Tickling Palates

Kadappa Recipe / Kumbakonam Kadappa

2012-05-28T15:41:00.001+05:30

My native being Kumbakonam, I do not know why it took me this long to post this wonderful dish that is so apt as a side dish for idli and dosa. Kadappa is a cross between sambar and kurma and is dal based where in the tangy factor is incorporated by adding lemon juice instead of tamarind as we do for sambar. My grandma makes this so well and it is a pleasure to dig into the hot steaming idlis dunked in kadappa served on freshly plucked banana leaves from the backyard. I love to have this with Puris as well. Unfortunately I don’t get to make this as often as I wish to because Hubby is not so keen on this and prefers sambar. Recently I made this for the guests at home and simply loved the aroma while it was cooking.

Kadappa Recipe

You’ll need:

Yellow Moong Dal / Paasi Paruppu – 1/2 cup
Potatoes – 2
Cinnamon – 1 inch stick
Cloves – 2
Onion – 2
Garlic – 4 pods
Turmeric Powder – 1/2 tsp
Lemon – 1
Curry leaf – 1 sprig
Coriander leaves – to garnish
salt – to taste
Oil – 2 tbsp

To be ground to a paste:

Roasted Gram Dal / Pottu Kadalai – 1 handful
Poppy seeds – 2 tsp
Green Chillies – 12 to 15
Fresh grated coconut – 1/4 cup
Garlic – 4 pods

Method:

Pressure cook washed yellow moong dal in required amount of water with 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder till soft and keep aside. Boil the potatoes. Cool and peel off the skin. Lightly crumble with your fingers and keep aside.

Grind the ingredients mentioned under the category to a fine paste using little water and keep aside.

Heat a pan with oil. Add cinnamon, cloves, finely chopped onion, 4 pods crushed garlic, curry leaves and sauté till the onions turn translucent.

Now add the cooked moong dal, 1 to 1-1/2 cups of water, salt and the remaining turmeric powder and bring it to a boil. Add crumpled potatoes, ground paste and once again bring it to a boil. once the raw smell of the paste goes off switch off and take off the stove.

Remove from stove and add juice of 1 lemon and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with idlis, dosas or puris.

Notes:

Do not add the lemon juice at one go. Add little by little adjusting to your taste.
Adjust the quantity of water also depending upon the thickness you want.
Adjust the amount of chillies according to your spice level.
Do not add lemon juice while the gravy is still boiling. If you do the whole thing will curdle.

Chikoo Milkshake

2012-05-26T16:05:00.002+05:30

The heat is killing me... I know, I know... I have said that many times before... I have never been known to survive well during cold season and the hot weather is okay for me usually but this season it is too much even for me. Did you all see the match between CSK and MI yesterday. My, what a match. Unfortunately when there were just 5 over left there was a major power fluctuation and finally the power went off.

I sat at the verandah hoping for a cool breeze but not a single leaf moved. Everything was standstill and all I could do was gulp down 2 full bottles of water. Everything and anything cold did rounds in my head while I sat dozing on and off. Finally the power came back at around 1.30 a.m. One of the worst nights in the whole summer season. I guess we have to wait for another 2-3 days for the “Agni Natchathiram” to get over, to expect a respite from the heat.

Today’s recipe is yet another milkshake made of chikoos. I love this brownish fruit that is so sweet and the grainy texture not to mention those cute tear drop like seeds in the middle of it.

Chikoo Milkshake

You’ll need:
Chikoo / Sapotta –3 to 4
Milk – 1 cup
Sugar – to taste
Vanilla essence – 1/2 tsp
Ice cubes – 4 to 5 * ( See Notes)

Method:

Wash the chikoos well. Remove the skin and seeds and cut into big chunks. In a blender place the chikoos and sugar and run the mixer till they become a pulp.

Now add milk, essence, ice cubes or frozen milk and run the mixer till the shake becomes smooth and frothy.

Pour into tall glasses and serve immediately.

Notes:

Instead of Ice cubes, I froze 1/4 cup of milk and used that.
Using essence is optional.
Feel free to replace sugar with honey.

