whatscookingmom.in

Bel Ka Sharbat

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Nidhi

Bel Patthar used in Bel Ka Sharbat is a fruit packed with nutrients. It has a very soothing and cool effect on stomach. It has lots of fibre so it is also good for digestion.

Though bel is not available all over India this drink is very popular in Rajasthan. There are street vendor selling bel juice on their moving carts. you can have it without adding anything but I like adding a little sugar to the sharbat so that even kids would finish it without any fuss. Its a very healthy drink and can be prepared very easily at home.

Bel has a strong flavor which once you develop the taste for it smells really great. If you have never tried it I would suggest you to go ahead and try it. Your stomach will thank you for this.

How to make Bel ka sharbat

preparation time: under 10 minutes
cooking time: no cooking involved
makes about 4-5 glasses

Ingredients:

1 bel
2-3 tbsp sugar ( This will depend on how ripe your bel is. less sugar needed for ripe bel)
1 litre water

To make Bel ka Sharbat

As you can see my hands are occupied my son came to my rescue and took all the process photos. Did I forget to mention he is only 11 years old. Isn’t he great

Break open the bel by hitting on floor.

Remove the hard crust.

Scoop out all the pulp from the bel with the help of a spoon.

Add a little water to the pulp.

Mash it with your hands so that all the pulp is dissolved in water.

Now strain the pulp through a seive. Add sugar and water. Mix well to dissolve the sugar. keep refrigerated for 2-3 hours. It tastes best when cool. serve chilled with ice.

Tweet This Post

Posted in Drinks, fruits, healthy, indian, quick and easy, Recipe | Tagged drinks, fruits, healthy, indian, mocktails, quick and easy | 5 Comments

Meethe Chawal

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Nidhi

Meethe Chawal are very easy to make and are a perfect dessert to go with any meal. Rice cooked with saffron, nuts, sugar and elaichi flavor and served hot… whats there to not like in this recipe.

I learned the recipe from my MIL many years ago. She used to prepare these on Sunday afternoons. Heavy breakfast on Sundays was often followed by a light lunch and meethe chawal.

I have tried the recipe after a very long time but my kids love it so I think now I will be making them quite often.

I have added a little turmeric with saffron strands for uniform yellow color. If you want you can skip turmeric and just use saffron strands.

I was in a hurry to take photos as my younger son was asking for these but you should wait for some time after switching off the flame and then serve these. Then each grain of rice will be separate. You can also leave them uncovered for some time and then shift in the serving bowl.

How to make Meethe Chawal
Soaking time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup Rice ( I use Daawat Basmati rice)
2 ½ cup water
2 tbsp Ghee
1/8 tsp turmeric ( Optional for uniform yellow color)
1 cup sugar ( My family likes it on sweet side. You can start with a little less quantity and then add according to your taste.)
few strands of saffron
¼ tsp cardamom/ elaichi powder
2 tbsp dessicated coconut powder ( Narial burada)
2 tbsp slivered almonds
1 tbsp raisins

To make Meethe Chawal
Wash the rice and soak in water for ½ hour.

Take a heavy bottomed pan and heat the ghee. Add turmeric in hot ghee. Add rice and 1 ½ cup of water to the pan cover and let it cook on low flame for some time.

In a bowl add rest of the water, sugar and saffron and mix so that all the sugar is dissolved.

When rice is almost cooked add the sugar mixture and raisins to the rice and cover again. Let it cook for 5 more minutes or until rice is fully done.

Spread slivered almonds and coconut powder on top, switch off the flame and leave them covered for some time. Do not mix rice at this stage. Wait for some time so that rice is set. If your rice seems too soft to serve leave them uncovered for 5 minutes.

Mix and serve hot.

Tweet This Post

Posted in indian, Indian Sweets, kids lunch box, quick and easy, Recipe, sweets | Tagged coconut, desserts, healthy, indian, meethe chawal, nuts, quick and easy, rice | 2 Comments

Raw Mango Panna

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Nidhi

Raw Mango Panna is the ultimate drink to survive summers. There are many options available. You can have thandai, bel juice, watermelon juice, shikanji, Mojitos but Panna is still my favorite among these. Made with raw mango it is sweet, sour and salty. This drink will tickle all your tastebuds leaving you refreshed and satisfied.

when I was studying in college I used to return home after 2 or3 o clock in summers. My mother would keep a jug of Panna or Thandai ready in fridge for me. Even now when I go to my parents house she prepares the panna in the morning (now she has to prepare 2 jugs as my kids love it as much as I doJ) so that we can have it whenever we feel like it. I think she makes the best Panna in the world. I have used her recipe for Panna.

