Fruit & Nut Cups

Fruit Custard is the easiest and the best dessert for everyone. This recipe is just an example of how you can serve your custard in a creative manner. I bet everyone will go in for couple of more servings. Trust me, they would not want to stop eating this dessert. Fruit Custard along with the wafer cups are a huge hit among my friends circle! Try it and let me know

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients:

Mixed Fruits - 1 cup (I used apples, strawberries, bananas, oranges, mangoes, grapes & pears)
Milk - 2 cups
Cashews - 1 tablespoon
Raisin - 1 tablespoon
Cucumber Seeds - 1 tablespoon (optional)
Sugar - 4-5 tablespoons
Condensed milk - 2 tablespoons
Vanilla Flavored Custard Powder - 2 teaspoons
Ice Cream Cups/ Wafer cups - 8-10

Method:

1. Boil 1 1/2 cups of milk.
2. To the remaining 1/2 cup of milk, add custard powder and mix well so that no lumps are formed.
3. Once the milk boils, add the custard-milk mix and stir continuously.
4. The milk will start to thicken. At this point, add sugar and cool it in the refrigerator.
5.  Meanwhile, chop the fruits into small pieces and soak them in about 3-4 tablespoons of milk.
6. Just when you are about to serve, add the fruits, nuts, raisins, cucumber seeds and condensed milk to the custard.
7. Transfer small portions of the fruit custard mix into the ice cream cups and serve immediately when cold!

Tips:

1. You can add any fruit that you want. But naturally, don't add watermelons, cantaloupes or any fruit that has high water content. It will make your custard very watery.

Vegetable Jalfreizi

This is the first Mughlai Dish I made and it was the most amazing side dish I have ever had. The name Vegetable Jalfreizi sounds very complicated but it isn't very difficult to make. All you need is fresh vegetables and the spices that already line up your kitchen counter. This dish is very delicious and rich and the best thing.. not very high in calories! So, what are you waiting for, dive in and indulge in the most amazing flavours that vegetarian cooking can offer!

Serves: 5

Ingredients:

Onion (diced) - 1 cup
Carrot (diced) - 1 cup
Capsicum/Bell Pepper (diced) - 1/2 cup
Paneer/ Cottage Cheese (diced) - 1 cup
Tomato (diced) - 2 cups
Cauliflowers (small florets) - 1 cup
Potatoes (diced) - 1/2 cup
Green Chillies - 2 or 3
Turmeric Powder - 1 teaspoon
Pepper Powder - 2 teaspoons
Red Chilli Powder - 1 1/2 teaspoons
Dhaniya Powder/Coriander Seed Powder - 2 teaspoons
Garam Masala Powder - 1 teaspoon
Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tablespoons
Yogurt - 1 cup
Bayleaf - 1
Cloves - 3
Jeera/Cumin Seeds - 1 tablespoon
Chopped Coriander - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tablespoons

Method:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan and add jeera, bay leaves. Once they are fried, add onions.
2. Add the carrots and Sauté well . Add ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and mix well.

3. Add Dhaniya powder, garam masala and half the quantity of coriander. Mix well. Let it cook for a minute or two.
4. Add the tomatoes and salt. Mix well.

5. Allow it cook till the oil seeps out of the cooked tomatoes.
6. Add bell peppers, paneer, cauliflower, potatoes and mix well.

7. Add water and salt, if required. Cover and cook.
8. Add the yogurt and mix well. Cover and cook.

9. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot!

Enjoy your Vegetable Jalfreize with rotis, chapathis or ghee rice

Tips:

1. You can add the vegetable of your choice. You can add Yellow, Red Bell peppers as well.
2. Mushrooms and spinach can be added. Add them just before you add yogurt.

Keerai Kootu

The best part about Spinach is that it cooks in seconds... and, it tastes great... and, its yummy!

This yummy, healthy dish is a must have every week! My husband loves Spinach and this makes me to try out many Spinach-y dishes. This recipe is specially here for one of my good friends.

Serves: 3 people

Ingredients:

Spinach - 1 bunch
Moong Dhall - 3/4 cup
Dry Red Chillies - 5
Channa Dhall/Kadalai Paruppu - 1/2 tablespoon
Hing/Asafoeitda/perungaayam - a pinch
Sambar Powder - 1 tablespoon
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Jeera or Mustard - 1 tablespoon
Coconut Oil - 1 tablespoon (optional)
Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Pressure cook the moong dhall to 3-4 whistles.
2. Cut the spinach into small pieces randomly. Wash it well thrice to remove any mud sticking to the leaves.
3. Boil the spinach with a few drops of water with turmeric powder.
4. Once the spinach is boiled, add the cooked moong dhall, sambar powder and salt. Mix well.
5. Let it cook well till the smell of sambar powder is gone.
6. For the tempering, heat oil and add jeera or mustard. Add hing, dry chilli and channa dhall. Finally, add it to the spinach mixture and mix well.
7. Add the coconut oil just before serving for an additional flavor.

Yummy Keerai Kootu is ready to serve!

