Marshmallow tart

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Preparation Time : 40 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 minutes + setting time 3 hours or more

Serving  : 8 members

Description 

This tart is my take on nigella law sons grass hopper tart with  easily available ingredients in our market , re imaged as new , exciting version of itself . She made the grass hopper tart with pepper mint flavor in a light green color . I have used vanilla essence and added very little red food color to get a pale pink shade . This tart will elite a chorus of oohs and aahs for sure. The first marshmallow i tasted was shared with me by my class mate Christine Coulten (a Sri Lankan ) from Dubai . A chewy sweet that i didn’t fancy much but i was surprised to see the amount of shades and  varieties of Marshmallows in my trip to Europe . It just blew my head out. I got crazy and grabbed how much ever i could for my kids back home ( taking a risk not knowing if they will like it ) they went head over heels with the European marshmallows (thank god, i was saved or else my hubby..)  which followed with another problem of them wanting more and more . Finally once on my trip to Kodaikanal found good quality marshmallows and from then on every visit to Kodaikanal marshmallows are on my must buy list along with home made chocolates, vegetables and passion fruits . This tart is also made with marshmallows sourced from Kodaikanal . Enjoy this pleasure packed tart folks. Oops have to mention how much my daughter troubled  me while  taking these pictures, making monkey faces and coming into the picture frame . Kids are kids how much ever they grow older .

Ingredients for the base

Ingredients
Quantity
chocolate creme cookies (I used bourbon chocolate biscuits can use orio biscuits also ) 25 to 20
chocolate chopped1/4 cup
soft unsalted butter
3 tablespoons

Ingredients for the Filling

Ingredients
Quantity
marshmallows3 cups + few bits to decorate
milk1/2 cup
Vanilla essence 1/4 teaspoon
heavy cream( i used amul cream ) 1 1/2 cups
food colouring few drops (optional, I used red colour and got a pale pink colour )

Method

  1. Blitz the cookies and chocolate in a food processor until they form a crumb mixture. Add the butter and process until the mixture starts to clump together.
  2. Press the mixture into a high-sided fluted tart pan, making a smooth base and sides with your hands or the back of a spoon. Put it into the refrigerator to chill and harden for half an hour .
  3. Melt the marshmallows in a saucepan over low gentle heat along with the milk. Once the milk starts to foam (not boil), take off the heat and keep stirring until the marshmallows blend into the milk to make a smooth mixture.
  4. Pour the mixture out of the saucepan into a heatproof bowl. Leave until cool.
  5. In a medium bowl, whisk the cream until it starts to hold soft peaks then, still whisking, add the cooled marshmallow mixture. This filling should be thick but still soft, not stiff or dry, so that it will eventually drop easily out of the bowl into the chilled pie crust.
  6. When the marshmallow mixture and cream are combined, whisk in a few drops of food coloring, if desired.
  7. Spread the filling into the chilled base, swirling it about with a spatula to fill evenly. Put the pie in the refrigerator, covered, to chill overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours until firm. Decorate before serving with marshmallow bits . cut into wedges and serve.

The pie can be made 1 to 2 days ahead. When chilled and firm, tent with aluminum foil (try not to touch surface with foil as it will leave marks) and store in the refrigerator.  The pie will keep 3 to 4 days in total.


Layered tender coconut and pomegranate wave

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Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Cooking Time : 25 minutes

Serving : 6 members

Description 

A budget day at home and had guests to entertain as well . I had to cater to a menu with available ingredients at home . Some how managed the starters and main course but was stuck with dessert as I didn’t know what to do . Checked out what was there in the pantry at home apt for a dessert . Had two tender coconuts , one pomegranate , coconut and sugar . Ok some thing that I had to come up with these few ingredients in hand . For dessert I have to have a setting agent and was lucky to find agar agar in hand . Now I was confident enough that I could pull of a decent dessert . Wanted to set the dessert in an alternative pattern to create a visual treat . Suddenly the bulb moment happened with in me and I thought why not set the the pudding by tilting the glasses so that I get a wave effect . Gave it a try and to my surprise , the coconut milk used along with the tender coconut gave me two layers instead of one which up lifted the look and taste of the dessert . I guess the tilting technique of setting the dessert got me connected to the leaning tower of Pisa where a blunder became a wonder :-)) . The flavours of the tender coconut , coconut milk and pomegranate married each other so well transforming into a never like before harmony combination of goodness and taste . The most talked about dish that day on the table . I realised that the fun part of hosting is trying some thing different to impress .

