SHAHI FALOODA / ROYAL FALOODA

Finally we got our computer back and I'm hoping, really hoping to be regular from now on.Now, let's get talking about this super cool colourful favourite dessert of mine! Falooda, originally a Persian dessert,was introduced to us Indians during the Mughal rule. I've never been a fan of it until a few months back.It was Amma's forever favourite thing to eat in an Ice Cream Parlour.If not a Falooda, she would order a Fruit Salad with Ice Cream.I never understood what's so special about Falooda.

Falooda was a very commonly discussed subject in my house.The first time I remember seeing it was about 17 years ago, for my cousin sisters wedding reception. The Groom's family made it and it was for a huge crowd. Seeing all the ingredients then, I assumed it to be a very elaborate thing to make. I think I was one of the few people who didn't attempt tasting what they served that night.Little did I know what was in store for me!

17 years later...I am hooked onto this wonderful cold dessert! I've made this so so many times and I've never got enough of it. It has many layers and different textures.I'm sure, if you give this a try you would love it! This dessert can be made way ahead of time and assembled in the very last minute.

SHAHI FALOODA/ROYAL FALOODA
My own recipe

Things you'll need:
1 batch Vermicelli Kheer (recipe follows)
1 tbsp Tukmaria/Sabja seeds/Basil seeds {NOT Poppy seeds}
1 small packet jelly/jello, of your choice
Fruits of your choice,cut up
Rooh-Afza,a rose flavoured syrup
2 c cold milk
Sugar to taste
Vanilla Ice Cream

Method:
For the Vermicelli Kheer: In a pan,roast 1/2 c of vermicelli on low flame till pale golden brown.Increase the heat to medium,add 2 cups of milk and cook till the vermicelli is soft, stirring often. Add 1/4 c plus 2 tsp sugar and cook till the mixture is thickened slightly.Switch off the heat and let it cool. Chill till needed.
For the Rose Milk: To the 2 cups cold milk add Rooh-Afza and sugar to taste. Chill till needed.
For the Tukmaria: Soak the seeds in 1 c water for 10 mins. Drain and reserve.

Assembly: In a tall glass add 2 tsp of tukmaria followed by vermicelli,fruits and cut up jello. Pour some rose milk just to cover the assembly. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and serve immediately.

I love photographing what I cook, especially desserts as I get to eat it right after :-) Our friends had come over last night for a potluck and I served this for dessert. They loved it and so did we.I think I'm going to have another glass full of it once this post is published because these pictures are making me drool!

HOMEMADE PANI PURI/ GOLGAPPA/ PUCHKAS/ GUPCHUP

Iam happily getting used to this. Being lazy and not cooking elaborate!I would love to be like this forever but sometimes when I think of my bloggie and it's future, I get excited and plan on cooking something different.A lot of times, cooking happens but I won't get the time to photograph what I cook. Therefore,my blog was inactive for a good part of this month :-D

For the past few days, something was on my mind and I had to make it,as always, from scratch!It was our favourite Pani Puri! If you like Chaats, you will love Pani Puris! In India,it's usually sold by the plate (with a specific number of Puris on it) but when you make it at home, you are the one who decides how many puris should be on a plate! I should rather keep quite than blurt out the number of puris on my plate :-)

Of course, we shared it with our friends too! What's special in cooking something special and not sharing it with people you like? I must say, they all loved it.It was an instant hit with the two of us. The tangy spicy Pani (water) was so so good! This is a messy thing to eat and you have to eat it the messy way, with your fingers.

This time, when Amma and I went to Delhi, we stopped by the India Gate and the first thing we did there was to eat Pani Puris from a roadside vendor. It was YUM!They store the Pani in earthenware pots so it remains very very cool,making this wonderfully spicy tangy crunchy thing super duper delicious! This is so so simple to make at home and this recipe is just plain wonderful!

HOMEMADE PANI PURI/GOLGAPPA/PUCHKAS/GUPCHUP
Recipe Source: Manjula's Kitchen

Ingredients:
For Puris
1/4 c all purpose flour
3/4 c semolina/rava
About 1/4-1/2 c water

Method: Mix the dry ingredients together, in a bowl. Add enough water to it to form a smooth yet firm dough. Knead to make it soft,about a minute or so.Cover it with a damp towel and leave it aside for 10 mins. Form 60 tiny balls and roll out into small circles, around 2 inches in diameter. Keep these under a damp towel or else they will get dry.Fry them in hot oil. Add one circle at a time and press down with a slotted spoon till it puffs up, then turn it and let it continue frying while you add the next circle of dough.Remove when they turn golden brown in colour.Reserve.

For the Pani/Spicy Water
1c mint leaves
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp tamarind syrup
5 green chilies
1 tsp black salt
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dry ginger powder
1/8 tsp asafoetida
1 tbsp roasted cumin powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 cups water

Method: Blend all the ingredients with just enough water. Check for seasonings, it should be spicy. Strain the mixture and add the remaining water. Chill overnight for best results.

