Winter Warmers - Round Up!

Words cannot define how elated I am as I am composing the round up of my first event- Winter Warmers! Thank you all for sending me such beautiful and varied entries.

Rounding up an event is not a massive task but if your computer is broke and you have limited access to internet, it can be difficult. That's my position right now and that is why I have not been able to go around hopping on your blogs frequently. I hope things will be fine soon. So, till then please bear with me.

Also I would like to remind you about the other event hosted here, Lets Celebrate Sweets- Chocolate. Hurry in your entries!

Now, coming back to the round up, I have arranged the entries in the order I recieved them with some my entries squeezed in between and some at the end. If I have left out any entry please let me know and I will inclide it soon. Also, if you forgot to send me your entry through mail, please leave your link below the post and I will update it.

Without further delay here is the roundup of Winter Warmers!

Vidhya send in her ' Nutty Cassava Delight'
Sadhana sends in her 'Sugarfree Badam Halwa'.
Reshmi sends in her ' Hot-n-Sour Noodles Soup'.

Amarendra sends in his Thai Style Mix Veg Soup.

Rachana sends her Ginger n Chocolate Cake.
Smita sends in her Tomato Carrot and BottleGourd Soup.

Gayathri sends in her Tofu Cutlets.

Rachans sends another interesting entry- Chunna husked wheat pudding.

Nandini sends in a creamy soup- Cream of Mushroom Soup.

Satya sends this awesome pakodas- Dill Punugulu. Sameena sends her Aloo Tikki.
Kirthi sends her 'Moong Bean Curry'.

Sameena sends another entry-A very innovative and unusual soup- Okra Soup
Swetha sends in 2 entries, very comforting soups, Barley Lentil Soup and Tomato Soup

Anamika sends in her Dal Makhani.
Aipi sends her Lentil Fritters- Kachdee.
Monika sends in her Til Gajak.

Reva sends in sends in her Gobi 65.
Anamika sends in her Cheese Bread Rolls.
Megha sends her English Winter Soup.

Sonia sends in her Sarson Ka Saag & Makki-ki-Roti. .
Radhika sends in Varuthu Arucha Kozhambu.
Rajani sends in her Almonds and Dates Halwa

Reva sends another entry Betel Leaf Vadai.
Akheela sends Fenugreek Leaves Potato Curry.
Priyanka sends in her Carrot Halwa

Chitra sends in 2 heartwarming soups- Brocolli and Green Beans Soup and Beans and Peas Soup.
Kirthika sends in her Hawaiin Fried Rice.



I posted a total of 4 new entries for the event.They are C3 Soup, Carrot Halva (Microwave), Chocolate Cake with fudge icing, Corn Fussili n Basil Soup.

Priya sends her Clementine Rasam

Priyanka sends Matar Paneer Curry.

Gayathri sends Baked Green Peas and Palak Cutlet

Kirthika sends Tomato Rice

Umm Mymoonah sends in her Potato Kibbeh
Kavita sends in her Cheese Onion Pastry
Harini Jaya sends in her Jowar Vegetable Stew

Heni sends in her Chourba Aadess Rouge

Chitra sends 2 more entries Warm Veggie Rainbow Salad and Tomato Soup

Bala sends in her Bolivian Peanut Soup

Priya sends in 5 entries first one being with Carrot and Celery Soup  

Her 2nd entry is Peanut and Poha Pakoda

 Other from Priya are: Batata Poha Vada, Celery Oats Soup, Bulgur Bisi Bele Bath

Swetha sends in her Carrot and Coriander Soup

 Jigyasa &Pratibha sends in their Adad Paak

Champa sends in her Vegan Tomato Soup 

Champa sends in her Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup

Usha sends in her Spinach Orange Soup

I have also sent 4 older entries first one being Sweetcorn Vegetable Soup.

 My other older entries are Tomato Soup, Tom Veg Soup and Ginger and Cardamom Tea.

Hope you enjoyed the round up as much as I did! Cheers!

Do send in your entries for the other event being hosted here Lets Celebrate Sweets- Chocolate  

Have a lovely weekend!

