Mango custard pudding with Tulsi seeds

Ingredients:

Digestive biscuit – 10-12

Unsalted butter – 2 tsp

Custard powder – 5 tbsp

Milk – ¼ cup   + ½ litre

Mangoes – chopped

Cherries - Handful

Roasted Nuts- Handful

Fruit Jelly – ½ tsp

Tulsi seeds – 1 tsp

Method:

Pre preparations:

1.       Grind biscuits to fine powder and set aside

2.       To make custard, mix custard powder with cold milk and mix well. Put ½ lt milk to boil. Once boiled, add custard milk mixture and stir continuously so that no lumps can form. Add ½ cup sugar and cook on low flame for another 2 mins. Let it cool completely and refrigerate

3.       Peel and chop mangoes

4.       Dip tulsi seeds in water for an hour

Presentation:

1.       Mix 1 tsp butter in 1 tbsp of biscuit powder and set it at the bottom of the glass.

2.       Add chopped mangoes, nuts and cherries

3.       Spoon ½ tsp tulsi seeds over it

4.       Pour a layer of custard over it

5.       Spread biscuit crumbs over custard and repeat the layers

6.       Top it with chopped mangoes, nuts, cherries and jelly

7.       Serve chilled

Banoffee Pie

Banoffee Pie

Preparation Time: 1 hr
Assembling time: 20 mins
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

For base:
Melted unsalted butter - 100grm
Digestive biscuit - 250grm

For Caramel - Dulce de Leche preparation
Milkmaid - 1 can

Toppings:
Banana - 4 medium sized
Whipping cream - 300ml
Chocolate shavings  - for garnishing

Method:

To make Dulce de leche

1. Take 1 liter water in a pressure cooker and put one unopened can of milkmaid in it. Do not make any holes in the can. Pressure cook on high. After a whistle, lower the flame and cook on simmer for 45 mins. 
2. Switch off the gas and let it cool down completely
3. Once completely cooled, open the can. 
4. Dulce de leche (caramel) is ready

Banoffee Pie

1. Crush the biscuits to fine powder in processor. Add unsalted melted butter to it and mix well. It should look like wet sand
2. Take a baking dish and pour the mixture into it. Spread and press it with fingers.
3.  Bake in oven at 180deg for 10 mins. You can choose to skip baking and simply freeze it for 30 mins. Baking gives the base a crunchy nice texture
4. Now make a layer of caramel (dulce de leche) over it
5. Chop the bananas and place the slices over the caramel all over
6. Whip the cream to hard peaks and spread it over banana layer
7. Garnish with chocolate shavings
8. Let it set for 2 hrs in refrigerator and serve

Chocolate Beetroot Cake with glaze

Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
Refined flour – 1 cup
Whole wheat flour – ½ cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Cocoa Powder – 6 tbsp
Baking soda – ¾ tsp
Baking powder – 1/8 tsp


Wet Ingredients
Beetroot puree – 1¼ cup
Warm water – ½ cup
Olive oil – ¼ cup
Vanilla essence – ½ tbsp
Apple cider vinegar – 1 tsp

Icing

Heavy cream – 1 cup
Bitter sweet Chocolate – 1 cup


Method

1. Preheat the oven at 180 deg 
2. Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl and add sugar to it and mix 
3. Line the baking tray with butter and parchment paper 
4. Sieve together all the dry ingredients and fold into the wet ingredients 
5. Pour the batter into cake mould and bake at 180 deg for 50- 60 mins or till toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean 
6. Let the cake cool down. Once cooled, transfer it to wire rack to cool completely 
7. For glaze, microwave heavy cream for 3- 4 mins to warm it. It should not boil 
8. Add chololate to it and let it sit for few minutes 
9. Mix Chocolate and cream mixture and let it cool completely 
10. Blend the mixture for 2-3 mins 
11. Pour the glaze over the cake center. Spread with spatula and decorate with chocolate shavings

Apple crumble

Ingrediets

For the filling:

Apple – 3medium

Castor sugar  - 2tbsp

Cinnamon powder-  2tsp

For the crumble:

Refined flour – ¾ cup

Castor sugar – ½ cup

Cold butter – 100grm = 1 stick

For topping (optional)

Whipped cream/ custard / Vanilla ice cream to serve

Method:

1.  Preheat the oven at 180deg.
2. Toss the apples with sugar and cinnamon powder and pour into baking dish.Flatten down with your hand to prevent too much crumble falling through
3.  In a bowl, put flour,sugar and a pinch of salt. Slice in the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs
4. Shake the bowl and any big bits left will come to the surface – rub them in
5. Pour the crumb mix over the apples to form a pile in the centre, then use fork to spread it all over
6. Bake for 30 – 40 mins, until the top is golden. Apples should feel very soft when toothpick is inserted in the center
7. Leave to cool and serve with ice cream or custard or cream

