How-To Archives - Susmita Recipes

How to make Besan Boondi at home

April 14, 2015 By susmita Leave a Comment

Boondis are small round shaped deep fried balls made from gram flour or besan. It can be used to make different recipes like sweet boondi, boondi raita and home made namkeen/mixture. During summers and I usually make this and stock it enough for 15-20 days so as to make raita.

Making boondi is quite simple, since it doesn’t call for too many ingredients, all you need is gram flour and water. Yet, making perfectly round balls is a bit tricky process. The batter consistency for making boondi is very crucial for making perfectly round boondis. Thick batter will have a hard time falling through the spoon and thin batter will yield flat and tailed boondi. Next comes the size of the perforated spoon, small holes can yield small sized balls which can be used for making boondi laddoo and medium sized perforations can be used to make the regular sized balls which I have used in this recipe.

Boondi can be stored in an air tight container at room temperature for about 2 weeks.

Ingredients required for Boondi Recipe:

Gram Flour/Besan – 2 cups
Water – As required
Oil – For deep frying

How to make besan boondi:

Sieve the gram flour to remove any lumps.
Add water gradually to form a lump-free flowing batter. One should be very careful while adding the water, as too much water will make the batter thin and the resultant boondis will not have a round shape and will instead have tails. (You can check the consistency of the batter by dropping few drops of the batter in oil, if it is forming a round shape, the batter is ready for making boondis).
Heat enough oil in a frying pan. Keep on high heat before you proceed to pour.
Take a ladle full of the batter and hold it above the perforated spoon. The perforated spoon should be about 3-4 inches above the oil. If you drop the batter from too above, the balls will not form a round shape.
Now pour some amount of batter in the perforated spoon and move the base of the ladle slowly over the perforated spoon in a circular motion. The batter will fall in the form of small droplets and will form small round balls. Avoid adding too much batter at once since the balls may stick to each other.
Reduce the flame and fry them on a medium heat.
Keep stirring in between and fry the balls till they evenly attain a faint golden colour.
Remove with a slotted spoon.
Drain on a filter paper or kitchen napkins.
Wipe the perforated spoon from both sides before you start making the next batch of boondis. Boondi can be stored in an air -tight container for 15-20 days.

Banana, Date and Walnut Cake (Eggless)

December 25, 2014 By susmita Leave a Comment

Ingredients for Banana, Date and Walnut Cake (Eggless) Recipe :

All purpose flour (Maida) – 1 cup + 1 tbsp for coating walnuts
Granulated sugar – 1/2 cup
Hung curd – 1/4 cup
Vegetable oil – 2 1/2 tbsp
Dates – 1/4 cup
Walnuts – 1/4 cup (chopped)
Bananas (Overripe) – 2
Baking powder – 1/2 tsp
Baking soda – 1/2 tsp
Salt – A pinch

How to make Banana, Date and Walnut Cake (Eggless) :

Preheat oven at 180 oC. Grease the baking pan evenly on all sides with oil. Dust the pan with some flour and rotate the pan while tapping it to spread the flour evenly.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt at least 2 times.
Soak the dates and walnuts separately in little water.
In a bowl, mix the sugar and oil till sugar dissolves completely.
Add the hung curd and whisk it till it becomes light and fluffy.
In the mean time, mash the bananas with the help of a fork in a separate bowl.
Grind the soaked dates in a mixer to a fine paste.
Fold in the flour mix and mashed bananas in two batches into the sugar-oil and curd mix.
Coat the chopped walnuts in 1 tbsp of flour and add it to the cake mix and fold gently until just incorporated*.
Pour in the greased baking pan/tray. The batter should be thick and not of pouring consistency. Spread the batter evenly and tap the baking pan a few times so as to release any trapped air bubbles. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
Check by inserting a toothpick in the centre, if it comes clean the cake is done. Remove from oven and place it on a wire rack to cool.
Voila!! Your moist, spongy and delicious Banana, Date & Walnut Cake is ready. Enjoy!!

Footnotes:

*Coating the walnuts in flour prevents the walnuts from sinking in the cake mix.

How to make Besan Sev

December 6, 2014 By susmita Leave a Comment

Besan sev is a crispy vermicelli thread like mildly-spiced snack made of gram flour. It is usually made during festivals or on any special occasions. I occasionally make it as a snack and also use it for making Kerala mixture. They are so good to munch on and that’s why they make for such a fabulous tea-time snack.

One might notice various types of sev- ranging from thin strands to thick strands. Depending upon the size of the sev it is used in a variety of recipes. Like thin sev are used for garnishing chaat, bhel, pani-puri, etc, while the thick sev is used as a snack in itself or even used as an ingredient in some dishes.

The sev can be flavoured as per one’s choice. A variety of ingredients such as red pepper, black pepper, crushed garlic, spinach puree or tomato puree can be added to make different varieties of sev. However, if you are planning to make the sev for garnishing purpose, its better to keep it simple.

For making sev one needs the sev machine. This machine comes with pre-fabricated moulds, which can be used to prepare sev for varying thickness.

Besan sev can be made in bulk since it can stay fresh for about a month when stored in an air-tight container at room temperature.