Corn Fussili n Basil Soup

Soups are the most comforting food for winter and I have been making a lot of them this winter. Here is one, I tried recently. I had found this one in a microwave booklet with recipes from Tarla Dalal at my mom's place. I vaguely remembered the combination and created this one. It is quite filling and I loved the flavour of basil in the soup.

Sending it to Divya's Show me you Soup and to my event 'Winter Warmers'

Corn Fussili n Basil Soup

Ingredients:

2 large tomatoes.
1 cup sweet corn + 2 tbsp extra.
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tsp oil
3/4 cup fussili pasta, boiled
4-5 basil leaves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste.
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1 tsp corn flour mixed with 2 tsp of water.
Grated cheddar cheese for garnishing.

Process:

1. Boil the tomatoes and make a puree of it. Boil 1 cup sweetcorn in 1 cup water and churn it in a mixture. Strain it and discard the waste.

2. Heat a pan and add oil. When heated add the onions and saute till translucent.

3. Add the tomato puree and heat for 30 seconds. Then add the sweetcorn mixture and stir well.

4. To it add the cornflour mixture and stir well. The soup will thicken. Add water to adjust the consistency.

5. Add the remaining sweetcorn, basil leaves, boiled pasta,sugar, salt and pepper. Give it a nice stir and boil on a medium for 5-7 minutes.

6. Garnish it with grated cheddar and serve hot.

This is my 4th entry to my event -Winter Warmers. Others were C3 Soup, Carrot Halva(Microwave) and Chocolate Cake with Fudge Icing. Along with these I would like to submit these four recipes for my event-

Sweet Corn Vegetable Soup, Tomato Soup, Tom Veg Soup and Ginger and Cardamom Tea.

Hurry in your entries. Event ends 30th Jan 2011.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Cake With Fudge Icing (Eggless)

This is my last minute entry for Suma's event - Bake-o-mania. I had made it for New Year. The fudge icing transformed this simple cake into a delicious and sinful treat. The reason I chose to cover it with fudge icing was the lack of time. I did not want to sit and spend time smoothing the icing. I am glad to have made the choice.We enjoyed some slices of it with scoops of vanilla ice cream. Doesn't that sound tempting!

This cake also find its way to my event 'Winter Warmers' and Champa's Bake Off.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup AP flour.

½ cup condensed milk.
¼ cup butter,
2 tbsp cocoa powder.
3/4 tsp baking powder.
½ tsp baking soda.
80 ml soda water
½ tsp vanilla essence.

For the fudge icing and decoration:

50 g milk chocolate.
1 cup icing sugar.
3 tbsp butter.
1/4 cup milk.
1 tsp vanilla essence.

Process:
1. Preheat the oven at 180 C for 15 minutes.

2. Grease a sandwich tin and dust it with flour. In a mixing bowl, add all the dry ingredients together and mix. Sieve it so that the mixture in uniform and there are no lumps in it.

3. In another bowl add the soft butter and beat in the condensed milk. Stir well for two minutes. Add the vanilla essence and beat nicely for 2 minutes till everything is evenly mixed.

4. Now add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture, slowly and keep rotating to form a batter. Add the soda water and mix for another couple of minutes.

5. Pour it in a pre greased tin and bake it in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes at 180 C till nicely raised and a skewer pricked in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

6.  Cool it completely on a wire rack. While it is cooling prepare the fudge icing. For that chop the chocolate into small pieces. Pour all the ingredients into a heat proof bowl and place it over a pan containing boiling water. Stir the ingredients as it melts.

7. Take it off gas once nicely melted and beat well. Wait till it cools a bit and reaches the right consistency.

8. Once the cake is cooled completely cover it with freshly prepared fudge icing and decorate it with chocolate gems.

Enjoy! Have a nice weekend!

Carrot Halva (Microwave)

Christmas is over :-( . Hope you all had a good time enjoying all the goodness this festival brings, not to mention good food, gifts, parties and so on. I had a good time too and am having a good time now as well, shopping around in the big sale season! I tell you I love shopping and I do not know many people who do not :-)!

The blogosphere is filled with recipes of Christmas goodies and it made things more festive. May be I will share them sometimes later. Today, I am sharing this Halva which is an all time favourite in my household especially during winters. This Carrot Halva is the microwave version. I had posted the conventional one long back. You can check the recipe here.

This is probably going to be my last post this year.. Lets end it with this sweet dish! Wishing you all the very best in the coming year!

Coming back to today's recipe:

Carrot Halva (Microwave):

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded carrots.
1 tbsp ghee
½ cup milk.
¼ cup sugar or less.
A few strands of saffron.
2 cardamom pods crushed.
Almond flakes and chopped pistachios to garnish.



Process:

1. Add the carrots to a safe microwave bowl and add ghee. Give a good stir so that the ghee is nicely coated on the shredded carrots.

2. Add milk, crushed cardamom, saffron and sugar and mix such that all the carrots is covered by it.

3.Microwave on a high for 3-5 minutes and stir and microwave again for 3-5 minutes.

4. Follow this cycle till done. Mine took 20 minutes. If you are making a lesser amount it will be done quicker and also time differs from microwave to microwave. So adjust accordingly.

5. Finally, garnish with almonds and pistachios. Serve warm or cold.

Sending this off to my event - Winter Warmers held here.

Enjoy!

An Event Announcement and C3 Soup

Winter is in full bloom here and with that there are a few dishes that are making way to our table more than at any other time of the year. 'Soups' for examples comes to my mind first. But there are lot many things that we cook mostly in winter that keeps us warm and going. So here I am with my first event here -'Winter Warmers', very apt for the season, I believe. I look forward to your contribution, be it a piping hot soup or a warm salad, a warm halva or a sizzling brownie. It can be even a hot cup of tea or coffee! The options are numerous and varied.. So, friends send in your delicious entries! Here are a few rules of the event, you would like to know:

1. Make something thats keeps you warms and going during cold wintery days.

2. It can be any course of the meal.

3. Recipe has to be strict vegetarian. No eggs allowed!

4. Multiple Entries are welcome. Old entries are allowed with new entries. That means if you are sending two new entries, you can send two of your old entries for the event.

5. Please send in your entries starting today, 15th Dec 2010 till on or before January 30th 2011. Roundup will be there by first week of February.

6. Bloggers can simply send your Name and URL of your recipe at theveggiehut@gmail.com (theveggiehut AT gmail DOT com) with the subject of "Winter Warmers" with the following details-

Name:
Recipe Name and Url:
Picture of the dish reduced to 300px:

Non bloggers can email me your name, recipe and picture at theveggiehut@gmail.com (theveggiehut AT gmail DOT com) with the subject of "Winter Warmers"

7. Link back to this announcement page is mandatory and I would really appreciate if you can include this logo in your posts.

Looking forward to your entries!

My very first entry to my very first event is this soup- C3 Soup. Well it is the actually, Carrot Coconut and Coriander Soup. It looks like a rather long name, so I call it C3 Soup. I had this soup here in a restraunt and needless to say I loved it. I am big on Tomato Soup but this one seemed to give a nice competition to my old all time favourite soup. I googled to find a suitable recipe and landed here. I have made some variation to it and here is my version.

Lets have alook at the ingredients:

4 large carrots.

1/4 cup chopped onions.

1/4 cup chopped coriander.

1/4 cup coconut milk( You may increase or decrease it by 2 tbsp)

2 cloves.

1 bay leaf.

Salt and pepper to taste.

2 tsp Sugar (Optional).

Process:

1. Wash and peel the carrots. Cut them into chunks. In a pressure cooker add the onions. cloves, bay   leaves and chopped carrots.

2. Add a cup of water. Pressure cook it on a medium till two whistles.

3. Let it cool down. Take out the cloves and bay leaf and discard. Churn it in a mixture till smooth and creamy with no lumps.

4. Heat a pan and add the mixture. Bring it to a boil and lower the gas.

5.  Add the chopped coriander leaves and coconut milk. Season with salt, pepper and sugar and stir. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Serve hot with your choice of bread.

I love this soup a bit sweet but my husband likes othewise so I donot add the sugar in his part. You can make your choice.

Send in your 'Winter Warmer' recipes for my event and enjoy your winter. Cheers!