California Walnut Gujiya

Ingredients 

For the dough

  • 1 cup maida/all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon sooji (Semolina)
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup desiccated coconut
  • 1 cup khoya
  • 2 cup chopped California walnuts
  • 1/4 cup superfine sugar
  • 2 tablespoon milk
  • 2 teaspoon green cardamom powder
  • 1 teaspoon saffron strands

Sugar syrup optional

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 4 tablespoon water
  • 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon green cardamom powder
  • 1 teaspoon rose water
  • Few pieces of saffron strands

Preparations

Gujiya dough

  1. In a big bowl combine all the ingredients listed under ‘For The Dough’.
  2. Take lukewarm water and knead soft pliable dough.
  3. Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 mins.

For the filling

  1. In a heavy bottom pan, add khoya, dry coconut and toast them on low heat for 15 mins. When the mixture turns light brown in color, add saffron strand. Mix and take it off the flame.
  2. In a separate pan add California walnuts and toast them on a medium flame. Once they start omitting their aroma, take it off the flame and allow it to cool off completely. Grind them in a coffee grinder until it turns into a fine powder.
  3. Add this nutty mixture to the khoya mixture along with sugar and milk. Mix until everything is well- blended.

For the gujiya

  1. Take a small golf size ball of the dough and roll it into a thin circle. In one half, place some gujiya mixture and fold the other half to make it into a gujiya. Apply water along the edges and seal it tight using a fork to secure the edges by making imprints of the fork.
  2. Heat oil in a pan. When ready for frying, lower the flame and fry gujiyas until golden brown in color. The key to crispy gujiya is – patience! Gujiyas should be fried in medium hot oil for a crispy layer.
  3. Remove from oil and drain it on the paper towel.

For the sugar syrup

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a pan and bring it to a boil on a medium flame. Scum will start forming on top of the liquid.
  2. Using a spoon, collect and discard the scum and keep boiling until the liquid is reduced and it starts to thicken.
  3. Lower the heat, dip a spoon in the syrup and remove. Do not touch for the first few seconds, it will be very hot. Touch the syrup with your finger and if it coats your finger, it means that it is about to reach its first string consistency.
  4. Dip each gujiya in this syrup for 2-3 mins and set it on a clean plate.
  5. Garnish with chopped California walnuts and serve.

by admin

California Walnut Gosht

Ingredients

Preparations

  1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add onions and cook until golden.
  2. Once the onion is nice and brown, add ginger garlic paste and sauté for a min or so.
  3. Add tomatoes and green chillies. Cook this till tomatoes turn mushy.
  4. Add all the spice powder and along with salt and chopped walnuts. Mix well with the masala. The masala should be thick and almost like a paste.
  5. Now add mutton and toss well with the masala.
  6. Keep tossing till the masala coats the mutton pieces well and gets a little dark brown in colour.
  7. Now add one cup of water. Cover and pressure cook for 4 whistles, simmer the pan for 15 mins. Turn off the heat and let the steam go all by itself.
  8. While the mutton is cooking, dry roast the coconut in a dry pan till it is golden brown. Transfer it to a blender and blend it into a fine puree.
  9. Once the mutton is cooked, add the coconut paste in it and simmer for another 10 to 15 mins till oil separates on top.
  10. Garnish with whole walnuts. Add coriander leaves and turn off the heat.
  11. Serve with rice or anything you like!

by admin

California Walnut Dhai Vada

Ingredients

For the vadas (makes 8)

To be mixed into a curds mixture

Preparations

For the vadas

  1. Clean, wash and soak the urad dal in enough water in a deep bowl for 2 hours.
  2. Drain well and blend in a mixer to a coarse paste using ¼ cup of water.
  3. Transfer the mixture into a deep bowl, add the asafoetida, ginger-green chilli paste, salt, finely chopped California walnuts and 1½ tablespoon of water and mix well.
  4. Wet a deep ladle with little water, pour 1 tablespoon of the batter in it and drop it in hot oil. Deep-fry on a medium flame till it turns golden brown in colour from all the sides. Upto 2 to 3 such stuffed vadas can be deep-fried at a time in a batch.
  5. Soak the deep-fried vadas immediately in a bowlful of water for 20 mins.
  6. Squeeze out and drain all the excess water by pressing the vadas gently between your palms. Keep aside.
  7. Repeat steps 5 and 7 to make more stuffed vadas.

