Guest Post - 45 : Today's Guest - Rachana

We have Rachana from Veggi fare is with us today. She is originally from Rajasthan but brought up in Kolkatta. Let us hear from her now...

Nithu's Kitchen : Tell us about you Rachana.

Rachana : I was born in Rajasthan, India, brought up in Kolkata, India and am presently living in Munich, Germany with my husband. I am the eldest of the 3 siblings and am very close to both my brother and sister. I am a Commerce graduate and also studied Fashion Designing and worked for a year before marriage. I am a homemaker now and do some voluntary work.

Nithu's Kitchen : What does your blog focus.

Rachana : I am a vegetarian - and so is my blog, as you can make out from the name! In addition, I often try to do healthier versions of traditional recipes.

Nithu's Kitchen : When did you start to cook.

Rachana : I took to cooking late, but then with a passion. My mother was (and still is) a big supporter of letting us find things out by ourselves - so she never gave us detailed recipes - while this made life slightly difficult sometimes, it also woke a sense of and love for experimenting and figuring stuff out - something that helps me no end now, when I am thinking up recipes for my blog.

Nithu's Kitchen : Share us one unforgettable cooking experience.

Rachana : One such incident, which I will never forget... After shifting fro Kolkata to Munich, I wanted to make a kadhi for the first time. I knew roughly how it was made, but didn't know the ratio of the gramflour to the buttermilk. I called up my mom and asked her the ratio, she didn't tell me the ratio purposely and said, "I should figure it out myself". After giving it a little thought, I tried something out, and the kadhi turned out to be really good. After a few hours, my mom called up to inquire about the kadhi and explained why she didn't tell me anything about the recipe. I guess, that made me.

Nithu's Kitchen : What do you have today to share with us.

Rachana : Today's Chyawanprash dish is one I have seen my mom making often, but never got from her the exact recipe and measurements. And it also turned out to be pretty good!

Ingredients :

500 grams - gooseberries (amla)

600 grams - sugar (may increase upto 750 grams)

3/4 tsp - clove powder

3/4 tsp - cinnamon powder

1 tsp - cardamom powder

3/4 tsp - black pepper powder

1/4 tsp - nutmeg, grated

1 1/2 tsp - dried ginger powder (saunth)

25 - 30 strands of saffron

edible silver foil to garnish

Method :

Put the gooseberries in a pressure cooker. Add enough water to cover the gooseberries and pressure cook them for 4 whistles/ring or until the gooseberries are soft. Drain the water and remove the seeds from the gooseberries.

With a mixer, puree the cooked gooseberries.

Add the pureed gooseberries in a large cooking vessel and add the sugar to it.

Place the vessel on a medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil under constant stirring.

When the sugar melts, add the spices and mix well.

Cover the vessel and reduce the heat to low and let the mixture cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Be careful, the mixture splutters a lot!!!

When the mixture thickens a little, do a saucer test, (as you would when making jams). If not ok, then bring the mixture to a boil and check again.

Fill the conserve/jam in a sterlised jar. Cover the lid when the jam is completely cool.

Shelf life of this jam is 2-3 months.

Nithu's Kitchen : Thank you so much Rachana. We enjoyed talking to you.

Rachana : Thanks Nithu.

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