Pumpkin Halwa in Microwave

Pumpkin halwa is part of almost all breakfast menu served for brahmin marriages. If its not this sweet, then mostly Kesari takes its place. Every time I taste the halwa for marriage breakfasts, I wanted to try it at home. And this is the first time I am trying. I am happy that it came out well. I didn't have any recipe to follow. I think basic method for preparing any vegetable halwa/sweet is the same.

Ingredients

Ripe pumpkin grated - 2 cups
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Orange color - 1/4 tspn
Cardamom powder - 1 tspn
Ghee- 1 tblspn



Take a MW safe bowl. Mix grated pumpkin and milk. Mix the food color in a tablespoon of milk and add to the milk+pumpkin mix.


MW high for 4 minutes. By then the pumpkin must be cooked and milk be fully absorbed. Its alright If pumpkin is cooked and some milk left.


Stir in sugar. MW high for 12 minutes. Keep stirring at every 4 minutes. By then it must have cooked to form a homogeneous mixture.


Add a tablespoon of ghee and powdered cardamom.


MW for another 1 minute.

Timings may vary according to your MW and the texture of pumpkin used. Adjust accordingly.
Cooking in MW doesn't call for constant attention as on stove top method.





Now coming to the 2 awards I received last week.
Thanks Gaurav and Uma for passing the awards for me.

Gaurav has passed the Good Chat Blog award.


I in turn pass this to
Aparna
Sunshinemom


Uma feels I make her day. Actually, you made my day Uma with this award.


I pass the award to
Sowmya
Jayashree


Please accept the awards, even if you have already received them.

Onion Chutney - for idly and dosa

Ingredients:
Onions- chopped into slightly big pieces(about 1.5 cups)
Urud dhal - 1 tbsp
Red chillies - 2(or add more if you want it spicy)
Tomatoes(about 2) - chopped
Salt
Coconut(optional) - 1 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:
Heat oil in a pan.
Fry urud dhal until golden brown. Add red chillies and onions. Fry till onions get cooked and turn brown.
Throw in chopped tomatoes. Add salt. Fry well till tomatoes turn soft.
Switch off the gas. Add coconut. Let the mixture cool. Grind to a smooth paste.

Chutney is ready to be served with idly/dosa. Tastes great!

English Rich Scones

"Some say scones, some say scon. Whatever you say these are delicious and these are something you could put together really quickly, eat them freshly baked from the oven with those ingredients you generally always got in your cupboard..."

By Lesley Water.

I came across many scones recipes, this is the best for me. The crumbly and crispy texture with the freshly bakery smell had given me the finest satisfaction in the morning.

I was looking for something rich and crumbly food this morning, and this scones had come into my mind. I didn't take much time to get this fresh scones out from the oven. Just imagine if those ingredients prepared before I went to bed, it will take no time to have this freshly baked scones with just a casual mixing and cutting in the morning. I would just leave it in the oven for 12 minutes and make up myself while waiting for it. Some people like to use food processor to make the dough but that could easily end up with a tougher dough. For me, mixing the ingredients by hands could save me time to do any washing.

First of all, mix 225g flour, pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon baking powder in a large bowl then tip in 55g butter and use your finger tips to rub and combine the flour and butter to become crumbly. Add 55g ground almond and 25g sugar, mix until combine. I normally used the whole blanch almond blended into ground that stored in my cupboard as I like the real flavor. Of course you could easily get it from any supermarket. In another bowl, mix 100ml milk, 2 tablespoons yogurt and 1 egg. Leave these dry and wet ingredients in the fridge before you go to bed or wake up 5 minutes earlier in the morning to do those mixing, anyway it is not a hard work. Whatever you decide to do, preheat your oven at 225'C before you start everything. Now, pour in 2/3 of the wet mixture into the dried mixture, and mix with a palate knife until everything just combine or when the flour is disappeared and that's time to stop mixing. If you find it too dry, add some wet ingredients. The dough should be soft but not sticky. Then, place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Over kneading or mixing will result in a tougher dough. Flatten the dough with your floured hands to form a 2.5 cm thick round shape or any pattern you like as it very much depends on any cutters you use to give a fancy scones or just use a floured knife to cut it into any shape. I cut it into 8 triangle portions from a round dough. I found the triangle shape is just nice to feed into my mouth and another reason is I am lazy to take out the cutter in the morning. Lots of the English scones I have seen was in round shape with lace edges, It is very pretty as kind of traditional outlook. So. No matter what cutter you use, just cut it straight away and do not twist it just to give a prettier look and prevent the dough sticking too much. Push the dough out from the cutter and place it on the baking tray with baking parchment. Put it in the middle of the oven and set the time to 12 minutes or bake until golden brown. Now, prepare yourself a cup of coffee and you would smell the rich scones very soon.

Eat it when it is warm as nothing can be better than the freshly baked pastry for the morning. Cut it into half and enjoy it with butter, jam, peanut butter, soft cheese or like the English, eat with clotted cream. Keep the leftover scones in a fridge for 3 days or 2 weeks in a freezer. Reheat it in a microwave or oven to get a warm texture.

This scone are not only serve in the morning, but also nice to serve at tea time or supper or whenever you are craving. Enjoy!