Coconut Milk Rasam / Thengai paal rasam without tomato

This awesome recipe was shared by one of my friends from School, and her name is Khalida. I would like to thank her for this. I remember my grandma and mom making a modified version of this without coconut milk when I was a kid. Not sure if it is prepared outside Kanyakumari Villages. They use to burn red chili and soak them in stone ground chutney water, add tamarind and salt to have with rice along with thuvaiyal (Chamanthi). Let me get into this recipe from my friend.

Ensure you use small onion and red chili both burnt as shown in picture. I burnt them on my gas stove top. Use thick coconut milk diluted in little water as we would not be using water for this curry. Remember we do not need tomato or other masala in this curry. I would soon post tomato rasam with coconut milk. Just can't wait to try.

Ingredients:

1. Burnt Shallots 3 - 4
2. Burnt Red Chili 1 or 2 as per your taste
3. 2 large garlic pods or 3 - 4 small pods
4. Small piece of ginger
5. Cumin + Black pepper about 1 tb.spn
6. Little Tamarind to make juice, 
7. Coconut milk 1 1/2 cups
8. Salt to Taste
9. Oil , mustard, curry leaves for tempering. 
10. Coriander leaves for garnishing - optional

Preparation:

1. Grind ingredients listed under 1 to 5 to a coarse paste without water. you may simply crush them using a mortar - Refer to pictures here.
2. In a small pan heat oil and prepare the tempering in medium heat. 
3. Add in the crushed spices saute for a minute in low heat.
4. Add tamarind juice and salt as required bring to a boil.
5. Mix in the coconut milk giving a nice stir. Switch off the flame after 30 seconds.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves. 

Enjoy with steamed rice. If you need little more rasam add coconut milk. Prefer not to add water as the dish would lose it's real flavor.

Let me know how you liked it. Did you eat an additional handful of rice :) ????

Once again thanks to Khalida. 

Mango Muffin / Mango Cupcake with pulp and mango slices

Another muffin recipe that I experimented with juicy mangoes, and applauded by all. It's been a while since I actually made the muffins, just didn't find time to write it down. This recipe calls for mango lovers with plenty of mango slices and pulp.

Ingredients (Approx makes 24 muffins)

1. Butter 1/2 cup room temp (No need to melt)
2. Regular Sugar - 3/4 cup
3. Egg 1
4. Vanilla Extract - 1/2 t.spn
5. Mango Extract - 1 t.spn (Optional)
6. Milk or Yogurt - 3/4 Cup (Room temp)
7. Flour - 2 cups
8. Baking soda - 1 t.spn
9. Baking Powder - 2 tb.spn
10. Mango Puree - 1 Cup
11. Mango slices - small pieces 1 cup

I used a hand mixer to prepare the batter. To prepare mango puree simply blend the mango slices in a blender until you get a smooth paste. Do not add water or milk. Ensure all ingredients are in room temperature including egg.

Sift the flour and mix in the baking powder and Baking soda. You may use a whisker to mix these dry ingredients and set aside.

Preparation:

1. Beat the butter in the mixer for about 10 - 20 seconds
2. Add in the sugar, beat for 2 - 3 min on medium speed
3. Add egg, vanilla & mango extract mix for couple of minutes
4. Add milk and mix for about a minute, followed by the mango pulp beat for 30 seconds.
5. Finally add the flour mixture and mix well to form the muffin batter. You may add very little milk if required if you find the batter too thick, although it would not be necessary.

The big task transferring to muffin mould. Some options here. 

 - You may simply transfer the batter to muffin mould and begin baking if you do not have more mangoes

- Add all the chopped mango slices into batter mix lightly and then fill the muffin mould

- Fill the mould half way through place mango pieces and cover again with little batter. 

You may do any of the above. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius and bake for 13 - 16 minutes if you are using a 6 muffin  holder/tray. If you are using 12/24 in one shot the baking time would vary slightly. 

Check your muffins after 13 minutes inserting a tooth pick in the middle and ensure it comes out clean. Else bake for additional 1 or 2 minutes depending on your oven. 

