Instant Kharvas

I am very fond of sweets. When we were in Girgaon, Kharvaswalla use to come from Dombivali. I still remember flavour of his two types of Kharvas - One is Ilaichi and other one Kesar flavoured.

Generally Kharvas is made from 'Cheek' or 'China Grass'. However, this recipe does not require any of these ingredients.


Ingredients :
1 Cup whole cream milk
1 Cup curd
1 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup milk powder
3-4 teaspoons sugar (optional)
Cardamom powder for garnishing

Preparation :
1. Mix milk, curd and condensed milk (I used Amul Mithai-Mate)
2. Add 1/2 cup of milk powder and sugar to it
3. Stir till milk powder and sugar is dissolved
4. Transfer it into a tray 
5. Steam the mixture for 30 minutes
6. Set it aside for cooling 
7. Sprinkle Cardamom powder over it
8. Keep it in refrigerator for 2-3 hours
9. Cut it into pieces before serving

Thai Style - Mix Veg Soup

Since long time I wanted to make some Thai cuisine. Finally during this long weekend, I decided and started with Thai Soup. I dont know how authentic Thai soup is made, but this can be termed as Thai Style as i have used vegetables like Broccoli,  Bell Peppers, Mushrooms, Lemon Grass and Coconut Milk. 

My this post goes to the event 'Winter Warmers' hosted by The Veggie Hut.

And lastly, this has won a runner-up prize in the MasterChef India 2 contest!

Ingredients :
For Stock :
4 cups water
2 green chillies
1 small onion
1 Lemon grass stalk
1 inch Ginger

For Soup
2 Cups Mix vegetables (I used Mushrooms, Broccoli, Baby Corn, Carrot, Boiled Green Peas and Bell Peppers)
4 tspns All purpose flour (Maida) or Corn flour
1/2 cup water
2 cups Coconut Milk
Salt to taste

Preparation :
1. Take all the ingredients for stock in a vessel
2. Boil it for minimum 30-40 minutes
3. Remove all the ingredients from the vessel
4. Now only green stock remains in the vessel
5. Add Carrots and baby corns and allow it to cook for 2-3  minutes
6. Now add remaining vegetables
7. Make paste of Maida and water
8. Pour paste in the stock
10. Add salt to taste
11. Allow it to cook for further 5 minutes
12. Stir continuously, so that no lumps are formed
13. At the end add coconut milk to the soup
14. Further boil it for 2-3 minutes
15. Serve hot

Five Spice Powder

While watching Masterchef India, I liked Radhicka Agrawals recipe- Sesame Crisps with Spiced Honey.  In that recipe, one of the ingredients used was Five Spice Powder.

The chef described the powder as masala having sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, and salty taste. I tried to find our the recipe from net. Here is the recipe of 5 spice powder.

Ingredients :

4 tspns Tirphals (Schezwan Peppercorns)
2 tbsp Badishep (fennel seeds)
16 star anise (I dont know local name for this ingredient)
12 cloves (Lavang)
10 Dalchini sticks (Cinnamon)

Preparation :
1. Roast peppercorns on low flame till you get good aroma.
2. Set it aside for cooling
3. Now take balance ingredients (badishep, star anise, lavang and dalchini) in a pan
4. Roast all the ingredients till you get good aroma
5. Allow it to cool for some time
6. Take all the roasted ingredients in a mixer
7. Make fine powder