Bottle Gourd Pudding/Dudhi Kheer/Sorakaya Payasam

--by Pallavi (This recipe has been cross posted at All Things Yummy)
Ah .. the Bottle Gourd.. Sorakaya.. Anapakaya.. Dudhi..Lauki..Opo.. whatever you call it.. is such a yummy vegetable. If you are a reader on my blog, then you would know how much I love it and so does my little one...and all the more reason for me to make in different ways to enjoy it with new tastes.. This is the bottle gourd dessert thats a hit with any crowd. I made this for a PotLuck dinner over the weekend, so thats why you see the proportions are enough to feed a few families :) And I overheard atleast a couple of kids say - "Mommy - some more of this ". So, thought it would be appropriate to share here. Please adjust quantities as per your needs.



Ingredients:
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1 small Bottle Gourd/Dudhi/Lauki (finely grated)
1/2 Gallon Whole Milk (or about 1.5 litres)

1 can Carnation Sweetened condensed milk(14oz)
1 cup Sago/Sabudana/Saggu Biyyam (soaked in about 2 cups of water)
1/2 cup rice (cooked)
2 Tbsp Sugar
3 Cardamom (de-skinned, powdered)
2 Tbsp Ghee (Clarified butter) / Butter/ Oil.

For Garnish:
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Blanched Almonds
Golden Raisins
Cashews, Pistachios and any other nuts you like.

Process:
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In a sauce pan, add 1 Tbsp of Ghee, add the grated bottle gourd and saute a little bit for about 5 minutes.
Add the milk and let the vegetable cook in it. Add the cardamom powder After about 5 minutes, add the sago along with the water. Stir frequently to make sure the milk doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
Cook on low heat until the bottle gourd and the sago is cooked completely, stirring to make sure the milk layer isn't browning in the bottom of the pan. Takes about 15-20 minutes.
Add the condensed milk and sugar. Add the cooked rice stir and continue cooking.

Simmer to desired consistency. You dont want to make it too thick when its hot. It should be of running consistency when you turn the heat off. After it cools, it becomes much thicker but it should still be of a flowy consistency thats served in bowls. Refrigerate and wait until its cold. I usually make it 12 hours ahead of time to give it enough time to be chilled.

Just before you are ready to serve, take a small frying pan, put the remaining ghee, warm it and add the nuts and raisins to it. Add it to the pudding and serve .

Serves about 10-12 people. Enjoy !

Blueberry Orange Smoothie

--posted by Pallavi
[This recipe has been cross-posted at All Things Yummy]
As the weather gets warmer, its nice to have a refreshing and cold drink. Here is an easy and quick mixed fruit recipe. It is one of the many combinations created by my darling husband... I will be posting more of these mixed fruit smoothie recipes as the summer comes along...! Are quite refreshing, healthy, easy to make and the little ones will love them...


Ingredients:
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1 Cup Blueberries(Fresh/Frozen)
1 Orange (peeled/de-skinned) (Sweet ones work great)
1 Cup Grapes(Seedless Green / Black) - we used both
1 Banana
1 tsp Honey
some crushed ice(optional) - we skipped it this time.

Process:
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Add all the ingredients to the blender/juicer and blend to form a thick yummy smoothie. Thats it !
Serve it with a toast for breakfast, after lunch, as a quick drink after school, or after supper.
Its absolutely delicious and quite healthy. Enjoy !
Servings : 4

Pick your Own...

Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven -- Tagore

Seeing Chandrika’s post made me do this. Yes, finally. I had a yearning to take little S to the orchards where she can get to “pick her own” fruits. Not that that would make her eat all her fruits with a glee but just because she would know that fruits grew on trees and not in Shop Rite. With my tomato and beans and okra (last year) plants she has got the hang of where they come from but she was yet to see a fruit laden tree from where you could pluck them. So since I couldn’t grow a fruit tree in my backyard I thought the best would be to take her to the orchards

Last week was pretty hectic with some unexpected but very welcome guests popping in and staying with us for the better part of the week. The guest was my friend with her 4 year old en route to India who had to stop and spend time at my place due to some messed up travel plan. Since it was summer but the heat was not overbearing we took the kids to an orchard near my home. The strawberry season was over and the peaches were just ripening to be picked, so peaches it was.

The rows and rows of peach trees were laden with fruits, there was fruit hanging from all possible branches and the kids had a fun time plucking them and plonking them in the basket. They ran through the trees, hung on the delicate branches (you are not really allowed to do that) and had a general good time.

