Rose milk pudding

It is my Birthday and this morning i prepared rose milk pudding. These days puddings are available ready made in the shops, but nothing like homemade. So here I will give you a recipe on how to prepare the rose milk pudding.

Ingredients

Water : 250ml

China grass : 10gm (pieces)

Milk : 100ml

Sugar : 3 table spoon

Rose syrup : 5 drops

Sesame : 1 table spoon

Dates : 2 - 3 Nos

Rose milk pudding preparation

1. Boil the water and add China grass to it.
2. After china grass get melted add milk to it  and keep stirring.
3. When it becomes semi liquid consistency, add rose milk to it.
4. Switch off the flame and pour it into a round plate.
5. Garnish with dates and sesame when it gets cooled.
6. Keep it in freezer.

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Mango pickle

Its the summer season and the season of Mangoes. Let me give you an easy but tasty Kerala style instant mango pickle (Manga achar) recipe.

Ingredients

Raw mango sliced : 1/2

Ginger vertically chopped : 1cup

Garlic vertically chopped : 1 tbsp

Green chilly sliced circular : 5 nos

Curry leaves : 1 sring

Mustard Seeds : 1 tbsp

Red Chilly powder : 2tbsp

Turmeric powder : 1 tsp

Asafoetida powder : 1/4 tsp

Fenugreek powder : 1/4 tsp

coconut oil saute : 3 tbsp

Salt to taste

Water : 1 cup

Preparation of Mango pickle

1. Peel the skin of mangoes and cut them into small pieces.
2. In a bowl mix the sliced mangoes, salt and keep it overnight.
3. On the next day, add garlic and green chillies to it.
4. In a pan add coconut oil, splutter the mustard seeds and curry leaves.
5. Add ginger to the pan and saute them till raw smell goes and reduce the flame to low.
6. Then add Red Chilly powder, Turmeric powder, Fenugreek powder, Asafoetida powder saute for 2 minutes (don’t overheat).
7. Add little water to form a thick paste.
8. Add the ingredients in the bowl to the pan and and turn off the flame.
9. Mix well and transfer it to a jar and better start serving after three days.
10. Can be served with rice.

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Kulukki Sarbath

Seems summer is getting very hot in Kerala this time. Its hard to adapt with the high temperatures even at the small village of mine. Drinks like Sambaram (Butter milk), lemonades and juices will help to stay healthy and cool in this climate.
Here is a recipe of a drink popular in Kerala since last summer, Kulukki sarbath or the shaken lemonade. Word “Kulukki” in Malayalam means “Shaken” and “Sarbath” means juice.
The youngsters in Kerala are now going gaga over this juice. Though this Kulukki sarbath is believed to have its origin from Kozhikode (North Kerala), it was made famous in Kerala by a street vendor called Shaji ( Shajikka as the locals call him passionately) . There is also a facebook page for Kulukki Sarabath started by Shajikka’s fans. You can learn more about Kulukki sarbath from this blog. At Rs7/ glass, youngsters consider it a steal and many prefer it because it is a natural product without any artificial additives.
This is an easy to prepare drink. Every ingredients is put into a tall glass and then it is covered with another glass and is shaken in a cocktail style and served.

ingredients

Unripened lime : 1 no

Basil seeds : 1 tsp

Sugar : 2 tbsp

Salt : A pinch

Crushed ginger : ½ tsp

Green chilies : ¼ tsp sliced

Pineapple : 1tsp, finely chopped

Water : 1 glass

Crushed ice / Ice cubes : Handful

Kulukki Sarbath Preparation

1. Prepare sugar syrup with 2 tablespoon of sugar and 2 tablespoon of water.
2. Soak the basil seeds in water for 10-15 minutes and drain them.
3. In a tall glass, add one teaspoon of the sugar syrup.
4. Extract the juice from half of a lime and add it to the glass.
5. Add all other ingredients.
6. Add a small piece of the lime to the glass and add water.
7. Add ice cubes.
8. Cover it tightly with another glass and shake it strongly for 30 seconds.
9. Enjoy

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Apple judy

Apple Judy

Apples have long been a favorite cocktail flavor.  It’s because apple mixes well with a variety of flavors. Here is a delicious and mind blowing recipe for Apple Judy prepared from apple juice mixed with vodka and orange juice.

