Panela

This is one of those recipe which is being made in our family from very long time. My mom learned it from great grandmother and still no one in my family knows what panela means. So I googled it and to my surprise and happy coincidence, "Panela" means "Jaggery" in Spanish, which is most important ingredient in Panela. How cool!!

Ingredients:-

• 2 cups Pumpkin, grated
  
• 1/2 cup Cucumber, grated
  
• 1 cup Rice Flour
  
• 3-4 tbsp Besan
  
• 1 tbsp Green Chilli Paste
  
• 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
  
• 1 tsp Ginger paste
  
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
  
• 1/4 tsp Hing
  
• 4-5 tbsp Jeggery or to taste
  
• 2 tbsp Oil
  
• Salt to taste
  

Method:-

1. Mix all the ingredients in large bowl with little water until there are no lumps.

2. Set the batter aside for 10-15 minutes. Stir well, taste again, and adjust seasoning.

3. In the meantime, preheat steamer or pressure cooker with some water in it. Grease deep dishes or pressure cooker containers with oil.

4. Pour the batter in it and steam for 15 minutes on high heat.

5. Turn down the heat on low for another 5 minutes. Let the steamer cool a little and then open it.

6. Take the panela out of the steamer, and let deep dish cool a little more.

7. Cut the panelas into diamonds, rounds, or squares.

8. Drizzel some oil on them and serve hot with mango pickle.

Enjoy...

Bengali Bahu Khuda Pulav (The Hungry Bride's Pulav)

What I can say about this Pulav ? It is simply awesome. Once I was watching a cooking show where they were showing some traditional Indian dishes, which are being forgotten. As per chef, this was being made by newly-wed brides who were not yet used to tradition of eating leftovers after husbands. This gets cooked quickly and easily, hence brides won't go hungry.

I don't use mustard oil for my cooking, but to make this authentic as this is cooked in mustard oil, I dry roasted mustard seeds and crushed them to powder form, and to my surprise that actually worked well.

Ingredients:-

• 1 Cup Basmati Rice
  
• 2 Big Red Onion, Sliced
  
• 4 Thai Green Chilies, chopped
  
• 1 tsp Whole Coriander Seeds, roasted and coarsely ground
  
• 1 tsp Whole Black Pepper, lightly roast and coarsely ground
  
• 1/8 tsp Mustard Seeds
  
• 1/4 Cup Mint, chopped
  
• 1/4 Cup Cilantro, chopped
  
• 1 tbsp Cashews
  
• 1 tbsp Mustard Seed Oil/Olive Oil
  
• 1 tsp Ghee
  
• Pinch Of Turmeric Powder
  
• Salt to Taste
  
• Oil for frying
  

Method:-

1. Deep fry onion slices until golden brown.

2. Heat oil and ghee in pan. Sauté cashews, and green chili for 30 seconds.

3. Now add rice, turmeric, mustard seed powder, ground pepper, ground coriander, salt, and half fried onions.

4. Again sauté for 30 seconds. Add water and bring it to boil, turn down the heat on medium low, cover with lid, and cook until rice is done. Fluff up the rice with fork.

5. Take out rice in serving bowl or platter, sprinkle mint, cilantro, and remainder fried onions on top and serve.

Enjoy...

I am sending this entry to Let's Cook Rice by Radhika.