Fruit Salsa

A quick and super healthy dish as side or even as main. We had fruit salsa for our breakfast today. :)

Ingredients:

1. Papaya, ripe and sweet, cubes - 1 cup
2. Mango, ripe and sweet, cubes - 1 cup
3. Apple, cubes - 1 cup
4. Honey - 1 tbs(optional, use only if fruits are not sweet enough)
5. Salt to taste
6. Red onion, chopped - 1/2 cup
7. Green chilli, chopped - a pinch
8. Coriander leaves, chopped - 2 tbs
9. Lemon juice - 2 tbs

NOTE: You may add other fruits like pineapple, pear etc too.

1. Method:
2. Chill all the fruits in fridge
3. Mix all the ingredients and serve immediately

Chickpeas Burger

Ingredients:

For Burger:

1. Chickpeas, cooked - 2.5 cups
2. Bread crumbs - 5tbs
3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Red onion chopped - 1/2 cup
6. Oil - 3tbs
7. Salt to taste

For serving:

1. Thin onion rings- 8-10
2. Tomato slices - 8
3. Tomato Ketchup - 4 spoons
4. Burger Bun - 4

Method:

1. Mash chickpeas well,( you may pulse it few times in a blender). There should be some bites of chickpeas after mashing. (no water should be added)
2. Mix turmeric powder, salt, chilli powder, 3 tbs bread crumbs and onion to chickpeas and mix well using fingers or spoon
3. Make 4 balls with your  palm and flatten it to make burger.
4. Lightly press both sides of burger in rest of the bread crumbs and keep the burger in fridge in a an airtight container
5. When you are about to serve the burger, fry burger in minimum amount of oil in a hot pan, 4 minutes on each side. (2-3 tbs of oil should be enough for this)
6. Arrange burger on bun with a dollop of ketchup, few onion rings, tomato slices and top it with the second bun. (You may also cut a bun into two and keep the burger and vegetables in between for servin. I served it like that))

This recipe is participating in My Legume Love Affair:

http://foodandspice.blogspot.com/2015/09/my-legume-love-affair-88-october-2015.html

http://thewellseasonedcook.blogspot.com/

Grapes Surprise, a Grape juice with a twist!

Who doesn't like some tender grape surprise bites in Grape juice?? Here is a must try recipe for all those who love grapes..

Ingredients:

1. Red/Black seedless grapes - 300gm
2. Sugar - 1/4 cup (adjust according to the sweetness of grapes)
3. Water - 1.5cups
4. Cardamom - 2
5. Cinnamon - 1 cm piece

Method:

1. After thoroughly cleaning the grapes, cook grapes in a pressure cooker with all the ingredients in it for 3-5 minutes in medium flame.
2. Once pressure is gone, open the cooker and let the mixture cool.
3. Remove cinnamon stick and cardamom from the cooked grape mixture.
4. Using a ladle, take out 10-15 grapes from it and keep it aside..
5. Blend the rest of the mixture well in a blender .
6. Mix the grapes which were kept aside with the grape juice and chill it in fridge.

Grapes surprise is ready to be served!

7 cups

As the name says 7 cups have 7 cups of main ingredients in it. It tastes like ghee Mysore pak + coconut burfi. Super tasty sweet for the next festive season!

I got this recipe from our lovely family friend and neighbour Vimalaunty. She is such a fantastic cook that every time I visit here there will be something homemade to welcome me. I have tried 7 cups few times from her and it is very tasty. So here I come up with Vimalaunty 's recipe for 7 cups with minor modifications made on it. I used almond flour instead of besan/ chickpea flour. Also I have added some saffron milk and edible silver leaves to it.

