Gulab Jamun

I have always made gulab jamun from the ready mix and this time South vs. North Challenge has made me do it from scratch!!! It was little intimidating for me but a big learning.. Now no more ready mix Jamuns in my house. This one is so good, so delicious and so perfect!!! I thoroughly enjoyed the process of making it.

Eggless Molten Lava Cake

My 100th post - yay!!!!.. I wanted to share a sweet or desert for my 100th post and so happy to share this yummy and delicious molten lava cake. What is a lava cake – well it looks like a normal cake, but when cut, chocolate lava flows from inside.. yummy!!! Chocolaty!!! I have tried this once before but the lava inside was very little gooey but not overflowing. I searched a lot on the web for an eggless version of this recipe and my first one was not as as lava oozing.. When Gayathri accepted my suggestion for this month’s Eggless Baking Group challenge, I was so happy and excited. I got this recipe from Master chef 2 made a few changes and the results were awesome!!! The chocolate lava was so drool worthy and yummy!! I got 2 4” inch cakes and a small 2 inch cake out of this batter. I made in a spring form pan.

 

 

Idli

Idli is a very popular breakfast from TamilNadu. It is best when served hot with chutney and sambar. You can also serve idli with gothsu, milagai podi. Recipes of all these will follow (hopefully soon). I was browsing through my blog posts and realized one thing that my blog has very few (very very few) Tamil recipes. I immediately decided to make this idli post and publish it. I think the reason for not having many Tamil recipes is that I do not take pictures of everyday food or food that are common to our house… And the reason for that is that I do not write down the recipes of these everyday food nor do I bookmark them.. But now I have decided to take pictures of everyday food also that are common in my house also and post the recipes that are tested and rectified and approved in my house ‘n’ number of times… Now this will help my blog have a variety of dishes and cuisines!!! On to the recipe!!
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Ingredients
Idli Rice / Parboiled Rice - 4 cups
Ulutham Parupu / Urad Dal - 1 1/2 cups
Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
Oil - 1 tea spoon (preferably sesame oil or gingerly oil)
Salt - 1 3/4 tea spoons
Water - to soak and grind

Method
Wash well and soak the dal (with fenugreek seeds) and rice separately in water for around 6 hours or overnight
With the help of a grinder, grind the urad dal first and then the rice into smooth paste
Add salt and mix both these batters well and keep them covered in a vessel and allow it to ferment for around 4 to 8 hours
Make sure you have filled the container only half as the dough may (WILL) rise while fermenting
Refrigerate the batter until use
When going to make the idlis, grease the idli molds with few drops of oil and pour the idli batter
Steam the idlis until done. Should take around 12 - 18 minutes.


Couple of things that can help in making the idlis best are:
1. Just before pouring the batter into the mold, make sure that the water inside the steamer or cooker is hot
2. Do not overfill the mold
3. Check if done with toothpick method (insert a toothpick / wooden skewer or the backside of a spoon to test doneness). It should not stick
4. After the stove is switched off, leave it for sometime before opening it
5. After opening it from the steamer or cooker, allow the idli plates to rest on the counter for 2 to 3 minutes before scooping them out
6. You can also show the idli plates through running water just before scooping them out
7. Do not make the batter too thick before fermenting, the batter needs to be correct consistency to ferment better
8. People living in colder areas - you will need to ferment for longer time. You will know that the batter is ferment when it has lot of pores and also increased quite a bit in volume. You need to keep in a warmer place for better fermentation. Places I used are oven with the light on, near a warm area or closet in the house. Sandhya has mentioned that she keeps it in a warm closet in her dining room
9. Please add more points if you know and I will update the post accordingly..


Sending this to SIC#3, Anu's page, Quick and Easy, Favourite Rice Recipes, Siri’s Anniversary Event, CWS - Urad Dal, Priya's page,

Milk Masala Powder

Some recipes are bookmarked and are on the “to-do” forever and some get done in a few weeks. Very rarely do I get to make something the day I bookmark it. This is one such recipe where I am doing it on the same day I am bookmarking it. Simple, quick, healthy, tasty – all in one and I had all the ingredients on hand and could not postpone this. The flavor and aroma was fantastic and it was fun doing. Just my thought about – “how much home made food is better than the store bought” kept coming to my mind. This lasted about 3 days and it got over, so not sure how long is its shelf life!!!. I got this one from here and it is surely a keeper

Ingredients
Almonds - 2 table spoons
Cashew - 2 table spoons
Pistachio - 1 table spoon
Cardamom - 6
Raw Sugar - 4 table spoons
Saffron - 1/8 tea spoon
Nutmeg - 1/4
Turmeric Powder - 1/8 tea spoon

Method
In a pan on very low heat, dry roast almonds, cashew, pistachio for around 4 to 5 minutes. A nice aroma will start to come. You need to keep stirring it to ensure that it does not burn. Come on only 5 minutes:)
Around 4 minutes, add the cardamom, nutmeg and continue to stir and roast
At the end add saffron and remove from heat after a minute
Allow it to cool completely
Transfer to a blender, add sugar and pulse until it becomes a powder. Leave time gap between few pulses to ensure that it does not become a paste. The nuts contain a lot of oil and if they are processed continuously, oil may be released and you will get a paste and not powder.
Mix in the turmeric powder and store in an airtight container.
To serve - add 2 spoons in 1/4 cup warm milk and mix well to avoid any lumps. Add more milk to serve!

Sending this to Ammaji's Quick and Easy recipes, Siri’s Anniversary Event