Christmas Fruit Cake/Kerala Spiced Plum Cake & Wish you all a very Merry Christmas !

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  It’s Christmas and we wish you a very merry one.  Finally, I am done with the marathon cookie baking and packing it off to friends.  Now, it’s my time to just sit looking at all the festive decoration inside and outside the house.  Well, I can't sit around too long because there are a lot of visits to be made to celebrate with friends. 

  Being from Kottayam, Kerala, it was difficult even while I was growing up to ignore Christmas.  Even though I am not of the Christian faith celebrations for Christmas was carried out at my house to match any of my Christian neighbors.  I grew up hanging colorful paper-stars in front of the house on the 1^st of December an age old tradition.  Schools had "best Crib Contests," and I would positively participate.  On the 24^th evening we blasted those crackers louder than any of our neighbors or so I would like to believe.  It was just a lot of fun and I love this festival for everything it stands for.
 


  I know from my nieces and nephews from Kerala they still continue to make Christmas crib.  The last time I called them, they were all excited about the thought of making it.
 
My parent’s house is on a high range and during this time of the year, the mornings are misty.  If you wake up early you can see the clouds touching the earth.  In my mind it symbolizes blessings from heaven.  And here in the U.S. snow flakes take over doing its slow swaying dance to the ground.  Oh! I could just go on about how everything touches me so deeply getting me excited about celebrating.  It’s a perfect time to holiday and I am having fun.  I hope wherever you are you having a good time as well. 



  Even today I continue the tradition of celebrating Christmas with light decorations in the house and bake all kinds of goodies.  Therefore, we have another fruit cake recipe for you.  You can find another on this site here.   Today the recipe I am sharing is a spiced version.  The basic procedures are the same except for the addition of spices. However, that changes everything giving a whole new twist to the cake.  This one is delicious too!

Again, wish you all a very Merry Christmas !!



Ingredients:

Flour- 1 cup
Butter- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 stick)
Dried Fruits and nuts soaked in Rum/Brandy for several months or several days or several hours - 1 1/2 cup
Rum or Brandy from the marination/fresh- 2 Tbsp
Baking Powder- 3/4 tsp
Eggs- 3 large, separated
Granulated Sugar- Scant 1 cup
Candied Orange peel- 2-3 Tbsp
Powdered Nutmeg- 1/8 tsp
Cinnamon- 1/2 tsp
Powdered Cloves- 1/8 tsp
Powdered Cardamom- 1/8 tsp
Caramel Syrup at room temperature- ~1/3 cup (use 1/2 cup sugar to caramelize and finally add 1/4 cup hot water and mix. See here)
Pure Vanilla Extract- 1 tsp

Method:

Making Candied Orange peel:

1.Dry the orange peel by either letting them sit on your counter top for a few days or near the fireplace/warm oven.Chop them into small pieces.
2.Take sugar in the ratio 1:1 with the orange peel and add a couple of spoons of water and make a syrup by boiling, till it reaches one string consistency.
3.Throw in the dried orange peel into this and mix well to coat the syrup evenly on the pieces.
4.Let it dry completely.

Making Caramel Syrup

Sunitha has explained it well in this post.Take enough care while doing this.And let it cool completely before you add into the cake mixture.

Making the Cake:(Copied as such form our earlier post!)

Beating Egg White:
1. It may be a good practice to beat the egg white stiff before you start on the main cake batter. Please make sure you use a dry bowl and a dry blade when you beat the egg white. Any trace of water, grease or egg yolk in the white will not give the desired fluffy frothy egg white. Beating the egg white stiff is very important to give a light and fluffy texture to the cake. Make sure all the egg white has been beaten stiff before you clean the blade and wipe it dry before you start mixing the batter.

Mixing the Batter:
1. Sift the flour,spices and baking powder twice and keep aside (sifting allows the baking powder to be mixed well with the flour)
2. Beat the butter well first before adding the sugar. Gradually add the sugar beating well after each addition. Remember also to gradually increase the speed of your blender from low to medium after all the sugar has been blended in. Taking time and beating the butter and sugar goes a long way to aerate the butter and to give a moist, fluffy texture to your cake
3. Add in the egg yolk and beat well
4. Add the vanilla essence beat well
5. Follow up with cool caramelized sugar
6. Spoon in the flour a little at a time and fold in to mix.
7.Toss the fruit and nut mixture with a tablespoon of flour and fold in the 3/4 of this and the candied orange peel alternating with the flour.
8.Now gently fold in the egg whites until not even a single white streak is left.
9. If you find watery egg white which did not froth do not use it or only use after beating it fluffy
10. Pour the batter in a 9 inch pan and add the remaining fruit and nut mixture left.Even out the surface with a spatula and bake in a preheated oven at 350 D F for 40-45 minutes
11. When a toothpick pricked comes out clear the cake is done.
12.Cool it on a wire rack.Brush with some rum/brandy and keep it covered well with a parchment paper, at least for a couple of days before you cut and serve them.

