Easy Home made Strawberry Jam - No Pectin required

As you all know we went for strawberry picking and came back with loads of fresh strawberries. I wanted to try something different which I haven't tried before. I wanted to try making jam almost for a long time now and was postponing it thinking it is a tedious task and only people with good jam making experience can get it right. But I was wrong. I almost tried it as an experiment and it was a success. Now I can happily say I can make jam too at home.. :D

This is very easy to make and requires only 3 ingredients. It tasted almost close to the store bought one. It is time for Vegan Thursday  and since this jam is Vegan too, it is the perfect time to be post it today.

Easy home made Strawberry Jam- No Pectin Required.

What are the ingredients required?

Strawberries(washed, hulled and chopped), 3 cups

Sugar, 1 1/2 cups

Lemon juice, 3 Tablespoons

Easy Strawberry Jam

How it is made?

1. Crush the strawberries well.
2. Transfer this crushed strawberries to a heavy bottomed pan.
3. To this add sugar and lemon juice and mix well.
4. Heat this mixture on a high heat till it starts to boil.
5. Then stir in regular intervals and reduce the heat till it starts to thicken.
6. Let the jam cool down, then transfer it to a sterilized jar and store in cool place.

Use as desired. It yields about 1 1/2 cup jam.

Strawberry Jam without Pectin

Notes:

• Use a tall pot for making jam so that when the jam boils, it wont spill over.
• To see if the jam has reached the required consistency, perform gel test. Keep a plate in the freezer for 5 minutes. when small amount of jam is put on the plate and returned to freezer for 2-3 minutes, then taken out the jam should set well and not be runny.
• The jam will not be too thick when hot, it will set to the right consistency as it cools down.
• If the jam thickens too much while cooking then when it cools down it will become hard as a leather.

Strawberry Picking & Recipes with Strawberries

 We went to strawberry picking this weekend and here are some of the pictures from the trip. Also I have listed the recipes with strawberries that I have already posted here in the site.

Strawberry fields

Strawberries waiting to be picked

Hubby and Thaara picking Strawberries

Here are the boxes of strawberries we picked.

It was very hot and humid that day. After picking strawberries we had Strawberry shortcake with ice cream from the bakery there and it was so yummy.

Strawberry Shortcake with ice cream from the farm's bakery. Tasted delicious.

I have lot of strawberries at home now. I will be posting some recipes with strawberries soon here. 

Did you all go strawberry picking too? How was the experience? Do share with us here.

Got lot of strawberries and looking for recipes with Strawberries ?? Here are some of the recipes which I have posted already.

Strawberry Pancakes

Strawberry Pancakes

Strawberry Muffins 

Strawberry Muffins

Whole wheat Strawberry Banana Muffins - Egg less

Whole wheat Strawberry Banana Muffins

Strawberry Mango Salad

Strawberry Mango Salad

Strawberry Jello Pie

Strawberry Jello Pie

Strawberry Ice cream

Strawberry Ice cream

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Easy Homemade Strawberry Jam

Strawberry Jam without Pectin

Strawberry Yogurt Cake 

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

 Strawberry Milk Shake 

Strawberry Milk Shake

Rava Paniyaram (Sweet)

Blogging has got me a lot of good friends. One such wonderful friend is Shama Nagarajan . Today is her  birthday. Happy Birthday, Shama!! We friends have decided to throw a virtual birthday party to her. Each of us have picked one sweet dish from her blog and are giving this virtual treat to her. I picked Rava paniyaram from her blog.

This is a sweet version of rava paniyaram. It is very easy to make and delicious and is ready in minutes. The original recipe involved deep frying but I mostly avoid deep fried stuff, so made them in the paniyaram pan/ aebleskiver pan. 

Sweet Rava Paniyaram

Recipe Source:Shama's Easy 2 Cook Recipes

What are the ingredients needed?

Rava/sooji 1 cup

All purpose flour, 1/2 cup

Sugar, 1/2 cup

Cardamom Powder, 1/4 teaspoon

Baking soda, a pinch

Oil, as required.

Inippu ravai paniyaram

How it is made?

1. Soak rava in water for 10- 15 minutes.
2. Then mix all the ingredients and prepare the batter. Take care the batter is not too thick or watery.
3. Heat the paniyaram pan, pour oil in each mold and pour the batter, cook in low flame, turn it to the other side cook till its done.
4. Remove from the pan and serve it warm.

Notes:

• As per the original recipe you can deep fry the paniyaram too. Heat oil, then pour the batter in the oil, fry till it is golden brown and serve.
• You can adjust the sweetness, as per your preference.

Do check what Priya Suresh Akka, Sangee Vijay and Manjula Bharath have cooked from Shama's blog for the treat too.

