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Bael fruit Tea

Bael fruit Tea

· 15 Comments

Delicious and easy bael fruit tea made with dried bael fruit and tea sweeten up with sugar or sugar substitute. Caffeine free.

Today is Friday, happiest day of the week, yes weekend is coming.  I enjoy this day just like my daughter do. Recently my friend Marisa asked me if I wanted to contribute a post to World fruit and vegetables day /5+day initiative started in New Zealand last year. They are celebrating second anniversary today; it is about including more fruit and vegetables serving in kid’s diet. I told her immediately yes I would love to do this one. And I made this delicious Bael fruit tea. Since I don't have fresh fruit in hand I used dried fruit. 

Here is the picture of fresh fruit  I  got it from my friend Mon Sutapa Ghosh. 

Inside the fruit 

Just like 5+ days in New Zealand, here in US to 5 a Day for better health program aim to increase the fruit and vegetables intake in kid’s food serving. 1 piece of fresh fruit , a glass (6 oz. or ¾ cup) 100% juice , ½ cup cut vegetables ,1 cup leafy vegetables ,one handful (¼ cup) dried fruit  and ½ cup dried peas or beans . Even when I was asked to bring snack for my son in his preschool, I need to bring healthy food, like apple, banana, and 100% juice. In my household, food is mainly vegetarian with occasional eggs and sea food so kids gets their fruit and vegetables in a reasonable amount. My daughter likes salad with bell pepper and apple and roasted bell pepper dressing.  Son is fan of strawberries, banana, and both loves 100% apple juice. I will make sure they get enough veggies and fruits in their diet. Yes mama is correct we need a good serving of fruit and vegetables to get healthy living.

Coming to the bael fruit tea recipe, Bael /bel or sirphal/wood apple is native of India, Its unripe and ripe fruit, root, leaf, and branch has medicinal properties according to WebMD. Bael contains chemicals called tannins, which helps to treat diarrhea by reducing swelling (inflammation).  Its ripe fruit is used to make juice. A decoction of the unripe fruit with ginger and fennel is said to be effective for the treatment of hemorrhoids. The juice of its leaves mixed with honey, can help to reduce fever. The pulp is used in the treatment of Vitiligo. The Bael leaf decoction is said to be helpful in reducing asthma. The bael fruits are rich in fiber and have mild laxative effect what makes it useful in the treatment of disease like diabetes. The root and leaves of bael are used in the treatment of snake bites from ancient times and found to be very effective.   The bael fruit also bears anti-fungal and anti–malarial properties, good to use in the treatment of malaria. Read more from here.  More over Bael tree is also important in Hindu culture and is a favorite tree of Lord Shiva, he will be pleased if you worship him with leaves of Bael tree. There is also folk tale about a cruel hunter who unknowingly worshiped Lord Siva with Bael leaves on the night of Shivarathri. By the end of the night he turned into good person and was relieved of his sins, if want to read that story read from here. My grandma used to tell me stories from Hindu mythology. Not only in India, is Bael fruit used in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, French and Portugal. I got a packet of dried bael fruit from vitacost.

I decided to try tea with bael fruit/Nam Matoom, for that you need boil 4 dried bael fruit with water until it changes into brown color.  I didn’t add any sugar as my diabetic hubby can enjoy it. If you want you can add sugar or sugar supplement. It has a nice tangy taste similar to Agua Flor de Jamaica/Agua Fresca/Hibiscus tea. Serve with or without ice.  I made hot tea.

 

 

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5 from 1 vote

Bael fruit Tea

Delicious tangy tea made with dried bael/bel fruit.
Prep Time1 minute
Cook Time5 minutes
Total Time6 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: Bael Fruit tea, Tea recipes
Servings: 2 serving

Ingredients

  • 4 Dried Bael/bel fruit
  • 2 cup water
  • Sugar or sugar substitute is optional

Instructions

  • Add bael/bel fruit and water and bring it to boil for 5 minutes or until it become brown in color.
  • If you want you can add sugar and serve
  • *you can also serve with ice as iced tea.

Nutrition

Sodium: 12mg | Calcium: 7mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Pumpkin whey whole wheat bread

· 13 Comments

As you know I am a bread fan, who loves to try all kinds of bread at my kitchen. Today (16 October) is world bread day, and as a bread enuthastic how can I sit back and not contribute, so made this delicious bread. One good thing about making bread at home is that you get varieties of bread which are not easily available in the store. I know only one Mexican bakery nearby that sells bread that is not available in other stores. Yes I made this “pumpkin whey whole wheat bread” with left over whey after making queso fresco for Colombian Bunnelos.
October is month of pumpkin; and I am seeing lots of pumpkin recipes posted by fellow bloggers so I decided to add my own contribution to bread recipes with pumpkin. Next week I am planning to make some Halloween themed bread, but not decided on the recipe yet.
For making this pumpkin whey whole wheat bread, I first thought of adding my sourdough and try with it, however I don’t have enough amount of leavin, so decide to skip that and made with commercial yeast. I did overnight bulk fermentation with dough which means that day before baking I made the bread dough. I refrigerated it for overnight. The next morning I took it and left it out for 2 hours and then shaped into boule, kept it for another 2 hours and baked it at 425 ⁰F/210 ⁰C/190 ⁰C fan/gas mark 7 for about 40 minutes This recipe was adapted from Dan Lapard’s Pumpkin whey bread . As usual I modified the recipe with 60 % whole wheat flour and 40% white flour. I used canned pumpkin puree also and didn’t add any pumpkin seeds as I don’t have it in my hand.
Pumpkin provided golden yellow color and subtle sweetness. Whey did an amazing job of making the bread very soft and moist. It makes really good toast, just apply some butter and toast, you will get your favorite French toast feeling. Crust is very delicate and crumb is really moist. This pumpkin whey whole wheat bread makes excellent sandwich bread too. Slice and serve with your favorite ham, cheese etc.

Give it a try you will like, here comes the recipe.

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Pumpkin whey whole wheat loaf

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 4 hours, 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 18 hours, 55 minutes

Yield: 1 loaf

Pumpkin whey whole wheat loaf

Delicious wholewheat bread made with pumpkin and whey. It is smooth and moist bread makes excellent toast.

Ingredients

  • 225g Canned Pumpkin puree
  • 225ml whey
  • 3.5 g Instant yeast
  • 25ml olive oil
  • 300g Whole wheat flour
  • 200g bread flour
  • 2.5 teaspoon salt
  • Oil, for kneading
  • Flour, for shaping

Instructions

  1. In bowl add both flour, salt, yeast mix well to this
  2. add oil, pumpkin puree and whey to make smooth dough.
  3. Transfer to well greased container and keep it in the refrigerator for overnight for bulk fermentation.
  4. %https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-RR65PQuNrvE/VD8kZmHmkyI/AAAAAAAAV5o/dOPdil13UUo/w780-h518-no/bunnelos%2B027.JPG
  5. Next morning take out the dough and set aside for 2 hours to bring back the dough to room temperature.
  6. Then shape them into a boule and set aside for 2 hours for proofing.
  7. I don’t have banneton in my hand so used a plastic colander as my proofing basket.
  8. At end of proofing time preheat the oven for 425 F. When you are ready to bake score and bake it
  9. in a preheated oven for 45 minutes or until the loaf register internal temperature of 200F.
  10. Cool completely and then slice the bread enjoy as much as you want.

Notes

The recipe adapted from here

Copyright ©2014 Zesty South Indian Kitchen by Swathi(Ambujom Saraswathy) All Rights Reserved.

Linking this delicious bread to World bread day hosted by Zorra and Yeast spotting

World Bread Day 2014 (submit your loaf on October 16, 2014)

Mini strawberry cake with buttercream frosting

· 22 Comments

This week started with heavy raining, and more rains are coming in the afternoon, and the sun is playing hide and seek. By the way talking about sun, I get bad headache if I am out in the sun for few hours. I got an episode of headache on this weekend Saturday, it made me miserable. I was able to recover from it on Sunday and able to make this delicious mini strawberry cake with butter cream frosting. As 15th of this month is approaching, it is baking partner’s challenge reveal date. This month challenge was suggested by Divya of Divya’sdiner. She is amazing cake artist, makes beautiful cakes.
So  when I asked her, she suggested the recipe of challenge, make a beautiful cake with easy dressing so that it will be helpful for somebody who want to make a birthday cake. She told me she has a great strawberry cake recipe which her clients ask for every time. So I asked her to share that. Even though the original recipe is for two 6 inch cakes, I was afraid to try them. As my hubby’s sugar content is increased due to his corticosteroid medication, we are in challenge of controlling sugar. Even my princess told her dad that when I am big, I will make cake for you papa, but I will remove the icing before I gave it you. You can’t eat icing in the cake. If I make big cake my kids will eat only the icing and by that time they reach the cake, it is a sugar overload they couldn’t finish it. I will be eating the entire cake. So decide to make a mini cake with minimal frosting. It is really delicious cake, since I was making mini cakes, I used different coloring. I was intent to make a ombre effect; however my first layer got little more color, resulting both second and first looks almost same. Next time I am going to skip coloring on the first layer.
I have earlier tried a strawberry cupcakes where strawberry puree is used however it is not cooked like this one. For this recipe you need to macerate the strawberries for overnight, then cook them for 20 minutes and puree them and again cook them for another 15 minutes. Then mix with batter to make the cake. Divya also taught us to how to keep the cake moist and decorate it the next day. I followed everything but reduce the quantities. Only ¾ of the cake recipe was used and one fourth of the frosting recipe.
If you planning to make mini strawberry cake with butter cream frosting for the party then double or triple the recipe. Kids will love it as it has color, tastes good and icing is minimal, one mini cake will make two serving. I made the cake in three 4.5 inch pan then cut it with 4 inch cookie cutter. You need to cut the cake with cookie cutter to give better look, if using minimal frosting, if you covering the entire cake with frosting then you can skip cutting the cake with cookie cutter.
Arrange the cake in layers, pipe frosting in between and top and serve with fresh strawberry. Delicious and beautiful, give it try it won’t disappoint you.
Please take your time to look at other baking partner ‘creations too, also if you want to bake with us next month please shoot me an e-mail.

 

 

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Mini strawberry cake with butter cream frosting

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 2 hours

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 25 minutes

Yield: 1

Mini strawberry cake with butter cream frosting

Delicious strawberry mini cake made with concentrated fresh strawberry puree. decorated with butter cream frosting and fresh strawberry.

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup + 1 ½ tablespoons of Cake flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons of Baking powder
  • ¼teaspoon of Salt
  • ½cup + 1 tablespoon of Sugar
  • 4 ½ tablespoons of Unsalted butter
  • 2 large Egg whites
  • ⅕ cup of Strawberry puree
  • 1 ½ tablespoon of milk
  • ¾ teaspoon of Vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon Strawberry extract
    • Strawberry Puree
  • 354g of very ripe fresh Strawberries (frozen strawberries without sugar)
  • 1 tablespoon of Sugar
  • (If you can’t find strawberries, you can substitute with any berries in this recipe)
    • Basic Buttercream Frosting Recipe
  • ⅓ cups of Unsalted butter, softened
  • 11/8 cups of Powdered sugar, sifted
  • ¾ tablespoons of Heavy cream
  • A pinch of Salt
  • ½ teaspoon of Clear vanilla extract

Instructions

    First make Strawberry puree
  1. Wash and hull fresh ripe strawberries.
  2. Cut it in to small pieces and transfer it to a bowl. Add a tablespoon of sugar and give a quick mix. Cover it and allow it to sit for 2-3 hours/ overnight in the refrigerator. Strawberries will become tender and juicy.
  3. Simmer the tender strawberries in a pan with ¼ cup of water for 20-25 mins in low flame. (Taking care not to burn any).
  4. Mash it well with a spatula and allow it to cool.
  5. Transfer the contents to the blender with ¼ cup of water and puree the cooked strawberries.
  6. Strain the puree to remove any chunky pieces. (Taking care not to add any strawberry chunks, which would result in a mushy cake- We dont need it).
  7. Again bring the filtered puree to the stove and slow cook it in low flame for another 15 mins. Reduce the puree to ¼ cup. (If you have a little more puree thats fine. You can use that as a filling later)
  8. Now the concentrated strawberry puree is ready.
    9. For the Cake:
  9. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease (butter/shortening) and dust (flour) three 4.5 inch pans. . Take required butter, cut them in to pieces and allow them to sit at room temperature. • Break open the eggs in a bowl and keep it ready.
    10. Wet Ingredients
  10. In a small bowl, take ⅕ cup of cooked strawberry puree and add 2 tablespoon of milk and whisk it.
  11. Add vanilla extract & strawberry extract (optional).
  12. Whisk in eggs, one at a time and keep the mixture ready.
    13. Dry Ingredients
  13. IIn a large mixing bowl, sift cake flour. If you cant find cake flour, substitute with all purpose flour (APF) and corn starch. Standard substitution will be 1 cup cake flour = 1 cup of APF - 2 tablespoon of APF + 2 tablespoon of corn starch but for this recipe substitute, 1 cup cake flour = 1 cup APF- 1 tablespoon of APF + 1 tablespoon of corn starch) Add baking powder, salt.
  14. In a a stand mixer with paddle attachment or with a hand held mixer cream the butter and sugar.
  15. To this add flour, salt baking powder mix and mix well.
  16. To this Slowly add the wet ingredients mixture little by little and the cake batter is ready. (Taste the batter, you can feel the yumminess of fresh strawberries )
  17. Divide the batter into three portions, then add red food color, first one don't add any color, second one add 4 drops and then third add 8 drops of red food color.
  18. Pour the batter equally in to two prepared pans. The mixture will not be runny and it will be difficult to spread. Dont use spoon to spread it, instead drop the pans on the counter multiple times to level the batter.
  19. Bake it at 350 degrees for 25 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
  20. Once done, remove the pans from the oven and let it sit in the counter for 10 mins.
  21. (Tip: Press the bulges of the cake with a wet clean white cloth as soon as you remove from the oven. Taking care all the time not to burn your hands. You may not need to trim a lot of cake, while stacking also it gives clean edges.)
  22. Cover it with plastic wrap and transfer it to the freezer for a night. (Make sure your cake is completely wrapped and is not exposed, else your cake might turn dry).
    23. Decorating a Cake
  23. Remove the cake from the freezer 4 hours before you start decorating and place it at room temperature.
  24. Using a 4 inch cookie cutter cut the cakes and remove the outer ring.
    25. For Forsting
  25. In a large mixing bowl, add softened butter and mix it till it becomes creamy.
  26. Add sifted powdered sugar, heavy cream, salt and clear vanilla extract and mix it for couple of mins. Delicious buttercream is ready.
  27. Transfer the frosting to piping bag fitted with 1M tip. Gradually pipe the frosting around the rim of cake layers.
  28. Finish with more icing in the top of cake. Then decorate with a fresh strawberry.

Notes

This recipe is adapted fromhere

Copyright ©2014 Zesty South Indian Kitchen by Swathi(Ambujom Saraswathy) All Rights Reserved.


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Sourdough Pumpkin Rye Rolls

· 10 Comments

Delicous sourdough pumpkin rye rolls made with sourdough starter, pumpkin puree . These are great rolls to serve with bowl of soup or gravy.

Why you should incorporate sourdough in your diet?

In sourdough bread, important nutrients such as iron, zinc and magnesium, antioxidants, folic acid and other B vitamins are in easily digestible form.

Also found that sourdough produces a lower surge in blood sugar than any other bread: a 2008 study and here found that when people with impaired glucose tolerance were fed either sourdough or ordinary bread: the sourdough bread produced a significantly lower glucose and insulin response.

Another important characteristic of sourdough bread is that gluten is broken down and rendered virtually harmless. It is also found that celiac patients fed with sourdough bread for 60 days had no clinical complaints, and their biopsies showed no changes in the intestinal lining.

How to make sourodugh pumpkin rye Rolls?

Following ingredients are required to make this sourdough pumpkin rye rolls.

  • Levain: This recipe use only rye starter and rye flour levain
  •  Bread flour: You can use all purpose flour too
  • Rye flour : Is used to make starter and in leavain
  • canola oil: Adds moistness to the dough
  • Egg
  • salt : Adds flavor and control fermentaion
  • Pumpkin puree: Use both storebought or homemade pumpkin puree
  • Water
  • For topping add sesame seeds, poppy seeds

Instructions to make Sourdough Pumpkin Rye Rolls

Day before making the bread, make leavain, adding rye flour and rye starter.

Nextmorning add leavain , flours, egg, oil, pumpkin puree, salt and water to make the dough.

Set aside for double in volume it takes about 4 hours.

After 4 hours divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and shape and set aside again for another 4 hours or it puff up in volume. If you want less tangy bread reduce the rising time to 3 hours and add little commercial yeast.

Bake the sourdough pumpkin dinner rolls with or without eggwash.

Serve warm


This bread doesn’t have any added sugar that is good, second goodness is that even after adding eggs this bread is soft and delicious. Pumpkin gave the golden hinge to bread. Since I am trying this for the first time, I didn’t make very many changes to the original recipe, which occurs rarely. If you are fan of sourdough bread likes me, give it a try it is easy to make. The first day make rye leavin, then the next day make the dough.

These dinner rolls makes excellent sandwiches, or even toast with little butter or apply a coat of Nutella; marriage between the sweet Nutella and tangy pumpkin dinner rolls is awesome.

Variation to Sourdough pumpkin rye rolls ?

Add sweetners like, honey, maple syrup to make this bread.

You can also add dry fruits and nuts like pecan, walnuts , raisins, dates to this bread

Storage

These dinner rolls are best when they are served fresh. you can store this bread at room temperature 1-2 days. If you want long term storage freeze the rolls.

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5 from 2 votes

Sourdough Pumpkin Rye Rolls

Delicous sourdough pumpkin rye rolls made with sourdough starter, pumpkin puree . These are great rolls to serve with bowl of soup or gravy.
Prep Time20 hours
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time20 hours 20 minutes
Course: Breakfast, Brunch
Cuisine: American
Keyword: sourdough dinner rolls, Sourdough Pumpkin Rye Rolls
Servings: 9
Calories: 215kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

Levain

  • 18 g rye starter 100%,
  • 29 g water
  • 54 g rye flour

For the dough

  • 357 g bread flour
  • 21 g canola oil
  • 50 g egg one large egg
  • 8 g salt
  • 150 g pumpkin puree
  • 85 g water
  • levain all

for egg wash

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
  • ½ tablespoon poppy seeds

Instructions

  • Day before baking, mix all the ingredients in levain and
  • set aside for 12 hours for fermentation at room temperature.
  • One the day of baking make a dough with all the leavin and ingredients listed for the dough.
  • Make a smooth dough like this
  • Rise at room temp for 4 hours or until it double in volume.
  • Divide the dough (778g) into 9 portions(86.48), round, rest, shape them into smooth balls.
  • Cover and set aside for rise at room temp for about 4 hours.
  • End of the baking time, preheat the oven to 375F/190C.
  • When you are ready to bake, brush them with egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds and poppy seeds.
  • Bake at 375F for 20min. Take out of the oven and brush with melted butter.

Notes

This recipe is adapted from here
 

Nutrition

Calories: 215kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 39mg | Sodium: 362mg | Potassium: 119mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 2651IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Dulce de leche Ice Cream

· 22 Comments

Delicious dulce de leche ice cream made with 4 ingredients, heavy cream, dulce de leche , milk and vanilla extract. Ice cream without egg .

It is October and that means Halloween is coming at the end of month. This is also the month of scary TV shows. I never get a chance to watch any shows as my kiddos busy are watching their “Frozen” and “Lion King”. Nowadays I make ice cream at home, and kids love it, as I can try lot of flavors. I was planning to make Dulce de leche ice cream for long time, and yesterday I did get some time to make it. Yes I finally I made sinful, dulce de leche ice cream. Each bite brings you a great feeling which we can’t put in words.

Dulce de leche is a Argentinean dessert, popular in Latin American countries. It is made with sugar and milk. In Argentina it is made with milk, sugar and little vanilla essence and baking soda. In other countries it is made with just milk and sugar. Dulce de leche is made by slowly heating the sugar and milk until entire water content is evaporated and making it into thick creamy brown color deliciousness

The first historic mention of dulce de leche comes from a peace meeting between Juan Manuel de Rosas and his political enemy, Juan Lavalle, in 1829. According to legend, dulce de leche was produced by accident when Manuel de Rosa's maid was cooking some milk and sugar and she was unexpectedly called. Upon her return, the mixture had transformed into a thick, brown consistency. From that point forward, the new dessert was referred to as dulce de leche.  It is also mentioned dulce de leche is made in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

I can get dulce de leche from my Latin American Grocery store. If you can’t find one then simply piercing a few holes in the top of a can of condensed milk and then place it in a pan of boiling water with the holes facing up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simmer for 30 minutes if you want runny dulce de leche or for up to 4 hours for thicker consistency. You can also make dulce de leche in oven see the recipe here . If you want to make from scratch then see this recipe. If you have pressure cooker you can make with that too.

How to Make Dulce Leche Ice cream? 

Coming to the ice cream recipe, it is really easy, you need 1 cup of heavy cream and 1½ cup milk, and 13 ounce can of dulce de leche, ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract.

First boil the milk and cream for 6 minutes and then mix dulce de leche, and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract. Chill for few hours or overnight. I prefer overnight so that it can get more flavor.

Next morning make ice cream in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer instructions.  You can also make this ice without ice cream maker.

It is very delicious  and my kids loved it, they were licking the spoon as soon as Ice cream machine start working. So give it a try, it is easy; you can try a new flavor if you like.  Here comes the recipe.