Raw/Green Mango panna is not only tasty and refreshing but it is healthy also. As it is made with raw mangoes it is a good source of vitamin C. It also helps in heat stroke. Bhuna jeera powder added in Panna is good for digestion. Mint powder helps in keeping body cool. It is also extensively used in Raitas because of this property. Rock salt helps in controlling your blood pressure. It is considered better than regular table salt.

How to make Raw Mango Panna

Preparation time: 2-3 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Makes about 6 glasses

Ingredients:

2 raw green mangoes
1 cup sugar
salt to taste
a pinch black pepper powder (my mother adds this but I don’t as my younger son does not like it. You can use according to your preference)
½ tsp kaala namak (rock salt)
1 tsp bhuna jeera (roasted cumin powder)
½ tsp pudina powder( Mint powder made by grinding dry mint leaves)
water to dilute the Panna

to serve
ice
mint leaves

To make Raw Mango panna
Wash and peel the raw mangoes. Cut slices of mangoes and boil in water till they are soft. Or you can cook them in pressure cooker for 5 minutes (1 whistle on high and 2 on slow flame). Strain the pulp when it is cold enough to handle.

Add sugar, salt, black salt, bhuna jeera and pudina powder to the panna. Taste and adjust the spices as per your taste. Kaala namak, bhuna jeera and pudina powder add flavor to Panna and if possible do not skip them. Dilute it according to your taste.

Let it cool in fridge for 2-3 hours before serving.
Serve chilled with ice and mint leaves.

Tweet This Post

Posted in Drinks, fruits, healthy, indian, quick and easy, Recipe | Tagged aam ka panna, drinks, fruits, healthy, indian, kids, mango, mint, mocktails, panna, quick and easy, sweet and sour | 4 Comments

Rasgulla

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Nidhi

Rasgulla needs no introduction. It is one of the most popular Indian sweet especially in summers. Its cool rose water infused syrup gives instant relief to taste buds. It is also very healthy as it is made of milk.

When my elder son was around 2 years old he was very fond of rasgullas. So there used to be never ending supply of Rasgullas in summers for him. He used to call it Habulla I don’t know why. Whenever he would see any sweets shop he would start screaming Habulla Habulla and we had to buy these for him. I wish I knew this recipe at that time. Could have saved me a lot of trouble.

I have adapted the recipe from the book http://www.momsindiancooking.com/. 3-4 months back I had the pleasure of meeting her. She is wife of my father in law’s college friend. What a gracious lady she is. We all were in awe of her. She gifted this book to us.

I immediately shortlisted recipes I wanted to try from the book. But I fractured my hand and was not able to cook for some time. Now I have full plans to try out more recipes from the book as this one has turned out so well. I gave this rasgulla recipe to my friend and now she is also vouching for this recipe.

The rasgullas were very spongy and soft. I have used buffalo’s milk but next time I will try these with cow’s milk as their rasgulla’s are softer.

How to make Rasgulla

Adapted from : Cook Book – From Mom with love by Mrs. Pushpa bhargava (You can visit her site www.momsindiancooking.com)

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes + 15 minutes
Makes about 15 Rasgullas

Ingredients:
1 ½ litre milk
1 lemon
4 cups water
1 ½ cup sugar
1 tbsp rose water

For garnish:

Pistachio slivers
a few strands of saffron

To make Rasgulla
First of all we have to make chenna. Boil milk and when it comes to boil add juice of 1 lemon. Milk will start curdling and whey will separate. Strain the curdled milk in cheesecloth placed in a strainer. Keep a bowl under strainer to collect the whey.
Don’t throw this whey as it is very nutritious. You can use this to prepare dough or add in gravies.
The original recipe suggests keeping it aside for 3 hours but as I am an impatient person I waited for only ½ an hour till all the whey was drained completely.
Now you can either blend it in your blender for ½ minute or use your hands to make a fine mixture. I used to press these with hands to make sandesh (as you can see in my sandesh with Nutella recipe) which took some time and effort. But after reading this recipe I have just started using my blender. Much easier and less time consuming.

