Tender coconut Pudding( ഇളനീര്‍ പുഡഡിംഗ് )

This is a classic Kerala recipe from the 1970s to which I have added little.  Many of your moms (from Kerala) may already have  their favourite version of this coconut pudding recipe. 

This was one of the easy, go-to desserts of those times. The reason may be because all of us had coconut trees in abundance in every house. Even today people have all the means of getting tender coconuts very quickly, and so this could be called ones of the quickest and easiest to make, if you have a couple of hours (for the pudding to set).

I became a fan of this pudding when I went to India this year and my Mother-in-law made it for me. I made it myself again, and here's how:

Difficulty level: Easy

Preparation time: 10 min

Cooking time: 15 min

Setting time: 3-4 hrs

Ingredients:

Tender coconut water: 2 cups

Flesh of tender coconut: of 1 coconut, about 1 1/2 cups

Milk: 1 1/4 cups

Sweetened coconut milk: 200 gms

Agar-agar: 5 gms, dissolved in 1/2 cup water

Sugar: 3 tbsp

For Garnish: 

Shredded coconut: 3/4 cups

Sugar: 4 tbsp

In a thick-bottom saucepan, heat the tender coconut water, milk, sugar, sweetened condensed milk until luke-warm. In the meantime, in another bowl, double-boil the agar-agar until completely melted. Add the melted agar-agar to the milk mixture and mix well and keep stirring for 1 minute. 

Remove from fire and add the flesh of the tender coconut, mix well. Pour into a pudding dish and allow to set. 

To prepare the garnish, heat the shredded coconut and sugar until the sugar has caramelised and the coconut is brown and crispy. Allow to cool slightly. 

After the pudding is about 75% set (about 1 hr), sprinkle the garnish according to your liking. Allow to set completely.

Dig in!!!!!

Chilli Baby Corn

It has been a year since I started this blog. How time flies. I want to thank you all for your support and well wishes and hope I can continue to count on it in the future.

Most people would choose a sweet dish to celebrate an anniversary, but given that I like savory dishes more, I decided to go with that.


Difficulty level: Easy
Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 30 min
Makes: 2 servings

Ingredients:


Baby corn : about 150 gms (20 numbers), cut in half width-wise

For the batter:
Corn flour(corn starch): 1/4 cup
All-purpose flour: 1/4 cup
Soy sauce: 1 tbsp
Salt: to taste, if needed (soy sauce already has salt, so keep that in mind)
Oil: for deep-frying
Water

For the gravy:
Oil: 1 tbsp
Ginger: 1" cube, cut into long thin strips
Garlic: 2 big cloves, cut into long thin strips
Bell peppers/ capsicum: 1/4 cup, chopped into about the same size as baby corn
Soy sauce: 1 tbsp
Green onions/ spring onions: 1/4cup, chopped
Red chilli paste: 1 1/2 tbsp
Sugar: 1/2 tsp
Corn flour/ corn starch: 1 1/2 tbsp, mixed with 3 tbsp water (making sure there are no lumps)
Salt: to taste

Heat oil in a skillet. In the meantime, mix the ingredients for the batter with enough water to make a slightly thick batter. Drop the cut baby corn pieces and mix to coat. Deep fry until light golden brown. Drain onto platter lined with paper towel. Keep aside.

In a skillet, heat the oil and saute the ginger and garlic slices. Once it starts to turn colour, add the bell pepper pieces and saute for a minute. Add the sauces and saute for another minute. Add the corn flour syrup and allow to boil. Add the sugar and fried baby corn. Mix well. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes, until it gets to desired consistency. Add the green onions and remove from fire. Serve immediately topped with more spring onions. Perfect as an appetizer for any gathering. Dig in!!!!

Soy chunks Kabab

I have expressed my love for Soy Chunks elsewhere on this blog. I thought I should experiment  bit further and see if I could use Soy Chunks to fill, what I feel, is a gaping hole in the options available for vegetarians in the area of Kebabs and grilled food. How many times can you eat Paneer anyway?!


