Beetroot Podimas

Source:

Mrs. Revathy Shanmugam, Aval Vikatan (30 days 30 Poriyal)


Ingredients:

Beetroot - 1/4 kg

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Cooked Channa Dal (kadalai paruppu) - 1/4 cup

Grated Coconut - 1 tbsp

Salt - To taste

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp

Urad Dal - 1/4 tsp

Curry Leaves - Few


Method:

1.  Wash, peel skin, and grate beetroots.

2.  Heat oil in a kadai and splutter mustard seeds, ural dal, and curry leaves.

3.  Add grated beetroot and fry on medium flame until cooked.

4.  Add salt and chilli powder and mix well.  Fry for 2 minutes.

5.  Then, add the cooked channa dal and grated coconut and mix well until combined.

Serve hot with sambar rice or curd rice.

Beetroot Poriyal/Koora

Source:

Mrs. Vanaja Subramanian, Aval Vikatan (30 Poriyal Varieties)


Ingredients:

Beetroot - 1/4 kg

Salt - To taste

Grind Together:

Red Chillies - 2

Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp

Sombu (Saunf) - 1/4 tsp

Seasoning:

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad Dal - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - Few

Coriander Leaves - 1 sprig

Oil - 1 tbsp


Method:

1.  Chop beetroots and pressure cook.

2.  Grind together coarsely the red chillies, grated coconut, and sombu.

3.  In a kadai, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.  Add the chopped and cooked carrots and stir well.  Add salt and coarsely ground paste and mix well.  Finally, garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

It is a best and healthy accompaniment in a lunch menu to be served with steamed rice.

Carrot Kara Kuzhambu

Source:

Mrs. Santhi Vijayakrishnan, Aval Vikatan (30 Carrot Varieties)


Ingredients:

Carrots - 2 medium sized (chopped)

Tamarind - Lime sized ball

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Grated Coconut - 1 tbsp

Salt - 1 tsp or to taste

To fry and grind:

Thuar Dhal - 1 tsp

Bengal Gram Dhal - 1 tsp

Coriander Seeds - 2 tsp

Fenugreek - 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp

Red Chillies - 6

For Seasoning:

Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp

Fenugreek - 1/4 tsp

Curry Leaves - Few

Gingelly Oil - 1 tbsp


Method:

1.  In a hot kadai, dry fry the dhals, coriander seeds, fenugreek, asafoetida, and red chillies as given in the fry and grind list.  To this, add 1 tbsp of freshly grated coconut and grind to a smooth paste adding enough water.

2.  Soak tamarind in 1-1/2 cups water and make an extract.

3.  Heat kadai, add 1 tbsp of gingelly oil and add the seasoning ingredients.  Add chopped carrots and stir well.  Pour the tamarind extract and bring to boil.  Add turmeric powder and salt.  Allow to boil until the carrots are cooked.  Mix in the ground paste and allow to boil until a thick gravy is formed.  Serve hot with rice or dosas.

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe is adapted from Joy of Baking and Fondbites.

Ingredients:

Unsalted Butter - 70 gm

Powdered Sugar or Icing Sugar - 3/4 cup

Egg - 1

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Fresh Thick Curds - 1/2 cup (to make buttermilk)

Liquid Red Food Color - 1 tsp

Red Color Gel - 1 tsp

All-Purpose Flour - 1 cup

Corn Flour - 1/4 cup

Cocoa Powder - 1 tbsp

Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - A pinch

Vinegar - 1/2 tsp

Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

2.  Grease a 6 inch round cake pan with butter or oil and line the bottom with parchment paper.  

3.  Sift together all-purpose flour, corn flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

4.  Add butter in bowl and and beat with a hand mixer for about 1 to 2 minutes until soft, pale, and fluffy.

5.  Add the sugar to the butter and beat for 4 to 5 minutes until creamy and fluffy.  If you use icing sugar, the sweetness of the cake is milder.  If you want your cake to be sweeter, use powdered sugar at this stage.  However, you can use half icing sugar and half powdered sugar to have a balance of sweetness - not too sweet or not too mild in sweetness.