This is off to Let’s Cook – Fruits, Summer Spunk, Bon Vivant - Fruit Recipes

Strawberry Lemonade

2012-05-24T15:18:00.000+05:30

I have been gone a week now and it feels so good to be back after a break. I have had lot of guests at home and I did not get a moment to sit down and draft a post despite having this recipe in my drafts for over a month now. Here is a refreshingly cool drink to beat the heat and to bring in some respite from the hot sun. This drink is also called as “Pink Lemonade” or “The Pink Lady” in restaurants that specialize in beverages.

Strawberry Lemonade
You'll need:

Strawberry - 10 nos
Lemon - 1
Sugar - to taste
Water - 1/4 cup
Club soda - 1 bottle* (see Notes)
Ice Cubes - as needed

Method:
Powder the sugar in a mixie jar. To this add strawberry and grind well to a soft pulp. Transfer this to a bowl. Squeeze lemon juice to this mixture, add water and mix well.

Take a glass and place 2-3 ice cubes and fill 1/4th with the strawberry lemon mixture. Top with club soda and enjoy.

Notes:

You can leave out club soda for topping and enjoy it with just plain water
You can make the mixture and pour them into ice trays and freeze them. When you need to make the drink just drop a few cubes either into soda or water and enjoy.

This is off to Let’s Cook – Fruits and Summer Spunk

Cantaloupe Salsa / Muskmelon Salsa

2012-05-17T16:00:00.001+05:30

As the kids are enjoying their summer vacation at their grand parents place, the kitchen at my home is getting a much needed break especially on the days when H decides to eat out with his colleagues during the day. I’m looking around for ways to take this opportunity and detox myself by eating more salads and drinking more fruit juices. Last week I made this salsa and enjoyed it immensely.

The ripe juicy melon cubes when jazzed up with lemon juice was so refreshing and was a treat to the senses. I’m sure you will love it too when had chilled on a particularly hot day. I would rather dig into this salsa sitting under the fan watching my favorite show than cook an elaborate meal standing near the hot stove.

Cantaloupe Salsa / Muskmelon Salsa

You’ll need:

Muskmelon / Cantaloupe – 1
Onion, small – 1
Green Chilli – 1
Lemon Juice – 1 tsp
Coriander leaves – 3 tsp
Salt – to taste

Method:

Wash and remove the skin of muskmelon. Cut into 2 and scoop the seeds from the insides of the melon. Dice the muskmelon. Chop the onion, coriander leaves finely. Slit the green chilli into 2 and remove the seeds and chop fine.

In a bowl place the diced melon cubes, onion, green chilli, coriander leaves, salt and toss well. Squeeze the lemon juice and toss once again. Place the bowl in the freezer for 5-10 mins and serve immediately.

Notes:

You can leave out green chilli and use black pepper powder instead.

You can also use diced colored bell peppers or some pomegranate pearls to make the salsa more colorful.

You can also add a little bit of honey if you like.

Tastes best when served chilled.

This is off to Let’s Cook – Fruits, Summer Spunk, Bon Vivant - Fruit Recipes

Chocolate Banana Milkshake

2012-05-14T15:30:00.000+05:30

This is yet another combo that I tried for my younger one who refuses to eat banana no matter what and for my elder one who refuses to drink milk. I have asked both my MIL and SIL to make sure they make this for them when they are staying over there for the holidays. It seems not only the boys but their cousins also have become hooked to this milk shake now and are demanding it as many times a day.

Chocolate Banana Milkshake
You’ll need:

Melted / Grated Chocolate – 5 tbsp
Banana (ripe) – 1
Milk (chilled) – 1 cup
Vanilla essence – 1/2 tsp
Ice cubes / Frozen milk – 4 to 5

Method:

In a blender place the chocolate, banana, ice cubes and Pulse till they all merge together. Add milk, vanilla essence and run the blender till they are all mixed together and turns frothy.

Pour into tall glasses, top with some grated chocolate and serve immediately.

