Mr. Beans on my Counter! **Click-Beans 'N Lentils**

These so-called Mr. Red Kidney Beans lay on my counter to be clicked. They got clicked thereafter and is my entry for Click..

A Millet Falafel!

The International Food League was a fun event at the Dining Hall, where basically you choose a box and you have to guess what the mystery box contains with the help of a riddle.

The Riddle

I am old and ancient and in many places a staple
health and longevity are wonders I wear like a lapel

My different forms give different taste
one form is enjoyed in the mornings - eaten in haste!
Another form is in form of soups and porridge
Or in forms of plain or stuffed breads

I thrive in the hot summers..But make you feel good and warm
I am good to people although many just use me for feeding birds and cattle in farms
I am just no mean and lowly grass with striking resemblance to maize
I have 'pearls' of wisdom to share if you want, to listen to me with grace

People with celiac turn to me
I give you fibre and irons, so rich i am for the world to see
Now sit tight and give it a hard thought - be clever be sane
to guess who I am, the highly nutritious and healthful whole grain.

My Guesses
Flax: Incorrect
Sorghum: Incorrect (Sighh..How Dumb!)
Millet: Correct

The only time I ever tasted millet (finger ) was when My mom used to make porridge out of it for my toddler when she was months old…Somehow, I never thought of buying it off the shelves of stores…

Only after the event at IFL did I ever get a little curious about millet…I wondered what do I make of it.. Bread? Some Dessert…Err it tastes bland and is boring to look at…so then what…I realized that it does not have a prominent taste of its own…and it could easily be flavoured..

Thereafter I picked up some whole millet…but left it untended to for several days until I saw other bloggers posting…Since I had been baking for the DB's, and all I think was flour..I was like why not make millet flour….Ok I ground them but what now?

Back from a lovely lunch one day from Cedars , I was in love with their food, ambiance et al. I wanted to try my hand at middle eastern cooking and set a day to doing it….Coming back to where I made use of millet flour…Made falafel using millet flour along with cooked millet :D




What you need for the falafel are

1 cup dried chickpeas
2 cups millet cooked
1 onion minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons dried hot red pepper
7 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)
2 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons millet flour
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Oil for frying

Preparation

Soak the chickpeas overnight in enough water and drain them the next morning. Or reserve a little water for grinding the chickpeas in the blender. Saute the garlic and onions in olive oil and mix them into the ground chick peas. Add the remaining ingredients and mix them in well with your hands. Mix them in well until they do not stick to your hands any more. You can either refrigerate them if you are not frying them immediately..otherwise roll them into neat roundels. Fry them in oil and drain the excess oil on paper napkins.

The Tahini was made as per this

Serve the falafel with Pita bread ( not shown here..because it was an utter flop), tahini and fresh vegetables.



This is also my entry to Dhivya's AWED: Middle Eastern event hosted by Siri and also goes to Meeta's monthly event hosted by Mansi this month..

An Opera Cake **Daring Bakers**

The Four Lovely Hostesses chose the Opéra Cake as the challenge for May. I knew not what that cake meant..

According to them, "it's an extremely elegant and polished French dessert that is believed to have been created around the beginning of the 1900s. Many people credit a gentleman by the name of Louis Clichy with inventing the cake and that's why it's sometimes referred to as Clichy Cake."

An Opéra Cake is made up (usually) of five components: a jaconde (a cake layer), a syrup (to wet the jaconde), a buttercream (to fill some of the layers), a ganache or mousse (to top the final cake layer) and a glaze (to cover the final layer of cake or of ganache/mousse).



I decided on doing an almond jaconde, a strawberry syrup, a strawberry buttercream, a strawberry mousse and a white chocolate glaze.

The recipe for the jaconde specified almond meal..and I don't get these in my part of the world..and hence got down to blanching, peeling and grinding them to yield 2 cups.

