Sunday, October 26, 2014

Nasi Goreng

Nasi Goreng is a version of fried-rice of Indonesian origin. Traditionally it is served for breakfast, and is made with leftover rice. I made some rice and refrigerated it overnight to make this as typically I make only just enough and won't be having any leftovers. It is spicier than typical Chinese fried rice and so suited better for our taste-buds used to the spicy Indian cuisine.
Recipe source: Show me the curry
Ingredients:
Oil -2 tbsp
Butter – 2 tbsp
Garlic – 2 tbsp, minced
Eggs- 1. beaten
Rice – 1 cup raw rice cooked
Salt – to taste
Black Pepper Powder – to taste
Sweet Indonesian Sauce (Kecap Manis) – 3 tsp or as needed
Shredded Cabbage- 1/2 cup, packed
Green Beans – 1/2 cup, cut diagonally
Carrots – 1/4 cup, shredded
Bell Pepper (Capsicum) – 1/4 of Bell Pepper
Firm Tofu – 1/4 cup, cubed (optional)
Sambal – to taste 
Garnish
Egg-4

Method:
In a pan, heat the oil and add in the Butter and allow it to melt. While it is still melting, add in the minced Garlic. Add in the beaten Egg. Stir and cook.
Add in cooked and cold Rice. Mix and allow the Rice to heat up. Season with Salt and Black Pepper.
Add in Kecap Manis (Sweet Indonesian Soy Sauce) or soy sauce and 1 tsp sugar and mix till it has coated all the rice. Add in the Vegetables and Tofu and mix well till everything is incorporated well.
Add in Sambal and give it one final mix. Remove from flame and plate as desired.
In a small skillet, heat a tsp of Oil and make a fried egg, once done, season with Salt and Red Chilli Powder. Plate on the Nasi Goreng and serve.


Sunday, October 19, 2014

Gujiya / Karanji

With Diwali around the corner I wanted to post something sweet.
Karanjis are half moon shaped, fried pastries with sweet filling and with fluted ends. Though traditionally these are fried, this year I thought of making a healthier alternative since I was feeling a little guilty after feasting the last entire week celebrating my birthday.
WISHING YOU ALL A JOYFUL AND PROSPEROUS DIWALI!!
Ingredients:
Pie crust or store bought pie crust
Filling:
2 Cups - Sooji/Semolina
3/4 Cup - Mawa/Khoya (optional)
2 Cups - Powdered Sugar
1/2 tsp - Cardamom Powder
1/2 Cup - Grated Dry Coconut/Khopra (optional)
3 tbsp - Raisins
4 tbsp - Chopped Cashewnuts
2 tbsp -Almonds
Method:
Heat clarified butter in a non stick pan  ,add semolina and roast it for 5 minutes.Add chopped nuts and roast them for 5 minutes and take them out.In the same pan break the khoya into small pieces and fry till pinkish in color.In a bowl take all these fried ingredients ,mix with powdered sugar and cardamom and keep aside.
Make 15 to 20 balls from the dough.Take one ball
roll it slightly to the size of Puri and place it  in a greased gujiya or karanji mould. Place 1 tbs of filling on one side of the mould.Close the mould. Press the edges to seal gujiya well and remove excess dough portion from mould and keep it with rest of dough.make sure gujiya/karanji is sealed well, gently open mould and take out gujiya. Repeat same for rest of dough and prepare gujiya.
 If you don't have mould then roll dough and use a circle cutter or bowl to cut dough into round shape. Place filling and close gujiya forming half moon shape, press edges with a fork to seal and make impression or with hand pinch edges and seal it.
Brush gujiyas with some  melted ghee on the both sides this is optional and place  in a preheated oven 400F and bake for 18 minutes.Enjoy when cold.If you have leftovers you can store in a airtight container,and enjoy later.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Burnt Almond Cake

It was my birthday today and as always Jai made the birthday cake.  This time as the cake was a bit lengthy and since I wanted to make sure that I get a good cake on my special day I helped him with it quite a bit (as I know he has this tendency to take for short cuts :)). Luckily, it was my day off and though I was nursing a cold, I couldn't keep myself away from all the action.
Don't be put off by the "burnt" in the name though. It is one of the yummiest cakes you would ever taste. This is considered one of the local specialties of San Jose and one of the best tasting American cakes. This is not the original recipe, but a combination of several recipes that I found online that I thought would turnout good.
Special thanks to all those bloggers who have put their recipes for this wonderful delight online.
Ingredients
For the Almond Cake:
4 extra-large egg whites
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
3 cups  cake flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
6 oz butter, at room temperature
Method:
To Make the Almond Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two 9” cake pans with parchment, and spray them with nonstick cooking spray.
In a small bowl whisk together the egg whites, 1/4 cup milk, and vanilla and almond extracts. Set aside.
In the bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds to mix and sift the ingredients. Add the softened butter and the remaining 3/4 cup milk to the bowl, and mix on low speed until the flour is moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 90 seconds.
Stop the mixer and scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Add the egg white mixture in 3 parts, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more. Divide the batter evenly between the pans.
Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, until the tops spring back lightly when pressed. Let the cakes cool for 15 minutes, then gently invert them out of the pans, invert them again until they’re right-side up, and let them cool completely on a wire rack.
(Note: I have made this cake using a sponge cake also and it also turned out fine. So if you are not a big fan of almonds and almond essence, you can go for a plain sponge cake instead)

To Make the Caramelized Almonds/Burnt Almonds.....

