Malai Jamun

Today is the last day for the theme occasion in Blogging Marathon#27 and wanted to finish the theme with a dessert.
Malai Jamun is a tempting and delicious sweet in which the regular soft and spongy jamuns are soaked in a creamy,thick flavored milk.
This recipe I adapted from here and slightly tweaked it to my convenience and taste.I made couple of times with the store bought gulab jamun mix and my kiddo loved it a lot.But this time tried it with khoya which was lying in my freezer since 3 weeks.Her is the recipe..........................

Ingredients

For the Jamun

Ingredient	Quantity
Unsweetned khoya/mawa	1cup
All purpose flour	1/4cup
Baking soda	a pinch
Ghee	2tsp
Milk	to knead
Sugar	1/3cup
Cardamom powder	a pinch
Water	3/4cup
Oil	as needed to fry

For the Malai/Rabdi

Ingredient	Quantity
Whole Milk	21/2cups
Sugar	1/4cup
Badam milk powder	2tbs
Pistachios(finely chopped)	for garnishing

Method

•  In a heavy bottom pan add the milk and simmer it till it reduces 1/3rd,then add the sugar.Let it boil for 5 minutes.
• Now mix the badam milk powder in a2tbs of milk and add it to the milk.Put off the fire and keep it aside.
• In a pan dissolve the sugar in water and heat,make a thick sugar syrup.No need of any string consistency,keep it aside.
• In a bowl take the khoya,all purpose flour,baking powder and ghee,mix it well.Now add milk little by little and make a soft dough.
• Pinch a small gooseberry size ball and roll into a smooth ball without giving too much of pressure.
• Heat the pan with oil in a medium flame and drop 6-7 and rotate the pan so that all sides of the ball gets cooked evenly.
• Once it is cooked to golden brown color drain it  from the oil and drop it in the  sugar syrup.
• After 10 minutes take the jamuns from the sugar syrup carefully add add it to the milk  mixture and garnish it with chopped pistachios.
• Refrigerate for 2-3 hours and serve it chilled.

Enjoy.............................................................

• Instead of simmering the milk 11/2 cups of evaporated milk and 1/2 cup of condensed milk can be used.
• Instead of badam milk powder finely chopped nuts and saffron can be used.
• The amount of sugar given for the rabdi can be increased if you are not using condensed milk or badam milk powder.

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Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Announcing Home Bakers Challenge

We are a group of friends who love baking have joined hands together. Our motive is to learn and excel in baking, helping each other. One fine day, we were discussing about Baking and its techniques and suddenly we got an idea what if we start a group and bake together, so that we can learn things together. Thus this group, Home Bakers Challenge was born. This is how it works, every month one person of the team will suggest a recipe and all the members have to bake the recipe and reveal it on the said date. By doing this we get to learn new techniques and explore the side of baking which otherwise we would not have ventured so. With the support and suggestions from the group members this is possible. Do you find this interesting? Do you love baking? Do you want to learn new techniques? If your answer is yes, then come and join hands with us.

We have created a group in Facebook, do join us there, for more information on the group.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Paanakam

Paanakam is an authentic drink which offers to god as a prasadham for Rama navami,ancestors poja and even in local temples poojas.
As Rama Navami(Lord Rama's birthday) is nearing I thought of sharing this traditional drink which  made as prasadham for that day.
Also offered as  prasadham in temples especially in summer days as it is a body coolant and thirst quencher.
This drink is a very simple one which doesn't need any fancy ingredients and the flavor of cardamom and ginger with the hint of lemon makes it so refreshing.Now on to the recipe......................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Jaggery	1/2cup
Water	21/4-21/2cups
Ginger(crushed)	1 inch piece
Cardamom powder	1/2tsp
Lemon juice	2tbs

Method 

• Dissolve the jaggery in 21/2 cups of water and add the crushed ginger,leave it for 10 minutes.
• After the jaggery completely dissolved in the water pass it through a strainer to remove the impurities and the ginger.
• To this add cardamom powder and lemon juice,let it sit for10 minute.
• Serve it.

Enjoy............................................................

• For extra flavor a small rice grain size of edible camphor can be added.
• Originally dry ginger(sukku)is added instead of fresh ginger.
• The amout of water and lemon juice can be decreased and increased according to personal preference. 
• To serve it chilled add some ice cubes.

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Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Malai Kofta

Party food won't be complete without a curry and some flat breads so I make some curry goes very well with bread and rice.
As kids love paneer,my preference would be with that but whenever we need a change from paneer butter masala my go is rich creamy malai kofta.
Malai kofta is a rich creamy curry in which kofta(dumpling with cheese and potato) is made and added to a creamy rich gravy.
Originally the the koftas are deep fried in the oil but today I fried the koftas in paniyaram pan(ableskiver pan).Frying koftas in this method is little time consuming as it needs to cooked in a low flame.If you are in a hurry then it can be deep fried and added,I tried both the versions and couldn't make out the difference once it gets soaked in the gravy.
The recipe I am sharing is a low calorie version and didn't add any fresh cream,instead used the milk but if you want to make it even more rich you can add the fresh cream.
The recipe I adapted so many sources and tweaked according to my taste,now on to the recipe......................................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Potato(cooked,mashed)	3/4cup
Paneer/cottage cheese(grated)	3/4cup
Green chilly (chopped)	1no.
Coriander leaves(finely chopped)	2tbs
Red chilly powder	1/4tsp
Garam masala powder	1/4tsp
Roasted cumin powder	1/8tsp
Cashews(chopped)	2tsp
Salt	3/4tsp
Oil	as needed to fry

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Onion(chopped)	1no.(medium size)
Tomato	3nos.(medium size)
Ginger&garlic paste	2tsp
Red chilly powder	3/4tsp
Coriander powder	1tsp
Garam Masala powder	1/4tsp
Cashews	5nos.
Milk	11/2-2cups
Coriander leaves	2tbs
Tomato ketchup	2tsp
Salt	to taste
Oil	3tbs
Butter	1tbs

Method

In a bowl take all the ingredients given for kofta except oil and mix it well.Take a small lemon size and smooth it,make a ball,keep it aside.

