Chicken Salna / Chicken Chalna | Side dish for parottas

I have always been a big fan of parottas in any form. Be it the plain one with a simple kada salna or the jazzed up kothu parottas, I devour the whole plate when it comes to parotta. The parottas that we got in our hometown were much better than the ones that I had eaten in Chennai. Was it the method or the ingredients or the final touch that the masters gave to the parottas, I dont know but something about the parottas from Nagercoil made it stand out. Parottas were always a weekly occasion when I was a kid. And amma makes this copycat kada chalna version at home which pairs perfectly. So here's my moms version.

~*What U Need*~ Chicken - 1 lb, with bones Onion - 1, large, finely chopped Tomato - 1, medium finely chopped Ginger garlic paste - 1 1/2 tsp Curry leaves - 1 sprig Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp, finely chopped Cinnamon(1 inch), Cardamom(2), Cloves(2) Salt, Oil - 2 tbsp To roast and grind: Chilli powder - 1 tsp Coriander powder - 1 tbsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Garam masala - 1/2 tsp Chicken curry powder - 1 tsp Coconut - 1/2 cup How I Made it: In a pan, dry roast the coconut till brown, add the spice powders and roast for 2-3 mins. Cool and grind to a smooth paste. Heat oil in a pan. When hot add the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves and fry. Add the onions and fry till nicely browned. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes off. Add the tomatoes and mix well. Fry till the tomatoes are cooked. Add the cleaned chicken and cook till the chicken leaves water and is half cooked. Add the ground masala and cook adding water till the chicken is fully cooked and the curry is reduced. Simmer for another 5 mins at low till oil separates. Garnish with chopped coriander and curry leaves.

Serve hot with parotta.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Strawberry Cheesecake Icecream

Be it summer or winter icecreams are always welcome at home. Pappu loves 'iceseem' to the core. And whenever he wants a scoop he goes to the refrigerator and says "kadaa thora iceseem kudu". Thats open the door and give me icecream in our native language. Thats how much he loves his icecream. Well, I am no less. Now coming to this flavor, I love icecream, hubby loves cheesecake and pappu loves strawberries. So combining the three into an icecream for the season sounded just right.

To say that I am totally in love with this icecream is an understatement. I am mad about the flavor pairing. I steal a scoop whenever I pass by the refrigerator and I steal from the kid's share too. The icecream is creamy, slightly tangy and the itsy bitsy white chocolate graham crackers adds to the texture... 

~*What U Need*~ Strawberries - 8 oz, hulled, sliced Cream cheese - 5 oz Heavy Cream - 1 cup Lemon juice - 1/2 tbsp Sugar - 1/2 cup Strawberries - 2 oz, Hulled And Finley Diced Sugar - 1 tsp Honey Graham crackers - 3 sheets White chocolate - 1/4 cup Heavy cream - 1 tsp How I Made it: In a blender, puree the strawberries, cream cheese, cream, lemon juice, sugar and salt. Pour into a stainless bowl and place in the freezer. After 1 hour, take the container out and whisk to break all the ice crystals. Repeat this for every half an hour till the icecream is frozen. For the mix-ins: In a small bowl combine the strawberries and sugar, mix well and place in the refrigerator. Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler with the cream. Cover the graham crackers with melted chocolate and place in the freezer. Once completely frozen, chop into pieces. Before the final cycle of whisking the icecream add the strawberry and graham cracker pieces. Freeze till completely frozen...

Scoop and serve!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Crumble de coco con frutos del bosque

Ya se que soy repetitiva en ciertos postres, pero creo que la Crumble es uno de los postres más versátiles que existen, ya que se puede usar la fruta que quieras y lo puedes hacer de la forma que prefieras (bien como la típica preparación presentada en cazuela o deconstruída) Lo que debe de ser siempre es una "arenilla" que puede ser más o menos gruesa, dependiendo de lo que preferís. Y esto se consigue cuando lo hacemos, cuando lo fresamos ("frotamos" la masa con las manos) No es molido. Siempre debe de tener arenilla/ arena (crumbs) sino ya es otra cosa, un tipo galleta molida.