Notes:

1.Use the butter and eggs which are kept long enough outside the refrigerator and have reached room temperature.
2.Beating egg whites separately makes a huge difference in this cake.
3.Adding some fruit and nut mixture at the end on the top ensures that there is some mixture on the top too.

We wish you all a Great Holiday Season !!!



Last but not the least we have a good news to share with you all. Our Boondi Ladoo recipe has been selected as one of the 30 Best Recipes of 2010 ,a wonderful event hosted by Chacko's kitchen. Congratulations to all other winners and we are so glad that we made it to the top 30 :-)

Contributor: Namitha
Recipe Adapted From: Sunu and Sunitha, my dear friends :-)

Apple Rabdi/Rabri- Evaporated milk based Apple dessert

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A big HELLO to everyone ! It has been a long time since we updated a post here. So much has been going on in our personal lives that the blog sort of took second seat. Although, one of the highlights during this time was that  Sunitha and I visited after 13 long years.  Those of you, who are our friends in Facebook might already know about that reunion. I was so busy with the preparations and planning. Sunitha is in the middle of a move and that is why off the blogging scene for a while. Sorry about that !

Today's post has been in my drafts for a while now.  Hopefully,  I will be back in the swing of things as far as blogging goes soon.  I am waiting for my children to finish summer vacation, general visiting, travelling and holidaying the family is involved in right now.  Coming back to the recipe, the whole inspiration behind making this dessert was Kulsum from Journey Kitchen.  She did a guest post on it.  I have combined her recipe and the traditional one but I must thank her for tempting me with her beautiful pictures.

The preparation is very much similar to that of Basundi, if you haven't noticed.The main difference here is the presence of Apples.So if you love Basundi, just like me, you must try this !

Ingredients:

Milk- 4 cups/1 liter
Condensed milk-2 Tbsp
Sugar- 1/4 cup
Apples,peeled and grated- 3
Cardamom powdered- 1 tsp
Saffron- a pinch soaked in a Tbsp warm milk
Pistachios, blanched and slivered- 2-3 Tbsp

Method:

1.Boil milk in a thick bottom pan and cook until it is reduced to about half the quantity.
2.Add sugar and condensed milk and stir continuously for 4-5 minutes.
3.Add the grated apple and cook for about 4 minutes.
4.Add the cardamom and saffron. Mix well and switch off the heat.
5.Throw in the pistachios.Serve warm or cold.

Notes:

1.You could use condensed milk as a sweetener instead of sugar, just like Kulsum says.
2.It is better to use a sweet variety of apple for this preparation.
3.You could replace pistachios with almonds if you like.

Forelle Pear Cake

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How is your Summer coming along? What are your plans for the long week end and July 4th ? July is a special month for my family too. The youngest one the family is born in this month. I can't believe that he is going to be 3 in a few days ! Time sure flies. We already miss his early years ! He sure is a handful ,but sometimes I wish I could freeze the time ,just to enjoy all his cuteness forever.

The other day he was doing something really naughty and his father raised his voice to let him know how mad is he. He turned around and told his father "Acha,turn down the volume". We always ask him to turn down the volume of the TV ,which he never watches, but always keeps switched on for his favorite cartoon as a back ground !

Stories apart, coming to today's recipe.You will agree with me on the fact that these Forelle Pears are an absolute beauty to look at.Also they are very sweet.These are best served as it is, since they are too good as they are. But I had some really ripe Forelle Pears with me and we couldn't finish all of it. So I searched the net for recipes that uses this kind of pears and came across this buttery cake recipe. I went through the reviews and everyone seems to agree on the taste. I tried it and am happy that I did.

The lemon zest and my favorite spice cardamom gives a great flavor to this cake.I loved it when I had a warm slice and the cake was best on the same day I baked.

Ingredients:

Forelle pears/Any small size pears- 5
Orange Juice- 1 Tbsp
Lemon juice- 1 tsp
Granulated Sugar- 2 Tbsp
Pure Vanilla Extract- 1/2 tsp

All Purpose Flour- 1 1/4 Cup
Baking Powder- 1 tsp
Cardamom- 1/2 tsp
Salt- a pinch
Unsalted Butter- 6 Tbsp
Sugar- Little less than 1 cup
Eggs- 2
Zest of 2 lemons
Pure Vanilla Extract- 1 tsp

Method:

1.Slice the pears lengthwise into thin pieces.This is optional. You could core and slice lengthwise too.
2.Toss these slices with the juices,sugar and vanilla extract.Preheat the oven at 350 degree F and line a 9 inch Spring foam pan with parchment paper.
3.Whisk together the flour,baking powder,salt and cardamom powder.
4.In a mixing bowl beat together the butter and sugar until it is creamy.
5.Add eggs one at a time and mix well.
6.Add the zest and vanilla extract and mix again.
7.Add the dry mixture into the wet one in 2 additions, mixing each time to combine everything. Do not over mix.
8.Spread about half the batter evenly onto the bottom of the prepared pan.
9.Spread the 3/4th of the pear slices on top.
10.Spread the remaining batter on top. It might not be enough to cover completely, but once the cake starts baking up, it spreads out well.
11.Place the remaining slices on the top in a layer.You could arrange it in a pattern, which I didn't,but it looks ok :-)
12.Bake for about 50-60 minutes or until the top starts to brown and the skewer inserted comes out clean.
13.Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack.
14.Serve warm or cold.