 

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5 from 6 votes

Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

Delicious creamy rich dulce de leche ice cream without an egg based custard .
Prep Time1 minute
Cook Time6 minutes
Total Time13 hours 6 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Dulce de leche ice cream, eggless ice cream, Ice cream recipes
Servings: 1 quart
Calories: 227kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups milk I used 2%
  • ¾ cup+2 tablespoon heavy cream
  • 13.4 oz dulce de leche
  • ⅛ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Special equipment: an ice cream maker

Instructions

  • In a heavy sauce pan, bring milk and cream boil for 6 minutes over moderate heat,
  • then remove from heat and whisk in dulce de leche until dissolved. Whisk in vanilla and transfer to a metal bowl. Do a quick chill in an ice bath for 15- 20 minutes or chill it in refrigerator for overnight, I like to do overnight chilling.
  • Next morning make ice cream in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.
  • Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 1 hour.

If you don't have ice cream machine: try this method.

  • First freeze a baking dish while you are preparing the ice cream mixture. Pour mixture into frozen baking dish, freeze for 45 minutes. Take it out, break up frozen bits with whisk or spatula. Repeat this process at 30 minute intervals until it’s nearly impossible to break apart anymore. Scoop into Tupperware containers and place in freezer until ready to serve

Notes

This recipe is adapted from here

Nutrition

Calories: 227kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 158mg | Potassium: 484mg | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 604IU | Calcium: 414mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Bunuelos colombianos: Colombian Cheese Fritters

· 13 Comments

Buñuelos colombianos  is a Colombian  cheese fritters a traditional Christmas treat, and also popular year round as breakfast with hot chocolate or coffee

Bunuelos colombianos: Colombian Cheese Fritters

 Bunelos Colombianos: Colombian cheese fritters is made with fresh cheese, bunelos colombianos mix and egg and fried in oil. I got the inspiration from my hubby’s colleague who had invited us for a party, and it was Colombian fare. Bunuelos was on the menu and it is delicious and easy to make.


Christmas season starts in Colombia after Day of Little Candles (Spanish:Día de las Velitas, which  is on December 7, on the eve of the Immaculate Conception, and is a public holiday in Colombia. As with any other custom, there will celebration which varies from family to family but one dish must be there in their table is Bunuelos. I have also seen a YouTube video where street vendors are selling this Bunuelos in their road side stall.
For making Bunuelos colombianos: Colombian Cheese Fritters you need a special kind of cheese called queso costeño  which is used in Colombia. However it is not available here, so we can use either   fresh cheese called Queso fresco or combo of queso fresco and feta. I used only queso fresco as it is mentioned in the box mix.  My hubby bought about 1 ounce from the store as it is about 7 dollars for a pound and told me to try with it. I also got bunuelos box mix from his friend Libardo. However the recipe on the box needed about 10.oz of queso fresco cheese (2 cups of grated cheese). So I thought why I don’t try to make it at home. On searching the recipe, I came to know that Queso Fresco is the paneer made with salt. In India paneer is made without adding salt so that it can be used for both savory and sweet. So I decided to make queso fresco at home using whole milk.


Once I made the Queso fresco, my next challenge was to make bunulos or cheese fritters at home. I used box mixture. If you want you can make it from scratch using this recipe. Main ingredients are cornstarch, tapioca starch, egg, milk, queso fresco or mixture of queso fresco and feta, baking powder.

Bunuelos colombianos: Colombian Cheese Fritters
First smooth dough is made with all ingredients and then fried the balls in the oil. One thing you need to keep in mind that oil should be at right temperature (302 °F/150 °C) so that the buñuelos rise to the top and swell up as it cooks in the oil. First it will sink to the bottom and then it gradually comes up in the oil.  If they rise too quickly, they won’t cook all the way through — too slowly, they’ll take on too much oil and become heavy.

Bunuelos colombianos: Colombian Cheese Fritters
During the Christmas time it is served with hot chocolate or natilla (custard like dessert) and is the perfect combination of salty and sweet, buñuelos (Bunuelos colombianos: Colombian Cheese Fritters). I have seen people buying from the street vendors eating as such with cup of coffee. Trust me Bunuelos colombianos: Colombian Cheese Fritters with Colombian coffee is really good. I had tasted it at that party. It has an intoxicating aroma at its peak in every sip you drink. Next I will try to make bunuelos from scratch as well as using two cheese combo.
Indian friends, it taste like fried gulab jamun without any sugar syrup. You will also love it, so give it a try.

 

Bunuelos colombianos: Colombian Cheese Fritters with black coffee

Other cheese fritters 

Pao de queijo( Brazilian Cheese Bread)

Print Recipe
5 from 13 votes

Bunuelos colombianos: Colombian Cheese Fritters

Delicious Bunuelos /Colombian cheese fritters made with fresh homemade queso fresco .
Total Time3 hours 11 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Colombian recipes
Keyword: Bunuelos Colombianos, Colombian recipes
Servings: 42 small or 22 big.
Calories: 207kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

Queso Fresco

  • 2 quarts/8 cups Whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoon distilled vinegar

Buneulos

  • 300 g/10.57 oz of Bunuelos box mix
  • 2 cups /10.57oz grated cheese Queso Fresco
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup milk or more as needed
  • 4 cups of Peanut oil Peanut oil is best for frying, you can use any other oil of choice

Instructions

  • Heat the milk 2 quarts/8cups of the whole milk. And add 1 tablespoon of coarse kosher salt.
  • When the milks starts boil, turn the heat to low, and add 3 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar.
  • Stir. Almost immediately, the milk will separate into curds and whey. If not, add one more tablespoon of vinegar. Continue to stir gently to encourage whey extraction and curd formation.
  • Drain into a cheesecloth-lined colander in the sink.
  • Let sit for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is cool enough to handle. Form the curds into a ball or disc while squeezing excess whey through the cheesecloth. At this point the cheese is ready to eat, but if you prefer a drier, firmer cheese, you can set it on a plate or a sheet pan with a plate on top of it. Use some kind of weight — cans, pots and pans, or books — to press it down for 15 more minutes or up 2 hours.

Bunuelos

  • In bowl add everything and gradually add milk to form smooth dough.
  • Knead well.
  • Pinch out a small portion of dough to form small balls around 42. Actual size of Bunuelos is bigger if you make authentic bunuelos then you will be able to get 21.
  • Heat oil in deep bottom pan or use your deep fryer oil temperature must be 302F/ 150C then gradually add kneaded cheese balls/ bunuelos.
  • At first it sinks to the bottom, as soon as cooked it comes to top. When it becomes golden brown color take it out and drain the excess oil using a kitchen towel.
  • Enjoy with a cup of coffee.

Notes

The queso fresco recipe is adapted from here
 

Nutrition

Calories: 207kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 202mg | Potassium: 11mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 64IU | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

 

Pomegranate Juice Spritzer/ Sharab Rumman

· 14 Comments

Delicious Sharab Rumman/ Pomegranate juice spritzer with extra kick from orange blossom water and ground cloves

pomegranate spritzer
As Navarathri celebration is going on these days, we went to temple on Saturday. I have been going to the temple with the kids for the Navaratri for last 3 years. Kids enjoyed going to temple, and my daughter wants to go more often. It was nice weekend. I planned to make a few dishes, however was able to finish only two. One of the recipes was the pomegranate juice Spritzer /Sharab Rumman. I found it in the book which I borrowed from the library.

This pomegranate juice spritzer/ Sharab Rumman is easy to put together. I got hooked as soon as saw the picture of it in the book The Arabian Nights Cookbook: From Lamb Kebabs to Baba Ghanouj, Delicious Homestyle Arabian Cooking by Haeeb Salloum. In the book he mentioned that pomegranate is important part of Arabic Cuisine, also a popular drink in Saudi Arabia. If you want to make original Sharab Rumman you need pomegranate syrup which is really hard to find in the US except in the Middle Eastern stores. May be next time I will look for that. This time I followed the recipe except increasing the amount of ground cloves in the juice recipe. It is delicious even without any sugar.
Initially I thought of adding sugar but kept that part aside as want to give to hubby who is diabetic. But when I drank the juice spritzer without sugar it taste delicious. Then thought why I need to add sugar. The combo of pomegranate juice and cloves give the kick to the drink, orange blossom water gives a pleasant aroma. While fizz is given the club soda,  on the whole it is delicious and colorful drink.


Pomegranate itself is healthy fruit, and is a native of Persia (Modern day Iran). It is the most powerful anti-oxidant property of all fruits, has potent anti-cancer and immune supporting effects; it can help to reduce heart attacks, strokes and embolic disease. It can also lowers cholesterol and reduce other cardiac risk factors, lower blood pressure and shown to promote reversal of atherosclerotic plaque in human studies. It also helps or relives depression and osteoporosis.

Read more from here. Yes juice from fresh pomegranate will be always better, but it is little tedious process, so we can satisfy with POM juice from the store, that is what I did.


Next time during grocery shopping grab a POM (Pomegranate Juice) and club soda, then add some orange blossom water, ground cloves and ice. Enjoy with or without sweetener of choice.

 

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5 from 1 vote

Pomegranate Juice Spritzer/ Sharab Rumman

Delicious Sharab Rumman/ Pomegranate juice spritzer with extra kick from orange blossom water and ground cloves
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Keyword: Pomegranate Juice spritzer, Sharab Rumman
Servings: 2 servings
Calories: 36kcal

Ingredients

  • ½ cup pomegranate juice I used POM
  • 1 cup/8 oz club soda
  • ½ lime or lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
  • 2 ground cloves
  • Ice cubes
  • fresh pomegranate for serving optional

Instructions

  • Mix everything in a bowl and serve with ice and fresh pomegranate.
  • I didn't and any sweetener or sugar. If you want feel free to add.
  • If you want you can add little vodka to make it adult version.

Notes

This recipe is adapted from The Arabian Nights Cookbook

Nutrition

Calories: 36kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 31mg | Potassium: 145mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 4IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Kadalai sundal/ Brown chickpea salad

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<img src="sundal.jpg" alt="kadalai sundal">

Yesterday was the start of  Navarathri/Navratri, a festival  celebrated with full of enthusiasm all over India. Just like its diverse language and culture, this festival is celebrated differently in each state. Navarathri means “nine nights’ and this year it is from Sepetmeber25th to October 3rd.  Even though every states celebration will be different with one thing unique in this festival is that everybody worships Goddess Shakti/Devi. First, in the form of Goddess worshipped as Durga/Kali or as Goddess Lakshmi or as Goddess of Wealth and finally as  Saraswathi/ Goddess of wisdom. This Kadalai sundal /brown chickpea salad is offering on one day during 9 days festival.

Amma used to keep Gollu/ kolu/Tier of dolls. When people visit each other’s house to see the Kolu, usually they are given prasad (the offering given to God that day), kumkum and a small bag of gifts. These are only given to girls and married women. In the evenings, a “kuthuvilakku” (small lamp) is lit in the middle of a decorated “kolam“(Rangoli) in front of the Kolu and devotional hymns and shlokas are chanted. After performing the pujas, the food items that have been prepared are offered to the goddesses.

This Navarathi is more special to me as we are planning  to do Vidyarambam for my son which means a child starts learning from the auspicious day of Vjayadashmi (i.e. from the last day of Navarathri). This is an important ritual in my home state Kerala, India, read more from here. Even though he started going to preschool, we didn’t did this ceremony so we are going to doing it this time. Last year he was so young only 1 year 8 months to do this ceremony. In my home town during the Vijayadashmi the offering will be puffed rice (malar) kadalai sundal( brown  chickpea salad) , uzhunuvada( spilt  black gram fritters) and payasam. I am planning to make few of the offering on the day.

Do you know, this kala chana/ brown chickpea are served as offering in Devi temples? It is an indigenous crop and its dark color represents fertility, nutrition and hardiness. That is why it is soaked overnight, cooked and offered to the Goddesses.

<img src="sundal.jpg" alt="kadalai sundal with coconut">

Coming to kala chana/ brown chickpeas are smaller than the regular chickpeas, also it is indigenous to Indian Subcontinent, as well as Ethiopia, Mexico, and Iran. It has thick coat than its other counter parts. Rich in fiber than other variety and resulting in low glycemic index than the other regular chickpeas ( Kabuli chana).  Make sure to soak it over night, my friend Ammini Ramachandran mentioned in this article that  you should soak the chickpeas overnight with little bicarbonate of soda to the soaking water. This trick prevents the calcium in the water from cementing together with the pectin molecules in the chickpea’s cell walls.

After soaking overnight, wash it in running water for few times, then pressure cook till 5 whistles. Once pressure cooker has cooled down, remove the kala chana/ brown chickpeas and wash once again with water. If you are making sundal then heat little oil  in the pan and  add mustard seeds, urad dal(split black gram) curry leaves and red chilies, then once mustard seeds pops, add cooked kala chana/ brown chickpeas, salt and coconut pieces. You can add freshly grated coconut but I prefer small coconut pieces as my mom adds to the sundal.  It is easy delicious filling snack you can have any time of the day.

 

<img src="sundal.jpg" alt="kadalai sundal with coconut1">

 

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Kadalai sundal/ Brown chickpea salad

Delicious, healthy fiber rich protein snack.
Prep Time10 hours
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: Sundal
Servings: 3 people
Calories: 236kcal

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup kala chana/ brown chickpeas Indian variety
  • ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon urad dal spilt black gram
  • 1-2 red chili halved in pieces
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh coconut pieces you can you grated coconut too
  • 1 sprig of curry leaves
  • ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 2 cup water + extra for soaking

Instructions

  • Soak kala chana/ brown chick peas over night (if you want you can add little baking soda)
  • Next morning rinse the chana/ chickpeas in the running water for few times and then add 2 cup water and pressure cook them for 5 whistles yes these are really hardy variety so it requires that much time.
  • Once the pressure is subsided, remove the chickpeas from the pressure cooker and wash once again in the running water.
  • Heat oil in pan and add mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves, halved red chilies.
  • When the mustard seeds starts splutter add cooked chickpeas and salt cook for 1 minutes
  • then add coconut pieces and cook for another minutes.
  • Enjoy as such great snack any time of the day.

Nutrition

Calories: 236kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 415mg | Potassium: 428mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 281IU | Vitamin C: 30mg | Calcium: 94mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Homemade apple cider and apple butter

· 23 Comments

With few ingredients  you can make this delicious  homemade apple butter and apple cider. You can use various apples of your choice. 

Homemade apple cider

Homemade apple butter excellent spread goes well  toast. 

 

Homemade apple butter

 

 

. As fall came just yesterday, apple cider is not available in the store. So I decided to make it at home. Thus I made homemade apple cider and apple butter.

How to make apple cider ? 

You need

  • Apples  ( both Gala and Grany Smith ) 

  • Star anise 

  • Vanilla beans 

  • Cinnamon 

  • Zest of orange 

  • Sugar 

  • water 

 You can make your own apple cider with few ingredients.  For this you need to  just cut the apples, add star anise, vanilla bean, cinnamon and zest of one orange along with some sugar and water.

First you need to boil them in the medium flame uncovered for 30 minutes

Apples spices getting boiled for making cider

Then cover them and cook them for another 2 hours in slow flame. 

Apples after cooking

When you are ready to serve just sieve it and use it as such or with booze.

Strained for apple cider

You can serve them with whipped cream and caramel sauce then it becomes star bucks apple cider version. If you add some booze then it become adult version of apple cider. It is easy to make and you know what is going there.

How to make apple butter 

You need following ingredients to make apple butter 

  • Apples ( both Gala and Grany smith ) 

  • Cinnamon 

  • Mace 

  • Nutmeg 

  • All spice 

 For making apple butter   you can use either entire apple or  use cored, peeled , chopped apples.

First cook them with the apple cider for 30 minutes until it become soft, and then add spices. I used cinnamon, mace, nutmeg and all spice and sugar and cooked for 1 ½ hours until it become soft and brown in color.

Apple butter getting cooked

If you want really smooth apple butter, puree the cooked apples using immersion blender or food processor. It is delicious, and you can slather to your slice of bread. It has great spreading consistency compared to jam.

Apple butter
While making apple butter one thing crossed my mind; it is that apple butter is similar what the Indians make as fruit halwa; only difference is that halwa recipe is loaded with ghee. However in the apple butter there is no butter or any other kind of fat. It is more closely related to jam or preserve.

Apple butter

 

What is the difference between jelly, jam, preserve, conserve, butter ?

I got the answer from this page Jelly by cooking fruit juice and sugar with pectin as a jelling agent and lemon juice as an acid to maintain the texture.

Jelly is firm and will hold its shape (it shakes). Generally, jelly contains no pieces of fruit, although specialty jellies, like pepper jelly, may include pieces of jalapeño or other pepper. Jam is made from crushed or chopped fruit cooked with sugar, and often pectin and lemon juice.

Jam can be a puree of fruit or have a soft pulp, but it does not contain chunks of fruit. It is firm but holds the shape. Preserves are fruit cooked with sugar to the point where large chunks of fruit or whole fruit, such as berries, are suspended in a syrup base. It is not smooth like jelly or jam.

 

Marmalade is a soft jelly, often citrus-based, that includes both the flesh and peel of the fruit suspended in a jelly base. The bitterness of the peel compensate with the sweetness of the jelly.

Conserve is a mixture of more than one fruit with nuts and raisins that is cooked until it becomes thick. It is used as a spread for breads, pastries and meats. Fruit Butter, such as apple butter or prune butter, is fruit puree or pulp combined with sugar, lemon juice and spices, slowly cooked down to a smooth consistency.

The butter refers to its spread ability: there is no actual butter in the product. Fruit Curd is a creamy spread made with sugar, eggs and butter, generally flavored with citrus juice and zest like lemon curd and orange curd.


Give it try as in fall you can get bounty of apple and pumpkin. Here comes the recipe.

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5 from 11 votes

Homemade apple cider and apple butter

Homemade apple cider and apple butter delicious you can mix match apples of your choice.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time5 hours
Total Time5 hours 15 minutes
Course: Breakfast, Brunch
Cuisine: American
Keyword: apple butter, apple cider, homemade apple butter, homemade apple cider, How to make apple butter, How to make apple cider
Servings: 2 cups
Calories: 502kcal

Ingredients

For apple cider

  • 4 medium apples I used two granny smith and two gala
  • 4 cups of filtered water
  • 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar or maple syrup or to taste
  • 4 cinnamon stick 2 inch pieces
  • ½ fresh vanilla bean or 1 tablespoon extract
  • 1 whole star anise
  • Zest of one orange

For Apple butter

  • 2 pounds 906g apples, peeled, cored and diced (I used 3granny smith and 4 gala apples )
  • ½ cup apple cider
  • 1 ¼ cup +1 tablespoon sugar
  • Juice of half lemon
  • Pinch of salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground mace
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon all spice

Instructions

For apple cider

  • Wash and cut the apples into quarters. Add them to a large pot with about 4 cups of water and start heating. Add cinnamon stick, half a vanilla bean (or some extract), star anise, and zest of one orange and 1 tablespoon sugar.
  • Cook the apples for 30 minutes without covering the pot. Then, cover and let the cider simmer on lower heat for about 2 more hours.
  • After about 2 ½ hours of cooking, remove from the heat and allow to cool completely . Then, using a handheld potato masher, turn the apples into applesauce inside the pot to fully release their flavors.
  • Pour the cider through a strainer to remove all the apple pulp.
  • You can either use any kitchen strainer and a wooden spoon to strain the liquid.
  • Serve warm, either by itself or with whipped cream and caramel sauce. Store the in the refrigerator in mason jars for 5-7 days.

For Apple Butter

  • Wash and peel, core and chop the apples. Then in a large pot, bring the apples and cider to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking or burning. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the apples are soft, 30 to 35 minutes. Use a potato masher, fork or immersion blender to roughly mash the mixture. Return the apple mixture to the heat and stir in the sugar, lemon juice, salt, cinnamon, mace, all spice and nutmeg.
  • Continue to simmer until the mixture has thickened and becomes a deep rich brown, about 1 ½ hours. The mixture will be relatively smooth but may have a few chunks. I wanted smooth apple butter so pureed the apple butter in a blender.
  • Store the apple butter in a covered container in the refrigerator or pour the finished apple butter into sterilized jars, leaving a quarter-inch of head space.
  • Seal the jars and process for seven to 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Store the processed jars in a cool, dark place. Processed, this apple butter will keep for up to six months. Once jars have been opened, store them in the refrigerator, where they will last for up to one week.

Notes

Apple cider recipe is adapted from here

Nutrition

Calories: 502kcal | Carbohydrates: 133g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 36mg | Potassium: 980mg | Fiber: 24g | Sugar: 97g | Vitamin A: 469IU | Vitamin C: 39mg | Calcium: 147mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

 

 

Mooli ka paratha/ Radish Stuffed Flat Bread

· 18 Comments

Delicious Mooli ka paratha, stuffed whole wheat flat bread stuffed with freshly grated radish/mooli and spices. Excellent filling dish.

Mooli ka paratha/ Radish Stuffed Flat Bread

Paratha and Naan was not my cup of tea until I got married. Yes I hadn’t tasted them till late in my life. Born and brought as a south Indian girl, I love rice, dosa, idly for breakfast and dinner. My mom started cooking chapathi after my dad got diagnosed with high blood pressure. On the contrary

I got married to a guy who loves chapathi and paratha of any form any time of the day. During this India trip I learned this mooli ka paratha from my mother-in-law’s cook. So I made this mooli ka paratha yesterday.

My mother-in-law’s cook is very organized, she comes around 5 ⁰clock in evening and will ask us how many do you want and we gave the number, she would grab the flour container and start making the dough immediately.

