Lauki ki kheer - Bottle gourd pudding

 

Bengalis love different type of payes / kheer. Most common ones are rice based. But one of the vegetable which can be used to make kheer is lauki or bottle gourd. Here is one easy and quick recipe of that.

Preparation Time: - 10 min

Cooking Time: - 20 min

Servings: - 3~4 persons

Ingredients:- 

1. 250 gm. Bottle Gourd
2. 500 ml Milk ( Full cream preferred )
3. 3 tbsp Ghee
4. 10~15 nos. Cashew nuts and/or pistachio
5. 1 tsp Cardamom powder
6. Handful of raisin
7. ½ cup sugar
8. 1 tsp Kewra water
9. Few strands of saffron (optional)

Preparation:-

1. Peel bottle gourd, wash, remove the inside seeds if any and grate it.
2. Boil the milk in a heavy bottomed pan on medium heat. Bring the milk to boiling point, turn the heat to low and simmer the milk so that it reduced to ¾ th in quantity. Keep aside.
3. Heat Ghee in non-sticky tawa, add cashew nuts and/or pistachio. Fry till they turn light brown. Keep aside.
4. Add grated lauki / bottle gourd in the same tawa.
5. Cook for 5~7 minutes – Bottle gourd has lot of juice and you need to cook till all the juice is gone and the gourd becomes tender.
6. Pour the cooked lauki in the condensed milk in the same heavy bottomed vessel and sauté for some time. Stir continuously so that it does get stuck in the bottom.
7. Add saffron if you want.
8. Add sugar – cook till the sugar gets dissolved and kheer is thicker. Bring the milk to boiling point again and simmer for around 10 minutes.
9. Mix green cardamom powder and kewra water.
10. Switch off the burner.
11. Garnish with previously fried cashew nuts and raisins. Cover and keep it for 2 minutes.
    

Now it is ready to serve hot. If you refrigerate it for an hour it becomes more delicious in my opinion but some people may not like it. You can have this dessert item after almost every type of meal.

As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.

Eid Mubarak to all my readers

May the choicest blessing of Allah fill your life with joy and prosperity.

EID MUBARAK

How to make Cold Coffee

Cold Coffee is probably one of the most popular summer refresher all over the world. There is several variations of toppings and garnishing but here is one of the simplest way to make this addictive drink.

Preparation Time: - 5 min

 

Cooking Time: - 5 min

 

Servings: - 2 person

 

Ingredients:- 

1. 1 tbsp Instant Coffee powder (Nescafe / Brew )
2. ¼ tbsp. unsweetened Cocoa powder
3. 3 tbsp water
4. 1 ½ - 2 tbsp Sugar / Honey / Maple syrup (the amount can vary according to your taste
5. 1 tbsp Chocolate syrup
6. 1 cup Full Cream Milk
7. 2 scoop Vanilla Ice cream
8. Whipped Cream for garnishing (optional)
9. Few Ice cubes

Preparation:-

1. Boil the full cream milk and cool it. Keep it aside.
2. Take a Glass and pour ½ tbps chocolate syrup on the sides.
3. Swirl the glass to make some pattern of syrup if you want. Refrigerate the glass a little so that the syrup gets sticky to the glass.
4. Boil 3 tbsp water
5. Pour coffee powder, cocoa powder and sugar /honey/ maple syrup
6. Heat and stir till the sugar is melted completely.
7. Take the resultant solution in a blender
8. Add milk, 1 scoop of Ice cream, few ice cubes and ½ tbsp. of chocolate syrup in it
9. Blend well till the mixture becomes frothy.
10. Now pour the coffee in the Glass
11. Garnish with a scoop of Ice cream or whipped cream or cocoa dust.

Refrigerate for 30 min and serve this drink as a cool refresher in summer heat.

As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.