Pistachio Khoya Kulfi

The wonderful world of cold desserts and the version of ice creams served in India “Kulfi”. The word Kulfi or Qulfi is an Indian word derived from the Persian word “Qufli” which means “covered cup”. The dessert was likely originated during the era of the Mughal Empire in the 16th century. The mixture of milk, sugar and nuts. Kulfi is a gifted recipe from the Middle eastern travelers and settlers to India and neighboring countries. Along with so many architectural gifts to India, like the Taj mahal, which even till date makes our country so proud and has millions of visitors travel India only to see Taj Mahal once in their lifetime and so many gorgeous forts, along with Red Fort where the PM addresses the nation every year are all an awesome example of Mughal architectural skill.

Coming back the Kulfi, Indian cuisine were not aware of using Orange blossom, Rose water, saffron or a wide variety of dry fruits in the cuisine. The Mughals while introducing their cuisines and blending them with Indian flavors resulted in wide variety of Biryanis, Kebabs, curries and sweet dishes including Gulab Jamun, Jalebi and Rabri to name a few and of course, Kulfi.

This sweet dish is rich in flavor and can be made in various flavors and is always served cold. It can be served with Basil seeds or sabza that are soaked for an hour, as falooda. It can be flavored while serving as well. I usually like mine to be served with Rose syrup, or the popular Rooh Afza.

This particular recipe has Milk boiled till it thickens and reduces. Added Khoya and cooked further after adding sugar, cardamom powder, saffron, crushed Pistachio, Pistachio flavoring, a little green color and Milk powder to thicken the mixture making the Kulfi more dense and creamier. You can always change the flavors in a Kulfi keeping the base the same.

I also use Silver leaf for decoration, but that’s always optional, but something that makes you home kulfi different from the restaurant and trust me, even better.

Chocolate Walnut Cake

Christmas always bring so much happiness. I just love this part of the year, which spreads wonderful positive feelings around, everyone is so busy shopping for their loved ones or people like me love their favorite brands going on sale. its just a great festive time.

I still like believing in Santa and as a season tradition, my kids always get a picture with him every year. The decorations around, the special cakes in Bake shop, the special food being served in restaurants that’s mentioned as holiday special make the season even more fancier.

My Christian friends in India always made something called “Plum Cake” and that was also a Christmas special in Bakeries in India. I usually make that at home, since it isn’t an American Holiday special, but considering an american special, and something that my kids like, I baked a Chocolate walnut cake for the holidays.

I have put some generous amount of chocolate sauce on it, since cakes with nuts are better when decently moist and since this cake has no icing. A little sprinkle of confectioner’s sugar give it a more holiday special look, which is completely optional and a little border of red and green m&m’s add to the season color.

Its always an instant hit, loved by people of all ages and just so delicious that honestly, you don’t need a reason to bake it, you just do.

Carrot Walnut Cake

There was a popular supermarket near our apartment. Mr. Parveez and I would buy our regular grocery from that supermarket. During the winter season, a baker in their bakery made carrot cake, with walnuts/ without walnuts, sometimes with raisins. Every winter, also known as “holiday season” in USA, we would look forward to the carrot cake. We even served it to our guests, took it for friends.

And one day the baker left the store. We only found during winter when the carrot cake was being sold but something changed. On trying to figure out, we questioned the Manager and found that the baker was from another country and has left for good. Even the manager agreed that the though he left the cake recipe, it just didn’t come out the same. Eventually, the store stopped keeping carrot cake.

But, we looked everywhere with our taste buds craving the same flavor. 10 years of search and over 100 stores and supermarkets, different towns, different bakeries but it was just not the same. One day I came across a recipe for Thanksgiving carrot pudding and reading that I felt, it wouldn’t be that tough trying it out. I also realized with times that there was some spice that was missing in the normal carrot cake. That spice was nutmeg. Isn’t it funny, that a pinch of a spice can change the complete taste.

I first tried the basic cake without frosting and once I perfected the basic cake, I tried the frosting and both together make a super excellent Carrot Walnut Cake. Its exactly like the cake we liked, probably a little better. This will bring you loads of praises on your parties and get together.

Butter Chicken

Never met anyone who doesn’t like Butter Chicken. Simple, flavorful and so divine. But most of time people never try and make it at home and Butter Chicken becomes an eat out special. Many times I have read where people tried the recipe following a famous chef, but the dish still does not come out as good as the ones at restaurant.

