Blogs 1st Anniversary Fruit Cake

Its my Blogs first anniversary and I am so excited about it...!!!!!!!!!Thank you friends for all the support you are giving me.

Fruitcake has been around for centuries and has a history as rich as its ingredients.In around 1400's the British began their love affair with fruitcake when dried fruits from the Mediterranean first arrived.Here I am going to share a delicious and easy fruit cake recipe with you.

Ingredients for Recipe part 1
Sugar - 1/4 cup sugar
Water - 1 tbsp
Warm water - 1/4 cup
Vanilla extract

Recipe
1)In medium heat, heat ¼ cup of sugar with 1 tbsp of water and keep stirring until the color changes from light brown to dark brown.
2)This would take minimum 15 minutes. Once the color becomes darker,remove the pan and pour ¼ cup warm water.
3)To this add the 1tsp vanilla extract and keep aside.

Ingredients for Recipe part 2
Sugar - 1 cup
Butter( Room temperature) - 1/4 lb
Eggs - 3

Recipe
1)Blend all the ingredients well by adding eggs one by one.Keep aside.

Ingredients for Recipe part 3
all-purpose flour - 1 cup
baking powder - 2 tsp
salt - 1/2 tsp
spice powders - 1 tsp (cinnamon powder,ginger powder,cloves powder and nut mug powder)

Recipe
1)In a mixing bowl,add all the ingredients mixing nicely and keep aside.

Ingredients for Recipe part 4
Dried fruits - 1 cup (apricots, dates, raisins, cherries, currants, plums, tutty-fruity, etc)
Nuts - 1/2 cup (cashews, almonds,walnuts, etc)
Lemon zest - 1/4 tsp (grated orange skin)

Recipe
1)Mix all these in a bowl and keep aside.

Main Recipe
1)Bring in all the ingredients from recipe 1,2,3,4 and blend nicely.
2)Preheat the oven to 350 F.
3)Pour the mixture into a greased baking pan,and bake for around 50 minutes.Once done place the cake in a cooling rack for about 10 minutes before removing the cake from the pan and store in a air tight container.

Tips
1)While making caramel be careful while pouring warm water,it might splatter
2)To prevent over browning, line the bottom and sides of the pan with foil. If you leave extra foil overlapping the sides, it will be easier to remove the cake.
3)Take care that you only fill half of the baking pan with the blended mix.The cake will raise as you bake.

Ganapati Bappa Moriya.

Wish you all a very Happy Vinayaka Chaturti

Jack fruit halwa / Sweet / Jam

Jack fruit is a tropical Asian tree having large edible fruits, uni sexual flowers, and fine-grained durable wood.It is a native to southwestern of India, Philippines, Sri Lanka and east of Malaysia. It is believed that jack fruit origin to the rain forests of the Western Ghat of India.Jack fruit contains many vitamins and minerals,and offers numerous health benefits.It is also known to help cure ulcers and indigestion. It is the national fruit of Bangladesh.Here I am going to share with you a sweet recipe using jack fruit.This recipe is my Mom's specialty.

Ingredients
Jack fruit - 18 pieces
Jaggery - 1 cup or more
Ghee - 1/2 to 1 cup
Cashew nuts - 2 tablespoon
salt - 1 pinch
Rice flour - 1 tsp

This is a photo from our trip to Athirapally Waterfalls in Kerala

Recipe

1)Pressure cook the jack fruit without the kernel and paste it in a blender(without water).
2)Fry the cashew nut in ghee and keep aside.
3)Heat a pan of ghee,add jack fruit and jaggery.Keep stirring continuously over medium-low heat till it thickens to a jam consistency and stops sticking to the pan.
4)Mix rice flour with very little water and add to the sweet and stir for another 2-3 minutes (this is done for the sweet to thicken).

 Tips
1)Can also use canned jack fruit for making this taking care to wash the fruit very nicely.

Green Papaya Curry

Papaya is a large tree-like plant, with a single stem growing from 5 to 10 metres (16 to 33 ft)tall.It is believed by most historians that the papaya plant originated in southern Mexico or Central America.Papaya is very versatile,can be used as a fruit and also as an vegetable.It helps in Intestinal disorders,skin disorders,menstrual irregularities,cirrhosis of the liver,throat disorders,spleen enlargement.In south India pregnant women are strongly advised to avoid this during their pregnancy. 

Ingredients
Green Papaya peeled and chopped into 1/2 " pieces - 1
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Cumin -1 tsp
Red chillies - 2
Coconut -1/2 cup
Garlic - 2-3
Salt as per taste
Turmeric - 2 pinches
Curry leaves - 1 spring

Recipe
1)Cook the papaya in microwave with little water for about 7-8 minutes.
2)Heat oil in a pan,add mustard seeds,cumin seeds after they splutter add curry leaves.
3)Grind the coconut and red chillies into a coarse mix without adding any water and mix it to the pan.
4)Add crushed garlic,Turmeric and salt,saute for a minute.
5)Now add the green papaya,cover and cook for about 5-6 minutes till all the spices blend well.

