Alhamdulillah, Ramadan is going super fast and it is kind of making me sad. It has been extremely busy but one side of me hasn’t been very well health wise and has affected my ability for going to Tharaweeh prayers. Apart from that worry, it has been good. All I can do is be grateful to the Almighty Rubb.

Last December, I had gone home for roughly a month to attend two weddings in HD’s family. Just like every trip, this one was hectic too. I hardly had time to rest, and more than that, even hardly ate at home. During one of those rare days, my MIL made this dish with leftover pathal dough in the fridge. The only way I know to make it is how umma makes it, where the “pidi” or the dumplings is as complicated as making the pathiri. I had so many questions – will the dumplings stick to each other, won’t they dissolve into the liquid, etc. All my doubts were dissolved when I took the first spoonful. The first thought in my head was, “If this is so easy, why shouldn’t I make it more frequently?”

So this Ramadan, thanks to a collaboration with a brand called Tasty Food, which is a pioneer in introducing the Pathal Podi in the UAE, I got to recreate the dish from my recent memory. The no-involvement of hot boiling water makes it very convenient. All you need to do is to add sufficient normal water to the rice flour, pull them together to make a dough, roll them into small roundels and cook them. All the tips and tricks will be noted in the recipe card below. I served it for Iftar and HD had a whole big bowl of it. He enjoyed it a lot, Alhamdulillah. I am glad that this dish didn’t have to wait too long to come on the blog, thanks to that collaboration.

Let me tell you that this is not the only version to make this curry. There are so many versions across various places of Malabar. Like this Kayi Curry – which has plantains and chana dal in a sugar sauce. Even in this recipe, you can add cooked chana dal for an extra bite, but since my MIL didn’t add it then, I chose not to add it. Makes it a lazier version. There are even versions of the pidi in a simple coconut sauce, without any additions to it. Isn’t it amazing how the same base gives rise to so many different recipes?

You can watch the Instagram reel over here. I have done a voice over in Malayalam, and though it is crappy, I guess I have done a good job for the first time. Off to the recipe…

The post Madhura Curry | Kayi Pidi Curry ~ Malabar Plaintain and Rice Dumpling Dessert appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

I have been literally having a crazy week. A lot going on through my head plus the kids and I travelling this weekend, so it makes it even more stressful. Even though I have been shopping and getting things to make sure we are done, I am still feeling as though there is a lot left to be done. I don’t want to make myself feel burdened, but unfortunately that is exactly the way I am feeling – overwhelmed… But I feel that way each time I go on vacation and I usually turn out fine, so hoping it will be that way this time too… Hehe…

The above can be the exact reason why I have chosen an easy recipe to post today. I came across the idea for this recipe from an Instagram page called “sheenafit“. She is a body coach and she shares healthy macro balanced meal ideas as well as all teh other tips for weight loss and management. I have always been struggling to have vegetables in the morning and this salad with some very typical Indian chaat flavors were just apt for it. Since they are no nasty ingredients used in this salad, it is something that you can eat every single day if you want! During the time the eggs get boiled and cooled, I chop all the ingredients and keep. I whisk the yogurt along with the rest of the flavoring ingredients. Once the eggs are peeled and chopped, I just dump everything into the serving bowl and toss up to coat and then immediately dig in! It is that easy… This egg chaat has become another loved way of having my eggs, apart from umma style scrambled eggs, the Cilbir or the cheesy omelette.

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Egg Chaat | Indian Style Egg Salad

Course Accompaniment

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 cucumber large, diced
• 1 onion small, minced
• 1 tomato small, chopped
• 2 tbsp coriander leaves chopped
• 2 tbsp mint leaves chopped
• 1 tbps green chutney
• 1 tsp tamarind chutney
• 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1/4 cup thick yogurt
• Black salt to taste
• Crushed black pepper to taste
• Chaat masala powder to taste

Instructions

• Boil the eggs till done. Cool, peel and chop into dices. Add into a large bowl.
• Add the chopped cucumber, tomato, onion, coriander and mint leaves. Give it a good toss.
• Whisk the yogurt with the black salt and pepper and add into the mixture.
• Add the red chilli and give a good toss. Add the chutneys and mix.
• Adjust seasoning, sprinkle chaat masala as required and dig in.

