Sesame Laddu

SESAME LADDU

Its a very healthy recipe and yet really easy to make.

Mom used to make it often at home.

THINGS NEEDED

Sesame seeds - atleast 2 cup 

Jaggery

peanuts or cashew nuts chopped

PREPARATION METHOD

Roast the Sesame seeds in a pan by sauting continously in medium flame. 

The sesame seeds will start to splutter . Continue for 2 min. 

Set aside to cool down. 

Grind well in a mixer adding enough Jaggery.

Make balls adding choped peanuts or cashew nuts. 

Apfelstrudel

Austrian Apple Strudel

Its a old traditioned Austrian dish.
Had it first in a restaurant in Wiesbaden.
Grateful to chefkoch.de for the great recipe !

Things needed: 

	For the Base:
250 g	All purpose flour
1pinch	Salt
1	Egg
100 ml	Lukewarm water
20 ml	Oil
	For die Filling:
100 g	Breadcrumbs
50 g	Butter
120 g	Sugar
10 g	Cinnamon
170 g	Rosinen
2 tbsp	Zitronensaft
1 kg	Apple
1 pinch	Rum aroma
then....	Some extra Butter, Sugar & Flour for the preparation.

Preparation Method :

For the Base: Knead well the ingredients 5 min. to make a dough . Apply 3 tbsp oil to the surface & keep aside in a vessel closed with a wet cloth for half hour . Spread some flour in a backing paper,place the dough in a backing paper & roll it out to a thin long square using a rolling pin. Brush with melten butter.

For the filling:
Heat butter in pan. Roast breadcrumbs goldenbraun in it . Mix in cinnamon & sugar.
Then add rosinen,lemon juice,rum aroma & apples. Mix everything well.
Let it cook for 5 minutes mixing.

When the filling is ready place it on one half of the base dough. Close it with other half. Seal & bake in 175 degrees until golden braun.

After baking is done brush the strudel with butter. Cut them into required slices & let them cool.

Serve with powdered sugar & vanilla sauce. U can use the same vanilla sauce in DampfNudel recipe.

German Dampfnudel with Vanilla Sauce

Dampfnudel with Vanilla Sauce

Winter is at the door & we are all craving for some warm food .!!!!!!!!!!! This time its a steamed cake served with a quick warm vanilla sauce . The hammer recipe is from chefkoch.de

VANILLA SAUCE

THINGS NEEDED:

1	Egg
2 EL	sugar
1 Pck.	vanilla sugar
1 level tbsp	cornstarch
500 ml	milk

PREPARATION METHOD :
Beat egg with sugar ,vanilla sugar, cornstarch. Finally mix in milk.
Boil once stirring well with a spoon.


DAMPFNUDEL

THINGS NEEDED:
500 gm - All purpose flour
20 gm - Dry yeast
50 gm - Sugar
250 ml - Milk
1 - Egg
1 pinch Salt
80 gm - Butter

For Steaming :
100 gm Butter
125 ml Milk

PREPARATION METHOD :
Mix everything to make a dough. Set aside in a warm place for 1 or 2 hour.
Make 9 balls from it.
Heat a pan. Melt butter, pour milk. Add sugar.
Place the balls over it. Close the lid.Lower the heat when the pan is full of steam.
Cook until the no milk in the pan & the bottom side of the ball gets golden brown.

Serve with warm vanilla sauce & cinnamon powder!

Layered Apple Cake

Video of this lip smacking traditional Apple Cake is now out,

GEDECKTER APFEL KUCHEN

All credits goes to ChefKoch.de for such a wonderful recipe.
This this is my Kuchen Recipe for this X'mas. Last year was another Apfelkuchen. Tasty aswell , but Hazelnuts tastes awesome with Apples.!! You can't stop with a single piece !
This recipe I tried 5 times till now, tastier each n every time ! Going to make it again this week for the X'mas party in Shalu's kindergarten..

THINGS NEEDED:

For the base:

250 gm - All purpose flour
1 tsp - Backing powder
75 gm - Sugar
1 - Egg
125 gm - Butter


For the Apple layer:

1 kg - Apple, peeled, deseeded & cut to small pieces
100 gm - Sugar
1 tsp - Cinnamon powder
1/2 of a lemon


For the Hazel nut layer:

200 gm - Hazelnuts, coarsely grounded
1 tsp - Milk
125 gm - Butter
75 gm - Sugar
1 tbsp - Vanilla sugar
1 tsp - Lemon juice

26'' backing pan.

PREPARATION METHOD :

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees.
Beat well Sugar,butter & egg one by one.
Mix flour & backing powder separately and add to the egg mix using a sieve.
Knead well to a soft dough.
Grease the pan & spread 2/3 of the flour only in the base by pressing with fingers.
Bake in 175 degree oven for 6-7 minutes. Set aside.

Take 1/3 of the dough which was left and apply it to the sides of the baking pan to make the side.

Now we have base & sides..& for the filling,
Cut apples in small pieces. Mix in lemon juice, cinnamon powder & sugar.
Spread this uniformly in the baking pan.

For the Hazelnut layer, mix butter, sugar ,vanilla sugar , lemon juice , milk & crushed Hazelnuts.
Spread this using a spoon over the apples.

Bake in 175 degree oven for around 40 min. or until the top is brown.

Dates payasam

Eenthapazha payasam

This is a new variety of payasam here . Amazing taste of dates plus full of nutrition. 

Things Needed: Dates -250 gm Jaggery - 100 gm(not so much while dates are already sweet) Coconut milk -if thin 1 can or else 1 cup from 1/2 coconut ( not too much of water content while it will be tough to evaporate all later) Ghee - 3 tbsp Cashew nuts - a handful cardamom - 4 or 5 crushed Preparation Method: Well cook dates adding enough water to cover it. Set aside to cooldown. Meantime heat some water, melt jaggery in it. Fry nuts also in 2 tbsp ghee. Now grind the dates into a coarse paste. Pour this back to the pan . Add melted Jaggery, coconut milk, 1 spoon Ghee & boil until thick. Finally add cardamom & nuts.

Baloo Shahi or Badusha

BALOO SHAHI ~OR~ BADUSHA

I have been making this sweet for quite some time .Mainly because of its simple ingredients which is always available in home & easiness.. so thought of taking a snap today for my blog..so here it is..
Enjoy this sweet in all special occasions or make any occasions special with this sweet ;)

Things Needed:
1 + 1/2 cup -All purpose flour
1/2 tsp - Baking powder
2 tbsp - Butter
Yogurt - enough to make the dough.

Oil to fry

For making Sugar syrup:
Sugar - 300 gm
water

Preparation Method:
Mix flour , baking powder in a bowl.
Add butter and make crumbles using hand.
Mix in yogurt to this spoon by spoon & mixing using hand to make a tough dough.Enough tough to make balls .
Keep this aside for around 15 min.

Heat sugar with some water(should be only enough to cover the sugar. you can add later if needed) in a vessel. stir until it becomes a thick syrup. Set it aside.

Make small dumplings out of the dough ( I took 1 sp dough for 1 baloo). Press in the middle using thumb to make a cavity.
Deep fry in oil in medium heat until golden brown.

Add the fried pieces to the sugar syrup. Use a spoon & let it coat in all sides.
Top it with sliced almonds or pistachios.

Besan Burfi (North Indian)

BESAN BURFI

Gram flour - 200 gm
Powdered Sugar - 200 gm
Ghee - 100 gm
Cardamom - 8 (seeds crushed)

Almonds - 10 (Silvered)
Pistatios - 10 (Silvered or chopped)

Recipe:
Note :Flour- If bubbles has formed in the flour cuz of air exposure , simply powder it in grider . The flour should be of powder form to make burfi .
Sugar - You can even add 2 sp less than 200 gm.

Heat Ghee in a nonstick pan in medium flame .
Add Gram flour to this. Mix well . Roast the besan until the raw smell goes & the raw bitter taste of besan vanishes.
At this point add the sugar & crushed cardamom .Mix everything well. Set aside the pan. Add 1 sp or 2 sp of water to make it more flexible to make shape.(careful to add very less, since we dont want to make bars & not besan Halwa)
Transfer the content to a squared tray.
Pour the cut almonds & pistatios on top.
Apply pressure on top & sides to make it square shape.
Cut lines using a knife.
Allow to cool completely. Serve in dish decorated with nuts or almonds.

Palada Pradhaman

PALADA PAYASAM

Things Needed:
Ada - 1 packet , 200 gm
Milk - 3 litre approximately
Sugar - 1+1/4 cup approximately ( I used correct 15 tbsp)
Cardamom - 4 crushed
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Nuts -1 handful
Raisins - 1 handful

Preparation Method:
Soak ada in water for around 20 min . Wash & drain in cold water 2-3 times until water is clean.
Boil 2 litres milk in the deep cooking vessel . Add ada to this. Simmer well & let it cook. It will thicken.Add sugar into this and cook.
Meantime heat ghee in a nonstick pan. Roast cashews & raisins in this. Set it aside . Add the ghee to ada.
After ada is cooked check for sweetness , add more sugar if you want.
The payasam must be thick now , add the rest milk 1 litre or less , as per need to loosen it.
Add cardamom & fried nuts - raisins over it & finish.

Gulab Jamun

GULAB JAMUN - fried milk balls immersed in sugar syrup !!

A short video to motivate you to make this delicious dessert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbp0yDVZaq0&feature=plcp

Things needed :
Milk powder- 200
All purpose flour - 50 gm
Baking powder -1/2 tsp

Ghee / Oil for frying

sugar 300 gm
water 250 ml
Rose water - 2 tbsp

Preparation method :
Heat a cooking vessel . Make sugar syrup by dissolving sugar in water.Dont let it boil & turn brown. Add rose water into this . Syrup is ready.

In a bowl mix milk powder , flour & baking powder.
Knead dough adding little bit water.
Make small balls from the dough.
Deep fry in medium heat (use oil / Ghee) .Turn frequently until golden brown.
Put the fried balls in sugar syrup. For best results keep it in sugar syrup for min. 1 day.
Decorate with pista & badam or like you want.


                              This is my entry to Nithya & pavithra's Garnish the Dish event :)

Ada Payasam

ADA PRADHAMAN (Onam special)
This ada pradhaman I made for this Onam. Was finished very fast.

Things needed :
Ada - 1 packet 200gm
Chauvari (sago)- 1 packet 100 gm
Sharkkara (Jaggery) - 1 valiya piece , 400 gm
Elakka (Cardamom) - 3 crushed
Coconut milk - I used 3+1/2 packet coconut cream milk(200ml each) & 50gm of coconut powder
Chukku podi (gingwer powder) - 1 leveled tsp

Ghee - 7 tbsp
Nuts - 1 handful
Coconut pieces - 1 handful

Preparation method :
If the ada is long in size break them roughly .Wash & drain . Soak ada in water for 20 min.
Cook it in nonstick cooking vessel. Cook chauvari separate in another vessel adding water.
While both are cooking heat 1 cup water in another pot. Dissolve Jaggery in it. Strain it & keep it aside.
When ada is cooked drain it . Put it back to the nonstick cooking vessel.
Drain the cooked transparent chauvari also & add to ada.
Pour the Jaggery into this.Stir and cook.
While it is getting cooked heat ghee in a nonstick pan slightly roast nuts & well fry coconut pieces (should be brown but don't burn) .
Add this ghee to the cooking ada. Add 1 pack coconut milk & cook then the second & cook, dissolve the coconut powder in lil bit water & add to ada.
Reduce the heat to min.
Finally before finishing add another 1+1/2 pack coco. milk , ginger powder (mix it with 2 tbsp water ), crushed cardamom & fried nuts - coconut pieces. Mix well .
Set it aside from fire.

Fresh Strawberry Sorbet

STRAWBERRY SORBET

Things Needed :
strawberry - 600 gm
Sugar - 65 gm
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp

Preparation Method:
Powder the sugar in the grinder first ( this speeds up the dissolution of sugar ).
Clean the strawberries , cut them into chunks make a puree in the blender adding lemon juice and powder sugar.
Freeze it.
Use a Ice cream maker to make it creamy soft.
In case if you don't have an ice cream maker . Blend it smooth in the blender when it is semi frozen , this helps a lot to make it soft . Again freeze for sometime .
Serve this dessert decorated with some fresh strawberries.

Banana Fritter Fry ( Snack of Kerala)

VAZHAKKA APPAM

Things needed :
Banana - 5
All purpose Flour - 150 gm
Turmeric- 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Cardamom or Elakka - seeds of 5 crushed
Egg - 1
Water - as required.
Oil - to fry

Preparation method :
Use a thick batter mixing flour, turmeric, sugar Cardamom , egg and a small measure of water.
Cut the bananas into 1 inch thick long slices.
Dip the banana into the batter and fry in the oil until crisp.

Pazham Pradhaman / Banana Gheer

PAZHA PRADHAVAN Recipe

Things needed :Bananas - 4, 600gm
Jaggery- 160 gm
Ghee- 2sp
Coconut milk cream -5 tbsp 1/2 bottle

Cardamom - 5 crushed
Nuts and raisins - a handful

Preparation method :Slice the peeled bananas . Boil or steam them adding a small quantity of water.
Grind them to a paste ( dont need to be a a fine paste).
Add Jaggery to the water in which we cooked banana . Heat until it dissolves completely. Use a strainer to remove impurities in the Jaggery if any.
Else add the Banana paste to this. Add 2 sp ghee . Mix well .
Add 3 tbsp cream coconut milk and cook until it thickens and oil seperates to the top.
Add rest 2 tbsp coconut milk. Cardamom crushed ,nuts & raisins and mix well .
Boil once and finish .

