Home-made Curd

Why waste money on buying curd when you can make it very easily at home? It is recession time guys, save money !!!

Ingredients:
Curd - 2-3 tbsp
Lukewarm milk

Method:

• Boil Milk. Keep it to cool
• Take a steel or glass bottle, Add curd.
• Pour lukewarm milk to this bottle over curd.
• Close the lid and keep it on the kitchen counter for overnight.
• When the curd has formed, Refrigerate.

Source: My mother

Meen Peera Pattichathu ( Fish in grated coconut and kukum star)

Spring has started.It is fine weather outside.Now everybody has thrown of their jackets. Little girls are now in colorful frocks. I started searching for salwars in my closet. Well, it is really an irony. When I was a  kid I used to love wearing Shorts and T-shirt. When I grew up I loved pants and Capri. I fought with my Dad when he decided to send me to a college were salwar was compulsory. As a teenager my view was " Salwars are for mummy's and married women". There I used to wait for an occasion like tour so that I can go back to my comfortable outfit. Now I am in USA. A place where people is not bothered about what others are wearing. Now been 5 years, I have changed, my taste has changed....when it is good weather here, you can see me in salwars now.

One day my sister met one of my college professor and she asked her about me. When she told her that I am in  US, my teacher told her ..." ha, ha.... now she can wear whatever she likes." My sister just gave her a smile. 

That much for weather and me. Here goes a recipe. This is a very healthy and easy recipe. There is no oil in this recipe.

Ingredients:

1)Fish ( Cut into pieces) - 3 Lb

2)Green chilly( cut lengthwise) - 10-12

3) Chopped Small onions- 10

4) Finely chopped ginger - 1 piece

5) Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

6)Grated Coconut - 3-4 cup

7)Kukum star (Kudompuli) - 4-5 pieces

8) Curry leaves

9) Salt

Method:

• Soak kukum star ( Kudompuli) in half cup of warm water.
• In a clay pot or pan, Mix  grated coconut, green chilly, onions, ginger, turmeric, curry leaves and salt with your hands. Add kudompuli with the water. Add fish and water enough to cook the fish.
• Place the pan on fire. When it starts boiling, reduce the heat. Cook till the water has dried up. It is ok if there is a little bit water left.

Source: My mother

Brownie (My sister's own recipe)

This recipe and picture was sent to me by my youngest sister, Maria. She makes cakes, desserts, pizza,  puddings, pasta, wafers, Nan.....etc. I always tell her to start a blog. But she don't want to do it. But she is a active critic and support of my blogs. She had send me recipes of her and was telling me that it is perfectly o.k with her if I used it as mine and take the credit. Well, even it is my sister's I don't want to take undeserved credits. Here goes one of her recipes, that is perfectly her own recipe.

Ingredients:

    1)    Butter- ½  cup

    2)   Cocoa powder - 10-12 Tbsp

    3)    Powdered sugar- 2 cup

    4)     Flour - 2/3 cup

    5)     Salt- ½ Tsp

    6)      Eggs – 2

    7)    Vanilla extract - 1 Tsp

    8)     Milk – ¼ cup

    9)    Chopped cashewnuts/ walnuts or pecans – 2 cups

Method:

·         Preheat the oven at 320F (160°C).

·         Melt the butter and add cocoa powder. Mix well.

·         Add sugar, flour, salt, eggs, vanilla extract and milk to the above mixture and mix well.

·         Add  cashew nuts, walnuts or pecans pieces. ( She used cashew nuts since other nuts were not easily available in kerala.)

·         Bake for 35-40 minute until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

·        Cut into squares and serve.

Source of Recipe & Picture: Maria (My sister)

Kappa Vevichathu (Tapioca )

"Kappa and Fish curry" is one of the favorite combination of Kottayam side. It can be served any time of the day- breakfast, lunch, snack , dinner. I sometimes make it for dinner when we need a change.

Ingredients:
1.Tapioca - 2 Lb (908 gm) ( 1 'daily delight' packet)

For Grinding
2. Grated Coconut - 1 cup
3. Green chilly - 2
4. Small onions - 2
5. Garlic- 1 slice
6. Cumin- 1/4-1/2 tsp
7. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Boil tapioca with salt and  lots of water. Drain all the water when it is cooked. 
• Add little water and grind-ed ingredients. Mix well
• Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When it is popped, add curry leaves and red chilly.
• Add it into tapioca and mix well.

Kuttucurry- My own recipe

Lent season.... time to try out new vegetarian dishes. This dish was the outcome of my experiment. 

