Strawberry in two avatars - Milkshake and Shrikand

I am putting the strawberry season to full use. And this is the first time I have access to strawberries which doesn't cost a bomb. And we are nearing the end of the strawberry season here. I have frozen quite a few and made two bottles of jam. The easiest way to use them is to make milkshake for breakfast. Its made atleast twice in a week during the season. Occassionaly, I make strawberry flavored Shrikand too. That is also quite easy except that hung curd has to be made. Often I forget to reserve the curd to prepare hung curd and by the time I realise I would have churned the curd to make buttermilk. At home, we prefer buttermilk than curd. Though the plain Shrikand is not much favored by husband, he loves the strawberry flavored one. So here is two super easy recipes with strawberry. In fact, there isn't much to write about  in terms of the recipe. Here is I how I make it.

Strawberry Milkshake

You need

• Strawberries - 10 -12 nos
• Chilled milk - 2 cups
• Sugar - 2 tblspn (Or use honey)

 Method

Wash and hull the strawberries. Cut into halves. Blend the halved strawberries along with sugar to fine puree. Add the chilled milk and pulse for few second. Pour into glasses and chill it if you are not serving immediately.

 

Strawberry Shrikhand

You need

• Hung curd - 1 cup
• Strawberries - 8 to 10 nos
• Sugar - 2 tblspn
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tspn

Method

To get hund curd, take 4 cups of curd in a cheese cloth. Tie it and hang it to drain the whey or the liquid in the curd. What remains is the creamy curd. I usually hang it in inside the fridge so that the curd doesn't turn sour.

Puree the strawberries with sugar. Beat the curd till smooth. Add the sweetened strawberry puree. Mix well. Finally add cardamom powder. Chill and serve. Garnish with chopped pistachios/almonds/chiroli  while serving

Stuffed Eggplant Fry (Guthi Vankaya Fry)

Yesterday Shoj got these eggplants and wanted me to make his favorite stuffed eggplant curry (Guthi Vankaya Curry in Telugu). I always make it the curry style with thick gravy. But today I wanted to make it without gravy, but wanted to keep the stuffed masala intact inside the eggplant which I thought would make it more tastier. Guess what....I was not wrong, I liked it more than the curry style and Shoj also liked it so much that he said he could not stop eating more. I was so happy, this is the way I get inspired to do and try new recipes and make the usual recipes taste more better every time. :-)

This yummy recipe can be served with steamed rice or fulkas or roti's.

Ingredients:

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12-15 medium size purple Eggplants, washed and quarted and kept intact with the stem

Note: You can make the same recipe with green eggplants too, make sure that the eggplants are medium sized and not too small or too big because too small eggplants are difficult to stuff and too big eggplants does not make tasty curry and more chances are that the stuffing will come out after they cook.

1/4 cup Peanuts

1/4 cup Sesame seeds

1/4 cup Coconut grated ( I used the dry grated coconut)

5-6 dry Red Chili's

2 tbsp Coriander seeds

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tsp whole Black Peppercorns

1 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste

1 medium Red Onion chopped

1 sprig Curry leaves

2 tsp Tamarind paste

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds

1/8 tsp Fenugreek seeds

1/4 Inch Cinnamon stick

1 Green Cardamom

3 Cloves

3 tsp Oil

Method:

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1. In a pan add 1 tsp oil, add the dry red chilis, curry leaves, cumin seeds, peanuts, coriander seeds, Cinnamon stick, cardamom and cloves and roast them until they turn slight brown, now add the sesame seeds and grated coconut and roast them until the coconut truns slight brown.

2. Allow it to cool and add the tamarind paste, turmeric powder and salt to it.

3. Now grind this mixture to a coarse to fine paste and transfer it to a bowl.

4. Now take a plate and keep the eggplants and stuff the ground paste into each of the eggplant in between and keep it carefully back on the plate.

5. Now in a heavy bottom pan (use a pan so that you can arrange all the eggplant for cooking instead of overcrowding or overlapping). Add the rest of the oil, when it's hot add mustard seeds, and when they sputter, add the asafoetida and fenugreek seeds.

6. Now add the ginger-garlic paste and saute it until the paste turns brown.

7. Add onions and saute them until they turn transparent.

8. Now place the eggplants and add a little water for about 2 tbsp and cover and cook making sure to turn the eggplants after every few mins.

9. Cook this for about 15-20 mins or until the eggplant is cooked and the oil floats.

10. Serve this hot or warm with steamed rice or fulkas.

Butterscotch and Black Pepper Baby Carrots and Fennel

This recipe is also a modified original recipe. The original recipes has only carrots but I added fennel too because fennel has this natural sweetness to it. 

I made this recipe with the combination of Oven Fried Chicken. These two combination rocked! You can spice it up with pepper as much as you like, I made is spicier to give the recipe a kick. ;-)

Ingredients:

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2 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound baby carrots, quartered lengthwise

1 bulb fennel cored and sliced lengthwise
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper


Method:
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1. In a medium skillet, heat the butter, sugar, and salt over medium-high heat, stirring until smooth. 
2. Add the carrots and fennel and toss to coat.
3. Cover and reduce the heat to medium. 
4. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the carrots are tender and glazed. 
5. Top with black pepper. Serve hot or warm.