Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients

Dark chocolate -250 gm
White chocolate -120 gm
Cream -4 tbsp
Powdered sugar -5 tbsp
Butter -2 tbsp

Preparation

Keep a saucepan on medium flame, pour
two glasses of water and bring to boil.
On top of the saucepan keep a larger bowl with
broken pieces of dark chocolate and white chocolate.
Reserve about 20 gm of white chocolate for decorating
the truffles on the top.
Simultaneously in another vessel heat half a glass of cream.
As the chocolate melts pour 3 to 4 tbsp of hot cream.
Pour cream only as much needed.

Take the bowl from the flame and keep on stiring.
Add powdered sugar, vanilla essence or any flavour.
Keep on stirring.
As the chocolate cools , it gets a shining texture.
Now add butter and stir.

In small greased ice trays or small moulds pour this
smooth and shining chocolate and refrigerate for 24 hrs.

Next day double boil the reserved white chocolate as before
and pipe it on the truffles and refrigerate again .

Wrap each individually in transparent covers and gift it to
your dear ones.

Dal (Lentil Curry)

Ingredients

Chana dal - 1 ½ cup
(split chick peas)
Masoor dal - ½ cup
(orange coloured lentils)
Water - 5 cups
Oil -1 tsp
Ghee -1tbsp
Mustard -1tsp
Jeera -1tsp
Urad dal -1tsp
(split black gram)
Garlic - 15 pods
Green chillies –3
Coriander leaves -2 stem
Curry leaves - a bunch
Tomatoes - 2 small
Turmeric powder – 2 tsp
Chilli powder -1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Jaggery - 1 tsp
Lemon - ½

preparation

In a bowl, soak chana dal and masoor dal together
for half an hour;
drain out the water and wash twice.

Pressure cook dal by adding five cups of water
and a tsp of turmeric powder .
After three whistles, turn off the flame.

Cut garlic, green chillies, coriander leaves
and tomatoes into small pieces.

In a wok,on low flame pour oil and ghee .
Add mustard, jeera and urad dal.
As it splutters and change colour, add garlic.
As it turns brown, add green chillies,
Coriander leaves and curry leaves.
Keep stirring.
Now add tomatoes, salt and jaggery.
Saute till it is soft.
Put a teaspoon each of
turmeric and chilli powder.
Pour the cooked dal and lemon juice into the wok;
add salt to taste.
Let it simmer for five more minutes.

Serve hot with rice or chappati....

Lentils or dal is very much part of daily diet of an Indian.
For vegetarians, lentils are an excellent source of protein,
a kind of substitute to meat products.
Even for non-vegetarians who suddenly start dieting
and stop taking meat, including dal in their daily diet
helps to keep them fit and healthy.

Monsoon is here.....

A beautiful sight to watch with a hot cup of coffee.

A prayer and a hope

A bowl of clean water on a hot summer day.
With a feel of natural surroundings attracts a lot of birds.
Every morning the birds wait for me to change the water.
In the afternoon each wait for their turn to take bath.
In summer, water is the most scarce thing available.
Birds die of thirst than of hunger.

A bowl of water and bread is not charity,
but a prayer, a offering to the beautiful creation of God,
who do have every right to this land as we do.

Floret Buns

Ingredients

Milk - ½ cup
Butter - ½ cup
Sugar - 1/3 cup
Eggs -2
Instant yeast -2 tsp
Salt -1 tsp
Plain flour -4 cups

Preparation

Take quarter cup of warm milk and dissolve
a teaspoon of sugar and two tsp of yeast.
Keep in a warm place to rise.
Powder the sugar and beat in butter,eggs
milk, salt and yeast.

Mix the flour spoon by spoon .
Knead well into a dough.
Watch for the consistency.
See that it is not very loose or tight.
Keep in a large vessel and
cover with a moist cloth.

After about two hours,
divide the dough into ten balls.

