Ginger Bread House: Daring Baker's December 2009 Challenge

This is the first time I had taken part in a challenge of this nature to make a Ginger Bread House. I love baking and that’s what prompted me to even try this. It was tough never having seen how a House like this is put together. I did finally finish the house even though barely enough to take a few pictures. After having viewed the first set of photos, I wanted to get a second set of pictures from a different angle. And to do that I slightly moved the House, and before I could get to my camera, I heard a noise and looked back just to see my house crumbling down. Now looking back at the project it was a learning experience well worth the time. Next Christmas if I get the time I will be making a House that is much better.

From the dough that I had left over after making the house I made lots of cookies, and they just came out tasty. I modified the recipe of Y of Lemonpi . I think I learned from this challenge is I need to be more patience and perfect while baking some thing.

What you need 

Butter: 1 cup
Brown sugar: 1 ½ cup
Water: 1 cup
Cinnamon: 2 tablespoon
Ground Ginger: 1.25 tablespoon
Ground cloves: 3 teaspoon
Baking soda: 1 tablespoon
All purpose flour: 5 cup

How I made

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until blended. Add cinnamon, ground ginger and cloves. Mix the baking soda with the boiling water and add to the dough along with the flour. Mix everything to make stiff dough. I chilled the dough overnight.

Cut patterns for the house, making patterns for the roof, front and back wall in a cardboard.

Roll the dough in slightly floured bench roughly 1/8 inch thick. Cut required shapes and transfer to the baking sheet.
Pre heat oven at 375F and bake for 15 minutes until the cookie dough feels firm. After baking place it in wire rack to cool it completely.

For Icing I used, ready to decorate icing from Wilton and Pillsbury creamy supreme classic white because I could not find pasteurized eggs, I was not comfortable with using raw egg whites.

Lesson Learned

For House use ½ inch thick dough.
Trim the sides after baking.
Make sure the pieces of house fits properly before using icing.
Use more icing to glue the house.

Preparation time: Overnight + 2 hours
Yield: One house and 25 small ginger bread cookies
Verdict: Cookies are tasty
Will you make it again? Probably next Christmas if I get time


Swathi

Achappam/ Kerala Style Rosette Cookies

One of Christmas cookies I like very much. First time I tasted this cookie when a neighbor made for us in our home. At that time I was kid running to kitchen in between the games and snatching whatever was kept on the dining table. Now achappam is available throughout the year in the bakery. It is somewhat similar to Scandinavian rosette cookies. Usually it is made using an achappam mold, but the one my dad had bought for me is made of steel and the dough does not stick on it. So I used the one I bought from Amazon.  It is a mold for rosette cookies. I made the achappam this way.

What you need:

Rice flour: 1 cup
All purpose flour: 1 tablespoon ( I didn't add  when I made second time)
Coconut milk: 1 ¼ cup
Water: ¼ cup
Salt: ¼ teaspoon
Egg: Half of one egg
Baking powder: ¼ tsp
Sugar: ¼ cup
Black Sesame seeds: 1/2 tablespoon
Oil for frying










How I made

 In a small bowl beat egg slightly and set aside.

In bowl add rice flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, black sesame seeds, slightly beaten egg and coconut milk and water, mix everything until incorporated well. Batter should be similar to pan cake or dosa. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a thick bottom pan and put mold also in oil while heating. When oil is smoking hot, dip achappam mold into the batter and again put in oil with batter. Achapam begin to leave from mold as it starts cooking. If it not dot detach by itself from the mold, use a skewer to help to detach, and continue to cook them until it become crisp and slightly brown in color It takes about 1 minutes to each . Remove them using a skewer and drain extra oil in paper towel. When it completely cooled, store it in an air tight container.

Enjoy..

Note: I skipped all purpose flour while making second time.I didn't find any taste difference.

Make sure you drain the oil before dipping mold in the batter, otherwise it won't stick to  the mold.

Preparation time: 1 hour
Yield: 40
Verdict: Tasty, Crispy
Will you make it again: Yes I will



Swathi

Merry Chirstmas and Happy Holidays

I wish everybody a MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS

SWATHI

Plum cake/Rich fruit cake-Christmas cake

Can you think about any Christmas without cakes and cookies? No it is not possible. When you talk of fruit cake here US, usually a laugh is on everybody’s face thinking of fruit cake throwing. Even a Great Fruitcake Toss event is held annually in Manitou Springs, Colorado every first Saturday of January. . May fruit cake for that event are rock hard and not edible.

