Nimi's Culinary Ventures

A bite into an Apple Crostata for this months DB!

Baking, Breads, Snacks, veg | November 27, 2010 | By

12 comments

Its been quite sometime since I had joined the Daring Bakers..but somethin or the other would pop up when I get ready to post .Well this time at least I wanted to complete my challenge.This months challenge was chosen by  Simona of “Briocle”..a challenge with an Italian touch.Her idea was to introduce Pasta frolla to make wonderful Crostatas.My choice was Apple and Pastry cream Crostata.
To make Pasta Frolla

1/2 cup. minus 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar

1 and 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1 stick [8 tablespoons ] cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
grated zest of half a lemon 
1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl


  1. Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.
  2. Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.
  3. Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it (reserve about a teaspoon of the egg mixture for glazing purposes later on – place in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use).
  4. Add the lemon zest to your flour/butter/egg mixture.
  5. Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.
  6. Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.
  7. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

To make Pastry Creme

500ml Milk
2 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
a vanilla pod
3 tbsp regular flour

 Pour milk into a pan add vanilla seeds and pod and warm to well below boiling point.In a bowl,beat eggs with sugar till mix is bubbly.Sift flour over the eggs and mix well.Pour the mix into a pan and set it to very low heat stirring every couple of minutes.When the froth on top dissapears, the creme starts getting thicker.Cook briefly for 1-2 mins and then remove the panfrom heat,remove the vanilla pod and let it cool in a water bath.Stir the creme to bring down the temperature and to prevent the forming of film over it.

For the Apple Topping

3 tbsp of Unsalted Butter
4-5 tbsp of granulated sugar
Apples sliced

In a pan heat the butter and stir in the sugar till it dissolves.Add the sliced apples and saute till they become soft.

Assembling the Crostata

  1. Heat the oven to 375ºF [190ºC/gas mark 5].
  2. Take the pasta frolla out of the fridge, unwrap it and cut away ¼ of the dough. Reserve this dough to make the lattice top of the crostata. Refrigerate this dough while you work on the tart base.
  3. To help roll the crostata dough, keep the dough on top of the plastic wrap that you had it wrapped in. This can help rolling the dough and can also help when transferring the dough to your pan. You can also use parchment paper for this. However, you can also roll the dough directly on a work surface if you prefer.
  4. Lightly dust the top of the dough and your work surface (if you’re rolling directly on a work surface) with flour. Keep some flour handy to dust the dough as you go along.
  5. If the dough is very firm, start by pressing the dough with the rolling pin from the middle to each end, moving the rolling pin by a pin’s width each time; turn the dough 180 degrees and repeat; when it softens, start rolling.
  6. Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8th inch (3 mm) thick.
  7. If you used the plastic wrap or parchment paper as rolling surface, flip dough over the pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Peel away the plastic wrap.
  8. Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around.
  9. Prick the bottom of the dough in several places with a fork.
  10. Blind bake the dough in the oven for about 20- 25 minutes.
  11. Let the pasta frolla to cool completely.
  12. Spread the pastry creme on top of the dough and the apple toppings on top of it.
  13. You can use the reserved pasta frolla to decorate with strips or to cut out shapes on it.
  14. Now place the crostata in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes .

Let it cool before slicing.Serve with whipped cream.Hope u all be looking forth to try this out…:)




An Eggless Indulgence!

Desserts, veg | November 8, 2010 | By

9 comments


Our “sweet punch ” for this month was with a  twist with three wonderful recipes to choose from and my choice was Nigella’s Eggless  Instant Chocolate Mousse!Well this is my second attempt on this choco indulgence..:)It was in every an instant dessert..  Thanks   Ria  !
If u r ready for a choco attack this is the best remedy!














Eggless Instant Chocolate Mousse:
Mini marshamallows – 150 g 
Butter-50 g, softened
Chocolate- 250 g 
Hot water-60 ml
Cream-284 ml
Vanilla extract- 1 tsp


In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the marshmallows,butter,chocolate and water together, stirring every now and then.

Meanwhile, whip the cream with vanilla until thick.

Fold it into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth mixture. 

Pour into individual ramekins and let it set in the fridge for about 1 hour.


Five Dal Curry a Health Star!

Curries, Indian recipes, veg | September 26, 2010 | By

10 comments

I think I have been a bit too lazy to do my posts in my last days.After my battle in household chores ..I feel like lazin out.Last day I came across a recipe in a local magazine for the diet conscious people.I tried out this recipe as a curry with chapathis for dinner.The mixture of 5 dals gives us the protein content as a bonus.A person gets about 93 calories.Hope you’ll find this recipe helpful..

