Coconut chutney - Thaalicha sambal

This is a simple recipe on coconut chutney or thaalicha sambal as we call it. Coconut chutney is a staple in many households but there are some variations in how people prepare it. It is often served as a side-dish to dosai and/or idli. When I prepare this, I always add some more tamarind paste than my mother does, because I love the tanginess from the tamarind. This chutney is typically prepared with freshly grated coconut kernel but since there is a scarcity of coconuts here, we generally prepare this with desiccated coconut. There is not much difference in the preparation between these two, except that the desiccated coconut has to be soaked in hot water for a while to soften up. I am reposting this recipe because I had posted it without any pictures earlier.

Mushroom and mozzarella lasagna

Basically, I have a weakness for baked cheese and dishes that are generously sprinkled with cheese on top like pizza, lasagna, potato gratins, cheese macaroni etc. Lasagna has remained a firm favourite with me since school-going days. It is one of those scrumptious one-dish meals that can be made both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. For me, nurturing my loved ones is my foremost way of displaying love. On a day such as Valentine's Day, I want to treat my family to something special and in my mind, lasagna is that perfect meal to be served on an occasion like this. I also wanted to make this a vegetarian fare with mushroom and mozzarella.

To assemble the lasagna you need bechamel sauce, ragu sauce and lasagna noodles. I followed Ancy's recipe and steps on everything except to make the ragu sauce. Ragu sauce is the meat sauce and I opted to make a vegetarian mushroom sauce instead. The lasagna turned out creamy and delicious. Making lasagna is less time-consuming than most would think. If you like lasagna, don't be afraid to give it a try. Thank you, Ancy, for the delicious recipe and the clear instructions. You can click here to visit her space and view her recipe. I also want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everyone has an enjoyable day today.

Ragu sauce:
5 tomatoes
200 g mushrooms
1 cup water
4 tsp tomato purée
4-5 garlic cloves
4 tsp olive oil
1 tbs dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tsp sugar

Bechamel sauce:
50 g salted butter
4 tbs all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk (500 ml)
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of grated nutmeg

For assembly:
Lasagna noodles (as required)
20 g salted butter
150-200 g mozzarella cheese

Method:
To make the sauce, begin by cutting the tomatoes. Finely chop the garlic. Slice the mushroom and put aside. Mix the tomatoes and garlic in a mixer, before cooking them. In a large pan, add oil, the tomatoes, water and tomato puree. Mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix and cook on medium to below medium heat, until the mushrooms are soft. The sauce should not be too thick (the water will be absorbed by the lasagna noodles when placed in the oven). Put aside this while preparing the bechamel sauce.

To make the bechamel sauce, heat the butter on below medium heat. Once it has melted, turn the heat to medium heat. Sieve the flour into butter, while stirring so that it doesn't get burnt on the bottom. Continue to stir for another 8 minutes or so until the sauce has turned light golden brown. Then add the milk, little by little, while stirring. You need to continue to stir for another 10 or so until the sauce has thickened. Half way into this process, season the sauce with salt and pepper. Take the sauce away from the stove but don't stop stirring. I stirred for another 5 minutes to steam off the heat (as it was still very hot) so that the cream didn't get burnt on the bottom.

I used lasagna sheets/noodles that don't require pre-cooking. If you have bought lasagna noodles that need to be precooked, please follow the instructions given and pre-cook them accordingly. To assemble the lasagna, use half of the butter to brush the bottom and the sides of a baking or oven-safe dish. Add some bechamel sauce and even it out on the bottom. Arrange one layer of the lasagna sheets, with the edges overlapping. Spoon the ragu sauce over the noddles and spread it evenly on it. Then spoon in some bechamel sauce and repeat the process. I repeated the process until my ragu sauce was finished. Spare some bechamel sauce to place on the topmost lasagna sheet. Grate or slice the mozzarella cheese and spread it over the bechamel sauce. Dollop the remaining butter on top. Bake the lasagna in the bottom third of a preheated oven at 175 C (350 F) for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool down to room temperature before serving.

