GIANT LEAVES IN MY BACKYARD

I could'nt beleive the size of these leaves in my compost heap!!Yes..I do have my own compost heap in my backyard(it helps me to be more environment friendly)(and my garden is benefitting from all natural compost) from which all sorts of fascinating plants are growing..Giant plants!!
There's a mango tree, two jackfruit trees, a few beans climbing out...and these huge leaves! N, my husband assures me that they have a tuberous root, which is very good and nutricious when cooked. We still haven't pulled the root because we wanted to see how big it will grow..
Anyway, we had a little bit of rain yesterday, and I had this great idea of using these leaves as umbrellas!! The kids were all for it and we had a grand time, traipsing around in the rain with our natural umbrellas...the only problem was, once the rain had subsided, and I had taken a few pics for the blog, the kids refused to come inside...they were having too much fun!!

Finally, I had to resort to some devious methods to tempt them inside...yes!you guessed right!
I offered them a bribe of that age old treat..Unniyappams!




UNNIYYAPPAM
Ingredients:

Roasted Rice powder 1 & 1/2cup
(can use puttupodi or idiyappam podi available in market )
Maida 1/2cup
Jaggery 1/2 kg
Grated coconut 1/2
small coconut pieces 4 tbsp
Ellu /sesame seeds 4 tbsp
Cumin seeds a pich
Cardamom seeds 5-6
Salt one pinch
Cooking soda a pinch (opt)
Oil-for frying


Method:

1. Heat a tbsp of dalda or ghee in a pan, then saute coconut bits in this till golden. Powder cumin and coriander seeds.

2. Grind coconut in a blender till soft with 1 tbsp water.

3. Heat jaggery with some water (enough to barely cover the crushed jaggery) to boiling point. When jaggery has fully melted in the water, drain, then keep to boil again in a deep vessel.( this is to prevent it from boiling over onto the cooktop.)Boil till it becomes a thick syrup.

4. Mix all ingredients together , and keep aside for at least half an hour.

5. Heat either dalda or oil in the unniyappa chatti, then pour 1 tbsp each of the batter into each depression.

6. Fry the unniyappams uncovered, till the bottom turns golden in color.

7. With the help of a fork turn the unniyappam to cook on the other side to a golden color. Take out of the oil and drain on a paper towel.

8. Serve hot or at room tempreture.


Tips:

1. Normally, the minute I buy jaggery here, I do step no.3, and keep the cooled jaggery syrup in my refrigerator. It will be fine for at least a year like that. The good thing about this is that you always have a supply of jaggery syrupready and you won't find it too cumbersome to make traditional recipes like Soogiyan,
Cherupayar paayasam
Ada pradhaman
Sharkkara ada
Kozhukkatta..etc.
It cuts your preparation time and effort drastically!!

2. You can also add over ripe mashed bananas for an added taste. Just substitute it for the maida . Use only 1/2 cup of banana plus 1 cup maida.

CARDAMOM...!

My earliest memory of cardamom is a room. A room? you might ask? yes... a room..a very special room at my uncle's ancestral home in Kambham, Tamil Nadu. A long time ago, they used to have a cardamom estate. And the cardamom harvest used to be piled in a storage room there. Many many years later, they stopped the farm , and converted that storeroom into a guestbedroom. When we used to go there for the holidays, we would be allotted that room. The room was redolent of the spice's fragrance...I think my love affair with cardamom beagn then....even now, after 15 years, when I go there, I walk into that room, and I am instantly transported back to more carefree times...when we would all be kids, playing hide and seek in those rooms ....
Cardamom, the Queen of all spices has a history as old as human race. Indian cardamom is truly unique-in aroma, flavour, and size. It has well established culinary values, and it is used in a wide range of sweets and confectionery. It is an important ingredient of garam masala, a combination spice for many vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Cardamom acts as a mouth-freshener after meals. Tea and coffee made with cardamom are pleasantly aromatic and refreshing.
Most of our malabari muslim dishes are never complete without this tiny but fragrant ingredient. It certainly packs a powerful punch to our tastebuds!!


GHEE RICE
Ingredients:

Biryani rice 2 cups
Ghee 4 tbsp
Water 4 & 1/2 cups
Cinnamon 1" piece
Cardamom 5-6
Cloves 2
Salt 2 tsp
Onions 1 sliced thin and fine
Coriander leaves a small handful chopped


Method:

1. Wash rice well and drain till very dry.

2. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker or heavy bottom pan. Saute onions till golden brown and crisp. Remove fried onions and keep aside.

3. On another flame, keep the water to boil in another vessel. Add salt, cardamom, cloves , and cinnamon to the water.

4. Add the rice to the ghee, and saute well till the rice is dry and golden. (about 5 minutes)

5. By this time, the water will be at boiling point. Add water to the rice, and cover with the pressure cooker lid or a plain lid if you're using only a pan.

