Bura na Mano.... "HOLI HAI........"

As the winds change, as summer slowly drags its foot into our lives and as the cold beautiful winter bids us a farewell, here comes HOLI...... It marks the beginning of scorching heat and maybe thats why we celebrate this festival by drenching one another. ( Thats a good explanation) The crops have been threshed, the farmers are at peace now they have enough to survive for a while, there's an air of happiness all around. Its a day when families reunite, when neighbours rejoice, people have a reason to hog on the sweets, and friends have a reason to meet.



The legend of King Hiranyakashyap is associated with this festival. This legend signifies the victory of good over evil, of devotion surpassing ambition. The king was an ambitious one, who wanted absolute power so that he would be worshipped as God. When the wish was made known, the King’s own son, Prahlad, refused to accept. Prahlad was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu, and it was only to his Lord that he gave allegiance. The proud King was enraged by Prahlad’s disobedience and decided to punish him severely. He asked his sister Holika for help. It was believed that Holika was immune to fire and would never be burnt, so the King asked Holika to sit in the centre of a bonfire with Prahlad on her lap, so that the fire could burn him alive. The bonfire was lit, and young Prahlad sat in Holika’s lap, in its centre, praying to Lord Vishnu. His devotion saved him, leaving him untouched by the flames, but Holika was burnt to ashes. To mark this legend, huge bonfires are lit on the eve of Holi, especially in Bihar and the North. Its done one night previous to the festival of Holi and is known as Holika Dahan.



Holi, being celebrated across India today is the most colourful Hindu festival but can u beleive it has a Muslim history to it as well....?


Sufi saints like Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia and Amir Khusrau in their chaste Persian hymns expressed their love for this festival. Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar's Holi ‘phags’ (songs) are relished even today.

During the Shahjahani tenure of Delhi, Holi was known as Eid-e-Gulabi (Pink Eid) or Aab-e-Pashi (Shower of Colourful Flowers). The nobles, kings and nawabs exchanged rose water bottles and sprinkled them on each other along with the frenzied drumming of the ‘nagaras’ (drums).
Many artists, especially Govardhan and Rasik, have shown Jahangir playing Holi with Noorjahan, his wife.

“Who says Holi is a Hindu festival?” Holi lasted for days during the Mughal rule during which people, irrespective of religious or social distinctions, forgot their restraints. The poorest of the poor threw colour on the emperor.

As holi knocks our doors...We realise just like any other festival in India Holi is completely incomplete without the food extravaganza. Here in India most of our celeberations include food... why most.... all of it. Holi in the northern India with the obvious excuse of splashing colours all over people and just saying... " Bura na mano.... Holi hai...." ( Pls don mind but its Holi....) also is an easy excuse for all the lovely food one can hog upon...

Some of the things that the festivities of Holi are incomplete without are ......

Thandai
Thandai as it literally means is cooling... its quintessential when it comes to holi.. loaded with dry fruits and is a sweet tasting milk based drink with a hint of spice that hits your throat at the end is a must during Holi. Be it in its sombre fashion as it is or loaded with bhaang its a favourite among all.

Bhaang is actually an intoxicant prepared by grounding the buds and leaves of Cannabis using a mortar and pestle into a green paste.
Its quite an adventure to drink this thing as many have different theories about it. The effect of the bhaang remains almost for a day. The best u can do is enjoy it a bit and then sleep off for the rest of the day atleats a 24 hours. The effect of this intoxicant is such that whatever u start off doing u do it for the rest of the time. There are people who cry for the whole day and some just cant stop laughin. Some start beleiving that they are kids while some beleive that they are lost. Its hillarious for the others to watch but to be a part of it is quite a bet.
But all said and done holi is incomplete without this cherished item.
Here is the recipe for the sombre Thandai not the one with the crazy ingredient......

Ingredients:
1 1/2 litres water
1/2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 tbsp. almonds
1 tbsp. watermelon seeds peeled (commercially available)
1/2 tbsp. khuskhus (poppy seeds)
1/2 tbsp. saunf (aniseed)
1/2 tsp. cardamom powder
1/2 tsp. rose water (optional)
1 tsp. peppercorns whole
1/4 cup dried or fresh rose petals (gulkand variety)



Method:


Dissolve sugar in 1/2 litre of the water used.

Wash clean all other dry ingredients.

Soak in 2 cups of remaining water.

Allow all soaked items to stand for at least 2 hours.

Grind all soaked ingredients to a very fine paste.

Mix remaining water to the paste.

Place a thin muslin cloth over a large deep vessel and press through muslin with back of hands to extract the liquid into the vessel.

Add milk, sugar and rosewater to the extracted liquid.

Chill for a hour or two before serving.


