I am sure all of you who blog have created something to post for an event, in the end have decided not to post the recipe  because the end product does not meet your expectations. I have had a lot of disappointed outcomes. Having a food critic at home helps in these situations. These days, everything I make have to be approved by my panel of 2 -3 people. My husband, my daughter and sometimes if there are left overs my sister. They each give a score and based on the score I decide on whether to blog or not to blog. It is such a big help because all that I post is for my online recipe book which I can refer to anytime. Even after I post the recipe I have this person who tries to reproduce everything and lets me know if it is something she liked or gives me a review on where she ran into problems. I have to thank her for doing that. I might look at a recipe but its hard for me to follow it, I always make some additional changes to it often, but Harry in Denver does critical evaluation. So over the past few months I have had a few rejected recipes.One such recipe is the one posted below. If anyone can figure out where I have messed up, please do drop me a line so that I can make the adjustments.

A few months ago I totally got inspired by an idea in Real simple magazine and decided to make cup cakes using ice cream cones. I thought it was such a cool idea then. I used a regular store bought cake mix and filled the cones and baked them at 350 degrees F until they passed that tooth pick test. I removed it allowed to cool.  When I was done with the photos my daughter and I helped ourselves to a cone cake. Though my daughter was totally excited about eating a cone cake, it was very disappointing for me. What I imagined  and what showed up were poles apart.

Here are my findings:

1. The cone in the bottom started to loose the crispness and got a little soggy and hence the texture messed up the eating experience. It is as if all the heat trapped while baking make the cones made it sweat when cooling.

2. As I cooled the cones the cake started to shrink and there was a gap between the cake and the cone.
3. I tried reheating in the oven and that was not a  great help.
4. Some cones split into two and spilled the cake out like a lava.

For those who have baked before using a cone and know the answer to the challenges I have encountered, please do leave me a comment with your suggestions so that I can try it again. Looking forward to hearing form all the bakers. I appreciate your time and suggestions. Thank you.

Last night for dinner we had Mexican paratha. When I suggested that to my daughter she asked me "Mexican Paratha! what is that ?" Its a regular paratha dough stuffed with pinto bean mixture, rolled into paratha and cooked like one. These hot paratha's were served with pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream and chips on the side. It was one of my crazy fusion ideas that I wanted to experiment with. This could be served as an appetizer or a part of the main course in any party. My daughter gave me a big thumbs up at the end of the meal. So for all you parents who have a picky eater that loves Mexican food maybe this is a good recipe to try.

Gadgets:

Heavy Bottom Pan

Cutting Board

Knife

Rolling pin and Board

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Bowls

Potato Masher

Spatula

Griddle 

Ingredients:

For Pinto Beans Filling:

Pinto Beans - 3 cups cooked

Onions - 1 sliced

Garlic - 3 pods

Cilantro - one bunch

Chipotle Sauce - Home made or Store bought ( this decides your spice level so add or subtract accordingly, mine was super spicy)- 3 tsp

Salt

Pepper

Cumin Powder - 1 tbsp

Water - 1/4 cup

Oil - 1 tbsp

For Paratha Dough:

Whole Wheat Flour - 3 cups

Salt

Oil - 3 tbsp

Water 

Preparation:

1. Mix flour, salt, oil and then water to make a soft dough.

2. In a wok add oil and cook the onions, garlic and then add the beans, salt, pepper, chipotle sauce and cilantro, water and mash together. Allow this mix to cool. The mix will tend to become dry as it cools.

3. Take a golf ball size dough and roll out into a 3 inch circle. See to it that the dough is thick in the center and the corner is rolled thin. 

4. Place the golf ball size of the pinto beans mix in the center and cover the mixture well. 

5. Flatten it and roll it out into a parata and cook it on a flat pan or griddle on both sides with some oil and serve them hot with your favourite salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream.

It all started when I wanted to make something sweet to add to the food basket that I was going to bring to my friend Ashley. With baby Johnathan here I thought preparing her a basket with home cooked food would make life easy for her. I wanted to make something healthy and sugary treat for the baby and the mother.After a lot of thought I decided to use the fresh coconut and create something simple. On mentioning about this in my conversation with my sister Sowmya, she told me that I have to make it in the microwave so that she can make it sometime. She does not enjoy spending too much time making sweets in the kitchen so I had to shift from the stove top to the microwave. Personally, I am not too fond of microwave style of cooking, but had to do this for my Sis. It scored a 9.2 out of 10 from  my in house food critics.

Gadgets:

Wok

Spatula

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Greased Tray

Knife

Ingredients: Makes 15 pieces ( 1 /12 inch squares)

Shredded Fresh Coconut - 2 cups

Condensed Milk - 1/2 tin

Cream Of Wheat/ Rava/ Farina - 2 tbsp

Butter - 2 tbsp

Cardamon - 3 pods powdered

Preparation:

1. Heat the wok with 2 tbsp of butter and allow it to melt.

2. Add the coconut and saute to get the raw smell off and to equally distribute the melted butter.(If you wish to continue on stove top just add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the mix leaves the sides, thickens and comes together.)

3. Add this coconut mix, cardamon powder, rava and condensed milk and mix well.

4. Place in the microwave and cook it for 5 minutes. Remove and mix well. Put it back and cook it in 2 minutes increments, until the mixture comes together. (Please note that each microwave has its own power levels so please pay attention to that)

5. Line a pound cake pan with parchment paper and spread the mix evenly. Cut into 1 1/2 inch squares and place in the fridge to set. In 10 minutes it will be ready to serve.

Happy Vinayaka Chaturthi!

Vinayaka (a.k.a Ganesha) is known for his love for modhakum. During his birthday, sweets and savories filled modhakums are offered to him. Sesame seed and jaggery poornum/filling is commonly prepared during this celebration. Sesame seeds come in black and white colors. The one used for this filling is mostly made from back sesame. Modhakums take different shapes. The sesame seeds filled modhakums take the shape of Ganesha's  ears reminding us to hear carefully and use that information to make the right decisions.

The reason for making Ellu/Sesame seeds filled kozhakatai is because: Firstly, Ganesha is the one apart from Hanuman who has escaped the effects of seven and half Saturn. Myth has it that one day when Saturn appeared before him and requested that he effect him for seven and half years, Ganesha showed his back to him and asked him to write " Naalai Va" ("Meaning come tomorrow) and he would be ready for him then.. When Saturn showed up the next day Ganesha tricked Sani (Saturn)by showing this note on his back to him. So  every time he showed up at Ganesha's door, he was able to evade the power of Sani. Since, Sani or Saturn is assosiated with the sesame seeds it is significant to make this modhakum and offer it to Ganesha  to re-enforce his victory over Lord Saturn.

Secondly, healthwise sesame is good for fueling the brain and its performance and since Ganesha is all about wisdom and knowledge they are prepared to celebrate his day.

Gadgets:

Blender
Wok
Spatula
Fine Mesh colander
Steaming plate
Pressure or Rice cooker
Measuring Cups and Spoons

Ingredients:

Roasted black sesame seeds - 1 cup
Jaggery/brown sugar - 1 cup

Cardamon - 2 pods

Bowl
Rice flour dough(modhakum dough) - 1 recipe

Preparation:

1. Soak sesame seeds in water and wash them well to remove dirt.
2. Pat dry with the towel and dry roast them in the wok on medium heat until they start to pop.
3. Cool and blend them into a powder with cardamon and mix them with jaggery or brown sugar.



4. Take a small amount of dough and make a smooth ball out of it. Maybe the size of a quarter.

5. Form a cup with the dough. The cup must have the dough evenly distributed thinly.

6. Fill in the cup with 1-2 tsp of the sesame filling.

7. Seal the 2 edges of the cup mouth half way through.

8. Seal the cup mouth from the other edge and clip it half way through.

9. Seal the other opening of the cup mouth. It would resemble the ears of an Ganesha.

10. Steam the modhakum in a idli plate for 10 minutes until the dough changes color and looks transpatant.






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Coconut Poornum Modhakum

The three day weekend was sure fun. I needed the break after the schools reopened. On Sunday my daughter informed me that it was her doll Maya's first birthday. This means we had to make her something special to celebrate. As usual, I thought we were going to pretend play with her doll food, but no she was very serious about it. She told me Maya will not like doll food and would love real cakes. She came up with a lot of suggestions as to what we had to bake for her. It was very interesting as to what kids can recommend. In the end I told her that I had some over ripe frozen banana's and maybe I can make something with that. Immediately she told me Maya loves banana bread and told me that she would help me with the preparation. So we came up with our own version of banana bread.  We had such a blast adding ingredients that we found in out  pantry. I must say after baking the bread for an hour we celebrated Maya's birthday and in the end enjoyed some warm banana bread that night. Both of us agreed that the bread was very moist and that we liked it a lot but we did not get the same approval from Papa.

