Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Easy Mango shrikhand

Mango shrikhand is one more dessert from North India , but popular among all those mango lovers. As I have a lot of Gujarati friends, I get to taste the most delicious traditional mango shrikhands as wells as quick fix shrikhands.  We all know that desserts are supposed to be served after a large meal, but in Gujarati cuisine (my friends' house), they would serve at least 3 desserts along with food and conclude it with a 'dried sweet betel paan' or lassi. There I came to know that, this shrikhand can be used as a dip for poori (which is a staple during their festivals). I too started adding a pinch of sweetness in my dishes because of my love for Gujarati foods.
After seeing many shrikhand recipes in my friend's house, I made this lesser fat version and it is very easy to make too. Mine is not a traditional shrikhand. Traditionally this dessert should be made using whole milk curd. My low-fat version also tastes little similar and can be enjoyed any time.
Enjoy !
Mango shrikhand

Mango puree with sour cream

Sour cream

whipped sour cream

Add mango puree , brown sugar and cardamom powder

Preparing custard base

Mix everything together

Transfer to containers and keep refrigerated

Less fat Mango shrikhand  on an embroidery ....made in Gujarat :)  Love this !
Ingredients:
Mango puree - 850 gm (almost 2 lb)
Sour cream (low fat) - 450 gm (1 lb)
low fat milk - 1 cup
low fat milk - 1/4 cup
custard powder (vanilla /mango flavor) - 2 tbsp
sugar - 3/4 cup
cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Method:
First prepare the custard, as it needs cooling time.
Bring 1 cup milk to boil. Dissolve custard powder in 1/4 cup milk. REDUCE the heat and add this custard mix. Within 30 seconds it would start thickening, keep on stirring for 1 minute. Switch off the stove and let cool completely.
In a wide mixing bowl pour the sour cream. Whip it to a smooth consistency using a fork.
Add the mango puree, sugar, cardamom powder and mix well.
Add the custard at room temperature. Mix well and transfer to containers.
Keep refrigerated for at least 2 hours before serving (I keep it overnight).
Mango shrikhand is ready !

Serving suggestion:
Serve as dessert.
Ideally this should be served in small cups (2 - 3 tbsp in each cups).
Makes almost 20 servings

Note:
*Instead of custard powder we can use corn starch too.
*The custard we prepared can be replaced with low fat cream cheese (whipped smoothly).


Saturday, August 6, 2016

Carrot sweet pickle

Carrot pickle has become our new favorite now. Carrot is one of my most favorite vegetables. So I used to prepare carrot pachadi (raitha) in order to include more carrots. But recently my hubby dear started preferring cooked foods over raw. So I have to stick with carrot poriyal varieties often. See below for more carrot recipes from my kitchen.  Instead of regular stir fry, I made a pickle using carrot, just like how we do the mango pickle and believe me, this tastes and smells just like mango pickle. This is a sweet version of Tamilnadu pickle. Hope you all love this !

Recipe inspiration : Priya's Carrot pickle. Thanks Priya ! Almost 6 years back while reading your recipe only, I came to know that we can make pickle with carrots too. I kept that in my mind, but now only I tried it :) It tastes amazing dear. Thanks !

Carrot pickle with methi thepla and beetroot raita

Peel and cut the carrots in to rounds.

Chop into small squares. I have used a Vidalia onion chopper from 'Bed Bath and Beyond '  stores. That makes the chopping easier.

chopped carrot.

My homemade puliyotharai powder. I always keep this in freezer.

Lime / lemon for pickle

Sauteed carrot

Add jaggery or brown sugar, salt after the carrot is almost cooked.

Switch off and let cool. add lemon juice.

Store the carrot pickle in  an airtight container. 
carrot pickle with methi thepla and beetroot pachadi.

Sweet carrot pickle
Ingredients:
Carrot - 2 big (300 gm)
brown sugar - 1 tbsp (heaped)
red chili powder - 1 tsp
sesame oil - 1/4 cup
mustard seed, fenugreek seed - 1/2 tsp each
hing powder - 1/4 tsp
salt - to taste (1.5 tsp)
lemon  1 1/2 (big)

To powder : (puliyotharai powder) *
Methi / fenugreek seed - 1/2 tsp
mustard (kadugu) seed - 1 tsp
hing - tiny piece (like a black pepper)

Method:
Peel and rinse the carrots.  Wipe and clean without any moisture. 
Cube the carrots. 
Heat a drop of oil in a wok. Fry the mustard, methi and hing till mustard pops. Powder these together. 
Now heat the 1/4 cup sesame oil in a wok. Add mustard, fenugreek and let the mustard crackle. Sprinkle the hing powder.
Put the chopped carrots and stir well. Cook covered till tender crisp stage. Then add the dry chilly powder, salt and saute.  Put jaggery / brown sugar, prepared powder mix well and switch off.
Add  juice of  1 1/2  to 2 lemons and mix well.Check for salt and let cool completely.
Store in clean bottles. Let cool completely. secure with a lid and keep refrigerated. Stays good for a week to 10 days. (It never lasts longer than that in my house, so I don't know the maximum shelf-life of this pickle). 

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with curd rice or any rice or roti.

Note:
*  I have used a vegetable chopper in this recipe.
It takes less than 5 minutes to cube a lot of carrots, if we use a good quality vegetable chopper.  Believe me, using a vegetable chopper makes our life more pleasant :) 
** I make this powder for puliyotharai  (see ingredients) and keep it in freezer up to 3 months. This is my pickling masala powder as well.
*** Always  use good quality sesame oil  (any oil) in this recipe, because the beta-carotene in the carrot is a fat soluble vitamin and it becomes more available to our body (becomes Vitamin A).  Carrot becomes more nutritious food while cooking.
I have used Lakshmi brand sesame oil here.

Other carrot recipes:
Tomato carrot soup
Carrot kuLi paniyaram
Vegetable uthappam
Moovarna poriyal
Carrot usili
Carrot paratha
Simple beans carrot poriyal
Vegetable biriyani with carrot pachadi
carrot halwa


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