Cherry Cake

I got some cherries at Pondy Bazaar in Chennai. Those cherries were special, as i handpicked them one by one, choosing the Best. I would usually buy a Pack of cherries, from the Vegetable shop, which will have only few good cherries in it. So having got such Rich Red Cherries, i wanted to make Cake out of it. There i baked this Cherry Cake, and it turned out Good. It will be so Perfect along a cup of Coffee. I tried the cherry cake from here.

Ingredients:

Cherries - 100gms (remove the seed and slice them into four pieces)
All Purpose Flour - 2 Cup's
Butter - 1 / 4 Cup
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Powdered Sugar - 1 Cup
Egg's - 2
Milk - 1 / 2 Cup
Vanilla Essence - 5 ml

Method:

Pre-heat the oven at 350F / 180C. Grease a Baking Bowl with little butter and set aside.

In a Mixing bowl, beat the butter and Sugar, till they turn creamy. Add Egg's one by one and beat well.

Add Vanilla Essence to the bowl and mix.

Add little Flour and mix with a wooden spoon. add  flour and milk alternatively and keep mixing with the wooden spoon.

Last, add the cherries to the bowl and mix. Reserve some cherry slices, to top, on the halfway of baking.

Bake the Cake at 180C / 350 F for about 1 hour.
In Between, remove the Cake from the oven and top with few left cherries and put back into the oven.

Check the cake, by inserting a toothpick at the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Its such a easy Cake to make.
For me, it tasted like Pound Cake and the cherries gave a nice taste to the Cake.
This Cherry Cake will be a Perfect Tea Time Snack.

Seppankizhangu Sambhar

This is another favourite dish of mine from my mom's kitchen. Seppankizhangu is a root vegetable, which is called as Taro Root in English. also called as Colocasia. Seppankizhangu Roast is the popular dish, but i wonder how come preparing this sambhar came into practice in my home. If you love Seppankizhangu, then you must try this Sambhar. the soft Seppankizhangu in Sambhar will sure impress you all.

My Hubby don't love this vegetable, so i usually prepare this only if he is not going to come home for Lunch. so one such day was today, and i happily prepared and enjoyed the meal today:) Kovakaai is another veggie that i like, but he hates. and Kothavarankaai is one which i hate and he likes it a lot:)

Is there any similar stories in your family?

 

Ingredients:

Seppankizhangu - 6
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Cooked Tuvar Dal - 1/2 Cup
Tamarind - half of a lemon size

Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Dry Green Chilli - 3
Curry Leaves - 8

Turmeric Powder - a pinch
Sambhar Powder - 2 tsp

 Method:

Cook the Tuvar Dal with a little asafoetida. If you Pressure Cook, cook it upto for 5 whistles.
Cook the Seppankizhangu with little salt to taste in Pressure Cooker for upto 4 whistels.
After Cooking the Seppankizhangu, wash them with cold water and let it cool and peel its skin. and set aside.
Soak the Tamarind in warm water for about 5 minutes.

In a Pan, heat oil, add mustard and let it pop and add, asafoetida powder, curry leaves and dry green chilli's.
Add Diced onion to the Pan and saute it along.
Add chopped Tomato to the Pan and saute it along onion.
Now add salt to taste, add Turmeric powder, Sambhar powder and mix well.
Add boiled and peeled Seppankizhangu to the pan and mix well.
Now add Pressure Cooked Tuvar Dal to the pan and mix.
Add tamarind water and 1/2 cup of water and mix well.
Let the Sambhar boil in medium flame for about 5 to 7 minutes. and remove from flame.

* Add more water, if like your sambhar little watery.
* Its must to add Asafoetida powder, as it helps to remove gas from the seppankizhangu.


Serve the Sambhar with Hot Rice. some appalam or vadams will make a good combo.

Ennai Kathirikkai Kulambu

This is one of my most most favourite kulambu from my mom's kitchen. We used to call a Cook to prepare special sweets like Jangri, Laddu etc. for festivals. The Cook Prepares excellent Ennai Kathirikaai Kulambu. Whenever the cook comes to our home, i used to whisper at my mom's ears, to prepare this kulambu. and whenever my mom comes to my college hostel, she brings a big dubba of this kulambu, which we will finish of in a single meal. so this is the best ennai kathrikaai kulambu recipe, which i try atleast once in a week.