Gadgets:

Loaf pan

Mixing bowls

Spatula

Wooden spoon

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Fork

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour - 1 1/2 cups

Pecan Meal - 1/2 cup

Baking Powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Frozen Butter - 1tbsp

Oil - 3 tbsp

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Super Ripe Large Banana - 3 

Pecans = 1 cup chopped

Eggs - 2 eggs

Almond Extract - 1 tsp

Craisins - 1/2 cup

Preparation:

1. In a bowl mush the bananas and eggs well.

2. Add sugar, oil, almond extract and mix well( wet mix)

3. In another bowl mix 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour, pecan meal, baking powder and mix well ( dry mix)

4. Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches to the wet mix.
5. Add chocolate chips, craisins, pecans to a bowl and coat them well with the all purpose flour. ( this step helps in evenly distributing the chocolate chips, nuts and dry fruits evenly. If they were added with the dry mix they might sink to the bottom of the bread)
6. Add this to the batter, mix well and transfer to a loaf pan.Then cut 1 tbsp of frozen butter into tiny pieces and spread them on top of the batter and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour or it passes the tooth pick test. Serve it warm with some butter.

Au Gratin is a very popular French dish that has veggies or meat covered and drenched in white sauce topped with bread crumbs and cheese and broiled in the oven to create a toasted crust. For years I have been trying to recreate an Au Gratin that tasted similar to what I had tasted some years ago. Dasa, a very popular restaurant in Chennai and Coimbatore had vegetable au gratin on their menu. It was a dish that I enjoyed a lot and have always thought of preparing it at home. I recollect that it was not too cheesy nor did it have a strong cheese smell or taste. All I remember was the creamy silky texture in every bite. So after a lot of trial and error I felt that the one I prepared for dinner last night was the closest to the Dasa Au Gratin.

Gadgets:

Ramekins - 6

Cutting Board

Knife

Sauce pan

Heavy Bottom Vessel

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Spatula

Ingredients:

Vegetables ( Cauliflower, Carrots, Beans, Corn) - 3 cups

Water - 5 cups

Salt

White Sauce:

All Purpose Flour - 1/2 cup

Butter - 2 tbps plus 1 tsp

Milk - 4 cups

Cheese - 3 tbsp ( white cheese that can melt)

Salt

Nutmeg - 1/8th tsp

White Pepper - 1/2 tsp

Black pepper

Cream- 1/4 cup

Topping:

Bread Crumbs - from 1 slice

Parmesan Cheese - 2 tbsp

Olive Oil - 3 tsp

Procedure:

1. Cut the veggies and cook them in boiling water with required salt. Some like them cooked with a bit of a crunch to it but I like it well done but not mushy. Its important to get the vegetables to hold their form.

2. Drain the vegetables into a colander and let all the water drain out.Allow it to cool.

3. Set the saucepan on low heat. Add 2 tbsp butter and when it starts to melt add the all purpose flour and mix well. You will see a froth forming. Reduce the heat to low and slowly add 1/2 a cup of milk and mix well again to always see to it that there are no lumps forming. Mix in the rest of the milk a cup at a time.

4. Add the cheese, salt, nutmeg and peppers and mix well to form a thick sauce ( ketchup consistency) and remove from flame.

5. Prepare the ramekins by coating it with a little butter and add the veggies to it. Using a tbsp spoon the white sauce so as to coat the veggies and fill them up.

6. Mix the bread crumbs, cheese and olive oil and spread it on top of each ramekin to form a crust.

7. Broil it on low until the top looks roasted ( 10 minutes)

Its has been a hectic summer with travels and summer camps. In a week or so life will be normal with schools reopening. Though it is back to school time I have been busy de-cluttering big time and getting ready for the new school year. With all the clearing out, my kitchen benefited the most. I was able to find things that were left unused and I had to either come up with something interesting to do with the left over things or give them away. Last week I made dosa batter with wild rice, I thought it turned out fine,then I found two cups of solidified bournvita chunk. Had to do something with it because nobody wanted to have some hot chocolate. So decided to make a fudge out of it. The fudge took me 5 minutes to prepare and the end result was yummy. More than the taste the texture of the fudge really impressed me. It was soft, chewy and almost resembled a brownie. I decided to blog about it because the next time you find yourself in a similar situation with boost or any such drink instead of junking it one can use it to prepare something delicious. This fudge was not too sweet so if you want to make it very sweet add more brown sugar to it. The fudge scored an 8.5 from my daughter and husband which I thought was great for a left over bournvita.

Gadgets:

Heavy Bottom Vessel

Measuring cups and spoons

Spatula

Tray 

Knife

Ingredients:

Bournvita solidified

Hot Water - 1/2 cup

Brown sugar - 1/3 cup

All Purpose Flour - 1 1/2 cups

Butter - 1/4 cup

Sugar - 1 tbsp to sprinkle

Preparation:

1. Heat water and pour over solidified bournvita. It makes a very thick chocolate syrup of 1 cup.

2. Heat the heavy bottom vessel and add butter and allow to melt.

3. When it turns into ghee or burnt butter add APF(all purpose flour) and roast it well to remove the raw smell.

4. Add the chocolate syrup and brown sugar and mix well to form a soft dough. The mix should come together.

5. Transfer into a buttered tray and spread it out with a buttered hands and pat it flat.

6. Cut into pieces and sprinkle with sugar and place in the fridge for it to set. 

Ever since I tasted the Israeli couscous at Trader Joe's a year ago, I have been making them more often. Sometimes I try out new flavors with it apart from the recipe on the back of the box. For dinner I used the couscous with Indian spices and made a nut and fruit garnished pulao. What I love about this pulao is that,it has a crunch from the nuts, a sweetness from the raisins, a salty and spicy taste from the couscous which comes together in perfect harmony.

Gadgets:
Cutting Board
Knife
Heavy bottom pan
Measuring cups and spoons
Spatula

Ingredients:
Israeli Couscous - 1 1/2 cups
Vegetable Broth - 1 3/4 cup
Onion - 1
Ginger - 1 inch
Garlic Powder - 1/2 tsp
Mint Leaves - 1/4 cup chopped
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Cloves - 3
Cardamom Pods - 2
Salt
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp
Almonds - 1/2 cup
Slithered Raisins - 1/4 cup
Butter - 2 tbsp
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Heat the heavy bottom vessel with 1 tbsp of butter. Lightly roast the almonds and remove it from the pan and place in a bowl.

2. Add another tbsp of butter, olive oil and diced onions to the pan and cook the onions until it turns transparent. Add the ginger, garlic powder, cloves, cinnamon, cardamon, mint, turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt and pepper and cook until all the flavors are infused.

3. Add the couscous and roast it until it looks slightly toasted. Add the vegetable broth and raisins, turn the flame to med low, cover and cook until all the liquid is absorbed.

4. Serve with warm as a part of a meal or you can feast on the couscous alone like I did.

These days I have been preparing a lot of Mexican food inspired by Chef Rick Bayless. It calls for preparation of all sorts of sauces from that cuisine and I love the chipotle sauce that I made a week ago. Using fresh tomatoes and a can of chipotle peppers the sauce turned out to be very spicy. I had some left over chipotle sauce and I decided to use it to create a new kind of hummus. If you are a big fan of spicy food, then this might be the kind of hummus that you might enjoy. For lunch yesterday I prepared a pita wrap filled with roasted garlic hummus, chipotle hummus and sauteed veggies topped with sour cream. It was so perfect and light and had the perfect marriage of flavor. It has become a very popular hummus in our household.

Gadgets:

Cutting board
Wok
Heavy bottom pan
Spatula
Knife
Blender
Griddle
Bowls
Measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients:

Pita Bread - 4

Sour Cream - 1/2 cup

Roasted Garlic Hummus:
                                                   
Garbanzo Beans - 2 cups soaked and pressure cooked or cans
Garlic - 5 pods
Green chilies - 1
Salt
Tahini Sauce - 3 tbsp
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Water - 1/2 cup


Chipotle Hummus:

Roasted garlic Hummus - 1 cup
Chipotle Sauce - 2 tbsp
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp



Sauteed Veggies:

Broccoli - 2 cups chopped into smaller flowers
Onion - 1 medium cut into julienne
Mini Bell Pepper - sliced
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt
Pepper


Preparation:

1. For making the roasted garlic hummus, roast the garlic and green chilies in a wok until you see brown roasted spots on the garlic peal and the green chilies look roasted. Add all the ingredients for the hummus preparation and blend it into a fine paste. Transfer a portion of it into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil.

