Ambalapuzha Paal Payasam and Happy Vishu Wishes/അമ്പലപുഴ പാൽപായസവും വിഷു ആശംസയും

Wishing Everyone A Very Happy Vishu !!

എല്ലാവർക്കും വിഷു ആശംസകൾ 

I agree, I had always been on and off throughout. But this phase of my life seemed the busiest ever. Family, Work and more work had kept me away from blogging for few months. I go through my fellow bloggers blog posts randomly but never get more than five minutes to sit infront of my laptop. I always feel guilty seeing my blog hybernating but did not have the time, energy and mindset to do blog post which needs a bit of compiling on write up and picture edits. I didn't want to do a random post which will not do justice to the recipe and myself.

Starting this year I have been actively involved in a Malayalee Association here in Washigton DC and is the Entertainment chair for Year 2014. We have a lot of events lined for year 2014 of which Vishu celebrtion was one of the most important one. NSGW celebrated Vishu 2014 on Saturday, April 12th for which we had in store a list of cultural programs. I had been co-ordianting for all the programs, finalizing the program chart, co-ordinating with choreographers, staging the kids group, conference calls on delegating tasks etc etc whick took most of my evenings and weekends. And at the proffessional end it is crazy  busy with Release deadline coming up by end Of this month.

Even though the past 3 months had been hectic, the end result was really sweet and memorable one which I will cherish in my entire lifetime. The Whole Vishu celebration was purely Vishu theme based.  We didnt have any cinematic dance kind of programs, instead we had a pure cultural event where the kids and adults performed on Vishu related themes/skits and songs. At the end of cultural programs we had a proffessional Drama 'Viradam' based on M.T Vasudevan Nair's Novel 'Randamoozham' performed by a 'Akkarakazhchakal' serial fame Haridev and Sanjeev's proffessional drama team from NJ. We were all excited meeting the team and working with the group, I also participated in a folk dance as part of the drama and also our ladies dance team including me from Maryland, USA performed a semi-classical dance.

Okk, I think thats enough about the stories, now let me share with you the recipe of this Ambalapuzha paalpayasam which is very apt for making on Vishu day to be served to Lord Sree Krishna. Ambalapuzha Palpaayam is considered as the most favorite payasam of Sree Krishna in Ambalapuzha temple, Alapuzha. There is a very beautiful story tale behind the evolution of this very famous and delicious payasam. You can refer to this link to read more.

Ambalapuzha paal paayasam Recipe as follows

Ingredients:-

1. Unakkalari/Broken Matta Rice - ¼ Cup(If they are not available you can use Basmathi Rice)
2. Milk - 1 ½ Litre
3. Sugar - ½ Cup
4. Raisins few
5. Cashews few
6. Ghee - 1 tsp
7. Cardamom pods -6
8. Sugar - ½tsp

Preparation Method:-

• Pour milk into a pressure cooker, add sugar and stir well. Bring the milk to boiling point.
• Rinse the rice one or two times and add to the milk. Stir well again till the bottom making sure rice is not sticking to the bottom.
• Cover with the lid, put on the whistle. Reduce the heat to the lowest and let it cook for 20-25 minutes.
• Put off the flame. Let it cool down completely to open the lid.
• Heat up a small Wok/pan, add ghee, saute cashews and saute till golden brown. Remove and add to the payasam. Add raisins to the same ghee and saute till it pop. Add tot he payasam.
• Crush/grind the cardamom with ½ tsp of sugar and add to the payasam. Stir well and serve warm. Enjoy!!

Note: The smallest jar of the Indian Mixer is very handy to grind the cardamom pods and sugar to get the cardamom powdery, it smells awesome and blend well with the payasam without any tiny lumps.

                                    

Gulab Jamuns from Scratch for Cook-Ezee's 150th Post

Gulab Jamun is one of the most popular dessert in India and many countries in Indian Sub-continent. Traditionally, these are made with Khoya and flour together rolled into small balls and deep fried in low temperature then soaked in warm sugar syrup flavored with cardamom seeds and rose water. Here I have used  Milk powder available in Indian stores which is a great substitute for Khoya .The term Gulab Jamun comes from Gulab meaning  Rose referring to rose water scented syrup and Jamun a South Asian fruit with similar size and shape of that of Gulab Jamuns.

