Carrot Juice

Today's recipe is a  fresh,colorful,vitamin packed,healthy juice which can be made in a jiffy.The weather is getting hotter day by day here and wanted to drink something cold.
Usually I make carrot juice with apple or lemon but last week in a T.V show,a popular chef made this juice with orange.I wanted to give a try with orange juice instead of lemon juice,came out so delicious and refreshing.Now to the recipe...........

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Baby carrots	20-25nos.
Orange	1no.
Sugar	2tbs
Water	as needed
Salt	a pinch

Method 

             Chop the carrots and put it a blender,pulse it without adding water.

Once it is finely minced add water and puree it till it become a paste. Now strain it using a strainer and extract the juice completely,again pulse the pulp with litltle water,extract it.

Add the orange juice and salt,sugar.Add the ice water and mix it well.Refrigerate for 15-minutes and serve.

Add the ice water and mix it well.Refrigerate for 15-minutes and serve.

Enjoy...................................

• Instead of sugar,honey can be added.If the carrots are sweet enough the no need to add sugar or honey.
• Fresh orange juice tastes better compared to the store bought orange juice.
• For an extra flavor,a tsp of fresh ginger juice can be added. 
• If you are using the regular big carrots 3nos. can be used for the given measurement.

Sending this one to the Show me your Hits event started by Sangeetha of Spicy Treats and guest hosted by Anusha of Tomato Blues.

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Pasta Payasam/Kheer

I tasted this yummy pasta kheer in a restaurant buffet for the first time a year ago.When I saw this kheer in the buffet I had lots of doubts how pasta tastes in a sweet dish,but when I tasted,it tastes divine and started liking each and every spoon.
The next day without any second thought I made this one on my own and came out delicious,shared this recipe with my sister and mom.They also made this one for a family get together and it was a huge hit.Here is the recipe....................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Pasta	1/3cup
Sugar	1/4cup
Milk	21/2cups
Sweetened condensed milk	1/2cup
Ghee	2tsp
Cashews(finely chopped)	3tbs
Almonds or pistachios(finely chopped)	2-3nos.(for garnishing)
Cardamom powder/ellakai podi	1/2tsp
Saffron/kungumapoo	4-6strands

Method 

                        Cook the pasta in boiling water and drain the excess water,grind 1tbs of cashews with 2-3tbs of milk to a fine paste and keep aside.
Boil the milk in a pan and add the sugar,cook it till it becomes thick.Stir in between.Now add the cooked pasta and cook it for 2-3 minutes.

Then add the ground paste and cook it for one boil and add the condensed milk,put off the stove.

Add the saffron and cardamom powder,meanwhile fry the cashews in ghee add it to the kheer.

Serve it hot or cold.

Enjoy..............................................................

• Here I used the 1% milk which can be substituted with whole milk.
• Adding the cashew paste is purely optional which gives a richness to the kheer.
• If you are not using the condensed milk then add 3/4-1cup of sugar according to the preference.
• Use the smaller variety of pasta to get a nice taste and instead of condensed milk,evaporated milk can be used.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other bloggers doing BM#17.

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Aval/Rice flakes Payasam(Microwave Method)

For the day 2 of blogging marathon#17 I made this simple aval payasam in microwave oven and it came out super delicious.
This is a easy to make payasam which hardly takes 10-15 minutes and I make it mostly on Fridays for prasadham.
My mom makes this payasam little different using sugar and regular milk but here I used the jaggery and coconut milk.Now to the recipe................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Rice flakes/aval	1cup
Powdered Jaggery/vellam	1/2-3/4cup
Coconut milk/thengai paal	2cups
Ghee	3tsp
Cashews(finely chopped)	2tbs
Cardamom powder/ellakai podi	1/2tsp
Coconut pieces(finely chopped)	2tbs
Raisins(optional)	2tsp
Edible camphor/pacchakarpooram	a small rice grain size

Method 

                              In a microwave safe bowl take the powdered jaggery and add 1/2cup of water, keep it in the microwave for 3-4 minutes or till it becomes a thick syrup.Fry the cashews and coconut pieces separately in a tsp of ghee,keep aside.

