No Cook Mango Kulfi (Mehezabin and Shraddha)

1. add the milk, condensed milk and mangoes in a blender jar.

2. blend everything till smooth.

3. then add the cream

4. sprinkle the cardamom powder and crushed saffron.

5. blend again till the cream is mixed well. pour the mango kulfi mixture in kulfi moulds or small bowls. cover with a lid or aluminium foil and keep in the freezer for the mango kulfi to set.

6. slice and serve mango kulfi in bowls or plates, sprinkled with cardamom powder or crushed saffron. even rose water or kewra water can be sprinkled on the kulfi.

Eggless Banana Cake Recipe (Mehezabin and Shraddha)

1. take ripe or over ripe bananas. We have used here over ripe bananas. mash the bananas with a fork to a smooth consistency. there should be no chunks. you can also use a blender to mash the bananas.

2. add sugar, oil and vanilla extract.

3. stir very well so that the oil mixes with the banana puree and the sugar dissolves.

4. sieve whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt directly in the bowl.

5. fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients very well.

6. add the chopped walnuts and fold again. apart from walnuts, you can also add raisins, pistachios or any dry fruits of your choice. chocolate chips or cacao nibs can also be added. if you like spiced cakes, you can also add about 1/8 tsp of cinnamon or nutmeg powder in the cake.

7. pour the batter in a greased or lined loaf pan ( 7.5 x 4 x 2.5 inches) or round cake pan (7.5 x 2 inches).

8. bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C/350 degrees F for 45 to 50 mins or till tooth pick inserted in the cake comes out clean. the timing varies from oven to oven. please check notes below for more details. the orange yellowish color is due to incandescent lighting in my kitchen.

9. when warm or cooled, slice and serve egg-less banana cake plain with tea or coffee.

Motichoor Ladoo (Indian Sweet) Recipe (Mehezabin and Shradda)

1. dissolve sugar, saffron threads and water in a pan and keep it on the stove top to prepare the sugar syrup.

2. make a smooth flowing batter of the gram flour/besan, crushed saffron and water. the batter should neither be thick nor thin. it should be a flowing batter as shown below. the amount of water to be added depends on the quality of the the gram flour. so you can add more or less than, what is mentioned in the recipe.

3. the sugar solution getting cooked.

4. cook the sugar syrup till one thread consistency is obtained (see the photo below showing one thread consistency) and then switch off the flame. keep the sugar solution aside. the sugar syrup should be hot when you add the boondis. so you can keep the sugar solution on a hot water bath. meaning place the pan on a plate or tray filled with hot water.

making boondi – fried gram flour balls:

5. heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. the oil has to be moderately hot. when you add one or two drops of the gram flour batter, they should come up steadily on the surface. if they come quickly, then the oil is very hot. if they don’t come up or take time, the oil is not enough hot. take a perforated ladle/spoon. with your hands position the ladle above the oil. you will need one more large ladle/jhara to remove the fried boondis.

6. take a large spoon of the besan batter and pour it on  perforated ladle/spoon. press with the other spoon so that the batter falls down from the perforations into the hot oil.

7. fry the boondi (gram flour balls) till they become golden. don’t over fry or make them crisp. when the oil stops sizzling, remove the boondis. about 45 seconds to 1 minute is enough to get the correct texture in the boondi. this step is important because if boondi becomes crisp then motichoor ladoos won’t be soft and they won’t be able to absorb the sugar syrup.

8. for collecting the fried boondi use a large slotted spoon/jhara. drain the oil very well after removing the boondi and then add them directly to the sugar syrup. also note that the sugar syrup should be hot. if the sugar syrup is not hot, then just heat it. in case, the sugar syrup crystallizes, then reheat again. no need to bother about the tailed boondis as we will be pulsing them in the blender later.

9. make all the boondis like this and keep on adding boondis immediatedly to the sugar syrup. stir and mix well. the boondis should get softened in the sugar syrup.

10. in a blender or mixer add the boondi and the sugar syrup. add 1 tbsp of hot water and pulse the boondi mixture for a few times to get a smaller shape. don’t pulse too much otherwise you won’t be able to shape the motichoor ladoos easily.

the amount of water to be added depends on the texture of the boondis. if the boondis are a bit crisp, then add 1 or 2 tbsp more of the hot water. the boondis absorb the hot water and remain soft and moist.

11. add the magaz/melon seeds and black cardamom seeds. mix well.

