Meringue Drops

It's Halloween tom and I wanted to make something for that occassion. I found a lot of beautiful recipes but I thought this was the easiest and fun for the young ones. This recipe is from joyofbaking.com . My pictures didnt come out that well. But it tasted very nice. My little one really enjoyed it after all its like a mount of sugar!!!
You do need a little patience to make this or rather eat it.It takes a lot of time to get into your hand to eat it!
I am going to give the original recipe here as I think that would make the meringue perfect
The only changes I made in the recipe is that I used 1/4 tsp white vinegar instead of the cream of tartar. I read somewhere that we can use vinegar as a substitute for tartar. Also for the eyes I used some dark red food color and applied it using the tip of a thin wooden skewer. I also added the color to half the batch to get that pinkish color [just experimenting].

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS

• 4 large egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar { I used white vinegar}
• 1 cup superfine or caster sugar (if you don't have superfine sugar simply take 1 cup granulated white sugar and process it for about 30 seconds in a food processor)
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Candy eyes or chocolate chip. or like me use food color.

 

 

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (105 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Have ready a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) plain tip. {I used a ziploc bag and cut the ends of.since i am not into cake decorating didnt have the other one} 
• In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low-medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites until they hold soft peaks. Add the sugar, a little at a time, and continue to beat until the meringue holds very stiff peaks. Beat in the vanilla extract.
• It took me probably 20 minutes on a hand mixer. In the begining when i tried to make peaks its just went back to the original shape but gradually it did form the peaks 
• To get the pinkish color add 1/4 tsp of dark red food color to half the batch.
• Transfer the meringue to the pastry bag and, holding the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet, pipe, with even pressure, 2 inch (5 cm) high mounds of meringue. Carefully press two candy eyes or two miniature chocolate chips into each meringue ghost.
• Bake the meringues for approximately 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours or until they are dry and crisp to the touch and easily separate from the parchment paper.
• Turn off the oven, open the door, and leave the meringues in the oven to finish drying several hours, or even overnight.

 

MERINGUE GHOSTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

Lemon Squares

This is a very nice tangy, lemony filling on a nice graham crust. If u love Lemon Pies, I am sure you will fall in love with this too. I found that it tasted the best when it was warm!
So here is my version of Lemon squares

INGREDIENTS:

For Crust:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup  sugar
• 11/2 cup Honey Maid Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Filling:

• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 350*F.
• Line 8X8 inch pan with foil,with ends of foil extending over sides. Mix the ingredients for the crust and press it onto the bottom of the pan.Bake for 10 minutes.Remove from Oven and let it cool. 
• Meanwhile,In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat the sugar and eggs until nice and smooth. Add the lemon juice and zest and stir to combine. Fold in the flour. Pour the filling over the crust and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the filling is set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  
• Use the foil handles to lift the squares from the pan. 
• Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar.

 

 

 

  

 

Honey Almond Date Balls

This recipe has been in my draft for a long time now. Time to get it out !! I made this during the Ramadan days when we buy lots of dates . I got this recipe from Dave Lieberman’s show. So here is the recipe for Honey Almond Date balls.


INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 pound raw almonds

• 2 pints pitted dates,

• 1/4 cup honey

• Vegetable oil, for forming balls

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

• Grind almond in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a baking sheet and toast in oven for 5 to 7 minutes, until fragrant and a shade darker.

• Roughly chop dates and add to food processor. Pulse until finely chopped and dates form a ball. Remove from processor to a bowl. Add half of the ground almonds to the dates, leaving the reserved almonds on the baking pan to roll the balls in once formed.

• Add honey to the date and almond mixture. Mix together until evenly incorporated and smooth. Coat hands with some vegetable oil so that mixture does not stick too much and form mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls.

• Roll each ball in chopped almonds to coat well. [I did not have any more extra almonds to coat].

• Place in a tightly sealed container until ready to eat. Any leftover chopped nuts for coating can be sprinkled over the balls to keep them from sticking together if transporting. Will keep for up to 5 days at room temperature or up to a week, if refrigerated.

