Mascarpone Cheese.. I made it @ home

I always wanted to try the heavenly Tiramisu. I haven't had the perfectly made Tiramisu and hence whenever I have one, I couldn't compare it back to anything but deep down I knew that something was missing. It just didn't seem complete. Everyone knows that it is made of ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone, and flavored with liquor and cocoa. Chennai misses the ladyfingers and mascarpone to make the traditional dessert. But then the tiramisu fever took to me so much that I wanted to make some at home. I was open-mouthed when I saw that 100 gm of mascarpone cost nearly 250 rs. God, that is one whooping amount. So I sat to browse for homemade recipes and tried with a smaller batch. It came out too well. Next in queue is the batch for Tiramisu.

~*What U Need*~
Whipping / fresh cream - 1 cup (I used Amul fresh cream)
Freshly squeezed lemon juice - 1/2 tbsp

How I Made it:
Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into another pan, place this above the skillet. Heat the cream till you see small bubbles by the side of the cream. Keep stirring the whole time.Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see when you make paneer. It will become thicker and cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly.Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sieve with muslin cloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into this. Do not squeeze.
Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 24hours.

Use as desired.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Granola Bars | Any-time Crunchie Munchies

I haven’t tried store brought granola bars till date mainly because I am not happy with the picture covers or I am not sure on the taste of the combination of flavors. To me oats has to made into porridge, cornflakes has to be had with milk and honey has to be licked off the bottle. So it all drills down to me not buying granola bars.

When I came across this Granola bars recipe @ Sharmis passions, I had this tempting urge to make some mainly because I was in control of the recipe and secondly it seemed so simple and her pictures where so tempting… I halved her recipe as this was my first time but I am totally in love with the bars that I will be calling the original recipe next time.

Recipe adapted from Sharmis Passions
~*What U Need*~
Quick cooking oats – ½ cup
Cornflakes – 1/8 cup
Honey – ¼ cup
Butter – ½ tbsp
Sugar – ½ tbsp
Water – ½ tbsp
Vanilla essence – ¼ tsp (optional)

Nuts & Dry Fruits:
Almonds – 3 chopped finely
Walnut – 1 tbsp of broken pieces
Golden, black raisins and Dates – 1/8 cup

The combined volume of almonds, walnuts, golden and black raisins and dates should be ¼ cup

How I Made It:
Dry roast oats, cornflakes, nuts and dry fruits in a pan separately until a nutty flavor comes out. The oats should start browning slightly. Set aside
Add butter in a pan and heat till it melts. Add honey, sugar, vanilla essence and water and heat till the mixture starts bubbling up.
Now add the roasted oats, cornflakes and nuts mixture and combine well until the honey mixture evenly coats the oats-cornflakes-nuts mixture.
Keep a butter paper ready. Spread the mixture using a spoon to ¼ or ½ inch or desired thickness. Trim the sides to form a square or rectangle. Cover it with another butter paper and press them down gently.
Allow to cool for 5mins and then cut into bars. Store them in airtight container.

Serve with a cup of milk or as an any-time Crunchie Munchie !!! I am serving this as a breakfast energy bar along with a cup of milk & banana / oats porridge.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Chettinadu style Potato fry

Hubby and me are potato-holics. Anything with potato make us go yum!!! I love trying new potato recipes and if it becomes the huss's favorite then it is a definite keeper. This recipe is one like that.
The crunchiness of the dhal compliments the softness of the potatoes very well. This recipe makes a yummy side dish for tomato / lemon / tamarind rice.

~*What U Need*~
For masala
Urad dal - 4tsp
Channa dal - 2tsp
Sesame seeds - 1 tsp
Red chillies - 2
Whole peppercorns - 1/2 tsp

For frying
Oil - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Onion - 1
Potatoes - 2
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt

How I Made it:
Dry roast urad dal, channa dal, sesame seeds, red chillies and pepper corns till they change color. Cool this and grind to a coarse powder.
Boil the potatoes and cut them into chunks of desired size. Chop the onion.
Heat oil in a kadai and when hot add cumin seeds and curry leaves. Next add the onions and saute till done.
Add the boiled potatoes, turmeric powder and salt. Fry till golden brown.
Next add the ground masala. Mix well and fry for another 10 minutes and turn the stove off.

Serve hot with any rice.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Golden Baby Corn Manchurian

Baby corn is one veggie which I have been detesting right from the start. But then after a few experimenting and getting the veggie cooked right to suit my palate, I am in total love for this veggie and its crunchiness. So whenever I see fresh baby corns, I grab a packet to make baby corn masala for chapathis. The huss got bored as usual and asked for variety. So tried making baby corn manchurian and it was an instant hit.

~*What U Need*~
For Frying:
Baby corns - 1 packet
All purpose flour/Maida - 2 tbsp
Cornflour - 1 tbsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying

For Manchurian sauce:
Oil - 2 tsp
Onion - 1(Medium)
Capsicum - 1(Medium)
Green chilli sauce - 1 tbsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
Tomato sauce - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Spring onion - 1 sprig
Chopped Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp

How I Made:
Golden Baby Corns:
In a large bowl, mix maida, cornflour, ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder and salt. Add little water and bring to semi liquid consistency without any lumps. Slit the baby corns and then cut into finger size pieces. Now add the sliced baby corns and combine well so that the mixture is evenly coated
Heat oil in kadai, fry the baby corns till they are evenly golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel to absorb the excess oil

The Manchurian sauce:
Chop the onions finely. Cut the capsicum into cubes. Chop the spring onions finely.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadai. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute. Add onions and saute till they turn golden brown. Add salt and mix well.
Add cubed capsicum and fry again till the capsicum becomes crispy and cooked.
Add soy-, tomato- and chilli sauce and toss well for a minute. Now add the fried baby corns and toss until the sauce coats the baby corns evenly. Add the spring onions and toss them once or twice. Remove from flame. Garnish with coriander leaves

Serve hot as a starter for parties / evening-snack / side-dish for chapathis.

Sending this to Cooking with seeds event - corn held @ SouthIndianHome and Priya's Easy and Tasty Recipes.


So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Banana Berry Blast and awards

Its the season of fresh ripe strawberries here and the ones got at this time are bright red and beautiful even to look at. What else do you need to grab a packet or two whenever you lay eyes on them. The recent pack that I got had a few berries which were slightly on the sour side and hence I added a very ripe banana to our milkshake and the shake was a blast of flavors.

~*What U Need*~
Strawberries - 6
Ripe Banana - 1
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 tbsp
Ice cubes - 2 to 3

For garnishing
Walnuts and whole strawberries

How I made it:
Hull the strawberries. In a blender, add the hulled strawberries, banana, milk, sugar and ice cubes and blend well.

Serve garnished with walnuts and whole strawberries.

Now onto the awards shared by my sweet fellow bloggers. Thanks a ton guys.

Sonali of Only Fish recipes shared "Liebster blog" and "Versatile blogger" award




The versatile blogger and Inspirational blog award from Recipe World.



The versatile blogger award from Maha of mahaslovelyhome.

The rules for accepting this award are:
1. Add the Versatile Blogger Award.
2. Thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
3. Share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.
4. Include this set of rules.
5. Forward this award to 15 fellow bloggers, and inform them with a comment on each of their blogs.

I share these set of awards to following fellow bloggers
> Melange
> Roshu of World of Tastes
> Sobha of Good food
> Asiya of Chocolate and Chillies
> Poonam of Kande Pohe
> Faseela of Good food ends with good talk
> Preeti of Preeti's Kitchen Life
> Anjali of Spice n Sugar Tales
> Kalpana of Life with Spices
> Reshmi of Easy Cook
> Kaveri of Palakkad Chamayal
> Gayathri of G3 Food Spot
> Sravs of SravsCC
> Julie of Erivum Puliyum
> La@ Food Slice

Now onto 7 random info about me
> I am a die hard Harry Potter fan and this was one of the few things that I first shared with my huss the first time I saw him. In fact the first condition that I posted to him was to take me to every Harry Potter film first day first show.
> I love traveling and some of my must-go places are Ireland and Switzerland
> One of my wildest dreams is to attend the La Tomatino Festival @ Spain
> I was never into cooking and never did I think that it would turn into my passion let alone start an own cookblog.
> I am crazy about baking and am now mad about collecting baking pans and most important of all gotta get a good OTG.
> I like being independent and pregnancy has sent me into a dormant state but I am happy about that.
> I had never seen F.R.I.E.N.D.S till my marriage and it was the huss who introduced me to the series and now I have seen all the seasons 4 to 5 times. Bing bang theory and two and a half men also joins the list.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Uradh dhal / Ulundhu podi & Ulundhu Kali

