HIGH TEA

Entertaining is part of life growing up in an Army family.
Add to that, having a Dad who was in the British Army before it became the Indian Army, and you have a plethora of rich experiences related to entertaining.
As far as entertaining and being entertained is concerned: as a child I didn't enjoy the fact my parents were out almost every evening. As an adult and married to a civilian, I entertained and went out on a moderate scale, keeping in mind that I didn't want the kids to be alone at home all the time.
Now as a senior with diabetes, it isn't easy to entertain. However, we really want to repay all the hospitality extended to us throughout this year. The summer heat makes me dizzy and the winter cold makes me stiff. I have a small wedge of time in the Fall to do the things I want to, so I decided to do something quickly.
I've come up with the idea of having a HIGH TEA, and am looking forward it.

But our High Tea is going to be easy on us (I hope) with make ahead dishes and one last minute standing-by-the-stove fried item.
It is going to be in the comfort of our home and though I plan on using Corelle plates, I will concede to using paper cups and disposable glasses. The plates will go in the dishwasher with the dishes, and I have helped the environment by using them.

Planning this High Tea brings back memories of my varied experiences with them.
I've always loved High Teas, and have enjoyed them in Singapore at Raffles, in London at Claridges, in Victoria BC at The Empress, besides a lot of places in the USA.
Of all these places, The Empress wins hands down for the best tea.
The incredible quality of the high tea at the Empress though expensive, has to be experienced to be believed. Each and every dish was fresh and superb in taste and presentation.
The quantity filled us up and there was a mix of dishes for vegetarians and non-veggies.
An excellent tea selection was served with each cup freshly made not over stewed.
The attentiveness of our waiter throughout the meal topped it off perfectly.

The usual High Tea is made up of scones with clotted cream and a variety of jams, an assortment of sandwiches (I hate the ones made with chicken paste, salmon paste, preferring the actual fresh meat instead), miniature cakes and biscuits and of course a selection of different teas.
Raffles in Singapore with the most extensive menu I have seen of any High Tea, combining tastes and flavors of East and West with huge tables groaning under the weight of the food.
The curried chicken puffs stand out in my memory.

This is what I intend to do for my High Tea: combine Indian sweets and snacks with the cakes and sandwiches to please the palates of all my guests and fill them up as this was what High Teas were originally intended for.

A brief history of High Tea: Low tea was the normal tea served with dainty treats, whereas High Tea was what the farmers and working class wanted when they came in from work. It was filling, it took the place of dinner, and there was nothing 'dainty' about it. High Tea was also known as Meat Tea in early England.

Here I've gone out for High Tea at 10 a.m, noon, mid-afternoon, evening and dinner time!
For mine this year, I'm inviting my guests at 3 o'clock, knowing most of them will show up at 4 (Indians have their own standard time). My High Tea menu is going to be a mix of the menus of low and high teas, so it fills up my guests. That's what a good party is all about, to me: good food, good people, good conversation and nowadays a good chair to sit in!

If you have any easy make ahead sweet or savory suggestions, please send them to me.
I really would appreciate time-saving recipes with great results and I will give you full credit here.

In the meantime while I invite you to stick with me while I plan this event, I'll give you my tentative menu. The recipes will follow when I make the dishes.

Sweet dishes:

1. Scones with lemon curd.
2. Cake
3. Biscuits/cookies/tarts.
4. Fruit salad
5. Brownies (a friend is bringing them)
6. An Indian mithai (sweetmeat)/dessert.

Savoury dishes:

1. Chicken and vegetable puffs
2. Sandwiches
3. Matri/chakli/kodbilla (make ahead dish)
4. Salmon dish (my neighbor is bringing that)
5. Chips/crackers/dip (bought and set up).
6. My last minute fried dish...tikkis/vades/?

Beverages/Drinks: Tea, coffee, soda, punch.

Let me know what you think of the menu and especially if you have GREAT suggestions for easy dishes.
I look forward to hearing from you with anything from sweet, snack, drink recipes and I will be haunting the cooking blogs for ideas too.

12 dishes with an assortment of tea, coffee and soft drinks/punch should make 30-35 people happy. I had a list of 20 but that was too much and I cut back. As a foodie, I want each dish to taste it's best, be really fresh and make my High Tea a 'moment on the lips but forever in their memory' type party.

