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Breakfast Fruit and Carrot Parfaits

Breakfast Fruit and Carrot Parfaits

· 4 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Cascadian Farm and Annie’s . All opinions are mine alone

My kids love cereals for their breakfast. So, I try to feed them with tasty cereals during my crazy morning routine. They are very picky and always want variation in their food, otherwise they get bored and don’t want to eat. Hence I am on the lookout for different cereals which they would love to eat. A few days ago while shopping at Walmart, I found new cereals from Annie’s & Cascadian Farm, and decided to give it a try. I bought Cascadian Farm Organic Oats and Honey Granola and Annie's Cocoa Bunnies

Along with the kids I too love to eat cereals at breakfast especially when I am busy and not able to spend time in kitchen. Do you know, Cascadian Farm Oat and Honey Granola is a delicious blend of honey-coated whole oats with crisp rice. I made Breakfast Fruit and carrot Parfaits with Greek yogurt, fruits, carrots and Oat and Honey Granola.

When you are shopping for Cascadian Farm Organic Oat and Honey Granola and Annie's Cocoa Bunnies from Walmart make sure to add to your basket, fresh fruits and veggies from produce section also.

I want my kids to enjoy the breakfast which is filling so that they can concentrate while they are in school. I will say this is not a recipe just combining fruits and veggies that you love. Among the berries my kids love strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.

So, I like to add to everything. Among the veggies they like carrots, they eat baby carrots a lot. I add grated carrots in their breakfasts dishes so add here in parfaits also.

Best part about Annie’s Cocoa Bunnies is that they are made with oat, corn and crunchy cocoa goodness packed into every bite. Also, they are organic and without any artificial flavors, preservatives and high fructose corn syrup. My kids love chocolate in everything, and this Cocoa Bunnies is an excellent way to get them to eat breakfast without any extra effort.

 

They love these chocolate delights with milk, almonds, coconut and their favorite berries. You can skip coconut if you don’t like it. I think coconut and nuts goes well with chocolate. This is simple way to enjoy a great wholesome breakfast. You can play with add-on, if you don’t want simply to make a combination, just eat with a bowl of milk; yes Annie’s Cocoa Bunnies are delectable in any way.


Why wait make sure to grab this granola and cocoa bunnies and make this Breakfast Fruit and carrot Parfaits or enjoy your breakfast cereal bowl with cocoa bunnies. My kids enjoyed it and told me make more means they approved it. Your kids will love it too.

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5 from 3 votes

Breakfast Fruit and Carrot Parfaits

Delicious Breakfast Fruit and carrot Parfaits, kids friendly made with berries, Greek Yogurt , Cascadian Farm Organic Oat and Honey Granola
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Servings: 2
Author: Swathi ( Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 3-4 small grated carrot
  • ½ cup blueberries
  • 5-6 strawberries
  • 2 tablespoons chopped almond
  • ½ cup Cascadian Farm Organic Oat and Honey Granola

Instructions

  • First layer half of yogurt in two small bottles and then add chopped strawberries, blueberries, carrots, almonds and oat and honey granola. Add another layer of yogurt and repeat all the toppings.
  • For coca bunnies breakfast cereal, I just added cereal, coconut, almond, strawberries and blueberries. Finally add milk and enjoy
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Burmese egg and okra curry

· 8 Comments

When I am too lazy to cook anything Egg curry comes to my rescue. I make different varieties of egg curry, some dry, some with coconut milk.  Usually I make it to go with chapati (Indian whole wheat flatbread) or appam (rice pancakes).  For a change I decide to try this Burmese egg and okra curry. This recipe from Burma Superstar, a new cookbook by Desmond Tan and Kate Leahy.

I borrowed the book from the library. I liked a few recipes from it, and this Burmese egg and okra curry got my immediate attention. Burmese cuisine is a blending of South Asian (Indian), East Asian (Chinese), and Southeast Asian (Thai) traditions. As a result, the flavors of Burmese cuisine have little spices, soy sauce and fish sauce.

If you watch old Hindi movies, Burma is place where people used to go to do business and it is one of the first foreign countries where people from India went. Even there is old famous song  with this lyrics“ Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon kiya hai wahaan se teliphoon” from movie Patanga  (my husband has gone to Rangoon has telephoned from there). I would like to visit Burma, the land of pagodas someday. You can dream everything but to make it happen is not is in your hand always.

 

Earlier I tried a few Burmese recipes and I loved it. Why I like the curry because I like egg curry and had never tried with okra in it. I make curries with Okra and my daughter loves that vegetable if you make dry curry with it.

This curry is very simple, I have added little curry powder to spice it up, you can skip it if you want. Also, you can skip fish sauce if you don’t like it. I found that we need to add little water as paste thickens too fast, also I like to cook the veggies very well. If you like okra and egg give it a try, this one is great to go with bread or bowl or rice.

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5 from 6 votes

Burmese egg and okra curry

Delicious egg and okra curry goes well with a bowl of rice. It has touch of spices and fish sauce, unique of Burmese cuisine. 
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Burmese
Servings: 4
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 2 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 thai chilies sliced cross wise
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon chili pepper
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon curry powder optional
  • 3 Roma tomatoes 1 ½ cups
  • 12 okras trimmed cut into 2-inch pieces
  • ½ tablespoon fish sauce
  • 3 hard-boiled eggs
  • ½ cup water if you need
  • Few cilantro sprig for garnishing

Instructions

  • Heat oil in a pan and add onion and cook for about 2-3 minutes then add garlic and chilies and cook for another 2 minutes.
  • Then add turmeric, paprika, cayenne, salt, curry powder. Add tomatoes and cook over medium heat with occasional stirring until everything comes together and tomato become soft and loose its shape. Add ½ cup water if you needed. Then add okra and fish sauce and cook for another 5-6 minutes until it well done but not mushy.
  • Then add halved hard-boiled eggs and brings to simmer. Gently stir the curry so that eggs get coated with tomato and okra. Serve 1 to2 egg in serving. If you want Burmese style keep cilantro along the side. If they want they will garnish it.
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Eggplant and Chickpea Dolma: Instant pot Recipe

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While growing up we used to eat rice a lot, and on occasions we had rice or rice dishes 3 times day. Now I have changed that habit, I still love rice, but it is mainly for lunch.  When I saw this Denizli eggplant dolma recipe in the Turkish delights book by John Gregory Smith I loved it.  The original recipe uses lamb, but I don’t eat lamb, so I added Chickpeas in its place.  Thus, I made Eggplant and chickpea Dolma. I used both oven and Instant pot to make this recipe.

Dolma in Turkish means the word dolmak, "to be stuffed. Since Dolma without meat is sometimes called yalancı dolma'fake dolma' in Turkish, I think my version is that.  I have made this recipe few times as my final photography got tanked due to lack of sunlight or due to bad basmati rice. I also tried with potato instead of chickpeas, but I liked the version with chickpeas the most. I used same spices as written in the recipe. The eggplant that he used is small, but here in US you get big Japanese eggplant, so I used that.

Original Denizli eggplant dolma is made with dried eggplant which they hollow out the flesh and is dried during summer.  Getting a dried hollowed out eggplant here is not possible so author used the technique of roasting eggplant in the oven and then flesh is scooped out, I used that method.

Nowadays I am not cooking rice in stove top and uses Instant pot to cook it.  I modified the original recipe little bit because of that.

First roasted eggplant, then rice is cooked in Instant pot with scooped eggplant flesh, spices, chickpeas tomato and red bell pepper paste. Make sure to buy red bell pepper paste from middle eastern store that gives the color to the dish. I have earlier tried a few pastes from other store, but it doesn’t give the color as it supposed to be. Once the rice is done it is scooped into eggplant shell and baked for another 5 minutes to crisp up a bit. This is really flavor full dish. If a person from the land of spices and biryani tell you that it is good, it means it is good.

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5 from 2 votes

Eggplant and Chickpea Dolma: Instant pot Recipe

Here is vegetarian version of  delicious eggplant and chickpea dolma. It is vegan also. Great one pot meal with lot of eggplant flavor.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
resting time15 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Turkish
Keyword: Chickpea dolma, Instant pot recipe, Rice dish
Servings: 4
Calories: 347kcal
Author: Swathi( Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large egg plant cut in half lengthwise and flat sides scored into a crisscross pattern
  • ¾ cup chopped onion
  • 1 13.5 oz/459g can of cooked chickpeas
  • 1 cup of basmati rice
  • 2 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons red bell pepper paste/ Hot Ajvar
  • 1 ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ¾-1 cup water
  • 2 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
  • 1 garlic clove finely minced.
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400F and Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil. Drizzle ½ teaspoon oil over each halved eggplant and place it on baking sheet. Roast it in oven for about 30-35 minutes until it soft. Set aside to cool enough to touch. Remove the flesh with spoon and keep the eggplant shell aside.
  • Set Instant pot in Sauté mode and heat 2 tablespoon of olive oil then add onion and fry for about 2-3 minutes until it turns the color.
  • To this add tomato, red pepper paste, red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt, rice, chickpeas and water cook in high pressure for 5 minutes. Then manually release the pressure after 10 minutes of natural pressure release. Add half of parsley and fluff the rice.
  • Scoop the rice into the egg plant shell and add garlic. Then topped with parsley and drizzle olive oil over the top. Put the stuffed eggplants into the oven for 5-6 minutes to allow the rice to bake for some time and infuse eggplant flavor.
  • Serve immediately with yogurt.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 347kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 376mg | Potassium: 486mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 688IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Lemon Semolina Mini Cake

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We use semolina very often as it is one of the major ingredient used in Indian cuisine. Usually it used to make savory dishes, but sometimes also used in sweets. I never tried baking with them. It is in my list as I saw Burmese semolina cake and coconut namoura. It has been there for few years still I didn’t time to make it. A few months ago, I saw this Lemon Semolina mini cakes in Sweet: Desserts from London's Ottolenghi by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh, and decided to add it to list.

As spring is here, I thought why I don’t make lemon cake, I have already tried lemon and poppy seed cake. This one is unique in the sense that it has lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon syrup and lemon slice may be little lemon overload. It is good, it has semolina, almond meal/flour and sugar. Best part is that you can make it in a muffin pan but you need to line with parchment paper. Otherwise everything will stick to you pan. You can’t use the cupcake liner as the cake batter springs up. You also need to add lemon syrup.

I have tried Coconut Almond Raspberry cake from this cook book and this one.  I didn’t change anything on this recipe expect reducing ½ tablespoon butter as I am too lazy to cut another stick for that. This is a syrup cake, I have earlier tried few syrup cakes, like orange loaf, orange ginger yogurt cake with orange syrup. which I liked.

My daughter liked it, hubby told me it is sweet. I think it is sweet, but it perfectly matches with tartness of lemon. Also goes well with cup of coffee or tea. I served with tea. Also, these are mini cakes, so you can control the intake if you can.  This cake is soft but at the same time it is crumbly may be because of almond meal and semolina. Eggs are good binders, but they can’t hold them, you need to add some flour if you want less crumbly cake. I made with butter as original recipe you can try with oil too.  If you are a lemon lover, then give it a try you will like it. After all lemon is in its best form whether it is sweet or savory.  Lemony taste will be lingering in your taste buds.

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Lemon Semolina Mini Cake

Do you like small bundle of treats then here is delicious lemon semolina cake made with fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon and lemon syrup. It is really lemony taste all over. 
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Jewish
Servings: 18 no
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoon/113g unsalted butter softened
  • ⅔ cup/130g granulated sugar
  • 2 lemons one lemon for zest and juice and other lemon cut into thin 8 rounds
  • 1 cup /100g almond flour/meal
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon /70g semolina/Suji
  • ½ tsp/2g baking powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • Syrup
  • ¼ cup/60 ml juice about 1 large lemon
  • ¼ cup/50g granulated sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line 8 cavity muffin tin with square parchment paper hanging outside the muffin tin, if you can grease you can do it. I didn’t I only place the parchment paper and carefully fill them with batter.
  • Place butter, sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and mix well with handmixer, or kitchen aid stand mixer until it light and fluffy. To this add almond meal and again mix well. Then add one eggs at a time and mix well.
  • To this add semolina, baking powder, salt and mix once again. Then add lemon juice and mix once again.
  • Then divide the batter into muffin tin and place lemon slice on the top.
  • Bake the cake for about 25-30 minutes until the sides become golden brown and when tooth pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
  • While cake is baking make the lemon syrup with sugar and lemon juice until the sugar dissolves remove from fire.
  • Spoon or brush the lemon syrup on warm cake as soon it comes out of the oven.
  • Enjoy with cup of tea or coffee. Make sure that cake should remain in the parchment paper until it is ready to serve.
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Tarhana Soup/ Turkish bell pepper, tomato and yogurt soup

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A delicious Tarhana Soup/ Turkish bell pepper, tomato and yogurt  soup made with roasted red bell pepper, tomato, onions , Greek Yogurt and herbs and spices. Soothing soup for cold winter days.
Tarhana Soup/ Turkish bell pepper, tomato and yogurt soup

 

Even though it is end of February, here the temperature is cold and gloomy, and we go for days without seeing sun. Both hubby and I like soup and especially with this climate, soup is best food you can ask for. I decide to try this instant Tarhana Soup/ Turkish bell pepper, tomato and yogurt soup. I got this recipe from the cook book Turkish delights by John Gregory-Smith.

Tarhana Çorbası is a Turkish Sourdough soup made from a fermented and dehydrated mix of flour, yogurt, onions, tomatoes and red bell pepper. The exact composition of tarhana differs from region to region in Turkey.  Some regions use corn flour instead of white flour or chickpeas.

Tarhana Soup/ Turkish bell pepper, tomato and yogurt soup

This  soup is made from a base made Tarhana powder. Which is prepared by mixing plain yogurt, flour and grated vegetables like red pepper, tomato, and onion into a thick paste that is left to ferment for several days. The paste is then divided up, dried and crumbled to make Tarhana powder. This is usually done during summer month as bounty of vegetables. The powder is used during cold winter months to make soup.

Since I don’t have Tarhana powder in hand, I like this recipe of Instant Tarhana Soup/ Turkish bell pepper, tomato and yogurt soup. In this recipe first, the veggies such as red bell pepper, onion, tomato along with oregano, dry mint, pepper is roasted and then made into puree and mixed in with yogurt. I got hooked to recipe at first because of tempering of butter with mint and chili flakes remind me of curries. Yes, we make curries with tomato and yogurt. I like the addition of sweet red bell pepper also.

I read a story about Tarhana soup I don’t know is it myth or real. It states that once upon a time a king visited a poor farmer’s house.  They want to treat the king, as they have nothing in hand other than this Tarhana powder,  farmer’s wife made the soup  and she named it “Dar hane” soup means poor house soup. That eventually become the Tarhana soup.

I like the recipe as it is simple and made a flavorful Soup. If you are a soup lover, then give it a try, I am sure you will love it?

