Ricotta Cheese Burfi

Many Indian sweets have Khoa/Mawa base.

Khoa is made by thickening milk. Since Khoa was unavailable I have used Ricotta Cheese.

Ricotta cheese is very similar to Khoa.

Ingredients

Ricotta cheese - 2 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Butter - 1/4 cup

saffron - a pinch

milk - 2 tsp

pistachio (ground) - 2 tbsp

cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Method

1. Mash the saffron in 2 tsp milk and keep aside.
2. Add 2 tsp butter into a pan. Add the ricotta cheese and keep stirring.
3. Keep the flame at medium heat. Cook till the moisture evaporates and thickens.
4. At that point add the sugar, saffron and milk mixture, cardamom powder and pistachio.
5. Add the rest of the butter.
6. Keep stirring and adjust the heat so that the cheese is not turning brown on the bottom of the pan. It should not be too thick(too hard). A little moisture should be there.
7. When it thickens pour it into a plate brushed with butter.
8. Cut it to your desired shape. You can eat them fresh or keep them in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes and eat also.

Veggie Kothu Parotta

Kothu Parotta is a road side delicacy. You can see them make it in what they call Thattu Kadai. They make it in an iron griddle coated with oil and mince it with an iron spatula very similar to meat masher. It is usually prepared with egg and meat.

Here I made an attempt to make it with vegetables and Malabar Parotta.

Malabar Parotta is a layered flat bread prepared with Maida and oil.I used the recipe for Malabar Parotta from My Treasure...My pleasure. It took me 4 to 5 times at least to come close to getting layers. Try it by using half of the ingredients. But you can always use it for kottu parotta since we are any way going to shred the parotta.

Frozen Parotta also works well. If parottas are unavailable try making it with plain parathas. It comes out good too.

Necessary items

Malabar Parotta/Plain Paratha - 6-8 in nos.( Shred them with your hands)

Onion - 1(cut long)

Green pepper, Red Pepper - 1 each(cut long)

Tomato - 1 (cut long)

Carrot - 1 _(Scraped)

Garlic - 4-5 cloves(dice them really small)

Turmeric pdr, Chilli pdr, Coriander pdr - 1 tsp each

Green chillies - 2 (cut long)

Tomato paste - 1 tsp

cumin seeds - 1tsp

Chaat masala - 1tsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

salt to taste

Curry leaves - 3-4 in nos.

coriander leaves for garnish

Method

1. Heat oil in an iron skillet or a non stick pan. Keep the heat in medium.
2. Season with cumin seeds and curry leaves.
3. When the cumin seeds pops add chopped onions and green chillies.Fry them until light brown.
4. Add green pepper, red pepper,carrot, tomato and garlic paste. Fry until the raw smell goes away .
5. Then add turmeric pdr, coriander pdr, chilli pdr, chaat masala and salt. Fry them for couple of minutes.
6. Add the shredded Malabar parotta/ plain paratha.
7. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Easy Samosa Chaat with left overs

When ever I have samosas and chole left overs from dinner parties this a favorite evening snack in my house for the next day. The recipe serves 2 people.

Necessary items

Cocktail Samosas -- 10 nos. or Regular Samosas - 4 nos.

Left over chole/channa curry - 1 cup

Onion - 1 (cut it into small pieces)

Tomato - 1(cut it into small pieces)

Coriander chutney and Tamarind date chutney(store bought)

Amchur powder

Chaat Powder

Yougurt - 1/2 cup

Sev for garnish(if you have it)

Coriander leaves for garnish

How to arrange them in a bowl

1. Since the samosas are already fried keep them in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 300 degree F.
2. Heat up the chole also in the microvave.
3. Take a bowl. Add the samosas in the bottom. Add the chole/channa curry over it. Keep it for couple of minutes so that the chole soaks in the samosas.
4. Add coriander and tamarind date chutney as per your taste.
5. Garnish it with cut onion, tomato, yogurt, amchur powder, chaat powder sev and coriander leaves.

NanKhatai(Indian Biscuits)

This is usually served with tea in India.

This is an eggless butter cookie liked equally

by young and old.

When I was small this used to be one

of my favorite summer project with my mom.

Those days we used to have the aluminum electric round oven that has a glass lid on the top.

I would check the oven every 2 minutes and see how it expands and lightly brown on the bottom. I was telling my kids this story and they wanted to do the same thing with me. Kids had so much fun making them and they were very proud of the final product.

I have made some variations in this recipe to suit kid's likings.

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 3 cups

Butter - 1 cup(room temperature)

Sugar - 1 cup

baking pdr - 2 tsp

baking soda - 1 tsp

cardamom pdr - 1tsp

cocoa pdr - 2 tbsp

pistachio (ground) - 1 cup

cashew , almond - few for decorating

Strawberry/peach jam for decorating

Method

1. In a bowl mash the butter with a spatula. Add the sugar and make it into a paste by stirring for 8-10 minutes.
2. Then add the flour,baking powder and baking soda and mix well. The dough should not be too soft.
3. Divide the dough into 3 different portions.
4. Add vanilla essence to one portion.
5. Add cocoa powder to the next portion.
6. Add cardamom and 1/2 of the ground pistachio to the 3rd portion.
7. Roll the dough into small balls. Flatten them in your palm.
8. Decorate them with dipping them in ground pistachio or cashew or jam in the center.
9. Make a small ball of white and cocoa dough. Combine them to make desired pattern.
10. Take a cookie sheet. Spread parchment paper and put the cookies 2 inches apart.
11. Preheat the oven to 310 degree fahrenheit. Bake the cookies for 25-30 minutes in the oven. Keep an eye since oven can vary. The cookie is done when you can see light brown color on the bottom of the cookie.
12. Take it out and keep it for cooling before tasting and storing.