Peach-Plum-Apricot cobbler

I made this most-delicious-dessert-we-have-ever-had with a bag of these summer fruits gifted by a neighbour who happened to visit the hills to beat the heat.. it was melt-in-the-mouth and finger-licking-good!!

We had it with vanilla icecream.. yumm!!

Here's the recipe at : http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/summer-stone-fruit-almond-cobbler.aspx

I had halved the recipe and we(four adults) finished the whole batch in two servings!!!

Nellikkai Thokku - Gooseberry Preserve (Savory)

Prep time: 0 min                                Cooking time: 20 min                                  Makes: 1 small cup

Gooseberries (nellikkai/ amla) are rich in Vitamin C and anti-oxidants. It is said that the fruit provides a host of health benefits including reduction of bad cholesterol, insulin production, anti-ageing, preventing constipation, etc. And from what I've heard, as a bonus, it makes your hair and skin glow :-)

As a child (why, even now), I loved the tingling sweet taste when one sipped water after chewing a bit of it... 

Thokku Kattu or Kollu Paruppu Rasam

Prep time: 5 min                       Cooking time: 15 min                          Serves: 4

Kollu/ Kaanam in tamil is the pulse also known as hurali/uruli(in kannada), muthira (in malayalam), kulith (in marathi) and gahat or kulath (in hindi)... wait wait.. i am not so multilingual, this is from wikipedia, listed here so that you all can get associated with this wonderful lentil. It is rarely ever  found as a regular ingredient in North Indian kitchens and is only slightly more popular in the South. But this NO-OIL recipe is something which no paruppu/dal loving person should miss. It is very tasty, quite filling and what more, it is considered to be very very nutritious.

Mutton Kola Urundai

(South Indian- style Meatballs)

Prep time: 15 minutes               Cooking time: 10 minutes                   Serves : 2

With another transfer came another round of packing, unpacking and setting up a house in a new place. In the last five years, I have had to do this as many times and so, I'm becoming an expert in packing and also in settling down in any place within 2-3 days! Having to get a grasp of things in a new assignment, my hands are full on both the home and work fronts. And in the process, poor bloggie got neglected... But here I am, back with a yummy traditional South Indian dish with a new twist!

(Kovil) Puliyodharai - Tamarind Rice

Prep time: 20 min                  Cooking time: 20 min                                    Makes: 8-10 servings

Puliyodarai / Puliyogare / Pulihora / Chitrannam / Puli saadham / Tamarind rice... Call it by whatever name you want. This spicy-tangy rice dish is something that every South Indian household swears by :) The long-shelf-life, ready-to-mix paste makes it ideal for packing for long travel, picnics, weekday lunchbox, hostel-life staples, bachelor cooking, etc. And like the many names it has, there are a multitude of variations too :) Every household in the South has its own version of making this lip-smacking dish. But the most popular version is the 'prasaadam' we get in our Perumal (Vishnu) temples.. I am a die-hard fan of this puliyodharai and was extremely delighted when I came to know that my mother-in-law had a key to its secret recipe :)

Date Almond Milkshake

Prep time : 5 min               Cooking time: 0 min                        Serves : 2

Here's one more chiller loaded with nutrients and goodness in the form of dates, almonds, apples, milk turned into a delectable drink.. And what more, it has a dash of chocolate for enticing kids too into taking the first sip, luring them into asking for more...

Strawberry - Mint Lemonade

Prep time : 5 min                                 Cooking time: 0 min                        Serves : 2

This summer has been very unpredictable with sudden dips in temperature on certain days. But other days are the usual, if not HOTTER days.. And what better to beat the heat with than a chilled glass of lemonade? And to add colour and zest to change the monotony, a handful of strawberries, a bit of ginger and a few mint leaves... Yummm. :)

Ragi Keerai Adai

Finger Millet + greens savory pancakes

Prep time : 20 min              Cooking time: 7-8 min for each              Serves: 4

  Most of Indian staple carb food is starch-loaded and rich in calories and little else. But not millets. Called coarse grains, they provide a host of other benefits apart from being a source of starch. To quote from various sources on the net,

1. The bran layers of millets are good sources of B-complex vitamins (especially niacin, B₆ and folic acid)

2. They are rich in iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc and phosporus

2. They have a high fibre content

3. They are gluten-free

4. They are very versatile and can be made into a variety of indian foods like dosa, vermicelli, kanji, malt, ragi balls, roti, etc

5. Since they are quite filling, they help control intake and in turn, help in diet control. So it is recommended for diabetics as well.

