Red White and Blue: Strawberry Banana Blueberry Smoothie and Fruit Skewer

Jul 4, 2010 · 24 Comments

Wish all my blogger friends in U.S. a happy Independence Day. Here in US it a long weekend everybody enjoys by grilling, visiting friends and family. Day before yesterday it was heavy rain here. Sky was gloomy and raining intermittently for 2 days. I didn’t think I would see a clear sky on July 4th. We earlier had planned to have a short trip to beach. Finally we canceled it thinking that weather will not corporate. However, nature changed her mind and it is sunny, hot and beautiful on this Sunday morning.

I was earlier planning to make Strawberry, blueberry cake. However, it didn’t happen and finally I decide make a fruit skewer and a smoothie with strawberry, banana and blueberry for morning breakfast. Smoothie I made with 1 % milk. This is really creamy rich smoothie, if you wish you can dilute with water or milk to make slightly runny. Here goes the recipe.

What you need

For Fruit Skewer

Strawberry:9 nos
Banana: 1 no
Blue berries: ⅓ cup (I used fresh ones)

Sugar: 1 teaspoon
Skewer: 3no

For Strawberry Banana Blueberry Smoothie

Strawberry:9 nos
Banana: 1 no
Blue berries: ⅓ cup (I used fresh ones)
Milk: ⅓ cup (I used 1 % milk)
Sugar: 1 teaspoon

How I made

For Fruit Skewer.

Wash the skewer and Strawberry and blueberry with water and wipe with tissue. Peel banana and cut into ½ inch rounds. If you are planning to keep the skewer for long time, then sprinkle banana with lemon juice to prevent discoloration.

Arrange the skewer first with strawberry then banana followed by 3-5 blueberries. Sprinkle with sugar.

For Smoothie

Combine strawberries, milk, blueberries and sugar in a blender; cover and blend until creamy. Serve immediately. Enjoy

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Yield: 2 serving
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: Yes I will

Ethakka Tholi mezhukkupuratti/ Raw Plantain Peel Stir Fry

Jul 2, 2010 · 27 Comments

In our home state Kerala, both banana or coconut plant is used at its maximum. Whether, fruit, leaves, root, shoot anything from both plants is used. In the case of banana plant, we make curries with shoot, flower and fruit. Leaves are used for serving especially when there is feast you have eat lot dishes will be served at a stretch, as there is no buffet system existed. Dishes will be replenished as soon as it finished. Further I think we are eco-friendly.

As I mentioned earlier plantain is an essential item, it will be included in my everyday shopping list. Last week, when I saw raw plantain, I thought of making chips first, but then dropped the idea and made curry with them. I don’t use plantain peel when I cook raw plantain. Usually I make a separate dish with plantain peels. Traditionally plantain peel is cooked with green gram or moong dal to make stir fry or thoran. It requires some planning. I have to soak moong dal for overnight. I forgot as usual so no moong dal in my dish. Finally I made simple easy breezy stir fry with them. If you want you can even bake them. I haven’t tried that yet. I will try next time and let you know about the result. Here comes the recipe

What You need

Plantain peel: 1 cup
Cumin powder: 1 teaspoon
Pepper powder: ¼ teaspoon
Turmeric powder: ⅛ teaspoon
Salt: ½ teaspoon
Curry leaves; 1 sprig( About 10 leaves)
Oil: 1 tablespoon (I used olive oil, use coconut oil for authentic taste)

How I made

Wash the plantain peel and cut into 2 inch long strips. Set aside.

In a skillet heat oil and add plantain peels along with salt and turmeric. Close the lid and let them cook in slow flame for about 10 minutes or until they are done but not mushy. Stir in between to prevent them from sticking to bottom of the skillet.

Add pepper powder and curry leaves and stir everything for one minute or until the spices coated uniformly in all plantain peel pieces. Switch off the flame.

Enjoy with rice and a curry.

Preparation time: 14 minutes
Yield: 2 serving
Verdict: Tasty
will you make it again: Yes I will

Swathi

AWED: BURMA Round Up.

Jul 2, 2010 · 14 Comments

I was curious to learn about new cuisines of the world, so when I got an opportunity I choose Burmese cuisine. It is mostly unraveled cuisines according to me. My heartfelt thanks to the courageous food bloggers, who accompanied me in this journey of unraveling the Cuisine of Land of Golden Pagoda.

Here come the recipes

Snacks
Baya Kayaw/Burmese Yellow Split Pea Fritters From Priya of Priyaeasyntastyrecipes.

According to Priya these fritters are quite an appetizier for a party menu or else for an evening snack. These fritters are quite easy to make and very popular in Burma. Whoever like deep fried beauties can give a trial to the splendid fritters and tastes fabulously awesome with hot chili sauce. The stalls selling these fritters are mostly owned by Indians in Myanmar ... The vendor makes a cone out of an old newspaper, throws in a dozen fritters, and the customer walks off happily eating them.

Baya Kyaw - Yellow Split Pea Fritters From Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal of Mharo Rajasthan’s Recipes.

She says that it became a prefect snack for the tea time and she had a hard time to stop her little one from eating too much.

Deep fried vegetables in Batter/ Burmese style Bhaji from me.

Salads
Burmese Style Cucumber Salad From Kiran of Sumadhura

Kiran says that this is a simple and delicious Cucumber Salad. This is a very nice way to make the watery cucumbers tastier.

Burmese cucumber onion salad from Denny of Oh Taste n sees

Denny says that this salad Thakwarthee Kyethun Chin’ is the most basic salad in Burmese cuisine. A typical Burmese meal, consists of at least two salads, and this one features almost always as one of them. It goes well with any dish, is very easy to make and it is best when assembled just before eating.

Letho salad from Sweatha of curry leaf

According to Sweatha this salad is made with anything like veggies or meat whatever readily available along with rice or noodles and ogonori sea moss.

Burmese Baked eggplant salad/khayan dhi pope thote From Me

Soups
Ngayokekaung Chinye - Burmese-pepper-soup Denny from Oh Taste n See

Denny says that this soup is similar to south Indian rasam and warm and comforting…not too spicy though. The onions and garlic added great flavor to the soup.

Katen Joshi- Burmese Lentil Soup from Sweatha of Tasty curry leaf

According to Swetha this is simple comforting soup you can find in Burmese cusine.

Main Course
Rice
Burmese Butter & Lentil Rice / Pe Htaw Bhut Htamin From Priya of Priyaeasyntastyrecipes

She says that this butter and lentil rice, this dish is really very easy to prepare, this rice goes for simple ingredients and the bay leaves, and cinnamon stick used in this rice turned them out more flavorful .This rice is a fabulous alternative dish to plain rice.

Thai-Burmese Curry Noodles (Khao Soi) From Sala of Veggie Belly

According her this curry noodles is a speciality of Chinese muslim traders in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Their cuisine is influenced by Burmese noodle Khao Soi, also spelled Khao Suey or Khao Soy, is also eaten in Myanmar or Burma and Laos. Burmese curry noodles, made of coconut milk broth, but use more Indian influenced spices like coriander and do not have the crispy noodle topping as in thai version.

Coconut rice / burmese style /Ohn Htamin from Srividhya of Vidhu’s kitchen/

Finally I end this round with up a sweet dish Sago in coconut milk/ Burmese-thai-malyai dessert from me.

Swathi

Coconut Almond Raisin Bread

Jun 30, 2010 · 30 Comments

When I saw a coconut bread recipe in wholefood.com. I felt like trying it. It is similar to Honduran bread "Pan de coco". This bread is served along with soups and as breakfast and afternoon snack. If you are a follower of this blog, you might have already noticed that I have weakness/fondness towards coconut. I want to bake bread with coconut. It is white bread traditionally, however I wanted to make a healthier version.

In Kerala, we like to add coconut to everything, sweet or savory dishes you name it we have it. I think for us, coconut makes everything complete. We always use coconut and cumin seeds in our savory dishes especially stir fry. So I thought okay I will add cumin in bread also. I don’t want to use eggs in my bread so used flax seed meal. I have some chopped almonds in my pantry, so they also found a place in my bread. In order to make it slightly sweet I added 1 teaspoon of honey, coconut milk and raisins.

After going through lots of recipes, I came into the conclusion that I need more yeast than I use for my usual bread, but I am not comfortable using one package yeast in my bread. I used 2 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast. While baking, my entire house had a nice smell. Even my hubby who was upstairs came and told me he can smell the aroma. This bread is wonderful tasty, it has slight sweetness of honey and raisins with crunchiness of coconut and almond. We ate this bread without butter or jam. You can have it just like that. I enjoyed making them. Sure I am going make them again with fresh coconut. If you want to make it sweeter add some more honey or sugar. Here goes the recipe.

What you need

Whole wheat flour: 2 cups
Bread flour: 1 cup
Yeast: 2 ½ teaspoon ( I used active dry yeast)
Sugar : ¼ teaspoon
Honey: 1 teaspoon
Water:1 cup
Flax seed meal: ¼ cup
Almond: ⅓ cup ( I used chopped almond)
Coconut: ½ cup ( I used unsweetened coconut, Use fresh coconut for authentic taste)
Coconut milk: 1 cup + 2 tablespoon
Cumin seeds: 1 tablespoon
Oil: ¼ cup ( I used canola oil)
Salt: ¾ teaspoon
Raisins: ⅓ cup

For egg wash
Egg: 1no
Water: 2 tablespoons

How I made

In a small sauce pot add ½ cup of cold water and raisins bring to a boil and drain raisins in kitchen towel to remove extra water. Set aside.

In a small bowl add active dry yeast in ½ cup lukewarm water along with ¼ teaspoon sugar. Keep aside for 10 minutes or until yeast gets foamy. I kept it for about 20 minutes.

In a large bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, bread flour, flax seed meal, coconut, salt, and the yeast. Add the honey, oil, raisins and coconut milk into the flour mixture. Mix everything until the dough forms a loose ball, adding an additional tablespoon of coconut milk or two if necessary to bring the dough together. Knead for 7-10 minutes. The dough should feel supple and pliable but not sticky. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling to coat it all over. Cover and set aside.

Keep aside knead dough in slightly oiled vessel for doubling. It took about 2hours to double.

Transfer the dough into a lightly floured surface and spread into loaf and keep it in a lightly greased loaf pan. Cover with a proof cover or greased plastic wrap, and let the loaf rise for 45 minutes, or until they're quite puffy. Brush the top with egg wash. ( If you don’t want you use egg wash, you can brush with oil or butter, when they come out of oven) By the end of second rising time preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit.

Bake them in a preheated 375°F oven for 30minutes, or until they’re well browned or registered an internal temperature of 180-190 °F on an instant-read thermometer. 20 minutes into the baking time cover the loaf pan with aluminum foil to prevent the crust become harder. Remove it from the oven, and remove from the pans. Allow them to cool completely before serving.

Preparation time: Preparation time: 30 minutes for preparing dough,

Doubling time: 2hours + 45 minutes for second rise

Baking time: 30 minutes

Yield: 1 loaf

Verdict: Yummy

Will you make it again: Yes

This delicious bread is going to

Bread baking day #31 hosted by Zorra.
Yeast spotting event hosted by Susan

Swathi

Avocado Paratha

Jun 29, 2010 · 29 Comments

Delicious avocado chapathi/ avocado paratha/ Avocado flatbread made with fresh avocado and spices.avocado make them very soft.

Avocado has lots of health benefits; it contains oleic acid healthy mono saturated fats and lowers cholesterol. Avocado contains phyto-nutrients which can protect us from breast cancer and oral cancer, further it helps to increase the intake of Carotenoids from other vegetables. It is a good source of potassium, which is known reduce blood pressure. "Diets containing foods that are good sources of potassium and low in sodium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke” this claim was also approved by U.S drugs and Administration. While mentioning about heart health I have recently seen an episode on Nightline ABC about salt intake .

If you reduce the salt intake, you will live longer. This is true. My dad was diagnosed with high blood pressure at age of 40. Doctors told him to reduce the salt intake and he did that religiously. At present he is quite healthy other than some old age related problems. My Mom died of cardiac arrest and she was diabetic. Diabetes and high blood pressure is running in our family. Hubby is diabetic; and he is controlling his blood sugar levels by strict control of his diet and exercise.

Because of dad’s blood pressure amma use to add less salt, while cooking the dishes. It has become a habit for us to use less salt. After marriage, my hubby also takes less salt. If we can make small changes in diet and that can help us to have good life why wait. I think good health is real wealth. If you want to read more health benefits of avocado read from here.

After reading all these good things about avocado I try to buy them whenever I get them fresh. Finally I decided to make paratha/chapathi with them. The chapathis came out soft and fluffy because of avocado and tasted great too. I also added some kalonji and cumin seeds with spices like gram masala, amchoor powder. I had them with blacked pea masala curry. In the end, the meal turned out to be a healthy one. Here goes the recipe.

If you like this avocado paratha then try this also .

Mooli Ka Paratha / Radish Stuffed Flatbread

Methi Paratha

To make Avocado paratha you need following ingredients

Whole Wheat flour : You can use regular whole wheat flour / Atta .

Avocado: you can use fresh or frozen . If you are using frozen you need to bring it to room temperature

Spices : since Avocado alone has any taste, adding spices increase the flavor and taste of the paratha, I used, armchoor powder, garam masala and chili powder

Seeds : Cumin seeds and Nigella Seeds adds extra flavor to avocado chapathi.

First add all the dry ingredients including salt and spices

Then add avocado and water to form a soft dough

Soft pilable dough

Shape the dough into small balls and spread them into 6 inch thickness.

Print Recipe

5 from 13 votes

Avocado Chapathi/Avocado Paratha/Avocado Flat bread

Delicious avocado chapathi/ avocado partha/ Avocado flatbread made with fresh avocado and spices.

Total Time45

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Avocado Paratha, Avocado Recipes

Servings: pieces

Calories: 100kcal

Ingredients

2 cup Whole wheat flour
½ cup Water
1 Avocado seeded and mashed
¼ teaspoon Armchoor powder
½ teaspoon Gram masala
½ teaspoon Chili powder
1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
½ teaspoon Kalonji/Nigella seeds
½ teaspoon Salt or to taste
2 tablespoon Oil I used Olive oil

Instructions

In a large bowl stir together flour, salt, kalonji, cumin seeds, avocado, gram masala, chili powder, armchoor powder and 1 ½tablespoon of oil.
Slowly add water until a soft dough forms. Knead, until smooth and elastic dough similar to chapathi forms, it takes about 15 minutes.
Form dough into a ball and coat with ½ tablespoons oil in a bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough stand at warm room 20 minutes.
Divide dough into 14 equal pieces and, keeping remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap. Roll out each piece into a round approximately 6 inches in diameter.
Heat a dry large cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium heat until hot, cook chapathi, turning once, until puffed and browned in spots, 30 seconds on each side. Transfer to a plate .Roll out and cook 13 more chapathi, stacking them on plate.

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Chocolate Coconut Pavlova with Mascarpone chocolate Mousse: Daring Baker's challenge June 2010

Jun 27, 2010 · 31 Comments

Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert created in honor of Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova in New Zealand and Australia during her tour. This month Daring Baker’s challenge was to make chocolate Pavlova with mascarpone chocolate mousse and mascarpone cream. The recipe is based on Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard .

After “Na- Na” episode with my hubby regarding taking up this challenge I decide to try them. I was not comfortable with adding ¼ cup of cocoa powder, as well as too much sugar in my Pavlova. I am not a chocoholic; I can live without them also. So I made a light chocolate version of coconut Pavlova and white chocolate mascarpone mousse. It was topped with fruits and I dusted some powdered sugar and did not use cream. As this one is calorie ridden dessert, I want to reduce the calories as much possible in my version.

I made a few changes in the recipe given by Dawn of Doable and Delicious by adding some red wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon cocoa powder and coconut in Pavlova and used white chocolate mascarpone mousse and made individual serving. However my piping skills not yet developed fully so Pavlova got the shape which I was not intend. Here goes the recipe.

