Carrot Kalakand

Cook Time: 12 minutes
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooling Time: 1 hour
Makes: 16 pieces

Ingredients:

1 tub (15 oz.) Sargento Ricotta Cheese or grated Paneer
1 can (14 oz.) Carnation condensed milk
1 pkg. (3.2 oz.) Carnation milk powder
1 cup minced carrots
1 tsp. cardamom powder
½ tsp. saffron
¼ cup almonds, blanched and chopped

Directions:

1. Process carrots until finely minced.
2. In a microwave-safe dish, combine all ingredients except almonds until all lumps are smoothed out.
3. Microwave 5 minutes uncovered, take out and mix well, loosening the edges.
4. Microwave 5 minutes uncovered, take out and mix well, loosening the edges.
5. Microwave 2 minutes uncovered, take out, add half the almonds & mix well, loosening the edges. Do this again until center loses all moisture.
6. Press down and flatten the mixture, sprinkle cashews on top and press down firmly.
7. Cover and refrigerate for an hour before cutting into pieces. 
8. Serve chilled.
    

This recipe was shared on:

Microwaved Mango Kalakand

Mango & Ricotta Dessert

Serving Suggestions

Cook Time: 16 minutes
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooling Time: 1 hour
Makes: 25 pieces

Ingredients:
1 tub (15 oz.) Sargento Ricotta Cheese or grated Paneer
1 can (14 oz.) Carnation condensed milk
1 pkg. (3.2 oz.) Carnation milk powder
1 cup mango pulp
1 tsp. cardamom powder
½ tsp. saffron
¼ cup chopped cashews

Directions:

1. In a microwave-safe dish, mix first four ingredients until all lumps are smoothed out.
2. Microwave 5 minutes uncovered, take out and mix well, loosening the edges.
3. Microwave 5 minutes uncovered, take out and mix well, loosening the edges.
4. Microwave 2 minutes uncovered, take out, add cardamom & mix well, loosening the edges.
5. Microwave 2 minutes uncovered, take out, add saffron and mix well, loosening the edges.
6. Microwave 2 minutes uncovered, take out and mix well, loosening the edges.
7. Press down and flatten the mixture, sprinkle cashews on top and press down firmly.
8. Cover and refrigerate for an hour before cutting into 25 pieces. 
9. Serve chilled.
    

Mango & Saffron Srikhand

Yogurt Mousse with Mango & Saffron

Mango pulp and Greek yogurt are staples in my pantry. When guests arrive for dinner on short notice, this dessert is very easy to whip up and is always a hit! Rose syrup and mango pulp are available in Indian grocery stores, as are saffron & cardamom powder.

Prep Time: 5 min

Chill Time: 1 hour or overnight
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

½ cup mango pulp

1 (7 oz.) tub Greek yogurt

¼ tsp. cardamom powder

1 tsp. rose water

sugar to taste
½ tsp. saffron (kesar), crushed
1 Tbsp. milk

Method:

1. Stir half the crushed saffron into milk, microwave for 10 seconds and set aside.
2. Beat mango pulp with yogurt, rose water, cardamom powder and soaked saffron.
3. Adjust sugar according to taste.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with remaining crushed saffron.
5. Chill in the refrigerator overnight or for at least an hour.
6. Serve chilled.

Note: If Greek yogurt is not available, use plain yogurt that has been drained of all moisture.

Mango Lassi

Mango & Yogurt Smoothie

Mango lassi is a mango and yogurt smoothie that is generally served at Indian restaurants in India and abroad. It is amazingly refreshing in the hot summer months. The addition of ginger powder gives the smoothie a special flavor and aids in the digestion of the mango. This beverage is delicious!

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup mango pulp (see Other Options below)
1 tub (4 oz.) Dannon Lite & Fit (45 calories) vanilla yogurt
   or 1 cup plain yogurt + 3 tsp. sugar, or to taste
1/2 cup milk or Land O Lakes fat-free half-and-half
1/8 tsp. ginger powder
1/8 tsp. cardamom powder

Directions:
Whip all ingredients together with an egg beater.
Sprinkle with cardamom powder.
Chill and serve within 24 hours.

Other Options:
Mango pulp is available in 30 oz. cans in Indian grocery stores. If it is not available where you live, it can be replaced with a ripe mango, peeled, deseeded, chopped & pureed. Extra sugar, may be required, according to taste.

Mango can be replaced with canned peaches or sweetened frozen strawberries.
It would be fun to experiment with other fruits.

The vanilla or plain yogurt can be replaced with vanilla ice cream.