Notes

I have chosen to toss the ingredients into a bowl and eat. You may arrange it as layers as in a chaat style and enjoy. 

I also add some chopped lettuce if I have some available. You could use other greens like baby spinach, rocket leaves, etc. to add more fiber. 

Updated on November 7, 2021: Did a short video for this recipe…

The post Egg Chaat | Indian Style Egg Salad appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

Have you had cases where you go on to make a recipe, having no idea how it is going to taste like?

A couple of weeks ago, when I pulled out B for a drive towards Fujeirah on a rain drenched Saturday, we were having our lunch at an Afghani eatery. As we gorged on the pulao and the kebabs, he said, “Thaatha, have you ever tried Habbat Al Hamra?” To the question like look on my face, he said, “It is a yellow thick drink, with red color sago like balls floating in it. It tastes like custard and those balls are just like those falooda thing, it just tastes so good…” And he stopped it at that. We proceeded with the drive back home, but that description stuck to my head… As per him, he had relished this several times at a small joint in Sharjah, through a friend of his. His description was so tempting that I had to somehow find what this Habbat Al Hamra is.

After a few hits and searches on Google, I didn’t get much. Finally some articles came to my rescue, like this one and this one.  As per what I read, this seed, which is called asario seeds or garden cress seeds, has been used during Prophet’s (PBUH) time in medication. I was surprised to find on the pack that it is a native of India and a further search made me find this article which gives a little more details on the seed. It looks like a few recipes are made in the north to take advantage of its benefits, which InShaAllah I am hoping to try with the current pack available. Interestingly, I also discovered that this is served in Qatar as well.

I can’t comment on how much authentic this recipe is, especially since it has custard powder in it, but it looks like it is a welcome drink served in a lot of local households not only here, but in Oman and other GCC countries as well. If you are able to track down this ingredient, then do find it and try it out. It won’t go waste, since you can easily replace the basil in faloodas with these seeds, as they look and feel so similar! When it is hot, you can sip and drink but when it cools down, it takes a pudding consistency, thanks to the glutinous nature of this seed… Off to this recipe…

Posted on this day:

2014 – Cheesy Vegetable Puffs

2015 – Kannur Style Chicken Rolls

Updated on May 30: I just learned that it is also called Haleeb Kastar, after reading this article!

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Habbat Al Hamra Drink ~ Custard Asario Seed Drink

Course Drink

Cuisine Emirati

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup habb al hamra azario seeds
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 cup milk
• 2 tbsp custard powder
• 4 tbsp sugar
• A pinch salt
• A fat pinch saffron crushed
• 2 tbsp rosewater optional

Instructions

• Soak the habbat al hamra in the water for 30 minutes.
• Combine the remaining ingredients except the rose water and keep it on the stove on low flame, stirring occassionally.
• Once the milk starts getting heated, add the soaked seeds and keep mixing, breaking the lumps and till it nicely mixes into the drink.
• Cook for a few minutes till the mixture becomes really hot.
• Switch off the flame and add the rosewater. Serve hot.

Updated on August 3,2021 – I posted a video for this recipe on my You Tube but conveniently forgot about it, so here it is finally…

The post Habbat Al Hamra / Habbal Hamra ~ Custard Asario Seed Drink appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

This is my third tryst with Lubna during Ramadan… From the start of blogging till now… I am thankful to Allah for giving me this opportunity again to work with this charming lady, who is a food blogger that I have been following eagerly even before I started blogging… That explains the reason why I can never say anything else than a “yes” when her “Joy from Fasting to Feasting” enters into its eighth successful season… First, it was the Masala Aleesa and last year, it was the Kadalapidi. I guess I have almost covered our normal set of Ramadan specials. Except one, and that is what I decided to give Lubna.

Jeerakanji or Cumin Rice Porridge is something that we make almost every night during the month of Ramadan. Cumin is a very good digestive, and a good source of energy. It is a filler and is normally something the men drink just before they go for the long Taraweeh (special Ramadan night) prayers or as the last meal before going to sleep. My kids really love it and they insist on making this every other day. As I was banging my head thinking what to give Lubna this year, Rasha, my elder daughter, came to me and said, “Ummi, it’s been long since we had the yellow kanji. Why don’t you make it?” She calls it so because it is yellow! That is when I remembered that this recipe is not on the blog and decided to get rolling with it. To read more and the recipe, do hop onto Lubna’s space!

