Badam Halwa | Diwali Sweets

Diposting oleh adiba
Senin, 17 Oktober 2011
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Badam Halwa brings more and more beautiful memories from past. My ammumma is an expert in making these delicious badam halwa. She always prepares for my birthdays. whenever she prepares, i used to be on her side observing what she does without talking. Both my ammumma and my avva(great grand mom) wont allow me to talk while they make sweets. that way they put all their attention into it. Yes now i also expect the same and its very important to be so cautious every minute while making this halwa.


Starting this Diwali on a Sweet Note: Enjoy each day and Make it Worthy!


I love the wrapping part very much, it makes kids go crazy over the halwa. As a kid, I used to assist my grand father and grand mom in wrapping up these halwa. My son loved very much like his mom.


Coming to the halwa, you need to be very care full at two points. one is at sugar string consistency and the other one is to check whether the halwa is done or not. I have given my observations to help you. do let me know if you have any other points to look for.


                          Badam Halwa (yields 12 pieces, each of 20 gms approx)


Badam Halwa Recipe

Prep Time: 10 mins 
Cooking Time: 25 mins  
Serves: 12
Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Recipe Type: Sweets
Ingredients:


Badam / Almond – ½ cup (4 0z)
Cashew – ¼  cup (2 oz)
Ghee – 8 tbsp’s
Lemon Yellow Food Colour – a small pinch
Saffron – few strands

For Sugar Syrup:            
  
Sugar – ¾ cup (7 oz)  (you can add 1 cup(8 oz) of sugar, if you prefer sweeter halwa)
Water – ¾ cup


Method:

Boil a cup of water, add badam to it, let it boil for 2 mins. If the badam is aged,  it floats on top, therefore you can proceed to peel its skin.


If the badam don’t float, it means they are new, so you have to give soaking time for badams  from 1-2hrs. After 2 hrs rub their skin off.


First Grind the cashews into a coarse powder, remove the grounded into a bowl and set aside.

Secondly, Grind the soaked and skinned badam into a coarse paste with little water(about 6 tbsp’s). The coarse paste should be like the one as grainy as shown in the pic above. I prefer halwa to be grainy than so smooth. this gives a nice texture to the halwa.

Now heat a thick bottomed kadaai, add ¾ sugar. ¾ water so that the sugar immerses in water. Make sugar syrup till it reaches single string consistency.

How to check single string consistency?

 Once the Sugar Syrup starts boiling, switch over to medium flame, keep on checking the syrup every 30 seconds. It may take from 3-5 minutes in medium low flame to attain the single string consistency.

Swipe a little syrup with your pointing finger, rub it with thumb and stretch the two fingers slowly, you will get a single string.

Once the Sugar Syrup reaches single string consistency, add the grounded badam and cashew to the syrup and mix well with a slotted spoon. Make sure you break the lumps formed.

Keep stirring the halwa in medium flame for about 5 -7 minutes.

In Between, the halwa gets thicker and starts sticking to the kadaai. At this stage, you can start adding ghee 1 tbsp at a time in 1 minute intervals.

Slowly the halwa stops sticking to the kadaai and when ghee is added, halwa absorbs the ghee little later.

Add lemon yellow food colour and saffron strands to the halwa and mix well.

How to test whether halwa is done or not?


Take a small pinch of halwa with your fingers. You should be able to shape the halwa into a small ball without sticking.

Once the halwa is done, remove to a bowl. Cut the Butter Paper by 20 cm X 10 cm. 
place halwa in between, fold all sides.


Since no milk is added in halwa, this keeps well for 4-5 days. store the halwa in room temperature. 

The Next day, halwa gets little firmer and it will look like,


Hope you all enjoyed my Badam halwa, guess it was a virtual treat for all, Try it out and enjoy my most loved dessert.

Thank You Ammumma!! I wish i could have done better!

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Sri Lankan Eggplant Curry ~ Brinjal Moju

Diposting oleh adiba
Minggu, 09 Oktober 2011
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As I mentioned about Sri Lankan cuisine and my latest obsession with it, here iam sharing a very popular eggplant curry from sri lanka. This is also known as Brinjal Moju. Moju means Pickle.  As the name implies, It  has to be eaten along with rice, some dal, some stir fried greens and a little eggplant moju( just like we have pickle). I also served this pickle with dosa and it was also a winnig combination.


We loved this curry very much. This curry is so spicy and sour. Vinegar adds the sourness and it complimented to the taste of curry. A little sweetness from sugar also made this curry a extra special.
So here iam taking you all on a culinary travel to Sri Lanka..