This is the other essential item of Holi. I'm sure u all know that Indians cannot live without frying something. So this is this festivals fried delicacy. Gujiya or karanji( as called in Maharashtra) or Karchikaay( as in the south of India) is stuffed with dry fruits and either khoya in the North or with coconut in the South. The reason that the ingredient is different in the 2 regions is very obvious. its due to the availability. Since milk is abundant in the north its khoya thats used and the same with the coconut down south. Conveience makes everything the cause.

Gujia

Ingredients:
500 gms maida (flour)
1kg khoya ( dry reduced form of milk )
3 tbsps kismis (raisins)
200 gms almonds (cut into thin strips)
6 tbsps cooking oil. ( keep some more aside for deep frying)
200 ml water
500 gms sugar.

Method:

Mix the six tablespoons of oil with the maida.

Now add some water as required and knead into soft dough.

Set aside and cover with a damp cloth.

Fry khoya in a deep-frying pan to a light brown color.

Add sugar, almonds and kismis into the khoya and mix well.

Remove from the fire and let it cool.

Roll out the kneaded dough into a small and thick chapatti.

Fill half the chapati with the khoya mixture and seal the round, twisting the edges inwards.

Deep-fry these gujhias to a deep golden brown color on slow flame.

Take them out with a sieve type ladle and drain the oil completely.

Some prefer it just this way....

But a few like me would like it further sweet and so as soon as we remove it from the oil we dip it into a warm sugar syrup and then remove and keep aside. This gives that extra sweetness makes it a lil more juicy and also gives it a shine. Though one draw back that u cant keep these ones for too long.


Note - Makes about 40 gujhias.

Enjoy these recipes till i come up with some more of the delicacies....

Some of the text from this blog are excerpts from other sites, with due acknowledgement.

Warqui Paratha : Complete Indulgence.

( Note: pls put the volume on mute..... or just ignore it.... :) )

Warqui Paratha...

Once you've seen the speed with which this guy makes these paratha's( Indian Bread ) Dont get so sure its as easy as it looks. This guy makes a living with this bread, this is one of the Hyderabad Specialities. Though he sells it at Rs. 5 a piece which is hardly anything, he still takes home just around 100 bucks at the end of the day maybe not even that much. This is what India is all about. Peolple slog to get just enough to fill their tummies, just their tummies.

Warqui basically means leaves... this paratha has many a layers and they look as if its a pile of leaves stacked together.. hence the name warqui paratha. Its a Muslim Speciality and found mainly in the musalmani areas of Hyderabad. Tell u one thing they know how to make the best food possible. Their food is like heaven.

Warqui Paratha

Ingredients

1 kg: Flour
50 gm: Ghee ( Clarified Butter)
20 gm: Sugar
Water for kneading
1 tsp: Salt

For Layering

150 gm: Malai ( or Cream)
200 gm: Fat ( Butter)
50 gm: Flour
Kewra essence few drops

Method
1. Prepare a soft dough with flour, salt, ghee, sugar and cold water. Keep aside for 30-45 minutes in a cool place, covered with a muslin cloth.

2. Shape into equal round balls and roll it with a rolling pin about 5-6 cm in diameter.

3. Put an even layer of the fat mixture on one rolled surface. Apply only in the centre and not all the way to the edges or else all the mixture will run out creating a mess. Fold into half. Apply fat mixture on surface. Refold into quarters. Shape this quarter into a ball gently.

4. Repeat the process once again. Finally roll to 12 to 15 cm in diameter.Bake in a moderate oven. In the above video the paratha is being cooked in clay oven called the tandoor.

5. Filling for Layering

Mix (cream) malai, flour and fat together till smooth and add a little bit of kewra essence to it. Try and keep this mixture coolotherwise while layering it will all ooze out.

Rajdhani

Traditional Indian Thaali food. In more apt words its the Indian answer to the pre plated food thats served in France. And what an answer. An 18 course menu is extravagant u say???

Well wait and watch what all is served in this Thaali of ours... and ya Mind it ( In rajni uncles words).. its UNLIMITED......

Well Rajdhani the restaurant has been around for a while now and has quite a few outlets scattered here and there in delhi as well as gurgaon. Its quite a family place and judging by the covers that they have per table they usually get a lot of huge families coming in together.

The service is mind boggling. Its fast, its courteous, its impeccable and its in sign language.

Yes u read it right... the waiters over here speak to each other with this peculiar sign language making sure they are not the ones creating the noise in the restaurant.

The turn over at this restaurant is just fantastic but that is completely due to the service guys around they dont even give u a breather. The food is on your plate even before u can say i've had enough.

Well in a very traditional manner making u feel as though u're invited to one of the village homes and are being given royal treatment, the first thing they do is wash your hands. Man do u feel like a king or wat... or for the matter a princess....

