Rasmalai

Rasmalai has been my favorite sweet since childhood and it came out very well in my first attempt which was about two years back. I tried it again after a long craving and it dint let me down. Came out as yummy as it looks.

Makes 20


Ingredients for Rasmalai Patties:

6 cups milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 cups sugar
5 cups water
Pressure cooker

Ingredients for Milk mixture:

4 cups of milk
2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar (adjust to your taste)
1/8 teaspoon crush cardamom
1 tablespoon sliced almonds and pistachios to garnish

Method:

Paneer:

-Boil the milk in a heavy bottomed over medium-high heat, stirring frequently making sure milk do not burn on the bottom of the pan.
-As the milk comes to a boil, add the lemon juice slowly and stir the milk gently. The curd will start separting from the whey, turn off the heat.
-Once the milk fat has separated from the whey, drain the whey using a strainer line with cheesecloth or muslin cloth.
-Wrap the curd in a muslin cloth, rince under cold water, and squeeze well.
This process takes out the sourness from the lemon.
-To take out the excess water squeeze the cloth. Taking the right amount of water out of the paneer is the most important part of this recipe.
-To check if enough water is out of the paneer, take a little piece of paneer on your palm and rub with your fingers. After rubbing the paneer for about 15-20 seconds, you should be able to make a firm but smooth ball.
-If the paneer is too dry, add a few drops of water, using the water squeezed from the paneer.
-Once the paneer is drained, knead the paneer for 3-4 minutes until the paneer is almost rolls into smooth soft dough.
-Knead the paneer by dragging the palm of your hand hard on the paneer.

Making the Rasmalai:

-Divide the dough into equal parts and roll them in smooth balls and flatten them a little.
-Mix the sugar and water in a pressure cooker on medium high heat and bring to a boil.
-Add the paneer balls and close the pressure cooker. After the pressure cooker starts steaming, turn the heat to medium and cook for about seven minutes.
-Make sure the cooker is large enough to accommodate the finished patties, as they will expand to about double in the volume while cooking in the syrup!
-Close the heat and wait a few minutes befor opening the pressure cooker.
-Take out the patties from the syrup and squeeze them lightly,and keep aside.
-Boil the milk in a frying pan on medium heat until the milk reduce to about 2 cups.
-Make sure to frequently stir the milk as the milk burns easily in bottom of the pan.
- Add the sugar and the Rasmalai patties in milk. Let it cook for few minutes.
-Add the cardamom and mix in. Garnish with sliced almonds and pistachios.

Serve the Rasmalai chilled.

My ray of hope!!

You are here with us and now have become a part of our lives. It was difficult for us to understand our needs now we have figured it out. I am killing my time gazing at you, at your beautiful toes and tiny fingers.

There has never been a beautiful expression even by great artists than yours; the way your stretch, the way you yawn, the way you stare, the way you doze, the face when you burp.

I feel elated to converse with you through the oos and aas. I wish i could understand your thoughts and language better.

They say I make you feel secure by my presence, I think it is the other way round. When you nudge your head on the nook of my shoulders and sleep, you make me secure, confident, you make me whole.

It took quite sometime for you to smile at me, but it vanished all my pains and hardships. It was all worth to see the "toothless grin". I can do anything for you to see you smiling.

This is the way all the parents would have felt seeing their little one. Now it is my turn and am loving it.

My debt!

A dedication to my parents whom am always indebted to. Love you till I can fill this universe, which I am unable to express.

I had been a vigilant owl
Now I am a relaxed pup

I was taking good care of us
Now You are here for it

I have been impatient many times
You always understand me

I know I am not being right at times
But you know I am not so

You taught me to seek refugee in god
But I don have the need now

You sent me to hibernation as a bear
But it's time I rise swift as a sparrow

To help you not for all that you did
But at least a drop in your ocean of your love

I always feel I have not did justice
For all those you have done for me

May be I can reach half of it
In my next birth as your parent.

On Our way to meet you!!

Excited about your arrival after a long wait of gestation.
Preparing your nursery and learning to care for you.  Feeling the time crunch and overwhelmed about what more I could have done these days with you inside of me. Our life is going to revolve around you and has almost already begun. It has sure been a long wait to meet you face to face. But wondering who is going to be with me like you did all these days? 
Quiet as a cucoon yet boisterously kicking and reacting with me to the surroundings. You were such a beloved company and I loved every bit of these nine months.  
Oh dear I can't look at you as another individual. You a part of me and now I understand why mothers lose patience when kids turn away from them. But you are and will be an individual who you are destined to be and it is my duty to understand you. You will be caring,responsible and well aware of all your decisions. I wish you health, happiness, success, prosperity and also the strength to overcome your hardships and make your own future. I will stand beside you to help, guide and encourage you in all walks of life. Love you loads.

Its not the two anymore.

Change of body language;
My swiftness reduced;
Moving away from self,
And closer to the new comer.

Change in my own form,
Feeling beautiful at times;
With the new popping bump,
Showing me the new self.

People ogling at you;
Some with a smile,
Some with an exclamation,
I still don't get them

Exciting most of the times,
A bit overwhelming too;
Fastening our seat belts,
For the new roller coaster ride.

Old age is this!

I am the Focus of the wheel
With many spokes born out of me
As the wheel moved faster and faster
The spokes disappeared in the air
I still stand here all rusted and worn
In the speed of life, spokes have no time to spare for my well being.

Left alone amongst the family
Not a soul here to talk with patience
Answers in haste and disgust
Even though I was patient with them
They have no time to spare
I wait to see if they could spare tears for me.

The art of forgetting!!

All of us have been there. Been a kid, was so immaculate, unadulterated in thoughts and looks. We were close to nature, just the way god wanted us. As we grew up we learnt to live, learnt to talk, learnt to face people around us. As we gain various experience from the society, we learn the tricks and trades of survival.
Now we can be diplomatic, learning to handle all kinds of people though still a few can come as a shock to us. While we were that young, we dint know how to handle many situations. We ran to our teachers or parents for help. Now we cant do that too. We blow up our emotions are hide it forever. Sometimes we think we better not talk than to express it.

Just imagine how calm this world would be if we had not lost the art of forgetting.
The kids are adept in it. They play with their best friend all the time, help them, and push them away showing their anger of no reason; which might seem as a humongous excuse to ignore them. They go around, play with other friends, and come running back looking for their best friend, forgetting their pent up anger. The friend also accepts it and they walk along together again. Wouldn't it be great if all of our lives were such a beautiful fairy tale?