Mango Icecream
Come summer and mangoes have started arriving. Got a kg of good banganapalli mangoes. Ate them plain and made milkshake with them too. I had tried mango icecream last season and it came very good. So thought of trying it again. It is a very simple recipe with minimal ingredients.
Mango Icecream
Ingredients:
1 banganapalli mango
2 cups full cream milk
6 tsp sugar(adjust according to sweetness of mango)
4 tsp cornflour
Method:
- Boil the milk. Now switch of the stove.
- Dissolve the cornflour in little water with out any lumps and slowly add it to the milk and keep stirring.
- Add sugar to the milk. Now keep this mixture in a medium flame and keep on stirring till it coats the back of a spoon.
- Allow the mix to cool completely.
- In the mean time, peel the mango, chop it into small pieces and make mango puree.
- After the milk mixture is cooled completely, add the mango puree to it and mix well. Now freeze this in shallow trays in the freezer.
- After 4-5 hours, break the frozen icecream with a spoon into pieces and beat it in the mixie till it is smooth and creamy. Refreeze it for 1-2 hours. After 2 hours, scoop and serve. Yummy homemade mango icecream is ready. If you want you can beat it again and refreeze which will improve the smoothness, but I found that one time was sufficient.
Dates Poli
Puthiya thalaimurai TV shows a program called ‘konjam soru konjam varalaru’ on Saturday evenings 7.30 pm and there is a rerun on next day morning 8.30 am. The show is good and tracks the history of one food/recipe and its different modifications. After watching the episode on POLI in this show, I was tempted to try out poli. The fillings commonly used for poli are paruppu or thengai and sometimes a combination of both. I tried chopping dates finely and using it as a filling. The results were good. DH liked it very much ,especially that the dates filling was not too sweet…
DATES POLI
Ingredients :
1 cup Maida/Refined flour
A pinch of turmeric powder
1 tablespoon oil ( I used gingelly oil )
Water to knead the dough
For the filling:
10 no dates chopped finely
Method:
- Knead the flour into a loose dough with liberal amount of oil.
- Let the dough lie for atleast 4 hours. I actually made the dough the previous night.
- Now divide the dough into 6 equal portions.
- With some dusting flour roll each ball into thin rotis, keep a spoon full of chopped dates in the centre, fold and roll again.
- Heat the tawa and cook the poli with ghee.
My 50th Post -Eggless Golden Cake With Walnut Topping – Made In Pressure Cooker
I didn’t plan it, but somehow, my cake recipe turns out to be my 50th post – it’s a milestone!!! It is almost two years since I started this blog. I have been slow and steady , but with home, work and my little one, I am happy that I am able to keep this thing going 
So for I have made only one cake – Eggless chocolate cake – that too in pressure cooker since I don’t own an oven. It is a good recipe and comes out successfully everytime. I was eager to try out some other cake recipe in pressure cooker.
As I was going through Priya Sriram’s page Bon appetite, this cake caught my eye. I loved the topping but my family didn’t want a chocolate cake again. So I selected another eggless cake from Priya, who had tried it from Anushruti’s blog Divinetaste. Both were baking recipes, but I tried them in my pressure cooker.
The cake turned out soft and flavourful, with the walnuts adding to the taste. But the walnut layer was not crispy as in the original recipe, which is probably due to steaming instead of baking, but it was tasty nevertheless. I never had idea that custard powder could be used in a cake. Thank you Priya and Anushruti. This recipe is sure a keeper.
I am sending this recipe as an entry to ‘Lets cook’ kids special at tickling palates and also ”Kid’s Delight – Evening Snacks/Tiffin” event at ‘cooks joy’ originally started by Valli of Spiceyour life.
Eggless Golden Cake With Walnut Topping – Made In Pressure Cooker
Ingredients:
For the cake batter:
1 cup milk
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ cup refined flour
½ cup custard powder ( vanilla flavor )
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup refined oil
For the walnut topping:
½ cup sugar
50 g vanaspati
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup refined flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ cup milk
4 tbsp walnuts – chopped and roasted
Method:
For the cake:
- A 7 inch cake pan is recommended for this recipe.
- First heat the milk and dissolve the sugar in it. Allow it to cool to room temperature.
- To this add custard powder and vanilla essence and mix well.
- To this add the refined oil and beat well.
- Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add this to the milk and whisk with a spoon .
For the topping:
- Beat sugar and vanaspathi till you get a fluffy mix.
- Add vanilla essence and mix well.
- Sift together baking powder and flour. Add to sugar + vanaspathi mix and beat well.
- Add milk little by little till a sticky dough consistency is reached.
The steaming method for this cake is same as that I have described for my chocolate cake.
- Pour the cake batter into the greased pan and steam in pressure cooker without weight.
- After 10 minutes open the lid. Spread the topping mix on the cake and sprinkle the walnuts.
- Continue steaming till the cake is done (30-35 minutes).
