Indian dessert recipe Archives | Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes

Seero Malpuro|Two Malpua recipes| Low fat Recipe.

Alka Keswani — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 12:58:41 +0000

Now that we are done with Holi, the festival of colors for Indians, its time to share with you, this year’s Holi Special Sweet, Seero Malpuro or Malpua served with Sooji Halwa. Making a sweet dish is always a challenging job for me, because I am paranoid about adding the heaps of sugar as suggested in any recipe of ‘sweets’. I, almost always, halve the quantity of sugar while following a recipe, fearing that the sweet dish might turn out ‘too sweet (Duh !!) This backfires many times, especially while making some traditional sweets where the texture of sweet depends upon the consistency of sugar syrup or amount of sugar added. This is the reason, I dislike making sweets, and my teeny weeny sweet cravings, if any, are easily calmed down by a bite of semi-dark chocolate or by some raisins or dried apricots. But Indian festivals fail to make a mark, if not celebrated with some sweets. So while Gujiyas and Ghear (large jalebies), shakarpada etc are generally made on the occassion of Holi, I attempted to make Malpua , known as Malpura in Sindhi. Traditionally, Malpua is a sweet made from All purpose flour mixed with reduced milk (Milk of very thick consistency), and mawa/khoya. The batter is then fried as pancakes in batches, dunked in sugar syrup and served with either Rabri or curd/yogurt. Some prefer it with milk, while Sindhis generally serve it with ‘ Sooji jo seero‘ or semolina halwa, which is again made from semolina, milk, sugar syrup etc. Though it makes a yummy combination and any lover of sweet will drool over it, I dread making it, considering the amount of sugar that goes in, to cook this double whammy. But festivals being time to indulge, I took a plunge this time. I was up for the disaster, but somehow all was well in the end.Read further to unfold the whole drama that almost ruined my Holi, or else simply scroll down, for the recipes of the mighty Malpura (Malpua) and skip the later part. First let me share the traditional recipe, followed by some notes and tips to make a healthier, low fat version. Traditional Recipe of Malpua :(Note:There are many *traditional *ways to make this !) (Makes approx. 15-18 pancakes depending upon the size) Print Seero Malpuro|Two Malpua recipes| Low fat Recipe. Malpura is a sweet , shallow fried Indian style pancake, dunked in sugar syrup and generally relished with curd (yogurt) or Sooji halwa. Ingredients Maida or All purpose flour 250 gms Baking powder, just a pinch Milk around 650 ml (Boil around 500 ml of milk till reduced to almost half, set aside remaining 250 ml to adjust the consistency of batter) Khoya/mawa 40-50 gms Oil for shallow frying ( Prefer Ghee, for an authentic flavor) Fennel seeds 1 tsp or more Black pepper corns 4-5 Maida or All purpose flour 250 gms Baking powder, just a pinch Milk around 650 ml (Boil around 500 ml of milk till reduced to almost half, set aside remaining 250 ml to adjust the consistency of batter) Khoya/mawa 40-50 gms Oil for shallow frying ( Prefer Ghee, for an authentic flavor) Fennel seeds 1 tsp or more Black pepper corns 4-5 Sugar 500 gm Water 1 and half cup or more (we need syrup of one string consistency) Green cardamom 2-3 Saffron strands few (optional) Unsalted pistachios to garnish Method Sieve the maida with baking powder. Be very very cautious about adding just a pinch of baking powder. Anything more than that will burst your Malpuras while frying. Trust me, I went through this :-(. Boil approximately 500 ml of milk and simmer till reduced to half of its