Vanilla Ice Cream

This is a recipe for home made Ice cream which tastes very good.

Ingredients:

1. Full Cream Milk  1 litre.
2. Sugar   1/2 Cup
3. Cashew nuts  100 gms.
4. Custard Powder  Vanilla flavour 1 to 2  T spoons.
5. Vanilla Essence   few drops.

 Method.

Boil the Milk.    Keep aside little milk to cool  for dissolving the custard powder.  Let the Milk boil for some more time in Sim flame .(less heat.)

Soak the Cashew nuts for one hour and grind it to a smooth   paste with little cold milk. 

When the milk is boiling  add the cashew paste and stir well.  Keep stirring and add the sugar.  Keep stirring.

Add cold milk to the custard powder and make it into a watery paste and add it to the boiling mixture.  Keep stirring.  This is the thickening agent and the whole thing will become little thick. Add the vanilla essence and stir well.  switch off the stove.

 When this mixture cools,  pour it into a flat vessel (preferably an aluminium vessel as it cools faster)  and keep it in the freezer.  (you can  just line the vessel outside  with salt as it will be easier to remove from the freezer).

After 5 to 6 hours take out the vessel.  The mixture inside would be hard.  Take out with a hard sharp  spoon bit by bit and put it in a mixer and beat  it.  It will be tough to do it as it will be very hard and the mixture very cool.  do little by little not damaging your mixer.  (Indian made mixers are sturdy and I have never damaged my mixer while doing this.)

Once the whole thing becomes smooth paste put it back in the vessel and keep it again in the Freezer.

Repeat the process of beating the hard mixture once more after few hours.

After two/three hours in  the , freezer,  Ice cream is ready to serve and this will be a smooth sweet    Ice cream.

You can do different flavours of ice cream like strawberry, using strawberry flavour and little  red edible  colour added to it.  You can make into a two or three fold colour ice cream by pouring one above the other in the last stage .

For Variation, in Mango season,   Mango ice cream can be prepared.  Method is same.  Ripe mangoes can be cut and beaten in mixer to a smooth paste and added when the milk is boiling , after adding the cashews and before adding the sugar.  In this case the quantity of sugar can be reduced little bit as the sweetness of mangoes will be there in the ice cream. Beating from the freezer is same as for the  Vanilla ice cream.

Vegetable Rava Bath.

This is very much like the normal Rava upuma and uppitu but some spices are added to make it a Rava Bath.

1. Rava Semolina 1 cup
2. Oil 1 to 1 1/2 table spoons.
3. Mustard seeds 1 t spoon
4. Broken urad dal 1 t spoons
5. Channa dal 1 t spoon
6. Green chillies 2 or 3
7. Ginger 1 small piece
8. Curry leaves 1 or 2
9. Coriander leaves few (optional)
10. Onion 1 medium size
11. Vegetables few beans, 1/2 carrot, 1 small potato, a small bit egg plant, small bit bell pepper, (simla mirch or kodai milagai), few peas
12. Salt to taste
13. Turmeric powder 1/2 t spoon
14. Ghee 1 to 2 tspoon Optional
15. Water 2 to 2 1/2 cup
16. Channa dal 1 t spoon
17. Coriander seeds 1 t spoon
18. Little bit of cinnamon stick (pattai )
19. Copparai or  copra  or Dried Coconut shavings 1 table spoon
20. Oil little to fry the items from 16 to 19.

Method:
Fry the rava in a dry Kadai or iluppa chatti till light brown. 1 t spoon of ghee can be added while frying for additional taste. keep it aside.
Fry the item number 16 to 19 (channa dal, coriander seeds, cinnamon and dry coconut shavings) in little oil and powder it in a mixer and keep it aside.
Cut the onions, and other vegetables and chillies and ginger into very small bits.
Put the oil in the kadai and add the mustard seeds . Once it splutters add the urad dal and the channa dal when urad dal turns brown add the cut curry leaves and chillies and ginger. Now add the cut onions. fry till light brown and add the other cut vegetables. (all the vegetables need not be used what ever vegetable from the list given is available can be used.) add the salt and the turmeric powder. fry for a little time add the water. Now add the powder which you have ground and mix it thoroughly. Cover it with a lid. Let it boil. Check if the vegetables are cooked. When done, Reduce the flame, and add the rava little by little and keep stirring the mixture with a sturdy spoon. Stir till there is no chunks of rava in between and all the ingredients are mixed evenly. Cover it and keep it for a few minutes. add the coriander leaves and the ghee and switch off the stove.  Rava Bath  is ready.

