Musk Melon Juice Recipe (Cantaloupe Juice)

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Musk Melon / Cantaloupe or Kirni Palam (how we call in tamil) - there a quite a few names for this fruit. This tastes delicious even by itself with just sugar sprinkled. 

I wanted to post this juice since last summer and I am glad I did it for a dear friends guest post :) I got to know Lavi of Home Cooks Recipe when I was desperately seeking advice for my oven purchase. I am greatly thankful to her for guiding me to get the right oven. Days passed by, and we spoke over phone....we discussed over food, blogging, photography and about family too. A day came when we had chance to meet too....:)

She never failed to motivate me right from the beginning and as a new blogger the extra push was much needed.

When she approached me for a guest post I coudnt wait to do it and she asked for any beverage recipe. I left the choice to her.....A week later she came back with the choice of musk melon juice and here is the post for you :)

She always appreciates my drinks/beverages pics and that put me an extra responsibility of doing justice to the click for her guest post too. Hope you liked it Lavi!

Musk Melon Juice Recipe - Ingredients

• Musk Melon - 1 
• Lime Juice - 1 tbsp
• Sugar - 2 to 3 tbsp
• Honey - 1 tsp(optional)

Method

1.First cut the fruit into 2 halves. Then scrap the center seed part and discard it. Then scoop out the flesh part.

2.Add sugar, honey and lemon juice and blend it to a smooth mixture. If you find it too thick add little water.

Refreshing summer special drink is ready in minutes. Just add few ice cubes while serving.

My Notes:

• Serve it immediately after making the juice.
• You can skip lemon juice and add just honey and sugar for making the juice.

Tags: musk melon juice, musk melan juice reicpe, cantaloupe juice recipe, cantaloupe recipes, kirini pazham juice recipe, kirini palam, kirni palam juice, summer drinks recipes, kirni palam recipes

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Masala Puri Chaat Recipe - Bangalore Style

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Chaats always have an extra space even when when my tummy is full. I have tasted masala puri in many places like SKS, A2B etc but the one I love is the street style so I searched for a similar recipe and am glad I found this.

Though the orginal recipe has the tag of bangalore style - I couldnt judge it as I havent tasted the ones at Bglre...And to me this was apt like the street ones which was what I wanted. First when I was cooking the gravy I felt like a overdose of the spices and was skeptical of how it would turn out. But once fully cooked and assembled it tasted awesome, hubby loved it and asked for a extra helping and yes mission accomplished :)

Masala Puri - Ingredients

Recipe Reference : Aayis Recipes

Makes 2 plates

• Puri - 10
• Sweet & Green Chutney - 1 tbsp each
• Dry green peas - 1/2 cup(Soak overnight and pressure cook it)
• Toor dal - 1/2 cup (Pressure cook till soft with a pinch of turmeric)
• Sev - 1/4 cup
• Grated carrot - 2 tbsp
• Chopped onion - 3 tbsp Finely
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp finely chopped
• Coconut - 1 tbsp
• Red chilli powder - 3/4 tsp
• Salt - to taste

Dry Spices :

• Cloves - 2
• Cinnamon - 1/2″
• Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Peppercorns - 1/8 tsp
• Nutmeg - very small piece
• Marathi moggu - 1/2

Note:

• I didnt have marathi moggu so used star anise instead though it is not the actual equivalent.
• Do not use fresh peas
• The above quantity is for making 2 plates.

Method:

1.Dry roast all the spices for 3mins till nice aroma comes. Grind it along with coconut and red chilli powder to a fine paste.

2.Pressure cook peas for 3 to 4 whistles or until soft, Pressure cook toor dhal for 4 whistles with immersing level of water , smash it up so that it is fine. Transfer toor dhal to a heavy bottomed container and heat it up.

3.Add coconut paste to it and allow it to boil for a good 5mins(add water if it is too thick). Add required salt. Then transfer the cooked peas and give a quick stir.

4.Simmer and allow it to boil and thicken to the desired consistency.The gravy should not be too thick or too thin. It should be semi liquid. Now in the serving plate take 5 -6 puris and crush them.

5.Add peas masala, then drizzle sweet and green chutney. Add onions, carrot and sev as topping. Finally garnish with coriander leaves.

Once assembled serve immediately when the gravy is still hot and the puris are crispy.

My Notes:

• Adding sweet and green chutney is purely optional but I recommend adding them for the extra flavour. I love sweet chutney in masala puris so go for extra helping :)
• The toppings can be adjusted as per your taste.
• Make sure to serve while the gravy is still hot to enjoy the taste.
• I used homemade puris, you can use store bought ones too.