6. If using pressure cooker, wait for one whistle to blow, then lower heat to simmer for 2 minutes, then turn off heat . If using a pan, wait till the rice has been well cooked(about 5 minutes), then turn off heat.

7. Add one tbsp of ghee on top of the rice before serving with a garnish of the fried onions and coriander leaves.

Tip:
If possible, use jeerakashala aree or kayma aree for ghee rice instead of basmati rice. /span>

TO DIET OR NOT TO DIET..THAT IS THE QUESTION...

I had been going for yoga and off in the past two years, but last month I resumed yoga after a two month long break and decided I would go on a strict diet as well.
So there I was, guzzling carrot juice and tomato juice instead of tea, having oats for my breakfast, eating a light lunch, no snacks, no dinner, just juices,....along with a solid two hours of yoga...and was there any mistake in thinking that I'd lost weight?
Looking in the mirror, I thought I looked all slim and stylish.
After one month of being a good girl, I went to my ancestral home last week, only to hear everyone's comments of ..resh, you have put on weight, resh, you're fat...
boohooo.....is this the result of leading a disciplined diet and yoga??
Anyways , the minute I reached home, I decided that there will be no more dieting...just plain common sense..so I've been going for yoga everyday now, as well as cutting down on tea, cakes, fried stuff..now let's see what happens in a month's time..a month?I don't think that will be enough,make it a year...will be posting updates on my diet every now and then..
On the downside..the minute I reached home , first thing I reached out for , was a whole packet of MINI SNICKER BARS!!Aaah...that felt sinfully good!!!

This post being all about dietingf and not dieting, I thought I would post a recipe that is as sinfully delicious as the snicker bars I had...

DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE
Ingredients :
Maida 1 and 3/4 cup
Cocoa 1/4 cup
Milk 1 cup
Butter 1/2 cup
Eggs 2
Sugar 1 and 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence 1tsp
Soda bicarb 1 tsp


Method:

1. Beat together butter and 1/4 cup milk till it becomes a light and fluffy cream.

2. Add rest of ingredients, beating well in between.

3. Pour into a greased baking tray and bake till done . (approx. 30 minutes)

4. Leave to cool, then remove from tray.

5. Slit in half horizontally, and spread choclate fudge icing in between the two pieces.

6.Spread icing on top and serve.

Tip:
the cake is great even if you don't ice it!!

Choclate fudge Icing.

Ingredients:
* 5 oz of butter
* 5 oz of icing sugar, sifted
* 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder
* 3 tablespoons of milk
Method:

1. Melt the butter in a pan.

2. Add the cocoa and up the heat, cooking it gently for a minute or so, then add the icing sugar.

3. Add the milk gradually and keep stirring until you have a glossy, smooth paste.

4. Allow it to cool, and then use half to sandwich your cake together, and half for the topping. It looks fabulous and tastes divine.

BUSY....BUSY AS A BEE.....

It's been a busy time of the year for me, what with my parents deciding to go for Hajj, which is a pilgrimage to Mecca..then, a visit to Chennai for my husband's school alumni, a trip to Veegaland, which is a water theme park here in kerala, children's day festivities at the kids' school, ....I've been running nonstop till last week.
Will be filling you in with all the fun details( yes!!it's been good fun!)in my next post..but today, let me be a little lazy and just run off after sharing yet another recipe with all my readers..

Kalathappam, is a traditional dish .Here , in Muvattupuzha, we normally have this for breakfast teamed with beef curry..Heavy,isn't it? But very tasty...just make sure that you don't make this more than once in a month, and you can escape from the clutches of cholestrol!!hehe!!

KALATHAPPAM

Ingredients:

Riceflour 1 big cup
Coconut grated 1/2
Salt 1 tsp
Coconut oil 2-3 cups
Soda bicarb a pinch
Water enough to make a loose batter
Shallots/button onions10 sliced thin


Method:

1. Heat an uruli.This is a traditional kerala vessel made from bell metal. If you don't have an uruli, you could use a nonstick pan, or an iron pan. Once hot, add oil.

2. Heat water slightly.

3. Keep shallots aside and mix the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl, then add the slightly hot water.

4. Mix till it is a thick batter.

5. The oil should be hot by now. Add a tsp of the sliced shallots, then pour a big spoon of the batter into the oil.

6. Turn over after 2 minutes, then remove after 2 minutes.

7. Drain on an absorbent paper, then serve hot and crispy with beef curry.

Tip: the kalathappam should be soft and thick in the middle and cripy at the edges. for those of you who don't like the taste of fried onions, remove shallots from the recipe...