Plantain Chips

Plantain tree is the most useful tree, every part of it could be used in one way or the other... Stem to Plantain peels are used in one way or the other in cooking or as an aid for cooking... Plantain Chips are a staple snack of Kerala State in India, no one can ever perfect the art of Plantain Chips making like people from Kerala... I love the way its cooked and served hot on a cold rainy day, the climate keeps every one or atleast me in an imbalanced diet one day its cold and the other day its hot and sizzling... Yup, like any other cold day I felt like munching something crunchy then I pulled out a few Plantains from the pantry to make chips...



Ingredients:

Raw Plantains - 2-3 nos.
Turmeric Powder - 1 tbsp
Salt to Taste
Water
Cooking Oil for frying (Coconut Oil brings out the best of the flavors)

Method:



Peel the green skin off the Plantains (you can reserve them to make subzi out of them, there is hardly anything to waste from a Plantain tree). Slice the Plantain into thin rings and sprinkle Salt, Turmeric Powder and Water and mix well.

Heat Oil in a pan and fry the Plantains in batches, Coconut Oil heats up pretty quick. Stir in the spatula a coupla time not letting them to over cook and brown, turn the Plantain rings so both sides cook evenly.

Using a perforated Spatula drain the chips off the Oil and lay them on a kitchen tissue, remove the excess Oil. You can Microwave the chips thus making it more healthy, for about 10-12 mins @ 350 Degree F.

Sweet Puffs

Muah Muah, yes I knew there was something big waiting for me after those sweet muah's and yup I guessed it right, then started the sweet talks which lead all the way to the kitchen and pull out the measuring cup, yup the measuring cup and drag the box of all purpose flour and then the lengend followed - none other than Sugar. Once baked and decked up these sweet puffs travelled all the way to the office and nonetheless bothered to stay back for my company. Sweet Puffs are something interesting to make and ofcourse after all the pain one takes to make them, the pleasure remains when they disappear in a blink of an eye.



Ingredients for the Puffs:

All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Butter - 1 stick cut into small pieces to bring it to room temp.
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Egg - 4 nos. + 1 no. extra

Method:

1. Heat Water in a large pan add the Butter, Sugar and Salt, when it boils remove from heat and add the All Purpose Flour all at once and stir them well not allowing any lumps to form. This might be painful but when all the mixing is done the dough will be shiny.
2. Replace the pan over medium heat and keep stirring continuously until the dough is rich and shiny. Remove from heat and transfer to another bowl.
3. Beat all the Eggs in a bowl and start adding little by little to the dough and mix the dough thoroughly well. Keep the Egg as the variable ingredient you might not use all of them or you might need an extra egg too.
4. Continue to add all the Egg and mix the dough well, check the dough between fingers, when they form peaks the dough is all set. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag with a star nossel.
5. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and in the meantime either grease a tray or lay parchment paper over the tray and make desired shapes and bake for 20 mins now reduce the heat and bake for another 10-12 mins.
6. Let the puffs cool for 10 mins on cooling racks and make the creme for the filling.

Ingredients for the Creme:

All Purpose Flour - 1/3 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Egg Yolks - 5 nos.
Vanilla - 1 tbsp
Half and Half - 1 cup
Heavy Cream - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Beat Egg Yolks and Sugar until creamy then add the Flour gradually and well so no lumps form.
2. Heat Half and Half when it boils remove from heat and add the above mixture and mix well and replace on medium heat. When the mixture behgins to bubble (you will hear a blimp noise) remove from heat.
3. Place the cream and transfer to a cool bowl and place over a bowl of ice cubes mix in the Vanilla and let it cool, when cool add the Cream and mix.
4. Fill in pastry bags with a thin nossel. Reverse the puff and dig a hole with a ponted knife, fill the puff with the cream and store in airtight cointainer.



I definitely missed them but I was duly appreciated by everyone who had it. You can make a variety of cream filling add in melted chocolate morsels or instant coffee powder to the cream to have variations.

