Home-made Mango Ice Cream and a little update from me....

People.... I have an update from my side! Naveen's assignment here at NC is almost done are we are moving to Chicago by the end of this week. So, I've been quite caught up with all the packing and stuff like that. last week was really hectic for me.... I was on ph the entire time taking quotations from movers, calling up apartment offices at Chicago and checking for availability...... While I am excited about moving to a new place and meeting new people, I am also sad about leaving Salisbury. Thanx to all our friends out here for being so nice, helpful and supportive at all times. But for them, our stay at Salisbury wouldn't have been so pleasant..... I am posting a pic of our Infosys junta here at Salisbury. We had all been camping over the weekend and this pic was taken there. Naveen and I are right in the centre (I am wearing a red top in the pic). Cheers to all our lovely friends... You guys are the best! Will miss you all....

Coming to the Ice-cream recipe..... I had been wanting to make ice cream at home since a long time now. But Naveen was not very much for it. He says its not worth putting in effort and time into it, when you can get such good ice creams in stores for such low prices. But finally, he agreed that it was worth all the effort and time for the pleasure of having home-made ice cream!! :) The ice cream turned really creamy and soft. The flavor was even better since I used fresh mangoes.... Hope you guys like it too!!

And folks, I may not be able to blog regularly for the next couple of weeks. Will resume blogging after we settle down at our new apartment.

Ingredients:

2-3 Mangoes, medium sized

1 tin Sweetened condensed milk

1/4 gallon Milk

1/2 tsp Vanilla essence

1/2 tsp Salt

Sugar as per taste

Note: The measurement of the milk is not exact. You can adjust it according to your taste and required thickness

Method:

1. Wash and peel mangoes; Puree the pulp in a blender.
2. Add all the remaining ingredients to the mango puree and mix well. You can even microwave it for a minute so that all the sugar is dissolved.
3. Pour the mixture in a container and place it in the freezer for about 30 mins.
4. Remove from freezer and blend the mixture in a blender. Return to freezer for another 30 mins.
5. Repeat the process for about 3-4 times and then allow the mixture to freeze over night. Scoop out the ice cream and serve immediately.

Pudina Pulao ( Pulav) / Mint Rice

I know, I know..... Pudina pulao is a very common and simple dish and almost everybody knows how to make it. But this time, my pulao turned out so good that I was tempted to post it :). I picked the basic recipe from Mrs. Chandri Bhat's collection on Bawarchi and made a few modifications according to my taste. So, here goes the recipe... Enjoi!

Ingredients:

1 cup Pudina / Mint leaves

2 cups Basmati/ Long grain Rice

1 Onion, medium sized

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Jeera/Cumin seeds

2" Cinnamon stick

4-5 Cloves

1/2 Green chilli

1 Dry red chilli, low spiced

1/2 tsp Black pepper

1 tsp Lemon juice

2 tbsp Ghee/Butter

1/2 tsp Ginger-garlic paste (optional)

Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Wash and soak rice in water for about 30 mins; Cook rice such that each grain is separate and keep aside.
2. Dry roast the red chilli and black pepper; Grind it with the mint leaves and green chilli in a blender. DO NOT add water while grinding.
3. Heat ghee or butter in a wok and add mustard seeds. Add Jeera, cinnamon and cloves after the mustard seeds splutter.
4. Chop onions into thin strips and add to the tempering. Add the ginger-garlic paste to this. Add the pudina masala when the onions are almost done. Saute until the onions change color and are completely cooked.
5. Add salt, rice, lemon juice and mix well. Remove from stove and serve hot!

Tindora - Chana Sabzi / Thondekai - Kadle Palya

Hello everybody! Hope you all had a great weekend.... Weekend was good for me. Didn't do anything much apart from lazing around and wasting time :). I had big plans of trying out a lot of new dishes over the weekend, but nothing worked out, as usual :).

One of my readers had requested for this thondekai-chana palya recipe long back, and I finally got myself to make it yesterday! I am really sorry about the delay. This recipe is a Mangalore - Udupi speciality. I was making it for the first time yesterday and I completely relished it!!! Hope you like it too.....

