Daily Archives: October 27, 2015

Wheat Appam

Preparation time : 10 minutes + 5 hours fermentation time
Cooking time : 40 seconds to 1 minute for each appam
Serves : 6-8 members

Description

Any thing made with wheat flour is a warm welcome now a days. I was so surprised to come across a recipe of appam made with wheat flour that was shared by a fellow foodie blogger beena stephy. I did make quote and give a try the next day itself. with my doubts about the results.. Made sure to spare some dosa batter if the wheat appam gets to be a flop show. It was a big no from my boy but surprisingly hubby dear gave a thumbs up. I was blown away with the results as it was perfect just like the regular rice appams we make always with a crisp lace around and a spongy middle. Shared the results in all the food groups I am a member of with joy even before I could share it with you all. I was requested by the television team of news 7 Tamil channel to cook paya recipe with appam. I grabbed the opportunity and made sure to make wheat appams as well making sure to mention the source of the recipe as I was in a soup for not doing so previously in my blog for another recipe. Any good recipe that excites me I make sure to share it with you all first and then in all the foodie groups. Like wise I did so. As I was going through the comments in one foodie group post, got the shock of my life to see comments on me for not sharing the source of the person in the recipe share. I made sure to clear the problem then and there as I respect this world of sharing recipes for free. From then on made sure to add the source of any recipe that I share. This recipe is for sure keeps as its healthy and uses very few ingredients, less efforts and great results.

Ingredients	Quantity
Wheat flour	3 cups
coconut milk	1 1/2 cup
Water	1 1/2 to 2 cups
Sugar	1 tablespoon
Yeast	3/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste

Method

Mix wheat flour, salt, sugar and coconut milk together.
Dilute by adding more water to get a lump free batter.
Add yeast and blend well in a food processor. Let it ferment for 5 hours.
Mix the batter and dilute to appam batter consistency and pour into hot non stick kadai and make appams.

Cannolini

Preparation time : 30 minutes
Cooking time : 1 hour 20 minutes
Serves : 8 members
Recipe source : afritha

Description

What do I start with. The dish Cannolini or the person who shared the recipe “Afritha”. Well I know Afritha long before I got to know the dish Cannolini. So it’s about Afritha first and then to the dish for sure. My cousin sister’s daughter. Always confident, tall and giggly are the first three things that come to my mind about her. Then being enthusiastic and inquisitive to know about every thing as well. Her mother, my first cousin Shifa and myself were not the best of friends as kids. Like we all have that one cousin who is a snicker and loves to get us into trouble. She was one hell of a terror for sure. Her father was from Tanjore district and I remember shouting at her on every fight saying. You better make a leave soon to Tamilnadu. Not knowing I myself was there in Tamilnadu.(dum me). In reply she used to ask me to migrate to Kerala (may be because I was born there). Finally, I got married into a typical Tamil family (guess it was her curse.. Kidding) and she into a mixed one.. Following with her daughter Afritha too. Afritha and myself are the only two who are married of to the deep southern part of Tamilnadu and we know every bit of the craziness we are going through with the extreme differences in between the cultural, regional and food habit changes of the opposite ends of Tamilnadu. oops.. I have gone far away from the dish and am boring you all with my silly childhood and present thoughts. Coming to the dish.. Afritha got this dish for the second anniversary of sauté, fry n bake celebration. She missed a prize as the pasta sauce she made was ready made one but taste wise.. The bowl was kicked out clean. The picture by itself is evident for that as even before I could click a picture 3/4 of the dish was empty.. So peeps try this Italian dish made by a Tamil – Mallu combination girl who lives in Deep South Tamilnadu.

