Strawberry Smoothie

The lip smacking fruit "Strawberry", is a red coloured fruit which has a bright appearance and looks really tempting. The goodness quotient of Strawberry is that it is packed with vitamins especially Vitamin 'C' and is a powerful antioxidant which reduces aging factors. The kids should get a daily dose of Vitamins and the strawberry can be of great help. Children get tempted to buy it but when actually served cannot have more than one or two as it tastes sour. Same was with my kids so I thought to present strawberries in a form which should be really presentable, eye catching and also very good to the taste-buds. So all Moms enjoy presenting this recipe to your kids and let me know your feedback.

Strawberry SmoothieStrawberries - 1 box,
Milkmaid - 1/2 tin
Readymade Edible Cream - 3 tspns

Method - Chop Strawberries, reserve a few for garnishing and make a puree of the rest in the food processor. Add milkmaid and cream to the puree.

Pour this in seperate glasses and decorate with a piece of shopped strawberr.

Chill in the refrigerator.

And serve.

Note :- The sweetness can be reduced by reducing the quantity of milkmaid.

If you require a thin consistency, add little cold milk to it.

Rose Flavoured - Shahi Tukra

Today am presenting a superlative Indian Dessert which has been specially made for the festival Diwali. A very royal dish. I've made an innovative recipe using bread and candied Amla (Indian Gooseberry) along with dry fruits for the filling. The use of dried rose-petals and white rose essence gives it a delectable taste. When u take a bite u feel the presence of rose and with every bite u just feel like having more n more. The candied amla gives a very lightly sour taste with the extreme sweetness being candied and this just tantalises your taste buds. 

INGREDIENTS -

For the Seviyan-

Full Fat Milk - 1 1/2 ltrs

White Sugar - 2/6 the cup

Roasted (Vermicelli) Seviyan - 2/6th cup

Dried Rose Petals - 3-4 tblspn

White Rose Essence - 8-10 drops

Chironji (Charoli) – 1 tspn

Kesar - a few strands

Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tspn

Pistachio (Pista) Powder - 1 1/2 tspn

Cashew nut Powder - 1/2 tspn

Almond Powder - 1/2 tspn

Mace (Javitri )Powder - a slight pinch

Nutmeg (Jaiphal) Grated - a very slight pinch

METHOD-

Boil Milk and reserve ½ cup milk for the shahi tukra.

Reduce flame and keep boiling till the milk is reduced.

Keep stirring and this process would take about 20 minutes.

Add sugar and keep stirring.

Add cardamom, pista, cashewnut, almond, mace and nutmeg powder.

Keep stirring.

Add Chironji. Mix well.

Add Kesar strands. Stir.

Add rose essence. Stir.

Add rose petals. Stir.

Add seviyan and cook on very low flame till done.

Keep it aside.

See picture below for consistency.

For the Shahi Tukra-

White bread - 8 slices - preferably 1 day old.
Pure Ghee - 1 tspn
Refined oil - 2 tblspn for about 3 pieces of bread
Milk – ½ cup 
Sugar – 1 tspn
White Rose Essence – 2-3 drops

Method - 
  
Cut bread in to roundels like below picture: 
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Heat Oil and Ghee together in a pan.
Put bread slices and shallow fry. 
Turn sides and brown them on the other side. 
See pictures. 
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

 

 

Pour the reserved milk in a bowl.

Add sugar, rose essence and stir.

Dip bread slices and after 40 seconds take them out of the milk.

Place the dipped bread in the serving bowl.

See pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the filling-

Candied Amla – 10-12 chopped finely
Pista (Pistachio) – 20-25 chopped finely
Almonds - 8-10 soaked and chopped finely
Cashew nuts - 7-8 chopped finely chopped
Dried Rose Petals – a few petals

Method-

Mix well all the above ingredients.

Place 1 tbspn each of the filling on the fried bread.

  
  
  

Cover it with other piece of fried bread. 
Cover the entire bread with the prepared Seviyan. 
See pictures. 
  

 

 

 

 

Garnish with a few dried rose petals.

Serve chilled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note - Refined oil and ghee are mixed together for fragrance. Ghee is absorbed by bread very quickly hence oil is used for shallow frying the bread.

Chawal ki Kheer (Rice Pudding)

Chawal ki kheer (Rice Kheer)

 Rice Kheer or rice pudding is a very common dish in Bihari cuisine. The speciality of Bihari kheer is that the quantity of rice used is more than usual. Saffron is not used in the traditional recipes. Traditionally the kheer was made in earthen pots on charcoal and the kheer got the flavours of the earthen pot hence saffron was not used for extra flavouring. On all special occasions like welcoming the bride or festivals kheer is made. For the holy festival Chhath Puja kheer is made without sugar but since it's cooked on very low flame in earthen pots and the basmati rice gives it a very nice flavour and a delicate aroma. Use very good quality rice to get a nice flavour. Lets proceed to the recipe of kheer.

Ingredients-

Milk - 1 ltr

Basmati Rice - 1/2 cup

Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 1 tspn

Sugar - 3/4th cup

Almonds (Badam) - 15-20

Pistachio (Pista) -  2 tblspn

Nutmeg powder (Jaiphal Powder) - grated - 2 pinch

Green cardamom powder (Hari elaichi powder) - 1/2 tspn

Saffron strands -(Kesar) a pinch + a little pinch for the garnish.

Method -

1. Wash basmati rice and soak it for half an hour.
2. Drain and keep it aside.
3. Heat ghee in a vessel and roast the rice to a pinkish colour.
4. Keep it aside.
5. In a deep vessel boil milk.
6. Reduce the milk by boiling and keep stirring.
7. When reduced to half add sugar.
8. Stir well. Reduce flame and let it simmer.
9. Keep stirring.
10. Add saffron and stir well.
11. Add nutmeg powder and Green cardamom powder.
12. Keep simmering and stirring on very low flame.
13. Add pistachio very finely chopped. Mix and stir.
14. Add Almonds very finely chopped.
15. Keep stirring .
16. When the consistency gets thick switch off the gas.
17. Let it cool. When cooled mix well again.
18. Transfer into serving bowls.
19. Sprinkle cardamom and nutmeg powder.
20. Sprinkle pistachio finely chopped.
21. Sprinkle crushed saffron
22. Garnish with half almond as shown in the pic.
23. Best to have it chilled. (in Summers)
24. Can be served hot or at room temperature as well. (For winters)