Mango Season is almost getting over. Along with Mangoes, memories related to mango also makes the season special to me.  Eating Mangoes along with my Grandparents and going back to school after lunch with mango juice strains on uniform. I will be guarding the mango tree at my grandparents house during season. as childrens passing by will throw stones to get mangoes. also we save mangoes from monkeys with a big stick. iam very much missing my childhood days rather than mangoes..



Yesterday when i discovered phirni, i wanted to try it. its an instant dessert recipe i tell you. and the best for the laziest cook like me. it tasted yummy, finally it was a perfect idea to use the ripe mango.

Ingredients:

Beaten Rice Flakes / Aval / Poha - 3/4 cup
Milk - 2 cup's
Sugar - 5 tbsp ( increase if you want phirni more sweeter)
Corn Flour - 1 tbsp ( dissolve the corn flour in 2 tsp's of cold milk)
Mango Puree - 1 cup (Puree of 1 Ripe Mango)

Method:

Dry Fry the Poha till it turns crisper. it just takes less than a minute.

Let the Poha cool and blend in a mixer to coarse powder. keep aside.

Boil the Milk in a pan. on boiling, slow the flame and add the Ground Poha, Sugar and Corn flour-Milk mixture. Mix well so that no lumps are formed. Boil for a minute on slow flame till the phirni becomes little thick.

Cool the Phirni and mix with Mango Puree.

Serve the Mango Phirni with mango pieces on top.

How i served is, first i spooned in plain phirni on the serving bowl, then the second layer is mango puree and the third layer is mango phirni. serve with chopped badam or pistachios on top or with mango pieces. Remember to chill the phirni before serving.


Notes:

Palak Paneer is one of my favourite. Its so simple to make and it makes a great pair with chapathi's or even plain rice.



Ingredients:

Serves 2 Adults.

Palak - 1 bunch (2 cup's chopped)
Onion - 1
Tomatoes - 2 (or) Tomato Puree - 1/2 cup
Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Green Chilli's - 2
Corriander powder - 1tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Cashews - 4
Paneer - 100 gms
Oil - 1 tsp +  1 tsp
Cumin seeds / Jeera - 1/4 tsp


Method:

In a Pan, Add 1 tsp oil, heat it add 2 green chilli's and washed chopped palak leaves and saute it, till palak shrinks. cool it down. Grind it along cashews with little water.

Boil 1 cup of water with 2 tomatoes for 5 mins. or microwave at very high for 5 mins. when the tomatoes peel off their skin, remove the skin and grind the tomatoes alone to get tomato puree.

Heat a Pan, add 1 tsp oil, add cumin seeds and roast it, add ginger garlic paste and saute it. now add finely chopped onion and fry it till it turns translucent.

Add Salt to taste, Corriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala and mix well with the onions. Add the tomato puree and let it boil for 2 minutes. Then Add Palak Puree and let it boil. add little water to get desired consistency.

Add Paneer Cube's to the Palak in the Pan, let it boil for few minutes and serve Hot.

Serve with Chapathi's, Roti's or with Rice.

Lemon always refreshes with its Yellow Colour. I love to have lemon syrup bottle refrigerated for summer season. This season was also no exceptional. What special is, this time i prepared my own lemon syrup and stored it up. I also love lemon Soda. Its the best for Pitham(pitta dosha). I will sure make a post on how i make lemon soda soon.



First prepare lemon syrup and then you can add water to it to turn it into lemonade. lemon syrup is ideal, if desired to store for long time.

(measurement for 5-6 glasses of lemonade)
Ingredients:

4 Lemons
1 cup Sugar
1 cup water
4 and 1/2 cups of water
1 tsp of lemon zest (optional)

Method:

Preparing sugar syrup is the first stage. boil a cup of water, add sugar to it, dissolve it. let it boil for 4 minutes till it comes rolling boil and it attains single string consistency. let it cool.

Cut the Lemons and squeeze the Juice out.

Mix the Lemon Juice with the cooled sugar syrup.  add lemon zest to the syrup and give a good mix. this is how Lemon syrup is prepared.

Lemonade:




* Add 2 tsp of Lemon Syrup to a glass of chilled water to get Lemon Juice/ Lemonade.


* Mix 2 tsp of Lemon Syrup with a glass of Soda and few ice cubes to get Lemon Soda.

 or to store as lemon juice, on preparing lemon syrup, add four and half cup's of water to the lemon syrup and mix well and store in a pitcher or Jar. This can be stored in fridge. serve the lemonade chill.

Notes:

1. The ratio for Lemonade is Sugar : Water : Lemon Juice is 1:1:1

2. Lemons should be at room temperature or warmer before the juice is extracted.

3. To warm the lemon either put them in the microwave for 40 seconds at high heat or put the lemons in hot water for 2 minutes.

4. For extra flavor, add some lemon zest to the lemon syrup.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake, sure you should love this, if you are Chocolate lover. I first had this sort of cake at dominos pizza. once even i tried by making nutella indentations inside chocolate cup cakes. which was good, but i did'nt see chocolate lava from it!! On Googling, i landed on my favourite Joy of Baking, referred to me by Nirmala. I just followed  the recipe and the outcome was Just Perfect to produce Lava..



Cake was just like Pudding. It's Chocolate inside and outside its little crisper and crumblier. It was Heavenly with Vanilla Ice Cream. I could'nt click decent pictures, as the Ice-cream melted over the hot cake. and the cake raised so good, but it went down soon after it is taken from oven. you got to experience this chocolate magic..

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup     Butter (or) Margarine
1/3 Cup     Sugar (Powdered)
2                Egg's (seperated)
1 tsp          Vanilla extract
1 Cup        Dark Chocolate (6 oz. approx. 180 gms)

Method:

*  Melt the Dark Chocolate and Butter by Double Boiling Method.

*  Pre-Heat the Oven to 200C.

*  Take Half of the mentioned Powdered Sugar in the recipe and beat with Egg Yolks with Hand Mixer, till it turns out fluffy and pale white. Add Vanilla extract and beat in middle. It takes about 3 minutes by hand mixer and 5 minutes, if beating by hand. To this add the Melted Dark Chocolate, Butter and Beat with Hand mixer, till mixture is evenly mixed.

* In Another Bowl, beat the Egg White's with a pinch of salt, till soft peaks are formed. Add the rest of the granulated sugar while beating. Now mix it with the egg yolks and melted chocolate mixture. Mix them all together with a wooden spoon or spatula.

* Grease the Ramekin bowl's and dust it with some powdered sugar. Scoop in the the prepared chocolate mixture into ramekins bowl, just half of its size.

* Bake them at 200C for about 10-12 mins. Longer you bake, you wont get lava. the cake rasies well and you would get cracks on top of the cake.

* Serve with Vanilla Ice-cream for the Divine Experience. or dust with powdered sugar and serve with fresh cut fruits.

I rarely try out new recipes for breakfast. When i saw barley khichdi in a magazine, i found its so easy to make. the best time to try is this summer, isn't it? so went ahead and tried this great healthy breakfast. it came out Good, and what a nice way to have barley in khichdi form..i have tried it twice and loved it so much.