Mithas e-guftagu from India's masterchef 1

rabdi

phirni

Pardon me ! Warm new year wishes to each and everyone of you from Palate Corner .So here i come after a long long long break as i moved from Australia to India and finally after the helluva time i am back to my blogging,also  my apologises for not blog hoping these days, was really tied up and had no proper net connection .I did had a chance to meet many food bloggers in bangalore which was super amazing and unbelievable .I am sure everyone must be aware of it and ofcourse the credit goes to Facebook.As everyone knows India's masterchef 2 is also finished and i am glad that this time i had a chance to follow,the last few months of this show and am very happy for India's 2nd masterchef Shipra Khanna ,she is very well deserved candidate but on the other hand i  liked Shazia  a lotz,i thought she'll be the masterchef of this season.Anyways recently i went through  the website of India's masterchef and i was very disappointed as they had posted very limited recipes unlike Australia's masterchef and i desperately wanted one of the  recipes but i was unable to hunt on their site ,when i was browsing i found this dessert on India's Masterchef 1 site and i quite liked the name though  the elements in the dish r very common and familiar to all ,but to be very frank i never thought of assembling all those elements together ,so inspite of being common and simple dish it looked extremely beautiful and delicious.I assembled this dish with ma own measurements and method unlike the original recipe .This dish was actually made on my second blog anniverary which was in last week of decemeber,Yess !! I have completed 2 long years of blogging and cooking up these yummy dishes but had been sheepishly lazy to blog about it,so without any much ado lets go straight to the yummylicious recipe .
approx for 4-5 ppl
ingredients for phirni :
1/2 litre full cream milk
1/2 cup  sugar
3 tbsp basmati rice,washed and drained
1 tsp cardomon pwd
1/2 tsp rose water
1-2 tbsp mixed sliced nuts - almonds,cashews,pistachios,chiroli
3-4 strands of saffaron soaked  in 1tsp of warm milk
method :
Boil milk ,lower the flame and simmer for 10-15 mins.Meanwhile drain the soaked rice and grind it to a coarse powder form and keep it aside,once the milk is simmered for a while then add this powdered rice and stir it for a while,let it simmer till the rice cooks well enough and becomes soft and mushy.Once the rice is cooked,add sugar and mix well,keep stirring as the rice gets thickened in the milk and it may stick to the bottom of your pan so occassionally keep stirring.After the sugar gets dissolved add cardomon pwd ,kesar and when the phirni is cooled down add  rose water.

ingredients for rabdi :
1 cup milk ( full cream )
3 tbsp grated khoya
3-4 tbsp sugar
a pinch of cardomon
1-2 strands of saffaron
method :
Mix milk and grated khoya together,simmer it for a while ,keep stirring occassionally.Add sugar according to your taste ,once the milk gets thick enough ( yet pourable) add cardomon pwd and saffaron ,mix well and keep it aside.The thick rabdi is ready.

ingredients for crispy sevaiyan:
1/2 cup thin sevaiyan ( i used mtr roasted vermicilli as i didnt had sevaiyan )
2 tsp ghee
1/2 cup sugar
method :
Mix sugar and very little water just to soak the sugar and boil and make a sugar syrup of two thread consistency.Heat ghee and fry sevaiyan to golden brown colour.In the sugar syrup add the roasted sevaiyan and mix well for 1-2 mins.Turn off the gas and your crispy sevaiyan are ready.

Assembling the dish :
Take a bowl / wine glass add half the glass phirni,top it with some sliced/chopped dry fruits ,sprinkle it with a tbsp of sevaiyan ,to top it add a tbsp of rabdi  and garnish with some more dryfruits.Keep the dish for some time in refrigerator and chill well before serving.Mithas-e guftagu is ready to eat.

Shahi tukda !!

Ahh ! finally after a long time i am blogging ,was facing lots of issues related to blog,was not able to see my dashboard,sometimes my edit posts were invisible and the pics whatever i was uploading were not etall visible in the drafts ,i really wonder was it happening with me only or anyone else in the blogosphere was facing these problems too ...anyways,i really apologise because of that i missed all my fellow blogger's yummy dishes ,no worries will surely check it out soon,also this being a festive month was little busy.This new interface ,rather " new look "of blog is also driving me crazy,will take some time to get a hang of it,still exploring the space and im loving it,i sometimes like the changes in my life similarly i liked the changes in the blogging concept too :) .Coming to todays post,i am sharing the famous Hyderabadi dessert , shahi tukda,the  indulgence in the authentic royal dish is not less then a sin ,however you can make this dish without deep frying in ghee instead you can simply toast it also the bread can be immersed in low fat milk too!I had surprised my dear friend by treating her with this dessert,she loves this royal indian sweet very much ,and thus i follwed the traditional way of making.I am glad she liked my crunchier variation,though it was new to her :D

