Ribbons to Pastas

BM # 62

Week :1 , Day: 2
Theme: Indian Mithai

Suddenly I have become fond of making ladoos. I remember my first ladoos were a recipe from Priya Srinivasan. The Oats and Poha ladoos ! Those ladoos are a big hit and I have gifted umpteen boxes of these ladoos. While making those I thought of adding the edible gum which is very healthy, specially during the last months of pregnancy and post delivery. Almonds give these ladoos a very nutty flavor and make them filling too. Well pregnancy or delivery is not the only time for relishing these, go ahead and enjoy them during winters, while traveling, pack them for kids lunch box or even enjoy them after a meal as a dessert.

Yes these ladoos are my post for week 1 where I have chosen Indian Mithai as my theme.

Oats Ladoo with Edible Gum

Ingredients

1 cup oats

1 cup pressed rice

1/4 cup edible gum

1 cup sugar, powdered

1/2 cup almonds, powdered

1 tsp Cardamon powder

Ghee for binding the ladoos

Method

Roast the oats and poha separately.

Grind them to a fine powder.

Fry the edible gum.

Grind to a fine powder

Grind the almonds to a fine powder.

Mix the powdered oats, Poha, edible gum, almonds, sugar and Cardamon powder.

Taste and check for sugar.

Add enough warm ghee to the mix so that you are able to bind the ladoos.

Garnish with pistachios.

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BM # 61

Week :1 , Day: 3

Theme: Indian Mithai

For the last day under Indian Mithais I have the popular Kaju Kesar Katli. This is one sweet which is very popular in all homes. I am not a great fan of cashews , but it happens to be a favorite mithai of the family. Kesar is saffron in Hindi, it also refers to the saffron color . Adding it to the katli , changes the taste of this rich Mithai.

Brushing the dissolved saffron on the top adds on to its beauty and the taste , both. Normally this sweet is garnished with a silver leaf but I like it with saffron and chopped nuts.this Mithai is vegan and our vegan friends can enjoy it too.

Kaju Kesar Katli

Ingredients
2 cups cashew powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
Saffron
Almonds
Pistachios

Method

Add water to the sugar and keep for boiling.
When sugar melts, add the cashew powder.
Keep stirring on low flame
When bubbles start coming, and the mixture starts leaving sides, put off the flame.
Add a few drops of dissolved saffron.
Allow to cool a little.
Roll between two polythene sheets.
Remove the top sheet and brush the dissolved saffron on the top layer.
Sprinkle chopped almonds and pistachios.

Notes

I like a thicker Katli , but you can roll it thin too.

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BM ; 61

Week : 3 , Day 1

Theme : One pot meals/ Combo meals

For this week I have chosen to cook one pot meals or combo meals. For Day 1 it is a continental sizzler. We prepared the sizzler while my daughter and her family were here in India. The sizzler is simple and was prepared with the basic steamed rice, gravy, some boiled veggies, fries and a patty.

It is fun to make these sizzlers, and everyone wants to eat in their individual plates. Thankfully I have enough plates to manage a family dinner. This sizzler was all about assembling. The rice is steamed. The veggies can be your choice, simply boiled. The fries ..well they are from the frozen section, but don't need a recipe for them, right? The Patty was a mixed veggie patty, for which you could use any veggies of your choice. I shall give you the recipe that I followed. Finally the gravy, I used pink sauce which I use for pasta. A combination of white sauce and red sauce.

Let me give you a complete list

Boiled steamed rice

Boiled veggies ( Fresh peas, cauliflower, French beans, carrots)

Red sauce

White sauce

French fries

Patty

Cabbage leaves

Garlic

Butter

Vinegar

Patty

Ingredients

1 cup boiled mashed potatoes

1 cup boiled carrots, peas, beans

1/4 cup crumbled bread

Coriander leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the above ingredients and make patty of the desired size.

Shallow fry.

Method

Heat the plate red hot, it should take about 30 mins .

Carefully place it on the wooden tray.

Quickly arrange the cabbage leaves .

Place rice, pour gravy on top and arrange the boiled veggies, Patty and fries.

Throw in some butter under the cabbage leaves and pour a tsp of vinegar.

The sizzling sound begins and you are ready to serve the sizzler.

Well my son in law wanted a very very crisp sizzler. Let me tell you what we did.

We heated the plate red hot. Let the plate be on the gas. We greased the plate with oil and threw in some crushed garlic. Tossed it for a second and then placed rice on one side, veggies on the other. Tossed the veggies till they were a little crisp, added some herbs. Rest all is the same. The final touch was with a slice of cheese on top and of course the vinegar for sizzle.

