Magic in the microwave !

I found this recipe online while searching for easy choclate cake recipes.. After reading through it, I was dubious.. A cake in 2 minutes ? And that too in a single cup ? This is too good to be true !! So I wrote it down dutifully.. And tried it out the next day. .. And I was awestruck !! It really worked !!
I just took a coffee cup, added all the ingredients, gave it a stir with a spoon.Kept it in the microwave .. Set for 2 minutes.. Shrugged to myself.. And pressed the start button. .and what do you know ? I had a little cake in my cup !!MAGIC!! Theres no other word for it other than that !

This is a perfect recipe for a cute dessert .. Or for those times you need to whip up a snack fast ... So go on.. Try zapping this up in your microwave and see the magic for yourself !!

Take a microwave proof cup.

Mix together :

3 tbs warm milk
2 tbsp cocoa
1 egg white
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp Maida
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 tsp baking powder.
2 tbsp sugar

Add cinnamon or coffee powder 1/4 tsp if u want instead of essence.
Also , you could add a tsp of nutella for an even more yum taste !

Zap 2 minutes in microwave..

Serve hot with a scoop of icecream or a dollop of whipped cream

Lazybones 2010

.... And the title of lazybones 2010 goes to mrs. Reshma Nooh !! 
what can i say ? Been so busy .. And the little time I do get as free time , I would prefer to be in my kitchen , experimenting , or curled up with a book .. No blogging , no dieting , no exercise , .... Hmmmm... Haven't I been a baaad baaad girl .. Errr female ?
On the plus side , I did make time to do something I've been longing to do for ages .. I went for some cookery classes in Cochin .. I know cooking , yes , but it's always been a trialand error method .. Self taught or advice handed down by the generations before me ..but to learn about the finer nuances .. Authentic cntinental and Italian style... This was what I had always wanted ... So I went to mrs Anita Isaac 's cookery school once a month ( 2 days ) and ... And learnt how to make a perfect ganache .. The secrets of fondant icing ... Advanced icing techniques ... What not ! And so , for the past few months... The boys and anyone who walks into my home .. Have been gorging on continental and Italian food. And they have loved the diversion from pizzas to lasagne .. From frenchfries to roast chicken .. With her permission , here I am passing on one of mrs Anita Isaac 's recipes..


Lava cake


Six ouncegrated dark choclate
Melt in microwave 1min or double boil
Add butter six ounces
Stir well


Half cup sugar plus eggs3 plus a tsp vanilla essence
Beat till foamy


Add warm choclate  mix well
1/3cup maida  remove-2tsp
Add two tsp cocoa
Sieve tegether fold into choclate mix
Pour into silicon cups
Leave around half inchspace on top
Bake in oven @160c


Serve with fresh cream or icecream

A COOKING CONTEST

I was leafing through a Vanitha, the leading  malayalam women's magazine here, when i ran across the entry coupon for a cookery contest..and i thought..why not?So I filled in the application form, sent in my entries for ,a veg sidedish, a non veg side dish, and a dessert..Lazybones that I am...I selected recipes which were the shortest to write..without much thought or idea..

...And..what happened was that I got selected for the preliminary round! I was asked to join a zonal competition with 15 other ladies from around Kochi..and told to make the veg recipe i had sent in..Cool!I had sent SPINACH ROULADE as the veg entree..Got thruough the first round..was selected as one of five finalists from Kochi zone ..Yesterday was the finals, where fifteen women from all over Kerala battled it out for the title of Paachakarani 2010.

Having made it to the finals, I didnt have much hope for getting anything other than a consolation price(snifff!) since (as i told you guys earlier)the recipes I had sent in were selected by me for their brevity in writing..not for dramatic cooking.

Anyway..so there I was.. making a simpleNUTELLA CUSTARD and an equally easy to make MALLU CHILLICHICKEN , while all around me fourteen expert cooks made comlex koftas, variety puddings, fusion curries and pies....Sigh!not even a snowball's chance in heaven!!

So I decided to relax ..two and a half hours time to do my easy to make dishes!way too much time! 

Anyways..net result, a perfectly set mousse pudding and well cooked chicken, which netted me the 2nd place..and ten thousand rupees worth goodies from whirlpool!!!!

wow!!

But it wasn't that which got me excited..it was the fact that, for the first time in my life, I was in a totally different environment..where food production,perfection , is of utmost importance..where every single person in that hall was a foodie through and through.It wasn't just me..all the other fourteen particapants, the three celebrity judges(Lakshmi Nair, Tv cookery expert, Mr Raheem,executive chef of the Taj group of hotels, and a home science professor)the organisers..we were all equally passionate about cooking!

