Fereni - A Persian Dessert

Fereni is a creamy and delicious Persian dessert which is made using rice flour , milk and rosewater as main ingredients. The Rosewater gives the intense flavor to the dessert and it is normally garnished with Pistachios . The dessert could be served either warm or cold . I personally like to be on a warm side. But Fereni is best when it is served chill . 

For this month's challenge on International Food Challenge  , +Savitha Ganesan was the host . She had chosen Persian Cuisine. Persian cuisine is really similar to Indian cooking . They widely use Rice , Turmeric and Saffron . Among  suggested recipes from savitha's end , i chose Fereni which was little easy . Thank you +Saraswathi Tharagaram for the lovely group challenge .

Ingredients for this desserts are easily available . Still you can substitute with the ingredients too as i did.

Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 1 1/2 TBSP

Whole Milk - 1 1/2 Cup

Rose Water - 1 1/4 TBSP

Sugar - 2 TBSP

Cashew and Almonds - For Garnishing

Instructions:

- In a bowl , combine milk , sugar and rice flour . Mix well using a Whisk .
- The mixture should be lump free .
- Place the bowl in the stove on medium heat and keep it whisking to make sure there is no lumps forming.
-  Mixture will thicken in no time , so keep an eye on it.
- When the mixture is getting thicker add the rose water and allow it to get little more thicker.
- The pudding must be jelly like consistency .
- Pour it in the serving bowls . Garnish it with Nuts .
- Serve it warm or cold .

Monday - Mix it up Monday, The Scoop, Made with love Monday, Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks  , Inspire me monday , Make the scene monday , Inspiration Monday ,cooking for seven dwarfs , Much Ado about monday , Craft - o-Maniac monday , Made by you monday

Tuesday - Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box, , Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home ,   Tasty Tuesday @ Anyonita Nibbles, Tuesday's Table @ Love in the Kitchen, Handmade tuesday , simple supper tuesday

Wednesday -Buns in the oven , Lady behind the curtain , Wined down wednesday,  Wonderful  food wednesday ,Show and share wednesday , The wednesday roundup , Weekend Retreat 

Thursday - , Fantastic Thursday , Thriving on thursday , Full plate thursday ,

Friday -  Freedom Friday , foodie friday , pin junki , foodtastic friday , weekend wonders , friday food frenzy , weekend potluck , play party pin , Anthing goes linky @ Bacon time

Andalusian Stuffed Tomatoes - IFC

As the host for this month's challenge in International Food Challenge , I had chosen few Andalusian Cuisines to explore . Before exploring the cuisine , lets see about the country.

Andalusia is one of the most populous and second largest autonomous communities in Spain , stretching south from sunny cities Cordoba and Seville all the way to Atlantic ocean and the Mediterranean sea . The name “Andalusia” was derived from the Arabic word “ Al- Andalus”. Andalusia boasts many delicious foods offering travelers a chance to stimulate their palettes while exploring. 

 I am not getting too much into exploring the country, so let’s explore their cuisine.  I had chosen four interesting, yet super simple recipes. 

      1. Andalusian Stuffed Tomatoes.

      2. Andalusian Courgette Tortillas.

      3. Andalusian Gazpacho.

      4. Polvorones .

 Ingredients:

Tomatoes – 6

Bread Crumbs – 100 gms

Parsley – 3 TBLS (Optional )

Salt

Black Pepper

Butter – 2 TBLS

Onion – 1

Grated Cheese – I used mozzarella & Parmesan

Thyme (Optional )

Instructions:

1.     Cut the tomatoes into half, Scoop out the seeds and juice (Save it for the stuffing).

2.    Combine breadcrumbs, Parsley, salt, pepper along with the saved tomato seeds and juice.

3.   Pre heat the oven at 300F.

4.   In a saucepan, melt the butter, sauté the onions till they become soft.

5.   Add the breadcrumbs mixture to the sautéed onions and mix . Keep off the heat add some cheese and mix it.

6.   Spoon the filling to the tomatoes. Top it with some more cheese and bake it for 15 minutes.

7.     Serve it warm.

Thank you +Saraswathi Tharagaram  and +Shobana Sekar  for giving the opportunity to host the challenge .

linking it to these linky parties

Monday - Mix it up Monday, The Scoop, Made with love Monday, Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks  , Inspire me monday , Make the scene monday , Inspiration Monday ,cooking for seven dwarfs , Much Ado about monday , Craft - o-Maniac monday , Made by you monday

Tuesday - Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box, , Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home ,   Tasty Tuesday @ Anyonita Nibbles, Tuesday's Table @ Love in the Kitchen, Handmade tuesday , In and Out of kitchen

Wednesday -Buns in the oven , Lady behind the curtain , Wined down wednesday,  Wonderful  food wednesday ,Show and share wednesday , The wednesday roundup , Weekend Retreat , Delish Dessert Party

Thursday - , Fantastic Thursday , Thriving on thursday , Full plate thursday ,

Friday -  Freedom Friday , foodie friday , pin junki , foodtastic friday , weekend wonders , friday food frenzy , weekend potluck , play party pin , Fantastic Friday

Sunday - sunday sharing pinterest party

Hokkaido Chiffon CupCakes

Let me wish everyone a Very Happy New Year  with this airy , fluffy and a spongy Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes .This is my first recipe post for this year . Like this delicious Cupcakes , hope this year be sweet and smooth for everyone .

