Friday, November 30, 2018

Carrot Cheese Paratha | Carrot Paratha | Paratha Recipe

Carrot Cheese Paratha, a delicious stuffed paratha that can be prepared in no time.  I have been thought of making this paratha for every long time, but ST is not fond of any meal with slight sweet in it. Also I was thinking that the paratha might have slight sweet in it,because of carrot. Finally keep the doubts aside and tried it last week, Yes it has mild sweet taste but not at all overpowering and with other spices and cheese, it tastes so good. Even ST had it without any complaints :- ). Ok, now let's check out how to make this super easy carrot paratha. 

Carrot Cheese Paratha

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Paratha | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
For dough
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Water - as needed
For Stuffing
Carrot - 2 
Cheese - 1/2 cup
Red chili powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste


Procedure
Take the flour in a bowl, add salt & oil and mix it with flour well. Then add water to the flour.Mix it with your hand and gather it together as a single mass , now knead the dough well until the surface looks smooth.Cover it with lid and set aside for minimum 15 mins.Next grate the carrot finely and add into the bowl along with the other ingredients of the stuffing. Mix it well.Pinch medium lemon sized balls from the dough and roll it as smooth. Take the rolling pin and roll into small disc, place the stuffing in the center.Pleat the sides towards the center and seal it. Keep the sealed edge downside and roll into thick paratha(if needed add more flour for dusting).Heat the tava, grease it will oil and place the rolled paratha on it.Cook it on both side until the brown spots appears on both sides.Tada, Tasty Carrot Paratha is ready.

Notes:

  • You can add more or less cheese as per liking.
  • Here i have used Mozzarella cheese,but you can use any cheese you like.
  • Grate the carrot finely, it helps to roll the paratha evenly.



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Tuesday, November 20, 2018

How to Clean Vazhaipoo | Banana Flower

Vazhaipoo/ Banana Flowers are the blossom that grows on banana plant and it's used in south indian cooking a lot. We make usili, kola urundai, vadai,poriyal with banana flower, all are really delicious and we as a family love them in any form. But cleaning banana flowers is such a painstaking process and also many beginners are not aware of this, so this post might useful for all the beginners in cooking and  experts this post  is not for you :-) but if you're willing to take a look on how i clean my vazhaipoo/banana flower, you're more welcome.
At one time, when we were in hosur and i was still a beginner in cooking then, bought a vazhaipoo, called Amma & asked about the cleaning method and did all the cleaning, it took around 2 hrs. Once finished cooking them, i had noticed that it had a strong bitter taste and wondered why it had such a bitter taste, then again called Amma, she told that very rarely some vazhaipoo/banana flower has strong bitter taste(mild bitter taste is normal) and it's not advisable to consume them. Later i threw them in trash with heavy heart. So always taste a bit of  raw florets, if it doesn't have any bitter taste, proceed cleaning them, else discard them. Lesson learnt that day !!! Ok, now it's time to check out the cleaning method.


How to Clean Vazhaipoo | Banana Flower

Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 0 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Basic | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
Banana Flower - 1 

Procedure
First take the banana flower, peel the first layer of petal and you can see the banana florets inside, remove them and place it on the plate. Do the same for next couple of petals. Next take one flower in your hand and inside you can see a stamen(the one with round head ) and a transparent layer.Remove them and discard it. Similarly do the same for all the florets. As you go on, the florets became smaller in size inside. At that stage, there is hardly any transparent layer, so just remove the stamen alone.At one stage, you find it hard to remove the petals, at that stage, don't remove the petals, you can used them as it. Just remove the stem from it and chop them along them with florets.That's it, now it's ready to chop and cook.
Notes:
  • Your hands may have dark stains while cleaning. To remove that, just apply some coconut oil on hand after cleaning , rub it with tissue paper and wash it with hand wash or you can use the hand gloves to avoid staining.
  • Banana florets becomes dark when keep it outside for long. If you're not cooking them immediately, put them in butter milk, it helps to become dark.