5 star Dahi Vada

Why does the temperature have to catapult to over one hundred suddenly, for days on end? Just when we thought we were over the worst for this year. Well, the heat sent my mind off in a desperate search for cool foods and I came up with dahi vades. Having loved these for years, I have to share this recipe as it comes out great.
For those who have never heard of them...
What are dahi vadas/vades?
Deep fried lentil balls, soaked in seasoned yogurt. Served cold as an accompaniment to a spicy meal or alone as a snack, these are mouth wateringly satisfying.

Ingredients:

1 cup urad dal (white lentils from the Indian grocery store).
( This quantity makes about forty vades of one inch diameter).
2 quarts yogurt.
For seasoning: mustard seeds, red chillies, curry leaves and hing (asafoetedia).
1 small carton buttermilk.
Ginger, green chillies, jeera and chilli powder, chaat masala.
Green and sweet chutney.
Store bought, very fine sev. (Sev is a crunchy mix made by deep frying a lentil mixture pressed through a fine lentil press).
Oil for deep frying. (I use a mixture of corn oil and olive oil).

Wash and soak these for 3-4 hours. Grind till smooth but do not add too much water.
Dough should be a little thicker than idli batter...dropping consistency.
Add 1/3 tsp baking soda to dough and blend another minute to mix well.
Allow dough to rise for 2-3 hours. (I leave it in the blender to rise.)

Season 2 quarts yogurt/curd: Heat one tsp oil. Add 1 tbsp rai, 4 red chillies, twenty curry leaves and 1/3 tsp hing. Add salt and one tsp sugar to yogurt. Mix and refrigerate.

Grind 2 green chillies, 3/4 inch ginger. Mix into vada dough. If you're making this for kids or people who can't eat spicy food, remove some batter for them and add masala to the rest.
Mix well with salt.

Heat four cups water in a saucepan and keep on simmer on a back burner.

Heat oil in a wok/frying pan/kadai. When you put in a drop of dough and it rises to the top immediately, oil is ready. Drop vades in by the teaspoonful and fry six at a time. Vades flatten out in oil. If oil is smoking turn it down as only outside will fry. If oil is too cool, the vades are going to absorb the oil. Fry golden brown on both sides, then pick up with slotted spoon and slide into hot water on back burner. Leave for a minute or two...this strips the layer of oil on the vades.
Drop next batch of vades into the oil and while they fry, use a different spoon, remove the vades from the hot water and place them in a flat dish. Turn the vades that are frying over in the oil.
When you have them all in a single layer in a flat dish, pour buttermilk to cover them. If buttermilk is too thick, dilute it with a little water. I get the store bought buttermilk and some brands are too thick. The idea here is for the vades to soak up the buttermilk.
If you are freezing the vades, this would be the stage to do it.
I refrigerate them after adding the buttermilk and half an hour before serving, I add the thick seasoned yogurt in a layer on top, gently making room (with a small spoon) for yogurt to settle between the vades.
People use less yoghurt and water it down, but this dish is el supremo when thickest yoghurt is added at the end. These dahi vades just melt in your mouth and once you make them, you will never be able to eat those hard in the center vades some people serve.
On top sprinkle some chopped coriander leaves, chilli powder, jeera powder and chaat masala. When I can get it, I add some fine sev on top. A drizzle of hot chutney (made with green chillies, coriander, salt and lime) and sweet chutney (blend dates with a little tamarind, jaggery, chilli, jeera and ginger powders) makes this even better.
I usually save the chutney when we order samosas and then use those on the dahi vades...if there's a shortcut you can trust me to find it.
Beat the heat with this cool treat.

PUFFS, SAMOSAS, TURNOVERS

The Puff Digest.


This really is a Digest as it contains a compilation of all I know, have learned and researched in cookbooks, on television and the Internet about Puffs.
I've found enough shortcuts with this to ensure original taste without the labor, time and energy originally involved in the recipe.
Puffs are also called turnovers in some countries, samosas in others...by whatever name you know it, a puff still is really amazing. In our house it's a meal in one and I wanted to share all the shortcuts I know with you. The history of my experience with puff making is recorded for those who love reading 'the real version'.

