Milk Peda

Sweets and me , we have an ongoing love affair :). I love sweets so much that during my pregnancy they were the root cause of my needing to go on a controlled diet :(
Recently i happened to be uploading some photos of Sweets and Dishes that i had made on Facebook and a lot of my friends wanted the recipe for Pedas. 
This recipe is a microwave version that i first tried out in 2009 when i had too much milk powder sitting idle at home and when i first started having my cravings for anything sweet :P . 
Very frankly i don't remember from where i got this recipe as back in 2009 i never blogged about Food and hence though i made a note of the recipe , i did not make a note of from where i got the recipe.


So the credit and my heartfelt thanks goes to whosoever gave me the recipe !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The ingredients needed and the procedure on how to make it are very simple and it should hardly take more than 15 mins of your time to make these . 

Ingredients :


Milk Powder - 2cups
Condensed Milk - 14oz can
Butter - 4oz (at room temperature)
Saffron strands - a few 
Nuts - Any that you may have at home . I used Almonds.
Ghee - 2 to 3 tsps


How to go about making the Pedas :


Take a Microwave(MW) safe Glass bowl and make sure it is deep and big enough to mix all of the above.
Add butter to the bowl and MW for a minute. If the butter has not melted MW for another 30secs.
To the butter add milk powder and stir it in slowly and make sure there are no lumps.
To the above add the can of condensed milk and stir it completely.
Place the bowl in the MW and leave it on for a minute.
Remove the bowl from the MW , stir the mixture and make sure there are no lumps. Leave it again for another minute.  When you remove the bowl from the MW you can see that the mixture has started to thicken. Stir the mixture and place it for 1 more minute.
If at the end of 3 minutes the mixture is not thick you can heat it again in the MW in 30sec intervals
Allow the mixture to cool for 15 to 20 mins.
Now apply ghee on your palms , take a small quantity of the mixture ( enough to make a ball ) and roll it in your hands.
Flatten it  , make a small hole in the center and place the Almond ( or any nut of your choice) in the center. 
Repeat the process for the entire mixture. 


Your yummy pedas are now ready to be served !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


These are so easy to make that if you have milk powder and condensed milk you can make these in batches and serve for any get-together or even for parties , potlucks :).

Tiramisu

Hmmmm Tiramisu...even telling it out makes my mouth water. Yummmmm!!!!! From the time i came to the US post marriage my favorite restaurant has always been "Olive Garden". The unlimited breadsticks and the minestrone soup are more than enough to fill up your stomach that i hardly have the space to eat the entrée ordered.By default the dessert that i order is always Tiramisu. I love the dessert so much that i decided to try making it at home. So on a fine weekend i left my daughter with her dad (telling my hubby it was dad-daughter bonding time) and decided to try it out.

There are people who would do the whole Tiramisu from scratch but with a 8 month old i do not have too much time on my hands , so i normally buy the necessary ingredients.

I have two recipes i follow - one with eggs and one without.  Today i will give out the one without eggs. This is easy to make and if you are gonna have friends over for dinner , then you can make it in the morning and push it into the refrigerator to chill. Its ready to serve in time for dinner :).

So what exactly is a Tiramisu??? The below is a source from my best friend the Wiki :)

             Tiramisu (Italian: Tiramisù; Venetian: Tiramesù " [tirameˈsu]) is one of the most popular Italian cakes. It is made of savoiardi (otherwise known as lady finger biscuits) dipped in espresso or strong coffee or rum, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks, mascarpone cheese, and sugar, and topped with cocoa.

          The original recipe called for the following ingredients: savoiardi biscuits, eggs, sugar, mascarpone, cocoa powder, honey, and carbonated water.In the original recipe, there was no liquor as the cake was originally aimed at children and the elderly, and the original shape was round. The phrase tirami su literally means "pick me up" or "pull me up" in reference to the effects of the sugar and espresso.

Please bear with the photo for now as i am still practicing on the aspects of these photos. Will put up a better one soon :)

The source for my recipe is from the Betty Crocker Website which you can see here.