Ingredients:

Eggplant – 1 Big one or 8 small purple brinjals
Shallots / small onions – 6
Green chilli – 2
Coconut milk – ¼ cup
Oil to Deep fry the Eggplant

Turmeric  - a pinch
Chilli Powder – 2 tsp
Roasted Sri Lankan Curry Powder – 2 tsp

To Ground

3 cloves of garlic
2’ inch ginger
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp fruit vinegar
½ cup water

To Season

Oil – 2 tsp
2’inch cinnamon
2 cloves
1 sprig  curry leaves
  
Method:

      Wash and slice the Eggplant into strips like french fries. Mix a tsp of salt and turmeric powder to the eggplant and let it marinate for about 30 mins.  Heat Oil to Deep fry and fry the eggplant strips, till they turn brown and crisper. Drain the oil from fried eggplants in a strainer.

2    Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan, add cinnamon, cloves, curry leaves, finely chopped green chilli and finely chopped small onions. Saute them all together till the onions turn translucent.
      
            Add a bit of salt, a pinch of turmeric powder, chilly powder and roasted curry powder and mix well with the onions.
      
            Once the Onions turn almost brown along with the curry powders, add the fried eggplant to the pan and give a mix.
    
             Add Coconut Milk and salt to taste and let the mix rest in slow flame for about a minute.

        Add the Grounded Gin-Garlic-Vinegar mix to the pan and mix well. Let the whole curry simmer for about 2 minutes.

        Garnish with Curry leaves and chopped green chilly.

Serve along with Hot steamed Rice.

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Sri Lankan Roasted Curry Powder

Diposting oleh adiba
Jumat, 07 Oktober 2011
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If you have read Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki or Ramayanam, you will be taken a virtual tour to Sri Lanka. I always have a sense of nativity to the country and Tamil people out there.

I love exploring cuisines, my latest attraction is on Sri Lankan Cuisine. So on looking over Sri Lankan Recipes, I realized I should make the Sri Lankan curry powder to get the color and taste of the dish to be perfect.




This Curry Powder demands 13 Spice Ingredients. All to be dry roasted, till the spices are almost browned. Roasting the spices deep brown is important, as the spice powder when ground will have the brown color & nice aroma and when it is added to the curry, it changes the color and flavor of the curry.

Roast each spice separately, in medium flame till they turn brown color. You need to be care full, as it is easy to burn the spices in the process.



Sri Lankan Roasted Curry Powder Recipe

Prep Time: 05 mins 
Cooking Time: 10 mins  
Serves: 2
Recipe Cuisine: Srilankan
Recipe Type: Masala

Ingredients:



Cinnamon Stick – 3’ inch
Cloves – ½ tsp
Curry Leaves – 10
Coriander seeds / Dhaniya – 2 tsp
Fennel / Sombu – 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
Cumin – 1 tsp
Raw Rice – 1 tbsp (You can use Basmati Rice)
Fenugreek / Vendhayam – ½ tsp
Cardamom – 2
Pepper – ½ tsp
Dry Red Chilly – 3
Mustard / Kadugu – ½ tsp



Method:

First Roast the Raw Rice in a heated pan for about 3 minutes till it turns golden colour, remove the rice to a plate. Roast other spices one by one. Roast the spices till they turn almost brown. Cool the roasted spices and grind along with roasted rice into a very fine powder.

Store the Curry Powder in a dry air tight jar.

This Curry Powder keeps well for 3 months.

You can use this curry powder in Pumpkin Curry, Eggplant Moju and other Non-Vegetarian Curries.



I will post Eggplant Moju(Pickle) next, which we liked most.

Referred BBC-Food and Rice and Curry.

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Dal Tadka

Diposting oleh adiba
Senin, 26 September 2011
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We at home love Dal very much, and I prepare it for chapathis quite often. Two weeks back I watched this Dal Tadka recipe in a cookery show. I tried and had Dal Tadka with Missi roti, it was such an excellent combination and from then the dal taste is still lingering. You can see the cookery shows in you tube.  i am linking one of her show.