Before I married HD, I had only made puff pastry taught in my high school cooking class by Sister Rita Mary.
This was the American/English version with cold butter, flour, water and `cool' hands.
Again, in those days this was a very long version and done only under compulsion in class.

When I got married, to my surprise I found, HD's family made the best puffs with a labor intense version of home made puff pastry, and their own unique filling.
They made a dough out of maida (all purpose flour), water, salt and a little ghee. After letting the dough rest for a couple of hours, they rolled it out to a big circle, then spread a mixture called `saatta', made of equal quantities of ghee and maida. This was spread on the circle, the circle rolled up into a cylinder, starting with a 3/4 inch fold. This large roll was then cut into 1 inch pieces, then each piece rolled out in one direction only, keeping the cut pieces at the ends. This small circle was filled, sealed with a mix of flour and water and then deep fried. The layers were amazing, the taste incredible and the work mind boggling.
The whole process from start to finish took quite a few hours and more than one pair of hands. which in a large family there was no shortage of.

Here abroad, where there is only one person to make your favorite dishes...you...I soon found a shortcut that was pleasing to the palate without compromising taste.
I have made these puffs many times over the years, keeping the original filling but using my healthier shorter version.
Originally, Pepperidge Farm sheets provided the puff pastry. I cut each sheet into three rectangles along the creases lengthwise, and then each rectangle into three squares. I rolled out each square further then cut into two lengthwise, stuffed each portion, sealed it with a mix of flour and water.
So here's the Math: from each rectangle I got six puffs and from each sheet eighteen puffs in total.
Even with the rolling out, there were enough layers in the final puff to impress everyone.
I baked the puffs following package instructions, switching the baking tray from top to bottom rack half through to ensure even baking.
If you don't roll out the dough squares a bit, you'll end up with a cover that's too thick.

Older and wiser now, I have switched to the five by five inch squares (or four by four, depending which brand you pick) of Puff Pastry sold in packets at my local Lebanese store. I roll out the squares and make two large puffs out of each...four would be better and smaller, but I'm not that patient.
I bake them in a 425 degree oven, in the middle rack. They come out great.

On a search for other covers, I came across mention of all these wrappers on different websites and television shows: wonton wrappers, phyllo dough sheets, phyllo dough cups, egg roll wrappers, empanada wrappers, pie crust sheets, puff pastry.

Recently, much to my delight, after reading a recipe for baked empanadas, I discovered frozen empanada wraps in the Mexican Supermarket.
I fill each circle, put water on half the semi-circle, fold over, and press the edge with the tines of a fork.
I was a little disappointed with how dry the baked empanadas were, so I broke my rule of very little fried foods and fried one just to see the difference.
The results overwhelmed me. Though the crust was a little bubbly for some reason, it was a perfect samosa crust....all one could ask for, dream of and enjoy tremendously.

Then I came across a recipe for samosas stuffed with chole (garbanzo beans/chick peas cooked with spices...recipe below). I've looked for the site repeatedly to give them credit here, but I cannot find it. This idea of chole in a samosa, caught my attention and tantalized my tastebuds. Which clever person had thought the recipe up and why was I never that clever person?
For a picnic, I made them with the empanada wrappers. It was just like eating puris and chole in a neat package...so I made them again for a friend to take on a long flight, and stuffed two of them with shrimp from my shrimp curry and four with chole. She loved them and I loved her enjoyment of them.
I use the whole circle of dough, which is each empanada wrapper and make them as crescent samosas. (picture one, top right.)
My daughter came over to help me make the samosas last year, to take on a picnic with her friends and all their tiny tots. She cut the empanada crescents in half and made little triangular samosas so we could differentiate between the non-spicy and the spicy. So if you want triangular ones, there's your method. (picture three top left).

A few days later after we made the samosas for the picnic, I saw Robin Miller making empanadas rolling out a ready made circle of pie crust dough (they come two big sheets in a pack). After rolling it a little, she cut out circles using a round cookie cutter, stuffed and baked them. That's a good baked empanada cover as it comes out flaky and delicious.
Her recipe is on The Food Network.

As for phyllo dough, it's a challenge to work with in small quantities because of the way it dries out, but I do love the Greek spanakopitas (spinach puffs), when someone else makes them.

