INSTANT KHOYA CARROT MINT MISHTI

 

SWEET, SWEET MEAT, DESSERT; COMPLETES A MEAL! IN OUR FAMILY IT IS COW MILK!

I have heard and even seen; in many Bengali families, there had to have a dessert or sweet post meals; post dinner, to be precise. In our family, it was not sweets but warm cow milk with thick cream on top that was a must have. This was a rule perhaps in both the maternal grandparents and paternal grandparents' homes. As I always say; a major section of my immediate paternal side lives in Nagaon, Assam; whilst their relatives had spread over the entire Assam & Tripura, Cooch-Behar! We do not even know who the father visited in Tripura, Cooch-Behar yearly once or once every two years. I so wished to visit these places but never had! Even our visit to Nagaon was rare; they visited us more. I do not really have known their daily life, inclusive of their food habit! But, we share the same fondness for Bengali kinds of fish; mutton, vegetable dishes, sweet meats, fruits, dried fish! The father's eldest brother lived in Nabadwip, Nadia; where we would go few times a year. I have seen, the poorest of my relatives would own a cow and a tiny patch of land to grow flowers, fruits & vegetables; would have milk & fish every day. They were content with that life. It is good to see, today; sons and daughters from these families have moved ahead in life. One among the couple of my cousin brothers has his daughter stationed in Amsterdam, living happily with two daughters and spouse.  My cousin lived in Nabadwip half of his life and spending the other half in a place called Jhuria, in the remotes of Nagaon. I hear all these from the mother; with her, this virtual connection would get lost. We do not know our family branches well. Where is that warmth anymore in us where relatives can visit us without notice few times a year?

ANY DAY IT IS A SANDESH OR A ROSHOGOLLA FOR ME; NO MILK PLEASE!

It was our father who could have milk, banana, mango, jackfruit all day through. Both bhai and I disliked milk. The senior and myself cannot digest milk. Our son has developed a fondness for chilled milk. We do not even know if he is having enough of it there or increased the intake of aerated drinks, I am so against of. All of us enjoy a sweet or two. It has happened so that this diabetic self is not supposed to have much sweet stuffs. I never actually had a sweet tooth; I always have liked few varieties in a gap. Our parents only would get home roshogolla / cottage cheese sponge balls in sugar syrup! There was a time I did not like it and wondered how one parent loved his roshogolla with dudh muri / puffed rice & milk and the other enjoyed a roshogolla & ruti / porota meal. Today, I crave for a roshogolla or pantua with my dudh-muri or ruti / luchi / porota! May be, this is the way we pay tribute to our parents for whom we are on this beautiful earth today! I however, take the side of the senior who thinks having warm milk post dinner is very wrong; that too overly boiled. After repeated warning, I think the mother has stopped serving milk at night. The brother / bhai and his spouse both have developed a different tastebud. They enjoy rich & spicy food; they are not much into traditional & typical Bengali food I am trying to treasure my closet with. Like many; by Bengali Food, they refer to Hilsa, Mutton and few other known dishes. No one is there to take the family cuisine baton after me. However, when it comes to HOMEMADE VEGETARIAN SWEETS, I am prone to preparing UNCONVENTIONAL SWEETS & DESSERTS like this INSTANT KHOYA CARROT MINT MISHTI.

WHAT IS THIS INSTANT KHOYA CARROT MINT MISHTI? 

It is a quickly made sweet with INSTANTLY REDUCED MILK, CARROT, RICE FLOUR, FRESH MINT! All of them are more or less KITCHEN STAPLES. I stick to what I claim; that I will not spend to create BLOG POSTS! MY BLOG should have recipes that I COOK AND WE EAT! I had decided to share a sweet dish in the blog earlier this week, I prepared it using only one table spoon of brown sugar besides very few of the other ingredients. I went to the extreme of using fresh mint as the flavouring agent. I think, I perhaps had on my mind the unique kind of sweets Hindustan Sweets in Jadavpur, Kolkata used to do; using various herbs in the sweet. Do they still do? You can see later I had captured the steps. And you get to know these are the ingredients we always have in our homes. Ever since, I had learnt preparing the instant version of khoya / mawa / reducing milk to a semi solidified self; I sweat way less. I even added bits & pieces of cashew nuts & pumpkin seeds to them. We can call it a HEALTHY UNCONVENTIONAL SWEET! Our Kolkata Home is far away from Hindustan Sweets in Jadavpur; this is my way of recognising their effort! Yesterday was a busy day, all day I was out; bought two table tops from an Indian Handicrafts store.

The earlier dining table cover was dark; actually they come from Jaipur and various places of Rajasthan & Gujarat. They are cheap in those places; I shelled out 25$ & 15$ respectively! This is my life; I eat, roam, shop; repeat!

INGREDIENTS FOR THE INSTANT SEMI SOLIDIFIED MILK / MAWA / KHOYA:

FULL CREAM MILK : 1 COFFEE MUG

POWDERED MILK : 3 TBSP

GHEE / CLARIFIED BUTTER : 2 TBSP

BROWN SUGAR : 1 TBSP

INGREDIENTS FOR THE SWEET :

THE INSTANT KHOYA / MAWA / SEMI SOLIDIFIED MILK 

RICE FLOUR : 21/2 TBSP

SHREDDED CARROT : 2 TBSP

CHOPPED MINT : 1 TBSP

GHEE / CLARIFIED BUTTER : 2-3 TBSP

CHOPPED TOASTED CASHEWNUT : 1/2 TSP

PUMPKIN SEED : 1 TSP

PROCEDURE :

We will take the full cream milk, powdered milk and the ghee / clarified butter in a bowl and mix well.

We will add the brown sugar to it and mix well again!

We will microwave it at high for 2 minutes; give a stir and again microwave at high for another 2 minutes; stirring in between. You must stir, else it would stick from the bottom and  burn.

I grow fresh mint which are not so healthy these days but I manage.

We will take the washed shredded carrot & the mint leaves on a plate.

We will heat the clarified butter in a wok we do not use to cook dishes that uses turmeric.

We will add the rice flour to it and lightly roast the rice flour for 3-4 minutes at minimal heat!

We will add the shredded carrot to it and again stir cooked at minimal heat for 3-4 minutes.

Next, we will add the khoya / mawa / instant semi-solidified milk and the fresh mint and folded in well.

We will stir cook the entire thing for 4-5 minutes at minimal heat and transfer on to a plate. We will add the chopped cashews and knead the cooked dough well.

Thereafter, we will shape the sweets as we wish. At this home we go for the simplest; we fear complex stuffs.

I have shaped only one; the rest are done by Cristine.

They taste the best if eaten fresh. They can be refrigerated for 2-3 days, but be eaten at room temperature.