Easy recipes: August 2014

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Egg-less Semolina cake

Ingredients
semolina/ suji rava 1 cup
sugar 1 cup
milk 1 cup
curd/ buttermilk thick 1 cup
butter 1 heaped tbsp and for greasing the baking dish
baking pdr. 1 level tsp
nuts and raisins as desired
you can add strawberries also if desired
if you add berries, then avoid saffron colour

Method
in a bowl, mix semolina, milk, buttermilk/curd, sugar, butter well
let it soak for 30 minutes well
add baking pdr, stir in nuts and raisins, add saffron colour ( if not adding berries), then add 1 tsp cardamom pdr.
if you add strawberries, then chop them and add along with some strawberry essence
if you want to bake in a microwave, depending on the power of the microwave, it gets done anywhere between 4-7 minutes
or you can bake in an oven at 375 deg/ F or around 180 deg. C for 20-25 minutes, till done
that is when you poke in the centre of the cake, the knife should come clean

those interested in cancer and health related topics are free to see my blog-

http://cancersupportindia.blogspot.com/

for crochet designs, my blog, those who like a particular design are free to mail me

http://My Crochet Creations.blogspot.com

For info. about knee replacement, be free to view my blog-

http://knee replacement-stickclub.blogspot.com

Sakarpara - sweet katrichu porichathu

sakarpara rolled and cut to be fried

being fried in hot oil

ready to eat

Ingredients

maida/ all purpose flour 2 cups

butter 2 tbsp

warm milk 1/2 cup

sugar 1/2 cup

oil for frying

Method

in warm milk, mix sugar well till it dissolves

mix butter well with flour

add the sugar-milk mixture

knead to a soft pliable dough like for roti

take small amount of the dough, roll it thin like roti

cut into small pieces like seen in the 1st photo

fry in hot oil till brown

drain well and once cool, store in air-tight container

this is mildly sweet, my daughter wanted me to make it for her

Uppu cheedai ( namkeen balls)

Ingredients
rice flour 1 cup, roasted till light brown
urad dal flour 1 heaped tbsp
salt to taste
hing little
butter 1 1/2 tbsp
oil for frying
pepper pdr. to taste

Method
in a bowl, add the flours, salt, pepper pdr., butter mix well
add enough water to make a dough like for roti
roll into small balls, deep fry in hot oil till brown, once you take out, while warm, if you crush with your palm, it should be crisp, that means it is done.
this is normally made on "Janmashtami day" along with sweet cheedai also.

Protein Rich Onion-mushroom-carrot soup

Ingredients

onion 2 big finely chopped
mushrooms almost 400 gm or 1 box finely chopped
carrot grated 1/2 cup
salt and pepper pdr. to taste
milk 2 cups
water 2 - 2 1/2 cups
butter 2 tbsp
flour 2 tbsp ( I use wheat flour, as it is healthy)

Method

in a big pan, add butter, once it melts, add the chopped onion, add wee bit of salt, fry till onion is transparent
add the chopped mushrooms and carrot, add wee bot of salt, keep stirring well, as it gets cooked fast and the mushrooms shrink in size
once the mushrooms are cooked, sprinkle the flour little by little and keep stirring well after each addition, fry for a minute, add milk and water, cook till it boils well for 4-5 minutes
if too thick, add little more water, salt and pepper to taste
serve hot with bread sticks
this was our dinner tonight
this is rich in protein, thanks to mushrooms and milk, carrot is rich in Vitamin A, so it makes a complete meal when you've with bread sticks or garlic bread.

onion fried till transparent

mushrooms chopped

mushrooms are cooked and ready to add flour

milk and water was added and seasoned

ready to eat

Healthy, Iron rich veg omelet !

the batter - with the flours, grated carrot, spring onion, chillies, salt and water of course.