Este postre se hace en menos de una hora. Necesitamos muy pocos ingredientes, lo cual lo hace el postre perfecto si se presenta alguien de improvisto a cenar o comer o simplemente (como me sucede a mí) te apetece algo dulce pero no empalagoso y lo quieres ya (es una de las cosas buenas de que te guste y disfrutes cocinando)

El tema es que el crumble acepta multitud de variantes, lo único que hay que hacer es ajustar los ingredientes en función del ingrediente base que varíes. Ya os había comentado en otro post algo sobre las crumble aquí, como sabréis la básica se hace con ingredientes sencillos (harina, mantequilla, azúcar) y a partir de ahí podemos variar ingredientes que añadimos a mayores. En la fórmula siempre tiene que haber azúcar (moreno, blanca) harina (de arroz,  para celíacos, de trigo...) y mantequilla (yo he llegado a usar margarina porque no tenía tiempo para dejarla ablandar y sale bien, con menos sabor) Y los ingredientes que podemos añadir son la avena (a mí es la que más me gusta, es una receta de campo, antigua y queda deliciosa porque le aporta textura crujiente) almendra (queda muy jugoso, recomendable 100%) y coco, que es la receta que os voy a dar ahora.

¿Por qué coco? pues porque me chifla, porque me apetecía hacerme un crumble y pensé que el coco podría ir, lo que pasa es que tiene grasa y tenía miedo de que se quedara muy pesado (lo cual no fue así) y qué mejor que hacerlo con frutas del bosque, con ese toque ácido que tienen (veréis que no le pongo mucha azúcar) Y después sólo es cuestión de controlar la cocción, hay quien le gusta más dorado, otros menos. Yo también lo hago sin fruta, simplemente secándolo al horno (como un Streusel ) y lo congelo y uso para espolvorear mousse, yogur, helado, fruta...

• Simplemente dejad volar vuestra imaginación, usad las frutas que os gusten, por ejemplo con este de coco podéis poner piña, melocotón y nectarina, o piña, plátano. 
• Sólo tened cuidad que no se os pase, porque entonces sabe a quemado. Y listo. 
• Si no seguís las cantidades que os doy podéis correr el peligro de que pongáis demasiada grasa y que os quede una pasta en vez de arenas, y si pecáis de lo contrario, se quedará seco. Tiene que haber un balance. Y si se usa un ingrediente graso como el coco o almendra sabed que aportará grasa cuando se caliente al hornear, lo cual hará que el crumble quede más untuoso. Yo cuando subo una receta es que la he probado (en este caso varias veces, todos los tipos que conozco) y he ajustado los ingredientes para que salgan bien siguiendo mis direcciones. Puedo ser muy pesada con esto, pero en cocina dulce, incluso en postres tan básico y sencillos como este, debe de existir un equilibrio en los ingredientes)
• La mantequilla yo siempre la uso a temperatura ambiente. He leído muchísimas recetas y en algunas la derriten (como puede pasar también en algunas recetas de Streussel) en otras usa margarina (que yo he usado y sale bien, con poco sabor, menos sustancioso) Uséis lo que uséis lo importante es la proporción de grasa por elemento seco. Ahí está el truco para hacer un buena crumble.

Ingredientes:

140 gr de harina de trigo / de arroz (apto celíaco)

100 gr. de azúcar moreno

80 gr. de avena 

100 gr. de coco rallado seco

120 gr de mantequilla

1 c. postre de canela

1 c. postre de nuez moscada

El relleno que usé esta vez fueron frutas del bosque congeladas que espolvoreé con azúcar glass (para 500 gr de fruta unos 100 gr de azúcar) dejé que se descongelaran y procedía  cubrir con el crumble.

Preparación:

• En un bowl poned la harina tamizada, el azúcar, la aveba, el coco, las especias molidas y la mantequilla.

• Unid un poco e id frotando esta masa con las manos para formar trocitos pequeños, pequeñas arenas o como si fuera pan rallado grueso (que es lo que es un crumb)

• Colocad sobre la fruta o si lo queréis para otras cosas lo colocáis sobre un papel de hornear extendido (esto lo tendréis que ir moviendo para que se dore por todo sitios, como si tostaseis almendra molida)

• Hornear a 180ºC unos 20 minutos o hasta que veáis que el crumble coge color.