If you like this soup recipe check  other recipes from Turkish cuisine too 

Turkis Ramdan Pide

 

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5 from 3 votes

Tarhana Soup/ Turkish bell pepper, tomato and yogurt soup

A delicious soup made with  roasted red bell pepper, tomato, onions , Greek Yogurt and herbs and spices. Soothing  soup for cold winter days. 
Prep Time35 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Turkish
Keyword: soup recipes, Tarhana Soup, Turkish Cusine
Servings: 3 serving
Calories: 240kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 2 red bell peppers cut into quarters
  • 1 big red onion cut into quarters
  • 4 tomatoes cut into halves
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 3 teaspoon dry mint
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes
  • 3 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ cup Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 tablespoon butter

Video

Notes

This recipe is adapted from Turkish delights by John Gregory-Smith

Nutrition

Calories: 240kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 458mg | Potassium: 489mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 3487IU | Vitamin C: 116mg | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

 

Brownie crunch Peanut Butter Kitchen sink cookies

· 6 Comments

Delicious Brownie crunch Peanut Butter Kitchen sink cookies  a chunky and chewy cookies made with double chocolate brownie crunch cereal, peanut butter, chocolate chips and oats. Hard to stop with one.

 

My kids love cookies, but one condition is that it has chocolate chips. Both kids usually start their day with breakfast cereals. So, I am happy to make this Brownie crunch Peanut Butter Kitchen sink cookies brighten up their day. We like Malt -O-Meal® cereals for our breakfast, so when I came to know that Malt-O Meal is introducing new three products, and we can get it from local Walmart, I decided to give it a try.

These are Malt -O-Meal® 3 delicious new MOM varieties: Malt-O-Meal ®Double Chocolate Brownie Crunch, Malt-O-Meal Cinnamon Dyno-Bites and Malt-O-Meal Golden Honey O’s. Since my kids love brownies I decide to go with Malt-O-Meal Double Chocolate Brownie Crunch. As they are cookie lovers too, I made these cookies for them. It is easy to make a kitchen sink cookie, make sure to add your favorite ingredients to make this cookie. After all Life’s delicious joys are meant to be shared. As a Mom, simple cookies can bring smile in the face of my children, and that is best gift I can ever get.

Do you know Malt-O-Meal® cereals come in over 30 delicious varieties, something for every taste bud in the family? They’re less spendy and so tasty. And if you don’t love them, they will refund your money. Best part of Double Chocolate Brownie Crunch cereal is its devilishly delicious dose of chocolatey flavor. Crispy corn puffs made with real cocoa and chocolatey marshmallow pieces will be delight at any time of day.

Grab a bag of Malt-O-Meal® Double Chocolate Brownie Crunch from the local Walmart. Make this simple cookie with flour, oats, peanut butter, butter, chocolate chips and Malt-O-Meal® Double Chocolate Brownie Crunch. I refrigerated the cookie dough as I was busy cooking lunch, you can skip that step as these cookies won’t spread as other butter cookies.

Every bite of this cookies have lots of flavor, crunch from Malt-O-Meal® Double Chocolate Brownie Crunch cereal, salt and sweetness from the peanut butter and chocolate chips. This cookie will satisfy chocolate, peanut butter, cereal lovers at the same time. I have shared with my hubby’s colleagues and neighbor friend got rave reviews, some even asked for recipe.

Why delay to try this delicious chocolatey cereal from Malt-O-Meal ®Cereal, along with great breakfast you can make this delicious cookie with it. Check this link for a great Ibotta offer when you by any one of the three new Post Malt-O-Meal® Cereals. Check here for more recipe inspirations.

Put on your Apron and start whipping this delicious cookie!

If you like this cookies, here is ther Cereal based cookie recipes !

Peanut butter cups cerea cowboy cookies

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5 from 7 votes

Brownie crunch Peanut Butter Kitchen sink cookies

Delicious as well as chunky and chewy cookies made with double chocolate brownie crunch cereal, peanut butter, chocolate chips and oats. Hard to stop with one. 
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time8 minutes
Total Time18 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cookie recipes, Kitchen sin cookies
Servings: 36
Calories: 125kcal
Author: Swathi ( Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ cup /162.5 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup /96g oats
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ cup / 1 stick butter softened at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup /91g packed brown sugar
  • ¼ cup /50g granulated sugar
  • 1 cup /184g semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • ⅓ cup /61g white chocolate chips
  • ½ cup / 89 g creamy peanut butter
  • 1 cup Malt-O-Meal® Double Chocolate Brownie Crunch

Instructions

  • Pre-heat oven to 350F and line the baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  • In a bowl add flour, salt, baking soda and mix well and set aside.
  • In a large bowl add butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar and cream well .
  • To this add peanut butter and egg , vanilla extract and mix well once again.
  • To this add flour mix, oat meal and mix well.
  • Then add white chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips and Malt-O-Meal® Double Chocolate Brownie Crunch cereal, fold everything well.
  • Make 1 ½ tablespoon of cookie dough ball and slightly flatten them and place it in baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can refrigerate the dough if you want.
  • Bake it at 350F for about 8 minutes and let sit the cookies in baking for 5 minutes and transfer them into cookie rack until it cooled completely.
  • Store the cookies in air tight container for 3-4 days.
  • Enjoy with your favorite drink.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 125kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 98mg | Potassium: 76mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 122IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Acili Ezme/Turkish Chili Salad

· 7 Comments

Salad is one of the favorite dishes in our house, and everybody loves it. I am always in the look out for new salad recipes. Acili Ezme/Turkish Chili Salad recipe is one that I got from a book Turkish delights by John Gregory-Smith. I came to know that Acili Ezme/Turkish Chili Salad is served as a sauce on kebabs or as a salsa with some pita.

I have earlier tried Turkish spoon salad which we all loved. This one is like it but packed with fresh herbs, touch of spices and juicy texture. I served with chapathi (Indian flat bread) and curry as I don’t have any Pita bread in hand.

I think if you are good at chopping by hand then this salad is one for you. I am not that good at chopping, but still I tried my best to do it. I read that you can’t use any choppers as it will not give the authentic taste.

I followed the recipe from the book, but didn’t add any garlic or onion.  I read that you can add that if you want.  This salad is very simple with tomatoes, green bell peppers, spices like sumac, pepper flakes, juice of lemon and pomegranate molasses.  I got hooked to middle eastern spices because of a grocery store near my old house called Phoenicia. And I love to buy and gather lots of spices from there being a spice lover, spices are my weakness.

My hubby says you have so many collections of spices you need to take inventory in between otherwise you will forget, even though he is joking. I think I need to do that.

Since it is winter, and I lost all my mint, I was forced to buy paying 2 dollars for few sprigs. I learned one more lesson, I should be thankful to mint, when it is growing.

This is a simple salad, but make sure to add pomegranate molasses, sumac they bring out the flavor give it a try and let me know how it turned out. Next in my list is Turkish shepherd salad and colorful one.

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5 from 4 votes

Acili Ezme/Turkish Chili Salad

Acili Ezme/Turkish Chili Salad. Simple and delicious salad made with tomatoes, bell pepper, herbs and spices.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time1 minute
Course: Appetizer, Salad
Cuisine: Turkish
Servings: 3
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 2 to matoes 1 cup chopped
  • Half of green bell pepper
  • 1 tablespoon Parsley leaves
  • 1 tablespoon mint leaves
  • 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
  • ½ teaspoon red bell pepper
  • ½ teaspoon sumac
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ of lemon juice

Instructions

  • In a bowl add all the chopped veggies, and herbs and then add spices and mix well. Enjoy with pita bread as salsa or dip.

Notes

The recipe is  adapted from Turkish delights by John Gregory-Smith. I 
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Coconut, Almond and Raspberry cake

· 2 Comments

Simple nutty  coconut, almond and raspberry cake . Little tanginess of baked raspberry goes well with sweet. An excellent cake to have with your favorite coffee or tea or as breakfast.

oconut, Almond and Raspberry cake

I like to make simple cake rather than those with icing and fondant. But I do have a problem, my kids won’t try any cake which does not have chocolate. This cake is adapted from the Ottolenghi & Goh’s new book Sweet which I borrowed from the library.  I liked a few recipes in this book.

Coconut, Almond and Raspberry cake slice

I wanted to make a cake for Valentine’s day, but it didn’t happen. As Sun is not helping me, yes weather here in Houston is mostly turned cloudy and foggy most of the days, that means no food photography. Today Mr. Sun decided to come out, but also decided to play hide and seek, and I decided to try this coconut, almond and raspberry cake.

oconut, Almond and Raspberry cake slices

 

I made changes to the recipe, yes I don’ t has self-rising flour in hand. I am not intending to buy self-rising flour as I am not using it very often. So, skipped that and was feeling too lazy to make my own. So, added flour, baking powder and salt separately.  Added raspberry instead of blueberry. It turned out fine, the Cake is delicious. I think this cake has nutty flavor from the almond and coconut, amount of flour is less so main taste is coming from former one.  One thing you need to watch for is the time of baking, my cake was baked within 50 minutes. If you keep it long, it will burn.

Raspberries

Also, you need only two bowls and a whisk to make this, I didn’t use my Kitchen Aid mixer. In one bowl mix all the dry ingredients and another add wet ingredients and combine everything. Also folding raspberry into the dough means you are making mess of raspberry, they are so sensitive if you touch they will break into pieces. So, decided to divide the dough and layered with raspberries. That way they look better.

Coconut, Almond and Raspberry cake ready to serve

Tangy-sweetness of baked raspberry is perfectly married with nutty almond and coconut. This cake is best with cup of coffee or tea. Great for breakfast too. If you like a simple cake like me, give it a try and let me know how it turned out.

If you like this recipe please check these too 

Lemon semolina cake 

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5 from 1 vote

Coconut, Almond and Raspberry cake

Simple nutty cake with coconut, almond and raspberry. Little tanginess of  baked raspberry goes well with sweet. An excellent cake to have with your favorite coffee or tea or as breakfast. 
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Cake, coconut almond raspberry cake
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 714kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 ⅔ cup /180g ground almonds/ almond flour
  • ⅔ cup / 60g desiccated coconut
  • 1 ¼ cup /250g granulated sugar
  • ½ cup plus 1 tbsp/70g all-purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 4 large eggs
  • ¾ cups 2 tbsp/200g unsalted butter melted and cooled
  • 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • finely grated zest of 1 lemon 1 tsp
  • 8 oz 170g raspberries
  • ¼ cup/ 20g flaked almonds

Instructions

  • Grease and line a 23cm/9-inch spring form cake pan. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
  • In a mixing bowl add he almonds, coconut, sugar, flour and salt and whisk to aerate and remove the lumps.
  • In another bowl add eggs and whisk lightly. Add the melted butter, vanilla extract and lemon zest and whisk again until well combined. Pour this into the dry mix and whisk to combine.
  • Transfer half of the dough into cake tin and line with half of raspberries. Then top with rest of the dough and place remaining raspberries.
  • Sprinkle with the flaked almonds and bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Keep a close eye on it towards the end of cooking.
  • Set aside for 30 minutes before inverting out of the tin, removing the baking parchment and placing the cake the right way up on a serving plate. It can either be served warm with cream or set aside until cool.
  • This will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container or wrapped in aluminum foil. It also freezes well for up to a month.

Video

Notes

This Coconut, Almond and Raspberry cake is adapted from the Ottolenghi & Goh’s new book Sweet

Nutrition

Calories: 714kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 52g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 128mg | Sodium: 110mg | Potassium: 165mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 660IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 162mg | Iron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Pichuberry Oats Coconut Yogurt Muffins

· 5 Comments


“This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Mojo Tree Farms, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #PichuberrySuperfruit  http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV”

I like to start my days with breakfast muffins, as it is easy to make, ahead of time, and I can serve it in the morning without spending any additional time in the kitchen. As you know morning are always crazy like any other household.  Nowadays when I make muffins I like to add some healthy ingredients. Recently I came to know about Super fruit Pichuberry, and we can get it here in the form of   Pichuberry Puree in Walmart store . So, decide to add it in my muffins, thus Pichuberry oats coconut yogurt muffins were born.

Do you know The Pichuberry is native to the highlands of Peru? Pichuberries are a good source of vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin P, and the B-complex vitamins B1, B6, and B12. Best part is that by eating only 3 ounces of this power fruit, you’ll meet 37 percent of your daily required vitamin A, 13 percent of your required niacin, 18 percent of your recommended vitamin C, and 39 percent of your vitamin D requirement. (Percent daily values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet.) Pichuberries have a high content of phenolic compounds, which are a natural antioxidant.

Since getting fresh Pichuberry is not easy, but we can get Pichuberry puree in Walmart frozen fruit section.  I found Pichuberry puree is versatile - use the way we would use any other berry! Incorporate in your favorite smoothies, smoothie bowls, salad dressings, yogurts, muffin mixes, milks or juices. I made this Pichuberry oats coconut yogurt muffins with Pichuberry Puree.

I used coconut sugar as sweetener as it blends with Pichuberry Puree very well. Since it is a breakfast muffin, it must have oats so added that, and to give extra nutty taste added unsweetened coconut. To make it skinny I added coconut oil and Greek yogurt. Thus, healthy Pichuberry oats coconut yogurt muffins were made, it is really a tasty and filling breakfast. I added an egg to give some extra protein. You can skip that if you want and make it vegan.

Pichuberry Puree mingled well with other ingredients. I have shared this muffins with my  friend and with my hubby’s colleagues at work, they all liked it. I am very happy to add a great breakfast muffin recipe into my menu. So Why wait, grab Pichuberry Puree from Walmart and make this delicious muffin.Check to see if Pichuberry Puree is available at your local Walmart store  or at Walmart Grocery

Your loved ones will thank you!

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5 from 4 votes

Pichuberry oats coconut yogurt muffins

Delicious Pichuberry oats coconut yogurt muffins, great breakfast muffins made with Pichuberry Puree, oats, Greek yogurt and coconut sugar.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time12 minutes
Total Time22 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 no
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup /130 g All-purpose flour
  • ½ cup /51g Old fashioned rolled oats + extra for sprinkling
  • ½ tsp/1 g baking soda
  • ½ tsp/2g baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup Pichuberry Puree 1 full pouch + ¾ of 2nd pouch
  • ½ cup/29g unsweetened coconut + extra of sprinkling
  • ⅓ cup/95g Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup/198g coconut sugar
  • 2 tablespoon coconut oil

Instructions

  • Pre-heat oven to 375F and line muffin tin with 12 liners and set aside.
  • In a bowl add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix well.
  • In another bowl add coconut oil and sugar and mix well to this add egg, vanilla extract and Pichuberry puree and mix well.
  • Add dry ingredients to Pichuberry puree-sugar-egg mixture. Then add oats and unsweetened coconut and mix well.
  • Transfer the ¾ of the dough into prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle oats and coconut on the top and bake it pre-heated oven to about 12 minutes.
  • Enjoy with your favorite drink .
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Chocolate Crackle Cookies

· 10 Comments

Delicious Chocolate Crackle Cookies a chewy chocolatey brownie like cookies with crackles on the top. Excellent cup of milk.

My kids are chocolate fans, if I give it 3 times day they will still be happy to have it. But I won’t do that, nowadays I freeze big batch of chocolate chips cookies and bake them whenever I need it. This Sunday while watching the Super Bowl my little guy wanted chocolate chip cookies. I told him it is finished, and I will make it for you tomorrow. He started crying saying I am hungry I need chocolate chip cookies. Okay I said I will bake chocolate cookies for you but not with chocolate chips as I needed a blog post also. Finally, he agrees to make this chocolate crackle cookies. I asked him can I add some nuts and his answer was a big NO.

