Methi Matar Malai

Methi Matar Malai

Methi matar malai is a winter dish. It is called so as in winter fresh methi leaves ( fenugreek greens) and matar (green peas) are available in market. It is a very famous north Indian dish. In every Punjabi or north Indian restaurant it is a very popular dish.

This dish is a white color dish. This awesomely beautiful color comes from cashew, milk and fresh cream. I personally love this dish because of its mild spiciness and sweetness. It is popular between my kids as it is not very hot. Goodness of methi and matar are goes to my kids. It is best way to feed methi greens to kids. It is an easy and quick recipe to cook. Within half an hour a healthy, tasty and delicious curry is ready to serve with roti, naan or pulao. 

Fresh Methi Leaves- 1 Cup

Fresh Green Peas- 1 1/2cup

Onion- 1medium

Garlic- 4 to 5cloves

Ginger- 1/2inch piece

Green chili- 1 as per taste

Cashew- 1/4cup

Ghee- 1tsp

Cumin- 1/2tsp

Green Cardamom- 2

Cinnamon- 1/2inch piece

Milk- 1cup

Water- 1 Cup

Oil- 1tbsp

Fresh Cream- 1/2cup

Salt to taste

Sugar- 1/4tsp (as per taste)

In a bowl add green peas and also add 1 1/2 Cup of water. Also add little salt and haldi. Keep it on gas to be cooked, but not mushy. Switch of the gas and keep aside.

 

Clean and soak the methi leaves for some mins. Then rinse it properly and keep on a colander to dry. Then chop it and keep aside.

Heat ghee in a Kadai add Cumin, cardamom and cinnamon to it and let it infuse it's flavour in ghee. Then add chopped onion and fry for a min or two. Then add chopped ginger, garlic and green chili up to the raw smell goes. Then add cashew to it and saute again.

Let it cool down. Then make a smooth paste.

In the same Kadai heat oil and add the above paste. Cook the paste up to oil separates. 

Now add chopped methi leaves and cook up to soft. Now add parboiled green peas to it. Then cook it up to oil separates. 

Then add milk and water and cook. Also add sugar and salt it. Taste the gravy and balance the seasoning. At last add fresh cream and switch off the gas.

Serve it with naan, roti or pulao..

Non alcoholic Christmas Fruit Cake With Eggs

Christmas Fruit Cake

Any festival is really a nightmare without lovely, tasty and droll worthy food. Christmas is one among those festivals. Every house has their own favorite to cook. My house is also filled with aroma of fruit cake, carrot cupcakes and kulkul. My Christmas tree is well decorated by my boys. So we are ready for Christmas.

In my previous recipe I have given the recipe of Eggless Christmas fruit cake. This time I am giving another recipe. But it contains egg. It is a very tasty and simple cake. I am in love with the texture of the cake. Here are the recipe

Maida- 1 1/4cup

Corn flour- 1/4cup

Butter- 2/3 cup

Brown sugar- 2/3 cup

Eggs- 2

Orange juice- 1/4cup

Baking powder- 1tsp

Banking soda- 1/2tsp

Salt- 1/8tsp

Vanilla extract- 1tsp

Nutmeg powder- 1tsp

Soaked fruits- 2/3cup

Preheat the oven for 15mis in 200 degree Celsius.

Grease a baking pan andline it with a butter paper.

In a mixing bowl add all dry ingredients except sugar and shift it twice

 

Bring room temperature butter. If it is cold one, don't worry, grate it with a grater.

In another mixing bowl add butter and sugar and beat up to fluffy.

Then add 1egg and beat up to well incorporated.

Now add another egg and beat again

When done add vanilla extract and mix.

Now it's time to fold dry ingredients. Mix the dry in 2 batches and also orange juice. Add alternatively and mix well.

Now pour the mixture to the already lined baking pan. Tap the pan on the platform twice.

Bake the cake for 35mins in 180 degree Celsius

It may take more time as the oven temperature may differ.

Bake this up to the tooth pick comes clean. 

Christmas fruit cake

Eggless Christmas fruit cake

Christmas is a festival of colour and light all around the world. Every where in world people bake fruit cake for Christmas. They used to soak dry fruits for weeks in alcohol. Soak the fruits in alcohol is a ritual in itself.

