Carrot Custard | Carrot Custard Pudding | Carrot Custard Kheer

This recipe screams childhood memories in my head.. I was very much averse to sweets till my little one was born. There were very few sweets or sweet dishes that I liked. If I remember correctly all that I liked was my amma's gulab jamun and this carrot custard and my ammooma's (grand ma's) occasional pineapple kesari and athirasam.. That too once in a blue moon and not regularly. This carrot custard was my fav.. And actually there is a funny story to this custard.. 

Once during my exam days (I think during 7th grade) my mom made Carrot Pongal (will try to post this recipe too soon) and Carrot Custard for lunch. That day I had my exam in the afternoon. I had a hearty meal and went to the exam and passed with flying colours. In fact I was the school topper (all divisions of that grade put together) that time. Somehow it stuck in my mind that it was the good omen of this carrot custard (good faith you see ;)) and used to bug my mom to make it at least once during each exam. Now that i think about it, I feel so embarrassed and funny. But my mom used to oblige :D , she's a gem you know... So I make it once in a while now to reminisce those days and again in the good faith that I can sneak some milk into my little one's diet.. But no, he doesn't seem to enjoy this as I do.. But that doesn't stop me from making them you know.. So for all those sweet lovers out there and for those who want to try a different kinda dessert, here comes the recipe.

Preparation Time : 5 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 minutes

Recipe source : Ma's Ole Cookbook

Serves : 6-8 servings

I Used:

Boiled Carrot paste	-	100 gm (about 2 big long carrots)
Milk	-	500 ml
Sugar	-	4 tbsp
Custard powder	-	3 tbsp
Cream	-	1 tbsp

The Way:

1. Peel the skin of the carrot. Rinse it well and chop them into small pieces. Now pressure cook them for 2-3 whistles or till cooked

2. Allow them to cool. Then take the boiled carrots in a mixer jar and grind them to a smooth paste and keep aside

3. Mix the custard powder in a little milk (about a tbsp) and make a smooth paste

4. Boil the milk with sugar

5. Add the carrot paste and stir nicely. Allow it to cook well for about 5-6 minutes. Keep stirring in between so that it doesn't get burnt

6. Add the prepared custard to the carrot-milk mixture and boil for 2 minutes stirring continuously. Else lumps will be formed

7. Now add the cream and mix well. Switch off the flame

8. Remove from fire and allow it to cool. Then refrigerate it or an hour or more and then serve chilled and garnished with nuts of your choice

Notes:

• Instead of pressure cooking the carrots, you can grate them and saute in ghee and then add boiled milk and sugar to it and then continue from step 5. In that case cook a little longer for the carrots to get cooked well. This will be more of a kheer kind than pudding
• I made these with the Delhi carrots as I get them more than the normal carrots nowadays but I like it better with normal carrots
• If the carrots are not very sweet, then add little more sugar to balance the taste
• If the pith of the carrots are that green or light yellow in colour, it can ruin the tatse of this dessert. So either discard them or make this pudding with nice sweet carrots

Cheers,

Chitz

Methi Matar Malai | Punjabi Methi Mutter Malai Recipe | Restaurant style methi mattar malai recipe

Blame it on the Instagram.. I had been drooling on the pics of the 'Methi Malai Matar' posted by many of the friends and so when I got hold of some fresh methi leaves and fresh green peas, I too set about to make some.. I always have a stock of malai in my fridge coz I make ghee at home from them. And I paired the yummy tasty methi malai matar with some hot phulkas and my lunch was done. Even Dhruv was licking off the gravy and had an extra chapathi that day ;) That's how this dish is.. creamy, sweet and mild even for a toddler. It's full of the fresh flavours of winter and gives you a rich yummy side dish for those soft phulkas and leaves your tummy full and content.. So why don't you too make use of the winter produce an make some of this yummy gravy?