quantity.Gently mix khoya /mawa to this to make the mixture more creamy and thick. If mawa is unsweetened then add around 2 spoons of sugar to the mixture. Now take a deep mixing bowl, add maida and baking powder mixture, fennel seeds, pepper corns, and mix the warm or cooled (never hot) milk -mawa mixture and mix well to form a lump free batter. The batter should be of thick pouring consistency , so if needed keep on adding the reserved 150 ml of milk, adding very little at a time. The amount of milk required to achieve the perfect consistency varies from 75 ml to 200 ml, depending upon how thick your milk-mawa mixture is.So trust your instincts. In the meantime make sugar syrup by boiling sugar, cardamom and water .If adding saffron, soak it in warm milk for sometime and then add in sugar syrup anytime in between. Now in a flat bottomed fry pan or kadai, heat ghee/ oil or mixture of ghee and oil to shallow fry Malpuras. Carefully spread a ladle full of batter in ghee to make a small pancake. Fry on medium to low flame.Turn it gently and fry on other side till it is crisp brown from sides. Remove from oil and soak in sugar syrup (warm) for about 2 minutes or so and then drain on a colander . Repeat the procedure for the remaining batter. Depending upon the size of pan, you can fry 2 -3 pancakes in one single batch. Garnish with sliced unsalted pistachios and serve with either Rabri or curd or like seen in picture, with Sooji Halwa. Now let me share with you all some problems faced by me while making malpuas and some tips to make healthy ones. In hurry, I added hot, reduced milk to the flour, that left me with a lumpy batter. I tried to whisk a lot, to smooth-en the batter, but the stubborn lumps refused to disappear. I made the next blunder mistake... I tried to blend the batter, simply being forgetful about the presence of fennel seeds and pepper corns. The blended mixture was pasty, sticky (due to the hot milk), and bit bitter due to grounded pepper. Then despite of being careful, I added a tad bit more of baking powder. As a result the pancakes just kinda disintegrated into small pieces in hot oil. Darn, I never thought I could be that stupid in kitchen 🙁 Well, not willing to give up, I prepared a fresh batter, this time with mixture of wheat flour and Maida (simply because of lack of sufficient maida). I applied the process of mixing a cake batter while mixing the malpua batter. So I mixed flour and a pinch of baking powder and sieved it in a huge mixing bowl. I made a well in the center of flour and added some of the milk (yes, plain milk..not condense or reduced). Slowly, with a fork spoon, I mixed some batter in the milk that was in the ' well'. Slowly and gradually, kept pulling in some flour in the 'well' and adding some milk, mixing,incorporating more flour, adding milk, mixing...so on and so forth, till whole of the flour turned into a smooth batter. There wasn't a single lump..I swear !!!!. Then added fennel seeds and pepper corns. Remember to always shallow fry malpuras in a flat bottomed pan or kadai. Though shallow fried, these tend to absorb lots of oil, hence I first drained these on a kitchen towel and then added in the warm syrup. For trial, I tried to cook these as normal pancakes, with just few drops of oil on a nonstick pan and the results were not bad. Since cooked in less oil and that too on a nonstick pan, the malpuras were not as crispy and heavenly as the fried ones, but taste wise it was not bad at all. So now I know, that even though there was no reduced milk and khoya/mawa in the malpuras, but still these tasted good enough to be labelled as a festival food. These malpuras were served with sooji halwa.You can find its recipe here 2.2.1