Not that I am satisfied with the pictures but the time frame and my mind frame were not in a good state while I was working on this post – let me blame it on them! Hehe… I personally love these bowls, which is a set of six with matching spoons. It comes with a little story…

 

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Jeerakanji ~ Cumin Rice Porridge

Cuisine Malabar

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw rice pachari – the rice used for idli/ dosas
• 4 cups water
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• FOR GRINDING:
• 1 cup grated coconut
• 6-8 shallots
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 green chilli

Instructions

• Wash the raw rice well. Combine with the water, turmeric powder and salt in a pressure cooker. Cook on medium flame for three whistles and switch off.
• Since this is rice, there are chances of it pushing out of the weight so keep the flame as low as possible. A good way to avoid mess is to surround the weight with a kitchen towel, around a cm away from the weight, so that the towel would absorb the mess and not push it to your walls! Allow the pressure to go by itself.
• Meanwhile, grind all the ingredients under “for grinding” into a coarse paste. Open the cooker and keep it on simmer.
• Add in the ground paste and cook for five minutes. Switch off and serve warm.

Notes

As it sits, it tends to get thicker. Add little warm water to loosen it up.

The post Jeerakanji/ Jeeraka Kanji ~ Malabar Cumin Rice Porridge appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

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Moist Banana Cake

Course Cake

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 1 cup wholewheat flour aatta
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large bananas mashed
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease and flour a large loaf pan.
• Sieve the dry ingredients and set aside.
• Beat eggs till frothy. Add the sugar and beat till the eggs become pale and thick.
• Pour in the oil and beat till combined. Finally add the vanilla essence and beat.
• Add the dry ingredients and fold using a spatula.
• Add in the mashed banana and cinnamon powders and give it a final mix.
• Pour into the pan and tap to flatten the top.
• Bake for 50 to 70 minutes (took me 65 minutes) till a skewer comes out clean.
• Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto wire rack and cool completely. Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee... or just as it is!

Notes

You can make the cake with only all-purpose flour.
Add some walnuts, if in a mood for a crunch!

Updated on November 7, 2021: This recipe needed a YouTube video, since it is a personal favorite, so here it is…

The post Moist Banana Cake appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

Kerala’s breakfast staple and dinner side, made with home made rice flour… soft every single time!

Puttu goes well with black chana/ kadala curry, cherupayar/ moong bean curry and ripe mysore/ large bananas with sugar!

The process…

 

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Puttu - Kerala Steamed Rice Cakes

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Malabar

Prep Time 9 hours hours

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 10 hours hours

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup matta rice
• 1/2 cup pachari dosa/ idli rice
• Salt as per taste
• 6-8 shallots chopped optional
• Grated coconut for split

Instructions

• Wash well and soak both the rices together overnight.
• Drain in a seive and leave it for 30 minutes to an hour till most of the moisture is gone. Some moisture is required to keep the "puttu podi" binded, so do not make it really dry.
• Grind the rice into a coarse powder with a pinch of salt in your mixer. Chop the shallots and add into the ground powder.
• Heat water in the puttu steamer. Layer the rice flour, with a thin layer of grated coconut and continue to the top layer.
• Steam the puttu till done - I put the flame on high till the vapor comes from the top and then steam on low flame for 10-12 minutes till done. Push it onto a plate and serve warm!

Notes

If you have drained the rice for too long and the powder becomes too dry, then rub in some water before layering. 

Updated on April 24,2021: Adding the short video updated on You Tube for knowing the process of making…

The post Puttu – Kerala Steamed Rice Cakes appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

Updated with new pictures and recipe of June 11, 2017: Hummus is something that I make at home so regularly, that it makes me cringe that I have not updated it with new pictures earlier than this! Better now than never, right? I have also given a little update in the recipe. I add cumin now which I used to not add previously and am so loving the taste! The beauty about hummus is that it goes with khubz, with sticks of vegetables like carrots and cucumber and even with some grilled chicken! My favorite combination with hummus is this peppery grill chicken – really amazing! This recipe also has a video on YouTube as well…

Below is the old click… you may understand why I am cringing?

