Remembering Dad With his favorite Sweet - Rasgolla with a South Indian Twist

It has been more than 10 days, I posted in my blog. These 10 days were the toughest days in this new year. After mom left us to heavenly abode 6 months back, my dad has also followed her. I just couldn't believe it. Now I am left without my parents and it is killing me. Until they were alive a small girl was alive within me and now I feel like I am missing that girl. Suddenly I feel very lonely and old. The only reason I am staying sane is my little girl Sruti. I didn't even feel like sitting before my PC, but I wanted something to divert me from the sorrow which has struck me the second time in six months. And this post is to remember my Dad with his favourite sweet. 

This is the snap of mom and dad before 20 years. I know the editing is very bad but I couldn't do a better job. 

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Paneer Sandwich

For the third week of Blogging Marathon#34, I chose the theme evening snacks. When my daughter returns from school, the very first question she asks after entering home is "Mom, What is for snacks today?" So I make sure that she gets her favourite snack every day. Some times, when I feel lazy, I buy a biscuit packet or murukku packet. As many of you have noticed, I don't have a sandwich recipe in my blog because I didn't have a sandwich maker. But recently I got a sandwich maker as a free gift when I got another kitchen appliance and I was very happy to make this sandwich for my daughter.  My mom used to make delicious sandwiches and my brother's friends in Pondicherry were great fans of her sandwiches. She used to apply a generous amount of vanaspathi on all the sides of the bread slice and she used to make a delicious potato stuffing for the sandwich. She had a sandwich maker which has to be used on a stove and I still remember it after all these years. She used to buy 3-4 packs of large Modern bread for my brother's friends and finally we would end up with no sandwich for myself and mom. They used to devour the sandwiches and I am sure they will remember it even now. Now as I am little concerned about my health, I used butter for my daughter and I made it oil and butter free for myself and hubby. It can never beat the taste of mom's sandwich but it is guilt free. I also used wheat bread instead of white bread. But do try it with white bread and vanaspathi for a delicious treat. My daughter loved these sandwiches and I think one day she will say that nothing could beat her mom's sandwiches....

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Malai Kofta Curry

For this month's South Vs North Challenge, started by Divya, Nupur of Northern team challenged the Southern team with a delicious and rich gravy. Malayi Kofta curry is a rich creamy gravy served along with soft paneer koftas. This is a restaurant style gravy which goes very well with tandoori roti, naan and other flat breads. The paneer koftas are actually deep fried, but it is completely your choice. You can either deep fry them or shallow fry or bake or cook them in paniyaram pans. However you cook the koftas, the final gravy turns out delicious. I recently purchased a grill plate for making rotis. To go with the gravy I made some rotis made on the grill plate. The combination was quite fantastic. 

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Austrian Dumplings with Vanilla Sauce

I have joined another interesting group this year. International Food Challenge was started by Saraswathi and Shobana and it focuses on international dishes. We the members try out a recipe from a selected cuisine every month. I thought it was interesting to try out various recipes and so I joined the group. For this month, the cuisine selected was Austrian. Briju was the host this month and she selected four recipes from Austrian cuisine. 

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Labongo latika

You know that I am part of South Vs North Challenges started by Divya. For this month, Sanoli of Sanoli's Kitchen is the host for the Southern team. She challenged the southern team with a Bengali sweet Labongo Latika. It is a sweet pastry filled with mawa and nuts and finally coated with sugar syrup. It is a delicious sweet and I have prepared it before. So I was so confused whether to take part in the challenge or not. But then I didn't want to miss the challenge. So I tweaked the filling and made it once again. I used paneer instead of mawa and the sweet turned so tasty. The clove gives a nice flavour to the sweet. Labongo means clove in Bengali and thus the sweet is named so. 

Recipe Adapted From Sanoli

Makes 20 Labongo Latikas

Ingredients:

For The Filling:

Paneer-200 gm

Sugar - 4 tbs

Cashew nuts-2 tbs

Sliced Almonds-2 tbs

Raisins-2 tbs

Milk-1 tbs

Almond Essence-1/4 tsp

For The Dough:

Flour/ Maida- 2 cups

Ghee-3 tbs

Salt-a pinch

Powdered Sugar-2 tbs

Baking Powder-1/4 tsp

Saffron - a few strands

Oil- For Deep Frying

Cloves-20

For The Syrup:

Sugar-1 cup

Water-1/2 cup

Rose Essence-1/4 tsp

Procedure:

For The Dough:

1. In a bowl mix together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, ghee and saffron.

2. Mix to form a crumbly dough.

3. Add enough water to make a soft dough.

4. Cover and keep it aside for 30 minutes.

For The Filling:

1. Grind paneer to a smooth paste adding milk.

2. In a heavy bottomed pan add together the ground paneer, sugar and essence.

3. Cook until the paneer starts leaving sides but still wet.

4. Remove from flame and add the nuts. Allow it to cool completely.

Preparing the Labongo Latikas:

1. Divide the dough into 20 equal pieces.

2. Roll them into balls.

3. Roll each ball into a 10 cm disc.

4. Place a tbs of filling and fold all the four sides to form a pocket.

5. Secure it in place using a clove.

6. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry all the pockets on medium flame until golden.

7. Transfer to a plate.

Sugar Syrup:

1. Mix together sugar and water and bring it to boil.

2. When it reaches 2 thread consistency, remove from heat and add the essence.

3. Dip the labongo latikas in batches. Once coated with the syrup, place on a wire rack and allow it to dry for at least 2 hours.

4. Store in airtight jar.

5. Serve as a snack.

Mix together ground paneer, sugar and essence.

Once cooked add the nuts.

Mix flour, sugar, saffron, ghee baking powder and salt.

Add enough water to make a soft dough.

Divide into 20 pieces.

Roll each piece into a 10 cm circle, place a tbs of filling in the centre.

Fold the two sides as shown.

Now fold the remaining two sides to form a pocket.

Secure it with a clove.

Finish all the 20 pieces.

Deep fry them in batches until golden brown.

Prepare a syrup of two string consistency.

Dip the labongo latikas in the syrup.

Let them dry on a wire rack.

Enjoy!!

And here is the previous version with Mawa Filling:

Paneer Burfi

How many of you have started your Diwali preparations? I started it yesterday with this delicious burfi. This is a cross between kalakand and milk burfi. I prepared paneer with 4 lts of milk yesterday with a plan to make kalakand. But after preparing kalakand so many times, I just wanted to make something different.

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