I started off by doing the buttercream first since I decided to spread the process of making the entire cake for three days. But alas the first stage started off bad...with my buttercream curdling...sigh!!! I used Dorie's Buttercream Recipe but substituted the lemon juice with strained strawberry preserves. I whipped longer..and longer..and longer.and gave up....A fellow DB suggested putting it in the freezer and then whipping it..Trust me it worked..Whew!!! The hot weather was the main cause of the curdling...(The cake stayed together if it was in the refrigerator..once it was out,,it started melting)

Anyway after what I went through with my buttercream...I wasn't fond of it much ..the proof lies in the amount of buttercream I used between the jacondes :D



The strawberry syrup was delectable and I used them generously unlike the buttercream



Since I was doing both the mousse and the glaze and since both required the use of white chocolate, I made a strawberry mousse without the use of the white chocolate owing to the extra sweetness it would lend.




The glaze was the part that I enjoyed especially for the marbling effect



What I loved best about this challenge was the free choice of any flavour as long as it was a light flavour...So do not miss the variety they have come up with.

And here's something for my lovely readers :)






My other DB Challenges
Cheesecake Pops
A Party Cake
French Bread
Lemon Meringue Pie
Yule Log
Tender Potato Bread

A guava and orange refresher!

What do you do when you are bogged down by the summer.....I really never like to eat food as in solid food....With the amount of water one drinks..there isn't any need one feels for solid food... In such times..this is what I make..This is both filling and healthy....



What you need for this are

2 Green Guavas
2 Oranges
1 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp honey
Ice Cubes

Scoop the pulp out from the guavas and blend to make a puree. Strain if the seeds still remain. Squeeze the juice from the oranges and add to the guava pulp.Add lemon juice and honey and sugar if extra sweetness is needed. Pour in water as needed and serve in tall glasses topped with ice cubes.



Beat the heat with this!

Am off for the weekend on a short road trip...yes in this heat..I'm on a road trip.....Have a nice we/end...

A Pasta Salad **Taste and Create **

My second partner for the taste & create event is the hostess Nicole herself.

I love pastas and she has quite a variety that can be dished out. I narrowed down to this .

I used ingredients that were readily available in my part of the world and hence did not use artichoke hearts and used mozzarella for munster cheese.

What you need are

For the Salad:

120 grams of Penne Pasta
25 grams grated Mozzarella cheese
1/2 a Red Bell Pepper, chopped
1/2 a Orange Bell Pepper, chopped
1 small Onion, chopped
50 grams Cherry Tomatoes

For the Dressing:

2 Tablespoons of White Vinegar
2 Tablespoons of Orange juice
1 teaspoon of Walnut Oil
1 teaspoon of Honey
1 Tablespoon dry Basil
Salt and Pepper, to taste

To the Penne, cooked Al Dente, mix in the salad ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the dressing and pour over the salad and set aside for a couple of hours. Before I served it, a generous amount of grated cheese and dried basil were sprinkled.

Served with garlic bread and a warm bowl of soup..it was one fulfilling meal!!!


Check out Nicole's Noodle Salad

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The talented lady of Sugarcraft India passed on an award for the second consecutive time....the Excellent Award..




Thanks Swati....



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Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bars **Taste and Create **

The Taste and Create event is where the host pairs the participants. I am paired with two blogs this month, Grace of A Southern Grace and another blog which will come to alight in my next post.

I love this event because I am introduced a lot of lovely blogs... and one such lovely place that I was introduced to this month was A Southern Grace... The girl sure knows how to write and present pictures....I had a tough time on what to make....finally decided on picking lots..and the chosen recipe was Simply Irresistible.




This bar is perfect for that irresistible indulgence.....or when you want to give into temptation. This basically contains peanutbutter and melted chocolate with cracker crumbs. This is a very easy dessert to make..requires no baking!!!

What you need for these are

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (Grace used pulverized cinnamon animal crackers and I used Plain crackers)
1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, melted
12 ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine cracker crumbs, sugar, and peanut butter and mix them in well. Blend in the melted butter. Press this mixture evenly into a pan lined with paper. Melt the chocolate chips and spread over the peanut butter mixture. Chill until just set and cut into bars or desired shapes.



The bars are an easy dessert to make... I would reduce the amount of sugar...the suggested amount was 1 1/2 cups to 2 cups..I used the former and it was still a little too sweet....

According to Grace, the original Reese's Peanut Butter Cup can never be improved....the only thing these bars have in common with RPBCs is the fact that both contain peanut butter and chocolate....Do visit here for more on the bar.



