Cherry Lemonade

Hello everyone, after a long time of MIA, I am back in action with this simple recipe.

Scorching summer sun calls for something to quench the thirst! I used sugar in this recipe, even though as a food and health enthusiast I am trying to cut down some sugar intake. But I believe, everything in moderation is ok. So, if you believe in that, here is the recipe.

This lemonade needs:

Lemon juice from  1 and a half lemons
Cherries - 4-5 nos seeds removed
Sugar - 3-4 tablespoon
Honey - 4 tablespoons
Water - 3 tall glass (around 12 oz each)

Blend everything in a blender and use a sieve to remove the pulp part. Adjust the sweetness according to your taste. Depending on the color and number of cherries you are using, the color of the lemonade varies. I used Rainier cherries which have very red juice. Everyone loves a pink drink no matter what hue it is!

And that beautiful glass bottle is from IKEA 😊!

Chocolate Mini-Muffins - No butter, No sugar!

Greetings People!

Its been a busy and tough year so far. Well, that doesn't stop me from cooking or baking.  One thing that motivates me is that I am looking at the last year  as a graduate student, hopefully! It's all bitter-sweet. Alright, let's get to business. This is an easy recipe (as most of the muffins and you will love the cute little muffins!). Being a grad student and a mom, I look for maximum return with minimum effort. As much as I love cooking when I am stressed, it can easily annoy you. So, I am all about that easy-breezy recipes.

You'll need:

Wet:
Maple syrup - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
Greek yogurt - 1/4 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
Egg -  1
Coffee - 1.5 tablespoons
Vanilla - 1.5 teaspoons

Dry:
Cocoa - 1/2 cup
Whole wheat Flour - 1.5 cups
Baking powder - 1/2 tablespoons
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Semi-sweet chocolate chips - 3/ muffins 😊

This recipe makes around 12 mini muffins. Feel free to double it to make 12 regular sized muffins.

Preheat the oven for 350 F.
For all muffins, my go to formula is mix dry ingredients first and keep aside, then whisk in all wet ingredients in a bowl and mix both wet and dry until just combined. Not more than that.
However, I sifted the cocoa powder into the flour, since it has a tendency to clump up when not sifted. Scoop into greased muffin pans, place the choco chips on the muffins and bake it for 15 - 18 mins (depending on the oven). Start checking at 12 mins are so. Mine was done around 15 mins! Once they are ready, gobble up!!

Make and enjoy, they are so good!


Cheers,
Anjana

P.S. If you need a little more sweeter version, add 1/3 cup of brown sugar or honey.

Carrot-Cabbage-Whole Moong Stir Fry

Happy New Year, all of you!! Here is a protein rich stir fry, so easy to make. Let's start out the new year healthy and simple!

Cabbage- 1 cup sliced/chopped
Whole moong -1/2 cup dry (soaked and cooked yields around 1 cup)
Carrot - 1, medium, grated
Green chillies/serranos - 3, sliced, (adjust the number depending on spiciness)
Coconut - 3 - 4 tbsp, fresh grated, optional
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp, optional
Dry red chillies  -  2 nos
Curry leaves - a few, optional
Oil - 1 tbsp (you can use even lesser, if using a non-stick)

Note: Veggies or whole moong doesn't have to be exact measurements! I eyeball them mostly.

Start with pan on medium heat, adding a tablespoon of oil. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds and let them splutter, now throw in the dry red chillies (Skip this step, if you are not using mustard and red chillies). Add cabbage, carrots, and chillies along with salt, let them cook for 5 mins, stirring occasionally. Make sure the heat is medium or medium low and not to burn the veggies. Once they are cooked, stir in the whole moong and coconut along with curry leaves, check the salt. Switch off the heat once everything is well combined. Best served hot.
Enjoy with rice!

Cheers,
Anjana

Carrot Puttu

Greetings everyone!
 As a hard core "puttu fan", I love all sorts of puttu. But, eating carrots for breakfast? Was not my thing.Trust me, once you eat this, you will never look at the carrots the same way.

This makes 2 puttus, as in the pictures below.

