STRAWBERRY MOUSSE / White Chocolate & Strawberry Mousse

Happy X'mas Fellow Bloggers :)

Ingredients for Strawberry Mousse:

Strawberry : 10, chopped

Sugar : 1/4Cup

White Chocolate : 100g, roughly chopped

Fresh Cream : 150ml

Lemon Juice : 1/2tsp

Method for Strawberry Mousse:

1. Combine sugar and strawberries in a sauce pan and cook in low flame for 3minutes. Stir continuously and then turn off the flame and keep aside to cool.

2. Now make the white chocolate ganache. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized heatproof bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. When it starts to a boil, turn off the flame and immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and stir gently. (I microwaved chocolate for 30seconds and then added cream in the same bowl and microwaved for another 30seconds)

3. Add the cooked strawberries and lemon juice to the ganache at this stage . Combine well and pour immediately into pudding dish / individual glasses / moulds. Let it cool and transfer to the lower rack in refrigerator (Minimum 2hrs). Cover the pudding dish to prevent drying. 

4. Top the Strawberry mousse with chopped strawberry / White chocolate shavings / whipped cream.

Note:

1. Strawberry mousse is the best mousse for a beginners to understand how to use ganache in puddings. 

2. Use metal or glass moulds rather than plastic for strawberry mousse.

3. If you are using individual serving glass to set the Strawberry mousse, cover it with cling film to prevent drying.

4. Refrigerate for maximum 5days.
5. I decorated the strawberry mousse using strawberry jelly.

MALABAR MUTTON BIRIYANI - Mutton Biriyani in Kerala Style

All time favorite of all non vegetarians, biriyani is a highly seasoned rice cooked with chicken / Fish / Mutton / Beef, Egg or vegetables. My husband's favorite is this mild spicy Mutton Biriyani.

Ingredients :

For the Rice :

Rice : 2Cups

Bay leaf : 2

Black Pepper corns : 3

Cloves : 4

Cinnamon : 1inch piece

Onion : 1/2

Fennel :1/4tsp

Coriander leaves : 1/4Cup, Chopped

Ghee : 1tsp

Salt

For the mutton masala :

Mutton : 1/2kg

Onion : 2,thinely sliced

Tomato : 3,small, finely chopped

Ginger : 1inch piece

Green Chilli : 5

Garlic : 10

Coriander leaves : 1/2Cup, chopped

Coriander powder : 1tsp

Turmeric Powder : 1/4tsp

Garam Masala : 1/4tsp

Curd : 1/4Cup

Lemon : juice from 1/2 of a lemon

Curry Leaves : 2springs

Ghee / Coconut Oil : 2tsp

Salt

Method :

1. Wash and drain mutton thoroughly and keep in colander itself.

2. Heat oil / ghee in a pressure cooker and saute onion till its translucent. The more you saute onion, the taste will enhance. Now add the tomato and mix well. Turn into slow-medium flame and cover with a lid. 

3.  Using a mixer, crush together garlic, ginger, green chilli, coriander leaves and curry leaves.  Add this to the onion-tomato mixture and saute till you get a dark brown thick masala.

4. Now add turmeric powder,salt, mutton and garam masala. Saute for 3-4minutes and then cover the cooker with its lid and keep in low-medium flame for 4 whistles.(Now you can start making rice and continue cooking mutton when pressure releases from the cooker)

5. When Pressure releases, turn on the flame and cook in medium-high flame till you get a thick masala. Meanwhile combine curd and lemon juice in a bowl. Turn off the flame and add this mixture immediately to the mutton masala.

Preparation for the Kerala Mutton Biriyani rice / Ghee Rice :

6. Clean, wash and drain the basmati Rice. Now heat ghee in a thick bottom vessel and add all spices listed under the ingredients for rice. After 1 minute, add 1/2 of an onion and saute till it becomes translucent. Now add 3 glasses of water let it boil. Add salt and drained rice and cover &cook in slow flame.(Make sure you are not opening the lid more than 2 times in the entire cooking of rice)When its almost done add the chopped coriander leaves and press the top side of the rice with backside of spatula for keeping the steam inside the vessel itself. Turn off the gas when rice is soft and not sticking to each other.

7. For layering add the mutton masala first and then add a layer of rice along with some ghee and lemon juice. Cover with a tight lid and cook for 8minutes. For better results you can make this layering in a oven proof vessel and bake for 15minutes. 