Bake them in batches if you have smaller tray like mine, do not refrigerate the batter.

I baked mine in convection microwave oven. Happy baking !! I can't wait to try this again with a different combination.

Walnut Coffee Cake Muffin

Ever since I discovered this new chore called baking it has only pushed me more into it, with the urge of doing something every other day needless to say it does not just end with regular cake. I would like to thank few friends who inspired me to get acquainted with this new genre of cooking. So let's get into this.

Who would not love a muffin with fresh aromatic coffee. I would live with a muffin and a mug of steaming coffee for breakfast. This is one such muffin. This muffin has little bit of chocolate coffee flavours with walnuts in each bite.

We would need to divide the recipe as three parts as muffin batter, coffee/cocoa layering, crown/topping.

Ingredients for Batter(12 muffins):

1. Eggs 4
2. Flour 2 cup
3. Melted Butter - 6 tb.spn
4. Oil 3/4 cup
5. Water - 1/2 cup
6. Baking powder - 2 tb.spn
7. Salt to taste
8. Regular sugar - 3/4 cup
9. Walnuts chopped in small pieces - 1/2 cup or as desired.

For Layering

1.  Instant Coffee - 1 tb.spn
2. Cocoa - 2 tb spn
3. Sugar - 3 tb.spn

For Crown

1. Flour 1/2 cup
2. Brown sugar 4 tb spn
3. Cinnamon powder 1/4 t.spn
4. Baking powder 1/4 t.spn
5. Melted butter 4 tb.spn

Preparation:

1. Sift flour, add baking powder, salt mix thoroughly and set aside. 
2. In a large bowl break in eggs, add oil, butter, sugar and water. Whisk until sugar dissolves. No need to use hand mixer.
3. Add in the flour in 3 parts and keep mixing. Finally add the nuts and fold in gently . Keep aside.
4. In a small bowl add all ingredients for layering and mix together, set aside.
5. In another bowl mix all dry ingredients, add sugar and butter mix and set aside.
6. Preheat oven to 180 C 
7. In greased muffin mould, pour one scoop of batter then dust a thin layer of coffee mix, swirl with a knife to form a texture , fill with more muffin batter close to rim. Top with the crown mixture with hand. Repeat this to fill all muffin mould.
8. Bake for 17 - 20 minutes until it's done. 
9. Remove from oven, let it sit outside for 5 minutes. Remove from mould and cool on rack.

Note:

 - Ensure the butter is cooled to room temperature

- Eggs should be used at room temperature

- You make bake in batches if your muffin tray can do only 6 at once

- You may also add other dry fruits / nuts of your choice  

Fresh Orange Green Juice (Cucumber)

Another combo I tried last week was Orange with cucumber. It was different and yet good to my taste buds. After all it's only orange and vegetable, not poison isn't? Ha ha ha :)

Simply add chopped cucumber and orange in a blender with water, sugar or honey. You might have to peel the skin off the cucumber and then chop.

What's better than some fresh home made juice.

Blueberry Apple Smoothie

I love blueberry and always ate it as fruit when I traveled. The other day when I went to my local grocery store found a pack, and marveled of-course it's expensive and imported.  I had to pay Rs.450 for merely 125 gm of packed blueberries.

It's summer here in Kerala and yes what's better than a good smoothie for breakfast. 125 gm would hardly make one large serving of smoothie. I combined it with some sweet apple, yogurt and viola - had a breakfast and another cup at midday.

You may use apply Fuji or golden as they are sweeter than other ones.

Simply wash and use the fruit. In a blender add the fruit, finely chopped apple, honey, milk, yogurt and ice cubes. Blend to get a creamy textured smoothie.

Enjoy this for breakfast or anytime during the day.

Kiwi Lettuce Juice with Green Grapes ! All Green

Kiwi is an expensive fruit in India as they are being imported. Best to have with fruit salads or juice. Ensure you use well ripe fruit while making juice. Most of my juices are made with fruit and vegetable combination or with more than one fruit as combo.