Ingredients:

1 cup Tindora/Thondekai, chopped

1/2 cup Kabuli Chana/ Chick peas, soaked in water overnight

1/2 cup Grated coconut

2-3 Dry red chillies (low to mediumm spiced)

1/2 tsp Coriander seeds

1/2 tsp Jeera

2 -3 tsp Oil

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

4-5 Curry leaves

1 tsp Lemon juice

A pinch of haldi

A pinch of hing

Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Pressure cook tindora and chana separately until they are cooked; It took me about 2 whistles. Note: Cook chana in salt water. However, tindora can be cooked without water.
2. Powder the dry red chillies, jeera and coriander seeds in a mixie. After they are powdered, add grated coconut and churn them further without adding water. Keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a kadai. Temper with mustard seeds, haldi, hing and curry leaves.
4. Add the masala mixture prepared in step 2 to the tadka and saute for a while.
5. Add cooked tindora and chana; Add salt and mix well.
6. Remove from stove and add lemon juice; Serve hot with rice or rotis!

Maavinakayi Chitranna/ Raw Mango Rice

Before starting off with the recipe for today, I would like to say sorry to you folks for disappearing suddenly without even leaving a note. Past couple of weeks have been really busy for me and Naveen. "Busy", not in the literal sense.... It's just that our MINDS have been busy thinking and thinking about matters that aren't really in our hands! :-) So finally, I decided to get over all that and start blogging again. And I must tell you.... I am enjoying blogging today more than anytime before!!!

Anyway, I have for you the recipe for Maavinakaayi Chitranna (Raw Mango Rice). This is another traditional Karnataka recipe which is every kannadiga's favourite! It is usually made for festivals and such occasions. This dish tastes best when the mango is tangy. Maavinakayi Chitranna along with Kadle Bele Payasam is a very nice combo.... You can click on -> "Kadle Bele Payasam" for the recipe. Enjoi!

Ingredients:

1 Raw Mango

1/2 cup Coconut, grated

1-2 tsp Menthya Kaalu / Methi seeds

2-3 Dry red chillies - Low spiced

A pinch of hing

1 cup Rice

2-3 tbsp Peanuts

1 tbsp Chana - Urad Dal mixture

2-3 tsp Oil

3-4 Curry leaves

1 tsp Mustard seeds

Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Peel and grate the raw mango; Keep aside. Cook rice such that each grain is separate and keep aside.
2. Dry roast the red chillies, methi seeds, hing and powder them in a blender. Grind it along with grated coconut. DO NOT add water while grinding. Add half the quantity of grated raw mango also, while grinding.
3. Heat oil in a kadai; Temper with haldi, mustard seeds, peanuts, chana- urad dal mixture, curry leaves.
4. Add the remaining grated raw mango and cook for a while until all the water content evaporates. Add the above prepared masala and cook for about 2 mins. Add salt and mix well. Tip: This mango chutney can be preseved in the refrigerator for almost a week. So if you keep the chutney ready before-hand, all you have to do at the last minute is making rice and mixing it with the chutney!! And this chutney tastes really good with dosas and akki rottis too!!
5. Add cooked rice to the above chutney and serve hot!!

Akki Rotti with Cabbage Palya (Sabzi)

Akki Rotti is one of my most favourite breakfast dishes!! This one's another Karnataka speciality recipe. There are two ways of making akki rotti. I had posted one of the versions called Masala Akki Rotti earlier in my blog. Masala akki rotti is quite spicy by itself and can be eaten without any side dish. However, the akki rotti recipe I have for you today should be had with a spicy side dish. I made Cabbage sabzi this time. This will be my entry for WBB#12- Spice it up. Hope you like it!!!

Ingredients:

For Cabbage Palya(Sabzi)

2 cups Cabbage, very finely chopped

1 tsp Chana-Urad Dal mixture

2 tbsp Fresh grated coconut

1 tsp Mustard seeds

2 tsp Oil

1 tsp Lemon Juice

2 strands Cilantro

1 tsp Red chilli powder

3-4 Curry leaves

A pinch of hing

Salt as per taste

For Akki Rotti:

1 cup Rice flour
1 tsp Oil
1/2 tsp Salt

Method:

Cabbage Palya

1. Heat oil in a kadai; Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, chal mixture and hing.
2. Add chopped cabbage after the mustard seeds splutter. Cook covered without adding water. Add chilli powder and mix. Saute regularly.
3. Add grated coconut,salt and chopped cilantro when the cabbage is almost cooked. Remove from stove and add lime juice. Mix well.

