A LITTLE SWEET & 100's of SPICE ... Ras Malai & Spicy Chickpeas for Diwali!

"Light is good from whatever lamp it shines."
Author Unknown

"I can't wait for tomorrow..." that phrase has been echoing through the house since yesterday. The boy is over the top excited , and the daughter wonders why he can't 'grow up'. His excitement is for Diwali, one of the prettiest festivals in India. Diwali, is popularly known as the "festival of lights"; it's most significant spiritual meaning is "the awareness of the inner light".It's to do with lighting of lamps, making rangolis or floral designs on the floor, and for the boy, the chance to shoot off some fire crackers... and enjoy more sweets! He has 3 'most favourite' festivals, as he calls them ... Holi, the festival of colour, Diwali, the festival of light (or crackers in his case), and Christmas. Both kids enjoyed the flowers, festivities, sweets and crackers when young, though crackers have been significantly reduced in number over the past few years. Too much pollution. We haven't been able to convince the kids to let them go entirely though, but we still try, year after year! Giving in to the hubs sweet tooth, I often try something new on Diwali, both sweet & savoury. I did Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Fudge and Spicy Almonds last year. Was twittering with Alessio @ Recipe Taster the other night, and he said he made some yummy Indian pudding with condensed milk and cream. That set me thinking, and I eventually settled for Ras Malai, an Indian soft cheese based dessert. This was a stove top recipe, but there is another one, ricotta based, baked in the oven that I will try soon.It's a very popular North Indian dessert, and was surprisingly easy to make at home. 'Ras' meaning juice and 'malai' meaning cream. It's a soft cheese based dessert, where the cottage cheese roundels are cooked lightly in a sugar syrup to form a sponge like cloud. These are then gently squeezed and immersed in a creamy reduced milk base, flavoured sensuously with saffron & cardamom. Mine didn't come out a 100% light because I used 2% milk for the cottage cheese / paneer, but they tasted out-of-this-world good! Make sure you serve them chilled, which is how they taste best. I made one batch out of ricotta as well, and that was delish too. They're a great make ahead dessert & very indulgent. I'm sending these off to Mansi @ Fun & Food Cafe for her event, Sweet Celebrations.

Ras Malai
Adapted from this recipe @ Show Me The Curry
Ingredients:
Ricotta or cottage cheese from 1 litre of whole milk (recipes here)
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 litre whole milk
1 /2 tsp saffron + 1/4 tsp granular sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Almonds & pistachios, soaked,peeled & sliveredMethod:
Run the ricotta/cottage cheese in a food processor until smooth. Will take about 2-3 minutes in short pulses. You can even knead it by hand, but it will take a lot longer to get it absolutely smooth.
Divide the ricotta /paneer into 10-12 equal portions a little smaller than the size of a ping pong ball.
Roll the portions in your hands until a smooth ball is formed. Lightly press the ball until it flattens out.
In the pressure cooker dissolve 1 cup sugar with water, and add the flattened ricotta / paneer.
Close pressure cooker lid and cook until one whistle sounds. Immediately switch off the stove and set the timer for exactly 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, carefully take the pressure cooker to the sink and pour cold water over the lid to remove the pressure.
Remove the cooked ricotta /paneer with a slotted spoon into a bowl and allow it to cool.
Meanwhile, the milk in the non-stick pan should have reduced to half. Add sugar to taste, cardamom powder and nuts. Switch off the stove and keep milk aside.
Once the ricotta /paneer is cool enough to handle with your hands, gently squeeze out the sugar syrup from the ricotta / paneer and place the roundels in a serving dish.
Pour the prepared reduced milk over and chill in the refrigerator. Garnish with additional chopped nuts.

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For savoury, I went to a recipe I've had bookmarked for ages, a spicy chickpeas recipe off Cathy's blog @ Noble Pig. I loved the way she wrote that you can have a few thousands of these. I changed the spices a teeny bit to adapt to an Indian theme, and they were yum. A nice twist to the regular chickpeas / cholas / chanas we eat at home. Play around with spices as you like, but don't forget the lime! I daresay this will also make a nice tossed Indian salad with chopped onions and tomatoes too.It was fun making the spicy chickpeas, and you can make it simpler by using canned chickpeas. Do stop by at Noble Pig to see her version, made out of canned chickpeas.

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas
adapted from this recipe @ Noble Pig
Ingredients:
250gms of of chick peas, soaked overnight & cooked with 1 tsp of salt (Don't overcook or they'll get mushy)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon black rock salt
1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
Lime wedges Method:

Drain the chick peas well, shaking the colander to remove as much water as possible. As Cathy says...It's okay to take out a bit of aggression on the peas, they won't mind.
Combine rinsed chickpeas, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon black rock salt salt and 1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder. Mix well to coat the chickpeas. Spread the chickpeas out on a foil lined baking sheet, one large enough to hold chickpeas in a single layer.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until chickpeas begin to brown, shaking pan twice during baking.
Remove chickpeas from the oven. In a small bowl, combine the chill powder and paprika. Place the mixture in a small sieve to sprinkle over the cooked chickpeas. Bake another 5 minutes or until a dark, golden-red. (The more the chili powder, the darker the red. Mine are less 'hot' because of the kids)
Serve with lime wedges. Do not forget to serve these with lime wedges.

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