6 slices day-old bread
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Prep 30 m
Cook 45 m
Ready In 1 h 15 m
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Break bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.
Aluminum foil can be used to keep food moist, cook it evenly, and make clean-up easier.
Directions
Prep:2min ›
Cook:10min ›
Extra time:12min ›
Ready in:24min
Add 1 tbsp ghee in a wok with a thick
bottom, when its hot add the raisins and de-skinned and crushed
cardamoms, once the raisins become plump, Add the semolina and roast in
the ghee along with the raisins and cardamom till the rava gets a faint
pink color. Keep aside.
Now in the same wok, add 3 cups of water,
add the color and let it boil. When it comes to boiling point, add the
semolina slowly, constantly stirring, and mix well. Allow the semolina
to be cooked at medium heat. The trick is that the semolina has to cook
well. Keep covered and cook for a while.
When it is fully cooked, add the sugar and
stir well. The sugar makes it watery, so stir well. When the sugar is
fully dissolved, add the remaining ghee. Keep stirring until the
semolina starts leaving the sides of the pan. Your Kesari/Sheera/Sojji
is ready. Check the close up snap of the Kesari, it shows how moist and
well cooked it is. Serve warm, dunk in with a spoon and enjoy it.
Tip
“Kesari wouldn’t be Kesari if there is no ghee”. But this
recipe doesn’t have as much ghee and still tastes good. Here is a
no-fail recipe, if followed properly as per the measurements given here
and the procedure followed here. Make this Kesari and enjoy the
compliments.
Roasted Vermicelli [semiya ] - ¾ cup Ghee – 2 tbsp Cardamom – 3 Saffron – 7-8 strands Milk – 1 +1/4 cup Water – 1 to 1 ½ cup [approx ] Sugar – ¼ cup Condensed milk – ¼ cup Cashew nut – 8 broken Almonds – 4 break into small pieces Raisins – 10
Method
Heat pan on stove, add ghee and roast cashew and almond till golden brown. Make sure that flame is low . Add raisins and wait till it puff up. Transfer into separate plate [ only dry nuts ] Use the same ghee to roast vermicelli for just 2 minutes.
Though I used roasted vermicelli, I roasted again in ghee for best flavor. Another important thing is, use store bought roasted vermicelli. Because if we roast at home, it will get roasted only outside not from inside. So if you cook you may get your kheer become thick once it cooled down or if refridgerated. Because of the starch in the vermicelli. But in the store bought vermicelli, since it is roasted from inside out, it wont release any starch. So the consistency will remain same till you finish J
After roasting for 2 minutes add 1 cup milk and ½ cup water [reserve remaining water and milk for later use ] . Cook for 5 minutes. After five minutes, add saffron and cardamom. Remember to crush cardamom seeds so that it will release flavor. Cook for another 5-6 minutes till vermicelli become soft and well cooked. Now add condensed milk,sugar,remaining water and milk. Mix well and let it to cook for 2 more minutes. Finally add fried dry nuts and raisins. That’s all. Your delicious vermicelli kheer or semiya payaasam is ready to serve.
You could either serve warm or chilled. My style is chilled kheer with a scoop of ice cream on top.
Ingredients: 3 medium apples, peeled, cored, and chopped 2 large mangoes, peeled and chopped 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 cup finely chopped onion 1/2 cup (125ml) white vinegar 1 tablespoon(15ml) lemon juice 2 teaspoons curry powder 1/2 teaspoons each:ground nutmeg and salt 1/3 teaspoon cloves
Directions: 1. Combine apples, mangoes, onion, and vinegar in a large stainless steel saucepan.Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, and boile gently, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until fruit is tender and mixture is thickened, stirring occasionally.
2. Add sugar, lemon juice, curry powder, cloves, cinnamon, and salt. Boil gently for 5 minutes
This sauce can be used with several things: a dipping sauce, marinate sauce for chicken dish. Either way, you will have fun thinking up of different ways to use this.
Ingredients: Tomato: 3 large red chili powder : 1 tsp or adjust according
to your taste turmeric powder:1/4 tsp For tempering : Oil: 1
tsp mustard seeds: 1 tsp curry leaves:few asafoetida : a
pinch(optional)
Method:
wash and blanch whole tomatoes in boiling water for 3-5 min
pull out ,let cool and peel off the skin
cube into large chunks and puree until smooth . keep aside.
If your tomatoes are a little sweet add a tiny bit of tamarind while making
the puree.
heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds ,let crackle
add the red chili powder and turmeric cook for few minutes.
Ingredients : 1 cup urad dal 2 cups rice (Ratio 1:2) 1/2 cup cooked
rice fenugreek seeds-1tbs
Method:
Start by rinsing the dal and rice in cold water .
add the fenugreek seeds to urad dal and soak both the dal and rice for a
minimum of 4 hrs.
first blend the soaked urad dal into a thick paste adding very little water
.
next add the rice to the blender and also dump in the cooked rice .make a
thick paste of this too
add the rice paste to the dal paste and add desired amount of salt
mix with clean hands until everything is incorporated well.
keep in a warm place overnight for the fermentation to take place
once fermented the batter should rise significantly ,if this fails to happen
then the temperature is too low ,leave the batter in this case in a much warmer
place until the fermentation takes place
once the batter is ready ,pour into idli molds and steam cook for 12-15 min
serve steaming hot with your favorite condiment
Notes:
Always make a thick batter ,if desired water can be added in later stage to
dilute the paste .
mix with hands,the warmth from our hand is supposed to promote the
fermentation process .
The batter should rise to get soft and spongy idlis, so have patience and if
you live in a very cold place try keeping the batter in the oven after
preheating for 2 minutes and turning it off.
Prep Time: Inactive (4 hrs soaking + 8 hrs fermenting); Active (5 minutes grinding) Cook Time: 2-3 mins per appam Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
Raw Ponni Rice – 2 cups, washed and soaked for 4-5 hours Cooked Rice – 1 cup Fresh Shredded Coconut – 1 cup Salt – 1 tsp Water – 1/2 cup, warm Yeast – 1/4 tsp Sugar – 1 Tbsp + 4 Tbsp Water – 1 cup + 1/2 cup (divided)
Method:
1. Mix Yeast and 1 Tbsp Sugar into Warm Water. Cover and set aside until foamy. 2. In a blender, grind Cooked Rice and Coconut using the Yeast Water. 3. Add raw soaked rice and salt to the blender and continue to grind using additional 1 cup of water (little at at time). Batter should be absolutely smooth. 4. Remove batter into a large container with a lid and keep it in a warm place to ferment for about 8 hours. 5. Add additional 4 Tbsp Sugar and 1/2 cup water and mix well. 7. Heat Appam Chetty or non-stick skillet until water droplets sprinkled on evaporate immediately. 8. Pour a ladle full of batter into the center of the skillet. 9. Pick up the skillet and twirl it around so that the batter swirls all the way to the edges of the pan. 10. Cover the skillet and allow the appam to cook for approx 2 minutes. 11. When edges are brown, gently lift the appam from one side and move the skillet so that the appam moves freely. 12. Slide appam off the skillet onto a plate and serve immediately.