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Thursday, November 15, 2018

Home made Pav bread | Pav bread using Tangzhong method

Pav bread , a soft and fluffy dinner roll from Indian Subcontinent. In some parts of India, it's also known as "Ladi Pav". Though i make pav bhaji at home regularly, i never tried pav bread on my own until very recently. 

Once i had started to make pav bread at home, i realized how soft and delicious homemade pav breads are!!!  It's way better than the store bought ones and more importantly we know what goes into the bread. 



Here in the recipe, the tangzhong method of bread making technique is used. Before making this pav bread, I baked coconut buns once using the Tangzhong method and the bread was so soft and delicious. Ever since, I've been using the Tangzhong method for many breads. 


What's the Tangzhong method ? 

Tangzhong is one of the bread making methods which originated in Japan. In this method, roux is used to make soft and fluffy bread.

What's roux and how is it prepared? 

Roux is flour and milk or water or fat cooked together until it becomes a thick sauce like consistency or dough like consistency depends on the recipe. Roux is used in various cuisines for different purposes. It mainly used to thicken the sauce.

Here in baking,  we use a part of flour and liquid to make roux. The roux locks in the liquid during the entire process of bread making  and doesn't evaporate, therefore the baked product has more moisture in it and gives such a soft and fluffy bread.  This is my understanding from what I have learned about Tangzhong method so far. 

Flour 

I have used unbleached all purpose flour here for making pav bread. No need for bread flour or self rising flour for making these soft and delicious dinner rolls.

Yeast 

Yeast is the key ingredient for making any type of yeasted breads. Here i have used instant yeast which can be easily mixed with other ingredients without proofing. If you're a beginner in baking, i would highly recommend to use instant yeast so you no need to worry about proofing the yeast.But you can use the regular dried yeast also in the recipe. 

To proof the dried yeast, add it in the luke warm water along with some sugar and let it set aside for 5-10 mins. Once it's foamy, it's good to use.

Whatever the yeast you're using, make sure it's fresh! 

Related: How to make Vada Pav

Milk Powder 

Adding milk powder gives the great flavor and color to the pav bread. But it's totally optional, i have tried this recipe without milk powder many times and it turned out pretty good.



If you have tried various methods and still are not satisfied with the outcome of  homemade pav bread or if you're a beginner in baking and don't know much baking technique, then i highly recommend this method. I'm not exaggerating, it works like a charm every time!! 


Home made Pav bread

Preparation Time : 2 hrs | Cooking Time : 20 minsMakes : 12 
Recipe Category: Bread | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Pav Bread, Indian Pav Bread, Homemade Pav Bread, Tangzhong method pav bread,Ladi Pav,Soft Pav Bread Pav bread , a soft and fluffy dinner rolls & it's served with pav bhaji across India.
Ingredients
All purpose flour - 2 & 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3 & 1/2 tsp
Salt - 3/4 tsp
Curd - 1/4 cup
Milk Powder - 2 tsp(optional)
Instant yeast - 1 & 1/2 tsp
Butter - 3 tbsp
For the flour roux
All purpose flour - 8 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup



Procedure
First let's make the flour roux, for that, take the all purpose flour and milk in a sauce, whisk it until all mix together well. 
Then put it in the low heat, continuously whisk & cook till it becomes thick dough.
Remove from the flame,transfer the flour roux into a bowl,cover it with cling wrap(if you're using for later) and let it cool completely. Next for the dough, add the flour,sugar,salt,milk powder and yeast in a bowl. Mix it well.
Make a well in the center and add the prepared flour roux, butter,curd  and mix it all together until it looks crumbled.
Next add  1/2 cup(approx) of water and make a slightly sticky dough.
Transfer the dough on to the working surface and kneed it for 10 mins until it becomes soft and non-sticky. It should pass the window pane test(That means you can able to stretch the dough without breaking such that the light can pass through it).
Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover it with cling wrap, let it rise for double in size. It takes 1 to 1&1/2 hrs approx. 
Once the dough is doubled in size, punch down the extra air and cut the dough into 4 equal parts.Take each part of dough and make three balls out of it. 
Keep the dough inside your palm and roll into smooth balls. 
Do the same for the remaining dough and place it on the greased baking sheet. Cover it with cling paper and let it rise again for 30- 40 mins.Preheat oven at 350F. Once the dough doubled in size, brush it with milk on top and place it in the oven & bake it for 20-22 mins mins.
Remove from the oven and brush the top with melted butter on the top. Let it cool completely on wire rack.
Tasty and soft Pav bread is ready to serve.   Now that pav bread is ready, next check out on  

How to make  delicious & healthy  Pav Bhaji recipe

   or

More baking recipes!! 

