Mango Mousse

  

Ingredients:

1 Cup mango puree 

1 Cup fresh cream

1 packet Mango jelly powder

1/3 Cup Hot water

To decorate:

Whipped cream (I used store brought one; if you are using freshly whipped ones dont forget to add powdered sugar to the fresh cream while whipping)

Chopped mangoes 

Method:

Open the mango jelly powder into a bowl and add 1/3 cup hot water to this. Mix it well.

Then, add in the mango puree and mix until well-incorporated. Keep this aside.

Pour the fresh cream into a mixing bowl. Whip the cream with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes or until you get medium stiff peaks. 

Now, gradually fold your whipped cream into the mango mixture with a rubber spatula, working in three batches.

Then divide the mango mousse into the serving glasses and let them chill in the refrigerator for about 3 hours.

Once they're chilled, take them out and top with some fresh chopped mango and whipped cream. Enjoy!

Coconut Pannacotta with Caramelised Pineapple

 

Ingredients:

Coconut milk : 400 ml Can

Fresh cream : 300 ml Can

Caster sugar : 3/4 Cup

Cold water : 1/3 Cup

Gelatin : 1 Tbsp

Vanilla essence : 1 Tsp

Pineapple essence / Coconut essence : 1-2 drops (optional)

Pineapple - 1 Can

Caster Sugar - 2-3 Tbsp

chocolate shavings (optional)

Method:

Place cold water into a small bowl. Sprinkle over gelatin and keep it aside.

Place coconut milk, cream and 3/4 cup of sugar into a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves (do not boil). Remove from heat. Add the vanilla essence and pineapple essence (if using). 

Add Gelatin mixed with water to coconut milk mixture. Whisk well to combine.

Pour in coconut mixture to 12 x 1/4-cup capacity dishes or molds. Cover and refrigerate for 5 hours, or overnight if time permits, until set. 

Chop the pineapple to small pieces. Place these pieces to a non stick pan along with the juice in the can and cook till it becomes soft (Adjust the sugar depending on the sweetness of pineapple). Cook till the juice evaporates and the color changes slightly brownish. 

Turn pannacotta onto plate.  Serve along with pineapple. Can add chocolate curls or sauce or chopped berries. 

Smash a Strawberry 🍓

After a looooong break I am back with few strawberry recipes. 

In Australia, we came across with ‘Strawberry Sabotage’ recently. To overcome this situation and to stand with strawberry farmers, ‘Smash a Strawberry’ Challenge  is going on. Myself along with our friend Emie Roy took up the ‘Smash a Strawberry’ Challenge and did these recipes for SBS-Malayalam. We can smash strawberries (or cut it) and use it for making few yummy dishes. ☺☺☺

SBS Malayalam audio link: Easy Strawberry Recipes

Thank you Emie for your support. You can read more details regarding this in Emie’s post. Smash a strawberry and shoot it!

Strawberry Muesli

Ingredients

Rolled oats :​1 cup

Apple, coarsely grated(or chopped) : ​1/2

Vanilla flavoured yoghurt :​1/3 cup

Strawberry flavoured yoghurt : ​to serve

Apple juice :​1/3 cup 

Coconut milk : ​1/4 cup 

Vanilla essence : ​1 tsp

Ground cinnamon :​1 tsp

Sliced strawberry: ​to serve

Quick strawberry jam

Strawberries :​250g, chopped

White sugar :​2-3 Tbsp (depending on the sweetness of the strawberries) 

Lemon juice :​1 Tbsp

Method

Combine oats, apple, vanilla yoghurt, apple juice, coconut milk, vanilla and cinnamon in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in fridge overnight to soak. 

Meanwhile, to make the strawberry jam, combine the strawberry, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 7-8 mins or until strawberry breaks down and releases its juice. Cook for a further 2 mins or until mixture is a jammy consistency. Remove from heat. Set aside for 30 mins to cool. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge to chill. 

Add 2-3 Tablespoon Strawberry Jam to each glass. Top with oats mixture. Arrange the Strawberry slices around side of each glass. Top with strawberry yoghurt. And addfewdrops of strawberry jam on the top and serve. 

Strawberry Pancake

Ingredients

All-purpose flour :​1 cup 

Brown  :​3 Tbsp

Baking powder :​2 Tbsp

Salt :​1 tsp

Egg :​1

Milk :​1 cup

Vegetable oil :​2 Tbsp

Vanilla extract :​1 tsp

Strawberries :​1 cup chopped

Strawberries: ​to serve

Method

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Pour in the milk, oil, egg and vanilla, and mix until well blended. Stir in the strawberries. 

