Asian style Couscous

We have a big problem at my house. Someone doesn't like the names like Quinoa, Couscous, brown rice, barley or even broken wheat. Whole wheat bread is not welcomed as easily as part whole wheat. But, I am stubborn. I keep making whatever I have found out to be healthy anyway.
I bought a big bag of brown rice and sneaked in by using it to make dosa. Barley is converted into barley dosa or barley adai. But Quinoa is a different story. I can't hide it very easily due to its nutty taste. Couscous is not only healthy but is very quick to make. You can get it ready to use in 10 minutes if you have hot water on hand. This dish is inspired by one of Rachel Ray's shows. She was making a take out style meal with some rice pasta, a stir fry with some seafood.

One Year Back - Guacamole, Making of a mermaid Cake
Ingredients:
Couscous - 1 cup
Hot water to cook couscous - 1 cup
Red Onions - 2 small or 1 large sliced into thin slices
Scallions - 5 both white and green parts chopped (optional)
Bell peppers / Capsicum - 2 small seeded and cut into thin slices (I used green ones but you can use any color)
Sliced water chestnuts -1 small can drained (optional)
Canola oil - 2 TBSP
Soy sauce - 2 TBSP or to taste
Salt - to taste
Rice vinegar - 1 TBSP
To make a paste:
Garlic - 3 cloves
Cilantro - 1 cup loosely packed
Ginger - 1 " piece chopped into chunks
Toasted sesame seeds - 2 TBSP
Juice from 1 1/2 limes - about 4 - 5 TBSP
Thai chillies - 5 (remember I am Indian - go easy on this or use more if you like spicy food)

Method:
In a blender jar, take all the ingredients mentioned in 'To make a paste' above and grind it. Don't add any water and if some of the sesame seeds remain whole, it is alright. If you don't have toasted sesame seeds, toast them on a dry skillet till golden brown and use it. Take couscous in a bowl. Pour hot water on it and cover with a lid. It will be ready in 10 minutes.
In a pan, take oil. When hot, add sliced onions. Sprinkle some salt and let it cook. When they are half cooked, add green peppers. Stir. When these are half done, add the water chestnuts and chopped scallions. Let them all soften a bit. They don't have to cook completely since they have to be crispy. Fluff the couscous with a fork. Add the paste, soy sauce and the couscous to the pot of veggies. Mix and check for salt adjusting if necessary.  Let it be on low flame for 2 -3 minutes. Add the rice vinegar finally and mix them all up. Turn off the heat and serve warm. This makes a healthy, filling dish.

Today is the last day of one week blogging marathon. Check out what all these ladies are up to today..
Diabetes Diet/Management: Srivalli, Champa, Harini, PJ
Kid Friendly Recipes: Kalyani, Shylaja, Veena
Seven Days of Soup:Usha, Sowmya
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Suresh 
Seven days of Cakes:  Anusha

Enjoy. Pin It

Good, Bad, Ugly fats..

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional or a dietitian or a nutritionist. All the contents in this post are my understanding from reading books and online material. There could be some points that were suggested to me by medical professionals. Do not use this as medical advice.  

A misconception: A fat person eats too much of fat. It is wrong. One can get fat by eating carbs, not just the fat. We need fat on a daily basis. I am talking about dietary fat not the folds of fat we get around our waist and thighs, hips and of course on our arms.

Why do we need dietary fat?
It is because they are the ones who provide us with essential fatty acids (EFA) which, our bodies are incapable of producing by themselves. Along with supplying essential fatty acids, fat also supplies vitamins like A, D, E and K which are also known as fat soluble vitamins.
"Fat is also necessary for maintaining healthy skin, and it plays a central role in promoting proper eyesight and brain development in babies and children," Karmally tells WebMD. (From WebMD)

If fat is good for us, why do we say it is bad for us?
That is because it is the same fat which can clog arteries, raise cholesterol levels, triglycerides and cause cardiac problems. It is suggested that our daily fat calories should be between 20% and 35 % of the total calories intake.

"Diets rich in saturated fat and trans fat (both "bad" fats) raise blood cholesterol concentrations, contributing to clogged arteries that block the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the heart and brain". - WebMD

Fat can be classified broadly into Unsaturated fats or good fats, Saturated fats or Bad fats and Transfats or ugly fats.

Unsaturated Fats (Good fats):
Further Unsaturated fats are classified into monosaturated fats and polysaturated fats.

Monosaturated fats:
These aid in lowering the total cholesterol, lowering the bad LDL cholesterol and increasing the good HDL cholesterol. Food sources high in monounsaturated fats are olive oil, canola oil, sesame oil, nuts like peanuts, almonds, pistachios, flax seeds, avocado.

Polyunsaturated fats:
Seafoods like salmon and fish oil are the richest sources of this type of fat. These are responsible for lowering the cholesterol too. These are the source of omega fatty acids which are so good for the heart. Vegetarian source of these are corn, sunflower, safflower oil and soy.

Saturated fats (Bad fats):
These fats increase the cholesterol and LDL (bad) part of it too. These are richly found in animal sources like eggs, meat, dairy and seafood. There are vegetarian sources which have this too - coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil. When taken in excess, these cause heart problems and stroke.

Trans fats (Ugly fats):
There are traces of this ugly fat in highly fatty meats and full fat dairy. But, this is nothing when compared to the transfat present in the 'hydrogenated' fats present in the packaged goods. Be very careful when the package says zero transfat and the ingredients have hydrogenated vegetable oil present in the list. In U.S, it is allowed to mention as 0 % transfat even when there is about 1% or less of it. If you eat couple of servings of this kind, it exceeds the limit of 2% transfat which is not really good at all. Vegetable shortening, stick margarine are some of the major ingredients which constitute towards transfat and are commonly present in packaged goods.

