Beat the Heat Series ~ Rice Paper Rolls

A few years ago, one of my favourite blogger’s Nupur posted these lovely summer rolls and I was smitten. I hunted high and low inHyderabad for thai rice paper and found them finally. I zealously stock them and guard them. I love making these rolls not just because they look pretty, but are versatile. They are great with fresh vegetable crudités packed into them with sauces, cooked filling such as mushroom, spinach or peppers or even to use as potsticker skins. Either way you choose to use them, they will be a delight. They are also a great addition to a summer party menu. They make for a kid friendly snack what with all the alluring colours. Check out nupur’s post for detailed step by step instructions on how to roll them. you can add as many or as less fillings as you like…add taste and texture layers for variety.

Summer Rolls (makes 12)

Rice paper rolls (12)

Cucumber – ½ a medium one, peeled and sliced into slim sticks

Purple cabbage / lettuce – sliced fine

Red and yellow capsicum/ pepper – ¼ of each, sliced into sticks

Basil leaves or any other fresh herb like cilantro, mint, etc– ¼ cup

Carrot – ½ a medium one, peeled and sliced into slim sticks

For the dipping sauce

Peanut butter – 1 tablespoon

Hot chilli sauce – 1 tablespoon

Honey or sugar – ½ teaspoon

Hot water – 1 tablespoon

Whisk all of the above together to get a light dipping sauce. Serve with the rolls

Method:

In a deep plate, add 1 cup warm water. The rice paper rolls will be soaked in this, so ensure it is wide and deep enough.

1. Chop all the vegetables into matchstick shape and keep ready.
2. Dip the rice paper roll into the warm water and leave it for 10-15 seconds. With a light hand, lift up and lay it flat on a clean tea towel.
3. Add the vegetables in a layer in the middle of the rice paper. Add the greens and fold over a part of the bottom to cover the vegetables. Take the right and left parts of the roll and fold over to look like an envelope or a pouch. Roll the rest of the rice paper to look like a spring roll and the vegetables are sealed in.
4. Continue till all the rice papers are used up. Serve cold with a dipping sauce

Mango Cardamom Pound Cake (Eggless) and The Baking Club

Am the last to post this fab cake we made as a result of some chatting with friends on facebook. A few weeks ago, my namesake and I were chatting. Its a ritual that we catch up even if its only online…. infact thanks to blogging, this is a friendship for keeps. i was in the midst of some heavy baking and was keeping her updated with my progress when she said all this baking talk made her want to bake too. I was just too happy and asked her to keep me company and bake alongside. So what if our kitchens were in Hyderabad and Singapore respectively! small difference it made.

When she wrote about this on fb, remembering another occasion where she and nandita had baked together, both Aparna and another namesake (yes, there are three of us… with differently spelt names mind you!) thought it would be fun to do something like a baking club, get together and bake together.

Since mangoes are in abundance, we decided to make a mango cake, zeroed in on a mango pound cake. Each one was free to choose a recipe of their own choice.

I went with the same recipe that Raaga chose, from Divya’s blog. Which i am told is from Deeba’s blog…. if you are confused with all the names, let me just say, i have been fortunate to find like minded friends in the blogosphere….and these are people i would keep in touch with even if i were to stop blogging.

So here goes. We were supposed to post on the 7th. but i was too busy celebrating my new car, a hectic weekend, and some fun stuff including chaperoning a couple of 10 yr olds to watch Kung Fu Panda -2. Excuses aside, here is the cake. Mine was a little underbaked but still yummy. the only change i  made was to make  mine eggless.

Eggless Mango Cardamom Pound Cake

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour / Maida

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Cardamom, Powdered

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter

2/3 cup Sugar

3 tablespoons thick curd / or 2 eggs

100ml Buttermilk (add 1 tsp white vinegar to 100 ml room temp milk, leave for 10 mins till it curdles and use)

1/2 cup Mango Pulp

1 cup mango pieces chopped small

Icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F. Prepare a cake tin with butter and dust it with flour (i skipped this cos i used a silicon bundt pan)

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Cream the butter with the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the curds (or eggs if using) and beat well. my mixture curdled a bit at this point.

Add the buttermilk, mango pulp and cardamom and beat again.Add the dry ingredients into the batter, a little at a time.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a knife/ tester inserted into the cake comes out clean.

