Mango lassi

I hail from the mango city Salem, India - famous for Malgoa/Malgova maambazham (mango), reminds me of the beautiful childhood rhyme,

"maambazhamaa maambazham, malgova maambazham, selathu maambazham, thithikkum maambazham.....".

In my hometown, we get rains during summer and we call it mango showers (rains). We used to have one mango a day for the most of our summer vacation. Whenever we visit our relatives in other cities during summer, my dad will proudly share a few malgova mangoes with them. In fact, our relatives would wait to relish the sweet salem mangoes. Once I came to the US, I rarely visit India when it is summer there. There is a big 'Bangana balli' mango tree in my Inlaw's place in Chennai. We loved eating those sweet mangoes last summer when we were in India.

It is now summer in the US and the grocery stores are filled with the aroma of delicious mangoes. Summer is no fun without mangoes and here is one sweet lassi that I learnt from my dear friend Priya. She prepared a delicious mango lassi when I visited her last weekend.

Ingredients:

Ripe mangoes - 2

Sugar - 3 tablespoons or as per taste

Milk - half cup

Yogurt - 1 cup

Cardamom powder - half teaspoon

Method:

Peel the mango skin and separate the pulp from the seed. Discard seed.

Substitute 1 cup canned mango pulp in case you don't have fresh mangoes. If using sweetened mango pulp, reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe.

Combine all the ingredients in a mixer/blender.

Adjust the ingredients as per your taste.

Serve cold.

This is my entry to the following events:

WYF - Juices and Ice cream event hosted by EC in Simple Indian food.

WBB-Summer Feast hosted by Sia of Monsoon spice

Eating with the seasons hosted by Maninas of Food matters

MM: Mango mania hosted by Meeta of What's for lunch honey?

Sweetseries - Cool desserts hosted by me.


Summer Splash! hosted by Aartee of From the kitchen.

Thank you so much bloggers, for hosting the various events.

Pineapple gojju / Pineapple sweet and spicy gravy

Here is an authentic recipe for Pineapple gojju. Pineapple lovers and people who like sweet cum spicy dish will love this gojju/gravy. Coming to the recipe, I used one full pineapple for this gojju. You can either use the fresh fruit or buy readymade canned pineapple chunks for this.

Ingredients:

Fresh ripe pineapple - 1
Tamarind - extract pulp from small lemon sized tamaraind. or use half teaspoon tamarind concentrate
Jaggery - three fourth cup (substitute with 1 cup brown sugar if you don't have jaggery)
Oil - 1 tablespoon for seasoning
Mustard seeds - half teaspoon
Curry leaves
Turmeric powder - quarter teaspoon
Salt as required

Roast the following in half teaspoon oil and grind to a coarse powder:

Urud dal - 2 tablespoons
Fenugreek seeds - 1 teaspoon
Dhania - 2 teaspoon
white sesame seeds - 2 teaspoons
Red chilli powder - 4 to 5
(preferably use redchillis that do not have much heat. In that case use at least 10 to 12 red chillis)
Kobri - half cup (substitute with desiccated coconut that can be bought in Indian store)

Method:

I cut pineapple this way:

cut the leafy head off and the bottom too. Now the pineapple will stand steadily in a flat surfact. All you have to do is hold the pineapple well and with the knife cut the rough outer skin carefully all sides. Cut into four parts leaving the middle part. Discard the middle part. With the remaining 4 pieces, cut into small chunks.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds. When it pops, add the pineapple chunks and let the content heat up.

Add half a cup water, tamarind, salt, turmeric powder and curry leaves. Keep the kadai partially closed and let it cook until the pineapple chunks are tender.

Add the jaggery and the ground masala to the gravy (mix masala with half a cup water so as to avoid lumps while adding)

Again let the gojju boil partially covered for two to three minutes.

Turn off the heat and serve the hot pineapple gojju with steaming white rice with a dash of ghee. Serve with pappads.

1. The pineapple gojju is my entry to Mixed rice varieties event hosted by EC of Simple Indian Food.

My other entries for this event are

Kashmiri pulao
Mixed vegetable rice
Chinese style vegetable fried rice
Green peas pulao
Beetroot pulao
Pongal gojju
Capsicum rice

2. The pineapple gojju picture is my entry to 'Click - the photo event' hosted by Jugalbandhi.

The team organising the JUNE edition of CLICK at Jugalbandi has organised a fundraiser to help Bri and her family meet her out-of-pocket medical costs for ONE YEAR.

CLICK is a monthly theme-based photography contest hosted by Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is: YELLOW for Bri.

The entries can be viewed HERE. The deadline for entries is June 30, 2008. The fundraiser will extend until July 15, 2008.

The target amount is 12,000 U.S. dollars. We appeal to our fellow bloggers and readers to help us achieve this. Bri deserves a chance to explore all options, even if her insurance company thinks otherwise.

There’s

a raffle with exciting prizes on offer. After viewing the list, you may make your donation HERE or at the Chip-In button on any participating site.

Your donation can be made securely through credit card or Pay Pal and goes directly to Bri’s account.

This month’s photo contest also has some prizes. Details

HERE.

You can support this campaign by donating to the fundraiser, by participating in CLICK: the photo event, and by publicising this campaign. Thank you. My prayers and best wishes to Bri.

Kashmiri Pulao

This is my Amma’s most Beautiful, Colorful and Tasty Creation. I love this Sweetie, Fruity and Nutty Pulao. Because it is colorful and has the fruits and nuts and since we use Saffron, we named it Kashmiri Pulao. The recipe for the Pulao is very simple but a little time consuming, since we have to gather all the ingredients. Once everything is assembled, it’s just mixing the ingredients with the rice. Very Simple and definitely worth the try. Here is the recipe.


