CURRY AND SPICE: MAWA TOAST

MAWA TOAST.... quite in the lines of Shahi Tukra though not exactly the same... an hour back I had a brief look at google... oh it also refers to some toast biscuit kind of. I did not consult any of the youtube videos that offers a recipe of MAWA TOAST but I came across a post about it in a food group few months back .... got an idea and did not take a look at the recipe. Why should I when I grew up on "paurutir opor mota korey shorer pur o chini"..... yes thick layer of milk cream and sugar atop toasted bread was a childhood favourite. In those days, quality of milk was ascertained by the thickness of the malai / shor / milk cream that formed atop after boiling.... milk was obtained from a "khatal".... dairy farm..... our mother is displeased that I feed tetra pack milk to the junior. She never did consider it necessary to change with time though the father wished to. Hence, till date cooking oil means "ghanir tel"..... mustard oil coming from an oil mill.... milk has to be from "Jhumri Mashir khatal".... from a neighbourhood diary farm owned by an aunt like lady named Jhumri.... Life is still different at my parental home.... not at par with modern homes and it will remain so until my mother is alive. So blaming me for the reason of my men's thin frame is quite normal for her ....

I refuse to change the system of the house.... if I ask Cristine to do a spice paste in "shil-nora" or say mortar and pestle, she will leave the job and go back home. I am not even 1/4 of my mother and cannot move the 'nora' of a 'shil'...... though knowing freshly made spice paste has no equal. I am lazy to that extent wherein someone is calling me to talk about a job offer and I am not calling back the person.... scaring "abar shaat shokaley chuttey hobey?"..... Nonetheless to say the scare is more of this "complex box" called computer... "mouse maney idur.... idurey amar bhishon bhoy".... I am still stuck to that. Saying this I am in no way patting my back.... to a girl to be independent, she ought to be economically that at first .... thank God that the man of the house do not pinch me on this matter.... yet again that should not be taken for granted. Anyway, I found a very good home in him in the early 90's and felt..... with this guy I can get "blind in trust".... he will never compare me with "pasher barir boudi" and say S did you see how slim she is, how beautifully she dressed, she is a perfect blend of Lakshmi & Saraswati and look at you.... a total mess! ....

On this very day.... 20 years back we held each other tight and took some vows.... T... do not ever leave me alone please!... My tanned skin got darker.... black spots of acnes got lighter not as fast as the reducing thickness of my hairs.... body is still pear shaped.... yet he has not left me.... neither it has come to my knowledge that he told any third party .... you know I do not wish to keep any further contacts with this girl S, she does not fit in my frame and raised a toast to that. Come let us be in today and celebrate life on this special day with all the good shares of my friends, adding mine .... MAWA TOAST.... a dessert or a snack as you call it.

This MAWA TOAST was done yesterday evening for the son to have once back from the school. It is quite rich in taste and two should be enough for one person unless you are too hungry. The son had one, I am pretty sure had the toast been topped with minced meat, he would have had 3 slices. Two slices went to the senior's tiffin box this morning, trust me this diabetic had only half of one... that too I should not have I know. Then I do not blog about any dish without tasting a portion of it. Let me tell you, I made it last afternoon, refrigerated few, toasted lightly in the pan again this morning and they turned as crisp as fresh..... so you can do the same without any hesitation. We are definitely not celebrating our 20th with MAWA TOAST alone. If he is in town, we go out for dinner and a movie may be.

This year however, something inside is stopping me from a full-fledged celebration. May be the old man in frame stationed on our bed side table is the reason behind it.... 20 years back, on this very day he fasted for the entire day to perform certain rituals to keep his daughter happy and merry for life. This is the first time he is not there to wish us.... or may be he has already... I need to concentrate and be sensible enough to receive it. Unwilling to go out, I am planning to cook a spread in the evening... few dishes we can enjoy as a family and dishes that do not require much of sweating..... after all we need to sit together for a chit chat, do some leg pulling with the son..... His unit test is going on and the mother cannot think beyond food.... I have long lost the pride of being a "Kolkata Mother"..... better is to share this easy recipe of a sweet snack or dessert called MAWA TOAST done with bread, ghee, instantly made mawa / khoya / reduced milk and a bit of sugar. It is quite rich in taste and we will do it together with help of few stepwise pictures. My readers should excuse my ignorance, till date I could not make out the difference between mawa and khoya.... I treat them as same.

INGREDIENTS : [for the instantly made mawa / khoya]

Milk Powder : 11/2medium cup
Ghee : 4tbsp [clarified butter]
Full Cream Milk : 1/3small cup
Sugar : 2tbsp
Green Cardamom Powder : 1/2tsp

INGREDIENTS : [the finished snack]

Bread Slices : 5-7
Green Cardamom : 2-3
Ghee : 6tbsp
Chopped Pistachios, Almond, Saffron Strands to garnish

METHOD :

Let us prepare the instant mawa / khoya first. Take the milk powder, full cream milk, 4tbsp ghee, sugar in a bowl.

Mix it well and now it is ready to be microwaved.

Microwave at high for 3-4 minutes pausing every 30-40 seconds to stir well. Once done it looks as below.

Add the green cardamom powder, mix well and let cool the instant mawa. Place a bread slice on the chopping board. Take a round shaped cookie cutter and press on the slice of bread. I used a cap of a plastic container for the purpose.