• Debe de quedar crujiente por fuera y jugoso por dentro (porque los jugos de las frutas los absorbe la masa)
•  En el caso del crumble sin nada, sacad cuando veáis que está dorado (no quemado, no oscuro, que la harina cuando se pasa coge un sabor amargo)

Basbousa / Namoura | A Middle Eastern Delicacy

This months Home Baker's challenge was held by Nupur of UK Rasoi and she selected a variety of Arabian delicacies. When I went through the recipes, I was instantly hooked to the Basbousa. In fact I have been hooked with this sweet for quite some time. I have never tried it but something about this dessert felt so rich and heavenly. I am not sure whether it is the use of dessicated coconut or the combination of almond extract and rosewater but something about this dessert seemed to touch the right spot. And just as I believed this dish is heavenly in every bite. It is best served slightly warm so feel free to zap it into the microwave for few seconds.

~*What U need*~ Fine semolina - 1/2 + 1/8 cup All purpose flour - 1/4 cup Shredded coconut - 3/4 cup(I used homemade, check notes) Milk - 1/2 cup Sugar - 6 tbsp Egg - 1/2 of an egg Almond extract - 1/2 tsp Baking powder - 1/2 tsp Butter - 4 tbsp Blanched almonds - 16 For the sugar syrup: Water - 1/2 cup Sugar - 1/2 cup Lemon juice - 1 tbsp Rose water - 1/2 tbsp How I Made it: First prepare the sugar syrup. This is because the syrup should be completely cool when pouring onto the cake. Bring the water, sugar & lemon juice to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 6 mins. Add the rosewater and simmer for another 3-4 mins. Transfer the syrup into a measuring jug and let it cool down. Lets make the cake. Mix together the semolina, flour, coconut, sugar & baking powder. Melt the butter, add the milk, egg and almond extract and mix till combined. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix well. Prepare the pan with butter. Transfer the mixture into the baking pan. Place the blanched almonds on the top. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake for 20 mins. With a buttered knife cut into pieces. Bake for another 20 mins. Once baked, retrace the cuts made with a knife. Pour the syrup over the warm Basbousa. ** My notes: ** To blanch almonds, soak the almonds in warm water for 10 mins and then peel the skin. Pat dry the almonds and use as needed. ** To make fresh dessicated coconut at home, dry roast freshly grated coconut in very low heat for 6-8 mins or till there is no water remaining when touched. Allow to cool and then blend in a coffee grinder with 1 tbsp of sugar till fine.

Serve warm!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Black Forest Cake | The Perfect One

For June's Cooking secretly challenge, I was paired with Sathya from Appetite treats, a gorgeous blog filled with awesome recipes and awesome picture. This time I was challenged with one my favorite ingredients ever ~ "Chocolate". I thought about brownies, pots de creme and even chocolate macaroons. Well, you know me and my laziness and finally ended up with merging the challenge and my huss's birthday cake. And it was chocolate all the way.

We are not big fans of buttercream and so I mostly stick to whipped cream frosting when I bake for friends and family. Also its been a long time since we had a blackforest cake, the last one being pappu's first birthday cake. After I moved to the US, I have been experimenting with other flavors and the all time classic remained untouched.

Ever since I made fondant toppers for pappu's second birthday themed cakes, the huss has been asking me to do a simple fondant topper for his forthcoming birthday cakes too. He is a big fan of race bikes, Valentino Rossi being his idol. I knew what had to go as the fondant topper, only that I had very little fondant at hand and I didn't want to make a big batch just for the sake of his cake. So instead of making a standing bike, I made this flat kinda topper. The huss totally loved it.

