Egg Puff

I grew up eating these egg puffs! Almost all bakeries in Bangalore sell them, but some of them are special!

A quick note on my special relationship with the local bakeries- Those tiny bakeries, their tiny cakes, tiny cream rolls and tea/coffee in tiny glasses. Everything so tiny and unpretentious! And that's exactly what makes them so special! But my dad stopped liking these tiny bakeries, ever since the afternoon he spotted me and my sister (Renu) sitting on the steps of one such bakery, gorging on one of those egg puffs as we sipped our tea. The issue wasn't really their product, but the company of all those construction workers frequenting that place. Dad drove past the bakery, somehow spotted us, even though we tried really hard to hide our faces behind the egg puff and tea. Anyways, he screeched his breaks in disbelief as we both smiled back innocently!! He signaled us to get into the car and we signaled back telling him that puff and tea wasn't over yet! Rest as they say is history!

Such bakeries are very close to my heart. Time would slide by doing TP (time-pass) with friends on a rainy day, infact any day! Hours would be spent discussing crazy ground breaking ideas, silly jokes, gossip, movies, sports and what not. And all this over freshly baked egg puffs and tea.

Ok back to the egg puffs. I like the crispness of the puff and then the softness, gooeyness of the egg in the center. While egg has the sweetness, onion masala lends to the spice! I have rarely stopped at just one! And if you have the puff pastry sheet in stock, you are one lucky person because you are merely 15 min. away from this irresistible snack!! Super easy!

You need: 

(makes 4)

Boiled egg -  2 nos. (shells removed and cut into half)

Puff pastry sheets – 4 nos., each sheet 3 inch x3 inch (Thawed completely)

Onions – 2 medium size (thinly sliced)

Coriander powder – ½ tsp

Red chili powder – ¼ tsp

Tomato paste – 1 tsp 

Salt to taste

Crushed black pepper- ¼ tsp

Oil – 1 tsp

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 F.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Add the sliced onions, salt. Fry for a min. 
3. Add coriander powder, chili powder and crushed black pepper. 
4. Add the tomato paste and fry till all the moisture is gone. If there is a lot of moisture, the portion where the stuffing is in contact with the puff pastry, will be soggy. 
5. Let the stuffing cool to room temperature. 
6. Now take the pastry sheet and place the stuffing on it. 
7. Put the flat side of the egg on top of the stuffing. Fold the sides of the pastry sheet and pinch them to make them all stick together.
8. Pop them into freezer for 5 min. 
9. Take them out and lightly coat them with oil or milk to get a nice golden color. 
10. Bake in the oven for 10 min or until golden brown.
11. Serve with chili sauce or tomato ketchup. 

*To get perfectly boiled eggs, bring water to a boil. Gently add the eggs and boil with lid on for

3 min. Switch off the heat and let the eggs stay in the water for 13 min. Boils perfectly. 

**You can also make an egg puff without any onion masala. Just stuff the egg and season it will salt pepper and chaat masala. 

***You can stuff cooked vegetables too to make veg puffs

****These puffs can be folded any way you like. You could either stick just two opposite sides together and keep other two open, or close all sides or even fold it like an envelope. 

Kathal Subzi (Green Jackfruit Curry)

Kathal (jackfruit) has such amazing fibrous texture and nutty taste, even a non-vegetarian would happily settle for this! I just love this curry with steamed rice or even with pooris (deep fried indian bread). Make sure you use only raw/baby jackfruit for this curry and not the ripe one. 

As a kid I remember holi was never complete without this curry and dahi - vada. And in those times most vegetables and fruits used to be seasonal and finding jackfruit around that time of the year used to be a project in itself. But dad would not give up and use all his resources to make this curry possible on Holi. Oh makes me so nostalgic!!

You need: (serves 2)

Kathal/ Green or Raw Jackfruit – 16 Oz can  or sufficient for two 

Onion – 1 medium size 

Tomato – ½ medium (it should be half the quantity of onion)

Ginger – ½ inch piece

Garlic – 3-4 cloves

Bay leaf – 1 

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Green cardamom – 2 nos.

