Apple Pie.

This is an all time favorite dessert in my house. Don't Panic to make a pie on your own. I am narrating below a 100% fool proof recipe. But follow all the steps to get a perfect apple pie.

To make Crust:
2 1/2 cups All purpose flour.
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold butter, broken into small pieces
5 tbsp. cold vegetable shortening
8 tbsp. ice water
Mix the flour, sugar and salt together.
Add the chilled butter pieces and shortening to the bowl. Mix them coarsely.
Add the ice water. Mix until the dough holds together .(Like pizza crust dough or Indian chapathi dough)
Then divide the dough in to two equal portions.
Flatten each half into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap (clear wrap) and chill for at least half an hour.
Roll out one of the disks on a lightly floured surface until you have a circle that's about 12 inches in diameter.
Put the circle in a 9" pie plate, trim extra dough from the edges . Return it to the refrigerator until you are ready to make the pie.

Next step:
Add filling (see below)
Roll out the second ball of dough and cover top. Use a fork to pinch the edges together. cut a couple slits in the top.

To make Filling:
1/3 to 2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
8 medium sized apples (a medium apple = about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons butter.

Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Remove skin and seeds of the apple and slice it in to small pieces.
Mix sugar, flour,cinnamon, and salt in large bowl.
Stir in apples.
Pour into the already prepared pastry-lined pie plate.
Cover with top crust and seal the edges. Cut slits in the top.
Cover edge with a strip of aluminum foil to prevent too much browning.
Remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking.
Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.


Serving suggestions:
Makes a wonderful snack or dessert.Some times the left overs can be used as a good breakfast too.

susiyam (Traditional method)

Susiyam is a fried snack more popular in Tamilnadu and Andhra. It is generally a ball made of channa dhal and jaggery , dipped in All purpose flour batter and deep fried in oil. This is usually prepared during Deepavali (Diwali) , Christmas, New year and Easter in Indian families. 

Susiyam I made for Christmas, 2010.

Ingrdients:
channa dhal (Kadalai paruppu)- 1 cup
Jaggery - 1 1/4 cup - 150 gms (8-10 small cubes)
cardamom- 4.
coconut - 1/2 cup shredded
oil - 300 ml (to deep fry)

for outer covering / dipping:
maida / All purpose flour - 1/4 cup
rice flour- 2 tbsp
salt - 1/4 tsp.
baking soda - 1/4 tsp
tumeric powder- 1/4 tsp.


Method:
(1)Soak the dhal for an hour and drain the water. Cook the dhal with 1 cup water  till it is 3/4 th cooked.  Drain water and grind the channa in mixie along with coconut , cardamom.
(2) Add 1/4 cup water to jaggery and heat it. wait until it dissolves. Strain the jaggery solution and discard any sandy leftover at the bottom.
(3) Now add the jaggery solution to the mashed dhal and heat them in a vessel , until the mixture loses any moisture and becomes easy to handle.
(4) After the dough becomes cool, make small balls of the size of a "small Key lemon" or gooseberry.
(5)Mix rice flour, all purpose flour , salt, turmeric powder, with 1 cup of water to get a thin batter like dosa batter.
(6)Heat corn oil in a frying pan . Take a ball , dip in the batter , deep fry the coated balls by fliping once . Take care not to char the balls.

Serving suggestions:
Makes 25 susiyam. It can be served as a dessert or a festive time snack.

Coconut Chutney .

Chutneys are similar to  dippings like blue cheese or tomato sauce. Indian dishes like Dosa and Idly are mostly served with coconut chutney.
Here is my mother's special thengai chutney.

To grind:
Fresh grated coconut - 1/2 cup
(You can substitute it with frozen coconut also. But the original chutney flavor comes with full coconut newly grated only.)
Puffed channa dhal (pori kadalai / pottu kadalai)- 2 tbsp.
green chillies - 4.
tamarind - 1 inch bit.
salt- 1/2 tsp.

To garnish:
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp,
Urid dhal - 1/4 tsp.
curry leaves - 1 sprig.
Red chilli -1 (cut in to 2 pieces)
shallot onion (small onion)- 1 .(chopped)
oil- 1 tbsp.
Method:
We need an Indian mixer to grind the chutney. Put all the items given for grind in a small jar of the mixer.Close the lid. First run the mixer without adding water. Then after a second add 1/2 cup water and grind the chutney in to a fine thick paste.
Heat a frying pan. Add urid dhal and mustard seeds. wait to hear the cracking sound of mustard. Add chopped onions , red chilli and curry leaves. Put off the flame. Then add the chutney (while pan is hot, but switched OFF). Mix well.
Then transfer it to the serving bowl.
Serving suggestions:
Makes nearly 200 ml or 1 cup chutney.
It can be served as a side dish / dipping for Dosa, Idly, Vada, Pongal etc.
Note:
My mother inlaw would bring it to a boil before switching off. That too tastes good.
Instead of pori kadalai, we can use roasted groundnut too.

"Fibre rich " susiyam / sooyam (sweet stuffed balls)

Susiyam or seyyam or sooyam is an all time favorite for my husband . So i make it for festivals.Susiyam is traditionally made with channa dhal.But for a change , i tried making susiyam with germinated Green gram and cowpea and it came very tasty than ever.These sprouts are good for health also .

