Christmas fruit cake (large size)

In Tamilnadu and Kerala (almost entire South India) Christmas is like everybody's festival.  During Christmas, the bakeries there would get more busy preparing this Christmas plum cake (fruit cake) for two months. It is a tradition there to buy and gift these cakes to one another during Christmas and New year.
I have been following only one  'Christmas fruit cake recipe' (for 8x8 pan)  for the past 7 years, as this seems much reliable for me. This recipe does not contain alcohol, but still tastes exactly like the store bought Christmas fruit cake.  At first I learned this from Cham's fruit cake recipe and I started baking it every year and felt much happy that I learned it. Thank you Cham, every year I will be thanking you while joyfully baking this cake :) Eventually my fruit cake baking tradition started growing more and more that nowadays instead of baking in small portions (1 kg pan ), I have to bake in 9 x 13 inch pans (2 kg). So I thought this is the best time I repost my earlier plum cake recipe for a large scale recipe. I am sure this is the handy recipe for a festival time.

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Christmas fruit cake (plum cake)

Follow each and every step and you will find the results amazing.  Happy cooking !

Sift the AP flour, baking soda, baking powder twice or thrice together.

Mix 2 tbsp AP flour with dry fruits and chopped nuts and keep aside. We can do this earlier to save time.

Bring everything to room temperature, by leaving them in counter top overnight.

First item to mix is butter and sugar.

Coat the baking tray with 1tbsp butter and coat with 2 tbsp AP flour. Preheat the oven to 350 F for 10 minutes before starting to bake.

Cream butter and sugar together.  (1 minute in speed 2)

Add vanilla essence, orange peel powder, All spice powder, egg, salt, soaked fruit mixture with juie and beat until frothy. (30 seconds in speed 2)

add dry ingredients and mix well (at speed 6 for 1 minute).

Pour in prepared cake tin and bake in preheated oven at 350 F for 40 - 50 min.

Let the cake cool inside tray for 20 minutes

Transfer it to wire racks and cool completely.

Cut the cake in desired portions. Wrap in wax paper and save in air tight containers.

Merry Christmas !

The plum cake (fruit cake) tastes better 1 or 2 days after baking.

I.For caramelizing
sugar-1/2 cup
water - 2tbsp + 1 cup
Add sugar and 2 tbsp water keep in stove at low to medium heat. When the sugar starts to turn brown , stir slowly .The sugar will start to change color from light brown to dark. In between , keep in microwave the water for 2 min and warm it. When the sugar starts to turn brown , pour slowly the warm water. Be cautious, as it may splutter (wear a hand gloves always for this step).

Ingredients
dry ingredients:
All purpose flour (maida)- 2 1/2 cup
baking powder - 2 tsp
baking soda - 3/4 tsp
Nuts and fruits:
dried fruits-(dates, raisins, tooti frooti)- 2 cup
dried nuts-(almonds, cashews and walnuts) - 1 cup
grape juice - 1/4 cup + orange juice- 1 cup + apple juice - 1/4 cup
(or) orange juice - 1 1/2 cup
wet ingredients: (others)
sugar -  1 1/2 cup
butter- 2 sticks (16 tbsp butter = 1 cup oil)
(use butter for perfect flavor)
egg - 6
salt -  1 tsp
vanilla extract -2 tsp
To powder:
lemon and orange peels - 2 tbsp
(I use peels of a large naval orange)
All spice powder (see below for recipe)- 2 tsp

Preparation:
Take half of the amount of dry fruits. (reserve the rest  for direct baking later). Except raisin chop others.

Soak 1 cup of dry fruits in grape + apple + orange juice for a few hours.
( I puree apple , grapes at home and use store bought orange juice).
Without any other juices,  orange juice will also do the same job.
I soaked it in orange juice for 3 days inside fridge.
Bring the butter, egg and everything to room temperature by keeping them out of fridge for few hours -  overnight.
Dry roast the almond, cashew and other nuts. Then chop them into small pieces.

Before baking:
Preheat the oven at 350 F.
Grease a 9 x 13 x 2 inch cake pan ( 1/4 sheet cake pan) generously with butter.
Sprinkle 2 tbsp all purpose flour and spread  it all over by shaking.

