Thidhir (instant) Theratipaal ( a milk sweet)

Recipe for Thidir ( instant) Theratipaal ( a milk sweet ,that is similar to "Khowa" in north India)

With festival season around the corner in India, I wanted to share something traditional which takes a lot of effort but which has been made extremely easy in today's context.

I picked this up from my elder sister who made it during the arangetram  of her daughter.

Ingredients
1. Milk Powder. - 5 teaspoons
2. Sweetened Condensed milk - 400 gms ( usually available in a tin pack)
3. Curd - 1 ladle ( karandi)
( all ingredients can be full cream or low fat depending upon individual choice)

Instruments
1. Microwave oven
2. Glass Bowl - that can take at least 1.5 liters of water

Method
Put 5 teaspoons of milk powder in the glass bowl.
Add a ladle of curd and mix it thoroughly so that there are no lumps.
Now, empty the entire contents of the 400 gm sweetened condensed milk pack and stir the mixture.
Keep the bowl in the microwave and run it for about 8-10 minutes on high with breaks at every 2 minutes.
During the break remove the bowl , stir and check the consistency of the mixture.
Stop when desired consistency is achieved.

For diabetics , this can be tried with unsweetened milk also. In such cases, the sweetener can be added after the Theratipaal is made and has cooled down.

I guess this might have been known to many of you, but I was amazed at how much more effort I needed to put in the past for similar quality of Theratipaal.

Wishing you all a happy, enjoyable festive season where the ladies of the house can get out of the kitchen faster with recipes like this and still not compromise on our traditional values.

Uma.

How to eat an apple and enjoy it?

This blog is not for those of you who believe in biting into an apple in the same way as was shown in the advertisements of Dabur Laal Dant Manjan some years ago.


After eating apple with milk, buttermilk (laban), as a milkshake and with many other accompanying liquids including chai, mind you chai, I finally hit upon the simplest, elegant and most tasty way to eat an apple.

Chop an apple into 18 pieces (basically into poppable size chunks). Sprinkle some salt and powdered pepper on it. If you have some left over fried curry leaves (kadi patta), you may add them. (I had some that I had weeded out of the diwali mixture and kept aside, possibly for this day)Your apple is in the best company for consumption.

Believe me this way of eating an apple makes even the dullest documentary on BBC quite bearable.

In case you overdo the pepper bit, you won’t realise it while eating, but there will be a lingering feeling of the spice in your throat and this could be a nice excuse to feed small children with glasses of milk that they otherwise refuse to take!

The Advantage of Guilt – Nachos Raita

Perhaps the single most underrated advantages of guilt is Creativity – Yes, creativity!


In case you find this ludicrous, read on

Of late I have been under the pressure from near and dear ones to cut down on snacking. My favorite Nachos – the cheese flavor has had to be eschewed instead of being chewed, which is the universal method of disposing it.

Having bought a bag in spite of sanctions against such purchases, I was ridden with a sense of guilt. Well, after struggling for a great part of the weekend over what to do with it, I realized that I could make a Nachos Raita.

The recipe is simple efficient and I hope mitigating.

Take a large cup (I used a empty 400 g Yoghurt pack). Fill about one third from the bottom with laban (thick buttermilk is called laban here in Jubail). Smash Nachos , about a handful into it. Chop an apple into about 18 to 24 pieces and put it into the cup. Mix and eat.

The Apple should keep the doctor away, the laban should counteract the constipation factor of the apple and the nachos can be eating without guilt in the mixture. That is provided you can stomach the taste!

Try it, it’s not so bad after all! Maybe we can even sell this recipe to Doritos the Manufacturer of the brand of Nachos and pay for the methi and amla powder that I have to eat each morning!