Suji Crystal Cookies

I fell in love with these suji cookies after tasting  semolina cookies. I bookmarked this from Easy Cook when I saw at first moment. Suji cookies are nothing but Malaysian cookies(Biskut Suji Kristal - I am really addicted to these cookies) and I guess they got the name as we coat it with castor sugar at the end. The procedure is almost same as semolina cookies but we are adding ground almond here. It gives an exotic taste with an aroma of ghee. They also melt in your mouth like semolina cookies.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Idle Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes
Makes: 15-20 cookies

Ingredients:

All purpose flour/ Plain flour/ Maida - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Icing Sugar - 1/2 cup
Roasted ground almond - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/8 teaspoon
Ghee/Clarified butter - 1/2 cup, melted and cooled to room temperature
Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon
Edible food colours - pink, yellow and blue (change with the colour you have)
Caster sugar - for coating the cookies

Method:

1) Combine all purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda. Sift it for even mixing.

2) Add Icing sugar, roasted ground almond, ghee, salt and vanilla extract one by one.

3) Make smooth dough. Final dough will be soft and tight. Keep aside for 20 minutes.

 

4) Preheat the oven to 150C for 15 minutes. Line the baking tray with parchment paper and keep aside.

5) Divide the dough into 3 equal parts.
6) Add enough food colour and knead well for 5 minutes so that the colour spreads out all over the dough.

7) Pinch approx 3g from each colour dough and combine them into one small ball. (I took more than 3g for time saving :-))
8)  When you combine 3 colour, you get a marbled shape ball. Repeat the step and make marbled balls for the remaining dough.

9) Arrange them in a baking tray with 2 inches apart.
10) Bake it for 15-20 minutes.

11) Once done, cool the cookies completely. Then, coat the cookies with caster sugar.

12) Cookies are ready.

Note:
1) Cookies enlarge when they are baked. so make sure to make <10g for each cookie to make perfect shaped cookie balls.
2) Measure ghee after melting. Add ghee little at a time till you make a soft dough.

3) You can use ready to use store bought ground almond or roast and grind the skinless almonds at home.

Tomato Rice/Thakkali Saadam - Day 2, Blogging Marathon #11

 Quick and Easy to make Tomato Rice, The Richness of Coconut Milk adds an excellent flavor to the Rice.

Ingredients
2 Cups Cooked Rice
3 Big Tomatoes, finely Chopped
2 Medium-Sized Onions, finely chopped
1/2 tsp Chilli Powder (increase or decrease to suit your taste)
1/4 tsp Coriander Powder
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 Cup thin Coconut Milk (I used Store-Bought Powder)
Curry Leaves a few
Coriander leaves for Garnish
Salt to taste


Method

• Heat oil in a pan, Splutter mustard seeds, add curry leaves, onion and garlic and saute till onion turn translucent.
• Add Tomatoes and Saute. Add the Red Chilli Powder and Coriander Powder and 1/2 Cup Water and mix well. Add Salt.
• When the mixture turns little mushy, add Coconut Milk and reduce the flame. Let it simmer for 10 minutes. 

• By this time, the mixture must have turned saucy. Take it off the flame. (If it is still runny, let it sit for 5 more minutes).
• Mix the Cooked rice and garnish with fresh Coriander leaves and Serve with your favorite curry.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#11

No Bake Choco Pinwheels

Easy and very easy recipes are my choice and if it comes with choco flavor, I am the first person stands in the queue to prepare and enjoy it. I bookmarked such an easy choco recipe from Priya of Bon-Appetit a month ago. When I prepared at home, it disappeared immediately just after my preparation. Try it, you and your kids like them much and you can see them disappeared in no minute.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Idle Time: 30-60 minutes
Makes: 20-25 pinwheels

Ingredients:



For outer layer:

Marie/Mcvities/Tea Biscuits - 20 nos (half packet approx)

Cocoa Powder - 1 and 1/2 teaspoon

Sugar - 1 tablespoon

Milk - As required to make dough



For inner layer:

Dessicated coconut/Dry coconut - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/4 cup (+/- according to your taste)

Butter - 2 tablespoons

Cardamom powder - 1/8 teaspoon



Method:



1) Using the mixer/coffee grinder/food processor, powder the biscuits first and towards the end, add cocoa powder and sugar. Make a smooth powder. Sift it so that it makes the rolling process easy.

2) Add little quantity of milk at a time and make soft dough. Knead it for 3 minutes and keep aside.

3) Combine all the ingredients given for the inner layer and mix well. Keep it aside.

4) Now divide the dough(as said in step 2) into two and roll one divided dough into a round shape like chapathi using the rolling pin.

5) Spread the dry coconut mix evenly (as said in step 3) over the rolled dough. Leave some space at the ends.

6) Roll tightly like a cylindrical shape and seal the cracks if any.

7) Cover it using a cling wrap/aluminium foil and repeat the above steps with remaining dough. Keep both the rolls in freezer for 30-60 minutes to set.

8) After 30-60 minutes, cut them into small pinwheels with the width of half inch.

9) Serve chill.

Note:

1) If you do not have dessicated coconut, cream the sugar and butter and use as inside layer. In fact, this gives very perfect shape than pinwheels using dessicated coconut.

2) Mix some coffee powder to the milk to get some coffee flavor.

3) You can store it for 2 days but I bet it can not stay at your home for 2 days.