So, how much should I consume from each of these?
(From WebMD)
Based on how much calories intake category you fall under - 
1,800 Calories a Day

• 40 to 70 grams of total fat
• 14 grams or less of saturated fat
• 2 grams or less of trans fat  

2,200 Calories a Day

• 49 to 86 grams of total fat
• 17 grams or less of saturated fat
• 3 grams or less of trans fat

2,500 Calories a Day

• 56 to 97 grams of total fat
• 20 grams or less of saturated fat
• 3 grams or less of trans fat.

Best way is to hit a balance of everything. That is the key to healthy living.

Check out what all these ladies are up to today..

Diabetes Diet/Management: Srivalli, Champa, Harini, PJ
Kid Friendly Recipes: Kalyani, Shylaja, Veena
Seven Days of Soup:Usha, Sowmya
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Suresh 
Seven days of Cakes:  Anusha

Enjoy. 
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No Sugar added Applesauce Muffins

Yes, you read that right. It is no sugar added applesauce muffins. But, is it free of calories? Definitely not. Sometimes sugar free stuff can have more calories than the one with sugar. You have to be very careful about those. I am not a person who likes artificial sweeteners. Low sugar is fine with me and so is no sugar but not these artificial sweeteners. It is just my opinion and yours might differ from it.

Long time back, I had borrowed a book from the library which was about sugar free baking. I couldn't get that book again, but remembered that many recipes used replacing sugar with frozen juice concentrates. So, I took the recipe of a banana bread which had eggs, all purpose flour, nuts and sugar and converted that into this whole wheat eggless, no sugar added applesauce muffins. You could use mashed banana in the place of applesauce to get the banana muffins. There was no rolled oats in that recipe. I used 1/2 cup in the place of 1 cup of nuts to reduce the calories at the same time giving some texture. Pictures do not do justice to this since I had to shoot in cloudy weather.

One Year Back - Sourdough Banana Loaf with almond butter
Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Flour - 2 cups
Rolled oats - 1/2 cup
Baking Powder - 2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 tsp
Nutmeg - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Applesauce - 1 cup
Canola Oil - 1/3 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup (I used 2%)
Milled flax seeds - 2 TBSP
Warm water - 3 TBSP
Frozen applejuice concentrate - thawed 3/4 cup

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 12 regular sized muffin cups with paper or grease with vegetable oil spray. In a bowl, mix together the applesauce, milk, oil, frozen juice concentrate. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, spices, salt. In another bowl, whisk together milled flax seeds with warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then whisk this into the wet mixture. Slowly add the dry ingredients to wet and stir. Do not over mix. Divide the batter among 12 muffin cups and bake for 28 - 30 minutes. Since there is quite a bit of liquid in this recipe, it takes time to bake up. Check with the toothpick at 25 minutes and then bake for more time if needed. Cool on the wire rack in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn it on to the wire rack to cool completely. These are extra moist muffins which were quite sweet.

Here is its calories info..

Check out what all these ladies are up to today..
Diabetes Diet/Management: Srivalli, Champa, Harini, PJ
Kid Friendly Recipes: Kalyani, Shylaja, Veena
Seven Days of Soup:Usha, Sowmya
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Suresh 
Seven days of Cakes:  Anusha

Enjoy. 
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Wholegrain Savory Pancakes with Spicy Yogurt Sauce

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But, in today's world, there are lot of people who skip breakfast or drink coffee or tea for breakfast. There is more. There are people who eat such an unhealthy breakfast that I wonder how they can even concentrate on work having eaten such a heavy breafast. I am talking about eating pastries for breakfast which are high in sugar and fat. I was thinking that the traditional Indian breakfast is healthy. But then realized I wasn't really right in assuming so. Idlis, Dosa, Poori, Paratha all of them are pretty high in carbs and if you use ghee or oil generously, high in fat too. If you sit and calculate how much each dish has, you will realize that we are eating way too many calories first thing in the morning. So, are the quick breads, muffins, pancakes and waffles better? I don't think so either unless you eat them sparingly and they are not full of fat and empty carbs. Whatever you eat, you should know how much to eat. That is the key point. If someone sits and eats 6 idlis for breakfast (trust me, I have seen many doing this), it definitely tends to be unhealthy.

I made these pancakes. Idea was to make them as waffles, but realizing that not everyone has a waffle maker, decided to make them into pancakes. I made them savory and spicy and used scallions. This is inspired by the South Indian Uthappam, but is quick and has healthier blend of flours used.

One Year back: Marshmallow Fondant, Cranberry Pull apart buns, Black Eyed beans Kichadi, Savory Onion Tart

Ingredients:
For the pancakes:
Whole Wheat Flour - 1/3 cup
Barley Flour - 1/3 cup
Buckwheat flour - 1/3 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp (You might have to adjust up to 3/4 tsp)
Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder or cayanne powder - 1/4 - 1/2 tsp (Or use paprika or some black pepper powder to taste)
Buttermilk - 1 cup (I used low fat)
Tomato paste - 2 TBSP (From the can - Read notes)
Water - 2 TBSP
Olive Oil - 2 TBSP
Scallion or green onions - 4 chopped reserve 2 TBSP of green part for the yogurt sauce

Cilantro - chopped 4 TBSP

For the Yogurt sauce:
Low fat yogurt - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Red chilli flakes - to taste
Scallion - green part chopped 2 TBSP from above
Cilantro - 1 TBSP chopped

Method:
In a bowl, whisk together all the flours, salt, red chilli powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, oil, tomato paste and water. Whisk really well. Slowly add the dry ingredients to wet and mix. Do not over mix. Gentle folding is what is needed here. Check the salt and add if needed. Stir in the cilantro and chopped scallion. Heat a griddle and spray with vegetable oil spray. Pour 1/4 cup of batter to make a pancake. The batter is very thick and you could thin it down with couple more TBSPs of water. I cooked them in low heat so that they cook through and are fluffy and fat. This batter doesn't spread much. You will have to flatten it a bit or use more water. I flattened it and made 5" diameter pancakes about 8. Serving size is 2 pancakes. Serve with the yogurt sauce.

