Techie.....Cookie......Freaky.........

New Year Wishes

2019-12-31T18:41:00.004+00:00

Happy New Year 2020!

Happy New Year !

2018-12-31T21:33:00.001+00:00

Wish you all a very Happy New Year 2019!

Kathrikkai Salna

2014-11-02T14:56:00.000+00:00

I'm back to my online dairy(my Blog) after a long break that too to jot down my favourite recipe Kathrikkai (aubergine) Salna, before i forget. It's is a perfect accompaniment with biryani.

Ingredients:
Brinjal/aubergine(big) - 1
Red onion - 3
Tomatoes - 3
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Cummin seeds - 2 tsps
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Curry leaves - 2 strands
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 3 cloves
Peppercorns - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 2 tsps
Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Coconut (grated) - 1 cup
Chilli powder - 2 tsps
Urad dhal - 1 tsp
Oil - 2tsps
water - 3 cups
Salt - 1 tsp

For dry roasting :
Dry roast fenugreek seeds, cummin seeds, coriander seeds, cinnamon , 1 strand curry leaf , peppercorns, urad dhal and add coconut at the end and roast until it turns brown.

Once the dry roasting is done add 1 tsp of oil to the roasted ingredients and saute with onion, ginger, garlic,
tomatoes, chilli powder, turmeric powder and grind it to a smooth paste by adding a cup of water..

Cooking Method:

In a flat bottomed pan add a tsp of oil and saute sliced onions,tomatoes and a strand of curry leaf . Add the sliced aubergine and saute for about 3 minutes mix the ground smooth paste now by adding 2 cups of water , 1 tsp of salt and cook for 15 minutes in a low flame.

Cooked but couldn't find time to click. Will upload the photos when i try the recipe again.

Happy Diwali!

2013-11-02T15:37:00.000+00:00

Wishing u all a very Happy Diwali! Celebrating this Diwali in India and my mum made 11 different varieties of sweets and savouries. Will share the recipes soon.......

Bloggie Holiday

2013-09-21T10:01:00.000+01:00

On a bloggie Holiday !

Vegetable Stew(Kerala Style)

2013-08-28T07:24:00.001+01:00

Though the traditional kerala style vegetable stew is made with coconut milk, stew can also be made using whole milk with no compromise in taste.To me stew has to look white , that's how i've been taught from my keralite friend.

Ingredients:
Diced carrots - 1 cup
Chopped Sugarsnap peas - 1 cup
Sliced potatoes - 1 cup
Ginger grated - 2 tsps
Chopped garlic - 2 tsps
Chopped Red onions - 1 cup
Curry leaves chopped - a few
Chopped coriander - a few
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Bay leaf - 1 (optional)
Cloves -2
Whole milk - 2 pints
Oil - 2 tsps
Salt - 1 tsp

Cooking Method:

Bring the wholemilk to a boil in a saucepan for 5 minutes in medium heat. In a wide bottomed pan heat 2 tsps of oil and add the bay leaves,cloves and cinnamon . Wait until the aroma starts coming . At this point add garlic and saute for a couple of minutes followed by onions for 3 minutes. Add the boiled milk and rest of the ingredients except coriander and keep stirring occasionally until all the vegetables are cooked.Garnish it with coriander and serve.

I've added homegrown sugarsnap peas.Podless fresh/frozen peas can also be added. If you are not worried about the amount of calories involved, add cocnut milk instead of whole milk.Tastes best with kerala appam. Can also be served with idli/dosa/bread/chappathi/Naan

Homemade Garlic Naan Bread

2013-08-24T21:29:00.001+01:00

Naan bread need not be made with tandoori oven always. I made this naan bread using a normal pan/tawa with few simple ingredients.

Preparation time :10 mins
Cooking time: 2 mins for each bread
Serves - 4
Number of breads : Makes 8 to 9 approximately

Ingredients:
Egg - 1
Milk - 1 pint
Plain Flour - 4 cups
Garlic - 1 bulb
salt - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/2 cup

Pre-Requisites:
Peel the skin of the garlic and grate using a cheese grater.