Ingredients	Quantity
Olive oil	1 tablespoon
Onion	1- finely chopped
Garlic clove	2- crushed
Chicken mince	500 grams
parmesan cheese grated	2/3 cups
Spinach	2 tablespoons- chopped
Boiled corn kernels	1/2 cups
Tomato pasta sauce	Home made ( u can use ready made sauce as well )
Pasta sheets	Home made or ready made cannelloni sheets

Method

Preheat oven 180C and lightly grease ovenproof dish.
Heat oil in frying pan and sauté garlic and onion.
Add chicken, brown well for 4-5 minutes.
Add corn n spinach into chicken mixture and season to taste and let it cook

TO MAKE PASTA SHEETS

Beat together 2 cups of all purpose flour n 1 egg . Dilute with little water to get pancake consistency.
Pour on pan n make thin sheets (like dosa)

Let the sheets cool down and fill the sheets with chicken mixture
Pour a third of the pasta sauce over bottom of ovenproof dish and top with filled cannelloni tubes.
Pour remaining sauce over the top of the cannelloni tubes, then sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.
Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, uncover and bake further 15-20 minutes until tender.

TO MAKE PASTA SAUCE

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the 3 cloves garlic and 1 onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened but not browned.
Add the 1 tablespoon tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute
Add the 6 Cooked n beaten tomatoes, reduce the heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes, until thickened.
Stir through the salt and pepper, sugar, basil and parsley, adjusting the seasoning as required.

Butter scotch peach praline

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 10 minutes
Serves : 8 members

Description

Getting to eat a new dessert is always exciting and if it tastes good it gets even the more better. But this happens only once in a blue moon to all of us. Like wise, I had this dessert at my aunt’s place at a dinner feast. I sure could not stop with one serving the first reason being the taste obviously and next reason being the dessert was ordered else where and served here. Now the challenge began with me tasting the dessert intensely to reconstruct it in my mind as how it was made. Myself and my gal were debating over this and we stuck to one method that felt right to our instincts. What next? Giving it a try to check how food smart I am. Made this dessert in the next feast at home. Tasted a mouth full before it was sent out to others. There was a tsunami of flavours and textures happening in that one mouth full of mine. In fact, the dessert was pitch perfect. Actually even better than what I had at my aunts place. Immediately called my gal and let her know about the results. Now, this is to my go to dessert recipe when ever pressed for time to entertain through food as its easy, yum and impressive. The pat on my back for being food smart was done by myself as no one else did. There’s no harm in self praising yourself when other’s forget to do it. Isn’t it?

Ingredients	Quantity
Marie biscuits	2 packets
Tinned peaches	1 large tin
Cream	500 ml

Ingredients for the butter scotch

Ingredients	Quantity
Sugar	to taste
Vanilla essence	2 drops
Sugar	1 cup
Water	1 teaspoon
Cashew nuts	1/4 cup
Almonds	1/4 cup
Pistachios	1/4 cup

Method

Heat a large pan with one cup sugar and one teaspoon of water. Do not stir. Let the sugar dissolve and caramelise to a deep golden colour.
Add the nuts and mix well. Pour over a greased plate and cool completely to harden up. Crush the set caramel sugar and nuts to a coarse powder. (I blitz it the food processor of a second or two)
Mix cream, sugar and vanilla essence together. Mix well until sugar dissolves.
Drain the tinned peaches and chop them.
Take a large pudding bowl. Layer the bottom with two rows of biscuits.
Sprinkle chopped tinned peaches over. Pour enough cream mix over making sure it covers the biscuits and peaches.
Sprinkle crushed butter scotch over. Repeat the layers to the top of the pudding bowl making sure the top most layer is butter scotch nuts.
Place in the refrigerator for six hours or over night to set. Serve chilled.

