Wheat Payasam (Kerala Style)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 4: Kerala Cuisine 
Day 23: W for Wheat Payasam

I went straight to Rajani's blog for today's letter. She did an A-Z Kerala Sadya recipes for one of the previous mega marathons and I knew she will have the perfect dish with the letter W. Rajani didn't disappoint me, this Wheat payasam, Kerala style with coconut milk was so decadent and delicious.

This payasam is made with cracked wheat or broken wheat, sweetened with jaggery and simmered in coconut milk. I used fine bulgur wheat and it worked just perfect for this recipe.

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Kesar Shrikhand

I would never have imagined myself eating a savory dish with a sweet side. So when we were served Shrikhand with Pooris and Oondhiyu at our Gujarati friend's house, I was almost reluctant to take the plunge. But I took their word for it and tried it anyway. It was a really good combo, not at all like what I was imagining it to be.

So when I planned this Oondhiyu meal, I had to make the Shrikhand too to make it more like the traditional Gujarati way of serving the dish. Good thing is that it takes just a few minutes to make Shrikhand if you are using Greek yogurt, but if you are using regular yogurt, then make sure to place the yogurt in a cheese cloth for a few hours to remove as much excess liquid from it as possible.

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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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Instant Rabdi with Malpua (Rajasthani Rabri Malpua)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 
Week 2: Rajasthani Cuisine 
Day 9: I for Instant Rabri with Rajasthani Mawa Malpua
We are starting a new week in a new state today. After all the yummy Bengali dishes from last week I am going on a culinary journey through the desert state of Rajasthan. Again I have a sweet dish to start the week -- Instant Rabdi (Rabri) with Mawa Malpua.

Letter 'I' seemed a little difficult to find recipes for and after looking around the internet, I decided to make 'Imarti', a cousin of jalebi aka jhangri (in the Southern states). It is quite commonly made all over the country and technically cannot be associated with Rajasthan, but I took the plunge and finalized it for 'I'. I watched a few videos and I was confident that I had it all figured out. I set out an afternoon making the Imarti, but unfortunately (sob.. sob..) my imarti were epic failure. They were not juicy and sweet -- instead they were rubbery and sugar crusted :-(

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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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Godhuma Rava Pongali

Blogging Marathon# 60: Week 1/ Day 3

Theme: Festival of the month Recipes

Dish: Godhuma Rava Pongali
I have another sweet dish for the last day of this week's marathon. Sweet pongali or Shakkara pongali is traditionally made for Sankranthi. Coincidentally in Tamil Nadu, sankranthi is called pongal which is also the name of a rice & lentil based dish.

My sweet pongal slightly deviates from the traditional dish because I used godhuma rawa/ wheat rawa/ cracked wheat instead of rice. I think fine bulgur will be a good substitute for cracked wheat. Other than change in the grain everything else remains the same as the rice based version.

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Rajgira-Red Poha Kheer (Vegan recipe)

Today is second friday in Sravan masam when 'Varalakshmi Vratam' is performed. I did my pooja too today, thanks to my mom for her help :-)

This kheer or payasam recipe is from a Telugu cooking show, it is very healthy with no refined ingredients. This kheer is made with rajgira or amaranth grains, red poha and jaggery.

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Parsi Falooda

Blogging Marathon# 52: Week 1/ Day 3

Theme: Parsi Dishes

Dish: Parsi Falooda
For the final day of this week's 'Parsi Dishes' I made this colorful dessert drink called Falooda. I wanted to make Parsi mawa cakes, but after all the sweet bakes from last month's marathon, I didn't want anymore extra calories. So the mawa cakes will have to wait for some time later.

Instead I made this rich and delicious Falooda drink. I had falooda bookmarked to make for a very loooong time and finally got a chance to make it. I didn't really know Falooda was a Parsi dish until I started looking for Parsi dessert recipes. It is an Iranian cold dessert drink called faloodeh, consisting of thin vermicelli noodles mixed in a semi-frozen syrup made from sugar and rose water.

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Purnam Boorelu

I kept away from making traditional Indian dishes for a long time, but recently I've realized that it is important to learn our traditional dishes, not just for me, but more for the kids. I want them to know more about our traditions and our dishes too. So I've started bugging my mom to help me out with the recipes.