I still haven't come down from the high I experienced when I chatted with a real live chef...when he asked me if I am a professional chef...(teehee!!)when about 50 other strangers descended on the dishes that  I had made and pronounced them yummy...That was the real prize..everything else pales in comparison .

NUTELLA CUSTARD

Ingredients

Arrowroot biscuits   150gms

Butter   2tbsp

Nutella  1 cup

Fresh cream 1 cup

Custard powder  3 tbsp

Milk 2 cups

Sugar  6 tbsp

Fresh cream 2 cups

China grass 1 packet(10 gms)
Condensed milk 1 tin(400 gms)
Vanilla essence 1 tsp

Choclate shavings to decorate

Method

P ut the biscuits in a mixie and crush till finely powdered. Rub in soft butter till it resembles bread crumbs. Press down into a pie dish and keep in fridge to set.

Beat together nutella and cream , then pour onto the hardened base, refrigerate again.
Soak chinagrass in 1 cup of water, melt till smooth.
Mix  together the  milk, custard powder, and condensed milk  and heat in a saucepan, stirring well till slightly thick .
Mix this with the melted chinagrass .

.  Combine cream, vanilla essence, and sugar, and whip till softly peaking.

Fold the cream into the custard mixture gently, then pour onto Nutella layer. Leave to set in  fridge. Garnish with choclate shavings and serve cold.

not my own pic,obviously! this is how it looks, though..

A BUSY BEE

Been so busy ..what with weddings and parties galore...January was filled with events ..we were out almost every evening..which sorely tried my new year resolutions...which were to get back in shape by dieting and going to the gym..anyways..better late than never..i started going to the gym..fairly regularly..ermm..actually, i've gone only 5 days...but see..i am definitely going from today onwards. Been experimenting in the mallu kitchen a lot. My niece, A,had made a pudding the other day which was a gorgeous site to behold..purple and white in colour. The way she made it was quite complicated, and me being a lazybones, preferred to try out an easier version keeping the flavor and color intact. So here it is..

GRAPE JELLY PUDDING

Ingredients:

Grape crush 1 cup
Water 3 cups
China grass 10 gms
Fresh cream 2 cups
Sugar(powdered) 6 tbsp
Gelatine 2 tbsp
Water 4 tbsp

Method:

Mix crape crush and water well.
Take I cup of this, and soak china grass in it.
Heat till it melts .
Add rest of grape mix and blend well in a mixie,.
Pour into pudding dish and leave to set in fridge.
Blend together sugar and cream .
Add gelatine to water,leave to swell for a minute, then double boil till melted .
Add this to the cream mix, blend again in a mixie,.
Pour carefully onto the top of grape jelly, and leave to set again in fridge.
Serve chilled.

BAKE A CAKE TODAY

My house is filled with the lovely fragrance of baking..and it's not just any cake, it's a butterscotch cake.. So..Let's be boring today and go straight to the recipe..ok?

BUTTERSCOTCH CAKE

Ingredients:

Butter 3/4 cup

Sugar 1 1/2 cup(powdered)

Maida 2 cups

Eggs 3 ( seperated)

Milk 1 cup

Vanilla essence 1 tsp

Sugar 2 dsp(granules)

Baking powder 2 tsp

Baking soda 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 175C .

2. Beat together butter and powdered sugar till fluffy and soft.

3. Seperate eggs, add the yolks to above mix one by one, beating well in between.

4. Add maida and milk alternatively, beating in between all the time.

5. Add essence and stiffly beaten egg whites . Stir well by hand.

6. Before the froth goes down, add sugar granules, mix again, and pour into greased baking tray.

7. Bake till done(about 30 minutes)Cool and pour icing on top.

Icing:

Ingredients:

Butter 1/2 cup

caramelised sugar 1 cup

milk 1/4 cup

Powdered sugar 1 cup

Method:

1. Heat butter, add caramelised sugar.

2. Mix well on low heat, then add milk. Mix.

3. Remove from heat, then add powdered sugar.

4. Pour over and spread onto the cake.

 Perfect for special tea times or those chilly winter evenings ....

Another cookery class over..and it's been a long time since I blogged. This recipe is a very easy one which I normally make when it's very hot and I'm too lazy to make a complicated dessert. You could make the jelly early (it keeps for at least a week in the refrigerator )and just whip up the sauce about ten minutes before serving..