Dough Preparation:
Break the egg and mix it well with the milk. Add the salt with the flour so that it is mixed evenly.Knead the dough by adding little by little of the milk and egg mix with the plain flour until it becomes soft. If it is sticky add a bit more of the flour and continue kneading until it becomes soft.

Divide the dough into several portions by making small balls using the palm .
Rolling the Dough:
Step1:
Do a bit of dusting and roll it using a rolling pin until all the corners are evenly flattened. If any edge gets sticky while rolling repeat the dusting process .

Step 2 :
Pull the edges of the rolled dough and make a small well. Add a teaspoon of grated garlic and roll it to a ball again

Step :3
Repeat step:1 by rolling the dough again to make the naan ready to cook.

Cooking Method:
Heat a flat-bottomed pan for 2 minutes. Transfer the rolled dough into the pan. Add 1/2 a tsp of oil. Cook on one side for a minute on a medium flame , turn it over and repeat the process by cooking on the other side of the Naan.

Naan bread is ready to serve. Serve it with any curry/gravy of your choice. I served it with Jalfrezi.

Raspberry Tart with Chocolate and walnuts

2013-08-21T06:59:00.000+01:00

After my strawberrymania it's time for raspberries. Unlike strawberries my hubby doesn't show much interest in raspberries. I have to pile it up for jam making if i fail to make any interesting desserts. Using up fresh raspberries in the form of tart is much simpler if the tart case is ready.

Ingredients:
Raspberries - a punnet
Milk Chocolate - Half a bar
Sponge Tart case - 1
Walnuts - 1 cup

Pre-Requisites:
Wash and hull the rsapberries.Grind the walnuts into a fine powder

Preparation Method:

Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for 1 and a half minutes. Mix the powdered walnuts with the melted chocolate and make it into a smooth paste. Apply this paste to form a layer on the tart case. Alternatively you can use use coacoa powder and caster sugar.

If you like the crunchy bits of walnut , you can pulse it and break the nuts coarsely. Top it up with fresh raspberries to form the top layer.

The chocolate layer can also be topped up with raspberry puree followed by the fresh fruit layer.

As i'm a chocolate lover i've added only the chocolate and nuts.Refrigerate for 1 hour , slice and serve.

Coriander Falafels

2013-08-18T07:55:00.001+01:00

Falafels , we tasted these for the first time from Sainsbury's. The big list of ingredients at the back of the pack made me think that it's complex to try at home. Unlike the ball-shaped falafels i tasted , Rachel has posted a healthy version Coriander Falafel on her blog . I can choose to ignore the shape as long as it is healthy and tasty. Her method of making falafels looked very simple to me with all the ingredients i regularly stock.I simply followed her recipe with an exception of replacing lemon juice with salt .

Ingredients:

Boiled Chickpeas - 200 gms
Chopped Onions - 1 cup
Coriander - a small bunch
Cummin powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander/Dhaniya powder - 1/2 tsp
Plain flour - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Garlic cloves - 3
Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Cooking method:

Simply pulse all the ingredients in a blender except plain flour and reserve a few coriander leaves for the decoration/garnishing. Make small patties and roll it in the flour. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large flat non-stick pan and cook these patties until it turns golden brown on one side

Repeat the process by turning it over using a flat wooden spoon .Cook in a low flame for best results.Oops ! I realised that i've missed out the ground black pepper . That's okay, i'll add it next time.

The coriander i've used is homegrown and there's a big story to it. With super hot summer in the UK this year,we were expecting a good supply of coriander but three batches of corainder were completely eaten away by the slugs and snails. They are the biggest challenge for organic gardening.I even tried lifting the plants back to a pot with compost. Nothing worked. I was not ready to give up and the coriander i used for this recipe is the fourth batch of coriander which made it to our plate finally. It's worth all the effort, they were very much flavourful.

