Sheera with a twist … of Saffron, that is

by Trisha Vaz
In India, Sheera, a sweet dish made from semolina is a much loved snack. It is usually served in Udupi hotels for breakfast. In my house, however, we usually had this as an evening tea time snack. My grandmother used to whip up a little plate each, for my brother and me. She would add a some crushed cardamom seeds, a few raisins and slivered almonds right at the end, to add to the deliciousness and the healthiness of the dish. She would lovingly, flatten it out to look like a thin round cake, engrave scallops around the edges using a spoon and carve out our initials in the center, so that we’d know which one to pick. She would also add a couple of drops of food color to tint it. I still remember the excitement at seeing two delightful plates on the table, waiting for us as we came back in the evening.

My version is a little less fancy looking, but tastes the same. I know my Nana would be proud. I use roasted semolina to make this and roasting it brings out a wonderful nuttiness that the unroasted version lacks. I added a few strands of saffron as well. In mere minutes, you will be sitting down to a lovely warm, hearty treat. It is equally yummy if had once its cooled down to room temperature.

Sheera
(Serves 2)

1/2 cup semolina, dry roasted till it emits a light nutty aroma
1/2 cup milk
1/2 – 3/4 cup water
2-3 tbsp sugar, or to taste
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
A few strands of saffron, added to the milk
Seeds of 2 pods of cardamom, crushed
Slivered almonds and a few raisins (optional)

Heat the ghee in a vessel.

Add the roasted semolina and let it fry off till the ghee is incorporated with the semolina and the semolina has fried off. Make sure you don’t burn the semolina in the process.

Add the sugar and the crushed cardamom seeds.

Add the water and milk and stir continuously while the semolina absorbs the liquids.

When the liquids have almost dried out, add the slivered almonds and raisins and stir well.

Once all the liquids have been absorbed, the sheera is done.

You can garnish it with some more almond slivers, if desired.

This recipe is linked to –
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday
Savory Sunday
Meatless Mondays
Mangia Mondays
My Meatless Mondays

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Breakfast, Cakes, Cookies & Desserts, Dessert, Goan Recipes, Recipes, Snacks

The Lightest and Creamiest Japanese Cheesecake

by Trisha Vaz
I’m so glad Blogger is back. I was worried, especially when the latest post and comments went missing. But thankfully all is well now. I couldn’t wait to share this delightful treat with all of you. For me, this Japanese cheesecake is humbly plain, yet amazingly glorious. If made correctly, it is light as air, while still somehow maintaining the creaminess of the cream cheese. My husband had picked up one of these a few years ago and it was really hard to not finish the whole thing in one sitting, between the two of us. I was thrilled to bits when I made it myself. And you know something, it was just as good. The lemon juice adds a lovely flavor to it. Sadly, I don’t have a picture of a wedge of the cake after it was cut up. It’s really hard to stop eating this.  ðŸ™‚  ðŸ™‚  ðŸ™‚

I’d read in a few places that this cheesecake is finicky and a lot can go wrong, but after making it, what I can say is that if you follow the instructions carefully, you will be treated to the most amazing cheesecake you’ve had in a while and that too, made right in your kitchen. I do hope you try this out. It would be such a shame to miss out on making this. And when you do, I;d love to know how it goes.

Please excuse the picture quality, my camera was dead and I knew if I waited to charge it, there’d be nothing left to capture. So I just used my phone instead!

Japanese Cheesecake
Recipe from: Diana’s Desserts

140g superfine sugar
6 eggs, separated
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
50g butter
250g cream cheese
100 ml milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
60g all purpose flour
20g cornflour
1/4 tsp salt

Line an 8″ round cake pan (bottom and sides) with some lightly greased parchment paper. (I just lined the bottom of the pan and it worked fine too.)

Melt the cream cheese, butter and milk in a double boiler.

Cool this mix down.

Fold in the flour, cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.

Whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar till it is foamy. Add the sugar and continue to whisk till soft peaks form.

Add the cream cheese mix to the egg white mix and mix well.

Pour the mix into the prepared cake pan and bake it in a water bath at 160ºC for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until set and golden brown.

Note: I halved the recipe and used a 6″ round cake pan.

