Pori Urundai | Puffed Rice Balls

Ingredients:

Paagu Vellam / Jaggery – ¼ cup (Powdered)

Poori – 1 litre

Water as needed

Ghee – 1tsp

Method:

• In a pan add powdered jaggery and add water till it immerses it. When the jaggery completely dissolves, strain it to remove the impurities.

• Again bring it to boil for 5 minutes, at this stage add a tsp of ghee. To check the consistency of the paagu patham(in tamil),  take a small bowl with water and add a tsp of jaggery syrup to the water, it should not get dissolved.

•  Also, use your fingers to roll jaggery syrup which is in the water, you should able to get a hard ball and does not stick with your fingers.

• Switch off the flame.
• In a wide bowl add the puffed rice to the jaggery syrup and mix it quickly to make sure the puffed rice is well coated with syrup.
• Grease your palms with ghee and make rough balls quickly when it is warm.

• To get a good round shaped pori urundai, place the roughly rolled balls in a wide vessel and rotate in both clock & anti clock wise horizontally.

   Enjoy the crispy and tasty balls...

Note:

• For the above mentioned quantity, you should be getting approximately 18 to 20 balls.
• Store it in airtight container, the crispiness will stay good for 3 to 4 days.
• The measurement of the jaggery depends on the jaggery’s sweetness.

Mixed Fruit Custard

It is one of the simple and delicious dessert. Mixed fruits with flavorful custard it is really a wonderful combo fairly healthy and nutritious one. I have prepared this fruit custard with available fruits and nuts in my kitchen.

Ingredients:

Vanilla custard powder – 2tbsp

Milk – 3cups

Sugar – 1/4cup

Mixed fruit – 2cup (I used Papaya, peach, mango, apple, grapes, cashewnuts, cherry)

Method:

• Mix custard powder in 1/4 cup of milk and mix well without forms any lumps.
• Boil the remaining milk and add sugar, when it dissolves, add the custard mixture and mix well quickly to avoid sticking on bottom.





• Stir continuously until it becomes thick mixture.
• Now remove from fire and allow cooling down and stir occasionally to avoid layer forms on top. Set in refrigerator to cool down or until use.
• Meantime wash and chop the fruits into desired shapes and arrange in a serving bowl.

• Now mix the prepared custard pudding to this fruits and top with cashews and cherry and serve chill.

Enjoy the delicious mixed fruit custard…

Note:

• Don’t add any water oozes fruits.
• Adjust the sugar according to your sweetness.
• Even can add dry fruits and nuts for more crunchy and adds more tasty.
• Add prepared custard mixture to the fruits, once it completely cool down otherwise it will spoil the taste.

Rasmalai

Wishing all friends a very happy Tamil New Year and Vishu.

Ras Malai, basically a Bengali sweets made from a cottage cheese in a flavoured milk. I love this sweet, and had tried this in my kitchen several times and usually it comes out very well, my husband use to say that the taste is as store bought. 

Ingredients:
RAS:

Full cream milk – 1litre
Sugar – 1/2 cup
Saffron few strands
Pistachios few
Almonds few
Cardamom powder

Method:

• Crush and Soak the saffron strands in warm milk.
• Chop the nuts into thin slices.
• In a heavy bottom vessel add milk and bring to boil till it reduces to half the quantity, keeping in low flame and stir frequently.





• Then add the sugar, cardamom powder, chopped nuts (reserve few nuts for garnish) and soaked saffron strands along with milk and allow boiling for couple of minutes till the sugar dissolves and then switch off the flame.
• Now the Ras is ready.

Malai:

Full cream milk – 1 litre
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Sugar – 1 cup
Water – 3 cups
Cardamom powder – 1tsp

Method:

• In a heavy bottom vessel, boil the milk. Once it starts boiling sim the flame and add lemon juice.
• Now you will see the milk starts separate and curdles, now turn off the heat and strain in the damp cheese cloth or muslin cloth.





• Rinse under the running water to remove the sourness of lemon flavour and hang the cloth to drain the excess water, for 1 hour.





• Remove and open the cloth and knead gently to get soft and pliable dough and make a small balls in gooseberry sized.





• In a pressure cooker add water, sugar and cardamom powder and mix well to gets sugar dissolves and then allow to boil, once it starts boiling drop the panner balls carefully and leave for 5 minutes.





• Then close the lid and pressure cook for 1 whistle and Switch off the stove.
• Open the lid after the pressure releases, you can see the balls doubled in size, soft and spongy.
• Transfer these paneer balls with sugar syrup to another serving bowl and leave it for 1 hour, to absorb the sugar syrup.





• Now gently squeeze the paneer balls from jeera and press between your palms to drain the sugar syrup and add it to the prepared Ras.





• Now the Yummy Rasmalai is ready, garnish with chopped nuts.
• Keep in room temperature for some time and then refrigerate.

Serve chill and enjoy the delicious Rasmalai.