Rasgulla -A soft and fluffy Bengali dessert. -With complete pictures

Packages overflowing with  goodies, carpet got its vcuming, kitchen - ready for Hubby's use,when he comes back, last minute shopping, bidding good byes to friends,attending continuous phone calls these are happening in one day  .My India vacation is yet to start in few hours.Blogging will not be full swing in next 2 months. So please bare with me friends. Enjoy these rasgullas as a farewell dessert.

 

 

Ingredients:

For rasgulla:

1.Whole Milk                -         4 cups

2. Lemon juice              -         2 tbsp.

3.water                          -         1 tbsp.

4.Ice cubes                   -           10 to 12

 

For syrup:

1.Sugar                        -           1 1/2 to 2 cups

2.Water                        -           2 cups

3.Cardamom pwdr       -           a pinch

 

 

Method:

* Take whole milk in a heavy bottomed pan and bring it to boil.Mix lwmon juice with water .Now turn the flame to medium low and start adding the concentrated  lemon juice. Milk will start curdling.

 

 Continue adding the lemon juice,untill chenna or paneer is separated from the whey.Now turn off the stove and add the ice cubes immediately.This will stop the curdling process and gives a soft texture to the rasgullas.

 

 

 

* Strain the curdled milk in a colander lined by a muslin cloth. Wash the separated chenna / paneer several times in cold water.This will remove the impurities and sourness of the lemon juice.Slightly twist the muslin cloth to remove the excess water and hang it on the tap as shown in picture.Leave the chenna / paneer for about 30 minutes,so that the excess water dripps off.

 

* Now transfer the strained paneer to a plate.Knead it well for about 5 minutes or until it forms a smooth ball.It should not be too crumbly.If it is crumbly,then we can add few drops of water to bring back the moisture.Divide the paneer into equal sized balls.Meanwhile,take sugar and water in a pan and bring it to  boil.When the sugar comes to a boil,then turn the flame to medium and slowly add the paneer balls one by one.

* Cover and cook for 10 minutes.After 10 minutes,flip the rasgullas and cover and cook for another 15 minutes in medium low flame.Now the rasgullas would have been doubles in size.Turn off the flame and keep the rasgullas in the stove covered for another 10 minutes. This slow cooking process ,makes the rasgullas softer .

* Transfer the cooked rasgullas to refrigerator and serve it chilled.We can also use curd instead of lemon juice.This will give soft texture to the rasgullas.

 

New York style Chicken Tikka Pizza / With complete pictures / Baking Partenr's Challenge #10

      After finishing my last month challenge,informed Swathi,that I will not be posting the next month challenge,as I am preparing for my vacation. But when she announced that this month challenge is "Newyork style pizza" , I volunteered myself for this challenge.The reason behind it was, my son. He is a die hard fan of pizza and when I told him about the challenge, he started bugging me to prepare the pizza. So ,besides my busy schedule,prepared pizza. The pizza sauce recipe was suggested by Pam of "Living Rancho Deluxe" from serious eats . And the crust recipe is from "Feeling Foodish .My family enjoyed this pizza.It was soft and fluffy.I halved the original recipe and prepared 2 pizzas.So the amount of sauce  and toppings is for 2 pizzas.

 

 

 

Yield                            :           2   14 " thin pizzas 

 

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

1.Tomatoes                   -         3

2.Garlic cloves              -         2 (crushed)

3.Onion                         -         half

4.Garlic powder            -         1/2 tsp

5.Basil                           -         1/2 tsp

6.Oregano                     -          1/2 tsp

7.Salt                             -          as required

8.Pepper powder           -          as required

9.Butter                         -          1 tbsp.

