Ramzan Special Seviyan ~ Sheer Khurma

Two days back  my friend visited home. when we were having lunch she was telling me how her son learned about this seviyan from his hindi text book and that he wanted to taste it. On hearing this, yesterday i googled and found what is seviyan / sheer korma. now here I am blogging about! Today morning i made this easy sweet dish. packed it for her son. It seams he liked it a lot! Happy Me!!

sweet potato halwa ~ shakarkandi sheera

I have not posted any sweet recipes after diwali. When i was going thru gujarati cuisine, i came across this halwa and also found some sweet potatoes in my kitchen waiting to be cooked. so here you see this easy halwa that i made today in minutes!

                                                                 Sweet Potato Halwa
serves- 4
preparation and cooking time: 30-35 minutes

 Ingredients:

Sweet Potatoes - 250 gms
Ghee - 3 tbsp
Sugar - 6 tbsp
Milk - 5 tbsp
Saffron - 4 strands

To Garnish:

Ghee - 1 tsp
Cashew nuts - 4
Almond - 2
Dry Grapes - 1 tsp

Method:

Soak the saffron in luke warm milk for about 15-20 minutes.

Scrub and wash the sweet potatoes in running water. Peel it's skin and chop then into pieces. Transfer the chopped sweet potatoes into a bowl, which has to be kept in pressure cooker for pressure cooking. pressure cook up to 3 or 4 whistles. let the steam escape and let the sweet potatoes to cool and then mash the sweet potatoes finely.

Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan, add the mashed sweet potatoes and cook the sweet potatoes in medium flame for upto 1 or 2 minutes. once the ghee gets absorbed, add sugar and mix well. Then add milk(at room temperature) to the pan and mix well. now cook the halwa in slow flame for about 5-7 minutes, till the halwa turns thick and comes together to the centre of the pan.

Heat a small tadka pan, add ghee, roast the nut's, raisins and garnish the halwa.

Serve warm!

Notes:

After pressure cooking the sweet potatoes, taste it and decide on how much sugar to add, depending on the sweetness of potatoes.

Gajar ki kheer ~ Carrot kheer

To start the New year with a sweet post, here is the gajar ki kheer. me and hubby love Gajar ka halwa the most. it is always our valentine's day dessert!

This is the first time, iam trying kheer with these delhi carrots and i should say, kheer tasted quite good. there is a real good difference in making kheer with normal orange carrots and with these delhi red carrots. do try, if you have not tried.

serves - 2 to 3
preparation time - less than 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Delhi Carrot - 2 {finely grated and should measure about 1 and half cup (350 gms approx)}
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Milk - 2 cup's
Ghee - 1 tsp

Method:

Heat a pan, add ghee, and saute the grated carrot in the ghee for about 3-4 minutes, till they shrink and come together.



Add a cup of milk or till the carrot immerses and put the flame to  medium and keep stirring the carrots till they are well cooked. this may take about 5 minutes.



Once the carrots turn soft and cooked, remove from flame and cool it down. on cooling grind them into a thick puree, without adding any milk or water.



Now add grinded carrots to the pan, add the rest of the milk about 1 cup and sugar. mix well, till the sugar dissolves.



When the kheer comes to boil, switch off the flame. if you wish garnish with nut's and raisins.

I served my kheer plain and chilled.

 I reserved 2 spoons of carrot before grinding and mixed it finally when the kheer is done. strands of carrots gave a good texture to the kheer.

The kheer consistency should be thick, so add thick milk after grinding.

You may add cardamom powder and nuts towards the end.

 

Rice payasam with condensed milk

Rice payasam also known as paal payasam or milk kheer is made with milk and basmati rice as main ingredients. Slow cooking the rice along with milk and sugar for about 1 hour is the traditional way of making the payasam. I was desperate in using the condensed milk, which i had sitting in my fridge. adding condensed milk gave a tasty, thick consistency payasam quickly.

