Category: Indian Festive Food

CASHEW PANEER MODAK

Modak season is here ….
Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations cannot be complete without Modak. Modaks, as we all know, are favourites of not only Lord Ganesha but also his devout devotees. Try something different this year and make our Cashew paneer modak .

Cashew paneer modak can be prepared instantly. This tantalizing modak can be prepared for any festival or fast (vrat) very easily. 
You also can shape like laddo or make barfi too.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Cashew nuts – 1 cup (150 grams)
    Milk – 3/4th cup
    Paneer – 250 grams
    Sugar – ¾ cup (150 grams)
    Ghee – 2 tbsp
    Cardamom powder – ½ tsp
    Kesar 1tsp
    Pistachios – 10 to 12 (for garnishing)
    silver leaves and some rose petals for decoration .

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. For making the modak , soak the cashews in milk for 2 hours.
  2. After this grind the cashews along with milk in a mixture jar and make a fine paste.
  3. Also add sugar to the paste, followed with crumbled paneer. Churn again and make a fine paste.
  4. Mixture for making barfi is ready. Preheat a non stick pan. Add 2 tsp ghee in the pan and allow it to melt. When the ghee is hot, add cashew-sugar-paneer paste.
  5. Stir the mixture constantly and roast until it gets thick and dense in consistency. When the mixture gets thick in consistency and ghee starts separating from it then the mixture is ready.
  6. Now add cardamom powder into the mixture and turn off the flame. Take out the mixture is a greased plate and spread it evenly with a spoon.
  7. Now Shape them with modak moulds or hand, keep in a cool place⁠.
  8. Decorate with silver leaves and rose petals .
  9. Store it in refrigerator and relish eating for up to a week.

NOTES;

  • Stir the mixture well so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
     

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SHRIKHAND PARFAIT :THE SWEETEST WAY TO CELEBRATE HOLI

Shrikhand is a dessert that is popular in the Western states of India and is made with yogurt that has been hung in cheesecloth and strained until it is thick and creamy. The yogurt is typically flavored with saffron and cardamom, but you can also add Alphonso mango purée , strawberry, grapes etc.

Fusion of our authentic Shrikhand and plating it as parfait is the beauty of this recipe. First step is to prepare the shrikhand and then next, plate it (or shall i say glass it lol) along with biscuit crumbs, top with chopped fruits and put whipped cream on top!

INGREDIENTS:

For the shrikhand:

  • 3 cups plain curd
  • 1/2 teaspoon saffron
  • 1/2 tablespoon warm milk
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon cardamom seeds, finely crushed
  • 1/4 cup unsalted shelled pistachios, chopped, plus more for topping
  • 1 tablespoon charoli seeds or pine nuts, plus more for topping

    24 cookies (I prefer Britania marrie )
    1/2 cup Chopped strawberries

For the vanilla whipped cream:

  • 2 cups cold heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla  extract

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. To make the shrikhand, place a strainer over a bowl. Cover the strainer with 3 layers of cheesecloth.
  2. Pour the yogurt into the cheesecloth. Pull up all the corners of the cheesecloth and twist it tight. Place a plate and a heavy jar or can on top of the cheesecloth. Refrigerate for 8 hours.
  3. The next day, add the saffron to the warm milk and let it bloom for 5 minutes. Remove the yogurt from the cheesecloth and place it into a medium bowl.(You can use ready made hung curd ( chakka ) too).
  4. Whisk in the powdered sugar, bloomed saffron and milk, and cardamom. Whisk until well incorporated. Place plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the yogurt and refrigerate for 4 hours.
  5. While the shrikhand is chilling, toast the pistachios and charoli seeds in a skillet over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, or until fragrant. Once done, pour into a bowl and set aside to cool. Add the  biscuits to a blender and pulse until you have coarse crumbs. Set aside.
  6. After the shrikhand has rested, whisk the shrikhand for 2 minutes so it’s nice and fluffy. Spoon the shrikhand into a piping bag and snip off the tip of the bag so there is a 1-inch opening. Set aside.
  7. To make the whipped cream, add the cream, sugar and vanilla to a large cold bowl. Use a hand mixer to whip the cream on high for 5 minutes, until it forms stiff peaks. Spoon into a piping bag and snip off the tip of the piping bag so there is a 1-inch opening. Set aside.

    To assemble the parfait, spoon 1/4 cup of the speculoos cookies crumbs into the bottom of each of 6 cups.

