One Day At A Time!

I am sure you all are busy preparing Diwali special sweets and snacks for your loved ones. This festive season, I tried a new Bengali sweet - Kesar Sandesh also known as Sondesh . Generally, Sandesh is made of fresh Paneer .  As you know me, I look for ways to cut down cooking time. So, here is my easy microwave recipe of Bengali Sondesh using store bought Ricotta Cheese. Ingredients: Ricotta Cheese - 15 oz (425 gm) Sugar - 3 tbsp Green Cardamom / Elaichi - 3 pods Saffron / Kesar - few strands Milk - 1 tbsp Ghee / Clarified Butter - 1 tsp Pistachios or any other nuts - 5 How to cook Easy Ricotta Cheese Kesar Sandesh in a microwave: Crush cardamom seeds in a mortar pestle to a fine powder. Finely chop nuts of your choice. Microwave milk in a small bowl for 20 seconds. Add saffron to the warm milk and set it aside for 5 minutes. Grease a dry microwave safe bowl with ghee. Add ricotta cheese and saffron milk to the bowl. Mix it well.  Microwave...

After making Bengali Rasgulla at home, I had to try Rasmalai. Everyone loves Rasmalai at my place. A delectable Indian dessert of Rasgullas (cottage cheese or paneer balls) in sweetened condensed milk. Ingredients: Whole Milk - 8 cups Sugar - 1 cup and 2 tbsp Water - 4 cups Lemon Juice - 2 1/2 tbsp Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 pods Saffron/Kesar - few strands Pistachios/Pista - 8 How to cook Rasmalai: Cooking Rasgullas: Heat 5 cups milk in a thick bottom vessel. Keep stirring after every 5 minutes. When milk starts boiling, add lemon juice gradually and stir at the same time. Turn off the heat and curdling of milk will take a minute. Let it rest for about 10 minutes. Line a sieve/strainer with a thin cotton cloth, to separate the milk solids/paneer/chenna and clear liquid/whey. I prefer using 4 layers of a thin cloth. Pour the curdled milk in the cloth lined sieve and rinse the paneer with cold water to wash off the lemon juice. When it turns cold enough to handle, ...

Bengali Mithai are the most loved Indian sweets. My family loves Bengali Rashogulla. Till date, I used to bring those canned Rasgullas. But nowadays, we love homemade Roshogullas made of fresh paneer. Though, a little time consuming, these sweet, soft paneer balls are worth the effort. Try this in your kitchen and find out for yourself. Ingredients: Whole Milk - 6 cups Sugar - 1 cup Water - 4 cups Lemon Juice - 2 1/2 tbsp Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 pods Saffron/Kesar - few strands Pistachios/Pista - 2 (optional) How to cook Bengali Rasgulla: Heat milk in a thick bottom vessel. Keep stirring after every 5 minutes. When milk starts boiling, add lemon juice gradually and stir at the same time. Turn off the heat and curdling of milk will take a minute. Let it rest for about 10 minutes. Make arrangements for a sieve/strainer lined with a thin cotton cloth, to separate the milk solids/paneer/chenna and clear liquid/whey. I generally use 4 layers of thin cloth. Pour the curdl...