Notes:

1.The original recipe uses cognac instead of orange juice for tossing the pears. I didn't do it since I have kids at home.
2. Also the recipe calls for Turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top. This will give a nice caramelization. Unfortunately I didn't have any at home so I did not use any.
3.The cake is best on the same day. Keep any leftovers in the fridge.
4.You could serve this with some Vanilla ice cream.
5.You could use Apples or Peaches instead of Pears in this recipe.

Recipe Adapted from :Here

Carrot Kheer/Payasam- Carrot dessert in milk spiced up with Cardamom

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Some flavors blend so well you cannot tell them apart when together. Yet, together they are a flavor to reckon with. In the same way, if I served you the golden sunshine in the bowl below, and asked to describe its taste, you will be torn unable to decide if it is carrot halwa or semiya payasam.

The answer is right here on this page so please read on. You will agree with me on this when you go through the recipe. In the same breath I have to admit that it is better or equally good as carrot halwa or a payasam

I made this a month back and decided to post it only when I had some fresh carrot pictures to post alongside. Obviously, that never happened. The farmer's market doesn't have a good variety of veggies yet, and the carrots that I've planted this season are not ready for harvesting. Then again, when I remembered the bunnies that frequent my vegetable patch, I doubt they will leave any carrots for me to photograph. Everything considered, I decided today was the day to share this pleasantly surprising sweet delicacy with you. At a later time, provided the regular visitors in our yard, the Bunnies, leave some carrots for me to enjoy I shall share some pictures with you.

Speaking of carrots, did you know that most of the baby carrots we get in the US is processed, and "not so baby" carrots? I didn't know this until Sunitha mentioned it once. But there are some varieties that is "baby carrots, " albeit too expensive. The stats shows how consumption of carrots have grown exponentially post marketing baby carrots. And surely consumption shall soar once everyone knows how to make kheer or carrot halwa :-) You will agree 100 % after you have tasted some kheer yourself!

Ingredients:

Ghee- 2 Tbsp
Carrot grated- 2 cups
Milk- 2+1 cup
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder- 1 tsp
Almond slivers- 2 Tbsp


Method:

1.Heat 2 Tsp ghee in a deep and thick bottom pan.Throw in the grated carrots and fry till it is cooked through.
2. Pour in 2 cups of milk and allow to boil.
3.Lower the heat and let the carrot get cooked well.Stir in between. It takes almost 10-12 minutes.
4.By this time almost all the water content will be dried, do not add more milk at this point.
5.Add sugar and start stirring continuously, on low heat.Continue this till all the water gets evaporated and the mixture gets thickened.While stirring if you are able to see the path of the spoon/spatula without the mixture running over there immediately, it is done. This takes ~10- 12 minutes on medium low heat.
6.Slowly add the remaining milk into it. The point is that the boiling shouldn't get stopped while you pour the cold milk.This can be done on high heat and stirring continuously, while you add around 1/3 cup of milk at a time.
7.Once you added the milk, it should be boiled well.Pour more milk to get the desired consistency.Add the cardamom powder. Switch off the heat.
8.Garnish with slivered almonds. Serve warm or cold.

Notes:

1. You could reduce the sugar and add some condensed milk instead.
2.Also you could add some evaporated milk along with the normal milk after you boil with the sugar.

Veal Stew

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Mummy, did you know Easter falls on a Sunday this year?

Huh! My dear didn’t you really know it always does?!

This was one of the jokes my brother and his friends would pull on me. I might not have said anything like this, but they would improvise a story around the above joke and tell anybody listening for a laugh. I wonder if he or any of his friends knew Easter was a ‘moveable feast' and that is why it always falls on Sunday

      Happy Easter to you! I am sure you always knew it falls on Sunday. 

Resurrection of Jesus on the 3rd day from his crucifixion. This is the most significant festival for Christians, in fact, bigger than Christmas. Thankfully, it is not as commercialized as Christmas and the gravity and seriousness is honored.

  You must be familiar with Easter eggs as a common feature in the celebrations here in the U.S. But growing up, I do not remember it to be important. Over the summer holidays, which fall now in India, we would color egg shells and place it on plants but that was not to celebrate Easter.  We don't even consider cooking eggs on this day in a special way.  

  Then what do we do? The most important thing to do was to eat a lot of meat and fish.  It starts off with breakfast with appam and stew. Today, I will share veal stew with you which goes well with appam or white bread. Hope you enjoy it. 

   Stewing as a cooking term means to cook meat and vegetables by simmering and thickening by reducing the juices or thickening the gravy with flour or any other thickening agent.  In Kerala, most cooking is slow and on stove stop, and what we call stew is slow cooked, no doubt, but generally to mean a mildly spiced meat or vegetable in coconut milk.

