Saturday, October 1, 2011

Lauki Ke Kheer/Bottle guard Kheer

Lauki Kheer is very easy to make, delicious kheer/payasam relished by everyone including the kids. It needs just few ingredients and can be made in less than 30 minutes. Diabetic patients can us sugar substitute like splenda and have this delicious kheer. Give it a try and Enjoy healthy, yummy and ezee Kheer for all age groups. 


Ingredients: -

Bottle Gourd/Lauki/Doodhi - 1
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Milk - 5 cups
Cardamon powder - 1tsp
salt a pinch
Ghee - 2 tsp
Raisins few
Cashew few

Preparation Method: -
  • Pour milk to aa thick bottom pan and bring to boil. Simmer the heat to medium and let the milk cook to reduce and get a thick consistency. Remember to stir the milk every two-three minutes so that they don't burn and stick at the bottom of the pan. 
  • Meanwhile cut the edges of the bottle-gourd  and peel the skin. Cut it into half and scrap out the middle part of the Lauki.  Wash and clean the Lauki, grate and set aside.

  • In another pan, add ghee and roast cashews and raisins till golden brown and set aside.
  • Add grated Lauki to the same ghee and saute for four-five minutes.
  • Add this to the boiling milk and cook for another 10 mins by stirring in between till creamy and Lauki becomes soft.
  • Add sugar and keep stirring to cook for another five-six minutes. Add cardamon powder and stir to mix. Switch off the stove.
  • Serve warm or chilled. I prefer them being chilled. Enjoy!!!!

Sending this to 'My Diwali My way' Event hosted by Khusi @ A Girl's Diary


Friday, September 30, 2011

Apple Crisp(Crumble)

Apple Crisp/Crumble is a simple baked dessert with a s very nice crisp and crumble topping with tender apple bites inside. The combination of oats, apple and Brown sugar tries to give it a healthy way and if served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream it is really delicious.

Apple Crisp was made since I had some fresh farm picked Golden Apples. This is been in my draft from quite sometime and thanks to Ramya of Ramyasrecipe for hosting the 'A for  Apple' event. I posted my Apple cake recipe for the event and told her I will try to post the apple crisp recipe if possible. This might be a late entry for the event but at-least it got  relieved from the draft, my apple crisp was bored sitting in the draft :)



Ingredients:-
  1. All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
  2. Brown Sugar(Or white sugar) -1/2 cup
  3. Cinnamon powder -1/2 tsp
  4. Salt a pinch
  5. Softened Butter - 3/4 cup(do not use melted butter)
  6. Old fashioned Oats - 1/3 cup
  7. Chopped walnuts/ pecans/almonds - 1/4 cup(optional)
  8. Chopped apple chunks - 6 cups(I didn't peel off the skin of the apple)
  9. Lemon Juice - 1/2 tsp
  10. Brown Sugar - 3 tbsp
Preparation Method:-
  • Preheat the oven to 350 Degree F. Grease a baking tray and set aside.
  • Mix all the ingredients from 1 to 7 with your fingertips or process in a food processor until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside
  • In another bowl put chopped apples, brown sugar, lemon juice and toss lightly
  • Put the apple-mix in the greased bake-ware and spread the topping evenly over the apples.
  • Bake for around 35-40 minutes until the topping is golden brown.
  • Remove from the oven and let it cool for sometime say 30 mins.
  • Serve warm or with a scoop of Vanilla Ice cream or whipped cream. Enjoy!!!!!!
I am sending this to Ramyasrecipe's 'A for Apple' Event. Happy Cooking. 

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Vella(White) Appam with Chana(Kadala) curry

This recipe is a bit similar to the Appam recipe I have posted sometime back, but a lot different from the making to the taste. I got this recipe from Deepthy a friend of mine. From then this Appam had been our favorite breakfast/dinner. You really wont know how fast kids finish eating this and you feel so satisfied when they eat well. You do not need any particular Appam Vessel for making this, any non-stick griddle or pan works. Also you can make 3-4 appams at a time if you have a pancake griddle or any wide pan.

I was not very sure of the name of this Appam, so I called up Deepthy who is basically from Idukki district
and got to know that they call it Vella Appam or Kallu(Toddy) Appam since it is white in color and originally made with Kallu(Toddy). We were discussing about the other Appam and she said they call that Pal(Milk) Appam since it is made using coconut milk. Hmm ok, enough of the stories I know :). Whatever may be the name the Appam, I just know it really is an awesome  Breakfast/Dinner dish. I have tried it with Black Chana(Kadala) Curry, Egg Masala, Chicken curry and felt everything tastes just simply great. So adding this recipe of Appam for all of you, Enjoy!!!!!