Ingredients:
1.Chana/ Chickpeas / Kadala -  1/2- 1cup (I added 1 cup because I like lot of chickpeas in kuttucurry)
2.Carrot (diced) -2
3.Potato (diced) - 1
4.Zucchini (diced)- 1
5.Raw Banana (diced) - 1
6.Ginger - 1 piece
7.Pepper powder - 1 tsp
8.Chilly powder- 1/2 tsp
9.Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Salt
11. Curry leaves
12. Coconut oil - 1-2 tbsp

For grinding:
Grated Coconut - 1- 1 1/4 cup
Green chilly - 1
Cumin- 1 tsp

Method:

• Pressure cook chana with enough water  for 3-4 whistles or until cook.
• Cook the vegetables with ginger, pepper powder, Chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt.
• Add cooked chana and mix well.
• Add the grind-ed ingredients and cook with the lid closed for 2-3 minutes.
• Heat coconut oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. After it is popped add 1 tbsp of grated coconut, Red chilly and curry leaves. Saute well.
• When the grated coconut turn brown add it into the kuttucurry. Mix well.

Buttercream Icing/ Frosting on Thomas Train Birthday Cake

This is the first cake I made with Icing. Mainly I used Butter cream Icing in this cake. Sheet cake and tunnel I frosted with buttercream. Pond, Rails and trees I made with fondant Icing. Train is a toy.I made Butter cream Icing at home and gave colors using Wilton Icing colors. Fondant Icing I brought from store and colored it using  Wilton Icing colors and I shaped it to ponds, Rails and trees.Tree's bottom is cinnamon stick. For Pebbles, I used chocolate covered raisins. Birthday wish was written in edible ink. But that was a mistake. Edible ink work better on fondant icing not on butter cream frosting. You can see it on the cake.

This I made for my eldest son's 4th Birthday. He is fond of trains especially Thomas train. So I decided to make a  Cake with Thomas train theme for his birthday. He was really excited and started asking me for his cake I week before his birthday.

Finally his birthday was approaching. I baked one sheet cake and some cupcakes one night and kept it for cooling at room temp. Cakes should be cooled well before frosting. Next day I made Icing and started frosting. I haven't attended any Icing classes so far. So it took me hours and hours for the frosting and decoration. I slept around 2'O clock that night. My son's excitement and happiness worth all the hard work and 2 night sleep. He sat with me during Icing section till 1.30 am. Saying thanks in between. He had lot of questions and want to help me in between.(You can see his hands and legs in some pics). Sometimes his child like curiosity, naughtiness  and help  was giving me more trouble than help . He tried to move his train on his cake's rails and since Icing was not dried yet, I had to stop him. I promised that he can do it on his bday. He helped me with the pebbles and he enjoyed doing it.  I asked him to go to his bed since his eyes looked heavy. But he sat till decoration was somewhat over. Here, goes the Buttercream Icing Recipe.

Ingredients:
1)Solid vegetable shortening - 1/2 cup
2)Butter - 1 stick or Margarine softened - 1/2 cup
3)Clear vanilla extract or Clear Almond extract - 1 tsp
4) Sifted confectioner's sugar - 4 cups
5) Milk/ Water - 2 tbsp

Method:

• In a large bowl, beat shortening and butter. Add extract. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. In between scrap sides and bottom of bowl. Icing will appear dry when all the sugar has been mixed. Add milk. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
• Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

Source for buttercream Icing Recipe: Wilton

Note:

• Keep the icing bowl in fridge when not in use. Refrigerated in an air-tight container this icing can be stored for 2 weeks. Re-whip before using.
• For thin (Spreading) consistency icing, add 2 tbsp light-corn syrup, water or milk.
• For Pure White Icing ( Stiff Consistency), omit butter, substitute an additional 1/2 cup shortening for butter and add 1/2 tsp no-color butter flavor. Add up to 4 tbsp light corn syrup, water or milk to this for icing cakes

My inspiration into cake decoration is my friend, Manju. She got a real talent in cakes decoration and baking. Check out this link : mmkakes.wordpress.com, www.mmkakes.wordpress.com

Ghee- fried Banana (Ethaka) QUICK & EASY

Amma had send me 2 jar of home-made ghee made from our own cow's milk. So I use lot of ghee in my recipes. This is a snack dish that is very easy to make. You can give them to your kids when they come from school. When I was a kid, I used to love it has an afternoon snack. Day before yesterday my youngest son ( 18 month old) was really fussy with food. He didn't eat lunch and he refused the fruits I gave him. So I made this for a change and he ate it. Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients: 
1) Banana -1 ( cut into 6 pieces)
2) Ghee
3) Sugar

Method:

• Heat Ghee in a frying pan. Add  sliced banana. Fry it until it is golden brown or slight blackish.
• Sprinkle with sugar and serve hot.

Recipe Source: My mother

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