Potato Stew

 HAPPY ONAM everyone.

Posting the recipe for a kerala-style potato stew. This stew is usually served with appam and it is also served as an item on the sadhya ela (authentic kerala lunch) . I make my stew in a pressure cooker and I feel it is the easiest way to go about, without consuming much time. Very easy recipe.

Ingredients: ( serves 4)

• Potatoes - 4 medium (each cut into 6 pieces)
• Onions - 2 (sliced)
• Ginger - 2 tbspns (chopped)
• Green chilies - 3 (slit)
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig
• Pepper corns -  1 tspn
• Coconut milk - 200 ml
• Water - 2 cups
• Coconut oil - 1 tspn (optional)
• Salt - to taste

Directions:

• In the pressure cooker, take 100 ml of coconut milk and add the water

• Add the potatoes, onions, ginger, chilies, pepper corns and salt

• Cook for 3 whistles and turn off the heat.  

• When the pressure has released from the cooker, open it and add the remaining coconut milk, curry leaves and coconut oil and simmer for 5 mins.

Here are some recipes which you might find useful this onam.

Sambar

Moru kootaan

Avial

Cabbage thoran

Chammandi 

Sambaaram

Paruppu payasam / paruppu pradhaman

Ela ada

Easy trifle pudding

This has been in my draft for almost a year now. It is a trifle pudding recipe. I made this when my cousins came over for a meal. Actually, I had made a plain vanilla cake at home then.( Click here for plain cake recipe) But, I did not want to serve the same boring thing. So, I thought a trifle pudding would be more fun for a change.

The layers in the pudding were vanilla cake topped with a banana custard. Then came a layer of cranberry jelly. Then some slightly sweetened whipped vanilla cream and then some chocolate-cream-cookie crumbs. These layers were repeated.

 

Ingredients:

• Bourbon cookies - 6-8 (optional)
• Plain vanilla cake - 1/2 kg ( click here for recipe )
• Cranberry jelly - 4 cups ( recipe below)
  
• Custard - 4 cups ( made according to box directions)
  
• Chiquita banana -1
• Heavy whipping cream-  1/2 cup 
• Powdered sugar - 3 tspns

 Method for making cranberry jelly:

• In a pan heat 1/4 cup of water and 1/4 cup cranberry juice.
• Add 3-1/2 tspns of gelatin. When the gelatin has dissolved completely, turn off the heat. Add the remaining cranberry juice and stir. 
• Cool and let set in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

Making banana custard and whipping cream:

• Make custard according to package directions
• When it is cool, add slices of Chiquita banana to the custard stir gently. 
• Refrigerate.
• In a clean bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks with powdered sugar. Let cook in the refrigerator.

Assembling: 

• In the serving dish layer some slices of cake.
• Pour 2 cups of banana custard on the cake layer.
• Then spoon some jelly as the next layer.
• Then add dollops of the sweetened whipped cream.
• Crush some bourbon cookies and make this the next layer.
• Repeat these layers again.
• Serve cool

Sprouts salad with pomegranate

Yum, yum and yum is all I can say about this salad.

Green gram sprouts (Moong sprouts) are super yum and easy to make at home. Wash and soak a cup of green gram in water overnight. Next morning, discard excess water and tie the gram up in a wet cloth for about 12-16 hours. Your green gram sprouts are ready.

The dressing was a simple mix of lime juice, salt and powdered cumin. The ruby-like pomegranate seeds added sweetness. This salad is a power house of protein and anti-oxidants. 

Ingredients: ( serves 2)

• Green gram sprouts - 1 cup
• Pomegranate arils - 1 cup
• Onions - 1/2 of a small onion
• Tomatoes - 1 medium sized
• Green chilli - 1
• Coriander leaves - few sprigs
• Lime juice - from 2 limes
• Powdered cumin - 1/4 tspn
• Salt - to taste

Directions:

• Finely dice onions, tomatoes and chillies. 
• In a mixing bowl add all the ingredients and toss.
• Serve immediately.

Tip :

• Grated carrot also can be added to this salad.

Pistachio cardamom orange cake

The best thing of being or living in India is that, I can go home whenever I feel like it and our family can visit us often too. That is a real blessing.

My sister and nephew visited us and I made this cake for them.

     

It was a nice pistachio cake which was infused with cardamom. A handsome quantity of pistachios were ground and added to the cake. Orange zest rendered that zing . The orange flavor came through so well. Cardamom powder does the job of  giving a good aroma to the cake. So there is no need for vanilla in this recipe.

 

What I loved most about the cake was that when I cut a slice, the orange and green specs  from the zest and the pistachio were vividly visible, which made it look so beautiful. This cake was a smash hit at home. It lasted 2 days and not a crumb was left.

Ingredients:

• Pistachios -1-1/2 cups(unsalted, shelled and toasted )
• All-purpose flour - 1-1/2 cups
• Baking powder - 2-1/2 tspns
• Cardamom powder - 1 tspn
• Salt - 1/4 tspn
• Whole milk - 1 cup
• Unsalted butter - 1-1/2 sticks (at room-temperature)
• Sugar - 1-1/2 cups
• Eggs - 4 large or 5 small
• Grated orange zest - 2 tspns

Method:

• Arrange oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a  9-inch-diameter round cake pan withparchment paper. 

• In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt and sieve 3 times or mix well.

• Add cardamom powder and mix well.

• Using food processor, pulse pistachios until  ground, about 40 seconds. (Do not over process it to a fine powder ).

• Add the ground pistachio to the flour mixture and mix well.

• In large bowl using electric mixer at moderate speed, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  

•  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 

•  Reduce speed to low and flour mixture and milk alternately in 3 batches,  beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating after each addition just until combined. 

• Add orange zest and mix until just combined.

• Spread batter evenly in pan and bake for 35 mins, until wooden skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean. 

• Remove from oven and cool the cake in the  pan  for about 10 minutes, unmold cake and let cool on a rack.