Mooli ka paratha/ Radish Stuffed Flat Bread with coffee

Next she will make the filling and ask us what side we want to make to go with paratha. She makes paratha in one stove and sides in other stove and finish everything with an hour or hour and half. While making these, I stood with book and pen near kitchen window and my hubby the photographer captured the pictures. I told him to click everything so that when I need it I can go back and do a reference.

 


She made this mooli ka partha, aloo paratha and methi paratha and karanji for us.

I have aloo paratha and methi paratha in my blog, so will try the rest of the recipe. I like her recipe because she made from fresh radish, which known to be oozing out juices if you grate them and this part is notorious; to make a paratha fast enough as it become soggy soon.

I have tried her recipe twice and learnt that I need to squeeze juices of raddish more than 2 times before it is going to into the filling. I used the squeezed radish/mooli juice to make the dough.

How to make Mooli ka  paratha 

Make the dough with whole wheat flour, salt, oil and water. 

Flour mix for mooli ka paratha

Process is really simple, first grate the radish/mooli and set aside for few minutes that will help to ooze out some juices. Then make the outer covering with whole wheat flour, oil, salt and water.

Mooli with spices and cilantro

You can add ghee instead of oil if you want. When you are ready to make fillings, squeeze out the juice once again, add salt, spices, green chili and freshly chopped coriander leaves.

Outer covering and filling

Then first make small circle with covering dough and then place filling and cover with dough and spread the entire stuff once again into 6 inch flat bread. Cook them in medium fire for 1 minute or until it become cooked both sides and you see brown spots on both sides. Brush them with ghee on both sides.

Mooli ka paratha getting stuffed

Cover tthe inner filling with outer covering 

Mooli ka partha with stuffing

Spread it into 6 inch circle. you need to liberally use flour to prevent sticking to the surface. 

Mooli ka paratha ready for cooking

Cook it in  skillet 

Mooli ka paratha is getting cooked

When you see the brown spots on the bottom, filp and cook  other side too

Mooli ka partha after cooking one side Mooli ka partha geting cooked on second side.

Brush with ghee. 

Mooli ka paratha with onion and green chili

 

Enjoy with some spicy pickle. Delicious meal, I can assure it, but please try it yourself. Here comes the recipe.

 

 

 

 

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5 from 6 votes

Mooli ka paratha/ Radish Stuffed Flat Bread

Delicious Whole Wheat Flat Bread made with freshly grated radish and spices filling. Goes well with any gravy.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: Daikon recipes, Mooli ka paratha, Paratha recipes, Radish
Servings: 7
Calories: 219kcal

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 2 cup whole wheat flour + ¼ cup extra for rolling
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup to 1 cup Hot water
  • 2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 3 tablespoon of homemade ghee for brushing the paratha homemade ghee recipe

For filling

  • 1 medium radish/mooli grated about 2 cup
  • ¼ teaspoon coriander powder/ dhaniya powder/malli podi
  • ¼ teaspoon chili powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
  • ¼ teaspoon dry mango powder/ aamchur powder
  • ¼ teaspoon chaat masala
  • 1 thai green chili finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon cilantro/ coriander leaves
  • ¾ teaspoon salt or to taste

Instructions

Outer covering

  • In a bowl of kitchen aid stand mixer attached with paddle attachment, add whole wheat flour, salt 2 tablespoon olive oil and water and squeezed radish juice then combine well to form dough.
  • Change paddle attachment and with dough hook knead the dough for about 5 minutes or until they become smooth.
  • Set aside in lightly greased bowl rolling the dough so that dough get coat with 1 teaspoon oil, this will prevent dough from drying. Keep aside for 15-20 minutes. Make 7 equal sized balls and set aside.

Filling

  • First grate the radish/mooli and squeeze the juice and set aside.
  • When you are ready to make filling, once again squeeze the juice then add spices, green chili, salt, and cilantro leaves and mix well to form smooth dough.
  • Then divide the dough into 7 equal sized balls and set aside.
  • First with whole wheat dough balls make thick flat disc of about 3 inch and then place mooli/radish filling ball in the center
  • and cover the potato filling with whole dough so it get covered fully .
  • Then again flatten into a 6 inch disc with roller using whole wheat flour liberally to prevent them from sticking.
  • Heat skillet and transfer the spread dough into skillet carefully.
  • Cook the one side until you see bubbles on the top, brush with ghee
  • Flip the other side and cook for another minute. When paratha is done, you will see brown spots all over. Brush them with ghee on both sides once again.
  • Continue to make the paratha until you finish the entire dough. You will able to make 7 paratha from this recipe.
  • Serve them with spicy pickle or curry or your choice. I served with cauliflower curry.

Nutrition

Calories: 219kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 450mg | Potassium: 238mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 29IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

I am sending this delicious flat bread to my  favorite recipes event: daily recipes 

Simit: Turkish sesame ring bread

· 26 Comments

Delicious Simit : Turkish sesame seed ring bread great with cheese and olives. A famous street food.

 

This weekend came and went very fast as we had party at my hubby’s colleague’s house, it was Colombian food fare. I was curious to learn a few recipes from the party menu. Today is also 16th of September and yesterday 15th was the Baking partners challenge reveal date, I couldn’t finish the post. Yes for that this month it is Simit- Turkish sesame seed ring bread which I suggested. I fell in love with this immediately when saw them in a picture.
Simit is in fact a classic Turkish food; these sesame-encrusted bread rings is a popular snack. Simit for breakfast is with a cup of cay (tea), sliced cucumber, tomatoes, feta cheese and olives.

When comes to brunch or afternoon snack Simit is taken with cheese or simply plain. Turks likes savory accompaniments to Simit; you can also have them with some butter and jam. Their flavor and deeply satisfying texture are quite unique.
Simit is one of the favorite foods from Macedonia to Syria, Greece to Serbia or from Izmir to Istanbul or Ankara with a little difference and different names.

Simit in Istanbul has been prepared from 16th century as mentioned by historians. There were 70 Simit bakeries in Istanbul during 1630 mentioned by 17th century traveler Evliya Celebi. Read from here. In earlier days Simit sellers usually bought freshly prepared Simit from these bakeries and took them to different parts of the city to sell them there.


Simit are usually sold in small food cart by street vendors. They are made fresh every morning and afternoon. Nowadays, there are also Simit Houses opened all around the country, where you can enjoy Simit with various fillings; cheese, olive paste, sucuk (Turkish spicy sausages made from dried cured beef) in a small café or fast food restaurant set up. I think will visit Istanbul one day and enjoy warm freshly baked Simit.


Anyway for the time being, without any flight ticket, enjoy a batch of Simit which is freshly baked from your kitchen. These are chewy, sesame-crusted, braided ring bread that is sort of a mix between a pretzel and a bagel. It’s very simple dough to make, and is very easy to shape them. The dough is dipped in Pekmez, grape molasses, and then coated with sesame seeds.

I don’t have Pekmez in my hand so used molasses. If you want to taste authentic Simit then grab a bottle of pekmez from Middle Eastern or Turkish grocery stores, and it gives the dough a little sweetness that makes the flavors so distinctly Turkish.

Bake at 450 °F pre-heated ovens for 20-25 min or until brown.
Here comes the recipe. Give it try it will a new delicious breakfast dish, if you are bagel fan you will love it.

Mix , flour, yeast, sugar and salt 

Yeast dough is made 

After fermentation 

Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces 

With each dough ball make two rope like this 

Twist the rope like this 

Once you finished twisting pull both ends together to form and circle 

I used molassess if you find pomegranate molasses use that  for dipping simit 

White seasme seeds

Dip the dough into the molasses like this 

Coat them with  seasme seeds

Set aside for 20 minutes and then bake 450 F for 20-25 min. 

After baking 

 

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5 from 4 votes

Simit: Turkish sesame ring bread

Delicious Turkish sesame seeds ring bread great with cheese and olives.

Prep Time2 hours
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time2 hours 20 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: Turkish
Keyword: Simit
Servings: 6
Calories: 582.06kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 3.5 cups 325g Bread Flour or use unbleached all purpose flour
  • 1 cup + 2 tablespoon of Water
  • A pinch of sugar
  • 2 teaspoon 6g Instant yeast use active dry yeast if you don’t have instant yeast in hand
  • 1 ¼ teaspoon 6g Salt
  • 2 tablespoon Molasses use concentrated jaggery or brown sugar water
  • ½ cup Water
  • 2 cups white Sesame seeds

Instructions

  • If using active dry yeast, then dissolve yeast in 100 ml warm water and let it stand for 3 min.
  • In a bowl add flour, yeast, salt and pinch of sugar and mix well. Then gradually add water to form smooth dough, knead well about 10 minutes until the dough is no longer sticky.
  • Cover the dough and leave it in a warm place for 1.5 hours or until doubled in bulk.
  • Turn out the dough into a lightly floured surface and punch down. Knead for 2 min.
  • Divide it into 12 pieces (about 45g each) and shape them into long rolls.
  • Take two rolls and form a twisted rope like this
  • Then form this twisted rope into 15 cm ring by pressing and sealing the ends together
  • Dissolve the molasses in ½ cup water .
  • In a plate add sesame seeds.
  • Dip each ring in molasses water first, then in the sesame seeds.
  • Set aside for 20 minutes so that simit plumb up little
  • Bake them in 450 F pre-heated oven for 20-25 min or until brown.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 582.06kcal | Carbohydrates: 71.24g | Protein: 19.22g | Fat: 26.36g | Saturated Fat: 3.7g | Sodium: 499.06mg | Potassium: 442.72mg | Fiber: 8.73g | Sugar: 5.36g | Calcium: 512.11mg | Iron: 8.33mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

 

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No knead Rye and Whole Wheat Bread

· 16 Comments

I get excited when the bread loaf comes out of the oven comes as expected. I am crazy bread lover, and I get upset when my sourdough doesn’t want to work, means it is slow. Last week I borrowed a book from library, and wanted to try few bread from it, finally I tried this No knead rye - whole wheat bread.
My family is crazy about rye bread, and kids love them. I tried this bread inspired from Jim Lahey’s My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method. For the rye bread recipe he used only rye flour and bread flour; however I modified the recipe by including the whole wheat flour. Also he baked the final bread in a pot. I skipped that part and shaped and scored. I am still an infant learner in scoring the bread. Also I learned from my friends in Artisan bread groups, that when you dust the bread with rice flour, it won’t stick. It works as sand just glide through it. Yes they are absolutely correct, bread didn’t stick to the cloth in banneton (proofing basket).
Day before baking in the evening I made the dough with rye flour, bread flour and whole wheat, salt and yeast. For 3 cups of flour you need only ½ teaspoon of yeast. Add everything with water and form soft sticky dough. You don’t knead anything, just mix and forget about it until next morning. Keep everything at room temperature. Next morning, when you are ready for baking, shape the dough and proof it for about 2 hours.
During the end of second proof, preheat the oven at 475⁰F/250⁰C with pizza stone inside, if you want you use pot or skillet then put that and preheat. When you are ready for baking, score the bread. And using a pizza peel transfer the bread to oven. Immediately reduce the temperature to 450F/232C and bake the bread with steam (keep a roasting pan in the bottom of oven and add hot water, this will create steam) for 30 minutes or until when you tap the bread at the bottom it sounds hollow or bread registers an internal temperature of 200⁰F/94⁰C. Let the bread cool completely and cut. It has nice chewy crust and soft interior.
Enjoy with little nutella or jam they are really delicious, you can also make best sandwich with it, give it try, very easy to make.

Print
No knead Rye and Whole Wheat Bread

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 24 hours

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 24 hours, 30 minutes

Yield: 1

No knead Rye and Whole Wheat Bread

Delicious rye bread with wholewheat and bread flour, great sandwich bread.

Ingredients

  • 150 g/1 cup bread flour
  • 150g/1 cup (little less than) whole wheat flour
  • 100g/3/4 cup rye flour
  • 8g/ 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2g/1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 300g /1 ⅓ cups water( 55 to 65F)
  • Rice flour for dusting

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, salt, and yeast. Add the water

  2. and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds.

  3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours. (Note: When the weather is very cold a longer period may be necessary for the dough to double in size and for the bubbles to appear—as much as 24 hours).

  4. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece.

  5. Generously dust work space with flour. Fold the ends of the dough to form a batard,

  6. transfer to banneton make sure to line cover with rice flour with seem side up and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours.

  7. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. (If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression; if it springs back; let it rise for another 15 minutes.)
  8. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475F, with a rack in the lower third of the oven, and place a pizza stone in center of the rack. When you are ready to bake, transfer the proofed dough to pizza peel and score.

  9. Then carefully transfer bread into the pizza stone in the oven.
  10. Immediately reduce the temperature to 450F/232C and bake the bread with steam (keep a roasting pan in the bottom of oven and add hot water, this will create steam) for 30 minutes or until when you tap the bread at the bottom it sounds hollow or bread registers an internal temperature of 200F/94C.
  11. Note: The bread is best if eaten within 2 or 3 days of baking, and kept at room temperature, wrapped in wax or butcher paper, or in a paper bag (i.e. not plastic, which toughens bread and makes it rubbery).

Notes

This recipe is adapted fromhere

Copyright ©2014 Zesty South Indian Kitchen by Swathi(Ambujom Saraswathy) All Rights Reserved.

Seepu Murukku

· 22 Comments

Traditional chettinad gluten free snack Seepu Muruku made with rice and lentil flour it is delicious very good with coffee or tea.

I am feeling too lazy this week after the mega cooking for our festival Onam during this weekend. We survived with left over curries on Monday. I tried this Seepu Murukku during Krishna Jayanthi, but was not able to blog this at that time.


This Seepu Murukku /Seepu seedai is traditional Chettinad cuisine’s specialty. Chettinad is an area situated in the South-Eastern region of Tamil Nadu. Karaikudi and Devakottai are major towns of Sivaganga district of Chettinad area. Chettinad is also the homeland of the Nattukottai Chettiars (Nagarathar), a prosperous banking and business community. Chettinad is famous for its cuisine, palatial bungalows and temples if you want read more from here.


Chettinad cuisine is one of the spiciest and aromatic among Indian cooking. It is really pungent, tangy and hot and the major highlights is the freshly ground masala. They use unique spice mix read from this post.

 

Not only are they known for spicy cuisine, they are also known more making snacks and sweets. Some of the popular Chettinad snacks and sweets dishes are Kandarappam, Ukkarai, Pal Paniyaram, Thenkuzhal, Karupatti Paniyaram, Kavanarisi, and Seepu Seedai etc.

This Seepu Murukku /Seepu seedai is one of snacks that nowadays you can get in stores.

I remember dad used to buy occasionally buy it from stores. Since I have vague memories of taste I decide to try it in my kitchen.

Traditional Seepu Murukku is made with rice flour, mung beans powder and urad dal powder, salt and coconut milk. Everything is mixed together to form a soft smooth dough and then pressed it into thin strips using a mold.

Later 2 inch strips are joined together to form a ring using finger. When I describe the process it sounds tedious, trust me it is really easy. I used store bought rice flour. Only roasted and powdered urad dal and mung beans. Once you made few of rings, fry them in the medium oil. Fry until it is golden brown color.

It is really delicious, rice and mung bean, urad dal powder gives crispiness and coconut milk gives subtle taste. Only thing make sure that you need a mold to make this other you can with the help of new comb like here.

 

 

Give seepu murukku a try great snack for your evening tea
.

Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Seepu Murukku

Traditional chettinad gluten free snack made with rice and lentil flour it is delicious very good with coffee or tea.
Prep Time40 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time1 hour 20 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: fried snacks, seepu murukku
Servings: 12
Calories: 146kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 2 cup rice flour I used store bought
  • ¼ cup urad dal spilt black gram flour( roasted and powdered)
  • ¼ cup mung beans pasiparippu/cheruparippu (roasted and powdered)
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1 ½ cup coconut milk diluted ¾ cup coconut milk+¾cup water
  • Canola oil for frying

Instructions

  • First roast and powder the urad dal and mung beans in coffee grinder,
  • sieve one time to remove the big particles, and powder it once again.
  • Heat coconut milk with salt until it reaches just warm.switch off and set aside to cool.
  • In a bowl add rice flour, urad dal flour, mung beans powder,and mix well
  • then gradually add coconut milk to form a very smooth dough.
  • Using the seepu murukku mold
  • make long strips of dough first then cut it into 2 inch pieces.
  • Join each pieces into a ring using fingers, set aside until you make few.
  • Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan until it reaches 350F then fry these seepu murukku until it become golden brown color.

Nutrition

Calories: 146kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 216mg | Potassium: 74mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Sarkara varatti/ Sarkara Upperi : Sweet Plantain Chips

· 15 Comments

Sarkara varatti/ Sarkara uperi/Sweet plantain chips. Plantain chips coated with jaggery and spices. Heat from ground ginger goes well with sweet cardamom and savory cumin.

Sarkara varatti / Sarkara Upperi is one of the must have dishes in any sadya ( feast ) recipe of Kerala. Whether it is marriage, onam or any other functions where food is served on a banana leaf, then this sarkara varatti /sarkara upperi is a really must. I have been trying to perfect this dish for a long time, and after a third attempt failure I almost gave up. However I said I am going to try one more time, and I was able to conquer this recipe. Yes it is 4th time that I will finally succeed.
The first time, everything became so mushy and become blob, second time it doesn’t want to come out of that pan. I think both pan and sarkara varatti made an agreement together. Third time it was okay still plantain needs to fry little more. Finally on 4th time, I was able crack down the recipe. Make sure that plantain chips needs to be extra crispy. It should fry in the oil for about an hour in low flame. Then on the final step add little water to the oil to make it extra crisp. Once it completely cooled, then make jaggery (raw sugar) thick syrup and add sugar, then add spices like cardamom powder, cumin powder and mix well the fried plantain chips, make sure to coat each piece of plantain chips with jaggery. Then finally add ground ginger (chukka) also to make it extra flavor rich.
This is only one dish served throughout the entire Kerala for sadya. Only a few pieces are served on the extreme left tip of banana leaf along with a small banana and pappadam. Success of this recipe is that each and every pieces of plantain chips should coated with jaggery and also comes out as single pieces. I tried the recipe showed by famous chef Pazhayidom Mohanan Namboothiri in a YouTube video. He is really simple guy who makes awesome food. His  ratio is for every 1000g/1 kg of chips you need 600g  of jaggery.
Whenever my sarakara varatti episode dooms I buy from the store, one thing I don’t like is that it has expiry date of 2016. You will wonder how you can give that much expiry date. Yes most of Indian goodies give ridiculous expiry date. So this time I was in a mood to crack down the recipe. Finally able to do it successfully. So try this, trust me it won’t fail you. Experience is speaking here. For this onam why don’t you serve homemade fresh sarkara varatti. Here comes the recipe.

Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Sarkara Varatti/ Sarkara Upperi/ Sweet Plantain Chips

Delicious sweet plantain chips made with jaggery and spices. Must for sadya.

Prep Time2 hours
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time2 hours 30 minutes
Course: Snack
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: sarkara varaatti
Servings: 8
Calories: 227kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 4 plantains peeled washed and chopped into ½ inch thick pieces
  • ¾ cup/134.5 g Jaggery
  • ½ teaspoon cumin powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
  • ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 3 tablespoon sugar
  • 3 tablespoon water +½ teaspoon
  • 4 cup canola oil

Instructions

  • First wash and peel the skin of plantains and cut it into half then again cut each pieces into ½ inch pieces, dry them in a baking sheet for 10 minutes.
  • Heat oil in a deep bottom pan, when it reaches 375F reduce the flame and add plantain pieces.
  • Fry them in low flame for about 1 hours. At first you will hear very hissing voice then the voice reduces as plantains get fired. Make sure to fry very crisp. When you take one you need to snap it very easily.
  • Around 55 minutes add ½ teaspoon of water into the hot oil. When the hissing voice of oil subside take the plantain chips and drain them into the kitchen towel. Continue the process until you finish the entire plantain pieces fried.
  • Let cool the plantain chips for about 5 hours or more.
  • For every 1000g for fried plantain chips you need 600g jaggery.
  • When you are ready to make sarkara varatti, add jaggery and 3 tablespoon of water and heat, when jaggery melted, remove from the fire
  • and strain for impurities.
  • Bring back the jaggery water to boil again and until it reaches thick syrup (215 to 225F).
  • Add 1 tablespoon of sugar and mix well.
  • Then add cardamom powder and mix well.
  • Then add cumin powder and mix well .
  • Add fried plantain chips and coat jaggery mixture very well with each pieces.
  • Switch of the flame and then add ground ginger powder and mix well again.
  • Finally add two tablespoon of sugar and mix once again, you can see that each pieces comes out separately.
  • Enjoy as much you want.

Notes

This recipe is adapted from here

Nutrition

Calories: 227kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 4mg | Potassium: 447mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 1009IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Here is my Onam  Recipes collection.

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ഓണരുചി :Onam Recipes

· 11 Comments

തുമ്പ പൂവിന്റെ വെന്മയുളള നന്മ്മകൾ

ഓണനിലാവിന്റെ ചന്തമുള്ള സ്വപനങ്ങൾ

ഗ്രാമവിശുദ്ധിയുടെ സുഖമുള്ള ഓർമ്മകൾ

ഇവയെല്ലാം ചേർത്ത് ഒരുകി ഒരു ഓണകാലം കൂടി വരവായി

Wishing you all Happy and Prosperous Onam

Another onam is here, we are going to celebrate onam on September 7th Sunday. I am happy that it is coming on Sunday as hubby will be here and we can have a very nice ona sadya. I haven’t started any preparation yet. May from tomorrow I will start making.
Traditionally onam is celebrated 3 days in earlier days, onam onam ( first onam) rendam onam/ Thriuvonam( second onam) and moonam onam( 3rd onam) . Nowadays only second day onam is celebrated with enthusiasm. First thing usually make is pickles, sarakara varatti, I am still struggling perfect the recipe. May be this time I will have some luck. For onam, entire houses are cleaned and rangoli or flower art is made in the front of the house to welcome the king Mahabali and Trikkara appan. Legend is the King Mahabali who was pushed down to under the earth comes out and visit his disciples on Thiruvonam day. He is welcomed buy scrumptious vegetarian lunches with more than 20 dishes are served in particular order.
Even though onam celebrated in all over Kerala, the recipes vary from region to regions. Heat level and sourness increase as the recipe travels from North Kerala to south; once it reaches south it will be hotter. Thoran (stirfry) in south becomes varavu in north. Kozhikode palada pradhan and parippu pradhaman must. In south Trivandrum side, ada pradhaman is must. Curries too vary a lot still the sprit remains same that is fun of onam. I always get nostalgic when I think about onam. Here come my tested and tried recipes from my kitchen.

