15 Minute Recipes-Main course(Part 3)

The much awaited round up is here!

Rice Varieties

1. Cauliflower Rice with Boondhi Raitha from Appetizing Recipes
2. Chutney Chawal from Ruchii
3. Coconut Rice from Ashwini's Spicy Cuisine
4. Coconut milk Rice from Appetizing Recipes
5. Carrot Pulao from Appetizing Recipes
6. Corn Pulao from Appetizing Recipes
7. Cranberry Fried Rice from Asankhana
8. Kichdi from Dil Se..
9. Masala pongal from Kitchen tantra-tease your palate
10. Milagu pongal from Kitchen tantra-tease your palate
11. Peela chawaran from Simplysindhirecipes
12. Puli Pongal from Chandrabhaga
13. Sambar Sadam from Edible Garden
14. Simple Lemon Rice from From my kitchen to yours..
15. Ven Pongal from http://kaleidoscope-articlegallery.blogspot.com/

Rotis

1. Red Orangee Roti from Adlak's kitchen
2. Spicy Chapathi from Adlak's kitchen
3. Methi Roti from Saffron Apron
4. Mixed Veg Parotta from Vidya's Kitchen
5. Paneer Roll from Usha Nandini's Recipes
6. Roti Rolls from Health nut
7. Akki Roti from Annapurna

Dishes to go with Rice and Rotis-Gravies, Sambars & dry Curries

1. Baby Onions Curry from http://gharkirasoi.blogspot.com/
2. Beans Poriyal from Usha Nandini's Recipes
3. Beluli Thambli from Masala Vade
4. Bittergourd Curry from Kavitha'vin Kaivannam
5. Boloker Torkari from Khana Khazana with Malini
6. Brinjal Curry with podi from Spice-Club
7. Brinjal Tomato Sambar from Enthaligai
8. Capsicum Curry from Usha Nandini's Recipes
9. Chilli Garlic Cauliflower from Kavitha'vin Kaivannam
10. Coriander leaves with gram flour from SpicyKhazana
11. Cut Mango Pickle from Preethi's Online Cookbook
12. Double beans gravy from Appetizing Recipes
13. Drumstik kootu from Appetizing Recipes
14. Gobi Matar Tawa Fry from From my palate
15. Cauliflower Manchurian from Appetizing Recipes
16. Kadaintha Keerai from Kavitha'vin Kaivannam
17. Keerai poriyal from Viki's Kitchen
18. Malaai ki Subz from Zaayeka
19. Mavina kayi appehuli from Recipes24even.blogspot.com
20. Mix Veg Kurma from Appetizing Recipes
21. No Fuss Sweet potato fry from Nalini(nonblogger) Check out the recipe below
    
22. Okra in roasted sesame and poppy seed sauce from Appayan
23. Palak Paneer from Saffron Apron
24. Palak Chole stir fry from Veggie Food Journal
25. Palong Shak-er charchari (Spinach with mix-veg) from Appayan
26. palong-shaak-sheddho from COOK-A-DOODLE-DO
27. Paneer Mutter from Usha Nandini's Recipes
28. Plain Palak Curry from http://a2zvegetariancuisine.blogspot.com
29. Aloo Fry from Kalyani's kitchen
    
30. Potato curry with podi from Spice-Club
31. Puli inji from From my kitchen to yours..
32. Pumpkin Stew(Gummadikaaya pulusu) fromThe Chef and Her Kitchen
33. Red Capsicum Thogayal from Preethi's Online Cookbook
34. Soy Chilli Aloo fry from Kavitha'vin Kaivannam
35. Spicy Tangy Chillies from The yum factor
36. Spicy Soy Wadian from http://memoryarchieved.blogspot.com
37. Spinach Poriyal from Padma's Recipes
38. Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Curry from Spicykhazana
39. Sweet Paneer Gravy from Esho-Bosho-Aahare
40. Thondekayi Saasime(Ivy gourd in yogurt sauce) from Savi-Ruchi
41. Yellow Pumpkin with Cashewnuts and Coconut from Tasty Treats

I realized later that 2 entries were missing in the above collage and got mixed up with chutney collage. I apologize for the confusion! Sorry guys. If I redo the collage again, it is going to take a couple of hours more. So here are the missed out pictures and links to the recipes.