12. apply some oil or ghee on your palms and shape the motichoor ladoos. the mixture would be warm when preparing the ladoos. on cooling they become firm.

you can garnish the motichoor ladoos with melon seeds/magaz or raisins. these motichoor ladoos can also be refrigerated. if you fry them in ghee then the ghee will solidify on refrigeration and some softness is lost.

Puran Poli Recipe (Indian Delicacy) Recipe (Mehezabin and Shraddha)

1: rinse the chana dal first very well in water. i didn’t soak the chana dal but you can soak the chana dal for 30 minutes to one hour and then drain the water.

2: in a pressure cooker, cook the chana dal for 5-6 whistles. the dal need not be cooked completely about 85 to 90% cooked is fine. once the pressure settles down on its own, strain the cooked dal. keep the dal in the strainer for some minutes so that all the stock is drained. the cooked lentils have to be drained very well. keep the stock aside. this stock can be used for making katachi amtiSsh (thin dal) or you can just add it to your veggie dishes or rotis.

3: heat ghee in a pan and add the dry ginger powder, nutmeg powder, cardamom powder and fennel powder. saute for a few seconds.

4. add the cooked chana dal and powdered or grated jaggery. stir and let this puran mixture cook on a low flame till the mixture becomes dry. keep on stirring at intervals.

5. meanwhile take whole wheat flour/atta, all purpose flour/maida and salt in a bowl mix well.

6. add a little bit of water and ghee or oil and mix.

7. begin to knead the dough, adding water as required. the dough should be smooth and soft. cover and keep aside the dough for 15-20 minutes.

8. the puran mixture has cooked now and the below pic shows the consistency which should be dry and thick. let this stuffing mixture cool.

9. now mash the puran mixture very well with a potato masher. you can also use a strainer to mash the puran mixture. there is an equipment called ‘puran yantra’ which is used in maharashtrian households to do this job, but i do not have this equipment.

10: take a medium or large size ball from the dough. roll it 2-3 inches in circumference on a dusted rolling board. place a portion of puran mixture in the center of the rolled dough.

11. bring the edges together towards the center as shown in the below pic.

12. join all the edges and pinch them as shown in the below pic.

13. sprinkle some flour and start rolling the dough.

14. make a medium or large circle (poli) as depending upon the size of the dough and puran filling you took. the cover should be rolled a bit thin and not thick.

15. on a heated tawa or griddle, spread some ghee.

16. place the rolled poli/dough circle on the tawa.

17.  when one side gets browned, turn over and cook the other side till you see some brown spots.

18. once the second side gets browned, then turn over and apply ghee. if everything is done properly then puran poli will puff up. make all puran polis this way and stack them in a casserole or in a kitchen napkin.

19. you can serve puran poli warm or at room temperature with milk, ghee or yogurt/curd.

Ganesh Chaturthi Special : Modak (Indian Sweet) Recipe (Mehezabin and Shraddha)

Ingredients

For the stuffing

• 1 bowl grated coconut
• 1/2 bowl sugar
• 1/2 bowl jaggery
• Dry fruits (almonds,raisins, pistachio, cashews) as per your choice
• 2 to 3 tsp pure ghee
• A pinch of kesar, cardamom and nutmeg powder
• 1 tsp poppy seeds (khas khas)
• 2 tsp mawa (optional)

For the cover

• 2 bowls rice flour
• A pinch of salt
• 2 tsp of oil or ghee
• Hot water as per requirement

Method

For the stuffing

• Heat ghee in a pan. Add poppy seeds and saute for a minute.
• Add grated coconut, sugar, jaggery (broken into small pieces or grated), cardamom and nutmeg powder and all dry fruits. Mix thoroughly.
• Cook till all moisture from the sugar and jaggery begins to dry.
• It takes about 10 to 15 minutes for the mixture to dry on low flame.
• Do not overcook as it will harden up and lose its taste.
• Stir every 2 to 3 minutes till it turns golden yellow.
• You can add more ghee if the stuffing becomes too dry.

For the cover

• Boil water.
• Add a pinch of salt and 1 tsp of ghee to the flour and mix it thoroughly.
• Add 1 tsp of ghee in the boiling water.
• Add the dough to the boiling water. Lower heat. Mix well.
• Cover the vessel keep it for 5 minutes on low flame to let the rice cook.
• Knead the dough into a smooth paste without lumps.
• You need to knead it while it is still hot. You may apply some oil or ghee on your palms.
• If you feel the dough looks dry and hard, add some hot water and continue to knead till the dough turns smooth. 

