Mango Icecream-An Indian Scream!..

I am virtually screaming for icecreams,not that I am an ice-cream lover,but the Indian summer invariably makes me do so!.

The next thing I am screaming for, is Mango.The Royal, Successful and the Most expensive, Imampasanth or Himampasanth, as it is named, is a very much sought after variety developed recently in one of the farms of T.N!!.The season is almost getting over and I am grabbing them, meticulously transforming them into curries, pickles, shakes and salads...

Finally, I came across the great event of Monthly Mingle in What's for Lunch for Honey , thought of why not try whipping up these creamy and tasty mango pieces to ice cream and go for a combined Scream..?..and, Meeta, this is definitely an untried venture as no one might have tried making fresh ice creams with Imampasanth, yet.The recipe is totally self made with a touch of creativity and the result; a humble success!.

Here comes the results from my Kitchen Laboratory..:)..

To make 3 large scoops;

I needed:

A cup of Imam or Himam Pasanth mango pulp(whip up pieces of half a mango)

A cup of thick creamy millk

A tbsp of flour(maida) blended without lumps in 1/3rd cup of milk in room temperature

3/4 cup of sugar

A tbsp of fresh cream

How I made:

1.Boil milk in a large pan,simmer for a few minutes to get rid of the water content in it and turn thicker.

2.Dissolve sugar and simmer for a few more minutes in low flame.

3.Now, add the maida plus milk mixture slowly,stirring all the time avoiding lumps and facilitate blending in.

4.Simmer again till you reach a thicker consistancy milk in the pan.

5.Cool till it attains room temperature.Mix in the mango pulp and beat the combined mixture in a blender.

6.Transfer contents to an icecream tray and set to freeze.

7.When half frozen,take out and whip again in a blender adding the fresh cream.This will again smoothen the lumps if you have had while boiling with maida milk mixture.

8.Transfer contents,to the same tray again and return to the freezer.

9.Freeze till it hardens.

10.Scoop them into ice-cream cups and enjoy the product without counting the calories :).Unlike other ice cream flavours, this has more tendency to turn pulpy if melts, therefore it is important to be served soon after taking out of the freezer.

P.S-I have not yet tried the recipe with other Mango varieties, but you can try them as well, if you are a mango or an icecream lover.

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JFI-Sweet ‘n’ spicy Brinjals

Indian Brinjals;after all they too are "egg" plants...placed on a real bird's forbidden nest in my garden,the birds are off but I replaced this real nest back on the tree,hoping for their next visit!.

Brinjals, rightly named as the King of veggies in South India ,belong to the category of easy to prepare,tasty and that can be mixed up into a real wide variety of dishes.Boiled,smoked,grilled,mashed,stuffed,curried and the list goes on and on…

Believed to help in lowering the cholesterol levels of the blood,the cooked vegetable does hold the complaints of its sliminess,having not much of nutritive value and fibre content etc,but it’s definitely popular due to its availability, lightness and delicacy in dishes.

I simply ventured preparing the dish using the Indian Brinjals, seeing the wide Hindustani varieties.As Indiraji,the brain behind this monthly event, votes more for Indian..:),I chose the pale green local varietied ones ultimately entering JFI-eggplants hosted by Sangeetha of Ghar Ka Ghana!.

How does this soft veg turn when boiled lightly,sauted and left soaked in saucy,spicy,sweetish ingredients?Thatz where this “easy to make” recipe leads you..

Get ready with:

250gms-Brinjals

½ cup sliced onions
1 tsp of finely chopped garlic
½ tsp of turmeric powder
A tsp of curry powder
A tbsp of tomato ketchup
Salt-to taste
Cilantro-to garnish

To temper,
1 tbsp refined oil
½ tsps each of mustards and urad dal
A stalk of curry leaves

How to make:

1.Cut Brinjals lengthwise into 6 parts each,after discarding the green calyx and stalk.Cook half done in salted water with turmeric powder and the pieces 'just' immersed..(turn off the flame when the water starts boiling).Avoid over cooking.

2.Drain the pieces,discarding the water,in a perforated bowl. (If the easy-to-be-cooked long brinjals are used, avoid this precooking part completely.Check the quality of the veg.A little precooking was necessary for my Indian ones).