Ingredients

besan. gram flour 1/2 cup
rice flour 1/2 cup
ragi flour 1/4 cup
salt to taste
green chillies finely chopped to taste
spring onion finely chopped 1 cup
carrot grated 1/2 cup
coriander leaves finely chopped 2-3 tbsp
oil for shallow frying

Method

in a big bowl, mix the flours, salt, chilli, carrot, spring onion well
add enough water to make a semi- thick batter, like for dosa
heat a heavy tawa, smear some oil, make as thin omelet as possible, putting oil all around and on top
once the bottom turns golden, turn it over, cook till that side turns golden
you can serve hot with some spicy chutney/ hot and sweet ketchup
those who are fond of cheese, can put some cheese, once you've turned the side once, then spread cheese on one half, fold it, press down gently
serve it hot.
this is very filling, very healthy, as it is rich in protein, iron, calcium, Vitamins A and C

Fried Kolakattai/ fried modak

Ingredients

for stuffing

freshly grated coconut 1 full
jaggery/ gur roughly 1 heaped measuring cup

mix both together with little water ( if gur is clean or else, soak gur in little water, boil it, strain to remove the dirt), then add coconut, stir together in a heavy pan/ kadai till it thickens, stirring continuously, till the water has evaporated and it becomes a mass, leaving the sides of the pan.
cool it well. roll into small marbles sizes and keep ready for stuffing

For covering
maida/ flour 3-4 cups
ghee 3 tbsp
salt wee bit
water as needed, make a soft dough
oil for frying

Method
once you've needed the dough, take out some dough, roll like for roti, but not very thin
then cut into roughly small rectangles, even if corners are triangles, is fine, you can put stuffing in it also and cover well.
once you stuff, make sure that all sides are well covered or else, when you fry, the stuffing can come out and make the oil black, which will stick to the remaining batches of modak when you fry.
fry in medium hot oil till golden brown and crisp, drain well

this modak will last for at least a week, if stored properly, as the steamed modak, as to be finished the same day. My family loves this. I made this modak today, being Ganesh chathurthi.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Easy and Creative Kitchen Solutions!

a number of easy but creative storage, serving and cooking solutions that will upgrade your kitchen experience!

Peel the onion to much thinner stripes, using a peeler...


Instead of wasting tomato puree, freeze it in a aluminum container and spread the required amount every time you need a bit to cook with.


Instead of transferring stuffing to a pastry bag with a spoon - and get messy, place the pastry bag in a glass and pour the contents in.


Cut the top of an apple, remove the contents and fill it with caramel or almond sauce and serve as a dip.


OR after removing the top part of an apple and its contents, you can pour in apple cider, to serve with a cinnamon stick and slices of lemon.


Remove the top of a strawberry, remove the contents and fill it with cheese. You can spread biscuit crumbs on top and voila - a mini cheese and strawberry cake.


Bake chocolate chip cookies in the shape of a flower. For that, use the rear side of a baking pan.


Freeze chopped green onion in a plastic bottle, so every time you need a small amount to cook with, you can 'pour' green onions out of the bottle.


In an ice tray, freeze raspberries, blueberries, pineapple, grapes etc. Every time you want to serve a refreshing glass of water, add a juicy ice cube with added flavor.


Fill a balloon up to the wanted size, dip its end in melted chocolate and place on a tray covered in baking paper. Put the tray in the fridge to cool. When the chocolate hardens, blow up the balloon and there you have it - chocolate serving bowls.


Put cuttings of herbs such as parsley, cilantro, rosemary, mint, basil etc. in an ice tray, add olive oil and freeze. Next time you cook, you can use these instant flavor enhancers.


Make spaghetti and sausages in a creative way. Stick the spaghetti sticks in the sausages and cook them both in hot water.


Fill an ice tray with melted chocolate and pace a strawberry in the middle of each square. When the chocolate hardens, take out the tray and serve a great chocolate and strawberry desert.

Insert some chocolate chips to the center of a raspberry, to add surprising flavors!

It's always charming to have shaped watermelons those interested in cancer and health related topics are free to see my blog- http://cancersupportindia.blogspot.com/ for crochet designs, my blog, those who like a particular design are free to mail me http://My Crochet Creations.blogspot.com For info. about knee replacement, be free to view my blog- http://knee replacement-stickclub.blogspot.com

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

THENKULAL MADE WITHOUT THENKULAL PRESS/NAZHI

Ingredients

rice flour 1 cup
urad dal flour 1 heaped tbsp
ghee 1 tbsp
salt to taste
ajwain 1/2 tsp
hing little
water to mix
oil for frying

Method
mix the flours, salt, ghee, ajwain, hing well
add enough water to make a dough like for roti
take a thick plastic sheet, grease it well
take a big ball of the dough, pat it quite thin on the sheet
don't bother about the shape
cut into thin slices, if the pieces are long, cut across, so they're divided into smaller pieces lengthwise
heat oil in the mean time, take out pieces from the sheet, carefully put in oil, fry till light brown on both sides.
( first I thought of rolling them into thin long pieces, then decided that it will take long, so decided to do it this way, it came out well), as we're more bothered about the taste than she shape, right?