Yogurt Based curries
Moru curry /Yogurt Gravy
 

Mambazha pulissery/ Ripe mango in yogurt gravy

Ethapazha pulissery/Ripe plantain in yogurt gravy

Krukku Kalan/ Yogurt based raw banana coconut gravy

Vada Kootu curry

Mathanga Erissery/Pumpkin in coconut sauce

Olan

CCB thoran/CCB stirfry

Cabbage Thoran/Uppeari

Yard long beans Carrot stir fry

Vendakka thoran/ Okra stir fry

Ethakka chakkakuru Mezhukupuratti/Plantain Jackfruit seeds Stir fry

 

Pickles (Achar)

Manga achar/Mango pickle

Nelliaka achar/Indian gooseberry pickle

Naranga achar/ Lemon pickle

Pradhaman/ Sweet pudding

Kadala parippu prathaman/chana dal jaggery pudding

Semiya payasam/Vermiceli pudding

Chakka Pradhaman/chakka payasam/ Jackfruit preserve pudding

 

Ada pradhaman/ Rice flakes sweet pudding

 

Palpayasam: Milk rice pudding

Forbidden rice/Black rice pudding

Aval Payasam/ Flattened rice flake pudding

Pazham Padhaman/ Apple banana pudding

Banana Chips/Plantain Chips/Ethakka upperi chips

Karingali Vellam/ChukkuVellam/Dahashamani/Herbal Water

Sarakara varatti/ Sweet plantain chips( Recipe comes soon) .

Other Onam posts

Onam 2013
Onam 2012
Onam 2011
Onam 2010

Ensaimada: Coiled Treat

· 12 Comments

Delicious Ensaimada a spiral-shaped pastry made with sweet yeast dough and topped with powdered sugar. Served with Hot chocolate. 

 

 I made this ensaimada as my second recipe for daring baker’s challenge I hosted on August. I don’t want to make it a herculean post, so decide to spilt it into two recipes.

What is Ensaimada ? 
 Ensaimada  is  a Spanish bread from Mallorca, made from sweetened, yeast-risen dough, (like a sort of brioche) made in Spain, and in the Philippines. First dough is made with bread flour, sugar, eggs and yeast. Then after second proofing, the yeast dough is rolled out until extremely thin, butter is spread on one side and the dough is rolled into a rope and then shaped into a coil.

I made a plain ensaimada, but there is ensaimadas are made with a filling, usually they are filled with angel's hair (squash jam); custard cream, almond pure, ice-cream, chocolate and apricots.

If you have leftover ensaimada, then make bread pudding called 'greixonera' with the left over pieces of ensaimada.
Here comes the recipe.

How to make Ensaimada ?

Ingredients  

You need, flour, yeast, sugar, eggs to make the dough similar to brioche bread. Then it is spread with softend butter to form its characteristic shape of sprial. 

Once it is proofed then baked and serve with dusted powdered sugar. 

First you need to proof/ activate the yeast .

Yeast is is bloomed /activated now 

Egg , sugar and olive oil 

Flour, salt, yeast mixture . 

Dough  ready for fermentaiton 

Dough after fermentation. 

 Divide it into 4 equal pieces 

Each piece spread it into rectangle like this.

Add softend butter like this 

Spread them into the dough thinly.

Roll it into thin cylinder like this 

 

Make them into twist like this 

 

After second proof 

After baking 

Print Recipe
5 from 5 votes

Ensaimda: Coiled treat

Delicious yeast based bread pastry of Mallorca, Spain
Prep Time3 hours 15 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time3 hours 35 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Spanish
Keyword: Bread pastries, Ensaimda, Spanish recipes
Servings: 4
Calories: 608kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 2½ cups 10½ oz (300 gm) all-purpose (plain) flour
  • 2¼ teaspoons 1 packet (7 gm) active dry yeast OR 2 teaspoon instant yeast OR 14 gm (½ oz) fresh yeast
  • ½ cup 120 ml warm water
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ teaspoon 3 gm salt
  • ¼ cup 60 ml (2 oz) (60 gm) granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons 30 ml olive oil
  • 7 tablespoons 110 ml (3½ oz) (100 gm) butter, softened
  • Confectioners’ sugar/icing sugar/powdered sugar for dusting
  • Olive oil/canola oil for greasing bowl and work place.

Instructions

  • If you are using active dry yeast, add ½ teaspoon sugar add to lukewarm water and set aside for 5 minutes
  • Until it proofs (becomes foamy)
  • You can use the other yeast types directly with the flour
  • In a large bowl or bowl of kitchen aid mixer combine the sugar, egg and olive oil.
  • To this add flour, salt and yeast mixture.
  • Knead for 6 minutes if using kitchen aid mixer or 10 minutes by hand, until you get a soft and pliable dough.
  • Transfer the dough to a well greased bowl and covered with plastic wrap or covered with a cloth. Let rise for 2 hours or until the dough doubles in volume.
  • Degas your dough and divide into 4 equal parts and then shape into balls.
  • Lightly oil the work place and place a ball of dough, using a rolling pin roll out the ball into a long thin rectangle about 12x4 inch (30x10 cm) piece.
  • Divide your butter to 4 pieces. Place a butter portion on the rolled out dough and spread it into a thin layer.
  • Take pieces of dough between your fingers and try to gently stretch the dough to be even thinner and larger about 16x7 inches (40 x18 cm).
  • Roll the dough from the long end to into a tube.
  • Then roll the tube again into coil shape similar to a snail shell.
  • Make sure to keep the coil loose so that there is space in between the layers, this will help the dough to rise.
  • Repeat for the other three dough balls and butter portions.
  • Place the snails onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Slightly press the sides with your hand.
  • Cover the baking sheet with a clean cloth and let rise for 1 hour.
  • During the end of second rising, pre-heat oven to 180?C/350?F/Gas mark 4
  • Bake ensaimadas for about 15-20 minutes. Watch them closely during the end of baking time. They should be golden brown in color.
  • When baked immediately place the ensaimadas onto cooling racks sprinkle generously with powdered sugar/confectioner’s sugar.

Nutrition

Calories: 608kcal | Carbohydrates: 75g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 544mg | Potassium: 174mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 937IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

 

 

Vinayaka Chaturthi/Ganesh Chaturthi Recipes

· 10 Comments

This year’s Vinayaka Chaturthi/Ganesh Chaturthi, the Hindu festival dedicated to Lord Ganesha is on August 29th that is tomorrow. Lord Ganesh is the patron of arts and sciences, the deity of intellect and wisdom –and is identified by his elephant head. All over the India this festival is celebrated with wide enthusiasm. He is my favorite God, and trust me my house is full of his statues small and big. My mom used to make lot of sweets treats for Vinayaka Chaturthi.
After her marriage, she brought a small Ganesh idol from her home, and every day she did pooja with that idol until her death. Yes I inherited the trust and worship Lord Ganesha from her. The people from south Indian only do special Ganesh pooja on Vinyaka chaturthi days. However in Mumbai, Maharashtra, from where my hubby is from they worship Ganesh during this festival for 3, 5,7 or 10 days. On the first day they bring the idol with lots of fanfare to home. Even during the night somebody sits the whole night along with him. And on the 3 or 5 or 7 or 10th day they will immerse idol in water which is called Ganesha Visarjan.
Earlier, Ganpathi festival was celebrated in a traditional manner and was a private affair until 1893. It is Lokmanya Balagandhar Tilak (father of Indian national movement) who realized that Ganesh Festival would be a way of uniting people in a common cause and in this manner a possible means of bringing about political consciousness under the guise of a religious celebration, with freedom for India being the ultimate goal. In 1893 for the first time immersion procession was also taken out on the roads. Public organization of Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra was one of Tilak's strongest movements to evoke nationalism, through religious passions, and inspired feelings of Hindu unity in the state. He was the first person to install large idols of Ganesha in pavilions and he was the one who established the practice of submerging all the public images on the tenth day of the festival. Ganesh Chaturthi soon started seeing community participation and involvement in the form of cultural events. It also served as a meeting point for common people of all castes and communities, at a time when social and political gatherings were forbidden by the British Rule.
My second visit to Mumbai after marriage was during the Ganpathi festival. Both I and my mother-in-law went around the Ganesh panthal (pavilion) near our apartment at the time of arthi (pooja). I learned lot recipes which are offered to the God during my trip, such peda in the form of modak, sheera, Ukadiche modak. My Mom used to make sweet kozhukattai (steamed dumplings stuffed with sweetened moong beans filling). The fried version of it is called Sugiyan. Unniyappam is another offering to the God in Kottarkara Ganapthi temple.
I never tried savory version of offering for the Lord Ganapathi, may be this time. These are my collection of Vinayaka chathurthi recipes.

 Sweet Kozhukattai/Rice dumpling with moong dal filling

Ukadiche Modak/Steamed rice filling with coconut

Peda/Milk based Sweet

Sheera/Semolina pudding

Sukiyan/Sukiygan fried moong dal sweet

Unniyappam

 

Chimney Cake/Kürtőskalács

· 24 Comments

Chimney Cake/Kürtőskalács is a spit cake made with yeast dough (raised dough), wrapped around baking spit, and rolled in granulated sugar. <img src="Chimney cake.jpg" alt="Chimney Cake/Kürtőskalács is a spit cake">

I saw an oven for the first time when I was in Sweden, my mom had never baked a single thing. I thus grew up in a house where baking was an unknown art. The first real thing I baked was banana bread with help of one of our family friend. Because hubby loves banana bread, I ventured into baking bread; and my first bread was a brick, very thick, and not edible. After years of doing very mistake possible and rectifying them the yeast and me are friends, we like each others companion. I thus joined “Daring Bakers Challenge” in 2009. It has helped me to learn lot of new dishes and techniques. Today I am proud to host this month “Daring Bakers Challenge”, and for this I choose two recipes, chimney cake or Kürtőskalács, other is Ensaimda.

<img src="Chimney cake.jpg" alt="Chimney Cake/Kürtőskalács is a spit cake">

Since I have learned something from every challenge, I wanted to try a traditional recipes but one new for the challenge. So when I came across this  Kürtőskalács aka chimney cake, a traditional Hungarian wedding pastry, I got hooked. Some of you may have memories associated with this pastry as it is one of the most traditional as well as important street foods in Eastern European countries. In the small villages of Hungarian-speaking regions in Romania, more predominantly the Székely land, Romania, families prepare this delicious pastry for every special occasion (weddings, christenings) the way they learned it from previous generations. Grandmothers wake up in the early morning to knead the fresh yeast dough and fire up the brick oven at the back of the house. By the time the wood is smoldering, the dough is ready to be wrapped around a wooden cylinder, rolled into sugar and slowly baked on the fire. Traditionally it is made on a grill or brick oven; nowadays it is made in electric oven.

Another coiled treat is the famous Spanish coiled breakfast pastry Ensaimda, a pastry from Majorca, Spain. Even though the traditional recipe uses lard, I used butter here without a filling. First yeast dough is rolled out until extremely thin, butter is spread on one side and the dough is rolled into a rope and then shaped into a coil.
Both are brioche kind of yeast dough made it into a sweetened treat. I think I will write about Ensaimda as separate post otherwise this post is going to be huge one. Chimney cake or Kürtőskalács is famous street food as well as common pastry made in the backyard grill. Since I don’t have grill in my hand, I used both baked and roasted version of chimney cake, both turned out be delicious. My kids enjoyed a lot. I used my only one rolling pin which I have it my hand to make chimney cake, if you want you can make wooden spit here is link to make it by yourself. I tried twice and both time it worked like a charm. So don’t worry about putting your rolling pin in the oven.

Here comes the recipe

Yeast

After proofing

Adding flour

 

Mixing

Smoothie dough ready for fermentation

 

Roller and foil

Wrap like this

brush with butter

Shape the dough into rectangle

Cut out thin strips like this

Wrap around prepared rolling pin

tightly spread to make it tight

 

Brush again with butter

roll it in sugar

Bake

After baking

Tap like this to remove from the foil

Print Recipe
5 from 73 votes

Chimney Cake/Kürtskalács

Delicious chimney cake an sweet yeast dough coated with sugar.
Prep Time1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time1 hour 35 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Hungarian
Keyword: Pastry
Servings: 4
Calories: 356kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1¾ cups 8½ oz (240 gm) all-purpose (plain) flour
  • 2¼ teaspoons 1 packet (7 gm) active dry yeast OR 2 teaspoons instant yeast OR 14 gm (½ oz) fresh yeast
  • 2 tablespoons 1 oz(30 gm) sugar
  • ⅛ teaspoon ¾ gm salt
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons 1½ oz (45 gm) melted butter
  • ½ cup 120 ml milk, lukewarm temperature
  • For brushing the rolling pin
  • melted butter
  • sugar
  • For the topping:
  • Approximately ½ cup 3½ oz (100gm) sugar
  • For walnut sugar topping
  • About 1 cup 4 oz (115 gm) ground walnuts, mixed with about ½ cup (3½ oz) (100 gm) sugar
  • 2 teaspoons 10 ml (¼ oz) (6 gm) cinnamon

Instructions

  • If you are using active dry yeast, add ½ teaspoon sugar to lukewarm milk and set aside for 5-10 minutes until it proofs (becomes foamy).
  • After proofing
  • You can use the other yeast types directly along with the flour.
  • In a large bowl combine, flour, sugar and salt. To this add egg, milk, melted butter, and yeast Stir the mixture until it comes together to form a dough, and then knead for about five minutes.
  • It will be sticky. Don’t be tempted to add any flour. Grease your hand if needed.
  • Transfer to a well greased container
  • Allow the dough to rise for 60 minutes at room temperature until doubled in volume
  • Prepare the rolling pins by covering them with aluminum foil, do at least two or three layers, to protect the pins from burning in the oven.
  • Like pictures above
  • Make sure to cover the rolling pins very well. Brush them with melted butter.
  • The risen dough after 60 minutes.
  • Punch down the dough and divide into 4 equal parts about 4 oz (115 gm) of each.
  • On a well floured surface spread one portion of the dough
  • Shape into ⅙ inch (4 mm) thick square-shaped sheet.
  • Using a pizza cutter cut the dough into a long ribbons of about ½ inch (13 mm) wide.
  • Wrap one end of the dough strip around the spit/rolling pin, tucking in the end so the dough doesn’t unwind.
  • Keep the dough very thin (under ¼ inch (6 mm)) as you stretch and wind it on the rolling pun. Then roll the whole thing slightly on the counter top to flatten it/press it together.
  • Brush with melted butter
  • Roll in sugar
  • Place in roasting pan and bake in a preheated moderately hot oven 375°F/190?C/gas mark 5 for 25 minutes.
  • If using roast function (375 F/190 C) in the oven it will take about 20 minutes.
  • If you are grilling (broiling) over the fire cooking time is about six minutes, until it starts to take on a dark golden color. Turn the rolling pin at once least once (or more) throughout baking time to ensure uniform cooking.
  • When cake is done roll it in sugar again
  • If you are using other toppings brush more butter, then roll the finished cake in the toppings of your choice.
  • Tap the mold on a table top to release the cake and set it up right to cool.
  • It will release easily like this

Notes

Notes
This recipe is adpated fromJoe Pastry

Nutrition

Calories: 356kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 181mg | Potassium: 178mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 371IU | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Lemon Rice

· 16 Comments

Delicious Lemon flavored rice made with  cooked with left over cooked rice. Spiced up with green chilies and ginger. 

lemon rice

We love rice, since it is the main staple that I had while growing up. I think I am fine if I can get a bowl of rice for my lunch. Dinner without rice was fine. Amma made normal rice everyday and lemon rice occasionally. After I went to Japan to continue my studies in the first few days I don’t know how I survived, eating salad more often. Then one day I discover there is onigiri, which is a rice ball stuffed with veggies or pickle, or fish and covered with crispy roasted sea weed.It was my real savior during my stay there. The taste still lingers in my taste buds.

lemon rice

When started making lunch by myself, making curries was a daunting process for me. During the weekend I would make a few curries and keep it for Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday onwards, I made mixed vegetable rice, lemon rice, curd rice etc for packing my lunch. If you are staying alone and working from morning to late night, these one pot meals always comes in handy. At that time I had a very few spices in my collection, so I made rice with whatever I had. Now I have an entire cabinet dedicated to spices, I don’t think even my mom had a so much collection of spices.

lemon rice
I pack lunchbox for hubby with spinach rice, mixed vegetable rice, tamarind rice etc. He is not much fan of lemon rice so I rarely make it but I love it a lot. It is really easy to make, if you have cooked rice in your hand. Make a seasoning with mustard seeds, urad dal (spilt black gram), chana dal (spilt chickpeas), cashew nuts, red chili or green chili, salt, lemon juice and gingerly oil. Yes gingerly oil is a must; it brings out the flavor of the rice. Do you know there is a recipe of lemon rice by Mark Bittman in Epicurious, however he used butter? I think butter will not do justice to the recipe that gingerly oil does.

If you want to jazz your left over rice or even try with fresh rice, this is really easy to make dish. Only 5 minutes to spent in the kitchen to get this delicious one pot meal, and it goes well with any soup or chips.

Here comes the recipe.

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5 from 1 vote

Lemon Rice

Delicious tangy rice is a great one pot meal too.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: #lemonrice
Servings: 4 serving
Calories: 431kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 cup cooked rice use sona masoori, long grain rice
  • ½ lemon
  • 1 tablespoon gingerly oil
  • ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon urad dal split black gram
  • ½ tablespoon chana dal split chickpeas
  • 3 tablespoon cashews I used roasted salted one
  • 1 green chili chopped finely
  • a pinch of asafeotida
  • 1 inch ginger piece chopped finely
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste

Instructions

  • Once you made cooked rice.
  • In a skillet heat oil, add mustard seeds when it starts popping add urad dal, chana dal ( if using), green chili, ginger. turmeric. asafeotida, and curry leaves, After switching off the flame add lemon juice and salt. Also add roasted cashew nuts.
  • To this add cooked rice and mix every thing very well. enjoy with chips and curry.

Nutrition

Calories: 431kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 625mg | Potassium: 175mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Back to school Healthy Snacks with Del Monte

· 6 Comments

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Del Monte, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #DelMonteBTS  http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

 

As you all know, my princess started her school last Monday and my prince is going to start his preschool on September 2nd. I am excited and scared at the same page. It is a new school for her and she has to make the adjustments. She is a really picky eater but likes fruits and vegetables a lot. Since her school time is from 8.30 AM to 3.30 PM packing her lunch box and snacks is really challenging. It was really head pinching job for me. I wanted a back to school healthy snacks, and while grocery shopping in the Wal-Mart I found the Del Monte’s Fruit Burst Squeezers and Fruit cups (mango slices). They are really helpful.
During summer her breakfast was strawberry and whipped cream or blueberry whippped cream. If not then it was smoothie made with berries. Now she has to wake up around 7.00 in the morning, brush the teeth, and have a breakfast mostly a cup of milk and slice of bread then get ready for school. I drop her at school around 8.15. She will have snack time around 10.00 A.M and lunch around 12.00 P.M. For snack I pack some fruit snacks, pineapple, grapes or crackers or fruit burst squeezers or fruit cups. She like the strawberry Fruit burst squeezers a lot, no wonder she loves strawberries. I too am happy that it has no sugar added. We always purchase tomato ketchup without high fructose corn syrup. Also I give her apple juice only once a day as it has sugar in it. I make the Ice-cream and cookies at home as I am afraid of sugar content in the store bought ones.

After school I pick her up around 3.35P.M. While in the car I ask her what have you studied today. Did you eat rice and soup, fruits, crackers or drink fruit burst squeezers? One good thing is that my daughter always says yes to everything. May be thinking that mama is driving so don’t give her any troubles. But real picture you get only after coming home and opening her lunch box. Some days when she finishes everything I am really happy. Otherwise when I ask her why you didn’t eat it? Her answer will be simply I don’t like it. Now I realize the pain which my mom used to take me to pack the lunch boxes for me.


During my childhood, we two sister will be coming back from the school so hungry like little tigers; that is what my mom used to say. After coming home, our next job is to check all the kitchen cabinets for goodies to eat. She usually makes something to eat and keep it in the kitchen counter; if not we will be scanning the entire boxes where she used to keep cookies, little desserts, fruits etc. After that initial search and find, we will be happy to fill our little stomach. Then after doing homework it is time for my dad to come back from work, and he also buys goodies for us. Once he came home, we will check his backpack. Even now we expect something when he goes out. Now his grandkids are doing our job, it becomes a family tradition.