Little hands picking the fruit

I would suggest a trip to these orchards a very good way to entertain your kids during summer. Its relaxing, exhilarating and reminds you of the days when you would climb up the guava tree and get a bunch of green guavas in the nook of your long A line frock.

Luscious Peaches

Some links to Pick your Own farms
Pick your Farm from here -- State by State listing
Pick your Farm in NJ -- NJ listings

(this post shared in part at Bong Mom's Cook Book)

The Sneaky Chef - A review

You want your kids to grow healthy. But they aren't eating their daily veggies. They just give a blunt 'No!' or sometimes, 'I don't like it', or sometimes even 'I hate veggies' or just leave it in their plate for you to wonder and wonder 'how on earth am I going to get this inside them' .....

Sometimes they go through phases of eating just peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for every meal.. And sometimes this phase goes longer than what a mom can take. So, you swallow your disappointment and try to cook it differently, more interestingly. You put a plate of fancy cut sandwiches and cute looking veggies and dips in front of them - all very colorful and keep your fingers and toes crossed- Does that work? NO! You try to tell them - Veggies are good, darling... If you eat them, you can grow as tall as 'Barney' or 'Diego' or whomever your kid fancies at the time... and then hope and pray that this works... - does it work?

Well, With some kids, some of these ploys work, but with most, it doesn't. So, what does a mom do? Sneak them!!! Yep, Missy Chase Lapine says 'sneak those veggies in the foods kids love'.

Ms.Lapine, the author of the best-seller 'The Sneaky Chef' comes to the rescue. She takes a list of the kid's favorite foods and takes another list of super foods and finds a way to sneak in the stuff from the second list to the first.. How does she sneak it in? She purees the veggies and sneaks them into brownies and pasta sauces and mac and cheese and other stuff...... Well, This idea has been there for a long time. Think of zucchini breads and carrot muffins. But I'd say she takes this approach a step further and have used it in foods that kids usually don't mind eating. She also suggests ways to make ahead a few purees and store them in the freezer for quicker cooking..

Some of her free recipes found in the web and from the Author's website.

• Make-Ahead Recipe: Green Juice
• Make-Ahead Recipe: Purple Puree
• Make-Ahead Recipe: White Puree
• Make-Ahead Recipe - Orange Puree
• Sneaky Chef Brainy Brownies
• Earth Day Milk Shake
• Tomato Sauce
  
• Mac and Cheese
• Power Pizza
• Peanut butter & Jelly muffins

Some may disagree with this approach... This isn't the right way to get the kids to eat their veggies. I beg to differ.. What's stopping us from keep trying to get them eat their veggies in the usual way, while also sneaking it into stuff they like. And when they start eating their veggies, you can always stop your sneaking in.

While I haven't had the chance to try these stuff on my kiddo yet (She's just 9 mo and eating what I stuff in her mouth) but if she grows up into the kind of kid who hates veggies, I wouldn't hesitate to try this approach.

Again, you don't have to use the ideas given in the book only for the recipes mentioned in the book.. Similar approach can be used for Indian cooking too... Making green dosas or colorful idlis or colored rice and parathas or rotis... etc In addition to increasing the nutrition quotient, you can also use veggies into giving color for food stuff without using the harmful chemical food colors. Take this idea and get creative.

A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do. ;)

P.s. Not affiliated or associated with 'The Sneaky Chef' or 'Amazon.com' or any other links mentioned above.

Spring Food, Japanese Lunchboxes and Fenugreek

I am sure you are all wondering what do all these have in common. Well I hope it is ok to inform you here at DesiMomz that these are the latest articles on The Daily Tiffin.

Many of you probably know the gorgeous Nandita, she is doing a current series called "Inside The Indian Household." This week she discusses Fenugreek and gives a couple of her great recipes.
A new member to our team, JG has written a great introductory article for our Tiffin Tuesday session. JG talks about The Art of Japanese Lunchboxes. It's not only about Japanese food but about the concept of preparing healthy lunch boxes for your kids.
Lastly, I wrote a short piece on fruit and vegetables of the season. Spring Food discusses a few great fruit and vegetables that are now appearing in our produce sections and markets. Check it out and I would really love it if some of you would add your own fruit/veg of the season to complete the list.

Hope you enjoy the articles.