Thanks Grace for this easy peasy dessert!!!

A Mango and Tomato Salsa **A.W.E.D**

Fresh versatile Sauces, such as sambals, raitas, salsas,chutneys need very little cooking and preparation. The most simplest, bland dish can be spiked up by the above..



Salsa is used to describe a wide family of fresh or cooked salad-like relishes most of the times flavoured with herbs or chillis.

Salsa evolved in Mexico and the spiciness factor can vary from mild to very very hot!
They taste good when served immediately but taste even better when allowed to marinate for a couple of hours.

Mangoes being in season where I live, this salsa has mangoes predominantly. The fragrant, sweet and the sourness of the ingredients was spectacular with chicken.

For the Mango & Tomato salsa

1 mango (ripe, firm, cubed)
1 Tomato (large, chopped)
1 Onion (chopped)
3 to 4 Garlic (crushed)
2 to 3 Green Chillies (chopped) (Ideally use red chillies.)
Lemon Juice from 1 lemon
1 tbsp of dried herbs
2 tsp Honey (You could also use sugar)
Salt

Give a good mix to all the above and chill well before serving.



Alternatively, you could also add lemon zest and mint leaves for that extra zing!

This salsa is off to the A.W.E.D event.

Kerala Masala Prawns

Prawns are a top priority in my weekly menu..I make it twice a week no matter what. The simple and valid reason being all three of us love it .

Prawns are the most easiest to cook up except for the cleaning and the deveining involved.. Thankfully, the man who brings seafood home, cleans and deveins it for me. The only thing that I need to do is to give it a good rinse and it is all set for cooking!

The Kerala Prawn curry recipe that i present below is again from the recipes handed down to me by my mother.

Prawn- 1 Kg (cleaned, de-veined)
Onions- 2 (sliced)
Tomatoes-2 (chopped finely)
Ginger paste-1 1/2 tsp
Garlic Paste- 2 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder- 2 tsps
Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
Curry Leaves- 1 sprig
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Oil preferably coconut oil
Salt as per the taste

Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they crackle, saute the onions, followed by the garlic and ginger and fry until they are mixed in well together. Now add the chilli powder and the turmeric powder and add in the chopped tomatoes as well... When you see the oil separating from this mixture, add a little water and salt. When the water boils, add in the prawns and stir well ensuring that the masala coats the prawns well. Add the curry leaves and cook no more than 3 minutes.

The tangy and spicy masala with the flavour of the coconut oil and the curry leaves make this an ideal accompaniment for both chapathis as well as rice...



My only weakness being the temptation to pick out prawns and eat them before the entire thing reaches the dining table....Don't many of you do it as well???? How could you not with the above tempting bowl before you...

Here comes the Apple Streusel Muffin!

There is no magic involved in making a good muffin! All you need are the ingredients in correct proportions, simple method, a little patience regarding whether it’ll rise or not during baking and a dash of imagination or inspiration!

They aren’t time-consuming or difficult..and are always an alternative food for breakfast…..

I made apple muffins and the crowning glory was the streusel.



For the Muffins

2 apples, cubed, cooked and mashed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one by one, beating well after each egg is added.

Add the mashed apples followed by the vanilla extract and beat until smooth.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Stir this mixture into the butter mixture only until they are well mixed in. Spoon this in the muffin cups.




For the Streusel

5 tbsps+1tsp of tightly packed Muscavado Sugar
1 tbsp of AP Flour
1 Tbsp Butter
1/8 tsp of Powdered Cinnamon

Mix muscavado sugar, flour and cinnamon. Rub the butter into the mixture and sprinkle over the apple mixture in the muffin pan.

Bake until the muffins are done.


The intensely flavoured streusel enlivened the otherwise plain drab apple muffin!!!

The proof lies in the picture below,



The lone muffin that I saved for a mid-night snack!

Mathanga/Yellow Pumpkin Curry

Almost all parts of the pumpkin can be used for cooking. And because it is loaded with vitamins and other nutrients..it is a healthy vegetable. What I made is a Mathanga/Pumpkin curry as it was made at my maternal home. It is served with rice.


What you need are

Yellow Pumpkin-500 g (cubed into small pieces)
Turmeric Powder-1 tsp
Salt to taste

Boil the above until the pumpkin turns soft and mash them well.

