Rava Ladoo - Sooji(Semolina) Ke Ladoo

Sooji ke Ladoo / Rava Ladoo

The countdown to Christmas begins. Our Christmas tree is all set up and the kids are again eagerly waiting for their dear Santa. Each day my younger one who is four keeps looking at the calendar and keeps track of the date.

This year for Christmas I decided to make some traditional Indian sweets which are prepared during Diwali as well as for Christmas. If you were to ask a foodie like me I just may need an excuse to make these, be it Christmas or Diwali.  

These are quick and easy to make with just five ingredients and taste awesome. These also make as an excellent gift for Christmas.

Ingredients :

• 1 cup Rava/Sooji /Semolina
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter / ghee
• 1/4 cup raisins *
• 1/4 cup cashews *

* Fry raisins and cashews in about 1 tbsp ghee/unsalted butter 

Preparation : Heat a thick bottomed pan / Kadhai. On medium  flame dry roast the Rava/sooji  for about 5-7 minutes. Keep stirring continuously so that the Rava does not get burnt. Take it off the heat and let it cool. Now in a grinder, grind the roasted rava and sugar into a really fine powdered consistency. To this add the fried cashews and raisins. Warm the ghee/unsalted butter and add to the mix. Start making the ladoos immediately.Take a little of the mixture into your hands and form them into small balls. This recipe makes 12 -14 ladoos.

Just in case... 
The ladoo mix gets too dry add a little ghee/butter and continue making the ladoos. Some people do add a little warm milk to the mix . This I do agree makes it much easier to make the ladoos, but the shelf life is not much - just about 3-4 days.

Happy Holidays. Enjoy !!!

 

Sooji ke Ladoo / Rava Ladoo

Instant Uttapam - Savory Onion and Tomato Pancakes

Onion & Tomato Uttapam / Savory Pancake

Uttapam are savory pancakes. At my house my kids can eat this for  breakfast, lunch or dinner. I love the versatility it offers. You could incorporate a lot of veggies. It could be enjoyed with good old ketchup, green Cilantro Chutney , Mulagai podi(chutney powder) or Sambhar. Most of the time I  make it right from scratch. I presoak the rice and Urad dal(white lentil) separately and then grind them. Mix it well , add some salt and leave it for fermentation. This fermented batter is then used to make Idlis, Dosa and Uttapam.

Since I did not have any batter to make this , I googled for an instant recipe and came across the LOVE4COOKING  blog and followed the Instant Onion Uttapam recipe.

 Its a very easy recipe and the Uttapams/Pancakes came out great. My kids loved them and did not have much left to take some decent clicks. Now I would call it an almost instant recipe as we still have to keep the mixture aside for half an hour. But that half an hour goes quick..believe me. Also that time could be utilized for chopping the veggies (onion,tomato, green cilanto leaves, green chillies). If you still have some time left you could enjoy a cup of tea and watch your favorite show.

 

Ingredients :

 Instant Uttapam Mix

• 1 1/2 cup Semolina /Sooji/Rava
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1 cup yoghurt
• 1 cup water
• salt to taste

 Preparation : Take 1 cup of yoghurt and mix about 1 cup water. Whisk it well. Make it like buttermilk consistency. Now to this add semolina and rice flour. Mix it well. Cover and keep it aside for half an hour for fermenting. Now chop the veggies (1 red onion, 1 tomato, 2-3 green chillies and a handful cilantro leaves).  After its been resting for 1/2 hour, the Uttapam mixture will be a bit dense as the semolina absorbs most of the water. Add about 1/2 cup to 1 cup water , mix it well. Add salt and the chopped veggies. Heat a griddle/Tawa.  When its hot, pour about 1/4 cup batter onto the griddle and spread in a circular motion. Apply some oil around the Uttapam. Once its cooked turn it and let it cook on the other side.   

Onion & Tomato Uttapam / Savory Pancake

Enjoy your Uttapam/Savory Pancakes with Sambhar, chutney or ketchup. This recipe yields 12-14 Uttapams/Pancakes.

Paneer and Mixed Vegetables Pulao - Cottage Cheese and Mixed Vegetables Pilaf

Paneer & Mixed Vegetables Pulao

Paneer & Mixed Vegetables Pulao

This is another quick and easy one pot meal. This recipe does not use onion and garlic. It really comes handy on certain auspicious days according to the Hindu calendar when we are required to cook without onion/garlic. Also many people are allergic to onion/garlic, so this recipe is for them as well. I know this first hand as my FIL(father-in-law) is allergic to garlic and when they were visiting us I cooked many dishes without garlic and many of them without onion as well.  I was really surprised at the results. Also, since I just love fresh herbs I try to incorporate a lot of that in my cooking as well. I happened to have fresh mint and had to use this in this recipe. I hope you like my minty flavoured Pulao.  

