Beef Ulathiyathu

Beef Ulathiyathu

This is a must try recipe if you are a beef lover. It is a spicy thadukada style dish. 


Ingredients:
1) Beef cut into square- 1/2 kg
2) Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
     Chilly powder - 2 tsp
     Coriander powder - 2 tsp
     Salt- to taste
3) Oil 
4) Big Onions  - 3
     Ginger - 1 piece
     Green Chilly - 4
     Coconut Slices -1/4 -1/2 cup
     Curry leaves
5)  Cardamom - 4
      Cinnamon - 1-2 sticks
      Cloves - 6
      Mace (jathipathiri) -2
      Red Chilly-5
6) Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp
      Chilly powder -1-2 tsp
      Coriander powder- 2 tsp
      Grounded aniseed (perinjeerakam) - 2 tsp
      Pepper (crushed) - 2 tsp
      Garam masala - 4 tsp
      Salt- to taste


Method:

• Pressure cook beef  with ingredients 2 and water for one whistle.
• In a large pan, heat the oil and saute ingredients 4.
• When it is brown color, add ingredients 5 and saute well.
• Add ingredients 6 and saute well till the roasted smell of masala comes.
• Add the cooked beef  and salt. 
• Stir occasionally.
• Remove from fire after all sides of beef become brown and roasted.

Note: This dish taste better after 1-2 days . This dish can be served with rice, chappathi, puttu, appam etc.

Source: Vanitha 

Apple Harvest Cake and Apple Harvest Muffins

Apple Harvest Cake  
or
Apple Harvest Muffins


This recipe is actually a bread recipe. Original recipe asks to bake in 3 small loaf pans. I once made this dish and gave it to my sister in law. Whenever I make something special, I usually give it to my neighbors and my sister in law who lives close by.(They also do the same. So I always get to taste variety of dishes) She loved it and kept on telling me how soft it was. So for her birthday I thought I will make a cake out of that recipe. I decorated it with flowers made out of fondant icing. Well, I haven't attended any classes on icing or I don't have any flower cutters (now) so please excuse the imperfections of the flowers.
This recipe can be used to make either cake or  muffin, you just have to change the baking time.

Ingredients:


1) Flour - 2 cups
2) Packed light brown sugar -1/2 cup
3) Salt - 1/2 tsp
4) Baking soda - 1 tsp
5) Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
6) Ground Nutmeg - 1 tsp
7) Ground Cinnamon- 1 tsp
8) Ground Cloves - 1/2 tsp
9) Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
10) Butter (Softened) - 3/4 cup
11) Eggs- 2
12) Pumpkin (Cooked& mashed) - 1 lb or (Pumpkin 150z can)
13) Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
14) Apples (Peeled and diced or shredded) - 4
15) Raisins- 1/2  cup
16) Walnut - 1/2 cup (optional)


Method:

•  Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Grease 9 " cake pan or muffin pan.
• In a small bowl, Mix flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, spices and brown sugar.
• In another bowl, cream sugar and butter. Beat in eggs one by one.Add  pumpkin and vanilla. Beat again. Add the flour mixture slowly stirring until it is moistened. Stir in apples, raisins and walnuts. Pour the batter into prepared pans.
• Bake the cake for 45-50 min or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• For Muffins, Bake for 20-25 min
• Cool it for 10 min and remove it from pan and place it on wire rack for cooling.

Cake - 12 serving

Muffins- 24

Recipe adapted from Home cooking the Costco way

Home-made Lemonade Syrup

Home-made Lemonade Syrup

In my family, we all are more fond of juice than tea or coffee. Juice, we prefer homemade or fresh juices. So my Mom always make syrup and keep it in fridge. She makes syrup using home- grown lemon, lovelolika (something like cranberry) , passion fruit etc... when they are in plenty.  While I am at home in India, I loved to make lemonade Syrup. There is some beauty reason behind it. After taking juice from 10-20 lemons my hands becomes soft. Health wise , it is all natural with no preservatives. After the initial work, it is all easy. We just have to add water or soda to the syrup.  Here goes the recipe....

