Chocolate Mousse

Happy Independence Day!!!!

 Chocolate mousse .. wallah!! I'm sure that this word can make our mouth water at any time of the day whether its a fasting day or a sleepless midnight. I've posted this very recipe but with a cake- base named Triple-Chocolate Mousse Cake by Martha Stewart long ago . There I did make two types of mousses with bittersweet chocolate & milk chocolate. Now this is done with just Milk chocolate as per ma sissy's request but served with Special Kellogs (Red Berry Crunch) and chocolate shavings as layers. This was just awesome and so easy too... Red Berry Crunch gave it the sourness of the berries and crunchiness of the cereal... I just loved it... & ma daughter too didn't complained about plain mousse...

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups or 400 ml heavy cream
• 4 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 1/4 cup or 60 ml sugar
• 1/4 cup or 60 ml light corn syrup (u can omit that too)
• 7 ounces or 200 gms approx. bittersweet chocolate, melted
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Salt

Method:

1.Put heavy cream*** into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 3 1/2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; refrigerate 1 hour

2.   Put 4 egg yolks into the clean bowl of the mixer fitted with the clean whisk attachment; beat on high speed until pale and frothy, 4 to 5 minutes. 

3.Meanwhile, bring 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons corn syrup, and 2 tablespoons water to a rolling boil in a small, heavy saucepan over high heat. Cook until clear, large bubbles form, about 1 minute. 

4.Reduce mixer speed to medium-low. Carefully pour hot syrup down side of bowl. Raise speed to medium-high. Mix until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes (If you want, you can double boil egg yolks and then go on beating) Pouring hot syrup itself cooks the eggs a bit, so don't worry about raw eggs... . 

 

5.Stir in bittersweet chocolate, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and a pinch of salt with a rubber spatula.

6..Add one-third of bittersweet-chocolate mixture to whipped cream; whisk to combine. Add remaining bittersweet-chocolate mixture, whisking until completely combined. Press through a large-mesh sieve into a large bowl; discard any solids. 

 

*** I didn't had heavy cream at that time, so used normal fresh cream and added dreamwhip powder and then whipped it... It was thick... :)

Chicken Muzhuman (Whole Chicken in spicy gravy)

Whole chicken in a spicy gravy!! yumm... this is a simple yet lip smacking dish all the way from Malabar. This is famous as ma Mom's special back home.. I did post one other Whole Chicken gravy before named Chicken Musuman . Musuman and Muzhuman both refers to whole chicken; but the recipe is entirely different. Here, the gravy is a little bit dry compared to the other and spicy too.

Ingredients:

Chicken( whole)
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Lime juice of 1 lemon
Onion 2 cups
Tomatoes 1 1/2 cup
Ginger garlic paste 2 tsp
Green Chilli 2
Red chilli powder 2 tbsp ( mix it with water & make paste)
Coriander leaves 1/2 cup


Method:

Wash and clean chicken nicely both inside and outside. Give slits here and there ; especially to the breast portion.

Marinate chicken with turmeric powder, lime juice & salt . Keep it for a minimum of 1/2 an hr.

In another pan ,saute onions till it turns translucent and then add salt, ginger- garlic paste , green chillies & tomatoes. Saute for about 2 minutes.

Add red chilli paste and saute till the masala leaves the sides of the pan.

Now place the chicken in the masala. Coat the chicken well with the masala; both interior and exterior. Now close the lid in low fire till the chicken is cooked well.

Check the masala whether it sticks to the bottom. Use water if needed. Give a stir in between while taking care that the chicken is not broken. 

Turn the chicken upside down when it is half done. 

Switch off the flame when all the water evaporates and chicken is well cooked. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis ,pathiris or even rice.



Sending this to Joy from Fasting to Feasting

Fruits Chaat

Fruits are a must in ramadan. It helps you to retain the moisture in our body during the whole day during fasting when it is required the most. Research prove that if you eat four to five slices of fruits daily in your diet than you will remain fit and active in future. Not only that, but if you eat fruit just before meal it will help you to eat less quantity of food that help you to take less calories. So what we do is that try to intake lots of fruits during Iftar which help us to reduce snack intake.

