November 30, 2016

Ivy Gourd / Kovakkai / Tindoara Fry

     



      There are many different ways to prepare kovakkai fry. But this is a quite different and aromatic variation which induces even those who have not tried kovakai fry also too try it once. I learnt this recipe from my friend Devi who runs a 3 star resort in kodaikanal.

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Recipe Cuisine : South Indian | Recipe Category: Fry
Preparation Time: 10 mins  | Cooking Time: 20 mins | Serves: 4

Ingredients:
Ivy Gourd / Kovakkai
¼ kg
Turmeric Powder
¼ tsp
Salt
Required
Sambar Powder
1 tsp or required
To Temper:

Oil
2 tsp
Mustard Seeds
½ tsp
Chopped Onion
¼ cup
Curry Leaves
1 spring
To Grind:

Grated Coconut or equivalent
3 tbsp
Garlic Pods
7 – 10
Ginger
1 inch piece

Procedure:
1. Wash and dry the ivy gourds using the kitchen towel.
2. Trim the edges and cut each pieces into 4 lengthwise pieces as shown in the picture.
3.  Pressure cook the ivy gourd with ¼ cup water, turmeric powder and little bit salt for 1 whistle in high flame. Then allow it to cool down till the pressure has gone completely.
4. Meanwhile, grind the grated coconut, garlic pods and ginger into a little bit coarse powder without water.
5. Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and wait for popping.
6. Then add curry leaves and sauté for few seconds.
7. Add chopped onions and fry till they become translucent.
8. Now add the cooked ivy gourd (from 3) with its cooked water, sambar powder and remaining salt. Mix them well and cook till the water evaporates completely.
9. Now add the ground powder (from 4) and mix them gently. Cook them for few mins. Then switch off the flame and serve.
    Yummy and aromatic Ivy Gourd / Kovakkai is ready to serve.

Note:
1. Adjust the sambar powder level. You can use red chilli powder and coriander powder instead of samabr powder.
2. Don’t waste the vegetable cooked water.


November 29, 2016

Eggless Orange Cake with Fresh Orange Juice



          Cakes with fruit essences are always special and different. Eggless Orange Cake is a good option for Christmas Season Cakes. Since you can use tin readymade juice also for the Orange Juice, all the ingredients are also readily available only. Try this if you are want to make quick and sweet cake.

     Click here to view more Cake Recipes.



Recipe Cuisine : Indian | Recipe Category: Baking
Preparation Time: 10 mins  | Baking Time: 25 mins | Yields: 7 inch squares

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat  Flour
1 cup
Curd
¼ cup
Fresh Orange Juice
¾ cup
Oil
¼ cup
Powdered Sugar
¾ cup
Baking Powder
¾ tsp
Baking Soda
½ tsp
Salt
¼ tsp
Orange Zest
1 tbsp
Vanilla Essence
1 tsp
For Dusting (optional) :

Powdered Sugar
1 tbsp

Procedure:
Orange Zest:
1. Wash and dry the orange with kitchen towel. Grate the skin of the orange with grater. You should not grate till the end of the white part of the orange.
Cake Procedure:
2. Sieve the wheat flour, baking powder and baking soda for 3-4 times. Keep it aside.
3. Add curd and powdered sugar in a wide bowl. Mix them well with wire whisk.
4. Then add fresh orange juice, salt and vanilla essence. Mix them well.
5. Add sieved flour (from 2) and orange zest. Mix them gently with whisk without lumps.
6. Meanwhile, preheat the oven at 200 degree Celsius for 10 mins.
7. Grease the cake pan with oil and dust with wheat flour.
8. Now pour the cake mixture (from 5) into the greased pan (from 7).  
9. Bake the cake for 25 mins at 185 degree Celsius or inserted tooth pick comes out clean.
 10. Allow it to cool down completely and then take it out from the pan. Make small pieces and serve.
11. Finally garnish with powdered sugar. This step is optional.

            Really aromatic and delicious cake is ready to eat!

Note:
1. You can use maida instead of wheat flour. But reduce orange juice level from ¾ cup to ½ cup.
2. Take orange juice from fresh oranges. You should not add water with the juice.
3. You can use tin juice also for the recipe.



Herbal Rasam / Mooligai Rasam


Warm yourself with Herbal Rasam during winter seasons. Herbal Rasam is also a good remedy and precautionary measure for cough and cold.

Check out more home remedies here.




Recipe Cuisine : South Indian | Recipe Category: Rasam
Preparation Time: 10 mins  | Cooking Time: 10 mins | Yields: 3 cups

Ingredients:
Tamarind
Small gooseberry size
Big size Tomato
1
Salt
As required
Rasam Powder (Click here for homemade Rasam Powder Recipe)
2 tsp
To Temper:

Oil
1 tsp
Mustard Seeds
¼ tsp
Curry Leaves
2 spring
Crushed Garlic Pods
4
Grated Ginger
1 tsp
Asafoetida / Hing
¼ tsp
Red Chilli
1
Herbs:

Sweet Basil
5 leaves
Ajwain Leaves
3
Solanum Trilobatum
7
To Garnish:

Chopped Coriander Leaves
Handful

Procedure:
1. Wash and soak the tamarind in 1 cup warm water. Leave it for 10 mins.
2. Then extract the juice from the tamarind pulp and keep it aside.
3. Wash and chop the tomato into small pieces.
4. Add this chopped tomato with the tamarind pulp (From 2) and smash them with your hand. Then add 2 cups of water and mix them well. Keep it aside.
5. Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and wait for popping.
6. Then add curry leaves, broken red chilly, crushed garlic pods and grated ginger. Sauté them for a min.
7. Now add the Rasam Powder and sauté for few seconds.
8. Then add the herbs ( sweet basil, aswain leves, solanum trilobatum) and fry till the raw smell goes off.
9. Now add the tamarind and tomato mixture (from 4), salt and coriander leaves.
10. Keep the flame at simmer and cook till the rasam becomes frothy. Switch off the flame immediately when it starts to boil.
    Healthy and yummy rasam is ready to serve.

Note:
1. Adjust the water level according to your level of sour taste of the rasam.
2. Adjust the red chilly level according to your spice taste. 


November 28, 2016

Lebanon Butter Cookie / Ghraybeh - The Easiest International Cookie


     Lebanon Butter Cookie, Ghraybeh, is very easy to make because it has only 3 ingredients. It has a heavenly taste and make first time cookie makers to really start enjoying cookie making and would inspire them to make more and more cookies. Normally I don't taste the cookies while making them. But Lebanon Butter Cookie tempts me so much that I can't avoid tasting one immediately.

Click here to view 20 + cookies recipes.


Quick Slide Show Video:

Recipe Cuisine : International | Recipe Category: Cookies | Source: maureenabood
Preparation Time: 10 mins  | Cooking Time: 15 mins | Yields: 20 cookies

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Flour / Maida
1 cup
Butter (at room temperature)
½ cup
Icing Sugar (Click here for homemade Icing sugar recipe)
½ cup
Rose Essence
1 tbsp
For Dusting:

Icing Sugar
1/4 cup

Procedure:
1. Add butter in a wide bowl. Beat the butter till it reaches the fluffy and creamy consistency using wire whisk or electric beater.
2. Now add ½ cup of Icing sugar and rose essence. Mix them well with spatula. Then mix them well with whisk or beater.
3. Then add the flour little by little and mix them well. Knead it into a soft and pliable dough.
4. Take apple size ball from the dough and roll it into ½ inch a log (1/2 inch thickness cylinders like diamond bars) on the floured surface.
5. Now cut the cylinder into ½ inch thickens bars diagonally.
6. Place these diamond bars on the ungreased baking tray with 1 inch gap between them.
7.  Preheat the oven for 200 degree Celsius for 10 mins.  Bake this for 15 mins at 150 degree Celsius.
8. Take them out from the oven and cool down slightly.
9. Then take the cookies from the tray and arrange them on the plate.
10. Now sprinkle the ¼ cup icing sugar over the cookies using the tea filter.
11. Allow it to cool down completely and serve or store it in an air tight container for later use.
    Wow aromatic and delicious mouth melting Lebanon cookies ready!!!
Note:
1. Use maida instead of wheat flour.
2. Use orange blossom essence instead of rose essence.
3. Keep this at room temperature for 2-3 weeks.


November 25, 2016

Pori Urundai / Puffed Rice Balls - Karthigai Deepam Recipes


Pori Urundai is a very neglected snack recipe enough though it is very easy, sweet, tasty and healthy. I think Pori Urundai was associated with Karthigai deepam which comes immediately after diwali because Pori Urundai is light sweet and it is not good to have heavy sweet just some time after the diwali festival when we have already had enough heavy sweets. Make Pori Urundai as often  and especially as a sweet balance when you preparing some spicy puffed rice.

Full video in English:




Full video in Tamil:


Recipe Cuisine : South Indian | Recipe Category: Sweets
Preparation Time: 5 mins  | Cooking Time: 10 mins | Yields: 14 Balls

Ingredients:
Pori / Puffed Rice
2 cups (1 cup = 240 ml)
Grated Jaggery
½ cup
Water
¼ cup
Cardamom Pods
2

Procedure:
1. In a heavy bottom pan, add jaggery, crushed cardamom pods  and water. Cook them in a medium flame.
2. Mix them well with ladle.
3. Wait until the jaggery melts completely. Then strain the jaggery syrup with steel strainer.
4. Pour this strained syrup in the same pan and cook it in a medium flame.
5. After few mins the color of the syrup will change. At this stage you can check the syrup consistency.
6. Take water in a small bowl, pour few drops of the syrup and able to make ball from the syrup is the correct consistency.
7. If you cannot make ball, cook until you reach this consistency level.
8. After you reach this level, switch off the flame.
9. Add puffed rice with this syrup and mix them gently and carefully.
10. Then grease your hands with oil and immediately make lemon size balls from the pori mixture.
           Tasty and healthy pori urundai is ready to serve.



Note:
1. If You  switch off the flame before the sugar syrup reaching the correct ball like consistency level, you cannot make puffed balls.

2. After mixing the pori with jaggery, immediately make all the pori mixture into rough balls which can later shaped properly. Don’t delay by shaping all the balls in the first attempt because if the pori mixture looses heat, it will be difficult to shape into balls.


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