Since it was directly on the plate the rice had a crunchy layer at the bottom which tasted amazing. The melted cheese gave a lovely flavor to the veggies and rice. Everyone loved these crunchy sizzlers and we decided no more layering the plate with leaves.

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BM # 62

Week :3 , Day: 2

Theme: One pot meals/ Combo meals

For the second under one pot meals, I have a Chole Biryani. This is a very simple and easy Biryani which has an amazing flavor. Since the Chole is with thick gravy it keeps the rice moist, the diluted chutney helps to retain that moisture while baking the rice. You could use this recipe for the chola, it's gets done in a jiffy. The baked onion and ginger tastes heavenly,but if you are not fond of ginger you could minus it. One can pair it with Raita and tikki , like I did as I had some guests, but I am sure just the Biryani too tastes awesome.All in all a very delicios meal.

Chole Biryani

Ingredients

2 cups rice

1/2 recipe chole

Spicy green chutney

Onion rings

Fried green chilly

Ginger jullienes

Method

Boil the rice.

Prepare the Chole.

Make the green chutney and dilute it .

Fry the green chilly.

Cut onion rings and ginger juillines.

Assemble

Brush a oven proof dish with oil.

Put a layer of rice.

Next a layer of Chole.

Layer up the dish in the similar way, alternating with rice and Chole till both rice and Chole are finished.

Drizzle the chutney on top. Throw in the onion and ginger.

Cover with a foil and bake in a pre heated oven for 10 -15 minutes at 180 deg.

Remove the foil and serve hot with Boondi Raita and Aaloo Tikki.

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BM ; 61

Week : 3 , Day 3

Theme : One pot meals/ Combo meals

For the last day under one pot / combo meals, I have the very famous Pongal served with Sambar and the evergreen Vada with Rasam. I am a hard core fan of South Indian breakfast . My elder daughter went to Chennai after getting married but after a couple of years she shifted here for three years. In these three years every time we went to her house it was always for breakfast. It was always a nice big spread. Both my daughter and her mil are fantastic cooks, specially South Indian . Now that she has gone back to Chennai, we miss those breakfasts ! Here is a breakfast which is no way close to the one she used to make , but definitely very pleasing . I cannot talk much about a South Indian Breakfast as you guys are well versed with this cuisine. Here is a little effort, hope you guys enjoy it.

Pongal

Ingredients

1/2 cup rice

1/2 cup yellow Moong Daal

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

8-10 peppercorns

2 green chilly,

A small piece ginger

Method

Wash and Soak the Daal and rice for an hour.

Pressure cook them with 3 cups of water, salt, pinch Cardamon.

Pressure cook for a whistle and then simmer for about 10 minutes.

Check !

Heat ghee in a pan, add ghee, peppercorns, cumin seeds, ginger , green chilly, curry leaves and split cashews.

Add the ghee to the radial rice, mix well.

Serve hot with Sambar.

Sambar

Vada

Rasam

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🎁 Happy Birthday 🎁

Valli !

It should have been something to do with chocolate , as we all know Valli's love for ,but I know Valli loves this roast too ! Right Valli ? This is a special post for a very special person , She is a friend who has created a beautiful family bond between our group , the BM group , we call it The BM Family where we share practically everything! Well she is our inspiration for cooking and trust me without her punch most us would not be blogging .

At present I am in Japan where it's absolutely impossible to cook , click and blog , thank God for my very rich drafts where I had this Arvi Roast which is a recipe dictated by Valli ! Remember Valli ? I remember her telling me that this one is her favourite ! So wishing you a very very Happy Birthday Valli ! A very small way to express my love and wishes .

Coming to Arvi Roast !

Arvi is one of my favorite tubers too, of course next to Potato. I believe a roast is a must while serving the traditional Tamil Spread. I had never made a roast , we normally deep fry the Arvi or sometimes make it like Jeera Aaloo. This roast tasted awesome with all the spices . It was crunchy outside and soft inside.

Arvi Roast is a part of the Tamil Spread I made for The BM Buffet.

Arvi Roast

Serves 4- 6
Recipe Source : Spice your Life

Ingredients

500 gms cola cassia

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp Urad Daal

1 tsp Chana Daal

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp asafoetida

1 dried red chilly , broken into pieces.

Few curry leaves

1 tsp red chilly powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp Sambar powder

Method

Wash the cola cassia removing all the mud from it.

