Baked Potatoes Wedges with Kräuter-Quark

Sunny boy is in bed sleeping, finally, after my third attempt after he got up and came out of the room everytime, I have hung the last round of clothes on the clothes horse, and now I'm sitting with the laptop on my knees. Hubby, after giving up on TV and going through some of our old CDs has put a CD of Sade in the player and I just can't stop moving my shoulders to the rhythm of it. LOL!
I knew that it was going to be a potato day, or should I say, a potato evening. I had bought a new packet of floury potatoes though I had not finished off my previous batch of (waxy) potatoes. So, I knew before I forget it and have to throw away these organic potatoes, better make something. I was going through this cookbook on potatoes (I always drool at the pictures in this one) this weekend when I came across this picture of Creole potatoes wedges and I realised that I haven't made baked potatoes since quite a while now.
So, when the time came to start preparing food in the evening sunny boy came asking to help me. I was happy as he had not been showing much interest lately with helping me prepare food like before. Cutting potatoes is one of his hobbys. :) But, unfortunately he has had two bad experiences with cutting up his finger with the potato peeler, so he didn't want to do that part. I think, at three I don't really expect him to be an expert, but he does a wonderful job at cutting the potatoes with a (comparatively-) sharp table knife. The only problem is to prevent him from keep cutting the vegetable into smaller and smaller pieces. LOL!

I wanted to make a simple dish with only very few spices but still, it had to be flavourful. To achieve this I just choose to add rosemary and used olive oil and the problem was solved. Simple, don't you agree?
I also chose to make a "Kräuter-Quark" with it. Typically Kräuter-quark is eaten with "Pellkartoffeln" (potatoes boiled with skin) as a complete main course dish here. But I feel it goes well with all types of potato dishes. It is simple to make, a quick fix and healthy at that.

Here are a few points I wished to put down here ( simple, dry facts) on potatoes:
Potatoes are high in carbohydrates which is mainly present in the form of starch. These tubers are the storage organs of the plants which are produced in response to decreasing day lengths. Starch is a typical form of carbohydrate energy reserves of plants and is composed of two main molecules: amylose and amylopectin. Both in turn are composed of one monomer sugar molecule - glucose. Amylose is a straight chain of glucose molecules while amylopectin branched. Depending on the ratio of amylose and amylopectin the potatoes are classified as floury or waxy or somewhere in between like I come across some varieties which are classified as "vorwiegend" ( predominantly) waxy here. Higher the amylopectin(branched) the more waxy the potato is, i.e., it does not fall apart while cooking and keeps its shape unlike the floury variety.
Personally I like floury potatoes a lot because of their floury texture once cooked through. Since they aren't as easily available as the waxy ones everywhere I'm always happy when I have them.
So, here comes the recipe:

Baked potatoes with Kräuter-Quark

Recipe by PG of My Kitchen Stories


Ingredients:

Baked Potatoes:
10-12 small to medium potatoes*, washed, scrubbed or peeled and cut into 4-6 long wedges
1 large organic red bell pepper, washed, seeded and cut into large pieces
200 g small crimini mushrooms (brown), cleaned, and if required, halved or quartered
2 medium red onion, peeled and cut into thick wedges
4-5 small / thin garlic cloves, sliced into thick long pieces
5-6 sprigs rosemary, coarsely broken into large pieces
salt and pepper (optionally chilli pepper) to taste
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (I used it mixed with cold pressed rapeseed oil this time)

Kräuter-Quark:
250 g Quark
50 g yoghurt (optional)
50 g heavy cream
a few tbsp parsely, chopped (or herbs of choice; I used frozen parsely)
salt and pepper (optionally chilli pepper) to taste

Method:

• In a good sized baking dish mix all the ingredients for the baked potatoes together and bake in a preheatedoven at 210°C (190°C convection) till done
• for the first 30 to 40 minutes of baking cover with a baking sheet
• mix everything once in between
• bake further uncovered for another 15 to 20 minutes or until done
• for the Kräuter-Quark mix all the ingredients together with a small whisk untill a smooth and creamy texture appears and store in the fridge until served
  
• serve the potatoes withthe quark and maybe a warm bread to accompany it

*I had used in addition to the waxy potatoes a couple of the floury potatoes I mentioned in the beginning of this postand found that both the varieties tasted good in this combination.

By the time the potatoes were done, the kitchen was filled with the wonderful aroma of baked potatoes. We were hungry but nowhere near like my son this time. I have honestly never seen my son eat so much in one go. He ate three servings and didn't leave anything behind (except for onion and bell peppers, of course!). And I know this wouldn't have happened if he hadn't liked it. It really was delicious. I was more than satisfied with the results. All three of us enjoyed the meal.
I'm two days too late in posting this as I didn't get the time to post the pictures. Now that I'm done, I'm sending this to Meeta's Monthly Mingle at WFLH which is being guest hosted by Michelle at her What's Cooking Blog. I think this qualifies well for a Healthy Family Dinner.
Just in time!

Daal : My comfort food

I don't remember anymore how I came upon it but we were sitting at the table having dinner and talking when we started talking about the taste and flavours in food and i suddenly remembere that there was this fifth "taste" which was discovered much later than the others like sweet, salty, sour and bitter. I was trying to think hard, but the only letter of the word that I remembered was 'U'. The word is comleted as Umami. I don't know exactly if we weren't tought about it in school or we were but I couldn't understand it so didn't remember. :D This is the information I collected:
Taste is one of the five senses of our body and from the biological point of view a chemoreception where a chemical stimulus is recognised by a sensory recepetor in our body - in this case a receptor found in our taste buds or "gustatory calyculi" that transmits the sensation of taste to our brain. Taste is a sensation which takes place on our tongue whereas flavour invloves the sensation of smell as well.
There are five basic tastes (taste sensations) :
Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter and the comparitively newest (1907) - Umami. There are two more taste bud recepetors which have been identified which sense fatty acids (in fats and oils) and calcium respectively. NOTE: Hot or Spicy is not a taste in the same sense, since hotness is sensed in a different way (through somatosensory fibers sensing pain and temperature on the tongue).

