Rajasthani Mawa Malpua

Malpuas are one of the popular dessert in the North Indian states. There are quite a few different ways of making malpuas. These Rajasthani malpuas have mawa/ khoya in them and that makes them even more rich and delicious.

Malpuas are nothing but pancakes that are dipped in sugar syrup. They taste absolutely amazing when served with the instant rabri and they are sure to be an awesome treat for any sweet lover.

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Aam Doi (Bengali Mango-Yogurt Dessert)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines
Week 1: Bengali Cuisine
Day 1: A for Aam Doi - Bengali Mango-Yogurt Dessert
It's April 1st and it's time to start another edition of Mega marathon which means that the blogging marathon group is going to blog everyday (well almost, except for Sundays) in April. Our theme this time around is 'Journey through the Cuisines'. We will be posting recipes in alphabetical order from the cuisine/s we picked.

I am going to post recipes from 4 states (1 state/ week) and the first state is 'West Bengal'. Bengali cuisine is so vast and elaborate. I think of Bengalis as true foodies because food is part of their culture and their identity. Here's a lovely post by Ishitaunplugged about Bengali's passion for food.

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Malai Sandesh and a blog Anniversary

Blogging Marathon# 40: Week 3/ Day 3
Theme: Unused BM# 39 posts
Dish: Malai Sandesh

For the final day of this week's marathon, I made a simple, yet decadent dessert from West Bengal. When I jotting down dishes for Bengal, I was only thinking about sweets/ desserts since it was going to be the last day of the mega marathon and also Bengali dessert are to die for. I had about 4~5 desserts that I really wanted to try. After making Lobong Lathika and this Malai Sandesh, I still have couple more that I really really want to make some time soon.

Another reason for posting a sweet today is Cook's Hideout completed 8 years of blogging this month. After becoming a stay-at-home-mom, blogging and my blog buddies have become my real friends. Blogging gives me something to think about other than household chores and my virtual friends are always there to listen to anything. Big thanks to them for inspiring, motivating and encouraging me to keep blogging. Also thanks to my family for their complete support without which Cook's hideout would not even be possible.

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Sweet Pea Kheer

Blogging Marathon# 34: Week 3/ Day 3
Theme: Desserts with Vegetables
Dish: Sweet Pea Kheer

So for the final day of this week's BM# 34, I decided to make something different for 'Desserts with Vegetables'. I saw this sweet pea kheer on a Telugu cooking show and remember thinking to myself 'why would anyone use sweet peas to make kheer!!!!' But of course when Valli announced the themes, I knew I had to experiment with a vegetable that I have never used in desserts before, so here it is a kheer with sweet peas.

On the cooking show the kheer had a beautiful minty green color, but mine didn't turn out that color. I guess I didn't grind the sweet peas into a smooth enough paste to get that color.

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Carrot Kheer

As I was thinking of dishes to make with carrots, I realized that carrots are probably one of the very few vegetables that I eat in a dessert. I've seen a number of other vegetables being made into desserts like halwas with bottle gourd, green peas, etc, but I've never made them myself. May I should give them a try in the near future.

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ICC June - Pati Shapta

For this month's Indian Cooking Challenge (ICC), Valli chose a Bengali dessert usually made during the Sankranthi season. I have missed quite a few ICC challenges but when I saw this scrumptious dessert, I knew I had to make them.

I thought Pati Shapta were Indian version of French crepes that are filled with delicious coconut-khoya filling and drizzled with sweet syrup. They were easier to make than the French crepes and the filling was to die for. We thoroughly enjoyed these and the reheated leftovers taste just as good.

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Mishti Doi - Bengali Sweet Yogurt

For some reason when I think about Bengalis I picture them discussing about politics while eating their puris with something sweet over breakfast. I always thought Bengalis are food lovers and eat a lot of sweet dishes. I have no clue when and why this image formed in my mind. But after reading this wiki article, I probably did get my information from a reliable source.

Quoting from Wikipedia: “The Bengalis are great food lovers and take pride in their cuisine. A meal, for the Bengali, is a ritual in itself even if it only boiled rice and lentils (dal bhat), with of course a little fish. Bengalis, like the French, spend not only the great deal of time thinking about the food but also on its preparation and eating. Quips like “Bengalis live to eat” and “Bengalis spend most of their income on food” are not exactly exaggerated.” I’m not sure if this the norm even today, but this is how I like to think of them.

At the same time if I think of people from Andhra, I picture them talking about movies over a cup of tea or coffee, but never with real food. I don’t think food plays such an important role in our households, even though I wish it did, but I can't think of my dad going to the market everyday to get produce. My mom shudders even today when asked about the grocery shopping that my dad used to do more than 20 years ago. He would come back home with load full of veggies every week from his trip to monda market (Secunderabad) and to my mom's despair there was always at least 1-2 kilos of beets. Not the small dainty ones, but cricket ball size hard ones. My mom never liked beets and she would let them "almost" go bad before she cooked them. Then she completely took over grocery shopping when we moved into our house and the farmers market was at walking distance. I don't she ever buys beets now.. (Now that I think about it, I've to ask her to confirm).

I digress... Coming back to Bengali cuisine, a traditional Bengali meal is very elaborate with about 5-6 courses starting off with something bitter like shukto and ending with something sweet like this Mishti (sweet) Doi (yogurt).

I'm not sure how the mishti doi is made traditionally, but this recipe from Hare Krsna takes about 3-5 minutes of hands on time and is probably the easiest and yummiest dessert I've ever made after this one. The end result tasted like dulche de leche to me, but my yogurt-intolerant husband said he could taste the yogurt in it. I had to strongly disagree, but the good thing is I get to eat all the mishti doi that I made and I'm loving every spoonful of it.

Recipe makes 4 7oz. servings.

Ingredients:

Condensed milk - ½ of 12oz. can

Evaporated milk - ½ of 12oz. can

Yogurt - ½ cup or 4oz.

Elaichi powder (Cardamom) or milk masala - 1tsp

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 300°F.
• Blend both the milks and yogurt together with an immersion blender or in regular blender until frothy.
• You can either mix elaichi or milk masala into the milk mixture or sprinkle on the top like I did.
• Pour the mixture into individual 7oz. ramekins or a circular or oval baking dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes turn off the oven and leave the ramekins in the oven undisturbed overnight.
• Next morning take them out of the oven and put them in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours before serving.

Let's check out what my fellow marathoners have been cooking up today:
Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Priya Suresh, Srivalli, Usha
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Vardhini,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets: Harini, Suma, Veena
Seven Days of Regional Specials: Aarthi, Kalyani, Pavani, Shylaja
Summer Coolers: PJ, Vaishali
Under 15 mins Quick Breakfast: Sushma Pinjala