Home Cook's Recipe: January 2009

Monday, January 5, 2009

Puffed Rice-Jaggery Ball's-a Visual Treat

Puffed Rice-Jaggery Ball's, I assume it is everyone's favourite snack. When we try this at home, its a real pleasure to present it before the family and say, that u prepared it. I did it and received raised eye-brows reactions and thus here i am presenting it before you all.It is not difficult to prepare, but You need to be little aware of the consistency of the jaggery syrup for this.

Puffed Rice Jaggery Balls front of Deepam

I prepared these Puffed Rice-Jaggery Balls for Karthigai Deepam. I could only find time, in this new year to post it for you all..

The Ingredients Here..

Puffed Rice-200gms
Jaggery-1/4 Kg(Grated)
Chopped Coconut-10 pieces
Cardamon pods-2
Water-Just to the level of Jaggery in the pan.

Method:

Grate the Jaggery and put it in a pan. Pour the water so that the jaggery is made wet or just to the level of jaggery. say, if the grated jaggery comes to half cup, then half cup water is enough.

Let the Jagger Dissolve in the water. after it had dissolved, filter it and shift it to a thick bottomed vessel, and place it on high flame.

Let it Boil for Five minutes and keep checking the consistency, by dropping a drop of syrup into a bowl of water. the syrup should not dissolve in water, instead it should sit firm on the bottom of the bowl.

When the syrup sits on the bottom of the bowl, slower the flame and add the crushed cardamon pods to it. Now switch off the flame.

Have the Puffed Rice and the Coconut in a large bowl. Pour the Hot jaggery Syrup to the bowl and mix it with a Spoon or Fork.

After a minute apply Oil on your palms and slowly start shaping them into ball shape. keep applying oil on your palm's after shaping two ball's. The oil is to avoid sticking of puffed Rice and Jaggery on our hands.

Now place the balls in a air-tight container. Its texture is very good even for two days.

Look at the Chewiness......

The Chewy Texture is so good, if you don't want it to be so chewy, then choose the earliest stage of the jaggery syrup. There are different puffed Rice available, if you want the balls to be crispy, the you have to choose certain puffed rice.

Basket full of Delights..

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Simple Veg-Fried Rice

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Last Year I completely enjoyed my life along with this sweet blog, which gave so many nice friends. This year, i have few resolutions, of making my cooking with less oil, with less sugar. when i said this to my hubby, he said, don't make me feel old so soon. Then i just left the Sunday's as exceptions. I don't believe in implementing the resolutions right from Jan 1st. I planned them well before and am practising for the past one month.

This Veg Fried Rice, really impressed me, as it can be made in minutes and also i feel the nutrients in these veggies are not omitted, just my sauting them till semi-cooked. Iam sending this off to Eat Healthy-During Pregnancy Event.

Ingredients:

Rice-1 cup Cooked
Oil-1/2 tsp
Mustard-1/4 tsp
Pepper Powder-1/2 tsp
Vegetables- Cabbage, Red Bell pepper, Yellow Bell Pepper, Carrot, Beans and Onion(1 cup of all these vegetables together)

Method:

In a Pan, Heat the Oil, add mustard seeds, when it makes sounds, add onions and saute it first and add carrot, beans and saute them. after they are cooked add the cabbage and bell peppers. after are fried, now add salt and pepper powder. mix them well and add rice. Mix the Rice with Veggies with a Plastic or Wooden Spoon, to avoid breaking of Rice. I liked it very much without any sauces.

Small Tip on Tail of the Post:

We add mustard in our cooking, to remove if any poison present in the food. Before adding the mustard, check wheather oil is heated and after adding the mustard let them splutter. this just takes less than half of a minute.

Over the years mustard has been prescribed for scorpion stings and snake bites, epilepsy, toothache, bruises, stiff neck, rheumatism, colic and respiratory troubles.

Courtesy- Epicentre of Spices