Rice Dumplings In Coconut Milk "Paal Kozhukattai"

No I didn't drop off from the face of the earth! I was busy being a dutiful daughter-in-law to my MIL who is visiting for a few months. In the process, I have been learning to make some traditional dishes as well.I will be posting them soon.
This dessert is truly special and instantly transported me to childhood days when grandma used to make this for me and my sister. The dumplings were all made from scratch by yours truly. It started off as an oblong but midway I lost patience and made them as dots.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Thick coconut milk
• 1 cup Skimmed milk
• 1 cup Water
• 1/2 cup Jaggery shavings(Unrefined non-centrifugal Sugar, available in Indian stores as blocks)
• 1/2 cup Cashews
• 1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
• 1 tbsp Ghee(Clarified Butter) or Butter
• 8 cups Water, for cooking the dumplings

For the Dumplings:

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp Sugar
• A pinch of Salt

 Procedure:

• Bring a cup of water to a rolling boil along with a tsp of sugar and a pinch of salt. 
• Make a dough out of the rice flour by adding the hot water, little by little. Use hands to make a smooth dough once the dough is ready to be handled by hand.
• Take pea-sized portions of the dough and make them into oblongs or dots. Repeat until all dough is used up.
• Bring 8 cups of water to a boil in a stock pot. Add the tiny dumplings in batches. The dumplings will rise to the top once cooked, in approximately 5 minutes.
• Scoop the cooked dumplings out of the water and set aside in a plate.
• Brown the cashews in 1 tbsp of  Ghee/Butter. Set aside.
• Heat a cup of water in a thick bottomed pan. When it starts bubbling, add the jaggery shavings and keep stirring until completely dissolved.
• Add the milk, coconut milk along with cardamom powder to the pan and keep stirring until it slightly thickens.
• Drop the dumplings gently into the pan and cook on low-flame for 2-3 minutes.
• Transfer to serving bowls and garnish with cashews.

Makes 3-4 Servings.

Notes:

• This dessert can be served cold with additional sugar, if desired.Dumplings get hard after refrigeration.
• More milk may be added at the time of serving

Enjoy!

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Rhubarb And Strawberry Crumble

Crumble, Crisp, Cobbler..whats your favorite? I like crumble better than the other two because it is equally tasty with fewer calories.Yes, the streusel-like topping for a crumble isn't as rich as the crisp which makes it "slightly" guilt-free.

Ingredients:
For the Fruit Filling:

• 1 1/2 cup Rhubarb, thinly sliced
• 4 cup Strawberry, sliced(I used ~25 mid-sized Strawberries)
• 4 tbsp Granulated Sugar
• 1 tbsp Cornstarch
• 1 tsp Orange Zest

For the Crumble Topping:

• 1/3 cup King Arthur All Purpose Flour
• 1/3 cup Rolled Oats
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar, packed
• 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter, softened
• 1 tbsp Orange Juice
• a pinch of Salt

Tool:

• 7 X 13 Oven-Proof Baker

Procedure:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Grease the oven-proof baker with little butter/spray butter.
• Mix all the ingredients under "filling" and add it to the oven-proof baker.
• Combine All-Purpose Flour, Sugar, Butter, Orange Juice and Salt in a food processor until they resemble a coarse meal. Stir in the rolled oats.
• Spread the topping evenly over the fruit filling and transfer to the oven.
• Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until the fruit starts to bubble over and the topping is browned.

• Serve at room temperature with a scoop of ice-cream.

Note:

• Once cooled, crumble can be refrigerated and served cold as well. Crumble tastes better the next day.

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PuffPastry "Spinach N Cheese" Swirls

These swirls look like a work of art, don't they? It makes one think that I spent ages to make this, doesn't it? Wrong. It took me under 30 minutes to make this. A very tempting appetizer that pretty much pleases all your senses.Oh, the base recipe is from the Pepperidge Farm package.

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet Pepperidge Farm Puff-Pastry 
• 1/2 cup Shredded Monterey Jack or Muenster Cheese
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
• 3 cup Spinach, Chopped
• 4 tbsp Red Onion, Chopped
• 1 Egg
• 1 tbsp Water
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Cracked pepper

Procedure:

• Thaw the puff pastry sheet for 30-40 minutes.
• Unroll the pastry sheet on a slightly dusted surface.
• Mix both the cheese with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Microwave the Spinach with a few sprinkles of water. Once wilted, squeeze the moisture from it and mix it with chopped red onion. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Whisk the egg with a tbsp of water. Using a pastry brush, brush the pastry with a thin layer of egg mixture.
• Sprinkle the pastry with cheese mixture and the layer it with spinach-onion mixture.
• Gently roll the pastry, jelly-roll style and thin cut into 1/2-inch wheels.
• Place the wheels on a greased baking sheet, cut side down.
• Brush the top with egg mixture. 
• Bake for 20 minutes or till the edges are slightly browned.
• Serve warm

Makes 14-15 Swirls

Enjoy!

