Quick Dessert: Kesar Mawa

A sudden desire for something sweet, an unexpected spur from the sweet tooth, an equally unexpected visit from friends or relatives; kesar mawa can come to one's rescue. This recipe, best served chilled, requires preparation time of roughly 10 minutes. Cooling process may take an additional 30 minutes - so in less than an hour, one is ready to plate a delectable dessert. 

Ingredients: 

200g Khoya/Mawa (I use the Milky Mist brand available in Bangalore retail outlets; this one is unsweetened) 

About 100 g sugar (little less than 100g would also do) 

1 tsp cardamom powder

6-8 strands of saffron 

1 tbsp warm milk

A pinch of Kesar Yellow food color (strictly a pinch as excess color will spoil the look of the dessert) 

Chopped Pistachios (for garnish) 

Procedure: 

1. In a kadai, heat sugar in very little water, say for 100 g sugar used, about 3-4 tbsp will be required. 

2. Once the sugar dissolves, add milk and when the mixture is warm, add saffron strands to this. 

3. Mix well and add khoya, stir well avoiding lumps. Stir the mixture for a neat 5 minutes duration. 

4. Add kesar yellow and cardamom powder. Stir the contents well again for about a minute and turn off the stove. 

5. Transfer Kesar Mawa to a flat container and garnish with crushed/sliced pistachios. 

6. Let the dessert come to room temperature and then place it in refrigerator for chilling. 

7. Slice and serve once the dessert is semi solid and chilled. It will sure taste divine. 

An image of yummy Kesar Mawa

Some Crispy Snack as Dark Rain Clouds gather

Recipe for Mosaru Kodubale 

Its been really/tremendously long since I prepared some deep fried snacks at home; the long gap has left an intense craving and it culminated today in making some crispy, crunchy Mosaru Kodubale. 

Kodubale is a favorite snack; a big hit in most homes in Karnataka. These are crispy, crunchy rings made from a mixture of rice flour, grated coconut and roasted chana dal flour. This is usually prepared in large batches and stored for about 2 weeks. The version using Mosaru (curd in Kannada); recipe listed below is a yummier avatar which can be stored maximum for a day and is best when served and eaten hot, right out of wok. 

Ingredients: 

1 cup rice flour

1 cup sour curd - curd must be little thin and watery (if the curd is thick, dilute 1/2 cup thick curd with 1/2 cup water) 

2 finely chopped green chillies

1/2 inch ginger (finely chopped) 

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Salt to taste 

Oil (while kneading/rolling and for deep frying) 

Water (to boil) 

Procedure:

1. In a big kadai, heat curd (watery and thin as mentioned above) and bring it to boil. Add green chillies, ginger and cumin seeds and salt to taste when boiling and give a mix. 

2. Now to this boiling curd, slowly add rice flour; stir well and leave on stove at low flame for 2-3 minutes to allow cooking. You can sprinkle little water if you find huge lumps while mixing in the flour. 

3. Even when lumps are formed, there is no need to worry. Let the contents of the kadai cool down and you can knead/roll the dough well, applying oil on your hands. I kneaded the soft rice flour dough on my kitchen slab itself. 

4. Now take small portions of this rice flour soft dough, roll out rod like structures using your fingers. You will need to grease your fingers with oil to roll the dough out. This process is much like our childhood/school times when we rolled out long snake like shapes with plasticine/clay. 

5. Join two ends of rolled out rods and make a circular loop. 

6. Make circular loops using all of the dough, line them all on a butter paper. 

7. Heat oil in kadai and deep fry these loops in moderate heat. If the oil is too hot, the loops may open up or cook badly/get dark brown. Ensure right temperature of oil. Fry till mild brown, drain and keep aside. 

8. The crunchy exterior of these Mosaru Kodubale rings; their soft interiors with nice flavor of curd will hook you to them completely. The snack would be super awesome with some spicy chutney, I needed nothing as an accompaniment, I started devouring them right away as they were super good stand alone. 

 A good load of Mosaru Kodubale rings in basket. 

A closer view of few rings on a plate

Reference Used and Many Thanks to: http://www.tasteofmysore.com/2009/12/mosaru-kodubale.html