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Hummus - Arabic Chickpea Dip

Course Dips

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Prep Time 8 hours hours

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 8 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup dry chickpeas washed and soaked in lots of water overnight
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 4 tbsp tahini paste sesame seeds paste
• 1 tbsp paprika powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• Salt as required
• Olive oil as required

Instructions

• Pressure cook the chickpeas in little water (do not add too much water, just level should do) with the garlic and salt till well cooked.
• Drain and allow to cool. Reserve the water for grinding.
• In a grinder, add the cooked chickpeas, garlic, the tahini paste, paprika powder, cumin powder, a glug olive oil, salt and little of the water in the cooker and blend together into a very thick paste.
• If you face difficulty in blending, add a little more water.
• Scrape into a serving bowl and serve with a splash of paprika and olive oil drizzled on top!

Notes

I normally use my large grinder of my Prithi mixer and do the grinding in two trips.
The amount of the tahini paste,cumin and paprika is totally upto your like. We like to have the tahini taste so we add more.
For a slightly tangy version, add the juice of a lime at the end and mix well.
If you are using tinned chickpeas, you can use raw garlic while grinding. It doesn't make much different to taste.

The post Hummus – Arabic Chickpea Dip appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

I had this bottle of coke sitting which I did not want to drink nor give it off to anybody else (more of concern, you see… ). Before blogging, I had heard that coke gave a lovely flavor and color to chocolate cake. I wanted to bake a cake but I did not have even a single egg. While googling through, I found this recipe, which was perfect as I had everything in the pantry. I went ahead and baked it.

What I got was a dark colored, dense and extremely moist cake, but mildly sweet. I had baked this cake when there was nobody at home to share with, so as usual what I would have done next, I cut into pieces and brought it for my colleagues, who really enjoyed it. I played a guess game with them as to what was the secret ingredient and when they heard “coke”, their jaws dropped!!! You just cannot make out the presence of coke in it. One colleague, who is an “anti-processed food activist”, gobbled up two pieces before I broke the secret. I was worried if he would really puke it out, but he didn’t! All I got was a big stare… Hehe…

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Eggless Chocolate Coke Cake

Course Cakes

Cuisine International

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 16

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 100 gm butter melted and more for greasing pan
• 1 can condensed milk
• 225 gm all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 250 ml coke

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. Grease and flour a brownie pan and keep ready.
• Mix the butter and condensed milk till well combined.
• Add all the dry ingredients and mix till there are no lumps.
• Finally add in the coke and stir to mix well.
• Pour the batter into the prepared tin and tap to distribute evenly.
• Bake in the oven for 60 minutes or till done.
• Cool in pan for 10 minutes before flipping onto a cooling rack, to cool completely.

Updated on January 29, 2022: This may be a very unlikely recipe to be made into a video, but yes, I did…

The post Eggless Chocolate Coke Cake appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

Some posts appear much before they have to actually appear. Just like this Gajar Halwa I made for my colleagues last week… I was definitely not intending to post this anytime sooner as there are so many recipes sitting in my drafts and I wanted to finish off the older ones before I go to the newer ones. However, when somebody is not willing to take down the recipe orally after eating it and insists on seeing it as a blog post, what do I do?

There she helps…

I had quite a bit of carrots sitting in my fridge and I had to finish it off. I checkedwith my colleagues whether they wanted halwa or kheer, and the response came in unanimous tone – HALWA! And it had been quite sometime since I had made it. Once I peeled the carrots and started grating it, my elder one, who was just up from her long sleep after her jet-lag  came and asked me if she could grate the carrots. I was pleasantly surprised! This is the first time she has asked me if she could help and that too with household chores! I was kind of worried as our marble top is slightly high, made for tall people like me. My elder one is actually taller than her age category kids. I told her that her hands may ache. She gave me a disappointed look and told, “Ummi, I am bored, I want to do something!”

Updated with new pictures and better recipe on February 17, 2021 : When it is winters in the north side of India, we land up with some amazing red carrots from Delhi at such amazing prices that all you want to make and devor is some gajar ka halwa. I am never a fan of this dessert unless it is made at home. Somehow the home made version has a totally different flavor quotient to it when compared to what you get at the close by cafeterias. The only thing that makes me feel lazy is grating the carrots, which now gets done by the food processor.

