Macaroni Kheer / Macaroni Pudding / Macaroni Payasam

Macaroni Kheer:

You know, whenever I come up with this kind of weird recipe...'I am off the hook, dude'. So, it was a crazy noon, I had nothing to play with...and I discovered this abandoned box of macaroni shells lying in the pantry. Beyond those internationally acclaimed recipes...I had countless ideas of whipping them out!! Wish I had the same knowledge while writing an exam:( Anyhow...one such idea was dutifully implemented here:) Not that I am angry with my blog or friends or anything...just going crazy, hehe:) But I can assure you all one thing, that' my friends enjoyed it tremendously:):)

Ingredients:

Macaroni shells 1 cup
Farm fresh milk 1 liter
Cardamom 2 crushed
Saffron few strands
Sugar syrup to taste
Almonds sliced
Ghee 1/2 spoon.

Method:

Heat ghee, toast the nuts and set aside. Now also toast the macaroni briefly.

Boil milk and reduce it to half of its original volume. Add the shells, continue cooking over low-medium heat.

Add cardamon pods, nuts, sugar syrup and saffron. Once the shells are done to tender, its ready to remove from heat.

Serve chilled as a dessert. I have no objection if you prefer it warm:)

Paal Kozhukattai / Doodh ka Modak - Traditional Tamil Pudding

Paal Kozhukattai:

I have heard about this particular sweet, a million times(both through movies and friends)...but never got a chance to see it or to taste it!!! My mommy is a kind of person...who is very content with her own style of cooking,he he...I mean, she never showed even slightest curiosity to try anything traditional or authentic(I dunno why)!!! Well...after watching Tamil movies, I kept bugging my mother for the dish, but she never yielded to my plea.

Anyway...now that I can cook, started figuring out 'how to make this Paal Kozhukattai'. Hmmmm, to admit the truth, I couldn't succeed for the first two times:( Wanna know...what was the mistakes? I steamed the modak and dropped the same in the milk...ooops, it was so hard like rock:( Secondly, I forgot to steam the flour before kneading, so it ended up like a mess:( However, practice make a man perfect:) Now, what I like about it? Its so easy to fix:)

Ingredients:

Good quality coconut - fresh 1 (very important)
Farm fresh milk 1 liter
Fresh mill ground rice flour 2 cups
Cardamoms 7 crushed
Sugar 1 cup
Salt 1/4 spoon
Ghee few spoons to smear.

Method:
Now you know that first three ingredients ought to be very fresh and in good quality, right. Well...I happen to make them in India, so it was bit easy to procure:)

First' steam the raw rice flour for at least 20 minutes or so.

Sprinkle warm water to it, and pinch of salt. Knead the same with greased hands. Make uniform small modaks / kozhukattai out of it. Set aside.

Make a thick puree out of coconut, set aside.

Boil milk with sugar and cardamom...bring this down to half of its original volume. Further add coconut milk to it, continue boiling.

Now add the modak to this milk and reduce the flame/heat. Allow this to get cooked completely. Well, by now...milk would have also reduced and look thick. Remove from heat.

Chill the same, serve as a dessert. Perfect after a South Indian Meal.

Sabudana Kheer / Sago Pudding / Jowarisi Payasam

Sabudana Kheer:

Hai hai hai hi...girls, friends and my beloved blogger buddies...how are you all doing today? Sorry for this delayed update.

Oh boy...I can't believe that I abandoned my laptop for such a long time!!! All the sudden, my hardware crashed:( Gosh...its like a nightmare to lose all the hard work at one go. Damn, I never had a backup for all the stuff! I was so scared to even tamper some of my primitive documents. Had a hard time retrieving few of my special files, somehow! Anyway...what to do, will figure it out on the go! So, simply...rough month of the year:( Ahem, stupid me:(

On top of it, I have been travelling like a maniac this year. Each time I hit home...I bounce back to new place with pile of things to sort out - totally clueless!!!

Well, besides all this hiccups with work and stuff...few things never change. Oh yeah...I still spin my spatula. Yes...even at the remote country side hotel suite! At least I get to prepare my own salad:)Since I forgot all about Diwali on the run...let me begin with something sweet and belated Diwali wishes to everyone:) Seems like I missed Bakrid too...belated Id wishes too:)

Ingredients:

Sago small - 1 cup
Whole milk 1 litre
Cardamom pods 6 crushed
Sugar 1 cup
Cashew nuts 1 fistful
Raisins 1 tablespoon
Ghee few spoons.

Method:

Soak the sago pearls in cold water, overnight.

Drain the water next day and set the sago aside.

Fry the nuts and raisin in ghee and st aside too.

Heat milk with sugar together. Once it comes to boiling point, add the sago and reduce the flame/heat. Now let this get cooked and also milk should reduce to half of its original volume.

Add cardamom or saffron for fragrance. Chill the same and garnsih with fried nuts and raisins.

