Bengali nolen gurer payesh / Rice Pudding with Date Jaggery / Kheer

Bengali nolen gurer payesh / rice pudding with date jaggery is the most favoured desserts in Bengali homes for any occasions. We call nolen gur as patali gur or khajoor Ka Gur or date palm jaggery.

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS:

• Milk : 1 ltr
• Rice (gobindo bhog): 8 tbsp
• Date jaggery: 1/2 cup
• Sugar: 5 tbsp
• Raisins and cashews: a handful
• Cardamom: 3-4 pods

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes. 
2. Take milk in a vessel and bring it to boil. Add cardamom pods.
3. Continue to boil the milk till it reduces slightly or thickened a bit.
4. Now remove the water from the soaked rice and slowly add to the milk and stir continuously. Cook it on a low flame till the rice becomes soft.
5. Add the sugar and cook for few minutes till the sugar dissolves completely.
6. Now take off from the heat and add date jaggery. Mix it well with the milk. Keep on stirring till the jaggery melts completely and is incorporated well.
7. Garnish with dry fruits ( raisins, almonds, cashews, pista).
8. Serve hot or cold as dessert.

NOTES:

• Rice should not be overcooked.
• Always add the jaggery after removing it from flame otherwise milk will get curdled. Also do not heat the kheer after adding the jaggery.

Eggless Banana Muffins

 Here is the recipe for the Eggless Banana Muffins for breakfast or tea time snack, which is made from mashed banana and all-purpose flour, and can be baked real fast!

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Makes: 12 muffins


INGREDIENTS:

• Ripe banana- 3 large
• All purpose flour/ Maida- 1 1/2 cup
• Powder Sugar- 1 cup
• Baking soda- 1 tsp
• Baking powder- 1tsp
• Salt- 1/2 tsp
• Cinnamon powder- 1/4 tsp
• Vanilla essence- 1tsp
• Refined oil- 1/3 cup
• Milk- 1/3 cup

TO BAKE:

• Cupcake tray
• Cupcake liner
• Scoop (optional) 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven for 10 min @ 180°C. Meanwhile, take a large mixing bowl and add maida, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sieve it well.
2.  Take a large mixing bowl, add the ripe bananas and mash it well. 
3. Add sugar, vanilla essence, cinnamon powder and oil.
4. Combine all the ingredients together.
5. Now add the maida in part wise (don't put all together)
6. Add milk as per the requirement and blend it well all together scrapping the side with a spatula.
7. Place the cupcake liners in the cupcake tray.
8. Using the scoop or spoon distribute the batter evenly into the liners. Fill them up-to three quarters of the muffin liners. Tap the tray to spread the batter evenly and to remove the air bubbles.
9. Bake at 180°C for 23-25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean
10. Remove from the oven and let it cool and enjoy !!

Basic Eggless Cupcake (Using Curd)

Yesterday, I was in a mood to bake basic eggless vanilla cupcake  using curd. Very few ingredients are required for this, the main players being curd/ yogurt and oil. 

Preparation: 10 minutes
Baking time: 25 minutes
Serving: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup thick curd/yogurt
• 1 cup powder sugar 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup refined oil
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• a pinch of salt

To BAKE:

• Cupcake tray
• Cupcake liner
• Scoop (optional)

INSTRUCTION:

1.  Preheat oven to 180°C for 10 minutes. 
2. Take a mixing bowl and blend sugar and curd until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add baking powder and baking soda and combine. Leave aside for 3 minutes. You will find that bubbles appear.
3. Add vegetable oil and vanilla essence and mix well. Now, slowly add flour/maida (about a tbsp) at a time and fold into the wet ingredients.
4. Place the cupcake liners in the tray.
5. Using the scoop or spoon distribute the batter evenly into the liners. Fill up-to three quarters of the muffin liners. Tap the tray to spread the batter evenly and remove the air bubbles.
6. Bake at 180°C for 23-25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven. Remove the cupcakes from tray and let it cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!!.

Egg roll with leftover roti

Roti egg roll is simple and nutritious breakfast.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Leftover roti - 2
2. Egg- 2
3. Green bell pepper- 1 thinly  sliced
4. Carrot- 1 grated
5. Onion- 1 thinly sliced
6. Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
7. Salt as per taste
8. Oil as required
9. Milk - 2 tbsp
10. Tomato sauce- as per taste
11. Chilli sauce- as per taste
12. 1/2 lemon

DIRECTION: 

1. Take 2 eggs in a bowl and beat it. Add salt, pepper powder and milk and beat it well.

2. In a hot pan heat some oil. Pour the egg mixture. Put roti over it and press it. Turn it another side slowly and if you want male the roti crispy.
3. Take it on a plate. Put all the sliced veggies. Sprinkle salt, pepper and squeeze few drops of lemon.
4. Put tomato and chilli sauce
5. Transfer it on the silver foil and roll it and serve hot.

