My Best of 2009!

Dance as if no one were watching, sing as if no one were listening and live every day as if it were your last.

Only 23 posts, spent most of my time hibernating this year. I am thankful to all my readers, fellow bloggers and my dear friends & family who encouraged me to post new recipes…..hoping to come up with more posts next year also plan to pay extra attention to my other hobbies as well… One surprising fact I have noticed is that I get more appreciation and comments for my baked goodies and other cuisine than for my traditional Kerala recipes :)

Some of my most appreciated Recipes this year are......

Night Sky Cookies

Badaami Tangri

Crusty Chicken Goulash

Fish Molee

Doughnuts

One-Bowl Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

Dinner Roll Knots

Carrot Whisky

Allipidi

Lime Pickle

I have tried several recipes from other blogs and all of them were very good. Here are some of my favorites.

Rising Phulka from Kamala


Mango Yogurt Panna Cotta from Deeba

Purple Cabbage Salad from Elanas Pantry

Chocolate Truffles from Ria

Sending this to Srivalli's Best of 2009 event.

Wishing you all a New Year filled with new hope, new joy and new beginnings!!!

Carrot Whisky / Carrot Wine!

Enjoy this Christmas Season with Carrot Wine!!!

Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized. ~ Andre Simon, "Commonsense of Wine"

Ingredients:

Carrot -3kg
Orange -2 nos
Lime -2 nos
Sugar -2kg
Raisins -300 gms (chopped)
Whole wheat - 1/2 kg
Water -5 liter
Yeast 1 ounce

Method:

• Clean & chop the carrots and boil with 5 liters of water.
• Transfer this to a bharani or a big glass bottle and add lime & orange juice & peel. (Cut the orange & lime in half, and extract the juice, using a citrus fruit juicer. Remove the orange peel and scrape off any white pith from the inside. Chop up the peel and mix it with the carrot mixture).
• Then add sugar. When the mixture becomes cool, add raisins, whole wheat and yeast.
• Tie the bottle with a clean cloth and keep aside the mixture for 3 weeks.
• Stir this mixture everyday for 5 minutes.
• After 3 weeks strain the mixture to a clean bottle and keep this mixture again for 3 more weeks untouched.
• After that slowly strain the upper part to small bottles and use.
• The peach colour of this wine will change to a richer whisky colour with aging!

Note:

• All the utensils & bottle should be clean & dry. If there is water the wine will become sour.
• Don't fill the bottle to the brink. Always leave 1/4 bottle empty.

Avalose Unda

Avalose Unda- A traditional sweetened rice balls of Kerala!

Ingredients:

Avalose podi-2 1/2 cups
Cardamom (powdered)- 1/4 tsp
Vanilla Essence-1/4 tsp
Sugar-1 cup
Water- 1/2 cup
Lime Juice- 1 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Mix sugar, water and lime juice in a bowl and keep aside for 8 hours or over night to soak.
• Heat this mixture stirring continuously till we get a single thread consistency on tapping between thumb and forefinger quickly. (You should be very careful at this point not to over cook or the Avalose Unda will be very hard).
• Remove from heat and add vanilla essence and cardamom powder.
• Add 2 cups of avalose podi little by little mixing very well.
• When it is warm enough to touch make lime size balls.
• Coat these balls in the reserved 1/2 cup avalose podi, which helps to make perfect round shape and prevents stickiness.

Avalose podi / A Traditional Fried Rice Powder of Kerala!

Avalose podi, a traditional Kerala snack which can be eaten either by mixing little sugar and banana, or can be transformed into Avalose unda another famous snack of Kerala or Churuttu a famous delicacy of my home town!!! Avalose podi, an evening snack (nalumani palaharam) back home is very filling…and those days I preferred Meat puffs, Ethakka Vazhattiyathu, Ethakka Appam etc….But now after spending years away from home I do like to have this more often:) …So now when ever I go home my mom's sister makes this for me so that I can either eat it in a podi form or I can easily make Avalose Unda, one of my favorite snacks (recipe coming soon ;)) without much hassles ;)… So the Avalose podi recipe here is from my Mom's sister…

Ingredients:

Raw Rice- 500gm
Grated Coconut- 3 cups
Cumin seeds/Jeerakom-2tsp
Salt- to taste

Method:

• Soak the rice and powder coarsely.
• Rub the coconut and the rice powder together and keep it for about one hour.
• Place a big flat bottomed pan (uruly) on fire, put the cumin seeds, stir till they are fried and add the rice powder mixed with coconut.
• Stir well all the time and when it starts turning the colour, lower the heat.
• Remove when it is fried well (light brown colour).
• Sift the powder through a coarse sieve and pound well the bigger pieces that are left.
• Fry that again and mix with the fried avalose.
• When cool, keep it in a tin tightly closed.
• Avalose podi can be stored for almost a year if it is fried & stored well.
  

