Quick Lemon Pie (Eggless)

Chewy lemon pie made in a jiffy! The use of fresh lemons gives the fresh tang and you just need marie biscuits for the base. I am sure your guests would enjoy this dessert option..


Ingredients

10 Marie Biscuits
20 gm butter
2 tsp Demerrara sugar

For the topping

Equal amounts of Condensed milk and chilled cream (Amul Cream)
Juice of 2 small lemons


Powder the biscuits by crushing them with a rolling pin. Heat the butter, add this to the biscuits along with the sugar. Knead well and line this in a baking dish, press well and bake for 5 minutes. By then the top of the crust would become golden brown.

In another bowl, whip the cold cream, add the condensed milk. Lastly add the lemon juice and mix well. Pour this topping on the crust, chill for 2-3 hours. For the first hour you can put this is the freezer and later on transfer to the regular chiller in the fridge.

Cut in to squares and serve. Watch the lemon pie melting in your mouth..

Kashmiri Pulao

A fruity and sweet tinge to our normal pulao – with aroma of saffron, green cardamom in ghee! Mouthwatering, no?



I made this last week and served it with Hyderabadi Mixed Vegetable..

Ingredients:

2 cups basmati rice
½ cup milk
Saffron – ¼ tsp, soaked in 1 tsp of warm milk
2 tsp sugar
Salt – a pinch to balance the taste
Green cardamom powder – 1 tsp
Bay leaf - 1
Ghee – 3 tablespoon
1 cup chopped fruits – apple, pineapple, pomegranate seeds
Broken cashew nuts (fried in ghee) and raisins – a handful.
Tutti Fruti – a handful
If needed you can add some pistachos, almonds, and finely pitted dates.

Method:

Wash and soak rice for 10 minutes.
Cook it with equal amount of water – 2 cups of water – with one whistle. Add a little ghee while cooking the rice. Each grain should be cooked but separate. Cool it.
Heat Ghee in a pan, in low heat, add bayleaf, chopped fruits, fried cashew nuts, raisins and tutti fruit.
Mix the saffron and milk to the rice. Gently mix in with the fruits, add a pinch of salt and 2 tsp of sugar. Finally add the green cardamom powder.
If you need some spice, you can slit a green chilli and add to the rice.

Green Sundakkai Kootu

Sundakkai is a round pebble like fruit, green in color. The fresh and green ones are a little bitter, but have amazing medicinal value.. These are available regularly at all the Surya vegetable outlets, so good for us!



It is a good antidote for curing ulcers and worms in the stomach. Tamizh Nattu Vaidhyam prescribes Sundakkai as a medical supplement for controlling BP, diabetes and for disorders of kidney and liver.. It is also good for skin ailments, relieves colds and helps to increase the appetite.

Traditionally to cut down the bitterness, it is soaked in butter bilk and salt and dried, and consumed as Sundakkai Vattrals - These vattrals can then be fried in ghee (and mixed with white rice), or added in Vattral Kuzhambu..




Ingredients:

Green Sundakkai – 1 medium cup
Tamarind water – Thick water extracted from a lemon sized ball of tamarind
Toor dal (pressure cooked) – 2 cups
Salt and little jaggery for taste

Mustard Seeds & round red chillies - 2 for tempering
Gingelly oil – 3 tsp
Sambar Powder – 2 tsp
Turmeric powder
Grated fresh coconut – 2 tablespoons
Curry leaves
Asafetida


1. Wash the green sundakkai, and using a small “mathu” or a hammer, you can smash the bunch of pods. Smear a little salt and leave it for 5 minutes. This helps to reduce the bitterness.
2. Heat 2 tsp of gingelly oil, and sauté the green sundakkai on a low flame. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the tamarind water, salt, turmeric powder, (and little water, if required) and let it cook well for 3 minutes.
4. Add the cooked toor dhal, add the sambar powder, salt and jaggery.
5. In a separate pan, make the seasoning. In the remaining oil, temper mustard seeds and red chillies. Add asafetida, curry leaves and sauté with fresh grated coconut on low flame. Transfer this seasoning to the kootu.

Kathri–Thakkali (Brinjal-Tomato) Gothsu

Gothsu is an all in all side dish, which goes well with most of the south Indian tiffin menu – be it idli, dosai, pongal, upma.. Of course, the best combo I relish is with Venn Pongal…



Ingredients

1 big onion, cut finely
3 small brinjals ( violet, slim & long variety)
4 tomatoes ( Use the nattu thakkali variety to enhance the taste, as it imparts a natural sour taste).. If using other tomato varieties, you can add a little tamarind to even out the taste
4 green chillies – slit lengthwise
Sambar powder -1 tsp
Red Chilli Powder – ½ tsp
For the tempering : Oil – 2 tsp, mustard seeds, asafetida, turmeric powder, curry leaves.
Green coriander leaves – 2 tsp
Salt – to taste, sugar a pinch.


1.Cut the brinjals and tomatoes into small pieces. To reduce the cooking time, just microwave these vegetables for 3 minutes in high. Keep it aside.

2.Heat the oil, make the tempering with mustard, asafetida, turmeric, curry leaves.

3.Reduce the flame, add the slit chillies and sauté the onions golden brown.

4. Now add the microwaved brinjals and tomatoes. Add salt, sambar powder and a pinch of sugar. If you need more spice, then add a dash of red chilli powder to add to the color and taste.

5. Add little water to make it semi gravy and let it cook for 5-6 minutes. Once it is done, add the coriander leaves and churn, so that the aroma soaks in..

6. The heavenly gothsu is now ready to be served with the tiffin..

Mango Pachadi

Come Ugadi, aka Telugu New Year, this recipe is on the menu list of most of the Tam Brahm household. The other variation is the "Veppambu (Neem Flowers) Pachadi", which is also quite delicious.

Ingredients:

Raw Mango - 1
Round Jaggery, mashed - 1 cup
Oil - 2 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Asafetida, salt, turmeric powder - a pinch
A sprig of curry leaves
Red Chilli - coarsely ground powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste.

Method of preparation :

1. Chop the mangoes in to sqaures.
2. Coarsely grind the dry red chillies in a mixie. This texture gives a unique taste when added to the pachadi.
3. Soak the jaggery in little water, make a puree out of it.
4. In a kadai, heat the oil and make a tempering with mustard seeds, cumin, asafetida, turmeric powder, curry leaves.
5. Reduce the flame, add the cut mangoes and saute for 2 minutes. Add half of the salt now.
6. When the mangoes are cooked, add the thick jaggery water and the coarsely ground red chilli powder. Let it cook for another 2 minutes. Check for salt.
7. When all the ingredients are mixed well and the jaggery water boils, you can see a sheen and the mixture thickens a little. At this time, switch of the flame.

The quick and tasty Mango Pachadi is ready and you can relish this.. With anything of your choice. It goes well with Khakras too!