Delightful Tosha... indian sweet treats

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup curd [yog]

For the Syrup

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water

Cooking Procedure

Sieve the plain flour, salt n soda together. Now alternatively add a spoonful of oil and curd into the mixture and knead into a stiff dough. Make long thin rolls of 1.5 inch long.

Deep fry these rolls till honey brown

For the syrup,dissolve the sugar in water and boil the syrup till it to a thick consistency(two thread consistency).

Put 4 to 5 toshas at a time into the vessel and stir the syrup. 

Remove the toshas n let it cool then store in airtight containers.

such a yummy sweet treat

 OMGosh this desseet looks terrible but tastes YUMMY

Indian Pudding Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 cups of milk
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1 cup golden raisins (optional)
• Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

Method

1 Scald the milk and butter in a large double boiler. Or heat the milk and butter for 5 or 6 minutes on high heat in the microwave, until it is boiling, then transfer it to a pot on the stove. Keep hot on medium heat.
2 Preheat oven to 250°F.
3 In a separate bowl, mix cornmeal, flour, and salt; stir in molasses. Thin the mixture with about 1/2 cup of scalded milk, a few tablespoons at a time, then gradually add the mixture back to the large pot of scalded milk. Cook, stirring until thickened.
4 Temper the eggs by slowly adding a half cup of the hot milk cornmeal mixture to the beaten eggs, whisking constantly. Add the egg mixture back in with the hot milk cornmeal mixture, stir to combine. Stir in the sugar and spices, until smooth. At this point, if the mixture is clumpy, you can run it through a blender to smooth it out. Stir in the raisins (optional). Pour into a 2 1/2 quart shallow casserole dish. Bake for 2 hours at 250°F.
5 Allow the pudding to cool about an hour to be at its best. It should be reheated to warm temperature if it has been chilled. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

sourced here

creamy coconut vanilla rice pudding

 and to carry on with the rice pudding theme ....

This version of rice pudding is dairy free, gluten free and vegan, and the Thermomix makes it so simple and quick.
this is sweetened with Rapadura, which is why it's a darker colour than what you may be used to. The Rapadura gives it a lovely, slightly caramel flavour - much nicer than the bland, super-sweet taste of refined sugar!

If you don't have a vanilla bean, you can just add vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract to the ingredients in step 2.


1. In your Thermomix, grind up the Rapadura and vanilla bean for 1 minute on speed 9:
- 60g Rapadura
- 1 whole vanilla bean, snipped in pieces

2. Scrape down lid and sides and add remaining ingredients. Cook for 18 minutes at 100 degrees, reverse, speed 1 1/2. If it starts to bubble out the top, turn it down to 90 degrees for a few minutes, then back up to 100 degrees.
- 200g arborio rice
- 400g organic coconut cream
- 600g water

3. The rice pudding will still be quite runny - don't worry, it thickens after a few minutes. You can pour it straight into a serving dish and leave it for 5 minutes before serving, and it will be perfect.

DIVINE!!!
xo
ps... we also added some plump sultanas to our bowl that i soaked while pudding was cooking & also grated fresh nutmeg onto it :)

sourced from here but tasted by ME :P

wed winter tea

Tomato Basil Soup

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 - 14 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes

1 - 14 oz. can of whole tomatoes

2 cups of stock (chicken or vegetable)

1 tsp of sea salt

1 tsp of sugar

1/2 tsp of fresh ground black pepper

1/4 cup of heavy cream

3 tablespoons of fresh basil, julienned

parmesan cheese

In a saucepan, saute garlic in olive oil on medium heat for 1 minute - being careful not to burn the garlic.  Add the crushed tomatoes.  Add the whole tomatoes one at a time, squeezing them into the pan to break them up.  Add the juice from the whole tomatoes, as well.  Add chicken stock, salt, pepper and sugar.  Cook the soup on medium at a simmer for 10 minutes.  