Ingredients: 

Lime or Lemon juice - 1 cup
Ginger (Crushed) - 150 gm
Sugar - 1 1/2 kg
Water - 3 cup

Method:

In a sauce pan, add water, crushed ginger, sugar. Keep it on low-medium heat, till the sugar melts. Cool and strain. Add the lime juice. Refrigerate.

Source: My mother
Picture Courtesy : My Sister (While going through my blog she found that  this recipe lack a picture so she took a picture of my mother's lemonade syrup and send it to me. Good work, sis! )

Pineapple Payasam

Pineapple Payasam

serve- 5-10 persons

This dessert is something I made more than a dozen times and still makes because my son loves it. He calls it "Ammaamma's Ball Payasam ". My mother used to make it for him while he was in India. It was during my college days I first tried this recipe. I am a big fan of "Milkmaid". Milkmaid Recipe Book was the first recipe book I owned. Milkmaid recipes are something and might be the only one recipes I used to try during my school vacations.  Because I get to lick the Milkmaid tin after that.Once "Milkmaid" conducted a "Cooking Contest" in our college and they promised prizes for all participants. "Prize for all participants" that was something that drew my interest to the contest and second reason was that I could bunk my 2 hour class. I came home and was discussing with my mom about the recipes and my aunt suggested this recipe to me. When she reached her home she was kind enough to call and explain the recipe. I reached the college with my dish and found out that I am the only Pre-degree student and rest all were seniors that too Degree Homescience Students.   I was cursing the moment that I decided to join this competition. Well, in Malayalam (my mother tongue) there is a saying , "one mistake any policeman can make". This is what I usually say after I jump into some trouble."Anyone can have one mistake, right? " Then my family & friends tells me sarcastically ,"Yes, yes ...one mistake". 


Finally Judges arrived. And they started announcing the prizes. First they announced consolation prizes . I waited and waited for my name. What happened? They missed my name? Then came 3rd prize. Not my name. Oh! God, What is happening?   2nd prize. Not my name.... My heart started to beat. 1st prize.....Rosy Thomas. "Oh! My God, Is it a dream."


So, friends this is a recipe worth trying. Even a person like me who used to enter kitchen very rarely (Before Marriage) won the prize. Here goes, the recipe:


Ingredients:
Milkmaid (Condensed Milk) - 1 tin
Milk - 1 litre
Sago (sabuthana) -200 gm
Sugar - 5 tbsp
Chopped Pineapple - 1 cup
Vanilla essence - to taste


Method:

• Heat the sago in a pan. When it is warm, add it to boiling water. Cook it till it is transparent. Drain the water and  pour cool water so that balls wont stick together. Drain it.
• Cook the pineapple with half the sugar and cool well at room temp.
• Boil the milk. Add Milkmaid to it. Stir for 2-3 min. Add cooked sago and remaining sugar to it.Stir it until it reaches desired consistency. Cool well at room temp.
• When it is cooled, mix the pineapple to it. Add vanilla essence. 
• Chill it.

Note: Condensed Milk and evaporated milk are not the same thing. They are different.

Serve- 5-10 persons
Source: Premyaunty

Neapolitan Cheesecake

Neapolitan Cheesecake


This is the first cheesecake I made. This cake has 3 layers- Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla. 

Prep. 45min. Bake: 65 min + chilling
Serves- 12


Ingredients:
Oreo cookie  crumbs (or any cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookie) - 1 1/2 cup
Sugar - 5 Tbsp
Melted Butter -  5 Tbsp

  Filling:

 1) Softened Cream cheese - 32 oz

 2) Sugar - 1 1/3 cups

 3) All purpose Flour - 2 tbsp

 4) Heavy whipping cream - 2 tbsp

 5) Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

 6) Almond extract - 1/2 tsp

 7) Eggs (lightly beaten) -4

 8) Semisweet chocolate chips - 3/4 cup

 9) Strawberry - 1 cup

 8) Red food Coloring (optional) - 2 drops (I didn't add)

