Labongo Latika for South Vs North Challenge

Sanoli Ghosh of Sanoli's kitchen is the host for this month SNC initiated by Divya of You too can cook. Every month, a host from south team would challenge north team with a south indian recipe and a host from north team would challenge the south team with north indian recipe; a nice challenge to learn new recipes. 

I prepare sweets less often. But Bengali Sweets is my all time favorite. I love the artistic way these sweets are made of and I need not speak about the taste. These are absolutely delicious, lip smacking and truly no one can eat just one. This is one of the delicious sweets and I love it to the core.

Thanks Sanoli for this lip smacking recipe. Labongo refers to cloves. This sweet is made of sweetened khoya sealed inside pocket-like pastry, deep fried and soaked in sugar syrup.

Ingredients for the dough/outer crust:

All Purpose Flour 1 cup
Powdered Sugar 1 tbsp
Salt 1/8 tsp
Baking Powder a pinch

Pinch of Saffron soaked in 1 tbsp warm water
1 1/2 tbsp Ghee
Warm Water 1/8 cup + little more
Cloves

To make Mawa/Khoya: 

Recipe Source: spiceupthecurry

Ingredients:

Milk Powder 3/4 cup
Ghee 1/4 tbsp
Milk 1/8 cup

Method:

Mix Ghee and Milk and bring it to boil.
Add Milk Powder little by little and mix well. If the mixture is more crumbly, add Milk 1 tsp at a time. (I had to add 3 tsp of milk at this stage).
Combine well. It gets set once cooled.

For Filling:

Mawa (Refer above)
Powdered Sugar 2 tbsp
Nutmeg Powder 1/8 tsp
Warm Water

For Sugar Syrup:

Sugar 1 cup
Water 1/2 cup
Rose Essence / Rose Syrup 1 tsp

Method for the outer crust:

Combine All Purpose Flour, Baking Powder, Powdered Sugar, Salt, Saffron water in a large bowl. Mix well. Now add water little by little to form a stiff dough. Keep this aside.

Method for filling:

In a pan, add Mawa, Powdered Sugar, Nutmeg Powder and warm water. Mix well and allow boiling until the mixture thickens.

Method for Sugar Syrup:

Add water in a pan. When it starts boiling, add the sugar. Allow boiling till the sugar gets completely dissolved in water with stirring now and then.

Method for Labongo Latika:

Pinch ball sized dough and spread it circularly like a poori. Keep the filling at the center. Fold the left and right ends. Now fold the top and the bottom sides to form a like a pocket. Using wet hands, seal the edges. Insert a clove to seal the pocket.

Prepare the rest of the dough similarly.

Heat enough oil in a pan for deep frying. When hot, add the pockets. Fry on a medium flame until both the sides turn golden brown. Remove and set aside.

Once cooled, add the pockets to the thick sugar syrup. Soak it for at least five minutes. Turn it to the other side and allow soaking for some more time. 

Now lip smacking Bengali Sweet is ready to served. !!!

Notes: I halved the recipe. Check out Sanoli's space for the original recipe. I didn't have rose essence and so skipped it. 

Pasiparuppu Urundai / Moong Dhal Laddoo

I prepare Pottukadalai Urundai (Fried Channa Dhal or Chutney Dhal Laddoos) quite often. For a change, I thought of making Laddoos with yellow Moong Dhal. This is not as tasty as Pottukadalai Urundai (may be because I got used to eat that since years), but I think we can have it once in a while for its healthy benefits.

Ingredients:

Pasiparuppu (Split - Yellow Moong Dhal) 1 cup
Sugar 1/2 cup (or as needed)
Raisins or nuts
Ghee 4-5 tbsp

Method:

Dry roast Moong dhal on a low to medium flame with continuous stirring till it turns slightly golden brown and the raw smell leaves. This is a very crucial step. This would take more than five minutes. If this is not done good, then laddoos would give a raw smell of Moong dhal.

Once cooled grind it to a fine powder. Powder sugar and sieve both together. Transfer to a plate.

Melt Ghee in a Pan. Pour it to the flour-sugar mixture. Mix well and pinch little (lemon size) and prepare laddoos along with raisins as soon as possible when it is hot.. If the flour is dry, add 1-2 tblsp of melted ghee and can be proceeded.