Pacha Meen Masala

Preparation time : one hour marination + 15 minutes
Cooking time : 10-15 minutes
Serves : 4 to 6 members

Description
As always skipping television channels and I come across Britain’s celebrity chef Keith floyd cooking up a fish dish in some coastal beach of India. He made the dish with a green masala paste. I just loved the idea and stored it in my mind to be executed some day when time permits. As trying this dish with my own twists and turns to it came up a question. Why do I always have this habit of following and not leading. Well that one moment of spark sure did awaken me. I promised to myself that I will let my thoughts graze free about all the things I am passionate about with no limits. I have been doing so ever since and what a change it has brought into me. I feel so much more confident, self content and beautiful about myself. Coming to the dish.. The herby flavours of the mint and coriander married with the coconut milk and the tang of lime is sure a heavenly experience to dine. Like this killer combination, to me.. my kitchen is a country in which there are always discoveries to be made from recipes to reinventing myself.. no matter what. I know sounds crazy but it’s the fact. Keith floyd’s recipe, me trying it with my twists and turns, a good question in my mind, promising myself, getting to reinvent and love myself… No connection right? But my kitchen helps me to connect it some how beautifully.

Ingredients	Quantity
White Pomfret Fish whole	1/2 kg medium sized , cleaned and with close slits on each side
Lime juice	1 big lemon + 1/2 a lime
Salt	to taste
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Coconut oil	4 tablespoons
Small onions	one hand chopped
Ginger and garlic paste	1 teaspoon
Tomatoes	3 chopped
Mint leaves	half hand
Coriander leaves	1 bunch
Green chillies	10 or more to taste
Thin Coconut milk	1/2 cup
Thick coconut milk	1 cup

Method

Marinate the cleaned fish with lime juice, turmeric powder and salt to taste for one hour.
Grind mint leaves, coriander leaves and green chillies to a smooth paste adding very little water.
Heat a wide pan with coconut oil, fry the small onions to translucent. Top with Ginger and garlic paste and fry to golden and crisp.
Add the chopped tomatoes and sauté until it gets mushy and oil floats on top. Top with the ground green masala with a pinch of turmeric powder, salt to taste and sauté until oil floats once again.
Pour the thin coconut milk extract and bring to boil. Gently drop the marinated fish and cook until 3/4 cooked on both sides with the thin coconut milk.
Add the thick coconut milk extract, once the thin coconut milk has evaporated. mix gently. Simmer the flame and squeeze half a lime juice. Mix, taste and adjust seasoning.
Simmer until all the flavours infuse and oil floats on top and gets to a thick gravy consistency.
serve hot as a side dish.

Millet Tabbouleh salad

Preparation time : 10 minutes

Cooking time : 15- 20 minutes

Serves : 4 members

Recipe source : Yashu

Description

The second anniversary celebration of sauté, fry n bake. A million doubts in my mind if I will be able to pull this of in style as its not with in my comfort zone (home) but in Coimbatore. Though its where I grew up, the long gap of being else where sure did give me shivers. From how will every one get along, to the spread on the table, to every bit I had imagined it to be like. For all the confusion and cribbing I had with in myself, I felt so much at ease with every one and the entire event. Among the lot present there was yashu who actually had to hit a like to our page as only members of the sauté, fry n bake could attend the anniversary celebrations. This healthy millet tabbouleh salad was brought by her which was the only salad on the table. Very light in taste but filling and healthy. As any thing made with millet’s is so in now a days, I saved the recipe for keeps. To my surprise, I get a call from my cousin noorie that very evening asking me if I have any left overs of this salad as she loved it. I made sure to pack her the entire lot that I had in hand. When on diet (that’s what I say but fail royally always) this salad is had as a meal very often and every time yashu pops up in my mind. I have been wanting to catch up with her but it just did not happen. I Hope at least this post does it for me.

Ingredients	Quantity
Millet	175 grams
Water	600 ml
Tomatoes	3 large
Cucumber	1 big
Spring onions	3 finely chopped
Lemon juice	1/2 a lime
Olive oil	2 tablespoons
Mint leaves	4 tablespoons
Coriander leaves	4 tablespoons
Parsley	4 tablespoons
Salt + pepper	to taste

Method

Cook millet with water covered in a sauce pan. Bring to boil, then simmer for fifteen minutes and cook. Drain if necessary. Cool the cooked millet completely.
Combine all the ingredients together and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Decorate and serve.