Plantain Fry from Vividha ruchulu



Radish, Peas and Bell Peppers Sauteed in Olive oil from Simple Home cooking



Recipe from non blogger

No fuss sweet potato fry
1 sweet potato (US variety)
1- 2 Tbsps oil
1/2 tspn or more red chilli powder
1/4 tspn turmeric
asafoetida
2 Tbs chopped onions
2 Tbs dessicated orfrozen coconut
salt

Peel and dice the sweet potato into small pieces.
Heat the oil in a 10 inch saucepan. When the oil is heated, add all the ingredients in the order given into the pot except the sweet potato. Give the ingredients a few seconds to sizzle together. Now add the diced sweet potatoes. Sprinkle abbout three tablespoons of water and close the pan with a lid.
Lower the heat to medium and let the sweet potatoes cook. Stir it every so often. The vegetables should cook very soon. Let it roast uncovered for a few more minutes. Garnish with cilantro.
Serves four.

Chutneys to go with Rice, Roti, Idly, Dosas

1. Bari Chutney and onion tomato raitha from Asankhana
2. Ridgegourd Chutney from http://memoryarchieved.blogspot.com
3. Carrot Chutney from Sai kitchen
4. Cilantro Yogurt Chutney from Kavya's Kitchen
5. Kothimeera-Tomato Pachadi (Cilantro-Tomato Chutney) from kalyani's kitchen
6. Peanut Chutney from The Chef and Her Kitchen
7. Plantain Fry from Vividha ruchulu
8. Plantain Chutney from Vividha ruchulu
9. pumpkin cilantro chutney from Vidya's kitchen
10. Mint leaf Chutney from Viki's Kitchen
11. Radish, Peas and Bell Peppers Sauteed in Olive oil from Simple Home cooking
12. Simple Peanut Chutney from From my kitchen to yours..
13. Tomato Capsicum Chutney from Kavitha'vin Kaivannam
14. Tomato Chutney/Dip from Indian Khana
15. Tomato Archaar from Cooking 4 all seasons
16. Ambuli Chutney from Aps kitchen
    

Podis/Powders

1. Spiced Dalia (Roasted Bengal Gram) Powder from Essence of Andhra
2. Spicy Coconut powder from Aathidhyam
3. Thaengai podi from From my kitchen to yours..

Raithas/Pacchadi

1. Coconut thayir pachhadi from From kitchen to yours..
2. Raita/Pachadi from Usha Nandini's Recipes
3. Cucumber pachadi from Easy2cookrecipes
4. Pineapple Raita / Flavoured Greek Yogurt from http://a2zvegetariancuisine.blogspot.com
5. Sweet mango pachadi from Sanghi's Food Delights
6. Tomato and capsicum pachadi from Preethi's Online Cookbook
7. Carrot pachadi from Salt to taste

Please check your links and let me know if there are errors.

OK I am TIRED and want to sign off. This covers only half the round-up. Anybody interested in doing the other half? haha.. just kidding.

Enjoy!

Reshmae Parota

Reshmae Parota

Mother’s chapattis were the first and the best chapattis we ever relished. The chapattis which she prepared with her newly acquired skill looked like full moons with their unblemished perfect round shapes and silky smooth texture. She cooked the flour in boiling water, and kneaded and boxed it while still warm. She pinched out lemon sized balls from the dough and rolled them out into thin chapattis of six inch diameter. We the children sat around with the round lids of steel boxes with which we cut out the perfect rounds. We were engrossed in chewing the left over ribbon like strands of dough as we cut the circles and left behind only a very small quantity which took the shape of one or two more thick chapattis in the end.

Mother never used the gas flame. (That was the first time we bought a gas stove!) to make the chapattis puff up though she used it to heat the tava to do the initial cooking. She had a ‘choolha’ with burning embers on which she dumped the half done chapattis for a moment. And Lo! How they puffed up without a scar or blemish! We could devour at least half a dozen of them with pickles, dal. sambar, rasam, jam, curd or anything that was available.

My children love chapattis and their best ever relished chapattis were really named as “Reshmae (Silk) Parotas”. As we were always after good food we often visited various restaurants in Bangalore. The choicest among them was a place called “Avishkar” which has now succumbed to the monsters called ‘Development’ and ‘Real estate’. We loved the hot, crisp and luscious ‘Reshmae Parotas’ - multi layered chapattis- which we relished with green peas masala.

Even now I try to make it at home with wheat flour, which turns out good enough, though it can never beat the original ‘Reshmae Parotas’ of Avishkar.

