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Cookie Swap

So, I agreed to be part of the cookie swap with my book club group. I have been to the book club meeting only once, but have managed to read a few of the books, albeit late. Anyway, I had my sights set on Manisha's nan-khatai(indianfoodrocks.blogspot.com) from the moment I saw it. The cookie swap was a good excuse to try it out. Nevertheless, I had a packet of chocolate-cookie mix to bail me out in case things didn't work out as planned. But work out they did, and better than I had expected. Amma and Shalini were there to help me out baking 4 dozen cookies required for the cookie swap.
In all, we baked three batches, and had about 60-70 cookies. Of course, each batch had slight variations in the ingredient and looks deparments. The first batch followed the recipe word-by-word, but that turned out to be too much ghee, and the dough was kinda runny. This batch didn't develop the cracks on the top, though they tasted excellent. I had the cookies shaped larger too. On the second batch, I reduced the ghee and added sliced almonds on top. I was thrilled to see this batch developing cracks on the surface, just like the pics on IFR. In the third batch, I decided to add some sliced almonds to the batter as well. Shalini was the official mixer, and amma was the official shaper. It was Shalini's suggestion to take the pictures as well.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience baking together. The cookie swap was fun as well, and Adarsh was excited about it, though he was interested only in the chocolate snowflake cookie, and the sugar cookies. Amma loved the baklava. I enjoyed all of these and the Russian tea cookies, and the gingerbread cookies, and the oatmeal-craisin-butterscotch-chip cookies as well(in short, I enjoyed all the cookies; in fact, all of us did).
Without further ado, here is the improvised recipe that worked best for me:

Ingredients:
Ghee: 1 cup
Baking powder: 1/4 tsp
Sugar: 1 cup
All Purpose Flour: 2-1/2 cups
Besan(chickpea flour): 1/8 cup
Cardamom(powdered): 1/4 tsp
Nutmeg(finely grated): 1/4 tsp
Ground Ginger: 1 tsp
Sliced Almonds:1/4 cup + some for garnish

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Melt the ghee, and mix the baking powder well with the ghee. Add the sugar, and mix until well combined. Mix the flours and the spices(and almonds, if using), and add to the ghee and sugar mixture. It should form a loose dough, slightly crumbly. Shape into balls, flatten the tops, garnish with almonds, place on cookie sheet, and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the cookies turn slightly blonde. Cool for 5 minutes for the crust to develop, and then remove and enjoy.

Variations: You can play with the spices - add saffron/vanilla/almond extract etc
Add powdered nuts - almonds, cashews etc.

Thanks

This is a long overdue post. Has been in the draft stage from before Thanksgiving. In my attempt to be more organized starting from the new year, here is the thanks post(Of course, I have to make sure that I thank everyone who might be reading my rather wordy posts:))
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Thanks - a word I don't say often enough. Here is an attempt to redeem myself to the people who I value a lot, but tend to take for granted (in no particular order)
- My husband, who has encouraged me, and put up with all my idiosyncracies (That in itself deserves a separate post, or maybe another blog :)
- My parents, who just seem to be at the receiving end of my mood tantrums. I owe them my life. I wouldn't have been anything today without them, the sacrifices they made, and the values that they have instilled in me.
- My sisters, who have stood by me, tolerated my rants, scolds etc.
- My parents-in-law. They do realize my true intentions, sometimes wrapped in my incommunicative self.
- My friends, who have put up with my uncommunicative avatar, rather communicative-in-bursts self. I am surprised by the number of friends I still have, inspite of my bursts of introspection. Glad that I have friends who understand me.
- Of course, not to forget my sons. Though, they are not at the receiving end as much as others, as they are at the top of my priority list ALWAYS... May this continue, and may I not lose this focus.
- My boss, co-workers
- My college mates/group-mates.
- My relatives.

So, in short, I am thankful to most people I associate with. I have been lucky that I have been blessed with a wonderful set of people. I am guilty of not acting on what's in my mind/heart. Thinking good deeds is not enough, if you don't put them into action. My main crime is in the communication field - bottling up things/waiting for the right opportunity. Main takeaway - there is no time like now.

Sweet Beginnings for Diwali

Wishing you all a very Happy Diwali...

