Milky milky milkelicious ..Milchreis!!!
Are you a rice fanatic? I like rice but not to an extend where I would choose it over breads and chapathies….may be that would be the routine of my mom avoiding rice for dinners as my dad was a person who would least prefer rice when it comes to dinner time.But my rice stories have no connections to me having in puddings..Cooking at home my sons are always head over heels over the white payasams/kerealan milk puddings.Me and hus crave for the jaggery one so its more of a weird face that he would put up when i choose the “white ” one.
Now todays post is of a German pudding which was passed on to me by Julian Kloos & Kathrin…which was an equal hit with my hus and kids.The pudding is told to be the best thing to bribe your kids on …:P you have to have your tricks and trades,well thats what I have learnt with my sons..:D
Rice puddings are famous all around the world. Milchreis , the traditional rice pudding from Germany is a very famous pudding. Made with cinnamon , milk and rice it’s a simple recipe that tastes heavenly.The word “Milchreis” basically means Milkrice. This is a pudding basically served to children .It can be topped with any fruit compote. Here I have a recipe with apple compote.
- 200gms of white short grain rice
- 2 cups of milk
- 1 cup of water
- ½ cup of fresh cream
- 70gms of brown sugar
- 1 tsp of vanilla essence
- For the Apple Compote
- 2 apples peeled cored and cut in small cubes
- 2 cups of water
- 1 tsp of lemon juice
- ½ tsp of vanilla essence
- 1/3 cup of brown sugar
- In a heavy bottomed pot cook pour in the milk and water.
- Wash and add in the rice, brown sugar and vanilla essence.
- Cook the rice in the milk on low flame stirring it constantly till it is well cooked and stir
- in the fresh cream.
- For the Apple Compote
- In a sauce pan combine sugar, vanilla essence, water and bring it to boil.
- Add the apples, lower the heat and cover and cook.
- Stir occasionally.
- When the apples are soft add in the lemon juice and let the mixture thicken.
- Remove from heat and cool.
- Serve the milchreis pudding in bowls topped with the apple compote.
- Sprinkle cinnamon powder over it before serving.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Made with love , for the celebration of love..velvety delight!!
The celebration of Valentine’s day gets popular with every passing day .A day dedicated to your loved ones..that’s how its been captioned ..so dedicating this post to my family and my dearest ones ..with loads of love 🙂
The best recipe to try out on Valentine’s day are the Red Velvet cupcakes. Red velvet cupcakes are super moist cupcakes which are mostly dark red, bright red or red-brown in color. The red color is often with adding beetroots or food color.
- 1 ½ cup flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup oil
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp vinegar
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
- 1 tsp of red food colour
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup cream cheese
- ½ cup butter
- 2 ½ cup icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp of vanilla essence
- Preheat oven to 180 degree C.
- Line pans with cupcake liners.
- Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa and salt set aside.
- In a mixing bowl beat egg, oil, buttermilk , red food colour and vanilla essence.
- Fold in the flour mix without any lumps.
- In a small bowl mix baking soda and vinegar till the mix is bubbling, add it to batter
- and mix.
- Pour the batter into cupcake liners bake for 15 mins or till a skewer inserted comes
- out clean.
- Let it cool and top the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a medium bowl add with electric mixer combine cream cheese and butter till
- creamy.
- Mix vanilla &powdered sugar.
- Mix till everything is combined.
- Use frosting to frost the cupcakes.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Sago Gulu Melaka..the easy peasy pudding!!
Off with all the birthday celebrations of my munchkins..both happy to have their birthdays celebrated with their friends…the best part is making time for their wishes and never-ending menus…the twinkle of happiness that their eyes have is so very mystical. They can be the most naughtiest, the best friends worst enemies when stubborn..he he ..its all in the game ..I was the same 😉
Today’s recipes credit goes to Khairul from Malaysia who is a foodie and blogger. I remember the day he had whatsapped me on the availability of classes. It was when he had dropped in with his friends for the class that I knew that he had been for long a follower of my blog…an avid and very much talented foodie! The first time I read about the pudding was long back …it was one afternoon that it struck me that Khairul would have more info on this dessert…
“Sago Gulu Melaka” a local Malaysian dessert. This is a really quick and easy recipe for dessert with just 4 main ingredients. The pandan leaf is known as the vanilla of the east because of its unique aroma. These leaves are used in Indonesian, Singaporean, Filipino, Malaysian, Thai, Bangladeshi, Vietnamese, Chinese, Sri Lankan, Khmer, and Burmese foods, especially rice dishes, cakes, and desserts.
