Peach Cookies

Peach  cookie is a very subtle
lemon flavoured cake cookie.

Ingredients

For the dough:

Flour  -  1 ¾ cup
Baking powder  - 1 tsp
Large egg  - 1
Sugar  -  ¼ cup
Milk   -  ¼ cup
Unsalted butter  - ¼ cup
lemon zest  – 2tsp

For pastry custard:

Milk  -  1cup
Egg yolk  - 2
Sugar   - ¼ cup
Flour  - 1tbsp
Lemon zest  - 1tsp

For coating:

Red wine – ½ cup
Sugar  - 1tbsp
Sugar for covering
Mint or cherry leaves for decoration

Preparation

First make custard and keep aside.

To make custard, in a sauce pan beat and
Well mix  sugar, milk, egg yolk, flour and lemon zest.
Keep the saucepan on low flame and stir continously
till  it gets thick. keep aside this custard to fill in the cookies later.

To prepare cookies:

First sieve flour and baking powder.
Mix well  butter , sugar, egg ,milk and lemon zest,
Now add the flour- baking powder mixture.
Make small balls and  keep on a baking tray
leaving  space in between to expand.
Preheat oven for ten minutes and bake for
15 minutes in 200c.

As it turns slight golden under the cookies,
tt  can be taken out of the oven and scoop out a small
piece from under the cookie with a pointed knife
and fill a teaspoon full of custard on each Cookie  
and stick  together two cookies .

Now mix sugar in red wine and dip the cookies in wine.
Roll the cookies in sugar . Decorate with leaves and keep in fridge.
It is better to prepare two days prior to serving.

A beautiful cake cookie works
as a centre piece on the party table.

Mambazham Kumbil Appam (Mango Kumbil Appam)

Ingredients


Fresh Mango Pulp   -  1 cup
Rice Flour                 - 1 cup
Semolina (rava)        - 1/2 cup
Sugar                         - 2 tbsp
Water                         - 2 tbsp
Salt  a  pinch
Fresh Bay Leaves     - 10 

Preparation

Cut, peel and chop sweet mangoes.
Put chopped mangoes  in a mixer bowl,  
add sugar,  salt and make a smooth plup.
Transfer it into another bowl and mix in rice flour , semolina.
Pour water as required to get a idli batter like thick consistency.
Some mangoes have more water content, if so reduce adding water.

Take fresh green bay leaves,  brush  oil on it.
Make cone (kumbil) shape out of bay leaves and secure it with a tooth pick.
Pour the batter a table spoon each into the cones, according to size of the leaves.
Steam those cones in a steamer for 20 to 25 minutes.
Beautiful - sunshine like Mambazham Appams ready.

Enjoy Summer Treats of Kerala - Mambazham Appam and Chakka Appam

Carrot Soup

Ingredients


Carrots chopped   -  2 cups
Massoor Dal          -  2 tbsp
(red lentils)
Water                     -  2 cups
milk                        -  1/2 cup  
sea salt
pepper

Preparation  


In a pressure cooker, put the carrots
washed and chopped along with dal and water.
Pressure cook it  for two whistles.

Pour  the cooked dal and  carrot into a mixer and get a paste consistency.
Transfer it into a sauce pan, pour milk and stir.
Let it simmer to get piping hot soup.

Pour it into soup bowls, 
Sprinkle on top crushed salt and pepper,
if desired, pour drops of cream and some
chopped garlic chives.

Winter is best time for carrot soup. 
This is a nourishing and energising mid day meal for young and old.

Aval Vilayichathu (Sweet Beaten Rice )

Ingredients

Aval ( beaten rice )  - ¼  kg

Grated coconut        -  1 big coconut

Jaggery                       -  ½ kg

Ghee                             -  2 tbsp

Coconut slivers           - 2 tbsp 

Chana  dal                 -  1 tbsp

Seasame  seeds          - 1 tbsp

Jeera(cumin)             - ½ tsp

Dry ginger                -  1 inch

cardamom                     -  6

Preparation

In a deep vessel  on low flame,  pour ghee  and add thin of  pieces  coconut,

Chana dal, seasame seeds, cashew, sultanas and fry golden brown and keep aside.

