A ray of hope with 100th post

Woohoo ,,, hitting my 100th post. Feels great to achieve this milestonthat too in less than 8 months time :-D. The day when I thought of creating url for my blog, I was bit hesitant to initiate these efforts with many questions in mind.. would I be able to really come here and post? with so many blogs floating on internet will readers take interest to come here and read the recipes? will I be able to manage the techie side of blogging???? and many more similar questions ... but then hope was only thing with which I began on this journey.

Hope, like the gleaming taper’s light,
Adorns and cheers our way;
And still, as darker grows the night, Emits a brighter ray.  
~Oliver Goldsmith

Keeping up with the posts regularly on this space was a challenge for me due to my work schedules and managing two kids at home. But things moved on with the support that I received from all of them,,, my hubby, kids and all you dear friends. Many thanks to all of you for showering your love and encouraging with lovely comments that makes me turn to this space again and again. 

Today's post once again emerges as a ray of hope to continue my culinary as well as photography work with growing interest and dedication and hundreds of more blog-posts in future, obviously with all your motivation. Celebrating this milestone with a virtual treat for all of you and that's Strawberry Shrikhand. 

Shrikhand is a dessert which can be easily prepared from home prepared curd. I have not been successful to prepare curd at home and since we get shrikhand in packed containers [Amul brand] over here, I never felt the need [rather thought] of attempting it at home. 



When my friends staying outside India shared their recipes to prepare this dessert at home, I was taken back in time remembering the days when my mom used to prepare chakka [hung curd] for this purpose especially on festive occasions.  Home made curd placed in muslin cloth was suspended in air, the corners of the cloth tied to a tap over the sink or cabinet handle over a large bowl, and left overnight only to get thick curd cheese which was later turned into finger licking yummylicious cardamom flavored shrikhand. With an urge to prepare it at home, I thought of recreating this dessert. The yogurt that I used to prepare the chakka was from prepacked container and later the flavor enhanced with strawberries.



Ingredients

Hung curd/yogurt 1 cup
Granulated sugar 1/2 cup
Strawberries 1/2 cup  [ Additional strawberries diced and sliced used before serving]
Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp [optional], I can't think of shrikhand without cardamom

Method:

Hang yogurt in a muslin cloth and tie it to the tap till all the liquid [whey] gets drained. [ I read in many recipes to hang the yogurt in muslin cloth and keep in refrigerator in order to avoid chakka turning sour]


The quantity of chakka seen in above pic was prepared from 1 kg of yogurt.

Wash, clean and remove the stems of strawberries. Place chopped strawberries, granulated sugar in a blender and blend it to make a smooth puree. Now take 1 cup of hung curd in a wide mouthed mixing bowl, add strawberry puree into it. Add cardamom powder and whisk the mixture gently to remove any lumps until you get nice creamy texture of the yogurt. Add in 2 tbsp of diced fresh berries. Keep it refrigerated until you serve it. Garnish the dessert with chopped pistachios and sliced fresh berries just before the serving.



Happy Cooking !!!

Sending my entry to "The Colour Me Photography Challenge Series"  for the month of June.

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Raw Mango Rice/ Chitranna

Raw mango is known as ambuli in konkani, mavinkayi in kannada or kairi in marathi. Though the season of mangoes is coming to an end, raw mangoes are still available on the shelves of supermarkets over here. Today's recipe is a delicious variety rice using these raw mangoes. Popularly known as Mavinkayi anna/ chitranna throughout South India, the recipe here is an adaptation of the recipe by Asha aunty. 



Ingredients

Basmati rice 2 cups
Oil 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Urad dal 1 tsp
Peanuts 1/2 cup
Cashews 1 -2 tbsp
Curry leaves few
Turmeric powder pinch
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste

For grinding
Coconut grated 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Methi seeds 1/4 tsp
Red chili [ Byadgi variety] 3 -4
Grated Mango 4 tbsp for grinding 

For garnishing
Grated Mango 1 tbsp 
Coriander leaves finely chopped 


Method:

Clean, wash and cook rice in enough water with salt. Take care that the grains remain separate. Spread on a large plate to cool.

Dry roast methi seeds. Grind coconut, red chilies, methi seeds, mustard seeds and grated mango to a fine paste. In a deep pan, heat some oil. Add mustard seeds, when they crackle add urad dal and curry leaves. Add turmeric powder, peanuts and cashews. Stir fry for a minute or two. Add the ground paste and saute it on medium flame for few minutes. Add cooked rice, salt, sugar and mix well. Cook it for 5 minutes over low flame. Garnish with some more grated mango and finely chopped coriander leaves. Mix well and serve it hot with papad.


