Pista Burfi - Pistachio Fudge

PISTA BURFI

My sister - in- law gave me a recipe for Badam Burfi and she said that the same could be adapted in the preparation of Pista burfi, peanut burfi and mixed nuts burfi. I tried out Pista Burfi and it turned out quite good. While most of the sweets prepared during Deepavali ooze with ghee, this burfi is minus that 'sin '!
No flavouring or colouring agent is required as it is awesome in its natural colour and flavour.

INGREDIENTS

Pista - 1 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup

METHOD

1. Blanch the pista, remove the peels and spread out the nuts on a cloth.
2. Keep aside a few bright green ones for topping.
3. Dry grind the remaining pistas into a coarse powder. If a smooth burfi is prefered grind it to a smooth powder.
4. Heat sugar with 3/4 cup of water in a thick bottomed pan.
5. Grease a plate with little ghee and keep aside.
6. When the sugar syrup reaches a one thread consistancy decrease flame and add the powdered pista and blend well.
7. Keep stirring till the mass leaves the sides of the pan. You can see and feel the sugar crystalising on the sides of the pan.
8. Switch off flame and imediately pour the pista sugar mixture on the greased plate.
9. Quickly sprinkle the whole pistas on top and cover the plate with a greased plastic sheet or an alluminium foil.
10. Flatten the burfi mass by running a rolling pin on top of the foil so that the whole pistas get embedded on the levelled burfis.
11. Since this will harden very fast remove foil and immediately cut out diamond shaped burfis using a sharp knife.
12. Leave it to cool thoroughly before storing in an air tight container.

Share the joy and the flavoursome, colourful Pista Burfis with your near and dear ones on a Happy Deepavali day.

Sweet Tooty-Fruity-Nutty Rice Dessert

Arborio rice is Italian short-grain rice. It is named after the town of Arborio in the Po Valley, where it is grown. Cooked, the rounded grains are firm, creamy, and chewy, due to higher amylopectin starch content of this rice variety, thus they have a starchy taste of their own yet blend well with other flavors.

I wanted to try this rice dessert for satisfying my sweet tooth and rice cravings, but as I didn’t want to make the usual rice pudding/kheer. I made this dessert with my touch of creativity using different ingredients all throughout this recipe.

Ingredients:
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1 cup Arborio Rice

1 tbsp Butter (unsalted)

3 cups Water

¾ cup Sugar

¼ tsp Cardamom powder

2 tbsp Heavy Whipping cream

1 pinch of Saffron

¼ cup Semi Sweet Chocolate chips

For nut and fruit filling:

1 tbsp golden Raisins

1 tbsp chopped dates

1 tbsp sliced Almonds

1 tbsp chopped Walnuts

1 tbsp chopped Cashew nuts

2 tbsp fancy fruit cake mix

2 tbsp sweetened Condensed Milk

Method:
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Making Sweet Rice:
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1. In a sauté pan on medium heat add the butter and rice and sauté it for about 3 mins until the rice is bit 2. crispy or you can feel the rice is hot when you touch it.

3. Now pour the water and bring it to a boil keeping the flame to high.

4. After one boil, reduce the fame to low and cook it for about 10 mins or until the rice is cooked 3/4th.

5. Mix the saffron in 1tbsp of whipping cream to get a soft yellow color.

6. Add sugar, and whipping cream and mix well. Increase the flame to medium high and cook it until done or 5 mins more until it gets thick and there should be no water left.

7. Make sure that the rice is cooked through.

8. Split half of this rice to a separate bowl.

9. In another bowl add the chocolate chips with 1 tbsp of whipping cream and microwave it for about 30-60 secs or until the chocolate melts completely.

10. Now mix the second half cooked rice to the melted chocolates.

Fruit and nut filling:

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11. Mix all the ingredients and keep it aside in a bowl

Assembling:

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12. Of Sweet rice, Chocolate rice and Fruit filling.

13. You can assemble this two types of rice and fruit filling as you like, but I have shown two types of presentations.

14. You can choose any one of my presentations or you can get creative to make your own presentation.

Red Masoor Dal (Brown) Rice

Whenever i make mixed rice, i normally prepare rice separately and Mixing recipe Seperately. Never i have tried to make a One Pot Meal!!! When i came across this Red Masoor Dal Rice in DK's Blog, i thought of giving it a try. I have slightly modified the recipe,So, for the original recipe please follow the link above.

Ingredients
1 cup Brown Rice
1/2 cup Masoor Dal
1 Large Onion, chopped
1 Large Tomato, Chopped
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
3 green chillies, Slited Lengthwise
1 cardamom and bay leaf
21/2 cups of Thin coconut Milk /Veggie Stock/Water
1 tsp curry powder (Store bought, Mothers' recipes Brand)
Salt to taste
turmeric, hing a pinch
Fresh Coriander,for Garnishing

Method

Soak Brown Rice for 30 Minutes. I soaked the Dal too for 5 minutes, washed and drained. In a Skillet, Heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, , green chillies, cardamom and bay leaf. Add Onions, Ginger-garlic pate and saute till translucent. Add Tomatoes, sprinkle little water and add curry powder, turmeric and hing. Let the Tomatoes cook for a minute or two. 

Drain the excess wter from Rice. Add Rice and Dal to the cooked tomatoes, Add Coconut Milk. Now DK says it is Ok to replace this Magic ingredient with Veggie stock or Water. But, i would suggest you not miss this, it really brings out a flavor to the Rice, Trust me!!!! Add Salt and mix well. Cover and Cook  for 15-20 Minutes. Garnish with Fresh Coriander and Enjoy!!!!! I had it with some oven-fried appalams!!!! mmm, tasty, tasty, yummy, yummy!!!!

Sending this to T&T-hosted by Priya this month, featuring Chef in you, event originally started by Zlamushka and now taken over by Lakshmi Venkatesh of Kitchen Chronicles. And also to CMT-Rice, hosted by Priya, Event by Jagruti.