This combination of Vodka, with apple juice is a lesser known one.  But this is a very simple mix and a nice aperitif to get your appetite going before dinner.

Apple judy is a high energy drink. 120 ml of the juice is equivalent to 486Kj of energy and 116K calories.

Ingredients

Tropicana Apple Juice - 240ml

Fresh Orange Juice - 120 ml

Vodka - 60ml

Ice Cubes - a Few

Sugar - 2 table spoon (Optional)

Orange round slices/chunks - to garnish

Apple judy preparation

1.  Mix orange juice with sugar.

2.  Then mix together the apple juice, orange juice and vodka together.

3.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir/shake well.

4.  Pour this to two desired cocktail glass..

5.  Garnish with orange slices/chunks.

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Apple pie

Apple pie

Apple pie is a dessert of enduring popularity originated in America. There is even a saying America, “as American as apple pie” which means “typically American”. It’s a fruit pie (Tart) with main ingredient as apple and served hot or cold, or with ice cream /whipped cream or on its own.

Apple - 2 big (4 cups) Peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces

Plain flour - 2 1/2 cups for pastry + 1 table spoon for filling

Butter - 100 g

Salt - a pinch

Cold water - 1/4 cup

Brown sugar - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/4 cup

Lemon rind - 1 teaspoon

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Egg - 1 (Lightly beaten)

Apple pie preparation

1.  In a large bowl empty 2 1/2 cups of flour and mix in butter with your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

2.  Add in water, a little by little until the mixture comes together to form a ball.

3.  Knead lightly and put into  a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

4.  For the filling, mix chopped apple, sugar, brown sugar, 1 table spoon flour, lemon rind and cinnamon powder in a bowl and keep aside.

5.  Take out the ball pastry from fridge and divide it into two, one a little larger than the other.

6.  Roll out both to a thickness of 1/8 inch.

7.  Use the smaller circle to cover the base and sides of an 8 inch pie dish. Fill this with the apple mixture.

8.  Cut out stripes of 1/2 inch thickness from the larger circle and place them in a criss-cross manner over the apple filling.

9.  Trim the edges along the dish.

10.              Preheat the oven in 180 degrees.

11.              Brush the top with beaten egg and bake the pie in 180 degrees for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

12.              Sprinkle powdered sugar and serve hot with any flavored Ice cream.

Unfortunately I missed my original photographs of this preparation. Thanks to Wikipedia for providing with a beautiful photograph of Apple pie.

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Mango burfi

Its the season of mangoes and you can prepare many mango recipes at home. Last year my brother prepared mango burfies at home. It was really sweet one and the kids loved it. You can also make the same mouth watering burfi at home, just follow the method. This is an easy to prepare snack with little resources and time.

Ingredients

Ripened Mangoes : 3 medium sized

Grated coconut : 1 cup

Sugar : 1 cup

Cashewnut & Almonds : 250 gram

Ghee : 2 tbsp

Preparation of Mango burfi

• Peel and finely chop the mangoes.
• In a pan, cook the mangoes along with coconut and the sugar. Stir it continuously.
• Add cashew nuts, almonds and mix it thoroughly.
• When the mix begins to solidify, add the ghee and stir it.
• Transfer the mix into a greased stainless steel plate.
• Grease the back of a flat spoon and use it to smoothen the surface of the mango burfi and make it appear even. Allow it to cool.
• Make deep square or diamond-shaped cuts using a knife when the burfi is still warm.
• Allow burfi to cool and set well.
• Warm the plate on a low flame and separate and remove the pieces gently along the cuts.
• Serve it or you can store it for several days in a air-tight container.

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Chakka Varuthathu

Chakka Varuthathu / Deep fried jack fruit chips is a very popular Kerala snack / Nadan Palaharam prepared by deep frying  from the Chakka Chulas (the edible yellow part of jackfruit). Since jack fruit trees are available in the yards of all most all Kerala homes, this snack is very popular in Kerala. Besides that you can store this chips in airtight containers for long time also.

