Black rice and Lychee dessert...

Okay now i am not sure how many of you are familiar with 'Black rice'. In case if you have not i thought i shall just add few information about it.


Black rice is one of several black-colored heirloom plants producing rice variants such as Indonesian Black Rice, forbidden rice, or wild rice. High in nutritional value, forbidden rice is rich in iron. Unlike other black rice from Asia, it is not glutinous or rough. This grain is high in fiber and has a deep, nutty taste. Black forbidden rice is a deep black color and turns deep purple when cooked. Its dark purple color is primarily due to its high anthocyanin content [1] [2]. It has a relatively high mineral content (including iron) and, like most rice, supplies several important amino acids. - Courtesy WiKipedia

Here it is called as 'Kavini Arisi'. Actually i don't know what it means but it is used quiet popularly in the Chettiar households of South India. It should be easily available in the Asian stores.

Some of the dishes that can be made using kavini arisi/ Black rice is Sweetened version like a pudding, or Halwa which is a fudge like dessert or Kheer which is a syrupy dessert.

What is traditionally made at home is a 'Kavini Arisi Payasam'/ Kheer. The rice is broken and ground to a paste which is again cooked and sweetened and flavoured with cardamom.


But i have an interesting recipe which is a fusion of Thai and Indian.

Basically the rice is cooked and diluted with thick coconut milk. I add Rose syrup or Rosewater and bits of Lychees to it. I simply love the nutty taste of this rice which is further enhanced with sweet smelling rose syrup and juicy lychees. It tastes divine the second day.


I urge you to give it a try because it is unusual and will surely be enjoyed.





I used

1 cup black rice
2packets coconut milk - 400ml
Rose water - 2 to 3 tbsp
1/2 cup milk
sugar to taste
Tinned Lychees

Soak the rice overnight...

Boil 3 cups of water and pressure cook the rice till it turns nice and mushy..
You can use a masher to mash it up a little bit.

Now let the rice to cool for some time.

Add sugar , boiled milk and one packet of coconut milk and rose water and leave in the refrigerator to chill. When it has chilled completely add the second packet of coconut milk and give it a stir.

Chop the lychees into bits and mix it up.

Serve chilled.

Corn and Broccoli in Bechamel sauce...

'Bake' is what this dish is very fondly called at home. Baking is not a common method of cooking especially in south Indian cuisine. I cant think of any dish which calls for baking at all. OTG was a much feared and occasionally used by which I mean 'used for occasions' sort of gadget at home. I know i sound quiet primeval.

My cakes and bakes are popular now ... but i alone know how many have gone down the drain to have finally made it to the table.

Anyway coming back to the 'Bake'... It is basically vegetables in bechamel sauce , topped with loads of cheese and baked. Normally 'cauliflower bake' is what is popular at home. But personally i like corn and spinach or corn and broccoli .

I do it very often as it is a big hit with my boys . Frankly i dont remember anybody disliking this dish . It can be made a day ahead and baked just before serving and also it sits pretty on any party table.

Some people like to flavour their bechamel sauce with garlic and bay leaves but mine is just plain milk and roux combined, and heated to get this creamy white smooth sauce. Only thing one needs to watch out for is to not let it form lumps .

This tastes best with garlic bread.




What you will need is a nice fresh head of broccoli.. and a tin of sweet corn. I used Green giant Sweet corn kernels.

Cut the broccoli into tiny florets and you can either steam them or blanch them.

Now to make the Bechamel sauce you will need :

3 heaped tbsp of butter
2 heaped tbsp of plain flour
salt to taste
500ml of milk

Heat a pan and melt the butter. Now add the plain flour and fry it till the raw smell changes and it becomes light brown.

Take the pan off the flame and keep it on a surface and add the milk (I use slightly warm milk).. while simultaneoulsy whisking it briskly . Return the pan to the flame and heat it and allow the sauce to thicken. Add salt to taste.

Now combine the corn and broccoli in the white sauce.




And pour it in an attractive oven proof dish..



Now top it with a liberal helping of cheese ... i like to use a combination of cheddar and mozzarella if i am going to serve immediately. Else i just use plain cheddar. Also dot it with tiny blobs of butter .



Now bake it in an 180 degree oven for about 20 to 25 mins till it begins to bubble and browns on top.



Garnish with tomato slices and basil . Serve with warm garlic bread.

Minty coconut drink...

Having grown up in the land of coconuts i must admit i do have a soft spot for them and use it quiet liberally and lovingly in my cooking. Its delicate flavour, and the creamy texture gives an instant lift to any dish. Very often it helps to remedy goof ups , in my case i should say almost everytime. I am quiet poor in my judgements with salt u see! So cooking without coconuts would certainly make me go nuts!


What i am going to share with you is a supremely simple tender coconut drink with zingy lemon and mint flavouring. My favourite part in this recipe is that i get to use the meat too.

I took ..

Tender coconut water - 1 large glass

juice of half a lemon

sugar according to taste

crushed ice as much as you want

meat of one coconut

very finely cut mint leaves...






Now pour the coconut water, lemon juice , meat of the coconut and sugar in a blender and blintz it just twice...

Fill the glass with crushed ice and pour it over and top it with freshly chopped mint and enjoy!!!

Chocolate Cup Cakes...

NOV is a month of birthdays ! at least in my calendar. So my dear friend 'C'who hates to celebrate birthdays had no choice but to take us in when a bunch of us stood at her door with goodies and tiny birthday slogans !. She is plain embarrassed she says!. But would that stop us from baking cakes and cards and gifts ! No never!.

'L'my other friend baked a beautiful orange flavoured cake with dotty dates chips in them. It was so light and full of flavour!. Now i am going to pester her for the recepie! Honestly it was so good!..

I made chocolate cup cakes!!.

I adapted this from Hershey's recipe and absolutely loved it. I liked it for two reasons . One it did not have even an ounce of butter in it and secondly it called for basic ings.. nothing exotic.

It turned out super moist and super soft. I think it is a must have recipe for all cup cakes fans like me. I adore cup cakes!!.




Choco Cup Cakes

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups cocoa
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup veg oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Method

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder,b.soda and salt in a large bowl.

Add eggs, milk , oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed of of hand mixer for 2 mins.

Stir in boiling water and continue to mix. ( Batter will be thin)

Pour batter into the prepared muffin cups

Fill 2/3 cups and bake for 20 to 22 mins

Cool completely.

They taste good with out icing or frosting. But those of you who don't mind can dip them in Ganache and enjoy them with a blob of ice cream...


For the Ganache

1/4 cup cream
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 tbsp unsalted butter

Heat cream till steaming

Remove from heat and add chocolate and let it stand for 5 mins

Add the butter and stir till smooth.


Enjoy!

Pasta with Meditteranean vegetables

After crazy few weeks life seems to be returning to some normalcy. Highlight of this month was last week I celebrated my 13 yrs of bliss with my dear 'P' who took me out for a lovely dinner. Normally the tradition is a quiet dinner at some place far and serene. This time we decided to take the boys along. So i had to explain what the occasion was to them only to have them disappointed that they were not invited for the wedding.

It was a huge spread on the buffet which had Thai, bit of Italian , German and even Burmese food. What i liked about this buffet was that the menu had lot of new things that one would usually not expect. Like barbecued ham with prune sauce, steamed whole fish with lime and ginger sauce, khaosuey, barbecued chicken with schnitzel, baked gulab jamun and many more ..... boy! it was quiet a spread. I didn't know when to stop... shame on me!.

The second best thing that happened to me this week was the stock of fresh organic vegetables that this friend sent me over from his farm. All my favourites.. Zucchini, red and yellow peppers, and mushrooms... I was all set to make Ratatouille then i decided to do a pasta instead.

It is super simple with squishy and juicy vegetables sauteed in lots of garlic and tomato sauce.
It surely is a quick fixer and very very satiating particularly on a hungry day.