Serve as a dessert.

Semolina Pudding / Sooji Kheer / Rawa Payasam

Semolina Kheer:

Ramzan Payasam. Ramzan Kanji. Sweet Porridge-Ramzan special. Thari Kanji.

Sometimes, its very easy for me to be a terrible cook...no, its not a joke. I make blunders, okay some huge blunders, simply irrevocable mistakes while fixing even good old simple recipes. The each time, I tried to whip this sooji kheer, I was managing to bring some kind of gooey halwa. But nothing seemed to bother me, despite the result...was trying n trying in vain with various proportions. Whom am I kidding, stirred and stirred until the plain rawa begged me to let it go!!! Oh boy, finally on the other day, AK said...I need to give it one more shot, by frying the semolina in ghee before heading out to prepare anything. Hmmm, makes a perfect sense, why haven't I thought about it! Anyhow,..I also drastically reduced the semolina content this time. Ooops, I can't believe myself...I finally arrived at perfect kheer. Oh my, this is the one' I was aiming for, the whole time:) It was so delicious and am happy to share the recipe with you all, trust me...its easy:)

Ingredients:

Semolina 4 teas spoons
Whole milk 4 mugs
Cardamom 3 crushed
Saffron few strands
Sugar to taste
Almonds, thinly sliced
Ghee 2 teaspoons.

Method:

Fry the semolina in ghee and set aside.

Heat milk along with sugar and reduce them into half of its original volume. Add cardamom and saffron too.

Fry the almonds and set aside as well.

Now cook semolina, with 1/4 cup of warm water for few minutes and add the same to the thickened milk, top them with nuts...bring this to boil and remove from heat.

Serve either warm or chilled.

Orange Pudding - Happy Tamizh New Year

Kamala Pazha Payasam:

Kamla ka Kheer. Orange Pudding. Orange Payasam.

Ingredients:

Sweet oranges - peeled & cored 1 cup
Condensed milk 1/2 cup
Milk 2 cups - reduced into half & Chilled
Sugar - I didn't use any, as condensed milk had enough.

Method:

Mix the heavy milk with condensed milk...beat till frothy.

Add the orange flesh, yeah sliced or flaked. Chill the same.

Serve chilled as a dessert. Enjoy:)

Milk Conjee - Childhood Calls!!!

Milk Porridge:

Paal Kanji, Noi-Arisi Kanjee. Rice Gruel. Rice Porridge. Rice Pottage.

A great baby food Milk and lentils based congee is the first semi-solid food given to babies after milk (India). However, adding mashed vegetables and fruits are highly recommended by nutrition scientists.

Aganaanuru(Anthologies of Family Life, II Century.B.C)An ancient Tamil poem talks about motherhood and I am inclined to mention few words about it. The poem is about 'How a mother feeds her daughter?'...she has milk porridge in a silver bowl, but the baby girl is so playful and doesn't eat her food...she keeps wandering in the garden but won't eat! Mother pulls a slender twig and wraps it up with jasmine flowers. Now, pretends to her daughter "if she doesn't eat, she would hit". (The lady is so careful 'not to hit her daughter and not to give even a slightest harm...that is why jasmine flowers are wrapped up on the twig)! So sweet, huh.

My Mommy said, she had no stamina to hold me(when I was a baby). My mother is a fragile lady and she always had and has health issues! She said, I was made to stand on the window pane while feeding:( Guess, right from the start...I was trained to take care of myself!! Maybe that is why, I turned out strong and very independent!!!

Ingredients:

Parboiled rice, broken /halved - 1/4 cup
Milk 4 cups
Salt to taste/ sugar to taste.

Method:

Pressure cook rice with water till tender.

While the rice is still warm, mash them. Add salt and 4 cups of milk. Cover and set aside.

Now the rice will imbibe the milk...mix well and bring it up into voluminous kanji consistency. Serve at room temperature.

Shirkand - Sweetened Yogurt

Kesar Sheerkand:

Saffron Infused Sweetened Yogurts.

Instant, is the only best way to describe this traditional dessert(If you don't take solidifying yogurt into account)! Let me tell you all, I was expecting something good...while mixing the ingredients! It came out 'beyond expectation'!!! With all the seriousness...I will never go back to 'plain yogurt' anymore!! This simple recipe served as an inspiration for a wonderfully tangy, not too sweet, chunky-cream of deliciousness. And trust me, as I was never a 'Yogurt' person.

Ingredients:

Fresh Yogurts 1 large bowl
Condensed milk (sweetened already) 1 small cup
Saffron 1/4 spoon - ground
No Sugar today...as the condensed milk may have enough!
Nuts or Nutmeg to garnish.

Method:

Hang the yogurts in a cheese cloth, for a pretty long time.:) I guess, I did for at least 5 hours.

Now, I mixed this hung yogurt (called Chukka in Hindi) with saffron and condensed milk. If you like...you can actually beat the solid yogurt...but I prefer mine to be bit chunky (coz' I am lazy).

