Nectarine & Apple Jam – A guest post

October 14, 2013February 22, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

I have been quiet about inviting my blogger friends and co-bloggers for guest posting. Now, after a long gap I have a guest over to share a lovely recipe with us.

She was the first one who dropped a comment on my blog and my first blogger friend. Though I met her here in the blog world, it feels like we have known each other for ages. A friend I dot on for every little thing be it about blogging, photography or where to download new fronts from. She has been always there to help.

It’s my pleasure to introduce you to Meena from elephants and the coconut trees, a blog featuring some mouth watering recipes with very crispy & creative photography. I truly admire her style and the way she plates her dishes. Her food stories that are woven around her childhood/growing up years sure takes you through the memory lanes.

All her recipes get me drooling, yet here’s a few of my favorites from her blog that came quickly to my mind. Do Visit her blog for great recipes.

Coconut chutney powder
Milk fudge
Fish pickle
Raspberry and Chia seed pudding
Nadan konju theeyal
Spicy chicken varuval (oh! this is really delicious and I make it quite often)
Mango icecream

Meena, I can’t thank you enough for doing the guest post and so excited about sharing this wonderful recipe and so so beautiful pictures with my dear readers.

Now, over to Meena…

Hello lovely people,

This is Meena, the hand behind the blog elephants and the coconut trees . I am from Kerala, India currently living in California with my techie husband and tween. I am a big time foodie and enjoy most cuisines barring a few meats.

My cooking is the reminiscent of the comfort food I grew up eating and some that are newly acquired .The blog becomes my food memoir in the making where like minded people come , we laugh and we literally converse which I think is the best part of having a blog. Never thought I would make so many friends virtually.

Love spending time photographing food , a learning process and a challenge I happily take up. I click until I am pleased .Sometimes a post can wait for months to get the right set of pictures .I am self taught and not an expert in food photography but I judge my work I should say very harshly.If it is not appealing to me then the blog does not see it. I think that pushes me a lot. I am very passionate about the blog and love to write what is in my heart and not go by dates,deadlines or keep up with Joneses:).Perhaps that is the reason so many of us are having a blog, nothing dictates right!

Coming to the recipe, I have never made jam till this year nor did it ever strike me to make at home until my daughter repeated asked for a bottled one every time we were in store I was reluctant as I knew jam would be the main meal and bread would be name sake :)).. So just decided to make some without preservatives,dyes or additives. This is my third attempt of jam making u see here :). I totally understand why women in the West brag about the homemade jams and preserves I mean it tastes awesome when compared to store bought ones.

My ancestral home in India has big backyards and large farm lands so every year summer vacation was spent eating jack fruits, mangoes and tamarind. Can you imagine the state of the stomach !:))) Tamarind pods would leave the mouth so sore that finally even water burns :)). It was beyond our capacity to finish all this in raw state so only those went for preserves and pickles.We were also sent a large chunk of those in every form possible :))

At home mango,guava,banana, rose apple, mulberry etc were eaten only fresh.There was no excess… come on! what are friends for, to share the produce right !! More over my folks never approved of bread and jam as a satisfying breakfast. Bakery bread used to be served only with stews.Indians by large go for a savory breakfast, their preference of fiery spice could be the reason behind the wide variety of pickles available there than jams.

How about some bread, butter and homemade jam!! Ya !there is a glass of milk in the background but you will need a torch to see that lol..

Apple is used here to get the jelly like end product as it contains high amounts of pectin..Use just ripe fruits for best results.

Ingredients:

White nectarine-5

Apple -1(any kind)

Sugar- 3/4 – 1 cup

Lime juice- 1/2 of 1

Method

Wash and wipe the fruits . Discard seed need not remove the peel as it becomes soft and not visible in the jam.Slice nectarines into bigger pieces and chop the apples as nectarines cook faster than apple.
In a heavy bottom pan combine all the ingredients and cook on a low to medium flame till the juices from the fruits come out then reduce flame and allow it to thicken by stirring often.If u stir for too long then the jam will lose its thickness and become watery. See all the water!all that came from the fruit!So don’t be tempted to add even a drop of water.

3. Do not mash the fruit too much as the elasticity of pectin is lost and tends to become watery.

4. A good rule of thumb is when you separate the jam with the spatula it should part in the middle and form a path (see bottom pic)then the jam is ready.

5. Pour the jam into a clean dry jar while it is still hot and let it cool then put the lid and enjoy for breakfast or like my daughter does scoop whenever she wants some 🙂

Note:

Any fruit that you like could be used to make jam.
As the jam cools down it will thicken a bit more.
It tastes best when made in small quantities.
Since no sealing and canning is done store the jam in the fridge after 2 days for up to 3 weeks.
Make the jam on slow flame only .Don’t hurry up:)

Thank you Meena for a wonderful recipe and I can’t wait to make this 🙂 Here’s wishing you all the very best and stay blessed always.