Ingredients

Raw Jack Fruit (the edible part) : 2 cup

Coconut oil : for deep frying

Turmeric powder : a pinch

Salt : to taste

Chakka Varuthathu preparation

1. Peel and remove the white strips from the Chakka Chulas.
2. Remove the seeds from each jackfruits and divide the soft flesh part into two halves.
3. Cut each of these halves into strips of medium thickness.
4. Mix turmeric powder and keep aside for 5-10 minutes.
5. Heat the coconut oil in large thick bottomed pan, when the oil is hot lower the flame and drop in a handful of the sliced jackfruit strips.
6. Stir immediately and intermittently to make sure these strips wont get stick to each other.
7. Deep fry until it becomes golden brown and crisp.
8. When they become golden brown / crispy transfer it to a kitchen tissue to remove excess oil and sprinkle salt over it.
9. Mix it well.
10. You can keep these chakka varuthathu in air tight containers for long time, provided your husband or Kids wont find it

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Paneer Subz Bahar

A colorful looking, quick-to-make dish with medley of all seasonal vegetables n kids-friendly paneer!!! ‘Paneer Subz Bahar’ is something I always make when I’m tired to cook anything else on lazy weekday nights.  Higher in nutritional value and super-delicious North-Indian delicacy is always on top of my list of favorites

 

100 gm Paneer

1 tbsp Full Cream

1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste

2 tbsp Chopped Bellpepper

1 Chopped Onion

2 tbsp Chopped Tomato

1 tbsp Chopped Broccoli

1 tbsp Chopped Mushrooms

1 tbsp Boiled Corn

1 tbsp Boiled Green Peas

1 tbsp Chopped Carrot

1 tsp Garam Masala

1/2 tsp Red Chilly Powder

1 tsp Coriander Powder

2 tsp Lemon Juice

Salt, to taste

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

A pinch of Hing

1 tbsp Butter

2 tsp Oil

Paneer Subz Bahar preparation

1. Cut paneer into tiny cubes.
2. Heat butter+oil in kadai and add cumin seeds along with hing.
3. Once it stops crackling, add ginger-garlic paste and chopped onions.
4. Saute it till raw flavor is gone completely.
5. Add rest of all vegetables (except tomato) along with salt and turmeric powder and cook it covered for around 4-5 mins.
6. Once they are soft and tender, add full cream, paneer cubes and chopped tomato with rest of all spices.
7. Mix everything well and cook it for 2-3 mins more.
8. Turn off the heat and add lemon juice. Give a quick toss.
9. Transfer it to a serving bowl and serve hot with any sort of paratha!!!

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Sharjah Shake

Sharjah Shake  / Banana Milkshake – A very common milk shake recipe available in Kerala Bakeries / Juice shops or ice-cream parlors. This is popular in Kerala even from the early 90’s. If you ask me about the story behind the name or its connection with UAE – the answer is just three words – I don’t know  .  I think some ex-gulf keralite from Sharjah introduced it here and hence its named so. I have heard that, it was first served in Calicut.

Whatever be the story behind it. I am sure that this drink holds lots of sweet memories of school and college days for many of us :). If you have one such story, feel free to share it below.

Sharjah Shake preparation

1. In a Juicer jar, mash frozen milk and add peeled banana and peanuts. Grind well.
2. Add horlicks, sugar, coffee powder etc and pulse well.
3. Add rest of the frozen milk and blend well.
4. Take two tall glasses and pour the shake and garnish with round cut small banana pieces.
5. Can sprinkle a touch of horlicks on top!
6. You can also sprinkle few cashew nuts or can add a scoop of icecream on top.

PS : Depending on the availability and your preference, you can try adding badam, peanut, cardamom etc.

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Aloo bonda / Urulakizhangu Masala Bonda

Aloo bonda (Potato / Urulakizhangu masala bondas) are very common and yummy evening snack in India. This snack can be easily prepared at home by following these step wise instructions. Don’t forget to share your outcome or different variants of this recipe you tried with us.