Black cardamom – 1 no. 

Coriander powder – 1.5 tsp

Garam masala – 1 tsp

Red chili powder – ½ tsp 

Mustard oil – 3-4 tbsp (used in parts)

1. Blend onion, ginger and garlic into a fine paste. Keep aside.
2. Blend tomatoes into a fine paste. Keep aside. 
3. Traditionally the jackfruit is deep fried to a golden brown color. But I pan fry them on a non-stick pan in 1-2 tablespoon of mustard oil till they are golden brown on all sides and get a little crispy from outside. Using mustard oil for this preparation is recommended. Keep aside. 
4. In a pressure cooker, heat the remaining mustard oil. 
5. Add bay leaf, cumin seeds, green cardamoms, black cardamom. 
6. Once you get the aroma of the spices add the onion, ginger, garlic paste. Immediately add salt. Now fry till they become golden brown. Frying onions well is important in this recipe.
7. Now add the turmeric powder, red chili powder and coriander powder. Fry on a medium high. 
8. Add the tomato blended tomatoes and fry till they become soft.
9. Now add the garam masala and fry well. Once the garam masala is cooked well and the oil starts leaving the soil, add 2-3 tbsp of water and fry till the water dries up completely. 
10. Add the jackfruit and mix the masala well. 
11. Add sufficient water for the consistency you want.
12. Pressure cook on high heat till one whistle. 
13. Immediately switch off as the canned jackfruits are already quite tender. If you are using fresh ackfruit, you may have to wait for 2-3 whistles, depending on your pressure cooker. 
14. Tastes best with steamed rice or poori, paratha! 

*Fresh jackfruit tastes much better. However the ones you get in cans are also pretty good in the absence of fresh ones. Just drain all the liquid and wash thoroughly to remove any salt or preservative. I leave the jackfruit chunks from the can, as is, since they are soft and will break easily when pressure cooked. Even if you want to make smaller chunks, make sure the fleshy part (which makes the central core of the jackfruit) holding all the fibrous portion  stays intact, otherwise the jackfruit will fall apart while cooking.  

**If you are removing skin of jackfruit yourself, make sure you grease your hands and knife well as it  can get very sticky and slimey. 

***Make sure the jackfruit is really raw, else your gravy will be sweetish. 

Chicken Ghassi/ Kori (Koli) Gassi

This chicken curry reminds me of my crazy days in Manipal. Though hostel food was not really worth eating, but some generous local friends did treat us to good Mangalorean food! And it's during this time when I discovered home made Mangalorean cuisine that is so full of life and flavor! 

Chicken Ghassi or popularly known as Kori Ghassi goes so well with the sweetness of Neer Dosa (Neer means water in  Kannada and this dosa is super soft, super light pancake made with a very diluted batter) or steamed rice! I had initially made only 2 doses for myself but ended up eating a lot more!! The lovely coconutty flavor with the spice of the red chili is mouth-watering. It is definitely worth a try. Fairly simple to make too!

You need

For Chicken Marinade:

Chicken, 1 inch pieces - 400 grams

Lemon juice –  ¾ Tbsp

Ginger paste – ½ Tbsp

Garlic paste – ½ Tbsp

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Salt 

Marinade for an hour atleast

For the Curry:

Fresh coconut scraped and dry roasted– ½ Cup 

Coriander seeds – 1 tsp 

Black peppercorns – 4-5 nos. 

Fenugreek seeds/ Methi  – ¼  tsp 

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp 

Whole dry chillies – 3-4 Nos. (adjust to taste)

Oil - 3 tablespoons

Onions – 1 medium size (chopped, will be used in parts)

Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp

Curry leaves – 6-7 nos. 