Sure will try it with a different shape again to get to perfection.The shapes might not look gr8 but it was truly deliiiiiiicccccccciiiiioooooouuuuus!

As i used Coriander linking it to this month's Cooking With Herbs hosted by Karen @ Lavender and lovage

Linking it to this month's Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline

Paruppu Usli with French Beans

2013-08-16T08:04:00.001+01:00

We adore French beans as a family ! Yes, all of us love it and there's no limit to the number of recipes i tried with this beautiful vegetable. Ever since summer started i've been waiting for the flowers to turn into lovely beans so that i can make paruppu usli. Tender beans are the best for this recipe and nothing can beat the taste and tenderness of these home-grown beans.

I learnt this recipe from my family friend akka in Bangalore. Akka is an Iyengar and i can't ask any better person to learn this recipe. She is such a great cook. I still wonder how she makes a beautiful balance between her personal and professional life with all that cooking and working skills. Thank you very much akka for sharing this recipe!

I made it for the Aadi 18 festival and it was sitting in the draft long enough to be published..........

Ingredients:
French Beans finely chopped - 2 cups
Gingelly oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Chopped Onions - 1 cup
Toor dhal - 1 cup
Dried red chillies - 1 or 2
Dried curry leaves - few leaves (Fresh Leaves adds better flavour)
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Pre-Requisites:
Soak the urad dhal along with red chilli in 2 cups of water and drain it after an hour. Grind it fine with asafoetida and quarter of tspsalt without adding water .

Cooking Method:
Success of this recipe involves 2 key stages. Stage 1 is to steam cook the ground paste. I use the idli cooker to steam cook alternatively a steamer can be used. Steam cook the ground mix just like idlis until the dhal is cooked. Cool down and crumble it with fingers.

Stage 2 is to make the normal beans poriyal . Heat the tawa add 1 tbsp of gingelly oil , do the seasoning with mustard seeds. Saute the chopped onion with 1/2 a tsp of salt and add curry leaf.I add salt stagewise for a better taste. Finely chopped french beans should be added at this point. Stir well ,close the lid of the tawa and cook the beans by closing the lid. I know is should've done justice to this by clicking a better picture but i was in such a hurry on a festival day making multiple dishes.

Introduce the dhal crumble to the cooked beans mix it evenly and cook for a minute to make the usli ready. With the soaking, grinding, steaming and cooking this is defintely a time-consuming recipe but it's worth all the effort as the taste is heavenly!

Oven Roasted spicy Courgette Rings

2013-08-14T06:18:00.000+01:00

Wondering what to do with those zucchini/courgette too big for a tender courgette and too small for a marrow?
Spice it up with chilli powder and roast it in the oven

Interestingly Wikipedia says 'In 2005, a poll of 2,000 people revealed the zucchini to be Britain's 10th favorite culinary vegetable'

Ingredients:
Courgette - 1
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Olive oil - 2 tsps
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Pre-Requisites:
Slice the Couregette into small rings. Make sure it's not too thin as it shrinks while roasting in the oven.

Cooking Method:
Marinate the courgette rings with chilli powder, olive oil and salt for an hour. Roast it in the oven until it turns golden brown and serve as sizzlers !

Berry Medley with Gooseberries,Raspberries and Strawberries

2013-08-12T14:17:00.002+01:00

With the last pick of gooseberries and strawberries from my garden and the first pick of fresh raspberries , it's a perfect opportunity for me to make this berry medley packed with antioxidants.

Ingredients:
Strawberries - a few
Gooseberries - 4 or 5
Raspberries - 10
Sugar - 1/4 cup
water - 1 cup

Preparation method:

Wash ,hull the berries, add sugar and blend everything by adding a cup of water. I have added gooseberries as they were super sweet. Don't add gooseberries if they are sour.