Stew

Ingredients:

Veal – 1.5 Lb

Garam Masala – ½ tspn

Vinegar – ½ tsp optional

Potato – 1 cubed

Pepper corns – 10

Cloves – 10

Cinnamon stick – ½ inch piece

Elachi – 3

Onions – ½

Ginger – 1 Tbspn

Garlic – 3 pods

Green Chili – 6 or as per taste

Coriander Powder – 1 tspn

Coconut Milk – 1 Can

Tomato – 4 or 5 round pieces for garnish

Oil – 2 Tbspn

Salt  - to taste

Method:

1.       1. Make bite size pieces of veal.  Take it with 1/4 tspn salt, vinegar, garam masala and ½ cup water in a pressure cooker and cook for one whistle. 

2.       2. Heat oil in a pan, add pepper corn, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon stick and fry

3.       3. Add onions and sauté for a couple of minutes. (the onions should not be browed in this curry and hence you should not sauté it for too long before you add the following. )

4.       4. Add ginger and garlic followed by green chilies and saute.

5.       5. Slide in cooked meat with all its juices, potatoes and 1 cup of thin coconut milk.  (1/2 C coconut milk + ½ C Water) and cook on low-medium heat till the potato is cooked.

6.       6. Pour the remaining coconut milk and heat through.  Top the gravy with  4 or 5 slices of tomatoes and switch off the fire

Notes:

1.       1. I thin the coconut milk further ever before I add at the final stage because I like the gravy thin.  However, traditionally the cream of coconut milk is added at the end to keep the flavor rich and gravy thick. 

2.       2. Play with the consistency to your liking.  If you feel you should not add too much water fearing the curry will spoil.  It will be a good practice to boil about 2 cups of water and how much you need to thin the coconut milk to your liking.  

3.       3. Stew is served with appam or white bread

Contributor: Sunitha

Chicken Cutlet

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I cannot ignore what is happening in Japan as I write. It’s devastating, and my prayers are with everyone affected by this tragedy.

I had company last week. It was great to have someone home, to talk and share lunch with. It was even better to cook for more than two people. And it’s a darn miracle to myself, how such simple things in life have started becoming a treasure to me. Maybe the overdue maturing is finally happening! You will agree, being far away from one's homeland visits from family and friends become more meaningful. You miss them as soon as they are gone. The house is silent, and suddenly there is a huge void to fill.



Anyways, cutlets are a great snack when you have company or otherwise. Growing up, I could polish off a good number of them at a sitting. A snack every child will love! Talking about children, it was Namitha who initially decided to make cutlets last week. I took her cue, and made some with my friend M who was visiting and she and I photographed them. Thanks to Namitha for inspiring me to cook some myself last week and M for lending me you hand, literally for the photos. Sorry for jumping the gun on this one Nami :) Namitha's recipe will soon follow.



Back again to the topic of cutlets; good company and good food go together; good company and cutlets, now, that rocks! This snack will have your guests asking for more and you children, well they will not ask they will finish them all. A winner with young and old alike, I hope you enjoy it too.


Ingredients:
Chicken Breast - 3 (About 1 Lbs)
Cinnamon Stick - 1 inch piece
Cardamom - 2
Cloves - 4
Potato - ½ lbs
Onions - 2 big (chopped fine)
Ginger - 2 inch piece (chopped fine)
Garlic - 4 pods (chopped fine)
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Green Chilies - 8 (chopped fine) (reduce if it’s too hot for your taste)
Eggs - 2
Bread crumbs - ½ cup
Flour - ½ cup
Salt - to taste
Vegetable Oil - 1 Tbspn + enough for deep frying

Method:
1. Cut the chicken breast into big chunks. In a deep pan, cook the chicken with ¼ cup of water, ½ tspn salt, 2 green chilies cut, 1 garlic pod, about 1 tbspn of the chopped onions, whole cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom. Cook till all the water is completely drained and chicken is cooked through. Set this aside to cool. Once cool, pick out the whole garam masala and grind the remaining in your food processor until it resembles a coarse nut meal.
2. Simultaneously, pressure cooker potatoes with enough water to just cover them. Wait for two whistles and switch off the stove. Once all the steam has escaped open the cooker, drain water and let the potato cool.
3. Heat oil in a pan and sauté finely chopped onions till translucent. Add finely chopped ginger, garlic, green chilies and curry leaves and sauté till the garlic and ginger gives off the cooked aroma.
4. Once the potato cools, powder it using a fork. Mix all the cooked, boiled and sauteed ingredients together. Check for salt and adjust according to taste. Form small balls of equal size, press it on a spoon to form oval shapes.
5. Take flour and bread crumbs in two separate plates. Beat 2 eggs in a bowl big enough to dip each of the cutlets. Grab another dinner plate to keep the prepared cutlets, and make yourself comfortable on a chair. I prefer sitting at the dining table with all these things in front of me before I start dusting, moistening and rolling the cutlets to make them ready for deep frying.
6. Take each shaped cutlet, roll in flour, dip in egg, roll again in bread crumbs and place them on a plate.
7. Once all the cutlets have been prepared as stated above, deep fry till both sides are golden brown.
8. Make sure heat is at medium low and since all ingredients are cooked you do not have to over do the frying.
Enjoy with ketchup as a snack or have them as a side dish with rice or rotis.