Preparation of Aloo bonda / Urulakizhangu Masala Bonda

1. In a Kadai / Pan, heat the oil.
2. When it become hot, add  sliced onion, chopped green chillies, ginger garlic paste, chopped curry leaves and coriander leaves, salt and fry till it changes its color to brown.
3. Keep it sauteing.
4. Add all the chopped vegetables (Chopped carrots, mashed beetroots and potatoes) and turmeric powder. Mix it well.
5. Cook it for 10 minutes.
6. Add garam masala and chilly powder and mix this well.
7. Cook for another 2-3 minutes and turn of the flame. Transfer it to a large bowl and when it cools mix the whole masala well with your hand.
8. In a vessel, heat 1 cup of water with salt and when it boils add 1tsp oil and 2 cups of all purpose flour and mix it in low flame.
9. Allow it to cool and make it into a dough similar to that of chappathi.
10. Roll out small portions of the dough into lime sized balls.
11. Using a pathiri press / chappathi press / chapathi roller flatten each balls into thin breads. You can apply some oil to both sides of the press to prevent sticking.
12. Spread the masala in the top center of each maida bread and fold from the edges to cover it.
13. In another pan, heat some oil (for frying).
14. When the oil becomes hot dip the maida coated masala balls into the hot oil carefully and fry it till it becomes golden brown.
15. Drain them into a kitchen tissue.
16. Serve aloo bondas / Urulakizhangu Masala bondas hot with Ketchup or chutney.

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MORU KACHIYATHU

MORU KACHIYATHU -NADAN STYLE

Recipe Submitted By	:	Muhammed Hashir
Submitted on	:	10/10/14
Difficulty	:	Easy
Preparation Time	:	10 Minutes

Ingredients

Curd - 2cup
Onion - 1 medium size
Ginger - 1 thumb size 
Garlic - 4-5 pods
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves 
Water - 2cups
Red chilly - 2 (whole)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1tsp
Cummin powder - 1tsp
Salt
Oil

Directions

Mix the curd with water in a vessel and add curry leaves and salt. Keep the vessel in a sim flame. Stir well to one side using a wooden spatula until steam coming on the top, then remove the vessel from the flame. Heat the oil in a pan with medium flame. Add mustard seeds along with fenugreek. Once both seeds splitted add chopped onion along with chopped ginger,garlic and red chilly (whole). Fry the mixture until the onion turned in to light brown. Then add turmeric powder, chilly powder and cummin powder and allow to heat for 1 minute. Then add the mixture in to the vessel containing moru and mix well in to one direction with the wooden spatula. Can add salt if needed and curry leaves on the top. Nadan moru kachiyathu ready.

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Carrot cake

This is the recipe for a yummy and nutritional carrot cake which you can serve in all occasions. This is probably the best carrot cake We’ve ever had. My husband loves it…

Eggs : 3 nos

All-purpose flour / Wheat powder : 2 Cups

Vegetable oil : 1 1/4 cups

White sugar : 2 cups

Confectioners' sugar : 4 cups

Vanilla extract : 2 teaspoons

Baking soda : 2 teaspoons

Baking powder : 2 teaspoons

Salt : 1/2 teaspoon

Grated Cinnamon : 2 teaspoons

Grated Carrots : 3 cups

Grated Nutmeg : 1 teaspoon

Grated Coconut : 90 gm

Butter, softened : 1/2 cup

Cream cheese, softened : 120 gm

Lemon extract : 1 1/2 table spoon

Carrot cake preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C.
2. Oil and line the base and sides of an 8 inch square cake tin with baking parchment.
3. In a large bowl blend together the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt and keep it aside.
4. In another large bowl, beat together eggs, vegetable oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Blend it in a mixer for 2 minutes.
5. Mix #3 and #4 slowly.
6. Add carrots and grated coconut to the mix.
7. Bake the mix in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
8. Allow it to cool in pan for 10 – 15 minutes.

To Make Topping / Frosting:

1. In a bowl mix the butter, soft cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and the lemon extract. Beat it until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cake.

You can keep it in the refrigerator in an airtight  vessel. Take it out 1 hour before serving. You can also warm it in a microwave.

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Milk peda

Milk peda aka Doodh peda / palkova / Paal peda is one of the simple but most delicious and tastiest milk product. This traditional Indian sweet is made with condensed milk and milk powder and flavored with cardamom and pistachios.