Make balls. Number of balls will depend on the size. I got around 15 balls.
Take a wide bottomed pan. Boil water on high heat. When it starts boiling add sugar and dissolve it completely. Add balls to the water and let it boil covered on high for 5 minutes. Balls will be double in size now. Turn the flame to medium and let them cook covered for another 15 minutes. Turn off the flame and add rose water.

let it stand for some time to cool down. Serve cold . Garnish with pistachio slivers and saffron strands.

Tweet This Post

Posted in healthy, indian, Indian Sweets, milk, quick and easy, Recipe, sweets | Tagged bengali sweets, desserts, healthy, indian, kids, milk, milk dessert, quick and easy, rasgulla, sweets | Leave a comment

Boondi Ladoo

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Nidhi

Boondi Ladoo is an amazing sweet made with sweet boondis. It is very popular especially in kids. The size of boondis may vary in the ladoos. And I love all of them. Even now when I go to my parents house my father always keep a regular supply of these fresh boondis for us.
Laddos are made by adding just a little ghee ( 1 tbsp only) to sweet boondi. Yeah you heard me right. No, there is no typing error. It really is 1 tsp.

I never realized making these ladoos could be so easy. Yesterday I was watching some cooking show and they were making boondis in that. And I was so hooked that first thing today I started searching for a good recipe. I found the perfect recipe on this site.
Initially I wanted to make sweet boondi but when I realized ladoos were so easy I decided to make ladoos. So much easier to serve, right .

How to make Boondi Ladoo

Adapted from: Homecooksrecipe.com (To learn step by step method you should visit this site. She has explained the process in detail with photos.)

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20-25 minutes
makes around 18 Ladoos (depending on size)

ingredients:

For sweet boondi

1 cup besan/ gram flour
¾-1 cup water
oil for deep frying

For sugar syrup
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
¼ tsp cardamom /elaichi powder
few strands of Saffron /kesar dissolved in 2 tbsp of water

To make Ladoo
1 tbsp Ghee /clarified butter
dry fruits of your choice (I have not added any dry fruits because my younger son does not like them in Ladoos. But if you like you can add almonds, pistachio slivers, magaz (melon seeds) or raisins.)

To make Boondi Ladoo

Seive Besan and mix with water. Start by adding ½ cup and then gradually increase the amount to reach the desired consistency. It should be pourable but not very dilute. I added almost 1 cup water. Keep aside for 10 minutes.

You can prepare the sugar syrup in the meantime. In a pan put sugar and water to boil. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the flame to medium and cook till the sugar syrup reaches single string consistency. It will take around 7-8 minutes. Add Saffron mixture and cardamom powder to the sugar syrup.

Get all the utensils ready. Heat oil in a kadai. Check it is hot or not by adding a single drop of besan mixture. If the drop sinks, oil is not ready and if it starts floating on oil, oil is ready. I used my left hand to hold the perforated spoon and right hand to pour the besan mixture. Take a ladle full of besan mixture and start pouring over a large round perforated spoon ( Jharni) so that boondis start falling in the oil. One ladle is enough at a time. Turn the flame to low immediately and fry the boondis. It should take around 1 minute.

Remove the boondis from oil using another jharni and put them in the warm sugar syrup. Mix well. Wash the jharni used for pouring boondi after every batch and wipe dry with the help of cloth /paper towel (So that its holes do not become clogged). Repeat the same process to make more batches of boondi.

When all the boondis are ready and mixed in the sugar syrup add ghee to it. Warm it a little bit if sugar has crystallized. Wait till the mixture is ready to be handled (it should still be a little warm for shaping Ladoos). Shape into balls with your hands. I made a small size so I got around 18 Ladoos. Store them in an air tight container.

Your kids will thank you for these. Mine did

Tweet This Post

Posted in indian, Indian Sweets, kids lunch box, Recipe, sweets | Tagged besan, desserts, gram flour, indian, laddoo, laddu, ladoo, sweets | 4 Comments

Virgin Orange Mojito

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Nidhi

Virgin Orange Mojito is like taking regular Virgin Mojito to the next level. It is quite similar to virgin Mojito. I have just added some fresh Orange juice to it.

As this is the orange season, fresh Orange juice is quite popular in our house these days. You can use packed juice also for this drink but nothing can beat the taste of fresh oranges. Oranges are so sweet these days that we do not add any sugar to the fresh juice.

This is the best thing about the month of April. You can enjoy fruits of winters like grapes, oranges and summer fruits like mangoes, watermelons at the same time.

