Ribbons to Pastas

BM # 68
Day: 21
Theme : One Category - Bread Sandwiches
Sub Theme - Sandwiches with a Twist

Sharjah is the name of a city in UAE. It has been a while since I visited this city though I visited Dubai recently. Our blogger friend Priya is from Sharjah. I have another friend from Sharjah who stayed in our building for a short time. It is this friend who introduced me to this Sharjah Sandwich. Yes, the sandwich is called the Sharjah Sandwich. I have never tasted it but made according to my friends instructions. Unfortunately Priya had not had this sandwich , but she was sweet enough to gather all possible information on it.

Coming to this sandwich , it's base is pita bread, the local bread of the Arabs. Since I was using only bread related sandwiches I made it with bread as the base.

The sandwich has a couple of samosas, French fries. A layer of chopped onions, tomato and green chillies and finally cheese. This is then grilled lightly and then cut into pieces. Wow doesn't the sandwich sound interesting ? It's a medley of flavors. The sandwich is enjoyed with a glass of tea. I used jumbo slices of bread for this sandwich and trust me it was one solid sandwich . I shared the sandwich with my hubby and yet could not eat my dinner, I was so full.

I made this sandwich for the 21 st day of Cooking Carnival.

Sharjah Sandwich

Ingredients

2 slices jumbo bread

Butter

2 samosas

10-12 pieces of French fries

Salt and pepper

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1/2 tomato , finely chopped

2 green chilly , finely chopped

Cheese, grated or cheese slice

Method

Apply butter to both the slices, do not remove the crust.

Crush two samosas and place on the first slice.

Top with French fries.

Sprinkle salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the chopped onions, tomatoes and green chilly.

Sprinkle salt.

Place a cheese slice and cover the whole sandwich with another buttered slice.

Grill the sandwich, cut into two pieces.

Serve hot with tea. You could serve tobasco as a hot sauce with it.

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BM # 68

Day : 22

Theme : One Category - Bread Sandwiches

Sub Theme - Fun with Sandwiches

We are into the last week of the Cooking Carnival and this week I shall be posting sandwiches which are fun to make. I love creating sandwiches where children feel happy and you can see a sparkle in their eye and a big smile on their face. I love it when these little kids say - Oh wow !

Well I don't want to please only kids , even you might find something that you would like to make for your friends or hubby or for a party.

For the first day I have made Traffic Signal Sandwiches along with a Cucumber Car. These sandwiches look colorful and would attract the kids . They are very simple to make and in fact you could ask the children to help you with these. Of course you might have to supervise while cutting the breads.

For these sandwiches, I took a big sliced bread, trimmed the edges and then cut the bread into two , so two slices give you four rectangular sandwiches. If you want you can make one full sandwich and then cut it . It can be done either way. I used tomato, grated carrot and pesto as the fillings of signal colors.

Traffic Light Sandwiches

Ingredients

4 slices bread

Butter

1 tomato

1/4 cup grated carrot

2 tsp pesto

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Trim the edges of bread.

Cut them from center.

Place the tops on a kitchen board and cut three small circles in a row from each piece of bread. I have used a piping nozzle to cut these ( refer the picture )

Now apply butter to all the top and bottom slices.

Place the bottom on the board and place a tomato slice, which has been further cut , then some grated carrot and finally spread pesto.

Sprinkle salt and pepper.

Cover with the top slices which have circles.

There you are with your sandwich.

The pictures tell it all, and you actually do not need a recipe.

Cucumber Car

Ingredients

1 cucumber

1 green olive

I black olive

4 slices of carrot

I cheese slice

Toothpicks

Method

Wash and wipe the cucumber.

Chisel out a small rectangular piece from the center.

Roll a cheese slice and fix it in that chiseled box.

Using a toothpicks to fix the wheels made from carrots. ( blanch the carrot slices for just a minute, this will help you to insert toothpicks ).

Insert a green olive with a toothpick and fix it at the drivers seat.

Cut one black olive and stick it with butter at the front of car.

Cucumber car is ready.

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BM # 68

Day : 23

Theme : One Category - Bread Sandwiches

Sub Theme - Fun with Sandwiches

Tom and Jerry has forever been my favorite cartoon, with time new characters have been launched , some how I have never shown interest in any. My little grand daughter is fond of Peppa Pig and the rest of the grand kids love Minion. Trust me these kids were the ones who told me about this character. It was on our trip to Singapore and specially to Universal Studios that these kids wanted to buy everything related to Minion. Water bottles, key tags,lunch boxes, bags , you name it and it had to be a Minion.The trip got over and we all are back to our own houses but the kids carried back Minions and Minions.

