Rice and Coconut Cake

It’s my sister’s birthday today and I wanted to bake a cake for her. And it had to be gluten free, lactose free and without chocolate. 
I was browsing for such recipe in the net but didn’t find anything very appealing. Then I got this sudden idea of making a cake with the Nei appam batter. The Nei appam that I make has a very soft and melt in mouth texture. ( she is very fond of Nei appam).

I worked out few additions to the recipe and after praying God to make my crazy idea a success, started making this cake.

Soon my house was filled with sweet aroma of coconut, cardamom and jaggery. I was so excited that I couldn’t stop smiling.

The cake was moist, soft, perfect in texture and flavour and absolutely divine. I was indeed very very happy with myself and icing on the cake was really my sister’s expression when she had her first bite:)

  
Ingredients 

Basmati Rice – 1 cup

Grated jaggery – 1 cup

Ripe banana – 1

Grated coconut – 1 cup, tightly packed

Cardamoms – 4-5 ( use only the seeds)

Ghee – 3 tbsps + 1 tsp ( 1 tsp ghee for greasing the cake pan)

Coconut oil – 4 tbsps

Baking powder – 1/2 tsp

Baking soda – 1/4th tsp

Rice flour – 1 tbsp ( for dusting)

For garnish 

————

Ghee – 2 tsps

Almond flakes – 2 tbsps 

Grated coconut – 1 tbsp

Icing sugar – 1 tbsp

Method

Wash and soak basmati rice for 2 hrs.

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius,

Grease a cake pan with ghee ( have used a bundt cake pan) and dust it with rice flour.

Drain the rice. Add coconut, jaggery, bananna ( chopped) and cardamom seeds to the rice and grind it to a smooth batter without adding any water.

  
Transfer it to a bowl. Add ghee, coconut oil, baking powder and soda and beat well until the batter becomes light and fluffy.

 

 Pour it into the greased and dusted cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 mins. 

The cake is done when a toothpick or knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely.

  

Heat 2 tsps of ghee in a pan. Add the almond flakes and sauté till it turns golden.

Sprinkle icing sugar on the cake and garnish it with crisp, golden almond flakes and grated coconut.

Serve the cake warm:)

   
 

Puliogare Pulao

Whenever I make puliogare, lemon rice or coconut rice or any South Indian style mixed rice variety, I make avial ( yogurt based mixed vegetable gravy). This combination makes the meal complete.
But today, I didn’t have the vegetables that are required to make avial. So, I decided to add vegetables that I had to the puliogare and made it as puliogare pulao. 

I used the Eastern brand puliogare mix and was satisfied with the colour and flavour.

I had served the puliogare pulao with cucumber onion raita and papad. 

It was a simple, easy to make and a wholesome lunch:)

  

Ingredients

Cooked rice – 4 cups

Onion – 1 

Carrot – 1

Capsicum – 1 small 

Beans – 10-12

Puliogare mix ( Eastern brand) – 4 tbsps

Sesame oil – 2 tbsps

Mustard – 1 tsp

Split urad dal – 1 tsp

Sesame seeds ( til / yellu) – 1 tsp

Roasted peanuts – 4 tbsps

Red chillies – 3-4

Curry leaves – few

Asafoetida ( hing/ Perungayam)- 2 pinches 

Method

Peel, wash and slice the onions.

Wash, peel and cut carrots into strips,

Wash and cut capsicum into strips.

Wash, remove the string and cut beans.

Heat the oil in a pan. Add mustard. When it starts spluttering, add urad dal, sesame seeds, peanuts, red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida. Sauté till the peanuts turn golden.

Add the sliced onions and sauté till it turns pale. Add all the other vegetables, puliogare mix and salt to taste. Mix well , cover the pan with a lid, reduce the flame and cook till the vegetables becomes tender. Let it be little crisp.

  

Now add the cooked rice and mix well. Check for the seasonings. Sauté for few mins. Switch off and let it rest for few mins.

Puliogare need not be served hot. 

Serve it with raita of your choice and papad:)

   
 

Cutlets Butter Masala

I had readymade paneer butter masala packet ( Eastern brand). It’s not the ready to eat variety, just a dry masala mix. I did not want to make the regular paneer butter masala with that. I wanted to do something very different. 
First I thought of using this masala as a marination for tikkas. But I didn’t find it very appealing as butter masala is generally mild.