How to serve

  1. Just before serving arrange 2 vadas in a serving dish and spread 1 portion of the curds mixture evenly over it.
  2. Finally sprinkle a little chilli powder and cumin seeds powder evenly over it.
  3. Serve immediately garnished with coriander.

by admin

California Walnut Vegetable Biryani

Ingredients

  • 1.5 tablespoon oil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 green cardamoms
  • 4 whole cloves
  • 6 black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 medium red onion, sliced
  • 1 green chilli sliced
  • 12 California walnut halves smashed
  • 2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
  • ½ cup frozen green peas soaked in warm water for 10 mins
  • 2 medium carrots, 100 gm, sliced
  • 1 medium potato, 185 gm diced into 1-inch pieces
  • 1/3 cup cilantro chopped
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ¾ teaspoon salt for taste
  • 1 cup basmati rice
  • 25 cups water

Preparations

  1. Wash and rinse the basmati rice until water turns clear. Then soak it in 2 cups of water for 20 mins.
  2. While the rice is soaking, chop all the vegetables and soak the frozen green peas in warm water for 5-10 minutes.
  3. After 20 minutes, drain the water from the rice and set it aside. Also, drain the water from the green peas and set it aside.
  4. Heat oil in a pan. To this, add bay leaf, green cardamom, whole cloves, black peppercorns and cumin seeds. Sauté for 30 seconds until the spices are fragrant.
  5. Then add sliced onions, along with green chilli and California walnuts. Cook for 3-4 mins until the onion turns light brown.
  6. Then add ginger-garlic paste and cook for a minute.
  7. After this, add the vegetables – potato, carrots and green peas. Also add chopped cilantro, garam masala, smoked paprika and salt.
  8. Then put the drained rice into the pan and toss it in gently with a spoon.
  9. Now add water to the pan. Do not stir anything at this point.
  10. Close the pan with a lid and cook on high pressure for 5 mins.
  11. Open the pot and fluff the rice with a fork.
  12. Garnish with California walnuts and serve.

by admin

California Walnut Barfi

Ingredients

  • 1 cup California walnuts
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 250 g khoya or mawa
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon ghee/clarified butter + a little extra for greasing
  • ½ teaspoon cardamom powder

Preparations

  1. Take ½ cup of California walnuts in a bowl.
  2. To this add ¼ cup of milk and let it soak for 1 hour. Thereafter, blend it into a coarse puree.
  3. Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in a pan and add the remaining walnuts. Sauté till golden, drain and set aside.
  4. Now in the same ghee, add khoya and sugar and mix well. To this add the walnut puree and mix again.
  5. Keep cooking this till it gets thick and leaves the sides.
  6. Then add cardamom powder and fried walnuts and mix well.
  7. Spread this on a greased plate and let it set for a few hours.
  8. Slice into pieces and garnish with California walnuts.

by admin

California Walnut and Vegetable Stew

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 piece of cinnamon
  • 3 green cardamom pods
  • 3 cloves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Few curry leaves
  • 1 small chopped onion
  • 2 teaspoon chopped ginger
  • 2 small cloves, minced garlic
  • ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
  • 1 large diced potato
  • 1 diced carrot
  • 3-4 green beans cut into 1″ pieces
  • ½ cup green peas
  • 1½ cups thin coconut milk
  • Salt to taste
  • ½ cup thick coconut milk
  • ½ cup California walnut halves

Preparations

  1. Heat oil in a large pan. Add the whole spices (cinnamon, cardamom pods, and cloves) bay leaves and curry leaves, and let them splutter.
  2. Now add the onions, ginger and garlic. Sauté well till the onions turn soft and translucent. Then add cracked black pepper and mix well.
  3. To this add vegetables, thin coconut milk and salt to taste. Cover and cook till the vegetables are soft for 10 mins and then add California walnuts.
  4. While the vegetables are cooking, check seasoning and add the thick coconut milk. Let it simmer for a couple more minutes or till heated through, but do not boil the stew after adding thick coconut milk.
  5. Garnish with California walnuts and serve hot.

by admin

Dark Rum Mousse

Ingredients

  • 500 gm dark chocolate
  • 150 gm Niagara cream
  • 100 ml dark rum
  • 50 gm coffee
  • 300 ml milk
  • 2 regular cookies
  • 100 gm chocolate flakes
  • 15 California walnuts
  • 100 gm sugar

Preparations

  1. Whip the cream and keep aside.
  2. Heat the milk and chocolate in a pan till the chocolate melts. Keep aside to cool.
  3. Dissolve the coffee in the old monk and add the mixture to the chocolate mix.
  4. Fold in the whipped cream.
  5. Crush the cookies and place in the serving dish.
  6. Pour the chocolate and cream mixture into the serving dish and refrigerate till it sets.