Rava Laddoo

Whenever I ask my Hus what sweet can I prepare, his answer would be mostly Kesari or this Rava Laddoo.. There is no recipe easier than this Rava Ladoo. I've prepared this many times and every time it has given me only good result. 

I feel so happy to see so many diwali recipes from other food bloggers.  This recipe would suit any occasion and can be done within no time. 

 

Ingredients:

Rava/Semolina 1 cup

Sugar 1/2 cup

Ghee 5 tbsp (approx 1/4 cup)

Raisins few

Method:

In a mixer grind sugar to a very fine powder. 

Heat Pan. Dry roast Rava till it lets out a nice aroma. This would take only few minutes. 

Transfer it the mixer and pulse (or whip) it few times along with finely powdered sugar. This process makes the rava slightly grainy and makes it mix well with the sugar. Transfer to a wide bottomed vessel.

Now melt the ghee in the pan. When it is almost done, add the raisins. Heat till they bulge. Remove and then add the melted ghee along with raisins, little by little to the rava-sugar mixture. Mix well. Hold the mixture in circular shapes like laddoo when it slightly hot.

This gives 15 medium sized laddoos. If you need to prepare more, I would suggest you to prepare in batches.

Store in an air tight container and this stays good for more than two days.

Yellow Pumpkin Halwa

Usually I prepare kootu with pumpkin. I really got bored to prepare it this week as I've recently prepared kootu with peerkankai. I thought why not try halwa again.  I tried cooking pumpkin with milk sometime back. It turned too mushy. I came across sharmispassion's halwa recipe where she has used only water to cook the pumpkin. So I sprinkled little water while cooking and now the result is excellent.I didn't add any color; it tasted and looked amazing.. :)

 

Ingredients:

Yellow Pumpkin - grated - 1 1/2 cups

Sugar 1/4 cup

Ghee 2 tsp

Cardamom powder a pinch

Saffron strings for garnishing (or nuts)

Water

Preparation:

Grate Pumpkin.

Method:

In a Pan, add one tsp of ghee and add the grated pumpkin. Fry for a while till the raw smell of the vegetable goes off and then sprinkle little water. Allow cooking on a low to medium flame until all water is absorbed. 

Now add the sugar and mix well. When the sugar is completely dissolved, add another tsp of ghee and fry till the ghee is combined well. Now add cardamom powder and saffron strings for garnishing.

Halwa is now ready to be served..

Linking this recipe to cook yellow event happening at Merry Tummy.

Paneer Jalebi for SNC 9

SNC created by Divya Pramil of You too can cook is a group of bloggers with two teams North and South. Each month a host from North team would challenge the South team and vice versa.  This month Chandrani (Cuisine Delights) of North team has challenged the South team with this Paneer Jalebi and Priya Suresh (Priya's versatile recipes) of South team has challenged the North team with Chettinad Pakoda Kuzhambu.

Paneer Jalebi is a Bengali sweet (or treat!!! ). It is made by soaking the deep fried paneer in cardamom flavored sugar syrup. We loved it very much except for the little disappointment that I didn't get perfect shapes of Jalebis as in shops. The first time I made, I was not at all able to twist the ends of a paneer, then I realized that I didn't extract excess water completely. So I made it sit for one hour and I was able to twist well. The taste was extremely good. Thanks chandrani for this wonderful recipe.

Ingredients:

Full fat Milk 1 litre
Vinegar 2-3 tbsp (or curd or lemon juice)
All purpose flour / Maida 2 tsp
Baking Powder 1/2 tsp
Cardamom pods 4-5
Sugar ¾ cup
Water 1 ½ cups
Pistachios for garnishing

Method:

Boil Milk in a Pan. When it starts bubbling around, add vinegar in intervals. Boil till the whey separates. Remove the Paneer (Chana / Cottage Cheese) and strain the excess water using a strainer. Let this sit aside for one hour.

Now add Maida, Baking Powder and Cardamom Powder to the Paneer. Mix well and knead for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat water in a Pan. When it starts bubbling well, add the sugar and the cardamom pods. Stir well and allow the sugar to dissolve in medium heat. Stir until the syrup becomes thick and sticky.

Now take a small ball of the Paneer and make a thin strip of it. Twist the ends of the strip and roll to form the shape of a jalebi. If it cracks, roll with wet hands.

