Mango Panacotta

 

               
           So I am back to blogging!! 
              ..... after a looong plunge into the vaccume. 
         To be honest, I cannot promise to post on a regular basis... I am caught up in the whirl wind of busy mother hood and seem to be more so, than most of you.. 
            Yuck!  I am just trying to make my point. After all, life is full of snafus and you cannot always expect  it to turn the way you planned.
           Some times it is hard to do the things you did with great aplomb before... Some times your mood robs you  off the enthusiasm..  and still some times you get a vigor from nowhere  to get on with your crazes like never before... It all depends on many many things..

            To cut the story short, I gave birth to a baby girl last month.. yep! and she is just taking my breath away...:)

           So I thought I would share this simply yummy  dessert made with the king of fruits , to cheer my third mother hood..
          .. as I bask in the blooming glory of holding a baby again..
           ..as I see it smile and sob in its quiet slumber..
          .. as her eyes flutters as if in a breeze of heavenly wind..
          ... as I watch her brothers bend over her crib 
             and fuss about with words of sweet nothings..
          I simply sit back and think,it's time for dessert again.. :)

                                                                                                                                                                    

I made this Mango Panacotta with seasonal mangoes. You could also make it with canned mango puree. In that case you would need to cut short the amount of sugar in the recipe as most canned mango purees are already sweetened.

            I had posted a similar mango pudding some time back. Check it out, if you are interested.

The Recipe...

1 cup mango puree

1/2 cup milk

1 and 1/2 cup thick cream or whipping cream

6 tbsp brown sugar

7 g unflavoured gelatin

1/4 tsp each ground cinnamon and ginger

1/4 tsp saffron or cinnamon sugar

Method:

•   In a bowl sprinkle gelatin over milk and let stand for 5 minutes to soften.
•  Mean while in a sauce pan over medium heat, gently whisk together cream, sugar cinnamon and ginger. Heat just until bubbles form around the edge. Remove from heat.
• Stir in the gelatin and milk mixture, stirring to dissolve. Whisk in the mango puree.
• Pour the mixture into six ramkins or custard cups. Tap each dish on the counter lightly to release any air bubbles. Refrigerate until set or for about 2 hours.
• Unmold to serving plates, keeping the dishes in hot water for two minutes and then running a knife around the edge.
• Serve with saffron sprinkled on top. If you are not fond of the saffron flavour (like me) sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.It is nothing but powdered cinnamon and granulated sugar mixed together.  Enjoy!

Award at expectation time :)

      I was expecting.. . not an award, but a baby! But what came first was the award :) and am still expecting the baby in few days... LOL

     So I'm still busy busy.. preparing for the D-day. Insha Allah, every thing would be easy and fast, I guess! and we'll have our baby in less time!

      Mean while, I shall post the award I received from the Familycook. Thank you so much for the award, dear; though I feel ashamed that a lazy blogger like me should get an award! Hop over to her gorgeous blog, The food I cook, which has lots of mouth watering recipes with clear instructions. 

To accept the award, I need to answer her 11 questions.. Well, let me try :)
These are the questions she asked and my answers to it..

1. What inspired to start your own Blog?
   The push from back by my hubby...he felt that I was too lazy gawking at other food blogs and doing      nothing serious.

2. Describe yourself in three words.
    Optimistic,Resourceful & Religious

3. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
    In Saudi Arabia

4. If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who would it be?
    My mom

5. What's the farthest-away place you've been?
   Kuwait

6. What was the name of your first pet?
     Oops! I don't remember :)

7. What is your favorite time of the day?
     evening.. 4 O' clock

8.What is your favorite day of the week?
      Thursday! here the weekend starts that day..

9. What is your favorite color?
      pink

10. Do you know which US states don’t use Daylight Savings time?
        I had no idea,until I googled. Well, they are Arizona, Hawaii and the overseas territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands.


11. What are your hobbies? 
     Cooking, crafting, sewing, blogging n blog hopping..


    And I need to pass over the award to 11 bloggers who have less than 200 followers in their list. As I don't have much time to name all the bloggers, feel free to pick the award, any of you who falls into the category.

     See you all Insha allah... have a great day!

Spicy Squid Roast / Koonthal Varattu

           Being an Indian, I love everything spicy, especially the non-vegetarian foods. Non-vegetarian food, if cooked without spices tastes bland and uninteresting.. Though I prepare vegetarian food with out much spices, I like to have non-vegetarian dishes quite spicy.

            Spicy, doesn't always mean hot. Many people misunderstands spicy food to be hot food, with loads of red chilli powder in it, hot enough to pierce holes into the stomach wall. That is the reason why most of the non-Asians dread spicy food as if it is a dagger pointed at  their heart.. In fact you could prepare spicy and yummy food which is less hot. You could reduce the amount of red chilli powder or else use milder varieties like Kashmiri chillli powder. As my family is on the medium level of heat tolerance,I always use a mixture of Kashmiri and ordinary chilli powders in cooking which gives a brilliant red colour as well as exquisite taste to the food.

         This is a squid preparation, I love to cook spicy and is rich in flavours. You could also prepare shell fishes like mussels and prawns the same way. It can be served as a side dish for chappatis and parottas or with hot steaming rice.

