Methi masala mathri

Who can withstand not eating mathri with a cup of hot ginger tea? Its a delight to have it specially sitting in a balcony watching the rains. I love rains.  Mathri is one of my favorites. They are too addictive. I look for any occasion to make them knowing fully well that they are calorie high but ignore my calories while indulging in these savories.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups maida / all purpose flour
1/4 cup sooji/ rawa
4 tbsp ghee /oil
2 tbsp kasoori methi / fenugreek leaves
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1/4 tsp white sesame seeds
1/4 tsp black sesame seeds
1/4 tsp ajwain /carom seeds
15 crushed black pepper
1/2 tsp coriander powder
salt to taste

Method:
Sieve flour and add sooji, salt, methi leaves, chilli powder, white and black sesame seeds, ajwain and coriander powder.

Add oil or ghee and mix it properly giving the appearance of bread crumbs.

Knead into a stiff dough.  Do not add too much water.

Leave it to rest for 20 minutes.  Lightly knead the dough.  Take a portion of the dough and make a log out of it.

Cut it into 1/2 inch pieces. This is a short cut and avoids the hassle of  making small roundels of the dough, rolling them between the palms and then pressing them.

Take one roundel, place it with the cut side on the top.  Flatten it a little.

and press with the heel of your palm.

Roll it, and give one or two gashes with a knife or prick with fork to prevent it from puffing.

Fry on a medium heat till light brown.

Remove on an absorbent paper.

Store when they cool down.  I assure you they don't last very long :)

My Notes:
Don't add too much water, the dough should be hard.  Soft dough does not make crisp mathris.
You can add spices according to your taste.

Caramel syrup

Many recipes demand caramel syrup.  Its so easy to make. I usually make some and keep it ready in a bottle.  This way, I don't have to make at last minute.  I also find caramel so versatile, pour it over yogurt, over pancakes, make flavored icing for cakes.  It can change a simple vanilla ice cream to a special  treat, topped with nuts makes into a beautiful sundae.

Ingredients:
6 tbsp white sugar
3 tbsp water
hot boiling water

Method:
Place sugar in a big saucepan.

Add water and put it to boil.

The liquid will soon start bubbling and the color will start to change.

Be careful, sugar starts to caramelize and changes color rapidly. You can at this stage decide on the color of caramel. Light brown color for cake toppings, ice cream, pancakes.

Continue heating, but keep an eye on the liquid.  It changes color very quickly.
Gradually, it will change its color from white to light brown to a rich caramel color.

Add boiling water, be careful , it comes to a rolling boil.

The caramelized sugar which would have turned hard, with the addition of water becomes a syrup. One needs to be very careful while adding water, it boils over so use a big pot.

Add a little more water, around 3 tbsp adn the caramel syrup is ready.
Store it in a glass bottle.

My notes:
Take care while the sugar is melting, the temperature is very high and you can get burnt badly if you are not careful.
The degree of color is your choice.

No fry masala vadas

While, making guilt free and low fat vadas, I was tempted to try my hand at making masala vadas.
The fried crispy vadas are irresistible but then while eating, you are always counting the number of calories.
Paniyaram pan has become a dear friend to me, coming to my rescue for any low fat frying I want to do. There needs a lot of experimentation with that.

Ingredients:
1/2 measure batter no fry dahi baras

To be mixed to batter:
1/2 onion, finely chopped
4-5 peppercorns, cracked
1/2 tsp crushed coriander seeds
2 green chillies, finely chopped
2 tbsp. green coriander leaves

1 tbsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
4-5 curry leaves, shredded
salt to taste

Method:
Beat the batter till light and fluffy.

Add ingredients listed under " To be mixed to batter".

Beat the batter and mix it well.

Heat paniyaram chatti, grease it a little and pour a spoonful of batter.  The batter will rise after some time and you would see bubbles on the top.
Wait and check to see if the underside is cooked.  You would see brown specks underneath.