But in Kerala, South India, there is tradition of making rich and moist fruit cake for Christmas. After having a bite you always go for another one that is moist, aromatic and tasty. Mom did not bake anything at home. So I usually got a chance to taste the fruit cakes from neighbors, as Christmas holidays are usually fun and having long time to play without getting scolding for not studying. Yes it not easy to make that tasty fruit cake. It requires soaking dry fruits in alcohol, making caramel syrup etc. After searching and reading lot of recipes in the web. I settled with one and made my own changes.

Since going shopping with a 7 month old, becomes tedious one as the baby is always crying when somebody touches or comes close to her, most of my shopping, except some clothing is done by my hubby. So when I asked him to buy tuti fruity, (rinds of orange, and lemon with green, red, orange coloring) it was difficult task for him. Finally he bought a packet of dry fruits (strawberry, papaya, kiwi, apricot, and pineapple). I soaked them in brandy for 5 days. Finally I made plum cake this way.

What you need

Soaking

Assorted dry fruits (strawberry, papaya, kiwi and pineapple) (finely chopped): 1 cup

Raisins : 1/3 cup

Cranberries: 1/3 cup

Dates : 1/3 cup (chopped finely)

Dry apricot: 1/5 cup (4 no chopped finely)

Brandy /Rum : 1 ½ cup ( I used Brandy, Christian brothers )

Nuts smeared with almond essence

Almond (Chopped finely): ¼ cup

Cashew (Chopped finely): ¼ cup

Almond essence: 1/8 tsp

Batter

All purpose flour : 1 ½ cup

Butter : 10 Tablespoon (1 ¼ sticks)

Granulated sugar: 1 ¼ cup

Salt : ¼ teaspoon

Egg yolk: 3 at room temperature

Egg whites: 3 at room temperature

Baking powder: 1 teaspoon

Orange juice: 1/3 cup

Vanilla extract: 1teaspoon

Caramel syrup

Granulated sugar: ¼ cup

Water: 1 tablespoon +1/2 cup

Lemon juice: ¼ teaspoon

Spice powder

Caraway Seeds: 1 teaspoon (powdered)

Powdered nutmeg: ¼ teaspoon

Powdered Cinnamon: ½ teaspoon

Powdered cloves: ¼ teaspoon

Powdered cardamom: ½ teaspoon

Powdered ginger: ¼ teaspoon

How I made:

Chop all the dry fruits including nuts into small pieces and soak them in brandy for at least one day advance. I soaked for them form 5 days. Smear the nuts with almond essence and keep it aside.

To make caramel syrup take ¼ cup sugar and 1 tablespoon water in heavy bottom pan and heat it until sugar melts and change cherry brown color. Add few drops of lemon juice to prevent crystallization of sugar. It took about 7 minutes for me. Transfer the pan with sugar to kitchen sink and immediately add ½ cup of cold water (Be careful with this step, otherwise serious burn can results) for easy cleaning. Keep aside and add only cold caramel syrup to batter.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan and 5-inch loaf dish. Line the bottom with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pan.

Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and spice powder in a bowl and keep aside.

Separate egg whites and yolk. In a bowl beat egg whites using a hand mixer until you get white peaks and keep aside.

In an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed, until everything mix well and incorporated. Add egg yolk one at a time to sugar butter mixture and mix well. Then add vanilla extract and caramel syrup (1/2 cup) mix everything and combined well. Add slowly flour-salt-baking-spice powder mix in small quantities and incorporate everything. Scrape down the sides of bowl once at twice. Stop the mixer and fold egg whites gently until no white streaks visible.

Finally drain the soaked fruits and add nuts and 1 tablespoon of all purpose flour and mix well. And fold in fruits and nuts into the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and smoothen the tops with a spatula. Bake for 1 hour or until skewer comes out clean.

Cool the cake in pan for 15 minutes and later invert them and cool completely for 45 minutes. Keep cake one or two days before serving.

Enjoy,

Preparation time: Soaking 5 days + 2 hour

Yield: 15 serving

Verdict; Yummy

Will you make it again: yes I will

I  am   linking this delicious cake to  12 Days of bloggie-mas on the first day hosted by A moderate life.