My tester came out clean at 40 mins, but i think i needed to increase the baking time to 50 mins

Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan. Dust with icing sugar, slice and serve.

Notes:

This is the first time i am baking with mango and cardamom. i loved the combination (yeah i know it is classic, but i am slow like that). I used 1 cup of mango pulp but in the recipe i have written 1/2 cos the liquid was too much in the batter. I also reduced the sugar to 2/3 because i found the original of 3/4 cup a bit too sweet. If you like your cakes sweeter, add all the sugar in the recipe. I’d also skip the dusting with sugar, this was for purely cosmetic value!

Beat the Heat Series ~ Kairi ka Panna/ Aam ka Panna

This is a thirst quencher for hot summer days. Of which there seems to be no end in sight in my part of the world. But since there are mangoes as compensation, I will not crib just a little .

Raw mangoes are almost on the wane now, so before they finish, i made kairi ka panna. Its an easy to make drink that can be made and stored in the fridge, either as a concentrate or diluted in a ready to drink form. It keeps in the fridge for about 10 days in a closed bottle.

Kairi ka Panna

1 cup pulp of raw mangoes (i skinned and sliced about 2 medium sized raw mangoes)

3/4 cup sugar (adjust according to the tartness of the mango)

2 cups water

large pinch of salt

in a pan (i use the pressure cooker and cook upto 3 whistles) add the mango pulp, sugar and the water and boil till the mango is fully cooked. cool and add to the liquidiser and pulse till it forms a frothy mix. this will be like a thick sauce. add the salt, check and adjust salt / sugar. this is now the concentrate.

To serve: dilute with chilled water in a 1:5 ratio, top with ice and serve. Alternatively dilute the whole amount with 1.5 litres of water and store in bottles.

Note: a lot of recipes will call for a spice mix of pepper, black salt and cumin to be added, but i prefer it plain. go ahead and add the spices if you enjoy it.

Beat the Heat Series ~ Summer Salad with Quail Eggs

I got a few boxes of quail eggs at the supermarket a few weeks ago. I had never tasted these eggs before, but they are slowly becoming popular in the cities now and are so damn cute that I’d buy them even if I didn’t want to eat them.

I’ve had them simply fried, with a dash of salt and pepper. It took about 6 of the quail eggs to make up the quantity of one regular chicken egg.

This time I boiled them and used them in a salad, for added protein. The salad is similar to the ones that regularly feature on this blog. Cucumbers, tomatoes and a little cooked pasta. I added some wedges of pan roasted potatoes to bulk it up and add a bit of a crunch. This was an easy weeknight fix for us. Light, healthy and filling. If you don’t have quail eggs, substitute it with chopped regular hard boiled eggs.

Summer salad with quail eggs (makes 3 generous portions)

6 hard boiled, shelled and halved quail eggs (replace with one regular chicken egg)

2 cups of peeld and chopped cucumber

2 cups chopped ripe tomatoes (replace with cherry tomatoes)

2 tablespoons of fresh coriander leaves

1 cup cooked pasta (I used penne)

1 cup potato wedges

1 teaspoon olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

For the dressing

3 tablespoons tomato sauce / ketchup

1 teaspoon green chilli sauce

½ teaspoonTabascosauce

Pinch of sugar

3 tablespoons thick yogurt / curd

2 tablepoons milk

Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing and set aside.

Reserve the boiled eggs, toss together all the ingredients for the salad. Pour the dressing over it and mix well. Chill for atleast 30 minutes covered before serving. Before serving, plate into individual serving bowl. Garnish with 2-3 halves of the egg. Crackle some pepper on top and serve.

Beat the Heat Series ~ Aam Ras

As kids, we waited for summer vacation like any other child to be free from the bondage of school. It didn’t help that we had no living grandparents or a ‘native place’ to go back to like our friends. As a result of which, there were hardly any other kids to play with and we were a nightmare to our poor old nanny who was with us from before my brother was born. She had absolutely no control over three and later four boisterous kids. We’d spend the whole day playing in the sun much to her chagrin. The poor old lady would chase after us in our ample open yard, often pleading with us to stay indoors and play inside. Of course we never heeded to what she said, only running into the house to guzzle water from the fridge and wallop multiple mangoes. She had a polio limp and her name was kamalamma. But as ignorant and insensitive kids, we insisted on calling her kunti (limp in telugu) kamalamma.