Umami flavour is also described as savoury sometimes. It is very often found in fermented foods, and often produced through compounds like glutamate (one of the 24 amino acid) which bind to the taste bud receptors which recognise this stimulus. It comes much more often in Asian food or also Eurpoean than in Indian.I think. Though I could be wrong, as we also have many different fermented foods in all the different Indian cultures. So, I went to check about it in Wiki and found it, of course. When I heard this for the first time I was quit facinated and knew why all these additives like monosodium glutamate (MSG or Ajinomoto) and the likes were being added in all kinds of savoury products, you know now for sure, - to stimulate our taste buds! But, I don't like this overdose of umami at all. I rather go for flavours present naturally in food where there is a balance between the different flavours.

Here is some information on the discovery of the taste Umami and monosodium glutamate:
glutamate.org
Wikipedia

Now I will come to my comfort food: daal. Earlier it was always kitchdi, but since I so rarely have mung daal at home now, with whichI make kichdi, I have found that a plate of rice with hot daal gives me the feeling of "home" and comfort and there are days where I do miss it. I wonder how much of umami is present in daal (lentils).

Urd ki daal

Recipe by PG of My Kitchen Stories

Ingredients:

1 cup skinned black gram, soaked for a couple of hours
same quantity of water for cooking in a pressure cooker
salt, to taste
3/4 tsp turmeric
Tadka (Chaunk):
1 heaped tbsp ghee or 2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin
1 pinch asafoetida, crushed or powdered
1 small red onion (or yellow), thinky sliced
1-2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced - I left it out this time
1/2 inch ginger, thinly sliced or grated
1/4 tsp chili powder
1-2 tsp coriander seeds, ground

2nd Tadka / Mirchi ka Chaunk (optional)* - or call it chilli oil
1 tbsp ghee or oil
1/4 tsp cumin (optional)
1/4 tsp coriander seeds, ground (optional)
1/4 tsp red chilli powder

Method:

• soak daal in water and change water a couple of times in between
  
• Cook daal in the pressure cooker with turmeric and salt as per instructions till the lentils are tender
• in the meantime cut onion, tomatoes and other spices
• once daal is done, prepare tadka :
• heat oil or ghee in a frypan and add cumin and let it splutter
• add asafoetida and stir once
• add the onion garlic and ginger, stir
• add the remaining dry spices
  
• keep stirring and fry till onion is golden brown
  
• add the ready tadka to the daal
  
• preprae second tadka in the same way and serve in a separate bowl along with the daal,
• daal is usually eaten with steamed rice or rotis or both and sukhi subzi(s) (dry stirfried vegetables) of choice
  

*The second tadka serves the purpose of increasing het in your food by adding the chilli oil to the food, usually daal

Another one...

Arhar ki Daal (Toor lentils)

Recipe by PG of My Kitchen Stories

Special equipment: pressure cooker (if not available, then soak for longer and cook in a covered pan for 1 hour or more)

serves 4

Ingredients:

150 - 200 g arhar / toor daal (lentil), washed and soaked for at least 2 hours or overnight
1 -1/2 cups water for cooking
salt to taste (first add 1/2 tsp and adjust accordingly later)
1/2 tsp turmeric

Tadka / Chaunk
1 tbsp ghee or any cooking oil (if using onion 2 tbsp may be required)
1 tsp (heaped) cumin
1/8 tsp asafoetida, finely ground (for beginners - use 1 pinch)
1 pinch (generous) ground fenugreek seeds
6-8 curry leaves (optional)
2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1/8 tsp red chilli powder -or to taste (optional) - you can also use fresh green chillies, if available

1 garlic, finely chopped or thinly sliced (optional)
1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled and grated or chopped
1 onion, thinly sliced (optional)
1 medium tomato, chopped into large cubes or small, as per liking

2nd Tadka / Mirchi ka Chaunk (optional)* - or call it chilli oil
1 tbsp ghee or oil
1/4 tsp cumin (optional)
1/4 tsp coriander seeds, ground (optional)
1/4 tsp red chilli powder

Method:

• soak daal in water and change water a couple of times in between
  
• Cook daal in the pressure cooker with turmeric and salt as per instructions till the lentils are tender
• in the meantime cut onion, tomatoes and other spices
• once daal is done, prepare tadka :
• heat oil or ghee in a frypan and add cumin and let it splutter
• add asafoetida and curry leaves, stir once
• add the onion and garlic, stir
• add the remaining dry spices
• fry till onion is golden yellow
• add tomatoes nd fry till tender
  
• add the ready tadka to the daal
  
• preprae second tadka in the same way and serve in a separate bowl along with the daal,
• daal is usually eaten with steamed rice or rotis or both and sukhi subzi(s) (dry stirfried vegetables) of choice

*The second tadka serves the purpose of increasing heat in your food by adding the chilli oil to the food, usually daal

Daal is a staple in Indian food in almost all the regions of India as we majorly eat vegetarian diet. In many regions fish and in some other either or meat in addition is also eaten, but still it is more a delicacy made on some special occasions or on special days than being a regular at the table. I have to say here that I'm writing this based on my impression of all the Indian cultures from the different regions of India. I always consider the variety in culture and so also foods of India at par, if not more, with the continent Europe. So, it is almost impossible for me to know everything. But, having lived in the capital city of India and some other regions of India, and as my father worked for the cenral govermnent we lived together in a "colony" with friends from many different regions of India whose parents were also central goverment "servants". My mother exchanged foods with neighbours whose origins were different than ours and so had different food than ours. It was always such a delight to get a bowl of hot daals or a curry from the neighbour. Yes, those were the days...

Now I actually wanted to write somethig else, but how my thoughts drift :D.
Daal is prepared differently in different regions of India. What make the daal different is the tadka or "chaunk", as we call it, and there are man others word for it, but my knowledge if it is very bad. And these recipes are the tadkas I saw my mom make, partly adapted from her neighbours, so to say.

So, off it goes to Sunshinemom's FIC : Yellow at Tongueticklers!

And I would like to send this entry to this month's MLLA started by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook being hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 All Seasons.

