Thick Poha Chivda

Thick Poha Chivda in Marathi

Time: 1 Hour
yield: 6 cups (serves: 10 to 12)

Ingredients:
3 cups Thick poha
1/2 cup peanuts
1/4 cup thin slices of dry coconut
1/4 cup Broken Cashew-nuts
1/4 cup Roasted Chana dal (Tip)
5 to 6 dry Red chilies or 1 tsp Red chilli powder
5 to 6 curry leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
3 tsp powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
around 1 and 1/2 cup oil

Method:
1) Heat oil in kadai. Deep fry peanuts, cashew-nuts, dry coconut slices, curry leaves and chana dal separately. Put them in a bowl.
2) In that same oil, deep fry thick poha into small batches. Poha should puff nicely, yet the color should remain white. (Tip)
3) Put the poha into a big thali. Sprinkle turmeric powder, sugar, cumin powder, salt and red chili powder (Tip). Mix well. Now add deep fried peanuts, cashewnuts, dry coconut slices, and chana dal. Mix nicely.
Chiwada is ready.

Tips:
1) Always fry poha at the end.
2) Fine particles in poha burns and settles at the bottom of kadai. Therefore, Place fistful of poha into a fine mesh skimmer (metal). Dip the skimmer into hot oil so that fried poha does not spread in the oil as well as the burned particles won't mix along with poha.
3) Adjust the amount of turmeric powder, sugar, cumin powder, salt and red chili powder to your taste. If you are using red chilies then deep fry them and skip red chili powder.
4) Chana dal is the one which we use in normal chiwda. (Roasted split chana)

Malai Chops

Malai Chop in Marathi

Time: around 45 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 small pieces

Ingredients:
Paneer
2 1/2 cup Milk (2 % reduced Fat)
1 tsp Vinegar
2 tbsp Water
Sugar syrup
1 cup Sugar
3 cup Water
Khoya Mixture
100 gram Khoya
2 tsp Sugar
4 tbsp whipping cream (Note 1)
small pinch of Saffron or edible Color (Note 2)
Cardamom Powder (Note 1)
1 tbsp Pistachio slices for garnishing

Method:
Paneer
1) To make Paneer, bring 2 1/2 cup milk to boil over medium heat (Avoid copper or aluminum cookware.). Keep stirring to avoid burning. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and 2 tbsp water. Add vinegar mixture slowly into boiling milk. Turn heat to medium low. Milk will start curdling immediately. Paneer granules and water will get separated completely. Line a muslin cloth over colander. Drain all the water. Wash Paneer granules with cold water. twist the cloth and squeeze out all the water.
2) Put squeezed paneer into a Thali (bigger plate). Knead the paneer well. Make a very smooth dough without any granules and lumps. Divide this dough into 8 equal balls. Gently Press each ball a little.
Sugar Syrup
3) In a deep pan, add sugar and water, stir. Once mixture starts boiling add Paneer balls. Cover with lid and cook for 20 to 22 minutes (Do not cover completely, Cover only 90 % of the pan surface). After 22 minutes, turn the heat off and let the Paneer balls rest for atleast 3 hours into sugar syrup.
Malai Mixture
4) Roast Khoya till color changes to light pink. Once become cold, crush the Khoya with fingers and crush all the lumps. Add whipping cream and sugar, mix well. Blend nicely to fine smooth paste. Add little edible color, mix evenly. Cover and store in the refrigerator.
5) After 4 hours, remove soaked Paneer balls from sugar syrup. Do not squeeze. Cut each piece horizontally into two equal parts. spread 1 tsp khoya mixture on one part and place second part on it. squeeze lightly. Garnish with Pistachio slices (Note 3).
Refrigerate fro an hour and then serve.

Note:
1) In readymade Malai sandwich, rose water is used in khoya mixture to give nice flavor. If you want to use rose water, skip cardamom powder, add 3 tbsp whipping cream and 1 tbsp rose water instead of 4 tbsp whipping cream.
2) You can use pinch of saffron instead of Saffron Color.
3) Use edible siliver foil to make it more attractive.