Place Ina pressure cooker and boil.

Pressure cook for one whistle and wait for the pressure to release.

Open the pressure cooker and check if done.

Peel and cut into 1/2 " slices.

Heat oil in a broad non stick frying pan.

Add mustard seeds, let crackle.

Add cumin seeds.

Add the daals, asafoetida curry leaves and the dried red chilly.

Add the arvi pieces.

Add salt and turmeric powder.

Cook on slow fire turning it now and then.

We have to make the pieces nice and crisp.

Cook till crisp.

Sprinkle all the dry spices and mix well.

Once again a very Happy Birthday !

BM # 62

Week :1 , Day: 1

Theme: Cooking with Coconut

For this week I have picked the theme cooking with coconut.I am very fond of coconut and like it in any form.The fresh coconut is the best but I don't mind the dried one too. The South Indians use it in their daily diets but for we North Indians , we use it for poojas or sweets. With cooking going international the coconut milk is what I use most, but unlike my blogging friends I buy ready tetra packs.

Coming to the very first day of this week I have coconut ladoos. These ladoos are made from fresh coconut and almonds. These are one of the best ladoos that I have made, they just melt in the mouth.

Are you guys wondering..Vaishali and ladoos...well they are my favorite !

Nareyal Badaam ke Ladoo
Ingredients
1 cup fresh coconut, grated
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp Cardamon powder
1/2 cup almonds, powdered
1 tsp ghee
Chopped pistachios for garnish.

Method
In a heavy bottom pan put ghee on slow fire.
Add the grated coconut and Saute for a couple of minutes,
Add milk and cook till all milk is absorbed.
Add sugar and cook till almost all moisture is gone.
Add almond powder, saffron and ghee.
Cook on full flame for 2-3 minutes.
Let cool a little and then make ladoos , garnishing with almonds and pistachios.

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BM ; 62

Week : 1, Day : 2

Theme : Cooking with Coconut

Yesterday I used fresh coconut and made ladoos , today I have have used the dried coconut and made a Chakki. Chakki is a piece and this particular mithai is a speciality from Uttarkhand. While on my trip to Haridwar , I learnt this sweet from a local there. The only time taken is for grating the dried coconut, rest all is done in a jiffy.

The sweet has just coconut, sugar and Cardamon. Yes just three ingredients but tastes absolutely delicious.

Tomorrow I will come up with yet another coconut delicacy...you see this week's theme is Cooking with Coconut. You shall see a new form of coconut tomorrow, so come back tomorrow for a Coconut delicacy.

Nariyal ki Chakki

Ingredients

500 gms dried coconut, grated

2 cups sugar

Cardamon powder

Method

Grate the coconut.Do not use the desiccated coconut, the taste will change.

Add sugar to a non stick pan and just enough water to cover it.

Let the sugar melt, add cook till you have one thread consistency syrup.

Add Cardamon powder and the grated coconut.

Mix well, and transfer to a greased tray.

Let set for a while and then cut into desired shape.

Garnish with pistachios .

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BM # 62
Week :1 , Day: 3
Theme: Cooking with Coconut

For day 3 under Cooking with Coconut, I baked brownies with Bounty Bar. These Brownies were actually for December Bakeathon, but somehow I could not participate. I have always been fond of Brownies and love trying different varieties.

Among chocolates, Bounty Bar is my favorite. While making these brownies, I decided to sandwich the brownie with bounty bar. I was not very happy with the end result as it did not look as I expected, I was looking for a nice coconut white layer. of course the taste was fantastic.The chocolate had melted and the white layer turned into brown. Wonder why it didn't click while baking..., but the brownie was gooey, and delicious with that mild coconut.

Bounty Bar Brownies

Ingredients

1 tsp corn starch

1 cup APF

2 tsp coffee + 1 tsp hot water

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1-2 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 pack mini bounty bars

Method

Preheat oven to 175deg C.

Mix together APF, cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar.

In another bowl combine oil, butter milk, coffee mix, vanilla essence.

Mix wet and dry ingredients till well combined.

Pour half the mix into a greased tin.

Arrange the bounty bars in an even order.

Pour the rest of the batter .

Bake for 25 -30 minutes or till done.

Cool and cut into pieces.

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BM # 62

Week :4 , Day: 1

Theme: Salads

I love making salads and we all enjoy them . At times salads are our dinner , though most of the times they are served before the meals. Since cucumbers are full of water , I love using them in my salads. The cucumbers along with potatoes and peas tastes really awesome. The spices in this salad are on the medium side. If you do not get yellow chilly powder, you could use red chilly powder. The winter peas taste delicious and sweet, so even if the salad is spicy, it gets balanced with fresh peas. This definitely is a very simple salad but trust me you can finish a big bowl of it without feeling guilty.

Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

2 cucumbers

1 potato, boiled

1 small bowl fresh boiled peas

Lemon juice

Coriander leaves

Yellow chilly powder

Cumin seed powder

Black salt

Salt to taste

Method

Peel the cucumbers and boiled potatoes.

Chop them into batons.

Using a mixing bowl, add the cucumber, potatoes and boiled peas.

Add spices according to your taste.

Add coriander leaves.

Drizzle lemon juice and mix.

Serve chilled.

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BM # 62

Week :4 , Day: 2

Theme: Salads

Continuing with salads ,as my theme for this week I have a very healthy, quick and delicious crunchy salad for Day 2.

This is a salad that has been introduced in our house by my daughter in law. I have never been very fond of spinach so she finds ways and means to incorporate these greens in my diet. The salad actually tastes very good and is nutritious too, with the goodness of spinach and the crunch and protein from peanuts ,we simply love it.

Spinach and Peanut Salad

Ingredients

2 cups spinach

1/4 cup onions, finely chopped

1/4 cup roasted peanuts, coarsely ground

Salt to taste

Lemon juice

Tempering

1 tsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

Method

Wash and chop the spinach very finely.

Chop the onions finely.

Roast the peanuts and coarsely grind them.

Mix all these ingredients and add very little salt .

Drizzle lemon juice.

Temper with mustard seeds and mix once again.

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BM # 62

Week :4 , Day: 3

Theme: Salads

For Day 3 under salads I have a Indonesian salad. This is a salad that I had bookmarked while we went Around the World cooking International cuisine.The salad has a nice flavor which is a blend of sweet, sour, spicy and very very nutty. It is a filling salad and should be served chilled.

Before I get to the salad recipe, let me remind you that we are heading for a month long marathon in April. We shall be cooking Regional Dishes , so do come back and check our special dishes.

Gado Gado Indonesian Salad

Ingrdients

1/4 cup carrots, cut into match sticks

1/4 cup French beans, cut into two, blanched

1/4 cup cabbage, shredded

1/2 cup bean sprouts

Peanut Dressing

1 tsp oil

3-4 cloves garlic

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup peanuts

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp chilly powder

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt to taste

Method

Heat oil.

Add garlic and onions and sauté for a minute.

Add chilly powder and brown sugar.

Immediately add 1/4 cup water and let boil.

Add the roasted peanuts .

Blend to a fine paste, adding salt and lemon juice.

Check for the right balance of sweet and sourness in the dressing.

Preparing the Salad

The salad can be served in two styles

1. You mix all ingredients and pour dressing on top.

Mix well to coat the veggies with the dressing.

Serve.

Else

2.You place all veggies separately in a platter.

Place the dressing on side, pour on top and serve.

I do not like raw bean sprouts, so I always boil them till tender, but if you wish you could use them raw .

Blanched broccoli, cauliflower flowerets could also be added.

Some people like cucumber batons.

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BM # 63
Day :1
Theme : Regional Cuisine
Cuisine : Sindhi

Like every year our April Mega Marathon begins ! Valli , our team captain announces the theme for mega marathons is announced quite early, giving the members plenty of time to prepare. Even though there is lot of time, it's hard for members to prepare, life has tight schedules. Right ? Anyway I like to plan everything so normally do not have difficulty with these marathons. This April we are working on a Regional A to Z and we are calling it Journey Through the Cuisines. You must check out some of our previous challenges where we have cooked from A- Z.

At the same time I , along with a couple of my friends are participating for another challenge. Yes, it is A- Z Challenge again!This is a challenge which was started in 2010 and it is amazing that friends can post just about anything, any topic , but of course alphabetically ! I am sure I will come across many interesting blogs to read, and make some friends in this big blog world !

ATo Z has always been challenging where some alphabets are rather tricky and there are absolutely no dishes in Indian cuisine..., well I picked to do Sindhi Regional and in the Sindhi script some of these English alphabets do not exist . . I have many Sindhi recipes on the blog , and I wanted to give myself a challenge , go out of the box and work, so I picked all Sindhi sweets for this marathon. ..there are a couple of those difficult alphabets which bothered me and I could not find any Sindhi Sweets for them .what did I do for these alphabets? Well, let the marathon begin and as we come to those tough alphabets you will know.At this point a big word of thanks to Alka Keswani of Sindhi Rasoi , my cousins, friends and family who helped with my list and recipes.

