Raspberry Iced Tea | Raspberry Ice Tea Recipe

Hi mates, so I am back after my short vacation trip to Venice & Pisa. It was really hot at this time of the year there & I have had its effects too, the nasty tan ;) But we did have a great time there walking around the entire city through the calle (alleyways) & travelling in their water boats, which by the way is their main mode of transportation like the bus & train in other cities !! And not to forget the exquisite cuisine, we experienced sea food at its heights there with a wide variety to choose, ranging from lobsters & king crabs to squids & giant prawns & the local sole fish. All contended & tummy & heart filled, I reached back with a slight fever & cold. So not much of cooking happening now. It's just some hot kashayam brewing & light food to munch on, so I am utilizing that to post an iced tea recipe that has been in my drafts for quite some time now :)

Raspberry is one fruit that I find very difficult to eat as such :D But it's benefits are too great to ignore this fruit - antioxidant rich, fights cancer & even increases metabolism rate & cuts down that extra fat :) So I decided to somehow include it in our diet. That's when the google search yielded this beautiful Iced tea recipe. And Deeps is a die hard fan of iced tea or any drink of the tea & coffee family & that made me all the more excited to try this awesome drink. It's pretty simple to brew up & a lip smacking drink when served chilled with ice cubes. Sip it over while you munch your evening cookies & you will definitely want to make more soon :)

I Took: 20 minutes

Serves: 5-6 glasses

I Used:

Raspberry	-	2 cups
Sugar	-	⅓ cup
Water	-	4 cups
Tea Bags	-	5 tea bags

The Way:

1. In a saucepan bring 2 cups of water & the raspberries to a boil. Reduce the heat & allow it to simmer for 3-5 minutes. Then strain it & discard the pulp. Keep aside
2. In another saucepan bring 2 cups of water to a boil.Stir in sugar until dissolved
3. Remove from heat. Add the tea bags & steep for 5-8 minutes. Discard the tea bags. Alternately you can add tea dust or leaves too. If then, strain the tea leaves/dust
4. Add the raspberry juice to the tea mixture. Chill them in refrigerator for 3-4 hours & serve with ice

Cheers,

Chitz

Chinese Almond Cookies - Baking Partner Challenge #13

Here comes yet another beautiful challenge from the Baking Partners. This time it's cookies from around the world & I chose to go Chinese with these beautiful Almond cookies. I have baked Ameretti cookies (Italian) before, so I was sure that this would also be acceptable to our taste buds. And as I had expected this tasted crunchy & great with the lovely almond flavor. It's very easy to make & I found the method quite similar to the Indian flat bread 'Chapathi/Roti' :) Try this out as your yummy tea time snack !

Recipe from here

Makes: 8-12 cookies

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Refrigeration Time: 1 hour
Baking Time: 20-25 minutes

I Used:

All purpose flour	-	¾ cup + 1 tbsp
Butter	-	4 tbsp
Sugar	-	¼ cup
Almond paste	-	2 ½ tbsp
Baking powder	-	½ tsp
Vanila Essence	-	½ tsp
Grated lemon zest	-	1 tsp
Salt	-	¼ tsp
Egg	-	1 tbsp
Beaten egg white	-	of 1 egg
Almonds	-	8-12 no

The Way:

1. In a large bowl sift together all purpose flour, baking powder & salt together. For even mixing sift for two or three times
2. Beat the egg nicely & keep aside
3. In another wide bowl cream the butter until pale yellow. You can use an electric mixer or whisk. I used whisk
4. Add ¼ cup sugar, almond paste, lemon zest & amaretto (or vanilla essence) & mix until it is smooth & lump free
5. Now add about one third of the beaten egg and mix well. Now gradually add the flour & mix well until everything is fully incorporated. Use hands instead of whisk while incorporating flour
6. Transfer the dough into a parchment paper & refrigerate it for about an hour
7. Preheat the oven to 175 degree C in conventional mode. Adjust the rack to the lower third of the oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper
8. Once the dough is chilled, prep your working surface with 1 tbsp of sugar. Roll the dough over the sugar and then make small balls out of it (like you do for Indian flatbread or chapathi)
9. Flatten out the balls into cookie shapes of your desired diameter & thickness using your palm. Place them two inches apart on the prepared baking sheets
10. Brush each cookie lightly with beaten egg white and press a whole or chopped almond into the center of each 
11. Bake for 15- 20 minutes or until golden brown around the edges
12. Remove the baked cookies from the oven and allow to cool  to room temperature before serving

Notes:

Almond paste is nothing but powdered almond. Grind around 15-20 almonds in a mixie to get the above mentioned almond paste

Cheers,

Chitz

Simple Tur Dal Tadka | Pappu South Indian Style

Tur Dal & tomatoes tempered with Indian tadka

My idea of comfort food? That which takes me less time, I say less than half an hour to prepare & that which leaves me & my stomach (at times waistline too;)) happy. This is one of that kind for me. When I am very hungry or very lazy I can make this, rasam & a simple stir fry & enjoy the meal contentedly :) Usually I would have dal with rice as the first course & then dal+rasam with rice as my second course ! That's the kinda combination that makes me go gaga about :) So let's see how this simple tadka a.k.a pappu can be made.

