Fruitilicious Pani Puri

Met my friends today for chaat party. Yes, we are all chaat lovers...it is sweet, spicy, tangy... basically chatpata just like all my girl friends!! :) And while we had thought to meet for a summer chaat party, there has to be chilled pani puri on our menu.

If you remember my two year back post on Guava Pani Puri, it was the recipe created for chaat party with my same girl friends. They had loved the sweet, spicy and tangy flavor of Guava Pani so it was now time to create something different. With fruits available in my refrigerator and few fresh fruits growing in my yard, it was easy to make this quick and delicious pani.

Pani Puri is a crisp puffed puri/waffer stuffed with moong and potato stuffing and dunked into sweet and tangy pani. The entire puri is then eaten for burst of flavors and textures. And, I promise you will be addicted to this one.

Fruitilicious is a delicious fruit cocktail pani: a combination of traditional pani with sweetness and flavors of fresh fruit juice. My family and my friends loved it...you gotta try this.

Ingredients: (serves 6-8)
1 whole fresh pineapple
2 fresh apples
2 cups black grapes
2 cups fresh blackberries
4-5 plums
6-8 fresh mint leaves
1 tsp. raw cumin seeds
2 green chilies
1/2 inch ginger
3-4 tbsp. sugar (if needed depending on the sourness of the fruit) OR 5-6 dates for sweetness
1-2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
2-3 tsp. rock salt (or to taste)
1 tsp. amchoor powder (dry mango powder)
3-4 cups ice

• Remove the skin of the pineapple and chop it into large chunks. 
• Remove seeds of apple and chop it into large chunks.
• De-seed plums and keep it aside 
• Wash grapes and blackberries.
• Finally add all the prepped fruits into a blender with mint, cumin, ginger, and green chilies. Blend well. Use a strainer to strain the mixture and remove the pulp.  
• Add 3-4 cups of ice to the fruity mixture.
• Add sugar, salt, rock salt, and amchoor powder. Mix well. Give it a taste test and add salt or rock salt if needed.
• Let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour in the refrigerator before serving.
• Serve with crisp puris and moong chana and potato mixture.

Check out my Pani Puri recipe to make homemade puri and regular mint pani

Also, check Guava Pani Puri recipe here.

Fruitilicious Pani Puri

Blackberry Ice Cream

Feeling so excited!! Made ice cream after such a long time!!! We have a blackberry bush which has been growing so fast and fruiting in a rapid manner, faster than we can pick the berries. This is the first year with the plant, and in spite of sharing berries with my neighbors and friends, I still have a lot. And while summer is here, ice cream is just a perfect dessert.

Pinterest is full of recipes with Blackberries. They are so tempting, and feels like I should try lot of desserts, but again just refraining myself from extra calories :) I would surely prefer sharing the berries and plant cuttings with my friends. We are so glad to have an amazing yield of the fresh, sweet berries.

I have always wanted to buy a ice cream machine. I like the traditional Vat style at BBB. To fill the vat with ice and salt (freezing mixture) and the center container with ice cream mixture. As the ice cream container rotates it churns and freezes the ice cream mixture too. I have seen this traditional type in India and would love to own one. But till then I tried food processor icecream recipe by Sue. It looked so yum and easy that I had to try it! Indeed a lovely and easy recipe :)

My husband loves his ice cream in waffle cone and I like it in a waffle cup. I have been trying to pester him to buy me a waffle cone maker. Every time I see it in a store, I want to buy it. But again I think of where to store so many fancy machines and equipment. I still haven't bought one. So the need of the hour was to figure out a recipe without waffle cone maker. I checked few recipes of waffle cone batter of YouTube. They seemed really easy, but they all had eggs in it. Hmmmm...I had to slightly modify the recipe according to ingredients available at home. So here it is... an eggless waffle cup using organic whole wheat flour. I am sure all moms out there will be excited and super happy with me :) These waffle cups turned out amazingly good and crisp...something that kids would love! Homemade waffle cups made on griddle cannot be stored long. They should be made and consumed within 30 minutes or as they will turn slightly soft. If they soften, you could microwave them for 30 seconds and let them cool on a paper towel to turn crisp again. Give this a try for sure.