Garlic – 3-4 cloves (minced)

Tamarind pulp – ¾ Tbsp

Coconut milk – ¼  Cup

1. Marinate chicken with lemon juice, ginger, garlic paste, turmeric and salt for an hour. 
2. In 1 tsp of oil lightly sauté coriander seeds, black peppercorns, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds and whole red chillies.
3. Grind these along with roasted coconut and half an onion to a fine paste using a little water if required. 
4. Heat remaining oil in pan. Add mustard seeds.
5. Once they splutter, add garlic, remaining onions and curry leaves. Sauté for five minutes on low heat till its golden brown in color. 
6. Add marinated chicken and fry till it turns brown on all sides.
7. Add the ground masala made of the coconut, onion and whole spices  to the chicken and coat it well. Sauté for five minutes till you get nice aroma. 
8. Add 1 cup of water, adjust salt. Stir, cover and cook for ten minutes or until the chicken is cooked.
9. Add tamarind pulp and stir well. 
10. Add coconut milk and remove from heat just when it comes to a boil. 
11. Serve hot with Neer Dosa or steamed rice. 

*To make neer dosa, use regular dosa batter and dilute it till its almost buttermilk consistency. Pour on a hot non-stick griddle and turn your griddle a little bit to spread the batter. You can spread the batter like regular dosa since its too tin. Spray a little oil and fold the dosas into a semicircle and again fold triangles directly on the griddle. Don't worry if they break as they are too soft to stay firm. 

Vegetarian Hara Bhara Kabab (Vegetarian Kabobs)

Every restaurant serves this Hara Bhara Kabab! So why not! 

It tastes great, has a nice texture, and feels very light too! A very nice appetizer for all your vegetarian friends. And yeah, its super easy and quick. You can keep the kabab-mix ready in advance and pop it into your pan or oven just before your guests arrive. Serve this kabab with two types of dips. No, this time skip the mint- coriander chutney, instead make tamarind chutney. The second dip is made by whisking together 2 Tbsp thick yogurt (all water removed or use greek yogurt), 1 tsp lime juice,  pinch of salt and sugar. These two compliments the kabab and each other too. Try it!!

I need a lot of courage or a special occasion to deep fry! So as usual, these kababs are pan fried with very little oil. Glad to say deep frying would not have made it any better! 

You need: (Makes about 12 kababs)

Boiled potatoes – 3-4 Nos. medium size

Spinach – ¾ Cup (blanched and chopped fine)

Boiled green peas – ¾ Cup (blanched and coarsely ground)

Coriander leaves – 2 Tbsp (finely chopped)

Ginger – 1 inch piece (grated )

Green chillies – 3-4 nos. (fine chopped, can be adjusted to taste)

Amchoor/ Dry mango powder – 1 tsp 

Mint leaves – 2 Tbsp

Cumin powder – ½ tsp 

Cornflour – 1 Tbsp

Salt – to taste

Oil – 2 Tbsp

1. In a bowl mash boiled potatoes, add ground peas, chopped spinach (make sure all the water is squeezed out), coriander, mint leaves, ginger, green chillies, salt, aamchoor, cornflour and cumin powder.  Mix well with your hands. 
2. Now divide this mixture into 12 equal parts. Roll them into balls and flatten them a little between your palms to form a patty.
3. Pan fry the kababs till very light golden brown in color. 

*You can make this kabab in oven too if you are inviting a big group for a party. Just pop the kababs on a baking tray into a pre-heated oven at 400 F for 15-20 min. 

**You can more things like paneer, corn etc to make your own variation. 

Phyllo Cup Desserts - A Gourmet Finger Food

Well, now here's the proof that I have really fallen in love with the Phyllo dough/sheets! I initially started with Phyllo Cup - Appetizers and ended up making Phyllo Cup - Desserts too! 

These bite size devils. give you ample opportunity to taste lot's of desserts and finally pick your favorites and gorge on them! Just the game begin with these tiny bites that maybe gooey, or fruity or cheesy or crunchy or creamy or plain simple irresistible bursts of flavor !! :)

You can fill anything you fancy. Just let your imagination drive you crazy!

You can see in my other post "Phyllo Cup Appetizers - A Gourmet Finger Food". The steps for making the Phyllo cups are exactly the same and I have mentioned it again here (at the bottom of the post) for your easy reference.  