Deep fry them and add to the sugar syrup. (Make sure the oil is neither very hot nor warm). Let this sit for few hours and serve with finely chopped pistachios.

Linking the recipe to SNC of this month.

Channa Dhal (Kadalai paruppu) Halwa

This is my first recipe for SNC challenge. I got really hooked when I got to know about SNC. I am surprised to find the group to be more helpful and it is really fun to join the group. 

This month, Kirti of flavors from my kitchen has challenged the southern group with this channa dhal halwa, a Mughal recipe. She has explained it so well that I had no confusions or doubts to ask others. Actually, I've never heard of this recipe. I am glad that it turned out so well. 

I gave this to my tamil neighbors here; they too loved it. I thought of making burfies too; but it vanished as soon as I prepared. The taste was so good; that reminded me of the pooranam that we keep inside kollukattai. I think someone from the southern group mentioned the same. Well, anyway, kirti, very thanks for this wonderful, easy and tasty recipe.

Here it goes. I followed the exact proportions as mentioned by kirti except for cardamom powder.

Ingredients:

1 cup Channa Dhal
3/4 cup Ghee
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
Nuts for garnishing

Preparation:

Soak Channa Dhal for 4-5 hours. 

Method:

Remove the excess water and cook only with one cup of water in a pressure cooker for just 2 whistles and 5 minutes of simmering.

Remove again the excess water and gently mash it with a back of a large spoon. Make sure the cooked dhal doesnt go mushy. It needs to remain grainy.

Now heat Ghee in a wide mouthed pan, preferably non-stick. Pour in the cooked dhal and fry till the ghee separates.

Now add 1/2 cup of milk and continue stirring till dhal absorbs the milk and goes dry. Now add another 1/2 cup of milk and continue stirring until the dhal completely absorbs the milk.

Repeat the same procedure until 2.5 cups of milk gets used up in parts. When the dhal goes dry and completely absorbs the entire milk, add cardamom powder, sugar and chopped nuts. Fry for some more time until sugar is completely absorbed. Halwa is now ready.

This can be served hot. If need to prepare as a barfi, cut into desired shapes and then refrigerate for 3-4 hours so that it can be set in.

Notes: 

Add milk in parts; that prevents from halwa getting soggy. 
Never go unattended otherwise it may get stuck at the bottom.

Kadalai Maavu Urundai (Besan ki Laddoo)

It is Wednesday today and I am paired with Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal of Mharo Rajasthan’sRecipes. I fell in love with her subzis and have decided to try one by one. But I liked her Besan Laddoo very much and wanted to give a try first. 

My Laddoos were not as perfect as priya’s but we loved its taste and texture. I had very less cashews in hand, so didnt use them.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

• Chickpea Flour (Kadalai Maavu) 2 cups
• Ghee ½ cup
• Sugar 1 ¼ cups
• Cashews for garnishing

Method:

• In a wide bottomed pan, heat Ghee. Add the flour. 
• Fry on a medium flame continuously stirring until it releases a nice aroma and its color changes.
• Switch off the flame. Let it cool for some time. 
• Add sugar (should be bearable hot now) and mix well. Make balls, add cashews and serve.

Linking this recipe to blog hop Wednesdays. Check out other blog hoppers here.

Thengai Paal Javvarisi Payasam -- My 50th Post

Thengai Paal Javvarisi Payasam (Sweet Sago Pudding) is really an easy and simple sweet recipe. Usually all Payasam recipes are easy to prepare and holds an predominant place in all festive occasions of every South Indian Household.

Ingredients:

Javvarisi (Sago Seeds) soaked 1 cup (200ml cup)

Sugar 1 cup

Water 1.5 cups

Coconut Milk 1 cup

Green Cardamom 3-4

Cashews and Raisins few

Preparation:

Soak Sago Seeds for 20-30 minutes. Slit Cardamom.

Method:

Heat Water in a Pan. When it starts boiling well, add the Sago Seeds. Stir well. When almost all the water is absorbed, add Sugar and stir well. 

When the mixture reduces well, add Cashews, Raisin and Cardamom. Stir and switch off the flame. Now pour in the Coconut Milk and stir again. Now Payasam is ready.

Serves: 3-4

Notes:

Cashews and Raisins can be added also after frying in ghee.