Zucchini curry

I know I should include more vegetables in my diet and every once in a while I try to explore potential ways to cook and eat certain vegetables that I otherwise would not touch with the proverbial 10 foot pole. Zucchini, cucumber and squash are vegetables that I never eat, fresh or otherwise. But having seen so many delish looking cucumber/squash/zucchini recipes on other blogs inspired me to give this a try. So while grocery shopping, I picked up a zucchini and made curry out of it. I have already made this curry three times now.

Ingredients:
1 zucchini (250 g)
1 onion
2-3 green chilis
2 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 cups water
2 tbs coconut cream
Lemon juice to taste
Salt to taste
1 spring of curry leaves

Butter cookies

Last week, I bought some piping bags to make butter cookies. I have been looking forward to making these piped butter cookies for a long time. I have always adored cookies. As children, we loved cookies so much so that we refused to eat proper breakfasts and would instead feast on cookies first thing in the morning. Though we have outgrown that habit, I still have a soft corner for cookies. So while baking these I wanted to recreate a childhood favourite, assorted cookies. I love the idea of assorted cookies and therefore went ahead making cookies with different flavours using the same cookie dough.

This is Betty Saw's uncomplicated piped butter cookie recipe from her book Cookies Galore. I have twisted the recipe from thereon by adding various flavours. The flavours that I used were ginger, coconut, nuts & nougat and vanilla. I wanted to get really well-defined flavours - so if it is coconut, I want it to taste coconut. Even though it was time-consuming, it was a lot of fun making them and most importantly, they were completely worth it. This is my first time piping out cookies, and I made sure to experiment as much as possible. It was like being a child again. I can guarantee that these butter cookies will fetch you accolades from all corners. :)

Ingredients:
270 g all-purpose flour
240 g unsalted butter
100 g icing sugar/confectionar's sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla sugar/vanillin sugar
1 inch fresh ginger
1/3 cup desiccated coconut flakes
3 tbs chopped almonds (or hazelnuts)
25-30 g melted nougat (or chocolate)

Dodol - Dhodal

Many of you must be wondering what is dodol? Dodol or dhodal is a rich, jelly-like sweetmeat of Malay origins that has not gained due recognition around the world. It is very popular in Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Goa and of course in South East Asia. The main ingredients used to make dodol are also very typical of the above mentioned areas such as fresh coconut milk, red/brown or black rice flour and jaggery or palm sugar. In South East Asia, where the dodol originates from, pandan leaves and glutinous rice, are traditionally also added in addition to the aforementioned ingredients. In the Goan dodol, millets (ragi) are sometimes used. In Sri Lankan dodol, red rice (naatu arisi) is used and in the commercially sold dodols nuts and dried fruits are also frequently added to please the masses. I have also eaten some homemade dodols with mung beans. In this post, I am going to demonstrate how my family makes dodol.

Back home, we make dhodal, as we call it, the good ol' way. My aunts only make dhodal with the best of coconuts available. They say for the ultimate taste you need sethal thengai meaning ripe, flawless coconuts and only the first and finest portion of the coconut milk is squeezed and added initially in the dhodal-making process. The red rice is sent to the mill to be grinded and then carefully sieved at home, rejecting any grains found. The rice flour is then mixed with the second portion of the coconut milk. Adding the rice flour directly into the boiling coconut milk might result in lumps, so therefore the rice flour is first mixed with the second portion of the coconut milk and made into a smooth, fine paste before adding to the thick, boiling coconut gravy. We use black jaggery that we call sakkarai, which is dark brown in colour, that together with the red rice flour gives the dhodal a rich, deep-brown look.

