Kaju Kathli

This is a very easy sweet and can be prepared within 15 minutes. Tastes delicious and almost all the kids love this

Ingredients


Cashew: 1 cup
Sugar:1/2 cup
Water:1/4 cup
Cardomom : 3


Procedure
Step1
Powder the cashew and cardomom together.
I powdered using Preethi mixer. Coffee grinder would work well too.
Do not run the mixer too long as the oil from cashew will start separating out.
Even coarse powder will just taste divine.

Boil water and sugar and prepare the syrup for 1 string consistency.
There are various techniques to test this. I used to to drop the syrup using a spatula and when it hangs like a single thread as shown in picture, it is done.

Step2
Add the powdered cashew and mix well.Switch off the flame in a minute.

Step3
Allow the dough to cool for 5 min

Step4
Once it is cooled knead it like chapathi dough
Stop at a point where oil (from cashew)just starts coming off from dough

Step5
Roll it using rolling pin and cut into desired shape

Check out the recipe for Instant Kaju Katli

Chocolate Log

I have bookmarked this recipe long back from Edible Garden.
It is a very easy recipe and came out well.Both my kids liked it a lot

Ingredients
Marie Biscuits: 24
Coffee: 1/2 cup
Confectioners powdered sugar: 4 tablespoon
Unsalted butter: 4 tablespoon (1/2 stick)
Cocoa powder: 1 tablespoon


Procedure
Step1:
Mix the butter, sugar and cocoa powder well and keep it aside

Step2:
Dip the biscuits in warm coffee and arrange it as shown below. Each log contains 12 biscuits

Step3:
Apply chocolate icing using a spatula

Step4:
Refrigerate for 2 hours for the log to set


Step5:
Cut into pieces and serve

Sending this to Mharo Rajasthan's Bookmarked recipes

Sweet Kuzhi Paniyaram

My mom prepares this often when I was a kid.I got the recipe from her.
This has been one of my favourite afterschool snack.This is the first time I am trying it myself.

Ingredients
Raw Rice - 1 cup
Boiled rice- 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds (Vendhayam) - 2 tsp
Urad dhal -1 tablespoon
Grated Jaggery - 1 cup
Cardomom powder: 1/2 tsp
Oil: to fry


Procedure
Step1:
Soak the rice, fenugreek seeds and dhal for 2 hours and grind it to a thick paste

Step2:
Add grated jaggery & cardomom and blend it well. The consistency should be as that of dosa batter


Step3:
Heat oil in Kuzhu paniyaram pan and fry them until golden brown

Sending this to Gayathri's Walking through the memory lane event

KOTHAMALLI THOKKU | CORIANDER THOKKU

When I was in Chennai I used to make regular visits to Grand sweets Adyar to get the Kothamalli thokku.Whether it is had as an accompaniment for Idli, dosa, chappathi or just mixed with plain rice, it tastes awesome.

I enjoy making this at home as the entire house will be filled with a sweet aroma of coriander.

Ingredients

Coriander leaves/Cilantro (Stalks removed and chopped)- 3 cups
Red chilli - 1/8 cup*
Tamarind : A big gooseberry size
Salt: 3/4 tsp (to taste)
Asafoetida: a pinch
Grated jaggery: 1.5 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds: 1/8 tsp
Sesame oil: 4 tablespoon

* I used small variety of red chillies and measured 1/8 cup. If using long variety, use around 8 red chillies


Procedure:
1) Wash the coriander thoroughly in water
2) Remove the roots and hard stalks
3) Chop the coriander leaves
4) Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and add fenugreek seeds
5) Once it starts browning add red chilli & asafoetida
6) Add the chopped coriander and fry for a couple of minutes until it wilts

7) Add tamarind and fry for a minute
8) Allow this to cool
9) Grind it in a mixie/blender. Add little water to grind

10) Heat 2 tablespoon of oil in a pan and mustard seeds
11) Once it starts spluttering add the ground mixture
11) Simmer and allow to cook for around 10 minutes (Stir the mixture in between)
12) Add the remaining oil, salt and jaggery and continue stirring until it comes off the sides.
      Once jaggery is added, the thokku will turn into nice dark green color

13) Store in an airtight container

Notes:
Do not add more fenugreek seeds.It will give a bitter taste. It is okay to omit this as well
Adjust jaggery according to taste. Adding jaggery will give a nice green color.