Method:
Wet ingredients: 
 In a blender (Indian mixie) add orange peel and crush it. To it add butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla essence, salt and beat again till fluffy.
Pour this to a large mixing bowl along with caramelized sugar.
Dry ingredients:
Sift together all purpose flour, baking soda , baking powder. I sift this over a large newspaper and will sift twice to ensure a fluffy cake. Sifting is  a MUST.
Add this dry ingredients to wet ingredients in the mixing bowl. Mix well with a large spoon. (or electric mixer).
Add the soaked fruits along with juice. it was soaking.
Take 2 tbsp of AP flour and mix it with the broken nuts and remaining unsoaked dry fruits.
Pour the cake batter to the cake pan .
Now spread the flour coated nuts and nuts over the cake batter . Shake gently and let the nuts sink a little. Don't stir them.
Bake in middle of the rack for 40 to 50 minutes in 350 deg F. If not cooked increase 10 min each time. The cake will be done in 45 minutes. The cake is ready when a toothpick inserted into it comes out clean.

Take out and cool for at least 10 - 20  minutes before transferring to cooling racks.
Cool the cake completely over cooling rack for 4 - 5 hours and slice as per need.
Store in airtight containers.
The cake tastes more delicious after 1 day - 3 days.


Note:
Makes one large 9 x 13 cake. or four 6 inch round cakes.
The above recipe gives 2 kg  ( approx 4.5 lb ) of fruit cake ( little more than that , depending upon the nuts and fruits we add).
Always use a good quality aluminum baking pan (eg Wilton cake pans) for evenly baking.
If using glass bakeware (eg Pyrex) , bake at 325 F . Don't exceed the recommended temperature.
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Using some kitchen appliances will make cake baking an easy job. Here are some of my tips for using various mixers for making fruit cake.

For kitchenaid mixer:
Using a whisk attachment beat the egg to fluffy (1 min - 2 min). (whites first then add yellow).
Melt the butter . Add butter and sugar together for 1 minute in speed 2.

Remove the whisk attachment and fix the flat beater.

Add all the wet ingredients and beat for 30 seconds at speed 2.

Then add dry ingredients and beat at speed 6 for 1 minute.
DO NOT over-beat the cake mixture.

For Indian mixie:
Beat the eggs together.
Then add all the wet ingredients.
Pour this to a mixing bowl.
Using a spatula or hand held electric mixer, blend together for 1 minute.

For Hand mixer (electric):
Cream sugar and butter together for 1 minute in low speed.
Then goes the wet ingredients for 1 minute in medium speed.
Add dry ingredients gradually and whisk at lowest speed till they get folded.
Then increase speed and mix for 1 minute.
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This is the all spice powder I use in my fruit cakes, pumpkin cake, ginger bread cookies etc. I think this flavor is fresh and better than the much expensive store bought varieties.

All spice powder:
cinnamon - 2 long rolls
cardamom - 1 tbsp seeds only
cloves - 1 tbsp
nutmeg - 1/4 of one
mace - 1
cumin - 1 tbsp
black pepper - 1 tbsp
dry ginger powder - 1/2 cup

Dry roast everything except ginger powder. Finely powder them all together and mix with ginger powder. (While powdering , I add ginger powder). Keep in a zip lock pouch or air tight container and keep in freezer for an year.

Khubani ka meetha

khubani / Qubani - apricot. Meetha - dessert.
Khubani ka meeta is another fusion dessert of India. Mughal chefs at that time, who enjoyed cooking with fresh apricots in their native, brought India these dried apricots. Then these trees were cultivated around  Himalayas and they thrive there till now.
 Now to our dessert...Qubani ka meeta is a simple jam (preserve) like dish. It is popular among Hyderabad cuisine.
I came to know of this from a nearby restaurant. Then I got an idea of this recipe by the vahchef's video. Thanks to the vahchef, I learned this easy and delicious dessert.
Then I had a dilemma, if I should buy some dried apricots , which are too expensive at Indian grocery stores, while I can get fresh apricots from my nearby farmer's market. But then I thought of sticking to the original recipe, as this is  new to me. Anyway , I will try with fresh US grown apricots soon and will let you know how it came out .Till then enjoy this Turkish Qubani ka meetha  !

