Gulab Jamoon

Blogging Marathon as the name says this month it’s going to be a great non stop marathon as usual for each week there will be a theme. Our leader srivalli selected wonderful topics for this month BM. For first week the given theme was Occasions, it can be wedding, birthday, anniversary etc. I have chosen wedding, now a days our traditional wedding menus are changed a lot in our place. This theme gave a new experience and I explored lot about our Indian wedding.

Coming to my today’s recipe, this is one of the main sweet dishes in Gujarathi weddings. Gulab Jamoon small milk balls deep fried and soaked in sugar syrup. I have tried instant once but this is first time tried from scratch and learnt what to do and not.

Ingredients:

Milk powder	1 cup
Maida	3 Tbsp
Butter	3 Tbsp
Milk (room temperature)	¼ Cup
Salt	a pinch
Baking soda	¼ tsp
Vinegar	1 tsp
For Syrup:
Sugar	2 cups
Water	2 cups
Cardamom powder	¼ tsp
Rose water	Few drops
Yeilds : 20 pieces

 

Directions:

1. In a medium size mixing bowl add milk powder, salt, vinegar and baking soda mix well.
2. Add butter little by little and mix well (rub using both the hands) it should blend well.
3. Finally add half of the milk and mix well again add remaining milk and mix well (use your fingers only). Dough will be sticky allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
4. Mean time add sugar and water in a large sauce pan and start to cook keep stirring until sugar dissolves, cook 6-9 minutes after it starts to boil (totally cooking time will be 10- 15 minutes) when you touch it should be sticky (use index and thumb for testing).
5. Finally add cardamom powder and turn off the stove and add few drops of rose water.
6. After resting time, dough will turn stiff grease your hand with butter and start to work with the dough divide the dough to 20 equal parts and make small balls.
7. Heat oil in a frying pan, add 4-5 balls and keep stirring the oil without touching the balls. It will take 7 minutes to cook.
8. Once jamoons cooked remove from oil and drain the excess oil and allow it to cool (3-4 minutes). Add to the sugar syrup let it soak for 2-3 hours. Can be stored in air tight container for 3 days in room temperature or in refrigerator for 10 days bring to room temperature before serving.

 

Tips:

• How to check the oil?
• Make a small ball using 2 pinches of dough drop that in oil it should sit in the bottom for couple minutes and then it should start to come up slowly and should take almost 5-7 minutes to cook or 3-4 minutes to turn light brown.
• If your ball comes up fast and turns brown your oil is too hot, reduce the heat and add some more oil to reduce the temperature.
• Better to check oil temperature before you add each batch.
• The jamoon will almost double in size after fried so prepare accordingly. When making balls, if the dough doesn’t bind add 1 tsp of milk and try. There should not be any crack in balls when adding in oil. If there are cracks then balls will break.
• Sugar syrup should be warm when adding your fried jamoon but don’t reheat after you prepared. Better start to prepare when you’re making balls.
• For best result prepare a day ahead of your need.

Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#27

Eggless Dinner Rolls

This is my second challenge for Baking Eggless Group, this month its dinner rolls. These dinner rolls turned soft and appetizing one. I tried with different fillings the best turned was nuttella.

Ingredients:

Warm Water	⅓ cup
Active dry yeast	2 ¼ tsp or 1 ¼ oz envolope
Sugar	⅓ cup
Milk	1 ⅓ cup
Butter (room temperature)	¾ cup
Powdered flax seeds	1 Tbsp
Water	3 Tbsp
Salt	1 ½ tsp
All purpose flour	4 ½ cups
Yeilds: 2 Dozens

 

Directions:

 

In warm water add yeast and sprinkle ¼ tsp sugar on top and give a gentle stir then let it rest for 15 minutes until it’s foamy.

 

In an electric stand mixing bowl add this yeast mixture, sugar, warm milk, 5 Tbsp butter and salt and whisk them for 1 minute. In a separate bowl mix flax seeds and 3 Tbsp of water add this to mixing bowl and continue to whisk for another one minute. Add 2 cups of flour and whisk until it blends well.

 

Now switch to dough hook and slowly remaining flour and knead well for 4-5 minutes until smooth and elastic dough.

Grease a large bowl and place the dough covered with a plastic wrap.

 

Allow it to rise in warm place, until double in size about 1 ½ hours.

 

 

Punch the dough and divide it to two equal parts. Take one portion make smooth ball and roll it on a clean surface (use flour for dusting) to a 13 inch circle with ¼ inch thickness.

Spread 2 Tbsp of butter on the circle and divide that to 12 wedges (use pizza cutter for this just and divide like cutting pizza).

 

 

Spread 1 tsp nuttela on each wedge and roll, beginning on wide edge, as shown in picture.

 

Transfer the rolled one to greased backing tray, continue same for remaining wedges. Cover this using a cling wrap, and allow it to rise until it doubles again.

 

Preheat the oven for 375 degrees and bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with 3 Tbsp of butter and allow it to cool.

 

 

 

 

Pineapple Smoothie

Finally we got few signs of spring, as the season changes our food also changes, yep after couple hours of cleaning we all need smoothing to drink. Tried this pineapple smoothie it tastes great with coconut milk. Don’t substitute coconut milk, with milk (milk will curdle)and sugar is optional.
This is my first post for Show Your Style to the World Series conducted by Viji.

