Carrot Kheer

Carrot Kheer is a very refreshing drink loaded with nutrients for wellness and good health. I made this drink for my kids who got back from school after a long and tiring day. Hope they like the Kheer.

Ingredients

Two chopped carrots

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Sugar - 6 tbsp

Milk  - 4 cups

Method

• Boil the carrots in little water
• Once well cooked, puree the carrots 
• Add to the milk and boil them well adding sugar.
• Switch off, add the cardamom powder and mix well.
• Store in the refrigerator and serve chilled.

Enjoy!!!

Basil Focaccia Bread

I love the Italian Focaccia Bread Sandwich at San Martins in Guatemala. They serve the sandwich with potato coleslaw salad and it is delicious. The bread is very crisp on the outside and I wanted to try making at home ever since. We love to dip it in olive oil and pepper or just eat them with pasta or spaghetti or soups.

I got this recipe from www.showmethecurry.com where they gave a Rosemary and Onion version, but I tried with Basil.

Ingredients
All purpose flour - 3 cups
salt - 1/2 tsp
Olive Oil - 5 tbsp
Basil leaves - 2 tbsp
Rapid rise yeast - 2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Warm water - 2 cups
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Method

• Mix 2 tsp of yeast with sugar and a little warm water
• Let it rest for the yeast to work in five minutes
• Mix the yeast mixture to the flour and add salt and water and make it into a smooth dough
• Take a nine inch cake tin and smear it with generous amount of olive oil
• Spread the dough evenly in the tin
• Let it rest for about an hour to rise
• After an hour's time the dough would have risen. Make small indentation with your fingers all over the dough
• Mix the basil and olive oil and spread it evenly on the dough.
• Sprinkle some sea salt on top for taste.
• Bake the bread for 25 minutes in 350 F

Enjoy the bread with pasta or dip it olive oil, vinegar and salt and eat it just like that.

OPOS ten minute Lemon Pickle

One Pot One Shot Lemon pickle has been shared from Ramki of United by Food. This recipe is such a time saver because it is so easy and it takes only 10 minutes to prepare. I have already made this pickle twice at home in small batches and it is delicious to eat this fresh pickle with curd rice and rice kanji.

Ingredients

Lemons - 1 pound
Chilli powder - quarter cup
Salt - quarter cup

Method

• Cut the lemons into quarters
• Put the lemons , chilli powder and salt in the pressure cooker
• Cook them for two whistles.
• Cool and open. You will see that the mixture is watery but will thicken once it cools completely.

Enjoy!!!!

Strawberry Jam

I always had confusion in differentiating a jelly, jam and a fruit preserve. After googling a whole lot of recipes, came to understand that jelly is made from fruit juice, a jam from the mashed fruit pulp and a fruit preserve from chunks of fruits.

I found this super easy recipe for strawberry jam from Allrecipes.com,   http://allrecipes.com/recipe/strawberry-jam/and the greatness of this recipe is that it did not call for pectin as other jam recipes. I could not find fruit pectin in any of the stores here and so I opted for this recipe since I did not want to make large quantities of jam. I did not do the jam processing with a hot bath since I made it for immediate use.
I got a very soft, delicious, spreadable jam.

Ingredients
Strawberries - 1 pound
Sugar - 2 cups
Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp

Method

• Mash the strawberries in a food processor
• Cook them on medium flame with the sugar.
• Once it thickens bring it to a rolling boil and add the lemon juice.
• Cook for a few more minutes till you see a jam like consistency.

Store in air tight bottles and refrigerate.

Enjoy!!!

Grilled Veg Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients

Bread Slices
Grated carrots, peas, and green pepper  - 2 cups
Salt
Chilli powder  - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Grated Cheese - I used cheddar

Method

• Saute the carrots, frozen peas and green pepper in oil till almost cooked
• Add the salt, chilli powder and garam masala and garnish with coriander leaves
• Heat the grill and fill the above vegetable filling in a bread slice and grate some cheese on top
• Close with another bread slice and grill with butter smeared on top of the slices.
• Take out when it is golden brown
• Serve with green chutney or tomato ketchup

Enjoy!!!!

Nei Appam

I  made these Nei Appams for Neivedyam today for Thiru Karthigai Deepam. We celebrate this festival for the well-being of our brothers and light oil lamps around the house in the evening.

I learnt these from my mother in law who is an expert in making these. Still my nei appams can never match the taste she achieves every time.

Ingredients

Raw Rice - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
Cardamom - 4 nos
Ghee - to fry
All purpose flour - 1 tbsp

Method

• Soak the raw rice for about 3 hours
• Drain water completely and grind smooth along with jaggery to a smooth paste
• While grinding you would notice that jaggery will give out water.
• Once ground, transfer to a container and add the powdered cardamom
• Let this batter ferment for about 3 hours
• Just before frying the appams, add the flour and give it a nice mix.
• Drop small ladles of appam batter in hot ghee in the appam moulds and flip to cook
• You may also use a combination of oil and ghee if you feel the ghee is too much to take.

Enjoy!!!

Apple Almond Cinnamon Loaf

I took this recipe from http://youreverydaycookradha.blogspot.com/2013/11/apple-walnut-cinnamon-loaf.html#comment-form

Her recipes are very accurate and I replaced the walnuts with almonds since I didn't have walnuts in stock.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 apple peeled and chooped into fine pieces
1/2 cup of almonds finely chopped
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup curd
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup of melted butter


Method

• Mix the sugar, cinnamon and curd well
• Add the melted butter and milk and mix well
• In another bowl, sieve the flour and the baking soda
• Add it to the sugar mixture
• Add the vanilla extract 
• Add the apples and the almonds and give a gentle mix
• In a greased pan, bake the mixture at 350 F for about 30 minutes 
• Cool in a wire rack and slice into pieces

Enjoy!!!

Medu Vada

Ingredients

Urad dal - 2 cups
Chillies - 2-4 nos
Black whole pepper - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Ginger - a small piece
Salt - to taste
Curry leaves finely chopped - 1 tbsp


Method

• Grind urad dal with chillies, ginger and salt to a fine paste without much water.
• Mix the pepper, curry leaves and cumin seeds
• Shape them into vadas and deep fry in hot oil.

Enjoy!!!

Guacamole

I always thought avocado dip is something only very sophisticated people eat but only till I landed in Guatemala. You can find these avocado fruits appear in every single meal for the local people, be it breakfast, snack, lunch or dinner. They eat them with tortillas or nachos and I see school children bringing avocados for snack time when they scoop and eat them out and quickly go out to play. Guacamole was the first dish that my six year old daughter learnt to make at her school after school activity cooking club.

There is a very big avacado tree in our Condomonium at Zona 15. You can find fresh avocados throughout the year. Our security guards are always kind enough to share them with us. They even pack a big bag full of avocados.

We have become latinos in that sense because we eat them everyday, with toast or rotis or chips or make a shake. I even use avocado for vegan cakes to get the rich texture.

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados
1/2 Tomato finely chopped
Lemon and Salt to taste

Method

Scoop the avocados, mash and add the tomatoes, lemon and salt.
If you like pepper, feel free to add paprika, black pepper or chat masala for the tangy effect.

It is good to have them with nachos or as a dip for any chips or toasted bread.

Tip: If you are not serving immediately, after you prepare the guacamole leave the seed of the avocado in the dip and this will prevent retaining the color for quite some time.

Enjoy!!!

Spicy Mint Biscuits

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
Butter - 1/4 cup
Mint leaves finely chopped - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Baking Soda - 1 tsp

Method:

• Sieve the flour and baking soda together and mix well
• Add the other ingredients and mix it into a fine dough
• If it is too tight, you may add a tsp of oil and a few tsps of milk to form into a dough
• Roll the dough using a pin and cut into desired cookie shapes
• Bake them for about 15 minutes at 350 F

Enjoy!!!

Aadi Perukku

Aaadi Perukku or Aadi Pathinettu falls usually in the month of July or August. It is a way of offering our gratitude to River Cauvery that nourishes the fertile land and wipes away the drough and famine to yield fresh crops, fruit and plants.  Basically it is our tribute to nature and makes us feel the blessing about how much we receive from this Mother Earth. On this day different varieties of rice are prepared. My mom made Coconut rice, chakkara pongal, curd rice , tamarind rice, avial and we enjoyed them  with home made sago vadams.

Apple Jam

Ingredients:

Apples - 5 nos
Sugar - 3 cups
Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp

Method:

• Wash, Core and cut the apples into small peices. I cut it with the skin, if you wish you could remove the skin.
• Cook the apples with very little water in a medium flame for about 7-8 minutes
• Mash the apples well and add the sugar
• Continue to cook in a low flame until a jam like consistency is got and the appearance looks a little transparent.
• Switch off and add the lemon juice

Enjoy!!!

Vegetable Kurma

Ingredients:

3cups - chopped vegetables (potato, carrot, beans, peas, cauliflower etc)
Tomatoes - 3 nos
Salt to taste
Coconut grated - 2 tbsp
Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 3 tbsp
Cashews and Almonds - 2 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Dhaniya Powder - 1 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp


Method

• Boil the vegetables in just enough water and cook till done.
• Puree the tomatoes with almonds and cashew and fennel seeds
• In a pan heat up a little oil and saute the tomato paste till oil separates
• Add turmeric,Grind coconut smooth and add it to the tomato gravy
• Add garam masala, dhaniya powder and chilli powder and salt to taste
• Add the boiled vegetables and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Garnish with coriander and mint leaves
• Serve with Hot Puris.

Enjoy!!!!

Upma

Ingredients

Rava - 1 cup

Mustard - 1 tsp

Ginger - 1/2 tsp grated

Urad Dal - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Red Chillies - 3 numbers

Vegetables ( carrot, beans, peas etc.) - 1/2 cup

Water - 2 cups

Oil - 1 tbsp

Curry leaves - a few

Method 

• Roast the rava with little ghee in a pan till the raw smell leaves.
• In a pan add a little oil and when hot splutter the mustard, urad dal, red chillies and ginger
• Add the vegetables and cook till done with a few tbsps of water
• Add the rava and add two cups of water
• Cook till done.
• Garnish with curry leaves and coriander leaves.
• Serve hot with chutney

Enjoy!!!!

Rava Laddoo

Ingredients :

2 cups fine rava
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cardamom powder
1 Cup ghee
3 tbsp milk

Method:

• Melt ghee in a pan
• Roast the rava in 1 tbsp of ghee till light brown
• Mix the sugar and grind fine in a mixer
• Add the cardamom powder
• Add hot ghee little at a time and make laddoos.
• If you find it difficult to make the laddoos, add a little milk and firm them tight.

Enjoy!!!!

Paneer Rolls

Some home made paneer  stored in the refrigerator came in handy when I made some Paneer rolls that was a great starter for a dinner party that we hosted recently.

Ingredients

Paneer Crumbled - 1 cup
Coriander leaves finely chopped - 2 tbsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
All purpose flour to make the rolls - 1 cup

Method

• Mix water and salt to the flour and make a chappathi like dough with the flour
• To the crumble paneer, add the chilli powder, coriander and garam masala and salt and give it a nice mix.
• Make small chappathis from the dough and spread a tablespoon of the paneer mixture evenly.
• Roll them tight and cut it into small roundels.
• Fry the peices in oil. When half fried, drain out and keep aside
• Fry the peices again in hot oil for your guests when they arrive
• Serve hot with Chutney or sauce of your choice.

Enjoy!!!

Thattai

Thattai is a very popular south indian snack made during festivals like Diwali and Janmashtami.

I made this for Diwali and they turned out very good.

Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 2 cups

Urad dal flour roasted - 1/4 cup

Curry leaves - a few finely chopped

Fried gram dal - 3 tbsp

Salt - To taste

Chilli powder - to taste

Oil - To fry

Method:

Mix the flours, salt, curry leaves, chilli powder and fried gram with 4 tbsp of hot oil and enough water and make it to a firm dough.

Heat up the oil.

Meanwhile roll the dough into small balls and flatten with your palms.

Deep fry in oil.

Store them in air tight containers, keeps well for about three weeks.

Enjoy!!!

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Simple Chocolate Mousse Cake in a Cup

Diwali is fast approaching. I plan to make at least one sweet or a snack everyday this week so that I will have enough for the Diwali day. My kids too have given me their preferences.

This is a very simple dessert , so creamy and light. Kids loved it and I am still not sure if it is a mousse or a no bake cheesecake but like a cheesecake this does not have the crust. This is a keeper of a recipe because, anyone can make this in no time but will give a designer effect to your parties.

I did not have any berries to decorate to bring a designer effect but I am sure it will look attractive with all the adornments like a mint leaf on whipped cream or some strawberries.

Ingredients

Cream cheese -  100 gms
Condensed milk - 100 gms
Agar agar -  a few strands
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Hershey's chocolate powder - 1 tbsp

Method

• Boil the agar agar in just enough water till dissolved
• Beat the cream cheese and combine with condensed milk and cocoa powder
• Add sugar and if it is thick pour  some milk
• Pour in the agar agar and beat well
• The batter now must be thick but of pouring consistency
• Pour over shot glass dessert cups and set in the fridge for an hour
• Serve cold with chocolate sauce slithered on top.

Enjoy!!!

Bengali Aloo dum

Bengali Aloo Dum

I proudly looked at the aloo dum that I whipped up. Having born in Kolkata, I pondered to myself if I might have some natural Bengali roots. I love everything about Bengal, the people, the food, the language, sweets,  Durga Puja... Well .. who doesn't ? Here comes the Bengali Vegetarian food- the most famous Aloo Dum from my spic and span, well organised My Magical Kitchen.

I know I am bragging. Please bear with me if you are reading this.

I even heard that Bengali vegetarian food is traditionally without onion and garlic.

I made this aloo dum for a dinner that we hosted this week. To prepare this was a breeze because our house help Maria had already boiled the potatoes with skin peeled and kept them ready in the refrigerator.

Ingredients :

Baby potatoes - 1lb
Tomatoes - 4  numbers
Ginger - a little peice
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Dhaniya Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Panch Poron - 1 tsp ( The Bengali masala) for seasoning
Cream - 2 tbsp
Cashew - 5 peices
Oil - to fry and season

Method:

• Boil the potatoes and take out the skin
• Fry them deep in oil
• Keep aside
• Puree the tomatoes, ginger and cashew till smooth and silky
• In a pan heat enough oil, crackle the cumin and panch poron 
• Add the tomato puree and saute till oil separates
• Add in the chilli and masala powders
• Add the fried potatoes.
• Add water if it is too thick.
• When it boils well, add the cream and switch off.
• Garnish with coriander leaves.

Goes well with rice and pooris (luchis)

Enjoy!!!

Momos

Yesterday was a tiring day in Guatemala. It rains crazy here from May to October almost every afternoon till dusk. It is  beautiful to watch the pregnant clouds, the rains, the greenery, the mountains and the colorful  flowers dancing all over the city. The volcanoes that surround the city look so beautiful doing a peek-a -boo covered with mist.
Landslides are common during the rainy season. They call them "Derrumbes" ( they room bays). A funny name!!!
Some landslides occurred right in the city in one of the busiest  highways Carratera El Salvador:. The school buses were cancelled and I had to go to school to pick up the kids all the way in the traffic and by the time they reached home it was close to 7 pm. Solid hours flew by in the traffic and left me with no time to do my practices or prepare for the next day.  I took it easy because today is Friday too.

I made these Momos a while ago, but got time to post only now.

Ingredients :

For the outer cover
All Purpose flour - 1 cup
Salt - a pinch
Oil - a tbsp

For the filling
Vegetables of your choice finely chopped
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
Salt and Chilli - as per taste

Method:

• Saute the vegetables on high flame al dente.
• Add salt, chilli and soy sauce
• Let it cool
• Mix the flour, salt and oil and roll to a firm dough.
• Rest the dough for a while 
• Make small puris and put the filling inside and make them into momos.
• To make the momos filling, gather the outer cover like pleats and give a twist.
• Steam them for ten minutes
• Serve with Hot and Sweet Sauce.
• I mixed Chipotle and Tomato Salsa and it was yummy.

Enjoy!!!!

Idly

I don't own a grinder. I have made idly using a Black&Decker mixer.

Ingredients:

Rice - 3 cups ( I have used raw rice since I don't get Idly rice where I live)
Urad Dal - 1 cup.

Method:

• Soak Urad dal and rice separately for 4 - 5 hours
• Blend them smooth in a mixer.
• Add salt and ferment them in  a warm place for 8 hours.
• Pour the batter in idly moulds and steam them for 10 - 15 minutes
• Remove them and serve with your favourite chutney.