For the very first day in our Journey Through the Cuisines I have made Atey Ja Ladun.Atoo is flour in Sindhi. Atey ja Ladun are wheat flour ladoos. My blogging friends are aware that I love ladoos, but find it a task to make them! So friends these are special ladoos for you all.

The Sindhi ladoos are really big, perhaps even bigger than a cricket ball. Normally these are made at the time of weddings and given to daughters. The boy's family distributes the ladoos , Majoon and Varo to close family and friends.Before serving the ladoos, they are broken and placed on griddle and then coverd with a lid. With microwaves coming in , they are heated in them, the size is getting smaller day by day...well people prefer bite sized sweets, right?

Atey ja ladoo

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup ghee

2 cups sugar, powdered

1 tsp cardamon powder

Almonds, cashews and raisins

Method

Melt the ghee in a heavy bottom pan.

Add the whole wheat flour.

Roast the flour on very slow fire till you get a wonderful aroma and the flour turns pink.

This shall take about 10 - 15 minutes.

Once the flour is roasted add the cardamon powder and roughly chopped nuts.

Remove the flour in a tray.

Let the flour cool a little.

Add powdered sugar and mix well with both your hands.

While mixing these add some more ghee, just enough for them to bind.

Make Ladoos of desired size .

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An InLinkz Link-up

BM # 63

Day : 2

Theme : Regional Cuisine
Cuisine : Sindhi

Bhori is a crumbled whole wheat flour roti , seasoned with sugar and tempered with butter or ghee. This is a typical Sindhi breakfast which is served with Sindhi Papad. This is my recipe for Day 2 for Journey Through the Cuisines and also my entry for A-Z Challenge for 2016.

This is a breakfast which is rather sinful,yutterly butterly delicious. It has lots of childhood memories. From what I know of all Sindhi mom's resort to this Bhori when their children throw tantrums while eating meals. Kids are really happy with Bhori. Well , let me tell you a secret, all the grown ups too love it, only they do not admit it...calories , calories right?

The name Bhori comes from the Sindhi word bhor..which means to break. The dish is also called Makhan Maani. Maani is another term used for chapati or Fulko.

Bhori is made with the chapati . The chapati is made from the regular roti dough that we make for everyday. The Sindhi chapati or rather Fulko as Sindhis call it is made in a different way. While rolling the Fulko , ghee is smeared and that makes the Fulko much softer. Once the Fulko has been cooked, you remove it and apply more ghee and crush it with a rolling pin.. For Bhori this is then further crushed . Sugar , butter or ghee are added and the whole mixture is crumbled with hands to get a crumb like texture. The sugar does not melt and you get that mild crunch.

Should we get down to the recipe now...

Bhori

Ingredients

Chapati

Butter

Sugar

Method

Make a soft chapati dough by adding water.

Cover and keep aside for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, grease your hands and knead the dough once again.

Divide the dough into 3 balls.

Taking a ball , dust in whole wheat flour.

Flatten it and roll to a 4" disc.

Apply ghee or butter .

Using your thumb and first finger , pinch the disc in the center. this shall divide it into two discs, but yet they are joint.

Sprinkle some flour on one side.

Fold over one side on top the other making a sandwich.

Dust with flour and roll the chapati, slightly thicker than the usual.

Heat a griddle and roast the chapati.

When the chapati is cooked , bring it on the counter , apply ghee and crush slightly.

We are done with our Sindhi Fulko, similarly make more fulkas.

Let's proceed to make Bhori.
Bring the fulko on the counter and using a rolling pin crush it (check the collage )

Take a deep bowl add a chunk of butter and sugar to taste.
Add the crushed fulko.

Mix everything very well , crushing the fulkas and incorporating the sugar and butter into them with hands.

Serve right away.

Notes

This whole process has to be done at a super jet speed. Normally while making Bhori, I always make one Fulka and crush and make Bhori , so that the butter melts immediately and we do not need to heat it.

While crushing and mixing the hot Fulka one does feel the heat for a couple of seconds, but it is a matter of getting used to.

We should use room temperature butter so that it is easy to mix everything.

The sugar should normally be of a medium thickness variety, so it gets slightly melted .

