Stuffed Coconut Ladoos

As peeps.........hope you all are doing good and geared up for the festive season. We Kolkatans are ready to welcome the most-awaited and biggest festival of the year......The Durga Pujo. As the monsoon bids adieu, the days become shorter, the morning air feels cooler and the sky is full of wooly clouds. This marks the beginning of Pujo-Pujo feeling. But definitely, this year festivals will be quite different from the other years. 

Nariyal Ladoo or Coconut Ladoo don't need any introduction in Indian households. We as Bengalis have great significance for Narkel er Nadu (Nariyal/Coconut Ladoos). These small coconut balls are made are usually made during the festivals, especially during the Ganesh Puja/Durga Puja/ Diwali/ Lokkhi Pujo/ Lakhmi Puja. 

As the name suggests it is made up of Coconut, Milk, Sugar, and Cardamom to add some flavor to the Ladoo. The Ladoos are of two kinds one made with Jaggery or Gur and are deep brown in color and the other made with Sugar and are pristine white in color. My personal liking is the later one (the one made with Sugar). I have already shared the recipe of Traditional Coconut Ladoos during my early phase of blogging (I think that was my first post). 

This recipe of Coconut Ladoos is a bit different from the traditional ones as I have stuffed them with Khowa/ Mawa. This tastes a bit different from the traditional ones but really tastes awesome. Moreover, I have added condensed milk to the Coconut mixture which uplifts the flavor of these Ladoos. So, this festive season make these Stuffed Coconut Ladoos and enjoy them with your friends and family.

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Pineapple Custard

Hello my Foodie Friends, I hope you all are doing great. As of now, you all must be knowing my love for desserts. Yes, I have a sweet tooth and I love to relax and cherish my bowl of dessert after lunch (especially). I think that's the best moment of my day and I forget all my worries and tensions with that single spoon of love.

This is the reason you can find a number of dessert recipes on my blog. If you're a dessert lover like me that you must check these recipes (click here). Whether is a traditional Indian dessert or a dessert with International flavors, you can find them all. Some of my favorites are Rasgulla, Gulab Jamun, Phirni, Shahi Tukda, Cheesecake, Mousse, Pannacotta, Pudding, Custard and the list goes on and on..........

Today's recipe is one of my favorites when Pineapples are available in full swing. Pineapple is such a versatile fruit like Mango which can be paired easily with any kind of sweet dish. You can have it as chutney, cake, ice-cream, custard, jam, etc etc etc......I love to make Pineapple Custard (during this season) to relish the rich flavors of this multifaceted fruit.

Pineapple Custard is very easy to prepare but needs a little bit of effort and time but the end result is so satisfying that each and every step is worth it. There are two steps in making this delectable dessert firstly preparing the custard and the other one is to make the jelly. So, without any further ado, let's begin with the recipe:

Maggi Biryani

Hello Fellas............ I hope this post finds you in your best state. These days I'm loving to do some experimental cooking in my kitchen and as you all know the outcome of any experiment can be a hit or a miss. But, the zeal of knowing the end result always keeps me motivated to try something new each day.

I'm very fond of fusion dishes and I always find myself experimental with this type of cuisine. Fusion Cuisine doesn't fall under any particular cuisine style and has played a part in the innovations of many contemporary restaurant cuisines since the 1970's. 

It's really very innovative and at the same time challenging to fuse elements of different culinary traditions into one style of cooking. I usually try to experiment with some traditional dishes and give them a new look and feel. I have shared many Fusion Dishes in my blog, if you're someone who loves to try this type of cuisine then I would highly encourage you check them out (click here).

This time I have tried to fuse two of the most lovable dishes of every Indian citizen and i.e. Maggi and Biryani. We all love them, isn't it? then how about combining both of them and trust me the end result is lip-smackingly good. If you're a lover of both of these dishes then you have to try this out.

So, without any further ado, let's begin with the recipe:

Carrot Delight

Hello, my Foodie Friends.......I hope you all are keeping well and enjoying the festivities. Yes, the festival season has already started in India but this time it's very different but that's what the new normal is. We have to accept it and behave accordingly.

