Pink Guava Granita....

Found these amazing pink guavas on my way back home in the fruit market and i grabbed them immediately as they are not very common to find. We always get the white varieties in abundance but this year i have been seeing these ones. They have amazing flavour and soft and juicy skin . They are not as sweet as the white ones though.

Found an interesting granita recipe sometime back . Made few changes for added flavour and colour.
Quiet happy with the result actually..

I took ...

Ingredients :

800 gms semi ripe guavas

300 gms sugar

juice of 1 lemon

300 ml water to cook the guavas

300ml chilled water

Finely chopped mint - 3 tbsp

Few drops of rose water for serving

Mix sugar and water and let it simmer.

Now gently drop the guavas one by one.

Let it boil for two to three minutes and allow it to cool completely.

Run it in the blender with the water and puree it. Add 300 ml of chilled water and puree it mix juice of 1 lemon and pour it into a dish.

Just to have a two tone and some flavour i added finely chopped mint to it. Mix well and keep it in the freezer for about two hours.

Now after about two hours take it out and fork it and scrape it so as to break the setting. Repeat it every one hour for two times.

Serve the lovely pink granita in a goblet topping it with few drops of rosewater and mint sprigs.

Enjoy!!.

Oyster Mushroom Curry....

Oyster Mushroom has been a regular at my mom's place during my growing years. Most of the population at home - ( btw 12 of us from two families - how else can i refer!!) converted to vegetarians at one stage. So this was the only thing that resembled and tasted like meat for the converts. I was always loyal to my chicken and fish. So this mushroom would take many forms and tastes and would be prepared only on Sundays as special treats for them. What a pity!!. All said and done it sure tasted good.

Its been a while since i made this at home. Honestly it had gone out of my memory until i saw the call for 'Cooking with seeds - Fennel' event hosted by Priya's easy and tasty recipes. I use fennel in almost everything i make , so i was wondering about something different and interesting. So here it is...


Oyster Mushroom Curry :

Oyster mushrooms 250 gms

Onion - 2 small ones

Tomato - 1

Garlic - 5 finely chopped

Fennel Seeds - 1 Tbsp

Curry Leaves - few

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Coconut milk - 1/4 cup

Oil as required

salt to taste

Method :

1. Heat the oil and add the fennel seeds Curry leaves and wait for few seconds.

2. Now add the onions and curry leaves and fry till the onions begins to brown slightly.

3. Add the coriander powder, Chilli powder , salt and a dash of turmeric powder cook for about two Min's.

4. Now add the chopped tomato and continue to cook for few Mins

5. Add the coconut milk and reduce heat. Cook for five to seven mins till the oil begins to float on top of the curry.

6. Now add the mushroom and cook it covered till done.

7. Garnish with coriander leaves

Tastes good with rice and can be served with rotis as well.

Enjoy!.

Cucumber Salad with pomegranates and toasted sesame...

Hello... I know i have been pretty slow and irregular with my posts these days. Apologies. This year i have taken on a new project of home schooling my twins along with another little dear. So my thoughts and my entire self seems to be occupied with organising and putting together things at my 'Little School'. (BTW that is the real name of my home school ). So do wish me luck... as i need loads of them.

Well i don't know if i can even write a recipe for this simple cucumber salad... as it is really nothing but assembling few things together. Now i am an out and out salad person and need to have it everyday. So variation and combinations are something i experiment to the ones that i regularly make. This is definitely not from my creative juices but from one of the magazines that i was browsing through while my boys were getting a haircut.



This salad requires very basic and few ingredients from your kitchen. A cool, colourful and crunchy salad with the flavours of mint . With the toasted sesame and sunflower seeds and pomegranate , it gives a certain smoky nuttiness and sweetness making it completely satisfying.

You will need :

3 Cucumbers peeled and diced

1 green chilli finely chopped

1 cup pomegranate seeds

1 cup fresh mint leaves

1/4th cup Coriander leaves chopped fine

salt to taste

juice of one lime

2 tsp white and black sesame seeds

2 tsp sunflower seeds

2 tbsp olive oil to drizzle.

1. Roast the sesame seeds .

2. Toss the cucumber, chilli and pomegranate together. Add the mint leaves and coriander leaves.

3. Season with salt, lime juice, roasted sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. (I skipped the sunflower seeds as i didn't have them).

4. Drizzle olive oil and serve chill.