To make the yogurt sauce, mix everything mentioned under For the Yogurt sauce above.

Notes:
If you cannot find tomato paste, you can puree one tomato in a blender and measure 1/4 cup of it and use. If using this, omit the water in the recipe.

Check out how many calories are in each serving of these pancakes..

Check out what all these ladies are up to today..

Diabetes Diet/Management: Srivalli, Champa, Harini, PJ
Kid Friendly Recipes: Kalyani, Shylaja, Veena
Seven Days of Soup:Usha, Sowmya
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Suresh 
Seven days of Cakes:  Anusha

Enjoy. 
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What is Glycemic Index?

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional or a dietitian or a nutritionist. All the contents in this post are my understanding from reading books and online material. There could be some points that were suggested to me by medical professionals. Do not use this as medical advice.  

I have seen many people who are diabetic avoid sugar in their coffee and tea. It is good. I am not saying otherwise. But, the same people enjoy a piece of sweet or dessert in the form of a cookie or cake or even pie. Is that smart? I won't judge since everything in moderation is fine. If you are taking coffee 3 times and use 1 tsp of sugar each time, you are consuming 3 tsps of sugar a day. But, a cookie or cake will have more than 3 tsp of sugar for sure. You might say well, I don't eat dessert everyday. If that is the case, it is alright to do so. At the same time, some people have a misconception of not eating something because that is sweeter in taste. Example is Sweet Potato. It is sweeter to taste, but is better than a regular potato for a diabetic person. Why? you might ask. Answer is lower glycemic index of sweet potato compared to that of a potato.

Glycemic Index is a ranking system of carbohydrate foods based on their effect on blood sugar levels.  Higher the glycemic index, faster it gets broken down to sugar and hence faster is the raise in blood sugar. It is divided into three categories. Foods that are lower than 55 GI are good, 55 - 70 do raise the blood sugar a bit but over 70 raises them really high.  Idea is to make your body work for longer time to break down a carbohydrate so that the blood sugar level doesn't shoot up.

There is a catch here too. There are some carbohydrate foods which are high in GI, but has very less of sugar in it. Examples are watermelon and carrot (quoted by the Sugar Solution by prevention). At the same time, there are some food that are low in GI, but are full of fat and nutritionally not very good. So, choose from lower GI food items to keep the blood sugar at a constant level.

Here are some of the commonly used food GI values. I obviously cannot give you the values for every food item, but have tried to give you what I could find.
(From the 'Sugar Solution by prevention magazines')
GI of some commonly used grains and beans.. (Look at the comments too)

GI of some fruits and vegetables..

Some more info about GI - from here.

What are the Benefits of the Glycemic Index?

Eating a lot of high GI foods can be detrimental to your health because it pushes your body to extremes. This is especially true if you are overweight and sedentary. Switching to eating mainly low GI carbs that slowly trickle glucose into your blood stream keeps your energy levels balanced and means you will feel fuller for longer between meals.

• Low GI diets help people lose and manage weight
• Low GI diets increase the body's sensitivity to insulin
• Low GI carbs improve diabetes management
• Low GI carbs reduce the risk of heart disease
• Low GI carbs improve blood cholesterol levels
• Low GI carbs can help you manage the symptoms of PCOS
• Low GI carbs reduce hunger and keep you fuller for longer
• Low GI carbs prolong physical endurance
• High GI carbs help re-fuel carbohydrate stores after exercise

Some good reads about this topic:

http://www.carbs-information.com/gi-values-carbohydrates.htm
http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/glycemicfoodchart.htm
http://www.gitesting.com/index.php?page=gitable
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/foods/grains/gigl.html
http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/
http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm
http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods.htm

Check out what all these ladies are up to today..

Diabetes Diet/Management: Srivalli, Champa, Harini, PJ
Kid Friendly Recipes: Kalyani, Shylaja, Veena
Seven Days of Soup:Usha, Sowmya
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Suresh 
Seven days of Cakes:  Anusha

Enjoy. 
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Rice with Cabbage and Olives (Italian style)

Today is the last day of the 7 days of blogging marathon. I would never have chosen 'Rice' as my theme if not for my husband. When I did pick this, my mind was racing as to what all can be made. Don't be surprised. I already have quite a few rice dishes in my recipe list. Even when I am from a rice eating region and know quite a few rice recipes,  I wanted every dish to be a new experiment or should I say a learning experience for myself and something new to others.
Out of these '7 days of rice', 'Kidney Beans Rice' is the only one I had already made in my life. All others were experiments and I should say every one of them turned out to be great including this one. If you have missed on all those posts, here they are.

Tomatillo Rice, Mango Rice Pudding, Coconut Pineapple Rice, Chinese Style Peanut and Sesame Rice, and Cashews, Poppy Seeds Rice pudding.

Inspiration to this dish came from one of Mario Batali's show on cooking channel. He made a side dish (can't even say the name) with broccoli rabe. He said we can use anything that falls in the same family for this and I choose Cabbage. When he was done sauteing the broccoli rabe in olive oil (with garlic in it), he added olives, red chilli flakes, salt and said this can be converted into a pasta dish by adding cooked pasta. If you can make something with rice, you can make that with pasta and vice versa. I choose rice. I added some thyme to enhance the flavor and I added sundried tomatoes since I love them. You can omit these two and still make this rice.