6.  Break egg and pour contents in a cup and mix the yolk and white together with a spoon and then add this to the butter-sugar mixture and beat for 1 minutes on medium speed until the mixture becomes soft and creamy.  A general rule is to beat the batter on medium or low speed only, after the egg is added to the mixture.

7.  Add the vanilla extract and beat just until well combined.

8.   To make buttermilk, process the thick curds in the small jar of the mixer/blender on low speed for about 10 seconds.  It will be a thick but liquid form of buttermilk which works best in baking.  To this buttermilk, add the liquid and gel red food colors and mix well.  Keep aside.  

9.  With the mixer on low speed, add half of the sifted flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat just until incorporated.  Then, add the buttermilk mixture and beat until well combined.  Then, add the remaining half of the flour mixture and beat at low speed until just incorporated.  Do not over beat at any step.

10.  And now comes the most important part of the procedure to make the cake velvety.  Keep your cake pan ready and also check if the oven is almost preheated.  When all set, add the baking soda in a bowl and pour the vinegar and stir immediately as it fizzes up.  Quickly fold the vinegar mixture in the batter and combine everything together with your spatula.

11. Pour the batter into the greased baking pan immediately and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

12.  Once the cake is baked, take it out of the oven and allow it to cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.  Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert to remove the cake from the pan.  Allow to cool the cake (on the wire rack) completely.  Once done, cover the cake with a plastic cling wrap and then aluminium foil and freeze for at least an hour or overnight.  You can keep in the refrigerator also.  This makes layering, filling, and frosting the cake easier.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese - 100 gm

Icing Sugar - 1/2 cup

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Heavy Whipping Cream - 1 cup

Method:

1.  Add cream cheese, icing sugar, and vanilla extract in a bowl and beat with a hand mixer or an electric mixer for about 2 minutes on medium speed.

2.  Add heavy whipping cream and beat rigorously on high speed for 3 to 5 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.

3.  Chill this frosting for about 1 hour in the refrigerator and then use for filling and frosting the cake.

Cream cheese frosting is ready to be spread on the cake.


Assembling the Cake:

Remove the cake from the freezer or refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.  With a long serrated knife, slice the cake horizontally into 3 layers.  Keep each layer aside separately.  On a cake board, apply about a teaspoon of cream cheese frosting or softened butter in the center and spread a little so that the cake does not move away from the board.  Place the topmost layer of the cake first on the board.  Brush off the cake crumbs and have a clean cake layer.  Sprinkle sugar syrup all over this cake layer and spread around 1 to 2 tbsp of cream cheese frosting over it evenly until a thick layer is formed.  Place the mid layer of the cake over this and repeat the process of sugar syrup and cream cheese frosting layer.  Finally, place the bottom most layer of the cake with the bottom side facing up so that a smooth and leveled top is achieved.  Apply sugar syrup and then a thin layer of the cream cheese frosting on top and then on the sides evenly to form a crumb coat.  Chill in refrigerator for about half an hour.  Then, decorate the cake as per your choice and serve chilled.  I used a star nozzle to pipe mini  rosettes as a border and sugar sprinkles and the cake crumbs in the center.

This cake stays good at room temperature for a day.  Store in refrigerator for a longer shelf life.

Notes:

I made cream cheese at home and used for the frosting.  You can choose use the store bought ones.

The cream cheese frosting is per my taste.  You can add or reduce the cheese cream and heavy whipping cream according to the sourness or the sweetness you like.

Use heavy whipping cream that whips easily to stiff peaks.  I used non-dairy whipping cream (Tropolite).  Dairy whipping cream with more than 30% fat content can be used for the extra creaminess.  If heavy whipping cream that easily forms stiff peaks are not available, then whip the cream separately to peaks and then add to the cream cheese mixture and whip together.

Vinegar and cocoa react together to give a rust color to the cake.  If you do not use red food color also, you will still get a reddish tinge to your cake.  They will still taste good and velvety.  The amount of color you add depends on how deep color or shade of red you would want.

Tomato red, x-mas red, raspberry red, red red, super red or any other red food color can be used to suit the shade of red you need.

If you choose to avoid artificial colors (as I personally prefer), use natural food colors viz., extract of cooked beetroot for the pinkish red color of the cake.

Homemade Cream Cheese

Source:

Adapted from Sharmis Passions

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 litre

Thick Curd/Unflavored Yogurt - 1 tbsp

Lemon Juice - 1½ tbsp or Vinegar - 2 tbsp

Method:

1.  In a deep pan, boil milk.  When it starts to boil, add the lemon juice or vinegar and keep stirring continuously until the milk curdles and separates into cheese and whey water.  Switch off the flame.

2.  Take a clean muslin cloth or cheese cloth and pour this mixture into it and drain off the whey water separately.  You can save the whey water to be used in your recipes since it is very rich in protein.  Do not discard it.

3.  Wash the cheese in the muslin cloth at least 2 times by pouring cold water to get rid of the lemon or vinegar flavor.  Leave it aside for 10 to 15 minutes with a container under it for the whey water to drain completely.  Do not squeeze.

4.  Transfer the strained cheese to a bowl.  Add curd and mix well.

5.  Grind this in a mixer to make a smooth, creamy paste.

6.  Transfer this again to the muslin cloth and tie the ends with a knot and hang it on a cupboard handle with a container underneath to collect the dripping whey water.  Leave it aside for 5 to 6 hours for the liquid to drain completely.  Open the pouch and collect the cream cheese in a bowl.  Refrigerate it for 8 hours or overnight.  Your cream cheese is ready to be used.

Store in refrigerator until use.  It stays good in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks.  When using it, bring it to room temperature and use for your cheese cakes or crackers or for frosting your cupcakes.

This recipe makes about 250 to 300 gm of cream cheese.

The picture shows only the left over cream cheese after I had used some for my cream cheese frosting for red velvet cake.

Notes:

To get extra creaminess, use full cream milk if available.

Also, fresh cream 100 mL can be used to for the extra richness and creaminess.  If using fresh cream, add it to the boiling milk and continue the process.

Red Pumpkin Adai

Source:

Mrs. Saraswathi


Ingredients:

Par Boiled Rice - 1 cup

Finely Chopped Red Pumpkin - 1 cup

Red Chillies - 4 to 5

Salt - 1 tsp

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Curry Leaves - Few


Method:

1.  Wash rice and soak it for at least 2 hours with enough water.

2.  Wash, peel skin, and finely chop the red pumpkin.

3.  In a mixer, grind together red chillies, salt, asafoetida, curry leaves, chopped pumpkin, and soaked rice to a coarse batter adding the soaked water as necessary.  This should be a thick batter.  Do not add too much water and dilute it.

4.  In a hot tawa, pour this batter into adais by pouring the batter in the center and spreading it with a ladle spirally.  Cover and cook for a minute until the adai leaves on the sides and then flip over and cook until done as soft adais or crisp adais as per your preference.  Serve hot with coconut chutney or a pickle of your choice.  Ideally, tomato thokku or onion thokku would be the best accompaniment.


Notes:

One cup of par boiled rice (or idli rice) can be replaced with equal quantities of raw rice and par boiled rice.  Also, millets like samai, varagu, kuthiraivaali, or thinai can also be used instead of the raw rice.

Palm sized adais can also be made for easy bites.

Capsicum Palsuvai Pachadi

Source:

Aval Vikatan


Ingredients:

Capsicum - 1/2 kg

Green Chillies - 50 gm

Tamarind - 50 gm

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Urad Dal - 2 tsp

Bengal Gram Dal (Kadala Paruppu) - 4 tsp

Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

Jaggery - 250 gm (grated)

Gingelly Oil - 100 mL

Salt - As needed


Method:

1.  Slice capsicum thinly.  Chop green chillies finely.

2.  Adding enough water, make pulp of tamarind.

3.  In a kadai, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds and the dals.  Add asafoetida powder.

4.  Add finely chopped green chillies and fry for a minute or so.

5.  Add in finely sliced capsicum and fry again.

6.  Mix in salt and give a quick stir.

7.  Now, add the pulp and allow to boil.

8.  After it has boiled for about 15 to 20 minutes, add in the grated jaggery and mix well.

9.  When all the ingredients boil and combine together to form a thick paste, switch off the flame.

10.  Serve hot or store in an airtight container.

This pachadi has all the tastes in it together - the tanginess (pulippu), the sourness (karam), the sweetness (inippu) making it yummy side dish for rotis, upma, puris, dosa, curd rice, sambar rice, etc.  This can be stored for a fairly long time in the refrigerator.

Nuts Millets Laddoo

Source:

Mrs. Lakshmi Nathan


Ingredients:

Millets (Varagu/Saamai/Thinai/Kuthiraivaali) - 1 cup

Mixed Nuts (Cashew, Badam, Pista, Walnuts, Peanuts) - 1 cup

Powdered Sugar - 1 cup

Ghee - 1 to 2 tbsp


Method: 

1.  Wash millets thoroughly and strain all of the excess water.

2.  Dry fry the wet millet in a iron kadai on medium flame for around 5 to 10 minutes until it dries up completely and puffs and pops up like pori.

3.  Dry roast the desired nuts separately in a pan and allow to cool.

4.  In a mixer, powder the puffed up millets.  Keep separately.

5.  Again in the same mixer, powder the roasted nuts.

6.  Mix this nut powder to the millet powder and also the powdered sugar and warm ghee.  Mix well with your fingertips until well combined.

7.  Run little by little in a mixer jar this mixture until the ghee oozes out and makes the mixture slightly wet and greasy and until all the powder mix is used up.  Transfer to a plate or a large bowl.

8.  Take around a tablespoonful of this mixture in your hand and press slightly to make laddoos.

Here goes the healthy, nutritious, and yummy nuts millet laddoos.  Store these laddoos in an airtight container.  The shelf life for these laddoos would be around 10 days but I have never had these last till then.  They vanish off faster.  An apt treat for your kids snack box.


Notes:

Use can replace sugar with jaggery or palm sugar (karupatti) or powdered panam kalkandu.

Cashew Laddoo

Source:

Mrs. Lakshmi Nathan


Ingredients:

Cashew Powder - 1 cup

Sugar/Jaggery/Palm Sugar (Powdered) - 1/2 to 3/4 cup

Ghee - 1 to 2 tbsp


Method:

1.  Warm ghee slightly.

2.  Mix cashew powder, powdered sugar, and the heated ghee together well until well combined.

3.  Run this powder mixture in a mixie jar once and make laddoos by pressing the powder mixture between your palm and fingers.

These healthy and yummy laddoos can be stored in an airtight container for at least a week.

Notes:

I got cashew powder readily in a nearby store.  You can dry roast cashews and powder in a mixer or blender and use for this recipe.

Panam kalkandu can also used as the sweetener for this laddoo.

Baked Potato Wedges

Source:

Mrs. Subhashini

Ingredients:

Large Potatoes - 4

Grated Garlic - 2 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp (adjust to taste)

Italian Seasoning - 2 tsp

Olive Oil - 2 tbsp

Cheddar/Parmesan Cheese - 1/4 cup (grated)

Coriander Leaves - 2 tbsp (finely chopped)


Method:

1.  Line a baking tray with butter paper or silicon mat.  Grease with oil or butter evenly throughout.  Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

2.  Wash the potatoes and wipe thoroughly with a kitchen towel.  Cut them into wedges.

3.  Add all other ingredients to the sliced potatoes and mix thoroughly to coat over all the potato wedges.

4.  Arrange the potato wedges on the prepared baking tray with the skin side facing down.

5.  If there is left over seasoning-oil mixture, spread them evenly over each of the wedges.

6.  Bake them in a preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes at 200 degrees or until golden.  Bake for 10 more minutes if you want them crispy.  Serve hot with a dip of your choice if desired.

Notes:

1.  Toss the potato wedges with seasoning and oil and keep ready refrigerated until use.  Bake when needed.

2.  These potato wedges can also be fried instead of baking and served hot.

3.  You can use any cooking oil of your choice instead of olive oil.  I used sunflower oil.

4.  For an indianized version, use the indian spices (viz., chilli flakes, chilli powder, jeera powder, pepper powder, chat masala, etc.) instead of the italian spices