Posts by OCS | Saute Fry N Bake

Apple jelebi

Preparation time : 15 minutes + soaking of batter for 50 minutes
Cooking time : 10 minutes
Serves : 4 – 6 members

Description

As a kid Jelebi was one sweet that I used to wonder, how on earth do they knot this sweet up together. Each one has its own pattern which was something like magic to me. But my doubt was put to an end when there was a wedding in the family. We had people who make authentic sweets like laddo, jelebi and Mysore pak in large quantities at the back yard of my grand mothers place. The entire house used to be festive with the aroma of pure ghee being heated up for the sweets. The scent of the sweets did automatically drive me to the back yard and there I was amazed with the procedure of how these sweets were made. To much happening at the back yard as I was confused where and what to take note of. And then I saw a man with a cloth piping bag which he beautifully moved over hot boiling ghee. I didn’t know why or what was happening but loved every second of watching him do that. After some time there were some things popping out of the hot ghee and that is when I realised that all this is done to get the knot of the jelebes. The million dollar mystery was broken with the jelebi knot along with a free update of laddos as well. I remember my aunt’s chasing me away from there as the huge kadai of boiling ghee was not safe for me to be around. I would go then but my mind would always stay in the backyard resulting in me being there in a few minutes time. Me and my crazy breed nostalgic memories of food. Now coming to this dish, it was just a try done at home for an evening high tea spread which was a super hit. I was confused to name this dish. As I was like these look like doughnuts and how can I name them jelebi. Then I settled down with jelebi as fusion dishes are so in. I hope this dish is a fusion with out confusion ..

Ingredients	Quantity
Apples	2 peeled , cored in the centre and cut into rings of 1/4 inch thick and immerse in a bowl of water
Oil	to deep fry

Batter ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Flour	1 cup
Instant yeast	1/2 teaspoon
Sugar	1 teaspoon
Melted ghee	1 tablespoon
Baking powder	1/4 teaspoon
Warm water	as needed
Salt	to taste

Sugar syrup ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Sugar	1 cup
Water	3/4 cup
Saffron strands	1/2 teaspoon
Rose water	2 teaspoons
Milk	1 tablespoon

Ingredients to garnish

Pistachio silvers
Almond silvers
Rose petals

Method

Combine all ingredients mentioned for the batter together to get a thick flowing consistency batter with no lumps. Set aside for 50 minutes.
Boil sugar and water for five minutes until it gets to one thread consistency. Add milk, saffron and rose water. Mix and remove from heat. Set aside.
Heat oil to deep fry in a heavy bottomed pan. Dip Apple rings into the batter and drop into medium hot oil.
Deep fry to golden and crisp on both sides. Drain. Dip into sugar syrup and Remove. Garnish with nuts and rose petals.
Serve warm immediately.

Sesame crumbed chicken

Preparation time : 20 minutes + 2 hours for marination
Cooking time : 2-3 minutes for each bath deep fried
Serves : 4 members

Description

Summer holiday days at my grand parents place in palakkad where there were country chicken with its chicks roaming all around the house. They were almost every where we kids went. All my nostalgic summer vacation memories has the rooster crowing on the back drop. It was amazing to see how much care the chicken would take by keeping her little ones always beside her. Gods way of creating things and amazing us .
Now why am I writing about this.. I seriously have no idea ( dumb me ). Sorry peeps. This chicken dish was made by my mom to impress her son – in – law on one of our visits. Took note of the recipe and like the chicken Saving its chicks my mom did save me with sharing this recipe that made things easy for me to try, test and share. Crispy flat succulent spicy chicken with traces of sesame seeds over was ultimate killer combo. A must try and I assure you this will be added to your regular’s at home. Happy chickening ..

Ingredients	Quantity
Boneless chicken	1/4 kg cut into 1/4 inch thick square pieces
Tomato sauce	1 teaspoon
Red chilly sauce	1 teaspoon
Light soya sauce	1 teaspoon
Vinegar	1/4 teaspoon
Lemon juice	just a squeeze
Ginger and garlic paste	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Red chilly powder	1/2 teaspoon
Red food color	a pinch ( optional )
Ajinomoto	a pinch ( optional)
Cornflour	1 teaspoon
Egg	1 whole
White Sesame seeds	1 tablespoon
Bread crumbs	1 cup heaped
Oil	to deep fry