Thus, I made this chocolate crackle cookies, these are easy to put together, you need cocoa powder and egg and flour. It is a simple brownie like cookies. I didn’t roll it in powder sugar, he told me no to that too. If I can reduce little bit of sugar that is fine, isn’t it?

My kids like brownies too, since I am lazy to make brownies from scratch I use pre-mix. They don’t have a problem with that. But for cake and cookies they want to make it from scratch. Maybe I spoiled them with homemade cookies and cakes.

If you like to have nuts in your chocolate cookies then go ahead with walnuts, almonds or pecans. I would love to add but then I must finish it, my son will say you didn’t listen to me.

This cookie doesn’t require refrigeration may be because it has little shortening along with butter, and they won’t spread too much while baking. Make sure to bake until it is just set, otherwise it will reduce the chewiness of the cookies. Both of my kids approved it and told me this is the best cookie. So, give them a try.

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5 from 16 votes

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Delicious chewy chocolatey brownie like cookies with crackles on the top.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time12 minutes
Total Time22 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Chocolate crackle cookies, Cookies recipes
Servings: 16
Calories: 91kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup /130g all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup /44g unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon /1g baking soda
  • ½ tablespoon /2g baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon /1g salt
  • 6 tablespoon /84g unsalted butter slightly softened
  • 2 tablespoon vegetable shortening
  • ½ cup/68g brown sugar
  • ½ cup/100g granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Heat the oven to 350°F. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
  • In a kitchen aid stand mixer bowl cream butter and shortening well then incorporate the both sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
  • Beat in egg, , and then the vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and mix on medium low just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  • Drop the dough by the heaping tablespoonful of cookie dough into about 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Bake until they’re still very soft but no longer look wet, about 10-12 minutes until it just set and crackle on the top. Let cool on the sheets for 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 91kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 116mg | Potassium: 55mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 146IU | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Chana dal burfi/ Split chickpea fudge: Gluten free

· 15 Comments

Delicious Chana dal burfi/ Split chickpea fudge, traditional sweet made with chana dal, milk, mawa, sugar, coconut, cardamom and nuts

 

Indian sweet dishes are my weakness. But there are not many takers for sweets in my home. Hubby who is diabetic would take the first try, then my two kids, son being the second taster without tasting and finally my daughter who is willing to try a small bite. Maybe it doesn’t have any chocolate chips what they are looking for. Coming to this chana dal burfi, it is adapted from traditional chanay ki dal halwa, a Pakistani traditional recipe.

 

Chana dal burfi/ Split chickpea fudge: Gluten free

Nowadays I am into Pakistani television series, as they better compared to Indian counterpart. Because Indian counterpart will run from my young age to my old age. Stretching so much that there is not much stories in it and never ending making circles around. The wonderful thing about Pakistani serials is that it will finish within 30 episodes.

I got success with this sweet the second time, first time I tried with condensed milk alone, it couldn’t balance the sweetness with Chana dal /split chickpeas. Yes, I found it less sweet even after dumping ¾ of the can. So, decide to go original route of using sugar. You need equal amount sugar and chana dal/spilt chickpea. In my home state we make traditional stuffed flatbread Boli with chana dal and sugar. Also, there is ukkarai which is made with chana dal and jaggery which is must dish for Diwali our traditional festival of lights dish.

How to make Chana dal Burfi ? 

This burfi is entirely different in look and taste of besan burfi which is made with flour of chana dal/besan. That has more toasty taste. This one has more of taste of lentil. It is also delicious. If you are willing to try some sweets which is gluten free, then give this one a try.  I don’t know we can make it vegan as it uses, milk, ghee and mawa (evaporated milk solids). To make this dish you need to soak the spilt chick peas for at least 4 hours or overnight. I used my Instant pot to cook the dal. You can use pressure cooker too. If you want to use fresh coconut slightly toast it for some time before using it.

Chana dal burfi/ Split chickpea fudge: Gluten free

I found it perfect sweet not too much, but if you want your sweet dish to be very sweet you can slightly increase the amount of sugar. Here comes my easy tested recipe of Chana dal burfi.

Other burfi recipes are 

Khoya Badam Burfi: Dried Milk and Almond Fudge

7 cup burfi

Chana dal burfi/ Split chickpea fudge: Gluten free

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5 from 11 votes

Chana dal burfi/ Split chickpea fudge: Gluten free

Delicious chana dal burfi/ Split chickpea fudge, traditional sweet made with chana dal, milk, mawa, sugar, coconut, cardamom and nuts
Prep Time5 hours
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time5 hours 30 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: burfi recipes, chana dal burfi
Servings: 12
Calories: 275kcal
Author: Swathi ( Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Chana dal/ Split chickpeas soaked for 4-5 hours
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup milk
  • ½ cup desiccated coconut.
  • 4 tablespoon Ghee + 2 tablespoon extra, you can skip this extra ghee if you want
  • 3 tablespoon chopped almonds plus extra for garnishing
  • ½ teaspoon cardamom
  • 3 tablespoon chopped pistachios.
  • ¾ cup grated khoya /mawa
  • 3 cups of water for soaking

Instructions

  • First wash and soak the chana dal / split chickpeas for about 4-5 hours in 3 cups of water.
  • Then add 1 cup of milk and in Instant pot / pressure cooker cook the dal and mixture for instant pot it requires about 14 minutes or in pressure cooker you need 4-5 whistle. Once it is cool enough to touch puree them in blender or food processor and set aside. If you need use the entire milk into the chana dal to make it puree.
  • Heat 4 tablespoon of ghee and chana dal puree and cook until all the ghee is absorbed. Then add ½ cup dessicated coconut and cook for another 2 minutes .
  • To this add 1 cup of sugar and mix well and cook, once you add sugar you will see the chana dal becomes loosen and liquid. Continue mix well and cook until everything becomes once again thicker, to this add great mawa /khoya you need to mix again until the entire mawa combines with chana dal mixture. To this add chopped pistachio, almonds and cardamom and cook for another 1 or 2 minutes. When the dough leaves the pan.
  • Remove from heat and transfer to baking sheet greased with ghee. Place the dough and spread it into 1 ½ inch thick slab. Once it is slightly cooled place almond on the top. you need to press them slightly so that it sticks well. When it is completely cooled, sliced into squares.
  • Enjoy Chana dal burfi/ Split chickpea fudge.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 275kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 53mg | Potassium: 84mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 108IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 162mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Carrot Blood Orange Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie: Diabetic Friendly

· 6 Comments

During my recent visit to the local grocery store HEB, I found blood oranges, yes, I am trying blood oranges for the first time.  I have seen earlier in other blogs about blood oranges, but never tried myself. Originally my plan was to make drink with it, but I didn’t want it in the start of the week. So, decided to make a smoothie bowl, but when I mixed everything it turned out be not thick as it should be for smoothie bowl. But it was of drinking consistency, thus Carrot Blood Orange Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie was born.

This is a wholesome smoothie and great to start the day, yes rich in Vitamin C from orange, blood oranges and strawberries, Vitamin A from Carrot. It is further enriched with banana and oatmeal. What else do you want for your perfect breakfast, oranges, berries, banana and oatmeal. Blood orange I have in hand was slightly tart, so I used Nectevia (which is Fortified Agave Nectar with Stevia). If you don’t want to use Nectevia, you can add some dates.

If you want to make it as a smoothie bowl I think you need creamy smoothie, add ½ avocado maybe I will try that next time. My daughter me told it is delicious can you make it for my breakfast. I think if you want color you need to add raspberry, maybe next time.

For making this smoothie first you need to make carrot juice, I made carrot juice with fresh carrots. Even though fresh is best, if you are out of time make carrot juice the night before and refrigerate it, next morning make this Carrot blood orange strawberry oatmeal smoothie with rest of ingredients.

If you are oatmeal fan like me then this smoothie is one for you. I have added old fashioned oats, you can use gluten free one also.  This is really a filling smoothie and you won’t be hungry till lunch.

After all a breakfast is supposed to be with oatmeal, oranges and strawberries, so why wait take your blender or juicer. Give it a try immediately and give me the feedback, healthy smoothie never hurts any diet plan.

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5 from 9 votes

Carrot Blood Orange Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie: Diabetic Friendly

Delicious diabetic friendly vitamin C rich  smoothie made with fresh carrot juice, blood orange, orange, strawberry,banana and oatmeal.  Great  to start your day with it.  
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Course: Breakfast, Drinks
Cuisine: American
Servings: 2 serving
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • For making Carrot juice
  • 1 cup chopped carrots about 2
  • ¾ cup water I used bottle water
  • For making Carrot blood orange strawberries oatmeal smoothie
  • ½ cup old fashioned rolled oats
  • ¼ cup orange juice
  • 1 frozen banana
  • 6 Strawberries
  • 1 blood orange juice
  • ½ tablespoon Nectevia
  • ½ cup carrot juice
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Orange Madeleines

· 21 Comments

There is a proverb that Happiness comes in small packages; this orange madeleines recipe is one of that kind. I wanted to buy the madeleine pan for some 5 long years now. Finally, I bought it, and started searching for a perfect recipe for orange madeline. I was really baffled by a large variety of it, so ended up making my orange madeleines with its specific twist.
Madeleines are small soft sponge cake with a distinctive shell-like shape acquired from being baked in pans with shell-shaped depressions. This dish is from Commercy and Liverdun, two communes of the Lorraine region in northeastern France.


Trust me these are little wonders that you can eat with cup of favorite tea or coffee. I wanted fresh orange juice and zest in orange madeleines. So, didn’t added any vanilla extract. Really simple recipe with eggs, flour, orange juice, zest and sugar. I didn’t add any glaze, simply dusted with powdered sugar. You can eat them as such without any powdered sugar too.


You can make vegan or gluten free madeleines, I wanted to try traditional route so made this one with eggs and flour. These tender and soft tea cakes make your dessert table wonderful. That is why madeleines became iconic by famed French novelist, Marcel Proust through his novels. “It was a mouthful of miniature sponge-cake dipped in tea” that became one of French literature’s most powerful metaphors.

 

These orange madeleines are important to me, because it is one of the recipe I wanted to try for long time and finally passed with flying colors. My hubby always mentions that for food the taste is the king, if you got that then you did right. These orange madeleines are good, I think you can make it plain or with any other citrus, I like this orange version, I will try lemon and blood orange also. You know food blogger mind is always thinking of recipes when it see’s fruits or veggies.

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5 from 9 votes

Orange madeleines

Delicious orange Madeleines made with fresh orange juice, orange zest fully of ctirusy flavor.
Prep Time1 hour 5 minutes
Cook Time16 minutes
Total Time1 hour 21 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Servings: 20
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup/ 125g all purpose flour
  • ½ cup/100g granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs room temperature
  • 6 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
  • 2 tablespoon orange juice
  • 1 orange zest
  • ¾ tsp. Baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • extra butter for greasing the molds

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs. Then add orange juice and zest and mix well.
  • In a separate bowl add flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk well.
  • Add flour mixture to egg mixture and mix well to this add melted butter and mix once again.
  • Then cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour or overnight it you want.
  • When you ready to bake pre-heat oven to 350F and brush the madeleine pan with butter you can use soft butter, I used melted butter.
  • Add small cookie scoop batter into each pan and bake it for about 8-10 minutes or until the sides are crisped up and the cake has cook through.
  • Serve as it is, or with a dusting of powdered sugar. Enjoy!
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Romance Caribeno Cocktail

· 4 Comments

Romance carbieno a delicious refreshing  citrusy cocktail made with rum, triple sec, fresh lemon, lime juice and lime-lemon soda.

 

This is perfect cocktail for date night. I like to make fruity cocktails, this Romance Caribeno Cocktail is the newest addition in the list. This cocktail is simple citrusy with perfect balance of Rum and orange liquor.

I made with cocktail with whatever was available in my hand. I used plantation rum, Triple sec. I like the addition of fresh lime and lemon juice. My favorite drink is margarita, usually I experiment with various flavors, now I started experimenting with bourbon, vodka, gin etc.

This is simple yet colorful romantic drink you can whip it up fast. I found the recipe in HGTV magazine, but I changed the recipe and made with alcohol in my hand. The glass which I had in my hand is so generous of getting glares so even though making this cocktail took only 5 minutes, the photography session extended to 2 hours, still I couldn’t get what I am looking for. I would like to know how to prevent that. May be good research topic is waiting for me.

Coming back to the recipe, I think maybe we can try with blood orange or any other citrus fruit. I will let you know how it turned out.  For the time being enjoy this cocktail simply best as it is. Next month Valentine’s Day is coming, so why don’t you try this cocktail. It can bring feeling of warm tropical waters and breeze and can waken you inner Romeo and Juliet.

Citrus cocktails are quintessentially springy, they add a refreshing zing to the cocktails. Also, I didn’t use any simple syrup the sweetness is from lime-lemon soda.

You can expect more cocktails from me, as I am waiting temperature to get warm. This is welcome drink for this cold brutal winter.  Give it a try and let me know.

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5 from 11 votes

Romance Caribeno Cocktail

Delicious refreshing  citrusy cocktail made with rum, triple sec, fresh lemon, lime juice and lime-lemon soda.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Servings: 1
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ oz. Plantation rum
  • 1 oz. Triple Sec or Grand Marnier
  • ½ oz. fresh lime juice
  • ½ oz. fresh lemon juice
  • 3 oz. chilled lemon-lime soda
  • Dash of grenadine for color
  • Lemon wheel

Instructions

  • Add rum, Triple Sec and juices into a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake for five seconds. Pour into a chilled fluted glass. Fill the rest of the glass with lemon-lime soda. Add a dash of grenadine, and garnish the rim with a lemon wheel
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Ellu Unda/ Sweet Sesame seed and coconut balls

· 6 Comments

Delicious nutty,traditional sweet dessert made with sesame seeds, coconut, jaggery and touch of fragment spice cardamom.

This is one of the sweets my grandma used to make. She didn’t add any coconut in this sweet, but I love to add coconut to everything.  When comes to coconut I have a weak heart, I try to incorporate it as much as possible. This is an easy sweet to make and you can make it within less than 30 minutes. For a change try this Ellu unda/ Sweet sesame seed and coconut balls.

Traditional recipe is made with black sesame seed, and I even bought a packet from Indian store. But it turned out to bad. So, decide to make with skinless one. Both are same but more nuttiness taste if you use black sesame seed. If you like sesame seed, then this is a great recipe to try.

I love sesame seed in any form, Ellu unda, hummus or even like to sprinkle over bread or curries. Only thing while making Ellu unda you need to careful about jaggery syrup. If it becomes hard you get a hard ball that means you can’t bites it with your teeth. So careful to stop working the jaggery syrup when they are at soft ball state. It means you will only be able to make small balls.

In northern part of India, they make sweet sesame seed balls/Till laddu during Makar Sankranti which is celebrated during January 14-15th. In Kerala, you can even find them in small shops or bakeries all-round the year.

Sesame seed itself has health benefits but when you combine with jaggery it is a dessert. This one I made it as small bite size balls which are easy to eat.

For me this recipe brings out lots of nostalgic memories, as it reminds me my grandma cooking and how she cooked for us. Yes, if ask her in the morning, I can get this dessert in the evening. She never complained about anything and made everything with love.

If you like the molasses flavor then try this as jaggery has molasses taste, this nuttiness from the coconut and sesame seeds perfectly balanced with sweetness of jaggery.