Prep time: 40 mins; Cooking time: 30 to 35 minus; Serves - 10-12 ~*What U Need*~ For the cake: All purpose flour - 1 3/4 cup Sugar - 2 cups Cocoa powder - 3/4 cup Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp Baking soda - 1 1/2 tsp Salt - 1 tso Eggs - 2, room temperature Whole milk - 1 cup, room temp Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup Freshly brewed coffee - 1 cup, boiling Cherry pie filling - 1 can For the whipped cream: Heavy cream - 2 cups, chilled Icing sugar - 1/2 cup Vanilla extract - 2 tsp How I Made it: Preheat the oven 350F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans. Whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer for 2 minutes. Meanwhile boil the coffee. Stir in boiling coffee. Divide batter between the two prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until thin knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Reserve 8 cherries from the can for decorating. Pour the filling onto a sieve and separate the cherries and juice. To make the whipped cream, combine the heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract and whip until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate whipped cream until ready to use. Once the cakes are cool, using a serrated knife, cut each cake into two. Place one layer on a serving platter. Using a pastry brush brush some cherry syrup on the cake. Top with about ½ to ¾ cup whipped cream, spread cherries on top of this. Repeat with remaining layers. After placing the final layer, use the remaining cream to decorate as desired. I made a chocolate lace border with some melted chocolate.

Serve chilled!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Chicken Kothu Parotta

One thing that I miss the most about Chennai is the food. Be it our simple bakery-style puffs or our newly evolved shawarmas or our authentic chettinadu cuisine everything about Chennai smells good when it comes to food. I am totally missing the hot food that we get in Namma chennai. The only option that we have here is making them at home. Be it parottas or biryanis or a simple comforting sambar saadam, all has to be done at home. Last week we had this sudden craving for kothu parottas, like the ones you get from the roadsides back in Chennai, filled with eggs and chicken. I tried replicating it at home and it was a big hit with the huss.

~*What U Need*~ Parottas - 5, shredded Onion - 1, large, chopped Tomato - 1 medium, chopped Eggs - 2 Cooked Chicken - 3/4 cup Fennel or saunf seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry leaves - 2 sprigs Green chilli - 2, chopped Chilli powder - 1 tsp Coriander powder - 2 tsp Garam masala - 1/2 tsp Chicken curry powder - 1 tsp Oil, salt How I Made it: Shred the parotta finely. Heat oil in a kadai, add the fennel seeds and allow to brown. Add onions and saute. Add the green chilli and curry leaves and fry till onions turn soft. Add the tomatoes and saute till oil separates. Move this to the side of the pan and scramble the eggs at high heat. Once scrambled, mix the egg with the onion mixture. Next add the shredded chilli chicken pieces and mix well. Add the spice powders and some water and mix till you get a masala. Set the flame to high, add the parotta pieces and keep folding till the parotta is coated with the masala and the mixture dries a bit. Remove from flame. Serve hot with onion raitha!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Fruit Trifle | Leftover recipes

I like putting together dishes from leftovers. You never know what would be the end product. You add whatever your heart tells with the mouth leading you in every step. This trifle happened just like that. I had some cake slices and about a cup of cool whip and that made me come up with this trifle. Pappu went totally gaga over the trifle when I took it for our after-dessert. He loves "staaawberry" and every bit of staaawberry on the trifle had to be his. The trifle tastes best when chilled overnight.

~*What U Need*~ Leftover cake - 1 cup Strawberries - 1/2 cup Nectarine - 1 Sugar - 2 + 2 tbsp Cook whip - 1 cup How I made it: Slice the strawberries and nectarines. Add the sugar to each and mix well. Refrigerate for 30 mins. To layer the dessert, arrange the cake slices, spoon the strawberries followed by the whipped cream. Layer the next set of cake slices. This time spoon over the nectarines. Repeat and finally spoon over the fruits.

Serve chilled!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Pork knuckles & ginger in black vinegar by Veronica Ng

Recipe link : http://mintyskitchen.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/pork-knuckles-ginger-in-black-vinegar.html

Puff Pastry Tart with Asparagus, bacon and egg by Ronnie Chan

Puff Pastry Tart with Asparagus, bacon and egg

Ingredients A
Cut 1/2 of the square sheet puff pastry (rectangle shape)
2 strips of bacon
3 asparagus spears
1 tsp olive oil
100ml milk
1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
2 tbsp gruyere cheese, grated
2 eggs

salt and pepper to taste
egg wash

Method

Preheat an oven to 200°C.