The best way to increase fruit intake is to include one fruit salad in our Iftar dishes; whether in custard, in honey dressing, Fruit Chaat or just add any juices to the fruits. I bet you can't stop munching them..

Fruit Chaats are common in Pakistan and north-India; though gaining its own relevance in south-india too.

Ingredients:


Any Fruit of your choice:


I used:

Apple
Pears
Watermelon
Pomegranate/Anar
Banana
Dried Figs
Oranges
Grapes
Plums
Almonds/any other nuts


To Season:



Chaat Masala/ Shan Fruit Chaat -to taste ( I used 2 tsp for this bowl of fruits)
Lime Juice 1 tbsp
Pomegranate Juice 1/4 cup (optional) **
Salt to taste

Method:

Mix everything together except Dried Figs. Check the taste or smell and then adjust the taste. Garnish with figs . Figs are added at last as it may get soaked in juices or other fruits and lose its texture.Some add sugar to it too... You can do your own variations..

**You can add any fresh juices to it like watermelon juice, orange juice, pomegranate or so on..

Irachi Pathal/Pathiri

May this be the first Iftar snack from my side. This is a spicy yet delicious snack again from  Malabar which is fried twice; deep fried at the first and then dipped in egg and shallow fried again. Yes of course, rich in cholestrol and so heavy that you don't need any other dish to accompany it during Iftar.

Ingredients:

White Flour/Maida
Salt to taste
Water
Meat Filling/Masala
Egg

Method:

1. Knead Flour,salt and water to a dough like that of rotis.
2. Divide the dough into big balls/pedas
3. Now roll them into very big and thin roti. Take a cookie cutter or any bottle top to cut them into small circles.
4. Take them out, fill in the stuffing and then close with another circled roti.
5. Now seal them at the edges. Here you can either seal them like we do for other 'adas' (snacks) or seal them using zig zag cutters or bottle tops.

6. Now fry them in oil till it turns brown. Take them out into a tissue paper and drain excess oil.

7. This is where you have to decide on the batter to be dipped in. Traditionally we use egg with sugar and cardamom powder in which this snack is dipped and then fried in ghee; but there is an option . You can add salt,pepper powder and curry leaves to egg and then dip this fried snack in that nicely and then shallow fry in ghee. But I suggest to try sugar mixture with a little egg and then fry one snack atleast and taste it... Its lovely.. don't hesitate using sugar for a spicy snack...

8. You can see one snack at the right side which is not dipped in egg or fried for the second time

Sending this to Joy from Fasting to Feasting-1V

Basic Meat Filling/Masala (Malabar style)

Was really busy these days with my parents and sisters in Abu Dhabi that I couldn't post anything special this Ramadan. Let me start with he basic meat filling which is used almost in all malabar snacks. We stock this in the freezer usually for 1 or 2 months so that we can make any snacks  when guests arrive in a short notice. If you are storing in a freezer bag, you can beat with a roller pin so that you get it separated or if storing in a container, just use a fork or knife to separate it. You can use this for toasted sandwiches too..


 Ingredients:

Beef/Mutton 500 gm
Ghee 1 tbsp
Oil 2 tbsp
Onion 4cups
Garlic 5 cloves
Ginger 1" piece
Green Chilli 6-10
Turmeric powder 1/2 + 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder 1 tsp
Garam Masala 1 tsp
Curry leaves few

Method:

1. Cut the onions lengthwise into 2 or 3 equal parts and then slice them.


2. Cook the meat till done in a pressure cooker alongwith salt,pepper and 1/2 a tsp of turmeric powder. Let it cool.

3. Shred the meat using a food processor or a grinder or even using hands.  Just pulse them if you are using a grinder. If you grind it more, the meat will return to kheema consistency or a meat paste which we do not want.


4. Now heat ghee and oil in a pan. Add the sliced onions to it and saute it for a while till it turns translucent. Add ginger-garlic & green chilli paste to it. It'll take about 10 mts or so in medium -high flame. Adjust the flame so that  there is no moisture left in the pan.

5. Now add salt and turmeric powder to it. Mix in the shredded meat to it.


6. Season with the remaining spices like pepper and garam masala. Pop in the Curry Leaves.