One year back - French Bread,  Rye Bread
Ingredients:
Cooked rice - 1 1/2 cups
Olive oil - 2 TBSP
Red chilli flakes - 1 tsp or to taste
Garlic - 4 cloves peeled but kept whole
Olives - 5 - 6 pitted and chopped coarsely (I used kalamata)
Sundried tomatoes - 4 drained and chopped roughly (optional)
Cabbage - coarsely shredded 1 cup
Thyme - 1 tsp fresh or 1/2 tsp dried
Salt - to taste

Method:
In a skillet, heat olive oil. Add garlic and let it infuse oil for a minute. Add cabbage and stir. Keep moving the cabbage occasionally to prevent burning. Add chilli pepper flakes and mix. Don't add salt yet. When the cabbage is almost cooked add olives, sundried tomatoes if using. Mix well. Let it cook for couple of minutes. Add salt, cooked and cooled rice, thyme and mix well. Keep on low heat for 3 - 4 minutes. Check for salt and adjust if necessary. Serve warm.

Notes:
Sundried tomato addition was a mixed feeling. They brought in lot of flavor but at the same time their chewiness probably is not enjoyable by everyone. I liked it though. You could toss the whole garlic out. I kept them in for those who love garlic. I don't care to eat the whole clove of garlic.

Want to see what others are up to today; today being the last day of this marathon?
30 Minutes Meals: Gayathri Anand
Baked Goods: Monika,
For On Going Events: Gayathri Kumar, Usha
Kids Friendly: PJ, Savitha, Smitha, Srivalli, Veena Aravind
Rice Varieties: Champa, Divya, Padma

Enjoy. Pin It

Cashews, Poppy Seeds Rice Pudding

Have you heard the story of an 'Ugly Duckling'?
This dish has a similar story. This one doesn't look great at all. Don't worry, it doesn't start looking bad and then turn out to be a beautiful dish. It remains an ugly duckling.
But, the taste is so awesome, you will forget entirely how not pretty this is to look. Agreed it is not a pretty cake with swirls of glaze or smooth icing. But, it is a comfort food and dessert in one. Plus, the goodness of nuts and poppy seeds will surely make you agree with 'Looks are not everything'.

Ingredients:
Rice - 1/4 cup (I used basmati)
Cashews - 1/2 cup
Poppy Seeds - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/2 - 3/4 cup (3/4 cup is for major sweet tooth people)
Evaporated milk - 2 cans of 12 Oz each (Or use whole milk)
Water or milk - 2 cups (If you are using milk instead of evaporated milk, use milk here too. Since I used evaporated milk, I used water)
Cardamom - 4 pods seeds crushed

Method:
In a skillet, dry roast the rice. When they are golden, remove from heat and dump into a bowl filled with water. In the same skillet, start toasting the cashews. When they start turning golden, add poppy seeds to the same skillet and continue to toast till all the cashews are golden and poppy seeds are aromatic. Set aside. In a saucepan, boil 1 cup of water. When it starts boiling, drain the soaked rice and add to it. Let it cook. When the rice has cooked, add the evaporated milk (or whole milk). Let it come to a boil. Keep stirring. This will stick dangerously and burn.
Meanwhile, grind the toasted cashews and poppy seeds along with cardamom. Use about a cup of water or milk to make a smooth paste. You might not need the whole cup of milk or water. When the contents of the saucepan are boiling, add this ground paste and stir constantly for couple of minutes until all the paste lumps are broken and they all come together. Add sugar and lower the heat further. Keep it on low heat and stir occasionally. When it starts simmering, turn off the heat. It gets thicker once cool. It is not a very thick pudding to begin with. If you like thicker pudding, reduce the evaporated milk (milk) to get a thicker pudding.

To make this vegan, just use 2 cans of coconut milk and about a cup of water to grind the cashews and poppy seeds. It will be delicious.

Want to see what others are up to today?
30 Minutes Meals: Gayathri Anand
Baked Goods: Monika,
For On Going Events: Gayathri Kumar, Usha
Kids Friendly: PJ, Savitha, Smitha, Srivalli, Veena Aravind
Rice Varieties: Champa, Divya, Padma

Enjoy.

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Peanut and Sesame Rice (Chinese style rice)

I am a big fan of peanuts. They are rich in protein (well, they are rich in fat too), and are a good source of protein for vegetarians like me. Peanuts have a special place in Chinese cooking. That, combined with another major ingredient 'Sesame seeds' bring you this rice today. This is a simple, one pot meal which can be made complete by using more vegetables than what I have used. When I took the challenge of 'Seven days of Rice', I was not only aiming at making rice dishes, but also one pot meals which can be put together in under 30 minutes of active cooking time. If you are pressed for time, this is something you could make easily.

