Celebrating 250th Post With Condensed Milk Delight (Microwave Method)

Condensed Milk Delight is a quick dessert. It just requires three ingredients and a microwave oven. This dessert comes to your rescue when you are pressed with time. 

I got this recipe from a food group (posted by Chandrika). She had just given the recipe but not name. Hence I gave a name of my own :-) I was amazed at the simplicity of the recipe and wanted to try it soon. Hence thought of posting it as my 250th recipe. No doubt the taste was good. It tasted like a peda and trust me if you have a sweet tooth, you will end up eating more (don't forget that its high in calories).

Ingredients:

• Condensed Milk- 1 can (397g)
• Milk Powder- 5 Tbsp
• Ghee (clarified butter)- 3 Tbsp
• Almonds, Pistachios, Saffron- For Garnish (optional)

Procedure:

Take a big microwave safe bowl (bigger the bowl, better it is)

Now put the milk powder, condensed milk and ghee into the bowl.

Mix well to get a uniform mixture. Then microwave it on high for 6-8 minutes. Stir the mixture for every two minutes (keep an eye on the mixture. There are high chances of the mixture spilling out after 3-4 minutes. My mixture got spilled twice and its hard to clean up the mess). 

The mixture after 6-8 minutes turns pale brown in color and becomes little thick. As it cools down, it thickens further.

Transfer the mixture into a clean bowl. Condensed Milk Delight is ready!!

Garnish it with chopped nuts and saffron. Serve it hot or cold. Above measurement serves 3-4 people.

Note: If you don't have a microwave oven then try making it on stove top. It might take a little longer and a little more effort.

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Masala Puri

Masala Puri is a very popular Indian street food. People always prefer to eat this chaat either at the street vendor or at a restaurant. But I always like making it at home (as usual). I got this recipe from a very good friend of mine and have been making it for more than a year now. Posting this recipe was in my to-do list since a long time. It is not that difficult to make this chaat. Clicking the pictures was a challenge for me. Whenever I made either I would be too lazy to click the pictures or the final product would vanish within few minutes :-) This time I was very much determined to click a picture of each step.

This chaat is a favorite of ours and all the effort it takes in making it is worth at the end:-) You will realize it once you make it. So try it soon:-)

Ingredients:

For the Masala:

• Green Peas (dried)- 1 cup
• Onion, medium sized- 1
• Tomato, big sized- 1
• Potato, small sized- 1
• Red chilli powder- To taste
• Garam Masala- 1 tsp
• Oil- 2-3 tsp
• Salt- To taste

For Toppings:

• Papdi/ Puffed Chaat Puris- 18-20
• Onion, chopped- 1/3 cup
• Cilantro, chopped- 3-4 Tbsp
• Thin Sev- 1/2 cup
• Date- Tamarind Chutney- As required
• Green Chutney- As required (I didn't use)

Procedure:

To Make Masala:

Soak the green peas for 6-8 hours and then cook it in a pressure cooker, in enough water for three whistles (add salt before you close the lid of the cooker). I also cooked the whole potato (de skinned) along with the green peas.

Chop the onions and tomato.

Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onions.

Fry until it turns light brown. Then add chopped tomatoes.

Mix well. Sprinkle little salt and continue heating until the tomato becomes mushy.

Then turn off the heat and allow this mixture to cool. Then make a paste of this mixture without adding water.

Add this paste in the same pan and start heating it.

Heat it for 3-4 minutes, until it loses some moisture. Then add the cooked peas along with water (save a fistful of the cooked green peas).

Mix well. Let this mixture come to a boil. Meanwhile make a coarse paste of the saved cooked green peas. Also mash the cooked potato using your hand or using a fork. Now add the coarse paste of cooked green peas and mashed potatoes to the above mixture.

Mix well. Then add red chilli powder and garam masala. Check for salt at this point. If this mixture has boiled for a good time then turn off the heat. The final consistency of the masala should be medium thick (not too thick or watery). Now the masala is ready.