15 gms of Green gram split
15 gms of Split gram
15 gms of Black gram split
15 gms of Bengal gram split
15 gms of Lentil
1/4 tsp Cumin seeds
1 Large onion chopped finely
1 tsp of Red chilli powder
1/2 tsp of Turmeric powder
1/4 cup of curd(made from skimmed milk)
1 tomato diced into small pieces
1 tbsp of coriander leaves chopped
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
Salt to taste

  • Mix all the dals together in a bowl,pour water and let it soak for 1 hour.Wash and seive them out.
  • In a heavy bottomed vessel lightly fry the cumin seeds without oil.Stir in the diced large onions and fry them till they turn pink .
  • Pour 1 litre of water and add the dals into the vessel.Cover it with a lid and let it cook.
  • When the dal is cooked add in the chilli powder,turmeric powder,tomato and salt.
  • Add in the curd and let it simmer till the tomatoes have been cooked.
  • Stir in the garam masala powder and garnish with coriander leaves. 

MANOHARAM -the crispy jaggery balls!

Appetizers, Indian recipes, Snacks, Sweets, veg | September 15, 2010 | By

9 comments



These crispy balls although a bit time consuming are worth trying out because they are sweet ,crispy and worth drooling.This blogpost of mine goes to the ICC.

1 cup Moong dal
2 cups of raw rice
salt to taste
2tbsp ghee
oil for deep frying
1cup jaggery powdered




  • Wash and soak rice for 15 minutes.Drain and let the rice dry for 30-40 minutes.Powder the rice finely.
  • Slightly heat and powder the moong dal into a fine powder.
  • Measure 2 cups of rice flour with 1 cup of moong dal flour and mix in  a bowl.Rub in the ghee so that it gets incorporated well.Add water and knead the flours to make a smooth dough.
  • Heat oil in a kadai.
  • Fill the idiyappam presser or potato ricer to press out the dough into the oil.In the idiyappam presser you can use the disc with 3 holes.
  • Fry out the murukku and place them on absorbent tissues to soak out the excess oil.
  • When cooled,break the murukkus into tiny bits.
  • In a pan pour some water and add the powdered jaggery.Bring it to boil so that the jaggery has been dissolved.Pass the jaggery syrup through a strainer to seperate the scum.
  • Bring this syrup again to boil till the syrurp thickens.Drop a few drops of the syrup into a cup of water and if the syrup can be easily rolled in to a ball,the consistency is correct.
  • Remove syrup from fire and add the bits of murukku briskly stirring to coat the jaggery evenly on the murukku bits,
  • When the heat is manageable grease your palms and roll the mix into small balls.

Manoharam is ready to be served! 









A late GOLDEN ONION QUICHE!

chicken, Non-veg, veg | September 13, 2010 | By

7 comments

Hi foodies..its my late post for the “sweet punch” team.I have missed my blogging for the last two months.I couldn’t update mostly anything as I was quite packed with issues.Now the house maintenance is almost over and guess i can take a deep breath.But theres loads to be  organised…
Heres the recipe for the Golden Onion Quiche!

For the pastry
200g Flour
100g(frozen) Butter
1/4tsp baking powder
salt to taste
1 beaten egg
a few drops ice cold water

  Sieve the flour,salt and baking powder together.Grate in the butter and mix it with flour and mix well with your fingertips till it resembles coarse sand.Add in the beaten egg and water and gather it into a soft dough.Roll it out on a lightly floured surface and lift it up carefully and line the tin(u can use a tart pan or a round pan)tht you will be baking it in.Mak up sure the dough comes a little way up the sides,so that it can fold the filling.

For the filling:
1/2 cup of boiled and shredded chicken / paneer(i used paneer)
250g chopped onions
1 cup milk
100g cheese
3 beaten eggs
salt and pepper to taste
oil
  Heat oil and fry the chicken/paneer till it is golden brown.Add onions and fry till it is carmelised.Switch off the flame,add milk,cheese , beaten eggs, salt and pepper and mix well.Pour in to pastry case and bake for 25 minutes till golden brown.

KARA SEVA the crispy noodles!

Indian recipes, Snacks, veg | July 15, 2010 | By

16 comments

I’m so excited with this post of mine coz this is my first post for the ICC!
Kara Seva reminds me of my college days at Coimbatore .I was a frequent visitor to the Sree Krishna Sweets and Nellai Lala Sweets shop.I used to check out the wide array of sweets..ahh those days seem like yesterday!
The recipe posted is not very spicy .If you want it spicier please increase the amount of chilli powder.

2 1/2 cups of Gram flour
1 cup rice flour
1/4tsp Chilli powder
1tsp coarsely powdered Black pepper
2 1/2 tsp Ghee
a pinch of Cooking Soda
salt to taste
2 pods of garlic crushed
Oil for frying

  • Sieve both gram flour and rice flour into a bowl.
  • Mix chilli powder,pepper powder,salt,crushed garlic ,ghee and cooking soda to make a paste.
  • Make a pit in the seived  gram rice flour and mix in the paste with your hands.
  • Adding water mix it into a dough form.
  • Heat oil in a kadai.
  • Take a portion of the dough and fill it in the idiyappam presser or potato ricer(Thank you Frank for your note!) . Select the disc having large holes for pressing it through an idiyappam presser.
  • Now press the mix into the oil and fry them out when they are golden and crispy.
  • When cooled store them in an airtight container.
  • Tea time is going to be crispier with these crispy noodles!

