Ela Ada/ Ila Ada/ Wheat Ada/ Steamed Wheat flour Parcels in Banana Leaves/ ഇല അട

Ingredients (to make three medium size ada):

Wheat flour-1 cup
Water
Salt
Grated coconut-1/2 cup
Scraped jaggery-1/2 cup
Crushed Cardamom-1
Banana Leaf
Steamer

Method (Follow steps 1-4):

Step1: Sprinkle the required amount of salt in wheat flour and make a dough by adding small portions of water. The consistency of the dough should be less tight than a chapati dough.

Step 2:Combine grated coconut, scraped jaggery, and crushed cardamom in a bowl.



Step 3: Clean the banana leaf with water and wipe off with a paper towel. Wet your hands with water and also sprinkle some water on the leaf. Take one third of the dough and spread it on the banana leaf to a round or oval shape using your fingers. Place and evenly spread one third of the coconut-jaggery mixture over one half of the flattened dough. Fold the leaf in half (so that the ada will have a semicircle/semi-oval shape )







Step 4: Steam for 20-30 min. Serve hot.



Ela ada is usually served a breakfast or a snack item.

Apple Preserves

Ingredients:
Apple - 6, peeled and cored
Lemon juice-3 tsp
Sugar- 1 cup
Water-1/4 cup
Nutmeg/ cinnamon- 3 pinches, ground

Method:
Chop the apples into small pieces. Combine chopped apples, water, lemon juice, and sugar in a saucepan and cook covered until the apples are done. Then, mash the apples using a potato masher. Boil off any water until the preserves is completely dry and thick. Finally sprinkle ground nutmeg and mix well.
Transfer into airtight jars once it is cooled to room temperature.

You can eat the preserves as a snack, or top with whip cream to make a dessert, or use it in baking as a filling/stuffing

Pineapple Pudding

This recipe has been adapted and slightly modified from my friend Manu Jimmy's pineapple pudding recipe.

Ingredients:
#1
Crushed pineapple- 1 can (~500 g)
Whipped cream-4 oz

Condensed milk-1 can, 14 oz
Evaporated milk-1 can, 12 oz
Sugar- 1/4-1/2 cup

#2
Jell-O, Pineapple flavor-1 packet (3 oz)  
Hot boiling water-1/2 cup
Cold water-1/2 cup

#3
Whipped cream-4 oz
Crushed cashew nuts- 5 tsp

Method:
1) Strain and squeeze water from crushed pineapple and combine with rest of the #1 ingredients
2) Get a bowl and add Jell-O, pour hot water, stir for 2 min, then add cold water. Stir until the Jell-O has completely dissolved.
3) Pour the dissolved Jell-O over the pineapple mixture. Mix everything together and pour it into a dish/pan (If you have a spring form pan, use it. It's easier to lift it without disturbing the sides, once the pudding is set). Refrigerate until firm (~12 hrs)
4) On the top, uniformly spread whip cream and sprinkle crushed cashews

Banana Preserves/Banana Jam/ Pazham Varattiyathu/പഴം വരട്ടിയത്

Ingredients:
Ripe bananas- 6
Jaggery-3-4 medium sized pieces (you can substitute with 1 cup of regular sugar or brown sugar)
Lemon juice- 1 tsp
Vanilla essence- 1 tsp
Cardamom-2, crushed
Clarified butter/ghee- 2 tsp

This is one of the methods to use overly ripe bananas. You can use this preserves  as a spread on toasts, pancakes or to make banana bread or eat as the way it is.

1. Mash up the bananas. You can use a blender to mash them up into a fine paste (or it is also perfectly fine to leave a few chunks, for the texture of the preserves). Do not add any water during mashing.

2. Melt jaggery with 1/2 cup of water.

3. Select a wide and deep non stick sauce pan and a long stemmed wooden spoon. Combine the mashed banana with melted jaggery (If you are using regular sugar, simply mix the sugar with mashed bananas).

4. Continuously stir the banana mixture in medium heat. You will see the consistency of the mixture changes while you stir. When the volume of the mixture has been reduced to half, add the rest of the ingredients (lemon juice, vanilla essence, crushed cardamom and ghee).  