Ideas for the Filling:

• Whipped cream topped with strawberry jam/preserve or even fresh strawberry. 
• Ricotta cheese with fresh chopped berries like blueberries, strawberries, mango
• Chopped banana with cream or nuts
• Melted chocolate topped with nuts.
• Custard of your choice.
• Flavored yogurt with chopped fresh fruits.
• Chocolate chips drizzled with caramel

I could just go on and on!!

*How to make phyllo cups: 

You need: Phyllo dough/ sheet ( found in any Grocery store), Melted butter - approx. 1 tbsp, Small muffin tray 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
2. Place a phyllo sheet and apply melted butter all over the side facing up using a pastry brush.
3. Place the next sheet on top of this sheet. 
4. Apply butter all over the second sheet making sure there are no big air bubbles in between. Repeat this step to add one more layer. So total of 3 layers of phyllo sheets is what you are looking at. 
5. Now cut these layered  phyllo sheets into 2.5 inch x 2.5 inch squares. 
6. Place one square over another in such a way that it forms an eight end star. Ie; don't place one square on top of another, but a little dispersed so that it looks like a star/ flower and does the job of a cup once placed inside the cups of the muffin tin.
7. Lightly grease the muffin tray. Now place sheet on the cup of a  muffin tin and push the centre so that it forms a cup.
8. Now bake it for 7 min or until its golden brown. 
9. Flip the cups gently and bake for 2-3 more minutes so that the base too becomes crispy.  
10. Now they are ready to be filled with anything you fancy!

**As mentioned in my previous post - You can also make these phyllo cups well in advance and store them in an air-tight container. And then just before your party starts fill them up! If you have something that has a lot of syrup or juice, fill the stuffing just before the guests arrive.

Rava Dosa - Restaurant style (South Indian Crispy Savory Crêpe)

Have you ever wondered how those Rava Dosas in restaurants have that beautiful net like texture. Well, I discovered that recently! I know, some of you may already know the trick, but coming from a North Indian family (where Idli, Dosas were the weekend highlights!) meant limited access to those secrets and tips. There was no Internet and google search my mom could depend on like we all do. She still keeps reminding me how lucky we are to have all this information at our finger tips, while in their times it was only friends, books, magazine and of course the Trial & Error method! :)

Still remember as a kid, mom painstakingly making dosa and idli from scratch. For Sunday breakfast, preparation would start from Friday! - The soaking, grinding and fermenting. I used to be so impatient to try some dosas, would pester mom to make at least an uttapam (soft savory pancakes with vegetables) soon after the batter was made. Mom would keep telling me to hold on till the batter ferments, but me-being-me, would not listen and get it my way. Oh, I can't stop writing stories and my life around food, can I!

OK so back to the recipe. This is super quick, super easy. Go ahead and treat yourself to some nice homemade, hot rava dosas – with texture and taste – restaurant style!

Just add onions to make an onion rava dosa, or stuff masala after it is ready to make a rava masala dosa! 

You need:

Maida/ All purpose flour - 1/2 Cup

Rice flour – 1 Cup

Rava/ Suji/ Semolina – 1 Cup

Ginger – 1 tsp (very fine chopped or grated)

Green chilies – 1tsp (very fine chopped)

Cumin – 1tsp

Crushed Pepper – 1 tsp

Salt – 1 tsp (adjust to taste)

Hing – ¼ tsp (I know a lot of you may not like hing, but it does make a difference here)

Fresh coriander/ Cilantro – handful (fine chopped, try using only the leaves, but that's OK! :) )

Dry grated coconut – 2 tsp (optional)

Buttermilk/ Curd – optional

Onion – 1 medium (finely chopped)

Ghee (clarified butter) or Oil – as much or less as you like. :)

