Vazhaithandu thayir Pachadi/Banana Stump in Yoghurt Sauce

The Biggest Advantage of staying @ Chennai for me is i dont have to cook, either it is my Amma's place or my in-law's place. The Only difference is former place i get to eat what i want, whereas the later i got to eat whatever i get!!!! :)

Even before booking my tickets, my hubby called up my Appa Amma and gave some standby instructions!!! A Strict NO NO to Coconut, Sugar, Sweets and Oil!!!! No White Rice!!! And a Compulsory 1 hr walk daily!!!! Coz we met with a Endocrinologist and a Dietician a week before i left to Chennai. So far things are going good except for the 15 days @ my in-law's place, where it is a Strict NO NO to Diet!!! :).

This Banana Stump in Spicy Yoghurt Sauce/Vazhaithandu Thayir pachadi, amma makes me often, for the goodness of Fibre. I m not sure whether this helps you in weight loss or not, but i m damn sure of the taste!!! itz yummy!!!!

Ingredients

1 Medium-size Vazhaithandu/Banana Stump

1 Tomato, finely chopped

2 nos Green Chilli, Finel chopped (increase this if you want it to be more spicy)

2 tbsp freshly grated Coconut (i used only 1 tbsp, since i suddenly remembered my Dietician!!!!)

1 cup Low-fat yoghurt

Salt to taste

Method

Remove the outer layer of banana stump and Chop it finely. Grind it with rest of the ingredients to a fine paste with little water. Mix this beaten yoghurt.

Heat a tsp of oil, splutter mustard seeds, hing and add a tsp urad dal. Once the urad dal turns brown, pour this over the yoghurt sauce. Enjoy with your regular meal.

Karuveppila Thokku /Curry Leaves Pickle

Curry leaves are good source of calcium and vitamins and minerals. Usually, curry leaves are used in the dishes for the flavor it imparts. And generally, these leaves are picked and kept side when served. When people discard/disown someone/something after using it for their benefit, its compared to leaving out the curry leaves while serving. (Kaaryam kazhinjal kariveppila pole)

 

 

 

I often make curry leaves powder and thogayal. Once I got to taste this thokku at my brother-in-laws place. My co-sister had got from her hometown. It was shop bought, probably packed by home based pickle makers. There was no ingredient list on it. Though, it was tad sweeter to my taste, I liked it. I tried to recreate it at home. It came out well. It goes well with dosa/adai and rice too. It keeps good for 2 weeks under refrigeration. I guess it will have shelf life of at least a week, even if kept outside.

 

 

 

You need

 

• Curry leaves - 1 cup packed, separated from the stalk
• Red chillies - 4 nos
• Tamarind - gooseberry size
• White Sesame seeds - 2 tspn
• Hing - a small piece
• Salt
• Oil - 2 tblspn
• Jaggery - a tiny piece

 

 Method

 

Wash and dry the curry leaves. Roast it in a kadai/Mw till crisp. Dry roast sesame seeds

Heat a teaspoon of oil. Drop the hing piece and when its fried, remove it. Then roast red chillies.

Powder curry leaves, sesame seeds, hing and salt.
When it is coarsely powdered, add the soaked tamarind and jaggery. Grind till smooth.
Use the tamarind soaked water to grind. You need to have a runny paste.

Heat 2 tablespoon of oil. Add the ground paste. Simmer till it thickens

Adjust the quantity of red chilly and jaggery to suit your taste palette.

 

 

 

Durian Mousse Cake

It's been very long time I've not doing anything here. No baking and no blogging as I was very sick for the pass few weeks, but now I feel much better and trying to share a recipe with you - all my supporter and blog lovers. I made this last month and like the texture very much. I'm quite particular with mousse texture before too much gelatin will produce a hard jelly type which couldn't give the "melt in the mouth" and creamy texture whereas not enough gelatin would afraid the mousse will not set nicely.

This time the texture is just right to what I was looking for and really happy with the result. Airy soft, moist and creamy. For Durian lovers, you will like it. My guests enjoy it very much!

Recipe for 8 x 5cm individual cake:

For the base:

100g digestive biscuits

30g butter (melted)

For the durian mousse:

200g durian flesh (pureed)

3 pieces gelatin leaves

200ml whipping cream

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 egg yolks

50ml milk

40g caster sugar

1. To make the base, process the biscuits in a food processor to make rough crumbs and add the melted butter. Process again until it makes damp, clumping crumbs and then tips them into every chef rings. Press the biscuits crumbs into the bottom of the tin to make an even base and put into the fridge while you make the filling.


2. Put the gelatin leaves in cold water. In a sauce pan, warm the milk with sugar until the sugar completely dissolved. Add in the softened gelatin and mix well. In a large bowl, add in the egg yolks then gradually pour the warm milk to mix with the yolks. Mix in the lemon juice and durian flesh until well combine.


3. Whip the whipping cream until stiff peak. Fold it into the durian mixture and divide the mixture into every chef rings. Chill in the fridge until it set. Enjoy!