Indian Dessert

Rasgulla  is a dessert from Orissa,Bihar and Bengal consisting of balls of unripened cheese or cottage cheese (chenna) soaked in a sugary syrup. Today we are going to make a beautiful dish out of rasgulla.


Ingredients:-
1. Rasgullas.
2. Rooh Afza( Its a concentrated drink, it can be mixed with a variety of food items to give them new taste and is said to be a great alternative for strawberry milk. Rooh Afza is now found in the western market, with supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsburys and Morrisons in the UK selling it).
3. Cashew Nuts.
4. 1 food injector syringe.
5. Milkmaid( condensed milk)
6. Small amount of milk in a bowl.


Directions:-
1. Keep the rasgullas in the refrigerator for a while. They'll get a bit dry and cold.
2. Cut a small portion of the rasgulla to make its bottom flatten.
3. From the side cut another small portion such that the center of the rasgulla can be seen properly. Keep this portion, we'll need it later.
4. Grate the cashew nuts and put the grated nuts inside the rasgulla and put the sliced part back on, it wont hold by itself so use a toothpick. We don't want the grated nuts to come out.
5. Put some milkmaid on a plate.
6. Dip the rasgulla in the bowl of milk and quickly pick it up and put it in a plate, squeeze a little but don't squeeze the entire milk out from it. Place it on the milkmaid.
7. Now take the food injector syringe and fill it with Rooh Afza and inject the rasgulla with it from the top so that the rooh afza gets in the rasgulla's center where the grated cashew are kept.
8. Slowly the rasgulla will change into pink from the middle. 


This is my own recipe. Had a dream last night about it, woke up in the morning and tried it, its utterly delicious. 

Shortcrust pastry

Shortcrust pastry is a type of pastry often used for the base of a tart or pie. It does not puff up during baking because it usually contains no leavening agent. It is possible to make shortcrust pastry with self-raising flour, however. Shortcrust pastry can be used to make both sweet and savory pies such as apple pie, quiche or lemon meringue. Shortcrust Pastry is a mixture of flour - usually all purpose/plain flour and a fat, either butter, lard or a mixture of both. These are bound together with either cold water or with egg for a richer pastry. 

Shortcrust pastry

Ingredients:-      

1. 7 oz/200g all purpose/plain flour (Use equal quantities of all-purpose flour and cake flour for a lighter pastry.)
2. pinch of salt
3. 4 oz/ 110g butter, cubed or an equal mix of butter and lard
4. 2-3 tbsp cold water


This quantity makes 10 oz/300g pastry.


Directions:-
1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean bowl.
2. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, working as quickly as possible to prevent the dough becoming warm.
3. Add the water to the mixture and using a cold knife stir until the dough binds together, add more cold water a teaspoon at a time if the mixture is too dry.
4. Wrap the dough in Saran wrap/Clingfilm and chill for a minimum of 15 minutes, up to 30 minutes.

Mango Tart

The dough can also be made in a food processor by mixing the flour, butter and salt in the bowl of the processor on a pulse setting. When the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, add the water, slowly, through the funnel until the dough comes together in a ball. Wrap in Saran wrap/ Clingfilm and chill as above.


Preparation Time:-
15 minutes.

Tarte Tatin

This recipe was created by The Tatin Sisters at the begining of 20th Century in their restaurant of La Motte Beuvron. It acquired acquired outstanding success because it was added to the list of desserts of the famous Maxim's, one of the most famous Parisian restaurants at that time.


Ingredients :-
To make a beautiful 'tarte Tatin' we will require:-
400 g of shortcrust pastry (read the next blog post how to make shortcrust pastry)
1 kilogram (approx. 2 pounds)of apples (variety 'golden apple')
200 g of caster sugar
100 g of butter                                                          


Direction :-

This is how it will look like depending on the presentation.

1. Pre-heat your oven at 450° F
2. Peel the apples, open them into 2 parts, take away the core and the seeds wit a spoon and cut each half into 3 segments
3. Into a Teflon round mould of a 20 centimeters (8 inches) diameter and 10 centimeters (4 inches) high, pour half of the sugar
4. Place the apple segments standing up making circles starting from the external part of the mould and finishing by its center and tight them well
5. Pour the melted butter on the apple segments and then add the other half of the sugar
6. Put the mould on the electric hob (not in the oven yet)not too much hot
7. Cut a raw pastry circle slighly larger than the mould and stick a fork in several places of the pastry
8. Take the mould off the hob ( a pleasant fragance should start to come out)
9. Place the pastry disc on top of the apple segments and using a rolling pin (larger than the mould), cut the part of the pastry exceeding the diameter of the mould
10. Put the mould into the heated oven during 35 minutes11. Take the mould out of the oven and let it rest during 10 minutes then use a small sharp knife along the vertical internal side of the mould. Place your serving dish up side down on the pastry then turn upside down the tart and the mould together and if you have been successful, the apples will appear well coated with caramel.


Presentation:-
Serve the 'tarte Tatin' warm with a large bowl of cider and put a double cream pot on the table.

How to make Wafers.

There are several Wafer recipes available but this is the simplest and easiest one.

Ingredients :-

Wafers for 4 to 6 people
250g strong flour
1 packet baking powder
1 packet vanilla sugar
5g table salt
1/2 l milk
3 eggs
80g melted butter

Direction :-
1) Melt down the butter in a small sauce pan.
2) In a large bowl, put the flour and form a small well in the middle. Then, place your baking powder, vanilla sugar and salt in it.
Gradually incorporate the milk to the flour. Then, bind in the beatten eggs and the melted butter. Make sure that the batter is lump free and allow to rest for 2 HOURS.
3) Cook your wafers in a wafer maker. 
Serve them with icing sugar, maple syrup, chestnut pure, chocolate, whipped cream, etc.

You could even try to take the sugar out and add some smoked salmon to the batter, serving them warm with a spoon of sour cream.