I tried egg roll wrappers as covers and they do crisp up nicely when deep fried, but really the winners are the puffs made from the puff pastry squares (baked), and empanada covers for the fried ones.

I have done this over and over so I know the best covers when I eat them!

Now on to the fillings.

Filling 1.

HD's family filling. (This is a unique mix of ingredients that makes strange reading but once made and eaten is addictive).

Boil 2 Tablespoons channa dal...mash half of it.
Boil 2 potatoes...mash them.
Combine potatoes and channa dal.
Cook the following together, if all veggies are fresh. If some are frozen, add when the fresh veggies are two thirds done.
1/2 cup peas.
1/2 medium finely chopped nukol (kohlrabi).
1 bunch dill, washed and finely chopped.
1/2 cup carrots. (I use grated carrots ).
1/2 cup beans, finely chopped.
When done add 1 large finely chopped onion.

Masala: Grind 1 bunch coriander, washed and cleaned. 1/4 coconut, 1/2 inch piece ginger, 2 cloves garlic, green chillies to taste, 1 tablespoon khus khus (Indian poppy seed), 2 cloves (the spice).

Assemble all veggies in a pot, add masala and salt to taste and let it cook for a few minutes more till mix is dry. Cool before filling.

Filling 2.

The usual mix of potatoes, peas and spices. You'll find this recipe on a number of websites/cookbooks.

Filling 3. (Middle picture, 2nd row).

Keema (Mince): I use lean turkey minced/ground meat for this.
Fry chopped onions brown, add garam masala (ground cloves, cinnamon and cardamom), chilli powder, salt, chopped coriander and washed & drained ground turkey.
Cook till dry.

Filling 4.

Chicken: Cook chicken well and chop fine.
Fry a lot of onions, add finely chopped coriander, ground ginger and garlic, 1 tsp garam masala, chilli powder and salt to taste.
Add to chicken. Fry till dry.

Filling 5.

Shrimp/Fish: I use leftover shrimp and fish for this from a curry or a fry.
Remember the filling has to be dry as possible, so drain well if using from a curry.
Spicy Salmon makes a really good filling.

Filling 6

Chole/Garbanzo Beans/Chick Peas: Fry 1 finely chopped onion. When brown add 2 tomatoes, finely chopped coriander, 2 cloves grated garlic, channa masala, chilli powder,1/2 tsp amchur powder or 1/4 tsp tamarind paste, and drained chole from one can. Cook till thick.

Any leftover tasty vegetable makes a good filling the next day.

Filling 7 (First picture, 2nd row).

And then for dessert there is the sweet filling given with the Rawa Puffs recipe in this blog.

lan of Cheenachatti http://cheenachatti.blogspot.com/, thanks for getting my batteries re-started.

Eggplant and Potato

Some travel, some health challenges, something or other to do, have all kept me away from this blog for a while. Now the summer heat forces me to rest, so I spend time at the computer playing 'catch up' in a number of areas.

Recently a relative who is a good cook asked us for this recipe.
We both tried to help him with it, shocked that we hadn't made it ourselves in eighteen months or more, and even more surprised that we had forgotten parts of the recipe!
When we got home, we tried it out, forgot parts of it even then, and realized it was time to write it down! A few days ago our daughter reminded me that I had said I would write this recipe down, so here goes.

This is not an easy, quick dish but it is a family classic developed by HD (Hubby Dearest). In the early years of our marriage, we were both impressed by a lady from Andhra who grew her own Japanese eggplant each summer, stuffed them with masala and froze them. Whenever we were invited for dinner, she served a delicious eggplant dish.
At one party HD heard me asking for the recipe of the masala. The next day he got all the info from me, wrote it down and then proceeded to concoct this dish. It turned out so different from our friend's recipe, but so outstanding, that it shot to the group of Family Favorites immediately!
It really made me understand why the kids sometimes used to tell me, "You rest Mom. Let Dad cook!"

Of course HD is aka The Maharaja of Butter, so the amount he used to put into each dish made it `delicious on the lips but forever on the hips!'
Now we know it is `forever in the arteries' too.
Now that he can't cook much, I use the best olive oil in the dish and no one (except HD) can tell the difference.

This is not one my quick recipes...in fact when HD used to make it, he took the whole day to prepare it and then two hours to clean the kitchen!
I do it in three hours but am so exhausted that I make it only once a year when I get his help with it!
As i write this I am reminded of the old biriyani recipes that the cooks would take a whole day to prepare.
Your investment in time making this masala from scratch, will be fully re-paid by the number of times you can make this dish quickly in the future, using the stored masala.

EGGPLANT AND POTATO









MAIN INGREDIENTS

6 Japanese eggplants (six inch dark purple eggplants.)
3 red potatoes (yellow/brown is fine too, but cooking time is longer.)
Olive oil for frying.
Ingredients for masala 1 and masala 2 listed below.

Masala 1

1 cup rai (mustard seed)
1 cup jeera (whole cumin)
3/4 cup split urad
3/4 cup channa dal
1/2 cup toor dal
1 tsp whole methi (fenugreek seeds).
1/2 cup whole pepper
2 Tbsps whole dhania (coriander seeds).

Fry each separately in a skillet on medium heat.
Rai, methi, jeera and dhania need a few minutes only
Urad and dals take a little longer and will be light brown and smell good.

Shortcut: I do rai,methi, dhania and jeera in microwave for 10 seconds each while frying the dals stovetop.
If dhania and jeera are not done in ten seconds, I put them in for another 5 seconds.
Watch carefully as whole spices will start burning in the middle of the plate first.

Let everything cool, grind everything in a blender till really fine, cool again and store in an airtight container.
We made it after two years. I might refrigerate it this time to make it last a long time.

Masala 2

1 medium large onion
2 Tbsps fresh grated coconut.

1/2 tsp tamarind (this adds the required tang to the masala).

Broil one medium onion till outside is charred.
(30 to 40 mins on top shelf).
Peel black, outer layers and put inside in a blender jar.
Roast 1-2 Tbsps fresh grated coconut in oven or stove top till golden brown.
Watch carefully as it burns quickly in the oven.
Blend to a smooth paste. (the onion will release water so don't add any).

(I double this quantity too and freeze half of it for the next time).

The masala mix:

To the onion and coconut paste, add 1 heaping tablespoon of masala 1, along with red chilli powder and salt to taste.
Mix well.
Wash and let eggplant and potatoes dry on a paper towel.
Slit eggplant upto one inch of where the green sepals of the stalk begin.
Stuff masala between slits of eggplant taking care to keep it whole.

Halve potatoes.
Heat one inch of oil in a 10-12 inch wide skillet.
Put in potatoes, face down and let it fry till cut surface is golden brown.
Turn and fry for a minute or two on the other side.
(Potato does not have to be fully cooked...3/4 done is fine).
Remove and place in 9 by 12 baking dish. Sprinkle with a little salt when hot.

Remove extra oil carefully to another pan, leaving about 1/4 inch in skillet.
Heat.
Put eggplant into hot oil, only one layer at a time, taking care to sear every side (brown lightly).
If needed, add a little more oil to pan with each set you sear.

Remove and place in dish.

Add garlic cloves to hot oil and let them soften on stove.
Add to dish.

Make sure eggplant and potatoes are in a single layer.

If there is masala remaining, and there usually is; put it on top of potatoes and eggplant.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 mins.

This dish comes out looking and tasting superb...decorate with green coriander if you want to but the colors look so great, the dish needs no garnishes.

Enjoy with garlic bread or naan or rice and dal.

The eggplant can be frozen, but the potatoes can't so I use less potato and more eggplant.
This dish can be refrigerated for a day (two at the most), but not longer.

When I had a veggie garden, I too prepared the eggplants, stuffed them, fried and froze them as I got so many eggplants from each plant. Now, I'm content just to do this blog.

Three great finds

Three friends, three great recipes...

I met two of them through their blogs and one of them while researching a recipe.
I started out trying out their recipes and the results made me appreciate what they share through their blogs...their taste buds and mine get on like peas in a pod.
Their recipes and the stories that go with them not only entertain me; they inspire me to get into the kitchen and start cooking...so when I'm suffering from 'the cooking blues', I just go to all 3 blogs and read till I have compiled a list of dishes to try. Sometimes I just go through them and get inspired to make my own dish!

A personal message to these great cooks:
I'm so glad I know you three through your blogs. Thank you for the enjoyment I get reading your stories and making your recipes. You've earned my trust.