Ingredients:
Carrots, fine grated, - 3/4 cup
Finer rava (Semolina) - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste
Fresh/frozen grated coconut

Roast rava in a pan until it is just heated up. switch off the stove and let it cool, make sure you take the pan away from the hot stove. Once cooled down mix in the grated carrot and salt, this should look like the picture below.

Make sure it is well combined, as we are not using any water to moist the mixture, unlike the traditional puttu. Cover and keep it aside for 10 minutes. Prepare the puttu-steamer, add grated coconut and fill the puttu container and top it off with coconut.

Steam for 10 minutes. Cooking time is  higher than the traditional one, because semolina needs more cooking time.

Once done, flip it into a plate and serve hot with black chana curry/any curry you like or plantains/banana. Repeat the process for rest of the semolina-carrot mixture.

This is a very good way to incorporate carrot into your daily food. Its mildly sweet, I like to combine with sugar or plantain. Black chana curry is also a very good combination for this puttu.

Eat healthy,
Anjana

Overnight Oats - A Healthy Breakfast Treat (No Sugar Added)

Yes people. Oats. Again !
Trying to eat healthy is something I am trying to teach myself. So I experiment a lot with my foods. This is one of those experiments gone good. So without further ado, here is the recipe.

This is a single serving recipe.

Ingredients:
Oats - 1/3 cup
Almond milk or milk of your choice -  2/3 cup
Greek yogurt -  1 tablespoon heaped
Raisins - 1/4 cup
Chia seeds - 1 tablespoon
Cinnamon - a few pinches (Don't like cinnamon? try a few drops of vanilla here)

Now, it goes super simple and easy. Mix everything in a mason jar, and refrigerate overnight.

Add chopped fresh fruits in the morning. That's it. No cooking involved. I added here, strawberries, a small ripe plantain and mangoes. The sweetness mainly comes from the raisins, so if you are a raisin hater, try to add more banana or apples. I was devouring it, and my picky eating 5 year old actually decided to eat a little from that!!!

This is some seriously delicious breakfast that keeps you full for a long time.

Cheers,
Anjana

Breakfast Oats Crepe Roll ups

Hello there!!! This summer heat is killing me and the more I sit at home, the more I experiment with food. Here is my Sunday morning oats crepes. These crepes are simple, filling, easy to put together and tastes wonderful. Those who frown and think oats can be boring, this is an interesting way of including oats to your healthy food.

Ingredients: 
(This recipe makes two large crepes, approximately 9 inches diameter)

For the crepes:
Powdered Oats - 1/4 cup
Egg whites - 2
Almond milk/milk of your choice -  1/4 cup
Vanilla essence  - few drops
Butter - 1/2 tablespoon + to grease the pan
Salt - to taste

For the filling
Whipped cream cheese -  1-2 tablespoon
Raisins - 1-2 tablespoon
Creamy peanut butter - 1-2 tablespoon
Banana, sliced - 1/2

Nothing complicated, just add all the ingredients to a blender or NutriBullet and pulse until combined. Heat the pan on medium, and grease with a dot of butter and pour your batter. Cook until the sides start to detach from the pan, then flip and cook for another minute. Repeat the process for remaining batter. I made two crepes with this batter. Now, spread cream cheese/peanut butter on to the crepe and add raisins or sliced banana or both.

 Pardon me for not-so neat banana slices, they were super ripe and sweet. Roll them up, drizzle with maple syrup or honey. Cut them in half if you like, just like I did here!

Top with fruits of your choice (I used blackberries and blueberries) and enjoy! These sloppy puppies are so good !!

Cheers,
Anjana

Cherry-Lemon Scones with Spelt Flour

Scones, people, scones! We love a lot of cherries in our house and I decided to combine my favorites - lemon and cherry. I made this for breakfast and it was so good!

