I blindly have an impression that a jam is always by default - a mixed fruit jam. Because I always go for a mixed fruit kissan jam though there are special jams from solo fruits, which I have never bothered to buy. The visual appeal of a jam, as per me is convincing only if it is dark red in colour :P Having the same thought, I started making this mixed fruit jam and then realized at a point that, the colour depends on the combination of the fruits, unless otherwise a specific artificial colouring agent is used !!!
Some of our friends, when they visited our house during Golu, brought in a variety of fruits, which kindled my interest to try a mixed fruit jam. So here comes the recipe without any preservatives or artificial colours.
Prep Time: 20 mins || Cook Time: 40 mins || Yields: 2 jars + little more || Category: Jam / Fruit Jam
Ingredients:
1. Very ripe banana - 2
2. Grapes (red/green) - 25
3. Red Apple - 1 or 2
4. Green Apple - 1
5. Pear - 1
6. Strawberry - 12 to15
7. Sugar - 200 gms (may vary as per the fruits used)
8. Lemon juice - 1 tbsp (optional)
Method:
1. Wash all the fruits and chop them roughly.
2. Grind the fruits in a blender into a smooth paste in batches without adding water. Can add a spoon of sugar if desired.
3. Mix all the fruit pulp in a saucepan and heat it in medium flame for 10 mins.
4. Add sugar and mix well. Cook in medium flame for 15-20 mins with periodical stirring.
5. After a while, scum (froth) starts to form on the surface after the added sugar dissolves.
6. Remove the formed scum periodically and discard it. Continue boiling in medium flame for 10 more mins. The mixture will turn slightly glossy and start spluttering vigorously. At this stage test the consistency of the jam by spreading it in a plate taken from freezer. If it does not ooze down and stands sticky and still, that is the right consistency. If not, boil for few more mins and then switch off the flame.
Suggestions:
- Any combination of fruits can be used, based on the availability.
- If adding lemon juice, it is better to add after switching off the flame and the heat has subsided a little. Otherwise lemon juice will add a bitter taste to the jam when heated for a long time.
- I have skipped lemon juice, as the pectin in the fruits will act as preservative & also as I will consume the jam within a short period.
- Citric acid can also be added instead of lemon juice for preservation.
- Can add a small piece of beetroot while grinding the fruits, for a bright red colour.
- The amount of sugar varies as per the sweetness of the fruits used.
- Can also use artificial food colour too.
I enjoyed the artificial colouring agent free, preservative-free, gelatin-free home made jam with bread, roti and variety of other foods :)
Sandwich is a filling and easy-to-do breakfast recipe, with many different variations that can be incorporated to make it interesting. The basic one is with boiled potato as the main ingredient. As I boil the potatoes and store it in the fridge the previous night, making this recipe is even more easier and quicker. With a compelling task of using up the pack of bread which was nearing its expiry in a couple of days, I chose to go with sandwich than bread upma as the latter would have taken little more efforts in cutting vegetables etc :P
I used up the remaining masala as a stuffing for masal dosa.
Prep Time: 5 mins || Cook Time: 15 mins || Yields: 8 triangles || Category: Breakfast
Ingredients:
1. Oil - 2 tbsp
2. Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
3. Urad dal - 2 tsp
4. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
5. Hing - 2 tsp
6. Onion - 1 big
7. Boiled potato - 2 medium
8. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Chilli powder - 1 tsp
10. Amchur powder (Dry mango powder) - 2 tsp (optional)
11. Salt - as required
12. Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
13. Green peas - a handful
14. Bread slices - 8
15. Butter - as required
Method:
1. Add oil to a pan and temper with jeera, urad dal, turmeric powder and hing. Add chopped onions and saute until it starts to beccome golden brown,
2. Now add the boiled and mashed potato, pepper powder, chilli powder, amchur powder, salt and mix well.Cook for about a min.
3. Now add the green peas and coriander leaves and give a quick stir. Switch off after a min or two. Spread the masala on to a bread slice and cover with another.
4. Add butter to a hot pan and place the sandwich over it.
5. After a min or two, turn the sandwich to other side and cook for a min until it becomes slightly brownish. If desired, cut the sandwich into triangles and serve hot.
Suggestions:
- Butter can also be replaced with ghee.
- Any combination of filling can be used for the sandwich, like spinach, corn, grated carrots etc.
- The sandwich can also be made in a sandwich maker. As I didn't want the sealed triangles which we get when using a sandwich maker, I made it on a tawa.
- The brown rims can be cut and discarded before making the sandwich.
- Amchur powder can be skipped. I added it for a slight tanginess.
- Can also stuff in a slice of cheese or grated cheese if desired.
Some pomegranate kernels and orange juice along with the sandwich made it even more a filling breakfast.
