Strawberry Paayasum/Kheer

Have some fresh strawberries in hand and in a mood for an Indian dessert? Try this delicious paayasum. The colder the better and even more so a day later J

Here’s how I made - a delicious dessert in under 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 small box of Strawberries (about 20 strawberries)

1 can of condensed milk

5 cups of milk

1 tsp of freshly ground cardamom

Preparation

Wash the strawberries well and dry them slightly with a paper towel

Add 1 cup of cold milk to the berries and blend well in a mixer

Remove from blender and set in the fridge

Open 1 can of condensed milk and pour its contents into a deep pan – add the other 4 cups of milk to it and stir it in. Allow it to boil like paayasum.

Grind cardamom seeds in your pestle and add to the milk

Refrigerate this as well

Once they are cool, mix together and serve cold

Day 5 of the week long blogging marathon initiated by Srivalli. 

In it with me are: Divya,  Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Ila,  Padma Rekha Pavani Priya's Recipes Suma Gandlur Vatsala Priya Vaasu Veena Krishnakumar

Veggie Juice Daliya (Cracked Wheat) Upma

I’ve standardized my Upma formula. What started off as an easy way to feed my 2 yr old ended up being a super hit with my other two children as well – My son who can and used to be disdainful of Upma after asking for and devouring it day after day when he was 2. Now we are riding the Upma revival in our home. Mynnew method saves me the trouble of cutting veggies for which I am quite thankful. And it makes sure that veggies that are used are not picked out and set aside on the plate by my little one – what I’d describe as a win-win situation. This is the recipe I put out for the Veggie Patch contest. I decided to try with daliya or cracked wheat.

Ingredients

The veggies/fruits I favor are tomatoes, carrots and red bell peppers. I have also used green bell peppers.  Blended into a juice

Cracked wheat or cream of wheat – depends on amount of juice the veggies can give you

Preparation

Set a pan with 1 tsp of olive oil.

Splutter a pinch of mustard seeds, urad dal, asafetida, a whoe green chili, curry leaves.

Add the juice and let it boil

Add the salt

Keep cracked wheat or sooji (cream of wheat) ready with a cup.

With your preferred hand, keep stirring the juice while with the other, scoop the sooji/ daliya and dribble into the juice.

When it is still liquidy but getting thicker, stop dribbling the grains

Slow the heat to small, cover with a lid and allow it to cook for 2-3 minutes

Indulgence – Add 1 tsp of butter/ghee and stir in before serving.  There you have it – a one pot meal under 10 minutes and a perfect weekend brunch. Serve with buttermilk and pickle (out fav combo) or with chutney.

Day 4 of the week long blogging marathon initiated by Srivalli. 

In it with me are: Divya,  Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Ila,  Padma Rekha Pavani Priya's Recipes Suma Gandlur Vatsala Priya Vaasu Veena Krishnakumar

Entering this to Spice ur Senses

Four-flour-Medley Masala Bread

I bought some Corn flour and Amaranth flour from Whole Foods and along with it an interesting looking Coconut flour – never heard of that one before – It is not coconut powder or powdered coconut milk, guys – this is, I quote, a high source of fiber and protein and a good alternative to wheat if you want gluten-free. It is sort of pale brown/yellow in color almost like they have ground the coconut hair (if you understand what I mean) to get the fiber into it – needless to say you will see me experimenting a lot more with this new friend J

So where do I begin making this masala bread for which I certainly did NOT want to use any eggs? I googled corn bread and even hit our blogger friend and my name sake Priya of easy and tasty recipes post – She had made corn bread with quinoa, another friend of this family …  but no recipes with amaranth and coconut flour which I simply needed to use – I had bought it after all. Thus the experiment began. I remembered reading my guest Jan’s explanation of how eggs are substituted by baking soda and baking powder and buttermilk which I know is a natural leavening agent.

So here is what I did …

Ingredients

1 cup Corn flour

½ cup amaranth

½ coconut flour

½ multi-grain flour (bought from Indian store)

¼ cup salted butter melted

1tsp baking soda

1tsp baking powder

2 cups of milk

½ cup buttermilt

2 tbsp honey

1tsp salt

1 tbsp dried rosemary- crushed

1 medium sized jalapeno (optional)

1 tsp of olive oil for lightly frying the jalapeno

1tsp of oil/butter for greasing the pan/pans

Preparation

Mix in a bowl the flours, baking soda & powder, rosemary and salt

In another bowl, mix milk, buttermilk, honey

First dribble the melted butter over the flour and knead in gently with hand, like you would pizza or chappati dough

Get with an electric whisk gently whisk the flour while pouring the milk mix in.