Ingredients 

Ingredients
Quantity
Tender coconut water2 tender coconuts
Sugarto taste
Agar agar ( china grass )10 grams + 10 grams
Thick coconut milk1 cup
Pomegranate juice3 pomegranates
Red food colorfew drops

Method 

  1. Soak 10 grams of agar agar in 1/2 cup water + tender coconut water for ten minutes .
  2. Heat agar agar soaked in water with tender coconut water .Once the agar agar has dissolved add sugar to taste and mix well .
  3. Remove from flame and add thick coconut milk .Mix well .
  4. Pour into tall glass and tilt the glasses and set in the freezer for 40 minutes or more to set .
  5. ( I placed it in a large bowl of ice cubes with the glasses tilted and kept in the freezer to set quicker ) soak the remaining 10 grams of agar agar in a cup of water for 10 minutes .
  6. Heat soaked agar agar in water until dissolved .Add sugar to taste and mix well .
  7. Remove from flame add pomogranite juice ( I added a few drops of red colour as I had only one pomogranite in hand as the colour was pale ) pour over the set tender coconut layer and replace in the freezer with the glasses straight for another one hour or more to set .
  8. Replace in the refrigerator and serve chill any time when desired .

Waffles

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Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Serving : 4 to 6 members

Description

A waffle is a batter-based or dough-based cake cooked in a waffle iron patterned to get a characteristic size,shape and surface impression. There are many variations based on the type of iron and recipe used, with over a dozen regional varities throughout the world, particularly in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Scandinavia and the United states. This recipe is a basic recipe of the waffles served with honey. My sandwhich toaster at home was out of order, so had to get one instead. Went on a holiday to Bangalore and while shopping the sandwhich Toaster was there in my mind. I was spoilt of choices and confused. Finally stuck my mind to the morphy Richards one as it came with detachable waffles mould (been wanting to get one for a very long time), sandwhich toaster and a grill. Was super excited and grabbed it.Wanting to make waffles with my new morphy Richards but not knowing the recipe was the next problem. My daughter ANISHA helped me get an easy recipe from the net as i was so dum then with anything related to the internet (even now can call myself dum as all these electronic gadgets confuse me a lot)tried out waffles and wolla worked pitch perfect. Now waffles are a regular at my breakfast table.

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
all-purpose flour2 cups
salt1 teaspoon
baking powder4 teaspoons
white sugar2 tablespoons
eggs2
warm milk1 1/2 cups
butter, melted1/3 cup
vanilla extract1 teaspoon

Method

  1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar; set aside. Preheat waffle iron to desired temperature.
  2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the milk, butter and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture; beat until blended.
  3. Ladle the batter into a preheated waffle iron. Cook the waffles until golden and crisp. Serve immediately with a drizzle of honey .
  4. Can be served with chocolate sauce , Nutella spread , strawberry syrup , sliced bananas , strawberries , mango sauce or ice cream .

Colourful jelly surprise

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jelly

Preparation Time : 35 minutes + setting time

Cooking Time : 20 minutes

Serving : 6 to 8 members

Description

Colorful jelly surprise. A recipe i came across in a food blog. Liked it so much as it looked so colorful and the recipe seemed easy to follow. A treat to the eyes, hands to the mouth, mouth to the tummy, it’s yummy , yummy , yummy . children to adults and every one will love this colourful vibrant dessert . Jelly was one dessert my mom used to make once in a blue moon for me and my brother when we were kids. She used to chop up mixed fruits and mix it with red colored jelly. Mom was a working woman as she used to help dad in his business. So very rarely was she at home or in the kitchen. I used to love it when mom was home and mainly in the kitchen. I guess this was one reason for me wanting to become a house wife. (sounds weird, i know but that’s the fact)in school all my friends and class mates used to talk about becoming doctors, architect’s , so on and so forth. But my mind was stuck to becoming a house-wife . I am happy being one with all the liberty and time spent at my expense of doing things i like most.(cooking, taking care of my family, shopping emptying my hubby’s pockets…)the cereer of motherhood and home making is beyond value and needs.No justification, it’s importance is in-calculated.