Happy Cooking !
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Batate gojju

Potato is called as Batato in Konkani and the preparation of mashed potatoes with seasoning is called as gojju. In simpler terms we can call this dish as potato salad from Konkani cuisine :)

The days when stock of fresh/frozen veggies gets emptied or the days when we return back from any tours/India trip, potatoes come to my rescue while cooking a meal. With just few ingredients this dish is super easy and quick to prepare. A perfect side dish that goes well with rice and dalitoy.


Ingredients

Potatoes 3
Tamarind small piece
Coconut grated fresh or frozen 1-2 tbsp
Green chilli 2
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves few leaves
Asafoetida 1/4 tsp
Coconut Oil used for seasoning
Red chilli 1

Method:

Wash potatoes and pressure cook them in enough water for 3 whistles. Allow it to cool, peel the skin and mash it or crush it with hand. Keep it aside.

Meanwhile finely chop the green chillies and crush with tamarind and little water. Now add grated coconut and salt as per the taste. Add this mixture to the mashed potatoes and add water to bring it to required consistency.

Prepare seasoning in a spatula, heat some oil and add mustard seeds, once they start popping add broken red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida. Pour the seasoning on potato mixture, mix well and enjoy it as side dish.

Happy cooking !
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Mushroom Pepper Fry

A simple combination of mushroom, capsicum and onions stir fried and cooked with spices and sauces. It is an easy to cook recipe requiring less ingredients and very tasty dish,  which I got to know from my FB friend. Thanks Sudha for this recipe.



Ingredients

Sliced Mushroom 100 gms
Ginger garlic paste 2tsp
Red chilies 2, crushed
Capsicum small sized 2
Paneer shredded 1/2 cup [original recipe calls for 1 cup]
Onion small sized 2, sliced
Soy sauce 1 tsp
Tomato ketchup 1 tbsp
Pepper powder as per taste
Ajinomoto pinch [I omitted]
Olive oil

Method:

Take oil in a deep pan. Heat it, add ginger garlic paste, crushed red chilies. Stir it till the raw smell of ginger garlic disappears. Now simmer the flame and add finely sliced onions. Once they turn translucent, add chopped capsicum and mushroom. Fry well for 5 minutes on sim flame. [Since mushroom has moisture don't add any water].

Add shredded paneer, ajinomoto [optional], pepper powder, soy sauce, tomato ketchup and salt. Now fry on high till all the water evaporates and becomes dry. Switch off the flame and serve it as side dish. 


Additionally, once it cools down you can place it in the center of chapati, roll it and grill it. Serve it as wraps/starters with tomato ketchup.

Happy cooking !
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Mysore Pak

Mysore pak is a traditional Indian sweet dish. It has a history of being created first in the kitchens of Mysore Palace by a cook named Kaksura Madappa using generous amount of ghee, sugar and gram flour. It comes in two varieties - the hard porous variety and the other soft ones which are famous these days. I tasted the soft ones from famous sweet shop "Shri Krishna sweets". They are too delicious oozing out oodles of ghee and sugar. 



When you take a bite they just melt in your mouth and are highly addictive, if you taste one be sure you would be back for more. 



I would indulge in the ready made ones from the famous sweet shop [a guilty pleasure] during our vacation time to India till last year, because the process of making this sweet meant lots of patience, practice and strong arms to stir in the mixture constantly!  

Few months back, I came across its recipe on a food group by Usha Bhat. For me the main attractions of her recipe was use of just 1/2 cup ghee, no need of stirring constantly [as part of the method is done in microwave] and less time consuming. I immediately bookmarked it but was not sure if I would dare doing this recipe in microwave [blame it on my past experience of burning the gram flour in microwave while making besan burfis]. Usha akka tried this recipe many times and she says it works like "magic" for her. Thanks Usha akka for your step by step directions and successful attempts, that I finally gathered the courage and decided to try it. And the end result .... I was on cloud 9 after my first successful attempt. It was hit at home and kids kept saying "gimme more". After my first attempt, prepared it few more times [that's the reason you see so many pics from my different attempts] and indeed the recipe worked like magic for me too each and every time.



Let's go to the recipe now

Ingredients

Besan/ Gram flour 1/2 cup
Powdered sugar 1 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup or 8 tbsp
Milk 2 tbsp

Method:
Below oven timings apply if your Microwave is 900 watts.


Sieve the besan to remove any lumps.



Dry fry besan in a thick bottomed vessel till a nice aroma wafts into the room. Take care not to burn the flour while roasting it, hence the step should be done on low to medium flame . Grease a plate with ghee and keep it aside. Now melt 1/2 cup ghee in a microwave for one minute on high. Once the ghee melts, mix all the ingredients in the melted ghee and stir well. Microwave the mixture for 90 seconds [one and half minute]. Remove the mixture out of the oven and mix well. Microwave again for 90 seconds. Once you see bubbles on the mixture, microwave just for 30 seconds. This is exactly the required consistency, remove and quickly stir in well once again. 

