Saturday, August 9, 2014

Mango Shrikhand









Mango Shrikhand

My 3 year old daughter is crazy about Shrikhand!! And I love Alphonso Mangoes!! So I have tried my best to make this humble Mango Shrikhand, but it comes nowhere close to my mom's Mango Shrikhand. In fact, she is the queen of Shrikhand!! She makes all sorts of Shrikhands. This simple dessert can be enjoyed with rotis, pooris, parathas or gobbled up just by itself :) Ofcourse, if I were in India then, i wouldn't be using pulp out of a can and would definitely add lots of fresh mangoes to the Shrikhand!!

Recipe:

Serves about 8-10 people

Ingredients:
4 cups Greek yogurt

2 cups Plain yogurt

  cup powdered sugar

4 tbsp Pistachio

6 tbsp sliced Almonds

½ tsp Cardamom powder

2 tsp Kesar

1 tbsp warm milk

  cup Mango pulp (Alphonso pulp if available)


Method:

  1. Place the greek yogurt and the plain yogurt in a muslin cloth and hang it overnight or for 5-6 hours till the whey has drained out. (I press the potli to check for any remaining liquid and if there is any, then I just squeeze the potli by hand)
  2. Once the yogurt has reached a nice, thick consistency, take it out in a large bowl and mix in the cardamom powder and sugar.
  3. In the meantime, add the Kesar to the warm milk and let it sit for a couple of minutes.
  4. Now back to the yogurt, keep churning the powdered sugar in the yogurt with a whisk. It does take a little time for the sugar to dissolve. (I don’t like extremely sweet shrikhand so I add only 1 cup, but it might be a bit mild on sweetness for some, so feel free to add more sugar)
  5. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the mango pulp and stir it.
  6. Next add the Kesar milk and stir.
  7. Garnish your Shrikhand with Almonds and Pistachios before serving.
  8. I like to let the Shrikhand sit in the refrigerator for a while before serving.



Thursday, August 7, 2014

Frankie (Tibbs style)











Frankie (Tibbs style)

Ingredients
:
(Makes about 15 Frankies)


For The Rotis:


3 cups All purpose flour

3 slices of whole wheat bread
Non-stick cooking spray
Salt to taste

For the Stuffing:



Part 1
4-5 large potatoes (boiled, peeled and mashed)
3/4 tsp chilli powder
3/4 tsp turmeric

3/4 tsp dhaniya jeera powder
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

(sometimes instead of red chilli powder I have used ginger and green chilli paste)



Part 2
2 tbsp dried mango powder (amchur)

2 tbsp  Sanchal (kala namak)


Part 3

3 small red onions (thinly sliced)

(add a few drops of lime juice and salt to reduce the excess pungent nature of the onions)



Part 4

2 green chillies (Finely chopped)

1 tsp soy sauce

3 tbsp white vinegar






Method:




For the rotis:


  1. In a large deep bowl add the all purpose flour. Then soak the 3 slices of bread in warm running water and squeeze of most of the water from it and then make little pieces of it and add it to the flour.
  2. Add water to this mixture and blend it with a hand blender. If you don’t have a hand blender, then blend it in a blender.
  3. Once it reaches a thick batter consistency (somewhere between idli and dosa consistency), stop blending and add salt to taste.
  4.  Don’t make it too thin. If it does become too thin, add some more flour and another soaked bread and blend it again.
  5. Use a ladle and start scooping the batter and spread it on a non-stick dosa pan.
  6. These rotis are supposed to be little thick so do not spread them on the pan as thin as you would for a dosa. More like a paratha thickness. (about 6-8 inches in diameter)
  7. Cook the roti, till it is slightly brown on both sides.
  8. You can make them oil free by just using cooking spray.


For the stuffing:


  1. In a deep bowl, mix the mashed potatoes with all the masala and cilantro.
  2. Once mixed, make long patties and cook them on a non-stick tawa till they are light brown on both sides.
  3. Again you don’t need to use oil, just use cooking spray.

Now in a small separate bowl, mix the amchur and kala namak. In another bowl, combine the soy sauce, white vinegar and chopped green chillies.




Assembling the Frankie:

  1. Heat your tawa on a medium flame.
  2. Make a small assembly line starting with roti, potato pattie, thinly slices onions, soy-vinegar mixture and amchur-kala namak mixture.
  3. Heat your roti and pattie on the tawa. Once the roti is warm/kadak enough, place the potato pattie on it in the center and give it a nice press.
  4. Then add the onions, soy mixture and the amchur mixture.
  5. Roll up your Frankie and voila its ready to be hogged.



My mom used to spread Pudina chutney in the Frankies and it tasted great. My husband likes to spread Schezuan chutney in it. You can make these with so many variations like paneer, cheese, chhole or egg.

The key is getting the rotis right. Also, be careful not to add to much of the amchur mixture or the soy mixture else it will become too khatta and too namkeen.


Enjoy!!

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Mango Malai Pedha







Mango Malai Pedha
(makes about 20 pedhas)



Ingredients:

  • ·         ½ cup Mango pulp
  • ·         ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
  • ·         1 cup Ricotta cheese
  • ·         1 tsp crushed cardamom powder
  • ·         2 tbsp sugar
  • ·         1tbsp ghee(for rolling pedhas)
  • ·         1 tbsp  Kesar
  • ·         2 tbsp milk (to mix Kesar)
  • ·         Some almonds and pistachios to garnish
  • ·         Additional 2 tbsp of mango pulp and keep it aside


Method:

  1. In a Non-Stick pan, add the Ricotta cheese and the ½ cup mango pulp. Keep stirring it till the mixture starts reducing. Make sure it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
  2. Then add the condensed milk and constantly keep stirring 
  3. Once you see that almost all the water content has evaporated, add the additional 2 tbsps of mango pulp, cardamom powder and sugar. (The reason for adding the additional mango pulp at the end it is to give the pedhas a fresh taste of mango) 
  4. Add the 2 tbsps of Kesar milk and keep stirring continuously 
  5. Once you see that it has reached a nice thick, yet soft consistency, turn of the heat and let it cool in a separate bowl 
  6. After a few minutes, while it is still warm, start rolling the pedhas 
  7. Apply some ghee between your palms and roll them into small balls and then press them in the center. The ghee makes it easy to roll the pedhas as well as gives them a nice sheen 
  8. Once rolled and pressed, place your choice of dry fruit (either almond or pistachio) in the center