What you need

Chocolate coconut Meringue (for the chocolate Pavlova):
Large egg whites: 2no
White granulated sugar: ⅓ cup
Cocoa powder: 1 tablespoon
Red wine vinegar: ¼ teaspoon
Coconut: 1 tablespoon (I used desiccated coconut)

Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse (for the top of the Pavlova base):

Heavy cream : ¾ cup(cream with a milk fat content of between 36 and 40 percent)
White chocolate: 2 ounces ( I used Lindt white chocolate)
Mascarpone : ¼ cup ( I used homemade mascarpone)
Nutmeg: ¼ teaspoon
Vanilla extract: ¼ teaspoon

For topping
Mango: 1 no (Chopped into cubes)
Blue berries: ½ cup
Kiwi: 1 no (chopped in to cubes)
Powdered sugar: 1 tablespoon

How I made

Chocolate coconut Meringue (for the chocolate Pavlova):

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350º F degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

Put the egg whites in a metal bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar about 1 tablespoon at a time until stiff peaks form. Add red wine vinegar and beat for another minute.(The whites should be firm but moist). This took about 15 minutes.

Gently fold in coconut and cocoa powder over the egg whites until everything combines very well.

Fill a pastry bag with the meringue. Pipe the meringue into whatever shapes you desire. I was planning for round end up with oval.

Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes until the meringues become dry and crisp. Cool and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse (for the top of the Pavlova base):

Put ½ cup (120 mls) of the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.

Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. (DO NOT OVERBEAT AS THE MASCARPONE WILL BREAK).

Mix about ¼ of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse.

Assembly:

Pipe the mousse onto the pavlovas . Arrange fruits in the top and dust with confectioner’s sugar. Enjoy

Preparation time: For pavlova: 1 hour and 35 minutes
For chocolate mascarpone mousse: 20 minutes
Assembly: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 serving
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: yes

Swathi

Sago in coconut milk/ Burmese-Thai-Malyai dessert

Jun 25, 2010 · 21 Comments

If you need to make a quick dessert, try this one. I found it this week as I was searching for quick dessert recipes. When I was searching for desserts with sago pearls/sabudana, I was quite surprised to see that it is used in all of south East Asian countries. In Malaysia it is Sago gula Melka/ Sago in palm sugar syrup and coconut milk. When it crossed the borders and reached Thailand it is Kleo Boo Chee / Sago pudding in coconut milk and slices of banana or other fruits. In Burma it is thar-gu ohn nyot/ Moh Let Saung and in Vietnam it is Che dau xanb where moong beans, bananas and sometimes root vegetables are added. Any way they are rich, luscious creamy dessert usually served chilled .An excellent way to beat the summer heat.

In India sago/sabudana is used to make savory items like upma (my mother-in-law special), vada (fritters) as well as sweet like sago/sabudana payasam. Amma used to add sabudana or sago in kadala payasam (chana dal pudding). During my childhood I loved them because they become transparent and looked like eyes or clear balls in the payasam. When you want to touch them, it will slide away. Sago mainly contains carbohydrates with little protein if you want to read about more from here .

I liked this dessert because it contains coconut milk. I have a weakness towards coconuts. Amma used to make it with fresh coconut milk always. Now days because of non-availability of fresh coconut I use canned coconut milk. It is an essential item in my pantry. After going through lot recipes i settled with this one. Instead of palm sugar I used jaggery and for pandan leaf used cardamom made a barely sweet dessert. If you want you can increase the amount of jaggery. You can use palm sugar if you want authentic recipe or use sugar/maple syrup.

You need only 1 hour preparation and 2 hour chilling time to make this dessert. If you want you can add fruits too. Here goes the recipe.

What you need

Sago/Sabudana: ⅓ cup
Coconut milk: 1 cup
Cardmom: 3 nos
Jaggery: ⅕ cup
Salt: ⅛ teaspoon
Water: 5 cup

How I made

Soak sabudana in half cup water for 20 minutes.

In the mean time heat jaggery with ¼ cup water and bring it to boil it takes about 3 minutes. Strain the impurities and keep aside.

In sauce pan heat coconut milk and ¼ cup water and bring to a rolling boil with continuous stirring( otherwise coconut milk will separates) and add jaggery syrup and crushed cardamom seeds . Keep aside. Chill the coconut milk-jaggery mixture in the refrigerator.

Boil 4 cup water in sauce pan when it starts boiling add sabudana and cook for 20 minutes or until they become transparent. Switch of the flame and cover the sauce pan with lid and let it sit for another 15 minutes.

Drain the sago/sabudana using a colander and wash with running water to stop cooking.

Once it is cooled add to chilled coconut milk jaggery mixture.Serve chilled.

Preparation time: 1 hour for preparation and 2 hours for chilling
Yield: 2 serving
Verdict: yummy
Will you make it again: I will.

This dessert is going to going to AWED : Burma hosted by me originally started by DK.

Swathi

Deep Fried Vegetables in Batter/ Burmese Style Bhaji/ Abkyaw soun

Jun 23, 2010 · 34 Comments

Nowadays I am hell bent on improving my bread baking skills. I have even joined the public library to get books on baking and to learn the finer points of bread baking. I also looked at books on International cooking along with the ones on bread baking. I am not an avid reader of Indian cookbooks and rarely follow their recipes, as their spices quantities will not match our taste, either too much or too little most of time it will be first scenario.

When I saw this book “The Asian Vegan Kitchen” by Hema Parekh, I was curious to turn the pages. The book is about cooking from Asian countries, other than Indian, all other Asian cuisines mainly contains meat or sea food in their dishes with a few vegetable dishes. There are also a few recipes about Burmese cuisine also in this book. As I am hosting this month’s AWED: Burma, I needed some Burmese recipes for event I found it interesting. The recipe on Deep fried veggies in batter got my attention along with a few others. Today I made this for my evening tea.

They taste really good. It is similar to our vegetable bhaji. However I found that adding ginger garlic paste to bhaji batter is a new idea to me. Rest of ingredients are similar ones such as besan (chick pea flour), Rice flour, red chili powder, coriander leaves etc. Only change I made in the recipe was I didn’t use toasted chickpea flour and increased ¼ cup of water. Hema says “these fritters are common in the streets of Mandalay and Rangoon. Locals rarely make at home and buy from the local street vendors and shops where they can get fresh and hot.” They usually serve this one along soup and salad. It is not spicy, if you wish you can increase the red chili powder.Next time i will increase the amount of chili powder.

If you like Japanese tempura or Indian bhaji try this at least once, I bet you will become fan of this dish. Here goes easy breezy recipe.

What you need

For batter/Pemonb asut ambit

Chick pea flour/Besan: ¾cup
Rice flour: ¾ cup
Baking powder: a pinch (optional, I didn’t used)
Turmeric: ¼ teaspoon
Chili powder: ¾ teaspoon ( Increase if you need Spicier)
Ginger: 1 inch piece
Garlic: 2 cloves
Fresh coriander leaves: 2 tablespoon (finely chopped)
Olive oil: 1 teaspoon
Salt: ¾ teaspoon
Water:1 cup

Vegetables

Egg plant: ½ of one( cut into rounds)
Green bell pepper: 1 no (cut into 4 inch strips)
Onion: ½ of one onion (cut into rounds)

How I made

Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan .

Wash and peel the skin of egg plant, onion and cut into thin rounds and keep aside. Cut green bell pepper into 4 inch strips and keep aside.

In a medium bowl, all the ingredients for the batter and slowly add the water to form a thick batter. Not too loose. When you are dipping the vegetables it should covered with the batter.

Once the oil becomes hot about 360 degree Fahrenheit. Dip the vegetables in the batter and slowly add to hot oil few at a time.

When it cooks for about 3 minute on one slide flip the other side and cook another 2 minutes or until they become golden yellow color and crispy. Remove them using slotted spoon and drain the excess oil using a kitchen towel.

Repeat the above process until all the batter and vegetables are used up.

Enjoy with sweet chutney or hot and sour tamarind chutney. I didn’t use any chutney. We had it without any chutney.

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4 serving
Verdict: Tasty
Will you make it again: Yes I will

This Deep fried vegetables in Batter/Burmese style Bhaji is going to AWED : Burma hosted by me originally started by DK.

Swathi

Triple Berries and Mango Smoothie

Jun 21, 2010 · 39 Comments

As the heat index in going up, it is once in a while necessary to have something to cool down. Ice creams, smoothie, sorbet etc are all good. Yesterday during the usual grocery shopping, I saw that blueberries and blackberries are on sale. Blue berries and black berries are rich in antioxidants and I love forward to a good sale price on these. One box of blueberries cost about 1.50 dollars and black berries cost about 1.00. I was very happy and picked them to put in shopping cart. I had some strawberries in my refrigerator. Strawberries are my weakness, and I always will have a box in my refrigerator during the strawberry season.

So this morning I was lazy and decided to make something that is easy to make: a smoothie for breakfast. As my little one loves to do taste testing from my glass, I added one mango to smoothie. She loves mango, if you give her mango smoothie she is more than happy. Otherwise it is very hard to get her to even have a sip. I wanted to add yogurt instead of ice cream to make it a healthy drink. I know ice-cream make it a rich and sweeter smoothie. Both black berries and blueberries go well with yogurt, ice-cream or whip cream. So I made a smoothie with strawberries, blackberries, blue berries and mango ad also added homemade yogurt and ½ tablespoon of honey for sweetness. If you want more sweetness you can add 1 tablespoon. Here easy healthy colorful smoothie recipe.

What you need

Blue berries: ½ cup (I used fresh one)
Black berries: ½ cup (I used fresh one)
Strawberries: 5 no (I used fresh one)
Mango: 1 no
Yogurt: ⅓ cup
Honey: ½ tablespoon

How I made

Peel the skin of mango and cut into small pieces. Keep aside.

Combine Blackberries, Blueberries, chopped mango and strawberries, Yogurt and honey in a blender; cover and blend until creamy. Serve immediately. Enjoy.

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Yield: 2 serving
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: Yes I will

This delicious gorgeous smoothie going to

Sizzling summer contest hosted by Spicy tasty ( Shirya,Nithu and Arthi)

Also going Srivalli's Coloring your Kid delights

Swathi

Honey Wheat Bread

Jun 18, 2010 · 26 Comments

Nowadays I have craziness for freshly baked bread, just like what will happen when fish is put in front of a cat, yes I will be excited even thinking of baking bread. I stopped buying bread from the store. I love the smell of freshly baked bread from the oven. It makes me intoxicated. After trying Rye bread and braided bread I got some confidence in baking bread. My hubby also agrees that homemade bread tastes better than the store bought one.

We usually buy 100% whole wheat bread from store. However I am not confident in baking 100% whole wheat bread at home. So I am using 66% of whole wheat in my bread gradually I want to change to complete whole wheat bread that is my goal. For the time being I will stick with my ratio of whole wheat. I want to make the bread healthier by adding flaxseed meal and oat meal (That is an excuse to finish the flax seed meal sitting in my refrigerator). I used only quick oat meal. If you are using old fashioned rolled oats you need to soak it over night. Most of the times I will forget to soak them in the night. So I found out that using quick oats is easier.

This bread is really good sandwich bread with touch of sweetness. Already I have made it 3 times, every time it came out perfect. It tastes great that you can even eat browned crust. You can make wonderful breakfast toast with them. Earlier I was afraid of yeast and not knowing how much kneading is important and end up hockey puck like bread. Now after trial and error I am able to make good bread.

Here goes my no fail bread recipe, if you want, add more multigrain and seeds to make them more healthier version.

What you need

Whole Wheat flour: 2 cup (I used Atta flour)
Bread flour: 1 cup
Oil: ¼ cup (I used canola oil)
Salt: 1 ½ teaspoon
Yeast: 1 ¼ teaspoon
Sugar: ¼ teaspoon
Flax seed meal: ⅕ cup
Oat meal: ½ cup (I used quick oats)
Honey: ⅛ cup
Water: 1 ½ cup

How I made

In a small bowl add active dry yeast in ½ cup lukewarm water along with ¼ teaspoon sugar. Keep aside for 10 minutes or until yeast gets foamy. I kept it for about 20 minutes.

In a large bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, bread flour, flax seed meal, oat meal, salt, and the yeast. Keep aside 1 tablespoon of oat meal for sprinkling in the top of bread. Add the honey, oil, and water into the flour mixture. Mix everything until the dough forms a loose ball, adding an additional tablespoon of water or two if necessary to bring the dough together. Knead for 7-10 minutes. The dough should feel supple and pliable but not sticky. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling to coat it all over. Cover and set aside.

Keep aside knead dough in slightly oiled vessel for doubling.

It took about 1hour and 36 minutes to double.

Transfer the dough into a lightly floured surface and spread into loaf and keep it in a lightly greased loaf pan. Press the loaf with oat meal. Cover with a proof cover or greased plastic wrap, and let the loaf rise for 45 minutes, or until they're quite puffy. By the end of second rising time preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.

Bake them in a preheated 350°F oven for 50minutes, or until they’re well browned or registered an internal temperature of 200 to 210°F on an instant-read thermometer. 30 minutes into the baking time cover the loaf pan with aluminum foil to prevent the crust become harder. Remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool completely before serving.

Preparation time: Preparation time: 30 minutes for preparing dough,
Doubling time: 1.36minutes + 45 minutes for second rise
Baking time: 50 minutes
Yield: 1 loaf
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: Yes

This bread is going to
Yeast spotting event hosted by Susan
It also going to bread mania hosted by Chaitra

Swathi

Ethakka Chakkakuru Mezhukkupuratti/Plantain Jackfruit Seed Stir Fry

Jun 16, 2010 · 26 Comments

Plantain is one of thing I love to keep it in my house at any time. This is one of the essential items like milk, egg, banana in my grocery list. While growing up also plantain was available in our home most of time. I make them into chips, turrón, ripe plantain fritters.

When I go to specialty store I usually buy things like jackfruit, jackfruit seeds, Chinese potato etc. Off course they are frozen getting them in fresh will be a herculean task. I have seen fresh ripe Jackfruit in Hong Kong market. However they cost a fortune to buy. So my dream of eating them fresh will always remain as dream. May be it will become a reality when I visit India.

Usually amma made stir fry with Vazhakkai/ green banana (we call it monthankai). It is good only to make curries and making savory fritters. I don’t like them when they are ripe. Amma used to eat that as some of them which were bought for curries get ripe. Both I and amma love jackfruit seeds very much, she used to boil them with salt and some time cooks in open fire. She also added jackfruit seeds to all the curries she make during jackfruit season. Now it is jackfruit and mango season in India. You can see lot of mango trees and jackfruit trees are carrying the fruit at their maximum.

Here I rarely see the green banana. So I decided to try stir-fry with plantain. I wanted to be authentic, as much as possible so used coconut oil. The smell of coconut oil and fried curry leaves with roasted plantains pieces and jackfruits with chili and cumin powder was out of the world. They came really very well. Here goes my easy breezy recipe for plantain and jackfruit seeds stir fry.

What you need

Onion: ½ cup chopped
Raw Plantain: 1 ½ cup chopped in cubes ( About 1 plantain)
Jackfruit seeds: ½ cup ( I used frozen )
Garlic: 2 cloves
Turmeric : ⅛ teaspoon
Salt : 1 teaspoon
Cumin powder: 1 teaspoon
Pepper powder:¼ teaspoon
Chili powder: ¼ teaspoon

For seasoning

Mustard seeds: ½ teaspoon
Red chili: 2 no ( Halved into two)
Curry leaves: 1 sprig( About 10 leaves)
Urad dal : 1 tablespoon
Coconut oil: 2 tablespoon

How I made

Wash and Peel the skin of Plantain and jackfruit seeds and cut into small pieces and keep aside.

Heat 1 ½ tablespoon oil in medium skillet and once it become hot add mustards seeds, curry leaves(keep few aside), urad dal, and halved red chili. Once mustards seeds starts popping add chopped onion and fry for 5 minutes or until they change the color or become translucent.