Eggless Carrot Cake

This is a healthy version of carrot cake which I often prepare for an after school snack for my kids.The cake is naturally sweetened with carrot. My son does not like carrot in any form but he absolutely loves this cake.A piece of cake with a glass of milk provides all the energy that he needs for his evening.

Ingredients

Whole wheat pastry flour:	1 cup
Shredded carrot:	1.5 cups
Brown sugar:	1/2 cup
Butter:	4 tablespoons
Baking soda:	1 tsp
Baking powder	1 tsp
Thick curd/Yoghurt	3/4 cup
Walnuts	1/4 cup
Raisins	1/4 cup
Grated ginger	1 tsp
Nutmeg powder	1/4 tsp
Cardomom powder	1/4 tsp

Procedure
1. Pre heat the oven to 350 F
2. Sift the flour along with baking powder and baking soda

3. Add brown sugar and mix well
4. Add the grated carrot

5. Slightly melt the butter and mix with curd. Add this to the dry ingredients
6. Mix until the ingredients are incorporated well
7. Add the grated ginger, nutmeg and cardomom powder.

8. Add the walnuts and raisins and gently fold in the batter
9. Pour the batter in a greased 7" square pan
10.Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean (Mine was done in 35 min)

Notes:
Whole wheat pastry flour can be replaced with All purpose flour as well
Butter can be replaced with oil
Carrot and raisins provide the natural sweetness to this cake.If you want more sweet replace brown sugar with granulated white sugar.

Ennai kathrika - Spicy Eggplant

Ingredients:
Baby eggplants/Brinjals - 8
Oil: 2 tablespoons
Tamarind: lemon sized
Curry leaves: a sprig
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Water: 1 cup


For masala
Urad dhal: 2 tablespoons
Coriander seed/Dhaniya: 2 tablespoons
Chilli powder: 2 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida/hing: a pinch


Procedure:
Step1:
Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of water.


Step2:
Dry roast the ingredients for masala and grind it to a coarse powder


Step3:
Wash the brinjals and slit them into four. Do not cut the bottom part


Step4:
Stuff the masala powder in the center of each slitted brinjal.Save 1 or 2 tsp for the gravy

Step5:
Heat 2 tablespoon of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once it starts spluttering add curry leaves.


Step6:
Now add the stuffed brinjals and close the pan and cook in medium heat. Stir it once every 5 minutes.

Step7:
Once the brinjals are cooked, add the tamarind extract and add the remaining masala, salt and hing and bring it a boil

Step8:
Cook for 5 more minutes

Croissant

I followed the instruction in the following video in you tube which explains one of the simplest methods of making croissants.Instead of eggs, I used warm milk for coating the croissants.
This requires almost more than a day but the taste is worth the effort.
Video link


Level:Complex
Preparation time: 30 min
Cooking time: 20 min
End to end: 20 hrs


Ingredients
All Purpose flour: 2.5 cups
Milk: 1.25 cups
Sugar: 1/4 cup (I felt it was less sweet. Will try with 1/2 cup sugar next time)
Salt: 1 tsp
Butter: 2 sticks (1 cup)
Active dry yeast: 1 tablespoon


Procedure
Step1:
Warm the milk to room temperature and sprinkle the yeast and mix well. After 10 minutes, a froth will appear which is an indication that the yeast has become active


Step2:
Add the all purpose flour, sugar and salt and mix well. To this add the yeast milk mixture and mix well.

Step3:
Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 8 hours


Step4:
Cut the butter to 8 pieces and pound them as rectangular sheets.

