Creamy Rabdi
A very Indian, very delicious creamy delight of a dessert. Can be enjoyed as it is or with hot puris.
As I put up this post, I travel back in memory when I was a child. I loved anything to do with cream, fresh thick layer of cream when my mom or grandmom heated the milk early morning!! I would just pick up the whole layer and gobble it up within seconds! The first coffee of the day would be made for me by my mom full with a layer of cream, My mom's gone and so is the layer of cream on my coffee.My brothers called me Billi beacuse I ate so much cream and also scratched them with my enamelled nails... he he..koi lauta de mere beete hue din.
I have wandered off to another story instead of giving you the recipe! So here comes....
Ingredients
2 litres of low fat milk or skimmed milk
1 cup of sugar, you can use sugar free but the taste will not be the same
Few strands of saffron
1/4 of a nutmeg grated freshly
Some blueberries soaked in water for garnishing
The almonds I have used have come out of the dry apricots
Method
Take a kadhai big enough to fit the two litres of milk, wash with water but do not wipe dry because this helps the milk not to catch the bottom. Pour the milk in the kadhai and bring it to a boil constantly stirring till it boils, now leave it to form a layer of cream on top, now stir gently without breaking the layer in to very small pieces. This process must continue every time the layer forms till the milk reduces to a stage where it holds in the spoon and does not remain flowy, now add the sugar, the saffron strands and grate the nutmeg directly into the mixture, stir well till the sugar melts and the aromatics get infused. Take it off the flame, transfer to a serving bowl, bring it to room temperature, garnish chill and serve the yummy delight.
Curry with Southern Flavours
This curry has some typically southern ingredients and the flavour that lingers on your tongue after eating it is of the nutty sweet coconut. Hope you enjoy making and savoring another of my experi-mental dishes.
Ingredients
Florets of 1 broccoli, par boiled and kept aside
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms chopped into medium sized pieces
1/2 each of yellow, green and red bell peppers chopped into medium sized squares
For the gravy
2 big onions chopped into long pieces
2 big tomatoes chopped into long pieces
2 tspns of ginger garlic freshly crushed
2 tspoons of white peppercorns, 3 cloves freshly cpounded ( the ones I bought straight from the spice shop at Coorg )
1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut
A handful of curry leaves
1 tspn chilli powder
1 cup thick coconut milk to be used later to add in the gravy
Method
In a pan take some coconut oil and add the chopped bell peppers and the mushrooms, give them a quick stir on slightly high flame, remove once done and keep aside.
In the same pan take the freshly crushed ginger, garlic, peppercorns and cloves saute till done, now add the curry leaves, onions and the coconut, saute well, add tomatoes and wait till they are soft. Once done, cool and grind this mixture to a smooth paste.
Transfer this into the pan and let it cook well till the gravy leaves the sides of the pan, now add the salt, the chilli powder, and all the vegetables, adjust the consistency, let it cook to a boil, now add the coconut milk, do not keep for too long after adding the coconut milk else it may curdle. You can use fresh corinder for garnishing. I have used fresh tomato pieces and a tempering of slit green chillies. Can be eaten with phulkas, rotis, malbar parathas, and our own simple steaming hot plain rice.
Savoury Jaffle with mushrooms and mixed greens
Watching the show Masterchef Australia, I have seen a wide variety of savory and sweet jaffles being prepared, this is my own version of a savory jaffles.
Ingredients
Slices of brown bread as per requirement, buttered, I use Amul Lite, very sparingly though, just to give the bread a flavour.
For the stuffing
250 gms of fresh mushrooms
1 bunch of spinach
1 small bunch of fenugreek
1 small bunch of dil
1 small bunch of coriander
All the above cleaned and chopped fine, mushrooms kept separately.
For the masala
2 onions finely chopped
5 green chillies, 5 garlic cloves, 1 inch of ginger, 1 tspn of black peppercorns to be pounded in a mortar pestle
Salt to taste
Method
In a pan take some olive oil, add the pounded spices, saute till done, add the chopped onion, saute till golden, add the mushrooms, let them cook, now add the leafy vegetables including the coriander, salt to taste and cook till it becomes dry enough to be stuffed.
