Makhane ki kheer /Foxnut Seeds Pudding

Makhane ki Kheer is another variety of Indian kheer/Pudding. It is fairly popular and is usually made during fasting as Makhana is considered as an auspicious ingredient in offerings to the Lord during festivals.

Makhana/Foxnut seeds is often called as Lotus seeds. I am not sure whether it is correct as Wiki says that Makhana is from water lily and not  Lotus.  A less known fact is that around 90% of the world's total Makhana production comes from Bihar.[reference]

Ingredients

[For 3 people]

50 gms Makhana /Foxnut Seeds

2 tsp Ghee /Clarified Butter

1 litre milk [ I use toned]

2-4 tbsp Sugar  [  I like my kheer less sweet, had added only 2tbsp]

Kesar/Saffron, few strands

3 cardamom, powdered

1  & 1/2 tbsp charoli/chironji

1 tbsp chopped pistcachios

Pistachios/ Almonds for garnishing

Preparation

1. Heat the ghee in a pan  and saute Makahanas for 4-5 minutes till they are crisp. Keep aside and once it is cool enough, crush them coarsely.
2. Soak saffron strands  in 1 tbsp warm milk
3. Heat milk in a heavy bottomed pan. Add saffron milk and boil the milk on low heat till it reduces to almost half the amount. Keep stirring in between to prevent burning.
4. Add the crushed makhanas and simmer for about 10-15 minutes on low heat. The milk should be thick  and runny, and not dried. You can reduce the simmer time, if you feel that the milk is drying up.
5. Add the charoli/chironji ,sugar,cardamom powder and pistachio and mix well. Keep on heat for 2-3 minutes more.
6. Remove from heat, and garnish with the pistachios, almonds and serve it cooled.

Something for Diwali - Moong Dal Ladoo

It is Diwali time, and I should be making sweets. But, I don't know what has got into me, suddenly I don't feel like having anything sweet. Must be due to eating excess of gond  ladoos that a relative brought few weeks back.  My brother who is in town for couple of months, has an equally sweet tooth as mine,maybe a bit more. So, I thought of making these quickfix ladoos for him. Looking at how easy and quick they are to make , I  will make them again for Diwali.  It must have been decades since I tried binding the ladoos . Had forgotten how difficult it is to deal with the warm mixture :-) Anyone, any suggestions  for reducing the burning in hands?

Ingredients

The recipe is from here
(makes 12 ,size as in the photo)
1 cup yellow moong dal (split green gram-husk removed)
3/4 cup sugar , powdered ( it was a bit sweet, can reduce few tbsp)
3-4 cardamoms, peeled and powdered
8-10 chopped cashews,
10-12 tsp ghee/clarified butter

Preparation

1. Toast moong dal in a wide pan on low heat till it has a uniform reddish brown color. Remove from heat and spread on a plate to cool.
2. Heat a teaspoon of ghee and saute cashews until light brown. Keep aside.
3. When the moong dal cools, grind it to a fine powder and mix with cashews, sugar and cardamom powder.
4. Heat about ten teaspoons of ghee in a wide pan. Add dal/sugar mixture and stir until well combined. 
5. Remove from heat and shape into lemon sized balls when the mixture is still warm.
6. In case the mixture cannot be easily shaped. ,add teaspoons of hot ghee gradually.

A day at MasterChef India Kitchen

Photo Courtesy : via @starplus_indya

 

When Indiblogger announced it's blogger meet at the MasterChef India Kitchen, I was one of the first ones to register. Which food blogger in right mind would miss such an opportunity. I have always been wary of going to the actual Masterchef auditions, though my friends keep encouraging me and they have more belief in me than I have in myself :) .

This meet at the Masterchef Kitchen was something I didn't need to fear . I didn't know what to expect and when my husband asked me if he could pick me up in the evening from the venue, I told him most probably I would leave midway,so he didn't need to come. And how wrong I was !! Just as I entered the sets, I had a huge smile, I was so happy to be there and at the same time repenting why I didn't bring a camera.  I had to do with my cellphone camera, so the photo quality is going to be bad :-( . The few good photos I have borrowed from @starplus_indya tweets. 

The event began with blogger introductions.There were bloggers from all fields , the geeks and the techies, personal ,fashion, photography and ofcourse few food bloggers too. 