approx serves 3-4 ppl
ingredients :
3-4 slices of bread,cut into 4 equal square portions or any shape you like
ghee for deep frying
few raisins,cashew nuts,almonds,chiroli seeds,pistachios,etc.
for sugar syrup :
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
cardomon pwd to taste
1 tsp gulab jal ( rose water )
few strands of kesar ( saffaron )
for 1 cup rabdi  :
1 cup evaporated milk ( instead you can use 2 cups full cream milk and reduce it on slow flame till half )
1/4 cup condensed milk
cardomon pwd to taste
saffaron few strands
sugar as per your taste ( i didnt add any as i had used sweetened condense milk which was enough sweet )
method :
Heat ghee in a deep frying pan.Cut the bread slices as per the shape.Deep fry the slices in ghee till golden brown in colour and drain on a paper napkin.In the left over ghee ,fry all the nuts and keep aside .
Boil the sugar and water togther for the sugar syrup for 10-15 mins on low heat.Turn off the heat.Add cardomon pwd,saffaron and rose water.
In a heavy bottomed pan heat eveaporated milk,on a very low heat,stir continuosly for 8-10 mins.Add condensed milk and keep stirring and scraping from the sides for another 7-8 mins.Turn off the heat .Add cardomon pwd and saffaron and keep it aside.The rabdi or thickened milk is ready.
Take the deep fried bread slices whilst hot and dip it into the hot sugar syrup for a min and place it on the serving plate.Spoon the rabdi ( thickened milk ) on the bread slices,garnish it with the fried nuts and serve immediately or you can chill it in referigerator for some time and serve chilled.

Phirni / Rice pudding

hiPhirni / phir nee / firni  is a traditional sweet,quite famous from the northern parts of india , tastes more or less like a kheer but this dish is thick & creamy in texture.Its usually chilled before serving in kasori's,a pot which is actually an earthenware bowl,the pot is washed and dried before hand ,then the phirni is filled and kept in refrigerators to be cooled.Its little grainy in texture,very rich dish and it happens to be a scrumptious dessert.

ingredients :
1 litre whole milk (  approx 4 - 41/4 cups full fat cream milk )
1/4 cup rice ( basmati rice is preferably )
1 cup sugar ( adjust more or less acc to your taste )
1/2 tsp crushed saffaron strands soaked in 1 tbsp of warm milk for half an hr.( optional )
1/2 tbsp rose water ( optional )
cardomon pwd to taste
few flakes of almonds,pistachios
method :
Wash and soak rice for half an hour.Boil milk on a slow flame for atleast 15 mins,keep stirring occassionally so that it does not stick to the bottom of your pan.Drain the rice and grind it into coarse powdery form .Add little milk ( say about 2-3 tsps ) to the grinded rice and mix to avoid any lumps.Add this rice mixture to the boiled milk and keep stirring for 1-2 mins  and take care that there are no lumps formed in the milk.Let the rice cook completely in the milk stirring occassionally now .Once the rice is cooked,quite tender and soft enough, add sugar, saffaron and cardomon pwd.Switch off the flame,add rose water,garnish with the nuts and chill in refrigerator or can also be served hot.

easiest,quickest & mouth melting tiramisu recipe with store bought ingredients :D

Tiramisu ( tiruh-mee-sooo) is a mouth melting italian dessert which means " pick me up " / "carry me up " .It actually means getting a jerk emotionally through your palatte which will shake you completely,it is also said that tiramisu  is the "most heavenly dessert on God's earth ".The actual authentic tiramisu is made up of ladyfinger/sponge biscuits,mascarpone cheese,marsala wine,expresso,sugar and eggs.This blog is an "eggfree" blog so i skipped eggs , i didnt wanted to use any alcohol either so i skipped wine too :) .I was short of time so i tried this easiest and quickest heavenly dessert with few and all store bought ingredients in my cosy kitchen :)) .Tiramisu turned out the awesomest dessert ever i made,initially i was scared and worried as i wasnt using any eggs , without one of the major ingredient it would have been definately a disaster  still i was very keen to try and it just hit the bull's eye,i agree it was not that perfectly set but the taste was wowest and awesomest and it had to be as all the ingredients were ready store bought and i just assembled it..hehehe..lol,it was fun while i was assembling it ;).Everyone just luved and cherished it and wanted to dig in as soon as they saw the dish !Thanx guys for showering all those lovely comments and luving my tiramisu dessert and im really sorry for posting the recipe so late :P

approx will serve for 4-5 ppl

ingredients :
18-20 sponge biscuits/savoiardi biscuits/ladyfinger biscuits
300ml chilled whipped cream ( keep the whipped cream in the freezer for 5-10 mins )
250ml mascarpone cheese
2 cups thick vanilla custard (i made custard at home,but you can use store bought double thick custard )
1 tsp vanilla extract
11/2tbsps instant coffee pwd + 11/2 cups of water ( i used nescafe expresso instant coffee pwd )
instant coffee pwd to taste ( for garnishing )
1 cup powdered sugar
method :
Boil 11/2 cups of water , add coffee pwd and simmer for few mins ,take off the flame and  the coffee decoction is ready,let it cool down and keep aside in a wide bowl.In  a mixing bowl add mascarpone cheese and sugar , beat together,add whipped cream , vanilla custard ,vanilla extract and beat all together for few secs or till it gets soft and fluffy,keep this aside.Dip the sponge biscuits one by one in coffee decoction ,(both the sides) and place side by side in a rectangular or square dish .Spread evenly half of the cream mixture on the top of the dipped  biscuits ,sprinkle some coffee pwd with a tea strainer on top,again repeat the layer of dipped sponge biscuits in coffee decotion on top and lastly spread the remaining cream mixture on it.Cover the dish with cling sheet and refigerate it for atleast 4-5 hrs so that it sets nicely .While serving sprinkle coffee pwd with tea strainer all over and garnish with chocolate coated coffee beans and serve immediately.