Ingredients
Flour - 1 and 3 tablespoons (I used spelt flour, all purpose flour should work just fine)
Sugar -  1 1/2 tablespoon
Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - pinch
Lemon zest - 1 tsp (freshly grated)
Butter - 1/4 cup
Egg - 1/2 of one egg (save other half for egg wash)
Buttermilk -1/4 cup
Brown sugar - 1 table spoon

Preheat oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit. Combine flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Grate the butter into it. Work with your fingers until the mixture has small parts of butter incorporated evenly. Beat an egg in a bowl, take only half of it and mix it will buttermilk. Add this mixture into the flour butter mixture along with roughly chopped cherries. Form a dough by kneading 10-15 times, just until it comes together.  If you feel you dough is sticky, feel free to add a tablespoon more flour. Now, place it on to the lined baking pan and pat into a circle, finally, cut into 8 (no need to separate them), just like a pizza. Brush the egg and sprinkle the brown sugar. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the top is slightly browned.

I wanted to take more pictures, but they were gone in no time! They are soft in the inside, not overly sweet, but has a pastry effect on the crust from the egg wash and brown sugar. These are so delicious, you are gonna love it!

Enjoy with tea or coffee!

Cheers,
Anjana

Ariyunda or Rice Balls

Summer is here and it is the time I miss home a lot. Ariyunda or rice balls are a staple in my home. My mom makes it as an evening snack and I used to devour them when I get back from school. I got the recipe from my mom, unfortunately she eyeballs the ingredients every time she makes these. Therefore please note that all the measurement of ingredients here are approximate.

Ingredients:
Matta rice/Parboiled rice - 1 cup
(Freshly/Frozen) Grated coconut - 1/2 - 3/4 cup
Cashew nuts -  1 cup
Jaggery -  3/4 cup

First step making the rice puffs!!Fry the rice in a pan, (no oil required) until they are puffed up really well. They will be really crispy and light when they are done. Do not let it blacken, golden brown would be ideal. Then, take it off from the stove and let it cool for sometime. I used toasted cashews which are store bought. If you are using raw cashews, toast them. Finely powder the cooled rice puffs. Now, grind the cashews and coconut along with grated jaggery in a food processor or a blender in batches. Cashews release oil and the mixture has a tendency to stick to the side of jar so occasional stirring is important. Once they are blended well, add the powdered rice puffs and blend them mixing them occasionally. This requires some patience. Once everything is powdered, mix everything together well with hand and make them into small balls.

I made here bite size balls. If you find your rice balls to be dry and more powdery, add more coconut. The moisture of these balls depends on coconut as well as oil released by cashews while grinding them. These are super healthy and yummy without any refined sugar! These have to be kept in refrigerator and they will stay good for 8-10 days.

Enjoy,
Anjana

Caramelized Plantains

This is a super simple, easy to prepare yet so tasty recipe. I love to eat ripe plantains, in all  different ways - steam them, make them fritters and roast them like this. There are even more complicated recipes with ripe plantains. For those who grew up eating plantains (especially from Kerala),you know the place of plantain in our hearts! Back in my home state in India, plantains are roasted in ghee with sugar and served as a snack for kids. Back then, I didn't know it had a fancy name like this, "caramelized plantains."

This recipe is for ripe plantain, with yellow skin and squishy, as shown in the picture.

Ingredients:
Preparation time: 10 minutes

Plantains - 2 Nos , medium, peeled and sliced into half inch thickness

Oil/ghee (clarified butter) - 2 tablespoons (ghee gives more fragrant output!)

Brown sugar/granular sugar - 1-2 teaspoon 

Heat oil or ghee in a pan. Mix sugar and plantain slices together. Turn the heat to medium and add the plantains to fry on one side for 4-5 minutes. Repeat the same for other side. Do not let them smoke, or they would taste bitter. That is it!

 These are great for snacking, or for breakfast and keep you full for a long time and it is guilt free! Every time I eat them, I realize how much I love to eat these.

xo,
Anjana

Banana Oats Muffins with Raisins

Hello everyone!
Last month has been so busy, being the end of the semester. Me being a grad student and taking finals, blogging has been kept aside for a sometime (that was quite sometime!!). Now that I am back, here a recipe for a breakfast muffin.

