Juicing Sugarcane / Sugarcane Juice Recipe / Sugarcane Recipes

0

Juicing Sugarcane / Sugarcane Juice Recipe / Sugarcane Recipes 

Today's recipe is made with another seasonal ingredient - sugar cane. The markets and shops are full of sugarcane sticks during pongal and the following month. This year my mom in law made the famous sweet  pongal dish with this sugarcane. It tasted awesome. I did plan to post the same but as told earlier, I was very busy to capture and update. But I sure would do the same in the coming posts one day.

But for today, it's the sugarcane juice. Everybody I feel loves this sugarcane juice. My kids love ❤ this juice and they also love chewing the pieces as well. I make it a point to see that they eat the seasonal foods which are said to be loaded with nutrition and health thereby increasing the immunity in them.
This sugarcane juice is so very easy to prepare with no additional ingredients at all. Just peel the skin, chop into small pieces and put them in blender to extract the juice. So lets start off. 

Preparation

Peel the skin of the sugarcane sticks with the help of a knife 🔪.

Then chop into small pieces removing the pieces that are hard in between.

Put these pieces in a blender ( mixie ) with little water. Add little water just enough to run the mixie jar. If you add too much water, then the juice will get diluted and will lose its sweetness.

Mixie well and strain the juice using a filter. Squeeze the pulp with your hands in the filter.

Repeat the process until you are done with all the pieces.

Add lemon juice if desired with some ice cubes and enjoy this drink with your family and friends. 

Ingredients

Sugarcane 1/2 a stick

Method

1. Peel the skin of the sugarcane with knife.
   
2. Chop into small pieces.
3. Put in a mixie jar and mixie with little water.
4. Filter the juice and squeeze the pulp with your hands.
5. Add lemon juice and ice cubes according to your liking and serve.
   

Notes

• Do not add too much water while grinding in the mixie. Just add enough water to run the mixie.
  
• I served plain juice as my kids prefer it that way.

Continue ...

Freezing Green Peas / Best Frozen Peas / How to Freeze Green Peas At Home / Homemade Frozen Green Peas

0

Freezing Green Peas / Best Frozen Peas / How to Freeze Green Peas At Home / Homemade Frozen Green Peas

Hey friends, I was so busy the whole of last month since Christmas. The visit of my in laws, the festive season of Pongal and my man's birthday 🎂 kept me away from updating this blog. But I am back with more energy, enthusiasm and of course interesting recipes.
Today's recipe is very useful to make our lives easy and hassle free. This is the recipe to prepare homemade frozen green peas. Everybody loves green peas but we all know that they are seasonal. Using this method we can store green peas for almost a year and enjoy this seasonal veggie for the whole of the year. Though frozen peas are easily available in the market, I prefer to make them at home for three main reasons. Firstly, I have the option to choose the best green peas and remove any rotten ones. Secondly, they are more economical when compared to the store bought ones. Lastly, they are more hygienic when prepared at home.

To get perfect frozen peas, you need to select the fresh ones which are neither under ripe nor over ripe. The under ripe peas are the ones which are small in size and are very tender. The over ripe peas are fuller and are lighter in colour when compared with the just ripe green peas. The over ripe peas are bitter in taste while the just ripe peas are sweet in taste and soft on cooking. Here in this recipe, we are going to blanch the green peas and freeze them for a long time. Blanching is very important to freeze the peas, else they will ripe even in cold temperatures. Blanching the peas will stop them from ripening and retaining their sweet taste for a long time to come. 

I had this recipe in my drafts folder since last year, but unfortunately I could not get fresh green peas. So this year, I made it a point to get to the local market which is called Santha that is held every Sunday near my place. I indeed was lucky 🍀 enough to lay my hands on the best green peas that were fresh from the farm. Now straight to the recipe.

Preparation

Separate the green peas from their pods. This task might eat your time, but its worth the effort. You can do this while watching any of your favourite TV 📺 show to save your time. Wash the peas and keep them aside. Put a container of water on full flame and bring it to a boil.

Add the washed peas when the water is boiling. Continue to cook on high flame until the water starts to boil again.

When the water starts to boil again, set the timer to 1 1/2 minutes ( 90 seconds ). Once the timer stops switch off the flame immediately. 

By this time, all the peas would be floating on the water.

Now quickly strain the water from the peas using a colander and put it under running cold water until the peas come to room temperature. 

