Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Theratti Pal - Made easy in Microwave

Theratti pal is a traditional sweet which is prepared with two ingredients - milk and sugar. The milk is boiled over low flame till it is reduced to a curdled mixture and is sweetened with sugar. Its an integral part of bhakshanam for any ritual in a Brahmin household, especially marriage. In the olden days, it was considered an exotic sweet and a tiffin box of this home made theratti pal will be invariably given to the daughter by the mother when she goes back to her in-laws home after her first visit to her maternal home post marriage. I guess the sweet is held in such high esteem, because of the patience and effort involved.  Now, what I am posting here is an instant version, which gets done in 5 minutes, in a microwave oven. 



You need

  • Milkmaid - 1 tin (400 gm)

  • Curd - 2 tspn

  • Ghee - 1 tspn

Method

Take all the ingredients in a  microwave safe bowl. Make sure you take a big bowl else it might spill over while cooking. I used 1.5 litre bowl and it almost reached the brim . Microwave high for 5 minutes. After every two minutes, give it a stir. This will ensure it doesn't spill over. At this stage, you may find some liquid. 



But after a standing time of 3 minutes, it will set well. Scoop and enjoy the delicious sweet.




I am taking this to the MEC-Potluck hosted by Srivalli.

Check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked for Day 2

Black and White Wednesday - Oops! Scoop!!

Honey-dew melon - scooped out!


Sending this to Susan's Black and White Wednesdays!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Oats Strawberry Bars


I saw this recipe when I was searching in the internet and found this very interesting and healthy. I did make some changes to the original recipe as I felt it was on the sweeter side. I made this for breakfast and for almost a week, we kept eating this as our daily breakfast. Even Shoj's friend at office asked about it and wanted this recipe, so that even he can save some time while going to office. This is like pick and go kinda bar...not too sweet but very healthy and filling.

Ingredients:
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Filling:
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3 cups fresh or frozen Strawberries
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Sugar
2 tbsp Cornstarch

Crust:
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1 1/2 cups All-Purpose flour
1 1/2 cups Quick Cooking Oats
3/4 cup firmly packed Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Butter (room temperature)
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt

Drizzle:
---------
1/2 cup Confectioners Sugar or Powdered Sugar
1 tbsp Milk

Method:
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Filling:
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1. Preheat oven to 350F. I used a toaster oven so didn't need any preheating.
2. Wash and remove the stem of the strawberries, crush it in a blender with lemon juice.
3. Add the crushed strawberries in a sauce pan and cook until tender on medium flame for about 8-12 mins.
4. In a bowl mix sugar and corn starch and add this mixture to the strawberries and keep stirring on low flame until the mixture gets thick and bubly for about 1 min. Make sure there are no lumps.
5. Off the flame and allow this mixture to cool a bit.

Crust:
--------




1. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, mix until you get a crumbly texture.
2. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crumb mixture for the top.

Drizzle:
---------

1. Mix the sugar and milk with a fork and keep it aside.

Assembling and Baking:
-------------------------

1. Take a oven safe glass dish or any baking sheet, grease the bottom of the pan and add the crumb mixture and press down to form a even layer.


2. Now add the filling mixture over the top of the pressed crumbs and even it out.




3. Add the reserved 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture over the top evenly and bake it for about 30 to 35 mins or until the top of the crust is golden brown.
4. Allow it to cool completely.


5. Now you can drizzle with the sugar solution and I also added chocolate syrup over the top.
Note: Make sure you don't drizzle too much, as it will make the bars too sweet. I just used it to decorate for the pic. If you like it to be sweet, then you can add as much as you want. :-)

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