Ingredients:
Mashed banana -  1 cup or 2 big ones mashed
Flour -  1/2 cup
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup (I used atta, from Indian store)
Oats - 1 cup (Quick or or Old fashioned) +1/2 cup
Oil - 1/3 cup
Buttermilk - 3/4 cup
Honey - 1/3 cup
Egg - 1 No
Brown sugar - 1/4 cup
Baking powder - 2 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1 teaspoon
Salt - a pinch
Raisins - 1/2 cup, packed

Start with the dry ingredients. Mix them all together and keep aside. Then add all the wet ingredients and mix well. Now, fold in all the dry ingredients gently into the wet mix. Mix the raisin with a handful of oats and stir in. Depending on the type of whole wheat flour you are using, the batter could be thin or thick (If you feel your batter is thin, add extra oats). Pour into greased muffin pan or muffin liners, and bake for 16-18 minutes, at 400 degree Fahrenheit. Start checking at 15 minutes. Cooking time varies depending on type of oven.

Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee for breakfast, or simply much on them.

xo,
Anjana

Easy Egg Curry

It was a busy and long 2 weeks, I am glad that is over now. So, there comes a curry. If you are like me, one who eats egg curry with chappathi, idiyappam or appam or even slices of toasted bread, this is the curry to go for. Its creamy, just the right amount of thickness for gravy and not too oily!

Ingredients:

Hard boiled egg - 4 , halved (Have this handy when you start with the gravy)
Oil - 2 tablespoon
Ginger - 1 tsp fine chopped
Garlic - 2 cloves, fine chopped
Onion -  1 big, thin sliced
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tablespoons
Chilli powder - 1- 2 tsp, depending up on your spice tolerance
Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon
Tomato - 1, chopped
Water - 1/2 cup
Cashew nuts - 2 tablespoon
Heavy cream - 2 tablespoon
Curry leaves or cilantro - a few (optional)
Salt - according taste


Start with  sauteing ginger and garlic in medium high heat when oil is hot. Add onions and fry until golden brown, but not burnt. Now, turn down the heat to low medium and add all the powders and fry until the raw smell is gone (everything looks crispy at this point, this takes 1-2 minutes). Meanwhile, soak the cashew nuts in hot water for 10 minutes.

Time for tomato to go in, and make everything a little saucy! If you have curry leaves add now, along with the garam masala. When tomatoes are cooking, grind the cashews into fine paste and add after tomatoes are well cooked. Mix well and add 1/2 cup of water to make enough gravy. After this comes to a boil, turn down the heat to low medium and add the cream and mix well. Make the gravy thin by adding more water, if you find its very thick. While that is heating up, add in the halved eggs. Let it heat up and take off the curry from heat when it is about to boil. Do not let it come to rolling boil.  Garnish with chopped cilantro, if you have.  I used curry leaves here.

This curry is a finger licking item! Serve hot with chappathi or rice. It is a very good combination for idiyappam and appam.

Cheers,
Anjana

Sweet and Spicy Salad with Pineapple, Carrot and Cucumber

Greetings everyone!
Here is a summery salad with vibrant colors. Consider this as a side salad with a main course, such as biriyani. This salad is now one of my favorites, as I like the combination of carrot and pineapple. You might like it too, since it is so easy to put together ! Don't we all like simple things once in a while!

Ingredients:

Pineapple -  1 cup, roughly chopped
Carrot - 1 cup grated/roughly chopped
Cucumber - 2 small (1 cup)
Onion -  1/2 of a medium onion
Lemon juice - 2-3 tablespoon
Spicy hot green chillies -  fine chopped, according to your spice level
Salt - to taste

Mix all the ingredients together and throw in the salt and mix in the lemon juice. Adjust green chillies your spice level. I used 3 chillies, and it was medium spicy. Toss well and keep it aside for 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy,
Anjana

Okra and Red Bellpepper Stir fry

A simple stir fry to go with lunch, that is what this is. I like the green and red color combination too. This recipe is so easy to put together and its tasty with full of goodness!

