Tuesday, December 30, 2008

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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Wednesday, December 24, 2008

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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Monday, December 22, 2008

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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Thursday, December 18, 2008

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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Monday, December 15, 2008

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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Saturday, December 13, 2008

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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Monday, December 8, 2008

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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Friday, December 5, 2008

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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Tuesday, December 2, 2008

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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Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thakkalikka (Tomato) Moru Curry

Ingredients:

  • Tomato 2 to 4
  • Coconut 1 1/2 cup
  • Garlic 2 to 3 pods
  • Shallots 3 to 5
  • Chilly 5 to 6
  • Curry leaves
  • Mustard seeds
  • Fenugreek seeds
  • Cumin seeds 1/2 Tsp
  • Turmeric pdr 1/2 Tsp
  • Curd 2 cup
  • Water
  • Salt
  • Oil
Cook together sliced tomatoes, chilly, curry leaves, shallots, salt, water and a pinch of turmeric pdr. Keep it aside. Grind together coconut, cumin seed, garlic, shallots and chilly into a paste. Add this paste and beaten curd into the cooked tomatoes and mix well. Boil it for few minutes in low heat and remove from fire. Season it with shallots, curry leaves, mustard and fenu greek seeds.

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Sunday, November 23, 2008

Quail (Kaada) Egg Pickle

Ingredients:

  • Quail Egg 20
  • Chilly Pdr 2 Tsp
  • Pepper Pdr 11/2 Tsp
  • Corriander Pdr 3 Tsp
  • Turmeric Pdr 1/2 Tsp
  • Meat Masala 1 1/2 Tsp
  • Perum Jeerakam (Saunf) 1 Tsp
  • Ginger Paste 1/2 Tsp
  • Garlic Paste 1/2 Tsp
  • Asafoetida 1/4 Tsp
  • Gingelly oil (Nallenna) 100 ml
  • Vinegar 25 ml
  • Water 1 cup
  • Salt
  • Oil

Boil 1 cup of water and allow it to cool. Boil the eggs, remove the shells and stripe it slightly. Keep it aside. Heat oil in a kadai and add ginger garlic paste. Saute it and add perumjeerakam. Reduce the heat and put corriander pdr, meat masala, turmeric pdr, pepper pdr and asafoetida. Combine it well and remove it from fire. Add chilly pdr, salt, vinegar and boiled water. After cooling down, put the boiled eggs into this and mix well. Refrigerate it in an air tight container. Care should be taken to consume the pickle at the earliest as they cannot be preserved like other pickles.

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Crispy Bhindi (Vendakka) Fingers

Ingredients:

  • Bhindi 2 to 5
  • Chilly pdr 1 Tsp
  • Pepper Pdr 1 Tsp
  • Corn Flour 1 Tbsp
  • Ginger Paste 1/4 Tsp
  • Garlic Paste 1/4 Tsp
  • Bread Crumbs 1 cup
  • Egg 1
  • Salt
  • Oil
Cut bhindi into two. Then steam it and keep it aside. Combine the rest of the ingredients into a thick batter. Dip the steamed bhindi in batter and roll it in bread crumbs and fry it.

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Saturday, November 15, 2008

Mixed Vegetable Dosa

[Click on image to view enlarged image.]

Ingredients:

  • Wheat flour 2 cup
  • Rice flour 2 Tbsp
  • Ginger 1 big piece
  • Capsicum 1 small
  • Mushroom 2 to 3
  • Onion 1 big
  • Chilly 1 to 2
  • Corriander leaves 1/2 cup
  • Turmeric pdr 1/4 Tsp
  • Corriander pdr 1/2 Tsp
  • Garam Masala 1/4 Tsp
  • Chilly Pdr 1/2 Tsp
  • Water
  • Salt

Combine the wheat flour, rice flour, salt and water together and make it into a fine batter. Keep it aside. Heat oil in a pan and add chopped ginger, capsicum, onion, chilly and mushroom. Saute and add chilly, turmeric, corriander and garam masala powder and mix it well. Saute it for another 5 to 10 minutes and remove from fire. After cooling down, put it into the batter. Add chopped corriander leaves and mix well. Then make dosa with this batter.
[Courtesy: Nisha Philips]


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

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Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Potato Spinach Masala

Ingredients:

  • Potato 3 med
  • Spinach 1 bunch
  • Onion 1 big
  • Garlic 4 to 5 pods
  • Ginger 1 small piece
  • Garam masala 1/2 tsp
  • Turmeric pdr 1/2 tsp
  • Corriander pdr 1/2 tsp
  • Chilly pdr 2 to 3 tsp
  • Curry leaves
  • Mustard
  • Oil
  • Salt
Clean and cut the spinach. Cook it with little salt and keep it aside. Boil the potatoes separately and cut it into medium pieces. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add curry leaves, onion, garlic and ginger. When it turns brown, reduce the heat and add chilly, corriander, turmeric pdr, salt and garam masala into it and mix well. Add boiled potato and cooked spinach into it and cook it for 5 to 10 minutes.