Ingredients:
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Salt - ¼ tsp
Ghee - 4 tbsps
Rice flour – 4 tsps
Oil – for cooking

Method:
1. Add warm water, salt and a spoon of oil to the wheat flour and make a soft dough.
2. Cover the dough and leave it aside.
3. Mix the ghee and the rice flour and beat it with a spoon until it becomes fluffy. This is called ‘Saati’ (don’t know in which language!!). Add more ghee if necessary so that it is t enough to be spread on the parota.
4. Make lemon size balls out of the dough and keep aside.
5. Roll them one by one into very thin chapattis.
6. Spread a spoon of ‘Saati” all over on a chapatti and place another chapatti on it.
7. Spread “Saati” on the second chapati and place the third one on top and repeat the process.
8. When you finish with all the chapaties apply the remaining “Satti” all over the last chapatti.
9. Roll the layers tightly together as you would do with a mat. 10. Cut them across into thick rings resembling jam rolls.
11. Flatten one ring with the cut section up into a moderately thick parota.
12. Heat a greased tava and cook the parota on both sides till golden in colour, with a liberal dribble of oil on both sides.

Relish the crisp and hot Reshmae parota with any side dish of your choice.

15 Minute Recipes-Soups and Salads(Part 2)

As I have received a lot of entries, I have divided the round up into various parts(probably 6). Please be patient and continue to follow the round up. Thanks for your contribution and enjoy these healthy soups and salads.

Presenting 15 Minute Recipes-Soups and Salads(Part 2)

Soups/Rasam

1. Avasara Rasam from From my kitchen to yours…
2. Cream of mushroom soup from Khana Khazana with Malini
3. Cucumber Soup from Usha Nandini's Recipes
4. Gingery Berry Soup from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
5. Majika rasam from Kitchen Koncoctions
6. Menasina saaru from Aroma
7. Moar Rasam from From my kitchen to yours…
8. Puli Saaru from Fusion
9. Strawberry and Tomato Soup from Paritaskitchen

Salads

1. Carrot Kosumalli from Usha Nandini's Recipes
2. Chickpeas Salad from sumascuisine.blogspot.com
3. Chucumber from Usha Nandini's Recipes
4. Cucumber salad from Usha Nandini's Recipes
5. Fruit kebabs from Usha Nandini's Recipes
6. Fruit Salad with fruit yogurt dressing from Plantainleaf
7. Green Salad from Usha Nandini's Recipes
8. Healthy Fruit Salad from Usha Nandini's Recipes
9. Mandarin Salad from Cooking and the City
10. Mom's Style Salad from From my kitchen to yours…
11. Quick Julienned Salad from Veggie Food Journal
12. kidney bean salad from http://a2zvegetariancuisine.blogspot.com
13. Red Health Salad from Usha Nandini's Recipes
14. Salad from Asankhana
15. Sprouts Salad from Usha Nandini's Recipes
16. Strawberry Salad from Usha Nandini's Recipes
17. Sweetcorn-Tomato Koshimbir from http://mykookbook.blogspot.com

Please check your links and let me know if they are incorrect.

Groundnut chutney

Ingredients:

Groundnut-1 cup
Red chilli-5
Jeera-1/4 tsp
Garlic-3 flakes
Tamarind-little
Salt- To taste

For seasoning:

Mustard-1/2 tsp
Urad dal-1/4 tsp
Curry leaves
Oil-1 tsp


Preparation method:

1. Dry roast the groundnuts.
2. Take all the ingredients in mixer grinder,grind into smooth paste.
3. Heat the oil,add mustard,once it splutter,add curry leaves and urad dal.
4. Let it turn golden brown,mix with chutney.
5. Serve along with idly and Dosa.

Puliyodarai/Tamarind Rice

Puliyodarai is fondly associated with travel. Lemon rice also shares the travel food tag. When packed and taken for a train journey, it stays good for a day. Also it is a common prasadam in many of the temples. Once the puliyodarai paste is made, preparing the tamarind rice is a breeze. It makes a good lunch box food too. The tamarind paste stays good for a week on refrigeration and for a month on freezing. The preserved pulyodaria paste and some cooked rice will come handy, if you have to prepare a quick lunch. There are umpteen ways to prepare the paste. This is my MIL's recipe and its a favorite with our family. Once you taste ice with the fresh, home made paste, you will never go for the instant puliyodarai powders available in the market.

Ingredients

To dry roast and powder
Red chilli - 3 nos
Chana dal/Kadala paruppu - 1 tspn
Urad dal/Uzhunnu paruppu - 1 tspn
Sesame seeds/Ellu - 1/2 tspn
Methi seeds/vendhayam/Uluva - 1/2 tspn

For the paste
Tamarind - lemon sized
Turmeric - 1/4 tspn
salt

Seasoning

Gingely oil/Nalennai - 4 tblspn
Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
Chana dal - 1 tspn
Roasted peanuts - 2 tblspn
Curry leaves

3 cups of cooked rice.

