Kheer tarts

Its that time of the year when Calcutta dresses up in its fineries to welcome Ma Durga. The little nip in the air and the fragrance of the Shiuli phool (night jasmine or harshringar) are the heralds of Durga Puja - a festival which is incomparable to others. The zest and enthusiasm to dress up in new clothes and visit pandals all across the city is seen in every Calcuttan irrespective of them being Bengali or not. The intricacies of the beautiful work done in Pandals makes everyone hold their breath and wonder at the hard work that has been put in, only to be demolished after the Puja is over. 

As with any other festivity, Durga Puja is also synonymous to great food. Grand plans are chalked out which includes pandal hopping and eating out. From street vendors to five star hotels, every place is packed up with people and each place tries to give the best and attractive offers.

Since the blossoming of Shiuli phool marks the beginning of the month of this festivity, I wanted to incorporate it in my picture shoot. Along with Vishal, my husband, we hunted down many flower vendors but did not find any. While buying some vegetables, I asked the lady vendor in Bangla, "Didi, shiuli phool kothaye pabo?"(Where will I find Shiuli flower?) She smiled and said, "Aamake aage bolte, aamaar badi samne koto phool maati te pode thake" (Why did you not tell me earlier. In front of my house, these flowers are found fallen on the ground) She was sweet enough to ask me to come the next day and collect it from her. And that is how I got these humble little fragrant flowers for the shoot!

The idea of this recipe has an interesting story too. Last month while visiting a Gurudwara, 3 hours away from Calcutta, we happened to cross one of the small towns called 'Kheerpai'.The name intrigued us all and we were contemplating the place to be famous for a certain kheer served in a pie form. Since I wanted the dessert to be bite sized, I experimented with these Kheer tarts. I was fortunate to find some nolen gur from last year in my fridge. You can try the same with normal sugar and enjoy this month of festivity. 

Ingredients :

Tarts : Makes 6-8 tarts

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 25 gms butter, cut in cubes, cold
• 3 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 tsp milk
• cold water, as required for kneading

Kheer :

• 500 ml milk, full cream
• 1 rice, washed (I used Gobindbhog)
• 2-3 tbsp nolen gur(date palm jaggery) You may use sugar or sugarcane jaggery

Procedure : 

Tarts : 

Take flour and butter in a bowl and rub the butter cubes with the flour till the mixture resembles breadcrumbs (in texture).

Mix in the powdered sugar and add milk.

Now add cold water 1 tbsp at a time and knead to get a smooth dough. Do not over knead.

Wrap the dough in a cling wrap or plastic sheet and refrigerate for half an hour. 

Take a little bit of the dough and press it against the tart mould. Starting from the center press out the excess dough and remove it. 

Take a fork and make holes on the dough in the tart mould. 

Refrigerate the tart moulds again for 10-15 mins.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

Place the tart moulds in the oven and bake for 10-15 mins.

Kheer : 

Pour milk in a thick bottomed pan and bring it to a boil.

Lower the flame and add the washed rice.

Let the milk cook, on a medium flame, stirring in between till it reduces to half its original quantity. 

Once the milk has thickened to the desired consistency, turn off the heat.

Wait for a couple of minutes and then add the grated/crushed nolen gur. Mix well. Adjust sweetness to your liking.

In case you want to use sugar, add it once the milk has thickened and still on the flame. 

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.

Add a spoonful of the kheer in the tart shells and bake for 5-10 minutes.

Cool and garnish with some chopped pistachios, cardamom powder and some grated nolen gur.

This recipe is part of Kolkata Food Bloggers ongoing event : Puja week-Mishti special 

Happy Durga Puja

Amrita

Nolen Gurer Til Gajak

Getting back to a normal routine after an amazing and relaxed holiday is perhaps one of the most difficult things to do. I have been back from a splendid time spent in Allahabad for almost a week now and am struggling to find  enthusiasm to click and share some food on the blog. I am literally rubbing my cold fingers to warm them up and start the new year with a bang. 

Well, a bang it was, as Vaanya started Montessori last week and I as a typical Indian mother had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat to see my little pumpkin being taken away to her class. She cried most naturally being taken away from the warmth and protection that she has known since birth but I cried even more and tried my best to hide my tears from other parents who perhaps have gone through the very same thing. 