The recipe below and simple to make and the closest you can get to the authentic Butter Chicken flavor.

Rajasthani Malai Biryani

A recipe close to my heart. Rajasthan is my home state. The land of Marwar is popular for its beautiful and sweet spoken people along with the gorgeous forts and palaces. Its also known for its beautiful colors that can be easily seen in the attires and things people use. We proudly call it our “Rangeelo Rajasthan”.

Rajasthan is mostly popular for its vegetarian food but little do people know that Non vegetarian food of Rajasthan is not only very popular between Non vegetarians but also portrays the love for cooking from the Royal Palaces. Most kings in Rajasthan have loved to cook in their leisure time and they enjoy cooking the traditional Marwar recipes that have passed on to us from generations.

Rajasthani Malai Biryani comes in from the kitchens of the Mughals and clearly shows the bond of brotherhood and relationship shared by Rajputs and Mughals. When Princess Jodha married the Great Mughal Emperor Akbar, the Mughal cuisine was all set to merge like the traditions and fesivals of the two different faiths. This dish uses a lot of chili. Well, that’s what Rajasthan is popular for, but to calm it down it uses cream or malai. Mughals used a lot of cream and dry fruits in the cuisine and most dishes that use a lot of cream or saffron are actually a gift from the Mughal Era. In fact, its surprising how many dishes in Persia or Arab countries sound and look similar to Indian/pakistani cuisine and it clearly shows how the foods welcomed the merge and till today we enjoy and take pride of what our history gifted us.

Mewa Baati

If you like Gulab Jamuns, you will definitely like these. These are almost the same recipe as Khoya Gulab Jamun with a filling of dry fruits inside. Change the shape to make it look different from regular Gulab Jamuns. I made them oblong, you can always make them bigger and round if that appeals you more.

Mango Cream

Like most Marwaris, I also grew up eating Fruit cream as a fast and go to dessert. As much as its an easy and impressive dessert to impress your guests and loved ones, its not everyone who can make it the authentic way. Now, every time I use the word authentic for “Fruit cream”, people usually give me a very confused look. But what they fail to understand is its not just mixing in fruits, sugar and cream.

A fruit cream is best when the cream is whipped with sugar making those stiff peaks and making it fluffy at the same time. Your fruits should always be fresh and the additional sugar should be based on the fruits you are using and how sweet they are. Small little things and make big changes to your dish.

But here, we aren’t making fruit cream, I am making Mango cream and that too with a little twist. My first time trying to make Mango cream was whipping the cream and mixing in a few mango pieces. I wouldn’t say it wasn’t nice but it was definitely not satisfying as a chef.  Instead of making the whole serving with just mango flavor, I divided into half vanilla and half Mango.

The recipe below might remind you of Mango Panacotta, though similar but its very different. Panacotta requires a little more effort and cooking time where as this is you to go recipe and can easily be made in a rush with almost no prep time.

Malai Sandwich

Bengali sweets happen to be one of the best sweets in India. They offer a wide variety from Rasgullas to Mishti Doi and most people who like Indian sweets always love these sweet sugar dipped treats.

Mr. Parveez loves Malai Sandwich and he would always buy them from his favorite Indian sweet shop here. There were few other ones as well and he loved them all. Few years  back we moved houses and we went pretty far from the area of our favorite Indian area. So, the visits to the sweet shop weren’t as frequent and Mr. Parveez though deprived never complained and neither did he ever ask me to try.

Actually there is a funny story to him asking too. As a newly married wife, every now and then I would try to make dishes that we have tried at different restaurants. I still don’t know why I did that, probably just wanted to amaze my husband …LOLzzz. But instead of impressing him, he asked me to stop. The problem was that making the dishes we eat at restaurant would be close to what we eat outside, but the charm of enjoying a meal outside would be lost. So, as much as I wanted to try making some of these sweets, I would not attempt and just get the sweets from the sweets store whenever we would be in that area. Few years ago we moved to our new house, and the house is pretty far for us to visit that sweet store as often as we would like to, and the closest Indian market does not sell sweets of the same quality unless we buy frozen and we all know frozen loses the taste.

And that’s how I decided to make my own. Initially when I started making Rasgullas because that makes a base for all the bengali sweets, or most of them. The Rasgullas need a little tactic that makes sure they are spongy and can absorb the sweetness from the sugar syrup. That’s the first thing you need to master and as easy as the recipe looks and seems, they aren’t that easy. It took me around 5 trials to master them.