Ingredients:

1. Besan flour or Almond flour - 1 cup
2. Ghee/clarified butter - 1 cup
3. Coconut shredded - 1 cup
4. Milk - 1 cup
5. Sugar - 3 cups
6. Saffron milk- 2tsp(optional)
7. Edible silver leaf - 1 or 2 sheets

Method: 

1. Mix all ingredients except saffron milk in a  wide heavy bottom pan
2. Make sure that there is no lumps
3. Move the pan on to stove 
4. Cook 7 cups in medium flame and stir continuously so that the batter doesn't stick to the bottom 
5. Once the batter is thickened ( you should be able to pour it , but not smooth flow. After you pour, you should be able to smoothen it using spoon or spatula without pressure) and add saffron milk and roughly mix it. 
6. Pour it in to a tray with parchment paper in it and let it cool
7. Place edible silver leaf on top of it
8. Using a knife cut it before it gets fully cool and hard

Note

If you have used almond flour, your 7 cups will be softer. If besan flour, then it is slightly harder

This Recipe is an entry to The KitchenAid India Navratri Challenge for The Hub @ Archana’s Kitchen.

Mango Raspberry Popsicle

You don't have to be a child to love these colourful Popsicle. But it will take you to your childhood memories of having those ice lollies during the festive seasons with your cousins.

Ingredients:

1. Mango, cubes - 1 cup
2. Raspberry - 1/2 cup
3. Sugar - 2 tbs ( optional)

Method:

1. Purée mangoes with a tbs of sugar( only if mangoes are not sweet)
2. Separately purée raspberry with a tbs of sugar
3. Fill in the Popsicle mould with both purée , alternately using a spoon
4. Dip ice lolly stick or using stem part of spoon, give one or two vertical movements in the pop sickle mould. 
5. Close the Popsicle mould (I used mini popsicle mould) and freeze it overnight
6. Enjoy the frozen mango raspberry Popsicle with or without chocolate dip

"Beat the Heat" with above recipe. This is recipe 3 from beat the heat series. 

Brinjal Tomato masala

Ingredients:

1. Small brinjal - 10-12
2. Onion sliced - 1.5 cups
3. Tomato chopped - 1.5 cups
4. Sesame, toasted - 2 tbs
5. Fennel seeds/ perunjeerakam - 1/2 tsp
6. Coriander powder - 1.5 tsp
7. Chilli powder - 1 tsp
8. Green chilli - 3
9. Shallots/ chuvannulli - 1 cup
10. Ginger, chopped - 1 tsp
11. Garlic , chopped - 1 tsp
12. Oil - 2 tbs
13. Sugar - 1 tsp
14. Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
15. Salt to taste
16. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
17. Curry leaves - few

Method:

1. Cut slits in brinjal without cutting through the ends
2. In a blender, coarsely blend 4 to 11
3. Heat oil in a pan
4. Add mustard seeds to it 
5. When mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves to it
6. Sauté onion sliced in the hot oil until translucent 
7. Add turmeric powder and tomatoes and sauté again
8. Add blended spice mixture and brinjals to it and mix well
9. Close the pan with a lid and cook in medium high flame for 5-8 minutes 
10. Open the lid and add 2 cups water, sugar and salt in it
11. Cook with closed lid for about 15-20 minutes until brinjal is cooked well and water is almost dried. Stir 1 or 2 times in between
12. Once the brinjal masala has reached the consistency you like, switch off the flame 

Serve this masala with Biryani or Rotis. 

Jujubes Sharbath/ Red Dates Syrup

This is my first recipe for "Beat the summer" series. I am trying to come up with a recipe series to cool down this summer.

Jujubes aka "Red dates" is not a common kitchen ingredient in India, but it is considered as a superfood in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It's benefit list is too long to list down here. It has a very mild distinct taste too.

 

Ingredients:

1. Dried red dates - 2 cups
2. Water - 4 cups
3. Sugar - 1.5 cups
4. Lemon peel - a pinch (optional)

Method:

1. Boil dates with lemon peel and  water in low flame with closed lid till water is almost halved
2. Once cool, pass it through a mesh.
3. Boil the  syrup with 1 to 1.5 cups of sugar till the syrup is of honey consistency
4. Switch off the flame and pass it through a mesh and store it in an airtight container
5. Red date sharbath can be made by mixing 3 tbs syrup, 1 cup water and few ice cubes. It is refreshing, it is cool, it is good. 