This year I did this. I soaked dry fruits for 3 weeks but I soaked them in orange juice as I am non alcoholic. As per the demand of friends and family I baked eggless version of the cake. It is very moist and very flavourful.

Soaking Dry Fruits

Fresh Orange Juice- 2/3 Cup

Mixed Dry Fruits- 1/2 Cup

For mixed Dry fruits I have used cherry, date, tutti fruity, candied orange peel, golden raisins, black raisins, cashew and almond. 

Take equal amount of each item. It should be half Cup.

In a mixing bowl add dry fruits and orange juice and mix.

Store this mixture in a glass jar. Keep this jar in fridge. It should be soaked for 4 weeks before baking

 For Fruit Cake

Maida- 2/3cup

Corn flour- 1/3cup

Brown sugar- 1/2cup

Milk- 1/2cup

Oil- 1/2cup

Vinegar- 1tbsp

All spice- 2

Clove- 2

Green cardamom- 1

Cinnamon- 1/4inch piece

Baking powder- 1tsp

Baking soda- 1/2tsp

Soaked dry fruits- 1/2cup

Preheat the oven for 10 mins in 200 degree Celsius.

Grease a baking pan and line it with butter paper and keep aside.

Make a smooth powder of the above spices.

In a mixing bowl add maida, corn flour, baking powder and spices powder and shift twice.

To the maida mixture add sugar and mix.

After that add soaked dry fruits to it and mix up to well Incorporated.

Then add oil to it and mix again

In a bowl add milk ad vinegar and let it curdle. Then add baking soda to it and mix.

It will be foamy like agg.

The add this to the above mixture and mix properly. It will be a thick batter.

Then pour the mixture to the already lined pan and tap on the platform twice.

Then bake it for 35 mins in 180 degree Celsius.

It may take more or less time depending on the temperature of the oven. 

Bake the cake up to tooth pick comes out clean.

Romove to a wire rack to cool down. 

Kalkal or kulkul

KALKAL

Christmas is almost here. Every Christian household is busy in preparing their traditional delicacies. Though I am not Christian but this season has a lovely atmosphere with lots festivities. Every year I used to bake cakes to celebrate this festival. This year I got to know about this dish KALKAL. Some calls it KULKUL even.

Kalkal is a sweet deep fried pastry from Goa

 It is famous among Catholics. The original recipe contains egg and coconut milk. But I changed the dish to an eggless one. I knead the dough with cow milk. The taste of the dish differs. A very easy dish  and very tasty. Shape of the kalkal comes by curling them on fork. Here is the recipe

Maida- 1 Cup

Rava- 1/2cup

Powdered Sugar- 1/2cup+ 3tbsp

Ghee- 2tbsp

Milk- 4 to 5 tbsp

A pinch of salt

Baking soda- 1/2tsp

Oil to deep fry.

In a mixing bowl shift maida. Add rava to it and mix properly.

Then add all dry ingredients and mix. Reserve 3tbsp of sugar powder for Dusting.

Then add melted ghee to it and mix it properly. It will has a bread crumbs texture.

Now add milk to it and start kneading. Add 1tbsp of milk at a time. The dough should be soft but not very soft. Rest the dough for 15 mins.

Heat oil  in a Kadai for Deep Frying. After 15 mins make small balls from the dough. Take a fork and flat the balls on the fork and curl it from one end to another. Seal the two ends. Similarly prepare all the kalkals. Now the cover the kalkals so that it won't dry up.

Now place the kalkal on hot oil. Keep some gap while frying. Flame should be low or medium. Deep fry the kalkal up to brown and occasionally stiring. Now bring out to a kitchen towel.

Now dust sugar powder on the kalkals. Store it in an air tight container..

Eggless Double chocolate cupcakes

Eggless Double Chocolate Cupcakes

Younger son demanded cupcakes for his school friends on his birthday. I promised him so. He was very happy and excited. Again asking more he said, mama I want chocolate cupcakes but there should be more and more chocolate. These words give me the lead to bake a double chocolate cupcakes. 