She loved both me and my brother dearly and to this day, whenever he is sick, he craves for her touch. She would sit by his bedside applying a cold compress on his forehead and overzealously guarding the freshly squeezed mosambi (sweet lime) juice that was reserved only for the sick!

Summer months also meant that apart from eating mangoes as is, we’d have it for breakfast. Either rolling the succulent strips of banganapalli within a paratha or having aam ras made from the sucking variety with puri. Now ofcourse because of health and the effort that goes into making puris, I settle for rotis or parathas. Scooping up the sweet – tangy aam ras with a piece of flaky roti and shoveling it into the mouth is the stuff my childhood summers were made up of.

Legend has it that every alternate year will be bountiful in mango produce but like all legends, I don’t really know if  there is any truth in this. Last year K and I went bonkers eating mangoes all day long. It helps that the summer heat is so debilating that I refuse almost all kinds of cooked food and reach out for that chilled mango from the fridge. I mostly like them as fruit, cut or whole. On occasion I manage shrikhand or lassi. I haven’t yet found the heart to cook / bake with mangoes.

The best thing about summer inHyderabadis the availability of the myriad varieties of mangoes. From the home grown banagapalli (my favourite), to the cheruku and china rasalu of the Andhra region, himayat or imampasand, dusseri, mallika, alphonso etc. cutters, suckers…take your pick….

Today is nostalgia ridden. Aam ras needs just three ingredient the most succulent variety of mangoes, sugar and some elbow grease.

Aam Ras (makes 6-8 servings)

1 kg cheruku rasam sucking mangoes

½ – 2/3 cup of granulated sugar

Wash the mangoes and press gently all over the skin to soften it a get the juices out. Remove the black part around the stalk and press out about a teaspoon of the liquidy juice (this needs to be discarded). Into a bowl, press out the remaining pulp / juice of the mango. Working with your hands and squeezing the seed with all your might. Repeat with all the mangoes. Some of the mango fibre will also fall into the bowl. Once all the mangoes have been pulped, push the pulp through a soup strainer, stirring with a spoon to speed it up and remove all the fibre. Add the sugar and stir well. Taste and adjust the amount of sugar according to the tartness of the pulp. Chill for a couple of hours. Serve with hot parathas or puri. If you are conscious about oil etc, phulkas will also do.

If you cant get the sucking variety of mangoes and are using cutting mangoes, remove the skin, cut into pieces and pulse with the  sugar and a little water to get the right consistency. It should not be runny, neither too pulpy.

Other serving options:

• Whisk together equal quantities of aamras and hung curd (greek yoghurt) to make amrakhand
• Serve as a topping sauce with vanilla or mango icecream
• Topping for fruit salad

Fruity Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

If you are looking for an easy way to incorporate the daily required portions of fresh fruit and vegetables, look no further. Fruit and Vegetables combined can make the most interesting and filling salads. Salads that can be served on the side of a nice meal or as a meal itself. Throwing together an assortment of half a dozen vegetables and luscious fruit made up this spur of the moment salad. A really light yet flavourful dressing of orange juice, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper finished this off nicely. I recently got myself a melon baller and have been going berserk with it! Which is actually how this salad began! I like that its far easier to scoop up soft fruit like melons and papaya with this one, than the other cumbersome process of skinning and chopping into chunks!

Fruity Salad

2 cups watermelon chunks or roundels made with a melon baller

segments from one orange, reserve the residual juice about 1/3 cup

1/2 each red and yellow bell peppers, cubed

1 large tomato, cubed

1 cup tender cucumber, skinned and cubed, seeds removed

2-3 baby corn, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

For the dressing:

1/3 orange juice

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander

a pinch of salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix all of the above and keep aside.

In a large bowl, put together all of the vegetables, watermelon and orange segments. Toss lightly and chill till you are ready to serve. Add the dressing and toss again just before serving.

Beat the Heat Series – Easy Nibbles

While there’s hope on the horizon with the monsoons apparently on their way to my side of the world, this easy snack will make life easy if you are throwing a party or even looking for a quick evening snack, this is easy to put together. Infact this isnt so much a recipe as just an assembling job. All you need is a few slices of bread and a few other ingredients.