Method

Marinate chicken squares with tomato sauce, red chilly sauce, soya sauce, salt, red chilly powder, Ginger garlic paste, vinegar, lemon juice, red food color, ajinomoto, cornflour and egg for two hours or more.
Squeeze the chicken pieces out of the marination. Hammer each chicken piece with a meat hammer to flatten a bit making sure not to tear the chicken piece.
Sprinkle white sesame seeds over. Coat the chicken pieces over bread crumbs making sure it is coated very all around. Do the same to all the chicken pieces.
Heat oil to deep fry in a heavy bottomed deep wok. Drop six to eight pieces of chicken into medium hot oil. Deep fry to golden and crisp.
Drain and serve hot with dips of choice.

Thinai pongal

Preparation time : 15 minutes + soaking fox millet over night
Cooking time : 10-12 minutes
Serves : 3-4 members

Description

Pongal is a very Tamil thing as the word pong or pongu means boil over or spill over from which the word pongal derived. The word Pongal is used to represent the harvest festival or the dish made either as a sweet or savoury one. Oops.. This sounds like a text book paragraph. This dish was a try with the regular pongal recipe that I make at home but here I just substituted rice with fox millet. Having my doubts about the results of the out come kept my fingers crossed. I was surprised that I found no difference at all. It tasted exactly like the normal rice pongal. Now a healthy dish made the traditional way, that tastes nice. Isn’t that a banging bonus. I didn’t mention about the twist to any one as I wanted to know if any one would find the difference. No complaints with the vessel empty. I was happy that this recipe try didn’t end up like a dating service meaning as most of the recipes I try don’t end up like the picture I have in mind ..

Ingredients	Quantity
Fox millet / thinai arisi	1 cup
Moong dal	1/2 cup
Pepper corns	1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds	1 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Ghee	2 tablespoons
Cashew nuts	1 teaspoon
Curry leaves	few

Method

Wash and soak fox millet in water over night. Dry roast the moong dal to light golden and remove from heat.
Heat ghee, temper with black pepper corns, cumin seeds, curry leaves and cashew nuts. Once they crackle and get to a light golden colour, remove from heat.
In a pressure cooker mix soaked and drained fox millet, washed fried moong dal and four and a half cups of water together.
Pour the tempered ingredients and add salt to taste. Mix well and pressure cook for three whistles or until cooked to a mushy mass of goodness.
Serve hot with chutney and sambar.

Cannelloni Savoury Cake

Preparation time : 40 minutes
Cooking time : 1 hour
Serves : 8-10 members

Description

Comfort food is what I needed. As mentioned earlier to me Italian cuisine some how relate’s a lot to romance. So it’s going to be an Italian dish celebration said my mind. How can I say no to it. Now the next big thing in mind.. Simple and quick or elaborate and long dish. Well simple and easy always seems a cheat’s way to me so of course it’s got be elaborate and long dish to make. Next what do I sizzle up ?? Just went through my picture gallery for ideas and there it was an image of a cannelloni made in a different way. I started with great enthusiasm and went on and on with too many things to be done but once I started to assemble the dish.. The warmth of the dish was felt and the elaborate long process just melted away. Placed it in the oven to bake. I could not wait to see and taste the dish. The longest forty minutes of my life I can say. Removed it from the oven and had to wait for it to cool down a bit. The dish looked deep and cozy oozing out comfortableness as I wanted. Served it and hubby dear goes on to ask me what is this? My mind went blank as I didn’t think of a name for this dish. With the knife in my hand all ready to cut and serve, the first thing that came to my mind was a cake. So I just told its cannelloni savoury cake. Wow I just named my dish and cut her as well to celebrate it. Ate her too.. All I needed now was a big warm hug for the efforts put in to create her. That’s a pretty cool way to celebrate with warmth and coziness .. Right ??

Step 1 – cheese sauce

Ingredients for cheese sauce

Ingredients	Quantity
Milk	2 cups
Refined flour	2 tablespoons
1 tbsp butter	1 tablespoon
Salt	to taste
Cheese slice	4 slices
Chilli flakes	to taste
White pepper	to taste
Mixed dried herbs( oregano , thyme ,rosemary , dill , basil )	a pinch of each

Method for the white sauce

Heat and Melt butter, add refined flour, saute a little and add the milk very gradually, stirring vigorously all the time.
Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 1-2 minutes, add the salt, white pepper, chilly flakes dried herbs and cheese slice.
Mix well and boil till a thick gooey saucy consistency is obtained.
Add a little more milk if the sauce gets too thick.

