Sweet potato balls

All morning I wanted to try a laddoo. I did once and was not so happy with it . So I gave up the  idea and mom was complaining at the same time as to how much .My husband has the habit of bringing large quantities of sweet potatoes and tapioca both together as it the season The market is loaded these veggies. I like only tapioca and  the smell of the sweet potatoes make me crazy. I don't know what's it that's making me so uncomfortable with this . As this is one vegetable that is rich in calcium and potassium and also a very huge part is carbohydrate content in it, my son who is so very lean ,but healthy of course, loves theses balls.

So I had a lot of these in my pantry and it's easy to make them whenever I can. I made for tea . As I have been a proactive kind ,I wanted to store this recipe in my blog and it was a quick one to blog also. Yesterday , o made a batch he and his friends just loved it . Well this was the only way I can get rid of it. So today I made the whole thing .and not a single piece left too. All just loved to munch on it.  While i had junk chips and chai kids had sent potatoes.
Sigh I wish I had done better in life . I am putting in on so much weight, which is bothering me a lot too. Better late than ever I have to do something soon...

Since this is a local recipe , I didn't not know how many would like it . But it turns out well and easy for tiffin's too so hop on the recipe and give it a try ...
Here's the recipe...

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup coconut shreds
• 1/4 cup sugar ( if needed)

Method

• Pressure cook the sweet potatoes for two whistle or till done .
• Mash the potatoes and mix the coconut shreds and sugar.
• Make balls and serve .

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Icecream souffle

This dessert has no ice cream to it and is must say I had  made many sweets but this in particular is special , as it turns out that this is one of my mother's first dessert to be served in a tray. Mom was  a sweet kind of person in both ways . But now she has lesft it all behind once she turned diabetic. She  loves to cook once in a while now as I have taken her shoes through this blog. I don't like to cook daily stuffs . I plan and do things accordingly like  plan for week and get  the stuffs and cook a good home cooked meal for the family. Mom still makes some savoury but desserts are a big 'no' to her menu. If she like something she will tell me and I would make modifications and try them out too.  I love simple sweets that I cook up fast for dinners and luck too. Basically we need something sweet for lunch as dinners are leftovers of lunch. And as mom is diabetic I have cut down down on my intake of sugary stuffs . Tea and coffee is on the sugar free list for me …

But come to this of this souffle I never bothered to add it to the blog. Zehna who loves to cook some meals at time would definitely like to see this recipe in my blog too. What's amazing about the dish is it's has very few ingredients and no issues of any kind. It will set on time . But many of you  readers will be a little set back on hearing that the egg whites are added to hot milk only once it is poured into the pudding tray. There si nothing awkward in this .I guarantee you it's absolutely fine and tastes amazing.. actually I love souffle more than to puddings . This is the only thing that has to be remembered and others are so easy . So...

Off to this recipe

Ingredients

• 1 litre milk
• 1 Tin milkmaid
• 2 tablespoon gelatin soaked in 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 egg whites
• Vanilla essence

Method

• Soak the gelatin in warm water to bloom
• Heat milk to boiling point.
• Add the milkmaid
• Add the gelatin mix.
• Simmer for ten minutes.
• Pour to dish,set aside.
• Beat the egg whites to fluffy ,add the essence.
• Now dip the egg whites on the hot pudding milk mixture.
• Keep dipping the egg whites softly into the milk mixture. After some time of dipping , place the souffle to chill for four hours minimum ...or freeze for 1 hour .
• Add sugar to hot pan and make caramel .
• Place the cashews on a foil and pour hot caramel onto the nuts . Let it set. Do not touch with fingers to burn !
• Crush with pestle and add to top the set souffle.
• Serve cold
• Note the egg whites should be added to hot milk only.
• It will get cooked at this stage . No worries of having raw eggs at all,👌and it's all cooked on hot souffle base .

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Hearts blossom drink

This is one milkshake i would love the kids to have during the evening time when the feel really hungry . its difficult to have grown up kids to go hungry especially during the growing stage. When you have boys in your family i think the best to have is the pantry to be filled with stuffs that you can get quick for grabs. 

I had to take a break from our mourning of loosing our grandfather. He was ailing from some discomforts of life . It's very very hard for him since few months as  his health deteoriorated heavily and we could not do much about it.  