Qubani ka meeta

dried apricots from Indian grocery stores

soaked apricots

Seeded apricot, soaking water, seeds of apricot

Removing the shell of apricot seeds

Apricot nuts

Boiling apricot fruits

Apricot dessert ....qubani ka meeta

Yummm...enjoy qubani ka meetha with kulfi ice cream

Ingredients:
Dried apricots - 25
sugar - 1/2 cup
cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Rinse the dry apricots.
Soak the dried apricots in cold water overnight (inside fridge) or at room temperature for 6 hours.
Squeeze and remove the seeds.
Save the soaked water and seeds.
Gently crush the seeds (just to halve them) and take out the nuts.
The apricot nuts would look like almonds but with more flavor.
Now put the fruit in a wok along with soaked water.
Cook for  15-20 minutes or until the fruit gets a jam like consistency.
Add required sugar and stir well for 5 minutes.
Add cardamom powder and chopped apricot nuts.
Stir well and switch off.
Qubani ka meetha is ready!

Serving suggestion :
Serve  warm as dessert along with whipped cream or ice cream.

Happy Birthday Nissi

Thanksgiving recipes

I am sure American Thanksgiving would be a  new festival for some Indians. But still I am seeing all of us , immigrants enjoying that day in our own way.  The Indians who are great party lovers find this day very interesting. 
American Thanksgiving focuses on family get-together. So it starts a week before with grocery shopping for the family's big feast. Then the thanksgiving mass in Church, baked turkey, the carving of turkey, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, cranberry sauce, playing together, shopping and lots and lots of fun with family and friends comes along. Thanksgiving fun starts even a month before, with those stores announcing discount sales. People buy gifts for friends and family during this sales time.
When we were new here, I was observing all these festivities around me and really really wanted to make it our family tradition too in the coming years.  But I could see many Indians are not much of meat fans  .......(not me...'When in Rome, do as Romans do' is my policy :)...), so I have to mix Indian recipes with American tradition for our parties :).  This is the story behind my own Thanksgiving menu.
So if you have similar situations like me, you will  find the below list of recipes useful.
Happy Thanksgiving !

Thanks be to God, Happy Thanksgiving,

Visit my facebook page (Viki's Kitchen) too, to see my Thanksgiving menu album.
It is a colorful treat and I am sure you are all going to love that album.

Appetizer:
Paani poori
Chicken 65 
Anchovy fry
Fish cutlet
Milagai (capsicum) bajji
Thayir vadai 
Main course meal:
Kushka
Turkey curry (vaan kozhi kulambu)
Turkey biriyani(vaan koli biriyani)
Tamilnadu Muslim style chicken biriyani 
Easy Chicken biriyani in cooker 
Hyderabadi vegetable biriyani 
vegetable biriyani in cooker
Most popular (sides and main):
Whole baked chicken (oven roasted) 
Whole fried chicken
Egg curry
Full fish fry
Dessert:
Peach cobbler
Pistachio Kulfi icecream
Carrot cake
Gulab jamun 
Drink:
Lime juice

Potato ulunthu vadai

Potato ulunthu vadai, is not a traditional vadai, but I think this is a beautiful medley of potato and ulunthu created in my kitchen :) It tasted like ulunthu vadai, no one could say it has potato. But more crispy on the outside still soft inside...flavored with a touch of french fries :)

Whenever I grind for urid dal vadai, I grind more to share some vadai with any one of our friends, as South Indian Vadai is a  popular snack among Indians. Hot coffee or tea with this medhu vadai and chutney is Tamilnadu's signature dish.  On that evening, I had only a handful of vadai mavu (urid dal batter), just enough for us both. But I wanted to stretch it a bit. I used some boiled potatoes , which I had in fridge and the taste was more delicious. I am sure this is one of the best ways to increase the number of vadai. Also adding some vegetables like cabbage (cabbage vadai), also makes a large quantity of vadai using the same amount of urid dal. 

potato ulunthu vadai

Ingredients: (For 12 small size vadai)
cooked potato - 2 (mashed - 1 cup)
Vadai mavu / batter  - 1 cup
Oil (corn oil / canola) - 200 ml
Ginger - finely chopped - 2 tsp
salt - to taste
rice flour - 1 tbsp (optional)

Method:
First pressure cook or boil or microwave required potatoes. Mash / grate finely and knead to get a dough like stage. Add enough salt, chopped ginger.
Then add the ulunthu vadai batter we have as left over batter.
Mix well .If needed add a tbsp of rice flour to get a manageable batter.

