Hi

Could not update my blog because I was
1. Busy with the wedding of my son Arvind which took place on 28th June,2009.
2. Lillymammamma (my mother)had a fall and fractured her hip-thigh joint on 17th July.Underwent an emergency surgery and is now recuperating. With all good wishes of the followers of this blog she should be back on her feet like before.

Easy Coconut Cookies

This is also a recipe from a magazine which I copied to my recipe book long back,I do not remember which magazine, but this comes out well and children love it .

Ingredients:
Flour (maida) : 1/2 cup
Castor Sugar : 1 cup
Grated coconut : 2 cups
Egg whites : of 4 eggs
Vanilla essence : a few drops ( 3 or 4)

Method:
Beat egg whites till stiff.Add vanilla essence. Mix in the flour and coconut scrapings and mix well. Take a baking tray and grease it.Sprinkle some flour on to the greased tray. Now drop tablespoons full of the mixture on to the tray and bake in moderate oven (250 deg Centigrade) for about 15 minutes or till golden brown. Cool and then store in an air-tight container.

Sweet Sour Mango curry

The lovely mango season is just round the corner and what better recipe can I post than that with ripe but sour mangoes which you may have bought by mistake!

Ingredients:
Sweet sour mangoes (size of your fist) : 5 or 6 ( Ripe but sour mangoes)
Jaggery : 250 gms
salt : 1/4 tsp
Green chillies : 5 nos.
Wheat flour or maida : 1 Tbsp
For seasoning:
Mustard : 1 tsp
Edible oil : 2 tsp
karbev leaves: 6 or 7
Urad dal : 1 tsp

Method:
Take a thick bottomed vessel and keep the washed mangoes in it and add water to just cover it.Place on stove, cover & cook till the mangoes are done.When cool remove the skin of the mangoes and put it back in the vessel and slightly squeeze the mangoes in the water in which the mangoes were cooked so that the juice gets mixed with water. Now add slit green chillies,jaggery and salt and bring to boil till the liquid thickens with jaggery. Next mix the wheat flour in 3 Tbsp water so that no lumps are formed.Pour this into the vessel and mix well and bring to boil stirring continuously.You can see the liquid thickening. Remove from the stove.Season with the seasoning items given above by heating oil and adding the mustard, urad dal ( let it become golden brown) and karbev leaves in that order and drop into the curry whrn hot.Stir well and serve hot with Indian any lunch.

Panha

This is a recipe for a fruit drink made out of raw mangoes ideal and cooling for the summer.
Ingredients:
Raw (sour) green mangoes : 2 no.s (Large ones peel and cube)
Sugar : 2 cups
Water : 1 cup
Ginger : 1/4 inch (cleaned and grated)
Pepper powder : 1 pinch
Salt : 1 pinch

Method:

Cook the cubed mangoes in 1 cup of water in thick bottomed vessel till soft and done. Add the sugar and boil till sugar dissolves well . Add pepper, salt and ginger shreds and let boil till the fluid thickens slightly. Remove from stove and cool. Put in a blender to blend. Store in the fridge and use like squash by adding cold water and ice before serving. If you do not like ginger you can do without it.

Some Advice!!

Hi all,

Thanks for browsing through my Blog, my little effort to do something worthwhile in the evening of my life! But here's what I would like you all to do- other than wash,clean,cook ,feed and take care of your family and home ever so lovingly.

Me being so old can't help giving ADVICE!! Try this, do something other than the usual in your life- have you tried to awaken your dormant or hidden artistic talents be it singing,dancing, sewing or even drawing and painting? Just try and see how much more fulfilled you feel. Your own family will love it and look at you in a different light , in fact appreciate you. Reserve a few hours a week for your interests and see how you feel and what you achieve, after all we live only once and on the Womens' Day I have nothing but this to say- do something../anything for yourself.

I may or may not be around , but you will surely remember me for telling you all this!
And don't forget , all good things should be passed on....

Marie Biscuit Cake-Needs no baking

Here's a simple "cake"you can make with Marie biscuits!There is no baking involved!

Ingredients:

• Marie Biscuits : 1 packet ( or 15 biscuits)
• Fresh white butter : 4 Tbsps
• Coarsely powdered roasted cashew nuts : 1 cup
• Milk : 2 to 3 Tbsps
• Powdered sugar : 1 cup
• Cocoa : 4 Tbsps
• Raisins : 1 Tbsps
  

Method :

Crush the Marie biscuits to a coarse powder. Beat sugar and butter well. Next add the milk and cocoa and mix thoroughly. Now add the crushed Marie biscuit and raisins and mix well.
Grease a rectangular baking dish, preferably made of metal and spread the mixture in it evenly.Next sprinkle the powdered cashew on top. Keep in the refrigerator freezer for a short time till it hardens then transfer to the shelf in the refrigerator. Cut into diamonds or squares and serve. Kids will love this!

