Orange Tiramisu: Daring Baker's Challenge Feburary 2010

This month’s daring baker’s challenge is to make Tiramisu using homemade savoiardi (otherwise known as lady finger biscuits) and mascarpone cheese. I like Tiramisu, however making one in home from scratch I thought would be very hard, but I did make it. It tasted great with the pieces melting away in your mouth. As usual I asked my hubby dear; will you eat tiramisu, if I make them. He told ok, I will try, but it shouldn’t too sweet. Once I got the approval, the next challenge was to acquire the raw materials. 

When I first read the recipe and instructions given by this month hostess's Deeba of Passionate About Baking and Aparna of  My Diverse Kitchen, I was happy as they used cooked eggs and the only mandatory requirement was to make savoiardi (lady finger biscuit) and mascarpone. I wanted to use orange instead of coffee making my tiramisu, a fruity version. For making homemade mascarpone, original recipe called for pasteurized heavy cream, which I was not able to find in the nearby Wal-Mart, however the ultra pasteurized was available there, so I used that. Since I am not cooking with any wine, I have only drinking wine in my pantry, so I used the red wine instead of Marsala wine. It took me 4 days to make my tiramisu, first day I made only mascarpone and savoiardi (lady finger biscuit). Second day I made Zabaglione (vanilla custard). 3 rd day I assembled my tiramisu and 4th day I served it. If you love tiramisu, you have to make homemade savoiardi and mascarpone cheese. The end result is worth all your efforts. I just made enough for 3 serving with lots of changes to the original recipe and also reduced the sugar amount to suit to our taste. Beware if you are dieting you should not attempt this recipe at home.

 

Coming to recipe, I made like this.

RECIPE SOURCE:

Mascarpone Cheese – Vera’s Recipe (Baking Obsession) for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese.

Savoiardi/ Ladyfinger Biscuits – Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home

Tiramisu – Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007 

What you need

For Mascarpone Cheese

Heavy Whipping cream (pasteurized): 500ml (I used ultra pasteurized 250 ml, about 1 cup)

Fresh Lemon juice: 1 tablespoon (I used ½ tablespoon)

How I made

Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl (I used Steel bowl), and then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. or until small bubbles keep trying to push up to the surface. It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating. 

Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.

Keep refrigerated and use within 3 to 4 days.

Vera’s notes: The first time I made mascarpone I had all doubts if it’d been cooked enough, because of its custard-like texture. Have no fear, it will firm up beautifully in the fridge, and will yet remain lusciously creamy.

For Lady Fingers/Savoiardi Biscuits

Egg, separated: 1

Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoon

cake flour, sifted (or 1/4 cup all purpose flour + 3/4 tbsp corn starch):1/4 cup

Confectioner's sugar:1 ½ tablespoon

 How I made

Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 1 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.

Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5" diameter circle . ( I was intending to make circle, but it made something else )

Sprinkle half the confectioner's sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.

Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.

Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.

Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.

Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

TIRAMISU

For the zabaglione: 

Large egg yolk: 1no

Sugar: 1 tablespoon

Marsala wine (or port or coffee): 1/8 cup (I used Fritz Vintage 2006 Red wine)

Vanilla extract: 1/8 teaspoon

finely grated Orange zest: ¼ teaspoon

For the vanilla pastry cream: 

Sugar: 1/8 cup

All purpose flour: ½ tablespoon

Finely grated orange zest: ¼ teaspoon

Vanilla extract : 1/4 teaspoon

Large egg yolk: 1/2

whole milk : 1/3 cup

For the whipped cream:

chilled heavy cream : ½ cup

Sugar: 1/8 cup

Vanilla extract : ¼ teaspoon

To assemble the tiramisu:

Orange Juice: 1 cup

Orange liqueor(Triple-sac) : ½ teaspoon

Sugar: 1 tablespoon

Mascarpone cheese: 1/5 cup

Savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits : 10 no

Orange: 1 peeled

Kiwi: Three slices 

How I made

For the zabaglione:

Heat water in a double boiler, if you don’t have a double boiler; place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water.

