Friday, November 4, 2016

Cobbler and Ice cream

This is the peach cobbler and kulfi ice cream I made for my husband's friends for their office's Deepavali celebration (Nov). I get enthusiastic whenever they say there's a party with friends, as I like the opportunities to make something different from our regular menu :) .Peach cobbler is totally an eggless dessert that is baked with milk, flour and peaches. Peach cobbler is an US dessert popular in Southern states. It tastes amazing when served warm along with a scoop of ice cream. In my view, the cobbler is one of the easiest desserts and I make it quite often for the parties I host. Indian Kulfi ice cream is a Moghul dessert and it is popular in many countries in Asia. My version is purely for my convenience and it almost tastes like the original Gulfi :)
Try these and tell me how much you like it.  Click the links for the recipes (my earlier posts).

Peach cobbler (this large one is for our friends and that small tray is for my hd to taste first)

Homemade Indian Fruit and nut Kulfi ice cream
My list of  Indianized ice creams  :
1. Short cut Kulfi (from store bought ice cream)
2. Almond kulfi
3.Coconut milk ice cream
4.Pistachio Kulfi
5. Fruit and nut kulfi

Peach cobbler with Indian kulfi ice cream


Enjoy !

Monday, October 10, 2016

Kovaikkai varuval (கோவைக்காய் வறுவல்)

"Happiness is not a state of mind. It is an attitude" - read somewhere in Pinterest.

I have tasted this kind of spicy kovakkai fry in buffets, till then I used to make a simple poriyal only. I too started making it  at home using sambar powder and it tasted same as the Mirchi's.  Though this is a very easy and quick version, the success of the recipe depends on the way they chop the vegetable. These long slender pieces of this vegetable makes it a more yummy dish (my opinion !).
Enjoy this spicy South Indian side dish !

Kovaikkai  / Tindora / Ivy gourd ;  Varuval - pan roasting
Slice the tindora just like this.

Saute it in oil

Cook covered

After adding sambar powder

Kovaikkai varuval

Ingredients: 
Kovaikkai - 250 gm (1/2 lb)
Sesame oil / peanut oil - 3 tbsp
mustard (kadugu) - 1 tsp
urid dal - 1 tsp
red onion (small) - 1
homemade sambar powder - 2 tsp
turmeric powder -1/4 tsp
curry leaf - few
salt - to taste

Preparation: (20 minutes)
Rinse the Ivy gourd very well (thrice). Remove the top and bottom of each. No need to remove skin. Slice them into very thin long slices (see images).
Finely chop onion. Keep it along with curry leaf.
Method: (10 minutes)
Heat oil in a wok. Slide in the mustard and urid dal. Let the mustard crackle. Add the chopped onion, curry leaf. Fry till onion gets soft (1 minute approx).
Put the sliced Kovaikkai. Saute for 30 seconds. Sprinkle a handful of water and cook covered in low heat (5 mins) till kovakkai is tender crisp.
Add the required salt, turmeric powder, sambar powder and stir well. Cook covered for 2 more minutes with a tbsp of water.
Tindora fry is ready !

Serving suggestion:
Makes  4 servings.
Serve as side dish with sambar rice, any rice variety, chapati , roti.


Chow chow Paruppu koottu and peel thogayal

Chow chow / Bangalore Kathirikai / Chayote  A dal curry paruppu koottu with chow chow and a spicy chutney using it's peel (chow chow tho...