1. Mix all ingredients other than Ghee/Oil and Onions (last two from the list of ingredients above)
2. Add water and make a very thin batter. Almost that of buttermilk consistency. Don't worry, rava dosa batter does in fact look like the buttermilk you get in south indian darshinis!
3. Ok, now to making the dosa restaurant style, heat a nonstick tava/ griddle.
4. Uniformly spread some chopped onions (depending how much you would like) on the tava. Skip if you don't like onions in your rava dosa.
5. Hold the bowl containing the batter close to the griddle (this is to avoid messing your kitchen counter and stove top as the batter is too thin, but please keep safe distance!). Now scoop out the batter in the cup of your palms and sprinkle over hot griddle. Yes, just keep scooping and sprinkling till the entire tava is covered, and that is the only way you will get that nice net like texture. (If it is not a non stick pan , spray non-stick spray ,wipe clean and sprinkle the batter, but this would mean a lot of effort !).
6. Cook on medium high flame. Don't add the oil/ ghee immediately and wait for a while for the dosa to cook a little. This trick makes  it nice golden brown and crispy! And remember, this dosa takes a little longer than regular dosas to get that golden brown color, so be patient. And don't worry about the dosas breaking, they will eventually hold very well once cooked.
7. I have found a nice way to stop my dosas from falling apart. After spreading the dosa, I trickle some batter along the circumference as if joining the edges with dots. And this stopping the net texture from breaking when you are removing the dosas.
8. Serve hot with pickle, or chutney. 

*Please mix the batter with a whisk. I know some of you may be too lazy to use a whisk but trust me it makes the whole process so risk free of those annoying lumps. Last thing you want to do in this quick recipe is searching for lumps and removing them! Use a whisk, in fact for any recipe that requires making a batter, it will save you a whole lot of unwanted effort. Stressing on this of course means I have been lazy before and learnt it the hard way :)

** You can use potato stuffing, the same one you use in masala dosa to make a nice rava masala dosas.  

Quick Gajar Halwa (Carrot Pudding)

As mentioned in my Fat-free & Sugar-free Gajar Halwa post, I made two batches of gajar halwa to experiment/ compare. Half of the grated carrots were used to make the diet version and the second half to make the rich, creamy gourmet version. This sure is a party winner. Serve this hot halwa with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or gulab jamun (deep fried dumplings in sugar syrup)!

It's a quick recipe if you have khoya (khoa) or mava ready. See my note below to make quick khoya in microwave.

You need: (serves 2)

Carrots – 7-8 nos. (preferably the red variety, grated - use the thick grater in your food processor or hand grater)

Sugar- 4 Tbsp

Cardamom powder – ¼ tsp

Ghee/ Clarified butter – 3 Tbsp

Khoya/ Mawa – 1 Cup

Dry fruits- ¼ Cup (Almonds, Pistachios, Raisins, Cashew nuts, roasted in a little ghee)

1. In a pressure cooker add the grated carrot, sugar and about 2 tablespoons of water. Give a pressure on high flame. Switch off as soon as the second whistle goes off. Immediately ease off the pressure by either lifting the weight or running under cold water. Be careful if you using a big pressure cooker and the carrots are very few, they may burn by the time the second whistle happens. So depending on the kind of cooker you may have to adjust the timing.The idea is to quickly get the moisture out of the carrots and not cook them too much. That is how you will get a juicy halwa but with a good texture. 
2. Add ghee, khoya and cardamom powder. Mix well.
3. Now cook till you get gajar halwa with consistency of your choice.
4. Add the dry fruits once its ready.
5. Serve hot or chilled.

*Remember the halwa will thicken a little once it cools down. So if you plan to eat chilled then stop cooking a little before the consistency you would like to eat your halwa. But if you plan to eat hot, then dry it till the consistency you would want.

**To make instant khoya take a cup of full cream milk powder and add whipping cream enough to get a thick batter kind of consistency. Heat in microwave oven for approx 3 min. Depending on you microwave oven time may vary. When the mixture becomes a little thick and has khoya consistency, it is ready.

***Another way to make khoya - Take full cream milk in a deep bowl. Cook in a microwave oven for 30 min, giving it a stir every 6-7 min.

****Finally one more option – Reduce whole milk on a low flame, stirring intermittently till it reduces to khoya consistency.

Chicken Hara Masala

I loved this chicken curry. That's all I can say!!

A true Hyderabadi delicacy, for the nawabs! Well, since we are no nawabs, regular yogurt is replaced with no fat yogurt, 1 cup almond is reduced to 10 almonds (limiting consumption to 5 almonds per person, which is considered a healthy portion! Feels good, isn't it!) and doing away with cream altogether.  But feel free to add if you want it real creamy.

