Strawberry Jelly Recipe

Ingredients:

Strawberry - 500 gms

Sugar - 4 cups

Pectin - 1 pkg

Method:

• Wash , Hull and chop strawberries in to pieces.

• In a fruit steamer fill the top part with strawberry. Fill water to the bottom basin and place over high heat for 40 to 50 min. ( I did it in the pressure cooker itself. Filled water in the cooker. Then placed strawberry in a vessel over the stand. The vessel should not touch the water. The strawberries should cook only from the steam coming from water. You can open the pressure cooker lid in every 5 or 10 min to check the water level. If it is needed you can add more ).

• Drain the juice through the muslin cloth 2 or 3 times to remove seeds and to get clear jelly.

• In a stainless steel pot pour 3 1/2 cup juice, add Pectin and whisk well till pectin dissolves.

• Place it on the flame over medium high.

• Bring this mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.

• Add sugar and bring back to boil stirring constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

• Strain this through muslin cloth to get crystal clear jelly.

• Then, Pour it to the Jelly Mold and seal it. ( As i doesn't have jelly mold, i poured it in a vessel ).

• Refrigerate for 2 or 3 hours after it cools.

Mor Kuzhambu Recipe

Ingredients:

Buttermilk - 3 cups

Oil - 2 tsp

Mustard - for seasoning

Urad Dhal - for seasoning

Curry leaves - few

Red chilly - 2

Grated Ginger - 1 tsp

Green chillies ( medium ) - 4 or 5

Coriander leaves - few

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - as per taste

White Pumpkin - 250 gms

Channa Dhal - 3 tbsp

Grated Coconut - 1 cup

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Method:

• Soak Channa dhal for an hour.

• Wash and Peel Pumpkin. Cook with less amount of water for 5 min.

• Grind Cumin seeds, grated coconut, grated ginger, soaked channa dhal and green chillies and make a paste.

• Add this paste to buttermilk along with turmeric powder.

• Drain the excess water from cooked pumpkin and add it to the buttermilk mixture.

• Heat oil in a pan, add urad dhal and mustard. When they crackle add curry leaves and red chillies.

• Add the buttermilk mixture to this pan. When it becomes frothy and about to boil, remove from heat.

• In the serving vessel add salt and coriander leaves. Pour the Kuzhambu over it and cover with lid.

• Serve after 5 minutes.

Mishti Doi

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 litre

Yogurt - 1 tbsp

Seedless Dates - 7 or 8

Sugar - 2 tbsp

Method :

• Boil Dates with little water. Cool and grind it in a mixer.

• Boil Milk in a deep heavy bottomed pan on low flame stirring continuously till it reduces to half.

• Add Sugar and stir to dissolve it. Remove it from flame.

• Transfer the milk to another pan and let it become Luke warm. Add Date puree which we have prepared on step 1 and mix well.

• Now add Yogurt and mix well.

• You can pour this mixture into individual earthenware pot to enhance taste. But i don't have an earthenware pot right now. So, i pour it in an ordinary vessel.

• Keep it in a warm place and take care not to shake till it set. It will take around 6 hours to set. Then you can refrigerate it. Serve chilled.

Vegetable Cutlet

Ingredients:

Carrot - 1 ( finely chopped )


Beetroot - 1 ( Peeled and finely chopped )


Beans - 3 or 4 ( finely chopped )


Potato - 2


Onion - 1 ( finely chopped )


Peas - 1/4 cup


Bread - 1 slice


Ginger garlic paste - 1/4 tsp


Bread crumbs - 1/2 cup


Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp


Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp


Coriander leaves - 1tbsp ( chopped )


All purpose flour or Corn Flour - 2 tsp


Oil - for frying

Method:

1. Pressure cook the vegetables with little salt and water until soft.
2. Peel the skin of potatoes, mash it and add it to other vegetables.
3. Add Bread slice pieces, Ginger garlic paste, Red chilli powder, Garam Masala Powder, Coriander leaves and salt. Mix well.
4. Make equal sized round balls and slightly press it between your palms. Keep aside. You can also make it in a different shape like heart or oval as the kids love to eat in different shapes.
5. In a bowl mix corn flour or maida with little water to form a thick paste. 
6. Dip each cutlets in this flour paste such that both sides are coated well.
7. Then coat both sides with bread crumbs. Repeat this for the remaining cutlets.
8. You can deep fry or toast the cutlets till crispy. You can deep fry these cutlets if you are making in bulk as it will save time.
9. Serve the cutlets hot with tomato sauce.