It is called double chocolate because chocolate is added in two ways. One way is in the form coco powder and the other way is the melted chocolate form. It is more chocolaty, more fudgy and more tasty. It become a super hit in his school . So baby is happy and mama too. Here is the recipe of the cake.

Butter- 2tbsp

Milk- 1/4cup

Dark chocolate compond- 1/2cup

Sugar- 2/3cup

Curd- 1/4cup

Oil- 1/4cup

Butterscotch essence- 1tsp

Maida- 1cup

Corn flour- 1/4cup

Coco Powder- 1/4cup

Salt- 1/4tsp

Baking powder- 1tsp

Baking soda- 1/2tsp

In a microwave safe bowl, add butter, milk and dark chocolate compound and mix properly. Then keep it in microwave high for 10sec. Bring out and mix. If not melted then repeat the process until totally melted.

In another bowl add dry ingredients except sugar and mix. Then shift the ingredients twice and keep aside.

Preheat the oven for 10mins in 200 degree Celsius.

In another mixing bowl add oil, sugar, essence, and curd and mix properly. Try to melt in the sugar. 

Then add chocolate mixed milkshakes mixture and mix well.

Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 batches. Mix it perfectly without any lumps.

Line the cupcake papers in the cupcake tray and pour the batter in it. Tap the tray on the platform twice to release the air. You will get 14 cupcakes from the above ingredients.

Bake the cupcakes for 30mins in 160 degree Celsius. Cook up to tooth pick comes clean

Baking time may differ from oven to oven. So be careful while baking.

Apple Kheer

Apple Kheer

When I was a kid I saw a movie called "khubsurat" featuring Rekha and Rakesh Roshan. That movie was awesome. But one scene was still imprinted in mind. That was a kitchen scene where Dina Pathak was preparing "apple kheer", which was Rekha's favourite in that film.

When I grow up, I tried that recipe. Initially it was failure, with many failure attempts and learning process I made that recipe perfect. On the eve of Diwali I am sharing my recipe of Apple Kheer.

Apple- 3 big

Milk- 750ml

Milkmaid- 3tbsp

Sugar- 4 to 5 tbsp

Paneer- 100gms

Salt to taste

Chopped nuts- 1/2cup

Ghee- 3tbsp

Green cardamom powder- 1tsp

In a deep button sauce pan add milk and reduce the milk up to half. 

Wash and clean apples. Peel and decore the apples. Grate the apples and keep aside. 

 

In a kadai heat 1tbsp of ghee  and add chopped nuts and fry up to brown and bring out to a bowl.

In the same kadai add more ghee and add grated apple and sauté up to dry. Then switch off the gas. 

In the reduced milk add condensed milk and salt and stir. Again add sugar to it. If you want more sweetness you can add more sugar. 

Crumble the paneer with hand and add this crumbled paneer to milk and switch off the gas.  Crumbled paneer thicken the milk. Then keep aside the milk mixture up to room temperature. 

When both fried apple and milk mixture come to temperature, then mix both. Mix it properly without any apple lump. Then add cardamom powder and fried nuts to it and mix. Then keep it in fridge to become chill. Serve the kheer chilled..

Granola

Granola

Granola is a healthy breakfast and snacks option for everyone. It is a mixture of oats, nuts or honey or any other natural sweetener and baked up to crispy. Dry fruits like raisins and dates and confections like chocolate are also sometimes added in granola. It can be served with curd and fresh fruits. Sometimes it can be eaten with milk even. But this can also be part of toppings of any ice cream or smoothie bowl etc. It is a very nutritious food.

This is my recipe of granola. It is easy and healthy and most importantly sugar free. As I don't like the flavour of peanut butter, I have used almond butter here. For nuts I have used almonds and walnuts. It is a complete package for me to start the day.

Here I will give my recipe of almond butter and apple sauce. These are two basic ingredients of my recipe apart from oats.

Recipe of Almond Butter

Room Temperatured Almond- 1Cup

Salt- 1/2tsp

In a blender jar add almonds and grind them. In initially it will be like almond meal (flour). Then grind again. Slowly the ground almond will start sticking to the sides of the jar. Scrap the sides of the jar and bring to the middle and grind again. Now add salt to it and grind again. Slowly it will get that buttery texture. The whole process will take 15mins. While grinding scrap the side frequently. It will help in grinding and also give some rest to the grinder. 