Step5:
Now take the refrigerated dough and roll it into a rectangle.You need apply flour generously over the work bench otherwise the dough will be very sticky and difficult to work with


Step6:
Fill up to 2/3 rd of the rectangular dough with the butter

Step7:
Fold the dough as shown below

Step8:
Now again roll the dough to a rectangle and fold it as before


Step9:
Refrigerate this dough overnight in a zip lock bag. The dough will now ferment and rise


Step10:
Cut the dough into 2. You will be able to see the layers

Step11:
Roll each piece to a large rectangle and cut into small triangles


Step12:
Roll each triangles to croissant shape and place it in a baking sheet

Step13:
Allow it to rise again for 2 hrs


Step14:
Before baking, coat the croissants with milk and bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for 20 - 25 minutes until golden brown.

KASI HALWA

This is a very famous Halwa prepared using white pumpkin /Ash gourd in South India and it is an integral part of breakfast/snacks served in Tamil weddings.It is usually served warm.

I dont know why this is named as Kasi Halwa. If anybody knows please let me know :-)

Level: Medium
Preparion time: 10 min
Cooking time: 40 min
Serves:4

Ingredients
Grated White Pumpkin: 2 cups
Milk: 1 cup
Sugar: 1.25 cups
Ghee: 3 tablespoons
Cardomom: 3
Food color: as desired
Cashew/Almonds: 1 tablespoon

Procedure:
Step1:
Peel the white pumpkin and grate it (I used pulse mode in food processor)

Step2:
Drain the excess water in the grated pupkin

Step3:
Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a pan and saute the pumpkin for 5 min until the water gets absorbed

Step4:
Now add milk and bring it a boil.Add  sugar and food color.

Step5:
Cook in medium flame for about 20 min keeping the pan closed. Stir it after every 5 minutes

Step6:
Once the mixture becomes semisolid, add ghee and cardomom and stir it until the mixture comes off the sides of the pan (This usally takes 6 - 8 minutes)

Step7:
Garnish with sliced almonds

MILAGU KUZHAMBU

This is one of my favourite dish and got the recipe from my mother in law. Ideal for winter season and a good medicine for common cold.


Level: Easy
Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 20 min

Ingredients
Tamarind: small lemon sized
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Sesame Oil: 1 tablespoon
Curry leaves: 1 sprig
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Urad dal: 1/2 tsp


To fry and grind
Oil: 1 tsp
Urad dhal: 1 teaspoon
Bengal gram dhal: 1 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds: 2 tsp
Milagu/Pepper: 1 tsp
Red Chilli: 1 or 2
Asafeotida: 1 pinch
Curry leaves: few leaves



Procedure:
Step1:
Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of water of warm water


Step2
Heat 1 tsp of oil and fry the red chillies, pepper, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, urad dhal and bengal gram dhal. Add the curry leaves and asafoetida as well.

Once it cools grind it to a powder

Step3:
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a kadai and and add mustard seeds.Once it starts spluttering add the curry leaves 


Step4:
Now add the tamarind extract,salt and the powdered pepper mix

Step5:
Bring it a boil and cook in a medium heat for 10-15 min until the gravy becomes thick

Step6:
Serve with Paruppu thuvayal

Eggless Blueberry bread

I got the original recipe from joyofbaking.com and tweaked a lot to get the eggless version of it. Also omitted the lemon zest and lemon glaze mentioned in the original recipe. Also used whole wheat flour.


Level: Easy
Preparation Time: 10 min
Baking time: 60 min
Serves: 1 loaf

Eggless BlueBerry Bread

Ingredients

All purpose flour: 1 cup

Whole wheat flour: 1 cup

Sugar: 3/4 cup

Butter: 1/4 cup (1/2 stick)

Vanilla extract: 1/2 tsp

Salt: 1/4 tsp

Baking powder: 1.5 tsp

Baking soda: 1/2 tsp

Curd/Yoghurt: 1 cup

Oil (Canola or Olive oil): 2 tsp

Blueberries fresh/frozen: 1 cup (Do not thaw if using frozen)

Apple sauce: 1/2 cup(4 oz)

Procedure:
Step1:
Beat the butter at room temperature until it becomes soft


Step2:
Add sugar and beat it until it becomes fluffy


Step3:
Now add the apple sauce, yogurt,oil and vanilla extract and mix well

Step4:
Mix all the dry ingredients 


Step5:
Finally add the blueberries and gently fold it

Step6
Bake in a greased loaf pan at 350 F for 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean