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Sweet Potato Halva

Is your sweet potato sweet enough?


If your sweet potato is not sweet enough try it out! Umm....the sweet potato I bought was sweet enough to have it as a snack, but I thought of making halva as I got reminded of it :D. Enough reason to indulge ;) isn't it? ehehee.. 

You need :
Sweet Potato : 2 (wash, cook till it is soft and peel the skin)
Brown Sugar/Jaggery/Palm Sugar : 1 tbsp (if the sweet potato is sweet, if not increase the qty)
Ghee/Clarified Butter : 1tsp
Raisins : Few
Fresh grated coconut: 2 tsp

1. Fry raisins in ghee and spoon raisins to a plate. Continue to use the same pan for making halva
2. Add powdered jaggery, coconut, and 2tbsp water or just enough to dissolve jaggery.
3. When jaggery has dissolved add mashed sweet potato and mix. Mix to make it hot and it will not take too much time for all this. Remove from stove and garnish with raisins and start eating!!

Sending this Simple Sweet to Preeti of Khaugiri for "Only" Festive Event started by Pari of Foodelicious


Lemon Pickle/Nimbekayi Uppinakayi

Pickles are tempting, irresistible and slurrpp.....

For a international reader who requested for lemon pickle recipe...
Pre Notes:
All things which are used for pickle making should be washed and dried including your hands :D
Knife, cutting board, pickle mixing bowl, Measuring spoons and bowl, Jar with a tight lid to preserve pickle are few things which have to be washed and dried.

What you need :
Lemon : Wash, wipe with a clean dry towel. Quarter them with a knife which is precleaned and dried. Try to deseed the lemon as much as possible.
Salt : Iodine free salt
Red Chilli Powder : Buy from Indian stores. These days there are many brands which sell red chilli powder.

Seasoning Ingredients :
Oil (I have used sunflower oil), Mustard and Asafoetida (Mustard and Asafoetida are available in Indian/Asian Stores)

Method:
Same measuring cup should be used to measure all ingredients.

Step 1. 3 Cups of Quartered Lemons = 1/2 cup salt +1/4 cup redchilli powder + 1/2 cup of lemon juice
This is the standard measurement for pickles that I use. Spiciness of the pickle depends in the redchillipowder used. To have good color, add kashmiri red chilli powder. You can use 1 tbsp of kashmiri red chilli powder for this measurement.
Step 2. Mix Lemon and salt and lemon juice in a container and let it stand for 2-3 days. Keep mixing once in 12 hours. Keep the container closed. At the end of 3rd day you can see that salt has dissolved and mixed with lemons.
Step 3. Add red chilli powder and mix well. Transfer to pickle storing jar.
Step 4. This pickle takes atleast 6 -8 weeks to be ready to eat. Mix the contents of the jar twice a week.
Step 5. At the end of Week 8, Spoon the pickle and cut the edge of the lemon. If the pickle is done, you should be able to cut the lemon with minum force. You can feed the softness. Taste the lemon slice you have cut, it should NOT be bitter! Now the pickle is ready to use.
Step 6. At this stage, the consistency of the pickle is thick. To thin it down, we use boiled and cooled water. Water should be luke warm. Scoop out as much pickle as you want to another dry and sterile container which you want to use everyday. Add luke warm water and mix to the desired consistency.
Step 7. Heat a tsp of oil. Add asafoetida, after 30 seconds add 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds. Once mustard stops popping, switch off the stove and pour this seasoned mustard over the 'thined down' pickle and mix well. This pickle is ready to be served!

To increase the falvor and aroma : Dry roast 1 tsp mustard with 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds separately. Powder them together. Add this powder at stage 3 along with red chilli powder and mix well.


Chutney Pudi Toast

Chutney Pudi is something one should have all the time in the kitchen. Here is a quick and tasty toast with chutney pudi.


This simple toast needs :

chutney pudi : 2tsp
bread slices: 2
butter: 2 tsp

Lightly toast the bread without butter. Sprinkle chutney pudi on the surface of  one bread. Top it with another slice, apply butter on the surface and fry both the sides till it is crisp and brown. Do not forget to enjoy it with a cup of coffee.