These Cuties are super soft , mild in sweet and i bet you'll go for the second round . They are not like usual cakes . They don't require butter , baking soda or baking powder . Infact the amount of sugar used in the cupcake is lesser than usual , so they are filled with Custard in the center to equalize the sweetness .

I actually half'd the recipe as there is only 2 people at home and i don't want to waste anything . This recipe made three 3 Cupcakes . You can double the recipe if you want more cupcakes.

Ingredients:

For Cupcakes:
All Purpose Flour -  1/4 Cup
Jumbo Egg - 1 ( Room Temp )
Oil - 1 1/2 TBLS
Milk - 2 TBLS
Vanilla Paste - 1/2 TSP
Sugar - 2 TBLS

For Filling :
Heavy Whipping Cream - 1/3 Cup
Icing Sugar - 1 1/2 TBLS
Custard Powder - 1 TSP

For Garnishing :

Fresh Cream
Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

For the Cake:

• Pre-Heat the oven at 350F.
• Align the cupcake liners in the muffin tray .
• Separate the egg yolk from the egg white.
• Beat the egg whites till the stiff peaks . Keep that aside.
• In a bowl , Add flour , sugar , oil , milk , vanilla paste and the egg yolk . Beat everything together till the sugar dissolves . ( It takes couple of minutes) 
• When the smooth batter is formed , Add the whipped egg white mixture and gently fold in one direction. It takes a minute to mix everything . Do not over fold .
• Fill the Cupcakes 3/4th full and bake it for 15- 18 minutes .
• Once it is done allow it to cool completely in a wire rack before filling and decorating it.

For the Filling :

•  Whisk the Whipping Cream  till the stiff peaks. Add Vanilla paste and icing sugar and mix. 
•  Keep Half the Whipping cream separately and in the other half add the custard powder and mix it .
• Fill the creams in two piping bags .

How to decorate the Cupcakes:

• In the center of the cupcakes squeeze in the Custard filling .
• Pipe some Fresh cream on top of the cupcakes and sprinkle few chocolate chips on top of it.

Tips:

• Sift the flour to make sure there is no lumps in it.
• Do not over beat or over fold the batter as it tends to harden the cakes.
• When whisking egg whites to stiff peaks remember :

                       * To do it on a clean , grease free , water free bowl .

                       * To do it over a bowl of ice water .

                       * You could add Cream of Tartar ( i actually omitted it from the recipe ).

• I used Custard as filling , you could use any filling as your wish .

Thank You +Shazia Wahid  from Cutchi Kitchen  for Choosing this wonderful recipe for this month's challenge on International Food Challenge . Learnt lots of new things about Hokkaido Cuisines. Linking it to +Shobana Sekar and +Saraswathi Tharagaram too .

Linking it to other linky parties too
Krithi's Kitchen

Monday - Mix it up Monday, The Scoop, Made with love Monday, Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks  , Inspire me monday , inspiration monday , cooking for seven dwarfs

Tuesday - Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box, , Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home ,   Tasty Tuesday @ Anyonita Nibbles, Tuesday's Table @ Love in the Kitchen, 

Wednesday -Buns in the oven , Lady behind the curtain , Wined down wednesday,  Wonderful  food wednesday ,Show and share wednesday , The wednesday roundup , Weekend Retreat , Delish Dessert Party 

Thursday - , Fantastic Thursday , Thriving on thursday , Full plate thursday ,

Friday -  Freedom Friday , foodie friday , pin junki , foodtastic friday , weekend wonders , friday food frenzy , weekend potluck

simply tadka , 

 

Onion Kachori

Kachori's are deep fried , crispy Indian snack sold in all the chaat shops. For this months challenge on International Food Challenge +Manjula Bharath  from Desi Fiesta had suggested a wide variety of Rajastani Cuisines . I seriously was confused what to choose . Later i opted for the first option which was 1 Sheera and 1 Kachori.

Thank you +Manjula Bharath , +Shobana Sekar and +Saraswathi Tharagaram for giving this opportunity to explore this rajastani Cuisine. We loved these kachori's . First when i made Moong Dal Kachori , i could't take a photograph of it . So i had second chance to make the kachoris again. This time i made onion Kachori's.

