Navratri Appam for VijayaDashami !
Happy Vijayadashami to all of you!
Dusshera is also known as Vijayadashami and is a major festival that is celebrated at the end of Navratri every year. It is a celebration of the victory of good over evil.
The Vijayadashami day is the tenth and final day of the Navratri celebrations and is considered auspicious for beginning learning in any field.
In Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and coastal Karnataka, Vidyarambham is a tradition observed on Vijayadashami day, where children are formally introduced to the learning of music, dance, languages, and other folk arts. It involves a ceremony of initiation into the characters of the syllabary. People across the country worship nine forms of the Goddess during Navratri. Mostly in Gujarat people play Dandiya and Garba during the nine days of Navratri while praying to the Goddess. However, in the eastern and north-eastern parts of India people celebrate Durga puja with much pomp and fervor.
Navratri Appam is a recipe that was shared with me my mother .She learnt the recipe from a friend of hers. It looks quite similar to the unniyappam the traditional snack in Kerala. This Vijayadashami this was what we kept as an offering to the Goddess.
Navratri Appam
1 and 1/2 cup of Raw Rice( soaked in water for about 1-2 hrs)
Jaggery syrup(for sweetness according to taste-I added about 1cup )
2 ripe plantains peeled and sliced
2 tbsp of butter
1 and 1/2 tsp of sesame seeds(black)
3 tbsp of coconut chips
2 tsp of ghee
Wash the soaked rice and add it to the blender. Add in the sliced plantains, butter and grind into a coarse paste. Transfer the mix into a bowl, pour in the jaggery syrup with regard to the amount of sweetness required. In a skillet fry coconut chips and black sesame seeds and pour into the batter. Mix and leave it to rest for about 4-5 hrs. If you really want to cut down the time mix in 1 tsp of baking powder.
Normally, I would prefer to let it ferment a bit on its own. Once the batter is ready, heat a pan with oil.I have used the Unniyappam pan here to have them all of the same shape and size. Once the oil is hot, pour in the batter and cook it on both sides . Once they turn golden in color, drain them of the oil into a colander or on paper towels.
Serve them warm!
This was my offering for Vijayadashami today for the Puja!
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A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Jamming up Papaya and Pomegranate !
Making jams at home is such a satisfying feeling and I get to use the ripe leftover fruit in the fridge. A few weeks back, my mother-in-law had sent over huge papaya from our farm. I used it along with some pomegranates to make this papaya and pomegranate jam. My younger one is quite inclined on to mango jams that I make when fruits are in season. Jams are fairly easy to make at home and the best part is that they are preservative-free.
I recently made papaya and pomegranate jam and wanted to share details about my process for all of you who want to try making any kind of delicious fruit jam at home. Here in the recipe, I haven’t strained of the pomegranate seed bits as I wanted to have a bite in the jam that I was making.
When you’re making jam with traditional amounts of sugar, you should aim to cook it to 220°F. Here is a tip to check if your jam is ready or not: At the beginning of cooking, put two or three small plates or bowls in the freezer. As you begin to approach the end of cooking, pull one out, and put a small dollop of jam into the middle of the dish. Put it back into the freezer for two or three minutes (take your jam off the heat during this time)
When the time is up, pull the dish out of the freezer and gently nudge the dollop of jam with the tip of your finger. If it has formed a skin on top that wrinkles a bit when pushed, it is done. If it is still quite liquid and your finger runs right through it, it’s not done yet.
Papaya and Pomegranate Jam
2 and 3/4 cup of Papaya puree
3/4 cup of pomegranate puree ( don’t strain out the seeds)
3 cups of sugar (you can reduce the sugar to 2 and 3/4 cups too )
2 tbsp of lemon juice
Heat a pan with papaya puree and the pomegranate puree stirring continuously. Mix in sugar and keep mixing it by stirring . Add in the lemon juice . Continue stirring until you gain the right consistency.