- Enjoy your cake with evening tea or anytime snack.
Kalkandu Pongal
This is a special recipe of my MIL, which she makes on Thai Pongal day. It is very different from the regular Sakkara Pongal. Raw rice is cooked in milk to which kalkandu is added to get white, creamy and tasty Kalkandu Pongal. Enjoy ….
Posting this recipe for Let’s cook #11-Rice event hosted by Radhika of Tickling Palates.
Also posting this recipe for ABC series : Desserts event hosted by Ramya of Ramya’s recipe.
Kalkandu Pongal
Ingredients:
2 cups raw rice
4 tsp split moong dhal
3 cups milk
2 cups water
2 cups diamond kalkandu ( sugar candy )
3 pods cardamom
2 tsp ghee
10 no. cashews
Few raisins ( optional )
Method:
- Clean and wash the rice and dhal.
- In a heavy bottom pan pour 2 cups of boiled milk and 2 cups of water. When it boils add the rice and dhal.
- Keep the flame in sim mode and allow the rice and dhal to cook. Add the rest of the milk little by little as the rice gets cooked.
- Keep stirring intermittently to avoid burning at the bottom. Cook till the rice becomes well cooked and creamy. This will take 30 to 40 minutes.
- Now add the kalkandu and cardamom powder. Let the kalkandu melt and merge with the rice.
- Garnish with cashews and raisins fried in ghee. Hot or cold,Tastes good either way.
Aval Payasam
This is a very easy recipe which I learnt from my mother. This aval payasam is given as prasadam in some guruvayoorappan temples. If you have the ingredients ready, it can be made in a jiffy.
Posting this recipe for Any one can cook series hosted by Ayeesha of Tasteofpearlcity.
Aval Payasam
Ingredients:
3/4 cup Aval/poha/beaten rice
1 cup sugar
3 tsp+2 tsp ghee
10 no. cashews
2 cups milk
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
Method:
- Run the aval in a mixie for few seconds, so that the flakes are little bit broken. (This step is optional . You can use whole aval also.)
- In a pan add 3 tsp ghee. After it gets heated, fry the aval well. This step is important, because it gives this payasam its special flavour.
- Add 1/2 cup milk to the fried aval and let it cook on a low flame for few minutes. The aval will absorb the milk and become soft. Dont let it become too mushy.
- Now add rest of the milk , sugar and cardamom powder. Simmer it for few minutes and switch of the stove.
- In another pan heat 2 tsp of ghee, fry the cashews to golden brown and add to the payasam. Tasty aval payasam is ready.
Note:
You can add few spoons of condensed milk to the payasam to enhance the taste.
Alternatively the milk can be reduced to 2/3 its original quantity before adding to aval.
Nei Urundai/Paasiparuppu Urundai
This year november 5 happens to be my ‘thalai deepavali’. Previous years I have assisted my mom in the making of Diwali sweets and snacks, but have never tried a sweet recipe fully. This year I learnt how to make ‘Nei Urundai’ from my MIL. This is a very simple and easy to make sweet. It is also known as ‘Paasiparuppu Urundai’.
I am sending this recipe to Complete my thali – mithai event started by Jagruti of ‘joy of cooking’and hosted now by Mina of ‘Authentic vegetarian Recipes’.
Nei Urundai/Paasiparuppu Urundai
Ingredients:
3 cups split yellow moong dhal/paasiparuppu
3 cups sugar
30-35 no cashews
1 cup ghee
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
Method:
- Dry roast the moong dhal till you get a nice aroma. Cool and make it into a fine powder in mixie. You can sieve the flour to ensure that there are no coarse particles.
- Grind the sugar in mixie to a fine powder.
- Fry the cashews in a tbsp of ghee till golden colour and keep aside.
- In a big bowl add dhal powder and sugar. To this add 1/4 tsp cardamom powder and mix.
- Now heat ghee and add it to the the dhal powder and sugar mix. Mix it with a spoon. Make small balls while the heat is endurable. While making balls you can keep one cashew inside each ball. Melt in the mouth Nei Urundai is ready. This will even stay for a month if you store it properly in an airtight container.
Carrot Kheer
This is a recipe which I learnt from my MIL. Eventhough it is a kheer it needs no ghee and very less amount of sugar. It contains the goodness of carrots, milk and cashews( not fried but added raw). This recipe can be made in a jiffy. My MIL prepares it when we have guests in short notice.Now over to the recipe…
I am sending this recipe as an entry to ‘Dish name starts with C’ event hosted by Akila of Akila’s kitchen. I am also sending this to Celebrate sweets – kheer event started by Nivedita of ‘Nivedita’s Kitchen’ and guest hosted by Ayeesha of ‘Taste of Pearl City’.
Also sending this recipe to Complete my thali – mithai event started by Jagruti of ‘joy of cooking’ and hosted now by Mina of ‘Authentic vegetarian Recipes’.
