Ginger and Cardamom Tea

Weather is real bad here with snow and the mercury level not budging at all. I feel like staying at home all the time sunk inside my cosy blanket. What can be better than having a cup hot tea in such weather! Can I hear a lot of Yeahs!!

To tell you the truth, I am not a tea addict like my hubby (he cannot say no to a cup of tea). I do have a cup of it everyday in the morning (I have developed this habit after coming to this cold country). But on bad cold days, I can go for another cup. Flavours and sweetness of tea vary accoring to a person's taste. I love it sweet with spices. I am sharing this one which has ginger and cardamom flavours. Its simply iressistable on a cold day.

Here is what you will need:

Slightly more than 1 cup water.

1 cup low fat milk.

2 tea bags (I use Tetley Extra Strong)

1 cardamom pod.

1'' ginger peice.

Sugar to taste.

For 2 cups.

Process:

1. In a saucepan boil water. Pound ginger and cardamom pod in pestle and mortar.
2. Add it to the boiling water along with tea bags. The flavours will be infused into the boiling water. 
3. Now add milk to it and keep the heat on a medium. Let it boil for 2 minutes. The colour should come out nice.
4. Add sugar to taste ( I add 2 tsp per cup) and boil again on a medium for 2 minutes.
5. Strain and pour into your cup.

Enjoy with biscuits of your choice. If you are feeling more indulgent have it with pakoras. It is a deadly combination!

Sev Puri

The very word 'Sev Puri' conjures up tastes that tantalise my mouth and puts me in a craving mode. I usually keep the papdi/puri made in advance, so that I can satisfy my recurring cravings without much delay. It is very simple and we need a few ingredients to assemble it. Surely enough, we all have them in our pantry most of the time. Lets have a look at the recipe now.

Serves 2.

12 Papdi
1 large boiled potato, peeled and chopped.
¼ cup chopped onion.
¼ cup deseeded & chopped tomato.
¼ cup green chutney.
¼ cup tamarind chutney.
¼ cup nylon sev.

Process:

First place the papdis on a plate. Place chopped potato, tomato and onion equally on each
of the papdi. Top it with a teaspoon of green chutney and tamarind chutney. Finally top it
with a teaspoon of nylon sev.

Voila! The chat is ready to serve..

Sending this off to Pari's Event 'Only Chat'

Now before the Chat becomes soggy because of my photography sessions I must devour them all. Make your plate now! Enjoy!

Pinwheel Cookies

Baking at home is always a satisfying experience, if the outcome is good and appreciated by all. This time I have baked these cookies- Pinwheel Cookies! They look cute and taste awesome. A very balanced taste of chocolate and vanilla which seems to be made for each other is this creation. I first saw them as a kid and I was very intrigued as to how one could make it. Definately, I didnot dig it up to the end then. But now, since I have developed a liking for baking, I did and there it is! They take a bit of time to make but are well worth the efforts. Without much ado, here is the recipe!

Pinwheel Cookies:

Makes about 20.

240 gm flour.
1 tsp baking powder.
1/8 tsp salt.
120 gm butter.
150 gm powdered sugar.
1 tsp vanilla essence.
3 tbsp cocoa powder.
½ cup milk to make the dough.

Process:

1. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt together. Grease a large baking tray.

2. Cream butter and powdered sugar till light and fluffy. This will take about 3-4 minutes with the help of a electric hand mixer.

3. To this butter and sugar mixture add the flour, vanilla essence. Add milk little by little and mix gently to make stiff but smooth dough.

4. Divide the dough into two parts and blend cocoa powder in one and set the other aside. Use a little milk (2 tsp) to blend the cocoa powder till it is well incorporated and the dough is even brown in colour.

5. Thinly roll out both the halves 1/8’’ thick into equal size pieces. Shape them in equal rectangular pieces by scraping off the excess. Keep them aside and repeat the process till all the dough is used.

6. Place the chocolate piece on top of the white one. Roll the two tightly just as in swiss rolls and allow to stand in a cool place for 20-30 minutes. While the roll is sitting preheat your oven at 175 C for 15 minutes.

