Puri sihikarne aka Puri Aamras

I know the recipe for Puri aamras has been blogged many times already. But then, I felt that my virtual kitchen would be incomplete without this all time favourtie mango dessert of mine. For something as delicious and as comforting as this, this dessert is ridiculously easy to put together. All it takes is some mangoes, a few other simple ingredients and a few minutes of your time and you have an exotic tropical dessert before you.No wonder, this dessert was served at every home we visited during summer.

It is sheer bliss to bite into the crispy puris which is dipped in the creamy mango pulp. This dessert is best if it is not too rich so as to not to overpower the flavour of the mango and allow the natural taste of sweet to come through.

Puri Sihikarne recipe

Preparation time: 20min

Cooking time: 10min

Serves- 4

For the Puri:

Whole wheat flour- 1-1/2 cup

Salt- 1/4tsp

Water- about half cup or as required

Oil to deep fry

For the sweet mango sauce:

Mangoes- 3 med sized, peeled and chopped

Sugar- 6 tbsp

Milk- 1/4 cup

Cardamom powder- 1/4tsp

Saffron- 8-10 strands, lightly roasted and powdered (optional)

Method:

For the Puri:

• Mix the salt and flour in a bowl and add water gradually. Mix well until a soft pliable dough is formed.
• Cover and allow the dough to rest for 10min
• Divide the dough into 10-12 equal portions and roll each portion into a disc of 5-6 inches in diameter.
• Heat oil in a wok and drop the rolled dough into the oil.
• While the puri is slowly raising to the surface make sure to keep ladling hot oil on the surface. This helps the puri to puff up.
• Repeat the same procedure with the remaining dough.

For the mango Sauce

• In a blender, mix the mango pieces and the milk and blend.
• Add the sugar, cardamom powder, saffron, and blend again.
• Pour the mango pulp into individual bowls and serve with hot puris

Sihi Kumbalakayi Towvae- Pumpkin gravy with cashews

I have never been a big fan of pumpkin. This is one vegetable that I never took a liking to. I tried making khatte meethe Kaddu for S once. But he didn't seem to like it a lot. After that, I just stopped cooking pumpkin all together. It was only a few days back that my friend and neighbour got this halved pumpkin. She said that one whole pumpkin was too much for her. At first, I really did not know what to make out of it. The pumpkin was lying in the fridge for two whole days. I decided to google for some recipes and I chanced upon this recipe here.

Sihi kumbalakayi towae it said. And it did not have any kind of lentils. Imagine a dal without lentils. That was very intriguing to me. What made this recipe all the more interesting was that, it had cashews in it. I had never come across a curry that had a vegetable as the base ingredient and which was seasoned with nuts. Just going through the recipe made me want to try the curry ASAP. Needless to say, the gravy turned out very tasty. Me and S liked the pumpkin gravy a lot but then, it was Purvi who relished it the most. Do give this recipe a try. You never know, you might have an additional option to consider when you are cooking with pumpkin.

Sihi Kumbalakayi towae recipe:

Preparation time: 15 min

Cooking time- 10min

Serves- 4

Ingredients:

Pumpkin- 1 small, Peeled, deseeded and chopped into cubes

Turmeric or haldi- A pinch

Cashews- about 3 tbsp

Salt to taste

Tamarind pulp- 1 tbsp

Oil- 2 tsp

Channa dal- 1tbsp

Coriander seeds- 1 tsp

Cinnamon- 1" piece

Red chillies- 3

Asafoetida or hing- a pinch

Dry coconut- 3 tbsp

Method:

• Take the pumpkin cubes in a  thick bottomed pan. Add the tamarind juice, turmeric and water to cover the pumpkin and allow the vegetable to cook on low flame.
• Heat a tsp of oil in another pan and fry the hing, cinnamon, channa dal, coriander seeds and red chillies.
• Allow the mixture to cool completely and grind to a fine powder adding the dry coconut in the end.
• When the pumpkin is thoroughly cooked, mash it with a potato masher and add salt.
• Add the ground spice mix and allow the mixture to simmer for 2-3min and take off the heat.
• Heat the remaining oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. Once they pop, add the cashewnuts and fry till they turn brown.
• Add the seasoning to the gravy and mix well.
• Serve hot with steamed rice and a dollop of ghee

Beetroot cutlet- it's baked not fried

For some reason, I had never ventured into making cutlets at home. I am not sure about the reason. Maybe because, I thought cutlets always had to be deep fried and that they were full of fat. Or maybe because, evening snacks are very rare at my place. So when there was this lone beetroot remained in the fridge, it never occurred to me that I could make cutlets from beets as well. After I decided to make beetroot cutlets, I wondered if it could be baked. After confirming from Google that cutlets could also be baked, I decided to  "bake" these after all. I must say that these are the best things that I have ever baked. They tasted just like the deep fried cutlets and did not miss the oil one bit. It tasted great with tomato sauce and it tasted even better with the flavored cream cheese.

Beet root cutlet recipe:

Preparation time- 20min

Baking time- 10min

Makes- 10-12 cutlets

Ingredients:

Beetroot- 1med sized, peeled and grated

Carrot- 1 med, Peeled and grated

Potatoes- 2 med, boiled, peeled and mashed

Oil- 1 tbsp

Jeera or cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp

Saunf or fennel seeds- 1/4 tsp

Turmeric or haldi- 1/4tsp

Paprika powder- 1/4tsp

Coriander powder- 1/2 tsp

Aamchur powder- 1/4 tsp

Garam masala powder- 1/4 tsp

Chaat masala- 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

Corn flour- 2 tbsp

Bread crumbs- 3 tbsp or as needed

Chopped onions and coriander leaves to serve

Method:

• Heat oil in a wok and add the cumin seeds.
• Once they turn brown, add the fennel seeds and fry for a few secs.
• Add the grated carrot and beets and fry for a min.
• Add the salt and turmeric and fry till all the water is absorbed.
• Add all the paprika powder, chaat masala, coriander powder, and aamchur powder and fry for 2 mins more.
• Stir in the garam masala and mix well and take off the heat.
• Cool the mixture completely and mix along with the mashed potatoes.
• Divide the beet-potato mixture into 10-12 equal sized balls and keep aside.
• Mix the corn flour along with 3-4 tbsp of water and set aside
• Take a ball and press lightly to form a circle.
• Dip the cutlet in the corn flour paste and roll it on the bread crumbs. Repeat the process with all the cutlet balls.
• Arrange the cutlets on a baking sheet lined baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 225C for 5 mins.
• Flip the sides of all the cutlets and bake for another 5-7min more.
• Allow the cutlets to cool slightly and serve with tomato sauce or chutney of your choice.

These cutlets of mine will go straight to Kavi's jingle all the way event

To Julie's Christmas Delicacies event 

To midnight Maniac's Meatless monday Event

And to Priya's Fast food not fat food event