10.Pepper flakes            -          1 tsp

 

For the crust:

1.Bread  flour                       -           14oz (3 cups)

2.water -     (a little less than  1 1/2 cups) ( luke warm water)
3.instant dry yeast          -        1/2 tsp
4.Salt                              -        1 1/2 tsp
5.olive oil                       -        3 tsp

For chicken tikka :
1.Boneless chicken          -        1 cup
2.Curry powder                -        1 tbsp.
3.Turmeric pwdr              -         1/2 tsp
4.Garam masala pwdr      -         1/2 tsp
5.Salt                                -          as required
6.Lemon juice                   -         1 tsp
7.Oil                                 -           for greasing

 

For the topping:

1.Onion                           -         1 cup (thinly sliced)

2.Red bell pepper            -         half    (Sliced)

3.Green bell pepper         -         half     (sliced)

4.Chicken tikka                -         half cup

5.Mozerella cheese          -          2  to 3 cups

 

Method:

Cover a pizza plate with aluminium foil and preheat in the oven for almost 1 hour at 450 degrees.

For the sauce:

* Boil water in a pan.Drop the tomatoes into the water. Leave it for 5 to 10 minutes or until the skin peels off  from the toamtoes.After tomatoes are cooled,peel off the skin. Put it in the blender and puree it.

* Take a pan,add butter and sauté the crushed garlic pods and sauté it slightly.Now add the pureed tomatoes.Bring it to boil.Add the half onion into the sauce.Now simmer the sauce for half an hour, or until the sauce reduces to half.Add the basil leaves and oregano to the sauce.

 

 

* Adjust salt to taste.At last add pepper powder.At the end, take the onion out of the sauce.Adding whole onion brings out a unique taste to the sauce.We can also add some chopped red bell pepper to the sauce.This will also give a beautiful taste to the sauce.

 

For the crust :

* Take a mixing bowl,add flour,salt ,yeast .Mix it well.Now add water little by little and form a dough ,little loose. Add oil to dough and blend it well with the dough.Knead the dough for atleast 15 to 20 minutes ,until gluten is formed.The dough should be loose and soft.

 * We can check the consistency of the dough by window pane test.Window pane test is when we expand a piece of dough,it should expand into a thin film and at last form hole .Now the dough is ready.Divide the dough into 4 equal sized balls and wrap each of them with a clear wrap.Refrigerate for 24 hours to 72 hours .I refreigerated it for 4 days .It came out perfectly well.

 

     

 

Preparing chicken tikka:



* Take a mixing bowl,add chilli pwdr,turmeric powder,lemon juice ,garam masala powder and blend it well.Now add the boneless chicken into the masala and coat it .Let the chicken marinate for an hour.
* We can cook the tikkas in 2 ways, either we can bake them ,by lining them in a tray or just toss them in a pan.I just tossed the chicken tikkas in a pan.Strain the excess oil on a tissue paper.

 

Preparing pizza:

* Take the refrigerated dough out and keep it on the counter for 2 hours.This will help the pizza to reach room temperature and will help proofing .Now the dough will be soft and fluffy.

 

 

 Take one dough out and flatten it on a floured area.Using our fingures, flatten the dough into 1/2 inch thicknessed disc.Don't use rolling pin .Just lift the circled dough and expand it using our knuckles.  Take a tawa,sprinkle some rava on top of it. Now transfer the rolled out dough to the tawa.

  Now generously apply the tomato sauce over the pizza base.Now generously spread the shredded cheese.Evenly distribute red bell pepper,green bell,sliced onion and chicken tikkas.Finally add some more cheese and sprinkle some basil leaves powder.


When the pizza pan or stone is pre heated well, slowly transfer the pizza to the pan.Care should be taken ,when we transfer the pizza from the pizza peel(tawa) to the heated pizza pan or stone.Bake for 10 to 15 minutes ,depending on the thickness of the pizza stone.Or until,the pizza turns golden brown.Slice the pizza and enjoy.

Sweet Chilli fish / With step wise pictures

   Packing and Cleaning are going in full swing.Just 10 more days to start to India.Our paretns are eagerly waiting to see all of us.Shopping is just started.India ,here I come.Going to miss Dallas very much .Blogging will be at low pace ,when I am in India.Though I have posts in draft,have to find time to write the posts.Friends kindly bare with me,if I am not commenting .Will soon get back to you once I settle in India.    