Difficulty level: Medium
Preparation time: 20-30 min+ 30 min for marinating
Cooking time: 15-20 min
Makes: 7 kababs

Ingredients:


Soy chunks: 1 1/2 cup, boiled in salted water (as per the usual package instructions)
Onion: 1/2 of a medium, coarsely chopped
Green chillies: 1-2 nos.
Curry leaves: 1 sprig (optional)
Chicken masala powder: 2 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder: 1/4 tsp
Cumin, whole: 1/2 tsp
Lime juice: 1/2 tsp
Salt: to taste
Cooking oil : a few sprays, to coat the pan
Wooden skewers, baking tray lined with aluminium foil

Make a fine paste with all ingredients, except for the cooking oil, in a mixer. Keep in mind that the soy chunks are already salted and add additional salt as needed.

The mixture should be enough for 7 thick kababs. I like to use all the space on the skewers other than for holding,without burning my hands.

Have a baking tray (or something similar), lined and ready to arrange the skewers. Take a ball from the mixture and press onto a skewer, so as to spread it uniformly all around. Keep it onto the lined tray. Repeat for the rest of the mixture. Refrigerate the tray for at least 30 min.

Heat the grill pan (or any other flat skillet will work just fine too) and apply a few sprays of the cooking oil. You can alternatively drizzle some oil and work it around for a uniform coating. Arrange the skewers and allow to cook on a medium flame for 5-7 min on each side. Turn, and do the same with the rest of the sides to get a uniform char.

This can be served as an appetizer or entree (goes with chapathi or nan or any other bread), with cilantro chutney.

Peppermint Bark

I first made this in 2006. Ever since, this has become like a tradition during the holidays. It is an easy way to make the holidays more festive. This recipe is from Ms.Paula Deen of Food Network.

Difficulty level: Easy
Preparation time: 5 min
Cooking time: 10 min
Inactive/ setting time: 45 min
Makes: 2 lbs. of candy

Ingredients:


White chocolate: 2 lbs.(about 1 kg.)
Candy canes, crushed: 1- 1 1/4 cups
Peppermint extract(optional)

Place candy canes in a plastic bag and hammer into 1/4-inch chunks or smaller. Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler. Combine candy cane chunks with chocolate (add peppermint flavouring at this point, if desired). Pour mixture onto a cookie sheet layered with parchment or wax paper and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes until firm. Remove from cookie sheet and break into pieces (like peanut brittle).

Ginger-bread man

Ever since I read the book on the Ginger-bread man to my son, he has wanted me to make them at home. So, I decided to make him some, with his help to prep. Also, he cut out the men all by himself(with the cutter, of course). What better time to make it other than for the Holidays? This recipe is from www.simplyrecipes.com. 

Difficulty level: Intermediate

Preparation time: 15 min

Cooking time: 8- 10 min/ batch

Makes: 16 (5-inch long) cookies

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour: 3 1/4cups, sifted

Baking soda: 3/4 tsp

Unsalted butter: 3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks), room temperature/ softened

Dark brown sugar: 1/2 cup, packed

Ground ginger: 1 tbsp

Ground cinnamon: 1 tbsp

Ground cloves: 1/2 tsp

Ground nutmeg: 1/2 tsp

Black pepper: 1/4 tsp, finely ground

Salt: 1/2 tsp

Egg: 1, large

Unsulfered molasses: 1/2 cup

Raisins, chocolate chips, candy pieces: optional

For the Royal Icing: 

Egg white: 1

Lemon juice: 1/2 tsp

Confectioner's sugar: 1 3/4 cup

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and spices. Set aside.

In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in eggs and molasses. Gradually add the flour mixture; combine on low speed. (You may need to work it with your hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.) Divide dough in thirds; wrap each in plastic. Chill for atleast 1 hr, or overnight. Before rolling out, let sit at room temperature for 5- 10 min. If after refrigerating the dough feels too soft to roll out, work in a little more flour. 

