A Plum post!

The thing that I like most about summers is the bounty of colorful fruits that it offers. Not just mangoes but Jamuns, Litchis,peaches apricots, cherries, plums we have been savoring them all! The lad is a fresh fruit lover and loves snacking on them. The little lady of our house on the other hand is a mango addict but refuses to eat any other fruit. The only way to feed her fruits other than mangoes and bananas is to sneak them in shakes or smoothies.

The gorgeous weather (yes finally it’s raining here!) has increased the frequency of the kids’ hunger pangs. That also means my mind is constantly thinking of recipes to satiate the ever hungry kids with ‘different’ yet wholesome food. (I wonder how my mother managed when we were growing up?)

Litchis went into salads and Granitas when it was warmer. Peaches/apricots in crisps and parfaits.

Plums  were a bit tricky to sneak in -since the boy loves tart fruits but no sweets for him. The daughter wont eat tart fruits but loved her sweets.

I had some leftover coconut milk from a Thai curry made earlier. On a whim I decided to make Sol Kadhi sans the Sol-The kokum. So you can call this ‘Plum Kadhi’ instead. The end result was as appetizing as the quintessential Maharashtrian favourite Sol Kadhi (have blogged about it here earlier).

Plum Kadhi recipe

Makes ~ 4 cups

Ingredients

1  1/2  cups Coconut milk

~ 2  1/2 cups water

2 Plums pitted and chopped

¼ tsp green chilli paste

¼ tsp garlic paste

Black Salt to taste

Cumin powder and coriander or mint leaves for garnishing

Method

Blend all the ingredients except cumin and coriander/mint leaves together.

Chill and Garnish with cumin powder/coriander/mint leaves.

 

To satisfy the little on I made Plum Karanji-handpies. I chose to bake instead of deep fry the local favourite sweet Karanji with a Plum twist. A  layered cover (also called as Satha/Sathyachya karanjya in Marathi) wherein I substituted half the quantity of  all purpose flour with whole wheat flour and filled it with a sweet and sour plum filling. The end result was a stunning (specially when cut), crisp karanji with an unsual  sweet -sour  taste- almost a cross between a karanji and a hand pie and hence they are Plum Karanji-handpies !

Plum Karanji recipe

Makes ~ 6 Karanjis

Ingredients

For the cover

¾ cup All purpose flour

¾ cup Whole wheat flour

3 tsp fine semolina

4 tbsp ghee melted

2 tsp icing sugar

Pinch of salt

~ ½ cup milk or enough to knead a tight dough

 For the filling

7-8 Crisp plums, pitted and chopped

3 tbsp scrapped fresh coconut

2 tbsp crushed/powdered cashewnuts

¼ tsp clove powder

¼ tsp cinnamon powder

~ 6 tbsp powdered jaggery (or to taste)

 For layering

4 tsp ghee

2 tsp Cornflour

Cinnamon sugar for dusting (optional)

Method:

For the filling:

In a pan add the plum, coconut and jaggery. Cook on a low flame  till the liquid evaporates (~ 4-5 minutes)

Add the cashewnut powder and the spices.

Mix well and cool completely.

 For the layering mixture:

Whisk the ghee  a few times till it becomes fluffy.

Add cornflour and whisk again.

 For the Cover

In the bowl of the food processor add all the cover ingredients except the milk. Pulse 1-2 times

Add the milk slowly till a firm dough is formed. Knead into a ball.

Cover and keep aside for half an hour.

Halfway through the waiting time heat the oven to 180 deg C.

After half hour, cut the dough into 4 equal parts.

Form a ball of 1 dough piece and roll out into a thin circular disc ~ 6 inch diameter

Keep aside, covered.

Roll out the 2^nd dough ball to a thin circular disc like a chapati.

Spread about a tsp of the ghee cornflour mixture evenly on the rolled out dough.

Cover this with the rolled out chapatti no 1.

