Shahi Tukda / Indian Style Bread Pudding

                                                                         
                                                                             

This is a traditional Indian dessert that used to be hugely popular when I was young. It used to often feature at  parties,  functions and even at weddings. Shahi Tukda literally translated  means a " royal piece"as Shahi  means royal in Hindi and Tukda  means piece or portion. And  indeed it lives up to it's name as it is a sublime regal treat. Thankfully though, preparing it  is fairly simple. Milk is simmered on a low flame till slightly thick and then sugar and cardamom powder is added and it is  poured over fried pieces of bread. Easy right?

I mastered this recipe along with a few others when I started taking an interest in cooking in my high school days. I remember the  elation I felt when occasionally I would be allowed to cook, not just for our family, but for guests.  The sense of accomplishment and the praise that was generously given  used to encourage me in my culinary adventures. This recipe never failed to score a big hit ...so very comforting and delicious....a perfect finale to a good meal.

Ingredients: 

2 1/2 cup milk
2  slices of bread
1/4 cup nuts and raisins
1/2 tea spoon elaichi powder ( green cardamom)
2 table spoon sugar
Oil to deep fry

Method: Cut each bread slice into four triangles. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the bread slices. Fry till crisp and golden. Remove and keep aside on an absorbent paper.  Put the milk to boil in a heavy bottom pan. When it starts boiling lower the flame and let it simmer for ten to fifteen minutes. Once the milk thickens, switch off flame and allow to cool a little.  Add sugar and cardamom powder.

Take a serving dish and  place the fried bread pieces in it. Sprinkle part of the nuts and raisins. Cover with the thickened milk and spread the remaining nuts  and raisins on top. Chill in the refrigerator for a few hours and serve.

Vegetable Makhanwala

                                                                           

I have had so many different versions of this recipe, Vegetable Makhanwala, at various restaurants across India and abroad!! At home however, the recipe I have consistently stuck to is this one that I got from a Tarla Dalal cookbook way back. Vegetable Makhanwala  basically means vegetables cooked in butter as makhan in Hindi is butter.  It is a simple recipe in which boiled vegetables are gently simmered in a creamy tomato sauce. This is an excellent dish to serve at dinner parties  and ideal for those occasions when you are in the mood for a restaurant style dish in the comfort of your home.

I have reached a landmark of sorts with this recipe as this is my 200th post!! Honestly, when I started this blog I had thought I would post just a few basic, simple recipes that would be of use to my kids and others new to cooking. Gradually I began to enjoy the whole process and kept adding more recipes. I  didn't realise it initially but it has begun to dawn on my that slowly many of my dear recipes are coming together in one place....some of which were in tattered recipe books, cook books, scraps of paper and some in the deep recesses of my memory.  There were other recipes I used to make by instinct which, for the purpose of sharing, I have had to carefully observe, measure and note down. It has made my life simpler as I find myself  now referring to my blog, without depending on my errant memory or instinct. So, though I set out to help others and share what I knew I have gained a lot too.

Ingredients: 

1 cup cauliflower florets
1/2 cup french beans
1/2 cup carrots
1/4 cup green peas
2  potatoes
3 onions
1 tea cup fresh cream
2 table spoon flour
1 tea cup milk
4 table spoon tomato ketchup
2 table spoon butter
1/2 tea spoon red chilly powder
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:   Finely chop onions. Cut the cauliflower in florets. Chop the french beans into one inch pieces. Shell green peas. Scrape carrot and cut into rounds and then cut them in  half. Boil the cauliflower florets, french beans, carrot and green peas in salted water for a few minutes. Drain and keep aside. Do not over boil or let them get mushy.  Peel potatoes, cut in long strips ( like french fries) and deep fry.  Mix the ingredients for the sauce - flour, cream, milk and tomato ketchup.

Heat butter in a non stick pan, add the onions and stir till translucent. Add the vegetables, the prepared sauce, salt and red chilly powder. Cook on very low flame for about ten minutes. The sauce will gradually thicken, colour will darken and butter will separate and come on top (see pic below). Serve hot, garnished with a dash of butter.

                                                                         

Tomato And Peanut Chutney

                                                                                 

If you like the taste of peanuts then you will love this chutney! The combination of tomato and peanuts is truly sensational.  It is easy to make and needs very few ingredients. It is currently my favourite chutney.

I have to thank my friend and neighbour Purnima for this lovely recipe.  I had this amazing chutney at her place sometime back.  She had invited me, along with several other ladies, to a puja (prayer gathering) at her place. This chutney was served, as also a whole array of dishes, after the function concluded. At first I thought it was  the Tomato Onion Chutney that I am so fond of, ( I have shared the recipe of that earlier), but then I realised it was vastly different. That day of course I could not bother Purnima as she had other guests to attend but, the very next day I visited her and she gave me the recipe.
                                                                       

Ingredients:

3 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup peanuts, roasted
1 green chilly, chopped
Salt to taste
3 tea spoon oil
1/2 tea spoon mustard seeds
Pinch of hing (asafoetida)
Few curry leaves

Method:    Chop tomatoes and green chilly. Dry roast the peanuts and when slightly cool, pry off the skin.