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5 from 4 votes

Ellu Unda/ Sweet Sesame seed and coconut balls

Delicious nutty, sweet dessert made with sesame seeds, coconut, jaggery  and touch of fragment spice cardamom. 
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 4
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup 2 tablespoon /130 g white sesame seeds
  • ¾ cup / 150g jaggery
  • ½ cup desiccated coconut I used fine
  • 4 cardamom pods crushed
  • 13 tablespoon waters
  • 1 tablespoon ghee plus extra for greasing the hand while making balls

Instructions

  • First roast the sesame seeds in low flame for 5 minutes. Until it slightly brown in color and set aside.
  • In another small vessel add jaggery and water and melt first then strain for impurities. Bring back to heat and boil until jaggery syrup is thickened and when you add a drop you will able to make soft ball.
  • Mix in roasted sesame seeds, then coconut, ghee and cardamom powder and set aside.
  • While it is warm try to make small ball out it. This step you need to careful it is too hot your hand will burn, if too cold you can’t make the balls out of it. So do it while it is slightly hot.
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Matcha Green Smoothie Bowl

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Creamy green smoothie bowl with banana, avocado, matcha and spinach, super healthy smoothie to start your day.

I am a smoothie person who love to start day with smoothie. I have been eyeing on Matcha powder to make a smoothie. But for a long time, I could only find it in stores that sold bulk quantities and I did not want to buy a large amount.  Finally, I found it in local Walmart, and I was like a kid who find a long-lost toy.  Then I decide to start my day with Matcha green Smoothie bowl.

My love for green tea started during my stay in Japan. Now only occasionally I am drinking green tea. I think I need to start that habit again. Healthy foods can also taste great, this smoothie bowl is an example. You can assure that, this is coming from a person who doesn’t like raw spinach. Yes, I like them only when it is cooked not as raw. But in this smoothie, I didn’t feel any taste different.

From now on you can expect lot of matcha recipes, yes, I am going to try them in baking too. I didn’t keep any resolution, still I want to make some changes in my habit, but it is so cold to venture out. Once the cold subsides I am going to start walking again.

Do you know Matcha green tea has these amazing qualities, It is high in Antioxidant like Catechin, EGCg. It enhances relaxation, boost memory and concentrations, increase energy levels, burns calories, detoxify body and fortify the immune system. Matcha is also a powerful detoxifier capable of naturally removing heavy metals and chemical toxins from the body.

So why wait start making this delicious and healthy smoothie bowl. I made with frozen banana, avocado, spinach, coconut milk and matcha powder. I used Nectivia (fortified agave nectar with Steviva) to sweeten up little bit. If you don’t want to use it use maple syrup or 3 dates.

Once you made the smoothie then topping part, I used half banana, strawberry, blueberry and toasted hemp seeds. You can play with your own favorite fruit and nuts.

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5 from 1 vote

Matcha Green Smoothie Bowl

Creamy green smoothie bowl with banana, avocado, matcha and spinach, super healthy smoothie to start your day.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Green Smoothie Bowl, Smoothie bowl recipes
Servings: 1 serving
Calories: 533kcal
Author: Swathi( Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 medium frozen banana
  • 1 handful baby spinach
  • 1 teaspoon matcha powder
  • ½ avocado
  • ½ cup coconut milk
  • ½ tablespoon Nectevia or use, 3 dates, maple syrup or agave nectar
  • For topping
  • Banana
  • Strawberry
  • Blueberry
  • Toasted hemp seed

Instructions

  • First blend everything into fine puree and transfer to serving bowl and then add topping and enjoy.

Nutrition

Calories: 533kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 24g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Sodium: 24mg | Potassium: 1164mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 516IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 5mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Spiced Roasted Potatoes

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Delicious spiced roasted potatoes with curry spices, garlic and curry leaves. Excellent side dish goes well with any dish.

 

I love potatoes however it is mainly used along with other veggies not as such, hubby doesn’t like otherwise. My kids like potatoes in the form of fries only. They are otherwise not a fan. When you add potatoes to chickpeas, eggs or cauliflower it increases the taste than when they are stand alone. Also give creaminess to the curries. I have bought small multicolored potatoes for roasting and make Aloo Dum, a north Indian curry. But finally decide to use it for roasting. Thus, I made these spiced roasted potatoes.

Trust me these are so simple just cut mix with spice powder and keep it in the oven and after 30 minutes enjoy with lemon /lime wedge. I used the spices which I normally use to make curries, ground cumin, coriander and garam masala that is home made along with chili powder and garlic and curry leaves. In south Indian cuisine curry leaves are must yes without them hard to make curries. They give amazing flavor which none can replicate.  I like to use garlic along with potatoes to prevent gas formation.

I rarely make Indian dishes in oven as you can make only a few. These spiced roasted potatoes are great side dish, even you can eat them as appetizer if you want. I like it with a bowl of rice and curry. I have seen lot spiced roasted recipes, but this one will taste good as it has curry spices. Even though I used small potatoes I cut them into half to coat the spices. Since it is dry one it won’t be good to eat with chapati or any other bread.

Crispy spiced potatoes are so addictive you can’t stop with one bite, you are going for next, next sure. Try it yourself, you need to keep an eye on it while potatoes in the oven and not baby sit them that is best part.

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5 from 1 vote

Spiced Roasted Potatoes

Delicious spiced roasted potatoes with curry spices and curry leaves perfect side dish .
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: potato recipes, spiced potatoes,
Servings: 4 serving
Calories: 110kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 lb/453g Fresh baby potato medley halved
  • 3 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • ½ teaspoon red chili powder
  • ¼ teaspoon garam masala
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 2 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 sprig curry leaves crushed

Instructions

  • Pre-heat oven to 400F/200C and line baking with aluminum foil and set aside.
  • In a bowl add halved potatoes, olive oil, spices, salt, garlic and curry leaves and mix well.
  • Transfer everything to lined baking sheet and roast at 400F/200C for 30 minutes or until potato is done.
  • Enjoy with lemon/lime wedge.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 110kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 297mg | Potassium: 84mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 87IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Thai style fried peanuts /Thua Thawt smun phriai

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Fired peanuts was our weakness, while growing up, and I have eaten varieties of fried peanuts such as ones with chili powder or with salt and pepper. There are fried peanuts with extra dough to cover the individual peanuts that we call Masala peanuts. This Thai style fried peanuts is new addition to my recipe collection.

This is from the Book  Pok Pok The drinking food of Thailand by Andy Ricker with JJ Goode. I was curious to know about the drinking food of Thailand. In my home town always, drinks are accompanied by some spicy pickle, fried or roasted peanuts, or other munchies.


This book has pictures of real people in Thailand cooking and serving recipes, no extravagant background or lighting or food photo photography skills. The photos were taken as real food is served.
After introduction, recipes are divided into various chapters like, snacks, soup, Chile dips, fired foods, grilled foods, salads, stir-fries, late-night and morning food, sundry items and finally ingredients and equipment used in cooking.
All recipes come with Thai recipe name and English name and has introduction about recipe and how to serve and where you can find the ingredients.

I love Thai food and like to cook at home, but I won’t be able to try most of the recipes as I don’t eat frogs, cuttlefish, offal, and pig’s tails just to name a few. But if you are adventurous to try new food then you can make it at comfort of home.

This book has great information about the local drinks in Thailand, like Rice Whiskey, Herbal rice whisky, beer and Whisky soda.
I tried Thua Thawt smun phriai/ Fried peanuts with makrut lime leaves, garlic and chilies. I substituted Makrut lime leaves with lime leaves from my garden. I would also love to try fried cashews with salt, chilies and green onions, fried tiny fish.
Also, I want to try galangal Chile dip, green Chile dip etc. Som Tam Thawt/fried papaya salad sounds interesting. Grilled prawns/Kung Phao sounds delicious.


Among the salad, I will try Glass noodle salad, Instant noodle salad etc.
If you are thinking the drinking food of Thailand has easy recipes then you are wrong, all recipes require some prep, and some requires extensive step.
If you are really adventurous and patient to know Thai drinking food then by this book, also make sure to visit your local Asian market to find the ingredients.


Here is the Thua Thawt smun phriai/ Fried peanuts with makrut lime leaves, garlic and chilies recipe. I used my own lime leaves from my backyard garden. This is simple recipe first fry garlic, red chilies, lime leaves and peanuts then finally mix in with salt and enjoy.
This Thai style fried peanuts is excellent snack you can serve with or without any drink. I served with beer if you are not alcohol drinker even coke goes well.

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5 from 10 votes

Thai style fried peanuts /Thua Thawt smun phriai

Delicious fried peanuts with fiery red chilies, garlic and lemon leaves.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Total Time10 minutes
Course: Snack
Cuisine: Thai
Servings: 4
Author: Swathi ( Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups peanut oil
  • 3 lemon leaves
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
  • 2 red chilies
  • 1 cup Spanish peanuts with skin
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • In a thick bottom pan heat oil and fry the garlic, then red chilies, lemon leaves. Finally add peanuts make sure not burn it. Also place all fried items in kitchen tissue to remove extra oil.
  • In a bowl crush fried garlic, red chilies and lemon leaves, to this add peanuts and salt and mix well.
  • Enjoy with your favorite drink
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Pomegranate Moscow Mule

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Fruity  Boozy Winter Cocktail  with Vodka, ginger beer and freshness of pomegranate  and lime.

This  delicious Pomegranate Moscow Mule is one of the best winter cocktail you can enjoy as stores are having fresh pomegranates.

How to make this cocktail ?

You need following ingredients 

  • Pomegranate juice : You can use fresh or bottled. I used bottled (POM)
  • Vodka : Any good quality vodka will work here 
  • Ginger beer :  adds extra zing and fizz 
  •  Lime juice : Perfectly pairs with pomegranate juice ands brings out sweetness of later. 
  • Fresh pomegranate arils and  rosemary sprig  is excellent garnish and also looks festive. 

 

I wanted to make Moscow mule for long time and bought the copper mugs which it is traditionally served. As usual it in the list. Finally, I decide to make with for this new year eve.

What is Moscow Mule ? 

Moscow mule is vodka based drink made with vodka, ginger beer and lime juice. For this pomegranate Moscow mule, pomegranate juice, ginger beer, vodka and lime juice. Nice spicy kick from the ginger beer goes well pomegranate juice and Vodka.

I think pomegranate, cranberry is best to make winter Moscow mule as they pair perfect with ginger beer. The first known mention of the Moscow Mule is from the "Inside Hollywood" syndicated newspaper column, penned by Eith Gwynn, the date was the 27th of December 1942, and written like this:

"There is a new drink that is a craze in the movie colony now. It is called "Moscow Mule." Recipe: equal parts Vodka, lime juice and ginger beer!...

For me any fruit based drinks are most welcome than on the rocks. If you like ginger taste, then give it try.  Life is for enjoyment is it.

Thirsty for more drinks? 

Watermelon Moscow Mule 

 

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5 from 9 votes

Pomegranate Moscow Mule

Fruity  Boozy Winter Cocktail  with Vodka, ginger beer and freshness of pomegranate  and lime.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: #Halloweencocktail, Christmas cocktails, Fall cocktails, Moscow mule, Pomegrante Moscow mule, thanksgiving cocoktails
Servings: 1
Calories: 233kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 2 oz. Vodka
  • 2 oz. Pomegranate juice
  • ½ oz. lime juice
  • 6 oz. ginger beer
  • Ice
  • 1 lime wedge
  • 1 sprig of rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon pomegranate arils

Instructions

  • In a shaker mix lime juice, pomegranate juice and vodka and then add to glass filled with half ice and top with ginger beer. Garnish with lime wedge, rosemary and pomegranate arils.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 233kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 18mg | Potassium: 171mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 19IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

 

 

Pfeffernüsse/ Peppernuts

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Pfeffernüsse/ Peppernuts a simple German Christmas cookies made with spices, molasses and honey . Then these spiced cookies are glazed with sugar.

Pfeffernüsse/ Peppernuts

My kids got their favorite gift from Santa very happy and have already started to look forward to Santa’s visit next year.

 

This Christmas I didn’t get much time, I only got to make Christmas tree bread and this Pfeffernüsse/ Peppernuts. I made sugar cookies and did some simple decorations.

What is Pfeffernüsse/ Peppernuts

This is German spiced cookies which they make for Christmas and I was in my list for long time.
As usual this is an old cookie, there is no hard rule and I read several recipes, which differ from each other, some add egg, some without. Also spices addition is drastically differ from each other.

I finally settled with one recipe from German recipe site and added my own twist and spices. I increased the level of spices. As a spice lover I am stocking up almost all the spices I can get my hand on.

Pfeffernüsse/ Peppernuts with glazed sugar and christmas sprinkle
For me holiday baking is incomplete without the touch of ginger, cinnamon and allspice.

For this recipe I am happy to add white pepper, cardamom and anise seed. This is an easy recipe, first mix butter with sugar, honey, molasses and spices then mix with flour and baking soda. Finally mix in flour.

Pfeffernüsse/ Peppernuts with Christmas decorations
I read that you can glaze the cookies, or you can dust them with powdered sugar or even leave them as such.

I glazed it with sugar and arranged a holy leaf with berries on the top. Even though this cookie has three different kinds of sugar it is not so sweet. I think even with glaze it is not overly sweet.

Next in my list is Swedish Pepparkakor cookies which is another spice cookie made during Christmas time.
Spice cookies are best part of holidays, so give it a try you will love it. Let me know how it turned out.

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5 from 40 votes

Pfeffernüsse/ Peppernuts

Pfeffernüsse/ Peppernuts a simple German Christmas cookies I made for this holiday season. You will like it if you are gingerbread fan.
Prep Time8 hours
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time8 hours 10 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: German
Keyword: German Christmas Cookies, peppernuts, Pfeffernusse
Servings: 20 nos
Calories: 72kcal
Author: Swathi ( Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cup / 187g All-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon / 3g baking soda
  • 3 tablespoon /41g butter
  • 2 tablespoon /34g honey
  • 2 ¾ tablespoon /2 tablespoon Molasses
  • 2 tablespoon /30g Sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • ½ teaspoon ground all spice
  • ½ teaspoon anise seed
  • Zest of one orange
  • Glaze
  • 2 cups of Confectioner’s sugar
  • 1-2 tablespoon water

Instructions

  • In a bowl add flour and baking soda and mix well and set aside.
  • In another bowl heat butter, sugar, honey, molasses and spices and gradually add to the flour mix and then add egg and mix well.
  • Refrigerate the cookie dough to overnight.
  • Next morning pre-heat oven to 350F
  • Cut the cookie dough into 2-inch pieces and bake for 10 minutes.
  • Make glaze in a bowl and dip the cooled cookies. If you make thicker glaze then you get thicker white colored cookies.
  • Enjoy Pfeffernusse with cup of coffee.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 72kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 52mg | Potassium: 58mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 88IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

 

 

Maple chipotle Glazed Bacon wrapped Carrots and Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Mushroom: Two Easy appetizers

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This post is written by me on behalf of Tyson Foods, Inc.. All opinions are entirely my own.

Holiday parties are very important to me as they’re a time to get together with my friends and family. Our memories are always connected to fun and food. I like to serve simple, yet tasty dishes. For me, party appetizers play an important role. After all, people try the appetizers first, so they should make a great impression. I am sharing two easy and delicious appetizers that you can make in very little time. I made Maple & Chipotle Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Carrots and Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Mushrooms using Jimmy Dean® Bacon. Thicker cut bacon that delivers great taste and quality is the best part of the Jimmy Dean® brand.

