Apple Delight (Kheer/Payasam made of Apple & Sago seed)

Ramadan Mubarak to all ma fellow bloggers and  the readers out here!!

Ramadan brings a special joy to each and every muslim's heart; a month devoted to God; when every muslim fasts during the daylight and prays at nights. Fasting does not mean just to avoid eating; moreover its a means of learning self-control. Ramadan is also a time of intensive worship, reading of the Qur'an, giving charity, purifying one's behavior, and doing good deeds.

Coming to the food habits during Ramadan, we Malabar people give it so lots of importance in serving variety of dishes. We normally breaks our fasts using dates, fruits and juices by hearing Azaan . This is called the 'Iftar' and then after Magrib (sunset prayer) we have our tea with some snacks like samosas,cutlets,etc. After that, we have our Tharaveeh prayer to be done before our dinner. Our dinner consists mainly of different pathiris or any other dishes made mainly with rice. Along with that different varieties of Kanji (rice porridge) are also served. We try to avoid Chappatis or anything made with wheat as we believe that would leave us thirtsty and upsets our stomach. We would rise up early morning before Fajr prayer; ie; atleast an hour before sunrise and have a light meal. We call this Athazham. The eating habits may vary according to different houses and regions, but all prefer to have a nice and tasty food during Ramadan as they've to stock energy for the next day. We take lots of fluids and water in our food as its really difficuilt to maintain the hydration level of our body during daytime when we work and also we pray a lot for about 1 and 1/2 hrs at night which burns our calories a lot.


So let's all welcome this precious month with a delicious and yummy payasam or kheer which have recently introduced in our house by one of my aunt. Its made with Sago Seed/Sabudana  and served with grated or chopped apples on top. Its a delicious drink with the crunchiness of apple and can be easily made too.

 Ingredients:
recipe courtesy: Bushra Nasir

Milk 1 1/2 ltr
Condensed Milk/Milkmaid 1 tin
Sugar 6-10 tbsp
Sago Seed 1/2 cup
Apple (preferrably green one) red is also fine
Almonds or any other nuts for serving

Method:

1. Boil and reduce milk till it reaches the 3/4th of the total quantity in a deep bottomed vessel.

2. Cook Sago seed in a separate pan alongwith water. Don't add more water to it. When the sago seed is done, dry up the extra liquid in the pan.

3. Add condensed milk and sugar to the reduced milk. Mix well.

4. Add the Sagoseeds to it and boil till it reaches the preferred consistency.

5. Switch off the flame and let it cool.

6. Serve cold with grated or chopped apples, sliced almonds/cashews or pistachios according to your choice; apples are a must though.

Spicy Kheema With Vegetables

What am I doing at this time of the day?? It's 3:19 am here -a silent night or a calm early morning- I can hear nothing else than people snoring at different volumes & types. I'm here at my mom's place at the capital (Abu Dhabi) and enjoying  the fullest with almost all the members of ma family except a few like ma bros and hubby. Should I miss them or be happy that i'm alongwith others?? I miss ma bro a lot now when just 2 days left for his birthday. He misses his Mom's food a lot and here I'm enjoying every bit of it.

This is something I adore the most among my Mom's cuisine.-a spicy kheema recipe which we can have both with chappathi or Kuboos. You can make it with a little gravy or dry as you wish. We made it a bit dry this time as we made dal alongwith it; otherwise we make it with a little more gravy to have it with kuboos.

 Ingredients:

Mutton/Beef/Chicken/Soya Mince (Kheema) 500gm
Cinnamon 1 piece
Cloves 3
Bay leaf 1
Onion- 5
Ginger- 1 1/2 "
Garlic paste 5
Green chilli 2
Tomato-3
Red Chilli powder 3tsp
Coriander leaves 1/2 tsp
Mixed Veg. of your choice
Pepper 1/2 tsp
Olive oil
Coriander leaves

Method:

1. Clean the mince and strain in a strainer.Chop the onions. Take a pressure cooker and heat some oil in it.Add whole masalas like cloves,cinnamon and bayleaf into it; then add the onions and saute till it turns translucent.

2. Add ginger-garlic paste and green chilli to it. Saute for a minute again. Add chopped tomatoes and all dry spices to it.

3. Mix the mince/kheema into this. Pour 1/4 cup water to it and then close the lid of the cooker. Cook for about 10 minutes after the first whistle or till done.

4.Boil the vegetables separately and add to it. You can use any type of vegetables. My mom used frozen mixed vegetables and potatoes this time. Dry up extra liquid in the dish till you get the exact consistency. Check the taste and add a tbsp of lime juice if needed.

5. Garnish with coriander leaves and drizzle some olive oil on top as we do for hummos.


A big Thank You to Santosh Bhangar who shared such lovely awards with me. She owns a lovely blog named Santosh's kitchen in which she shares her wonderful fingerlicking food recipes with us.

Classic Brownies

  Classic Brownies are rich in chocolate but slightly crunchy inside with nuts. Much as I love brownies, I never had very much luck at making truly great ones before. Either it will end up overcooked or else, undercooked. Now I'm much better. Brownies are usually easy to make, but baking is a tricky one. Once you get the right technique, it will be one among your favorite bakes..



According to a blog named Bakingsos,

there are 2 primary methods for testing the doneness of brownies:

• the brownies should start pulling away from the sides of the pan, and

• a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the pan should come out with moist by crumbly-looking crumbs on it.