Tip:

1. Don't add a lot of water when boiling the spinach. The spinach will let out its own water.
2. You can also add grated coconut to the kootu.

Vella Seedai

In continuation to my Uppu Seedai Blog, here's my recipe to Vella Seedai.

Makes: Approx 300 grams of seedai

Ingredients:


Rice Flour - 1 cup
Urad Dhall Flour - 2 tablespoons
Butter - 2 tablespoons
Coconut (grated) - 1 tablespoon
White Sesame Seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Jaggery - 3/4cup
Cardamom Powder - a pinch
Oil - For frying

Method:

1. In a separate bowl, add jaggery. Pour water that is enough to cover the jaggery. Set it aside for about 20 minutes to let it dissolve. Filter the jaggery water to remove impurities.
2. Meanwhile, sieve the rice flour and urad dhall flour twice individually, to make sure you get rid of small grains that remain in the flour.

3. Dry roast the rice flour and urad dhall flour separately for 3 minutes each.

4. Dry roast the sesame seeds till they turn a little golden brown.
5. Dry roast the coconut so that the moisture gets evaporated.
6. Boil the jaggery water in high flame for around 10 minutes. Heat until there are a lot of bubbles. Turn off the gas and set the jaggery aside to cool.

7. In a bowl, add the flours to sesame seeds, butter,coconut and mix well.

8. Add the jaggery water, little by little and mix the dough well to form a smooth pasty dough.
9. Make balls about 1-1.5 cm in diameter (Bigger than the uppu seedai. You don't want them to be too small or too big.)

10. Heat the oil and deep fry the seedais in medium heat till they turn dark brown. Make sure they turn dark brown evenly.

Yummy sweet,crispy vella seedais are ready to eat!

Tips:

1. Sieve the flours well and make sure you don't have any foreign materials. 
2. Dry roast the coconut.
3. Make sure the balls are not very tightly and evenly rolled. Seedais are not supposed to be evenly shaped. Just roll them for two seconds and leave them aside for about 5 minutes.  This allows the moisture to evaporate and thus the seedais will not burst when immersed in Oil.
4. Even after all this, if you are scared, you can prick each and every seedai with a toothpick and fry it. 

                            Hope you have a safe and enjoyable time making Seedais!

Uppu Seedai

I could not wait to try out the seedais for Gokulashtami. I was intially very scared to make Uppu Seedai and Vella Seedai, but once I made them, I realized it is not very difficult. You just need to be "very extra" careful when making the dough. Fortunately, I didnt have any calamities while preparing the seedais... I mean the bursting, of course. At the end of the day, I was very content that I am capable of making yummy snacks at not much a risk!

Everyone generally gets confused with the proportions, so I kind of did some research online and went with Sharmi's Passion. So for anyone who is scared to try out these seedais but really want to make some, here's the recipe.

Makes: Approx 300 gms of Seedai

Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 1 cup
Urad Dhall Flour - 2 tablespoons
Butter - 2 tablespoons
Coconut (grated) - 1 tablespoon
White Sesame Seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Salt  - to taste
Oil - For frying
Water - 2-3 tablespoons

Method:

1.Sieve the rice flour and urad dhall flour twice individually, to make sure you get rid of small grains that remain in the flour.

2. Dry roast the rice flour and urad dhall flour separately for 3 minutes each.

3. Dry roast the sesame seeds till they turn a little golden brown.
4. Dry roast the coconut so that the moisture gets evaporated.

5. In a bowl, add the flours to sesame seeds, butter,coconut and salt.

6. Add water in three intervals very carefully and mix the dough well to form a smooth pasty dough.
7. Make small pea-sized balls and let them stay on paper or a piece of cloth for about 5 minutes.

8. Heat the oil and deep fry the seedais in medium heat till they turn golden brown. Make sure they turn golden brown evenly.

Yummy melt-in-the-mouth, crispy seedais are ready to eat!

Tips:

1. Grease your hand with a bit of oil to avoid the dough sticking onto your palms.  

These tips will help you reduce the instance of seedais bursting:

1. Sieve the flours well and make sure you don't have any foreign materials. 
2. Dry roast the coconut.
3. Make sure the balls are not very tightly and evenly rolled. Seedais are not supposed to be evenly shaped. Just roll them for two seconds and leave them aside for about 5 minutes.  This allows the moisture to evaporate and thus the seedais will not burst when immersed in Oil.
4. Even after all this, if you are scared, you can prick each and every seedai with a toothpick and fry it. 

                        Hope you have a safe and enjoyable time making Seedais!

Thattai

Its my first Gokulashtami after my wedding and I wanted it to be great. So, I decided to make quite a lot of snacks that Lord Krishna would very much like. I started with this amazing Thattai recipe that I got from my mom. The thattais came out perfectly and melt in the mouth as well. For all those who are looking for a yummy thattai recipe, read on...