For another twisted effect you could try rolling the balls in toasted coconut flaks.

Enjoy!!

Pizza

I love Pizza.But I was never brave enough to make it at home and had the fear that the base might never get cooked properly. So I always ended up buying the Pizza. But I always felt that ,somehow the Pizza here had something missing in it and each time I ate it I was sure to bring it up.So my hubby hearing me complaint told me to give it a try in my style. After all even if it goes bad its just us!! so here is my experimental version of the Pizza. Dont worry it came out well!!

INGREDIENTS

For the Base

• Plain flour –  2 cups 
• Sugar – 1 tbs 
• Salt – as required 
• Yeast – 1 tsp 
• Olive oil – 4 tbs 
• warm milk – half cup 
• Water – as required

 For the Sauce

• 1 cup tomato puree
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp crushed garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tbsp papparika powder
• salt, to taste

 Toppings : [use your favrite toppings]

1 capsicum diced and sauted in oil

1 cup boneless chicken  ( sliced to small pieces and stir fired with salt and pepper)

                                             {I used the left over chicken from my chicken tikka  bbq}

1 cup mushroom.

1/2 cup onion diced and sauted in oil (just for a minute)

1/2 cup thinly sliced Black olives

1/2 cup dried tomatoes

3-4 cups shredded mozarella cheese {use according to your liking}

METHOD

The Base:

• Mix sugar and yeast in lukewarm water and allow to bubble. Make sure that your yeast hasnt expired.. If small bubbles doesnt occur,it shows that the yeast is not activated and your dough will not rise.
• In another bowl mix salt with flour and add olive oil. Mix well until the dough looks like bread crumbs. Then slowly add the milk , yeast mix and knead the dough until it reaches the consistency of chapatti dough. Add water if required. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.If the dough becomes sticky, sprinkle a bit more flour over it.Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl.Cover the dough with a wet towel in order to avoid drying out and leave in a warm place to rise to almost double the size, about 1 hr.

The Sauce:
In a sauce pan heat the olive oila nd add all the ingredients for the sauce. Let it cook on medium heat for 6-7 minutes till u get a thick sauce. Remove from flame.

Assembling the Pizza:

• Preheat oven to 350 F. 
• Divide the dough into 2 equal parts.Take one part of the dough and roll it into less than half a cm thick.Make  the outer end a little more thicker. Apply a little olive oil. Spread half the tomato sauce on the dough and leave around 1 cm on the edge. 

Layering the topping.

• Spread a handful of the cheese evenly on the base.Place a layer of  chicken ,mushroom,onion,capsicum olives on top.Top with plenty of the mozarella cheese.
• Bake it in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the base has risen and has a very nice golden color, and all the cheese is melted.
• Repeat the process with the remaining dough. 

Award time..Thanks Sushma

My dear friend Sushma Mallya has passed on two lovely awards to me. I am really thankful for these tokens of appreciation. I would also like to pass on this award to my fellow bloggers Sarah Naveen , Biji, Pavithra,
Pria, and Sangi

Have a wonderful day!

Coconut Flan

Flan....hmmm..who doesnt love flan. That jiggley wiggley thing.Melt in your mouth sweet treat perfect for any occassion.
 I never knew what Flan was, I mean didnt know that name..I always thought that it was called Caramel custard or Cream Caramel. I ordered this curious dessert "Flan".on one of my valentine date with my hubby.
When they brought out this soo called Flan, I was so perplexed. I kept telling my husband there has been a mixup this is not flan This is Caramel custard.I demanded to call back the waiter but he laughed and said "dear This is Flan. I have had it many times." thank god I didnt call the waiter. It would have been a real embarassment.So that is how I came to know this famous Flan is just our own Caramel custard in a very fancy name.
This is a recipe that I got from Paula's home cooking. I followed the recipe as such.
The only problem is I couldnt get it out of the pan properly.It broke!!! I think I should have let it sit for a while but what can I do ,I had two eager mouths waiting to try this out.
From the moment Ayaan so me breaking the eggs he started crying out for cake. And every 5 minutes he would come and ask me "Cake aayo?"[ cake done?] with an encouragment from his pappa who was just as eager to get his hands on it. But even with all the breaking of the flan it did taste divine. The coconut flakes in it gave a very nice bite.

