Mango Sandesh

                         Mango Sandesh

Sandesh is a typical Bengali sweet dish which is very famous in India and world over. This dish has an easy recipe to follow, only care to be taken for some minute details. There are few ingredients needed to prepare. If one go for the history of the dish, then will find it in mediaeval Bengali literature. Some says initially it was a milk based sweet dish which is very different from the modern day Sandesh. This process (which I have mentioned) is the simplest kind of Sandesh, which is called Makha Sandesh (Makha means kneaded). But there are different difficult processes of preparing Sandesh.

This recipe is having a flavour of the season (mango season). This is my last tribute to the king of fruits for this year. Mango Sandesh is an easy dish. But you have to make your paneer right. This is a feast to eye first and then to tongue. So here is the recipe.

Milk- 1/2lit

Vinegar- 2tbsp

Powdered sugar- 2tbsp

Mango- 1 medium size

Ghee- 1/2tsp

Choco chips to decorat

Boil milk up to bubbles. Then switch off the gas and add vinegar to it and let the milk split. Once split drain the chhena and hang for 15 mins.

Peel and cube mango and make puree.

After 15 mins bring the chhena and mash with help of the heel of your palm. Slowly it will gather as a dough and it become oily. Add sugar powder and mash again. In this process sugar will melt in paneer and it will watery and messy but don't worry.

In a non stick pan add ghee. Add the paneer and sugar mixture and mango puree. Cook on a low flame up to it becomes a dough. Remove from pan and keep aside to cool down.

When it cools down mash again properly. Then shape the Sandesh and place on decorative paper. Garnish with chocolate chip. One can use almond or pistachios for garnishing

Laal Maas

Laal Maas

Laal Maas is an authentic meat dish from Rajasthan. It is favourite among Royals of Rajasthan. This dish is traditionally cooked with mutton. The base of the gravy is curd. The name laal comes from the red colour of the dish which comes from spicy and hot red chilis. Another main ingredient of the dish is garlic. It is generally served with rotis made from wheat or bajra.

In my family chicken is the most preferred meat for every dish. That's why I made Laal Maas with chicken. The flavours of the dish is bit different but taste is just awesome. It is a simple dish to cook but perfect for any dinner parties. Here is the recipe of my version of Laal Maas.

Chicken- 1 kg

Red Chilli Whole- 15 nos

( I have used 10 Kashmiri red chili and 5 mild hot red chili)

Coriander Seeds- 11/2 tbsp

Yoghurt- 1 Cup

Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp

Ginger- 11/2 inch piece

Garlic- 15 cloves

Tomatoes- 2 small

Mustard Oil- 3 tbsp

Onion (sliced)- 2 big

Salt to taste

Gram Marsala Powder-1 tsp

Green Cardamom- 7

Black Cardamom-3

Cinnamon- 2 inch stick

Clove- 10

Bay Leaves- 3

Coriander Leaves- for garnishing

Soak Kashmiri red chillies in hot water for 15 mins. Deseed the mild hot red chillies and soak in hot water.

Peel and clean the ginger and garlic and chop them randomly. Clean and chop tomatoes.

In a blender jar add soaked chillies, ginger, garlic and coriander seeds and make a fine paste.

Wash the chicken pieces properly and squeeze out extra water. 

In a mixing bowl add chicken pieces, above paste, yoghurt, salt and gram Marsala powder and mix properly so that chicken will have a proper coating. Let it marinate for 2 hours.

Heat oil in a thick buttom pan and add whole garam masala to the oil. Then add sliced onion and saute till golden brown. Then add marinated chicken and tomatoes to it  and saute till dry.

Now add hot water to the chicken and cover it. Cook the dish up to chicken is soft and oil separates. Stir occasionally in between. 

Garnish the dish with coriander leaves and a great combo for roti.

Mango Lemon Sorbet

Mango Lemon Sorbet

Sorbet means frozen dessert made from sweetened water with fruit flavour and liquor. Sometimes Honey also used to give bit more sweetness. Sorbet is a non fat or low fat frozen dessert option. In ice cream dairy products used but in Sorbet only fruit juices and liquor. There is another similar textured product available in Italy known as Granite. In Granite there is large size of crystals are formed as it is often shredded with a fork. The word Sorbet come from the Arabic word "Sharbat".