6. They are quite cheap and abundantly available in India (which is the highest producer of millets in the world)

Cinnamon Rolls

Prep time: 1 1/2 hr + Overnight (for leavening)           Baking time: 25-30min          Makes: 9 medium sized rolls

The first time that we tasted cinnamon rolls was in a mall's baked treats shop and what a find it turned out to be! V and I have got hooked on to this truly delightful treat. While I am still taking baby steps in baking, I do try out recipes like brownies, rolls, cakes and meat and other savory dishes too... So, I thought hands-on learning from making these slightly challenging recipes would do me best.

Keerai Rasam + Poriyal

Soppu-Soppu Rasa / Soppin Rasa in Kannada

Prep time: 15 min                            Cooking time: 6-7 min                           Serves : 4

Greens are very versatile ingredients. You can fashion them into most South Indian staple dishes like sambar, masiyal, koottu, poriyal, etc. And they are also easy to incorporate into vadas and pakodas (fritters). Nowadays, greens soups, puris, variety rices have also become commonplace in most health-conscious households. Moreover, they cook very fast and are extremely handy in quick fix situations.

Musk Melon Juice

Prep time: 5 min                   Cooking time: 0 min                Makes: 2 tall glasses

Come summer, all that the throat and stomach crave are juices, smoothies and other coolers. Food becomes just a mere necessity and the heat in the kitchen makes elaborate cooking even more difficult. But good thing is, there are plenty of green leafy vegetables and juicy fruits available in the market. So, instead of just the plain old lime juice (which is still a fav), I keep trying out newer and newer juices and milkshakes nowadays.

Until moving to North India, the only musk melon I knew was the one with sandal-colourish-flesh and brownish skin that we get in the South. At home, we just sliced it into cubes (after peeling and deseeding), sprinkle sugar on top, give it a quick mix and eat as such. It was plain heaven in summers.. yumm :-)

Four-ingredient Mutton Curry

Prep time:  5 min           Cooking time: 15 min                         Serves : 4

Making non-vegetarian dishes usually involves a lot of preparation  - peeling pearl onions and garlic, grinding fresh ginger garlic paste, chopping loads of onions and tomatoes, grinding masala paste, et al. All this labour mean non-vegetarian dishes being usually reserved for Sundays. So, when my mother-in-law told me about this simple mutton curry with very little prep and no ginger-garlic, I was surprised and even wary of trying it fearing that the taste might be traded off for all the effort saved. But when I did try, what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be!

Cauliflower Oats Adai

(Cauliflower- Oats Savory Pancakes)

Prep time: 6 min approx             Cooking time: about 4 min for each adai          Makes :6 adais
 

This recipe was inspired by Sharmi’s Oats Recipes collection.. After seeing them (visit her collection here), I was tempted to try my own version of the oats adai a little while back.. It was peak cauliflower season in North India and so I thought, why not cauliflower in adai? And to keep it light (in fact, truth was I did not have the preparation time to soak the dals. Hence the excuse :) ) , I avoided the pulses too.. But the batter needs something to hold together, right?

Milagu Muttai Kuzhambu

(Egg with peppery gravy)

Prep time: 8 min          Cooking time: 5 min               Servings: 2

I wanted to begin the blog with this one since this is my first original recipe. I had travelled from my place of posting to my home for the weekend and reached just around dinner time. V was about to start from his office and I wanted to make a quick dinner for us before he reached home. I looked in the fridge and what was there.. Just a couple of eggs and 2-3 not-so-fresh onions. No veggies or tomato or coconut to even lend that usual gravy base in typical South Indian cooking.