Chocolate and Malai Peda for Holi/Five Minute Chocolate and Milk Fudge

Here's wishing all my readers a Very Happy Holi. Have fun, stay safe and healthy. This past weekend we were out on a road trip on a little vacation driving around the state to the usual vacation spots. Took some time off of the early part of spring break as well. By the time we got back yesterday, just in time for Holi, I already had several ideas crawling in my head for what to make for the festival of which - like most festivals - food is an essential element. Holi is all about having fun, painting each others with colors, spending an hour in the shower to get all the paint off you and then having some wonderful food from the kitchen. Coming back from our trip yesterday you would think I would take some time and relax but instead I went right to the kitchen (yes I did stop at the grocery store on the way). Since it was late at night, did some basic prep work and starting this morning  over a few hours put together five dishes. This sweet dish is one of them which in fact was easier of the five. You may find several versions of these Pedas out on the web that use almost similar ingredients. They are all done pretty much the same way with minor differences based on personal preference. I tried to put together the general concept of the dish together with my love for chocolate. A fine dessert to serve with an exquisite meal or a casual candy to have around and to pop in when you please.

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Kheer/Indian rice pudding with saffron and nuts

If there is any sweet dish deeply rooted into the Indian culture it is most ubiquitously the 'Kheer'. For those who have not had the pleasure, it is a close cousin to your typical rice pudding just more exotic and flavorful (in my humble opinion). Here are a few facts to highlight the pervasiveness and importance of this dish in Indian culture. Even though the taste might vary when prepared by one person to another due to how much attention has been given to details, unlike most other dishes in the Indian cuisine that vary widely with the region they are being made in, the recipe and ingredients for the Kheer have stood the test of time and geography. Barring of course the additional flavoring or condiments, the taste essentially is unchanged. Here's another fact - traditionally, when a newly wed bride comes home the first time to her in-laws place, guess what is the first dish she is expected to make, yes the Kheer. Any celebration, any traditional function and festival, even for day to day entertaining the kheer finds its way into the menu. The greatness of this recipe is its simplicity. The slow cooking of the milk along with rice creates that delicious thick rich earthy flavor. Guess you have to try it to find out if you haven't already.

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Gulabi Phirni/Rose rice pudding

Phirni is an Indian sweet dish. It has a texture that is a cross between custard and pudding and is made with ground rice and milk. The popular flavor variations are badam (using almond paste), aam (with mango pulp) and rose phirni (obviously with rose syrup). Unlike other Indian sweet treats which can be tricky and time consuming to make, phirni is  quite quick and easy. The smooth creamy cool taste of this dessert just puts you in a good mood. It is so good that my princess who doesn't have much of a sweet tooth and is a very fussy eater, ate a whole bowlful of this "pink ice-cream" as she likes to call it :)

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Mango Coconut Ice-cream

ango is undoubtedly the king of summer fruits for me. Now summer is not my most favorite of seasons but there are a few things that make the memories of summer good. Be it the long vacation away from school, being allowed to just go out and play, visiting grandparents, all the pampering, several of these things that I often talk about in my posts. These along with a lot of fun and cool food and fruits and berries - jamun, lassi, a million varieties of kulfi, soda pops, ice-chuski and the list goes on. The mango definitely figures in there somewhere as well. For some strange reason these things are what I think of first when I think of summer (of course followed by the reminder of the scorching Indian sun that I used to hate). Any conversation on food and summer is incomplete with mango featuring in it. Especially with its versatility, the mango is a fruit well loved in my family. Eat it raw, just peel it, chop it up, mix in a little salt and red chilli powder and tantalize your taste buds, or roast it, pulp it and make a nice cool drink with it or chop it up and cook with brown sugar to make a nice sweet and sour chutney... and then the 'achaar' of course, pickle it if you can't think of anything else to do with it. When in ripe form it of course can be had as a fruit but its pulp is also used to flavor many dishes.
Ice-cream is one such dish. It can be made using different kinds of mangoes however the pulp of Alphonso works the best. Use a sweet, ripe and a non-fibrous mango for best results. This time around I wanted to try the classic combo of coconut with mango to give it a nice tropical twist.The best part with this recipe is that it is extremely easy to put together without the need of an ice-cream machine.