Here I have used 2 kiwi, couple of lettuce leaves, handful of green grapes to make around 750 ml of juice. It;s not concentrated but diluted with water.

Cut kiwi in small pieces. In a juicer or blender add everything with required water and sugar or honey. Blend well to form a frothy juice. You may dilute with more water if required. Strain and serve chill. I usually store in a bottle and refrigerate consume throughout the day.

Vegetable Omelette - Made easy

Omelette is a popular dish  and consumed widely throughout the world. I just can't name types of omelette the list goes on and on. You can experiment and prepare with anything you like. Cheese, Vegetables, spices, herbs etc.

This one is made with plenty of stir fried vegetables. You may use vegetables of your choice. I picked vegetables that could be eaten raw. So it does not require full cooking, simply stir fried on high heat for less than a minute. Remember to chop your vegetables finely and not large chunks for salad.

Ingredients for 1 serving.

1. Chopped vegetables of your choice as shown
2. 2 Eggs
3. Spices - Pepper, chili flakes, oregano to taste
4. Salt
5. Water - 2 t.spn
6. Coriander leaves or Parsley - finely chopped
7. Butter / olive oil - as needed

Preparation.

1. Stir fry all vegetables except tomato and leaves on high heat for a about 30 - 40 sec.
2. Let the mixture cool down. In a large bowl, break eggs, add salt and other spices, water. Beat the eggs well.
3. Add the fried veggies, chopped tomato mix slightly.
4. Heat oil or butter  in a small fry pan pour the egg mixture. Ensure the heat is medium - low
5. Sprinkle chopped green leaves
6. Egg should be cooked in low heat, use a spatula at the edges to ensure it's not sticking
7. When almost no liquid is on top, place a plate on top of pan. Cover it and turn it over so the egg falls on to the plate
8. No wipe the pan if you find dark brown residue of oil, you may use a tissue paper.
9. Slide the egg back in the pan, and let it cook the other side for couple more minutes. 
10. Serve hot with grated cheese or with ketchup if required. This can be enjoyed hot or cold.

Cleaning Guide & Tips

We use these sinks many a times, daily. Most of us do not pay much attention to how they are being cleaned if servants does it. You can spend some time on a weekend, the whole process takes 15 - 30 minutes to clean 2 sink and one bath room. You do not need anything special but the readily available stuffs at home to clean.

Here are the tips and procedure.

Brush/Scrubber
Lime juice / Lemon peel
Disinfectant solution such as Lizol
Vinegar (to clean strong stains)
Bleaching powder (If you do not have vinegar)

Cleaning Sink:

1. Dilute Lizol with water in a mug, add little lime juice of you have, pour over the sink, tab and around.
2. Rub the lemon peel on the tap, if there is stain.
3. Use brush to scrub after 10 minutes, and wash it way cold water.
4. If there are still stain marks, dab a cloth with vinegar and rub on the areas where there are stains be it sink or steel tap. (Ensure your hand or finger does not touch Vinegar it would make you feel itchy. Do wear glows)

Cleaning Bathroom Tiles:

Its usually the same process as above.

1. In a bucket take around 2-3 Ltrs of water, mix 2 caps of Lizol and little lemon juice if you have.
2. Just pour this mixture on the walls unto your neck level if possible using a mug, and on the taps
3. Sprinkle bleaching powder on the floor, if its slippery.
4. Rest it for 15 - 20 minutes.
5. Scrub using a brush with long handle.
6. Do the flooring first, then walls and taps. Finally wash with cold water.
7. For thick/strong stains repeat the cleaning method using Vinegar as mentioned in cleaning sink (Step 4)

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Cleaning Kitchen Sink / Remove stains from Kitchen Sink

You can follow the below easy steps to clean your kitchen sink. It not only clear the odor but also removes the hard water stains and gives a fresh & shiny look. I clean them once in a week to keep insects, bad odor aside.