Notes:
I placed 1/4 cup of milk in the freezer and used that frozen milk instead of ice cubes and you can see them rising to the top forming a layer.

This is off to Let’s Cook – Fruits, Summer Spunk, Bon Vivant - Fruit Recipes

Kesar Sandesh Recipe

2012-05-12T16:30:00.008+05:30

I made these sweet cute looking balls a fortnight back to take along with me when I visited my In-Laws place. Having grown up in a community where there were lot of “Bengali” folks, I’m not a total stranger to their cuisine. I used to love watching them prepare milk sweets especially. The first time I saw a lady beating the heck out of a white bag with a big rolling pin, I thought it was a mouse. Poor mouse!!! But later on came to know that she was beating the paneer aka cottage cheese to get a smooth consistency. As the Mother’s day is being celebrated tomorrow I thought I would share this simple, easy and elegant sweet recipe with all of you.

Kesar Sandesh

(Makes 8 – 10 balls)

You’ll need:

Whole Milk – 1 ltr
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Sugar – 7 tbsp
Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
Saffron strands – 2
Ghee / Clarified butter – 1 tsp (optional)

For the topping: (Mix together)

Almonds – 2 (Thinly sliced)
Pista – 3 (finely chopped)
Cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp

Method:

Bring 1 Litre of milk to a boil. Take 2-3 tsp of boiling milk in a small bowl and place 2 strands of saffron in the milk and keep it aside to dissolve.

Add 1 tbsp of lemon juice (I added 1/2 cup of sour whey water) to the remaining milk and keep stirring continuously till the milk breaks apart and curdles completely. Line another vessel with a muslin cloth or a cheese cloth and pour the curdled milk into it.

Lift the cloth up with the milk solids in it and tie it into a bag. Hang this bag over the sink tap for the remaining whey water to drain completely. This will take 1/2 hour to 3/4 hour. The resultant milk solid is called as “Paneer” or “Cottage Cheese”.

Grind the sugar and cardamom finely in a mixie jar. Keep a few tablespoons of this powdered sugar aside. Transfer the milk solids from the bag / cloth into the mixie jar and add the saffron dissolved milk. Grind to a smooth paste. Taste it now and check the sweetness. If it tastes short of sweetness add the powdered sugar kept aside and once again grind it.

Heat a non-stick pan and transfer the ground paste into it. Cook over low flame stirring in a circular motion till the paste gets cooked and comes together. This will take 10-12 mins.

In case you are not using non-stick pan, add 1 tsp of ghee while the paste is cooking to avoid sticking to the bottom. Take off stove and let it cool completely. Make small balls and garnish with a pinch of topping and gently press it. Keep it refrigerated till you finish it.

Don’t they look just beautiful. This is such an elegant dessert which is not only easy to make but good to pack and present to your family and friends on occasions.

Also do not discard the whey water that you get after filtering the milk solids. It is packed with nutrients and can be used in soups or to knead the dough while making flat breads or rotis.

For a Low-Calorie Version: Use 2% milk instead of whole milk and replace sugar substitute for sugar.

Notes:

Use any one of the following to curdle 1 litre of milk : 1 tbsp lemon juice / 1/4 tsp white vinegar / 1/2 cup sour whey water.

If you find the mixture a bit dry and crumbly while making balls add 1-2 tsp of milk to make it moist.

While cooking the ground paste make sure that the fire is on simmer and not to change the color of the paneer.

You can omit saffron strands but if you do the balls will be white in color.

You can also use cardamom essence or almond extract instead of using cardamom while grinding the milk solids.

Always store under refrigeration and use within 2-3 days.

I love Baking #4

2012-05-11T01:05:00.002+05:30

What yummy and varied entries this event gets every month!!. I’m totally impressed with the skills and your love for baking. You can check what all we have had so far in the previous months. So, Are you all ready to share and spread the love of baking? This monthly venture, I Love Baking is started to do just that. Bake away and present your recipes to the linkies below. This is open to everyone and anyone who happens to love one thing and that is “Baking”.

