Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Microwave Chocolate Thiratipaal- Celebrating Bloggers

The First Recipe i tried when i bought a MicroWave Oven was Priya's Microwave Chocolate Thirati Paal, For a novice in MW this dish is Divine, coz doesnt have much to do and it is done in minutes.

So, When MEC-Celebrating Bloggers Event was announced i immediately thought of trying this again and posting it. It came out very well and my hubby dear enjoyed it a lot coz he has this crazy love for ThiratiPaal. Whenever i return from india first thing he checks with me is Did u get Grand Sweets/Aavin Thirati Paal? Now After this MW Chocolate Thiratipaal he now gets his favourite Dessert ready in a Jiffy!!!

Ingredients
1no Sweetened condensed milk tin (400gms)
1tbsp Ghee
3tbsp Curd
2tbsp Dark chocolate powder
Nuts for garnishing

Method
Take the condensed milk, ghee, curd and dark chocolate powder in a microwave safe bowl. Cook for 12minutes high in microwave oven (take in between and stir every 3 minutes), this mixture would have reached the thiratipaal consistency. Pour this mixture in a bowl , garnish with any nuts. Microwave cooking time may change depending upon your oven.
Sending this ThiratiPaal to MEC-Celebrating Bloggers Event Hosted by Jayashree, Event Started by Srivalli

Neiappam

Neiappam - Traditional Sweet made during Krishna Jayanthi. Some even make it during Aavani Avittam - the Only Male Function!!!! There are n number of recipes for making this, we even have an instant appam recipe. Now, i have made it using the long way by soaking rice and dal. Tasted yummy!!!!

Ingredients
Rice - 3 cups
Urad dal - 3/4 cup
Methi seeds - 1 tsp
Freshly Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 3 cups (equal to that of Rice measurement)
1 Medium-sized riped Banana

Method
Soak rice, urad dal and methi seeds for 4-5 hours.  Drain and Grind to fine batter with lil water. The batter should not be thin!!! The Consistency should be between idly and dosa batter. Not too thick and Not too thin!!! Cut the jaggery using Knife to thin slices. Add jaggery and banana to the final round of grinding. Transfer the batter to another vessel, add fresh coconut and mix well. If the batter is too thin add 2 tbsp of wheat flour.
Heat the appam pan, pour the batter in each kuzhi, Dont worry about the Calories, add some Ghee to the appam. Keep the flame low and cook both sides.



Whole Wheat Bolognese Pizza





I like the bolognese sauce recipe from Jamie Oliver. It's very simple yet delicious! Once  the bolognese sauce has cooked, it can be stored in the freezer and use at anytime especially when I feel lazy to cook, so it's good to cook extra. Simply cook some pasta then mix it with the bolognese sauce, job done for my lazy day.
Another way to do is, which I've just realized that bolognese sauce go so well with a cheesy pizza. What I did is just to spread the sauce on a pizza dough and sprinkle all kind of cheeses that I've in the fridge and bake.  To add a bit of the goodness for my pizza, I make a whole wheat pizza dough to go with it. The whole wheat pizza dough really surprise me as the crust texture is very delicious and crispy. I make the bolognese sauce a bit spicy as I add in some chili at the earlier stage. So, the crusty whole wheat pizza, the spicy bolognese sauce and all the cheeses... what to say.... simply the best! 

Recipe for the whole wheat pizza dough:  In a mixing bowl, add 100g bread flour, 100g whole wheat flour, 10g caster sugar, half teaspoon of salt, half teaspoon of instant dry yeast and 110g water. Knead all the ingredients until they become a crumbly consistency then add in 10g olive oil.  Continue to knead until  smooth springy soft dough, cover it with cling film and let it rest for 1 hour. Divide the dough up into two equal portion and roll them into two of 8 inches round baking pan. Let them rest for 15 minutes. Spread the bolognese sauce onto the pizza dough then sprinkle with some freshly grated cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Continue to proof for another 15 minutes. Bake the pizza at lower rack in the oven at 220 preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. 
Recipe for the bolognese sauce: Finely slice 2 rashes of smoked streaky bacon, peel and finely chop 2 medium onion, garlic, carrots, celery and a fresh chili. Place a large casserole-type pan on a medium to high heat. Add 2 lugs of olive oil with the sliced bacon and 2 heaped teaspoons dried oregano and cook until bacon is slightly golden. Add the chopped veg to the pan and stir every 30 seconds for around 7 minutes or until softened and lightly colored. Stir in 250g mince beef and 250g mince pork together with 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes. Fill both empty tins with water and add to the pan. Stir in a good pinch of salt and pepper. Finely chop a small punch basil stalks and stir into the pan. Bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer with a lid on for about an hour, stirring every now and again to stop it catching. Remove the bolognese sauce from the heat. Finely grate 100 gram parmesan and stir half into the sauce. Tear and stir in any larger basil leaves, keeping the smaller ones for sprinkling over before serving. Mix up everything and taste and season with a little more salt and pepper if needed. At this stage you can allow it to cool, bag it up and freeze it, or eat it straight away with your pasta or pizza.