Apple and Peach cobbler

I received these two cans of peaches as a compliment when we were in the mall the other day. At first I was really not sure what to do with them. I had thought o f giving them away to a friend when S suggested that I should bake something with it. At first I thought of baking an eggless cake with the peaches but then I found this recipe in The book called Delectable desserts of the world. This recipe had some simple ingredients and looked enticing. So I decided to give this a shot. I am glad I did because this dessert, apart from being extremely simple to put together, is very decadent and delicious. The flavours of the peaches and apples  along with the biscuit crust compliment each other very well.

This dessert is made up of thick bubbly layer of juicy sweet fruit covered by a crust. The dough for the crust can either be dropped by spoonfuls or it can be rolled and cut into biscuits. Either way, you end up with beautiful golden brown biscuits that are crisp on the outside, soft and flaky on the inside.

I have taken the shots in a hurry so I did not have the time set up the props. So please excuse the photographs

Apple and Peach cobbler recipe:

Preparation time: 20min

Baking time 25mins

Serves- 4

Ingredients:

Canned peaches- 2, 8oz can

Apples-2, peeled, cored and chopped into bite sized pieces

Sugar- 3tbsp

Cinnamon powder- 1/4tsp

Plain flour- 2tbsp

Juice of 1/4 lime

For the topping:

Plain flour- 1 cup

Baking powder- 1tsp

Salt- 1/4tsp

Vanilla- 1/2tsp

Butter- 4tbsp

Cream- 3tbsp

Condensed milk- 3tbsp

Vanilla ice cream to serve

Method:

For the fruit stuffing:

• Drain the syrup from one can and set aside. Discard the syrup from the other.
• In a sauce panMix the chopped apples,  canned peaches, sugar, lime juice and the reserved syrup.
• Mix the cinnamon powder and the flour into the fruit mixture, toss and set it aside.

For the topping:

• Combine all the dry ingredients and the butter and pulse in a blender for 6-7 times
• Add the condensed milk, vanilla and the cream and pulse again for 5-6 times

To assemble the cobbler

• Scoop out a tbsp of the topping mixture and plop them on the fruit mixture. The dough should be patchy and should not cover the entire surface
• Bake in a preheated oven at 220C for 20 to 25 mins till the syrup bubbles on top and the topping is browned.
• Serve warm or cold with Vanilla Ice cream. 

This cobbler is my contribution Nancy's Your best recipe Event

Coconut Khara Kulzhambu

The past few days have been busy enough to keep me away from the blogging world. Since S had his easter break, we were out of the house most of the time. When most of our friends have gone on short trips, we just decided to stay back because we felt that the rainy season is just not right to travel with a tiny tot. We just spent the past few days loitering around the malls or just catching up on some movies at home. It was pure bliss.

Coming to this recipe, this is a low fat version of Sanjeev Kapoors recipe.  The original recipe involved deep frying the egg plants and onions. All though I would enjoy the deep fried version once in while, I would prefer having the low fat version for the every curry. I have made some small changes here and there. Despite the low fat and the changes, the Kulzhambu tasted just as great. This serves as a great accompaniment to both rice and rotis. But I am a wee bit partial to rice. ;)

Coconut Khara Kulzhambu Recipe

Preparation time: 20mins

Cooking time: 20mins

Serves- 4

Ingredients:

Small Eggplants: 6-8

Onion- 1 med, chopped fine

Oil- 2tbsp

Hing- 1/4tsp

Mustard- 1/2tsp

Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Tamarind pulp- 1-1/2tbsp

For the masala paste

Channa dal- 2tbsp

Dried red chillies- 3-4

Coriander seeds- 1 tbsp

Cardamom- 4

Cloves- 4

Cinnamon- 1" piece

Poppy seeds- 1 tbsp

Coconut- 1/2 cup

Method:

• Slit the eggplants into four without cutting through and keeping the stem intact
• Heat 1/2 tsp of oil in a pan and add the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and fry for a min.
• Once the cloves and cardamom puff up, add the channa dal and coriander seeds and fry for  amin
• Add the poppy seeds and fry till it is browned and fragrant
• Add the coconut and saute for a min more
• Cool the mixture completely and grind to a fine paste along with a little water
• Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a separate pan, and add the mustard seeds.
• Once they pop, add the curry leaves and hing and fry till the curry leaves turn crisp.
• Add the onion and fry till they are tender
• Add the Slit eggplants and fry for 2 mins
• Add the tamarind pulp, salt and some water. Cover and cook for 5 mins.
• Stir in the ground paste and mix well.
• Simmer the curry for 15mins till the Egg plants are well cooked.
• Take off the heat and serve hot with rice or rotis.