Mom always made sure we eat some rice or wheat and lentils for our lunch and dinner; I don’t think she knew about the classification of food into carbohydrate and protein at that time. But actually it was a mix of carbohydrates and protein in our meal. Now I am trying to include carbohydrates and protein in their meal, in the form of flatbread, whole wheat bread, pasta, rice and lentils, eggs or fish. Kids like egg white, they are not found of yolk they have spicy taste buds eat spicy curries with eggs. My princess likes the salad made by her papa. He makes salad with carrot, lettuce and bell pepper. If you have raspberry vinaigrette or roasted bell pepper vinaigrette she will eat without any problems. However little guy eats single ingredient salad that with red bell pepper only.

Every night I ask her what you want tomorrow. She may say rice and soup or bread with peanut butter, pineapple, blueberries or grapes or crackers and cheese. I include Del Monte fruit burst squeezers or fruit cups too depending upon her menu suggestion. History repeats and I am amazed. When mom asks what you want for lunch we suggest certain things. Every time when she tells me I get flashback of memories.
Here is her one day of school lunch box with snack and lunch.


Next time when you shop at Wal-Mart, check there is there a free back to school photo offer from the Wal-Mart Print Shop. For this you need to bring in a photo (no copyrighted photos, like school pictures, will be eligible for the free print) of your kid(s) or you can upload and use one from your phone or SD card while in store. The Walmart Print Shop will then make your picture into a 5”x7” print with a Back to School border. Your actual picture will be 4”x6”. When you receive your picture after it is printed you should receive a coupon for $1 off Del Monte products in the photo envelope. This is for the purchase of (2) Del Monte 4-pack Fruit Cups or (2) Fruit Burst Squeezers (again offer is available from 8/1 to 9/13 while supplies last). This offer is running at SELECT Walmart Super Store

 

Vathal kuzhambu: Spicy Tamarind Gravy with Turkey Berry

· 10 Comments

Delicious Vathal kuzhambu: Spicy Tamarind Gravy with Turkey Berry made with dried turkey berries (sundakai vathal) and shallots.

Vathal kuzhambu: Spicy Tamarind Gravy with Turkey Berry with rice and water

 

It is hard to forget dishes that you liked, whiling growing up. I have a few in my list, even though I may not make those very often, but the taste of these dishes lingers in my taste buds now and then. But once in a while I get a carving for one of those dishes and then decide to experiment it in my kitchen. Yes this Vathal kuzhambu is one of the gravy that my grandma used to prepare very often. I liked everything she cooked, especially dosa the breakfast crepe which is most favorite after the Indian sweets she makes.
In Southern part of India, when there is abundance of certain fruits and berries, they process it (washed, cleaned raw fruit or berries are coated with salt and yogurt ) and is dried in the sun for long time preservation along with pickling. This process is called Vathal making.

Usually it is made with raw mango, ( manga vathal), Turkey berry/pea eggplant (Sundakai Vathal)and Black night shade (Manathakkali Vathal). I have some stock of Sundakai Vathal (Turkey berry) in hand which my dad bought for me when I visited him in Kerala, India about more 5 years ago. I fry them occasionally and I some more left till now. It has a bitter taste which you need to be acquired. My kids stay away from it.

Vathal kuzhambu: Spicy Tamarind Gravy with Turkey Berry curry
While checking on Google I came to know that Turkey berry (Solanum torvum) is native of West Indies, and got distributed to Florida, Southern Alabama, Jamaica, Mexico, Brazil and Asia and Africa over the decades. They are used in Thai, Jamaican, Ghana and Indian cuisine. We make curries with both fresh and dried berries.

I am going to hunt recipes with turkey berries in international cuisine. Here in US it is considered as an invasive species. Turkey berries are known to have health benefits too; they are rich in Iron used to treat for anemia (Fe 4.6 mg/ 100g of edible fruits) in Indian folk medicine. Also its leaves are dried and powdered and given to diabetic patients.

Back home grandma used to make vathal kuzhambu with both fresh as well as dried turkey berries. We used to have turkey berries in our backyard garden. Grandma as a cook did not like any pre-made powder for curries, and loved to start everything from scratch. So I too made this Sundakkai vathal kuzhambu with freshly grounded spice powder.

 

Some use sambar powder to make Vathal kuzhambu, according to grandma it is not real version of this curry. Normally this curry is served with fire roasted appalam. Trust me it is a tasty and simple lunch.
Curry is very easy to make, first make the spice powder, lightly fry the small onions, then add tamarind juice and fry the dried turkey berries. Finally mix everything together; tangy spicy curry is ready. I added small onions along with turkey berries, thinking that the bitterness of turkey berry make not appeal my little ones. In the end my little ones also enjoyed it. We both hubby and wife loved it a lot.

Vathal kuzhambu: Spicy Tamarind Gravy with Turkey Berry

 

 

To make Vathal kuzhambu  you need to make spice powder 

Fry the whole spices like this 

vathal kuzhambu spice powder

 

fried vathal kuzambu spices

Vathal kuzhambu powder

Vathal kuzhambu powder

Extract the tamarind juice

Tamarind juice

Fry the Turkey berries 

Turkey berries getting fried fried turkey berries

Then make the curry by heating oil. 

oil getting heated

 Add mustard seeds. When mustard starts splattering, add chana dal(kadalaparippu) and asafoetida.

mustard seeds, chana dal,

Then add Vathal Kuzhambu powder .

Vathal kuzhambu spice powder Vathal kuzhambu: spice powder getting fried

Small onion and curry leaves 

small onions and curry leaves

Then fry the onion along with spice powder.

Vathal kuzhambu: Spicy Tamarind Gravy with Turkey Berry curry

Add tamarind water and salt and cook Finally add fried turkey berries and cook once again. 

Vathal kuzhambu: Spicy Tamarind Gravy with Turkey Berry getting cooked

Vathal kuzhambu: Spicy Tamarind Gravy with Turkey Berry curry

More curry recipes 

Menthyam Molaga Arachuvitta kozhambu

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5 from 2 votes

Vathal kuzhambu: Spicy Tamarind Gravy with Turkey Berry

Delicious Vathal kuzhambu: Spicy Tamarind Gravy with Turkey Berry made with dried turkey berries (sundakai vathal) and shallots.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: Turkey berry recipes, Vathal Kuzhambu
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 625kcal

Ingredients

  • For Vathal Kuzhambu spice powder
  • 4 Red chili Increase if you want more spicy around 2 more
  • 2 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • 2 tablespoon toor dal/ sambhar parippu/ spilt pigeon peas
  • ½ teaspoon of cumin seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon urad dal/ split black gram
  • 5 curry leaves
  • A pinch of mustard seeds 5 to 6 seeds
  • For curry
  • 21 shallots/small onions peeled
  • 4 tablespoon Sundakkai vathal dried turkey berry
  • 2 teaspoon kadala parippu/ Bengal gram
  • ¼ teaspoon mustard
  • 10 curry leaves
  • ⅛ teaspoon Asafetoida
  • ¼ teaspoon Jaggery
  • 3 tablespoon of gingerly oil
  • ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder
  • Lemon sized tamarind
  • ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
  • ½ cup water

Instructions

  • Dry roast and grind the ingredients for vathal kuzhambu masala/ spice powder: Dry Chili, pepper, cumin seeds, Coriander seeds, Toor dal, mustard seeds, Urad Dal and fenugreek seeds one by one. Keep it aside.
  • Extract tamarind juice using ¼ cup warm water and set aside.
  • Fry the sundakkai vathal in a 3 tablespoon of oil and set aside.
  • In pan heat the 2 tablespoon oil then mustard seeds. When mustard starts splattering, add chana dal(kadalaparippu) and asafoetida.
  • To this add spice powder and fry for 2 minutes.
  • Then add shallots or small onions and curry leaves
  • and fry for about 6-7 minutes or until it become translucent.
  • Add tamarind juice along with ¼ cup water.
  • Then add turmeric, Jaggery, salt and bring to boil to this add fried sundakkai (turkey berry)
  • vathal cook for 4 more minutes or until gravy reach the consistency you want.
  • Finally add rest of Gingerly Oil on top.
  • Serve with boiled rice and applam

Notes

You can make Vathal Kuzhambu Vegetables like Pumpkin, Ladys finger, drum stick or Vathals like Manathakkali Vathal, Sundakkai Vathal, Pooshanikkai Vathal, Kothavarangai Vathal, etc

Nutrition

Calories: 625kcal | Carbohydrates: 135g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1295mg | Potassium: 2504mg | Fiber: 28g | Sugar: 53g | Vitamin A: 2347IU | Vitamin C: 602mg | Calcium: 365mg | Iron: 12mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

 

Neem Leaves Water For Eczema

· 3 Comments

If you watch the advertisement of medicine for diabetics, stroke, and nebulizer or name any disease, you will be scared to death hearing the side effects. Some ads even say continuous bleeding and death can occurs. I asked hubby if we know that after eating this drug we can die then why are we even taking it. My poor hubby had to take some Aleve for his foot pain Plantar Fasciitis, and end up getting severe stomach upset and bloating for more than a week. Once he stopped taking aleve he got better. I am also tired of seeing the advertisements of hospitals and always feel that if you are sick, you will automatically find a hospital for treatment. There is no need of these advertisements. They can utilize that money to help patients by reducing the fees. When I was in hospital for the birth of my princess they gave me Tylenol and charged me 9 dollars for single dose medicine. If I have prescription I can go out and buy them at $4 dollars in a Wal-Mart for 30 day supply.
At this time I feel the importance of Ayurveda, yes it is natural medicine and a very ancient form of Indian medicine. The good thing is that you are not going to get any side effects, even though It may take some time to cure. I am ayurvedic medicine enthusiast, so I try to make home remedies like Bale fruit tea, shatavari milk and Neem water.I was born and brought in place where Ayurveda is still practiced to date. If you have chronic pain, it is good to try to Ayurvedic medicines. These medicines are made with natural elements, leaves, roots, barks of trees, juice of fruits etc.
My son was born with severe eczema, poor guy never slept a day without scratching all over, he doesn’t like any prescription medication, may be it giving him a burning sensation. If I try to apply the creams, he starts crying at his highest volume and says ‘NO Mama, NO Mama’. Even he doesn’t like over the counter medication. While talking to my dad, he told me if you can get neem try to giving him a bath with water boiled with neem leaves. He told me neem leaves have medicinal properties; it is used as bed for people suffer from chicken pox.
It is believed Goddess of the chickenpox, Sithala lives in the Neem tree. Its flowers are used to cure intestinal problems. Neem bark acts as an analgesic and can cure high fever from malaria. It is believed that the Neem leaves can even cure  certain diseases. In India the small pieces of the branches is also used to brush the teeth.

For the last 10 days I have been giving my son a bath with water boiled with Neem leaves, before going to bed every day.  And the neem water bath is giving my son some comfort along with the application of almond oil. The last one week he has been able to sleep through the night.

I make neem water  by boiling 5 quarts ( about 4.7 Liters) of water, then add 1 teaspoon of dried neem leaves powder. Let it boil for another 5 minutes by that time water turns into brown color.  Then this boiled water is diluted with cold water to get to a comfortable temperature for my son to take body bath.  I made dried neem leaves powder by grinding dried  neem leaves in coffee grinder. Make sure to wash your coffee grinder thoroughly,  otherwise your morning coffee going  to be extra bitter.

To be able to get leaves all season, I bought a small neem plant from nursery, first year it needs to be in the pot due to harsh winter. Next year onwards I can put it in soil, where I hope that it will grow  to a big tree.

For Eczema, there are not many  medicines available  other  than steroid cream containing 1% hydrocortizone.  I am happy that  this  neem water is natural it doesn't have any harmful side effects. If it can help why can't we use it.

If you are looking for dried neem leaves you can buy from  Vitacost. com

Organic Neem Leaves (whole) - 16 oz

 I received the product from Vitacost. However All opinions are mine.

This information is only for educational purposes, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please consult with a physician for further details.

Blueberry Raspberry Pomegranate Smoothie: Improves Brain Power

· 22 Comments

Delicious Blueberry raspberry pomegranate smoothie sugar free and rich in flavanoids  known to improve the  brain power. 

.

Sometimes we eat junk food even though we are health freak on other times. I do that too and at if and occasionally eat Mac Donald’s French fries and cappuccino but always try to include healthy ingredients while cooking and baking. While pregnant with both my kids my carving was French fries. And maybe that is the reason my kids are a big fan of Mac Donald. I look at the ads for McCafe’ blueberry pomegranate smoothie at the entrance, every time I shop at the Wal-Mart. if possible then occasionally east Mac Donald’s French fries and cappuccino. I never overcame by fear of the sugar dose to buy them, finally to satisfy my craving I made blueberry raspberry pomegranate smoothie in my kitchen.


McCafe’ blueberry pomegranate smoothie ads say that it made with combination of blueberries and raspberries and a splash of pomegranate juice blended with ice and creamy low-fat yogurt. Inspired by this ad I created my own blueberry raspberry pomegranate smoothie with 2 % low fat yogurt. While reading the sugar amount of McCafe’ blueberry pomegranate smoothie, it about 44g sugars in 12 fl oz (small) which is little less than ¼ cup of sugar. I am not going to buy it for sure.


I get fresh sweet blueberries from Sam’s club and a packet of raspberry at a relative cheap price of $1.98. And for pomegranate juice, I got the POM pomegranate juice. I made the juice by blending all the 3 ingredients together in my blender and didn’t add any sugar. The juice was incredibly tasty and everybody at home liked it. As my blood sugars numbers + also creeping nowadays, for my princess added little sugar. It is really delicious.


All berries like blueberries, raspberries are known to improve the brain health because of their phenolic compounds including anthocyanins, a specific class of flavanoids. The flavonoids in berries activate an enzyme in the body called Enos which increases the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain. It helps keep the brain active in the later part of the day, if you had a bowl of berries in morning. Read from here. Then the pomegranate which is also rich in antioxidants is known to improve the brain function read from here. Thus I made a brain power enhancing smoothie. Try it for yourself without adding sugar; if you want you can add sugar supplements, I am not a fan of it.

 


Here comes the recipe.

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Blueberry Raspberry Pomegranate Smoothie: Improves Brain Power

Delicious blueberry raspberry pomegranate smoothie made with homemade yogurt.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: #brainpowderimproving, Smoothie
Servings: 2
Calories: 155kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries
  • ¾ cup fresh or frozen Raspberries
  • ¾ cup yogurt homemade with 2% fat milk
  • ½ cup pomegranate juice I used POM
  • Ice

Instructions

  • In blender process everything until it become smooth consistency.
  • I didn't add any sugar or sugar supplements if you want add the while you processing the smoothie.

Nutrition

Calories: 155kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 49mg | Potassium: 401mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 131IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 129mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

 

Back to School Teacher’s Gift

· 12 Comments

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Office Depot, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #inspirestudents http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

My little Princess is starting her Kindergarten today, she is going to a new school. Only this weekend we finish our shopping for the school. I thought I would give a gift to her Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Johnson. We had gone to meet her on this Thursday for the first parent - teacher’s meet. She told us that she has 19 years of teaching experience in teaching kindergarteners.

In fact this was the second time we had met Mrs. Johnson, the first time was a few months ago, we had gone to the school seeking admission. Thinking about her, I started buying back to school teacher’s gift on a trip to Office Depot last Monday.


We both husband and wife are excited as well as scared as our little girl is starting her first step in her life. When I started my school mom came to drop me. She waited on the school campus the whole morning thinking that I am going to cry. If I cry she can come and pacify me as she is nearby. Luckily I didn’t cry on that day. A few of my classmates were crying at their highest volume. Every school year Appa would buys new clothes, and an umbrella, as every time the school opens in June there will be raining as it is monsoon in Kerala, India. It was really fun to going to school with new dress and get wet in the rain. Now we are the parents buying clothes, books, crayons, ruler, pencils, erasers etc for our kids. She wants Hello kitty backpack and lunch box. My little guy got spider man backpack and lunch box. He is going to starts his pre-school from 2nd of September.
I always think teacher’s can inspire the kids; yes they can influence the kids a lot. I learned the alphabets from our family friend who is a teacher. Still I remember him and respect him, and the last time I visited Kerala, I met him in person. Then I have another teacher in Bachelor Science who inspired me to take science as my major very seriously. I was little upset as not getting into school of medicine, and I was not paying attention to zoology major which I took at that time. She told me think everybody only become doctors, then who would be there to study the rest of science. You need to concentrate on the studies if you want to make a career out of it. Because of her I studied well and got into Master of Science. Then during my MS days I met another teacher Dr. Radhakrishnan and was amazed to see his talent. He is an expert in fish parasitology, and trust me he has a way to make even a boring subject enthralling, and to make sure we understood the basics. He makes the class interesting with his little sub stories, and students would look forward to his class every day. He influenced me to study further and to get my PhD in Microbiology.
When I become teacher, I tried to include his methods of teaching into my style. One of my students in Utah State Valley University told me he likes my class and asked me if I was going to teach the next year. I told him ‘no’ as we are planning to move to Houston, Texas.

I hope that Mrs. Johnson will be one of the teachers who will inspire my little princess to succeed in her life. I want my little princess to learn the right from wrong, to be compassionate, to always be kind to other, to work hard to succeed, and to truly believe in herself.

As a token of love from us we bought “Back to School” teacher’s gift, which include a pack of Sharpie as a teacher need most, two pack of pens (uniball and Papermate). I like paper mate’s ink joy pen love it. One day I was getting my kids into our car to go to my daughter’s preschool, a guy stopped at my door and gave me a sample of pen Papermate’s Ink Joy. Little curious at first and start writing with it, trust me I fell in love with them.

Among the gift is also a ruler that most teachers need to teach kids about measurement. Along with this, I included Post- it stickers which come in handy when ever we need to make notes. A reusable coffee-to-go-mug as caffeine is well needed for handling these high energy kindergarteners. And a small Sterilite Storage Crate which will be helpful to store small thing. I put all the items in small storage crate and tie with gift wrap. I also include a thank you card signed by my daughter. In our Indian customs, we start the entire good thing with sweets and so included some Kit-Kat also. Hope she will like the gifts items.

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Krishna jayanthi Recipes

· 6 Comments

Krishna jayanthi or Krishna Janmashtami is tomorrow this year, August 17th. It is celebrated as birth of Lord Krishna; and we make lots of recipes for Krishna jayanthi. When my daughter asked while taking a picture of Lord Krishna, why mama are you taking picture I told her tomorrow is Lord’s Krishna’s birthday. She asked whether there is any cake cutting. I told her no, but we make lot of other recipes for Krishna jayanthi.
Amma makes everything from the morning and then goes to temple and she does the puja at home around 12.00.A.M. According to myth, Lord Krishna was born at that time; I can’t wait that long so I will do the offering late in evening.
These are the Krishna jayanthi/Krishna janmashtami recipes also some butter.

Thattai

 Aval Varatiyathu


Mullu Murruku


Unniappam/Unniyappam


Uppu Seedai

Vellai Seedai

Aval Payasam

 

Plantain Jalousie with Homemade Puff Pastry

· 16 Comments

Welcome to another “Baking Partners Challenge”, this month we are deciding to make homemade puff pastry. I was searching for a new recipe to try with puff pastry as I have tried vegetable puffs already. Earlier plan of mine was to make Danish pastry, but then came to know that it requires a yeasted puff pastry just like croissants. So skipped that idea and decide to make this Plantain Jalousie with homemade puff pastry.
This month challenge was suggested by Sangeeta Priya of Nitha’s kitchen; she made homemade puff pastry without yeast. I have earlier tried making puff pastries with yeast; I have made croissants, pain au chocolate and cronuts. So I decided to try puff pastry without yeast for first time. Next in my list is rough puff pastry, but that may not be in the near future as it has tons of butter in it.
As any other puff pastry you need to first make the dough and then incorporate butter , fold and turn several times to get layers of puff pastry. All puff pastry making procedure is same when comes to folding and turning the dough, more you fold and turn more you get the layers. Once puff pastry is made next step is to make a dish with puff pastry. I decided to settle on Jalousie, which is a fusion of a turnover and a strudel. If you don’t know what a jalousie is, it is two rectangles of puff pastry with a fresh fruit filling in-between; the edges of the pastry are pinched together or crimped with a fork. Before baking, slits (“slats”) are cut into the top crust that allow it to steam and also create a glimpse at the attractive filling between the slats.

One thing to make sure with this pastry is the fruit filling shouldn’t be very juicy or the bottom crust will become soggy. The solution is to precook the fruits and reduce their juices. The filling can be made and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to two days.
I had some plantain in my hand which needed to be used, so used a butter roasted plantains with cinnamon and little sugar as my filling. This is inspired from my mom‘s ghee roasted plantains. First day I made puff pastry and next day made filling and jalousie. Trust me it is delicious treat with loads of calories. We can have them in moderation. You can make plantain jalousie with store brought one too, it is easy dessert idea for any gathering. Serve with or without ice cream. Here comes the recipe for both homemade puff pastry and  Jalousie Please take look at other baking partner’s recipes too. If you want to bake with us n ext month please shoot me a mail.

Print
Plantain Jalousie with Homemade Puff Pastry

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 8 hours

Cook Time: 37 minutes

Total Time: 8 hours, 37 minutes

Yield: 1

Plantain Jalousie with Homemade Puff Pastry

Delicious dessert with ripe plantains and puff pastry.

Ingredients

    Homemade puff pastry
  • 2cups/ 250g of all purpose flour + flour for dusting
  • 250g/2 sticks of butter
  • ¼ teaspoon of salt (if you want to make savories then increase to ½ teaspoon)
  • 2 tablespoon of butter melted
  • ½ cup+1 tablespoon ice cold water
    • Plantain Jalousie
  • 3 Plantain peeled, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into ½-inch-thick slices
  • 1Tbs. brown sugar
  • ¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 2 Tbs. unsalted butter
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 sheet puff pastry (Homemade) (if using store bought then thawed overnight in the fridge or according to package instructions)
  • Flour for rolling out the dough
  • 1 tsp. demerara, turbinado, or granulated sugar
  • Crème fraîche, lightly sweetened whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream for serving (optional)

Instructions

  1. Sandwich the softened butter between two sheets of parchment or waxed paper.

  2. Flatten with a rolling pin as evenly as possible to form a roughly 4x5-inch rectangle refrigerate while you make the dough.