Vaanya is still taking time to adjust and will hopefully very soon love the idea of going to a place called school, a place to make new friends, learn new exciting facts of life and thus enter the inevitable social world. 

Amongst all the craziness in our world nowadays, I just realized that it time of the year to feel cozy warming yourself against the heat of the bonfire, munch on loads of gajaks, rewadis and popcorns and sing merry songs. It is Lohri time. 

Lohri is celebrated to denote the last of the cruel coldest days in North India. It is celebrated in lieu of the harvesting of Rabi crops. All over India, this time of the year is festival time which is known by different names. For Sikhs it is Lohri while for Hindus it is Makar Sankranti just like it is Pongal down South and Bihu in Assam. 
When Kolkata Food Blogger's got together to celebrate Poush Sankranti by sharing sweet delicacies, I was in pretty much a fix as I have never tried the regional sweets devoured at this time of the year. Since the same is celebrated as Lohri by us, I decide to put my hands on this extremely easy and quick recipe called Til Gajak. To add some Bengali flavour to this Punjabi sweet, I made one batch with Nolen gur. For the other batch I used normal jaggery. Both came out wonderful but the Nolen gur ones had a lovely deep colour and looked amazing with the white sesame seeds doing a peek-a-boo. The normal jaggery ones hid the sesame seeds in its own colour and so needed some extra sprinkling on top while rolling thin. 
Both ways it is the easiest way to spend a wonderful cozy time with family doing chit chat, warming yourself against the fire and munching endlessly on goodies  enjoying the last day of the cold winters.

Ingredients : Serves 4-5

• 1/3 cup grated Nolen gur/normal jaggery (I made 2 batches with both)
• 3 tbsp white sesame seeds

Procedure : 

Take a pan and dry roast the sesame seeds on medium heat till they begin to change colour.

Transfer to a plate and allow to cool.

Heat the pan and add Nolen gur/normal jaggery. Stir continuously till it dissolves.

Remove from heat and add the roasted sesame seeds.

Quickly spread the mixture on an oiled surface like your kitchen counter or a plate. 

Allow to cool for 5-10 secs and then put a sheet of plastic on top and roll with a rolling pin as thin as you want. (For the normal jaggery batch I had to sprinkle some extra sesame seeds on top as they hid in the colour of the jaggery, but this is completely optional)

Trim the edges with a sharp knife and make desired shapes out of it. I made rectangles. 

Gajak with Nolen gur

Gajak with normal gur/jaggery

Notes : 

• You can make rewadis out of the same by simply rolling the gur-sesame seeds mixture into round or flattened balls. Be careful as the mixture can be very hot for your fingers.
• Try your hands on Moongfali gajak by substituting sesame seeds for halved moongfali/groundnuts. 
• You can make the same with sugar in which case you will get white gajaks. 

Check out here to see some amazing sweets served for the festivity by my friends at Kolkata Food Bloggers.

Happy Lohri

Amrita

Mini Mug Gingerbread house

As a child, I,  like many others was always fascinated with the witches house in Hansel and Gretel. I mean who will not fancy a house made of Gingerbread  and cakes with candies and chocolate all over. Having never tasted a Gingerbread cookie and a long hidden desire to put my hands on a gingerbread house, made me decide to try these adorable mini Gingerbread houses. These can perch on your mugs and look very cute. 

I added my own touch to these cookies by adding Nolen gur in the dough instead of normal jaggery. Not being a big fan of ginger myself, these cookies are not overpowering with the ginger taste (as I always thought). In fact, the spices along with jaggery and honey gives it a very unique flavour. 

Ideally the Gingerbread house calls for the use of Royal icing to join the pieces together. Having my own constraint of not wanting to use raw egg whites, I decide to try a basic icing where icing sugar is diluted to required consistency with some lemon juice and/or milk. The Gingerbread house required heaps of patience as the pieces were so fragile while joining and would fall apart. I had to join them again and again and finally said a short prayer and left them to dry. Thankfully they held themselves together finally. 

I also made some Gingerbread men with the leftover dough and decorated them with the same icing. 