Recipe of Apple Sauce

Apple- 2

Honey- 3tbsp

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Cinnamon- 1/2inch piece

Peel and decore apples and chop them randomly. In a sauce pan add chopped apples, water 3 cups, honey, salt and cinnamon stick, then keep it on the gas and cook up to soft. While cooking if water totally evaporates then add more water to it. When done remove the cinnamon stick and grind it till smooth. Your apple sauce is ready.

Recipe of Granola

Oats- 2Cups

 (I have used Kellogg's brand)

Almond Butter- 1/4Cup

Honey- 1/4Cup

Apple Sauce- 1/2Cup

Rice Bran Oil- 2tbsp + oil for greasing the tray

Almond- 1/2Cup

Walnut- 1/4Cup

Raisins- 1/2Cup

In a mixing bowl add oats, almonds, chopped walnuts, and raisins and mix.

In another bowl add Almond butter, honey, apple sauce, 2tbsp of oil and whisk it properly.

Then mix the dry ingredients with wet ingredients and mix. This mixing can be done best with hand.

Grease a baking tray with generous amount of oil. This will help in baking. Then pour this mixture on it and spread evenly. Bake this for 30 mins in 160 degree Celsius or up to crispy.

One can substitute almond butter with any normal butter or low fat butter or pea nut butter. For more sweet sugar or brown sugar can be done. If one wants it to make healthy then more honey can be added. My apple sauce is having sweetness, salt and cinnamon flavour but these can be added separately if unsweetened apple sauce is added.

Bake the granola for more time if you want crispy but for chewy texture, it can be baked for less time.

Can be served with curd and fresh fruits.

Dragon Paneer

Dragon Paneer

Sometimes back we went to have lunch in a restaurant. There we ordered dragon chicken as starter. It was very yumm and tasty. My kids utter the name even after many days have past. They used to ask me to cook that dish for them. I agreed to cook it some day.

Paneer is every kids' favourite. So do my kids'. So thought of combining two favourites of my kids and give them a surprise. Kids loved the combo and my friends also loved it. It is a simple I do Chinese fusion dish with all the ingredients easily available at home.  Very easy and very quick dish. The main highlight of the dish is the crunch of cashew and hint of spice from chilli. So here is the recipe of the dish...

Paneer- 200 GMs

Salt- 1/2tsp

Black pepper powder- 1/2tsp

Soya sauce- 1tsp

Red chilli paste- 1/2tbsp

(You can substitute it with 1/2tbsp Kashmiri mirch powder + 1/2water)

Ginger and garlic paste- 1tbsp

Corn flour- 2tbsp

Maida- 3tbsp

Oil- 2tbsp

Cashew- 1/2cup

Whole Dry red chilli- 3

Onion- 3 medium 

Capsicum- 1small

Ginger and garlic paste- 1 tbsp

Red chilli paste- 1tbsp

Tomato sauce- 2tbsp

Soya sauce-2tbsp

Salt-1/2tsp

Sugar-1tsp

Coriander leaves to garnish 

Cut the paneer in stripes and keep aside.

In a big mixing bowl mix everything except Paneer. Add cut Paneer to the marinade mixture and mix with light hand. If required add 1tbsp of water. Keep this aside for 20mins.

Heat oil for deep frying.

In the meantime clean and slice onions. Clean and cut the capsicum in strips.

After 20 mins deep fry the marinaded paneer in hot oil up to golden in colour. Drain it in a kitchen towel.

Again heat 2tbsp of oil in a pan. Break the red chilli in two and add to the oil and let it crackle.

Then add cashew nuts and fry up to golden in colour.

Then add sliced onions to it and sauté for a min or two. Then add ginger garlic paste and sauté again.

Now add capsicum and salt and sauté. Cook up to bit soft.

Then in a bowl add chilli paste, tomato sauce, soya sauce and sugar and mix well. Now add this mixture to cooked onion and capsicum.

