Butternut Squash Curry

Butternut Squash!! The only way I cook them is with dal(parippu-mathanga curry). With its sweet and pleasantly nutty taste, this pretty looking winter squash is very much similar to the pumpkin we get back in kerala. I found a recipe similar to this butternut squash curry on the net, but made lots of changes to suit to our taste.

You will need:

Oil – 2tbsp + 1tsp

Onion, finely chopped – 1, small

Garlic – 3 cloves

Ginger – 1 small pieces

Green chillies – 1 or 2

(Make a paste of (or finely mince) garlic, ginger, and green chillies)

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Cumin powder – 1/8 tsp(optional)

Butternut Squash– 1 small(Peel, remove the seeds, and cut into small cubes)

Thick coconut milk – ½ cup

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Curry leaves – a few

Heat up 2 tbsp oil in a wok or in a frying pan.

Add onion and cook until translucent. Add garlic, ginger, and green chillies, and cook until the raw smell disappears.

Add turmeric powder and cumin powder.

Add butternut squash, and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add coconut milk and bring it to a boil. Add salt.

Reduce the heat, and cook until the sauce is thick and the squash pieces are soft.

If you prefer, you may add a tsp of lemon juice, or a couple of spoons of yogurt to the curry at this stage.

Heat up 1 tsp oil. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add it to the curry. Serve with rice as a side dish.

Gooseberry Chutney/Nellikka Chammanthi

Gooseberries in brine/Nellikka uppilittathu

Gooseberries are yet another munchies that evoke memories of childhood and school days. Any idea why? These little berries used to be our 10 o’clock snack! Depending on their availability at home, we bring baby mangoes, green/ripe tamarind, bimbool, fresh nutmeg, gooseberries etc.. most probably smuggled from home. During the morning recess, we take our precious snacks outside, share out, and enjoy with salt. Since I had a few mango trees at home, I always took baby mangoes whenever it was available. Of course, without the knowledge of parents most of the times. Because they wanted the baby mangoes on the tree to grow up and mature. Gooseberries were rare because none of us had a gooseberry tree at home, so we had to wait for our parents to buy it during the season. I don’t like eating raw gooseberries, but I like them in brine, or made into a chammanthi or pickle.

Fresh gooseberries are seldom available in our local Indian grocery store; however they always have a stock of frozen gooseberries.

This is how I make uppilitta nellikka:

For about 25 gooseberries:

Boil water in a saucepan, large enough to contain all the gooseberries. When it comes to a rolling boil, add the gooseberries and bring it back to boil. Cook for a couple of minutes until they are slightly soft. Remove the gooseberries using a slotted spoon. Let it cool. Let the water cool too.

Transfer the gooseberries to a clean glass jar or china jar. Add salt and water, the same water you used for boiling gooseberries. Cover the jar and keep it for at least a week before you dig into it. This stays at room temperature, but just to make sure it stays safe, I transfer it to the refrigerator after a week.

You can keep the gooseberries in brine/uppilitta nellikka for a long time, and use it for making chammanthi and pickles.

Nellikka Chammanthi

I am tired of saying chammanthi is not chutney and chutney is not chammanthi. So this time Inji is doing the job for me. I will pay her later. :)

To make nellikka chammanthi, you may use fresh gooseberries or gooseberries in brine.

Gooseberries, fresh or brined – 4

Remove the seeds, and cut into small pieces.

Shallots, or small red onions – 3, peeled

Green chillies – 2

Salt – to taste

Grind all the above in a food processor without adding water. Add ½ a cup of fresh coconut and grind again until all the ingredients are mixed together to a coarse consistency. I use the small, one cup capacity food processor attachment that came with my blender to make chammanthi without water.

Heat 1 tsp of oil, splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves, and add it to the chammanthi. Serve with rice. Pleasingly delicious!!!

You can substitute gooseberries with green mangoes to make mango chammanthi.

Avil Payasam/Pounded Rice Pudding

“In this quick and easy version of rice pudding, long-grain rice is substituted with avil(pounded rice), which takes very little time to cook.” Says Ms.Ammini Ramachandran. This is one recipe I tried out from her cookbook recently.

I halved the ingredients given in the original recipe. This is how I made it:

Rinse ½ a cup of avil/pounded rice, and drain.

Bring ¼ gallon of whole milk to a rolling boil in a heavy saucepan. I used 2% milk.

Reduce the heat, and add avil.

When it boils again, add 1 cup (more or less to your taste) of sugar.

Stir, and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Stir periodically to prevent the payasam sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Add ½ cup of cream, and simmer for another 15 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a skillet, and fry cashews and raisins until golden brown. Add it to the payasam.

Sprinkle ½ tsp of cardamom powder.

Serve warm or cold.

Ammini's Paal Payasam @ Indian Food Rocks.

Nanaimo Bars

Nanaimo bar is a no-bake, layered dessert, which got its name from the city of Nanaimo, British Columbia.

“According to historical legend, a group of friends in Nanaimo, who would later found the Harewood Ladies' Auxiliary, found the recipe in the Vancouver Sun under the name "chocolate fridge cake," and popularized it under the name Nanaimo bar. However, a search through the newspaper's archives failed to turn up the recipe, so its ultimate origin is unknown. It made its way throughout the province's communities by way of household cookery recipes shared by housewives in the 1950s, particularly via company towns. The Nanaimo bar was a well-known confection well before the establishment of the popular coffeehouses.” Says Wiki about the origin of Nanaimo Bars. I am not quite sure if this is the true origin since I saw a few more sweet stories about it as well.

It is also said that “In 1985, Mayor Graeme Roberts started a contest to find the ultimate Nanaimo bar recipe. The winning recipe, submitted by local resident Elsha Kowbel, was unanimously declared to be the official recipe and is available as a handout from the City.”

I think this is the first time I am seeing a dish with an official recipe! I mostly followed the recipe published in the City of Nanaimo website, except that I reduced the quantity of the coconut, and cheated on the top layer. I will tell you about that shortly.

Here is the recipe as it appears in the official website of the city of Nanaimo:

Bottom Layer

½ cup unsalted butter (European style cultured)

¼ cup sugar

5 tbsp. cocoa
1 egg beaten

1 ¼ cups graham wafer crumbs

½ c. finely chopped almonds

1 cup coconut

Melt first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan.

I used only ½ a cup of coconut. I don’t know what is European style cultured butter! So I just used the butter I had. I used a food processor to chop the almonds, then added the graham crackers and processed it again until it is all crumbled well. Make sure you cook the egg properly. With all those coconut, chocolate, and ground almonds, this layer alone would make a yummy treat.

Second Layer

½ cup unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. and 2 Tsp. cream

2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder

2 cups icing sugar

Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer.

I use Bird’s custard powder(always!). Some recipes suggest adding mint flavoring to this layer.

Third Layer

4 squares semi-sweet chocolate (1 oz. each)

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Melt chocolate and butter overlow heat. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in refrigerator.

Since I ran out of semi-sweet chocolate, I had to look for alternatives for this layer. While browsing through my pantry, I stumbled upon this little chocolate colored bottle that my daughter picked up during a grocery shopping long time ago. The bottle said “Smuckers Magic Shell Topping made with real chocolate”. I thought it would be perfect for the top layer of my Nanaimo bars. It took only less than a minute to open the bottle of magic shell and pour over the second layer. I am glad it turned out perfect.

Cut into small squares and serve cold. This recipe makes about 24 small squares, and is perfect for a potluck.

So, chocolate lovers, please try it out. This Canadian favorite is extremely easy to make, and it will soon become your favorite too.