This recipe is linked to –
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday
A Themed Bakers Sunday
Not Baaad
Mangia Mondays
Homespun Bakeshop

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Cakes, Cakes, Cookies & Desserts, Dessert, Recipes

Homemade Doughnuts – Three ways

by Trisha Vaz
I’m really excited as I write this post. Those of you following my blog will know that I’ve been venturing into the world of baking with yeast lately. Obviously this is just the tip of the ice berg. There is so much more I need to learn and try. But so far its been great fun. So when I made these doughnuts yesterday and they turned out great, I was thrilled to bits. Now, for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been craving doughnuts. Sinful, luscious, indulgent doughnuts. Strangely this craving pops around over the weekend. The past couple of weekends have been a little busy, so I really haven’t been able to do anything about this craving for a long time. But this weekend I needed to get my doughnut fix. I really didn’t want to stop by the mall and pick up a box of doughnuts. I wanted to try making them on my own. I had bookmarked a recipe that I liked a few months ago. And please don’t laugh, but I really wanted to try out this doughnut cutter that I’d picked up over a year ago. I tend to do that every now and then, buy stuff planning to put it to good use, but sometimes it gets pushed right back to the deep dark recesses of my shelf and doesn’t see the light of day for a while. But now I can happily justify this impulse buying. **wink*wink**

These doughnuts are fried, but are not in the least bit greasy. They are ever so light and did I mention, really delicious. The dough is not too sweet, just the way I like it. And I think I got a little carried away while dressing them up. I had some with a vanilla glaze, some with a chocolate glaze and some dipped in cinnamon sugar. The cinna-sugar ones were my favorite. I would also suggest making sure your vanilla glaze is nice and thick or else it won’t be seen. You can’t really tell but the vanilla glaze is supposed to be a lovely yellow. In any case, they are really delicious, so no one will really mind. I halved the recipe and I got 19 doughnuts. I guess your yield will depend on the size of you cutter. The recipe below is the full one that should yield 30. 
Homemade Doughnuts
Recipe from: La Mia Vita Dolce
4 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 cup lukewarm milk
3 tbsp caster sugar
100g butter, melted
3 eggs
4 1/4 cups all purpose flour
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
Activate the yeast by placing the water, milk, sugar and yeast in a bowl. Keep aside for 10 minutes. It will turn into a frothy concoction, indicating that the yeast is active.
Mix the flour, butter, eggs and the yeast mixture to form a sticky dough.
Cover with a damp cloth and keep aside for about 45 minutes or till the dough has doubled in size.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface till it becomes smooth and elastic.
Roll on a lightly floured surface and cut out. Place the doughnuts on lightly greased baking paper. Cover with a tea towel and keep aside for about 30 minutes to rise.
Heat oil for deep frying. Carefully fry the doughnuts on a medium flame till golden brown. Drain on absorbent kitchen paper.
For the chocolate glaze – 
(Makes enough to glaze the whole batch)
2 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup warm milk
1 tbsp light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
Sift icing sugar and keep aside.
Combine butter, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until butter is melted.
Decrease the heat to low, add the chocolate, and whisk until melted.
Turn off heat, add the icing sugar, and whisk until smooth.
Dip the doughnuts in this glaze and sprinkle as desired. 
For the Vanilla glaze
(Makes enough to glaze the whole batch)

¼ cup milk
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
Gel paste food colouring (if using)

Warm the milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan set over low heat.

Add the confectioners’ sugar and whisk slowly until well combined.

If tinting glaze, using a toothpick, add a drop of gel paste at a time, whisking to combine well, until you’ve reach the desired colour.

Remove from heat and set over a bowl of warm water (you may have to reheat over low heat occasionally).

Dip the doughnuts in the glaze and sprinkle as desired.




Cinnamon Sugar Topping

1 cup caster sugar
Cinnamon powder 
1/4 cup Melted butter

Mix the caster sugar and enough cinnamon powder, till you get the intensity of flavor you are looking for.

Dip the doughnut very briefly in the melted butter and then dip in the sugar and cinnamon mix to coat well.


This recipe has been linked to – 
Sweet Tooth Friday

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Bread, Cakes, Cakes, Cookies & Desserts, Dessert, Recipes, Snacks

Franzipan: My mum-in-laws recipe

by Trisha Vaz
Honestly, before I got married and before I could take a look at my late mum-in-laws recipe collection, I had never heard of this treat. And let me tell you, I was missing out on something. My mum-in-law was a very talented person. She was an amazing cook and very skilled with the crochet needle. She was also a really good seamstress and was very creative. I wish I had the opportunity to meet her. So the first time my husband asked me to make this, I didn’t know what to expect. This is one pie he enjoys making, and hey, I’m not complaining. He does a wonderful job with it. We’ve made this for quite a few parties, gatherings and it works well as a hostess gift as well. It has always received great reviews. It is quite a rich pie, so you might want to adjust the portion sizes accordingly.

Franzipan


For the pie crust – 
250 gms all purpose flour, sieved

125 gms cold butter, cubed

Mix the cold butter and flour till it becomes crumbly.

Add a little cold water at a time and knead lightly to form a dough.

Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for ½ hour.

Roll out.

Place it in the pie pan and pierce it with a fork to help the steam escape.

Bake at 180º till lightly brown.

For the filling – 
4 oz butter

4 oz superfine sugar
4 oz cashewnuts, ground
1 oz flour
2 eggs

Method –

Melt butter over low heat.

Whisking well, add sugar and cashewnuts. Mix till it is well combined.

Take off heat and add the eggs. Mix well.

Bake in a baked pastry shell for 25 minutes at 180ºC.

Enjoy!!!

Here’s a peek at what the inside looks like –

This recipe is linked to –
Sweet tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday
Decidedly Healthy or Horridly Decadent

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Cakes, Cookies & Desserts, Dessert, Recipes

Vanilla Custard In Guava Cups

by Trisha Vaz
This is a fairly simple dessert that my mum used to surprise us with every once in a while. I still have fond memories of coming home to be greeted to some of this. As a child, I think this was one of my favorite desserts. It is so simple to make, yet tastes divine. I used some Brown & Polson Vanilla Custard, but I’ve always wanted to try making my own custard. I’ll probably do that the next time I make this. I can’t believe I haven’t made this on my own before. This dessert is served refrigerated, so its lovely for the summer months when you need to take an edge off the heat. I consider this one a healthy dessert and I’m sure you’ll agree once you’ve taken a look at the list of ingredients.

Vanilla Custard in Guava Cups


For the Vanilla Custard –
1/2 litre milk
2 tbps custard powder
3-4 tbsp. sugar, superfine or to taste

Mix the custard powder and the sugar with the cold milk.

Place on a medium flame, stirring continuously till it has thickened.

Cool and refrigerate.

For the Guava Cups – 
3 guavas, ripe but firm and not bruised (Use as many guavas as you would need to serve the number of people for the meal. You can serve half a guava to a person.)
1 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
5 cloves

Wash and cut the guavas in half. Cut off the brown parts near where the stem would’ve been.

In a large vessel, place the guavas cut side up.

Pour enough water to reach a little over the top of the guavas and add the sugar.

Bring to a boil and continue cooking till the seed portion of the guavas start popping out of the flesh.

At this point, you can pick out the guavas using a slotted spoon, cool the stewing liquid and place the guavas back in it and refrigerate till you’re ready to serve.

I picked out the guavas and let the sugar syrup continue boiling till it had thickened a little.

The stewed guavas are delicious even by themselves.

For Assembly – 
When you’re ready to serve, scoop out the guava seeds and discard. Place the guava on the serving plate/bowl.

Spoon out the chilled custard into the guava cup. I always like a little extra custard for me.

Enjoy!

This recipe is linked to –
Decidedly Healthy or Horridly Decadent
Fun with Food Fridays
Sweets for a Saturday

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Cakes, Cookies & Desserts, Dessert, Goan Recipes, Recipes

Gaajar ka Halwa

by Trisha Vaz
Gaajar ka Halwa, Carrot (Gaajar) Halwa or Carrot Pudding is a very popular dessert in India. There are loads of recipes you will find being using to whip this up. Some serve it warm, some serve it cold, some recipes will result in a richer version, but I’d like to think of mine as a slightly more health conscious variant which still results in a delightful dessert. This can also be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a long time. But truth be told, it’ll get gobbled up much sooner.

Gaajar ka Halwa
(Makes about 14-16 servings)

1 kg carrots, grated
1 (400g) tin condensed milk (I used Milkmaid)
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp. ghee or clarified butter
2 tbsp. sugar (please adjust this to suit your taste)
Seeds of about 15 green cardamom pods, pounded to a fine powder
A few almonds, slivered

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the ghee.

Add the grated carrots and stir well. Let the carrots sweat a little.

Add the milk and let it cook off for a couple of minutes on a medium flame.

Add the condensed milk. Stir well. After a few minutes add sugar to taste. Stir well.

Leave it uncovered on a medium flame, stirring occasionally till all the liquid evaporates. You may need to turn the heat down towards the end of the cooking process.

When its almost done, add the powdered cardamom seeds and slivered almonds. Mix well and take of the heat.

Garnish with a few slivered almonds and serve.

Once it has cooled completely, you can refrigerate the rest.

Note: When adding the powdered cardamom and slivered almonds, you can also throw in a few raisins and/or some chopped pistachios if you want.

This recipe has been linked to
Sweets for a Saturday #1 hosted by Lisa of Sweet as Sugar Cookies

Please spend some time and check out what the others have brought to the table this week.