Here is a tip to check if your jam is ready or not. Before you start cooking, put two or three small plates or bowls in the freezer. As you begin to approach the end of cooking, pull one out, and put a small dollop of jam into the middle of the dish. Put it back into the freezer for two or three minutes (take your jam off the heat during this time)
When the time is up, pull the dish out of the freezer and gently nudge the dollop of jam with the tip of your finger. If a skin forms on top that wrinkles a bit when pushed, it is done. If it is still quite liquid and your finger runs right through it, it’s not done yet. You can also try tilting the plate to check if it’s too runny.
Once it slightly cools down bottle it and enjoy 🙂
Making jams at home is such a satisfying feeling and I get to use the ripe leftover fruit in the fridge. Jams are fairly easy to make at home and the best part is that they are preservative-free. Check out this quick Papaya and pomegranate jam. You can find the detailed recipe on the below link ..https://nimisrecipes.com/2020/08/jamming-up-papaya-and-pomegranate/
Posted by Nimi Sunilkumar on Sunday, August 16, 2020
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Pomegranate milkshake for #worldmilkday!
Have a yummy pomegranate milkshake on #worldmilkday today.
20 years ago, World Milk Day was established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations to recognize the importance of milk as a global food, and to celebrate the dairy sector. This fresh pomegranate milkshake is a must-have delight on a hot summer afternoon.
For the past couple of days, it had been pretty sunny and I was planning on using up the pomegranates. Having picky eaters for pomegranate at home this is what they would love having. Do try freezing the milkshakes into popsicles. They are super yum!
Pomegranate Milkshake
Ingredients:
2 medium-sized Pomegranates (deseeded)
2 cups of chilled milk
1/4 cup of sugar (can use honey as well )
2 mint leaves (optional)
Instructions:
Deseed the pomegranate and put it in the mixer.
Add sugar and some chilled milk.
Blend for a few minutes. Add in mint leaves (Make sure you don’t overdo the mint flavor.)
Pour the remaining milk and mix well.
Strain the milkshake and discard the seeds and pour it into serving glasses.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Badam Kheer to celebrate Eid!
In this phase 4 of the lockdown that we are undergoing, hoping that all are safe at home. Be it any festivity ..there’s always a special craving for a dessert. Add a nutty sweetness to your Eid festivities tomorrow with this delicious badam kheer. A rich delicacy like this is a perfect way to celebrate the end of Ramzan. It is very healthy and extremely easy to make.
Follow this step-by-step recipe to enjoy badam kheer this Eid-ul-Fitr.
Badam Kheer
Ingredients:
6 tbsp of semolina
100 gm of sugar
700 ml of milk
20 gm of badam
6 pistas (chopped)
4 cherries (chopped)
Instructions:
Boil and peel the almonds.
Grind them into a paste.
Boil milk and sugar in a pan on low flame.
Add semolina and stir well.
Pour the badam paste into the mixture and stir.
Once the mixture thickens, remove it from the stove.
Pour the kheer halfway into a glass.
Add a layer of chopped pistas.
Now, fill up the rest of the glass with kheer.
Garnish with chopped badam, pistas, and cherries.
Serve warm 🙂
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Baking Challah bread..
Hoping all of you are at home and safe with your loved ones. At times like these, we must unite in our fight against Covid_19 and maintain social distancing….take up these moments to spend more time with your family. I am back to my blogging after a pretty long gap. Things have moved on in the past few months. We might be locked up in our homes but there’s no harm in utilizing these days to strengthen up bonds. Here’s a bread that I had baked today for my family. I am so thankful to Orly Ziv for her wonderful recipe from her award-winning cookbook. We met each other at the Gourmand Cookbook Awards in 2014 and have been friends since then.
320g water
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
World Wide Ebook giveaway & New year wishes!
This festive season with the start of the new year I am launching the ebooks of my award-winning cookbooks “Lip Smacking Dishes of Kerala” (3rd Best Local Cuisine book in the world for Gourmand awards 2013-14) and “4 o’ clock temptations of Kerala” (Best Indian cookbook in the world for Gourmand Awards 2015-16).
