Pumpkin Punch - tried and tasted

I always bookmark interesting recipes from my blogger buddies' sites but the ones that actually make it to my kitchen are:

a) easy and doable - what's the point of cooking something that is so complicated that by the end you feel you'd rather sleep than put in the extra effort of eating what you've made! hats off to people who are such natural born, passionate cooks!

b) made with readily accessible and ordinary ingredients - not that most exotic grains, veggies and other edible paraphernalia are unavailable in the supermarket aisles at Muscat, but somehow can't bring myself to buy that for example, 'tiny bottle of natural sugar substitute' for an amount that will easily fetch me a generous portion of jaggery (unrefined indian cane sugar), palm jaggery, or demerara.

c) easy on my already zapped system - deep fried, maida (all purpose flour) made, cream filled , ghee (clarified butter) sploshed, meat laden etc etc are terms that scare me!

d) novel - this does not mean out of the world! merely something that I have had, loved but don't know how to make; or, something i'm not aware of and yet appeals to me.

Recently I came across a 'cool-cool' drink on Cynthia's blog that happily fitted into my criteria - the pumpkin punch! I've, however, modified it to suit my taste. The result was totally yum and my husband could hardly believe he was drinking up something that had the humble pumpkin as key ingredient!

Here's my version:

Pumpkin - 200 gms (peeled,cubed, and steam cooked)
Fat free milk - 250 ml (boiled and simmered to evaporate just a little bit)
Cardamom - 1 (powdered)
Vanilla essence - 2-3 drops
Demerara (or plain sugar) - according to taste

I whisked everything together together with an electronic hand blender till the pumpkin pieces were completely pulverized and the liquid took on a creamy,frothy texture. Chill and enjoy!

Here is Cynthia's Pumpkin Punch . Thank you Cynthia!

I so wanted to send this over to Priya's Cooking with seeds - Cardamom seeds event but am late by 2 days. Sending it over anyways! Hope you accept it, Priya.

Pineapple and Spinach Chunky Soup

No yak yak this time! Been really busy, missed wishing all of you a happy pongal! I did make venpongal, sarkarai pongal, and puli gojju. Abhi loved them (didn't give her the gojju, of course).Hubby is on a tight schedule and that means less respite for me even in the evenings. Add to that a nagging headache that just refuses to completely go. And, call it post pregnancy blues (they do continue this long ?)or whatever, I feel someone wound a tight band around my forhead and wont let go! But decided to post this tonight 'cause I've promised Usha of Veg Inspirations an entry for her first food event. And, she is one nice person I've met through food blogging.


Pineapple (really ripe) - 1 cup (chopped)
Spinach - 1 small bunch
Beans - a few
Carrot - 1 medium sized
Ginger - 1/2" (chopped fine)
Green chillies - 4 (more or less)
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Garam masala - 1/4 teaspoon
Olive oil - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Optional seasoning

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Canola oil - 1 teaspoon

Chop all veggies into bite sized chunks, saute for a few minutes in olive oil. Add the water and 1/2 the coconut milk. simmer till veggies are almost done. Throw in the spinach along with the rest of the coconut milk, salt, and the garam masala. Simmer till spinach wilts.Add salt to taste.

Crackle the mustard seed and add if you opt for the seasoning. I loved this soup made on the go to save an over ripened pineapple from ending up in the waste bin.Its spicy, tangy, and sweet!

Off this goes to Usha's "Healthy Inspirations Event-Soups" that's on at http://www.veginspirations.com/2010/01/event-announcement.html

Tangy mango dip (Maanga vella pachadi )

Maanga vella pachadi aka tangy mango dip in jaggery was introduced to my palate by mom's aunt, Valli paati. Ease of making,versatality, high nutrition count, and taste make this dip a frequent fixture in my kitchen. Out here in Muscat, even the mangoes that bear labels like, 'produce of india', `alphonso' and so on are no guarantee that the fruit is anywhere as luscious as the ones we get in India. But, vella pachadi comes out fine even when fruit by itself is a let down. But this time I struck gold in my neighbourhood mart. Found a Kenyan mango variety that surprise...surprise...not only looked luscious but also bore a close resemblance in taste to the wonderfully succulent Salem Gundu (a type of mango variety from Salem district in Tamil Nadu).

Mangoes are high in dietary fibre, B vitamins, Vitamin C, and antioxidants. Jaggery is held high by Ayurvedic medicine and is attributed several nutritive and protective properties. High in folic acid and iron, jaggery is great for pregnant women. Just a teaspoon can contribute a lot in fighting anaemia (don't gorge on sugars of any kind!).

Ripe mango - about 200 gms ( 2 cups )
Jaggery (vellam/Indian unrefined brown sugar) - 50 gms
Red chilli powder - 10 gms
Salt to taste
Water - 2 cups
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 2 teaspoons

Peel and cube the mangoes. Heat the oil in a skillet and crackle the mustard seeds. Add a cup of water and the mango pieces along with the chilli powder. Simmer cook with the lid on till the mangoes and are soft and mushy. Add another cup of water and add the jaggery in. Keep simmering till the jaggery melts in completely and the mixture thickens to dip like consistency. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Add salt to taste. Cool and store in an airtight container. The pachadi stays great for upto a month.
Vella pachadi tastes good as an accompaniment to curd rice, dosas, idlis and rotis.
Maanga vella pachadi makes its way to Ramya's 'Chutney/Dip Mania Event'. The event is on at http://maneadige.blogspot.com/2009/01/inviting-entries-for-mania-event-here.html
This also goes to Sunshinemom's Food in colors - January 2009 . The color of the month is Yellow and what is more yellow than mangoes . The event is on at http://tumyumtreats.blogspot.com/2009/01/announcing-food-in-colors-january-2009.html

Sambharam (flavoured and spiced up buttermilk)

Four and a half months into food blogging and 100th post, so guess I should be celebrating. But, feeling disinclined to cook, eat, or blog the past few days. Missed out on a whole lot of events I'd bookmarked because of this. So, this time I decided to post a simple 'sambharam' (flavoured and spiced up buttermilk) recipe. Sambharam is very popular in Kerala and before the onslaught of the fizzy drinks, it was this nourishing drink that was the most sought after and the most consumed thirst quencher. Unlike its upstart artificially flavoured, areated counterparts, the sambharam offers only health benefts and zero side effects.

