Friday, June 14, 2013

Eggless Custard Powder Ice cream
     After a fun trip to Pune, I am back again in Chennai and enjoying the busy life meeting friends(Vj's friends), shopping(not for me, for the wedding ;) hahaha) and looking forward for this week with house fully packed with guests for the wedding. Yesterday I was supposed to post this, but somehow could not post. When I was short of posts, Jeyashri came up with this guest post idea, I was really happy and relieved :) Ofcourse I need not cook, click, edit, type and make a post but I can just copy paste and publish the post ;) Thank you so much Jeyashri for the timely help, you always help me a lot :) And regarding this recipe, I have never tried making icecream at home and never thought also. I dont have a label Ice cream in my blog. Now, I am creating one :) and hope I could try some in the future. I have tasted mango Ice cream at her home, she promised me to make this one as well when ever I visit her! Lucky me :P  So here's Jeyashri's Custard powder Ice cream recipe:

    Ice cream is always special to me and this post is even more special to me, as this Vanilla custard powder ice cream i am posting as a Guest Post for Rak's Kitchen.  Though i got introduced to her through blogs, now a days our weekly chat sessions will rarely involve in matters relating to our blogs. This Vanilla custard powder ice cream i wanted to make for a very long time ,but many times the Indian store here, doesn’t have Vanilla flavoured Custard powder. Recently i saw in a shop and bought it immediately. The ice cream came out super softy and creamy, but only sad part is i wanted to share the ice cream with Raji, but when i visited her home the other day, i totally forgot to take it with me.
Custard powder Ice cream

INGREDIENTS: YIELDS 4 SCOOPS
CUSTARD POWDER (VANILA FLAVOR) 1 AND 1/2 TBLSP
SUGAR 4-5 TBLSP
MILK (LOW FAT) 2 CUPS
CREAM 2 TBLSP


  • Boil the milk in a saucepan, reserving 3 tblsps of milk aside.
  • Mix the custard powder in the 3 tblsp of milk into a smooth paste without any lumps.
  • Add this custard mixture to the boiled milk and keep the flame low. Stir it continuously for 2 minutes. The mixture will give a thick custard. Let it be like a dosa batter consistency.
custard powder custard powder
  • Add sugar to it and put off the flame.
  • Allow this custard to cool down completely.
  • When done, add cream to this ( i used the Nestle cream) and whip in the mixer for a minute.
custard cream
  • Pour this mixture in a freezer safe box and freeze it for an hour.
  • After that take out and whip it again for a minute. Repeat this step 2 times . this is to avoid the formation of Ice and to get a creamy texture.
Vanilla ice cream Ice cream
  • After doing the whipping process for 3 times, freeze the ice cream mixture for 5-6 hours.
  • Your vanilla custard powder ice cream is done.
Ice cream whipped Ice cream
  • Serve with fruits if you want.
  Custard powder Ice cream

Note:
  1. You can use any flavour of custard powder.
  2. To the custard powder mixture, instead of sugar you can add condensed milk to get a rich taste.
  3. You can add nuts to this after you finish off the whipping process. You will get the nutty bits while having ice cream.
  4. Do not add custard powder more than the quantity mentioned.

CUSTARD POWDER ICE CREAM RECIPE

Labels: ,

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

vazhaithandu-mor-kootu
       I wanted to post vazhaithandu more kootu / banana stem mor kootu for long time, when ever I buy banana stem, I rather make poriyal than this kootu. But love this mor kootu a lot because it tastes like aviyal a little bit :) And the procedure is also somewhat similar with similar ingredients. I found this cool way of removing the excess fiber in the cookbook I have, so tried it for the first time and surprised with the results. Its really cool and easy, so do try this way as I have mentioned in the post.
      I am in Pune right now enjoying the break stay here and busy roaming around for shopping. Another two days here and then again back to busy marriage week at Chennai. Hoping to keep the blog alive with posts :)
banana-stem-kootu

Vazhaithandu more kootu recipe

Indian Side dish
Prep Time: 20 mins    |  Cook time: 15 mins    Serves: 4

Ingredients

Vazhaithandu  1
Curd 1/2 cup
Green chilli 5
curry leaves 1 sprig
Salt As needed

To temper

Oil/ coconut oil 1 tsp
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Urad dal 1 tsp
Curry leaves 1 sprig