Recipe source : Adapted from Taste.com.au

Ingredients : For 5 Mini gingerbread houses and 15 Gingerbread men

• 50 gm butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup jaggery, grated(I used Nolen gur)
• 1/2 egg(Beat one egg in a bowl and use half quantity) 
• 1 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tbsp ginger powder(I used saunth-dry ginger powder)
• 1/4 tbsp cinnamon powder
• 6-7 cloves, dry roasted and powdered
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 8-10 black pepper, ground
• 1 cardamom, powdered
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

Icing:

• 5-6 tbsp icing sugar
• few drops of lemon juice
• little milk for diluting

Procedure : 

Gingerbread dough:

Take jaggery and butter in a bowl and beat till pale and creamy. 

Mix in honey and egg.

Sift flour, ginger powder, all spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the bowl.

Knead dough using hands till it comes together smooth and soft. 

Wrap in a plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

Roll out dough 1/4 " thick and cut out desired shapes form it.

I used my Gingerbread man cutter and a template for the Gingerbread house.

Place on a butter paper/parchment lined baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes or till they brown well.

Allow to cool.

Icing:

Mix icing sugar with few drops of lemon juice and some milk to get a thick consistency good enough for piping. 

Fill a piping bag/Ziplock/plastic bag with this icing and snip off the end.

Make desired design on all the pieces.

Use some icing to stick colourful sprinkles on the cookies.

Leave to dry.

Use the same icing sugar as a glue to join pieces of the gingerbread house.

Note : 

• Cut out the template on a piece of thick paper/cardboard and use it to cut out shapes from the dough.
• Keep a check on the cookies while baking to prevent overbrowning.
• You can omit the egg and use some milk for kneading the dough. 
• The joining of Gingerbread house pieces require some patience and precision as the house can fall apart. After fixing the pieces let it dry completely before touching.

Sending this recipe to 'Kolkata Food Blogger's ongoing baking event 'Baking Palooza 2013

Happy Mini Gingerbread house enjoying
Amrita

Nolen Gurer tart

It all started with the first batch of Nolen gur I had bought for my experiment with the Mousse and since then I have been trying my hands on quite some unusual recipes. I tried a batch of Nolen gur muffins which was such a hit at home that we made it again and again and loved it each time. The natural brown colour that it imparts along with its sweetness gives an amazing experience. Sadly it is available only in Winters. No wonder that is the reason I have been making the most of it. 

The Nolen gur tart was actually an experiment during Diwali. I wanted to make something special for my parents and jumped onto this idea. The tart was a breeze and so was the mousse. The most difficult part was shaping the nolen gur sandesh into flowers. It took loads of patience and determination and I was somewhat happy with the end result. 

Ingredients : For 6 tarts

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 30 gm unsalted butter (cold)
• 2 tbsp nolen gur, powdered 
• little cold water for kneading

Nolen gurer mousse Filling : 

• 1/2 cup paneer
• 1/4 cup nolen gur
• 1/4 cup whipped cream

Topping-Nolen gurer sandesh :

• 1 cup milk
• a pinch of citric acid/1/4 tsp lemon juice
• 4 tbsp grated nolen gur
• red and green food colouring

Procedure : 

Tarts:

Take flour, nolen gur and butter in a bowl and rub the butter cubes with the flour till the mixture resembles breadcrumbs (in texture). 

Now add cold water 1 tbsp at a time and knead to get a smooth dough. Do not over knead.
Wrap this dough in a plastic sheet and refrigerate for half an hour.

Take out the dough and roll it with a rolling pin on a floured surface. Roll it roughly to the size of the chosen tart tin with 1/8" thickness. 

Gently press the dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the tart tin. Trim excess dough.

Line all the tart tins the same way. Make holes on the sides and bottom with a fork and refrigerate for another half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Bake the tarts for 15-20 mins or till they get a light brown colour.

Take them out and let them cool.

  

For a detailed step by step illustration refer here

Nolen Gurer mousse: 

Dissolve Nolen gur in 2-3 tbsp warm milk.

Blend paneer in a blender till smooth without adding water.

Mix paneer with the dissolved nolen gur.

Gently fold in the whipped cream.

Fill cooled tart shells with a tbsp of the mousse and allow to set in the regrigerator.

Refer here for details.

Nolen gurer sandesh for topping : 
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. 
Melt the nolen gur in little warm milk.

Add the kneaded chenna to a non stick pan on low flame and keep stirring continuously to avoid burning the chenna.

Add the melted nolen gur and mix with the chenna. 

The chenna will gradually change colour as it gets mixed with nolen gur 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.