You can also pour some ice cubes or ice cold water in the green peas to stop the cooking process. Once they are cooled, dry them on a clean kitchen cloth or a cotton cloth ...

......until there is no moisture left on the peas.

Now, you can pack them in zipper bags or freezer safe containers and store them in your freezer shelf.

Use them when necessary. Just thaw them before using or keep the required amount of peas at room temperature for half an hour before using in your preparation. I follow the second method. 

Ingredients

Green peas 1 kg
Water  1 1/2 litres

Method

1. Discard the pods from the seeds and wash the peas and keep aside.
2. Bring a big bowl of water to a boil on a high flame.
3. Add the peas when the water is boiling and cook on a high flame until it starts boiling again.
4. Set the timer to 1 1/2 minutes and switch it on the moment the water starts boiling again.
5. Switch off the flame as soon as the timer is stopped and drain the water using a colander.
6. Add some ice cold water or ice cubes or put it under cold running water to stop the cooking process.
7. When the peas are cooled, dry them on a clean kitchen cloth until there is no moisture left on them.
8. Transfer these dried blanched peas to zipper bags or freezer safe containers and freeze them until use.
9. These frozen peas stay good for months to come.

Notes

• Make sure that you are using a wide and big bowl for blanching the peas. There should be enough space for the peas to cook else they will not get cooked properly.
• The process of cooking should be stopped as soon as possible after the timer has ran out, otherwise the peas cook further because of the warmth and will become mushy for later use.
• You can also label these packs of frozen peas with their respective dates of preparation for future reference.
• Do not cook for more than the given time i.e. 1 1/2 minutes ( 90 seconds ).
• Whenever you want to use them, just keep the required quantity of frozen peas at room temperature for half an hour and then your peas are ready to be used in any recipe.
• You need not cook these frozen peas for a long time in any recipe. Just add them at the end of the recipe i.e. just 5-10 minutes before switching off the flame and you will be done. 

Continue ...

cardamom elaichi powder

0

Cardamom ( elaichi ) Powder Recipe / Homemade Green Cardamom Powder Recipe

 

Since the last post I have started posting the important ingredients that are necessary for the festive season. This calls for some advance preparations. In the last post, I have discussed the preparation of ghee which is very important for any sweet dishes. Today´s post is another recipe that makes our task easier during the making of Prasadam recipes for God. It also saves our time as well.  

The next main ingredient for the festive dishes or Naivedhyam recipes is the elaichi powder or cardamom powder. My mom generally prepares this in advance and stores it in the refrigerator for future use. Doing it this way, saves our time while preparing any dish. Moreover, it becomes very difficult to grind cardamom in small quantities. So I prefer to prepare the homemade cardamom powder in advance and store it this way.

Preparing cardamom powder is like a cakewalk. It is very easy and simple task that can be done in just a few minutes. The only time-taking work is peeling the skin of the cardamom. I usually peel the skin of the elaichi pods and separate the seeds from them. I just use the seeds for the preparation of the homemade elaichi powder. I do these kind of tasks while watching any of my favourite shows on the television. I also make use of the skin in other preparation which I will be discussing in another post. So do not throw away the peels of the cardamom pods.

Preparation

Peel the skin of the cardamom pods and separate the seeds.

Take the seeds in a mixie jar and ground to a coarse powder. 

Now add sugar and then grind to a fine powder.

Sugar is added to help grind to a fine powder. Once grounded, your kitchen will fill with the aroma of the cardamom powder. When I was preparing the elaichi powder, my daughter was amazed at the smell and she came running to the kitchen to find out what I was preparing for her. And she wanted to taste the powder itself.

Now, transfer this powder to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for months to come. Use it as and when needed. 

  

Ingredients

Cardamom pods 100g

Sugar 3 tbsp.

Method

1. Peel the skin of the elaichi pods and separate the seeds.
2. Grind the seeds to a coarse powder.
3. Add sugar and grind them to a fine powder.
4. Remove to an airtight container and preserve in the refrigerator for future use.

Notes

• You can also grind it along with the skin but I prefer it this way as it gives more flavour when the skin is eliminated.
• Do not throw away the peels of the cardamom, as they can be useful in other recipes which I will discuss in a later post.
• Adding sugar will help us in attaining a fine powder. If you like the coarse powder, then you can grind to a coarse powder skipping the sugar.