Recipe Source: Ma

I Took: 30 minutes

Serves: 2 persons

I Used:

Tur Dal	-	½ cup
Tomato	-	1 no - medium sized
Tamarind	-	A bluberry sized
Garlic	-	3 cloves
Green Chilly	-	2 no
Turmeric powder	-	½ tsp
Salt	-	As Needed

To Temper:

Mustard - ½ tsp Urad Dal - 2 tsp Red Chilly - 2-3 no Asafoetida - ½ tsp Curry leaf - A sprig Oil - 1 tbsp

The Way:

1. Soak tur dal in water for 20-30 minutes
2. In a pressure cooker add the tur dal, diced tomato, tamarind, crushed garlic, slited green chilly, turmeric powder & salt. Add enough water & pressure cook for 3-4 whistles or until the dal is done
3. Mash the cooked dal well
4. Heat oil in a pan. Splutter mustard. Add the remaining ingredients under 'To Temper' & fry well. Take care not to burn 
5. Add the tempering to the mashed dal & mix well

Serve with rotis or steamed rice

Cheers,

Chitz

Vazhakka Payar Upperi | Kaya Achinga Mezhukkupuratti | Long Beans & Raw Plantain Stir Fry

 I am always in love with this veggie Achinga Payaru. It's called by different names in different parts of the world like Thattai Payar or Long beans or String beans. Make a simple stir fry out of it & it would just taste awesome with steamed rice & a kootan/gravy. Or have it as a side for the night kanji/rice porridge, that would also taste divine ! I learned this combination stir fry from my Mil. It's very easy to make & healthy & tasty too.. So let's see how it's done !

Recipe Source: Mil

Serves: 2~3 persons

I Took: 25 minutes

I Used:

Long Beans/Achinga Payar	-	1 cup - cut into long pieces
Raw Plantain/Vazhakka	-	1 cup - diced
Green Chilly	-	2 no
Curry leaves	-	A sprig
Mustard	-	½ tsp
Oil	-	2 tsp
Salt	-	As Needed

The Way:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Splutter the mustard. Add slited green chilly & saute
2. Add the diced raw plantain & saute for a minute or two
3. Add the cut long beans & curry leaves & salt, mix well. Cook covered over medium fire till the vegetables are done. Give an occasional stir to make sure they do not get burned

Pair up with steamed rice & a gravy of your choice or rice porridge.

Cheers,

Chitz

Event Announcement of International Food Challenge { IFC } - A joint effort of Shobana and Saraswathi

International Food Challenge is evolved out of similar interests, passion in exploring all the cuisine from all over the world. As a result,  Saras of www.sarasyummybites.com and Shobana of www.kitchensecretsandsnippets.com  have teamed up to welcome  foodies , our talented food bloggers  to join in this mission to learn , explore the world cuisine  along with the heritage every country possess  and get to know some ideas what every country has to offer with respect to food . I am proud & elated to be a part of this new venture & explore cuisines & recipes that I would normally only try out at a restaurant. So do you want to join me now? See below for more updates !

How it works:

The host and the founders  are the one’s  who will go through the cuisine of the given month and they will narrow down the results to 3 top most recipes.  In  the beginning of every month, say on 1^st, the host of the given month will let out all the three recipes  in detail along with the link and the members have to select the one they like and should submit the challenge on the said date, which is 30/31^st of every month.

The best presented dish gets the privilege of being the cover picture of our Facebook page for the whole month along with their copyrights. How cool is that !!

Do u have the urge to learn the world cuisine as simple as that, u want to try some new dish one at a time,  then, what’s stopping you foodies, come join us  let’s form a  group and let’s get started.. Yay !!!

Join our FB group HERE to get in touch with the event as well as for the latest updates.