To Grind

Coconut 1/2 cup
Jeera 3/4 tsp
Green chilli 4
Rice flour 1tsp

Method

  1. Remove the skin of the banana stem,which will look like a separate ring as shown in the pic.1-vazhaithandu
  2. Then cut into thin circles as shown in the picture. If you want you can remove the fiber part as you cut. Otherwise, you can also follow the next step. Chop finely as shown in the picture. Keep immersed in lemon squeezed water in a bowl until use.2-vazhaithandu
  3. Use a clean and lengthy toothpick, insert it into the chopped banana stem and run the toothpick in between your palm to and fro as we beat for making buttermilk from curd (using mathu). This way the excess fiber part can be removed and discarded.
  4. 3-vazhaithandu
  5. Grind coconut, green chilli, jeera and rice flour with little water to a smooth paste.
  6. 4-vazhaithandu
  7. Boil water and cook the banana stem with salt. Once done, add the ground coconut paste and mix well. Bring to boil and switch off the flame.
  8. 6-vazhaithandu
  9. Mix well and add the curd (beat well). mix well and temper over the kootu with the items given under to temper table.5-vazhaithandu

Notes


  • Soaking the chopped banana stem in sour butter milk or lemon with water will help preventing discoloration.
  • After adding curd, do not let the kootu boil.

Serve as accompaniment for rice, tastes best with tangy vathal kuzhambus mainly. mor-kootu-recipe

VAZHAITHANDU MOR KOOTU RECIPE

Labels: , ,

Saturday, June 8, 2013

south indian meal idea
     I am really sorry first of all for not posting last saturday :( I was travelling and dint schedule the post thinking I  can post something from Chennai. But I was in Salem and dint find time to post ;) So now I am back, though busy with things happening around, some how managed to click this meal I made the other day. 
    Chennai is not hot as I thought, after all the showers :) And Aj enjoying a lot his stay than anybody else :) Yet to explore the new shopping malls, hopefully I should be able to see those and shop too mainly :D 
    I had tough time making this post without my laptop, editing tools and all. Will try to update a better picture later. 
South Indian meal idea

    This meal had the following :


  1. Drumstick sambar
  2. Kathrikkai kari
  3. Vendakkai varuval
  4. Manga Pachadi
  5. Nellikkai thayir pachadi
Hover over the list and click to see the recipes! And I will try my best to post next week too.

Have a great weekend with homey food :)

LUNCH MENU 7 - SOUTH INDIAN MEAL IDEA

Labels: ,

Thursday, June 6, 2013

manga-thogaiyal-recipe    This is also a recipe my MIL recommended me to try after she had tried it, watching a cookery show. She has adapted the recipe to suit her taste and it came out excellent and then she shared the recipe. When I heard this one, it was more like a kerala recipe, with slight differences. And I tried this the immediate next day after she told. And we both liked this. I had it with idlies and lvoe it a lot. The mango flavour was really good in this thogayal. Since now its mango season, you all can try this for a change at your home. The recipe used garlic, but my MIL tried it with ginger and found it good. I tried with garlic and it was a winning combination too. manga-thogaiyal-recipe1

Mango thogayal recipe

Indian Side dish
Prep Time: 5 mins    |  Cook time: 5 mins    Serves: 4

Ingredients

Grated coconut 1/2 cup
Chopped mango( kili  mooku/ ottu manga) 1/4 cup
Green chilli 5
Garlic, small variety 3
Coriander leaves 1/2 cup
Asafoetida 2 pinches
Salt As needed

To temper

Oil 1 tsp
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Red chilli 1
Curry leaves 1 sprig

Method

  1. Divide the mango into two and take out the seed and hard part. wash well and chop into small cubes roughly. Grind with all the other ingredients in the first table with very little water.1-manga-thogaiyal
  2. The ground mixture should be little coarse in texture and not smooth. Transfer to serving bowl and temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table.2-manga-thogaiyal
     
     Serve as accompaniment for rice or even you can mix with rice and eat. You can also eat this with idli, plain dosa and kal dosa. Taste excellent!

mango-thogaiyal-recipe

MANGO THOGAYAL RECIPE (MANGA THOGAYAL)