Continue ...

homemade ghee/desi ghee at home

1

Making ghee at home / Making ghee from butter

Coming ahead is the festive season of Dussehra and the preparations are going on at a fast pace in my house. The first thing that comes to mind about the festivals is the dishes that are to be prepared for the holiday season. And the most important ingredient that is required for any festive dishes or Naivedhyam recipes is authentic ghee.

I love to prepare ghee at home which is fresh and so pure. Preparing homemade ghee is so easy and nice. You can prepare it with either store bought butter or homemade butter. I prepare ghee from scratch at my home.

I use ghee extensively. So I always tend to prepare ghee at home and store it for future use. I prepare ghee almost 2-3 times a month. And whenever I have excess of ghee with me, I give it to my mom-in-law and sis-in-law. They just love it. And the funny thing is that, when my mom has excess of homemade ghee, she gives it to me. So, I always have ghee in my pantry.

The texture and the taste of store bought ghee varies from that of the homemade ghee. Moreover, I found that all the processed foods that are available in the market are adulterated with some or the other ingredients that are unhealthy for us. The texture of the homemade ghee is grainy and has a heavenly taste. I use ghee whenever required, for pulav, upma, sweets, in dals, and almost any dish. I even use ghee for the preparation of some curries as well. I like the flavour of any dish when it is prepared with ghee rather than oil. Hence I generally use ghee instead of oil for some dishes.

  

Preparation

Separate cream from milk and collect it in a bowl. After the first addition of cream add little curd so that the cream curdles and the cream doesn’t get spoiled. Collect the cream everyday religiously for 10 days. After 10 days or when the bowl is full, mix the cream well and keep it out overnight.

In the morning, when the cream has got curdled well, put it back in the refrigerator. Allow it to become chilled. When you are ready to prepare the butter, remove from the fridge and rest it for 5 minutes. If you start preparing immediately after removing from the fridge, then your hands will get hurt because it is very cool. So just rest for 5 minutes. But make sure that you prepare the butter when it is cool and not warm or at room temperature. Butter is formed faster when the cream is cool. Transfer the curdled cream into a bigger vessel and put your hand it the vessel.

Keep rotating your hand in a circular motion at a fast speed.

Continue rotating your hands until you feel the butter is formed. And moreover, you will not feel the stickiness on your hands.

At this stage, the butter is formed. Add water, and remove the butter into another bowl.

Collect the butter in a thick bottomed pan or vessel and put the vessel on medium flame. If you are preparing ghee from store bought butter, then you can start the procedure from here. 

Melt the butter on a low flame and keep an eye on it.

Sometimes, the butter tends to overflow the vessel, so always keep an eye on it. When it is about to overflow, gently mix the butter with a spoon until it settles down. Allow it to cook slowly. Initially you will see small bubbles on the top layer.

Gradually the bubbles will increase and ...

the white portion on the top layer disappears and becomes ghee.

Cook until the bottom layer becomes brown in colour ( not black ).

Now, immediately switch off the flame and allow it to cool completely. When the ghee comes to room temperature then transfer to a glass jar or a plastic airtight container. Flavourful homemade ghee is ready.

Ingredients

Cream of milk of 10 days  ( OR ) Store bought butter

Method

1. Collect the milk cream in a bowl. Add little curd to it and put it in the fridge.
2. Keep collecting the cream in the bowl for 10 days. 
3. When the bowl is full, mix the cream well and keep it out at room temperature overnight.
4. In the morning, put the bowl back in the fridge and allow it to become chilled.
5. When it is chilled, remove from the refrigerator and rest it for 5 minutes.
6. Now out your hand in the bowl and rotate your hand in circular motion at the maximum speed possible.
7. After 5 minutes of rotating, you will find the small balls of butter forming and you will fell less stickiness.
8. At this stage, add water and remove the butter to another bowl. This is homemade butter.
9. Now, put this bowl of butter on a medium flame. 
10. Cook on a low to medium flame until the ghee is formed on the top layer and the bottom layer becomes brown in colour.  
11. Now immediately switch off the flame and allow to cool. 
12. When it comes to room temperature, transfer to a glass jar or plastic container and store it at room temperature for future use.