  3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt. Pour in the melted butter.

  4. Gradually add water, and mix all the ingredients with your hands. Add more water, if necessary, to make a soft dough. Knead until you have smooth dough, about 1 minute.

  5. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an 8x10-inch rectangle

  6. . Remove the top layer of paper from the butter and invert the butter in the center of the dough so that the corners of the butter rectangle point toward the centers of the sides of the dough

  7. rectangle. Remove the other layer of paper. Fold the corners of the dough over the butter, like an envelope, covering it completely. Transfer to the baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes

  8. Dust the counter lightly with flour and lay down the butter and dough envelope, seam side up.

  9. Lightly dust the top with flour and roll out to form a 12x15-inch rectangle. Don’t turn the dough as you do this. If any butter breaks through the pastry, just dab it with a little flour and carry on.

  10. Lift one short end up and over the central portion of pastry, and then fold the other end over the central part, as if you were folding a letter.

  11. Press the edges down lightly with a rolling pin to seal. Turn the pastry clockwise 90 degrees.

  12. What was the top edge of your pastry will now be on the right. Mark the top left corner by pressing your finger into it. This is the first “turn.” The pastry and butter should still be firm enough to roll another turn, but if it is very soft and the butter is on the verge of oozing, put it on the baking sheet, cover, and chill for 20 minutes.
  13. For your second turn, dust the work surface again with flour and put the pastry on it, with the marked corner at the top left. Dust with a little flour and roll the pastry out again, without turning the dough, into a 12x15-inch rectangle. Fold the pastry as before and turn it clockwise 90 degrees. Mark the top left corner with 2 indentations of the finger (this is to remind you that you have completed two turns). Transfer the pastry to the baking sheet, cover, and chill for 30 minutes.
  14. Make another 4 turns, covering and chilling the dough for 20 minutes after each turn or every other turn, as needed. At the beginning of each turn place the pastry in front of you with the marked corner at the top left. After the third turn, make three indentations in the top left corner, and so on.
  15. Wrap the pastry in plastic and chill for an hour (or overnight) before using. When to you are ready to bake let the pastry sit at room temperature until pliable before rolling, about 10 minutes.
    16. Make the filling:
  16. In a large bowl, toss the plantain with the brown sugar, cinnamon and mix well.

  17. In a 12-inch skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.

  18. Carefully add the plantain mixture to the skillet; with a heatproof rubber spatula, scrape all the sugar and spices from the bowl into the skillet.

  19. Stir the plantains to coat them with the butter and then spread them in a fairly even layer. Cook, stirring gently with the spatula every few minutes (try not to break the plantain slices), until the plantains are tender but not mushy (taste one) and still hold their shape about 3-5 minutes.

  20. Scrape the plantain into a wide shallow dish or onto a baking sheet to cool completely before assembling the jalousie.
    21. Assemble the jalousie:
  21. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. In a small bowl, make an egg wash by beating the egg with 1 Tbs. water until well combined.
  22. Unfold the puff pastry dough on a floured surface, and gently pinch together any seams that have split. With a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into an 11x14-inch rectangle.

  23. With a sharp knife, cut the rectangle in half lengthwise to form two 5.5x14-inch rectangles.

  24. Use a long spatula to help you move one of the dough rectangles onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.
  25. Use a pastry brush to brush a 1-inch border of egg wash around the perimeter of the dough. (Save the remaining egg wash.) Arrange the fruit in a 4-inch-wide strip down the length of the dough. (You will get approximately 3 lines of fruit.)

  26. Lightly dust the remaining piece of puff pastry with flour and then gently fold it in half lengthwise;

  27. don’t crease the fold. Using a sharp knife, cut 1-½-inch-long slashes at 1-inch intervals along the folded side of the dough; leave at least a 1-inch border on the remaining three sides.

  28. Do not unfold the dough. Using a long spatula, gently lift the folded strip and position it over the fruit-filled dough rectangle, matching up the straight edges.

  29. Slash along the folded side.
  30. Gently unfold the top piece of dough and stretch it over the filling, matching the straight edges all the way around the perimeter of the dough. Press the edges gently with your fingertips to seal the dough, and then, with a fork, very gently crimp the edges of the dough all the way around the pastry.
  31. Unfold the dough over the filling.

    32. Bake the jalousie:
  32. Chill the assembled jalousie for 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F.
  33. Right before baking, brush the top of the jalousie with a very light coating of the remaining egg wash (you won’t need it all) and sprinkle with the demerara, turbinado, or granulated sugar.

  34. Bake for 15 minutes and then rotate the baking sheet. Continue baking until the pastry is puffed, deep golden brown on top, and light golden brown on the bottom—use a spatula to gently lift the jalousie so you can peek underneath—another 10 to 15 minutes. Immediately transfer the jalousie from the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool for at least 45 minutes. (Easy way to remove hot jalousie is to lift the parchment to move the jalousie to the rack and then carefully slide the paper out from under the pastry.)

Notes

Recipe Jalousie adapted Fine cooking puff pastry from here

Copyright ©2014 Zesty South Indian Kitchen by Swathi(Ambujom Saraswathy) All Rights Reserved.

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Sheermal: Saffron flat bread with touch of cardamom

· 24 Comments

Delicious  Sheermal  aromatic saffron infused flat bread with touch of cardamom from land of Kashmir.Goes well with cup of tea or coffee.

Sheermal/shirmal is the common delicacy of Awadhi cuisine which was influenced by Mughlai kitchens. It has similarities towards Persian saffron bread. It is mildly sweet flat bread common in Lucknow and Hyderabad cities and Kashmir state in India and in other countries like Pakistan, Iran and Bangladesh.

One morning I saw picture in Facebook about the sheermal bread, and got hooked enough to search for the recipe. Finally I made sheermal this weekend, and yes it is really yummy.

Traditionally it goes well with spicy mutton soup called Nihari, but since I don’t cook mutton, I served it with spicy pickle.


In Kashmir, they make both sweet and salt version of sheermal bread. The sweet version of Sheermal is served with ‘kehwa’, a spicy traditional green tea made without milk, mixed with saffron.

The salty Sheermal, on the other hand, is taken with noon -chai or sheer chain (Pink tea) read from here. Sheermal is an old recipe of over one hundred and fifty years.

Earlier version is made thin and flat like roti/chapthi with flour and milk and sugar, however the modern day sheermal includes ghee, eggs, spices and sugar baked in tandoor (clay oven ) or oven.

I searched a few recipes from internet as well as YouTube. Some recipes use butter and heavy cream as fat. I decide to use ghee as it is more authentic when comes to Indian cooking.

Nowadays it is available as important street food; I have seen pictures of freshly baked sheermal by a street vendor; he makes it early in the day to attract his customers and here is a YouTube video,  showing finished product and and also making sheermal here 

 

My recipe is adapted from here and here. I used instant yeast along with all-purpose flour, saffron infused milk both for dough and final brushing and one egg with ¼cup of ghee and little cardamom.

Milk and saffron 

Flour, yeast, ghee, salt and sugar

and egg 

Knead everything and set aside for ferementation.

After fermentaiton, doubling of the dough.

Divide and press into thin flatbread

brush with saffron milk 

After baking

This is delicious aromatic flatbread I have ever tried. Yes you will fall in love with them with the first bite. Saffron and cardamom gives a royal touch. If you go to any Indian store you will get sheermal in frozen section.

I bet you if you want authentic traditional taste, don’t get fooled by that one, make one on your own. Fresh out of oven is really great; your house had an aromatic bread smell which was really enthralling.
It takes only 1 and ½ hours to make it. You can have them with your favorite curry or soup. We can’t roam around the streets and taste these delicious treat so make it in your kitchen.

 

Print Recipe
5 from 8 votes

Sheermal: Saffron flat bread with touch of cardamom

Delicious aromatic saffron infused flat bread with touch of cardamom
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: Flatbread, Saffron Flatbread, Sheermal
Servings: 4
Calories: 427kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups /312.5g all purpose flour/Maida
  • ½ teaspoon /3g Salt
  • 1 large egg/ 30g
  • 1 tablespoon/ 15g sugar
  • 1 packet/ 7g/ 2 ¼ teaspoon Instant yeast
  • ½ cup + 3 tbsp 176g milk
  • ¼ cup /49g gheeHomemade ghee
  • 8-10 strands saffron
  • 4 cardamoms powdered
  • 2 teaspoon melted butter for final brushing of the bread

Instructions

  • In a bowl, dissolve saffron into of warm milk.
  • In a kitchen aid bowl add all purpose flour, salt, sugar, instant yeast, ghee, cardamom and mix everything.
  • To this add ½ cup of warm saffron milk and egg.
  • Knead well to form a soft dough transfer to a well greased pan and set aside for 1 hour for first rise.
  • Preheat oven to 400F/ 200°C. Line the baking sheet with silicone mat or parchment paper. Punch down and divide the dough (581g) into 4 equal sized portions of (145.25g).
  • Roll out each portion into a circle of about ½ inch thickness and about 6 inch diameter.
  • Prick the rolled dough with fork so that it won’t puff up in the oven.
  • When you are ready to bake brush them with saffron milk.
  • And bake at 400F/ 200°C for 12-15 minutes or until it become golden yellow color.
  • Once the bread is baked and out oven and still warm brush with melted butter.
  • Serve with any soup or spicy curry or simple pickle.

Nutrition

Calories: 427kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 324mg | Potassium: 161mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 109IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Other few flatbread recipes are 

Mooli ka Paratha 

Winter Melon/Ash Gourd Juice

· 27 Comments

Traditional Ash gourd /winter melon Juice made with touch of lemon, salt and pepper, diabetic friendlyWinter Melon/Ash Gourd Juice

You will be wondering why in the world I am making Winter Melon Juice; because we got a bounty, a huge winter melon/Ash gourd that grew up in our garden. We gave a small piece to coworker (who is from China) of my hubby, and he told us he made winter melon soup with it. With rest of winter melon/ Ash gourd I made curries, juice and a sweet.
However I need to perfect the recipe of that sweet, it is not reached the standard I expected. So I need improve the recipe I will do that. While growing up amma always made curries with winter melon/ash gourd. We make sambar, olan, kootu curry, moru curry etc. I make dishes using winter melon at the rate of on every day for the whole of the last week.

 
I had got the seed from a piece of winter melon which I had bought from the store sometime ago, hubby asked me to plant it in the garden, and to see if it grows. I put 2-3 seeds, it starts growing and crowding the sides of vegetable bed. I told him cut that one I don’t think it is not giving any fruit. He starts cutting on one side and saw a small fruit; he told me yes there is fruit. We let it grow for few weeks; we finally got a 20 pound winter melon.

Winter Melon/Ash Gourd

Today my enthusiastic mind decided to try winter melon/ ash gourd juice. I read that in eastern Asia, they make winter melon tea/punch. The winter melon tea/punch is brown in color and is made from the caramelized winter melon, and only the concentrate is used to make the tea.
I am also amazed to see that there is also candied winter melon in Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine, and maybe I will get to try that one too.
Coming to winter melon/ ash gourd juice, winter melon itself has a mild taste; it requires some flavoring to brings out the flavor. Winter melon/ Ash gourd is really healthy vegetable, as it has 90 % of water , and is known to have natural diuretic effect on the body as potassium rich food, as a result it flushes out sugars and bodily wastes through your urinary tract. When dealing with water retention potassium serves to eliminate salt content in blood and helping to restore stability to your body.

Winter Melon/Ash Gourd Juice
It is rich in Dietary Fiber and Vitamin C as a result it helps to relieve constipation and helps to have better Skin. Winter melon/ Ash gourd is rich in Saponin which has the power to block fat as well as slow down spikes in sugar level. These benefits have been said to be helpful in the prevention of obesity and recovery from obesity. It is also low in calories at about 16 calories per 100g serving size. Read more from here .

Winter Melon/Ash Gourd Juice

In ayurveda, traditional Indian medicine, winter melon/ash gourd’s health benefits are mentioned in Charaka Samhita and Ashtanga Hridaya Samhita which is oldest writing about Ayurveda. It is considered to improving the activities of brain. It balance vata (brain, nervous system, joints, colon and large intestinal tract) and pitta (metabolism, digestion, liver, gall bladder and small intestine) read more from here
After reading this I thought I should try winter melon juice, and first removed the waxy green skin and chopped into cubes and blend it in blender with 1 cup of water. Then after straining, added the juice of one lemon, little salt and pepper, and we both husband and wife enjoyed the drink. Kids ran away from it. Yes it is crazy juice for them as it has no sugar in it.
If you are little adventurous, try this juice, healthy. Don’t dump any sugar then it will lose its healthy juice tab. Here comes the recipe.

 

Print Recipe
5 from 67 votes

Winter Melon/Ash Gourd Juice

Winter melon juice with touch of lemon juice and pepper.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: Ash gourd recipes, Winter melon juice
Servings: 2 serving
Calories: 64kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 cups of winter melon/ Ash gourd/ kumbalanga/ petha
  • 1 lemon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 cup water

Instructions

  • In blender or juicer or food processor add peeled chopped winter melon pieces and 1 cup of water.
  • Blend until you get a smooth consistency
  • Strain the juice to remove big pieces, then add lemon juice, salt and pepper and mix everything well.
  • Enjoy.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 64kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 298mg | Potassium: 75mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 33mg | Calcium: 156mg | Iron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

 

Linking this to favorite recipes: Beverages hosted by Prachi's Veg Kitchen

Mini Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake

· 17 Comments

When I was in school, Monday’s were like Tom Sawyer’s suffering Monday mornings. Now, as kids are at home, I wake up late in the morning, I have to change that habit, as my princess is going to start her school soon. This weekend has come and gone without much hush-hush; I stayed at home and did not even go out for shopping. I thought about trying a cake as I had a packet of cream cheese and blueberry that needed to be used, so decide to make this Mini blueberry cream cheese pound cake.
I was planning to make a pound cake for long time, and had also borrowed some books from the library to do that. I always sample pound cake with fresh strawberry or blueberry when we visit Sam’s club. I dare not to buy them as it is huge and I can’t finish by myself. Hubby is scared of sweets, and the kids may or may not like it, depending upon their moods. Then for my cream cheese use up situation I decided to look into pound cake that uses both cream cheese and blueberry. Finally I settled with this recipe from William Sonoma’s site. I liked the recipe because it combines cream cheese and blueberry together. Like any other recipes, I played around a little bit and made only half of original.
I also reduced ½ cup of sugar from the original recipe, and skipped lemon glaze as I am finding ways to reduce the sugar as much as possible without compromising the taste. It turned out to be really moist, delicious pound cake. I used a mini loaf pan; half of the recipe yields about 3 mini loaf pan or single large loaf pan. I started baking late in the evening, around 9 P.M. I put it in oven. It took about 1 hour and 18 minutes. Since it was late night, I didn’t cut the cake, left it overnight to get flavors to infuse. Next morning after photography session, bite on the first slice; it was amazing feeling, so delicious. My kiddos coming back to have another slice that means it is delicious they approved. My hubby says when kids approve that is when you make best dish.
According to him this one is classic dish, give it try, blueberry and cream cheese marriage turned out be very nice. The touch of lime juice brings out the flavor of berry very nicely. It is simple yet elegant dessert we can enjoy with or without glazing. Give it a try you will like it.

Here comes the recipe.

Print
Mini Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 18 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 29 minutes

Yield: 3 mini loaf or 1 big loaf

Mini Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Delicious blueberry pound cake with cream cheese.

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups+ 2 tablespoon (226g) cake flour
  • ⅛tsp. baking soda
  • ⅛ tsp. salt
  • 9 Tbs. (1 ⅛ sticks) unsalted butter
  • 4 oz. cream cheese
  • 1cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • ½ tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
  • 1 tsp. finely grated lime zest

Instructions

  1. Bring, butter, cream cheese, eggs to room temperature.
  2. Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 325°F. Grease and flour three 4 x5 inch loaf pan, line with parchment paper, tap out excess flour.
  3. In a bowl sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
  4. Add 2 tablespoon of flour to blueberries and mix well.

  5. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter and sugar.

  6. The add cream cheese on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 30 seconds., stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

  7. Increase the speed to medium-high and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in the vanilla and lime juice.

  8. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in two additions.

  9. Beat each addition until just incorporated, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the lime zest.

  10. Finally carefully fold in the blueberries,without over mixing.

  11. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, spreading the batter so the sides are higher than the center.

  12. Bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 18 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool upright in the pan for 15 minutes.
  13. If you want to make any glaze make at this time, once the cake is cooled drizzle your favorite glaze.

Notes

The Recipe adapted from William Sonoma which in turn adapted from Sweet Miniatures.

Copyright ©2014 Zesty South Indian Kitchen by Swathi(Ambujom Saraswathy) All Rights Reserved.

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Dosa: South Indian Crepe

· 15 Comments

Dosa, gluten and vegan free crepe made with rice and lentils, . They are best staple breakfast food Made with fermented dough, crispy delicious

Dosa/Dosai is a famous south Indian crepe which is popular all over India. Yes every South Indian has grown up eating with dosa. I love it as my mom used to make it every day. It is basically made with rice and hulled spilt black gram which is soaked overnight and next morning grind it into a fine paste and allowed to ferment for 8 hours. I am making dosa nowadays not as breakfast but as dinner most of the time.


Dosa is one of the ancient crepes, which is mentioned in Sixth century AD Tamil Sangam literature; however its modern counterpart Idly comes in around the 10th century AD and is mentioned in the book The Illustrated Foods of India A–Z 1st Edition by Dr. K.T. Achaya. It is considered that dosa originated in the Udipi region of Karnataka. If one dish can survive this long and also able to sustain its majesty even during the MacDonald’s fast food era, then it is great by itself.

I have personal reason to love this dosa not only as this is one dish I have grown up with it, but also a story attached to it. When I was young girl or maybe even a toddler; I would not eat most of the food and was a picky eater. My grandma (dad’s mom) used to make crispy dosa for me and would try to feed me pointing to cats and birds outside the home. I was so found of eating dosa, when I started talking I called her Tochammai ( dosai ammai, means mom who gives me dosa). I called her like that till her death. When I grew up my aunts and uncle told me why you are calling her Tochammai, call her grandma. I asked her Tochaammai nan unnai appadi koopadama, ennku onneai vera perili koopdiamudi yathu. (I call you tochammai, I don’t think I can call you by any other name). She told me unnakku enna pidikumo athu koopidu, nan unnayudae tochammaithan epppovum. She told me you can call me by that name; I will be your tochammai always. Now she is not with me, but still I fondly remember her every time I make dosa. She was a great cook I ever met, and she never asked me to learn cooking; she told you can learn it when you want to. Now you study, and I just did that. I still remember her staying awake with me while I was studying for exams, and she makes black coffee for me to stay awake.

 

When I was pregnant with my daughter, dosa is only thing I loved to eat, but I have to stop that in the middle of pregnancy, when I had gestational diabetics. Yes even If I took one or two dosa it was fine, if I went ahead and ate one more, my blood sugar started shooting up. Now my two kids love dosa a lot, if dosa is for dinner they will be happy to eat with little ketchup.


Dosa making is a family affair now. Every Friday I soak both rice and lentil in the morning, and in the evening, and my hubby would grind both rice and lentils in grinder and keep it in a plastic container, and after fermentation I will keep them in refrigerator. My ratio of making good dosa is, 2 cup of raw rice, 1 cup boiled rice and 1 cup of hulled spilt blackgram (urad dal). I do not add any fenugreek seeds. I like to grind the rice and lentils separately and then mix them. Also I won’t add salt before fermentation. I will add salt only when it is ready for making.


I have seen recipes adding, flattened rice flakes (poha), or cooked rice to dosa batter while grinding. I follow my grandma’s recipe without any add-ons. Also I like to eat dosa, while it is warm. Best way of eating dosa will be taking from the skillet to plate. It goes well with coconut chutney, idly milagai podi, sambar or even potato masala.

In my home state there is one store called Pai Dosa which makes 36 varieties of dosa, by adding egg, vegetables, idly milagai podi etc. If you ask me which I love, I will say plain dosa without any add-on’s or masala dosa with spicy onion and potato filling.


During our honeymoon trip in Mumbai, near Aurangabad, we had a funny episode, both husband and wife never had paper dosa in our life time. So in the menu when we saw it, we both ordered. Actually we ordered two. But the server told us, he will bring one and if you guys finish you can order the next one.

We are happy and once paper dosa served both hubby and wife eyes were out, it is really huge, extending from one end of the table to other end. But we did enjoy most of the dosa, and thanked the nice server for not bringing the second one.


If you want a gluten free crepe/ pancake, which is delicious give it a try, or even look for a chance to eat, as it is one of 50 best food of the world, so don’t miss it in your life time.