Just a few notes before we go linking,
1. Your bake can either be sweet or savory. Just make a note not to link any bakes with meat here as this is a vegetarian blog.
2. Make sure that your post is linked to this announcement.
3. Oh, and the linkies will be open till 25 of this month.

I would be happy if you could also link your entries and discuss your experience in the Facebook Page or rather a community that has been specifically created, as it would be of help to many enthusiastic bakers, newbie or experienced and would also have a greater reach.

Coconut Rolls (No Eggs, No Butter)

2012-05-09T19:40:00.002+05:30

Hello friends, Yet another Wednesday made fun because of Blog Hop Wednesdays well at least that his how I feel. For this month I’m paired with Divya and when I was mulling over what to choose, TH made it easy for me. You see, he is not a person who loves to eat anything sweet and loves hot and spicy food. No wonder he still remembers the Pizza and these buns. But last week when I gave him these scones, he demanded why I’ve never tried anything with coconuts and that is when the decision was made. I don’t blame him as he is not fond of fruit based bakes.

I tweaked a little and left out the chocolate in this recipe as we both are not that crazy about chocolate. As the Kids are not home I wanted to make just 4 rolls and this was the perfect time to experiment with Palm oil in a yeast based bake instead of butter. I have already tried using Palm oil in these scones and Carrot cake and had success with it. Guess what I could not believe the texture was so good despite not using any butter.

We consumed the rolls on the same day so I used fresh coconut but if you are making in larger quantity which you can do by easily doubling the ingredients, I would suggest using desiccated coconut as it will keep longer. Now off to the recipe....

Sweetened Coconut Rolls

You’ll need:

All Purpose flour – 1 cup
Instant Yeast – 1 tsp
Salt – 1 pinch
Sugar – 1 tbsp
Palm oil – 3 tbsp
Milk – 1/4 cup

For the Stuffing:

Fresh Grated Coconut – 1/4 cup
Sugar – 4 tsp
Cardamom – 1

Method:
For the Stuffing:
Grind together coconut, sugar and cardamom without using any water. It will be thick and lumpy. Transfer to a bowl, crumble with your finger tips and keep aside.

For the Buns:

In a mixing bowl, place all purpose flour, salt, sugar. instant dry yeast, Palm oil and mix with your finger tips till it resembles bread crumbs.

Pour lukewarm milk over the flour and bring everything together with your hands. Do not knead very hard.

Transfer to a container greased with Palm oil and close with a damp towel or plastic sheet. Let it rest for 1-2 hours till the dough doubles in volume. In such a hot temperature it took just 1 hour.

Punch the dough and release the air. Press with your knuckles for 2-3 times. Divide the dough equally into 4 balls. Flatten them on your palm with your finger tips.

Place the coconut stuffing in the middle and bring the edges from around to the top and seal by pressing lightly. Make a soft ball again and place on a greased tray with the pinched side down.

Let it rest for another 20 mins. It will rise once again but only a little.

For Brushing the top:

Mix together 2 tsp of milk and 1 tsp of Palm oil together and brush all over the surface and sprinkle little coconut stuffing on top.

Preheat the oven @ 200 Degrees C and shove the tray into the hot oven. Bake for 15-20 mins or till the top is nicely browned.

Here is how the rolls looked fresh out of the oven and my home was smelling so divine of coconut and let’s me not forget to mention that it tasted absolutely divine as well.

Notes:

If using Active dry yeast, always check if it is active.

If you want to store the rolls for another day or two, replace fresh coconut with desiccated coconut.

The next time I’m going to replace Palm oil with coconut oil and add a few nuts and tutti frutti to the filling.

Make sure that the milk you use for kneading is in correct temperature or lukewarm. It should neither be hot not cold, else it will kill the yeast and the dough will not rise.

If using Active Dry yeast, use the same quantity but you have to proof the yeast before using.

You can also use an egg wash on top to have a more browned top.

Oven Timings may vary accordingly.

This is off to Blog Hop Wednesdays and I’m sure you will like to check what the Blog Hoppers have rustled up for this Wednesday.

This is also off to I Love Baking #4.