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Saturday, November 8, 2008

Veggie Soya Cutlet - Happy 100th Post...!!

Ingredients:

  • Soya 1 cup
  • Potato 2 med
  • Onion 2 med
  • Green chilly 5 to 6
  • Garlic 3 to 4 pods
  • Ginger 1 big piece
  • Pepper pdr 1 Tsp
  • Corriander pdr 1 Tsp
  • Garam masala 1/2 Tsp
  • Turmeric pdr 1 pinch
  • Bread crumbs from fresh bread 1 cup
  • Curry leaves
  • Maida 1 cup
  • Water as rqd
  • Salt
  • Oil
Boil water with salt. Cook soya in this water for 10 minutes. Remove from fire. After it cools down, squeeze out the excess water from the soya. Chop it well and keep it aside. Cook the potatoes, peel the skin, mash them and keep it aside. Chop the onion, ginger, garlic, curry leaves and chilly well. Heat oil in a kadai. Add the chopped vegetables and saute it. Add the chopped soya, salt, turmeric pdr, garam masala, corriander pdr and pepper pdr. Saute well till it becomes dry. Keep it aside. After cooling down, add the mashed potato into this mixture and mix well.
Mix together maida, little salt and adequate amount of water to make a batter. Keep it aside. Make bread crumbs from fresh bread by using a chopper or food processor. To make the cutlets, dip it in maida and roll it in fresh bread crumbs and fry it.

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Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Green Onion Pepper Chicken

Ingredients:

  • Chicken 1 kg
  • Onion 3 big
  • Green onion 1 cup
  • Ginger paste 1/2 Tsp
  • Garlic paste 1/2 Tsp
  • Pepper pdr 1 Tbsp
  • Corriander pdr 1 1/2Tsp
  • Turmeric pdr 1/2 Tsp
  • Garam masala 1/2 Tsp
  • Tomato sauce 1 Tbsp
  • Red chilly paste 1Tsp
  • Vinegar 1 Tsp
  • Salt
  • Oil
Cut the chicken into medium pieces. Marinate the chicken with turmeric, corriander, pepper pdr, garam masala and vinegar for 1/2 hour. Cook the chicken and keep it aside. Heat oil in a pan and add onion. When it turns golden brown, add ginger-garlic paste and mix well. Add the cooked chicken into this and saute it. Add green onion, tomato sauce and chilly paste into chicken and saute continously till it turns dry.

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Sunday, November 2, 2008

Shortbread

Ingredients:

  • Unsalted Butter, at room temperature 1/2 cup
  • Caster Sugar 1/2 cup
  • All Purpose Flour 1 1/4 cup
  • Rice Flour 1/2 cup
  • Baking pdr 1/4Tsp
  • Salt 1/4 Tsp
Preheat the oven to 160 deg C/ 325 deg F. Grease a cake pan and keep it aside. Beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Sift over the flours, baking pdr and salt, and mix well. Press this mixture into the greased pan, smoothing the top with a spoon. Bake it for 40 to 45 minutes.
Courtesy: 1001 Recipes

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

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Saturday, November 1, 2008

Awards


Thanks to my dearest blogger friends Saju, VineelaSiva and Prasu for the award.




Thanks to Pinky for the award.






Thanks to Renu for the award.





Thanks to Pinky for the award.





Thanks to Pinky for the award.





Thanks to Pinky and Shabs for the award.





Thanks to Pinky for the award.






Thanks to Priya for the award.






Thanks to Priya for the award.






Thanks to Foodyguru and Dhanya Rajeesh for the award.






Thanks to Lena for the award.






Thanks to Sangeetha and Dhanya for this award and I would like to pass this on to Pooja.





Thanks to all who voted me to the Second Prize in the Magnificent Click Contest 2009.





Thank you Divz of 'Yum-World' for the Super Duper Chef Award.





Thank you Varsha of  'WILL-O'-THE -WISP' for the Emerald Award.










Thank you Varsha of 'WILL-O'-THE -WISP' for the Lemonade Award.






Thank you Varsha of  'WILL-O'-THE -WISP' for this award. I would like to pass this on to Vrinda and Mahesh of  Sankeerthanam.



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Recipe Index



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Breakfast ]











[ Cake ]













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Chutney ]












Cookies ]















Egg ]
Kerala Ruchi ]














Soup ]



[ Pickle ]













Rice ]


















[ Smoothies ]














Snacks/Appetizer ]















[ Sweets ]














Vegetarian ]











All Recipes at a glance



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