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
jelly - Raspberry flavour + 1 tablespoon gelatine1 packet
Jelly - Orange flavour + 1 tablespoon gelatine1 packet
jelly - ( blue color) mint flavour + 1 tablespoon gelatine1 packet
jelly - Strawberry flavour+ 1 tablespoon gelatine1 packet
Jelly - Lime Flavour + 1 tablespoon gelatine1 packet
China grass ( agar agar )10 grams soaked in 1 cup water
Hot milk1/2 litre
Sweetened Condensed Milk1 can

Method

  1. Set each jelly according to instructions in the packets , but make sure to reduce the amount of liquid (water) in each by 1/4 cups and add the mentioned gelatine along . ( this helps the jelly set faster and harder so it will hold the shape later on)
  2. Stir for at least 2 minutes , until completely dissolved. Pour each jelly into separate small shallow food storage containers .
  3. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.( my red , orange and yellow coloured jelly ‘s crumbled on my first try and I could not use them )
  4. Heat 1/2 litter of milk . once it starts to boil add the soaked China grass and boil till the china grass had dissolved well .
  5. Add condensed milk; mix well. Strain and Cool slightly. Cut the set jelly into cubes.
  6. Mix all the colours and place in a pudding dish( which should either be greased with oil or lined with cling film), but take care not to let them crumble.
  7. Pour milk mixture over cubes. If necessary, stir very gently to distribute gelatin cubes. Refrigerate till firm and set. ( about 2-3 hours)
  8. Cut into small squares or bars and serve cold.

Nutella apple cream cheese crapes

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Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Serving : 4 to 6 members

Description

Nutella apple cream cheese crapes. A recipe i came up suddently with all the available ingredients at home for brakfast. I was confident about the results as every ingredient used is sure a fire cracker combination with basic crapes, apples and a chocolaty cheesy mixture. One weird thing about this recipe is there is no water required. Water reminds me of one incident that stuck to my mind as a kid. There was a house called kannadi maligai near our house in saibaba colony at coimbatore. A huge bungalow with a lot of glass (guess that’s why it was called kannadi maligai which means glass bungalow in Tamil)they had a big mud pot of water with a tumbler, kept out of their house near the gate. Once on a hot summer day, i was crossing that house by walk and saw so many people drink water from that mud pot. Then and there i made up my mind that i should also do the same inshaallah when i own a house to cool off people from their thirst with warmth and a sense of well being. Now i have a mud pot of water in front of my house. Whenever i see people drink water from it, my heart is filled with soothing effect. My house is addressed as the house with a mud pot of water by every one now and the best part is in case the water in the mud pot is over , people ring the gate bell and ask us to fill the mud pot with water. A little humble thing done with generosity makes a big difference to others.

Ingredients for the crapes

Ingredients
Quantity
Maida75 grams
Eggs2 lightly beaten
Milk150 ml
Salta pinch
Vanilla essence1 teaspoon

Ingredients for the filling

Ingredients
Quantity
Apples4 cored , peeled and chopped
Sugar 50 grams
Nutella200 grams
Cream cheese or mascarpone cheese200 grams
Icing sugarto dust

Method

  1. Mix all the ingredients together for the crapes , making sure no lumps are formed . set aside for 10 minutes .
  2. Cook the chopped apples with sugar till cooked through and the moister dries out . set aside to cool . Heat a non – stick kadai ( appam kadai ) and pour 1/2 cup of batter and rotate the pan to get an evenly thin crape .
  3. Close and cook for a minute . Remove and set aside . Do the same till all the batter is over .
  4. Mix cream cheese or mascarpone cheese and Nutella together . Apply a tablespoon of Nutella cheese mix all over one side of the crape .
  5. Scatter 1 tablespoon full of the cooked apples over and fold into triangles .
  6. Do the same with the remaining crapes , Nutella cheese mix and cooked apples . Finally dust icing sugar over and serve warm or chill .

Microwave sticky dates pudding with brown sugar sauce

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Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 – 23 minutes

Serving : 6 – 8 members

Description

Sticky dates pudding with brown sugar syrup made in a microwave. The beauty of this recipe is that it comes together very quickly and you get it right the very first time you make it. Even the most amazing recipe won’t work if you can’t make time for it in your busy life. this recipe is a fast,clever,easy,save time, sure fire solution for your time problemYou can eat this hot or cold at any time of the day. Usually ravuthar cooking does not include dates in their food for sweet or savoury. It’s used only during the month of Ramadan to break our fast.The first dish i learnt to make with dates was the sweet chatney for the chat items, followed by dates pickle, dates laddo, dates sweet made as a side dish for biriyani (my co-sister recipe) and now sticky dates pudding. My liking towards dates is not be told as i don’t fancy it much.Once Ramadan is over my refrigerator is over loaded with dates and i mostly end up making pickle.This quick pudding ensures the last course with a burst of flavours done exceptionally well. A must try recipe.