In another deep vessel on low flame melt jaggery by pouring quarter glass water

and quarter kg jaggery. As  it thickens add the fried items and grated coconut.

As  it  turns thick and almost dry, off the flame and let it cool.

Now mix in aval.
 Dry roast jeera, dry ginger, cardamom and powder it,

And sprinkle over aval. Serve with banana.

Aval  or these rice flakes  is a healthy Indian dish.

In Kerala aval is  generally served sweet as aval vilayichathu or

Aval nanachathu .

 Aval nanachathu is easy.

To aval add grated tender coconut and flakes of jaggery and

press it with your palm and the aval turns wet and is ready to serve.

Out side Kerala and other parts of  india,  aval is  generally

cooked as  savoury with oil, turmeric, chilli, onion and peanuts.

Veg Biriyani

Rice   -   2 cup

Curd   -  1 cup

Water   - 3 cups full

Cubed and  fried potato – 1 large

Peas   - 2 tbsp

Onion  fried -  2

Green  chilli    -  2

Ginger garlic paste  - 1 tbsp

Garm masala powder   -  1 tsp

Turmeric powder   -  ½ tsp

Oil     - 1 tbsp

Ghee  - 2 tbsp

Cashew nuts and sultanas  - 2tbsp

Whole spices

Cardamom    -   10

Cloves            -    8

Cinnamon      -       3 inch

Maize of nutmeg  - 1 full

Mint leaves     -  ½ cup

Coriander leaves  - ½  cup

                         On a low flame,  in  a wok pour oil and ghee  add nuts, whole spices, sultanas

fry for a minute,  turn  off  flame and remove a teaspoon of  whole spices to powder

and use in the end. Keep aside.

 In the wok  add washed rice and  sauté  rice on low flame  till dry.

Take out rice and keep aside.

On low flame,  in the wok   pour curd   add ginger garlic paste, turmeric  powder,

garam masala powder, green chilli, a part of fried onion, half of coriander leaves and

mint leaves , salt.  Let   it boil   now add 3 cups of water as it boils add rice.

Now   close the wok   with a lid covered in a kitchen towel.  Cook for 5 minutes on

low flame . Now add fried potato cubes and peas.

 On low flame keep a  frying  pan .

 After   5 minutes take out the wok with

boiling  rice with the lid,  keep on the frying  pan for 5 more minutes.

Open the lid  sprinkle the kept  aside  -  fried onions,  mint, coriander leaves, cashew, currents

And powdered   whole spices   which were kept aside.

Serve  with raita and pappad.

To get fried onion, slice thinly onions and deep fry till golden brown.

And take out.

In  that remaining  oil deep fry the skinned and small  cubed potatoes

Golden.

Chemmeen Puli Thoran

Chemmeen Puli  - 1 cup
Shallots            - 1 cup
grated coconut  - 1/2 cup
Chilli                 - 1 or 2
oil                      - 1 tbsp
mustard              -1tsp
turmeric             - 1/2 tsp
sugar                  - 1/2 tsp
Salt                     - to taste
Water                  - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves

In a bowl, combine thinly sliced chemmeen  puli, shallots, chilli and grated coconut.
On a low flame, in a wok pour oil and crackle mustard seeds.
Add turmeric, water, salt and sugar. As it starts to boil add chemmeen
puli - coconut mixture . Stir and as it changes colour and turns soft
take out from flam,e mix in fresh curry leaves and serve.

This thoran tickles your palate. but this tasty dish
you will never find in a restaurant menu.

Bigger chemeen puli (Irumbanpuli) will be more sore than the tender ones.
Thinly slice only the outer green part of the larger ones for thoran.
Bigger ones can be used to make pickles or to make curry
along with small prawns as its name suggests.

This juicy fruit can not be stored for long
 so you hardly find them in markets.