I made these purnam boorelu for Ugadi last week. Purnam boorelu are very common during festivals, and weddings. I have always shied away from making these because making the purnam is a little tricky. I made a few years ago and they were a colossal failure because the poornam completely disintegrated when I dipped them into the outer cover batter. My mom makes Poli boorelu that are made in a slightly different way and are more fool-proof.

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Balehannu Halwa (Coconut - Banana Halwa)

This is the final dish I made for Sankranthi. The actual festival was very low key, but we are heading to our cousin's place this weekend for some belated celebrations. My cousin puts up a beautiful golu and she also celebrates 'bhogi pallu' for the kids.
As I was thinking of what to bring, I found this interesting halwa with coconut and banana in 'Vegetarian Cookbook of India' cookbook by Mridula Baljekar. I had bananas that needed to be used up before leaving for the weekend, so this was a perfect recipe to make good use of them.

Also the recipe uses dry grated coconut cooked in some whole milk to give the texture of fresh coconut. Finding good fresh coconut is a little difficult here, but I always have dry grated coconut in my fridge, so this is a very convenient recipe to make for me.

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Mixed Fruit Shrikhand

Here's something different from all the different baking and kid friendly dishes I have been posting all week. A deliciously creamy Indian dessert made with yogurt and flavored with saffron and served with some fruit.
I was never a big fan of Shrikhand growing up and don't remember eating it many times. Even after started liking it, I've never made it at home because straining the yogurt seemed to be a big step and also I didn't want my yogurt-hating husband to find some strange contraption in the fridge and chuck it without telling me (I have done something similar to his stuff, so I'm sure he's probably waiting to take revenge). But once I discovered Greek yogurt, it is now a life changer.

I love Chobani Greek yogurt and buy the plain, either non-fat or 2% quite often. I make salad dressings, raitas and if I am really feeling indulgent then this strawberry shrikhand or this frozen yogurt.

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Rajasthani Badam Halwa (Almond Pudding for ICC)

For this month's Indian Cooking Challenge, Valli gave us Vaishali's recipe for Badam Halwa/ Almond Pudding. My mom makes awesome badam burfi, but I have never tried badam halwa before, so I really wanted to make it before the deadline. I knew I had some whole almonds in the freezer and this is a great recipe to use them up before I go buying for more. Holiday season is a great time to stock up on nuts, flour & sugar since many of the stores have them on deep discounts. So if you have the pantry space, then this is the right time to go shopping for dessert & baking staples :-)

Sorry, I digressed. Coming back to this amazingly delicious badam halwa. Recipe had clear instructions to use non-stick pan to avoid sticking, so I used by brand new ceramic coated pan that I bought from India and it worked like a charm.

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Carrot Poli (Bobbatlu/ Puran Poli with Carrot Halwa Filling)

Blogging Marathon# 45: Week 1/ Day 3
Theme: Diwal Festival Specials
Dish: Carrot Poli (Bobbatlu/ Puran Poli with Carrot Halwa Filling) 

For today's Diwali special, I have a recipe that I bookmarked ages ago from Harini's blog. These carrot polis have tempted me the minute I saw them, but it took me more than 2 years to make them. But it's better late than never -- right??

My husband is a big carrot halwa fan. My MIL makes the most delicious carrot halwa with fresh khoya and the red gajar that is available during winter in India. I'm just too lazy to take up projects like carrot halwa because a) the expectations are way too high and I don't want to disappoint the eaters b) too lazy to grate the carrot. My sister used to grate the carrots for my mom back home, so that is one job I don't really enjoy doing.

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Chocolate Peda using Ricotta Cheese

Blogging Marathon# 45: Week 1/ Day 2
Theme: Diwal Festival Specials
Dish: Chocolate Peda using Ricotta Cheese 

After posting a very traditional Diwali treat yesterday, today I have a dessert that is a delicious variation to the more traditional peda/ milk fudge. Adding chocolate and using ricotta cheese make this quite a fusion of western and Indian cooking.

