Moulded Chocolate

With Diwali round the corner I wanted to make some sweets. I was swamped with offers to help make CHOCOLATE.
How could I refuse in the face of all the four girls in the building asking for them?
So MOULDED CHOCOLATE it was.
I use one bar of 500 grams milk chocolate and 500 grams of bitter chocolate.
For the double boiler, I generally use my old milk cooker without the whistle (between you and me I have lost the whistle).

Melted Chocolate!!

Melt the chocolate on low flame and when it is melted and all gooey transfer into plastic moulds. You can add nuts, raisins, rice balls  at this stage. Fill the mould to half the level add the nuts etc and fill up the mould. Be sure to tap the moulds once or twice to get rid of air pockets,

In to the moulds

Transfer to the freezer for 10 minutes and unmould.

Wrap them in colourful foil.

The Chocolate 

Spicy Shankar Pali

Diwali is the time I try to remember old recipes that my mother-in – law and mother used to make.

Generally, if I find the recipe scribbled it is cryptic. Something that is easy to follow, when I am writing it down but rarely when I am executing the recipe. Today since I was home I decided to make SHANKAR PALI not the sweet kind but the spicy one.

AsI did not want go through my notes I decided to follow the,"Mad Scientist "tradition and improvise as I went by.

Ingredients:
1 cup maida, sieved
½ tsp pepper powder, freshly ground
¼ tsp ajwain (optional)
¼ tsp jeera
Salt to taste
1 ½ tblspn hot oil
Water to make stiff dough
Oil for frying

Method:
1. In the maida add all the dry ingredients and mix well.
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour pile and add hot oil. The flour should sizzle a bit when you add the oil.
3. Use a spoon and cover the oil. After about a minute rub the oil in the flour.
4. Use water and make stiff dough.
5. Divide the dough into 3 balls and roll out into a thick chapatti.
6. Using a sharp knife cut small diamonds.
7. Deep fry till light golden.
8. Store in an airtight container.

Amla Chutney

 I was going through my photographs, when I realised that I have not blogged about the “Amla Chutney” that I had made.

Amla Chutney was something my mom made and I loved it but I never paid attention to what goes into it.

I just made it out of the hazy taste I remembered and guess what my father liked it.

 Yes!!!

These are the pictures of all the five amla accompaniments that i have so far made.

The top left is Amla Chutney, Top right is Mor avala, Centre Amla pickle, bottom left amla supari and the bottom right amla sweet sour preserve.

Here are the ingredients:

1 cup amla, grated

1 ¼ cup dry coconut, grated (you can use fresh coconut grated but the chutney will not keep for long)

½ tblspn oil

½ tsp mustard

1 heaped tsp of urid daal

1 small piece of hing/asafoetida (use 1 tsp if you are using powdered hing/asafoetida)

¼ tsp methi/ fenugreek seeds

2 tblspn red chilli powder (adjust as per taste)

A marble sized piece of jaggery (adjust as per taste)

Salt (adjust as per taste)

Method:

1.  Heat the oil and add the mustard. When the mustard splutters, add urid daal allow the urid daal to redden a bit, and then add hing/asafoetida.  Switch off the gas and add the methi seeds.
2.  Next add the red chilli powder and the amla gratings. Stir a little. Cool.
3. Grind all the ingredients in the chutney pot of your mixer.
4.  Serve with  palak thalipeeth.    

CAPSICUM CHUTNEY

I carry lunch to work and we friends share what we carry. My friend Trupti had brought CAPSICUM CHUTNEY we all agreed that it was a nice change from the regular coconut chutney and of course we shared the recipe.

Here are the

INGREDIENTS:

1 tsp urid daal

¼ tsp methi/fenugreek seeds

1 tsp jeera/ cumin seeds

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp hing/asafoetida powder (I prefer the rock hing/asafoetida and that I use a small rock)

1 capsicum

2-3 green chillies (adjust as per taste)

I tsp oil

8-10 cashew nuts I also used roasted ground nuts 20 in number

1 tsp Coconut

A small 1 inch piece of Tamarind

Small marble sized ball of jaggery

Salt (adjust as per taste)

METHOD:

1. Dry roast urid daal till it becomes reddish. Remove in the chutney pot of the mixer.
2. Dry roast mustard, hing/asafoetida (Shankar chaap), jeera/ cumin seeds till the mustard starts splattering. Switch off the gas and add the methi/fenugreek seeds. Stir till the methi/fenugreek seeds become reddish. Remove in the chutney pot.
3. Now heat the oil and fry well the   capsicum & green chillies.

1.  Cool.
2. Grind all the ingredients and serve with idli, butter idli.