Cheers,

Chitz

Chicken Masaledar | Spicy Chicken Masala Recipe

Chicken cooked over slow fire in onion paste & Indian masala

 Looking for a simple & easy chicken recipe? Here is the one for you. No coconut, no tomato, no elaborate methods, just a curd marinated chicken slow cooked in pureed onion & the common India masalas. I made this to pair up with my Coconut Milk Rice. It tasted awesome, spicy enough for the rich rice & blended perfectly with it. This recipe is from my mom's old cookbook, the one which I talk about quite often ! Let's say that was her blog during her younger days. I enjoy cooking dishes from it coz they always turn out perfectly well for me & also it makes me nostalgic. Nostalgia part is because I used to pen down the recipes in the diary for her. See, I had a very good handwriting when I was young, so she let me write it down for her. There are almost 200 odd recipes in it & this time when I went on for vacation I xerox-ed the entire diary & took it with me ! So look out for more recipes from that diary here at my space. Let's now see how to make this tasty & spicy masala chicken..

Recipe Source: Ma's Ole Cookbook

I Took: 30 minutes + 1 hour for marination

Serves: 2-3 persons

I Used:

Chicken	-	250 gm
Onion	-	1 no - big sized - sliced
Green Chilly	-	2 no
Ginger-Garlic Paste	-	1 tbsp
Curd	-	¼ cup
Lemon Juice	-	1 tbsp
Red Chilly Powder	-	1 ½ tsp
Coriander Powder	-	2 tsp
Turmeric Powder	-	1 tsp
Garam Masala	-	1 tsp
Pepper Powder	-	½ tsp
Oil	-	2 tbsp
Salt	-	As Needed

The Way:

1. Clean & cut the chicken into pieces. Marinate the pieces with curd, lemon juice, ½ tsp turmeric powder & salt for 1 hour
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the sliced onions & fry till it becomes golden brown. Remove from fire. Cool & grind it to a fine paste
3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan or wok. Add the ginger-garlic paste & crushed green chillies & fry for a while. Take care not to burn
4. Add the ground onion paste & fry for 1 minute. Now add the red chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala & pepper powder & fry well
5. When masala leaves the side of the pan, add the marinated chicken pieces & cook on slow fire till the chicken is tender 

Serve hot with chapathi/tandoori roti/jeera rice/coconut milk rice

Cheers,

Chitz

Coconut Milk Rice | Thengai Paal Sadam | Thengapal Sadam | Coconut Pulav

Coconut Pilaf using Coconut Milk

This is yet another winner recipe from my mom & which always makes me drool just thinking about the dish. It has been a favorite of my friends too, especially for many of whom who had not come across this variety rice before ! Rich in it's own way without much ghee or nuts & raisins & flavored with the Indian whole spices this one is a perfect one pot meal for me. Pair it up with a spicy chicken gravy, ahh bliss !! I have never tried a veg side dish for this one, but I feel dal tadka or any other dal recipe for that matter would be apt. So without much chattering, let's move on to the recipe :)

Recipe Source: Ma

I Took: 30 minutes

Serves: 2-3 persons

I Used:

Basmati Rice	-	1 cup
Thick Coconut Milk	-	1 cup
Water	-	1 cup
Onion	-	1 no - big sized - sliced
Green Chilly	-	3 no - slited
Garlic	-	7-8 cloves
Cinnamon	-	An inch piece
Clove	-	2 no
Cardamom	-	2 no
Bay Leaf	-	2-3 no
Oil	-	1 tbsp
Ghee	-	1 tbsp
Salt	-	As Needed

The Way:

1. Rinse the basmati rice & soak in water for 10-15 minutes
2. Extract the coconut milk from coconut if using fresh one. For this recipe I used ½ a medium sized coconut to extract the milk
3. In a pan, add 1 tbsp oil & add the soaked rice (without the water) & fry very gently for about 2-3 minutes. Keep this aside
4. Heat another pan or pressure cooker. Add 1 tbsp oil & 1 tbsp ghee. Add the whole spices - cinnamon, cardamom, cloves & bay leaf. When it starts to crackle add the green chillies & garlic
5. Saute till the garlic gives out the flavor. Now add the onions & salt & saute till it becomes translucent. Keep the flame low & take care not to burn or change the color of the onion else it will be reflected in the rice
6. Now add the rice. Give a gentle mix & add the coconut milk & water. Cover the vessel & cook till the rice is done. Or pressure cook it till done. Mine was done in 1 whistle

Serve with a dal or non-veg gravy of your choice :)

Notes:

• I used India Gate Basmati Rice for this recipe
• The rice:liquid ratio is 1:2. Hence used 1 cup coconut milk & 1 cup water. Alternately you can use 1 cup thick coconut milk & 1 cup thin coconut milk or 2 cups of thick coconut milk depending on how rich you want the rice to be
• You can add 2-3 leaves of mint/pudina for an extra zing & aroma. But I have not added here
• Garlic is added for easy digestion as the coconut milk & ghee here makes the rice a heavy dish. You may reduce the quantity of garlic if needed. The quantity mentioned in the recipe gives out a subtle flavor & aroma & does not make it too strong

Cheers,

Chitz