Spicy Squid Roast / Koonthal varattu

Things you need:

Squid, cleaned and sliced circularly - 1 kg
Turmeric powder                            - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Onion, sliced                                  - 4
Ginger, finely sliced                        -  a 2 inch piece
Green chillies, slit                           - 2
Red chilli powder                          - 1 1/2 tbsp
Coriander powder                        -  3 tbsp
Black pepper powder                   -  1 tsp
Garam masala powder                  - 1/2 tsp
Tomato, sliced                              - 1
Coconut oil                                  - 2 tbsp

Method:

• Cook the squid with turmeric powder and salt until the water dries out. Keep aside.
• Heat a frying pan and add coconut oil to it. Saute the onions,green chillies and ginger in it, until golden colour. Now add the spice powders and saute for a few minutes in low heat.
• Add tomato to it and saute.Finally add the cooked squid to it .Saute for a couple of minutes and remove from heat.
• Serve hot with chappatis or rice.

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

            The cold days (and even colder nights) are here. This year the chill is creeping in very slowly ( too slowly it seems). So my son still refuses to wear his sweater while going to school and comes back cold and hungry...
            These days, the kitchen pantry need to be stocked with all kinds of eatables ranging from cookies to corn flakes. As the hunger pangs are high in the winter season, the boys come to the kitchen in search of snacks, every now and then. If you don't have goodies stocked, then you are sure to get exhausted with their constant nagging to make something for them. So I decided to make something with a longer life span than muffins, so that I could store them for future use.

             I haven't made Biscotti , before; but have been planning to make one for sometime..They are twice baked biscuits originated in Italy and has an oblong shape and are usually baked with nuts like almonds or pistachios in it. Baking twice,makes them very dry and could be stored for long periods of time. As I have hardly any time for serious baking and cooking these days, I thought it perfect to make a big batch of biscotti and store it right away for the ever hungry boys :). The fact that it is practically a no-fat version of biscuits, made it all the more appealing to me because, after all am I not the person who polishes off the boys' left over food, every time?;) So if it's a low fat version, then the better for me..

            My elder son loves both chocolate and almonds. That's simply why I selected this simple recipe of  Chocolate Almond Biscotti. The product was a little bit dry, which was expected, but the combination of chocolate and almonds was fantastic, which gave the biscotti, a bity, nutty texture.

          At last I have a big jar of biscotti waiting to be attacked by two hungry little boys...:)

The Recipe:
(makes about 20 to 24 biscotti)
(Adapted from David Lebovitz' ROOM FOR DESSERT)

Things you need:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup (135g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2/3 cup (110g) semi- sweet or bitter sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup (110g) blanched whole almonds
1 tsp baking pdr
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 degree C (350 degree F). Toast almonds for 8 to 10 minutes or until, lightly browned and fragrant. Let it cool and then coarsely chop and set aside.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
• In a bowl, beat the sugar and eggs on high speed until thick, pale and fluffy.(about 5 min). Beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add the egg mixture and beat until combined. Fold in chopped almonds and chocolate chips.
• Transfer the dough to a well floured counter and roll into a log shape, about 30cm long and 3 1/2 inches wide. Place on the baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes or until firm to touch.Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes on a wire wrack.
• Reduce oven temp to 165 degree C (325 degree F). Transfer the log to a cutting board and cut into about 1/2 inch slices, on the diagonal. Place the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes, turn slices over and bake for another 8 to 10 min or until golden brown.
• Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an air tight container.

Olan - A Kerala vegeterian sadya delicacy

               So... Where to start?

            After leaving blogging behind for almost five months, I seriously don't know how to start again..

          My fingers feel numb from laziness... and my brain refuses to exude anything intelligible..

      Guess what! I seriously believe, these organs would become vestigial if you don't use it for a long time.. ;)

So, let's stop poking the past... and begin again...

      After a long vacation in India, precisely Kerala, what comes to my mind is one of the simple vegetarian sadya dishes which hails from God's Own Country, Olan.

I have had the picture in my draft for some time.. and thought to post it so as to start blogging again. Actually I have no time to take pictures after I cook the food ... upload it.. brighten it.. caption it... blah blah! Right now, my life is running at sixty miles an hour.. or at a higher pace... and I need to sit tight to stop myself from falling off.

      So, what was I talking about? Oh yes! Olan !

A simple dish with very few ingredients and very less spices (or not at all), it is a treat for the taste buds with its mild, yet outstanding flavour. Me and Mr.KB are Olan nuts, if you may call so, because we are simply fond of this vegetarian delicacy . As far as I know, pure coconut milk and pure coconut oil is what imparts that supple sweet flavour which even a hard core non-vegetarian decline to unnotice.

      After having fish and meet for a long week, my family craves for something 'all vegetarian'.A few days of all vegetarian meal, keeps them in demand for non-vegetarian. So, once or twice in a week,  I make all vegetarian meal for lunch, which my family enjoys with much ardor  One of the dishes which frequents these meals is Olan, which became a family favorite ever since I started making it at home.

Olan Recipe

Black eyed beans / van payar, soaked overnight and cooked- 1 cup

Ash gourd,skinned & cut to small square pieces                    - 2 cups

String beans, cut into pieces of 1&1/2 inch length                   - 1/2 cup                                              

Butter pumpkin, cut to square pieces(optional)                       - 1&1/2 cup  

Green chillies, ground                                                            - 2

Thick coconut milk                                                                - 1 cup

Dried red chillies,split into two                                                - 3

Curry leaves                                                                           - 2 sprigs

Coconut oil                                                                             - 2 tsp

Salt to taste

Method:

•  Cook ash gourd, pumpkin, string beans and dried red chillies together with 1/2 cup water and adequate salt.
• When the vegetables are well cooked (almost mushy),add ground green chillies and cooked beans to it and cook further for 5 minutes.
• When the gravy starts drying up, add the coconut milk and stir well.Switch off the heat and pour coconut oil over the Olan. Add curry leaves and stir to combine.
• Serve hot with rice.