Method
Soak the tamarind in a cup of warm water. Extract the thick pulp and keep it aside.

Dry roast all the ingredients till the dals turn golden. Cool and powder it fine.

Heat a kadai with gingely oil. Add the mustard seeds. When it splutters, add chana dal, peanuts and curry leaves. Let the dal turn golden brown. Stir in the thick tamarind extract and add turmeric. Let it simmer till it thickens. Add salt and the ground powder. Simmer till it blends well.

Spread the cooked rice on a plate to cool. Drizzle some gingely oil so that the rice doesn't stick together. Add the paste to the cooked rice and mix gently. Serve with fried applams and enjoy your meal. I served with home made tapioca vadam and salad.

Thanks to Nags for hosting MM# Ravishing Rice, an event started by Meeta, since the recipe in my drafts, finally made it to the blog. This post is also for my blog reader A, who wanted the recipe. And thanks to my friend R, who introduced A to my blog.

Rava Kesari

Kesari is a very common and popular sweet in south India especially Tamilnadu and Karnataka.It's popular neivedyam for Satyanarayana pooja in Karnataka.I heard it's traditional Karnataka dessert(Kesari bath).In hotels they will serve along with Rava upma.In Tamilnadu especially Chidambaram we will call it as Sojji.When ever relatives visit us amma will make kesari and bajji.Every Diwali early morning amma will prepare hot hot kesari along with idlies.Here i used 1/4 cup ghee,but u can add upto 1 cup(Equal proportion of Rava).Very important thing is u have roast rava properly(Golden brown).otherwise you will get Kesari like gum only.



Ingredients:

Rava-1 cup
Milk-1 cup
Sugar-1 1/2 cup
Cardamon-3
Cashew-15
Raisins-15
Ghee-1/4 cup

Preparation method:

1. Dry roast rava till golden brown and keep it aside.
2. In heavy bottom vessel or non-stick pan,add 1 cup of milk and 2 cups of water,allow it to boil.Add crushed Cardamom and pinch of kesari colour also.
3. Now reduce the flame,add roasted rava carefully so that no lumps are formed.
4. Wait till rava cooks well,add sugar mix well.
5. Add half of the ghee in kesari,mix well.
6. Heat remaining ghee in a pan,roast cashew and raisins.
7. Add roasted cashew and raisins with kesari,serve hot.

Paper Roast

The Dosa is spread thinly and fired until crispy like a paper .Instead of oil u will use ghee means u will get nice aroma.I still remember the taste of Saravana Bhavan slightly brown crispy roast along with sambar & two kind of chutney.




Ingredients:

Raw rice-2 cups
Boiled rice-2 cups
Urad dal-1 cup
Feenu Greek seeds-1 tsp
Poha/aval-1 tsp
Salt-To taste

Preparation method:

1. Wash and clean rice,urad dal and soak for 6 hrs.
2. Grind urad dal into fine paste and poha along with rice into little coarse paste.
3. Mix with required salt and allow it to ferment overnight.
4. Heat the Dosa pan,spread the batter,as thin as possible.
5. Grease with oil or ghee and allow it to become crispy.
6. Turn into other side,serve hot with chutney and sambhar.

Poha /Aval mixture

This is very easy to prepare and tasty also.With in 5 min using very less oil we can prepare this.If u want u can add Cashew and raisin along with this mixture.very nutritious snack for kids.It consumes very less oil and also become crispy to eat and healthy evening snack.



Ingredients:

Poha/Aval(thin)-2 cup
Groundnut-1/4 cup
Fried gram dhal-4 tsp
Green chilli-2
Garlic-2 flakes
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Salt-To taste
Oil-2 tsp

Preparation method:

1. Dry roast poha in pan for 2 min.keep it aside.
2. Dry roast groundnut and mix with poha.
3. Heat the oil,add Turmeric,green chilli,crushed garlic,salt and curry leaves.
saute 1 min.
4. Now add Roasted poha,fried gram and groundnuts,mix well.
5. Serve along with tea.

Tomato Kurma- Very simple and tasty

This recipe is from Mallika Badrinath's cookbook. I like this recipe for it's simplicity.

