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.