Fruit Salad - Wishing you all a Wonderful New Year..!!

Ingredients:

• Mango (ripe)1 cup
  
• Pineapple 2 cup
  
• Grapes 1 cup
  
• Orange 1 cup
  
• Banana 1 cup
  
• Apple 1 cup
  
• Sugar 2 Tbsp

For the custard:

• Milk 2 1/2 cup
  
• Custard pdr 2 Tbsp
  
• Corn flour 1/2 Tbsp
  
• Sugar 1/4 to 1/2 cup
  
• Vanilla essence 1/2 Tsp
  
• Condensed milk (optional) 1/4 cup

Add the corn flour and custard powder to 1/4 cup milk and make it into a paste and keep it aside. Boil milk and sugar. When it stars boiling, add the above prepared paste into this and stir it continuously in low flame until it thickens. Cool it and add the vanilla essence and condensed milk (optional). Mix well and keep it refrigerated. 

Combine together chopped pineapple and sugar in a pan and saute it (do not overcook it). This is to prevent the pineapple from giving a bitter taste when put directly in the custard. After this, cool it and add the  rest of the fruits, except apple, into the pineapple mixture. Add the apple pieces only when you are ready to serve. Alternately, you can put the apple pieces in a small sugar syrup until it is ready to be served which prevents it from turning brown. Keep it refrigerated. 

While serving, put the fruits in a bowl followed by the custard. Serve it cold. 

The snap from this post is one of my final entry to the Magnificent Click Contest 2009.

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Home Made Plain Cake Donut.

Ingredients:

• All Purpose Flour 2 cup
  
• Butter (melted) 2 Tbsp
  
• Cinnamon 1/4 Tsp
  
• Baking pdr 1 Tbsp
  
• Nutmeg 1/8 Tsp
  
• Egg (beaten) 1
  
• Sugar 1/2 cup
  
• Milk 1/2 cup
  
• Salt 1 Tsp
  
• Oil
  

Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking pdr and sugar. Mix it with melted butter. Add beaten egg and milk into it and stir well. Make it into a soft and smooth dough. Roll this dough into 1/4 inch thickness. Dip the cutter in flour before using it. Cut out the dough with one large and one small round shaped cookie cutter.  Then fry it in oil. Sprinkle the fried donuts with powdered sugar.

[Courtesy: Carroll Pellegrinelli, About.com]

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Vattayappam

Ingredients:

• Rice flour 2 cup & 1/4 cup (for kappi)
  
• Cardamom pdr 1/4 to 1/2 Tsp
  
• Coconut 1 to 1 1/2 cup
  
• Sugar 2 to 4 Tbsp
  
• Yeast 1 Tsp
  
• Water, as necessary 
  
• Salt

Mix 1/4 cup of rice flour with 1 cup of water to make a liquid paste (kappi kurukkiyathu). Transfer it to a pan and stir continuously in low flame. When this turns to a thick paste remove from the fire and cool it. 

Grind together coconut and water well. Mix the above prepared flour paste with 2 cup of rice flour. Then add the coconut mixture and mix well. Add sufficient amount of water to make a fine batter (don't add too much water). Add yeast, cardamom pdr, sugar and salt to this and mix well. Keep it for fermentation. Once the flour rises, stir it well and check whether the salt and sugar are in right proportion. If so, keep it unstirred for another 1/2 hr.  Then without stirring the batter, take the batter from the top and steam it until it is cooked (like idly). 

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Dates and Spice Cake - Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas 2008.

Ingredients:

• Eggs 3
  
• Butter 2/3 cup
  
• Chopped pitted dates  2 cup
  
• All-purpose flour 21/2 cup
  
• Baking powder 1 1/2 Tsp
  
• Baking soda 3/4 Tsp
  
• Molasses 1/4 cup
  
• Ground cinnamon, nutmeg,  and cloves 1/2 Tsp each
  
• Granulated sugar 1/2 cup
  
• Brown sugar 1/2 cup
  
• Vanilla 1 Tsp
  
• Half-and-half or light cream 1 1/4 cup
  
• Butter cream icing 3 to 5 cup
  
• Salt

For The Cake

Let eggs and butter stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. In a small bowl, combine dates and boiling water and keep it covered. Let it stand for 15 minutes; drain and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Keep it aside.

In a bowl, beat butter on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat  sugar and vanilla well until it combines. Add eggs one at a time, beating 1 minute after each. In a bowl stir together half-and-half and molasses. Alternately add flour mixture and molasses mixture to egg mixture; beat on low after adding each until it combines. Stir it in dates. Spread the batter in a prepared pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely. 

Butter Cream Icing

The following amounts of ingredients is considered as a full recipe.

• Confectioner's sugar 1 lb (approximately 4 cups) 
  
• Solid white vegetable shortening 1 cup
  
• Meringue Pdr 1 Tbsp
  
• Vanilla essence 1 Tsp
  
• Milk or Water 2 Tbsp
  
• Salt (a pinch)

Meringue powder is a mixture of dried, powdered egg white, cornstarch and gums. It is used to stabilize butter cream icing. 

Vegetable Shortening is a flavourless semi-solid fat made from hydrogenated vegetable oil, used in food preparation, especially in baked goods.

Directions:

Cream shortening, essence and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. Blend an additional minute or until creamy. There are three types of icing consistencies depending on the need:

• Stiff consistency is used for decorations such as flower with upright petals like roses and sweet peas.
  
• Medium consistency creates stems, figure piping, borders and flowers with petals that lie flat. Add 1 Tsp water to each cup of stiff consistency icing. (One additional Tbsp of water when using the full recipe). Mix until well blended.
  
• Thin consistency is for writing, making stems, leaves, vines and icing a cake. Add 2 Tsp of water for each cup of stiff consistency icing (2 Tbsp of additional liquid for the full recipe). Mix until well blended.

[Courtesy:

Cake Recipe: Better Homes and Garden

Butter Cream Icing: Wilton Cake Decoration]

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Spicy Dicy Mango

Ingredients:

• Sweet Ripe Mango 1
  
• Spicy dry chilly 3 to 4
• Shallots (kunjulli) 4 to 5
  
• Coconut oil 1 Tbsp
  
• Salt
  

Peel off the mango skin and cut it into medium square pieces. Add sliced shallots, dry chilly, oil and salt into the mango and mix it well. The sweetness and spiciness altogether creates a totally unique flavour.

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Chocolate Covered Snow Peaks

Ingredients:

• Egg Whites of 4 large egg at room temp
• Superfine granulated sugar 1 cup
• Dark chocolate chips 1 1/2 cup
• Cream of tartar 1 Tsp
• Vanilla Essence 1 Tsp

Preheat oven to 225 degree F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a bowl beat egg whites on low-medium speed until the whites become foamy. Add the cream of tartar and turn speed up to medium, beating until just fluffy. Add the sugar gradually, so it incorporates into the whites slowly without collapsing them. Once all the sugar has been added, add the vanilla and increase the speed to high, whisking until the meringue is firm and glossy, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Place meringue mixture into a piping bag with a medium-sized nozzle attached. Pipe 24 bite-sized meringues onto the trays and place in the oven. Bake it for 1 hour undisturbed then turn off heat and leave in the oven overnight to really dry out.

Melt chocolate over a double-boiler or in the microwave on medium power for 30 seconds. Holding each meringue by the peak dip the bases in chocolate so the bottom half of the meringue is coated. Let any excess chocolate drop off before placing on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Allow to set at room temperature - do not put in the fridge. Once set, store in an airtight container.

[Courtesy: Tyler Florence, Food Network]

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Stuffed Dates Roll

Ingredients:

• Dates (Seedless) 3 to 4
• Puff Pastry Sheets 3 to 4
• Cashew Nuts 1/4 cup chopped
• Cardamom Pdr 1/2 to 1 Tsp
• Shredded Coconut 1 to 2 Tbsp
• Sugar 1 to 2 Tsp
• Egg white (Optional)
• Ghee

Thaw the puff pastry sheet for 1/2 hour. Cut it into medium sized square pieces and keep it aside. Split the dates and keep it aside. Heat ghee in a pan and add chopped nuts. Shallow fry it. Lower the flame and add shredded coconut, sugar and cardamom pdr. Combine well and remove it from fire. Stuff the dates with this mixture. Slightly thin out the puff pastry sheet using a rolling pin. Keep the stuffed dates in a corner and roll the sheet over it and use either egg white or water to apply at the end of the sheet to act as an adhesive. Twist the ends of the sheet. For glacing, brush egg white over the roll. Preheat the oven to 350 deg F and bake them for 15 to 20 mins.

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Unakkameen (Dry Fish) Vellarikka Curry

Ingredients:

• Unakkameen 5 to 6 med pieces 
• Vellarikka 2 cup
• Coconut 1/2 grtd
• Green Chilly 5 to 6
• Shallots 3 to 4
• Turmeric pdr 1/2 Tsp
• Corriander pdr 2 Tsp
• Chilly pdr 1 tsp
• Curry leaves
• Mustard
• Water
• Salt
• Oil

Use big fleshy dried fish for better taste. Soak fish in water for 1/2 to 1 hr. Clean it and squeeze out the excess water and keep it aside. Cut vellarikka (cucumber)  into medium pieces. Cook fish and vellarikka with curry leaves, sliced shallots and water. Combine turmeric, corriander and chilly pdr and make it into a paste. Add it into the fish and boil well. Grind together coconut, chilly, turmeric pdr and shallots. Add this into the cooked fish and mix well. Boil it in low flame for few minutes. Season it with mustard and curry leaves.

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Irachi (Beef) Charu

Ingredients:

• Beef 1 kg
• Onion 1 big
• Ginger 1 big piece
• Garlic 3 to4 pods
• Chilly 5 to 7
• Vinegar 1 Tbsp
• Pepper pdr 1 Tsp
• Turmeric Pdr 1/2 Tsp
• Garam Masala 1/2 Tsp
• Corriander Pdr 2 to 3 Tbsp
• Coconut Milk Thick 1 cup
• Coconut Milk Thin 1/2 cup
• Curry leaves
• Mustard
• Salt
• Oil

Cut the beef into medium pieces. Pressure cook it with onion, ginger, garlic, chilly, curry leaves, pepper pdr, turmeric pdr, salt and garam masala and vinegar and keep it aside. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard. When it splutters, reduce the heat and add corriander pdr. Add little water into it and roast well till it turns dark. Pour this into the cooked beef and mix well. Add thin coconut milk into this and boil it in medium flame. Reduce the heat and add thick coconut milk. Combine well and remove from fire.

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