Coconut / Thengai Burfi

Hope many of us would have seen and tasted this coconut/thengai burfi from small/peti shops during their childhood.These burfi's remain stored in a huge glass bottle covered with a steel type of lid.I could recollect these kinda stuff ,thengai burfi ,thean mittai,javu mittai,those are memorable collections.Even still i could see these stuff's in small scale shops ,which makes me feel excited. Eventhough lots of changes happened around us ,these little stuff's remain same,which keeps me happy from a corner of my heart.I would like to share  one more thing,each time when i visit my grandma's place during my summer holidays ,its my periamma who gets this burfi esp for me from a old grandma who makes and sells it.That taste still scrolls in my mind.All those childhood events comes back when  start composing this post. I think am boring my beloved readers ...sorry ,am back to the post.

This burfi is again a simple and yummy one,once made this can be stored for a period of 10-14days and consumed,if properly handled.It means store them in an airtight container,and each time opening the bottle pick the burfi's with a clean dry hand.By this way it stays even longer.The main thing is grate the coconut using the coconut scrapper,do not put in your mixer for  getting the gratings,it will not give you the actual taste.The recipe is as follows.

Ingredients

Coconut (grated)  - 1 Cup
Sugar - 1 Cup
Elaichi - 1 to 2 
Ghee - 2 tsp 

Method

• Grease a wide plate with the ghee and keep aside.In a pan add the grated coconut and sugar .Switch on the flame and starting stirring.

• In some time the sugar would melt and starts combining with the coconut.Keep on mixing with the ladle.Add elaichi powder.Bubbles start to come and later it will settle down after that the burfi starts to form a thick mass ,it will start leaving the pan,i.e the burfi comes unsticking to the pan.Atlast add the ghee for flavor.

• It is the right time to transfer the burfi to the greased plate.Group them evenly with same thickness allover the plate and allow to cool.

• Once the burfi is half cooled using a knife greased with ghee,run through the burfi and mark slices .And when completely cool take the slices and store in an airtight container.

Tip

• When the burfi starts unsticking to the pan transfer to the greased plate for cooing,Do not over cook ,it would turn harder.
• No need to add water, and the ratio is 1:1 for sugar and coconut,you can double or triple the quantities.
• Use only coconut gratings got from a scrapper.If you use mixer for getting the gratings you will loose the moisture in the coconut and the burfi would take a little longer time to reach the unsticky consistency.

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Fish Fingers

Dear readers for those who are fond of Fish fingers,here is my recipe.Fish Fingers ,are always prioritized for kids as it is less spicy ,boneless and crispy .It occupies in most of the restaurant menu.While it's simple to make at home,although lots of frozen sections have this well packed and soled.Its a wiser choice to make it at home which satisfies our heart as well as our pocket.Here comes this wonderful snack, as well as a starter.

This crispy fries are loved by all.Preparing these fish fingers are absolutely simple And once the preparation is over you can store it in refrigerator for a couple of days,some may store under refrigeration for atleast a week,but generally i don't prefer storing it for a long period.Use it as soon as possible,esp with the non-veg items.The fish fillets i have used here is basa ,which is said to be a fresh water fish.Get them cut as 3'-4' inch sticks.

Ingredients

Basa Fish Fillets - 600 gm 
Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 Tbsp

Egg(whites)- 3 No's
Chilli Powder - 1.5 Tbsp (according to the spice increase or decrease)
Maida - 3 Tbsp
Black Pepper - 2 Tbsp (crushed/powdered)
Bread Crumbs - 1.5 Cup
Salt - as needed

Method

• Wash the fish fingers and marinate in ginger garlic paste along with salt for 10 minutes.In a bowl get the egg whites separated .With the help of a mixer just beat it under pulse mode 4 to 5 times.And transfer the beaten egg whites to a bowl.Add required amount of salt ,chilli powder,pepper,maida and wisely mix with a spoon.

• The batter should be thick and of flowing consistency.Add the spice batter to the marinated fish and mix well to ensure all the fillets are coated with the batter..Allow it to marinate for about to 20 to 40 minutes ,you can transfer the marination to the refrigerator.

