Chocolate Vermicelli nests for Easter

Easter is a time for children and adults to indulge in chocolate eggs and other yummy goodies. The custom of giving eggs on Easter is to celebrate new life. The egg is seen as a  symbol of Jesus's resurrection when he rose from the dead. The eggs are thought to be special as they have life within them and are now synonymous with Easter celebrations.

My fascination for festival special sweets is known to everyone with a number of posts on festivity celebrations. Be it Diwali, Holi or Christmas, I love to whip up and create goodies with local ingredients.

I have been wanting to try my hands on these famous chocolate nests which is usually made with noodles or crushed cornflakes. I wanted to Indianize them and present them as an Indian sweet therefore I chose to use roasted vermicelli or sewaiyan for the nests and mould sandesh as little eggs.

After some trials I came up with the baked version which gives a crunchy texture to the nests very much like the vermicelli baklava.

Wishing all our readers a very Happy and Blessed Easter.

Ingredients : For 5 such chocolate nests

• 60 gms roasted vermicelli/sewaiyan (roughly 3/4 cup of broken vermicelli)
• 1 tbsp melted butter
• 1/4 cup melted dark chocolate
• 2 tbsp cream (I used fresh cream that sets as top layer of boiled milk, you may use Amul)
• 2 tbsp warm milk

Easter eggs : 

• 1 cup milk 
• a pinch of citric acid/1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp powdered sugar
• a drop of red, yellow and blue edible food colouring

Garnish:

• grated milk chocolate

Procedure :

Chocolate Nests : 
Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.
Take roasted vermicelli/sewaiyan in a bowl and crush them.
Add melted butter and mix well with the vermicelli.
Grease a muffin pan or individual muffin tins and spread the vermicelli in the pan.

Put the muffin pan in the preheated oven and bake for 10-15 mins or till you see them brown a little.
Allow to cool.
Take melted chocolate in a bowl and add the cream and milk. Mix it well. 
Dip the vermicelli nests in the chocolate mixture and keep on a plate. Refrigerate for the chocolate to set well. 

Easter eggs : 
Take milk in a pan and bring it to a boil.
Mix in the lime juice or citric acid and stir till you see the milk curdling and the whey separating.
Turn off the flame and let it stand for 2 mins. Meanwhile prepare a vessel by placing a muslin cloth or use a colander.
Strain the mixture into the muslin cloth. I usually save the whey to use it to knead my dough for roti or use it while boiling dal.
Bring the sides of the muslin cloth together and hang it to drain excess liquid for 20 mins. This is the Chenna.
Take the chenna in a plate and knead it with the heel of your palm for 5-10 mins till you get a smooth and doughy texture. Mix in the powdered sugar and make it into a ball.
Divide into four and add a drop of the red, yellow and blue food colouring to each. 
Mix it well and form small balls out of each colour and then shape into an egg. 
I made red, yellow, blue and white eggs. 

Sprinkle the grated milk chocolate over the nests and place the colourful eggs in the chocolate nests.
  

 

Notes : 

• I used readymade roasted vermicelli. You may dry roast the unroasted ones and use. 
• If you do not want to add chocolate to the nests, add some powdered sugar along with melted butter and then bake. 
• You may melt the chocolate on a double boiler or in the microwave for about  a minute with 15 seconds bursts.
• I made a little runny chocolate mixture to coat the vermicelli nests. If you want a thicker coat of chocolate skip the milk and substitute with cream. 
• If you do not want to add food colours, keep them plain white or add a drop of any fruit crush to get some colour and flavour.

Happy Easter

Amrita

Komla-lebur Chenna Payesh/Orange Kheer

Just the other day, I suddenly remembered that we are approaching that wonderful time of the year when the markets are flooded with some amazing and fresh fruits and vegetables. The first fruit that came in my mind was Oranges and I had a sudden strong craving for it.

Today being the 'Sweet day' on our blog, I just had to sync the two-Oranges and Sweet. Now, normally that should not be too difficult for the crazy Baker mind of mine. After all, I can put my hands on anything from Orange cake/cupcakes/cookies...But somehow I wanted to try something more easy, something more different and perhaps something more traditional. 

A quick search on the net led me to the perfect answer. I found a super easy and fast method of the very famous Bengali Kheer-Chenna Payesh. The interesting bit was the addition of oranges in it and the super easy method was making it in the Microwave. Though I made all the ingredient myself and used the stove top for it, I have added the easy microwave method too at the end.

Vishal, my husband, helped me buy the best Oranges available and I decided to serve the sweet in the orange itself which I shaped as a basket. The kheer/Chenna payesh was such a hit and everyone in the family admired my idea of serving in the orange basket. My father declared it 'Darun' (Wonderful in Bengali)

Stove top method

 

Ingredients: For 3-4 servings

• 500 ml milk (I used Amul Tazaa)
• 1/4 tsp citric acid/1 tsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp sugar
• Orange segments
• 1 tsp Orange rind

Procedure :

Chenna-Take 1 1/2 cup milk in a pan and bring it to a boil. Add citric acid/lemon juice and stir well till the milk curdles and the whey separates. Line a bowl with muslin cloth and drain all the chenna with the whey into it. Collect the muslin cloth by its all four sides and tie it to allow the whey to drain completely(I normally tie it to my kitchen basin Tap) for 20-30 mins. 