Today is Ganesh Chaturthi......according to mythological stories Lord Ganesha is worshiped before everyone and it was on this day that Lord Shiva had pronounced his son superior to all the gods and goddesses except Lord Shiva himself, Goddess Parvati, Lord Vishnu, and Goddess Lakshmi.  

India will celebrate Ganeshutsav for the next 10 days starting today. Well, Lord Ganesha is worshiped equally in each and every region but if you want to feel the real essence of Ganeshutsav then you must visit Maharashtra where it's celebrated most of the households and every nooks and corner.

Ganesh Puja is incomplete without Modaks as this is the most loved dessert of Lord Ganesha. Modaks can be prepared in a variety of forms and nowadays it is available in the sweet shops too. I have already shared the recipe of Modak in my blog. You can check it out here.

Today's recipe is a bit different it's about Carrot Delight or Carrot Jelly Burfi. Nowadays since Carrots are available throughout the year and we can enjoy them at any time of the year. There are a lot of dessert delicacies made with carrots. One of them is Carrot Burfi, this burfi is a little bit different from the usual burfi recipe as I have given jelly texture to it.

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Soft & Spongy Rasgulla

Hello, my foodie friends hope you all are doing fine. Being a Bengali we all have a sweet tooth. We Bengalis can start our day with sweets and end it too with a sweet dish. Today's post is all about Rasgullas or Rosogolla (as we Bengalis say). This post is very special to me as I made these Rasgullas on our wedding anniversary. 

Rasgullas are so commonly found in Kolkata that we never think of making them at home but due to the current situation, we are avoiding all the store-bought food items as much as possible. So, to make the anniversary special I thought of making Rasgullas at home. 

Rosogolla and Bengalis are synonyms. You cannot imagine one without the other. It doesn't need any introduction in the Indian subcontinent. But for those who don't know what it is then let me introduce them with this signature Bengali sweet. Rosogollas are homemade cheese balls cooked and soaked in sugar syrup. Bengali's love for Rosogolla is endless. 

You can already find a recipe for Rasgulla on my blog but over the years I have got a number of questions so I thought of making a full proof recipe and share it again. This recipe of Rasgulla is a no-fail recipe. So, let's begin:

Samosa

Hello, my foodie friends....... I hope you all are doing good and following the lockdown guidelines. These days we all are staying home and experimenting with the food which we used to relish outside or the famous street-side delicacies. My all social media handles are filled with the posts of Pani-puri, Jalebi, Rasgulla, Dhokla, Samosa, and whatnot. 

We all love Samosas, isn't it but amid this lockdown neither we can go out nor we can enjoy the outside food. However, this lockdown cannot stop us from enjoying and relishing something homemade. Anything homemade is always better than store-bought or having them at street-side stalls or restaurants. Making Samosa is quite tricky. It involves 3 main steps:

• Kneading the dough
• Preparing the filling
• Making the Samosas
• Frying the Samosas

I have made Samosa a number of times with different kinds of fillings like potato, cauliflower, chicken, paneer, etc. But perfected this recipe after many years. Making Samosas requires a lot of patience because kneading the dough requires lot of muscle strength and then frying the samosas requires a lot of time.

This Samosa recipe is just perfect to enjoy with your evening cup of tea. I have shared some important tips and tricks to make the Perfect Samosas. So, stay home and enjoy these Samosas with your family. Let's begin with the recipe:

Egg Biryani

          

Hello, my foodie friends..........I hope you all are enjoying the holiday season and preparing and relishing the cakes, cookies, and a variety of desserts. What are your plans for the new year party? Do share them with me. If you ask me then ma and family like to enjoy the holiday season in a bit traditional way. Apart from indulging ourselves in cakes and desserts we also make some traditional Indian dishes. 

If you and your family are like us then we have got you sorted. If you have some guests coming your way then you can go completely traditional and some delectable Indian dishes. There are a number of such dishes up on the blog. You can check them here (click here).

Today in this blog post I'm sharing a Biryani recipe. This is I have prepared Biryani with Eggs. Biryani is a very popular Indian dish that is made or served on special occasions. Usually, Biryani is made from Chicken or Mutton but there are veg variations of Biryani too like Paneer Biryani, Veg Biryani, Soya Biryani. Today we're going to make Egg Biryani which is loved by the people who don't eat Chicken or Mutton.