Heat a pan over medium heat, and coat with butter or cooking spray. Pour batter into desired size of pancakes. Flip with a spatula when bubbles appear in the centre. Cook until golden brown on the other side. Serve with fresh strawberries, honey or maple syrup

Strawberry Salad

Ingredients

white sugar​: 3-4 Tbsp

paprika​:​1 Tbsp

vegetable oil:​ ​4 Tbsp

Vinegar :​ ​4 Tbsp

Red Capsicum :​1

Baby spinach leaves  1 handful washed and dried

Strawberries:​10, halved

Nuts : 1 handful

 

Method

Whisk together the sugar, paprika, oil and vinegar. Refrigerate until chilled.

In a salad bowl, combine the spinach and strawberries. Drizzle with dressing, toss lightly and serve.

Strawberry Cream Popsicle

Ingredients

4 cups strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced

3 tbsp water

3 tbsp sugar or honey

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method

In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the strawberries, water and sugar. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until the berries soften and remove from the heat.

Allow the strawberries to cool completely and then crush it using a blender (don’t puree it too much).

Once the mixture is cool, whip the cream and vanilla together for about two minutes to make a soft peaks. Fold in the strawberries and then pour into the moulds.  Freeze for 4 hours or until set.

Notes

Whipped cream can be replaced with flavoured yogurt. When grinding strawberry add 1 cup flavoured yogurt and blend it together. 

Homemade Gulab Jamuns

Ingredients:

For the dumplings
Milk powder : 1 1/4 cup
All purpose flour : 1/2 cup
Baking soda : 1/4 tsp
Cold butter : 3 tbsp
Cold milk (not more than 3 tbsp)

For the sugar syrup
Sugar : 1 cup
Water : 1 1/2 cup
5 green cardamom pods, crushed

Method:

Sugar syrup:
Boil water, sugar and crushed cardamom together for 5 mins and keep warm on low heat.

Jamuns:
Mix together milk powder, flour and baking soda. Add the cold butter and rub it well into the flour.It will change the texture of the flour. Add milk little by little( you may or maynot need all of it) and form a smooth yet firm dough. Divide into 20-25 smooth small balls and deep fry in hot oil.Add the fried dumplings into hot syrup and leave aside for 30 mins.Serve warm or chilled.

Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients:

Gelatin  : 1 Tbsp
Cold Water : 1/2 Cup
Granulated Sugar : 1 Cup
Confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar : 1/2 cup
Salt : 1/4 Tsp
Vanilla extract :1 Tsp

Method:

In a small bowl, combine the gelatin and 1/4 cup water.
Take a baking pan or cake pan and sift a thin layer of the powdered sugar onto the bottom of the pan.

In a medium sauce pan, combine the granulated sugar and the remaining 1/4 cup water and cook it over a medium heat until the sugar is fully dissolved.
Add in gelatin and bring the mixture to a boil over a medium high heat, then removing it from the burner. (Be careful, this stuff puffs up when it boils)
Add in the salt and vanilla extract.

Transfer the mixture to a heat proof bowl and using a hand mixer/stand mixer, beat it on low for about a minute or two. This is to cool the mixture. When the amount of steam leaving the mixing bowl has subsided a bit, turn the speed up. Do this for about 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture has doubled in size. You’ll know it is done when it will be very thick and creamy but not so stiff you cannot work with it.

Pour the mixture onto the sugar-covered flat surface and let it cool. The mixture is very sticky so just smooth it out as best as you can. Dust the top of the marshmallow with another 3 tablespoons of confectioners' sugar and let stand, uncovered, at room temperature until set.

Remove the marshmallow from the pan by first running a small sharp knife around the edge of the marshmallow to loosen it from the pan. Invert the pan onto a large cutting board that has been dusted with confectioners' sugar.

Cut the marshmallow into squares using clean kitchen scissors or a sharp knife. Dip the cut sides of the marshmallows in additional confectioners' sugar. Shake off excess sugar and store the marshmallows in an airtight container, at room temperature

Jam filled cookies:

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour : 2 cups
Salt : 1/4 tsp
Unsalted butter : 1 cup, room temperature
Powdered sugar(confectioners or icing sugar) : 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence : 1 tsp

Filling:
Jam : 1/4 - 1/2 cup ( you can use any jam, I used Plum Jam )
Powdered/confectioner’s sugar for dusting cookies

Method:
In a bowl whisk the flour with the salt.
Beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. Gently stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated.

Flatten the dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill the dough for at least an hour.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 inch (1 cm) thick. Using a cookie cutter cut out the dough.  Place the cookies about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart on the prepared baking sheets. Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out the centers of half of the cookies on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Place the unbaked cookies, on the baking sheet, in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. This will firm up the dough so the cookies will maintain their shape when baked. By this time preheat oven to 170C with the rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned. Let it cool in the baking sheet for 5 min and Cool it completely on a wire rack.

To Assemble Cookies: 

In a small bowl, using a spoon stir jam so that the jam will be softened.
Place the cookies with the cut-outs on a piece of aluminum foil and very generously dust with a thick coating of powdered sugar.

On the bottom surface of the full cookie (top of cookie will face out) spread with about a 1/2 - 1 tsp of jam. Place the cut-out cookie on top and gently sandwich them together, making sure not to smug the confectioners' sugar. If required using a small spoon, fill the cut-out with a little more jam.

