Sandesh–A Bengali sweet

October 22, 2013February 22, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

Like many of you there, I love this time of the year – the festive season in India! It’s time for family gatherings, friends, fun, and some great food. Good time to try out some homemade sweets!

Here’s my first recipe for the season. I am trying my hand in doing up a Bengali favorite – Sandesh. Made from fresh cottage cheese/paneer, it is indeed a delicious treat. One big plus of making sweets at home is that you are in complete control of the sugar that goes in.

You need –

Whole milk – 1 liter
Lime juice – 2 teaspoons
Powdered sugar – 1/3 cup or to your taste
Warm milk – 1 tablespoon
A good pinch of saffron
Few drops of Vanilla essence

How to –

Soak the saffron threads in the warm milk and set aside.

In a heavy bottom pan, bring the milk to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to low and add the lime juice. The milk will start to curdle and the whey will separate. As soon as you see the greenish water on top, turn off the heat.

Line a colander with cheesecloth and strain the chenna. Rinse the chenna under running tap water to remove the citric flavor. Now gather the corners of the cheesecloth, twist and squeeze to remove any excess water in the chenna. Hang the cheesecloth on the tap (as shown in the pic) or put it on a flat plate and weigh a heavy object on top to drain all excess water. Leave this for an hour.

Now remove the chenna from the cheese cloth and kneed with the your palm to a no lump and smooth ball (5-6 minutes). Now add the sugar (please add the sugar gradually to get the sweetness you desire), Vanilla essence and continue to kneed till chenna and sugar is well blend and smooth.

Heat a non stick pan over low heat and cook the chenna stirring continuously for 3-4 minutes or till it starts to leave the sides of the pan.

Turn off the heat and while still warm shape the chenna into desired shapes.

Garnish with the soaked saffron threads and drizzle little milk over the sandesh. You can also use some dried fruits or nuts to garnish.

Note :

Shape your sandesh while the chenna is still warm else the the chenna will harden and they will not hold the shape.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

August 9, 2013February 4, 2015 | Rekha Vengalil

I always thought a fudge cake was a difficult one and since its chocolate I never really bothered; until hubby the other day asked me to make one. Not often does such request come hence pulled out my baking bible and made this spongy and moist cake.

A slice of the cake was much a welcome for me in spite of not being a chocolate fan. I had some mango flavored butter cream sitting in the fridge which I used for the filling and dusted generously with icing sugar.

You need –

Self-raising flour – 175 grams
Sunflower oil – 150 mls
Coco powder – 25 grams
Baking powder – 1 teaspoon
Soft light brown sugar – 150 grams
Golden syrup – 3 tablespoons
Eggs – 2
Milk – 150 mls
Cake pans – 2 (I used a 8 inch but if you need a tall cake then use a 6 inch)

How to –

Pre-heat the oven to 180 C. Grease the cake tins and line the base with parchment paper.

In a small pan, heat the golden syrup until its runny. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, coco powder, and baking powder and mix in the sugar. Set aside. In a separate bowl whisk the egg, oil and milk using an electric whisk.

Now whisk the egg mixture into the flour mixture until well combined. Gently fold the golden syrup into the batter. Divide the batter equally between to tins and bake the cake for 30-35 mins or title the skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool slightly and then onto to wire rack to cool completely.

You use chocolate icing or icing of your choice to decorate the cake.

Blueberry Ice cream

July 30, 2013April 25, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

Firstly, I should thank Meena for posting the Mango Ice cream recipe that I couldn’t wait any longer to make one which has been long pending in my to-do list. In fact I have followed her method of making though I opted to make a blueberry ice cream. Thank you Meena for sharing such a quick and easy recipe with no ice cream maker 🙂 It turned out to be really creamy.

The hard part was trying to picture the ice cream before it melted. With the humidity here that happens in a jiffy. Nevertheless it was great and yet another learning. But while I was browsing on photo shoot tips for frozen desserts, is when I came across the fact that during most photo shoots for ice creams they use mashed potatoes (colored to suit different flavors). So that answers my big Q on how does the ice creams stay that way without melting.

I first sampled this flavor after I got here and ever since this has been one of my favorite flavors apart from Vanilla and strawberry. Chocolate isn’t for me. Yes, I am not a chocolate lover. It’s as simple as that and weird I know! And for the little one, it was a scoopful of her favorite berry.

Blueberries burst with healthy goodness and they are delicious. If you can’t find fresh berries, you can use the frozen. But thaw them completely before you use.

You need –

Fresh blueberries – 2 cups
Caster sugar – 2/3 cups
Milk – 1 1/2 cups
Whipping cream – 1 cup
Lemon zest – 2 teaspoons
Vanilla essence – 1 teaspoon
Water – 2 tablespoons

How to –

In a small bowl mash the lemon zest with 1 teaspoon of sugar to release the oils. set aside.
Rinse the berries well and place them in small sauce pan. Add 2 tablespoons of water and cook over low heat until tender. Around 8-10 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool and puree in a blender. Set aside.

In pan heat the milk and sugar stirring till the sugar has dissolved completely. Turn of the heat and allow to cool at room temperature. Once cooled stir in the blueberry puree, cream, sugared zest, vanilla essence and beat well with a electric beater till everything is combined.

Pour the mixture into a container and cover tightly and freeze for an hour. Remove and beat with an electric beater for a couple minutes and into the freezer. Repeat this process 3-4 times at regular intervals to ensure that no crystals are formed and the ice cream is creamy. Into the freezer for a final freeze to set for 6-8 hours or over night undisturbed.