Strawberry Pie

I love sweet stuff. And Strawberries are one my favorites.


Things we need
Fresh Strawberries  1/2 boxes ( or 5 cups)
Sugar  - 1/2 cup
Corn Starch - 2 spoons
Unsalted Butter
Pillsbury Pie Crusts
Whipped cream.

The pie crusts - to thaw them, please fopllow the instruction given on the box.
Preheat the oven to 450
Hull all the strawberries. Take one box of the strawberries, grind them well in a food processor. In a vessel, heat them till they thicken up a bit. Do not add water. Mix the corn starch & sugar in a little amount of water till the lumps dissolve. And add this to the boiling berry sauce.  Stir them well. The liquid will thicken up a bit . Do not add more corn starch, as that will dominate the taste and the sauce will become very thick.

Grease the baking tray with butter and roll out the pastry sheet. With a fork, make small holes. This allows the pie to get cooked evenly.  Fill in sheet with the sauce we made & arrange the 1/2 box of hulled strawberries along the sides of the pie sheet. Close this with the other pie sheet & crimp the edges using your thumb. Brush the top of the pie with butter. With a sharp knife make little slits on top.


Slide it into the oven & reduce the temperature now to 250. Let it stand for 35 mins. The top of the pic turns slight brown when done.

A yummy strawberry pie. It is very yummy when served with whipped cream.

Vegetable Pulav/ Steamed Rice with vegetables

This is neither a pulav nor a biriyani which is loaded with rich ingredients. So this pulav strikes somewhere in between. I got this recipe  from my friend Gana Nithin. Thanks Gana.

Things We need

Basmati Rice - 2 1/2 cups
Vegetables   - Potato, green beans, carrots, bell peppers (capsicum), green peas, Corns funnels, Cauliflower florets.
Ginger          - minced well 3 spoons
Onions (small) - 2 chopped well
Coriander leaves - 1 1/2 cup
Mint leaves   - 1 cup

Cinnamon     - 2  pinches ( I use cinnamon powder)
Cardamon    - little
Pepper corns- 5 or 6
Bay Leaf       - 1
Cloves          - 4 or 5 corns
Green Chillies- 10 -12
Coriander powder - 1 1/2 spoon
Coconut        - 2 spoons
Poppy Seeds - 1 spoon
Fennel Seeds - 1 spoon

Butter            - 1 spoon
Curd             - 2 spoons

Salt
A little oil



Okie now lets make it.

Wash the rice & keep it aside. Soak the poppy seeds in water. Take 1/4 of the chopped onions. Fry the cloves (2), cinnamon (a pinch), onions (1/4 ), ginger, green chillies,1 cup of coriander leaves, little mint leaves,  and add coriander powder, coconut . Grind them into a paste along with the poppy seeds.

You can make this in a pressure cooker or even in an electric rice cooker.

In the pressure cooker, add butter, when its hot, add the fennel seeds, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, cardamom, peppercorns, chopped onions. Fry them well then add chopped mint & coriander leaves & the masala we had ground earlier. Fry till the oil oozes out. Then add 2 spoons of curd and all the veggies. Mix them well and add the rice and salt & water (1 : 11/2 cup). Close it with the lid without the weight. Stand it for 14 mins & then switch it off & place the weight on it. Let it stand for 10 mins. The Veg Pulav is done.

If you are planning on using a electric rice cooker, fry all these in a skillet & then add them to the electric rice cooker.

I actually garnished it with some fried paneer cubes and some cashews.
The mint twist is an amazing flavour. Voilà its Done. It goes well with Raitha. Enjoy!

Rasam vadai, Bonda Soup

This is one of my granny's recipes...A very traditional one.

Things we need

For Vada
Urad dal  - 1 1/2
Pepper
Oil to fry
Salt


For Rasam
Moong dal 1/2 cup
Urad Dal - 1 Spoon
Pepper - 10/15 corns
Asafoetida - a pinch
Cumin seeds - 1 spoon
Red chillies - 3
Salt
Tamarind paste - 3 1/2 spoons
Mustard seeds
Curry Leaves.

Vada
This recipe is meant for 4 people. You can alter according to your needs.
Soak 1 1/2 cups of urad dal  for 2 hrs. Then grind it with pepper & salt. I use an Indian mixer. So I just sprinkle water on & off while grinding in order to get a thick batter. I keep the batter in the fridge for an hour so that the batter thickens up a bit more.


Make it into flat vadas & Fry them. If this doesn't work, just make tiny balls & fry them.  (I was unable to make them into flat vada shaped ones, so i made small balls & they taste great too) . Keep them on a tissue paper to have the oil absorbed.

 Rasam
 Pressure cook the moong dal with water for 4 whistles. once done, mash the dal well & make it a little watery & set it aside.

With a little oil, roast the pepper corns, urad dal, cumin seeds, asafoetida, red chillies. Then grind them to a paste.
In a vessel take the tamarind paste add water & salt to it & allow it to boil. Then add the above masala to it & bring it to a boil till it froths. then add the dal water & allow it to boil. For the seasoning, in a kadai, take a little oil, add mustard seeds, little cumin seeds & curry leaves & add it to the rasam.

Rasam is done. Add the vadas to the rasam & allow it to soak for an hour. Well rasam vada is done.
The flavor of pepper should be on the higher side, as it gives taste to the rasam & the vada.
Pepper is very good for health & if you have noticed, for this rasam  we haven;t used toor dal. So its totally a different taste to experiment on.