In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolk, sugar, the red wine (or espresso/ coffee), vanilla extract and orange zest. Whisk together until the yolk is fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.

Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.

Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the pastry cream: 

Mix together the sugar, flour, orange zest and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. To this add the egg yolk and half the milk. Whisk until smooth.

Now place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling.

Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. (If you have a few lumps, don’t worry. You can push the cream through a fine-mesh strainer.)

Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the whipped cream:

Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer or immersion blender until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.

To assemble the tiramisu: 

Have ready 3 trifle bowls.

Mix together the orange juice, orange liquor and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.

The next step is to start assembling the tiramisu.

Workings quickly, dip 10 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened orange juice, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the trifle bowl placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.

Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.

Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 10 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.

To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and garnish the tiramisu with orange kiwi slices.

Enjoy.

Preparation time: 4 days

Yield: 10 Savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits, 6 ounce mascarpone cheese

3 serving of Tiramisu

Verdict: out of the world

Will you make it again: I will


Swathi

Chimichurri Buns

I was afraid of using yeast, because, when I had experimented with them several times in the past to make bread, the end result was always hard rocky bread like hockey pucks. Finally after these failures, I decided enough with my bread making efforts. I just could not figure out how to use the yeast effectively. My dear hubby told me if you are afraid of yeast, you never going to make bread in life time, you have to try until you succeed. Yes I listened to him, and started making Chimichurri Buns.

Chimichurri or Chimmichurri is a kind of green sauce though there is a red version as well, also used as a marinade for grilled meat. It is originally from Argentina and Uruguay, and is also used in countries as far as Nicaragua and Mexico according to Wikipedia. I liked the ingredients in the chimichurri, such as chopped parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, red or white vinegar, red pepper flakes. After searching with help of Google friend I reached these two recipes, here and from here. My taste tester (Hubby) had given nod to make chimichurri buns. Around 3 .00 PM I started proof yeast as I have only active dry yeast in hand, and finally made buns around 8 .00 P.M. It came out oven by 8.30 P.M. Trust me they are very soft and tasty buns. Finally I have overcome the fear of using yeast. I will see how it is progressing. Chimichurri buns are good with any soup or curry. We tried with pav bhaji. Give it a try some time; these buns will not disappoint you.

I used this recipe and made my own version. I used some whole wheat flour to satisfy my health conciseness. The recipe that was given was for use with bread machine, I made these buns manually as I have no bread machine.

What you need

 Water: 1 cup
Red wine vinegar: ½ tablespoon
Olive oil: 3 tablespoons
Cayenne pepper: ½ teaspoon
Oregano: 1/2 teaspoon
Garlic cloves: 4 no( I made into a paste)
Red onion: 1 cup ( finely chopped)
Fresh parsley : 2 tablespoons ( Finely chopped)
Salt: 1 1/2 teaspoons
Sugar: 1 tablespoon
King Arthur Unbleached Bread flour: 2 cup
Whole wheat flour or Atta: 1 cup
Dry Active yeast: 2 teaspoons
Rolled oats : 2 tablespoon (optional)

How I made

In a small bowl mix ¼ cup of lukewarm water (Warm to touch) with 1 tablespoon of sugar and add yeast and mix everything and keep aside for proofing of yeast. It will take about 10- 15 minutes.

Heat one tablespoon oil in a pan and add onion and fry them until they change color or become translucent. It takes about 6-7 minutes. To this add garlic paste and fry for another 3 minutes and switch off the flame and keep aside to cool.

In a big bowl mix all dry ingredients and onion garlic mixture, rest of olive oil, chopped parsley and oregano. Gradually add yeast mixture and mix everything until combined well. To this add water less amount at a time to make smooth dough. Knead the dough for 10-15 minutes. More you knead dough become less sticky and smooth. (I knead the dough for 15 minutes, which I am proud of ).

