South Indian Lime Rice

 This is our simple lunch today. It is lime rice with potato roast. This rice has tangy, salty and spicy flavor which brings out our appetite. Do not skip the asafoetida because it gives nice aroma and it is also good for bloated stomach too. 

South Indian Lime Rice 

INGREDIENTS: 

Cooked raw rice or basmati rice - 2 1/2 cups

Gingerly oil - 2 tablespoons

Green Lime - 1

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Urad dal - 1/2 teaspoon

Dry red chilies - 6 (broken into pieces)

Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Curry leaves - a sprig

Salt - to taste

METHOD:

1. First, cook rice by adding little salt to flavor it lightly.

2. Heat a pan with 2 tablespoons of gingerly oil, add mustard and allow it to sputter. Then, add urad dal, allow it to become light brown colour. After that, add broken pieces of dry chilies, asafoetida and curry leaves. 

3. Switch off the flame. To the pan, now add turmeric powder and squeeze out the juice of 1 lime.

4. This mixture is added to the cooked rice. Give a gentle stir by adding enough salt as per your taste. 

5. Lime rice is best served with potato roast or potato chips or French fries.

 

Thank you

Abby 

Chickpeas Masala /Garbanzo Masala for Chapati, Rice, Pulao or Poori

Chickpeas Masala /Garbanzo Masala for Chapati, Rice, Pulao or Poori

INGREDIENTS: 

Dry Chickpeas/ Dry Garbanzo - 1 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Chili powder - 1 1/2 teaspoon (adjust the heat accordingly)

Medium sized onion - 1

Ripe tomato - 1

Salt - to taste

Chopped coriander leaves - handful (optional)

TO TEMPER :

Fennel seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Oil - 1 tablespoon

FOR PASTE :

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Medium sized onion - 1

Ginger - 2 inches size

Fennel - 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. Soak the chickpeas for 8 hours or overnight. 

2. The next morning, rinse off the chickpeas in clean water and drain them. 

3. Boil the chickpeas with enough water submerged in a stewpot with some salt to flavor the chickpeas. 

4. After the chickpeas has boiled thoroughly, drain them in a colander. Reserve the chickpeas stock for making soup later.

5. Now, in a frying pan or wok, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil, after it has heat up, now you may add all the ingredients under the 'TO TEMPER' section.

2. Then, followed by the chopped onion. Sauté the onion until translucent. Then add in chopped tomato and salt. Cook until tomato is slightly soften.

3. Make a smooth paste by adding enough water with all the ingredients under the 'FOR PASTE' section. Add the masala paste after the tomatoes have become mushy. At this stage, you can add turmeric powder and chili powder. Mix well.

4. Now, add the boiled and drained chickpeas into the masala paste mixture. 

5. You need to add some 1/ 2 cup of water to further cook the raw smell of the paste. You will notice the gravy has thicken slightly. 

5. I simmered this under the low flame reducing into thick dry masala gravy. That should be the sign to switch off the flame. Sprinkle a lavish amount of coriander leaves. I didn't use coriander leaves as I didn't have some at home.

6. Thus chickpeas masala can be served as a side-dish for rice, pulao, biryanis, chapati, rotis. 

Thank you

Abby 

Badam Burfi/ Almond Burfi

 Don't get alarmed by the uninteresting photo that I have captured. It was wee last minute that I thought of sharing the recipe with my readers. I was only left with some so I didn't bother to present it in a nicer way. Sorry.. I guarantee you the taste of this sweet is fantabulous. It is an addictive kind of an Indian sweet. If you like almonds, you will love this...This is a simple recipe which does not require you to check for sugar string consistency. It is sweet, fudgy, soft and melts in your mouth..

Badam Burfi/ Almond Burfi

INGREDIENTS: 

Raw almonds -  1 cup

Fresh milk - 1/2 cup

Brown sugar - 1 1/4 cup

Clarified butter - 7 to 8 tablespoons

Saffron - a pinch

METHOD:

1. First, soak the raw almond in one cup of hot water for few minutes. This way it will be easier to peel the skins.

2. Then, wash the peeled almond in water and put them in a blender with 1/2 cup milk. Grind it to smooth paste. 

3. In a heavy bottom pan, add the almond paste, brown sugar and a pinch of saffron.

4. Keep the flame as low as possible as you don't want the mixture to turn brown easily. The mixture will start becoming a bit watery as the sugar starts to dissolve.

