Pineapple Raita

Delicious Pineapple Raita in meal provides a very cool and refreshing feeling.  This amazing raita goes well with any spicy meal.  It is a perfect blend of pineapple chunks and creamy yogurt and its sweet and salty - a very distinguishing flavor, is a great twist to the regular raita. Pineapple raita, is my all time favorite and it has been a hit in my family and my friends too.

 

Ingredients:

Chopped fresh pineapple-1 Cup

Sugar-3 tbsp

Yoghurt-2 cup

Chopped coriander leaves-1 tsp

Black pepper powder-1/2 tsp

Roasted cumin powder-1/2 tsp

Salt – Pinch

 

Method:

1.Take the thick yoghurt/ the curd in a bowl. Beat the yogurt till smooth.

2.Take Cumin and black pepper and roast it on a low flame on a griddle, and whisk well till smooth powder.

3.Take fresh pineapple and chop them into small pieces.

4.Heat 1/2 cup of water in a saucepan on medium high flame and Add pineapple and sugar cook it on medium flame for 10 minutes or till it gets slightly soft not too much.

5.Strain it through a strainer.  Let it be cool completely.

6.Add smooth Curd / yogurt in a glass bowl then pineapple ,syrup, add ground cumin powder, red chilli powder, pepper and salt and stir well till it mix properly.

7.Keep it in the refrigerator for an hour before you serve it.

8.Garnish it with fresh coriander leaves and temper with the roasted spices.

Notes: Please make sure that the yoghurt is not sour, else it will spoil the taste of the whole thing.

Don't add fresh pineapple straightway without boiling in syrup, otherwise it will turns bitter in taste.

Carrot Rava ladoo

Rava Laddu recipe with a little twist in which grated carrot is added to make it tastier and healthier. These Carrot Rava ladoos are unique because of the flavor of Carrot in the rava and that extra sweetness of sugar. They were crisp and soft both at the same time This Carrot Rava Laddu recipe is very simple and extremely easy to prepare but tastes fabulous. Welcoming The New year with this delicious dessert!

Ingredients:

Carrot grated-1 cup

Semolina/rava-3/4 cup

Coconut powder/dessicated-1/2 cup

Sugar-2 cups

Ghee-2-3 tbsps

Cardamom powder-1 tsp

Cashew-10

Raisins-10

Method:

1. Dry roast the rava in a wide pan  till nice aroma arises. Make sure the color of rava doesn’t change.

2. Let it become warm and then grind it to a fine powder in your mixer Make sure there are no granules and sieve it.

3. Mix powdered sugar, rava and cardamom powder.

4. Fry cashew into small pieces and fry cashew  & raisins in a tsp of ghee until golden brown.

5. In the same pan fry carrot for 3-4 minutes in high flame and remove. Then add 1 more tsp ghee and roast coconut powder and off flame.

6. In a big bowl mix all roasted rava, carrot, coconut powder, cashews &raisins and cardamom powder sugar one by one and Mix everything well with hands.

7. Take a small amount of mixture in your palm, Make small lemon size balls out of it and store in an air tight container.( If needed Add the Melted ghee little by little at a time to make balls.)

Carrot Rava Ladoo is ready to eat.Enjoy this yummy Rava Ladoo

 

Eggless French Yule Log/ Buche de Noel

  Yule Log cake is one of the most popular traditional cakes made for Christmas. This is commonly referred to as Buche de Noel. The alternate term for the Yule log cake is Buche de Noel, which is French and indicates that the cake has its origins from France, one of the culinary capitals of the world. The term translates to the literal term "Christmas Log". Christmas logs or Yule logs were placed in the fireplace hearth and burned centuries ago as part of the holiday tradition for Christmas, commonly on Christmas Eve.

The tradition of actually burning a log began to disappear with the arrival of small stoves and the disappearance of large hearths. The big log was replaced by a smaller branch that was set in the middle of the table and surrounded by little "friandises" (sweets, delicacies) that were given as treats to guests. It is this branch that was eventually transformed into the cake we know as the Bûche de Noël.( Information from Net)

Traditional Bûche is made up of sponge cake. It is baked in a shallow pan, filled with chocolate buttercream and rolled in to a log. It is frosted again with chocolate buttercream, refrigerated and served cold. This is my first attempt and it came out well.

Ingredients:

Maida – 1 cup(200 gms)

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Unsalted Butter- 1/2 cup (125 ml)

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Milk - 1 tbsp (just for brushing the top)

For Simple syrup

Sugar -1 tbsp

Water-3tbsp

For the filling:

whipping cream-1 cup

granulated sugar-2tbsp

vanilla extract-1 tsp

For the topping:

Bitter Sweet Chocolate-300 gm

Cream-1 cup

Vanilla-1/2 tsp

 

Method:

1. Take Maida, Baking Powder, Baking Soda together. Sieve it in a large  bowl.

2. Take a deep bowl or container and pour melted butter in it. Add condensed milk to it and stir it nicely with a wooden spoon or a hand mixer. Then add milk and mix for another 2 minutes.

3. To this mix add the sieved dry contents. Add the Vanilla essence and give it a good stir for a minute so that everything is uniformly mixed.

4. Keep a cake baking pan greased with butter and dusted with flour ready before starting to make the cake batter. Pour the cake batter into it. Insert the cake pan into preheated oven. Bake the cake at 180 degree C for 20-25 min.

5. While the cake is baking, spread out an impeccably clean kitchen towel on a counter space and sprinkle it with cocoa powder.

6. To ensure that the cake is done, insert a tooth pick into it. The tooth pick has to come out nice and clean. Switch off the microwave.

7.. When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately run a sharp knife along the edges of the pan to loosen the cake hen quickly flip the pan on top of the cocoa-powder-topped towel.

8. While the cake is still warm, gently roll it up using the towel, so that the cake doesn’t stick to itself but is rather rolled up with the towel where filling would be and Let it cool, rolled up, for about 30 minutes.

Simple syrup

While cake is cooling make simple syrup with equal amount of sugar and water and set aside.

Whipped cream filling

While the cake cools, prepare your whipped cream filling and topping. Start with the whipped cream. In a chilled mixing bowl, vigorously whip 1 cup whipping cream, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble the cake.

Rich chocolate frosting

Make the ganache topping next. In a medium saucepan, heat 2/3 cup of cream over medium-low heat until it reaches a low boil. Stir every now and again to prevent it from scalding. Once it reaches a low boil, remove from heat. Add the chocolate to the cream mixture and stir until smooth. Let the chocolate mixture stand until it begins to firm, about 30 minutes, before icing the cake.

 

Assembling The Log

Unroll cake carefully, and remove towel. Brush the simple syrup over the cake. Then spread whipped frosting evenly over cake; roll up cake. Refrigerate the cake for at least1 hr.

Take cake roll from refrigerator and place it on cooling rack; frost cake. Using the rest of the ganache, ice the cake on the sides (and if desired, on the ends, or you can keep them un-iced) and all over the stump. Gently drag the tines of a fork along the surface of the ganache to give it a “woody” appearance. Let stand 15 minutes. Transfer cake to serving platter. Slice it up and serve.

Happy Christmas  to all my friends and readers…