To finish, reduce the heat to low and stir in heavy cream and basil.  Serve topped with parmesan cheese or with The Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich [below]

 

The Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich 

4 sandwiches

8 slices of Italian Bread

1 cup of extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

2/3 cup of provolone cheese, shredded

2/3 cup of swiss cheese, shredded

2 tablespoon of butter

salt & pepper

Divide the bread into 4 stacks of 2 pieces.  butter the tops and bottoms of the sandwiches.  In between the slices, divide up the shredded cheeses.  In a hot skillet - or cast iron pan/griddle works best - grill the sandwiches on medium heat for about 3 minutes on each side until they are brown and the cheese has melted. 

 

2 slow cooker recipes [one vego & one for meat lovers]

here are 2 awesome Winter Recipes that we love 

[Frank is a BIG meat eater so i do tend to make 2 soups or stews at the same time when using the slow cooker as we have 2 of them..... i eat the vego dishes while he tucks into the meat based ones]

Bean & Pumpkin Stew  (serves 4)

* 250g butternut pumpkin, deseeded, peeled, cut into 2cm pieces
* olive oil cooking spray
* 1 red onion, halved, thinly sliced
* 1 garlic clove, crushed
* 1 teaspoon Middle Eastern spice blend
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 400g can diced tomatoes
* 1 zucchini, diced
* 1 red capsicum, cut into 2cm pieces
* 150g button mushrooms, thickly sliced
* 400g can cannellini beans, rinsed, drained
* 1/2 cup basil leaves, shredded
* 1/2 cup grated low-fat cheddar cheese
* 8 slices French bread stick, toasted


Method

Wash pumpkin and place, with water clinging, on a microwave-safe plate. Cover and microwave for 3 minutes or until almost tender. Drain.

Meanwhile, spray a saucepan with oil. Heat over medium heat until hot. Add onion. Cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and spice blend. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until aromatic.

Add tomato paste, tomatoes, zucchini, capsicum and mushrooms. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until thickened.

Add beans and pumpkin. Cook for a further 10 minutes or until pumpkin is tender. Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat grill on medium-high heat. Spoon bean mixture into four 2-cup capacity, heatproof bowls. Sprinkle with cheese. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes or until cheese melted.  Serve with toasted bread.

Lamb Shank Tagine

• 2 kgs Lamb shanks (approx. 400 g each)
• 1 tablespoon Ras-el-Hanout (Available in Middle-Easten delis)
• ½ tablespoon salt
• ½ cup plain flour
• Olive oil for frying

Sauce:

• 1 medium size sliced onion
• ½ cup olive oil
• 200g diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• ½ tablespoon Ras-el-Hanout
• ½ tablespoon cracked black pepper
• ½ tablespoon sumac (Available in Middle-Easten delis)
• ½ tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 dried Persian lemon crushed (Available in Middle-Easten delis)
• 50mls pomegranate molasses
• 2 cloves garlic (finely grated)
• 50mls honey
• Water

Garnish:

• Rough chopped parsley
• Yoghurt
• Chopped dried fruit
• Toasted pine nuts

Method

1. Mix flour. Ras-el-Hanout spice and salt together thoroughly. Flour shanks, reserving remaining flour mixture for sauce. Heat oil in frying pan. Brown shanks on high heat on all sides and bottom. Store shanks for later.
2. Heat olive oil and fry sliced onion until golden. Add remaining flour mixture from shanks and fry for few minutes to create a roux-like mixture. Add all sauce ingredients (apart from honey) together in a slow cooker. Add shanks and enough water to almost cover. Stir gently to combine. Bring to boil on highest level of cooker and then cook on medium heat for 6-8 hours (at Taboon we do this overnight in our stone oven!). Remove shanks from sauce, add honey and check for seasoning.
3. Serve individually on rice or couscous with a generous amount of sauce. Top with a spoon of yoghurt and garnish with parsley, dried fruit, pine nuts and a drizzle of olive oil.

 ENJOY!!

smiles, trace xo