For Grinding

Coconut-3 tbsp
Cumin seeds-2 tsp
Shallots- 1
Green Chillies-3 to 4

Grind the above to a paste and finally add the green chillies and run the blender just once for the green chillies to remain as shreds.

Mix this paste with the mashed pumpkin and simmer for a few minutes until they are blended in well.

For Seasoning

Coconut-1 tbsp
Coconut oil Preferably
Mustard -1 tsp
Dry Red Whole Chillies- 2 or 3
Curry Leaves- 1 Sprig
Shallots- 4 Sliced

To the oil add the coconut first and fry until it turns a light brown and set aside. To the same oil, add the seasoning ingred. and when done mix the fried coconut into it and pour the entire seasoning into the mashed pumpkin. Enjoy the sizzle!



Serve hot!

An ideal accompaniment for plain white rice!

A braided bread!

A bout of browsing for different bread fillings led me here. I have had my share of stuffed bread but have never had one that I had made myself. Hence the browsing...




The bread was made following this .

For the filling
2 onions chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
1 capsicum chopped
4 to 5 Green Chillies chopped
2 tsps ginger/garlic paste
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp pepper powder
salt to taste
Grated cheese as per the size of the bread


I made the dough for a basic white bread and added a generous sprinkling of dried herbs and mixed them in and left it to rise for the second. The filling and braiding were as per this.

To prepare the filling what you need to is to saute the chopped onions and green chillies in oil until hey turn soft This is followed by the addition of the tomatoes, which need to be cooked until all of the water evaporates. Ginger/ garlic paste, the powders and the sugar are added and finally add in the chopped capsicum and cook to a dry consistency.

On the rolled out dough, the filling was spooned with a generous amount of shredded cheese sprinkled on top and then was braided... I enjoyed braiding the most. After the second rise, it was brushed with melted butter and baked to a lovely brown.




The filling ingredients are what suit an Indian palate. The green chillies added a punch of spiciness!! With the sauteed veggies, the herbs in the dough and the cheese...the taste was something worth the effort.




So there you go...Make one...choose varied fillings and I guarantee you..you'll love it

An appreciation!

A special thanks goes to Swati
and Harini for giving me this surprise of a yummy blog award!

and as per the rules on mentioning my favourite desserts, they are



a)Blueberry Cheesecake : this was the first kind of cheesecake that I had ever tasted and has been my favourite ever since. The flavours give me a high!

b)Lemon bars for their tanginess



c)Chocolate Cake with the coffee cream sandwhiched between the layers

and my

d)Nut Crunchers

and now I'd like to pass this award to :

1. Seena for her simple yet lovely and delicious recipes
2.Inji Pennu for her style of writing and her unstyled yet pretty and realistic pics.
3.Shn for her authentic recipes

and

4. Kate whose blog I'm addicted to for the awesome pics.

All of you deserve this award.



Rules for the ‘Yummy Blog’ award Receiver:



The person who receives the award should display the "Yummy Blog !" logo on their blog and also the meaning of the award which is "Yummy blog award is the award given to the blog with most yummy recipes/photos".·The receiver should also quote their favorite yummylicious :) dessert(s) that they have ever prepared/eaten. Don’t restrict yourself to any dessert, chocolate bars also welcome.·Also the receiver should pass on the award to four other bloggers whose blog they find "yummy" and let them know about the rules.

Meet, eat and craving for more!!!

Eleven strangers meet for a potluck lunch! The only common ground being all the 11 shared the passion for food and blogging.

Eager to meet up with fellow bloggers from the same city, mails were exchanged, venue was decided courtesy a lovely hostess who was kind enough to open her abode for us.

We decided that we would guess the others on each one's arrival. Your's truly walked in introducing herself :D.

The food was excellent..each one of them....the ladies were lovely and ....and am glad someone thought I was the quietest :D.

I wouldn't want to elaborate more..the lovely ladies (Jayashree, Kamini,Sra,Arundati,and Lavi) have blogged about it.


Nirmala..I am still craving for the FLORENTINES.

Kamalika..Too bad I missed your Chakkara Pongal.

All in all, a fun meet and I would love to do another meet very soon.