Tips
1)Goes well with rice.
2)If you do not want to use microwave follow the same recipe by adding the coarse mix of coconut and red chillies in the end after adding the green papaya and cook for a couple of minutes uncovered.

Puli Inji / Ginger chutney / Tamarind chutney

Puli Inji is a very famous item served for Onam festival in Kerala,a state of southern India.The main ingredient in this is ginger.Ginger cultivation began in South Asia and has since spread.Ginger is used in foods for more than 4,000 years,and for medicinal purposes for more than 2,500 years.Ginger is meant to aide in digestion of fatty foods as well as helping to break down proteins and has also been linked to reducing gas.Ginger has many other health benefits too.This chutney has a sweet and sour taste and goes awesome with rice,dosa etc.This recipe is very close to my heart as this is from my Mom's kitchen.
Ingredients
Tamarind -  2 lemon size   
Ginger - 2 inches
Green chillies - 6
Sugar/Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Salt as per taste

 

Recipe

1)Peel and cut the ginger very finely.
2)Similarly cut the green chillies into very small pieces.
3)Add little water to the tamarind and take out the juice.Filter the tamarind juice.
4)Boil the ginger,green chillies and tamarind in a thick bottomed vessel till the gravy thickens.
5)Then add sugar to this.Boil the mixture nicely for about 3-4 minutes.Adjust the ingredients and consistency as per your taste before switching the stove off.
Seasoning
1)Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds.
2)Once they splutter add the red chillies and curry leaves.Mix the seasoning with the gravy.
Tips
1)This can be kept out for more than 2 weeks.
2)Fresh Ginger would not be wrinkly or dark.

Brinjal Fry

The brinjal is believed to have been domesticated in north-eastern India where wild forms still grow.The seeds were carried to China more than 1500 years ago where small fruited types were later developed.
It is rich in Vitamin A and B.It can block the formation of free radicals,help control cholesterol levels and is also a source of folic acid and potassium.Arabs have a superstition that the fruit has high "heating" properties which causes melancholia and madness.For this reason,Malay and Indian women do not consume brinjals for the first 40 days after giving birth.The fruit of the plant is used as an antidote in cases of mushroom poisoning.When I think of Brinjal nowadays,the first thought to strike me is about the Bt Brinjal (a transgenic brinjal created by inserting a Cry1Ac gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis into brinjal),happy to know the Indian Government is taking more time to release them,after all the debate and controversy.
Here I am going to share with you a simple yet tasty recipe of Brinjal.
Ingredients
Brinjal - 10 (cut and slit into pieces)
Salt as required
Chanadal flour - 2 tablespoons
Chili powder as required
Dhania powder - 2 teaspoons
Oil - 2-3 tablespoons

                  

Recipe
1)Mix all the ingredients well.
2)Heat a pan of oil and add the brinjals to it.
3)Cook in low-medium heat and keep mixing occasionally,till the brinjals are well cooked.
Tips
1)Cook the Brinjals immediately after they are mixed with the chanadal powder.

Green-gram dal payasam aka kheer

Green gram is one of the most wholesome among pulses in India. It is free from the heaviness and tendency to flatulence, which is associated with other pulses.Green gram arose in North-eastern India and there is a long history of its use throughout Asia.Mung bean is an excellent source of high quality protein.The Whole green gram Sprouts (soaked overnight, drained & spread over a dry plate) increases the protein content and can also be introduced as day time snack for people of all ages.Chinese medicine uses Green gram as a remedy for edema, fever, headache and generalized anxiety, and as a diuretic. It is also a folk remedy for arsenic poisoning and other mineral toxins.Here i am going to share with you the recipe of my favorite Green gram dal payasam from Mom.

Ingredients
Green Gram Dal - 1/2 cup
Chana dal -  1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Sugar/Jaggery - 2 cups
Rice flour - 2 teaspoons
Coconut milk - 2 cups
Boiled milk - 1 cup
Cashew and Dried grapes - 2/3 cup
Ghee - 2 tablespoons
Small pieces of Coconut - 1 tablespoon

Recipe
1)Fry the Coconut pieces and cashew nuts to a light brown color in hot ghee and then the raisins separately till they swell up.
2)Dry fry the Mung dal alone and cook both the Mung Dal and Chana Dal in medium or low heat in a pressure cooker.Mash them nicely.(Do not use blender)
2)To this add a thin paste of rice flour mixed with water.(This is to prevent lumps being formed).
3)Mix in sugar,salt,Coconut Milk,Boiled milk and allow them to boil nicely for about 5 minutes.Keep stirring.
4)Add the cardamom seeds powder and remove immediately from the heat.
Tips
1)Dry frying the Mung dal adds more taste to the payasam.