Food-n-More

• At Breakfast we have them just sliced or cubed and sprinkled generously over cereal.
• At Lunch we have Aamras , which is fresh mango pulp with our chapatis or puris if it's a special occasion. Not a single day passes without this for lunch.
• At teatime we either have it simply sliced or have chilled Kairicha Panha which is a heavenly juice drink made from raw mangoes which I am going to share with you now
• At Dinner the rules are same as Lunch. Aamras is a must.
• And last but definitely not the least have a thick Mango Milkshake as a nightcap and you are aassured of a great night's sleep.

In addition to this there are other peripherals that are equally delectable like mango pickle, mango jam, mango lassi, and of course fresh mango icecream. Have I forgotten any item? Feel free to remind me of it. So do you also experience the Mango Mania and behave similarly? I would love to know.

So what I have for you today is Kairicha Panha. It's a sweet and tart drink made from raw mangoes. An excellent coolant and the best welcome drink any guest would love to have.

Ingredients to make approx 10 glasses of Panha:

1 large green raw mango (when buying raw mangoes always go for the firm ones),

At least 20 tspns of sugar,

10 to 12 glasses of cold water,

2 to 3 tspns salt,

a generous pinch of saffron,

pulp of 1 ripe alphonso mango (optional)

Method:

Peel and cook the raw mango in a pressure cooker or in a large open saucepan till soft and pulpy,

Remove all the pulp from the stone after the mango has cooled a bit

Add one glass of water and the pulp of one ripe alphonso mango to it and give it a wizz with a hand blender or in an ordinary blender to make it smooth,

Next add the rest of the water , sugar and salt and stir until completely dissolved. Lastly add the saffron. Give it a taste. Quantity of sugar depends on how sour the mango is. So adjust accordingly. Also increase the quantity of water if you want a thinner consistency. Chill thoroughly before serving.

Go on enjoy your summer now.

Posted by Anupama at 1:05 PM 8 comments Links to this post    

Labels: Cool Drinks, Mango

{Starting from top and going clockwise you have: Turmeric, Goda Masala, Ground Coriander Powder,Red Chilly Powder, Whole Cumin and Asafoetida and Whole Black Mustard seeds in the centre .}

Posted by Anupama at 4:16 PM 15 comments Links to this post    

Blogging has changed my outlook towards cooking. Cooking for me is no more just something that I do to fill our stomachs but it has acquired a completely different facet. I go to extreme lengths now to make the food look as good as it tastes. And when there is a blog event that challenges me to bring out the best in me I am definitely game. That's exactly what Meeta's Monthly Mingle has done. The theme she has presented us (or rather challenged us with) this month is Bollywood Cooking. It's a fabulous theme with a wide variety of dishes to explore. Glamorous as Bollywood is , I thought my dish had to be equally glamorous . And my Kesar Rasmalai is just that. It's elegant, sophisticated, and has just the right balance sweetness and creaminess. I also wanted to try out something from a different culture than mine.

The other reason why I chose to make a Bengali sweet like Rasmalai is to celebrate all the beautiful Bengali actresses in Bollywood. Right from the beautiful Suchitra Sen and talented Aparna Sen, Jaya Bhaduri and Sharmila Tagore to current heartthrobs like Rani and Bipasha, Sushmita and Konkana the Bengali babes have ruled the silver screen in every decade. So here's to you girls!

Coming back to the recipe now, I an really surprised myself as to how well it came out. It is not difficult at all just a bit time consuming. My suggestion to all those who try it out is to make it at leisure when you have plenty of time on hand. Preferably when hubby and kids are out of the way.

Ingredients :
For the malai (or paneer balls):

1 lt cow milk,

1/4 cup lemon juice or ordinary vinegar,

6 cups water to cook the balls,

1 cup sugar,

1 tspn cardamom powder,

1 tray of ice cubes to be kept handy.

Ingredients for the flavoured milk:

1 can 400 gms evaporated milk,

750 ml whole milk,

15 tspns sugar,

1 tspn saffron soaked in a little warm milk,

1 tspn cardamom powder

Method for Malai balls:

1. Boil the milk in a heavy bottom pan.

2. Add to it the lemon juice when the milk begins to rise. This will instantly curdle the milk. As soon as the milk curdles switch off the gas and pour in the ice cubes to stop the cooking at once. Place a lid on the pan for a few minutes.

3. Remove the lid and strain the curdled milk through a clean muslin which is placed in a colander. Wash the paneer under running water to remove all the traces of the lemon juice.

4. Tie the ends of the muslin and hang the paneer for at least 1/2 hour so that all the water in it is completely drained out.