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Eggless Bread Pudding/ Caramel Bread Pudding

            

Hello Peeps.... I hope you all are doing well this holiday season. What are your plans during this last week of the decade? Here, in Kolkata, the temperature is below average and that's the reason we're sitting at home and sipping piping hot soups and binging some of our favorite web series. That's how we like to spend our quality time when we're at home.

Christmas is just a few days away. If you're still planning on some holiday special desserts you can click here (click). I have some very delectable recipes available on the blog. Do try them and share how do you like it. 

In Kolkata, all the shops are filled with mini Christmas trees and Christmas decor items. You can see the bakery shops are filled with Christmas special cakes. Even the street side shops are selling different varieties of cakes. During this time of the year, everybody is joyful, delighted and full of life. When everything is happy and merry all around how can food be aloof from these festivities. Everything is looking festive and charismatic. 

This blog post is a little different as I'm sharing a recipe that is very close to my heart. Today I'm sharing the recipe of Eggless Bread Pudding. I still remember my mom use to make this Pudding around this of the year and we use to gulp it down immediately. I have already posted a variation of this recipe (here). 

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Bread Rasmalai

              

Hello Peeps......Hope you're having an amazing time with all the festivities knocking at our doorsteps. I know you all are busy in cleaning your home, planning and shopping for Diwali decor items and preparing Diwali snacks. 

As we all are so much busy into Diwali preparations cooking should be make easy and real quick so that we can feed our family with healthy and homemade goodies. Not only family but our friends and neighbors too after all they're our extended family members. 

We're sharing some amazing and quick Diwali recipes which are very easy to prepare and taste amazing too. To continue that series we have come up with the recipe of Bread Rasmalai or Bread Rasmalai.

Bread Rasmalai is very easy to prepare and taste real good. You just need to prepare the Rabri; you can prepare that beforehand and assemble it when you want to serve it. 

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Coconut Ladoo/ Nariyal Ladoo........Instant Diwali Desserts

            

Hello my Foodie Friends......hope you all are enjoying the festive season and must be busy in shopping, travelling, eating, cleaning etc etc etc. Navratri and Kojagari Lakshmi Pooja is over and hope you have enjoyed it thoroughly. Festive season fills us with good vibes and energy. 

Now it's time for another major festival and i.e. Diwali. I know you all are busy in cleaning your home, planning and shopping for Diwali decor items and preparing Diwali snacks. While we're so much into Diwali cleaning and planning, it's obvious that cooking takes a side track and we then switch to store bought sweets and snacks.

To solve this issue we have come up with instant Diwali desserts and snacks so keep an eye on this space. So, the first recipe in this series is Instant Coconut Ladoo or Nariyal Ladoo which is very easy to prepare and takes very less time.

Nariyal Ladoo or Coconut Ladoo don't need any introduction in Indian households. It is usually made during the festivals especially during the Durga Puja/ Diwali/ Lokkhi Pujo/  Lakshmi Puja. As the name suggests it is made up of Coconut, Milk, Sugar and Cardamom to add some flavor to the Ladoo.

The Ladoos are of two kinds one made with Jaggery or Gur and are deep brown in color and the other made with Sugar and are pristine white in color. My personal liking is the later one (the one made with Sugar) and that is what I am sharing with you all.

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Egg Roll

            

Hello Foodies......Hope you all are doing great and enjoying the festive season. The biggest festival of Bengalis Durga Puja is just around the corner. Which means lot of shopping, pandal hopping, makeup, adda (meeting and chit-chat with friends) and obviously Food. 

We Bengalis can never think anything without Food. Food takes the center space in everything we do. That's the love we have for Food. Durga Puja means Pandal hopping and lot of junk food. During these days we all forget about diet and hygiene and gulp anything and everything. 

As Durga Puja is just around the corner so we thought of sharing a very popular street food of Kolkata and that is "Egg Roll". Kolkata is the hub of Street Food. There is so much variety in the food that we can find endless options to eat but will not get fed up.

Today's recipe is Egg Roll which is nothing but a paratha stuffed with an omelette and spicy salad. So, let's begin with the recipe:

Chicken Nuggets

            

Hello Peeps...hope you all are doing great. The festive season is just around the corner and it's time to celebrate all the festivals with your friends and family members. It's that time of the season when we visit each other's place, exchange gifts and have lots of fun. 

Any festivity is incomplete without food whether we have friends and family visiting our place or we go out exotic dinner or enjoy the street side food while hopping the Puja Pandals.

But between all these hustle-bustle we can never compromise the food items that we  feed to our family. We have to take care of the hygiene and the heathiness. Obviously, we all want to enjoy the festivals with full enthusiasm, energy and with a good health.

Today's recipe is Chicken Nuggets or Chicken Pakoras. We all love Chicken Nuggets isn't it? Especially our kids they just go gaga over them. Whenever we urge to have Chicken Nuggets we either go to McDonald's or KFC and satisfy our craving but think if we can make it at home, THEN?

Anything homemade is always better than store bought or having them at restaurants. These Chicken Nuggets recipe are too simple to make and require very few ingredients....trust me!

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Vegetable Pulao in Rice Cooker

           

Hello my Foodie Friends.....Hope you'll are doing great. By the way how's summer treating you in your place? For us, it's still yet to come in full swing, so we kinda dwelling in between.

Coming on to today's post let me first ask you: are you a Roti/Paratha/Naan lover or a Rice lover? If you ask me hands down for Rice, anytime. I have shared quite a few rice recipes on the blog, you can check them out here (click here).

Today's recipe is Veg Pulao in a Rice Cooker. I have already shared the recipe of Bengali style Veg Pulao in a Pan. You can check it out here (click here). This time it is a bit hassle free way to cook Pulao. Pulao is a very popular main course dish in India and its subcontinents. We can also find this Pulao in many marriage ceremonies menu card too. 

This recipe is very easy to prepare and can be made by beginners and bachelors as well.  I have made this Pulao in Rice Cooker. You can make this in Pressure Cooker or Pan too.

Rice Cooker comes handy when you have some guests coming your way or you want to go out of the house. Just add in the rice and water, plug in the rice cooker and forget about it. Your rice will be ready within 30-40 mins depending upon the brand of Rice Cooker you're using. I use mine to cook from Steamed Plain Rice to Pulao and Biryani too. 

For this post I'm cooking Veg Pulao in which I'm using the vegetables which was available to me in my refrigerator but you can use any veggies of your choice. Moreover, I'm cooking this Pulao in Vegetable Oil but you can use Ghee (clarified butter) too or a mixture of both depending upon your preference.

So, without doing any further ado let's begin with the recipe:

Mango Phirni

             

As we all know Eid is just around the corner so something special dedicated to Eid has to be there on the blog. What's better than celebrating a special occasion with a dessert. I have already shared many dessert recipes on the blog. You may check them out here (click here).

Phirni or Firni is a kind of rice pudding which is very popular in North Indian and Mughlai cuisine. This pudding is also prepared during the holy month of Ramzan and to celebrate festivals like Holi, Diwali etc.....

It's a very easy and quick dessert which needs very few ingredients. It's very similar to Rice Kheer but the difference lies in the kind of rice being used. Phirni is prepared from ground rice while the later is prepared from whole rice. 

So, let's celebrate this Eid with your friends, family members and Mango Phirni. 

Swiss Roll with Vanilla Cream Frosting

              

Sorry for the late post guys....This post was pending in my drafts folder for a very long time but due to some or the other reason I was not able to post this recipe. 

It's almost 3 months that Valentine's day has passed by but I strongly feel that love doesn't need any date and time to be expressed. You can always show your love for your loved ones by gifting them expensive and luxury items but what we do on day-to-day basis for our loved ones matters the most.

Love doesn't need any special occasion to be expressed. If you love somebody you can express it in number of ways. I strongly believe that Food is one thing which is the best  way to express your love and care for your loved ones. Treating your family members by making a sumptuous meal is an excellent way to express your TLC for someone.

So, to embark this festival of Love I thought of making Swiss Roll filled with vanilla cream frosting for my family. Swiss Roll also known as Jelly roll which is a sponge cake layered with jelly or cream, rolled up and served in cross sectional slices. It tastes delicious and divine.