To this add plantain and jackfruit seeds and add turmeric, salt and cover with lid and cook for another 7 minutes in slow flame.

When plantain and jackfruit seeds are almost done add chili powder, pepper powder and cumin powder and stir everything and cook for another 3 minutes or until the spices blend well.

Add the rest of curry leaves and oil and mix once again and switch off the flame.

Enjoy with any rice of curry.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 serving
Verdict: Yummy
Will make it again: Yes I will

Swathi

Pani Puri / Gol Gappa for ICC

Jun 14, 2010 · 25 Comments

Pani puri is one of the popular street snacks all over northern part of India. Its popularity in southern India is limited to metro cities. It is a crispy semolina ball filled with potato/chick pea filling with sweet and tangy chutney along onions dipped in spicy water made of coriander and mint leaves. It needs to be eaten at one stretch, don’t worry you can do it. Semolina balls/puris are small and bite sized one. According to Wikipedia, this snack originated in Bihar, as migration took place, it spread to other parts of India. My first tasting of pani puri happened in Mumbai when I visited India after my marriage. It was tasty, still I was worried about hygiene conditions in which it served.

Srivalli selected gol gappe/pani puri after discussing with fellow challengers to try this month. I was not that happy.

It is not that I don’t like pani puri but because I failed making Puri for pani puri miserably not once but twice. So when I told my better half, he told not to try if you want try buy store bought one and makes accompaniments to it here at home. I always tell him I am not trying this month, after some time I develop intense itch to make it. So I decided to make it yesterday, started in afternoon so that I can finish by evening. Then hubby will see only finished product not the preparation. However operation of pani puri was long and extend until 9.00 P.M in the night. When I made first batch some of them did not want to puff up, meaning no space for putting filling and chutneys. So I end up making a second batch, this time I reduce the dough resting time and learned the trick to make them puffs. My baby was crying in between, she needed mommy time. Further my hubby was asking did you finish it. What you need to make more?

After a long struggle and in between taking photographs by my hubby (He is photographer when he is available) I finished my pani puri making project successfully. We had it as our dinner. It was tasty. I had to change the Srivalli’s recipe for gol gappe as some challengers find difficulty in puffing the puri when Baking soda is used as ingredients. So I used Baking powder along with 1 teaspoon of olive oil with semolina and all purpose flour. I used her recipe for spicy pani/spicy water and mashed potato filling. I however ended up using my own recipe for chick pea filling and sweet tangy chutney. In her recipe, one cup of jaggery is used to make sweet chutney along with tamarind. I don’t want to use that much sugar. I made a healthy version of it by using apricot and tamarind with 2 tablespoon of Jaggery. Here go the recipes.

What you need

Semolina: ½ cup
All purpose flour: ½ tablespoon
Salt: ¼ teaspoon
Oil: 1 teaspoon
Baking powder: ⅛ teaspoon
Water: ¼ cup
Canola oil: 4 cup ( for frying the puris)
For potato Filling
Potato: 1 no
Chili powder: ⅛ teaspoon
Salt: ¼ teaspoon
Water: 4 cups

For Chick pea filling

Chickpeas: 1 can( Washed and cooked)
Mustard seeds: ¼ teaspoon
Coconut: ⅕ cup (I used desiccated coconut)
Red chili: 2 no (halved into two)
Salt: ¼ teaspoon
Olive oil: 1 tablespoon

For spicy water

Fresh Mint Leaves: 1 ½ cup
Chopped Coriander leaves: 1 tablespoon
Tamarind: Ping pong size
Ginger: 1" piece
Green Chilies: 1(I used Serrano pepper)
Ground Cumin Seed (roasted): ½ teaspoon
Kala Namak (Black Salt):½ tsp.
Salt : ¼ teaspoon
Water: 3 cup

For Apricot tamarind chutney

Apricot: 5 no (I used dried one)
Tamarind: a golf size ball
Cumin powder: ½ teaspoon( roasted)
Clove: ⅛ teaspoon
Pepper: ⅛ teaspoon
Chili powder: ¼ teaspoon
Black salt: ½ teaspoon
Salt: ¼ teaspoon
Jaggery: 2 tablespoon
Water : 2 cups

For Chopped onions

Onion: ¼ cup finely chopped.

How I made

Pulse the semolina in coffee grinder/ mixer for 1 minute. Keep aside

In small bowl mix semolina, all purpose flour, baking powder salt, oil and gradually add water to form dough. Knead 3 minutes to form smooth not sticky dough.

Keep aside semolina dough to rest in a slightly oil bowl for 20 minutes covered with damp cloth.

Spread the semolina ball into a thin sheet. Using biscuit cutter/cookie cutter of 2 1/ 8 inch diameter cut into thin rounds.

Spread these rounds into slightly damp cloth and cover with another damp cloth to prevent drying.

In the mean time heat 4 cup of oil in a thick bottomed pan. When the oil is hot, add each round into the oil don’t touch them with slotted spoon until they starts popping to top. Once they starts pop slightly press with slotted spoon to help them in puffing. Fry them until they become golden brown filliping them in between. It took about 4 minutes to get golden brown in 7 mark electric stove.

Remove them using a slotted spoon and drain excess oil using kitchen towels.Continue to fry rest until you finish entire dough.

For extra crispiness bake the puris/gol gappe at 200 Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.

For Potato filling

Boil the potato in medium sauce pan until they cooked very well. You can check them whether they cooked or not by piercing them with knife. If they slide through the knife then they are well cooked.

Remove the skin and mash with potato masher and add salt and chili powder and mix everything.

For chickpea filling

In a medium sauce pan heat oil and add mustard seeds and halved red chilies once mustard seeds starts popping add chick peas, coconut and salt. Let them cook for another 3 minutes and switch of flame and use.

For spicy pani

I didn’t made extract of tamarind or chopped the mint and coriander leaves.

Add mint leaves, coriander leaves, ginger, chilies and dry roasted cumin seed and tamarind into the blender along with 1 cup of water and blend into a smooth paste.

To this add salt and black rock salt to taste.

Put it in the fridge to cool down. (I haven’t done) As we are ready to eat I mixed with another 2 cup of water and used.

For apricot tamarind chutney

In small bowl add ½ cup water and tamarind and warm it in microwave for 20 seconds at high. Tamarind becomes soft and easy to extract the pulp. Strain and keep aside.

In small pot add ½ cup water and jaggery and let it boil for 5 minutes or until jaggery melts. Remove from the fire and using a strainer strain jaggery to remove any impurities.

In another medium sized pan add tamarind pulp, jaggery, ½ cup water and apricot and cook for 6 minutes or until apricot become soft and mushy.

To this add salt, black salt, pepper, clove, cumin powder and chili powder and boil it for another 3 minutes. Switch off the flame and keep aside.

Transfer entire things into a food processor bowl or mixer and pulse or blend for a minute to form a smooth paste.

Add rest of ½ cup warm water to the paste and keep aside.

Assembling the Pani Puri / Gol Gappa

Poke a small hole in the center of the Gole Gappa/ Puri

Add a teaspoon of mashed boiled potato / Channa in the middle of the puri. Add a little of the red tamarind Chutney. Add few chopped onions. Dip it in the spicy water / pour some spicy water in it

Gulp it down.

Notes: Alternatively you can mix small quantity of Tamarind Chutney, Spicy water and pour this on stuffed puris and gulp down too.

Preparation time
For gol gappe/panipuri: 5 minutes to prepare the dough
20 minutes dough resting time
20 minutes cooking time.
Yield: 25 no
For mashed potato, chick pea filling, Apricot tamarind chutney, spicy chutney: 45 minutes
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: I will

Swathi

Egg Bhurji From Him

Jun 12, 2010 · 21 Comments

My hubby cooks only a few dishes like, scrambled eggs, egg bhurji, Dal, sambar, pav bahaji and chicken. He told me he literally survived with all these dishes while he is studying and staying alone. He makes good chapathi’s too. He says he would alternate all the above dishes and with chapathi it will be a great taste.

I can’t eat same dishes 3 times a day, I need varieties. When I had the baby, there was no one expect the two of us here in US, nobody was there to help us. He usually made scrambled eggs in morning and we survived eating that with bread. It was a real help. I need to worry about the lunch and dinner. Now also he makes scrambled eggs occasionally.

He doesn’t like the dal which I make, he tell me that it is good still some taste is missing. One problem, if I let him to cook; he will make a mess in the kitchen by using lot of spoons, pot and pans.

He cleans that too, so end result is fine. It is fun to watch him cooking, he won’t cut all the vegetable and starts cooking like I do, he starts cooking and then cut the vegetable, while oil is heating he adds seasoning like cumin seeds and mustard and then in between cut onion and add that while onion is burning he cuts garlic and so on. Occasionally stir in between. Finally I get tasty dish so I shouldn’t be complaining. I love his pav bhaji, he told me his sister is master chef and she cooks very delicious pav bhaji. Last time when we visited India she made it for us. It was okay if you ask me which one is best I will say my hubby’s pav bhaji. May be he adds some extra love in that one

Last Sunday he told he will make egg bhurji, I said okay, while looking at ingredients he found that only one tomato is there, so he asked me what to do, I told him to add some spinach. He finally added some frozen spinach and made egg bhurji this way. He used only one egg and rest of egg whites, so a healthy dish.

What you need

Egg: 4 no ( One Egg Yolk and rest of egg whites)
Onion: ¼ cup (chopped finely)
Frozen spinach: 1/ 4 cup
Tomato: 1 (chopped finely)
Olive Oil: 2 tablespoon
Green chili: 1 (Chopped finely) I used Serrano pepper
Salt: ¼ teaspoon
Black pepper: ¼ teaspoon
Turmeric: ⅛ teaspoon

How he made

In a small bowl add one egg and egg white of rest of eggs. To this add salt, black pepper and turmeric and beat well until entire egg and spices incorporated.

Then add spinach, chopped onion, green chili and tomato and mix everything once again.

Heat oil in a non-stick pan and add the egg-spinach-onion-tomato mixture and stir in between to prevent sticking in to the sides and bottom. Cook everything for about 7 minutes or until the veggies cooked well.

Switch off the flame and keep aside.

Enjoy with bread or chapathi.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Yield: 3 serving
Verdict: Tasty
Will you make it again: Yes he will.

Swathi

Lemony Minty Poppy Cake/Lemon-Mint-Poppy Seed Cake

Jun 9, 2010 · 31 Comments

You are right; yes I made lemon mint poppy seed cake. I have seen lemonade with mint flavor even lemon sorbet with mint in it. Also a lemon poppy seed cake however, lemon mint poppy seed cake is rare. I haven’t seen any with my Google search. I was thinking of making them for long time, however most of lemon poppy seed cake recipes contain 6-7 egg yolks. With diabetes in our family consuming this much egg yolk is out of question, further I don’t like too much yolky flavor in my cake. Chocolate I like it but I am not a chocoholic. I can live without chocolate too. So there was going to be no chocolate in my cake.

During my grocery shopping I bought some lemon thinking of making the cake, if I am not able to make it I will make lemonade that was my decision. Usually we buy lime, this time I bought lemon. As usual I asked hubby “can I make some cake with lemon, mint and poppy seed”.He told okay you can do it, but to make sure that there is not overly mint flavor as well as too much poppy seed in the cake. After getting the green signal, I started looking for recipes. I looked at a lot of them and finally settled with here and here. I didn’t strictly follow the two recipes and made my own changes such as added 1 tablespoon of fresh mint and two tablespoon of toasted poppy seeds. Cake came out great and even tasted like pound cake and moist, puffy and beautiful black dots from the poppy seeds. I didn’t use any glaze, if you want feel free to use lemon glaze. I felt that it will an overdose of lemon and will increase sugar content of the cake. I dusted scantly with powdered sugar on the top of the cake. I used heavy whipping cream, however you can substitute with yogurt. This is real lemony minty poppy cake with perfect balance between tanginess of lemon and sweetness along with fragrance of mint. Try at least once you will became its fan sure. Here is the recipe.

What you need

All-purpose flour: 1 ½ cup

Whole wheat flour: ½ cup

Sugar: 1 cup

Oil; ¼ cup (I used canola oil, use olive or any vegetable oil)

Egg: 3 no (I used 2 whole egg and one egg white)

Vanilla extract: 1 teaspoon

Baking powder: 1 teaspoon (I used aluminum free one)

Baking soda: ¼ teaspoon

Salt: ¼ teaspoon

Poppy seeds: 2 tablespoon (Lightly toasted)

Heavy whipping cream: ½ cup

Lemon juice: ¼ cup ( Two lemon)

Zest of Lemon: 1 tablespoon ( I used 3 lemon)

Fresh Mint: 1 tablespoon (Finely chopped)

How I made

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 9 inch cake pan with cooking spray and dust with flour . Line the bottom with parchment paper and keep aside.

In a large bowl sift together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground and salt. Add poppy seeds and mix everything and Keep aside.

In small bowl mix vanilla and lemon zest and lemon juice and keep aside.

Beat heavy whipping cream in a large bowl with electric mixer on high speed until it form shiny peaks this take about 5 minutes and keep aside.

In another bowl beat eggs, egg whites,oil and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until thickened and pale, about 5 minutes.

Gently fold in egg mixture into whip cream using wooden/rubber spatula and keep aside.

To this gradually fold the dry ingredients with a wooden/rubber spatula, a third at a time, alternating with 2 additions of the lemon juice.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and smoothen the tops with a spatula.

Bake for 50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes and remove it and cool in the wire rack for another 1 hour.

(If you want glaze make it like this.

To prepare glaze: Sift ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl; mix with lemon juice and water to create a thin glaze. Poke 1-inch-deep holes all over the cake with a skewer. Coat the warm cake with the glaze using a pastry brush. Let cool completely. To serve, set the cake on a serving plate and dust with confectioners’ sugar)

I didn’t prepare the glaze; I served with dusting the cake with powdered sugar.

Do you want a bite?

Preparation time: 55 minutes

Serving: 12 serving

Verdict: Yummy. Keeper recipe

Will you make it again: I will

Linking to Blogger's secret ingredient; Lemon hosted by Heather of Girlichef

Baked Burmese Eggplant Salad/khayan dhi pope thote

Jun 7, 2010 · 31 Comments

If you like Indian Baigan Ka Bharta//Roasted mashed spiced eggplant or Middle Eastern dip Baba Ganouj, should try this egg plant salad. Eggplant I love them now, however when I was young I used to hate them.

One thing about eggplant is they are bland just like zucchini; you can add any spices or vegetables they will get blend in very easily and becomes a tasty dish. Baingan ka Bharta is one of favorite dish, everywhere Indian restaurant cater them irrespective of countries. Even though preparation is same in all case the taste is only good some time.

I was curious to taste various cuisines; however courage came only after marriage because hubby encourages me a lot. So when I decided to host AWED, I immediately picked Burmese cuisine, it is one I had never tried. If you watch old Hindi movies you can see hero will be going outside India to do business in Rangoon, Burma. I thought since it borders our country, it is interesting to explore its cuisine. During my last grocery shopping I bought eggplant thinking of making a stir fry. While browsing for recipes of Burmese cuisine I found this roasted eggplant salad recipe. I decided to give it a try, however not being sure about the taste I made only two serving using half of the egg plant. Other half I used to make pulincurry with them.

Like I read, it tastes unique, you need to acquire that taste and it doesn’t have any strong flavor. I changed the recipe little bit by adding ½ teaspoon of paprika and substituted dried shrimp with dried coconut and fish sauce with soy sauce. I needed a vegetarian version of this salad. They are really good with crunchiness from fried garlic, roasted coconut, sesame seeds and peanuts. It has tanginess from lemon juice, spiciness from paprika and saltiness from soy sauce. We enjoyed this salad as an appetizer for our dinner.