Labels: ,

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

aloo-bonda-recipe
        Aloo bonda/ urulaikizhangu bonda is a classic tea/ coffee time snack and can be made easily. It is sure a kids favourite as it has potato stuffed inside. I wanted to try this for long time, made only once before. But somehow, I haven't made it, that often.  Though I tried this after years, I was happy with the result, as I was bit worried how it would turn out. So here's the snack, that would be a family pleasing snack. I did this post as guest post for Jeyashri and now as I am busy travelling I thought of making use of this post now here and share with my readers as well :)

ALOO BONDA RECIPE / URULAIKIZHANGU BONDA RECIPE

Labels: , ,

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Panneer-soda-homemade    
          Paneer soda? It can be new to so many of you! I knew there is one such drink even when I was a kid, through my mom, drooling when she says paneer soda. Its not the paneer – Indian cottage cheese, but this is rose water – Panneer! It is used in Indian weddings by sprinkling over people to welcome guests. Also for mixing sandalwood powder and for puja purposes too. I so so love the fragrance of panneer. Be it in the rose ice (the triangle popsicles we get those days during summer) or any other sweets like jangri, I just go crazy about eating it. And this panneer soda is also not an exception! I had a chance to drink it only 2 years back near a temple (Ettukudi) and loved it a lot. So only once that time, after that I had no luck drinking panneer soda.
         Meanwhile here in SG, in pasta mania we get Italian lychee soda (litchi as we say), which will be more like panneer soda only that, this will be more sweet. So I thought of trying my own panneer soda at home. And thought it would be helpful for all panneer soda lovers to try on their own. Its so simple and easy just 4 ingredients, you have delicious thirst quencher for this summer!
paneer-soda-homemade

Paneer soda recipe

Indian Drinks beverages
Prep Time: 5 mins    |  Cook time: 10 mins    Serves: 4

Ingredients

Sugar 1/2 cup
Water 3/4  cup
Rose essence 3 drops
Plain soda As needed for serving

Method

  1. Bring water and sugar to boil, continue boiling in medium flame for 3 minutes. Cool down. Add rose essence and stir well. 1-paneer
  2. Once cooled down, you can store it in airtight bottles and refrigerate it.2-panneer
  3. When ever needed, at the time of serving, add 3 tblsp or 4 tblsp over few ice cubes placed in a glass as per your sweet preference and add chilled plain soda over it and mix well.3-panner
Notes
    • You can replace rose essence with rose water we get in stores. In that case, use 2-3 tblsp in place of 3 drops of essence, as rose water is slightly diluted.
    • Another way for enjoying this drink – if you have rose syrup at home, you can use that as well along with soda.
    • Use always good quality essence.
            
                 Consume as soon as you add the soda to enjoy the great taste. Always serve chilled.

homemade-panneer-soda

HOMEMADE PANEER SODA RECIPE

Labels:

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

bruschetta-with-garlic   
I have tasted bruschetta only once, that was more like bread toasted with tomato salsa. But never thought of trying at home, but when I got cute little cherry tomatoes, I wanted to try something out of it, I saw this recipe with garlic in foodnetwork, so I slightly adapted the recipe and came up with this recipe. It was really tasting great, my whole family enjoyed this. It smelt and tasted great. This will make an amazing starter also, can be made in a jiffy and can give you a lot of volume to serve a big crowd! There are many versions and variations of bruschetta recipe, this particular recipe is without cheese.

bruschetta-cherry-tomato

Bruschetta recipe

Italian Appetizer
Prep Time: 12 mins    |  Cook time: 8 mins    Serves: 2

Ingredients

Baguette bread / french loaf 1
Cherry tomatoes 30
Onion 1
Garlic, chopped finely 1tblsp
Chopped fresh coriander leaves 2 tblsp
Dried oregano 1 tsp
Salt As needed
Olive oil (extra virgin) As needed
Black pepper powder 1 tsp

 

Method

  1. Pre heat oven to 180 deg. C. Halve the cherry tomatoes lengthwise, finely chop onion, coriander leaves and very finely the garlic. Mix all the ingredients chopped with pepper, oregano and1 & 1/2 tblsp of olive oil and mix well.1-bruschetta
  2. With a sharp knife/ bread knife, slice the baguette  bread as shown in the picture. It should be thick (1/2 inch) and you can either cut it to simple circles or fancy ovals by cutting bit diagonally. arrange the cut slices in a greased baking tray and spoon the tomato mix over like around 3 tblsp over each.2-bruschetta
  3. Again drizzle generously over each with olive oil and bake for upto 5 – 8 minutes, or until the tomatoes shrink and nice aroma wafts. 3-bruschetta

Notes

    • You can use ordinary tomatoes in place of cherry tomatoes. You can use 2 small in that case.
    • You can sprinkle some grated cheese over this before baking, use mozzarella cheese for better results.
    • Instead of black pepper powder, try using chilli flakes.
                 