Now who are Minions?

Minions are small yellow creatures featured in the films Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2. They are shaped like tablets and can have either one or two eyes and three fingers. Now what is Minion doing in our Cooking Carnival ? Well the little kids are not around me but I felt like making these Minion Sandwiches and Bananas for my sweethearts. This post is for all the rock stars who love Minions.

For a long time these Minions haunted me..truly, I kept changing my mind with their shape, Should I make round ? No, not this , that ! But when I sat down to make them I just went on, did not stop once to think , I even used the side bits to make the mini ones. I was quite pleased with these cute characters.

I was not very happy with Minion Bananas. I made them in the morning and clicked pics in the afternoon. Ideally an hour of carving gives you a very nice brown color. This is way too dark, but I did not have any more of these mini bananas, (which are a rare sight here in Ahemadabad ), and by the way Bananas are a favorite with Minions.

Minion Sandwiches

Ingredients

Bread

Butter

Cheese slice ( I used Britannia, as it has a yellow tinge )

Cottage cheese

Chocolate slice

Chocolate chips

Method

Trim the edges of the bread.

Cut in the required shape.

Place the cheese slice.

Trim along the shape with sharp scissors.

Cut a thin strip of chocolate slice or fruit slice and use as belt.

The eye has been made with cottage cheese and chocolate chips.

The mouth with chocolate slice, which has been cut into that shape.

Chocolate vermicelli has been used for hair.

For the Minion Bananas, use a toothpick to carve out. Initially you shall not get the result, but as time will pass the color shall become dark. Ideally after carving a banana you would get a lovely color within 30-40 minutes, but if you feel it is light then wait for it to get deep.

You could use some sharp edged tools too to create pattern. I have used a piping nozzle to make the eyeballs.

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BM # 68

Day : 24

Theme : One Category - Bread Sandwiches

Sub Theme - Fun with Sandwiches

Cooking Carnival is now at the verge of ending. This week I have had Fun with Sandwiches. I have been enjoying making these sandwiches which the kids would love to see in their lunch box or you could make them for parties.

For today it is a ship shaped sandwich. I have used a stencil to cut this sandwich , but you can make a template and then cut, it is super simple and easy. I made a cheese sandwich but you could use tomatoes, cucumbers or just about anything. The flag is again a cut out from a cheese slice.

Coming to the pirate, well I used ready McCain smileys. Tomato for the bandanna, cucumber skin for the eye patch.

I had no kids around me to enjoy this but trust me it was so much fun creating these food crafts. For once I felt I should have done the complete month with this theme. Perhaps Valli can add this theme in the future months.

Ship Sandwich

What we need

Bread

Butter

Cheese slices

Tomato

Cucumber

Wooden stick

Ship shaped cutter

How to go about

Cut the bread with the help of ship shaped cutter.

Similarly cut cheese slices with the cutter.

Cut a cube sized piece from cheese.

Using a nozzle cut out two small circles from the top piece.

Apply butter to the bread and place the cheese slice.

Place the stick and and on top place the cube shape cheese to represent the flag.

Cut thin strips of tomato , removing the pulp and making it even thinner for the cross on the flag

Place the other slice of bread and make the sandwich.

The holes will show the cheese slice.

Slice the cucumber to represent the water.

Pirate

What you need

Smileys

Tomato
Cucumber

How to go aboutFry the smileys.
Take a tomato and cut into quarter.
Using a sharp knife remove the complete pulp.
Taking a pair of scissors cut it into the shape of a bandana which would fit the smileys head.
To make the eye patch use cucumber peel.
Fix the strip and cucumber eye patch with butter first then stick the bandana.use butter as the glue.

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BM # 68

Day: 25

Theme : One Category - Bread Sandwiches

Sub Theme - Fun with Sandwiches

No, it is not Valentine's Day, but does depicting your love needs a day . Definitely not. These Love themed sandwiches need no special day to be made, just make them whenever you wish to. Make them for your friends,for kids , for your hubby, your family .

I used a fondat alphabet cutter to make the love cut out and for the hearts used a heart shaped cookie cutter. I spread a generous layer of nutella and used a strip of chocolate slice to enhance the word Love which has been cut from the bread. For the heart cut out sandwich I used a mini heart cutter and filled in a strawberry and some edible glitter.

It was fun creating these simple sandwiches for the last week of Cooking Carnival. To be honest this has been my favorite week. It was hard for me to decide which ones to make as I have a huge list of these creative sandwiches.

