Mango Panna Cotta

Mango Panna Cotta

Panna Cotta is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk, sugar then mixing it with gelatin and allowing it to cool and set...it is served topped with  fruits, chocolate or chopped nuts...

Had read about this dessert and even checked out quite a few different recipes for the same...had also in my bookmarked list for an amazing looking mango panna cotta, but at that time it was not mango season here in India...and so it remained buried in my to do lists all this while....

Now the hot summer days are upon us...and mango season in full swing...this year's influx of mango has been reasonably good in terms of price and well as taste and quality...so we have all been relishing it.

T had also taken a trip to A'bad and bought back with him the most popular ras kairi, i.e. Kesar ( mango used mainly for it's pulp ). Along with Kesar kairi, his aunt also sent across leichi ( which is a paper thin roti, made in pairs then separated and folded ) - this goes very well with ras ( mango pulp ). A big thank you to G aunty....it was a delicious treat.

Well, we had a few Kesar's left and the most easy option was puri ras, but then T had some friends coming over to meet us, and I thought why not try this new recipe - though generally I am wary to try out new stuff with guests - you never know how it might turn out... right? - and then what do you do?....but then decided that with cream, milk, sugar and mango as it's main ingredients - there was not much that could go wrong...at the most it may not set properly - in that case it would be some form of ras, puddingy...thing...sort of thing...and since the taste is divine we could still eat it...

Rava Idli

Rava Idli

This is one dish which is so amazing, it is quite difficult to explain how such a simple thing can turn out to be an awesome meal....just paired (or is that trioed - if that is a word,should check that out ) with sambhar & chutney of course...

Surprisingly though we are a south Indian family (my folks ) and for us idli, dosas etc.....form quite a staple in our diet, and Mom had tried out quite a few varieties of  dosas - where as in case of the idli - we would stick to the traditional rice & udad dal variety.
In our native place ( S. Karnataka ) they would sometimes add "tadi"  or "kali" - got from the trees grown at home (coconut in our case, some also use the sap from palm tree ) - that was supposed to soften the idli by helping in the fermenting process and amp up the taste factor too...did not have access to that in B'bay so here we would rely on good old heat and keeping the batter overnight...

So nyways coming back to the rava idli, I have had it at restaurants and other friends/ relatives place, so decided to try my hand at making it too,
tried quite a few recipes from the net...and after a few failures and near successes...managed to zero in down on a basic recipe ( from Show me the curry ) with a few modifications taken from other sites.

Have made it many times since....and all who have had it have loved it - so here's the final version...

I have found it easier to make it in two stages - first is the preparation of the rava. I find that roasting rava with the dry ingredients and keeping it ready either much prior to making the dish ( or even the day before ) helps, as it needs to be cooled for the final mix before steaming.
I generally make double the quantity of the roast rava mix - and use half in my idli mix and keep the other half for another day - to be used either for rava upma or rava idli again.

Ingredients:
1) For rava roast:
     Rava - 2 cups
     Oil    - 2 Tblspns
     Chopped Cashews - 1 Tblspn
     Udad dal - 1 tspn
     Chana dal or Dalia - 1 tspn
     Dry Red Chilli  - 1 split in half
     Mustard - 1 tspn
     Pinch of asafoetida

2) For making idli mix:
     Take half of the above rava roast mix.
      Yogurt - 1/2 cup
      Water - 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup
      Green Chilli - 1
      Ginger grated - 1/2 tspn
      Salt - 1/2 tspn
      Eno Fruit salt - 1 tspn
      Grated Fresh Coconut  - 1 Tblspn
      Carrot grated - 1 medium
     


Method:

1) For rava roast :

• Take a non-stick pan, heat the oil, add mustard - wait till it splutters, then add  red chilli split, udad dal, chana dal, cashew, and fry till it changes  color a bit - then add rava and roast till it just start to change  color ( do not allow it to become brown/red ).
• Take out the rava in another dish and allow it to cool completely
• Now divide the rava into 2 portions - store one portion subsequent use - this can be refrigerated or even frozen for longer time.
• One half portion to be used for the second step - i.e making of the idlis, this makes approx 15-16 medium sized idlis...enough for 3-4 people for breakfast/snack...in case of lunch it is sufficient for 2-3 people.

