Mango Pachadi / Maanga Pachadi

Mango pachadi is my fav, esp with curd rice....the combination is so so tasty. This is the method amma follows, so the recipe is from her.The tanginess in the mangoes, sweetness from the jaggery, the spiceness from the chillies...all blended together...yummmm!!

Maanga Pachadi Recipe:

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• Raw mango - 1 medium sized
• Jaggery - 1/2 cup
• Salt - as required
• Rice flour - 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

To Temper:

• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Urad dal - 1 tsp
• Green chilliies - 2 slitted into half
• Curry leaves - few
• Hing(perungayam) - a pinch
• Oil - 2 tsp

Method:

1. Wash the mangoes and chop them into small cubes roughly, keep aside.
2. In a pressure cooker add the mangoes and water till mangoes immersing level and pressure cook mango with salt and turmeric powder until soft.
3. By now the mango must have turned mushy, add powdered jaggery mix well in low flame. Then add 1/4 cup water and allow it to boil till it becomes jam consistency.Add required salt and 1 tbsp of rice flour to make it thick.
4. Meanwhile in a pan heat oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal allow it to splutter. Add greenchillies and curry leaves, saute for a minute. Add hing, give a quick stir.
5. Then add the tempered items to the mango mixture. Give a quick stir and switch off.

My Notes:

• Adding rice flour will thicken the mixture. So adjust the quantity of rice flour accordingly.
• We add the mango pieces as such in the pachadi. You can peel the skin and slice the pieces too and make it totally like a jam
• This will surely keep well for 2 days when refrigerated.
• Do not add more rice flour , it will change the taste of the pachadi.

This is more like jam so luv it with bread and chapathis too. But the ultimate combination is with curd rice, try once and see and am sure you will thank me for it :)

You can skip rice flour if your pachadi is thick enough. I have seen few adding coconut paste too, it will sure give a rich taste but the shell life is less.

Choose a mango that is slightly ripe, which is apt for this pachadi. The color of the pachadi totally depends on the amount of turmeric powder and the jaggery variety.

Oats Appam | Oats Recipes

I've to mention, my cousin is one of the supporters for this space. She gives me tips, suggestions and pings me whenever she comes across any new recipes. Few months back, on our usual phone chat sessions, she mentioned about the wheat flour appam and the idea of using of paniyaram pan. She also suggested me to try oats combination with it, I did and totally loved the taste. What more is needed to tempt me when the recipe has oats :) I tried with a pack of saffola oats and it worked like a charm.

Oats Appam Recipe:

Makes around 15-20 appams

Ingredients:

• Oats - 3/4 cup
• Wheat flour - 1/4 cup
• Banana - 1 small
• Cooking soda - a pinch
• Rice flour - 1 tbsp
• Jaggery powdered - 1/2 cup
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Coconut - 1 tbsp
• Elachi powdered - 1 tsp (optional)
• Oil - as required

Method:

1. Dry roast oats until color changes slightly and a nice aroma comes. Cool down and grind it to a fine powder.
2. Mix oats powder with wheat flour, add water, jaggery, cooking soda and rice flour. Mix well.
3. Smash the banana and add it along with grated coconut. Add powdered elachi and mix well until a batter of the below shown consistency is formed.
4. Take a paniyaram pan add little oil in each hole. Fill each hole with 3/4th of the batter. Allow it cook, then turn over and cook on both the sides. Serve hot.

My Notes:

• I didnt use banana but it is preffered as it gives the appam a nice soft and fluffy texture.
• You can replace oats with wheat flour and make it as regular gothumai appam.
• Usually appams are deep fried, but I wanted to make a low calorie version so added oats and roasted them in paniyaram pan. You can alternatively deep fry them too.
• Adjust water according to the consistency of the batter. If the batter tends to thicken in between then add little more water.

