Thekua (khajur)

Chhath puja is round the corner and people in east India have geared up with the preparations. Though I’m a Bengali, I have grown up among people of diverse culture and have been celebrating almost all festivals with the same amount of fervour. Chaat puja holds a special place in my heart especially because of its delicious Prasad (offering to god) thekua and I eagerly wait for this time so that I can savour a lot of this sweet.

Thekua is an Indian cookie which is made up of wheat flour .It is perfect to satiate your small hunger pangs and an ideal partner for your evening tea. ...The best thing about this sweet is that it has a larger shelf life which means you can relish it for a many days and  its super duper easy to cook.
                                

INGREDIENTS:  

1)      Half kg wheat flour

2)      200 gm jaggery (you can also use powdered sugar)

3)        fennel -1 table spoon

4)      Semolina powder (also known as rawa and sooji)- 1.5cup

5)      Cardamom powder- 1 table spoon

6)      Clarified butter (ghee) -4 table spoon

7)      Refined oil for deep frying

8)      Chopped Raisins

PROCEDURE:

1.       Boil one cup of water and add the jaggery to it and make some syrup.









 

 
 
2.       Mix the wheat flour, semolina flour, half cup refined oil, and ghee and knead it. Add the jaggery syrup and start kneading it with little amount at a time. To this add the chopped raisins, fennel and cardamom powder and keep kneading it till you get the dough ( the dough should not be very tight or too loose)




 

3.       Make small balls out of the dough.









 

4. Press the ball against the ‘saanch’ (you don’t have a saanch,No worries .. use the utensils which have designs on their body and will leave an imprint on the dough when pressed or simply press it against your palm)

5.       Heat the oil and deep fry till they turn golden brown in colour.

6.       Let it cool and serve

7.       You can keep it in an air tight container and relish it for a longer period of time.

 Do write me your experience .

Happy Cooking!!

Madhumita

DIY wax filled Diyas

The bling of lights, the smell of paints, the aroma of sweets with a dash of chill in the weather and you know that Deepawali is round the corner. The Deepawali preparations start way ahead of the festival and I suppose the legendary Deepawali ‘house cleaning’ process is world famous. Most  people find it very tiring but I’m a great optimist and I find it quite adventurous to discover some useful stuff buried in the corner of a cupboard or in a chest of drawers and it makes me happy.

Decoration is the other name of Deepawali and we are all busy decorating our abode this season. The markets are swarming with lamps and lights and you get a variety of them but  I personally  feel  that nothing can beat the traditional clay diyas... They have a beauty which cannot be substituted by anything. Moreover Diyas also have a meaning in Hinduism. It is said that the oil symbolizes the malice in human beings, the wick symbolizes the ‘atma’ or soul. So when we light a diya we offer our soul to god and burn our malice and dirt and as Diwali signifies the triumph of good over evil we burn clay lamps.

Over the years the clay diyas have been remodeled and revamped and we find an array of beautiful diyas in the market, so you can buy assorted diyas to adorn your house. But if you want to give a personal touch to your diyas you can make it at home too and believe me its too much fun.Not only your diyas will look different from your neighbours but your wallet will also be happy. So wait no further and get ready to embellish your house with these DIY diyas.

 PROCEDURE

Step1 -If you want you can also use your previous years diyas instead of new ones .Wash them with a little soap water and dry them.If they are new soak them in water for a few hours and then dry them.Paint them with the colours you desire.I usually paint my diyas with a primer and then colour them.This way we get a better finish.

STEP2 -For the candles you can use the unused candles (I’m sure you discover a lot of them in your Diwali cleaning process ;)) or buy wax from the market.I have used some unused candles.

STEP3-Boil some water in a wide mouthed container.Put the wax pieces in a smaller container and put it on the warm water container.Put the flame on medium and let the wax melt.
   

STEP4 -In the meanwhile make the wick of the diyas.For the wick you can use the wick which came out of the unused diyas or you can also make it with thick thread (which is used to make garlands).Dip the thread in the melted wax to make it hard. Take some sticks to tie the wick and put it in the middle of the diya.

After the wax has melted pour it in the diyas and let it cool.Once it cools down it will become hard.

The next step is to give a makeover to your diyas and the there are umpteen number of ways to do so..You can paint, make designs and patterns with colours, use beads and other decorative things which are easily available in the house .If you don’t have them  you can buy from the market  at very reasonable price.

Your hand made diyas are ready to brighten the night!!   
  

Do let me know if you try it.

Happy Deepawali!!!

Madhumita

Easy Gulab Jamun recipe in half an hour

Today I woke up a little early than usual and thought why not use my extra time in doing something fruitful. I dressed and went to my local vegetable market .I was pleasantly surprised seeing some of my favorite vegetables and fruits.I  never knew the visit would be so ‘fruit full’  :)  I was too excited as I had so much to buy..I am a shopaholic to such an extent that I love shopping groceries too.Also all this freshness and beauty made me realize that winters are round the corner. Seriously guys’ winters may be gloomy but we cannot say the same for the vegetables and fruits which we get in this season. There is an array of vegetables and fruits  which this season offers ,my personal favorites being  cabbage, cauliflower, peas, sweet potato, oranges, grapes..omg! the list seems endless :) so, on my way back home I thought why not make something to welcome the winters and I planned to make gulab jamun.

Gulab jamun with a twist and the twist is that we’ll be making it with sweet potatoes also known as shakarkand in India. Sweet potatoes are cultivated throughout tropical and warm temperate regions in the world one among them being India. You can find them in your vegetable markets from September to mid march so you have the whole of winters to relish them... This dessert will bring a smile on the faces of  health conscious friends as well as it is very nutritious .It is packed with fibre , naturally occurring sugars, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium and tastes great too which is an added bonus.

This vegetable has a sweet and salty taste so you can mould it into many ways and there is end number of ways to prepare it. .Roast, bake, make pudding, prepare sweets and the list is endless.

Here’s the recipe and do  try it and let me know your experience.

PROCEDURE:

1)3 medium sized sweet potatoes (shakarkand, lal aloo)

2)1 ½ cup water

3) Flour (maida) -1/2 cup

4) Pinch of soda

3)1 cup sugar

4) Clarified butter (ghee) /vegetable oil (for deep frying)

5)1 tea spoon Cardamom powder

PROCESS

1)      Boil the sweet potatoes and peel them.

2)      Mash the potatoes, add in the soda and knead it with the flour to make the dough.

Note:

The dough should not be too tight or too loose.

 The maida (flour) is used to bind the mashed potatoes so use the quantity accordingly.

3)      Pour the water in a pan .Heat it and put the sugar and cardamom powder and keep in on flame till the water becomes half.

Note: To check that the sugar syrup is of right consistency take a drop of it and press it with your fingers. If a thin wire forms between your fingers it means the syrup is ready.

4)      Take the dough and make small balls out of it.

5)      Heat the clarified butter /vegetable oil in a pan .Deep fry the potato balls in medium frame. Keep stirring them at regular intervals so that the balls are fried evenly. Fry them until they are deep brown.

6) Put the balls in the sugar syrup and leave them for 30 minutes so that the balls absorb the sugar syrup.

Serve it hot :)

Enjoy cooking!!

Love,

Madhumita