When it came to consistency, I was not too sure how flowing it should be, but in walks my daughter from school as I was preparing it and asked me if I was making bread – I was wondering aloud about the texture and she said, that seems just right for bread, ma – (hmm wonder how she knows ;))) That was all the reassurance I needed at that point

In a small pan, heat the tsp of oil and lightly fry the jalapeno to take away its raw edge.

Set oven to 400

Grease your pan/pans (i made two batches one with the jalapenos and one without for my little one) Mix in with the batter

Scoop half the batter on the pan and level it

Cook for about 15-17 minutes – check with toothpick at around 15 mins to see if it is done – keep longer if necessary.

Cut and serve with jam, hot butter or cream cheese…makes for a relatively healthy after-school snack for your kids and a good snack with a hot cuppa chai J

I really LOVE doing this!!
This goes as an entry for my ongoing blog event Fast Food NOT Fat Food (not entered for award contest, naturally)

Day 3 of the week long blogging marathon initiated by Srivalli. 

In it with me are: Divya,  Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Ila,  Padma Rekha Pavani Priya's Recipes Suma Gandlur Vatsala Priya Vaasu Veena Krishnakumar

Akila's Event

 Nivedita's Event Only Original Recipes, Pari's Announcement

Flaxseed Amaranth Vermicelli Dosais/Crepes

Want to clarify to my dear non- Indian friends that Dosais are can be loosely and broadly defined as egg less crepes, solely based on how they are spread out on a pan and the consistency of the batter...

This past weekend was a time to experiment for two events that I wanted to send an entry to - First Akhila's event Dish Starts With F and Priya of Mharro Rajasthan's Flaxseed event. The net result was happy and dosais tasted good although I think I would try some things differently the next time I make them – Use less amaranth and perhaps add some sooji or cream of wheat…

Ingredients

¾ cup of Amaranth flour

¼ cup flaxseed powder

1cup of vermicelli /Semiya (dry roast until lightly browned)

½ cup of rice flour

½ cup of chappati atta or whole wheat flour

½ cream of rice

2 green chilies finely chopped

1 tsp of ginger powder

Salt

½ tsp of cumin seeds

¼ tsp of asafetida

Preparation

Add water to the ingredients above to the consistency of  Rava dosais

Heat the dosai pan , add some non-sticky spray and see the batter splutter and create craters like the rava dosai – don’t be discouraged if the first couple rip – mine did, which is why I was thinking of adding the cream of wheat to give the batter resistance to breakage.

Cook well on both sides using ½ tsp of olive oil

Serve crisp, brown with Molaga podi or chutney – As you can see I kept it simple!

Day two of my blogging marathon with Srivalli. 

In it with me are: Divya,  Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Ila,  Padma Rekha Pavani Priya's Recipes Suma Gandlur Vatsala Priya Vaasu Veena Krishnakumar

Sending this to Mharro Rajasthan's Event 

and to Akila's Event

 Nivedita's Event Only Original Recipes, Pari's Announcement

Gourmet Farfalle Pasta Salad in Mango Sauce

Menu card at Italian Gourmet Restaurant (aka home)J

Farfalle Pasta Salad. Farfalle is bow tie pasta cooked al-dente in Spanish saffron. The sauce is made with ripe mangoes seasoned with rosemary and black peppers. Served with fresh seasonal vegetables sautéed in olive oil tossed in to the salad, topped with pine nuts and parmesan  -- $Priceless

Serves 4 - 6

Prep time 15 minutes

Cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients

3 cups of Farfalle Pasta

1 tsp of crushed saffron

1tsp of olive oil

5 cups of water to boil the pasta in

1tsp of salt

For the MANGO SAUCE
(This was a totally off the cuff try, based on intuition and a sense of what might work with what...So subbing one fruit (tomato) for another tangy was an interesting, yet plausible choice for me)
Pulp of 2 big mangoes – peeled and cut

1 tbsp whole black peppers

2 green chilies (not required/optional)

1 tbsp crushed rosemary

1 tsp of lemon juice

1 tsp of honey

4 tsp of olive oil

Veggies:

½ long red pepper (red long capsicum)

1 bell pepper (capsicum)

4-5 mushrooms, minced

2 cloves of garlic

¼ of a red onion

1tsp of olive oil

Preparation

First boil 5 cups of water in a pot. Add 1 tsp of salt and i tsp of olive oil. Crush 1 tsp of saffron and add to the water.

Add the pasta and slow cook for about 7-9 minutes – You should have lovely golden yellow bowtie pasta! Set aside

While the pasta is boiling, in a blender, add the mangoes, 1 tbsp of peppers, honey, green chilies in about a cup of water.

Add a tsp of olive oil in a pot. Pour the blended mango puree and allow it to boil for about 5-10 minutes- Keep the flame in medium heat. (keep covered)

Take the cut veggies and toss in a pan with 1 tsp of olive oil. Add some salt and allow it to tenderize but not overcook!