Note: You can store the un-assembled cookies for several days in an airtight container.

Cornflour Halwa (in Microwave)

Ingredients:

Corn flour : 1/2 cup
Sugar   : 1 & 1/4 cups
Water   : 2 cups
Cardamom powder : A pinch
Cashews : 10-15
Ghee : 1  tsp
Food color : 1 or 2 drops

Method:

Mix corn flour,sugar,water and food color in a large microwavable bowl, without any lumps. Do not reduce the sugar amount,as it will change the glossy look.

Microwave in high for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes stir it. Again microwave for 8 minutes, stirring in between after every 2 minutes of interval. Stirring in between is very important to ensure even cooking.

By this time grease a plate with ghee.

Mix broken cashew pieces and cardamom  powder to this mixture and pour it to the prepared plate. Let it cool down for 1/2 hour.
Cut into pieces and enjoy!

The whole process is made in microwave high power.
According to oven the cooking time varies plus or minus 2-3 minutes.
Consume within one or two days.

Snowballs

Ingredients:

Maida/All purpose flour -2 1/2 cups
Salt -1/2 tsp
Margarine/Butter-175 gm

Powdered sugar-1/2 cup
Vanilla essence - 1.5 tsp
Cashew nuts -3/4 cup broken into tiny bits

For coating:
Powdered/Icing sugar- 1 cup

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together and form small lime sized balls.
Bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees for 12-15 mins or until pale brown.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 3-5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack. Put the confectioners sugar in a fine strainer or sieve and sprinkle the tops of the cookies with the sugar.Store in airtight tins.

Rasmalai

Ingredients

Rasgullas - 12
Milk - 1 litre
Condensed milk - 3 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Chopped Nuts(pistachio,cashews and almonds) - 10-15 each
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method:

Rasagulla recipe: http://saltnpepper-kitchen.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/rasgullas.html

Note: while rolling rasagulla balls, roll the portions in your hands until a smooth ball is formed and then lightly press the ball until it flattens out. 

Rasmalai:
Soak the pistachios and almonds (if you are using the ones with skin) in half cup of hot water for 1 -2 mins, to blanche them.
Take a wide heavy bottomed vessel, grease it with little ghee and add condensed milk + milk. Bring to a boil and reduce to medium flame. Keep stirring till the milk starts thickening and reduced to half.
Then add the sugar and keep stirring. This mixture is called rabri.
Keep in sim and stir it till it reduces in volume. Add chopped nuts to the rabri and mix well. Add cardamom powder and give a quick mix.
Now finally squeeze the sugar syrup from the Rasgullas gently and add it to the milk, one by one and let it cook in low flame for 5mins till the rasgullas absorb the milk. Switch off , cool completely and then chill it. Rasmalai is ready now. Serve chilled!

Rasgullas

Ingredients 

Rasagullas:

Milk - 1 litre
Lemon Juice - 3 tbsp (or) Curd - 4 tbsp
water - 1/4 cup
Ice cubes - 4 to 5

sugar syrup:
Water - 1.75 cups
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder- A generous pinch

Method:

Heat milk, bring it to boil and simmer it. Mix lemon juice with 1/4 cup water and keep it aside.
When milk starts boiling, add the lemon juice to the boiling milk and stir properly. Stir continuously till the whey water clears and the milk curdles completely. Now switch off the stove, add ice cubes and allow it to melt completely.
Take a muslin cloth and pour the curdled milk,filtering the whey water completely.Wash it well in running cold water to remove the lemon smell and taste. Squeeze the excess water and hang it aside for 30 mins-1 hour without disturbing it.
By then the paneer would be crumbly in texture. Now knead it well for 10 mins. Once everything comes together to a smooth dough, form them into smooth mini/normal lemon sized balls and keep aside. I made around 18 mini balls.

Heat water in a wide bottomed vessel, then add sugar, cardamom powder and keep stirring till sugar dissolves completely. When the sugar syrup boils and starts bubbling, add the balls slowly one by one. Keep in medium flame and close with a lid. Cook for 10 mins opening the lid every 3-4 mins this is to ensure the vapour passes out not allowing the sugar syrup to ooze out. After 10 mins, the balls would be closely doubled in size.This is the stage when your rasgullas are done. Cool it completely and serve chilled.

Kadalamuttai

Ingredients

          Roasted  skinless peanuts  : 1 Cup (crush them coarsely)
          White sugar : 3/4 Cup

Method:

 In a heavy bottomed pan, melt the sugar without adding water. It will turn dark brown in color. As soon as the sugar melts, turn off the flame and add the crushed peanuts. Mix well quickly so that the peanuts are coated with caramelized sugar.

Immediately, pour this over a greased plate/parchment paper, roll it into 1/4" thickness using a rolling pin and mark into desired shapes. Let it cool completely. Break into pieces.