Swathi

Kuzhalappam/Fried rice flour tubes/Rice flour cannoli

One of Christmas snack in Kerala, where every mom and grandmamma in the kitchen is busy making it. It is now available in bakery throughout the year. I had some school mates who used to bring it to school and share with friends. I like the crunchiness and its shapes even though mom did not like to make it at home. I love to eat them and not worry about how they are made.

Here, I do get it from an Indian store owned by a person hailing from Kerala. Usually they are broken and stale, so I decided to make them. Kuzhalappam is fried rice flour in the shape of long tubes somewhat similar to cannoli, so I also bought cannoli forms from Amazon. Now after having made variety of dishes, I have the courage to experiment on the dishes. Yesterday evening I made the attempt, as hubby agreed to take care of my 7 months old. I followed the recipe of Mishmash with some changes my own.

In the first batch when I tried to use cannoli forms, the dough did not stick on the form and fell into the hot oil. So I made my own tubes by holding spread flour without any support. In Kerala they use banana leaf stem or cassava leaf stem as support to wrap the dough. Second batch as l increased the quantity of water to increase the stickiness of the dough. I was thus able to use the cannoli forms and got the perfect shape I was looking for.

What you need

Lightly roasted rice flour: 1 cup (I used store bought flour)
Coconut milk : 1 cup (thinned out with water to get medium consistency)
Water : ¼ cup
Sesame seeds : 1 tsp
Cumin seeds : ½ tsp
Pearl onion : 2 no
Salt : ¼ tsp or to taste
Oil : for frying




How I made

Heat coconut milk in a sauce pot and as it starts boiling add minced pearl onion, salt and to this mixture add rice flour and mix well. To rice mixture add cumin and sesame seeds and turn off the stove. Keep aside for 5 minutes.

When the mixture is warm enough to touch, knead it into smooth, soft dough.

Divide the dough into small balls and try to roll out into thin circular disc as cookie dough. Since it is difficult to rolling out the dough with a rolling pin, I used a Ziploc cover and placed small amount of dough in between the fold and applied pressure to make thin sheet in between sheets. After achieving desired thickness around 1/8 inches, and fold thin sheet into tubular forms. (Here cannoli forms will come as help).

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and when it is smoking hot slide one tube at a time. Fry 2-3 tubes depending upon pan size. Make sure as dough tubes are fully drenched into the oil. Keep flipping sides until it’s become crispy and cooked well. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain excess oil in a paper towel. Fry rest of them until you finish the entire dough. When completely cooled, store it an air tight container.

Here is the hand made Kuzhalappam.

Next comes the one  made with  cannoli forms.

Notes: If the dough is thick, cannoli forms may not work, use hands or stem of banana or cassava  the dough so that it will be workable with cannoli forms.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Yield : 15
Verdict : Tasty, yummy crispy snack
Will you make it again: Yes I will

Swathi

Brown rice –Persimmon-Saffron Kheer/Brown-rice-Persimmon - Saffron Pudding

Originally I wanted to make some phirni with persimmon, but it ended up as kheer. If you ask what is difference between phirni and kheer, nothing much both are based on same ingredients like, rice, milk, sugar etc. In later ones rice is used in the grain form where as in the earlier one it is used as paste.

In South India we call our kheer, “ payasam” and my hubby likes palada (milk and dried rice noodles) and chana dal payasam or pradhaman. Using fruit in kheer is common in north Indian cuisine. When we incorporate fruits in payasam, it is usually banana or jackfruit. I wanted to use persimmon and saffron in my dish. I saw persimmon in Indian store, I bought it thinking I can make phirini with it. Persimmon has anticoagulant properties so it widely used in homeopathic medicine and also is rich in vitamins A, B1, B2 and E, as well as calcium, iron and protein. Almond is rich in good fat. Saffron is queen of species with its tri functions such as flavoring, aromatic and colorant .

I made kheer using brown rice, persimmon, saffron and almonds. This dish has elegance of saffron, sweetness of Persimmon, and nuttiness of brown rice and almonds. It was an instant hit. Trust me you have to try it at least once.

What you need:

Broken Brown rice: 1/5 cup
Persimmon: 1 no (Chopped into small pieces)
Milk: 1 cup
Sweetened Condensed milk: 7 oz (half a can)
Water: 2 ¼ cup
Saffron: 10 strands
Almond: 15 no (toasted and halved)

How I made:

Boil 1 cup of milk with 2 cups of water in sauce pot.

