Jelly Pudding

This is another three ingredient recipe that I found in ‘Vanitha’ magazine as an ad for condensed milk. When I was in Abu-Dhabi, my little brother used to pester me for jelly and I prepared this for him. It was an eye-catching dessert that I wanted to try for a very long time ever since I saw the picture of the dessert in the ad. I think, again it’s a kid’s dessert because my brothers loved it and it was not so soothing for my taste buds.

Jelly pudding (cooking time – 20 minutes, chilling time – 3 hrs, serves 6)

Ingredients:
1 packet – Strawberry/Raspberry Jelly Pudding Mix
1/2 tin condensed milk
170 gm chilled cream

Preparation:
1. Prepare jelly as per packet instruction. i.e. Empty the sachet into a large bowl and add 1 cup of boiling water. Stir well until all jelly crystals are dissolved. Add another cup of normal water,mix well and keep in freezer until the jelly starts to set from sides.
2. Take it out from freezer and beat well with a wire whisk until it is frothy.
3. Add ½ a tin condensed milk and mix very well.
4. Add the chilled cream (whipped) and mix well until well combined.
5. Serve in a clear dish and refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours.
6. Garnish with fruits and whipped cream or mint leaves.

Long Beans Thoran (Stir-fried Long Beans)

Here is a thoran with a twist.

Ingredients:
4 cups - Long beans cut into 1 cms
2 tbs – Water
Salt - as required
2 tbs – Coconut Oil
4 - Large garlic cloves, chopped finely
3 tbs - Onion, chopped into small pieces
1 tsp - Red chilli Powder
3 - Green chillies, thinly sliced into round shapes
3 twigs - Curry leaves
1 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 cup - Freshly grated Coconut

Preparation:
1. Cook beans along with salt and water until it is tender and cooked.
2. In another pan, add oil. When it is hot, add onion, garlic and green chillies. When onions starts to turn brown, add Chilli powder, turmeric powder, curry leaves and coconut and stir fry for a minute on medium flame.
3. Add this to the cooked beans and mix well until combined.
4. This thoran serves as a very good side dish to go with plain boiled rice.

Kumbalanga Moru curry (Ashgourd curd curry)

This is one of my favourite curries that my mom makes for lunch to go with plain boiled rice and a chunk of fried fish. My mom prepares her dish just at the nick of time and serves it hot from the stove. That’s how my dad and siblings like it. By the time I come to take pictures, my dad and siblings would have already started eating the plate of dish that I had served ready for photographing. So it was quite difficult for me to grab good pictures of many of her recipes. At times I had to end up taking pictures of the leftover dishes and this is one like that:)

Update: I forgot to mention that this dish is prepared with the raw pumpkin that's got green peel and a pale white flesh inside (Ashgourd)and not the pumpkin that has yellow flesh. Anf for me, the names are always confusing....I mean mathanga (മത്തങ്ങാ) and Kumbalam (കുമ്പളം)....

Ingredients:
8 cups – Kumbalam, Ashgourd (cut into small pieces)
½ tsp – Red chilli powder (optional)
½ tsp – Cumin seeds
1 ½ cups - 2 cups – Water
1 cup – Curd
½ tsp – Turmeric
3-4 Green chillies
1 ½ cups – grated coconut
Salt
For tampering:
4 tbs - Oil
3-4 - Whole round red chillies (unda mulaku)
1 ½ tsp - Mustard seeds
3 sprigs - Curry leaves

Preparation:
1. Cook Kumbalam along with green chillies, turmeric, salt and water until tender.
2. Grind coconut and cumin seeds (jeera) along with little water into a smooth paste.
3. Once the Kumbalam is cooked and is soft, add coconut paste. When it starts to boil, turn off the flame.
4. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, add curd and mix well. Don’t add curd to very hot curry as this will cause the curd to curdle.
5. In another pan, add oil. When hot splutter mustard seeds, add whole red chillies and curry leaves and sauté for few seconds. Pour this over the curry.
6. The same can be made with yam (Chena) as well.

Brigadeiro Chocolate Fudge Balls

I got this recipe from the GULF NEWS COOKERY BOOK and thought of giving it a shot as it was too easy to prepare and required just three ingredients which were already there in my pantry. I think it’s rather a kid’s recipe. But I and my mom couldn’t stop munching them :)

Ingredients: (Serves 6 )
1 can condensed milk
15 gm/ 1 tbsp butter
50 gm/ 3 tbsp cocoa powder
For covering:
Granulated chocolate, cocoa powder or desiccated coconut.

Preparation:
1. Mix the condensed milk, butter and cocoa powder in a non-stick pan.
2. Cook on a medium heat, mixing vigorously until the mixture thickens (it should be quite stiff)
3. Let the mixture cool completely and then make golf ball-sized balls (grease your palms with butter in order to form balls without sticking to your palms).
4. Roll the balls on granulated chocolate, dessicated coconut or dust with cocoa

Gulab Jamun

Finally, I am back to UK and back to blogging. It has been a long vacation back in UAE where I had splendid time with my family. But the time just flew away so soon. I swill restart my blogging with the very Indian favourite dessert recipe- Gulab Jamun. I made it quite a few times at home and it turned out perfect and all my family loved it. In the beginning I was a bit reluctant to make this recipe since I thought it was difficult for such recipes to come out good. So the first time I made it, I made it using half the amount. If the recipe is followed with exact measurements as given here, they ought to come out excellent.

Dry ingredients:
2 cups Milk powder
3 tbsful Semolina
2 tbs Plain flour
2 tspful Baking powder

Wet ingredients:
2 medium eggs beaten lightly
2 tbs vegetable oil
3 tbs Thick cream
Oil for frying the jamuns

For Syrup:
1 1/2 cups water
3 cups sugar
6 cardamoms
A squeeze of lemon

Preparation:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients well with a wire whisk or sieve all the dry ingredients together.
2. Add vegetable oil and mix well. Add cream and mix well. Add enough egg to make smooth dough. Here I have never used all the egg. A little bit was left behind. The dough will be a bit sticky.
3. Smear oil in palms, take a large pinch of the dough and roll it by placing in the palm to make a gooseberry sized ball. Make sure there are no cracks on the surface of the ball.
4. Repeat the process with the entire dough.
6. Heat up a large wok or kadai and pour-in enough oil to deep fry few balls at a time. Add 5-8 balls and fry them at LOW flame until you get a light golden colour and the jamuns puff up. Drain excess oil. Repeat the process until all the jamun balls are fried.
5. Meanwhile heat another sauce pan and add water and sugar and boil for about 8 minutes until all the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is syrupy. Add cardamoms and a good squeeze of lemon to this and boil for a minute more.
7. Add the fried jamuns to this syrup and boil for about 3 minutes until the jamuns soften. Turn off the flame and let them cool.
8. Garnish with crushed pistachios and serve warm or room temperature.
(If refrigerating, leave them in room temperature for an hour or two else it may be a bit hard.)

Notes:
1. I have used the shop-bought measuring spoons and cups to get the exact measurements which gave me perfect results every time I made it.
2. Here in the recipe, I have mentioned tbs and tbsful. Tbs refers to sharp tablespoon measure and tbsful is a heaped tablespoon measure and is the same for teaspoon.
3. Lemon or lime juice is added to the syrup to stop the syrup from solidifying into sugar crystals.
4. Don’t fry the jamuns at high flame because it gets charred very quickly thus obtaining an undercooked inside part and overcooked outside.