Flip and cook the other side.

Enjoy no fry baras !!

My notes:
Airing or beating the batter is very important.
I do not add baking soda to the batter, if you want, then just add a pinch of it.
Experiment adding sambhar powder, pao bhaji masala to batter.

Making mawa from milk powder

Mawa or khoya is the result of removing all the water content from milk.  The halwai still undergo this strenuous process of making mawa with milk in huge kadahis over high flame. He continuously stirs it with a huge ladle to prevent scorching the milk. The milk soon starts getting thickened and after some time it becomes a solid mass. This process involves a long time and an easier version to make mawa is from whole milk powder.  There are many ways of making mawa from milk powder.  I have tried many methods from making a soft dough of milk powder and steaming it, making a dough and freezing it. This time, I am using the pan method of making mawa.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk powder

1/4 cup cream

Method:

Put milk powder and cream in a pan and heat it over medium heat.

The mixture first becomes gooey but gradually turns into a soft mass.

At this stage, switch off the heat. Cool.
This mawa can be used for making burfis, gulab jamuns or putting in halwa.

My notes:
Use full fat milk powder for making mawa. 

If you want mawa with more fat content, then use 1/2 cup of cream.  I have used the cream / malai from the top of boiled milk. 

No fry dahi vadas

Just the thought of chaats makes your mouth water and dahi baras or bhallas are one of the important accompaniment in any chaat.  My husband loves to eat them but I would always hold him back from taking a second serving.  The reason being, fried.  Although, the baras are immersed in water and squeezed taking some what of the oil also along with it but then also, whatever you may, oil is still there.

The wonder paniyaram chatti came to my rescue of making low fat dahi baras.  While, I was making paniyarams one day, the thought of making dahi baras in this chatti struck me.  The first batch was a disaster with baras hard and solid.  They were'nt as soft as the fried version.  But, on more trials, I figured out the secret ..... its the consistency of the batter.

So, now no frying :)

Drizzle a lavish amount of sweet tamarind chutney and enjoy the tangy taste....

Ingredients:
3/4 cup urad dal
1/4 cup moong dal

To be added while grinding:
1 tsp grated ginger or 1" piece
asafoetida
approx. 3/4 cup water

Optional ingredients to add to batter:
10 black peppercorns, cracked
1/4 tsp tsp cumin seeds
1 finely chopped green chilli

For assembling baras:
3 cups yogurt beaten and sieved
1/2 tsp black salt
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder
1/2 tsp chat masala
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
salt to taste
sweet tamarind chutney

Method:
Soak the dals separately for 3-4 hours.  Do keep a watch, the soaking time varies with weather conditions. It takes a longer time during winters.

Add just enough water to dal to cover it and grind them adding ginger and asafoetida. Make sure to grind the dals separately.

Mix both dals together and get ready for some whisking.  Whisk and whisk till the batter becomes soft. Keep on addding cold water a little at time  in between.

Add cracked pepper and cumin seeds.

The batter should not be thick, it should be of pouring consistency. See the picture below.

Heat paniyaram chatti on medium heat, lightly grease it and pour a spoonful of the batter into each mould.

At this stage, if you want to have raisin and cashew in between, put it in the centre and cover with another spoon of the batter.

Cover the baras with a spoonful of batter.

The method below can also me used for making raisin and cashew filled baras.  I put 7 pieces each of cashews and raisin on the bowl. Scoop out the batter with a spoon making sure that the filling is inside and put it in the chatti.

Soon you would see the batter rise up a little, check the under side and flip it. Cook the other side and remove it on a plate.

Color is not going to be important because the baras would need to be soaked in water.

Heat some water, add salt, hing or asafoetida and let the baras soak in reasonably hot water for almost 2 hours.

