Clafoutis

This is a french custard pie, generally made with Cherries. I have adapted the original recipe to use a punnet of Blueberries I had in the fridge. I also substituted cream with whole milk, so I suppose that makes this dishy dessert a little less sinful!

Ingredients:

Blueberries - 1 punnet or 300 gms
Eggs - 3
Whole Milk - 1 cup
Self raising flour - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp
Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp
Butter - 1 tsp
Icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Method:

Heat oven to 180 degrees C.

In a mixer, add all ingredients except blueberries and the icing sugar and 1 tbsp sugar. Blitz well to form a smooth batter.

Butter a oven proof 9 inch pie dish, add half the blueberries and sprinkle 1 tbsp of sugar over the berries. Pour half the batter over the berries and bake for 10 minutes.

After ten minutes, sprinkle the other half of the berries and pour the leftover batter.

Bake for another 15-20 minutes, until the Clafoutis is puffed up and a little brown on the surface.

You can serve this warm on its own or with icing sugar dusted when cooled. This sits well for a day in fridge and tastes great cold as a thick set custard slice jammed with fruit.

Paneer Skewers

 These skewers are easy to make and a great hit with both adults and kids alike !

Ingredients:

Paneer cubes - 500 gms
Cherry tomatoes - 250 gms/ 1 small punnet
Capsicums - 2 medium, cubed
Yogurt - 4 tbspn
Ginger and Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Shan Tandoori powder - 2 tbsp
bamboo Skewers

Method:

Make a marinate with yogurt, ginger and garlic paste and tandoori powder. Add the paneer cubes to this and mix well. Let them marinade for atleast 1 hour, or overnight in the fridge if you have time.

Soak the bamboo skewers in a pan of cold water so they don't burn during the cooking process.

Skewer the marinated paneer cubes alternating with cubed capsicum and cherry tomatoes.

You can cook these skewers on a flat pan with little oil or on a grill. I chose to bake the skewers, I used a non stick pizza tray and sprayed it with oil before lining it with the paneer skewers.

Bake for 15 minutes in 180 degrees in a preheated oven, these cook pretty quick so keep checking for doneness, turning once mid point to cook the skewers evenly.

Serve with mint chutney.

Kachi Haldi ki Sabzi (Fresh Turmeric Curry)

Turmeric is one of the key spices used in Indian cooking, besides giving the dish a vibrant golden hue, turmeric is also well known for its medicinal properties - it's an antioxidant and is also known to have anti-inflammatory effects. The benefits are many and we find raw turmeric in abundance here in wet market and supermarkets in Singapore. I wanted to give it a try to incorporate this spice in its raw form and experimented with this favorite dish of Rajasthan, India. Happy to say, it is a dish worth repeating!

Ingredients:

Kachi Haldi (Fresh Turmeric) - 300 gms

Peas - 1 cup

Yogurt - 2 cups

Tomatoes - 3 

Ginger and garlic paste - 1 tsp

Green Chilies - 4

Clove powder - 1/4 tsp

Black pepper powder - 1/4 tsp

Cinnamon powder - 1 pinch

Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon

Cumin Powder - 1 tablespoon

Hing or Asafetida - 1 pinch

Anise seed powder -1/4 spoon

Ghee or oil - 4 tablespoon.

Salt to taste

Method:

Wash, peel and grate the haldi. Take ghee/oil in a pan and fry the grated haldi. Fry the haldi well to kill the bitter taste of the fresh haldi.

Make a paste with chopped tomatoes, ginger and green chilies to this.

Add the spice powders- cloves, cumin, coriander, anise seed, cinnamon, pepper, hing to the yogurt and whisk.

Fry the peas and keep in a bowl.

Once all the preparation is done, the next step is to bring all these flavors and ingredients together.

Heat a tablespoon of ghee in a pan. Add the tomato paste to it and stir fry until the ghee separates from the paste. Add fried peas and the grated fried haldi. Mix together and now add the yogurt and spice mix, stirring constantly until the curry comes to a boil. Cover and cook for another 5-7 minutes, stirring now and then. 

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve with chapati or rice or any bread of your choice.