Mango Fool Sourced by the Telegraph
Patishapta
Bengali-style crepes with coconut filling
Makes 10-12, serves 5-6
Ingredients for crepes
- 100g flour
- 50g rice flour
- A pinch of sodium bicarbonate (optional)
- 200ml milk or more
- Ghee or oil for shallow-frying
Ingredients for coconut filling
- 1tbsp ghee or oil
- 100g fresh coconut grated
- ½ cup condensed milk
- 1tbsp cashew nut finely chopped
- 1tbsp raisins soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
- 4tbsp milk
Method
- In a bowl, take flour, rice flour, milk and sodium bicarbonate.
- Mix into a smooth batter, not too thick or thin. Keep aside for 30 minutes.
- In a kadai or pan, heat 1tbsp ghee.
- Add grated coconut and stir-fry on low heat for 2 minutes
- Add milk and condensed milk. Mix well with the grated coconut.
- Add raisins and chopped nuts and stir-fry the mixture until the milk is absorbed.
- Remove from heat and cool.
- Place an 8- or 12-inch non-stick frying pan on medium heat
- Pour in 2tbsp batter and swirl the pan so that the batter coats the bottom evenly to make a thin pancake. Allow it to set.
- With a teaspoon, spread filling across one end of the patishapta.
- Starting with the end that has the filling, carefully fold the pancake over the filling and then roll it on to its other side.
- Remove from pan, do the same with the remaining batter and filling.
Thakuma’s Payesh Sourced by the Telegraph
Patishapta Sourced by the Telegraph
Litchir Kheer
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
- 1½ ltr milk
- 60g sugar
- 2 tins litchi
- ½ cup litchi juice or syrup mixed with water to make half cup
Method
- In a pan, bring the milk to boil and keep stirring till it is reduced to half.
- Add the sugar, stirring all the while, till the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Reduce the milk further to make a thick caramelised custard. Remember to keep stirring.
- Remove from heat and let it cool completely. Then put into the fridge to chill.
- Just before serving, mix the litchi along with juice into the kheer. Pour into a serving dish or individual dessert bowls and garnish with rose petals.
Cook’s tip: Tinned litchis are the best for this dish.
Mango Fool
Serves 4-5
Ingredients
- ½kg raw mango
- 150g caster sugar
- 500ml thick cream
- 250ml water
- Crushed ice
METHOD
- Wash, peel and cut mangoes into half. Remove the stone. Cut flesh into small bits.
- Place mango pieces in a pan, cover with water and bring to a boil.
- When three-fourths done, add the sugar, mix well and cook till sugar dissolves and the mango is reduced to a pulp.
- Remove from heat and let it cool.
- Put the pulp in a bowl and then whisk in the cream.
- Check to see if it needs more sugar; if it does, whisk in some more.
- Put in the fridge and chill it.
- Serve in dessert bowls or small glasses.
Rakhi Purnima Dasgupta is the owner of Calcutta-based restaurant Kewpie’s
Thakuma’s Payesh
My grandmother’s rice pudding
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
- 2½ ltr milk
- 1 tin condensed milk
- 50g sugar (more if needed)
- 100g almonds, pistachios and cashew nuts, chopped
- 2 green cardamom pods, powdered
- 2 bay leaves
- 50g basmati rice
- 50g chopped nuts (for garnish)
- Rose petals (for garnish)
Method
- Pour the milk and condensed milk in a large pan or dekchi and bring to a boil.
- Wash and dry the rice.
- Add the rice and bay leaves to the boiling milk.
- Stir from time to time till the rice is done.
- Add sugar and chopped nuts, stir and cook for another 10-15 minutes until the sugar has dissolved.
- Sprinkle the powdered cardamom over the payesh and remove from heat.
- Once the payesh is cool, place in the refrigerator to chill.
- To serve, place in individual dessert bowls or plates and garnish with nuts and rose petals.
Litchir Kheer Sourced by the Telegraph
Pantua
(Makes 20)
Ingredients
- 750g chhana or paneer
- 150g suji or semolina
- 2tsp ghee
- ½kg ghee or oil for frying
- 3 black cardamoms peeled and the seeds crushed
- 250g milk solid or khowa khir
- 1½kg sugar
- 1l and 1 cup water
- 1tbsp large-grained sugar
Method
- Knead the chhana and suji with 2tsp ghee to make a smooth dough.
- Sprinkle with large-grained sugar and knead again lightly.
- Divide the dough into 20 portions and roll into balls.
- Combine the milk solid and crushed cardamom seed to make tiny balls and stuff each of these balls into the centre of the channa and suji balls.
- Make a thick sugar syrup by boiling ½kg sugar in 1 cup of water.
- Make a thin sugar syrup with 1ltr water and 1kg sugar.
- Heat ghee in kadai until piping hot (about 200°C) and fry the chhana balls a few at a time until well-browned.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
- Keep the temperature of the ghee constant.
- Put the pantua in thin sugar syrup for about 1½ hours.
- Remove and place in the thick sugar syrup for serving.