Strawberry fruit salad

STRAWBERRY FRUIT SALAD

Things needed :
Strawberries - 12 , cubed
Apple - 1 , Peeled & cubed
Banana - 2 , cubed
Yogurt - 1 cup or less , beaten & smooth
Sugar - 3 tbsp

Preparation method :
Mix well the cut fruits , Yogurt and sugar using spoon. You can add more sugar if you want.
Serve straight away.

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Semolina Puree Dessert

GRIEß BREI DESSERT

Greiß and semolina are the same. even then Semolina are coarse textured compared to Grieß. Grieß is fine and smooth so it is usually used here for making baby food . I got a packet of Grieß from market and made a classic Grieß puree which is also eatable for my 9 month old.
And served this delicious classic dessert with Raspberry (Himbeere) sauce .

Things needed :
Semolina or Grieß - 60 gm
Milk - 1/2 litre or 500 ml
Butter - 15 gm
Egg - 1
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Vanilla sugar - 1 packet
Salt- 1 pinch

Preparation method :
Separate egg into yolk and white.
Cook Grieß adding milk in a nonstick pan in low heat.
When it thickens add sugar, vanilla sugar & salt .Mix well .
Turn off the heat.Mix in egg yellow to this using a egg mixer so that the yellow will go to all sides.
Add butter & mix.
Beat well the egg white until frothy.
Finally add this white to the Grieß and mix it at once using a spoon, do not over mix.
Can be served with Fruit sauces like Raspberry sauces or chocolate.

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Apfel Strudel

APPLE STRUDEL

Strudel is part of Austrian cuisine . There are many variations of strudel of which Apple strudel (Apfel strudel) is the most popular one. In Austrian Cafes they serve Apple strudel with cream or vanilla sauce and coffee.

Things needed : 

Apple - 750 gm
Puff pastry - 6 slices
Cashew nuts -1 handful
Walnuts -1 handful
Brown sugar - 2 sp or according to your need.
I used very sweet apples of Gala variety , so I didn't had to use lot of sugar.
Egg - 1 , beaten , to brush on the strudels
Powder sugar - to sprinkle on the finished strudel

Preparation method :

De skin the apples , cut into slices. Seeds and stem should be removed .

Chop both nuts . Mix Apples , nuts and sugar in a bowl and mix well . Filling for the strudel is ready.

Take a slice of puff pastry. Roll it on all sides using a rolling pin , on a wooden board.

Follow the pictures that for spinach strudel to make a strudel package .Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Place them all on a baking tray .
Make slits on the strudel using knife.

Brush the beaten egg on the strudel . This gives a glow to its surface also makes it crispier.
Bake until it is done.

Sprinkle powder sugar when hot.

Serve it with some cream or vanilla sauce on top.

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Rava Kesari or Kesari Bhaat

RAVA KESARI / SOOJI HALWA / KESARI BHAAT

Sooji makes very quick desserts without much pain and Kesari is one of it. All you have to do is roast it in a pan and add milk , sugar and dry nut n fruits . You can even add bit of food colour if you want to make it for your guests.

Its form and shape is also upto your choice. You can either pour it in a mould to get like pudding shape or you can move it into a greased tray to make it like fudge shape. Choice is yours.

You can decorate it with nuts and dry grapes or alternatively with some candied peel .

This kesari I used to make often at home, when I have sugar craving.
Its always delicious and the plate will be empty in seconds.

Things needed :

Rava - 100 gm ( roasted or unroasted)
Ghee - 3 tbsp
Milk - 200 gm
Sugar - 5 tbsp
Cardamom - 3 , seeds crushed
Nuts or Almonds - a handful , silvered.
Serving size for 3 persons.

Preparation method :

Heat Ghee in a nonstick pan in medium heat , add unroasted rava and roast it uniformly by continously stirring . A nice aroma comes of roasted rava and its color changes a litle bit.
If the rava is already roasted then just add it to the pan, no need to roast it again .
Add milk to this . Mix well .
Add sugar cardamom and allow the milk to reduce.
When it thickens and seperates from the pan add the nuts and mix once.
Apply some ghee to a bowl & Transfer the kesari into it. Allow to cool and move to a serving plate. Decorate with nuts or dried grapes or candied peel.
I had some left over candied peel in the refrigerator so I used it. First put the candied peel in the bottom of the bowl and then put the kesari mix over it. .. Decoration is always upto you !!