Kadgi Sukkhe(Raw Jack-fruit dry curry-side dish)

Ingredients:

1. 8" long Raw Jack-fruit (kadgi) , outer thick skin peeled and cubed.
2. Coconut scrapings : 1 cup (250 ml cup)
   
3. Red chillies : 6 no.s
4. SeedlessTamarind : Lime sized, soak
5. Urad dhal : 2 tsps
6. Oil , mustard and karbev (curry) leaves for seasoning . Salt to taste.
   

Method:
Cook the kadgi pieces in very little water in a cooker for 1 whistle. When cooled, drain the water and keep for use later. Now crush the kadgi pieces lightly with a pestle.

In a small pan (panna dhavlo or panna kayili) add 1/2 tsp oil and fry the urad dhal and chillies till golden brown.

Grind in a mixie coconut scrapings, tamarind pulp and chillies to a medium coarse paste with less than 1/2 cupwater used for boiling the kadgi pieces. Add the roasted urad dhal now in the mixie and run it only for 15 seconds. This way the flavour of roasted urad dhal is preserved.

Now take a bigger kadai (pan), pour the oil, when it is hot add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add curry leaves. Now add the cooked kadgi pieces and mix well.Then add the coarsely ground masala and salt. Mix well and cover and cook for 10 minutes taking care to stir it now and then. The curry should be dry.This is a typical side dish in a Mangalorean Konkani meal.

If you replace urad dhal with a one tablespoon of coriander seeds, then this curry becomes "chakko".

Raw Jackfruit and Raw Mango Pickle

This pickle is called " Raw Jack-fruit Adgayi" in Konkani. As the mango season is so close you can try this mouth watering recipe.

Method:

Take 1/4 of medium size (length about 6 to 8 inches) raw jackfruit and two medium size fresh green and raw mangoes.

Peel and cube raw jack-fruit ( hereafter I will call it Kadgi). Boil these in water to which salt is added. This is just to make the pieces tender but firm enough to eat. Boil say, for 5 minutes.This boiling is NOT for cooking the vegetable. Cool and keep the salt water for use later in the recipe. Cool it and put it on a piece of cloth .

Cut the mangoes to 1/2" squares with the skin on.

Now dry fry in little bit of oil the following till golden brown, adding one by one in the order given below:
Coriander seeds : 1 Tablespoon fry then add
Dry Red chillies : 10 to 12 fry and then add
Fenugreek (methi) seeds : 1/2 tsp
Mustard : 1.1/2 tsp fry all and add
Last
Turmeric powder : 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida(hingu) : a pinch or two depending on the strength of hing
when hing smell comes up nicely , remove from pan and cool. Grind these in a mixie with the salt water ( adjust the addition of water , to get a fairly thick liquid after grinding- consistency like chocolate sauce)This pickle will be dark brown in color.
To this liquid, add mango pieces and kadgi pieces, and if required add salt. Keep covered for 1 day. Must keep in refrigerator thereafter and will keep for 10 days. Best eaten fresh.

It is difficult to give exact measurements for the recipe because of the size of kadgi and mangoes.
When you make it once or twice you will get the measures right.

Easy Plum Jam

Ingredients:

1. Cherry plums: 1 kg
2. Crystal Sugar: 1 kg
3. Citric acid crystals: 2 pinches
4. Essence : 3/4 to 1 tsp (Raspberry/Mixed Fruit)

Method:

Wash the cherry plums well and put in a thick bottomed pan. Keep the pan on lighted stove, add 1 tablespoon of water and cover with a lid. Cook on high fire. Be near the stove! In a short time the plums would have cooked. Remove the pan from fire.

When cooled, slowly remove the pips (seeds) and lightly mash with a spoon. Do not put in mixie /blender etc. Add the sugar and keep on lit stove again. Keep stirring alternating from medium flame to high flame taking care not to let it get burnt. The hot mixture gets a glossy shine, check for two to three string consistency (when you dip a flat spoon in the mixture and lift it up, the pulp should fall off slowly). Or simply drop a small lump of the sugar plum pulp in a bowl and put a few teaspoons of cold water on it. The jam should not dissolve, then it is done.
Remove from fire, add citric acid crystals and essence and mix well.

Fill in clean, sterilized glass bottles.

Greengram and Methi Sprouts curry

Ingredients

1. 11/4 cup green gram (whole moong) soak and sprout
2. 1/2 cup of methi seeds (fenugreek) soak and sprout.
3. 3/4 of Fresh coconut scraped fine.
   
4. Green chillies : 5 or 6 (or as per taste)
5. Jeera(cumin) seeds : 1 Tbsps
6. Refined Oil : 1 Tbsps

Mustard and Curry leaves(Karbeva) for seasoning.

Method :
In a Pressure cooker, cook the sprouts till one whistle.Don't over cook.
Grind to a course paste the coconut scrapings, green chillies and jeera in a mixie.
Mix this with the cooked sprouts, add some water and salt , mix well and bring to boil on a stove on sim fire. Now season with oil, mustard seeds and karbev. Use as a side dish with South Indian meals or can be had with chappathis. This is a nutritious side dish.

Now Grandma Makes her first Techie Video !