Heat the oil in a wok. Reduce the flame to medium.

Wet a plastic sheet or banana leaf (small square). Take a small ball of batter , place it on the sheet, gently flatten it and make a small hole at the center. Put the vadai gently into the oil.

Deep fry the vadai in medium to low heat by flipping till it gets the golden red color. This vadai (unlike the urid dal vadai) gets red quickly. So fry in low heat.

Drain the oil , take out and place on kitchen towel / multi holed basin to drain excess oil.

Potato ulunthu vadai is ready!

Serving suggestions;
Serve with coconut chutney along with hot coffee or tea in the evening.
Also makes a good side dish with Idly, Venn pongal, sarkarai pongal etc.

Paruppu rasam

Paruppu rasam is one more post that has been in my draft for  a very long time. This is my family's favorite meal along with dal and a spicy fry like fish or potato fry. In my hometown it is a habit to serve piping hot rice with rasam along with fried fish for dinner and they would call it as 'simple'... ha ha... but that sounds like feast to me :) 

Enjoy !

Paruppu rasam, rice and fish fry ...one of my most favorites :)

Paruppu rasam

Ingredients:
Thuvaram paruppu (Toor dal) - 1/2 cup (cooked)
tomatoes - 2
Tamarind extract - 2 teaspoon. (from a gooseberry size ball of tamarind)
Red chillies - 2
black pepper - 1 teaspoon
cumin seed- 1/2 tsp
garlic - 3 pearls.
turmeric- a pinch
hing (asafoetida) - a pinch.
Fenugreek seeds (methi seeds) - 1/4 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - 1 sprig
chopped coriander leaves - few
water - 2 cups
jaggery - very small piece (1 tsp, if crushed)
salt - 1 tsp
oil (ghee)- 1 tbsp.

Method: 
I usually reserve some cooked toor dal, while making sambar to prepare this rasam.
Otherwise cook 2 tbsp toor dal in a pressure cooker to 3 whistles. Mash and keep it aside along with the cooked water.

Add hot water to the tamarind and extract the juice. Keep it aside.

Chop the tomatoes finely.

Coarsely grind the pepper, garlic and cumin seeds. Mix turmeric and asafoetida with it and keep aside.

In a pan add little oil/ ghee and put mustard seeds , methi seeds. After hearing the crackling sound of mustard seeds, add red chillies and curry leaves. Immediately add the ground mixture to the pan and fry for 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and stir it till the tomato gets cooked completely.
 Add the tamarind extract and the jaggery. Add 2 cups of water , bring to a boil.
Then add the cooked, mashed dal + dal water.
Let it boil vigorously for 2 minutes.
After switching off the flame , add salt and chopped coriander leaves. Always keep the lid closed after adding salt to retain the flavor of rasam.
Paruppu rasam is ready!

Serving suggestions: 
My usual combo is preparing this paruppu rasam along with ketti paruppu (dal tadka), some spicy fry as side dish along with rice.
Or simply serve as dinner with hot rice and paruppu thogayal.

Broccoli egg stirfry

Adding egg to any stir fry (poriyal) like beans, okra is common among Chennai people. I make such kind of egg stirfries for lunch pack. But I had never tried adding egg to broccoli until a friend suggested me. So if you are looking for innovative ways to cook broccoli, then here is one from my kitchen !

Ingredients:
Broccoli - 2 cups (coarsely chopped)
egg - 2
salt - to taste.
To Temper: 
onion - 1/2 cup (chopped)
green chilli - 3
curry leaf - few
mustard - 1/2 tsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp
urid dal - 1/2 tsp
coconut oil / olive oil - 2 tsp

Method: 
Chop the broccoli into small florets.
Cut the onion, green chilli finely.
Heat oil in a wok.
Add mustard, urid dal , cumin and let the mustard crack.
Then add the chopped onion, curry leaf and saute till it gets tender.
Then add the chopped chillies, broccoli. Saute well.
Sprinkle a handful of water and cook covered.
Then add required salt.
It will get cooked in almost 6-8 minutes in medium heat.
Now move the stir fry to one side of the wok.
Break open two eggs and stir gradually with the broccoli pieces.
As soon as egg coats the hot stir fry, it would get cooked.
Switch off.
Broccoli egg stir fry is ready!

