Strawberry / Strawberry Apple Jam

Strawberry Apple Jam

While we were in US - our friends there had a share in an organic farm - and during the season would get fresh fruits and vegetables from the farm. I had visited the farm along with them during the peak berry season and we would have fun picking strawberries, blueberries, blackberries...

I think more of it went into my stomach than the basket...:-) and boy was it delish...so yummy, fresh, ripe, sweet...it's so difficult to put into words the pleasure you get while standing under the hot sun in a field amidst the beautiful greenery...and ripe trees...the smell of it all in the air...and the carefree feeling you get when with good friends...and relishing the goodness of fresh fruit...sigh.....miss you guys, A&L ......we had fun...

Nyways enuff with the meandering down memory lane...getting back to the making of strawberry jam....how did the idea come to me...well winter is strawberry season and we got a small box of it from our local fruit vendor...unfortunately they were not too sweet - in fact - you could say they were tart...making it difficult for us to really enjoy it...
So I remembered my friend L ( of the above farm ) - when she would have a surplus of the fruit she would make jam - and get those some jars to can it and store it...she had even passed on some of it to us...

And thus came the idea of using this up by making a jam...if making in large quantities and planning to store for a long time - it requires a proper process and also the canning jars - and pectin which helps in preserving it.

Since I was just making with a small quantity and also for immediate use at home - decided to go the short and easy route...

Cinnamon Cookies & the misadventures in the making...

I guess the title tells it all....but here goes the whole long tale...

Cinnamon Cookies

There was a story which we had heard when we were young, do not remember it properly - but it goes like this - a monkey ( or maybe a kid  who knows ) was given a banana - and asked to split it equally and give it to two children. 
He peeled it and broke it in half - the halves were not equal - so to make it equal - he took a bite from the bigger half...and then he saw that the other half was a bit bigger - so then he bit from that one...and so on...
You can guess how this one ends...lol !!!

My misadventures was sort of like that story - I did follow the recipe as mentioned...but somehow found that my dough was a little dry ...to counter that I added some ghee (Indian clarified butter) - and that made it too soft and moist...so added some maida ( all purpose flour) - and then felt the sweetness was less, so the final batch was rolled in some sugar/cinnamom powder. (Now I am not sure if my story matches the one above...it just somehow bought that one to my mind)

Nyways...I made a batch with every alteration - so have some 5 different varities of the cookies...with just the one dough. :-). 
See below pictures...                                                                                                                                                                                                     

All 5 varities

Different textures of the cookies

Kansar - Sheera with Fada - Broken Wheat pudding - Daliya Sweet Dish

Kansar or Fada Sheera

This month was very hectic - in terms of the no. of visitors we had - generally our home could be likened to a very sleepy village or town - but the past few weeks you could compare it to a bustling metropolis....

I guess, visitors from the fair climes prefer to come when it is a bit cool here for them (winter for us here in Mumbai) - it makes their stay more comfortable - but this year it seemed that everyone we knew - friends & relatives had come at the very same time...

While it was fun to meet up with all - and we had rollicking parties every second day [as much as our creaking bones would allow :-)] - the biggest question was what do I prepare for each one of our visitors...what are their preferences ...likes, dislikes....

Yesterday T's b-i-l was to arrive in Mumbai...so some of his favourite veggies, dhebra, etc were planned ...and for dessert, I decided to make a sheera  from fada - that is broken wheat - or daliya as it is called, the actual name for this dish is Kansar -  pronounced like kasar...I think the 'n' sound is silent...but anyways when I looked up the net - I saw it was spelled as kansar...so that is what I have put up on my title...though I prefer to think of it as fada sheera.

Ok - so coming back to this dish - I have seen while it was being made in A'bad, by our very talented cook B...and read a few different recipes for the same - but I made it slightly differently...and I think it turned out pretty good (so did T's bil ), so I decided to post the recipe.

Eggless Low-fat Chocolate Brownie....or cake...or something in middle

Now this is a sort of repeat of one of my earlier posts, but had to put it down - could have done a update - but decided that it needed it's own space :-)

How it all started...

