அம்மாவின் கீரை கூட்டு

This post is for my super-duper Amma and Appa who are "THE BEST" in this entire world. My Amma is a wonderful cook and I really admire her for the hard-work and concern she has in cooking. My Appa is always the greatest strength for her. In other words, its all about Team-work in my parents kitchen. My dad helps in prep work by cutting all the veggies and fruits - I have to mention here that if you take any measuring device to check the size of each little fragment of veggie/fruit, you'll be surprised to see how uniform each is..He's got a very special talent, it may be because he was an Engineer by profession. My mom takes utmost care in preparing the dishes and if it's festival time, she is alone by herself in the kitchen preparing tins and tins of stuff. I really feel guilty for not helping out...

This kootu I prepared for lunch today is an inspiration from my mom's cooking..To say the truth, all my recipes have come due to watching my mom cook with a smile and my dad helping out with a smile....

Keerai kootu:

I don't know the name of this keerai but found it for the first time in Indian store, it is similar to "manathakkali" keerai. Most of my cooking will not have exact measurements. It's "kannalavu" only :)

You can adjust it according to your tastebuds..

Yellow Moong dal - 1/4 cup
Chana dal - 1 tbsp
Keerai (spinach) - 2 cups
Coconut - 1/4th
Green chillies - 4
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
rasam powder - 1 tsp (my mom doesn't add this usually)

Thaalika (Tadka):
coconut oil - 1 tbsp (my mom uses ghee or veg oil mostly)
urad dal - 1 tsp
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 4
hing (perungayam) - 2 pinches

Method:

Boil water in a saucepan. Wash moongdal and chanadal. Add them to the boiling water. It takes approximately 10-15mins to get cooked in an open pan. (alternatively,you can also pressure cook). I had put the stems of the keerai also in the boiling water to cook along with dal.

Once the dal is three-fourths cooked, I added the keerai and boiled it for about 10 mins. Then, grind coconut, green chillies, jeera, rasam powder in the mixie and add it to the pan. Once it boils and comes together, keep the coconut oil and put the thallipu items and once they splutter, add them to the kootu.

It was piping hot when I took this picture and I wanted to post the video as well for you to enjoy. I don't know if the video will work, it's taking sooo much time to upload.. Serve with steamed rice. This was my lunch today with pappadum. Yummmooooo.....

மைக்ரோவேவ் தூத் பேடா

Even when I was sick, I never stopped cooking for a single day. Two reasons, one is to relax myself and the second is my husband's hand was hurt as well. At this stressful time, I had to organize and prepare my students for Gurukulam Day (I volunteer as a teacher in Sunday school). The rehearsals went really well and all my students got a really great reputation for their excellent work at such a small age. One of the rehearsal days, I wanted to surprise them with something sweet. I came across this recipe which sounded too simple to make. It indeed was simple except for the hand-action and muscle work!!



Ingredients:

Instant Dry Milk (Milk Powder) – 2 cups (150gm)
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 1, 14oz can (396gm)
Unsalted Butter – 1, 4oz stick (113gm)

Method:

1.In a microwave safe dish, melt the butter.
2.Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
3.Cook in the microwave for 3 minutes, stirring very well after every minute.
4.After the 3 minutes, mix well again and leave aside for the mixture to cool down enough to handle.
5.Once the mixture has cooled down, grease your hands and make balls.
6.Gently press the balls and flatten them to shape…round and flat.
7.Decorate them with colored sugar, almonds, cashews, pistachios or raisins.
8.Let the pedas set and cool down.
9.For a pretty presentation, place them in baking cups and serve.

Tips:

1.Powder some cardamom seeds and add to the mixture for additional flavor. (I added some cardamom powder)
2.Roll out the peda mixture and cut with cookie cutter for some fun shapes.
3.For best results, store in the refrigerator but serve at room temperature.

ரொம்ப சந்தோஷம்.....

I had been sick for a while and didn't have the mood to blog once I came out of my illness. The stress has been so much these past few years and I thought blogging might take some of that stress away...Let's see how far it works :)

My husband's birthday!

Ganesh wanted me to start the first post with his favorite. So this one is for you, sweetheart! It was my darling husband's birthday on may 3rd. I didn't buy him any gifts this year and asked him what he would like for his birthday. He immediately replied that he wanted poosanikai araichi vitta sambar and potato triangles curry for lunch. For the cake part, I ended up baking a chocolate cake as per his request which came out really good..It was so lip-smackingly delicious that my hubby wanted that to be my first post..So here you go...

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE DELIGHT!!!

(COFFEE FLAVORED MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE FROSTING)

Unbleached Cake flour - 2 cups

Baking powder - 1 1/2 teaspoons

Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt - 1/2 teaspoon

Unsweetened cocoa powder - 3/4 cup

Granulated sugar - 1 3/4 cups

Unsalted butter, very soft - 1/2 cup

Vegetable oil - 1/3 cup

Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon

Milk - 1 cup

Brewed,cooled coffee, or water - 1/2 cup (I used coffee)

4 large eggs

Place a strainer over a large mixing bowl. Measure in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa, and sugar. Sift/shake the dry ingredients through the strainer into a mixing bowl, to eliminate any lumps.

Add the butter and mix at low speed for 1 minute. With the mixer running, add the oil and continue mixing until the mixture looks like sand.

Combine the vanilla with the milk and coffee or water, and add all at once. Mix for 1 minute at low speed, stop and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, then mix for 30 seconds.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well at medium-high speed between additions. The batter will be thin.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan of your choice. I used a disposable aluminium foil round cake pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 35-45 minutes depending on your altitude. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack before frosting.

Yield: 2 9"rounds

I frosted the cake only on his birthday since I was busy with work. The recipe for frosting is as follows:

FROSTING:

18 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

3 cups whipping cream

2 to 5 teaspoons light corn syrup

Melt chocolate chips in cream over low heat in a heavy saucepan, stirring constantly, until thickened and combined. It took almost 25 minutes for me to get the right consistency. Increase heat to medium low, and cook, stirring 3 minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in corn syrup. Transfer to a large metal bowl and chill, covered. Stir frosting, every 15 to 20 minutes, until cool enough to spread, about 2 hours.

I then split the cake into 2 layers and frosted the center first. Then spread the frosting on top of the cake. I put the remaining frosting into a ziploc bag and piped a few heart decorations on it! Enjoy!!

Greetings!

This blog is dedicated to God, myself, my dear parents, my darling husband, my sister and brother's family, rohith, ritvik, other family members and friends. I'm so excited to share my thoughts on everything in my life, here in this blog. This is my first baby step and I need all your blessings to contribute further!

Regards,
Rohini.