Notes:
  • While preparing the roux, make sure to stir it continuously, it tends to clump together at the bottom quickly.
  • Cool the roux completely before use it in the dough.
  • Kneed the dough for 10 mins is must to get that soft , smooth & non-sticky dough. 
  • Even without milk powder also, it turns out fine. 
  •  
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Sunday, November 4, 2018

Sweet Potato Halwa | Sakkaravalli Kizhangu Halwa | Deepavali Sweet

Sweet Potato Halwa, a quick to make halwa from the sweet potato. If you' ve been following my blog regularly, you might know that for this week I'm posting colorful dishes with the naturally available ingredients without using any food color. 

Though I have been buying sweet potatoes regularly, I never thought of making halwa, mostly made stir fry or just steam and have it for evening time, but when I signed up for this theme, I wanted to make something sweet with sweet potato since it's deepavali time !!!

So I had started searching for the dessert recipe with sweet potato, that's when I came across this halwa recipe from manjula's kitchen, the recipe was so easy and sounds so delicious too.

In the next couple of days, i had prepared this and as expected the taste and texture was amazing, unless you have told, no one can find that this halwa is made from sweet potato. ST also didn't find out and kept on asking me what halwa it is till he finishes off his share of halwa :-)
Unlike other halwa recipes, it doesn't need a lot of sugar and ghee, still it's lip smacking delicious. Adding milk gives such a rich flavor to this halwa.It's so simple to make, even beginners can try without any difficulties. 

But one thing you have to make sure that the mashed sweet potatoes are sauteed well in the ghee before adding any other ingredients to avoid that raw potato flavor in the final halwa. Now let's check out how to make this delicious halwa.  

About the Sweet Potato

Sweet Potatoes available here in North America are usually in bright orange color, so I haven't used any color in my halwa. But in India, the sweet potatoes are mostly in pale yellow or mild orange color, if you're using that variety and want bright color halwa, feel free to add a few drops or pinch of orange food color.

About the sugar quantity
In the ingredient list, I have mentioned the sugar quantity as 1/3 to 1/2 cup because depending on the sweetness of the potato, the amount of sugar varies ! So if your sweet potato has enough sweet, I would recommend starting off with 1/3 cup of sugar and increase if needed after giving a quick taste test !

 

Sweet Potato Halwa

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 25 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Halwa | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Sweet Potato Halwa,Sakkaravalli Kizhangu Halwa,Indian Halwa Recipe,Diwali sweet,Deepavali Sweet Sweet Potato Halwa, a delicious and easy to make halwa with sweet potato,milk,sugar and ghee.
Ingredients
Sweet Potato(mashed) - 1 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/3 to  1/2 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Cardamom - 2 
Cashews - 6

Procedure
First pressure cook the sweet potato and keep it ready, remove the skin and mashed them well.
I had approximately 1 cup mashed sweet potato. Heat the pan with 1 & 1/2 tbsp of ghee, add the cashews.
Roast them till it becomes slightly golden brown, then remove it on the plate. In the same ghee, add the mashed sweet potato.
Saute them in the ghee until it becomes non sticky and move along with the laddle.
Then add the milk in to the mashed potato.
Mix it well and cook again until it becomes a thick mass. After adding milk, the mixture tends to splatter a little, so be careful while stirring. 
Next add the sugar and mix it well. At this stage, the mixture becomes little watery, but that's completely normal. Then add the crushed cardamom into the halwa.
Add the remaining 1/2 tbsp of ghee into the halwa now and stir it continuously till the halwa becomes glossy, non-sticky and move along with the laddle.
Finally add the roasted cashews into the halwa and switch off the flame. Halwa is ready to serve.
Tasty and vibrant looking Sweet Potato Halwa is ready.

