Sandesh / Cottage Cheese Fudge

Sandesh is for my last day of Blogging marathon. I thought, I already have 7 recipes for 7 days but today when I sat for blogging, I found that the recipe for last day was missing in my drafts. Immediately, I prepared this easy sweet dish. It is easy too if you have fresh paneer at home. It became around 6 PM in the evening by the time I finished this recipe and the natural light had vanished. So, I was forced to take pictures under the florescent light. Hope you like the pictures and enjoy the dish as well. Here you go...



Basic Information:
Preparation & Cooking time: 45 - 50 minutes
Makes: 8 nos

Ingredients:



Paneer - 1 cup, crumbled

Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup

Cardamom - 2 nos

Saffron streaks - a small pinch

Pistachio nuts - 1 tablespoon, roughly crushed

Method:



1) Mix sugar and cardamom together and make a powder of it using a coffee grinder or mixer. Keep it aside.

2) Knead the crumbled paneer for 5-10 minutes.

3) Towards the end of kneading, add sugar, cardamom mixture and saffron. Try to make a small ball now using a pinch of paneer. If you are able to make a smooth ball, then you can proceed with the next step. Otherwise, continue kneading.

4) Heat a pan in a medium heat. Add the kneaded paneer.

5) Cook it on low heat by constantly stirring it. Initially the paneer looks like thick dough and doesn't form a shape as shown in the picture.

6) After 15-20 minutes, you can see the paneer becomes thick, starts coming together and doesn't stick to the pan. At this time, remove from heat.

7) Allow it to cool for a while. After some time, knead it again for 5 minutes.

8) Divide them into equal balls and make desired shapes.

9) Garnish it with pistachio nuts. Keep in refrigerator for some time and serve chill.

10) When it is cooling down, it will become hard a bit.

Note:

1) Try to prepare sandesh using fresh paneer. If you don't have paneer, try replace it with ricotta cheese. It will also work out.

2) Do not heat after the paneer forms a thick dough. Otherwise, you will ended up with paneer crumbles which you can't use for making shapes.

3) At the same time, do not allow the sauteed/cooked paneer to sit for long time. Make shapes when it is slightly warm. This helps making perfect shapes.

4) You can also add milk powder/corn starch before cooking the paneer in pan. But I felt adding corn starch made the Sandesh litter harder than usual. So, I skipped adding it this time while preparing it.



I'm linking this recipe to Srivalli's Blogging Marathon #12 under the theme of paneer. Check out what others are cooking by clicking it here.

Red Carrot Pickle

RED CARROT PICKLE 

My family has a craze for pickles. Apart from the long lasting spicy and oily pickles, instant pickles are also a hit for their distinctive tang and the crunch. This is my mother's recipe for an instant Carrot pickle which can be easily prepared. Its shelf life is limited to a couple of days but it is a colourful party delight. 

INGREDIENTS

 Red carrot ( Laal gaajar or Delhi Gaajar) -1 (one cup when chopped)

 Lime (the size of a ping pong ball) - 2 

Green chillies - 3 

Fresh ginger - 2 inch piece 

Salt - 1 1/2 tsp 

Sesame oil - 2 tbsps

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Fenugreek seed powder - 1 pinch 

Asafoetida - 1 pinch 

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

 METHOD 

1. Wash, peel and cut carrot into slightly thin and long pieces. 

2. Slit the green chillies lengthwise and cut them across similar to the size of the carrot pieces. 

3. Peel and chop fresh ginger likewise. 

4. Immerse the whole lime fruits into boiling water, switch off flame and cover it with a lid. 

5. When thoroughly cooled remove from water and wipe them dry. 

6. Place the fruits on a clean and dry plate or on a cutting board and cut them into small pieces using a very sharp knife. Take care to preserve the thick juice with the cooked pith, which may spurt out of the lime while cutting. 

7. Pick out the seeds using your hand, because filtering will remove the essential pith of the lime along with the seeds. 

 8. Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. 

9. When the mustard seeds splutter add asafoetida and fenugreek seed powder. 

10. When the powders emanate a pleasant aroma mix in the turmeric powder. 

11. Stir in the chopped ginger, green chillies and carrots. 

12. Finally stir in the chopped lime along with the pith and the juice. 

13. Mix in salt and switch off flame. 

14. Allow to cool and store in a small pickle jar. 

You can relish this addictive tangy and crunchy Red Carrot Pickle immediately with your meal. Refrigerate after use. Mangai inji ( a variety of  ginger with mango flavour ) can also be used instead of normal ginger for its special flavour.

Paneer Bhurji / Scrambled Cottage Cheese

Here comes another paneer recipe from me. The recipe was sleeping in the draft section for a long time. Finally, it has come out today to be published for the blogging marathon event. Thanks to the event.



This is one of the easiest paneer recipes, which can be prepared in a jiffy and at the same time gives a delicious taste. You will find a big list of serving suggestions for this recipe. It can be used as a stuffing for sandwich, side dish for roti/rice, stuffing for tortilla roll, can be used as a topping for bruschetta or can be eaten directly with spoon. I prefer the last option :-)



As TH and I like capsicum a lot, I added them with this dish. You can add any vegetables available at hand or simply go only with paneer. Everything goes out well with this dish.



Basic Information:  

Preparation Time: <15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Paneer - 1 cup, crumbled

Capsicum - 1/2 cup, cubed, any colour

Peas -  1/4 cup

Onion - 1/4 cup, finely chopped

Tomato - 1/4 cup, finely chopped

Green chilli - 2 no, slice vertically

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt - to taste

Oil - 3 teaspoons

Coriander leaves - for garnishing

Method:



1) Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and sliced green chillies. Allow it to crackle.

2) Add onion and saute well till it turns translucent.

3) Add tomato saute till it get completely mashes.

4) Add red chilli powder, coriander powder and salt. Mix well.

5) Add capsicums and peas. Stir fry for 5 minutes.

6) Add crumbled paneer and continue frying for another 2-3 minutes. Initially paneer forms a sticky texture but after few minutes, it will again get the crumble texture.

7) Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with roti/rice. We enjoyed it as stuffing for tortilla.

Note:

1) If you are making paneer at home, use the excess, shapeless corners while cutting into cubes for preparing this bhurji.

2) Store bought paneer also gives a best result for this dish.

3) Add any vegetables as per your choice.



Check out what others are cooking for Blogging Marathon by clicking it here.