Malpua (Fennel Pancake)

Hi All,

Holi is just round the corner and from the part of the country I come, Malpua is a must on this day. I have always cherished this dish, though I must admit I am not a sweet tooth person but I like this mildly sweet and flavored with traditional fennel seeds Malpua.

Ingredients.

Khoya (Solidified milk) 1/2 Cup Maida (all Purpose Flour) 1/2 Cup Milk 500 ml Fennel Seeds 1- 1/2 Tsp Saffron few Strands Sugar 1 Cup Water 2 cups Ghee (Clarified Butter) 1 cup

Method

Grate the khoya.

Heat the milk and should be warm enough but not boiling. Add ½ cup to the grated Khoya and mix it well. All the lumps should disappear.

One you make a smooth paste add the flour/Maida. Mix it well. At this point your batter will become lumpy once again. Now keep adding little milk at a time and mix it well to make a fine batter. Ensure that the batter is of dosa/Pancake consistency. If you need little more milk (i.e. more than 500ml) add but ensure it’s of pouring consistency. If your batter is thick you will get a thick center and will not soak the sugar syrup well. So please keep an eye on the batter consistency. It should neither be runny nor very thick. 

Add the fennel seeds and let the batter sit for 10 minutes.

In the meanwhile make the sugar syrup. Bring the water to a boil and add the sugar. Let it boil.

You should take out few drops and check when cooled, the syrup should be slightly slimy and just about sticking your fingers when you pinch them. Once you reach this stage shut the heat and add the saffron strands to the syrup and let it cool.

Next you take a nonstick frying pan and add the ghee (clarified butter). Let the ghee heat up and now after reducing the flame pour the flour batter in small round shapes and let it fry. Flip it to the other side only when you start seeing brown edges around the corner.  PLEASE NOTE: FRY IT IN LOW FLAME ONLY OTHERWISE IT WILL NOT GET COOKED UNIFORMLY.

One more thing to check is; when you pour the batter on the pan, the Malpua (Pancake) should not solidify or thicken in the center. If so then your batter need to be thinned little bit by adding more milk.

Once the Malpuas (Pancakes) are fried remove them and cool them for few minutes and then dip them in the sugar syrup. Keep it dipped for 2 minutes only and then remove the Malpua (Pancake) and keep it aside where you want to store. At this point your Malpua (Pancake) will be crispy and you might feel the syrup is not soaked enough but the syrup which is already on the Malpua (Pancake) will get soaked.

Serve it garnished with slithered pistachios and almonds .

Always serve this dish hot and you can also accompany the same with some vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy your Holi with these mouth watering Malpuas.

Thank you

Dhokar Danla (Gram Flour Cake Curry )

Hi, since lots of my vegetarian friends wanted a veg dish this is especially for them.

The name of the dish might sound funny but it’s an amazing dish. This is a Bengali delicacy and is very typical vegetarian dish served in most of the Bengali families. This is a pure veg dish and can be eaten by Jains also as it does not have onion & garlic. Nonetheless the taste is not at all compromised.

Ingredients

For the Cake

Gram Flour                               :                       1cup

Turmeric                                   :                       ¼ tsp

Chili Powder                             :                       ½ tsp (or as per your taste)

Coriander Powder                     :                       ¾ tsp

Cumin Powder                          :                       ½ tsp

Assafoetida (Hing)                     :                       1/8 tsp

Salt                                           :                       to taste (but ensure little less)

Sugar                                        :                       ¼ tsp

Soda Bicarb                              :                       1 pinch

Garam Masala                           :                       ½ tsp (Please click on the link for the                                                                            recipe)

Water                                        :                       Read the recipe below

For the Gravy

Tomato                                      :                       1 large (grind to paste)

Ginger Paste                               :                       ½ tsp

Turmeric                                     :                       ¼ tsp

Chili Powder                               :                       ½ tsp (or as per your taste)

Coriander Powder                       :                       ¾ tsp

 Cumin Powder                           :                       ½ tsp

Whole Cumin                              :                       ½

Assafoetida (Hing)                      :                       1/8 tsp

Salt                                             :                       to taste (but ensure little less)

Sugar                                          :                       ¼ tsp

Garam Masala                             :                       ¾ tsp (Please click on the link for the                                                                            recipe)

Oil                                              :                       3-4 tbsp.

Method

Cake

Mix all the Cake ingredients together except for the water. Add water slowly so that you can reach the cake batter consistency, Beat it well. If you are using hand blender beat it for good 2 minutes. The batter should be smooth. Now oil a baking tin that fits in your pressure cooker or rice cooker. You can cook this in any appliance that has steam cooking.

Place the tin in the cooker and let it steam away for good 15-20 minutes. If you are doing it in a pressure cooker please do not use the whistle.

Once the cake is cooked, let it cool and then remove it in the same way you remove a cake from the tin. Make diamond shape slices and keep it aside.