What you need

Egg plant: Half of big one
Red onion: 2 tablespoon (finely chopped)
Garlic cloves: 2 (thinly sliced)
Olive oil: 2 tablespoon
Salt: ½ teaspoon
Paprika: ½ teaspoon

For garnish

Desiccated coconut: 1 teaspoon
Toasted sesame seeds: 1 teaspoon
Roasted Peanuts: 1 tablespoon (crushed into fine pieces)
Soy sauce: 1 teaspoon
Lemon Juice: ½ of one lemon
Coriander leaves: 1 tablespoon

How I made

Preheat oven to 415 degree Fahrenheit.

Wash eggplant and slightly rub with olive oil and sprinkle some salt and make holes with fork to prevent juice from bursting while baking. Wrap it in aluminum foil.

Place the foil packed egg plant in baking dish and bake for 45minutes or until it become soft on touching.

If you want you can alternatively roast in the grill. I don’t have grill so I baked them.

In the mean time, heat oil in small pan and fry the thinly sliced garlic cloves into crispy golden brown color chips. Keep aside.

Once the eggplant is cool enough to touch, remove the skin and seeds and scoop the flesh into a small bowl.

Add remaining salt, soy sauce, paprika, lemon juice and mix everything to combine.

Garnish with toasted sesame seeds, fried garlic, crushed peanuts and coriander leaves.

Enjoy as much as you wish.

Preparation time: Baking time: 45 minutes
Assembly: 2 minutes
Yield: 2 Serving
Verdict: Tasty
Will you make it again: Yes I Will

This Baked Burmese eggplant salad is going to

AWED : Burma hosted by me originally started by DK.

Sizzling summer contest hosted by Spicy tasty ( Shirya,Nithu and Arthi)

Also to Side dish show down : June; hosted by Reeni of Cinnamon and Spice.

Swathi

Mathanga Erissery/ Pumpkin in coconut sauce

Jun 3, 2010 · 29 Comments

Erissery is one of the traditional dishes of Kerala. It is usually made with Chena (Yam), Vazhakkaya (raw plantain), pumpkin etc. If snake gourd (padavalanga) is used then moong dal (spilt green gram) or toor dal (pigeon peas) are also used along with it. Amma usually made pumpkin erissery and snake gourd erissery. As usual every home has their own version of erissery with minor variations.

I used to make erissery with pumpkin variety named as Cuban squash/ calabaza. I get them from grocery stores like HEB or Fiesta. They are rich in vitamin C and calcium read more about them from here . Whenever I find them, I will pick them. I made a soup one time, it taste great but it caused bloating of stomach, after that making soup is out of question. My hubby doesn’t like pumpkin in other curries especially in sambar. My little one likes it if it is less spicy, she will takes some bites. She finds more tasty food in mom’s plate than priced Geber baby foods.

If you ask me will you make any other dish with pumpkin I will say olan. Erissery is my favorite. Cooked pumpkin in spicy coconut sauce with seasoning of mustard, urad dal, fried coconut and curry leaves gives a wonderful aroma. Merger between sweetness of pumpkin and coconut with spicy green chilies takes your taste buds to another level. Try some time and you going to like it I am sure. I didn’t use curry leaves as I am out of them. If you have in hand feel free to use them. Here goes the recipe.

What you need

Pumpkin/ calabaza: 4 cups( chopped into small cubes)
Grated coconut: ½ cup + 3 tablespoon
Salt: ¾ teaspoon or to taste
Green chili: 2 no( I used Serrano pepper, adjust the chili depending upon your spice level)
Cumin seeds: 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds; ½ teaspoon
Ginger: 1 inch piece( Optional, not in authentic recipes)
Urad dal : 1 tablespoon
Red chili; 1 ( halved into two pieces)
Turmeric: ⅛ teaspoon
Oil: 2 tablespoon ( I used olive oil, use Coconut oil for authentic taste)
Water: 3 ¼ cup

How I made

Peel the skin of pumpkin and wash and cut into small cubes.

In a sauce pot cook cut pumpkin along with turmeric powder, salt and one cut green chilies with 3 cup of water until it well done or 20 minutes.

In the mean time grind 1/ 2 cup coconut with remaining green chili,ginger,cumin seeds and ¼ cup water to form a smooth paste.

Add this ground coconut paste into the cooked pumpkin and check salt if need add some more.

In small pan heat oil and add mustard seeds, urad dal and halved red chilies on mustard seeds starts spluttering add 3 tablespoon of coconut and fry them until it become slightly brown. Remove from the heat and pour into the pumpkin coconut mixture and switch off the flame.

Enjoy with rice and curry.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 serving
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: Yes making more often

Swathi

Rice Vermicelli and channa

Jun 1, 2010 · 25 Comments

Sevai was one of the dish my mom and grandma made with lot of preparation. I will say it is a tedious dish which requires lot of preparation as well as energy to make them. Usually Appa or one of my uncles would help to get it done. It is somewhat similar to Idiyappam: string hoppers, however taste differs very much. Idiyappam is usually made with raw rice where as Sevai is made with parboiled rice. My grandma would cook it twice, first ground paste is cooked to get thickened dough and then it is again steamed as ball. Then press the ball using sevai mold. However amma make it as idly using idly mold and then press the idly using mold. Sevai tastes great with pulissery and tastes even better the next day.

Nowadays I don’t find enough time to make one curry and side dish, literally fighting with my little one to gets things done. So when I went to Hong Kong market I saw rice noodles, I grabed it thinking that I can make something with it. I know, in order to make it tasty I need to make some curry to. I had gone back to my old faithful favorite channa. I love them, because it is one of easy dish that I can dish out within 20 minutes. I always have a few cans of chickpeas in my pantry. It adds protein to my diet also. If you are looking for something for a dinner or breakfast try this dish. It came out tasty. I added some coconut to my rice noodles, and seasoning to give an Indian look. Here is the recipe.

What you need

Rice Vermicelli: 2 cups
Coconut: ¼ cup
Channa dal : 2 tablespoon ( roasted)
Urad dal : 2 tablespoon( roasted)
Red chili: 3( halved)
Mustard seeds: 1 teaspoon
Oil; 1 tablespoon
Salt: ½ tablespoon
Water : 4 cups

How I made

Heat water in sauce pot as it starts boiling add salt and ½ tablespoon of oil.

In the mean time soak the rice noodles for 3 minutes in warm water so that become soft. Add this soaked rice noodles in the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes or until done.

Strain using a colander and keep aside.

In a thick bottomed pan heat rest of oil and add mustard seeds, chana dal and urad dal and halved red chili. Once mustard seeds start spluttering add coconut and mix well. To this add cooked rice vermicelli and stir until coconut and rest of seasoning get coated with the rice vermicelli noodles. Check salt and if need adjust and switch off the flame.

Serve warm with hot chana curry.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Yield: 4 serving

Verdict: Yummy

Will you make it again: I will

Swathi

AWED- BURMA Event Announcement

Jun 1, 2010 · 17 Comments

Photo courtesy from myanmartravelinformation.com

I am happy to announce that I will be the guest hosting this month’s AWED started by Divya. You can read more about her and her easy recipes from her blog. I was always enthusiastic about the world cuisines so when I asked DK about hosting AWED, she immediately agreed. She inspires others to cook with easy and simple steps.

This month we are going to our neighboring country Burma: Golden Land of Pagoda’s. Burmese cuisine is influenced by all its neighbors, Indian, Chinese and Thailand cooking. However, Burma has its own characteristic way of cuisine preparations, distinct flavors and even variations in regional cuisines. Read more from here.

Burmese cuisine is famous for their salads which are considered as their fast foods and very poular. Beans, seafood, meat and poultry are major source of protein. Like other Asian countries, Burmese street foods are popular among the tourists as well as the locals. Common ingredients used in Burmese cooking are rice, wheat and rice noodles, glass noodles and vermicelli, potato, ginger, tomato, kaffir lime, lahpet (pickled tea), and ngapi (fish paste). Burmese dishes often use fresh fruits and vegetables.

Join me to unravel the vegetarian side of Burmese cuisine without a long flight journey, visa and jet lag. Explore the culinary adventures of the Golden Land of Pagodas (Buddhist worship place) in your little kitchen.

For recipe ideas take a look at these links:

http://asiarecipe.com/burculture.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/eat/recipes/burmese_salad.html

http://www.theworldrecipebook.com/index.php?location=recipes&mode=view_recipe&rid=133

http://www.hsaba.com/

http://www.helladelicious.com/recipes/2010/03/burmese-fried-prawn-and-bean-sprouts/

http://www.meemalee.com/2009/06/recipe-burmese-gooseberry-salad.html

http://wvgazette.com/Life/julierobinson/200909220841

http://myanmartravelinformation.com/myanmar-food/myanmar-food.htm

http://www.uncorneredmarket.com/2009/02/the-better-side-burmese-cuisine/

http://www.asianhomerecipe.com/recipecorner/burma/burma.php

http://www.bigbible.org/blog/2008/06/burmese-noodle-salad-warm-salad.htm

http://www.tarladalal.com/recipesearch.asp

Rules

Prepare any VEGETARIAN/ VEGAN dish from Burma and post it in your blog between now and June 30th 2010.

Link it to My Event Announcement and DK's AWED announcement page.

You can send as many entries you want.

Archives are welcome. Just update or repost and link it to us .

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Bon appétit

Swathi

Vendakka thoran/ Okra stir fry

May 29, 2010 · 20 Comments

Vendakka /Okra is one of the favorite vegetables in our household. I can say it is a family vegetable. Everyone in my family as well as his family loves them. There was a funny incident happened in my sister’s house with okra. Last time when I visited in India I was staying with my sister and appa. My niece was 5 years old at that time; she is ardent fan of our hindi movies and serials. Only vegetable she likes is potato and okra at that time. My sister who is lazy cook told me, as you are here; cook something with okra, kunju (my niece) loves that too. So I decided to make stir fry with okra. I used seasoning with mustard seeds and some halved red chilies.

On the dining table seeing okra, my niece started laughing and was ready to eat the rice. Then when she saw red chili in the okra stir fry she told” Periyamma mirchi dalkar thune muche marana chahathe ho” ( Aunty you want to kill me by adding red chili) I was stunned hearing these long words from a 5 year old. My sister told me it is the influence of TV serial and movies. She practices all the long words they used in serials. Now also she makes me laugh and surprises me once in a while with her statements while talking in the phone.

Last weakened we didn’t do our usual shopping as we are out for buying a car. We wanted to change one of our cars to a slightly bigger vehicle, as going out with stroller of little one is difficult in our car. So decided to buy a bigger vehicle and finally bought Honda-CRV. We had to spend long hours in the dealership, first day negotiations and deal happened around 9.00 P.M. When we left from the dealership it was 11.00 P.M. So they didn’t wash the new car, they told us to comeback next day to wash the car and go through the manual. So second day (Sunday) we went again. That means we lost our time for grocery shopping. This Tuesday we went out and bought some vegetables, when I saw fresh okra I immediately put them into the shopping cart and decided to make a thoran with them. I was craving for okra thoran for long time.

I made this okra thoran slightly different from the usual thoran preparations and it came out tasty. Rani of Pranis Kitchen commented in CCB thoran recipe that adding fennel seeds will enhance the taste. So I thought I will add fennel seeds to Vendakka/Okra thoran as I did that for Rajasthani okra fry, I know there is good marriage between both of them. This time I added not only fennel seeds but also cumin seeds along with my usual seasoning of mustard seeds, urad dal, red chili and curry leaves. One more thing I learned that if we cook okra in high heat for some time then the sliminess will be removed fast. Be careful, stir in between prevent the sticking to bottom of the pan. Here goes the recipe.

What you need

Okra/Vendakka: 4 cup (washed and chopped thin round)
Onion : 1 cup ( Finely chopped)
Red chilies : 2 no (halved)
Red chili powder: ½ teaspoon
Turmeric powder: ¼ teaspoon
Cumin powder : 1 teaspoon
Coconut : ⅓ cup (I used desiccated one, use fresh or frozen if you have for best result)
Urad dal : 1 tablespoon
Curry Leaves : 1 Sprig ( 12 leaves)
Olive oil : 2 tablespoon (if you want authentic taste use coconut oil)
Salt : 1 teaspoon or to taste
Mustard seeds : ½ teaspoon
Fennel seeds: ¼ teaspoon
Cumin seeds: ¼ teaspoon

How I made

Heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds , halved red chilies and urad dal as mustard seeds start popping add chopped onion and cook for another 7 minutes or until they become translucent To this add washed and cut okra and add turmeric powder and salt .Let it cook for 10 minutes in high heat with stir in between to prevent the okra from sticking to the bottom.

If you are using fresh or frozen coconut ground them with cumin and red chili powder to form coarse paste with less water.

Add desiccated coconut, cumin and red chili powder and cook for another 3 minutes. Finally add the curry leaves and switch off the flame.

Enjoy with rice and curry.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serving: 5 serving
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: Yes I will

Swathi

Savory croquembouche with cream yogurt filling: Daring Bakers Challenge May 2010

May 27, 2010 · 34 Comments

The Daring Bakers Challenge for the month of May was to make the piece montée//croquembouche, which is a high pyramid/cone made of profiteroles (cream-filled puff pastries) sometimes dipped in chocolate, bound with caramel, and usually decorated with threads of caramel, sugared almonds, chocolate, flowers, or ribbons. Cat from Little Miss Cupcake is hosting this month challenge, and it is mandatory to use pate a choux (Puff pastry) and crème patisserie and final assembly of piece montée should be looks like a mounted structure with some height to it.

At first I was planning to make a sweeter version with mango and coconut milk crème patisserie. I even made custard with mango and coconut milk with agar as solidifying agent. However my puff pastry fell flat and looked like cookies and there was no place to put my mango custard. I felt that they were telling don’t mess with us; we are not interested in carrying any extra weight of mango custard. Frustration of failing at the first attempt resulted even in the dropping of the idea of making the croquembouche. A week passed by, and after seeing lots of good pictures of fellow Daring Bakers croquembouche my mind got interested and started making pate a choux.

The second time got charm, since I got burned thinking of making sweet version, I decided this time I will make savory version. I added grated carrots and finely chopped onion, ginger, red chili powder, cumin powder, black pepper and chaat masala into my cream yogurt filling. Trust me they are really tasty. I reduced the recipe amount into half and used bread flour for pate a choux (puff pastry) with one whole egg and one egg white. Since I made savory version I skipped sugar and added black pepper and salt in the puff pastry.

Even though I wanted to use the recipe given by Cat, I ended up modifying it due to the version change. I didn’t use any glaze. As I used grated carrots and chopped onions ,piping into the puff pastry was out of question. So I made cut in the top of puff pastry and filled the filling with a spoon. It may look crocodile opening the mouth, no problem not pretty but tasty, that is what I want.

I think this puff pastry is going to be around in our kitchen for a long time. We simply love it. Give a chance to this puff pastry with this cream filling in your kitchen; you are going to go crazy over them if you are love chaat.Here goes the recipe.

Recipe adapted from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

What you need

Pate a Choux
Water: ¾ cup
Unsalted butter: 3 tablespoon
Salt: ½ teaspoon
Black pepper: ¼ teaspoon
Bread flour: ½ cup
Egg: 2 no (1 whole egg and other egg white)
Ghee/clarified butter: 1 tablespoon

How I made

Pate a choux( Puff pastry)

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine water, butter, salt and black pepper in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny. As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.

Add in the next egg white. Mix everything until incorporated well.

Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.

Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.

Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 15 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 10 minutes or until you hear hollow sound while tapping the bottom. Remove and brush with ghee and cool it in rack.

If you want you can store it in air tight container overnight.

Yogurt cram filling

Grated carrots: ⅓ cup
Red onion: ⅕ cup ( finely chopped)
Ginger: ½ tablespoon( finely chopped)
Salt: ¼ teaspoon or to taste
Yogurt: ½ cup( I used 2% fat)
Heavy whipping cream: ½ cup
Chaat masala: ¼ teaspoon
Cumin powder: ¼ teaspoon
Chili powder: ¼ teaspoon
Peeled carrot: 2 tablespoon ( for decoration)
Onion: 1 tablespoon (Cut into thin strips for decoration)
Mint leaves: 1 sprig (for decoration)

Hang the yogurt in cheese cloth for an hour to remove the excess water. For better results, try to hang it for overnight in a refrigerator.

In a small bowl mix grated carrot, onion, ginger, black pepper , cumin, chili powder and chat masala and keep aside.

Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then gently fold in yogurt. Transfer the yogurt whipped cream to a bowl and folds in veggies and masala and keep aside.

[Tip: Use an ice cold bowl to make the whipped cream in. You can do this by putting your mixing bowl, cream and beater in the fridge for 20 minutes prior to whipping the cream.]

Assembly of Piece Montée/croquembouche:

Cut the top of puff pastry into half slit and gradually fill in with filling using a spoon. Continue until entire puff pastry is filled with filling.
Place the piece montée, in a plate and decorate with grated carrots, cut onion and sprig of mint leaves.

Enjoy! Bon appétit!

Preparation time: Prepare puff pastry: 10 minutes
To pipe: 5 minutes
Bake: 25 minutes
For cram filling: 15 minutes
Yield: 12
Verdict: Yummy, delicious
Will you make it again: I will?

Swathi

Blinchiki /Russian pancakes

May 25, 2010 · 24 Comments

I love to find the similarity in cuisines of the world. It is not possible for me to go to restaurants that cater international cuisines and find out. First of all is lack of time, next going with little one to restaurants is impossible. Furthermore I believe the restaurants outside countries won’t justify the taste and authenticity of dish. They will water down depending upon the countries in which they are serving. My hubby is also curious about other cuisines so it is easy for me to try something in my beautiful kitchen (the place I love most).

I wanted to make some Russian dishes for the this month AWED, first I decided to make bread, since I made two types of rye bread, so another bread is not going to be approved by my hubby. I made some Russian cabbage soup, it taste ok, not great, so decided to give something a try. I wanted something easy and at the same time popular with great taste. So I decided to try Blinchiki. Blinchiki differ from French crepe and American pancakes because of its shape and taste as It can be sweet, savory, with yeast or without them. It is made with wheat, all purpose flour, buckwheat etc. I read that wheat version is more common. If they are made with yeast then they will called as blini. I also read that traditional blini also contain yeast and is baked in oven or cooked on non-stick pans. Blinchiki are usually made with filling like meat, cheese, caviar, vegetables etc. Since I won’t cook any non-veg I made filling with channa masala giving blinchiki an indo-fusion. I know I always end up making chana masala to try with international flat breads and pancakes. I found that there is unique marriage between them.

I made my Blinchiki based on these two recipes you can find link here and here.

Taste wise, they are similar to our wheat dosa /Gothambu dosa. You can have them with any spicy curry or chutney. You can even stuff them with masala dosa suffing, it will be taste great, and I will try that next time. Here goes easy blinchiki recipe.

What you need

Whole wheat flour: 1 ½ cup
Egg : 2 no ( I used one whole egg and other only egg white, If you want use only white increase the number of egg)
Sugar: ½ tablespoon+ 1 teaspoon (If you want sweetness increase the sugar amount)
Water: ¾ cup
Milk: 2 cup (I used 1 % fat)
Salt: ½ teaspoon
Oil: 2 tablespoon oil (I used canola oil)

How made

In a large bowl lightly beat egg, sugar and salt. To this add milk and mix again. Keep aside.

Gradually add flour to the above egg milk mixture and mix until everything combined using a whisk, gradually add water to make a loose batter and keep aside for 10 minutes..

Mean time heat a non stick girdle, once it gets hot add a ladle full of batter and spread the batter by turning the girdle in a circular motion( I find it more easy by spread the batter like dosa). Once it get cooked it takes about 30 seconds flip the other side and cook for another 30 seconds.

Continue to cook blinchiki until entire batter is finished. Stack the cooked blinchiki in a plate.

For making stuffed blinchiki

Take one blinchiki and place the stuffing on onside, and gradually fold the other side, then sides just like wraps and keep aside. If you want you can refry them once again in hot griddle. I didn’t refried them.

Enjoy.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Yield: 20 no
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: Yes I will.

I am sending this Blinchiki Russian Pancakes to AWED: Russia hosted by Radhika
which is brainchild of DK .

Swathi

CCB thoran/ CCB stir fry

May 22, 2010 · 26 Comments

You will be wondering what CCB is, is it a new vegetable. They are our carrot-cabbage-beet root. If you use a liking meter in our house to measure fondness of these vegetables, beet root gets first place, followed by carrot and cabbage. Amma used to make cabbage thoran and cabbage kootu curry with lentils. However, my hubby likes only thorans/ Stir fry with cabbage, beet root. One day I made beet root pachadi; he did not like it and told me that it is good but not make to it again. However, he likes to eat raw beet in his salad. I don’t like them raw, for me raw taste like eating soil.

I make thoran with all vegetables and beans available in the planet. May be it is because I am from the region of India where everybody makes thoran with everything. I love the touch of coconut and cumin seeds along with spicy chily and aroma of curry leaves. I use garlic only if I am making thoran with beans. I will add onions depending upon my mood. If a thoran and curry is available, I will be happy to enjoy the meal. I like mezhukupuratti (vegetables fried in touch of oil) too, still if thoran is there I will go for it first than mezhukupuratti.

I had some cabbage left after making Russian lenten pokhlebka/soup and in order to make a curry I needed some more veggies, so I used carrots and beets make my thoran. I like Beets, but I hate them while cooking, they tend to make their mark everywhere, in clothes, kitchen counters etc. This is easy breezy curry you can make within a few minutes. Only difficult part is in chopping them finely, you can use choppers to save some time. I love to chop my veggies. So I chopped cabbage finely and grated carrots and beets to make it uniform.Here goes the recipe

What you need

Cabbage: 2 cup (washed and chopped finely)
Carrot : 2 cup ( grated)
Beet root: 1 ½ cup ( grated)
Green chilly : 1 (finely chopped)
Red chilies : 2 no (halved)
Crushed red chillies: 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder: ¼ teaspoon
Turmeric powder: ¼ teaspoon
Cumin powder : ½ teaspoon
Coconut : ¾ cup (I used desiccated one, use fresh or frozen for best result)
Urad dal : 2 tablespoon
Curry Leaves : 1 Sprig ( 10 leaves)
Olive oil : 2 tablespoon (use coconut oil for authentic taste)
Salt : ½ teaspoon or to taste
Mustard seeds : ½ teaspoon

How I made

Heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds, halved red chilies and urad dal as mustard seeds start popping add cleaned and chopped cabbage, grated carrots and beet roots. Then add turmeric powder and salt and cover the lid. Let it cook for 10 minutes.

If you are using fresh or frozen coconut ground them with cumin and red chili powder to form coarse paste with less water.

Add desiccated coconut, cumin and crushed red chilies and red chili powder and cook for another 5 minutes. Finally add the curry leaves and switch off the flame.

Enjoy with rice and curry.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serving: 6 serving
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: Yes I will

Swathi

Russian Lenten Pokhlebka/ Soup

May 20, 2010 · 36 Comments

I made Russian Lenten Pokhlebka/Soup to enjoy with the braided rye bread. It is one of traditional soup. I read that this Russian soup is light in taste and used mainly as appetizers; not dense to lose the appetite of main dish. It is a clear broth cooked only with water and vegetables. I also read that main ingredients in this soup are potatoes, onions turnips and some lentils. This soup contains only soft veggies that do not have long boiling but is known for their characteristic aromas. It should not be over cooked, and no fats or oils are used; only spicy herbs like parsley, dill, celery as well as garlic is used. It tastes great with freshly baked rye bread. Adding any extras like cream, butter will spoil the taste of Pokhelbka.

After reading all these wonderful things about Pokhlebka, I thought I need to try it immediately, further more I had baked a fresh rye bread. I followed these two recipes link is here and here. I tweaked recipe as I had only dried parsley in my hand, no dill and not fond of having garlic in my soup. I feel frying onions, cabbage and carrot is must to get nice aroma and taste. I spiced the soup with black pepper and Marjoram.

With lot of expectation I made the soup. Taste wise it is okay somewhat bland, even with my hubby’s Tabasco technique (He adds Tabasco to soup, noodles or some time soy sauce) it taste same. Soy sauce addition is out of question as it is not Chinese soup it is Russian soup we want the original taste.

I don’t think this soup is not going to be on our menu any way. I think if we add some more lemon juice or some more spices it may taste better. If you have any suggestions you are welcome. I will check with my Russian friend’s mom also and let you know to how to improve the taste. Here goes the recipe.

What you need

Pearl Barely: ⅓ cup
Potato: ¾ cup (chopped into cubes)
Cabbage: 1 ½ cup (finely chopped)
Carrot: 1 cup (grated)
Onion: 1 cup (finely chopped)
Parsley: ½ teaspoon (I used dried one)
Salt: 1 teaspoon or to taste
Black Pepper: ½ teaspoon
Marjoram: ½ teaspoon
Oil : 2 tablespoon
Water: 5 cup
Lime juice: ½ teaspoon

How I made

In a medium sauce pot cook the washed pearl barely with 2 cup water and ½ teaspoon of salt until it cooked about 75 % it took me 20 minutes. Drain some water so that soup won't be cloudy.

To this add chopped potato and cook for another 15 minutes or until potato is done not mushy.

In the mean time heat a pan add oil and fry onion until they become translucent or change in color it took me about 7 minutes. To this add grated carrots and cabbage and fry for another 6 minutes.

Add this fried onion-cabbage-carrots mixture to the soup and add rest of water, salt and pepper and cook for another 10 minutes. To this add dried parsley, marjoram and lime juice. switch off the flame.

Enjoy warm with rye bread. Finish it in same day; this soup is not good for reheating.

Preparation time: 55 minutes
Yield: 4 serving
Verdict: Taste okay, bland
Will you make it again: I don’t think so.

Not so braided bread: Braided Rye bread

May 17, 2010 · 42 Comments

I made braided bread yesterday; my prior experience with the braiding is on my hair with 3 strands. I haven’t done any 5 strand on my hair too. Now I got courage the braid the bread not 4 strand a six strand one like Challah. I started with immense preparation watching videos of braiding bread in You Tube more than 6 times, taking notes and so on. But at the end what happened is I got confused and finally made my braided bread according my own way. It turn out pretty even though they are not perfect, just like modern art, nobody knows what they are painting, and spectators do not know what they are looking. Mine is not that bad, still it is not as perfect as I wanted to be. So I am going to make again with my acquired braiding skills.

When I saw marbled rye bread in bread baking apprentice (The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread) I fell in love with them; I want to make them immediately. I have rye flour in my hand; we love rye breads, so it is pre approved to make them at any time. Since I have only active dry yeast in my hand means I need to proof the yeast. I changed the recipe a little bit by adding ½ teaspoon of sugar to proof the yeast and 2 tablespoon of cocoa to increase the color of my dark rye bread and increased amount of water. I decorate them with caraway seeds, rye bread without caraway seed is impossible for me to think. It came out tasty, and we enjoyed the bread with a Russian cabbage soup and also as a breakfast toast. Here goes the recipe.

What you need

White rye flour: ¾ cup
Bread flour (unbleached): 1 ½ cup
Active dry yeast: 1 teaspoon
Molasses: ½ tablespoon
Shortening: 1 tablespoon (I used Crisco shortening)
Water: ¾ cup room temperature
Water: ⅛ cup (Luke warm water)
Sugar: ¼ teaspoon
Salt: 1 teaspoon

For dark rye

Egg: 1 no
Water: 1 teaspoon
Caraway seeds: ½ tablespoon

How I made

In a small bowl add active dry yeast in ⅛ cup lukewarm water along with ¼ teaspoon sugar. Keep aside for 10 minutes or until yeast gets foamy. I kept it for about 20 minutes.

For light rye

In a large bowl, stir together the rye, the bread flour, the salt, and the yeast. Add the molasses, shortening, and water. Mix until the dough forms a loose ball, adding an additional tablespoon of water or two if necessary to bring the dough together. Knead for 7-10 minutes. The dough should feel supple and pliable but not sticky.

For dark rye

In a second bowl stir together the rye, the bread flour, the salt, and the yeast. Add the molasses, shortening, water, and cocoa powder mixture. Mix until the dough forms a loose ball, adding an additional tablespoon of water or two if necessary to bring the dough together. Knead for 7-10 minutes. The dough should feel supple and pliable but not sticky.

Keep aside knead dough in slightly oiled vessel for doubling.

It took about 1hour and 45 minutes to double.

Next, turn each of the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide each color into 3 equal segments. Roll out into each portion of dough into ropes about 18 inch long, tapered at the ends. By rolling strand in the kitchen table with one hand or in between two hands. If the dough is sticky sprinkle some flour in the kitchen table so that they won’t stick together.

Join the strands at one end and they will occupy positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. starting from FAR LEFT. Place each white and dark rye strands alternate each other.

Bring rope from position 1 to position 6 (far right)

Next bring the rope from position 5 to position 1 (far left).

Next bring the rope from position 6 (far right) to position 4.
Next bring rope from position 2 to position 6 (far right).
Next bring the rope from position 1 (far left) to position 3.

Next bring rope from position 5 to position 1 (far left).
(Go back and do position 6 to position 4 and repeat)

Repeat steps until the ropes are used up.
As I mentioned earlier I got confused and not followed the above written rule.
Do not stretch ropes while braiding but keep them together snugly. Tuck ends inside so that it looks neat.

Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

Once you finish the braiding gently transfer them to baking sheet lined with parchment paper and keep aside for second rising. It took about 45 minutes for braids to double in size.

In a small bowl whisk one egg with water and keep aside.

Using a brush gently and generously brush the egg wash on the doubled braided bread. With one clean hand dipped in egg solution gently press caraway seeds into each section of the braided bread.

Bake them in a preheated 350°F oven for 45 minutes, or until they’re well browned or registered an internal temperature of 200 to 210°F on an instant-read thermometer.(I used meat reading thermometer). Remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool completely before serving.

Enjoy with warm soup or toast.

Preparation time: Preparation time: 30 minutes for preparing dough,
Doubling time: 1.45minutes + 45 minutes for second rise
Baking time: 45 minutes
Yield: 1 braid
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: Yes I will

I am sending this bread to

Yeast spotting event hosted by Susan

Bread Baking event # 30: Twisted bread hosted by Natashya

Swathi

Rasmalai

May 15, 2010 · 30 Comments

Delicious Rasmalai is traditional and simple sweet made with Indian Cottage cheese and sugar and spices

Rasmalai/Indian Cottage Cheese in Milk Syrup is one of east India’s famous dessert dishes. It is popular in West Bengal, Orissa etc along with neighboring Bangladesh. Ras malai usually consists of three parts: first one is cheese balls/paneer/cheena balls , the second part is to cook the paneer/cheena balls cooked in sugar syrup. Then third part is to soak it in milk syrup/rabdi in which paneer/cheena balls.

This recipe make a few serving of Rasmalai about 2-3 serving rather than 10-12 serving, This recipe is adapted from Simran’s recipe with slight modification of adding 1 teaspoon of corn starch instead of ½ teaspoon and reducing some sugar in Ras and garnish with them pistachios and saffron.

I made paneer and hung it in my kitchen sink, supposed to hang it for 1 hour, however I hung for 3 hours as my little one’s 12 month check up was on the afternoon and poor girl got some shots too so I was holding her until she took nap.

Even though the recipe feels long and tedious, actually it is quite simple and easy to follow as you start making them.

I didn’t use the pressure cooker to cook the paneer/cheena balls. As I was afraid of breaking them, I only cooked it in on stove stop. Cooked for 20 minutes instead of 15 minutes mentioned the recipe. They came out really good. I am going to making more often, as both my hubby and little one liked it very much.

How to make Rasmalai/Indian Cottage Cheese in Milk Syrup?

For making rasamalai you need following ingredeints.

Milk: You need to use full fat milk to get creamy good paneer

Heavy cream : Heavy cream adds creamy structure to the recipe.

Lemon juice : lemon juice is used to cuddle the milk you can use Vinegar if you want

Cardamom and Saffron : Are spices you need to make this rasa malai

Sugar: Sweetner used in the recipe

Cornstarch : Used to make paneer balls soft

For making paneer

Boil 2 cup of milk in sauce pot with occasional stirring.

Once it starts boiling add lime/lemon juice/vinegar and stir until it curdles.

In a strainer lined with cheese cloth pour the curdle cheese along with whey water. Collect the drained whey water using container. You can use this whey water to make chapathi dough or to cook don’t throw away, it is rich in nutrients. Wash the paneer with 1 cup of water so that sourness from lime juice will be removed.

Hung the cheese cloth along with paneer in kitchen sink for one hour or until entire whey water is removed. However, I hung for 3 hours.

Remove from the cheese cloth and add corn starch and knead them into a soft dough or until you won’t see any grains in them.

Divide the soft paneer dough into 6 equal sized rounds (I made 7 round balls with last one being small). Slightly flatten them in the center and keep aside.

For Making sugar syrup

In a sauce pot add 2 cups water and ½ cup sugar and let it boil, it takes about 10 minutes to boil. Continue for another 5 minutes of boiling.

Gradually drops the flattened paneer balls into the sugar syrup

continue to cook for another 20 minutes or until its doubles in size.

Then add ½ cup cold water and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Switch off the flame. Once it cooled remove the paneer balls along with some syrup and keep aside.

For Making Ras/ Milk Syrup

In a sauce pot preferably a nonstick one add 2 cup of milk and boil it in medium flame. Once it starts boiling reduce the fire and simmer it with occasional stirring until it reduces to half. It takes about 30 minutes.

Add 1 tablespoon of heavy cream, saffron and sugar and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or it becomes thick.

Once it is cooled add gently squeezed paneer/cheena balls into milk syrup and let it chill in refrigerator.

At the time of serving garnish them with chopped pistachios.

Enjoy chilled.

Other Milk Based sweets are

Gulab Jamun

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Rasamalai

Delicious and simple sweet made with Indian Cottage cheese and sugar. Topped with nuts.

Prep Time1 25

Cook Time30

Total Time1 55

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Rasamalai

Servings: servings

Calories: 200kcal

Author: Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy)

Ingredients

For Paneer /Cheena balls
2 cup Milk
1 Juice of 1 lemon You can use ½ teaspoon vinegar
1 tsp corn starch
1 cup water
For sugar syrup
2 cup water
½ cup sugar
Rasamalai
2 cup Milk
5 Saffron threads
1 ½ tablespoon Sugar
1 tablespoon Heavy whipping cream
2 Cardamom pods
1 tablespoon Pistachio crushed finely.

Instructions

For making paneer
Boil 2 cup of milk in sauce pot with occasional stirring. Once it starts boiling add lime/lemon juice/vinegar and stir until it curdles.
In a strainer lined with cheese cloth pour the curdle cheese along with whey water. Collect the drained whey water using container. You can use this whey water to make chapathi dough or to cook don’t throw away, it is rich in nutrients. Wash the paneer with 1 cup of water so that sourness from lime juice will be removed.
Hung the cheese cloth along with paneer in kitchen sink for one hour or until entire whey water is removed. However, I hung for 3 hours.
Remove from the cheese cloth and add corn starch and knead them into a soft dough or until you won’t see any grains in them.
Divide the soft paneer dough into 6 equal sized rounds (I made 7 round balls with last one being small). Slightly flatten them in the center and keep aside.
For Making sugar syrup
In a sauce pot add 2 cups of water and ½ cup of sugar and let it boil, it takes about 10 minutes to boil. Continue for another 5 minutes of boiling.
Gradually drops the flattened paneer balls into the sugar syrup and continue to cook for another 20 minutes or until its doubles in size.
Then add ½ cup cold water and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Switch off the flame. Once it cooled remove the paneer balls along with some syrup and keep aside.
For Making Ras/ Milk Syrup
In a sauce pot preferably a nonstick one add 2 cup of milk and boil it in medium flame. Once it starts boiling reduce the fire and simmer it with occasional stirring until it reduces to half. It takes about 30 minutes.
Add 1 tablespoon of heavy cream, saffron and sugar and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or it becomes thick.
Once it is cooled add gently squeezed paneer/cheena balls into milk syrup and let it chill in refrigerator.
At the time of serving garnish them with chopped pistachios.
Enjoy chilled.

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!

Plagiarism

May 14, 2010 · 16 Comments

When I used to put watermarks on my pictures my hubby ask why you are doing nobody will take it. If they want they will ask you first. However I found that is not the case. Last week Lisa of Lisa's kitchen of found out that somebody has copied her entire blog and put in their site.

Yesterday while reading famous Malayalam daily newspaper (Malayala Manorama online version) in the internet I found that picture from my blog was copied and posted in one of their article by a staff reporter here is the link. There is no acknowledgment nor was my permission taken. Stealing the photos or articles for commercial use is painful. Wonderful correspondent (he/she)using my picture which is of Moru curry( Yogurt gravy) for Curries that cure the Blood pressure, and posted under recipes of Drumstick leaves soup, Pumpkin beans curry and Avalose unda ( snack made with roasted rice flour and coconut). I have written to the newspaper to complain about this blatant plagiarism. Assistant web producer wrote me back that they got content from another magazine and they have removed the content from the site. But they moved the story from the front page to a link. Anyway watch out for photo and content stealing.

Swathi

Turrón: Deep fried sweet plantain in spring roll wrappers

May 12, 2010 · 31 Comments

Turrón is a Philippine snack; I found it when I was searching for South African munchies. I like plantains in every form raw, ripe, and over-ripe. In my home state, first food for the infant is usually powdered raw plantain cooked as puree. May be that taste lingered all through my life, whenever I see any dish with plantains I want to try them. As I got the usual “yes” from my hubby, I decided to try Turrón in my kitchen. I know it will taste good, as it uses plantain.

I will buy raw plantains every week and let them ripe in my kitchen table. Almost every day there will be a few ripe plantains in my house. However, I never buy spring roll wrappers as I am not making Chinese dishes very often. So this Saturday on the usual grocery shopping list one item got added, spring roll wrappers. When I read the recipes it looked easy, in addition to plantains it contains strips of Jackfruit (I can only dream about them) and brown sugar. Then I came across this recipe where she is making turrón with small bananas. I made them with plantains and used only 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and ½ tablespoon of cinnamon. They are absolute delicious. If you like pazham pori/ethakaappam/ plantain fritters you are going to love this one too. It has the sweetness from the plantain and brown sugar and crispiness and saltiness form spring roll wrappers along with aroma of cinnamon. I didn’t use any cornstarch mixture to glue the spring roll wrappers I used only simple water. Enjoy with tea or coffee or even with ice cream. You are going to fell in love with them I bet.

What you need

Plantains: 3 ( I used ripe ones)
Brown sugar: 1 tablespoon
Cinnamon: ½ tablespoon
Spring Roll wrappers: 9 no
Water: ½ cup( for gluing )
Oil: 4 cup ( I used canola oil)

How I made

Peel and cut plantains in center into two then again cut them into 3 elongated pieces of 5 inches and Keep aside.

In a plate mix cinnamon and brown sugar and keep aside.

Cut each spring roll wrapper into two pieces.

Take one plantain and rub them with cinnamon sugar and place it in the center of spring roll wrapper.

Close them from one side, repeat with other side and seal the both ends by wetting them with water (Since I didn’t used any corn flour mixture to glue the sides they are not perfectly shaped).

Deep fry in hot oil until they become golden brown it takes about 11/2 minutes per sides.

Remove them using a slotted spoon and drain excess oil using kitchen towels.

Enjoy with hot tea or coffee or with ice cream. Anyway it tastes great.

Preparation time: 35 minutes
Yield: 18 no
Verdict: yummy
Will you make it again: Yes I will

Swathi

Pineapple Milk Shake

May 10, 2010 · 27 Comments

The summer has started and the mercury is rising, and I needed something to cool down the body and mind. During this time of year smoothie and shakes comes to the rescue. When we were young, Appa used to takes us to movies, parks or shopping. Always he stops at one shop in East fort, near Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple, and buys juices for us. Juice will depends upon the availability of fruits, some time it is pineapples, grapes or fruits of Asian Palmyra palm (Nungu). I love it in all varieties especially one with Palmyrah fruit, it contains not only the juice that you can drink, but also eat some of fleshly endosperm. That is why British named them as ice-apple. The tender fruit resembles ice. The thought of the drink makes me nostalgic.

Last time when I went to India, I told about my craziness for Nungu to my mother-in-law, next day she bought some fruits for me. I was surprised at first and happy to see them. Okay in US hard to find Nungu, so I decide to make some pineapple milk shake. I had some pineapple left in refrigerator after making carrot cupcake for my little one’s birthday. I decided to use them in curry and asked my hubby, I got a firm no. So decides to make a juice with them. I added some vanilla essence and milk to make it into a shake. They are really tasty and best to beat the hot weather. My little one had some sip too. Increase the amount of sugar

if you want more sweetness. Here goes the recipe.

What you need

Chopped pineapple: 1 cup
Milk: ⅓ cup
Sugar: ½ tablespoon
Vanilla extract: 1 teaspoon

How I made

Combine chopped pineapple, milk, sugar and vanilla extract in a blender; cover and blend until creamy. Serve immediately. Enjoy.

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Yield: 2 serving
Verdict: yummy
Will you make it again: I will

Swathi

South African crunchies/Hawermoutkoekies/Oat meal bars

May 7, 2010 · 26 Comments

When I saw the name crunchies, it got my immediate attention. They are the Hawermoutkoekies/ South African oat meal bars. We both husband and wife likes everything crunchy. So I decide to give it a try. I read that they are the favorite cookies of most South African children, so I got one more reason to try them. When I discuss with my taste tester (hubby), he give me green signal to go ahead.

Next job was to find recipes and I found lot of recipes, most of them in Afrikaans so I decided to translate with help of Google friend. And finally settled with this one . Other versions you can find from here and here. They are similar to our granola bar with my favorite ingredient coconut. I modified the recipe by adding some fresh pineapple pieces, flax seed meal, reducing some sugar amount, and replacing half of all purpose flour with whole wheat flour and golden syrup with honey and adding toasted walnuts.

Trust me they are dangerously delicious, hard to prevent your hands from picking more and more pieces at a single stretch. Even licking the finger tips can’t be avoided. I think I will bargain this one for granola bars. They came out soft, if you need crispy increase the water content and bake for some more time. I am going stick with the recipe that I modified and going to only add some extras dry fruits. If you like granola bars try this at least once. I will make them again in a healthier version by exchanging whole wheat flour for all purpose flour, brown sugar instead of sugar and olive oil instead of butter.

What you need

All purpose flour: ⅕ cup
Whole Wheat flour: ⅕ cup
Oats: ⅓ cup ( I used rolled oats not quick one)
Desiccated coconut: ⅓ cup
Flax seed meal: 1 tablespoon
Cocoa: ½ tablespoon
Pineapple chopped: ½ cup( I used fresh pineapple)
Butter: ¼ cup
Walnut: ¼ cup
Water: ½ tablespoon
Sugar: ¼ cup
Baking soda: ½ teaspoon
Salt: ⅛ teaspoon
Honey: ¼ teaspoon
Vanilla extract: 1 teaspoon

How I made

Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Butter the base and sides of a pie pan or a loaf pan.( Use parchment paper in the base so that bars won’t stick to the bottom of pan).

Lightly toast the walnut for 10 minutes in the preheated oven and chopped into fine pieces and keep aside.

In a bowl melt butter, sugar and honey in medium heat until the butter gets melted or use microwave 1 minute at high. Once butter honey sugar mixture get cooled stir in vanilla extract and water and keep aside.

In a large bowl, combine the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa, desiccated coconut and flax seed meal and keep aside.

Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients, and gently fold in pineapple pieces and chopped walnuts.

Transfer the mixture into a buttered pie pan, or loaf pan.

And bake for 20 minutes at 350 degree F or until they become brown in color. Gently press down the sides if they seem to rise too much.

Remove from the oven and cut into squares. Switch off the oven. Return crunchies to the oven, for 10 minutes to dry out.

Cool completely before removing from pie pan or loaf pan.

Enjoy any time.

Preparation time: 35 minutes
Yield: 20 bars
Verdict: Deadly delicious
Will you make it again: Yes I will.

Swathi

Ethapazha pachadi / Plantain cooked in coconut jaggery gravy and Vendakka kichadi/Okra in yogurt gravy

May 5, 2010 · 20 Comments

According to us, as people from southern Kerala, pachadi is curry made of jaggery and usually with fruits like mango, pineapple, ripe plantain and some time even tomato. It is a sweet curry which contains all 4 tastes like sour, sweet, spicy and salty. Whereas Kichadi is the curry in which we grind mustard seeds along with coconut and green chilies and usually made with okra, bitter gourd and cucumber. I don’t know how authentic is my interpretations. I used to eat like this, so from my eating experience I have drawn a conclusion like this. Pachadi and kichadi are important thodu curries (meaning taste only in small amount) in the sadya.

Amma used to make pachadi only during festivals. Kichadi was on our menu on a regular basis, and was also made during festivals. This vishu I made both dishes. I was supposed to buy fresh okra from the grocery store; however, I was upset with its high price for a moment and forgot to put it in my cart so left without okra. When I decide to make kichadi it was too late to go back to the store and had to be satisfied with frozen okra in my freezer. The dish came out tasty still I prefer fresh ones for this dish.

For pachadi also the same story, pineapples are at times expensive. Also we had bought pineapple for last the two weeks and were almost getting bored with them. So those were out of question, so I decided to make with mango. When I cut the first mango it was not fully ripe, so they were also out the game. Now left with only choice, of my favorite ripe plantains. So I made pachadi with them.

One thing about sadya menu is if you taste each dish, each should taste differently. Most of them are made grinding with simple ingredients, like coconut, cumin and green chilies. Some time ginger and mustard seeds.

Here goes the recipe it is really easy sure try at least once. For me all dishes in sadya bring out nostalgic memories.

For Ethapazham Pachadi

What you need

Ripe Plantain/Ethapazham: 1 no
Coconut grated : ¼ cup
Cumin seeds: ½ teaspoon
Green chili : 1 no
Turmeric: ⅛ teaspoon
Water: ¼ cup + 2 cup
Yougurt: 1 tablespoon
Jaggery: 1 teaspoon (Increase the amount if you want more sweetness)
Oil : 1 tablespoon
Salt: ¼ teaspoon
Red chili: 1 no ( halves into two)

How I made

Wash and cut plantain into 4 pieces of 4 inch chunks.

In a medium sauce pan boil 2 cups of water and add the plantain pieces and cook them with salt and turmeric powder for about 15 minutes or until well done. Switch off the flame and keep aside.

Grind coconut, cumin seeds, green chili and yogurt with ¼ cup water into fine paste. And keep aside.

Mash the cooked plantain using a potato masher or put in food processor and spin for a minute. I mashed thoroughly if you wish leave little bit chunks there.

In a medium sauce pan add mashed plantain and ground coconut piece and jaggery and cook for about 2 minutes or until everything combined well. Do a taste test, if need add salt or spices.

In a small pan heat oil and add mustard seeds and halved red chili, curry leaves if using. Switch off the flame once mustard seeds start spluttering and add this mixture over to cooked plantain coconut mixture.

Enjoy warm with rice and curries.

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 serving
Verdict: Tasty
Will you make it again: I will for my feast.

Vendakka kichadi/ Okra kichadi

Okra: 1 cup ( I used frozen ones chopped finely )
Yogurt: ¼ cup
Oil: 3 tablespoon
Salt: ¼ teaspoon or to taste
Mustard seeds: ¾ teaspoon
Green chili: 1 no
Red chili: 1 no
Coconut grated: ¼ cup
Water: ¼ cup

How I made

Thaw, wash and dry the okra using a kitchen towel. If you are using fresh ones wash and chop into ½ inch thin rounds. Skip the drying part.

