Pumpkin Payasam

Ingredients:
Pumpkin - 1 cup
Milk - 4 cups milk

Sugar - ½ cup

Ghee - 2 tbs

Sago - ¼ cup

Almond - 2 tsp
Raisin - 2 tsp
Saffron strands - few

Preparation:

Cut the pumpkin into small pieces and pressure cook by using enough water  to cover it and leave it for a  whistle or two  and switch off.  Once the pressure is released, take the pumpkin out and remove the skin and blend it in a blender to fine puree.

Meanwhile soak sago in water for 30 to 45 minutes, wash it and keep aside. Take a pan pour milk into it and bring it to boil, add sago to it and allow it to get cooked, when it becomes translucent, add pumpkin puree and mix well, now add sugar to it and keep stirring for few minutes. When done remove from flame. Fry almond pieces & raisins in ghee and transfer to this. Garnish with saffron strands, allow it to cool and serve.

Shrimp/Prawn Biriyani

Ingredients:

For shrimp gravy:

Shrimp/ Prawns -1 lb

Onion - 2

Ginger – small piece

Garlic -  10 cloves

Green chili – 7 or 8

Cilantro - handful

Mint leaves - handful

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Red chili powder – 1 tsp

Lemon - half

Salt as required

Oil/ ghee -  3tbs

For rice:

Basmati rice – 2 cups

Water – 2 cups

Cardamom – 4
Aniseed - 3
Pepper corn - ¼ tsp

Oil/ ghee – 1tbs
Salt as required

For garnishing:

Onion - ½ cup finely sliced

Cashew - 2 tsp
Raisin - 2tsp
Saffron color -mixed in milk 3 tbs
Oil/ghee - required oil for frying onion, cashew & raisin

Preparation:

Wash the rice nicely and drain well. Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a cooking vessel and fry rice for 3 to 5 minutes. Add 4  cups of water, salt and cardamom, aniseed, peppercorn and cook it covered till it is done.
Fry onion, cashew, raisins in ghee/oil and keep aside.

Wash & clean the shrimp nicely & marinate with turmeric, red chili powder, salt & lemon juice for 30 minutes. Heat oil in a pan and fry shrimp and keep aside. Do not deep dry. In the same pan, add sliced onion and saute it, until it starts changing its color,then add ginger, garlic paste & crushed green chili and saute until raw smell goes away.  Now add turmeric, red chili, garam masala,  chopped cilantro & mint leaves, salt & mix well. Then add the fried  shrimp and allow it get cooked on low flame until thick  gravy is formed.

Now take a baking dish, grease with some ghee, spread a layer of rice in the bottom and then shrimp gravy on the top, followed by fried onion. Repeat layering rice, gravy and fried onion. Finally garnish with fried onions, raisins and cashew nuts. Sprinkle saffron color and cover it with an aluminum foil. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees and bake this for 10 minutes.

Yummy biriyani is ready to server........ Serve with raita and pickle

   

Mango Kesari - Baked version

Ingredients:
Semolina/Sooji/ Rava - 1 cup
Mango pulp - 1 cup
Sugar - 1cup
Butter - 1stick

Ghee - ½ tsp

Raisin - few
Almond/ Cashew - few

Preparation:

Take a pan, add ghee and roast semolina on low flame until nice aroma comes. Switch of the flame and keep aside. In the same pan, add mango pulp, sugar and butter and mix well.  Take a baking pan and grease it, transfer the mixed ingredients into the baking pan and bake it at 350 degree for 35 to 40  minutes. Remove from oven and allow it to cool. Garnish with raisins and almond.

Then  mix it well and serve. You can also cut into any desired shapes (square or diamond). I prefer like this.

Apple Chammanthi/Chutney

Ingredients:
Apple (Green apple) - 1
Coconut - ½  cup grated
Curry leaves -1 or 2 leaves ( do not use more)

Dry red chili -  1 or 2
Shallot - 2  (this is optional)          

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Peel the skin of the apple and cut into small pieces. Coarsely grind apple, grated coconut, shallot, red chili & salt in a blender, do not add water, if required just sprinkle little water and grind.  In the end add curry leaves and pulse it for few seconds, Mix well and serve with rice or dosa.

Shrimp Fry (Simple & Easy way)

Ingredients:
Shrimp - 25 to 30 no's (large)

Coconut - ½ cup (grated)

Curry leaves - few

Red chili powder - ½ tsp

Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp

Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbs

Preparation:

Marinate shrimp with turmeric, red chili powder, salt  & 1tbs oil for 15 to 20 minutes. Heat a pan/kadai by adding remaining 1 tbs oil, add the marinated shrimp to it and fry, when it is half done add grated coconut and mix well, followed by curry leaves and fry for few more minutes. When its done remove and serve with rice.

Rosemilk Shake

Ingredients:
Milk - 2 cups
Rose milk essence - 2 tbs (i used rooh-afza)
Rose water -  few drops
Vanilla Ice cream - 1 or 2 scoop
Ice cubes - 3

Preparation:

Blend  milk, rosemilk essence, rose water, 1 scoop of ice cream and ice cubes  in a blender. Then pour in a glass  &  add the remaining scoop of ice cream & serve..