Making of Appam:-


Ingredients:-

Pachari/Raw rice/Basmathi Rice - 2 cups
Grated Coconut - ¾  cup
Shallots - 3 small or 1 big(if you do not have shallots use a piece of Onion)
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Fennel seeds - 1½  tsp
Yeast - 2 tsp
Sugar - 2 tsp
Salt ~ ¾ tsp

Preparation Method:-
  • Wash the rice well two to three times and soak for at least 5 hrs.
  • Grind the rice and all the ingredients other than yeast to a smooth batter of dosa consistency.
  • Pour into a big bowl, add yeast, sugar, salt and mix well. Set aside in a warm place to ferment overnight or for 6-7 hrs.
  • Heat up non-stick dosa pan or griddle in medium heat and pour a small laddle of batter. Do not spread, close with a lid for few secs or a min.
  • Open the lid and turn the appam and cook for few more secs. Take of the pan.
  • Repeat the process with the remaining batter.
  • Serve warm with Chana Curry or any curry of your choice. Enjoy!!!!
Chana Masala Curry/Kerala Kadala Curry:-

Ingredients:-

Black Chana/Kadala - 1 1/2 cups
Chopped Onion - 1 big
Chopped Tomato - 1 medium
Chopped Potato - 1 medium
Ginger minced - 2 tsp
Garlic minced - 2 tsp
Green chilly chopped - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 3/4 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves a sprig
Dry red chilly -2
Chopped coriander leaves as needed(optional)
Water as needed

Preparation Method:-
  • Wash chana dal two to three times and soak it overnight or 7-8 hrs.
  • Heat up a cooker, pour oil and crackle the mustard seeds. Add curry leaves, dry red chilly and stir for few secs.
  • Add the chopped onion, ginger, garlic, salt and stir till onion are translucent. Add tomatoes and saute till tomatoes become soft.
  • Add all the masala powders and stir well to mix. Add the potatoes, soaked chana dal and water(at-least 4 cups or as needed) and close the lid.
  • Pressure cook it in high heat for 1 whistle and simmer the heat to medium and cook it for another 5-6 whistles. Switch off the flame and let it cool.
  • Once the pressure is off, open the cooker and mash few chana and few pieces of potatoes and let it cook in medium flame for another 5-7 mins. 
  • Switch off the flame, add few chopped coriander leaves and Serve..
Note:-
Originally Cumin(Jeera) is grinded with rice, but I have used fennel(perinjeerakam) seeds instead and flavor was great. You can use Jeera or fennel as you wish.
You can mix 2 tbsp of thick coconut milk with 1/4 cup water and 2 tsp sugar(or honey) and give this as a dip instead of curry if the kid do not like spicy curries(My grandma used to do the same when we were kids and we used to love it)

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Baked Ravioli in fresh homemade tomato sauce

Normally I run to Costco shopping after dropping my son to pre-school as those are the few hours I can shop peacefully since I have to manage only my daughter while I shop. Last weekend I ran out of milk and did not want to drive to Costco since I had a lot of house cleaning and chores to be done. So I asked my husband to go to Costco and he took my son along with him so that things can be a bit easy for me. Costco always have some demo food in progress and my husband came back with this frozen four cheese ravioli saying they had the demo and our son really loved it.

Next day I wanted to make this Ravioli for my son before he is back from school, but did not have any ready made pasta sauce but yea I had a lot of very fresh farm picked tomatoes which I really wanted use liberally to make something good. So I planned to use it to make some fresh tomato sauce and it resulted in a better sauce than the store bought ones. You can use the same with pastas as well, just make the tomato sauce at home instead buying it.  So friends this is my way of making the four cheese ravioli with fresh Tomato sauce. Enjoy!!!!


Ingredients:-
  1. Frozen four cheese ravioli - 25 nos(or as needed)
  2. Olive oil - 2 tbsp
  3. Onion finely chopped - 1 big
  4. Tomatoes finely chopped - 2 big
  5. Garlic minced - 4 cloves
  6. Pepper powder - 2 tsp
  7. Salt as needed 
  8. Dry basil leaves - 2 tsp
  9. Shredded Mozzarella cheese -3/4 cup
  10. Water required to cook Ravioli
Preparation Method:-
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
  • In a large pan bring water to boil, add some salt and cook the ravioli just till ravioli float on top of the water(no need to cook it till tender since it will continue to cook in oven)
  • Drain the ravioli and set aside
  • Heat up a pan in medium heat, add olive oil, add onion and garlic and saute for a while. Add pepper, salt and basil leaves and stir well. Add the chopped tomatoes, stir well. When the sauce starts to boil reduce the flame to low-med and cook breaking the tomatoes, stirring occasionally until sauce reduces and thicken. Switch off the flame.
  • Grease a baking dish, layer with some ravioli topped with tomato sauce and shredded cheese.
  • Repeat layering with rest of ravioli, sauce and cheese. Spread some extra cheese on top if desired :)
  • Bake for 20-25 mins or until golden color on top. Take out of the oven and let it cool for a while.
  • Serve warm. Enjoy!!!!!
Notes:-
1. You can use any shredded cheese or cheese blend available in your kitchen.
2. If you have dry parsley leaves you can add 1 tsp of it along with dry basil laves while making the sauce. 
3. You can make this tomato sauce in bulk and keep this refrigerated for at least a month and use for any pasta of your choice. 


Friday, September 23, 2011

Blackberry Yogurt Smoothie


Ingredients:-
  1. Fresh Blackberry - 2 cups
  2. Yogurt - 1 cup
  3. Brown sugar - 1/2 cup(can add  more or less according to your taste)
  4. Ice cubes - 10(or as needed)
  5. Water - 1 cup
Preaparation Method:-
  • Wash and clean the blackberry in running water, pat dry and set aside.
  • In a juice blender put the berries, sugar, yogurt, water and blend well.
  • Add the Ice cubes and blend again for a minute or two.
  • Pour into a juice glass, add more Ice cubes if desired. Enjoy!!!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...