  8. Pipe about 1/4 cup of the shrikhand on top of the cookie crumbs. Spoon 1 tablespoon of strawberries on top, and then top with whipped creamwp-16147880579502866378906678924522.jpg

  9. Sprinkle the chopped pistachios and charoli seeds on top. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve.wp-16153087371908367347990024408716.jpg

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ZARDA PULAO/MEETHE CHAWAL/KESARIYA BHAAT

Happy Basant Panchami
Vasant or Basant Panchami is a festival that marks the beginning of preparations for the king of all seasons, Spring.

For many Hindus, Vasant Panchami is the festival dedicated to goddess Saraswati who is their goddess of knowledge, language, music and all arts. She symbolizes creative energy and power in all its forms.

There is a significance of wearing yellow, and eating yellow food on Basant Panchami as it is goddess Saraswati’s favorite color. So presenting to you here is my aunt Kalpana bhandari’s recipe, she is an amazing cook and I have learnt so many dishes from her.

And well, basant panchami is also my birthday according to hindu calendar, so a celebration to that and meethe chawal are a must!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/2 cup rice
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp desi ghee
  • Soaked saffron strands in 1 tbsp luke warm milk
  • A pinch of yellow saffron food colour
  • 1 tbsp sliced almonds
  • 1 tbsp sliced cashews
  • 1 tbsp raisins
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 cloves

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Gently wash the rice and soak in water for 1 hour. Strain and keep aside.
  2. Heat 4-5 cups water in a pan.add 2,3 drops of food colour .wp-16134761414904167583208312694153.jpg
  3. When it comes to a boil, add the soaked rice.
  4. Cook till the rice is done. Strain in a sieve and mix a tsp of ghee in the rice and keep aside.
  5. Heat the  ghee in a pan.
  6. Add almonds, cashew nuts, chironji and raisins and fry till golden brown. Add cardamom, black cardamom and cloves and fry for a few seconds.wp-1613476141711155524458960166036.jpg
  7. Add sugar and some soaked saffron water and  Simmer the heat and add the rice and mix gently. Add cardamom powder . Cover and cook on low heat for 10-12 minutes.
  8. Now cover and keep aside for 10 minutes and enjoy tasty and meethe chawal .

NOTES:

  • The rice doesn’t cook once sugar is added to it. So make sure the rice is cooked properly before adding sugar to it. But also make sure to not overcook the rice. It will result into a mushy Zarda Pulao.
  • You can also skip adding the yellow food color to Zarda and only stick to Saffron. In this case, soak the saffron over night in milk to get the bright yellow colour.
     

Disclaimer: I may receive a small commission from the following purchase links. The proceeds help in supporting Astha’s Kitchen so that I can continue creating delicious recipes for you .

Baby Brand Saffron, 5g https://amzn.to/2NeLiaW

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Makhana Meva Aata ladoo /Phool makhana laddu /Whole wheat flour makhana laduu

Makhana ladoo is a quick and delicious ladoo made with phool makhana,nuts and whole wheat flour.
Phool makhana is a great source of protein, carbohydrates etc. so very healthy for growing kids.
I  have a packet of makhana at my home always, so what’s the harm in mixing it up to create a delicious dish?

Makhana ladoo recipe a healthy ladoo made with phool makhana, nuts, whole wheat flour and sugar .

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 and 1/2 cups phool makhana
  • 1/4 cup almonds
  • 1/4 cup cashews
  • 1 tbsp goond  edible (gum) (powdered)
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/4  cup ghee
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Add 2 tsp ghee, dry roast makhana till crisp.Break and check if its crisp.Powder it coarsely and set aside.
  2. In the same pan Add almonds and cashews.Roast till brown spots appear.
  3. Keep them aside and allow to cool down to room temperature and then grind into a coarse powder.wp-15996571127412848669534578664081.jpg
  4. Roast the Whole Wheat Flour (Gehu Ka Aata) with ghee over very low flame for 25 – 30 minutes stirring it continuously till it gets a nice golden brown color and you can sense a nice aroma of roasted flour coming out of the pan. (Remember after 20 minutes flour (aata) will have a tendency to get burn so be careful and don’t over roast it).
  5. Sprinkle powdered goond over roasting atta 1 tsp at a time when roasting is completed properly
  6. Saute the flour for next 2-3 minutes.
  7. When roasting is completed properly
  8. Add all the nuts and Makhana powder mix well.wp-15996571129641400077251382292946.jpg
  9. Switch off the heat and let the mixture come to room temperature, then add powdered sugar and mix very well. (You don’t add the powdered sugar  when the mixture is hot otherwise  heat will cause sugar to melt and caramelize and that will spoil the texture of laddoo).
  10. Grease your hands with a little Clarified Butter (Ghee) and start binding the ladoo.
  11. Do not cool down the flour completely, keep it a little warm, it will help in binding the Ladoo easily.
  12. Bind all the ladoo in the same way and keep them in a plate.
     
