Gudpara

Using Gud (Jaggery) instead of regular sugar for the syrup in this recipe takes these lovely paras to another level. This recipe is from one of my fav bhabhi, whose an ace gudpara maker. These can be stored in an airtight container for a month or two and is yummy in the winter months. The saunf also gives them a lovely flavour. I usually pop a couple in my mouth after lunch, which satisfies my sweet tooth and the saunf leaves a great taste in the mouth till the evening... this goes amazing with a hot cup of tea too... pure winter indulgence at its best!!

what you need:
- 500gms maida (all purpose flour)
- 1/3 cup (150ml) ghee/oil
- water to knead the dough
- oil for deep frying

for the syrup
- 250gms gud (jaggery)
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp saunf (fennel seeds)
- 1 tsp elaichi powder

1. Combine the ghee into the flour to resemble dry breadcrumbs. Add little water to get a fairly hard dough (not too hard). Knead thoroughly to make the dough smooth.

2. Divide the dough into two. With the first half, roll it out to about 1/2 cm thickness. Using a knife cut out strips of size (1cm X 3-4cm). Deep fry the strips and and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat with the second half of the dough.

3. Combine the gud, water, saunf and elaichi to make a thick syrup. Boil the syrup until it reaches 2 string consistency (Cool a drop of syrup on a plate and stretch between two fingers to see approximately two strings). Basically it should be thick and should be solifying at the edges.

4. Quickly add the paras (the strips) into the syrup to coat them evenly and spread them onto a tray to solidify. When cool, store in an airtight container. Eat whenever you like :), makes about a kilo of gudpara.

Another entry for the RCI-punjab to Richa of As dear as Salt, conceived by Lakshmik of Veggie Cuisine.

Cream Cheese Crackers

Hmm evening tea time is the most important meal of the day, ahem for me that is! Well, I could skip or rush though any meal of the day, but come 5pm I need my cuppa with a yummy snack. When I am super hungry I know I need to assemble something fast, and my fav thing is to spread some cream cheese or cottage cheese on some salty crackers and throw in some toppings, the results are always yummy and different every time!!!

you need:

salt crackers of any kind (as many as you want to make!)
cream cheese - (as much as you want to smother!!) seriously you just need enough to spread on the crackers, which is maybe half a teaspoon per cracker. Also there are different cream cheese variety available that adds more flavour to each cracker. Some typical flavours found are garlic, spring onion, chives, pepper, plain salted. you could add your choice of flavour to the tub of cream cheese too before using it, like finely chopped coriander.

toppings:

anything really! Here Ive put a thin slice of tomato and thin slivers of cucumber and bellpeppers and topped it with a thin slice of cheddar cheese. Ive crushed come black pepper and sprinkled dried basil.

More tweaks:

You coud put a small blob of ketchup or green mint and coriander chutnet too. You can also experiment with different cheeses on top, try mozarrela instead of cheddar.My other favourite thing to spread on top is avocado salsa (which is just mashed avocado mixed with some lime juice and finelly chopped onion and tomato) which is just divine!! Sometimes I put one or two pearls of chick peas or red kiney beans. Really its about using your imagination here in combination with whatever is leftover in the fridge!

The most important thing: is to eat it as fast as its ready. Thats because you would have added so many wet ingredients on top of the cracker and you dont want it to go soggy at all. This time, I managed to take a quick picture before devouring them!! Enjoy and do let me know the toppings that you've tried so I can try them too!!!!