I wanted to do a dessert post on Cook-Ezee's 150th post and had been thinking of making something real quick which tastes fabulous as well. I got a perfect occasion to make these wonderful Gulab Jamuns last weekend as we planned for a friend's surprise baby shower party. Everyone relished the Jamuns which was very soft and melt-in mouth, dumplings perfectly sweetened by the syrup and well flavored with cardamom and rose water. And believe me it is not much of a labor, it is a very simple procedure, if you execute it with clear state of mind you are the winner and I'm sure the family will never want to eat the Jamun's from outside. :- ) So make them at home today and Enjoy !!!

The below recipe yields approx. 45 Gulab Jamuns, you can reduce the ingredients to half to make around 20- 25 Jamuns.

Ingredients Used:-

1. Milk Powder - 2 Cups(Use low fat or high fat milk powder like Everyday available in Indian grocery stores, both works fine)
2. All purpose powder/Maida - ½ Cup
3. Baking Soda - ¼ tsp
4. Unsalted Butter at room temperature -  5 tbsp
5. Milk at room temperature - ¼ Cup(or just enough to knead the dough)
6. Oil to deep fry

For Sugar Syrup

1. Sugar - 2½ Cup
2. Water - 3½ Cup
3. Cardamom Pods coarsely ground - 4 or 5
4. Rose Water - 2 tbsp(If you don't have them, opt out using it)

How I made It:-

1. Combine milk powder, all purpose flour, baking soda and mix well with your clean, dry hand.
2. Add butter and mix slowly with hands to get a crumbled flour mix for a while.
3. Add milk little by little and knead well to form soft dough. If it crumbles add more milk and knead, if it  is very sticky add some flour and knead again. Set aside for 15-20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile make the sugar syrup. Add water and sugar in a wide vessel, stir well till sugar is dissolved  and bring it to boil.
5. Add cardamom and rose water and stir again. Reduce the heat to medium and let boil for another five minutes and take off the flame. 
6. Make small balls out of the dough and roll it to smooth balls. 
7. Heat oil in a kadai, keep the heat in medium flame. Drop one ball to check for the appropriate temperature. If the balls sinks first and rises up eventually the temperature is just perfect.
8. Deep fry the balls, couple of them together, keep rolling them well so that balls are evenly cooked. Take them out and drain off in paper towels(Don't get them to deep dark brown which will result in bitter taste)
9. Let the fried balls cooled down for a while.Check for the sugar syrup, it should be hot but not boiling. If you feel the syrup is cold just heat it up to make it medium hot.
10. Drop the balls one by one, gently pressing the balls with a spoon to immerse in the syrup. Leave it for couple of hours till Jamun absorbs the sweetness from the syrup. 
11. Garnish with slivered almonds or pistachios when ready to serve. Serve warm, cold or at room temperature.
12. I love to have them with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream or whipped cream.

Paal Payasam/Rice Kheer/Rice Pudding and My 100th Post

This recipe marks my 100th blog post, its been three years since I started this blog. Three years and just 100 posts, sounds nothing right? I know. I'm not claiming of accomplishing something great but yes I'm really happy that I could keep this blog alive. My son was around one year when I started this blog and I thought this is something that can keep myself engaged and lively since I stopped working from quite sometime. This blog was born because of my friend Shifali. When she gave me the idea of blogging I knew nothing from how to start the blog to how to keep it alive. I started posting couple of recipes whenever I find time but I was not in touch with anybody in blogger's world since I didn't knew how it works or I didn't even knew things like reaching out to other blogger's profile or commenting on other's recipe or giving any kind of publicity to this blog that can generate traffic or rather I didn't even give it a thought that way and I was happy in 'my own world' putting up some recipes and pictures and writing my experience behind some of the recipes.

Days passed by and I totally forgot 'my blogger baby' from the time I was expecting my younger cutie as I was too busy taking care of my son who was still a baby then and I was fully involved with my sweet little family. I'm really thankful to one of the wonderful cookys group 'fc' in Facebook where I started posting my recipes a year back. When things started picking up and many among the group started appreciating the recipes tats when I remembered my poor little blogger soul which I ignored. I slowly started posting recipes in my blog and many thanks to all those wonderful readers, blogger friends and followers who took sometime to stop by my little space and leave some valuable comments. 