- 300 GMS of Sago (Sabudana)
- 100 GMS of Sugar
- 80 GMS of Palm Sugar (Gulu Melaka)
- 1 tbsp of Vanilla Essence / 1 pandan leaf
- 3/4 cup of Coconut Milk
- Boil 2 litre of water with sago until the sago cooks well.
- Strain the sago in a sieve and lightly wash off the starch under cold running water.
- Place the sago in small bowls, level the top and freeze for about 30 minutes.
- In a saucepan heat the coconut milk till it starts boiling and keeps aside.
- In another saucepan cook palm sugar with sugar and the ¾ cup of water till the sugar
- dissolves with the vanilla essence / pandan leaf and makes syrup.
- While serving separate the sago shapes on to plates and pour coconut milk and
- sugar syrup over it.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Basbousa -the Mediterranean delish!!
Born and brought up in Abudhabi ..I have always had my flair for the Mediterranean cuisine .I still remember how I craved for my Dads parcel of special packed food during the month of Ramadan during his night shifts.This time round when I went to a shopping mall in Cochin I pointed out to my husband the “Basbousa” telling him all stories of what it was.Back home and how could resist myself from baking it..these are some hardcore facts of being a foodie..
Basbousa is a very popular and tasty Mediterranean sweet cake. Cooked with semolina and soaked in simple sugar syrup this cake has different regional names ..in Arabic its Basbousa/Harisa , Turkey its Revani/Ravani, Lebanon its Nammoura , Armenian its Shemali … the roots or the origin of this cake is told to be Turkey .
- For the Syrup
- 1 ½ cup of sugar
- 1 ½ cup of water
- 1 tsp of rosewater
- Juice of ½ lemon
- For the cake batter
- 1 cup of semolina
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 tsp of baking powder
- 2 tsp of vanilla essence
- 1 cup of yoghurt
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup of scraped coconut
- ½ cup of oil
- Almonds for garnish
- In a saucepan boil the water to make the syrup, add in the sugar and stir till it
- dissolves completely.
- Mix in the lemon juice and rosewater and let it cool.
- Preheat oven at 180 degree Celsius.
- In a bowl, beat egg and sugar.
- Add in the yoghurt, oil and sieve in the flour.
- Mix in baking powder, vanilla essence and coconut.
- Transfer to a greased baking dish and bake till the cake is done or for about 30
- minutes.
- Garnish with almonds.
- Pour the sugar syrup over the cake when the cake is still hot.
- Serve when cold.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Celebrate this Diwali.. relish on Papaya Halwa &Khascha !
Diwali/ Deepawali the festival of lights is all set for celebration . The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair. The best part of Diwali is the wide variety of sweets that one can devour! After my post has pretty much lagged out and the reason was that my cam was under service. It was as if I had actually gone handicapped. There was no other choice but to rely on my iphone for my snaps…to tell you the truth that’s when you really feel if you had your cam with u.Its not the pics but my mind that could never as such be content with the pics.
This is my post after the Onam celebration . There was something more that came up during the onam holidays. I was invited over to Mumbai for the 160th Sree Narayana Guru Jayanthi celebrations organized by the Sree Narayana Mandira Samithi at The Sree Narayana Group of Institutions, Chembur during which I was to be felicitated..It was my first time to Mumbai ..an experience in itself. A trip with my inlaws, hus and kids….during the function I was pretty much overwhelmed to meet some of the most wonderful people who really cared for the society!
As its Diwali and its all about sweet things..I have two recipes one is Papaya Halwa and Khascha a sweet snack from UttarPradesh.For the Khascha recipe a big thanks to Pooja ,my home science student at school for sharing their traditional sweets!
- 225 gms of ripe papaya fruit deskinned, deseeded & cubed
- 300ml of milk
- ½ cup of sugar
- 2-3 tsps of ghee
- 1 tsp of almonds & 1tsp of raisins roasted in ghee
- 4-5 strands of saffron
- Blend the papaya with milk to make a smooth paste.