Heat the paniyaram pan and add few drops of oil to each hole and add the balls and fry it in a low flame.Turn the balls with the help of a spoon to all the sides to cook evenly.Once all the sides get browned take out from the pan and keep it aside.

Heat a pan with a tbs of oil,saute the onion and tomato with a pinch of salt till it becomes soft.Let the mixture gets cool down,after cooling grind it to a smooth paste.Then grind the cashews along with little milk to a fine paste.Heat a pan with the remaining oil and butter,add the ginger&garlic paste,fry it for a minute.Then add the ground paste and saute it for 2-3 minutes.

Now add the chilly powder,coriander powder and salt to it and cook it for a minute.At this point add the cashew paste and milk,let it boil till the raw smell goes off.

Add the tomato ketch up and give it a boil.Finally add the garam masala powder and coriander leaves,mix it well.Put off the flame.Add the koftas to it.

Serve it with Naaan or Pulao.

Enjoy.............................................................................

• The milk should be in room temperature and I used the low fat milk which can be substituted with whole milk.
• If you are using cream add it in the end and mix the gravy then add the koftas.In such case reduce the amount of milk to 1 cup and use 1/2 cup of cream.
• Addition tomato ketchup is optional but it gives a nice color and taste to the gravy.
• When you are deep frying the koftas,if it separates in the oil add couple of tbs of all purpose flour to the mixture.
• Add the koftas before 10 minutes of serving,heat the gravy and add the koftas to it.I added only 3 koftas just for the picture sake and added the rest before serving.

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Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Strawberry Lassi

Milk shake or lassi is all time favorite for kids so I always make it for any kids party or casual get together.Especially in summer days kids play a lot in the outside and drink lots of ready made juice.Those juices are loaded with sugar,to avoid I make some healthy milkshake or lassi with some fresh fruits.This lassi is filling thirst quencher for summer which I make it even for casual get togethers also if the food is light and simple.This is a very simple and easy to make yet delicious,colorful lassi,all you need is some strawberry and fresh thick yogurt.Now on to the recipe....................................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Strawberry	8nos.(hulled)
Fresh thick yogurt	11/4cups
Milk(chilled)	1/4cup
Ice cubes	5-6 cubes
Sugar(optional)	2tsp

Method

1. Blend the strawberry and sugar to a very fine paste then add the yogurt,ice cubes and blend it well.
2. Pour it in the glass and serve it.

Enjoy...................................................................

• The yogurt should not be sour it is fresh to get a nice taste.
• To make it more rich add a scoop of strawberry ice cream while blending.
• I usually don't add ice if I make it in advance,keep it in the refrigerator.

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Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Coconut Rice

Coconut rice is a flavorful rice which is made especially for the baby shower and Chitra pournami day(the full moon day in the month of April).
In our tradition for baby shower we make 5 or 7 types of variety rice along with chutney and pappad, one among is coconut rice.
I have already posted the  Variety Rice Thali in Blogging marathon which we make it for Chitra Pournami day and even for the baby shower also same type of rice varities with little more sides and sweets.Here is the recipe.........................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Rice	3/4cup
Coconut(grated)	1cup
Green chilly(finely chopped)	2nos.
Red chilly(broken)	1no.
Coconut pieces(finley chopped)	1tsp(optional)
Cashews	1tbs
Roasted peanuts	1tbs
Curry leaves	1 sprigs
Ginger(grated)	1/2tsp
Salt	to taste
Oil	1tbs

For the tempering  

Ingredient	Quantity
Mustard seeds	1/2tspp
Urad dhal	1tsp
Channa dhal	1tsp
Asafoetida	a pinch

Method 

• Cook the rice in a rice cooker or pressure cooker and separate the grains,keep it aside.
• Keep a pan on the stove top and once it becomes hot add the oil and do the tempering with the ingredients given.
• Then toast the curry leaves,peanuts and cashews. Now add the chopped coconut pieces ginger,green chilly,red chilly,fry it for a minute.
• Then add the grated coconut and salt,saute it till nice aroma comes out without changing the color.Put off the stove.
• Add the cooked rice and mix it well to get blend everything.
• Coconut rice is ready.Serve it with papad,chips and potato fry.

Enjoy..............................................................

• Raw rice or basmathi rice can be used for this preparation.
• Use of coconut oil gives a very nice flavor and taste to this rice.

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Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Orange Mocktail

Today's recipe is a easy to make welcome drink which is ideal for kids party to avoid the aerated drinks.This is a colorful,refreshing drink perfect for summer parties and a perfect thirst quencher too.

The recipe I adapted from Sangeetha's blog and these days this has become my son's favorite.I made this mocktail with the fresh orange juice and it tastes good.Now to the recipe....................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Orange juice	1cup
Sprite	1/2cup
Sugar(optional)	1tsp
Ice cubes	as needed

Method 

• Wash the oranges and cut in to halves,squeeze it in a juicer and to get the juice.
• To this juice add the sprite and sugar,mix it well.
• Pour it in a glass and serve it with ice as needed.

Enjoy..........................................

• I didn't filter the juice if you want you can filter the juice.
• Adding sugar is purely optional.
• I used 3 large size navel oranges to get a cup of juice.

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