Friday, October 28, 2011

Malai Peda& chocolate Peda


Pedas   are soft and It has a smooth and silky texture and it just melts in the mouth. pedas are an all time favorite .For diwali  I tried Chocolate peda& Malai Peda. Malai Peda I adapted from here.
Happy to say My Chocolate Peda is  Published in Vallamai Magazine:)
Malai Peda
 
Ingredients:
Milk Powder--2 cups
Sweetened Condensed Milk – 1 tin
Unsalted Butter – 100gm
Method:
  1. In a microwave safe dish, melt the butter.
  2. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
  3. Cook in the microwave for 3 minutes, stirring very well after every minute.
 4. After the 3 minutes, mix well again and leave aside for the mixture to cool down enough to handle.
 5. Once the mixture has cooled down, grease your hands and make balls. 
6. Gently press the balls and flatten them to shape…round and flat.
7. Decorate them with colored sugar, almonds, cashews, pistachios or raisins.

Chocolate Pedas 


   Ingredients.
    Marie Biscuits - 200 gms (powdered)
    Milk powder-100gms
    Condensed milk - 1 tin
    Butter - ½ cup
    Sugar - ¾ cup
    Cocoa - 6 tsp
    Mixed, broken nuts - ¼ cup
    Raisins - 1 tbsp
    Chopped peel - 1 tbsp (optional)

    Mix all ingredients. All the ingredients should be mixed and cooked in a heavy pan.
    Cook till thick and dry - it sets very fast, Remove & cool.
    Roll into balls and garnish.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Aval/Poha Puttu

Aval/Poha Puttu

Puttu is my all time favorite. Aval Puttu is a delicious snack and is used to prepare in functions & festivals prepared as a neivedhyam .Rice Puttu is quite a long process. But Aval Puttu, is a simpler version and just as tasty as the rice puttu.


Ingredients:
Poha/Aval-1/2 cup
Jaggery-1/2 cup
Grated Coconut-1/2 cup
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Cardamom powder-1/4 tsp
4-5 Cashews
2 tsp Ghee
Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan and fry the poha for 1-2 minutes until turns to light brown color.
2. Grind the poha into coarse powder.
3. Heat the water with salt & turmeric till it becomes lukewarm.
4. Sprinkle this little by little, to the roasted flour & mix well till it resembles fine bread crumbs.( The rice flour should be wet enough to hold together when you try making a fist with it and dry enough to break apart at a simple knock with the thumb. It shouldn’t be clumpy or too powdery. Keep breaking it with the hand as you mix. The amount of water varies with the kind of rice flour used. So keep adding in small quantities.)

5. Mix well with hands without any lumps. 6. Now, in a deep pan pour 50 ml water and put crushed jaggery and when it melts filter it.Make syrup out of it.
7. The syrup should become thick enough, so that when you add a drop of it in a vessel of water, it should solidify immediately. (When a drop of the jaggery syrup is dropped in cold water, you should be able to form it into a ball. When you reach this consistency switch of the stove and remove the vessel from the stove.)
8.Pour the syrup little by little onto the steamed poha Mix well with a light hand
9.Heat the ghee in a pan, roast the coconut and cashews until turns to light brown color.
10.Add the roasted coconut, cashews with cardamom powder to the poha and stir well.
11.The 'puttu' is ready and it must be like 'dry sand' after adding the jaggery. Allow to cool & then serve.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Stuffed Plaited Bread



Stuffed Plaited Bread  (Tried &Tasted)
I recently came across a braided bread recipe which captivated my mind; After looking at this beautiful bread in a couple of blogs, I wanted to try one on my own.  It is very easy to prepare and very delightful to look and the fillings making the bread more scrumptious. When done, remove from the oven and brush with butter if desired. These can be enjoyed warm and in fact should be enjoyed when warm. They taste great when cold too. The left over’s can be warmed up in the oven and served warm.Mix and match from a couple of recipes.And here comes my version.

Ingredients:
All purpose flour-2 cups
Yeast-1 tbsp
Sugar-- 1/2 tbsp
Salt - 3/4 tsp
Warm milk -3/4 cup
For the filling:
Potatoes-2 large boiled, peeled and cubed
Green peas-1/4 cup
Oil - 2 tbsp
Tomatoes – 2  finely chopped
Green chillies - 4,5 finely chopped
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Cheese- 1 1/2 cup grated ( instead of paneer I used Cheese)
Cumin seeds- 1tsp
Coriander powder -. 1tsp
Garam masala-1tsp
Salt. to taste
Turmeric-. 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder .- 1/2 or to taste
Coriander leaves, finely chopped - 2 tbsp
(add different vegetables as per your choice)

For Filling:
1. Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Add in the cumin,seeds. Let them splutter.
2. Add green chillies. Stir for a minute. then add chopped onion Fry
3. Add tomatoes till dry  then add the green peas, turmeric, salt and coriander powder and stir for 2 minutes.
4. Add the potatoes and cook for 4 - 5 minutes. Add the red chilli, garam masala. Mix and remove from heat. Allow the mixture cool down to room temperature.

Method:
Dissolve fresh yeast & sugar in warm mixture of milk & water, mix well, sprinkle a little flour & leave.
1. In a medium bowl mix the yeast, sugar, and milk and set aside in a warm place till it becomes frothy about 10 minutes. Add in the salt and oil. Mix.
2. In a large bowl add both the flours, mix. Make a well at the center and add the yeast mixture little by little.
3. Combine everything using your hand and start kneading. Knead for 5-6 minutes until the dough becomes smooth.
4. Apply oil over the dough and cover with a wet kitchen towel and place it in a warm place. Let the dough rise to double its size, about 1 hour.
5. Gently deflate the dough and knead for a minute. Roll the bread dough to a rectangle 1 cm thick.
6.Divide it into 3 imaginary parts along the wider side.. Make slanting cuts on either side at equal distance
7. Spread the filling and cheese on the center one third. Cut 1” wide strips on either side of the filling.
8. Make sure there is the same number of strips on each side of the filling. Leaving the end closest to the filling attached. "Braid" the strips up over the filling, tucking in loose ends and wrapping the final piece or two under the bread. Let it rise again, about half an hour.
9. Brush the top with milk & bake at 180 deg for 15 mts or so till top turns golden brown.
10.Serve hot with tomato ketchup.