Step 2 – Marinara Sauce

Ingredients for Marinara sauce

Ingredients	Quantity
Chopped onion	3/4 cup
Garlic minced	5 flakes
Olive oil	4 tablespoons
Whole peeled tomatoes	3/4 kg , ( blanch whole tomatoes in hot water and peel the skins ) , ( I blitzed the peeled tomatoes to a corse pulp )
Salt	to taste
Sugar	1 teaspoon
Bay leaf	1
Tomato paste / tomato sauce	1 tablespoon
Dried basil	3/4 teaspoon
Ground black pepper	1/2 teaspoon
Red chilli powder	1 teaspoon ( for the Indian pallet )

Method

Heat a large sauce pan over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent.
Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar and bay leaf. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer.
Stir in tomato paste, basil and 1/2 teaspoon pepper powder.
Cook until sauce is thick and gooey. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove from heat.

Step 3 – Chicken filling

Ingredients for Chicken filling

Ingredients	Quantity
Boneless chicken	1/4 kg
Garlic paste	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Onions	5 big chopped
Green chillies	4 chopped
Mixed vegetables	carrots , beans , cabbage , green peas chopped and boiled in water with salt
Dried basil + oregano	1/4 teaspoon
Pepper powder	to taste
Oil	2 tablespoons

Method for chicken filling

Pressure cook cleaned chicken, salt and garlic paste for one whistle. Bring to boil and Reduce the water. Cool completely and shred the chicken to treads ( I run it in the food processor for a second ).
Heat oil in a non stick pan. Add onions and fry to translucent. Add green chilies, boiled chopped mixed vegetables, shredded chicken, dry basil and oregano, salt and pepper to taste.
Mix well and lower the flame and keep stirring for 3 minutes letting all the flavours infuse together. Remove from heat, cool and set aside.

Step 4 – Cannelloni

Ingredients for Cannelloni

Ingredients	Quantity
Cannelloni shells	1 packet store bought

Method

Cook the cannelloni shells according to packet instructions and keep aside.

Step 5 – how to proceed

Other ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Egg	1 whole
Salt + pepper + red chili flakes	to taste
Coriander leaves	few chopped
Grated cheese	1/4 cup

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Grease a spring form generously with butter.
Beat egg with pepper, salt, chilly flakes, chopped coriander leaves and 2 teaspoon of grated cheese.
Fill each cooked cannelloni shell with the chicken filling.
Spread two ladles of white cheese sauce over the greased spring form tin. Top it with two ladles of marinara sauce and spread evenly.
Pour the egg mix and spread evenly.
Stack the filled cannelloni shells in a horizontal manner tightly.
Top with two ladles or more of marinara and spread evenly. Pour two ladles or more of white cheese sauce and spread evenly.
Sprinkle with the remaining cheese on top.
Bake in the preheated oven for forty minutes. Remove and bring cool for five minutes. Cut and Serve hot.

Prawn Crackers

Preparation time : 30 minutes + marination time 2 hours
Cooking time : 2 minutes for each batch deep fried
Serves : 3 members

Description

Age no bar for being pampered with food cooked by your mother. I may be busy with food day in and day out but when you get a chance to relish on home made food made your mother, it’s the ultimate. Like wise this prawn fry was served to me on one visit to my parents place. My mom seldom cooks and is not much into cooking, but when she does.. She sure cracks it up. I had to forcefully move the platter of these prawns away from me as it lined my stomach non stop. My dad is a man with simple needs and every thing to him that we need seems to be a waste for sure. When mom brought these prawns from the market , dad was like why so much. I am sure there will be left overs. My mom was signalling all of us in the table to finish it off, when dad took note of it. He started off immediately with his nagging and we all burst out aloud laughing. This is a regular thing that happens at home. I just love the way my dad helps mom to pack all the left overs and makes sure to place it in the refrigerator too. Touch wood, they are true love birds. Coming to the prawns, they had a crisp exterior and a soft, moist inside. Dad was wrong as there were just two pieces of prawns in the plate which I could have easily finished off but just put it away to lessen the calorie in take damage that has already been done. A sure try as even kids will love these prawns. I made sure to take note of the recipe from mom immediately as she is a person who cooks with a little of this and that… The second time you ask her for the same its made in a different way. So let’s all crack up with these prawns as my mom did in her first try .