Zucchini - 1/2 chopped
Red pepper - 1/2 seeded and cubed
Yellow pepper - 1/2 seeded and cubed
Mushrooms - 10 sliced
Tomato - 3 medium - boiled, peeled and pureed
Passata - 1 tbsp
Olive oil - generously
Garlic - 4 finely chopped
Dried Thyme - 1 tbsp
Whole wheat pasta - 2 cups cooked



Heat oil and add the garlic and saute till light brown.



Add the vegetables and cook for few mins.



Add the pureed tomato and passata and cook till the vegetables become squishy and soft. I like my vegetables half done...



Now add thyme and saute for few more min..

Toss in the Cooked whole wheat pasta an let the sauce coat the pasta. Serve with Parmesan shavings.

coorg chicken curry....

Pandemonium - pan -duh - mo-ne-um : wild uproar or unrestrained disorder; tumult or chaos

That is what my household is right now.noisy, chaotic and people hammering and drilling all the time. We just shifted to a new house. Now that explains my sudden missing in action doesn't it. Anyway with 90 percent of work being complete there is still no semblance of returning to normal life.


House in Coorg...

Midst of all this we managed to sneak a trip to Coorg which is near Mysore in Karnataka . Coorg is famous for many things -' Coffee','pepper' 'Rain 'and 'Pork curry'. Now calling it 'rain' in Coorg is an understatement because it is hardly mild and it is always a downpour. It is most of the time wet or chill...This time of the year is great to visit . P and I visit coorg once in three months but this is our first time with the boys.

What fascinated the boys most was the fire place in the house .... They were thrilled to bits and loved the idea of burning fire inside the house. As far as P and me , we enjoyed our pork curry and kadubu which is a steamed rice cakes.



Coorg cuisine is an interesting mix of kerela and karnataka. Predominantly meat eaters, they also have interesting vegetables like Bamboo shoot, wild mushrooms and wild mango curry.

We had a very interesting chicken curry in a friends house and she was nice enough to share it with me.

Let me warn u before hand - This is a dynamite... Chilly hot!!!!.. but heavenly and goes well with rotis and rice.

1. Marinate one kilo of chicken in lime juice, and salt and leave it over night.
2.Heat 2 tbsp oil and add 1 tbsp cumin, 1 1/2 tbsp pepper, 6 to 7 cashew nuts, 1 inch ginger,8 cloves garlic, 10 shallots and fry for few mints.
3. Then add 3 tbsp of red chili powder and 1 heaped tbsp of coriander powder and fry for few more mins...




Now turn off the heat and let it cool...Grind this mixture into a fine paste. This is the base for the chicken Curry.



Heat oil and add 2 chopped onion and few curry leaves. Then add the chicken and fry it for a while. Add a heaped tsp of turmeric powder and 1 finely chopped tomatoes. Continue to cook the chicken. Now add in the ground paste and salt and cook on high flame for a few mins...

Cook the chicken on a slow flame now and fix yourself a nice cool lemonade and relax...

After about 20 mins .. check on your chicken. The gravy should have reduced to a consistency.

Now you may garnish with lemon wedges and coriander leaves and enjoy it with steaming rice!!!

Pasta sauce

Actually iam not a big fan of red sauces. Pesto sauce and pasta aglio e olio are my favourite which is full of flavour and simple ingredients.Once i tasted pesto i never tried any other sauce. I am totally in love and committed to my pesto.
I guess the raw smell of the tomatoes is not very appetising for me i thought...

First time i tried out this recipe and surprisingly i liked it. Mainly because it is so simple and uncomplicated and surely didn't smell raw. Pasta with garlic bread ! Certainly a union made in heaven...


Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot or 1/2 large carrot, finely chopped
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 3/4 pound of fresh tomatoes, boiled ,peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 teaspoon passata
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method :

1.Heat olive oil in a large wide skillet on medium heat. Add the chopped onion, carrot and parsley. Reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened and cooked well.

2. Remove cover and add the minced garlic. Increase the heat to medium high. Cook for garlic for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes. Add the passata and the basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Lower the heat and cook on slow flame for a good 20 to 30 mins.

3.Makes about 2 1/2 cups of sauce.