A 'Thank you' cannot really convey my happiness when I read each and every comment at my space. Still I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all your kindness and support. I do not know many of you in person, I haven't seen your face, I don't know your family but each one of you stay close to my heart. I'm not bluffing but I feel there is something that keeps me connected with each one of you. I love to read many of your write ups, I admire most of your recipes, I like the way most of you present your dishes, I envy those wonderful bakers and their decorative Icing and yes many more in the list. But sometimes I do not get enough time to come and appreciate on all your wonderful recipes and much appreciated dishes. As many of you even I get busy with my kids and daily chores and there are days I do not even touch the computer. So let me take this opportunity to thank those wonderful fellow blogger friends and followers - I love you all, you guys are the best. Take care guys, Happy Cooking and Happy Blogging :)

I'm sharing this delicious Paal Payasam/Rice Kheer as my 100th recipe. Enjoy!!!!!
Paal Payasam as we call it in Kerala is one of the simplest Payasam/Kheer that can be made in very less time. The pressure cooker preparation makes it more easier and kids just enjoy this lip smacking dessert. My son sometimes have this craving for payasam's and I prefer making 'Neypayasam' since I feel for kids ghee and jaggery is better and healthier option over sugary payasam. My son sometimes comes up saying 'I want White Payasam' and then this is what the quickest one I make. So guys here is my way of making ezee Paal Payasam.

Ingredients:-

1. Basmathi Rice/Raw rice - 1/2 cup
2. Water - 2 cups
3. Milk - 2 cups
4. Evaporated milk - 1 tin(I used Nestle carnation milk - not condensed milk)
5. Sugar - 1 1/4  cup(or more if desired)
6. Rasins and cashews a handful(optional)
7. Cardamom pods(or cardamom powder) - 4
8. Slivered almonds - 1/4 cup
9. Ghee/Clarified butter - 2 tbsp

Preparation Method:-

• Wash the rice well two tothree times, drain the water completely and set aside.
• Heat up a pressure cooker, keep in temp in medium heat. Pour ghee, saute cashews and raisins till cashews are golden brown and raisins pop up. Take out and set aside.
• Add rice to the same ghee and saute for a minute or two so that rice absorbs the aroma of ghee.
• Pour water to the cooker and stir well till the bottom of the pan. Cover and pressure cook for two to three whistles and switch off the stove. Let it cool completely.
• Open the pressure cooker, pour the milk and stir well till the bottom of the pan and switch on the stove. Bring the milk n rice to boiling and let it cook for five minutes. Keep stirring in between so that rice do not stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Add sugar and stir well again and let it boil for another five minutes. Now pour the carnation milk and let it cook for another ten minutes in low-medium heat till the rice absorbs the sugary taste and the payasam turns creamy
• Crush the cardamom pods well in a mortar and add it to the payasam along with the cardamom skin and stir well(I do not like to throw the cardamom skin since I love the fragrance of it when I get to chew it in the kheer ;) you can just add powdered cardamom if you do not like the skin)
• Switch off the stove and add roasted cashews and raisins. Serve warm or chilled topped with slivered almonds.

Note:-

1. You can use a tin of condensed milk instead of carnation milk, make sure to reduce the amount of sugar then.
2. If you do not have carnation milk or condensed milk add two more cups of milk and let it boil in low-medium heat for another five-ten more minutes stirring in between.
3. You can add only roasted cashews and raisins or only slivered almonds or pistachios instead of adding both. I like to add slivered almonds a lot that gives crunchy bites in the payasam.

Check Out More Payasam/Kheer Recipes Here

Vermicelli -Sabudana Kheer 

Lokhi Kheer

Semiya/Vermicelli Payasam

Aravana Payasam/Neypayasam

Dates Pradhaman/Dates Payasam

Off this go to the Desserts event hosted by Ramya @Ramya's Recipe, Valentines Day Event @ AnzzCafe,    Let's Cook ~ Rice @ Ticking Palates, Valentines Day Event @ Teenz Yummy Delights, Kids Delight hosted by Kavi @ Edible Entertainment and The Kerala Kitchen Event hosted at Kaveri's Palakkad Chamayal, Sweet Luv @ Zesty Palette

 

Sooji Halwa/Rava Kesari

Today is Diwali Festive Morning, and I wish all my fellow bloggers, friends, and the visitors of this page A Very Happy Diwali !!!!!!

I'm sure, being a weekday unlike in India almost everyone will be in their full swing to finish off the Pooja, prepare something quick and ezee and send the kids to school & their best half to office. Oh yea, you are ready to run to office as well? I'm sure most of the houses have this Sooji Halwa as the 'Sweets' today, Sooji Halwa being so ezee to make and the taste everyone loves have become the most popular sweets of Indians.

So did I, just made it real quick before my hubby and son left for office and school. So all my NRI friends, have a very Happy and prosperous Diwali!!! And my dear family and friends in India, Have a safe and Pattaka Diwali. I'm sure you guys are having all the fun with real festive mood. Enjoy!!!!