Ingredients for dates pudding

Ingredients
Quantity
Dates
185 grams pitted and chopped
Soda -bi- carbonate1 teaspoon
Sugar185 grams
Eggs2 beaten lightly
Water300 ml
Butter melted70 grams
Vanilla essence1/4 teaspoon
Flour185 grams
Mascarpone cheesea dollop ( optional ) ,
Ice cream to serve along ( optional )

Method for dates pudding

  1. Mix pitted , chopped dates with water in a micro wave safe bowl . Microwave on high and cook for 6 minutes .
  2. Mash the dates with a spoon and stir in the soda – bi – carbonate . Set aside to cool slightly . Stir in butter , sugar and vanilla essence . Mix well .
  3. Add eggs gradually , beating well after each addition . Fold in flour and stir well until well combined . ( best to use a metal spoon ) . Do not over beat .
  4. Pour the mixture into a greased microwave bowl or muffin tray . Microwave on medium heat for 6 minutes . Leave to stand for 3-4 minutes .
  5. Then serve warm with hot sauce poured over with some mascarpone cheese or ice cream . ( I served as it is with the sauce alone , just wanting to cut out the extra calories )

Ingredients for the brown sugar sauce

Ingredients
Quantity
Brown sugar300 grams ( I used 1 1/2 cup jaggery instead and tasted awesome )
Cream1 cup
Butter60 grams
Vanilla essence 1 teaspoon

Method for brown sugar sauce

  1. Combine all the ingredients together in a microwave safe bowl .
  2. Cook on high for 5 minutes 30 seconds stirring well after every minute .
  3. Remove and the sauce is ready .

 


Moong dal halwa

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mdh

Preparation Time : 1 hour + 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 – 20 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Moong dal halwa . A recipe i tried out recently, which was liked by my hubby a lot. The only difficult part of this recipe is the continuous stirring (but it helps to burn calories and give you a slim long arm). It took me some time initially to differentiate the various dals from one another. My mother in law had different coloured boxes for the various dals, that helped me identity each one. when my daughter ANISHA started cooking. She kept complaining that her sambar was not like how i make it at home. In her sambar the dal were always seperate. I asked her to pressure cook the dal for another 2 more whistles and mash the dal before adding it to the sambar. She did so and called and informed me saying that didn’t help. I really didn’t know what was wrong. My Daughter shares her food at times with her neighbour sasi, like wise she sent over her sambar. Her neighbour called bake and asked her why have you used Bengal gram dal for sambar ? So that’s why her sambar was always not getting together. Well we make mistakes and learn from it isn’t it.

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Moong dal1 cup soaked in water for one hour and ground to a smooth paste
Milk5 tablespoons
Ghee1/2 cup
Saffrona pinch
Sugar2 cups
Water1 cup
Cardamom powder1 teaspoon
Almonds , cashew nuts and pistachios 1 teaspoon each chopped . ( I used almonds alone as I was out of stock with the other nuts )

Method

  1. Soak saffron in milk . Heat ghee in a non – stick kadai . Add moong dal paste and cook on medium heat , stirring through out continuously .
  2. Dissolve sugar in hot water and boil for 5 minutes in another vessel . Add sugar syrup little by little to the moong dal paste and mix well , stirring continuously , making sure no lumps are formed .
  3. Top with cardamom powder , soaked saffron and 3/4 of chopped nuts . Mix well .
  4. Garnish with remaining nuts and serve hot or at room temperature .

Mango mousse beauty

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mmb1mmb

Preparation Time : 35 minutes

Cooking Time : 10 minutes

Serving : 8 members

Description

I Wanted to make a mango tiramisu or a mango enter-met but my laziness didn’t permit me to do so . Just mixed some cream with mango pulp , sugar and gelatine . Set it half way and arranged these mango slices on top by dipping into sugar syrup which helped to bring out the beauty of the mangoes with extra wickedness . My laziness did help me come up with an innovative new pudding and be warned as this absolute winner is addictive . This was made for my friend dr. Bindu’s daughters as a treat from me as her elder one darshini scored a 97 % in the 10 th and the little one sanjana is all set to leave to a boarding school in kodaikanal . The girls were delighted and loved the dessert to bits . Now I was all confused with naming this mango beauty and had no other go than to ask help from my fellow home chefs in Facebook . Harini ram suggested mango beauty and aara wanted a mousse to be added in the middle . Thus a name was born to my Devine , dainty mango beauty .