Ingredients:
Onion chopped-1 cup
Tomatoes chopped-2 small
Oil-1 tbsp
Star Anise-1
Salt
Sugar-1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves-to garnish

To grind with little water into a smooth paste:
Coconut-1/4 cup
Almonds-20(can use cashews)
Green chilli-small piece(or according to spice level)
Red chillies-2
Coriander seeds-1 tsp
Garam masala powder-1/2 tsp

Method:
Heat oil in a pan. Add star anise. Fry for 10 seconds. Add onions. Sprinkle salt. Fry till it turns soft.
Add tomatoes. Cook till tomatoes turn soft.
Add the ground paste and some more salt. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup water if the gravy is very thick. Bring the mixture to boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add sugar. Stir well.
Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve with rotis or pooris.

Scotch-Brite Slashes Paper Towel Use

As a blogger with a modest following I get all kinds of pitches from every angle. Most of them trying to get me to market their products for them.

I usually prefer to come across ideas for blog posts myself or respond to reader questions...But this one got me:

Hi Peggy -

I wanted to get in touch with you regarding a new collection of cleaning supplies from the Scotch-Brite brand that are more eco-conscious and help consumers save some green…perfect for consumers who are looking to infuse a little fresh living into their spring cleaning routine!

As you know, in these challenging economic times, every penny counts. By making a simple switch to the New Scotch-Brite Greener Clean products this spring cleaning season, consumers can get the cleaning quality they trust while being mindful of the family budget.

The Greener Clean collection of reusable cleaning products combines the cleaning power consumers have come to expect from the Scotch-Brite brand with eco-conscious natural and recycled materials. That means there’s no need to spend extra money on disposable cleaning products like paper towels and cleaning wipes, saving consumers a bundle.

· New Scotch-Brite™ Non-Scratch Sub Sponge and Scour Pads are bio-degradable, reusable, and outlast 30 rolls of paper towels (offering a savings of over $55!).
· New Scotch-Brite™ Soap Loaded Scrubbers are made from recycled plastic bottles. One 12oz bottle has enough fibers to make 6 scrubbers.
· New Scotch-Brite™ Natural Bamboo Cloths are made from 100% natural materials including 60% bamboo, a fast growing and renewable resource.
· Scotch-Brite™ Greener Clean Absorbent Cloth is washable and reusable, with one cloth outlasting 16 rolls of paper towels (offering a savings of over $30!).

Please let me know if I can provide additional information on the entire budget-friendly line of Greener Clean reusable cleaning products for you to share with your readers as they gear up for Spring Cleaning Season!

Any feedback you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Amy











I already use Scotch-Brite scrubbies and sponges in my kitchen and for cleaning projects throughout the house, so I am sold on the quality and usability of their products.

Now they are going green. But, the question is: Are the products in the Greener Clean Collection as good as my beloved yellow scrubbie?

So, I emailed back and asked for some samples to try. Over the last few weeks I have tried most of the new products (except the Cleaning Cloth and Bamboo Wipes) and the scrubbies are just as great as the products they replace, and green to boot!

My favorite is actually something new to me: The Greener Clean Absorbent Cloth really does replace many of the paper towels I use in a day.

As a cook I was a big user of paper towels. It has been a concern in my efforts to green our home. I envisioned the landfill awash in a sea of my used paper towels. Ugh.

Now I am using one Absorbent Cloth instead of many paper towels to do all my wiping and cleaning in the kitchen. I still use some paper towels to absorb fats and such, but my usage is way down. The cloth has lasted for quite a while now...I am actually still waiting to see how long it survives.

Yeay!

Please look/ask for them in your local stores and save a few trees and moolah.

Peggy

Interactive OLED Chandelier by Philips

WOW!

With all the new lighting products in LED and fluorescent bombarding designers these days, I still have to say WOW at the recently introduced OLED lighting by Philips.

You can see and read more at
Philips Showcases OLED Product Concepts at Euroluce

Peggy

Royal Philips Electronics unveiled the first-ever OLED interactive lighting concepts–for both consumer and professional use–during Euroluce International Lighting Fair in Milan. The concepts offer a combination of intuitive interactivity, ultra flat shape, soft light-effect and new design possibilities.

Polo Bun 菠萝包 (2)

I made this polo bun quite often but there is a difficulty in handling the pastry as the butter melt very fast and cause it sticking on my hand while I'm trying to gather the dough with the pastry. Recently, I found another solution which would be much easier to handle. The original recipe asked to beat the butter until pale and fluffy then gradually add in sugar powder, salt and milk powder and beaten egg till everything combine. With this method you would get a wet pastry paste which you may need to store in the fridge for some time to harden before use (but it'll melt very fast in this hot weather, so it's not easy to handle).

