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Bottle Gourd Pudding/ Lauki Kheer/ Gardudde Paays

Bottle Gourd Pudding/ Lauki Kheer/ Gardudde Paays

    The weather here in our part of the woods has taken a major turn. From scorching heat 2-3 weeks ago, we are now experiencing rains through out the day. The weather has cooled down quite a bit now and the plants in our 

Aam Ras Recipe/ Rasayaana

Aam Ras Recipe/ Rasayaana

Labor Day came and went by and it is almost time to say good bye to summer. Even though technically the there are few more weeks, it is viewed as the official end of summer. Along with it, we say adieu to the King of 

Ganesh Chaturthi Wishes

Ganesh Chaturthi Wishes

Ganesh

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Ganesh Chaturthi Wishes to you all.

AvareKaalu Koddel (Hyacinth Beans Coconut Curry)

AvareKaalu Koddel (Hyacinth Beans Coconut Curry)

  Avarekalu is the name for Hyacinth Beans in Kannada. This is also known as the Val Bean, Wild Field Bean and Indian bean. Avarekai is available in Indian stores under the name ‘Surti Papdi Lilva’, usually in the frozen section.   These beans have 

Watermelon Limeade Cooler

Watermelon Limeade Cooler

What is summer without some sweet, juicy watermelon? Also what is summer without some sweet and tangy limeade? Now how about combing the juice from watermelon and limeade and making a refreshing summer drink? This drink is just that and is a great way to 

Mango Jam Recipe

Mango Jam Recipe

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My morning starts off with 2 pieces of wheat bread toast, spread with some fruit jam on it (usually strawberry) along with a cup of tea. I eat this at work, so it keeps me full for about 2 hours and manages to get me until lunch.

 

Late Sunday afternoon I realized that we were out of jam and we had already finished the grocery for that week. I did not feel like going to the grocery again and decided on the next best thing which was to prepare it myself! I did not have strawberries at home, but did have some mangoes and so decided to make jam from it. The great advantage of making it at home, is we control the amount of sugar and there is no addition of preservatives or pectin.

 

This was the first time that I tried my hand at making Mango Jam, but based on experience of making preserves I knew that the preparation was going to be easy. After the fruit pulp is extracted and set on a pot it does not require constant stirring or monitoring and is very forgiving.  More sugar can be added any time during the process to enhance sweetness etc. It is one of those few recipes where in you could go wrong with.

 

At first I did not add the lemon juice as I was not sure if adding tartness to this was a good idea. But then half way through I was checking for taste and realized that it had something missing. So then I added the lemon juice and the taste was complete. So please do not skip on the lemon juice.  Once prepared the taste, color and texture are worth dying for. J

 

Please note that this recipe of Mango Jam is more of a guideline so use it and change it as per individual requirements. I say that because the size of the mangoes, the sweetness or tartness, the juice content can vary.  I used 2 mangoes that were juicy and sweet.

 

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MethKoot / Menthe Hittu/ Spiced Lentil Powder

MethKoot / Menthe Hittu/ Spiced Lentil Powder

  The Spiced Lentil powder called as MethKoot/Methi Coot (Marathi/Konkani), Menthe Hittu (Kannada) is basically roasted Lentil, spiced with roasted cumin seeds, fenugreek, ginger, pepper etc and ground to fine powder. Methi or Menthe refers to Fenugreek seeds. Just by itself this is a spicy dry