Friday, October 24, 2008

Paneer Kheer and Diwali Wishes!


I'm a believer in finding excitement even in trivial stuffs. I keep looking for reasons to celebrate even if there doesn't seem to be one. Actually this is a quality that we all sisters share in our family. We have a good time even if we get together for some time and switch ourselves to a celebration mode. One of the many advantages of growing up with 3 sisters is instant entertainment! Our house was never quiet when we grew up and no one was never alone at home. I remember those lively evenings at hour house, after we come back from school/colleges everyday. Dinner time was the time for all of us to catch up on everyone's news. Each one of us had a story to share from our school and college everyday. And the interesting part was, mom used to actively participate in these conversations! She never gets bored with our silly stories and even with our so called "complains" about school. And in fact, she maintained and still maintains the same kind of relationship with all our friends who visit our place. That's one of the reasons that our home was the regular meeting place for a number of friends.

Now after many years, while everyone has spreaded out from home and live in remote places, I can sense the silence in our house. Mom and dad especially can sense it often and every now and then they express about it when we converse over phone. Diwali is one such occasion that we all miss terribly. Naturally, its wonderful to celebrate Diwali! Wearing new clothes, oil bath, fire crackers, special programs in TV and best of all delicious food and yummy sweets... Hmm, I really wish I was in India for Diwali every year and enjoy as much as possible, but unfortunately, that isn't the case. Its been years since we celebrated Diwali together as a family in India.

Well, change is inevitable and we all know about it. And fortunately that same quality still continues in us and often we catch-up over phone nowadays. We do our three-way/conference calls to get everyone on line and have fun talking about many things. Surprisingly even now, we never get tired of our never ending chitchats. Also, when we visit India everytime we make sure we celebrate every little occassion to make it a pleasurable experience.

A couple of days before I successfully finished a mini home project and I felt that I deserved a pat on my back. Perhaps because of the way I was brought up, I still find reasons to rejoice even in day-to-day minor happenings. So, I made this Paneer Kheer! This kheer is a winner in our family. Especially if my daughter loves it, then it has to be a real winner! I happened to read this recipe from a cookbook recently and I made it for the first time a couple of days before when I had to finish off the left over paneer in my freezer. After a while, I was enjoying this delicious kheer and I just loved it so much that I had 3 servings (yes, I am a dessert freak!) continuously and almost finished it before my hubby and daughter had even tasted it. As a result, I had to make more paneer at home the same night and made this kheer again the next day. All of them loved it as much as I did! I have to tell you its evil and rich :) Quite similar in taste to Basundi, but takes much lesser time than Basundi.


WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY DEEPAVALI!


Ingredients:

  • Condensed Milk - 1/2 can
  • Whole Milk - 3 cups
  • Grated Paneer - 1 cup
  • Sugar - 1/2 cup (or as required)
  • Cardamom - crushed - 1 tsp
  • Ghee - 1 tbsp
  • Cashews and raisins - a few
Procedure:
  • Heat the whole milk in a wide pan and let it boil.
  • Add the condensed milk and stir well. Let it boil and taste for sugar. If the sweetness from the condensed milk is not enough, you can add 1/2 cup sugar and stir it gently.
  • Cover and boil in low heat for about 10 - 15 mins.
  • The mixture should not be too watery and should be like any other kheer texture.
  • Now add the grated paneer, crushed cardamoms and boil for 10 more mins in low heat.
  • Finally add Cashews and raisins after roasting in ghee.
  • Remove from heat and let it rest for an hour.
Serve warm or chilled.

24 comments:

Usha said...

Great post...the kheer looks awesome...love milk based sweets...will try this soon :-)

Cham said...

Ah all those gossips u sis were chitchating :)
Happy Diwali to U and Ur family.
I should try this one because I love basundi!

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

Congrats on finishing the project Sujatha. Paneer kheer... wow. Looks rich, tempting, delicious and what not!

CurryLeaf said...

Great Post.Parents feel lonely when a child leaves a house but it is natural -water always flows forward.Let us too move on thinking of those happy days and creating more happy days especially with this kheer.First time such a kheer I have seen.Nice post,nicer recipe :)

Uma said...

ooh, the kheer looks fantabulous Sujatha! Happy Diwali to you and your family too.

Deepthi Shankar said...

paneer kheer looks yum .. Happy Diwali to you N ur family .. have a blast

Laavanya said...

Happy Diwali Sujatha to you and yours... :)

I've not heard of or tasted paneer kheer before - sounds fab and rich.

Red Chillies said...

Happy Deepavalii to you and yours Sujatha.
Enjoyed reading your post, it is so positive and vibrant.

Sujatha said...

Red Chillies - Thanks for your deepavali wishes and Happy Deepavali to you and your family!

TBC said...

Aren't sisters the best?! :)

The kheer looks lovely! Diwali wishes to you and your family too.

Unknown said...

I too miss being at home for Diwali! Kheer looks awesome..Happy Diwali!

Priya Suresh said...

Delicious Kheer..wishing u happy diwali..

Unknown said...

Wow...Thats so yummy...kheer with paneer...Must try....Wish u and ur fly a very Diwali :)Enjoy!

Gita Jaishankar said...

The paneer kheer is new to me, looks very tasty, will definitely try this :)

kamala said...

Kheer looks super delicious Suajatha..Wish you a very happy Diwali

Purva Desai said...

Paneer Kheer is new for me...it looks divine...

Wishing u and ur family Happy Diwali...

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

Ah this never reached me... Paneer in Kheer... mmm POB for the project done... Wont the tender grated paneer melt off in the milk??? I kinda liked the idea of this kheer...

raaji said...

great sweet......never tried his.....
Happy diwali to u and ur family Sujatha!!!!!

amna said...

lovely idea! and i also love the header :) dal in wine glasses! screams out fusion to me !

Sujatha said...

Hi Ramya, Paneer won't melt completely in the kheer and there'll be still some chunks remaining.. I just love to munch those cheesy chunks in every spoon of this kheer :)

Recipeswap said...

yummy paneer kheer rich and decadent

Uj said...

Paneer kheer! New to me.. Looks inviting. Bookmarked to try soon :) Thanks for a lovely entry

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

hey tried your paneer kheer recipe..it was just heaven.. no other words to describe.

Sujatha said...

Wow, Mahimaa! This is the third recipe in a row that you have tried from my blog within a few days!! I'm so excited to know that you liked all of them and they all came out good... Thank you so much for letting me know after trying! Thats so nice of you.. :)