The other methi recipes that might interest you would be Methi Paratha, Aloo Methi & Methi Dal

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 30-40 minutes

Serves : 3

I Used:

Methi/Fenugreek leaves	-	1 cup chopped leaves (refer notes)
Matar/Green peas	-	½ cup
Fresh Cream	-	4 tbsp
Oil/Ghee	-	2 tbsp
Sugar	-	1 tsp (refer notes)
Salt	-	As Needed
Water	-	As Needed

To Saute & Grind:

Oil Cumin seeds	- -	1 tbsp 1 tsp
Onion	-	1 big sized sliced
Ginger - Garlic paste	-	1 tbsp
Green Chilly	-	1 no
Cashews	-	2 tbsp
Khus Khus/Poppy seeds	-	2 tsp

The Way:

1. Pluck the fenugreek leaves and discard the stem. Rinse the leaves in water nicely for 2-3 times so that all the mud and dirt sticking onto the leaves get removed

2. Then soak the leaves in salt water for 10 minutes to remove the bitterness of methi. This step is optional. You can omit this step if you do not want. After 10 minutes, squeeze the leaves in your palm to remove water. Then chop them finely and keep aside

3. In a pan take the fresh green peas. Add little water and salt and boil them for 10 minutes. If using frozen green peas you can skip this step. If using dried peas, then pressure cook them for 3-4 whistles or till cooked

4. In a pan, heat oil. Splutter cumin seeds

5. Add the sliced/chopped onions and green chilly and saute till they turn translucent. Don't brown them much as the gravy will turn deeper in colour

6. Now add the ginger-garlic paste and saute for another 2-3 minutes till the raw smell goes away. Now switch off the flame and allow them to cool

7. In a mixer jar, take the sauteed mix, add the cashews and poppy seeds (khus khus) and grind them to a smooth paste. If you are not able to grind, add little water and grind

8. In a non stick pan/kadai heat oil. Add the ground paste and salt and saute. Keep the flame on low and saute for 2-3 minutes

9. Then add the chopped methi leaves and give a nice stir. Add little water (around 1/2 cup) and mix well. Simmer and allow to cook or 3-4 minutes

10. Then add the boiled peas and cream. Mix well. And allow it to cook in low flame for another 5 minutes. I used homemade malai (collected from boiled milk). If using homemade malai, freeze it and then whip it nicely before adding to the gravy. If using store bought cream add it as such without whipping

11. Now add sugar (optional) and mix well. Remove from flame. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with hot phulkas

Notes:

• To reduce the bitterness of the methi leaves, soak the leaves in salt water for 10 minutes. But if you can, omit this step as the nutrients will be lost by soaking the leaves in salt water
• You can skip sauteeing the onions if you want. Just grind all the ingredients under 'To Saute & Grind' without sauteeing and then cook the ground paste for about 10-15 minutes till the raw smell and taste of the onions are gone
• If using homemade malai, freeze it and then whip it nicely before adding to the gravy. Using fresh malai from milk or using homemade malai whithout whipping will not give you that creamy texture

Cheers,

Chitz

Homemade Butter | How to make butter at home from milk | Homemade Makhan

Making food/food products from scratch gives me so much satisfaction. It is fun for me & I enjoy it to the core. And once I get the final outcome right, I am all like a happy little girl, smiling and celebrating. But it is not like that for many people. They feel it's a waste of time and effort and you can indulge in so many other activities if you have that time ! Earlier during my initial days of marriage I used to try very often to make butter & ghee at home, but used to fail miserably. All those times I used to ask my mil how to make it & try it on my own. Finally, once when she came to visit us, I asked her to make and show me. Then I learnt the nuances of ghee making & then there is no stopping me. 

I am a regular at ghee making now at home, that I stopped buying ghee from outside. I still buy butter as I use all of my homemade butter to make ghee as I use it for DD a bit more and not to mention for our weekly biriyani routine ! When I am writing this blog post what I remember is that during my preggy days my mil used to make this butter at home and send me and ask me to eat 1 spoon daily. That is coz she and her sisters strongly believe that eating butter daily while you are pregnant can help you get a normal delivery and the kid will be as soft and spongy as a butter :) But I did not share that belief and not only that I did not like the smell/taste of the unsalted butter during that time ;)  So this might be a slightly lengthy post because I used to feel very bad when I couldn't get this right initially. So I'm sharing all the tricks & tips that I learnt so that you guys have a happy butter/ghee making time :)

Recipe Source: Amma

Makes: 1 cup butter from close to 3 cups cream/malai

Serves: 2-3 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

I Used:

Cream collected from milk / Paal Aadai / Paal Paada	-	3 cups
Water	-	As Needed

The Way:

1. Boil milk on a medium flame. When it starts to boil and raise, simmer the flame and again allow to boil for 2-3 minutes. Then leave it aside and once it cools down, you can see a thin layer of cream on top. 