Love Sandwiches

Brown bread

Nutella

Chocolate slices

Strawberry

Edible glitter

Edible silver balls

Heart shaped cutters

Alphabet cutters

Take a slice of bread and cut out the word LOVE , leaving about 1" from the top of bread slice.

Keep these alphabets on a side.

Spread Nutella on a bread slice.

Cover the slice with the LOVE cut out slice.

Place a strip of chocolate slice.

Apply very little butter on the bread cut alphabets and place them over the chocolate slice.

For the second sandwich

Cut a small heart on one corner of the bread slice.

Apply Nutella on the other.

Place the cut out slice on top to finish the sandwich.

Slice a strawberry and fix it into the cut out heart.

Sprinkle some red glitter on top of the strawberry.

I have cut hearts from both brown and white bread.

Cut chocolate slices and place these on some of the hearts.

Edge these with edible silver balls.

Well if you do not have chocolate slices , no issues, go ahead and use ganache or a good chocolate spread.

You could even melt some cooking chocolate and spread, this will dry after a while.

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BM # 68

Day : 30

Theme : One Category - Bread Sandwiches

Sub Theme - Fun with Sandwiches

This complete month of September I have been making Sandwiches for Cooking Carnival. I posted different themes for different weeks. Today is the last day of this marathon and this week I have made creative sandwiches , but for for today there is no sandwich recipe. I have made sandwich bags to pack sandwiches for your kids .

Our mornings are always busy, we are forever running and naturally it is difficult to pack crafted sandwiches. So here is a super quick way to get creative and add a fun element to your sandwich. I am sure the kids will love it and eat their sandwich happily. Well those of you who can spare time , just pack the sandwich and quickly doodle up or may be write something which would make the kiddo happy.

For those of you who need to be pulled out of bed can make these bags in their free time, while the kiddos are at school. Keep them ready and use them on special occasions . They are easy and will make anyone happy. You could even make a couple of them and pack them as gifts . If you are packing for your hubby perhaps you could write a naughty note . You just need to use your imagination.

I made kids favorite characters. There is a Olaf, there is Mc Queen racer car, for girls Elsa and a Princess Crown. Lastly I drew a cheese slice. You could draw your favorite characters or simply doodle what you like.

This has been one interesting month , and I must thank Valli for such a wonderful theme where we could present our passion.

A big thanks to my family, co bloggers, my viewers who have constantly encouraged me. There will be a recap of these sandwiches , so do come back to check if you have missed something.

An InLinkz Link-up

Yes you have come to Sandwich Festival. I have been posting sandwiches through out September for our event Cooking Carnival.These are not very fancy sandwiches where you need to go and get special ingredients,but simple ones and you shall find practically everything in your pantry.

The word sandwich is very very wide and one can make sandwiches with many things, but I have made them with bread and butter..original style !

While making sandwiches the bread has to be really good, if you can bake your own, nothing like it. I would have loved to do so myself but we hardly have bread eaters at home. Everytime I made these sandwiches I normally got a big bread, I had to wait for it to finish so I could start with the next one.

I preferred to trim the edges and at the end realized I had a box full of these edges, I simply placed them in my oven , toasted them to a golden and made bread crumbs.At times I used these edges for making bread upma too.

Throughout this series I have used different varieties of breads which makes a real difference in the taste of the sandwich.

I have different themes for every week and here is a recap of all the posts.

Week 1

Sandwich Cakes

Pizza Cake

Potato Cake

Smorgastarta

Week 2

Desi Fiesta

Mumbai's Vada Pav

Gujarat nu Vada Pav

Kutch nu Vada Pav

Kaanda Bhajiya Pav

Cheela Pav

Keema Pav

Week 3

Sandwich Platters

Sandwiches with Leftovers

Beans Corn Salsa Toastie

Pav Bhaji Toastie

Scrambled Paneer and Pesto Sandwich

Jam Sandwiches

Grape Jam

Strawberry Jam

Sandwiches with Potatoes

Bombay Masala Aaloo Sandwich

Grilled Potato and Cheese Sandwich

Sandwich Masala

Bread Stick Sandwiches

Potato and Onion Bread sticks

Baby Corn and Pepper Bread sticks

Cherry Tomato and Olive Bread sticks

Floral Sandwiches with Greek Yogurt

Cucumber Sandwiches

Lily Sandwiches

Beet Root Yogurt Sandwiches

Dessert Sandwiches

Fruit Sandwich

Chocolate and Mango Sandwich

Caramel Sandwich

Week 4

Sandwiches with a Twist

Lava Loaf Sandwich

Sandwich Cases

Sandwiches on a Stick

Smashed Chickpea Sandwich

Fried Vermicelli Sandwich

Sharjah Sandwich

Week 5

Fun with Sandwiches

Traffic Light Sandwiches

Minion Sandwiches

Ship Sandwich

Sandwiches with Love

Doodle your Sandwich Bags

An InLinkz Link-up

BM # 69

Week 1, Day 1

Theme : Kid's Delight , Anniversary Party

After a month long Cooking Carnival we are back to our regular marathons. The whole of September has been a hectic month. I was out on a holiday to Spain and Holland . Holland is absolutely mesmerizing and trust me I did not want to come back. It is so so beautiful. The villages have small houses, with the prettiest gardens I have ever seen. Life has to move on and one has to get back to the routines, come back to where we belong.

