Pista Katli In 15 Minutes

Happy Deepavali! Inspired by Lavi's cashew katli recipe I decided to prepare for Deepavali but, I let the cashew katli sit on the stove a little longer and hence lost the play dough consistency. Not very happy with my end result I decided to give it a try again. This time I used her recipe as the base and substituted pistachios for cashews.I have to mention that though I powdered the pistachios well they were not fine enough to give a smooth katli. But, I really liked the course texture that I ended up tasting in the katli. It was such a breeze to make this katli because I remembered to have my prepared tray ready before I started making the katli.

Gadgets:

Wok or heavy bottom vessel
Spatula
Greased tray
Knife
Food processor or Mixier
Plate

Ingredients:

Pistachios - 1 cup ( powdered)
Saffron - a pinch
Cardamon- 2
Camphor- a tiny bit
Ghee - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Water - 4 to 5 tbsp or enough to cover the sugar




Preparation:

1. Blend together nuts, saffron, cardamon, camphor into a powder.

2. Heat the wok with sugar and water and allow the sugar to melt.

3. Keep dipping the spatula in the sugar and drop the liquid sugar syrup on the plate and tilt it to see if it flows. Keep doing this until you see the drop is stagnant.

4. Stir in the nut mixture well and remove the vessel from heat and pour into the prepared tray. Spread it out uniform with the back of a flat bottom bowl and cut into diamonds.

Note: Once I added the nut mixture it was like a play dough and it was easy to spread it out. So I think your mixture should resemble a dough.

Paneer Crème Fraîche Curry

Happy New Month! It took me forever to come up with a title for the dish I prepared. I had purchased crème fraîche for some recipe and I had completely forgotten about it. With the intention of making something interesting with paneer, I made the basic gravy. The paneer was roasted and I was not sure as to what I must do with the crème fraîche. This was an ingredient I have not used before and so I had to taste it to get a sense of what I could do with it. I thought it tasted like very thick cream or sour cream and I added it to my gravy. When I tasted it I realized that it did not taste like anything I had tasted before but was delicious and rich. So if you would like something simple but exotic try this one out. My critics have given me a thumbs up on this side dish served with rice or bread(roti, naan etc).

Gadgets:

Cutting Board
Knife
Measuring spoons and cups
Heavy bottom vessel or wok
Spatula
Blender


Ingredients:

Paneer - 450 gms
Crème fraîche - 1/2 cup
Water - 1 cup
Oil - 2 tbsp
Apple sauce - 1 tbsp
Onion - 2
Tomato - 2 (roma use 3)
Garlic - 3 cloves
Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp heaped
Turmeric- 1/8th tsp
Cilantro minced - 1 tsp
Kasuri Methi - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 3/4 tsp
Salt





Preparation:

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok. Add crushed kasuri methi and cumin seeds in it and allow it to roast a bit before adding onions, garlic and salt.

2. Once they are cooked add tomatoes, turmeric, coriander powder, chilli powder and cook for 4 minutes.

3. Grind this mixture into a paste. Put it back in the wok with water and apple sauce and cook for 3 minutes.

4. In another wok add oil and toast the paneer that are cut into long rectangle pieces. Add this to the gravy and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from fire and add crème fraîche and serve them hot with roti or rice.