Ingredients:
Okra - round 2 cups , chopped as shown in the pictures below
Red bell pepper - 1 big
Onion -  3-4 tablespoons, fine chopped
Turmeric powder -1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon (or adjust according to taste)
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Salt - to taste

Heat oil in a pan, and add the onions, fry them until translucent. Add in all the powders and fry for another minute. Next, add chopped bell pepper and fry for a minute or two. Following that add all of the okra, along with salt. Cover and cook in medium heat for 5 minutes. You will see that the okra starts to become slimy. Mix thoroughly, cover and cook again for sometime, that is until the slimy texture goes away. Increase the heat a tad, and keep stirring. You will see the mixture starts to get dry. If you are really good with stirring, do it at high heat. But chances of your stir fry getting burnt is high, so I recommend stirring at medium high heat, paying attention. Once its gets to your desired dryness (around 10-12 minutes), switch of the heat and you are good to go.

Serve hot with rice, or quinoa. It is so good!

Cheers,
Anjana

A Very Healthy Avocado-Cucumber-Tomato Salad

Happy Earth Day, folks!
I celebrated earth day with this healthy vegetarian salad. Simple and tasty, that's what this salad is.

Ingredients:

Avocado - 1 No
Tomatoes - 2 No
Cucumber - 1/2 No (I used an English cucumber)
Onion - 1/4  of a small one or  just to flavor
Cranberries -  a small handful
Cilantro - 4-5 sprigs (If you like it a lot, add more)
Lemon juice - 2-3 tablespoons
Olive oil - 1 tablespoon
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
Black pepper powder - 1/4 teaspoon

This is good enough for 2 people, when served with other main course. The ingredients might sound like a guacamole recipe, but trust me, this is different!

Slice the tomatoes, onions and cucumbers. Scoop out the avocado into it as small chunks and add cranberries and chopped cilantro. Combine well the dressing ingredients lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the dressing and toss well. If you don't have the patience to mix all the dressing ingredients together, it is ok to dump all the dressing ingredients into the chopped mixture! Who cares! Make sure you toss them well.

And, the colorful salad is ready to serve !! It's sweet, sour, salty, a little spicy and healthy!

Cheers,
Anjana

Easy (Spicy) Chicken Curry

This is probably the simplest chicken curry you can ever make. When you don't have a lot of ideas, but still need a go to recipe of spicy chicken curry, this is it.

Chicken (I used boneless) - 1/2 kg
Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Black pepper powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Yogurt - 2 tablespoons
Salt - 1 teaspoon

Marinate the chicken pieces and keep it aside for a minimum of 30 minutes. The longer the better.

Onion - 1/2 of a big one
Ginger and garlic crushed - 1 tablespoon
Chilli powder - 1 1/2 teaspoons
Coriander powder - 3 tablespoons
Garam masala - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 2-3 tablespoons
mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Water - 3/4 cup
Curry leaves - as much as you need (and this is optional)

Heat a heavy bottomed pan. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, let them splutter and add the ginger garlic, fry until they start to change the color, then mix in the onions. Fry the onions until golden brown. As soon as they start turning brown, add all the powders and fry until raw smell goes away, the mixture should look nice dark brown, but not burnt. Now, it is time to add the marinated chicken pieces and add 3/4  cup of water and mix well. Now, remember there is salt in the marinade, so add according to your taste. Cook on medium heat for 15 minutes. If you find there is more gravy, keep the heat on until gravy thickens. That is it! I like to add curry leaves at this point and cover it until I am ready to eat.

This curry is similar to what my grand mom used to cook, but only difference is she adds coconut milk after gravy thickens. This gives a thinner gravy curry and less spicy, but with a unique taste!!! I decide to keep things simple here and avoided the coconut milk.

Serve hot with rice, chappathi/naan/parathas or appam or idiyappams!

Enjoy,
Anjana

Banana Bread French Toast with Greek Yogurt Topping

The name looks so fancy, doesn't it? This is a decadent breakfast with banana bread, in my opinion (and more healthier!!).
I had no idea, there was such a thing called banana bread french toast, until my dear husband came home from a conference and was raving about a French toast he ate at some restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas. I am an all time fan of banana bread and French toast. And, there is a recipe that these two come together? I am all in.  I tweaked the regular banana bread recipe to make it a little bit healthier, by using spelt flour.  So here is my version of recipe and it makes one 8 inch loaf.