Ingredients:

• 2 cups basmati rice
• 1 cup paneer diced
• 1 cup mixed vegetables (peas,carrots, green pepper,red pepper)
• 2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
• 2-3 green chillies slit
• a few fresh mint leaves
• 1 tomato chopped
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 bay leaves
• cinnamon stick
• 1 black cardamom
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin-cilantro powder
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• salt to taste

Preparation : Wash and Soak 2 cups of rice in 4 cups of water. Keep this aside for around 15-20 minutes.Heat some oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, bay leaves, black cardamom and cinnamon stick. Add the grated ginger. Fry for a minute. Next add green chillies , chopped tomatoes and mint leaves . Fry for about 2 minutes on medium flame. Add  the diced Paneer and mixed vegetables. Stir fry for about another couple minutes.Then add turmeric powder, salt, red chilli powder and cumin-coriander powder. Add rice with the water which we had kept aside earlier. Let this cook uncovered on medium flame. Now when you see that most of the water has dried up (like 85-90%) set the stove to the lowest flame and cover the pan with a lid and cook for about 5 minutes.

Paneer & Mixed Vegetables Pulao is ready to serve. Serve with Raita of your choice.This recipe serves 4. Enjoy. Bon appetit !!!

Paneer & Mixed Vegetables Pulao

Palak Paneer - Spinach and Cottage Cheese

I'm back. I've been back for a while from my vacation. I always find it hard to get back to blogging if I take a break.  I guess its a case of the Blogger's Block. I did have a very relaxing and good time in India though. Got to meet  up with family and my kids had a wonderful time as well.

Today's recipe is one of my favourites. Its an easy and classic North Indian recipe. 

Ingredients :

•  2 large bunches of Spinach (Palak) - washed and chopped
  
•  250 gms Paneer (cottage Cheese) - cubed
  
•  1 onion finely chopped
•  4 cloves of garlic minced
•  1 tomato chopped
•  2 green chillies chopped
•   1/2 tsp turmeric powder
•  1/2 tsp red chili powder
•  1 tsp cumin - coriander powder
•  salt to taste
•  oil

Preparation :  Blanch the chopped Spinach for about 3 minutes. Let it cool and then grind it  until you get a course texture. Heat oil in pan. Add the chopped onion. Fry till golden brown. Add the minced garlic. Fry for about a minute. Add chopped tomatoes and green chillies. Fry for about 2 minutes and add the dry spices - turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin-cilantro powder. Let it cook for about 3-4 minutes until its all well combined. Add the Spinach paste and mix well. Add the cubed Paneer. Add Salt and mix well. Add little water if required. Cover and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Palak Paneer is ready to serve with any Indian bread. I even love it with Jeera Rice- Cumin Rice. This recipe serves 4. Enjoy.

Hydrangeas Cupcakes- Vanilla Cupcakes

Its been a while that I posted a recipe here. Have been a lot busy as recently started a new job. It takes a little time to get into a routine especially if you've been a full time mom for the last three years. But I'm loving it. Its GOOD busy. My younger one gets to be at his school and daycare and interact with kids his age and I get some time away from the never ending household chores.

Last weekend we all went to the Nascar Event(car Racing) at Dover Delaware. Both my kids and my husband are great fans of Nascar. At my house you will hear nothing but Nascar conversations and friday nights and weekends they will religiously follow it on TV. Though each of them follow a different driver. That day none of their drivers won, but it was an interesting race and we all had a good time.

Also I happened to bake these vanilla cupackes over the weekend and I wanted to try my hand at decorating them with hydrangeas. These are my favorite flowers. They are just so beautiful and love their colors. I particularly love the bluish purple hydrangeas. Though I could'nt quite get that color for the icing.

  Ingredients :

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 eggs   
• 2/3 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup orange juice 

Preparation :

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degress C) and line muffin cups with paper liners. I have used mini muffin cups which will yield 24 mini cupcakes.
• In a bowl sieve together all purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Keep it aside.
• Beat butter and sugar using an electric mixer or a hand mixer until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Add the Vanilla extract and mix it well.
• Now add the flour mixture and orange juice alternately in about three additions and mix it well.
• Fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 17-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool for about an hour and then decorate them with buttercream icing. I have used wilton tip #2D for my hydrangeas.

Recipe adapted from The joy of Baking.

2nd Blog Anniversary and Happy Mother's Day...

Wishing all mothers a very happy Mother's Day. Also I'm so happy that Curry and Beyond is celebrating its 2nd anniversary.

It has been a beautiful journey and I have made such wonderful friends and learnt so much. Thanks to you , all my awesome readers for your support and encouragement. Curry and beyond wouldn't be here without YOU !!!.

Princess Cake

 Vanilla cake with Buttercream icing.  

Begin by baking two 9" cakes and one dome shaped cake. They are cooled for an hour and then the center of each cake is cut out. This will make it easy to insert the Barbie doll and  the cakes will form the Barbie's elegant dress. Then apply the pink icing in between the layers and then around it. Let it be in the refrigerator for about an hour before you can pipe the icing and make the dress. A real barbie doll is then wrapped with plastic and inserted in the center of the cakes. Soon you are ready to dress up your Princess doll. You can use your imagination and and make the dress of your choice using different decorative icing tips.

Voila , your Princess Cake is ready to Party !!!

This Princess cake was baked for a friend's daughter's 5th Birthday. I'm gald I could help. It was worth the time and effort when I saw the look on her face and the joy it brought her...That was priceless!!! Also all the kids at her birthday party(including my 2 boys) were happy and excited and could'nt wait to have a slice of this cake. Must say so I was a little emotional when it was the cake cutting time..LOL.Well got a bit attached to my Princess as this was my first attempt at making this cake.

Saved a slice of this cake for You, You and You..All of my readers !!!. Enjoy.