Coconut flan

INGREDIENTS

•1/3 cup sugar for caramelizing
•3 eggs
•1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
•1 1/2 cups coconut milk
•2 teaspoons vanilla extract
•1/4 cup shredded coconut flakes ( I used sweetened)
•1/4 cup shredded coconut flakes, toasted, for garnish

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the sugar until it caramelizes. Pour it into a flan dish, pie plate or round souffle baking dish with shallow sides, swirling it around to coat the bottom.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until foamy with a wire whisk. Beat in the condensed milk, coconut milk, vanilla extract and 1/4 cup coconut. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake it a water bath in the oven.Set the dish into a large baking pan with sides and carefully pour water around the flan pan to come 2/3 the way up the sides. Carefully transfer to the preheated oven. Bake for about 1 hour, until the flan is set and the center only jiggles a little bit, like a cheesecake would.
• Remove from the oven and water-bath and allow to COOL COMPLETELY. Turn the flan out onto a flat serving platter. Cut into slices for serving.

 I missed the "cool completely" step!!!!

Asparagus Thoran

Yes..yes..thats right! Its Asparagus in an Indain form.

I dont like vegetables much. When I was a kid I would always do my best to avoid the vegtables and my mom would force me to have them.I used to sneak the veggies into her plate when she wasnt watching or else it would end up for the chickens to eat .But since I am a mom now and want my kid to eat healthy foods I started to eat them so that I could be an example. But its the same old story, the routine continues with I forcing him to eat and he putting them back to my plate.

I had this dish from Biji's house but never bothered to give it a try until now.

INGREDIENTS:

• Asparagus - 15 spears 
• Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup 
• Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp 
• Turmeric powder - a pinch 
• Green chillies - 2 to 3 
• Shallots -  4, sliced thin or can use half an onion thinly sliced 
• Curry leaves - a few 
• Oil
• Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp 
• Salt - to taste 

METHOD:

• Wash and remove the hard end of the spears and cut the remaing part into small pieces.Keep aside.
• In a pan add some oil and splutter the mustard seeds.
• Add the onion,curry leaves,slit chillies and saute for a few seconds.
• Add the cut asparagus. Add the turmeric powder, cumion powder and salt. Mix well.
• Let it cook in medium low flame for few minutes. give it an occassional stir.
• Add the shredded coconut. Mix well.
• Check for salt. Let the Asparagus cook for 8- 10 minutes or till done!

 

Award Time..Thanks vidya

Vidya has passed on another award to me.I am really happy about it.These awards a way of inspiration. All the encouragment I get inspires me to do more and also a big relief that my blog is good.
Thanks a lot Vidya for this award I really appreciate this.


Rules of the award:

 

* You must thank the person who has given you the award.

* Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

* Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.

* Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

* Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.

* Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

* Leave a comment in the nominated blogs to let them know they have been nominated.

7 things about me:

1.  I am a very  sensitive person, I can cry for hours just watching a movie and can laugh at the worst jokes!
2. I love to shop for others more than myself.Will spent hours trying to get the perfect gift for the ones I love but will just settle down with the first thing that I see for myself.So now days my hubby does all the shopping for me.
3. I dont like chocolate ice creams but anything else with chocolate I will have and also indian sweets..hmmm..just love them
4. I am a very family oriented person,will do anything when it comes to family!I will never forgive nyone who hurts my family or me!
5. I love to try out new recipes and love to cook for my family.
6. I am a very friendly person and very caring about my friends.
7. I WAS a very athletic person.But now day my sports activity is limited to running behind Ayaan and thus have resulted in all those extra pounds :(

I am passing this award to  my fellow bloggers. Enjoy!