This is sure an alternative to the usual oats recipes, quick to make and filling for breakfast or teatime snack.Oats has a lot of health benefits so try to include it your daily diet. I love oats in any form right the oats porridge to the granola bars. I recently tried even a fudge brownie with it, which I'll be posting soon :)

Sambar Powder (Sambar podi)

I am sure everyone has their own version of making sambar powder at home. This is from my mothers handwritten book. As I've mentioned already, ammas sambar and biriyani is always a hit among our relatives and friends. So thought I should have her sambar powder recipe with measurements here.

Mittu just loves sambar esp ammas sambar be it for idlys or dosas she would literally drink it with a spoon :) For her sake, sambar is on our menu at least thrice a week.

Homemade Sambar Powder Recipe:

Ingredients:

• Coriander seeds – 1.5 cups
• Red chillies – 4 cups
• Fenugreek seeds – 1 tbsp
• Toor dal – 1/4 cup
• Channa dal – 1/4 cup
• Pepper corns – 1/8 cup
• Jeera – 1/8 cup
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tbsp
• Hing(Perungayam) - a generous pinch (optional)

Method:

1. Dry roast all the ingredients until golden brown separately until it gives a nice aroma.
2. Allow it to cool completely, dry grind it together to a fine powder.
3. Cool it down for few mins then store in airtight container.

My Notes:

• Adjust red chillies according to your spice level 4cups can be increased to 5 cups if you prefer a little spicy.
• Adding hing is purely optional but sure enhances the flavor.

Jelly Custard and Jelly Milkshake | Jelly Dessert Ideas

I am always bowled out when I see jelly by its shaky and glossy look. But I am not fond of having jellies as such so googled and founds these 2 easy jelly dessert ideas. The first time I tried to set jelly , it didnt set at all.So making jelly was like a dream to me though its a simple process. The next time when I tried to set jelly for this jelly custard, it came out perfect. See 'my notes' for tips to get perfectly set jelly.

Jelly Custard Recipe:

Makes 3 mini glasses

Ingredients:

• Strawberry jelly - 1 packet (the whole packet will not be used for jelly custard use the remaining for the given dessert ideas or enjoy the jellies as such :))
• Milk - 2 cups
• Custard powder - 2 tbsp
• Sugar - 4 tbsp

Method:

1. Prepare jelly according to the pack instructions,(but always use little less water than mentioned in the pack)If the pack says to add 500ml of water use only 400ml of water to make sure the jelly sets well.
2. Now pour it into 3 medium sized glasses, exactly to half of the glasses and refrigerate it for an hour or two.Pour the remaining jelly in molds, cups and refrigerate them.
3. Meanwhile you can prepare the custard. Take 1/2 cup milk, mix it with custard powder and sugar without any lumps until sugar dissolves completely, keep aside.
4. Heat the remaining milk in a pan, when it starts boiling add the milk custard powder sugar mixture.Keep mixing continuously to avoid forming lumps.Mix well once the mixture is thickened (when you pour it should not be runny) switch off.
5. Allow it to cool for 10mins(When cooling the mixture thickenes further so switch off accordingly)
6. Then fill the remaining half of the glass with this mixture. Refrigerate for 30mins, garnish with nuts/cherries and serve chilled.

My Notes:

• Make sure you use little less quantity of water then mentioned in the pack. Else your jelly will not get set easily.
• I used strawberry flavour , you can use any flavour of your choice.
• Dont try to half the jelly packet, the jellys will not set. So use the full packet, form jellies and then store them refrigerated.
• I tried to click the consistency of the custard, by then the custard got thickened so be very careful and keep stirring till the custard reaches the desired consistency.

The remaining jelly poured in molds, cups can be demoulded easily and stored refrigerated for about 10days. You can either eat them as such or serve them with any chilled dessert or a scoop of icecream.

Jelly Milkshake Recipe:

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

• Jelly - 3 tbsp
• Milk - 2 cups
• Sugar - 3 tsp

Method:

Pulse the milk with jelly and sugar to form a thick and creamy shake. Serve chilled.