Easy Nibbles – makes 18 pieces

3 slices sandwich bread ( i used multi grain mediterranean bread, but anything will do) if using smaller slices, use 4 slices.

18 slices of cucumber

18 slices of tomato

a few sprigs of fresh coriander

1-2 tablespoons cheese spread

1/2 cup yogurt- cream dip (recipe below)

1/2 tablespoon tabasco sauce

for the dip

2 tablespoons yogurt

2 tablespoons fresh cream

1 teaspoon sweet chilli sauce

1/2 teaspoon green chilli sauce

1 tablespoon tomato sauce

1/2 teaspoon tabasco sauce

1 teaspoon mustard sauce

add all of the above to a small bowl and whisk well. add a dash of pepper. set aside.

to assemble:

cut the slices into about 2 inch squares. toast them on low heat till golden brown and crispy. spread the cheese spread onto the toasted pieces of bread. top with one slice each of cucumber and tomato. spoon about 1/4 spoon of yogurt cream dip onto each, add a drop of tabasco sauce, garnish with a small bit of fresh coriander, serve.

Beat the Heat Series ~ Summer Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

Fresh cooling foods with minimum time spent in the kitchen, preferably fresh fruit and vegetables are my choice for this scorching summer. I made this salad on the spur of the moment, throwing in all the stuff i had in the vegetable tray and excited about finally getting myself a bottle of balsamic vinegar. It was light and so refreshing, the flavours and textures of the different fruit and vegetables giving the salad so many layers… it was a chilled treat.

Summer Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Dressing (serves 2)

Dressing

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sugar

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

whisk all of the above together till the sugar dissolves and set aside

8 sections of sweet lime, peeled and seeds removed

1/2 cup chopped green apple

1 large red tomato chopped

1 cup cucumber, peeled and chopped

10-12 yellow cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup beetroot, boiled, skinned and chopped

8-10 strawberries, quartered

6-8 basil leaves, torn to small bits

10-12 mint leaves torn to small bits

Take all of the above in a large bowl and toss together. Chill in the refrigerator for atleast 20-30 minutes. Before serving, pour the dressing on top and toss it all up. Serve chilled.

Beat the Heat Series ~ Cold (Filter Kaapi) Coffee

The mercury touched 45 degrees C yesterday.  it was unbelievably and unbearably hot. K has refused his morning coffee all of this summer and prefers to have a glass of cold coffee. I joined him with a glass of my own yesterday. I made mine with filter coffee decoction, since we dont have instant coffee at home. It was the most soothing drink to chill with.

Cold Coffee (makes 2 servings)

1 cup strong filter coffee decoction

250 ml frozen milk (i stock extra milk in the freezer for emergencies, i used this. alternatively use 2 cups of very cold milk)

3 teaspoons of sugar (add more or less according to preference)

8 cubes of ice (increase if not using frozen milk)

Put all the ingredients in the blender jar of a mixer and whizz for a minute in short 10 second bursts, till everything is incorporated and frothy. pour into tall glasses and enjoy.

Beat the Heat Series ~ Strawberry Lassi

Its all Valli’s fault…there she posted a status on fb asking what everyone’s favourite lassi (yogurt drink) was….and i replied with an choice between Rooh Afza and strawberries… i just couldnt concentrate on my work after that cos i kept thinking of the boxes of frozen strawberries i had in the freezer…. around 3 p.m, unable to take it anymore and taking solace in the fact that i needed this somehow to think clearly on a hot summer afternoon, i was slurping on a glass of thick delicious strawberry lassi to die for…. make it and see how addicted you can get….

Valli’s having a summer fest with cold treats for the season…sending off this lassi there~

Strawberry Lassi (serves 2)

1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, hulled, washed and chopped roughly

1 cup ice cubes

1 cup plain yogurt ( i used home made 3% fat, but anything will do)

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

2-3 tablespoons sugar (optional, i didnt use it, depending on how tart the strawberries are)

take all of the ingredients in a blender jar and whizz for 1 minute in short bursts till everything is well blended and you get a thick frothy lassi. check for sugar and adjust bu adding if needed. if too thick, add 1/4 cup of cold water. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.