Pria
Pavithra
Aysha
Sushma Mallya
Tina
Sangeetha Subash

Hyderabadi chicken Biryani

It was my hubby's birthday yesterday and I wanted to make a different biryani this time. I have never tried making a hyderabadi biryani although we have had this several times. I got this recipe form my friend. She usually makes  the kacha biryani but i was not brave enough to try this yesterday. Didnt want to spoil hubby's birthday by giving him an experimental dish. But next time for sure I will try the kacha biryani.

INGREDIENTS:

Marinade:

• 
  
  2 lbs chicken cut into medium size pieces
  
  
  
• 
  
  3/4 cup of yogurt
  
  
  
• 
  
  2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
  
  
  
• 
  
  11/2- 2 tbsp chillie powder
  
  
  
• 
  
  2- tsp corriander powder
  
  
  
• 
  
  1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  
  
  
• 
  
  1/2 tsp cumin powder
  
  
  
• 
  
  1 cup chopped mint leaves
  
  
  
• 
  
  1 cup chopped corriander leaves
  
  
  
• 
  
  4-5 green chillies {always add chillies according to ur taste}
  
  
  
• 
  
  1 tbsp lime juice
  
  
  

Garam masala powder

                Grind the following :-

• 
  
          6 Pepper Corns
  
  
  
•         6 Cloves 
•         2 black Cardamom
•        ½ tsp Sahajeera or Black Cumin 
•        1” Cinnamon Stick     
•        1 bay leaf
•        1 tbsp javeri [mace]
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp biryani mix  [I use eastern biryani masala,just to make up for any spices missing]

For making the gravy

•  6 medium onion thinly sliced.
• oil for frying. 

For cooking the rice

• 3 cups basmati rice soaked in water for 30 minutes 
• 5 Cardamoms
• 3 Cloves
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 1 Aniseed
• 1 tsp Sahajeera
• 1 green chillie slit
• 1 tbsp of Oil
• salt to taste [I add 2 -3tbsp]
• 4 cups water.

For garnish

• 1/2 tsp saffron soaked in milk or Red food color.
• 1/2 cup fried onion
• fried cashewnuts and raisins

METHOD

For gravy

• Mix all the ingredients of the marinade above and keep it aside for an hr.
• In a heavy bottomed pan add oil and cook the sliced onions until they are very soft.
• Add the chicken marinade into the cooked onion and mix well.
• Cook the chicken in a medium heat till the chicken is cooked.Dont add any water coz we will have the water from the yogurt and the chicken.
• Check for salt. Once chicken is cooked remove from flame and keep aside.

For rice.

• While the chicken is being cooked.Wash the rice and strain all of the excess water
• Add all the spices,chilie salt and oil into the water and bring it to boil in a big vessel.
• Once the water starts to boil,add the rice and cook it till it is 3/4 th done.Dont overcook the rice.What I usually do is after adding the rice I wait till it boils well. i.e rice should roll over in boiling water. Drain and keep the rice aside.

For layering:

• Divide the rice into 2 parts.
• Greese a large thick bottomed ovenproof vessel with oil. Layer one batch of rice.
• Add the chicken masala over this.
• Add the next layer of rice on top of the biriyani masala. Sprinkle the fried onions,saffron or red color, and abt 2 tbsp oil on top.
• Cover the vessel and place it in a preheated oven of 400 F for 15 minutes.
• Remove from oven 
• while serving mix the layers. Garnish with nuts and raisins.

Palak gosht (Lamb in spinach)

This is a very yummy dish. I fell in love with it the first time I had it. This is recipie I got from recipezaar.com and I made it with some modifications.