The granular texture of the jellies in the milkshake is the yummiest. My little one loved the jelly as such and I luved it in the form of milkshake . So our jellies were over in about a weeks time :)

There are many flavours available in weikfield brand : strawberry, cherry, mango, lime, pineapple, orange etc so pick your choice from them.

Masala Biscuits / Khara Biscuits (Savoury Crackers)

Masala biscuits were on my to do list since long. I had almost bookmarked 4-5 recipes but finally went ahead with this one for the main reason that this recipe called for less butter :) when compared to others.

Masala Biscuits Recipe:

Recipe Source : Nammaruchi

Makes 30-35 small square sized biscuits

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour (Maida) - 1 cup (150 gms)
• Butter - 4 tbsp
• Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
• Curry leaves - 1 tbsp torn into pieces (optional)
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp chopped finely
• Green chillies - 2 chopped finely
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp
• Milk - 4 tbsp (Adjust according to the consistency of the dough)

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, add flour with butter (at room temperature) , rub it gently until it resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Now add salt,sugar, curryleaves, corinader leaves, sesame seeds, green chillies and milk. Knead it to a stiff dough closely like a chapathi dough.
3. Flour the surface and roll the dough thin of about 1/4 inch thickensss.Cut with cookie cutter with desired shapes. I used the cutter at the back of the spoon with design and cut into small squares.
4. Collect the scraps and repeat the process until you are done with the entire dough.Prick the biscuits with fork to avoid puffing up.
5. Preheat the oven at 180 deg C for 10mins. Meanwhile arrange the biscuits in a baking tray with butter paper.
6. Bake the biscuits for about 15-20 mins. Keep an eye after 15mins.Once taken out of the oven, the biscuits are soft, when cooled down they become crispy.

My Notes :

• You can add mint leaves too for the extra flavour.
• Dont estimate the biscuits soon after they are taken from the oven and overbake it. I tell you, they are soft when hot...once cooled down they are crispy. If you overbake the biscuits they will be hard.
• Increase the green chillies according to your spice level.
• These are perfect to go for teatime
• The more thin you roll out the crispier the cookies will come
• Store in airtight container and it keeps well for about a week
• You can replace butter with oil, but adjust milk accordingly to make a stiff dough
• Ajwain / omam or jeera can also be added.

The aroma that comes when the biscuits are baked is absolutely heavenly. This recipe can be tweaked to make the normal salt and sweet biscuits as in the orginal recipe which I've tried too. These masala biscuits are highly addictive and you cant stop with one or two :)

I got around 30-35 small square crackers. The quantity totally depends on the size of the crackers. The orginal recipe is for ajwain/omam biscuits which I used as a base for my masala biscuits and they turned out super good.

Cauliflower dry curry

This curry is very simple but flavourful one. So next to gobi manchurian this is my favourite with cauliflower.

Cauliflower dry curry Recipe :

Recipe Source : Ammas cookbook

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower - 1 medium sized
• Onion - 1 big
• Chilly powder - 1 tsp
• Garam masala powder - a pinch (optional)
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Sambar powder - 1/2 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp
• Turmeric - a generous pinch
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
• Salt - to taste

To temper:

• Mustard seeds -1 tsp
• Cumin seeds(Jeera) - 1 tsp
• Oil - 2 tsp

Method:

1. Cut cauliflower florets into bite size pieces and boil it in water with salt and turmeric powder until soft but still firm enough.
2. Heat a pan with oil add mustard and cumin seeds, allow it to splutter.Add ginger garlic paste, onion and fry till transparent.
3. Now add red chilly powder, sambar powder,coriander powder, garam masala powder and salt to taste.
4. Add cauliflower at this stage, mix well with the gravy.Keeping in low flame sprinkle little water less than 1/4 cup and cook covered for 5 minutes in low flame.
5. Turn over in between to avoid burning. After 5mins the water must have dried up. Mix once, Garnish with coriander leaves and switch off.

My Notes:

• You can add tomatoes while frying onions, though I didnt add it.
• Garam masala powder is purely optional, but I like the flavour so added it :)

This is a simple curry which goes well with sambar and curd rice.

