Holi special- Malpuas

Growing up , one of the staple sweets made on any festival was the quintessential Bengali Malpua. While Malpuas are traditionally eaten on Holi in the north, they are very different from the Malpua of Bengal. Bengali Malpuas are made solely with flour while the north Indian ones have semolina in them. My mother would make Malpuas by the dozens and the memory of gulping down the soft sweetness was something that lingered on. When my aunt called this morning asking if I knew how to make the Malpuas, I knew it was time to try and recreate my mom's recipe. Malpuas can be eaten in several forms. Some like it hot, while some like it cold. Some like it soft while some like it crisp. Depending on how you like it, you could vary the softness and the crispness. For crispy Malpuas, fry them, dip them in the syrup and immediately remove them. If you like it soft like I do, let them soak longer before transferring them. This recipe makes 12 medium sized Malpuas.

For the  sugar syrup

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 3 green elaichi crushed

For the Malpuas

• 2 cups flour
• 2- 3  cups of milk ( enough to mix with milk to make a pancake like batter)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp saunf/ aniseed
• 2 tbsp raisin ( optional)
• 1/2 cup grated coconut 
• oil to fry

Method

1. Add all the ingredients of the sugar syrup together and bring to boil till sugar melts and the solution is clear.  Remove from heat and keep aside
2. Mix the flour,  baking powder, salt and milk together using either your hands or a whisk making sure no lumps are formed . Add milk based on the consistency. The batter should be like a pancake batter.
3. Now add the saunf and raising and allow the batter to sit for 5-10 mins.
4. Heat oil and once it is hot, add 1/4 cup of batter to the hot oil. The batter will swell and begin to brown. Turn it on the other side till that is brown too . Keep the heat on medium hot as you don't want the inside of the Malpua to be undercooked. Fry it like you would fry besan pakoras :). Depending on your kadai, you could fry more than one Malpua at the same time.
5. Once the Malpua is brown all over, remove from oil and dip it into the sugar syrup.
6. Soak it in syrup depending on how you like it. If you want it crisp, roll it in syrup and immediately pick it up on a different plate, if you like it soft, let it soak longer till the next batch of Malpuas are fried.
7. Enjoy hot or cold and pour remaining syrup on all the Malpuas! 

Scones--- Vaishti style

My friend Vaishti is an incredible woman. I met her first as a student teacher at work, but our common interest of food, dogs and family got us closer. For the past 2 years she has been fighting colon cancer valiantly! When I went to visit her yesterday, her whole house smelled of baking...lovely Blueberry scones that she let me try :) The original recipe came  from allrecipes.com. It  uses only all purpose flour, but she modified them so that they contain more fiber from whole wheat and more protein from the almond meal flour. Overall result...just delicious!

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole wheat
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 almond meal flour 
4 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup butter cubed
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup blueberries or raisin/cranberry
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Directions

1. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon peel.
2. With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in all but 2 tablespoons of the nuts and the raisins. Mix in buttermilk with fork.
3. Gather the dough into a ball and knead for about 2 minutes on lightly floured board.
4. Roll or pat out 3/4 inch thick. With a chef's knife cut into 3 inch triangles. Place, spaced 1inch apart, on a greased baking sheet. Brush tops with remaining 1 tablespoon buttermilk; sprinkle with the remaining sugar and the nuts.
5. Bake in center of 425 degree F (220 degrees C) oven about 15 minutes or until nicely browned. Serve warm with butter or jam.

Pioneer Woman’s Mother-in-Law’s Christmas Rum Cake

I first tried this cake when my friend Leslie baked this for me one christmas. The recipe she had did not use pecans, but when I looked for it on the PW's website she had it with pecan. With pecan or not, this is absolutely decadent and definitely one of those cakes that belongs to a christmas meal

Ingredients

•  FOR THE CAKE:
• 1 box (about 18 Oz.) Yellow Cake Mix
• 1 package (3.5 Oz.) INSTANT Vanilla Pudding Mix
• 4 whole Eggs
• 1/2 cup Cold Water
• 1/2 cup Canola Oil
• 1/2 cup Rum (dark Or Light Is Fine)
• 1 cup Chopped Pecans
•  Brown Sugar (optional)
•  _____
•  GLAZE
• 1-1/2 stick Butter
• 1/4 cup Water
• 1-1/2 cup Sugar
• 3/4 cups Rum

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Grease and flour a bundt cake pan. Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan. If desired, sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar over the nuts.

Mix all cake ingredients together. Pour batter into pan over nuts. Smooth out ’til the top is even. Bake for 1 hour, or a little less if the pan is black. Do not overbake!

Glaze:

While cake has ten minutes to go, make the glaze.
Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Turn off flame and pour in rum. Stir to combine and reheat for 30 seconds.

