Watermelon Mint Soda

 Watermelon Mint soda:

Watermelon and mint is a very good combo.Watermelon juice with mint and lime for a refreshing and healthy summer cocktail that will impress !

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

 

• 4 cups of unseeded and cubed watermelon 
• 1 can of soda 
• fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice                                                                                                            Method:
• Juice watermelon in a mixer
• Add soda and mix it by adding lemon juice.
• Finally garnish with mint.
  

Rose coconut laddos

I have been using rose syrup and all the roses from my backyard and trying out new innvotive ideas with roses.

These are very easy to make and super luscious.Do give it a try !

Rose coconut laddus - Hubby’s fav
3 ingredient and quick dessert done in 15 mins !

Ingredients:

Desiccated coconut- 1 cup

Condensed milk-1/2 cup

Rose syrup- 2 tbspns

Cashews or almonds( Optional)

Method:

• In a large pan, add coconut powder along with condensed milk.
• Keep frying until it combines well for 5 mins n low flame.
• Add rose syrup at the end and mix well.Add roasted nuts and combine well
• Set aside and make small round laddos out of the coconut mixture and roll it with fresh desiccated powder.
• Serve and you can also store in an air-right container for 2-3 days.
  

Rose Ice-Cream

Rose Ice cream ... treat to eyes with this luscious flavored rose water and syrup whipped with whipping cream, condensed milk and essence of rose .
Simple 4 ingredients recipe and you can enjoy the summer beats !

#roseicecream #rose #shrunilflavors

Ingredients:

Whipping cream- 1 cup

Condensed milk- 1 cup

Rose syrup- 5 tspns

Rose water- 1 tsn

vanilla essence- 1/4 tspn

Pistachios- Chopped- 1/2 cup

Gulkhand(optional) 1 tbsn

Method:

1. Whisk whipping cream in a bowl until it forms peak.

2.Add condensed milk and mix well. Add  rose syrup and mix well.

3.Add dried rose petals and chopped pistachios.

4. Finally add chunks of gukhand on a freezer safe try and pour the mixture.

Freeze it for 6-8 hrs and enjoy the scoop of delicious fragrant rose ice cream.

Rasmalai Cake

Rasmalai cake that I baked for Fathers day 2020.

I can vouch you will have palatable, luscious and  toothsome rasmalai cake if you follow the below instructions:-)

I went through many You tube videos and my fav ones are Huma in kitchen and The Terrace kitchen

I also got few tips from my baking friends for baking evenly flat sponge cakes which is really needed for this recipe. Preppy kitchen has few tips for baking evenly at the corners.

Rasmalai - Store bought or you can make fresh rasmalais ( i make it with rasgullas)

Ingredients For making Rasmalai from Rasgullas

• 15 rasgullas ( Haldirams store bought rasgullas)
• 3 cups Milk
• 1cup Sugar syrup from rasgullas
  
• Saffron - A pinch
• 10 Cashew nuts
• 1/2 tspn elaichi Powder
• 10 Pistachios

Method:

• Heat Milk in a heavy bottomed vessel.Take 2 tablespoons of warm milk and keep saffron soaked till needed.
• Boil milk for 30 minutes in very low flame. Keep stirring now and then.
• When the volume reduces almost half,add the saffron soaked in the milk and sugar syrup from Rasgullas and boil for 10 more mins.
  
• Chop the nuts and fry it in ghee till golden brown and add it to the milk too.
  
• Squeeze the sugar syrup from the rasgullas and keep it aside.
  
• Add the squeezed rasgullas into the thickened milk and cook on low flame for 2 more minutes. They will absorb the sweet syrup and Rasmalai is ready. Turn off heat and cool.Refrigerate .

Now We will do the sponge vanilla cake:( 9 inch single layer cake Measurements)

3/4 cup -All purpose flour
1/2 cup- Sugar

Almond assence- 1/2 tspn

Vanilla essence- 1/2 tspn

melted butter-1/4 cup

Eggs-3

Baking powder-1 tspn

Baking sods-1/4 tspn.

Beat the eggs and Mix sugar and beat thoroughly by using hand mixer.

Add All purpose flour and mix it by adding all above said other ingredients.

Bake in oven for 15 mins in 335 celcius.

Once the cake is ready, cool it. Cut the cake in to two layers. Add rasmalai rabdi on the cake and crushed rasmalai on on layer. Cover the cake with anotehr layer.

Poke the cake top layer with tooth pick and add few more drops of rabdi.

Finally frost the cake with Whipping cream .
Whipping cream:

1/4 cup- whipping cream

3 tbspn- Powdered sugar

1/2 tspn- Vanilla essence

1/4 tspn- Almond essence

1 tspn- Rabdi

 whisk it thoroughly to form the foamy frosting.

Top it up with small rasmalai and decorate with fried nuts, pistachios and dried rose petals.

Palatable, Luscious toothsome rasmalai cake is ready !TADAAA

Suguntulu/ Sukhanunde For Varamahalakshmi Festival

Varmahalakshmi festival is obserbed on 2nd friday of shravana masam in most parts of India.Mainly karnataka, Andhra, Orissa, maharastra and Tamil nadu. Lakshmi is Goddess of wealth and prosperity. Lakshmi is worshipped in 8 superior forms.



I made suguntulu,sundal and puliyogre for pooja naivedyam

Ingredients:-
Rice flour- 1 cup
Uradh dhal-1 cup( soak uradh dal in water overnight or for atleast 2-3 hrs)
Poornam- made from jaggery and tur dal( Recipe follows)
Oil- for deep frying
salt- little

Method:-

• Grind uradh dhal to a thick paste.
• Mix rice flour with warm water and combine rice flour and urad dal mixture to idli batter consistency by adding salt and keep aside.
• Meanwhile prepare for pooranam

Recipe for pooranam:-

Jaggery- 1 cup
Tur dal- 1 cup
water- 5 cups
oil- 2 tbspns
Turmeric- 1/2 tspn
Cardomom powder- 1/2 tspn

• In a bowl. Add water and bring it to boil. Add tur dal and oil and turmeric. keep it in medium flame. Boil until tur dal is broken little. Take out from the flame and remove the water from tur dal.
• Add jaggery and mix it well and keep it on medium flame again for 10 mins until the jaggery dissolves with tur dal and it becomes liek a stickyconsistency.
• Let the mixture cool down
• Grind it in a mixer in to a smooth paste and add cardoimom powder and keep aside.
  

Now make small balls out of pooranam. Dip it inside that urad and rice mixture.
carefully drop it in hot oil. Fry it in medium flame for that golden color.
Serve hot or cold!!! it tastes yummy. Festival sweet has to be yummy.

Cold coffee

Summer is here in US and we like to have cold drinks right. Bored of having hot tea/ coffee during evenings. One sunny day when we came home from shopping, felt like having something really cold. Quickly i go-ogled and found this easy to make cold coffee recipe.

Ingredients:-

• Milk- 1 cup
• Water- 1/4 cup
• sugar- 4 tspns
• Coffee powder- 1 tspn
• Cool whip- 3 tspn
• Crushed ice- 3/4 cup

Method:-

Boil 1/4 cup of water. Add coffee powder( I used Bru instant coffee powder) in to it. stir well.
In a blender, add milk, sugar and this coffee decoction along with some crushed ice and milk. Blend them and pour it in to your glasses and relish your cold coffee.
I bet you ll surely regret of paying $4 in star bucks:-).

Almond Choco Brownies

Recent past I am craving more for sweets. Last it happened was during my pregnancy. Wanted to try out Brownies and did a lot of research on many websites and finally I found best brownies that can be easily made from Myhomecooking


Ingredients:-

6 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa

½ Cup Butter

1 Cup Sugar

1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1/3 Cup Flour

2 Eggs

1/2 cup- chopped almonds

Method:-

• In a bowl. Add butter and melt the butter in a microwave. Add cocoa powder and mix it gently.
• Add sugar, eggs, flour , Vanilla extract and salt and mix it thoroughly.
• Add Almonds finally.
• Preheat the oven at 350F degrees
• I used square glass dish. Apply little butter and flour the dish by adding few tsps of flour and shake it until the sides and bottom are covered completely so that it will help us to remove the brownies easily once it is done.
• Bake for almost 25 mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a little batter and a few moist clumps clinging on it. It should not be like a cake
• Remove from oven and let it cool Serve at room temp or with a hot brownie with a chilled Vanilla ice cream:-)
  

VARO- sindhi sweet for Indian cooking challenge

This is my first participation in Indian Cooking Challenge. I used to wonder when my friends put up ICC recipes on their blog. Thanks to srivalli for approving my membership. Hope to be in this challenge.
Me and my hubby and infact my kid does not have a sweet tooth, was wondering seriously if I have to take up thsi challenge, but this sweet is something reminds me of childhood sweet that my atthe(aunt) used to make. it is chikki made with peanuts. we used to get it in many petty shops , They used to keep thsi in small jars in front of the counter.
VARO - After looking at the recipe I felt it is similar to our chikki sweet substituted with dryfruits.

Source:- 'Simply Sindhi recipes'

Ingredients:-
1 small cup nuts- sliced( Almonds, cashewnuts and pistachios) ( I have not used pistachios in this recipe)
Sugar- 1/4 cup
Khus khus(poppy seeds)- 1 tbspn
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tspn
Ghee-1/4 cup


Method:-
In a heavy bottom pan.Add ghee and sugar and keep it on a medium flame. keep stirring until it becomes caramelized. it should become like a thin paaka( like a glue consistency).
Add the sliced nuts and cardamom powder and poppy seeds. keep stirring it until the nuts are well coated.

Take a thick heat pr0of plastic paper( you can use holige paper). I have used the silver side of haldirams mixture packet for spreading the coated mixture.

Apply oil on the sheet. pour the nuts mixture on it. you can use the roller to spread it. I dint find it necessary as the mixture consistency was perfect and it spread evenly.

Spread poppy seeds on top of the VARO. Leave for some time and use a knife and cut it in to pieces. yummy varo is ready....

Sajjappa / Sogasu obbattu

Navrathri and Deepavali season. wanted to try out authentic traditional sweet that they make back home. Here it is, presenting Sajjappa/ sogasu obbattu.

Ingredients:-
1 cup- Coarse semolina(Ravva)
1 cup- grated coconut
1 1/2 cup- sugar
1/2 cup- milk
1/2 cup- water
1/2 cup-fine semolina( chiroti ravva or holige ravva)
1/2 cup- Maida
1/4 tspn- salt
1 tspn-chopped Cashewnuts,
2tbspn- ghee
Oil- for deep frying
kesar and elaichi powder


Method:-
Add coarse semolina, grated coconut, sugar, milk , water and chopped cashewnuts in a pan and keep on a medium flame and stir together.when it becomes thick.Add 2 tbspns ghee. elaichi powder, kesar and mix together and bring it down out off the flame.
Make small balls out of it( as shown in the above pic) and keep it aside.Let us call this as HOORANA.

Meanwhile make a mixture out of fine semolina, maida and salt by adding little water. Make it as a thick paste.Let us call this mixture as KANAKA.



On a plastic paper apply some oil. Take some kanaka.Put HOORANA inside KANAKA and add one more plastic paper and press it like obbattu as shown above.


Remove the obbattu and deep fry them in oil .
Your yummy SAJJAPPAS are ready....

Sending this to preeti @Khaugiri for 'Only Festive Food' started by pari @ Foodelicious

Kudumulu/ Kaayi Kadubu- Ganesh festive special

Happy Ganesha Chaturthi to all my blog readers.

Kaayi kadubu iswhat we make on Ganesha festival day. Its Lord Ganesha's favourite:-). We do this along with Kandhunde. You can check for that recipe too in my blog.' During my childhood, i used to eat kadubus on a comeptation basis with my aunt. i use to eat around 12-15 kadubus on that day. Its one of my fav festive sweet

Here is the recipe for Kaayi kadubu

Ingredients:-

• Finely grated coconut- 2 cups
• Jaggery-3/4 cup( Finely powder it)
• Rice flour- 1 cup
• Water- 1 cup
• milk- 1/2 cup
• oil- 3 tspns
• salt- a pinch
• cardamom powder- little

Method:-

Mix the grated coconut along with jaggery and put it on a medium flame and fry it till you get a yummy smell out of it. Take out from the flame. Add cardamom powder and keep it aside.

Meanwhile, in another pan. Add milk, water, salt and oil. Let it boil on a high flame. Add rice flour in middle and slowly cook for 15 mins on a low flame. Take out from the flame and mix it gently. Mix it when it is hot only so that it will not form lumps.

Make small balls out of it and use a presser or a chapathi rolling pin to make a thin patties out of it.You can use rice flour while doing these kadubus too if you are making them out of hand.stuff the coconut jaggery mixture in to it. ( That mixture should be cool)

Fold the Chapathi and seal them with some water.


Steam all the Kadubus in a pressure cooker for 10 mins by adding some oil on top of it. I used idli stand for making kadubus.
Yummy Kadubus are ready!!!!!!!!!!!!

China Grass Halwa

INGREDIENTS:-
China grass[ Chopped small pieces]- 1 cup
Jaggery- powdered- 1.25 cup
Milk- 3 cups
water- 1 cup
Roasted almonds and cashwentuts- 2tspn

Method:-
1. First cut the china grass in to small pieces and keep aside
2.Add water in to china grass and keep it on medium flame for boiling.
3. when it dissolves. add jaggery and keep stirring in a low flame.
4. Finally add BOILED HOT MILK in to the mixture and stir it. you will see milk kind of curdling. Take out from flame and pour it in small cups.
5. It will take 15 mins to 30 mins get halwa consistency.
6. Finally you can add roasted almonds and Cashwenuts on Halwa.







Note:- This dish tastes excatly like ginnu( the sweet made out of cows lactating cow's milk), therfore it is called ginnu kadabu in kannada.

Mango Kalakhand

I have sent this entry to Mrs. south Indies- sweet contest- july2010

Ingredients:-

Milk- 6 cups
Sugar- 1 cup
Mango pulp- 2 cups
Vinegar or lemon juice- 1 tbspn
Almonds and cashew nuts- coarsely crushed- 1/4 cup

Recipe:-

Bring milk to boil. Keep it on a medium flame. When it is boiling, add vinegar or lemon juice in to it.

Once milk curdles, switch of the flame. Remove all excess water and keep it a side. Same processes as u do for paneer. Remember, this has to be softer than paneer. Kalakhand would be nice if you have softer cheese.( you can use ricotta cheese instead of making from scratch)

In a pan add sugar, mango pulp mix well and add curdled milk mix well again. Keep mixing for 10 mins then add the crushed cashew nuts and almonds. Cook well at least on a medium flame for 15 mins. The whole mixture will become thick.

Take a pan, grease with ghee. Pour the mixture in to it. Leave it for 4 hrs and cut it in to small pieces and garnish it with almonds or pistachios.

Sending this to "Food palette series Orange"

Fruit Pudding

My sister’s recipe- First recipe that I got from her is Fruit pudding. All are fan of this fruit pudding back home. When I really get bored of eating vanilla cake bread, I make this pudding out of the left over (remaining cake).Here it goes.,

Ingredients:-

Vanilla cake bread- 10 slices (thin)
Sugar syrup-1/2 cup (Thick consistency)
Fruits-Chopped (Apple, Banana, Grapes, Orange)
Custard- 2 cups-(used vanilla custard)
Dry fruits-1/4 cup(almonds, cashew nuts,grapes)




Method:-

Take a pudding bowl. Arrange cake bread as first layer. Add sugar syrup on top of it. Add the mixed fruits on that layer of cake bread.Add Little custard. Again repeat the same process of layering bread, sugar syrup and custard. Finally add dry fruits on top of it. Set it in refrigerator for about 4 hrs.
Your pudding is ready to serve….

My first creation from Wilton's Cake Decorating Classes

I was fascinated by seeing my friends cakes pictures when they share their variety and colorful cake pics. After experimenting variety of cakes for Swanu's monthly birthdays, i wanted to learn decorating the cake. My friend suggested me to learn from Micheals. This is the best time for me to learn some thing new as i have some time for myself. I enrolled myself in to Wiltons cake decorating classes. Here is my first creation to make icing on a cake that i learned from my second class.




Ingredients (for Cake):-

3- Eggs

3 tbsp- milk

1 tspn- Vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups - sifted cake flour ( I used All purpose Flour)

1 tspn- Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (150 grams) -granulated white sugar

13 tablespoons (185 grams)-unsalted butter

Method:-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.

In a medium bowl lightly combine the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar) and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds or until blended. Add the butter and half of the egg mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about one minute to aerate and develop the cake's structure. Gradually add the remaining egg mixture, in 2 additions, beating about 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate the egg and strengthen the cake's structure.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake for about 55 to 65 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes.

Will keep, well wrapped, several days at room temperature, about one week when refrigerated, or it can be frozen for two months.

Source:-http://www.joyofbaking.com/PoundCake.html

Icing recipe:- From my wilton instructor :-)