Assembling dahi baras :
Squeeze out the water, place on a serving dish.  Meanwhile, prepare the yogurt.
Whisk yogurt, sieve and add white salt, black salt, a little black pepper, chat masala, roasted cumin seed powder, chili powder and sugar if you like. I like my yogurt to be sweet. But, you can omit this.

From this 3 cup flavored yogurt, take out 1/2 cup and add 1/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup water. Adjust salt to taste.  Pour this over the baras. Let the liquid absorb and now pour the thick flavored yogurt on top of baras.

Garnish with sweet chutney, a little chaat masala, coriander leaves and red chilli powder.

Enjoy your guilt free dahi baras.

My notes:
I do not add salt to the batter. I add salt to water for soaking the baras.
Add a pinch of baking soda if, desired or you see the baras not getting soft.
I like the yogurt to be slightly sweet so I add a little sugar.
Fresh pomegranate seeds, fine sev can also be added as garnishes.
If, the yogurt is sour, add milk to bring down the sourness.

You can add more yogurt if you like.

Sweet tamarind chutney

Any chaat or dahi baras is incomplete without a lavish drizzle of this sweet tamarind chutney. Adding to bhel puri or aloo chaat makes it all more tasty. I prefer to make it myself , experimenting with various ingredients.
The amount of spices can be adjusted to taste.

There is always a bottle of this in fridge.  I sometimes just add this chutney to whipped yogurt, spice it up with chilli powder and coriander leaves, sit in front of tv and slurp :)
The shelf life is quite long so one need not worry about finishing it soon. The number of ingredients added act as digestive aid for stomach also.

Ingredients:
 a tennis ball sized tamarind
 1/8th tsp asafoetida
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp dry ginger powder (sonth) or 1 tsp grated ginger
1/8 tsp fenugreek powder
1 1/4 tsp black salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp roasted cumin seed powder
a pinch of nutmeg
1 black cardamom seeds, ground
1/8 tsp green cardamom powder
1 1/4 cup sugar

Method:
Take tennis ball sized tamarind.

Soak  in water till soft.

Mash and extract all the pulp. It comes out approx. 1 1/2 cups and put it in a saucepan.

Add black salt, asafoetida, dry ginger powder, garam masala, fenugreek powder, roasted cumin seed powder, nutmeg, cardamom powder, red chilli powder,  black pepper and bring the mixture to a boil.
Do not add sugar at this stage.
Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for two three minutes.
Remove from flame.
Now, add sugar and stir.
Add melon seeds if desired.

My notes:
Do not add sugar while the tamarind liquid is boiling.  The sugar caramalises and gives chutney a blackish color.
Adding black salt is a must. This imparts a peculiar flavor to chutney.
Add chilli powder and sugar according to your taste.
Raisins and dates can also be added to the mixture while it is boiling.

Mishti doi

My husband loves Bengali sweets and mishti doi is one of his favorites.  I try to make a low fat version. Of course, full fat is more creamier and tastier. I always think of Annapoorna in Delhi while making mishti doi.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup or whole 1 (12 fl. oz) can evaporated milk, not fat free
3/4 cup or 1 whole can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup yogurt
1 tsp palm sugar
caramel syrup

Method:

In a bowl, add evaporated unsweetened milk, yogurt, sweetened condensed milk. I like my dohi not too sweet so add just 3/4 of the can. If, you like it more sweet, add the whole can.

Blend them together.  Add palm sugar, a tablespoon of caramel syrup to give a rich brown color.

Sieve and transfer to a oven safe container, cover with aluminium foil and bake for 45 minutes at gas mark 1/2 or 200 degree F or 110 degree C.

Remove aluminium foil and leave the container in oven till cool.
Refrigerate and serve cold.

My Notes:
If, using a terracotta container, let it steep in water for half an hour and add 1/2 cup of milk to the mixture.
If you like mishti doi a little dry then omit adding milk.
Do not use fat free evaporated milk.
My friend A, steams it till the mixture sets in.  She also suggests adding sour cream to make it more rich.