3.Heat oil in a shallow and wide kadai, splutter mustards and brown the urad dal.Add the chopped garlic and the onions and sauté till they turn golden.Add the curry leaves.

4.Lower the flame.Sauté the curry powder lightly, immediately adding the tomato ketchup next and then the brinjal pieces.

5.Keeping the flame medium, toss or turn the pieces lightly, allowing the gravy to coat all over.

6.Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with rice, chappathi, nan or with anything you please.

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RCI-Gajarachi Koshimbir

Maharashtrian?..Yes..Healthy or Nutritious?..Yes,of course..Colourful and appealing?..Certainly Yes..Easy to make?..Absolutely!,in fact no cooking is required and takes less than 15 minutes to get over with it!.
Gajarachi Koshimbir says it all.A simple Indian salad of freshly grated carrots incorporated with crunchy peanut bits tempered in an Indian way;my entry to RCI-Maharashtrian Cuisine,hosted by Nupur of One Hot Stove.The brain behind the wonderful idea is Lakshmi of Veggie Cuisine.

Cooking time-15 mins,Serves-2.

You need:

A cup of freshly grated carrots
2 green chillies,finely chopped
2 tsps of roasted and crushed peanuts
A few drops of lime juice
½ tsp of sugar
Salt,to taste
Chopped cilantro,to garnish

To temper,

A tsp of oil
A few mustard seeds and urad dal
A pinch of hing
A few curry leaves

Method:

1.Transfer the contents to a bowl,except the cilantro,and gently mix them using the finger tips.To roast the raw peanuts,microwave them in high power for a minute,toss them, return for a minute more,remove skin and crush coarsely.
2.Heat oil in a small pan,splutter mustards and brown the urad dal.Add hing.Splutter the curry leaves,after turning off the flame,pour on the above mixture.Toss the salad and garnish with chopped cilantro.
3.Gajarachi Koshimbir goes well with rice and curries, roomali rotis and tastes good even simply sandwiched between the bread slices.

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Apple ice bowl and a lazy weekend!...

Sometimes you feel lazy,really lazy,to get into the normal routine of life.

Sometimes you feel to laze a day or a weekend,sipping a cuppa hot tea, watching wearily a movie or a song you'd longed to…

When DhoomII was released ,I had wanted to go for the movie so badly.And today morning, I just happened to see that song,"Crazy kiya re", realised quite surprisingly, that I'd forgotten all about watching the movie,as I'd been dedicating much of my leasure time to blogging since then...

Having seen that beautiful orange ice bowl on Mishmash's table,a couple of days ago,wanting immediately one like that and humming the tune,where Aish had done a real rocking and a graceful performance,went out to reach for my fruit bowl containing no oranges!.The apples,slightly shrunk due to the scorching heat, didn't disappoint me though and I wistfully carried on to make the 'apple ice bowl'…

It took less than 5 mins,coz the not so fresh apples were sliced in a lazy way,the moulds got selected in a lazy way,the water got filled up in between in a lazy way,and the final product got photographed,with those not so fresh fruits again in the background, after 8 hours in an even lazier way.....glancing at the imperfect ice cup filled with nothing!.

After all it's a lazy weekend... right??

Warning-Do not compare this cup with the original!.:D..

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Murungaikkai / Drumsticks Sambhar

I am happy to note that many of the bloggers vote for the homemade powders than the store bought ones.To prepare them at home is ofcourse an extra task for most of you but definitely hygienic,more aromatic,un adulterated and has a longer shelf life. Did anyone say,"oof not that recipe again..that's something we whip up quite often..naah!."

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Home Made Sambhar Powder.

The fresh Sambhar Powder

A little restlessness,had been haunting me lately,for not doing justice, nowadays with my header and its description,mainly with my last 3 posts...

I had been thinking of posting this,for the past one month,when I made the fresh stock of the powder,without which I cannot pull along even a single day! A 'must' kept preserve in every Tamil or South Indian kitchen- shelf,is sold readymade nowadays,wrapped up in packets in all sizes and brands.Let them compete,I prefer the home made Sambhar powder,the recipe from my ma in law,to even the best brand available in market.