Pour it quickly on a greased plate. Spread the mixture evenly by tapping the plate lightly on a hard surface for couple of times. [ You can also even the mixture by flat ladle]. Cut into desired shapes after 5 minutes and allow it to cool completely before you remove the pieces from the plate.


The below pic is result of my attempt once again to please my taste buds while drafting this post :)



Note: 
  • The oven timings may vary depending on the power of your oven. 
  • If it is not 900 watts and if the mixture has not set as per the oven time mentioned in the above steps, pour the mixture back in the microwave vessel. Add 1 tsp of milk, mix well and microwave for 60 seconds again. You will get the timing right after one or two attempts.
  • In the last pic, I have added pinch of turmeric powder [optional] while roasting the gram flour [a tip given by my friend] to get that color.

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Beetroot upkari

How to get kids appetite back especially when they are recovering from a viral infection ? 'A' was knocked out by tummy bug unable to keep even a glass of water down. Now he is doing better, but still not back to his normal appetite. He shows extreme disinterest to eat from his plate at first sight. You must have heard or read that "People eat with their eyes first" and the first rule to fulfill above saying would be to get balanced contrasting colors on the plate. Kids feel nice to see something bright and colourful on their plate especially when their appetite has gone down.  

I browsed through the fridge to check my veggies stock and came across beetroot, a nutritious root vegetable that has a catchy pink color and is known to boost the energy levels too. This root vegetable has many health benefits which you can read here.  'A' too love this veggie and hence decided to prepare a simple beetroot upkari/stirfry [prepared in most of the konkani household]. Hope this pink color brightens up his plate, whet his appetite and boosts his energy.





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Cucumber Coolers

Summer's finally here. The heat is increasing with each passing day, mercury sitting at 43 degrees and all the schools here nearing its summer break in a week's time. In it's last week, "A" [my elder one] had a task from his school to prepare a chart and create awareness among students about having a safe summer. We helped him to make it with illustrations that shared the message to take good care of our eyes, our skin, our health and keep ourselves hydrated all the times during summer. Here's a pic of his work.


This activity reminded me of the summer days that I spent as a kid at my Mumbai house. We baccha party used to gather in the play area of our housing society to spend our vacation time during summer. Lots of playing under the burning sun from morning till our moms pulled us into the house to protect us from the heat. It was not just the heat but the humid weather too that used to make us feel stickier and sweatier. And right in that time a vendor used to arrive at the gates with a cart or basket/ tokri filled with peeled cucumbers, sliced and sprinkled with salt, red chilli powder and lemon juice ... aah the sight of cucumber slices looked sinfully delicious, an oasis for parched throats as well as hungry souls. But mom had strictly instructed me to stay away from such temptations and thereby from infections and diseases in order to have a safe summer. Later she used to fulfill my wish by preparing delicious slices or cucumber salads at home during lunch time.

In continuation to the above safe summer concept, today's recipe post is on summer coolers that surely gonna beat the heat, quench the thirst and keep you healthy. Chatpata Cucumber slices and Cucumber cups which I had prepared at home few days back. These slices or cups can be served as an appetizer before a meal.


For cucumber slices
Ingredients
Cucumber 2, sliced into sticks
Red chilli powder as per taste
Salt to taste
Lemon Juice to taste

Method:
Wash the cucumbers. [Optional step of peeling the cucumber skin] Cut them into stick shaped slices. Place them on serving plate. Sprinkle salt, red chili powder and some lemon juice on top. You can chill them before serving.


For cucumber cups
Ingredients
Cucumber 2, cut into roundels approximately 1 to 1.5 inches each
Yogurt/ Curd 1/2 cup
Beetroot 1,  grated or cut into small cubes and boiled 
Corn niblets few.
Chaat masala to taste
Pepper powder to taste
Finely chopped coriander leaves/ Mint leaves for garnish [optional]

Method:

Wash the cucumbers.You can keep the skin or remove or even peel it in stripes. Cut the cucumbers into roundels approximately 1 to 1.5 inches each. To make the cups, scoop out the inner portion with a melon-baller taking care not to scoop all the way to the bottom. 

In a bowl mix curd, boiled beet cubes, corn niblets. Sprinkle some salt, pepper powder, chaat masala. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves or mint leaves. Place the cucumber cups on serving plate and scoop a tsp of mixture into each cucumber cup and serve it chilled.

Optionally, you can use hung curd, cheese or hummus in place of yogurt and vary the toppings with any other ingredients of your choice like chopped tomatoes, onions, grated carrots, boiled and diced potatoes etc. You can use parsley instead of coriander or mint leaves and chopped green chilies to garnish those cups.

Hope you like this hors d'oeuvres, a very easy to prepare and refreshing recipe on a hot summer day !!!

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