Heat a non-stick pan and put ½ tbsp. oil. When the oil is heated you put the slices of cake and just fry them to slight brown. Keep the flame high as you just need to brown them and not cook. You might need to add more oil as the cake slices soak them very fast. So do not add too much of oil in one go. No need to deep fry. In this whole process of frying you might need maximum 1 tbsp. or 1 ½ tbsp. oil.

For the Gravy

Make a fine paste with tomato and ginger. Add rest all the gravy ingredients into it and run the grinder just 1 speed. All the ingredients will mix together.

In the same pan where you fried your cake slices, add rest of the oil.

Add the whole cumin seeds, let it splutter

Now add the tomato paste you made and reduce the flame immediately. You will get an amazing aroma of assafoetida (Hing)  along with the other spices. Keep frying it. Add water to the grinder where the paste was made and keep adding that water. Once you see the oil has come up add 1 – 1 ½ cup of water and let it come to a boil.

Just before serving line the fried cakes into your serving bowl and pour the boiling gravy on top of it. Let the dish stand for 5-10 mins and enjoy this dish with steamed rice or crispy paratha

Please note do not soak the cakes for long prior to serving or else it will all smash into a porridge.

P.S. You can add green peas or potato also to the gravy.

Thank you and enjoy a good pure vegetarian dish.

Garam Masala 2

Bengali Garam Masala

Ingredients

Green cardamom                        :        1tbsp.

Cinnamon                                   :        1 ½ (1 inch stick)

Cloves                                        :        5-6 nos

Method

Dry all the ingredients in the sun. Please do not roast…it will spoil the flavor. Keep it in the sun for 4-5 hours and then grind it to fine powder. Store it in an air tight container.

Chicken Biriyani

Ingredients

• Chicken                                                :               1kg
• Onion                                                   :               4 cups (thinly sliced)
• Ginger Paste                                         :               1 ½ tsp
• Garlic Paste                                          :               2 ½ tsp
• Tomato                                                 :               3 large (thinly sliced)
• Garam Masala                                      :               ½ tsp
• Biriyani Masala                                     :               ¾ tsp
• Coconut Milk                                       :               2 cup
• Green Chili                                           :               2 Nos (thinly sliced)
• Mint and Coriander leaves                    :               1 handful (finely chopped)
• Turmeric                                               :               ½ tsp
• Chili powder                                         :               ½ tsp or as per your taste
• Salt                                                       :               to taste
• Whole Garam Masala                            :   1 tbsp. (Black Cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, mace, black              pepper, nutmeg a very small pc.)
• Oil                                                         :                 3tbsp
• Basmati Rice                                         :                 2 cups

Method

Clean the chicken and keep aside.

Clean and wash the rice and keep it in a colander to drain all the water. Bring the water to boil (almost 4 times the rice, as we need to drain the water out so no need to be precise about the water.) Once the water starts bubbling away add the rice and let it cook till almost done. Just make sure it’s not smash. Drain the rice and spread it on a big plate or tray so that they stay separated.

Now in a thick bottom vessel heat the oil and add the whole garam masala. Let it splutter. Add the sliced onions and fry till they are golden brown. Now add the ginger and garlic paste and reduce the flame so that the mixture cooks slowly. After 5 minutes of frying add the turmeric, chili powder, and salt and garam masala. Cook for further 2 mins and add the chopped green chili. Fry the mixture and add the sliced tomatoes. Mix well and cover the vessel and let the mixture cook in the juice of the tomato for few minutes. Open the lid and stir occasionally. Keep doing this step till you see the oil floating. Now add the Coconut milk (I use the store bought you can also use home made) and mix well. Cook it further for 5 minutes. Now add the chicken pieces and increase the flame. So that the chicken is coated with the mixture and not braised. Once all the chicken pieces are coated with the masala. Cover it and cook for few for minutes till the chicken is cooked. It will leave its own water so please do not add water. If at all your chicken is totally dry and you feel it might get burnt add few tea spoons of water do not add too much of water.

Once the chicken is cooked sprinkle it with finely chopped mint and coriander and the drained rice. Cover the vessel once more but no need to seal. After about 7-10 minutes uncover the vessel and stir very lightly ensuring the rice is not smashed but the bottom of the vessel is also sticking to the chicken gravy. Do this once or twice and then shut the heat off and let the Biriyani stand in its steam for 10 minutes.

Serve it hot with some raita (curd and salad) or chicken Kebabs.

Garam Masala 1

Garam Masala 1

Ingredients

Coriander Seeds                                                :               2 tbsp.

 Cumin Seeds                                                    :               1 tbsp.

Black Cardamom                                              :               3-4 nos

Cinnamon                                                         :               1 ½ (1 inch stick)

Cloves                                                              :               7-8 nos.

Method

Put all the ingredients together and let it get crispy in the sun. Please do not roast them as the flavour of the masala will change. Put it under the sun for good 5-6 hrs. Grind them together to a fine powder and store it in an air tight container.