Uma's Culinary World

Once or twice every week, my Dad used to get some treats on his way back home. Somedays it used to Kandi Pedha or Kesar Pedha. This is my attempt of making Indian Mithai at home. I might dare say, I was pretty successful. Touch Wood! Tasted and looked great! If you are a fan of milk sweets, do try this easy home made Kesar Pedha recipe made of Ricotta Cheese and milk powder. Ingredients: Ricotta Cheese (full fat) - 15 oz (about 400 gm) Milk Powder - 3/4 cup Whole Milk - 1/2 cup Sugar - 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Ghee/Clarified Butter - 1 tbsp Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 pods Saffron/Kesar - few strands Pistachios/Pista - 3 How to make Pedha using Ricotta Cheese: Crush cardamom seeds and saffron in a mortar pestle to a fine powder. Finely chop or slice the pistachios or any other nuts of your choice. Heat ghee in a heavy bottom kadhai or pan. Add ricotta cheese and stir continuously. Stir until water from the cheese is evaporated and starts forming a lump. It will take about 15 -

Ricotta Cheese Gulab Jamun

Gulab Jamun is one of the popular Indian sweets made of Khoya or Mava. Till date, I used to prepare Gulab Jamun using milk powder, as Mava is not easily available here. Recently, I started using Ricotta Cheese as an alternative to Mava for Mithai like Kalakand and Rasmalai . Today I tried this Italian Cheese for our desi Gulab Jamun and it turned out excellent. Ingredients: Ricotta Cheese - 15 oz (425 gm) All Purpose Flour/Maida - 2 1/2 tbsp Baking Soda - 1/8 tsp Sugar - 1 3/4 cups Water - 1 3/4 cups Lemon Juice - 1 tsp Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 pods Saffron/Kesar - few strands Oil or Ghee for frying How to prepare Indian Gulab Jamun using Ricotta Cheese: Preparing Sugar Syrup: Crush cardamom seeds and saffron in a mortar pestle to a fine powder. Heat sugar and water in a vessel. Bring it to a boil. Cook at low flame until the sugar syrups turns sticky (one thread consistency). When you touch the sticky syrup, you can see a single thread forming between your t

Indian Dal / Lentils

Lentils, known as Dal are a staple in an Indian diet, especially vegetarian. For me, dal is comfort food. 5 different dal varieties - Toor, Moong, Chana, Masoor and Urad are commonly used in Indian sweet and savory delicacies. You can cook dal with just one kind or a mix of two or more. I generally cook dal with 1:1 Toor and Moong dals. But then, we like Panchmel or Panchratna Dal too, which is made of all five. Most dal recipes have Toor dal as the primary ingredient. It is also known as Toovar or Arhar dal or Split Pigeon Peas . Some of our family favorite dal recipes are Dalitoy (Konkani Dal) Tadka Dal Among all lentils, moong dal and masoor dal take lesser time to cook. Moong dal is also known as Split Green Gram or Split Mung Bean . Moong dal is also used in making sweet dishes like Mung Dal Kheer Mung Dal Puranpoli Chana dal is also known as Split Bengal Gram or Split Chickpeas . Chana Dal takes a little more time to cook as compared to toor dal. Puranpoli

Konkani Vali Ambat

Vaali Ambat or Vaali Bhaji Randayi is a Konkani coconut curry recipe. This leafy vegetable is known as Vaal or Vali Bhaji in Konkani, Mayalu in Marathi and Basale Soppu in Kannada. I guess its English names are Malabar Spinach or Chinese Spinach . There are a few variations to this Vaali Ambat - one is made adding papaya, another one with sukke sungta/dry prawns and third with bikan/jackfruit seeds. Ingredients: Vaali Bhaji/Mayalu/Basale Soppu - a bunch Toor Dal/Split Pigeon Peas - 1/4 cup Onion - 1 small Garlic/Lasun - 4 big cloves Grated Coconut (Fresh or Frozen) - 1 cup Dry Red Chillies - 5 Coriander Seeds/Dhane - 1 tbsp Tamarind/Chinch/Chincham - about 1/2 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Salt Oil How to prepare Vaali Randayi: Separate the leaves (paalo in Konkani) and stems (dente in Konkani) of vaali bhaji. Roughly chop the washed leaves. Use the tender stems and cut it into big pieces. Medium chop the onions. Crush the garlic cloves. Wash toor dal well and c

Quick Aloo Matar

Most of us love the well known North Indian entrée Aloo Matar . But it involves a lot of prep work, especially the restaurant style creamy one. This Marathi version of Aloo Matar, called as Matar Batatyacha Rassa is easy, even for newbies. Ingredients: Green Peas/Matar - 1 1/2 cup Boiled Potatoes - 2 big Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1/2 tsp Asafetida/Hing - 1/8 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper/Red Chili Powder - 2 tsp Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp (optional) Lemon or Lime Juice - 1 tbsp Cilantro/Coriander Leaves/Kothimbir - few sprigs Oil - 1 tbsp Salt How to cook Marathi Aloo Matar: Heat about 1 tbsp oil in a pan/skillet and add cumin seeds, asafetida. After few seconds, add green peas and turmeric. Sauté green peas for about 2 minutes. Add about 1 cup water, salt, cayenne pepper and garam masala. Mix and cook till peas turn soft. Add mashed (or diced) boiled potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Add water if required. Boiled potatoes tend to abso

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