An Apple Cheese Affair ( Apple Paneer Mishrimava)

Africa and Cooking have at least something in common; they both bewilder you. Africa stuns you with its unrivaled beauty and then sometimes shocks you with the on-road high-crime-rate, and no less is Cooking which can win you medals unexpectedly and then pull you down sometime without any socks-on. But as it is said, there's no fun without adventures and there's no success without blunders, so Africa and Cooking, don't worry, I still love you both. :)

Now you must have estimated that something definitely must have went wrong in my kitchen that I was thought-provoked to write all this, right? Well, yeah, it did.

I think you all know by now that I have a sweet tooth along with my hubby and little angel, and know it or not, Ras Malai is my favorite sweet. So, here I was, ready with everything required to make it, along with the focused mind last weekend. I had curdled milk, the Cottage Cheese/ Paneer was hanging up in the sieve ready to be used, the 'Ras' was ready after I had reduced the milk to half, but but but, where was Sugar???

Oh Gosh! This was possibly one of the biggest blunders I made that while going for a sweet, the sweet sugar was not enough...hufffff.... and then I urgently called my hubby who was in the office and it was 8 in the evening so almost all stores were closed. My doll was sleeping so I had no option to run out and bring it, and wow, my hubby could not find it too while returning on Saturday eve, so now I am all set with my darling paneer, 'Ras' with the flavors added, but not much sugar. I had only that much of sugar which could either help me in steaming the paneer balls or preparing the 'Ras', so options were way too limited. I went a little mad at first because I could take my mind off Ras Malai and then knew that can't make it too, so the Cerebrum started calculating for the best available options, and no wonder it helped me finding a new recipe. Now this version was surely healthier than the previous one because I would be using less sugar, and then I would be adding apples to it.  It reminds me of the saying, 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away' but my poor husband just can't keep himself away from me even after having a dozen of apples...hehe..now that's the side-effect/disadvantage of getting married to a doctor, you see. ;)

Without much ado, here comes the recipe:

AN APPLE CHEESE AFFAIR (APPLE PANEER MISHRIMAVA)

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Serves: 4-6

Health Meter:

• One apple has 5 grams of fiber. They’re also fat, sodium and cholesterol free. 
• Don’t peel your apple! Two-thirds of the fiber and many of the antioxidants are found in the apple peel.

Did you know?

• Apples are a member of the rose family, along with pears, peaches, plums and cherries.
• Fresh apples float because 25% of their volume is air (thank goodness, or none of us would have ever experienced bobbing for apples!).

Ingredients:

1. Red Apple: 1 (peeled and grated)

2. Milk: 1 litre

3. Cottage Cheese/ Paneer: 1 cup (approximately prepared from 1 litre of milk)

4. Saffron strands: a few

5. MTR Badam Drink Mix: 3 tbs (optional)

6. Cardamom powder/ Elaichi: a pinch

7. Slivered almonds

8. Sugar: 6 tbs or as per taste 

Method:

1. Prepare fresh cottage cheese/ paneer at home by curdling milk with curd/lemon juice. This will be very soft so will give a better texture to the dessert.
2. Wash the paneer well before hanging to let out any tangy extract from lemon juice or curd.
3. Hang it in a muslin cloth or keep in a sieve for an hour to let the excess water run out. 
4. On the other hand, keep milk for boiling in a thick bottomed pan. Simmer it and keep stirring till it reduces to half.
5. Add MTR Badam Drink mix, saffron strands and cardamom powder and sugar to it.
6. Take the grated apple and add half a cup of milk to it. Boil/ Microwave this separately to make sure the whole milk does not get curdled because some apples are sour and can cause curdling. 
7. If the milk does not curdle on boiling/microwaving, add this to the flavored milk followed by the fresh crushed paneer and take a boil. 
8. If you see the milk curdling on adding apple, keep this separate.
9. Add paneer to the flavored milk then and take a boil/ microwave for 3 minutes. At last add the boiled/microwaved apples when the milk cools down. This will avoid curdling of the flavored milk.
10. Let it cool and then refrigerate for 2-4 hrs or overnight.
11. Garnish with almonds, saffron strands and enjoy the apply-cheesy flavor.

Suggestions:

1. While reducing the milk to half, be careful that it does not stick to the bottom.
2. Instead of boiling on a gas stove, you could actually prepare the whole thing in a microwave, but be sure to use a really big bowl to avoid any kind of spilling while boiling.
3. It's always better to use the sweet red apples or the Fuji ones. The sour ones will spoil the taste.
4. If the flavored milk curdles even after all your efforts (chances are less than 1 %), don't panic; it's nothing else but cottage cheese/paneer which can still be used creatively.
5. You can variate the texture by addition of milk. If you want it slightly runny, add more milk and if you want it thick and granular, add more of paneer.