Keep aside knead dough in slightly oiled vessel for doubling. It took about 1hour and 30 minutes to double.

Transfer the dough into a lightly floured surface and spread into a square and using a knife cut into 10 equal pieces.

Shape each piece into a ball, and place the balls 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lightly dusted with cornmeal. Cover with a proof cover or greased plastic wrap, and let the rolls rise for 45 minutes, or until they're quite puffy. Place rolled oats on the top of each buns.( They didn’t stick to buns most of them fell apart, you need to use milk or water to brush the top of bun so that rolled oats can stick).

Bake them in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool completely before serving.

Enjoy with any soup or curry.
Want a bite

Preparation time: 20 minutes for preparing dough,
Doubling time: 1.30minutes + 45 minutes for second rise
Baking time: 20to 30 minutes
Yield: 10 buns
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: Yes



I am sending these delicious Chimichurri buns to


Bread baking Day #27 hosted by Canela and Comino this month theme is Latino bread.

Guacamole with Tortilla Chips

When was at the store the week before super bowl I had bought a few avocados with the idea of making guacamole. Also while reading about avocado a lot of good properties were listed. For a lot of years it was thought that the fat of Avocados were not good for health, but since then there has a slow turn around to acceptance of the good health benefits of avocado. Coming back to guacamole, I had promised my husband that I will make it for super bowl. He loves watching super bowl; his super bowl fever starts from Playoffs. I make parippu vada ( Chana dal fritters ) for super bowl along with tea , I have been making them for last 5 year super bowl plays. This time also I made parippu vada. However I wanted to make Guacamole also, but couldn’t. Finally I made some today.

Guacamole is avocado based dip and other ingredients differ from on the region of Mexico where the guacamole is made. You can read more from here . I bought Hass avocado which is a must for good guacamole. I made like this.

What you need

Avocado: 2 no (I used Hass avocado) Chopped into cubes about 2 cups

Red onion: ½ cup chopped finely (Use white onion for authentic dish)

Tomato: 1 no (Seeded  and diced)

Serrano Pepper: 1 no (De-seed and chopped finely)

Green onion: 1 no (Chopped finely)

Red kidney beans: ½ cup (cooked)

Salt: ½ teaspoon (Use coarse salt for authentic dish)

Garlic: 1 clove

Black pepper: 1/8 teaspoon

Cumin powder: 1/8 teaspoon

Juice of Lemon: 1 no

How I made

Mash garlic clove with salt using motor and pestle. Keep aside.

Mash ¾  th of avocado using  fork and lemon juice  prevent from oxidation and  to this add  cubed avocado  and mix well. ( I  left cubed avocado to feel the chunks while eat)

Combine, cooked red kidney beans chopped red onion, serrano pepper, mashed garlic clove, avocado and salt, black pepper, cumin powder in a bowl.

Add chopped tomato only  at the time of serving.

Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Enjoy Guacamole with tortilla chips or other chips.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Yield: 3-4 serving

Verdict: Yummy

Will you make it again: I will

Swathi

Rajma Curry/Red Kidney Beans Curry

My hubby loves paratha, chapathi and poori, with the last one being his favorite. He is very happy if I make channa or rajma. He will eat it 3 times a day without complaining if I let him. On a weekend visit to the Indian store, I have seen some fresh methi leaves, which I bought with the intention of making methi paratha. Also I had not made rajma for a long time. So I decide to make the Rajma – Paratha combo. 

I always remember an interesting story told by my friend while seeing the rajma. The story goes like this, during their hostel life in Roorkee, hostel menu always included rajma. They started to hate it as it becomes everyday dish. At that time, their corridors and buildings were inhabited by lot of pigeons, which always made noise, and dirtied the places. One fine day one of the guys got an idea to catch and cook the birds. Among them, one person would clean the bird; other would put masala and the third would cook the bird in their hostel room. Within a month the entire hostel campus was devoid of pigeons. The hostel warden finally got a wind of what was going on and caught the guys red-handed while cooking birds. Next day onwards they were back to eating the old faithful rajma. 