 

INGREDIENTS

•  1kg of Mutton
• 6 bunches of Spinach chopped
• 1 medium Tomatoes
• 2 Onions finely chopped
• 2 Black Peppercorns
• 1tbsp grated ginger
• 1 tbsp. Coriander Powder 
• 1 tbsp. Red Chilli Powder or depending on your taste.
• 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp mutton masala Powder
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• cinnamon stick- small piece
• cloves- 3-4
• cardamom -2
• corriander chopped -1 tbsp
• 1 ½ tbsp. Ginger Paste
• 1 ½ tbsp. Garlic Paste
•  Oil as needed

METHOD

• Add 2-3 teaspoons of oil in a pressure pan and heat. Add the grated ginger, black pepper corns a small part of chopped onions to the oil fry the onions for a few seconds.
• Add the meat a little salt and enough water. Close the pressure pan and allow the meat to cook until soft.
• Once meat is cooked, strain out the water and keep aside as stock.
• In another Pan, Heat the remaining oil. Add cinnamon stick,cloves, and cardamom.
• Add the remaining chopped onions and fry till light brown.
• Add salt, coriander powder, red chilli powder,mutton masala, ginger paste, garlic paste and chopped coriander.Fry for 1 minute 
• Add tomatoes.Fry this mix thoroughly till oil leaves the sides of the pan.
• Add spinach and a little of the meat-stock that we kept aside. Cook until the tomatoes and Spinach is done and the water has dried up.
• Add the milk and let the gravy starts to boil.Add salt.
• Add the cooked meat to this mixture and stir fry till oil leaves the sides of the pan and the gravy starts to thicken.If you need more gravy add a little bit of the stock that we kept aside.
• Simmer for a while.Remove from flame and serve with rotti or naan.

Mushroom stir fry

I love mushrooms, Any form Any kind!! This is a simple and tasty recipe and very easy to make

INGREDIENTS

• button Mushroom 16 oz cleaned and sliced
• Onion 1 big thinly sliced
• Mustard seeds 1 tbsp
• Garam masala  1/4 tsp
• chillie powder- 1 tsp or depending on your taste.
• salt to taste
• Oil

METHOD

• Heat oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds. Add the thinly sliced onion and fry for 1 minute.
• Add the sliced mushrooms,garam masala,chilie powder and salt. Stir fry for 4-5 minutes or till cooked to your liking.
• Remove from flame and serve.

Badam Burfi (Almond fudge)

Almonds (Badam) 1 cup
Butter 1/2 stick
ugar 1 1/4 cups
Milk 1/4 cup
ghee 2tbsp

Soak almonds in hot water for 2-3 hrs.
Peel skin off of the almonds and grind the peeled almonds in blender with milk to a smooth paste.
Take a pan,melt butter .Add almond paste. Keep stirring on medium flame, until it starts to thicken.
Add sugar and continue stirring.
Add ghee by spoonfuls and continue to stir. .Keep stirring until it becomes very thick and leaves the side of the pan.
Take greased plate. Pour the badam mixture onto it. Use the bacl of the spoon to smooth the surface. of burfi.When slightly cool, cut it into desired shapes.

Happy Diwali to all.

On Diwali and the coming year

may you be blessed with

success prosperity and happiness!

Happy Diwali to all!

Radish thoran

This is a simple radish recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup grated raddish
• 1/2 tbsp mustard seed
• 1-2 tbsp grated coconut
• 1/4 tbsp cumin seed
• 1/2 urud daal
• 2-3 chilie (adjust to ur taste)
• curry leaves few
• oil.

METHOD

• Heat oil in pan. Splutter the mustard seeds,add cumin,urud daal, green chillies and curry leaves.
• Add the grated coconut. Stir for 1 minute.
• Add the grated raddish and salt. Mix well.
• Cook the raddish in low flame till its cooked and becomes dry.

okra curry

Okra or lady finger curry. This is one of the dishe that I learnt from my mother in law. Since my father in law was in CRPF they got to travel through out India. It’s always very interesting to hear my FIL's stories of his days in the Force and my MIL's attempts to learn the regional language at least enough to get her groceries.

 

My MIL has mastered the cooking oo many places. You give her any vegetable and she would have made something out of it in a jiffy! But I will sit and ponder as to what I can make out of it.