Ingredients	Quantity
Cleaned Prawns with tail	1/2 kg ( you have to buy 1 kg prawn so when cleaned it gets to 1/2 kg )
Flour / maida	1 teaspoon
White pepper powder	1 teaspoon
Black pepper powder	1 /2 teaspoon
Ginger and garlic paste	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Red chilly powder	1/4 teaspoon
Vinegar	1/8 teaspoon
Lemon juice	a squeeze
Ajinomoto	a pinch ( optional)
Egg	1
Bread crumbs	1 cup heaped
Oil	to deep fry

Method

Marinate cleaned prawns with flour, white + black pepper powder’s, ginger and garlic paste, red chilly powder, vinega, lemon juice, salt, egg and ajinomoto for two hours or more.
Coat the marinated prawns over bread crumbs making sure it’s coated well all around. Do the same to all the prawns.
Heat oil to deep fry in a heavy bottomed wok . Drop prawns in batches of four to six at a time and deep fry in medium heat for two minutes to crisp and golden.
Drain and serve hot with dips of your choice .

Kuthiraivali paniyaram

Preparation time : 10 minutes + 3 hours soaking time
Cooking time : 2 minutes for each batch
Serves : 4-6 members

Description

Cooking with millet’s is so in now a days. Like fashion being a circle and takes its turn over and over again. Food also follows the same as all these recipes with millet’s are age old recipes that our ancestors made in daily basis. It’s just that it became a forgotten story in between and now it’s started to pop up in the hit list of recipes. I am trying my best to serve healthy Indian food for breakfast at home with trial and error as always. This was a sure hit and I just loved the way the paniyaram’s puffed up. As alway’s I clicked pictures and sent it over to friends saying today’s breakfast trial. One good friend suggested saying try taking pictures with chattinad vessels. The light bulb moment sparked in me, as I remembered my mom giving me a lot of mangu vessels ( no idea what it’s known as in English ) when I was married of, that are kept safely in the loaf at home. My mom’s best friend Alamu Akka is from karaikudi. I remember my mom being blown away with her friends eldest daughters wedding in karaikudi as they have a custom of exhibiting all that they give the bride from the smallest to biggest thing possible. My Crazy breed mom did the same for my wedding too where I felt embarrassed a lot as this was so new to us and I personally felt it was way too much showing off. Well that’s my personal opinion, no offence to any one. She in fact had an old man come home for nearly four months every day to write my name in each vessel itched by hand using an iron nail sort of thing. Even in these picture’s my name is visible in the chutney containers. But thank god she did give me these vessels as they are put to use in the right way for me to show case the food I make.. Oops again back to square one of showing off in a different way …. I guess every thing is like fashion it runs in a circular motion.

Ingredients	Quantity
Barnyard millet / kuthiraivali arisi	1 cup
Raw rice / pacha arisi	1/4 cup
Urad dal	1/4 cup
Fenugreek seeds	1/8 teaspoon
Onion	1 big chopped
Curry leaves	few chopped
Coriander leaves	few chopped
Green chillies	1 chopped
Grated ginger	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Soda - bi - carbonate	1/8 teaspoon
Oil	1/8 teaspoon for each paniyaram

Method

Soak barnyard millet, raw rice, urad dal and fenugreek seeds in water for three hours.
Drain and grind to a smooth paste adding very little water.
Add salt, onion, green chillies, coriander leaves, curry leaves, grated ginger, soda – bi – carbonate to the batter and mix well.The batter must be of dosa batter consistency.
Heat an appe pan / kuli paniyaram pan with 1/2 teaspoons oil in each dent. Pour a small ladle of mixed batter into each dent.
Cook until you see bubbles on the top and the bottom gets a bit crisp.
Turn over the paniyaram ‘s and cook further for a minute or so until cooked through in medium heat . Remove from heat and serve hot with chutney of choice.

Notes

Serve these paniyaram’s immediately as they tend to get hard once cold.