Assembly: You can use boiled channa/boiled and mashed potatoes for stuffing. Drizzle some Khatta Meeta chutney and top with some diced red onions, cilantro and sev.Dip into the spicy water and enjoy!

I don't care whether it's summer or winter to have chaats! I am game for it anytime. How about you?

PARIPPU VADA / SPLIT PIGEON PEA CROQUETTES...it's time to snack!

Back while I was working, every evening we would have some snack sponsored by someone in our office. I used to wait for that time of the day because it always used to be something hot like a Pazhampori/ Ethakkappam/Banana Fritters,Potato Bondas or Parippu Vadas. Babu Chetan was the one who brought us these snacks and Shyja Chechy would bring in the tea. Ah! Those were the days! :-)

A few days ago, I was thinking about those tiny parippu vadas I used to have at work. Babu Chetan bought it from a tea stall which is very popular for their parippu vadas. They were really small but very crisp and tasty. There's a widespread talk among people that parippu vada is shaped in armpits! I am sure people were kidding when they told me that but while I was shaping the vadas today, I was smiling over that. Whatever! I shaped them in my palm and made sure they don't look alike as I wanted them to look rustic !

PARIPPU VADA
My own recipe

Ingredients:
2 c Toor dal, washed and soaked for 2 hours
4 green chilies, chopped fine
5-6 pearl onions/shallots, chopped fine
1 sprig of curry leaves, torn up
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method: Drain the dal completely.Keep aside 1/2 cup of the soaked dal and grind the remaining soaked dal to a coarse paste without adding any water.Add the remaining ingredients and form small patties. Deep fry in hot oil.

It was crisp on the outside and soft inside, a perfect accompaniment for your chai! If you'd like, have a baby banana too, along with these...that's the way a lot of people prefer to eat.

HOMEMADE GULAB JAMUNS...from scratch!

If you noticed the title, I have mentioned that these Gulab Jamuns are made from scratch. It's just to avoid any confusions that I had when I was searching online for gulab jamun recipes. Many claimed it to be homemade (in the literal sense) and when I reached the recipe part,it asked for xyz brand of Gulab Jamun mix. I can get away with a readymade mix and I have done that many times before but knowing the person that I am, I have to make things at home, if it's possible :) I have searched high and low for a reliable source for it's recipe and have tried quite a few and I must say all of them were disasters. The main problems were a super sticky/stiff/dry dough or gulab jamuns not soaking the syrup.

Ateast once a week, there would be these experiments in our kitchen and when Jobin comes back home, instead of saying a 'Hello' it used to be 'This is the last time I'm ever going to try this!'. Everything went wrong but I never gave up. So after that, when he opened the main door,he would sniff, smile and say,'I thought last time was the last time!'.

So after many a 'last' time, I got hold of a proportion which worked like a charm for me! You will have to be careful about the consistency of the dough or else it will break while frying.If that happens, add a little more flour to the dough and fry another one.

HOMEMADE GULAB JAMUNS
My own recipe

Ingredients:
For the dumplings
1 1/4 c milk powder (Use Everyday- It's available at Indian grocery stores)
1/2 c all purpose flour/ maida
A good pinch of baking soda
3 tbsp cold butter
A few drops of cold milk (not more than 3 tbsp)

Method:Mix together milk together, flour and baking soda. Add the cold butter and rub it well into the flour.It will change the texture of the flour. Add milk little by little( you may or maynot need all of it) and form a smooth yet firm dough. Divide into 25 smooth small balls and deep fry in hot oil.Add the fried dumplings into hot syrup (recipe below) and leave aside for 30 mins.

The  oil should not be very hot or else the centre wouldn't be cooked completely. Add a ball of dough into the hot oil, it should settle at the bottom and rise slowly at the count of 10.That is the perfect temperature for frying the dumplings.

For the sugar syrup
1 1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 water
5 green cardamom pods, crushed

Method: Boil together for 5 mins and keep warm on low heat.
Serve warm or chilled.It's delicious when served with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream.

You can flavour the syrup with Rose water too.

The end result was melt-in-your-mouth Gulab Jamuns. The centres were perfectly cooked and the syrup was well absorbed making the dumplings pleasantly sweet. We really love these homemade Gulab Jamuns,especially Jobin! If at any point you feel that the dough is breaking during frying, add some more flour to the dough and knead it in. Your problem will be solved! :-)

INSTANT EGGLESS CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE & giveaway winners!

Iknow some of you must have been wondering about my absence here. Well, I gather that up from the e-mails and msgs I have been recieving for the last few weeks. Everything is alright,it's just that our personal computer is out for servicing so,I rarely get the time to sit with his computer to upload pics and blog about it.Now that I am back, it's time for some yummy Chocolate Mousse Cake! Don't you all know my love for a good Chocolate Mousse?

