thecookscottage

Rice and Khus /Poppy seed cake

As promised another rice flour recipe. This one is simple and delicious.

Ingredients

1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup mawa
1/2 cup khus-khus / poppy seed
1/2 cup ghee
2 cups sugar
Saffron / cardomom/ nuts (optional)

Roast the flour in a tablespoon of  ghee. Mix in the mawa and set aside. Heat the sugar and cook till it becomes a syrup  and gets a string like consistency.
Grind the coconut and poppy seed into a fine paste in a blender or a coffee grinder. Add the rice flour mixture and the coconut and khus paste to the sugar syrup. Add the rest of the ghee.  Keep cooking on a low flame till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan.
Spread on a greased plate or cake tin and garnish with nuts.
When cool cut and serve.

Strawberry Fields Forever

There is a glut of strawberries on the market this week and vendors with their colourful produce, neatly arranged in circular mounds are to be seen everywhere. Strawberries in baskets behind cycles, on the pavement, balanced on the head, in the malls...unbelievable. I can recall a time when strawberries were to be found only in the wild, in the hills ,and then, only by the hardworking or the obsessed.You can guess under which heading my friends and I could be classified.
With such abundance one can be irreverant. The strawberries can be mashed and moulded into  a dessert , a delicate pink concoction...a pretty and fluffy ending to a good meal.

Ingredients

2 egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
12 gms / I tbsp unsweetened gelatine
30 gms/ 1/4 cup honey
350 gms/ 2 cups strawberries, mashed in a blender till smooth
(25 gms/ two tbsps double cream)

Beat the egg whites with salt (and a pinch of cream of tartar if available ),  till fluffy and in the soft peak stage.Dissolve gelatine in  warmed honey. Add the gelatine and honey mix to the strawberries. Mix well.Slowly add the mash to the egg whites while continuing to beat, adding as much air to the mixture as possible..When it becomes a light pink and holds it shape, spoon into bowls and chill till set. Top with a dollop of cream and /or a slice of strawberry.Serve straight from the refrigerator.

Ukadiche Modak-Sweet Offerings

All around Maharashtra, in the countryside, across the fields, in the sheds of potters and craftsmen, you will catch sight of Ganapati idols, white as rice flour, waiting for the brush of colour and devotion in the joyful days ahead

Meanwhile, inside homes, preparation has begun to host the God and offer prayers and offerings. What better way to start than by making modaks, which are the deity’s favourite food? Sant Jnaneshwar identifies Ganapati with the totality of sacred texts and knowledge and even in the Padma Purana the modak is said to be the symbol of perfect knowledge. It is said that, just by inhaling its aroma, a man can achieve immortality because he would understand the essence of all sacred books and become proficient in the sciences and arts.

Traditionally made on the first day of the festival no other sweetmeat is as associated with Ganesh Chaturthi. Besides the 21 modaks traditionally offered to this most popular and beloved of deities, prepare to make plenty more, because his tastes have spread and most people cannot resist these sweets made, as they are, in perfect bite sized pieces.

Ingredients

Makes approximately 25 modaks

Filling

• 2 coconuts grated fine.
• 1 ½ cups pale yellow jaggery grated
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp raisins
• 1 ½ tsps elaichi powder, freshly ground.
• 2 tbsp cashew nuts chopped
• 1 tsp ghee

 

Dough

• 2 cups of rice flour, ready made or make your own in a grinder. I use  two scented rices : Chinor and Ambemohr . This rice should be just harvested, young  rice so that the dough becomes more pliable.
• 2 tbsps flour/ maida
• 2 tbsps ghee
• A pinch of salt
• 2 cups of water
• Pinch of saffron

Fry the chopped cashew nuts in a teaspoon of ghee till golden brown. Grate the coconuts and gur. Put both in a kadhai along with the sugar and raisins and cook stirring continuously till the mixture becomes soft and sticky and fairly dry.. Take off the fire, let it cool and then add the elaichi powder and the cashewnuts . Mix well and set aside while preparing the dough.

Mix the rice flour and maida. Heat two cups of water with the ghee and as it comes to the boil add the salt and the rice and flour mixture. Let it come to the boil twice, mixing all the while to dissolve any lumps and then remove from the fire. Now knead well till the dough becomes soft.

Roll out into circles of 3” diameter. The circles should be not more than 3mm in thickness like a fine chapathi. Grease hand with a drop of oil and place the circle on the centre of the palm. Fill each circle with a teaspoon of the coconut and jaggery mixture. Now gather the outer edges of the circle as if pleating cloth and swivel the modak in the palm as you close the edges. This takes some practice to get right.( You can also get little modak makers in metal or plastic but I cannot vouch for their effectiveness.)

Place the prepared modaks on a muslin swathed plate in a steamer, top with a bit of butter paper to prevent them from getting soggy, then cover tightly with the lid and cook for 10-12 minutes till done. Make in batches according to the size of your steamer. You can use a colander over a trivet in a cooker if you do not own a steamer.

Soak a few strands of saffron in a bit of melted ghee. Put a droplet of saffron infused ghee on top of each modak for colour and essence.

Now you are ready to bring Lord Ganesha home.