“पाकातल्या पुऱ्या” (Indian Sugar-Kissed Cookies)

The last sweet food in Diwali Schedule!!!

My Aai (mother) is a lovely cook.While growing up,she taught me the art of associating food with tastes & textures.

Mamma (mother) said “taste” is the appreciation of tongue for the accurate appraisal (appraisal is ascending or descending too :P) of the first tantalizing touch of food and “texture” is the quality of the contents (condiments) that caters to the glutton’s gastronomy!

Very interesting definitions,aren’t they?

I thought of selecting a recipe for “Indian Sugar Kissed Cookies” that could suit the taste & texture preferences of international audiences as much as my Desi (Indians) brigade.With Halloween (31st October),Thanks-giving (4th Thursday in November for US),Turkey,Christmas (25th December) & New year (1st January) lined up back-to back,this one’s a sure winner for kids & grown-ups.

Presenting the traditional,home-made Indian Sugar Kissed Cookies !

Ingredients

• 1 muffin-full bowl of fine Semolina-My last experience with kneading semolina wasn’t great,so used only 3 tbsps of it for texture.
• 1 muffin-full bowl of all purpose flour (maida)-Instead of using semolina as the main ingredient I used all purpose flour since its easy to deal with.One can substitute all purpose flour with whole wheat flour or use the two in half-half proportions.
• 1 and half muffin-full bowls of sugar (quantity may vary)
• 1 tsp oil for kneading.I did not put hot oil into the flour as mentioned in the original recipe.
• Ghee /cooking oil for frying-I used olive oil to fry.However,one may choose to bake the cookies too.
• A pinch of eating soda
• Salt to taste.
• Few strands of saffron.
• 2 tsp cardamom powder-I added it to the dough while kneading it instead of adding it to the Sugar syrup for two reasons,to avoid loss of its distinct flavour while cooking the syrup and to avoid any wastage due to sticking of the powder on sides of the saucepan.
• 2 tsp nutmeg powder-Its my addition and I put it in while kneading the dough.
• Few drops of lemon juice (optional)-This is to be added to the sugar syrup.
• Dry fruit powder (my suggestion)-I did not use it though,but if kids are to eat this one must sprinkle a little dry fruit powder over the sugar kissed cookies.
• 3 tbsp plain curd (sour) or yogurt-I used the usual plain yogurt which wasn’t sour.
• 5 tsp poppy seeds (my addition)-I dipped the dough balls into some poppy seeds for texture before frying them.
• 1 muffin-full bowl of water for syrup.

Total Time=Cooking Time+Preparation Time=150 minutes.

Roll Thy Balls,Fry them Flat avec Kisseth de Sucre

This recipe could be simplified in 3 easy steps(I found it easy to follow them as its difficult to nose around the book while cooking :P)namely: Knead the dough-I mixed semolina,all purpose flour,nutmeg powder,soda,cardamom powder,little oil and yogurt to knead it into a less softer dough.Then,I set it aside for 2 hours (my suggestion-wrap in a tissue napkin,so that it does not get too dry or too moist).I made small dough balls post 2 hours.

 Roll the dough Balls-2 hours later,I rolled the dough balls (pressed them into poppy seeds) into small,thick circles (any shape is fine,circular is traditional one). Heat the Oil/Ghee-I added the thick circles to the hot oil and fried them.I moved them onto a tissue paper to drain extra oil from them.

Slide them into the Syrup-I made the syrup heating water & sugar together.Then I added the crushed saffron sticks for a wonderful orange colour.As the book suggests,one may add food colour to the syrup or to the dough while kneading,but I refrain from usage of artificial colours.I slowly pushed the “puris” or fried cookies into the syrup and allowed them to rest within for a while.

I arranged the cookies on my serving plate…shiny and sweet,round are they,absolutely stunning piece of art!Introduce the gen-next to the traditional yet trendy Indian Sugar kissed Cookies! These cookies could be stored for about a week..

