Eggless Tiramisu

Tiramisu,the popular Italian delight made using homemade eggless Savoiradi biscuits and Mascarpone cheese.
            

Ingredients:

 For the Eggless Savoiradi biscuits:

Recipe source for the biscuits : Aromatic cooking

All purpose flour	½ cup
Corn flour	1 tablespoon
Oil	2 tblspoons
Orange juice	¼ cup
Powdered sugar	3 tblsp
Baking powder	½ tsp
Baking soda	¼ tsp
Vanilla essence	¼ tsp
Salt	A pinch
Icing sugar	2 tblsp

Mascarpone cheese	1 ½ cups approx
Heavy whipping cream	200 ml
Icing sugar(see note below)	1/4 cup
Eggless savoiardi biscuits	As needed
Vanilla essence	½ tsp
Instant coffee powder	2 tsp

For Mascarpone recipe ,click here.

• Take both the flours, baking powder,baking soda and salt. Take the oil,orange juice,vanilla essence in a bowl and mix well with a whisk.Now add the dry ingredients and mix to get a batter thick enough to pipe.
• I used disposable icing bag,cut the tip to desired size and pipe small fingers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.Dust the tops with some icing sugar .
• Preheat oven to 200 ºC and bake them for around 10 mins till the bottom and sides starts browning. The tops will be slightly crunchy and inside soft.
• Remove from the oven ,cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Tiramisu:

• Boil 1 cup of water and add the Instant coffee powder and 3 tsp sugar.
• Take the heavy whipping cream in a bowl and whip it till soft peaks are formed.Add the icing sugar,,few drops of vanilla essence and whip till stiff peaks are formed.
• Take the mascarpone in a bowl.Gently fold the whipped cream and set aside.

Assembling the Tiramisu:

• Take a small baking pan,line it with cling wrap leaving extras on the sides.I have used a loaf pan. You can use any rectangle or square glass dish also.
• Now dip the savoiardi biscuits in the coffee on both sides and arrange on the bottom layer.
• Spread a layer of mascarpone covering the entire savoiardi layer.
• Now repeat with another layer of biscuits and spread the remaining mascarpone+whipped cream mixture covering the entire surface.Dust the top with some cocoa powder/chocolate shavings .
• Tightly cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for atleast 3 to 4 hours.
• Once set,slowly lift the cling wrap to take it out of the pan and serve.

Recipe updated as on 21/9/2016.

Homemade Mascarpone Cheese

Mascarpone is an Italian cheese made from cream which is coagulated using citric acid/lemon juice (source:Wiki).
        Making mascarpone cheese at home is quite easy.I was quite unsure during the process as I was making it for the first time but after seeing the results am quite happy for trying it out.I absolutely love the texture and taste of it.

Recipe source:  Baking Obsession.

Ingredients:

Heavy whipping cream (I used 34% fat cream)	400 ml
Lemon juice	1 tblsp

Method:

• Heat 1 inch of water in a wide skillet and let it boil simmer the flame to medium -low.

• Take the cream in a metal heat resistant bowl and place it over the water in the skillet.

• Heat the cream, stirring often.It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating.
• You will see minute bubbles start appearing over the edges. Add the lemon juice at this stage and continue heating the mixture,stirring gently,until the cream curdles. 

• The cream will become thicker and cover the back of a spoon thickly and you can see few clear streaks when you stir.Remove the bowl of cream from the skillet and allow to cool for 10 mins.

• Line a colander with dampened cheese cloth and place it over a bowl.Pour the cream over the cheese cloth.Don't squeeze or press the cheese at any point.Cover it with a cling wrap and refrigerate for around 10-12 hrs.

• Here is how it looks once its set.(Mine got set in about 12 hrs).Now the cheese is ready to use.