Veggie Singapore Rice noodles

2013-08-09T09:02:00.000+01:00

My mum makes a lot of sweet and savoury dishes using rice noodles. Not until i moved to the UK, i realised Singapore rice noodles is such a popular dish. Preparing this dish is an easy way to make my family eat plenty of organic vegetables from our garden and reaching our 5-a-day target.

Ingredients:
Sliced Carrots -1 cup
Sliced Runner Beans - 1 cup
Broad Beans - 1 cup
Spinach - 1 cup
Cabbage - 1 cup
Sliced onion - 1 cup
Corainder - Few leaves
Garlic - 4 cloves (peeled and chopped)
Oil - 3tsps
Salt- 1 tsp
Rice noodles - 500 gms
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp(optional)
Maggi hot and sweet tomato chilli sauce - 2 tsps

Pre-Requisites :
Boil 2 pints of water in a saucepan for 5 minutes. Immerse the rice noodles, close with a lid and wait for 5 minutes.Drain the excess water and allow it to cool.

Cooking Method:

Heat 3 tsps of oil is a wide-bottomed pan and saute the garlic and onion until it becomes translucent. Pop in the sliced vegetables to the pan, add 1/2 cup of water and boil until the vegetables are cooked. Add the remaining ingredients except coriander and stir well. Garnish with coriander and serve hot!

Kumro Phool Bhaja / Pumpkin Flower Fritters(Bengali Style)

2013-08-07T13:33:00.003+01:00

Plenty of pumkin flowers are blooming at the moment in my backyard. There are two types of flowers in pumpkin male and the female flowers. The female flowers blooms with a tiny little baby pumpkin at the base.If pollinated these turn into the big pumpkins we eat while male flowers just has the stalk.The flowering starts off with plenty of male flowers .Once it falls off from the stalk, we used to add it to our home compost but now these organic goodies goes into our tums with this Bengali recipe.The transition of plant to the plate is adorable.

Pre-Requisites:

Gently wash the pumpkin flowers .Remove the calyx and the stalk by retaining just the petals.

Ingredients:
Crushed garlic 1 tsp
Gram Flour - 1 cup
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Sunflower Oil - 1/2 cup
Pumkin Flowers - a dozen
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Cooking Method:

Except the flower mix all the ingredients with the help of a spatula by adding required amount of water to bring it to a batter like consistency. Make sure there the batter is lump free and smooth.Heat 1/2 cup oil in a flat wide-bottomed non-stick pan .Dip the pumpkin flower in the batter by holding at the bottom and cook it in the oil for 3 minutes. Turn it over and cook for another couple of minutes.Make sure the flowers doesn't touch each other for better results.

Serve it as a starter or a tea-time snack along with dips of your choice. We enjoyed this flowery one of 5-A-Day with yougurt and mint dip!

If you are a gardener , next time you know what to do with those pumkin flowers,don't you?

Celebrating 5 years of blogging with Semia Payasam( Vermicelli Pudding)!

2013-08-05T10:30:00.000+01:00

Techie Cookie Freaky turns 5 today and i would like to thank my friends and family who inspires me to keep blogging. Initially i started off this blog as my online dairy to keep track of my dishes, when my friends or relatives ask for any recipe i used my blog as a medium to share the recipes with them. After being aware of some copycats i had to make my blog private so that only my friends and family can access it.Recently i decided to make my blog public with a copyright protection. As my blog is all about Technology and cooking i would like to write this post with a dessert recipe and a technology tip.

Technology Tip - Understanding Google's spam Inbox

Bloggers must have noticed google's spam inbox. Let me explain how it functions and how to deal with blog comments. I have noticed in many food blogs comments such as yummy! droolworthy! delicious! nice recipe etc.....With my understanding google detects these comments as spam and automatically sends it to the spam inbox. It might be upsetting for you to see your blogger friends comments going into a spam inbox. Google's spam detection is technically a function to help bloggers to avoid any spam messages. It functions in such a way if the number of words on the comments are too less it detects it as spam. If we have really read through the recipe and appreciated, we do leave a comment with some details , don't we?