One Year Back -  Rye Bread
Ingredients:
Long grain rice - 1 cup
Peanuts - 3/4 cup divided use
White Sesame seeds - 2 TBSP divided use
Broccoli florets - 1 lb (optional. You could use any other veggie or skip it entirely)
Peanut oil - 3 TBSP
Garlic - 2 cloves
Ginger - 1/2" piece peeled and grated
Salt - to taste
Chilli pepper flakes - 1 tsp or to taste
Hot sauce - 1 TBSP or to taste (Remember I am Indian)
Soy sauce - 2 TBSP
Rice Vinegar - 2 TBSP (See Notes)

Method:
Cook rice in 2 cups of water (or the ratio that is needed for the rice you are using). Spread on a plate and let it cool completely. If you have day old rice, you could use that too. If you are using broccoli, boil in water for 5 minutes and shock in cold water to stop cooking further. Broccoli I used had started turning yellow and that is the reason for not so good looking broccoli. Set aside.
In a skillet, take 1/2 cup of the peanuts, two cloves of garlic and start toasting it. When they are almost done, add 1 TBSP of sesame seeds to the skillet and let that get toasted. Set aside. When cool to handle, powder in a spice grinder or a blender.
In a wok, heat oil. When hot, add grated ginger, remaining 1 TBSP of sesame seeds and remaining 1/4 cup of peanuts. When they are all toasted, add broccoli florets. Add some salt, hot sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar and keep moving the contents of the pan. When most of the liquid have evaporated, add rice. Mix and add the peanut and sesame powder. Mix well and adjust the salt if needed. Sprinkle with chilli pepper flakes and mix for the final time and turn off the heat.
This rice tastes great after 4 - 6 hours of making it. It tastes good immediately too, but the taste was awesome after few hours.


Notes: 
You could use any kind of vinegar, but rice vinegar gives the best flavors when you are using it for asian cooking. You could use any non-mushy vegetable in this recipe. Garnish with spring onions if desired.


Want to see what others are up to today?
30 Minutes Meals: Gayathri Anand
Baked Goods: Monika,
For On Going Events: Gayathri Kumar, Usha
Kids Friendly: PJ, Savitha, Smitha, Srivalli, Veena Aravind
Rice Varieties: Champa, Divya, Padma

Enjoy.

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Coconut Pineapple Rice

Do you know why 'Pina Colada' was invented?
I know. That is because pineapple and coconut are made for each other.
So, I used them, didn't bother to use the booze and made this rice.
I used green chillies because that comes with the territory of being an Indian, particularly South Indian.
Then why Cashews? you might ask. That is because I had read a recipe for a thai curry which uses pineapple and cashews together and it looked amazing.
I guess it was easier to make this rice than to write about it.

One Year back - Panettone
Ingredients:
Rice - 1 cup (I used sona masoori)
Pineapple - 20 Oz can of chunks drained and juice reserved (See Notes)
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Water - 1 1/2 cup
Reserved pineapple juice - 1/2 cup
Turmeric - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Oil - 3 TBSP
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Green chillies - 5  slit lengthwise or to taste
Curry leaves - a few
Cashews - 1/4 cup
Cilantro - 3 TBSP chopped for garnish

Method:
Rinse rice well and drain. In a saucepan, bring the coconut milk, pineapple juice, water to a boil. Add a pinch of turmeric, a bit of salt and add the rice. Stir and let it cook till done. Let it cool and fluff with a fork. Set aside.
In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add curry leaves, green chillies and cashews. When cashews are toasted, add pineapple. Sprinkle some salt and let pineapple cook for couple of minutes. Add the cooled rice and mix well. Add the chopped cilantro and stir. Adjust the seasonings if required. Turn off the heat. Serve warm or cold. I challenge rice haters to try this. This was awesome.

You could use fresh pineapple. You don't have to use pineapple juice at all. Just use more water. If you are using fresh pineapple, use about 2 cups chopped pineapple.

Notes:
The rice I used takes 1 cup to 2 1/2 cups water. If you use basmati which takes less than 2 cups water per cup of rice, adjust the water, pineapple juice and coconut milk accordingly. When you cook rice with coconut milk, you will have to use more to get the rice cooked properly. That is why the combined liquid in my recipe is more than the usual ratio of rice to liquid. I could have added some green peas to give color to the end product, but thought about it late in the process.

Now over to my fellow marathoners,
30 Minutes Meals: Gayathri Anand
Baked Goods: Monika,
For On Going Events: Gayathri Kumar, Usha
Kids Friendly: PJ, Savitha, Smitha, Srivalli, Veena Aravind
Rice Varieties: Champa, Divya, Padma

Enjoy. Pin It

Kidney Beans Rice / Rajma Rice

This is one of dishes I used to make a decade back for my husband's lunch box. I used to soak rajma / kidney bean in the night and cook it in the pressure cooker in the morning and make this dish. Some of the ladies whom I was friend with at that time, used to wonder how I could do it in the morning and get it ready by 8 AM. If they see me now using the canned beans (I don't always use them, but keep them handy), they will say that I have changed. I used the canned beans for a reason. When you cook it in pressure cooker, some beans get mushy which, doesn't go very well with a dry dish. That was the reason behind using canned beans.

One Year Back - Masala Kichadi
Ingredients:
Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Rajma / Kidney beans - One 15 Oz can rinsed and drained
Onions - 2 small sliced thin into 1" strips
Tomatoes - 2 small chopped fine
Oil - 3 TBSP
Garlic - 2 cloves grated or minced
Ginger - 1/2" piece grated or minced
Black Pepper - 10
Cloves - 4 - 5
Cinnamon stick - 1/2" stick
Whole cardamom - 2
Bay Leaf - 1
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Salt - to taste
Cilantro - 2 TBSP for garnish

Method:
Cook rice in enough water. Spread on a plate and separate the grains. Let it cool. In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add bay leaf. When bay leaf gets toasted, add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, ginger and garlic. Let them get toasted. Add onions. Sprinkle with some salt and let it wilt. When onions are cooked, add chopped tomatoes, red chilli powder, garam masala. Stir well. Add the rinsed and drained rajma and mix well. When tomatoes are cooked, add the rice and mix it gently. Adjust the seasonings if required, garnish with cilantro and turn off the heat. Serve warm with yogurt or raita.


Now over to my fellow marathoners,
30 Minutes Meals: Gayathri Anand
Baked Goods: Monika,
For On Going Events: Gayathri Kumar, Usha
Kids Friendly: PJ, Savitha, Smitha, Srivalli, Veena Aravind
Rice Varieties: Champa, Divya, Padma

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Mango Rice Pudding

If you ask me what I think of rice, I would immediately answer you saying it is like water. What? you might think. Water has no shape, no flavor. Rice does have shape, but adapts well with different kinds of flavors. Reason being it doesn't have a strong flavor or taste by itself. Some rice lovers might not agree on this, but is so true. It will take the flavor of anything that you mix it with. In this case, it takes the flavor of mango.

One Year Back - Mango Jam
Ingredients:
Rice - 1 cup (I used basmati)
Sugar - 1/4 cup - 1/2 cup depending on how sweet you like the pudding to be
Sweetened condensed mango pulp - 2 1/2 cups
Water - 3 1/2 cups
Cardamom - 5 pods powdered
Saffron - few strands (optional)
Cashews - 3 TBSP broken
Raisins - 3 TBSP
Ghee or butter to toast the nuts and raisins - 2 TBSP

Method:
Take rice in a skillet and toast it. It need not become brown but just toasted. Rinse well with rice and let it cook in the water till done. When the rice is done (there could still be a bit of water left), add the mango pulp and stir. Let it all dry out a bit coming to a pudding consistency (about 5 minutes on low heat). Keep stirring to prevent sticking. Check if you need to add sugar and add if required.
In another small pan, heat ghee or butter and when hot, toast the cashews and then raisins. Add it to the pudding along with powdered cardamom and saffron. Give it a stir and cover and let it stay on low heat for about 3 - 5 minutes. Turn off the heat. Serve warm, cold.

Note:
If you are one of those who do not like cooked mango taste, you might not find this very appealing. I loved it since it is full of mango flavor and there isn't a load of cream or ghee in it.

Check out what others are up to..
Srivalli, Divya, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Monica, Padma Dharmaraj, PJ, Savitha, Smitha, Usha, Veena Aravind.

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Tomatillo Rice / Tomatillo Salsa Verde Rice

Did you know you will get to read different kinds of rice preparation on this blog for the next seven days? Yes, it's true.
When Srivalli announced the 'Marathon #3' which, will be for seven days, there were couple of my favorite themes to choose from. But, I didn't choose them. You might wonder why? That is because I can't find people to eat all that stuff if I bake something for one full week. That is unless some of you want to move to my neighborhood and help me with it. So, I chose rice.
Don't be disappointed though. It will be different kinds of rice dishes. Some Indian some inspired by different countries. Most of them are very easy ones that any one can make. Yes, even men and beginners.
Today's rice dish is 'Tomatillo Rice' or 'Tomatillo Salsa Verde Rice'. Tomatillo is not from the family of tomatoes. It is actually from the family of gooseberry. I made the salsa, mixed it with rice and added some corn. How easy is that?

One Year Back - Ivy Gourd Pulav / Tindora Pulav
Ingredients:
Rice - 1 cup long grain or basmati cooked, cooled and grains separated
Corn kernels - 1 cup frozen or fresh (optional)
Tomatillo - 4 medium sized ones
Onion - 1 small quartered
Cilantro - 1/2 cup packed leaves and stalks
Garlic - 3 pods
Jalapeno peppers - 2 with seeds and rib if you can handle the heat or to taste
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 - 3 TBSP
Lime - juice of 1 plus more to serve if desired

Method:
Remove the covering of the tomatillo (skin around it which is like husk) and wash it well with water. Chop into chunks. Take these chunks, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, garlic in a blender and puree. You won't need any water. Set aside. In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add the puree. Add some salt and let the water evaporate. If you are using fresh corn kernels, boil in salted water for about 5 minutes and drain and add it to the pot. If you are using frozen corn like I did, add them to the puree and let it cook at the same time.
When all the water has evaporated and corn has cooked, add rice and stir to combine. Adjust the salt if needed and add the lime juice. Mix well. Keep it on low heat for 2 - 3 minutes and turn off the heat. Garnish with cilantro and serve with cut up lime.

Check out what others are up to..
Srivalli, Divya, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Monica, Padma Dharmaraj, PJ, Savitha, Smitha, Usha, Veena Aravind.

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Mango Mousse

When I got married, my mother-in-law told me one thing that is so true about my husband. She said "He is never going to say that food is good. If he goes for second serving, assume that he liked it". Till today (12 years now), he always goes for second and many times third serving of the food that I cook. But how many times in these 12 years has he told me that food is good? I believe I can count that with my fingers. Anyway, he doesn't even ask me to make something in particular. One day, we went to Hot Breads and he bought a piece of sponge cake filled with Mango Mousse. He liked it so much that I decided to make it at home. I searched online and found a video on Wareh wah chef. I started making this since then. I make it for the parties at home and fill it in 3 Oz cups and freeze a week before. Just have to get it out of the freezer and place on a tray when it is time for dessert. And everyone loves it particularly kids.

One Year Back - Chocolate Almond Spread
Ingredients:
Sweetened Condensed Mango pulp - 1 can (You can get this in Asian grocery stores)
Water - 3/4 cups
Heavy Whipping Cream - 2 cups chilled or 1 tub 16 Oz Cool whip thawed in the refrigerator (See Notes)
Mango flavored jelly crystals - 2 packets (90 gms each) Or 2 TBSP agar - agar powder
Sugar - 1/2 cup if using heavy whipping cream. Omit if using cool whip.

Method:
Empty the pulp into a large bowl. Rinse the can with 3/4 cup of water and pour the water into a saucepan. Keep on low heat. Add the crystals and keep stirring till they dissolve. It need not boil. Turn off the heat. Keep stirring occasionally to prevent skin from forming. When cool,  add the contents of the sauce pan to the bowl which has mango pulp in it. Stir well to combine.