                    Serve hot and it makes a great party snack/ starter/ appetizer, without any sweat!

buschetta-with-tomatoes

BRUSCHETTA RECIPE | EASY STARTER RECIPES

Labels: , , , , ,

Saturday, May 25, 2013

north-indian-lunch-menu 
        Since I am a south Indian, I am always fascinated towards north Indian cuisine. I love each and everything, right from basmati rice, dal. Dal and basmati rice is my most favourite. And so as Aj. He too loves dal and rice Cool. Not that I dont like our south Indian meals. I do, but only if somebody else cooks for me and gives me a spread in my handsWinking. That’s coz, me bored of my own cooking. SighDoh!. Now this North Indian lunch menu was suggested to me by my friend Sangeeta. So I thought this weekend, I would post this one.  So from this post onwards all my posts will be scheduled posts as I am flying to Chennai coming week. Will be busy busy shopping and packing, so I have scheduled all the posts for next few weeks. I may not reply your queries immediately, but sure will do when ever I find time! And now to the North Indian Thali.
north-indian-thali

This particular plate has the following :
  1. Phulkas : Here is the link for the post for how to puff up a roti in direct flame with video.
  2. Cauliflower Sabzi
  3. Baby corn masala
  4. Dal fry( seen in the picture) , Here is another dal fry recipe
And Steamed rice, papad, Sliced onion cucumber tomato and pickle. I also had rose milk as a drink Happy.
I have few other simple north Indian menu ideas, will sure come up with interesting ones in recent future. Have a great weekend!

LUNCH MENU 6 | NORTH INDIAN LUNCH MENU

Labels: ,

Thursday, May 23, 2013

carrot beans poriyal recipe
One of the simplest poriyal / stir fry, carrot beans poriyal. I have been thinking of posting this for long time, then thought its too simple to post, but now thought it can help beginners or bachelors. And I wanted to click this beautiful colourful poriyal very much, so at last, here it is! I love it a lot as side dish for rice or even to mix it with rice + ghee or sesame oil, just the way we used to eat when we were kids. Yes those days we never eat our serving of vegetale, we ignore the side dish, so my mom used to mix it with rice and ghee before we eat sambar / kuzhambu.

carrot-beans-poriyal

Carrot beans poriyal recipe

Indian Lunch
Prep Time: 10 mins    |  Cook time: 10 mins    Serves: 2

Ingredients

Carrot 2
Beans 20
Onion 1
Sambar powder 1tsp
Turmeric 1/8 tsp
Grated coconut 1/4 cup
Salt As needed

To temper

Oil 2 tsp
Mustard 3/4 tsp
Urad dal 1 tsp
Curry leaves 1 sprig

Method

  1. Peel of the carrot skin and wash both carrot and beans. Chop them into small pieces as per your preference. Heat a kadai and temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table. Add finely chopped onion and fry for a minute or until transparent. Add the chopped vegetables, 2 for a minutes in medium flame, add sambar powder,turmeric and salt.1-carrot-beans 
  2. Sprinkle 3-4 tblsp water and cook covered for 4-5 minutes.2-carrot-beans 
  3. Lastly add the grated coconut and stir once, remove from fire.3-carrot-beans 

Notes

  • If you are making this for lunch box, after adding coconut, keep frying for 2 minutes in low flame. If you are consuming immediately, no need to cook after adding coconut.
  • Adding a pinch of sugar after adding vegetables helps the veggies retain their colour and crunch.
  • Do not over cook, let the veggies retain the crunchiness (but perfectly cooked, not uncooked).

Serve as accompaniment for rice with sambar or kuzhambu.

carrot-beans-poriyal-recipe

CARROT BEANS PORIYAL RECIPE / CARROT BEANS STIR FRY

Labels: , , ,