Ingredients:

For The Dough:

All Purpose Flour - 2 Cups
Butter - 5 Table Spoon
Salt - 1/2 TSP
Water

For The Stuffing:

Onions- 1 Cup ( Thinly Chopped)
Fennel Seeds - 1 TSP
Chili Powder - 1/2 TSP
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 TSP
Cumin Powder - 1/2 TSP
Coriander Powder - 1/4 TSP
Coriander leaves - 2 TBLS ( Chopped)
Salt - To Taste
Oil- 1 TBLS

Instructions :

To Make The Dough :

- Combine all the ingredients and knead it into a semi- soft dough using enough water.
- Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal portions and keep them covered under a wet muslin cloth.

To Make The Filling:

- Heat oil in a pan . Add fennel seed , cumin seeds and Onions.
- When the onions turn brown add Turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander powder and cumin powder.
- Mix them till they are combined well .
- When the raw smell of the chili powder is gone add the chopped coriander leaves and turn off the heat.
- Allow it to cool down.



                     

How to make the Kachori's :

- Roll out each portion of the dough into circle.
- Place one portion of filling in the center of the circle.
- Seal all the edges and make it into a ball .
- Press it gently with hands and make it flat .
- Using a rolling pin , Roll it out again .
- Repeat this with the remaining dough
- Deep fry the kachori's in hot oil over slow flame . Till both the sides are golden brown.
- This process would take 10 - 15 minutes.
- Serve it warm with Sauce or Chutney

Mozzarella in Carrozza IFC #3

Mozzarella in Carrozza  , It means Fried Mozzarella in a Carriage . Sounds interesting right . Mozzarella is stuffed in bread and deep fried . They are at its best taste when they are served warm. Mozzarella in Carroza was one of the suggested recipe by +Priya Suresh for this month's challenge on International Food Chalenge . 

If  Bread and cheese available at home and you are looking for a crunchy and cheesy snack , this is for you . Simple to make and they are absolutely delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

White Sandwich Bread - 2 

Fresh Mozzarella - Thinly sized

All Purpose Flour - 1/4 Cup

Salt - For Taste

Oil - For frying

Butter - 1 Tsp

2 Slices of bread would make 2 sandwiches and 4 bite size Quarters.

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Spread the butter on both the bread slices .
• Top it with mozzarella and close it with the other bread.
• Neatly trim the edges and carefully cut it into 2 or quarters.
• Give it a quick press in the edges . Because we have applied butter the edges will not open.
• Dip the edges of the sandwich in all purpose flour .
• In a bowl mix all purpose flour and water ( Should be beaten egg consistency).
• Dip the edges and sides .
• Heat the oil and fry the sandwiches till golden brown .

Crostini with Cherry Tomatoes & Mozzarella IFC# 3

For this month's challenge on IFC , +Priya Suresh has chosen 4 marvelous recipes . This month we are going to explore Campania the cuisine of Italy .  We all know Italy itself is best known around the world for its own Pizza.  Campania's cuisines relies on sun-kissed vegetables , herbs, salty capers , dried pasta and fresh farm house Cheese .

As usual 4 recipes were suggested and we have to choose on and explore them.

• Crostini with Cherry Tomatoes and Mozzarella  
• Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
• Mozzarella in Carrozza 
• Pizza Margherita                        

    

Crostini is a simple , delicious and a tasty snack. It is just arranging the pre-made french bread with cheese and tomatoes .   Lets get to the recipe. 

 Ingredients :

French  Bread -   1 Loaf

Mozzarella  Cheese -  1 Ball

Grape  Tomatoes -  1 Cup

Butter -  1/2 Stick

Garlic -  1 Clove (minced)

Basil -  few ( Chopped) i used cilantro for garnishing.

 Instructions:

Preheat the oven at 350F .
In a small bowl mix the butter and minced garlic .
Brush the garlic butter on both the sides of the bread.
Top it with cheese, sliced grape tomatoes and Chopped Basil.
Bake it for 10-15 minutes till the cheese melts.
Serve it warm.

Notes -

I baked the bread slice only with Mozzarella after the cheese was melted i decorated with Grape tomatoes and Cilantro leaves. Thins way you could feel the crunchiness of the cherry tomatoes in each bite.

Continental Recipes.

Chicken Kugelhopf IFC #2

Kugelhopf is a light yeasted cake filled with nuts , raisins and candied fruits . It is baked in a special kugelhopf mold . Kugelhopf was one of the choice given by +Shobana Sekar  for this month's International Food Challenge. I have already posted the Traditional Quiche which is also one among the three recipes given for this month. I cannot stop trying new recipes if it is a savory challenge.

The recipe suggested was egg less version , as usual i have altered the recipe and made it as a chicken Kugelhopf . The stuffing was simple and easy but it had an awesome flavor to the bread.

RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:

For the Dough :

APF - 11/2 Cup

Yeast - 1TSP

Warm Milk - 6 TBLS

Yogurt - 2 TBLS ( Room Temperature)

Butter - 2 1/2 TBLS ( Softened)

Oil - 1TBLS

Sugar - 1 TBLS

Salt - 1/2 TBLS

For the Filling:

Chicken - 1 Quarter ( Minced)

Onions- 1/2 Cup (Chopped )

Garlic -  3 TBLS (Chopped)

Dried Parsley - 1 TBLS

Chilie Flakes - 1 TBLS

Salt 

Pepper Powder - 1/2 TBLS

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preparing the Dough:

• In a bowl add 1 cup of Flour , salt , yeast ,sugar and the butter.
• Mix the flour with the butter . It does look crumbly .
• Add milk and curd to the flour mixture . Now the dough will look sticky.
• Now add the oil and mix it well .
• Lastly add the 1/2 cup of flour to the dough and knead it for  5 minutes.
• Cover the dough with a damp cloth , keep it in warm place . Allow it to raise double in size.

Preparing the filling:

• In a pan , heat oil , Saute the chopped onions and garlic .
• Once they are golden brown add salt , pepper and chillie flakes .
• Lastly add the minced chicken , Cook till it is done .
• Add little Dried parsley.
• Allow the filling to cool .

Forming the Log:

• Once the dough is raisen , punch the dough and let the air out.
• Roll out the dough to medium thickness and spread the chicken filling over the top of it.
• Now roll them in to form a log.
• Now place the log in the greased pan.
• Allow it to raise for another 30 minutes.

Baking the Kugelhopf:

• Preaheat the oven at 390 F .
• Place the dough in the preheated oven and bake it for 30 minutes.

Cantonese Sweet & Sour Mushroom IFC #1

In my previous post I had mentioned that I made these super delicious Sweet & Sour Mushroom and it vanished before me clicking pictures . I had taken only one picture . I will surely make this dish again and repost with new pictures ...

When I went to the Chinese market last time , fresh Oyster Mushrooms were available at a discounted price . I remembered my mom making Devil Mushrooms out of it .Devil Mushroom is similar to Sweet & Sour in making .As Sweet & Sour was one of the option given in this months Challenge in IFC ,  so i decided to make this super delicious Cantonese sweet and sour Mushroom with these fresh oyster mushrooms . 

  +Saraswathi Tharagaram ( saras yummy bites )  and +Shobana Sekar (Kitchen secrets and snippets ) 

I didn't adopt the exact recipe . I made some changes according to my taste and made it with a little gravy .

                    

Prep Time :15 - 20 Minutes
Cooking Time : 10 Minutes
Recipe referred From : http://www.smokywok.com/2011/01/sweet-and-sour-pork-recipe.html

INGREDIENTS:

  

For Frying :

Oyster Mushrooms - 1/2 kg  ( Clean the Mushrooms , just cut it into half )

APF - 1/ 4 Cup

Corn flour - 2 TBLSP

Salt  -1/4 TSP

Pepper - 1 TSP

Water - ( to make a semi thick batter )

Oil to fry

For the sauce:

Tomato Ketchup - 5 TBLSP
Chili Sauce - 4 TBLSP
Dark Brown Sugar - 1 TSP
Soy Sauce - 1 TBLSP
Water - 1/4 Cup
Chili Flakes - to the spices level

Vegetables: ( Dice the Vegetables into Cubes)

Red Onion - 1 Large
Capsicum - 1
Red Chili - 2
Tomato - 1
Garlic - 3 ( slice it )


 INSTRUCTIONS:

How to make the Batter :

- Combine Corn flour , APF , Salt , Pepper Powder .
- Add water till it becomes a thick batter.

How to fry :

- Clean the mushrooms and cut it into half ( Do not chop it)
- In a heavy bottom pan , heat the oil .
- Once the oil is hot , Dip the mushroom in the prepared batter and fry it in the hot oil.
- When the mushrooms are fried into golden brown , take out from the oil .
- keep them in paper towel so that the excess oil can be absorbed.

Combining the Vegetables + Sauce + Fried Mushrooms  :

- Heat some oil in a pan , saute sliced garlic and dried red chilies till they cooked.
- Add red onions allow it to become golden brown.
- Add diced Tomatoes , once it get softer add the Capsicums , half cook it .
-Now add the ingredients under the sauces. Cook it till the Sauce becomes thick.( if you want some gravy in it do not let the sauce to become thick.)
- Lastly add the chili flakes.
- Now add the fried mushrooms . Give it a quick mix . ( If you want the mushrooms to be crispy do not let the mushrooms to soak in the gravy for along time ).
- Serve it hot .

Linking the event to food of the world - chinese