Oatmeal, nutella cookies

The first time I tasted Nutella was I guess two years back. My sister had got a jar of Nutella all the way from Manipal and made sandwiches for breakfast. Now chocolate for breakfast was and is really not my thing. I remember telling my sister that I would not have that nutella thing for breakfast. My poor sis was so disappointed.

After that episode, I had completely forgotten about Nutella. Until recently, when the whole food blogosphere was celebrating the world Nutella day. I was surprised to see that Nutella was being used to bake or cook a Gamut of dishes. Now that was intriguing. Even though I did not like nutella to be spread on bread, I wouldn't mind having this in a cookie, or a fudge or a smoothie. So there I was buying a jar of nutella on my recent shopping trip. I searched a whole lot of recipes before rounding up on this cookie recipe. Changed the recipe a bit to make it eggless and voila!!  The cookie was ready. The cookies turned out very well. It had the right crunch and the mild chocolatey flavour. and ofcourse the goodness of oats. I am planning to make these cookies again with whole wheat flour the next time. It's that good!!

Oatmeal, nutella cookies recipe:

Preparation time: 30mins

Baking time: 15min

Makes- 20 cookies

Ingredients:

All purpose flour- 1 cup

Quick cooking oats- 1-1/2 cups

Sugar- 1 cup

Butter- 1/2 cup or 8 tbsp, softened

Salt- 1/2tsp

Nutella- 3-1/2tbsp

Baking powder- 1tsp

Almonds or walnuts- 1 cup, chopped

Egg-1 or egg replacer

Vanilla- 1tsp

Nutmeg powder- 1/2tsp

Method:

• In a bowl, beat sugar and butter till fluffy.
• Add the egg or egg replacer and beat again
• Add the nutella, vanilla and beat till well mixed
• In another bowl, mix the flour, oats, salt and nutmeg powder and mix well.
• Add the flour mixture a little at a time to the butter-nutella mixture and mix.
• Fold in the nuts and refrigerate for 10 mins
• Shape the dough into cookies and place them an inch apart from each other on a baking sheet
• Bake in  a preheated oven at 200C for 15min or till brown.
• Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

These cookies are my submission to MizHelen's full plate thursday

Spinach and corn sandwich

Another spinach recipe. But I could not help posting this as this is my favourite sandwich . I had some left over spinach. So I decided to make this sandwich for my breakfast today. 
I had found this recipe sometime back here . From that time on, I make this sandwich whenever I have some spinach and corn. It just takes a few minutes to put this together. Apart from this, it is healthy and tasty as well. This sandwich is one great way to make your kids eat their greens.

Spinach and corn sandwich recipe

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cooking time 10mins

Serves-2

Ingredients:

Spinach- 1 bunch

Potato- 1 small, boiled, peeled and mashed

Fresh or frozen corn- 1/2cup, par boiled

Salt and pepper to taste

Grated cheese- 2tbsp

Bread slices- 4

Butter as required

Method:

• Blanch the spinach leaves. Refresh in cold water, drain and chop into small pieces
• Mix the chopped spinach with the boiled potato and the corn.
• Add the salt and pepper and mix well.
• Spread half of the spinach mixture on one bread slice, top it with a tbsp of grated cheese and cover with another slice
• Spread the butter on both the sides of the sandwich and toast on a hot skillet till brown 
• Repeat the same procedure with the remaining slices and serve hot 

This recipe is my contribution to Aipi and Priya's Tuesday bookmarked recipes

And to Srivalli's Breakfast mela

Palak Paneer- Indian cheese simmered in spinach gravy

It's rainy season in my part of the world. I feel there is something about the rains that makes you want to get pampered. It was exactly how I felt after it rained the whole day yesterday. As luck would have it I had some fresh home made paneer and some fresh spinach. So I decided to put these two together to create this traditional green curry.