Tender Coconut Jelly with Coconut cream sauce

Ingredients:

Tender coconut water 2 1/2 cups
China grass 1 packet(10gms)
Sugar 6 tbsp

Coconut grated 3 cups
water 1 1/2 cup
Condensed milk 1/2 tin(200gm)

Method:

1. Tear up china grass into thin strips. Soak the china grass in tendercoconut water for about ten minutes.

2. Add sugar to this, stir well, and heat .

3. Boil till the china grass is fully melted.

4. Now pour this into a shallow pie dish and leave to set in the refrigerator.

5. Blend together the coconut, water and condensed milk. Strain .

6. Add vanilla essence to this thick cream and chill.

7. The tender coconut jelly will have set within 20 minutes. Chop into small pieces .

8. Serve the jelly pieces with the cream sauce poured liberally on top.

9. Serve chilled.

A FRIDAY LUNCH..

Almost every Friday, we have an informal get together at my husband's ancestral home.
For most muslims, Friday is the big day when believers gather to hear a sermon and particapate in group prayer. Friday prayer is obligatory on every man who is adult, healthy, and free .
Since the mosque is just opposite my in-laws' place, it has been our habit to drop in there, while the men go to pray. We have lunch there..and since all of us co-sisters are big on cooking, we tend to bring along something special to share..like potluck.

Tomorrow is Friday again, so , i thought of making dessert and taking it along.
(I have a sweet tooth..so I automatically think of dessert first!) I am making my favorite dessert..Dark Fantasy Pudding.
I did this for the cooking class also..and you should have heard the mmms and aaahs...after they all got a look and taste of this easy pudding!

DARK FANTASY PUDDING

Ingredients

Sunfeast dark fantasy biscuits
or Oreo cream biscuits 1 packet(200 gm)
China grass 1 packet(10 gms)
Milk 2 cups
Fresh cream 1 cup
Condensed milk 1 tin(400 gms)
Vanilla essence 1 tsp
Choclate shavings to decorate

Method

1. Put the biscuits in a mixie and crush till finely powdered.

2. Press down into a pie dish and keep in fridge to set.

3. Shred chinagrass into strips and soak in 1 cup of milk. Keep aside.

4. Put the rest of milk, cream, essence, condensed milk into a blender and mix well .

5. Take a saucepan, and heat the soaked chinagrass(along with the milk). Stir well, till it is fully dissolved in the milk.

6. When this is slightly cool, add to the blender, and mix again.
(don't add this when hot, or else, the whole mix will curdle)

7. Take the pie dish out of the fridge. The base will be nice and hard now.

8. Pour the milk mixture gently onto the base, and keep in fridge again to set.

9. Garnish with choclate shaviongs and serve cold.

TIP
If you want to cut and serve this pie ;then substitute milk for the fresh cream.
You could also take the easy way out. Defrost a vanilla icecream, pour onto the base, then freeze. For added effect, drizzle boiling hot choclate sauce over it once it sets, then swirl with a fork for a marbled effect. Chill and serve .

ODE TO MY FATHER IN LAW

Hi there! long time no see and all that...I've been so lazy for so long that I began having a guilt complex...It's been vacation time here in malluland...and I hope you mommies out there will understand the trials and travails of a mom of three kids.. As of now, I've outlived a wedding, 3 parties , a funeral, and am shuttling between my house and my husband's ancestral house on a daily basis with the three minitornadoes trailing along behind me full time!!

My father in law passed away on the 10th of May and we're still recovering from the shock of how fast death can creep into our midst and whisk away a loved one.Uppa,as we used to call him ,was a big man, in both body and spirit, generous, gruff , overbearing ,loving,stubborn, ...In private, we used to call him a lion..and he was that too..a braveheart, his very voice sounded like a roar, his very stance was like a lion's..A friend of ours used to joke that whenever he called us at home on the phone, and Uppa picked up the phone, he would automatically stand up -even though he was actually hundreds of miles away in another state!!

Being quite a headstrong person myself, we often used to be at loggerheads on many issues..most of them being about the way I raise my kids. He was of the old school, and I was of the shiny new brigade with many modern ideas, pooh-poohing their old ideas and rituals as pure gibberish. It took me five six years, many personal experiences,and some maturity to accept the fact that sometimes it is better to listen to the wisdom of the elders. With maturity comes wisdom and grace...and I learned to overlook his grouchy behaviour to see the loving father who was hiding underneath that crusty exterior.