- Heat and keep stirring the papaya milk mix, add in the sugar, saffron strands and
- keep stirring on medium flame till the mix starts thickening up.
- Add ghee on the sides of pan and continue mixing.
- Once the halwa starts thickening add in the raisins and almonds and remove from
- flame.
- If u wants to make your halwa sweeter, add in two tablespoons of sugar while
- cooking. Relish on your Papaya Halwa!
- 1 cup of Semolina
- 1 cup of all purpose flour
- 1 cup of sugar
- 100g ghee
- 150 ml milk
- 2-3 cardamom seeds
- Oil for frying
- Mix in the semolina, flour, cardamom and sugar.
- Slowly pour in the milk and knead into dough.
- Make small balls out of the dough or roll the dough into discs and cut desired shapes.
- Sprinkle flour while rolling as it might quite sticky.
- Fry the shapes out in oil till it is golden in color.
- Munch on these wonderful Khaschas this Diwali!
May the divine light of diwali spread into your Life with peace, prosperity, happiness and good health.Wishing all my friends a wonderful Diwali!
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Celebrating with Badam Halwa!
How should I start off? I am head over heels in happiness that my hard work is paying out as fruits..Ok so I am back in Munnar after a week’s spree tour and happenings in Beijing. The best news that I have to share is that my book has bagged the third place as for the “Best Local Cuisine book in the world.”Gourmand World Cookbook Awards also known as the Oscars of Gastronomy was founded by Edouard Cointreau .To be a part of it was really an awesome experience. Getting to meet the top personalities in person, learning and sharing insights on each other’s books….. It was an experience that I could have not even dreamt of.
I had travelled with my family to Shanghai on the 16th of May and then on the 19th of May to Beijing and our stay was at the Daxing Hotel where the Beijing International Cookbook fair was held. I was very much impressed by the hospitality of the Gourmand staff and the hard work that they had put into the arrangements. As it calls for celebration I thought of sharing a sweet recipe to with my sweet news..so heres the recipe for Badam Halwa…
- 1cup of Almonds (soaked in water and blanched)
- ½ cup of milk
- 1cup of sugar
- ½ cup of ghee
- 1/2 cup of water
- 8-10 strands of saffron soaked in 1 tsp of milk
- Grind the almonds with milk to a smooth paste.
- In a saucepan boil water and mix in the sugar till it dissolves and keep aside.
- Heat ghee till it melts and add in the sugar syrup on low flame and mix in the almond
- paste without any lumps.
- Add in the saffron and keep stirring on low flame till the almond paste becomes thick
- and flaky.
- Turn off the flame and mix in a teaspoon of ghee.
- Devour on your badam halwa!
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Ready for a creamy rice punch with Phirni!
Its half way through the month of December the festive moods are up and in Munnar its getting pretty cold with misty mornings.This post as usual was to be posted pretty early during the Diwali time but the time and tide for this post is only up now.”Phirni” this North Indian dessert served in earthen pots is best served cold if you are craving for a creamy dessert.The happenings in between my posts were that an article on me was in print in one of the leading Womens magazine of Kerala “Grihalakshmi”(November 1st edition) with some of my recipes..
Its been fun with my classes on Kerala cuisine in full swing …meeting new people and learning a lot more from them from food to lifestyle..and treasuring a bond of friendship. Hanny Abdullah a blogger from Malaysia had booked for my classes and it was fun to have them over.A big thanks to Hanny for writing about me and my classes on her blog..
http://www.diarymama.com/belajar-masakan-traditional-india/
Phirni
4 cups of full cream milk
1 cup of sugar powdered
3 tbsp of rice soaked in water for 1 hr , drained & ground into paste
1/2 tsp of cardamom powder
5-10 raisins
1 tbsp of rosewater
a big pinch of saffron soaked in 2tbsp of warm water.
