Lakshmi is usually worshipped on the day of Sankranti.
I am going to post some of my favourite PITHE recipes for this month to mark the POSH PARBON usually celebrated by Bengalees.

"Patisapta" is one of my favourite pithe which I have learnt from my Grand Mother.

Ingredients:

• Flour 4tbsp
• Semolina 2tsp
• Khejurer Gur 1/2 cup + 2tsp for the pancake
  
• Sugar 2tsp
• Deshi Ghee 2tsp
• Milk 8tbsp
• Coconut (grated, 1cup)
• Khoya 1/4 cup
  

Procedure:

In a large wok mix the khoya, khejurer Gur and grated coconut together and make a smooth paste with the help of a spatula over a high flame. The Patisapta Pur is ready.
Meanwhile make a smooth paste of milk, flour, semolina, khejurer gur (2tsp), ghee and sugar.This is your pancake batter.
Heat a nonstick tawa and grease it with ghee and fry the pancakes one at a time from the smooth batter you have made. Stuff each pancake with the Patisapta Pur.
Serve hot as a winter desert.

Caramel Pudding

Ingredients:

• Milk : 1/2 litre.
• Egg : 2
• Sugar : 6tsp
• Essence of Vanilla/Strawberry/Pineapple
• 1/2 tsp Butter , 1/2 tsp sugar and 1tsp Coffee Powder for Caramel.
• Dry fruits of your choice for example Kaju, Kismis, Almond etc.
• Cherry and Wafers for decoration.

Procedure:

Boil the milk until it thickens. Add sugar and heat further. Let it cool and then break two eggs into it. Stir the mixture for at least 20 times until it becomes uniform. Add the essence and dry fruits. Refrigerate.

In the meantime heat the pudding pan in a low flame. Add butter and sugar and continue heating until it caramelises. Add coffee powder or cocoa powder to get the nice brown colour. Pour the pudding mixture in the pan and bake it for 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 200 degree Celsius. Remove from Oven. Let it cool and turn it upside down. Garnish with bright cherries. Refrigerate.

Serve with wafers as a dessert.
You can use small cake moulds to make your pudding and turn it upside down and pour chocolate sauce on top before you serve!

GO GREEN with SPINACH SOUP this winter!

• 1 tbsp. Butter  
• 2 cups. Fresh Spinach (chopped)
• 1 Small Onion (chopped)
• 1 cup Milk
• 1  tbsp. Flour (Maida)
• 1 tbsp Refined Oil
• 4 cloves of Garlic
• 1 Green Chilly (finely chopped)
• Fresh Cream (optional)
• 1/2tsp sugar
• To taste. Salt & pepper

* Blanch spinach in hot water with a pinch of salt.  and refresh in cold water.
    * Heat oil in a pan, add chopped onions and sauté. Add crushed garlic, chopped green chilly salt, sugar and pepper.
    * Puree together with boiled spinach.
    * Make a thin white sauce by melting butter in a nonstick pan.Then add maida and cook for 5-7 mins. Slowly add the milk so that no lumps are formed.
    * Add the spinach puree to this and bring it to a boil. Add a little water if required.
    * Add 2 tsp fresh cream (optional) and serve spinach soup hot with bread croutons/ soup stick.