Even if you don't get the swirls perfect or your cake gets cracked while rolling it's okay. You will still love the tasty and heavenly Swiss Roll.

Strawberry & Vanilla Pannacotta...........A perfect dessert for your holidays!!

             
              

Hello my Foodie Friends. Hope you all are enjoying the festive season and relishing upon the baked goodies. If you’re still finalizing the dessert for your Holiday party I have got a very crowd pleasing recipe for you and i.e. Strawberry & Vanilla Pannacotta. 

                  

Pannacotta is an Italian dessert which means cooked cream. Traditionally it is made from milk, cream, sugar and gelatin. It is generally served chilled and topped with chocolate, caramel sauce or fruits of your choice. You can enjoy this dessert as it is just spoon up and indulge yourself in it's silky smooth texture.

These days we can easily find gelatin in our local grocery stores unlike earlier; people would use egg-whites instead. So, if you are not in favor of using gelatin you can always replace gelatin with egg whites but in that case you need to bake it. Having gelatin in your pantry makes your life easy and you can make really gorgeous looking desserts instantly.

I used Strawberries but you can always use fruit of your choice or replace it with chocolate the options are endless! So let's begin with the recipe:

Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori Chicken......The name itself is enough to make someone drool over the hot, sizzling platter of spicy and juicy Chicken pieces. As a kid when I use to attend the marriage ceremonies the first thing I would search in buffets or the menu card are those succulent Tandoori Chicken.

When I grew up and developed interest in cooking I use to think that making those restaurant style Tandoori Chicken at home is not possible. Thanks, to the technology, my blogger friends and You-tubers from where I tried to learn the art of making Tandoori Chicken at home. 

I tried many recipes; sometimes it use to work and sometimes I failed drastically but finally after adding and subtracting many things I came up with a recipe which never disappoints me and every time I come up with restaurant style taste at home.

So, without further ado let's start with the recipe:

Rasgulla Pudding aka Rasgulla Payesh

 Hello fellas.......as the festival of Nolen Gur or Date Palm Jaggery is coming to an end let us all indulge ourselves in some of the delicacies prepared from Nolen Gur. The Harvest festival which is popularly known as "Makar Sankranti" in Hindi and "Poush Sankranti" in Bengali had just passed by and all the desserts prepared had Nolen Gur in them in some way or the other.

I have some recipes posted on my blog which are traditionally prepared by my Mom and Mom-in-law on the auspicious occasion of Poush Sankranti with Nolen Gur. You can click the link below to have a look:

• Gurer Paayesh/ Rice Pudding with Date Palm Jaggery
• Patishapta/ Crepes with coconut filing
• Nolen Gurer Sandesh/ Date Palm Jaggery Fudge

This time I thought of making something which doesn't require that much of arm workout and well, it's scrumptious too. The recipe which I'm trying to pen down is Rasgulla Pudding. If some guests are coming your way don't worry you can prepare it instantly; you just need to have Rasgullas handy and you're sorted.

I prepared this recipe with some homemade Rasgullas. You can find the recipe here . So, let's get started:

Gulab Jamun Cake......Let's celebrate New Year with some Fusion Food

Hello All, finally I'm back after an ultra long break and managed to get some time and jot down a recipe which is very close to my heart. I'm very fond of fusion dishes and I always find myself experimental with this type of cuisine. Fusion Cuisine doesn't fall under any particular cuisine style and has played a part in innovations of many contemporary restaurant cuisines since 1970's. 

It's really very innovative and at the same time challenging to fuse elements of different culinary traditions into one style of cooking. I usually try to experiment with some traditional dishes and give it a new look and feel. 

This time I tried to experiment with a basic Vanilla cake and Gulab Jamuns. When it comes to cakes you can have zillion of creative ideas. I did it with Gulab Jamuns this time. Yes, a Gulab Jamun Cake....it sounds so Royal, isn't it?

You can make this scrumptious cake with store bought cake and gulab jamuns but I like to do everything from scratch so I made a basic Vanilla cake, mini gulab jamuns, buttercream frosting and finally assembled them.

So, let's get started: