Sesame Fingers with Schezwan Sauce

When you invite friends over you want everything to fall correctly and taste right!! Some recipe are not only easy to prep but super tasty, and they can wow your guests. This is one of those recipes that can never go wrong. 

Although this is one of the appetizers that I make for indo-chinese parties, it can surely fit into your potluck or finger food or cocktail party or for fun ladies party too. These finger like appetizers are made of veggies and a rolled in sesame seeds for flavor and texture. In this recipe I have used white as well as black sesame seeds, but you could use any. I feel black sesame seeds provide extra nutty flavor and texture to this appetizer. Use veggies of your choice...you can select veggies and the quantity too. There is no fixed ratio of veggies in here.

Ingredients (to make 15-20 fingers)

3 cups minced veggies of your choice (cabbage, beans, carrots, onion, spring greens)

2-3 cloves garlic

1 inch ginger

1+1/2 tsp. salt

2. tsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. vinegar

1/2 cup maida (all-purpose flour)

1/2 cup rice flour

1/4 -1/2 cup sesame seeds (black or white or both)

Oil for frying

• Roughly chop veggies and put them in a food processor. Add ginger and garlic too and mince all the veggies.
• Remove in a bowl.
• Add salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. Mix well and leave veggies aside for 10 minutes to sweat and release moisture. 
• Add all purpose flour and rice flour to make soft dough. You can use less or more flour depending on the moisture content in the veggies.
• Shape as fingers and roll in sesame seeds.
• Deep fry each finger on medium heat till it is golden brown and nicely done.
• Remove on a paper towel.
• Serve with schezwan sauce.

Here is step-by-step pictorial recipe:

Veggies

Roughly chop veggies and put them in a food processor. Add ginger and garlic too and mince all the veggies.

Remove in a bowl.

Add salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. Mix well and leave veggies aside for 10 minutes to sweat and release moisture.

Add all purpose flour and rice flour to make soft dough. You can use less or more flour depending on the moisture content in the veggies.

Shape as fingers and roll in sesame seeds.

Deep fry each finger on medium heat till it is golden brown and nicely done.

Serve with schezwan sauce.

Enjoy!!!

Mango Ice Cream

As the aroma of fresh waffle cones spread...not just kids but adults too are tempted to enter the place. Yes, it is the ice cream shop or the fancy word is Ice Cream Parlor. :) You get to taste so many colorful delicious flavors before choosing one. WOW what if I just taste and say I don't like any... and that is exactly why ice cream places do not let you taste it or would just have limited tasting policy :) I am always sure I want a Mango flavored, but still it is fun to get a taste test.

Ice cream is not a new concept. I have had my parents telling me about the traditional ice cream churner: a container filled with ice cream mixture is placed and rotated around ice and salt mixture to make creamy frozen mixture called ice cream :) I remember the concept of ice and salt creating freezing mixture...we learned that in school right?? Yes, ice cream making is actually science. :)

I remember every summer vacation mummy would have freezer full of mango ice cream for us. Just mango milkshake which was frozen and delicious. Even if it was a slightly icey...who cared...slushy mango ice cream on hot summer day was all we wanted!

So finally with hot summer days and mango in season, it was time to whip my favorite flavor. Check out my other ice cream recipes.

Ingredients (Serves 8-10)

1 cup milk

2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup sugar

4-5 mangoes (around 6 cups) (fresh mangoes or frozen mangoes)

• Boil milk. Add sugar and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it cool slightly. 
• Add whipping cream and stir well. 
• Freeze the mixture in a freeze proof container.
• Peel and chop mangoes.
• When the ice cream mixture is frozen. cut into pieces and churn it in a food processor with chopped mangoes. the mixture should be creamy, fluffy, and slushy. Is the mixture melts. Freeze it and churn it again to get a light ice cream.
• Freeze the mixture.
• Remove from the freezer and let the ice cream rest for few minutes before serving.
• Serve as is or with chopped mangoes.

Here is step-by-step pictorial recipe:

Boil milk. Add sugar and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it cool slightly. 

Add whipping cream and stir well.

Freeze the mixture in a freeze proof container.

Peel and chop mangoes.

When the ice cream mixture is frozen. cut into pieces and churn it in a food processor with chopped mangoes. the mixture should be creamy, fluffy, and slushy. Is the mixture melts. Freeze it and churn it again to get a light ice cream.

Freeze the mixture.

Remove from the freezer and let the ice cream rest for few minutes before serving.

Serve as is or with chopped mangoes.

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for
Mango Ice Cream!!!

Fruitilicious Pani Puri

Met my friends today for chaat party. Yes, we are all chaat lovers...it is sweet, spicy, tangy... basically chatpata just like all my girl friends!! :) And while we had thought to meet for a summer chaat party, there has to be chilled pani puri on our menu.

If you remember my two year back post on Guava Pani Puri, it was the recipe created for chaat party with my same girl friends. They had loved the sweet, spicy and tangy flavor of Guava Pani so it was now time to create something different. With fruits available in my refrigerator and few fresh fruits growing in my yard, it was easy to make this quick and delicious pani.

Pani Puri is a crisp puffed puri/waffer stuffed with moong and potato stuffing and dunked into sweet and tangy pani. The entire puri is then eaten for burst of flavors and textures. And, I promise you will be addicted to this one.

Fruitilicious is a delicious fruit cocktail pani: a combination of traditional pani with sweetness and flavors of fresh fruit juice. My family and my friends loved it...you gotta try this.

Ingredients: (serves 6-8)
1 whole fresh pineapple
2 fresh apples
2 cups black grapes
2 cups fresh blackberries
4-5 plums
6-8 fresh mint leaves
1 tsp. raw cumin seeds
2 green chilies
1/2 inch ginger
3-4 tbsp. sugar (if needed depending on the sourness of the fruit) OR 5-6 dates for sweetness
1-2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
2-3 tsp. rock salt (or to taste)
1 tsp. amchoor powder (dry mango powder)
3-4 cups ice

• Remove the skin of the pineapple and chop it into large chunks. 
• Remove seeds of apple and chop it into large chunks.
• De-seed plums and keep it aside 
• Wash grapes and blackberries.
• Finally add all the prepped fruits into a blender with mint, cumin, ginger, and green chilies. Blend well. Use a strainer to strain the mixture and remove the pulp.  
• Add 3-4 cups of ice to the fruity mixture.
• Add sugar, salt, rock salt, and amchoor powder. Mix well. Give it a taste test and add salt or rock salt if needed.
• Let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour in the refrigerator before serving.
• Serve with crisp puris and moong chana and potato mixture.

Check out my Pani Puri recipe to make homemade puri and regular mint pani

Also, check Guava Pani Puri recipe here.

Fruitilicious Pani Puri

Blackberry Ice Cream

Feeling so excited!! Made ice cream after such a long time!!! We have a blackberry bush which has been growing so fast and fruiting in a rapid manner, faster than we can pick the berries. This is the first year with the plant, and in spite of sharing berries with my neighbors and friends, I still have a lot. And while summer is here, ice cream is just a perfect dessert.

Pinterest is full of recipes with Blackberries. They are so tempting, and feels like I should try lot of desserts, but again just refraining myself from extra calories :) I would surely prefer sharing the berries and plant cuttings with my friends. We are so glad to have an amazing yield of the fresh, sweet berries.

I have always wanted to buy a ice cream machine. I like the traditional Vat style at BBB. To fill the vat with ice and salt (freezing mixture) and the center container with ice cream mixture. As the ice cream container rotates it churns and freezes the ice cream mixture too. I have seen this traditional type in India and would love to own one. But till then I tried food processor icecream recipe by Sue. It looked so yum and easy that I had to try it! Indeed a lovely and easy recipe :)

My husband loves his ice cream in waffle cone and I like it in a waffle cup. I have been trying to pester him to buy me a waffle cone maker. Every time I see it in a store, I want to buy it. But again I think of where to store so many fancy machines and equipment. I still haven't bought one. So the need of the hour was to figure out a recipe without waffle cone maker. I checked few recipes of waffle cone batter of YouTube. They seemed really easy, but they all had eggs in it. Hmmmm...I had to slightly modify the recipe according to ingredients available at home. So here it is... an eggless waffle cup using organic whole wheat flour. I am sure all moms out there will be excited and super happy with me :) These waffle cups turned out amazingly good and crisp...something that kids would love! Homemade waffle cups made on griddle cannot be stored long. They should be made and consumed within 30 minutes or as they will turn slightly soft. If they soften, you could microwave them for 30 seconds and let them cool on a paper towel to turn crisp again. Give this a try for sure.

Ingredients:
To make ice cream (serves 5-8 people)
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups blackberries

• Boil milk and add sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes. 
• Let the milk cool slightly and then mix in whipping cream
• Let the mixture cool.
• Transfer the mixture in a freezer safe glass box. Cover with a tight lid and place in the freezer to freeze.
• Remove the frozen mixture. Cut into pieces. 
• Add blackberries to the food processor. For seedless ice cream: grind blackberries separately first and strain in a strainer to remove seeds. Add the strained puree to the food processor.
• Put frozen pieces in a food processor and grind them to make soft and fluffy ice cream.
• Remove in a freezer safe container. Cover and then freeze ice cream.
• Let ice cream rest out of the freezer for 5-8 minutes before serving.

To make waffle cups (makes 2-3 waffle cups)
1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. butter
1+1/2 tbsp sugar
2-3 drops vanilla extract 
3 tbsp. whole wheat flour

• Mix all the ingredients well to form and smooth batter.
• Heat non-stick griddle to medium temperature.
• Pour some batter and spread to form a 5-6 inch circle.
• Cook on one side. Flip and cook on the other side.
• Use a flat spatula to press the crepe to cook and brown evenly.
• Remove from the pan and quickly mold to over an upside down glass. 
• Remove in 30 seconds and place on a paper towel to avoid moisture and waffle cup getting soggy and soft.
• Cool and serve with ice cream.

Boil milk and add sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes. 

Let the milk cool slightly and then mix in whipping cream

Let the mixture cool.

Fresh berries from my yard.

Transfer the mixture in a freezer safe glass box. Cover with a tight lid and place in the freezer to freeze.

Remove the frozen mixture. Cut into pieces.

Add blackberries to the food processor. For seedless ice-cream: grind blackberries separately first and strain in a strainer to remove seeds. Add the strained puree to the food processor.

Put frozen pieces in a food processor and grind them to make soft and fluffy ice-cream.

Remove in a freezer safe container. Cover and then freeze ice-cream.

Mix all the ingredients well to form and smooth batter.

Heat non-stick griddle to medium temperature.

Pour some batter and spread to form a 5-6 inch circle.

Cook on one side. Flip and cook on the other side.

Use a flat spatula to press the crepe to cook and brown evenly.

Remove from the pan and quickly mold to over an upside down glass. 

Remove in 30 seconds and place on a paper towel to avoid moisture and waffle cup getting soggy and soft.

Cool the waffle cups and serve with ice cream.

Let the ice-cream rest out of the freezer for 5-8 minutes before serving.

Have a great summer!!