  I was bored with usual,fish curry,fish fry,fish cutlet,fish figure, wanted to try something tangy and sweet. So prepared this Sweet chilli fish for a change.It came out very well.I used cod fish fillet. We can use any fish fillet for this. Similarly we can prepare shrimp .Make your Sunday interesting by preparing this dish.





Ingredients:

For marination:

1.Cod fish fillets        -         4

2.Curry powder          -     1 tbsp.

3.Ginger garlic paste  -    1/2 tsp

4.Turmeric powder     -     1/4 tsp

5.Lemon juice             -       2 tsp

6.Corn flour                 -      1 tsp

7.Salt                            - To taste

8.Oil                             - For frying 

9.Green onion               - for garnishing

 

For the sauce:

1.Ginger                  -     1 inch piece( minced)

2.Garlic pods           -     4 (minced)

3.Red chilli flakes    -        1tsp.

4.Chilli paste            -        1 tbsp.

5.Honey                    -         1 bsp

6.Water                     -     as needed

7.Vinegar                  -    1/2 tsp(optional)

 

 Method:

* Wash and cut the fillets into fingure shaped pieces.Take a mixing bowl,add curry powder,ginger garlic paste,turmeric powder,lemon juice,salt and mix well.Now add the fish pieces and marinate it for atleast 1 hour.But I marinated over night.

 

 When we are about to fry the fish,just coat them with corn flour.Take a pan of oil and heat it .When the oil is medium hot,fry the fish pieces and drain them on a paper towel as shown in  picture.

* Take a wide pan,add little oil and sauté minced ginger and garlic. Add chilli paste,chilli flakes,vinegar and give it a stir.Red chilli flakes can be made at home ,by grinding red chillies in a blender.

* Now add salt and water to reach our required consistency.Now add the fried fish into the sauce.If we want to add soy sauce,we can add it to the sauce.At last add honey and mix well.The amount of honey can be altered to our taste. Adjust the spice and salt according to our taste . At last add chopped green onion for garnishing.

Notes:
We can use any fish fillet for this.I like adding honey,but if you don't prefer to use honey,then just skip it. This was a different combo from usual,fish fry,fish fingures and fish cutlet. Don't fry the fish too crispy,then it will not blend with the sauce.We can also use garam masala to the marination.




 

Instant Mango Pickle / Mango Relish / Summer specials

  Summer and mangoes are bonded together. Mom used to stock up pickles like mango,lime,tomatoes and vadagam,vathal during summer. Her pickles are very famous among our relatives.After marriage,would always wonder about my MIL's techniques of making pickles ,vadagam and vathal.So ,with this supportive background,started preparing pickles .This particular recipe is m,y mom's. Usually,when we have guests,this pickle will be handy and quick.About the marinating part,we can even marinate mango for half an hour. This pickle is usually served in marriages.This pickle can also be altered into a sweet pickle by adding sugar or jiggery. 

  

Ingredients:
1.Raw Mango        -         1 (medium size)
2.Methi seeds         -      1/2 tsp
3.Red chillies         -       10 to 15
4.Hing                    -        1/2 tsp
5.Mustard seeds     -         1 tsp
6.Sesame oil           -        1/2 cup
7.Salt                      -        to taste

Method:
* Wash and pat dry the mango.Cut into thin slices .Add enough salt and marinate it for atleast 2 hours.But I marinated it overnight. Take a pan,add methi seeds and dry roast it.Cool the roasted methi seeds completely.Take the roasted methi seeds with dry red chillies and grind it into a fine powder.

* Take a pan,add sesame oil and heat it.When the oil is hot enough,splutter with mustard seeds ,add hing,methi and red chilli powder .

 Turn off the stove immediately.Let the masala cool well.Now add the marinated mango pieces into the pan and mix.Store in dry and clean container.

 

 

* Always finish the instant mango pickle within 3 to 4 days ,which was kept in refrigerator. Because,mango is not dried in sun as we do for other pickles.So this constraint makes the pickle to have less shelf life. Use clean spoons everytime.