Ingredients for mousse

Ingredients
Quantity
Mango pulp400 grams ( 2 big ripe mangoes )
Cream 200 ml
Powdered sugar to taste ( I used 5 cups as the mangoes were not sweet enough )
Chopped mango bits1 big
Gelatine4 tablespoons
Water1/2 cup

Method for mousse

  1. Mix gelatine in water and set aside . Whisk mango pulp , cream and powdered sugar together until well combined .
  2. Mix chopped mango bits and set aside . Microwave the gelatine for 30 seconds until dissolved and watery . Add to the mango mixture . Mix well .
  3. Pour into a greased pudding tray or spring foam . Place in the freezer for 30 -40 minutes until 3/4 set .

Ingredients for Topping

Ingredients
Quantity
Sugar1 cup
Water 1/2 cup
Ripe firm mangoes2 to 3

Method for Topping

  1. Boil sugar and water for 5 minutes . Remove from heat and cool completely .
  2. Peel the mangoes and slice very thinly using a very sharp knife . Remove the 3/4 set mango mousse from the freezer .
  3. Decorate with mango slices making sure the mango slices are pushed down into the mousse a little so they hold well along with the mousse as one .
  4. Brush with sugar syrup for a glossy look and helps discolouration of the mango slices . Place in the freezer for another one hour . Remove and place in the refrigerator . Serve chilled .

Poached pears in red wine

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Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 1 hour

Serving : 6 members

Description

Recipe posted by Hawa merzuka for the competition. Poached Pear in red wine. I am in the process of learning different cuisines, so i keep looking for different and varied recipes and try it at home. I came across this particular recipe over the net which struck my interest. The simple ingredients and the beautiful color of the dessert attracted me to try it. I prepared this dessert on the valentine’s day as a surprise for my husband Suraj who is a dessert lover. This dish was a great hit !! By seeing the pictures of what i prepared and the description which we shared with my in-laws, they too wanted to try it and they did.. Even they enjoyed dessert.

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Pears 4
Red Wine 750 ml
Sugar200 gms
Cinnamon stick1
Vanilla essence 1 tea spoon
Orange peel very little for the flavor
Mascarpone cheese or fresh creamas needed
walnut or almondRoughly chopped

Method

  1. Peel the skin off the pears and cut it into 2 half. Remove the seeds off the pears.
  2. To prepare the syrup…take a large pan. Add red wine, sugar, orange peels, cinnamon and vanilla essence into it.
  3. Allow the mixture to come to a boil. Then add the pears to it. Keep it closed with a lid such a way that a little bit of air goes through so that the syrup does not overflow. Cook it for 45 mins on a low heat.
  4. After 45 mins remove the pears from the syrup and place on the serving dish. The color of the pears would have turned into beautiful red color.
  5. Heat the remaining syrup removing the peel and the cinnamon stick. It would get reduced into a thick sauce that can be poured over the pear while serving.
  6. Allow it to cool and now the dessert is ready!! It can be served with crushed nuts on top and it goes well with mascarpone cheese.

BON APPETIT !!


Saffron and lemon panacotta with grape sauce

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Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Saffron lemon pennacotta with grape sauce. Recipe post by saliha Azeem for the competition. I strongly felt this might be one among the winning dishes. Her Description follows. I’ve been waiting for a long time to make panacotta. I’ve been surfing n reading books for past 15 days to get a different recipe. All i finally got was strawberry panacotta recipe everywhere. So made up my mind to do sumthing innovative on my own n friends dis is the result of my innovation. This is a very simple recipe the flavor from saffron and lemon tastes heavenly. Believe me frnds d panacotta goes very well wid d sauce i ve made here . my mom in law n my kids luvd dis soo much

Ingredients for pudding

Ingredients
Quantity
Fresh cream milk2 cups
Sugar 3/4 cup
Gelatin1 tablespoon
Condensed milk3 tablespoon
Saffron1/4 teaspoon
Lemon rind1/4 teaspoon

Ingredients for Sauce

Ingredients
Quantity
Ripe grapes 10 to 15
Sugar3 tablespoon
Butter2 tablespoon
Water1/4 cup

Method for pudding

  1. Soak 1 tablespoon gelatin in 5 tablespoon lukewarm water n keep it aside.Boil 2 cups of full cream milk with quarter cup of sugar and conndensed milk.
  2. Keep stirring.on the other side dry roast saffron in a pan for few secs until a smell comes out from saffron.
  3. At dis stage add d boiling milk on to dis n add lemon rind too.let dis boil well.keep in sim for 7 mins.in d meantime double boil gelatin n add to d boiling milk.let dis cool well.
  4. Strain n pour into mould.

Method for Sauce

  1. Boil grapes,butter,sugar and water in a saucepan in a medium heat uncovered,stirring until sugar dissolves.strain through a fine sieve to remove the seeds.