If you are using whipping cream, whip it to soft peaks with sugar. Fold in the cool whip or whipped cream.  Pour into the serving cups and refrigerate. You can even freeze this. Better still, you can use graham cracker pie crust and fill it with it and let it set in the refrigerator.

Mousse stays fine in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 days. For longer storage, freeze it. If you are a fan of mousse, you should check out these posts too. Strawberry Mousse, Almond Mousse, Eggless Dark Chocolate Mousse.

Notes:
I prefer to use cool whip in this recipe because of one reason. I can use low fat or non-fat cool whip and the texture will be just fine. If you are alright using gelatin, instead of the jelly crystals, you can use 2 envelops of gelatin. Soften with 1/2 cup of water. Let it bloom then warm with another 1/4 cup of water. When it is melted, add it to the mango pulp and proceed. You can get Mango flavored jelly crystals in asian grocery stores particularly Indian and Pakisthani stores.

Check out what other ladies are cooking/baking/blogging on the last day of the marathon.
Srivalli, Azeema, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma, Pavani,  PJ,  Priya Suresh,Priya Mahadevan,  Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena.


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Ricotta Coconut Fudge (Burfi)

Happy Valentine's day everyone.
I do not really know the history of chocolate and Valentine's day. But, I do know that you make something to feel your loved one feel good. It need not be just chocolate. So, I made these not too sweet Ricotta Coconut fudge or burfi. Instead of using milk powder with ricotta the way we make ricotta peda, I used fine ground coconut powder and the result is an awesome not too sweet but very soft fudge.

One Year back - Homemade Almond Butter
Ingredients:
Ricotta cheese - 2 cups (I used part skim)
Sugar - 1 cup
Unsweetened dry dessicated coconut fine ground - 2 cups (If you can't get this, run the regular one in the blender/food processor to get powder and then measure)
Ghee or butter - 2 TBSP
Cardamom powder or vanilla - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method:
Grease a plate with ghee. I lined a 8" cake pan with parchment paper. Set aside. Take a thick bottomed vessel. Add butter or ghee and turn on the heat. Once the butter or ghee has melted, add ricotta cheese. Keep stirring on medium flame till it starts bubbling and spitting the water out. Add the sugar and immediately add the coconut powder. Stir. They all come together in 3 - 5 minutes. When there is almost no liquid left and it makes a huge mass, add the flavoring if using and stir for the final time. Pour it on to the grease plate or the parchment paper lined pan. The mixture won't fall like that of fudge. Take a wax paper and cover the entire surface with it. Flatten by pressing on the top of the wax paper. Let it set and cool. When completely cool, cut into desired shape and size. I made them very small just like the size of fudge. You could also make them into balls when cool enough to handle. Garnish with some chopped nuts if desired. My kids won't even touch it if I used any nuts in them. That was the reason for not using any. Store in the refrigerator up to 1 week if it lasts that long.

Check out what other ladies are up to..
Srivalli, Azeema, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma, Pavani,  PJ,  Priya Suresh,Priya Mahadevan,  Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena.

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Sourdough Vanilla Cake (with decoration)

It was my kid's birthday this week. We are planning the party when the weather gets better. I did make her cup cakes to take to school, but she didn't actually 'cut the cake' on that day. When I was talking to some of my friends, I actually asked just a couple of families to come this weekend so that she can cut the cake and the others can sing her 'Happy Birthday' song. Since I had some bubbly sourdough to use up, I decided to make cake out of it. When I asked my daughter what she wanted, she said "Vanilla Cake". She turned six and she has seen me decorate cakes for the past 3 years. For her cake, she usually chooses the color, design and even when they don't work very well, I have to make it work. She wanted butterfly design cake and here is my take on it. I tried brush embroidery, but apparently I need lot of practice doing that.
One of the side views..

A collage of other side views..

Cake will be cut in the evening and I don't know if I will have any left to take a picture in the day light tomorrow. Look at the crumb in the picture where in I have shown torted cakes. Icing is buttercream icing. You can refer to my 'cake decorating' series for the recipe.

One year back - Khasta Kachori
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 2 3/4 cups
Sourdough starter - 1 cup (fed)
Sourcream - 1 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Applesauce - 1/2 cup (You could increase oil to 1 cup if you don't want to use this)
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Egg - 2 Large
Salt - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1 1/2 tsp
Vanilla - 1 TBSP

Cake decorating pictures.. (All the pictures below were taken under my yellow kitchen light. I work on decorating either early in the morning or in the night when kids are asleep)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 8" round cake pans or line with parchment paper. Set aside. In a bowl, whisk together sugar, baking soda, salt, flour. Set aside. In another bowl, combine oil, eggs, applesauce, sourcream. Whisk well. Slowly whisk in the sourdough starter. Stir Vanilla in. Add the dry mix to wet mix and stir until combined. Divide evenly between the pans and bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on the rack for 10 minutes and then turn it on to the wire rack to cool completely.

Go to town with decorating.
Notes:
Since I was baking this with the intention of decorating, I used bake even strips to prevent too much of doming. I got 2" height 2 layers.

Check out what other ladies are up to..
Srivalli, Azeema, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma, Pavani,  PJ,  Priya Suresh,Priya Mahadevan,  Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena.

Since this cake has sourdough in it, I am sending this to Susan's Yeastspotting.

Enjoy.