We all miss him ...but I know that the greater pain is yet to come..that will come when we walk into the ancestral home again and we see the empty chair in the front porch..it will come again when we wait for him to drop by in the evenings, and then realise that he will no longer be coming...it will come again in many other instances....

Remembering Uppa today, I'm posting one of his favorite dishes..Carrot halwa a.k.a.Gajar halwa


CARROT HALWA

Ingredients:

Carrots,grated finely 4-5 medium sized
Cardamom ,powdered 5 nos.
Sugar 1/2 cup
Condensed milk or fresh cream 3-4 tbsp
Salt a pinch
Ghee 6-7 tbsp
Saffron (optional) a few strands soaked in 1 tbsp hot milk


Method:

1. Heat ghee in a nonstick pan.

2. Zap carrots in microwave for 2 minutes on high. Add to pan,saute well on a low flame.

3. Add salt, when carrots are well wilted, add cardamom and sugar. Stir well.

4. This is a crucial time. Do not leave pan unattended or the halwa will burn and stick to the pan bottom. Keep stirring till the carrots and sugar is well mixed and of a pasty consistency.

5. Add condensed milk or cream, and saffron , stir till it all comes together as a halwa.(the mixture will leave the sides of the pan and collect in the middle.)

6. Serve hot or cold with almond slivers as a garnish.

Tip: Serve piping hot with icecream...yummy combination!!

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.

EID MUBARAK

Eid is special to me..As a true blue mallu muslim, I try to follow the old time traditions as much as possible. I have lovely memories of the festival during my childhood..Eid, Onam, Vishu, Bakrid, Christmas, too...My Umma has always followed a set special routine at my home..she never deviates from it, so that as a child, I always knew what would be the menu for breakfast , lunch, dinner that day...I also knew the exact order of events that would happen on that day, where we would go, what we would do, when we would do every single thing just like the years before.
Likewise, when I got married and came to my husband's home, I found that my mother -in - law also had her own set of traditions with which my husband was totally familiar.By the time I set up my own home about two years ago, I was confused..which set of traditions should I follow that my kids relate to?
I was loath to give up my mother's traditions, at the same time, I didn't want to deprive N of all his familiar Eid routines...
So what I did was mix them up, and now, after two Eids, we have our very own traditions , and my children Insha Allah(god willing) will grow up to that familiar rhythm all their lives.

My mother used to make this sweet dish every Eid for breakfast along with Idiyappams( string hoppers) and Liver roast. What I did was to discard the latter two items, keeping only the sweet, and making Pathiri and Mutton Kurma as my mother -in-law makes for Eid ..What a great mish mash of our two separate traditions..no?


Ethappazha Kurry
SWEET BANANA CURRY

Ingredients:
Ripe bananas 2 (diced)
Coconut milk 2 cups
Sugar 6-8 tbsp
Rice powder 2 tbsp
Cardamoms crushed 6
Water 2 cups
Salt a pinch
Cashewnuts 5-6
Kismis 5-6
Ghee 2 tbsp



Method:

1. Chop Bananas and put into a saucepan along with water, cardamom, and sugar.

2. Boil till the bananas are tender and the water has become half in quantity( 10 minutes max.)

3. Mix ricepowder into coconut milk.

4. Add coconut milk, and a pinch of salt.

5. Heat again, but don't boil. Remove from heat.

6. Heat ghee in another pan, add cashenuts and kismis.

7. Saute till golden in colour and then pour onto the banana curry.

8. Serve hot or cold...tastes delicious either way!!

THE STORY OF THE FRIED RICE PAYASAM!!