With a rolling pin, roll each ball
into rectangular shape.
Grease each one with soft butter.

Take five rectangular shaped dough
and stack one upon another.
Repeat the same with other five;
You get two sets.

With your hand, roll each set into a
Cylindrical shape .
You get two cylindrical shaped dough.

Cut each cylinderical dough into
two inch thick triangles.

Arrange these florets in a baking dish and
keep aside to double for about four hours.
You can keep this over night.

Time the dough takes to double,
depends on the quality of yeast you use.


In a pre- heated oven, bake the
floret buns in 180c for 35 minutes.

After 20 minutes of baking, egg wash
the florets with beaten egg, milk and sugar.
keep in the oven for 15 minutes more.

To make small crispy florets

Divide the dough into fifteen balls.
With both hands, lengthen each ball into a ribbon.
Roll each ribbon round to get floret shape.
Arrange these florets in a baking dish.
Cover it with a moist cloth;
let it double and then bake it for 30 minutes.
This is more easy and crispy.
Hot,crispy floret buns will surely be a hit for kids' parties.

Eden to Earth

God created Eden,
He created wind and water
Light and darkness
Birds and animals
Sparkling rivers and lotus ponds…

There stood an apple tree by the pond
Frogs hopping on the lotus leaves
Squirrels running up and down the tree
In the shade, lived a rat and a cat
Greatest friends in Eden!
Rat, string some apple seeds
Wore them as anklets;
Cat, tied a lotus leaf
As a bandana on his head
Handsome they looked
Hand in hand they sang and danced around…

On the sixth day-
With the leftovers
God created Man.
Man roamed in Eden with greed and pride.

On the seventh day, there was a lull…
Guilty of his last creation,
God left Eden.
Man stopped the river from flowing,
He axed the apple tree,
Crushing the squirrels underneath.
Caught the cat, tore off his bandana
Broke the anklets of the rat,
Poured hatred, the magic potion
Into their throat.
Eden was turned to Earth.

Then he roamed and roamed,
Round and round in search of GOD!

mini thomas

Stuffed chicken

Easter Special

The resurrection of Jesus gives us
the message of hope, peace and love!
happy easter to all my friends!




<Ingredients

Chicken – 1 full
Onions – 8
Tomatoes - 3 Large
Eggs- 2
Chilly Powder – 3 tbs
Turmeric powder – 1Tbs
Garam Masala powder – 3Tps
Curry leaves
Coriander Leaves
Bay Leaves -2
Salt - To taste
Lemon -2
Oil

Preparation

Clean the chicken both inside and outside
using a table spoon of lemon juice
and salt to get rid of the smell
and wash thoroughly with cold water.

In a bowl, make a paste of chilly powder,
turmeric powder, salt and juice of one lemon.
Add sufficient water to make the paste smooth,
but not watery.

Apply the paste all over the chicken
and let it marinate overnight.

Take a pan and heat sufficient oil for deep frying.
When the oil is hot, add the chicken and fry it
until it turns golden brown on all sides.

Stuffing

Slice onions and sauté them in oil
till golden brown.
Add chopped tomatoes, some coriander leaves
and curry leaves. Saute till the tomatoes turn soft.
To this again add garam masala powder,
chilly powder,some pepper powder, bay leaves and salt.
Add little water to wet the mixture and cook it for 5 minutes.

Boil two eggs and de-shell it.

Marinate the boiled eggs in half
quantity of the gravy.
stuff it inside the chicken.

Take the rest of the gravy add
some more water and keep on low
flame for few minutes.

In a baking pan, place the chicken and pour
the rest of the gravy on top of it.
Bake the chicken in an oven at 180 degrees for 15minutes.

Serve hot and enjoy with rice or roti.

This is a traditional malabari recipe
very tasty yet high on calorie.
Few restaurants in calicut
serve this delicacy.

This stuffed chicken is the creation of
our trio-Arun,Leah and Merin.