So continuing with life routine I am back with my first week of BM . For this week I have chosen the Anniversary theme and I shall be posting all three sweets. For Day 1 it is Gulab Kheer. Kheers are soft, light and they are a favorite with most kids, at least it has been a favorite with me ever since I remember.

Gulab is the Indian name for Rose, this is one flower which is my favorite. I love the country roses which impart a very sweet fragrance. These are not as pretty as the English roses but you cannot beat the aroma they lend. I love using the fresh and dried roses in my cooking.

Gulab Kheer

Ingredients

500 ml milk

2 tbsp rice

A pinch of cardamon powder

1 tbsp condensed milk

1/4 cup dry rose petals

Few drops rose water

Method

Wash the rice and add them to the milk.

Boil the milk on full flame and after the first boil simmer and cook till the rice is done.

Add condensed milk, check for sweetness, you could add more or less condensed milk according to your taste.

Add cardamon powder.

Switch off the flame.

Pulse the dry petals to a fine powder and add to the kheer.

Add rose water after the kheer has cooled down.

Chill the kheer and garnish with dry rose petals.

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BM # 69

Week 1, Day 2

Theme : Kid's Delight, Anniversary Party

Here in India lot of sweets are distributed for every small or big occasion. Ladoos are the most common sweets and with the latest trend we get a box which has either one or two big jumbo sized moti choor ladoos. The moti choor ladoos are made from gram flour, where a batter is made and then tiny dumplings are fried. These are then immersed in a sugar syrup, nuts are added and finally a Ladoo is made.These are full of dry fruits and are a treat byit self. Even though we all like these ladoos, I have observed that only half the Ladoo is consumed on the first day and after that no one eats.

Truly it is a shame to waste these so I finish it off by giving to the staff boys, and if there are two of these then I freeze one. This time I had a dinner and decided to use the ladoo for making a Kheer and it turned out absolutely amazing. I did not add any cardamon and nuts as the ladoo is overloaded with these.

Boondi ki Kheer

Ingredients

2 small moti choor ladoos

500 ml full fat milk.

1 tsp corn flour

2 tbsp cold milk

Sugar to taste

Chopped rose petals

Method

Boil milk till 1/4 of it is reduced.

Add sugar.

Dissolve cornflour in cold milk.

Add the cornflour mixture gradually.

The milk will become thick.

Remove from heat.

Let the milk come to room temperature.

Crumble the ladoos , and add to the milk.

Remember to save some for garnish.

Mix the kheer and garnish with more boondi , nuts and rose petals.

I used 1/4 of the big jumbo moti choor ladoos that are distributed for Marwari weddings. The ladoo had loads of dry fruit, cardamon ,saffron and specks of red and orange boondi.

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BM # 69

Week 1, Day 3

Theme : Kid's Delight , Anniversary Party

Last in the Anniversary series is the Gulab Jamun Kheer. I am an ardent fan of Gulab jamuns, though have never made these at home but enjoy eating these piping hot . I actually do not mind enjoying one straight out of the frig too.

Gulab jamuns dunked in sugary syrup make excellent Kheer, no sugar needed as the jamuns are sweet enough to make the kheer sweet. However you can always add the left over sugar syrup from the jamuns. (just in case you need more sugar ).

The kheer is simple you just need to simmer the milk to the right consistency, let it cool and then add crumbled gulab jamuns. I do not like to add various nuts to this Kheer as it takes away the flavor of the gulab jamun , I simply garnish it with some chopped pistachios, saffron and rose petals.

Gulab jamun Kheer

Ingredients

500 ml full fat milk

3-4 gulab jamuns

1/4 tsp Cardamon powder

Few strands saffron

Pistachios for garnishing

Sugar ( optional )

1 tsp Rose water

Method

Boil the milk till it is reduced to half.

Add cardamon powder.

Remove from flame, let the milk come to room temperature.

Crumble the gulab jamuns and add to the milk.

Add rose water.