Orange & Lemon Rasam

Ingredients:

Toor dal – ¼ cup

Tomato - 1

Green chili - 2

Ginger – a small piece

Orange juice (fresh) – ½ cup

Lemon juice – 1tbs

Rasam powder – 1 ½ tsp

Cilantro - handful

Asafetida – 1pinch or 2

Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp

Cumin – ¼ tsp

Salt to taste

Ghee – 1 ½ tbs

Preparation:

Pressure cook toor dal until soft and mash it well. Take a cooking bowl add 1 tbs ghee, followed by asafetida, chopped tomatoes, green chilli & ginger and saute for a minute, then add turmeric powder, rasam powder & pour some water and boil it . Simmer and boil for 15 to 20 minutes. Add the pressure cooked water from toor dal to it. Do not boil rasam too much as it will loose its taste, when froth starts forming at the top add  orange & lemon juice to the rasam and switch it off. Heat ½ tbs  of ghee and season the rasam with mustard & cumin seeds. Garnish with cilantro.

Serve with steamed rice. Enjoy the sweet & sour rasam

Almond Chutney

Ingredients:
Almond - ½ cup whole
Coconut - ½ cup grated
Green chili - 3 to 4
Curry leaves - 1 twig
Mustard -  ¼ tsp
Urad dal - ¼ tsp
Oil 1 tbs
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Soak the almonds in warm water  for 30 mins or soak it overnight and peel the skin. Put the almonds, ,green chilies  and salt in a blender  & grind it to  fine smooth paste. Heat oil in a pan and do the tempering with mustard, urad and curry leaves. Add it to the chutney and mix it well.

Serve with idli/ dosa.

Dates Banana Milkshake

Ingredients:

Dates – 10 no’s

Banana – ½  of small banana

Milk – 1 ½ cup

Vanilla ice cream – 1 cup

Preparation:

Deseed the dates if needed and  blend all the ingredients together.  Pour into tall glasses , garnish with some chopped dates and serve immediately.

Chicken/Kozhi Mappas

Source: From recipe book

Ingredients:

Chicken .- 1kg

Onion - 2nos  medium size (chopped)

Tomato - 1small

Green chillies - 2 no's

Ginger - ½ sliced

Garlic - 3 cloves (sliced)

Coconut milk - ½ cup

Coriander powder - 3 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1 ½ tsp

Turmeric powder - ½ tsp

Black pepper - 1tsp (crushed)

Cinnamon stick - 1 crushed

Coconut oil  - 2tbsp

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Curry leaves - 2 springs

salt to taste

Preparation:

Soak the chilli, coriander and turmeric powders together in a little water, use just enough water to soak. Heat oil & ghee together, saute the curry leaves onions, garlic, ginger & green chillies. Add the soaked & crushed spices and fry one minute. Add the tomato & cook a few minutes. Finally put the chicken pieces with salt to taste, stir well and cook covered medium flame. Stir occasionally. If the liquid dries out too early, pour a little boiling water and mix well. Cook till tender, pour the coconut milk. simmer over low flame for five minutes.  Remove from heat.

Serve with steamed rice.

Masala stuffed idli

Ingredients:
Idli batter
Potato stuffing

For Idli batter
Rice 2 cups
Urad dal -1/2 cup

Wash rice & urad dal nicely and soak it for eight hours and grind it.  Mix batter well and allow it to  ferment  overnight.

For stuffing
Potato - 2 to 3 medium sized
Onion - 1 small (finely chopped)
Green peas - ¼ cup

Turmeric powder - ¼ tps

Red chili powder - ½ tsp

Coriander powder -  2 tsp
Garam masala -  ¼ tps (Optional)
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Boil the potatoes, peel and mash the potatoes and keep it aside.  Add chopped  onions and fry until they change its  color.   Add boiled fresh or frozen peas and fry well.   Add turmeric, red chili powder, salt and mashed potato into it  and give a nice stir and cook it for few minutes.   Add coriander to it and mix properly and keep it aside to cool down.   Make small  sized balls out of the mixture and flatten them and keep aside.

Grease the idli plates with oil and fill it with idli batter until half full. Add one tbs of the prepared stuffing and then add some more batter on top.   Steam cook for 10 minutes or until its cooked nicely.

Serve with chutmey.

Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

For cake

All purpose flour – 2 cups

Egg – 4 no’s

Butter –  1 ½ stick

Sugar – 1 ½ cup

Milk – ¼ cup

Baking powder – 2 tsp

Salt – a pinch

Oil – 1tsp

Essence – 1 tsp

For Topping

Butter - 1 stick, melted

Brown sugar - 1 cup

Walnut - ¼ cup chopped

Cinnamon powder -1 ½

Flour - ¾ cup

For filling:
Brown sugar -¾ cup
Cinnamon powder - 1 tbs

Preparation:

In small mixing bowl, combine all topping ingredients. Blend  nicely  with fork or hand until crumbly and keep  aside.

Take a large bowl add butter and sugar into it and beat till smooth with cake mixer. Then add eggs and beat until fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla essence & milk. Blend all the ingredients to get a smooth batter. 

Pour half of the batter into a greased and floured baking pan. Sprinkle the filling evenly  on top of the batter.  Then spread the remaining batter on top the filling.

 Sprinkle topping crumbs  mixture evenly over batter.

                                     (My son helped me to sprinkle the  filling & topping)
 
Bake at 375°  for 30 minutes or until cake is  done. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool. Cut into square shapes and serve.