Palak paneer is a rich, smooth, creamy curry where Indian cheese si simmered in onion, tomato and spinach based curry and moderately spiced. This smooth, creamy consistency of the gravy, and melt in the mouth paneer and subtle flavour of the spices that goes into makeing this curry, issure to leave you satisfied. This makes an ideal accompaniment to rotis, naan or Steamed rice

Palak Paneer recipe:

Preparation time- 30 mins

Cooking time: 20mins

Serves- 4

Ingredients:

Spinach- 2bunches

Paneer- 200gms

Onion- 2 med, blanced and pureed

Tomato- 1 large- blanched and pureed

Cashew paste- 1/4 cup (3tbsp)

Capsicum- 1

ginger- 1"piece

Garlic- 3cloves

Green chilli-1, slit

Coriander powder- 1/2tsp

Garam masala- 1/2tsp

Turmeric- 1/4tsp

Jeera or cumin seeds- 1tsp

Chilli powder- 1/4tsp

Ghee or oil- 2 tbsp

Cream- 1/4 cup

Salt to taste

For tempering:

Cinnamon- 1", powdered

Cloves- 3, powdered

Method:

• Blanch or pressure cook the spinach for 1 whistle. Cool and grind to a smooth paste and keep aside
• Make a paste of the ginger, garlic and capsicum and keep aside
• Heat a tbsp of ghee in a pan and saute the paneer cubes till brown and set aside
• Heat another tbsp of ghee in a kadhai and add the cumin  seeds.
• Once they pop, add the onion paste and the green chillies and fry for 2 min
• Add the ginger-garlic-capsicum paste and fry till the raw smell goes
• Add the blended tomato puree and fry till the raw smell goes
• Then add the pureed spinach and saute for 2-3 mins more
• Stir in the cashewnut paste and a little water and stir briskly 
• Add the turmeric, salt, coriander powder, garam masala, chillipowder and cook for half a min
• Add the fried paneer cubes. Mix and let it simmer for  a min more
• In another pan, add the remaining tbsp of ghee and add the powdered cinnamon and clove and saute for a min.
• Add this seasoning to the palak paneer and mix thoroughly.
• Take off the heat, Garnish with lemon wedges and serve hot with roti or Naan

Barbados Coconut bread

Yesterday, I was feeling like baking a bread. But at the same time, I was in no mood to do all the kneading part. Weird huh?? I just wanted something quick and at the same time great tasting bread. I searched all the baking books I had and I found this exotic bread recipe in Muffins and breads book.

This soft and crumbly bread is really quick to prepare and it tastes great with just the right amount of sweetness laced with the flavour cinnamon. The bread was ready by tea time. I? had mine with some apricot Jam and it tasted just divine

Barbados coconut bread recipe:

Preparation time: 20mins

Baking time: 1hr

Makes- 1loaf

Ingredients:

Coconut- 2cups+ 1/3cup

All purpose flour- 1-1/2 cup

Whole wheat four- 1 cup

Salt- 1tsp

Brown sugar- 3/4cup, powdered

Thick butter milk- 1-1/4cup

Cinnamon powder- 1tsp

Butter- 6tbsp, melted

Baking powder- 2tsp

Vanilla extract- 1tsp

Coconut extract- 2tsp

Method:

• In a large bowl, combine the All Purpose flour, wheat flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinamon powder and sift once so that the ingredients are well combined
• Toss 2 cups of shredded coconut along with the sifted ingredients and mix.
• In another bowl, combine the butter milk, butter,vanilla essence and coconut extract and mix well
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix till all the ingredients are just well combined. DO not over mix
• Preheat the oven at 180C and grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan.
• Put the prepared dough into the greased pan and top with the remaining 1/3 cup of coconut and bake for an hour or till an inserted skewer comes out clean.
• Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

