Sweet Corn Soup

I love to have piping hot soups during winter but my husband is not really a soup lover.
So I always try to experiment with my veggies to bring out something simple and yet tasty so that I can make him enjoy his soup.
This is my version of a very simple, tasty and easy to make recipe with very few ingredients.
I am sure you will try this at home, so here we go:

Ingredients:

Corn	2 cups
Water	2 cups
Pepper	1 tsp
Salt	As per taste
Sugar	1 tsp
Milk or Cream	½ cup
Corriander leaves	To garnish
Spring onion greens	To garnish

Method:

Pressure cook corn for 5 to 8 minutes. Allow to cool, add some water and grind to a smooth paste.
Strain and allow to boil the soup. Add salt, sugar and pepper as per your taste.
Add water to make the soup of desired consistency.
Add milk, mix well and remove from heat after just one boil.
Garnish with corriander leaves and spring onion greens and serve hot.

Note:
If you want a rich and thick soup you can add cream instead of milk. But I like my soup very light so I used milk.




 

Idiyappam or Nool Puttu

Idiyappam is a typical kerala dish which is made from raw rice or rice flour.
It can be made in two ways - by soaking raw rice for 4 to 6 hours, grind it and cook the batter till loose and smooth or alternatively by making a smooth paste from rice flour and boiled water.
It is a very healthy dish because it is made with rice and steam cooked.
Here's the recipe

Ingredients:

For Method 1:

2 cups    Raw rice

2 tbsp    Coconut oil

1 tsp      Salt

1/2 cup  Grated Coconut

For Method 2:

2 cups    Rice Flour

2 cups    Boiled water

2 tbsp Coconut oil

1 tsp Salt

1/2 cup Grated Coconut

Method 1:

Wash and soak raw rice in water for 4 to 6 hours and grind to a smooth paste.
Heat oil in a pan. Add rice batter and salt. Keep flame in medium and stir continuously to form a loose dough like consisency.
Take off from heat. Put the dough into Seva Nazhi or Idiyappam Press and spread over the plates of Idiyappam stand or onto the plates of Idly stand.
Steam cook in high flame till steam comes, lower the flame and cook for 5 to 7 minutes.
Top each layer with freshly grated coconut.
Serve hot with Sambar, Chutney, Coconut Milk, Kadala Curry, Chicken Curry or Egg Masala.

Method 2:

Add boiled water to rice flour. Add salt and coconut oil and mix well with a spoon to make a smooth and loose dough.
Put the dough into Seva Nazhi or Idiyappam Press and spread over the plates of Idiyappam stand or onto the plates of Idly stand.
Steam cook in high flame till steam comes, lower the flame and cook for 5 to 7 minutes.
Top each layer with freshly grated coconut.
Serve hot with Sambar, Chutney, Coconut Milk, Kadala Curry, Chicken Curry or Egg Masala.
 

Garlic Buns

I always wanted to try some bread varieties - like white bread, brown bread, garlic bread, spicy buns etc but was very scared to try it as I was not sure if it would come out well. I have been searching for some easy bread or bun recipe which I could try - preferably with a small amount of ingredients so that I can try if it comes out well. I got this wonderful, super simple recipe from Rak's Kitchen which really inspired me to give it a try. I modified it a bit but the basic recipe is from her blog.

So here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

1 & 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp      All Purpose Flour

1/2 cup                           Water

3/4 tbsp                          Yeast

3/4 tsp                            Salt

1 tbsp                             Sugar

2 tbsp                             Olive oil

3-4                                 Garlic

1 tbspn                           Milk or egg wash

2 tsp                              White sesame seeds

Method:

Add sugar, salt and yeast to 1/2 cup warm water and mix well.

Take 1 & 1/2 cup flour in a big mixing bowl and add the sugar-yeast mixture to the flour

Add 1 tbsp olive oil and knead well. You may add little more water if needed to make a soft dough.
I added 2 more tbsp of water while kneading.

 

The dough may be a little sticky at this point but don't worry.

Cover the bowl with a cloth, cling film or aluminium foil and allow to rise in a warm place in kitchen for 1 or 2 hours. The dough should be double the size.

 

Now this is my favourite part in this entire recipe - Punch the dough when it is double to release the carbon di oxide from yeast and knead again for 5 to 10 mins.

While kneading keep adding remaining 1/2 cup flour little by little to avoid the dough sticking in your hands and make a smooth dough.

 

Keep it for a second rising - covered in a bowl for 1 or 2 hours.

 

Saute garlics in remaining 1 tbsp olive oil till brown and crush them.

When the dough is double in size add the crushed garlic, knead well again and make into small round bun shapes and place in a baking tray.

Coat the top of the buns with milk or egg wash and add sesame seeds.

 

Keep aside for another 45 minutes to 1 hour for rising.