Clean and soak rice for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl add 2 tablespoon of warm milk. To this add saffron strands and keep aside.

When milk starts boiling add soaked rice, and continue to boil for about 40 minutes or until the rice is done. Stir in occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom of pan.

Add condensed milk and half of saffron strands and cook for 8 minutes, and add chopped persimmon, cook for another 2 minutes.

Finally add halved almonds and remaining saffron strands and switch off the stove.

Enjoy hot or cold.

Preparation time: 1 hour
Yield: 3 serving
Verdict: Yummy!
Will you make it again: Yes

Notes: I haven’t used sugar. If you want to increase the sweetness you can add  sugar.

I am sending this brown rice- persimmon- saffron -kheer to JFI- Saffron event hosted by DK originally started by Indira.

Swathi

Rava -Moong dal upma/Semonlina- Green gram upma

Upma is one of breakfast dish often becomes dinner dish in our household. I make at least once in a week. With my 7 month old also demanding attention, it was easy to make. When I was growing up, mom made 3 types of upma, one with cracked wheat and other two with semolina and vermicelli. We hate upma, and in order to get us to eat, mom had to bribes us with promise of making or buying sweets. After I started cooking I have realize the importance of upma in my life.

Mom usually adds coconut to cracked wheat upma and to the other two nothing much except some seasoning and onions. I feel guilty to make the simple version of upma, so I add carrots, beans, onions and capsicums. My hubby thinks that adding too many vegetables spoils the taste of upma. So again back to zero. Still I add onions and carrots in my upma. After making some moong dal thoran I had a small amount of soaked moong dal remained to be used. I was thinking of making some sweets with them but changed my mind and decide to incorporate it in our routine upma. I generally experiment on a favorite dish for just one time, if the dish is not good, my hubby will tell me “ ya swathi! This one is good, but no need to make it any more” meaning this one is not good. So nowadays after making any new dish I will ask him; Honey can make it again? If he says “yes” means verdict is good.

This time I skipped carrots from ingredients, and instead added moong dal. I made my upma this way.

What you need

Rava/Sooji/Farina/Semolina: 2 cups
Moong dal/Green gram dal: 1 cup
Onions : 1 no (Finely chopped)
Green chili : 1 no (I used Serrano pepper)
Ginger : 1 inch piece (finely chopped)
Mustard : ½ teaspoon
Urad dal : ½ teaspoon
Red chilli : 2 no (halved) Increase numbers if you need spicy
Curry leaves : 1 sprig
Salt : to taste
Olive oil : 1 tablespoon
Lemon juice : 2 teaspoon
Water : 2 ½ cup for cooking upma + 2 cup for cooking moong dal.

How I made

Dry roast rava/semonlina/ Sooji/ farina in a pan until it slightly changes color.

Cook moong dal / green gram dal in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles or until it get cooked well, not get mashed.

Heat a thick bottomed pan and add olive oil and mustard, urad dal and halved red chili. Once mustard starts spluttering add onions, green chili and little salt, cook until onions become translucent or change color then add cooked moong dal and curry leaves.

Add 2 and ½ cup water and remaining salt to onion-moong dal mixture, when water starts boiling add roasted rava/ semolina and cook until it absorbs entire water and becomes thick mass first and then separates into granules. Switch off the flame and add lemon juice and mix well.

Enjoy with any pickle or even banana.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4 serving
Verdict: Tasty, slightly dry than usual other vegetables
Will you make it again: I will

Swathi

Chegodilu / Chekodilu/ Deep Fried rice flour rings For ICC

Snacks are important in my kitchen; I like to make more savory snacks than any sweet dishes. My hubby likes to munch something during his evening tea time.

One of the Andhra (South India) savory snacks I got familiarized after Srivalli selected this one for this month Indian cooking challenge. I was skeptical in the beginning, how I am going to make it, will they come out good. To my surprise it tastes good and come out perfect at first time itself. It is crispy, delicious, spicy, nutty flavor from split moong dal. It resembles our thenkuzhal muruku, but doesn’t require a mold to make it. This one is good to accompany coffee or tea in the rainy evening.

I tried first version of recipe by Srivalli, as I rarely want to see Ajwan seeds (Bishops Weed/ Carom) in my dishes other than in Omapodi( another savory snack). I made the chekodi this way.