Semia Payasam/Vermicelli Pudding -Recipe

Payasam is a south Indian pudding traditionally made with milk and rice/lentils/semolina/vermicelli.

Ingredients:

   Roasted Vermicelli - 50 gms
   Ghee - 3 tsps or Butter- a small chunk
   Whole Milk - 1 pint
   Raisins - 1/4 cup
   Cashews - a dozen
   Cardamom - a few
   Sugar - 3/4 cup
   Raspberries - a few(optional)

Cooking method:

Boil the milk in a saucepan in a medium heat until it foams up. Reduce the heat and start cooking in sim by adding the vermicilli and cardamom . Cardamom can also be added in the powdered form for a better flavour. Stir occasionally until the vermicilli is cooked thouroughly.Add the sugar at this point and stir until it dissolves. Heat up a small chunk of butter or 3 tsps of ghee and roast the raisins and cashewnuts .Add it to the pudding,mix well with a spatula,wait for the vermicilli to absorb the milk. Top it up with raspberries . Best Served Chilled !

Here's a virtual treat for all my loved ones and my readers

Sending this entry to FSF Summer - August Challenge 'Summer Puds'
Four Seasons Food hosted by Delicieux and Chezfoti

Aadi 18 festival ! - 5-A-day in just one meal

2013-08-03T16:19:00.003+01:00

Aadi 18 marks the start of monsoon in southern part of India and is mainly celebrated on the river banks. On this day farmers pay tributes to life sustaining properties of water. Special prayers are conducted to Goddess Parvathi/Amman on this day in temples to get blessings from her for uninterrupted supply of water throughout the year for farming. Whether you do farming or not it's followed as a tradition for generations in families to visit nearyby river to pay tributes and needless to say good food guaranteed!

What food you make depends on the family tradition. Some families make 3 or 4 varities of rice with some crips and some make a complete south indian meal with vadai and payasam for the celebration.I moved to the UK right after getting married and learnt from my mum how to celebrate this festival. According to her Pear is an important fruit for this festival(Don't ask me why? I don't have an answer), Rice mixed with jaggery and threads dipped in turmeric is a must.I follow these instructions from my mum and celebrate the festival accordingly.Flowers are an integral part of our festivals. Luckily our scented jasmines are in season at the moment in my garden. I chose to make a south indian meal platter with Sambar, Rice,Cabbage poriyal, Beans paruppu usli, Masal Vadai(Channa dhal Fritters) and Payasam(pudding). Will share some of these recipes soon.

Let us pray to our mother nature to provide good supply of water this year for all us. My wishes for all those who celebrate Aadi 18!

'5-A-Day Fundas'

2013-08-02T07:57:00.000+01:00

To motivate myself to blog about my 5-A-Day intakes for a healthy lifestyle!

Strawberry Preservation Fundas - Winner Announcement

2013-08-01T09:39:00.001+01:00

First of all i would like to thank the participants of my first ever event. The Winner of this event is Louisa of Chezfoti for the recipe 'Strawberry and banana yogurt pops'. Congratulations!

Here is my version of your recipe Strawberry Lollies/Kulfi

A special thanks to Gayathri of Gajus kitchen for making this lovely Strawberry yogurt parfait for this event

Louisa in your post you mentioned that you are moving to the UK .As a resident of UK and a UK blogger i would like to welcome you to the UK with this hand-crafted crown with strawberries and strawberry leaves. Congratulations once again and thanks for Participating!

Strawberry Lollies/Kulfi

2013-07-31T11:13:00.002+01:00

Yesterday, after winding up all my work for the day i opened the fridge to have a glass of milk before sleep. An unopened 600ml of single cream pot was sitting idle and luckily i noticed this on its 'Use By' date. How on earth did i miss this?

