I just won something :)

As much i love to send in entries to Blog events winning it makes it even more special.I don't get much time to blog too much with a toddler on the move.He's just about climbing about everything and so i have to be after him for safety.Us women just love our cookware and when Shweta asked me what i wanted i chose cookware even though bakeware was more tempting. I'm glad i chose cookware because it will be put to good use soon!

When i saw this Cook with white event on Merry Tummy I had just posted my mom's paal kozhukattai recipe which i enjoyed making and we all enjoyed having.So i sent it across and I won this Pigeon Frying pan.Thanks Shweta for choosing me winner and sending me over this cute little frying pan!

These white beauties won that pan - Paal Kozhukattais

Thanks for the certificate Shweta!

I just won something :)

As much i love to send in entries to Blog events winning it makes it even more special.I don't get much time to blog too much with a toddler on the move.He's just about climbing about everything and so i have to be after him for safety.Us women just love our cookware and when Shweta asked me what i wanted i chose cookware even though bakeware was more tempting. I'm glad i chose cookware because it will be put to good use soon!

When i saw this Cook with white event on Merry Tummy I had just posted my mom's paal kozhukattai recipe which i enjoyed making and we all enjoyed having.So i sent it across and I won this Pigeon Frying pan.Thanks Shweta for choosing me winner and sending me over this cute little frying pan!

These white beauties won that pan - Paal Kozhukattais

Thanks for the certificate Shweta!

Sheera/ Semolina Pudding

Sheera(from the north) is just a distant cousin of our Rawa kesari from the south.Its surprising how India is so much diverse in its cultures and its cuisines.Similar foods with different names and variations made all across the length and breadth of our country.There are more than one names and versions to this sweet.

I make sheera often for my LM who surprisingly doesn't love the fluffy kesari(orange color especially) and that kesari is also a big too sweet for her.I made Sheera with less fat and sweet a low cal version for her i must say but I'm happy she likes it atleast.

But this is a simplified version i know the oringal Maharastrian version uses much more ingredients like coconut, sesame seeds.

You need

Rawa/semolina 1 cup

Water 1 cup

Milk 1 cup

Butter 1 tablespoon 

Sugar 3 tablespoons (or more)

Cardamom/elaichi/elaka powder a pinch

Salt a pinch

Almonds 4 slivered

- Heat butter on a low flame add the rawa to this and roast until it gets fragrant.

- Add the milk and water and cover and cook until the rawa soaks all the liquid.

- Add the sugar and mix well.

- Toast the nuts in a teaspoon of butter and top the sheera with it.

- Enjoy yummy sheera with your evening tea.

Some of my notes : 

- Adding raw or roasted rawa is ok as we toast it with butter first.

- You can be more generous with the sweetness and the butter it will be still better :) 

- Once this cools it will be a little tight in consistency but thats because of the lesser oil and liquid content.

Sheera/ Semolina Pudding

Sheera(from the north) is just a distant cousin of our Rawa kesari from the south.Its surprising how India is so much diverse in its cultures and its cuisines.Similar foods with different names and variations made all across the length and breadth of our country.There are more than one names and versions to this sweet.

Paal Kozhukattai

All of you must have seen the blog world being flooded with kozhukattai recipes.I made these super easy ones on Sunday for breakfast because like I said even the TV was overflowing with Lord Ganesha's favourite snack.You can make this as a healthy payasam and an after school snack for kids.

Ganesh Chathurthi/Ganpathi takes me to Mumbai, these 10 days, Mumbai's streets just glow literally with the beautiful mandaps and the even more beautiful Ganpathis in all sizes.

I wasn't very familiar with Hindu festivals until i came back to India from Dubai, My friends took me to Ganpathi mandaps in my first ever year and I was awestruck at the amount of effort people put in during these 10 days.

Coming back to this recipe, my mom used to make this as an evening snack for me and my sister when we were in college.Things our moms (and now us) do to make the kids eat!These are probably the easiest and oil free kozhukattais(well almost).

Preparation time - 1 hour
Makes about 30 small sized kozhukattais

You need

To make the kozhukattais

Rice 1 cup
Water 1 and half cup
Ghee/butter 1 tsp
Sugar 2 tsp
Salt a pinch

• Heat the water in a deep vessel, once it boils add sugar, salt, ghee and then add the rice flour stir vigorously to avoid lumps.
• Covered and Keep this aside for 10 minutes.
• Grease hands with some butter or ghee and roll the dough into small gooseberry sized balls.