I will come to recipe, and made the Rajma like this.

What you need

Red Kidney beans /Rajma: 2 can
Onion: 1 no (finely chopped)
Tomato: 4 no
Garlic: 3 cloves
Ginger: 1 inch piece
Green chili: 1 no (I used Serrano pepper)
Cinnamon: 1 inch piece
Cloves: 6 no
Cardamom: 3 no
Fennel Seeds: ½ teaspoon
Turmeric powder: ¼ teaspoon
Chili powder: 1 teaspoon
Salt: ½ teaspoon or to taste
Olive oil: 1 tablespoon
Water: 2 cups
Milk or heavy cream: ¼ cup

How I made

Boil tomatoes for 3 minutes in a boiling water and remove the skin and seeds and make a puree of them and keep aside.

Grind the fennel seeds, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom to fine powder and keep aside.

Wash the kidney beans in running water and keep aside.

Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan or sauce pot and add onion and green chilies. Fry onion until it change color or it become translucent (in a 6-7 minutes). Add ginger-garlic paste and fry them for another 2 minutes.

Add tomato puree to onion-ginger-garlic mixture and fry till excess water evaporates( 4 minutes) .

Add turmeric powder, chili powder, salt, ground spice mixture and fry for another 2 minutes.

Add washed kidney beans to this and mix everything until masala well coated and add 2 cups of water and let it boil for 6 minutes.

Check salt and spices. Add milk or cream and simmer it for another 2 minutes and switch off the flame.


Enjoy with warm paratha or chapathi or poori

Preparation time: 35 minutes
Yield: 6 serving
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: I will


I am sending this delcious Rajama curry to


JFI: Fennel Seed Event hosted by Siri  originally started by Indira


My Legume  Love Affair Edition : 20  event hosted by  Rachel originally started by Susan

EFM Paratha and Gravies series hosted by  Srilekha


Swathi

Methi Paratha /Fenugreek Leaves Flat bread

I make methi paratha more often than any other paratha that is because my hubby is not found of aloo paratha; I love it still I don’t make that much. Fenugreek leaves have lots of medicinal properties. They are enriched with minerals like potassium, calcium, and Iron. One hundred grams of fenugreek leaves comprise only 49 calories. The leaves have good dietary fiber and are also enriched with Vitamin C. The Vitamin K from fenugreek greens is comparable to spinach. It has cooling, mildly laxative effect, increases the digestion ability. It helps in milk secretion in lactating mothers. Fenugreek leaves lowers blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

Getting fenugreek leaves is not a big problem, but plucking the leaves and cleaning them is a task, still end result is worth it so go for it. Methi paratha I made like this.

What you need

Fresh Fenugreek leaves/Methi leaves: 1 bunch
Whole wheat flour/Atta: 2 cup
Olive Oil: 2 tablespoon
Salt: 1/2 teaspoon or to taste
Gram masala: ½ teaspoon
Red chili powder: 1 teaspoon
Amchoor powder: ½ teaspoon
Water: 3/4 cup


How I made

Wash and clean Fenugreek leaves/Methi leaves and finely chop them and put in a kitchen towel to drain excess water and keep aside.

In a bowl mix whole wheat flour, salt, gram masala, red chili powder, amchoor powder and ½ tablespoon oil .  To this mix chopped fenugreek leaves until everything combined well. Add small amount water to this and knead it to form soft dough. Add ½ tablespoon oil on the top of dough and keep aside for another 30 minutes. 

Pinch out small lemon sized balls from the prepare dough and roll it into thin circle of 6 inch diameter ( mine looks like various continents) .