The recipe flies off to:
My event: Cooking Made Easy With Cheese/Paneer
My event: Cakes, Cookies and Desserts 

Lets Cook for Christmas- Red and Green by Nayna
Christmas Delicacy  by Erivum Puliyumm
Jingle All The Way  by Edible Entertainment
Sweet Heat by Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops

Hot n Spicy Banana Chilli Spirals with Apple Chutney and Carrot Cucumber Raita(Yogurt)

Did you know eating an apple is a more reliable method of staying awake than consuming a cup of coffee? The natural sugar in an apple is more potent than the caffeine in coffee.

But why am I talking about apples here? You guessed it right; this recipe has something to do with Apples. ;)

I owe a heap of gratitude to Manjula Aunty who keeps raising wonderful cooking contests every month that give you the platform to experiment with never-tried combinations and blush out with new innovations. Also, you get to know such interesting facts about the ingredients you are pushing into your recipe. :)

This month, the challenge is to take up at least 2 of the following 5 food items and come up with an appetizer.

1. Carrot

2. Cucumber

3. Celery

4. Banana

5. Apple

As usual, I thought of several combinations, like Banana-oat patty, Carrot Mutthiya, Cold Apple Pickle, but none was making a perfect deal for a complete appetizer that could gratify the taste buds. Finally, a trio clicked me which would be tangy, healthy and at the same time, pleasing to the eyes. Also, it will cover four of the above five ingredients which makes me a little happy, though I would have loved to use all five of them. :)

Here goes the recipe.....

Hot n Spicy Banana Chilli Spirals with Apple Chutney and Carrot Cucumber Raita (Yogurt):

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 2

Health Meter: This goes perfect for people who are 'chilli bhajji/mirchi vada lovers'. Its hot n spicy flavor will tease your tongue and the refreshing cool yogurt will extinguish that fire. The complete dish has Vitamin C from green chillies; Iron from banana; Calcium and Potassium from apples; Carbs from gram flour, banana; Carotene, Vitamin A and K from carrots, apples; Minerals from cucumber; soothing tinge from curd/yogurt, and a smile :) that follows after you consume all this. :) Though I would also mention that it is a fried food, so to make it cholesterol free, please use cholesterol free vegetable oils, like Sunflower oil/Canola oil/Soyabean Oil.

For more information on nutrition facts, please go through  http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/

 

BANANA CHILLI SPIRALS:

Ingredients:

For Filling:

1. Raw Banana/Plantain: 1(Boiled, peeled and mashed)

2. Yellow Chilli/Bhajji : 4

3. Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp

4. Coriander Powder: 1 tsp

5. Cumin Powder: 1/2 tsp

6. Red Chilli Powder: 1/2 tsp 

7. Amchoor (Dry Mango) Powder - 1 tsp

8. Garam Masala: 1/2 tsp (optional)

9. Salt: 1 tsp or as per taste

10. Dried Mint Powder: 1/2 tsp (optional) 

11. Cumin seeds: 1/4 tsp

12. Oil - 3 tbs

Outer Spiral:

1. Maida (All Purpose Flour): 1/2 cup

2. Besan (Gram Flour): 1/2 cup

3. Ajwain: 1/2 tsp

4. Salt: 1/2 tsp or as per taste

5. Oil - 2 tbs (for moin) and rest for deep frying

5. Water (for making dough)

 

Step-by-Step Method:

1. We'll prepare the Spiral dough first. Take the maida, besan, salt, oil, ajwain seeds and mix well. Now slowly add water to it making a soft dough. Knead it well. Keep the consistency like that of chapati/poori dough. Keep it aside, covered with a soft cloth or vessel.
2. Now let's prepare the filling. Boil the raw banana/plantain in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes (just how you do for potatoes). Peel off the outer cover and mash it well.
3. Now take a pan and add 3 tbs oil to it. Heat it and add cumin seeds. Now add the banana pulp followed by all spices and salt. Cook it for 5 minutes with continuous stirring as the banana pulp will keep sticking to the bottom. Cook till the oil separates (it will hardly take 8-10 minutes). Your filling is ready.
4. Now take the yellow chillies/bhajji and wash them well. Wipe with a clean cloth. Now make a vertical incision in each chilli without cutting it into two pieces (You must be knowing how to dissect it without murdering it ;)) Take out all the seeds from the chilli. Now fill the banana filling gently in each dissected bhajji with the help of fingers and be careful that you don't break the chilli. Keep these filled chillies aside.
5. Now we'll prepare the outer spiral. Take a medium part of the dough, and make a ball with it. Now roll it into a roti which is 5mm thick. Cut vertical long stripes of 2 cm width each with the help of a knife.
6. Now take the filled chilli/bhajji and start wrapping it with the stripes in a spiral fashion. Start from the tail of the chilli, and keep rolling carefully till you reach the top where you seal it. Be sure there is no gap left from where the chilli could peep out. If one stripe is not long enough to cover the whole bhajji, use 3-4 stripes joined together with water droplets.
7. Now take oil in a pan/kadai and heat it. Now deep fry the filled spirals on low-medium heat till they turn golden brown. Do not fry on high flame as it would burn the outer layer without cooking the chilli within.
8. Take them out and serve these hot n spicy spirals with Apple Chutney and Carrot Cucumber Raita/Yogurt.