Take a little portion of this nolen gur flavoured chenna and pat it flat to fit the top of tart over the mousse. Repeat the same for all the tarts.

Divide the remaining portion of chenna into two and add green and red food colouring to each. 

Make leaf shape with the green one and give vein impression with the backside of a knife.
Place it on the tart.

Take a little portion of the red coloured chenna and pat it to a rough rectangle with a longer side than width. 

Very carefully with the help of a knife, lift it and roll it gently from one end.

The chenna is very fragile, so be very gentle and patient with the rolling. 

Pinch off the end and place on the tart. Make three such rolled flowers for each tart.
Refrigerate before serving.

Happy Nolen gurer tart relishing
Amrita

Nolen Gurer Eggless Mousse

The season of Indulgence is here. It is the perfect time of the year to dig into recipe books and bring out those spicy and sweet treats. For me there is always a reason to experiment with something sweet!

During Diwali, a reader asked me to suggest her a Nolen gurer souffle recipe which she fondly remembers relishing at a famous sweet shop in Kolkata 'Balaram Mallick & Radharam Mallick'. Having found my love in cooking/baking very recently i.e. around 3 years, I had not yet heard of this delicacy leave alone tasting it. The season's gem was bought and thus began my trials with it. I experimented on my Mango mousse recipe by simply substituting mango for Nolen gur. The result was great with a wonderful and smooth texture but this time I wanted to experiment on an eggless recipe. This recipe is adapted from Tarla Dalal's website and worked amazingly good for an eggless version.

Ingredients : For 3-4 servings

• 1 cup paneer
• 1/2 cup whipped cream 
• 1/2 cup grated Nolen gur/Date palm jaggery
• Nolen gur shavings for garnishing

Procedure :

Dissolve Nolen gur in 2-3 tbsp warm milk.

Blend paneer in a blender till smooth. Do not add any water. 

Mix paneer with the dissolved nolen gur. 

Gently fold in the whipped cream.

Pour in serving bowls and refrigerate for 1-2 hours to set. 

Garnish with Nolen gur shavings.

Nolen gurer mousse(egg based)

This was my first trial with egg whites as the base. I simply substituted in my tried and tested Mango Mousse recipe.

A big thanks to Parvati Sinha, the reader who gave me the inspiration to try this wonderful recipe. 

Happy Mousse relishing

Amrita

Nolen Gurer Muffins

Come Winters and us in Kolkata begin our wait for the season's gem-Nolen/Notun/Patali gur. It is a special kind of jaggery collected from Palm trees where the sap collectors climb the tree and make cuts in them and then tie earthen pots below it for the sap to collect. The same sap is then boiled in shallow vessels to turn them into the nolen gur. 

This year, I got my batch of Nolen gur around Diwali time when a reader of our blog suggested me to experiment with Nolen gurer mousse and share the recipe. Since then, I have been experimenting all kinds of things with this winter sweet gem. 

Nolen gurer muffins were experimented for a sweet friend who was in Kolkata for a short visit. The ones I made for her had ugly cracked tops but the flavour was rich with that amazing nolen gur sweetness. The sweet fragrance of the baked muffins filled my kitchen and I knew I had to make them again. And what better day to make these beauties than 'Sweet day' on our blog where Vaanya turns 2 years and six months. I added almond halves on top for some crunch and they turned out a winter must. 

Ingredients : For 4-5 muffins

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup grated nolen/notun/khejur gur/date palm jaggery
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 4-5 almond halves(lengthwise)

Procedure : 

Preheat oven to 160 degree Celsius. Line muffin tins with liners.

Take butter in a bowl and beat it well. If water separates from the butter, drain it. 

Add grated nolen gur and beat well again till the gur gets incorporated in the butter.

Sieve all purpose flour and baking powder. 

Beat egg in a bowl.

Add the beaten egg and flour-baking powder mixture in the butter-gur mixture in two batches and mix gently till incorporated well.

Divide and pour the batter in the prepared muffin tins and gently press almond halves.

Bake for 20-25 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Notes :

• You may replace the date palm jaggery with normal jaggery.
• If the muffins brown too fast on the top, cover loosely with aluminium foil to avoid direct heat. The muffins in that case may take more time to bake.
• To further enhance the Nolen gur experience, poke some holes in the muffins and pour some diluted Nolen gur on it.

Happy Nolen Gur experimenting

Amrita