rasgulla with icecream

Actually on the weekend i had called my friend and her family on dinner and had really planned in a very short time,so didnt had much time in my hands,so thought of buying a ready made sweet dish and as usual when if i am busy with cooking in my kitchen ,all the grocery and outside work is loaded on my dear hubby and finally he ended up with buying a can of rasgullas,somehow he wanted to have it ,so he started giving excuses that there were no other sweets left and bla..bla...bla...hmmmm.okie i said,thats fine, now that rasgullas are at my home we will definately use them,but ohoh these are the tin ones...i just dont like them,i feel they are too sweet and not so fresh but for my guests i had to offer some sweet dish and we were running out of the time so i quit arguing and finally after the dinner ,the sweet dish was served,i was glad  they liked the rasgullas very much as they had a sweet tooth they did not find it very sweet,phew !! great ,was really relieved with the guilt of serving them extra loaded sugary sweet dish...;),but i saw still few of them ,yeah actually exactly 4 of them are left,so as usual i dumped them in my refrigerator.3 days have already passed and still the rasgullas are lying  and i am just not liking them so finally i called my co-sister and seeked her advice and there she gave me this wonderful idea of  the leftover rasgullas which turned out to be a droolling dessert .This will be my another entry for the event "the leftover delicacies" hosted by Daisy Blue of  spicy lounge and soon will have to make something out of the leftover rasgulla syrup,which i hope will be my last entry for this event ;)

ingredients :

4 rasgullas  ( homemade/ready made from sweet mart or tin ones any rasgullas will do )
4 scoops plain vanilla icecream

1/2 cup dark chocolate grated/shavings ( i used mix dairy milk and dark chocolate )
method :
Remove the rasgullas from the sugar syrup and squeeze the rasgullas gently under the running water tap taking care it does not break,take off from the tap and make sure there is no water and syrup in the rasgullas,keep it aside.Take the icecream scoops and put them in a mixing bowl and beat them with your hand mixie or an electric beater or a spoon or an egg beater for 2-3 mins.Dip the rasgullas in the melted ice cream and mix gently so that all the rasgullas are covered nicely.Place all the rasgullas in the serving bowl with the icecream all over,sprinkle grated chocolate on top ,cover with a cling sheet or a lid and place it in freezer to set for an hour,please see that the rasgullas doesnt turn hard like ice cream,so you have to make an hr before serving it.

fruit custard

ingredients :
1/2 ltr full cream milk

1/4 cup sugar ( please adjust according to your taste )

11/2 tbsp vanilla custard pwd ( or any other flavour )

2 cups chopped fresh fruits ( bananas,apples,mangoes,strawberry,grapes,pomogranate,etc )

2tbsp dry fruits ( cashew nuts,almonds,pistas )

elaichi pwd to taste ( optional )

strawberry jelly & few cherries

ingredients :

bring milk to boil.mix custard pwd with ltl water & make a thick smooth paste without any lumps.when the milk comes to boil add the custard paste and keep stirring till it becomes thick. (stir continiously or else the milk will scorch ).let it simmer for few mins.switch of the flame.add sugar and mix well .after cooling down add elaichi pwd, fresh fruits and dry fruits and chill in refrigerator.decorate it with jelly and cherries .serve chilled custard.

malai kulfi

This yummy & easiest kulfi recipie was given by my sister,though one of the ingredient..cool whip (US product ) is not available in australia i tried making without it as i desperately wanted to have malai kulfi and the outcome was still awesome.i had been eating malai kulfi since i was a child,in mumbai its the best way to beat the heat and i still remember the bhaiyawalas on mumbai street selling around the corner and we all use to just cherish it .i was so happy and excited while making this kulfi and like a small kid everynow and then was opening the freezer and checking if its done :).It has become my favourite kulfi recipe till date and was a big hit in my home,my daughter was not allowing to take the pics and wanted to grab all and to be very frank even i didnt wanted to waste time on taking pics and we all had immedately,you can see the picture of my daughter  njoying this kulfi which my husband had taken without her notice.The below quantity is quite a lot and you can try with half the amount initially but i make the whole amount as i can have for couple of days,it is alwaz fast moving in my place :)

ingredients :
1can evaporated milk
1can sweetened condensed milk
1container whipped cream
8 oz cool whipp (optional)
4 slices of white bread (edges removed )
cardamon pwd to taste
unsalted pistachios pwd
method :
Break the bread into pieces ,add evaporated milk,whipped cream,condensed milk,cool whipp and blend together until smooth.empty this mix into a kulfi mould or an airtight container or ice tray .Garnish with cardamon pwd and pistachios and freeze overnight or for 6-8 hrs.The yummy malai kulfi is ready to eat.