I was too tired to make any time consuming recipes using single cream. Thanks Louisa for reminding me to use my lolly makers. I followed your recipe by replacing yogurt with single cream, honey with caster sugar and skipped the bananas. I had to make this to avoid 600ml of single cream going down the drain. My recipe was a quickie and the results were amazing.

Ingredients :

Caster sugar - 1/2 cup
Strawberry Juice concentrate - 2 tbsps
Fresh strawberries - As u please
Single Cream - 600 ml

I highly recommend the healthy ingredients from Louisa's page for this recipe Strawberry and banana yoghurt pops

Preparation method:
Simply whisk all the ingredients until the sugar is dissolved, pour in lolly makers and set to freeze

My version tasted like Indian Kulfis. We really enjoyed it! It was a trip down the memory lane to our childhood days.

Strawberry Juice with Tender coconut water

2013-07-29T07:41:00.000+01:00

Until i moved to the UK, i used to start off my day with tender coconut water. It helped to reboot my digestional system every morning ,refreshingly. I miss the fresh tender coconuts very much as we don't get it here except selected areas. I stock up the tinned tender coconut water but not happy with the taste. My better half surprised me with the whole tender coconut, whenever he spots it he buys it without hesitation.

In India it is so easily available that it's widely used for medicinal purposes apart from being just a health drink. I need a huge space to write about the goodness of tender coconut water . To cut the long story short, tender coconut is the best gift provided by mother nature to reduce body heat. My experiment of making a sugar free strawberry juice with tender coconut is a big success.

Ingredients:
Whole tender coconut - 1
Strawberry juice extract (sugarfree) - 1 tbsp

Pre-Requisites:
Extract the tender cocnut water from the whole tender coconut

Preparation Method:

In a pint glass pour the tender coconut water ,add a tbsp of strawberry juice extract and stir well. Silly me to write a post on mixing strawberry juice extract with tender cocnout water but the point here is to explain how to make juices with naturally occuring sugar and i felt this is a great combination.

My plan was to make a sugar free strawberry smoothie with tender coconut water but i changed my plan as i prefer to drink tender coconut water in watery form. British strawberries with an Indian tender coconut, a perfect drink for an Indian Summer in Britain!

Strawberry Jam

2013-07-26T07:20:00.003+01:00

Every year i make batches of strawberry jam to give it to my friends and family who miss out the fresh berries from my garden. For all you loved ones , I was too lazy to write a post every time you ask me for this recipe and here's the perfect opportunity during the strawberry season to share it with you. I can call myself a jam queen as i' ve tried and tested this recipe for the past few years . The jam i make during this season stays fresh until next season , ofcourse by refrigerating.I don't use any preservatives in the jam making process. Though i'm having fun experimenting different strawberry recipes , none of those requires hundreds of strawberries.

I've just listed the ingredients below as i made batches of jam in huge quantity :
Strawberries
Sugar
Fresh lime

The ratio guidelines for you to make small quantity:
Sugar should be added in a 1:1 ratio on kg basis . For example if you are using 1/2 a kg of strawberries 1/2 a kg of sugar is required. Fresh lime should be used in a 2:1 basis say for example 1 lime should be used for 1/2 a kg of strawberries.

Pre-Requisites:

Wash and hull the strawberries . I didn't slice as the quantity was huge but slicing will help if you make small quantity .

Cooking Method:
Follow the Steps 1 through 4 from Strawberry Juice Concentrate by skipping Step 2. The final step is to slice the fresh lime and filtering the juice to add to the jam.

Cool the jam and transfer to sterilised air-tight preservation jam bottles. Keep refrigerated.

Make sure only dry spoon is used every time you use the jam and close the lid tight. Always leave some space between the neck of the bottle and the lid. Avoid touching it by hand. Keep checking the status of the jam every few months. The jam made this way stays for an year if you follow the instructions carefully.