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Gulkand-Pista Kulfi/Rose petal jam Indian ice-cream

s the mercury climbs and the sun becomes more relentless, it is beginning to remind me of summers in India. The carefree school days, long summer holidays, visiting grandpa's place- I am sure each one of us must have some fond memories of summer like these. Summer also reminds us of our favorite food ice-cream :).The popular variation of which in India is called Kulfi. I have some fond memories of those summer evenings. I remember whenever we used to go out to eat chaat and panipuri (which was very often) we had to have kulfi otherwise the whole outing used to be incomplete. 

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Thandai/Spicy Nutty Almond Milk

oli is this Thursday. This Festival of Colors is undoubtedly one of the most fun filled of all the festivals in India. The celebration of the advent of spring, this festival is tied to a lot of religious significance as are all the other festivals in India and also signifies the triumph of good over evil. Huge bonfires are burnt on the eve of Holi to commemorate this spirit.

As with any festivities, there are loads of fond memories with Holi as well. For those not aware, the tradition might seem a little odd but here is how it was done - and boy was it fun. The morning of the festival, you would wake up and go out on the streets armed with all your washable paints, colors and gulal. Any person you find young or old, whether you know them or not, you make sure you get them painted beyond recognition. Of course you get the brunt of it too, so much so you would not recognize if you saw yourself in the mirror... no kidding. While you did all that, you would sneak an occasional peek in the house and pick a taste of all the goodies mom was busy cooking up. I remember how my mom and aunts used to cook up a storm and how all of us children would huddle up in the kitchen and be curious and all excited, waiting for the treat. The sweet aroma of festivity, sounds of laughter, the deep frying, chit-chat, gossip.

On this occasion it is customary to drink thandai - a cold refreshing beverage made with milk that is infused with almond and few exotic spices often traditionally mixed with ground hemp paste or bhaang. Bhaang  is prepared with ground leaves and flowers buds of the cannabis plant which works like a relaxant and gives a intoxicating kick :) You guessed it, as kids, we weren't allowed. This  version here is of-course the non-intoxicating version and perfect for the upcoming hot summers and not to mention very nutritious as well.

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Meetha Gulkand Paan/ Betel leaf mouth freshener with rose petal jam

 

Dear friends- The holiday season is around the corner and the holiday fever is catching up in my household as well. Just wanted to let you know that I will be taking a little time off during the holiday (a well deserved one as hubs tells me :). Will surely see you in a little bit.

Happy Holidays

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hewing the Betel leaf or Paan, as it is called in Hindi, loaded with fragrant and flavorful fruit, herb and spice mixes, is the ubiquitous mouth freshener in the Indian sub-continent. If you think chewing gum is the most common form of freshening up your mouth, think again. Now I am no historian but the tradition of chewing the leaf has existed in the culture since the beginning of recorded history and is very much prevalent still in the modern age. To give you an idea, I do not think there is any public street in India where within five minutes you could not walk up to a little stall right on the side of the street selling this delight. This post would be incomplete without giving you a little description of that ever-present 'paan-dukaan'. A little makeshift stall made of plywood, roofing sheets and any other material nailed together to make a box like structure and propped up on four wooden legs, sometimes as small as five by five feet with a person barely managing to sit inside with a small counter in front of him. You walk up and ask him or her for the kind of flavoring you want and lo and behold within a matter of seconds he is ready with your instant gratification. In some places you pay as little as five rupees (a dime, no kidding) for a serving and walk away.