Heat tawa or griddle in stove and when it becomes hot. Place the paratha and cook for 30 seconds or until you start to see bubbles in the top. Flip and cook the other side  for another 30 seconds or until you see brown spots on both sides.

Drizzle little oil on warm paratha and spread one side and keep aside. Place the oil less side of next paratha on the top of it. So that oil will be spread in both sides.

Enjoy with any curry. We enjoyed with rajma.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Yield: 13 paratha
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: I will



Swathi

KACHORI

Kachori is a spicy snack common in Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and Utter Pradesh and also in Pakistan. It has flaky, crispy outer covering and filling made of dal, peas, or onion making it really tasty. It was a new dish to me. Srivalli suggested kachori for this month Indian cooking challenge. I was not sure how it is going to turn out in terms of taste, because I had not seen or eaten this dish. However I had recently succeeded in making moong dal halwa so I thought, why not, I can make this one also. With the help of my Google friend, I started looking for pictures and videos of kachori’s. I came to know that there two kinds of kachori’s one is flattened version common in Rajasthan and Utter Pradesh, where as in Gujarat it is round. I made flattened version, since it is easy to assemble. 

Initially I thought of making only khasta kachori, with moong dal for which I soaked dal and after 1 hour ground to make a coarse powder. However I end up grinding them too fine which I thought would result in compromised taste, so to be on the safe side, I decide to make a second set of kachori with onion filling. In the end result both kachori‘s tasted good. My feeling after tasting the kachori was that the filling amount given in the recipe was slightly less, so the next time when I make I will try to double the amount of filling.This kachori’s are going to be in our kitchen menu more often.

What you need

Adapted from Medhaa's Aunty and Tarla Dalal

For the Dough

All purpose flour / Maida - 2 cups

Canola oil/Ghee - 1/4 cup

Salt - 1/2 teaspoon

Chilled Water for kneading

Fillings

Khasta Kachori - Moong Dal Kachori

Split Moong Dal (yellow) - 1/2 cup

Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon

Hing / Asafoetida – 1/8 teaspoon

Curry Leaves - 2 tsp chopped fine (I didn't used as i have none)

Green Chilli - Ginger paste - 1 teaspoon

Saunf / Fennel seeds powder - 1 teaspoon

Garam Masala - 1/2 teaspoon

Red Chili powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Mango powder / Amchur - 1 teaspoon ( I used 1/4 teaspoon)

Oil - 1 teaspoon

Salt : 1/4 teaspoon or to taste

Pyaj Ki Kachori/Onion Kachori

For the onion filling

Onions: 2cup (finely Chopped)

Nigella seeds/Kalonji: 1 teaspoon ( I used one teaspoon)

Fennel seeds/saunf: 2 teaspoon (I used one teaspoon)

Bay leaves: 2

Green chilies: 1 ½ teaspoon ( finely chopped)

Bengal gram flour /Besan: 2 tablespoon

Coriander/Dhania powder: 2 teaspoon (I used 1 teaspoon)

Chili powder: 2 teaspoon ( I used 1/2 teaspoon)

Gram masala: 1 teaspoon (I used 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander leaves: 3 tablespoon( Chopped finely)

Oil: 2 tablespoon

salt to taste

How I made

Dough 

Mix the flour and salt, Add the oil/ghee and mix till you get a bread crumbs texture.

Slowly add Chilled water  to this mixture and make soft dough. Knead well for about 8 minutes.

Cover and keep aside to rest for at least half hour.

Filling : Moong dal

Wash and Soak dal in water for at least 1 hour. You can go upto 4 hours not more.

Drain the water well.Grind the dal to a coarsely. (Will resemble Idli Rawa, I end up grinding very fine)

Heat oil in a pan.Add the hing and cumin seeds.Once the seeds splutter add the curry leaves.Add the dal.

Lower the heat and keep stirring for 5 minutes till the dal stops sticking to the pan.

Cook for another 10 minutes on low till the dal turns slightly brown.Add all the masalas.