Contributor: Sunitha

Kappa/Tapioca Biryani-Ellu Kappa,Kanjirappally Style

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Can I say snow is falling like cats and dogs? Well, maybe it’s not the right usage of the phrase but you get the ideal. Therefore, am I wrong to be feeling lethargic? I think not, and I know you agree ;) It has been snowing and the mercury levels continue to drop.

I made this biryani a couple of weeks back, and was lucky enough to save a bowl full to take photographs. Once you taste this dish you will know why photographing it before the bowl is emptied is a challenge, believe me! It's so yum! My mouth is watering and running over just thinking about it. All this is if you like Tapioca. If you do, you will definitely fall in love.. This is a hot selling dish in "thattukada"/roadside dhabas these days. If you have seen the "No reservations"(featuring Kerala) by Anthony Bourdain, then you probably got to see this dish.



It is just wonderful even without any side dishes:-)





For Kappa/Tapioca:

Tapioca/kappa- 1 kg or 2 lbs
Turmeric- 1/4 tsp
Salt- to Tatste
Grated coconut-1/2 cup
Green Chillies- 2-3
Shallots- 2
Curry Leaves- 1 sprig

For Chicken/Meat Gravy:

Chicken/Meat of your choice,with bones- 1/2 kg / 1 lbs
Onion chopped finely- ~3 cups
Ginger paste- 1 Tbsp
Garlic paste - 1 1/2 tbsp
Salt- to taste
Turmeric- a big pinch
Red chilli powder- 2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 Tbsp
Meat Masala- 2 tsp(a mixture of 5-6 black pepper corns, a small cinnamon stick, 2-3 cloves and one cardamom)
Curry Leaves- 1 sprig

Method:
For Tapioca/Kappa:

1.Peel off the skin from Tapioca and clean and cut it coarsely to get medium sized pieces.
2.Boil water, enough to cover the tapioca in a deep pan.Once it starts boil add the chopped tapioca pieces and cook with salt and a pinch of turmeric until it is done. The time varies from 5 minutes to 20 minutes once it starts boiling,depending on the variety of tapioca you use.So keep checking in between.
3.Meanwhile grind the coconut, chillies,turmeric and shallots coarsely.
4.Drain all the water once tapioca is cooked.
5.Throw in the ground ingredients and salt and mix well.Mash the tapioca pieces well while mixing.
6.Cover and cook on medium low heat for 3-4 minutes or until steam starts coming.

For Chicken/Meat:

1.Heat oil in a pan and saute the onions till they start to turn brown.
2.Throw in the ginger garlic and saute till the raw smell leaves.
3.Add the spice powders and saute for a couple of minutes.
4.Add the curry leaves and the chicken/meat pieces and mix well till the meat is coated with the masala.
5.Cook on low heat till the chicken/meat is done.The time depends on the meat you use.If you are using any meat other than chicken, you could do this process in a cooker and let 3 whistles come before you switch off the heat.

6.Mix this chicken/meat masala with the tapioca and serve warm.




Notes:

1.Traditionally we use the beef that is near to the bones for making this and the dish is called "Ellu kappa", which is literally translated to "bones n Tapioca".
2.To get that authentic taste, use the meat with bones and use coconut oil while cooking the meat.
3.You could add more chillies.I used less for the kids at home ;-)
4.You could serve a raita or mulaku chammanthi, if you need more spice.
5.You may want to start with cooking your meat first, since that takes longer time than tapioca.
6.Serves 3-4

Contributor: Namitha

Aval Varattiyathu/ Beaten rice cooked with coconut and jaggery

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How are you all? We have been erratic updating this site - being busy myself, and Sunitha moving to a new city.  Nevertheless, since blogging is a lot of fun for me, I wanted to share something that I made a while ago.  It’s a familiar food for most South Indians, and for me it is yet another food that brings back fond memories.  Nostalgia! 

Desserts after a main course is common but after a breakfast? Well, sure why not! Every breakfast party in Hindu-households in Kerala has one. Story of our culture: Every celebration in a family spans over a week even if there are no religious rituals to perform or ceremonies to conduct. You ask why? It is because we invite family and friends over who will stay over even if space is crammed and the noise can wake up the dead.

So then, if there are so many people then there must be a lot of women too right? Yes, and when women in the days got together what to they do? But of course, cook! Like all mothers, they will hang out in the kitchen and cook for the neighborhood. Cooking itself becomes a celebration.  To add to it being a vacation they treat every meal to become special. How they make all this happen?  On top of a carbohydrate rich idli breakfast they will serve beaten rice mixed with jaggery, spiced with ginger, all of it toggled together with a generous portion of sweet, toasted, aromatic coconut.  This aval varattiyathu smells like the food fit for gods.