8. Serve hot with raitha, green chutney / biriyani chammanthi, pappad and pickle.
[Recipe Sourse : My Brother Appu]

DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

Ingredients :

For the cake

Hershey's cocoa powder : 50g, sifted

Unsalted Butter : 125g(soft), and 1tsp for greasing

Dark muscovado sugar : 100g

Water : 250ml, (boiling water)

Caster sugar : 150g

Plain flour : 225g, sifted

Baking powder : 1/2tsp

Bicarbonate of soda : 1/2tsp

Vanilla extract : 2tsp

Eggs : 2, at room temperature

For the frosting

Water : 125ml

Dark muscovado sugar : 30g

Unsalted butter : 175g, soft and cubed

Dark chocolate : 300g, finely chopped

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Line the bottoms of two sandwich tins with baking parchment and butter the sides.

2. Put the cocoa and 100g dark muscovado sugar into a bowl with a bit of space to spare, and pour in the boiling water. Whisk to mix, then set aside.

3. Cream the butter and caster sugar together, beating well until pale and fluffy.While this is going on – or as soon as you stop if you’re mixing by hand – stir the flour, baking powder and bicarb together in another bowl, and set aside for a moment.

4. Dribble the vanilla extract into the creamed butter and sugar – mixing all the while – then drop in 1 egg, quickly followed by a scoopful of flour mixture, then the second egg. Keep mixing and incorporate the rest of the dried ingredients for the cake, then finally mix and fold in the cocoa mixture, scraping its bowl well with a spatula.

5. Divide this fabulously chocolatey batter between the 2 prepared tins and put in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Take the tins out and leave them on a wire rack for 5–10 minutes, before turning the cakes out to cool.But as soon as the cakes are in the oven, get started on your frosting.

Frosting :

1. Put the water, 30g muscovado sugar and 175g butter in a pan over a low heat to melt. When this mixture begins to bubble, take the pan off the heat and add the chopped chocolate, swirling the pan so that all the chocolate is hit with heat, then leave for a minute to melt before whisking till smooth and glossy.

2. Leave for about 1 hour, whisking now and again – when you’re passing the pan – by which time the cakes will be cooled, and ready for the frosting. Set one of the cooled cakes, with its top side down, on a cake stand or plate, and spread with about a third of the frosting, then top that with the second cake, regular way up, and spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides, swirling away with your spatula. You can go for a smooth look, but I never do and probably couldn’t.

[Recipe courtesy : http://www.nigella.com]

THAI GREEN CHICKEN CURRY

Thai Green Curry

How to make Thai green curry with Tofu / Chicken / Shrimp at home
Cooking Time : 25min
Serves : 3 
Ingredients :

Tofu / Chicken / Prawns : 200g
Jalapenos : 2, sliced
Onion : 1/2
Zucchini : 1/2
Carrot : 1
Mushrooms : 5, halved
Blanched  / Steamed Broccoli : 4florets (Do not add broccoli before steaming  / blanching it as broccoli can dominate its flavor)
Thai green Curry Paste : 1tbsp
Coconut Milk : 1/2 Can
Boiling Water : 1Cup
Ginger : 1/2 inch, Julienne 
Garlic : 2, Julienne
Basil leaves : 5, finely chopped
Coriander Leaves : handful, finely chopped
Fish Sauce : 1tsp (optional, i didn use)
Kaffir Lime Leaves : 2, or Lemon zest of 2 lemons
Lemon grass : 2stalks (if you are not using Lemon grass, add Lemon juice from half of a lemon after making the curry and boil for a minute)
Brown sugar : 1/2tbsp
Salt
Olive oil

Thai Green Curry

Directions :

1. Heat oil in kadai and saute Thai green curry paste for 2minutes. Now add kaffir lime leaves, jalapenos, onion, garlic, ginger and lemon grass. 

2. If you are using chicken  / shrimp, add at this stage and add the coconut milk along with boiling water. When chicken / Shrimp is cooked add the vegetables (If you are using Tofu, add now) and cook for few minutes(3-5minutes, they should be tender-crisp). 

4. Stir in coriander leaves, salt, sugar and basil leaves. Add sauce and adjust the salt if needed. Serve Thai green curry hot with Thai Jasmin rice / Thai sticky rice / cooked basmati rice / Brown rice.

 Notes :

Yo can add 3tbsp of pineapple chunks to give natural sweetness to this dish.

Thai Green Curry