My hearty best wishes for a healthy and happy days in 2016 to
all my friends and fellow bloggers.
As I wanted to start the new year with a very good health recipe, I am posting this Fig Milkshake recipe.
Figs are rich in Iron Content. Figs are available both in
Fresh and Dry forms. If you make fresh figs into a Milkshake, it becomes very
tasty and is liked by even people who might not like to take it directly.
Ingredients:
Fresh
Fig
2 nos
Boiled Milk
1 ½ cup
Sugar
1 tbsp
Procedure:
1. Wash and remove the stem and skin of the figs.
2. Cut them into small pieces.
3. Grind the pieces into a paste using the mixie or juicer.
4. Then add the sugar and milk into ground paste.
5. Then grind them
into a smooth paste. Add ice cubes (if used) and mix them well. Then serve.
Pongal
is a traditional food liked by everyone. Since it is made of Raw Rice, it is
unfortunately not healthy. The good news is that Aval Kara Pongal which I tried
with rice flakes is indistinguishable in taste and also healthy because of Rice
flakes. I highly recommended trying this atleast once. Once you start to like
this, you will never go back to rice pongal.
Recipe Cuisine : South
Indian | Recipe Category: Breakfast
Preparation Time: 10
mins | Cooking Time: 15 mins | Yields: 3 cups
Ingredients:
Thick
Aval / Poha / Rice Flakes
1
cup
Split
Green Gram / Moong dal / Paasipparuppu
½
cup
Cumin
Seeds
1
tsp
Black
Pepper
1
tsp
Ginger
1
inch (grated)
Curry
Leaves
1
spring
Salt
As
required
Water
4
½ cups
Turmeric
Powder
A
pinch
Asafoetida
or Hing
¼
tsp
To Temper:
Ghee
2
tbsp
Cashew
nuts (chopped)
1tbsp
Procedure:
1. Dry roast moong dal till a nice aroma comes out.
2. Pressure cook the dal with 1 ½ cup of water for 2 whistles in
high flame. Allow it to cool down.
3. Meanwhile, wash and soak the rice flakes for 1o mins with 2
cups of water.
4. Dry roastthe pepper and
cumin seeds together till the aroma comes out.
5. After the pressure has gone from the dal (pressure cooker from
step 2), add the rice flakes with soaked water. Then add the roasted pepper and
cumin seeds (from step 4), curry leaves, grated ginger, salt , turmeric powder,
hing and 2 ½ cups of water. Mix them well.
6. Pressure cook for 1 whistle in high flame and switch off the
flame.
7. Heat the pan, add the ghee and fry the cashew nuts till they
become golden color.
8. After the pressure has gone, temper it with fried cashew nuts.
Mix them well and transfer it into a serving bowl or hot box.
Wow health aval kara pongal is ready to eat. Serve it with coconut chutney and sambar.
Note:
1. You can use the rice flakes soaked water also.
2. You should not keep the pongal in the cooker itself. Because
the pongal will becomes thick soon.
3. Adding turmeric powder give nice color to the pongal.
Usually these soft-white biscuits are made using Maida which is
not healthy.
In this recipe, I have used only wheat flour without baking powder.
Yet I was able to get the -same quality softness. Because it is healthy, you
can have these biscuits as many as you want without having to feel guilty of
spoiling your health.
Recipe
Cuisine: Indian | Recipe Category: Baking
Preparation
Time: 15 mins | Cooking time: 15 mins |
Yields : 35 gooseberry size cookies
Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup (250 ml)
Granulated Sugar
½ cup
Butter
½ cup
Corn Flour
1 tbsp
Salt
¼ tsp
Vanilla Essence
1 tsp
Procedure:
1.
Sieve the wheat flour and corn flour together for 2 times. Keep it aside.
2.
Powder the sugar using the dry mixie jar. Keep it aside.
3.
Cream the butter using the electric beater or hand beater.
4.
Then add the vanilla essence, salt,
powdered sugar (from step 2) to the creamed butter. Again beat it well till the
mixture becomes soft and fluffy.
5.
Now add the wheat flour mixture ( from step 1) and mix them well with your
hand. Knead it into a soft and pliable dough.
6.
Preheat the oven for 10 mins at 200 degree Celsius.
7. Now make a gooseberry size balls from the
dough (from step 5) and arrange them on a ungreased baking tray. Leave little
space between each balls.
8. Then bake this cookies for 12 mins at 180
degree Celsius. Take it out from the oven and allow them to cool down. Store it
in an air tight container for later use.
Really tasty and mouth melting cookies are
ready within half an hour.
As
both Pearl millet and Pista are green in color, I thought of combining these
two to create a cookie. The combination came out very well and was liked very
much by kids. The other good thing is both the ingredients are healthy.
Recipe
Cuisine: Indian | Recipe Category: Baking
Preparation
Time: 20 mins | Cooking time: 15 mins |
Yields : 25-30 cookies
Ingredients:
Pearl Millet Flour
1 ½ cup
Butter
½ cup
Sugar
½ cup
Pista Emulsion or Green Color
5 drops
Pista
10
Procedure:
1.
Dry roast the Pearl millet flour till a nice aroma comes out. Allow it to cool
down and keep it aside.
2.
Powder the sugar using the dry mixie.
3.
Cream the butter with powdered sugar using the electric beater or hand beater
till it becomes soft and fluffy.
4.
Then add the emulsion and mix them well.
5.