Serving suggestion: 
Serve as side dish with rice or chapati.
Can also be served as breakfast instead of regular scrambled egg.
Instead of whole egg, we can use egg whites too.

Cabbage Koottu

Many a times I feel blessed to have some vegetables that lasts longer in our fridge ♥   Those veggies are the saving stocks when we need something quick. I am sure you all would have your own experiences on how a cabbage in fridge saved you  ☺

Cabbage is a staple vegetable in USA, and it would be on a  lesser price range always (less than 39 cents - 79 cents / lb). On a lucky day, we can get a whole big cabbage for a dollar . So it would be the first to climb a shopping cart and the last to get cooked ☺ . While many say otherwise, I like cabbage also very much. For Indian foods , I choose the cabbage that is sold in Indian grocery stores only (tastes same as Indian cabbage), as there are a lot of varieties here and some taste like lettuce and won't go with Indian cuisine. 

Stir fry is the common recipe for cabbage in Tamilnadu. Have you ever considered preparing something delicious using cabbage other than the regular poriyal (stir fry). Cabbage always needs a good cook, who would give it a face lift ☺
I learned this recipe from one of my best friends Parvathi. This koottu recipe belongs to her mother inlaw . So I guess its origin as Tanjore cuisine.
I like this recipe very much and we believe that it goes yummy as side dish with sambar rice or puli kulambu and rice.

Ingredients:
cabbage - 200 gm (small piece)
onion - 1/2 cup (chopped)
tomato - 1 (optional)
oil - 1 tbsp
mustard seed - 1 tsp
urid dal - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste
curry leaf - few

To grind:
coconut - 2 tbsp (shredded)
fennel (sombu) - 1 tsp
green chilly - 3
puffed channa dal (pottu kadalai) - 2 tbsp

Method:
Shred / chop the cabbage into small pieces and keep aside.
Heat oil in a wok.
Let the mustard starts to crackle and add urid dal.
Add onion as soon as urid dal starts turning mild red.
Saute onion with some curry leaf.
Then add chopped tomato and cook well (no need for tomato if using as side dish with tamarind based curries over rice. But adding tomato tastes good when served with chapati).
As the onion turns soft, add the cabbage and saute for a minute.
Add 1 cup water and cook till it turns tender.
Put enough salt.
Grind the items mentioned to a coarse paste.
Add this to the koottu and bring to a boil.
Let it cook covered for a minute and turn off.
Garnish with chopped cilantro.
Cabbage koottu is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with sambar or puli kulambu rice or with chapathi.

Happy Deepavali

Image courtesy : 123greetings.com

Wishing all a joyful Deepavali.
Click to view my facebook album on Deepavali Sweets
May all the days ahead are filled with happiness in all of our homes,


Love,
Viki Xavier

Happy VijayaDasami !

Wishing all a very happy Dassara (VijayaDasami , Navaratri Poojai)

image courtesy : Thanks to this free images link !

Baked asparagus and mushroom

This is not a long recipe. I think anyone can make it without a recipe too. But I am posting it as it is one of my favorite . All vegetables are delicious. That too asparagus and mushroom are special. I think it is in everyone's favorite list and hence it stays in a top value always (almost $ 4 / lb ).  Try this and enjoy  :)

Baked Asparagus and mushroom

before baking

Ingredients:
Asparagus - 15 numbers
mushroom - 10
salt - a pinch
Extra virgin olive oil - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
lemon juice - few drops (optional)

Preparation:
Rinse the mushroom and wipe the moisture using a clean kitchen towel.
There is an unique way to clean the asparagus. (food network TV taught me :) ).
Take an asparagus. Bend it gently until it breaks at one point.
The top portion is edible and the thicker stem can be discarded (instead of discarding the thicker part, we can extract the stock and add it in soups too).
Rinse , pat dry and keep aside.

Method:
Coat a baking tray with 1 tbsp of olive oil.
Heat the oven to 350 def C.
Put the mushroom and asparagus in a large mixing bowl.
Mix 1 tsp olive oil with salt, lemon  juice and mix well.
Place the vegetables on the baking tray in a single layer.
Bake for 10 minutes . Then take it out. Toss well. Spread in a single layer and bake again for 5 minutes.
Take out and serve hot.

Serving suggestions:
Serve as side dish with sandwich , soups , pizza, pasta etc.
If chopped smaller this baked dish can be added to salads too.