Blog Hop Wednesdays ~ Week 17

2012-05-09T05:00:00.001+05:30

Welcome to yet another month of Blog Hopping! Another opportunity to gawk at some scrumptious good food prepared by our wonderful Blog Hoppers by unearthing from their partner’s virtual kitchen for theBlog Hop Wednesday. These are tried and tested recipes by our foodie friends.

Please note that this linkies is only for the Blog Hoppers and any other entries will be deleted promptly. If you are new and want to know more on this then register by submitting your blog here to participate from next month onwards.

Celebrating 4th Blog Anniversary With A Giveaway

2012-05-07T20:21:00.010+05:30

It was late at night in fact, well after midnight, the kids were in deep sleep, better half was out of town and I did what woke me up. Well feeling sleepless, I turn on the TV and was unable to stand the glaring light. I went to the kitchen to find something to munch on.. wait.... I know bad habit but what I found was a a bowl of chopped raw mangoes seasoned with salt and red chilli powder. I came to my nook and switched on the computer, connected to the web in order to go surfing to pass off some time while munching on the mangoes. It was thus, at that ungodly hour “Tickling Palates” this blog was formed 4 long years ago.

I did not know what I was actually doing then and how to take it forward but slow and steady I have taken it to where it is today. I had to stay away from the blog for a year or so due to an accident I met with but ever since last year there had been no looking back. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that sharing day to day mundane cooking could get me so many friends who are actually interested in what ever I cook. Surprising.. Huh.. In fact, I consider some virtual friends as very close and very important to me than the friends I meet face to face in my daily life.

Thank you friends, for being such a wealth of information and a good source of inspiration with your warmth, comments, continuous support and a pillar of strength to me whenever I felt low down. You all have sculpted me. I was a novice 4 years ago but now I can safely and confidently say that I have learned many aspects of life from you wonderful people through blogging. I would like you all to shower the same continued support in the years to come as well.

Tickling Palates is stepping into the 5th year with your well wishes and blessings. To show my appreciation and as a token of thanks I want to share a giveaway with you all.

Yes!! A lucky winner will get $30 worth of gift card from Amazon. It so happens to be favorite online shop. With this card I'm sure you can find something that takes your fancy.

How To Enter :

Step 1: Follow My Blog Publicly by clicking on the "Join the site" which makes you eligible for the Giveaway.

Step 2: After doing that, Go to the Rectangle Raffle copter Box that you see below and follow the instructions to unlock by performing various tasks to earn extra points to win the giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Banana Cinnamon Scones | Eggless & Butter less

2012-05-06T19:00:00.012+05:30

Hello Friends, Can’t believe that we, The Gourmet Seven have completed 3 months and stepping successfully into the 4th month and guess what for this month we chose English Breakfasts. My, If I had thought that the people of the West ate just cereals and eggs for their breakfast, I was really astonished to see so many recipes that they make for breakfasts. I chose Scones from the results that our search engine friend Google revealed. My early memories of scones were of reading them in “The Famous Five” stories by “Enid Blyton” where in the kids would pack these off for their picnics.

Since then I had always thought they were some thing fancy until I realized they were our very own biscuits. Though I made Bed & Breakfast scones for this month, I do not have access to my laptop in which those pictures are stuck which I will share later on. So I made these Banana Scones when I chanced upon them here. There were a lot of mixed reviews which helped me to decide on the exact way that I wanted the scones to turn out. These are so damn easy to make and would be a delight to gorge on whether it is for breakfast or as an evening tea time snack.

Banana Cinnamon Scones

You’ll need:

Banana, ripe – 1
All Purpose Flour – 1-1/4 cup
Sugar – 5 tbsp
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Cinnamon Powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Milk – 2 tbsp
Yogurt / Curd – 1/4 cup
Palm oil – 3 tbsp

Method:

Preheat the over at 180 Degrees Celsius.

Whisk together all purpose flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon powder, sugar in a bowl. Drizzle the oil and work into the flour with your finger tips till it resembles bread crumbs.