Vegetable Fried Rice

Vegetable fried rice is a popular Indo chinese dish which is made by stir frying the vegetables and mixing it with cooked rice.Spring onion gives a nice flavour and crunch to the rice.It pairs well with Gobi/veg manchurian.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice	1 cup
Carrot	1
Beans	4-5
Capsicum	1 small
Spring onion	1 bunch
Garlic  finely chopped	1 tsp
Soya sauce	1 tsp
Pepper powder	1 tsp
Sugar	½ tsp
Salt	as needed
Oil(For frying the veggies)	3 tsp
Olive oil/sesame oil	1 tblsp

Method:

• Soak Basmati rice in water for 10 mins.Drain the water,add 1 1/2 cups of water and pressure cook.
• Chop carrot,beans,capsicum,spring onion white,spring onion green finely.
• Transfer the cooked rice to a big plate,add olive oil/sesame oil and fluff it with a fork.
• Take a kadai/wok pan,add oil followed by sugar and let the sugar turn light golden.Now add the chopped garlic and fry well.Add the white part of spring onion and fry well.Add the carrots and beans and once they are half cooked add the finely chopped capsicum and fry till its cooked but crunchy.
• Add the soya sauce,pepper powder,salt and mix well.Finally add the chopped spring onion green and immediately add the rice and mix well.
• Cook for 2-3 minutes and serve.

Note:

• Chop the vegetables finely.The vegetables should be cooked but retain its crunchiness.
• If you don't want to caramelize sugar,add it while frying the vegetables.
• If you have white pepper powder you can use that.I used black pepper powder in this recipe.
• Don't doubt the use of sesame oil.It gives a nice flavour to the rice.

Poli

Poli (Kadalai Paruppu Poli/Puran Poli) is a traditional and popular sweet which we usually prepare for Bhogi and Tamil New year.The stuffing is made of cooked channa dhal and jaggery mixture and the outer covering is made using All purpose flour.

Ingredients:

For the outer cover:
Maida(All purpose flour)	1 ¼ cup
Turmeric powder	A pinch
Salt	A pinch
Gingelly oil	1 tblsp
For the stuffing:
Channa dhal(Bengal gram dhal/Kadalai paruppu)	1 cup
Jaggery	1 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder	1 tsp

Method:

• Take Maida,turmeric powder,salt,gingelly oil in a mixing bowl and mix well.Add water slowly to make a slightly loose dough(Less stiff than chapathi dough).Cover and keep aside for 2 hrs.
• Take channa dhal in a vessel,add water to immerse the dhal and pressure cook.
• Once the pressure releases,drain them well and allow to cool.
• Take the jaggery in a pan,add little water and wait till the jaggery completely dissolves.Now strain them using a metal strainer and keep aside.
• Grind the drained channa dhal to a fine mixture.
• Heat the pan with the strained jaggery liquid and let it boil well for about 3-4 mins.Reduce the flame to low and add the ground channa dhal and mix well with the jaggery mixture.If any small lumps form,mash well using a ladle.Add the cardamom powder and cook in low flame till the mixture comes together and is not sticky.
• Cool and make balls of the dhal mixture.
• Make small balls of the maida mixture too.
• Take a Plantain leaf or aluminium foil,grease it with gingelly oil and place the maida ball and spread it to a small circle using fingers.Place a ball of stuffing at the center and cover it with the maida circle(just as we do for stuffed paratha).
• Gently flatten the ball using the hands to a small circle .
• Heat a tawa, grease it with oil and carefully invert the aluminium foil and slowly peel off the poli and transfer to the tawa.Cook on both sides using little oil or ghee till light brown spots appear on both the sides.
• Drizzle some ghee on the top and serve.

Note:

• Smear oil liberally on your hands to flatten the poli easily.You can use sunflower oil in place of Gingelly oil.I like to use aluminium foil to flatten the poli as its very easy to transfer the poli to the tawa.
• Make the outer covering(maida) ball smaller than the stuffing size.

Raw Mango Pachadi / Maangai Pachadi

Maangai Pachadi is a special dish which we prepare for Tamil New year.Raw mango is cooked with jaggery and seasoned with red chilli and neem flower.It has all the tastes sweet,sour,Bitter,Hot and salt.