1. A Scrubber/Brush - can be a brush with handle, if you use glows can use a small scrubber
2. Lemon juice or Lemon Peel (Optional)
3. Vim Liquid - couple of drops (if you do not have lemon)
4. Disinfectant Agent - Lizol (1 Cap)

Dilute Vim liquid/lemon juice with water and sprinkle all over the sink and the tap followed by Lizol.
After 15 minutes, wet the scrub/brush
Rub the Lemon peel on tap to remove the marks if you have, Lime is a natural bleach and cleans up real nice.
Run cold/normal water all over the sink, do a final wash.
Leave it to dry before use.

The same can be followed for tiled sink. 

Helpful Kitchen Tips

I have listed all the helpful kitchen tips learnt from my mother, few shared from friends and some out of my experience. These tips helps you in saving time while cooking, leaving a hygienic and clean storage area in your refrigerator during regular use. All you need to do is spend few extra minutes before dumping vegetables & greens bought from markets. You can share your thoughts too by posting a comment.

How to store vegetables

• To store curry leaves for a longer period, remove the leaves from the stem wash and keep in sun or under fan for the water to dry off. Store in a small container in fridge. While cooking you can use this directly, do not need to wash and this is off water.
• Green Chili - Remove the stem, wash and store in a container before refrigerating. Chilies would be fresh for almost 2 - 3 weeks.
• Avoid storing coriander leaves in a poly bag or as it is. Cut off part of stem along with root, wash remove excess water and then store in a box and refrigerate. All you need to do is chop when needed. If you prefer only leaves, while washing take only the leaves and then store them.
• To avoid ginger from drying, you may make ginger paste or chop ginger and store in air tight container ready to be used.
• Spinach is mostly seasonal, if you like cooking it. Don't worry you can store it for a week fresh before using. Chop off thick stems along with root. If you prefer to only leaves or cook leaves / small stems separately do the following:
• Cut in small pieces that fit in the zipper lock or container if you prefer to store it as whole
• Remove leaves and stem separately if you prefer this way. 
• Wash the cleaned spinach, drain the excess water. 
• Store in container or zipper bags. I personally store all stuffs in freezer safe containers or boxes based on the quantity.
• Stems can be used as supporting ingredients while making vegetable stew or Dal. Will post a separate recipe about using spinach stems.
• You may also refrigerate ready to cook cut and cleaned vegetables such as tapioca, green peas, carrot etc. for couple of days by storing in air tight containers. My mother usually cuts while watching television and store it to cook for upcoming days, this saves her time.

Easy Homemade Besan Ladoo !

All Indians go crazy about Ladoos, Besan ladoos are very popular in the northern part of India, its getting adapted down south too. I had my first besan ladoo during my college days in Panipat. I brought home, only to have broken ladoos, they are delicate.

From 250 grams of chickpea flour, i.e. besan I made around 11 medium size ladoos. I saw some videos online, and this is my third attempt with all dos and donts. Beware you might want to change hands while roasting the flour as this is a bit time consuming :)

Ingredients:

1. Besan flour regular
2. Rava - 1tb.spn
3. Powdered sugar - 125 to 200 gms, as per required sweetness
4. Elachi / cardamom powder - 1 t.spn
5. Cashew / Almond (cut them to small pieces)
6. Ghee - 100 ml

Preparation:

1. Flour need to be roasted first. In a large open kadai heat ghee in medium flame.
2. Add besan and rava, keep sauteing in low flame for around 25 - 30 min.
3. The besan would change color, releasing rich aroma. Time it for around 25 min and keep mixing without burning. You would also notice the besan becomes slight sticky as it releases the ghee.
4. Add elachi powder, nuts mix well and turn off heat.
5. Transfer this mixture to a large plate, let it cool down. While it's slight warm add sugar mix well with hand.
6. Start making ladoos in desired size, you might want to touch ghee to your palms to make the ladoos firm.

Notes:

• Do not add sugar when it;s still hot or very warm. Sugar crystallizes and making ladoos would be difficult.
• You may add little more ghee while roasting the flour, in that case you might not need extra ghee while making ladoos
• If you get besan ladoo flour, this would be coarse textured besan you can skin rava.