Notes

• It is always advisable to use the cream of full fat milk to get the best ghee.  
• If you use cream of full fat milk, then you get the butter in less than 4 minutes of rotating. 
• You can also prepare ghee in a blender which I will be sharing in another post.
• This homemade ghee can be stored for months to come.

Continue ...

murungai keerai podi / munagaku podi / drumstick leaves chutney powder

0

Munagaku Chutney Powder / Murunagai Keerai Idli Podi

Drumstick leaves also known as Munaga Aakulu or Munagakaya Aakulu in Telugu. Drumstick leaves are called murungai in Tamil. These leaves are very healthy. These munaga leaves are packed with a huge list of healthy nutrients which are very useful for our body. They are a rich source of Vitamin A, C and E. They also contain good amounts of calcium, potassium and proteins. It also has many antioxidants and antibacterial properties.

There are many dishes that can be prepared with these moringa leaves in south India. We prepare munagaku dal ( lentils ), munagaku chutney, munagaku curry with telagapindi ( dry ), munagaku powder, etc.,.  Today´s recipe is munagaku chutney powder which serves as an accompaniment for idli. This munagaku idli podi has a unique earthy texture and can also be served with hot rice as well.

The other ingredients that are used in the preparation of this munagaku idli powder are also very healthy and help in enhancing the overall taste and texture of the dish. Peanuts, sesame seeds, roasted channa dal are some of the ingredients that are used in the making of this idli powder with drumstick leaves. These items are recommended for daily use to stay fit.

Preparation

Separate the drumstick leaves from the stems and discard the stems. Wash the leaves and dry them on a dry kitchen cloth. Take a pan and dry roast the peanuts. When they become light black on the skin, remove to another plate and let them cool.

In the same pan, dry roast the urad dal until turn to a golden colour. Keep stirring continuously or toss them for even roasting and to avoid burning. Transfer to the plate and keep aside.

Similarly, dry roast the sesame seeds until they change to golden colour and become crispy. You can munch on a few seeds to check if they are crispy or not.

Remove to the plate and in the same pan, dry roast the roasted channa dal. Roast them for a 1-2 minutes and remove from flame.

Transfer them to the plate and now dry roast the munaga leaves. Roast them until they are totally dried up and become crispy. They should become such crispy that you should be able to powder them in your hands. When they become such crunchy, then remove to another plate and keep aside.

Finally dry roast the red chillies until they become black in colour.

Allow all these ingredients to cool completely and then put them in the blender except the moringa leaves.

Make a coarse powder of it.

Now add the munagaku and salt and make a powder of it.

Check for seasoning - salt and spice. Add more if required and transfer to an airtight container. Serve with hot idlis or hot rice. Put the powder in the plate, make a well and put a teaspoonful of ghee and serve with hot idlis. This would taste heavenly.

Ingredients

Peanuts  3tbsp.
Urad dal  2 tbsp.
Sesame seeds  2 tbsp.
Roasted channa dal  1 tbsp.
Drumstick leaves  1 cup
Red chillies  20
Salt  to taste

Method

1. Discard the stems and separate the leaves. Wash the leaves with water and dry them on the kitchen cloth.
2. Dry roast the peanuts until black on the outer skin and crunchy and tasty on the inside.
3. Dry roast the urad dal seeds until golden. Remove to another plate and allow to cool.
4. Similarly dry roast the sesame seeds until golden and allow to cool in a plate.
5. Dry roast the roasted channa dal for 1-2 minutes.
6. Put the munaga leaves in the pan and fry until the leaves are dried up and become crunchy.
7. Similarly, dry roast the red chillies until black in colour.
8. Allow all these spices to cool completely.
9. Put all the ingredients in the blender except the moringa leaves. Make a coarse powder.   
10. Now add the murungai leaves to the coarse powder and blend once again adding salt as well.
11. Check for seasoning and add salt or spice if required.
12. Serve with hot idlis or hot rice.

Notes

• Use fresh and tender munaga leaves for the best taste.
• This munagaku chutney powder can be stored at room temperature for at least 1 month.
• Add little aamchur powder ( dried mango powder ), if you want the powder to have a sour taste. I did not add any aamchur powder because I found this tasty as it is.
• Add enough spice, not too more nor too little. Either ways, you might not get the best taste of it.
• You can also add 1 tbsp. of channa dal to the above roasted ingredients. 
• 1 tsp of cumin seeds can also be added to enhance the flavour. 

Continue ...