Posted on by Santulan · 28 Comments

Recipe: Stuffed Jaggery Paratha (Gud yo lolo)

Winters call for warm heavy meals that make you feel fuzzy and comfy on the inside. When mom was young, grand mom used to make different foods for her and her siblings. One of the most loved things she made was ‘Gud yo lolo’. It is more like a stuffed paratha, and hence lolo (which is actually bread made with the ingredients incorporated in the dough while kneading) is a misnomer. ‘Gud’ stands for Jaggery. So this is a sweet bread stuffed with jaggery. I have inherited my mother’s love for this, and this is the recipe for it. The pictures are of mom making it.

Ingredients:

  • Whole wheat flour – 1 cup for each paratha.
  • Water – to knead flour.
  • Jaggery – 2 tablespoons for each paratha, shaved or thinly sliced.
  • Ghee – for roasting and flavor.

jaggery

Process:

  • First we need to knead the dough for the parathas. You have to make it in the same manner as you would make for a roti. I am personally very poor when it comes to making rotis, so you can make it as shown in this wiki-how, or in this video:
  • Take a ball of the dough. Roll it flat.
  • Sprinkle the jaggery shreds/slices on one hemisphere. Leave 1 cm from the border which will be needed for sealing. We need thin shreds/slices so that the jaggery melts easily and makes for a gooey filling.

rotiwithstuff

  • Cover this filling by closing the roti with the un-stuffed end and for a D.
  • Seal this by either crimping it with your hands. For that pull a small segment out, and fold it back upwards. You can alternatively use a fork to and apply pressure to seal it.

crimpingon

  • Heat a tava (pan), and dab a little ghee on it. You can use a nonstick tava, and use few drops of oil but ghee leads to better flavor.
  • Spread the melted ghee on the tava, and place the paratha on it.
  • Gently move the paratha every 30 seconds with a spatula to prevent it from sticking. Add ghee as needed.
  • Flip it after 2 mins. You will know it is done when the surface darkens with a nice sheen. There will be dark brown spots on it as well.

roastedroti

  • Heat this side in the same manner as above. The paratha may puff a little.
  • Take off the tava, and enjoy.

servedlolo

You can choose how to have it. You can break it open with a spoon, and let the warm gooey jaggery paste flow out, and eat with the broken paratha. Or you can bite in to it, and let the paste flow on your fingers and lick them clean later. I find the second manner more satisfying.

flowingout
The key here is that if you break it open the moment you take it off the tava, the molten jaggery might be too hot for you. Let it stay for more than 5 mins and it will cool and start to solidify. Generally you can wait for 1-2 mins so that it warm enough to flow down your fingers but not hot enough to hurt.

Best had when hot.

Posted on by Santulan · 36 Comments

Recipe: Brinjal and potatoes in a gravy reduction

I am not overly fond of brinjals. I try and avoid it if I can, but over the years one particular style of preparation has me grow fond for it. I will share the recipe for this method.

 

Ingredients:

  • Brinjal – 1 , cut into discs/slices
  • Potatoes – 2 medium, cut into the same amount as the brinjals
  • Onions – 1 small, finely chopped
  • Garlic – 3 cloves, finely chopped
  • Tomatoes – 2 small
  • Green chilly – 1, chopped
  • Red Chilly powder – 3 tea spoons
  • Turmeric powder – 3 tea spoons
  • Black pepper – 3 tea spoons, finely ground
  • Coriander (Dhania) powder – 2 tea spoons
  • Garam Masala powder – 2 tea spoons
  • Salt – to taste and for salting
  • Oil – to fry
  • Water – 2 cups

Process:

Cut the brinjal in slices 1 cm thick, and make diagonal cuts on it (as shown in the picture). Sprinkle salt on both sides and set them aside for at least thirty minutes. This will neutralize the unwanted excess taste.

brinjals (2)

Heat oil in a pan/kadhai. Lower the brinjals slices in to it once the oil is hot. Stir fry till the brinjals are golden brown. Flip them so that they are golden brown on both sides. Since I have a small kadhai I fried them in two waves

brinjals (4)

Take out the brinjals and set them aside. Peel the potatoes, and slice them. Make the same cuts on them as you did on the brinjal slices. Fry the potatoes in the same oil till they are golden brown on both sides and have a crisp outer layer.

brinjals (5)

Take out the potatoes and set them aside. Do not mix them with the brinjal.

