White butter from whipping cream

I’ve grown up eating the white butter (लोणी in Marathi) be it with thalipeeth, dosa, paratha or even bread. We hardly ate store bought butter back then. In my recent trip back home, M fell in love with freshly churned butter (लोणी), so much so that he ate the white butter with Idli, Dosa, Amboli, thalipeeth & Parathas, so I had to give it a try by make the white butter using the whipping cream as the traditional way of making butter is not possible. But never the less the white butter made from whipping cream tastes exactly the same like you make it back home in India. The process of making butter is quite messy but worth the mess if you like eating white butter, it tastes exactly how you would make butter in your childhood. I made the butter using my hand mixer.

Ingredients

1 ltr whipping cream (I used Al Marai whipping cream)

Few ice cubes or cold water 

Method

1. Pour the whipping cream to a deep bowl, use your hand mixer and start whipping the cream on medium to high speed until the cream turns to stiff peaks, to make the white butter you have to go further beyond making stiff peaks or make “over whipped cream”
2. When the cream starts to curdle, lower the speed, after few minutes the butter will separate from the buttermilk, at this time you can add 2-3 pieces of ice cubes or 1/4 cup chilled water. Continue to beat until the butter is completely separated from the buttermilk. 
3. Use your hands to collect the white butter from the buttermilk, remove it in a bowl or a box. You can use a muslin/cheese cloth to separate the butter but I will suggest using  your hands as this whole process of collecting butter quite enjoyable. 
4. 1 ltr of whipping cream will produce approximately 380-400 grams of butter.

We enjoyed the butter with thalipeeth.

Mango Mousse with 2 ingredients

Mango mousse is one of the easiest & quickest desserts I’ve ever made; it takes not more than 20 minutes to make. The mousse turned out light, airy, smooth and it’s melts in the mouth.

~ Ingredients ~

250ml mango purée (I used the store bought)

250ml whipping cream

~ Method ~

1. Before you start making the mousse make sure the bowl which you will be using to whip the whipping cream is chilled, so keep that bowl & the attachment of the hand mixer in the freezer for 10-15minutes.
2. The whipping cream and purée has to be cold too. 
3. Whip the whipping cream until soft peaks, it takes about 8-10 minutes. 
4. Once the cream is whipped to soft peaks, add the chilled mango purée and mix both the ingredients.
5. Using a piping bag with a star nozzle pipe the mousse into serving cups/ bowls and keep refrigerated for 4-5 hours before serving. 
6. Serve chilled, decorate with fresh mango or purée as shown in the second picture. 
7. If you want the mousse to look fancy you can tilt the glass at an angle using a tray or a small box and pipe or spoon the mousse and let it set for 3-4 hours then add the mango purée and serve.
8. If you use fresh mangoes please add 2-3 tbsp of powdered sugar along with the mango purée for sweetness. Add sugar according to the sweetness of the mango. 
9. Use a blender to smoothen the fresh mango purée as the fresh mango purée has lumps in it.
10. Also note some store bought purées are sweetened and some are non sweetened so add the sugar accordingly.
11. With the mentioned quantity you can make exactly 10 cups ( I used cutting chai cups) of mango mousse
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Garlic Lemon Salmon in cream sauce with Veggies

Pan seared Salmon with Lemon & Garlic in delicious cream sauce- it’s is a quick recipe prepared in one skillet & ready in 30 minutes! Served with potatoes & boiled broccoli, this is one seriously good salmon dinner idea; This simple salmon recipe has few ingredients, but tastes absolutely delicious! Perfect for quick fix lunch or dinner.

Ingredients

3 Salmon fillet(200 gms each)

Salt & pepper as per taste 

2 tsp Olive oil

3 tbsp butter

250 ml heavy cream

3 tbs minced garlic

4 tbsp finely chopped parsley 

2 tbsp lemon juice (add more if needed)

Method

Clean the salmon, pat dry, season with salt & pepper, in a pan add olive oil & pan-sear the salmon fillets for 4-5 minutes on the skin side & 3 minutes on the other side. Keep them aside. 