Next comes the assembling part:

Arrange the chopped onions and cilantro on a plate. Also put the sev (I used store bought one), date- tamarind chutney and green chutney in small bowls.

Now arrange the papdis on the plate as shown below. I used the store bought ones (if you are using puffed chaat puris, then crush them lightly using your hand).

Now put the prepared masala all over the papdis (or crushed puffed puris), as required.

Then add the date- tamarind chutney, green chutney, chopped onion, chopped cilantro and sev, one by one (amount of each item to be added is personal preference. Add accordingly).

Masala Puri is ready!!

Serve it immediately once assembled. Above measurement serves 2-3 people.

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Surna Koota (Elephant Yam Curry)

Surna Koota is a popular Konkani dish. In konkani, Surnu means elephant yam. It is commonly used vegetable in southern parts of India. I got this recipe from a cook book written by Jaya V Shenoy.

I tried it for the first time as I could lay my hands on this root vegetable (it is not commonly available in the place where I stay). It turned out very good. The speciality of the dish is, the coconut based masala is not cooked and later mixed with the crispy suran pieces.

Ingredients:

• Elephant Yam/ Suran- 250g
• Grated Coconut- 2/3 cup
• Roasted red chillies- 4-5
• Tamarind- A small ball (gooseberry sized)
• Asafoetida- 2-3 pinches
• Mustard seeds- 1 1/2 tsp
• Oil- 2 tsp
• Curry leaves- few
• Salt- To taste

Procedure:

Remove the skin of the elephant yam and chop it into small cubes.

Then start frying these cubes (on a medium flame) in a pan with 1 tsp of oil. Sprinkle little salt all over.

When it is frying, prepare the masala.
For the masala: Fry 3/4 tsp of mustard seeds in few drops of oil for a minute and finally add the asafetida. Turn off the heat.
Now grind grated coconut, roasted red chillies, tamarind, salt along with roasted mustard seeds and asafoetida to get a smooth paste. Add water as required. Masala is ready.

Now check if the elephant yam is well fried (It should turn golden brown). It has to be constantly stirred to avoid burning. Once done turn off the heat.

Now, transfer the masala into a serving bowl. Adjust the consistency by adding water (I made it medium thick). Now add the fried elephant yam pieces to the masala. Mix well.

For Seasoning- Heat oil and add mustard seeds. Once it starts spluttering add curry leaves and turn off the heat. Add this to the prepared gravy. Mix well. Surna Koota is ready!!

Serve it with rice. Above measurement serves 3-4 people.

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Tomato Saaru (Coconut Based)

Tomato Saaru is a very popular South Indian dish. It is generally served with rice. Some people also like to drink as it is. 
I got this recipe from a FB group. It is very easy to make and the seasoning takes it a different level as ghee is used. 

Ingredients:

• Tomato, big sized- 2
• Grated Coconut, fresh/frozen- 1/4 cup
• Ginger- 1/2 inch piece
• Garlic pods, big sized- 3-4
• Roasted red chilli- 2-3
• Green Chilli- 1-2
• Cilantro/ Coriander leaves- 6-7 sprigs
• Salt- To taste

For Seasoning:

• Ghee- 1-2 tsp
• Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves- Few
• Asafoetida- A pinch
• Dry Red chill- 1

Procedure:

Give a rough chop to the tomatoes.

Then grind the chopped tomatoes along with grated coconut, ginger, garlic, roasted red chilli and green chilli to get a fine paste. Transfer this paste to a cooking pot and add water as required to adjust the consistency (don't make it too watery). Add salt to taste.

Then bring it to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, continue heating for 3-4 minutes and turn off the heat. Then add the chopped cilantro and mix well. Finally add the seasoning.

For seasoning: Heat ghee and then add mustard seeds. When it starts spluttering, add asafoetida, curry leaves and broken red chilli. Mix well and turn off the heat immediately. Add this to the tomato saaru. 

Tomato Saaru is ready!!

Serve it hot with rice. Above measurement serves 3-4 people.