For the new method, cut the cold butter into 1cm pieces (store them in the fridge if there start melting). With the same method as shortcrust pastry, process the flour, sugar powder, cold butter in a food processor till the butter mix thoroughly with the flour like the fine breadcrumbs. Add 1 tablespoon of beaten egg then pulse several times until its become a chunky breadcrumbs but not a dough (don't over process). Turn the pastry out onto a clean, floured work surface and, with floured hands, bring together to make a dough, but don't knead. Shape into a flattened ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Divide the pastry into pieces and it's ready to use. I found that the texture is much better and most wonderful thing is, it's easily to put together the dough with the pastry.

Mango Thokku

Come Summer, every household will be busy making pickles and variety of sun dried goodies to last the rest of the year. Raw mangoes are pickled in various ways. This is an instant pickle which can be consumed immediately and do not require any standing time before consuming.

Ingredients

Raw mangoes, chopped - 2 cups

Gingely oil - 4 tblpsn

Chilli powder - 3 tspn

Salt - 2 tspn

Roasted and powdered methi/fenugreek seeds - 1 tspn

Mustard powder - 1 tspn

Method
The mangoes should be raw and sour. Wash and wipe the mangoes dry. Chop the mangoes into pieces with skin. If the skin is very thick, you can scrap and chop. The pieces are not chopped uniformly.

Take a MW safe bowl. Add 2 tablespoon of gingely oil and the chopped mangoes pieces. MW high for 3 minutes. This is to make the mango soft. If you want it mushy, keep for another 2 minutes. Add chilli powder, salt, methi powder, mustard powder and the remaining 2 tblspn of oil. Mix well, so that the spices coat the pieces well. MW for 3 minutes. Cool and store in dry, airtight bottles. It will stay good for a week outside and 2 weeks on refrigeration. The chilli powder i used is very hot which is specifically for pickles. You can adjust the amount of chilli according to your taste.
Usually, these kind of pickles are made not to last too long.

This is my entry to MEC:Extras, hosted by Rachel, an event originated at Srivalli's

15 Minute Recipes - Drinks(Part 1)

Dear friends,

Thank you all for participating in this event and making it a grand success! Can you believe that I received over 290 recipes? I seriously did not expect such a huge response. I really appreciate your enthusiasm in sending multiple entries. I hope you will find the round up very useful. I have split the recipes into various categories. Recipes are sorted in alphabetical order.

Presenting 15 Minute Recipes-Drinks(part 1)

Juices

1. Aam panna from Appetizing Recipes
2. Bonda juice from The Chef and Her Kitchen
3. Carrot Orange Juice from Appetizing Recipes
4. Instant cucumber cooler from easy2cookrecipes
5. Grape juice from Priya's Sourashtrian Kitchen
6. Green tea cooler from Foodie's Hope
7. Lemon juice from Appetizing Recipes
8. Lime mint juice from Usha Nandini's Recipes
9. Mix Fruit Juice from Appetizing Recipes
10. Musk Melon Juice from Appetizing Recipes
11. Pomegranate Sweet lime juice from Appetizing Recipes
12. Watermelon cooler from Khana Khazana with Malini

Milkshakes and Smoothies

1. Avocado milkshake from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
2. Banana Cashew Milk Shake from Appetizing Recipes
3. Banana lassi from Sai Kitchen
4. Beetroot shake from Lemon n spice
5. Quick breakfast Smoothie from Dil Se..
6. Chikku Shake from Appetizing Recipes
7. Chocolate Icecream Milkshake from Khana Khazana with Malini
8. Cocoa Milk Shake from Appetizing Recipes
9. Honeydew melon smoothie from Usha Nandini's Recipes
10. Kiwi lassi from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
11. Malai wali lassi from Asankhana
12. Mango Shake from Appetizing Recipes
13. Mango cranberry smoothie from Asankhana
14. Mango lassi from http://tastespell.blogspot.com
15. Mango Milk shake from The Temptations
16. Orange lassi from The Temptations
17. Pina Colada Smoothie from Khana Khazana with Malini
18. Purple Shake from SpicyKhazana
19. Mixed Fruit Smoothie from Ramyacooks
20. Rose milk with vermicilli from Aathidhyam
21. Protein rich strawberry smoothie from Delectable Vegetarian Recipes
22. Watermelon Milkshake from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
23. Watermelon Milk shake from Bon Appetit
24. Almond jaggery milk from Usha Nandini's Recipes