P. S. I did not have coconut extract on hand. So just combined 1tsp of coconut milk with 1 tsp water. 

This bread of mine is my contribution to Helen's Full plate Thursday

And to lisa's Sweet Saturday

Take away breakfast cookies

I found this recipe by accident on taste of home. com. I must say that it was a healthy accident ;).These cookies are ideal when you want to grab something in a hurry or for those "in between meals hunger pangs". Instead of munching on junk, it is best to keep these cookies handy. We are so much  in love with these that we carry these where ever we go. S even takes these to the office these days. With the goodness of whole wheat, oats, milk and seeds, you can be sure to have a whole some snack without indulging too much. And believe me folks, these cookies are very filling. You just munch on one cookie and you can go on for an hour without another rumble in your stomach.

Take away breakfast cookies:

Preparation time: 20mins

Baking time: 15min

Yields- 16 cookies

Ingredients:

Butter- 1/2 cup, softened

Peanut butter- 1/2cup

Brown sugar- 1 cup

Egg-1 or egg replacer*

Milk- 3tbsp

Vanilla extract- 1tsp

Oats- 1cup

Whole wheat flour- 3/4 cup

Milk powder- 1/2 cup

Poppy seeds- 2tbsp

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Baking soda- 1/4tsp

Baking powder- 2/4tsp

Sesame seeds- 3tsbsp

For egg replacer for one egg, mix together:

2tbsp milk or water+ 2 tbsp all purpose flour+ 1/2tbsp butter+ 1/2 tsp baking powder

Method:

• In a large bowl, Cream together the butter, peanut butter and sugar till light and airy
• Add the vanilla essence, milk, egg or egg replacer and mix thoroughly.
• In a separate bowl, combine the oats, milk powder, wheat flour, salt, poppy seeds, baking soda and baking powder and mix well
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix. Do not over mix
• Preheat the oven at 200C and grease a baking sheet or aluminium foil with a little foil and drop 2tbsps of the dough at 4" apart.
• Flatten them into 3" circles and bake for 12-15mins or till the undersides are brown.
• Cool completely before storing in air tight container.

P.S. I have replaced the wheat germ with poppy seeds. You can add wheat germ if it is available .

You can also add raisins or currants or dried cranberries

These cookies are my contribution to Aipi and Priya's tuesday bookmarked recipes

And to Srivalli's breakfast mela

Vegetable Kadhai

Vegetable Kadhai. A dish that never fails to please a crowd. A wonderful medley of vegetables simmered in spicy and rich tomato gravy.  Despite all these wonderful qualities of the curry, I do not prefer to have this as an everyday curry. It is way too rich with all the cream and fat. Apart from this, it is also very time consuming. I make onion, tomato and cashew pastes separately for this. All in all it was a long process. 

All this became a thing of the past after reading this recipe on Aipi's wonderful space. I made veg kadhai once with some minor tweaks and since then it has become a favourite with S. The best part about thisis that, it can be conjured in mins. Veg kadhai can't get any simpler than this can it? 

Vegetable Kadhai recipe:

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 15mins

Serves- 4

Ingredients:

Carrot- 1large, chopped

Green beans- 10-12, chopped

Peas- 1/2cup

Cauliflower- 8-10 florets, blanched in hot water and drained

Potato- 1 small, cubed

Onion- 1 large, chopped fine

Tomatoes- 2 large, chopped

Cashews- about 15, broken into pieces and soaked in hot water for 30mins

Ginger-garlic paste- 1tsp

Green chilli- 1, slit

Red chilli powder- 1/4tsp

Coriander seed powder- 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/4tsp

Salt to taste

Sugar- 1/4tsp

Garam masala- a large pinch

Jeera or cumin- 1 tsp

Oil- 1tbsp

Skimmed or whole milk powder- 2tbsp

Kasoori methi- 1/4tsp

Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

• Parboil all the vegetables except cauliflower till three fourth done and keep aside
• Cook the onion and tomatoe along with a little water for 10mins until tender. Cool, add the cashews and grind to a smooth paste.
• Heat oil in a wok and add the cumin seeds.
• Once they turn brown, add the ginger-garlic paste saute till the raw smell goes.
• Add the ground paste and fry for 3-4 mins
• Add the turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander seed powder, salt, sugar and fry for 2 more mins
• Add the cooked vegetables and the garam masala and mix
• Add the milk powder and some water and simmer for a couple of mins more
• Add the kasoori methi and take off the heat.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis

Breakfast my way- Date and banana Granola

This space has been very quite since the past three days. Thanks to the bad internet connection. I was completely isolated from the blogging world. During these past 3 days, I did a lot of things which I was procrastinating for long. One of them being making this granola. 