I have not been a very big fan of Badhusha from anytime back. It is just that I get curious about its name everytime :P After coming to USA, deprived of good readymade sweets and savouries from sweet shops, I started to try each sweet and so I landed in here, with the making of Badhusha. The toughest part is standing patiently near hot oil, gazing dreamily at the badhushas to get ready soon, while they have just started to cook :P
Prep Time: 15 mins || Cook Time: 35 mins || Yields: 12 || Category: Sweet
Ingredients:
1. Maida - 1 & 3/4 cups
2. Cooking oil - sufficient to fry
3. Melted butter - 1/4 cup + 2tbsp
4. Salt - a pinch
5. Curd - 1 tbsp
6. Sodium bi-carbonate (cooking soda) - 1 tsp
7. Sugar - 2 cups
8. Cardamom powder - 2 tsp
9. Saffron - few strands (optional)
10. Water - as required
11. Lemon - 1
Method:
1. Mix melted butter, 1 tbsp of cooking oil, cookign soda, curd, a pinch of salt and 1 tbsp of sugar (if desired) into a smooth paste.
2. To this add maida and mix to form a crumbly mixture initially and then add water little by little to knead into a smooth non sitcky dough.
3. Divide the dough into equal sized rounds and shape them into traditional badhushas or the ones with swirls. For the normal badhushas, take a round and press it gently and make a dent in the center. For the swirl rimmed badhushas, press the round gently, pull the rim outwards, pinching it slightly fold it inwards and repeat the process till the entire rim has been made.
4. For making sugar syrup, in a container add sugar and pour water just sufficient to immerse it and keep stirring in medium flame. When bubbles arise and the syrup thickens, check for one string consistency (the syrup when taken in between two fingers should leave a fine string which should last without getting cut). At this stage, add cardamom powder, saffron and switch off the flame. Add lemon juice and stir well to avoid crystallization of the syrup.
5. Meantime heat oil and test the hotness by dropping a pinch of the dough, which should immediately rise above. At this stage, swtich off the flame and add the badushas one by one with enough distance between them. Let them get cooked for a min. Then flip the badushas and continue cooking until the bubbles and the noise subside.
6. Switch on the flame (after the bubbles and noise subside) keeping it in medium, cook all the badushas with intermediate stirring and flipping to ensure uniform light brown colour and drain them in a tissue.
7. Transfer the badushas to the sugar syrup. If the syrup is cool, just warm it up a little so that the syrup will be absorbed into the badushas well. Rest for about 10-15 mins so that the sugar syrup gets thickened on the badhushas.
Suggestions:
- Can also add a cashew/badam or any nut into the dough balls before shaping them.
- If desired, can add rose essence or any fruit essence for flavour.
- Adding saffron is optional.
- It is better to cook the badhushas soon after they are shaped. Other wise they get dry and form cracks.
- If there are many cracks in the shaped badhusha, they might tend to break when frying in oil.
- In the swirl shaped badhushas, the outer rim will be slightly crisp and the inner part will be soft, unlike the normal badhusha which will be soft throughout.
- Tastes soft and yummy after a day, absorbing all the flavours.
- Need not refrigerate.
It has been a longtime since I lastly posted here. Was a little occupied with the friends visiting home for Golu, me going to the places of fellow friends and neighbours for golu & sahasranama chanting, cleaning the house in the noons and making sundal in the evening :P
How can I abandon my blog without even a single sundal recipe during Navarathri.... So here comes Rajma sundal to begin the trail of sundals.
Prep Time: 8 hrs soaking time || Cook Time: 20 mins for Rajma + 5 mins || Serves: 2 || Category: Sundal/Steamed snack
Ingredients:
1. Rajma (Red kidney beans) - 2 handful
2. Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
3. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
4. Urad dal - 2 tsp
5. Hing - 2 tsp
6. Green chillies - 2 small
7. Ginger - 2 tsp (finely chopped)
8. Curry leaves - a sprig
9. Salt - as required
Method:
1. Wash rajma and soak overnight with sufficient water. Drain the water in morning and replace it with fresh water, until cooking.
2. Pressure cook rajma for 5-6 whistles without much water. In a pan, add coconut oil and temper with mustard seeds, followed by urad dal, chopped ginger, slit green chillies, curry leaves, hing.
3. Add the cooked rajma and stir well to coat all the tempered ingredients. Reduce the flame to min and add grated coconut and salt and stir well. Change the flame to medium and cook for a min or two and then switch off the flame.
Suggestions:
- Coconut oil enhances the flavour and aroma of the sundal. It can also be replaced with any other oil.
Happy Navarathri !!!
Here is yet another traditional molakootal recipe from "God's own country" - Kerala. This time the key ingredient is drumstick - the iron rich vegetable. This dish is quicker and simpler than the other molakootals, with the absence of mashed toor dal in it.
This is one other vegetable that is not so frequently available in the food markets in USA. Hence it is cooked with so much reverence on the same day or next day of purchase, without letting it decay in the fridge - mainly due to its price and its once-in-a-blue-moon appearance at the supermarkets :P
Ingredients:
1. Drumstick - 2
2. Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
3. Grated coconut - 3 tbsp
4. Red chillies - 2
5. Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
6. Hing - 2 tsp
7. Salt - as required
8. Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
9. Curry leaves - a sprig
10. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Prep Time: 5 mins || Cook Time: 35 mins || Serves: 4 || Category: Rice Accompaniment Molakootal
Method:
1. Wash and cut the drumstick to about 1 inch long pieces. Add a cup of water and mix turmeric powder in it. Transfer the drumstick pieces into turmeric water and boil it until the drumstick pieces are well cooked.