 

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5 from 1 vote

Dosa: South Indian Crepe

Dosa, gluten and vegan free crepe made with rice and lentils, . They are best staple breakfast food Made with fermented dough, crispy delicious
Prep Time8 hours 50 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time10 hours 20 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: Dosa, Flatbread
Servings: 20
Calories: 107kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 cups raw rice/ pachari/chawal( You can use basmati rice if you can't find long grain rice)
  • ½ cup par boiled rice/ukda chawal
  • ¾ cup skinless split urad dal skinless black gram
  • 2 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • Indian gingerly oil/ Nallaennai You can use Vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil if you can’t get hold of gingerly oil
  • Water for grinding

Instructions

  • Soak both rice together and dal separately in bowl to cover them about 2" deep. Soak 8 hours or overnight.
  • The next morning, drain all the water from the rice and urad dal. Wash two three times and drain and put some in a food processor/ grinder and grind - adding very little water if necessary - to a smooth yet slightly grainy paste. You need to grind both rice and dal separately.
  • When all the rice-daal mix is ground like this, put it into a large mixing bowl and add enough water to make a batter. The consistency of the batter should be such that it thickly coats a spoon dipped in it.
  • Keep dosa batter aside in a warm, dark spot, covered, for 6-8 hours. After this fermentation, stir the batter well and add salt. It is now ready to make Dosas.
  • Heat skillet, then add a little oil in the skillet and brush well with kitchen towel through all the sides to grease the pan.
  • The correct amount of oil is such that it is barely visible on the pan. Now turn on the heat/ flame at medium high.
  • Fill ¼ cup of batter in the ladle. Gently pour this batter onto the center of the pan - just as you would for a pancake - till the ladle is empty.
  • Now begin to spread the batter in sweeping circular motions to form a pancake of roughly 8" diameter. Do not be alarmed if the Dosa develops tiny holes as you spread the batter. This is normal.
  • As soon as you have finished spreading the batter out on the pan, dip the basting brush in cooking oil and drizzle the oil all over the surface of the dosa and also around its edges.
  • When the upper surface begins to look cooked (it will no longer look soft or runny), flip the Dosa. By this time, ideally, the surface that was underneath should be light golden in color.
  • Allow to cook for 1 minute after flipping.
  • Continue make the dosa by greasing the pan again and then add batter then oil and filliping the other side and cook until you finish the entire batter or make enough dosa you need. You can refrigerate the batter for future use.
  • Serve the ready Dosa with side dishes like Coconut chutney, Idly milagai podi and sambar.

Nutrition

Calories: 107kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 234mg | Potassium: 27mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Other type of dosa are

Gothambu dosa/ Whole wheat flour crepe/pancake

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Strawberry Surprise Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream cheese frosting

· 19 Comments

My daughter’s morning start with strawberries and sweetened whipped cream or redid whip or blueberries and whipped cream. If not she wants both berries in a smoothie. She loves these two berries, so I will try to stock them up when I can. I haven’t made cupcake during these summer holidays, so when she asked for it, I made this  strawberry surprise cupcakes with strawberry cream cheese frosting. She loved the pink color of the cupcakes.
I made this cupcakes also thinking of this month Daring Baker’s challenge “Surprise inside a Cake”, hosted by Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood. While searching for strawberry cupcake recipe, I found this cupcake recipe from Candace Nelson, founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes,. Their Strawberry Cupcakes with Sprinkles' Strawberry Frosting is famous one, and if you live in California, Nevada, Texas or New York you will be familiar with this shop. However, I hadn’t got a chance to visit them here at Houston. With my recipe is in hand, I decided to try it for myself. It is delicious treat, which is easy to put together. I made 8 cupcakes as my hubby will be running away from any sweet dish. My princess is always fond of frosting, and after eating the frosting she will be in a sugar overload, and hardly inclined to finish the cupcakes.
This is really delicious cupcakes which are easy to make, I changed a little bit of the recipe while making the strawberry puree and also added little lime juice. I believe adding citrus brings our flavors of other fruit very well; which is not in the original recipe? Also added cream cheese to the frosting to reduce little bit of sweetness and gives more texture to it. Otherwise strawberry puree tends to make the frosting slightly runny. I made this strawberry surprise cupcakes with  strawberry cream cheese filling and frosting.
You need about ⅓cup + 3 tablespoon strawberry puree to make both cupcake and frosting. I found cupcake itself is tasty; don’t need any frosting to finish it off. However my princess thought the other way, frosting is tastier. My prince was with me and not fond of too much sweet. He is a fan of sweet dark chocolate without any add on, especially if has nuts or anything he won’t like it. He approved just simply eating the cupcake that it is delicious. If you have fresh or frozen strawberries in hand, give it a try, and you will be amazed by its taste. If you can make it in your kitchen, why need a trip to the store.


Here comes the recipe.

Print
Surprise Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream cheese frosting

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Yield: 8

Surprise Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream cheese frosting

Delicious fresh strawberry cupcakes, with strawberry cream cheese filling and frosting.

Ingredients

    For the cake
  • ⅓ cup+1 tablespoon strawberry puree (from frozen or fresh strawberries)
  • Half of one lime/lemon juice
  • 1 cup (125g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoon of whole milk, room temperature
  • ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 6 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • 1 large egg white at room temperature
  • 2-4 drops of red food gel, optional

    • For frosting and filling *
  • 8 ounce cream cheese
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
  • Pinch of salt
  • 3½ C of powdered sugar, sifted
  • 3 tablespoon of strawberry puree (either from fresh or thawed frozen strawberries)
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • *Frosting recipe is for 12 cupcake frosting.

Instructions

    For the Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line the muffin tin with cupcake liners.
  2. To puree the strawberries, place about 10 strawberries (you will get slightly more than amount depending about the size of strawberries) either fresh or thawed strawberries and lime/lemon juice in a food processor /blender and process until pureed. Save remaining puree for frosting or another use.

  3. Add flour, baking powder and salt to medium size bowl and whisk to combine.
  4. If you want you can combine milk, vanilla and strawberry puree in a small bowl and set aside. (I pour everything into the measuring cup that to save myself from washing an additional bowl)
  5. Place butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment and beat on medium high until light and fluffy.

  6. Reduce speed to medium and gradually add the eggs and egg whites. Beat until just blended.

  7. Turn speed of the mixer to low and strawberry puree and slowly add half of the flour. Mix until just blended.

  8. Then add the milk mixture and 2-4 drops of red food gel. Mix until just blended then add the remaining flour. Do not over blend or mix as that will give you a tougher crumble and heavier texture.

  9. Divide batter equally into the muffin cups. I use a large ice cream scoop for the regular size tins and a small/medium scoop for the mini pans.

  10. Bake on the middle rack. Bake the regular sized tins for 20-25 minutes and the mini ones for 11-13 minutes or until the tops are just dry to the touch. Mine is done by 20 minutes watch your oven for correct temperature. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
    11. For frosting and filling
  11. In a bowl of electric mixer, beat butter ,cream cheese and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy.

  12. Reduce speed to low and gradually add powdered sugar. Beat until well combined.

  13. Add vanilla and strawberry puree and mix to combine.

  14. Do not over mix. The frosting should be thick and dense, almost like ice cream. If you over mix it will incorporate too much air and it will be loose and runny.
    15. Assembly
  15. Fill the frosting in a pastry bag.
  16. Make hole in the cupcakes using melon baller/ or sharp knife. Make not too deep.

  17. fill the cupcakes like this

  18. Then frost the cake so that filling is hidden.
  19. Enjoy

Notes

The cupcake recipes is adapted from Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes Frosting recipe is adapted fromSprinkles strawberry frosting
Copyright ©2014 Zesty South Indian Kitchen by Swathi(Ambujom Saraswathy) All Rights Reserved.

Strawberry Limeade

· 25 Comments

Delicious strawberry limeade made with fresh strawberries, lime juice and sugar excellent colorful thirst quencher rich in vitamin C

In Houston, it is getting hot, and I like to stay indoor than venturing out these days. My daughter keeps asking me for a beach trip for a long time, which I haven’t done yet. May be this weekend I am not sure; we will see. She is an ultimate fan of strawberries like me, and she wants juice, and cupcakes with strawberries. My hubby makes limeade all the time in our home. So this time I told him to add little fresh strawberries to limeade. Thus we made this strawberry limeade.
I have seen strawberry limeade in the menu of Sonic. I don’t know why we didn’t stop at Sonic. Fresh strawberries are here in the store, also got 10 limes for a $1. I like to stock up lime or lemon in refrigerator to make limeade or lemonade. My hubby is diabetic so he makes limeade with little salt and water. Even The American Diabetes Association recommends adding lime juice to your water to provide a refreshing drink that won't affect your blood sugar. For kids he adds little sugar, we don’t add to much sugar in our drinks, as we have diabetic gene. Limes are a healthy source of vitamin C, and while the juice from a quarter of a lime only has 3.3 milligrams of vitamin C, making a habit of drinking water with lime juice can boost your daily intake of this important vitamin. Adults should get between 75 and 90 milligrams of vitamin C per day; several glasses of water with lime juice can provide a significant percentage of this guideline. Also it reduces our risks of cancer, read more from here.


Strawberries, I am sure that everybody loves them. But I can bet however that most would not know about the health benefits of eating them, and would be amazed to find that they have lot health benefits too. It has red coloring pigment anthocyanins, which helps to burn stored fat as it stimulate the burning of stored fat, also help to boost short term memory. It is rich in fiber and less calories. Strawberries lower blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a signal of inflammation in the body, read this study, women who ate 16 or more strawberries per week were 14 percent less likely to have elevated levels of CRP. They are also rich in flavonoids which are responsible for its color and flavor, that also known to lower the risk for heart disease. Strawberries contain potassium, vitamin K and magnesium which are important for bone health. Studies show freeze-dried strawberry powder may help prevent human esophageal cancer. Strawberries are filled with biotin, which helps build strong hair and nails. They also contain the antioxidant allergic acid, which protects the elastic fibers in our skin to prevent sagging. The compound nitrate found promotes blood flow and oxygen in our body, which is great for weight loss.

Eating three or more servings of fruit like strawberries may lower the risk of macular degeneration, a condition resulting in vision loss. Read more from here .
This recipe is really skinny, as it has only ¼ teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of sugar to make two serving of drink. You can increase the amount of sugar then it won’t become skinny version. Only thing you make sure to find some sweet fresh strawberries. Wash and hull and make a puree with it and then add a 1 tablespoon of puree for each cup of water. Very refreshing drink you can serve with or without sugar. It is tangy sweet combination will linger in your taste buds for few minutes even after drinking it.
Try it for sure, if you want to give it to kids increase the amount of sugar. This is most colorful limeade I have ever head, and enjoyed very much.

 


Here comes the recipe.

Print Recipe
5 from 5 votes

Strawberry Limeade

Delicious tangy sweet strawberry limeade
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Strawberry limeade
Servings: 2 servings
Calories: 35kcal

Ingredients

  • 3 cup water
  • 2 lime
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar this is mildly sweet, if you want sweeter increase the amount of sugar
  • 3 tablespoon strawberry puree you can increase the amount if you want

Instructions

  • In blender wash and hull the fresh strawberries and make strawberry puree.
  • In a bowl add strawberry puree and freshly squeezed lime juice, salt and sugar mix well.
  • Enjoy with or without ice.

Nutrition

Calories: 35kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 601mg | Potassium: 102mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 34IU | Vitamin C: 33mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Panmario (Italian rosemary bread)

· 22 Comments

Panmario, delicious Italian rosemary bread made with both wholewheat and bread flour.Excellent savory bread goes well with a dollop of butter 

Its Tuesday again and the start of another week, and as my daughter is having summer vacation, we are waking up late in the morning; I need to change that habit from next month as her school reopens. I want to drop off my little guy at the school too, and that I am planning from September.

Last Friday I decide to make this Panmario (Italian rosemary bread), so that I can use it for the weekend breakfast. We didn’t do much except some shopping and cleaning as usual this weekend.I have a rosemary bush in my garden, so I can get fresh rosemary any time.

 

This month bread baking babes had decided to make Panmarino ( Italian rosemary bread). Cathy (Bread Experience), suggested this Italian bread recipe from The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Bread Baking. I have that book in my hand; it is one of my go to bread book when it comes to baking.Only one bread book which I didn’t have any success with this book. I tried 3 recipes from them, all were epic failures.

Coming to the Panmario, according to history, Luciano Pancaldo, a baker from Ferrara, a town in the north of Italy developed this bread inspired by the bread recipe for D'Este family, the rulers of Ferrara.

Their bread was full of rosemary and had light crumb and golden crust, decorated with salt which resembles diamonds.
I liked recipe of Panmarino because it use only very little yeast may be about ¼ teaspoon of it, I did few modification to the recipe as I added whole wheat flour and also reduce the amount of salt.

How to make Panmario(Italian Rosemary Bread) 

Traditional recipe is made entirely with bread flour. I was on healthy conscience mode, added whole wheat flour. You can skip that if you want to. It is really flavorful bread.

I also let the bread dough to rise in the room temperature for about 7 hours. Then it shaped into 2 round balls and has given a second rise of one hour and then scored and baked at 400 °F for about 30 minutes, which is 15 minutes less than the original recipe.

It is delicious bread, best when you toast them with little butter. It is full of rosemary aroma great sandwich bread too. Try it for yourself, much better than any store bought version.

It is simple bread with any add on. This bread recipe also proved me right once again; I don’t need tons of yeast to make wonderful flavorful bread. Instead of crowding all yeast together,give them a little space and some more time the yeast will happy and make delicious bread.

Here comes the recipe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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5 from 1 vote

Panmario (Italian rosemary bread)

Delicious rosemary filled mixed flour bread very good for a sandwich toast.
Prep Time8 hours 10 minutes
Total Time8 hours 40 minutes
Course: Breakfast, Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Breadrecipes, Italianrosemarybread, Panmario
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 192kcal

Ingredients

  • Adapted Formula makes 2 loaves
  • Biga
  • 71 g ~½ cup bread flour
  • 60 g scant ¼ cup water
  • pinch instant yeast
  • Final Dough:
  • 254 g 2 cups bread flour
  • 189 g 1 ¼ cup whole wheat flour
  • 240 g 1 cup water
  • 30 g 2 tablespoon milk
  • pinch instant yeast
  • 53 g 5 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 g 2 T rosemary
  • Biga all
  • 9 g 1 ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Prepare the Biga:

  • In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, water and yeast in a mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon or Danish dough whisk until well blended. Scrape down the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest at 75 degrees F. for 14 to 16 hours

Making the Final Dough:

  • In a bowl of stand mixer, combine the flour, water, milk, and biga. Using the dough hook,mix on low speed until everything blended.
  • Add the salt and yeast and mix on low speed for 5 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and mix for about 7 more minutes or until the dough is smooth. When the gluten is fully developed,
  • mix in the olive oil and rosemary on low speed.
  • Lightly oil a large bowl. Scrape the dough into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
  • Let the dough ferment for 7 hours. ( Original recipe asked for 45 minutes fermentation, nothing happened in my case)
  • Remove the dough to a lightly-floured work surface and divide it into four (or two if you halved the recipe) 450-gram /16-ounce pieces. Shape the dough pieces into rounds. Cover with plastic wrap and let them bench rest for 15 minutes.Uncover the dough and, if necessary, lightly flour the work surface. Gently press on the dough to degas and carefully shape each piece into tight and neat rounds.
  • Place one loaf on one side of the baking sheet lined with parchment paper a double layer of cloth to serve as a divider between the loaves, and place a second loaf next to the fold. Repeat the process with the remaining two loaves. Cover with plastic wrap and proof for 1 hour.
  • About an hour before you plan to bake the loaves, place a baking sheet (stones) into the oven along with a steam pan (underneath) or iron skillet (on the top rack) and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
  • Uncover the dough and score the top of each loaf in a star pattern using a lame or sharp knife.
  • Optional: sprinkle sea salt into the crevices as the original baker did to make it "sparkle with diamonds."
  • To make the steam, add 1 cup of ice to the iron skillet or steam pan kept at bottom of oven
  • Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is light brown and crisp and the loaves make a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. Loaves should register an internal temperature of 200F.
  • Remove the loaves from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Notes

This recipe is adapted from Here

Nutrition

Calories: 192kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 90mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 16IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Linking this delicious bread to

Yeastspotting

 

Avalose podi: Roasted Rice and Coconut Powder

· 22 Comments

If you are born and brought up in Kerala, South India, you will encounter certain dishes which you can’t find anywhere in rest of India. Trust me, Indian restaurants outside India are not catering true authentic cuisine’s diversities exist in that huge nation. There are some dishes, which are just pure nostalgic, this avalose podi/roasted rice and coconut powder is one of those kinds. All of a sudden I remembered my mom, and still after all these years miss her lot, and decided to make this, as she always make it for me and my sister, after we came back from school.
This is one dish, which everybody in Kerala has eaten at least once in their life time. It is mostly made by moms as a after school snack for kids. It seems like in those days, moms were more health conscious; they would make everything at home, and rarely buy something outside. Nowadays bakeries take full responsibility to feed everyone their afternoon snack as everybody is very busy nowadays. I always to try to make fresh food at home, but my kid’s love MacDonald’s French fries, Burger King’s onion rings and pizza. They get that during the weekends.
Coming to avalose podi, podi means powder in Malayalam. In some areas of Kerala, this avalose podi is also named as pooram varuthauthu or pooram podi. I don’t know why they call it by that name. This is basically a mix of roasted rice flour, grated coconut, cumin and salt. First homemade rice flour is made like this. Then it is mixed with freshly grated coconut, cumin seeds and salt. Everything is mixed together and set aside for one hour,if you want you can pulse them for one or two times to make it a fine powder. Later it is roasted until it becomes golden brown color. Usually avalose podi is enjoyed with little sugar and a banana. later it is roasted until it becomes golden brown color. Usually avalose podi is enjoyed with little sugar and a banana.
When this avalose podi is mixed with jaggery syrup and shaped into small balls, then it becomes Avalose unda. This avalose podi also used as filling to make Churuttu , a traditional Christian snack/ dessert common in the Kottayam region of Kerala. The filling is sweetened Avalose Podi stuffed into a thin sheet made with maida/ all-purpose flour. You can see the filling through the outer covering that is characteristic of Churuttu.
My next attempt will be to make avalose unda or churuttu. I haven’t decided which of those yet. The batch of avalose podi I made just vanished. My daughter liked it very much. I only made a small quantity as I was not sure of the proportions my mom used to use. Yes I did it; as mom’s measurement is always 1 kg rice flour and 2 fresh coconuts which quite confusing for me.
Here comes the recipe, try it for you, one better thing is this really gluten free snack also vegan too. Aroma of roasted coconut is really intoxicating (at least for me). You can control the amount sugar you add, and then it becomes a diabetic friendly recipe.

Print
Avalose podi: Roasted Rice and Coconut Powder

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Serving Size: 2

Avalose podi: Roasted Rice and Coconut Powder

Delicious gluten and vegan free traditional snack made with rice flour and coconut.

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup rice flour Homemade recipehere
  • ⅓ cup freshly grated coconut
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. In a bowl mix rice flour (use homemade recipe here)

  2. grated coconut, cumin and salt and set aside for 1 hour.

  3. This will help to absorb moisture from grated coconut.
  4. Pulse it one or two times to make it into a fine powder ( you can skip the this step if you want)

  5. Roast everything until it becomes golden brown color.

  6. You will also get aroma of toasted coconut. It will take about 15 minutes.

  7. Once toasted remove from fire and transfer to plate or baking sheet and set aside for complete cooling. It will take about 30 minutes. Then transfer to air tight container.
  8. Enjoy with little sugar and banana.
  9. You can keep it in room temperature for about 3 weeks.

Notes

Copyright ©2014 Zesty South Indian Kitchen by Swathi(Ambujom Saraswathy) All Rights Reserved

Berry Shortcake

· 30 Comments

Delicious berry shortcake with Chantilly cream made from scratch with fresh strawberries and blueberries.

Delicious Berry short cake made with goodness of fresh berries, shortcake base and chantilly cream. Easy to put together. 

Today is 15th July; the reveal date of “Baking Partner’s challenge”. Finally to meet the deadline I geared up and made this berry shortcake yesterday evening.
This month challenge was suggested by Reeni of Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice. It is also my first encounter with the shortcake; it is made with all purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and cream. I mixed everything together and then the dough is made and cut it into 2 ¼ inch rounds which is dipped into melted butter and baked in oven until golden brown. It is then served by slicing them into two pieces and then sandwiched with sweetened whipped cream, macerated berries both in middle and top. It is delicious.


If you are scone or a biscuit fan you will love it. I made berry shortcake with both strawberry and blueberry. This Friday while shopping at Sam’s club I spotted a box fresh strawberries, which is ultimate weakness for me so bought them immediately. With half of strawberries I made strawberry ice cream. And rest I used for this strawberry shortcake. I have blueberries too in my hand, so decide to make shortcake with them too.
There is also a kid’s cartoon character called strawberry shortcake, If you ask me which berry shortcake you like it I will say both. Strawberry shortcake is more beautiful compared to blueberries, but taste wise both are delicious. Next time when you are planning a party tries to make this berry shortcake.


Even though it is named as shortcake it is biscuit. Berry shortcake is old time classic. When you get fresh berries, try it especially during summer months where berries are abundant. It is perfect treat for backyard barbeque of any informal family gatherings.
Here comes the recipe. It is also very easy recipe; you only need 2 hours to make this delight.