5. Meanwhile mix the evaporated milk and the whole milk and put on the heat to boil in a non-stick pan . Once it comes to a boil lower the heat to minimum and continue stirring the milk until it thicken just a little. This will take about 1/2 an hour. Continuous stirring is important or the milk might stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.

6.Once the milk thickens switch off the gas ,stir in the sugar , saffron and cardamom powder. Keep aside and let it cool a bit.

7. Before removing the paneer from the muslin give it a gentle knead through the muslin so that it comes out smooth in texture.

8. Now roll out small balls and flatten them slightly with your palm. Just like to see in the pic below. 1 litre of milk will make about 15 . Balls should not be too big as they do swell after they are cooked in the sugar and water syrup. 9. Boil the 6 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar in a large pan till sugar dissolves. The syrup should be kept boiling on a high flame when you drop the paneer balls in it. This is very important. If the lower the heat the balls will simply break in the water and disintegrate. Place a lid over the pan and let the paneer balls cook for 6 to 7 minutes on high flame.
10. They rise to the top and get fine cracks on the surface when they are completely cooked. To remove them first take a few ladles of the hot syrup in a bowl and then place the cooked balls from the pan into this bowl. They stay intact and firm when they are kept in liquid. Let them cool down a bit .

11. When you add the paneer balls to the flavoured sweet milk remember that the balls and the milk should both be lukewarm. Add the balls gently to the milk and place in the fridge to cool the dish thoroughly before serving. This dish is best made one day in advance. Before serving garnish generously with sliced almonds and pistachios for that special touch.

I really urge all of you to try this dish out at least once. It's just too delicious for words. I hope Meeta tries it out too. Knowing her, she will!

Posted by Anupama at 8:29 PM 15 comments Links to this post    

Labels: Indian Sweets, Milk, Paneer

Posted by Anupama at 9:26 PM 6 comments Links to this post    

Labels: Click

Yes I am finally ready to host my second food event . The last food event I hosted Fun in the Sun was a great hit and I had many of you ask me when I would host the next one. Well it's taken me almost a year to announce the next one but I am very happy to say that it's going to be a celebration of a food item that I love the most.


Yes it's The Sandwich . I love bread and am constantly looking for ideas to make different kinds of sandwich creations. They are great in lunch boxes and perfect food when you are on the go. They are also a healthy option when you are too tired to cook and whatsmore a sandwich is something that even husbands can make on their own without grumbling too much. So would you all like to share your sandwich ideas with me?



Use any kind of bread of your choice (white, wholemeal, granary, oatmeal, best of both, farmhouse, wholemeal baps, soft white rolls, subway rolls ,hotdog rolls or any kind of wraps). All breads are welcome. Let your imagination run wild with the filling be it vegetarian or non-vegetarian. Your sandwich could be toasted or untoasted, open or closed, single,double or triple decker. Be as creative as you can.



Festival is open to Bloggers and Non-bloggers. Send me your entries with photographs by 24th of May 2008 at anupama.puranik@gmail.com . Non-bloggers please do not hesitate to participate. Mail me your entries with or without photographs and each and every entry will be included . Please also include your name, name of your sandwich, your blogname and bloglink. In your posts feel free to use the picture above and link your post to this post on Food-n-More so that more and more people can participate.



I am waiting for your entries. Get slicing!!

Posted by Anupama at 1:38 PM 21 comments Links to this post    

Labels: special events

Whenever we go to the foodstore we have to stop at Whole Foods section. Hubby being a great fan of pumpkin and sunflower seeds ,it is neccessary to top up the supply of seeds in the pantry every 2 weeks at least. I am not much of a seed eater (read: I can't stand them) but I do occassionally like to eat dried berries and nuts in a combo. So while buying those a few weeks back I don't know why I picked up a packet of organic dry figs. I really don't know why I bought them because I never ever liked the stuff . I enjoy fresh figs but dried figs are a completely different story. It is as if it's a totally different fruit. But they were beautifully packed and the word "Organic" probably lured me into buying them.

Well after that they just lay in the pantry cupboard being moved this way and that way whenever I wanted to get something else from the cupboard. I put some in my son's lunch box but they came back half nibbled. I guess he takes after me where dry figs are concerned. Every few days I would just open the pack to see whether they were still in good condition or ready to be thrown away but surprisingly nothing happened to them. I kept saying to myself "You bought them , now do something with them." Than I remembered my mom saying that fig icecream and fig milkshake had to be made from dry figs as the fresh ones tasted bitter when blended.

Posted by Anupama at 11:51 AM 13 comments Links to this post    

Labels: Cool Drinks, Fruit, Milk, Milkshake