Then I got this idea of making cutlets and use this masala powder to a make a creamy sauce.

Am so glad that I let my creativity take over because the result was awesome. The cutlets were truly melt in mouth and yummy and butter masala sauce was delicious. It had a very appetising aroma with a rich and creamy texture and was truly an beautiful icing on the cake. 

My family loved it and I hope you all would like it too:)

  
Ingredients

For the cutlets 

———————–

Potato – 1 (big)

Carrot – 1 ( big)

Fresh peas – 1 cup

Paneer – 100 gms

Maida ( all purpose flour) – 1 tbsp

Rice flour – 6 tbsps

Oil- 1 tbsp 

Cumin powder ( jeera)- 1 tsp

Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp

Garam masala powder- 1/4th tsp

Dry mango powder( amchur)- 1/4th tsp

Salt to taste

Semolina ( rava) – 1/2 cup

Oil required for shallow frying 

For butter masala 

—————————–

Readymade paneer butter masala – 1

packet ( Eastern brand)

Milk – 3/4th cup

Tomato ketchup – 2 tbsps

Butter – 1 tbsp

Amul cheese cube – 1 

Chopped coriander leaves – 1 tbsp

Method 

To make the cutlets 

——————————–

Wash, peel and chop potato and carrot.

Pressure cook potato, carrot and peas till it’s cooked soft. Mash well.

Grate the paneer and add to the mashed vegetables. Add cumin powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, dry mango powder, maida, rice flour, oil and salt to taste.

Mix well and make a soft dough.

  
Grease your hands. Divide the dough into 12 portions. Shape them into cutlets, roll them on the semolina. Pat it well to spread the semolina uniformly and remove the excess.

  

 

 Shallow fry the cutlets till both sides turn golden.
   
 
To make the butter masala

——————————————-

Mix one packet of butter masala with milk. 

Mix well to ensure that there are no lumps.

  

Heat butter in a pan. Add the masala mixture and let it simmer well for 10-12 mins, till it becomes thick sauce. Add tomato ketchup, mix well and simmer for few mins.

Grate the amul cheese and add to the sauce.

  
Mix well till the cheese melts.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

  
Serve the cutlets hot topped with the butter masala sauce:)

   
   

Kadai Vegetable Semiya

This is again one more new recipe that I created and tried in my kitchen. For the first time I used readymade kadai masala ( Eastern brand). I found it very convenient. The masala was mild and the flavour was good. 

Instead of making kadai vegetable and rotis, I decided to make one pot meal as I was in a hurry today. Since I always add lot of vegetables when I make semiya Upma, I was confident that this recipe will turn out well.

I was very happy that it did come out very well and everyone liked it home 🙂

  
Ingredients

Semiya ( vermicelli) – 11/4th cup

Chopped onion – 1/2 cup

Chopped tomato – 1/2 cup

Chopped carrot – 1/2 cup

Cauliflower – 1/2 cup

Potato – 1/2 cup

Yogurt – 1/2 cup

Kadai masala – 1 packet

Paneer – 100 gms cubed

Oil – 1 tbsp

Mustard – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – few

Method 

Dry roast Semiya very well, till it turns golfed red. 

Add boiling water ( add little salt) to the semiya till it gets immersed.

Let it rest for 10-15 mins. Drain the Semiya and wash it in running water and drain well. Keep it aside.

  
Mix the kadai masala and yogurt well. 

  
Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard. When it starts spluttering, add curry leaves. Sauté for few seconds and add chopped onions. 

Sauté till the onion turns pale. Add chopped carrots, cauliflower, potato and tomato. Sauté well. Reduce the flame. Close the pan and cook till the vegetables become soft. Add the masala and yogurt mixture, cubed paneer and 1/2 cup of water and salt to taste . Let it cook for few mins.

  

Now add the cooked semiya and mix well. Check for the seasonings. Cook for few mins till the semiya becomes dry. 

  
Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot:)

   
 

Aam Achaar Chole Rice

Rice and chole is a very popular dish of Punjabi cuisine which my daughter is very fond of. For today’s school lunch I had made chole rice with a very unique twist. This is Tarla Dalal’s recipe. The unique ingredient used here is Aam achaar ( mango pickle).    