Ingredients:-

Rava/Semolina - 1 cup
Water - 2 1/2 cups(u can use 1 cup milk + 1 1/2 cup water, milk and nuts add richness and more taste to the halwa)
sugar- 1/2 cup(you can add or reduce according to the sweetness you need)
Ghee- 2 tbsp
Raisins, Cashews- 2 tbsp(optional, i haven't used it. I just garnished the halwa with sliced almonds)
Saffron- a pinch(optional)
cardamom powder -1/4 tsp

Food color - 1/2 tsp(optional, I used orange color)

Preparation Method:-

Add ghee to a thick bottom pan and fry the nuts in a med flame for 1 min. 

Add the Sooji/Rava to this and fry in low- med flame with out burning till it gives a nice aroma.

Add sugar, stir till Sooji/Rava and sugar mix well.

Mean while in another pan bring the water to boil by adding saffron and cardamom powder. Switch off the flame and set aside.(add the food color to the water if you are adding it)

Now pour the warm water slowly and stirring continuously, be careful since the Sooji will start spluttering when you add hot water to it. Keep your stove in medium heat when you do this process.

Switch of the stove when the water is almost absorbed. You do not have to wait till it is fully dry because halwa will become bit more thick even after taking off the flame.

Move to serving dish and cut into desired shapes. Garnish with sliced almonds or any nuts of your choice. Enjoy!!!!!

This goes to My Diwali My Way hosted by Khusi @ A Girl's Diary 

&

Food Palate Series Finale Rainbow Colors hosted by TorView

                                                             

Aravana Payasam(Neypayasam)

Aravana Payasam reminds me of the prasadam that we get from Sabarimala and Guruvayoor temple. Anyone or everyone who visits Sabarimala or Guruvayoor gets this for their family and for the friends and neighbors. This tastes so good with the richness of dark brown jaggery, ghee and rice - I really don't have any words to describe the taste. But the saddest part was since it is a 'prasadam' from the temple we just get to taste it, may be a spoon or two because it has to be distributed between the family, friends and neighbours. 

As I mentioned this payasam is made with dark brown jaggery but here in US it is tough to find the brown jaggery. Instead we get the pale golden color jaggery and so my 'Payasams' looks a bit light brown in color compared to our temple one's. But I swear, try this out and I'm sure you will never regret making it, it just tastes the same as the one we get in the temple. And if you have the option to get the dark brown jaggery, please use it instead of the light colored one's and I'm sure it will look the original aravana payasam as well. The best rice for making this payasam would be 'Unakkalari' - red colored raw rice(pachari with bran), I have used Basmathi rice since I didn't get it here. So guys enjoyyy serving this payasam for your onam fest this time...

Ingredients:- 

1. Raw rice/Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
2. Water - 5 cups(you may need to add more if needed)
3. Ghee -  1/2 cup
4. Jaggery - 3 cups
5. Cardamom - 3(crushed
6. Cashews, raisins a handful
7. Coconut cut into small slices - 2 tbsp(optional)

Ingredients:-

• Add 1/2 cup water to the jaggery and bring it to boil. Strain this jaggery syrup to remove impurities if any. Set aside.
• Wash the rain two-three times and drain the water fully. Set aside.
• Add 2 tbsp ghee in a pan in medium flame and roast the rice for say three-four minutes so that rice absorbs the aroma of ghee(do not over do it, rice will become crispy)
• Add water to the rice and get it to boil, stir till the bottom of the pan and let it cook in medium heat.
• When the rice is cooked add 1/4 cup ghee, keep stirring continuously in medium heat to blend well for say five minutes(stirring the payasam continuously makes the payasam much tastier)
• Add the melted jagery to the rice-ghee mix and cook for somemore time, keep stiring in between so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
• When the paysam is thick enough add the cardamom powder. Switch off the flame
• Add  a tbsp of ghee to another pan, roast cashews, raisins and broken coconut slices and add to the payasam along wiith the ghee.
• Add in the remaining ghee if any and mix well. Payasam is ready to Serve. Enjoy!!!!!
  
  

  

  
  

Note:-

• I have added 2:1 ratio for rice and ghee, you can increase or decrease the quantity of ghee according to your taste or preference. Adding more ghee defintely adds more taste but on a healthier note you can reduce the quantity of ghee to a few tbsp if you are not making it for any special occasion.
• I would suggest this payasam for kids from age 1-5 when they get fuzzy to eat rice/roti or normal food. Try this for them, they will get a break from the same kind of  food. Ghee, jaggery and rice is good for their health as well. You can decrease the quantity of jaggery and ghee if needed.