Homemade Thai Tofu curry

I was forwarded this interesting article by my BIL and found it very interesting. It is about how to give your kitchen a fresh start this new year, as the author says. And I feel there are quite many good tips which I have always followed, but some which I feel I need to do. There are some things which are easy if you make it a habit, which is initially difficult, but once you are into it and you don't need to give it a thought, it just happens on its own. Things which may appear too long and cumbersome, but aren't really so. I always believe, that it is all in our minds, this cumbersomeness. I remember during my times at the Botanical Institute where I worked and sometimes heard students say the same about all the experiments which had to be done and this was always my answer, it is all in your mind. You just need to get the feel of it and get used to it. Don't you think so too?
Things like preparing the vegetable broth at home by just cooking up some carrots and celery on the side isn't so time consuming or cumbersome if we just plan it ahead. Once we get used to it, we wouldn't find it impossible. I can so easily prepare a day before and use it the next day, for example. And this is one thing I want to start this year, making my own vegetable broth.

Now coming to the recipe, I was inspiered by the Thai curries made by Bee and Jai at Jugalbandi to finally make my own as well and not just keep "thinking" about it. So, this is a rough estimate of how I made it. I just used the amounts I felt appropriate at that moment. And my curry is my own modified version from different recipes to suit our family taste :

Tofu in Thai curry

Recipe by PG of My Kitchen Stories

Ingredients:

300 g firm Tofu (I used organic tofu from my local store), cubed
2 small carrots, peeled and cut into thin slices
1/2 large red bell peppers, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 small Italian aubergine, cut into small pieces (optional)
1 zucchini, cut into thick slices
1 yellow onion, peeled and cut into pieces
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped or grated
1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
4-5 keffir lime leaves, slit on both sides of the midveins without breaking into smaller pieces
1 lemon grass, green cut intolarge pieces and the white part crushed
2/3 can coconut milk, shaken before opening
a few dashes fish sauce (optional)
salt to taste
oil for frying
3-4 tbsp Thai curry paste of choice (I used home made*)
1/2 a bunch of Thai basil, leaves only
a handful of corianer leaves (cilantro), chopped

Method:

• In a large sauté pan heat some oil and fry the tofu pieces turning carefully only once till golden in colour on both sides. take out and set side
  
• Clean the pan and in some oil fry the onion, garlic and ginger along with coriander- and turmeric powders
  
• Add the aubergine, fry for a few minutes on medium heat
  
• Then add carrots, fry for another few minutes and add bell pepper and fry further covered, add little salt. Once the aubergine is almost done, remove from pan and set aside
  
• Fry zucchini for short till it gets a golden brown surface (optional) or add it directly to the curry later
• Heat oil or coconut milk in the same pan or a small frypan and fry the curry paste on medium heat till it gets golden brown. Add some coconut milk in between so that it doesn't burn
  
• In the sauté pan put back all the vegetables and tofu and add salt, fish sauce and coconut milk along with the fried currry paste. Mix and cook on medium low -it should be bubbling slowly for about 10 minutes covered till the curry looks done.
  
• Add water, if required, in between
  
• Add the Thai basil leaves and cover lid again for a couple of minutes
• Before serving garnish with the cilantro leaves and serve along with steamed rice

* My recipe of Thai curry paste:

Ingredients:

Roast separately and grind together:
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds

1 lemon - organic or unsprayed, the zest and its juice
1" piece ginger, peeled and grated finely
1" piece galangal, peeled and grated finely
4 large garlic cloves, chopped finely or grated
2 small red onion or shallots, chopped - (I left it out)
4-6 keffir lime leaves, chopped
2 lemon grass, the white part only, chopped
a few dashes fish sauce (optional)
1/4 tsp turmric powder (or use fresh turmeric, peeled and grated)
1/4 tsp shrimp paste (optional)
1 green chilli, seeded and chopped -(increase quantity to taste)

Method:

• roast the dry spices and let cool down before grinding
• prepare the wet ingredients and mix with dry ground spices and grind everything to a paste
• use fresh or freeze in portions of 2-4 tbsp, as required
  

NOTE: the shrimp paste and fish sauce cn be left out or replaced with fermented bean pastes, if you prefer it that way or just leave it out.

I have been too lazy to make this again, but this was a wonderful thing to do as I could use as much of the paste as I wanted without worrying about its hotness, so sunny boy could eat it easily. I don't think I need to tell any of you who eat Thai food, how delicious such curries are and so was this one too. I loved the richness of flavours in Thai curries and even though I felt that it was somehow different from the packaged ones, I was happy with the results. I love Thai basil, it's aroma, and I even had coriander leaves which made the dish perfect for me.

I'm sending this recipe to DK's a very interesting event series AWED: the theme this time being Thailand at DK's Culinary Bazaar.


Other similar recipes from other bloggers:

Thai Yellow Curry with Seafood at Rasa Malasia
Thai Red Curry (Gaeng Daeng) at Jugalbandi

Bharma Bhindi (stuffed okra) - my favorite

Yes, this is one of my favorites! Now, it is already a while ago that I took these pictures and that too hurriedly, but then I didn't get time to post about this favorite food of mine - Bharma Bhindi (stuffed spicy okra), but then on hearing about Ivy's Weekend Herb Blogging , an event i have been wanting to take part in since a while now, this was just the right opportunity and motivation needed to finally post this recipe.
I got to eat it after such a long time. Hubby went to the Asian grocery store recently and got me these and even karela (Bitter melon)!! You can't imagine how happy I was. I love both these vegetables and it had been ages that I had eaten them. I will post about the karelas some other time, but here is the bharma bhindi recipe which I have learned from my mother, but this time I realised that it has been so long that I didn't even remember how to make it and some how the timing was so bad that I couldn't even call any of my sisters at that time, so I just thought hard and got it more or less right. Although, I did make a variation: I also added coriander powder which my mother didn't use while making Bharma bhindi. Another thing, which I wouldn't do next time: I roasted my spices before. I think this step is not necessary, as the okras get roasted long enough in the pan for the spices to be roasted separately.

