Cornmeal Orange Cookies

Tweet

July 2011 has passed and it is time for some free-spirit-blogging again. Would you believe that it is already the 4th edition and by each theme, it is getting challenging and am enjoying it more and more.

For the month of July, it was Lata ji who chose the theme and she had a list of 12 choices and each one of us had to choose a number from 1-12. Each number was associated with a hidden ingredient & an add-on flavor.

I chose No. 10. Want to know what were the other choices. Below is the complete list. Some will make your wonder, some will make you wrack your brains and some were like, just a big WOW. Check out for yourself -

1. Bottle gourd/ Marrow/ Zucchini (Cinnamon/Cardamom flavouring)
2. Tapioca/ Arrowroot starch (Zest of lemon or Orange/Juice)
3. Tomatoes (Vanilla)
4. Barley (Coffee/ fruit)
5. Quinoa (Raisins, fruit juice)
6. Noodles/ Pasta (Dark chocolate)
7. Buckwheat (Cheese/paneer)
8. Sweet peppers (Nuts and dry fruits)
9. Sweet corn (Cream)
10.Corn meal/ Polenta (Coffee/Orange)
11.Black currants/ Pomegranates (Caramel/White Chocolate)
12.Chick peas or mung beans (saffron/ pistachios)

Didn't I say - you will be surprised by some of the combinations ;-). Now, the part of the deal is to make a dessert out the allotted ingredient preferably with the add-on flavors specified on the side. I chose Orange and made some yummy Cornmeal Orange Cookies for the FSB challenge.

You know whats the first thing I got reminded of as soon as I took a whiff of the cookie dough - the little Orange cream biscuits which I used to practically live on, when I was a child. I never knew Orange oil would give such nice fragrance and flavor to the cookies. :-)

Cornmeal Orange Cookies

Adapted from Dorie's recipe of Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies and some inputs from Mads

Ingredients:

* Yellow Cornmeal (fine) - 1.5 cups

* All purpose Flour/Maida - 1/2 cup

* Cornstarch - 1/4 cup

* Butter - 1 cup

* Sugar - 2/3 cup

* Salt - 1/2 tsp

* Orange zest - 2 tsps

* Orange essence/oil - 1/2 tsp

* Vanilla - 2 tsps

Procedure:

Step 1: Sift the flour, cornstarch, cornmeal and salt. Set aside.

Step 2: Working in a bowl, rub the sugar and zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant.

Step 3: Cream butter and sugar together with the vanilla, about 3 minutes.

Step 4: Reduce mixer speed to low and tip in the dry ingredient mixture, mixing only until the flour streaks have disappeared into the dough (do not over-mix).

Step 5:  Using a rubber spatula, transfer the dough (which will be soft and sticky) onto a large piece of clingwrap. Wrap neatly and transfer dough to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. 

Step 6:  Towards the end of the refrigeration period, pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

Step 7:  Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper, else grease them. If using non-stick bake-ware, lining or greasing them will not be necessary.

Step 8: Using a cookie scoop or a greased tablespoon, drop the refrigerated cookie dough two-inches apart, on the readied cookie sheet. Don’t worry about the dough being of irregular shapes as you drop it on the cookie sheet. The cookies will even out as they bake due to the fat spreading from the heat.

Step 9:  Lower the temperature to 150°C/300°F and bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes or until they just start to turn golden brown on the edges. They will continue to cook even after you’ve removed them from the oven, so please don’t be fooled to think that they’re under-baked.

Step 10: Remove cookie sheet from the oven and let the cookies sit on the sheet for a couple minutes before you gently move them with a thin spatula to a wire-rack, to cool completely.

Variation: Break the cookie into crumbles and top it with Vanilla Ice cream. It is pure heaven. :-)

Previous FSB challenges:

May 2011 - Mysore Bajji/Mysore Bonda
June 2011 - Vegetarian Rogan Josh

Here is what other FSB members made for the month of July -

DK - Eggless Tapioca Pudding with Chocolate

Mads -  Sweet Corn Panna Cotta

Nags - White Chocolate & Pomegranate Cupcakes

Anu - Yet to post

Lata ji - Apple and strawberry crumble with barley flour

Mittu - Quinoa Raisin Muffins with Lime Curd Whipped Cream Frosting

Deepti - Yet to post

until next time,
Siri

Ammama's Signature Recipes: Kova Billalu & Kobbari Undalu

Tweet

I could talk about my grandmom (ammama; mother's mom) for hours together. She is one person who taught me to keep smiling always (like she does) and with age, she is becoming cuter & cuter. My grandad (tatayya) was one serious yet affable personality. It is rarity to see him laugh and when he does, it is a treat to watch for all of us. So, whenever we needed something like 25 paise for a peppermit goli, we used to first run to ammama, hug & then beg her to grant our wishes which she inevitably always does. I fervently think that our grandparents are a blessing in disguise and their presence make our lives much more fuller & happier, no mater what our age is and how 'big' we become.

Both of them, today are signature recipes of my ammama. She is one pro in making them, so as usual I begged her for the recipes. It is funny how she talks any recipe in approximations like a fistful, little less than a fistful.. I am like - please please give me actual measurements & she again starts off saying - add a small teaspoon of this & that. It took a while for her to talk in terms of "cups", "tablespoons" and "teaspoons".

I hope you enjoy them both as much as we did since we were little kids. She used to even pack these every time I returned back to US. Now that we are here, she make them often for her daughters, granddaughters, sons & grandsons, that is about 5-6 households ;-).

We love you ammama.. muaaahhh.