 

Preheat the oven at 180°C and bake the buns for 20 - 25 minutes or till they are golden brown outside.

Hot yummy garlic buns are ready!!!!


 

Cake Custard Pudding

Cake Custard is one of the most simple desserts to make in no time.
I tried this for the first time and it came out really well.
Even my husband who's not a great fan of desserts liked it very much.
Here's the simple recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 Litre Milk

1/4 cup Sugar

2 to 3 tbsp Custard Powder (Depending upon thickness of consistency needed)

5 Cake slices

1 cup Fruits chopped (Use any combination of fruits you like - I used pears, grapes, pomegranate)

2 tsp Honey mixed in 1/4 cup water (You can use sugar dissolved in water or milk with sugar)

Method:

Arrange a layer of cake slices in a dish you want to set the custard.

Drizzle honey water mixture on top of cake slices to make them moist.

Mix custard powder in 4 tbsp cold milk and boil remaining milk with sugar.

Stir and add the custard to boiling milk and keep stirring till it thickens.

Remove from heat and allow to cool a little.

Spread evenly on top of cake slices as a second layer.

Arrange fruits on top of custard as third layer.

You can repeat the process to form more layers if you wish. I had only three layers.

Cover with a plate or aluminium foil and keep in fridge for 1 or 2 hours before you serve.

Cut into any shape - square or wedges and serve as it is or with your choice of ice cream.

Masala Tea

I got this reciep for masala tea from a cookery site.
I wanted to make masala tea for a long time but somehow never tried it.
My husband had cold last week due to lot of travelling and a bad weather and now for the past few days he got this cough which he's not able to get rid of. So I thought this is the best time I can make masala tea. We both really enjoyed every sip of it. Its so refreshing that you will definitely try it again and again like me.

Ingredients:

1 cup Water

1 cup Milk

6 Cardamoms

1 inch piece Cinnamon

2 Cloves

1/2 tsp Pepper

2 inch piece ginger

1 small piece Star Anise

2 tsp Tea ( I used Kannan Devan Strong  - Dust from kerala as I don't get it here in Riyadh)

Method:

Boil water with tea and all the spices crushed together in a mortar and pestle. I crush ginger separately.

Boil this mixture in low flame for 5 to 8 minutes.

Strain this and add boiled milk to this and mix well.

Serve hot on a cold winter.

Gobi Paratha / Cauliflower Stuffed Paratha

Stuffed parathas  have always been my favourite, may be because I was brought up in north india.
And the good thing is now my hubby dear has also started liking it.
I have tried my hands at every kind of stuffing I could possibly think of but today I'm sharing the recipe of Gobi paratha.

Ingredients:

2 cup Atta

1 Onion, finely chopped

4 Green chillies, finely chopped

1 cup Cauliflower, finely chopped

1 piece Ginger, finely chopped

1 tsp Corriander powder

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp Cumin powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Corriander leaves

Water to make Chapathi Dough

4 tsp Oil

Method:

Add Salt and water to atta and make chapathi dough. Cover with a mosit cloth and keep for 15 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan. Add Ginger, green chillies, onion and fry well.

When onions turn brown add all the masala powders and salt. Fry well. Sprinkle 2 tsp water for masalas to combine well.

Add finely chopped cauliflower and mix well. Cook for 2 minutes.

Add finely chopped corriander leaves and remove from heat. Allow to cool.

Make balls from chapathi dough and roll into th size of puri.

Keep 2 to 3 tsp of cauliflower masala in the middle of rolled puri and fold all the sides to make a round.

Dust with atta and roll again to the shape of chapathi.

Heat tawa, add chapathi and cook in low flame for 15 seconds.

Turn and cook other side for 40 seconds.

Turn again and add oil or ghee to the sides on both sides.

Serve hot with raitha and pickle.

 

Ada Dosa

Ada dosa is one of my favourite for breakfast or dinner. Its easy to make, very filling and nutritious too. You just need to plan a little ahead for the soaking part otherwise its done in just minutes.
Here's how my mom makes it:

Ingredients:

1 cup Raw Rice

1 cup (Urad Dal, Chana Dal, Moong Dal, Moong, Toor Dal) All together

6 Red Chillies

1 Onion

1 inch piece Ginger

Few Curry Leaves

Salt to taste

Sesame oil to make dosa

Method:

Wash rice and dal and soak together for 3 to 4 hours along with Red Chillies.
Coarsely grind. Add finely chopped ginger in the last round of grinding.
Add chopped onion, curry leaves, salt and mix well.
Make into a thick batter. Add little water if needed but the batter should be of thick consistency.
Heat pan and spread the batter into thick round dosas.
Drizzle sesame oil around the sides and in the middle. Keep stove in high flame.
After 1 minute turn and cook other side in low flame till both sides are done.
Serve hot with a dollop of butter on top and Idly powder or Ulli chammanthi