Ingredients:           
                   
Masoor Dal / Split Red Lentil – ½  cup
Moong Dal  - ½ cup
Onion – 1 (finely chopped)
Tomato – 1 (chopped)
Green Chilli – 2 (slitted)
Garlic – 3 cloves (crushed)
Ginger – 1 inch (finely chopped)
Corriander Leaves – 2 tbsp (To garnish)
Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp
Asafoetida powder – ¼ tsp    
Oil – 2 tsp’s
                                                          
For Tadka:

Ghee / Coconut Oil – 2 tsp
Mustard – ¼ tsp
Cumin / Jeera – ¼ tsp
Nigella Seeds / Kalonji – ¼ tsp
Curry Leaves – 1 sprig
Dry Red Chilli – 2 (broken)


Method:

1.   Wash both the Masoor & moong dals. Pressure cook the dals with ¾ cup water, chopped ginger, crushed garlic, a pinch of turmeric powder, a tsp of oil and a pinch of asafoetida powder. Pressure cook for upto 4 whistles, till the dals are cooked till mashy.

2.    Heat a pan, add a tsp of oil, add chopped onion, slitted green chilli’s and saute till the onions turn light brown.

3.      Now add cooked and mashed dal to the pan and mix well. Then add the chopped tomatoes and give a mix. add salt to taste and little water, so that you get your desired consistency of the dal.

4.       For Tadka, heat a small pan, add ghee or coconut oil, once the oil heats up, add mustard and let it pop, add kalonji, cumin, curry leaves and broken red chilli’s.  Pour the Hot Tadka over the dal. Garnish with chopped corriander leaves.

Serve the Dal with Roti or Chapathi.


Notes:

       1. If you want dal to accompany Rice dish, prepare dal with Toor dal.
       2. Always do the Tadka either with Ghee or Coconut Oil for the strong Flavor.
       3. Nigella seeds is Onion seeds. Its also called as kalonji seeds. This is a must in the dal.



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Pacha Manga Curry

Diposting oleh adiba
Kamis, 15 September 2011
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Drumstick and Mango combination is the best for sambhar. The combination proved again in this coconut based simple curry. This is Muringakka Pacha Manga Curry from God’s own country Kerala. A finger licking curry, with simple recipe is so rare, this curry is one among. you can make this curry in minutes if you have small onions and grated coconut ready in hand.



Ingredients:

Raw Green Mango - 1
Drumstick – 1
Coconut Oil – 2 tsp
Mustard – 1 tsp
Jeera / Cumin – 1 tsp
Curry Leaves – 1 sprig

To Grind:

Small Onions – 8 (peeled)
Grated Coconut – ¼ cup
Dry Red Chilli – 3

Method:

Cut the Drumstick and Mango into pieces. Cook both the vegetables in one cup of water. Or Microwave the vegetables in microwave high for about 10 minutes.

Heat one tp of oil in a pan, add small onions and fry till they are cooked. Add grated coconut and dry red chilli’s and saute it along with onions for a minute in slow flame. After that remove from flame. Let it cool and grind it into fine paste with ¼ cup of water.

In a Pan, mix both the boiled vegetables and the grounded coconut paste and mix. Add salt to taste, a pinch of turmeric powder to the pan and mix. Let the curry boil for about 2 – 3 minutes in medium flame.

In a Small tadka pan, heat a tsp of coconut oil, add mustard, cumin and curry leaves. Once the mustard splutters, remove the pan from flame, add the tadka to the pan in which curry is boiling.

Serve Hot with Rice or Idly.

           Weekend Lunch with Pacha Manga Curry, Vazhakkai Kuzhambu and Rasam with Herbs.

 Notes:

Just before serving , warm a tsp of coconut oil and add it over the curry for a nice aroma.

The taste of this curry is all based on the Raw Mango, so pick the raw mango carefully. 

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Bhindi Fry

Diposting oleh adiba
Senin, 12 September 2011
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Me and my son love Bhindi very much. Usually it used to be Vendakkai poriyal at home. After learning to make bhindi in microwave, I make these Masala stuffed bhindi quite often.  After getting request for Bhindi Fry recipe, I googled and found sanjeev kapoor’s besanwali bhindi fry.  It tasted good as it’s cooked with shallots and besan flour. This Bhindi fry can be had with sambhar rice or Roti.


Microwave oven makes Magic with Bhindi. I microwave chopped Bhindi pieces with a tsp of oil and microwave it on high for 4 minutes. Then i use it for vendakkai sambhar or vendakkai morkuzhambu. It saves time and oil.


