Doctor's Appointment and Rawa Idlis in a Microwave

Rawa Idlis in a Microwave

Hii..
Hospitals always freak me out. I always have this uncanny feeling whenever I visit a hospital (however posh, neat and clean it maybe). Unfortunately, today I had an appointment right in the morning. I wanted to run out of the hospital as soon as possible but it turned out just the other way round. My gynaecologist had to rush for an emergency surgery due to which her OPD timings all got messed up. Result was we had to wait around an hour extra at the hospital.
While waiting and looking at the people around I had these weird thoughts in my head. This is one of those places where so many dreams come true and so many dreams shatter. A place with such extreme emotions. The doctors on one side deal with the tears of happiness when they place a new born in their mothers arms and on the other side pass on the news of a passing away of a loved one to someone.
Really Hats off to all the doctors for being so patient with the patients (and their families). So many heartbeats vanish here but so many fresh heartbeats are born. The entire cycle of Life can be witnessed at such a place. Strange yet beautiful..
Thankfully being lost in thoughts helps because before I realised I could here the doctor calling out my name..
Now its time I come back to the recipe..This recipe is ideal when you are in a hurry and have to make something for breakfast with minutes. RAWA IDLIS IN A MICROWAVE. This goes very well with Coconut Chutney and Sambar of course but I usually love it with some Tomato Chilli Sauce!! I have borrowed Tarla Dalal's recipe for this.

RAWA IDLIS IN A MICROWAVE

Makes: 16 Idlis

Idli batter

Ingredients:

For The Batter
2 cups semolina (rava/suji)
2/3 cup curd (dahi)
1.5 cup water
2 tbsp chopped coriander (dhania)
Salt to taste

For The Tempering
1 tsp mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
A pinch of asafoetida (hing)
2 tsps urad dal (split black lentils)
7 to 8 curry leaves (kadi patta)
2 green chillies , chopped
1.5 tsps oil

Fruit Salt

Other Ingredients
1.5 tsp fruit salt (ENO)
Oil for greasing

Procedure:

1. Combine the Suji, Dahi, Water, Salt and Chopped Coriander leaves, mix well and keep aside for 15 minutes.
2. Heat Oil in a small pan, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, urad dal and wait for it to splutter.
3. Now add the curry leaves and green chillies and saute.

Batter in Greased Moulds

4. Add this to the Suji-Dahi batter (after the waiting time of 15mins is over)
5. Pour 1 cup of water in the base of a microwave safe idli steamer and microwave on high for 1 minute.
6. Grease the Idli moulds using little oil.
7. Add the fruit salt to the batter and mix well.
8. Pour 2 tablespoons of batter into each greased cavity of the idli moulds and microwave, covered, on high for 2 mins 30 secs. I did 8 idlis at a time.
9. Repeat with the remaining batter to make 8 more idlis.
10. Serve hot with coconut chutney/sambar/tomato sauce.

Fluffy Rawa Idlis are Ready

Note: After mixing the fruit salt, make the idlis immediately or else the Idlis won't turn out to b as fluffy

Its a perfect healthy filling breakfast. U can try adding grated carrots too in the batter. I did it the last time I made these!! Thanks for reading! Ciao!

Perfect Dessert for a House Party - Individual Cheese Cakes

Individual Choco Chip Cheese Cakes topped with Caramel Sauce

Hii..
I am very sure many of you occasionally have a house party. If you are like me who love to cook each dish for the guests then this one is an ideal choice for Dessert because you can get it done the previous day.

I am specially a fan of Individual Cheesecakes (than a normal 9 inch one) because serving this is very convenient.

In this one I have topped it with Caramel Sauce and Chocochips, you can try doing it with other toppings like Blueberry, Strawberry, Chocolate Sauces or Lemon Curd. This Cheesecake can act as a base to many flavours.

The recipe has THREE PARTS. I have borrowed it from three different websites and COMBINED it according to my requirements. One being the Home-made Cream Cheese, Second the Caramel Sauce and Third the Individual Cheesecakes themselves.

I have compiled here the three parts together for convenience..

Note: You can skip the 1st part if you are using ready-made cream cheese.

INDIVIDUAL CHOCO-CHIP CHEESECAKES TOPPED WITH CARAMEL SAUCE


Makes: 12-16 Individual Cheese Cakes

PART ONE  - Home Made Cream Cheese (Skip this part of you are using Ready-made Cream cheese)

Ingredients:
Paneer/ Cottage Cheese - 400grams
Yoghurt / Curd – 3/4 cup

Procedure:
1. Take paneer in a mixer and Grind it to a smooth paste.
2. Add in the curd or yogurt and grind it further.
3. Place a sieve over a bowl and line it with cheese cloth and pour in the mixture and cover it up nicely
4. Put it in fridge overnight and Discard the water collected in the bowl often
5. Remove from cloth – Cream Cheese is ready.

PART TWO - Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

6 Tablespoons (90g) salted butter, cut up into pieces

1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream

Procedure:
1. Heat granulated sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a high heat resistant rubber spatula or wooden spoon.