Minty Mango

Let us "Beat the Heat" with this Minty Mango Shake!!!

Ingredients:

1. Mint Leaves - 1cup
2. Mango, cubes -  2cups
3. Sugar to taste
4. Chaat Masala - a pinch (optional)
5. Milk/water - 2 cups

Method:

1. Blend mint leaves, mangoes, sugar, milk and 2 cups ice cubes using a blender.
2. Place the serving glass inverted on a plate with some water in the plate.
3. Spread chaat masala on another plate and place the inverted glass on it so that the glass rim gets a coating of chaat masala on it.
4. Pour the minty mango juice to the serving glass with chaat masala on the glass rim.

Avial / Mixed Vegetable curry

Avial is a mixed vegetable dish with coconut-yogurt base and scented with wonderful coconut oil!

Ingredients:

1. Mixed vegetables, cut into strips - 3-4 cups (unripe plantain, carrot, beans, drumsticks etc)
2. Water - 1-2 cups
3. Salt to taste
4. Turmeric powder -  1/2tsp
5. Green chilli - 2
6. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
7. Coconut oil - 2 tbs
8. Coconut shredded - 3 tbs
9. Tamarind pulp soaked water - 1/4 cup(optional)
10. Yogurt - 1/2  - 1cup

Method:

1. Cook all vegetables in minimum water with salt and turmeric powder
2. Coarsely grind coconut with cumin seeds, green chilli and yogurt
3. Once the veggies are almost cooked, add tamarind water
4. When the curry is almost dry and vegetables are cooked, add coconut mixture to it and mix well
5. Cook for 2 more minutes and switch off the flame
6. Add curry leaves and coconut oil on the curry and mix it. 

Note: it is ok to replace tamarind water with green unripe mango pieces.  Add mango with other veggies for cooking. 

If your yogurt very sour, then no need to add tamarind water

Increase the coconut mixture and grind it smoother to make avial with gravy

Koottu curry / Mixed Vegetable curry

Are you getting roasted coconut and pepper smell??? 

 

 

Ingredients:

1. Kadala / Black chickpeas - 1/4 cups
2. Unripe plantain, cut into small cubes - 1 cup
3. Carrot, cut into small cubes - 1/2 cup
4. turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
5. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Black pepper - 10
7. Coconut shredded - 3tbs + 1tbs
8. Dried red chilli - 2-3
9. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
10. Curry leaves - few
11. Coconut oil - 2 tbs
12. Salt to taste

Note:
You can add other vegetables like chembu/colocasia, Chena/yam  etc in koottu curry

Method:

1. Soak black chickpeas overnight and cook them till soft in pressure cooker ( around 10 min)
2. Cook all vegetables in a pan along with cooked chickpeas and 1-1.5 cups of water from cooker
3. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt to taste
4. In a blender coarsely grind 3 tbs coconut along with pepper corns
5. Once the vegetables are cooked, and most of the water is dried, add the coconut mixture to it
6. Mix well and cook for 2 more minutes and switch off the flame
7. In a tempering pan, heat coconut oil, splutter mustard seeds in it
8. Add red chilli, curry leaves and 1 tbs coconut in the tempering pan and stir till coconut is browned. (not burned :) )
9. Add the  tempering on to the koottu curry and keep it closed for 5 minutes before mixing it

Koottu curry is ready to be served!

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

1. Semi sweet chocolate chips - 3 cups, 18oz
2. Thickened cream - 300gms

Method:

1. Heat cream till it starts to bubble from the sides of the pan
2. Pour hot cream over chocolate chips and keep it closed for 5 minutes
3. Gently stir the chocolate chips in cream till it is smooth and shiny
4. Keep it in room temperature overnight so that it is thick enough to be applied as frosting on the cake.