Strawberry and Lychee Pudding

2013-07-24T07:51:00.000+01:00

My favourite dessert is Lychee icecream , i used to order it from icecream parlours,restaurants and they mostly serve the tinned ones. The tinned ones are pitted , peeled and you don't get an opportunity to see the whole fruit. I was clueless how fresh lychee looks, until i bought fresh lychees in commercial street , Bangalore. Lychee is a perfect fruit for any pudding and my experiment of coupling it with strawberries didn't fail to please me.

Ingredients:

Lychees - 1 punnet

Strawberries - 1 punnet

Granulated sugar - 1/2 cup

Semolina - 1 dsp (please note dsp is larger than a teaspoon and smaller than a tablespoon)

Pre-Requisites:

Pit ,peel and slice the lychees into small pieces.Skip this step if you use the tinned ones. Wash , hull and mash the strawberries

Preparation Method:

In a saucepan add the mashed strawberries and sliced lychees and bring it to a boil for a couple of minutes. Now scatter the fine semolina over it and keep stirring continuously until the semolina is cooked . This process takes about 5 minutes.Semolina tends to form lumps if unchecked and hence the stirring part plays a key role . Add the sugar and bring it to a boil until the sugar dissolves.

Make sure that the total cooking time does not exceed 10 minutes as overcooking spoils the consistency and taste. Can be served hot or cold.

Almondy strawberry and cream frozen dessert

2013-07-23T08:08:00.000+01:00

For making strawberry trifle i used only 150 ml of extra thick double cream and there was half a pot left. As i prefer to use only big berries for jam, there were some tiny strawberries left after making jam. Experimented by combining these with almonds and it turned out to be an ideal summer dessert.

Ingredients:

Strawberries - a dozen ( i used the tiny homegrown ones left out after making jam)
Extra thick double cream - 150 ml
Almonds - 1/2 cup
Caster sugar - 6 tsps

Pre-requisites:

Grind the almonds to a fine powder by reserving a few whole almonds for the topping. Wash and hull the strawberries.

Preparation Method:

Fill the powdered almonds in a cake tin by forming the first layer.No need to mix the almond powder with butter as almonds has a buttery texture. Whip the cream with caster sugar and mix it with strawberries by forming the next layer. I didn't slice the strawberries but if you buy the big berries from shops slicing the berries will help. Decorate with whole almonds and set to freeze for atleast 4 hours. Remove carefully from the cake tin after freezing.

Make slices and serve!

Strawberry Raita/Thayir Pachadi

2013-07-22T07:55:00.005+01:00

Raita/thayir paccahadi is a yogurt based salad traditionally served in India with biryani/pulav or any variety rice. With plenty of strawberries in hand, my innovations with strawberries doesn't seem to end. I made tomato rice for lunch yesterday and while making raita the idea of adding strawberries flashed in.

Ingredients:
Strawberries - 1/2 a dozen + 1 for decoration
Coriander - few leaves
Greek Style yogurt - 2 cups
Red onion - 1
Black Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp or Green chillies(chopped) - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp

   Step 1:
        Thinly slice red onion and wash them in a bowl of water . Chop strawberries(reserving one for decoration) and coriander

Step 2:
Add the chopped onions and coriander with the yogurt and mix it with a spatula

Step 3:
Using the peppercorn grinder add some cracked pepper,salt and mix well again. Green chillies or pepper powder can be used instead of cracked pepper

Step 4:
Garnish with corainder and decorate by placing the strawberry at the centre

Strawberry Smoothie

2013-07-19T22:59:00.001+01:00

Cream doesn't have to be so high in calories and i found an alternative . It's nothing but single cream made out of buttermilk and vegetable oils. Made a smoothie with it and it's tastes exactly like the rich cream.The packaging says 150 Kcal per 100 ml compared to the extra thick double cream which contains 140 Kcal per 30 ml.

Ingredients:
Strawberries - 1/2 a bowl
Single cream - 100 ml
Sugar - 1/2 cup

Blend all the ingredients using a blenderuntil you get a creamy texture.

Despite adding the cream we had this smoothie guilt-free.