Related : How to make Lauki Halwa / Bottle gourd Halwa


Notes:
  • Depends on the sweetness of the potato, you may need up to 1/2 cup of sugar. My potatoes are already sweet, so i have used 1/3 cup of sugar only.
  • Saute the mashed potato in the ghee till it becomes non sticky. That gives the wonderful aroma to the halwa, otherwise you get the strong smell of the potato.
  • Milk gives nice richness to the halwa, if you want more richness, you can add 1/4 cup of khoya too.
  • Cook the entire time in medium flame.
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Saturday, November 3, 2018

Spinach Murukku | Palak Chakli | Murukku Recipe

Spinach Murukku, a delicious and colorful snack made from the rice flour and spinach puree. Last diwali itself, i got this idea of using spinach puree in murukku dough from the fellow blogger friends.It's been in my mind since, at last, few days back gave it a try and i was amazed by how colorful it looks and at the same time it's super crunchy and delicious. For this murukku recipe, i have used my favorite, fool proof "pottukadalai murukku recipe " as base, in that instead of plain water, i used the spinach puree to make the dough.
While making this murukku, I noticed a few things to take care of to get that beautiful  green color!! 
  • First, the spinach should be fresh and green, so I have used baby spinach, it has a bright green color than the regular spinach which is darker in color. 
  • Second, cook it in medium flame and remove from the oil immediately when the "shh" sounds stops and there are no more bubbles around the murukku. If you cook past this stage, then it becomes brownish green, my first batch turned out like that,so speaking from experience here !! 
  • Third, puree the spinach with less water, if it needs more liquid to make the dough, you can always add more water, but if you puree it with more water, then you may not need all spinach puree for making the dough, that means less spinach in the dough and the color also not as green as we wanted.
Here are some basic FAQ about murukku 

Why did my murukku break into oil ?
If the dough doesn't have enough moisture in it, the murukku breaks easily in the oil and also it breaks while squeezing the dough. So add a little more water in the dough.

Why is my murukku hard?
It doesn't have enough fat in it. Butter used in the murukku helps to keep the murukku crispy and as light.

Does the murukku burst in the oil?
Chances are there!!
  1.  If the dry ingredients like rice flour and any other flour used in the recipe has any big granules. So make sure to sieve all the flour once before making dough
  2. Once all the dough is squeezed, don't tempt to roll the left over dough into seedai and fry. It has the chance to burst.
Ok, hope i have answered the most FAQ !! Now let's check on how to make these cute and vibrant spinach murukku !!

Spinach Murukku | Palak Chakli | Murukku Recipe

Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 20 minsMakes : 22-25 
Recipe Category: Snack | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Spinach Murukku, Green Murukku,Keerai Murukku,Palak Murukku,Palak Chakli,Chakli recipe Spinach Murukku, a delicious and colorful snack made from the rice flour and spinach puree.
Ingredients
Rice flour - 1/2 cup heaped
Pottukadalai/daliya/roasted gram powder - 2 tbsp
Butter - 2 tsp
Spinach - 1/2 cup(tightly packed)
Sesame seed - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying
Water - as needed

Procedure
First measure & take the spinach, add into the blender along with 2 to 3 tbsp of water and grind into smooth paste. Keep it aside until use.
In a bowl, add rice flour, roasted gram powder, sesame seed and salt, give it a good mix, then add the butter.
Mix the butter with the flour well, then add the spinach puree, if needed add more water and make a smooth dough.
Use the star shape disc in the murukku press and fill it with dough and squeeze the dough as concentric circle in the back of the laddle.
Heat the oil for frying, then add the dough gently into the oil and fry till the "shh" sound stops.
Drain the murukku from the oil and place it on the tissue paper. Once it's completely cooled, store it in air tight container.
Tasty and crispy Spinach Murukku is ready. For more festive sweets and snacks, check out my collections
Notes:
  • You can use black sesame seed instead of white sesame seed too.
  • Cook the murukku in medium flame and also remove them once the sound "shh" stops.

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