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Instant Jalebi!

realize this is a day after Diwali but festivity is still in the air, right! Hope all you guys had a very prosperous and fun filled Diwali!
Diwali or Deepawali is the Festival of Lights. It is a time that is much awaited all year round by children and adults alike. A time of celebration, prayers, holidays, family, fun, fireworks and of course food - lots of it. It is one of the most important religious and cultural festivals in India bringing family and friends together. Diwali is one of the biggest and most celebrated Hindu festivals. In my Chandrakala post on Dussehera a few weeks ago I spoke about Lord Rama and his victory over evil. After vanquishing the evil Ravana, Lord Rama along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana come back home after 14 years of banishment. Since then, that day is celebrated by Hindus all over the world as Diwali!

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Chandrakala/Stuffed Sweet Festive Pastries

ere is another recipe from me that gives me an intense sense of nostalgia.

The start of 'navaratra' marks the beginning of the festive season in India. Navaratra culminates in Dussehera after which comes the much awaited Diwali with Dhanteras and Chhath between and immediately after. These followed by Christmas and of course the welcome of the new year. Festivities in India are associated with pomp and fervor, family, dressing in your finest, prayers and worship, time off from school, carnivals, guests and of course food, lots of food. How is that for nostalgia!

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Saffron Mango Lassi

ow summer is not my most favorite season but for some reason I have a strange sense of longing now that it is almost over. This drink is an ode to summer saying goodbye and what better than to do that with with king of summer fruits ~ the Mango! The sound of 'Lassi' reminds me of hot summer afternoons, a tall glass filled with a chilled frothy yogurt drink. Summers in India are even harsher than here but they still used to be fun. Not just because we used to have long vacation away from school and we were allowed to just go out and play, visiting grandparents, all the pampering .. but also because the season would bring a lot of fun and cool food and fruits and berries - mangoes, jamun, lassi, a million varities of kulfi, soda pops, ice-chuski and the list goes on.

Lassi is a sweet chilled yogurt based drink is especially loved by all n very popular all over India especially in the northern and north-western parts of the Indian Subcontinent. Being made of yogurt it has a cooling effect so just the right thing to do to gulp own a tall glass before you head out in the scorching sun. 

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Sabudana Kheer/Tapioca Pudding with Saffron and Nuts

ndia is the land of festivities. Believe it or not but national and regional festivals together would probably go into three figures. What's more is that these vary widely in the way they are celebrated from one region to another. Some are quiet and solemn including prayers and worship, some an expression of love and affection and most are attributed to deities and celebrated with quite the pomp and fervor.

Many of the regional festivals often are the quiet and solemn kind (but still elaborate nonetheless) and they are often associated with fasting. Fasting is a way of worship where you eliminate certain food groups from your diet for the period of the fast or sometimes, depending on how resilient you are and the method the particular festival dictates, not eat or drink at all.

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Saffron Rose Srikhand/Indian Style Saffron Rose Greek Yogurt

e Indians love our spices as well as sweets. Festivals, celebrations or any happy occasion for that matter is definitely accompanied with sweets or as we call them, 'mithais'. There is mushrooming of mithai shops and local halwais on every nook and corner wherever you go. There is usually such a variety of sweets that it is difficult to decide what you want to eat. It is said that culture in India changes every hundred miles. With culture comes its food. Every region has its own sweet specialties and varieties so you can imagine how vast and expansive the world of Indian sweets can get. 
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Imarti

ave you ever wondered what the royalty of yesteryears ate. Especially in India where the land has seen its fair share of kings and queens of over the last couple of thousand years. If you think what they ate had to be rich, tricky to make, used expensive ingredients and extremely delicious, you are absolutely right.
The Imarti is one such sweet dish. It originated as a dessert for the royals in the ornate state of Rajasthan. Legend has it that this delectable sweet dish was created as a gift by the Rajput kings for the Moghuls during the Moghul invasion of India over four hundred years ago. The dish is now ever popular all over the country although in some parts of the country it is known as Jangri. It is almost as popular as its even more popular cousin the Jalebi. So much so that every sweet shop around the corner of every street that makes jalebi will most certainly also have imarti.
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Gajar Halwa/Carrot Pudding

his delicious and classic Indian dessert is a huge favorite with dear hubs. The warm aroma of the sweet succulent carrots cooking in the milk with saffron, cardamom, all slowly cooking and simmering in pure homemade ghee fills my house with a wonderful pleasing and festive aroma that always draw him to the kitchen... always.