Now take the buttered bread stuff the ready mix, make a sandwich and toast in the jaffle maker till done, we like them crisp. Make them as per your choice.
Vegetable made from amaranth leaves
On my recent trip to Rajasthan we travelled from Udaipur to Kumbhalgadh and we saw fields fully green and beautiful with corn growing everywhere. In between were patches of dark red fields, curious as I am about nature I enquired with the driver what that was. He explained that the seeds were used in fast (vrat), laddoos are made and so and so. I realised it was the amaranth. Was excited about making the vegetable once I was back and saw fresh amaranth with my regular vendor. Here goes the recipe and the picture of the plant.
Ingredients
2 bunches of fresh amaranth stocks removed washed and chopped finely
3 onions finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic crushed
4 green chillies chopped
1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut
Salt to taste
A squeeze of lime
Method
In a pan take some coconut oil, add mustard let it splutter, add turmeric powder and asafoetida,
add the chillies, saute a bit, add the garlic let it turn light brown, add the onion, let it turn golden brown, add the amaranth and now add salt to taste and cook covered until nearly cooked, add 3/4 of the coconut, cover and let it cook completely, let the vegetable be juicy enough, add the lemon juice, give it a stir and serve garnished with the rest of the coconut. The sweet nutty taste of the raw coconut garnish elevates the taste of the dish.
Dosa made of mixed sprouts with a stuffing of cottage cheese
A dish that can be called a fully loaded health treat. The dosa batter is made of mixed sprouts and the stuffing is made of cottage cheese in a roasted tomato and home grown sweet basil sauce.
Ingredients
2 cups of mixed sprouts, I soaked them for half a day, tied them in a cloth and let them sprout for another day, I used green gram, horse gram, red lentil and a bit of chick peas ground into a paste with 2 cloves of garlic, 1 spoon black pepper corns, 4 green chillies, made a batter of dosa consistency and kept it ready for use. Add salt to taste and some semolina if you find the need.
For the stuffing
250 gms cottage cheese
2 finely chopped onions
2 tomatoes chopped into roundels
2 sprigs of sweet basil
1 tspn of chilli powder
1 tspn of ginger garlic paste
1 tspn garam masala
Salt to taste
1 sprig of sweet basil for garnishing
Any cheese for the topping, cubes, slices or grated.
Method
On a pan sprinkle little mustard oil, keep the tomato roundels to roast with the sweet basil leaves from 2 sprigs, once done make a fine paste and keep ready to use.
In a kadhai take mustard oil, add onions, let it turn light brown, add the ginger garlic paste,the tomato basil paste, let the paste cook and leave oil, add chilli powder, salt and the garam masala, mix well and 2 tbspns thick yogurt. cook well and its ready.
Now on a dosa pan sprinkle a bit of oil, spread the batter to make a dosa, once you see it is done, spread the cottage cheese stuffing, cheese, keep a sweet basil leaf at equal distance, fold and enjoy. This is how to add the stuffing.
Egg scramble with fenugreek and mustard cress
This can easily be called another of my experi-mental dishes. Enjoyed by my family and hoping you will enjoy making it too.The mustard cress is from my tiny balcony, fresh and yumm.
Ingredients
6 eggs
A bunch of mustard cress
A bunch of fenugreek leaves
4 crushed garlic cloves
1 tspn ginger roughly crushed
1 tspn of black pepper freshly pounded
1 tspn of chilli powder
2 finely chopped onions
1 medium sized tomato finely chopped
1 tspn of kitchen king masala
1 tspn of aamchur or dry mango powder
Salt to taste
Some fresh coriander leaves for garnishing
Method
In a pan take some mustard oil, add crushed garlic and ginger, give it a stir, add the onion and let it turn golden, add the tomato and the greens, add all the masalas and salt too. Let this saute till everything gets cooked well, now break the eggs into the pan and make a scramble like mixture, let it remain juicy and moist, remove from the fire and serve garnished with fresh coriander. I was lucky again to find some lovely coriander flowers for the garnish!! Placed them with the tweezer, just like my favorite Chef George.