Ammama, posing for the camera. She was so shy, it took me 5 shots to get to this one..;-)

Kova Billalu (Khoya Balls)

 

Recipe Source: My grandmom (ammama)

Ingredients:

2 cups Khoya
1.5 cups sugar
4-5 tsp water
ghee 

Preparation:

1. Heat a pan on low flame, add water and sugar. Stir slowly for about 10-12 mins. Let it melt and make sure the sugar mixture is in white color. (not to turn into brown color).

2. Now, slowly  stir in the khoya. It will need some muscle power so that both khoya & sugar blend together well. Note: It should be in a consistency where you can make balls out of it. Turn off the heat. 

3. On a plate, rub some ghee and evenly spread the khoya-sugar mixture. There are two ways you can shape them. 
a) Rub little ghee between palms and start making small balls 
b) take a plastic cover, rub ghee on it and shape them howsoever you want..:-)

Store in an air tight container. 

Kobbari Undalu/Kobbari Lousu (Coconut-Jaggery Laddu)

Recipe Source: My grandmom (ammama)


Ingredients:

1 cup shreded coconut (preferable fresh)
1 cup powdered jaggery
4-5 tbsp water

Preparation:

1. In a pan, on low flame add water, powdered jaggery and coconut. Stir for 15-20 mins until everything comes together. put a little on a ghee plate and you should be able to make small balls out of the mixture.

3. On a plate, put some ghee and evenly spread the coconut-sugar mixture. Rub little ghee between palms & start making small balls or  using a knife cut into diamonds.

Store in an air tight container.


Variations: You could even add some nuts or raisins to these yummy laddus..

Hope you all have a fun weekend ahead.

until next time,
Siri

Idli with Wholegrains

Tweet

As most of you know, all of  last week I was cooking non-stop from FSBites blogs. The idea behind was to take a little time every day, explore their blogs and find some keeper recipes. I am so glad I took this challenge. Just have a look at the below recipes. They are everyday dishes which I managed to whip up with the ingredients in my pantry.

Mads Oats Kharabath

Anu's Baingan Bhartha

DK's Stuffed Bread Pakoda

Nags Fried Egg Sambal

It was so much to do this and am sure will do it again, in future as I end up bookmarking atleast 3-4 recipes a day, but never get to make them. Sometimes, I wish there were more than 24 hours a day as my to-do-list that want to do in my spare time is way too long and the available time between work & household chores way too less.

Now, coming to today's recipe - Wholegrain Idlis. If you are first-timer, I would recommend this Idli 101 post and once you got that right, then move on to experiment with various whole grains & their proportions.

Idli with Wholegrains

I have always made idli, the normal way meaning with urad dal and idli rava. Never did I try to make these with wholegrains, until now. You would not feel the difference either in taste or texture when compared to the normal ones. An added bonus is the extra serving of whole grains incorporated which makes it nutritious breakfast, to give that perfect start for your day ahead!

Idlis served with pearl onion sambar

Adapted from Wholegrain Idlis

Make about 15-20 idlis

Ingredients:

3/4 cup brown rice (I used long grain variety)

1/2 cup parboiled red rice

1/2 cup urad dal (I used skinned, white ones)

1/4 cup cooked rice

1/2 tbsp fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)

Prepartion:

1. Wash both the rices in a bowl 2 or 3 times and soak them in filtered water, apparently yeast hates chlorine. Donot wash the urad dal. Mix in some methi seeds in each of them and soak the dal separately in an another bowl for about 8 hours.

Parboiled Red Rice

Long grain Brown Rice

2. First grind the urad dal (I used our regular Panasonic mixer) into a smooth taste and it is slightly bubbly, adding little water at a time. Use the water in which the dal was soaked. Pour the ground urad dal batter into a wide-mouthed bowl. Now add rice and grind with the cooked rice into a consistency of wet semolina (rava). Don't make it too runny.

3. Mix the rice batter into the urad dal batter gently with your hand. Add little salt and mix again.

4. Keep the batter out uncovered for 30 mins and then cover it & place it in a warm space to ferment.

Note: Lucky are those who are in India as for the kind of climate we have here is perfect for fermentation. Just keep it on the counter top and it will be double its volume by morning. For people who are living in other parts of the world, a little extra effort is needed. Read this Idli 101 post for more tips & tricks which worked for me, while I was in US.

Fermented Batter, ready to make idlis

5. When the idli batter is properly fermented, add a cup of water and mix well. I used my idli stand which fits perfectly in my rice cooker. Slightly oil the idli moulds, pour batter until to its brim and steam it in the rice cooker for 12-15 mins. Don't forget to pour some water at the base of the rice cooker. You can check for its doneness with a toothpick or knife. When inserted in the middle, it should come out clean.

6. Once done, serve it with any chutney or with some pearl onion sambar, like I did. Either ways, it taste delicious & is extremely healthy as it is filled with goodness from whole grains too.

Wholegrain idlis dunked in pearl onion sambar

Related Links:

* For some more ideas on how to use Whole grains, check out this roundup.

* Want to perfect bowl of brown rice, check out this how-to post which features Alton Brown's recipe.

* Never did I thought the classic Bisibelebath would taste so good when made with brown rice. this is one fool proof recipe which has been loved by all.
* Click here for all recipes based on whole grains featured here on Cooking With Siri.

I am sending these Whole grain Idlis as an entry to Healing Foods: Wholegrains, this month guest hosted by lovely Simona. I am giving two cookbooks (Cooking With Pedatha & Sukham Ayu) from Pritya as giveaways, do send in your entries for a chance to win either of them before July 31st 2011.

until next time,
Siri