However we can surely microwave the Bhori for a couple of seconds to heat it...as one cannot eat a cold or room temperature Bhori.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

An InLinkz Link-up

BM # 63

Day : 3

Theme: Regional Cuisine
Cuisine : Sindhi

Chashni Bread is a breakfast dessert in Sindhi homes. It's nothing but simple bread fried to a crisp golden and then immersed in sugar syrup. Yes, you could call it a simpler version of Shahi Tukde. Shahi Tukde has a layer of Rabri and which makes the bread a little soggy after a while , but Chashni Bread remains crunchy unless you have a humid climate. Sindhis are very fond of Pistachios, and garnish the sweet bread with pounded Pistas.

Sindhis are famous for their hospitality and go overboard while feeding their guests. For breakfast The table is well set for guests and there is a wide spread . The menu normally has 3-4 savory dishes along with at least two desserts. Fruits and juices. Majoon in winters is kind of must. The breakfast may not be typically Sindhi, it is normally one main Sindhi heavy dish, something like Daal Pakwan or Aaloo Poori , Sayun Patata which gets complimented with lighter side dishes. The desserts vary according to the combination of the dishes. Chashni bread is also called Mithi Bread. Chashni as you all know is sugar syrup. Well people are getting calorie conscious so some families toast the bread crispy and immerse it in the syrup. So you do get a nice crunchy sweet bread. Mind you this is not juicy like the Shahi Tukde. Let's get to the recipe for the third day for our Journey Through the Cuisines and A-Z Challenge.
.

Chashni Bread

Ingredients

4 slices bread

Ghee for deep frying

Syrup

1/2 cup sugar

Water

Cardamon powder

Garnish

Pounded pistachios

Method

Cut the bread slices diagonally.

Heat ghee and deep fry the bread triangles till crisp and golden.

Remove with a slotted spoon .

Place them on a kitchen towel.

Syrup
Add just enough water for the sugar to dissole.
let it boil and come to one string syrup.
Add cardamon.
Remove from flame.

Assembling
Dip the bread triangles in the syrup.
Remove immediately.
Garnish with pistachios.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

An InLinkz Link-up

BM # 63

Day : 4

Theme: Regional Cuisine
Cuisine : Sindhi

Our Journey through Cuisines lands on the alphabet 'D' today and I have Dothees for you. Dothee is a sweet made from all purpose flour, just like a flaky poori but sweet. The Dothee is made salt free and then dipped in a sugar syrup, the syrup clings to it and settles on it, thus giving it a nice cloudy look. Rose petals make this sweet look very pretty.

Since these are deep fried they have a very good shelf life , it's easy to store them too.These are normally made throughout the year, and distributed as prasad at satsangs. Normally 4-6 Dothees are packed in a small ziplock bag . These are also distributed as prasad on the 12 th day when an elderly person passes away. We have special shops which cater to this prasad. Normally you will not find these Dothees in a regular sweet shop, this is a typical Sindhi Sweet available only at Sindhi Sweet shops. In some communities these are also called Satta.

It was hard for me to find the recipe for this sweet, but my new Gujju friend from the building made something similar, I immediately asked her the recipe and modified it and voila, they turned out just perfect.

I am also linking the post to A-Z Challenge.

Dothee

Makes;6-8 pieces

Ingredients

1 cup APF

1/4 cup ghee

1/8 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp curd

Water to bind the dough

Ghee for deep frying

Sugar syrup

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

Garnish

Rose petals

Method

Sift the flour and add baking powder.

Add ghee and rub it to resemble bread crumbs.

Add curd and mix well.

Now adding water gradually bind the dough.

Cover and keep for 10 minutes.

Pinch out small balls and roll into a 2" disc.

Heat ghee and then simmer it.

Add the discs and fry on slow to medium , trying to retain the light color.

Make sure the Dothees are cooked .

Remove with a slotted spoon and let cool completely.

Ideally leave them for a couple of hours.

Syrup

Place sugar and water in a pan.

Let boil and let the syrup cook till nice and thick.

Switch off the gas.

Finishing it up

Dip each dothee in the sugar syrup, remove and place it on a tray.

Garnish with rose petals.

Similarly dip all dothees and garnish with rose petals.

Let dry and then remove from tray and store.

Notes

The Dothees should be nice and flaky.

After dipping each Dothee in the sugar syrup immediately garnish with rose petals.

Dipping process should be done quickly as the syrup stars thickening as it starts cooling.

Sometimes the syrup becomes very thick , by the time you are at the finishing point, in that case reheat the syrup adding a few drops of water.

These Dothees have a good shelf life and you can keep them in a jar for at least 15 days, probably more.