Ingredients:



Rice:

Sona Masoori Rice or Basmathi rice – 1 cup (I use Ravi sona masoori rice. For this pulao any kind of rice is okay except the sticky rice. Basmathi rice would taste even better)
Salt – 1 teaspoon
Sugar – 2 teaspoons
Saffron – ¾ teaspoon

Fresh fruits:

Apple – 1 – chopped
Pomegranate – ½ cup seeds – washed (Wash the seeds because the juice will stain the rice and other ingredients)

Nuts/Dry fruits:

Sliced Almonds – 2 tablespoons
Broken Cashews – 3 tablespoons
Raisins – 3 tablespoons

Vegetables:

Carrots – ¾ cup chopped
Green Peas – ¾ cup chopped
Yellow corn – ½ cup

Others:

Tutti Frutti
Cardamom – 4 to 5 pods
Ghee – 2 tablespoons
Sugar - 2 teaspoons

Method:

1. Cook rice with Saffron, Sugar and Salt and separate grains. Keep it aside in a large mixing bowl.

2. Boil water and add the vegetables. Cook until the vegetables are tender. Drain water and keep it aside.

3. Ghee fry the Dry fruits. Keep it aside.

4. To the rice, add the Cooked vegetables, Fresh Fruits, Ghee roasted Dry Fruits, Crushed Cardamom, Ghee, Sugar and Tutti Frutti. Mix gently until all the ingredients are distributed evenly.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

This is my entry to Mixed rice varieties event hosted by EC of Simple Indian Food.

Pomegranate Mint Chutney

I had a small bunch of Mint and a ripe Pomegranate in my pantry. A wild idea struck me. Why not combine the two to make a Chutney that I have never tasted before. A Chutney for the Dosa that I was planning for the night. The idea worked and the result was a delicious sweetie, minty chutney. My husband and my little daughter loved it. Try this recipe. (The yield for the recipe below is very little. You can increase the Measurements Proportionately, if you want more chutney.)

Ingredients:


1 large ripe Pomegranate.
1 Small bunch of Mint
½ Green Chilli (if it’s too hot)
1 teaspoon Cummin (Jeera)
Salt to taste



Method:

Grind the Pomegranate Seeds with Cummin Seeds, Green Chilli and Salt, to a smooth paste. Do not add water as the fruit has enough juice to grind. (The Paste will be a little Coarse due to the seeds and that’s okay.) Now add the mint and grind again until the mint is ground to a paste. Chutney is ready in Seconds. No seasoning required. It’s a low Calorie and no Oil recipe for Dosa or Chapathi.

Strawberry Pickle

Being a great lover of Strawberries, I wanted to try some new recipe out of this colorful delicious fruit. I wanted to add some spice to it with a touch of sourness and …..came the recipe “ Strawberry Pickle”. Sounds peculiar, but worth the try. The first time I tasted the pickle, I swear, it did not impress me much. But I never knew that, it would take sometime to acquire the new taste. I started loving this yummy pickle especially with curd rice, a combination never heard of. Dear Strawberry lovers, I present to you the recipe for the tasty “Strawberry Pickle”.

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1-tablespoon limejuice
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon
Jeera (cumin) – 1 teaspoon
Aniseeds (sonf) – 1 teaspoon

Dhania powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Oil – 2 teaspoons

Method:

Put the chopped Strawberries in a bowl, add the lime juice, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, and salt and mix gently. Heat oil and add the mustard seeds, when it sputters, add the Jeera, dhania powder and Aniseeds. Now add this to the prepared Strawberries and mix well. Remains fresh for 1 day when refrigerated in an airtight container.

Strawberry Milkshake

Ingredients:

1 cup Fresh Strawberries chopped (Avoid using strawberries with very coarse skin)
Milk – 1 ½ cups
Sugar – 3 teaspoons
A scoop of Vanilla or Strawberry Icecream. (optional).
Cardamom – 2 pods

Method:

Blend the strawberries with sugar and little milk to a smooth paste. Add the Icecream, Cardamom and rest of the Milk and blend it again to a frothy consistency.

Serve cold.

Instant Apple Pickle

Wondering how in the an Apple pickle would taste. I felt the same when a friend of mine told me this recipe. I just loved it the first time I tasted. I bet you will too. Its got the juicy, spicy taste. If you are an Apple lover, you sure will love this delicious pickle. It goes very well with Curd rice. If you really liked the pickle, you would sure substitute as a curry for your main course. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Apple - 1
Turmeric - 1/4 spoon
Red chille powder- 1/4 spoon
salt - a little less than 1/4 spoon
lime juice -1/2 spoon - optional - add it if you want it a little sour
oil - 1 table spoon - preferrably gingily oil ( Nalla ennai )
Asafoetida powder - little
mustard seeds - 1/4 spoon

Method:

Dice apple into very small cubes. Add the lime juice (optional). Add the turmeric, red chille powders. stir and add salt. Heat the oil and add mustard seeds, after it pops, take it off the heat and add asafoetida to it. Now, pour the seasoning to the diced apple and mix well. A healthy pickle is ready in an instant. Lasts for a day when kept in the fridge.

Note:

1. If the apple is too sweet, add more red chillie powder and/or one teaspoon lemon juice.

2. It is not necessary to peel out the skin.

3. You can add green chillie seasoning instead of red chillie powder.

4. Add jeera too in the seasoning, if you like the taste of it.

My relative tried this pickle and sent me a photo of how she displayed it. Here is the photo. She is very creative.