Strawberry Soufflé (Quick Fix)

INGREDIENTS:

Strawberry: 200 g, use strawberry crush/syrup instead about 200 ml

Milk: 1 litre (full cream)

Gelatine: 3 tbsps

Eggs: 3 separated

Vanilla essence: a few drops

Sugar: 3/4cup

METHOD:

Soak gelatine in half a cup of water. Double boil to melt.

 Liquidise strawberries. Keep aside.

Mix the egg yolks with milk & sugar, keep on fire & stir continuously till it comes to a thin custard like consistency. Put aside to cool.

When cool, add the gelatine & strawberry pulp. 

Whisk egg whites with 2 tsps of sugar till it forms soft peaks.

Fold the egg white into custard.

Pour into a glass dish & chill in refrigerator.

Note: stewed pineapples are a good alternative to strawberries. Also, make sure temperature of custard & fruit are the same otherwise it can curdle. 

Coco-Nut Burfi (Quick Fix)

I remember the pink coconut candy & “matrimony” (cashew nut candy) that my mother used to make for Christmas. This recipe is something in betweeen these two, using both coconut & cashew nuts & coloured with beet root instead of artificial colours. 

 

INGREDIENTS:

Coconut: 150 g grated fine

Cashew nuts: 150 g powdered

Condensed milk: 1 tin (400 g)

Milk powder: 5 tbsps

Beet root: 1 tbsp grated

Cardamom: 3 powdered

 Ghee: to grease a tray

METHOD:

In a non stick pan, mix coconut, cashew nut powder, condensed milk, beet root, milk powder & cardamom powder.

Put pan on the stove & heat up.

Stir till it becomes a soft ball ( takes about 10 to 12 minutes)

Transfer onto a greased tray, cool & cut into pieces.

Rava Idlis (Quick Fix) Maami's Corner

 After all the trouble we take in grinding the batter the previous day, fermenting it & making Idlis or Dosas, no one appreciates it. For a change try these Rava Idli. Quick & simple. No grinding, no fermenting!

INGREDIENTS:

Rava/semolina: 1 cup

Curd: ½ cup (preferably sour curd)

Fuit salt/ENO: 3/4tsp

Salt to taste

Oil to grease moulds

METHOD:

Mix rava with curd & enough water  to make a batter of pouring consistency.Add salt & set aside to soak for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, grease the idli moulds & heat water in the steamer.

Add the fruit salt, pour into moulds immediately & steam for 10 minutes.

Serve with any chutney or sambar.

Oats Idli (Quick Fix)

The ability of this cereal to lower blood cholesterol is commendable. I have experienced this personally. Make it a regular breakfast item. I know, we think only of the porridge when we say Oats but there’s more.  I have given the oats puttu  recipe, now, the idlis! No compromise on taste, I promise.

INGREDIENTS:

Oats: 1 cup
Semolina/rava/sooji: 1/4cup

Fresh curd: 1/2cup

Fruit salt/Eno: 1/2tsp

Salt to taste

To temper:

Onion: 1 chopped fine

 Green chilli: 1 chopped fine

Curry leaves:  a few

Oil: 2 tsps

METHOD:

Mix curd with the oats, rava, salt & half a cup of water. Keep for a while to soak.

In the mean time, do the tempering. You can use urad dal or channa dal also , to give that extra bite.Pour enough water to get a dropping consistency. 

Stir in the fruit salt.

Grease idli moulds & pour a ladle full into each & steam for 10 to 15 minutes.

This takes a little longer to cook unlike the rice idlis.

Serve with any chutney/sambar.

Peanut Ladoos ( Quick Fix)

Peanuts are a good source of protein, hence try this for your kids. And when its home made, they will appreciate it even more! 

INGREDIENTS:

Palm sugar/jaggery: 1 cup

Peanuts: 2 cups roasted & crushed

Cardamom: 1/2tsp

Ghee: 2 tsps

METHOD:

Melt the palm sugar/jaggery with 2 tbsps water, cool & strain to remove any grit.

Reheat the syrup, till it reaches a string consistency.

Add the nuts, cardamom powder & one teaspoon ghee.

Mix well, take off fire, cool a little & roll into small balls. Grease your palm with a little ghee for easy handling.

Use almonds, cashew nuts, coconut or a mixture of different nuts to make yummy ladoos.

Date Surprise (Quick fix)

.

Generally sweets are associated with a lot of sugar & ghee. Here’s a healthy option to the usual DIWALI sweets. 

INGREDIENTS:

Dates: 200 g

Milk powder: 1 cup

Cashew nuts: 2 tbsps

Sugar: 1 tbsp

Ghee: 2 tsps

Cardamom: 2 powdered

Baking soda: a small pinch

METHOD:

Chop dates fine, also the nuts.

Heat a non stick pan with a teaspoon of ghee, fry the nuts & add chopped dates.

Sauté well till soft & can be rolled. Keep aside to cool. Divide into evenly sizes balls.

In the meantime, mix milk powder, sugar & cardamom powder with 5 tablespoons of water.

Add a small pinch of baking soda & transfer into a greased plate & steam for half an hour.

Cool & make balls of this.

Take a date ball, flatten it on your palm, place a milk ball in the centre & cover it well with the date coating.

VOILA! A healthy sweet is ready.

Paal payasam (Quick Fix) onam special

INGREDIENTS:

Raw rice: 50 g (a handful)

Milk: 1 litre

Sweetened condensed milk: 1 tin

Sugar: 2 tbsp

Salt: a pinch

METHOD:

Pressure cook washed & soaked rice in milk for 15 minutes.

After steam goes, pour the condensed milk, stir well.

Add sugar & a pinch of salt.