APPLE CHUTNEY:

Ingredients:

1. Apple: 1

2. Red Chilli Powder: 1/4 tsp

3. Black Pepper Powder: 1/4 tsp

4. Salt: 1/2 tsp or as per taste

5. Cumin Powder: 1/4 tsp

6. Sugar: 1tsp

7. Cumin seeds (jeera): 1/4 tsp

8. Chat Masala: 1/4 tsp

9. Oil: 1 tbs

Method:

1. Peel the apple and cut into small pieces.
2. Now take oil in a sauce-pan and heat it. Add cumin seeds (jeera) to it followed by the apple pieces. Now add all the masala and cook for 2 minutes. Add sugar, stir and cover the pan for 5 minutes. Now let it cool. After it has cooled down, grind this into chutney and serve with the spirals. 

CARROT CUCUMBER RAITA/YOGURT:

Ingredients: 

1. Carrot (grated): 1

2. Cucumber small (grated): 1/2

3. Yogurt/ fresh curd (beaten): 2 cups

4. Salt: 1/2 tsp or as per taste

5. Cumin Powder: 1/4 tsp

6.  A dash of Black Pepper Powder

7. A dash of Black Salt

8. A dash of Dried Ginger Powder

Method:

1. It's as simple as it sounds. Just beat the curd or take yogurt. 
2. Add all the above ingredients and mix well.
3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and serve chilled with hot n spicy spirals.

Suggestions:

1. For staying healthy, use cholesterol free oils, like Canola/Sunflower/Soyabean for deep frying.
2. To lessen the calories, use low-fat yogurt or low-fat curd.
3. While preparing Raita/Yogurt, you could also use steamed/microwaved carrot for soft texture, though I prefer to use the peeled fresh ones.
4. An alternate for Apple Chutney could be Cold Apple Pickle where you can spice up peeled and grated apple with the spices without frying it. Then you can refrigerate this pickle for 2-4 hrs so that the spices get their nerves. 
5. In place of banana in spirals, you could also use any vegetable, like potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots.
6. Always cook your dishes with a good mood and happy heart as they are reflected in the taste/flavor your dish wears.
7. If some filling is extra, you could make 'banana samosas' with them. 

At last, let me share one more interesting fruit fact with you:

Bananas are actually an herb, not a fruit. It is in fact the world's largest herb, related to the orchid and lily families. The bananas are actually considered the berries of this giant herb.

Apple Kheer

A friend is visiting us this weekend and I was so confused this evening about the whole menu thing. Loads of recipes were dancing in the head but I didn't know what to start with, so just peeped into my refrigerator and came up with a yummy recipe for today: Apple Kheer

If you also have enough milk and apples resting in your fridge, just give the recipe a try. Apple Kheer is just a matter of 15 minutes. And the best part is that 'Apple Kheer' can be made in a microwave too. :)

APPLE KHEER:

Ingredients:
2 China Fuji Apples (peeled and grated), 500ml milk, Custard Powder - Vanilla(optional), cardamom powder, saffron strands, sugar, almonds.

Method:
Take 500 ml milk and boil it. In a small cup, take some cold milk and add 1-2 tablespoons custard powder to it and mix well. Add this mixture to the boiling milk and add the grated Fuji Apples to it. Do not use any other variety of apple else its sour juice can curdle the milk. Add cardamom powder, saffron strands, and sugar to it. Take a boil and simmer for 5 minutes with continuous stirring. Allow it to cool. Refrigerate overnight or for 5-6 hours and serve chilled. Dress with almonds.
You can also make this in a microwave. Add milk, custard powder, grated apple, saffron strands and microwave for 10 minutes with occasional stirring in every 3 minutes. Add sugar and cardamom powder and reheat for 5 minutes. Refrigerate overnight or for 5-6 hours and serve chilled. Dress with almonds. Be sure that you use a big microwave bowl which is only half-filled so that the milk doesn't spill out on boiling.
Note: If you use any other variant of apple, then add this apple towards the end when the sweetened custard milk cools down and don't boil again. Also, you can make 'Apple Kheer' without adding custard powder to it.

Linking this recipe to:

My event: Cakes, Cookies and Desserts

ABC Series @ Ramya's Recipe