Before I begin, I have to tell you something about the traditions of cooking in my family, which is not unique to my family alone but probably more to the region from where my family originates - the state of U.P., India. I still remember my mom telling me that my father's (paternal) grandmother - my great grand mother, was very particular about the kind of food served to her when she came to visit his mother - my grandmother. Over a short period of time we - my parents and us children- and my grandparents lived together and I remember the visit of my great grandmother - yes, I got to see her for quite some time of my childhood - something I was always so proud of, as I didn't know many friends or classmates who had great grandparents and I had two great grandmothers -one on maternal side and one on the paternal side with both of them we children had a lot of fun! :)
So, coming back to the topic, she was very particular about eating food which was cooked without any onions and garlic. If she ever saw a skin of onion or garlic in the house when she came to visit us, then she would surely not touch the food, that strict she was. My grandparents were one of the first generation of people who deviated from this culture and started including onions and garlic in their food. In contrast to his mother, my grandfather was a big garlic lover and attributed it many health properties. I still remember, how he used to say that one should swallow 1 clove of garlic (from the variety with very thin and tiny cloves) every morning and drink a large glass of water afterwards. His favorite chutney was also coriander(cilantro)-garlic chutney.

So, maybe you can guess that this is one of those recipes of okra I grew up eating which does not use any onions or garlic, but still is very tasty, being so full of spices.

Here it goes...

Bharma Bhindi (stuffed Okra)

NOTE: Recipe requires the use of latex gloves, if you don't want the yellow colour of turmeric to stay on your hands, which is otherwise quite healthy actually. I don't use it though, as it goes away after a few washings, which may however take a day.

Ingredients:

20-25 okras, washed, pat dried
2 tbsp oil for frying
1 tsp ajwain (carom seeds) (optional)
2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro, for garnishing

Stuffing:
1 heaped tsp turmeric
2 heaped tbsp coriander seeds, ground (optional)
3 heaped tbsp fennel seeds, coarsely ground
4 tsp Amchur (dried unripe mango powder) - sour in taste as it is made from unripe very young sour mangoes
1/4th tsp red chili powder (or more - to taste)
1/2 tsp black salt
2 tbsp oil, just enough to bind the powdered spice mixture
2 tsp salt, or to taste


Method:

• mix all the spices and enough oil to bind the mixture
• then add enough salt that it tastes a bit too salty, but not too much, as when okra dries out while frying, it does not require as much salt
• check each okra for freshness while preparing it, if it is fresh then you will be able to cut it easily with out it showing any resistance
  
• carefully cut off the lower tip of the okra, if required - sometimes it has become dark in colour and it is a good indication if it can be easily cut off that it is still fresh otherwise it has become too fibrous to be eaten
  
• cut off the caps of okras so that a thin layer of it is left behind to hold it together once they are slit in the middle
• slit the okra deep along the length on the concave side (inner side of the curve it often has), but not the ends - the caps and lower tips - keep them intact - prevents the stuffing to come out while frying.
• fill the stuffing with hands by taking a small amount between the fingers and pressing it gently into the slit in the middle and then pressing and moving your fingers on the filling sidewards in both the directions -sounds easier than it appears!
  
• Fill all the okras like this
• heat 1 tbsp oil in a shallow pan and add ajwain till it splutters, remove ajwain immediately and set aside
• add 1 more tbsp oil and put all the okras into the pan, keeping the stuffed / slit side upwards or sidewards
• fry on medium heat initially and then medium low heat, turning each one of them carefully once or twice till they turn soft
• if the pan gets too hot sprinkle with a tbsp of water in between
• as per your taste, you can either remove the okras once they are cooked or let them fry further till they start turning crispy
• serve warm (or even cold), garnished with cilantro, with any kind of toasted bread - Indian or others, or rice and daals as an option
  

Typically it is a part of an Indian Thali, where you have some cooked vegetables, daal (lentils), Rotis (Indian flat bread) and rice as the main ingredients. But, it can be eaten in any way as a spicy accompaniment to the food and is quite flexible and can be combined with meat or vegetarian dishes, as a stuffing for a nice sandwich or would make a wonderful combination with couscous.


I'm so happy to send this over to Weekend Herb Blogging, my first ever participation to it, and this time it is being hosted by dear Ivy of Kopiaste!

Fennel and Carrot Au Gratin

This is one of those creartions which you make when you find that there is nothing you can use to prepare food. No, not because I didn't have anything to cook, but because Rishab had some tests the following day and he was not suppose to eat any vegetables which would cause flatulence and very little milk products and no fruits rich in vitamin C. Although I had bought some vegetables like carrots, fennel, zucchini and mushrooms for the two days before the test, I hadn't given much thought to what I would make.
So, here I was standing in my kitchen and trying to figure out what to make. I knew that I would be making a simple chicken dish, with some herbs and black pepper (but no wine - reason : most of the alcohol added to the food remains in the food, even if you cook it for long, so it is not good for Rishab). And I didn't feel like using mushrooms at all with that. "...but, fennel and carrots,... but what do I do with them?...". And this is what I came up with.


Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Baking time: 1 - 1 1/2 hours
Baking temp.: 180°C
Main utensils: A baking pan with lid or a porcelain baking dish and aluminium foil (a Roemertopf is also good)


Ingredients:

1 large and thick fennel bulb, washed, trimmed and sliced
2 large carrots, peeled,trimmed and sliced into thin rounds
1 cup parmesan, grated
1/2 white onion, sliced
1 clove garlic chopped coarsely
1 level tbsp vegetable broth (organic)
250 ml water
1 -2 tbsp olive oil
salt to tatse (if required)

Method:

• whisk the broth together with water
  
• mix everything together in a baking pan or porcelain dish
• sprincle some parmesan on top, if desired
  
• cover with lid or foil and bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for 1 hour - I baked it for 1 1/2 hours

This was so delicious, way beyond my expectations. Since I cooked it for long, it had become so stewey. We ate it with chicken and steamed basmati rice. It made a great combination. Hubby (do you remember - the "not so easy to please with food"-hubby!) loved the meal and Rishab too. What more can you ask for. And I felt it was a sensation for the low expectations i had put on this dish. The next day to eat the "left overs", the only thing I got to take a picture of - I hadn't planned to take one- with rice was heaven for me. I was just going "ummm... " all the time! I enjoyed it to the full. It was so very delicious. I almost felt that the next day it tatsed even better. That simple dishes don't have to be boring is so rightly proven by this one. If only I had known about it before, then I would have taken a nice picture for you to drool over before we started eating it. But, there will be a next time for sure.
I just realised that I could send this one to the Original Recipe event at Lore's Culinarty!

Going green...