I made one recipe from each site and here they are, with my shortcuts and tips.

Orange Marmalade from Cynthia Nelson's Tastes Like Home.

Click on the above link for the original recipe.

I always loved orange marmalade as a kid. Even now a piece of toast with a little butter, a teaspoon of marmalade and a hot cup of tea is a near perfect breakfast. To my surprise I couldn't find any marmalade in the States, with that slight tinge of bitterness that makes it perfect for me.
When I saw Cynthia's write-up, I had to ask for the recipe and try it. It really has that slight tinge of bitterness I expect in a good marmalade.
Success at last... and this was truly spoon licking good.



My shortcuts: I grated the orange peel in a food processor using a large hole grater and the pieces (top right) came out like matchstick pieces.
Then when I read 'cook for two hours', I got out my trusty old crockpot and let it cook down there...if you go this route, stir every half hour.
The smell of this marmalade cooking was out of this world and the end result was as shiny as Cynthia's recipe said it should be.

What a great find this recipe is...


Beetroot Thoran from Malabar Spices.

Click on the above link for the original recipe.



My variation: I fried some of the chopped beetroot leave I got with my beets in a tsp of ghee with the masala and added it to the beetroot.
I pre-cooked beetroot in the microwave and then let it slow cook on stove for ten mins on very low heat.

I love the masala used for this dish and the flavor it lends the beetroot.

Excellent, scrumpilicious recipe.


Pazham Pori (Fried Ripe Plantains) from Cheenachatti

Click on the above link for the original recipe.



Don't laugh at my brown bits and the bubbles on the fritters...think the oil got too hot.
I made no changes to this recipe; just made my batter like the thicker version stated in the recipe.

Absabloominglutely delish.
Couldn't stop eating them...can't wait to have them again.

Again, thanks to you amazing trio of great cooks.

PEDAS, PEDHAS, PEDOS.

Pedas (pronounced PAYDAAS) or Pedhas, hold an important place in the hierarchy of Indian sweets. I think they come in second, right after laddus. In my book of favorites, they are right on top of course.

There is a custom in India...at the birth of a boy, laddus were distributed to family and friends, at the birth of girl, pedas.
Pedas are also known as Doodh Pedas (doodh=milk, which is the main ingredient).
North India is proud of it's Mathura pedas also called Gokul ke peda, while South India has the delicious Dharwar Peda, which is a dark brown ball rolled in fine, granulated sugar.

There are some sweets that are made at home in India and some that are just bought at the halwaii or sweetmeat shop. The latter need a degree of expertise, originally handed down from father to son. Pedas are one of the sweets we bought in India.

As a child I remember clutching my mother's hand with excitement as we walked towards the Tunnel Shop in Commercial Street, Bangalore's well known shopping area. The Tunnel Shop was so named because from the street there was a dark dingy corridor with a low roof, that we had to traverse carefully to get to the shop. There was often water seeping out of the sides of the tunnel, coming from places it was better not to know about. The Tunnel opened up into Ali Baba's cave of sweetmeats. There sat Bhagatram the owner and magician, making his delicious sweets on a wood fire over which he balanced a huge kadai full of hot milk being boiled down to make khoa.

Of all the multitude of sweets in there, we always got pedas. He placed them in a cup of leaves, wrapped in newspaper and tied with string. Nothing tasted as delicious as those 'bundles' of fresh pedas!

Bhagatram passed away some years ago. His sons have built the place into a huge modern cafe and sweet shop where they do flourishing business, BUT the pedas don't taste the same...much to my disappointment. They are in fancy boxes and we are served from a glass case by smiling salesmen, but the pedas are different.
I gave them three tries on my last visit and all three times had to acknowledge a sense of deep disappointment that the sons haven't stuck to the original recipe.

After returning from India last January, I decided to work on a good peda recipe here.
The peda odyssey led to research on the Internet and looking at old cookbooks because I was looking for a recipe that would give me the taste of the old pedas.

Trials were not so hard as both grandkids love pedas (they have my Indian sweet tooth DNA). HD (Hubby Dearest) didn't mind tasting them and giving his opinion. ('Remember, all the things I do for you!' he said nobly, devouring the fourth peda in the spirit of true suffering). As he likes only a very few sweets, maybe it was noble of him.

