Monday, October 27, 2008

Coconut Burfi

Happy Diwali!

Diwali and sweets are inseparable. So I made it a point to make one sweet atleast for this Diwali...Coconut burfi has always been one of my favorite sweet and I always asked my mom to make this for my b'day every year. So I called up my mom and asked her for the recipe and jumped right into it......With the 2 cups of frozen coconut used I got about 15 pieces of coconut burfi
Ingredients:
Shredded Coconut- 2 cups (I used frozen coconut)
sugar- 11/2 cups
Water- 3/4 cup
cardamom powder- 1 tsp
Roasted cashews- 1 tbsp
Ghee- 1 tsp

Add the sugar and water to a deep pan and heat it until the sugar syrup becomes thick and come to a one string consistency.(Simple way to check is to take a little bit of sugar syrup in the spatula, give it a few seconds to cool down, then touch it and try to pull it between two fingers. it should come like a string or thread). Then add the shredded thawed frozen coconut, cardamom powder and mix it to the sugar syrup. Cook it nicely until it thickens. It might take 10-15 mins. In the meantime, roast some broken cashews in a tbsp of ghee and add to the pan. Wait until it thickens nicely and it should leave the sides of the pan. At this point of time, transfer this to a plate greased with ghee. Flatten it with a spatula, then cut it into pieces with a clean knife. Wait until it cools down and then serve the coconut burfi.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Poha

Poha called Avil in Tamilnadu, is a quick tiffin item to make. Poha is basically pressed rice so it is definitely filled with carbs and I personally have always found it to be very filling even with small proportion. Poha in Tamilnadu is usually made with lemon (Lemon avil) or tamarind (Puli Avil). But when I was looking for the north indian recipe of poha on the internet, I came across the recipe of TS for corn poha. Click here for her recipe. Of course I made some modifications to it by incorporating our south indian tempering items, using regular onions and by adding some raisins along with the cashews and peanuts.
Ingredients:
Poha(thick)- 2 cups
Onion- 1
Green chilly- 2 or 3 finely chopped
Frozen Corn or green peas- 2 or 3 tbsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
salt
oil
Ghee- 1 tbsp
Asafoetida- pinch
lemon juice
coriander leaves

For Tempering:
Cumin seeds- 1 /2 tsp
Urad dhal- 1 tbsp
chana dhal- 1 tbsp
mustard seeds- 1 tbsp
curry leaves- few
cashews- few
peanuts- few
raisins- few


Add the cashews, peanuts and raisins to hot oil + 1/2 tbsp of ghee. when the cashews turn light brown add the other tempering items. When the mustard seeds splutter add the chopped onions + green chilly and saute until onion turns soft. In the meantime, wash the poha twice and drain the water & keep it aside.Now add the frozen corn or peas, turmeric, pinch of chilly powder, poha and salt to taste. Mix everything well and cook for 2-3 mins. Add a pinch of asafoetida, chopped coriander leaves, 1/2 tsp of ghee, squeeze some lemon juice and serve... I served it with some sev on top (I've heard that it is usually served with sev but this is optional of course)

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Potato Stew

This is a traditional Keralite dish that is usually served with Appam, Idiyappam or Dosa. I prepared this today with some frozen idiyappam that I had in my freezer. It is absolutely a heavy, creamy and high calorie food...so save it for a special weekend when u want to treat ur tastebuds....if u look at the picture posted here u would know what I mean....and it sure was a treat for us....
Ingredients:
Potato- 2
Green chilly- finely chopped 2 or 3
Ginger- finely chopped (1 tbsp)
Onion- 1 finely chopped
Curry leaves- few
Green peas- 1/4 cup (optional)
Coconut milk- 1 can
salt
Coconut oil- 1 tsp

Method:
Saute' chopped onion, green chilly, curry leaves and ginger in some canola oil and fry till onion gets soft..make sure the onions do not turn brown....u can sprinkle some water and salt to help the onion get cooked fast and not turn brown....In the meantime, peel the skin of the potatoes and chop into cubes and microwave for 10 mins... take 1/4 cup of coconut milk from the can dilute it with some water and add it to cooked onion. Also add the cooked potato, frozen peas(optional) salt to taste and let this boil in the diluted coconut milk for 5-7 mins. Then add the rest of the thick coconut milk(without diluting it) from the can and cook for 2 mins. Add a tsp of coconut oil and serve hot with Appam or Idiyappam.