This story is really really tue...I know it sounds unbeleivable, but I have witnesses to vouch for it!
I was studying in the ninth standard at the time, and had gone to my grandma's place at Erumely...My aunt had brought along her niece from her husband's side of the family, and we hit it off immediately..H was my same age, all giggly teenager...
we had a grand time, lazing about the ancestral home.One day, my aunts and my mother were talking about how the girls these days are so lazy , and how they don't know a thing about cooking, when we got all fired up..They weretalking about us.,see?So I said, "aha!! You oldies think we don't know anything about cooking? humph!!we'll show you!!"
"and what can you make, my darling girl?" my mom asked.
"So I said, "Ill show you...Im going to make fried rice..so there!!"
And off we went, majestically to the kitchen, H trailing behind me..
"Resh...but do you seriously know how to make fried rice?" she asked .
"I have no idea...It can't be too hard, though. Just boil rice, add a few veggies..and voila!1your fried rice will be ready!!"
H looked at me with doubt"that easy, huh?"
"Yup....c'mon, now first lets put some rice to boil ."
So we started cooking the rice, which was really dreary work, since the water took forever to boil, and being teenagers, we had no patience at all..So we started chopping vegetables to add to the rice while waiting for it to cook.
Being rank newcomers to the kitchen,we had underestimated the time it took for us newbies to chop veggies...
The rice kept cooking and cooking, and cooking , while we kept chopping and chopping, and chopping...
End result? the rice was so overcooked that it resembled a huge white glob!!
"Ugh!! Now what do we do, resh?that mess doesn't look like fried rice to me at all!!" said H.
"Hmm....you know...this looks just like that kheer we had Onam!!"
Looking around in desperation, my eyes fell on a can of condensed milk.
"Aha!!we're saved!!"
I added the condensed milk to the thick gooey mess and stirred..miraculously, the grains seperated a little...but it was still too thick and hard...how to make this like payasam?(kheer)
Swinging around, I saw H , timidly proffering a bottle of milk.
"yesss.."
After adding the milk, it did taste a little like paal payasam, a dessert often served for the onam feast..

To the oldie's queries about where our fried rice rice disappeared to..I gave the airy reply that we made paalpaayasam instead..fried rice is so boring...anyone can make it!!
"wow!!you know more than one recipe?you kids are much better than we expected!"

So that's the story of the fried rice paayasam!!
Though both H and I are homemakers now, we still giggle about that day whenever we meet!!

And now for a real paal paayasam recipe.

PAAL PAAYASAM

Ingredients:

1 litre milk
1 cup brown broken rice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup condensed milk


Method:

1. In a pressure cooker boil the milk. Then add washed rice, sugar and close the pressure cooker with the lid. Bring to a full cooking pressure. After the first whistle, low the heat to very low simmer and cook for 45 minutes.

2. Open the pressure cooker after it has cooled down to see a paal payasam with a beautiful dark pink shade.

3. Add condensed milk, Serve hot or lukewarm...YUM!!

A FRUIT WHIP

My garden is ablaze with flowers today..
I do so love to sit at my garden bench,soaking up the morning sun’s tender warmth.
And I marvel at the beauty of it…So much colour..Did I really plant this garden myself? Truly, I never expected such loveliness when I started planting the flower beds last year. Now, the bright flowers spill out of their beds, and butterflies flutter aroud everywhere…Is this what they call Heaven?
I am relly sorry that I cannot write anything today other than such trite nonsense..It is Ramzan after all… and one just can’t think properly on an empty stomach..As we reach the end of this month, we’re all getting tired faster, our movements are more sluggish, and we pass the days in a blur of prayers and cooking. And my tired brain cries out for some simple recipes to make…
Yesterday, at Iftaar( breaking of our fast), I made mixed fruit whip.It’s lovely, easy to make, pleasing to the eye, and so light and tasty. Just what the doctor ordered…full of the richness of fruits and milk, this recipe is perfect for ahot summer day too !!
..
MIXED FRUIT WHIP

Ingredients:

Chilled Milk- 4 cups
Condensed Milk(optional) 2tbsp
Sugar ¼ cup
Vanilla Essence ½ tsp
Apple 1
Papaya (not too ripe) ¼ cup
Small banana 3
Pomegranates ½ cup


Method:

1. Mix together milk, condensed milk ,sugar, and vanilla essence.
2. Chop fruits except pomegranates into tiny pieces.
3. Add to the milk.
4. Chill and serve cold.

RAMADAN ,THE MONTH OF FASTING

Ramadan has started today. This is a very special month for muslims. It is a time of fasting, prayer, and doing good. I love this month so much..for the control over ourselves, for the deprivation..for the charity, the feasting in the evening, for the prayers...most of all, I must say that i love the fact that as a family, it is a time for bonding and becoming even more closer. Waking up for edeyathaazham or Suhoor , the pre dawn time to eat, we all have a meal together, sit around chatting about this and that, and when the Subahi , early morning call for prayer is heard from the nearby mosque, we all stand together and do namaz,(pray) together.. yes...even the smallest member of opur family, J3, who is only 4, joins us for this. The feeling of well being and piety and love that I feel all around me when I am surrounded by my family in prayer is indescribable..
And nombu thurakkal,or iftaar, breaking our fast is also pretty special. The whole family sitting around the table eating together... prayers afterward are also done together as a family.
It is a month of forgiveness, and charity..doing good for others takes on a special importance this month.
I think I'm going all religious on you and boring you to tears...so I think I'll just wind up now.. Before I stop, I just want to tell you that the next few postings wil be having special ramadan recipes . Apricots in milk is the recipe I'm giving you today. This is a very light dessert that can be served for Iftaar . It can also be made for any other time too.. Easy to make, with a lovely taste, light on the stomach too..One more tip, you should use the really dry apricots with seeds inside,like the one shown on the left side below..not the fleshy soft ones like the ones on the right side.