You can buy Jimmy Dean® Bacon and other Tyson® products at your local Randalls/Albertsons Supermarkets. ((Please see store locator, here.)

Tyson® products are the key ingredient to recipes and recipe hacks that can be enjoyed any time of day during the busy holiday season. Multiple meals, multiple times to bring joy -- and these appetizers will definitely bring joy!

These gourmet appetizers take almost no time to make and only a few ingredients. For these glazed bacon-wrapped carrots, you need only 4 ingredients. Yes, that’s all: Jimmy Dean® Bacon, fresh baby carrots, maple syrup and chipotle pepper powder. This dish has every flavor you can expect, the sweetness of the carrots and the maple syrup blends well with the bacon, and the chipotle pepper gives a spicy note to it. Both my hubby and my friend’s family with whom I shared this dish told me it is just delicious and hard to stop with just one.

If guests are mushroom and bacon lovers, then you can impress them with these bacon wrapped stuffed mushrooms. You can use your favorite mushrooms, but make sure to buy bigger ones so there’s room for the filling. I went with button mushrooms. Fill each mushroom with cream cheese, green onion and pepper. Finally wrap each mushroom with a slice of Jimmy Dean® Bacon. To make it stay in place, insert a toothpick through each one. Roast and enjoy. The earthiness of the mushroom with tangy cream cheese and green onions goes well with the Jimmy Dean® bacon. Every bite is full of flavor. If you are using smaller mushroom, cut bacon into half.

Make sure to add these delicious Jimmy Dean® Bacon wrapped dishes to your holiday party menu. After all, bacon makes everything better. Happy cooking and serving during the happiest time of the year and make memories.

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5 from 2 votes

Maple chipotle Glazed Bacon wrapped Carrots and Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Mushroom: Two Easy appetizers

Jimmy Dean® Bacon-wrapped roasted carrots glazed in sweet and spicy chipotle maple syrup is a great appetizer for any meal!
Jimmy Dean® Bacon-wrapped around earthy mushroom and stuffed with a tangy cream cheese filling   
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • Maple & Chipotle Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Roasted Carrots
  • ● 2 pounds carrots well-scrubbed or peeled
  • ● 1-pound Jimmy Dean® Bacon I used Premium Hickory Smoked Bacon
  • ● ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ● ¼ teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
  • Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Mushroom
  • ● 15 button mushrooms
  • ● 15 slices of Jimmy Dean® Bacon
  • ● 8 oz. cream cheese softened
  • ● ½ teaspoon pepper
  • ● ¼ cup green onion finally chopped

Instructions

  • Maple & Chipotle Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Roasted Carrots
  • Pre-heat oven to 400F/200C
  • Wrap the carrots in the bacon.
  • Arrange on a baking sheet and roast in a preheated oven until the bacon is crispy and the carrots are tender, about 20 minutes, glazing with the maple syrup half way through and roast once again for another 5-10 minutes.
  • Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Mushroom
  • Pre-heat oven to 400F/ 200C . Line baking sheet with aluminum foil.
  • Clean the mushrooms and remove the cap and set aside.
  • Make filling by mixing cream cheese, pepper and green onion and set aside.
  • Fill the mushroom with filling.
  • Wrap each mushroom with bacon slice and secure with a toothpick. Arrange the mushrooms on a medium baking sheet.
  • Bake approximately 15-18 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bacon is evenly brown. Serve hot.
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Christmas Tree Bread

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Delicious and easy to put together dinner rolls shaped as Christmas Tree Bread. Great dinner rolls of bite size great show stopper also.

 

For me Christmas always means baking bread and cookies, this year I couldn’t travel the world cuisine to make one traditional Christmas bread as time is running out now. So, for the time being I decided to stick with Christmas tree bread as my kiddos helped me making this bread. This is easy dinner rolls which can be show stopper on your Christmas party table.

This is my most trusted recipe which I adapted from King Arthur flour website. I have made my turkey bread with this. This is the Easy and soft dinner rolls that are also bite size. You can make this with store-bought pizza dough for which I can see the recipes everywhere. But trust me if you try this bread recipe you are not going to look at any other.


Even though it looks fancy, no extra effort is needed. Only time-consuming part is the making the small balls with dough, that you need to do it precisely as it requires weighing 36 balls of 22 grams each. Once it comes out the oven I brushed with melted butter, parmesan, minced garlic and fresh rosemary. You can play with your favorites here. But make sure to added minced garlic and rosemary as they make it more festive.


When I decided to make this Christmas tree, my daughter told me to add a star, and without it mama, Christmas tree will not look good. I too liked her idea, as my kids are the one decorating the Christmas tree at home. Now they started adding stockings, and Elf in the Shelf to make sure that they are in the good list so and get gifts from the Santa.


Yesterday my 5-year-old son came and asked me “Mama why you didn’t ask any gifts from Santa? I told him. I have everything, and I don’t need anything now. He was not happy with that answer. He told me you can ask something from Santa he will bring to you. Finally, I told him Santa only brings present to kids not the adults. I don’t know he satisfied with my answer, he just left the kitchen.

Coming back to recipe, give it try you will love it. This bread stays good at room temperature for 2-3 days.
Merry Christmas and Happy Baking.

Turkey bread

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5 from 41 votes

Christmas Tree Bread

Delicious and easy show stopper  Christmas tree bread for your Christmas dinner table.
Prep Time1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time18 minutes
Total Time1 hour 48 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Christmas bread recipes, Christmas Tree Bread
Servings: 12
Calories: 473kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 41/4 cups /595g King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons/7g instant yeast
  • 2 tablespoons/26g potato flour*
  • 3 tablespoons/23g nonfat dry milk
  • 2 tablespoons /27gsugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons/9g salt
  • 4 tablespoons /54g soft butter
  • ½ cup lukewarm water
  • ½ cup lukewarm milk Topping Egg wash If you want egg less do with 2 tablespoon melted butter
  • For Rosemary Garlic Parmesan butter
  • 2 tablespoon melted butter
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped

Instructions

  • Combine all the dough ingredients in a bowl of kitchen aid stand mixer attached with dough hook, to make soft, smooth dough.
  • Place the dough in a lightly greased container — an 8-cup measure works well here. Cover the container, and allow the dough to rise for 60 minutes, until it's just about doubled in bulk
  • Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly dusted work surface with all purpose flour.
  • Divide the dough into 22 g pieces makes about 36 dough pieces. For star you need 4 pieces of dough. For tree trunk also you need 4 pieces. Then rest of pieces arrange as tree, Staring from 1 in first row and increase one each stop at 7 dough balls.
  • In a baking sheet lined with parchment
  • Cover the pans, and allow the buns to rise till they're crowded against one another and quite puffy, about 30 minutes. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F. W
  • After an egg wash and bake them for 18 minutes, until they're golden brown on top and the edges of the center bun spring back lightly when you touch it. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the center bun should register at least 190°F.
  • In a small bowl mix all the ingredients for rosemary garlic Parmesan butter and set aside.
  • Once you remove the bread from the oven brush generously with For rosemary garlic Parmesan butter.
  • After a couple of minutes, turn them out of the pan onto a cooling rack.
  • Serve warm. Store leftovers well-wrapped, at room temperature. 10. Enjoy as much you want.

Video

Notes

*if you don’t have potato flour, use a mashed potato, then adjust amount of water accordingly.
This recipe is adapted from my own turkey shaped dinner rolls.

Nutrition

Calories: 473kcal | Carbohydrates: 84g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 45mg | Sodium: 159mg | Potassium: 132mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 303IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 48mg | Iron: 5mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Gifts That Are Thoughtful: Holiday Gifts ideas

· 2 Comments

This is a sponsored post, however  all opinion are mine. #SaveMoneyGiveBetter2017

The holidays are a joyous time of the year, when we all put aside our differences and focus on what’s truly important in life: Eating, fun and gifting. Houses smell of cookies! Get together with friends and family and sharing the memories. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Kids are waiting for their dream gift from the Santa. Adults show their love by gifting and sharing. You don’t need to stress out for what to give for friends and family. Walmart gift cards comes in handy. You can gift them cards which they will use for what they want. Also, if you add small little presents you can deck up along with gift cards which you can get it in Walmart too.


If your friend or a family member is a busy mom she would love you if you gave her Domino’s pizza gift card with cookie mix and small whisk. Yes, kids love pizza and cookies. My kids love chocolate chip cookies, so I love to gift my best chocolate chip cookie mix also.You can also get pre-made cookie mix from Walmart.


You can also give a Spa week gift card with some bath soap and essential oils who are busy entire 12 months of year want some occasional treats like her/his favorite spa.
If you have a movie lover family and friends, then try to gift them Regal cinema gift card or Fandango gift card with some microwave popcorn and popcorn bucket.
You may want gift a family or friend who love to go out eat or not a like to cook everyday then try to gift them Red Robin or Cracker Barrel gift cards . They will thank you for the thoughtful gifts.
Music lovers then gift them with Apple iTunes and Google play gift cards.


If you are not sure of their taste, then try to get them with Vanilla Master Card Gift card. So, they can buy their own choices. Make sure to wrap it in cute little box with a personal note, that written note expressing the feeling which make them happy that you think about them during the happiest month of year. Gift them hot cocoa mix or mug or candies.


Best part is that all these gift cards can be selected from local Walmart which is displayed near the entrance also you can decide even last minute. Enjoy Gifting and sharing the love during wonderful periods of year.

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Roasted Spiced Brussels Sprouts and Cheesecake with White Chocolate Ganache and Sugared Cranberries

· 8 Comments

This post has been compensated by Tyson Foods. All opinions are mine alone. #TysonMadeWithLove

With Holidays around the corner, we moms get really busy. We have to start thinking about the menu to serve and the gifts we need to get for the kids. My kids have also started making their own lists. In this post, I am sharing a few ideas to make two easy savory dishes and a dessert in less time with help of @TysonFoods products, which you can get from your local Walmart.  I made roasted spiced Brussels sprouts with bacon and pecans, chipotle honey sauce to go with Tyson® Parmesan Herb Crusted Chicken Strips. For the dessert, I made a Sara Lee® Cheesecake topped with white chocolate ganache and studded with sugared cranberries.

My son is ardent fan of Tyson®  products, their chicken nuggets is a must for his school lunch.  He says no to other similar products. My friend says your son is brand specific. But hubby thinks it is taste which makes him to go for it. As a hostess of parties, we moms need some stress-free times during holidays. That means a few fancy, tasty, formal meals that can be made quickly without spending the whole day in kitchen. This is where Tyson® products come to help. If you are too busy to shop, then Walmart grocery pick up can help you too.  Best part is that just order fresh groceries online with same-day pickup, they even load it to your car.

Now the recipes: I made roasted spiced Brussels sprouts with bacon and pecans.  I used Wright® Brand bacon, Natural Hickory Smoked one, and toasted pecans, simple, just halve the Brussels sprouts and add spices and oil.

I used cumin, and cayenne pepper as they go well with Brussels sprouts in curries. With touch of balsamic vinegar, you will have an excellent side dish in no time.

Then, go ahead and make honey chipotle sauce to go with Tyson® Crispy Chicken Strips Parmesan Herb.

Again, you don’t need to worry about breading or frying the chicken strips. It already comes in packet and get ready in 20 minutes you can use oven or even microwave.

Finally, the dessert part gets Sara Lee® Classic Cheesecake, I topped with white chocolate ganache and studded with sugared cranberries. Your guest will go gaga over this gourmet looking dish.  You can present this proudly on the holiday dinner table without much extra work. You can even make this cheesecake with white chocolate ganache a day before to reduce the work on the holiday day.

Best part is that you made a delicious, simple tasty formal meals without much hassle with the help of Tyson® products. Share the love after all holidays are for meant for sharing and giving and spending more time with family.

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5 from 2 votes

Roasted Spiced Brussels Sprouts and Cheesecake with White Chocolate Ganache and Sugared Cranberries

Here is delicious and easy 3  dishes  you can put together in few minutes.  Great for brighten up you holiday get together.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Dessert, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6
Author: Swathi ( Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • For roasted spiced Brussels Sprouts with bacon
  • ½ pound Brussels sprouts washed and halved
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon cumin powder
  • ¼- ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 slices of Wright® Brand bacon Natural Hickory Smoked
  • 1 ½ tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tablespoon olive oil
  • ¼ cup pecans
  • For Honey chipotle sauce to go with Tyson® Crispy Chicken Strips Parmesan Herb
  • 7 with Tyson® Crispy Chicken Strips Parmesan Herb
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 2 tablespoon water
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon ground chipotle Chile pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon hot sauce
  • Cheesecake with white chocolate ganache Studded with sugared cranberries
  • 1 Sara Lee® Classic Cheesecake
  • 4 oz white chocolate
  • 3 tablespoon heavy cream
  • ⅓ cup sugared cranberries homemade
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest
  • 1 sprig of mint

Instructions

  • For roasted spiced Brussels Sprouts with bacon
  • Preheat oven to 350F and toast the pecans in baking sheet for 3-4 minutes or until it get toasted really well.
  • Increase oven temperature to 400°F. Lay the bacon strips out flat on the same foil-lined baking sheet, leaving space in between so they don't overlap. Roast for until bacon is crisp, 12 to 18 minutes, rotating half way (cooking time will depend on thickness of bacon). Transfer bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. When bacon is cool, finely chop.
  • In a large bowl add Brussels sprouts, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, cayenne pepper, cumin powder, salt, pepper and mix well.
  • Transfer to baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and add the Brussels sprouts mixture in a single layer. Roast, stirring midway through to promote even browning, until Brussels sprouts are tender and caramelized, about 20 minutes
  • Transfer to a bowl, and add chopped bacon pieces and toasted pecans and mix well and enjoy.
  • For Honey chipotle sauce to go with Tyson® Crispy Chicken Strips Parmesan Herb
  • Prepare with Tyson® Crispy Chicken Strips Parmesan Herb according to manufactures instructions.
  • In a small bowl add everything and mix until everything combined well and set aside. This sauce will enough for 6-7 Tyson® Crispy chicken strips. Increase or decrease the amount depending you are serving.
  • Cheesecake with white chocolate ganache Studded with sugared cranberries
  • In a microwave or double boiler make white chocolate ganache by melting white chocolate and heavy cream and mix well and set aside.
  • Transfer Sara Lee® Classic Cheesecake to a serving plate and add white chocolate ganache on the top.
  • Then arrange sugared cranberries on the top.
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Holiday Yeast Breads from Around the World from My Kitchen

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Are you a bread baker and love to eat homemade breads and yeasted goodies? Christmas is going to be here in only 13 days. I like to travel around the world through food and share the Christmas bread which I have tried in my kitchen.  The following recipes have been tried and tested in my kitchen. You will love it, and these are easy to put together. This Year I have not started my travel, it is most likely going to be Dutch Christmas or Russian Christmas bread.

Stollen : A Christmas bread Germany

This traditional bread originated in the German city of Dresden. Its oblong shape with a crease down the middle meant to represent a swaddled Christ Child (thus Christollen). The sweet dough is rich with candied fruits and when baked is rolled in confectioner’s sugar.

