Spicy Chilly

Friday, December 17, 2010

Recipe Index

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Pear, Chocolate and Almond Crumble

Foodgawked!

"Better late than never!", goes the saying :) and here's my 'little late' entry to the month's sweet punch.

Falling sick after a long holiday, a quick visit to the home town and a minor defect in the camera would explain the major reasons for not jumping in on the suggested date, while getting fresh looking pears, which is not an easy task in my town (yes, I din't want to go for any substitutions this time ) says the rest ;)

So...here goes...

*I used 2 large pears and halved the other ingredients in the entire recipe.

Ingredients:

1kg (4-5) ripe pears, peeled, cored and chopped into 1cm pieces
50g light brown soft sugar [ Can substitute with regular sugar]
Grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
100g Swiss milk chocolate, roughly chopped

For the crumble

100g plain flour [ You could substitute this with Whole wheat flour too]
50g butter, chilled and diced
50g light brown soft sugar
50g blanched almonds, lightly toasted in a dry pan and roughly chopped

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Grease 6 ovenproof teacups or ramekins or a pie-dish.
In a medium bowl, mix together the pears, brown sugar, lemon zest and juice, and half the chocolate. Divide the mixture between the teacups or ramekins, spooning over any juice.
To make the crumble, place the flour and butter in a medium bowl and, with your fingertips, rub together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, almonds and remaining chocolate.
Spoon the crumble over the pears and press down lightly. Place the crumbles on a baking tray and bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and bubbling. Serve with a scoop of good vanilla ice-cream.

I enjoyed the hot crumble from the first ramekin with warm Vanilla Custard Sauce :).

Vanilla Custard Sauce

Blend vanilla flavoured custard powder with 1.5 cups of milk and 4 tbsp sugar (adjust to taste). Cook on a low fire until pouring consistency. Cool, chill and serve with the crumble. The recipe is from my sister's post here.

Vazhapindi Achar / Banana Stem Pickle for Arusuvai Season ll

T raditional recipes of Pickles belonging to Kerala are simple.The blend of ingredients in each pickle is simple, yet universal. The process of making these preserves at home has turned out lesser these days, due to busy lives of the working women.After all who wants to stress and strain wasting time on these while you have a wide choice in the market? Thanks to the village lives where women can afford more time for home made snacks and preserves.

Here's my attempt of recreating the age old Central Kerala recipe of Vazhapindi Achar, derived from amma's best pal, Shantha auty.

Palayan kodan variety vazhapindi would give the best results as they bits are crunchier and tend to have a more shelf life without turning soggy.

Vazhapindi Achar/Banana Stem Pickle

*Chopped banana stem- 1 cup

Kaduku parippu/ split mustard seeds- 1 tsps

Mustard seed powder-1tsp (mix with 2 tsps of water to make a thick paste)

Turmeric powder- a pinch

Asafoetida/kayapodi- a pinch

Salt- to taste

To season:

Sesame seed oil/nallenna- 2 tsps

Mustard seeds- a pinch

Green chillies 2-3 nos- slit lengthwise and once across breadthwise making 4 pcs each

Ginger- 1/2 tsp julienned

Garlic- 1 tbsp julienned

Small onions/ulli- whole small sized-1/4 cup

Curry leaves- a sprig

To boil together:

White vinegar- 1/2 cup (I needed 1/2 cup.Add a little more or less depending upon the quality)

Water- 1 cup

*Remove the outer layers of the banana stem and cop them into thin rounds carefully removing the fibre simultaneously while slicing each. Cut each slice into 4 strips across lengthwise and again 4 times breadwise leaving equal gaps to get small square shaped bits. Click here for a tutorial. Do not make the pieces too tiny as they might get soggy after pickling.

Dissolve salt in 1/4-1/2 cup of boiled water.Cool to room temperature and mix this solution to the banana stem bits (uppu vellathil ittu vekkal). Stir in turmeric and asafoetida powders along with the split mustard seeds and mustard powder paste.

Heat oil and the seasoning ingredients one by one in order. Take care the chillies, ginger, garlic and onions have to be lightly seasoned to retain the crunchiness, which is quite important!

Add this to the banana stem mixture.

Boil the water and vinegar together. Let it stand to get the steam evaporated. Pour this over the pickle while still HOT.The heat of this liquid mixture will be enough to ward off the raw smell of the ingredients, if any.

The Arusuvai ingredient from Sayantani!

The original recipe calls for 2 tsps of split mustard seeds/kaduku parippu.I used a tsp of it and substituted the mustard powder fro the other half, the Arusuvai ingredient. Again, if you cannot get hold of small whole pearl onions, you can use the regular small onions each cut into 4 pcs.The pickle keeps well under refrigeration.

Banana tree - picture courtesy-Derick Thomas

With Love, From Sayantani

I am so excited right now. yesterday I wasn't at home (my cousin was leaving for Kolkata so went there to help her with packing) so when Hubby said a packet has arrived for me I knew it was from you... this morning I came back and opened it...thanks for everything again.....I have made something handmade for you and am dying to send it to you with my secret ingredient....

take care and happy festivities.

love
Sayantani

What you read above is the mail I received from Sayantani, a few days back :)

The courier boy got the paper hurriedly signed from the 'impatient me' and left with a smile probably spotting the excitement in me ;)

I could no longer wait to open the parcel and lay out the pretty looking goodies!