Prep Time : 30 mins

Total time : 4h 30 mins ( 4hrs to refrigerate)

Servings : Depends on how big or small a piece one cuts :)

Ingredients :

8oz softened Mascarpone cheese or cream cheese if one does not have Mascarapone ( leave the cheese out at room temp , if not microwave it for a min)

4oz powdered sugar

2tbsp light rum

8oz heavy whipping cream

1 package ladyfingers (some would say 12 would do , but i use all 24 from the package. I buy it from Trader's Joe as these are of better quality)

4oz  prepared espresso or strong coffee ( should be chilled)

4tsps baking cocoa

Chocolate shavings for serving

Preparation :

1. In a large vessel (comfortable  for you to beat in) beat the mascarpone ( or cream cheese) and sugar on medium speed.

2. Add in the rum and beat all together.

3. In a separate bowl beat the whipping cream till you see stiff peaks being formed.

4.Now mix both the mixtures together and beat them together (only on medium speed).

5.Slightly dip the ladyfinger's in the espresso ( dip it very lightly as otherwise they will turn soggy) and in any pan of your wish ( i used a 8*8*2 square pan) arrange the ladyfingers horizontally ( i used 12 on each layer).

6.Spread half of the cheese mixture evenly over the ladyfingers and sprinkle cocoa powder on top.

7.Now once again on top of the cocoa arrange another layer of espresso dipped ladyfingers , spread the remaining cheese mixture , sprinkle cocoa powder.

8.Wrap up the pan in foil or plastic wrap and allow it to refrigerate for 4 hrs.

9. When you want to serve remove the pan , cut slices , drizzle chocolate shavings and your Tiramisu is ready to eat.

Note: Please remember to leave it covered in the refrigerator.

Samosas

It was a rainy Saturday evening and it bugged me that we had to stay indoors and that too on a weekend. Especially having an 8 month old and not taking her out was something i definitely hated. After enjoying the awesome weather in California , NJ was definitely a no-no to me. But my hubby's job demanded the move and here i am. 

I have always loved samosas from my childhood and there has never been a day when i have asked for it and my dad said "NO" :). I wanted to make it but i kept thinking that its a tedious process and did not want to get involved in it. But this rainy evening increased my craving for samosas with hot Chai and so i decided let me try my hands on it. So there i was blog hunting. I searched a couple of blogs and came up with a combination for the filling that would satisfy my taste buds :).

So what exactly is a Samosa ???? This is in case anyone who is not Indian chances upon my blog :).

Samosa generally consists of a fried or baked triangular shell with a savory filling which may include spiced potatoes, onion, peas, coriander, andlentils. The size and shape of a samosa as well as the consistency of the patty used can vary considerably, although it is mostly triangular. Samosas are often served with imli chutney or curd.

Ingredients :

For the shell :

1cup all purpose flour

salt to taste

little oil

water ( enough to knead the dough)

ajwain is generally added to the dough but i don't prefer it .

oil for frying

For the filling :

2 medium sized potatoes - boiled and crumbled

1/2 cup boiled green peas 

1 small sized onion

1tsp ginger garlic paste

2 green chillis

1/2 tsp red chilli powder ( you may skip the chillis and increase this to 1 tsp)

a pinch of turmeric

1/4 tsp garam masala

salt to taste

chopped corainder leaves

1/4 tsp cumin seeds.

ghee for frying ( i always add ghee , but this can be substituted with oil)

So how do we go about it?????

Mix the all purpose flour with salt and oil. To this add water slowly to make a dough. Do not add to much water as then the dough would not be firm and that makes it difficult to knead.

Sprinkle some water slighlty on the mixed dough and leave it covered for 30 mins.

In the meantime , add ghee in a pan. Add cumin seeds and when this splutters add onion and green chillies. Fry onion till it turns translucent. To this add g&g paste and fry till the raw odor is gone.

Now add the cooked peas and  fry for a min or two. To this add the crumbled potatoes and mix all together. Fry for a min.

Now add the dry powders and salt and fry for a few mins. Add the chopped coriander leaves and remove.

Make small sized balls of the dough. Roll it flat as you would roll a chappati. Cut the rolled out dough into 2 halves.

Take one half and form a cone out of it.Seal the point where the two ends meet. Hold the cone between your fingers and add the filling. Wet your finger and run it along the end and seal the cone.

Add enough oil in a kadai or pan and fry the samsosas. Remove once they turn golden.

Hot samosas are now ready to serve with tomato ketchup , green chutney or any other combination you may like. 

I had my garma garam samosas with tomato ketchup and cup of hot chai :)