Spinach, Avocado And Banana Smoothie "Leprechaun Smoothie"

Beginning this week I will be posting colored foods mostly focusing on smoothie/beverage/juice etc etc but not restricting to that alone. I know I have been silent for a week. I just wanted to take it easy because this year the seasonal allergy was at its worst.It started right on the day I went to DC to gaze on the Cherry Blossoms. 

For the most part I decided to suffer through it because I didn't want my body to be so dependent on Claritin. The nose and eyes were put to a test and I did give in a week later because it was affecting my concentration at work and cognitive skills in general.So I didn't cook much too cause my nose was always looking for any trigger to make me sneeze million times a minutes.

Ingredients (For 1 Serving):

• 2 Cups Spinach, loosely packed, cleaned in several changes of cold water
• 1 Frozen "Chiquita" Banana
• 1 Cup  Cold  Skimmed Milk
• 1/2 Ripe Hass Avocado
• 2 Tsp or less/more Wildflower Honey 

Procedure:

• Slice the banana and avocado. Add it to the blender along with the cleaned spinach.

• Measure a cup of cold skimmed milk.Add it to the blender and blend until smooth.

• The above ingredients yield 2 cups of phenomenal green smoothie that is slightly sweet and not a hint of spinach flavor in it. 

• Add 2 tsp of wild flower honey.

• Stir well to incorporate.

• Smoothie is ready to be consumed.

Other recipes with Greens:
Kohlrabi Green and Vegetables Dry Curry:

Spinach and Paneer "Palak Paneer":

Sukuma Wiki With Collard Greens:

Spinach, Lentils and Vegetable:

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#16
Enjoy!

Read More...

Basic "White" Chicken Stock

This is how I have been making Basic "White" Chicken Stock at home. I usually make large batches and freeze them in small portions as I am constantly making Pot Pie(family favorite), Pulled Chicken Noodle soup or Meatball Soup...especially during the winter season when someone or the other in the family is having the sniffles.During such occasions, a good nourishing soup and rasam(South Indian Pepper juice) are a must.

Recently I tried Chicken Soup with exotic Amaranth Leaves plus a few vegetables for my friend who recently gave birth to an adorable baby girl. She said it was awesome - just what a lactating mom needs.  So am planning to give it another spin in the kitchen this weekend. Keeping my fingers crossed that I find some Amaranth Leaves in the store.

Basic Homemade Chicken Stock(For 8-9 cups):

Ingredients: 

• 4 Chicken Thighs and a few chicken parts 
• 2 Stalks Celery, halved and quartered ( I freeze the rest)
• 2 Carrots, peeled and cut into sticks
• 2 Small Yukon Gold Potatoes, cleaned and halved
• 1 Small Red Potato, cleaned and halved
• 2 Red Onions, peeled and halved
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• 1 Tsp Black Peppercorns
• 3 Bay Leaf
• 3 Cloves
• 4-5 Stalks Parsley or Cilantro
• 1/2 Tsp Dried Thyme,optional
• 10-12 Cups Cold Water 

Procedure:

• Place the cut celery sticks, carrot sticks, halved potatoes, halved onions, garlic cloves, cloves, bay leaf in a big stock pot.

• Clean the Cilantro or Parsley and Thyme. Place it in the pot.

• Wash the Chicken thighs and parts(if using) thoroughly in water. Place them in the pot and add 12 Cups cold water.

• Place a dome lid/lid on the pot and let the ingredients simmer at a medium flame for 45 minutes to an hour.

• Midway during this process, open and stir the contents. The mixture should look frothy like in the picture. The smell is phenomenal too.

• After an hour, drain the contents into a colander.

• Once cooled, divide and add the stock into smaller storage containers and freeze for future use. The stock will stay good for 3-4 days in the fridge.

• Nothing beats home-made stock.

