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Showing posts with label Exotic desserts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exotic desserts. Show all posts

Saturday, December 31, 2016

Black Rice Sushi ( Welcome 2017 )

A fresh new year. New hopes. And new beginnings. Without any doubt, it is that day of the year when we are at out optimistic best. The more superstitious among us would like to put the events unfolding on this very day as the harbinger for the rest of the year. But it is important to believe that while cosmic events do influence our life, we too are an integral part of the universe. And the vibes (both positive/negative) given out by us are ultimately adding to the energies that surround us.

Apart from the 'positive thinking', 'eating healthy' happens to be one of my top resolutions for 2017. While it is true that I did not actually wait for the year to commence to get on with my resolutions, I plan to stick to it with greater diligence this year. It includes cutting down on meat and fish to introducing more of superfoods like broccoli, black rice, quinoa, chia seeds in my everyday diet. Plus there will be greater focus on native superfoods like amaranth, spinach, gooseberry, turmeric, alsi (flaxseeds) and subza(basil) .

Starting the year on a healthy note, the first post of 2017 is a super healthy 'Black Rice Sushi' with a filling of tofu, avocado, carrot and cucumber. This is one recipe that can easily be made a part of one's lunchbox. I am skipping the Nori sheets as I want to keep it completely vegan. Read on for the recipe -

















Preparation Time - 35 mins

Ingredients -
  • 1 cup sticky Black rice
  • 1 small carrot (cut into long pieces)
  • 1 small cucumber (cut into long pieces)
  • Tofu (cut into long pieces)
  • avocado (cut into long pieces)
For the Sushi rice vinegar or 'Tezu' -
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar ( use rice vinegar if you have it )
  • a drops of soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp water
  • 1/2 tsp honey
  • salt taste

Preparation  - Soak the black rice overnight.

Steam the carrot pieces till tender.

Mix the ingredients for the 'Tezu' in a cup.

Cook the black rice till it is slightly mushy. Add the tezu and mix it in. Allow to stand till it cools down and is just bearable to touch.

Take a aluminium foil and spread some of the black rice in a rectangle shape keeping about 1 1/2 - 2 inch space from the margins.

Place the tofu and the vegetable slices in the center of the rectangle. Lightly moisten the edges of the rice.

Gently grabbing the foil from the sides and using your fingers, roll it over keeping the vegetables in the center. Roll over a few times .

Remove the aluminium foil

Take a very sharp knife, moisten it and cut the sushi into 1 1/2 inch sized pieces.

[ Do check the video at the bottom of this post to learn the tricks of making a Sushi. ]

Serve it with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.






How to roll a sushi without using a Nori sheet -






Friday, December 30, 2016

Thai Black Rice and Coconut Pudding ( Vegan Recipe )

Black rice. There is something magical about this ingredient that goes beyond it's qualities. Yes, it is highly Instagram-worthy. And cooked the right way, it can induce nothing less than a a food-orgasm. Plus it is one of the most versatile ingredients that I have worked with. Very filling and a little quantity goes a long way. Given a chance I could go on and on about my sentiments for this wonder ingredient but for now, I can just about summarize it as a mixture of love bordering on obsession.

Back to this 'Sticky Black rice and Coconut Pudding' recipe, I fell in love with the very sound of it. Caught it for the first time while surfing on television and looked up the recipe on the web. But since I had no access to black rice at that point of time, it was relegated to some corner of my memory. Only recently did it pop up once again when I was collating all the black rice dishes that I have worked on in the last few months. I realized that I had missed out on the very first dish which had triggered my interest in this wonderfully exotic ingredient.

A native Thai recipe made with the short grained glutinous black rice, I have not made any major changes to it . Except for substituting the Thai rice with another short grained variety cultivated in India. Original recipe is taken from - thekitchn.com . Don't mistake it for the Kavuni Arisi Payasam (from Chettinad) or the Amubi (from North East India ) .

Read on -

















Preparation Time - 1 hour

Ingredients -
  • 1 cup black rice 
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 cup thin coconut milk
  • 4 heaped teaspoons brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • thin coconut slices for garnishing

Preparation - Wash and soak the black rice in 3 cups of water. Let it stand overnight.

Cooking - Transfer the soaked rice along with the soaking water and the thin coconut milk to a thick-bottomed saucepan, Bring to a boil on low heat.

Once the rice is about 3/4th done, add the brown sugar and salt. Let it simmer till all the liquid dries up. (The last 3-4 mins are crucial and one has to be careful not to burn the pudding.)

Around the same time, dry roast the coconut slices on a iron skillet. Take care to keep the heat low else they tend to burn. Once they are light brown , remove from the flame and keep aside.

Garnish with the roasted coconut slices. Serve warm.





























Thursday, October 13, 2016

5 Fabulous 'Green' Desserts to Try This Diwali !!

Diwali is just a fortnight away and the preparations are in full swing. I am totally occupied with house cleaning, buying new furnishings, new clothes, putting the fairy lights in place and finally getting the ingredients for those delicious desserts that are the mainstay of this festival. For what is Diwali if not another grand excuse to indulge one's sweet tooth !!
















But all Diwali sweets need not be calorie bombs ! Here are some fabulous green desserts that will have everyone asking for more even as the neighbors turn green with envy -

1. Green Papaya Laddoo -



















Made from raw papaya and sweetened with Sugarfree, his amazing dessert won me the third position on Sanjeev Kapoor's Sugerfree Dessert Finale. So, it won't be wrong to say 'is dish me dum hai' !!

2. Creamy Spinach Granita -


















Popeye's energy potion is loaded with antioxidants and other nutrients ! No wonder this superfood is on every health freak's kitchen counter. Though people swear by their Palak paneer or palak chicken, it makes for an equally mean granita !! Use brown sugar or demerara sugar instead of white sugar to add flavour to this fabulous dish .


3. Kiwi and Black Rice Pudding -
























The exotic flavour of black rice combines with the tang of green kiwis to present a dessert that is visually striking !! However you need to taste it to experience the mind blowing flavours !


4. Paan and Gulkand Kheer -




















Paan and Gulkand makes for the most unforgettable flavour combination ! Give it another twist by substituting the sugar with Demerara sugar !!


5. Vegan Mango Mousse -


















With canned mangoes available around the year, you can try serving this yummy and healthy dessert to your guests ! One can also substitute mango with cocoa powder for creating another flavour .

Featured Post

Green Papaya Laddoos (SugarFree recipe)

Mom is undoubtedly the dessert specialist at home. God forbid, if she takes to blogging, she could give a lot of folks a run for their mone...