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Batate Song (Spicy Potato Curry)- Version 2

Batate Song is a very popular Konkani dish. This dish is usually made very spicy. Few months back, my MIL's sister had made this for us. Even though it was spicy, I loved it. It tasted a bit different than the regular Batate Song. I noted the recipe and tried it myself. It turned out very good. 

There are two other variations of batate song, posted by me. One is my mother's version which is coconut based and the other one is my MIL's version, which is non- coconut based. We love all the three versions but given a choice, I love the curry prepared by my mother. She makes the best one:-)

Ingredients:

• Potato, medium sized- 2
• Onion, medium sized- 1 
• Dry Red Chilli (Byadgi variety)- 7-8
• Tamarind- Small lemon sized
• Coriander seeds- 1 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds/ Methi- 1/4 tsp
• Oil- 2-3 tsp
• Salt- To taste

Procedure:

Peel and slice the onion.

Then cook the potato in a cooker or microwave oven or stove top, until its well cooked yet firm. Then chop them into bite size pieces.

Now heat 1-2 tsp of oil and then add the sliced onions. 

When the onions are getting cooked, fry the red chilli, coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds in few drops of oil, separately (roast them on a low- medium heat until they turn light brown. Burning the spices will make the curry bitter). Allow them to cool. Then grind these roasted spices along with tamarind and salt, to get a fine pate. Add water as required.

Once the onion turns light brown, add the masala.

Mix well. Then add the chopped (cooked) potatoes.

Add water just enough to make a thick gravy. Adjust the amount of salt at this time. Allow it to boil. Once it comes to a boil, turn off the heat.

Batate Song is ready!!

Serve it hot as a side dish to rice, undi, idli, panpolo, dosa or any roti of your choice.

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Oats- Almond Ladoo (Jaggery Based)

Oats- Almond Ladoo is a healthy jaggery based recipe. It had been ages since I bought Oats, jaggery and sesame seeds. Hence wanted to use them in some way. I took some inspiration from my favorite ladoo- Laaye pitta Undo and came up with this recipe. The end result was really good. I was totally happy, not only for using up those ingredients but also for the success of my ladoo.

This ladoo doesn't demand lot of ghee and most of the ingredients used are healthy. Its a guilt free ladoo to satisfy one's sweet tooth :-)

Ingredients:

• Almond/ Badam- 1/3 cup
• Quick Cooking Oats- 1 cup+ 2-3 Tbsp
• Dark Jaggery/ Antu Bella- 3/4 cup
• White Sesame seeds- 1/4 cup
• Cardamom Powder- 1/2 tsp
• Ghee- 2 tsp+ extra for greasing 

Procedure:

Take the almonds.

Now start dry roasting it on a medium heat, for 2-3 minutes.

Then transfer it to a plate, for cooling. Then cut them into slices.

Now in the same pan, dry roast the sesame seeds, for 1-2 minutes and then transfer it to a plate.

Now, in the same pan dry roast the oats for 2-3 minutes and allow it to cool.

Then make a coarse powder of the oats.

Next step is to melt the jaggery. The jaggery I used looked like this (This jaggery is very soft and is specially used to make ladoos, burfi, chikkis. This jaggery gives good binding and has a distinct taste).

Now start heating the jaggery on a medium flame along with 4-5 Tbsp of water. The jaggery begins to melt and starts to boil.

Continue heating till the end point. To know the end point, add 1-2 drops of melted jaggery in a small bowl containing water, for every 2-3 minutes. The jaggery should form a firm drop and it should turn little hard. Once this consistency is reached, turn off the heat immediately. Then add the roasted chopped almonds, sesame seeds, cardamom powder, ghee and mix quickly.

Then add the coarse powder of oats and give a good mix until everything comes together. Allow the mixture to cool (until you can handle the heat). Remember that the mixture hardens as it cools. So it has to be formed into ladoos as soon as possible.

Once it is ready to handle, take a small amount of the ladoo mixture in your greased hands and make a ladoo. Repeat the same for the rest of the mixture. I made a total of 13 ladoos.
Oats- Almond Ladoo is ready!!

Store them in an air tight container. It stays good for more than a week.

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