BANANA DUMPLINGS STEAMED IN COCOA LEAF

Indian recipes, Snacks, veg | May 8, 2010 | By

5 comments

            A snack with a hot mug of tea…is what most of us opt for when the clock ticks 4.The recipe that I am sharing here today is ada cooked in cocoa leaf.If you are quite familiar with Kerala recipes this is an other version of Chakka ada.


Cocoa leaves
2 cups of semolina
5-6 small ripe bananas
1 cup of melted jaggery
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/2 tsp dry ginger powder

  • Pour oil in a pan and fry the semolina lightly in 1tbsp ghee .Let it cool.
  • When the semolina cools, add the grated coconut,ginger powder and pour in the jaggery syrup mixing all the ingridients well to make a soft dough
  • Take a leaf and make a cone .Fill the dough in the cone and make a hole in its  centre.Now secure the filling with the leaf tip.Similarly make the cones out of the leaves and fill them.
  • Steam them for 15 minutes .
  • Open up the leaf and they are ready to be devoured.

THENGA CHORU/ COCONUT RICE

Biriyani, Indian recipes, Rice, veg | April 9, 2010 | By

5 comments

This is one of my favourite rice varities.This is rice cooked in coconut milk

2 cups of basmati rice/long grain rice
4 cups of coconut milk
1 cup of carrots diced(medium sized)
1/2 lemons juice
1/2 tsp aniseed
3 cloves
2 cardamoms
a small piece of cinnamon
4-5 green chillies slit
1 cup of sliced large onion
3 tbsp ghee
1/2 cup of coriander leaves(finely cut)
2 tbsp nuts,2 tbsp raisins and 1/2 cup of sliced onions roasted and kept aside

  • Wash and strain the rice in a colander
  • Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed vessel,add aniseeds,cinnamon,cloves,cardamom ,green chillies,cloves and stir well till an aroma comes.
  • Add the sliced onions and saute’ them well.
  • When the onions are translucent add the carrots and lightly stir it.
  • Add the strained rice and stir well for  a few minutes taking care that it doesn’t get stuck to the bottom of the vessel.
  • Add the coconut milk to the rice and on boiling add the required amount of salt with the lemon juice.
  • Keep it on low  flame with the vessel covered.
  • When the rice is cooked the coconut milk would have completely evaporated.You can see small holes in the rice. 
  • Turn off the flame and garnish the rice with coriander leaves,nuts,raisins and onions fried in ghee
  • You can serve this with curries .
  • My combination with rice was fish curry..

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    WHEAT & SEMOLINA UNNIYAPPAMS

    Appetizers, Indian recipes, Snacks, veg | April 6, 2010 | By

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    This mouth watering snack very much worth trying..

    1 cup wheat flour
    1 cup semolina
    1/2 cup chopped coconut pieces roasted in ghee
    1/2 tsp black seaseme seeds
    2-3 ripe bananas mashed
    1/4 tsp dry ginger powder
    1/4 tsp Baking soda
    a pinch of salt
    1/4 kg jaggery
    • Heat the jaggery pieces in a pan with a little water and melt it.Strain the impurities and keep the syrup aside
    • Mix the wheat flour,semolina,mashed bananas,seaseme seeds,coconut pieces,baking soda,dry ginger powder,salt along with the jaggery syrup adding water to get a batter of dropping consistency
    • Pour and heat oil in an unniyappam pan .
    • Pour the batter into each of the depressions in the pan
    • Turn over the uniyappams with a fork so that all the parts are evenly golden brown in colour .

    CHEERA THORAN/SPINACH STIR FRY

    Curries, Indian recipes, veg | April 6, 2010 | By

    No comments


    Spinach the multi nutrient has always been my fav.Unlike me,my elder son hates spinach .This recipe that I’m putting up is a variation from the usual cheera thoran.Last day I tried it up for lunch ..and I must my kids loved it.

    3 cups finely chopped spinach
    4-5 green chillies(julian cut)
    1/2 cup scraped coconut
    2 eggs(well beaten)
    1/2 tsp mustard seeds
    1/2 tsp urad dal
    1/2 cup shallots(sliced)
    1tbsp ghee
    2 tbsp oil
    Salt to taste
    • In a kadai/wok on flame pour oil pop the mustard ,urad dal and curry leaves.
    • add the green chillies with the shallots and saute them till transparent.
    • To this add the spinach ,salt,and sprinkle about 1/4 cup of water.Cover and let it cook on medium flame for 10 -15 minutes.
    • Stir the spinach well,letting the water content to evaporate.Making a space at the centre of the wok,pour in the eggs and scramble them.
    • When the eggs are scrambled mix it with the spinach
    • Pour ghee ,stir well and add the scraped coconut mixing well.
    • The cheera thoran is now ready to be served!

    Hi! I am Nimi Sunilkumar…an award winning cookbook author /culinary demonstrator/freelance writer / food photographer/food blogger …spiced with the flavors of food..

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