Now add little water to it and cook for some mins. Let the sauce thick a bit.

Then add fried Paneer to it and toss properly. The sauce should coat the paneer pieces well. Now bring out to a serving plate and garnish with coriander leaves.

Sabu Dana Lollipop

SabuDana Lollipop

During Navratri fasting is must. Fasting is not always no food. But food with some restrictions. Some particular grains, fruits and vegetables are allowed in these days. SabuDana is one among them. Here I made an easy snacks item with sabudana, SabuDana Lollipop. I served it with Vrat Wale Yoghurt Dip. Here is the recipe..

Sabudana- 2/3Cup

Potatoes- 3Medium

Rock Salt to taste

Rajgeeri ka Atta- 3tbsp

Carrot- 2Small

Peanut- 2/3Cup

Chopped Coriander Leaves- 3tbsp

Green Chili- 2

Ginger- 1inch 

Cumin- 1tbsp

Black Pepper- 1tbsp

Oil for Deep Frying

Clean and soak sabudana for 2 to 3 hours. After 3 hours strain the sabudana and let it be on the strainer for 15 to 20 mins.

Boil potatoes and mash it properly without lumps.

Clean and peel the Carrots. Then grate the carrots and keep aside.

Dry roast the peanuts in a Kadai and let it cool down. Then remove the skin of the peanuts and make a coarse Powder. Make a coarse Powder of the black peppers.

Clean and chop ginger, green chili and coriander leaves.

In a deep Kadai, heat oil for Deep frying.

In a big bowl add everything except oil and mix properly.

Now make balls out of it and insert an ice cream stick. Then shape it like a lollipop. 

Slowly slide the lollipops into the already heating oil and deep fry it up to brown. Then transfer it to a tissue paper.

Yoghurt Dip

Curd/ Yoghurt- 1/2Cup

Rock Salt to taste

Roasted Cumin Powder- 1/2tsp

Chat Masala- 1/2tsp

Red Chili Powder- 1/2tsp

Sugar-1/2tsp

In a mixing bowl add everything and mix well. Transfer it to a serving bowl.

Serve the lollipops hot with the Dip..

Khata Mitha Dali ( sweet and sour dal)

Khatta Mitha Dali

As a kid I don't like dal that much. My mom used to have very hard time to make me eat. To make me eat dal she tried her mom's (my grand mom's) recipe of this sweet and sour dal. That became my favourite dal. It is still my most favourite. This is a very authentic Odia recipe which runs in my maternal family.

Tuar Dal- 1 Cup

Salt to taste

Haldi- 1/2tsp

Red chili powder- 1/2tsp

Oil- 1tsp

Panch Phutan- 1tbsp

Whole Red chill- 2

Tamarind- a medium marble size

Sugar- 11/2tsp

Curry Leaves- 1 string

Hing- 1/8tsp

Clean and soak tuar dal for 20 mins.

In a pressure cooker add soaked dal, water 1 1/2cup, salt to taste, haldi Powder and red chilli Powder. Cook the dal for 2 whistles (1 in high and 2nd in low).  Now allow it to cool down.

Soak the tamarind in hot water for 15 mins. After 15 mins make pulp out of it.

Heat oil in another Kadai add whole red chilli breaking it into 2. Then add panch phutan and hing to it and let the spices crackle in oil. Then add curry leaves to it and saute.

Now add boiled dal to it and allow it to boil for some time. Then add tamarind pulp and sugar to it. Let it boil for some mins and switch off the gas.

Dal is ready to serve. It goes really well with plain rice.

Moong Dal Halwa

Moong Dal Halwa

Moong dal halwa is a very famous north indian sweet dish. This is made on celebrations or festivals like holi, diwali etc . Any marriage Function is incomplete without this beautiful dish. If u go through the recipe it is nothing but moong dal or split green gram paste is sauteed in ghee on low heat till it goes frangnant and golden brown. It is a lengthy and bit hard dish  but the out come is really tasty and worth trying.

Moong dal is packed with protein and low carb. It is a good and filling option for those who wants to go for diet. It is also a good source of protein for vegetarian. It is a high source of manganese, potassium, magnesium, copper etc etc.