  Aval Varattiyathu!  Serve it after a spicy breakfast of idli and sambar and the children who hate idli can skip the main course and relish the second.  For creating such an awesome recipe is why we love our mothers as much. My granny and mom continue to make heaps of this and store away for  weeks.  The family snacks on it with evening tea too.



A bite of nuts in between is awesome !



If you like jaggery and beaten rice, you must try this ;-)




Ingredients:

Jaggery- 200g/ 1cup grated
Aval/Poha/beaten rice- 2 cups
Coconut, grated-2 cups
Cardamom Powdered- 1 tsp
Cumin seeds-2 tsp
ginger powder- 1/4 tsp
Roasted pottukadala/kadalapparippu(optional)-3 Tbsp
Cashews(optional)- 3 Tbsp

Method:

1.Melt the jaggery after adding a couple of spoons of water and boiling it.Sieve out any dirt and continue to boil till it reaches one thread consistency.
2.Add the grated coconut and mix well. Continue to stir till all the water is absorbed from the coconut.(this step is crucial if you are planning to store your "varattiyathu" for a while.
3.Now add the aval and the spices and mix well. Also you could add the casgews and the kadalapparippu at this time(if you are adding any)
4.Switch off the heat and let it cool completely before you store this in an airtight container.
5.Serve with plantain or as it is.

Notes:

1.If the jaggery is more, sprinkle a spoon or two of granulated sugar and mix well. This will make it get dried faster.
2.If you wash the aval before using, let it dry completely before making this.

Contributor: Namitha

Kashmiri Dum Aloo/ Baby potatoes in spicy yogurt gravy

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I love this time of year, wherever I am! I think everything about the season is delightful - the smells, the lights, the people, the shopping, the rush, the food, the festiveness and on and on.

We finally put up some lights outside along the door and the railings as part of our Christmas decorations, and there is still more to do, but that will be for next weekend. How about you? Do tell me where you are with your decorations and cooking, etc. for the season.

Talking of festive food, today I am sharing a delicious preparation with potato which will have your guests drooling. The first time I had this a zillion years ago at a friends place for Diwali, I distinctly remember how everybody was raving about this dish. I sang my own tune of appreciation to her, and I can still feel the taste on my tongue just reminiscing. Okay, agreed that was a little exaggeration, but the taste by no means is being exaggerated :)

Recently, at a get- together at my house, I made this and it was well received. So much so that the dish looked like it was licked clean. I like that! The recipe gives the mild version of the dish. Spike up the spice to your liking. I always make it less spicy, keeping my kids as well as the non-Indian guests in mind.

It's a wonderful party dish to the eyes as well as your taste buds.



Don't you think that Star Anise is one of the prettiest spices ever ?



Ingredients:

Baby potatoes- 1lbs
Oil- For deep frying

Oil- 2 Tbsp
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Asafoetida- a pinch

Whole Garam masala:

Cinnamon stick- 1 small piece
Star Anise- 2
Cloves- 3-4
Cardamom- 1 or 2
Tejpatta/Indian Bay leaves- 2

Finely chopped Onion- 1 cup

Ginger Garlic paste- 1 Tbsp
Tomato Puree- 1 1/2 Tbsp
Salt- To taste

For mixing in the yogurt:

Yogurt- 1 cup scant
Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder- 2 tsp
Red Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Fennel powder- 1 tsp
Coriander powder- 2 /14 tsp
Turmeric powder- a big pinch

Ginger juliennes- for garnishing


Method:

1.Peel and clean the potatoes.Prick them thoroughly with a fork and immerse them in salted water for n hour.
2.Drain them on a paper towel.
3.Heat oil in a deep frying pan and fry the potatoes till they turn golden brown.You have to do this on medium high heat, since if you keep the heat low, the potatoes will absorb more oil.
4.Heat oil in pan and splutter the cumin seeds.Add the asafoetida and keep stirring.Add the whole garam masala ans saute for a couple of minutes.
5.Throw in the finely chopped onions and saute till they turn brown.
6.Add the ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell leaves.
7.Add the tomato puree (I used the canned one)and saute till the oil startes to leave the sides.
8.Mix all the other spice powders in the yogurt and pour it into the pan.
9.Mix everything well and bring it to a boil.
10. Add the fried potatoes and mix well.Adjust the consistency with water.
11.Cover and cook on medium low heat for about 10 minutes.
12.If you want to have more gravy add more water while cooking.If you want it semi-dry or dry boil it accordingly.Remember that it will dry again even after switching off the heat.
13.Serve with poori/roti.

Contributor: Namitha

Pumpkin Pie - A pictorial

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Hello everyone!  I’m sure the extended weekend was reason enough to give thanks!  How was your Thanksgiving dinner? How many of you filled up your houses with  Black Friday shopping? Did you  wait outside the stores to grab the door busters ?
Most of my shopping was done online or on Saturday.  I have never been to see the mad rush at the opening hours on Friday, and I don't think that I would ever do it sacrificing my precious sleep ;-)

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving Turkey dinner at our friend's place! Everybody had a great time with so much fun and lots of good food. My daughter made me promise to make a pumpkin pie for her this year and I did. It came out so well, and I'm glad to share the recipe with you all.  Next time I will try to make the pumpkin puree also at home :-)

My family loved it and I can assure you that it is much better than the store bought ones :-)And I loved the Pate Brisse



Now a pictorial of the process
Disclaimer: The pictures are not the best. I had to manage the process, the camera , a 9 year old and a toddler who is still in his terrible 2 ;-)

The first 4 steps of pie crust making.  Cutting the butter, mixing the flour with salt and sugar, mixing in the butter and adding water



Make a disc out of the dough, cover it and chill.Also rolling out



Transferring the disc and pinching the sides.



The final steps. Making the filling and baking the pie



And last but not the least, a slice for you ;-)



Ingredients

For Pie crust(Pate Brisse):

Flour- 1 1/4 cup
Salt- 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 2 tsp
Ice cold water- 3-4 Tbsp(I used 3 1/2 Tbsp)
Butter- 8 Tbsp

For Pumpkin Pie filling:

Pumpkin puree -2 cups (I used store bought organic puree)
Eggs -3
Brown sugar- 3/4 cup
White sugar -1/4 cup
Salt -1/4 tsp
Cinnamon -2 tsp
Ginger powder -1/2 tsp
Cloves -1/4 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Nutmeg - 1/8 tsp
Heavy cream -1/2 cup

Method:

1.Whisk together the flour, salt and sugar or pulse them together in the mixing bowl of your food processor.
2.Cut the butter into 1 inch cubes and add it to the flour mixture.
3.Process till the mixture turns little crumbly, but still there is some butter fragments.
4.Add the ice cold water 1 Tbsp at a time and run the processor.Add a couple of tablespoons more and mix well.After adding 3 Tbsp, try to hold the mixture together. If it is coming together, you are done. If not add a little more water and mix again.
5.Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface using your hand, till everything comes together.Do not over knead. Make a dics out of the dough and chill it for at least half an hour or up to a couple of hours.
6.Just before you start to make the filling, take out the dough from refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 10-12 minutes.Also preheat the oven at 425 degree F.
7.For making the filling, mix together the eggs and sugars first.Addthe rest of the ingredients and mix well.
8.Roll out the dough into a 1/4 to 1/3 inch disc which is about 13 inches in diameter.I rolled it on the plastic wrap so that it doesn't stick anywhere.Or else you could flour the surface lightly and check frequently for the sticking dough.
9.Invert the greased pie pan on the top of the crust and invert everything including the plastic wrap.(This is much more easier for transferring the crust when compared to all other methods I've tried so far :-)
10.Take out the wrap and gently press in the crust to fit it inside the pie pan.
11.Now gently take out the extra sides hanging out of the pan. (I didn't have much though)
12.Pinch the sides carefully so that you get a nice pattern.
13.Keep the crust covered and let sit chilled for about 10 minutes. This helps the pie crust to retain it's shape. I didn't have time to do this step and you can see that, though I pinched the sides well the end product doesn't have a beautiful outer edge.
14.Slowly pour in the prepared filling and bake at 425 degree F for 15 minutes.
15.Then reduce the temperature to 350 degree F and bake for about 50-55 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Notes:

1.The filling is moderately sweet. If you like it sweeter please feel free to add more sugar.
2.If you do not have a food processor, use a hand blender to mix the pie crust dough.  You could use your hand too, but the warmth of your hand might make the butter melt.  If you need a really flaky crust, the butter should be in bits and pieces in the dough.

Contributor: Namitha
Recipe Courtesy: Various internet sites

Boondi Ladoo/Bundi Laddu - Being Festive

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Hope you all are having a wonderful day,wherever you are. I thought it's not fair if we don't share the second sweet I prepared for Diwali, before the festival is over. So here is the boondi ladoo, my most favorite of all ladoos.We would love to say that again, Happy Diwali and we love you all !

I was in Middle School when I first had home-made Boondi ladoos.  My  Iyengar girl friend, (J), used to bring stuff like this to school all the time, and it was from here that I first had  ladoos.  Most of my class mates looked forward to being invited to her house for any celebration  because we knew there  would be all these delicious, juicy sweets to gobble up.  Other than ladoos, her mother could make Kerala Jilebi(Jangiri), pedas and a host of savory snacks.  My visit to her place was always memorable and quite productive.  I could eat all the home-made sweets I wanted,  and also borrow seedlings of "kanakambaram" for my garden.   Oh yes! Her mother was a great cook and an even better gardener.  I had the orange kanakambaram for a long, long time in my garden thanks to J!  My inspiration to make ladoos at home is J’s mom, but who would have imagined it would take X years to actually try it at home!

  When I was pregnant with my son, my second child, I craved ladoos to no end.  There was not a place I could buy good ones  where I stayed, and I decided to go all the way and fry it myself.  Being huge with a belly, it was not easy, but I persisted.  I know how this might sound foolish, and I don’t recommend pregnant women trying to fry and burn their belly  unless you can be careful and get it done.  I tell you what, when desire strikes no bump is a hurdle ;)

  Now for a couple of years, I have been making ladoos on and off. I am glad to present to you a fool proof recipe.   