Pasta in white sauce

I can never forget the first time I tried this. I saw this recipe at the back of the pasta wrapper but it was a baking recipe. I was about to start baking and the current went off so went ahead with this recipe and now this has been regular in our weekend menu whenever pasta is in stock.I have made a tomato based pasta but still this is hubbys favourite.

Pasta in white sauce Recipe:

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Pasta - 1 cup
• Carrot - 1 chopped lengthwise
• Onion - 1 chopped finely
• Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Chilli flakes - 1/2 tsp
• Seasoning - 1 tsp (optional) - I used the seasoning sachet that comes with pizza
• Olive oil - 1 tbsp

For the white sauce:

• Cornflour -2 tsp
• Maida - 2 tsp
• Cheese - 1 tbsp
• Milk - 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Cook pasta in water until soft yet firm enough to bite. Add a tsp of oil and salt while cooking pasta.
2. In a mixing bowl, first mix little milk with cornflour and maida so that there is no lumps , keep aside.
3. In a pan heat olive oil, add onions saute until lightly browned then add carrots and saute until it shrinks and raw smell leaves. Then add the milk-maida-cornflour mixture with remaining milk and mix well.
4. Add the cheese at this stage and allow it to melt.
5. It will start thickening at this stage - Add cooked pasta, required salt, pepper powder,seasoning, chilli flakes. Keep in low flame and cook for 3mins mixing well continuosly. Switch off and serve hot.

My Notes:

• Adding seasoning enhances the flavour if you have just ignore that and go ahead with pepper and chilli flakes, it will still taste good.
• Serve immediately as the white sauce thickens faster when kept for a longer time. If it becomes dry, add little more, heat it and then serve.
• You can include any veggies of your choice.
• Adding cream also makes it more rich and tasty.

The first time I made this, I added cooked peas and carrot. So adding veggies is totally your choice. You can add sweet corn too. Its easy and messfree as there is no grinding part :)

This is easy for breakfast and am sure kids will like it as the combination of milk, cheese and pasta can never go wrong. So what are you waiting for?! Try it out and see

For the spicy lovers, my version of spicy tomato pasta is coming up soon, so stay tuned.

Apple Cinnamon Milkshake / Apple Milkshake

Guess the blogger issue has not resolved fully yet and few of my comments for the last post has been lost hope they are back soon. Okay coming to todays post : This hot weather makes me crave for some chilled drinks and if its with milk its double bonus for me as I like milk in any form. Tried this milkshake from tarladalal site the other day and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Ingredients:

Recipe Source : Tarladalal

Makes 2 cups

• Apples chopped roughly(with skin peeled) - 1 cup
• Sugar - 2 tbsp
• Almonds - 4
• Chilled milk - 2 cups
• Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp

Method:

1. First blend chopped apple pieces, almonds, sugar in a blender to a smooth paste with little milk say 1/4 cup.
2. Then add the cinnamon powder, remaining milk and blend again.
3. Add icecubes if preferred and Serve chilled. I topped the milkshake with demerara sugar

I know this cannot be called in for a recipe as its so easy but just posted to let you all know that the combination is so flavorful and yummy...And ofcourse for the pics that I clicked :)

The recipe from the site also adds on this : An apple a day keeps the doctor away also proves true for acidity when whipped up as a milkshake, as chilled milk is known to overcome acidity for some people.

My Notes:

• Adding almonds is optional but it thickens up the shake with a nice taste
• Adding chilled milk delays the milkshake from changing its color
• You can make the same with curd too. Just replace milk with curd and follow the same procedure.
• You can skip cinnamon powder and make this as a simple apple milkshake and enjoy.

Jeera Rice(Jeera Pulao) and Punjabi Aloo Amritsari

Heard about this jeera rice/ pulao from my cousin many times but was hesitant to try as I doubted whether hubby will like it or not. But when I asked him , he gave a green signal so called her up to get the recipe, I tweaked it a bit to suit our taste...and here comes the jeera rice/pulao from my kitchen.

