Sweet Heaven!

Gajar ka Halwa a.k.a Carrot Halwa is by far the most loved dessert in India. Thanks to the melodramatic mothers of Bollywood tinsel town who make the macho sons all mushy when they're offered a bowl of the orange gooey stuff oozing with desi ghee (clarified butter) and motherly love.

(Okay, so I did go overboard with the nuts! But believe me, there was heaps of halwa under that obsessive layer of dry fruit!)

We made this special dessert for some special guests at dinner one Sunday. I say 'we'. Husby darling, my sous chef  who tackled probably the hardest part of the recipe - the grand grating of half a Kg (or more) of carrots, truly deserves to be a part of this post :)

Recipe -

• a bag of carrots (approx 500gms) peeled and grated - baby carrots work really well, they're tender and moist
•  3/4 or 1 cup sugar (according to your sweet-o-meter)
• 1 cup ghee
• Approx 1 + cup of milk (enough to cook carrots)
• 1/2 cup mixed nuts - cashews, almonds and raisins
• 1/4 tspn cardamom powder

Method -

1. First of all, if you're not feeling particularly patient or if you're generally annoyed about something, make this another day! Believe me, it takes some patience and a sense of peace to accomplish this sweet heaven ;)
2. So, once you've decided you're quite saintly, then heat about a tbspn of ghee in a wide, shallow pan. Non stick works wonders.
3. Toss in the mixed nuts and fry until lightly toasted and aromatic.
4. Drain and set aside. This will later be sprinkled on the prepared halwa.
5. Into the same pan, tip in the grated carrot and mix well. Don't forget to appreciate your sous chef (if there is one) with a smile at this stage :)
6. With the flame on medium, add enough milk to just about cover the carrot and cook until soft. Don't add too much lest it turns out to be carrot porridge.
7. Once you're completely satisfied that the carrot is soft 'n' cooked, add in the sugar and mix well. If you add sugar a tad too early, then the carrots won't cook further and you'll end up with crunchy bits. What did I tell you about patience before? It does take a while for the carrot to cook completely. And remember, all this on medium or low heat. We don't want the whole thing to burn.
8. Once the sugar has been added, it's only a matter of minutes until everything amalgamates well.
9. Oh, before I forget, keep adding a spoonful or two of ghee during the entire process in well spaced intervals until you finish the 1 cup of ghee you started with.
10. Sprinkle cardamom powder and mix well again.
11. Continue on medium heat for another 10 minutes or so, taking care not to let it burn.
12. Remove from heat and garnish with fried nuts.
13. Best served warm with lots of love!

This can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated. Just stick it into the microwave before you serve.

P.S: Special hugs to my dear friend for the super efficient and super cute grate! Love it :)

An Indian Twist to an Italian Favourite!

It was Saturday and we had done quite a bit of mindless, impulsive shopping. Husby's face was growing longer and sadder as the day went and I still hadn't taxed him with the weekly grocery shopping yet! After a snail paced episode of shopping at the local supermarket, husby darling just about had enough patience to push the cart (normally) towards our car without crashing it into some poor unsuspecting shopper in frustration. I tagged along to keep up with him while I scanned the longish receipt to see if we were charged right for everything. As we loaded the boot of our car with the many bags, I tried cheering him up by promising to make pizza for dinner. He didn't seem like he cared much. But when the pizza was made (and the kitchen smelt so good!), cut and served with some yummy garlic and cheese bread, he finally smiled, ear to ear :) 

Here's what I did - 


Make at home Pizza with Indian flavours. I can't help it! I'm Indian and I love the masalas :) 

• store bought pizza base
• tomato sauce/ketchup - 1 tbspn
• toppings (use as desired) - thinly sliced onion, thinly sliced capsicum, diced paneer , thinly sliced jalapeno chillies (de-seeded to save the mouth from catching fire), grated cheese, chopped coriander
• spices - (use as desired) paprika, chilli flakes, curry powder, salt

Method - 

• Preheat oven to 200 deg Celsius
• Spread tomato sauce over the pizza base and load it with toppings
• Sprinkle on the spices 
• Bake for about 10 mins (might vary from oven to oven)
• Serve hot with more ketchup and chilli sauce

It was so much better than as good as the ones we usually order in, honestly.