Ingredients:

Small Purple Brinjals / Pinji Kathrikaai - 4
Sesame Oil - 1/4 cup
Tamarind - a small lemon size.

For Masala:

* Chana Dal / Kadala Paruppu - 1 tbsp
* Dhania / Corriander Seeds - 1 tbsp
* Roasted Peanuts- 1 tbsp
* Dry Red Chilli - 4
* Sesame Seeds - 1 tbsp

Dry Roast the above ingredients and grind into a coarse powder. to the grounded coarse powder, add the following and grind into a smooth paste.

* 1 Tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
* 1 Big Red Onion
* 2 Tomatoes

Now the Masala is Ready.

Method:

Make a X cut on Brinjal's. check inside whether its clean (without sothaai). Fill some masala's into the "X" cut of brinjal's and let the brinjals marinate in masala for about 10-15 minutes.

Soak the Tamarind in a 1/4 cup of warm water for about 10 minutes. squeeze the tamarind and throw out the pulp.

Heat Oil in a Kadaai / Thick bottomed Pan. drop the brinjals stuffed with masala's one by one into the Oil.
Let the Brinjal's get cooked in medium flame. when the Brinjals shrink and fried for about 4 minutes in medium flame, add the Masala's to the Oil and fry the masala in the oil for 2 minutes.

Add Tamarind water to the Pan and let the kulambu boil. slow the flame. add salt to taste and mix well. Now reduce the flame and close the pan with its lid and let the kulambu sit on the flame for about 15 minutes or till the brinjals get cooked fully and till Oil comes on the sides of the Pan.

Add some Curry leaves and remove from the flame.

Serve with Hot Rice.
The Kulambu will be in a thick paste form. it will be so divine to mix with Hot Rice.

Kulfi Ice

I bought Kulfi Moulds a year back, kept it unused for all these days. I badly wanted to use it for this Summer. finally the time came for it 2 days back. Kulfi's came out so well. I didn't intend to post the Kulfi Recipe untill i tasted it. It tasted Soo Great and thus Kulfi finds its place here and for your eyes.

My ammamma used to make Ice-creams and i just love to eat them even before freezing. i don't remember with what all she used to make. but vaguely, it could be Milk, Breads without edges, and Sugar. She used to put them all in the mixer, Grind together and add essence and freeze. We used to take these Ice-creams in a Flask filled with Ice Cubes to my MOM in our Village. My ammamma would be worriyng a lot, that the ice-cream should not melt during the 1.30 hrs. Car journey. On Landing the Village, we first open up the flask and check the Ice-cream and have it at once, as we didn't have Fridge at our Village home.

Summer holidays at our Village home are full of Green memories to me. I just love to go to our backyard and enjoy the Pure air and look at two Mango Trees, that my mom and my Pinni seeded at their childhood. My Job during summer holidays is to safeguard the Peanuts / Mallattai from crows. Peanuts will be spread all thru our backyard to get dried in Sun after harvest from our field. Oh.. I just Love those memories now!!

Okay Coming to the Kulfi Ice. its so easy to make, if you have Condensed Milk tin and Kulfi Mould's on hand. Even you can use small pots, as served in our ice-cream parlours. Else you can use small Paper Cup's as mould's and insert a chocobar stick and cover with a plastic wrap before you freeze.

Ingredients:  (Recipe for 6 Kulfi's )


Sweetened Condensed Milk - 200 ml
Milk - 1/2 Litre (400 ml. will do)
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Corn Flour - 2 tbsp
Elakaai / Cardamom - 4
Badam - 10
Cashew - 5

Method:

First take few tablespoons of milk, say 4 tbsp's and mix cornflour to it without lumps and set aside.

Grind the Cardamom in the Small Mixer Jar, remove the outer cover and add Sugar to it. Now Grind the Sugar with Cardamom innner mates into fine powder. remove it to a bowl.

Grind the Badam and Cashew coarsely and mix it with the Sugar, Cardamom mix.

Mix the Condensed milk to 400ml. Milk and Pour them on to a Wide Pan. Heat this Mixture till it boils. Now add the Cornflour mixed with Milk to the Pan.(Make sure to mix again before adding to the Pan, as the corn flour may get settled in the bottom).

Now add the cardamom-sugar-badam- cashew mix to the Pan and stir well. The milk in the Pan starts to thicken in a minute. slow down the flame, whenever it boils and tries to spill out of the pan. Let the Milk get thicken for 2 minutes atleast. remove the pan from the flame and cool it down.