Red velvet cup cakes

Preparation time : 30 minutes
Cooking time : 20 to 25 minutes
Serves : 6-8 members

Description

Day’s of drooling over exotic looking cakes, pastries and baked goodies in foreign magazine’s are put to shame with much talent seen here in India by our home ministers who are so called as home bakers. I am awe struck with so much talent that all these home bakers posses through out India. The hard work and dedication they must have to put up with one cake, my god.. We must find new words to describe what they go through. I really got to know in and out about this only through my daughter’s home baking experience. Tough job to be done with a hell lot of patience. I made up my mind that baking and decorating cakes is not meant for me as I am so used to cooking with my instincts with a little of this and that. Start to cook a dish and finish it must be done with in some time. Here for a cake to be done it takes days. Uff, this is not my cup of tea. But still at times for a change to challenge my comfort zone I do bake and this cup cake as well was done on one such day. I have already baked a red velvet cake for Father’s Day when I had my dad visit me. So many followed the same recipe and made these cup cakes. Pitch perfect, soft, moist with the correct rise and colour. At days like this I feel I struck gold. This post is purely dedicated to all the home bakers of India that has brought in a revolution of confidence in women to earn an identity of their own with so much confidence and grace. Hip hip hurray to you all.

Cake flour ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
All purpose flour / maida	1 cup
Corn flour	2 tablespoons

Cake flour Method

Remove 2 tablespoons of flour from 1 cup flour and replace it with 2 tablespoons of corn flour.
Sift together three times and use as demanded in the recipe.
For this recipe I used 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour /maida.
Removed 5 tablespoons of flour and replaced it with corn flour.
Always measure after shifting both the flours together.

Ingredients for the cake

Ingredients	Quantity
Cake flour(not self-rising)	2 1/2 cups
Salt	1 teaspoon
Cocoa powder	1/4 cup
Sugar	1 1/2 cups
Canola oil	1 1/2 cups ( I used sunflower oil instead )
large whole eggs	2 at room temperature
Red food colouring	1/4 cup
Pure vanilla extract	1 teaspoon
Buttermilk	1 cup
soda - bi - carbonate	1 1/2 teaspoons
White vinegar	2 teaspoons

Method for the cup cake

Pre heat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
In a medium bowl, whisk cake flour, salt, and cocoa. set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and oil, and beat on medium speed until well combined.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add food colouring and vanilla, beat until well combined.
Add flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
In a small bowl, mix soda – bi – carbonate and vinegar until combined. Add to batter, and beat for 10 seconds.
Evenly divide batter between the lined cup cake liners.
Bake until a cake tester inserted in the Centre of each cup cake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool in the pans for 5 minutes. Remove from the pans, and return to the rack to cool completely.
Allow cakes to cool completely before icing.

Cream cheese icing ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Cream cheese, softened	450 grams
Unsalted butter, softened	120 grams
Vanilla extract	1 teaspoon
Icing sugar, sifted	2 1/2 cups
Salt	a pinch

Icing method

With an electric mixer, blend together cream cheese and butter until smooth.
Reduce speed to low, and blend in icing sugar, salt and vanilla extract.
Increase speed to high, and beat until light and fluffy.

How to proceed

Fill cream cheese frosting into pipping bags fitted with nozzle of choice.
Pipe over each cup cake and serve.

Notes

Make sure you use cake flour not self raising flour for the cup cake.
Make sure all the ingredients for the cup cake are at room temperature.
Place the cream cheese icing in the fridge until needed to be used as the icing tends to loose its firmness in hot weather.
Store the cup cake’s at room temperature in an air tight box and it stays fresh for 2-3 days.
The brand name of the red food colour that i have used is rayner’s red concentrated food colouring.
Be careful with the red food colouring as it stains the cloths you wear as well as your kitchen counter.

Salami Wraps

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 6 minutes
Serves : 4 – 6 members

Description

Appetizers or canapés always bring in a surprise element when served to Guests as its decorative food, eaten in one bite with hands. I always look out for ideas to impress loved ones through food and canapés are my favorite cheats way to win hearts. This idea, I did steal from the cover of the salami packet that I had in my freezer. ( shameless me ) Wanting to finish off the salami which I usually use for sandwiches, this idea seemed to be easy and impressive. Made good use of it when I had my friend drop in home for dinner. We had so much fun eating these making sure not to drop a bit of these and make a mess. The taste was sublime with simple ingredients put together to create a visual treat. This was the most impressive dish on the table which took me just a few minutes to assemble. Food has its own way to bring in a new twist each day. Which is why I am madly, deeply in love with it. So peeps fall in love over and over again as the entire world revolves around being loved the most.