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Carrot Almond Kheer / Pudding

I am very fond of Carrot Halwa. I used to make that a lot as dessert for company. I once saw a recipe for Carrot payasam in some Indian Cook book (don't remember which one). I started making that because it is quicker than Halwa. Once I added some left over blanched almonds and that is how I make this dessert now. The nuttiness of almonds give it a nice aroma and thickens the kheer very easily. You can skip using condensed milk and use milk and sugar instead. That will yield a thinner version of this, which can be served in tall glasses similar to milk shake or smoothie.

One year back - Vegan Banana Brownies
Ingredients:
Carrot - 6 medium peeled and cut into 1" chunks
Almonds - 1/2 cup (I used whole, but if you don't like the skin, blanch, remove skin and then use it)
Water - 2 - 2 1/2 cups (You can use milk instead)
Condensed milk - 1 can
Cardamom - 5 pods crushed
Slice almonds - few for garnish (optional)

Method:
In a saucepan, take the chopped carrots, almonds (whole or blanched). Pour enough water to cover the whole carrots. I used about 1 1/2 cups. Boil it till carrots are fork tender. If the water has evaporated, add some more. Turn off the heat and let cool a bit. Take entire saucepan contents in a blender/mixie. Add crushed cardamom pods to the blender and make a puree. You can use some water or milk to aid the machine. When pureed, pour it back into the saucepan. Add condensed milk and keep on very low flame and keep stirring frequently. When it comes to a simmer, turn it off. Garnish with some sliced almonds if desired. Serve hot or cold.

Notes:
This one is a bit on the sweet side. You can thin it down a bit by adding about a cup of milk which in turn reduces the sugar concentration. By the time I got to eat it, the entire pot was almost gone so I didn't adjust anything. I used organic carrots which are very sweet to begin with. That could be the reason for this being a bit on the sweeter side. Other way of doing this without compromising on the thickness is by increasing the carrots to about 8 and adding 1/2 a cup of milk along with 1 can of sweetened condensed milk can. Don't alter the almond amount.

Check out what other ladies are cooking/baking and blogging..
Srivalli, Azeema, Bhagi,  Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma, Pavani,  PJ,  Priya Suresh,Priya Mahadevan,  Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena.

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Double Chocolate Ricotta Cookies

People prepare and take a list when they go shopping particularly grocery shopping. Till today, I have not done that. I know it is a good practice, but I very rarely forget what I wanted to buy. On the other hand, I buy too many things that were not on my list (in my mind not on paper) to begin with. One reason for that is my 'elephant's memory' when it comes to prices. I can tell you exactly how much an item costs in each store if I have been to that store and if it is an item that I buy. So, when I see a deal, I go overboard and buy too many. Then I regret having bought so many because of where to store them. This saga goes on...
Anyway, I found Ghirardelli white chocolate chips 11 Oz bag for 1.50. That is a steal. I picked out quite a few of them. I wanted to use some and made this because it has less fat than classic chocolate chip cookies.

Another thing that happened is the source recipe uses dark chocolate chips. I wanted my white chocolate chips to look prominent. So, I changed the recipe to use cocoa to make it dark. Still with me? Read the recipe.

One year back - Tomato Thokku/Pickle
Adapted from here.
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Unsweetened cocoa - 1/2 cup
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1 cup
Butter - 4 TBSP or 1/2 a stick at room temperature
Ricotta - 1 cup at room temperature (I used part skim)
Egg - 1 large
Vanilla - 2 tsp
White chocolate chips - 1 1/2 cups

Method:
In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, salt. Set aside. Beat butter, ricotta together. Add sugar, egg to it and continue beating till everything is creamy. Add the dry mix and beat. You might have to just fold towards the end with a spatula. Add the white chocolate chips and stir. Cover with a plastic wrap and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes or so.
When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Take the dough out of the freezer and with a cookie scoop (spray with vegetable oil spray and use. This dough is extremely sticky), make 1 " balls and place on the cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Source said she made 12 cookies out of this proportion, but I got about 33 cookies which are good sized ones. I baked mine for 14 minutes. Don't forget to rotate the pans halfway. These don't spread too much. They will remain puffy and soft inside. These are more like whoopie pies but without all that fat. Cool on the wire rack and store in an air tight container.

Check out what my blogging marathon buddies are up to today -

Srivalli, Azeema, Bhagi,  Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma, Pavani,  PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena.

Sending this to 'Sweet as Sugar Cookies'.

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Cranberry Quick Bread

This is my work for day #2 of the 7 day blogging marathon. Geez, I sound like I am writing a journal, but then again blog is a journal. Public of course.
Source of this recipe had fresh cranberries. I neither had the fresh nor frozen berries. I used dried sweetened cranberries. You could even use raisins in its place.

One year back - Almond Joy Cookies
Adapted barely from - Martha Stewart site.
Ingredients:
Butter - 4 TBSP or 1/2 a stick
All Purpose flour - 2 cups spooned and leveled
Granulated sugar - 1 cup
Baking Powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Egg - 1 large
Milk - 3/4 cup (I used 2 %)
Sweetened dried cranberries - 1 cup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. I did mine at 325 F since I was using a dark pan. Grease and flour a 9 X 5 loaf pan. In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Set aside. In a microwave safe bowl melt the butter. Let it cool. Add milk, egg to it and beat it till egg is incorporated with the rest of the liquid. Add the dry mix and stir gently. Add dried cranberries and stir to combine. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 55 - 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. It took about 55 minutes for mine. Source says to bake for 1 hour 15 minutes but I checked at 45 minutes and covered with a foil to prevent over browning. It was done in total 55 minutes. Could be because I used dried cranberries and the juices from fresh cranberries would make the bread take longer to bake. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then turn out on to the wire rack. Serve as is or topped with butter or honey.

Curious about how my blogging marathon buddies are doing?

Srivalli, Azeema, Bhagi,  Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma, Pavani,  PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena.

Enjoy.

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