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Cakes, Cookies & Desserts, Dessert, Recipes

Coconut Pancakes

by Trisha Vaz
Those of you who’ve been following this blog, know that I love coconut. Today, I’m going to share with you one of my all time favorites, the coconut pancake. From what I know, the coconut pancake has its roots in Goan cuisine. It uses Goan jaggery which is a lovely sweetener and is much healthier compared to sugar. So yes, its Decidedly Healthy and at the same time what I would consider Horridly Decadent. Its fairly easy to make and it is a wonderful treat. These are the pancakes that we make year after year on Pancake Tuesday. You can choose to use store bought crepes or make your own. I hope you enjoy these pancakes as much as we do.

Coconut Pancakes

For the Pancakes –

1 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
A pinch of salt
1 tbsp. sugar, optional
Milk

Put all the ingredients except the milk in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Add milk gradually to get the batter to the consistency ideal for making crepes. It should flow smoothly but should also be able to coat the back of a spoon.

Brush some oil on the pan.

Ladle the batter onto the pan and swirl the pan around to spread the batter. When the top of the crepe is no longer sticky, flip it over. Once this side has cooked as well, take it off the pan.

Repeat the oiling of the pan after each crepe is taken off and continue with the rest of the batter.

For the filling –

Freshly grated coconut (about 1/2 a coconut)
Grated Goa jaggery, to taste

Mix both adjusting the amount of jaggery to get the desired amount of sweetness.

To assemble the pancakes –

Once the crepes have cooled, spoon some of the filling onto the crepe and roll it up, making sure to tuck in the sides to stop the filling from falling out.

The pancakes are now ready to serve.

This recipe has been linked up with –
Decidedly Healthy or Horridly Decadent Saturday Party
Fun with Food Friday

and
Breakfast Club  – Guest Hosted by Krithi’s Kitchen

Do stop by and check what the others have made.

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Cakes, Cookies & Desserts, Dessert, Goan Recipes, Recipes, Snacks

Final Week of 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies: Jujups

by Trisha Vaz
Yes folks, here we are, at the final week of an amazing 12 week journey. A journey where so many wonderful bakers, cooks and bloggers put up some wonderful treats each week. I know I’ve learned so much from them. Their work has truly been inspiring. My ever growing ‘to bake’ list just got a whole lot longer and I can’t wait to try out some of these treats myself.

Considering how close we are to Christmas and how swamped I am with things that need to be done around my house and in my kitchen, I haven’t baked anything for this weeks round up. Now that doesn’t mean I didn’t bake anything. There’s a load of stuff happening in the kitchen … more on that later. However, it also doesn’t mean that I’m going to skip this weeks submission. This week I’d like to showcase what we in India call ‘Jujups’. This is a lovely sugary treat that can be made in a number of flavors and colors. Its quite a hit with kids. I haven’t yet made jujups this year, so I’m going to add a picture from last year. I will add a better picture when I make it this time around.

Jujups
Ingredients –
500g sugar
30g unflavored gelatin
1 sour lime
1 cup water
A few drops of essence
A few drops of color
Castor sugar for coating
A pinch of cream of tartar
Method – 
In a steel vessel, add ¾ cup water, sugar and the cream of tartare to make a sugar syrup. Keep on a high flame and stir till the sugar dissolves. Then on a low flame and let it cook to a 2 thread consistency approx. about 20 mins. While this is cooking, use ¼ cup of water and dissolve the gelatin in it. Add the juice of 1 sour lime and mix well. Let it soak for about 5-10 minutes. 
Once the sugar syrup is ready, add the gelatin mix to it and stir well. Let this concoction warm through for a minute or so. Add the color and flavoring as desired and mix well. Grease a tray with olive oil and pour the mixture through a metal strainer into it. Leave it to set undisturbed. Once it cools you may keep it in the fridge overnight. The next day, bring the mix to room temperature and then loosen the edges using a knife. Unmould the jujups on a board covered liberally with castor sugar. Cut with a greased knife and roll the pieces in castor sugar. Cover and keep in an air tight container.
Colour & Essence Chart –

Here’s a handy dandy chart to guide you when trying out different flavor and color combinations. This is the assortment I made last Christmas. Feel free to experiment and make it your own. If you do try any flavors that aren’t mentioned here, let me know how it goes, so that I can add to this list.
Color      –   Flavor
Pink / Red – Strawberry
Yellow – Pineapple / Lemon
Purple – Black current
Green – Mix fruit
Orange – Orange
NOTE: Cream of tartar is used to prevent crystallization of sugar in the sugar syrup. Make sure you use a very small pinch – if excess is used, the jujups won’t form.

Don’t forget to check out what the others have put up this week!

Week 12 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Cakes, Cookies & Desserts, Christmas Recipes, Dessert, Goan Recipes, Recipes