 9) Seedless strawberry jam (Warmed) - 1/4 cup

Method:

• Place a buttered 9" springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18in.square). Securely wrap foil around the pan.
• Combine cookie crumbs, sugar and butter.  Press onto the bottom of springform pan. Set aside. This is the crust.
• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour,  heavy whipping cream and both extracts. Add Eggs. Beat on low speed until just combined. Divide  batter into 3 parts.
• Melt the chocolate chips by double boiling. You can also melt it in a microwave. Cool to room temp. Stir melted chocolate to one portion of batter and pour it over the crust.
• In a mixie or food processor, puree strawberries. Add pureed strawberries and food coloring to the second portion. Gently spread over chocolate layer. 
• Place springform pan in a large baking pan and add one inch of hot water to the larger pan.
• Bake at 325 0 for 40 min or until center is just set and top appears dull.
• Gently spread remaining batter over the top. Bake for 25-30 min or until top appears dull.
• Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 min. Carefully run a knife over edges to loosen. Cool 1 hr longer and refrigerate overnight.
• Remove sides of pan and drizzle with strawberry jam.
• Decorate with strawberry .

Source: Taste of home contest winners

  

Oatmeal Applesauce Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Oatmeal Applesauce Cake With Creamcheese Frosting 

This month is a month of birthdays for me. I have many relatives celebrating birthdays on this month.Especially my grandmother who turned 90.Happy Birthday to all. This cake I specially made for my husband on his birthday. Panda I made with fondant Icing and birthday message was written using edible ink.

Ingredients:

Cake:
All purpose flour (Maida) - 1and half cup
Uncooked Oatmeal  - 1 and half cup
Salt - half tsp
Ground Cinnamon - 1 and half tsp
Ground Cloves - 3/4 tsp
Baking Powder- 1 tsp
Butter (Kept at room temp) -3/4 cup
Sugar- 1 and half cup
Eggs-4
Applesauce - 1 cup
Milk -3/4 cup
Raisins- 1 and half cup

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
•  Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Keep it aside.
• Mix all the dry ingredients - flour, oatmeal, salt, cinnamon, cloves and baking powder.
• In a large bowl, Beat butter with sugar. Add eggs, applesauce and milk. Beat again until it is well blended. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in raisins.
• Bake in the prepared pans for 30-35 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Let sit for 5 min, then remove from the pan and cool it well on wire racks.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
Butter softened- 1/2 cup
Cream Cheese- 8 ozs
Confectioners' Sugar- 2 Lb
Clear vanilla or almond extract - 1 tsp

• Beat butter and cream cheese until its smooth. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth. Add vanilla or almond extract and blend well.

Frost the cake when it is completely cool.You can add little water if the frosting is thick. 

Store it in a refrigerator.

Tips:

In cake recipes it is always advised to keep the butter and eggs at room temp.When I have to make a cake fast what I always do is that I put the butter in microwave 5 sec on each side or until it is softened. Eggs, I put it in warm water. 

Recipe Adapted from Home cooking the Costco way

Serves: 8-10

Strawberry Pudding

Strawberry Pudding

Starting a blog was something in my mind for years and I even started one 4 years back and deleted it since I didnt get time to post recipes with my new born baby. I hope this blog wont end like that.  This dish is something I made long back  and took the picture with a hope that one day I will start a  blog and post it. So the day has come. Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 Litre
Milkmaid (Condensed Milk) - 1and half tin
Strawberry Crush - 1 tin of milkmaid tin
Strawberry Custurd Powder- 4 tbsp

Method:

• Add Custurd Powder to half  cup milk. Mix well without any lumps.
• Boil rest of the milk and add milkmaid to it.
• Add the custurd powder mix to the boiling milk. Stir continuously.
• When it starts to thicken, remove it from fire and cool it.
• Add strawberry crush and pour it into a bowl and set it.
• Decorate with Strawberry and serve.

N.B. : I used fresh strawberries and chopped in a chopper.

Source: Vanitha Magazine