Simple beans carrot poriyal

Simple stirfries (AKA Poriyal in Tamil) , is  a handy recipe for any Tamil family. Poriyals are made with a simple tadka (tempering) and suits the spicy South Indian curries with rice (whereas the North Indian stir fries would be better with some masalas, as they are used as dippings for roti. Yes, that is one basic difference IMO :).
Mostly I suggest using extra virgin coconut oil in my blog, as per my family's taste. But any cooking oil would do good.
Here is one more interesting way to include beans and carrots in our dish, 'the carrot beans poriyal'.

Carrot beans stir fry

Ingredients:
Carrot - 2 (small)
green beans - 20 (numbers)
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste.
To Temper:
onion - 1/2 cup (chopped)
green chilli - 2
mustard - 1/2 tsp
urid dal - 1/2 tsp
coconut oil / olive oil - 2 tsp

Method:
Chop the carrots into small cubes. Cut the beans into small pieces.
Slit the green chilli into two (or) chop finely.
Heat oil in a wok. Add mustard, urid dal and let the mustard crack.
Then add the chopped onion and saute till it gets tender.
Then add the chopped chillies, beans, carrots. Saute well.
Sprinkle a handful of water and cook covered.
Then add required salt.
It will get cooked in almost 10 minutes in medium heat.
Then add the shredded coconut, cumin and stir well for a  minute.
Switch off.
Carrot beans poriyal is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with rice and any curry like sambar, puli kuzhambu.

Senai kilangu varuval

Senai Kilangu (Tamil) ,Suran (Hindi), elephant yam  spicy roast / pan fried yam.
This root vegetable is one of the most favorites in many Indian houses. We cherish this as  a quick side dish with sambar rice. Hope you all love this :)

Frozen yam from Indian grocery store.

Ingredients :
Senai kilangu - 1/4 kg
Oil - 2 tbsp
red chilly powder -1 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
salt - 1 tsp (to taste)
pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
fennel (sombu) - 1 tsp
curry leaf - few

Method:
Buy fresh or frozen suran. Chop the suran into small cubes (or put the frozen suran in water for an hour to defrost it). Mix all the powders, salt with suran and keep aside.
Heat oil in a frying wok.
Let the fennel  get red. Put the curry leaf. Then add the suran pieces.
Saute for a minute. Sprinkle a handful of water and cook covered in low flame for about 10 minutes.
Stir in between. Check if it is cooked. Then open the lid and stir for a  few more minutes till it gets mildly crispy on outside.
Senai kilangu varuval is ready !

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with rice and any curry or simply with curd rice.

Happy Vinayagar Chathurthi !

photo courtesy : http://easyscraps.blogspot.com/2010/09/ganesh-chaturthi-festival-india.html

Wishing all a very happy Vinayagar Chathurthi !

Rice kheer

Arisi payasam / paal payasam / rice kheer / rice pudding

Believe it or not, my mom has never done this and I came to know of this kheer after marriage only ♥
In my house quick payasam (kheer) means semiya payasam only. Mom won't change the family's traditional cooking and that's what made her foods incredibly yummy. But I believe that it is more fun to taste newer recipes (that too , if they are simple and quick).
This rice kheer is very common in almost all the houses nowadays and I appreciate the way we use rice instead of some processed semiya (vermicelli). So I happily embraced this easy kheer. I got this recipe from most of my neighbors (North and South Indians), and found a median version that suits us ♥ I don't insist on adding saffron or pistachio, but doing so will definitely enhance it.
I am sure simple kheers like this are a boon to this modern era women, who wishes to attend potlucks or host parties , but still wishes to look fresh  ♥

Wishing all a happy and prosperous Onam and Varalakshmi Nonbu !

Paal payasam / rice kheer

Ingredients:
Raw rice (basmati or pachcharisi) - 1/4 cup
whole milk  or 2 % milk- 2 cup
sugar - 12 tsp
almond - 2
cashew - 2
raisin - few
cardamom powder - 1/8 tsp
saffron - pinch (optional)

Method:
Rinse the rice and cook in stove top. Otherwise we can use 3/4 cup of well cooked rice.
Add 2 cups of water and bring it to boil. Simmer and let it cook till rice gets soft.
Then add the milk and cook till the consistency becomes thick.
In the meantime soak the nuts and raisin separately.
Coarsely grind the soaked nuts and add the raisin and nuts.
Mix well.
Add required sugar and cardamom powder, saffron (soaked in a tbsp of milk).
Bring to a boil and switch off.
Serve hot or cold.