I just assembled 2 of my favourite components together to make this dessert. A sponge cake and some Instant Eggless Chocolate Mousse. Yes,it's that easy and hardly takes anytime! I made this for a potluck Chritmas party last night and the kids loved it, more than the adults :-)

Remember the Cake Recipes I was talking about to you guys,which was featured in Vanitha? I finally got hold of a copy,actually the folks at Malayala Manorama sent me a copy. When I blogged about it saying I haven't seen it yet,I get an e-mail from my reader Shani with an atttachement which was nothing but an entire e-copy of Vanitha! I am so grateful to you all,for such wonderful connect !

So after I won the Pachakarani title, I recieved a call from Vanitha Magazine's office asking if I could bake some cakes for their December issue and tihs was just a few days before I left to US after my long holiday in Kannur. Inspite of all the crazy packing and last minute things happening at home, I found sometime to bake and decorate these cakes: Old Fashioned Fruit Cake,Black & White Torte, Brown Butter Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting & Flourless Mocha Truffle Cake. Even though it might sound cliche, I have to say, each one of them tasted so good! Amma, the cake hater in my family & Appan loved the Black & White Torte the most. The remaining portion was carefully packed and taken for a small family get together we had that evening and the Mocha Truffle Cake was the star, there! My lil brother,Ritchie,dug into it rightaway! I'll be posting the recipes for each one here, in the coming days...so stay tuned!

INSTANT CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE
Recipe for the cake: Amma
Recipe for the mousse: Nigella Lawson

For an 8 inch cake,you need:

1 batch of Chocolate Sponge
1 batch of Instant Chocolate Mousse
1/2 batch of soaking syrup

Assembly:
Cut the sponge into 2 horizontally and place it on a springform tin.Soak it with the soaking syrup and top it off with the Chocolate Mousse. Let it set in the fridge for 1 hour and then top with remaining cake,crumbled up and drizzle some melted chocolate over it.
Serve chilled.

The winners for the giveaway are :

1. Fruit Cake : Divya Vikram
2. Gingerbread Man:Nina Matthew
3.IPad cover:Jayz

Congratulations!!!!Please send me your postal address as soon as possible to airmathew AT gmail DOT com.

So, are you all waiting for the Santa to come down the chimney? I sure am! :-)

MINI AUNTY'S CHOCOLATE CAKE

It doesn't usually happen this way...Jobin asking for a cake because there will be some cake at any point in our house,any time of the day. We ran out of cakes which means we were out of desserts after every meal! We don't need anything fancy, all the time but sometimes yes. When he asked me for a dessert the other day, I asked him what he wanted and he said that cake I made when newly-weds G &J came home for dinner. I knew it! He loves that cake and any cake made along that line.Finally we settled for a chocolate cake .

So Chocolate Cake, huh? Hmm,I have umpteen choices in that one thing. Which one do I bake? Which one is my all time favourite? Which recipe  needs another try? Whose recipe should I try? Cookbook recipes or family recipes? Yes! Family recipe, it is!

Mini Aunty,Tia's mother,is one of my most favourite aunts! She is a fantastic cook! I love her cakes, savory pies,manga pacchadi,moru curry,meen curry,cheemmen fry ,beef olathiyathu and oh! how could I forget her paper thin ghee dosa's and thenga chammanthi! She made me a Dosa convert!

She is Amma's brother's wife and all their kids and we were of the similar age,so we all got along very very well! Infact all our vacations were spent together, we still do if we get a chance. This time, in September, right after her daughter's wedding,we went to visit Jobin's sister in Kashmir. That way, I'm so happy to have spent some quality time with her, after one and a half years!

While I was studying in college, they lived in Bangalore for almost 3 years and I lived with them even though I was paying rent elsewhere :-) The power of lovely people and yummy food attracted me to their house. Mini aunty used to bake cakes once in a while and her chocolate cakes were really tasty. I got this recipe from her, long ago and she is very generous in sharing recipes, unlike a lot of other people who I personally know of! :-)

Mini Aunty's Chocolate Cake 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 c sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c butter, at room temperature
1 c warm milk
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla


Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 F and line a loaf tin.

Sieve flour, salt and baking soda together. Reserve.
In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 c warm milk with 4 tbsp cocoa.
In another big bowl, on high, beat together butter and sugar for a minute. Add the eggs and beat till light and fluffy.Add flour and 1/2 c milk alternately and beat until fluffy. Add the cocoa-milk mixture and vanilla and beat for a minute. Pour into the tin and bake for 45-50 mins or till done.

Enjoy!

So I'm finally back baking with our baking group : A Sweet Punch. I have been away for a long time now and I hope this cake bring me back to baking with the group regularly.

This is just a good old cocoa cake. I love it and infact I really think you all should try it sometime as it is going to be your favourite too! You can slice it horizonatlly into 2 or 3 and then sandwich it with some yummy chocolate fudge frosting and then cover it with some more. Sprinkle some sprinkles and then stick a candle or two to make it into a birthday cake! :-) Plus, if you are looking to give something exciting for your lil one this season, maybe you could take a look at these kids kitchen play sets!