Cook for few minutes till the aroma of the spices hit you.Add Salt.

Remove from heat and keep aside to cool.

Onion filling

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the nigella seeds, fennel seeds, bay leaves, green chilies and onions and sauté till the onions turn light brown in color.

Add the gram flour, coriander powder, chili powder, garam masala and salt and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the chopped coriander and mix well. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Allow the mixture to cool completely.

Divide into 15 equal portions and keep aside.

To Make Kachori's

Make a small ball from the dough. Roll out into a 2 inch diameter  rounds . Flatten the rounds using your fingers having the center thick and sides little thin.Place about 1.5 tsp of the filling in the center of the rolled dough.

Cover the filling with the dough by slowly stretching it over the filling. Seal the ends and remove excess dough. Repeat with all the balls and keep aside for 5 -7 mins.

Then using your palm, flatten the balls by lightly pressing it, as using the rolling pin will make the filling come out. (See notes below). Keep aside covered. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Meanwhile heat some oil for deep frying. The oil should not become smoking hot. Test to see if the temperature is right by dropping a tiny ball of dough and see if it is rising slowly to the top.

Drop the kachoris in batches of 3-4 gently into the oil. It should rise up slowly. If you don't want to use lot of oil, use just enough for two or three at a time and fry them.After it rises up (about 2 minutes), turn it over.

Cook for about 6 to 10 minutes till the side down gets a golden brown color.

Turn and cook the other side for another 6 minutes or till its golden brown in color.

Remove when done, cool and store in airtight container.

Serve with coriander chutney and tamarind chutney.

Moong dal Kachori.

After having a bite
Onion kachori  looks like this

Special Tips / Notes for the dough:

Keep the dough covered at all times, if not it will dry up and not puff up when frying. If the dough is made right wet cloth can be used if not just a towel.

The dough could spring back for many reasons:

Dough is too cold (If wet cloth is used)

Dough is not soft enough.

Not needed for enough time.

Oil is less.

Not rested enough.

Special Tips / Notes for the filling:

The fillings have to be really dry if not when rolling they will ooze out when rolling.

 Adjust the masalas according to your taste. What is given in this recipe is spicy to the extent one can still enjoy.

 For idea on pressing the filled kachori, check out Manjula's method. If you try to press out using a rolling pin, the filling may come out and make holes in the kachori.

Fry the kachori's on medium low to get a crisp outer layer that is the key. For people using electric stove, the numbers can be going from 6 to 4.

Special Tips / Notes for making the Kachoris: 

 You can fry 3 kachori's at a time.

 The oil should be at a heat when you drop some dough it should come up slowly, if the dough comes up too fast the oil is too hot, if it does not come up then the oil is cold.

 It will not be crisp if the oil is too hot.

Resting Time for the Dough is app 1/2 hr - 1 hr. ( I kept my dough for 1/2 hr).

Frying time for the Kachoris - 20 minutes for each batch app.

Soaking Time for the Filling is app. 1 hr

Cooking Time for the Filling is app 15 minutes

Yields - 15

Verdict: Yummy

Will you make it again: I will

Swathi

Raspberry –Coconut- White Chocolate Bread

To day is Valentine’s Day. Everybody thinks about love and love is in the air. In India, Valentine day means lot of love songs on television and radio. Valentine cards with lovely themes will be available at market too. There was no cake or bread baking there. This is year I wanted to celebrate V day with lots of fun, because we are happy more than ever because of our little one. She brings everyday happiness with her cute smiles and the new discoveries she makes.

I love bounty chocolate which is usually made of coconut and chocolate, they are my energy bar, when I go out. So I decide to make a bread with coconut and chocolate and added raspberry for color. I was looking at a lot of recipes and finally settled with this one. I made some changes by removing butter and adding less sugar. Trust me this is a keeper recipe if you love chocolate and coconut you have to have a bite at least once. I made the bread like this.