Making dhodal is a grand affair but also a time-consuming and back-breaking process, and quite unlike any other sweet I have seen being made. Everyone in our family takes turns stirring in the big iron pots over the scorching wooden fire, that leaves them exhausted with their arms aching. The dhodal must be stirred non-stop for hours on end with a wooden paddle. If the dhodal gets burnt on the bottom, the dhodal will taste and smell burnt, and this happens faster than anyone would think, if it is not stirred constantly and properly. The dhodal will shrink in volume and become thicker and glossier as the hours pass by. Pure, golden coconut oil will start to be released from the dhodal when it reaches the final stage. The more coconut oil is released and separated from the dhodal, the longer the dhodal will last in storage but most people who make dodol never make it to the final stage. The dodol is often taken away from the stove when it has thickened "reasonably" and even if you reach the final stage, separating too much oil will also result in a dry dodol so you have to take strike a balance here.

Having often watched my aunts make the glorious dodol, triggered the desire to make this on my own at home some day. I had been waiting to make this with mixed feelings. Despite the fact that making dodol here means I have to make it with store-bought coconut milk and not fresh coconut milk and even though my mother pooh-poohed the idea of making dodol with store-bought coconut cream, I still remained adamant on trying this for my parents 30th wedding anniversary. The rice flour I prepared at home. Since I used only 1 cup of rice flour, making the dodol took me only 2 hours. The amount of jaggery may sound a lot to you but please keep in mind that black jaggery is not as sweet as refined sugar. It was still sweet, but moderately so. I dare say, the dodol turned out exactly as how I remember the dodol my aunts made were, both in texture and taste, and that is what I had aspired to. I was very pleased with this experiment, so much so that I didn't mind my sore arm for the next couple of days.

Ingredients:
3 cups coconut cream (minimum 70 % coconut)
4 cups water
1 cup fine unroasted red rice flour
400 g black jaggery or palm sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Fish buns

This is one of our father's trademark dishes that we were crazy about as children. We loved devouring this with just about anything. These days, I use this as a filling to buns (that I prepare the same way I do pizza dough). It is the ultimate comfort food for me. If you like mackerel you are going to love this. These buns are really soft and tasty and can be refrigerated and warmed up whenever you want them but as with most bread/buns, they taste best when they are fresh out of the oven.  

Buns:
25 g compressed yeast
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup fingerwarm water (37 C or 99 F)
2 tbs olive oil
3/4 tsp salt

Stuffing:
250 g canned mackerel (in tomato sauce)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 eggs (put aside some for the egg wash)
1/2 tsp cumin (or cumin powder)
1/2 tbs curry powder (adjust)
Salt to taste
1-2 sprigs curry leaves (optional)

Method:
To make the dough, heat the water to 37 C (or 99 F). Crumble the yeast in a large bowl and add the lukewarm water and stir with a spoon or your hand till yeast has dissolved completely. Add oil and salt. Stir. Add the flour. First mix with a wooden spoon untill it comes together and then and knead and work the dough for about 10 minutes with your hands. Let it rest covered in a bowl for 35-40 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the fish filling. Cut the onion finely. Heat some oil in a pan and saute the cumin, onion and the curry leaves and saute until the onion is golden brown. Add the mackerel and the tomato sauce, the curry powder and salt. With spatula, mix and scramble any large chunks of mackerels. Whisk the eggs (but put aside some of the egg mixture for the egg wash) with some salt. Shove the mackerel to one corner of the pan and add the beaten egg little by little and scramble it in the same pan that you are preparing the mackerel. Saute the mackerel filling until most of the water has evaporated. Take it away from the stove and allow to cool.

Once the dough has rested, lightly knead it again. Divide the dough into small balls and roll out the balls on a floured surface. Place some of the fish filling in the middle and fold/tuck it as seen in the picture below. Make sure it is properly folded. Turn the tucked side down and place the fish buns on an oven sheet, preferably with parchment paper. Once you have folded all the buns, give them an egg wash. Bake the buns in a preheated oven at 200 C (about 400 F) in the middle rack of the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Take them out and allow to cool on a wire rack. Serve them once they have cooled down to room temperature. Keep the buns refrigerated, if you are not going to consume them in one or two days and heat them up in the microwave before serving.