Recipes that I have created with this Chicken Stock-

• Savory Chicken Pot Pie With Puff Pastry Topping

• Pulled Chicken Noodle Soup, not just for the "flu days"-

• Carrot, Collards and Meatballs Soup with Pasta-

Enjoy!

Read More...

Eggless Dry Fruit And Nut Cake, for Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all "Mommy" Readers!  How are you?  I am fine, thank you! Enjoy your day!
A lovely Poem honoring all moms --

More Than A Mother 
When God set the world in place,
when He hung the stars up in space,
when He made the land and the sea,
then He made you and me.

He sat back and saw all that was good,
He saw things to be as they should.
Just one more blessing He had in store;
He created a mother, but whatever for?

He knew a mother would have a special place
to shine His reflection on her child's face.
A mother will walk the extra mile
just to see her children smile.
She'll work her fingers to the bone
to make a house into a home.

A mother never pokes or pries
but stands quietly by your side,
giving you the strength you need,
encouraging you to succeed.

A mother is one who listens well,
will keep her word; will never tell.
~ Kari Keshmiry

My Mother's Day kick started on Friday morning with me having food with my kid in his classroom. I got my first gift, a potted chrysanthemum from my darling son who is asking me when it is going to bloom. With my black thumb, the opposite of a green thumb, I couldn't promise him anything. I keep reminding myself that I need to water the plant and that is a start. Anything to see my kid happy.

Today morning, as I was giving him breakfast, I almost told him that I would take a bullet for him. But since he is too young to understand I said, " Baby, I would walk upside down for you". He was like, Mommy you can't..cause your head doesn't have feet. Totally cracked me up! Man, I love listening to his childish wise-cracks. Being Aran's mom totally rocks!

This cake is for my mom, a wonderful lady who gave me the gift of life and more. Being a vegetarian, she loves all my egg-less bakes. Recipe adapted from Divine Taste. I don't have the 8" deep pan that the original recipe calls for but I do have a 7" pan. So taking cue from Gayathri's CookSpot,  I used a 7" deep cake pan and two 7oz fluted ramekins for the remaining batter.This fruit and nut rich cake doesn't have to be restricted to holiday season alone. It is a phenomenal cake and can be made round the year. The last time I made this cake, I had friends over and I didn't get a chance to take clicks of the big cake. 95% of it was gone the same day it was made. So the cross-sectional view is from those teeny heart-shape cakes. Look how moist and densely packed it is.. Umm, delicious! I will update the post with more pictures the next time I make the cake. 

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp Melted butter, for greasing the pan
• 2 Cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 Tsp Baking powder
• 1/4  + 1/4 Tsp Baking soda
• 3-1/2 Cups Mixed Dry Fruit ( 1 Cup Tunisian Dates + 1 Cup Raisin-Craisin + 1 Cup dried California "Mission" figs + 1/2 Cup dried Turkish Apricots)
• 1/2 Cup Mixed Nuts - Almonds, Walnuts, Pistachios, Pecans (your choice. I used walnuts and pistachios)
• 1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, packed
• 1 Stick Butter (1/2 Cup)
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil 
• 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup or Date Syrup ( I used Vermont Pure Maple Syrup)
• Finely Grated Zest from a Florida Navel Orange
• 1 Cup Water
• 2 Tbsp Yogurt
• 1-1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 3/4 Tsp Allspice Powder
• 1 Cup Smoothly Mashed Potato ( I used 1 Medium Sweet Potato + 1 Medium Yukon Gold Potato)
• 40 Blanched Almonds, for garnish

Tools:

• 8" Round Deep Cake Pan Or 7" Deep Round Cake Pan + 2 7-0z fluted heart shaped  ramekins

Procedure:

• Gather all the dried fruits. Sift the flour, baking powder and 1/4 Tsp baking soda twice to combine uniformly. 

• Finely chop the dates, figs and apricots. Add them and the raisin-craisin mixture to the sauce pan.