We Indians love our spices as well as sweets. Any celebration or happy occasion for that matter is definitely accompanied with sweets. There is a mushrooming of mithai shops and  local halwais on every nook and corner wherever you go and there is usually such a variety of sweets that it is difficult to decide what you want to eat. Each part of India has its own sweet specialties and varieties so you can imagine how vast and expansive the world of Indian sweets can get.

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Zafrani Zarda Pulao with POM!

t gives me great pleasure to let you know that a scout team from POM Wonderful apparently liked my work that I publish through this blog of mine and contacted me the other day. They offered to send me a case of their wonderful juice. The best part, there was no catch. All I had to do was what I already love to do, come up with some recipes; and with a great product like POM it was not too difficult a task.

You guys most likely know about POM. Yes, the deep purple-pink juice in the cute double spherical looking bottle that you can find in the juice aisle of practically every grocery store.

As I sat down searching through my brain for ideas, my first instinct was a spiced juice blend, or ice-cream or the like. I wanted to go with something more original and exotic so I set those ideas aside and stuck to my roots. Hence came the idea of using a POM reduction in an exotic rice. When I asked hubby for his feedback after he had this rice for dinner, he summed it up aptly as a 'Dish fit for Royalty'.

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Chhena Payesh - USMasala hits 200 !

ES!!! I am writing my 200th post!!! At the risk of sounding cheesy I can not help but say - I cannot believe it. It almost feels like I started only a couple of days ago and only yesterday I was congratulating myself for my 50th. What amazes me even more is that I have been blogging only for just about ten short months. Do your math, with about 20 posts a month, I believe I can safely conclude about myself 'I love to cook'.
Over and above all, I am totally and completely amazed at the response USMasala gets from my readers. You make me feel all warm and fuzzy with all your encouragement, so a big Thank You to you all. My stats tell me how immensely loved my site is. It is very humbling and makes me more passionate about what I love doing. It has been out and out an joy-ride. It is such a great feeling to touch someone's life in anyway - help in a certain way - someone somewhere in some part of the world, an unknown stranger who suddenly becomes a very familiar name and face.
I'm not kidding when I say that food blogging has changed my life in ways I never imagined. The most important thing is it has taught me is that you follow your passion and the everything else will follows. Another big thing is to admire the simplest things in life- a food-photo that comes out well, an experiment that succeeds, a thoughtful comment left on a post. The creativity, thinking, writing, history, everything.

Hubby deserves a special mention. Between tasting my dishes, taking awesome pictures and being my 24 x 7 technical support, he is the one who keeps the show going :) Thanking him would actually diminish the value that he adds to my efforts.

To all my readers - Thank you for being a part of my life and letting me and USMasala be a tiny part of your lives. Love you all!

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Mango-Saffron Kulfi for the Men in Blue

s I write this and get ready to publish, I cannot but help mentioning the victory of the Indian cricket team in the Cricket World Cup. Hip Hip Hooray! Three cheers for the Men in Blue. It feels great to be on top of the world and in such style. Go India! So this post is dedicated to the victory.
As the mercury climbs and the sun becomes more relentless, it is beginning to remind me of summers in India. The carefree school days, long summer holidays, visiting grandpa's place- I am sure each one of us must have some fond memories of summer like these. Summer also reminds us of our favorite food ice-cream :).The popular variation of which in India is called Kulfi. I have some fond memories of those summer evenings. I remember whenever we used to go out to eat chaat and panipuri (which was very often) we had to have kulfi otherwise the whole outing used to be incomplete. 

Kulfi is an Indian version of ice-cream... often flavored with cardamom, saffron and nuts and has a very unique flavor. It has similarities with ice-cream in terms of texture, taste and of course the fact that it is frozen milk! But unlike western ice creams, kulfi is not whipped, resulting in a solid, dense frozen dessert. Where I come from, it is often served with falooda noodles (kind of like vermicelli). During the summers in india, there is no dessert more popular than kulfi.