Heat oil (Keep aside 1 teaspoon) in a sauce pot and fry the okra till they become crisp and brown in sides. It takes about 10-15 minutes. Remove them using a slotted spoon and drain the excess oil using a kitchen towel.
In the mean time grind coconut, ½ teaspoon mustard seeds, green chili and yogurt along with water to form a fine paste. ( You can skip adding water if you want really thick gravy ) .

In a medium sauce pot add 1 teaspoon, add rest of mustard seeds, halved red chili and curry leaves if using. Once mustard seeds start spluttering add ground coconut-yogurt mixture and salt. Simmer it for 3 minutes
Then add crispy okra to the coconut yogurt mixture and mix everything. Cook another 8 minutes with lid closed so that spices gets combined well.

Enjoy with rice and other curries.

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 serving
Verdict: yummy
Will you make it again: Making more often.

Swathi

My Little PrincessTurns 1 Year Today

May 4, 2010 · 24 Comments

Yes my little princess becomes 1 year old today. It was like yesterday when I got her on a Monday after noon at 1.38 P.M. She was put into my chest and told this is your daughter. I had seen her in my dreams till that date, there was only a vague face, and she is beautiful with lot of hairs she was exactly like my dreams. I waited for 5 years to get her. Yes after going through lots of ups and downs she came like a dream.

Now she crawls everywhere, wakes up with laughter in her face. Telling me to pick her up or she wants to eat or to change a diaper, or to try to sit. For her kitchen cabinets are curious puzzles that need to solve immediately. She loves exploring new tastes from her mom’s plates. Even the noise of a slight breeze, makes her laugh. Loud noise makes her frightened. She checks for her mom in every turns she makes while sleeps. Plays with dad, and looks forward to his return from office, and noise of door opening makes her happy.

She has changed our world totally. She made us very important, ending our routine boring life. She keeps us busy. Even though watching a movie is now a herculean task and makes a never ending 3 day project, but we are happy. Looking forward to many more birthdays, graduation and marriage and even grand kids. I know I am thinking too far. Still she is just my little princess.

Swathi

Nellika achar/ Amala Achar/Indian Gooseberry pickle

May 3, 2010 · 27 Comments

Thinking of Nellika/ Gooseberry itself makes me nostalgia. When I was kid, I used to like it a lot. First when you bite it will be bitter but after that when you drink some water it will be sweet taste that lingers for some time. For that the feeling of changing taste, I used to eat them lot. Amma will buy nellika/gooseberries and put them in salted water. In 4 or 5 days, gooseberries absorb the salt and tastes very nice. Some time she makes pickles with them.

Gooseberries are rich in vitamin C and they have immense health benefits from eye care to cure for diabetics and even anti-aging properties read from here and here.

When I was young, I used eat pickles in unique way. When grandma or amma serves pickles to appa or uncles, I will ask her to put in my plate too. I knew it was hot and won’t able to eat them as such. So when I finish my lunch or dinner, I will take my pickles in hand and wash them with water. Hence my biggest problem was solved by this method, heat is gone and only salt and a little bit of heat absorbed in nellika or mango will remain. I love them. One day my uncle finds out what I was doing and asked me to stop eating pickle by this method. However, my grandma told me do whatever I like. So this process continued until I was able to handle heat in my pickle.

After my marriage I found out that my hubby is a real fan of Bedeker mango pickle. However I don’t like it that much because of too much salt and fenugreek and so on. Thus I have started to make pickles, whenever I get green mangoes. Once I tried lemon pickle and failed big time. So I won’t touch that one anymore. For this vishu I made some green mango pickle, my hubby and friends who visited us liked it very much, as they came out tasty. When I went to Indian store, I found a packet of frozen Gooseberries, so happily I picked that immediately thinking of making some pickle or chammanthi with them. I love fresh ones very much, however, if you only get frozen use it also? I got this recipe from this blog. It is in Malayalam. I changed little bit by adding some turmeric powder, roasted fenugreek powder and some hot chili powder and skipped curry leaves, as my curry leaf plant is only started to come back after a big frost, since I don’t want to pluck from my little plant. Here goes the recipe.

What you need

Nellika/Gooseberries: 20 no

Chili powder: 2 and ¾ tablespoon of Kashmiri chili powder/Paprika + ¼ tablespoon hot chili powder

Salt: ½ tablespoon + 3 teaspoon

Turmeric: ⅛ teaspoon

Fenugreek seeds: ½ teaspoon

Mustard seeds: 1 teaspoon

Asafetodia: ¼ teaspoon

Red chilies: 3 no (Halved)

Gingerly oil/Sesame oil (Indian variety): 2 ½ tablespoon

Vinegar: 1 tablespoon

Water: 2 cup

How I made

Boil 2 cup of water and add gooseberries and cook them for 10 minutes. Switch off the flame and keep aside, don’t throw the water in which gooseberries are cooked. You need them for making pickle. Remove the seeds from the cooked gooseberries, cut into halves. Keep aside.

In a frying pan dry roast ¼ teaspoon of fenugreek seeds till brown it takes about 3 minutes. Once cooled grind them into fine powder and keep aside.

In the same pan add oil, mustard seeds, halved chilies and rest of fenugreek seeds and fry them. When mustard seeds starts spluttering switch off the flame and add turmeric powder, and chili powder( Paparika + hot variety) and fry them until raw smell removed for a 2 minutes to this add cooked goose berries and salt .Mix until everything combined and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar and let it boil it takes about 1 minutes. Then add 1 and ½ cup of gooseberry cooked water and mix and switch off the flame.

Transfer to bottle and keep aside for one or two day at room temperature so that gooseberries absorb salt and chili powder. If you want long shelf life store them in refrigerator.

Enjoy with any meal.

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Serving: 1 2 serving
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: I will

Swathi

Gobi-Gajar masala/Cauliflower-Carrot Stir Fry

Apr 30, 2010 · 20 Comments

I bought a cauliflower during my Saturday’s grocery shopping adventure thinking that I am going to make something with them immediately. However it didn’t happen, they were sitting in my refrigerator for more than 5 days. In between I got an ear pain, it took me to the doctor’s office and even with ibuprofen every 4 hours it didn’t do much help. After a dose of antibiotics for seven days and immense pain, it started to subside. I still have some remnants of it but I am feeling better now. I used to get earaches sometimes during childhood and I don’t know how I was able to tolerate the pain. I was prone to them at that time.

The Cauliflower lying with a sad face,even started to get some brown spots. Finally yesterday the day of their freedom from my refrigerator came. They were happy to be in my curry dish. I usually make Cauliflower-potato curry with them. I rarely make Gobi paratha/cauliflower paratha. Hubby is not much fan of stuffed paratha or even boli, I love them, and however fear of sugar overload prevents me from making them. In a two person household with a little one, making something needs to best for each other’s taste, otherwise I have to eat them as a punishment for making them.

I made cauliflower, carrot, spring onions stir fry with some store bought curry masala. I am not fan of soy sauce and I think it spoils all the taste. For me it overpowers all the taste of the various vegetables. I like soy sauce only in my miso soup. So I made my stir fry devoid of soy sauce. This tastes really good with chapathi or poori. If you like cauliflower and carrot and their crunchiness with masala go for it. This stir fry is easy to make and only need simple ingredients. Here goes the recipe.

What you need

Cauliflower: 1 head
Carrot: 2 no
Spring onion: 3 no
Onion: 1no
Tomato: 2no
Ginger-Garlic paste: 1 tablespoon ( I used 1 inch ginger and 3 cloves of garlic)
Salt: 1 teaspoon+ ½ teaspoon
Kalonji/Nigella seeds: 1 teaspoon
Fennel seeds: ¼ teaspoon
Cumin seeds: 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder: ⅛ teaspoon
Chili powder: 1 teaspoon
Curry masala: ¾ tablespoon (I used Aachi curry masala)
Armchoor/Dry mango powder: ¼ teaspoon
Oil: 2 tablespoon( I used Olive oil)
Coriander leaves: 2 tablespoon( chopped for garnish)
Water : 6 cup

How I made
Wash and Cut the cauliflower into bite size pieces by simply plucking them as individual florets. Keep aside. In a sauce pan boil 6 cups of water. When water starts boiling add 1 teaspoon of salt and cauliflower florets and let the cook until done, not mushy it takes about 10 minutes.

Drain in colander and keep aside. In the mean time cut onions, spring onions and carrot into thin slices of 3 inches and keep aside. In a wok or non stick pan add oil and kalonji, cumin and fennel seeds, once cumin seeds starts spluttering add onions and fry them until they become translucent or change in color it takes about 6- 7 minutes.
Then add carrot and cook until carrot is done it takes about 10 minutes. Add curry masala, chili powder, turmeric powder and armchoor powder and salt to carrot onion mixtures. To this add chopped tomato and cook for 2 minutes. To this, add cooked cauliflower florets and green onion and mix everything so that masala stick to all. Close the lid and cook for another 5 minutes. Check the spices and switch off the flame garnish with coriander leaves.

Enjoy with chapathi or poori. We had with our chapathi.

Preparation time: 35 minutes
Yield: 4 serving
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: Yes I will

Swathi

Steamed Strawberry Pineapple Pudding : Daring Baker's challenge April 2010

Apr 27, 2010 · 36 Comments

This month’s daring baker’s challenge was to make a traditional British pudding. It is common comfort food of Britain, where they tend to crave them while temperature goes downs a bit. They usually make both savory and sweet version of it. Sweet version usually looks like sponge and topped with warm sweet sauce custard or treacle. . However, I had not heard about them, until Ester of The Lilac Kitchen suggested that this month challenge is a steamed British pudding.

She has given Suet (animal fat) for making the crust. I am not comfortable with that part, so opted for butter as fat component in my pudding. I decided to make sweet pudding, since they are famous from Victorian era you can read more about them from here. This pudding is easy to make as every ingredients is mixed together, and steamed in a pudding bowl. The only work is to check the water levels as it takes about 1 hour. Since I could not follow her version of recipe for pudding, I searched with help of my Google Friend and come up with two recipes one here and here. I didn’t follow strictly these recipes; I made a new version of it.

Since I have no pudding bowl, I used ramekins for my pudding and made only 3 serving and used our Idly steamer for steaming the pudding. I haven’t made any sauce as I was afraid of sugar overload. I liked the taste; however my hubby tasted only a spoon and told me, he is not fond of it that means end of it. So I had to finish the entire pudding all by myself. It taste somewhat like steamed cake, however less moist. So I don’t think I will be making it again. However, one important thing, I learned is how to make traditional steamed pudding. Here goes the recipe.

What you need

All purpose flour: ¼ cup
Whole wheat flour: ¼ cup
Sugar: 3 tablespoon+ 1 teaspoon for sprinkling
Egg; 1 no
Butter: 1 tablespoon+ 1 teaspoon for greasing the ramekins
Baking powder: ¼ teaspoon
Baking soda: ⅛ teaspoon
Salt: ⅛ teaspoon
Ground ginger; ¼ teaspoon
Cinnamon: ¼ teaspoon
Ground cloves: ⅛ teaspoon
All spice: ⅛ teaspoon
Grated nutmeg: ⅛ teaspoon
Milk: ¼ cup( I used 1%)
Pineapple: ½ cup (Chopped finely)
Strawberry: ¾ cup (cut into thin rounds)

How I made

In a small bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and add ginger, nutmeg, ground cloves, cinnamon and all spice mix everything and keep aside.

In another bowl, beat butter and sugar together until creamy. Add egg beat until mixture is pale and fluffy. Gradually add flour spice mixture sugar mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture combine until everything gets incorporated. Fold in chopped pineapples.

Lightly butter and line the bases of 3 ramekins using parchment paper and sprinkle some sugar on the sides and bases. Place strawberries in circular fashion overlapping each other the base of each mould. Sprinkle sugar on the top of strawberries.

Spoon the pudding mixture evenly between moulds. Cover tightly with nonstick aluminum foil. Tie with kitchen string to seal.

Place in a large saucepan or idly steamer. Pour in enough to come halfway up the sides of the moulds. Cover the saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Bring the water to the boil on high. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 60 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of the pudding comes out almost clean, adding additional water as needed. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert mold onto a platter, and slice pudding.

Serve pudding warm with warm sauce, I served without any sauce.

Preparation time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 3 serving
Verdict: Good
Will you make it again: I don’t think so.

Swathi

Msemmen : Algerian flatbread from my kitchen

Apr 26, 2010 · 23 Comments

When I was searching for flat bread recipes from African continent, one recipe got my interest, that is Mesmmen: Algerian flatbread by Farid Zadi . It looks like Indian parathas or even Kerala parotta. Recipe is calling for whole wheat flour, cumin, parprika, and turmeric and olive oil. So there are no unhealthy ingredients in it, why we can’t try it? I decided and told my taste tester (hubby) that I am going to make Algerian flatbread and chana for our dinner. What? I told him don’t worry it will be like our paratha or flavoured chapathis. Upon hearing this he readily agreed and said that we can make it for our dinner.

After getting pregnant with my little one; chapathi making department was taken over by my hubby. He makes really good and smooth chapathi, even though shape will look like different continent. Who cares if they are eating Australia or Africa? It is chapathi is in it? If it soft and tasty why worry about shape. I am also not good in making exact round chapathi. Mouth or stomach is not going to ask why you haven’t done a perfect round chapathi.

I told my dear hubby that ingredients list and amount of water should be added to flour. I told him slowly add water, however he adds entire amount of water specified in the recipes end up with sticky dough. Finally he corrected with adding extra flour to make smooth dough.

I made the spice oil, however reduced the amount of turmeric powder and made Mesemmen; it tastes chapathi and looks like parotta. We enjoyed with our chana masala. If you like flavored paratha or parotta go for it at least once. Here goes the recipe. In my opinion reduce water and spice oil amount, as I was left with half of spice oil unused.

What you need

Whole wheat flour/ Atta: 3 cup+ ⅙ cup
Salt: 1 teaspoon
Olive oil: ⅓cup (original recipe asked for ½ cup)
Water: 1 ½ cup (Use 1 ¼ cup)
For spice oil
Cumin: 1 teaspoon
Paparika: 1 teaspoon
Turmeric: ¼ teaspoon (original recipe asked for 1 teaspoon)

How I made

Make dough:

In a large bowl stir together flour, salt and 1 tablespoon of oil. Slowly add water and mix until a soft dough forms. Knead, dough into a smooth one similar to chapathi forms, it takes about 15 minutes.

Form dough into a ball and coat with 2 tablespoons oil in a bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough stand at warm room temperature 1 hour.

In a small bowl mix cumin, paprika, turmeric powder, and remaining ¼ cup oil .

Form flatbreads

Divide dough into 12 equal pieces and, keeping remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap, flatten 1 piece of dough into a disk. Roll out disk as thinly as possible (into a 9-inch round) on a lightly floured surface with a 6-inch wooden dowel or a rolling pin. Spread 1 teaspoon spiced oil on dough, with back of teaspoon, then roll up tightly into a long cylinder and coil into a tight spiral. Transfer to a large sheet of parchment paper, and then loosely cover with plastic wrap.Make 11 more spirals in same manner.

Finish and cook flat breads

Roll out each spiral dough into a round approximately 6 inches in diameter.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium heat until hot, then cook flat bread, turning once, until puffed and browned in spots, 1 ½ minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate and cover with a kitchen towel. Roll out and cook 11 more flat breads, stacking them on plate.

Enjoy warm with chana or any other curry.

Preparation time: 1 hour and 56 minutes
Yield: 12no
Verdict: Good similar to Indian paratha
Will you make it again: Yes I will

I am sending this Msemmen: Algerian Flat bread to AWED: Africa hosted by PJ originally started by DK.