Friday, August 8, 2014

Rice Pakoras

Ingredients

left over rice 3 cups
onion 1 big finely chopped
green chillies 5-6 finely chopped or you can use chilli pdr also
besan/ chickpea flour 2 cups
salt to taste
oil for frying
hing little

Method
mash rice well, add rest of the ingredients, mix well
heat oil, make small pakoras ( what I do is drop small pieces in hot oil)
fry till brown and crisp, drain well
serve hot
this tastes good plain, even when cold
this is what I made this evening, as the rice was a bit overcooked, so made the pakoras which disappeared sooner than it took me to make them ! also my daughter's friend liked them too !

Thursday, August 7, 2014

ONION-CARROT SOUP

INGREDIENTS

onion 2 big finely chopped
carrots 3 big finely chopped
butter 2 tbsp
salt and pepper pdr. to taste
water as needed
milk about 1- 1 1/2 glasses
cheese grated 4 tbsp
flour 2 tbsp ( I used wheat flour as I prefer it than all purpose flour, you can use what you prefer)

Method
in a big pan, heat butter, fry onion till transparent

add carrots, add enough water to cook the carrot, keep the pan covered

once the carrot is cooked, slowly sprinkle the flour little all around and stirring at the same time till you finish adding all the flour, then add 3 glasses of water and boiled it well

then added milk
at this point, with a hand blender, I blended it slightly, as I like to feel the veges when I eat, so, the carrots looked as if they're grated ( add more water / milk to get the consistency you like)

then I added the seasonings, once it came to a boil, simmered for 3 minutes, added cheese

serve hot with toasted garlic/ plain bread

This was our dinner 2 days back, as we had a big bowl of soup each with 2 slices of garlic toasted, it was really filling

sorry that I forgot to click the pics, realized my mistake after I finished my soup ! my hubby and daughter also liked the soup a lot.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Real Quick Chocolate Cake in Microwave- just 5 minutes

Ingredients

all purpose flour 1 cup

sugar 1 cup heaped

cocoa pdr. 3 tsp

baking pdr. 1 tsp

vanilla essence 1 tsp

oil 1/3 cup

buttermilk 3 tbsp

milk 4 tbsp

eggs 2

Method

in a bowl, beat eggs and sugar well, add oil, beat well

add the flour, baking pdr., cocoa pdr. and beat well

add buttermilk, milk and vanilla

beat well

grease a micro-safe dish well

pour the batter

bake in high power for 5 minutes

the batter must be slightly thinner than the normal cake batter.

pl/ note- it may take longer, if your microwave power is little low, may be 8 minutes

to test, pierce the centre with a knife / toothpick, if it comes out clean, the cake is done

I baked this cake for my husband's 70th birthday today !

my hubby, daughter, grand-daughter loved the cake, as it is really soft and spongy and above all they didn't have to wait long to eat the cake.

those who wish can add some nuts and raisins if desired

Saturday, August 2, 2014

" Thatai" - spicy rounds

Ingredients

rice flour 1 cup
maida/ all purpose flour 1 cup
semolina/ suji ( fine)   1 cup
salt to taste
hing 1/4 tsp
butter 3 tbsp

to coarsely powder
roasted dal ( pottukadalai)   3 tbsp
dried red chillies 6-8 or as per taste
curry leaves dried   2 sprigs
oil for frying

Method
in a big bowl, mix rice flour, semolina, maida, salt, hing well
add the powdered ingredients, butter, mix well
add enough water to make a dough like for roti
take small amounts of the dough, flatten it in a foil, which is greased or thick plastic sheet, from where you can easily remove to fry ( when you flatten, it should be as thin as possible)
deep fry in hot oil, drain well and store in air-tight containers once cool.

Easy recipes