In the same pan add butter, after the butter melts add the crushed garlic, cook until fragrant for about a minute, add the cream & bring it to a gentle simmer while stirring occasionally, add lemon juice, salt & pepper.

Add the salmon back into the pan, sprinkle with 3 tbsp finely chopped parsley, and spoon the sauce over each fillet.

Grilled potatoes 

I used 8 red baby potatoes. Wash the potatoes well, remove the dirt, pat dry and add them to a grilling dish/ plate. Rub olive oil, garlic salt, pepper and put in a pre heated oven for 30 minutes. After the potatoes are grilled tip them on a plate and crush them lightly until the potatoes leave a rough edge. You can do this using a fork or vegetable masher which we use to mash pao bhaji :)

Pop the potatoes back in the oven for 5 minutes more. 

Boiled brocolli

Boil 1 ltr water in a pot, add the chopped and washed broccoli to the boiling water after the water starts boiling, cook the broccoli for exactly 2 minutes. Strain the water add salt & pepper and serve immediately.

Serve with veggies & boiled rice.

Kairi Panha ( कैरी चे पन्ह )

Kairi Panha (Raw Mango Drink)

Raw Mango drink is an excellent summer cooler which hydrates the body during summers. It is also called 'panha'in marathi.You can use jaggery instead of sugar as a sweetener, however i prefer the taste of sugar.Just stock up the raw mango pulp and stock up for later months!! Enjoy

Ingredients

1 cup raw mango pulp

1½ cup sugar 

½ tsp saffron strands

1 tsp cardamom powder

salt while preparing the drink

Method

Wash the mangoes throughlly and pressure cook them

remove the skin after the raw mango cools

Blend the pulp well with the sugar in the blender

Add cardamom powder and saffron. The thick pulp is ready.

this pulp can be stored in the fridge for a month,

while serving add 1 tsp ( or as needed)  of pulp for one glass of cold water, add salt and mint, stir to mix well

Bakar Bhaji

Bakar Bhaji Recipe is a mild spicy, tangy curry made from chunks of pumpkin with the skin on. It goes well with chapati or curd rice. Bakar bhaji is made in Vidarbha (eastern region of Maharashtra) during festivals. So, if you are looking to make something new with Pumpkin, then do give this a try. Grateful to my mother-in law for teaching & sharing this family favorite recipe with me, its one of my favorite now :-) Thanks Aie

Ingredients

1/2 kg Pumpkin , chopped with skin intact

2 tbsp Poppy seeds

2 tbsp charoli (Chironji nuts)

2 tbsp Sesame seeds

1/4 cup freshly grated Coconut

4 tsp cooking Oil 

8 Curry leaves

2 Dry Red Chillies

1/2 tablespoon Methi Seeds

1 teaspoon Mustard seeds

1 pinch Asafoetida

2 teaspoons Turmeric powder

1-1/2 tablespoons Tamarind Paste

2 teaspoons Red Chilli powder

Salt , to taste

2 tablespoons Maharashtrian Goda Masala

1/2 teaspoon Jaggery

1/2 cup Water

Coriander Leaves , chopped, for garnishing

Method

1. To prepare the bakar bhaji dry roast the poppy seeds, sesame seeds, fresh coconut & charoli all separately. Grind them into a coarse powder in mixer grinder. Keep aside.
2. Wash the pumpkin thoroughly & cut the pumpkin with the skin into chunks of roughly 1 inch cubes. You can use the pumpkin with yellow & green skin, as it is very tasty and fits perfectly for this recipe 
3. In a kadai, heat oil on medium heat and once it is hot enough, add fenugreek seeds. Once they splutter, add mustard seeds, hing & turmeric powder.
4. Add the curry leaves immediately & red chillies. Give it a quick stir and add the chunks of pumpkin.
5. Add the red chilli powder, jaggery, salt, goda masala, powder of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dry coconut & chironji & add the tamarind pulp. Add about 1/2 cup water & give it a quick stir & cover the vessel for the pumpkins to cook, the pumpkins doesn't take much time to cook. 
6. The Bhakar bhaji shouldn't be too watery. garnish with coriander leaves and serve.
7. Bakar bhaji is best served with poori's or plain roti/chappati