....NO! not with envy!:)
But, with broccoli for an Event. These pictures were mainly inspired by this event started by the wonderful Sunshinemom at her blog Tongueticklers . Unfortunately I didn't manage to post them in time.
But, then I don't want it going waste. Delicious as it was.
It is a very simple recipe, but my favorite way of eating broccoli: when it is still crunchy, stirfried with lots of freshly ground coriander seeds and rape seed oil.

Ingredients:

1 broccoli , washed and cut into small florets
1 large red onion, sliced into thick pieces
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 inch ginger, peeled and julliened finely
2 small tomatoes, sliced into wedges (I used two from my kitchen garden)
2 tbsp rape seeds oil
1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
2 tbsp corinader seeds, ground
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli powder, or to taste (I used a little lesser for my sonny boy!)
salt to taste

Method:

• heat oil on medium heat in a wok or saute pan, add all the spices, stir once - the spices will throw out bubbles and cumin should splutter and add turmeric, garlic and ginger, stir once again shortly and add onion and keep stirring
  
• soon after the onion starts to turn golden brown add the broccoli and stir again.
• reduce heat, add a few tbsp water and salt and cover for about five minutes
• remove lid and stir, if required one more tbsp of water let cook uncovered stirring in between for another few minutes
• add tomatoes about a couple of minutes before the broccoli is done and has turned soft.
• eat it with some basmati rice, or some daal (lentils) of your liking

NOTE:

• cook broccoli to your desired crunchiness or softness. It can also be blanched before stir frying - thast helps it to turn softer from inside as well than stir frying. The crunchier, the healthier, and the rest depends on your liking.
• before adding the spices in the first step, make sure the oil has turned hot. To test this, add one or two cumin seeds into it, they should immediately turn whitish because of throwing out steam bubbles in the oil and maybe make some noise too, if that is the case don't wait and have everything ready to add the spices to prevent the oil from getting too hot and preventing the spices to burn.
• keep the vegetables ready before adding the spices to the oil. add them as soon as the spices have been stirred once and have spluttred (if that is the case, depending upon the vegetables), to prevent the spices from burning.
  

Although the broccoli turned out to be crunchier than expected (for hubby, for e.g., :I) Rishab enjoyed them, just like me. I find it hard to get the broccoli right and I try to keep it crunchier than making it too mushy, as that is something which none of us like. So, if you like it, keep it uncovered throughout, to prevent it from loosing its fresh green colour, which happens really fast.
But, on the whole it was just wonderful and we had it with arhar (toor) daal, my favorite daal and steaming hot basmati rice for dinner.

cauliflower broccoli soup

I was looking for a good recipe with cauliflower, something simple but still to fill up the stomach and satiate the soul too. And I was also in the mood of trying a soup. But, didn't really know what. I had already bought some nice hazelnut bread rolls too. So, I googled with Food Blog Search and came upon this recipe from her blog. I think most of you know her. I had seen the name of her blog listed at quite many places (blogs), but never had a chance to really go through it. But this time I did it and found a number of wonderful recipes. Yes, I'm talking about 101 Cookbooks !
And this recipe really caught my fascination, and I knew that this would be our meal that evening. I followed the recipe as truly possible. Since I had bought one small cauliflower and one small broccoli , both being organic, I also added broccoli to the recipe and instead of using Gorgonzola - for two reasons - I didn't have any and secondly it would have made the flavour for us, at least for my sonny boy, too strong, I opted for some alpine cheese and some Grana padano instead, which she had also talked about in her post - of substituting the cheese. And I used lactose free sour cream (10% fat) instead of creme fraiche. And I also added a chopped potato and a piece of ginger to the soup.For the garnishing, parsley had been suggested, which I think is a wonderful combination.
But, I wasn't keen on cutting the parsley in my pot on the terrace yet, which wasn't as optimal in its size - it was still growing. So, I thought of giving the recipe another PG-twist! I made a totally different garnishing - with an Indian touch. I cut up one large potato into fine cubes and fried it in olive oil along with cumin seeds and finely cut onion rings. For hubby and myself, I also fried a couple of whole red chillies in the oil at the end. And served it with the flavourful hazelnut bread rolls, which is a speciality of a bakery nearby.
Now i have made broccoli and cauliflower soups and usually don't even look for recipes for that. But this time it just so happened. And it was very good change to our regular meals, as I am not so much into soups generally, but every now and then I do feel like it. And this was a new recipe for me. Rishab, like always ate up all the bread and had to be practically blackmailed to eat his soup. NO soup - NO "Princessin" (author Tony Ross), a 10 minutes programme he is allowed to watch along with the 10 minutes "Sandmännchen" which follows it where Sandmännchen carrys a bag of "sleep-sand" and at the end of the cartoon he throws out a handful to make the children sleepy (at least in the cartoon!).
Usually he does try the food and a lot of times he realises that it wasn't bad at all, and he ate a little bit of the soup in fact, which means it has to be a good one.
The meal made a wonderful combination in my opinion and I can recommend it further to all, especially who are on the look out for simple and quick but tasty meals.

Rice Pilaf in my rustic way...

Rustic, because it is not one of those delicate preparations of a typical rice pilaf, but a quick fix for a simple dinner. However, despite my rice getting clumpy, the end result was just wonderful! In fact, quite good, if you don't mind the clumpyness of the rice, to which I had added too much of water so that by the time it cooled down it had become clumpy.