Dear friends/readers, hope you liked the post and recipe what Meena has shared. We are looking forward to hearing from you and thank you for your time.

See you soon with a new recipe.Till then…

Take care

Oats and walnut muffins

October 9, 2013October 21, 2016 | Rekha Vengalil

I have to say, I am not an oats fan (oh yes I like them in my breakfast smoothies); but when I baked my Apples slices with crumbled topping, I quite liked it. And so here’s another oats recipe.

These light and fluffy muffins are so easy and quick to whip up. They are so perfect for your breakfast. Serve freshly baked while still warm and yes don’t forget to butter them.

You need –

Almond Milk – 1 cup (You can use fresh milk too)
Instant cooking oats – 1 cup
All-purpose flour – 1 cup
Caster Sugar – 1/4 cup
baking soda – 1 teaspoon
Egg – 1
Vegetable oil -1/4 cup
Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
Ground cinnamon – 1/2 teaspoon
Vanilla extract – 1/2 teaspoon
Chopped walnuts – 1/3 cup

How to –

Preheat oven to 220°c. Grease the muffin tins or line 12 paper muffin liners . Sift the flour, cinnamon, sugar, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.

In a bowl, combine milk and oats. Let it soak for 10 minutes.

In a another bowl, beat together egg, vanilla essence and oil for a minute or till well combined. Add the oat-milk mixture and mix well.

Stir flour mixture and chopped walnuts into wet ingredients and mix till everything is well combined. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups until cups are 2/3 full.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Dhingri matar – A guest post

October 8, 2013February 22, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

It’s a guest post for a dear friend Avika from “A day through my life“, who I met here in the blogosphere. It’s been an absolute pleasure to have met her and she really has a great space with some mouthwatering Kerala recipes and others. Her recent post of Unniyappam did keep me drooling over. Thank you Avika for sharing your space for my post. Its been wonderful meeting you. God bless.

Well not talking any further and over to Avika’s for the recipe I share – “Dhingri matar”and browse through her space for some really mouthwatering recipes.

Apple slices with crispy and crumble topping

October 7, 2013August 9, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

A recipe from the cook book “cakes and desserts”. With baked apples and a crispy topping; is absolutely delicious. Team it up with a scoop of ice-cream too.

You need –

Sharp red apples – 4
Butter – 60 grams, cold and cut into cubes
Caster sugar – 3 tablespoons
Lemon juice – 2 teaspoons
All purpose flour – 1/2 cup
Brown sugar – 1/3 grams
Porridge oats – 3 tablespoons
Ground cinnamon – 1/2 teaspoon
Salt – a pinch

How to –

Butter a 8 inch spring form cake pan.Set aside. Pre-heat the over to 180 C.

Peel and core the apples and cut into slices. In bowl combine the apples, lemon juice and sugar. Toss well and spread them over the cake pans.

In food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, salt and pulse. Add the butter cubes and pulse again till everything starts to form lumps.

Spread the crumble over the apples and bake for 30 minutes. Remove and cool completely before slicing and serving.

Chicken xacuti

October 4, 2013January 10, 2015 | Rekha Vengalil

Cooking up something new gives me a high and this curry was no less exciting. A spicy hot Goan curry made from a blend of interesting spices. A recipe from my sister’s MIL and I had to do away with one of the ingredient mentioned, as poppy seeds are banned in Singapore. Nevertheless, the curry tasted great, and the whole family loved it. Indeed very happy with my first go at Konkan cuisine!

You need –

Chicken – 750 grams. Cleaned, washed and cut into bite-size pieces.
Grated fresh coconut- 3/4 cup
Garlic – 3 cloves
Spices
- Whole dry red chilies – 4-5 or per taste
- Cumin seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
- Coriander seeds – 1 tablespoon
- Black peppercorns – 1 teaspoon
- Fennel seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
- Carom seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
- Cloves – 2
- Cinnamon 1 inch stick
- Star anise – 1
Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon
Onions,- 1, finely sliced
Salt to taste
Grated nutmeg – a pinch
Tamarind pulp – 2 teaspoon
Oil – 1 tablespoon or as required
Salt to taste

How to –

Heat a pan and dry roast the grated coconut till light brown. Remove and set aside. In same pan dry roast all the ingredients under spices till fragrant, Allow to cool and blend them along with the grated coconut, garlic into a smooth paste with water as required.

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan, sauté the onions till translucent. Add the ground coconut-spice paste and cook till oil starts to separate., Tip the chicken pieces and sauté over high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add 1.5 cups of water, tamarind pulp, nutmeg, salt; mix and bring to a boil.

