Kesari

KESARI (special version, served in weddings):

 Kesari is an Indian sweet that is easy to make. It can be served as a snack or with breakfast. It is made of rava /sooji. If you are using cream of wheat ensure it is a fine powder instead of a coarse powder. 

Ingredients: 

Sooji (Cream of Wheat - finely powdered - 1cup

Sugar- 1 cup

Ghee (clarified butter)- ½ cup

Oil -¼ cup

Water- 3 cups

Cardamom- 3 pods(crushed to a powder form)

Cashew- 10 pieces

Raisin-10 pieces

Natural food color (orange/color of choice)- 3 to 5 drops

 

Instructions: 

1. Dry roast the sooji in a fry pan for 2 minutes.  Mix half of the clarified butter and half of the oil  to the sooji and continue frying on medium heat for an additional 2 minutes. The sooji will turn a bit lighter in color. Remove the sooji from the frying pan and set aside.

2. Fry the cashews and raisins in 1 spoon of the clarified butter. Set aside.

3. Place the 3 cups of water in the pan; add 1 teaspoon of clarified butter and 1 teaspoon of oil to the water. Bring this to a boil on high heat. Once the water is boiling turn the stove down to medium heat. Add the fried sooji to the boiling water little by little. Mix thoroughly by using a whisk to avoid lumps. Add 2 teaspoons of oil and keep whisking until the sooji is fully cooked (~3-5 min.). The mixture would now be thick and have a paste-like consistency. 

4. Add sugar and keep whisking. The Kesari will become a bit watery with the addition of sugar but with continued cooking (3-4 min.) would return back to its cake batter-like consistency.

5. Add the cardamom powder, fried cashews, fried raisins, food color & the remaining clarified butter and incorporate them into the Kesari.

6. Kesari is now ready to serve 

Pottukadalai laddoo

We usually make puffed rice balls for the festival of karthgai ( a festival referenced in tamil literature since 200 BC) but since I didn't have puffed rice, I decided to try a different kind of laddoo. This recipe is adapted from a moong dal ( split de-husked green gram) laddoo recipe my mom has made since I was young.

Ingredients:

Pottukadalai ( de-husked split chickpeas/de-husked bengal gram) powder- 1 cup ( 1/2 cup of the chickpeas will make a cup of the flour)

Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup ( granulated sugar can be ground in to a powder, sifted and set aside)

Ghee- melted- 2-3 tbsp

cardamom- 2 to 3 pods -  remove the seeds from the husk.

cashews- 10 roasted until golden brown and chopped into small pieces

Instructions:

1. Place a pan on medium heat.  Dry roast the de-husked bengal gram for 2-3 minutes and set aside.
   
   
2. Add the cardamom seeds to the gram and grind it into a fine powder.
   
   
3. Use a sifter to get the fine powder and set aside.
4. Take 1 cup of ground gram powder and add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to it.Add the chopped cashews to the bowl and mix. 
5. Add ghee a little at a time until the dough is the consistency of bread dough
   
   
   
   
6. Now break off small golf ball sized pieces of dough and make into perfect balls
7. Laddoos are ready to serve
   
   

Stuffed mushroom caps

I love cheese and mushroom so this is the perfect meal for me! I have used baby Bella mushrooms in this recipe but if you want this as an entree you can buy a larger portabella mushroom and that will serve as an entree. This recipe is easy to make and can serve as a vegetarian entree.

Ingredients 

1 package baby bella /white mushrooms 

Garlic minced - 4 to 5

Onion -1/2 chopped into small pieces 

Parmesan cheese shredded - 1/2 cup

Boursin cheese / cream cheese- 6 oz 

Salt 

Pepper 

Paprika - 1 tbsp

Bread crumbs ( I use panko)- 1 cup

butter- 2 tbsp

mozzarella cheese- cut into small cubes

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Wash the mushrooms well until it is clean. Then blot off the water and dry them.
   
   
3. Next remove the stems from the mushrooms and place them in a separate bowl.
   
   
   
   
4. The mushrooms without the stems are set aside for now ( they will be stuffed later)
5. Cut up the mushroom stems into small pieces
6. Place a pan on medium heat and add butter and let it melt.
7. Now add the chopped onions and sauté until translucent, then add garlic and sauté it as well, finally add the chopped mushroom stems and sauté for a few minutes.
   
   
8. Add salt, pepper and paprika to the mixture and mix well.
9. Take this mixture off the stove and place in a bowl and let it cool down for at least 15 minutes.
   
   
10. Now add the shredded parmesan cheese, boursin cheese, breadcrumbs to the mixture in the bowl and mix it in really well. This makes the filling for the mushroom caps.
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. Now take a baking sheet and place aluminum foil on it and spray with cooking spray so the mushrooms don't stick to it.
12. Stuff the mushrooms with a small spoonful of the filling.
    
    
13. Arrange the stuffed mushrooms on the baking sheet and place a small cube of mozzarella on top.
    
    
14. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
15. Mushroom caps are now ready to serve ( let it cool down before eating since the hot filling can burn your tongue!)
    
    

Jalapeño pie

One of our favorite dishes when we visit family is Jalapeno Pie.  My mother-in-law got this recipe from a friend and she makes it for us whenever we visit.  This year, we decided to make it for ourselves for Thanksgiving.  

Ingredients

10 oz grated cheddar cheese (or 10 oz of shredded Mexican blend cheese) 

10 oz grated mozzarella cheese 

2 eggs (You can substitute eggs with 1/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce mixed with ½ tsp. baking powder) 

1 unbaked pie shell 

Sliced Jalapeno peppers (We used the tamed kinds as they are not as spicy) 

Instruction

Preheat oven to 400

Put ½ of the cheddar cheese on the bottom of the pie crust and then ½ of the mozzarella cheese.

Spread a layer of Jalapeno Peppers.  Use as many as required to suit your taste.  

Put remaining half of mozzarella cheese on top of peppers

Mix the remaining half of the cheddar cheese with the eggs.  Mix well together and spread on top.  

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes on the lower shelf.  Make sure cheese is bubbly 

Corn casserole

Creamed Corn Casserole. 

One of my husband’s favorite Thanksgiving sides is Creamed Corn Casserole.  Unfortunately, it seems like any time they made this growing up, it seemed to take forever to get done.  He remembered both friends and family always cooking it in a souffle dish.  However, he found recipes online that stated to use a 9 x 13 glass baking dish and it turned out perfect.  

Cook Time:  45 – 50 minutes

Oven Temp:  Preheat to 350

Ingredients 

1 can corn – drained

1 can cream corn

1 cup sour cream

1 box Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix

½ cup butter – melted

1 teaspoon of granulated sugar 

Instructions 

1.Mix butter, sugar and sour cream together, in a large bowl.

2. Add the drained corn, cream corn, and muffin mix and stir well. 

3. Spread on a greased 9 x 13 glass baking sheet and cook for 45 minutes at 350 F or until edges are slightly brown. 

White gravy - vegetarian

Ingredients 

Butter - 3 tbsp

All purpose flour - 3 tbsp

Milk- 2 cups 

Black pepper - to taste 

Kosher salt - 1 tsp 

Instructions :

1. Melt the butter in a pan on medium heat
   
   
2. Add the flour to it and mix it in well until it is thick 
   
   
   
3. Now add the milk slowly a little at a time and whisk it so that it doesn’t get lumpy 
   
4. Keep whisking until the gravy is thick
5. Add kosher salt and black pepper and mix in