Julekake:Norwegian Christmas Bread

A sweet bread is very popular in Norway. Traditionally it is spiced with cardamom, filled and mixed candied fruits that give it the colors of the Christmas season. It can be lightly iced. I like it best toasted with butter.

Vanocka from Czech Republic and Slovakia

is a plaited bread, baked in Czech Republic and Slovakia  traditionally at Christmas time. Three braids are made and placed top of one another.

Joululimppu/ Finnish Christmas Bread

Finnish Christmas hearty bread made with rye flour and spices.

Swedish Limpa from Sweden

Another hearty rye bread from  Sweden which has hint of anise and spices.

 Mini panettone from Italy

his Italian Christmas bread was created in Milan. You need a special pan to bake the traditional loaf which is round and tall (sort of like a mushroom) and baked with raisins. Use of  Fiori di Sicilia  gives unique citrus flavor to the bread.

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Homemade Holiday Cookie Gifts

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This post has been compensated by @SCJohnson. All opinions are mine alone. #ZiplocHolidayUAI

Are you bakeaholic like me who loves to bake, cook and share? Holidays are the best time of year not only for kids who wait for Santa but also for a crazy baker like me who loves to create goodies in the kitchen. I have seen my mom cook homemade goodies a lot. Just like her, now I want to see the little smile come into the face of my two little ones when they see their favorite cookies, cakes or breads. Best buddy of my baking or cooking adventure is always Ziploc® Brand bags and containers, which I can get from Walmart.

Every day I use Ziploc® Brand bags for packing snacks and sandwiches for kids or for marinating tandoori paneer, chicken or shrimp. I like their holiday edition Ziploc® Brand Easy Open Tab storage quart family pack, 75 ct, with cute drawings of snowflakes, stars, Christmas trees, peppermint candies, candy canes, and cupcakes etc. My two kids haven’t got a chance to see real snow, as here in Houston you rarely get snow.

I love to crush my candies, nuts in Ziploc® Brand bags with a rolling pin for homemade cookies and quick breads; especially like that you can crush walnuts for our favorite banana bread. The best part is that you don’t need to worry about cleaning and you can get fine, medium or coarse, whichever level you want it.

I made simple sugar cookie dough and then cut it out into different shapes.

I have made royal icing on the homemade cookies earlier like this, this time I want to skip the royal icing part and try to decorate the cookies with chocolate and colored sugars, it will be easy and at the same time looks cute. Since I don’t want any plain sugar cookies, I dressed the cookies with chocolate and then sprinkled crushed pistachio and candy cane. Ziploc® Brand bags Easy Open Tab came to the rescue for me here.

One of my favorite things about these simple cookies is that I can make them several days in advance and freeze them, which makes them perfect for busy holidays also you don’t need any special artistic skills.

Pretty cookies make such special gifts, and are always welcome at holiday parties!

I packed the cookies in some Ziploc® Brand Easy Open Tab storage quart bags with a tag and some design papers to make them festive. You too can make ahead these cookies and pack it together with some extra care which will be excellent homemade gifts.

Happy Baking!

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5 from 4 votes

Homemade Holiday Cookie Gifts

Delicious and easy homemade holiday cookie gifts  you can serve with lots of love.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Servings: 35
Author: Swathi ( Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 36 Homemade sugar cookies
  • 8 oz Candquik candy coating chocolate
  • ¼ cup crushed pistachio
  • ¼ cup crushed peppermint candy cane
  • Edible colored sugars different colors
  • 2 teaspoon meringue powder *
  • 2 tablespoon water
  • Ziploc® Brand Easy Open Tab storage quart bags - Family Pack 75 count
  • *If you can’t find meringue powder use pasteurized egg whites.

Instructions

  • First, melt the vanilla and chocolate candy coating according to manufacturer's instruction and set aside.
  • Line the cookie sheet with parchment and set aside.
  • In a small bowl mix meringue powder in the water and set aside. If using egg whites then use that.
  • First, dip one end round sugar cookies with Chocolate candy coating and then add crushed pistachio and peppermint candy canes.
  • In the cut out sugar cookies paint the edges with meringue water/pasteurized egg whites. Then carefully sprinkle your favorite colored sugars.
  • When you are packing the cookies in Ziploc® Brand bags add cardboard 4 inch round in the base so that cookies will stay properly. Then arrange cookies close the bag and tie with ribbon and top with printed bag toppers I used holiday themed one. Fold them over a Ziploc® Brand bag, and use double sided tape to attach them to the top. If you have some gift tags attach in the middle. You got a easy and simple holiday gifts.
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Holiday Tea Sangria

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Holiday season is here, it is festive and happiest time of the year. Holidays are for food, family, fun, a warm fire, snowfall, scarves, presents, and parties. In this part of Texas, we rarely get a snowfall but the rest of the ingredients for a holiday season are present. If you are planning a holiday party, I have a festive and delicious drink for you and your family, the Holiday Tea Sangria, made with Milo’s Tea.

We are a family who loves to drink Tea and our day starts with a Tea and ends the day with tea and Milo’s Tea is a family favorite.   Also, when it comes to parties I like Sangria as it is one of my favorite drinks. I make this delicious Holiday Tea Sangria which is a non-alcoholic sangria. This mocktail is perfect for everybody including people who don’t drink.  You want to make every holiday get-together a memorable one with food and fun and create memories.

Do you know Milo’s Tea is freshly brewed, and features natural ingredients with no preservatives or added acids, Milo’s Tea is available sweetened with pure cane sugar, no calorie and unsweet options, as well as lemonade, and a tea and lemonade mix. Here is the little the history of Milo’ Tea. Milo’s Tea Company is a family owned, certified woman owned business located in Bessemer, AL.  Milo’s was founded as a restaurant in 1946 by Milo and Bea Carlton after Milo returned from serving his country in World War II.  Milo’s philosophy was simple – use high quality, fresh, natural ingredients, listen to the customers and never sacrifice taste.  In 1989, Milo’s began selling their fresh brewed Famous Sweet Tea to local Birmingham grocery stores and now Milo’s beverages can be found in thousands of retailers across the United States.

For making this delicious holiday drink you need to buy Milo’s tea. I used sweetened tea with pure cane sugar for the recipe. I found Milo’s at my local Walmart in the refrigerated juice and dairy section but they are available at lots of retailers. Find a store near you by using the store locator.

Once you bought the Milo’s tea then making this holiday tea sangria is very easy. You need chopped up apple, thin slices of lemon, lime, orange, fresh cranberries, freshly squeezed orange juice and pomegranate juice.  This is the best seasonal drink with tea, orange juice and pomegranate juice. Citrus and tea always goes hand in hand.  I didn’t add any extra sugar.

You can make this drink a day before the party and serve with your signature holiday recipes. Trust me your guests will going love this. Why don’t a start a new tradition of making this holiday tea sangria for this coming holiday get together.

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5 from 16 votes

Holiday Tea Sangria

Holiday Tea Sangria an easy and refreshing drink you can make for this holiday gathering. This seasonal sangria is  non-alcoholic  suited for every body.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Milo’s Tea I used sweetened tea with pure cane sugar
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 ½ cup pomegranate juice
  • 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 1 small orange sliced into thin rounds
  • 1 medium lemon sliced into thin rounds
  • 1 medium lime sliced into thin rounds
  • 1 medium apple cored and cut into ½-inch chunks
  • ¼ cup fresh cranberries
  • 2 cups carbonated water

Instructions

  • In a large jar or pitcher combine tea, cinnamon sticks, pomegranate juice, orange juice, orange, lemon, lime, apple and cranberries . Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and preferably overnight.
  • Just before serving, stir in carbonated water. Serve in individual glass with fruits and tea mix.
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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“This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Milo’s Tea Company, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #PassTheMilos http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV”

15 Homemade Christmas Cookies

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Here is delicious collection of 15 homemade christmas cookies easy to put together and excellent as homemade gift ideas.

Reindeer cookies made from scratch

Here is the 15 delicious Christmas cookies from my kitchen. They are easy to make and also very festive. If you are looking for easy treats for Christmas table here it is.

Some of the treat are traditional, but all are great as perfect homemade gifts. Please click the link corresponding to each picture. Every one have step by step pictures.

 


1) Orange Cranberry Cashew Cookies 

Delicious Orange Cranberry Cashew cookies made with Whole wheat flour, utilmate combo of orange and cranberries in cookie form

orange cranberry cookies
2) Dates mascarpone olive oil anise cookies

Delicious Dates Mascarpone Olive oil Anise cookies an egg free cookies naturally sweetned with dates and joined with mascarpone.

olive oil anise seed cookies with star shaped cut out

 

3) Linzer cookies

Delicious nutty Linzer cookies are a traditional sandwich cookie with strawberry jam with a tender texture and subtle nutty flavor.

Linzer cookies
4) Speculoos

Speculoos/Speculaas is spiced shortbread cookies made with aromatic spices  usually baked during Christmas in Netherlands, Belgium and in Germany.

speculoos spiced Christmas cookies
5) Mexican wedding cookies/ Snow ball cookies

Mexican Wedding cookies /snow ball cookies delicious nutty cookies that are rolled in powdered sugar. Traditionally made during christmas and weddings

Mexican wedding cookies made with almond meal
6)Snickerdoodles

Delicious classic  Christmas cookies with cinnamon and sugar 

Snickerdoodles cookies

7) Gingerbread Man and women and snow flakes

Easy Gingerbread cutout  cookies,  simple homemade gingerbread man , Gingerbread women and  Gingerbread snowflakes cookies are made with homemade dough  bursting with flavors

Gingerbread men and women cut out cookies
8) Gingersnaps

Delicous homemade gingersnaps cookies you can make with brown sugar, spices and molasses. Better than any storebought.

ginger snaps with sugary crust
9) Chocolate-snickerdoodles

Delicious cakey soft chocolate cookies goes well with glass of milk.

chocolate snickerdoodles

10) Eggnog Snickerdoodles

Delicious Alcohol free kids friendly Eggnog Snickerdoodles cookies made with cream of tartar and goes well with cup of milk.

Eggnog snickerdoodles cookies

12. Zimtstene: Cinnamon Star cookies

Zimtsterne: Cinnamon Star cookies a German Christmas cookies made with egg white and ground almond, delicious chewy crisp nutty cookies 

Zimtstene akka Cinnamon Star cookies

13. Santa Cookies

Easy holiday cookie decorations made with store bought Milano cookies  you can make it less effort and kid friendly. Great for you holiday table.

cute little santa cookies
14.  Reindeer cookies

Reindeer cookies, santa's helpers

15.  Chai spiced Shortbread cookies

chai shortbread cookies

If you tried this any of 15 homemade christmas cookies please tag me with picture I would love to check it out. 

Christmas cookiesCollage

Spiced Artichoke spinach cups

· 6 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and the Coca-Cola Company. All opinions are mine alone. #LetYourHolidaySparkle #CollectiveBias

I love bite sized appetizers when it comes to holiday gathering or for family get together. As Holidays are busiest times of the year, you need a quick and easy appetizer or snack for the party menu.  These Spiced artichoke spinach cups are a perfect appetizer. It will be hard for you stop at one cup. I made this appetizer to be served with smartwater sparkling.

smartwater sparkling  is not your average sparkling water, it is vapor distilled with electrolytes for taste. I found that it is the perfect beverage for entertaining.  You can buy smartwater sparkling from your local Randalls store. I like to shop at Randalls as they have great collection of produce and other items.

As holiday season is fast approaching I thought it would be great to share an easy, affordable and mouth-watering appetizer. For this recipe, if you prefer, you are welcome to use fresh spinach, I decide to take a shortcut route and used frozen spinach. It has the same flavor and value and is inexpensive; I also used canned artichoke hearts.  Both spinach and artichoke make a good combo when it combines with sour cream, cheeses.  Yes I used Italian blend cheese mix of mozzarella, parmesan, Provolone and Romano with extra parmesan and mozzarella. I spiced it with chipotle pepper and cumin powder as I know both works perfectly in curries. Also used store crescent dough.  After all you need an easy appetizer. Mix all the ingredients and place it in crescent dough and bake it voila and you get a great tasty appetizer in no time.

This spicy note in the bite size spiced artichoke spinach cups is perfectly matched with fizzy smartwater sparkling.  Spiced Artichoke spinach cups recipe  can be doubled or tripled depending upon your requirements, this recipe makes about 20 bite sized treats. Make sure to grab a bottle of smartwater sparkling (which comes in 1L and half L bottles) to go with it. Holidays are meant for sharing and giving, I think you all will agree.

Here comes the easy, quick appetizer and those too made in less than 25 minutes make sure to shop at Randalls store to get smartwater sparkling for your holiday party.

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5 from 4 votes

Spiced Artichoke spinach cups

Delicious, quick and easy bite sized  appetizer  for the coming holiday party,serve with smartwater sparkling it will be great.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Servings: 20
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 4 oz cream cheese
  • ¼ cup sour cream
  • ½ teaspoon chipotle pepper
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
  • ¾ cup Italian blend cheese
  • ¼ cup mozzarella cheese
  • 1 10 oz frozen spinach drained and thawed,
  • 1 can of artichoke hearts
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tube of crescent dough

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, chipotle pepper, ground cumin, cheeses, Parmesan, artichokes, spinach, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside.
  • Flour your work surface, roll out crescent dough, and pinch seams together. Cut into 20 squares. Place squares into muffin tin slots and spoon 1 tablespoon of filling into the dough. Then top with mozzarella.
  • Bake until pastry becomes golden in color and cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.
  • Enjoy and serve with smartwater sparkling
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Pumpkin orange cranberry bread

· 8 Comments

Delicious pumpkin orange cranberry bread.  Perfect fall themed quick bread. I used fresh berries and orange juice to  brings out maximum flavor.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers, friends and family. I finished my last day grocery shopping yesterday. I love the chaos at the grocery store in the final moment. You will think I am crazy, but I like it.  Before going shopping I made this delicious Pumpkin orange cranberry bread. This is ultimate combination. I used fresh cranberries. Even though I have frozen berries  in my hand.

Trust me this is one of the best desserts for your Thanksgiving table. My hubby wants a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner this time. And that means no chicken or turkey, I am going to make curries and desserts. Along this I am going to serve this pumpkin orange cranberry bread.  I think it is like life, with sweet always balance with tangy bitterness. Pumpkin and orange juice makes the sweet part along with sweetener. Then tangy red cranberries are like jewels.

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough”- Meister Eckhart.   I am thankful to my family, kids, friends and God.  This Thanksgiving please make sure to give thanks and that is superior gesture you can ever think off.

Coming back to recipe, I used canned pumpkin puree, fresh cranberries and fresh orange juice. Use fresh if possible. I think that adds great texture as well as taste to it. Also used pumpkin pie spice which homemade.  I didn’t add any vanilla extract as I don’t want any flavor other than pumpkin, cranberry and orange. If you want you can add it. This is delicious by its own, you don’t need any glaze and I think that makes it sweeter. This recipe makes a whole loaf you can double or triple depending upon your requirements.

This is a perfect fall themed quick bread, you can mix everything in a single bowl and bake it and enjoy. It is great for breakfast or desserts.  I didn’t add any whole wheat flour and if you want you can try that, may be ¾ cup will work. This is great for last minute dessert idea. You can serve this with scoop of ice cream if you want.   It is Thanksgiving, so give thanks and enjoy the feast.