Bon apétit!

Carrot Halwa/ Gajar Halwa/ Sweet Carrot pudding

Things we need

Carrot   2 lbs

Sweetened Condensed Milk  14oz

Unsalted Butter 6oz

Cashew & Almonds shriveled

Cardamon 

Peel & Grate the carrots in a food processor.In a big thick bottomed skillet, melt the butter, fry the nuts & Keep them aside.
Add the shredded carrots & saute them until they are soft (2 to 3 mins). Add the nuts to the mixture, then the  sweetened condensed milk. Mix them well and close it with a lid & allow it to cook on low flame for around 30 mins. stirring it occasionally . By then, everything is absorbed well & the butter starts oozing out. Ts done.

Serving tips

Heat the halwa a bit & serve it with ice cream. Its very yummy that way.

Its not a healthy dish for sure. But a bit of indulgence is no harm.

Eggless Banana Walnut Bread

Hot chocolate with Banana Walnut Bread......sounds Yummy right....

Here is what we need.

All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups

Ripe Banana - 3

Flax Seeds - 2 tsp

Sugar - 1 cup

Milk - 1/4 cup

Curd - 2 Tsp

Baking Soda - 1Tsp

Salt - a pinch

Walnuts - a cup

Unsalted Butter - 4 Tsp

Method

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees for 15 mins.

Pour all the ingredients in a bowl & beat together with a mixer or just mix them all with your fingers till you get the consistency of thick dosa batter.

Grease an oven safe dish & pour the batter. Level them and keep it in the oven for up to 50 mins. Do not fill the tray up to the rim, because the cake expands and rises up when its heated. Check if the cake is done by poking it with tooth pick or fork . If the tip sticks, leave it to cook for some more time.

Once done. Allow it to cool & enjoy.

Tips on Storage:

You can leave the cake in an airtight box for up to 3 days at room temperature.

If you have made a lot, you can refrigerate it for up to 7-8 days.

If you want to store it for a longer time, just freeze it in an air tight box.

When you are ready to eat, just keep it at room temperature for a while and warm it if necessary before serving.

Lauki Kofta / Sorakai curry/ squash in a creamy gravy

As I scan the Indian grocery store, I used often wonder what to do with this vegetable. Thanks to my friend Sulbha, I was able to come up with this dish. Its rich & yummy.

Things we need

For the lauki balls

Lauki / Soraikai - peeled & grated - 3 cups

Besan / Chickpea flour - 1 cup

Salt

Cashews

Red Chilli powder

Turmeric powder

Ginger minced

Dry Mango powder

Corriander leaves chopped.

Oil to fry

Extract the water from the grated lauki & mix all of the above ingredients & lastly the besan four. Add enough to make small balls of it. Fry them in oil like a vada till they are golden brown & keep it aside.

For the gravy

Onions - 1/2 well chopped

Tomato - 2 pureed with 2 green chillies

Little ginger (or) Ginger garlic paste

Poppy seeds - 1 spoon soaked in water

Cashew - 5/6

Whole garam masala - Cardamon 1, cloves 2, cumin 1/4 spoon, corriander seeds 1/4 spoon, black pepper 4 , a very small pinch of nutmeg, 1 pinch cinnamon powder.

Cumin seeds - 1/2 spoon

Red chilli powder

Garam masala powder - 1/4 spoon

Turmeric powder

Dried Kasturi Methi

Milk / cream

Oil

Salt

In a kadai, take a little oil. When its hot fry the whole garam masala & the chopped onions. Take them out & grind them well with the soaked poppy seeds & cashew.

Then in the kadai, take a little oil. When hot add cumin seeds, ginger, then the tomato puree. Allow them cook well till the raw smell is gone. Add the Onion paste ,red chilli powder, turmeric powder, the garam masala powder & salt. Allow it to boil well. Now add the Kofta balls. & then add a little milk/ cream & crushed kasturi methi.

Kofta Curry is done. Its goes well with Chapatti, roti or naan , Veg pulav.

Have a wonderful meal..

Mixed Vegatable Soup

I had been wanting to try out a mixed vegetable soup for a while. I just thought about a couple of ingredients & information bagage from my mom, I could arrive at this recipe

Things we need

Broccoli - 3-5 heads

Cauliflower - 3-5 heads

Onion - 1/2 well sliced

Corn fennels - 1/2 spoon

Green peas - 1 spoon

Beans - 3 0r 4 cut into midium pieces

Carrots - 1 cubed

Grated ginger

1/2 spoon butter / olive oil

Salt

Pinch of dried Oregano & Basil for flavour (optional)

Crushed Pepper

1/4 Tbs of Corn flour

Procedure

In a vessel, take some butter. When it is hot, add the onions & saute till they are translucent, then add ginger & fry well. Then add all the vegetables & salt & saute well. Cover the vessel with a lid. Stir them often. Add crushed pepper & add about a cup of water. Close & allow it to boil for 15 to 20 mins. Then add the dry basil & oregano. Add 1/4 spoon butter to this & allow it to cook for 5 minutes & switch off.

I like the soup watery. If you want a little thicker consistency, dissolve the corn powder in nomal water, add it to the soup & bring it to boil.

Soup can be served in a bread bowl & with just some bread or a baguette.

Bon Apétit.