2)    For the idli mix and steaming :

• Take a large mixing bowl - mix the yogurt and 1/2 cup of water thoroughly - add the grated carrot, ginger, coconut, chilli, salt and mix well.
• Then add the half portion of the rava roast mixture which was prepared and cooled earlier.
• Mix the entire batter so that there are no lumps.
• At this stage if the batter appears to be too thick add the remaining 1/4 cup of water bit by bit - the batter should be thicker than dosa batter.
• Keep the mix for about 20 minutes. The rava absorbs the water and the batter becomes a bit thicker - adjust water if required.

• Prepare the idli stand by greasing it with oil or butter.
• Prepare the idli cooker with requisite water and cover and keep on gas for heating.
• Put 1 tspn of Eno in the batter - and mix - it will froth a bit.

• Pour the idli batter into the idli trays and keep it in the idli cooker for steaming for about 15 minutes.

 

Serve hot with coconut chutney and sambhar.

 

Note : The carrot and coconut are optional - but the taste and color and texture that it imparts makes it so special and so out of this world.
You could also add some curry leaves and coriander leaves to the mix in Stage 2.

Enjoy !!!

Eggless Banana Walnut Muffins



Banana muffins

Every post ( recipe ) starts out with a long story (so say my folks)....and  there's one for this too... so here's how this goes.....

It all started with us planning to visit my hubby's cousins - for some reason or the other we have not been able to go over to their place for quite some time...we have met out ( at other's friends, relatives place & functions )....but it is not the same as just visiting them and chilling out - have chai, gupshup and generally relaxing together...

Finally we made plans to go on one Sunday ( yesterday ) as they and we were free...it happened to be Maha Shivratri also ....so while considering what to carry with me....I had to think egg less....

I had bought some bananas a few days back planning my favourite banana muffins - but then that had egg...checked the net out for a few egg less options and noticed that some bloggers used an additional banana  to replace the egg in their recipes....
So that decided it for me...
Went ahead with my favourite recipe ( which is also my first blog - and one of my first few bakes [as an adult ] ) Banana walnut muffins made a few changes to the original as follows....

Bananas 4 instead of 3
Addition of  1 tsp of vanilla essence

I found the mixture a little too dry / thick - so added a couple of spoons of milk, it is possible that the omission of egg reduced the liquid component of the original recipe...in case you find that it is not so in your case you could omit the milk.

The muffins turned out wonderfully soft and moist ( you could not make out that it was made without eggs ) it looked good and got to taste it too later.
So thought that this deserves a post of it's own....

Hubby made a cover for the box of muffins (more as a joke )- it was so artistic, so cute that I had to put it up here...(though with some changes , removed the photo and a bar code which he had put up to make it look like an item on sale)  - this  ofcourse caused our cousins to wonder whether I have started marketing  professionally....the answer to which is....no, nyet, nahi, ijji, non....in all the languages that I know and some... :-)

As for the evening with our cousins - it was really wonderful - we had such a great time - we had tea, with snacks and muffins ( which did taste good )....after tea we chatted, sitting out in their balcony which overlooks  Shivaji Park  (beautiful grounds in Dadar, Mumbai )- there was a gentle breeze blowing thru, sounds of  people playing in the park - traffic on the street below...and us reminiscing about places, people and events...

It was followed by a sumptuous dinner, which included undhiyu, puri, shrikhand, kadhi, rice - the undhiyu ( which is such a complicated dish to prepare ) was perfection itself - we relished the food....and the company...were truly sorry to say bye...

Thank you Be Ru Da ...for the lovely hospitality...we had a great time and hope it was the same for you and that you all enjoy the eggless banana muffins too...till we meet again...