Venthiya Dosai

This is Venthiya dosai or Menthiya Dosai a variety of Dosa which is very tasty.

This Dosa need not be turned and can be just cooked on one side and served.
Ingredients:

1. Boiled Rice (Idli Rice) 4 cups
2. Urad Dal 3/4  cups
3. Fenugreek seeds (Methi seeds) 1 Table spoon
4. Tur Dal 1 Table spoon.

Soak all the ingredients together in water for about 6 hours plus.
Grind them nicely into a paste.
Let it ferment for about 6 hours.  (Keep it in room temperature for 6 hours).  Then this can be kept in Fridge.
Take a Dosai kallu or a thick pan and keep it on the stove.
Pour one ladle of batter on the pan and make it into a round shape with the back of the ladle.  put little oil around the dosai and  keep this covered with  a plate.  After a few minutes the dosa would be done and it can be taken out and served hot. No need for turning it into the second side to cook like other dosais.

Kanjeevaram Idlis

This is a variation in the Normal Idlis we make.  This can also be eaten with, Chutney, Milagai podi or Sambhar.

Ingredients:

1. Raw Rice  1 cup
2. Boiled Rice (Idli Rice) 1 cup
3. Urad Dal 3/4 cup
4. Fenugreek seeds (Methi seeds) 1 tspoon.
5. Oil  1 t spoon to garnish
6. mustard seeds 1 tspoon.
7.  Coarsely powdered  Black Pepper 1 tspoon
8. Jeera  (Cumin Seeds)  1 tspoon
9. Salt to taste

Soak Raw Rice and Boiled Rice together for 6 plus hours.  Soak Urad dal and Methi Seeds together for  1 hour.
Grind the Rice .  It should not be very smooth so remove it when it is slightly coarse in texture.
Keep it aside.  Grind the urad dal, methi seeds , and make it into a fluffy paste by adding  water little by little.
Add salt and mix the two batters thoroughly and keep it to ferment for about 6 hours in normal temperatures.
Keep the batter in Fridge.
Take out the batter when you want to make the kanjeevaram idlis.
Take a kadai. Put the oil and the mustard seeds.  Let it splutter. add the coarsely powdered black pepper and jeera and fry for few minutes and switch off the stove.
Add the garnishing to the batter mix thoroughly and pour it in the idli thattus holders and steam it for about 7 to 10 minutes till the idlis are done.
Normally Kanjeevaram Idlis are made in a big round shape like a plate and cut into pieces.  You get what is called a 'thatte idli stand'  meaning plate idlis  in Bangalore where you can make about 4 plate idlis at a go.  Then  cut it  and serve.

Lemon juice with Pudina

Recently I visited a friend who served me this  juice  and it was so nice especially in the Bangalore summer in April. Now that it is Summer in US I thought it will be useful to  blog this recipe. I am preparing this  juice regularly at home ,  as it is always  summer and rains in KL.

Ingredients :

1. Lime or Normal Lemon  2   ( what we call 'elumichampalam' in tamil and nimbu in hindi )   
2. Pudina or Mint leaves a small bunch.
3. Sugar  4 to 6 Table Spoons.
4. Ginger one small bit.
5. Salt little.

 Method:

Wash the Pudina nicely and take out each leaves without the stalk .  add the ginger and grind these leaves  with water  in the Mixer.

Take a strainer and strain the juice.  Once again put the leaves left in the strainer   in the mixer,   add water and grind it once again.  Strain it once again.  Add little salt to this and  keep this pudina juice  in a container in the Fridge.

Take out the juice from the two Limes.  ( I had to give so much explanation for the lime part as in US Lime  and Lemon are distinctly different varieties and  I never remember which one is which.... I use the round lime here not the linear one) Remove the seeds.  Use the strainer to take out the juice so that the seeds are left on the strainer.   add little salt.

Boil or Heat  a cup of water in the micro wave and add it to sugar in a different vessel and stir.    I add boiling or hot   water because the sugar dissolves in a jiffy ,  if you just stir.  Cool it and add  this to the lemon juice.  This you can make to about 4 to 6 cups depending on the lemon you are using.

  

What I do in addition  (which my friend did not do)  is take one stalk from the Aloe Vera plant in my garden remove the skin.   You get a jelly like thing which is almost colourless.  Clean this thoroughly about 3 to 4 times in water.  Cut these into small bits and add it to the lemon  juice.  Keep this juice also in the fridge.