After making a horde of goodies for Diwali the first year after marriage, I have become not-so-enthusiastic in making them after that. You can say that I got busy with the rigmarole that you call life. Now I want to start the traditions(atleast the food part), so that my sons have memories to recount later, like I do.
We being the foodie family, have fond memories of all Hindu festivals mainly by the goodies accompanying them. I keep talking to friends and family about making stuff for the various festivals. Like I was chatting with friend Rohini last weekend, about how we discussed about what all to make for last Diwali, and both of us ended up with making maybe 1-2 sweets each.
Mom makes the yummiest rava laddu. My Kalpana mami is an excellent cook too. I think I tasted my first Maharashtrian rava laddu made by her at Pune (or atleast that is the way I remember it). I really liked the twist that coconut brings to the taste.
Mumbai-masala.com is a web-site I discovered probably 5-6 years back, and the recipes yield fool-proof authentic-tasting Maharashtrian food. Among the various recipes that I've tried from here, is one for Rava Laddu. The taste was very close to what I remember.
My Sita chitti had brought a few of these for my sister Vidya when she visited her in Albany, NY. Vidya really liked them, and I've been wanting to make a batch of these for myself ever since. Diwali provided the perfect excuse for this.
So after telling my mom that I am going to make something for diwali this year, I tried the recipe again, with excellent results. I made minor changes to the proportions, based on the quantities I had, and the tastes I preferred, and the health choices I wanted.
I also remembered Shilpa of Aayi's recipes and Bee of Jugalbandi blogging about similar rava laddu recipes, and checked out their posts. Their recipes are quite similar to this.

Ingredients:
Fine rava/sooji - 4 cups
(I had the coarse kind... I just pulsed it in the food processor for a few minutes)
Coconut, freshly grated - 3 cups
Sugar - 3-1/2 cups
Water - 1-3/4 cups
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Cardamom - 10 (powdered fine)
Cashews, broken into pieces - a handful
Raisins - a handful

Method:
Heat the sugar and water, and let the syrup boil until you get a one-thread consistency.
Meanwhile roast the rava with the ghee until it attains a nice pink color. Add the coconut at this point, and roast until the cocounut is slightly toasted.
Powder the cardamom powder, fry the raisins and cashew is 1-2 tsp of ghee, and add the cardamom powder, raisins and cashews to the rava-coconut mixture. Turn off the heat, and add the sugar syrup and mix well.
The mixture may not seem firm at this point, but just leave it for a couple of hours, stirring once every half hour. The rava/coconut mixture will soak up the liquid, and you should be able to roll it into laddus with ghee applied to your hands.

Now that I've got one sweet made, I am aiming for more. But I have school this weekend, and have lots to work on before the classes. On the list are:
- Gulab jamun ( I have 3 packets of gulab jamun mix)
- Sweet and salty shankarpali
(Update: This post was in the draft stage for the past 2 days, and I haven't been able to make any of the things listed above. Will see if I can do something this weekend.)
(Update2: Mom made this rava laddu at Albany too. She also made sweet shankarpali)
(Update3: Pictures and hyperlink edits coming later. I wanted to get this post out today. Have to figure out how to get these things done:))

Have to go to school today and tomorrow. We are planning on attending the Diwali program at Chinmaya Maruti, Andover tomorrow. They have sparklers for children at the end of the pooja and arati, and Adarsh really likes that. We've been going there for the last two years, and it does feel like Diwali, when you get the smell of sparklers burning in the cool, crisp air. It is Nikhil's first diwali too:)

Wish you all a very Happy Diwali!!!

First baby steps...

I've been a silent spectator for way too long...

Started following the blogosphere more than a year ago, and was inspired to start a blog. But work, family, school, pregnancy and childbirth kept me away from posting, and I have been a silent spectator. I claimed this blog title a long time back, and resolved to start posting during my maternity leave, but that was not to be.

I started taking several foodie pictures, much to the glee of my ever-watchful 5-year old. He also knows about food-blogs, and keeps asking if I've started blogging...

I have been a foodie since my childhood days, thanks to the excellent cooks in my family - mom, dad(???), grandmoms, aunts etc.. Most of my earliest memories revolve around food. When afternoon transmission started on tv, one of my favorite serials was the one in which they showcased recipes.

I got introduced to the wonderful world of cooking, partly due to the tradition followed (now long-gone) at home - of the mandatory 3 days of rest for mom. Earlier my dad or our governess used to cook, but when dad realized that I was old enough to cook(I was probably 8-9 then), he happily relinquished the role to me:). There were three things that I had to do before retiring for the day
- make sure that the gas cylinder was switched off
- ora-kuttify curd (set yogurt for next day)
- keep out milk vessel for milkman in the morning

This is just a start...More memories(and recipes too:)) to follow...