Ingredients for Besan Sev Recipe:

Gram Flour (Besan) – 2 cups
Asafoetida – 1 tsp (dissolved in 2 tbsp of water)
Garlic – 10-12 pods (Grind to a fine paste)
Roasted carom seed powder – 1 tsp
Red chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt – 3/4 tsp
Water- As required for kneading
Oil- 2 tbsp
Oil-For deep frying

How to make Besan Sev:

Sieve the gram flour and to it add oil, asafoetida, garlic paste, red chilli powder and salt.
Knead with enough water to make a very firm dough. It will be bit sticky though, for that apply some oil on your hands to even it out.
Grease the inside of the sev making machine and fit it with the appropriate mesh according to the size of the sev you want to make.
Insert a handful of the prepared dough inside the sev machine and tighten the lid. As you press it down you will notice thin sev coming out.
Heat enough oil in a deep frying pan. Check by adding a small piece of the the dough. If the piece rises after a few seconds without changing colour, the oil is sufficiently hot.
Holding the machine over the pan, start making the sev by pressing the sev machine. The thin strands of dough will ooze out.
As you start dropping the strands, slowly move the machine in a circular motion to complete a full circle in the pan and then just pull the handle of the machine upwards. This will prevent the dough oozing out further.
Fry the sev on both sides till done. Remove from fire just as it starts turning light brown. Drain on a paper towel.
After it cools down, crush it to small pieces. Your sev is ready to be used.
Store it in an air-tight container. Sev remains crisp for 3-4 weeks if stored properly.

Enjoy your sev just as it is as a tea-time snack or you may also use this sev for making Kerala Mixture, Sev Puri, Bhelpuri etc.

Footnotes:

While kneading making sure not to make the dough too sticky as the sev after frying tends to lose its crispness quickly.
Avoid dropping too much strands at once, as the strands might stick to each other and you will end up with a unpleasant looking sev.

How to make Khoya (Mawa) ?

October 23, 2014 By susmita Leave a Comment

Khoya or Khoa also known as Mawa is a milk product made by continuously evaporating the milk until it is reduced to a solid granular form. This evaporated milk solids is then used in various food preparations especially in making sweets.

Home made Khoya is way better and hygienic as compared to the one available in market. Making Khoya at home though is a bit time consuming process but the khoya is a lot softer and tastier which no store bought khoya can beat.

Khoya is traditionally made from full fat milk and simmered on a medium flame in an iron kadhai until all the liquid is evaporated and one is left with only coagulated milk solids. On the basis of the texture the khoya is generally of three types:

Hard Khoya: It has the least moisture content and is generally grated or crumbled for making sweets like burfi, pedha, gulab jamuns, etc. Through this post I have described the process of making this type of khoya.

Soft/Hariyali Khoya: This is the softer version of the khoya that has more moisture content and is evaporated less as compared to the hard khoya. This is generally added to gravy or vegetables to make it more creamier and denser.

Daanedar Khoya: This khoya has a grainy texture to it because the milk is curdled slightly by adding any acid (lemon juice/tartaric acid) and then the milk is evaporated. It has a moisture content that lies in a range between the above two varieties. It is used to make certain sweets like kalakand and certain laddoos and barfi.

When boiling milk one needs to make sure to choose a heavy bottom pan. It can be an iron skillet or a non stick pan. I used a non-stick pan to make khoya since the milk doesn’t stick to the pan. One needs to stir the milk continuously and keep scrapping the sides of the pan at all times.

A good amount of khoya can be obtained if full fat cow or buffalo milk is used. Generally for about 1 litre of full fat milk one should be able to get around 2o0-250 gms of khoya. However, this quantity may vary according to the quality of the milk used. At home we usually get very good quality of milk and I used around 2 1/2 litres of it and I got around 3 cups of Khoya.

I used this khoya to make gulab jamuns and gujiya. I must admit this was much much better and tastier than the store bought ones. Home-made khoya can be refrigerated and can stay good for about a week or so.

Ingredients for making Khoya at home:

Whole milk or Full fat milk – 2 1/2 litres

How to make Khoya (Mawa) with step by step pictures:

1.Take about 2 1/2 litres of full fat milk in a deep sauce pan with a thick base (non stick pan will be ideal) and keep it for boiling.

2. When the milk comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium/low.

3. Make sure to stir the milk continuously and scrap the sides of the pan and keep adding the scrap to the boiling milk.

4. Gradually the milk will start to thicken and become creamy though the milk would still be of dripping consistency. Keep stirring quickly at this point so that the milk doesn’t burn at the bottom.

5. After some time the milk will start to appear more creamy as well as start showing a granular texture.

6. Gradually the milk will start to thicken and turn more and more granular in appearance. If you are planning to make rabri for jalebi then stop cooking at this stage. However if you wish to make gulab jamun or laddoos, continue cooking the milk further.

7. Finally the milk will stop bubbling and attains a slightly cream colour.

Finally the milk will become completely granulated and appear cheese- like.

Stop the cooking and khoya is ready to be used for making different sweets. The khoya will turn hard once it is cooled. You can store the khoya for future use by refrigerating it for 3-4 days or deep freezing it for a month or so.

Note:

Make sure to keep stirring the milk at all times. Burnt milk gives an awful taste.
If you are preparing laddus, barfi or gujiya, stop cooking the khoya when it attains a light creamy colour. But if you wish to prepare gulab jamuns the khoya needs to be cooked further till it attains a slight golden brown colour.