Strawberry Sharbat Recipe

Strawberry Sharbet| Strawberry Sharbath| Strawberry Sarbath is nothing but a variation to lemonade. You could prepare this sharbet without lemon too. But lemon adds more taste and kick to this drink. I just tried this recipe like other sharbath with strawberries by making a home made strawberry syrup out of it and made this drink. It came out really well and tastes awesome. For more texture i have added sabja(basil) seeds too. If you have the syrup at home this drink could be made in a jiffy. I am happy with the out come so do try this recipe at home at this strawberry season!

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

INGREDIENTS:
Strawberry syrup- 2 tablespoons/ glass
Lemon juice- 1/2 big/ glass
Sabja seeds| basil seeds, soaked- 1 tablespoon/ glass
Ice cubes- 3-5/glass
Water- 1 glass

PROCEDURE:

• Soak the sabja| basil seeds in water just before preparing the drink.
• In a tall glass add the ice cubes strawberry syrup and lemon juice and sabja seeds. 

• Add water just below the rim. Mix gently with a spoon to combine.

• You could make double the ingredients and make it in a big bowl for more people.

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Easy Rava Pongal Recipe

Rava Pongal| Semolina Pongal| Sooji rava Pongal is an alternative to traditional pongal prepared with rice and dal. This is tasty and quick to make healthy breakfast too. I have planned to make this recipe last year and could not made this due to time constrain. This year i made this pongal recipe and the same day happened to watch Venkatesh bhatts show making this rava pongal. He has added loads of ghee and prepared similar to kesari consistency. My hands never use that much ghee in any of my cooking. I use that much ghee for one month cooking and eat the dishes without any guilt. So i am happy with my version. Those who wants that soft and non sticky consistency use more ghee to get that consistency.

INGREDIENTS:
Rava|semolina- 1 cup
Moong Dal- 1/2 cup
Ghee- 3 tablespoons
Peppercons- 1 tablespoon
Jeera- 1 teaspoon
Cashewnuts, broken- 10 nos
Onion, finely chopped- 1/2(optional)
Ginger, finely chopped- 1/2 inch
Curry leaves- 2 stands
Salt- to taste

PROCEDURE:

• Roast the moongdal till the dal starts to get golden colour.
• Pressure cook the moong dal with 1 and 1/2 cups of water for 3- 4 whistles.
• Once the pressure releases open the pressure cooker and add 3 cups of water, enough salt and the remaining ghee for the pongal; bring it to boil.

• Meanwhile heat a tablespoon of ghee in a pan and add the peppercorns, jeera and cashewnuts and roast till the cashews starts to get golden colour.
• Now add the onion, ginger and curry leaves and fry till the onion turns translucent.
• Immediately add the rava and roast well till it looks like sand consistency.
• Remove the pan and set aside.

• Once the mixture boiling and reaches the rolling hot stage add the rave in two lots with constant stirring.
• Close with a lid and cook for few minutes till the rava cooks soft.

• Serve pongal with gothsu or coconut chutney
• Notes: Adding ghee gives more flavour and taste to the pongal. So adding more quantity is up to your choice.

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Pongal Festival Recipes

Pongal Festival Recipes: Click on the photo for the recipe with step-wise picture instructions...

Pongal:

Ven Pongal

Vermicelli Pongal

Rava Pongal

Oats Pongal

Thinai Pongal

Paal Pongal

Pongal Kuzhambu

Kathirikka Gotsu

Sakkara Pongal

Akkaravadisal

Pooran Poli

Vadas:

Medhu Vadai

Vegetable Medhu Vadai

Masala Vadai

Mint Masala Vadai

Methi Masala Vadai

Keerai Vadai

Oats Vadai

Beetroot Vadai

Mangalore Bajji

Onion Vadai

Rice Varieties:

Lemon Rice

Tamarind Rice

Raw Mango Rice

Mint Rice

Curd Rice

Curry leaves Rice

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Poha Chivda| Chiwda

Poha chivda| Poha chiwda is an easy to prepare snack|namkeen at home with in minutes. It is crunchy and tastes awesome. Perfectly suits with a cup of steaming hot tea. It is healthy as it has no deep fried items there. Tasty healthy home made snack in minutes!!!