Here goes the easy recipe,with lesser ingredients of the fresh aromatic Sambhar Podi...

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The Foodie BlogRoll.

Hi friends,

Here's a good news for you..JennDZ ,the Left Over Queen has come up with the fabulous idea of bringing together the foodies in a roll.I came to know about this from Sukanya Ramkumar of Hot 'n' Sweet Bowl,very recently...

Be an Indian,American,English,French...you must be a food blogger,thatz it.Let's all join our hands and get into the great foodie community. The Foodie Blogroll Forum has opened its door for you to discuss the favourite food facts and topics.

We all appreciate your wonderful idea and the hard work and effort you are putting in.Thank you Jenn for adding me.Click here to join and watch out for it,rolling on and on.

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Rösti and a stay in Swiss...

Did I tell you,Girls that we stayed for a week in Swiss after going around Paris?

Well,we flew to Geneva and reached the final destination,the beautiful village of Grindelwald.The mystic nature,the picturesque snow topped mountains and its warm people made us spell bound..

And here I am with the traditional dish of the swiss Rösti,a delicious wholesome dish,which ultimately turned to be one of our favourites.Each household has its own version of it,with meat,more of onions,variety of veggies and so on.

I tried an 'all veggie Rösti' topped with extra chunks of carrots with the usual potato base,using Gruyere cheese, a swiss delicacy, which tastes great when melts.

The recipe is certainly simple than it seems and worth a shot if you are a potato or a cheese lover!.

Here's how I made it...

You Need:

500gms Baking potatoes
4-5 garlic cloves-crushed
Butter-60gms
2 Large carrots-sliced into rounds-for topping
Gruyere cheese -75gms-grated,for topping
Freshly ground pepper
Salt-to taste
Finely chopped herb of your choice-to garnish

Method:

1.Hard boil the potatoes and carrots,separately.Slice carrots to rounds.

2.Chill the potatoes for about 2-3 hours,preferably in a freezer.

3.Reserve a couple of potatoes and slice into rounds,sized more or less like the carrots,for topping.

4.Peel and coarsely grate the remaining potatoes.

5.Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade.

6.Lightly butter the baking dish.

7.Mix grated potatoes,pepper powder,garlic and salt and move to the baking dish.

8.Spread the top with butter and bake for 40 minutes or until the grated potatoes are golden and cooked.

9.Return the sliced potatoes and carrots(pre cooked) to the oven.

10.Sprinkle with the cheese, cook for 5 more mins until the cheese melts and spreads and the topping turns golden and bubbly.(Feel the delicious smell of it by now:))

11.Transfer carefully into a serving dish and garnish with finely chopped herbs of your choice.


The beautiful village of Grindelwald,in the suburbs of Jungfrau and a little up, the town of Interlaken.

Over to the final destination,passing Bern and Interlaken.

The railway station-Jumped out of the train to breathe the cool fresh fragrant air...

and straight to our lovely apt,Haberdarre!

The Front view..

The well maintained,modern kitchenette

The Picturesque view from the apt..

Neighbourhood of Haberdarre.The flowers belong to our apt :).

On the way to Junfraujoch-top of Europe!

Land above the clouds!.The breath taking view of Swiss and France (a part of them)from Sphinx-the viewing station of Jngfrh.

Another Shot,of the "mountains of eternal snow"..

Sphinx,says...

The beautiful carvings of "The Ice Palace-Jngfrh".

A nearby spot of Grindelwald,called FIRST,near the Bernese Alps...

The point where para gliders make their way through..

We had our own ways to enjoy,though.The ice bunny,

transformed to Ganesha:).

Swiss cows,were never heard mooing,instead we could hear the lovely little jingling sounds of their bells,round their necks..

The Unusual waterfalls-water gushing through the large holes of the rock.Had to go pretty IN the damp cold rocks to view the falls,named..

.. the Trummelbachfalls..So, that was our final spot of holidaying,to be precise :)..

...from the snow capped mountains to the lush green valleys;from the wild sparkling rivers to the serenity of plam lined lakes,our holiday was not on earth but on "Paradise!".

P.S-A great thanks to all my readers who patiently scrolled long down to view the pics and matter of both of my holiday posts..:)...

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