Photo Courtesy : via @starplus_indya

Then it was time for Masterchef Judges introduction. We are already familiar with Chef Ajay Chopra and Kunal Kapoor , who were the judges in the last season too. I was eagerly waiting for Chef Vikas Khanna , I had read many tweets gushing about his good looks.  But more than good looks, I was surprised to find how humble and down to earth he was, and he has such a cute punjabi accented Hindi :-). His restaurant Junoon has recently won a Michelin Star . During a group interaction, I was even more impressed when he told us that he was opening his next restaurant in Bodhgaya in Bihar [my home state]  due to spiritual reasons . It didn't make sense initially.Only later , did I come to know about his series of documentaries Holy Kitchens about his journey to discover the spiritual foods in the World's Holy Kitchens.

 Here are some photos from the event. 

 MasterChef Kitchen with the Clock always hanging on the head

The Plates and Cutlery Section  : A food blogger only knows the values of these.

 

Photo Courtesy : via @starplus_indya

 

Masterchef's table and the oven I  . I wish I had this oven !

The judges tasting section

 

The mystery box. The bloggers had to conceptualize a recipe  based on the mystery ingredients in 1 minute. By the time I reached my table back after looking at the ingredients, that one minute was already over  so I could only write 2 lines  :D 

Before beginning the skills challenge,Chef Ajay Chopra giving a Masterclass : How to dice a perfect 1cm*1cm apple square. Chef Kunal Kapoor showed us how to cut ginger julienne . And Chef Vikas Khanna showed us how to cut potatoes for french fries.

Few lucky bloggers got a chance to participate in the skills challenge. The winner got Rs 5K shopperstop voucher. And there was one lucky blogger who got 10K as his french fries were perfect!

And that was not the end of it. Each blogger got a masterchef apron.I got one more for being a food blogger. masterchef thermal mugs, and an indiblogger t-shirt! I made few friends , Sharmila, a personal blogger, Sindhi Rasoi, a food blogger and Mariam Dholkawala, a tech blogger. Sharmila was very kind to drop me off midway and I almost told her all my history & geography in the very first meeting which  is very unusual of me :) :)

It was a lifetime experience and thanks to Indiblogger team to give us this opportunity .Kudos to the Indiblogger team for organizing such an outstanding event.

eBook - 100 Yummy Diwali Recipes is Available for Free Download Now

The E-Book by IndusLadies for 100 Diwali Recipes is available for Free Download. My Pistachio and White Chocolate Burfi has made it to the E-book. It is on Pg 109.
You can dowload the free e-book from here.

Have a sweet Diwali !!

BBC GoodFood India Launch and a Chance to Win a trip to Italy

The good news for all food lovers in India is that BBC GoodFood is launching their Indian edition on 22nd October 2011. BBC GoodFood is a magazine internationally famous for its devotion to fine dining.
The magazine comes with great recipes for home cooking, and entertaining. Their triple-tested handpicked recipes make the magazine a must have for every kitchen. Each recipe is also paired with great food photos. Each issue also reveals culinary secrets from Internationally renowned chefs., BBC GoodFood India also comes packed with restaurant reviews and news on India’s dining scene. For the globe-trotting food-lover, they have recommendations for eating well across the world.

As India’s first international food magazine, BBC GoodFood have introduced the GoodFood survey to decode how India eats. TheGoodFood survey has been at the forefront of gauging the dining habits of food-lovers around the world, and is now keen to replicate the same in India.

The survey comes with the promise of great rewards – one lucky participant stands to win a culinary holiday to the Fontanafredda vineyards in Italy. Other prizes include a gift pack containing a voucher for two for a great dining experience at any of three fabulous restaurants in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore - Olive Bar & Kitchen, Manchester United Café and Aromas of China.

Don't miss the chance to win these awards. Take the survey at http://goodfoodsurvey.in
And Get ready to get your first copy of the Indian edition this October !
To know more about BBC GoodFood and the GoodFood survey please visit:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com
http://www.facebook.com/BBCGoodFoodIndia
http://goodfoodsurvey.in

100 Yummy Diwali Sweets Recipes - Ebook By Indus Ladies

Indusladies.com is the largest online community for Indian Women.It has verious forums and communities about family and relationships, marraiage and spouses,kitchen and household, beauty and fashion, health, diet and fitness etc.

 

For the upcoming Diwali on October 26th, 2011, Indusladies are compiling an E-Book called “100 Yummy Diwali Sweet Recipes”. They are collecting sweet/dessert recipes from various bloggers to be featured in this E-Book.   You can submit your blogpost too before Oct 8th. The details are here on 100 Yummy Diwali Sweet Recipes

I am sending my Pistachio and White Chocolate Burfi Recipe for the E-Book.

If you are interested in making some other Indian sweets from my blog, here are some of them.

Lauki Halwa 

Parwal ki mithai

Cream Chop