I learnt this recipe from my North Indian neighbor Swagatha 5 years back. She often prepares this snack at home. I got a chance to taste this and i loved this tastes similar to mixture. When compare to mixture it seems healthy as there is no deep frying process involved. I love to prepare this with thin variety poha.

INGREDIENTS:
Poha| Aval- 250 grams(2 cups) I used thin poha
oil- 3 teaspoons
Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
Ajwain|omam-1 teaspoon
Green chillies, cut- 3-4
Curry leaves- 3 stands
Peanuts- 1/2 cup
Roasted chana dal|pottukadalai- 1/4 cup
Asafetida- big pinch
Turmeric powder- 1 teaspoon
Sugar- 1 teaspoon (adjust acc.to your taste)
Salt- to taste

PROCEDURE:

• In a wide pan roast the poha in low flame till it becomes crispy. If you use thin variety it becomes crispy and light like a paper. The colour of the poha should not change.
• Remove from pan and set aside.
• Heat oil in the pan and add the mustard seeds and ajwain allow to crakle.

• Now add the cut green chillies, curry leaves and peanuts; roast in medium flame until the peanuts gets golden colour.
• Now add the roasted gram dal and roast for fifteen seconds in oil.
• Add the asafetida and turmeric powder and cook a second to leave the raw flavour of turmeric.

• Add the sugar and salt accoding to your taste. I like sweet and salty balance.

• Finally add the roasted poha and mix well till the colour of the poha gets yellow and every thing mixed together and becomes crispy. 
• Notes: You could add some cashewnuts and coconut pieces too with peanuts and roast for richness in taste.

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Christmas Stollen| German Stollen Bread

Stollen is a traditional German bread usually eaten during the Christmas season, it is called Weihnachtsstollen or Christstollen as well as Winterbrot (winter bread) when eaten during Jewish festivities, as a indication of the coming of winter. Stollen is a fruit bread containing dried fruit and often covered with powdered sugar. It is also called as stollen cake. For me it is a sweet yeast risen bread or cake with christmassy fruits, peel and nuts.

 Apart from leavening time the bread is so easy if you have the peel and other ingredients in hand. I have already prepared candied ginger and candied orange peel for this Christmas. I had other dry fruits and nuts at home so making this bread was so easy for me. I have referred all recipes site for the recipe and made changes as per my taste and made with marzipan surprise inside.

Preparation Time: 2 hour

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Cuisine: German

Makes: 1 big loaf

INGREDIENTS:
Dry yeast-  2 teaspoons
Warm Milk- 3/4 cup
Egg-1
Sugar- 1/3 cup
Salt- 1 teaspoon
Butter-1/2 cup
All purpose flour| Bread flour-2 and 1/2 cups
Black raisins- 1/2 cups
Sultanas- 1/2 cup
Glazed cherries, chopped- 1/4 cup
Candied Ginger- 1/4 cup (optional)
Candied peel- 1/4 cup
Marzipan- 200 gms
Powdered sugar|Icing sugar- 2 tablespoons
Cinnamon- 1/2 teaspoon

PROCEDURE:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

• In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the egg, caster sugar, salt, butter, and 3/4 of the bread flour; beat well. Add the remaining flour, a little at a time, stirring well after each addition.

• When the dough has begun to pull together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead in the currants, sultanas, dried cherries and mixed peel. Continue kneading until smooth, about 8 minutes.

• Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

• Lightly grease a baking tray. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the marzipan into a rope and place it in the center of the dough. Fold the dough over to cover it; pinch the seams together to seal.

• Place the loaf, seam side down, on the prepared baking tray. Cover with a clean, damp tea-towel and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180 degrees.

• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 150 C  and bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Allow loaf to cool on a wire cooling rack. Dust the cooled loaf with icing sugar, sprinkle with cinnamon and finish with toasted flaked almonds. 

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