In another bowl place the banana, milk, yogurt and mash them all together well. Add the flour mixture into the mashed banana mixture and bring it all together till it resembles a loose dough.

Place a wax sheet on a plate and transfer the dough onto the sheet and pat into a circle with your fingers to 1 inch thick. Close it with another inverted plate and keep it in the freezer for 1/2 hour. Remove the plate and cut into wedges slightly pulling them apart like shown in the picture above.

Transfer the sheet to a baking tray and bake it in the pre heated oven for 30-35 min or till it is firm to the touch.

Take the tray from the oven and let it cool completely. Cut with a sharp knife along the wedges already made and they will easily come off. Enjoy if over breakfast with a cup of steaming tea.

Notes:

The Original recipes used less sugar and compensated by topping with a glaze. I increased the sugar as I did not want to glaze the scones.
The original recipe used butter but I replaced it with Palm Oil to get a good texture.
You can use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour.
You can add 1/2 cup of walnuts like in the original recipe if you like but since I’m not a big fan of it, I avoided them.
You can avoid cinnamon powder if you do not like and replace it with 1 tsp of vanilla essence.
Make sure that the curd/yogurt is in room temperature and not sour. Also the bananas have to be ripe to get a good flavor.
Oven timings may vary accordingly.

This is off to The Gourmet Seven and I’m quite sure you would also like to check out what the other Gourmets are rustling up. Do hop off and check out Anusha, Anamika, Kaveri, Sangeetha, Vardhini and Veena.

Rose Milk ~ Pink Beauty

2012-05-05T18:24:00.001+05:30

Hello friends, Hope you are all doing well. A week long absence from my end is because I had gone to visit my In-Laws and to drop off the kids to spend their holidays there. If I had thought that I would get the much needed peace and quiet I was so wrong as I’m already missing them like crazy and the house looks so forlorn without their presence. The place looks so empty, quiet and I mean eerie... quiet. Come back you both and I promise that you can have everything the way you want and I shall make sure that you both get away with anything. Wishful thinking, but I’m happy that both the boys are having the time of their lives with their cousins.

Today’s recipe, well I mean calling it a recipe itself would be an outright crime but it relates to many fond memories of my childhood. I used to look forward to a chilled glass of this rose milk every Sunday while visiting “Sandhai” along with my Grandma and Aunt. A street vendor used to sell this milk in a pushcart in the streets or in a stall near temples and prime vacation spots. But back then it was very difficult to get the essence that they used to make this milk but now-a-days every small shop sells them and I get to enjoy this milk whenever I want.

To Make Rose Milk all you need is a few drops of rose milk essence + few spoons of sugar according to your taste buds added to a chilled glass of milk.

That’s it. Enjoy your chilled glass of Rose milk when ever you want.

Slurrrrrrrrp..........

Announcing Let’s Cook #15 ~ With Fruits

2012-05-03T10:40:00.002+05:30

The Summer and the Holidays have started and it should be downright fun if not sweltering heat and humidity. The heat is unbearable that it is difficult to take any solid food. This is the time to include more fruits into our day to day routine not only to keep ourselves cool but also to quench our thirst. So for this month shall we all celebrate the sun and fruits...

Now to some rules to participate in this event:

Cook and post a recipe that features any “Fruit” as the main ingredient in your blog linking it to this announcement.
Your recipe need not have to be necessarily cooked. For ex., Fruit juices, Smoothies, Milk Shakes do not require cooking.
You can use any method of cooking and your recipe can be of any cuisine and course.
We are looking for fresh entries and to try out new recipes. So, no archived or reposed entries please. Your post has to be between May 1 and May 31, 2012.
Multiple entries are welcome and linking back to this announcement is a must.
Usage of logo is optional but I would be happy if you could use it, as it helps spread word.
After posting your recipe just submit your entry to the linkies you will find at the bottom of this post.
In case you have a problem linking, then send a mail to ticklingpalates@gmail.com with your name, recipe name and recipe url with the subject line as Let's Cook: With Fruits.
Non bloggers are most welcome to participate. Just send me the recipe with a click of the recipe if possible to the above mentioned email.