Jhangri recipe

Ingredients:

Urad dal - 1 cup

Orange food colour - 2 or 3 pinch

Sugar - 2 cups

Rice flour - 1 tbsp

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Oil - for frying

Method:

• Soak Urad dal for 2 hours. 
• Drain excess water and grind dal to a fine thick batter. ( Do not add excess water while grinding. The batter should be thick ).
• Dissolve food colour in 1 tsp water.
• Transfer the grinded dal to a bowl along with rice flour and food colour. Make it to a fine smooth paste.
• Add sugar and 1/2 cup water in a heavy bottomed vessel and make sugar syrup. When it comes to one string consistency switch off the flame, add cardamom powder and stir.
• In a heavy bottomed pan heat oil. 
• To make Jhangris you can use ordinary zip lock bag with a small hole in the middle or the pastry bag.
• I used only zip lock bag to make this. Pipe Jhangris by starting off with two close circles and pipe small rings around those circles.
• If the oil pan is wide, you can make 4 or 5 jhangris at a time. Turn both sides and cook jhangris well.

• Remove the excess oil from fried jhangris and add to the hot sugar syrup immedietely.
• Let the Jhangris soak in sugar syrup for 4 or 5 min. Then tranfer it to a plate.
• Continue the same procedure with rest of the batter.
• Do not make the batter to rest for a long time since it will become sour. 
• Enjoy hot and delicious jhangris.

Iyengar Akkaravadisal - sakkarai pongal recipe

Akkaravadisal

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 3/4 cup

Moong dal - 1/4 cup

Powdered Jaggery - 1 cup

Ghee - 1/4 - 1/2 cup

Broken Cashews and raisins - as per required

Saffron strands - 3 or 4

Milk - 1 litre + 1tbsp

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Edible camphor - 1 pinch

Method:

• Fry Cashews and raisins with 2 tbsp ghee in a heavy bottomed pan. Remove and keep aside.

• On that pan itself roast Raw rice and Moong dal till nice aroma comes. Rinse once and keep aside.

• Soak Saffron strands in 1 tbsp warm milk and set aside.

• Soak Jaggery in ( 1/2 cup or enough to cover ) hot water. Set aside.

• Add 1 liter milk with roasted rice and moong dal in a deep vessel and pressure cook for 5 whistles in medium flame.

• Once pressure cooker eases, take the container out and mash it completely.

• Now, mix jaggery well, breaking down any pieces left with the help of spoon. Filter it for any impurities.

• Boil this syrup till nice aroma comes ( around 5 minutes ). Remove from heat. Add Cardamom powder and edible camphor and mix well.

• Add this jaggery syrup to the mashed rice and dal mixture. 

• Add soaked saffron, roasted cashews and raisins and mix well.

• This mixture tends to thicken after some times, so add some warm milk while serving.

Carrot cake or Muffins

Ingredients:

Carrot (grated) - 2 cups

All purpose flour - 2 cups

Sugar - 1 1/4 cup

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Ripe Banana ( Medium ) - 2

Strawberry ( Wash and chop in to pieces ) - 8

Cooking Oil - 2/3 rd cup

Raisins - 1/2 cup

Nuts ( finely chopped ) - 1 cup

Coconut flakes - 1/2 cup

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Seedless Dates ( chopped in to small pieces ) - 1/2 cup

Milk - 1/4 cup

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Grease the Muffin tray.

• Sieve All purpose flour with baking soda twice or thrice.

• Peel, mash and beat Bananas until fluffy. Add oil, cardamom and sugar and mix well.

• In a large bowl mix together dates, coconut flakes, nuts, raisins, strawberry and carrot with All purpose flour and baking soda mixture.

• Fold wet ingredients to dry ingredients mixing thoroughly but not hard.

• Add some milk in-order to combine the flour if it is tight. The batter should be in thick pouring consistency.

• Pour this batter to the greased Muffin tray or cake pan. Bake till toothpick inserted on the center comes out clean. 

• Cool the tray completely before turning upside down.