Before I continue further, I have to mention that I am a 'nutty' kind of person. No..no.. not the nutty you are thinking! It is just that I love using nuts and seeds at any opportunity I get, be it cooking savoury food or baking some sweet dishes or just eating them like that (If only they were not so rich -those calories....!). Hubby had brought a large packet of peanuts from the Chinese shop at walking distance from his office. And I was quite enthusiastic about using them in all kinds of dishes I prepared. So, a bunch of them came into use here as well.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Basmati rice, washed and soaked in water for about 10-15 minutes
a few tbsp oil, for frying
3 potatoes, peeled and cut into large and thin slices and rinsed quickly in some water
1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground - divided
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp peanuts, skinned
2-3 spring onion, chopped
8 peppercorns
2 medium carrots, cut into thin round slices
2 cups beans, chopped
10-12 crimini mushrooms, quartered or halved
1/2 zucchini, diced
1 pinch red chili powder (optional)
1/4 tsp roasted cumin powder
salt to taste
a few sprigs mint leaves, washed thoroughly and chopped (optional)










Method:

• cook rice in about the same quantity of water (1 1/2 - 2 cups) on high heat till it starts to boil. Reduce heat to the lowest and simmer till the rice is done and the water is all absorbed. Remove from heat and keep warm
  
• In the meantime, fry the potato slices in some oil along with turmeric and 1/2 tbsp ground coriander seeds in a fry pan on medium heat till done and keep warm
• heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and let cumin seeds splutter, reduce heat to medium and immediately add while stirring peanuts, sesame seeds (be careful! they will splutter and fly! - keep a lid handy to cover), black peppercorns and spring onions and fry till the onions are golden in colour. Take out and mix with the potatoes and keep warm
  
• add the beans and carrots to the pan and fry on medium heat till done and mix with the potatoes and keep warm
• now fry the mushrooms in some oil on high heat, add the zucchini, fry further and add remaining 1/2 tbsp ground coriander seeds, stir further for a minute
• put all the fried vegetables back to the pan along with chili powder and salt to taste and stir once
• crumble the rice before adding to the vegetables and mix carefully.
  
• Serve garnished with roasted cumin powder and mint leaves (optional) along with Raita as a side (yoghurt stirred with salt and roasted cumin powder)

Note:
As you see, my rice has become sticky. Due to these reasons that I know:

1. I added too much water - Basmati requires little water and little time to cook - and I cooked it for too long
2. I didn't take it out of the pan immediately after it was done - I wasn't done with cooking the vegetables - would have made the rice go cold
   
3. I could have added some butter to the rice after it was done, stirring it in gently - I didn't want that.

• To make it remain fluffy and single grained one needs to avoid the above two points and a lot of feeling is required for the amount of water required. If not sure, use lesser amount and check in between and add more water, if required. Switch off heat five minutes before the rice is completely done and let stand on the stove till done.

• Another option would be to use natural (brown) or parboiled rice. It is a better option than polished rice because it is not so sticky like polished rice and it is healthier too!
  

But we enjoyed the meal despite the clumpyness. Hubby did complain about the slightly burnt (oops!) peanuts - he does not like even a single black spot on food. He does not like peanuts in rice in any case (and I love them with rice), but otherwise, I felt, the rice tasted actually very good as it was, still warm and made a very good combination with the potatoes and vegetables, the peanuts and sesame seeds, and the roasted cumin gave the final touch to it.
Later on I was thinking that I could have added some fresh mint leaves from my garden, but the pilaf was already so rich in flavours that we didn't really miss anything and enjoyed this simple, wholesome and delicious meal.
After writing this post, I feel I have to try it with brown rice too.
Yes, I'll do that............ :)

I'm sending this over to Srivalli's Rice Mela!

Uttapam, my very first ever!

Uttapams are one of a wide variety of savoury pancakes made from a fermented thick batter of rice and skinned black gram originating from the southernmost part of India, the state of Tamilnadu.

It is my very first ever trial at making uttapams and I think I wasn't bad at all. It is a very good option for a healthy meal 'cause of a higher protein content through the use of skinned black gram.

Now, what I like so much more about uttapam, just like idlis and dosas for example, is the fermentaion process which to my belief makes them so healthy and tastier too. The process of fermentation not only increases the flavours in the food manyfold, but also helps remove so many different phytotoxins through microbial action. And we all know the positive effects of these 'good' bacteria on our digestive tract. And, now after reading this at Wikipedia, I realised the importance of fermentation to preserve the foods in the earlier times when there weren't any refrigerators. And I believe, despite that the health aspects of these foods remain the same even today, if not even more with our lifestyles.
I always use every chance to try out different fermented products. One of the newest being Tempeh, which an Indonesian colleague and friend of mine used to bring to the Institute, while I was working there. It was delicious! Tempeh is also on my list of things to try once again on my own, as a few years ago my efforts to cook tempeh was a disaster! I believe that the tempeh wasn't fresh anymore.
Coming back to uttapam...
Now I admit that this picture does not show the best Uttapam I made and that I took the picture a day later, so it also looks a bit dry, but I still relished it to the full the next day as my usual "leftovers - lunch", as I call it, as I am usually alone at home to eat it.
The inspiration for this recipe came completely from my sister, who posted a simple and easy basic recipe of Uttapams on Healthy and Tasty! which gave me enough confidence to try out this recipe. And I was surprised how easy it really was, even though it requires a bit of planning when making them.
I was a bit afraid when I started pouring the first laddle of batter on my French cast iron pan I especially bought to use for such Indian pancakes and breads. By the second round I was already more confident. I had to add a litttle more water to the batter, as it seemed a bit too thick. But, I was very careful so as not to add too much to make the batter too thin. But all went right and we ate a lovely meal of Uttapams on that day with sambhar, a variety of podi and freshly made coconut-peanut chutney, which turned a bit brown this time as I could not remove the peels from the peanuts completely, even though I had roasted them for long. But, it did not disturb the good taste of the chutney, to my relief! As I love coconut chutney. And also the gun powder, which really wasn't as much a gun powder as I cannot add much chillies to it because of my son, but it tasted so good that both of us just kept licking it with our fingers, me and my son!

And not only that, I even made my very own Sambhar powder, YESSSS!!
I don't know if I sound like a braggart, but I was so happy that I finally actually did something which I had been thinking of since long now - to make my own sambhar powder, as every time I used this packed one from the market, hubby would complain as he did not like the taste of the sambhar and it was always too hot for my son to enjoy it and I could take the amount of chilli I wanted so as not to make it too hot. So, it was all worth the effort. Now I have enough for a couple of next rounds too. The recipe , after searching for a number of them, I found this wonderful recipe from this great mother-daughter blog many of you might know - Aayis Recipes. The only difference to the recipe is that I reduced the amount of chillies a lot, for my son.
Now, to those who don't know what is on the plate, clockwise from bottom: uttapam (fermented pancake), coconut-peanut chutney, gun powder - a not so hot version - therefore so yellowish brown in colour (I've added a bit too much of sunflower oil, bad estimation- but still very enjoyable!), and sambhar in th bowl. All of it made at home!
The recipes for the gun powder and chutney are from my older post, here.