Mango Phirni ~ Aam Phirni

Mango Season is almost getting over. Along with Mangoes, memories related to mango also makes the season special to me.  Eating Mangoes along with my Grandparents and going back to school after lunch with mango juice strains on uniform. I will be guarding the mango tree at my grandparents house during season. as childrens passing by will throw stones to get mangoes. also we save mangoes from monkeys with a big stick. iam very much missing my childhood days rather than mangoes..

Elaneer Payasam

It took me 2 years-9 months, to try this Delicious Payasam. I instantly fell in love with Laavanya's Elaneer Payasam, the recipe is so simple. last week i tried and served for my friends(can also be called as food critics). They all Loved it very Much! Thanks Laavanya! The Recipe is so easy and simple, but it Tastes Heavenly. It just takes 5 minutes to prepare. but you got to chill the payasam for atleast 30 minutes. Ideal Dessert to try for this Summer Season!

Ingredients:

Tender Coconut Water and Pulp of 1 Tender Coconut / 1 elaneer vazhukkai yudan.
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 150 ml 
Milk(Boiled and cooled) - 1 cup / 200ml
Elachi - 1
Saffron strands - 3
Ghee - 1/4 tsp
Cashews - 3
Raisins - 3

Method:

Grind the Tender Coconut Water along with Pulp. Need not grind smoothly, as bits of coconut pulp tastes better in payasam.

Mix the Condensed milk with the Chilled Milk.

Now Mix the Grinded Pulp with Tender coconut water  to the Chilled Milk + Condensed Milk. Mix well.

Heat a small pan, add 1/4 tsp ghee, roast the cashews and raisins and add to the Payasam.

Add Crushed cardamom pods and Saffron strands to Payasam.

Chill them in fridge for about 30 minutes and serve.

Serve with small bits of Tender Coconut Pulp upon the Payasam.

Notes:

* Payasam should be Watery. so adjust the milk and condensed milk ratio.
* You can reduce milk and add more tender coconut water.
* If you dont have Sweetened Condensed Milk, You can Sugar instead to the above recipe.
* Try to serve this payasam little chilled with less sugar, to enjoy the Nature's Best!

Eggless Chocolate Pudding

I found this Silky Chocolate Pudding from Smitten Kitchen. i prepared this pudding for my apartment kids and they loved it so much. they came to me one day asked me to prepare again and saw me live preparing the pudding and they went home and prepared just like i did. One of the kid's Grandmom was so impressed and asked me, where i found the recipe? believe me the kids prepared the pudding more than me and even they brought me what they made to taste, it was so so Gooood!

Ingredients: Recipe for 5-6 servings

Dark Chocolate -  1 and 1/4 cup (or)  6 oz.
*Coccoa powder can also be used instead of dark chocolate. if so, Coccoa Powder - 1/2 cup

Milk - 1/2 litre (3 cups)
Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Corn Flour - 1/4 cup

Method:

Use Double Boiler or Boil water in a big bowl and fit another empty bowl over the big bowl. simmer the flame once the water starts to boil.

Grate the Dark Chocolates or cut them into small pieces.

Add Corn Flour, salt a pich, Sugar to the empty bowl and mix well. If using Cocco powder, add it too. slowly add milk one cup at a time and mix well with a whisk. see to that no lumps are formed.

Keep Stirring with the whisk in slow flame for upto 5-8 mins till the mix gets thicker, or it should coat the spoon.

Once the mix got thickened, add Dark Chocolate and mix well with the whisk. the chocolates melts and mixes well with milk and corn starch. once it all turned chocolatey, remove from the bowl and add vanilla essence and mix. If you wish you could strain the pudding in the stage, if you feel some lumps in the pudding.

Let the Pudding cool and transfer them to small cups. cover them with a cling wrap and refrigerate for upto 2hrs. Serve them chill.

Adding Chocolates or coccoa powder can be skipped and the pudding can also be enjoyed plain as Vanilla Pudding. It Tastes Good!

Enjoy the easy dessert!!

