Shhh Cooking Secretly Challenge - BASUNDHI / BASANTHI - TRADITIONAL GUJARATHI SWEET

Serving size - 5 to 6 persons

Preparation time - 5 minutes

Cooking time - 2 hours

Basundhi is an authentic rich and delicious dessert from Gujarat which is similar to Rabdi. I love this thickened milk dessert to the core. It is very simple to prepare and no way to go wrong. For the first time, I made this yummy cold dessert for my friend Gayathri on her birthday to make her day special.

Now coming to the Shhhhh Cooking Secretly Challenge (SCSC) which is started by Priya Suresh akka from Priya's versatile Recipes. This is the first post of this challenge. My Partner for March month is Prathima Shivaraj from Prathu's food. She gave me 2 secret ingredients which are milk and cheese.

 I have to choose any one or both. I have taken milk as my secret ingredient and also I want to start this challenge with sweet. So I made this wonderful creamy dessert as my first post of this SCSC. This is the logo for shhhhh cooking

Let me share this delicious recipe which I got from my grand ma(Ilamathi Paatti). When I was pregnant, She made this favorite dessert specially for me.

Ingredients

Milk - 6 cups
Sugar - 1/2 cup
saffron - 10 to 12 strands
Almond - 1 tbsp
Pistachio - 2 tbsp
Cashew - 1 tbsp
Cardamom powder - 1/8 tsp

Method

• Take milk in a wide mouth and heavy bottomed vessel, allow it to boil.
• Once the milk started to raise up, reduce the flame to low and  stir occasionally.
• In the mean time, chop all the nuts I have mentioned.
• There is a thin layer formed on the top of the milk. You should  remove those layers into a small bowl and keep it aside for future use. Repeat this step until the milk is reduced into 1/2 of its quantity.
• Add all the nuts, cardamom powder and crushed saffron to the reduced 1/2 quantity.
• After 5 minutes, just stir the milk and add the removed layers from the milk which are stored in the small bowl for the future use. 
• Keep on stirring occasionally and scraping the sides until the milk reduced to 1/3 of the quantity.
• Basanthi is ready now. Allow it to get cool and store it in the refrigerator. 
• While serving, garnish it with nuts again and serve chill. It will be more delicious.

NOTE

• Here I used the traditional method to made this delicious sweet. You can also use the combination of milk and condensed milk to prepare quickly.
• But I always love this traditional method. It gives the fabulous taste than the quicker method.
• Please make sure don't allow the milk to get burn in the bottom.
• The flame must be low for the whole process. 

VAZHAI POO / BANANA FLOWER THUVAIYAL

Serving size - 1 small bowl

Preparation time - 30 minutes

Cooking time - less than 5 minutes

Vazhai poo is one of the healthiest veggie to eat. I usually do usuli, kootu and kola urundai kuzhambu using vazhaipoo. But I heard from my friend that we could also prepare thuvaiyal too. I got this recipe from my friend Gayathri. I love this thuvaiyal to the core. Even my little one likes to eat this thuvaiyal with white rice. I would really thank Gayathri for sharing this wonderful recipe with me.

This is the first time, I tried vazhaipoo thovaiyal. So that I made only little amount but it turns out very yummy.

Ingredients

Vazhaipoo/ Banana flower - 1 cup
Water -1/4 cup
Red chillies - 2
Urad dal -1 tsp
Mustard seeds -1/4 tsp
Hing powder - 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - a bit
Salt - as needed
Oil -1 tsp

Method

• Add one cup of banana flower in the 1/4 cup of water and allow it to cook for few minutes. Once it has done, please keep it beside until it will get cool.
• In the mean time, heat oil in a pan,add mustard seeds,urad dal, hing powder, red chillies one after one. Keep it beside for sometime or until they come to normal room temperature.
• Its the time to take out the blender, add all the roasted ingredients, salt & tamarind and blend it for less than a minute. Finally add chopped vazhaipoo to that mixture and blend it nicely.
• Vazhaipoo thovaiyal is ready and it will goes with rice rice as well as for idli dosa too. 

Note

• Please make sure that the banana flower taste good or bitter. If its bitter, please add urad dal, chillies and salt more.
• While cleaning and cutting banana flower, please add small amount of buttermilk to the water and store the chopped banana flower in that water to avoid blackening.
• You can also slightly fry vazhaipoo/banana flower in the pan with little oil. To avoid using excess of oil, I used to cook that in the boiling water.

MAWA GHUJIYA - SNC -16

Serving size - 10 to 15 pieces

Preparation time - 30 minutes

Cooking time - 1 hour

Mawa Ghujiya is a very popular north Indian sweet during their festive time. But it is also more famous in south India as somas. But the filling is different. I like this sweet very much , but I din't try this yet. Because in our families there is no habit of doing this kind sweets. I used to eat this sweet from my friend's home. I love this to the core. 

This Mawa ghujiya is the 16th challenge of SNC from our north team friend Santhosh Bhangar from Santosh's Kitchen.  Actually SNC is the event run by Divya Pramil from YOU TOO CAN COOK. IF you want to be the part of this event from now, please visit SNC CHALLENGE. 

Lets go to the recipe,

Ingredients

For Filling

Milk solids/ khoya - 1/2 cup

Grated coconut - 1/4 cup

Almonds - 6 (grated into flakes)

Sugar - 1/3 cup

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

For Ghujiyas

All Purpose flour - 2 cups

Water - 1 + 2tbsp( I used)

Hot oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Oil - for deep frying

For Sealing

All purpose flour - 1 tsp

Water - 1 1/2 tsp

Method 

For Filling 

• Fry Khoya in a pan until it gets brown color. 
• Add grated coconut, almond flakes, sugar and cardamom powder into the brown khoya and mix well.
• Keep it aside for filling.