Dinner Roll Knots

Makes- 12

Ingredients:
300 ml/ 1/2 pint/ 1 1/4 cups lukewarm milk
50g/2 oz/1/4cup butter, at room temperature
5ml/1tsp caster (superfine) sugar
10ml/2tsp active dried yeast
1 egg yolk
10ml/2tsp salt
500-575g/5-5 1/2 cups strong white bread flour
1 egg beaten with 2tsp water, to glaze.
Poppy seeds, for sprinkling (optional)

Method:

• In a large bowl, stir together the milk, butter, sugar and yeast. Leave for 15 minutes to dissolve and for the yeast to become frothy.
• Stir in the egg yolk, slat and 275g/ 2 1/2 cups of flour. Add half the remaining flour and stir to obtain a soft dough.
• Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead, adding flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic. This will take about 10 minutes.
• Place in a bowl, cover with clear film and leave in a warm place until the dough doubles in volume, about 1 1/2-2 hours.
• Grease a baking sheet. Knock back (punch down) the dough with your fist and cut into 12 pieces the size of golf balls.
• Roll each piece into a rope, twist to form a knot and place 2.5cm/1" apart on a prepared baking sheet. Cover loosely and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1-1 1/2 hours.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Brush the knots with the egg glaze.(sprinkle over the poppy seeds, if using). Bake until the tops are lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly on a wire rack before serving.

Chocolate Truffles

Saw this recipe at Ria's Collection, originally from Joy of Baking

Ingredients:

8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons alcohol (Cognac, brandy, Grand Marnier, kirsch, rum, bourbon, or Kahlua to name a few) (optional)

Different Coatings for Truffles:

Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder

Confectioners Sugar (Icing or Powdered)

Toasted and Chopped Nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts)

Toasted Coconut

Shaved Chocolate

Method:

• Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth. If desired, add the liqueur (I used Rum). Cover and place in the refrigerator until the truffle mixture is firm (this will take several hours or overnight).
• Place your coatings for the truffles on a plate. Remove the truffle mixture from the refrigerator. With your hands, or else a melon baller or small spoon form the chocolate into round or mis-shaped bite-sized balls. Immediately roll the truffle in the coating and place on a parchment lined baking sheet or tray. Cover and place in the refrigerator until firm. Truffles can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or else frozen for a couple of months. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Fish Molee

In memory of my Mother……

"There never was a woman like her. She was gentle as a dove and brave as a lioness... The memory of my mother and her teachings were, after all, the only capital I had to start life with, and on that capital I have made my way."
~ Andrew Jackson

Today is my mom's birthday and this post is dedicated to her memory….even if her body is not amidst us …. her soul will always be there to guide and help us overcome all life's difficulties ….she was a great mother and an even greater human being and she always wanted her kids to follow in her footsteps, to be gentle and compassionate, kind and loving, patient and forgiving and all that my brother and I are today we owe to our mom…. Today I am sharing with you the recipe for Fish Molee the way my mom used to make and appreciated by many….hope all of you will try this in your kitchen ……


Fish Molee

Ingredients:

Fish -1kg
Onion-4 medium, sliced thinly
Green chilly-12nos, slit
Ginger-2pieces chopped
Garlic-1 pod, chopped
Cloves-6 nos
Cinnamon-1" piece 2 nos
Cardamom- 6 nos
Black pepper-6-8 nos
Tomato-4 nos, cut in round shape, thinly
Coconut milk from 1 coconut (thick and thin milk separately)
Turmeric & salt to taste
Cashew nuts- 15 nos ground to a fine paste( you can omit this by replacing 1 tbsp maida)


Method:

• Heat oil, splutter mustard, then add pepper, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and fry.
• Add onion, ginger, garlic, green chilly and sauté till transparent. (Also you can add some thinly sliced carrots and some macaroni while sautéing.)
• Add turmeric & 1 tbsp maida if not adding ground cashew nuts.
• Add second and third extracts of coconut milk and when it starts boiling add fish pieces, and simmer on medium heat.
• When it about to get ready add tomato pieces, and some of thick coconut milk and cashew nut paste. Simmer and when the gravy thickens turn off heat.
• Serve hot with Palappam, Bread rolls or Chapathi.

I haven’t updated this humble place of mine for a couple of months…..was away for vacation and lazy after returning also busy with a pre-schooler and no helper at home …. I am thankful to all my readers who inquired about my absence from blogsphere and encouraged me to come back…..also a big thanks to all who commented on my previous posts even though I sometimes fail to return your visit ….. ….. I promise I will definitely try to find time to visit you all …..I wish all my readers and their loved ones A Very Happy Diwali!!!