Mango season is about to finish. So there are ripe mangoes available in market. I want to prepare something really tasty but very healthy too. A mango dessert without sugar. So this Sorbet came to my mind. To beat the sweetness I have added some Lemon to it. You will get a lemony kick at the end of every sip. Here is the recipe.

Mangoes- 3 medium

Lemon- 1

Honey- 3 to 4 tbsp

Soak mangoes in enough water. Then clean it properly and Pat dry with a towel. Peel the mangoes and chop them randomly. Keep these mango pieces in deep fridge for 5 to 6 hours. 

Clean the Lemon properly. With a help of a grater, grate the yellow part of the Lemon. Don't grate the white part, it will make the dish sour. Then cut the Lemon and squeeze in another bowl. Keep aside for further use.

After 6 hours bring out the frozen mango pieces from freeze. In a blender jar add Frozen Mangoes, Honey, Lemon Juice and Lemon Zest. Make a smooth paste. There may be some problem in grinding the mangoes, then add some water (2 to 3 tbsp) to the puree. Pour the smooth puree in a bowl and smooth the surface. Cover it and keep it in deep fridge for 4 to 5 hours or over night.

If you are keeping it for 4 to 5 hours then it will be bit easy to scoop out the Sorbet easily. Serve with mint leaves.

If you are keeping it for over night, then let it sit out side fridge for 10 min. Then scoop out the Sorbet and serve with mint leaves.

 

Sara Puli (Pan Cakes from Cream)

Sara Puli

Today is Ratha Yatra. Ratha Yatra is an important festival for every Odia all over the world. On this auspicious day, Lord Jagannath along with his brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra goes to Gundicha Temple via their maternal aunt's house. This is an annual leisure tripfor Lord Jagannath.

On this special occasion every year I used to prepare something special. This year I thought of preparing "SARA PULI". This is one among the 56 (chhapan) bhog of Lord Jagannath. I can say one of his favourite. "Sara" in Odia means cream. These are small pan cakes prepared from cream only. These are not only tasty, but also very delicate to eat. Here is the recipe

Cream (Sara) - 1 Cup

Milk- 3 Cups

Sugar- 1/2 Cup

Water- 1 1/2 Cups

Saffron- few strands

Cardamom powder- 1tsp

Maida- 2 tbsp

Ghee for frying

Dry fruits for garnishing

In a heavy buttom pan add 3 Cups of milk and start cooking on low flame. Reduce the milk up to one cup. Don't forget to stir in between, as it will stick to the buttom. Keep aside.

 In another pan add sugar, water and keep on the flame. Let the sugar melt. Now allow the syrup to cook for some 5 mins. Then add saffron and Cardamom Powder and switch off the gas. Keep aside to cool.

In a mixing bowl add cream and mix for 5 mins. Here I have used homemade cream (Sara). Boil milk and let it allow to cool down. A thin layer of malai or cream will form on the milk. Collect that cream and keep aside.  Similarly collect cream from milk. After collecting for 3 days I could able to get 1cup of cream. This recipe is prepared with homemade cream not from market brought. Then add reduced milk to it. Mix it again properly. Then add 2 to 3 tbsp of maida to it and mix again. Keep it in fridge for half an hour.

Heat a non stick frying pan and add 1 tbsp of ghee (one can add more ghee to prepare it but to make it healthy I have added less ghee). Bring out the cream mixture from fridge and mix with the help of a ladel.( The ladel should be of medium or small size). Pour one ladel on a tawa and cook both sides up to golden brown.

Now remove the pan cakes from tawa and dip in the sugar syrup 5 secs and keep on a plate. Similarly prepare all the Sara Pulis and dip in the sugar syrup and keep on the plate. 

At the time of serving place them in individual plates and garnish them with dry fruits. It could be served cold or Luke warm.

Poda Pitha

Poda Pitha

Raja is an Odia festival for farmer's. Any festival in India is just impossible without food. This festival isn't any exception. Lots of delicacies are prepared in these 3 days. Poda Pitha, Manda Pitha, Kakara Pitha, Budha Chakuli, Chakuli, Malpua, Dahi Bara etc etc.

In my previous article I wrote about two different varieties of Poda Pitha. In that article I have given the recipe of rice flour Poda Pitha. Now it's turn for the lentil and rice Poda Pitha (biri chaula Poda Pitha). It is another version of the traditional Pitha. Here is the recipe.