7. Cut into ¼’’ thick slices and place them on the prepared baking tray.

8. Bake at 175 C in a preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes till they are done.

9. When done, take them out of the oven, let it stay on the tray for 2 minutes and then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. When completely cooled put them in your cookie jar.

Sending this off to Champa's Bake Off. Have a nice weekend! Enjoy!!

Crunchy Fruit and Veggie Salad

I love salads and the one I am sharing today is my recent favourite. It has all my favourite ingredients - fruits and nuts! My hubby who doesnot have too much liking for salads, is also a huge fan of this one. When I serve him this, not one bit is left in the plate. Do try it out and I am sure you will like it :-)!

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

200g pack of crunchy salad leaves (Escarole, Radicchio, Frisee leaves and thinly sliced
carrot and cabbage).
2 tomatoes sliced in halves.
1 cup chopped pineapple chunks.
1 cup grapes.
1 small red onion cut in strips.
¼ cup dried cranberries.
¼ cup walnuts.
¼ cup chopped coriander leaves.

For the dressing:

¼ cup virgin olive oil.
2 tbsp lemon juice.
1 tbsp ketchup.
2 tbsp chilli sauce.
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
2 tbsp sugar.

Process:

1. Toss all the salad ingredients together. Keep them in the refrigerator until needed.

2. Mix all the dressing ingredients and stir well. Keep in the refrigerator.

3. Before serving add the dressing to the salad and toss well. Serve in individual plates.

Enjoy! Have a nice weekend!

Couscous Upma

After an indulgent Diwali, its time to shed off those extra calories by eating some healthy food. I am here with a healthy Upma. But before that, I have to announce a product review from CSN Stores. I am sure no one needs an introduction about them. CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from stylish briefcases to cute cookware to chic lighting pieces! So, stay tuned for the review!

Now coming back to the recipe, I had brought a few cook books from India one being 'Healthy Breakfast' Tarla Dalal. There was one recipe whish uses broken bulgar wheat to make this upma. I replaced it with couscous and here is what I made!

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1 Cup Couscous.
1 small onion finely chopped.
1 green chill, slit.
Few strands of ginger.
¼ cup green peas.
¼ cup carrots diced.
½ tsp mustard seeds.
3-4 curry leaves.
1 tbsp oil.
Salt to taste.
2 tbsp chopped coriander.
1 tbsp lemon juice.

Process:

Clean and wash the couscous thoroughly. Boil cups of water and add a pinch of salt. Add
the washed couscous to it. Let it come to boil and take it off gas and cover the pan with
a lid. Keep it for 3-4 minutes. Couscous will be cooked and soft, each grain separated.
Drain off any excess water.

In a pan, heat oil. Add the curry leaves, grated ginger, green chilli and mustard seeds.
When they crackle add the chopped onions and sauté for a minute. Add the diced carrots
and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add peas and cooked couscous and give a good stir. Add salt
to taste and lemon juice. Take it off gas and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with
chopped coriander leaves.

Sending this off to Priya Mitharwal's Event- Bookmarked Recipes-Every Tuesday-9th Nov 2010.

Enjoy!

Diwali Wishes and a sweet dish- Kalakand!

Hi Friends,

At the very outset my heartiest belated wishes to you for Diwali! Hope you a had a good time and enjoyed a lot! Actually, I was planning to post this dish on the diwali day but could manage time to do so. Anyways, better late than never! I had made it specially for Diwali. I had referred the recipe from a small booklet of 'Milkmaid'. I have incorporated a few simple changes to the recipe. It tended to be a bit crumbly in the beginning but once properly set it was fine. That's why, you can see that all the pieces of the sweet are not uniform in shapes. But that does not lower the taste. Hope you would like it too..