Ingredients:
To make ice cream (serves 5-8 people)
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups blackberries

• Boil milk and add sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes. 
• Let the milk cool slightly and then mix in whipping cream
• Let the mixture cool.
• Transfer the mixture in a freezer safe glass box. Cover with a tight lid and place in the freezer to freeze.
• Remove the frozen mixture. Cut into pieces. 
• Add blackberries to the food processor. For seedless ice cream: grind blackberries separately first and strain in a strainer to remove seeds. Add the strained puree to the food processor.
• Put frozen pieces in a food processor and grind them to make soft and fluffy ice cream.
• Remove in a freezer safe container. Cover and then freeze ice cream.
• Let ice cream rest out of the freezer for 5-8 minutes before serving.

To make waffle cups (makes 2-3 waffle cups)
1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. butter
1+1/2 tbsp sugar
2-3 drops vanilla extract 
3 tbsp. whole wheat flour

• Mix all the ingredients well to form and smooth batter.
• Heat non-stick griddle to medium temperature.
• Pour some batter and spread to form a 5-6 inch circle.
• Cook on one side. Flip and cook on the other side.
• Use a flat spatula to press the crepe to cook and brown evenly.
• Remove from the pan and quickly mold to over an upside down glass. 
• Remove in 30 seconds and place on a paper towel to avoid moisture and waffle cup getting soggy and soft.
• Cool and serve with ice cream.

Boil milk and add sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes. 

Let the milk cool slightly and then mix in whipping cream

Let the mixture cool.

Fresh berries from my yard.

Transfer the mixture in a freezer safe glass box. Cover with a tight lid and place in the freezer to freeze.

Remove the frozen mixture. Cut into pieces.

Add blackberries to the food processor. For seedless ice-cream: grind blackberries separately first and strain in a strainer to remove seeds. Add the strained puree to the food processor.

Put frozen pieces in a food processor and grind them to make soft and fluffy ice-cream.

Remove in a freezer safe container. Cover and then freeze ice-cream.

Mix all the ingredients well to form and smooth batter.

Heat non-stick griddle to medium temperature.

Pour some batter and spread to form a 5-6 inch circle.

Cook on one side. Flip and cook on the other side.

Use a flat spatula to press the crepe to cook and brown evenly.

Remove from the pan and quickly mold to over an upside down glass. 

Remove in 30 seconds and place on a paper towel to avoid moisture and waffle cup getting soggy and soft.

Cool the waffle cups and serve with ice cream.

Let the ice-cream rest out of the freezer for 5-8 minutes before serving.

Have a great summer!!

Gola

My summer break has begun, and I would now say that summer is here. This was surely the best time growing up: hot summer days, playing with friends,enjoying mangoes, and having chilled ice drinks and gola. Nimboo pani, kalakhatta, orange, rose, keri, khus, pineapple, mango...the colorful syrups on the gola cart attract not just kids, but everyone! Love the sight of color syrup bottles all lined up on the counter. The manual ice shaver and large blocks of ice wrapped in jute cloth. Do not think abut hygiene level...it just builds immunity. :)

As called in Mumbai, Gola is shaved ice or chuski...shaved ice that is packed tightly around a stick and dunked into flavored syrup. Chilled juice is sucked from the ice and dunked back into the glass to absorb the syrup. I can't explain it...you need to make it to enjoy it!

There is science behind packing shaved ice to form gola... principle of physics: (When pressure increases melting point of ice reduces). To explain it in easy language, when you press ice together it creates heat and melts the pieces to form water. as you release the pressure it turns back to ice resulting into fused shape of the container, and in the case a glass. As liquids take the shape of the container they are put it.

In Mumbai we surely get gola on the stick, but in certain parts of country where the water is hard, it is difficult to form gola shape and chammach gola or shaved ice in a glass is popular. Syrup is poured over shaved ice and a spoon is provided to enjoy syrupy shaved ice.

You can make syrups at home or buy them from Indian store. Below are few recipes:

Click Here for my recipe of making rose syrup. 

Click here for the recipe of making berry (kalakhatta) syrup.

To make orange syrup:

Heat 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water. 

Simmer for 10 minutes. 

Add 1/2 tsp. orange extract/essence.

Mix 1/4 tsp. orange food color.

1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

To make pineapple syrup

Heat 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water. 

Simmer for 10 minutes. 

Add 1/2 tsp. pineapple extract/essence.

Mix 1/4 tsp. yellow food color.

