Rasam in a jiffy

Rasam the comfort food from south Indian cuisine. This spicy clear soup is among the first few items I learnt to cook. So here goes the recipe.

Ingredients

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds - 2 tsp

Oil - 1 tsp

Red chilli - 1

Peppercorns - 5

Tomato chopped or pureed - 1/2

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Tamarind - 1/2 lemon size

Water - 5 cups

Salt as per taste

Turmeric powder - 1 pinch

Recipe

1) Heat oil in a deep bottomed vessel, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds once they splutter add red chilli, curry leaves and garlic.

2) Then pour in water and add all the remaining ingredients.

3) Allow to boil nicely for 10-12 minutes, then switch off and garnish with cilantro.

Coconut mango chutney

This is a very tasty chutney and prepared in moments in the blender.

 Ingredients

Coconut grated - 2 cups
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsps
Salt as per taste
Raw mango - 3 tbsp
Onions chopped - 2 tbsps
Green chilli - 1

Recipe

1) Blend in all the ingredients into a fine paste adding little water. Goes well with idlis.

Paneer Sizzlers

    Paneer sizzler is a vegetable barbeque recipe with paneer cubes marinated in tantalizing array of sauces and spices and then placed in a griller. The paneer sizzlers are easy to prepare and mouthwatering in taste. A perfect starter or cocktail snack item. I have used the store bought chutney's in this recipe, you can find them in any Indian grocery stores.

Ingredients

Paneer into 1" cubes - 14 oz
Red onions into 1" chunks - 1 no
Capsicum into 1" chunks - 2 nos
Cherry tomatoes - 15 / Roma tomatoes into 1" chunks - 2 nos
Mint chutney - 4 tbsps
Chilli chutney - 2 tbsps

Tamarind date chutney - 4 tbsps
Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 no
Salt as per taste
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Pepper powder - 2 tsp

Recipe

1) Take a wide vessel and combine all the chutneys, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, salt and powders and mix nicely.
2) To this add the paneer, red onions, tomatoes and capsicum and mix nicely.
3) Allow this to marinate for about an hour.
4) In a skewer insert a chunk of onion,tomato,capsicum and paneer and repeat till the skewer is filled.
5) Brush them with oil.
6) Grill them in your griller or arrange the skewers in a baking tray and bake at 350 F for 15 minutes and then broil for 10 minutes.

Tips

1) Soak the skewers in water before inserting the vegetable chunks for 20 minutes so that they will not burn.
2) Turn the skewers occasionally while grilling or baking.
3) Serve hot, garnished with lemon and onion rings.

Watermelon Juice

      This watermelon slushy is just perfect for hot summer days, as this fruit contains 92% of water. Watermelons are ideal for health as they do not contain any fat or cholesterol and are high in fiber content and vitamins A and C and are also a good source of potassium.
      There are over 1,200 varieties of watermelon worldwide. Every part of a watermelon is edible, even the seeds and rinds.
      I would also like to share about the watermelon snow in the Sierra Nevada of California. This phenomenon is especially common during the summer months where snow has lingered from winter storms, mainly at altitudes of 10,000 to 12,000 feet. The snow turns pink because of microscopic algae known as Chamydomonas nivalis, leaves and pollen of the white bark pine.
      Now let's get straight to the recipe of this irresistible thirst quencher. It was a very big hit in my house.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

Watermelon - 5 cups (deseeded)
Sugar as per taste
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Chat masala - 1 tsp


Recipe

1) Cut the watermelon into chunks and place them in your blender with all the other ingredients and blend until smooth.
2) Serve chill and enjoy.

Tips

1) Personalize your juice to suit your palate. Replace water with sparkling water, decorate with mint leaves, watermelon chunks or simply freeze them into ice cubes.

Apple Banana Milk Shake

        Apple and Banana Shake is an wonderful thirst quencher for summer and it is also quite nutritious which really keeps you full for a long time.
        There are more than 10,000 varieties of apples grown all over the world and around 25% of an apple is air. Apple trees take four to six years to produce their first fruit and they can live for hundreds of years. Next time try throwing an apple in a bag of potatoes to keep them fresh and away from sprouting. 

        I am going to share two different ways in which I make this shake.

Method 1
       
Ingredient (Makes 3 glasses)

Banana peeled and chopped- 1
Apple chopped- 2
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar as per taste
Cashew nuts - 5
Strawberry - 5 (optional)
Water - 1/2 cup

Recipe

1) Blend all the ingredients nicely.
2) Serve chill

Method 2
       
Ingredient (Makes 3 glasses)

Banana peeled and chopped - 1
Apple chopped - 2
Milk - 1/2 cup
Vanilla ice cream - 2 scoops
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Sugar as per taste
Water - 1/2 cup

Recipe

1) Blend all the ingredients nicely.
2) Serve chill.

Almond & Saffron Milk Shake

  Almonds are one of the most delicious nuts. They are enriched with many health benefiting nutrients that are essential for optimum health.
  The almond that we think of as a nut is technically the seed of the fruit of the almond tree.
  I am very happy to share a delightful summer treat here.

Ingredients

Almonds - 20
Milk - 4 cups
Saffron - 1 pinch
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Rose essence - 2 drops
Cardamon powder 2 pinches

Recipe

1) Soak the almonds in water for two hours.
2) Then peel the skin off the almonds  and grind it to a very fine paste with sufficient milk and keep aside.
3) Add the almond paste to milk and boil for 10 - 15 minutes by stirring continuously.
4) Put saffron on a ladle and heat it on the stove, then powder it with your hand and add this to the boiling milk.
5) To this add sugar and once they dissolve nicely mix in rose water and cardamon powder.
6) Allow to cool nicely.
7) Serve cold by garnishing with saffron strands and chopped almonds.

Tips

1) You can adjust the consistency of the Almond milk by adding cold milk.

Sprinkles Cupcake

 Here is the perfect palate pleasing cupcake recipe. These are the ultimate party food. Make some for your next party and I am sure people will rave for these mini treasures.

Ingredients

For the cup cake

Granulated Sugar - 1 cup
Butter unsalted (Room temperature) - 1 stick (1/2 cup)
Eggs (Room temperature) - 2 (Room temperature)
Vanilla Extract - 2 tsp
Baking Powder - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp
All Purpose Flour - 1 1/3 cup
Whole Milk - 1/3 cup

For the Frosting

Butter unsalted (Room temperature) - 1 stick (1/2 cup)
Vanilla Extract - 1/2 tsp
Powdered Sugar - 16 oz (2 cups)
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Whole Milk - 3 tbsp

Recipe

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line your cupcake tin with liners and set aside.
2) In a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the sugar and butter. Add the eggs and vanilla and  cream together until you get a smooth mixture.
3) Add the dry ingredients (all purpose flour, baking powder, salt) and with the speed on low mix together and slowly add the milk and just mix everything to combine.
4) Scoop the batter into your lined cupcake tin, make sure its only filled 2/3 of the way up because they will rise. Bake for 20 minutes and let cool for about 45 minutes before frosting.
5) To make the frosting combine together all the frosting ingredients and mix together to combine. Add the frosting in a piping bag or just apply a scoop onto the cupcakes and spread evenly.

Tips

1) Don't over mix your batter. This will cause your cupcakes to be rather chewy instead of perfectly moist.
2) Bake your cupcakes at the proper temperature. Preheat your oven to the correct temperature before you put your cupcakes in the oven.
3) Cupcakes are best eaten the same day they are made. Undecorated cupcakes can be frozen up to 3 months.
4) If you find the frosting to be loose refrigerate it for some time before piping it on to the cupcake.