2.Refrigerate the milk for 3-4 hours. Now, you can see that thin layer of cream has transformed to a thick layer of creamy cream :) Scoop out that thick layer of cream and store it in another container. It is ok if few tsp of milk also come along while you scoop the cream. But if you find more milk or find it hard to separate the milk alone, then use a strainer.

3. Keep collecting the cream for 2 weeks. Ensure that you refrigerate the collected cream. I keep the container in fridge. Whenever the cream is ready, I take out the container, transfer the cream and stash it back in the fridge. 

4. I boil 1 litre of milk daily and collect the cream. At the end of 2 weeks, it gave me nearly 3 cups of cream. This cream can also be used while preparing gravies that calls for cream. Before using it, just give it a whisk so that no lumps are there and it gives a creamy smooth texture.

5.  Once you get a considerable amount of cream (at least 1 cup) or once the container is full, you can make butter and ghee from this cream. Take 1.5 - 2 cups of water in the mixie jar (big wet jar). Add 1 cup of cream to it. Do not add more as it may not have the space to churn up well. I do the churning up in 2-3 batches.

6. Now use the pulse option and pulse it for 15-20 seconds. Or you can run the mixie on the lowest speed for 20 seconds. Do not run it for more time as it can heat up the cream.

7. After about 4 pulses I could see the butter getting separated from the buttermilk. Separate the butter and buttermilk and store in 2 different containers. Clean off the milk solids if any in the butter by running it under water. 

8. Now in the same mixie, add water and repeat the steps from 5 to 7 for the other batches of cream. Every time use new water. Do not use the old water that has turned to buttermilk to churn out butter for a new batch of cream. It may not work. 

9. Transfer the butter to a container and refrigerate it till further use. My mil stores the butter immersed in water in a container in the refrigerator. I do not know the logic behind this, but maybe it is for it to remain solid or for a longer life, I'm not sure :)

Notes:

• You can also collect the malai/cream from curd and use that as well. Alternately, you can collect the cream from milk and add it to curd and store and then make butter out of it. But I do not prefer that way. 

• Instead of using a blender/mixie to churn out butter you can also whip it up using a traditional mathu. But it takes more time. In this method, the downside is a messy mixie which takes a bit of your time to clean up. 

• You can use the buttermilk to make moru curry, pulissery or in whichever recipe that calls for buttermilk

• My mil uses the buttermilk to make kondattam molagu (sun dried green chillies that is used as pappad). Specifically the water from the buttermilk. If you leave the buttermilk collected after churning undisturbed for sometime, you can see that some water will settle down at the bottom (Not always, happens mostly when there are more number of batches of cream to be churned). She uses this water for soaking those green chillies for kondattam molagu. And the upper buttermilk part is spiced up with ginger, greenchillies, hing, salt and curry leaves and whipped in a mixie and served chill on hot summer days ! 

• I use desi cow milk and so collect the malai from that milk. And my mil uses packet milk. So it works well with any milk that you use

• If you are travelling out and would be switching off the fridge (if not, there might be power cuts too), then use up the cream before your trip. It will be all rotten and wasted before you are back. This happened with me twice. Sometimes the smell would be very mild and you wouldn't even notice but it might have spoiled and it makes a very messy mixer to clean if you attempt to churn butter out of it!

Cheers,

Chitz

Mughlai Chicken | Murg Mughlai

Chicken cooked with onions & spices and served with cream & almond sauce

I love cooking chicken.. That's an ingredient which will almost always guarantee taste, unless you mess with it that badly :D  So here I am, to tell a tale of my recent success story - "Mughlai Chicken".. My mom used to make this a long ago, when the entire family was in the prime of our healthy & extra indulgence of cream & nuts were a routine.. Ahh, Bliss !! Mughlai Chicken, Butter Chicken, Chicken 65.. the list was never ending. It had been a long while since I had this, so I succumbed to the craving & went ahead & prepared it.. Suits best with Rotis & Naan, but not a crime if u pair it up with steamed rice coz it again tastes great ;)