This is the other best thing about April. My balcony is full of these pretty flowers.

I have been thinking of posting some recipes with oranges for quite some time. So after Virgin Sangria I am here with Virgin Orange Mojito. A juicy tasty mocktail with the nutritional benefits of oranges.

How to make Virgin Orange Mojito

Preparation time: 5 minutes
No cooking required
makes 1 glass Virgin Orange Mojito

ingredients:
1 tbsp sugar
Juice of ½ lemon
5-6 fresh mint leaves
1 slice of Orange cut into small wedges with peel
Juice of 2 Oranges
Ice cubes as desired
100 ml Sprite or club soda
Orange wedges to garnish

To make Virgin Orange Mojito
In a tall glass put sugar and lemon juice and mix them.

Now add mint leaves and Orange wedges.

Crush with the help of back of a spoon or muddler so that the flavor and juices of oranges and mint leaves is released to the drink. Leave the crushed Orange wedges in the glass.

Fill half of the the glass with Orange juice.

Add ice and top up with Sprite or soda and mix well. Garnish with Orange slices and mint leaves. Serve chilled.

Tweet This Post

Posted in Drinks, fruits, healthy, Recipe | Tagged alcohol free, drinks, fruits, healthy, juice, mint, mocktails, oranges, quick and easy | Leave a comment

Posters for cricket match

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Nidhi

Hi friends. Sorry for posting after such a long time. But this time ( at least) it is not my fault. As there was some problem with word press earlier and then my computer, I was not able to post. Today I am sharing with you some of the posters we made for IPL cricket match.

I am not a big fan of cricket but kids were super excited to watch a match in stadium. Though I have to admit that the experience of watching cricket match in stadium is quite different from that at home. The excitement there was infectious. Every body was cheering loudly for their teams. We went there with friends which added to the fun.

Kids made lots of posters but in our excitement we forgot to take photos. These are the only ones that came back from the stadium. These posters are super easy to make. you just need some poster papers, crayons or water colors, markers and glitter tapes. Let your imagination run wild.

Needless to say our team won the match.

Tweet This Post

Posted in Craft activity, Kids, Kids Activity | Leave a comment

Besan Barfi

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Nidhi

Besan Barfi/burfi or Gram flour fudge is one of the traditional sweets of India. Besan dishes are quite popular in Rajasthan and these Barfis are served in festivals and marriage celebrations. These are quite similar to besan halwa or besan ladoo in taste.

There are many ways of making Besan Barfi/Burfi. There is Mohan Thaal which is quite an elaborate method and very famous one. You can also prepare barfi by using sugar syrup but sugar syrup has to be of right string consistency or the barfi will not set.

This method which I have used is very simple and fool proof. There is very little chance of going wrong with this recipe. You just have to be careful while cooking Besan. Do most of the cooking on medium to low flame and you cannot leave it unattended at all. You have to keep stirring it continuously. This Barfi does take some effort but believe me it is worth it.

How to make Besan Barfi

Preparation time: 5 minutes
cooking time: 30-35 minutes
makes around 30 pieces depending on the size you cut

Ingredients:
2 cups besan( Gram flour)
½ cup ghee( Clarified Butter)
1 ½ -2 cups powdered sugar
½ tsp powdered elaichi ( cardamom) powder

Almonds and Pistachio

To make Besan Barfi:

In a non stick pan melt ghee. Add besan and keep stirring. After 1 minute turn the flame to low and keep on stirring till besan changes color. Took me around 30 minutes but the time can vary so keep an eye on the color and smell of the besan. You have to keep on stirring continuously otherwise Besan will not uniform in color.
After besan has changed its color and its raw smell is gone, add sugar and elaichi powder. First add 1 ½ cup of sugar and add remaining only after tasting it. Mine was a little on sweet side as everybody in our family like it that way.
But please do not taste it direct from the pan like I did and burnt my tongueL. Mix thoroughly and switch off the flame.

Grease the tray in which you want to set barfi with a little ghee. Spread the mixture in tray while it is still hot. Decorate with almond and pistachio.
Leave the tray to set. I put my Barfi in fridge for 1 hour to speed up the setting process and to hide it from kids. But when I took it out it was a little hard and softened after leaving at room temperature for some time.
Once Besan Barfi is set, cut into desired shape. There is no need to keep it in fridge.