To make the paal
Jaggery half cup grated + 1 cup water
Milk 1 cup (or more if you like)
Water 2 cup
Rice flour 2 tsp
Pinch of cardamom powder
Grated coconut 2 tablespoons

• Heat about 2 cups of water in a vessel, add the rice balls into this.
• Once the balls rise to the top it means they are cooked,add a pinch of cardamom powder to this.
• Add the cooled down jaggery syrup and let this boil for about 5 minutes.
• Sprinkle 2 tsp of rice flour.Let this simmer for another 5minutes.
• Turn off the heat.
• Add the grated coconut to the kozhukattais before serving.

Yummy healthy paal kozhukattais are ready.They taste lovely both hot and cold!

Notes :

- The ratio of water to rice flour worked perfectly for me, i used some ready made brand idiyappam flour.

- Add more jaggery or sugar to the paal to make it less or more sweet for your tastes.

- 1 cup of rice flour will make about 35-40 small sized kozhukattais.

- When you drop the rice balls into the water it will sink down and raise to the top only once its done so its an easy tip to find out they are done.

- I cooled the jaggery syrup before adding it to the paal I've heard it can break the milk.

Variations : 

- You can make the paal with coconut milk too.I made it with normal milk.

- Add fried nuts and dry fruit and give it a payasam finish too!

Sending this to Kids Delight Potluck party, Sweet Celebration, Tribute to my mom , Cook with white @ Merry Tummy

Paal Kozhukattai

All of you must have seen the blog world being flooded with kozhukattai recipes.I made these super easy ones on Sunday for breakfast because like I said even the TV was overflowing with Lord Ganesha's favourite snack.You can make this as a healthy payasam and an after school snack for kids.

Fruit custard in a glass

Tired of your regular fruit custard and jelly try it this way :) Fruit custards are the most easiest desserts its always there at my place if i'm not prepared with any other desserts.More over i like it that we have some fruit and milk going in along with the rest of the goodness too.Thinking of an easy quick to make dessert for Easter this is what you must try!

May The Risen Lord fill your lives with peace and tranquillity.

Happy Easter to all my friends :)

Ever since i made my tiramisu in a glass i have fallen in love with desserts in a cup :) I wanted to try more and ofcourse want to get more indulgent in making them but I didn;t have enough ingredients so I decided to try the custard jelly combo this way and it worked like magic!

It was a better hit than making it all in one bowl :) The appearance after all does matter!(someone even snatched my portion)

Serves 3 and some extra jelly

Preparation time 30 mins  + setting time

You need

Milk 2 cups 

Vanilla Custard powder 2 tsp

Strawberry/rasberry Jelly one packet 

Sugar 2 tablespoons

Fruits - apples,bananas,strawberry

Almonds chopped

To serve:

3 glass tumblers or bowls in which you want to set the custard

•  Mix custard powder in a bowl without any lumps and leave aside.
• Heat milk and add sugar and mix well until dissolved add the mixed custard powder mix and stir well to avoid any clumps.You need to make this a little thick add more powder if you feel it won;t set hard so you get distinct layers.
• Mix the chopped nuts to this and set aside.
• Take the glasses, fill the bottoms with the chopped fruits.This forms the first layer.
• Pour a layer of custard over this and leave in the refrigerator to set.This is the next layer.
• Once the second layer is set, prepare the jelly as per instructions on pack and let it cool.
• Check if the jelly mix has cooled and then pour it over the custard layer.Repeat for each of the glasses and return them to the freezer or fridge as per the instructions on jelly pack.
• Garnish the tops with chopped almonds.

Enjoy cool custard in a glass  :) 

My tips: 

• You can mix the fruits in cream or just leave it as it is.
• Use any flavour custard powder that you like.
• Use any fruits of your choice but bananas in custard are like the magical combo!

Fruit custard in a glass

Tired of your regular fruit custard and jelly try it this way :) Fruit custards are the most easiest desserts its always there at my place if i'm not prepared with any other desserts.More over i like it that we have some fruit and milk going in along with the rest of the goodness too.Thinking of an easy quick to make dessert for Easter this is what you must try!

May The Risen Lord fill your lives with peace and tranquillity.

Happy Easter to all my friends :)

Rice kheer/Pudding

Its the weekend lets celebrate :) isn't that reason enough to make a sweet dish.I didn't even wait for weekend i just made it one afternoon to beat the heat and it was super delicious and creamy.If you want to make an instant(almost) dessert this is what you should be thinking!

My DH even asked me how i've never made this before and that it was really nice.The simplicity of this dessert is what makes it so delectable.Its also fat-free except milk ofcourse.
I had some cooked basmati rice in hand and was wondering what to do with so little of it.So i remembered watching some cook on tv adding some to his phirni I didn't exactly know if that was appropriate i thought you added rice flour to phirnis anyway i thought i'll research on it later.