Here is my collection of peda recipes garnered from the web. In the case of finding the same recipe on many sites with the same recipe, I have given credit to the first site I got the recipe from.
I tried 3 recipes,keeping in mind time and effort involved. The recipes that are quick and easy are the ones you'll find here. Please don't try a recipe till you read my tips at the bottom of each recipe.

So after months of experimentation, I was able to finish this piece on Pedas.

And the winner is...




PEDAs,TAKE 1

http://showmethecurry.com/2007/11/05/peda-indian-sweet/ was the first of seven sites this recipe was on.

Ingredients:

Instant Dry Milk (Milk Powder) - 2 cups (150gm)
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 1, 14oz can (396gm)
Unsalted Butter - 1, 4oz stick (113gm)

Method:

1. In a microwave safe dish, melt the butter.
2. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
3. Cook in the microwave for 3 minutes, stirring very well after every minute.
4. After the 3 minutes, mix well again and leave aside for the mixture to cool down enough to handle.
5. Once the mixture has cooled down, grease your hands and make balls.
6. Gently press the balls and flatten them to shape…round and flat.
7. Decorate them with chopped pistachios.
8. Let the pedas set and cool down.
9. Store in refrigerator
Tips:

1. Try half the amount listed in this recipe. I did and got 18 pedas
2. Add 1/4 tsp cardamom powder to the mixture.
3. I microwaved the mix for only 2 mins...3 mins makes it too grainy and crumbly. Though it looks soft it shapes well when cool.
4. After microwaving it for 2 mins I mixed it in a food processor to get the mixture smooth.
Look at the picture...the pedas on the right are grainy after being cooked for 3 mins and shaped...on the left are the pedas which I kneaded for smoothness.
5. Wet your hands to shape the pedas...when the mixture is hot, I press it down in the small spoon in the picture, turn it out of the spoon then pick it up, roll it and flatten it...it just seems an easy way to get them more or less the same size.
I tried this recipe twice as I forgot to take pictures the first time...next time I will add a tablespoon of sugar to the butter when I melt it just to see if it's going to change the consistency and taste of the peda.

HD says it's perfect the way it is (which, in husbandspeak means 'don't try to fix it and ruin the recipe!')
My photograph may not show perfect pedas in shape and texture but the taste was great...not yet like Bhagatram's, though.

****************************************************************************************

PEDAS, TAKE TWO.

Doodh Peda Recipe

http://www.recipes.keralaz.info/ganesh-chathurthi-recipes/DoodhPeda.shtm#

Ingredients

2 cups of Milk Powder
3 tbsp of unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk - sufficient enough to make a soft dough
1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 cup water
3 or 4 cardamom (powdered or crushed)
1 tbsp pista crushed

Method

Mix butter and milk powder, and add milk to make a soft dough.
Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Take out the dough after 15 minutes and crumble it with your finger breaking all the
lumps.
Make sugar syrup of one strand and put the crumbled dough and keep stirring till it
starts leaving the pan.
Remove it when it starts leaving the pan and cool it lightly.
Make small balls and flatten it into a shape of Peda and decorate it with cardamom
and pista powder on the top.

TIPS: Be sure the sugar syrup is well done and the mixture leaves the side and bottom of the pan and stays in a mass, before you remove it from the heat.

I liked these pedas too, but the family voted on Pedas Take One.


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PEDAS, TAKE 3

http://www.awesomecuisine.com/recipes/1380/1/Festive-Pedas/Page1.html

Ingredients
1/2 kg. soft white khoya
2-1/2 cups (approx.300gms) sugar powdered
1/2 tsp. cardamom powder
1 tsp. cardamom seeds semi crushed
1 tbsp. slivered or crushed pistachios

Method
Grate khoya with a steel (not iron) grater. Add powdered sugar and mix well.
Put mixture in a large heavy or nonstick pan. Heat first on high for few minutes.
The on slow till done. Make sure to stir continuously, while on heat.
When mixture thick and gooey, add cardamom. Mix well, and take off fire.
Allow to cool, gently turning occasionally. Use cookie moulds, or shape pedas with palms into patty rounds.
Mix pistachios and cardamom seeds and press a bit on top of each. If using moulds, first sprinkle some at bottom.
Take some mixture and press into mould. When set well, invert and carefully, unmould.