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Gujiya - Holi hai!

ujiya is a traditional indian sweet dish made typically during the festival of Holi. The sweet delicious filling inside the crunchy flaky pastry covering tastes out of this world and makes you want to grab some again and again. Gujias slightly vary from region to region. In the Northern parts of India, the filling is made with sweetened khoya and dry fruits and nuts while in South Western States, it consists of shredded coconut, nuts and jaggery or sugar. I of course like this the way my mom makes them.

Where I come from, we call it Pedukiya. These are made in most households during the festivities of Holi like it was in ours. They always take me back in time to those days when on the morning of the festival, you would wake up and go out on the streets armed with all your paints, colors and gulal. Any person you find young or old, whether you know them or not, you make sure you get them painted beyond recognition. Of course you get the brunt of it too so much so you would not recognize if you saw yourself in the mirror... lol. While you did all that, you would sneak an occasional peak in the house and pick a taste of all the goodies mom was busy cooking up. I remember how my mother and aunts used to make it and how all of us children would huddle up in the kitchen and be curious and all excited, waiting for the treat. The sweet aroma of festivity, sounds of laughter, the deep frying, chit-chat, gossip... I miss them all... here in my kitchen when alone I cook something like this there is not someone always to taste as it comes hot off the frying pan, the chit-chat... but the aroma of cooking the warmth of festivity makes me feel at home again. I have the sweetest and the most caring man in the whole world who is my sous chef my taster my food critic, my everything. With him and my our little bundle of joy everyday feels like a festival and keep me going!

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Mawa Pistachio Saffron Mini Bundt Cake - an eggless recipe

ne afternoon when I was sitting around thinking what I could cook up next, my baking genes started to flare up. The obvious question was what to bake. As I sat there and thought, I basically kicked myself for not having thought about the most common form of cake that I ate and made growing up - a cake with Indian flavors.

I remember back at home when I first started learning to bake anything, I tried to make a cake in one of those small counter-top electric ovens. It was a recipe that everyone in my extended family used when they had to make a cake! Nothing extraordinary, just your basic cake but kicked up several notches by adding key Indian flavors like mawa and nuts. That made the cake almost a cross between a cake and an Indian sweet dish.

Having baked several different kinds of breads and cakes, I decided to put a little twist on the classic recipe by adding pistachios and cardamom. Moreover, I believe this made the cake a bit more exotic, perfect for the upcoming occasion of the festival of Holi. 

So here is the recipe for this fabulous fusion cake. Also, if mawa is difficult to find where you live, I have also detailed a couple of easy ways of making your own mawa at home. The use of mini bundt pan is optional. You can use any cake pan, I just thought they looked cute and were handy to serve to my little princess.

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Gud aur til ka Paratha / Jaggery and sesame stuffed flatbread

My mom is a queen of innovation. Especially when it comes to innovation with leftovers. She would come up with cool ideas to convert things that everyone deemed throwaway into dishes that would fly like hot cakes.

In India it is tradition to take some sweets if you are visiting a near and dear. My mom being quite the entertainer, we used to have a rather busy guest 'traffic'. Now not everyone has a big heart to take the best quality stuff so quite often we would wind up with sweets that no one wanted to eat. This one time mom came up with the idea of mixing it all up, boiled it in some milk to make a thick filling and made stuffed parathas out of it. Papa and my brother ate them up in seconds.

This dish is another such example of my mother's innovativeness. After the festival of Sankranti, we would usually have lots of left over 'tilkut' (a sweet candy made of sesame and sugar). She used a similar technique on the tilkut to convert it into absolutely fabulous sweet stuffed bread. I wanted to give this a shot but unfortunately I couldn't find any tilkut here. I had some sesame seeds handy and some jaggery so I used them together to create the tilkut effect. Hubby loved it :)  So here's another one inspired from and for my dear mom.

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