Here is the recipe of this dish

Moong Dal- 1cup

Ghee- 1cup

Besan- 1tbsp

Suji- 1tbsp

Water- 1cup

Sugar- 1cup

Salt- 1/4tsp

Saffron- a pinch

Green Cardamom Powder- 1/2tsp

Chopped Pistachio- 1/4cup

Chopped Cashew- 1/4cup

Raisins- 1/4cup

Ghee- 1tbsp

Clean and wash moong dal properly. Now add water to it. Soak the dal for 4 to 5 hours. The dal will swell and will be almost 1 1/4cup of moong dal.

Drain the soaked dal and grind it to a smooth paste and keep aside.

I suggest to use nonstick kadai for this halwa as moong dal is prone to stick to the pan.

Heat ghee in a non stick kadai. Add suji (rava) and besan to it.  Saute it properly without any lumps. Then add moong dal paste to it.

It may look a lots of ghee in the pan initially. But while Cooking dal will soak all the ghee. Now your hand will do the job. It has to be stired properly and constantly.

After some time of Cooking moong dal will be grainy. And again after some Cooking it will forthy. This is a crucial stage. One can't leave dal for a min in this stage. By this time it will get a beautiful brown colour and raw smell of dal goes.

In the mean time add water, salt and sugar to another pan. Let it boil and sugar melt in. Now add saffron and green cardamom powder and boil for a min or two. Switch off the gas and keep aside for further use.

Heat ghee another kadai and fry the dry fruits and keep aside.

Now add the sugar syrup to the forthy moong dal. Cook the mixture up to dry. Add fried dry fruits to it and mix properly. This will be a beautiful, flavourful and light brown halwa.

Enjoy the heavenly halwa hot.

Sesame and Peanut Modak

Sesame And Peanut Modak

During Ganapati festival in Odisha Rasi Ladoo or til Ladoo is very famous as Prasad. Every year from my childhood we purchase Ladoo as bhog. Being a home chef I feel like I should prepare them at home. So I made them and also added crushed peanuts to it as an extra flavour. As Ganesha loves modak I gave them modak shape. Here is the recipe of my Sesame and Peanut Modak.

White sesame- 1 Cup

Peanut- 1/2 Cup

Jaggery- 2/3 Cup

Water- 1 tbsp

Ghee- 2 tbsp

Heat a pan and add peanuts to it. Dry roast the peanuts up to crunchy. Then take off from gas and allow it to cool down. Now remove the skin of the peanuts and allow it to cool down completely. Then make a coarse Powder. If you grind  peanuts in warm condition, it will be a lump not powder. 

In the same pan add sesame and dry it. Let the sesame cool down. Then reserve 3tbsp of roasted sesame aside and make a coarse Powder out of the rest.

In a non stick Kadai heat ghee, add jaggery and water to it. Let the jaggery melt and don't boil. Over cooked jaggery will give a hard Modak. Then add powdered peanut, sesame and whole sesame and give a quick mix. Switch off the gas immediately.

Bring out the mixture to a plate and allow it to cool down. When the mixture come down to a touchable temperature stuff it in a greased Modak mould to shape Modak. Stuff properly without gap. Carefully demould it and keep on a plate. Similarly prepare all the modaks.

Prasad is ready for the puja..

Paneer And Carrot Modak

Paneer And Carrot🥕 Modak

Prathamapujya  Ganapati's festival is round the corner. Everyone is gearing up for the puja. All are preparing different types of Modak for prasad. I do prepare Modak for prasad. In my last article I have given Boondi Modak recipe. This time I am sharing another version of Modak. This Modak I call as Paneer and Carrot Modak.

Here is the recipe...

Carrot- 3 medium

Milk- 1 Cup

Sugar- 4tbsp

Cardamom Powder- 1tbsp

Ghee- 1/2tbsp

Milk- 1lit+ 2tbsp

Vinegar- 3tbsp

Powdered Sugar- 4tbsp

Cardamom Powder- 1tsp

Ghee- 1/2tbsp

Heat 1 lit milk in a pan and let it boil. When milk is boiled switch off the gas and put vinegar. The milk will curdle and Paneer will be formed. Now spread a muslin cloth on a strainer and strain the Paneer. Gather all the corner of the cloth and make a knot. Now keep a heavy object on the Paneer. Keep it like this for 1 hour.

