Drunken Pears !!

Wishing you all A very Happy & Successful New Year !

Drunken Pears

When I had this 'Drunken Pears' dessert for the first time.. I was so floored with the way they were served ( truly a jewel on the plate) .. the sweet & savory … my taste buds were well treated ❤❤❤!!! I reserved this recipe to share on my blog with you all for the special day..this new year eve !!!…here is the recipe for you all…

The original recipe is with red wine… I just wanted to turn this dessert a sober & non-alcoholic… used orange juice & pomegranate juice (POM)…If you don't mind binging on an alcohol induced dessert..go with the red wine… 🍷

Ingredients :

Pears - 2 (small to medium size)
Sugar - 2 table spoons
Orange Juice - 1/2 cup
Pomegranate Juice - 1 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Cinnamon stick / vanilla bean - 1 (OPTIONAL)

Preparation :

- I used POM : Pomegranate cherry juice & freshly sqeezed orange juice.

Drunken Pears

- Wash the pears, peel off & remove the seeds with seed remover. If you don't have seed remover…no issues..just leave them… even the bottom of the pears..so that while serving it would be easy.

Drunken Pears

- In a sauce pan add the pom, orange juice, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean & sugar.

- Make sure the sugar is dissolved completely.

Drunken Pears

- Bring the pom & orange juice mix to boil & then add the pears to the sauce pan, cover the pan with a lid and let them cook under low heat.

- Occasionally turn the pears gently so that pears will evenly absorb the flavor and the color.

Drunken Pears

- Don't over cook the pears, test with a fork or toothpick. turn off the heat & take the drunken pears out ..let them come to room temperature.

……. & Serve the drunken pears with a scoop of Vanilla Ice cream  or whipped cream or cream cheese with honey on the side and top with the pom sauce - the drunken pears were cooked in…

Once again wish you all Happy New Year.. have a great year ahead !

Neer Dosa !

Neer Dosa - A soft, fluffy and mouth melting…. south Indian crepes recipe and the batter needs absolutely no fermentation… you grind the neer dosa batter and the very next minute..it can go on to the skillet or pan…to make Neer Dosa !!

Neer Dosa

Ingredients :

Raw Rice - 1 Cup ( either regular Sonamasoori / Basmati rice)

Fresh coconut shred - 2 to 3 table spoons (OPTIONAL)

Water - about 8 cups (to soak the rice & to add to the batter)

Salt - as per the taste

Oil - 2 to 3 table spoons

Preparation :

- Soak the rice in 4 to 5 cups of water for 4 to 8 hours.

Neer Dosa

- Drain the water from well soaked rice and grind the rice into a very fine batter (Add the fresh coconut shred while grinding but this is totally OPTIONAL)

- Make sure the batter is not coarse or grain.

- Add the salt & 3 to 4 cups of water to the finely ground rice & the batter consistency must be of whole milk.

Neer Dosa

- As the batter is ready, season the skillet with few drops of oil and let the skillet be heated.

- Use a skillet or non stick pan with raised edges rather than using a flat pan or skillet !

- Once the skillet is hot enough, add the batter and quickly spread the batter by swirling the pan gently, so that the batter evenly spreads to the coast, add little oil along the edges of neer dosa.

- You can see the edges of neer dosa turning into golden brown and coming off along the edges…means the Neer Dosa is ready…using a flat spatula gently transfer the neer dosa on to a serving plate !!

Like, regular dosa you can have any kind of side dishes like sambar, playa, coconut or peanut chutney with Neer Dosa !!

               Try this & enjoy your weekend breakfast special !!!

Chocolate Truffle Bites with condensed milk!!

If you don't mind little sinful sweet indulgences this holidays season..go for this..The easy & quick Chocolate Truffles recipe using condensed milk & microwave - I got it from my colleague ….worth trying !!

Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients :

Condensed Milk - 12 fl OZ
Unsweetened Cocoa powder - 3 to 4 table spoons
Butter - 2 table spoons (at room temperature)
Salt - 1 pinch

Truffle Coatings : (Optional) - I used these..just get creative and choose your favorite coatings !!