Swathi

Russian Rye Bread

Apr 22, 2010 · 32 Comments

I am still a novice in bread making, and lot of my tries end in failures. I don’t like failures, and after each failure I will try to bake breads with vengeance. I bought Rye flour thinking that I am going to make some multigrain bread. However, I didn’t get any time to bake the multigrain bread. So after a few weeks when I got some time to bake again I thought I would try to bake a Rye bread.

My hubby is a fan of Rye breads especially the one with whole caraway and other spices. Rye flour has lot health benefits; it won’t spike the blood sugar levels as other white breads do. Due to Diabetes genes in our family; I need to take that point into consideration while baking anything. However quite a lot of times I follow my heart and end up breaking the rule regarding blood sugar levels and food types.

For a prefect recipe to make the Rye bread, I searched with the help of Google friend. Lot of the recipes comes up with sourdough starter which I did not want. Finally I come across this recipe from Smitten Kitchen and I thought I need to give it a try. I have tried her recipes before, and they have always come out well. Two things about this recipe that I had to consider were: there had a lot of ingredients for this bread, and also use of fresh shallots. I read at Kingarthurflour.com that if you use fresh shallots it will prevent yeast action and some time dough will not rise. But Deb (Smitten Kitchen) had tried and tested this recipe so I decided to give a try. I changed the recipe a little bit by adding more whole wheat flour and substituting red wine vinegar for apple cider vinegar and omitted bran as I don’t have apple cider vinegar and bran in my hand. Now adding whole wheat flour to everything makes me feel better. It has becomes an obsession for me. So for all baking I will add some whole wheat flour, at the same time, not enough courage to entirely replace all purpose or bread flour with whole wheat flour.

The Russian Rye bread came out really good. My hubby also told me it is keeper recipe, you can make it again. We enjoyed this bread with our vegetable moussaka, some soup and even for our breakfast with scrambled eggs. If you looking for dark rye bread recipe, try this one.

I made only one loaf first time, next time I am going to make two loaf one for my Russian friend “Maria”. I will update her taste test result too.

What you need

Yeast: 1 package (I used Active dry yeast)
Sugar: 1 teaspoon
Warm water: ¼ cup
Water: 1 cup
Molasses: ⅛ cup
Red wine vinegar: ⅛ cup
Unsalted butter: 2 tablespoon
Whole wheat flour: ½ cup
Rye flour: 1 ½ cup
Bread flour: 1 ½ cup
Caraway seeds: 1 tablespoon
Fennel seeds: ¼ teaspoon
Salt: ½ tablespoon
Instant espresso powder: ½ tablespoon
Unsweetened Chocolate chips: 1 tablespoon
Shallots: 2 no (chopped finely)
Cornmeal: ⅛ cup (optional)
All purpose flour: ½ tablespoon (optional)
Caraway seeds: ½ teaspoon (optional)

How I made

In a small bowl add active dry yeast in ¼ cup lukewarm water along with 1 teaspoon sugar. Keep aside for 10 minutes or until yeast gets foamy. I kept it for about 20 minutes.

In a medium bowl heat one cup of water with molasses, vinegar, butter and chocolate chips until butter and chocolate chips gets melted. Keep aside.

In a large bowl combine all flours and keep aside.

In a big bowl add, mixed flours, caraway seeds, fennel seeds, salt, espresso and shallots.

Gradually add yeast mixture and butter chocolate mixture and mix everything until combined well to make smooth dough. Knead the dough for 15 minutes. More you knead dough become less sticky and smooth. (If you don’t like whole seeds in your bread, grind them in the coffee grinder or mortar pestle. I like to use whole seeds).
I added all flours while mixing, if you want you can add in two portions, that way you may not need entire flour to make smooth dough.

Keep aside knead dough in slightly oiled vessel for doubling. It took about 1hour and 45 minutes to double.

Combine cornmeal, flour and remaining caraway seeds, if using, and set aside.

Transfer the dough into a lightly floured surface and spread into loaf and keep it in loaf pan. Sprinkle loaf with cornmeal mixture, if using. Cover with a proof cover or greased plastic wrap, and let the loaf rise for 45 minutes, or until they're quite puffy.

Bake them in a preheated 350°F oven for 45 minutes, or until they’re well browned or registered an internal temperature of 200 to 210°F on an instant-read thermometer. . Remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool completely before serving.

Preparation time: Preparation time: 30 minutes for preparing dough,
Doubling time: 1.45minutes + 45 minutes for second rise
Baking time: 45 minutes
Yield: 1 loaf
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: Yes

This bread is Yeasts Spotted

Swathi

Kadala parippu prathaman/Chana dal payasam/ Chana dal Jaggery pudding

Apr 19, 2010 · 34 Comments

My hubby loves this payasam/prathaman. I love it too; I also like other kinds of payasam. If you ask him what you want for payasam. He will say make kadala parippu payasam. Amma used to love it too. If she got a chance she will make it, but on the other hand appa loves Ada prathaman or payasam. For this Vishu I made this Kadala payasam, even my little one had her taste test, she likes sweets. Now a days she has becomes more demanding, she needs attention, makes noise to get attention, upset if she is not getting food. I am enjoying every bit of motherhood nowadays. It brings back memories of my mother.

I lost amma in 2004; she was diabetic and died of cardiac arrest. I was here in US, unable to see her during her final moments. For that reason, till now one corner of my mind always says that amma left for some place. Then the next moment reality kicks in and says that she is gone forever, she won’t come back. She was more like a friend to me, I could talk anything with her, including teasing during college days, she gave me mental support and advice me on what I have to do. Of course every mother does that. She was a real fan of old Malayalam actor Prem Nazir, she watched his movies a lot of times, me and sister will change the channel when she was watching a Nazir movie and looks for movies of Shahrukh Khan. I think he is the superstar for two generations of our family; I and my sister liked him, now my niece also likes him. I don’t think my little one going to watch any movie soon, as she is going to busy with sesame street, and all other Disney movies. Now thinking back I should have let amma watch her favorite star’s movie.

Amma loved sweets too, once she was diagnosed with diabetics I was strict and won’t let her eat any sweets. However, she would ask appa and eat sugar without my knowledge. Now my hubby is diabetic, he is afraid of sweets, and I would tell him to take a small portion, and I think I changed my tactics here. I need to do the opposite.

I decided to make amma’s version of kadala pariappu pradhaman/payasam. As she did not measure with cups and teaspoon’s I have to come up with my own variations. I was able to make really tasty payasam. Jaggery: dal ratio should be 2:1. I wanted it to be traditional so added ghee, roasted chopped coconuts and cashews, but avoided raisins. Here comes the recipe.

What you need

Kadala parippu/chana dal: ⅓ cup
Sabudana/Tapioca pearls: 1 tablespoon
Jaggery: ⅔ cup
Ghee/Clarified butter: 1 tablespoon
Coconut milk or cream; ½ cup ( I used store bought one , if you wish use home made one)
Ground ginger: ⅛ teaspoon
Coconut chopped: 2 tablespoon ( if you want reduce or increase the quantity, use copra for authentic)
Cardamom: 3 pods
Cashews: 10 nos.
Water: 2 ¼cup

How I made

Wash and soak chana dal/ kadala parippu and sabudana/ tapioca pearls in water for 30 minutes.

Cook chana dal with 1 ½ cup water in pressure cooker until 2 visil or 20 minutes and switch of flame and keep aside.

In the mean time cook saubdana in ⅛ cup of water in small pan until they become translucent. It takes about 5-6 minutes. Switch off the flame and let it cool.

In a medium sauce pan add ¼ cup of water and jaggery let jaggery melt itself and drain using a strainer to remove the impurities.

In the same pan add cook chana dal , sabudana and jaggery syrup cook for 5 minutes and add ¼ cup of coconut milk and ⅓ cup of water. After 5 minutes add ¼ cup of coconut milk along with crushed cardamom pods, ground ginger and let it boil for another 5 minutes . Switch of the flame and keep aside.

Heat ghee in a small pan add cashew and fry until brown it takes about 2 minutes, remove them and keep aside. Same pan add chopped coconut and fry until they become slightly brown. It takes about 3-4 minutes.

Garnish the kadala parippu payasam with ghee roasted cashews and chopped coconuts.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4 serving
Verdict: very yummy and tasty
Will you make it again: Yes I will.

Swathi

Sagu Biyyam Muruku / Sago Muruku/Sabudana Muruku

Apr 16, 2010 · 24 Comments

This month’s Indian cooking challenge suggested by Srivalli was to prepare a muruku. When I saw the recipe there was a catch, it contains Sabudana/Tapioca perals. What? I have seen them using in sabudana upma / kichadi (which mother-in –law is an expert, I learnt from her), and sabudana vada. Amma used sabudana to make paysam or to add along with kadala payasam so they look like pearl in the payasam. I had never heard about using sabudana in muruku.

After reading notes from fellow blogger friends I was expecting a fire cracker session in my kitchen while making the Sago Muruku. I didn’t mention this to my dear hubby; if he knows then he would tell me not to try it. Because messing kitchen for a muruku is not worth it according to him. I wanted to try it anyway without his knowledge, and if outcomes is good I would tell him, or otherwise I won’t, thus thinking I gave it a try. Luckily I didn’t get any fire cracker while making the muruku.

I didn’t do soak sabudana in curd and only soaked using plain water, the original plan of soaking being for 8 h. However I was not able to get to it next day, as we had to attend a birthday function of our friend’s daughter. So it was in water for more than 48 hours and I was worried whether my sabudana had gone bad. I also had no fried gram dal flour/Pottu Kadalai flour in home, so made homemade version by grinding Roasted gram dal using a coffee grinder. Added some cumin seeds and Asafoetida which is not in the given recipe. I only made half the recipe as it was hard to press sabudana using a muruku presser, since I have pain in my left hand. I learnt I need to develop some muscles to press this muruku into the oil. Or I have to call our villains or super heroes in our movies to do it in a split second. To my surprise the sabudana muruku came out tasty and crispy, even though I didn’t get the proper shape of muruku. I am fine with that. Who cares as amma used to say in order to put in our mouth we need to break them into pieces. I will make it again. Here goes the recipe.

What you need

Rice Flour: 1 cup
Besan flour: ¼ cup
Fried gram flour/pottu kadalai: ¼ cup
Sago/Sabudana/Tapioca pearls: ¼ cup
Salt : ½ teaspoon or to taste
Curd - 50 grams ( I didn’t used)
Chile powder - 1 teaspoon
Hot oil: 1 tablespoon (I used olive oil)
Cumin seeds: 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida: ¼ teaspoon
Water: ¾ cup

How I made

Soak Sago in water for 3 hrs, However I end up soaking them for 48 hours.

In medium bowl add rice, fried gram flour, besan, chili powder, cumin seeds, asafetodia, salt and oil and mix well. To this add water and soaked sago and mix once again to form dough. Knead 1-2 to minutes to form a smooth chapathi dough consistency.

In thick bottomed pan heat oil, once it become smoking hot. Using a muruku achu or presser , press a small amount of dough directly into the oil.

As one side starts cooking in about 3 minutes flip the other side and also cook for another 3 minutes. Once they become golden brown, remove them using a slotted spoon.

Drain excess oil in kitchen towel. Repeat the process until the entire dough is finished.

Cool and store it in an air tight container.

Enjoy with hot tea or coffee.

Preparation time: Soaking time: 3 hours
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Yield: 6 serving
Verdict: yummy, crispy
will you make it again: yes I will.

Swathi

Vishu: a festival of agriculture and Vishu Sadya (Vishu Feast)

Apr 15, 2010 · 16 Comments

In this modern world nobody seems to have time, always busy with something. The other day I called my sister, and she was busy teaching her kid and had no time to talk. Both she and her husband would immediately give the phone to my father; I am fine with that, because I am calling to talk to my father. I celebrate some of festivals to connect to our roots and culture as much as possible that is my view point. I think most of us will be thinking the same.

Vishu is a festival of giving and sharing happiness and kindheartedness. Vishu usually comes in the month of Medam (Malayalam calendar, which run from April-May). This year it falls on April 15. It is one of traditional festival of Kerala which everybody celebrates. In other parts of India it is celebrated as Baishaki in Punjab, Bihu in Assam and Tamil Nadu as Tamil Puthandu. I love Vishu since my childhood, because appa always gave Vishukaineetam (generally some coins) and amma shows Vishukani first thing in the morning. Vishnukanni is observed early morning around 4.30- 5.00 A.M. I am not a morning person, so the only day I wake up early in the whole year that is for Vishu. Day before Vishu, Amma used to keep Vishu kani ( first thing seen on the vishu day), usually kept in pooja room. Vishu kani would include Lord Krishna idol, Uruli( Flat bottom vessel), contains rice, dal, vegetables like cucumber, jackfruit, mango, coconut , fruits like banana, pineapple, a new cloth , some ornaments, coins, and at last kanikkonna poo ( Cassia fistula,golden shower tree) with oil lited lamp, by the side. All these indicate prosperity . After having kaineetam we usually have a feast with all the vegetables we used to make the kani. Vishukani is famous at Guruvayoor and Sabrimala temples also. Special poojas will be held there on this day.

I have read that kannikonna poo only flowers till Vishu after which it loses it flowers and waits for the entire year to flower again. Usually in Kerala, rice is planted during this auspicious time and day of year, with the belief that harvest will be good.

After marriage I started keeping Vishukani with the available vegetable and fruits. This vishu is more precious as it is my little one’s first vishu so I want to keep vishu kani and have a feast with as much curries possible.

Wishing a Happy vishu to you and your family.

Our Vishu Sadya

Recipes
Take a look at here

Swathi

Thattai: A Savory Snack

Apr 12, 2010 · 32 Comments

I love Thattai. Mom used to make it during festivals time, especially during Diwali. Those days I did not care for the recipe, but just wanted to eat and enjoy. I enjoyed every bit of sweet and snack, at times would take a handful and finish in within few minutes and run to the playground. I didn’t learn anything any cooking from mom, only watched her doing it.

Once I left India and especially after marriage I started cooking, discovering and learning new tastes and dishes. Hubby also encourages me a lot. I had to pound rice flour in home for my Indian cooking challenge, and was left with some rice flour; hence I decided to make Thattai with it. I love the crunchiness, according to me they belong to same family as murruku and thenkuzhal only shapes are different.

Thattai came out crispy and tasty, here is the recipe.

What you need

Rice flour: 2 cup (homemade)
Urad dal flour: ¼ cup (home made one)
Red chili powder: 1 teaspoon
Salt: 1 teaspoon
Ghee/Clarified butter: 1 tablespoon
Water: ½ +⅛ cup
Chana dal: 3 tablespoon (soaked)
Sesame seeds: 1 teaspoon
Asafetodia: ¼ teaspoon

How I made

In a bowl mix Rice flour, Urad dal flour, salt, soaked channa dal ,red chili powder, sesame seeds, asafetodia and add butter and mix well.

To this mixture add water little by little and knead well about 2-3 minutes to form dough. Cover with a damp cloth and leave it aside for 15minutes.

Next is to roll out dough into thin circular disc as cookie dough. Since it is difficult to rolling out the dough with a rolling pin, I used a Ziploc cover and placed small amount of dough in between and fold and applied pressure to form circular discs of ½ inch thickness. Using a fork, poke these discs so that they won’t puff while cooking in the oil.

Heat oil in a thick bottomed vessel and once the oil become smoking hot gradually slide the circular discs and cook 1 ½ minutes one side and flip and cook the other side 1 ½ minutes.

Once they become golden brown color remove from oil using a slotted spoon and drain excess oil using kitchen towel. Continue the process frying until entire dough is finished.

Cool it and store in air tight container.

Enjoy with cup of hot coffee or tea.

Preparation time: 1.25 hour
Yield : 23
Verdict : Crispy yummy
Will you make it again: Sure I will

Swathi

Red White and Blue: Strawberry Banana Blueberry Smoothie and Fruit Skewer

Avocado Chapathi/Avocado Paratha/Avocado Flat bread

Ingredients

Instructions

Nutrition

Bon appétit

Rasamalai

Ingredients

Instructions

Nutrition

Swathi

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