Rice - 1cup

Black Split Lentil (urad dal)- 1cup

Jaggery- 1 1/2 cup

Saunf (Fennel Seeds)- 1tsp

Salt to taste

Chopped Cashew Nuts- 2 tbsp

Raisins- 2tbsp

Green Cardamom Powder- 1 tsp

Scarped Coconut- 3 tbsp

Chopped Coconut- 4 tbsp

Baking powder- 1/2 tsp

Ghee- 3 tbsp

Maida- 1 tbsp

Ginger- 1 inch piece

Wash and soak urad dal in a bowl with enough water. And do same with rice too. Keep these for 3 to 4 hours.

After 4 hours, grind the urad dal to a smooth paste. And grind the rice to a coarse paste.

In a big bowl add urad dal and rice paste and mix properly. Keep it out of the fridge for 4 to 5 hours for self fermentation. After fermentation the batter will rise. So it is better to keep in a big bowl.

Break and mash jaggery or grate the jaggery. Clean, peel and crush the ginger.

Take a baking pan, grease with little ghee and dust with maida. And keep aside.

Now add everything together in the batter except ghee. Mix properly.

Preheat the oven in 200 degree Celsius for 7 mins. Pour the batter in the baking pan and bake for 30mins in 180 degree Celsius. After 15mins bring out the pan and brush the above surface with ghee. After 30mins repeat the process.

If not done after 30 mins bake for some more time, up to the knife come out clean. Bring out of the oven and allow to cool down completely. Then demould it.

It can be done in a kadai too. Add 1 1/2 tbsp of ghee in a heavy buttom kadai and heat it. Pour the batter and keep on the slow flame and cover it and cook. It should be cooked up to the knife comes out clean. Cool down completely and serve according to your choice.

Rice flour Poda Pitha

Rice Flour Poda Pitha

Raja an Odia festival is to celebrate women and mother hood. It is a cultivators’ festival too. It is celebrated for three days. These days are called Pahili Raja ,Raja Shankranti And Sesha Raja . In this festival young girls bath with turmeric water, wear new clothes and apply alata (a typical bright red colour on feet) on their feet.

 It is believed that Prithivi Or Mother Earth gets her menstrual cycle. These three days, once in a year, it has to be celebrated by ladies. In earlier years, and even today in some parts of our country, girls are not supposed to cook or cut vegetables on these days. Male members of the family do the household chores. Ladies will have fun, rest and relax. 

Delicacies are must to have on these days. Poda Pitha is one among them. We odia people​ can't imagine our Raja without Poda Pitha. In this process I will share two different types of poda pitha. One is with Rice Flour and other is with Lentil ( urad dal ) and rice paste. This article will contain the recipe of Rice Flour Poda Pitha (Chaula Chuna Poda Pitha). Here is the recipe.

Rice flour - 2 cups 

Water - 6 cups

Jaggery - 11/2 cup

Salt to taste

Sanuf ( fennel seeds) - 11/2 tsp

Green cardamom powder- 1 tsp

Crushed black pepper - 1 tsp 

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Chopped cashew - 3 tbsp

Raisin -3 tbsp

Scraped coconut - 5 tbsp

Chopped coconut - 5 tbsp 

Banana leaf - 1

In a wide kadai add water and place it on flame. Now add salt and jaggery to it. Let the jaggery melt and mix properly.  

Then add all the flavourings and let it boil . Clean, peel and crush ginger and add to the boiling water. Now add raisins, cashew, chopped coconut and scared coconut to the boiling water.

Now add rice flour to the boiling water. Keep the flame high. Mix the flour properly without any lumps. Let it cook for some time. This mixture neither very watery nor very thick.

Heat a pressure cooker and add ghee to it. Spread the ghee all over the inner side of the cooker. Cut banana leaf and line on the cooker. Heat banana leaf for some seconds. So that it will be easy to line the leaf.

Now pour the above batter on the banana

 leaf. Close ​the lid without the whistle. Keep the cooker on slow flame for one hour and fifteen minutes. This pitha can be seen brown from sides and that is the sign of the cooked pitha.

Let the pitha cool down completely. Then bring out from cooker and peel the banana leaf. Keep out for fifteen more minutes.

This can be done in microwave oven too. Pour the prepared batter in the microwave bowl and keep in the microwave. Bake it in convection mode in 180 degree temperature for 30 mins. If not done bake it again for 10mins but checking from time to time as the Cooking time may differ from oven to oven. When done bring out and allow it to cool down completely

 Then cut the pitha in desired shape and serve.