Akki Rotti

1. Mix 1-2 tsp of rice flour, oil and salt in about 1.5 cups of water and bring the mixture to boil on stove.
2. To this, add the remaining flour and mix well. The rice flour should form a single dumpling and stick to the ladle.
3. Remove from stove and let it cool for a while. Knead it well when it is still warm.
4. Pull out small balls from the dumplings and roll them into circles using a rolling pin, like how you would do for rotis/chapatis. Note: Do not worry if cracks are formed at the edges while rolling out into circles. With rice flour, it is very difficult to get perfect circles like how you would get with atta.
5. Heat tawa on stove and cook akki rotti on both sides. Pour little ghee and serve hot with cabbage sabzi!!!

Sweet Potato Sabzi / Genasina Palya

Sweet Potatos are called 'Genasu' in Kannada. Back in India, my mom used to make a sweetish sabzi out of it which I really loved. But after coming here, Naveen never let me buy Sweet potatos saying they dont taste as good as the ones in India. But this time, I was deterimed to make it!! I got it home yesterday and tried it out myself. Naveen was right in a way.... Sweet potatos here are not as sweet as the ones in India. But since the sabzi I was making was meant to be sweetish, I adjusted it by adding a little jaggery/sugar. This sabzi goes really well with rice-rasam combo!! Also, in the traditional recipe sweet potatoes are mashed but here I preferred to keep them as pieces. Here's the recipe!! Hope you like it.....

This will also be my entry for Nupur's 'S' of A-Z of Indian Vegetables.

Ingredients:

1 Sweet potato, medium sized

2 tbsp Grated coconut

2 tsp Ghee/butter

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Chana - Urad dal mixture

3-4 tbsp Sugar/Jaggery

1 tsp Salt

2-3 strands Cilantro

Method:

1. Wash, peel and chop sweet potato into 1 " cubes. Cook then in a microwave with some water for about 10 mins or until they are cooked. You can even pressure cook them. Remove excess water and keep aside.


2. Heat ghee in a kadai. Add mustard seeds and the dal mixture. Add cooked sweet potatos after the dal turns golden brown. Saute regularly.


3. Add salt, sugar and mix well. Adjust the sweetness according to your taste.


4. Add grated coconut, cilantro and mix well.


5. Serve hot with rice-rasam combo or even rotis and enjoi!!!

Kadle Bele Payasa / Chana Dal Payasam

Kadle Bele (Chana Dal) payasa has been my all time favourite among all the payasams that mom used to make at home. As a kid, this was the only payasa that I ate, and so my mom used to make it quite often- for festivals, pujas. Couple of days back, we had another set of friends over for dinner at our place and I had made this payasa. It brought back my old sweet memories!!! Not too sure if my guests enjoyed it.... But I relished it completely!!!!! :). It's fast and really easy to make. Here's the recipe for it.... Enjoi!

Ingredients:

1 cup Kadle bele/ Chana Dal
1 - 1.5 cup Jaggery
2 cups Fresh grated coconut or Thick coconut milk
3/4-1 tsp Rava or Raw rice
1 tsp Ghee
1 tsp Elaichi powder
1-2 tsp Raisins
1-2 tsp Cashews

Method:

1. Pressure cook chana dal in water and keep aside.


2. Dry roast the rava until the raw smell disappears and add it to the cooked chana dal. If you are using raw rice, dry roast it and grind it to a smooth powder and then add to the dal. This gives thickness to the payasam.


3. Add thick coconut milk to the above mixture and boil. If you are using grated coconut, grind the coconut with water to a smooth paste and then boil with the mixture. Add extra water if required. Stir regularly.


4. Add jaggery and elaichi powder. Roast raisins and cashews in 1 tsp ghee and add to payasam. Mix well and let it boil for some more time. Adjust the sweetness according to your taste.


5. Serve hot or cold, as desired and enjoi!

Btw folks, check out the new Foodie Blogroll that I have added on the right side of the page. This is an initiative taken by The Leftover Queen to bring together all the food bloggers!!! So, all you fellow bloggers...... rush and send in your links to her!!!