This kheer really surprised me because i wasn't expecting such a luscious dessert to be the outcome.If you're wondering why i'm stressing the point that its delicious so many times you have to try it first.

Preparation time:20 mins
Serves 2 generously

You need
Boiled milk 2 cups
Cooked basmati rice 1 cup
Sugar 4 5 tablespoons as per your sweet intake
Cardamom pods/elaichi 2 crushed
Saffron few strands /optional
Rice flour 1 tsp

• Add cooked rice to the boiled milk and keep this on a low flame. Keep stirring it occasionally our aim is to nicely soften the rice so we get a creamy consistency.This should take about 10 12 minutes.
• Add the crushed cardamom pods.
• Try to mash the rice with a ladle and if you are to able to do it thats about enough.
•  Add sugar and mix well cook well until all is mixed well.
• Add strands of saffron its ok if you don't have it thats perfectly ok.
• Sieve the rice flour into this mixture and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Pour into desired dishes and cool for 2 hours.

Enjoy nicely chilled kheer on a hot afternoon or makes a creamy easy dessert.

Tips:
- Cook rice by whatever means you are comfortable with, i cooked it in the pressure cooker.Alternately cook the rice until soft and add the milk to it.
-Since i had pre cooked rice i added it to the rice, you can cook rice directly in milk that would be even more nice and creamy



Sending this to
Easy to prepare in 15 mins, Lets cook for kids, Bon Vivant 13:Kids delight, Cook like a celebrity Chef

Rice kheer/Pudding

Its the weekend lets celebrate :) isn't that reason enough to make a sweet dish.I didn't even wait for weekend i just made it one afternoon to beat the heat and it was super delicious and creamy.If you want to make an instant(almost) dessert this is what you should be thinking!

Mango Kulfi

Last week we had some refreshingly cool rains and I was so tempted to make kulfis which have been on my to-do list for a while now.Just in time, I had half a dozen ripe Alfonso mangoes - all the more reasons to make kulfis now :)

Its such a delight to sleep late on rainy days and especially in a sweltering hot place like Chennai.I really miss the monsoons in Mumbai and how the hill tops would turn lush green in the showers...The rains had the same effect to the trees outside my kitchen and i just couldn't resist clicking them along with my kulfis.I woke up dreaming how to click my kulfis :) now you know i'm addicted to my blog!

Did i tell you we all enjoyed the kulfis while it was pouring on a saturday afternoon....how does that sound now.....great isn't it!These kulfis brought back a lot of memories from my childhood days when my dad used to bring various flavours of kulfis home....date,chickoo,mango,...yummy!

I was surprised at how easy these are to make, even when I read the recipe i was a little hesitant to try it out because i was wondering if i'd get the right consistency of milk and bla bla...But seriously you needn't bother its the easiest recipe ever and definitely a keeper!

Preparation time : cooking time: 30 mins + freezing time : overnight
Recipe source : Chef in You

You need:
Milk 2 and half cups (500ml)
Milk powder 1/4 cup
Condensed milk 1/2 cup
Sugar 1/4 cup
Mango pulp 1 cup

• In a heavy bottomed pan, heat milk, to it add the milk powder,sugar and condensed milk.Mix well and keep stirring until this reduces (i simmered it for about 15-20 mins) 
• Let this milk mixture cool down and then mix the mango pulp.
• Pour into kulfi moulds and stick an ice cream stick into each mould.
• Freeze the kulfis over night.

• How to serve: dip each mould in some regular tap water and the kulfis will slide out of the moulds.Serve them as it is or enjoy with nuts.

Tips:

1. Leave the stove unattended at your own risk, this mixture will definitely boil over even if you leave a spoon in it.I lost about one kulfi's mix because i went to sit for 5 mins.
2. The sugar and condensed milk make the kulfi a bit too sweet so you can adjust according to your taste or have it as it is.
3. I used the pulp of 4 really ripe Alfonso mangoes and i didn't strain it and we enjoyed some mango chunks in the kulfis.
4. Use any steel tumblers to set the kulfis i did just that.

Sending this to CEDD : Milk desserts @ Taste of pearl city , WTML @ Sizzling Tastebuds

Mango Kulfi

Last week we had some refreshingly cool rains and I was so tempted to make kulfis which have been on my to-do list for a while now.Just in time, I had half a dozen ripe Alfonso mangoes - all the more reasons to make kulfis now :)