Ingredients:

Chocolate 185gms
Butter 185 gms
Eggs 3
Vanilla 1tsp
Sugar 250gms
Flour 110gms
Walnuts 150gm( I used 70gms only)

Method:

Preheat the oven at 160C.

Prepare a baking tray by lining it using a wax/baking paper at the bottom and using butter at the sides.

Melt Chocolate & Butter in a double boiler . Keep a pan of water to boil. Place the bowl above it in such a way that it does not touch the water in the pan. Put chocolate and butter in that bowl and go on mixing till it melts completely.  You can melt it in microwave also. Keep for 1 minute. Then, take it out and mix it well. If it s not melted completely, keep for 1/2 a minute more.Mix it well an let it cool.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla essence till they are incorporated well. No need to use electric beater.

Now mix the melted chocolate into this.

Sift flour and add to this mixture in two batches. Fold it well.

Mix the chopped walnuts into this and pour this into the baking tray.

Bake at 160C for 30-35 mts. Check your brownies with a toothpick after 25mts. If the wooden toothpick comes out still looking wet and gooey, the brownies are not done yet and if it comes out with moist by crumbly-looking crumbs on it, its done.

Cool it on a rack for about 30 minutes. Reverse it on a plate, remove the wax paper and then, reverse it again using another plate. Cut it down and serve it hot or cold. I love it with ice-creams, and you??

Pound Cake (Butter Cake)

Like always, I'm late again to post Sweet Punch's this month's bake. This is my second attempt on the cake. I did bake one last month itself with the same recipe. My kids couldn't wait to have it that I couldn't click a picture that time. So baked it again today & the pictures didn't turn out so good as expected.


This is a perfect and awesome recipe and is not baked in usual method. The ingredients are the same of course; but a slight change in the method.Sweet Punch team has started a blog of its own and so they've started their baking journey with this simple and basic recipe.

In their own words..
""We have chosen a recipe from The Cake Bible,where Rose has come up with a new method of baking the cake,very different from the butter-sugar creaming and wet+dry ingredients,the usual cake route.This method,according to Rose ensures a tight crumb,similar to that of Sara Lee Pound cake which is as perfect as a Pound Cake can be.


So here's the recipe--


Perfect Pound Cake


Ingredients


3 tablespoons Milk

3 large Eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 ½ cups sifted cake flour
¾ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
13 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened [184 gms]

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Butter an 8 inch by 4 by 2.5 inch loaf pan, or any six cup loaf or fluted tube pan.

Lightly whisk together milk, eggs and vanilla in a medium bowl.
Place dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix on low speed for 30 seconds, until blended. Add the butter and half the egg mixture, and mix until dry ingredients are moistened. On medium speed, beat for one minute. This will aerate and develop the cake’s structure. Scrape down sides.
Add the remaining egg mixture in two batches, beating for 20 seconds between each addition. Scrape down sides.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Smooth surface with a spatula. Bake for 55-65 minutes (35-45 minutes if baking in a fluted tube pan), until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cake cool on a rack in the pan for 10 minuets before inverting onto a greased wire rack. If using a loaf pan, flip the cake over so the top is up.

For making Cake flour at home - Take one cup of all purpose flour and remove 2 tbsp from it.Replace the 2 tbsp flour with cornflour and sift together 2-3 times.Cake flour is ready to use.

Some other  easy cakes which I've posted before:

Marble Cake 
Basic Sponge Cake

Crunchy Delight

Puddings are something that we can crave for in any climate; whether in a hot sunny day or a cold morning, I just love them at anytime of the day. They  add a pleasant smile to our face especially my kiddos  This pudding is easy to make; nothing to bake or to cook except pineapple; no gelatine or chinagrass used.

I did publish one Dry fruits and pineapple pudding before. This is an entirely different one.

This recipe is of ma aunt Hairunnisa Ummer (Hairuaama).. She is an expert in trying out different puddings. This is now prepared & clicked by Haseeba, my younger sis.

Ingredients:

Pineapple 1
Pomegranate seeds 1
Apple 1 (optional) or any other fruits
Custard (recipe ahead) for 500ml of milk
Dream whip/whipping cream 2
Marie biscuits
Sugar 3 tbsp + used for custard

Method:



1.Cut the pineapple into small pieces.

2.Beat Dreamwhip powder according to the package instructions. If you don't have dreamwhip, whip the fresh cream(whipping cream)(250ml) until soft peaks form along with enough sugar and a tsp of vanilla essence.

3.Prepare custard using custard powder according to package instructions. No need to set before layering.


4.Heat 3 tbsp of sugar with pineapple in high flame till all the water disappears. Stir the pineapple in between. Let it cool.

5.Layer these pineapples in a pudding tray along with the pomegranate seeds. You can add apple or any other fruits according to your taste too.


6.Now, take half of the whipped cream ,take spoonfuls of cream and add it here and there. No need to layer it equally or evenly... Do the same with custard also. Take half of that and pour it here and there.


7.Layer the biscuits (broken into pieces) above this.


8.Now layer again with remaining custard and cream. This time, layer it evenly. First custard and then cream.


9.Garnish with almonds and pistachios and refrigerate it at-least for 4 hours. Serve chilled.


***The measure of dreamwhip,biscuits or custard varies according to the pudding dish used .