It tasted really different and yummy. Those who are fond of mango pickle will certainly like this recipe. My family liked it very much and I hope you all would like it too:)

  

Ingredients

Basmati rice- 11/4th cup

Chole ( chick peas/ kondakadalai) – 1 cup

Aam achaar ( mango pickle) – 2 tbsps 

Ghee- 1 tbsp

Onions – 2

Garlic – 5-6 cloves

Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1/4th tsp

Garam masala – 1/2 tsp

Mustard – 1 tsp

Onion seeds ( kalonji) – 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds ( methi/ vendhayam) – 1 tsp

Fennel saunf/ sombu) – 1 tsp

Cumin seeds ( jeera) – 1/2 tsp

Cardamom – 3-4

Asafoetida ( hing/ Perungayam) – 1/4th tsp

Salt to taste

Chopped coriander leaves – 2 tbsps 

Methods

Wash and soak chole over night or 8/10 hours.

Drain the water, add fresh water and little salt and pressure cook for 5-6 whistles. It should be cooked soft but should not become mushy.

Drain and keep the Chole aside. Reserve the drained water.

Wash and soak rice for 15-20 mins. Drain and keep it aside.

Peel, wash and slice onions.

Wash, crush and chop garlic.

Grind the aam achaar ( pickle) to a paste.

  
Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan.

Add mustard. When it starts spluttering, add onion seeds, fennel, fenugreek, cumin and hing. Sauté for few seconds and then add garlic.

Sauté for a min and add sliced onions. Sauté till the onion turns pale and add the ground pickle paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and garam masala powder.

Sauté till oil starts floating. 

Now add the rice and cooked chole and sauté for a min. 

  
To the reserved water add little more fresh water to make it 21/2 cups of water and add it to the rice. Add salt to taste and mix well. When the water starts boiling, reduce the flame, close the pan with a lid and cook till rice becomes soft and dry.

  

Fluff the rice gently. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with raita and papad 🙂

   
 

Rajma Ghassi

My husband is not at all fond of Rajma, whereas I love rajma. Rajma and rice is one of my most favourite meal.
Today I thought of making rajma in a different way to see if my husband would like that. First I thought of making rajma in chetinadu style. Then I saw this Ghassi recipe in the net. It is a traditional dish from Mangalore and was very interesting . Being a coconut based recipe I was almost sure that my husband would like this recipe.

Am very glad that I was not disappointed. He really liked it and I hope you all would like it too:)

  
Ingredients 

Rajma – 1/2 cup

Onion- 1

Tamarind – small lemon sized

Grated jaggery – 2 tsps

Salt to taste
For the masala

Coriander seeds ( dhania) -1 tbsp 

Cumin ( jeera) – 1 tsp

Fenugreek ( methi/ vendhayam) – 1/4th tsp

Pepper – 1/2 tsp

Red chillies – 6-7

Kashmiri red chilli powder – 1 tsp

Garlic – 3-4 cloves

Grated coconut- 1/2 cup
Oil – 3 tsps

Mustard – 1 tsp

Garlic – 4-5 cloves

Curry leaves – few

Hing – pinch
Method

Wash the rajma well and soak it overnight or 8-10 hours.

Drain the water, add fresh water, little salt and pressure cook for 7-8 whistles or till it becomes soft.

Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup water for 15-20 mins. Squeeze well and take the extract.

Heat little oil in a pan. Roast all the ingredients ( except garlic and coconut) mentioned for the masala.

  
Wash, peel and chop the onion finely. Sauté the onions in a tsp of oil till it turns pink.

Add half of this onion, turmeric powder, grated jaggery and tamarind extract to the cooked rajma and let it cook till the raw smell of tamarind goes away.

  
Grind the roasted masala along with garlic, coconut and the remaining onion to a smooth paste.

Dilute this paste in 1/2 cup water and add to the rajma. Add salt to taste, mix well and let it simmer on a medium flame for few mins.

   
 

Heat the remaining oil in pan. Add mustard. When it starts spluttering, add garlic ( crushed), curry leaves and hing. Pour the tempering over the gravy.

Serve the rajma ghassi hot with rice / roti/ dosa 🙂

   
 

Mexican Desi Green Poha

My kids are not at fussy eaters. They are always willing to try new recipes. But my daughter is generally not very fond of upma varieties. And she is least fond of poha upma.

I saw this Mexican Green Rice in a TV show.

I found it very different and interesting. Biggest advantage of poha is that it can substitute rice in most of the rice based recipes. 