So, here are the recipes:


Uttapam:

Soaking time: 4-5 hours
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Fermentation: overnight (8 -12 hours)
Baking time: 2 - 5 minutes per uttapam

Ingredients:

2/3 rd cup skinned black gram (Urd)
1/3 rd cup brown rice

3 cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1/8th tsp Asafoetida, ground coarsely
1 tsp salt

1 cup vegetables of choice, required at the time of baking the uttapams:
1/2 cup finely chopped zucchini
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell peppers or paprika, as per choice
some grated fresh cocnut (didn't have it this time)

Method:

• Wash and soak the urd-rice mixture in a deep bowl for 4-5 hours or overnight.
• Wash with water in betweeen or the next day and drain before grinding
• Add the remaning ingredients to the bowl and grind everything in a blender to a paste, adding a few tablespoons of water, if required
• Let it ferment, covered, overnight
• On the next day, add some water to make a thick batter which is good to spread on a tava or griddle, being slightly thicker than the batter of a pancake
  
• Add the chopped vegetables and stir
• heat a griddle and pour a laddle of the batter on the hot griddle and spread in slow circular movements, moving outwards to form a circular pancake
• cook on this side until the upper side is no more fluid and the lower side is not burnt or too brown
  
• For this, keep the griddle temperature at around medium or a little more, and turn the uttapam with the help of a spatula and cook until done and shows brown spots on other side as well
• Serve warm with coconut chutney, some podis, sambhar (see below) or any other Indian curry
  

Sambhar:

Ingredients:

1 cup Arhar (Toor) daal, washed and soaked for 2 hours or longer in water
1 carrot, diced
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup aubergine, diced
1 tsp Sambhar powder
1 -2 tsp tamarind paste (I left it out, as I didn't have any)
Tadka:

2 tbsp oil or ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 large pinch asafoetida
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 inch piece ginger, grated or finely julliened
1 large clove garlic, crushed or grated
1/2 cup large thinly sliced coconut flakes
1 pinch red chilli powder
a few curry leaves
1/2 tsp Sambhar Powder
1-2 large tomatos, finely chopped

1 tbsp lemonjuice (to replace tamarind paste)

Method:

• soak daal for two hours or longer and change water in between
  
• cook daal with the cut vegetables in 1 1/2 cups water in a pressure cooker or a deep pan with lid until done
• prepare tadke by heating oil / ghee in a frypan, add mustard seeds and let splutter
• adding the remaning ingredients in the given order, stirring each time on high heat without letting them burn, reduce heat if required.
• after the tomatoes are done, add to the daal and stir, add the lemon juice and serve warm with sides like rice, dosa, idli or uttapam. Rotis also make a wonderful combination.

Typically tamarind is also used in a good sambhar recipe, but since I did not have any, I had to do with tomatoes and lemon juice. But, the whole combination with coconut-peanut chutney, gun powder and sambhar along with the yummy uttapams made a wholesome meal which we all enjoyed a lot. Rishab, like so often did not want to eat daal (sambhar), but munched on the
uttapams along with the gun powder. But, I made him eat some sambhar telling him that I didn't make it so hot just so that he could eat it. That made him agree to eat a few teaspoons of it atleast. Now this was a successful experiment for me. And everyone who hasn't tired making uttapams must try once!

Yummy Soya nuggets Curry!

I loved soya nuggets as a child. These munchy chewy chunks of soya and the flavour of the spicy curry coming out of it evey time you bit onto the chunks. It was thorough pleasure. It was one of my favorites. I had made them here before, but the only soya nuggets I always found were these no-name packets from the chinese shops, which never turned out good somehow. They would very often remain hard in the middle despite my frying them before. And hubby disliked them totally. But, then I recently discovered organic soya nuggets here which were much better. Though smaller and irregular shaped, but much softer in texture after cooking. I still didn't make them so often, as hubby did not appreciate them so much despite that.
Recently I was going through a new blog I came upon : Tongueticklers with lovely photos and lovely recipes. And I found a recipe with soya nuggets there, which looked so good that I had to try it once. As I personally feel soya nuggets are a good way of compensating for the needed proteins. And I rahter have a vegetarian option than always having to cook chicken for that.

So, here is how I made it:

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients:

1 cup green beans
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

Ground to a paste:
1 large garlic, chopped coarsely
1 inch piece of ginger, chopped coarsely
1 red onion, chopped coarsely

2 large tomatoes, pureed

2 generous handfuls soya nuggets (about a cup and a half)
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 pinch crushed asafoetida
1/2 tsp each ground corinader and cumin seeds
3/4th tsp turmeric
1 pinch red chilli powder

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves (optional)

Method:

• Clean and cut the begetables
• Prepare the onion-garlic-ginger paste and the tomato puree
  
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large sauce pan (I used a pressure cooker) and roast the soyanuggets on medium heat till the take a light brown colour, stirring with a wooden paddle in between
• Take out the soya nuggets and set aside
• Heat 2 more tbsp oil into the pan and add the spices : cumin seeds, and asafoetida, stir once and add the rest of the ground spices. stir
  
• Add quickly the onion-garlic ginger paste, stir on medium heat till the moisture reduces and it starts to turn brown
• Add the chopped beans and potatoes, stir for short on medium heat
• add the soya nuggets and the tomato puree, stir
• add water and salt, stir
• If using the pressure cooker (European), then close the lid and wait till the whistle comes and reduce heat to little less than medium (on a ceramic cooktop) and switch off the gas after 5 minutes
• If using a regular pan, then cook till the potatoes are tender and the green beans are soft and no more green (otherwise they are toxic), stirring in between
• Serve garnished with chopped coriander leaves along with bread or warm rice

Now, you might ask, what did hubby say. No, he didn't complain and infact said that it tasted very good. And that is a very very very good compliment! :D And my son enjoyed it too, which isn't always the case now a days. He is getting finikier by the day. And since I had pureed the onions, he enjoyed it even more.
So, sunshinemon, thanks a lot for this wonderful recipe!

Note: Typically this is eaten with Indian flatbreads, like roti, paranthas or puri, or warm basmati rice, but tastes excellent with Oriental or Turkish flat breads and as good with just any of the different varieties of different European breads, toasted or plain, like baugette or brown and black breads or the typical British breads.