Ingredients:

Pineapple (cubed)	1 cup
Banana (sliced)	¾ cup
Sugar (optional)	2 Tbsp
Coconut milk (thick)	½ cup
Crushed ice	1 cup

 

Directions:

Add all the ingredients in blender and blend until everything mix well.

You can add more ice if you need a running consistency.

 

 

Sharing to:

 

 

Vangi Bhath / Eggplant Rice

Brinjal is one of my favorite vegetable, but after coming to US I miss our Indian bringal a lot, here we get only BT bringal, for some reason I don’t like that. Last week when I was shopping found young and tender BT bringal, I was pulled to that and grabbed one. Tried this Vangi Bhath and fell in love with this bringal also.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice	1 cup
Brinjal/ Eggplant	200 gms
Cashew nuts	1 Tbsp
Curry leaves	few
Lemon	1 small
Asafetida powder	a pinch
Ghee	1 Tbsp (optional)
Oil	2 Tbsp
Bay leaf	1-2
Cinnamon	½ inch
Salt	as per taste
Spice Powder
Red chili	3-4
Coriander seeds	¾ Tbsp
Split channa dhal / Bengal gram dhal	¾ Tbsp
Urad dhal	2 tsp
Coconut	4 Tbsp

 

Directions:

1. Soak rice for 10 minutes and cook by adding salt and one teaspoon of ghee.
2. Heat another teaspoon of ghee and fry all the ingredients except coconut until light brown finally add coconut fry for few seconds and turn off the stove.
3. Cool and grind to course powder.
4. Cut the brinjal length wise and soak in water with ¼ teaspoon salt until you needed.
5. Heat oil in a pan, fry bay leaf, cinnamon, peanut and cashew nut add brinjal after squeezing the water add salt and cook until brinjal is nicely cooked.
6. Spread the cooked rice in a wide mixing bowl and allow it to cool, now add cooked brinjal and spice powder squeeze the lemon juice and mix well Vangi Bath is ready enjoy with riata or chips.

Note:

You can increase red chili according to your taste, according to your taste you can increase the spice powder; always use the free ground powder.

 

 

Kathirikkai Baji / Aubergine (Eggplant) Fritters

Baji is one of the famous deep fried snacks in Tamil Nadu. Actually when we by this in shop we use to place this baji in between paper and squeeze the excess oil, I remember a comedy related to this. We can use different vegetable for this plantain, chili and onion are most famous for this type of Baji’s, and this will be a quick snack if we are having a craving for deep fried foods. Last week, same thing happened for me due to this weather, and ended up with this crispy eggplant baji, this is the first time I tried with eggplant.

Ingredients:

Chinese eggplant	1
Besan flour (Kadalai Mavu)	1 cup
Rice flour	2 -3 Tbsp
Chili powder	2 tsp
Baking soda	a pinch
Salt	as per taste
Oil	for deep fry

 

Directions:

1. Heat oil for deep fry, sieve both flour together, add salt chili powder and mix well. Add water little by little and mix well consistency should be like idli batter.
2. Finally add backing soda and mix well, cut the egg plant to small disc, dip in batter and fry in hot oil until golden brown.
3. Serve hot with any chutney.

Tips:

• Cut the egg plant just before you dip in the batter or else it will turn brown.
• Instead of baking soda and rice flour you can add dosa batter 2 Tbsp.
• If your batter is watery it will take lot of oil.

 

Sharing to: Nupur's Event, Kid's Delight Event

 

 

 

 

Kulfi

Kulfi is one of the kid’s favorite street foods. During my school days for vacation, we use to visit our grand parents place, there will be 12- 15 kids, we use to call Ice cream person and stop him in front of our house for half an hour. Hope you can imagine in a small village if he sells a lot in short time what will happen he use to come every day and ring the bell. Even though it’s not Kulfi, when I planned to make this kulfi, my kid’s behavior remained me those wonderful days.

This is my last post for this month Blogging Marathon; I ended up last two weeks with a dessert thought of doing the same for this week too. There comes Kulfi idea, Kulfi must be served semi frozen and not soft like ice cream.

Ingredients:

Milk	4 cups
Sugar	½ cup
Crushed almonds	1 ½ Tbsp
Pista crushed	1 ½ Tbsp
Heavy cream	½ cup
Rose water	¼ tsp
Cardamom powder	¼ tsp
Yields: 8-10

 

Directions:

1. Bring milk to boil in a heavy bottomed vessel, when it’s reduced to 3 cups.
2. Put sugar in a bowl add ½ cup of hot milk and stir until smooth. Add this mixture to boiling milk.
3. Continue to cook on low flame until thick and creamy or until it’s reduced to 1 ½ cups.
4. Add the crushed nuts and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
5. Whip the cream in a large bowl until smooth and thick but not stiff, then mix the cream, rose water, cardamom powder to the reduced milk.
6. Pour into cone shaped container or kulfi molds; freeze for 10 hours or until set.
7. To serve, hold the cones under tape water for couple minutes remove the lid and run a sharp knife around the edges and slip out the kulfi gentle.

 

Sharing to: Kid's Delight Event

 

Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#26