Strawberry Trifle

Strawberry Trifle

Preparation Time: 30 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Serves - 4

Ingredients:

Sponge cake(eggless) - 5-6 pcs
Strawberry - 8-10
Castor sugar - 1/4 cup
Fresh cream/ Whipped cream - 1/2 cup
Custard powder - 2 tbsp
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Hung Curd - 1 cup
Strawberry syrup (optional)

Strawberry Trifle

Method:

1. In a pan, boil milk. Mix custard powder with 1 tbsp cold milk and add it to boiling milk. Add sugar and stir continuously to avoid lumps. Let it cool and refrigerate
2. To make strawberry syrup, blend strawberries in blender. Add castor sugar and mix again. Cook on low flame for 3-4 mins. Let it cool. Ready made syrup can  also be used. In that case avoid step 2 
3. If using ready made syrup, mix syrup with little water
4. In a separate bowl, add hung curd, whipped cream, 2-3 grated strawberries and mix well.
5. Add this to pre- prepared custard mixture and pipe into piping bags
6. Cut sponge cake and settle it to the base of serving cup
7. Soak it  with strawberry syrup. Add a layer of chopped  strawberries 
8. Now pipe chilled custard mixture in it and fill half the cup
9. Now repeat adding cake slice and soak with syrup. Again pipe the custard mixture and fill the glass with it
10. Let it cool and garnish with thick syrup and strawberries

Moong Dal Halwa

Moong Dal Halwa

Ingredients:

Dry Moong Dal - 1 Cup
Ghee - 2 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Pistachio Nuts - 4-5
Cashewnuts - 4-5
Raisins  - 4-5

Method:

1. Soak moong dal for 4-5 hrs and drain water
2. Grind it into fine paste.Pour dal and 1cup ghee into non stick pan and cook on low flame stirring continuously until it combines like a dough as shown in picture. It will stick n lumps will be  formed if not stirred properly at this stage
   
3. After 10 minutes, the dough like mixture will start getting separated. At this stage if you think dal is getting dry then add more ghee. Stir the mixture every 15sec to avoid burning and even cooking
   
4. In next 15 minutes, the mixture will start leaving ghee from sides. Cook evenly by stirring continuously. 
   
5. In next 10 mins, it will start changing color and leaves a different aroma and raw smell of moong dal is completely gone by this time
   
6. In another pan, add water and sugar and cook it sugar dissolves completely
7. Cooke for another 10 mins on low flame until you reaches the desired color. But do not forget that color gets darker after adding sugar 
   
8. Now add sugar syrup by stirring continuously and cook on medium to high flame until it mixes well
9. Simmer  the flame and cook by stirring continuously  until it starts leaving oil again. 
10. Add desired nuts and enjoy hot

    

    Moong Dal Halwa
    
    

    Happy Cooking!

Bengali Roshogulla

Bengali Rasgulla (Roshogulla)

Here I  am with a perfect recipe of bengali rasgulla. This sweet is ought to be one of my favourite Indian sweet as it is oil free, quickly made and perfect to satisfy the sweet tooth. Elders in my family - my inlaws and parents loved this recipe as its oil free also. I know pictures are not perfect as I clicked these pictures while having guests at home. I was more eager to serve and gather compliments ;P , but I m sure you all will like the recipe. So here comes the quick recipe of perfect rasgullas!!

Ingredients:

Milk - 1.5 lts
Lemon - 1
Sugar - 2 Cups
Water - 4 Cups

Method:

1. Bring the milk to boil. Once it boils, add lemon juice and stir. You will see the milk started curdling
2. Once Chhenna is separated from whey, drain the whey and wash the chhenna in cold running water. This process will remove all the sourness of lemon from chhenna
3. Now squeeze the chhena so that no or minimum water is left in it.
4. Now Knead this chhenna with heel of your palm until it joins like a dough. To know if its done, just take a small portion and try to roll it into ball, if it rolls properly then its done. The proper dough also leaves oil in your  hands while kneading.
5. Now roll the dough into 10 -12 equal balls. Finish the balls with gentle hands
6. In a pressure cooker add 4 cups water and 2 cups sugar. Mix it till sugar dissolves
7. Add Chhenna balls into it and pressure cook it upto1 whistle and simmer it for  5-6 mins
8. Remove from gas. Let it cool and take out rasgullas
9. Now reduce the sugar syrup as per desired consistency.
10. Cool and Serve Chilled

Notes:
1. Do step 4 very carefully as dough preparation is  the main part of this recipe
2. This recipes saves milk if it curdles by chance also
3. Pressure cooker should be big enough since balls gets double in size. N smaller size if cooker/pan will not provide them room to expand

Happy Cooking!!