Now its award time though, Jo from Sugar Everything Nice passed me the Kreativ Blogger Award and so she stumped me by asking me to do the following



7 things I say more often

1. Oh God Oh No
2. Seriously speaking
3. Holy Cow
4. I can do it
5. I love blah blah blah
6. Awesome
7. Namo (my brothers name) and Dad

7 things I did Before

1. Danced, acted in plays and did Yoga
2. Spoke too much over the fone
3. Had food at restuarants 5 days a week ;)
4. Worked in IT, oh God I miss that badly
5. Tuck a teddy near me :(
6. Painted and embroided
7. Gardening

7 things I do now

1. Cook and bake mmm thats always a pleasure
2. Shop shop and shop till I fall
3. Watch History Channel when ever I get time
4. Blog Blog and Blog
5. Do Yoga
6. Collect wooden antiques
7. Fall in line with fashion trend

7 things I want to do

1. Pottery class is my long time dream
2. Take up my job again
3. Build my dream house, a kitchen with an island and elegant equips and utensils
4. Take up a beautician course
5. Set up a reading room with all kinds of books
6. Watch Patriots match (specifically Patriots win the Giants) at Gillette Stadium
7. Own a BMW 2 seater

7 things that attract me about the opposite sex

1. Attitude
2. Smile and eyes
3. Straight Forwardness
4. Clever and witty
5. Humor but no nonsense
6. Sportive and bubbly
7. The art of recognition

7 favorite food

1. Brownies nothing but brownies
2. Japanese Rice noodles with egg and veggies
3. Ice creams with fudge and brownie
4. Grilled Beef
5. Seafood stock pot
6. Pizza for all the cheese and the extra cheese ;)
7. Idly with Chicken stew with coconut milk and the chetinad touch

Now for the 7 bloggers whom I would like to pass this on to:

Teresa Cordero Cordell, Malar Gandhi , Purva Desai, Bhawana , Pavani , Vibaas and Vidhas

Shankarpala

I dont like Shankarpala just for 2 reasons, one being that its made in Oil and the other that it has All Purpose Flour. But my better half does like this very much, after a long times request I made up my mind to do this. Shankarpala can be stored in airtight cointainers for nearly 2 weeks. It definitely makes a great snack.



1. Sift 1 cup of All Pupose Flour with a pinch of Salt in a large mixing bowl and set it aside.

2. Warm a sause pan and add 1/4 cup of Water and add 1/2 cup Sugar and 1 tbsp Ghee and mix well till Sugar dissolves.
3. Now pour the Sugar solution to the Flour little at a time and make a nice dough, divide it into 2 balls and roll them using a rolling pin.
4. Heat Oil in a large Kadai and cut the dough into diamonds or squares or triangles and loosen them.
5. Now deep fry the pieces in oil until the color changes, always keep the heat on medium.
6. Remove from heat and use a kitchen tissue to drain the excess Oil.
7. Store it in an airtight container or Ziploc bag.

Sago Vada

Sago is an interesting ingredient, but when its boiled they make a sticky gum and working with that sometimes makes us loose our patience. Sago Vada can be stored for upto a weeks time and used for lunch with Rasam.



1. Boil 1 cup of Sago with Water until tender takes about 5 mins.

2. Wash and boil 2 medium Potatoes, skin them and grate/smash them.

3. Add Salt, Red Chilli Powder, Turmeric Powder, Cumin Seeds and finely chopped Curry Leaves.
4. Heat Oil in a large deep Kadai and made small balls and press them, deep fry a few at a time. Too many will become clumsy and spoil the shape.
5. Drain the Oil and place them on Kitchen Tissue so they absord the remaining Oil.

Serve With: Mint Chutney or with Rasam and Rice

Tri Colored Sandwich

1. Shred Cheese and divide it into 3 portions.
2. To one portion add Orange food color, to another add Green food color and keep a portion as it is.
3. Toast 2 Bread slices cut them across, sprinkle the Orange Colored Cheese between 2 slices.

4. White between the 3rd slice and the other 2 slices.

5. Sprinkle Green colored Cheese in the last slice and microwave the Bread slices for 30 sec's


Alternate Method: For sweet lovers, use shredded Cheese and Coconut sprinkle Sugar and do the same as above. Kids love this and it works out with them.