APRICOTS IN MILK

Ingredients:
Apricots 50 gms
Milk 2 cups
Condensed milk 1/2 cup
Sugar if needed


Method:

1. Soak apricots in milk for 1 hour and then boil together for 5 minutes till very soft.

2. Strain the apricots and keep aside. Remove seeds from the apricots.

3. Mix condensed milk with milk, and sugar if you like your dessert too sweet.

4. Put apricots(deseeded) back into the milkmixture, then chill.

5. Break open the seeds with a stone. You will get an almond fro inside each shell. Add this to the milk mix.

6. Serve chilled ..

GUILTY PLEASURES..

Ting-a –ling!!Ting- a-ling!!
As soon as I heard the sound of the brass bell ringing down the road , I knew that the Mithai seller was coming with his push cart.
’Ooh…Bombay mithai!!’
For those of you who haven’t seen or eaten Bombay mithai (poor suckers…you don’t know what you missed)..let me introduce you.
Bombay mithai or Madaamma pooda , as it is also called..is the original version of soan papdi, that sweet which mixes sugar with badam pista and cardamom. Soan papdi is nice, but nothing can compare with the taste of Bombay mithai.
When I was in school and college, these vendors used to come around, ringing their brass bells, nothing on their push carts other than a huge bell shaped glass jar, filled with fluffy white mithai. If you pay one rupee, you get a small cone of paper filled to the brim with Bombay mithai, sometimes even threatening to spill out …Nowadays, this is a rare sight. In cities, there are no Bombay mithai vendors. But here, in a small town like where I live, they can be seen occasionally, ringing their bells loud and clear.
And the taste…aah!! How can I describe the taste of it? Words won’t do justice to it. It melts in your mouth , filling it with the sweetness of sugar, sometimes..it is crunchy too.
I am sorry. I just won’t be able to properly give you an idea .
Anyway, yesterday when the Bombay mithai seller came, the kids were at school. So I bought some for myself and some for the kids. (like the good mother I am..ahem!!) I finished my quota in record time..and then started looking longingly at the mithai I had bought for the kids..
‘No...control yourself. are you a child , Reshma, that you have to steal the kids’ sweets?’
But finally I lost control and started on the other set too. Though it was wrong, I must tell you, the taste of that mithai was the most sinfully divine thing I’d ever eaten. The guilty pleasure must have added to the taste.
I consoled my conscience with the thought that what the kids don’t know won’t hurt them……(teehee!)
Now, what shall we make today? I can’t very well give you the recipe for Bombay mithai since I don’t know how it is made..so shall we go for a pudding?
Tender coconut soufflé is made from tender coconut water, which is kerala’s special drink. Sometimes, when tender coconut water is not available, I use coconut milk instead. Mind you, you must use thick coconut milk for that. The recipe with tender coconut water has a delicate and light taste. Perfect for after a heavy dinner, or to serve when we break our fast during ramzan.

TENDER COCONUT SOUFFLE

Ingredients:

Evaporated /condensed milk 1 tin(400 gm)
Tender coconut water 3 cups/tins
(tins meaning the tin containing evaporated/condensed milk)
China grass 1 packet(10 gm)
Vanilla essence ½ tsp
Milk ½ cup


Method:

1. Tear up the china grass into small pieces and soak in the milk in a saucepan.

2. Mix together condensed milk , tender coconut water, and vanilla essence in a blender.

3. Heat milk and chinagrass , stirring all the while, till the china grass has melted fully, and no trace remains.

4. Add to the blender and blend again for a minute.

5. This part is optional. If you have any tender coconut flesh available, spread thin slices on the base of a pudding dish.

6. Pour the mixed items onto this and keep in refrigerator for 1 hour till set.

7. Serve cold.

Tip: Once china grass has melted, it tends to set quickly, so you have to work fast after melting the chinagrass.

RAINBOW SIGHTED!!