Crostata di Marmellata - Raspberry Crostata

The last year ended and the new year started on a good note for me with cute awards galore from plenty of blogging buddies. I had no idea blogging would entail all this when I started to blog. Last week I was really thrilled and happy to know that Sudha of Wit, wok & wisdom had passed on the Triple cute awards and the Cherry on Top award to me. Thank you very much for the awards, Sudha. I'm posting a sweet recipe here to celebrate the sweet surprise.

I recall first hearing the word crostata when I was watching one of the Australian "Masterchef" episodes. Though it lingered on my mind, it wasn't until much later that I looked up the word on the Internet. I searched and found, to my sweet surprise, that crostata is a sweet, Italian tart. I *heart* pies and tarts. So this was bookmarked to try sometime in the future and now finally I have the reason and the energy to make this sweet tart.

Obviously, there are many different types of crostatas. The one I have made is called a crostata di marmellata, which is a jam crostata. Since I have a buckload of lovely Croatian raspberries lying in the deep-freezer, I naturally decided to make a crostata with raspberry filling. Traditionally, a crostata is made panless like a large cookie, resembling a galette, but since I did not want to take any risks, I made my crostata in a 9" cake plate.

The most difficult part of making a completely new dish is always finding a recipe that you wholeheartedly want to follow. This search was made really easy for me because the standard crust used to make a crostata, is called pasta frolla. The recipe for this is pretty much standard. Pasta frolla is a very versatile, sweet crust that is not only used to make crostatas but also pies, cookies, holiday cutouts, Dulce de Leche Crumb Bars, and Sicilian Twists. The recipe for the pasta frolla I found here and it has been modified. The baking powder is optional, and is added to make the crust lighter. As I understand, in traditional recipes deriving from Artusi, you don't add any baking powder. 

Masala Chai - Masala Tea

Sometime back, when I was grocery shopping with my mother, she was looking at the ginger-flavoured Lipton tea packages. She typically only drinks green tea, apart from the regular tea. I spontaneously asked her why she wanted to buy ginger tea when she could make it at home? She then placed back the ginger tea. I suddenly felt awful for having dissuaded her and said "No, no. You buy it if you want to", to which she replied "No, it's better to make fresh ginger tea at home after all".  

 

I am actually the only one in my family who doesn't drink tea at all. Well, I do but only once in a blue moon and when I do, I always opt for flavoured teas like strawberry tea, blueberry tea or so. The idea of drinking a cuppa of warm tea is rather inviting when you have a runny nose in this harsh winter cold. So I decided to give it a shot. In addition to the ginger, I also added other spices and made a masala chai or spiced (masala) tea. I gulped down two cups of masala tea with a baguette for breakfast and quite enjoyed it. 

 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp black tea powder
2 cardamom pod
1 cinnamon stick
1-2 clove
1 tsp fresh chopped ginger
1 1/2 tbs honey or sugar (adjust)

Method:
Chop fresh ginger finely. Lightly crush the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon with a mortar and pestle. Add all the spices and the tea powder in a cooking pan and boil with water. Then add the honey and the milk and allow to boil for another minute, while stirring. You can use sugar instead of honey, if desired. Remove the cooking pan away from the stove and strain the tea with a tea strainer. Pour the tea into mugs or cups and serve the tea warm!

Cheesecake Brownies - Chocolate cheesecake squares

Last week, I was taken by surprise when Taruna of Easyfoodsmith gave me the "Versatile Blogger Award". I am really flattered, that too, to be sharing this wonderful award with the likes of Sonali of Onlyfishrecipes, Jay of Tasty Appetite, Amy of Food Corner et al who are all my seniors in the blogosphere. Thank you so much for sharing your award with me, Taruna.