What I loved the most was that, my kitchen was smelling awesome after I cooked this.. The smell of ghee mixed with our Indian spices & cream.. Yupz.. I was loving it ;) B\ut the only minus is that I can't make it a routine in my menu, coz of the extra calories that I wud have to burn out.. Only if tasty dishes were healthy & nutritious to the core !! So enoough of my ramblings about this dish, let's check out how this is made :)

Recipe Source: Adapted from here & here

Serves: 2-3 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

I Used:

Chicken	-	400 gm
Onion	-	1 medium - grated
Ginger-Garlic paste	-	2 tsp
Cinnamon	-	An inch piece
Cardamom	-	2 nos
Red Chilly powder	-	1 tsp
Coriander powder	-	1 ½ tsp
Cumin seed powder	-	½ tsp
Garam Masala	-	2 tsp
Cream	-	3-4 tbsp
Egg	-	1 no
Almonds	-	15 no
Sugar	-	1 tsp
Ghee	-	2 tbsp
Salt	-	As Needed

The Way:

1. Blanch the almonds - Soak the almonds in hot water for 5 minutes & then remove their skin
2. Grind the almonds to a fine paste & keep aside
3. Heat ghee in a pan over medium heat. Add the grated onions & fry them till they become translucent
4. Then add in ginger-garlic paste, cinnamon & cardamom. Saute well till the onions turn golden brown & the raw smell goes off
5. Now add the chicken (Refer notes below) and mix well so that the chicken pieces are smeared with the onion paste. Add salt and ½ cup water and cook till the chicken is half done. This may take around 12-15 minutes
6. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together cream, eggs, sugar & powdered almonds thoroughly. Use a whisk to thicken, if the cream is liquidy
7. Lower the heat once the chicken is half cooked. Add the cream mixture to it
8. Cook on low flame until the chicken is cooked & tender for another 5-7 minutes
9. Garnish with flaked almonds if u wish :)

Serve with hot phulkas or Naan :-)

Notes:

Instead of adding chicken pieces directly, you can grill it & add to the sauteed onions which would give you an extra zing. Marinate it for half an hour with red chilly powder, salt, turmeric, lemon juice & a little curd before grilling :)

Linking this to the event 'Flavours of Cusines - Mughlai' hosted by Shruthi & started by Julie

Cheers,

Chitz

Cream Fruit Salad

Assorted fruits & nuts in Cream

This is a post that has been in my drafts for a week, the one which I had planned to post before I started to India. But in the hurry burry of the packing & cleaning & last minute shopping & preparations, I did not get time. Yes, this was a sudden twist in the normal vacation plan of ours. We had to start 2 weeks ahead of our anticipated plan & that too in a notice of 5 days.. So u can imagine the work package that come with it :D But anyways happy to get an extended vacation & enjoyment in the scorching heat of South India !! 

So back to the post, this is a very simple & quick dessert that can be prepared with the available fruits & nuts at hand. I had it at my friend Rameena's place & immediately fell in love with it. And so one day when I had a craving I messaged her for the recipe.. I knew it was a simple one, but wanted to get it right, exactly like hers ;) You know, this is an easy way to feed fruits to kids & also even adults too !! So, off to the recipe ;)

I Took: 20 minutes

Serves: 4 ppl

I Used:

Cream - 300 ml Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp Sugar - 3 tbsp or As Needed Mango - 1 no Apple - 1 no Honey dew - ½ a normal sized fruit Almonds - As Needed Cashews - As Needed Raisins - As Needed

The Way:

1. Whip up the cream with sugar & vanilla essence till it gives a nice foamy texture
2. Cut the fruits into cubes as for fruit salad and add it to the whipped up cream
3. Add the chopped nuts and give a mix. This tastes more heavenly when you roast the nuts in a little ghee before adding to the whipped up cream
4. Refrigerate for an hour or overnight as time permits & serve chilled

Notes:

You can use any fruit & nut of your choice. I used the ones that I had available that day !!

Cheers,

Chitz

Palak Paneer

Spinach pureed & cooked with chunks of cottage cheese

Hello friends.. It's spinach time. Last week I got hold of a fresh bunch of palak and I couldn't resist myself from making the special of any dhaba 'Palak Paneer'. This time I had them with chapathis as I was a little lazy but the next time I make it, I wanna have it with peas pulav. 

