Cabbage Rice With Coconut Milk

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I had this rice when I was with my SIL. I love the flavor of this rice so much that I tried it again when I came back to my place. This rice has got a creamy texture as it is simmered in coconut milk and it has a mild sweet taste and pleasant aroma with a little crunch of cabbage. It is a great supplement when we have a spicy menu on the platter.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rice
• 1.5 cup chopped cabbage
• 1/2 cup diced potato
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup thick coconut milk
• 2 green chillies
• 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste(4 cloves garlic ,1/2" ginger)
• 2 springs chopped mint leaves
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 cardamom
• 2 cloves
• 1/2" cinnamon stick
• 6 whole black peppers
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp butter/oil for vegans
• salt to taste

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Cooking Procedure

Soak rice in 3 cups of water for 20 minute,then drain water and keep rice aside.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker ,add bay leaf fry for 30 seconds then add cardamom , black pepper,cinnamon stick,clove ,cumin seeds and fry till cumin seeds crackle.

Add onion,green chilli,garlic ginger paste to the above ingredients and fry till onion become light golden brown .Add cabbage,potato and chopped mint leaves and fry for 2 min then add the rice n fry for one more min.

Then add 1 cup coconut milk with 2.5 cups water to the above rice and mix nicely,close the lid n pressure cook for 3 whistles.

After 3 whistles switch off the flame and wait for the pressure to settle down, remove lid and mix it softly and serve hot.

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OLD FASHIONED APPLE CRISP

I've been tweaking this apple crisp recipe for most of my married life. I've tried a variety of spices, crusts, topping ingredients, apple types, nuts/no nuts, oats/no oats, baking times, etc. After many years of trial and error, we are happy with this final version. The apples are cut smaller than for a pie (see note) and the topping bakes into a sweet, crispy, nutty perfection.

I like to make this in a 2 piece 10" tart pan because it is very easy to serve and makes a pretty presentation, but any 9" or 10" pie plate would work well also.

(1) 9" or 10" single pie crust, placed into a tart pan (or pie plate) and chilled until the apples are ready.

6 Granny Smith apples (see note)
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar packed
¼ cup all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

TOPPING
2/3 cup light brown sugar packed
2/3 cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter
½ cup chopped walnuts

Peel and core the apples and slice them very thinly. Blanche the apples in boiling water for one to two minutes (depending on how thin you cut them). Don't cook the apples all the way through, they should still be slightly crunchy.

Drain very well and add the sugars, flour and spices (stir to coat evenly).

Make the topping: mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and cut in the cold butter until it is crumbly, stir in nuts. Place apple mixture into chilled crust and spread with topping mixture.

Bake in preheated 375 oven for 40-45 minutes or until the filling looks bubbly. Cool before serving (see note).

NOTE: I like to serve this before it has completely cooled. When it has cooled down enough so that I can hold my hand (without burning it) on the bottom of the pie pan, it is time to eat it. I serve it with vanilla ice cream.

NOTE: I cut the peeled and cored apples into quarters and then cut the quarters in half before I start slicing them. This gives me smaller slices that work well with this crisp recipe.

NOTE: I encourage you to use freshly grated nutmeg if possible, it makes a WORLD of difference (so mellow compared to pre-ground nutmeg).

NOTE: Place your unbaked apple crisp on a cookie sheet before putting it into the oven. The heat from the cookie sheet will help brown the bottom of the pie crust. It will also help with any potential spill-overs.

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Pinni - A Perfect Energy Laddu

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Hi dearies .... hope u all in good health. It has been a been long vacation and I really missed u all and your wonderfull creations. Thank you so much for all your good wishes and comments.

I spent a good time this whole month, I was tempted to post a recipe but I reminded myself that I am on a vacation : P.In this visit I learnt some new dishes.One of them was this wheat laddu that I learnt from my SIL who is from north india,we had prepared it together. This is made in Rajasthan, Punjab and UP. It is a great treat for kids as it tastes very yummy, also ideal for mothers who have just delivered a baby.As it is also very soft and powdery once in your mouth it would melt easily, it is very ideal for old people too.It is recommended to be eaten with a glass of milk to give complete nutrition.So here is the recipe......

Ingredients:

• 250 gms wheat flour
• 250 gms sugar
• 250 gms ghee
• 15 gms dry ginger
• 25 gms chopped cashew
• 25 gms chopped dry coconut
• 25 gms chopped almonds
• 25 gms chopped muskmelon seeds
• 25 gms chopped makhana

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Cooking Procedure

Heat 1/2 of the ghee in a big pan, when it melts completely and begins to simmer add the wheat flour and make the flame to low and stir continously till a nice aroma comes from it and changes its color to light golden brown. Switch off the flame and keep aside for it to cool.

Heat some ghee and deep fry the makhani till it becomes crispy but it should not change its color.Shift the makhani to a plate and let it cool, then crush them with your hands.

Remove all the ghee from the pan into ghee container.

Heat just 1 tbsp ghee and in the same pan and fry the ginger(whole piece) till itbecomes crispy and keep aside to cool. Grind it to a fine powder and keep aside.

Keep 1 tbsp ghee in the pan and fry the chopped chashew on a low flame till golden brown.Shift to plate

And do the same for the rest dry fruits(almonds,muskmelon seeds) and coconut and keep all aside to cool.

Sugar Crystallization Process :

In a deep bottom pan add sugar along with 1 cup of water and stir on medium flame. The sugar will pass through 4 stages (Sugar > Syrup > Thick Syrup > Sugar ) We should be constantly stirring to avoid lumps. In the end it will again be crystal sugar.... if u have some lumps remove them and grind them. Remove to plate and let it cool.

Now take this sugar and with wheat flour evenly, then all the ingredient except ghee.Mix nicely.

Divide the mixture into small portions and add and the required amount of ghee to one portion and shape it into a nice ball.Your Laddus are ready ,shift them to dry container after 2 to 3 hrs.

Note:

If it difficult to fry the total wheat flour at a time then mix the ghee n flour first n divide it to 3 parts n individually u can fry each part separately in a pan ,which will make task easy.

You will finally get to make 10 laddus and these ladoos have a shelf life of one month so u can prepare more to keep it in stock .

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