Methi Tikki

It has been a very long time since I have last blogged....there has been a lot going on in our lives....and this has put me off my stride....have been meaning to get back to it for quite a while - but have found that once I am off - it is almost forgotten....weird right...considering how into it I was once...

Anyways after ages, I actually baked something...muffins with figs and cashew nuts....sounds very yum....somehow it did not turn out that good - there was some problem either with the recipe or the method - or with the usual substitutions that I tend to bring to any recipe I read...so whatever ...the end result was not truly professional ( it was ok for me and my family...)...so though we all ate & relished it up - I did not feel like I could write about it - maybe after I tweak it some more...

Then a couple of days later - a bunch of methi leaves which were sitting in my fridge and nagging me to do something...got me started in the thinking, planning, recipe reading etc...mode....
After a lot of thought decided to go ahead with the making of tikkis...had all the necessary ingredients on hand...and it had been a really long time since I had last made it...
Then had to choose between the more healthy option of baking...or the more tasty option of fried...went with the fried for this time...

Somehow during the making of this, I kept remembering my mother-in-law, an amazing cook and an avid foodie herself - even ill health ( towards the later years ) did not keep her from getting involved in the process of any special dish being prepared...
One such memory still lingers, of her removing the leaves of the methi - then after the dough was put in the dish - she supervised the amount of oil to be added and mixed it herself - and saw to the addition of the spices and leaves, left the final kneading and frying to the cook, she was so particular about how it is to be prepared....esp. if it was being prepared for her loved ones...
Though she has told me how she used to do this ...and I have prepared it too earlier as per her recipe - this time around I did not remember all the details - so looked up the net for a few different options ( will check it out later to see how it differs from m-i-l's version )...

Adai Dosa



Adai Dosa

 

 It is our anniversary today – and we have planned to go out to dinner, but I had wanted to make something different, something special at home…so decided I would make dosa the previous evening for dinner along with sambhar, potato veggie, chutney….hubby loves dosas ( I think he married a south Indian hoping he would have dosa, idli  everyday,  didn’t happen ) …...but as I said special occasion calls for special dosa…and so today it was the turn of adai dosa…....a mix of various dals (lentils) & rice …..

For a South Indian idli, dosas are normally a common affair…. at Mom’s place she would make the regular rice-udad dal dosa, or else neer dosa – which is only rice ( some make it with coconut & rice ), and she had her own concoctions when she had leftover batter – she would add rava, or maida or even egg and increase the quantity so that she had sufficient dough for another breakfast ( that was when we normally had it ) ….

In my case initially I would make only the regular dosa – rice-udad dal combo, tried neer dosa a couple of times without much success…it requires a skill to pour the batter and turn the skillet  to cover the entire pan and make a paper thin dosa – my mom’s were so amazing that we would generally coax her to make some for us.

Later I broadened my scope ( thru net, friends etc..) and tried  few other variations of dosa – one of which is already on my blog – pesarattu and the other is adai dosa. Am hoping to attempt the neer dosa one day ( hopefully with more success than my previous attempts, wish me luck )….nyways thought I should post my adai on the blog, this is one of the tastiest dosa and sometimes I feel that it can be had on it’s own ( almost )…it is that good….and here’s how I go about it…..

Oh and before I get down to the recipe let me tell you that there are many different combinations and proportions for this recipe – you could try out your combi too….so not too worry about the exact proportions….if you do not have any one dal, omit it or use more of the others…

Ingredients:

1 cup regular rice

½ cup idli rice, or you can use boiled rice

½ cup each of tuvar, moong, chana, udad dal  ( total 2 cups )

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

2-3 green chillies

A few sprigs of coriander

1 medium onion chopped ( optional )

 

Method :

1)      Soak  both rice, all dals, fenugreek seeds in sufficient water for 6-8 hrs or overnight.

2)      Chop green chillies  roughly…and add to above mixture.

3)      Grind with little water to make a fine batter. Do not add too much water initially, you can add it later if required to get dosa batter consistency.