Note: Above is the basic recipe.
Any colour ( yellow, orange, green, cochineal), essence (pineapple, orange, pista, chocolate), topping (almonds, walnuts, cashews), can be added. To above recipe add any of following for varied flavours: cashew powder 1/2 cup, cocoa 2 tbsp.(then increase sugar by 1/2 cup), walnuts powdered 1/2 cup, etc. Add when the mixture is half cooked.

TIPS: This took longer and I was not happy with my results as my khoya was not the soft, white kind. I should give this another try. When I do I will report back here.

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PEDAS, TAKE FOUR (I haven't tried this out yet).

http://www.dgreetings.com/gifts-to-india/diwali-gifts/diwali-recipes3.html

Doodh peda is easy to prepare and even a novice cook can whip up one in a very short time. And it has a great taste. To prepare it you will require 2 kg khoya(very easily available in any Indian sweetmeat shop), milk (250 gms), grounded sugar(250 gms), rose water, 2 tbsp each of slivered almonds and pistachios, 1 tsp cardamom powder.

Add sugar to the khoya and knead it into a smooth lump. Heat the khoya over medium fire and a few tbsps of milk at a time and mix well. Repeat it over and over till all the milk is utilized and a smooth paste is derived. Now add the cardamom powder and rose water and mix well. Let the mixture cool down a little. Now make small balls of the mixture and flatten them a bit to give them the shape of pedas. Sprinkle some slivered pistachios and almonds over the pedas. Let them cool till they are solid and serve.

This really reads like a recipe worth trying.

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PEDAS, TAKE FIVE

http://www.daawat.com/recipes/indian/sweets/malaipeda.htm

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups milk
1 tin sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp corn flour
1/4 tsp citric acid
4-5 cardamoms powder
1 tbsp ghee or butter
A few drops of yellow color

Method:

1. Heat ghee in a pan, add condensed milk, milk and citric acid dissolved in a little water.
2. Continue heating and allow it to curdle.
3. Make a paste of corn flour with 2 tbsp water. Add to the milk mixture after it curdles.
4. Continue cooking on slow/medium heat till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan.
5. Add the yellow color and mix well.
6. Empty the contents onto a dish and shape into pedas. Decorate with cardamom powder.
Makes: 20 Pedas
Preparation time: 20 minutes

Bhagatram's pedas were a chalky white not yellow, but this recipe sounds like a good one too. I should try this recipe too.
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There are many other recipes on the Internet for pedas including the famous one with ricotta cheese.
If I find other easy ones, I will add them to this peda compilation, or keep updating my results after further trials. .

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MAWA COPRA PAK

The following recipe is from my high school cookery book.
I made it first when I was sixteen, under the guidance of my cooking teacher.
This is the original name she gave us for the dish, so I'm keeping it.
Since then I make it on very special occasions as it does take time and patience.
It's well worth the effort though, as it gives a new taste to the classic coconut burfi.
Pak, pronounced paak, is another name for an Indian sweet that is served, cut into squares.

1 lb. mawa/khoa (see my notes on Khoa below for help with this ingredient).
1/2 cup water
6 ozs dried coconut/copra grated fine.
1 oz chopped/sliced almonds
1/2 lb sugar
Vanilla and cochineal (red food color).
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder (it's theonly change I've made).

For copra/dried coconut in the US, we break a coconut and leave one half uncovered in the refrigerator. It dries out and starts to separate from the shell.
Is tore it like that till needed.
Then I remove the coconut meat from the shell and grate it in the food processor.
If you have a fine grater, good, or grate it twice in the food processor to get the right fineness. This burfi requires finely grated copra.

I grate the khoa I buy in the Indian store too.

Mix khoa and coconut.
Make a thick syrup with the sugar and water.
Remove pot from fire and add khoa and coconut.
Cook stirring continuously.
When it get thick, it will start 'spitting' at you...it's time to don a cooking mitt and then stir from that point on.
When mixture is thick and leaves base of pan, add vanilla and a few drops of cochineal.
(I omit the food color these days).
Pour onto a greased plate and be sure to scrape the bottom of the vessel for the slightly burnt part at the bottom and pile it on the plate...it tastes great.
Decorate with almonds.
Cut into squares when cool.
Enjoy.