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BM # 63

Day : 5

Theme: Regional Cuisine
Cuisine : Sindhi

On the fifth day of our Journey through Cuisines I have Eraun ji Barfi. Eraun is bottle gourd ! Frankly speaking this word Eraun was totally new to me, even though it is a Sindhi word. I heard it for first time from Alka of Sindhi Rasoi. While discussing my list with her, she suggested Eraun jo Seero...and I wondered what Eraun was, she explained that this was the word used by Shikarpuri community of Sindhis. My elder daughter is in a Shikarpuri family, so while speaking to her mother in law , the Eraun was confirmed and the Seero , which is a Halwa was transformed to a Barfi.

Shikarpur is a city in Pakistan, and the people belonging to that city are called Shikarpuris. People belonging to the different cities in Pakistan were called by those names.Let me tell you that all Sindhis are not Anis! The Sindhi surnames are derived from place of origin, birth, occupation, caste, title among others .Most of the -ANI surnames are made with adding -ANI to a personal name. Then we have Sindhi surnames based on place names, based on professions, based on castes, based on the title ( Chaudhry, Mukhia). Some surnames have Ja suffix while some have pal suffix,so we have Nagpals, Ahujas, Khannas , Mukhis, Thakurs too along with many Anis. So , beside Anis there are other surnames of Sindhis too. So more communities, we have more names, a benefit to us bloggers.

Earun ji Mithai

Ingredients

500 gms earun / bottle gourd

125 gms sugar

125 gms khoya

2 tbsp ghee

1 tsp cardamom powder

Khoya, saffron , nuts for garnish

Method

Choose a soft bottle gourd.

Peel and wash it.

If it has seeds, then discard the center part of it.

Grate the bottle gourd.

Squeeze out the excess water.

In a non stick pan add a teaspoon of ghee and add the bottle gourd.

Let it cook till almost dry, add sugar.

This will ooze out moisture , let it dry.

As soon as it dries add the grated khoya and another tsp of ghee.

Cook again till complete dry.

Remove a teaspoon and cool .after it has cooled down try making a ball if it binds well then the Barfi shall bind, else you still need to cook.

Remove in a greased tray.

Grate some khoya on top.

Leave it to set for 2-3 hours.

Cut into pieces.
Garnish with saffron and nuts.

I am linking this post to A-Z Challenge also.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

An InLinkz Link-up

BM # 63

Day : 6

Theme: Regional Cuisine

Cuisine : Sindhi

Falooda is my pick with the alphabet 'F' in our Journey through the Cuisines. We Sindhi's pronounce it Faloodo, emphasizing on O.

Falooda originally comes from Persia, and I was surprised to read that it is popular in many countries, each having a version of their own. In India itself we have many versions . The famous Kulfi Falooda is served with a rich frozen Indian ice cream. Serve it with Pista Kulfi,Badaam Kulfi, Kesar Pista or any other variation, the variety is endless. Next comes the Rabri Falooda and let me not forget The Royal Falooda, which is more like a drink.

The Falooda is basically vermicelli made with corn starch. These are pretty transparent thread like noodles, though to make them attractive they are dyed yellow or pink.

This is a dessert that the Sindhi's make for formal dinners or serve it at weddings.

The Sindhi version has Kulfi, Faloodo,crushed ice, rabri , rose syrup and finally topped with crushed nuts.Some add jelly cubes to this Faloodo. So here is the Sindhi version of Faloodo.

I am also linking this as my Day 6 post for A-Z Challenge.

Faloodo

Ingredients

Kulfi

Shahi rabri

Faloodo

Rose syrup

Nuts

Method

Take a glass.

Cut the Kulfi into cubes or alternatively freeze the kulfi into ice trays.
Add Kulfi to the glass.
Add rabri.
Add crushed ice.
Add Faloodo.
Add rose syrup.
Garnish with nuts.
Serve and enjoy.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

An InLinkz Link-up

BM # 63

Day : 7

Theme: Regional Cuisine

Cuisine : Sindhi

Holi is the festival of colors and is celebrated with lot of enthusiasm. As a kid I always went to my maternal uncle's house to celebrate this festival. I remember filling balloons with color at midnight and waking up early morning to fill water in those balloons. We would fill buckets with these colored balloons. Our cousins team was very strong and all our work was divided.We would be on the terrace to throw these balloons on the people passing by. If it would hit someone we would jump and laugh ! Oh can't even imagine our children doing such mischief.

Throwing balloons, getting soaked in colored water and not missing the red , yellow and green gulal smeared all over was just one part of the holi festival. The second best part of the festival were the boxes of Gheehar which went around. Gheehar is the big fat Sindhi jalebi!