Gajar Ka Halwa

One of our Friend Anitha used to tell about Delhi Carrot and the halwa she makes with it. When i found some Delhi Carrots from street vendors in Tnagar, i could'nt stop me buying 1/2 kg. i repeatedly questioned the selling lady, whether this is carrot or radish. only after her confirmation i bought it. those carrots were in the colour of pinkish red. they are so lengthy too. i reserved the carrots for the weekend dessert.

Unfortunately, i did'nt have ghee on hand, but thats for good. This halwa came out beautifully and tasted Great without Ghee. if you dont believe me, do try it without ghee and find out. Even i did'nt add milk to this halwa. indeed it tasted Good. enough of me raving about my own creation.

This is such a simple recipe with just three ingredients. 1/2 Kg of carrots could make only for two / three servings of carrot halwa.

Ingredients:
(Recipe for two dessert lovers)

Delhi Carrots                                                                                          1/2 kg.

Sugar                                                                                                      1/4 cup

Roasted Cashews                                                                                          5

Method:

Grate the Carrots finely.

Heat a Skillet or Pan, roast the cashews and keep aside.

In the same pan, add the grated carrots and roast them for a minute.

Add 1/4 cup of sugar to the pan and give a stir.  the sugar melts and the carrot has to be cooked in it.

Keep stirring in between for 8 - 10 minutes, till the water content is fully absorbed and the halwa comes together to the centre of the pan without sticking to the sides of the pan. Add roasted cashews and serve warm.

Note: Use Delhi carrots for this vibrant colour. i did not use any food colour for this halwa. nor i did'nt do any photoshop works, to show this halwa bright!

Serve the Halwa warm with a scoop of ice-cream.

* You can reduce sugar and add sweetened Khoa towards the end to make it rich.
* You can add Ghee, to make the halwa Fat-rich.
* You can add cashews, pista's at the end to make the halwa cholestrol-rich.

Kulfi Ice

I bought Kulfi Moulds a year back, kept it unused for all these days. I badly wanted to use it for this Summer. finally the time came for it 2 days back. Kulfi's came out so well. I didn't intend to post the Kulfi Recipe untill i tasted it. It tasted Soo Great and thus Kulfi finds its place here and for your eyes.

My ammamma used to make Ice-creams and i just love to eat them even before freezing. i don't remember with what all she used to make. but vaguely, it could be Milk, Breads without edges, and Sugar. She used to put them all in the mixer, Grind together and add essence and freeze. We used to take these Ice-creams in a Flask filled with Ice Cubes to my MOM in our Village. My ammamma would be worriyng a lot, that the ice-cream should not melt during the 1.30 hrs. Car journey. On Landing the Village, we first open up the flask and check the Ice-cream and have it at once, as we didn't have Fridge at our Village home.

Summer holidays at our Village home are full of Green memories to me. I just love to go to our backyard and enjoy the Pure air and look at two Mango Trees, that my mom and my Pinni seeded at their childhood. My Job during summer holidays is to safeguard the Peanuts / Mallattai from crows. Peanuts will be spread all thru our backyard to get dried in Sun after harvest from our field. Oh.. I just Love those memories now!!

Okay Coming to the Kulfi Ice. its so easy to make, if you have Condensed Milk tin and Kulfi Mould's on hand. Even you can use small pots, as served in our ice-cream parlours. Else you can use small Paper Cup's as mould's and insert a chocobar stick and cover with a plastic wrap before you freeze.

Ingredients:  (Recipe for 6 Kulfi's )


Sweetened Condensed Milk - 200 ml
Milk - 1/2 Litre (400 ml. will do)
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Corn Flour - 2 tbsp
Elakaai / Cardamom - 4
Badam - 10
Cashew - 5

Method:

First take few tablespoons of milk, say 4 tbsp's and mix cornflour to it without lumps and set aside.

Grind the Cardamom in the Small Mixer Jar, remove the outer cover and add Sugar to it. Now Grind the Sugar with Cardamom innner mates into fine powder. remove it to a bowl.