Serving suggestion:
Serve as dessert.
The above said quantity will be enough for 5 small servings (1/4 cup each).

Happy Onam !

Senai Kilangu fry

Deep fried yam / Senai kilangu varuval / suran fry.

Elephant yam is one of the big size yams of India. Though it is completely composed of carbohydrates, it is believed to yield some health. So it is popular than potato in my place.

While in UG, we all girls had a nice ladies hostel. Few times I had the chance to enter their store room to inspect along with our warden (a procedure to record a fair transaction).  At that time I could see our the pantry's upper shelf stacked up with these elephant yams and the chef answered why there were too many yams for us :) ...
"Yams can be bought fresh during few months like January, February there. But they can be stored without refrigeration for many months (3-5 or even more), if they are kept whole and safer. Likewise one could see some whole pumpkins, coconuts too :)  "
....That was surprising to me and the way they maintained very low lunch fees (that's a blessing) had made me realize the responsibility of good house keeping ( buying in bulk and storing during lesser price).

Okay, coming to our Yam fry (looking like fish fry).....My mom used to make this fry occasionally along with paruppu kulambu  (click to see my traditional paruppu kulambu recipe too). This would be the star-dish while it rains.

Getting this fresh yam is not easy here in US. It would be very expensive ($4.99/ lb) and the shops would expect us to take the whole yam (no cuttings) and the yams (you all know)  will always measure more than 3 lb . So I just buy from freezer section and those packets always carry yams cut into tiny cubes. So I waited for an opportunity to try this for my blog, as well as our family.

Last year, I made this for my inlaws and they absolutely loved it. This became my mother inlaw's most favorite and I love the way all liked it. So try this on a cool season for your loving family and enjoy this fry as well as their smile.

Deep fried yam (I couldn't take any 'blog worthy photos', as we all started enjoying them immediately).

Senai kilangu marinated with masalas

Senai kilangu cut into bigger wedges

Ingredients:
Elephant yam - 1 lb (or little more)
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
curry masala powder - 1 tsp
salt - as per need (1 1/2 tsp)
water - 1 tbsp
Oil - to deep fry

Method:
Remove the skin of the yam using a knife. (Don't rinse in water now).  Cut it into bigger squares or triangles of 3/4 inch thickness. Now rinse in water. 
Mix all the masalas and salt in water.
Marinate the yam slices in this mixture.
Wash your hands in little tamarind water.
Deep fry in oil, flip and fry in medium heat.
Take out and drain oil.
Senai kizhangu fry (veggie fish fry) is ready !

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with any rice.

Other dishes with Senai kilangu :
Senai kilangu varuval / roast.
Senai kilangu paruppu koottu 
Senai kilangu erisseri
Pongal avial
Pongal puli curry

Apple milkshake

Having more milk (calcium rich food) during summer has been in practice in most of the colder countries. As I am more into vegetarian foods now, I like milk better. Vitamin D from Sun and Calcium are like buddies. I don't need to say more on this in detail. Direct Sunlight is available only for few months in our place, then it would be always cloudy, rainy or snowy. We can see people consuming milk , just like a cold drink , straight from the gallon container and everyone around here craves for milk and cheese. New Jersey's cows in the farms are a beautiful happy sight to see. Also the locally grown apples in my state fill the markets at a very low price. So that is our main fruit throughout the year (other fruits and veggies are seasonal only).
I tried this on an afternoon, while one of my friends came to our house and we both enjoyed it very much.
Hope you all love this milkshake !

Honey crisp apple (local farm) and red delicious apples along with milk. Organic milk is not regular , but for more taste.

Apple milkshake.

Cute Cows....my love !

Apple tree in an apple farm

Ingredients:
Apple - 1 (big)
milk - 2 cups
cardamom powder - a pinch
brown sugar - 3 tsp

Method:
Core and peel the apple. Puree using a mixie / blender along with cardamom and sugar.
Add some milk and grind to a fine paste.
Now add more cold milk, ice cubes and enjoy!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as drink (like orange juice) along with breakfast or anytime.