Chakka podithooval - Dry sabji of Raw and tender jack fruit with grated coconut.

This is yet another recipe that I learned from my mom. the way she cooks this dish is just awesome and its my all time favourite. This is a Very easy to make dish and as the jack fruit season is fast approaching all of u can try this at home. All you need is a medium sized jack where the fruits are yet to develop. U can make this with unripened jack fruits too. 

Cut the jack and remove of the thick gummy portion in the middle and the thorny outer covering too. The portion that we take for making this dish is thin fibre type parts that are seen near the fruits + the unripened small jack fruits. scrape it using knife and it will start falling off.(if small fruits have developed scrape that also.)

boil all the scraped portions in a pressure cooker using little bit of turmeric and salt and water just to cover the vegetable- for 2-3 whistles. Remove the lid of the cooker and evaporate the extra water.

Now in a kadai heat some oil, crack the mustard seeds, Saute chopped small onion (1 handful), crushed garlic -3-4 pieces, few curry leaves, till nice aroma comes. Now add grated coconut 1 cup to this and add a pinch of turmeric powder and jeera powder. add salt if required.saute again well till coconut gives a nice smell. Add the cooked jack fruit to this and saute well and cover for few seconds till the flavour nicely blends. Serve with rice.

RICE FRYMS

Rice Fryms.
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I always love to make this as this is our all time favourite dish and with the double speed of making , this get finished faster in our home 
Summer is approaching and this is the ideal season for making these fryms. Can serve this with rice or can be had as a snack during rainy seasons. The light , crispy and fluffy texture of this fryms will definitely make it your favourite .

Here is an easy recipe for making this.

Rice (any quality) - 2 cups
Water - 6 cups
Jeera seeds -5 tspn
Asafoetida -2 tsp
Salt -as required

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp  

Can add any flavouring ingredients of your choice according to your taste buds.

Pressure cook all the ingredients for 4-5 whistles .Remember the rice has to be thoroughly cooked and mashed. Once the pressure subsides grind the rice to a thicker paste (without water) in a mixer. Squeeze it through a chakli maker and spread it on a cloth which in turn is spread on steel plates or a larger mat. Dry this under sun till crispier.( can remove this from the cloth on the second day and spread it on plates and dry till crispier ). store in containers and fry it in hot oil as and when required. 
Am sure this is going to rock your tables.

Mango Pickle - Instant one

This is a recipe handed over to me from my mom. She is an expert cook in all what she make. I still crave for her version of pickles.

I love making this mango pickle during mango season. Its very instant to make and tasty too. More over there is no waiting time for the pickle to set. and I just love it.

Ingredients are

Raw mango -2 nos
Mustard -2 big teaspoons
Red chilli powder -1& 1/2 tspn to 2 tspn (depending on the size of the mango)
Oil and salt as per requirement.
Curry leaves - few

courtesy - google images for raw mango picture

Cut the mangoes and chop it into tiny bits. Mix it with red chilli and salt for few minutes. Heat oil in a small kadai. Crack the mustard seeds. Add 1 tspn red chilli powder and switch off the burner. Remove the kadai from stove and add curry leaves and saute. Add the chopped and marinated mangoes to it and mix very well. Can use instantly once cooled.

Garlic Pickle

Garlic has been used throughout recorded history for both medicinal and culinary purposes. Garlic is one of the most valuable and versatile foods on the planet.

Garlic is a widely recognized health enhancing supplement. Garlic promotes the well-being of the heart and immune systems with antioxidant properties and helps maintain healthy blood circulation. One of garlic's most potent health benefits includes the ability to enhance the body's immune cell activity.

The active component in garlic is the sulfur compound called allicin. Allicin is the chemical produced when garlic is chopped, chewed, or bruised. Allicin is quite powerful as an antibiotic and a potent agent that helps the body to inhibit the ability of germs to grow and reproduce. In fact, it's said that 1 milligram of allicin has a potency of 15 standard units of pencillin. 

There are now over 12 studies published around the world that confirm that garlic can reduce cholesterol.

Even with much of these health benefits people dont like to have Garlic due its pungent nature and strong odour. But these healthy vegetable can be made into a pickle and enjoy the same qualities forever. 

This is how I made the pickle.

Garlic -200 gms
Peel the garlic and slightly prick using a pin or just crush it a little bit.
Ingredients required are red chilli powder, asafoetida powder and fenugreek powder (can roast the fenugreek seeds & grind to powder), salt, oil and vinegar as required. 