Though u do feel a little awkward getting some stranger to wash your hands, but then u also enjoy this grand treatment.. he he he....
Well enough about the service now lets get to the main aspect... the FOOD.....



Quite decent is wat i would i say... Only for vegetarians one of the few places that one can enjoy such a wide spread of vegetarian affair also confirming to no garlic and no onion food.


The variety u get is outstanding. Starting from the chhach or jaljeera that they serve as the liquid appetizer, moving on to the khaman, dhokla, kachori , pithi, gujia, dahi bhalla, the achaars the chutney, khandvi , koshimbiri( these are just the appetizers) moving on to the various subzi's( curries) such as a plain aaloo matar ki subzi( potatoes and peas) gatte ki subzi( gram flour dumplings in a mild gravy), Kurkuri Bhindi ( Crispy fried okra), gujarati dal, gujrati kadhi( yoghurt based), muthiya kadhi, puran poli, singhade ki puri, paratha, phulke( the best), makai bhakri, thaali pith, thepla, ( okay i'm getting tired just naming them...) and then a variety of rice... and hello i'm not done yet... the meetha( sweet ) is yet to come....
things ranging from gulab jamun, shrikhand, aamrakhand, aam ras, dudhi halwa, rajgira sheera, sabudana kheer.

You can be sure of atleast 20 items on your thaali. And the best part being that the menu changes everyday.. making it a point to tell u that u should come back soon cause we have so much more for u....
And thats why at the end when u're about to leave they make it a point to scream out to u.. OUJHO.... Meaning pls come back again... and tell u what go there once and u'll definately listen to them.....




MGF Mall,
3rd Floor, Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road,
Gurgaon

Fresh Homemade Pancakes

Is it just not soooooooooooooo satisfying to start your day with a pile of pancakes dripping with maple syrup... or honey.. or just simple and absolutely amazing chocolate sauce...
I think the loook of that gorgeous disk of ecstacy just makes my day... wat a wonderful start... and wat better than a banana and raisin pancake... Just marvelous...

1 cup refined flour.
2tsp baking pd.
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
30g melted butter
1 heaped tbsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
a handfull of raisins
2 banans medium
honey or maple syrup or chocolate sauce to serve.

Recipe.

• seive together the dry ingredients.



• beat the egg well and add the sugar vanilla essence and melted butter to the same. and beat to get a nice and creamy consistency



• mash the bananas well and seap the raisins in warm milk.



• and the wet ingredients slowly into the dry one and mix well.



• if too dry add a bit of milk and flour if too wet.



• leave in the fridge either for a minimum of 15 mins... or overnight to make for breakfast the next day...



• heat a non stick pan and simple rub on it with a greased paper towel piece...



• once nice and hot reduce to sim and pour one ladle of the pancake mixture onto the pan. don not touch just pour it over to form a circle. leace to cook.



• once it starts bubbling and begins to leave the sides slowly flip it over.



• and allow to be done on the other side



• it should get a nice and golden colour...

how much ever u feel like presseing it down so it cooks faster don u dare touch it. It defeats all the purpose of making it light and fluffy. And yeah always cook it on sim it gives this beautiful golden hew. Stack it up and serve to your guests it keeps them warm. never cover cause then it'll get soggy...

just pour over watever u wish on it and seriously ENJOY.......

My "BANOFEE PIE"

Man u guys have to taste it to beleive it... its like just amazing... its sinful... its worth comitting a crime for... really...
its like the easiest thing to make but then its gorgeous.. and the way it just melts in the mouth is just outstanding....
And banana its like pure plaesure... Remember the banana cake? that takes a second place when banofee is on the cards... can u imagine that... its even better than that....
well i made this the first time on my last birthday... then once again and this is like the third time.. and each time its marvelous.. better than the first which itself was awesome...

ok ok... too much of talkin lets get to the recipe.. correct???

well ingredients.....

1 can nestle milkmaid...
1 pack whipped cream...
20 digestive biscuits....
40gms Butter( salted unsalted doesnt really matter)
3- 4 ripe bananas
salt to taste...

well as the name suggests,... banofee pie... its a banana toffee pie... so simple..

• Basically put the can in a vessel full of water till it covers it completely and allow it to simmer covered for like 4 hrs on the gas...





• meanwhile make the biscuit base by crushing the biscuits and then mixing in the melted butter to form a kinda paste... now layer it well on the cardboard covered with aluminium foil in which u gonna present the pie.. and keep in the fridge to set...





• once the milkmaids done leave it aside allow to cool and then open the can.





• once opened it will look nice and brown the colour of toffee...





• now cover the biscuit base well with this mixture of toffee...





• now slice the bananas in nice circles and arrange on top of this... and chill





• serve with whipped cream or with vanilla ice cream cut into wedges...

simply delicious...