For those who may want to know what taste and flavors to expect, let me do that quickly as I can't wait to share this awesome recipe with you all. Its nice refreshing and a very mild yet flavorful chicken curry. This is one of those recipes in which, the spices are so few that you begin to wonder if the curry will have any taste/ flavor at all (there are no whole spices too!) and within the first 5-10 min, you will know you are making something special! 

And for those who are curious about food, it's interesting how there is always some science behind food preparation. When the royal chefs/ khansamas prepared food for the royals, they carefully chose ingredients that would go in a specific dish. For this recipe, the heat of the almonds is compensated with the cooling property of the coriander and mint! 

You need:

Chicken – 500 grams 

Fresh coriander leaves/ Cilantro – ½  Cup

Fresh mint leaves – ¼ Cup 

Green chilies - 4 Nos. (adjust to taste)

Coconut, scraped – ¼ Cup

Almonds – 7-8 (peeled and made into a paste)

Yogurt – ½  Cup (I used no fat yogurt)

Salt -to taste

Oil- 3 tablespoons

Onion -  2 medium (thin sliced)

Ginger paste – ½ Tbsp

Garlic paste – ½ Tbsp

Curry leaves – 7-8 nos. 

Coriander powder – 1.5 tablespoon

Cumin powder – ½ tsp

Turmeric – ¼ tsp 

Fresh cream - 1 cup (Optional, I skipped this in my dish as it was creamy enough)

1. Grind the coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chilies, scraped coconut, with minimum amount of water to a very fine paste. 
2. Grind almonds to paste.
3. Marinate chicken with 2 tsp of yogurt, salt, a pinch each of turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala. Cover with a cling wrap and keep it in the fridge. 
4. Heat oil in a pan, add chopped onions and sauté till brown. The onions should be slightly dark brown(see my note below to cut down on oil consumption). Add ginger paste, garlic paste and sauté for 1-2 min.
5. Add curry leaves and mix well. 
6. Add coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric, salt and mix well. Fry for 1 min. 
7. Add the chicken and fry for 2-3 min till it coats all the masala.
8. Add yogurt and mix well. 
9. Add the ground green paste
10. Cover and cook for 5 min on medium high. Make sure you check in between so that it doesn't burn.
11. Add almond paste, mix well, cover and allow to cook on a slightly lower heat for 5 minutes or till chicken is cooked through.  
12. Lastly add fresh cream and mix well. (adding cream is optional, I had skipped in mine :) )
13. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp of garam masala, mix well and remove from heat. 
14. Serve hot.

*To peel almonds – In a bowl take enough water to cover the almonds and microwave for 45 seconds. Remove and check if the skin peels off when almonds are pressed. Be careful as the water may be hot. If not ready, heat a little more. Keep checking as different ovens may have different settings and it also depends on how many almonds you are trying to pee. It's important to check every 15-20 secs after the first 45 seconds, as you don't want to dry out the almonds by over cooking. 

**As soon as you tip in the onions, add a little salt. This will sweat the onions, release all the moisture and onions will not soak oil. Once the onions are brown, pull them to the side/ rim of the pan, let the oil ooze out of the onions and collect in the center. Remove this extra oil leaving just a little to cook the remaining ingredients that you will add later. This  makes sure your onions are nicely browned and at the same time no extra oil remains in the curry.

Channar Payesh / Chenna Kheer (Cottage Cheese Pudding)

You know India is not just a big, but a diverse country too, when words like Chennar / Channar / Chenna, paneer, all essentially mean cottage cheese and Payesh, payes and payasam refer to pudding. OK now to the food! :)

Its delicate, its super delicate. Not only in the context of texture or the way it should be handled, but in taste too. Very refreshing almost like a palate cleanser kind of dessert. Everything is in such harmony - the texture, the look, the taste. You wonder if you could compare it to fine wine. 