Making the Modaks

• Apply pinch of oil/ghee on your palms and make small balls of the dough.
• Flatten it to give it the shape of a katori or cone.
• Press the edges of the katori-shaped dough with slight pressure at every 1 inch distance.
• The edges of the katori will now look like the petals of the flower.
• Put some stuffing in the katori and close the ends to give them a shape like fresh figs or momos.
• Take a leaf of banana or a soft cloth like muslin, and apply bit oil/ghee on it and place it in the steamer pan.
• Place all the modaks on the leaf or cloth and close the lid.
• Steam it for 5 to 6 minutes and turn off the flame.
• Your delicious modaks are ready to be served.

Tip: Do not over steam the modaks, else they will become hard.

For Fried Modaks

• Instead of steaming the stuffed modaks, heat oil in the frying pan and deep fry the modaks on low or medium flame till they turn golden brown from all sides.

    

Baked Garlic Chicken (Mehezabin and Shraddha)

 

Ingredients (4 servings)

• 4 lbs of chicken legs/quarters/breasts
• 5 medium potatoes
• 20 cloves of garlic (or 1.5 heads)
• 1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 4 table spoons of olive oil
• salt to taste
• A pinch of Lebanese 7-spices
• Vinegar (optional)

Baked Garlic Chicken Preparation Method

1. Soak chicken in vinegar for 2 minutes (to help remove the “chickeny” smell), rinse them well with cold water then dry them with paper towels.
2. Make cuts in chicken in order to allow for garlic sauce to seep deep inside.
3. Rub chicken with a table spoon or two of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of Lebanese 7-spices.
4. Peel potatoes then cut them in disks of about 1/2 inch, salt lightly.
5. Place chicken on bottom of baking tray (preferably metal), place potatoes on top, and bake at 400F (medium heat) for about 40-50 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked.
6. Meanwhile place the garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 2-3 table spoons of olive oil in a blender/food processor and spin for 4-5 minutes, add the lemon juice and spin for another 4-5 minutes until you have a nice lemony-garlicky sauce.
7. Once the chicken has baked, take the tray out of the oven and very carefully drain any excess liquids/fat/water that you see on the bottom.
8. Pour the garlic sauce all over it while mixing it well with the potatoes, put back in the oven and  broil for another 5-10 minutes until the potatoes turn reddish
9. Serve warm.
10. Note: You may need to consume an unusually large quantity of toothpaste afterwards.

Preparation time: 15 minute(s)Cooking time: 1 hour(s) 5 minute(s)Number of servings (yield): 4

Copyright © Mama’s Lebanese Kitchen.

 

Shwarma For Tony Stark :D (Mehezabin and Shraddha)

 

Ingredients

• 2.5 lbs of thinly cut skinless boneless chicken breast
• ½ cup of lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce
• 4 tablespoons of plain (Greek) yogurt
• 3 tablespoons of white vinegar
• 1 head of garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of salt (or to taste)
• ½ teaspoon of ground oregano (or thyme)
• 1 teaspoon of paprika
• ½ teaspoon of ginger powder (optional)
• A pinch of nutmeg powder

Instructions

1. Rinse the boneless chicken breasts with fresh cold water then cut horizontally into thinner cuts of about ½ inch (each breast could possibly be split into 2 slices depending on thickness).
2. Mix all ingredients in a blender, add to a bowl and mix well with the chicken, cover and let marinate in the fridge overnight.
3. When ready, grill the marinated chicken using a panini/George Forman grill for about 15 minutes on medium heat. You can also cook the chicken on a BBQ grill if so you wish.
4. Once cooked, shred the chicken thinly as in the photo and it’s now ready to be wrapped into a Shawarma Sandwich. Spread the chicken shreds along the diameter of a pita bread, spread a bit of Lebanese Garlic paste, add some salty cucumber pickles, some French fries, and some grilled tomatoes, roll and enjoy.

Notes

Try marinating a mix of 75% chicken breast and 25% skinless boneless chicken thighs. The fat in the thighs gives the chicken a nice kick when grilled. Add grilled tomatoes in the sandwich instead of raw tomatoes Some restaurants add french fries in the sandwich, others add a cabbage/mayo salad to the sandwich. Baking or broiling in the oven will rid the chicken of its juice and must be avoided if possible. We found that using a panini grill cooks faster and keeps the moisture inside the chicken You can find salty middle eastern cucumber pickles from Middle Eastern grocery stores.