I will be giving away 10 ebooks ..make sure to grab your copies by entering the giveaway. If you would like to celebrate the regional flavor of Indian cooking through Kerala cuisine or would like to gift your friend or loved one…
Click here to enter the giveaway
The results will be announced on the 2oth of January 2019
If you would like to get the paperback copies of the books, you can order them here.
Wishing you all the very best!!
Let’s welcome the year which is fresh
Let’s welcome the year which is new,
Let’s cherish each moment it beholds,
Let’s celebrate this blissful new year.
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Mocha Kulfi for Coffee lovers !!
Kulfi is a super popular frozen Indian dessert. Its the Indian ice cream but is much denser and creamier than the regular ice creams. The word “kulfi” was derived from the Persian word for covered cup. Since kulfis are loved by kids, I had posted a Dates and Almonds Kulfi recipe earlier.
Coffee lovers are quite familiar with the cafe’ mocha. Being a true coffee lover, I just love trying out coffee flavored recipes. This was a recipe that I came across in a food magazine a few years ago and having a husband who is crazy on coffee …its quite fun to pop up with different flavors. So today’s recipe is Mocha Kulfi!
Here’s the video link to this frozen delight. Stay tuned and subscribe to my youtube channel for more recipes.
- 2 cups of milk
- 200ml of condensed milk
- 6-7 tbsps of sugar
- 2 tbsps of instant coffee powder or espresso powder
- (Instant Coffee Powder or Espresso Powder)
- 2 tbsps of cornflour
- Boil milk with sugar and stir in the coffee powder .Mix in the condensed milk.Add 3-4 tbsps of water to the cornflour to make a smooth paste .Pour it into the boiling coffee mix and continue stirring .Make sure to stick to stirring the mix as it can easily get quite lumpy .Once the mix starts thickening up , turn off the flame and pour it into kulfi molds or into a deep tray.Freeze the kulfis for about 4-5 hours .When you are trying to demold the kulfis , it best to slightly show it under hot water so that you can easily pull out the kulfi. In a tray you can slice them into cubes and dust with coffee powder before serving .
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Monsoons and Aloo tikkis !
Growing your own vegetables for your daily needs makes food so much tastier. Organic farming is so much into these days. Making use the soil to grow your own vegetables and fruits make cooking much more divine. Born and raised in Abu Dhabi, living a city life, I haven’t actually had a great exposure to farming or growing food during my childhood days. The vacation visits to Kerala to my parent’s ancestral homes always excited me so much. I really awed the moment s when the whole family gets together spending time chatting, cooking, eating …It was a real fun to do things that you were not used to doing. Going fishing in ponds, picking fresh veggies, helping my mother and grandmother in cooking. There’s a flush of memories that flow in when I look back.
After marriage, now a mother to two boys and living in Kerala … I also want to instill in my kids the value of growing their own food. I have a small backyard to the house where I live and every season it’s a different set of veggies that are grown.A few months back I had asked one of our staffs to buy a batch of potatoes for home and the person wasn’t very good at picking up the right potatoes and I ended up having slightly sprouted ones. In two days’ time I had to travel to my in-laws home for family reasons and by the time I was back in my kitchen, it was pretty much all sprouted up. They were all cut up and shoved into the soil. Last week as my husband and kids were plucking some fresh tomatoes from our backyard, I noticed the potato plant and pulled out one to find the potatoes were all ready to be taken out of the soil. We got about 2-3 kilos of potatoes which pretty much a good amount to use up for our home cooking. And yesterday I used some of those to make some really crispy “Aloo tikkis” for my children as a snack for tea time. The rains have started off pretty quick this year round….So it’s pretty much very satisfying to have some hot snacks with chai.