 

This is a simple but tasty curry that I learnt from her.

 

INGREDIENTS:

• Lady fingers (Okra): 20 medium size, washed and cut into 1inch pieces.
• Shallots 10 chopped
• Garlic paste 1 tsp 
• Chicken masala -1 tbsp 
• Chili powder -1tbsp or depending on your taste 
• Fenugreek seeds- ¼ tbsp 
• Mustard seeds- ½ tbsp 
• Fennel seeds- ¼ tbsp 
• Cumin seeds- ¼ tbsp 
• Thick coconut milk – 50 ml 
• Tamarind marble sized soaked in water 
• Curry leaves a few 
• Oil 
• Salt to taste

  

METHOD:

• Take a heavy bottomed vessel. Pour oil. When it’s hot add the cut okras and sauté till it wilts well and all that sticky stuff is gone. Remove and keep it aside.  
• In the same pan add oil if necessary and splutter the mustard seeds, fenugreek and Fennel seeds. 
• Add chopped shallots, garlic paste and curry leaves. Fry till it is brownish in color. 
• Add chili powder, chicken masala and a inch of turmeric. Mix well. 
• Add the Coconut milk and tamarind juice. Adjust the sourness of tamarind to your liking. 
• Bring to boil. Stir well. 
• Add cumin seeds, and salt. Mix well. 
• Add the fried okras to the coconut gravy , stir and simmer in low flame for 4-5 minutes. 
• Remove from flame.

 

Serve it with Plain rice.

 

 

 

BOS Drink ~ Banana Orange Strawberry juice

This is a very refreshing juice that I saw in one of the foodnetwork shows. It s very easy to make and all the fruits in it makes it very healthy.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (4 oranges) [ I cheated using Tropicana orange juice]
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice  
• 1 cup strawberries, tops removed, and cut in 1/2  
• 1 to 1 1/2 ripe bananas

 

Directions

 

Combine the orange juice, lime juice, strawberries, and banana in a blender and process until smooth. Refrigerate until cold. I also added sugar to it Because I like mine a little sweet!!!

 

Banana Pulissery

At home in India, the only time we had a complete vegetarian dish was on Onam. Unlike Eid during which we always have feast in our house and then go to cousins during the evening, for Onam we had all my cousins come over to my house, wear set sarees, make pookalam and have a grand feast. We will be playing and laughing our hearts out and then you’ll hear the call…”Sadya ready bakshanam kazhikan vayo”.

 

When you go inside The hall will be cleared of all the furniture’s and a big mat will be spread and then the banana leaf. There will be 8 to 10 kinds of veggies dishes. Man thus it make my mouth water. And oh…the payasam. We always had 2 kinds of payasam!!

 

It sure used to be a grand celebration. But after coming here we don’t get the same fun somehow!!

 

Boy I miss those days!

 

Mom used to make this kidilam pulissery. Sometimes with pineapple other times with banana. She said it’s not the real pulissery but for us that was enough. I have made it a couple of times and it always turned out delicious. Mom’s version doesn’t have coconut in it. So here is the recipe for my mom’s banana pulissery.

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS

 

• 1 large ripe banana

 

• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

 

• 1 cups yogurt

 

• 1 tbsp thinly sliced shallots

 

• 2 small green chilies

 

• 1 tbsp thinly chopped ginger

 

• Salt to taste

 

For the garnish

 

• 1 tsp oil

 

• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

 

• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds

 

• 2 dry red chilies

 

• a few curry leaves

 

Method

 

• Peel and cut the banana into small pieces. In a saucepan, place the banana pieces, shallots, slit green chilies, ginger, turmeric powder and salt, and pour just enough water to cover the ingredients.
• Cook covered till the water is boiling, remove the cover and cook it on medium heat till the banana pieces are really soft, and most of the water is gone. Mash the banana pieces (I like mine a little chunky).
• Reduce the heat to low flame, and pour the yogurt into the saucepan. Stir well to combine the mashed banana pieces with the yogurt. Keep stirring till the gravy is heated through, don’t boil. Remove from the heat.
• In a small frying pan, heat oil and add the mustard seeds. When they start to splutter, add the fenugreek seeds and fry for a few seconds. Add the curry leaves and red chilies and. Pour this over the prepared banana gravy and mix well.