Watermelon Agua Fresca- Watermelon Recipes- Summer coolers

Today's recipe is Watermelon Agua Fresca. I had some watermelon left in the fridge and I wanted to make a simple and refreshing drink with it, so decided to go ahead and make Agua fresca with it. It is an Mexican light refreshing drink made with different kinds of fruits, here I have used Watermelon. The weather is getting warm here and this agua fresca was perfect thirst quencher. It took only minutes to prepare it. 

Watermelon Agua Fresca

What are the ingredients needed?

Watermelon(remove the skin, de-seeded and chopped to cubes), 1 cup

Water, 1 cup

Sugar, 1 Tablespoon

Lemon juice, 1/2 Tablespoon

Watermelon Agua Fresca

How it is made?

1. In a blender puree watermelon, water along with sugar and lemon juice.
2. Then filter to get the clear juice and discard the pulp.
3. Serve it chilled.

Serves 2 or if you are like me serves 1. ;)

Watermelon Agua Fresca

Notes:

• You can garnish with mint leaves.
• You can serve with ice cubes.

Whole Wheat Strawberry Banana Muffins (Egg-less)

Today's recipe is Strawberry Banana Muffins.I had ripe bananas and strawberries at home and My kids love muffins.So decided to bake muffins in that combination. I wanted them to be healthy so used whole wheat flour. The muffins were so soft, moist and delicious. Kids loved these muffins and they got over the same day of baking. 

Whole wheat Strawberry Banana Muffins

What are the ingredients needed?

Whole wheat flour, 1 cup

All purpose flour, 1/4 cup

Baking powder, 1 teaspoon

Baking Soda, 1/2 teaspoon

Salt, 1/4 teaspoon

Low fat yogurt, 1/4 cup

Light brown Sugar, 1/4 cup

Honey, 1/4 cup

Milk,1/4 cup

Oil,1/4 cup

Vanilla Extract, 1 teaspoon

Strawberries(hulled & diced), 1 cup

Ripe Bananas, 2 nos.

Egg-less Strawberry Banana Muffins

How it is made?

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
2. Prepare the muffin pan by greasing and flouring it or just by using paper liners. Keep it aside.
3. Peel the skin of the bananas, mash them well and keep them ready.
4. In a bowl, first combine together all the dry ingredients(Whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt).
5. In another bowl mix together yogurt, light brown sugar, honey, oil, milk, vanilla extract and mix well.
6. To this mixture add the flour and mix well. 
7. Then add the mashed bananas and strawberries and mix till they are combined well.
8. Pour this batter in the prepared pans till they are 3/4th cup full and bake for 15- 20 minutes till they are done (to check if it is done, insert the tooth pick and it has to come out clean).
9. Let the muffin cool for few minutes before removing from pan.
10. Remove from the pan  & Enjoy the muffins.

It yields 12 muffins.

Notes:

• You can adjust the sweetness of the muffins as per your taste.
• Oven timings varies with oven, check yours accordingly.

Mango Chocolate Marble Cake- Egg less and Butter less

Today's recipe is Mango Chocolate Marble Cake. I baked this for the Home baker's Challenge started by Priya Akka. Last month I hosted the event  and the challenge was Pizza . This month my friend Sangee is hosting the event and she selected Mango chocolate Marble cake for this month. She suggested both cake with egg and cake without egg. To know more about Home Bakers Challenge click here. 

I chose to bake the egg less and butter less version. The Cake came out so soft and delicious, only thing is that I couldn't get the marble pattern right. We all enjoyed the cake a lot. Thanks to Sangee for the wonderful challenge. 

Eggless Butter less Mango Chocolate Marble Cake

What are the ingredients needed?

All Purpose flour, 2 cups

Baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoon

Baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon 

Salt, 1/2 teaspoon

Oil, 1/4 cup

Light Brown sugar, 1/2 cup

Mango Pulp, 1 cup

Vanilla Extract, 1 teaspoon

Yogurt, 1/4 cup

Milk, 1/4 cup

Cocoa powder, 3 Tablespoon

Warm water, about 2 tablespoons

Soft and delicious Mango Chocolate Cake

 How it is made?

1. Pre heat the oven to 350 F. 
2. Prepare the loaf pan by greasing it and flouring it. Or you can grease and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. 
3. In a bowl sift together the dry ingredients( all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and Salt) and keep it aside. 
4. Then in another large bowl, first add oil and sugar, mix and then add mango pulp, milk, yogurt, vanilla extract and mix well.
5. To this mixture add the flour mixture and mix well.
6. In a small bowl, take cocoa powder and add warm water and mix to make a paste. 
7. Divide the cake batter into two and add cocoa paste to one half and mix well till it is well combined. 
8. Then in prepared cake pan first pour the mango batter and then the mango cocoa batter and make swirls. 
9. Bake for about 50 minutes till the cake is done. You can check the done-ness of the cake by inserting the tooth pick, it has to come out clean.
10. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes, remove from the pan and let it cool completely before slicing it.

Slice, serve and enjoy!