Then, chill them and garnish with nuts and nutmeg powder.:)

Deepavali Special - Health Mix Payasam

Health Mix Payasam:

Malted Raagi Payasam. Barley Payasam. Sprouted Wheat Payasam. Healthy Payasam.

Health Mix is something that mommy used to prepare, when we (myself & my brother) were kids. I am not sure about the long lengthy ingredients she used to sneak into it! Well, I should have asked her! I recollected few of the stuff, she used to mention tho'. But otherwise for the convenience sake...I just used the 'ready made' health mix available in the market today (from India). The brand read as 'Manna Health Mix'...somewhat okay, but definitely not so good like Mommy's Health Mix!!

Ingredients:

Health Mix may Contain Following Ingredients and Much More

Sprouted Raagi flour (finger millet)
Bajra
Malted Barley
Sprouted wheat
Varieties of millets
Cashew nuts
Almonds
Cardamom
Saffron

Health mix 6-8 spoons
Farm fresh whole milk 4 cups
Almonds 10 (skinned) crushed
Sugar to taste (I used 4 spoons)
Ghee few spoons
Nuts and Raisins to garnish.

Method:

In a heavy bottomed vessel, heat ghee. Fry the nuts and raisin...set aside.

In the same pan, add sugar plus water...heat till they form into thick syrup.

Now add 3 cups of milk and crushed almonds to it...continue boiling.

Heat the other cup of milk in the microwave...so, to this luke warm milk, add the health mix powder. Mix well without any lumps.

Now run this...in the boiling milk above...continue cooking over low heat. Once the raw odour leaves the pan, and nice aroma fills in the room...remove from heat and chill the same.

Garnish with nuts and raisins. Enjoy.

Nuts Kheer

Raw Nuts Kheer: (Version 2)

I don't know how many of you'll are going to agree with me! I believe that 'raw nuts' holds up that potent energy...than that of well cooked ones! Yeah, if you're following that fibre rich diet, then please try to eat 'raw nuts' to zap your energy. It is said that, chewing for a long period crushes that sturdy cells of the fibre and releases the nutients which are readily absorbed. Whereas when we cook these nuts...chewing part is cut down into half, and the unsaturated fatty acids tend to pass down the digestive track without being absorbed! Moreover cooking depletes lot of nutrients too!

So, how does that sound to you? Yes, its good to have them 'un cooked' isn't! So, there you go, I prepared this 'raw kheer' to maximize the energy. You still wanna know the authentic 'Nuts Kheer', then follow the link.

Ingredients:

Almonds 10
Cashew nuts 10
Sugar to taste
Whole milk 1-2 cups
Saffron few
Nuts to garnish.

Method:

Leave the almonds in warm water for about 20 minutes or so.

Then peel of its skin. (Again skin has more vitamins, anyway).

Now soak them (almonds, cashew nuts) in luke warm milk for an hour.

Puree these nuts. Mix them with sugar syrup (hope you will find how to make the syrup?!)

Just chill them, serve in a small bowl (high in calorie, alright).

Garnish with silvered nuts and saffron or as you wish.

Mampazha Payasam

Mango Payasam:

Mampazham Payasam. Mango Pudding?!.

I am glad that I visited home(India) during mango season. I haven't had this 'Wonder Fruit' for a long time. Oh, gosh...I can never relate these Walmart/Kroger mangoes with that of those Selam breeds.

Alphonsa (Golden Yellow), Kallalpad in Madras or simply Chakarakutti in Selam (small, very sweet with thin seed inside)! Imam Pasand, Neelam (always has a bug inside), Kili Mooku, Banganapalli, Malgowa (Queen of all the varieties), Sindoora (red tinted one), Mangloora, Rumani/Romania ( Very fleshy, fibrous with thin seed).

I chose Roomani today, as it is very fleshy...

Ingredients:

Mango fruit 2 (ripe)
Grated coconut 1/2 cup
Coconut milk 1 cup
Jaggery as per taste
Cardamom 3 crushed
Cashew nuts few
Raisins few
Ghee few spoons.

Method:

Heat ghee in a vessel, fry cashew nut and then followed by raisins...set these aside.

In the same oil, add cardamom and jaggery...wait till it melts.

Add chopped mangoes and coconut milk...bring this to boil.

Further add grated coconut and continue cooking for few more minutes. Remove from heat.

Serve chilled.

Mithai Mela - Special Round Up

Halwa Candies

Jack Fruit Payasam

Wheat Halwa

Makkan Peda

Boodhi

Baasandhi

Nuts Halwa

Walnut Halwa

Nuts Kheer

Milk Kowa

Sugar Cane Pongal

Black Gram Kali

Fruit Halwa

Almond Halwa


Mithai Mela - Special Round-Up:



These recipes are going to Srivalli's Mithai Mela Event!!!