Pour the cooled down milk mixture onto the Kulfi moulds. Freeze them overnight. when you want to serve, Run Water over the kulfi moulds. and Rub the Moulds with both your hands. Carefully remove the lid of the mould and serve. If the mould stick comes and not the Kulfi, carefully use knife to loose up the Kulfi and remove with a spoon.

First Picture of Kulfi, before it started to Melt.

It came out Good. but started to melt so fast!!(Chennai Climate ma!). I added some buterscotch chips to Kulfi-Milk mix, that gave a good crunch on bite!!

Iam sending these Kulfi's to Srivalli's Thanda Mela.

During my school days, My Ranks will be on Top during the first quarter of the academic year. and it gradually dips further on the next quarters. Iam sure many of you would have same experience( I cannot be the only one). I think there is more thrive, when things start & then, when the time goes by, the throttle comes down and the thrive disappear! Now the same High Thrive in Morning - Slow Throttle in Afternoon - Disappearance of Thrive in the Evenings Syndrome happens to me on daily basis. Like I Think I should eat Healthy Food in the morning, then in afternoon i manage to cook just to fill tummy and in the evenings / Nights I totally go for Unhealthy stuffs like Fried Gobi Manchurian, Heavy Sugar thrown Sweets. This continues as my daily business. Let me Hope for Best, that i should eat at least 2 healthier Meals a Day.

Coming to the Oats Breakfast Recipe's, I discovered two Best and Healthy ways to eat Oats without Guilt.
Oats is a type of Cereal, that helps in reducing the Cholesterol. Oats also get digested slowly, so you don't feel hungry soon on having Oats. The Best Part i like about Oats is, It gives Energy for me to work for the next 2 hours and its So Light  Food to Have. Find its Nutritional Values Here.

The First Oats Breakfast Recipe is - Oats with Moong Dal and Green Peas

I liked this much as every bite has Green Peas and the Moong Dal give a different taste along with the Oats.

Oats Breakfast Recipes

Prep Time: 10 mins 

Cooking Time: 15 mins  
Serves: 1
Recipe Cuisine: Chinese
Recipe Type: Breakfast

Ingredients:



Oats - 4 tbsp's
Moong Dal - 2 spoons (Soak them in water for about 30 minutes)
Green Peas - 1/4 Cup
Green Chilli - 1
Water - 2 Cups
Salt - a small pinch (add very little salt, as Oats require less salt)

Method:

Soak the Split Moong Dal in half cup of water for 30 minutes to 1 hour. you can also soak and put in the fridge overnight and wash it with water before using.

Heat 2 Cup's Water in a skillet and add the Soaked Moong Dal and Green Peas. The Moong Dal may get Cooked within 10-15 minutes. when its almost cooked, add the Green chilli(slitted) and Oats to the Skillet and Cook. Oats gets Cooked in 5 minutes. add salt to taste and Serve Hot.

Note:

You can also add chopped Carrot, Beans and some chopped Corriander leaves and make it as Indian Khichdi.

Second Oats Breakfast Recipe - Oats with Murunga Keerai / Oats with Greens and Dal

This tasted much like a Keerai Paruppu Sadham. I even gave this to my Son with Ghee. This is a very healthy one pot meal. If you are wondering, about availability of drumstick leaves, go for Spinach or some fenugreek leaves.

Ingredients : (serves 1 adult)

Oats - 4 tsbp's
Moong Dal - 2 spoons
Murunga Keerai - a fistfull of leaves
Green Chilli - 1
Turmeric Powder - a pinch
Sambhar Powder - 1/4 tsp
Water - 2 Cup's
Oil - 1/4 tsp
Salt - a little

Method:

First Heat Oil in a Pan.Add the washed and Draines drumstick leaves / Murunga Keerai to the pan and saute it for a minute. it should get cooked.

Heat 2 Cup's of water in a Skillet and add Moong Dal and cook for about 10 minutes and then add the Green Chilli(slitted) and Oats. Cook the Oats for 5 minutes, add the saute and cooked Keerai / Greens to the skillet and mix well with the Oats and Dal. add salt to taste, a pinch Turmeric Powder and Sambhar Powder / Chilli Powder and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, till the oats get thick and Serve Hot.

Now Tell Me Which Version You Like and what other versions can be made??