Ras Malai

Rasmalai is a great North Indian dessert served after lunch or dinner especially for parties and is one of my favorite. Rasmalai is made with cottage cheese(paneer) dumplings soaked in sweetened and light cardamom flavored milk garnished with sliced pistachios or almonds... This sweetend milk is generally known as 'Ras'(means juice) and cheese dumplings known as 'Malai'(means cream). Hence the name Rasmalai.

The process of making Rasmali includes two steps:- 1) Preparing the cheese dumplings. 2)Preparing the Ras.

So let us prepare the Rasmalai and Enjoy!!!!!!

Ingredients:-

For Paneer/Cheese dumplings

Milk - 4 cups

Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp

Water - 1tbsp

Preparation Method:-

Pour the milk in a heavy bottom pan and bring it to boil. Dilute the lemon juice with 1 tbsp of water and add slowly to the milk stirring occasionally. When the milk starts curdling switch off the flame. Keep a muslin cloth on top off the colander and strain the paneer. Run some cold water over the panner so that no lemon juice remains. Fold the edges of the muslin cloth and squeeze out all the water from the panner. Knead the paneer well with the hands till it becomes very soft. Roll it in your palm and make small lemon size balls out of it. Press each balls gently to flatten out. Pour some water in a bowl and put this panner in it till the Ras is ready.

Ingredients for Ras:-

Milk - 3 cups

Sugar - 4 tbsp

Condensed milk - 2 tbsp(optional, add bit more sugar to milk if not using condensed milk)

Saffron - 1 tsp

Cardamom pwdr - 1tsp

Chopped Pistachios/Almonds - 2 tbsp(to garnish)

Preparation Method:-

1. Pour the milk in a heavy bottom pan preferably non-stick pan and bring it to boil stirring in between.
2. When the milk starts boiling reduce the flame to medium and add saffron. Keep stirring till the milk get reduce to half and milk starts thickening.
3. Add the sugar, condensed milk and cardamom powder, stir well for 2 mins.
4. Add the paneer to it and boil it again for 4-5 mins in med flame till the sweetness of sugar and flavor of cardamom is absorbed well by the paneer.
5. Switch off the flame and let it rest for sometime. Move to a serving dish
6. Garnish with sliced pistachios/Almonds and serve chilled...

Carrot/Gaajar Halwa

Carrot Halwa is one of the most famous dessert in North India especially in Punjab and is normally known as Gaajjar kaa halwa among Indians. Any parties, poojas and other functions are incomplete without a touch Gaajar Halwa. I have been making this from the time I came to US and my kids love this a lot because of its softness and sweetness and color and  and and hmmm, I do not know what all reasons should I give to make this more often. Someone has rightly said that when you make a dish so often you really do not have the judgement of the quantity of ingredients you use. This happens with me most of time and carrot halwa is one among them. I just grate few carrots, saute it in some ghee, add some milk, a handful of sugar and garnish it with some ghee roasted cashews and raisins. It is that simple and I love its change in color in each and every step of the cooking process. So this time when I made it, I thought of preparing it with by measuring so that I can blog this in cups and spoons. So friends here is this awesome dessert/sweet that you can make it easily without worrying it might go somewhere wrong in the process of cooking.

Ingredients :-
Grated Carrot :- 4 cups
Milk - 2 to 2 1/2 cups( i microwaved it for 10-15 mins stiring it every 5 mins in between/ you can boil it on stove top and keep aside as well)
Sugar -3/4 cup
Ghee - 2 tsp(you can use more as per your choice)
cashews and raisins few
Cardamon powder - 1tsp

Preparation Method:-

• Heat up a non-stick pan on med flame, add ghee, saute the cashews, raisins and keep aside.
• Add the grated carrot to the same pan, saute well till it looses it's orange color and become soft. It took me around 10 mins of sauting in medium flame.

     

• Add the hot milk to it and keep stirring till the carrot absorbs all the milk, and it took around 8-10 mins for all the milk to incorporate and mix well with the carrot.

• Now add the sugar, you will see littlee bit more moisture adding up and the color changing again to deep orange. Keep stirring around 4-5 mins till all the moisture is absorbed.

 

• Switch off the flame and add cardamom powder and mix well.
•  Move into a serving dish and Garnish with raisins and cashews. Serve warm or cold..