Chocolate burfi and peda have been around for a very long time and my husband happens to love these chocolate variations. Making pedas in the traditional way means hovering around the stove for hours together to boil the milk until it gets to the creamy, thick consistency. What kills me is the amount of peda that is finally made -- it is miniscule when compared to the quantity of milk that goes into it. I completely understand that the peda made the long way tastes MUCH better than these short cut ones, but I neither have the time nor the patience to make it. So I'll leave that to make when I have absolutely nothing else to do or to the more patient people.

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Kobbari Paramannam (Coconut Rice Pudding -- Vegan recipe)

Happy Dasara to All. 
Here's a simple and slightly different Parvannam/ paramannam to offer to god during this festival season. Traditionally paravannam is made using dairy milk, but this is made with coconut milk. To enhance the coconut flavor, grated coconut is also added.

I saw this dish being made on a Telugu cooking show and wanted to try it during the Navratri season. It uses jaggery instead of sugar making this a refined food free dish that is perfect for this festival season.

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Rava Kesari (Godhuma rawa Kesari)

Blogging Marathon# 43: Week 2/ Day 3

Theme: Navarthri -- Festival Special

Dish: Rava Kesari (Godhuma rawa Kesari)

Here's another simple sweet dish that is made for festivals. Kesari can be made with either sooji/ semolina or godhuma rava. I like the fine godhuma rawa/ dalia because texture-wise it is like sooji, but with the added goodness of the wholewheat instead of refined sooji.

Since my husband is milk-phobic, I usually skip it or add only just a little bit to give the kesari/ halwa some creaminess. It takes about 12~15 minutes total to make this dish and all you need is 3~4 ingredients.

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Bellam Payasam (Dairy-free Rice Pudding with Jaggery)

Blogging Marathon# 43: Week 2/ Day 2

Theme: Navarathri -- Festival Special

Dish: Bellam Payasam (Dairy-free Rice Pudding with Jaggery) 

For the second day of Festival special, I have a dairy-free rice pudding recipe made with jaggery. Bellam payasam was one of the dishes that is made during navathri. I wasn't sure how this was different from bellam paravannam. As I was discussing this with my mom, she remembered a similar sweet preparation that was made by one of my neighbors, it was made with just jaggery and rice -- no milk is added. Since my husband is milk-phobic, my mom decided to make this dish for him.

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Foxtail Millet Payasam (Korrala/ Thinai Payasam)

Blogging Marathon# 42: Week 1/ Day 1
Theme: All about Millets
Dish: Foxtail Millet Payasam (Korrala Payasam/ Thinai Payasam)

We are getting ready for our upcoming summer vacation to India. My son's been talking about this trip for weeks now and he definitely wants to go to McDonald's and get his Happy Meal toy. I'm excited too to visit my family and spend time with my mom. Shopping is also on my to-do list.

So for the final day of this week's marathon, I made a dessert with foxtail millet. This dish is the millet version of paravannam or rice pudding. I cooked the millet in water and added some whole milk to give some richness to the dish. I used jaggery and a little bit of sugar to sweeten it.

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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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West Bengal -- Lobong Lathika

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 30
State: West Bengal
Dish: Lobong Lathika

The last Indian state we are going to visit today is West Bengal. It is located in eastern India and is the fourth most populated state in India. It is a major agricultural producer in India. West Bengal is noted for its political activism and for its cultural activities and presence of cultutal and educational institutions. The state capital Kolkata is known as the 'Cultural Capital of India'. The state's cultural heritage, besides varied folk traditiona, ranges from stalwarts in literature including Nobel-laureate Rabindranath Tagore to scores of musicians, film makers and artists. West Bengal is also distinct from most other Indian states in its appreciation and practice of playing football besides the national favorite sport Cricket.
Like the other states I mentioned, my dad was in West Bengal on work for extended period of time. He would send us rasgullas in big containers, which is why I wrongfully thought rasgullas were from Bengal (they are actually from Orissa). He brought back a a variety of beautiful clay dolls from Ghurni. Showcases in my parents house are filled with these lovely dolls.
Cuisine: Rice and fish are traditional favorite foods in Bengal. Bengalis LOVE their fish and have a vast repertoire of fish based dishes. Sweets/ desserts occupy a very important place in Bengali's diet and at their social ceremonies. They make distinctive sweets from milk products, like roshogolla, chomchom, kalojam, sandesh, pitha and the list is endless.

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