Disclaimer: You don’t  have to be pregnant to try this for the first time ;)

May the festival of lights brings you all the happiness in the world !



These ladoos are so delicious and exactly like the store bought one, except for their shape ;-)



This for you all,with good wishes and love, from us !




Ingredients:

Besan/Gram flour- 1 1/2 cup
Rice flour- 1 Tbsp
Baking soda- a pinch
Oil- for deep frying

For the sugar syrup:

Sugar- 2 cups
Water- 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
Cloves, crushed- 6-7
Cashews and raisins- lightly fried in ghee(optional)- 2 Tbsp each

You need a boondi strainer/a strainer with holes for making the boondis

Method:

1.Make a medium thick batter with the flours, water and soda. The consistency should be lighter than of idli batter.If it is too watery you will get boondis with a tail. If it is too thick it will not come through the strainer.So adjust it if required after you try the first time, by adding the flour or water.
2.Heat oil in a deep frying pan.Keep the heat on medium and by holding the strainer over the oil, pour a ladle full of batter onto the strainer.Make circular motions with the bottom of the ladle, just like you do when you make a dosa.The flour will drop into the oil and get fried.
3.It doesn't take long for the boondi to get fried. Also you don't have to fry the boondis till they turn brown, as you do for making mixture and other snacks.As soon as you stop pouring the batter stir the boondis well, so that they don't cluster together and burn. (it's always nice to have an extra pair of hands at this time, but I did it all myself this time !)
4.Drain them on a paper towel. Also it's wise to use a big strainer to take them out from oil, since the boondis are small but large in number.
5.Make the sugar syrup by mixing the sugar and water in a thick bottom vessel and boiling it to one string consistency.This doesn't take long if you add only this much of water.
6.When it has reached one string cosistency, add the cloves and cardamom and also the cashews and raisins. Mix well.
7.Throw in the fried boondis into this syrup and mix everything well.
8.Let it cool for a while so that you can handle it without burning your hands.
9.Make balls out of this before it gets completely cool.
10.Let the ladoos cool completely before you store them.

Do you think that it's a lot of work? But believe me, it's all worth it :-)
Once again we wish you all a very Happy Diwali/Deepawali !!



Sending this to the event "The 30 best recipes of 2010" at Chacko's Kitchen.Thanks Susan and Abraham for hosting such a wonderful event !

Contributor: Namitha

Pista Burfi and Happy Deepawali !

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Happy Deepawali!!!!!!!!!  How are your Deepawali preparations going?   I am sure you all have filled your boxes of sweets and other goodies to share with friends and family.  In this joyful festival of lights, we join to wish you all a very happy and safe Deepawali.

  Growing up in Central Travancore, Kerala, I grew up without any firecrackers and lighting of lights as part of the festivities for Deepawali.  But you better believe sweets were always a part of our Deepawali, and I continue to keep that  tradition alive.    Every Deepawali I make some for my family. 

  My most favorite Deepawalis were celebrated while I was in Hyderabad - hours together with firecrackers, partying, sweets, the works!  If you are from that part of the world, I want to tell you a special thanks for giving such great memories.

Sunitha and I wish all our friends and readers a Deepawali full of fun !!



I didn't use any food colors,that's why the color is not great



But it tastes wonderful and my lil one finished at least half a dozen pieces while I was clicking away :-)



Ingredients:

Unsalted Pistachios, blanched - 1 cup
Sugar- 1/2 cup
water- 2-3 Tbsp
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
Ghee- 1 to 2 Tbsp

Method:

1.Blanch the pistachios by soaking them in hot water for about a minute and washing in cold water,slip out the skin.
2.Dry them on a paper towel. Grind to a fine paste, without adding any water.. (I like it to be a bit coarse)
3.Prepare a cookie sheet or a plate greased with ghee.
4.Heat the sugar in a wide, preferably non-stick pan after adding 2 Tbsp of water, just enough to wet the sugar.(The more the water the more time it will take !)
5.Let it boil and come to one string consistency.If you think that you have overdone, add a little more water and do it again.If you add this amount I've mentioned it won't take long after it starts boiling.
6.Add the ground pistachios and stir well.
7.Slowly add the ghee and stir in to incorporate.If you are using a non-stick pan you need to add only 1 Tbsp ghee.
8.When the mixture starts leaving the sides add the cardamom powder and mix well.
9.Switch off the heat and spread the mixture onto the greased plate or baking sheet.Use a greased spoon /rolling pin to even the surface.
10.Let it cool a bit and cut into desired shapes. Cool them completely before storing in an airtight container.

Happy Deepawali one again !!



Notes:

1.The amount of sugar is to our liking.(In fact I added a little less than 1/2 cup!)It was perfect for us.If you like your sweets to be extra sweet you might
want to add a little more sugar.
2.If you want to add green color, add it to the sugar syrup, before adding the pistachios.
3.If you have edible silver foil/varak spread it onto the top after you even the surface.

Contributor: Namitha