     
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DHANIYA PANJIRI

DHANIYA PANJIRI
Delicious and nutritious!
A joyful bite for the joyful celebration of Lord Krishna’s Birth.

Janmashtami Special Recipe Dhania Panjiri Prasad Recipe for you all. This Dhaniya Panjiri recipe is quite popular in Janmashtami in India, but you can also make dhaniya panjiri in regular as it is very much healthy. It is not that much heavy as compared to other panjiri and will give many health benefits. Learn how to make Janmashtami special panjiri at home. Try my Janmashtami Special Dhyaniya Panjiri Recipe at home and I am sure you will love this. Share it with your friends.

In my childhood days, we all use to go to all the Krishna temples( Bhagwan kojhula julne). I used to be up till midnight to get the Panjiri Prasad, Krishna Ji’s birthday used to be just the excitement used to be on a whole different level. This year, even though I can’t go to the temple, I prepared this Panjiri for my kids to enjoy.

INGREDIENTS:
Coriander Powder (Dhaniya) – 150gm
Sugar Powder- 100gm
Small Cardamom – 5
Cashew Nuts- 15 (Chopped)
Almonds- 15 (Chopped)
Dry Coconut- 1 Cup (Grated)
Raisins (Kishmish)- 5 gm ( optional)
Clarified Butter (Desi Ghee)- 2tbs
Gond ( edible gum ) 1 tsp
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INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. It is a simple and quick recipe, but with that, it is very much healthy!!
  2. Firstly heat up half of the desi ghee (clarified butter ) in a pan and fry gond on medium flame and take aside.wp-15971677735823388899667803191538.jpg
  3. After that take it out in a plate or bowl, and after it gets cool crush them with hands.
    Now in that ghee only roast cashew, almonds and dry coconut on low flame for 2-3 minutes. I usually use chopped dry fruits but you can also grind them. Now transfer them also in a plate.
  4. After that put rest of ghee in pan and roast coriander powder (dhaniya) in it and roast it on low flame.
  5. Roast dhaniya for few minutes till it changes its colour and starts spreading its aroma. At the time of roasting add cardamom seeds to it so that its aroma also get locked in it.
  6. After roasting it transfer coriander powder to a mixing bowl and add everything else into it, sugar powder, cashew, almonds, dry coconut, and gond.
    Mix them all properly and our Janmashtami special Dhaniya Panjiri is Ready
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NOTES:

  • Taste your nuts before toasting. Rancid nuts will spoil the whole recipe.
  • If you want you can add Foxnuts and rasin too.
  • Bitter taste in Panjiri? If coriander powder is not roasted well, it will leave a slightly bitter taste. The key to avoiding bitter taste is to cook the coriander powder until it turns darker in shade and begins to emit a nutty aroma.

SATTU HEARTS

Sattu hearts
Sattu hearts made with the roasted chana dal flour are highly nutritious and healthy apart from being the absolute tasty sweet treat they are!
These healthy peda/ hearts need just 4-5 ingredients and 10 mins of your time to make and do not require any expert skills if you happen to be a beginner.

Sattu flour(i.e. Chickpea flour or Bengal gram flour is very new to me, I have literally never used it in a recipe. Every year one of my relatives send sattu for the kids and they relish it, so I decided to try it out myself this time.

In this recipe, I use ghee from amrutumindia https://www.amrutamindia.com/ magic element that made my sattu hearts amazing.
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INGREDIENTS:
Sattu flour – 1 cup
Sugar – 3/4 cup
Ghee – 1/2 cup
Cardamom – 4
Cashew nuts – 10
Almonds or badam – 10

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. In a mixie jar, grind both sugar and cardamom to a fine powder.
    Keep aside.
  2. In a pan, add 1 tsp ghee, roast chopped cashew nuts and almonds to a golden brown, drain into a bowl and keep aside.
  3. Add the remaining ghee and let it melt. Reduce the flame completely.
  4. Add sattu flour and cook for 2-3 mins stirring continuously with a spatula.
  5. Take the pan off the stove and let it cool down to room temperature.
  6. Add powdered sugar, roasted nuts to sattu mixture and mix to combine well a slight rub with your hands.
  7. After some time the mixture becomes very light; this is the right time to make hearts out of the dough
  8. Take a small portion, the size of a golf ball and roll between your palms and make hearts using a cookie cutter to make Sattu hearts.
  9. Decorate with Kesar tika and dry fruits.
  10. Arrange on a plate one next to the other.
  11. Sattu hearts is ready to serve.
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