Now you have your three components. Get yourself a pasta bowl. Pour the farfalle in. Drizzle 1 last tsp of olive oil and toss. Add the veggies and toss again. Drizzle about 2-3 ladles of mango sauce and mix in well. Sprinkle pine nuts and some parmesan.

Take some pictures if you are blogging thisJ

I allowed it to cool on the kitchen table – this can be served hot, warm or cold.

Presto Pasta J
End Notes: You can bottle the rest of the mango sauce for another occasion or use as salad dressing or as a dip with some yummy baguette!

Grazie, Prego, Ciao!
This recipe kick-starts the second 7 day blogging marathon started by Srivalli. 
In it with me are: Divya,  Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Ila,  Padma Rekha Pavani Priya's Recipes Suma Gandlur Vatsala Priya Vaasu Veena Krishnakumar

Sending this colorful entry to Vatsala of Show and Tell's blog event :)


Also sending this to Akila's event

And Ekat Firday Potluck

Nivedita's Event Only Original Recipes, Pari's Announcement

My Innovative Kitchen's Mango Event

Announcing Second Guest Event - Calling ALL Bakers

If there is no bread, let them eat cake... Supposedly uttered by Queen Marie Antoinette ..But here's what I say ...Bring out your pots and your baking pans and let eat some cake .... :)
Now Serving on a Platter …My second guest, Anita Gupta the master cake crafter behind the SO aptly named Maliha (Beautiful) Creations – Her cakes are works of art, labors of love, a veritable feast for the eyes and most certainly food for the soul – She has graciously accepted to continue the ‘sweet saga’ and be the second guest on my blog – For me this was the happiest coincidence that she happens to live in my town I had no idea that she was the one behind Maliha Creations to which I’d been introduced by my neighbors. We met for the first time at a dance class drop off last Oct, soon after I’d started writing that blog, I was a novice blogger at that point and although I was thinking that one day, I would do these events, I did not have the courage nor followers of my blog to justify having Anita on my blog. Three months and 250 followers richer, I made the bold move to ask her. The icing on my cake is Anita will be sharing a few invaluable tips about cake making, give us a couple of her cake demonstrations and will also be judging the best cake entries for this event.

For those who don’t know Maliha Creations, brace yourselves to have your socks knocked off, viewing some of the most exquisite cakes… Please visit and see the eye candy at  http://www.malihacreations.com/

I am pasting a post from Maliha Creations here:

“We won the Bride's Choice Awards 2011 from WeddingWire! This means we are in the top 5 percent of Wedding Pros nationwide. http://www.weddingwire.com/vendor-reviews” (http://www.facebook.com/malihacreations)

How cool is that, people?  Yes, She is a celebrity and I am honored that she will be on my blog this month – We will get to know this cake genius better as I will be posting an interview with her and her invaluable tips to crafting cakes

Event Details – Crazy for Cakes March 1-31

So folks, put on your creative caps and come up with a cake that will WOW our guestJ

Rules of Event

• There will be 3 winners of the best cake award.
• Please limit entry to 2 cakes
• Both entries have to be blogged during this period
• Event is open to all following this blog
• For those who are new to this blog,  may i please request you to sign in via google connect before submitting your entry
• Deadline for entries March 31^th
• Linky will be provided for submitting entries
• Please Use logo on your website with the recipe you are sending
• And please link your entries back to this page

Look forward to some incredible participation from some incredible chefs J

Brussel Sprouts Bhajjis

This is one veggie that is really a hard sell, to my son at least and we usually tend to have them as a side with pasta. But I got these really baby, tender ones at the grocery store and thought I should try something new with it and bhajjis were the result

Ingredients

25 brussel sprouts, head chopped and sliced down the middle

For the batter

1 cup of gram flour/kadalamavu/ besan

½ cup rice flour

2 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp sambar powder

1 pinch of Asafetida

Salt to taste

Curry leaves chopped

Oil to fry

Water enough to make the batter breamy smooth

Prepare the Brussel Sprouts

From past experience, I know that Brussel sprouts take a good long to time to get the salt or spice flavors into their inner layers – Therefore, I decided to boil them in water with some salt and sambar powder for about 3 minutes – no more

Prepare batter and keep ready using all the batter ingredients listed above

Remove and drain them in a colander

Pour enough oil to fry in a pan and heat

Dip the sprouts in the batter and drop in the hot oil

HINT – space out dropping them in a oil by a few seconds since they do tend to gravitate towards each other and get stuck –

Remove and place in a paper-towel lined bowl –

Serve hot with ketchup or enjoy just like that!

Cheers and love!