5. Keep stirring continuously until the mixture is semi- thick, at this point you can keep adding the ghee little by little. The almond mixture will tend to absorb clarified butter easily. 

6. Keep stirring until the mixture has turn to a thick consistency that you can it coming together as a dough. if you take some and roll in your hand, that is the right stage to switch off the flame. 

7. Grease a tray with some clarified butter and pour the mixture into the tray.

8. Smoothen the surface with a spatula or any flat bottom of a stainless steel container. This will give an even, non-cracking surface.

9. Let the sweet cool slightly, start cutting into any desirable sizes using a pizza cutter.

7. Separate the pieces and keep them in a stainless steel container in the fridge.

 

Thank you

Abby 

Kalyana Pulikaichal (Indian Style Spiced Tamarind Paste for Rice)

 

Kalyana Pulikaichal

INGREDIENTS: 

Tamarind - one small lime size ball

Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon

Water - 2 cups

Jaggery/ brown sugar - 1 teaspoon

TO MAKE SPICE POWDER:

Coriander seeds - 1 tablespoon

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

TO TEMPER:

Gingerly oil - 1/4 cup

Mustard - 1 teaspoon

Urad dal - 1 tablespoon

Channa dal - 2 tablespoons

Dry red chilies - 18 to 20 (broken to small pieces) (reduce it if you don't like spicy food)

Asafoetida/ Hing powder - 1 teaspoon

Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

METHOD:

1. First, take tamarind into the size of lime. Adding 2 cups of water to the tamarind and let it soak for 5 minutes. After that, squeeze tamarind in the water, and strain the tamarind water and discard the pulp.

2. In a pan, dry roast 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds and 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds. Roast the ingredients until golden brown. Grind them to fine powder. 

3. Heat a pan with 1/4 cup gingerly oil, add mustard and allow it to sputter. Then, add urad dal and channa dal, allow them to become light brown colour. After that, add broken pieces of dry chilies, asafoetida and curry leaves. 

4. Immediately, add the tamarind water into the tempered ingredients. Let the tamarind water boil and reduce to half.

5. When it has reduce to half, add salt (I added 2 teaspoons), jaggery or brown sugar and turmeric powder. Let the concoction boil and thicken further. At this stage, add another 2 tablespoons of gingerly oil. Boil for 5 minutes after adding oil. When oil starts floating on the surface and it has become semi- thick paste, switch off the flame. 

6. Last but not least, after switching off the stove, add the ground spice powder and give a quick mix. 

7. Cool this paste and store it in an air-tight container. Keep in the refrigerator.

 

Thank you

Abby 

Eggless Buttermilk Fruitcake

 

Eggless Buttermilk Fruitcake

INGREDIENTS: 

Good quality unsalted butter, melted - 1/2 cup or 113g

Premium molasses powder/ Muscovado dark sugar - 3/4 cup or 150g

Plain flour - 1 1/2 cups or 200g

Baking soda - 1 teaspoon

Buttermilk - 1 cup or 240ml

Black Raisins - 1 cup

Chopped cranberries - 1/2 cup

Chopped dates - 1/2 cup           

Chopped toasted almond - 1/4 cup

Vanilla essence - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt - 1/2 teaspoon

Ground ground cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon

Ground cloves - 1/2 teaspoon

Ground nutmeg - 1/2 teaspoon

Orange zest of 1 orange (You can add 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice)

**DRY FRUITS AND NUTS CAN BE FROM 300 GRAM TO 350 GRAM**

METHOD:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degree F (180 degree C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour or spray with a non- stick vegetable spray, a 9x5x3 inch (23x13x8 cm) loaf pan.

2. First, sift plain flour, baking soda, salt and spice powder. To the flour mixture, add all your chopped dry fruits and nuts, and give a good mix to coat well.

3. In another bowl, whisk melted butter at room temperature, molasses/ muscovado brown sugar and buttermilk.

4. Now, combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Give a gentle fold. Immediately pour into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula or with the back of a spoon. Give a tap.

5. Bake the cake in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes or the cake is golden brown and just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan.

6. You know this when you insert a skewer to top of the cake. If it comes clean, then your cake has baked properly. 

7. Remove the baking tin from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.

8. Finally, gently remove the cake from the pan and let it sit in a wire rack until it is completely cool.

9. I have transferred the cooled fruitcake into the fridge by storing it in a stainless steel container. The next day, in the morning, when the cake is still firm, I cut them into desirable pieces(It was an easy cutting process when the cake is chilled).

Thank you

Abby