It would be an amazing dessert for diabetics and the calorie conscious too! You can cut down on calories to bare minimum and still find this dessert delectable. But remember, its not a typical super sweet, syrup-y, sticky, deep fried Indian dessert,  it's 'paneer- ki-kheer'. Made from cheese and should be savored liked fine cheese.

In my personal opinion, its again one of those desserts that would also be enjoyed by people  who are not used to typical Indian sweets or even those who don't have a very sweet tooth.

One request! Please, please, please don't use store bought paneer/cottage cheese. Making fresh paneer is the only way to do it right. Spend extra 15 min making paneer, and you won't regret it! For those who have never made paneer at home, just follow the steps as is, and you won't go wrong!

You need: Serves 4

For paneer/ cottage cheese

Milk – 1 Ltr. (you can use whole milk or 2% , for diabetic use 2% milk)

Lemon juice of 1.5- 2 lemons. (yes, you do require that much, sometimes even more)

For the payesh/ kheer:

Milk – 500 ml

Evaporated milk – 200 ml (Can replace this with another 500 ml of milk but then you will have to reduce this till half in quantity over low flame. Adding evaporated milk makes my job easier and faster too)

Light brown sugar – 2 Tbsp (replace with regular sugar but the brown sugar gives a nice earthy, nutty taste and works as a substitute for date-jaggery which is traditionally used for this recipe, but don't panic, regular sugar works just fine! For diabetics or weight watchers, replace with sugar substitute)

Saffron – 6-7 strands

Chopped dry fruits like Almonds, Pistachios, Raisins and Cashews

Making the paneer:

1. In a deep heavy bottom sauce pan bring milk to a boil. 
2. Now add the lime juice and continue boiling till the whey completely separates from milk solids. You know all the milk has curdled, when milk solids are lumpy and the whey  becomes pale yellowish transparent liquid and has absolutely no milky texture at all.  In fact the whey will almost seem, as if screaming – I have no more left in me!! :). 
3. Pass this over a cheese cloth placed on a colander. 
4. Run cold water over it quickly. This helps in keeping the paneer soft and creamy.
5. Hold the end of the cheese cloth and squeeze out all the water. Just be careful when you do this as the heat of the paneer can sometimes be harsh. 
6. Transfer to another bowl and lightly crumble it with your fingers. Keep aside.

Making the payesh:

1. In a heavy bottom pan (preferably non-stick) bring milk to a boil. Reduce flame to simmer and let it reduce to almost half the quantity. Stir intermittently to avoid sticking to the base and burning. 
2. Optional step for calorie conscious folks or diabetics – Cut down both milk and evaporated milk to half.  Boil on low flame to reduce to 3/4th of the quantity. Add 1 slice of bread (with brown edges removed) that has been blended with a little milk to form a smooth paste. This will give the same texture of reduced milk and the flavor will come from the saffron anyways. This is a nice cheat sheet for most recipes that call for reduced milk !:)
3. Add saffron strands, sugar. Boil for another 7-10 min making sure the milk and sugar doe not stick to the base of the pan. 
4. Add paneer and dry fruits. Stir for 1 min. This payesh thickens a little when chilled. So adjust the consistency at this stage by adding a little milk or evaporated milk. 
5. Switch off, cool and transfer to the refrigerator. Chill for 2-3 hours. 

*The milk in India curdles very fast, but in the US, I have no idea what gives milk so much strength to resist curdling :). It takes 2-3 big lemons to do the job. So don't worry, just add more lemon juice if you are not sure if it has curdled completely. You can always wash it off under water to remove too much lemony taste later.

**Make sure you don't use the same spatula used to make paneer while making payesh. You don't want to make more paneer!! :)

***Unlike most Indian sweets, there is no cardamom used. This is to retain the delicate taste of saffron and paneer. Though I am a cardamom addict in sweets, personally prefer this without cardamom. But then, you are free to use it if you like. 

****While there is a lot of debate over sugar substitute not being good for health,  I use Truvia as a sugar substitute whenever required. Not that I am endorsing this product but it does claim to be made from plant extract. I still need to read up more to know how genuine these claims are. Till then, Truvia it is!