In a large cast iron skillet toast 1 8oz package of sliced (not slivered) almonds.
Then sprinkle 1 Cup powdered sugar over almonds.
Stir constantly as not to burn the almonds.
Once the sugar is melted, add another 1/2 C. of powdered sugar to the almonds.
Your almonds should be brown in color and the aroma should be sweet toasted nuts.
Take off the heat and then spread on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper to cool

Pastry Filling
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup of cream
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Method:
Put all in top of double boiler and cook whisking for about 5 minutes, until it is thick and pudding like, will coat the back of the spoon, place in dish to cool for a couple of hours...put plastic wrap directly on top to prevent a skin from forming on top of the filling.....
place all ingredients in the top of a double boiler....
and cook, stirring until thick.....

or in if in a hurry you can mix 2 cup. heavy whipping cream and a small box of French Vanilla Instant pudding.

To Make the Simple Syrup:
Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir them together until the sugar dissolves, and heat the sugar syrup until it just starts to boil. Remove it from the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Stir in the amaretto or almond extract.

To Make the Almond Buttercream:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
12 oz butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (I used superfine so it dissolved quickly)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp salt

Method:
In a bowl, whisk together the flour and milk. Pour it through a fine wire mesh strainer into a medium saucepan, straining out any flour clumps. Heat the flour mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens. It will go from being a thin liquid to being a very thick paste. It should have the consistency of a very thick pudding when you’re done. Remove the pan from the heat, and let the flour mixture cool completely. To speed this process, put this in the freezer for a little while. Stir occasionally while the mixture cools.
Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until very light and fluffy and no longer gritty, about 5-7 minutes.
Once the flour mixture is no longer warm at all, and the butter/sugar is light and fluffy, add the flour to the mixing bowl, along with the vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt. Whip together for 2-3 minutes until well-combined, light, and fluffy. If it seems to separate continue to beat it until it comes back together.
Assembly:
Using a large serrated knife, cut each cake layer in half. Place one layer on a cake cardboard (or your serving plate) and use a pastry brush to brush it generously with the simple syrup.
Scoop some buttercream into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip. Pipe a ring of buttercream all along the edge of the cake round to act as a barrier and hold in the filling. Scoop 1/3 of the pastry cream onto the cake, and spread it in an even layer until it covers the cake and reaches the buttercream ring. Top the cake round with a second round, and repeat the process of brushing it with simple syrup, piping a ring of buttercream, and spreading the pastry cream in the center.
Repeat with the remaining layers, until you have a 4-layer cake with 3 layers of buttercream. Spread buttercream along the sides and top of the cake. It doesn’t have to be super-smooth since most of the surface will be covered with almonds.
Press caramelized almonds into the sides of and the top  the cake .
Fit a pastry bag with a large star tip and pipe rosettes along the top of the cake. Decorate them with more caramelized almonds, if desired.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Slow Cooker Steel-Cut Oatmeal


This recipe is for those busy and cold days when you need a hot and healthy homemade breakfast without much effort from your side. The slow cooker does all the work. You can make several days' worth. Cooked oatmeal can be refrigerated and warmed up in a microwave easily. What I love about this is that each family member gets to dress up their bowl with their favorite toppings! It is so yummy, it could almost be a dessert.

Ingredients :
Steel cut oats-1 cup
Water- 4 cups
Butter- 1/2 tsp
Salt-1/4 tsp
Milk- 1& 1/2 to 2 cups

Method:
Coat the insert of the slow cooker with a thin layer of butter. Add the water, oats,  and salt and stir to combine.
Cover and cook on high until the oats are cooked through and creamy, about 4 hours. Add the milk and stir .
Serving suggestion:
We love to have the oats with a sprinkle of some cinnamon brown sugar or plain brown sugar or coconut sugar, along with some raisins and nuts. Some other toppings we love are: craisins, sliced almonds, coconut flakes, maple syrup and dried raspberries.
Any leftovers can be refrigerated and then nuked as needed.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Pineapple kesari /Pineapple semolina pudding

Here is a delicious pineapple infused kesari that I made to sweeten our Navarathri  celebration. Though it is called a kesari, which means saffron, this recipe doesn't use kesari.The yellow color is ob obtained through using pureed ripe pineapple. But if you want a more vibrant yellow you can use saffron or even food color.
Ingredients:
Rava / Semolina - 1 cup 
Sugar -1&1/2 to 2 cups 
Pineapple- 1 cup 
Raisin- 1/4 cup (optional)
Cashew nuts- 1/8 cup (optional)
Ghee-1/4 cup 
Vegetable oil- 1/4 cup
Pineapple essence (Optional)- 2 drops 
Salt A pinch 
Water- 2 & 1/2 cups 

Method
Cut pineapple into fine pieces. Puree half of the pineapple into fine paste,set aside. Heat a pan with ghee and oil and if you are using cashew nuts and raisins saute them till cashew turn golden and raisins turn plump. Remove and set aside  Add the rava and roast until the raw smell goes off. 
Add hot water  to the roasted rava along with the salt.  Mix well till all the water is mixed in well
Cook covered for 4 minutes or until done in low flame. 
Add sugar and color and essence if using. Mixture will turn watery again.
Add the pineapple and the puree. Keep mixing until the kesari starts leaving its sides. Mix in the cashew and raisins if using transfer to the serving bowl.
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