Grind the Badam and Cashew coarsely and mix it with the Sugar, Cardamom mix.

Mix the Condensed milk to 400ml. Milk and Pour them on to a Wide Pan. Heat this Mixture till it boils. Now add the Cornflour mixed with Milk to the Pan.(Make sure to mix again before adding to the Pan, as the corn flour may get settled in the bottom).

Now add the cardamom-sugar-badam- cashew mix to the Pan and stir well. The milk in the Pan starts to thicken in a minute. slow down the flame, whenever it boils and tries to spill out of the pan. Let the Milk get thicken for 2 minutes atleast. remove the pan from the flame and cool it down.

Pour the cooled down milk mixture onto the Kulfi moulds. Freeze them overnight. when you want to serve, Run Water over the kulfi moulds. and Rub the Moulds with both your hands. Carefully remove the lid of the mould and serve. If the mould stick comes and not the Kulfi, carefully use knife to loose up the Kulfi and remove with a spoon.

First Picture of Kulfi, before it started to Melt.

It came out Good. but started to melt so fast!!(Chennai Climate ma!). I added some buterscotch chips to Kulfi-Milk mix, that gave a good crunch on bite!!

Iam sending these Kulfi's to Srivalli's Thanda Mela.

Pumpkin Pie - My First Pie

You can look forward for few more-first attempt's here in this winter. Iam very much interested in baking, but could'nt spare time in finding exact recipe. I feel this is one sort of research work. so here i am documenting my first attempt's. Give your verdicts, I really appreciate your suggestions to bake better next time.

You Bloggers across the sea tempt me a lot with your baking ventures. I thought that i could never find baking tray's / tart pan's / muffin tray's all in Chennai. But Arundathi was kind enough to share in her blog about currim bhoys in adyar and Nirmala has asked me to visit amma nana, for all the above mentioned pan's and trays. I visited currim bhoys, the shop is filled with lovely dinner sets and glasses, I picked few pans, i would have picked half of the shop, if something called money was with me. This Poor Girl is planning to visit monthly such shops with her monthly savings. Man Proposes - God Disposes (Dont Forget Lavi!!)

Coming to the Pie, I baked it with less tension. I was almost sure that it will turn up pretty good with some blind confidence, and i should say it got baked perfect and tasted so Great too. I did not have any idea of getting heavy cream for whipping cream to add it for pie filling, so ended up in adding full cream. any chennai bloggers reading this, suggest me where can i get heavy cream or is any way to prepare that at home?

How I Prepared Pumpkin Puree - By Stove Top Method?

I prepared Fresh Pumpkin Puree at Home. it was so easy to make, i just removed the flesh from skin with some effort and sauted in skillet with some oil till they turned tender. it took some 5 minutes to saute the pumpkin to tender. i cooled them and grinded the pumpkin's into fine puree. i did'nt sieve it. it got a smooth texture. (I bought 0.695 Kg of pumpkin and pureed it) but i used just half of the puree for two pie's.

Ingredients for Pie Filling:

Pumpkin Puree - 200gms
Full Cream Milk - 5 tbsp's
Egg's - 2
Cloves - 2
Cardamon - 2
Cinnamon - 1' inch stick
Dry Ginger - 1 'inch
Sugar - 1/4 cup

Assembling Pie Filling:

I grinded the Sugar with cloves, cardamon and cinnamon into powder form. I did not grind them finely, you can see black spots in the pie because of that.

Beat the Egg's.

Add the Powdered Sugar to the egg's beated.

Add Dry Ginger powder to the egg's.

add pumpkin Puree to the egg's.

Now add Whipped Cream to the egg's. i added full cream instead.

Ingredients for Pie Crust:

1. All Purpose Flour - 175 gms
2. Butter (in chilled form) - 5 tbsp's
3. salt - a pinch
4. Powdered Sugar - 1/ 4 cup
5. Ice water - few sprinkles (2 tbsp)

Add salt to the flour and add powdered sugar to the flour and mix well.