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Oats Khichdi | Oats Breakfast Ideas

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I am always on the lookout for new recipes with oats to include it in our daily diet and the oats recipe series justifies it. I wanted to try oats upma since long but khichdi overtook though there is only a slight variation between the 2 according to the recipe I make. I will sure post a flaky version of oats upma soon.

Oats Khichdi - Ingredients

Serves 2

• Oats - 1 cup
• Onion - 1 medium sized finely chopped
• Tomato - 1 medium sized roughly chopped(optional - I didnt add)
• Peas - 1/4 cup
• Carrot - 1/4 cup
• Capsicum - 2 tbsp finely chopped (optional)
• Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
• Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves- 1/2 tbsp finely chopped
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp
• Water - 3/4 to 1 cup
• Salt - to taste
• Ghee - 1 tsp

To temper

• Oil - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
• Green Chilli - 1 slitted

Method:

1.Dry roast oats for 3mins, set aside. Pressure cook carrot and peas just for 1 whistle, set aside. In a pan, heat oil - add mustard seeds, urad dal allow it to splutter.

2.Then add ginger garlic paste,onion and green chilli - saute till onions turn slightly soft. If you are adding tomatoes then add it at this stage and saute till raw smell leaves. Then add cooked carrot, peas and capsicum. Saute for 2mins, then add required salt, garam masala and red chilli powder.

3.Add oats and water give a quick stir, keep covered for a minute. Once oats turns soft and blended well with the veggies, add chopped coriander leaves. Drizzle ghee and switch it off.

While serving add lemon juice and serve hot with sambar or any chutney of your choice.



My Notes:

• Adding veggies is purely your choice. I didnt add tomatoes as hubby doesnt like the chunky pieces. You can also add tomato puree instead.
• Serve it hot with sambar else noone can eat it as it will turn dry and will not taste good so serving immediately is recommended for oats khichdi.

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Baking Class Experience - Cakes, Cookies, Puffs, Burgers etc

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Thank you so much for the enormous support for the last post, I never expected that. Infact I was skeptical whether to post it or not as I thought it would be boring and now you guys have proved me wrong :)

After the great learning session, we came back the next day with the same excitement and thirst to learn more.But this time most faces were almost familiar so there were lots to catch up early morning. The 2nd day was cakes and cookies with puff making , cutlets, samosa and burgers.

We started the session with cake batter mixing - we had chance to see the machine mixing the batter too. The cakes baked were:

• Plum Cake
• Vanilla Sponge Cake
• Birthday Cake
• Tri color layered cake
• Apple and Swiss Roll Cake (I cudnt click these)

All the cake batters were prepared first then weighed accurately before it was put inside each pan. All of them tasted delicious and my fav was the tricolor loaf and the plum cake. We learnt even the basics of frosting and I enjoyed piping few designs too.


Next came the cookies...we baked ragi, salt and sweet(orange flavoured) cookies. They were crispy and crunchy apt like the ones we get in bakeries.

Cutlets were made with potato and other veggies as filling for the base then  dipped in the maida batter and then rolled in breadcrumbs, shaped neatly with the cutter. The same cutlets were used for the burgers as well. Folding samosas was not tough , we could fold it easily as you can see the ones we made below.

We baked the buns fresh again to use it for the burger. The buns were slitted half, butter-pepper mixtrure was applied on both sides. Once the cutlets were deep fried, they were neatly assembled on one side of the bun with raw onion and tomato as shown below.

Next came the puff making. It was a tedious task, the folding was little tricky - I was keen in watching so cudnt click the steps. But few of my friends had recorded a video of it, I'l definetly update here once I get it.

Can you see the flaky layered puffs, yum!! I couldnt click much the 2nd day as I was busy observing.

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Baking Class Experience - Yeasted Bakes

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Last week when hubby was browsing through the newspaper he saw an ad about a baking class which was to be held at Agri university. He showed me the ad and I was really not interested as I had so many behind thoughts going on...as how the class would be, will it be really useful. But he persuaded me to go with so many justifications so I agreed too :)

The class had a schedule of 9AM - 5PM for 2 days for which they collected 1000rs which includes a certification too. It was hands on training so each of us had chance to do almost everything ourselves like kneading the dough, preparing the batter, folding, cutting etc. Cant miss to mention the fun we had throughout the day.

When each of them had their own doubts and queries , my only plight and question before starting was " Can I click pictures?" haha :D The tutor herself was very friendly and we enjoyed the class thoroughlly...have to mention it was more of a practical session.

To me it was both baking and photography exercise :D Clicking amidst a crowd of 35 members in a place where the lighting was close to a cave - it wasnt easy at all but happy that I could manage atleast.

The first day of the class was fully yeasted bakes....Baking bread had always been my dream - and bread making was the first to be learnt in the class. Folding it, arranging in the bread loaf pan, waiting it to rise, finally baking and waiting to see the  golden color bread loaf...the wait was worth when we saw the mini bread loafs. Enjoyed every bit of the experience.