Even if he is gone our house still feels his presence. His  dominant nature was very distinct. We will miss him very much too. All shall pass this stage someday....
Today's drink is something that Aj had in the work place where a new shop had opened and it  served variety drinks . This drink is really tummy filling and we loved it . He got the fruits home and showed us how it's made . He happened to ask and they were very willing to disclose the secret ingredient of the juice being black seedless grapes .of course one would now that but the correct amount was necessary.for the drink. Use freezed milk . And the strawberry should be thoroughly cleaned too.
The name was funny but hey it's so worth the drink and we made this for the whole family gathering that took place at our house .

Ingredients

• 1 kilo black seedless grapes
• 2 packs strawberry
• 1/2 litre frozen milk
• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• Sugar to taste

Method

• Soak the chia seeds in water to bloom.
• Next add all the ingredients in jar and bitze to smooth paste. It will be very thick.
• Do not add water.
• Add milk if needed only. Add sugar accordingly and blitz again.
• Serve cold .

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Kappa puttu /tapioca rice cakes

As I am writing this post ,I was thinking where to start. I was just so immersed in thoughts,that is not encouraging enough to get me to write posts...I have so many things going in life and one of them is the state at which we are in now . The laws of the country changing and we as Muslims lived in Harmony with all the others . Never there has been discrimination amongst us in this country,but now, after the bill was passed , I can feel the tension in public. While travelling in public places , still we do not feel safe anymore. I don't know how this will end but will it ever end .. only Allah can have a say it.

Today's recipe is something the usual the keralites love to make . And as a working mom ,it's my favorite. Easy ,healthy and filling.
Puttu recipe  is authentic of Kerala. It's usually had with kadala curry or the next combo is with banana and sugar.

Today's puttu is with a little different variety. Aj had got some tapioca. We love to have for tea tempered  with roasted chilli's and curry leaves. There were few left overs . So we had some sliced and I sun dried  them .As it was sunny I got to get it sun dried quick enough . Grind the pieces and it's good to go . Add it with the puttu podi and steam as per recipe . It tastes unique and it's very healthy too. The filling is very simple just add in layers the  coconut shreds ,puttu podi and tapioca powder ,layer it in the cylinder and steam it up .that's it. This  variety puttu is healthy and tasty too.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Puttu podi / rice Flour
• 1 cup Freshly Grated Coconut
• Salt to taste
• 1 cup  Water
• 1 cup tapioca powder home-made or as needed.

Method

• First I took the  flour in a mixing large  bowl and adding salt, nicely crumble the mixture and stirwell. Add  water by 1/4 cup at a time  and mix well till wet and crumbly.
• Now take a  puttu maker. Layer coconut in the base with  rice flour mix on top and then with a generous  tapioca powder and  more coconut and rice flour. Repeat to fill the cylinder.
• Place it on top  steamer
• Cook for 10 mins.
• Unmould and serve with kadala curry or banana sugar mix.

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Chicken corn soup

It's been a tough week for me , with my whole family,at the bedside of ailing grandfather. It's tough to see someone go through this fight for life.  I have been through the ups and downs of life but it's worth fighting life all through the hard times too. As far as , blogging and cooking is going on, I am jingling to balance everything. Work and home , then my kids doing boards this year . It's all a mess and still I am planning and working things out. 

Coming to the cooking part , I have few for this month, not as I have planned as time is retrieving everything for me . All are sick here at the moment , with fever and cold.  I decided to post few though . But while I get to the spree for blogging which has always been a fight for me as I literally get through many chores in daily mess ,I try to plan it out too. I don't know what more is going to come up this week but yes there is some posts that's exciting coming up too. Hope it turns well for this year . 
Ok now coming back to soups ..I have eyes on simple soups for my blog. What's so fun about soups is that it's so easy to make and easy to settle down with it too. As we are all having a slight flue I decided having a little spicy soup would be fine for the family .
Here's the recipe ...

Ingredients

• 300 gms chicken with bones
• 1 cup vegetables chopped finely
• ( Mushrooms, carrots and corn )
• 1 litre water
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cube vegetable stock
• 1 onion chopped finely
• 1 teaspoon garlic chopped finely
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 teaspoon cornflour
• 1 tablespoon water

Method

• Take a heavy bottom pan .
• Add one cup water , add stock cube ,chicken ,pepper and  salt .
• Boil and simmer till chicken is cooked well.
• After the chicken is done . Keep aside.
• Take the same pan and add butter ,garlic, onions . Stir and soften only .
• Add the vegetables and stir  for 5 minutes.
• Add the chicken shredded. Stir well
• Add one litre water and cook for 5 minutes on medium flame .
• Add the cornflour slurry and boil for 10 minutes.
• Check salt and pepper and add accordingly.
• Garnish with corriander leaves .
• Serve hot .