Repeat the with the 3^rd and 4^th dough ball. Total you have 4 rolled out chapatti like discs layered with the ghee-cornflour mixture.

Put a tsp of the cornflour-ghee mixture on top of the 4^th layer.

Make a tight roll of the layered chapattis, like a Swiss roll.

Trim both the edges and cut the rest of the roll into 6 pieces approximately 1 inch each.

Cover the other cut pieces till you roll out and fill the first one

With the cut side down roll out each piece into a circle like a poori

Place 1 tsp of the plum filling in the centre of the poori

Cover one side of the poori with the other into a semicircle-karanji shape.

Seal the ends using a fork or a fluted cutter

Place on a greased baking tray and bake till golden in color (~ 15 mins)

Dust with Cinnamon sugar mixture (optional)

Serve hot

 

With just 10 days to go for the first Indian Food Bloggers Meet ,the IFBM FB page is abuzz with all the upcoming excitement.There are several contests for participating bloggers being held as a run-up to the actual meet.

I am sending the ‘Plum Kadhi‘ and the ‘Plum Karanji Handpies‘ to the KitchenAid Plum contest

Mango Sheera (Ambyacha Sheera)

Sheera– is a traditional Maharshtrian sweet, usually served as ‘Prasad’ for Satyanarayan puja. Sheera also is an all time favourite breakfast for many Maharashtrians.

If you have unexpected guests and have not time to cook up any other sweet Sheera is a very good way of showing them you care! And Sheera never lets you down… it always turns out to be good.

The Sheera that is made for ‘Prasad’ usually has slices of banana in it.

I made Mango Sheera (Ambyacha Sheera) for my little one on his birthday, who like me does not have a sweet tooth but enjoyed this Mango Sheera very much. 

I hope the lovely Padmaja of Spicy Andhra likes it too, since I am sending this good old Mango Sheera for her debut Event (as a host ) WBB#11 –‘Summer Fruits’. Thanks Padmaja for hosting WBB with such a sunny and fresh theme J

__________________________________________________________                                                            Mango Sheera recipe

Servings :5-6 _____________________________________________________ 

Ingredients:

 1 ½ cups Rava/Semolina (medium coarse)

 1 ½  cups Milk

1 ½ cups water

1 cup ripe Mango pulp

1 cup sugar

~ 2 tbsp homemade Ghee 

For the garnishing:

6-7 Cashewnuts chopped

10-12 golden raisins

Few strands of Saffron, soaked in warm milk 

(Usually we measure ingredients using Vati or Katori in our kitchens. Cups are used only for measuring ingredients for cakes. I have changed the measures here to cups since it is easy to understand for everyone.) 

In a heavy bottom Kadai/wok heat 2tsp of the ghee. Fry the cashew nut pieces and raisins in it, drain and keep aside. In the same ghee, roast the Rava/semolina till it turns golden brown and you get a nice smell of roasted Rava. Remove in a plate and cool.

In the same Kadai mix milk and water and bring to a boil. Add the roasted rava and cook stirring continuously so that no lumps are formed. Cook on low flame for some time stirring in between.

 After the Rava is half cooked add sugar. Mix properly and cook for a few minutes more, stirring in between.

Add the mango pulp ,mix nicely so that the pulp get mixed up homogenously. Cook till all the liquid has been absorbed.

Add the remaining ghee (optional) and the saffron strands dissolved in warm milk. Mix nicely. Saffron adds to the lovely ‘Mango’ colour of this Sheera.Cover and cook for a 1-2 minutes.  

Garnish with the fried Cashew pieces and golden raisins. 

Variation: You can use Pineapple instead of mango to make Pineapple Sheera.

Methi Mutter Malai (Fenugreek- Green Peas curry)

Last weekend, we had some guests from Bangalore. We took them to a nearby winery- Sula wines, acres of vineyards on the backdrop of beautiful green hills! Serene Atmosphere! The best part about this winery is you can walk in whenever you want without prior permission. We were also taken on a tour of the manufacturing facility. I am not a ‘Wine person’ but I am an analytical Chemist by profession, so the tour was quite informative- the process of wine making, analysis of wines etc..