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5 from 36 votes

Pumpkin orange cranberry bread

Delicious pumpkin orange cranberry bread. Great addition to your  Thanksgiving table. Perfect fall themed quick bread. I used fresh berries and orange juice to  brings out maximum flavor.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Pumpkin cranberry orange bread
Servings: 9 serving
Calories: 296kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 ¾ cup + 2 tablespoon all purpose flour
  • 1 ½ cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • ¾ cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup fresh cranberries chopped into halves
  • ¼ cup + 2 tablespoon orange juice
  • Zest of one orange
  • ¼ cup canola oil

Instructions

  • Pre heat oven to 350F Line 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
  • In a bowl add 1 ¾ cup flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and mix well.
  • In a bowl add egg and oil and lightly beat well.
  • In a bowl add halved cranberries and 2 tablespoon flour and mix well. This will prevent the cranberries from sinking down while baking.
  • To this add sugar, pumpkin puree, egg and oil mixture to flour mixture and combine well.
  • Finally fold in cranberries and transfer to prepared baking pan. Bake it at 350F for about 50 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean.
  • Slice them only when it is completely cooled.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 296kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 260mg | Potassium: 120mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 3224IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Spiced Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

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Here is the delicious spiced pumpkin dinner rolls, great for your Thanksgiving dinner table. Also perfect with any dish or just slather some butter and enjoy.

Spiced Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. While you are setting your menu for the most anticipated feast try this simple spiced pumpkin dinner rolls. They are perfect, soft and pillowy with a hint of spices in the background. Spices are my weakness, and any chance I get, I will incorporate it.

Spiced Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

This recipe is combination of recipes from “Better Home and Gardens magazine” and King Arthur flour website and my own touch to it. I made 12 large rolls which are perfect for breakfast or dinner. If you do not want large rolls, then you can make it into 15 rolls. If you want you can make it in skillet or baking tray. I like to see them as individual rounds so made it this way.

Spiced Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
According to Marcus Tullius Cicero “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others”. This Thanksgiving make sure to give thanks to somebody who has touched your life. First I am thankful to God, then my family and my friends.

Coming back to the recipe, dinner rolls with pumpkin is ultimate treat of this season. If you are planning the thanksgiving feast, make dinner rolls ahead. This one goes well with turkey and any other sides. Spices in the pumpkin dinner rolls are quite unique it has pumpkin pie spice, ground coriander and cayenne pepper. Best part is they are not overpowering and goes well with subtle pumpkin in the background. I added an egg to make really soft, if you want eggless skip that and increase amount of milk.

I love to add eggs as it adds protein to the dough and helps to increase in size and make it moist and soft. Fresh dinner rolls also tastes good if you slather with some butter. My kids and my friend’s 5 year old son loved it.
For this Thanksgiving try to make this dinner rolls and give me feedback, I am sure you will love them. Whether you are hosting a party or visiting friends and family, do not forget to take some rolls with you, your hostess will thank you. After all this is the season of gratitude share it from the bottom of your heart.

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5 from 56 votes

Spiced Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Here is the delicious spiced pumpkin dinner rolls, great for your Thanksgiving dinner table. Also perfect with any dish or just slather some butter and enjoy.
Prep Time2 hours
Cook Time18 minutes
Total Time2 hours 18 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: #dinnerrolls, #pumpkin
Servings: 12
Calories: 177kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 4 cups /520g all-purpose flour
  • 2 ¼ teaspoon or 7g instant yeast
  • ½ cup / 108g warm milk 120 degrees F to 130 degrees F
  • ¾ cup/187g canned pumpkin
  • ¼ cup/57g butter melted
  • ¼ cup/46g packed brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons/10g salt
  • 2 large egg
  • 2 teaspoon/3g pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • White and/or black sesame seeds

Instructions

  • In a small bowl, combine milk and yeast and set aside.
  • In the kitchen aid stand mixer bowl combine rest of the dough ingredients in a mixer and knead to make a soft, smooth dough.
  • Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, and allow it to rise for 60 to 75 minutes, until it's puffy though not necessarily doubled in bulk.
  • Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface.
  • Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, and make it into smooth balls.
  • Place it in baking sheet lined with parchment paper and set aside for another 30 minutes or until they puff up little bit.
  • Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
  • Do an egg wash and sprinkle white sesame seeds and bake it for about 18 minutes or until they becomes golden brown. A digital thermometer inserted into the middle of a center roll should register at least 190°F.
  • Remove the rolls from the oven, and brush with melted butter, if desired. After a couple of minutes, turn the rolls out of the pan onto a cooling rack.
  • Serve warm. Store completely cooled rolls, well-wrapped, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 177kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 82mg | Potassium: 90mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 83IU | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Spicy Pasta cups

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #KingOfFlavor #FieldToBottle #CollectiveBias

Every weekend it is a routine to watch Football game in our house, and I like to serve snacks watching the game. This time I made this spicy pasta cups which is delicious with lot of flavor and made from scratch. Best part is that you don’t need to worry about serving size. Spicy touch was given by El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero. This spicy pasta cups are simple, cheesy, spicy and creamy and are the perfect snack for your next tailgating party or home gating.

I like to give spicy touch to everything, and you can increase or decrease the spice depending upon your level of handling the heat. My habit of using hot sauce in my dishes started during my stay in Japan. I needed to spice up dishes when I went to the restaurant. After coming to USA I started using El Yucateco® brand sauces as they don’t have any Artificial Color. Do you know El Yucateco® is the #1 consumer choice? Best part is that you can carry it wherever you go, yes mini bottles are so convenient, they can take it camping, to a friend’s BBQ or to your favorite restaurant, the options are endless. El Yucateco®'s ingredients come from Field to Bottle. It includes no artificial colors, but the same great taste that makes it the King of Flavor since 1968. If you are football fan and like to tailgate before the games then here is amazing opportunity to win Ultimate tail gating package from El Yucateco®. Check here to enter.

#KingofFlavor #Sweepstakes (11/14 to 12/19)

You can make this recipe in muffin tins if you want. I made it in ramekin. First, I grabbed all ingredients from HEB my favorite grocery store which is a mile from my house. I bought El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero and El Yucateco® Black Label Reserve along penne pasta, pasta sauce and cheese.


Cook pasta according to manufacture instruction. Then drain and add pasta sauce and add El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero sauce; I used 2 tablespoons for 3 cups of pasta, you can adjust the pasta level to adjust your heat level. This is perfect with heat touch on the background. I used Italian blend cheese mix of mozzarella, parmesan, Provolone and Romano and bread crumbs to give some crunch.


Thus this spicy pasta cups has lot of flavors in bites, heat in background with El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero, cheesy, creamy ending note with light crunch. I am going to make a spicy cocktail drink with El Yucateco® Black Label Reserve will share with you soon. Make sure to check out more exciting recipes and other exciting news from El Yucateco here.


In the mean time enjoy your game whether you are tailgating or home gating or even for a get together on cozy winter day with this spicy pasta cups and your favorite drink. Happy cooking and sharing with friends and family.

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5 from 2 votes

Spicy Pasta Cups

This spicy pasta cups are simple, cheesy, spicy and creamy and are the perfect snack for your next tailgating party or home gating
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 serving
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 6 oz/3 cups penne pasta
  • 1 cup pasta sauce use your favorite
  • 2 tablespoon El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero
  • 4 oz/ 1cup grated Italian blend cheese
  • ½ cup red bell pepper chopped into cubes
  • 2 tablespoon bread crumbs
  • Butter for greasing

Instructions

  • Cook pasta according to the directions on the package and set it aside.
  • Preheat the oven to 375F.
  • In a bowl add cooked pasta, pasta sauce, red bell pepper, 2 tablespoon of El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero and ½ cup cheese and mix well.
  • Grease ramekins with butter and Scoop about ½ cup pasta mix.
  • Add rest of the cheese on top then sprinkle bread crumbs and bake for 25-30 minutes until cheese melts.
  • Enjoy.
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Easy Sugar cookie dough

· 2 Comments

Easy sugar cookie dough made from scratch using 8 ingredients. Great for any cut out sugar cookies of any shape and size.

Thanksgiving and holidays are coming; these are the most important days of my calendar. Kids love to make cookies and decorate for Santa so that he won’t forget them and give them the presents they want. For me it is the time of the year when I can try out my Christmas breads, cookies etc. Earlier I made Gingerbread cookies from the scratch so this time I want to decorate sugar cookies, so made this easy sugar cookie dough.

This recipe is from the Alton brown show in the Food Network. As usual I changed the recipe, adding vanilla extract to it. I thought it was bland without it, if you want you can add little almond extract too. I will do that next time. These are pretty easy cookie to make, mix and make the dough first and the refrigerate it. I did everything in the morning and refrigerated it, and in the afternoon after school, I started making cut out as my two kids love to help me to choose their favorite cookie cutters.


Do you know that the modern day sugar cookie that we have in the U.S can be traced all the way back to the 1700s to a group of German Protestant settlers in the colony of Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

They made this with minimal ingredients, from that day onward' s sugar cookies become instant hit to kids and now during Christmas and other holidays you can see various fun and beautiful shaped sugar cookies.


While growing up I only saw cakes being made for Christmas, but not the cookies. Because of my kids I started a tradition of making cookies at home. They have already started talking to Santa about the gifts what they want.

Do you know I am also excited to watch Santa’s journey route from North Pole.

This is one of the best sugar cookies without eggy taste. I find the eggy taste store bought version it (maybe it is my taste buds). Since cookie is less sweetened it can hold your favorite icing dress up. Give it a try and I am sure you will like it.

 

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5 from 2 votes

Easy Sugar cookie dough

Easy and perfect sugar cookie dough, you can make ahead and get ready for stress free holiday season.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time2 hours 50 minutes
Total Time3 hours
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cookie dough
Servings: 36 cookies
Calories: 107kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 3 cups 390g all-purpose flour
  • ¾ 4g teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1 cup 200g sugar
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Powdered sugar for rolling out dough

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, sift, flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
  • Add butter and sugar in electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. To this add egg and milk until every thing gets combine very well.
  • Gradually add flour and mix until the dough pull from the sides of the bowl. Divide the dough into half, wrap in Ziploc bag/ waxed paper and refrigerate for 2 hours.
  • When you are ready to bake Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, line the baking sheet with a parchment paper.
  • Sprinkle the surface with powdered sugar and roll the dough into ¼ inch thick and move the dough around check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. Cut the desired shape and chill the dough for 15 minutes and bake at 375 F for 7-8 minutes or until cookies just turn brown around the edges. You can ice the cookies once it is completely cool down. You can store cookies in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 107kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 21mg | Potassium: 15mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 165IU | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

 

Chewy Chocolate chip cookies

· 48 Comments

Delicious chewy chocolate chips cookies your kid chef can make it. Simple and easy recipe needs little preparation reward is worth the wait.

One cookie my kids won’t get tired is the chocolate chip cookies, they like chewy, hard you name it. I always try to make it in different versions. Even when I add some chocolate chips to any cookie recipe they are happy.  This one is the newest one  Chewy chocolate chip cookies tried   from the book Kid Chef Bakes: The Kids Cookbook for Aspiring Bakers by Lisa Huff.

Author of book Lisa is also a food blogger and she sent me a copy to review. My kids love to help with cookie baking and they helped with cracking the eggs, measuring the flour and mixing. Both extend their hand to help me to bake the cookies and also helped me in photographing it.

 

First part of book includes elaborate description of  kitchen rules, bakers pantry,  appliance, using stove,  basics, terminology, skills  for example how to handle yeast .

Part two includes recipes of muffins, cakes, bread, cookies, savory bakes etc.

Chapter 3 includes muffins and breads which comprises of the recipes of muffins, scones, muffins tops, monkey bread bites, homemade mini cheese bagels, honey oats bread and yogurt banana bread which I tried myself it turned out delicious.

Chapter 4 includes cakes and cupcakes which includes 14 recipes there few interesting recipes like grasshopper cake stacks, upside-down apple cupcakes, coconut explosion cupcakes.

5th chapter includes cookies and bars with 15 recipes, I tried Thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies from this section.  Oat pear bras, white chocolate bloodies, strawberry cheesecake bars are in my do list.

Chapter 6 includes pies, tarts and pastries with 20 recipes, Baked peach hand pie, Old –fashioned strawberry pie, double-crust blueberry pies, caramel apple streusel pies are few , There is maple pear crisp , crostatas ( mini blueberry  peach crostatas)  cranberry clafoutis also there. 7th chapter is about savory baked goods. Which has breakfast strata, parmesan garlic knots, pesto straws etc.

Each recipe comes with helpful hint, troubleshooting tips, and tries instead. Most of the recipes comes with final pictures. Recipes are clearly written, making it easily understandable for future chefs.  I think if a kid chef tries all the recipes in the book she or he can master the techniques quite a bit. And can continue the passion of baking.  There is even some menu for Father’s Day and Mother’s Day with which they can surprise their parents. On the whole it is worth buying

Both me and my kids tried a few recipes from the book and it turned out be delicious. Only change we did is the substituted with bigger chocolate chips as we don’t have mini chocolate chips in our hand and made only half the recipe. If you want you can double the recipe and two extra egg yolks. Here comes the recipe.

If you like this chocolate chips cookies check these too !!!

Coconut chocolate chip cookies 

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5 from 13 votes

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here is delicious Chewy chocolate chip cookies which kids can bake it.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Cookies recipes, Green chocolate Chip Cookies
Servings: 15 cookies0
Calories: 167kcal
Author: Swathi ( Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cup + 2.5 tablespoon 220g all purpose flour
  • ½ tablespoon 4g corn starch
  • ½ teaspoon 2g baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon 3g baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon 3g salt
  • ½ cup 1 stick melted butter
  • ½ cup 100g brown sugar
  • ½ cup 100g granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg *
  • ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 6 ounce chocolate chips

Instructions

  • In large bowl mix flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  • In another bowl beat melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar until it is blended. Then add egg and vanilla once again well blended.
  • To this add flour mixtures and mix well finally folds in chocolate chips.
  • Refrigerate dough into (2-3 tablespoon) balls on a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
  • When you are ready to bake pre-heat oven at 325 F and bake for 14-15 minutes. Make sure rotate the pan in half way through. Also slightly press the cookie dough to make it uniform round. Once baked remove from the pan and cool completely in a wiring rack and enjoy

Video

Notes

*original recipe asked for ½ of whole egg and 1 egg yolks (To prevent handling difficulty I substituted one whole large egg).
 
This recipe is adapted from
Kid Chef Bakes: The Kids Cookbook for Aspiring Bakers by Lisa Huff.

Nutrition

Calories: 167kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 213mg | Potassium: 32mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 287IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Disclosure "I received this book from the Author for this review, however all opinion are mine".

Blackberry lemonade Eye ball Punch and Transylvania Punch : Kids friendly

· 1 Comment

Here is the delicious kids friendly  two Halloween punch, Blackberry Lemonade  eye ball punch and Transylvania punch easy to make with few ingridents. 

Today is Halloween, most awaited festival for my kids, after this they love Christmas as Santa comes and give presents to them.  They love to dress up for the Halloween and excited to go to trick-or-treat. When they come back tired after trick-or-treat (just kidding) I like to serve them with this delicious blackberry lemonade eye ball punch and Transylvania punch. If you are hosting a kid friendly Halloween party this is a perfect drink.

