Ukadiche Modak

While I eat everything sweet, nothing compares to the pleasures of Ukadiche Modak! And nothing compares to those that my mom makes, weather in taste or aesthetics. Unfortunately, a busy schedule meant that they were made only on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. And we (mostly my dad and me) made sure we made the most of it! My Modak eating capabilities always amazed my mom, who worried about my everyday food intake. But that is a different story.

For now here is my mom's perfected recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 cup fine rice flour
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2 cups grated coconut
• 1 1/2 cups grated jaggery
• 1/4 cup raisins (optional)
• 2 tbsp ghee
  
• A pinch of salt
• 1 tsp cooking oil
• 1-2 finely grounded cardamom pods
  

Method
Ukad: According to my mom, making a perfect ukad is in getting the timing right. So make sure to have a clock nearby. Add salt and cooking oil to 1 1/4 cups water and bring it to boil . When it starts boiling add the rice flour and poke it so that water seeps up through those holes. Let it boil well for 3 minutes. Then turn off the heat and place a lid on the vessel. Let it stay for around 4 minutes. Then stir it well, so that all the water and flour are mixed well. Close the lid again and let it cool. When it has cooled enough to touch, knead the ukad so that there are no lumps. Use water (just enough to wet your hand) if necessary. Set aside the ukad. Letting the ukad sit for a couple of hours makes the modaks softer.

Saran: Heat ghee in a skillet and add cardamom to it. Then add the grated coconut and stir for a few minutes. Mix in the jaggery and raisins, and stir so as to make it dry. Make sure to stir the mixture so that it does not stick to the bottom of the skillet. The saran should not be very dry as it will tear the covering. A standard measure would be to let it dry till the spoon can stand straight in it.

Modak: Oil your palms slightly. Take a small ball of the ukad and flatten it out gently and evenly. For beginners it is not necessary to flatten it out real thin, as handling a thinner papadi takes practice and precision. The intent here is to make small bowls with petal-like pattern. For this pinch the sides of the flattened out ukad. Add a spoonful (or as per size) of saran to this and gently close the petals while retaining their shape, so that the resulting shape is like a whole garlic. (See picture above.) Keep the modak wrapped in a soft moist cloth. Repeat for the remainder of the ukad.

Now take a pressure cooker or steamer vessel and line it with a soft moist cloth (a handkerchief works well.) Place the modaks in such vessel and cover them with remainder of the cloth. Now take sufficient water in the cooker or steamer and place the vessel in it. Steam it covered (without the whistle) for 10 minutes to the clock.

Serve hot modaks with ghee and enjoy a meal worthy of Gods.

Fig n' Raisin muffin

As a kid I remember enjoying cupcakes (vati-cake) from the corner bakery. But over the years the quality reduced and it became a rarity in our house. However, the fascination for those soft and spongy no-fuss cupcakes continued. With continental changes, vocabulary changed and now those cupcakes have becomes muffins. So as I baked my first batch of muffins, childhood memories of that quick walk to the bakery with my dad, the excitement of finding a cupcake in the tiffin... came rushing back. And the fact that I was making them for a little girl made them even more special.

The recipe has been adapted from 'Food Network' to work with ingredients I already had, and the blueberries have been substituted with figs and raisins. This recipe makes eight muffins.

Ingredients2

• 3/4 of a stick unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/8 cup milk
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup fig puree or jam
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 8 muffin liners
  

Method

Soak 1/4 cup raisins in water. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar so that it is light and fluffy. If you are using fig jam you could reduce the amount of sugar to suit your taste. Now add one egg at a time and mix well. Then continue to mix in the sour cream and milk. After that sieve the flour, baking powder and salt. Add this to the wet ingredients. Make sure to mix it well so that no lumps remain. Now fold in the fig jam/puree. Also drain the raisins and fold them into the mixture gently. (You may choose to use other nuts or fresh fruits instead of the figs and raisins. They all taste equally amazing.)

Fill the muffin liners to the brink with batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown, or till a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Enjoy your delicious warm muffin with milk or coffee.

Mango Cheesecake

I believe if you are a summer baby away from home (India) during mango season, a mango delicacy on your birthday surpasses any other lavish celebration you could have. And so the mango cheesecake, decadent as decadent could ever be, was my husband's b'day gift this year. I adapted the recipe from the 'New York Times Dessert Cookbook by Nigella Lawson', and it was the best cake I ever baked.