You can also indulge in ‘Wine tasting’ at the bar for which I wasn’t allowed since I had taken my little one along (he wasn’t allowed in the tasting area) He had no regrets. He was happy running around in the garden and the vineyards!

Our guests had dinner with us, so it had to be elaborate- Methi Mutter Malai , Alu Vadi (recipe coming up), Green Tomato chutney, Bell Pepper Salad along with some Rasam , Rotis and Lemon Rice.Methi Mutter Malai , Alu Vadi, Green Tomato chutney and Bell pepper salad were a hit.They even took down the recipes and have promised me that they will surely give it a shot!You do the same.

For Methi Mutter Malai you need:

½ bunch Methi leaves chopped

1 cup Fresh Mutter (Green peas) boiled

½ cup cashewnuts

3-4 green chillies

½ tsp Garam masala

2 garlic pods (optional)

¼ tsp white / black pepper powder

¼ tsp Cinnamon powder 

2tsp butter

½ tsp cumene seeds

½ tsp sugar

2 tbsp Malai (fresh cream)

Salt as per taste

Boil 1 cup water and add ¼ tsp salt. Add the chopped Methi leaves.Boil for 10 minutes and strain the leaves. This reduces the bitter taste of Methi, which doesn’t go well with this particular recipe. You can use the left over water for making Rasam/Dal or even for making chapatti doughGrind together Cashewnuts, Green chillies and garlic (optional).Add little water if required.In a pan (Kadai) take 2 tsp butter. Add the cumene seeds. Then add the cashewnut-chilly mixture.Add about 1 ½ cups water and boil it nicely stirring in between.Add the masalas -Garam masala, Cinnamon powder .Add the Methi leaves , mix nicely and then add the Mutter (Peas). Cook for a few minutes.Add salt, sugar and pepper powder. Adjust the consistency to your liking. Cook for a few more minutes. Switch off the gas and then add the Malai.Serve hot with Rotis.

Methi Mutter Malai has a little sweetish taste- like most Malai recipes. Though I prefer spicy food, this is good for a change!

 I have to warn you this is one dish loaded with lotso’ calories. But Imind that on a chill winter night!

Sweet Sweet Pongal

The month of Shravan (5^th month of the Hindu calendar) is one of the most auspicious months here in India. It also brings along number of festivals, Rakhi Purnima being one of them.

 Rakhi Thali

The festival of Rakshabandhan (as it is called in the Northern parts of
India) or Rakhi purnima (as it is called in Maharshtra) celebrates the special bond of love between brothers and sisters.A rakhi (beautiful silk thread) is tied by the sister on her brothers wrist.  

Like all other festivals of India, this festival is incomplete without festivities and festive food.Though not the traditional Rakhi recipe,this Rakhi I am serving Sweet Sakkar Pongal to my brother through this blog:

Ingredients:

2 cups rice

½ cup yellow moong dal roasted

2 ½  cups milk

1 cup water

1 tbsp dry coconut powder roasted

1 cup jaggery dissolved in little water (proportion can be changed depending on the sweetness required)

2 tbsp ghee

¼ tsp Cardamom powder

few strands of saffron warmed and crushed,

15-20 golden raisins fried in ghee

8-10 cashewnuts sliced and fried in ghee

Method:

Wash and drain the rice and roasted yellow moong dal. Pressure cook the rice and moong dal with 2 ½  cups milk and 1 cup water. In a heavy bottom pan heat 2tbsp ghee.Add the roasted coconut powder. Now add the dissolved jaggery and cook for a few minutes. Add the cooked rice and moong dal mixture. Cook nicely till water evaporates and the colour of mixture turns into a beautiful brown. Add cardamom powder,crushed saffron strands, golden raisins and cashewnut slices. Serve hot or cold.