Milk pedas are prepared mainly during the festival season like Diwali, Poojas etc. In North India, milk pedas are distributed among friends and neighbors to share the joy of birth of a male child in the family (If its a female child they distribute Burfi). This recipe will teach you how to make the Indian Milk peda at home easily.

Milk - 1 liter

Milk Powder - 100 gm

Condensed Milk - 100 ml

Butter - 50 gm

Sugar - 300 gm

Cardamom - 3 (Finely powdered

Milk peda preparation

1. Heat a heavy bottom broad pan.
2. Add butter and melt it. Add all other ingredients one by one and mix very well.
3. Stir occasionally until it get a thick consistency.
4. Wear a glove while stirring, at this point, there is a chance of spluttering.
5. Lower the flame and stir very well without taking hands.
6. The batter gets more thicker and you can see the sides gets separated while you stir.
7. When all of its water content is dried, switch off the flame. (It takes around 45 minutes or more).
8. Let it cool for 20 minutes.
9. Apply a touch of ghee on the palm and make small balls out of it, just press the middle and arrange in a buttered wax paper.

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Palada Pradhaman

Another post in the Vishu sadhya series. This is palada pradhaman aka palada payasam which is a delicious dessert prepared using rice and milk. It is served usually in the end of Kerala sadhya (grand feast) along with pappadam and banana. It is an easy to prepare pradhaman with little effort. This dessert will give your guest unforgettable memories of the delicious Onam sadhya.

1. Wash the rice well and grind it into small pieces.
2. Add sugar and the coconut oil to it, and mix it till it is becomes thinner than dosa batter consistency, but thick enough to be spread on a leaf.
3. Tear the banana leaves into five portions and remove the fibers. Spread the batter on each leaf,  flatten and smoothen it out.
4. In a vessel heat some water and when it boils well, add the flattened ada into it.
5. Switch of the flames when the adas are cooked well and drain the water
6. Gently separate each ada from the leaf when it cools.
7. Cut each of the adas into very small pieces.
8. Into an urli pour some milk and when it boils add the sugar and continue boiling until it thickens.
9. Add the ada pieces into it When the solution is well reduced / thickened.
10. Blend the well boiled milk and the ada together.
11. When it reaches the consistency that makes it ready to serve, remove from the flame.
12. Serve it…..

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Special fish curry

This fish curry is one of the most sought after items at my house in Kerala. I missed making it for such a long time and the reason: my husband wants “charu” (gravy) for everything, so I sticked to the fish curry recipes with coconut milk.

Since am still recovering from the hangover of my India trip, I decided to make this & once again relish the joyful memories of my holiday :)

Whenever I see the color of this fish curry, the tagline of a fish masala powder (Eastern Fish Masala) comes to my mind “edivettu (which literally translates to thundering) meencurry” . HHmmmm looks like am watching too much TV these days ;)

Here goes the recipe for “edivettu meencurry”

Ingredients

• Fish – ½ kg, cut into medium size pieces
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Fenugreek (uluva) – ¼ tsp
• Ginger & garlic – 1½ tbsp, crushed into a fine paste
• Small onion – 6-8
• Kashmiri chili powder – 1½ – 2 tbsp
• Coriander powder – 1½ – 2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Cocum/kudampuli – 2,3 pieces
• Curry leaves
• Salt
• Coconut oil

1. Soak cocum in 3 tbsp water for 10 minutes.Mix the powders (chili,coriander & turmeric) together with coconut oil/water & make a paste. Heat oil in a meenchatti (earthen ware) or a pan & splutter mustard & fenugreek. Add crushed ginger garlic paste & stir for 3,4 minutes. Add small onion & curry leaves & saute till it becomes soft. Add the masala paste, salt & fry till oil starts appearing. Add cocum along with the water & fish pieces. Combine well. Make sure that fish pieces do not get broken in the process, it will be safer to rotate the pan to ensure that fish & masala is mixed well. Add required amount of water & cook till the fish is done & gravy becomes thick, it will take around 20 -25 minutes on low flame. Serve with rice or kappa (tapioca)

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