End of last year I had discovered a low-fat brownie recipe which I liked a lot - and as I mentioned in that post - it was not a proper brownie recipe -which is supposed to have a high proportion of fat to flour ...whereas that one was more cake like - and the term low-fat brownie is sort of an oxymoron...but as I said since it was such an amazing recipe - and I added a chocolate drink powder on top to give it an icing look - and turn it into a yummy desert...I had been thrilled with the end product and with myself... :-)

Anyways so yesterday we were invited to a sort of snack fest by one of our cousins - and I was to bring brownies with me to the do...now many in my hubby's family are non egg eaters...hence the search last night for an egg less brownie...
Turned up quite a few - but none as quick and easy as the earlier mentioned "low-fat brownie recipe"....so decided to innovate and turn that into a egg less recipe...

And again am so thrilled with the recipe and the end product and myself too... that I had to put it down in a post of it's own - to celebrate the success...

Onion Bread

Onion Bread

Well, this was not the first bread that I had baked - and some of them have turned out pretty good - and some not that great ....some with yeast and some quick bread (of which banana bread is my all time fav.).

But somehow I was quite impressed with this bread that I had experimented with this morning...am not quite sure how I got around to doing this today - had not really planned it so...but sometimes I find myself just working on a new recipe without realising it...it just happens...and those are sometimes the best dishes.

This is one of them...I had earlier backed some buns with coriander, garlic & cheese stuffed in them - it was pretty good...and T and discussed that onion would be a good stuffing too...while reading up some recipes, I got this one which is not exactly a stuffing but the onions are fried ( browned ) and then mixed with the dough - so you get the flecks of it all thru - not just in the centre...
As usual I made some changes - added some garlic too (one of our favourite ingredients) - and also brushed the top with some milk and put some sesame seeds onto it...gave it a more professional look and feel.

Sabudana Kheer / Sago Pudding

Sabudana Kheer

Normally on the 1st of Jan - as a sort of celebration (New Year Day ! )  I make something sweet - or at least have been doing so for past some years now.

During a chat about what we had the previous year, and what we should make for this year, Mom came up with kheer ( which is like a sort of pudding - but without the egg )....and I got to thinking. Years ago, one of Mom's favourite kheer was the sabudana kheer...which like so many of her regular dishes was sort of forgotten as we discovered & adopted new recipes from others around. So thought let me surprise her with this kheer this year.

So as always trolling the net ( get a lot of ideas from there ) - and having some idea of how Mom used to prepare it - and having  had a fair bit of idea myself from all the different kheers that I have since prepared ...and thus armed with all the gathered intel...went about making it...
It was an eye opener - I had totally forgotten how amazing this kheer turns out - so smooth - so melt in the mouth...it can be had hot or cold ( though I prefer it cold, it becomes better the longer you keep it - say the next day... ) - the starch in the sago (sabudana) makes it yummy - that you just cannot stop at one bowl. It is like a comfort food...like a good soup...or chocolate - you get a long and lasting pleasure when you have it...

Nyways - so back to present day...why did I go down memory lane...cause we were expecting my hubby's friend to come over for lunch - and while planning the menu, and since he has a sweet tooth - decided to make this kheer (since it had been bought back to our notice this year)....
So within a span of a month I was back to boiling and reducing the milk, soaking the sabudana, frying the cashew & raisins, crushing the cardamoms....and this time managed to get a few pictures taken...so that this blog could be complete...with text & the pictorials..

Methi Dhebra / Methi Paratha / Methi Thepla

T's cousins were visiting...they had a late night flight (almost early morning ) - and I was wondering what I should make ...in case they are hungry and would like a bite...

Thought something light would be good...and hence decided on methi dhebra....traditionally dhebra is made of jowar or bajra flour....generally I stick to thepla or paratha which is made of wheat flour...

If the dhebra is made wholly of bajra - then it does not have to be rolled out - it is patted into a small circle and put on the tava to cook..

The ones I made were a mix of wheat flour, and bajra and methi leaves...so it could be rolled out into a thin circle of about 6-7 inches and then fried on the tava with oil.
It turned out real good...and this stays good for a couple of days - you could store it in the refrigerator and warm it before serving.