Sweet Boondi

Ingredients

• 1. Gram flour (besan): 1 cup
• 2. Baking soda: a pinch
• 3. Yellow food colour: pinch (optional)
• 4.  Water: 1/2 cup
• 5. Sunflower Oil: for deep frying 
• 6. Sugar:  3/4 cup
• 7. Water: 1/2 cup

Directions for Sweet Boondi 

1. To prepare Sweet Boondi/Meethi Boondi , take gram flour/besan in a sifter and sieve it.
2. In a mixing bowl,  mix gram flour, baking soda with water. The batter should be little thick, a bit thinner than normal bajji batter. Add food colour.( optional)
3. Now heat oil for deep frying. Oil should be moderately hot. To test, drop a pea size batter in the oil, batter should rise immediately without changing color which means oil is ready for frying boondis.
4. Now hold one slotted ladle just over oil (neither too low nor too high). Use another deep ladle to pour batter over slotted ladle. Pour one ladle full of batter over the slotted ladle and spread in a circular motion by the back of the deep ladle. The batter will fall drop by drop.
5. Fry them till little crispy. Drain and place them on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
6. Repeat the process with rest of the batter.
7. Then make sugar syrup from 3/4 cup sugar & 1/2 cup water of 1 string consistency by bringing it to boil. Add in cardamom powder, mix well to make syrup.
8. Add the fried yellow and orange boondis into the syrup. Gently toss them and mix till boondis are well coated in sugar syrup.
9. Let this set for 1-2 hours until the sugar syrup is completely absorbed by Sweet Boondi  and the sugar in the syrup is crystallized.
10. Store Sweet Boondi/Meethi Boondi Recipe in an air-tight container and serve as needed.
    
    
    
    
    

Instant Jalebi

Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 15 min
Serving: 10

Ingredients

for jalebi batter:

• Maida/ All purpose flour: 1/2 cup
• Corn flour: 1 tsp
• Baking soda: ¼ tsp
• Vinegar: ½ tsp 
• Curd/ yogurt: 1 tsp 
•  Water: 5 tbsp or as required
• Yellow food colour/ turmeric powder: ⅛ tsp optional

for sugar syrup:

• Water: ¼ cup 
• Sugar: 1 cup 
• Saffron strands/ kesar: ¼ tsp optional
• Cardamom powder: ¼ tso

other ingredients

• oil for deep frying
• Lemon juice: 1/2 tsp

Preparing sugar syrup:

1. take sugar in a pan and add water.
2. keep stirring on low flame, so that the sugar dissolves.
3. Boil the sugar syrup and add saffron
4. Cook till you get 1 strand consistency in the syrup.
5. once one string consistency is attained, switch off the flame and add ½ tsp lemon juice and cardamom powder. lemon helps to avoid crystallizing sugar syrup and keeps your jalebis crispy.
6. 
   

Instructions for preparing Jalebi

• in a mixing bowl, mix maida, corn flour & curd.
• add vinegar and water.
• mix well in round circular directions for 4 minutes with blender or hand
• now add baking soda and give a gentle mix.
• now pour this batter in the piping cone or tomato ketchup bottle.
• heat oil in a pan 
• squeeze the bottle and make round spirals with the batter.
• when one side is partly cooked, turn over and fry the other side.
• fry till the jalebis are a light golden.
• then immediately drop the fried jalebis in the warm sugar syrup for 30 seconds (1 string consistency).
• finally, serve jalebis hot, warm or at room temperature.
  
  

Veg Momos

Prep time: 10 min

Cooking time: 25 min

Serving: 12

Ingredients

for dough:

• 1½ cup maida / plain flour
• ½ tsp salt
• water for kneading
• oil for greasing

for stuffing:

• 3 tsp oil
• 3 garlic clove finely chopped
• 1 inch ginger finely chopped
• 2 chilli finely chopped
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 cup carrot grated
• 2 cup cabbage shredded
• ½ tsp pepper crushed
• ½ tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp soya sauce

Instructions

• First, prepare stuffing by heating 3 tsp oil and saute garlic, ginger and chilli.
• Add carrot, cabbage and onion and stir fry on high flame.
• now add ½ tsp pepper and ½ tsp salt.
• At last put soya sauce and mux well. Stuffing mix is ready.
• Knead the dough soft and put it aside for 19-15 min. Take a dmall sized momos dough and flatten. Dust with some maida and start to roll using a rolling pin.
• roll to almost medium thin circle. Make sure you roll from sides and keep the centre slightly thick.
• Now place a heaped tbsp of prepared stuffing in the centre.
• start pleating the edges slowly and gather everything.
• press in middle and seal the momos forming a bundle.
• heat a steamer and arrange the momos in the tray without touching each other.
• furthermore, steam momos for 10-12 minutes or till shiny sheen appears over it.
• Serve and enjoy the hot momos with red  chutney.