Taler Bora (Asian Palm Fritters)

I absolutely don't like this sweet dish but it gets welcomed by the other members of the family very ceremoniously. My mother and my mother-in-law will always religiously make different sweet dishes out of this Tal/Asian Palm Fruit during its season. And being a Bengali if I don't blog on it, it would be an injustice to my blog. So today the recipe what I will share with you is my mother-in-law's recipe. I learnt from her, though not tasted it. But I have seen the other members gobbling up in no time. That is enough to tell it tastes too sumptuous.

We Bengali mainly make Taler bora or Tal kheer before Janmashtami. Taler Bora is one of the famous Bengali homemade sweets that the Bengali never failed to make. The Bengali months from Sharbon to Aswin (Apprx July-September) are know as the season of raining Tal /Asian Palm Fruit. More about the fruit:

"The ripened fibrous outer layer of the palm fruits can also be eaten raw, boiled, or roasted. Bengali People have perfected the art of making various sweet dishes with the yellowish viscous fluidic substance obtained from a ripe palm fruit. These include Mustard oil fried Taler Bora (তালের বড়া), or mixed with thickened milk to form Taalkheer (তাল ক্ষীর).

Palm shoot is cut and the juice is traditionally collected in hanging earthen pot. The juice so collected before morning is refreshing and light drink called Thaati Kallu(తాటి కల్లు) in Telugu, Neera (नीरा) in Marathi and "Pathaneer"(பதநீர்) in Tamil has extremely cool in sensation, and sugary sweet taste. The juice collected in evening or after fermentation becomes sour - is called Tadi (ताडी) in Marathi. Tadi is consumed by coastal Maharashtra mostly by villagers as raw alcoholic beverage.

A sugary sap, called toddy, can be obtained from the young inflorescence, either male or female ones. Toddy is fermented to make a beverage called arrack, or it is concentrated to a crude sugar called jaggery or Taal Patali (তাল পাটালী) in Bengali and Pana Vellam or Karuppukatti (கருப்புகட்டி or கருபட்டி) inTamil. It is called Gula Jawa (Javanese sugar) in Indonesia and is widely used in Javanese cuisine. In addition, the tree sap is taken as a laxative, and medicinal values have been ascribed to other parts of the plant." (Source HERE.)

Ingredients:

Tal/Asian Palm Fruit pulp- 2 cups (without water. 1 Tal/Asian Palm is enough)[See Note]

Flour- 1 cup

Suji/ Semolina- 1/2 cup

Sugar- 1 & 1/2 cup

Salt- 1 pinch

Grated Coconut- 1 cup

Kheer- 1/2 cup (Made it condensing 1 & 1/2 cups of milk with 1/4 cup sugar) {See the recipe HERE}

White oil- Sufficient to fry the fritters

Method:

1. Mix all together and rest the mixture for 1 hour.
2. Heat oil in a Kodai or a deep dense Pan. Then make small balls an fry til they turn brown. Soak the excess oil in a kitchen towel/tissue paper and then enjoy.

Note:
These video though in a different language will tell you how to take out the pulp of Tal/Palm Fruit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czq27A5B9qc

This one is the second post of the Blogging Marathon Event of Kolkata Food Bloggers. The Bloggers participating in it:

1. Amrita - Vishal @ http://amritavishal127.blogspot.in/

2. Archita @ http://architashomecooking.blogspot.in/

3. Indrani @ http://riappyayan.blogspot.in/ 

4. Sayantani @ ahomemakersdiary.com

Cherry Dark Chocolate Egg less Cake

“Your hand and your mouth agreed many years ago that, as far as chocolate is concerned, there is no need to involve your brain.” 
― Dave Barry

Every day I used to stare at the fresh fruit cakes made by my fellow food bloggers, drooled over those and bookmarked the recipes. But I have never gathered that much courage to bake one in fear to discard them. Using fresh fruits in baking was a very rare entry in my kitchen and a challenging job for me too. And I was also not that much confident to make some with a scary heart if I had to trash it as none of the family members ever had shown any decent interest in it. Whenever I asked my Man or my daughter if they would like to have some delicious desserts with fresh fruits they totally hooted out. But that didn't put me down. My utmost passion to experiment the fresh fruits in cooking made me to try secretly a Mango Pie. When I served them, with raising eye brows and faces with disapproval, they tasted it. No need to say they did like the Mango Pie.  I got little bit enthusiastic to use more fresh fruits in my cooking. Then I made Mango Yoghurt/ Aam Doi and Apple Yoghurt. To my surprise this time also they devoured it without any protest. More confident I am now getting more prone towards using fresh fruits in my baking.  Please don't laugh at me, once I prepared Apple Chicken too just to feed my daughter apple who was then a rigid apple hater. 

I have a very bad addiction of getting the impulse of craving for chocolates or chocolate cakes in the wrong hours. This is the reason that whenever I am in my parents’ house, my dad buys creamy chocolate cakes and stores them in the fridge. I often get caught red handed stealing cakes and guttling it surrendering completely to the pleasure of the chocolaty world in the middle of the night sitting on the kitchen platform swinging happily my legs. This time also when my Cherry Dark Chocolate Egg Less Cake was born, I was in intense labour in craving for some chocolate cake. And I got totally relieved and satiated after smacking my creation. Cherry these time was my saviour, who paired heavenly with my creamy icing chocolate cake and gave me the divine satisfaction and the taste that was still osculating my lips, my heart. Now I am off to the recipe:

Ingredients:

Cake pan I used: 5" round

For the Cake:

Flour: 3/4 cup

Baking Soda: less than 1/2 Tspn

Baking Powder: 1 Tspn

Cocoa Powder- 2 Tbspns heaped

Fresh Cherry- 8-10 seeded and cut in halves. (You can use less or more)

Condense Milk: 1/2 tin (room temperature)

Butter- 2 Tbspns heaped (room temperature)

Soda Water - 1/4 cup or less  (room temperature)

For the Icing-

Amul cream- 1 pack (200 gms)

Garted dark Chocolate: 1  & 1/2 cups

For the decoration:

Cherries: As much you need.

Method:

Prepare the Icing first:

1. Warm the cream in a double boiler and melt the chocolate in it. Mix well.
2. After it cools down refrigerate for and hour.

Prepare the cake:

1. Shift all the dry ingredients 3-4 times (Flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder).
2. Mix the condense milk and the butter nicely.
3. Pre heat the oven to 200 C degree.
4. Add the Flour , 3/4 of the 1/4 cup soda water and the cherries to the butter mixture and fold all together nicely.
5. The mixture will be little bit flowing when you drop the mixture from the spatula or spoon. If you need to add the remaining milk then mix it.
6. Grease a pan and dust with flour.
7. Put the cake mixture and bake for 25-30 mnts at 170 C degree. Check pricking a tooth pick coming out clean. It needed bake for 5mnts more.
8. Take it out of the oven and let it completely cool.
9. Teke out the cake form the pan slowly. Now cut the cake to get three layers. Evenly spread the icing in each layer and keep on stacking.
10. You can cover the whole cake nicely with the remaining icing and make simple designs. Or do the rosettes I have done here. Decorate with the cherries and refrigerate for an hour or so to set the cake and enjoy. 

 Note:

1. To know how to make Rosettes Priya of Cook like Priya has shared us her very useful post Here  and for a youtube video visit Here.

2. The cake will stay for 3-4 days in the fridge. 

3. If you want to add eggs then you can add 2 eggs and increase the butter to 200gm.