1/4 cup freshly squeezed pineapple juice

• To make gola or shaved ice. Use shave ice maker. I have this Hawaiian shaved ice maker and i like it.
• Collect shaved ice in a cup or a glass. Slightly bend a stick from the corner and put into the shaved ice glass. Top with more shaved ice and pack it tightly. Packing the ice tightly and holding it for 5-10 seconds will keep it in shape and prevent it from breaking. 
• In a separate glass, squeeze some lemon juice and add a pinch of rock salt. pour some syrup in the glass and some on top of shaved ice and enjoy immediately.

Click on this link to check the Hawaiian Ice maker

Collect shaved ice in a cup or a glass. Slightly bend a stick from the corner and put into the shaved ice glass. Top with more shaved ice and pack it tightly. Packing the ice tightly and holding it for 5-10 seconds will keep it in shape and prevent it from breaking.

In a separate glass, squeeze some lemon juice and add a pinch of rock salt. pour some syrup in the glass and some on top of shaved ice and enjoy immediately.

My favorite is  Kalakhatta Gola
Use homemade Kalakhatta syrup or Vimto.
Sprinkle rock salt over Gola and then pour syrup in the glass as well as on gola.
Enjoy immediately.

Refreshing Summer Gola!!

Mango Shrikhand

Summer time and summer vacation is always associated with Mangoes. Almost every meal is accompanied with mango or a recipe of mango. And so is this Mango or Aam Shrikhand or Aamrakhand. Aamrakhand is a mango flavored yogurt garnished with almonds and pistanchios. I remember store bought Aamrakhand was packed in a mango shaped individual containers and they were so cute. I used to collect those containers, wash them well and re-use them to put some nic-nacs.

This post is very special, of coarse because it is a special recipe of the season, but also because it shows how I started my summer break. Few months back I met a creative silver artist, Sheela through a common friend. It was so exciting to know that silver articles can be made at home using silver clay and of course many other materials, but it is so possible. Silver jewellery and silver articles are very close to me. I love silver and yes we use silver to serving food and offering prasad (sweet) to God. It would be fascinating to be able to make a silver article that can be used in daily life. I would totally love a pendant or a ring or earrings, but I choose to make little spoon to place it in a little silver bowl. I took this class with Sheela. The entire experience was amazing. It was not as easy as I thought. But with proper guidance and motivation from as expert, I am very thrilled and happy with the end result. It was a well started summer break!

Here are the silver spoons that I made with Sheela.

From molding, shaping, texturing, firing in the kiln, polishing, there are several steps to achieve a perfect product.

Check out this artist and her FaceBook page.

If you like being creative and learning something new, this class is something you should take.

With your girlfriends, this would surely be a fun party!

To make Mango Shrikhand

Ingredients: (serves 2)

2 cups plain yogurt

1 to 1+1/2 cup mango pieces (I used frozen Kesar mango pieces from Deep Foods)

2 tbsp. sugar (or to taste)

2 tbsp. chopped almonds and pistachios

• Place a sieve or a muslin cloth over a bowl and add yogurt to it. This is to remove water from yogurt and make it thick and creamy. You could add Greek yogurt too, but this is a traditonal method of making Shrikhand. Let yogurt drip most of the water (in around and hour).
• In a bowl place mango pieces (you could use fresh mangoes or frozen mango pieces. Avoid using mango pulp as it is very runny and will not make shrikhand thick and creamy).
• Add sugar to mango pieces. Using a fork or a masher, mash and blend sugar and mango together. You could mash it completely to make it smooth or keep some pieces for some texture.
• Add yogurt and mix well.
• Add few chopped nuts and leave some for garnish.
• Refrigerate it for some time. 
• Serve chilled.

Place a sieve or a muslin cloth over a bowl and add yogurt to it. This is to remove water from yogurt and make it thick and creamy. You could add greek yogurt too, but this is a tradiitonal method of making shrikhand. Let yogurt drip most of the water (in around and hour).

In a bowl place mango pieces (you could use fresh mangoes or frozen mango pieces. Avoid using mango pulp as it is very runny and will not make shrikhand thick and creamy).

Add sugar to mango pieces. Using a fork or a masher, mash and blend sugar and mango together. You could mash it completely to make it smooth or keep some pieces for some texture.

Add yogurt and mix well.

Add few chopped nuts and leave some for garnish.

Refrigerate it for some time. 

Serve chilled.

Enjoy Shrikhand with Puffed Puris!!