Vermicelli Kheer/Semiya Paayasam - Microwave Version and My 200th Post

Hooray!!!!! Its my 200th Post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thought i would be doing this somewhere mid-april, but lot of things got in between. Shifted to a new house, Packing, unpacking, then My Laptop broke-down,i got it back last week. Adding to all these, last Thursday My Darling Kuttu got hurt, while taking steam for his Cold. The Steamer toppled and hot water spilled on his lap, and God!!!! the skin peeled off!!!! Rushed him to Doc, thankfully,it was a superficial Burn, but still needed dressing!!!! Its healing slowly now!!!! 

Actually i was planning to bake something for this post. But, then kuttu loves this kheer/Payasam, he calls it noodles payasam!!! So, made this for today's Neivedhiyam(Offering to God). 

Ingredients
3 Cups Milk (I used Low Fat)
3 tbsp Roasted Vermicelli/Semiya (I used MTR Brand)
5 tbsp Sugar
2  pods of Cardamom Crushed
A pinch of saffron  (Optional), Crushed in-between your palms 


Garnishing
2 tbsp almond flakes
some cashews 
1 tsp of Ghee


Method

In a Microwave-Safe Deep Bowl, take the milk and Set it @ high for 4 minutes. My MW takes approx 4 minutes to boil this quantity of milk. So, set your's accordingly.

Once the milk Boils, add the vermicelli, give it a stir and cook @ high for 5 minutes. Stirring for every 1 minute.By this time the Vermicelli must have cooked well. If not, Cook @ high for 2 more minutes. Next add sugar and Saffron , and Cook @ medium for 3 more minutes. Take it out of the Microwave. 

In another Microwave-Proof  Flat Pan, Add a tsp of ghee and the almond flakes and cashews, and cook @ high for 4 minutes, Stirring it for every 1 minute. Add the roasted nuts to the Kheer, Stir well and Serve Warm.

Latin Papaya Mint Salad

I remember the my childhood days, I used to love eating papaya a lot when it's in season. After I came to US, I tried to get it from the grocery stores, but it never tasted liked the one I used to eat back in India. I like it to be ripe and soft and swell. You can actually find out from the smell whether it's tastes good and sweet or not. But this time I got this from a local fresh food market, the raw one and left on the counter to ripen. First I was not sure how it would be, but it tasted way better than the ones I tired before in the US. So I tried this recipe, it's simple ingredients, added just to enhance the flavor of the colorful, vibrant sweet fruit and with a mind to keep it healthy too.

Ingredients:

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1 large Papaya, peeled, de-seeded and cubes to bite size pieces.

3 tsp Honey

1/4 cup of Mint sliced

1/4 Feta Cheese

2 tsp Lemon juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

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1. Placed the papaya cubes in a large serving bowl.

A short video on how to peel, de-seed and cube a papaya.

2. Add rest of the ingredients except the feta cheese and mix gently, making sure that the fruit does not break or gets mushy.

3. Crumble feta cheese over the top and serve cold or at room temperature.

Re-posting this recipe to send to the event "Salad Spread" hosted by Taste Junction

Pineapple Yogurt Fool

Fruit fool is a British dessert which is a mixture of pureed fruit, whipped cream and sugar. In this recipe, whipped cream is replaced by hung curd for a low calorie dessert. This recipe is from Sanjeev Kapoor's Chill Out, which is a collection of summer treats. Thanks Veena for the book, which she had sent along with the Arusuvai secret ingredient. 

This dessert gets done faster since there is no freezing and other steps as in ice cream/sorbet. Its very creamy and makes a quick and light dessert. Hung curd can be replaced with thick yogurt too if you don't have time to prepare the hung curd.

You need

• Fresh Pineapple Slices - 10 nos
• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Hung curd - 3/4 cup
• Cinnamon - 2 nos of  1" stick

Method

Combine chopped pineapple, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Microwave for 6 minutes till the pineapple turns soft. You can cook it on stove top too, on medium heat. It will take more time.

Remove the pineapple pieces  from the syrup. Blend it to a puree in a mixer grinder. Add the hung curd. Pulse to blend thoroughly. Chill and serve.

While serving the you can drizzle the left over syrup topped with  finely chopped pineapple cubes. There is not much syrup left and it can be added to milkshakes or fruit salads for a subtle pineapple flavor. This yogurt fool is similar to our own shrikand.

This goes to the Kids Delight-Cool Comforts, hosted by PJ, an event started by Srivalli

Check out the Blogging Marathoners doing BM#5 along with me 

Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Aarthi, Divya, Jayashree, Kaveri, Pavani,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets:Gayathri, Priya Suresh,
Seven Days of Microwave Meals: Monika,
Seven Days of Regional Specials:Harini, Vaishali, Suma, PJ
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Kalyani
Summer Coolers: Jayasree, Kamalika, Srivalli