At this point check the Kheer, if it is sweet enough then there is no need to add sugar.

In case you feel it should be sweeter then you can add the syrup from the gulabjamuns.

Chill the kheer and garnish with saffron, pistachios and rose petals.

Mix well.

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BM # 69

Week 2, Day 1

Theme : Sweets from Indian States

Can anyone resist Bengali sweets ? No , they are a treat by themselves. Most of the Bengali sweets are made of chenna and sweetened with sugar or jaggery. Today we move a little from chenna and make a Bengali Kheer.

The Bengali Kheer is made from a special rice called Govind Bhog. The rice is small and thick with a very sweet smell. Our neighbour, Bawa Aunty in Delhi is a Punjabi but has lived in Calcutta for years. On my every visit to Delhi, Aunty invites the complete family for a lunch or dinner.She is a excellent cook and has knowledge of practically all cuisines. The last time we were in her house the Bengali Kheer was one of the desserts. I was awed by this kheer, it had amazing flavors, and had to ask aunty about it. She was the one who told me about this rice and infact packed the rice for me. The rice has been in my pantry for a while and when the theme of Indian states came up I immediately made this kheer.

The rice lends a sweet aroma and for this reason it should not be washed, it should be wiped with a wet napkin and then added to the milk. Bay leaf is also an important ingredient of this kheer, which enhances the flavor and can be removed before serving.

So here is the Bengali Chaler Payesh.

Bengali Chaler Payesh

Ingredients

1 lt milk

1/3 cup Gobindo Bhog rice

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cardamon powder

Nuts

1 bay leaf

Pinch salt

Method

Boil the milk, add bay leaf and cardamon powder.

Take a wet kitchen towel and wipe the rice.

Add the unwashed rice to the boiling milk.

Let cook till done.

Cooking rice in milk always takes longer than cooking it in water.

Stir gently in between, we do not want to break the rice.

Once the rice is done, add sugar and remove the bay leaf.

At this point one can add a tsp of ghee, which is optional.

Let boil.

Remove , cool and garnish with nuts.

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BM # 69

Week 2, Day 2

Theme : Sweets from Indian States

I have always enjoyed cooking specifically from regional states. I love those elaborate thali's and spreads. It is the Hyderabadi Cuisine, which takes you to the rich world of nawabs and I bring you Sheer Kurma, a special Kheer that they make on Ramzan Eid.

This kheer is made by roasting the vermecilli in ghee and gently simmering all the nuts , flavoring it with cardamon and exotic saffron. The kheer is rich and exotic. It needs a special corner in the tummy specially after you have had a good Hyderabadi meal. More on that later, for now let's concentrate on Sheer Kurma.

Sheer Kurma

Ingredients

1 tbsp ghee

1/4 cup vermicelli

1/2 cup sugar

3 cups milk

1/4 cup chopped almond, cashews, pistachios

2 tbsp raisins

2 tbsp dry dates

1 tsp chironji

1/2 tsp cardamon powder

2 tbsp rose water

Method

Heat the ghee, and roast the vermicelli till pink.

Add milk.

Add sugar, cook till the sugar dissolves.

Add all dry fruits, raisins, dry dates, charoli and cardamon powder .

Allow to simmer for 4-5 minutes.

The dry fruits will become soft and the Kurma will become thick.

However if it is very thick add boiled milk.

Add rose water.

Garnish with saffron, serve hot or cold.

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BM # 69

Week 2, Day 3

Theme : Coking with 4 Ingredients

This was the first time I was working with a theme where I was restricted with ingredients. while making kheers I add condensed milk, pedas, burfis, just about any thickening agent to make it more royal and rich. This time I added just sugar, as I was using sago and vermicelli along with milk. This was a total of four ingredients. Nuts and garnishing are always optional and are not considered in the main ingredients.

This was a kheer suggested by Padma and Valli. They both were generous to help me prepare a Andhra meal. The Thali shall be up sometime soon, as I need to do a proper elaborate post on it.For now let us enjoy this payasam. I have made a kheer with vermicelli but a combo of sago and vermecilli was new to me. Also I normally add almonds and pistachios to my kheers but here it is cashews and raisins. The nuts can really make a lot of difference.You can choose your options. Anyway lets get to the recipe.

Sago and Vermicelli Payasam

Ingredients

1 tsp ghee

1/4 cup vermicelli
1/4 cup sago
21/2 cups milk
3 tbsp sugar or to taste
A pinch of cardamon powder
Few strands saffron
Few cashews and raisins

Method

Wash and soak sago for 15-20 minutes, or till they swell up.

Pressure cook the sago and keep aside.