Ingredients	Quantity
Frozen Salami	1 packet
Vegetable strips	2 cups ( carrots, beans , three colour capsicum's )
Mayonnaise	3 tablespoons
Tomato ketchup	3 tablespoons
Salt	to taste
Pepper	to taste
Tooth prick	few

Method

Boil carrot strips and beans with salt to taste and water to cook with a slight bite to it. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Thaw the salami that has been in the freezer. Microwave it for one minute. Remove and cool completely.
Place a dot of tomato ketchup in the center of the salami. Top it with a dot of mayonnaise. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
Place vegetable strips one each in the center ( I used green capsicum alone as only that was available in my pantry ).
Bring the edges of the salami together towards the center making sure the vegetable strips are intact .
Prick with a tooth prick together and serve.

Vegetable Payasam

Preparation time : 25 minutes
Cooking time : 25 to 30 minutes
Serves : 8-10 members

Recipe source : http://puliyogaretravels.com

Description

Hubby dear comes home winning his tennis tournament finals, tired, hyper and happy. All I can do is to treat him through his belly. So made his favourite biriyani for lunch. What do I do for dessert was the next big question in my mind? I remembered, fellow foodie Rakesh asking me to try out a vegetable payasam recipe. I grabbed the opportunity and made the payasam which is mount batten mani iyer’s recipe. I had my doubts if it would taste nice and mainly if hubby dear would like it. Made it religiously as the recipe demanded but I did add a pinch of salt and an extra teaspoon of ghee to garnish as my twist. I served the payasam after the heavy meal and was waiting for hubby dears verdict. It was just silence with constantly relishing the payasam. I kept asking him, how is the payasam? Don’t you find anything new? He was like.. ” it’s milk payasam made in a good way with loads of nuts.” I just shook myself and realised that he would not guess the secret ingredient for sure and told him the payasam is made of vegetables. His eye brows raised as he was having his last spoon full of the payasam. That’s when I realised that he loved the payasam as any dessert served after a heavy meal is demanded to be given in half the amount served but this time, he just emptied the entire lot served. Happy me with a new innovative recipe learnt to share with you all and to satisfy my loved ones at home through food and its memories as always.

Ingredients	Quantity
Finely chopped carrots	1/2 cup
Finely chopped potato	1/2 cup
Finely chopped cauliflower	1/2 cup
Finely chopped beans	1/2 cup
Milk	2 litters
Almond paste	1/2 cup
Water	1 cup
Sugar	1/2 to 1 cup (or to taste)
Roasted mixed nuts	1/2 cup
Saffron	1 pinch
Cardamom powder	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	a pinch
Ghee	1 + 1 teaspoon

Method

Heat 500 milli litters of milk and let it boil in low flame until reduced to half.
In another heavy bottomed pan, add equal parts of water and milk and bring to boil. ( 2 cups water + 2 cups milk )
Add chopped carrot to the boiling mixture first as it takes a longer time to cook.
After a few minutes add chopped potatoes and boil. Now to check if they’ve cooked, take some on the spatula and press vegetables. (This should not be mushy)
At this stage, add the beans and let it boil and later the cauliflower.
Add the reduced milk remaining 1.5 ltrs of milk to the cooked vegetables and let it boil. To this add crushed saffron and continue to boil.
Make sure you incorporate the cream sticking on the sides of the pan while boiling the milk.
Add the almond puree and stir continuously. (if you do not stir, almond puree can settle at the bottom of the pan and get burnt)
Add the cardamom powder, a pinch of salt and sugar (to your liking) and stir well. Taste and adjust sugar. Remove from heat.
Heat 1 teaspoon ghee and roast the nuts lightly in low flame. Add to the vegetable payasam along with another teaspoon of ghee.
This tastes best when served hot as you can still get the crunch of the vegetables and the roasted mixed nuts.

Note

The method of adding equal parts of water and milk to boil the vegetables is to ensure the milk does not get burnt and stick to the bottom.
Also, adding a small silver coin to the milk while boiling it will prevent the milk from overflowing.