In an another big wide bowl heat the remaining ghee and fry the rice flakes till it becomes golden color,now sprinkle 2tsp of water and cook it in the microwave for a minute.

Add the melted jaggery  to the cooked rice flakes through a strainer and cook for 3-4 minutes.Now add the coconut milk and keep it for a minute.

Then add the cardamom powder,fried cashews and coconut pieces.Finally add the edible camphor and mix it well.

Aval payasam is ready.

Enjoy.................................

• I used the thin variety,so cooked it for a minute,if it is a thick variety add some more water and cook it for 3-4 minutes.
• Payasam gets thicker on cooling,if it it too thick add 1/2cup of boiled regular milk to get the consistency.
• After adding the coconut milk do not cook for more than a minute or two,otherwise it may curdle.
• The given measurement easily serves for 6-8 people but I halved the quantity and made.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other bloggers doing BM#17.

Also sending this one the Microwave Easy Cooking event started by Srivalli and guest hosted by Priya.

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Corn Flour Halwa

For the final week of blogging marathon#17 I have chosen the Indian sweets payasam and halwa theme,today's recipe is cornflour halwa.This halwa is also known as Karachi Halwa.
Corn flour halwa is a delicious and excellent halwa which can be made in no time with easily available ingredients and lesser amount of ghee.Here goes the recipe for simple halwa.........

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Corn Flour	1/2cup
Sugar	11/2cups
Water	21/2cups
Ghee	2-3tbs
Cashews(finely chopped)	2-3tbs
Elachi powder/ellakai podi	1/2tsp
Food colour(red or orange)	a pinch

Method

                        Fry the cashews in 1/2tsp of ghee and grease a small plate or tray with little ghee.Mix the corn flour with 11/2cups of water along with the food color without any lumps,keep aside.Heat a heavy bottom pan and add the sugar and 1 cup of water,bring it to a boil till it becomes thick(no need of any string consistency).

Add the corn flour mixture slowly to the sugar syrup and stir it continuously to avoid any lumps till it becomes thick.

At this stage add the ghee and mix it well till the mixture becomes glossy and transparent.Put off the stove.

Now add the elaichi powder and fried cashews to it and give it a mix,then transfer it to the greased plate.Slice it after it completely cool down.

Corn flour halwa is ready.

Enjoy.............................

• Do not compromise on the amount of sugar,otherwise it does not taste good.
• After adding the corn flour mixture it is important to stir continuously to avoid lumps.
• Nuts such as pumpkin seeds,cucumber seeds and almonds can also added for extra rich taste.

Check out the fellow bloggers in Blogging Marathon#17 here.

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Eggless strawberry Ice Cream

Last week we been to strawberry picking,got 3 pounds of strawberries and some of them are over ripe,sour couldn't consume it.So I made strawberry milk shake and ice cream before it spoils.
I almost followed the same recipe of the mango ice cream which i make often and came out delicious and exotic.Now to the recipe..............

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Whipping cream	1cup
Condensed milk	2/3cup
Strawberry Puree(from fresh or frozen strawberries)	11/4cups
Sugar	3tbs
Strawberry(finely chopped)	5-6nos.

Method

                                        Clean the strawberries and chop them,puree it in a blender along with the sugar and keep aside.

In a mixing bowl,add the whipping cream and blend it with a electric beater or hand blender to soft peak consistency.

Now add condensed milk and strawberry puree to the cream.

Mix it well with a spatula(no need of blender).Transfer it to a freezer safe bowl and cover the top with a cling wrap,close it with a lid.Keep it in the freezer for 2-3 hours.

After 2 hours take it out from the refrigerator and add the chopped strawberries and mix it well with a spatula and put the cling wrap on the top,freeze it for 6-8 hours or overnight.

Delicious strawberry ice cream is ready.

Enjoy..............................................

• Adding the chopped strawberries is purely optional.
• If the strawberries are sweet enough then no need to add sugar,mine was bit sour.So I used sugar.
• To get a deep pink color 2tbs of store bought strawberry syrup can be used.

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