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Saffron N SweetPea Rice

This is a 'slightly' embellished rice-dish that was made with only one purpose - to complement an over-the-top side-dish/rice-topper. The Stuffed Peppers in the previous post was very rich in flavor and these two go very well like gin and tonic, steak and potatoes..you get the idea,right? Other side-dish choices that would go very well with this rice - Stuffed Eggplants, Chicken in Walnut Gravy, Moroccon Chicken with Apricots N Cashews.

Ingredients(Makes 3-4 Servings):

• 2 cups Rice(Preferably Basmati Or any Short-grained rice for pressure cooking)
• 1 1/2  tsp Saffron Strands
• 1/2 cup Fresh or Frozen Sweet Pea
• 1/4 cup Cashews
• 1 Medium Red Onion, vertically sliced
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
• 3 Cloves
• 1 Dried Kapok Bud(Marathi Moggu/Parapinni), Optional
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 2 Cups Water(if using Basmati or more/less)

Procedure:

• Warm the milk in a cup and add the Saffron Strands. Let it soak for 20-30 minutes.

• In a shallow saute pan, heat the oil,add the cloves, cumin seeds and the kapok bud. Fry the cashews along with it until its browned.
• Add the sliced onions to the pan and fry till translucent.

• Add the milk soaked saffron strands along with the milk to the pan.
• Sprinkle some salt and add the Basmati rice.Gently stir and lid the pan.

• Cook until the rice is soft. Fluff it with a fork and serve it with any side dish of choice - Stuffed Peppers, Stuffed Eggplants, Chicken in Walnut Gravy, Moroccon Chicken with Apricots N Cashews.

Enjoy!

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RecipeReplica: Cottage Cheese, Potato Stuffed Mini Peppers "Shimla Barwa Mirch"

This is from the blog called Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes. I am a big fan of this blog that showcases North Indian recipes. Well, most of you know I am mighty partial to stuffed peppers/mushroom recipes and its no wonder I picked this. Next on the to-try list is the Pineapple Kesari/Halwa.
An unforgettable experience while doing this - Was happily scooping out the membrane and seeds with hands.. Totally devoid of good sense, I know. In the midst of it, juice from inside of the pepper(??) squirted into my left eye,started a major bout of allergy that had me sneezing a million times a minute.Runny nose and itchy watery vampirish eyes during a heatwave was horrible.Repeated washing of the eye and Veramyst(an intranasal spray) helped to a certain extent. I am an allergy prone person and a small trigger is all I need to make me miserable. :(. Terrible Terrible experience. But that didn't stop me from enjoying these delicious stuffed peppers.
Note to self - Be wise, use a mini melon-baller next time and maintain atleast a feet distance between pepper and face.
Hey,Watch out. I am on the hunt and your blog might be next for my next edition of "RecipeReplica".

Ingredients:

• 15 Mini-Peppers, slit, de-seeded and de-membraned with the crown and bottom intact
• 3 Yukon Gold Potatoes, medium-sized, fine-diced
• 1 Red Onion, small, fine-diced
• 3 Green hot chili, fine-diced
• 1 cup Paneer(Indian Cottage Cheese) Cubes
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp Cracked Pepper (if needed)
• 2 tbsp Cilantro, finely chopped
• Salt for taste

Procedure:

• In a wide saute pan, add a tbsp of oil and fry the Paneer cubes.Drain on paper towels. Cool and crumble the Paneer cubes. Set aside.
• In the same pan add anther tbsp of oil,add the cumin seeds and hot green chilies. Add the chopped red onions and saute until translucent.
• Add the chopped potatoes, salt and sprinkle some water. Lid the pan and cook for 5-10 minutes turning occasionally.
• Sprinkle the cracked pepper, if using and the chopped cilantro. Stir and slightly mash the potatoes. 
• Add the crumbled Paneer and combine.
• Stuff the mixture into the prepared peppers after it is cooled.

• Heat a tbsp of oil in the saute pan and add the stuffed peppers to the pan. 
• Stir the peppers gently around the pan until they are evenly coated with oil. Lid the pan and cook for 5-7 minutes until the skin of the peppers are slightly browned and starts shrinking.
• Serve it on top of brown rice or Saffron and Sweet Pea Rice(Recipe coming soon) or enjoy it as is.

Makes 15 Stuffed-Peppers.

Enjoy!

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