2. To the remaining portion add chipotle sauce to it and blend. Place in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil.

3. Heat the heavy bottom pan with some oil . Add onions and cook it until they are transparent. Add broccoli and bell pepper to it and cook it on medium high heat until they look almost cooked. Add salt and pepper in the end and remove from heat.

4. Heat up the griddle and warm the pita bread. spread half the pita with roasted garlic hummus and the other with chipotle hummus. Add the sauteed veggies and top them with some sour cream. Roll them and serve them warm. 

This afternoon my daughter was asking me for a snack and I kept offering her junk snacks like chips to very healthy dry fruits. She was not too happy with the various choices offered to her. Just then looking into our fruit basket I found some super ripe mangoes. I suggested making her some mango lassi which she was very fond of. But, she wanted something different and suggested that we make mango slushy. Hence we created our own version of the slushy. We loved it and she suggested that I blog about it. I am enjoying it as I blog about it today. It is such a perfect thing to have on a warm summer day. Slushy or Slurpee is usually prepared with carbonated drinks. But today we made something without it and still loved it.

Gadgets:

Blender
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Cutting Board
Knife

Ingredients:

Ripe Mango - 2 pealed and cubed
Brown sugar - 2 tbsp
Ice - 2 cups

Preparation:

1. Add the ice and mango along with sugar into the blender and blend until the ice is fully crushed. Transfer into a glass add a straw and you are good to go.

Note: If you have time freeze the mango and then add, it helps to keep it in slushy form longer.

This tomato chutney was born out of misunderstanding a recipe. For some reason I thought this is how my mother in law prepared the chutney and found out in the end that it was something totally different. Anyways, I shared this recipe with my sister and she was really impressed that I decided to share with you all. I make it often these days because it has become very popular in my household. I make it sometimes with Tukas tomato paste, sometimes with regular tomatoes and sometimes I mix tukas and tomatoes together. I can assure you that whatever method you use, the results always produce very taste chutney.

Ingredients:

Heavy bottom vessel

Cutting board

Knife

Measuring spoons and cups

Blender/Mixer

Ingredients:

Tomato - 4

Tukas tomato paste - 2 tbsp ( if you do not have the paste substitute it with 2 tomatoes)

Onion - 1 large 

Garlic - 2 pods

Dry chillies or green - 2 

Cilantro - a  tbsp chopped 

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp 

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Channa Dhal - 1/4 cup

Udad Dhal - 1/4 cup

Oil - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Heat the oil in the wok. Add the channa and udad dhal and roast until they are golden brown. Remove and dhal and place them in a cup.

2. Add to the remaining oil asafoetida and mustard seeds. When the mustard pops add green chillies, garlic and onions. Cook the onions well. 

3. When the onions are done add tukas paste mix well with the onions and then add the tomatoes, turmeric powder, salt and allow to cook.

4. Once the tomatoes are well done allow to cool. Add them to a blender along with the roasted dhal and grind them into a chutney and garnish with cilantro.

Aviyal is a side dish that is delicious and is very common to South Indian cuisine.The dish is very simple to prepare and goes well with rice, sambar, rasam or adai ( lentil crepes). A mixture of vegetables cooked with yogurt, coconut and chillies is a true comfort food to most people from that region. Each family has its own recipe. It differs mainly in the kind of spices added..This avial recipe comes from my mother in  law Mrs.Pushpa Yegneswaran's  kitchen. I have made it often and decided to document it. 

Gadgets:

Cutting Board
Knife
Measuring cup and spoons
Spatula
Blender
Heavy bottom vessel


Ingredients:

Vegetables ( potato, raw banana(vazhakkai), carrot, beans, egg plant, Sweet pumpkin, Winter pumpkin, Drum stick) cut thin and even - 5 cups
Fresh coconut - 1/2 coconut grated
Chillies (red or green ) - 1 ( add more for spice)
Yogurt - 2 cups
Salt
Coconut oil - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- a few

Preparation:

1. Cook the veggies in a heavy bottom vessel with some salt.
2. Grind the coconut, chillies with a little yogurt into a paste.
3. Add this paste to the cooked veggies and allow to cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add the yogurt on top and mix well.
5. Heat the coconut oil in a spoon, ad curry leaves and add it to vegetable mix. Serve it hot with rice.