Ingredients for banana bread:
Coconut oil - 1/4 cup (any oil would work)
Buttermilk - 1/4 cup
Vanilla - 1/2 teaspoon
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Banana - 3/4 cup (2 medium bananas)
Egg - 1 no

Spelt flour - 1 and 1/4 + 1/3 cup (regular flour works very well too, substitution is the same amount)
Baking soda - 1 teaspoon
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Nuts or seeds - 1/2 cup (walnuts or sunflower seeds are some options)

Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit or 175 degree Celsius. Start with wet ingredients. After mixing all the wet ingredients well, add in all the dry ingredients except the nuts. Make a smooth batter. Fold in the nuts or seeds (avoid them if you don't like to bite nuts in your bread). Bake in a loaf pan for 40-50 minutes. Start checking at 30 minutes.

Now, for the French toast..

Egg - 1
Milk - 2 tablespoons
Cinnamon - 1/4 teaspoon
Sugar - 1 teaspoon

Whisk together egg and milk, then add sugar and cinnamon. This mixture is good enough for 5 - 6 slices of bread. Heat a pan on medium and fry the bread dipped in this mixture each side for couple minutes or until slightly brown. And you are good to go!

For Glaze/topping 
Low fat Greek yogurt - 1/2 cup
Powdered sugar - 1/4 cup
Vanilla - a splash

Beat well all the ingredients by hand. Top your French toast with glaze, then it's time to serve with sliced banana and drizzled with some maple syrup. This is so good!!!

Cheers,
Anjana

Stir Fry with Turnips

Turnips are nice looking bulbs, but I never used them before. I am not a big fan of turnip greens either. So I used to wonder what would I do with turnips, if I get them. Then one fine day, I got this idea of making stir fry with turnips. So here I am, trying to cook south Indian style with turnips!

This is a super simple recipe. Turnips have a mild flavor on its own, and I tried to dress it up little bit with garlic along with a little turmeric powder.

Recipe source : myself

Ingredients:
Turnips -  cubed (8-10 nos)
Garlic - 1 clove. chopped fine
Onion - 1 tablespoon, chopped fine
Turmeric powder - couple generous pinch
Cayenne pepper powder or red hot chilli powder (from Indian store) - 1/4 teaspoon (totally avoid it, if don't like it)
Parsley - small handful.
Salt -  to taste
Oil - 1 teaspoon (I tried to use minimum)

Cut up the turnips into small cubes. Heat oil in a pan, add the chopped garlic and onion. Fry on medium heat and add turmeric and cayenne pepper. Put the turnip cubes in to the pan and add salt. Cover and cook for 5-8 minutes. Then open cook with stirring occasionally for another 5 minutes. Sprinkle chopped parsley (it is very good for you!) and mix well, switching off the heat. Adjust the salt if needed.

This taste slightly similar to Chinese potato or koorkka. But not starchy, however, more fibrous, I guess.

Enjoy,
Anjana

Blueberry Banana Smoothie

When I want to eat healthy, however, I am not in the mood of seeing a green smoothie (especially those grumpy mornings!), I usually go for this BB smoothie. Not only it has some vibrant color, it is sweet and tastes good. After all, we all eat to taste and feel good !!

Following recipe is so easy and makes one serving.

All you need is:

Banana - 1/2

Blueberries - handful

Date - 1 or (I used a dried fig once, it was equally successful !)

Almond milk - 2/3 - 3/4 cup (Adjust it according to how thick or thin you want the smoothie to be!)

Add all the ingredients in a blender or magic bullet and blend away! 

It is delicious!

Enjoy,

Anjana

Panna Cotta with Strawberry Sauce

Greetings internet !!
I have been waiting to try out Panna cotta, since forever. This is such a simple and elegant looking dessert, and tastes delicious! This recipe needs only few ingredients, but I am going to fancy it up by making a chocolate-nut garnish.