Buttermilk Drinks

1. Neer Mor from Usha Nandini's Recipes
2. Cucumber buttermilk from Appetizing Recipes
3. Neer Moar Buttermilk from Appetizing Recipes
4. Oats-Buttermilk Kanji from Enthaligai
5. Sambharam/Buttermilk from Cooking up Something Nice
6. Spicy Green Buttermilk from SpicyKhazana

Hot Drinks

1. Hot chocolate from My Experience With Cooking
2. Ragi Malt with Jaggery from Dil Se..
3. Badam Ragi Malt from Indian Vegetarian Kitchen(my kitchen)

If I have missed out any entry, please let me know. Check your links and see if they work.

Mani Payasam - Sago Dessert

Mani Payasam (Jevvarisi Payasam) - Sago Dessert

Jevvarisi or Sago (Sabbakki / Sabudana) was our first solid baby food in the days when cereal food tins for babies were still a long way off in the market. Mother roasted the sago and ground it to a smooth flour and stored it for her babies. Two or three table spoons of this flour was cooked in water to a gruel (koozh) like consistency. Though I don’t remember my ‘jevvarisi koozh’ days, I cannot forget the way my younger siblings relished the koozh, sometimes with milk and sugar, and other times with mashed lentil and thin rasam. The way they chuckled with the koozh smeared all over, when mother turned away her face in mock fright to avoid their koozh filled kisses! This is a picture still remains a happy picture etched in my mind.

Jevvarisi payasam has been an all time favourite among the children in our family. The Sago or tapioca pearls look like transparent glass beads when cooked, and tastes heavenly in the creamy milk and sugar payasam, thus earning its pet name “Mani Payasam” (bead payasam).

Sago, a product derived from the tuber tapioca is full of starch. It is also said to be a good coolant. The addition of milk and sugar makes this heat buster and energizer into a refreshing drink on hot swealtery days.

INGREDIENTS:
Sago – 1 cup
Milk – 3 cups
Sugar – ¾ cup
Ghee – 2 tsps
Raisins – a few
Cashew nuts – a few
Cardamom powder – 1 pinch
METHOD:
1. Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan and roast sago until all the pearls pop up.
2. Boil milk with one cup of water and add the roasted sago.
3. Cook on low flame stirring now and then until all the pearls become transparent like glass beads.
4. Add sugar and cook till it blends well.
5. Add cardamom powder and roasted cashew nuts and raisins.
This Mani Payasam can be served warm.

If you want to covert this to a cool & exotic dessert, then add a drop of vanilla essence instead of cardamom powder and chill it. Raisins and cashew nuts are optional. Serve the chilled payasam in tall glasses topped with a scoop of vanilla or kesar pista ice cream.

Biscotti

Biscotti is my daily snack, I have it in my kitchen at all time for my craving teeth. I know many of you know how to made it but it's just a sharing as I didn't bake and blog much recently. This is a recipe from James Martin. I've been using his recipe for many years as my snack or gift for friends. I find homemade biscotti is always richer because we could add any nuts as we like and the quantity of nuts added will not stingy at all. The nuts I like the most is Almond, Hazelnut and Pistachio. Other than nuts, I find that adding some lemon zest into the mixture taste really good. I used food processor to make the mixture, it's really a simple snack to make and nice to crave!

Recipe of James Martin (Desserts):

250g plain flour
125g caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 medium eggs, lightly beaten
1 lemon zest
75g shelled pistachio nuts
50g whole blanched almonds
50g shelled hazelnut

1. Toast the shelled nuts in the preheated oven at 100'C for about 15 minutes.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, lemon zest and baking powder in a large bowl (I mix the ingredients in a food processor). Add half the beaten eggs and mix well, then add half of what's left and mix again. Now add the last quarter a little bit at a time until the dough takes shape but isn't too wet (you may not need to use all of the eggs). Add the toasted nuts and mix well.
3. Divide the dough into six, roll into sausage shapes and place on the lined baking tray (wetting your hands before rolling these cut helps to prevent the dough sticking). Lightly flatten the doughs.
4. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave for 10 minutes to cool and firm up.
5. Using a serrated knife, cut the biscotti on an angle into slice. Lay the slices on the baking trays. Return to the oven and cook for 8 minutes, then turn the slices over and cook for a further 10-15 minutes or until a pale golden colour. Cool on wire racks, then store in airtight jars.