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China Grass

Alka Keswani — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 03:47:45 +0000

China Grass or Agar Agar is nothing but a Vegetable ‘gelatine’ derived from a number of seaweeds (Gelidium amansii) which are processed by boiling and drying. Agar-agar is used as a quick-setting base for many sweets and desserts in Asia. Refrigerators are a luxury many people in Asia do not have, and agar-agar’s chief advantage is that it will set without refrigeration and not melt down in tropical heat. It is also used as a finishing glaze.(Source Asia Food Glossary ) It is available in powdered form or as dried strands.While using strands ,always cut the strands into small pieces(with pair of kitchen scissors) and soak them in water for 10-15 min. This is a base recipe of China grass and my Mother makes it this way.You can try out different versions,varying from adding nuts, to fruits etc.One beautiful way of having this pudding is given here at Mishmash And this goes without saying that this China grass recipe is of my Mother, but this time it was my Younger sister who made it, and I just clicked it gleefully 🙂 Print China Grass Rating 5.0 from 2 reviews Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 45 mins Serves: 5 A dessert made from agar agar (china grass), a soft creamy milk dessert that resembles panna cota Ingredients Milk about 11/2 lit. (yields approx five cups like above) Agar agar strands 1 packet ( Generally of 10 gms) Sugar as per taste (Mom just adds 5 tsp and it was sweet enough for diabetic people in family,but you can add more) Water 1 cup Cardamom pods (choti elaichi) 4-5 Nuts to garnish Method Cut the strands into an inch long pieces(or even smaller) and soak them in water for about 10-20 minutes Meanwhile keep the milk for boiling, add cardamoms and let the milk reduce by approx. 600 ml (that means there should be less than 1 lit milk remaining) Squeeze out agar agar to remove water. Alternatively you can soak it in about a cup of warm milk and then use that mix to pour in boiling milk, without straining.Subtract that one cup of milk from 11/2 lit milk, which is kept for boiling. Let it simmer and cook till fully dissolved (if needed i.e if there are lumps, you can strain it at this step too) Add sugar and keep on stirring till thick rabri like consistency is achieved.This could take anywhere between 2-5 minutes so keep on checking Pour this mixture into ice cream cups or bowls or molds and let it cool and GEL at room temperature. Sprinkle nuts like almonds, walnuts and /or kishmish (raisins), charoli (chironji) etc.Again you can spread it on Flat plate (thali) and after setting, cut it into squares. Chill it in refrigerator and enjoy it cold or at room temperature 2.2.1 Since this pudding is purely white, off it goes to Lubna’s Yummy Food,where she is hosting this month’s FOOD IN COLOR-WHITE ……event, brainchild of Sunshinemom of TONGUETICKLERS

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Falooda Icecream

Alka Keswani — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:54:59 +0000

Falooda Icecream: Pic. Updated The gloomy situation at south Mumbai is the most scariest of News that we had heard till this date. The terror pangs are surely felt by each and every common man, who can’t think beyond Roti, kapda aur makaan (food, clothing and shelter). Yet it is always that same common man who is targeted again and again for no fault of his/her. How long will we be vulnerable to such attacks? The debate could go on and on, but I want to, sort of run away from all this, cause I don’t want to feel drained out discussing things, which I am unable to fix. So keeping my rants for myself I wish to move ahead and rather concentrate on those few good things that are happening in my life. Selfish, indifferent, mean ??? Well call me whatever you feel like , but I need a break from all this maddening stuff ! I made this falooda icecream few days back to celebrate few sweet moments in our lives. Without much talks, I am sharing its recipe with you all. Print Falooda Icecream The famous Falooda icecream, made from milk, falooda sev and jelly crystals, topped with some rose syrup. Ingredients 1 Falooda pack(easily available at general stores) 1pack of Raspberry jelly crystals (Rex or kings are favored brands) Milk 1 lit Sugar 150 gms or more depends on your sweet tooth Few strands of kesar(optional) Green cardamoms 4 Rose syrup few spoons Crushed ice Method Follow the instructions given on pack of falooda and let it cool (Boil falooda sev in water for a min., drain the water and add cold water, then soak them in sugar syrup of thin consistency) Similarly prepare jelly as per instructions on pack and refrigerate for few hours. Chopped nuts like walnuts and cashew nuts can be added if preferred For kulfi, pour the milk in a heavy bottom pan and add cardamom and boil it, on medium flame, till milk reaches less than half of original volume. Do not forget to keep stirring it occasionally so as to avoid burning of milk. Add sugar and kesar (optional) Let it cool,then pour this kulfi mixture into molds of your choice, but an easy option is to freeze the mixture in Ice trays, since it will be easy to scoop out kulfi with help of knife and spoon. You can also freeze it in plastic airtight containers. Remember always set kulfi in aluminum or plastic containers Garnish it with almonds flakes and chaaroli (chiraunji) and let the kulfi set properly in freezer for about 6 hours or more. For serving, take a fancy glass bowl or ice cream cup, put two cubes (scoops) of kulfi, about two spoons of jelly, some falooda, pour one spoon of Rose syrup (sherbet) and some crushed ice and enjoy before it melts away. 3.3.3077

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