In a pan heat 2 tea spoon oil and add the chopped tomatoes and green chilly. Stir till tomatoes are tender. Allow to cool. Meanwhile, grind the roasted peanuts to a powder, in a mixer. Add the cooled tomatoes and blend again till smooth. Transfer to a serving dish. Add salt and mix. Now prepare the tempering by heating a tea spoon of oil in a small pan. Add mustard seeds and when they start spluttering add curry leaves and asafoetida. Pour over the prepared Tomato And Peanut Chutney. I love to have it with Idli or Dosa but it goes well with just about everything.

Instead of green chilly you can use whole dry red chilly. Grind it with the peanuts and then add tomatoes. If you like it really hot then you can use both red and green chilly! If the tomatoes are not sour, add a tea spoon or two of tamarind paste.

Matthe Ke Aloo

                                                                         
                                                                         

This would be a very familiar recipe to most people from UP and other parts of North India. Although we still tend to call this dish Matthe Ke Aloo, it is mostly made with dahi ( yoghurt) these days rather than mattha. It is one of those quickie dishes that comes handy when there are no veggies in the house or one is not in the mood to make anything elaborate or time taking.

Mattha, is what one gets after churning butter. Fresh cream collected from milk is set with  a starter of yoghurt and then churned to make butter.  The sour residue left, after removing butter, is what is called mattha. Butter of course is heated to make ghee.

Till some years back, when our family was still fairly large, with children and parents living with us, our daily milk consumption used to be a lot. We had a milkman, coming on a bicycle from a nearby village, who used to supply milk to us. The fresh milk was boiled and when it cooled, the thick cream that set on top was collected and stored in a container in the refrigerator. When the container was full, it was gently heated and set with a little yoghurt and later churned to make butter. So every few days there was mattha on hand that was utilized in various recipes like kadhi, jeera lassi etc or this perennial favourite, matthe ke aloo.

Ingredients: 

3 medium size potatoes, boiled
1 cup mattha or dahi (yoghurt)
1 tea spoon garlic, finely chopped or crushed
1 green chilly, finely chopped ( optional)
1/2 tea spoon cumin
1/2 tea spoon mustard seeds
Pinch of  hing (asafoetida)
1/2 tea spoon red chilly powder
1/2 tea spoon turmeric powder
1 tea spoon coriander powder
1 table spoon gur (jaggery)
Salt to taste
2 table spoon oil
Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:    Boil and peel potatoes. Keep one potato aside. Using your palms, break up the remaining two potatoes or cut roughly. Finely chop or crush garlic.  Whip mattha  or dahi (yoghurt). Chop green chilly and coriander leaves.

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan and add cumin, mustard seeds and asafoetida. As it begins to crackle add garlic and green chilly ( optional). Stir. Add the cut potatoes and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add turmeric powder, red chilly powder and coriander powder. Add 1/4 cup water and when it comes to boil, grate the whole potato kept aside and add. Cook for a few minutes and then add mattha or dahi. Can also add gur at this point. Stir continuously till mixture starts boiling and then lower flame and allow to simmer for a little while. Add salt, mix it in and close flame. Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.

I like this dish to be of soupy consistency, not thick. If you like it thicker add a tablespoon of besan ( gram flour) dissolved in little water. The grated potato too helps to thicken the gravy. Just let it cook for longer till you get the consistency you want. Alternately, add warm water, if desired, to dilute the gravy. The gur  doesn't sweeten the dish, it just balances the flavours nicely, toning down the sourness.

                                                                         

Chocolate Barfi

                                                                         

If you are looking for a great but super easy mithai (Indian sweet) recipe, then this is as good as it gets!!  All you need is good quality khoya and a few minutes of your precious time and you can make this delicious Chocolate Barfi at home. Seriously, it looks and tastes just like what you would get in a mithai shop. Maybe even better:)

In an earlier post, while sharing the recipe for Kesar Peda, I had mentioned my excitement and joy at the discovery of  khoya here in Dar es Salaam. That led to my trying out various recipes that use Khoya as a vital ingredient. This is one of them which I have now made several times with success.

Home made sweets are integral to festivals in India and with  Holi,( festival of colours) just a few weeks away, it would be a good time to make this lovely sweet and impress your family and friends.

Ingredients:

2 cups khoya  ( dried milk), crumbled
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar, powdered
2 table spoon cocoa powder
2 table spoon almond slivers
1/2 tea spoon cardamom powder

Method:  In case the khoya is frozen, let it come to room temperature and then crumble it.  Powder sugar. Finely slice almonds.

                                                                         

In a heavy bottom pan  heat the crumbled khoya on low flame.

                                                                   

When the  khoya softens add milk and sugar.


                                                                       

Continue to stir until the mixture thickens and leaves sides. Add cardamom powder.

                                                                       

Pour half the mixture in a dish lined with baking paper.

                                                                           

Add cocoa powder to the remaining part and mix it in.

                                                                               

 Gently spread the cocoa mixture over the white mixture.

                                                                         

Sprinkle  almond slivers on top and allow to set.This will take a few hours at room temperature or you could refrigerate for a little while. When firm, cut into squares and store  the Chocolate Barfi in an airtight container. In winter you can keep the container in a kitchen cabinet, away from heat,  but in summer it is advisable to store in the refrigerator.