Me and S have always loved to have granola or muesli for breakfast. But then, in my part of the world, it is very tough to find the right one. The sweetened ones were extremely sweet and the unsweetened ones were way too bland. Without any natural sweeteners. I found myself adding 2-3 tsps of sugar. I had literally stopped eating  granola due to this. I was just adamant on having a granola which was sweetened with all the natural stuffs. The idea of including the banana puree and date syrup to oats hit me about 15 days back at 2 a.m. I wanted to try this the very next day. But then due to a lot of reasons, I could make this only on Tuesday. This granola has become a favourite with us. You can have this without any added sugar. This is definitely my favourite way of kick starting the day. 

Before I move on to the recipe, I would like to share some news with you all. My Avial recipe was shortlisted among the top 9 recipes on food buzz on 3rd April. That was a great moment for me. I always used to browse through the top 9 recipes. But I had never thought that mine would be one among them. This would have been possible without your support. I would like to offer a mere but huge thanks to all my readers and friends of the blogging world. You guys ROCK!! THANK YOU!!!

Date and banana Granola recipe

Preparation time: 30mins

Baking time: 1hour

Makes about a kilo

Ingredients:

Old fashioned rolled oats- 5cups

Almonds- 1 cup, slivered

Walnuts- 1 cup, chopped

Currants- 1/2 cup

Raisins- 1/2cup

Sunflower seeds- 1/4cup

Date syrup- 1/3 cup

Honey- 2tbsp

Brown Sugar- 1/2 cup

Banana (med)- 1-1/2, Pureed (about 3/4cup)

Vanilla essence- 1tsp

Salt- 1/2tsp

Butter- 2tbsp

Method:

• In a large bowl, combine the oats, salt, sugar, almonds, currants, raisins, walnuts and sunflower seeds.
• In another bowl, blend the date syrup, vanilla essence, honey, banana Puree, and butter until well mixed
• Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients until well combined.

• Preheat the oven at 150C.
• Spread the mixture on two baking sheets and bake for an hour stirring the mixture every 15mins. Until the granola is deep golden brown.
• Remove from oven and cool completely.
• Store in an air tight container.

This recipe goes straight to Srivalli's Breakfast mela

Happy Ugadi and Gudi Padwa

Wish you all a very happy Ugadi (Shri Khara naama Samvatsara)

Avial- Vegetables in coconut sauce

I don't think this kerala delicacy needs any introduction. The unusual medley of vegetables, makes this curry not only tasty but also visually appealing as well. This potpourri of vegetables is best served with a bowl of steamed rice.

Avial recipe

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time- 15mins

Serves-4

Ingredients:

Drumsticks- 2, cubed

Green beans- chopped

Raw banana- 1,cubed

Peas- about 1/4 cup

Salt- to taste
Thick curd- 1/2 cup

For the paste:

Grated fresh coconut- 6-7tbsp

Green chillies- 2

Jeera or cumin seeds- 1tsp

Turmeric- 1/4tsp

A little water

For the seasoning:

Coconut oil- 1tbsp

Jeera- 1/2tsp

Hing- A big pinch

Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Method:

• Par boil all the vegetables and keep aside.
• Grind the coconut, green chillies, turmeric and jeera with a little water to a coarse paste.
• Add the ground paste and 1/4 cup of water to the par boiled vegetables and bring the mixture to a boil.
• Add salt and curds and simmer for 5 mins.
• Heat the coconut oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds.
• Once they sputter add the hing and curry leaves.
• Fry till the curry leaves are crisp and add the seasoning to the boiling mixture.
• Take off the heat and serve hot with rice.