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 pounds cream cheese
• 1 cups mango puree or 2 mangoes
  
• 1/2 cup fine sugar
• 1 tbps lime juice
• 1 9 inch crust (I used the pre-made crust available in stores, but you could make it at home)
• Icing and whipped cream for decorative purposes.
  

Method

Preheat oven at 325 degrees. Cut, peel and puree mangoes in a mixer or food processor. If mangoes are not readily, use canned puree. Since I am very picky about mangoes, I used the canned Alphonso mango puree you find in Indian grocery stores in the US. The flavor of the Alphonso makes the cake extra special. But you may choose to use any other type of mango.

Add the cream cheese to the puree and blend until smooth. I usually mix cake batter by hand, but it is necessary to use a mixer or food processor for this one due to the cream cheese that cannot be blended as well by hand. Once the cream cheese is smooth add the sugar and lime juice and blend further. Then add the eggs one at a time and mix it to a fine batter. The batter would not be as thick as regular cake batter, since we do not use any flour for this cake.

Pour the mixture in the crust and fill it up to the brim. This cake does not rise like a regular cake would, and sinks as it cools. Do not remove the aluminum foil around the crust since it is to be placed in a deep baking pan filled with hot water to about half way to the crust. Bake for about 50-55 minutes. Remove the cake from its water bath and let it cool completely. The cake will sink along the way. Once cooled, refrigerate it overnight or around 9-10 hours. The aluminum foil is easier to remove when the cake has been refrigerated.

You may use icing for decoration. I prefer not to. For well defined slices dip the knife in cold water before cutting. Serve the cake with some whipped cream on top and experience bliss.

Naralachi amba wadi

Mangoes are hard to come by in this part of the country, and there are times when you just crave for that divine taste of the Alphonso mango. So when we spotted a can of Alphonso mango pulp it was hard to resist. And from there began the quest to make the perfect Amba wadi. But then we could not find any khava, and making some at home even with (cow's) whole milk would have been difficult. Hence the improvised Naralachi Amba Wadi for those of us who want the taste, but cannot find all the ingredients.

Ingredients

• 2 cups mango pulp
• 2 cups grated coconut (as finely grated as possible)
  
• 1/4 cup condensed milk
  
• 1 small potato (mashed)
  
• 2-3 tbs ghee
• A pinch of cardamom
  

Method

Heat 2-3 tbs of ghee in a skillet and add a pinch of cardamom to it. Then add 2 cups of grated coconut and fry it for a minute. Add the mango pulp and condensed milk and mix it in well. The condensed milk gives the wadi a semblance of khava, and is an attempt to fool the senses. Now add the mashed potato and fold it in. The potato will act as a base to hold the wadi together which has a lot of liquid in the form of mango pulp. Since the mango pulp and condensed milk are usually sweetened, it is not necessary to add any more sugar to the wadi.

Keep stirring continuously on medium heat to keep it from sticking to the skillet and speeding the drying process. The mixture needs to be reduced until the spatula stands in it. You can feel the mixture getting heavier and difficult to stir as it thickens.

Now spread out the mixture on a greased cookie tray or plate. I like to line the tray with aluminium foil to avoid greasing, and also because it makes cleaning so much more easier. Spread out the mixture evenly while it is still warm and allow it to cool down completely before cutting. Cut the mixture into squares of your desired serving size. Always store the wadi in a fridge. The wadi, especially straight out of the fridge, makes an extremely satisfying snack or mini dessert.

Puran Poli

There are very few people who can resist piping hot Puranpoli with ghee. That incredible aroma is one of festivities, of happiness and memories. It is the smell of sheer bliss of being with your family, people you love. And when you are trying to create a home away from home, that smell can work wonders.

So it was about time I made the Puranpoli myself. The idea was scary at first considering that it had to match up to my mom's Puranpoli for me to be satisfied. And in spite of using the same recipe it isn't really the same. I guess it can never be!


Anyhow. The recipe is considerably time consuming and tiring, but totally worth it.