For Ghujiyas

• Mix the flour, salt and hot oil and then add water to knead a smooth dough.
• Cover the bowl and keep it for atleast half an hour.
• In the mean time, make a paste for sealing the ghujiyas by mixing flour and water in a small bowl.

MAWA GHUJIYAS

• Make the dough into small balls and make them into thin round using rolling pin.
• Keep enough filling on the center of the round and apply the flour paste on one side of the thin round sheet, then fold it.
• close it strong and press it using fork for more strong.
• Do the remaining dough balls into ghujiyas and keep them under the wet cloth.
• Heat oil in a pan, pls don't over heat because the ghuijays will be in light brown not dark brown.
• Once the oil gets ready, please add 3 or 4 ghujiyas and fry until light brown. Do the rest as the same and store them in the air tight container.

Note

• Actually I made thicker sheets, so it went bit harder not much. 
• It also takes much time to get cook, so it turns dark brown color. Please keep these points in your mind while doing this sweet.
• But this is the first time I tried this kind of sweet, so hope I will be better while making somas. Let me share that experience with you in the future. 

I am going to link this to SNC host of this month from north team Santosh's Kitchen

RAW RED CHILLIES & LEMON CHUTNEY/ PULIPPU KARA CHUTNEY

Preparation time - 5 minutes

Cooking time - 2 minutes

Hi friends, 

I skipped lot of events in the past 2 weeks. I will try to participate in the following events. I made this Kara chutney for viji's SYS-W SERIES. My secret ingredient of this month is RED color veggies, so I have used Red chillies. 

I love this chutney very much. Even when I was pregnant I ate this chutney very often until 4 months. It will be very good with idli, dosa and even with chappathis too.  Will go to the recipe now.

Ingredients

Red chillies - 5 or 6
Lemon - 1/4 or as you need
Water - small amount as needed
Salt - as needed

Seasoning 

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 or 3
Sesame oil - 2 to 3 tsp

Method

• First grind red chillies and salt. Then add little water as needed. Don't make it watery. 
• Make the red chillies powder into smooth paste. Then remove it to the bowl.
• Add fresh lemon juice to the chutney and mix well.
• Heat oil for seasoning, add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add seasoning to the chutney.
• Chutney is ready now.

Note

• This chutney is too spicy, please be sure before you use this chutney.
• It goes well with idly & dosa. If you would like, you could also use this as a thin spread for bread sandwich.
• I actually use to mix curd and sugar with this chutney while eating with dosa or idly. It will help you to reduce the risk of too much spicy. 

SYS-W SERIES SHOW YOUR STYLES TO THE WORLD by Viji

ARACHA KUZHAMBU / COCONUT GRAVY WITH CABBAGE AND PEAS/MOCHAI - EASY & QUICK TANJORE DISTRICT SPECIAL

Serving size - 2

Preparation time - 10 minutes

Cooking time - 20 minutes

Aracha Kuzhambu is one of the best gravy in our region especially Tanjore district. I love to have this from my childhood to now and forever. I learned this recipe from my mom. 

I do remember that my mom got fresh Mochai in the particular season, cooked and feed that until before marriage. Even when I was pregnant, she did the same though she had a heart surgery during that time. She never use spoon for feeding, always use her hand. I love the taste of her hands too. MOM is always special with LOVE,CARE and EVERYTHING right ?

It is a very easy and tasty recipe. You can give a try friends. If you will taste it, then you will be mad of this gravy. It will goes well with rice as well as idli, dosa or any Indian flat bread. Let us go to the recipe.

Ingredients

Cabbage - 1/3 cup
Peas - 2 tbsp (I used frozen )
Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp (optional) - I din't use
Water - 3/4 or 1 cup
Salt - as needed
Oil - 1 tbsp

To Grind

 Coconut - 1/3 cup
 Shallot - 1
 Garlic - 1

Toast in the direct fire

  Shallot - 1
  Garlic - 1

To fry slightly

   Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
   Channa dal - 1 tsp
   Green chilly - 1
   Red chillies - 3
   Oil - 1 tsp

Seasoning

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 4 or 5

Method

• You must toast shallot and garlic in the direct fire.  IF you have only coil on the stove top, you could use the tava for toasting. Sometimes, I toast on the coil too. IT works wells and keep it aside.
• Add all the ingredients under the heading To fry slightly into the pan and fry slightly. Don't fry much, then the taste will get spoil.
• Grind all the ingredients coconut, toasted shallot & garlic and fried ingredients together and keep it aside.
• Heat oil in a pan for seasoning, add mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and then finally ground paste. Fry for a minute or 2 in a low flame.
• Add water to the pan and allow it to boil until the raw smell goes.
• In the mean while, boil cabbage and peas in the microwave for 2 or 3 minutes. Else you can also boil these veggies on the stove top too.
• Finally add the veggies to the gravy and allow it to boil for 5 to 10 minutes or the gravy and veggies get well together.
• Aracha Kuzhambu is ready now. It will go very good with white rice and even to idli, dosa and chappathis. 

Tips

• You must be very careful while frying. That will change the whole gravy's taste.
• Instead of dry coriander seeds, you can use fresh coriander leaves too. It is more tastier than coriander seeds.
• The most speciality in this gravy is toast and un toast shallot and garlic. In tamil, we use to say sutta pondhu sudhatha pondu, sutta vengayam, sudhath vengayam gives special taste to this gravy.
• you can also use either red chillies or green chillies too. Its totally upto your preference.