One Halloween tip:To add some crunch to the cookies,try stuffing a walnut in each cookie while rolling them!

Treat for 10 kids (10 cookie recipe) :)

डाळीचा चटका ( Split Bengal Gram side entrée )

All of us have extremely enjoyed or disliked the concept of “ भरीत” / “भरता” (Bharit/Bharta-whipped vegetables in sticky thick self-sourced curd based gravy). Some like our friend Yogesh from San Diego learn to gulp tasty “वांग्याचे भरीत”/“बैंगन भरता” (Egg plant/Brinjal side entrée  only after the marital bliss dawns upon them!

So,This is for Rohan’s best friend Yogi and his lovely wife Anuja.

But,here’s one Bharta (side entrée ) that would be a wonderful relief to those who either hate the usual ones or need a change of taste! It is called “डाळीचा चटका” (Split Bengal Gram side entrée) and is a refreshing change from the routine ingredients used to make other Bhartas.

Total Time=Cooking Time +Preparation Time= @ 1 hour.

Ingredients

• 1/8 th muffin-full bowl of Split Bengal gram
• 1/8 th muffin-full bowl of Split Green Gram(Moong daal).This is my addition too!
• 1/2 th muffin-full bowl of home made dahi/curd/low fat plain yogurt .You can actually skip this one.I liked it with and without the curd.
• 1/4 th muffin-full bowl of sweet corn (my addition)
• 1/4th muffin-full bowl of green peas (my addition)
• 3-5 fresh green chilies
• 2 red chilies (dry)
• 1/4th muffin-full bowl of coriander
• 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp of asafoetida
• 1 tsp of turmeric powder
• 1-2 tsps of vegetable oil or cooking spray.I used vegetable oil since the cooking spray got exhausted yesterday!
• 1/2 tbsp of roasted cumin seeds and 1/2 tbsp of whole coriander seeds roasted,coarsely crushed manually.This is my addition to the original recipe.
• 2 cloves of finely minced garlic.The authoress has advised the usage ,but not used it in the recipe for this book.I chose to use it.
• 1/2 tsp of finely minced ginger juice.I love the combination taste of ginger and garlic , hence added it.
• 1/4 th muffin-full bowl of radish.This is completely optional and I dint use it really.However,I used finely chopped onion instead of radish in the same quantity.
• 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice.This is my “touché” completely! There is not even the mention of it in the close corners of this book.So,all Copyrights reserved [:P]
• salt and sugar to taste

Here We Go..

I soaked the split Bengal Gram & Moong Daal in lukewarm water for 45 min or so(one may add soda to accelerate the process,but avoid it).I didn't use the warm water running from the faucets here since it contains Lead and other dissolved gases.I took the pains to warm some water to do so!!

Then I transferred the “daal mix” into the blender and whipped it.Take care that while crushing the gram,you don’t end up adding water in it.The Bharta would be very watery and spoil the taste.The texture needs to be rough,so the mixer’s witchy spell for all times could really be a Magic!

The book says that the green chilies should be blended with the daals, however I crushed them separately with “pestle & mortar”.

 

The next step was to mix the “daal”, chopped onion ,“green chili crush”,salt,sugar and low fat plain yogurt together.I added the roasted powders of cumin seeds and coriander seeds to it.Added the lemon juice to it and whipped it up with serving spoon.I added garlic ,ginger the red chilies too! 

Its The Time for TT (Time for Tadka),that’s the  influence of the background score from Kal Ho Na Ho!

Anyway,the tadka was the usual one with mustard seeds crackling in hot oil after the asafoetida moves in with Turmeric powder.

I poured hot tadka over the mixture just before serving and garnished it with fresh coriander.Serve a very traditional dish in style!

The spicy fragrance was all around and the exhaust fan had to switched on or the Fire alarms would have started yelling (when we were young people used to scare us saying “सोजा नाही तो गब्बर आजायेगा!” , while here we are scaring the fire fighters all the time with our spicy tadkas).