Tweet This Post

Posted in indian, Indian Sweets, Recipe, sweets | Tagged barfi, besan, burfi, desserts, fudge, gram flour, indian, sweets | 6 Comments

Coconut Ladoo

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Nidhi

Happy Holi to all my readers and friends!!!

Holi is the festival of colors. It is a day filled with color, laughter, fun and lots of sweets. It is probably one of kids favorite festival. They would leave the house in the morning armed with their gulal (colors), water filled baloons and pichkaris and roam the streets with their friends to play holi. We have shifted to dry holi, we do not play holi with water now.

I was a little busy with household works and had only one day i.e. today left to cook. So I decided to prepare sweets that can be made quickly. Coconut Ladoo is the first thing that came to my mind as I had some desiccated coconut in my fridge and an unopened tin of milkmaid which my kids have been eyeing greedily for quite some time.

Coconut Ladoo made with milkmaid is probably the easiest, quickest and simplest dessert to make at home. I can add a lot more est to the description. If you are in a hurry (like I am always) then this is the dessert for you.

These Ladoos hardly takes 15 minutes from start to finish. A perfect dish to make at the last minute. These ladoos are so simple that they were taught to us in school in cooking class. There are only two main ingredients and you can involve your kids also. They would love to roll the ladoos in coconut powder.
Since I still have a lot of sweets and savories to cook I would leave now . I wish rest of the things could also be so simple. I will be making besan ki barfi (I will post recipe later on), mathri, chiwda and sandesh.

How to make Coconut Ladoo

Preparation time: 5 minutes
cooking time: 5 minutes
makes around 20 ladoos

Ingredients:

250 grams desiccated coconut powder

300 gms Milkmaid ( I have used 400 gms tin of milkmaid. The remaining 100 gms was reward for making these ladoos which my kids and I fought over J )
¼ tsp elaichi (cardamom) powder

To make Coconut Ladoo
Keep aside ½ cup of coconut powder for rolling the Ladoos. Add remaining desiccated coconut and milkmaid to a non stick pan.

Cook on low flame for 5 minutes. Coconut mixture will start leaving sides of the pan. Switch off the gas.
Add the Cardamom powder. Mix well and shape into round balls while it is still warm.
Roll into coconut powder.
Store in an air tight container in refrigerator.

Tweet This Post

Posted in healthy, indian, Indian Sweets, milk, quick and easy, Recipe, sweets | Tagged coconut, desserts, healthy, indian, milk, milkmaid, quick and easy | 2 Comments

Virgin Sangria

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Nidhi

Virgin Sangria is a very popular mocktail made with fruit juices (grapes, pomegranate and oranges) and pieces of fruits with peels in it. Peels add slight bitter/unique taste to the sangria.

I had tasted Virgin Sangria a long time back and have been planning to make it for quite some time. I saw this recipe on A sweet pea chef blog and it looked very simple and tempting. Virgin Sangria is also very healthy as it has fresh fruit juices and fruits in it. March is the best month to enjoy Grapes and Oranges in India. There is no better recipe to enjoy grapes and Oranges than Virgin Sangria.

This is my new automatic fruit juicer. Now let me explain how this manual fruit juicer is automatic. When we bought it last year the shop keeper said that using it is so easy that your kids will be fighting to use it. I bought it immediately needless to say (though he forgot to mention the husband). And I am proud to say that it was one of the smartest moves, on my part . All the juices for this Virgin Sangria recipe have been prepared by my 11 year old son.

As Virgin Sangria can be prepared in advance, it is an ideal drink for parties and festivals. It is a perfect drink to serve your guests this Holi as weather is getting really hot and after playing Holi this colorful vibrant drink would make the celebration complete.

Cute aren’t they?

How to make Virgin Sangria

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
No cooking required
makes around 8 glasses
Recipe adapted from: A sweet pea chef

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh black Grapes juice
1 cup fresh Pomegranate juice
1 cup fresh Orange juice
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp Sugar
1 Apple
1 Lemon
1 Orange
200 ml Sprite/Soda

To make Virgin Sangria

Mix all the juices, lemon juice and sugar. Mix thoroughly. You can taste and adjust sugar and lemon according to your taste.
Cut Apple into small pieces with peel. Slice Lemon and Oranges into thin rounds with peel. Add chopped fruits to the Virgin Sangria.
Refrigerate for minimum 2-3 hours for all the flavors to blend. Add ice and sprite/soda just before serving.