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.

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.

Eggless HomeMade Doughnuts

Tried and Tasted

Doughnuts are tasty, inviting and lip-smacking sweet treats. My son likes doughnuts. He asked me to prepare it at home. So I thought this time let me try it at home itself .After many days of pondering about doughnuts finally I tried it. One of the greatest things about this recipe is that they have a mildly sweet, with a soft, fluffy texture. They are surprisingly inexpensive requiring few ordinary household ingredients, we can easily make at home. The freshly homemade egg less doughnuts are very tasty and everyone in home loved it. It makes me very happy!

Ingredients:

2 -cups plain flour (maida)

Milk-1 cup

Butter-1/4 cup

Yeast-1 tbsp

Baking powder-1/2 tsp

Powdered sugar-1/2 cup

Sugar-for dusting

 Oil to fry

Method:

1.Heat the milk in a medium saucepan and heat medium heat just until warm enough to melt the butter. & pour over 1/4 cup sugar & 1/4 cup salted butter.

2.Let cool to room temperature. In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let dissolve for 5 minutes and it should get foamy.

3.Add this foamed yeast& 2 cups Maida 1/4tsp salt&1/2 tsp baking powder to milk mixture. Continue adding flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until mixture is a stiff dough, and no longer sticky.

4.Flour is incorporated well after each cup. Slowly mix in the flour until the dough forms a ball. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Let rise until double in bulk.

5.Roll out on a floured board to 1/2" thick. Cut out dough using doughnut cutter or drinking glass and centerthe whole. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for10 minutes.

6.Heat your oil for frying in a deep and wide, heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium-high heat.

Slide dough slowly into the oil to avoid splattering and deep fry until they puff up and are golden brown.

7.Carefully remove and allow to cool until you can handle them. Then dust the doughnuts with powdered sugar until covered or coat them with melted cooking chocolate.

Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients

Unsalted butter-1/2 cup

Whole milk, warmed-1/4 cup

Vanilla extract-1- teaspoons

Bittersweet chocolate, chopped-1/2 cup

Sugar-1cup

Method:

1.Combine butter, milk, and vanilla in medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until butter is melted.

2.Decrease the heat to low, add the chocolate, and whisk until melted.

3.Turn off heat, add the powdered sugar, and whisk until smooth.

4.Place the mixture over a bowl of warm water and dip the doughnuts immediately. Allow glaze to set for 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Sweets With Fruits - RePosting for "Celebrate Sweets"

Indian desserts are  very often decorated with cardamom, raisins, almonds, pistachios, cashew nuts and fruit such as mangoes, guavas, pineapple, melon, cherries, oranges and bananas. So much fresh fruit available, each month offers the chance to create something deliciously different. One solution is to eat fruit for dessert, either alone or incorporated into recipes. These light desserts are not only a quick way to satisfy your sweet tooth—they can be prepared in 15 minutes or less—but they are also a delicious way to get antioxidant-rich fruit into your diet.

Pears and Coconut Ladoo 

 
 Egg less AppleRaisins Muffins


 
Eggless Orange Cake with Raisins





 
 StrawberryMousse

JackFruit Halwa (chakkavarati)

 Fruit Kesari

 Carrot burfi

 Strawberry yogurt smoothie

 Pineapple Jam

 Pine AppleJam cookies

 NendranPalzam Halwa

 Egg-less orange Muffins/cupcake

 Fruit Salad with Honey(Summer Treat)

 ABCHalwa(AppleBananaCarrot Halwa)

Fried fruit Balls

Rak's Sweets/Desserts with Fruits/Veggies started by Niveditha

Tomato And Peas Curry with Kasuri Methi

Tomato And Peas Curry with Kasuri Methi is very simple & easy to prepare and great tasting dish This curry is little tangy and spicy.Kasuri methi enhances unique flavor to the dish. This is not cream based curry. Without cream it is too good. But if you want you can add cream. I didn't add any cream.I adapted this recipe from here. . But I do make few changes to her recipe and it turned out great. here is my version

 Ingredients

Tomato   2-3 medium

Peas   1 cup

Onion-1

kasoori methi-2 tbsp

Cashew nut  -   6-7 no.s(soak it in warm water)

Green chilli   -2 finely chopped

chilly powder    1 tsp

Coriander powder     1 tsp

Garam masala    1 tsp

Ginger   1/2" piece

Cumin seeds/Jeera    1/2 tsp

Milk/Fresh Cream-1/2 cup

Salt   as needed

Oil    1 tbsp

Butter    1/2 tbsp

Method:

1.Chop onions and tomatoes very finely

2.Grind tomato, soaked cashew nuts, green chillies and ginger to a smooth paste.

3.Heat oil or butter in a kadai,add cumin seeds when it splutter add onions and Saute onions till golden brown.

4.Add redchilli, garam masala, coriander all the dry powders and mix well.

5.Then add Peas and fry. Then add the grounded tomato paste and cook in medium heat and  keep stirring

6.When oil starts separating, add kasuri methi leaves Stir fry.

7.Now Add milk and cook until the gravy becomes creamy and fry for 2 minutes.( You can even add fresh cream)

8Adjust salt and stir well. Allow to boil the curry for some 5-7 minutes

9.Now the tomato &peas curry is ready and serve hot with Rice, Roti, or Naan.