What you need

Raspberry: 1/3 cup and 6 no for garnishing
All purpose flour: ¾ cup
Desiccated coconut: ¼ cup
Sugar: 1/8 cup (If you need sweetness add more)
White chocolate chips: 1/5 cup
Butter milk: 1/4 cup
Egg: 1 no
Baking powder: ¾ teaspoon
Baking soda: 1/8 teaspoon
Canola oil: 1/4 cup
Coconut chips: 1/4 cup for garnishing
Butter: 1 teaspoon (for greasing the baking dish)

How I made

Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

Butter and line the base and sides of 5-inch x 9-inch x 3-inch loaf dish with parchment paper. 

In a medium bowl sift flour, baking powder and baking soda. And add desiccated coconut and mix until everything well combined.

In a bowl beat egg with sugar and buttermilk and add oil and mix until everything incorporated well.

Gradually add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix everything well.

Finally fold in raspberry gently so that it won’t break.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smoothen the tops with a spatula. Garnish with raspberry and coconut chips. Bake for 30 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. 

Cool the bread in the pan for 5 minutes and remove it and cool in the wire rack for another 1 hour.

Cut into slices and enjoy with or without extra butter.

Have a bite

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Serving: 3 serving
Verdict: Yummy. Keeper recipe
Will you make it again: I will

I am sending this delicious and gorgeous bread to
Jamie hosting this month Monthly mingle event started by Meeta with theme of chocolate and bread.

Swathi

Vegetable Salad with Lemony Balsamic Vinaigrette

I was totally a vegetarian before leaving India, with some eggs occasionally to get the proteins. Here in US eating out has became a herculean task for me. I can get a vegetable burger at Burger king, where at other restaurants I have to ask them to take meat from the dish. One long drive, not so long ago, my husband and I were really hungry and thought we could keep driving until we got to a place we could get some decent food. But we were getting too hungry for that and stopped at the first exit and found a Whataburger. As usual my hubby started ordering for me and him; he knows what I will eat. I told the person who took our orders to remove the meat and add some lettuce and tomato, ketchup. But I got the order with only mayonnaise, no lettuce, tomato, ketchup or anything. As we had ordered a take out, I had no other choice; eat or stay hungry till next stop. Finally I ate half of it, blaming the waiter for having messed my food.

However, in some restaurants I get nice vegetable salad with some dressing. I like salad sometimes not always; I need variety of vegetable to feel the salad, not just the lettuce. If I have to eat lettuce alone, it will be like cow eating grass. 

After developing gestational diabetes during pregnancy, I started eating salads more often; and I do try to incorporate lots of vegetables. It helps my hubby with his diabetes control too. Yesterday I made a simple vegetable salad with homemade vinaigrette. It was my experiment; yes it came out good and tasty. If you like tangy, sweet vinaigrette go for it. 

What you need

For vegetable salad

Lettuce: 6 leaves
Capsicum: 1 no
Carrots: 2 no
Avocado: 1 no
Tomato: 1 no
Apple: 1 no
Grapes: 10 no

For Lemony balsamic vinaigrette

Balsamic Vinegar: ½ tablespoon
Lemon juice: 1 tablespoon
Coarse ground pepper: ¼ teaspoon
Honey: ¼ teaspoon
Olive oil: 2 tablespoon
Salt: ½ teaspoon

How I made

Wash and chopped all the vegetables into bite size and keep it aside. If you are using a salad spinner, feel free to use it now.

In a blender/ food processor mix all the ingredients for vinaigrette except olive oil using one or two pulse. To this add olive oil while mixing gradually.