Fenugreek Puris

This is another creation of mine which is a result of my fenugreeek fever! - Thanks to Redchillies event! ;)
After making puris the last time (fenugreeek fever) successfully, I felt like making them again and my family agreed readily too. As, this might be the last time that I make puris this year. So, this time i trie the idea i had in my mind of adding kasuri methi, dried fenugreek leaves, into the dough. This is something I have tried a number of times with paranthas, but never with puris. Well, I make them only once a year, if at all.

This time I had made the dough a bit softer, which made it more difficult to roll them out as easily like the last time. Typically the puri dough contains some oil and is stiffer than a roti dough, both were not the case this time. But, these were no less delicious than we made the last time, and we relished them to the full. Rishab was munching on them just like that.

Methi Puri

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour or whole wheat atta ( I used whole wheat flour and whole grain missa atta* in the ratio 2/3 and 1/3)
1/5 tsp turmeric
2-3 tbsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
1 tsp ajwain
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp rapeseed oil (I left it out)
1 pinch red chilli powder
water
* whole grain Missa Atta: whole channa (with skin) and whole barley in rougly 2:1 proportions.

Method:
see my last post on Urd daal puris for details

• mix all the ingredients for puri thoroughly
• add water slowly and knead into a stiff dough and keep aside for 20 to 30 minutes
  
• heat about 600 ml of oil in a wok or deep frying pan for frying the puris on high heat, reduce to about medium-high later, if required
  
• In the meantime make small round balls out of the dough
• flatten them with your fingertips using some oil and roll out round, uniform and thin puris with a rolling pin and using drops of oil when required on a clean and smooth surface
  
• deep fry in hot oil and take out with a skimmer and let drip on two layers of kitchen roll before serving

Aloo subzi

Ingredients:
4 large potatoes, boiled with skin from the day before, peeled and cut into small pieces or as per taste
1 large onion, chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large pinch crushed asafoetida
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1 pinch red chilli powder
1-2 tbsp rapeseed oil
salt to taste

Method:

• heat oil in a fry pan and add cumin and asafoestida, sothat they splutter, stir once
  
• Immidiately add the chopped onion and ginger, stir
  
• add turmeric and coriander seeds powder and sautè everything till onion are golden brown in colour
• Add the potatoes and stir fry, adding the chilli powder and salt after a while as well, till done
• serve with rotis, paranthas or puris
  

Guten Appetit! As you would say it here, or to put it simply: ENJOY!

This is my second entry to Redchillies' Herb mania- Fenugreek!

Creamy Strawberry and Chocolate Icecream

Rishab, my son, loves sweets and chocolates. His clear answer this year for the type of cake he wanted for his birthday party was a chocolate cake . But a few weeks back we got to know, or realise, that he might be lactose intolerant. Some checkups still need to be done, but, as advised by his gastroenterologist, we are giving him a lactose free diet. That means I have to exclude anything which contains any type of milk or milk products, unless it has been made lactose free (through lactase enzyme).
That also means no icecreams for him. I found one packet of lactose free icecream, but after tasting its artificial flavours, I was quite apprehensive of buying them again. Of course, my son didn't mind it. Anything sweet is always good!
Well, after seeing so many icecream recipes at different blogs I felt I should also make some on my own, as I found lactose free creams as well in the market. Now, all I needed was a good recipe which can be made easily, without requiring any icecream maker, and I found a delicious recipe at Meeta's "What's For Lunch, Honey?"
On asking him, if he wanted a chocolate icecream, he immediately said "yes!". Not surprisingly, as he is not allowed to eat chocolates right now as most of them contain milk or milk products and I haven't tried dark chocolates, but for the longer run, I'll have to figure out something.
Though, now I felt that he deserved a chocolate icecream as he has been so cooperative, never complaining about all the changes that I have made in his diet plan, worst of all at the kindergarten.
So, this was my first trial at making icecream, for which I took this simple but tempting recipe of a "Dark Chocolate Icecream" at Meeta's What's For Lunch, Honey?

I have modified it sligthly to make it lactose free and used strawberries instead of raspberries.
Ingredients:

250 ml soya cream (17% fat)
120 ml lactose free heavy cream
5 tablespoons (40 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
140g ( about 2/3 cup) fine sugar
250g (2 cups) strawberries


Method:

• Whisk together all the ingredients,except for the strawberries, in a saucepan.
• Puree the strawberries and pass through a fine sieve.
• Bring the cocoa-cream mixture to a rolling boil while frequently whisking in between.
• Remove from heat, add the puried strawberries and mix. Cover the saucepan for approx. 10 minutes.

• With an ice-cream maker (detailed instructions given at WFLH):
• Place the mixture in the fridge an chill completely for 24 hours.
  
• Allow the mixture to churn and freeze until smooth and creamy, as per the instructions of the manufacturer.
  

• Without an ice-cream maker (that is how I did it):

• Pour the ice-cream mixture into a flat steel box with a lid. Once the mixture has cooled down, put it at -15 °C in the freezer for about an hour.
• Take out and whisk everything shortly and thoroughly with a hand blender.
  
• Put it back in the freezer and repeat the process after every hour, until it begins to thicken on the edges of the tin. Decrease the time to 45 minutes if required.
• Once it is smooth, creamy and frozen it is ready to be served.
  

NOTE: Depending upon the temperature of the freezer whisking may be more frequently required.

Rishab enjoyed the icecream fully. He got two small scoops of the icecream and finished every bit of it and wanted more strawberries for it, which I gave him a bit surprised though, that he actually wanted to eat the icecream along with the fruits.
Me and hubby ate some as well and found it quite delicious. It had a rich chocolately flavour and this slightly tangy flavour of the fruits, as described by Meeta in the recipe. Strawberries also have this fruity sourness along with being sweet, just like raspeberries, which also makes them so delicious.
I must also mention that I could not continue to blend the icecream every 45 minutes till the end after it had begun to harden on the edges, as it was already time to go to bed, but it tuned out soft enough, I felt, that was quite good for the fact that I didn't have an icecream maker.

This is going to be my last minute entry to "Fruit Fair", this months MBP, being hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen.