Summertime Sweets And Savouries

NIMKI
Nimki, also known as 'namakpara,' is a traditional North Indian snack. Made of white flour, they are tasty and crunchy, and can be made anywhere and anytime without a hassle. The best thing about this recipe is that it can be stored for a long time without using preservatives.

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tbsp ghee
¼ tsp kalojeera (aniseeds)
½ tsp salt
Oil for deep frying

Method
In a bowl, mix flour, salt, kalojeera and ghee. Rub the ghee well with the flour. Now add little water to make the dough. Knead the dough to make it even and smooth. Cover the dough with wet cloth and keep aside for 15-20 minutes. 
Now divide the dough into small balls. Take one ball at a time and roll it into thin rotis. Cut the roti with a knife. Cut into shapes of your choice. Nimki is ready to be fried. Heat oil in a pan. Fry the 'nimkis' in low heat to make them crunchy. Fry till golden brown. Remove from oil and spread onto paper towel o drain oil and cool. Serve with tea or coffee.

Tip
Make sure you fry 'nimkis' on low heat, if the flame is high the 'nimki' will turn brown quickly and will remain raw and soft inside. It should be golden-brown and crunchy. Store in an airtight container so that it lasts for a long time.

BHAPA SANDESH
There are many variations in making of a 'sandesh' some of which are quite simple as much as kneading up the three key ingredients: sugar, chhana and cardamom powder.

Ingredients 
500g cottage cheese (chhana)
2 egg white
Few drops vanilla essence 
10 pistachios
150g sugar
1 tbsp ghee

Method
Finely chop pistachio nuts. Mix cottage cheese, egg white, sugar, ghee and vanilla in a blender. Place the mixture in a small greased baking dish. Cover the baking dish with aluminium foil. Pour water in a large baking dish. Place the small baking dish with mixture in it. Pre-heat the oven temperature at 170 degrees Celsius. Bake for 30 minutes or until the mixture sets. Remove baked 'sandesh' from the oven. Allow it to cool down. Cut into diamond or square shapes. Garnish with chopped pistachio nuts. Serve at room temperature.

RICE AND COCONUT LADDU 
Coconut laddu is one of those sweets that can be very easily made for any festival. These can be made using fresh coconut or desiccated coconut, with sugar or jaggery to suit one's taste. I made these with fresh coconut, jaggery and fried rice powder. This easy and traditional coconut laddu needs just three ingredients- coconut, sugar or jiggery, and milk. Anyone, even beginners, can try this with ease.

Ingredients
2 cup scraped fresh coconut 
1½ cup dry roasted rice powder
2 tbsp ghee
¼ cup mixed nuts
½ cup condensed milk
2 cup jaggery

Method
Heat ghee in a non-stick pan. Add scraped coconut and jaggery, cook for few minutes. Add one cup rice powder and condensed milk to it. Mix well and cook for 10 minutes or until it turns sticky and you can make balls from the mixture. Now add mixed nuts and switch off heat, mix continuously for 2-3 minutes. Transfer the prepared mixture in a bowl and set aside to cool. Divide the prepared mixture into equal 

portions and shape them into laddus. Coat the laddus in remaining roasted rice powder. Store or serve.

GOJA
'Goja' is the traditional, Bengali version of North Indian 'sakkara para.' Flour dough is rolled and given the desired shapes. Afterwards they are deep fried and dipped in a thick, sugar syrup. It is sweet and crunchy, and is known for its wavy designs. This sweet is served to guests during Boishakh.

Ingredients
1 cup flour, ¼ cup water
2 tsp ghee for dough
2 cup oil for deep frying
Salt to taste
For syrup -
1 cup sugar, ¼ cup water

Method
Take flour in a bowl. Add oil, and salt, mix well for 2-3 minutes. Then add water to make it into a tight dough. Knead well for 5 minutes. Make sure the dough is not loose. Keep aside covered for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into twenty small balls. Take at a time one ball and roll into a thin, small roti. Heat oil in a pan till medium hot. Add the prepared small, thin roti to oil and fry on low heat. 
Remove the roti when brown and keep aside. In a separate pan, mix sugar and water, and boil on high heat; after about two to three minutes the syrup will thicken and become sticky. When white bobbles start to show from bottom, add the fried small round roti immediately and stir smoothly on low heat so that all rotis are coated evenly. Turn off heat after fifteen to twenty seconds. Spread on greased tray. Allow it to cool and serve.