Rest the payasam for 10 minutes before serving.

NOTE: Generally, paalpayasam in Kerala is not flavoured with cardamom. But rice kheer in the North, similar to this payasam, is not only flavoured but dry fruits are also added to it. 

Fish Kebabs (Quick Fix)

INGREDIENTS:

Fish: 250 g (boneless)

Egg: 1

Red chilli paste: 1 tsp or chilli powder: 1 tsp

Garlic: 10 pods

Green chilli: 2

Corn flour: 11/2tbsps

Mint: 1 tbsp chopped

Salt to taste

Oil to fry

METHOD:
Grind fish with garlic, chilli paste, egg, salt & garlic to a smooth paste.

Transfer to a bowl, add corn flour, chopped mint & green chilli. Mix well.

Heat oil, put spoonful of the mix in oil, deep fry & serve with salad & sauce. 

Crispy Crunchy Fried Chicken (Quick Fix)

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken breast: 250 g

Pepper: 1 tsp crushed

Garlic paste: 1 tsp

Corn flakes: 1 cup crushed

Egg: 1

Maida/plain flour: 5 tbsps

Salt to taste

Oil to fry

METHOD:

Cut chicken breast into 4 flat pieces.

Marinate with pepper, salt & garlic.

Season the plain flour with salt & pepper.

Whisk egg, keep aside.

Spread the cornflakes onto a plate.

Take a piece of chicken, roll in plain flour, shake off excess, dip in egg & coat with cornflakes. Press it well with your hand.

Now deep fry till brown on a medium flame.

Serve with any dip/sauce.

Mutton Ball Curry (Quick Fix)

I have already  given a traditional meat ball curry recipe, now, here’s a quick fix. This is a tomato based gravy, which can be made, bottled & used for various preparations.

INGREDIENTS:

Mutton mince: 250 g

Egg: 1

Green chilli: 2 chopped fine

Ginger-garlic paste: 1 tsp

Coriander leaves: 2 tbsps

Red gravy paste: 4 to 5 tbsps

Garam masala powder: 1/2tsp

Oil: 1 tsp

Cumin seeds: 1/2tsp

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Mix ginger-garlic paste, green chilli, coriander leaves, salt & half the egg with the minced mutton.

Make small balls, keep aside.

Heat 1 tsp oil, add cumin seeds & the red gravy paste.

Pour 1 cup water, bring it to a boil before dropping in the meat balls.

 Adjust salt, cook till meat is done.

Sprinkle garam masala powder & some more coriander leaves.

Serve with rice/bread.

For the red gravy:

Onions: 500 g

Tomatoes: 500g red ripe ones

Ginger-garlic paste: 1 tbsp

Red chilli powder: 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder: 1/2tsp

Cardamom: 4

Cloves: 6

Cinnamon: 1” piece

Star anise: 1

Cashew nuts: 10

Poppy seeds: 1 tbps soaked in water

Oil: 100 ml

Salt

Pressure cook onions & tomatoes with 1/2cup water for 5 minutes. Cool & grind.

Also, grind cashew nuts & poppy seeds to a smooth paste.

Heat oil, add whole spices & ground tomato-onion paste. Fry till oil clears on sides of the pan (about 10 minutes).

Add chilli & turmeric powder. Last, add cashew paste & salt.

Cool well, bottle & refrigerate. 

Can be used for veg/paneer or non veg curries.

   

Yam Sambar (Quick Fix)

                                                                                                                            

Red gram dhal is the base of a Sambar, vegetables will vary. But in this preparation Yam forms the base.For those who cannot digest pulses, this is a good alternative! 

Courtesy: Freeda Fernandez

INGREDIENTS:

Yam: 250g cubed

Drumstick: 1 cut into 2” pieces

Brinjal/ eggplant: 2 cubed

Shallots: 10

Green chilli: 2 slit

Tomato: 1 cubed

Tamarind paste: 1/2tbsp

Sambar powder: 2 tbsps

Turmeric powder: 1/4tsp

Sugar: 1/2tsp

Oil: 2 tsps

Mustard seeds: 1 tsp

Red chilli: 2 cut in 2

Curry leaves

Coriander leaves: 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Pressure cook yam with turmeric powder, mash well & keep aside.

Cook vegetables separately, add tamarind, sambar powder, cooked yam & salt.

Adjust consistency by adding water.

Season mustard, curry leaves & red chilli.

Pour into sambar, add coriander leaves.

Serve with rice or idlis.

Lace Appams (Quick Fix)

This is truly traditional fare, but the recipe here is a quick one(time for fermentation, apart.) Appams used to be a special occasion item because kneading for it took a while. Rice had to be soaked, drained, powdered, roasted & kneaded with rice gruel, coconut milk & then fermented.

INGREDIENTS:

Raw rice: 2 cups (measured in 200 ml cup)

Cooked rice: 1 cup

Coconut: 1 cup

Yeast: 3/4tsp (active dry yeast)

Sugar: 1 ½ tbsp

Salt: 1/4 tsp

METHOD:

Soak raw rice for 2 hours.

Grind soaked rice, cooked rice, coconut, sugar & salt to a smooth paste adding water (about 200 ml)

Pour into fairly large bowl, add yeast, mix  well. Keep covered in a warm place for 4 to 6 hours.

(fermenting time  will vary with the temperature of the place. colder the place, the longer it will take. Also, using instant yeast can lessen the fermenting time.)

Before making the appams, add a little more water to the batter.(It has to be thin.)

Pour a big ladle full of batter into “ appachatty”, swirl it around, cover & cook till done. 

Traditionally, served with any stew or egg masala. A more recent trend in wayside eateries is to serve it with Kadala (Channa) curry.