For Caramelizing California walnuts                                                                                                              

  1. Melt the sugar in a pan till it caramelizes.
  2. Then coat each walnut with the caramel individually and keep aside.
  3. Garnish the mousse with chocolate shavings and caramelized California walnuts and serve.

by admin

Orange Pound Cake With Caramelized California Walnuts

Ingredients

  • 250 ml unsalted butter
  • 300 gm refined flour
  • 450 gm castor sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 6 gm baking powder
  • 100 ml oil
  • 150 gm California walnut flour
  • 3 oranges/malta
  • 200 ml milk
  • 100 ml orange juice

For Walnut Flour:

  • 150 gm California walnut flour

Place the walnuts in blender and blend on high for 8 seconds until they are broken up to form a flour like consistency.

Preparations

  1. Take a 9 inch cake mold, and line it with sliced oranges (malta).
  2. Cream the butter and sugar together till light and fluffy.
  3. Add the eggs slowly and keep mixing.
  4. Fold in the flour, walnut flour and baking powder.
  5. Then add the oil, milk and orange juice.
  6. Keep mixing till everything is mixed properly.
  7. Pour the mix into the cake tin and bake for 2 hours at 180˚C. After the first hour reduce the temperature to 150˚C.

For Caramelizing California walnuts                                                                              

  1. Melt the sugar in a pan till it caramelizes.
  2. Then coat each walnut with the caramel individually and keep aside.
  3. Slice the cake and warm it, then garnish it with the caramelized California walnuts and serve warm.

by admin

Jurassic Cheese And California Walnut Pizza

Ingredients

  • 1 lavash bread
  • 10 ml tomato and asafetida (hing) sauce
  • 10 gm salted banded cheese
  • 10 gm smoked banded cheese
  • 10 gm kalimpong cheese
  • 8-10 whole toasted California walnuts
  • 15 gm rocket leaves

Ingredients for Tomato and Asafetida Sauce

  • 500 gm tomatoes
  • 5 gm asafetida (hing)
  • 20 gm coriander
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • Salt/pepper to taste
  • 1 bay leaf

Preparations for Tomato and Asafetida Sauce

  1. Put all ingredients in a deep bottomed pan and cook till the mix starts to boil.
  2. Once it starts to boil, reduce the flame and simmer till the tomatoes leave their juice.
  3. Strain and use as pizza spread.

Preparations for Pizza

  1. Spread the tomato asafetida sauce on the lavash bread.
  2. Crumble the banded cheeses spread on the pizza evenly along with the grated kalimpong cheese.
  3. Bake the pizza at 250˚C till its crispy (5 mins).
  4. Garnish with the rocket leaves and toasted California walnuts, slice and serve.

by admin

Eggplant Tolma

Ingredients

  • 80 gm eggplant
  • 80 gm beetroot mix
  • 20 gm kalimpong cheese
  • 10 gm amaranth
  • ground mustard paste for garnish
  • coriander sprigs for garnish
  • 50 gm crushed California walnuts

Ingredients for Beetroot Mix

  • 200 chopped beetroots
  • 100 gm California walnuts
  • 75 gm tomato ketchup
  • 5 gm red chili powder
  • 2 gm coriander powder
  • 2 gm cumin powder
  • 15 gm ginger paste

Preparations for Beetroot Paste

  1. Heat oil and add the spices and ginger paste, cook well.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook till beetroot is soft and cooked well.
  3. Leave aside to cool.

Preparations

  1. Fry the eggplant and then drain excess oil.
  2. Top the eggplant with the beetroot mix.
  3. Crust it with California walnuts on one side and cheese on one side.
  4. Bake in the oven at 200°C till the cheese melts.
  5. Garnish with ground mustard paste drizzle and coriander sprigs.
  6. Serve with beetroot mix.

by admin