Heat oil, roast the cashews and raisins.Drain and keep aside.
In the same ghee roast the vermicelli till pink.
Add milk.
Let the milk boil for 2-4 minutes.
Drain the cooked sago and add to the boiling milk.
Add sugar and cardamon powder and cook further till you get the desired consistency.

The kheer becomes thick after cooling, so make sure you keep the consistency a little runny.
Pour into bowls and garnish with cashews, raisins and saffron.
Serve chilled or hot, though I always serve the kheers chilled.

This week I shared three regional kheers.
Bengali Chaler Payesh
Hyderabadi Sheer Kurma
Andhra Sago and Vermicelli Paysam

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BM # 69

Week 3, Day 1

Theme : Cooking with 4 Ingredients

We are into the third week of BM # 69, and this week I shall be cooking with 4 ingredients.This is the first time I am doing such a theme and found it rather interesting. I chose to make some more kheers. For the past two weeks I have been posting Kheers.

Coming to today's kheer, it is a Sago Kheer. With my mind blocks I had never made or had a sago kheer. It was on my Japan trip that my daughter's friend invited us for tea and made the Sago Kheer. The situation was such that I could not refuse and I had my first Sago Kheer. It was out of the world and I asked for a second helping. I immediately jotted down the recipe and here I am with a delicious Sago Kheer.

The sago kheer has just four ingredients Sago, milk, sugar and cardamon. Let's check the recipe.

Sago Kheer

Ingredients

1/4 cup sago/ sabudana / tapioca pearls

3 cups milk

1/4 cup sugar or to taste

1/4 tsp Cardamon powder

Nuts of choice

Saffron strands

Method

Wash the sabudana under running tap water until the water is clear.

Soak for 2 hours, make sure the water is enough, these will swell up and become almost double.

Put milk to boil in a heavy bottomed pan.

Simmer the flame and let milk cook for 5-7 minutes.

Make sure to stir the milk in between.

Drain the water from the pearls and add these to the simmering milk.

Let cook till the pearls are transparent and cooked.

Add sugar and cook for another minute or two.

Check the consistency of the kheer, it should be thin as sabudana will absorb the milk after cooling.

Let cool . Garnish with your favorite nuts and saffron.

I always chill the kheers, but you can enjoy it hot too.

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BM # 69

Week 3, Day 2

Theme : Coking with 4 Ingredients

For the second day under the theme 4 ingredients I have a Makhane ki kheer. This is a very rich kheer made from Makhanas. Makhanas are puffed lotus seeds and very very healthy.

The lotus seeds have a very nutty flavor and should be roasted in ghee ,I grinded some of them to a powder to lend thickness to the kheer. The rest went in as whole to get that feel of the Makhane which becomes soft after cooking in the milk. A rich kheer which was served to the Mughal emperors and is a part of Uttar Pradesh Cuisine.

Well the four ingredients for this kheer are Makhane, milk, sugar and ghee. A pinch of cardamon is added to enhance the flavor. The kheer is garnished with almonds and pistachios.

The kheer can be relished if you are fasting.

Makhani Ki kheer

Ingredients

1 cup phool makhane / puffed lotus seeds

500 ml milk

1 tsp ghee

1/4 tsp cardamon powder

Sugar to taste

Nuts of choice

Method

Add ghee to a nonstick pan.

Add the lotus seeds and roast till you get a wonderful aroma, this should be just 2-3 minutes.

keep half the makhanas aside and grind the other half to a fine powder.

In another pan boil the milk , and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes.

Add cardamon powder ,whole makhanas and sugar.

After another 2-3 minutes add the powdered makhanas.

Mix well and let boil till the makhanas are cooked.

Remove from fire .

Garnish with nuts.

Chill and serve.

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BM # 69

Week 3, Day 3

Theme : Coking with 4 Ingredients

Last in the category of Four ingredients I have chosen Paneer ki Kheer. This kheer is very popular in Northen India , and is a very rich and delicious dessert. The main ingredients going in are milk, chenna and sugar. Cardamon and nuts definitely go in but yet are optional ingredients and used very sparingly. One can flavor it with either rose water and rose petals or use saffron, either of them would make the kheer very rich. Since I have already done a Rose Kheer, I decided to add saffron.

On one of my recent trips we all siblings decided to visit Delhi and spend some time with mom. My brothers are fond of Indian desserts so my bhabhi made paneer kheer along with a couple of more desserts. Just before we were about to serve the desserts our neighbors came over and what do they get ? Yes, paneer kheer! Along with some jalebis. Now we had two big bowls of paneer kheer. Both the kheers were excellent, one with grated paneer, the other with crumbled paneer. I could have easily clicked both the versions, but I wanted to make it myself and decided to make with the crumbled paneer.