Dates Kheer

A healthy and delicious kheer with dates. To make a sugar free dessert, you can actually do with out adding sugar too, not to forget the natural sugar in the dates. I have added sugar since I made it when I had guests at home. This is a very easy recipe. Its almost like a dates milkshake transformed into a kheer. And it sure makes a rich dessert. No soaking required if using soft dates.

Ingredients
Dates deseeded - 100 gms/20 nos
Milk - 1 litre
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder -1 tspn
Ghee 1 tblspn
few cashew nuts to garnish

Method
Soak the dates in a cup of hot milk (from the 1 lite) for an hour. Grind to fine paste. If you would like to bite into tiny pieces of dates, you can make a coarse paste. Boil the remaining milk. When it comes to boil, simmer for few minutes in low flame. Stir in the ground dates and simmer till it
blends well. Add sugar and continue cooking till the sugar is well dissolved and kheer thickens. Add cardamom powder and remove from fire. Roast the cashew nuts in ghee and sprinkle on the kheer. You can also roast some finely chopped dates in ghee and add as garnish in addition to nuts. Serve warm or chilled.

I am sending the bowl of kheer to Srivalli's Mithai Mela.

Carrot & Mango Milkshake

This recipe is adapted from Sharmi's blog. I added mango pieces to make the shake even more delicious.

Ingredients:
Grated Carrots-3
Ripe Mango(peeled and chopped)-1/4 cup(can add more)
Milk-3 cups
Sugar-2 tbsp
Almonds-12(optional)

Method:
Saute carrots for about 8 minutes. Add 1 or 2 tbsp of milk while sauteing to prevent the carrots from sticking to the pan.
Let it cool.
Blend it with sugar, almonds, 1/2 cup milk and chopped mango to a smooth paste.
Add rest of the milk and stir. Serve chilled.

Rush in your entries to my 15 minute cooking event on or before 20th of May!

News from Salt Part 5, from Alix Blair, Guest Blogger

Hello Blog: this will be short. We're in the final week. The six day count down. All work is due, in it's finality, next Wednesday at 5pm.
Next Thursday is our show of student work, Friday's the "graduation".
I am and will be more so, a zombie-- which is so painfully when it's the most beautiful sunshine summer weather outside.
I will emerge like some mole creature once all this radio work is fully-edited and bounced to an mp3 and done.

May in Maine for those who get to go outside

Passion Fruit Chiffon

I bought five passion fruits week ago then left it at the room temperature to ripe. The passion fruits filling could fill up 250ml of glass. It's great!

I used them to make some chiffon cake. This is my first attempt on making chiffon cake by using the passion fruits, and it's really refreshing.

I made two of 17cm chiffon. One for myself and another for my friend who taking care of me very much during my sickness.

I made simple decoration with some passion fruits for topping. If you don't mind to eat the seeds, it's really refreshing dessert and smell so good!

Recipe:

Egg white mixture:
110g egg whites
55g sugar
5g corn flour

Egg yolk mixture:
40g egg yolks
36g vegetable oil
50g passion fruit
55g plain flour
Decoration:
200ml whipping cream
20g sugar powder
some passion fruit juice without seeds
some left over passion fruit

Method:

1. Scoop out 50g of passion fruits and set aside.
   
2. For the chiffon cake, mix all the egg yolks mixture except flour. When everything well combined then add in sifted flour. Mix everything well combine and no lumps left. The mixture would be quite thick and smooth.


3. Beat the egg whites in a clean large bowl until peak foam. Gradually add in sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Then finally add in corn flour. Make sure the corn flour mix well in the egg mixture. The egg whites mixture should be peak foam, smooth and shiny.


4. Gently fold in 1/3 of the egg whites mixture into the egg yolks mixture. When everything well combine then gently fold in the 1/2 of the remaining egg whites mixture. Lastly, fold in the remaining egg whites mixture. (Note: This stage took some times and patient and practice. Make sure all the egg whites mixture well combine with the egg yolks mixture without breaking the egg whites. Little egg whites left will cause a big hole in the cake during baking. And, over mixing will cause it hardly rise during the baking.)


5. Pour the well mix mixture into a 17cm chiffon cake tin and bake at a 160'C preheated oven for 40 minutes. After baked, let the baked cake turn upside down for cooling before unmold it. .
   
6. Whip the cream with sugar powder until thicken, then mix in some passion fruit juice without the seeds.


7. Cream the chiffon cake then deco with some leftover passion fruits on top of the cake.
   Keep the cake in the fridge it could last for 4 days. Best serve in 3 days.