Ingredients:

Raw mango sliced	1 cup
Jaggery(see note below)	1/4 -1/2 cup
Turmeric powder	A pinch
Salt	As needed
Oil	1 tsp
To temper
Mustard seeds	½ tsp
Red chilli	1
Neem flower(Vepam poo)	1 tsp

Method:

• Peel the outer skin of the mango and cut into thin slices.
• Take a vessel,add jaggery and little water and heat till jaggery dissolves fully in water.Filter it using a metal strainer and keep aside.
• Take the sliced mango,turmeric powder,little salt and little water in a vessel and cook till the mango slices are almost cooked but not mushy.
• Now add the strained jaggery water and boil well for 3-5 mins till the mango slices are cooked well. 
• Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients to temper and mix it with the Mango pachadi.

Note:

• Adjust the jaggery quantity depending on the tanginess of the mango used.
• If after adding jaggery water the pachadi is very thin, add 1 tsp rice flour mixed with little water to the pachadi and boil for a minute to thicken it.
• If neem flower is not available skip it.

Vegetable Pizza

Making Pizza at home gives a nice and satisfying experience and once you get the base right it is quite simple.you can make pizza with different combination of vegetables or just with cheese.I have used store bought Pizza sauce in this recipe.

Ingredients:

For the Pizza base:

All purpose flour	2 cups
Instant yeast	1 ¼ tsp
Milk	¾ cup
Sugar	1 tblsp
Salt	1 tsp
Olive oil	2 tblsp

Other Ingredients:

Pizza sauce,Grated Mozarella cheese,Vegetables* of your choice(I have used onion,Tomato,capsicum,olives,Pineapple),Pizza seasoning(Mix of herbs like oregano,basil etc),chilli flakes,salt.

* Use the toppings of your preference.I have added some olives and pineapple pieces in this recipe and it is not a must.

Method:

• Take the lukewarm milk,sugar,yeast in a bowl and mix well.After 10 mins the yeast foams up well and is ready to use.
• Take the flour,salt,olive oil in a wide bowl.Slowly add the yeast solution to it and mix well to form a slightly sticky dough.(Don't add all the yeast solution at once,add only the quantity needed to get slightly sticky dough).Transfer it to a clean counter,dust some flour and knead for few minutes till its smooth.
• keep the dough in a large bowl and cover with a wet kitchen towel and leave in a warm place for about 1 hr or till the dough doubles in size.
• Once the dough is doubled,gently punch down to remove the air.
• Dust some flour and roll it to a circle of desired thickness.Transfer it to a baking tray lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper.Slightly make the edges little thick than the center.(Refer picture)
• Prick all over the base with a fork.Brush olive oil over the entire base and spread pizza sauce.Arrange the sliced vegetables,olives and pineapple,sprinkle little salt,pizza seasoning,chilli flakes and spread grated mozarella cheese all over.
• Preheat oven to 200 ºC and bake for 20 -25 mins till the base is cooked well and it starts browning on the sides and bottom.
• Remove the Pizza from the tray,slice and serve.

 Sending to Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids – Italian Dishes and Nithu’s page and Vardhini's Bake Fest#18 hosted by Sowmya.

Moong Dhal Gravy

This healthy gravy made using Moong dhal(Green Gram dhal) with freshly ground spices tastes great with Chapathi/Roti.Lets see the recipe.

Ingredients:

Moong dhal	1 cup
Onion	1
Tomato	1
Cumin seeds	½ tsp
Salt	As needed
Oil	2 tsp
To grind
Coriander seeds	1 tsp
Cumin seeds	½ tsp
Green chilli	1 or 2
Ginger	Small piece
Coconut grated	2 tblsp
Coriander leaves chopped	4-5  tblsp

Method:

• Soak Whole Moong dhal in water for 3-4 hours and pressure cook them.
• Dry roast the coriander seeds and cumin seeds in a fry pan and grind with the other items given in "To grind" list to a fine paste using little water.
• Heat oil in a kadai and add cumin seeds,add the chopped onion and fry till it turns translucent.
• Add finely chopped tomato,salt and fry till the tomatoes are cooked well and turn mushy.
• Add the ground paste,cooked dhal and add water to get the desired consistency of the gravy and cook in low flame for 5-7 mins.
• Serve hot with Roti/chapathi.