Today I did a last minute candy shopping at Walmart, as I kept it until last minute as keeping candy in my home for long time is not a wise idea, while walking to the store, I met a lady and after saying hi to her, I told her I am in search of candy shopping. She told me she didn’t buy any candy, as she will take her kids to trick-or-treat and once they comes back she will switch off the light and no more candy serving. I thought she is genius, and then I told this to my hubby, he told me if everybody thinks like that then there will be no candy for any trick-or-treater.

These two drinks are easy to make and takes no extra work. First make a puree of black berry with lemon juice and then add sprite and eye balls made with lychee and blueberry or lychee and maraschino cherry.  For Transylvania punch first make cherry gelatin and scoop it into your favorite lemon soda. Kids are happy and you don’t need to work hard.  I didn’t add any extra sugar as it already has enough sweet from the soda and gelatin.

Halloween means something spooky.  My kids like the movie Hotel Transylvania, so I decided to try the drink in its name. Kids will love this drink as it has their favorite soda and cheery jelly.

I already made an adult drink. This time I didn’t enough time to make treats, planned lot but nothing turned to work it out.

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Blackberry lemonade Eye ball Punch and Transylvania Punch : Kids friendly

Here is two delicious kids friendly Halloween themed drink you  can whip it up  with in few minutes. Your cute  little super hero, princess and spooky ghost will like it.  If you want to make it adult drink add some booze.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • For blackberry lemonade eye ball punch
  • 1 cup black berries
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • Lemon-lime soda/sprite chilled
  • 7 lychee Lychee in light sugar syrup
  • 4 blueberries
  • 3 maraschino cherries
  • For Transylvania punch
  • Cherry jelly made according to manufactures instructions
  • Lime-lemon soda/sprite chilled

Instructions

  • First make blackberry puree with blackberries and lemon juice and strain for the seeds and set aside.
  • To this add your favorite chilled soda, mix well and enjoy
  • Take lychee and press blueberries and maraschino cherries for blue and red eye balls. Serve it in a glass with few eye balls. Enjoy
  • For Transylvania punch
  • In glass add chilled soda and few scoops of cherry jelly. Enjoy.

Notes

To make it adult drink add  vodka or rum.
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Other Kids friendly Halloween recipes are 

Halloween Cupcakes 

Owl cookies 

Halloween sprinke  cookies 

Mr. Hitchcock’s Rum punch

· 14 Comments


Halloween is around the corner, and my kids are so much excited to dress up and go for trick-o-treat. I am planning to make Boo-biscotti for them.  It is another Friday so for us adults I made this Mr. Hitchcock’s Rum punch.

My daughter wants to be Bella, where as son want to be Kylo Ren. He is a Star Wars fan.  Both of them got their costumes already and their accessories too. I need to get some candies for them as well as for trick-o treater’s.

 

I got this recipe from a magazine while waiting in my dentist’s office. Yes, doctor’s office wait are most notorious ones with my two kids running around and my hubby who like to look at his favorite National geographic magazine, I want to be strict mom telling them to not run around. But 75% of the time my order goes in vain.  As doctor starts calling one by one of our family I got some time to flip the magazine and found this recipe. As usual I adjusted the ingredients based on my pantry, and made changes to get this delicious drink.

For me Hitchcock’s movies are best horror movies, which keep you on the hook. My hubby is a fan of horror movies, he watches mainly this genre compared to any other ones. I thought if Mr. Hitchcock’s movies are good then the rum punch in his name can’t be bad. I decide to try my hand on it. I also tried to make it a fruit based alcoholic drink. If you follow this blog you will know I am fruity booze fan.

This is a simple drink made with orange juice, pineapple juice, white rum, almond liqueur and orange liqueur.  I made it with fresh juices I had in my hand, or you can use store bought juices. Even with fresh juice I found it sweet. If you are hosting Halloween party try to make this; your guests will enjoy this drink with spookiness in its name but sweetness in its taste.

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5 from 6 votes

Mr. Hitchcock’s Rum punch

Delicious fruity boozy drink with spookiness in its name and sweetness in its taste.Great for Halloween parties
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Servings: 1
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup pineapple juice chilled I used fresh juice
  • ¼ cup orange juice chilled I used fresh juice
  • 1 ½ ounces of Plantation rum
  • 1 ounce almond liqueur
  • 1 ounce Triple sec/ orange liqueur
  • Splash orange bitters
  • Splash of grenadine
  • Garnish: orange peel

Instructions

  • Fill a cocktail shaker with rum, liqueurs’, pineapple juice, orange, juice, bitters. Shake vigorously and strain it into a chilled glass with ice and add splash of grenadine and garnish with orange peel.
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Browned butter mushroom soup

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Here weather is getting cold, but only slightly chilly only during morning and night times. Still it is October here in Texas, and not as cold as it would normally be. When weather becomes cold I like to have a bowl of warm soup.  I made this browned butter mushroom soup on one of these cold mornings.  I had made cream of mushroom soup earlier and that is my on the  go recipe when comes to mushroom soup.

This recipe is from the book “The Everyday Ketogenic Kitchen With More than 150 Inspirational Low-Carb, High-Fat Recipes to Maximize Your Health” by Carolyn Ketchum and she sent me a copy for review.

I haven’t tried grain free diet or meal yet so curious enough to do review of her book.   After introduction about ingredients, equipment and tips and tricks she mentions about 7-day ketogenic diet plan including info on exercise.

Recipes are from Chapter 5 which is about Basics which includes how to make broth, seasoning, dips, dressing, magic mozzarella dough and sunflower seed flour.

Chapter 6 is about breakfast with chorizo gravy, baked Denver omelet, salmon cauliflower has, coconut flour pancakes, chocolate crepes are few.

Breads, muffins, and scones recipes are in chapter 7 which includes, focaccia, pesto twists, cinnamon rolls, chocolate pecan pie muffins, cedar zucchini drop scones are in the list.

Chapter 8 includes, appetizers, snacks and beverages with 16 recipes and green tea frappe sounds interesting.

9th chapter is about soups and salad; with 6 soups and 7 salad recipes I tried browned butter mushroom soup from it. As I have button mushroom in my hand. If you are meat lover, then chapter 10 is for you with beef, pork and lamb recipes.

Chapter 11 is about chicken and eggs with 9 recipes, Brie and mushroom quiche got my attention I am going to try it. Fish and seafood becomes chapter 12, I am looking forward to try few recipes from there.

Chapter 13 has good collection of side dishes with almost 15 recipes. Last chapter is about desserts and sweet treats.

If you are looking to start a ketogenic diet, I say this is a good book with easy recipes you can start , even if you already in ketogenic diet, you can try this recipe for change from your usual routine. Buy the book it is worth it.

About the browned butter mushroom soup, I found it very simple and easy to put together. I used vegetable broth, you can use your own favorite one. I didn’t have fresh thyme in hand for garnish, I used scallions which is my favorite otherwise I followed the recipe and it turned out delicious.

Here comes mushroom soup recipe.

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5 from 2 votes

Browned butter mushroom soup

Delicious browned butter mushroom soup made with simple ingredients
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 4
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 6 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
  • 1 pound button mushrooms
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 cups vegetable broth homemade
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • Fresh scallions for garnish

Instructions

  • In a large sauce pan add butter and heat in medium heat, cook the butter until it turns deep amber color about 3-4 minutes, Then add sage and cook for 1 minute.
  • To this add mushrooms, salt and pepper and stir to coat everything. Sauté until mushrooms are tender and golden brown about 5 minutes.
  • Then add vegetable broth and bring to simmer. Reduce the flame and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Once it is slightly cooled transfer to food processor and puree until smooth.
  • Bring the soup to the pot and stir in with cream. Serve warm , garnish with scallions.
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Khoya Badam Burfi: Dried Milk and Almond Fudge

· 15 Comments

Khoya Badam Burfi/ Dried Milk and Almond Fudge delicious milk and almond based gluten free fudge, an traditional Indian sweet.

This year's Diwali/Deepavali come and gone yes it is on October 18th,the festival of lights, celebrated all over India for the victory of Lord Rama over the demon king Ravana.  Nowadays I am lazy when comes to Indian sweets making. Still for Diwali my inner conscience woke up and I decided to make the treats.

If you are India, you can buy the sweets from the shop and make some which are not available in the store. But here in US, the Indian store is almost a 1 hour drive and going to that store is not easy. If I need sweets for Diwali I need to make it on my own. That is what I did. This Khoya badam burfi: Dried Milk and almond fudge is a easy dish you can think of.

During my last Indian store visit I bought Khoya (dried whole milk), if you make it at home it will be cheaper but I don’t have the patience to make it. Instead of soaking peeling and grinding almond into almond paste,

I used my store-bought almond meal.  If you have khoya, almond meal, sugar, milk and little ghee this yummy Khoya badam burfi is ready to be made. My hubby told me it is addictive.

When it comes to traditional recipes, I don’t worry about healthy part by changing with healthy flour or reducing fat or sugar. For me make it the way it is supposed to be but make less of it.

For this Diwali I made Khoya badam burfi, Kerala Mixture, kara sev, fafada , boondhi, and Ukkarai. Without Ukkarai Diwali is not Diwali for me.  One thing you need to make sure is that to cook in a slow flame. If possible on gas stove at point 1.  Then only it can retain the white color and make sure to stir continuously

If you need to take a break ask somebody to stir, otherwise it will get burned and you can see burned bits at the bottom. My khoya badam burfi recipe is modified version of 2-3 recipes.

I increased the amount of almond than most of the recipes.  If you are able to get hold of almond meal and khoya, you can make this delicious treat within 30 - 45 minutes.

Here comes my delicious addictive, Khoya Badam burfi.

 

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5 from 5 votes

Khoya Badam Burfi: Dried Milk and Almond Fudge

Khoya Badam Burfi/ Dried Milk and Almond Fudge delicious milk and almond based gluten free fudge, an traditional Indian sweet.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: Almond fudge, burfi recipes
Servings: 20 pieces
Calories: 140kcal
Author: Swathi( Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • ½ cup + 3 tablespoon 70g Almond meal
  • 2 cups 250 g khoya/mawa/khawa
  • 1 teaspoon ghee
  • ¾ cup 150g sugar
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 5-6 pods of green cardamom
  • Almond or pistachio nuts for garnishing

Instructions

  • In a skillet add almond meal and slightly roast at slow flame (gas stove 1) for 5 minutes and set aside.
  • Process the khoya in a food processor until it has completely crumbled.
  • In the same skillet add ghee and add khoya roast until it starts to soften, do not let it get brown. Then add sugar, almond meal and stir for few times and then add milk and continue to cook until the mixture starts to thickens and leaves from the pan.
  • Transfer to greased plate ( it will be better if it lined with parchment paper)   and flatten with spatula into single layer then top with nuts Let it set and then chill it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours till it gets firm. Cut it into shapes of your choice and remove from the pan.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 140kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 65mg | Potassium: 10mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 113IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 173mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Caramel apple pie latte

· 16 Comments

Delicious caramel apple pie latte you make at the comfort home with espresso shots, apple juice, spices and coffee creamer

Apple Pie Latte without frosting

Caramel and apple goes hand in hand. For me fall starts with cooking with apple and pumpkin.  Since coffee is a weakness for me and also my best friend to start my day. I like to try seasonal favorite coffees. I tried pumpkin latte earlier, so this time I want a caramel apple pie latte that too with your favorite coffee creamer, I have used  International Delight® One Touch Latte'™ to explore my horizons into the area of apple pie.

 

Do you know, new International Delight® One Touch Latte'™ is first-ever frothing creamer! Just point and press to transform your home-brewed coffee into a coffeehouse-style latte in seconds. Now you can start every morning with a creamy, flavorful latte in comfort of home, and is also available in Vanilla, Caramel and Mocha. You can grab this, new One Touch Latte'™ from International Delight® from your local Walmart store.  You will be able to get about 7 uses out of one can, and that is wonderful.   Look for a demo event at a Walmart near you on November 11-12!

Here is Texas Fall means no color changes; some of the trees do shed their leaves gradually over a period of time.  Coming to caramel apple pie latte, you can get everything you love about apple pie in a cup of warm, comforting latte. Yes, I made with double espresso shots, but you can also make it with ⅔ cup of freshly brewed coffee, International Delight® One Touch Latte'™ caramel, apple juice, cinnamon and nutmeg.  I also bought Vanilla flavor and I am going to make new latte in continuation of my latte expedition.

You can use your favorite apple juice.  I made espresso shots with instant espresso powder. You need about 14-18 g of espresso powder in a double shot of espresso. I didn’t make syrup, only boiled apple juice and spices slightly to make it lightly thickened. This is an easy and delicious way to make caramel apple pie latte.

This beverage is perfect for enjoying any time of day.  Only make sure to keep International Delight® One Touch Latte'™ in your refrigerator. If you love pumpkin spice lattes, you've got to try this caramel apple pie latte version! By the way an apple is always good for you.

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5 from 2 votes

Caramel apple pie latte

Delicious caramel apple pie latte you make at the comfort home with espresso shots, apple juice, spices and coffee creamer
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: apple pie latte
Servings: 1
Calories: 29kcal
Author: Swathi ( Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 2 Shot of Espresso *
  • 2 oz of apple juice
  • ⅛ teaspoon Cinnamon
  • ⅛ teaspoon Nutmeg
  • Coffee creamer I used International Delight® One Touch Latte'™ caramel flavor

Instructions

  • *If you don’t have espresso shots use ⅔ cup coffee.
  • In a small sauce pan heat apple juice with cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well and set aside.
  • In a glass add 2 shots of espresso( or coffee if using) then add 2 ounce of apple juice with spices and then add coffee creamer. I used International Delight® One Touch Latte'™ caramel flavor
  • Enjoy warm.

Notes

Ingredients
Espresso shots
apple juice with spices
then add your favorite coffee cremer or International Delight® One Touch Latte'™ caramel flavor 

Nutrition

Calories: 29kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 57mg | Sugar: 6g
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

 

 

25 Traditional Indian Sweets Recipes

· 3 Comments

Deepavali/Diwali without sweets is hard to imagine, here is collection of sweets recipes from my kitchen. You can find one which requires some preparation like Boondhi ladoo, Boli and some with less than 30 minutes preparation. You will also find your childhood favorites as these are my childhood favorites. This year's diwali is on October 18th . Each recipes has step by step pictures. If you try these recipes please get me back with your feed back I will appreciate that. If you are in India, you can go out and buy the sweets from shops, which is not possible here . As  usual I am  making  the sweets only this weekend. Here is the list of sweets you can make it  home.

 

1. Besan ladoo 2. Boondhi ladoo 3. Rava laddo 4. Maladoo

5. Gulab Jamun 6. Mysore pak, 7. Rasamalai 8. Ukkaarai 9. Boli

10. Neyyappam . 11. Nan kahttai 12. shankarpali 13 Athirasam 14. Plantain halwa 15. Peda

Ladoo2

16. Besan Rava Coconut Ladoo , 17 Coconut Ladoo 18.Rava ladoo with condensed milk 19 Kaju katli

2o Churma laddo

21 Mohanthal / Chickpea fudge

22  7 cup Burfi

23 Coconut Cashew Mysore Pak

24. Pooran poli

 

25. Badam Burfi

Hope you will enjoy this virtual sweets collections for Deepavali /Diwali sweets.

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