Available only during holi, these Gheehar's are still a favorite. I remember dad getting boxes of these from his friend's shop who is a famous Sindhi sweet confectioner, called China Ram .These boxes were sent to neighbors, family and friends.I would be greedy and always asked for an extra box for home.

The Gheehar is same as jalebi, but much larger in size, a little more crunchier too. Perhaps it is the festival spirit that makes these Gheehar's so delicious. It's rather strange that even though people really like them , you can get them only around Holi time.

The different states offer different traditional food for this festival and I have a post on it , where I have some savory as well as some sweets too.

This is my post for Day 7 for BM as well as A-Z Challenge.

Gheehar

Ingredients

250 gms APF

2 tbsp ghee

1 cup sour curd

Few drops saffron color

For syrup

500 gms sugar

1 cup water

Few drops rose essence

Garnishing

Rose petals

Pistachios

Method

Batter

Warm the ghee on low heat.

Mix in the curd and flour.

Adding water spoon by spoon, make a thick batter.

Mix in the food color.

Let stand for 15 minutes.

For the syrup

Place sugar and 1 cup water to boil.

Boil till sugar is completely dissolved and reaches one thread consistency.

Remove from heat.

Add rose essence.

Making the jalebi

Heat ghee in a flat pan.

Pour batter in a piping bag.

Reduce the flame of the gas to medium.

Pipe out spirals, overlapping each other

Fry till crisp, but not brown.

Remove and immerse into the sugar syrup.

Remove and transfer to the serving plate.

Garnish with rose petals and pistachios.

One can decorate the gheehars with a silver leaf too.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

An InLinkz Link-up

BM # 63

Day : 8

Theme: Regional Cuisine

Cuisine : Sindhi

In our Journey through the Cuisines ,with the alphabet H , I had the option of making either Halwa or Halwe ja Samosa. When Sindhis talk of Halwa they refer to the Karachi Halwa. The Sooji ka Halwa is Seero in Sindhi.

The Karachi Halwa has lot of significance and it is very popular in Sindhi families.Its customary to give at least one box of this Halwa on the engagement of a girl. Of course with time the number of boxes has increased as this is then distributed among close family and friends.So much so for the Halwa, what about the Halwe ja Samosa ?

These are made just like our savoury samosas, but the crust is salt free. The halwa is chopped into small pieces and the stuffing is ready. On deep frying the Halwa melts a little and becomes gooey.

These samosas are made on Holi festival and are also called Mitha Sambosas. There might be hundreds of Sindhi sweet shops all over India but when it comes to Halwa it is only from Tharu of Mumbai that the Sindhi's buy from.

Halwe ja Samosa

Ingredients

Crust

1 cup APF

2 tbsp warm ghee

Stuffing

Readymade Halwa

Omani Halwa

Method

Add warm ghee to the sifted flour.

Rub with hands to resemble bread crumbs.

Adding water make a firm dough.

Cover with a muslin cloth and leave for 20-30 minutes.

Pinch out even sized balls.

Roll a ball to a 6 " disc.

Cut the disc from the center.

Apply little water on the edge of the sliced disc.

Join the two edges, thus forming a cone.

Place the cone between your thumb and forefinger.

Place a few chopped pieces of the Halwa.

Apply water with finger tips to seal the cone.

You could pinch and make designs while sealing.

Deep fry the samosas in ghee, making sure they cook on medium flame.

Fry till nice and golden.

The Halwa stuffing melts after frying.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

An InLinkz Link-up

Oats Ladoo with Edible Gum

Kaju Kesar Katli

Continental Sizzler

Chole' Biryani

Pongal Sambar / Rasam Vada

Arvi Roast / Cola cassia Dry Saute

Nariyal Badaam Ladoo

Nariyal ki Chakki

Bounty Bar Brownies

Cucumber Salad

Spinach and Peanut Salad

Indonesian Gado Gado Salad

A - Aatey Ja Ladun / Wheat Flour Ladoo

B - Bhori / Crumbled Chapati with Butter and Sugar

C - Chashni Bread / Crisp Sweet Bread

D - Dothee / Satta / Sugar Coated Flaky Pastry

E - Eraun ji Mithai / Eraun ji Barfi / Bottle gourd Fudge / Lauki ki Barfi

F - Faloodo /Indian Frozen Desert served with Vermicelli

G - Gheehar / Holi Jalebi

H - Halwe ja Sambosa / Stuffed Sweet Pastry