Coconut shred
Cocoa powder
Salt+ground pepper+nutmeg powder
Dark Chocolate sprinkles
Multicolor sprinkles
Holiday season sprinkles

Preparation :

- Empty the condensed milk into a microwave safe bowl.
- Add cocoa powder, salt and mix well.

Chocolate Truffles

- This mix has to be cooked in microwave for 6 minutes but…every 1 minute take the truffles mix out of microwave & stir and heat again for 1 minute…SHOULD NOT Heat for 6 minutes at once !

Chocolate Truffle bites

- Heat the mix in microwave for 1 minute, takeout & add the butter (soft & should be at room temperature). stir well & heat in the microwave for 1 more minute.

- After 5 to 6 minutes the chocolate truffle mix gets cooked and comes together & with little gummy texture.

- Once the chocolate truffle mix comes to room temparature, cover it with a cling wrap and refrigerate 

for 1 hour.

Chocolate truffles

These are the different coatings I preferred for the chocolate truffle bites, but it is totally your call to choose….

- Takeout the chocolate truffle mix out from the refrigerator , grease your palms with some butter and take small amount of mix & roll them into bite sized truffles…coat them with your fav toppings & place them in a muffin liners.

Chocolate Truffle bites

- Once done, keep them in refrigerator until u serve them…. at the end I mixed all the coatings together..and had fun making a chocolate truffle bite & giving the taste buds the guess work !!

Chicken Drumsticks !

---being little occupied with work…had to stay away from my blog…here I come with the recipe of Chicken Drumsticks marinated with soy sauce & honey !!

Chicken Drumsticks

Ingredients :

Chicken Drumsticks - 4 (small / Medium sized)

Red chili powder / paprika - 1 table spoon

Coriander powder - 1 tea spoon

Soy sauce - 1 tea spoon

Honey - 1 tea spoon

Cinnamon / Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tea spoon (OPTIONAL)

Ginger powder - 1 tea spoon

Garlic powder - 1 tea spoon

Salt - As per the taste 

Any cooking oil - 1 tea spoon

Preparation :

- Choose either small or medium sized drumsticks & clean them, remove any extra fat or skin & make small slits here & there so that it allows the marination to get absorbed by the meat.

Chicken drumsticks

- In a mixing bowl add all the ingredients & chicken drumsticks and mix well until all the meat is covered with the marination mix.

Chicken Drumsticks

- Honey can be substituted with 1 tea spoon of brown sugar.

- Cover the Chicken drumsticks with a lid or cling wrap & let it marinate minimum for an hour.

Chicken Drumsticks

- After leaving the chicken drumsticks to marinate for an hour or two, they are ready to go into the oven.

- Place them in a oven safe tray & pre heat the oven to 350 F & let them bake for 20 minutes. Or if you prefer the meat to be little smoked use the broil option.

- After 20 minutes, slowly turn the drumsticks on to the other side & bake / broil again for 20 more minutes.

- Once done..turn off the oven & serve the hot & smokey Chicken drumsticks.. don't forget to sprinkle some sesame seeds on… also you can glaze the chicken drumsticks with some hot sauce !!

Chicken Drumsticks

Masala Chai !

I was totally totally loved this weekend…was so happy waking up & looking at the flurries covered grass..and could see heaps of snow within no time… ❆☃❆☃❆☃❆☃❆…jumped out of bed to make our favorite Masala Chai …

Masala Chai

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 cup

Water - 2 cups

Black Tea Leaves - 1 1/2 table spoon

Chopped Mint Leaves - 1 table spoon

Chopped ginger - 1 tea spoon

Cardamom - 1 to 2

Cinnamon stick - 1

Anis flower - 1

Cloves - 2

Fennel seeds - 1/4 tea spoon

Sugar - As per your preference

Preparation:

Masala Chai

- Boil two cups of water & then add the chopped mint leaves, add chopped ginger, cinnamon stick, anis flower, cardamom, cloves one by one and let the water come to rolling boil.

Masala Chai

- Add the tea leaves and let the black tea boil until you feel the nice aroma of masala tea….

- Add the milk to the black tea and boil the tea to rolling boil for few more minutes, add the fennel seeds.

