Tomato Broccoli and Carrot Soup with Cheese Bread

Winter days always makes me crave for warm and spicy food. When it comes to winter and lazy days, I always make soup, which really freshens up our minds and keeps us healthy and also make it a little different than a usual day.

So first I started thinking that I should make tomato soup and when I looked through my fridge, I saw one carrot and a small head of broccoli. So I decided to make it kind of a veggie soup, but keeping the base with lot of tomatoes.

This really tasted very good with the cheese bread which I bought it from sore and had baked it.

Method:
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1. In a heavy bottom sauce pan add butter and when it starts melting add the garlic and the onions and saute it until the onions have become translucent.

2. Now add the carrots, cover and cook for about 3-4 mins.
3. Now add the broccoli florets and tomatoes and cook for more 2-3 mins covered.

4. Off the flame, let it come to room temperature and blend these vegetables in a mixer to a smooth paste, add water if necessary.
5. Add the mixture back into the sauce pan and bring it to a slow boil keeping the flame in medium low.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix it well and off the flame.

7. You can transfer the soup into soup bowls and garnish with heavy cream and fresh herbs like cilantro or mint.
8. I served this as a dinner with cheese bread that I had bought it from store, baked it and cut into thick slices to dip into the soup and eat.

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Kaju Katli / Cashew Burfi / Munthiri Paruppu Burfi

Yesterday was Karthigai Deepam (Festival of Lamps) here. It is celebrated for 3 continuous days from yesterday. Karthigai Deepam is one of the old Hindu festivals and mainly it is celebrated by people from Tamilnadu. It comes during the Tamil Calender Month of Karthigai (which comes in mid of November and mid of December as per English calender) and on the day of Pournami (Full moon day).



The story behind this festival is interesting. Once, Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma started fighting each other to prove themselves who is big and they forget to do their job. At that time, Lord Shiva appeared in front of them as huge pillar of fire and asked them to find out his head and leg. Brahma took a form of Swan(Annam, a bird) and flew upwards to find of the head of Shiva. Lord Vishnu took a form of boar (Varaham, a giant pig) and started digging the ground to find out his leg. But both of them were not able to find head / leg. They realized their mistake and understood it was Lord Shiva who taught them a lesson.



From then, Lord Shiva is prayed as Agni Linga at a place know as Thiruvannamalai about 190 kms from Chennai. Every year, it is believed that during Karthigai, Lord Shiva appeared as 'Jothi' (Holy Fire called as Agni Shetram) in this place on top of a hill . As a symbolic worship, people of Tamilnadu started to light Deepams (Diyas, candles and other oil lamps) to decorate their houses. They also offer Appam, Aval, Pori to Lord Shiva and celebrate the day with joy & love. Some people even light Deepams during the entire month of Karthigai.



Ok, now I'll come to the recipe part. This time my celebration is simple and I haven't prepared anything special for this Karthigai due to my hectic work schedule. However, I have planned to post a sweet dish which I prepared for Diwali . Hope you all enjoy this Karthigai festival.

Basic Information:

Preparation and Cooking Time: 20-30 minutes

Makes: 15 nos (Approximately)



Ingredients:



Cashew nuts / Kaju / Mundhiri Paruppu - 1 cup

Sugar - 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup, adjust as per your taste

Water - 1/4 cup

Ghee - as required to grease the plate (Optional)

Method:



1) Put Cashew nuts in a mixer/coffee maker and make a fine powder of it. Do it in a single stretch to avoid the cashews sticking with mixie jar. Also, take care not to grind too much as it releases oil most of the time while over grinding.

2) Transfer to a plate.

3) In a thick bottom pan/ Kadai/ Non-stick pan, heat sugar along with oil.

4) When it reaches the bubbling consistency (Just put a drop of sugar syrup in small bowl of water. It will not

immediately dissolve), reduce the flame and QUICKLY add the ground cashew powder.

5) Keep stirring to avoid lumps and until the dough comes out from the sides of the pan. You can also pinch and try making a small ball. If you are able to do so, then it is in correct consistency and ready to transfer to a ghee coated plate. My dough required little kneading. So, I kneaded it in a plate and rolled it in my cutting board.

6) Put cashew dough to the ghee greased plate/ cutting board/ butter paper and roll it using a rolling pin. I formed a shape after rolling using a knife to get uniform shapes of kaju katlis.

7) Leave aside for 5-10 minutes and cut them into desired shapes.

8) Enjoy.

Note:

1) Use good quality cashews for best results and use only thick bottom pan/kadai to avoid burning.

2) The consistency of sugar syrup is very important. So, be extra cautious when the sugar syrup starts bubbling. Add cashew powder at the correct time to get the perfect kaju katli.

3) If you get the silver wrap, you can coat the kaju katli with it. However, this is only for decorating purpose.

4) If the kaju dough is dry, you can add a teaspoon of milk/hot water when you knead the dough. Repeat this procedure until you get the correct consistency.

5) Greasing the plate with ghee is optional. The cashew dough itself  doesn't stick with your fingers and you can easily roll it without the help of ghee.

Chocolate Mud Cake ( Yoppy, Kapuk )

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