The best recipe I got for Rasgullas was from a friend’s mom. The way she explained the procedure made them super easy to make and left me amazed.

For Malai Chumchum, make rasgullas and once done have to be cut into half and add khoya mix . The middle part is khoya mixed with sugar and a little spice to enhance flavors. You can always a little bit of food color to make the dish look nicer. Garnish with silver leaf and crushed nuts.

You can always make them 4-5 days in advance. Refrigerate and serve chilled.

Malai Chum Chum

Bengali sweets happen to be one of the best sweets in India. They offer a wide variety from Rasgullas to Mishti Doi and most people who like Indian sweets always love these sweet sugar dipped treats.

Malai Chum Chum is a very popular Bengali sweet made with Paneer or homemade Cottage Cheese. It is a delicious Indian dessert that cannot be resisted since they are amazingly delicious to look at and delectable. These chum chums are soaked in sugar syrup and in between are filled with rich and creamy Khoya filling.

Mr. Parveez loves Malai Chumchum and he would always buy them from his favorite Indian sweet shop here. There were few other ones as well and he loved them all. Few years  back we moved houses and we went pretty far from the area of our favorite Indian area. So, the visits to the sweet shop weren’t as frequent and Mr. Parveez though deprived never complained and neither did he ever ask me to try.

Actually there is a funny story to him asking too. As a newly married wife, every now and then I would try to make dishes that we have tried at different restaurants. I still don’t know why I did that, probably just wanted to amaze my husband …LOLzzz. But instead of impressing him, he asked me to stop. The problem was that making the dishes we eat at restaurant would be close to what we eat outside, but the charm of enjoying a meal outside would be lost. So, as much as I wanted to try making some of these sweets, I would not attempt and just get the sweets from the sweets store whenever we would be in that area. Few years ago we moved to our new house, and the house is pretty far for us to visit that sweet store as often as we would like to, and the closest Indian market does not sell sweets of the same quality unless we buy frozen and we all know frozen loses the taste.

And that’s how I decided to make my own. Initially when I started making Rasgullas because that makes a base for all the bengali sweets, or most of them. The Rasgullas need a little tactic that makes sure they are spongy and can absorb the sweetness from the sugar syrup. That’s the first thing you need to master and as easy as the recipe looks and seems, they aren’t that easy. It took me around 5 trials to master them.

For Malai Chumchum, make rasgullas and once done have to be cut into half and add khoya mix . The middle part is khoya mixed with sugar and a little spice to enhance flavors. You can always a little bit of food color to make the dish look nicer. Garnish with silver leaf and crushed nuts.

You can always make them 4-5 days in advance. Refrigerate and serve chilled.

Lychee Heart Cake

Some recipes are a complete fluke and some recipes are born out of disaster. This recipe is  the latter category. I was trying to cook something and it turned out bad, but I just couldn’t give up and throw away. Instead I came up with these amazing burfis, which weren’t just a life saver but also tasted delicious. Not to forget, a great invention too.

I have always loved Lychee. They are one of my most favorite fruits. Every Lychee season, my father would make sure he gets more than enough for me to enjoy and I believe the whole season I wouldn’t touch any other fruit besides Lychee. With so much love for a fruit, its pretty evident that once I start cooking and inventing my own dishes, I will give something with Lychee a try.

This is how the story goes. So, during my Kulfi making season, I thought of trying to make Lychee Kulfi. And, it was one of those times when after successful attempts made me over confident and without thinking of the consequences I went on with the process resulting in failure. The milk mixed with lychee and its syrup [I used canned lychee] curdled the milk.

There was this milk in front of my eyes, that had Khoya and sugar added to it and gone sour and I was left in a puzzle and guilt of throwing away this food. As they say that Necessity is the mother of all inventions, I believe some inventions are failure/ guilt driven too. The feeling of not succeeding also makes you think outside the box and attempt harder.

I decided to hang the curdled milk, as what we do in the process of making paneer. Later I added some sugar and dry milk powder to it and whisked the whole mixture really well. Further, crushed some butter cookies and layered it as a base and put the mixture on it and bake.

The cake came out fabulous. Since I start taking pictures of the process from the first step, I have the pictures from the time the milk went bad while boiling. You could add the syrup from canned lychee and it will surely do the trick.

If not, add 2 tsp of vinegar, but in that case wash the curdled milk with ice cold water while you hang it in muslin cloth.

This cake has mild Lychee flavor and the cookies add a little crunch to the cake as well.