Thanks for the lovely bowl Nithi! :)

Jeera Rice / Jeera Pulao Recipe :

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1 cup
• Water - 2 and 1/4 cups
• Onion
• Ghee - 1 tbsp
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Salt- to taste

To temper:

• Jeera - 2 tsp
• Green chillies - 2 slitted
• Curry leaves - few

Optional items to temper:

• Cloves - 1
• Cinnamom - 1/4 inch piece
• Bayleaf - a small piece

Method:

1. Soak basmati rice for 30mins and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in pan add jeera allow it to crackle then add onions saute until slightly browned then add curry leaves and green chillies, saute for a min. (Add the optional tempering items if you like the flavour)
3. Drain water from rice and add it to the pan, fry and mix well for 2mins. Add 2 and 1/4 cups of water , salt and keep closed. I didnt pressure cook it was a normal sauce pan so just cooked keeping the lid closed. Check after 5-8 mins
4. Stir in between to avoid sticking to the bottom. Once the rice has cooked Add ghee, mix it once and switch off.

Punjabi Aloo Amritsari Recipe

Recipe Source : TV Show

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Potato - 3 medium sized
• Curd - 2 tbsp
• Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste

To make a thin paste:

• Ginger garlic paste
• Besan - 2 tbsp
• Ajwain seeds(omam) -1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste

To grind:

• Onion - 1
• Green chillies - 1
• Garlic - 5
• Cashews - 5

Method:

1. Pressure cook potatoes(upto 4 whistles) until soft but firm enough, peel of skin and cube them into squares.
2. Make a thin batter of besan, salt, ginger-garlic paste, ajwain seeds adding little water. Marinate potato cubes in the batter for 15mins.Deep fry them or toast them in a dosa tawa until slightly crispy, keep aside
3. Heat oil in a pan, add the grinded paste and fry till raw smell leaves.Add salt (toasted potato has salt already so add accordingly), turmeric, chilli and garam masala powders and fry well. Then add the toasted potatoes and mix.
4. Then add curd, mix well and simmer for 2mins. Switch off.
5. Garnish with coriander leaves.

My Notes:

• Adding curd is purely optional the cook said but luved the addition of it
• Deep frying or toasting is left to ur choice and yes as u guessed I chose the latter :)
• It is a semi dry gravy and goes well with rice or rotis.
• Jeera rice is a easy one pot meal but is very mild so need a flavourful curry as sidedish.

Mango Milkshake

I have been waiting for the mango season....No no not that I am crazy after mangoes but I wanted to fill in Sharmis Passions with mango recipes :) I do like mangoes but I m very choosy as I like only banganapalli variety and have restrictions like the mango shouldnt very ripe and the color should be lemon yellow only.... yeah yeah too much right?! thats what my mother says too :)

As I have said earlier, if I am not comfortable with any fruit then I have it in the form of shakes, juices or smoothies. Mango milkshakes are always my favourite so wanted to give a try at home. My mother loves mangoes be it any variety she can have it night and day even skipping lunch and dinner :) So this is for 'amma', the word has added more meaning after me becoming a mother :) Happy Mothers day!!

Ingredients:

• Mango - 1 cup
• Milk - 2 cups
• Sugar - 3 tsp
• Elachi powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)
• Ice crushed - 2 small cubes

Method:

1. Peel of the skin of mangoes and chop the mangoes roughly.
2. Add 1/2 cup milk with mango cubes, sugar and crushed ice and blend it in a mixer until smooth for 10 seconds then add remaining milk and blend again until smooth.
3. Add elachi powder, mix well. Your mango milkshake is ready in minutes.

My Notes:

• I like my milkshake to be thick, if you want it to be little runny then add 1/2 cup of milk more.
• Adding elachi powder gives a good flavour , but its purely optional.
• Adjust sugar according to the sweetness of the mango variety.