Kheer-Take 1 cup milk in a pan and add sugar. Bring it to a boil, allow it to simmer on low heat till it reduces to half. This should take around 15-20 mins. 

Add 1 cup milk and the drained chenna(crumble it with your hands) and mix well. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Orange Basket-Make knife marks on the orange top in the shape of a basket with a handle. Carefully remove the marked segments with the help of a knife. Loosen the white part covering the orange segments to the skin with a knife and then cut the orange through half. With the help of a spoon remove the other half of the orange to make the basket. Reserve orange segments for use in the kheer/payesh.

 

Add the orange segments and the orange rind to the now cool kheer/payesh. Refrigerate.
Just before serving, remove from the fridge and serve in the orange baskets. 

Microwave method : Adapted from Tarla Dalal

Ingredients : For 3-4 servings

• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup condensed milk
• 1/4 cup grated paneer
• orange segments
• 1 tsp orange rind

Method :

In a microwave safe bowl, combine milk and condensed milk and microwave on high for 3 minutes, stirring in between after every 1 minute. Add the paneer and mix well. Microwave again for 1 minute. Cool completely and add the orange rind and segments. Refrigerate.

Notes:

• You may add some chopped nuts like Pista or Almonds to get a nutty taste.
• You may add cardamom powder to the milk to add in the flavour. 
• Do not leave the kheer/payesh in the orange skin baskets for too long as it might make the kheer bitter. For better results, refrigerate the kheer separately and add to the orange baskets just before serving.

Happy Orange Kheer/Payesh eating
Amrita

Aam/Mango Sandesh

 

Summer in India is synonymous to Mango for Foodies. Each state in our country boasts of having varied varieties of this king of fruits. Also, each state has its own favourite Mango recipe. Be it sweet or savoury, mango is enjoyed as a core ingredient in many dishes. The list of delectables made with mango is endless.

Its no wonder that with the mango season around, I had to try them in a recipe apart from eating them as a fruit. Having tried Mango Mousse, Mango cheesecake and Mango & Banana Gelato last year, I decided to try this traditional Sandesh. With authentic Bengali recipes I always blindly trust Sayantani's blog A homemaker's diary. Her breathtaking pictures and simple recipes always turn out amazing. 

With this attempt I also learned about the Paak sandesh. Paak means cooked. The kneaded chenna which is cooked very little to achieve a melt-in-your mouth texture is called Norom Paak Sandesh-Soft cooked Sandesh. You also have a Kora Paak Sandesh which is cooked for a longer time resulting in hard sweet. Kora means hard.

The Aam Sandesh, a Norom Paak Sandesh, true to its name turned out super soft and just melted away. The mango flavour come out just strong enough to confirm its presence. Being another Sweet day on our blog, it was the perfect recipe to make and share.

I used the Tamol Paan holder that I had bought from my recent trip to Guwahati. It is a made of brass and is used to greet guests with Tamol(betel nut) and Paan(betel leaf). We were gifted with Gamosa/Gamcha which is hand weaved and is very traditional to the people of Assam. You may see it wrapped on the Tamol paan holder in the pic beneath.

 

Recipe Source :  Adapted from A Homemaker's Diary

Ingredients: For 8-9 pieces

• 500 ml Full cream milk
• 1/2 cup Mango pulp (I used Himsagar)
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp lime juice/a pinch of citric acid
• chopped Cardamom for garnishing

Procedure :
Take milk in a pan and bring it to a boil.
Mix in the lime juice or citric acid and stir till you see the milk curdling and the whey separating.
Turn off the flame and let it stand for 2 mins. Meanwhile prepare a vessel by placing a muslin cloth or use a colander.
Strain the mixture into the muslin cloth. I usually save the whey to use it to knead my dough for roti or use it while boiling dal.
Bring the sides of the muslin cloth together and hang it to drain excess liquid for 30 mins. This is the Chenna.
Take the chenna in a plate and knead it with the heel of your palm for 5-10 mins till you get a smooth and doughy texture. 
Prepare mango pulp by processing a chopped ripe mango in a mixer. Strain it to remove any threads.
In a non stick pan, add the mango pulp and mix in the sugar. You may avoid adding the sugar if you want the natural sweetness of mango.
Add the kneaded chenna to it and on low flame keep stirring continuously to avoid burning the chenna.
The chenna will gradually change colour as it gets mixed with the mango pulp and will become lumpy. This should take 10-15 mins of continuous stirring.
This is called 'Makha' or 'Ready to be moulded' stage.
Remove from heat and allow to cool enough to handle with hands.
Grease your Sandesh moulds (though after my first attempt I saw that I did not require greasing others as the chenna had enough oil on its own)
Take little of the makha and press it on the mould gently. Smoothen the edges and take it out of the mould from one end very carefully.
Repeat with the rest of the makha.
Press some chopped pistachios on top.

Notes :

• If you do not have the Sandesh moulds, simply shape them in rounds balls and press the top with a finger tip to place the chopped pista.
• You may try them with other fruits too like strawberry. 

 

Happy Aam Sandesh Eating
Amrita