We saw a rainbow today...well..technically..it couldn't exactly be called a rainbow...the kids were quite disappointed..actually.."that's a REAL rainbow?No Umma..the rainbows we see in books are so much better...so much more colourful..this one has no colour to speak of..how can this be a rainbow?"
AAh..I wonder where the thick multicoloured rainbows of the books have disappeared to..I have to admit...this is only the second time in my life that I have seen a rainbow(how come?maybe I was too busy to stand and stare at the clouds before I had kids)...the kids were seeing it for the first time..anyways...to get rid of the anti climactic feeling we all had...I thought...why not make some rainbows at home?
So I started by searching the net for a thing I'd heard a long time ago..rainbow catchers..and glory be to God...the net never disappoints!!
So we set out to capture a rainbow in our home itself with glass paints ..and we did quite well with what we had at hand(I have a sneaky suspicion that i'm biased..)
I'd like to say that the iseas below are not mine at all..I found them on the internet from various sites..just thought someone out there with kids might like to try these out..the're so simple to make!!
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* Unwrap colorful crayons and make shavings, either by grating them with a cheese grater or sharpening them in a crayon sharpener.
* Place the shavings on top of a sheet of wax paper. Place a second piece of wax paper on top to make a “sandwich.”
* Using an iron on low heat, press the wax paper, moving the iron constantly.
* As it heats up, the crayon shavings will melt and form a colorful design.
* Let cool and then cut into a shape. Poke a hole in top and hang in the window from a ribbon.
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* Melt different colored crayons in the microwave or a double boiler and spoon into small molds or an ice cube tray.
* Cool, remove from the mold and use like regular crayons. Because the colors are mixed, the crayon with change colors as it is used.
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I also recreated the rainbow in my kitchen...how could I deny myself?
In Kerala, we muslims make a special dessert called the Falooda.Garishly coloured, it is a favorite for my kids.It's quite easy to make..you could even make all the stuff ahead, and assemble it in tall thin glasses , and watch your guests eyes grow wide as saucers in wonder at the beauty of it!!

FALOODA

This recipe , I cannot give you exact measurements and ingredients.
Basically,there are layers.
On the bottom comes sugar syrup.For this, take 5 tbsp sugar, add just enough water so it is just above the sugar, and boil till sugar has melted fully, and the water turns thick.Add 2 drops of green food colour.
The next layer is 1 tbsp black khus khus seeds which have been soaked in water for at least an hour.drain and use.
Next, chop 1 apple,a banana, half a pineapple, a few cashewnuts, 2 dates, and a mango.All these fruits are optional.You could even use only apple and banana..you just have to tweak your portions accordingly.
Take a handful of vermicelli ,boil in 1/2 cup milk. When well cooked, turn heat off, and add rose essence.If it doesnt have colour, add pink colour too.If you don't like the taste of rose essence( alot of people don't ..I just love the subtle taste of rose in malabari food!)don't add rose essence, just pink color.
For the next layer, take 2 or 3 jelly packets.they should be of different colours.Red, Orange,Yellow...don't make the lime jelly..that one tastes horrible in falooda.!!
The final layer is Icecream.Some people use vanilla as well as pista and choclate.It adds to the colours.For me, I prefer vanilla alone.
Make all these ahead and keep in the refrigerator.Then, when you need to serve dessert, take all the stuff and keep them ready for assembling.Assemble like this for each tall glass.
1. A tablespoon of emerald green sugar syrup.

2. A tablespoon of Khus seeds.

3. Gently add a tbsp of the mixed fruits.

4. Add 1 tablespoon of the pink vermicelli.

5. Put one tbsp of red jelly to one side of the layer, add 1 tbsp of yellow jelly to another side of the layer, and add 1 more tbsp of orange jelly .

6. Take a large scoop of icecream and set on top of the jelly layer..

7.Serve as soon as possible.



A thought while I was typing this post...This sounds awfully like a trifle pudding..no?Maybe some old malabari maami might have read a trifle pudding and tried to make a mallu version of it...or is this a mughlai recipe?I am very sorry to say I am truly ignorant about it's origins.If there is anyone out there who knows about the origin of the falooda, please let me know..ok?

Really sorry about the picture quality..I think my camera is dying on me...

MANGO MADNESS !!

It's the tail end of the mango season here in kerala...and mangoes are fast disappearing from the fruit stalls here....So , before we bid sweet adieu to the king of fruits....let's just do at least one dessert with it...
This one 's an easy dessert which , however, you make it, will never go wrong. It's foolproof!!!
And for mangolovers everywhere,(yours truly included!!)this is mango heaven!! Watch them coming back for seconds...and thirds...and...!!