Chegodilu / Chekodilu - Recipe 1


What you Need:

Rice Flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup ( I used 1 1/4 cup)
Split Yellow Moong dal / Pesara pappu / Mung Dal / Pasiparuppu - 1 1/2 - 2 tblsp ( I used 2 tablespoon)
Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Sesame Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Chili powder - 1 teaspoon
Ghee or oil - 1 tablespoon
Salt - ½ teaspoon or to taste
Oil for deep frying

How I made

Making the dough:

Soak moong dal in water for half hour to 1 hour.

In a deep bottom pan, boil water, add salt, ghee and moong dal. Bring it to boil, and slowly add the rice flour. Using a ladle, mix the flour with water by stirring it well. When the flour is mixed turn off the heat immediately. Cover with lid and keep aside for 30 minutes.

Once the dough is cool, add chili powder, sesame seeds, and cumin seeds and mix well. Knead until smooth dough is formed. Adjust the salt and spice depending on your preference.

Frying the Chekodi:

Heat a pan with oil, enough to fry 3 -4 at time, if you conscious of not using too much oil. Simmer once it gets hot. The temperature should not be smoking hot.

Grease your fingers with oil and pinch out a small lemon size ball and roll between your palms to form a thick rope. Bring the two ends to together and press to form a rope. Ensure the ends are firmed pressed as not to give out during frying.

Continue with the rest of the dough until you are done with the entire batch. You can either cover it with a plate to prevent the dough from getting dried.

Check if the oil is in the correct temperature, by dropping a tiny bit into the oil. Then gently slide the rings or the chekodis in batches of 4 -5. The flame has to be on high until the chekodis come up to the surface, then lower the flame to medium and cook till you get a golden color on the chekodis.

When the chekodis are golden all over, using a slotted ladle, remove to a kitchen towel and cool. Store it in an air tight container for longer shelf life.

Notes: Remember to turn the heat to medium to high and high to medium for getting the chekodis to golden color and also to be cooked evenly. Only this way you get crispy chekodis. These should not be cooked on low flame as they will absorb more oil and can turn soggy also at times.










Preparation time: 1 ½ hours
Yield: 35
Verdict: Tasty, crispy snack
Will you make it again: Yes




  Swathi

Trinidad doubles from my kitchen

Doubles are famous street food of Trinidad and Tobago. It is usually consumed as breakfast dish, but can also be a dish for lunch or dinner. Doubles consist of two deep fried flat bread called ‘Bara’ sandwiched with channa (chickpea curry). It resembles our Chole bhature. When read about this here. I was curious enough to try it. I think street food is tastiest food you can find in any country. l love to try the street food as well as home cooked food than any fancy restaurant menus. Caribbean cuisine has lot to offer as it is a fusion of Indian, French, African, British, Amerindian and Chinese cuisine.

When I started making the dough for Bara noticed that I was out of chickpeas. As usual Wal-Mart came to rescue; hubby after late night shopping got 4 cans of chickpeas. I made bara using this recipe with my own modifications. Traditionally Bara is made with all purpose flour, I want to make it healthy so, I used whole wheat flour. For Chana I used a recipe I always used.

What you need

For Bara

Whole Wheat flour: 2 cups
Salt: ½ teaspoon
Turmeric Powder: ½ teaspoon
Cumin seeds/gheera: 1 teaspoon (you can use cumin powder also)
Sugar: ¼ teaspoon
Instant yeast: 1 teaspoon (I used Fleischmann’s® Active Dry Yeast)
Water: 1/3 cup (Warm water)
Canola oil: for frying

For Channa

Chickpeas: 2 can of 16oz or 2 cups dried chickpeas (soaked overnight in 6 cups of water)
Onion: 1 no
Garlic: 2 cloves
Ginger: 1 inch piece (Not used in traditional version)
Cumin seeds: ½ teaspoon
Fennel seeds: ¼ teaspoon (Not used in traditional version)
Cumin powder: ½ teaspoon
Coriander powder: ½ teaspoon
Chili powder: 1 teaspoon
Gram masala: ½ teaspoon
Green chili: 1 no ( I used Serrano pepper, ) optional
Tomato paste: 1 tablespoon
Curry leaves: 1 sprig (optional)
Cilantro: 1 tablespoon
Salt: to taste
Water: 1 ½ cup
Olive oil: 1 tablespoon


How I made:

Bara

In a small bowl dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water (100° F to 110° F). Stir in 1/4 teaspoon sugar; let stand 10 minutes.