Now add the roasted pearl millet flour ( from 1).
6.
Knead it into a soft and pliable dough and keep it aside for 5 mins.
7.
Roll the dough into ½ inch thickness circle on the rolling surface using the
rolling pin.
8.
Meanwhile, chop the pistas into a thin slices. Sprinkle the chopped pistas over
the rolled dough and press them gently using the spatula.
9.
Then cut the rolled dough into the desired shape using the cookie cutter or
bottle cap.
10.
Take the cookies using the flat spatula (like dosa turn over spatula / dosai
thiruppi) and keep it on the baking tray. No need to grease the baking tray.
11.
Preheat the oven for 200 degree Celsius for 10 mins. Bake the cookies for 13
mins at 180 degree Celsius.
12.
Allow it to cool down and store it in a air tight container. You can use this
for 4-5 days at room temperature.
Healthy and yummy cookies are ready to
serve with tea.
Note:
1.
Adding pista emulsion is optional.
2.
If you want to make more quantity, make in batch wise.
I
have been trying to make different varieties of appam such as Palak appam. This
beet root aappam is in continuation with this approach. The pink color looks
very attractive and the taste is also nice.
Recipe
Cuisine: South Indian | Recipe Category: Breakfast
Preparation
Time: 15 mins | Cooking time: 15 mins |
Yields : 5-7 appams
1.
Wash and remove the skin of the beetroot and cut it into big chunks.
2.
Pressure cook them with little (1/4 cup) water for 4 whistles in medium flame
or till it becomes tender.
3.
Allow it to cool down and grind them into a fine paste using the cooked water
in a mixie.
4.
Strain the beetroot juice from the paste.
5.
Mix this juice with aappam batter.
6.
Add sugar with appam batter and mix them well. Keep it aside for 5 mins. Beetroot aappam batter is ready.
7.
Heat the aappam pan and pour few drops of oil. Then pour a ladle full of batter
into the pan. Now rotate the pan in a circular motion, sothat the batter
spreads all over the pan. See this video for how to make aappam.
8.
Now pour few drops of oil and close the lid of the pan. Cook for 3 mins or till
the appam is cooked well.
Ragi pakoda ia a healthy snack which will be liked by both
kids and adults. It’s a traditional snack which people will want multiple
servings. When we add nuts it will be very crunchy and tasty such that nobody
can eat just once without asking for more.
Recipe
made with ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser:
Also this a special blog post as I am making the photos and
videos for this recipe using the ASUS ZENFONE 2 Laser. ASUS had sent me this phone
and asked me to review it. Personally I find ZENFONE 2 Laser as a excellent food
blogging tool as I am able to take very high quality photos without DSLR - 13
MP camera with auto focus using laser and multiple modes like Depth of field,
effect, manual, beautification etc.,
In the manual mode you get DSLR like controls like ISO,
Shutter speed, Image quality, focus etc., As these advanced controls are
available in a small handy phone. It is easy to take pictures in one hand while
making the dish in the other hand. Another very useful tool for me is making
the collage photos of the recipe making. In Zenfone 2 Laser there is a built in tool
to make collages very fast without need for laptop.
Ingredients:
Ragi /
Finger Millet Flour
1 cup
Chopped
Onion
¼ cup
Red
Chilli (chopped)
2
Roasted
Groundnut
¼ cup
Cashew
nuts
2 tbsp
Curry
leaves
A spring
Chpped
coriander
Handful
Salt
To taste
For Deep
Fry
Oil
As required
Procedure:
1. Add all the ingredients (except oil) in a wide bowl. Mix
them well with your hand.
2. Then add water little by little and make a soft and
pliable dough. Close the bowl and leave it for 5 mins only.
3. Heat the oil in a pan, put small pieces from the dough
into the hot oil and fry till the sizzle sound stops.
4. Take it out from the oil and keep it on the tissue paper
to remove the excess oil.
Easy, tasty and
healthy snack is ready. Serve it with tea or coffee.
Here is a video of making the pakoda – shot with ASUS Zenfone 2 Laser
Note:
You can allow it to cool down completely and store it in a
air tight container for later use. You can use 3-4 days at room temperature.
Some Additional Comments of Zenfone 2 Laser as food blogger tool:
As Photography is very important for food blogging,
additional features like depth of field, IN – MOBILE PHOTOSHOP like image editing
features and mini movie making can help food bloggers create their recipes very
fast and ease.
Other
than typing the recipe text all other recipe content creation had been done on
the Zenfone 2 Laser (without laptop). This saves lot of time and the
hazzles of transferring images between camera and system.
Depth of
field photo of Fungus formed on a wood in our garden
Flowers
video made with mini movie tool:
A Personal
Foot Note:
I have not blogged for long time due to Chennai floods. I
was marooned in my flat for 4 days without power and communication connectivity.
We had foolishly exhausted all the power in our regular use mobile phones on
the first day itself. When I wanted to desperately communicate with my parents,
my phones were dry. In a Flash, I
remembered the Zenfone 2 Laser sent to me for review. Imagine how lucky I would have
felt when I found the phone already charged upto 60%. I switched it on and off retaining powder
only during making calls to my parents communicating our whereabouts. My
relatives sent a rescue boat and then a car to pick our family and my cousins
living nearby. To my delight, the Zenfone 2 Laser lasted for 3 days, till I reached
safety in my native place Palani. I definitely vouch for the Zenfone’s long
battery life. My special personal thanks to ASUS.