Ulundhu kali or ulunthangali is a traditional sweet of Tamil Nadu made out of Jaggery, Gingely Oil and Black Gram. In most of the Tamil households this sweet is a must for young girls who have matured mainly because of its medicinal values, the most important being it strengthens the pelvic bones and uterus of young girls. That doesn't mean that adults shouldn't take this. It is highly recommended to women, men and children of all ages.
Have a look at the ingredients, urad dal which is rich in proteins, jaggery rich in iron and gingely oil rich in Vitamin E, what more protein-packed food do you need. My mom made it a point that I have this once every week and now I make it a point that we have this on every Saturdays.

Ulundhu podi
~*What U Need*~
Black skinned whole / split Urad dhal - 250 gms
Cardamom - 5 - 6
Chukku / dried ginger - 1/2 inch piece

How I Made it:
Dry roast the urad dhal till crunchy along with caradamom and chukku. Blend till you get a fine powder. You can give this in the mills or do it at home which takes some extra time. I usually do it at home.
Store this in air-tight containers upto 3-4 weeks.

Ulundhangkazhi
~*What U Need*~
Urad dhal powder - 1 cup
Thick Palm sugar / karupatti syrup - 3/4 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Gingely oil - 4 - 5 tbsps
Ghee - 1 tbsp

How I made it:
In a wide pan, add urad dhal powder and water and mix without any lumps. Heat this mixture in low flame along with gingely oil. After some time, you will see the mixture leaving the side of the pans. Now add the palm sugar syrup and mix well till no lumps are formed. Keep stirring and again it will start leaving the sides of the pan and the mixture will start to boil. Off the flame, add the ghee, mix well.

Serve warm. We prefer having it a bit semi-runny, but if you want you can heat it for some more time till the moisture leaves and after it cools down, form balls and serve. The kids will prefer to have these.

So thats it Folks...
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Cauliflower Masala for Dosas / Rotis & Cauliflower Masal Dosa

Be it Adyar Ananda Bhavan or Saravana Bhavan, I would order masal dosa most often. Sometimes potato masal, at times cauliflower masal and most of the times paneer masal. I had a half cauliflower lying idly in my pantry and hence tried making cauliflower masal stuffing for our dosas. It turned out to be good and the flavors complimented the dosas very well. Since it is the season of fresh peas, I threw in a handful of peas which added up to the flavor. You can serve this masala as a side dish for chapathis too.

~*What U Need*~
Cauliflower florets - 1 cup
Potato - 1
Green Peas - a handful
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Onion(large) - 1
Tomatoes(small) - 1
Green chilli - 1
Tomato ketchup - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder-1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Corriander leaves

Dosa batter - as needed
Oil / ghee

How I Made it:
Pressure cook the potato till soft (around 3 whistles), peel the skin and mash the potato. Take cauliflower florets and boil in water along with a pinch of turmeric powder and salt for 5-7 mins.
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin and fry. Add curry leaves and slit green chilli. Next add the onion and fry till the onions turn transparent. Add tomato ketchup and saute for a min. Add tomatoes and fry. Add salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder and garam masala and mix well. When the raw smell leaves, add the mashed potatoes and mix well. Now add the cauliflower florets, green peas and mix till the masala coats evenly and everything is cooked. Add chopped coriander leaves and give a mix.
This can be used as a side dish for chapathis too.

Cauliflower Masal Dosa

Heat the dosa tawa and when hot, spread a ladle of dosa batter evenly. Drizzle ghee. When crisp on one side, flip it over and cook the other side. Turn over and spoon in the cauliflower masala in the middle of the dosa. Close the dosa and serve hot with chutney and sambar.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Strawberry Yogurt Parfait... it's crunchy too

At times, I feel the sudden urge to surprise the huss with some guilt free, romantic dessert. This happens once in a blue moon since most of the times, I experiment and he becomes the guinea-pig :). As I said my urge was at its peak when I had a box of fresh strawberries at hand. Romance and ideas played through my head and I came up with this yummy parfait. I would say that it is semi guilt-free as a few tbsps of sugar has been added but if you have greek yogurt in hand you can skip this. Since it includes oats, cornflakes and nuts, you get tat crunchy nuttiness which when combined with fluffy yogurt makes you want for more.

~What U Need*~
Hung curd - 1 cup
Strawberries - 10
Rolled Oats - 5 tbsp
Crushed Cornflakes - 5 tbsp
Honey - 1 tbsp
Nuts of ur choice - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 3 tbsp + 1 tbsp

How I Made it:
Chop the strawberries into thin slices. Sprinkle 1 tbsp sugar on them. Mix well and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Powder 3 tbsp sugar, whisk this to the hung curd. Adjust sugar to taste. Refrigerate till use.
Dry roast the oats till brown and you get the nutty flavor. Add the crushed cornflakes and add honey to this. The honey will start to bubble, mix well. Cool down this mixture.
Mash the strawberries with the back of a spoon. Toast nuts of your choice and chop them coarsely.

In a tall glass, add 2 tbsp of yogurt followed by the mashed strawberry syrup and then the cornflakes-oats mixture and then the toasted nuts. Repeat till the rim of glass. Garnish with strawberry.

Serve chilled. U can even top it with some ice-cream.

Sending this to Cakes, Cookies and Desserts event held by Anjali Shukla @ Spice n Sugar Tales


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Fried Peanut balls

We have this stall @ office which is exclusively dedicated to recipes made out of peanuts and only peanuts. They have peanut patty burgers, peanut sandwiches, club sandwiches, peanut balls, peanut pav bhaaji and the list goes on. I happened to try their peanut balls for my evening snack once and I was totally disappointed with the flavor. In fact there was no flavor at all. It was just boiled peanuts mashed and fried. So I tried it at home throwing in a few spices to suit our palate and now it has become a favorite side dish for pulaos. Its crunchy with that yummy nutty flavor.

~*What U Need*~
Dried peanuts - 1 cup
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Green chilli - 1
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Corn flour - 1 tbsp

How I Made it:
Soak the peanuts overnight. Pressure cook next day for 3 whistles or till soft and cooked. Drain the water and pat dry.
Chop the green chilli finely. In a mixie, pulse the peanuts, chilli powder, fennel seeds, garam masala powder and salt twice or thrice till well-blended. Tip it into a bowl, add the green chillies and cornflour and mix well till it comes together. Pinch lemon-sized balls out of it. Deep fry till golden brown.

Serve as appetizer / side dish for pulaos.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Britannia Multigrain thins - a product review and chaat variety

We love britannia products, the common favorite being its 5 grain biscuits and digestive biscuits, the huss being a fan of their classic lite crackers and I use their digestive biscuits for all my biscuit bases. So when they came up with their new product, Multigrain thins, I was we were determined to get hold of a packet and try them. We chose the tomato and herb flavor and a bite was enough to like the product totally. They were soft, crunchy and filled with flavors but we felt that there was more salt. So the next time when I got it I tried to contradict the overpowering salt content by making a simple chaat out of it.

This comes in 3 flavors - Classic Indian Spice, Herb Tomato and Lime and Mint. We preferred the Herb tomato of the lot.
Disclaimer: This is not a paid review / company recommended review. I have posted the review out of my own interest and experiences.

So coming to the chaat that I tried out of the thins.

~*What U Need*~
Britannia Multigrain thins - 1 packet
I used Herb Tomato flavor
Onion(medium) - 1/2
Tomato(medium) - 1/2
Chopped coriander leaves - 2 tbsps
Curd - 1/4 cup
Salt, Pepper, Chaat masala - to taste
Sev / Omapodi - as needed
Chaat Green chutney & Red chutney - optional

How I Made it:
Coarsely break the multigrain thins into smaller pieces. Chop the onions and tomatoes finely. Mix the curd well with some salt.
Spread the thins on a serving plate. Sprinkle onions, tomatoes and coriander leaves on top. Sprinkle some salt, pepper and chaat masala. Pour 1-2 tbsps of curd on top followed by the sev.

Serve as evening snack. You can also add some chaat green and red chutney for an increased flavor.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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