Turn the heat to low. Cover and cook till the chicken is done and the gravy is thick (you may add water to adjust consistency of the gravy as required).

Turn off the heat and serve hot with rice/roti.

Spicy chicken and bell pepper stir-fry

October 2, 2013May 27, 2015 | Rekha Vengalil

You need-

Chicken breast – 500 grams, cut into thin strips
Bell peppers – 2 small (I used red and yellow), Cut lengthwise
Green chili – 2, minced
Garlic – 2 cloves, minced
Onion – 1 small, thinly sliced
Ginger – minced, 1 teaspoon
Dark soy sauce – 1.5 tablespoons
Rice wine vinegar – 2 teaspoons
Sesame oil – 1 tablespoon or as required
Sambal chili paste – 2 teaspoons

How to –

In heat oil in wok and fry the chicken strips till slightly browned. Remove and set aside.

Into the same wok, add more oil if need. Add the garlic, ginger and chilies and saute for a minute. Add the onion and cook till translucent.

Add the Chili paste and cook till the raw smell is gone. Tip chicken, soy sauce, vinegar and toss everything well till combined and stir fry for 3 minutes.

Add the bell peppers and stir fry for further 2 minutes or till just done. Do not over cook the peppers. keep them crispy.

Check for seasoning and add salt if required since soy sauce is salty.

Turn off the heat garnish with some fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with boiled or fried rice.

Peanut chutney

September 30, 2013February 24, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

It’s always a pleasure meeting people and then many leading into a beautiful friendship. Well blogging has just been that for me. I have had the opportunity to meet some wonderful people and many have gone to be my good friends today. Yes one of them is Jehanne, the owner of the beautiful blog – “The Cooking Doctor”. After all our comments on each others blog, chats, calls and finally we met up (yes we did plan to meet up before but somehow we had to postpone). Many of you know her by now and I don’t think I have to add more but yes she is such pleasant and wonderful person to talk too. Undeniably I treasure such moments and friendships.

Over to the recipe; this condiment is for all the peanut lovers out there and comes from my mom’s kitchen. It’s perfect to go with your idili or dosa. I even love it with my rice.

You need –

Peanuts – 1/2 cup (skin removed)
Fresh grated coconut – 1/3 cup
green chili- 1
Small piece ginger
Tamarind – 1/2 teaspoon
salt to taste
Dried chili – 1 or as per taste
Curry leaves – 5-6

For tempering

Oil – 2 teaspoon (I use coconut oil)
Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
dried chili – 2
curry leaves – 5-6

How to –

In a pan dry roast the peanuts till slightly golden. Remove and set aside. In the same pan add the grated coconut, 5 curry leaves, dried chili, tamarind and fry till the coconut start to just brown. Turn off the heat; put the peanuts, coconut into the blender and with just enough water blend till a smooth paste.

Heat oil in a small sauce pan, add the mustard seeds. Once they start to pop add the dried chili and curry leaves.Turn off the heat and add this to the chutney and stir well.

Serve immediately with dosa or idili.

Spiced carrot cupcakes

September 29, 2013May 27, 2015 | Rekha Vengalil

This is a recipe I am going to turn to more often. Perfectly spiced and so light; one of the best cakes I have had/baked in the recent times. I could eat a raw carrot but not when it is cooked/baked/grilled. I remember my mom always struggling to get me eating a curry or stir fry. I would conveniently fish all the carrots in the curry and put aside.

And a carrot cake is not something I liked either (had baked one, 2 years back and never tasted it). The other day a friend wanted me to make it for her and I made these cupcakes. I wanted to keep only two back(for the little one and hubby) and was going to pack most of it for her. A bite to taste changed my mind and only half of what I baked went to my friend.

You need –

Grated carrots – 200 grams
Self rising flour – 225 grams
Soft brown sugar – 125 grams
Egg – 2, room temperature and beaten
Sunflower oil – 1/2 cup
Ground cinnamon – 1 teaspoon
Ground cardamom – 1/4 teaspoon
Ground nutmeg – a good pinch
Baking soda – 1/2 teaspoon
Baking powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Zest of one orange
Salt – a pinch
Paper cupcake/muffin liners – 12-14 nos

How to –

Pre-heat the oven to 180 c.

In mixing bowl, add the egg, sugar and oil. Beat till well combined and sugar has dissolved.

In separate bowl sift together the flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder, orange zest and salt. Fold this into the egg mixture. Add the grated carrots and fold gently till everything is well combined.

Divide the batter equally into lined paper cupcake/muffin liners and bake for 20-25 minutes or when toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes for 10 minutes and then place the cupcakes on a cooling rack to cool completely.