 

 

 

Taco Flavored Chicken wings

This is a recipe that I found in taste of home’s magazine. I have made it a couple of times with a few minor modifications and it turned out delicious every time. It’s very simple and if you like Taco flavors I am sure you will love this!

Ingredients

•  1 envelope taco seasoning 
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil 
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar 
• 2 tbsp hot pepper sauce divided 
• 2 pounds chicken wings 
• ¼ tsp chili powder (optional, I like to kick it up a notch) 
• 1 cup ranch dressing as dip

 METHOD:

• Marinate the chicken wings with taco seasoning, oil, vinegar and 1 tbsp of hot pepper sauce for about an hr. 
• Grill chicken,covered over medium heat for 5 minuts. Grill uncovered 10-15 minutes longer or until juice run clear turning occasionally.
• In a small bowl combine ranch dressing and remaining hot pepper sauce and serve as the dip.

Pasta with shrimp and Garlic sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 ounce -Penne Pasta
• 1 cup -cleaned and deveined shrimp
• 6 large cloves of garlic minced
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup chicken broth,
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tablespoon papparika powder
• salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

DIRECTIONS:

• Prepare pasta as per packet instructions. After draining the water, add 2 tsp of oil and toss it so that the pasta doesn’t stick to each other.
• Sprinkle the shrimp with salt and papparika on both sides.In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and saute shrimp.Cook for about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to another plate and keep aside.
• In the same pan over low heat; add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and the chicken broth; increase to medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are tender. Add the cream and bring to a boil; stirring. Simmer over medium heat until the sauce is thick .If u need a thicker sauce add 1-2 tsp of cornflour.
• Stir in basil and the shrimp.Adjust seasonings to taste. Remove from flame and keep aside.

TO SERVE:

• Toss the pasta with 4-5 tsps of the sauce.Transfer the pasta to serving plates.Top with the shrimp and garlic sauce. Garnish with spring onions.

Nutty banana halwa

My mom is a wonderful cook.Even if she makes a simple chammanthi it tastes out of the world. And she loves to try out new recipes. You can always see her sitting in from of the TV watching Khana kazana.Always with a pen and book in her hand! And she tries out everything! And it came out so well. Even now when I call her she will say" inn putiya dish undaki"(Made a new dish today).
But if I ask for her the recipie.the problem begins. She will say add a little of this and a little of that. Never will she give me a proper measurement! She says she doesn’t know she just adds and tastes it if something is missing she will add a little more!
After seeing Sangeetha's banana halwa, it took me back to the old days and I just had to make it my mom's style and thank God she gave me the complete recipe for this.


INGREDIENTS

• 2- Ripe Plantain

• 1 cup- finely crushed cashew nuts

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1 cup sugar

• ½ tsp cardamom powder

• ½ cup Ghee

• Few cashews for garnishing.



METHOD

• Cut Plantains into 3-4 pieces and boil till cooked well.

• Remove the skin and halve the plantains and remove the black seeds in the center

• Mash the banana well.

• Mix the cashew with the mashed banana and mix well.

• In a heavy bottom pan add milk. Add sugar to milk and boil. Let the sugar dissolve completely.

• Then add mashed banana nut mixture, cook till all the milk is used up. Add cardamom powder and mix in.

• Then add ghee little by little and cook till halwa is leaving the sides of the pan and has browned in color.

• Grease the plate with ghee and spread the banana halwa on the plate.

• Cut into desired shape and decorate with cashew nut. Serve when cool.


Sending this to Sireesha's "Sweet series" event and sanghi's event "FIL-Ghee"

Event Logos

Sanghi's Ghee event

Sireesha's Sweet Series