Ingrdients:
Green gram - 1 cup
cow pea (karamani)- 1/2 cup.
Jaggery - 150 gms (8-10 small cubes)
oil - 200 ml (to deep fry)
maida / All purpose flour - 3 spoons
rice flour- 2 spoons.
salt - 1/4 tsp.
tumeric powder- 1/4 tsp.
cardamom- 4.

Method:
(1)Soak the dhals for 4 hours and drain the water. Tie them loosely in a clean cloth and allow it to germinate for a night.
Now our dhals are loaded with vitamin E and vitamin C.
Pressure cook them with 1 cup water for one whistle . Take them out and mash them by a spoon.
(2) Add 1/4 cup water to jaggery and heat it. wait until it dissolves. Strain the jaggery solution and discard any sandy leftover at the bottom.
(3) Now add the jaggery solution to the mashed dhal and heat them in a vessel , until the mixture loses any moisture and becomes easy to handle.Add powdered cardamom.
(4) After the dough becomes cool, make small balls of the size of a "small Key lemon".
(5)Mix rice flour, all purpose flour , salt, turmeric powder, with 1 cup of water to get a thin batter.
(6)Heat corn oil in a frying pan . Take a ball , coat it with the batter by soaking . Then deep fry the coated balls for a 1 minute.
Take care not to char the balls.

Serving suggestions:
Makes 30 susiyams. It can be served as a dessert or a festive time snack.

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
granulated sugar - 1 cup
unsalted butter - 1 cup
milk -3 tablespoon
vanilla essence -1teaspoon
egg-1
all purpose flour-3 cup
baking powder-1 1/2 teaspoon
salt 1/2 teaspoon
sugar a little to sprinkle.


Method:
Beat the egg , milk, and vanilla essence .
In a large bowl, combine sugar, butter with the beaten egg mixture.Blend well.
Add flour, baking powder and salt to the mixture and make it into a dough.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 1 hour for easier handling.
Preheat oven to 400 F .
Make small balls and flaten them on silverfoil or ungreased cookie sheet over the oven tray.
( place each cookie 1 inch apart)
sprinkle sugar over the cookies before baking.
Bake at 400 F for 5-9 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.
Immediately remove from cookie sheets and decorate as desired.
Makes 6 dozen cookies.

Wheat Aappam.

Ingredients
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup Luke warm water
1 tsp baking soda
Salt to taste
Coconut oil for seasoning the aappam pan

Method

Mix yeast, sugar and lukewarm water till frothy. Keep aside for 5 minutes.

Add yeast mixture to the wheat flour. Add 2 cups water to make a thick batter. Cover with a lid and keep in a warm place to ferment for at least 8 - 12 hours.

I used to make this batter at night by 9 pm and leave inside oven (turn off oven) and in the next day morning when i take it out my kitchen will be filled with a nice aroma.There will be bubbles on the surface and the batter will have risen
Now heat the aappam pan and wipe a drop of coconut oil or corn oil all over the pan by using a clean cloth.Check the thickness of wheat aappam batter now. It should be in the more thin in consistency than that of dosa batter.If not so add some coconut milk or water.
Pour onto griddle, heated medium to low, to form thick pancakes about 4 inches across. Then Shake the pan in a circular motion so that the flour spreads and expands along the edges.(If batter is too thick and does not spread, add a little more milk or water ). The cooked batter forms a layer of 'lace' around the thicker center portion. It is then covered and cooked in it's own steam over gentle heat.I used to wait to hear a dropping sound of water(condensation of steam) .Now we can be sure that the wheat aapam is cooked.Then by using a dosa spatula (dosa karandi) gently take out the wheat aapam.

Serving suggestions:
"Wheat aapam" is a healthy diet for diabetic people and for people on diet. It goes fine with coconut milk.We get nearly 15 number of aapam. You can store the rest of the aapam batter in fridge and use it later if you dont need this much number of aapams.
Wheat Aappam can also be served with egg curry or chicken curry or channa dhal curry or even sambar.
coconut milk preparation:
Take coconut milk 1/2 can and dilute it with equal amount of water.Spread 1 teaspoon sugar over aapam and add 2 tablespoon coconut milk over the aapam. Enjoy your aapam.

Oats and Raisin cookies. (eggless version)

Everybody knows oats is good for health. So here is a cookie with oats. we can replace an unhealthy snack with this flavorful Oats and Raisin cookies.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup uncooked oats.
3/4 cup All purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar .
1/4 cup raisins.
1/2 stick butter (1/3 cup softened )
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp baking soda.
1/2 tsp cream of tartar or 1/2 tsp white vinegar / lime juice.
1/4 tsp salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 deg F.
Gather everything in a big mixing bowl by hand. Keep it inside refrigerator for easy handling.
After 10 minutes spread an aluminium foil over a baking tray.
Roll the dough into small balls (size of a big gooseberry) and flatten them on the tray by using the bottom of a glass tumbler .
Place all cookies 1.5 inch apart , because the tiny cookies will swell and become big cookies , occupying more diameter.
Bake 9 minutes in 375 deg.
Take out and let it rest , so that it becomes stiff.(take the cookies out ,once the bottom seems mild brown in color. At this
stage the cookies will be soft , but after a few minutes outside they turn stiff.)
This cookies will be more soft and a bit chewy.
variation:
If you want to get more stiffened cookies add 1 egg instead of cream of tartar.

Serving suggestion:
makes 25 cookies.