- 3-4 medium sized potatoes boiled and peeled and mashed
- 3-4 green chillies chopped
- ½ tsp of cumin seeds
- ½-1tsp of chilli powder (u can vary it according to your spice preference)
- ½ tsp of turmeric powder
- 2 tsps of coriander leaves chopped
- ¼ tsp of dry mango powder or ½ tsp of lemon juice
- 2 tbsps of rice flour
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying
- In a bowl mix in potatoes, green chillies ,cumin seeds, chilli powder , turmeric powder , coriander leaves , rice flour ,lemon juice or dry mango powder and salt . Pinch golf ball sized small portions, roll and flatten to make patties .Once shaped in to patties, heat oil in a wok and deep fry them till they are golden brown in color. Serve with green chutneys
- 1 cup of fresh mint leaves
- 1/2 cup of fresh coriander leaves
- 2 green chillies
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/4 inch piece of ginger
- 1 teaspoon of lime juice
- 1/2 cup of yoghurt
- salt to taste
- Grind mint leaves , coriander leaves , garlic , ginger and lime juice into smooth paste in a blender.Mix in the yoghurt and salt .Serve it with the aloo tikkis !
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Koki- The Sindhi bread & my food journey !!
India being a country with remarkable diversity has always been the abode to a rich culinary heritage .As a child I always fancied our motherland not sure if it was of me being born and brought up outside India . The vacations were always days that I would wait for our trips to India . Indian cuisine in itself is so vast that you can never get tired exploring .The huge regional diversities from states , to borders to homes is just unbelievable .
With this new post I would also like to share the officially launch my you tube channel “Nimi’s Recipes “.This is an attempt to give a breath of life to some of the recipes that I have loved trying ..Hoping to have your support !!
The recipe that I wanted to introduce today is a Sindhi bread -“Koki”. This Sindhi breakfast is a really good combination with green chutney .
- 4 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 large onions chopped
- 4 green chilies chopped
- 3 tbsp fresh coriander leaves finely chopped
- 2 tsps cumin seeds
- 2 tsps pomegranate seeds
- Salt to taste
- Oil for shallow frying
- In a bowl mix all ingredients except for oil and add water to knead it into a firm dough .Cover the bwl and set aside for about 10-15 minutes .
- Divide the prepared dough into small balls and shape into thick flat patty .Place patties on a warm griddle and roast both sides on a very low heat .Roll these patties into slightly thick round discs and shallow fry in oil , turning to cook both sides.Serve the koki roti with green chutney .
A homemaker who fell head over heels in love with food -an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, award-winning culinary demonstrator
Broccoli Rotis
The best part of staying in Munnar is to get hold of the local fresh veggies . Broccoli is one such veggie that I love to cook with .Soups and salads were my first preferences when I started to cook with them .But it wasnt a big hit with my kids as they rarely fancied them on their plates . Being a mother my first priority has always been to find out ways to include them in the daily diet .The fun part of cooking is to keep innovating recipes .That’s one way that I came up with the Broccoli Rotis which is now a fave with my young one .”Amma , you know these green rotis are much better if you add extra ghee to them …well thats how I want them !” my younger one chuckles and adds on, “But u dont have to add more ghee to my brothers rotis….” with a naughty smile. Hmm ….that was short ignite to the reason for a new fight that started off in a matter of minutes..
I have started posting video recipes on my youtube channel..If you would like to have a look at the video tutorial .You can subscribe
- For the Filling
- 2 tbsp of oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 3-4 green chillies chopped
- 7-8 Broccoli florets
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp of dry mango powder
- 1 tsp f garam masala
- For the dough
- 2 cups of wheat flour
- 1 tsp of ghee
- Salt to taste
- water as required to knead
- Ghee to panfry the rotis
- Mince the broccoli in a blender or food processor .
- Heat oil in a pan , saute onions and add in green chillies .
- Once the onions are translucent add the minced broccoli .Stir add water and salt .Cover & cook till the the water has totally evaporated .Keep aside .
- In a bowl mix wheat flour , salt and ghee .Pour in the required amount of water and knead the mix into a dough .Leave it to rest for about 10 minutes . Now pinch and roll balls out of the dough , flatten them , dust them with wheat flour .Dusting with flour stops it from sticking a lot to the rolling pin .
- Roll them thin .spoon some of the broccoli mix and fold from all the four sides into a square.Dust again with wheat flour and roll them out thin .
- Pan fry the rotis on both sides on a flat pan with ghee.
- Serve rotis with pickles, raita or curries.
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..