Heat oven to 350 degree F. Place a dough third on a large piece of lightly floured parchment paper or wax paper. Using a rolling pin, roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate again for 5- 10 min to make it easier to cut out the cookies. Use either a cookie cutter or place a stencil over the dough and use a knife to cut into desired shapes. Press raisins, chocolate chips or candy pieces in the center of each cookie, if desired for "buttons". 

Transfer to ungreased baking sheets. Bake until crisp, but not darkened, 8 to 10 min. Remove from oven.  Let sit a few minutes and then use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired. 

To make Royal Icing:

The traditional way to make Royal Icing is to beat egg whites and lemon juice together, adding the powdered sugar until the mixture holds stiff peaks. With modern concerns about salmonella from raw eggs,you can either use powdered egg whites or heat the egg whites first to kill any bacteria. With the heating method, mix the egg white and lemon juice with a third of the sugar, hat in a microwave until the mixture's temperature is 160 deg F. Then remove from microwave, and beat in the remaining sugar until stiff peaks form. Using the powdered egg whites method, combine 1 tbsp egg white powder with 2 tbsp water. Proceed as you would otherwise. (Raw egg white alternatives from the 2006 Joy of Cooking)

If the icing is too runny, add more powdered sugar until you get the desired consistency. Fill a piping bag with the icing to pipe out into different shapes(or use a plastic sandwich bag, with the tip of one corner of the bag cut off). Keep the icing covered while you work with it or it will dry out.

Oven-roasted full chicken ( നിര്‍ത്തിപോരിച്ച കോഴി)

Thanksgiving usually calls for a Roast Turkey. But we decided to switch the bird and add a few Indian flavours.

Difficulty level: Difficult
Preparation time: 15 min + 12 - 14 hrs for marination
Cooking/ roasting time: 1 hr. 45 min
Makes: 1 full chicken

Ingredients:


Chicken: 1 whole, (about  4 lbs.)
Lime juice: 2 1/2 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder: 4 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Meat masala: 2 tbsp
Ginger-garlic paste: 1 tbsp
Cumin powder: 1 tsp
Oil: 1 tbsp
Onion: 2, cut into thick pieces
Salt: to taste
Water
Kitchen twine

Clean the chicken well (taking care to remove the niblets and anything unwanted in there) and remove the skin completely. Clean well again, and massage the lime juice uniformly over the chicken. Keep aside.

In the meantime, make a paste of chilli powder, turmeric powder, meat masala, ginger-garlic paste, cumin powder and salt, adding oil and enough water.

Apply the masala paste uniformly over the chicken, taking care to get it all over the bird(even inside). Refrigerate overnight, or 12- 14 hrs.

Allow the chicken to rest at room temperature for at least 2-3 hrs. Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.

In a roasting pan, spread a thick layer of the onions and lay the full chicken on top,taking care to tie the legs securely with the kitchen twine. Roast it for 1 hr. 45 min. to 1 hr. 55 min - depending on your oven. What you should be looking for is an internal temperature of more than 165 F( make sure you insert the thermometer into the thigh, without touching the thigh bone).

Remember to cut off the twine. You can carve it and serve warm.

The chicken, before it went into the oven

Quick Roasted Paneer Kababs

A few days ago, my son asked me if he could eat Paneer for dinner. I came up with this recipe for him. It is quick and not too spicy.

You can definitely add more heat to the dish to please your individual palette.

Difficulty level: Easy
Preparation time: 5 min + 30 min. for marinating
Cooking time: 10-15 min
Makes: 4-5 servings

Ingredients:


Paneer: 200 gms, cut into-bite sized pieces
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder: 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp
Egg masala powder: 1 tsp
Oil: 1 tsp + 1 tbsp
Salt: to taste

In a bowl, mix all the spices with 1 tsp oil and enough salt. Combine well to get the spices uniformly distributed. Add the paneer pieces and mix everything together well with your fingers. Keep aside for atleast 30 min.

In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil on a high flame. Add the paneer, all at once, and reduce the flame. Cook the paneer on every side, turning every 2-3 minutes.

Serve warm with mint or coriander chutney.