Today I tried making this Mexican recipe using poha with desi tadka. Mild capsicum flavour has given a delicious twist in the flavour. I was very happy when my daughter said that she really liked it and would be willing to take as school tiffin too:)

  
Ingredients 

Poha( rice flakes/ aval) – 11/2 cups

Capsicum – 1 (big)

Green chillies- 3-4

Chopped coriander leaves- 1/2 cup

Oil – 1 tbsp

Mustard – 1 tsp

Split urad dal ( ullundhu) – 1 tsp

Chana dal( chick peas/ Kadalai paruppu) – 1 tsp

Roasted peanuts – 2 tbsp

Curry leaves – few

Chopped ginger – 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice- 1-2 tsps

Salt to taste

Method

Wash the poha well. Soak it in little water for 10- 15 mins.

Wash and chop capsicum and green chillies.

Grind capsicum, green chillies and coriander leaves to a coarse paste.

  
Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard. When it starts spluttering, add split urad dal, chana dal, curry leaves, chopped ginger and roasted peanuts. Sauté till the peanuts turn golden.

Add the ground paste now. Sauté for few mins till the capsicum gets cooked. 

  
Fluff the soaked poha gently so that there are no lumps. Add the poha, salt to taste and very little water to the capsicum mixture. Mix well and sauté on a high flame for few mins.

  

Take it off the gas. Add the lemon juice and mix well. 

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with lemon slices and green chillies.

   
 

Tortilla Wraps with Mango Salsa

The mangoes that I had cut yesterday were not completely ripe and sweet. It was little sour and crunchy to bite. It was just perfect to make chutney or salsa. 

Initially I thought of making paratha and spicy and sweet mango chutney. Then I got this idea of making tortilla wraps and salsa with mango. My kids were very thrilled as I made a Mexican dish after a very long time.

Healthy and wholesome tortillas with sweet and sour, refreshing mango salsa was a perfect breakfast for a bright summer day:)

  

Ingredients

For the Tortillas

Whole wheat flour – 1 cup

Maize flour ( makkai atta/ chola maavu )- 1/2 cup

Salt to taste 

Warm water as required 

For the Mango salsa

Chopped onions – 1 cup

Chopped green capsicum – 1 cup

Chopped mangoes – 2 cups

Red chilli flakes – 1 tsp

Olive oil – 1 tbsp

Chopped coriander leaves- 2 tbsp

Method 

For the Tortillas

In a big bowl, add the whole wheat flour, corn flour and salt. Mix well. Add required amount of warm water and knead to a smooth dough. Let it rest for 15-20 mins.

  

Divide the dough into 8 portions. Take one portion and roll into a smooth ball.

Flatten it gently. Dust liberally and roll into uniform circle.

Cook on a hot tawa on both sides till brown spots appear.

   
 

Make all the tortillas similarly and keep it aside.

For Mango Salsa

Heat oil in a pan. To the hot oil, add chopped onions. Sauté till it turns pale. Add the chopped capsicum, red chilli flakes and salt to taste. Mix well and sauté again till the capsicum turns tender( ensure that its not over cooked). 

  
Take off the gas and add the chopped mangoes. Mix well. Check for the seasonings. Add the chopped coriander leaves and mix it well. 

  

To make the wraps

Place a tortilla on a plate. Keep a spoon full of filling on one side of the tortilla. Roll it up tightly. Similarly make the rest of them.

  
Cut and serve along with some tomato ketchup:) 

   
   

Steamed Cabbage Koftas in Chetinad Gravy

This is one more new recipe from my kitchen. I had planned to make paneer paratha as I had made paneer at home yesterday. So I wanted to make something that can be served with the parathas.I had very limited stock of vegetables(fridge wasalmost empty. I had some cabbage, tomatoes and some broad beans. 
As I was thinking, I got this idea of making cabbage koftas. But it did not want to deep fry them. In South Indian cuisine we make steamed lentil koftas which we cook in spicy tamarind gravy. It’s called as paruppu( lentil) urundai( ball) khuzhambu( gravy).

That gave me idea to try this steamed cabbage koftas. To make more interesting, I made Chetinad gravy as my family is very fond of Chetinad Cuisine.

I very glad that I went ahead with my idea. 