All the baked goodies were parcelled neatly at the end of the day and given to us. Can you see the cute mini bread loaf? They tasted soft and delicious too.

Next on our list was pizza. Making the dough looked to us like an art which the bakery master excelled. We tried to cope up with him as well and our pizzas were no less :) We had a chnace to knead the dough with hands so that we get to know the consistency as well as to do it the machine. 

Then it was left to rise by the time we finished our lunch and came back. The class happened  in  the bakery unit and it was totally hot inside, we were almost baked along with the buns and pizzas haha :)

Rolling the buns weren't easy and sure it will come only by practise. But still we had a good learning experience rolling the dough.

Then came the doughnut making which next to bread was the most awaited among everyone. The fluffy buns with the chocolate sauce  yummm!

The donuts were deep fried and we were amazed to see how they fluffed up. The class had no age restriction so had a a chance to meet so many people of varied likes and interests.

Next came the fun part of rolling the dinner rolls. There were n number of shapes and knots thought, dono how far I will remember all those. They used egg wash for most of the bun varieties and when my friends asked for veg alternate they said to brush it with milk though it is not much recommended.

There were even more small yeasted baked goodies which I cudnt click. The day ended up with my favourite coconut buns. As soon as I reached home the first goodie I tasted were these buns, they were very soft and the coconut filling was delicious that I cudnt stop myself with one.


At the end of the day we were all tired as standing the whole day inside the bakery unit wasnt that easy. But all our tiredness were wiped off seeing the parcelled baked goodies. 

We waved a quick bye and got ready to leave home. With the same excitement, returned back the next day for the cakes and cookies session. Stay tuned for the next post :)

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How to make puri for chaat(Chaat Puri)

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I tried making puris when I made pani puri which was a different recipe. Last weekend when I planned to make chats I took the recipe from vahchef and tried it and enjoyed dahi puri and masala puri(recipe coming soon).

Puri for Chaats - Ingredients

Recipe Source : Vah Chef

• Rawa(semolina/sooji)- 1/2 cup
• Maida(all purpose flour ) - 1/2 tbsp
• Urad Dhal Flour - a pinch
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Warm water or Club soda water - As needed
• Salt - to taste

Method:

1.Add rava, maida in a wide bowl, add water little by little, knead it for 10mins to form a smooth dough. Add oil finally and knead it for a minute. The dough should be smooth so be careful while adding water.Keep aside for atleast 15mins.

2.Roll the dough very very thin and cut small rounds with a lid or container rim.Heat oil, carefully add the rolled puris , fluff it up(as we do for normal puris) and fry them to golden brown till crisp. Drain in tissue paper and then store in airtight container

You can store the puris for about 10 days. Here are the chaats which uses these mini puris

• Dahi Puri
• Pani Puri

My Notes:

• Make sure to knead the dough well and roll it very thin. The puris will become chewy and will not raise up if the rolled puris are thick.
• Rolling was a bit tough but somehow I tried to roll thin and the puris were nice cripsy like the store bought ones.
• Make sure the oil is heated up.  Fry till golden brown until crispy. 
• Adding soda makes the kneading and rolling easier....But if you dont have, then proceed with warm water itself. I didnt use it this time.

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Nutella Milkshake Recipe(with cornflakes)

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Nutella is my fav, mittu loves it too. After making the nutella truffles, I had few leftover and I wanted to use it for a milkshake and the result was this nutella cornflakes shake - Thick, Creamy and yummy totally my kind of shake!

Nutella Milkshake - Ingredients
Serves 1

• Chilled Milk - 1 cup
• Nutella - 1 tbsp
• Corn / wheat flakes - 1 tbsp
• Coco powder - 1 tsp (optional)
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp (if desired, I didn't use)
• Chocolate Shavings / Vermicelli - 1 tsp (optional, just for garnish)

Method:

Add milk, nutella , cornflakes, coco powder, sugar (if you are using) in a mixer and blend until smooth and frothy. 

Transfer to serving glass and serve immediately. Garnish with chocolate shavings or vermicelli as I've did.

My Notes:

• You can either add cornflakes or wheatflakes. I used Kellogs wheat flakes.You can also add any fruits of your choice either apple or banana with it.
• You can skip sugar and add little more nutella say 2 tbsp in total.Adding coco powder is just for more chocolatey flavour, but thats purely optional.
• This is very much kid friendly as it has nutella.

Tags: nutella milkshake, nutella milkshake recipe, nutella banana milkshake, milkshake recipes, nutella recipes, kids nutella recipes, kids milkshake recipes, nutella milkshake recipe without ice cream, easy nutella milkshake, easy nutella milkshake recipe

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