Clean and peel the Carrots. Grate the Carrots with the help of a grater and you will be getting 1 cup of grated carrot.

Heat a non stick Kadai and add grated carrot. Now fry the Carrots up to dry. Remove from pan and keep aside

.

In the same pan add milk and sugar and keep on the flame. Let the sugar melt and after that reduce the flame and cook for 3 to 4 mins. Then add the dried carrot to it and cook up to dry. When almost done add cardamom Powder and ghee. Again fry the carrot mixture up to dry. Now keep aside to come down to room temperature.

After one hour bring out the dried Paneer and crumble and mash it properly. It will take 5 mins to form a dough like.

Heat a non stick pan again and add mashed Paneer, powdered sugar and 2tbsp of milk. Cook it up to dry. When almost done add ghee and cardamom Powder. Now cook it up to dry and keep aside

Grease the Modak mould, do that the mixture won't stick to the mould.

Mash The cooked Paneer mixture about, so it become like a dough.

In the Modak mould first stuff carrot mixture and stuff without gaps. Then add Paneer mixture and again carrot mixture and at last stuff Paneer mixture. Press all the mixture properly in the mould. Now carefully demould the Modak and keep on a plate.

Repeat the process to obtain more Modak. In this process you will get 10 Modak. Keep the modaks in fridge to set for 2 hours.

Paneer and carrot Modak is ready to serve as prasad

Boondi Modak

Boondi Modaks

Modakpriya Ganeshji's puja is impossible without modaks. Preparing modaks and offering to God is the part And parcel of the Ganeshji's puja. These modaks are of different types. From traditional to modern. Ukdiche modaks and fried modaks are traditional varieties. But there is a lot new varieties. Here is my recipe of one of the new gen modified modak. That is boondi modak. Here is the recipe

INGREDIENTS FOR BOONDI

Besan – 1 cup

Salt- 1/4tsp

Mitha soda- 1/2tsp

Water- 2/3Cup + 1/4 Cup

Oil for frying

Ghee- 2tbsp

Orange colour- 1/4tsp

INGREDIENTS FOR MODAK

Sugar- 2/3 Cup

Water- 1/2 Cup

Green Cardamom- 5

Cashew Nuts- 2tbsp

Raisin- 2tbsp

Watermelon seeds- 2tbsp

Ghee- 2/3tbsp

PREPARATION OF BOONDI 

In a bowl add all dry ingredients and mix properly. Now add water to it. Add little water at a time and mix. It should be of medium thick consistency batter like idly batter. Too runny batter will make boondi flat and too thick batter will create a tail for the boondi. 

Heat oil in a kadai and add 2tbsp of ghee to it. Ghee will add a beautiful smell to the boondi. Keep a holed ladle or perforated ladle or jhara on it. With a spoon add some batter on the ladle and slowly spread with a spoon. Fry the boondis till crispy. The best time to remove the boondi is when oil stop sizziling. Repeat the process to make the boondis. 

PREPARATION OF MODAK

Brake the cashews in small pieces and keep aside.

In the same oil fry the waterfront seeds, broken cashew seeds and raisins and add to the fried boondis.

Peel and deseed green cardamom and make a smooth powder and keep aside.

Add sugar and water to a kadai and keep it on gas. Allow the sugar to melt first. Then cook the sugar syrup up to 1 thread consistency. Switch off the gas and keep aside. 

In a big mixing bowl add fried boondi and other ingredients. Then pour the sugar syrup to it. Also add cardamom powder and ghee to it and mix. Let the boondis  soak all the sugar syrup. Let it stand for 10 mins. 

Now grease the modak mould and keep aside. After 10 mins mash the boondis a bit. Now stuff the mould. There shouldn't be any gap while stuffing. Carefully remould the modaks and place on the table. Do same with all the boondis. Keep the modaks in fridge for 45 mins to set. Boondi modaks is ready to serve  

For all other days and festivals grease your hand and make laddos with the same boondis