I submitted some information on Diwali, its history and culinary traditions and some comments on modern Indian cuisine. Trix was very innovative with her approach to nouvelle Indian food, using Indo-Chinese dishes as a basis to her article. Read about her dining experience at Mirchi Wok, Columbia with a few comments from yours truly scattered here and there in her article ‘Shubh Diwali!’ However, I also have a simple little recipe for a lovely Diwali sweet today. They are little bites of heaven, not too sweet and incredibly moreish. It is a variation on the Malai Khaja recipe contributed to Urbanite and so simple that even the kids can get involved in the kitchen!
(makes around 16-20 burfis) Ingredients 3 cups fresh paneer, crumbled. Homemade paneer recipe here 1 cup sweetened condensed milk ¼ cup ghee 1 tsp cardamom powder Pinch of saffron
3 food colours of your choice Oil to grease your tin Method 1. Heat the ghee in a large non-stick pan. Add the paneer and condensed milk and cook on a medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until the mixture resembles dry-ish, crumbly paneer and a little shiny ghee is visible around the mixture. 2. Turn the heat off and add the cardamom and saffron. Divide the mixture into 3 equal portions. 3. Quickly mix in each food colour in to the divided paneer mixtures. It is easier to do this when the mixture is still hot and may require some elbow grease (not literally) to distribute the colours into the mixtures evenly. I advise bribing potential helpers. 4. Grease a medium sized circular, square or rectangular baking tin or burfi tray with some oil (not butter or ghee). I recommend going for a tray that is at least 5cm deep and not too large; perhaps around 6X8 inches. I used two round mini cheesecake pans to cut mine into little triangles, for they are ‘cheese cakes’ after all. 5. Press one colour mixture firmly into the bottom of the tin; compact it in as much as you can. Repeat for the other colours. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to cool in the fridge for a couple of hours. 6. Slice into pieces and watch the smiles light up the faces of your loved ones this Diwali! Enjoy the rest of your Diwali celebrations. Why not join my Facebook page and tell me how you and your family celebrated? You can also sign up to the free Urbanite Food and Drink Ezine here
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