A sweet & fruity, summer melon drink.

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A lot of my recent posts have been bookmarked recipes, or the posts I have been using from the draft. With this heat, I have to reduce my time in front of the stove, doing a lot of salads, fresh fruits & quick grilling of fish or chicken. This is one nice recipe to use the seasonal veggies or may be to clean up the refrigerator, before you make your next grocery trip.

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These look like Khandvis,  because they are Khandvis… only I have layered them & stuffed them. Basic old recipes are treasures, however sometimes when that adventurous itch rears it’s head, I need to give in to my temptations to the looming who knows what will happen. Sometimes the adventure is a disaster, other times quite fulfilling. This was during those times, when I got a little itchy… & the itchy witch was pretty daring for I had never made Khandvis before!  Along with the” first time”  of making Khandvis, came the desire to deviate. I must say & as you can see – I was happy to hop this time. So why shy away from trying something new & delicious from the traditional base recipes?

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My hubby celebrated his birthday a couple of days back. Our 3 year old woke up in the morning -hugged, kissed & wished him. She also reminded him “Don’t forget to wear your crown”, just as he was walking out of the door for work, with no doubt in her mind that he is going through deal of crown, birthday song, cupcakes and cheers…. (more…)

Every evening as I make my cup of coffee, I have this craving for something sweet with it. A biscotti, a slice of cake… & often times I think of the white fruit cake with the colorful candied fruits in it that we would get from the local bakeries back at home. That was long long time back. But certain tastes & aroma stay with you irrespective of the years in between. When I read this recipe, I almost visualised the cake we would have, for the picture given for this was white and the recipe asked for red cherries.

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Gujias are fried pastries filled with coconut or khoya (Thickened Milk) and dry fruits. It is a festival sweet and mostly prepared during Holi, but what the heck?! Why not during Diwali or any other festival too? During these days of Durga Puja, and all the upcoming festivals I was actually craving for Gujias which I had years ago when we visited india during Holi. My hubby’s Aunt had prepared these delicous Gujias, & till date I have not forgotten them. Unfortunately, I did not get an opportunity to ask her the recipe. This is what I came up with and it might not taste like the unforgetable ones back in India, but these did taste delicous too.

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The very first time we ever had this was when we visited the Bahamas. Enjoying the beautiful sun filled soft sandy beaches, the aquamarine ocean, and the gentle greetings of warm friendly natives we had to try out this delicious tropical drink which bears the name of the Island.

While I sipped mine slowly, allured by the mesmerizing sunsets, the Palm trees and the uncivilized pace known as “Island Time”, my hubby was on his way for his second one. On this visit to the Tiki bar on the beach he managed to get the recipe from the friendly bar-tender.

We still hear the jazz band playing on the beach (yeah in our dreams!!) while we entertain our guests (and often ourselves too!) with this tropical cocktail recreating that refreshingly native taste of the Bahamas.




Ingredients:

1. ¾ ounce Coconut Rum (Malibu)
2. ¾ ounce Banana Liqueur (Hiram Walker)
3. 1 ounce Spiced Rum (Captain Morgan)
4. 1.5 ounce Orange Juice
5. 2.5 ounce Pineapple Juice
6. 2-4 dashes (1-2 tablespoon) Grenadine
7. ¼ cup crushed ice

Garnish:

Orange/Pineapple wedge

1 Maraschino Cherry (optional)

Preparation:

Combine all the ingredients and mix them in a cocktail shaker. Serve in a cocktail glass. Garnish with Orange/Pineapple wedge.

Serves 1

Chingri  Maacher Malaikari is an old Bengali Classics. I have grown up in this East Indian State (West Bengal), having to eat (and loving every bite and moment of it) this simply marvelous dish in every special occasions, be it be a birthday, or a houseful evening guests. My dad would have to go to the Sunderbans for work, and we all waited till late night knowing that he would get the fresh jumbo prawns/shrimps and next day would be the grandiose Chingri  maacher malaikari.

This is cooked with coconut milk, which is very easily available here in cans making the process much more easy and faster.

Here I am sharing with you the way my mom always cooked chingri maacher malaikari.

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb uncooked deveined Prawn/Shrimp
2. 1.5 tablespoons of ginger paste
3. 2 Small Green Cardamoms
4. 2” stick of Cinnamon
5. 2 Bay Leaves
6. 3/4 can Coconut milk
7. Salt to taste
8. ½ teaspoon of sugar
9. 1 teaspoon of turmeric
10. 1 teaspoon of red chili powder
11. 2 slit Hot Green Peppers.
12. 2 tablespoons Ghee (Clarified Butter)
13. 1 teaspoon oil
14. 1 tablespoon of shredded coconut(optional)
15. 1/2 teaspoon Jeera/Cumin seeds

Preparation:

Shell the Shrimps and baste with   ¾ spoon of turmeric, little bit of salt and  half the amount of red chili powder. Let it sit for about 20 minutes.

Heat about the oil and lightly sauté the shrimps till they are almost done.

Heat the Ghee.  Add the cracked cardamoms, bay leaves and cinnamon sticks. Once they start sizzling, add Cumin, the green hot peppers and the ginger paste.

Fry for sometimes till the ghee leaves the sides of the pan. Be careful and see that the paste does not burn and turn dark brown.

Add the sautéed Shrimps, sugar, salt, and the rest of the chili powder and turmeric and the coconut milk & the shredded coconut. Boil this till the coconut milk start getting creamy. You will see little bubbles coming up.

Gently stir for some more time and when the gravy coats the spoon you will know that its done.

Serve with white basmati rice.

Greenbeans With Coconut

I love green beans, crispy fresh green beans. This dish is frequents our dining table very often, my kids love it too. It is quick to cook, fresh like a salad and as every one knows beans are full of Proteins. I have cooked this with frozen to save time on cutting them on fancy thin diagonals, but this could be done with any kind of beans.

This is being sent off to Sunshinemom’s FIC – Green – A Monthly Event representing the Color “Green”.

A Little Note: I forgot to mention that I made this with French Beans. Thanks Sunshinemom for bringing that to my attention. However any beans(Yellow, Broad..) can be used, but the cooking time and the texture might vary.

Ingredients:

1. 1 quantity -1lb packet of frozen green beans preferably cut French Style
2. ½  Onion very thinly sliced into half moons
3. 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
4. 2 Tablespoons Oil
5. 3 Tablespoon Shredded Coconut (Can use Frozen Shredded coconut)
6. 7-8 big Curry Leaves (leaves roughly torn in to halves)
7. 2 Green Chili/Serrano thinly sliced (This is optional)
8. Salt to taste

Preparation:

Heat Oil.

Add all of the mustard seeds.

When they start to splutter add the sliced onions and stir it around in medium heat till they are just glazed (do not brown them).

Add the green beans, salt, curry leaves and green chili.

Stir it around to coat the oil.

Cover and let it cook till they are soft but haven’t lost their green color. Might take about 5-10 minutes.

Add the shredded coconut and cover and let it cook for another five minutes.

Switch off the heat and let it stay covered for a couple of minutes.