Your Wish is My Command, Master!

On one of our grocery shopping trips, HD was scanning the shelves in the biscuits/cookies aisle while he decisively said, 'Make those melt-in-the-mouth Iyengar Bakery* cookies for me, please.' I felt oddly good as I pictured myself as the quintessential house wife in the 50s, donning a flowery apron, wooden spoon and mixing bowl in hand, dutifully baking a batch of warm cookies and beaming in satisfaction as my darling husband munched on them (wow! some imagination!) Anyways, he was lucky as I was still on a 'new oven' high. So I decided to bake some cookies and although I chose not to make them Iyengar Bakery style, he seemed pretty content with the Peanut Butter Cookies, my style :)

Here's the recipe:

100gms unsalted butter
2 tbspns peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups plain flour (or as much as the mixture needs to form a dough)
1 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn vanilla extract

Method:

Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Crack in one egg and whisk gently.
Add vanilla extract.
Sift flour and baking powder into the creamed mixture and gently work into a dough.
Cover in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
When you're ready to bake, remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and shape into balls, about an inch each.
Place on a cookie tray and lightly press down flat with a fork, making a criss-cross pattern. (They do expand a little, so allow enough space.)
Bake for about 10-12mins in  a preheated oven at 180 deg.
Cool on a wire rack and store in a cookie jar!

I must say, the smell of cookies baking in the oven, the cold winds outside, a tired husby back from work and two nice hot cups of coffee - bliss! I read somewhere that cooking is love made visible, I couldn't agree more :)

Hope you enjoy baking and eating these cookies with someone you love!

*Popular local bakeries in Bangalore.

A Delicious Accident!

The other day, I wanted to test the oven here at our new apartment and I decided to bake a basic vanilla cake. I don't really stick to any one specific recipe for a plain cake. I just kind of go along with the flow. That's exactly how I started when I had this sweet little accident and ended up with some yummy banana bread kinda thing instead :) See, what I did was cleverly replace one egg with a banana that was crying out to be used, what with all the mushy bits and dark spots! In the end, the house smelt heavenly as the banana and vanilla in the oven did a slow waltz and wafted through the kitchen. And yeah, well, I found that the oven works, very efficiently :)

My accidental recipe for banana bread - 

1.25 cups plain flour

100gms unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 (very) ripe banana

1 tbspn milk

1tspn baking powder

a few drops of vanilla essence

Method-

1. In a large mixing bowl, throw in the (softened) butter and sugar and whisk well until combined.
2. Break in the egg and continue to whisk.
3. Mash the banana and mix into the contents in the bowl.
4. Add the vanilla essence.
5. Sift the flour with baking powder, add in slowly to the mixture and keep whisking to form a smooth batter.
6. Add milk to adjust consistency of the batter, which should be neither too stiff nor runny.
7. Pour into a greased and floured baking tin and chuck it into a preheated oven.
8. Bake at 180 deg for about 20mins or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.
9. Serve warm with a dollop of love :) 

Husby was as thrilled as I was! He kept saying that I should bake this often, which I really think I will. Maybe I'll try using wholemeal flour the next time. Or buy some bananas and wait until they look pathetic, again!

A Note of Thanks!

Appa a.k.a Kuzhi Paniyaram a.k.a Paddu, call it what you may, but it sure was on my 'to make' list for a while. Okay, so let me describe it for you - something comforting that Doddamma (my granny) used to make for us. It is (I think) made from a batter very similar to Dosa/Idly. Well, if you ask me, I'd probably say it is made with Dosa batter. You kitchen goddesses out there, please enlighten me :) Anyways, it's looks like a dumpling, is kind of crisp on the outside and soft 'n' fluffy inside. It can be made both sweet and savoury. Believe me, it tastes much better than my rather boring description of it. Spiced up with loads of chopped onion, chillies and coriander, served with a dollop of ghee/butter and some fresh green chutney...finger lickin' good! The sweet version is great too. If I remember correctly, I think Doddamma used to make it with cucumber and jaggery. Unusual combination did you say? Well, you should try it.