Whenever I come across Palak Paneer, I remember the 'girls vs boys' contest I and my friends had in office. Me and my mates went for grocery shopping together, after office one day and both the girls and guys got palak. We girls made palak paneer and took it to office the next day. And we started off like 'This is the perfect palak paneer and lo-lo'. Then the guys challenged us that they can do better than us. They were very confident as they had our friend - the Delhi guy in their side. And yes, they did bring palak paneer the next day and we all enjoyed the gravy again :D And to the contest - both the girls and boys team believe that they surpassed the other.. What to say, just another excuse to enjoy food na ;) So here goes the recipe which can be enjoyed with chapathi, paratha, peas pulav, vegetable biriyani :)

My other spinach recipes are Cheera Parippu Curry, Cheera Thalippu, Sirukeerai Paruppu Masiyal, Vallarai keerai Poriyal, Chembila Mezhukkupuratti, Chembin Thandu Parippu Curry & Cheera Thoran

Recipe Source : Ma's Cookbook

I took: 45 minutes 

I Used:

Palak	-	1 bunch
Paneer	-	150 g (Cubed)
Onion	-	200 gm
Tomato	-	200 gm
Cumin seeds	-	½ tsp
Green chilly	-	4 silted
Ginger Garlic paste	-	2 tsp
Chilly powder	-	2 tsp
Coriander powder	-	4 tsp
Turmeric powder	-	½ tsp
Cumin powder	-	1 tsp
Salt	-	As needed
Cream	-	4 tbsp

The Way:

1. Wash and clean the palak 
2. Now blanch the palak. For this boil water in a pan. When the water boils add the palak. Close the pan with a lid and simmer for 3-4 min. Finally drain the water and grind the palak to a smooth paste
3. Heat oil/ghee in a pan. Fry the paneer and dip the in hot water for a few seconds and keep aside
4. Heat oil in a wok. Add cumin seeds
5. When it splutters add onion and fry till it turns golden brown in color
6. Then add ginger-garlic paste and saute well
7. Add tomato. Saute till the mix is dry 
8. Add green chilly, chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, salt and ½ a glass of water. Mix well 
9. Put in the palak and the paneer cubes. When the gravy comes to a boil add cream
10. Garnish with coriander leaves

Notes:

• The paneer can be added without frying also
• If you are frying the paneer in oil, don't forget to dip in hot water. Else it makes the paneer harder
• Can substitute cream with milk

Cheers,

Chitz

Pineapple Delight

Pineapple Biscuit Pudding

Colorful, cheery looking dessert :D, rite ?? This was yet another favorite childhood snack of mine. I was not much a fan of biscuits or fruits back then. But this pudding used to set my spirits high. And I still don't remember where my mom got this recipe from, but her making them and me and my sis ogling at it is still etched in my memory. My mom used to save the cream which she got from boiling milk everyday. And when it was of a considerable amount for the pudding, we would have a pudding day !! Wow.. I simply love those days. 

This one is definitely easy to make and requires no cooking. So if you want to try out some  new dessert for your weekend party, here goes the recipe.

I Took: 30 minutes

Serves: 4-5 servings

I Used:

Pineapple	-	½ a medium sized one
Sugar	-	¼ cup
Marie Biscuits	-	16 nos
Cream	-	300 ml
Cashew nuts	-	15-20 nos
Almond	-	15-20 nos
Pista	-	15-20 nos
Glazed Cherry	-	To decorate

The Way:

Prep Part:

1. Cut pineapple into square pieces, preferably around the same width as that of the biscuits.
2. Mix the sugar and water in a pan and boil till the sugar melts. Add the pineapple pieces to the sugar solution and keep for a while for the pineapple to absorb in the sweetness.  
3. You can ignore the above 2 steps and use tinned/preserved pineapples
4. Chop the nuts finely using a knife or a blender.

Assembling Part:

1. In a pudding dish, line the pineapple pieces. 
2. On top of it, line the biscuits after dipping them in the sugar solution. Use the sugar solution used for the pineapple or the sugar syrup in the tinned pineapples.
3. Add cream on top of that and sprinkle in the nuts.
4. Repeat the above order and decorate with chopped cherries on top.

Refrigerate the pudding for about 2 hours. Serve cold :-)

Slice out a full portion of pineapple-biscuit-creamy nuts and enjoy the treat.

Cheers,

Chitz