It came out really well and my family gave me a thumps up for this recipe:)

  
Ingredients

Finely grated cabbage- 1 cup

Yellow moong dal- 1/2 cup

Peeled shallots- 1 cup

Chopped tomatoes- 1 cup

Peeled garlic- 1/4th cup

Tamarind- plum sized

Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder- 1 tsp

Coriander powder- 1 tbsp

Fennel( saunf) powder- 1/2 tsp

Red chillies -2

Fennel seeds- 1 tsp

Mustard- 1 tsp

Hing- a pinch

Salt to taste

Oil- 2 tbsps

Curry leaves- few

Method

Wash and soak moong dal for 2 hrs.

Drain completely. Add red chillies, hing and 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, salt to taste and grind to a coarse paste.

Soak tamarind in a cup of water for 1 hr. Squeeze well and take the extract and kept it aside.

 

 Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan. Add the finely grated cabbage. Sauté for few mins till the raw smell goes and it’s partially cooked.

Take off the gas and add the ground dal paste to this and mix well.

  
Grease a plate ( I used idli plate). Make balls of the cabbage and dal mixture. Arrange on the greased plate and steam the balls for 10-12 mins or till its cooked ( if you insert a tooth pick, it should come out clean).

Keep it aside.

  
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in pan. Add the garlic. Sauté for few seconds and the add the shallots. Sauté till the shallots turn slightly golden. 

  

Now add the tomatoes, turmeric powder, chilli, coriander and saunf powder and little salt to taste. Sauté for few mins and then add the tamarind extract and 1/2 cup of water. Let it boil for 10 mins. 

  

Cool the gravy and grind to a smooth purée.

Add 1/2 more cup of water and mix well.

Put it on the gas and start adding the steamed koftas one by one. Let it cook in the gravy for sometime. Once the koftas start floating, it means that it’s ready.

  

Heat the remaining oil in a pan. Add mustard. Once it starts spluttering, add saunf and curry leaves. Sauté for few seconds. Pour over the gravy.

Serve the koftas hot with roti / paratha or rice:)

   
   
  

Zucchini and Pineapple in Coconut Kadhi

I saw a Burmese soup recipe in a cookery show. It was very healthy, interesting and something different. It was a coconut milk based soup thickened with besan ( chickpea flour) served with noodles and lot of accompaniments. 

This gave me an idea to make this coconut based Kadhi which I have also served with noodles. It was really very easy to make, colourful, healthy, mild flavoured and delicious:)

  

Ingredients

Chopped zucchini- 1 cup

Chopped carrot- 1/4th cup

Chopped Pineapple- 1/2 cup

Chopped onions- 1/2 cup

Crushed and chopped garlic- 1 tsp

Chopped ginger- 1/2 tsp

Coconut milk powder- 6 tbsps

Besan ( chickpea flour/ Kadalai maavu)- 2 tsps

Oil- 4 tsps

Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp

Jeera powder- 1 tsp

Red chilli powder- 1/2 tsp

Whole red chiles- 3-4

Curry leaves- few

Lemon juice- – tsp

Salt to taste

Peanuts-1 tbsp

Sesame seeds- 1/2 tsp

Boiled corn- 2 tbsps

Cucumber and tomato slices- few

Chopped coriander leaves- 1 tbsp

Method

Heat 2 tsps of oil in a pan. Add chopped ginger and garlic, curry leaves and red chillies. Sauté for few seconds and then add

chopped onions. Sauté till onions turn golden.

  

Now add all chopped vegetables and pineapple. Mix well. Add salt to taste, turmeric, red chilli and jeera powder. Mix well and sauté for a min. Add 1 cup of water and let it cook till the vegetables turn tender.

  

Mix 6 tbsps of coconut milk powder with 11/2 cups of water without any lumps. 

Add it to the vegetables. Let it boil. Check for seasonings. 

  

When it starts boiling vigorously, add the besan mixed well in 1 cup of water. Mix well and keep stirring for few seconds till its blended well. Let it cook till the gravy becomes thick and creamy and oil starts floating on top. Mix the lemon juice well and switch off the gas.

  

Heat the remaining oil in another pan.

Add peanuts, sesame seeds and sauté for few seconds. Then add the boiled corn, hing, pinch of salt and red chilli flakes. Cook till the peanuts become golden.

  

Pour the garnish over the curry, garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve the Kadhi hot over a bed of noodles or steamed rice, garnished cucumber and tomato slices:)