Watermelon Rasam

Preparation time : 30 minutes
Cooking time : 25 minutes
Serves : 6-8 members

Recipe source : http://puliyogaretravels.com

Description

As usual, my messenger inbox had a message randomly from some one asking me about the food culture and foodie joints at my home town. As I always answer to foodie querries I did do justice by letting the concerned person know about the little I knew. Then I get an invitation asking if I can cook and show a recipe for their television show. The invitation sure did excite me but luck didn’t favour me as I was busy leaving my home town for a long family holiday abroad. Made sure I could help the crew and concerned person as much as I could with contacts and other details they wanted. Yet again another invitation in a few months time from the previous offer. I didn’t want to miss this opportunity this time . Grabbed it with full enthusiasm and got to meet that random messaged fellow ( well at that point of time he was addressed so in my mind ) in person. We did three shoots together and I got to know the random messaged person better. Well it’s none other than Rakesh Raghunathan, the host of sutralam suvaikalam television show in news 7 Tamil channel who has a blog in the name of http://puliyogaretravels.com/ where he shares his foodie travel experience and recipes too. Him being a true blue foodie as myself, we share a lot of similarities in wanting to explore and know all about food, culture, history and its existence. I was so inspired about his posts of the margazhi month canteens in the sabas of chennai. I made sure to visit the Saba canteen with him and got to relish authentic Brahmin sweets with good filter coffee. The canteen that we went was mount batten mani Iyer’s canteen. The following week in the television, Rakesh had showed mount batten mani Iyer himself cook and show two recipes. Both the recipes were out of the box category recipes that I had added them to my next try list. My next try list was put aside with a wedding in the family and was fading away slowly. I get a request from Rakesh asking me if I can try out a recipe for him?? Cooking and me… I can’t say no to that. So accepted it and to my surprise it was my next try listed watermelon rasam recipe that mount batten mani Iyer had made. Started making it along with my regular cooking at home and the rasam was done only after I finished my entire every day home cooking. My cook, requested me never to make this elaborated rasam recipe again. But the results were mind blowing with the right amount of heat, tang and sweetness all in one. Well, as the saying goes no pain no gain, this recipe sure proves it right.

Ingredients	Quantity
Tamarind juice	1 cup (from a tiny ball of tamarind)
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Red chilly powder	1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste (preferably rock salt)
Jaggery	1/2 teaspoon
Watermelon juice	3 cups (strained without seeds)
Rasam powder 1	coarse powder of whole pepper & Cumin seeds (2:1 ratio)
Ghee	2 tbsp
Cooked toor dhal	1 cup (this should be extremely watery and should have no trace of dhal)
Coriander leaves	chopped few
Rasam powder 2	teaspoons for garnish (recipe below)

Note on rasam powders 1 & 2

There are 2 powders that need to be used to make this rasam. Rasam powder 1 should be added while making the rasam and Rasam garnish powder to be added after the rasam is made.

Ingredients to make rasam powder 2

(this powder to be made preferably before making the rasam for freshness and added flavour)

Ingredients	Quantity
Ghee	1 teaspoon
Asafoetida	1/4 teaspoon
Toor Dhal	1 and a 1/2 tablespoons
Channa Dhal	1 and a 1/2 tablespoons
Pepper	1 and a 1/2 tablespoons
Coriander seeds	3 tablespoons
Whole dry red chilly	10 (can increase if you want more spice)
Cumin seeds	1 teaspoon
Curry leaves	few

Rasam powder 2 (recipe)

Heat ghee in a wok, add toor dhal, channa dhal and fry till golden brown and add pepper corns.
Once they pepper corn splutters, add coriander seeds and fry to golden brown .
Add dry red chillies and fry till the red chillies inflate and are fried.
Add curry leaves and once you hear them crackle add some cumin seeds and immediately turn off the flame.
Cool this mixture completely and grind to a coarse powder.

Method for the rasam

Pour tamarind juice into a wok and add turmeric powde, red chilly powder, asafoetida, salt, curry leaves and jaggery and bring to a boil.
Add a little water to the boiling mixture if you think it is a little too thick. Let it boil till the raw smell of the tamarind fades and top with chopped coriander leaves.
Now add the rasam powder 1 .Allow to boil and add the watermelon juice.
Add some pepper powder and let it boil. The colour is a lovely deep red colour.
Add the cooked dhal water and let it boil just a little bit.
Add the rasam powder 2 that is used to garnish and immediately turn off the flame.
Heat ghee in a separate wok, temper mustard seeds, cumin seeds and pour over rasam.
Add a squeeze of half a lemon. Mix well. Check seasoning and enjoy the rasam with hot boiled rice.

Note : The tempering and squeezing of lemon is done after turning off the stove always.