One Quick Tip

You may add other daals too.Try adding some udad daal and toor daal.

This tastes extremely wonderful with curd-rice or roti ,Choose your pick! I can have it JLT!

Relish the Yellowz!

Badam-Akrod-Keshar yukta Shrikhand (Shrikhand flavoured with almonds,walnuts & saffron)

Indian Cooking is not merely all about taste, but also about emotions associated with our culture, traditions, memories & relationships.As a child, if there was one sweet that caught my fancies then it was Shrikhand (Indian Yogurt). I would wish aloud to my mother that it would be a feast to find Shrikhand inside the refrigerator after coming home from school everyday. She would make it quite often, since it is a sort of family favourite amongst 4 generations of our family.

I miss celebrating Indian festivals the most in US, for one can't feast on the lovely "Shrikhand-Puri" (Puri is a sort of Indian wheat fritter eaten with side entrees and sweets) made by my mother all so often. So, here's a toast of Shrikhand raised for all the Ganpule clan way back in L'Inde (my maiden name is Ganpule).

Ingredients

• Low fat plain Yogurt (American Dahi) or home made Curd-@ 5 table spoons for two people
• Cardamom powder (veldoda/elaichi)
• Saffron sticks dissolved in 3 tbsp of milk
• a muslin or cotton cloth (1'x1')
• Sugar , (as per desired).I added 15 tsps since the sugar used was super fine and highly processed.
• Nutmeg (Jaiphal)
• Charoli (Indian crispies added for flavour). Optional. It would be difficult to get Charoli in US, but one can do without it. 
• Mrs. Ogale of Ruchira suggests the usage of food colour in the absence of Saffron, however, it's always healthier to use Saffron (not cheaper anyway, 0.5 gm box for 5 dollars).
• 5 almonds (de-skinned and finely cut into thin slices)
• 3 walnuts (finely cut)

For Home-made Dahi/Curd

Before proceeding any further, here's an age old recipe for making home made Curd (Dahi/Yogurt) so that one can prepare Dahi one night before making Shrikhand. I set up a soup bowl full of milk on low flame and added some Yogurt/Curd (1tsp) while it was lukewarm.One can use little lemon juice to curdle it.I took it off the flame and stirred it.I left it covered overnight at room temprature.The weather here is quite favourable for this,but in India many people keep it in a cool dry place like Fadtal (a sideboard/shelf with leafs).

Next day,just few hours prior to the feast,I transferred the dahi/curds in a soft muslin /cotton cloth and tied a knot.This satchel was set aside until all the moisture was absorbed by the muslin/cotton cloth.Drain all the water content from the batter before opening the knot.This is called "Chakka/चक्का "  (the thick batter for Shrikhand).


I moved the contents into a serving bowl and whipped it with a spoon.Later i added 15 tsps of sugar to this batter.The quantity of sugar to be added may vary due to sweetness & thickness of sugar used."Ruchira" insists that this sugar+batter mixture should besieved through a special sieve. This sieve wasnt available in the nearby stores in Sunnyvale, so I had to do without it.I tried sieving it through the normal french fry sieve which was harldy any help.It instead added to my to-wash list for the day! [:P]

Anyway folks, the Shrikhand was almost ready and my dream was close to a reality when the maintenance guy showed up. After seeing him off, I resumed work.The sweet batter was a little too thick so i added a little milk in it,just to get the consistency good enough for serving (consistency is similar to cake batter,it glides through the spoon into the bowl).Then began the make-up! The saffron-milk solution,nutmeg and cardamom powder(seived it  through normal tea strainer "गाल्णे"  rouged up the batter.Some walnuts & almonds (charoli was replaced by walnuts/almonds) were added just before serving.


Voila (a with a the big grave accent),my favourite sweet was up on the dinner table!

I prefer it with puri or chapathi,but as my husband says "Sweets need to be enjoyed as themselves,no contamination with the tastes and aromas they possess"...the rest of you could also eat it JLT!