Ingredients

For the Puran

• 2 cups chana/harbara dal
• 4 1/2 cups water
  
• 2 cups jaggery
• 1/6 to 1/5 cup sugar
• A pinch of turmeric
• 1 tabelspoon oil
  
• Nutmeg for seasoning

For the covering

• 1 1/2 cups wheat flour
• 1/6 cup all purpose flour/maida
• A pinch of salt
• Oil
  

Method

Pressure cook 2 cups chana dal with 4 1/2 cups of water. Add a pinch of turmeric and oil while cooking it. Take 3-4 whistles or as many as are needed to cook the dal well. Strain the dal so that no water remains. Retain the water as it can be used to make katachi amti. Mash the dal to as fine a paste as possible. I do this as I do not have a puranyantra here, and the mixer does not do the job. The puranyantra is used after you have added the jaggery, but since it is difficult to get all the equipment outside of India I mash the dal and then knead it at the end too.

Now heat some ghee in a skillet and add the mashed dal to it. Also add the jaggery and sugar and stir continuously. Make sure that the mixture does not stick to the bottom as the burnt smell will spoil the desired aroma. Keep stirring till the Puran is dry and thick. Also add some nutmeg to it. Let the puran cool. Knead it upon cooling so that it does not have any hard parts in it. The puran has to be consistently soft, as any hard part can tear the covering.

For the covering mix the wheat and all purpose flour with water and oil. Knead the so that it is soft and almost sticky. Use oil generously when kneading the dough and let it rest for at least an hour. The more the dough rests the better.

When making the actual poli take a small portion of the dough and knead it again. Roll it out in a small circle. Take a bigger portion of the puran and close it inside the dough as if wrapping a ball. Close the dough so that the puran does not comes out from anywhere. Now roll out the ball gently into thin roti using rice flour. It is important to roll gently as the puran can come out due to excess pressure. It is common that the poli tears when we are new at it.

Heat a griddle and roast the puranpoli on medium flame until it is golden brown on both sides. Serve with ghee and experience bliss!

Sheera

If there was dish that my whole family loved, sheera would win hands down. It is a delicious quick fix to warm your winter evenings, sunday mornings or anytime you like.

Ingredients

• 2 cups rava/soji
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tablespoon ghee or oil
• A pinch of salt
  
• Some cardamon
  
• Raisins and/or cashews to garnish (optional)
  

Method

Heat ghee or oil in a skillet. Add some cardamom seeds and cashews to it and let it fry till light brown. Then add the rava and fry on low flame till it is light pinkish brown. Add a pinch of salt to it too. At the same time bring two cups of water and milk to boil together. You could add the raisins to the mixture, or add them to the sheera later.

Once the rava is light brown and the water-milk mixture is boiled, pour the mixture into the rava and stir continuously. Make sure that no lumps remain. Be careful while stirring the mixture as the boiling rava can jump out on your hand. Then add the sugar and continue to stir till the mixture starts drying up. Cover the skillet and let it steam on low flame for a minute. Serve the sheera with lemon pickel and a nice hot cup of tea.

Beet and Carrot Wadi

As you will realize a few posts down that I have a huge sweet-tooth. And so it was an obvious choice for me to inaugurate this blog with a 'wadi' that is simple, delicious and nutritious - the Beet and Carrot Wadi!

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups grated carrot
3 1/2 cups grated beetroot
1 mashed potato
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/4 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup whole milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons ghee
A few green cardamoms seeds

Method

Take two teaspoons of ghee in a skillet. Put in the cardamom seeds once the ghee is hot. Then add the grated coconut and stir it till it is a very light brown. Add the grated carrots and beet to the skillet and stir till they appear to be shrinking. Pour in the condensed milk, whole milk, and sugar and mix it well. Due to the inherent sweetness of the beet and carrots this recipe requires very little sugar as compared to many other sweets. You can further reduce the quantity of sugar from the suggested 1 1/4 cup to one cup according to taste.

When stirring make sure that the mixture does not stick to the pan. The burnt smell can spoil the smell and flavor of the wadi. After about 8-10 minutes add the mashed potato and mix it well. The potato is necessary to hold the mixture together. The mixture will now appear to be almost liquid and requires to be cooked until it is just about dry. The consistency of the mixture should be only a little dryer than the regular 'halwa'. During the entire process do not use a lid as it will slow down the evaporation process.

Now take a baking tray and grease it with ghee or oil. Then transfer the mixture to it and flatten it out evenly. Set it to cool. Once the wadi is completely cooled off and appears dry, cut it into squares and serve.