 

Print Recipe
5 from 5 votes

Berry Short Cake

Delicious berry shortcake with Chantilly cream made from scratch with fresh strawberries and blueberries.
Prep Time35 minutes
Cook Time18 minutes
Total Time2 hours
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: berry Short cake, Short cake recipes
Servings: 14
Calories: 293kcal
Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

  • 1 pint 2 cups blueberries
  • 1 pint 2 cups strawberries (hulled and sliced)
  • 4 teaspoons + 2 tablespoons sugar divided
  • 2 cups 8 ounces pastry flour or (1 + ¾ cups (7.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour + ¼ cup (1 ounce) cornstarch)
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 to 1 ¼ cups 8 - 10 ounces heavy cream
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • coarse or sanding sugar optional, for decorating the tops
  • Chantilly cream
  • 1 pint heavy whipping cream
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoon sugar you can increase the sugar amount if you want to 1 tablespoon

Instructions

  • In a bowl toss the blueberries with 1 tablespoons of sugar to let some of the juices come out.
  • Similarly in another bowl add sliced strawberries and 1 tablespoon sugar and cover and refrigerate.
  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Fit a large baking sheet with a silpat mat or parchment paper.
  • Into a medium mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and 2 teaspoons sugar.
  • Stir in enough heavy cream to moisten the dough thoroughly. When you squeeze the dough it should stay together without any dry pieces falling off.
  • Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and very gently pat it or roll it into an 8" circle about ¾" thick.
  • Use a sharp biscuit cutter ( 2 + ¼-inch) to cut into rounds. Combine the scraps and roll out again until you get 14 rounds.
  • Dip the rounds into melted butter, and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle them generously with coarse sugar.
  • Bake the biscuits for 15 to 18 minutes until they're golden brown and puffy.
  • Meanwhile make the whipped cream.
  • he bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl beat the whipping cream with 2 teaspoons sugar and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract on medium-high speed until thick and stiff. When you lift the beater the cream should stick to it without falling off.
  • To serve split the shortcakes in half, top with whipped cream, a few spoons of the berries
  • and the juice, more cream, the top biscuit, more whip cream and a few more berries.

Notes

The shortcake recipe is adapted from King Arthur flour
Chantilly cream is adapted fromMartha stewart

Nutrition

Calories: 293kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 154mg | Potassium: 268mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 858IU | Vitamin C: 23mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

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Brownie Cookies

· 21 Comments

Delicious double chocolate cookies a cross between a brownie and cookie made in single pan with goes well with cup of milk. 

Brownie cookies were introduced to me by my friend Suja, and as we are talking on the phone, she told she had bought some brownie cookies from the Wal-Mart to give to her son’s school party. Her son was celebrating his 7th year birthday party in the school. I searched Google and came up with lots of brownie cookie recipes, I finally settled with this one.

It is delicious, and if you like brownies you will like it, it is in-between a brownie and a cookie. I added instant coffee powder to brings out more chocolate flavor, also increased amount of flour.
It has semi-sweet chocolate and chocolate chips, flour, sugar, eggs, butter and baking powder. First melt the chocolate with butter and then mix in with beaten eggs and sugar and vanilla extract and coffee powder.

Then mix entire chocolate mixture with dry ingredients, chill everything for 60 minutes. And scoop them into mounds and bake it in a preheated oven at 350 ⁰F for 10 minutes. Center should be soft while it comes out from the oven. On cooling it will hardens little bit. Then cool the cookies in the wire rack for another 10 minutes.
You can even make brownies cookies with store bought pancake mix. I will try them next time. Here is delicious easy cookies, make it if you like brownies a lot.
Here comes the recipe.

If you tried this cookies, please tag me in instgram @nidhinikhil or facebook Zestysouthindiankitchen. I would love to see your creations. 

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5 from 26 votes

Brownie Cookies

Delicious double chocolate chewy cookies cross between a cookie and brownies.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time1 hour 25 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Brownie cookies,, chocolate chips cookies, cookie
Servings: 21
Calories: 175kcal

Ingredients

  • 6 ounce semisweet chocolate chopped
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 Jumbo eggs at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour sifted
  • ⅓ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chopped chocolate with the butter, stirring a few times, until smooth, about 7 minutes.
  • In another large bowl, using a whisk or a beater, beat the eggs with the sugar at medium speed until thick and pale, about 5 minutes.
  • Beat in the vanilla, instant coffee powder and salt.
  • Using a rubber spatula, fold in the melted chocolate,
  • and then fold in the flour and baking powder.
  • Stir in the chocolate chips. Scrape the batter into a shallow baking dish, cover and chill until well chilled and firm, about 45 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 350° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working in batches, scoop 2-tablespoon-size mounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
  • Bake for about 10 minutes, until the cookies are dry around the edges and cracked on top. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a rack to cool completely before serving.
  • Make Ahead the cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Notes

This recipe is adapted fromFood and wine
 

Nutrition

Calories: 175kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 22mg | Potassium: 114mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 98IU | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Strawberry, blueberry with cream: Red white and blue dessert

· 19 Comments

Wishing all my friends and readers a Happy Independence Day (July 4th).

Salute to those men and women who gave their ultimate sacrifice for freedom. Hope you are going to enjoy barbeque in the afternoon the fireworks in the evening. I haven’t planned any barbeque, but looking forward to a delicious lunch and dinner. We will be watching fireworks from home as going to see fireworks with two little kids is tedious.
On every July 4th I try to make red white and blue dishes; but this year I got busy and not enough time to plan and cook the dish. As I was still trying to make the red white and blue dish, I found this interesting recipe from here. As we can get fresh strawberries and blueberries in the store now, I decided to make this simple dessert. It is easy and delicious.
You need ½ a cup of whipped cream, and instead of making it from scratch, I relied on store bought Reddi-whip. First wash and hull the strawberries and cut the bottom part too that way it will stand, then apply little whip cream and keep blueberry on the top. You got Red white and blue dessert.
Very easy to try it, even if you are planning for a party, and it is healthy kids will love it.
Here comes the recipe.

 

Print
Strawberry, blueberry with cream: Red white and blue dessert

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Yield: 12

Strawberry, blueberry with cream: Red white and blue dessert

Delicious easy kid friendly dessert made less than 5 minutes.

Ingredients

  • 12 strawberries
  • ½ cup Reddi whip (sweetened whipped cream*)
  • 12 blueberries

    • For sweetened whipped cream
  • Yield: ½ cup
  • ¼ cup whipped cream
  • ½ tablespoon powdered sugar/confectioner's sugar
  • ⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Wash and hull the strawberries and cut both ends.

  2. Place it in a plate

  3. Apply cream on the top.

  4. Place a blueberry on top of each one.
  5. Enjoy
  6. * If you are making sweetened whipped cream,
  7. Add cream into a chilled bowl and add the sugar and vanilla. Using an electric hand mixer or balloon whisk, beat the cream to the desired consistency. For soft peaks, the cream will be just thick enough to hold its shape . For stiffly beaten cream, the beaters or whisk wires will leave distinct traces on the cream and stand in firm peaks when the beaters are lifted.
  8. You can this make ahead one day.

Notes

This recipe adapted from here

Copyright ©2014 Zesty South Indian Kitchen by Swathi(Ambujom Saraswathy) All Rights Reserved

Other Red Whit and Blue recipes

Red White and Blue Fruit salad

 

Fruit skewer and smoothie

 

Maracheeni Pappadam/ Appalam/Cassava/Yucca Pappad

· 26 Comments

Delicious Marcheeni Pappadam/ Appalam/ Yucca Pappad a crispy flat bread made with fresh yucca root , red chilies, hing, water and salt. Maracheeni Pappadam/ Appalam/Cassava/Yucca Pappad with rice and curry

Some recipes are just nostalgic; it rekindles your memories of childhood. Yes this Maracheeni pappadam/Appalam/ /marvalli kizhangu appalam/kolli kizhangu/Kappa/ Cassava/Yucca Pappad is one of that kind. My grandma used to make it lot during the summer. Summer holidays when I visit her, she makes lot of goodies for me. Jackfruit chips, this maracheeni pappadam/ appalam, arisi vathal etc. Pappadam/pappad are thin crispy flat bread usually made by sun drying the dough with lentil flour, jackfruit, yucca and spices. Later deep fried or grilled.
Even though cassava or yucca is native of Brazil, it grows well in India especially in Kerala, southern part of India. It is important part of my hometown cuisine. Boiled cubes of cassava with salt are best combo with fish curry or spicy chutney. We make curries, chips with them. Next in my list will be making chips with them. One which gets from the store lacks the taste I used too.

Maracheeni Pappadam/ Appalam/Cassava/Yucca Pappad
My grandma and aunt wake up early in the morning, peel yucca / cassava skin, and then cut them into small pieces. And wash several times as there will be soil in the yucca/cassava since it is root tuber. Once washed well then grind them with red chili into a fine paste. Then asafoetida/hing/peruamkayam and salt is added along with more water and made it very loose batter.

Then cook the entire batter into thick bottomed vessel with constant stirring for about 10-15 minutes you will get thick custard like paste. About ¼cup of this paste is dropped into a straw mat made with palm (similar like this) or thick cheese cloth and lightly spread it into round about 5 inch diameter and dried under sun for whole day.

Once it is dried well, spray the water on the back side of the cloth or along the side if using straw mat and remove them by peeling. Then dry the entire thing for two –three days under the sun.

It is ready for consumption. You can deep fry or microwave them and eat it.When my grandma makes it my duty is guard the drying paste from those clever wandering crows who like to snatch everything. At that time I thought them as nuisance.

I was planning to make this maracheeni papadam for long time, every time when I visit Fiesta store and see Yucca/cassava it will comes into my mind. Finally I decide to try it myself; I can’t find them in any of Indian store. S

ince I have only a vague idea of my grandma’s recipe my hubby told me try with two or three yucca root that way you will not spending too much energy or time on it. I tried three times to perfect the recipe.

How to make Maracheeni Pappadam? 

You need fresh Yucca/ cassava root. Make sure it shouldn't have any brown or black spot inside. 

Red chili :  You can adjust the amount of red chilies according to your spice level. 

Salt : Use any salt 

Hing: This gives characteristic flavor to Maracheeni pappadm. 

Maracheeni Pappadam/ Appalam/Cassava/Yucca Pappad with rice and curry

First one is good, but I spread it too thin, so it is really hard for me to peel them from the cloth. Next time I added too much water so it overcooked and taste was not good. Finally third time charm, I was able to find out perfect amount of water and how to cook and spread. Yes I got it right.
Usually I buy them and carry with me when I was visiting my hometown Thriuvanthapuram. Now nobody stays there only distant relatives, so going to Thiruvanthapuram while visiting India got least priority. As hubby’s mom and dad and sisters in Mumbai, it becomes port of entry while going to India. My sister‘s family and dad is in Delhi, it is next stop after Mumbai. No choice for me to only to make it for recreating the taste which I got used from childhood.
If you want to taste some crispy flatbread, try this little tedious work, but end result is best. You can also make with yucca flour; however I like the taste of fresh cassava or yucca root to make this dish.

To make Marcheeni pappadam  first peel the skin of yucca/ cassava 

Maracheeni with peeled skin

Cut it into thin slices like this 

marcheeni sliced

Grind with red chilies 

maracheeni with red chilies

Batter 

Maracheeni Pappadam/ Appalam/Cassava/Yucca Pappad batter

Yucca  -chili mixer is getting cooked 

Maracheeni Pappadam/ Appalam/Cassava/Yucca Pappad batter getting cooked

As it cooks it will get thickens like this 

Maracheeni Pappadam/ Appalam/Cassava/Yucca Pappad batter getting cooked

Once it is fully cooked it looks like a thick paste

after cooking the maracheeni pappadam batter

Make small rounds batter like this 

Batter ready for sun drying

After sun drying for 1-2 days 

after drying

You need to moisten the back of the cloth where you dried  Maricheeni pappadam and carefully peel from it like this . 

Peeling the maracheeni pappadam from the cloth

 

Dried completely  so that there is no moisture content in the Marcheeni pappadam / Yucca waffers.

Getting ready to fry

Fried in the oil 

Getting fried in the oil

 

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5 from 5 votes

Maracheeni Pappadam/ Appalam/Cassava/Yucca Pappad

Delicious crispy fried flat bread made with fresh yucca, red chili and asafetoida.
Prep Time1 day
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time1 day 20 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: applam, Cassava, Maracheeni Pappadam, Pappadam, Yucca Pappad
Servings: 45
Calories: 36kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 cups chopped Maracheeni/Kappa/Yucca/Cassava about 3 roots
  • 6 cups water
  • 9 red chilies
  • 2 ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon asafeotida/perumkayam/hing if you want a gluten free option don't add this
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil

Instructions

  • First peel the skin and remove it and then remove the central vein and cut it into small pieces like this.
  • Then add red chili and 3 cup water and grind it into fine paste. Ground paste will be around 6 cups.
  • To this add 3 cups of water, coconut oil, salt and asafeotida .Transfer everything to thick bottomed pan.
  • Boil the mixture with constant stirring. In the beginning it will be loose batter
  • and it get thickens into thick custard like paste about 10 minutes. Remove from the fire and set
  • aside for cooling.
  • Once it cool enough to handle, pour ¼ cup of this yucca paste into thick cheese cloth or straw mat made of palm. And lightly spread it into 5 inch diameter. Let it dry in the hot sun for one day.
  • When it is completely dried if you using cloth simply spray the water on the back side of the dried yucca /marcheeni applam. Then carefully peel them from the cloth and
  • dry once again in sun for 2-3 days. If you are using straw mat just spray the water around the sides of the dough and peel carefully.
  • Once it is completely dried, heat canola oil and fry them both sides. It takes about 30 seconds on both sides.
  • Serve as side for rice or as snack with tea

Notes

You can store this Maracheeni pappadam for almost 1 year in air tight containers. 

Nutrition

Calories: 36kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 147mg | Potassium: 79mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 88IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Other recipes using  Kappa/Yucca/Cassava Root

1) Kappa Vevichathu/Cassava root cooked with spices

2) Kappa Mullapicha Pattani,/yucca root  and sprouted peas cooked with spices

Other sun dried fritter recipes

Arisi vathal/Rice fritters

 

Cheddar Rosemary Garlic Rolls

· 17 Comments

Sharp cheddar cheese is one of my weaknesses, so whenever I get a chance to add them I will try to do. This month Daring Baker’s Challenge was to make Cinnamon rolls, which were suggested by Shelley from C Mom Cook. A variation that she had given as an option was to make it savory. As diabetes is a major concern in my house, I decided to make the savory version, the cheddar Rosemary Garlic Rolls.
Nowadays I am really lazy as world cup soccer is going on in Brazil. I am a crazy soccer lover, who loved to watch all the 3 games until last week and this week there are 2 games per day. As we don’t have cable I watch them on Univision, Spanish channel. You will be wondering if I know Spanish no I don’t, still the fun and enthusiasm they show is missing in other channels. For these games I don’t care about the language, the plays itself tell a thousand words. Today I was cheering for my team USA, yes we lost to Germany by one goal, but was still was able to get into second round as Portugal beat Ghana. The next game is against Belgium, which is a good team, and I believe USA can beat them also, if we play well. It will be an exciting game which I am looking forward to.
Since Daring Bakers reveal date is today the 27th, I thought I need to make some cheesy rolls. May be sometime later I will make cinnamon rolls for my kids. I can’t say these are really healthy, as it has has lots of cheese, but is delicious. You can have a few of these rolls any time of the day, maybe as a snack with a coffee. I tried this rolls inspired by this recipe. This is really easy one; you need bread flour, whole wheat flour, salt and sugar, cold butter and egg for the dough, and for filling around 7 oz of sharp cheddar cheese and 2 tablespoon of rosemary and 3 cloves of fresh garlic. I used fresh rosemary which was grown in my garden; it is always exciting to use something from our garden. Due to two little ones who are very mischievous, gardening as before is not easy. Both sister and brother are very enthusiastic and would love to pull the plants everyday to check whether it is growing. So we planted nothing this year, and the plants all from earlier gardening session.
Coming back to the recipe, make first dough with bread flour, whole wheat flour, salt, yeast, sugar, milk and butter and then set aside for doubling in volume. It took about 2 hours in my case, as my kitchen was cold. Then make filling with grated cheddar cheese, chopped rosemary, pepper, and grated garlic. Punch down dough and spread it into thin sheet about ⅙ inch thick, then spread the filling, and tightly roll it into a cylinder and using a serrated knife and cut it into 16 inch pieces, Place it in 8x8 inch square pan as well as small skillet. Set aside for another proofing for about 45 minutes. By the end of proofing time, preheat the oven to 350 ⁰F and when you ready to bake brush with melted butter and sprinkle some cheese if you want to. Then bake for about 25 minutes and you will get a golden cheesy delight, which tastes best when they come of out oven. You can also reheat them for 20 sec in microwave to use them again.
Here comes the recipe, give it try, if you are cheese fan like me you will love it.

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Cheddar Rosemary Garlic Rolls

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 55 minutes

Yield: 16 rolls

Cheddar Rosemary Garlic Rolls

Delicious cheesy rolls,good for breakfast or as snack.

Ingredients

  • 75g Whole wheat flour
  • 250g Bread flour
  • 11g Granulated sugar
  • 3g Salt
  • 5g Instant yeast
  • 1 whole egg
  • 118g Milk ( warm milk)
  • 20g Unsalted butter ( chopped cold butter)
    • For Filling
  • 7oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese ( freshly grated, set aside 2 tablespoon )
  • 2 tablespoon chopped rosemary
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
    • For brushing
  • 2 tablespoon of melted butter
  • 3 cloves of garlic

Instructions

  1. In a kitchen aid standing mixer add all ingredients except filling and mix well with paddle attachment and then changed to dough hook and knead the dough for about 7 minutes until you get soft supple dough.
  2. Transfer to greased container for doubling in volume.

  3. After 2 hours of doubling

  4. Then prepare filling with grated cheddar cheese, pepper, grated garlic cloves, chopped rosemary.

  5. Transfer the doubled dough to well floured working area.

  6. Spread it into a rectangle of 15x11 inch like this

  7. Brush with melted butter like this.

  8. Then add the filling on the top of melted butter like this.

  9. Then from the short end tightly roll them into a cylinder like this.

  10. Using a serrated knife or dental floss cut it into 1 inch thick pieces like this.

  11. And place it in 8x8 inch baking dish lined with parchment paper like this. You made need a small skillet also.

  12. Set aside for another 30 minutes to double in volume.
  13. Preheat the oven at 350F.
  14. When you are ready to bake the rolls, brush with remaining melted butter and topped with remaining cheese.

  15. Bake it in 350F oven for about 25 minutes or until cheese are bubbly and the rolls becomes golden brown in color.
  16. Serve warm.
  17. You can also reheat them for 20 sec at microwave before serving.

Notes

Copyright ©2014 Zesty South Indian Kitchen by Swathi(Ambujom Saraswathy) All Rights Reserved

Falafel

· 18 Comments

Falafel middle eastern stret food made with chickpeasI would usually buy Falafel from Middle Eastern grocery store here in Houston. I wanted to make it at home for longtime, but as usual put it aside to another time. Finally yesterday for tea I made falafel. While I would think of making falafel I always thought I need to make some pita bread too along with it. I changed my mind and decide to make only falafel this time and will make pita bread later.
Another reason to make falafel was I had borrowed The Lebanese ktichen by Salma Hage from Library, and wanted to try a couple of dishes.
I read that falafel is made with chickpeas alone and also a combo of fava beans. In Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine falafel is made with chickpeas alone. In Egypt falafel is made with fava beans. It is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa/Iraqi flatbread. Then falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces. Falafel balls may also be eaten alone as a snack or served as part of a meze (appetizers served as part of alcoholic drinks). It is also an important street food in Middle East. There is a mold to make falafel which is called aleb falafel. I don’t have one in my hand, may be next time when I visit Phoenicia, I will try to get one.
Earlier once I had made falafel but it was not great recipe. This recipe is really traditional. In this falafel recipe you need both parsley and cilantro (coriander leaves). I always buy cilantro s, but parsley is a rare commodity in my kitchen, so this time I made sure to get a bunch of parsley, I bought Italian parsley. You need little planning for making this recipe; first soak the chickpeas overnight, next morning grind them with parsley, and cilantro, spices, baking powder . I didn’t grind the onion and salt along with it and also reduced the amount of baking powder a little and also added some chili powder that was change I made in this recipe. Then mix everything and chill it in refrigerator for 5 hours or overnight. I have given 5 hours of chilling.
When you are ready for frying, heat the oil and fry few at a time, give few flips to make sure that it cooks evenly on all side. Drain and serve warm with tahini sauce. My kids enjoyed with ketchup. It is great snack to go with tea. It tastes similar to parippu vada/lentil fritters maybe we can say a cousin to it.
Give it try you will enjoy it. If you have pita bread then go ahead and serve as sandwich. Here comes the recipe.

Falafel, middle eastern street food.

 Falafel delicious streetfood from middleeast

Falafel, middle eastern street food.

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Falafel

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 13 hours

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 13 hours, 30 minutes

Yield: 20

Falafel

Delicious authentic falafel made from scratch.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dried chickpeas (Soaked overnight)
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 small onion (½ heaping cup chopped)
  • 2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (approximately 6 sprigs)
  • 2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (approximately 6 sprigs)
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon dried mint
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • Canola oil fry

Instructions

  1. Soak dried chickpeas over night, Next morning, wash and drain and set aside.
  2. In a food processor/mixer/blender first grind parsley, cilantro leaves and garlic.

  3. Then add chickpeas, ground cumin, coriander, chili powder, dried mint and pepper.

  4. Once it is coarsely grind then, add salt and baking soda and mix well.

  5. Then add chopped onion and incorporate into the dough once again.

  6. Chill the dough for 5 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

  7. When you are ready for frying heat oil and when the oil become hot around 375F.

  8. From the dough first make small round ball.

  9. Then press slightly from the sides to make it flatten.

  10. Fry them into the hot oil; flip two or more times to make uniform frying on both sides. When it is ready sizzling of oil stops and falafel comes to top.

  11. Remove them using a slotted spoon and drain it kitchen towel.

  12. Serve them as snack with tahini sauce or serve them in pita bread pocket as sandwich.

Notes

If you want you can also add onion while grinding it.

This recipe is adapted from The Lebanese kitchen by Salma Hage

Copyright ©2014 Zesty South Indian Kitchen by Swathi(Ambujom Saraswathy) All Rights Reserved