Low fat plain yoghurt - 50 ml

Water - 200 ml

Green chilli - 1

Coriander leaves (cilantro) - 2 sprigs

Curry leaves - 3-4 leaves

Ginger - 1/4 teaspoon (grated)

Small onions (shallots/scallions) - 2 Nos

Asafoetida (hing/perunkayam) - a pinch

Salt to taste

Freshly squeezed lime - 1/2 teaspoon

Optionals

Roasted and powdered cumin (jeera) - a pinch

Roasted and powdered Fenugreek seeds - a pinch

Fresh lemon tree leaves - a couple

Traditionally, buttermilk was made by whisking yoghurt long enough for the cream to seperate and come up. This was then skimmed out. So buttermilk in reality was yoghurt with the butter content removed. But a simpler method is to whisk the curd lightly to make smooth and add water to thin it.

Crush all ingredients apart from the yoghurt and water in mixer bowl/blender. Whisk the yoghurt and add in the water and the crushed spices. Add salt to taste and the freshly squeezed lime.

Excellant in beating heat, dehydration, and aiding digestion.

My friend Vidhya of My Receipes (iyercooks) has passed me this award. Thanks a bunch Vidhya.

Will pass this on soon.

Fresh fig salad in flavoured yoghurt dressing

I saw this recipe being demonstrated in a Nigella Lawson cookery program. Just loved the ingredients that went into making it as well as the final appearance of the dish. Tried it the very next time I saw fresh figs in the market. I've made minor variations to the original recipe to make it more appealing to my palate...

Fresh figs - 1 1/2 fruit per person

For the dressing

Yoghurt - 250 ml

Red wine - 10 ml

Fresh ginger - 1/4 teaspoon (grated)

Honey - 20 ml

Cinnamon - 1/4 teaspoon (powdered)

Orange zest - 1 teaspoon (grated off fresh orange peel)

Lemon juce - 1 teaspoon

Whisk the yoghurt with a fork. Grate in the orange zest and ginger. Add the wine and rest of the ingredients. Blend well with the fork. Chill for half an hour.
Quarter the fresh figs lengthwise and arrange in a serving bowl. Pour in a liberal helping of the dressing.
Garnish with silvered pistachios (optional). I skipped the garnish because I realized last minute that I din't have any at home.

PS: If you don't find figs, use any other soft fruit.

Sending this over to Easycrafts' WYF - Soups, starters, and salads event. The event is on till 30th september at http://simpleindianfood.blogspot.com/2008/08/wyf-saladstartersoups-event.html

Zesty curd rice

Out here the mercury is soaring. The temperature has touched 48 degrees. Getting myself to cook is an ordeal but even more terrifying is the prospect of an over greased lunch from outside. Suddenly remembered how an aunt of mine at Chennai would make her son subsist on a diet of curd rice and fruit when the temperatures soar. But she stuck to a single fruit at a time..it was either grapes in curd rice or pomegranates in curd rice. Thought I could, with minor variations, make it even more interesting. So here goes...

Steamed rice - 1 cup (for the rice base)
Curds (yoghurt) - 1 1/2 cups

Green cucumber - 2 nos

Seedless green grapes - 1 cup

Ginger - 1 medium sized piece (about 5 gms when chopped)

Green chillies - 4 Nos

Pomegranate - 1/2 cup

Salt to taste

Finely mince the ginger and green chillies. Chop the cucumber into small pieces. Use a fork to gently mash the steamed rice just a little bit. Mix all ingredients together with the rice. And voila, you are ready to dig in !

PS: Adding a couple of teaspoons of grated raw mangoes make this even more yummier!

Raw mango cooler

Raw mangoes - 1 kg
Sugar - to taste ( I use about 1 1/4 cup)
Cardamom (elaichi) - 4-5 nos
Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 teaspoon

Peel, cube and pressure cook the raw mangoes for 2 whistles. Cool and blend them into a smooth paste.Boil 1 1/2 cups of water and add the sugar. Boil to syrupy consistency.Pound the cardamom and cumin seeds.Blend all the ingredients in a mixer bowl.Refridgerate.To make your cooler, add enough cold water to half a glass of the mango syrup and drink!

PS: Add more sugar if you have sweet tooth :-)

Tangy Mango Thokku

Mangoes that are 3/4th ripe - 4-5 nos
Jaggery (gud/sharkkara/vellam)- 50 gms
Chillie powder - 2 teaspoons
Salt to taste

Peel and slice mangoes. Boil 1 glass of water in a thick bottomed vessel and dissolve the jaggery in it. Keep stirring till the water turns to a slightly syrupy consistency (string consistency/kambi padham). Add the mango slices in and allow to cook on slow flame stirring ocassionally to avoid burning.Add the chillie powder and salt. Keep stirring till the mangoes are cooked and mashed to a loose jam like consistency. Cool and store in fridge. Keeps good for a week!PS: Mango thokku is best eaten with curd rice. It also goes well with dosas and idlis

Summer recipes

Am going to kick off this forum with a few easy to make recipes made out of the fruits and vegetables of summer. Please feel to add in your own.