1) Cut the pastry into approximately 13 cm by 24 cm rectangle and place on a baking paper. With a knife score a border around the rectangle approximately 1.5 cm from the edge. Using a fork, prick the center area of the dough and brush only the border with the egg wash.
Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
 

2) On a baking tray place a baking paper and strips of bacon on one half and the asparagus on the other. Sprinkle asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put in oven and bake for about 10 minutes. Or it can be pan fried.

3) When you remove the asparagus and bacon from the oven, place the dough on a baking paper instead and bake for about 8 minutes. If the dough fills up with air and starts to bulge, pierce it with a fork.

4) In a heated small pot, mix the milk with the thyme. Add salt and pepper to taste. leave to cool.
 

5)When you remove the dough from the oven, press down the center with back of spoon and spread the milk mixture evenly on the center of the pastry dough, keeping the border clean. Sprinkle with cheese and then place the bacon on it. Crack the eggs onto the pastry and then place the roasted asparagus spears. Egg wash the rim again if needed. Bake until the egg whites are set and the yolks are still soft, about 8-10 minutes.

4th of July Granita | Berry & Yogurt Granitas

I had never thought of making a 4th of July dessert. But all the desserts out there had always got me hooked to the screen. So when the people from Raise.com asked me to write a blog on fourth of July desserts, I got into thinking. I wanted to make it colorful but healthy at the same time. The berries of the season came to the rescue. Raspberries and blueberries made the colors of the flag and a simple yogurt granita or Indian lassi inspired granita made for the white layer.

Raise is a new platform where you can buy gift cards to your favorite brands at a discounted price and sell your unused gift cards for cash! From Wal-Mart to Kroger, they have gift cards to meet all of your party needs. They have created a holiday inspired blog post called, “4th of July Fun,” featuring some favorite festive 4th of July recipes!

~*What U Need*~ For the raspberry granita: Raspberries - 1 cup Water - 2-3 tbsp Honey - 2 tbsp How I Made it: Clean and pat dry the raspberries. In a blender, blend raspberries, water and honey until smooth. Pass through a sieve to remove seeds. Pour into an aluminium loaf pan or a plastic airtight box. Freeze for 1 hour. Scrape with a fork, you will get flakes of ice. Return to freezer. Repeat the process every 30 mins. When there is no remaining blocks of ice, u are good to go. For the blueberry granita: Blueberries - 1 cup Water - 2-3 tbsp Honey - 2 tbsp How I Made it: Clean and pat dry the blueberries. In a blender, blend blueberries, water and honey until smooth. Pass through a sieve. Pour into an aluminium loaf pan or a plastic airtight box. Freeze for 1 hour. Scrape with a fork, you will get flakes of ice. Return to freezer. Repeat the process every 30 mins. When there is no remaining blocks of ice, u are good to go. For the yogurt granita: Greek Yogurt - 1 cup Water - 2-3 tbsp Honey - 2 tbsp How I Made it: In a blender, blend yogurt, water and honey until smooth. Pour into an aluminium loaf pan or a plastic airtight box. Freeze for 1 hour. Scrape with a fork, you will get flakes of ice. Return to freezer. Repeat the process every 30 mins. When there is no remaining blocks of ice, u are good to go.

To serve layer the granita in shot glasses as shown in pic and serve immediately. Healthy granitas are ready.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Almond cookies

Like I said before, I am still searching for recipes that incorporates nuts in some form so that my son who is a fussy eater can have his regular intake of nuts. And one such thing that I came up was this almond maaladdoos which was well received by everyone. This time I tried to make some cookies with only ground almonds. I didnt use almond flour cos then I should have made some french macarons. All I did was grind some almonds with the confectioner's sugar, sieve it once and then fold it into the whipped egg whites. The result was some crunchy and yummy almond cookies.

~*What U Need*~ Egg whites - 2 Confectioner's sugar - 1 cup Ground almonds - 3/4 cup Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup How I Made it: Pulse confectioners’ sugar and ground almonds in a food processor until combined. Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low, then add granulated sugar by tablespoon. Whisk until stiff peaks form. Sift flour mixture over whites, and fold until mixture is smooth and shiny. Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip. Pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheet. Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake 1 sheet at a time till the sides turn brown. Let cookies cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Serve with love!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!