To celebrate the occasion, I'm posting this cheesecake brownie or chocolate cheesecake square recipe. It's a two-in-one recipe. The bottom consists of fudge-like brownies and the top layer consists of cheesecake with chocolate swirls. Initially, I was hesitant whether to make them or not. But I had some chocolate and a cream cheese box that I wanted to empty and I must admit that I'm glad that I made them because were deliriously delicious. This is one of the best bakes I have ever made. These sinfully delicious cheesecake brownies take some time, effort and precision to make but are well worth the effort in the end. The thing about brownies is that, unlike cakes, they will remain just as succulent on the second day (and after that) as they were on the day you made them.
Brownie:
115 g semisweet chocolate (chips)
85 g salted butter
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cheesecake:
200 g soft cream cheese
1 large egg
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
Prepare a 9*9 inches (23*23 cm) or slightly smaller baking pan. Line the bottom of the baking pan with aluminium foil or lightly buttered parchment paper and the sides as well.

Heat 1 inch of water in a bowl at below medium heat. Place a heat-proof bowl on top of it, that doesn't touch the water underneath. Melt the butter in the bowl first and then add evenly chopped chocolate. Keep stirring until it becomes completely smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat. Mix in the sugar and vanilla extract. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the flour and lightly whisk until the batter is smooth. Try not to incorporate too much air into the batter. Put aside about 1/3 of the chocolate batter. Now spoon in the remainder of the brownie batter evenly in the baking pan.

Prepare the cheese cake now. In a bowl, whisk the cream cheese until soft with a handmixer. Add the sugar and the egg and process until creamy, smooth and well-blended. Spoon in and spread the cheese cake batter evenly on top of the brownie batter. Now, take the brownie batter that you put aside and spoon small dollops of brownie batter evenly over the cream cheese batter. Then with a table knife or wooden knife, swirl the two batters (the cream cheese and the chocolate dollops) on top. Bake the cheesecake brownie in the middle part of the oven at 175 C (350 F) for about 25-30 minutes or until they look baked and the edges of the brownie are beginning to brown.

Remove the brownies from the oven and allow them to cool on a wire rack. Cut them in squares once they have cooled down completely. You could also refrigerate them (after allowing them to cool to room temperature) to get a firm chocolate cheesecake squares. Keep them in an airtight container, in the fridge or at room temperature.

Sending this to Valentine's Day Special by Ancy of Anzz Cafe

How to make tomato sauce?

I love Italian cuisine and their ingredients, especially the herbs, pasta, cheeses... well the list is endless.
Pizza is an all-time favourite in our family. Since pizza is also very convenient to refrigerate and heat in the micro when you feel hungry, I was preparing pizza over the weekend to bring to work next week.
Ever since starting this blog, I have started to show some interest in making certains basic dishes from scratch that I hadn't earlier. Tomato sauce was one such thing we used to buy from the stores when we made pizza. But I have since sometime back discovered how easy it is to make tomato sauce completely from scratch. It is not only easy, it's also healthier in that homemade tomato sauce does not contain any preservatives. You can use this tomato sauce for pizzas, pasta, and parmigiana. Ever since we discovered how easy it is to make tomato sauce at home, we have stopped buying ready-made sauces from the store and I'm sure you would too.

In addition to be below mentioned ingredients, some people also add sugar and others also add some chili powder to balance the taste. Since everyone's tastebuds are different, I would recommend you to taste and adjust spices. If you find the tomato sauce a little acidic, add some sugar to balance out the taste. If you want some heat, you could add some chili powder. I personally like herbs a lot, especially oregano, so I add a large quantity of it. You can certainly reduce the amount if you like.

Ingredients:
3-4 tomatoes
1/2 cup water
3 tsp tomato purée
3 garlic cloves
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbs dried oregano
1/2 tbs dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional ingredients:
Sugar (if needed and as required)
Chili powder (if needed and as required)

Method:
Prepare the tomato sauce ahead of making the pizza dough. The sauce should not be warm when you spread it on the pizza. To make the sauce, begin by slicing/cutting the tomatoes finely. Finely chop the garlic. If you want a really smooth tomato sauce, you could mash the tomatoes with a handmixer or mix them in a mixer, with the garlic, before cooking them. In a large pan, cook the tomatoes, water and oil. Mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix and cook on medium to below medium heat, until the sauce reaches your desired level of thickness. That's it.