Enjoy with salad you made.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 serving
Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: I will


Swathi

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Puttum Payarum Pinae Pappadavum/Steamed Rice Cake with Field Peas Curry and Indian Wafer

Puttu is one of breakfast food that most Malayalees love. It is one of the regular dishes in the morning with tea at most of the tea shops especially in small villages all over Kerala. The other dishes that you are likely to see in a road side teashop with a glass shelf in front door are parippu vada( Chana dal fritters), Uuzhunu vada(urad dal fritters), Ethakaappam( Plantain fritters) , Idly, dosa, appam, idiyappam etc. Poovan Banana  will be hanging like this too. If you watch any old Malayalam movie, you can see a chayakada (teashop) with some member’s enjoying tea and delicious puttum payraum. Nowadays our heroes are busy with action and romance no time to sit and enjoy the puttu. 

Amma used to make puttu only during the weekends; and I enjoyed them with sugar and banana. Even though I like puttu with banana and sugar, I am health conscience nowadays, so I try to make a curry like chickpeas (kadala), or green gram or field beans ( payrau) . Sometimes when I want to make puttu extra special, I also fry some pappadam (pappad/thin Indian wafer) along with it. Even though puttu is a breakfast dish, I make them as my dinner special, like it was yesterday. I can live with puttu and payraum for 3 time’s day, l love it just like that. Amma made both puttu with rice and wheat flour. Now I make only rice puttu. Dad bought me a puttu maker the last time I visited India, which I love a lot. You need that to make puttu; you can make it in the steamer if you don’t care about the shape. 

Usually puttu flour is made by soaking the rice for few hours and grinding it into coarse powder. Then they are sieved and roasted. Nowadays as most people don’t have the time to soak, grind, and roast the rice, so they simply go to any Indian store and get instant puttu podi (puttu/rice flour). I found some instant powders that require the addition of slightly more amount water  while  mixing thoroughly before steaming.

I used field beans for making my payrau curry. It is easy just snap open the can and use.

I made puttu and payrau curry according to mom’s recipe.

What you need

For puttu
Brown rice flour: 2 cups
Salt: ½ teaspoon
Water: ¾ cup (You need ½ cup if homemade rice flour is using)
Coconut scraped: 1 cup

For Payaru curry

Field peas with snaps: 2 can (15.5oz)
Onion: 1 no ( finely chopped)







For grinding

Coconut: ¾ cup
Cumin seeds: 1 ½ teaspoon
Green chili: 1 no (I used Serrano pepper)
Ginger: 1 inch
Garlic: 2 cloves

For seasoning
Mustard: ½ teaspoon
Turmeric powder: ¼ teaspoon
Salt: ¼ teaspoon
Urad dal/Black gram dal: 1 teaspoon
Red chilli: 2 no (halved)
Olive oil: 1 tablespoon

How I made

Puttu:

Dry roast the brown rice flour for 4 minutes and keep aside.

In a bowl mix rice flour, and water to form a coarse mix without any lumps and do not change the shape of flour. If you take a fist full of flour, it will hold together, but it will loosen once you remove the fist. Keep aside for another 10 minutes.

In mean time if you are using puttu maker fill it with water and let it boil or if you are using attachment to pressure cooker step-up in the stove.

Fill 2 tablespoon of grated coconut on the bottom of puttu mold and fill the rice flour again add coconut in the middle and rice flour on the top of it and finish it with a layer of coconut.

Steam the rice flour until steam starts comes out from all three holes on the top of puttu maker ( It will takes about 10 minutes).

Steam the rice flour until you finished cooking all the rice flour.

Payaru curry/ Field peas curry

Drain and wash the canned field peas and keep aside.

Grind coconut with Serrano pepper, ginger, and garlic and cumin seeds into fine paste.

Heat oil in sauce pot and add mustard seeds and halved red chilies. Once mustard seeds starts popping add chopped onions and fry until they change color or become translucent it takes about 7 minutes.

Add washed field peas and ground coconut mixture along with turmeric and salt. Cook everything for another 7 minutes or until everything combined well.

Check salt and spices if needed adjust and switch of the flame.

Enjoy with puttu and pappadam.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4 serving
Verdict: Yummy as usual
Will you make it again sure I will.

Swathi