Remove cake from oven. Immediately drizzle 1/3 of the glaze on the bottom (top) of the cake. Allow to sit for five minutes. Invert the cake onto a serving plate. Prick surface a hundred times with a fork (gently, please.) Slowly drizzle remaining rum glaze all over the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Cool to room temperature before serving to ensure glaze has soaked in.
Eat. Enjoy. And don’t feel guilty. It’s Christmastime!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/12/christmas-rum-cake/

Zuppa de Toscana, my lighter version of the Olive garden soup

Ingredients

• 6 medium spicy Italian sausage
• 2 table spoon oil
• 1 medium onion
• 2-3 cloves of garlic chopped
• 2 large russet baking potatoes/ yukon potatoes washed with skin on, sliced in half, and then in 1/4 inch slices
• 2 , 8 ounce can of chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg ( optional)
• 2 cups milk
• salt to taste
• one big bunch of Kale ( approximately 2 cups chopped)

Preparation

1. In a large stockpot, add oil and heat till the oil is hot. Add the finely chopped onions and garlic  to the oil and fry till translucent.
2. Remove casing of the sausages and extract the sausage meat. Keep aside.
3. When the onions are done, add the thinly sliced potatoes and cook till the potatoes are slightly brown.
4. Add the sausage meat to the mixture  in the stockpot and allow the meat to brown.
5. When the meat has browned, add the chicken broth and water. Bring to boil.
6. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and let the soup simmer for 5- 10 mins till potatoes are cooked.
7. Add Kale to the soup along with the milk. Let it cook for 2-3 mins
8. Add nutmeg right before you switch off the heat.

Note: This is a very light and nutritious soup ( healthy version, but not compromised on taste), if you like it thicker, substitute one cup of milk for 1 cup of half and half .

Maureen's Pecan Pie

When it comes to choosing pies, Pecan has always been a favorite. While I usually go pick the biggest pie I can find from Costco, this year I decided to make my own. My friend Maureen shared a slice of her pie with us and it was just heavenly! What made it even better is that it had light corn syrup so was probably a little bit lighter on the calories.

Ingredients

• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 packed brown sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten 
• 1/3 cup (2/3 stick) butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 heaping cup finely chopped pecans
• 1 unbaked pie crust

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the corn syrup, sugar, the brown sugar, the eggs, butter, salt, and vanilla. Whisk the mixture until it's totally combined. 

Place the chopped pecans in the bottom of the pie crust, and then pour the sticky mixture right over the top.

Cover the pie in foil and place it on a baking sheet. Bake the pie for 35 minutes. Remove the foil, then bake for 25 to 30 minutes more, being careful not to burn the crust or pecans. (If it seems to be browning too quickly, cover it with foil again.) 

The pie should not be overly jiggly when you remove it from the oven. If it is, just continue baking it in 5-minute intervals until it's done.

Let the pie cool before slicing it into wedges.

Source: Pioneer Woman's cookbook

Rich chocolate mousse ( tasters choice recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 3 tbsp butter
• 2 tsp instant coffee
• 1 tbsp water to dissolve the coffee
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure

1. Microwave chocolate chips and butter in a medium , uncovered microwave safe dish for 1 min till the chocolate chips are melted
2. Dissolve coffee in hot water and stir in to melted chocolate.
3. Add vanilla and allow to come to room temperature
4. Whip the cream till stiff peaks form and fold into chocolate mixture
5. Pour into individual cups and refrigerate for 1 hour to set. 
6. Garnish with whipped cream and instant coffee granules ( optional)

Source: http://www.tasterschoice.com/recipes/rich-chocolate-mousse/desserts/30336.aspx

Crab Malai Curry

I did not learn to appreciate crabs till my aunt fromm Kolkatta came to visit us in  Cochin. She insisted on buying some crabs and cooking them. From then on, my brother and I would wait for when Ma would buy crabs and cook this dish. Over the years, I have cooked this multiple times and after many variations, this is the recipe I am most pleased with. Serve over steaming hot rice and enjoy!

Ingredients

• Two whole crabs, cut in to 4 pieces and claws separated
• 2 table spoon maida
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 onion grounded in to a paste
• 1 tablespoon ginger garlic
• 1/2 tsp each of haldi, chilli powder, dhania powder
• 1/4 tsp of cumin powder
• 1 can coconut cream/milk
• 5-6 green chillies
•  1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 3 green cardamom
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 4-5 cloves
• 5 green chillies slit in half
• 1/2 cup oil
• coriander leaves to garnish
• garam masala, bengali style

Directions

• Clean crab thoroughly. dry and then coat with flour and salt. Leave aside.
• Put 1/4 cup oil in a hot wok and let the oil heat. Add crabs and fry lightly on high.
• Remove crabs and drain excess oil on a plate coated with a paper towel. Add the whole spices to the oil , when it splutters, add the onion paste. Fry in medium heat till it is light brown and add the ginger garlic paste. Saute for 30 secs and add tomato paste
• Once this mixture has lost the raw onion smell, add the dry masalas. Add salt to taste ( 1 teaspoon)
• Reduce heat to low and cover the wok , let the juices intermingle . If the paste is too dry, add a little water. Keep watching to make sure the paste does not burn.
• Once the oil starts separating from the paste, add the fried crabs and half the can of coconut milk. Let the mixture simmer at low-med heat for 10 mins. Now add the remaining coconut milk and bring the whole mixture to boil.
• Once it has boiled, add 1 teaspoon bengali garam masala and garnish with coriander leaves.
• The same dish can be substituted with prawns for chingri malai curry. Wash and devein shrimps, add a little turmeric and salt and fry insteadof flour and proceed in similar way. Reduce cooking time as shrimp will cook much faster than crab. simmering for 2-3 minutes is more than enough for shrimp.