Strawberry Ice Cream

This is definitely not a low-fat or low-calorie recipe. But it’s filled with the farm fresh strawberries that smell and taste awesome. We went strawberry picking in the beginning of June and bought home about 4 lbs of fresh strawberries. After devouring about half of them fresh, I made this ice cream with the rest.

Recipe is from Tarla Dalal’s website.
Ingredients:
Milk – 2 cups (I used 2%)
Heavy cream – 1½ cups
Strawberry puree – 1½ cups
Powdered Sugar – ½ cup
Corn starch – 2tbsp

Method:

• Mix corn starch with ¼ cup milk and set aside.
  
• Heat milk and bring to a boil. Add the corn starch mixture whisking constantly and add ¼ cup sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook till it thickens. Once cool, refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.
  
• Beat the cream with the remaining powdered sugar until soft peaks form.
  
• Gently fold in strawberry puree and cooled milk mixture into the cream.
  
• Pour the mixture into Ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions. Alternately pour the mixture into a shallow container and freeze until slushy. Remove and blend until soft and creamy. Freeze again until firm. Scoop and serve.

I served with some of the strawberry puree.

Missi Roti & Mixed veggie Curry

For some reason besan in roti sounds so yummy and I wanted to give these Missi rotis a try and the resulting rotis where so different from my regular plain rotis; you can taste the besan in the background and once they cool they have a chila kind of texture that I love. I adapted DK’s missi roti recipe.

Ingredients:
Besan – 2 cups
Atta (Whole wheat flour) – 1cup
Cumin seeds – 1tsp
Ajwain – 1tsp
Green onions – 2, finely chopped
Coriander – 2tbsp, finely chopped
Red chili powder – 1tsp
Salt – to taste

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients and knead into a smooth dough with lukewarm water. Cover with damp cloth and set aside for 30 minutes.
  
• Heat a griddle on medium-high heat. Divide the dough into lemon size balls. Roll each ball into a not-too thin or not-too thick disc. Cook on the hot griddle until blistered on both sides. Smear ghee or oil and serve hot with any spicy curry.
  

I made a mixed veggie curry with coconut milk; this recipe is also inspired from Vaishali’s carrot & peas curry with coconut milk. I used green tomatoes, broccoli, frozen green beans & peas. Here’s how I made it:

Ingredients:
Green onions – 1 bunch, both white & green parts chopped
Broccoli – 1 cup, cut into florets
Green beans – ½ cup, thawed if frozen
Peas – ½ cup, thawed
Tomatoes – 4 small, chopped
Tomato puree – 3tbsp
Red chili powder – 1tsp
Kitchen king masala (or garam masala) – ½ tsp
Coconut milk – ½ cup
Cumin seeds – 1tsp

Method:

• Heat 1tbsp oil in a sauté pan; add cumin seeds and after they splutter, add green onions and sauté till translucent.
  
• Add all the other veggies except for tomatoes. Cover and cook till tender and cooked through.
  
• Add tomatoes; cover and cook till tomatoes turn mushy. Add red chili powder and garam masala, mix well.
  
• Finally add coconut milk and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Enjoy with roti or rice.

Buckwheat Pancakes

I bought a bag of Buckwheat a while back, after using it once, it got safely stacked away in the back of the refrigerator. With the new house and the moving it took me quite sometime to find it again. So finally it got to see the light of day (not the whole bag, but at least some portion of it) in these pancakes.

Recipe is from Wholegrains Baking by King Arthur flour. Pancakes turned out soft and delicious; addition of molasses made them look darker and burnt but they were just perfect. I froze the leftover pancakes wrapping 2-3 per pack in foil and placed in a freezer safe zip-lock bag; microwaved for a minute or toasted until thawed would make them perfect for a weekday breakfast.

Ingredients:
Buckwheat flour – 1 cup
All Purpose flour – ¾ cup
Baking powder – 2tsp
Baking soda - 1tsp
Egg – 1, large
Buttermilk – 2 cups
Molasses – 2tbsp
Butter – 1tbsp, melted
Salt – ½ tsp

Method:

• In a large bowl, whisk the flours, baking soda & salt.
• In a measuring cup, add buttermilk and melted butter.
  
• Whisk egg with molasses in a small bowl.
  
• Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add all the wet ingredients. Stir the batter swiftly with a few strokes, just until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened.
  
• Heat a non-stick or cast iron griddle on medium heat. Add 1tsp oil and wipe the griddle with a paper towel so that the whole griddle is nicely greased. Pour about ¼ cup of batter and cook until bubbles form, about 2-3 minutes. Gently flip over and cook the other side for another 1 minute.
  
• Serve with maple syrup or any fruit compote.

These pancakes are quite filling and make a great weekend breakfast. Want to make them for your Dad tomorrow for Father's Day?? Happy Father's day to all Dads. Have fun & Enjoy!!!

Pani Puri (Gol Gappe) For ICC-May

This month’s Indian Cooking Challenge (ICC) was so much fun, making poori was only the first part of the fun, dipping them in pani and competing with your hubby to finish them off forms the rest of the fun. Thanks Valli for choosing these fun filled gol gappes for this month’s challenge. I thoroughly enjoyed making them (albeit my biceps started aching from trying to roll the pooris too thin) and eating them.

My pooris were not as crisp as I wanted them to be, but they puffed up OK and tasted yummy. So I have no regrets. But the best part was the Red tamarind chutney that was sooo yummy and I’m sure going to be using that in other chaat recipes.

Here’s the recipe:
Puri Ingredients:
Sooji (Semolina) – ½ cup (make sure that you use fine sooji)
All-purpose Flour – ½ tbsp
Cooking soda – ½ tsp (I forgot to add this—maybe that’s why puris where not crispy?????)
Salt - to taste

Method:

• In a bowl, mix sooji, salt and AP flour. Add couple of tablespoons of water at a time and form into stiff dough. Knead well for at least 5-6 minutes. Add ½ tsp oil and knead again for 2 minutes.
  
• Cover with damp kitchen towel and let rest for at least 15 minutes.
  
• Roll the dough out as thin as possible. Take a small cookie cutter or a bottle lid and cut into circles. Cover the circles with damp towel at all times to avoid drying out.
  
• Deep fry them in hot oil and watch them puff up like magic. Remove on to a paper lined plate and enjoy them with dip and fillings.
  

Pani (Flavored Tamarind water) Ingredients:
Chopped Mint leaves – 1½ cups
Coriander leaves – 1tbsp
Tamarind pulp – ¼ cup
Ginger – 1”
Green chilies – 4 to 5
Roasted ground cumin – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste

Method:

• Blend all the ingredients with some water into a smooth paste. Add more water to make dilute it. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
  

Fillings:

• Boil and slightly mash 1 small potato. Season with salt and red chili powder.
• Boil chickpeas and cook with some salt, red chili powder & garam masala.
  

Red Tamarind Chutney
Ingredients:
Tamarind pulp – ½ cup
Jaggery – ½ cup
Sugar –2 tbsp
Red chili powder – ½ tsp
Roasted Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Roasted clove powder – 1/8 tsp
Black pepper – ¼tsp
Salt – to taste

Method:

• Add jaggery, sugar, red chili powder, ground cumin and cloves to tamarind pulp. Season with salt; heat the mixture on medium heat for 5 minutes. Keep aside until ready to serve.
  

To Serve: Poke a small hole in the center of the puri. Add all or any of the fillings in the center. Add a little red tamarind chutney. Then dip it in the spicy flavored water and gulp it down in one bite.

Cheesy Garlicky Biscuits-Red Lobster Style

One of my co-workers bought these biscuits from Red Lobster and offered me one to taste (one of the perks of having the office building in a commercial shopping center). It was like “love at first bite”; they were buttery, cheesy and simply melt in your mouth.

I had to try them at home right away and a quick Google search landed me on this step by step recipe @ Joyful abode. I bought all the required ingredients and made them and they were truly amazing. Extremely easy to make and I think you can indulge in a little bit of butter, cheese and store-bought biscuit mix once in a while, don’t you think????

Ingredients:
Buttermilk Biscuit mix (I used Bisquick brand) – 2 cups
Shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese – 1½ cups (I used low-fat white cheddar cheese)
Garlic Powder – 1 tsp, divided
Milk – 2/3 cup
Butter – 2tbsp
Dried Oregano – 1tsp (I used dried parsley instead)
Method:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up.
  
• In a bowl, mix bisquick, ½ tsp garlic powder and cheese.
  
• Next add milk and using a spoon mix everything thoroughly until well combined. The dough is stiff, resist the urge to add more water.
  
• Using a ice-cream scoop, drop 2tbsp of dough on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.
  
• In the meantime melt butter and mix in ½ tsp garlic powder and dried herb.
  
• Brush the butter on the half-baked biscuits and return to the oven and bake for another 5-6 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown and puffed up.
  
• Remove from oven and cool a little before enjoying them with any gravy dish of your choice.

I made Rajma curry and Rice (rice medley mix from Trader Joes with Basmati, wild rice, red rice etc.) for a complete meal.

Sending these over to Mansi's Favorite Snack Food event with a chance to win a Magic Bullet. Thanks Mansi for hosting the event.

Aratikaya Kura (Raw Banana Curry)

I usually just fry raw banana and wanted to make something different this time. This recipe is from Chandra Padmanabhan’s cookbook, Dakshin-Vegetarian South Indian Recipes, sounded different and delicious. The end result was this tangy spicy curry that went well with hot white rice and some dal.

Ingredients:
Raw bananas – 4-5 small, peeled & cubed
Tamarind paste – 2tsp
Green chilies -2 slit lengthwise
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Fresh grated coconut – 2tbsp
Salt – to taste

For Tempering:
Chana dal – 1tsp
Urad dal – 1tsp
Mustard seeds – 1tsp
Cumin seeds – 1tsp
Dry Red Chili – 2
Curry leaves – few

Poriyal Powder – 1tbsp*

Method:

• Take the raw banana, pinch of turmeric, salt & tamarind paste with 1cup of water in a medium sauce pan. Cover & simmer until the veggie is tender and almost all the water is evaporated.
  
• In a sauté pan, heat 2tsp oil and add all the tempering ingredients.
  
• Once the seeds start to splutter, add green chilies and cooked banana.
• Sprinkle in the poriyal powder and grated coconut. Mix well and cook for 3-5 minutes for the flavors to blend.
  
• Serve hot with steamed white rice.

* Poriyal Powder:
Coriander Seeds - 1¼ cups
Chana dal – ¾ cup
Urad dal – ½ cup
Dry Red chilies – ¾ cup
Oil – 3tspHing – 2tsp
Tamarind ball – Marble size
Salt – to taste

Method:

• Dry roast the coriander seeds & both the dals.
• Fry the red chilies in the oil.
  
• Mix all the ingredients together and grind to almost fine powder.
• Store in a air tight container and use as needed.