Cut the tomatoes and put them in a grinder jar / chutney maker. Do notadd water. Grind them into a thick dry paste/chutney. The texture you’re looking for is similar to that of a salsa.

Heat oil in a pain. Add the onions and garlic. Once they change color, add the chopped chilly too. Mix well.

brinjals (7)

Add the tomato paste. Add all the salt and spices, and mix well.  Leave one teaspoon of all spices aside, we will need that later. Add the fried potatoes and mix well. Add water and bring to boil.

brinjals (8)

Add the brinjals to this gravy. Place them so that they are just below the surface of the gravy. Sprinkle the spices you had set aside on them.

brinjals (10)

Cover with a plate/lid and reduce the heat to a simmer. Leave it like this till the gravy is reduced and sticks to the potatoes and brinjals. It will also make them softer. You will need about 5-10 mins for it reduce.You can add chopped coriander leaves or mint leaves at this stage if you like.

brinjals (11)

Serve with rotis/naan or any other bread of your choice.

brinjals (1)

Posted on by Santulan · 18 Comments

Recipe: Chocolate Fudge

As part of the Diwali traditions, sweets are bought and shared with friends and family. As usual, we used the sweets I get from work, along with some sweet chiki we make at home. This year I thought of doing something new as well. Chocolate has long been a favorite of mine, and having a celebration without it seems unfair. This is the recipe of the chocolate fudge that I made:

Ingredients:

Milk Chocolate – 100 gms

Dark Chocolate – 50 gms

Fresh Cream – 1 table spoon

Nuts – 2 table spoons (Mixed and chopped)

Corn flakes/ Break fast cereal – 2 table spoons

Instant Coffee powder – 2 tea spoon

PS:

I used 44% Cocoa Dark Chocolate since the people I was to share with don’t like the bitter taste (:roll:). Please use 55% or 70% Dark Cocoa chocolates to get more of the bitter flavor.

Coffee powder has to be instant coffee/ freeze dry coffee powder you get which has to be only mixed in hot water/milk to be had. Do not use the coffee which requires the use of a filter.

You will also need 

Butter paper – 1 sheet

While you can directly pour the mixture into a vessel/bowl/plate for cooling and setting, it is better to use butter paper for lining as it will ensure that the fudge doesn’t stick to the walls and you can lick it off clean once you’re done. Licking off the remains is one of my favorite parts 😀

Process:

Chop up the chocolates. Mix the milk chocolate and dark chocolate slices.

fudge_choccut

Melt these chocolate slices either in the microwave or on the gas using the double boiler method.

Take a large bowl.

Fill with water, and put on gas till water starts to boil.

Place chocolates in a smaller bowl and place it inside the bowl with boiling water.

Use a spatula/spoon to press and mix the chocolates till they melt.

Do not expose the bowl with chocolates to direct heat.

Take a bowl and place butter paper on it. Press the butter paper so that it takes the shape of the bowl. Ensure that there are no cuts or tears.

Sprinkle all the nuts.

fudge_nuts

Add the coffee powder and cream to the melted chocolate, and mix well. Optionally you can add a bit of ground cinnamon or hazel nuts.

Pour the chocolate mixture on the nuts.

fudge_chocpour

We will keep the bottom layer crunchy with the nuts, and not mix them in the fudge.

Sprinkle the corn flakes / cereal of choice on top of this. As with the nuts, we will not mix them into the chocolate mixture but keep them as a top layer.

fudge_flakes

I mixed some Chocos along with my corn flakes for more flavor.

Cover this with the excess butter paper or plate and let it set in the fridge for 5-6 hours. You can peel off the butter paper and cut it into cubes before serving, or use a spoon to eat it from the butter paper it self. Since it takes the form of a disc, I just break it off and eat it with my hands.

fudge_final