Tip
This is a delicious teatime snack can be stored away in a tight container for a long time. 

MALAI CHOP
Ingredients
2 kg whole milk
1 lemon
3 cups water
1½ cup sugar
3 cardamoms
For the malai topping -
1 cup whole milk
1 tbsp flour
½ cup whipping cream
A few strands of saffron 
Chopped pistachios and almonds

Method
Place milk in a heavy bottomed pan and bring to a boil. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze in the juice and stir; the milk should begin separating. Add in the remaining half and the milk should separate into 'chhana' curds. Drain into a cheesecloth and hang the 'chhana' for at least two hours, to drain out the whey. Remove the 'chhana' and knead well with about one tablespoon of flour. Knead till oil comes out. Shape them into round flat cakes, cover and let this rest for about 20-25 minutes. 
In a pan add water, sugar and cardamoms, bring to a boil. Gently place the chhana cakes into the syrup and poach them for about 25 minutes. At this point, they should become spongy and porous. Remove from the syrup and set aside to cool. Place the remaining milk in a pan and thicken to ¼ volume, you will end up with very little of this thickened milk. Whip the cream, and mix in the cool, thickened milk, and saffron strands. To assemble, place a little of this creamy mixture over the spongy chhana cakes. Garnish with pistachios and almond, chill and serve.

KHEER PULI
'Kheer' is a kind of concentrated milk that is often used as a filling to make a wide variety of pitha. Kheer puli has a lot of kheer. It is soft, creamy and definitely comforting. 'Kheer puli pitha' is delicious and easy to make. 

Ingredients
2 cups flour
4 tbsp ghee
Pinch of salt
2 cups thickened milk kheer
Oil for deep frying 

Method
Place the flour in a mixing bowl. Add salt and ghee. Mix well. Now add little water to make the dough. Knead the dough for 5 minutes to make it smooth. Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes. Meanwhile heat and stir the kheer. Take a small part of the dough and roll it out like a medium sized tortilla. Cut out a circle with cookie cutter. Place a small amount of kheer filling on each circle. Brush the edges with water and seal tightly to form a crescent shape. Keep aside. Now heat oil in a pan. Deep fry until the 'pithas' are light, crispy and golden brown. Repeat to make more 'pithas' of varying size.

TIL-ER-NARU (SESAME SEEDS LADDU)
Til-er-naru or sesame seed laddus are traditionally prepared with jiggery, and lightly flavoured with cardamom powder. 
Sesame seeds are a good source of magnesium, calcium, iron and other nutrients. There are different varieties of white sesame seeds available in the market; some tastes bitter, so use the best quality ones that taste nutty and fresh without bitterness.

Ingredients
200g white sesame seeds
200g jaggery
Ghee for greasing

Method
Place a frying pan on slow heat. Add sesame seeds and dry roast till they are light golden in colour. Remove pan from the heat, transfer the seeds to a bowl. Dissolve jaggery in one cup of water and strain. Add jaggery in a pan and place the pan on low heat. Stir continuously till it thickens. Remove pan from heat, add the roasted sesame seeds, and mix very well. Grease your palms and a tray with ghee or oil. Take a small portion of the mixture with a spoon and roll it between your palms. In this way make all the 'narus' and keep in a greased tray. Til-er-naru is ready. It can be stored in an air tight container.  

CHIRAR PAYESH (SWEET DISH MADE OF PRESSED RICE)
Payesh made of pressed rice is not a common preparation. I have never seen it being cooked anywhere outside my family, and I am not even sure of its origin. My grandmother used to prepare this dish for her husband, which he appreciated very much. You will notice that I have not used any spice in it so that the original taste and flavour of fresh, date-jaggery and pressed rice are not over-powdered.

Ingredients
1 cup pressed rice (preferable brown)
2 litres milk
1 cup date jaggery
2 tbsp grated almond and pistachio

Method
Wash the pressed rice and let the water drain away. In a pan boil the milk and reduce it to half. Now add the pressed rice to the boiled milk and cook in low heat for ten minutes. When the mixture thickens, add jaggery and cook until the desired thickness is arrived. Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the serving plate and garnish with grated almond and pistachio. Serve hot or cold.

Tip
Milk often curdles when jaggery is added to it. This can be avoided if you can maintain a steady temperature while mixing them.

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed
Food prepared by Salina Parvin