Makes: 20 thattais (varies with the size of each thattai)

Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 1 cup

Urad Dhall Flour - 2 tablespoons

Channa Dhall/Kadalai Paruppu - 2 tablespoon

Butter - 3 tablespoons

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tablespoon

Curry Leaves - 2 or 3

Asafoetida/Hing/Perungaayam - a pinch

White Sesame Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt - to taste

Oil - for frying

Water - 2-3 tablespoons

Method:

1. Soak the channa dhall for about 30 mins in warm water 

2. Sieve the rice flour and urad dhall flour twice individually, to make sure you get rid of small grains that remain in the flour.

3. Dry roast the rice flour and urad dhall flour separately for 3 minutes each.

4. Dry roast the sesame seeds till they turn a little golden brown.

5. In a bowl, add the flours to sesame seeds, butter, red chilli powder, asafoetida, curry leaves, salt and channa dhall.

6. Add water in three intervals very carefully and mix the dough well to form a smooth pasty dough.

7. Grease a plastic sheet with oil. Make a lemon sized ball out of the dough and flatten it with your fingers to form a circular disc. Prick them with a fork to minimize puffing while frying.

8. Heat the oil and deep fry the thattais in medium heat till they turn golden brown. Make sure they turn golden brown evenly.

Hot, crispy, melt-in-the-mouth Thattais are ready to eat.

Tips:

1. Cut the curry leaves into tiny pieces. If there are larger pieces, they tend to separate from the dough when frying.

2. Sieve the flours well and make sure you don't have any foreign materials. 

3. Grease your hand with a bit of oil to avoid the dough sticking onto your palms.

4. Prick the flattened dough with fork multiple times to avoid puffing up while frying.

White Chocolate Chip Cookies

My husband wanted me to try my hand at baking some cookies, so this is what I made. Its easy to make and  takes very little time.

Makes: About 25 cookies, 2" in diameter.

Ingredients:

Unsalted Butter - 1 cup
All-purpose flour - 2 1/4 cups
White Sugar - 2/3 cup
Brown Sugar (I used the dark brown sugar) - 2/3 cup
Eggs - 2
Mixed nuts - 1/4 cup (I used Cashews, Almonds and Walnuts)
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Pure Vanilla Extract - 2 teaspoons
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 3/4 cup
Semi-sweet White Chocolate Chips - 1 1/4 cup
Baking Soda - 1 teaspoon

Method:


1. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F or 190.5°F.
2. Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, add butter, white sugar, brown sugar and beat it till it becomes creamy.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating it well after every addition.
5. Pour in the vanilla extract and beat well again.
6. Combine the flour mix, adding it in short intervals, beating well after every addition.
7. Add the white chocolate chips and the nuts, and mix well with a spatula.
8. Roll into balls, flatten them a bit and bake them in an ungreased cookie tray for 11 minutes.

Chocolate Fudgy Brownie

What's more yummy than a fudge brownie? Here's a very simple recipe to try it out - Just be careful about the proportions. Follow them as it is here, and I promise you a brilliant Fudge Brownie!

Makes : 9 Brownies

Ingredients:

For the brownie:

Unsalted butter - 1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons
Sugar - 1 cup
Eggs - 2
Pure Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 1/3 cup
All Purpose Flour - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Baking Powder - 1/4 teaspoon

For the frosting:

Pure Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon
Unsalted butter - 3 tablespoons
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 3 tablespoons
Honey - 1 tablespoon
Confectioner's Sugar - 1 cup

Method:

For the brownie:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F or 177°C.

2. Grease an 8" baking tray with butter and flour.

3. Melt 1/2 cup butter. Stir in 1 cup sugar and beat well. Add the eggs and 1 tsp vanilla extract and beat well. 

4. Add 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and beat well. Add salt and baking powder and mix well.

5. Pour the batter into the greased tray and spread it evenly with a spatula. 

6. Bake for 25-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clear when pierced into the brownie.

For the frosting:

1. Add 3 tablespoons softened butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, honey, vanilla extract, confectioner's sugar and mix well with a spatula to form a thick chocolate paste.

2. Spread evenly over warm brownie to give a nice chocolate coat.

Brownies are ready to be served!

Crispy Fingers

Tried out this awesome dish for evening snacks today... and it was a hit! Try it out and tell me how it turned out. It is pretty easy and fun to make!

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Ladies Finger/Okra/Bindi - 20 nos. (small ones preferably)
Red Chilli Powder - 2 teaspoons
Jeera Powder - 1 teaspoon
Aamchur Powder - 1 teaspoon
Maida - 3-4 tablespoons
Water - 1/4 cup
Salt - to taste
Bread Crumbs - 1 cup
Oil - for frying

Method:

1. Slit whole okras vertically as shown in the picture.

2. In a plate, add red chilli powder, jeera powder, aamchur powder, salt and mix well.

3. Stuff the okras with the powder mix such that the okras don't split open.

4. Dissolve maida in water to form a paste like Dosa/Idli Batter.

5. Dip the stuffed okras into maida one-by-one and ensure there is a thick coating of the maida paste on every okra.

6. Roll the okras in bread crumbs. To ensure an even coat of the brad crumbs, roll them between your palms as well.

7. Deep fry the okras in oil.

8. Crispy Fingers are ready to be served! Serve Hot!