5. Keep stirring until the volume is almost 1/3 of that you have started with. Let it cool and then transfer into a clean jar with air tight/screw- cap lid. Leave the jar in refrigerator.

The taste of the preserves is very similar to chakka varattiyathu.

Caution: While preparing the banana mixture, it is very important to stir it continuously. Otherwise, it is going to bubble and splutter vigorously. Adjust the flame to minimize spluttering. Also, make sure you choose the right sized sauce pan and spoon.

Frosting stuffed strawberries

Recipe adapted from bettycrocker.com    
What you need:
-Fresh strawberries
-Any frosting of your choice (I used Pillsburry easy frost vanila dream)
-Icing bag and frosting tip
Method:
Rinse strawberries in water and pat them dry. Hull the berries using a knife and cut the bottom portion of each so they can stand. Fill the strawberries with frosting and top with raisins, nuts or blueberry. Keep in refrigerator and is best served within 2-3 hours.

Tips: If you don't have icing bag, fill the frosting into one corner of a small plastic bag, twist the top of the bag right above the frosting. Make an opening by snipping off the corner. Squeeze in the frosting into the hulled strawberries.

Chocolate dipped strawberries with sprinkles

What you need:
Strawberries(large ripe and red)- 25-30
Chocolate chips (I used Dolci frutta hard chocolate shell)-8oz
Decorating Sprinkles
Wax paper or foil -1(13"X9")
Method:
Wash strawberries under cold water, drain and dry them completely with a paper towel.
Line a baking tray with wax paper/foil
Microwave the chips until fully melted, stir with a spoon.
Hold the green stem of the strawberry (or you can use a toothpick) and dip one half or three fourth of a strawberry in the melted chocolate. Drip off the excess chocolate. Place them on a wax paper/foil  and sprinkle them with decorating sprinkles.  Repeat the same process. Allow them to set at room temperature for 10 min.Best served within 8-10hours.

Tips:
1) If you want to cover the strawberries completely with sprinkles, place the sprinkles in a bowl and roll the chocolate covered strawberries.

2) If you are using regular chocolate chips, use  double boiling method to melt them. Place the chocolate chips in a glass bowl. Boil  water in a sauce pan and place the glass bowl with the chips to melt the chips (the glass bowl should not touch the water). Add 1tbsp of vegetable shortening and stir until the chocolate mixture become smooth.
3) You can try the recipe with any fruits of your interest.
Recipe adapted from the Doci Frutta package instructions and here  

Pazham Parippu Payasam/ Moong Dal -Banana-Payasam/പഴം പരിപ്പ് പായസം

Recipe courtesy: My friend Biji Thomas
Ingredients:
Moong Dal (ചെറുപയര്‍ പരിപ്പ്)- 1 cup
Jaggery (ശര്‍ക്കര) -300 gm
Banana- 1 large nicely ripen, finely chopped
Dates- 10 (optional) , finely chopped
Thin/diluted  Coconut milk- 2-3 cups
Thick coconut milk- 1 cup
Fried coconut tidbits, cashew nuts, raisins- 2-3 tsp of each (fried in melted butter/ghee)
Cardamom-1-2 (powdered/crushed)
Dry ginger powder (ചുക്ക്  പൊടിച്ചത്)-1 pinch
Melted butter/ghee for frying

Method:

Wash moong dal and drain. Pressure cook it with 2 cups of water until it has completely mashed (or try mashing with a spoon). Mean while melt  jaggery in 1-2 cups of water, keep it for sometime to settle and filter. Add this to the mashed moong dal and mix well with medium heat on. Now add thin coconut milk, chopped banana and dates. Stir continuously until it gets the correct consistency. Then turn off the flame, pour thick coconut milk, powdered/crushed cardamom, dry ginger powder and mix well. Finally top with fried cashews, coconut tidbits and raisins. Serve either hot or cold.

Tips:

Adjust the amount of jaggery according to your taste.

The payasam tends to get thicken upon standing so adjust the consistency accordingly.