20 almonds blanched , skinned &silvered
10 pistachios blanched, skinned & silvered
Boil milk in a heavy bottomed pot, add rice paste .Stir constantly with whisk, so that there are no lumps .When it is thick and creamy add the sugar and cardamom powder.Add raisins , rosewater and saffron mixture;mix well.Pour into earthen bowls (shakoras) or silver bowls .serve sprinkled with almonds and pistachios.These are best served cold 🙂
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Creamy custard with creamy news :)
For the past two weeks have been wanting to pen down my events in life and as usual have not been able to do much.:P Hmm… where should I start …ok one day I was at school and get a mail with a notification with an invite to participate for an Indian Women Entrepreneurs Expo organised by Times of India.I speak to the people in charge and there goes a zing in my mind to participate for the event.Three days of fun at Abadplaza , Cochin.. totally new experience meeting many talented women in different areas of business.On the last day of the expo I was among the Best Ten Women Entrepreneurs of 2013..:)
I wanted to put up a creamy custardy recipe to give all the creamy effect that the event brought into my life.I was mentioned in writeups in Times of India ,Mathrubhumi and Deshabimani (a Malayalam newspaper) and was interviewed on All India Radio Cochin FM.So for all the good news up I thought of putting up a rich sweet and custardy Parsi recipe bookmarked from Goodfood.
Lagan nu Custard
4 cups of milk
150gms of sugar
6 eggs
400ml cream
1/2 cup of rosewater
50g of raisins
50 gms of almonds
1/2 tsp of cardamom powder
Butter to grease
Boil milk with sugar till it is reduced to 1/3rd of its original quantity.This takes about 20-30 minutes.Cool and keep aside.Preheat oven to180 degree celsius.Whisk eggs briskly and add all other ingredients except raisins to the reduced milk.Stir this into eggs and transfer to a greased baking pan.Bake in the oven for about 50-60 minutes or till a skewer inserted comes out clean and it is cooked.Leave to cool and refrigerate a couple of hours before serving.Cut into desired shapes and serve chilled.The raisins are to be added when baking is half done.
Enjoy your custardy treat 🙂
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Sweeten your taste buds with Milk Peda!
Monsoons in Munnar have been quite hectic this time.Its been about two years since we had such heavy rainfalls.The river was half way to being flooded.Its time to laze out a bit from my hectic schedule as school has closed for the monsoon vacation for a month for us.Yesterday its my bro’s bday …as he’s in Moscow ..here’s mouth melting sweeties wishing u a wonderful birthday!
Malai Peda or Milk peda is a fav with my little one and me.I really love making them at home .These mouthwatering beauties are a fav among my culinary science students at school. Shazia and Shwetha…here’s the long awaited recipe…a treat for holidays!
Milk Peda
2 cups of milk powder
1 tin of condensed milk
3 tbsps of ghee
1/4 tsp of cardamom powder
Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan on medium flame,pour in the condensed milk.Stir in the milk powder and cardamom powder with a wooden spatula mixing without lumps.Keep the flame very low as milk burns very fast and stir till it thickens.Let it cool down and shape them into desired shapes.It is also optional to decorate these milk delicacies with pistachios/cashews/almonds.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Cashew Ladoos -memoir of Diwali!
Diwali -the festival of lights was a last week.Celebration of Diwali is all about firecrackers and sweets..this diwali I wanted to type in one of my most cherished sweets…Cashew Ladoos/Kaju ladoos.This is a very rich sweet made out of cashews.
CASHEW LADOOS
1/4 cup of water
1 1/4 cups sugar
3tbsp milk
1/2 kg cashew nuts
4 tsps of ghee
5-6 strands of saffron
Slightly roast the cashews in a pan and finely powder them in a mixer.Boil water and sugar in a saucepan stirring continuously till the sugar dissolves on low flame.When the syrup starts becoming thick, remove from flame and add in the ghee along with the milk and saffron.Stir it and add in the powdered cashew slowly mixing well.Once the powder is well combined with the syrup ,cook the mix on medium flame stirring till the ghee comes out.Let the mix cool down a little and make small balls out of the mix.
My little ones were gobbling up these ladoos as I made them.Guess after all cashew is an all time fav for all 😉
“Ram! The light of lights, the self-luminous inner light of the Self is ever shining steadily in the chamber of your heart. Sit quietly. Close your eyes. Withdraw the senses. Fix the mind on this supreme light and enjoy the real Deepavali, by attaining illumination of the soul.”
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Hi! I am Nimi Sunilkumar…an award winning cookbook author /culinary demonstrator/freelance writer / food photographer/food blogger …spiced with the flavors of food..