In large bowl sift together whole wheat flour, salt, turmeric, and add cumin seeds and mix well. To this add water and yeast sugar mixture to make smooth dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 1 ½ hours.

Punch dough down. Let it relax for another 10 minutes. For making bara take small golf size ball of dough and spread into circles of 5 inch diameter.

Heat canola oil in a pan until it is smoking hot and add one Bara at a time. Flip it a few times until it becomes golden brown color or 2 minutes each.

Remove with slotted spoon and drain it in a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Channa

Heat Olive oil in thick bottomed pan and add cumin and fennel seeds as it starts spluttering add chopped onions and green chilies and curry leaves and fry it until onions become translucent or change color.

Add freshly ground garlic ginger paste to the onions and fry for another 2 minutes.

Add cumin, coriander, chili powder and gram masala to onion –garlic-ginger-green chili mixture and fry for another 2minutes. To this add tomato paste and mix well.

Add washed chickpeas, salt and water to above mixture and cook until everything get incorporated and gravy reduced in volume or for about 7 minutes.

Finally check spices and garnish with cilantro and switch off the flame

Serve channa sandwiched between two bara, along with tamarind or mango chutney or with pepper sauce enjoy!

Preparation time: 1 1/2 hour

Yield: 14 bara

Verdict: Very tasty

Will you make it again: I will

Swathi

Thenga chammanthi /Coconut chutney

My mom always made a ball of this Thenga chamanthi for dad’s lunch box as well as for his breakfast dosa or idli. It is a time consuming process to make this chutney starting from breaking the shell of the coconut to grating and then grinding in Ammi kallu (motor-pestle). I never helped her to make the chutney but did enjoy the tasty chutney that mom made. When I look back I do feel guilty for not taking part in the cooking and helping her.

Here in US getting a fresh coconut is like winning a lottery. The coconut might look fresh in the store, but when you bring them to home and break the shell, a surprise might be waiting for you. I will be over the moon when I get a good coconut, but at times I also end up with a rotten one. You can also buy a packet of frozen grated coconut from Asian stores, that you can use to make the chutney, but I prefer starting from a fresh coconut.

This chammanthi or chutney is easy to make. I followed my mother’s method of making them.

What you need

Grated Coconut: 1 cup
Green chili: 1 no( I used Serrano pepper, use more if you need spiciness)
Pearl onions:3 no
Tamarind: small 1 inch piece
Ginger: 1 inch piece
Water: ¼ cup( if you are using this for dosa)
Mustard seeds: ½ teaspoon
Urad dal/Black gram dal: 1/2 tablespoon
Oil : 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves: 1 sprig
Salt: to taste

How I made:

Grind coconut, green chili, pearl onions, tamarind,  ginger with water into a fine paste. Add salt and set aside.

In small pan heat oil and add mustard and urad dal and once mustard starts spluttering switch off the flame and add this to ground coconut paste and add curry leaves.

Enjoy with dosa or idly.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 serving
Verdict: Tasty
Will you make it again: I make frequently.





Swathi

Cauliflower potato pea curry/ Gobi-aloo- matter- curry

Cauliflower potato peas curry/ Gobi-aloo- matter- curry is very easy to make and can be made in a hurry. This is really a good curry to eat with naan or chappathi. My hubby loves chappathi; you can give to him 3 times a day and he would have no problem. He is also very enthusiastic while making them, he makes good soft chappathi.

My hubby also loves cauliflower; he makes pav bhaji with them. Since, we can’t make paav bhaji every time, I tried to make Gobi Manchurian once, it turned good, but still I don’t think I will make it again. Potato will be consumed in our household, when they are blended in and not seen as a primary candidate in curries, meaning it can only accompany. So when I make dishes with potato, there will be carrot, capsicum, peas or cauliflower. I made Gobi-aloo- matter- curry this way, not following any traditional dish.