Despite having several other gajar halwa recipes on the blog – whether it is  the microwave version, the one using condensed milk,  the Tarka type or the low calorie version, this remains my favorite at any given point of time. It has got to do with the texture. I love that you can hardly make out the carrot and it completely gets cooked and mashed up, thanks to the pressure cooker. The recipe is also very forgiving – you can substitute a part of the milk and sugar with some condensed milk, or even add some milk powder for some added creaminess. I recently started adding safffron and rose water into my gajar halwa and I totally love the dimension it gives to the final result.

This post belongs to the intial time of blogging and looking at the picture of Rasha, my heart aches. She has grown so much off my hands, and somehow the whole scenario of the post is so much etched in my mind. Some beautiful and lovely memories it has, that doesn’t fail to bring a light smile to my face. I wish you could see my face as I type on this post…

As usual, saving up the initial picture to this post…

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Gajar Halwa | Indian Carrot Halwa {Pressure Cooker Version}

Course Sweets

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 1 kg carrots (preferably the red variety) peeled and grated
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 600 ml milk
• 1/2 cup sugar as per taste
• A pinch of cardamom
• 2-3 tbsp chopped nuts I used cashes, almonds and pistachios
• 1 pack thick cream 175 gm
• A pinch of salt

Instructions

• Heat the ghee in a pressure cooker. Saute the grated carrots on medium heat for 5 minutes.
• Pour in the milk, add sugar, cardamom and salt. Close the lid of the cooker and cook for one whistle on high whistle and keep on low for around 15 minutes.
• Switch off and let the pressure go on its own.
• Open the lid, switch on the flame to medium, add in the nuts and boil the mixture till the milk reduces and the mixture thickens.
• Keep stirring it in between to ensure that it does not get stuck at the bottom.
• Finally add the cream and give it a nice stir.
• Cook for another 5 minutes and switch off.
• Cool to room temperature and enjoy! If you love it chilled, then leave it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before devouring it. Yum!!!

Notes

I cook the carrots in the pressure cooker, since I love my carrot halwa to be really smashed up. I don't like to have bites in it - I would prefer biting the nuts rather than the carrot!!! So if you like your carrots to leave bites, then skip this step and continue with the remaining steps.
My sugar levels are pretty low, so please increase it as per your taste!

At times I add a pinch of saffron and a couple of tbsp of rose water for additional flavor.

Updated on January 29, 2022: Uploaded with a short video for this favorite recipe…

The post Gajar Halwa | Indian Carrot Sweet {Pressure Cooker Version} appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

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Chakkarkuru Mulakittathu - Jackfruit seeds in spicy sauce

Course Vegeterian

Cuisine Malabar

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• Jackfruit seeds - 1 cup soaked in water, skin peeled and outer grated to remove the brown portion (not completely though, leave some on!) and diced into half or quarters
• Onion - 1 medium thinly sliced
• Tomato - 1 medium thinly sliced
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
• Tamarind - size of one small lemon soaked in hot water
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp more if you want it more spicy
• Salt to taste
• Water - 1/2 cup
• For tempering:
• Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Shallots - 5 sliced thinly
• Curry leaves sufficient

Instructions

• Put all the ingredients except the ones for tempering into a pressure cooker and nicely mix it.
• Keep it on high flame till the cooker releases three whistles.
• Now reduce the flame to the lowest possible and let it cook for 25-30 minutes.
• Switch off and allow the steam to be released on its own.
• Once done, open the cooker, give it a nice stir to mix it well.
• Pour oil into a small pan, heat the coconut oil, splutter the mustard seeds.
• Fry the shallots and curry leaves till done.
• Pour it over the chakkarkuru molakittathu and enjoy digging in!!!!

*Updated on April 10, 2021: After more than seven years of blogging, I finally took a plunge into making videos. This is just a small start. Making videos isn’t my game but I surely want to make one at a time and do it slowly and steadily, without much force or pressure to myself. Since I am not a fan of really lengthy videos, I plan to keep mine as short as possible… I hope you all will like it…

Pst, isn’t it such a coincidence that my first blog post ends up becoming my first You Tube video as well? Alhamdulillah…

The post Chakkakuru Mulakittathu – Jackfruit Seeds in Spicy Sauce appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.