While serving Take  two or three  table spoons of   pudina juice and add this to a glass of lemon juice with Aloe Vera and   serve or drink .   It is  refreshing just before meals or even in between meals.

This should be taken fresh.  I keep  Lime juice in the fridge for 2 days and the pudhina juice in fridge  for 3 days

Baingan Bertha

Even though  this is not a South Indian Dish,  I do prepare this as a sidedish for Chapathis.   So  the recipe may not be authentic to its origin.  But my kids love this,  the way I prepare and hence the recipe.

Ingredients:

1. One or Two big Egg Plant./ Baingan/Katharikkai.  (The variety available in US in Super Markets and in South India people buy this to make Thuvayal.)
2. Onions 2 medium sized
3. Tomatoes 3 medium sized.
4. Green chillies 1 or 2
5. Ginger  a small bit.
6. Oil 1 Table Spoon.
7. Red Chilli Powder   1 to 1 and half T spoons.
8. Turmeric Powder (Haldi Powder) little 
9. Salt to taste
10. Jeera 1/2 T spoon.
11. Coriander leaves  to Garnish

 Method:

Wash the Egg Plant and smear it with little oil.  Keep the whole egg plant on the burning stove.  Keep it on a wire mesh if you have one otherwise you can keep it directly on the fire.  Let the burner  be in medium position.  Keep turning the Egg plant so that all sides are burnt properly with  the help of  the reverse side of a steel ladle or  steel dosa  turner  which can act as a sharp stick to hold the vegetable when you turn .   (Prick the Eggplant and hold it and turn).

Olden days this was done in 'koyla' Coal stoves.

  If you do not have a gas stove you can use the Oven and the Egg plant can be grilled in the grill  but a proper aluminium foil has to be used so as  the juices of the vegetable  falls into the foil while it is being grilled.   I am not sure of the temperature but once or twice it did happen that the smoke detector alarm went off due to this grilling.  So do this if you have experience of grilling any other dish.

I have used Micro Wave oven also to do this Baingan Bertha  and it did come out quite well .  I cut the   Egg Plant  and put it in a Corning Ware dish and kept it for 12 minutes turning after every 4 minutes.  You can take out and check if the Eggplant is well cooked , if not  you can keep it for little more time.

Put the burnt Egg Plant in a container containing cold water.  Throw the water out once it is cool.  Remove the burnt skin ( cut the crown as you would have burnt the egg plant with the crown in tact )  and smash the eggplant nicely with a spoon,  adding little salt and turmeric powder.  Keep aside.

Cut Onions  into very small pieces. Cut Tomatoes into small bits.  Cut the green chillies and ginger .

Take the 'kadai' or a thick bottom vessel and pour the oil.  Put the jeera into it and once it splutters,  (it will not splutter like mustard seeds,  and  gets done faster) add the  green chillies, ginger and onion.  Keep turning till onion turns light brown and  add the cut tomatoes. add little turmeric powder, salt and Chilli powder. Once the tomatoes turn soft add the Egg plant which has been done and kept aside.  Add little water and keep it covered.  Cook this mixture for about  10 to 15 minutes till the Egg plant nicely cooked and mixed with onion and tomatoes.  Garnish with nicely cut coriander leaves and serve with hot chapathis or puris. 

Thengai Thuvayal

Today My Anu asked for this recipe and thought I would blog this.
This is kind of chutney made with Coconut but is eaten with cooked rice and not as a side dish to Dosa or Idli.
This will be very tasty when eaten with fried Appalams  (Tamilian's    Pappads)

Ingredients

1. Fresh Grated coconut 1 Cup  (  Gratings of one side of a medium size coconut)
2. Urad Dal  Ulutham paruppu  1 and 1/2 Table spoons.
3. Red (dried) Chillies   2 or 3 
4. Little Quantity of Asafetida   (Ing or perungayam)
5. Oil  just 1/2 to 1 t  spoon for frying
6. Tamarind/Imli/puli  very small quantity,  if paste less than 1/4 t spoon.
7. Salt to taste

Method.

Fry Urad  Dal, Red Chillies, and   Ing,      in  oil in a Kadai or a  thick bottomed vessel.

When Urad dal turns brown add the Imli and salt and switch off the stove.  (While frying Urad dal, you can add a t spoon of  Channa Dal  (kadalai paruppu,   but the colour of the Thuvayal will  be more reddish.)

Now Powder this in the Mixer and add fresh grated coconut to this , add little water and make it into a paste like consistency the consistency of chutney or Thuvayal. 

The dish is ready.     Remove from Mixer and Eat it  with Hot Cooked Rice.