Milk Cake (Paalkova)

Paalkova is one of my childhood favorites. I remember the days, wherein we had this Aavin milk booth next to our house and they sell these paalkovas, packed just like butter sticks. I will eat the whole stick all by myself, licking the wrapped paper for any bits of it. It just melts in your mouth and i get the satisfaction only if i eat it with my hands(no spoon or fork can come b/w me and paalkova, hehe.) Also, don't prepare this sweet with reduced fat milk. (i.e, don't follow my first tip.) Instead, increase your workout time and enjoy this rich, decadent milk sweet as it is. And here goes the recipe,

Ingredients:

6 cups whole Milk

1/2 cup Sugar

2tbsp Lemon juice

2tbsp Ghee

1/8tsp Cardamom powder

1tbsp chopped Pistachios (For garnish)

How to:

• Grease a plate or a bowl with ghee and keep it aside.

• Heat the milk along with water at medium heat in a wide, heavy bottomed pan and bring it to a boil. 

• Let it boil for couple of mins. Slowly add the lemon juice and keep stirring the milk gently. The milk will begin to curdle and the whey starts to separate.

• Let boil for 5 mins, once the whey is completely separated, remove 1 1/2 cups of whey from the pan. It helps in reducing the sourness from the lemon juice.

• Continue cooking until whey is evaporated and reduce milk turns grainy.

• Now add the sugar and cook for couple of mins or until the mixture comes together.

• Then pour the ghee and cardamom powder and cook by stirring continuously until it starts to turn slightly golden brown.

• Transfer the mixture to a greased plate and press firmly into a square or any desired shape.

• Gently press the chopped pistachios on top of the milk cake while its hot.

• Once it is set, slice it with a knife and serve warm or cold.

Tips:

• You can use 3 cups of whole milk and 3 cups of 2% reduced fat milk or replace it with all 2% reduced fat milk. (The richness and thickness of the cake might vary.)
• For garnishing, you can use chopped almonds, walnuts or any other mixture of nuts.

Tofu Egg Fried Rice with Chilli Garlic Sauce

An irresistible one pot meal which is rich in protein and a lot of flavors is ready to dig in. Cooking with sesame oil really brings out the flavor just like the fried rice at the chinese restaurant. You can also add crushed chili flakes along with the chilli garlic sauce to increase the heat level. There are a countless way to prepare this fried rice. So, try this recipe with your twist on it and have fun cooking. 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Basmati Rice

14oz Firm Tofu   

2 Eggs

3/4 cup Cabbage (shredded)

1/2 Green Bell pepper (thinly sliced)

1 medium Carrot (sliced diagonally)

2tsp Garlic (minced)

1 Green onion (chopped)

1tbsp +1tbsp Light Soy sauce

2tsp Chilli Garlic sauce (Homemade)

1tbsp Sesame oil

Salt

Chilli Garlic Sauce

Ingredients:

5 Dried Red chilies

1/2 cup Hot water

1 1/2tsp Garlic (minced)

1tsp Sugar

1/2tsp Salt

2tbsp White Vinegar

1tbsp Sesame Oil

How to:

• Break the dried red chilies and soak'em in hot water for 20 mins to soften.
• Then drain the water and grind the chilies in a mixie/blender.
• Now add garlic, sugar, salt and white vinegar and grind'em coarsely, and transfer'em to a bowl.
• Heat the sesame oil in a skillet until it starts to smoke and pour the oil over the ground chilli garlic sauce.

• Mix well and serve the hot sauce as a side or over the fried rice.

How to(Fried rice):

• Pressure cook the basmati rice, fluff it with a fork and keep it aside.
• Cut the tofu blocks into 8-10 squares and drizzle 1tbsp soy sauce and let'em soak for 10-15 mins.

• Heat 1tsp of oil in a wide skillet and sear the tofu squares to golden brown.

• Heat the sesame oil in the same skillet, add the minced garlic and saute for a min.

• Add the carrot, saute for a couple of mins and then add the bell pepper and cabbage along with some salt.

• After another couple of mins, push the veggies to the side and break the eggs. (I added 1 whole egg and 1 egg white.)

• Scramble the eggs, then add the seared tofu and cooked rice together. Mix well.

• Slightly increase the flame, pour the remaining soy sauce and the homemade chili garlic sauce over the rice and give it a good mix.

• Check salt for taste and cook until rice is heated through.

• Switch off and sprinkle the chopped green onions.

• Serve hot with more hot sauce as a side.

Rice Kheer

A warm, rich and lightly sweetened kheer with a hint of saffron. This is such a simple dessert that is scrumptious enough for your taste buds to scream 'whoa'. With a few ingredients from your pantry, you can pull this together in no time. Here goes the recipe,

Ingredients:

2 cups Milk 

1 cups Long grain/Basmati Rice (cooked)

3tbsp Sugar

1tbsp Raisins

1tbsp Pistachios (chopped)

1tbsp Almonds (chopped)

1/8tsp Cardamom powder

1 pinch Saffron

How to:

• Soak the raisins in water to puff'em up.
• Crush and grind the saffron with 1 tsp of sugar using a mortar and pestle.

• Heat the milk in a heavy bottomed pan on medium flame. (I used 2% reduced fat milk. You can replace with whole milk for a rich consistency.)

• Add the rice and heat it through, stirring occasionally.

• Now add the crushed saffron and sugar and cook'em until the milk is reduced and thickens.

• Then add the chopped nuts and raisins, mix well.

• Switch off the flame and add the cardamom powder.

•  Serve it warm or cold garnishing with chopped nuts.