This recipe was shared on:

Kashmiri Rogan Josh

This dish was inspired by a couple of recipes posted on Facebook, but I modified it to suit my family's taste. I reduced the amount of Kashmiri mirch and added 2 Roma tomatoes instead and also added potatoes because of our love of meat and potatoes :) 

I was tempted to cook this in the pressure cooker, but decided to take the traditional route and cook it long and slow on top of the stove.  It took a total of 1-1/2 hours to cook.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. baby lamb leg, cut in stew pieces

1 Russet potato, cubed (optional)

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 cinnamon sticks

4 black cardamoms

2 star anise

2 medium (Roma) tomatoes, chopped

½ tsp. hing (asafoetida)

1 level tsp. dried ginger powder

1 heaped tsp. Kashmiri mirch

½ tsp. black pepper powder

½ tsp. cardamom powder

1 cup boiling chicken broth

1 level tsp. roasted fennel seed powder

1 tsp. garam masala

salt to taste

Directions:

1. Wash lamb pieces and rub well with salt.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat and temper with hing, cinnamon sticks,    black cardamom and star anise.
3. Add lamb pieces, fry until oil resurfaces, add tomatoes and again cook until oil resurfaces. This step should take about half an hour.
4. Reduce heat to medium, stir in ginger, black pepper, Kashmiri mirch and cardamom powder.
5. Stir well and add chicken broth and potatoes.
6. Cover and cook until potatoes are tender for about an hour.
7. Add fennel seed powder and garam masala, adjust salt and remove from heat.
8. Serve with rice or naan. 

Lamb Shahi Korma

Mala Ray Chatterjee's Mutton Shahi Korma

Reproduced in my kitchen

Lamb Shahi Korma is a lamb curry fit for a king or Shah. Shahi Kormas are generally cream based dishes that include nuts and sometimes, raisins. I purchased a whole leg of baby lamb (9 lbs.) at the halal meat store and had the butcher remove most of the fat layer and cut it into pieces suitable for a stew. He packaged it into 4 bags which I froze until needed. I followed this recipe exactly, except that olive oil replaced most of the butter and ghee, fat-free half and half replaced the cream and since there were no almonds in the house, a paste of raw cashews had to suffice.  I ground about half a cup of golden raisins with the cashews. The reason my dish looks more red is because I used greek yogurt which has no moisture in it, instead of regular full-fat yogurt. To retain the white color of the gravy, I will use regular yogurt next time. The white pepper powder gives this lamb curry a real kick!

By Mala Ray Chatterjee

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4205562811541&set=oa.358676410881798&type=1&theater

Ingredients:

1 kg. (2 lbs.) mutton/lamb (marinated overnight in curd and ginger-garlic paste) 
100 gms. (1/2 cup) roasted almonds/cashews, soaked and made into a paste
white butter-100 gms. (1 stick or 1/2 cup)
ghee-100 gms. (1/2 cup)
Amul cream-100 gms. (1/2 cup)
white pepper powder-2 Tbsp.
4 large onions, chopped
2 Tbsp. ginger paste
2 Tbsp. garlic paste
300 gms. (1 cup) curd/yogurt
whole garam masala - 4 sticks of cinnamon, 4 bayleaves, 8-10 cardamoms, 8-9 cloves
6-8 slit green chillies

Directions:

Pour butter and ghee in pressure cooker, put the whole garam masala, fry the onions till translucent..not brown, add the marinated mutton/lamb and pressure cook till done...on simmer...(no water). Open the lid , add almond paste , salt, cream, white pepper and green chillies...take off heat after 2-3 minutes....finger-licking good!

Baingan Bhartha

Stir-Fried Eggplants & Peas

When we lived in Defense Colony in New Delhi, there was a dhaba in the corner of our street.  The vegetarian dishes there were wholesome, but some non-vegetarian dishes were very rich. This eggplant preparation was a favorite and something the whole family enjoyed.  It is very simple to make and requires that large eggplants be roasted prior to mashing and cooking. I had oriental eggplant which, as suggested by my niece, I chopped instead of roasting.  The next time, I will chop the oriental eggplant in much smaller pieces so that they practically disintegrate during the slow cooking process.

 

Ingredients:

4 large oriental eggplants, chopped finely

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp. cumin seeds or shah jeera

2 green chilies, chopped fine

3 large onions, chopped fine

1 Tbsp. garlic paste

1 Tbsp. ginger paste

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

3 medium Roma tomatoes, chopped fine  

½ tsp. coriander powder

¼ tsp. cumin powder

½ tsp. garam masala powder

¼ tsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped fine

1 tsp. ghee

 

Preparation:

1.    Sputter cumin seeds and chopped chilies in hot oil over medium-high heat.

2.    Add onions and stir-fry until soft and translucent.

3.    Add garlic, ginger and tomato pastes and stir-fry for a minute.

4.    Reduce heat to medium-low and add tomatoes and powdered spices.

5.    Stir well and cook until oil resurfaces.

6.    Add eggplant pieces, stir, cover and simmer again until oil resurfaces.

7.    Stir in frozen peas, cover and cook until peas are cooked.

8.    Garnish with sugar, cilantro and ghee and cook for another minute or two.

9.    Serve hot with cooked basmati rice or chapatis.