Ingredients:
This recipe makes 4 servings as shown in the pictures
For the panna cotta:

Milk - 1/2 cup
Cream - 1 cup
Sourcream - 1/2 cup
Gelatin - 1/2 packet
Sugar - 5 tablespoons
Salt - a very small pinch
Vanilla - 1/2 tsp

Heat the milk in a pan, once it is steaming sprinkle gelatin. Let it stand for sometime until the gelatin softens, it takes a good 5 minutes (I took the pan off from stove, after sprinkling gelatin). Next, mix well until smooth and stir in sugar, cream, salt and vanilla, on medium heat. Once the mixture is steaming (not boiling, careful there!), take it off from stove. Take the sour cream in a bowl, whisk it a few times, and slowly add the milk-cream mixture, making it uniform. This process is very similar to the way you make pudding, more relaxed. When ready, pour it into four dessert glasses. Keep them in refrigerator for 4-6 hours. Mine took closely 4 hours.

Sauce: 
Straw berry - 1 cup
Sugar - 3 tablespoon
lemon juice - 1 teaspoon

Rough chop straw berries and add sugar and lemon juice. heat it until you get a syrupy texture. Blend it if you like a smooth sauce, or use it without blending. Easy peasy!!

Chocolate-nut garnish
Baking chocolate - 3 oz.
Nuts, crushed - 2 tablespoons

Melt the chocolate in a microwave, spread it on to a parchment paper and sprinkle with crushed nuts. Keep in it refrigerator until it cools down. Cut it into shapes or just crush it into big fragments. Once the panna cotta tops are firm to touch (after 4 hours or so), pour the syrup on to the top and garnish with the chocolate pieces. Keep it in the refrigerator, until ready to serve. Leftover chocolate strips can be eaten as a snack or give it to kids, they will appreciate that!!

The texture is more like a firm pudding and sour cream adds a nice layer to that.

Enjoy and Happy Easter to all !
Anjana

Appam and Beef Curry from God's Own Country

Appam ("yeasted pancakes made with rice" is the closest English term I can think of) and curry is a staple breakfast in a Kerala (God's own country, a small state in south of India) household. Growing up, appam was  one of my favorite breakfasts. As I was a vegetarian back then, I always paired this with some potato stew or tomato curry. There are several kinds of appams to think of, this one is my favorite and my mom used to make it frequently as our breakfast. This is a thick appam when compared to palappam.

Recipe source: My mom

Ingredients:
Long grain white rice (preferably Sona masoori or idli rice) - 1 cup
Grated coconut (fresh or frozen) - handful
cooked rice - handful
yeast - 1/4 teaspoon
sugar - 1 tablespoon
salt - 1/2 teaspoon
water - 1 cup + enough to grind

Soak one cup rice in water for at least 6 hours. Add all the ingredients in the blender and grind well. it should be a smooth batter, thinner than idli batter or pancake batter, but not too watery. Keep the batter in a warm place and let it rise. I usually let it rise over night, but  sometimes batter will be ready in 4-6 hours, depending on the climate. When the batter has risen, heat a pan on medium, and pour one ladle ( or 1/4 cup approximately) full of batter and cook it covered. I do not use oil as I use a non-stick pan. If you touch the top of appam with a spoon on spatula, it should not stick, then you know appam is ready. Transfer to a plate and enjoy with a curry.

Now for the curry, here is the recipe for a simple beef curry.

You will need:

Beef (any cut, chopped into cubes or stew meat) - roughly 2 pounds
One large red onion sliced
Ginger - 1 tablespoon fine chopped
Garlic - 1 tablespoon fine chopped
Coriander powder - 3 tablespoons
turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon/ adjust to your taste (this is minimum requirement!)
Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon
oil - 2-3 tablespoons
mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
salt - add according to your taste
curry leaves - optional as much as you need (I like a lot!)

Heat a thick bottomed pan. when oil is hot,  fry mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add ginger and garlic, fry it a little. once the edge of garlic turns a little brown, add in the sliced onions. Fry it until golden brown. Now, it is the turn for all the powders to go in, except garam  masala. Fry the powders until it looks like dark brown, but not burnt. it might take 1-2 minutes on medium heat. Add the marinated beef along with 1 cup of water. Cook well. You could use a pressure cooker if available. When the curry is ready, if the gravy is too runny, heat it up until the gravy thickens. Add the curry leaves before you switch off the heat. Enjoy with appam! The curry goes well with pretty much everything, like rice or whole grain bread.

Cheers,
Anjana

Note: Key for non-sticky appams, is using the right kind of rice. I have success only with sona masoori or idli rice.