Manga Pachadi / Mango in coconut gravy

After so much of baking, I am back with my curry recipes. This is a delicious side dish with rice which every one must try.

Pachadi is a side dish and a most wanted dish in all the sadhyas. We can make pachadi out of many vegetables, and mango is one of them. This can be made with ripe mangoes also. We can also add curd, depending upon the sourness of mangoes.

In most of the places raw mangoes are available almost all through the year. So once when I got mangoes to make pickle, my M-I-L made this pachadi out of one of the mangoes and turned out to be delicious. I had never tasted this before. Hmm.. my M-I-L was holding this recipe for last so many years... :)

This is one of the easiest recipes to make. This is not the season for mangoes but I couldn’t resist taking at least one mango when ever I see them in market, to make this yummy, tangy and delicious pachadi. Hope you all enjoy this.

Ingredients:

1. Raw mango- 1no(big)
2. Coconut- 1cup
3. Mustard seeds- 1tbsp
4. Oil- 1tbsp
5. Mustard seeds- 1tsp
6. Curry Leaves- few
7. Green Chillies (slitted)- 2nos
8. Onion (Chopped)- 1no
9. Salt- as per taste

Method:

1. Deskin, chop the mango into small pieces and keep it aside.
2. In a pan heat oil, crackle mustard seeds, curry leaves, chopped onions and green chillies. Stir well till the raw smell of the onions disappear.
3. In the above add the chopped mangos and cook till it softens. Add ½ cup water and let it cook for some time.
4. Grind coconut and mustard seeds well and add this to the above mango mixture and cook in slow flame for few minutes. Do not let it boil for long, otherwise it will curdle.
5. Serve hot like a side dish with steaming rice.

Chai Patty- Back to college canteen...

Its been quite some time since I wanted to start writing about some amazing places which we have been visiting in search of good food. We visited several places over the past year, but never got a chance to start writing.

It was by accident that we saw this small tea shop in Indiranagar called Chai Patty. We were in fact early for doctor’s appointment and we thought of just going to this tea shop and see what they have. The view inside was just superb and just  by the look of it we decided to have at least a tea over there. The shop in general is quite open and done beautifully with the book shelves and the impromptu seating arrangements. 

It gave us all the ambience of an old time college canteen. There is a reading section too with a reasonable variety of books for book lovers. The racks decorated with lovely and colourful showpieces.

We decided to order a Kullad Chai and some hot and crispy potato bhajjis. The hot steaming kullad chai is just amazing. The masala chai was really soul-awakening. They also had various other pakodas- onions, potatoes, methi, paneer and so on. The corn churmur was so crunchy and crispy. We ended up eating a whole lot. There is a lot more to eat like the cheese balls, momos and the menu doesn’t stop there. It goes on and on and on...:)

I loved the place so much because of its atmosphere, music in the background, steaming snacks, service of the waiters and smiling faces and the general hospitality. Now it has become a must visit place for me whenever I visit Indiranagar.

Note: As the photos were taken at night and in a hurry, please bear with the poor quality of the snaps.

Tiramisu … Heaven on your taste buds …

And I am back with my first post of this year and yes, I am starting the new year with yet another cake recipe.

Tiramisu is a well known Italian dessert which is loved and adored by people all over the world. This is a layered dessert, which has alternate layers of coffee dipped sponge fingers and a cheese- cream- egg mixture and finally dusted with cocoa powder.
The sponge fingers soaked in coffee gets even spongier the next day. So if you are thinking of making tiramisu for some party or so just make this the day before serving so that there is ample time for all the flavors to glue well.

First time I heard about this from my brothers, who usually tell about all the delectable desserts that they tried and loved. Later I ate this at my friend’s place and the taste was amazing. Then I decided, whatever it is, I must find the ingredients and should make this on my own. But the ingredients were difficult to get. After doing lots of research I came up with this and trust me the taste was same as what we get from any cake shop.

Ingredients:

1. Eggs- 2nos
2. Mascarpone Cheese- 1 ½ cups(see below how to make this at home)
3. Heavy Cream- 1cup
4. Cake Fingers (Basic cake cut into pieces)- 10 pieces
5. Sugar- 1 ½ cups
6. Strong Coffee- 1cup
7. Vanilla essence- 1tsp
8. Cocoa Powder- for decorating

Method:

1. Separate egg whites and yolks. In a glass bowl, pour the egg yolks and sugar together and beat them well till fluffy and creamy.
2. Heat water in another vessel on a low flame.Place the bowl containing egg yolk and sugar over the simmering water and whisk well till the mixture turns thick. To this add vanilla essence and keep this aside to cool. (The bowl containing the mixture of egg yolks and sugar, should not come in contact with the water underneath, since this egg mixture will curdle. We should take care that, we should not use a metal bowl for the egg mixture, since the vessel gets heated up quickly and the mixture will curdle).
3. Whip the cream until peaks are formed. In this,mix the mascarpone cheese and keep it aside.
4. In the above cream mixture add the cooled egg mixture and stir well until no lumps appear.
5. Whip the egg whites till peaks and fold this to the above cream mixture to keep it light and airy.
6. Prepare coffee by adding boiling water to 2tsp of coffee and required amount of sugar.
7. Take a dish in which you want to make tiramisu. Dip the sponge cake fingers in coffee and layer them side by side until the bottom of the dish is covered. Don’t keep the sponge fingers in coffee for too long or else the cake will become soggy.
8. Pour half of the above made cheese- cream mixture over these sponge fingers and set it well.
9. Again layer another layer of coffee dipped sponge fingers and pour over this the remaining cheese- cream mixture and level the surface with the back of a spoon.
10. Cover and refrigerate for minimum 3- 4 hours.
11. Dust the surface with cocoa powder and decorate as you wish and serve the yummy tiramisu.

Note:

• Usually for the base we use lady’s finger, but as I didn’t get that, I made the cake of jam squares and I cut pieces.
• As I didn’t get the mascarpone cheese, I made it at home and its easy to make too.
• Don’t serve right away. Chill at least for 8hours before serving.

Homemade mascarpone cheese (adapted from cakes and more)
Ingredients:
Amul cream- 2cups
Lemon Juice- 1tbsp
Method:

1. Heat the amul cream in a double boiler (Boil water in a vessel. Pour the amul cream in a bowl and place this inside the boiling water) for about 15- 20 min, stirring often.
2. After 15 min add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture stirring gently till the mixture curdles. While it curdles it will be thick, it wont look like milk curdle.
3. The whipping cream will become thick and it will stick to the back of the wooden spoon thickly.
4. After that remove the bowl from water and let it cool completely and sieve through a cheese cloth. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheese cloth or press on its surface.
5. I kept this in the refrigerator over night, it was firm in the morning and can be used. Don’t get surprised by seeing little water after refrigerating over night.

I am linking this to ABC series: DESSERTS

A journey down the memory lane ...

My wonderful journey in the blogging world started in 2010 and the past year has given me lots of confidence,  introduced me to many different cuisines around the world, improved my photography and presentation skills.

At the dawn of this new year, I thought of taking a peek back to the roads I have travelled in the past year or so. There were several occasions inspiring, tempting and some even forcing me to cook the various recipes I have been posting. It is difficult to list the top dishes in my blog, since every post has an effort in its backdrop and is very close to my heart.

I started this blog with a special interest in cake baking and desserts. I had a tryst with a variety of cake recipes, like the Blueberry cheese cake, Pannacotta and the most recent Rainbow cake. Each one of these cake recipes, though some of them common, have given me the unexplainable joy of seeing the cake made by me, right in front of my eyes.

During this time, I also had my own share of experiences with a wide range of other recipes like Haleem, Fish Reshad and Thalaserry biriyani. 

All these dishes have been in my wish list to atleast enjoy some day at some place. But now I have these recipes cooked in my own kitchen and posted in my own space. I cant ask for anything more …

I was always low on confidence to prepare any kind of desserts. The reason being that I believe a bad dessert can totally spoil the party, regardless of how splendid the meal has been :-) This being the challenge, I started preparing some very light desserts at home and kept those to myself and my Husband, till I got satisfactory comments before serving to others. With this inspiration, I ventured into some very interesting desserts like Ranginak, Gul-e-Firdaus, Unnakkaya,  Malpua and so on. I still owe my Husband, the home-made Baklawa ..:-)

Most of my cooking has been revolving around how I can lure my cutie to eat something by making it more visually appealing.

I would like to thank all of my well-wishers who have been encouraging and supporting me, which is my motivation to do more and more experiments with my cooking. I also request all the readers of my blog to continue their support, love and warmth in the coming years as well.

Wish all of you fun-filled yummylicious days ahead.