Wobble Test

2. Sugar will form clumps and eventually melt into a thick brown, amber-colored liquid as you continue to stir. Be careful not to burn.
3. Once sugar is completely melted, immediately add the butter. Be careful in this step because the caramel will bubble rapidly when the butter is added.
4. Stir the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted, about 2-3 minutes.
5. Very slowly, drizzle in 1/2 cup of heavy cream while stirring. Since the heavy cream is colder than the caramel, the mixture will rapidly bubble and/or splatter when added.
6. Allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute. It will rise in the pan as it boils.

7. Remove from heat and allow to cool down before using.
8. Cover the caramel tightly and store for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Warm the caramel up for a few seconds before using in a recipe.

PART THREE – The Individual Cheesecakes

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

100 gms Oreo Biscuits – Powdered in a Grinder

70 gms melted butter (sated/unsalted)

Cooling on Wire rack

For the Filling:
450 gms Cream Cheese
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120 ml) Hung Curd/Sour Cream, room temperature
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips

Note: To prepare hung curd take yoghurt..tie in a muslin cloth and hang it over the basin or a bowl so that the extra water drips out for around 1 hour

Procedure:
1. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Crust: In a small bowl combine the Oreo biscuit crumbs and melted butter. Press a heaping tablespoon of crumbs onto the bottoms of the 12 muffin cups. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

3. Filling: In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the cream cheese on low speed until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and salt and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract, Hung Curd and beat until incorporated. Mix the Choco chips. Remove the crusts from the refrigerator and evenly divide the filling among the 12 muffin cups.

4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and place oven rack in the centre of the oven

5. Bake (12 at a time) for about 18 - 22 minutes or until firm but the centres of the cheesecakes still wobble a little. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Let cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (a few hours or even overnight).

6. To serve, gently peel off the paper liners and place on your serving plate

7. Now top it with the slightly warm Caramel Sauce and few Choco chips.

Note: The catch here is that the Cheesecakes should not be under done or over done. The baking time varies for each oven. You need to do the Wobble Test. If you shake the baking dish slowly, the centre of the cheesecakes should wobble(like a jelly) while the sides should be firm.

Top it with the Caramel Sauce

You can prepare the cheese cakes and keep it refrigerated and serve it the next day.. Just before you plate the cakes top it with the Caramel Sauce (Warm the Sauce a bit)
Hope you try it out at the next house party.. Do let me know.. Thanks n Ciao!!

No Time for Lunch - Lemon Rice

Hii..
Remember I told you in my last post that both me n N are WFH (Work From Home) people..and I had mentioned a zillion advantages but one disadvantage is that we are never on a fixed schedule even when it comes to food..
There are days when both of us are so busy working our bums off that none of us go to the kitchen timely to cook..

So this was one of those days..it was 1 pm and we realised that there is nothing ready for lunch.. A tempting solution was to call up a Pizza guy but then it can't happen everyday..so I quickly wrack my brains to find a quick fix and I got a brainwave 'Ting'.. Lets make LEMON RICE aka Pulihora (Please correct me)..

Thankfully we have a Vegetable Store inside our building complex.. so I throw the car keys and a list towards N (Yes we are too lazy to walk down hehe) to go and get the stuff while I boil some rice.

Its a simple yet tasty recipe when you want some quick lunch.. We usually club it with some Raita and Roasted Papad..

LEMON RICE / PULIHORA AND RAITA

Lemon Rice with Raita

Makes: 3-4 servings

Ingredients:

Rice - 1.5 cup

Preparations

Peanuts - 2 tablespoons

Coconut (freshly grated/scraped) - 1 cup (Half the Medium Coconut)


Juice of 1 Big Lemon

Turmeric Powder / Haldi - 1/2 teaspoon

Sugar - 4 teaspoons

Salt - to taste

Curry Leaves - 5-6

Black Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Dried Red Chilli - 1

Chana Daal - 1 teaspoon

Urad Daal - 1 teaspoon


Refined Oil - 4-5 teaspoons

Procedure:

1. Firstly Boil the Rice in sufficient water and Drain the excess water (Note: Don't over boil) . Keep the rice to cool slightly
2. Scrap the Coconut.

Rice and Roasted Peanuts

3. In a Kadhai take 2 teaspoons of refined Oil and saute the peanuts till brown and crispy. Mix the Peanuts with the Rice.
4. In the Same Kadhai heat some more Oil (2-3teaspoons).
5. Add the Mustard Seeds, Once they start spluttering add the Haldi, Chana Daal, Urad Daal and the Curry Leaves, Saute for a few seconds
6. Now add the Grated Coconut and Mix for 1/2 a minute
7. Mix the entire coconut mixture with the Rice.
8. Add Salt, Sugar and Lemon Juice to the Rice and Mix Well
9. Garnish with Scraped Coconut and Serve with Raita and Roasted Papad

Lemon Rice

Raita
1. Beat the Dahi/Yogurt till it looks totally smooth

Raita

2. Add Salt, Rock Salt, Sugar, Black Pepper Powder, Roasted Jeera Powder and Mix Well
3. Add finely chopped Onion, Tomato and Coriander Leaves (Dhania) and Mix. Serve Chilled.

So finally me n N got something decent to eat in a jiffy.. and then what..then back to our respective computers to finish our work...

P.S: Since we both prepared it together it was done in less than half hour otherwise it will take slightly more time.. But still a pretty quick thing to do!!

Ciao n thanks for reading!!