• To the sauce pan, add the brown sugar, butter, olive oil, maple syrup,water and heat slowly on low heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to medium and allow the mixture to come to a boil, reduce the heat and then simmer for 20 minutes on low heat. Remove the sauce pan from the heat, mix in the  1 tsp baking soda and allow to cool.

• Boil the potato and sweet potato until it is fork tender. Toast the nuts and finely chop it.

• Mash the potato and sweet potato using a ricer.

• Combine mashed potato, yogurt, grated orange zest, vanilla extract and allspice.

• Incorporate the mashed potato mixture to the cooled fruit mixture.

• Stir in the flour mixture in batches. Fold the toasted chopped nuts. The batter will be sticky and dense.

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees C. Spoon the batter into an 8" round cake pan and arrange the blanched almonds decoratively over the top. Cover the top with an aluminum foil and bake the cake anywhere from 1-1/2 hours to 2 hours.Important: Check periodically after 90 minutes.  If using 7" cake pan, the baking time will be slightly less. I used 7" cake pan and 2 7 oz heart shaped ramekins. The ramekin cakes baked much quicker.

• The cake flavor intensifies over time.

Enjoy!

A similar cake with dried fruit: Eggless Tunisian Date Cake

Read More...

Kundapuri Chicken With Kokum "Kundapuri Koli/Kori"

This version of chicken curry originates from the "Kundapura" region of Karnataka. Other than that I don't know much about the dish except that it is lip-smacking delicious! The specialty about this recipe is that I have tried it with Kokum to give it a sweet sour taste. Recipe minimally adapted from here.

What is Kokum? To put it in a nut-shell, Kokum is dark purple to black, sticky and with curled edges. The fruit is often halved and dried, so that the dried seeds are visible in their chambers like a citrus fruit. It is usually available as a dried rind, resembling a thick plum skin. When added to food it imparts a pink to purple colour and sweet/sour taste. For more info, refer this site.

Ingredients:

• 6-8 Chicken Thighs, skinned, cleaned and cut
• 3-4 Tbsp Olive Oil 
• Salt, as needed
• Cilantro, for garnish

For the Rub:

• 5-6 Dry Red Chilies, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
• 1 Stalk Curry Leaves
• 2-3 Garlic Cloves
• 1 Tbsp Coriander Seeds
• 1/2 Medium Yellow Onion, diced

For the Curry:

• 3 Roma Tomatoes, diced
• 2 Medium Yellow Onions, peeled and diced
• 1 Tsp Red Chili powder or as needed
• 2 Tbsp Coriander Powder, for thickening the gravy
• 6 pieces Kokum
• 2 Grated Balls of Fresh or Frozen Coconut
• 1/4 Cup Skimmed Milk

Procedure:

• Dry fry the coriander seeds, curry leaves and garlic for 3-4 minutes on medium flame until the seeds emit aroma.

• Soak  Kokum in a cup of hot water for 20 minutes (To facilitate easy extraction of juice)

• Roughly grind dry fried ingredients. To it add  the soaked red chilies, 1/2 diced onions and grind it to a coarse paste along with little salt.

• Rub the chicken with the coarse paste.Let it sit for at-least 2 hours. I usually let it sit in the refrigerator.

• In a tbsp of Oil, brown the chicken pieces. Remove from pan.

• In the same pan, add the diced onions and fry till translucent. Add the tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes.

• Add red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and garam masala. Stir to incorporate. Move the chicken back and let it coat with the spiced onion-tomato gravy evenly. 

• Squeeze the Kokum and extract juice. Pour it into the pan. Add 1 to 1-1/2 Cups water. It all depends on how thick or thin you want the curry.

• Add salt as needed and let the chicken cook in medium flame for about 15 minutes or until it is 95% cooked.

• Check for taste. Add more chili powder or salt if needed. Grind the grated coconut balls with milk. Pour it over the chicken. Let is cook for 5 more minutes. 

• Garnish with Cilantro and the curry is ready.

Enjoy!

Read More...