2. Meanwhile in a mixie jar, take grated coconut, cumin seeds, dry red chillies, hing and salt. Add little water and grind the contents to a smooth paste.
3. To the cooked drumstick, add the ground paste and mix well.
4. Let the ground paste and drumstick get cooked together for 3-5 mins. Lastly temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves in coconut oil and switch off the flame.
Suggestions:
- Drumstick can also be cooked in pressure cooker for 1 or 2 whistles instead of parboiling in an open pan.
- Using coconut oil for tempering gives an authentic taste to the recipe.
Sambar rice as a one pot meal makes a wholesome lunch. I had mistaken sambar rice with multitude of vegetables for bisibele bath for a long time. Then when I realized that they were different, I frantically started to search for the original bisibele bath recipe, which I tried and tasted recently. The practice of making Sambar rice as one pot meal, started owing to the necessity of using up the many jumbo bags of frozen vegetables bought by my husband during his bachelorhood, for easy and faster cooking. I avoid using frozen vegetables except for the rarely available ones here, like the drumstick, gooseberries, black olives, green peas and corn kernels.
Prep Time: 15 mins || Cook Time: 25 mins(for dal & rice)+ 25 mins || Serves: 6 || Category: One pot meal / Lunch
Ingredients:
1. Carrot - 1
2. Beans - 5 or 6
3. Cucumber - 1/2
4. Raw Banana - 1/2
5. Capsicum - 1/2
6. Potato - 1 small
7. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
8. Tamarind extract - 200 ml (1cup)
9. Oil - 2 tbsp
10. Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
11. Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
12. Hing - 2 tsp
13. Onion - 1 (small)
14. Tomato - 1 (small)
15. Sambar powder - 2 tbsp (I used Bisibele bath paste - 1 tbsp)
16. Peas - 2 tbsp (used frozen pre-steamed)
17. Corn kernels - 2 tsbp (used frozen pre-steamed)
18. Toor dal - 150 gms (cooked)
19. Coriander leaves - as required
20. Salt - as required
21. Rice - 3 cups (cooked)
Method:
1. Wash and chop all the vegetables into bite sized pieces. Add a pinch of turmeric powder and water to them and pressure cook for 4 to 5 whistles with sufficient water.
2. Add the tamarind extract to the cooked vegetables and allow it to boil.
3. Meanwhile, in a pan heat oil and temper with mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing and saute chopped onion and tomato, till the onion starts becoming translucent and the tomato starts to become mushy. At that stage, add sambar powder/paste and saute for 2 mins.
4. Add the sauted onion tomato to the cooked vegetables. Wash the green peas and corn kernels and drain the water.
5. Add the green peas and corn kernels to the vegetables and allow it to blend with the vegetables.
6. Mash the cooked toor dal and add it to the sambar. Stir well and let the dal cook for about 3-5 mins. Add required amount of salt and top with coriander leaves. Switch off the flame.
7. Add the cooked rice to the sambar and mix well mashing the grains and blending them with vegetables. Adjust salt.
Suggestions:
- Any combination of vegetables can be used, based on the availability.
- I used bisibele bath paste instead of sambar powder, for a change.
- Onion and tomato can be either skipped or added directly to the cooked vegetables along with tamarind extract and boiled, instead of separately sauteing in a pan.
- If desired, red/green chilly / chilly powder can be added for hotness.
Serve hot with cucumber/onion raita or papad/fryums.
There are not many vegetarian restaurants here nearby.. Even with the one or two located here, the quality & taste of food is worser. The immediate thought of the lack of good restaurants will create some crazy craving in me, with me imagining my days in Chennai @ office and often at Hotel Saravana Bhavan in office :P This will make me long for every item one by one from the menu of HSB that I had tasted for all the 5 days :) Yesss.. that's why I goto office too :) With a longing for sambar vada, I settled down to Sambar Idly, as Idly and sambar (the day when I tried Hotel Sambar !!) where readily available at home one day :D
Prep Time: 3hrs soaking time + 30 mins grinding + overnight fermentation || Cook Time: 25 mins + 45 mins || Serves: 2 || Category: Breakfast/Tiffin
Ingredients:
1. Idly - 6
2. Sambar - 3 cups
3. Onion - 1 small (finely chopped)
4. Coriander leaves - 1 finely chopped
5. Ghee / Gingelly oil - 1 tbsp (optional)
Method:
1. Place 2 or 3 idlis on a plate or in the serving dish. If required, heat the sambar.
2. Soak the idlis in piping hot sambar. Add a tbsp of finely chopped onion on each of the idlis. Sprinkle some finely chopped coriander leaves over the idlis and in the sambar. If desired, drizzle some ghee / gingelly oil on top of the idlis.
Rest it for a few mins so that the idlis absorb the sambar.
Tastes greaaaatttt with a cup of hot coffee !!