MANGO MAYHEM

Ingredients:

Mangoes(ripe and firm) -4
Water -4 or 5 tbsp
Sugar -4 or 5 tbsp
Vanilla Icecream -500 ml


Method:


1. Chop 1 large mango finely, add sugar and water, and blend to a puree in a blender/mixie.

2. Pour puree in a saucepan and heat on a low flame for 5 to 10 minutes till it is a sauce.

3. Keep icecream out of the freezer for about 15 minutes, then spread the partially soft icecream in a shallow dessert dish.

4. Pour the hot sauce onto this in a circular motion.

5. Gently fold in with a fork, for a marble effect, then freeze for 1 hour.

6. Slice rest of mangoes(or chop them...as u like it!!).

7. Serve icecream with mango slices as a garnish.

ALONG CAME A SPIDER

Little Miss Muffet,
Sat on her tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her,
And frightened
Miss Muffet away.


In this case, the little miss muffet was my daughter J3, and she was eating a plate of brownies with icecream when the spider scared her....
You should have heard the commotion here when the spider hit!!My poor little fusspot was sitting there happily ,munching on her weekend treat,brownies with icecream..when all of a sudden, this big spider goes walking by about ten metres away....the next minute, all that was left of the treat was a huge splotch on my ceiling!!Dark brown choclate and creamy icecream dripped down onto her hair, while she was screaming blue murder. It took another two servings of brownies and the valiant efforts of her two big brothers, who risked life and limb(so they say...)to shoo away the offending party(the poor spider..he ever even knew what hit him!!)before she calmed down.


EASY BROWNIES

Ingredients:

Butter(or dalda) -185 gm
Sugar(granulated,not powdered)-400 gm
Eggs -4
Flour -170 g
Cocoa -10 dsp levelled
Vanilla essence -1tsp
Walnuts/cashewnuts (chopped) -1 cup


Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar well.

2. Add eggs one at a time, beating well in between.

3. Add cocoa and flour. Beat well.

4. Add nuts and essence.Fold in with a spoon.

5.Pour in a grased shallow baking tray and bake till done.

6.One baked and cooled, cut in half lengthwise, and spread with choclate fudge icing in between layers, and on top too.

7. When serving, heat in microwave, or oven a little, then serve with slightly soft vanilla icecream.

Choclate fudge icing recipe:

Butter(unsalted) -50 gms
Milk -1 tbsp
Icing sugar -100 gms
Cocoa powder -2 tbsp


Heat butter on low flame, add milk. Stir in icing sugar and cocoa powder. Spread for brownies while still hot .

A rainy day...

The monsoon is here!!
And what a lovely time it is, watching the heavens open up and pour buckets of water all around...In my tiny corner of kerala, we're having thunderstorms as well!!
Yup!!lovely to watch and wax lyrical about the rains while I am inside my cosy home ,sipping my hot coffee..but what about my three school going kids?
They come home from school with leaking shoes,sodden clothes, wet hair, and a suspicious air of guilt which tells me that they have sneaked out to play in the rain!!This is the moment for me to start fussing and clucking like a mother hen, and give a lecture about colds and sniffles...But I restrain myself...and you may ask why?Because i I have also been guilty of the same pleasure when i was a child myself...hasn't everybody ?
So, instead, I bring out a plate of steaming hot caramel custard pudding and proceed to serve generous portions to my three little rascals!What a lovely way to warm up!(and calories be damned!!kids don't need to count calories!)
"Mom!you make the best custard pudding in the world!!"(Ahem!)
It's funny how a twist to a fairly routine offering can transform it from the humdrum to the heavenly...In the case of my caramel custard, I add just a bit of custard powder to the ingredients and then bake it.Voila!You have the best custard pudding in the world!!

CARAMEL CUSTARD PUDDING
ingredients:
500 ml milk
1/2 tin condensed milk
2 eggs
2 tbsp custard powder
4 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

To caramelize-2 tbsp sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven and place a shallow pan of water to heat in it.
2. Take a pudding mold, and caramelize sugar in it by heating on a low flame till sugar is golden in color. Allow to coat base and sides of the mold.
3. Mix all ingredients well, beating till the mixture is light and frothy.
4. Pour this into the cooled mold and place the mold in the pan of water inthe oven.
5. Bake for 30 minutes at 200"C, or till a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
6. Invert the mold onto a shallow serving plate so the caramel comes on top, and serve either steaming hot or well chilled.


Some serving suggestions...
You could serve it with stewed apricots, or stewed pineapple, or crushed caramelised nuts..
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