The Kheer has a delicious flavor, the one that you would get from Bengali sweets, similar to rasmalai and chenna sweets.

So here goes the recipe

Paneer ki Kheer

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup fresh paneer, crumbled

4-6 tbsp sugar, or to taste

1/4 tsp cardamon powder

Saffron and nuts for garnishing.

Method

Boil the milk and reduce it nearly half.

Add the freshly made crumbled chenna.

Add cardamon powder, sugar and let it cook for 4-5 minutes or till you get the desired consistency.

Garnish with almonds, pistachios and saffron.

Serve chilled.

Notes

Fresh Chenna from cow's milk is the best, however you can use store bought or refrigerated paneer also. In that case add paneer to boiling water and let it soak for 5-7 minutes. Drain the water .Thereafter you can either grate or crumble the paneer. You will have a soft paneer, as good as freshly made.

Here are both the versions of kheers , cake and some jalebis !

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BM # 69

Week 4, Day 1

Theme :Fruit based Recipes

For this week I have chosen to cook Fruit based desserts , and once again I have chosen to cook Kheers. I had shortlisted this Kheer long back , but somehow it got postponed and it was on my holiday to Tennerife that I made this kheer.

We had a beautiful villa with a excellent kitchen and a beautiful terrace. I was cooking almost all meals there and the terrace had all the light a blogger can ask for to click pictures .The supermarket was close by and the minute I spotted Mandarians , immediately I decided on Mandarian kheer. Somehow I did not get cooking chocolate there so I picked a orange flavored one.

Coming to the kheer this recipe has been tweaked and the original recipe is by Vineet Bhatia. The rice is cooked in the milk, after the kheer cools down one needs to add the reduced Mandarian juice to the kheer. I added plain simple juice without reducing, I added some fruit pulp too . The original recipe had a layer of chocolate Rabdi, but I just melted some chocolate and made a ball and used it as a garnish.

I have to admit that this was a kheer which had an awesome flavor, the tanginess of the Mandarian was very subtle and that chocolate ball, I saved it right till the end , yes it was just too good and the highlight of the kheer.
So should we get on to the recipe.

Chocolate Mandarian Kheer

Ingredients

500 ml milk

50 gms basmati rice

Sugar to taste

1 Mandarian

Method

Wash and soak the rice for 15 minutes.

Boil the milk and add the rice.

Cook till rice is completely cooked and soft.

By now the Kheer would be nice and thick.

Add sugar to taste and stir once.

Remove from fire and let cool.

Extract the juice of half Mandarian and the segments from the other half.

Add both juice and segments to the Kheer.

Make sure the kheer has cooled down by now.

Pour them in serving bowls.

Microwave a orange flavored chocolate or a dark chocolate and garnish.

You could add a layer of chocolate or just grate some chocolate .

I had a orange flavored chocolate and I made a small ball of it and garnished with that.

Chill the kheer and serve.

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BM # 69

Week 4, Day 2

Theme : Fruit based Recipes

Yes I am going to post one more kheer with fruit, since I have chosen to cook fruit based recipes for this week.

Today it is Apple kheer. The kheer always reminds me of Rekha the film star who makes this Apple Kheer in one of her movies, I forget the name but it was a beautiful comedy film of yester years.

I am no fan of apples and making a kheer with it was something I was not sure if I would like, but all the same I wanted to try it. The Apple Kheer had fascinated me and was at the back of my mind since years. It had to be made.

Strangely I was surprised that the Apple Kheer had a very very delicious flavor. It was like a gourmet dessert . I simply loved it and was glad that I finally made this kheer.

Apple Kheer

Ingredients

21/2 cups milk

1 medium sized apple

1/4 cup sugar or to taste
1/4 tsp Cardamon powder
Pecans

Method

Boil the milk and after the first boil simmer the gas. Stir at regular intervals, cook till milk is reduced to half.

Wash, peel and grate the apples.

Add sugar to the apples and cook till sugar is dissolved and there is no more moisture.

Add the cooked apples to the reduced milk , add cardamon powder and cook for 4-5 minutes.
Remove from fire and add chopped pecans.
Garnish with sliced apples and pecans.
Serve hot or cold.

Notes
I love the apple pecan combination so I used pecans but you can use raisins, almonds, cashews and pistachios too. The choice of nuts is very personal.

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BM # 69

Week 4, Day 3

Theme :Fruit based Recipes

This is the last week and last day of BM 69 . When I chose themes for this month , I challenged myself to make all kheers with whatever theme I chose. So I have a total of 12 different kheers this month. For me it was like a mini mega marathon.

Strawberries have always been one of the exotic fruits that I love. Since it is available for a very short time I always like to freeze some. It comes in real handy for desserts and drinks.

While choosing fruit based dessert I wanted to make this pretty looking kheer . I love the pale pink that the strawberries lend after mixing with white. No nuts are required , just some puréed and some chopped strawberries and we have one of the best desserts one can wish for.

Strawberry Kheer

Ingredients

21/2 cups milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp corn flour

2 tbsp cold milk

1/4 cup chopped strawberries

1/2 cup strawberry puree

Pinch cardamon powder

Method

Mix the corn flour and cold milk and keep aside.

Boil the milk and simmer for 5-6 minutes.

Add sugar and the cornflour mixture, while stirring continuously.

Add cardamon powder.

Boil for another 5-7 minutes.

Remove from fire and let the milk cool.

Add the strawberry puree and chopped strawberries.

Mix well and garnish with mint.

Chill the kheer and serve.

Check out the kheers that I have posted this month

Party Kheers

Gulab ki Kheer

Boondi ki Kheer

Gulab jamun ki Kheer

Kheers from Indian States

Bengali Chaler Payesh

Sheer Kurma

Sago and Vermicelli Kheer

Kheers for fasting

Sago Kheer

Makhaane ki Kheer

Paneer ki Kheer

Fruit based Kheers

Chocolate Mandarian Kheer

Apple Kheer

Strawberry Kheer

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BM # 70
Week 1, Day 1
Theme : Thalis

Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna is celebrated with great devotion and enthusiasm in India in the month of July or August. According to the Hindu calendar this religious festival is celebrated on the Ashtami of Krishna Paksh or the 8th day of the dark fortnight in the month of Bhadon. Krishna Janmashtami is also known as Saatam Aatham, Gokulashtami, Ashtami Rohini, Srikrishna Jayanti.

I remember as a young girl I would fast all day along with my grandmother and break the fast after midnight. I did not know the significance, it was the goodies which was the Prasad that attracted. The complete day we would decorate a room with colored saw dust and mini toys depicting Lord Krishna’s life. Those times were different and we never thought of capturing the memories through a digital lens !

As you grow you learn and understand the significance of these festivals . The Lord is offered a Chappn Bhog .The word ‘Chappan means 56, and ‘Bhog’ means food. Wondering why there are specifically 56 items? The story goes that to protect his village and the people from the wrath of The God of Rain (Lord Indra), Lord Krishna had lifted the Govardhan Parvat and placed it at the tip of his little finger, under which everyone had taken refuge. He stood still for seven whole days continuously, until Lord Indra realized his mistake. Lord Krishna would usually eat eight food items every day, but he didn’t consume any food during these seven days. So at the end of the seventh day, everyone made Lord Krishna a total of 56 dishes (eight multiplied by seven), out of gratitude. The food is first offered to the Lord and then distributed among all the devotees and priests.

My daughter in law used to make this Chappan Bhog in her parental house and when she came here it was only natural to follow it. The Lord is offered sweets, namkeens, home cooked food, drinks, basically all his favorite things.

We divided the bhog into four sections. The first one was fruits and sharbat, the second had dry fruits and chocolates, the third had Burfis , ladoos and sweets (all store bought) and last platter had a home cooked meal.

Coming to the home cooked meal, the menu was as follows and fortunately all the recipes have been posted earlier.

Khaman

Paatra

Samosa

Mattar ki Kachori

Maakhni Daal

Aaloo ki Sabzi

Chawal

Poori

Dahi Wada

Chaawal ki Kheer

Sooji ka Halwa

Badaam ka Halwa

Fruits and sherbet

Dry Fruits and Chocolates

Burfis, Ladoos and Mithai

the Badaam Halwa and Paan too are included in this platter

One can definitely vary the Bhog, I know of people who people offer 16 kinds of namkeen, 20 kinds of sweets and 20 kinds of dry fruits. Makkan , Mishri and Malai are also very popularly added to the bhog. Last but not the least a betel leaf paan too is offered to the lord.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#70

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Minion Sandwiches

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Sandwiches with Love

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Gulab ki Kheer

Boondi Ki Kheer

Gulabjamun Kheer

Bengali Chaler Payesh

Sheer Kurma

Sago and Vermicelli Payasam

Sago Kheer

Makhane ki Kheer

Paneer ki Kheer

Chocolate Mandarin Kheer

Apple Kheer

Strawberry Kheer

Janamashtmi Chappan Bhog