Now add the Butter and mix well with the flour. Keep adding butter, till the flour becomes like bread crumbs.

Now sprinkle some ice water to the flour and get the flour togeather into a dough. (like our chapathi dough) don't add ice water more than 2 / 3 tbsp's.

Now flatten the dough and cover it with a plastic cover and put the dough in fridge for overnight or 12 hours.

Get ready with your tart pan. Just before 30 mins to bake the pie, remove the dough from the fridge and let it get back to room temperature.

Roll the dough thinly and spread it over the tart pan. trim the exceedings.

after spreading the rolled dough over the tart pan, put the tart pan in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Bake the Crust in Pre-Heated oven for about 10 minutes at 180C.

Now pour the pie filling into the tart pan.

Bake the Pie for about 45 mins at 160C.

Check the pie along the crust, for it got set or not. and bake them furthur. 45 mins will be a correct time.

Cool them for few minutes and serve them warm with cream / Honey.

It tasted so Great. we all loved it. I liked it in chilled form with cream. Do try this easy pumpkin Pie for Thanks Giving and Enjoy.

Eggless Chocolate Brownies

Brownies are my all time favorite dessert dish. a slice of brownie topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup drizzled over, makes me go crazy. This time i tried egg less brownies. i substituted egg with condensed milk and orange juice. that is a wrong combination of mixing condensed milk and orange juice, as the milk gets curdled. yes it curdled a bit, but once i added the flour, everything went fine and it resulted in yummy and delicious brownies. I  managed to click step wise pictures, but could not click few steps. excuse me for that.

Spicy Hot COFFEE-For MBP

When every one are patrolling each other's blog for MBP..i too got attracted over this Growing funda. MBP-Monthly Blog Patrol, an event BORN FROM Coffee. http://thespicecafe.com/mbp/
Now organised by Sig.http://blog.sigsiv.com/2008/02/announcing-monthly-blog-patrol-march-edition-mixed-drinks.html

Well when i was patrolling..i have found many of them were already tried and many other's required ingredients which i did not have with me. Finally i landed on Archana's culinary adventures blog and found this Spicy Hot Chocolate Drink. Her pictures naturally tempted me to try..Fortunately i had cocco powder, Unfortunately i did not have chocolate with me. So Coffee powder substituted the Chocolate . with all other spices I Kick started this lovely and excellent drink.

So how about Coffee mixed with the flavours of Spices like cinnamon,cardamon,pepper and cloves for a Complete Mixed Drink Festive..

I would strongly recommend you all to visit Archana's blog to drool at her picture's of
Archana's Spicy Hot Chocolate Drink. http://archanacooks.blogspot.com/2008/02/spicy-hot-chocolate.html

Iam sure coffee lover's will love this... I served it with Star Anise dipped in Condensed milkon the top of the coffee. I made it within 1o minutes.. well when i tasted it..i was really impressed with it's taste and how soon i prepared this delicious drink.

Semiya Payasam

Once we cook some dish for first time..and getting "wow's", "excellent", "super" credits like this..will make the dish very close to our heart.is it not?

This is one, that is close to my heart.. i prepare this whenever my friends come home for first time.


To Prepare Semiya Payasam You Need:


1. Semiya-1/4 cup

2. Sugar-3/4 cup


3. Milk-5 cups


4. Cardamon-2


5. Cashews


6. Ghee- 1 spoon

7. Saffron-8 - 10 pieces


Method:

Have a skillet..add a spoon of ghee. and roast the semiya. i prefer to roast it till it reaches golden colour. keep the roasted semiya aside. have saffron dipped in 4 spoons of milk, keep it aside. now have a wide vessel, add 5 cups of milk and add sugar, keep stirring and let the sugar melts. boil the milk. when the milk boils add the semiya, crushed cardamon and keep on stirring. allow the semiya to get cooked well. when milk gets thicker, add the saffron milk and roasted cashews.