Heat some gingely oil/mustard oil in a kadai, splutter few mustard seeds, add the garlic pieces and saute (no need to cook), add few curry leaves too. Simmer the heat and add the chilli powder, hing powder, and fenugreek powder along with salt and mix well. Finally add vinegar and let it boil for some time. Remove from fire when the required consistency is reached. Fill in bottles once it is cooled.

Dates Pickle

I am an ardent fan of dates pickle. 

Dates are edible sweet fruits and are rich in natural fibers  vitamin and mineral. These natural products contain oil, calcium, sulphur, iron, potassium, manganese, copper and magnesium which are advantages for health. It is said that consumption of one date daily is necessary for a balanced and healthy diet. dates help in fighting constipation , intestinal disorders, weight gain, heart problems,sexual weakness, diarrhea and abdominal cancer.

But most of us dont like to eat it as fruit. This pickle is for all those (like me :D) who doesnt like to eat dates in fruit form.

This goes well with Biriyani 's Kichdi's pulav's etc. This has a blend of sweet and spicy taste.

Recipe:
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Dates -100 gms (Deseeded and chopped) you can either chop it to small bits or can slit into 4 halves.
Chilli powder - 4 tspn
Salt -1tspn (or as required)
Fenugreek powder-1/2 -3/4 tspn
Asafoetida -1tspn (can add extra if required because some hing brands wont give the required smell and flavour. so adjust according to your taste)

you can also use pickle powder if available instead of adding hing and asafoetida powders seperately. Add 3-4 tspn of pickle powder if using the same.

Oil - (mustard oil or gingely oil is the best) - as required .
curry leaves - 10 leaves
Mustard seeds - few

Chopped garlic -2 tspn

Chopped ginger -1/2 tspn

Vinegar - 1/4 - 1/2 cup
Water -1/4 cup

Heat oil in a kadai, splutter mustard seeds, add chopped dates pieces, curry leaves, garlic and ginger pieces and saute well in oil for few seconds. Add chilli powder and salt now. Mix well. If required can add some more oil as the pickle shouldnt be too dry. Add hing+ asafoetida powder (or pickle powder), Mix again. Now add 1/4 cup water to this mix and allow it to boil and cook the dates. The dates will become a bit softer now. Once the water is dried add vinegar and allow to boil. Switch off the burner when the gravy is not too thick and not too loose. Fill in the bottles and use after 2-3 days. You can use this pickle on the same day also but it tastes much good after 2-3 days.

Those who want the pickle to be more spicier can add extra chilli powder. You can saute the required amount of chilli powder in oil and mix with the pickle later also. I like the mix of sweet and spicy taste in this pickle.

Rich dark chocolate cake

Chocolate is the favourite of all irrespective of any age they are in. there are lot many favourites of cooking available with chocolate and cakes and cookies are the top among them. 

I have tried this choco cake with the drinking chocolate powder and it was so awesome in taste that it was melting in the mouth. We all enjoyed the richness of the flavour and taste of this cake.

Here is the recipe I used for making.

Maida/all purpose flour - 2 cup

Baking powder -1/4 tspn

Baking soda- 1/4 tspn

Salt -a pinch

Sieve all these dry ingredients 2-3 times and keep it aside undisturbed. Add 3/4 cup chocolate powder. 

If chocolate powder is not there you can use chocolate bars or cooking chocolate as per your sweet tooth. If using bar chocolate, melt the chocolate in boiling milk and allow it to cool and bring to room temperature before making the cake. Please note to adjust the amount of milk in the recipe if using chocolate bar.

Sugar -2 cups powdered

Eggs -3 nos

Curd (thick) -1 cup

Milk - 1/2 to 3/4 cup

Butter -150 gm

Chocolate essence -1/2 tspn

Beat butter and powdered sugar till nicely blend. Beat again till slightly fluffy. Separate the egg whites and yellow and add yellows to this mixture and again blend.Beat till the mixture is fluffy and soft.Add curd to this.beat again, followed by milk. Finally add egg whites and beat. When butter seperates from curd on top add chocolate essence. Mix well. 

Now slowly fold in the dry ingredients. If you wish to add chopped nuts or tuti-fruti bits or raisins or any other fruit bits of your choice to this mixture, mix it with the dry ingredients and then fold in for uniform distribution. Mix well till no lumbs are formed. Note: do not beat but just fold in. 

Preheat the oven at 200 deg centigrade.  

Grease the baking tray with oil and dust with flour uniformly.  Pour in the batter ,spread it uniform in the tray and bake for 40 minutes or till the skewer comes out clean.. Cool and remove from tray once it is done.Enjoy.