Mango Chocolate Marble cake- Egg less & Butter less

Notes

• You can use fresh mango pulp instead of the canned mango pulp. Since I used the canned pulp, I got a bright color. Color may not be as bright when using the fresh pulp. It depends on the variety of mango you use.
• I used sweetened canned mango pulp, so used only 1/2 cup of sugar. If you are using fresh mango pulp, adjust sweetness accordingly. 
• Baking time varies with each oven. My cake was ready in 50 minutes. Check yours accordingly.
• Wait till the cake cools completely before slicing it. 
• I used 9 inch loaf pan. Instead of it, you can use other types of cake pan too.

This is off to the Home Bakers Challenge @ Spicy Treats

Thatta Payir Kuzhambu | Karamani Kara Kuzhambu

Today  I am here with Thattai payir kuzhambu Recipe. It is a spicy tangy gravy made with Thatta payir which is also known as karamani. It is healthy and delicious. 

Coming to the recipe

What are the ingredients needed?

Thatta Payir/Cow peas, 1 cup

Oil, 2-3 teaspoon

Mustard seeds, 1/2 teaspoon

Fenugreek seeds, 1/2 teaspoon

Pearl Onions, 5-6 nos

Garlic pods, 4-5 cloves

Curry leaves, 1 sprig

Tomatoes,  1 no

Asafoetida, a pinch

Turmeric powder, 1/4 teaspoon

Chilli powder, 1 teaspoon

Coriander powder, 1 tablespoon

Tamarind, small lemon ball sized

Salt, as needed

To grind

Grated coconut, 1/4 cup

Onion, 1 no.

Cumin seeds, 1/2 cup

Add caption

How to make Thattapayir kuzhambu?

1. Soak thattapayir for atleast 30 minutes and pressure cook it. 
2. Soak tamarind in water and extract the juice and discard the pulp.
3. Grind coconut, onion and cumin seeds together into a fine paste.
4. In a pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and fry for a minute. Then add the chopped pearl onions, garlic and curry leaves and fry for 2-3 minutes.
5. Then add the tomatoes, asafoetida, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and cook till the tomatoes turn mushy.
6. Then add the ground coconut paste, cooked thattapayir, extracted tamarind juice mix well. Then add water to get the required consistency. Add salt mix well and bring this to boil and let it simmer till the oil starts separating (in low flame it takes around 8-10 minutes)
7. Turn off the heat and serve with rice and appalam or any other vegetable side dish of your choice.

Notes

• Instead of pearl onions you can use regular onions too.
• You can grind the tomatoes along with the coconut paste.

Soft and Moist Chocolate Cake (Eggless) with Chocolate Ganache

Today I am sharing with you egg-less version of Chocolate cake. Recently my Mom's birthday came and I wanted to bake a cake for her. Though she is India and am here in US, at least wanted to give her a visual treat, She loves chocolate a lot, so baked a chocolate cake. I have already posted Chocolate cake with egg but  this time tried an egg less version. The cake came out so soft and moist. I baked a single layer cake and covered it with chocolate ganache. It is definitely a treat for the chocolate lovers. 

Recipe Source: Chow times

What are the ingredients needed?

All Purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups

Baking soda, 1 teaspoon

Salt, 1/4 teaspoon

Cocoa Powder, 1/4 cup

Brewed coffee, 1 cup

Sugar, 1 cup

Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon

Lemon juice, 1 Tablespoon

Oil, 1/4 cup

How it is made?

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. Prepare the cake pan by greasing it  and flouring it or instead line it with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl ,sift the dry ingredients( All purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt) together. Keep it aside.
4. In another bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients (brewed coffee, vanilla extract, lemon juice and oil) with sugar, till the sugar is completely dissolved
5. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and mix well.
6. Pour this batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 15- 20 minutes till the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Let the cake cool and remove it from pan.
8. The cake is ready for decorating.  If not decorating, can slice and serve now.

Chocolate Ganache:

Ingredients required

Semi sweet chocolate chips, 1/2 cup

Heavy whipping cream, 6 tablespoons

Butter, 1 tablespoon

How it is made?

1. Cook the chocolate chips and whipping cream in the top of a simmering water, add butter, stirring occasionally till it is warm, smooth and shiny.
2. Let this ganache cool down lightly, then spread this evenly on the cake.

Notes:

• You can double the recipe, if you are planning for a double layer cake. 
• The original recipe used vinegar instead of lemon juice. You can use vinegar too.
• If you don't prefer adding brewed coffee, you can add water instead. But I feel coffee enhances the chocolate flavor. 
• You can decorate as per your personal preference.

Chicken 65 Recipe | Restaurant style Chicken 65

Chicken 65

Today's recipe is Chicken 65- Indian style Fried Chicken.I used to wonder earlier how the dish got the name. There are different stories for that. If you know, you can share it here. Though every one at home love chicken 65, the biggest obstacle is deep frying. So I prepare this very rarely at home. But recently when I prepared this, kids really enjoyed eating chicken 65. So I thought it is time to blog about this and here I am with the recipe.