Masala lassi

Lassi is one of the most favoured drink during the summertime. It has a cooling effect . The onset of Spring in North India usually means a good amount of heat. So this is the drink to help with the changing weather!

Lassi is usually made by blending yogurt with water until frothy, and made sweet or savory. 

No straining or cooking needed! Make some spice, add ground cashew and some chilled yogurt!

 Practically any flavouring can be added to the lassi be it fruits or spices.

Preparation time:1-2 mins

Cooking time: Nil

Serving: 4persons

Ingredients


3 cups chilled curd/yogurt
3-4 small cardamoms, crushed
6-7 black peppercorns, powdered or 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
a pinch or two of grated nutmeg
2 tbsp chopped dry fruits like almonds, cashew, pistachois
few strands of saffron
crushed palm jaggery as per taste(a replacement of sugar)




Instructions

• In a blender ,add all the ingredients along with some strands of saffron.
• Add 1 or 2 tbsp of water, if you want a little thin lassi.But tastes best if made thick.
• Blend till smooth. 
• You can also whisk everything with an egg whisker till smooth.
• Don't overdo the blending.
• Best when  served chilled in glasses, topped with some dry fruits and saffron and if you like some cream or malai

It was an instant hit among us the very first time I tried myself, being inspired by the recepie from veg recepies of India thats because i like strong and intense flavors. It has a strong aroma and sweet taste and rich with healthy ingredients,which make the experience more rich and refreshing.


It is a bit different from the general lassi,as here a few spices go into the making of the lassi and thats why its called as masala lassi. 

Weekend Treat:A Sweet Indulgence

Gulab Jamuns, angoori gulab jamuns...

If cooking is an art, Gulab Jamun is nothing less than a Monalisa. Whenever you see it, you will feel good about it. Whatever mood you are in, you would like to have it. Wherever you are, you would love to taste it.

I have traveled many places in India and Abroad. Be it the India House in Chicago or Bar-be-Que Nation in Kolkata, this ever cheerful, round shaped, tipsy-topsy, dusky colored sweet delighted my desert counter with equal blush all the time. You might take it cold just-like-that, or you might plant it on top of good-old ice-cream. it will bring the joy with its sheer sweetness. I sometimes feel inevitable and let me tell you... some people, specially Bengalis' can't live without this. Rasgulla (Rosogolla in crude Bengali), are you feeling jealous?

Gulab Jamun is better known in West Bengal as "Pantua" or "Ledikini". But very few people know the real reason of this name of this sweet. India was under British rule that time, and the Viceroy that time had his wife visiting Kolkata. So, he ordered a local halwai to make a sweet for inviting and greeting his lady. The halwai invented a brown-colored, innocent-looking sweet to welcome her. The lady, wife of that time Viceroy, Lady Kenny delighted to taste it and later the same sweet was famous by her name and got distorted further to "Ledikini". Interesting story... eh?

So, with a lot of fondness to this sweet in my 27 years of womanhood, I felt like rejuvenating it by cooking, after a long time, in my own way, with a cliche disclaimer: the ingredients are incredibly common. Here comes some mouthwatering (of course my husband's) snaps of the temptation of one evening. Everyone, enjoy.

Bharwa Mirchi /(Stuffed fried chilli)

Last week me along with my husband went to the wholesale market at burrabazar.Among the immense hustle bustle of the market as we wandered around to find out particular area where threads are sold,my eyes fell upon something else.My aim behind this visit was to get some thread both embroidery and crochet at low cost,then my eyes caught these,some juicy ,fresh,and green big chillies.So instantly decided  those need to get some little space in my weekend snacks routine.That's it.I got some 500grms of these lovely big sized mirchis chillies aka Kashmiri chillies.I made stuffed fried chillies.And decided to make the Bharwa mirchi.


Bharwa mirchi is stuffed large green chillies or peppers. A popular and loved dish in Rajasthan. This is available as a street food too ,usually only batter coated and deep fried.But ,from the health point of view,I did a shallow fried version,which is also very tasty.


The stuffing commonly used is of potato ... but you can use a lot of other things as well. Just make sure the stuffing is on the drier side, in order to make the filling part easy.
I am sharing the recipe with all.

    Ingredients:

• 6 large green chili peppers or banana peppers or  Kashmiri chillies

    For Filling:

• Potatoes – 3 medium size
• Grated coconut -3/4 cup
• Chopped nuts -4tbsp
• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
• Mustard Seeds -1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida (Hing) powder -1/4 tsp
• Olive oil – 4 tbsp
• 2 small onion finely chopped
• garlic- 3to 4 cloves
• 1 tbsp cilantro leaves finely chopped

     Dry Spices:
        Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
        Red chili powder – 3 tsp
       Coriander powder – 2 tbsp
        Cumin powder  - 2tsp
       Garam masala powder – ½ tsp
       Amchur powder(dried mango powder) – 2 tbsp
       Salt as per taste


     Procedure:

• Wash and dry green mirch. Make a slit lengthwise in the mirch and remove all the seeds.
• Blanch the chillies in boiling water .This will help the chilli to get half cooked as well as reduce the hotness.[Omit this step if you are frying these with besan batter.]
• Boil and peel potatoes and mash them well and keep aside.
• In a pan heat 2 tbsp oil. Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and asafoetida powder. When it crackles, add the chopped onion. Sauté a bit till it turns translucent.Add the grated coconut,chopped roasted nuts and mix well . Turn the heat to medium-low and saute them.
• Add the mashed boiled potatoes to the mixture and mix well.
• Add the dry spices(turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, amchur powder and salt).
•  After adding all the filling ingredients,mix well and cook for a minute. Stuffing is ready.
• Take the stuffing off the flame and cool it down,and then and add the cilantro leaves .
•  Stuff the chillies,

• Heat oil on the nonstick pan,add the stuffed chillies one or two at a time depending upon the size of the pan and shallow fry them.

• Serve hot with tomato ketchup.