Before going into the recipe, I would like to say something about this illuminating festival. Diwali is a festival which celebrates the victory of good over evil. As per the Hindus, it is the day when

Lord Rama returned to his kingdom, Ayodhya after 14 years of exile, after putting an end to the demon Ravana of Lanka. In Ayodhya, the people welcomed them by lighting rows of clay lamps. So, it is an occasion in honor of Rama's victory over Ravana; of truth's victory over evil. But, we Jains have a totally different occasion of celebrating this festival. It is the festival of jubilation to commemorate the Moksha attained by our 24^th Tirthankar Lord Mahavira on Amaavashya of Kartika in Pavapuri,India. According to our Holy Scriptures many Gods and Demi-Gods were present on that occasion, illuminating the darkness of Amaavashya. To symbolically keep the light of Lord Mahavira's knowledge alive, ordinary people also illuminated their homes. Hence the name of the festival - Deepawali.

Sweets and Lights are a very important part of this occassion. So, lets see how I made this Kalakand. Kalakand when normally made from milk takes a lot of time. Since I used condensed milk it was considerably quicker!

 Makes 16 peice.
 Ingredients:

1 tin milk maid.

2 cups full fat milk.

2-3 tbsp curd.

1 tsp lime juice.

2 cardamom pods crushed finely.

Few strands of saffron.

Pistachios and almond flakes to garnish.

Process:

Heat a non stick pan. Add milk and boil on a high flame. When it comes to a boil add the curd and take it off thegas for a moment. Give it a good stir. The milk will curdle. Now put it back on heat and add the condensed milk and give it a good stir. Add the lime juice  and stir. It will curdle too. Now add the crushed cardamom pods and saffron threads. At this moment if you want to add a little more sugar to your taste you can. Keep stirring and heating the curdled milk till it dries up. It will take about 25- 30 minutes.

Set it in a lined square tin and garnish it with pistachios and almonds. Let it cool down and then using it pizza cutter cut it into square size. Keep it in refrigerator.

Serve cold!
Sendin g this sweet to PJ's ongoing event- Lets Celebrate-Bengali Sweets,This event is the brain child of Nivedita And also sending it to Mina's Event CMT-Sweets started by Jagruti

Belated Diwali Wishes again! Wish you a very joyous, prosperous year ahead!

Tom-Veg Soup

Finally, I am back from India. Actually, I was around 2 weeks back and now I am 'kind of settled' after my - 'sort of' long holiday break! Also, finally I am back to blogging :-)..Needless to say I had a lovely time back home with family and friends. As it happens after coming back from India, there is a straight 20 degree change in temperature. The mornings and evenings have already started to be really cold here and what I need at these times is a piping hot soup to keep me warm and going! So, yes I am here with a hearty and healthy soup. And obviously, it has my favourite ingredient-'Tomato' and hence the name- Tom-Veg Soup!

Tom-Veg Soup:

A piping hot and filling soup for cold days.

Ingredients:

For 2 people:

2 large tomatoes
¼ cup finely shredded cabbage.
¼ cup grated carrots.
¼ cup chopped spring onions.
2 tbsp green beans chopped.
1 small onion finely chopped.
1 small tomato chopped.
Handful of coriander leaves chopped.
1 bay leaf.
1 tbsp sugar or less.
Salt to taste.
Freshly ground pepper to taste.
1 tsp corn flour.
1 tbsp tomato ketchup.
1 tsp oil.

Process:

Cut the tomatoes into chunks and boil in 1½ cup water and microwave it for 3 minutes on a high. Blend them and strain. Heat oil in a pan and add the bay leaf. Sauté and add the onion. After a minute add the beans and sauté for another minute. Add shredded cabbage and carrot and heat for 2 minutes. Now add the tomato puree and heat for 3-4 minutes. Mix the corn flour in a little water and add to the boiling soup mixture. Give it a good stir. Add tomato ketchup, salt, sugar, pepper, chopped spring onion, chopped tomato and coriander leaves. Give it a boil and then lower the heat. Cover the pan and heat for another 5 minutes.

Serve hot with your choice of bread but I had it by itself.

Happy Blogging! Enjoy!