Ingredients:

Bhindi / Okra / Vendakkai - 12 (of same size)
Shallots / Small onions – 8 (Peeled and chopped)
Besan flour / Kadala Maavu – 2 tbsp
Oil – 2 tbsp
Mustard – ½ tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Mix the following powder’s together

Turmeric powder – a pinch
Sambhar Powder or Chilly powder – 1 and half tsp
Dhaniya / Corriander Powder – 1 tsp
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Dry Mango Powder / Amchur – ½ tsp
Garam masala – ½ tsp
Salt – to taste


Method:

Choose small and tender Bhindi s. It cooks easily and taste’s good too.  Wash the bhindis and wipe them with a clean cloth. Trim the heads of bhindis. Give a slit to all bhindis from top and end it just before its tail.

Mix the powders (turmeric, sambhar, dhaniya, cumin, amchur, garam masala and salt) in a bowl.

Fill the masala powders into the slit of bhindis with a help of a spoon. Half a spoon of masala’s is enough to fill a single bhindi.

Heat Oil in a Pan, add mustard, let it splutter and then add curry leaves along with small onions. Once the small onions are almost cooked, add the besan flour and mix with the onions. Give a minute, till the besan flour gets roasted along with the onions.

Now add the stuffed Bhindis to the pan and give a mix, lower the flame and let the bhindi gets cooked for about 5-7 minutes.  Add little oil, if bhindis start sticking to the pan. Cook till the bhindis shrink and change dark in color.

Or

You can alternatively cook in microwave for easy job. After filling the masala’s into the slit of bhindis, place them in a microwave bowl.  Sprinkle 2 tsp of oil over the bhindis and microwave on high power (900w) for about 4 minutes.  After removing from microwave, Heat Oil in a Pan, add mustard, let it splutter and then add curry leaves along with small onions. Add little salt just enough for small onions. Once the small onions are almost cooked, add the besan flour and mix with the onions. Give a minute, till the besan flour gets roasted along with the onions. Then add microwave cooked bhindis and wrap them up with onions and besan flour.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with Roti’s or with Rice and Sambhar.

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Ceylon Egg Curry ~ Steamed Egg Cake Curry

Diposting oleh adiba
Sabtu, 10 September 2011
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I like to try Egg curry in different ways. once i watched this ceylon egg curry on a television cookery show and loved the idea of steaming the eggs and using in curry. i have tried it twice and we liked this ceylon egg curry very much. though i did'nt get perfect steamed egg cakes, the taste was no compromise. If i have used some 5 or 6 egg's i could have got perfect egg cakes. since i used 3, it was not enough for the egg cake to raise. On googling i found a similar type of dish called egg dhoka is prepared in Bengal. You can also refer here for a Dry Egg curry from here.


I love Ceylon Egg Parotta, This Ceylon Egg Curry is not as famous as parotta in our Indian restaurant menu cards, but its easy to try at home. What makes this curry unique and special is, the eggs are steamed and cut into sqaures and put in curry. The curry will be spicy as well rich with coconut milk.


Ingredients:

Egg's - 5 ( i used 3, but i recommend using 5 atleast)

Red Onion -1 (finely chopped)
Tomatoes - 2 (finely chopped)
Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
Green chilli - 1 (slitted) 

Oil  -  2  tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Sombu - 1 tsp
Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch size
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig

Turmeric powder - a pinch
Red Chilly Powder - 2 tsp
Corriander / Dhaniya Powder - 3 tsp

Coconut Milk - 1 cup (150 ml) / coconut milk extracted from half of a coconut.
Corriander leaves - 1 tbsp (to garnish)

Method:



To prepare Egg Cake, use Pressure cooker. First Beat the Egg's with a pinch of salt. Grease a small round bowl and add the beaten eggs into it. Add 1 cup of water to the Pressure cooker and place the egg bowl inside the cooker. make sure to close the bowl. let it be in medium flame for about 3 or 4 whistles. it takes some 10 minutes time. after 4 whistles, switch off the flame and let the cooker rest till the the steam escapes. then open the cooker and take the bowl from it. now cool the egg cake and cut them into squares.

Heat Oil in a Pan or Kadaai. add mustard, sombu and cinnamon, let the mustard splutter and add curry leaves. then add finely chopped onion's and saute it till it turns translucent. then add slitted green chilly and ginger garlic paste and saute along with onions. then add chopped tomatoes and mix well with the onions. 

Add turmeric powder, salt to taste and red chilly powder and corriander powder and mix well with the onions and tomatoes. Once the masala's are nicely mixed up with the onions, the add the steamed egg cake squares. and mix well with masala's.

Add little water and coconut milk in slow flame. Let the curry boil for few minutes. After 4 or 5 minutes in slow flame. remove the curry to a serving dish and garnish with corriander leaves.



Serve with Hot Rice and with some Vegetable or Pappad as side.

Have a Great Weekend!

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