So then, I was saying, I'd been wanting to make it in my cozy little kitchen here in Sydney. Husby had also expressed his greed for it a couple of times. But sad thing was I didn't have the special griddle for it. And then on my recent trip to Bangalore, my dear Chikkamma (mum's little sister) gave it to me as a present. Now, wasn't that a stroke of luck? That was one thing I refused to leave behind, even though my baggage was dangerously tipping towards E.X.C.E.S.S! Here's a picture of it - 

Back in Sydney, I unpacked my very own 'appa kallu' (okay, I'm not making it up! That's what it's called) in glee. I made some appas or kuzhi paniyarams the very next day. However, I don't have a recipe for it as such 'cos I made them using a store bought Dosa mix. I simply prepared the batter as per instructions, added lots of chopped onion, green chillies and fresh coriander and cooked them with (very little) spray oil. Thay turned out so good that between Husby darling & me, we easily devoured 25 something of the yummy little rascals! I did say they were little, didn't I? Lest you think what gluttons we are, hehehe. I made Tomato-Onion Chutney to go with it. Yum-mmy!


So that was a little story of our craving being satisfied. All thanks to Jathu Chikkamma :)

Basil and Spinach Risotto with Parmesan

 In a little Italian restaurant in La Jolla, on our holiday in the States last year, I had the best risotto. It could have been the slightly elated feeling of being on a holiday, the beautiful weather and the interesting surroundings or just the hunger! Anyways, I've been wanting to recreate something similar at home, well not the weather or anything, the recipe. Of course you knew that, tsk! So I scoured the internet for simple risotto recipes. I had some fresh basil and spinach but no mushrooms. I had a small bag of arborio rice but no white wine. Finally, I came up with my own easy version. It was quick and easy and tasted great! Here's the recipe-

1. 1 cup arborio rice
2. 2 cups vegetable stock
3. 1/2 cup chopped spinach
4. 1/4 cup chopped basil
5. 1/4 cup grated parmesan
6. 1 tbspn olive oil/butter
7. salt & pepper to taste

• Wash the rice and drain.
• Heat oil in a saucepan/pot and add the rice.
• Stir around for a bit and then add in the spinach and basil.
• Pour in the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer. 
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• When almost all the broth is absorbed, sprinkle some parmesan and cover and cook until the rice is well cooked.
• Serve hot with a generous garnish of the remaining parmesan.

 You can add mushroom or zucchini to this recipe. A word of caution though, be wary of the salt you add as parmesan does have some in it already.

Bruschetta, Risotto and frozen Tiramisu from the supermarket - An Italian feast at home!Easy-peasy :)

Inspired Italian Cooking: Bruschetta

Back from a holiday in India, I slowly felt the kitchen induced lethargy. All the inevitable cooking, the endless pots 'n' pans - some in the sink, some in the dishwasher, the wilting veggies in my fridge, made me want to scream in frustration! Then, as if a storm was gone, the calm settled in, giving me a renewed sense of enthusiasm. I wanted to make something nice for dinner, really! Both husby & I were bored of the routine and wanted something else. So, I decided to try some Italian cuisine. Nothing fancy, thought I'd start with Bruschetta. Awfully simple to make but one heck of a classy, timeless and highly satisfying appetiser/starter/snack!


Bruschetta for two -


4 thick slices of bread - the classic recipe calls for a baguette, but I think any bread will work for a quick fix. (I cut my square slices in half)


1 firm tomato, finely chopped


1 small red onion, finely chopped


2 tbspns fresh basil, finely chopped


3 tbspns grated parmesan


salt & pepper to taste


some minced garlic in olive oil to brush on the slices of bread

1. Mix finely chopped onion, tomato, basil, cheese and salt & pepper in a bowl.
2. Brush the slices of bread with the garlic and olive oil.
3. Grill/toast the slices until crunchy and light brown.
4. Spread a spoonful of the prepared mixture and serve immediately.
5. Top with more grated cheese just before serving.

Fresh bruschetta, a bottle of good wine and endless conversation...now that's something I needed to calm down!