 

4)      Keep for 6-8 hrs or overnight, the batter will ferment and rise to twice it’s quantity.

5)      Add salt to taste and chopped coriander and lightly mix it in.

6)      Take a ladle full of batter and pour onto a non-stick pan. Keep on high heat for a minute and then reduce the heat, keep covered, after a minute check if dosa is done on one side, turn the dosa over and keep for a minute on medium to low heat on the other side.



 

7)      Once done on both sides – take out and serve hot.

8)      If adding onions  - you could either put it in the batter along with coriander or after pouring the batter onto the pan you could sprinkle the onions on the top.

Enjoy !!!

The dosa was a big hit – took some over to Mom’s too…she too loved it, made some mini masala utappam with it the next day ( day of anniversary – so breakfast also was made special )…..here’s wishing my dearest hubby a very happy anniversary….and a big thank you for all the wonderful years that we have spent together.

Eggless Carrot & Apple Muffins

Eggless Carrot Apple Muffins

The rain gods have really been showing their might the past few days, this in the month of September ...is most unusual - but then this year - the monsoon has been very weird - in the months of June to August ( when it should have been at it's peak ) it hardly rained - a few short bursts of rainfall and then hot & dry the rest of the time....we were all worried for our yearly water supply, which if the lakes were not filled would be short ....well now I think that problem should be taken care of....

But all this unprecedented rains is causing a lot of gloom....we generally tend to avoid going out - due to the roads being bad ( potholes etc...) and traffic slowing down...and being at home more than a couple of weekends brings in a feeling of claustrophobia...so it was with a sigh of relief that I greeted the news that we were going to meet up with some friends this weekend....some gupshup...some chai / shai...a welcome change.

So now that was set...my mind got whirring...what do I take with me....ran through my list of cakes/ muffins....our friends would prefer something without eggs...thought of my favourite eggless chocolate cake...but having made that a couple of times recently, decided against it, thought of a carrot cake - had a great eggless recipe ( had made it once before - my sister's friends had given it a thumbs up...awarded it the no. 1 place )...so went ahead with that plan...even started with the carrots...but then while going thru the recipes I had noted with me ( on the search for the above carrot cake recipe ) ....found this carrot & apple muffins....it also had coconut ( which I was keen on )...and there the capricious mind was hooked...

Rice Chilla

When I first heard this name I was not sure what it was, how it looked, how was it made....then I realised that it was a modified version of  what we called a tomato omelet - we use to have it in restaurants ( Mom did not prepare it at home when we were kids ) -  do not know why they called it omelet ( it did not have eggs ) - was basically made from besan and served with a couple of triangles of bread.

While the tomato omelet is made of besan & onions, chillies, tomatoes...rice chilla as the name suggests has rice flour in it too...I was introduced to the above variation by my friend.

We were invited to lunch at my friend's place, they stay in the neighbouring state - it was a hour and half drive to their place ( but since it was mainly on the interstate - not really that bad a drive and quite scenic so the time really does tend to fly by)...
 
We always have a great time at my friend's place - she is part of my group of college friends and hence we have known each other a long time...there is something very comforting about meeting up with old friends...and having known her family too for as long....you feel totally at home with them...so we were looking forward to meeting them all again and since G ( my friend ) and her mom ( aunty) are great cooks, were anticipating a yum lunch.

When we arrived there, G and aunty were busy getting the lunch organised and then after most of the main dishes were all set, G started pouring out ladle full of the batter ( rice chilla ) onto the pan...and serving it to us piping hot in turns ...it was really delicious ( chilla and the entire meal ).....so had to get the recipe from her right away.

G gave me the info on the dish - but those days we were busy with winding up our stuff in US and the move back to India and settling down and other issues ....so for a while this dish was out of my mind.
Later remembered it ( sort of ) - tried to recreate it...made some changes...not sure how true to G's recipe I have managed to come to....but have gotten an amazing result...and thought let me share it....