• Remove the marination from refrigerator.In a wide plate spread the bread crumbs and take single fish finger and coat it with bread crumbs and keep it a plate or box.

• Repeat it for all the fish fingers.Once done it is ready to be fried.Or you could transfer the box closed with a lid, in the freezer section of your refrigerator and when needed you can immediately fry .

• No need to thaw them before frying.

• Serve with tomato sauce/ketchup.

Tip

• While frying do not keep the flame in high ,just try to keep the flame in low-medium one for the even colored and well cooked fish fingers.
• While coating with breadcrumbs try to give a press with your fingers to the pieces so that the breadcrumbs would tightly catch the batter,this will help the breadcrumbs not coming out while frying.
• Chilli powder can be increased o decreased according to your taste buds.Can also you kashmiri chilli powder.
• Mine was two full fillets which weighed 600 gms approx,if you are using lesser quantity of fish reduce the ingredients accordingly.
• Instead of breadcrumbs coating i tried crushed oats and cornflakes coating which also turned out to be so crispy but little bit harder than the breadcrumb ones.I missed to click those pieces.If you wish you could give it a try for few pieces.

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Carrot Walnut Cake - A Perfect Tea Cake

This is been in my mind for a long time,but somehow posting this cake recipe was delayed due to some reasons.Finally i committed myself today ,to not skip it at any cost.This cake can be categorized under tea cakes,but not only under that category.You can also use this cake as specialized cakes for your party needs ,just do a simple butter-cream icing or do a rich cream cheese frosting and delight your loved ones.Instead of the regular sponge cake base try this one ,i promise you will fall in love with it.

This carrot cake is a simple, yet a rich cake too,Does it sounds to be contradictory.....Oh!!! No confusions ,i meant simple in the sense,there is no need to do extra works like ,crushing for the orange/pineapple juice.And rich in the sense ,the addition of nuts and grated carrots,which is the best way to be served for kids who discard veggies and nuts.

This best cake recipe comes down...

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour - 1.5 Cup
Eggs - 3
Castor/Powdered Sugar - 1 1/4 C
Carrots (grated) - 1 3/4 Cup
Cardamom - 3 to 4 pods
Cinnamon - 2 "sticks (2 no's)
Refined Oil - 3/4 Cup
Baking Powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Chopped nuts - 1/2 Cups (I used walnuts)
Water/Milk - 2 Tbsp (Optional) 

Method

• Measure the sugar and reserve a Tbsp of it and powder the remaining using the mixer,keep aside.Now take the reserved 1Tbsp of sugar along with cardamom and cinnamon stick, powder it finely using the mixer.Mix it to the powdered sugar.The sift flour along with the baking powder and keep aside.Chop the nuts of your choice,I have used Walnuts .You can also add mixed combination of nuts like cashews,raisins,almonds and walnuts.Preheat oven to 200° C.Grease the tray and keep aside.

• Now in a wide bowl add the eggs and beat them in high speed until it is light and frothy.It might take atleast 2-3 minutes.Then add the powdered sugar along with the spices(Cardamom and cinnamon powder).Beat them for another 2 minutes and add the refined oil and once again beat them for a minute.

 

 

 

• Keep aside the beater/hand mixer,now with the help of a wooden spatula,add the all purpose flour in a 3-4 batches and fold them with the spatula without forming lumps.

 

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  Before the last addition add half the quantity of grated carrots and fold well again.This is done because during each addition of flour the batter gets thick and it will tend to form a dough like appearance,if you add the grated carrots after that it will be difficult to mix so to avoid that,we add the carrots before the last addition of the flour batch.Finally add the chopped nuts and fold to ensure the nuts are mixed evenly throughout the batter.Now check to the batter consistency,If the batter looks like a pouring or a dropping consistency you can proceed to the next step,Else add 2 Tbsp of water/milk and fold again.This should be done only if the batter looks too thick .
   
   
  

• Transfer the batter to the greased tray and bake under 180° C  for 40 -50 minutes,or until it is done.Insert a tooth pick to the center of the cake ,if it comes out clean remove the cake tin from the oven and allow it cool for a couple of minutes and demould from the cake tray and allow it to cool on a wire rack and serve .

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