Carrot Kheer
Serves 3
Ingredients:
2 big sized carrots or 3 medium sized ones
10-12 no. Cashew nuts
Sugar- equal to the amount of cooked carrot ( see method )
3-4 no. Cardamoms
3 cups milk
Method:
- Grate the carrots. Cook the grated carrots in 1 cup of milk in a pan for 5 minutes( till the raw smell is gone ).
- Now measure the quantity of cooked carrot minus any milk remaining. This milk can be added later to the kheer. Measure the same quantity of sugar and keep aside.
- Now grind the cooked carrots, elaichi seeds and cashews along with a little milk. Add this paste with 2 cups of milk and sugar in the pan and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Carrot kheer is ready to serve. It tastes good when served hot/cold.
Yummy Eggless Chocolate Cake – made in pressure cooker
The first time I made a cake was last september for my husband’s ( then fiancee ) birthday.Since I didnt have an oven, I googled for some pressure cooker recipes and finally made a chocolate cake. It came out nicely. This year I wanted to improvise and did some icing on the cake and made some other modifications from the original recipe. Well, I bettered myself. The cake came out excellently and the look on hubby dear’s face when I surprised him with the cake was priceless. The writing on the icing was a little clumsy since it was my first time. But we forgot about it after tasting the cake.
I am sending this recipe as an entry to ‘No Bake Cake Event II’ conducted by Aparna of Apy cooking.
I am also sending this recipe to Spotlight : Baking without oven conducted bu Indrani of Recipe Junction.
Yummy Eggless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients :
1 1/2 cups refined flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
4 tsp cocoa powder
a pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar
50 ml refined oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
handful of raisins
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp condensed milk ( optional )
For the icing:
50 gms butter
50 gms sugar
2 tsp cocoa powder
Method:
- Sieve together refined flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder and keep aside.
- Powder the sugar finely in a mixer and keep aside.
- In a vessel mix together refined oil, butter and powdered sugar and beat well.To this add the sieved flour mixture and mix well.Add the raisins and condensed milk and mix again.To this add the milk little by little to adjust the batter to a pouring consistency.Now the cake batter is ready.
- Take a pressure cooker ( minimum 3 litres ) and add water to at least 1 inch.Now keep a stand inside the cooker to hold the cake vessel. ( This could be a small bowl or vessel with a flat base.I place a heavy stone inside the holding vessel to prevent it from shaking when the water boils.If the holding vessel shakes it will disturb the shape of the cake. )
- Now grease a round vessel ( so that you get a round cake ) with 1/2 tsp of refined oil and dust the surface with refined flour. Now pour the cake batter inside the greased vessel and place it above the holding vessel. ( Select the cake vessel in such a way that the batter fills half the vessel and not more. We need space for the cake to rise )
- Close the lid of the cooker and place it on medium flame on stove top without the weight.Allow the cake to steam for 30 minutes.Now open the cooker and allow it to steam without lid for 5 minutes.Now insert a knife to check.The knife should not stick to the cake.If it sticks steam for some more time. Yummy chocolate cake is ready.
Icing method :
- For white icing mix equal parts of powdered sugar and butter .
- For chocolate icing mix cocoa powder to the butter – powdered sugar mixture.
- I used a knife to apply chocolate icing on top and white icing on the sides.Then I filled white icing in a polythene cone for the writing.
Badam Halwa
I wanted to try a new sweet for my husband’s birth-star day.Since I had lot of almonds in the pantry, bought during a U.S trip, I decided to try Badam Halwa. While browsing the net for recipes, I got this very easy recipe from Chitra Amma’s Kitchen . I have modified the recipe little bit-added only 1/2 the quantity of ghee as suggested in the original recipe.To avoid the halwa sticking to the vessel I used a heavy bottomed nonstick pan.I also soaked the almonds overnight to easily deskin them.The halwa came out excellently.I am planning to prepare this again for this Diwali.
I am reposting this recipe for Complete my thali – mithai event started by Jagruti of ‘joy of cooking’and hosted now by Mina of ‘Authentic vegetarian Recipes’
Badam Halwa
Ingredients:
1 cup almonds
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup ghee
2-3 cardamom pods
Method:
- Soak the almonds overnight.In the morning it will be very easy to remove the skin.Hold the almond between your thumb and forefinger and squeeze, it just pops out easily(doing this was actually fun).
- Grind the almonds , cardamom seeds and milk to a fine semolina like consistency.
- Add 1 cup of sugar to 1 cup of water in a heavy bottomed vessel(preferably nonstick) and heat it in a medium flame.
- After the sugar completely dissolves in water add the almond paste to the pan and keep stirring. After some time you will see bubbles on the surface.Now add the ghee little by little and keep stirring.At one stage, the halwa will become thick and not stick to the vessel.This the correct stage.Add the remaining ghee and switch of the stove. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.