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Valentines day Special - Cake balls

WHITE CHOCOLATE CAKE BALLS

All I had this time on Valentines day was some left over cake pieces to make this cake balls .
Aren't they charming ? I need yet to experiment more with cake balls .
The first cake balls I had was with chocolate from Trivandrum Eastern bakery. I will try to make similar one soon...

Things needed :
Cake (any)
White chocolate glazing 1 packet
Butter or Nutella ( Chocolate paste)

Preparation method :
Make small balls out of the cake . Use some butter or Nutella (chocolate paste ) , whatever you have to make it moist and to get into shape of a ball.
Set the balls aside and let them rest for 10 min.

Melt the chocolate glazing (white or dark chocolate,doesnt matter ) in the Microwave , instructions will be written in the packet itself.

Using a fork dip the cake balls into the melt chocolate and place it in a foil paper.
Spread some decorations for cookies over it ,available in stores in different colors and shapes . I used chocolate vermicelli (schocolade streusel) for it.
Ready to serve after cooling.
Happy Valentines day !!

Stuffed Banana Sweet - Nirakka

Nirakka Recipe

STUFFED BANANA SWEET
This sweet is made using paste of cooked Plantains ( Banana) with a filling made with egg , nuts & raisins. I don't know from where mom got the recipe of this sweet..I remember having it from school time..It tastes delicious ..Especially the filling inside is awesome , I used to have it just like that.

Things needed :

2 Ripe Bananas - Tip: It should be just ripe & not fully ripe.
All purpose flour if needed.

For the filling:
5 Cashew nuts
2 Cardamom
2 Eggs
1 sp sugar
10 sultanas
ghee

made 6 of them

Preparation method :
Prepare Batter :
Boil the bananas . Peel & mash them using mixer.

We have to make forms using this banana paste.
So if it is not tight enough we can add some all purpose flour . The flour added should be as less as possible for good taste .

I had to add 5 sp of all purpose flour to get the right batter , like in picture .Keep the batter aside.

Prepare Filling:
Beat well egg , sugar & cardamom crushed & keep aside.
Heat a spoon Ghee in a nonstick pan .
Fry the dry grapes in it till it becomes balloon like. Take it n keep aside .

Add the egg mixture to it & make fine egg scrambles by breaking the thick egg pieces by the back of the spoon.

Next add the crushed nuts & fry till very slight brown. (I added nuts in the last because it will be tougher to remove nuts from pan when its crushed to small.)



The tasty filling is ready . Now we can stuff them inside the banana paste.

Apply oil in both hand(to avoid stickiness of batter) , put 2 spoons of banana paste into it & spread it using other hand .You can use oil if needed.

Put 1 spoon filing in the middle & close the edges of the batter by pressing finger.


Fry in oil.

Its good to add 1 spoon Ghee into the oil to get good flavour.






Drain using tissue paper.
Garnish with the rest of the filling & serve.
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Stuffed Banana - Pazham Nirachathu

Stuffed Banana - Pazham Nirachathu Recipe

STUFFED SWEET BANANA

Things needed :
Bananas 2
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup

For the filling:
5 - Cashew nuts
2 - Cardamom
2 - Eggs
1 sp -sugar
10 -dry grapes
ghee, oil

Preparation method :

For the filling : Beat well egg , sugar & cardamom crushed & keep aside.

Heat a spoon Ghee in a nonstick pan .
Fry the dry grapes in it till it becomes balloon like. Take it n keep aside .

Add the egg mixture to it & make fine egg scrambles by breaking the thick egg pieces using the back of the spoon.

Next add the crushed nuts & fry till very slight brown. (I added nuts in the last because it will be tougher to remove nuts from pan when its crushed to small.) . Mix in fried dry grapes as well to this. Filling is ready.

I have used the same filling for other recipe , you can for some pics of the filling.


Slit the Banana into halves.

Remove the center with black seed with a small
knife , like in the picture.

Fill the filling.

Close the sides with a thick paste of flour.



Add enough Ghee or vegetable oil in a nonstick frying pan.
Fry turning over sides until your desired texture. Some people used to fry it only till smooth. I fried till little bit crispy.

Enjoy this classic snack of kerala with a cup of cardamom tea !
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