What you need

Cauliflower: 1 head cut into bit size florets
Potato: 1 no
Onion: 1 no
Tomato: 1 no
Green peas: 3 tablespoon (I used Frozen)
Ginger- Garlic paste: 1 tablespoon ( I used freshly ground Ginger-1 inch piece + Garlic: 2 cloves)
Turmeric powder: ¼ teaspoon
Cumin powder: ½ teaspoon
Coriander powder: ½ teaspoon
Chili powder: ½ teaspoon
Gram masala: ½ teaspoon
Cumin: ¼ teaspoon
Kalonji/Nigella/ black caraway: ½ teaspoon
Olive oil: 1 tablespoon
Salt: to taste
Water: 4 cups
Coriander leaves: 2 tablespoon (chopped)

How I made

Boil 3 ¼ cups water in a sauce pot and add ¼ teaspoon of salt, as it starts boiling add washed cauliflower florets cook for 10 minutes or until they become tender. Drain in a colander and keep aside.

In another pan heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add cumin and nigella/kalonji seeds as it starts to splutter, add chopped onion and fry for 5 minutes or until it becomes slightly brown. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for another 2 minutes, and then add chopped tomato fry until it become soft.

Add cubed potato and fry for 5 minutes. Then add salt, turmeric, chili, cumin, coriander powder and gram masala and mix well stir for another 2 minutes. Add ½ cup of water and cook till potato can be mashed. Add cauliflower florets and mix well so that all masala get coated on cauliflower.

Finally add green peas and cook for another 2 minutes and switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves

Enjoy with chapathi or naan

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4 serving
Verdict: Tasty
Will you make it again: Frequently


Swathi

Banana Chips/Plantain Chips/Ethakka upperi

One of the snacks which uniquely every person in Kerala likes is the banana chips. There is no “Sadya” (festive feast) without them. There is no Onam, Vishu or wedding celebrations without them. Every malayali goes out Kerala carrying at least one pack of Banana chips or plantain chips .They are as addictive as potato chips. The other chips I was fond of during my child hood are jackfruit chips. My grandmother used to make big containers of jack fruit chips during my summer holidays. Here in US Jack fruit costs all almost like gold. So I usually am looking at them in store just window shopping, thinking of all possible dishes I can make with a piece of it.

Luckily, plantains are not costly as jack fruit so I buy them frequently. When they’re not ripe and green I have an itch to make chips with them. I know it is time taking process but the end results are always worth the efforts. If plantains are ripe (yellowish with lot of dark black spots) we like to eat as such or I will make ethakaa appam (recipe follows). Plantains  taste differently from ordinary banana available in the market. They are starchier like potato. Mom rarely used to make these chips at home as it is easily available in bakeries or even mobile stall where they fry chips and sell them. Banana chips available in US stores are just a sweetened version and I am not a fan of that. I like raw banana chips. There are couple of ways you can make banana chips such as directly frying in oil or a healthy version of baking with a small amount of oil (I will try this method later). I made banana chips this way.

What You Need

Raw Banana (Plantain): 4 no
Turmeric powder: ½ teaspoon
Salt water : 3 tablespoon salt in 1 tablespoon water
Water : 8 cup
Oil : for frying (I used Canola oil, use Coconut oil for authentic taste)


How I made

In a sauce pot add water and turmeric and keep aside. Peel plantain skin (you will see white flesh) and put in the water for 30 minutes. This will remove the stickiness of plantain and will be easy to slice them and preserve the color and also prevent them from sticking while frying.

 Slice the plantain into round or oval of 1/8 inch thickness using a mandoline. Dry the sliced pieces in baking sheet lined with kitchen tissue or towel.

Heat the oil in a deep pot until they are hot (not smoking). Fry the pieces in the hot oil without overcrowding them. Occasionally give stir to flip them and keep them from sticking together.

Once they are ¾ done (around 5 minutes or you will hear sizzling sound while turning them) add 1 teaspoon of salt water and close the pot with a lid (this will prevent splashing, be careful with this method, if you are not comfortable you can add salt later) and remove the lid a minute or two later to check if the splashing has stopped. Fry for another 2 minutes or until golden brown and remove them with a slotted spoon into plate lined with paper towels for draining the excess oil.

Next batch reduce the salt content as salt is already present in the oil. Continue until you finish frying all plantains.

If you are not using the salt water, season with salt once you removed from the oil.

Enjoy these chips with hot tea or coffee.

Preparation time: 1 hour
Yield : 4 serving or about 80to 90 chips
Verdict: Addictive. Tasty
Will you make it again: More often as long as I can get raw plantains.



Swathi