- Turn off the heat and add the sugar as per your preference, use a strainer and transfer the smoking hot Masala Chai into the cups..

Enjoy the chilling day with the smoking hot Masala Chai ….

Mint - Paneer Tikka !

Paneer ( Cottage cheese) Tikka is a special appetizer for vegetarians..and when Paneer tikka's taste is complemented by mint ❦❧ you will know, what I meant to say..once you try this recipe !

Mint Paneer Tikka

Ingredients :

Cottage cheese / Paneer - about 250 gm
Fresh mint leaves - 1 cup
Fresh Coriander Leaves - 1/2 cup
Green Chilli - 2
Ginger paste / powder - 1/2 tea spoon
garam masala - 1/4 tea spoon
Yogurt / curd - 4 table spoons (should be thick)
Salt - as per the taste
Skewers - 2 to 3
Bell peppers / capsicum, potatoes, onions - few (OPTIONAL)
Olive oil & kasoori methi - 1 tea spoon (OPTIONAL)

Preparation :

- Use the thick yogurt, if you feel yogurt is little runny.. strain it with a cheese cloth.
- Slice the paneer into about 2 * 2 inch cubes of 1/2 inch thick slices.

Mint Paneer Tikka 

- Grind the mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chillies & ginger into a fine paste.

- I used ginger powder, so I added it separately to the marination mix.

Mint Paneer Tikka 

- In a mixing bowl, add mint & coriander paste, yogurt & garam masala, salt and prepare the marination.

Mint paneer TIkka

- Add the Paneer slices to the marination mix and make sure all the paneer slices are well covered with marination mix.

Mint Paneer Tikka

- Let the paneer slices be marinate at least for 60 minutes.

Mint Paneer Tikka

- After 1 to 2 hours paneer slices are well marinated with mint and ready to go into the oven.

- Thread in the paneer slices with skewer & add some veggies like peppers , potato and onions which is totally optional.

- Bake the paneer for 20 to 25 minutes in a pre heated oven at 350 deg cent.

Mint Paneer Tikka

- Meanwhile add a pinch of ground pepper & kasoori methi to a spoon full of olive oil.

Mint Paneer Tikka

Once the paneer tikka is ready before serving coat the paneer tikka with the herb mixed olive oil.

Note : If not oven, Paneer slices can be thawed on a shallow frying pan too !

Coconut & Rava Laddoo !

Wish you all Happy Diwali !!! Beautifully decorated lamps, variety of fireworks & not to forget to mention festival special Sweets are all very much part of Diwali.. aside all these, I remember writing a page full of essay on ' Diwali - Indian Festival ' during my school days & buying variety of fireworks & crackers, competing with my sister to get bigger lot of fireworks….

Easy & Quick recipe of Coconut & Rava Laddoo when you have little time after coming from work to make some festival special sweet on the festival day !!

Coconut Rava Laddoo

Ingredients :

Semolina / Sooji / Rava - 1 cup

Sugar - 1 cup

Coconut scrape - 1 cup

Milk - about 1/4 cup

Butter / Ghee - 2 table spoon

Cardamom powder - a pinch

Dry fruits - a fistful ( OPTIONAL)

Preparation :

- Heat a tbsp of butter / ghee in the pan, add sugar & coconut scrape to the pan and fry under lowest flame.

Coconut & Rava laddoo

- Once you notice coconut turning light brownish, transfer the mixture into a mixing bowl.

- In the same pan add the remaining butter / ghee & roast the semolina under low heat.

- Once done, turn off the heat, add the roasted semolina to the coconut & sugar mixture, add the dry fruits and cardamom powder and mix well.

Coconut & Rava Laddoo 

- Milk should be warm, start adding the milk little by little to the coconut & rava mix and keep mixing, see the moisture is good enough to hold the mixture together to make the laddoo (ball).

- DO NOT ADD ALL THE MILK AT ONCE !

- Gently roll the coconut & rava mix between your palms to make the laddoos.

There you go…. easy to make & yummy yummy... Coconut & Rava Laddoo….are here…for you !

Coconut & Rava Laddoo