Note:
Chocolate Ganache can be stored in fridge for future use.
Let it reach till room temperature before using it

Pal payasam/ Rice kheer

A perfectly cooked pal payasam/ rice kheer which is tried and tested more than at least 10 times is a sure win for any occasion. The below recipe is one of such pal payasam recipe. It is simple, easy and delicious. This is the payasam that I have been making for most of the birthdays, Onam, Vishnu and any such occasion. Here is the recipe for you to try out!

Ingredients:

1. Podi ari/ broken rice - 1/4 cup
2. Milk - 4cups
3. Sugar - 1 cups
4. Basil / thulsi leaves - 3-4( optional)

IMP: Use a big, very clean pressure cooker, otherwise there is always a chance that milk in the payasam might curdle. I wouldn't use a cooker which I use for making curry or any spicy items in it.

Method:

1. Add all ingredients except basil leaves in a pressure cooker
2. Pressure cook it in medium - high flame for first 5 minutes or first whistle
3. After 5 minutes or first whistle, reduce it to simmer, lowest flame and let it pressure cook for 15 more minutes.
4. Switch off the flame and let it rest in the pressure cooker 20- 30 minutes more before opening the cooker
5. Add thulsi leaves and keep it like that for another 20 minutes before serving. 

Note:
The above recipe will yield about 5 cups of payasam

Aloo Gobi/Potato and Cauliflower masala

 

Ingredients:

1. Potato, cubes - 1.5 cups
2. Cauliflower / gobi, small florets - 2 cups
3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Coriander powder - 1.5 tsp
6. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
7. Coriander leaves, chopped - 1/2 cup
8. Tomato, ripe and chopped -1/2 cup
9. Oil - 2.5 tbs
10. Ginger, minced - 1 tsp
11. Garlic, minced - 1tsp
12. Salt to taste
13. Garam masala - 1 tsp
14. Green chilli -3

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan
2. Add cumin seeds and let it splutter
3. Add green chillies, ginger and garlic and sauté for 30 sec
4. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and coriander powder and give a toss
5. Add tomato and sauté till tomato is soft
6. Add potatoes and cauliflower and sauté it
7. Add salt , close the lid and cook till potatoes are soft( no need to add water to cook potatoes and cauliflower )
8. Once the potatoes are cooked we'll add garam masala and coriander leaves and mix well
9. Switch off the flame and serve hot aloo gobi with roti or rice. 

Palak Paneer/ Cottage Cheese in Spinach sauce

The recipe is a restaurant style Palak Paneer recipe which is thick, creamy and mildly spiced.

Ingredients:
For onion paste

1. Onion sliced - 1 cup
2. Green chilli - 3
3. Cashew nuts - 12-15
4. Water - 1 cup

For palak paste

1. Palak/Spinach leaves - 1 bunch
2. Water to cover palak leaves - 6 cups

For curry

1. Oil - 1 tbs
2. Tomato, chopped - 1/4 cup
3. Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
4. Ginger, minced - 1 tbs
5. Garlic , minced -1tbs
6. Salt to taste
7. Paneer cubes - 300gm
8. Kasuri methi/dry fenugreek leaves - 1 tbs
9. Creamy greek yougurt - 1 tbs

Method:

1. Cook all the ingredients under onion paste till onion is translucent
2. Grind it into a thick paste
3. Boil water for spinach paste
4. Add spinach to boiling water and cook for 4 minutes
5. Right after 4 minutes move the spinach leaves to a tub of cold water or running tap water  to retain its bright green colour
6. Grind the blanched spinach to a paste (yields around 1/4-1/2 cup spinach puree)
7. For making curry, heat oil in a pan
8. Saute ginger and garlic for 30 sec
9. Add copped tomato and saute till tomato is soft and mushy
10. Add onion paste and saute for 2 more minutes in medium low flame
11. Add spinach paste and some water if the gravy is too thick
12. Add salt, crushed kasuri methi and garam masala and mix well
13. Add paneer pieces and cook for 1 or 2 minutes till paneer is cooked well
14. Switch off the flame, and garnish palak paneer with creamy yogurt. Palak paneer is ready to be served.

Note: Original recipe called for cream or malai instead of  yogurt
The recipe is adapted from Spiceupthecurry site.

Vendakka moru curry/ ladies finger in coconut yogurt sauce

Simple moru curry with vendakka!

Ingredients:

1. Vendakka/ ladies finger, cut into small - 10
2. Yogurt - 1.5 cups
3. Coconut shredded - 1 cup
4. Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
5. Coconut oil - 2 tbs
6. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Salt to taste

For tempering

1. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
2. Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
3. Curry leaves - few
4. Dried red chilli - 3
5. Garlic cloves - 2
6. Coconut oil - 1 tbs

Method:

1. Heat 2 tbs of oil in a pan
2. Sauté ladies finger with turmeric powder in the oil
3. Blend coconut, 1/2 cup yogurt and cumin seeds into paste
4. Once slightly browned, no more sticky, add coconut paste and 1/2 cup water in low flame
5. Let it come to boil in low flame
6. Add salt
7. Whisk the remaining yogurt
8. Once the curry starts to boil, add the whisked yogurt and and half cup water if curry is thick
9. Switch off the flame
10. Heat coconut oil for tempering
11. Splutter mustard seeds and  fenugreek seeds, add crushed garlic , curry leaves and red chilli and switch off the flame. Take care not to burn the tempering. 
12. Add the above to moru curry and close the lid and keep it like that for sometime before mix it using a ladle. 

Simple moru curry is ready to be served with rice and roasted potato or fish fry. 😊

Gongura Chicken/Sorrel Leaves Chicken

Have you tasted the gongura chicken at any Andra style restaurant ?? It tastes so good. We have tried gongura chicken some time back. But I didn't have any idea about what this gongura is. The curry had dark green color, so I assumed it to be some kind of leaves.

Last day when we went to grocery store, where they usually have all those Indian veggies displayed outside the shop for sale. As usual we bought some veggies and other grocery items and reached back home. I was looking for some new recipe to cook chicken which was left in our freezer. 

During recipe search, I bumped on to a gongura chicken recipe. Since I didn't know what this gongura is, I thought I will  just look for images of gongura. And yes, it is the same leaves which I saw next to coriander leaves at the grocery store. 

I went to the store next day itself to get ghongura leaves and made this yummy green chicken curry😊

Ingredients:

1. Gongura/Sorrel leaves - 2 cups
2. Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
3. Chicken, cut into small pieces - 250gm
4. Tomato - 1 big
5. Green chilli - 3
6. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Chilli powder - 1.5 tsp
8. Yogurt - 3 tbs
9. Ginger, minced - 1 tbs
10. Garlic, minced - 1 tbs
11. Onion chopped - 2 medium size
12. Coriander powder - 2tsp
13. Oil - 1tbs
14. Salt to taste
15. Curry leaves - few

Method:

1. Blend gongura leaves (blanching is recommended before blending sorrel leaves, but I didn't blanch mine), coriander leaves and 1 green chilli with minimum water
2. Marinate chicken with salt, yogurt, chilli powder, ginger and garlic for 30 min
3. Heat oil in a pan and sauté onion in it
4. Once onion reaches golden brown colour, add coriander powder and turmeric powder and give a toss
5. Add marinated chicken and cook chicken in medium-high flame with closed lid for 3-4 minutes
6. Add gongura mixture and let the chicken cook fully
7. Add Salt if needed
8. Cut tomato into wedges after removing the seeds
9. Add tomato and curry leaves to the chicken and cook for 3 more minutes with closed lid
10. Switch off the flame and gongura chicken is ready to be served with steamed rice.

 

Coffee layer cake

This is a quick and easy recipe to make a butter cake with layers of coffee in it. I made 2 cakes using the below recipe. I frosted one with buttercream icing and the other one I shared with my colleagues without any frosting.

Ingredients:

1. Cake flour - 4 cups
2. Baking powder - 3 tsp
3. Sugar - 2 cups
4. Egg - 6
5. Butter - 300gm
6. Milk - 1+1/4 cup
7. Vanilla extract - 2 tbs
8. Instant coffee powder - 1 tsp
9. Brown food color - few drops
10. Orange food color - few drops

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 145 deg Celsius
2. Place parchment paper in your pan( I used a 8x8 inch square pan and 9 x 3 inch loaf pan. )
3. Mix all ingredients which are in room temperature
4. Beat on medium for approximately 3 minutes in a hand mixer
5. Move half of the batter to a bowl(A), divide the rest into two seperate bowl ( B and C)
6. Leave first half there
7. Mix coffee powder and brown color to the bowl B
8. Mix orange color to bowl C
9. Pour half of bowl A batter to the center of the pan. If using rectanglular pan, pot the batter in line at the center
10. Pour bowl B batter to the center of the pan above the bowl A batter
11. Pour bowl C batter similar to above
12. Pour the remaining bowl A batter similar to above
13. Place the pan in the oven without shaking the pan
14. Bake for 1 hr 15 min or until the skewer comes out clean when dipped in cake center.

Note : If you are using a big deep single pan for cooking, you might have to bake for longer

Stuffed Bun

Here is my first attempt to make stuffed bun. It is an easy to make snack or breakfast or even serve as dinner !

Ingredients:

For stuffing:

1. Potatoes, cooked - 1 big
2. Paneer - 1 cup
3. Onion, chopped - 1 medium
4. Ginger, chopped - 1 tsp
5. Garlic , chopped - 1 tsp
6. Green chilli - 1 or 2
7. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
8. Oil - 1 tbs
9. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
10. Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
11. Coriander leaves, chopped -1 tbs
12. Salt to taste

For bun

1. Wheat flour - 2 cups
2. Instant yeast - 1.5 tsp
3. Salt to taste
4. Italian herbs - 1tsp( optional)
5. Sugar - 1 tsp
6. Milk, warm - 1/2 cup
7. Baking powder -1 tsp
8. Olive oil/ coconut oil - 2 tbs
9. Chia seeds - 1 tsp (optional)

Method:

For stuffing:

1. Heat oil in a pan
2. Splutter cumin seeds
3. Sauté ginger, garlic, green chilli and onion in it
4. Add turmeric powder and give a toss
5. Mash potatoes and paneer
6. Once onion is translucent, add mashed potatoes and paneer and mix well
7. Add garam masala and coriander leaves to the above and switch off the flame
8. Once stuffing is in room temp make balls out of it using your palm

Note: The stuffing should be dry otherwise bun will be soggy
The above recipe for the stuffing is not much spicy, For a more spicy stuffing you may use the Cutlet Recipe mix for stuffing.

 

For bun:

1. Mix yeast in warm milk along with sugar for 5 to 10 min until you see some froth on top
2. Mix flour, salt, baking powder and herbs well
3. Knead the dough by adding milk and oil to the flour mixture
4. Keep dough in a bowl. Cling wrap the bowl and keep for 30 min for the dough to rise
5. Preheat the oven to 150degree Celsius 
6. Knead the dough again to release the air
7. Make balls out of dough and flatten it using your palm
8. Like stuffed parathas, keep a stuffing masala ball in to the flattened dough and close it properly
9. Brush the stuffed bun with oil and keep for 5 minutes
10. Brush with milk and sprinkle some chia seeds on it
11. Bake the bun for 20 to 25 minutes 
12. Once baked, move the buns to a wire rack for cooling

Note:
The buns can be served warm 

It can be stored in fridge for 1-2 days