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Masala potato fries

I love potato and they are versatile vegetable.I love cooking them . Somehow I find it interesting to prep easier snackes with them . My family are foodies so we always have tendency to cook new meals which is an added advantage for my blog . Only reason not to say no to snacks is when we don't want oil fried ones .
Sometimes we just  go for just aval and coconut shreds mixed with sugar. A snack that is so filling to our stomachs . But potato is always available in my pantry which makes it easier to make anything quick . I like quick snacks and this is simply simple,!

My kids always remind me of how a great cook I am but to tell you the truth I am lazy at times . So lazy , that I order takeaways from outside,which is very addictive too. Instagram and Facebook help to boost me up. Some amazing cooks make so difficult recipes so easy . Especially baked ones are so easy to make. I am a baker myself so I focus more on that. My one recipe bread pakoras is inspired from a Facebook channel and it was so yummy.

Coming to this recipe, my mom was searching for a breakfast idea for poories. We love poori bajji,but sometimes I need a chance to cook different. I have been wanting to make a curry with potatoes. Something different in style but that's when she came across this recipe and I insanely said you found only this to make ... She said then don't eat if you don't want...anyways she was going to make it  for chai. And I must say as she drained the cook fries on tissue paper,I was licking it clean.. she made two batches .and it was so yummy ...some mum's know a recipe will be good just at a glance itself .
 

Ingredients

• 4 boiled potatoes
• 1 green chili,chopped finely
• 1/2 onion chopped
• Few Curry leaves finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon cornflour
• salt to taste

Method

• Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
• Fill into a piping bag.
• Slit a small opening at tip of piping bag. The hole should not be big .
• Heat oil ,and drop small pieces into the oil .
• Fry till golden brown .
• Serve hot with chilli  sauce .

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Ney Adda/ layered nutty pancakes

I have my recipe for the year on the first post . I don't know how but I love to start everything with sweets . My mind is dwindling on lot of things .I love baking and I will be putting up few of the here also. Last year was really hectic . I had health issues with weight gains and I started to 'Instagram ' a lot. I kept my time limit though, with help of few apps online.
This year I am focusing on same as such as going back to getting slim and losing all chubbiness around my waist line.  , Also I want to do a lot for the blog. As working from office is hectic at times.  I manage to make  healthy meals for my family as much as I can.

Today's recipe is an ancient recipe by all ways.

It is baked pancakes in layers for the 'puthyapila' or newly weds. It's given for breakfasts and as snacks for chai. It's loaded with nuts and eggs and it's loved by all the members of the family. It's something like a pola and egg filled pathiri,but this is ,it's filled with nuts and not eggs or any savoury ingredients. The most loved is this recipe which I am posting here. Some people add scrambled eggs to the layers ...but I didn't make it that way as I am not a lover of too many eggs I my meal . If your in a hurry and want to give your kids a good breakfast ,this is an healthy option too.

This recipe is special to my part of the world . It's served as a delicacy to the groom who enters the house on the day after the wedding.
I wouldn't recommend any variations to the recipe because some recipes are not worth changing at all. Please add cashews and raisins only ..I tired with walnuts at it wasn't satisfying at all. My mom who is that kind of person who follows strictly to her ancient recipes and never changes them  , told me not to add anything new.. well she was right .
So here's the recipe and do comment below ...

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain flour
• Salt to taste
• 1 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
• 1/2 cup cashews and currents crushed.
• Ghee

Method

• Beat the eggs and sugar in mixer grinder and add the cardamom powder. Keep aside.
• Beat the plain flour ,milk and salt . Also keep aside separately.
• Now take a non-stick pan . Spread one teaspoon ghee generously all sides of the pan.
• Pour one laddle of flour batter on low flame. cover cook till half set . After two minutes add another laddle of egg batter . Cover cook till set for two minutes.
• Next add a layer of nuts .
• Repeat by adding another laddle of flour batter cover cook till set for 2 minutes .
• Repeat with egg batter again . Layer the nuts.
• Keep repeating these steps till your ingredients are over .
• Last Finish off with egg batter pour on all sides.
• While cooking the Adda , cook on low flame careful not to burn the bottom.
• Last take a frying pan,add a teaspoon of ghee and flip the Adda too cook the top side .
• After two minutes take out.
• On cooling ,serve.

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