Cherry Chocolate Icecream- without an icecream maker

Having a meal without anything sweet is like a valentine's day without chocolates...says B. With time B has developed his preference for icecreams which surpasses his love for anything and I actually mean anything!! So, instead of a dessert that heats things up, here's one to cool him down: a chocolate-cherry ice cream that's tinted just the tiniest hint of pink. I dont remember if I have mentioned his love of icecream before but he can live on icecreams atleast for a week..( I think so....)


Even if its really really hot where you live right now this ice cream will help. I mean, it won’t make it any cooler outside, but you’ll be so enthralled with the smooth vanilla ice cream, the tart and sweet cherries and the crunchy bits of rich dark chocolate that you won’t notice how hot it is for a few minutes.

I have used a ready made vanilla ice cream from my grocery store. This saves time and gives you the exact taste of what you are actually looking for.


Here goes the recipe,

Ingredients:
1/2 kg ready vanilla ice cream
1 1/2 cups pitted ripe sweet cherries

1/2 cup almonds (roughly chopped)
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine, keep in freezer until used.

Method: I used a ready made ice cream which means we just have to add in all the ingredients turn by turn. Firstly you simmer the cherries and almonds in a deep saucepan untill the cherries soften. Check for sweetness. Cool aside. Pour in the mixture into the  vanilla ice cream and churn it well with a spatula.
Lastly add in the choclate chunks and churn again.

Freeze it for few hours or untill the icecream sets.

Coconut Barfi

A couple of months ago, my brother bought me a book A walk to Remember. I read about the book earliar and I knew its a sad story. I was hesistant initially but I acquiesced.



When I finished my book, I realised it was one of those books which one cant forget so soon.


The story is all about Jamie a 17 year high school student who was never famous in school. She carried her bible every where she went and she dies fighting cancer. She marries Landon, never in a thousand years would anyone think would fall in love with her.


Reading wasnt a hobby untill I started reading some quality novels. The saddest thing about reading a novel is that majority of the people aren't exposed to the extraordinary world of novels. I think.... !! Some dont have the patience of going through every word and sentence till the end while some dont know what to read.

And just like reading every word on a page and having all the time and patience, coconut burfi too conveys the same sense.


Ingredients:
225 gms dry milk powder(khoya)
225 gms coconut (dry and ground)
1 tsp cardamom seeds (ground)
1 tbsp ghee
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1/2 tsp almonds (grated)


Method:
Mix khoya and coconut in a non-stick pan and fry them lightly with ghee on a low heat.
Add cardamom till stir well fragrant.
Prepare one-string syrup by dissolving sugar in the water.
Now stir the coconut mixture into the syrup.
Spread the prepared evenly over the plate and allow it to cool.
Now with the knife, cut it into desired shapes.

Garnish with almonds or desired nuts and serve

Coffee Espresso - Without a Coffee Machine!

Coffee is the most second popular beverage in India after “chai” or tea.In general, Indians like their beverage sweet and milky.In southern parts of India,filter coffee which is a preparation of fresh ground coffee beans using a metallic hand-held coffee filter is mostly consumed. The east indians swear by their love for cold coffee. In northern parts, you will find this frothy, overly sweet, overly milky and really creamy coffee which can be made within minutes at home.

Spicy Chicken Drumettes

This is an unusual chicken dish, slightly distracting if you go by what you see. You may feel from the way it looks that its heavy and loaded with spices and oil, but the bronze color is from the marination of soya sauce.

No Bake Chocolate Cheese Cake - Its Valentine's special

One of the most challenging thing about having a blog is being able to constantly feed it with enough inspiration. No matter what the circumstances are and how difficult your present life is, the blog needs to be updated. The feeling of creating an intresting post becomes a dificult task. It undermines my confident and makes me crazy. Like for this post, I despertately stared at the blank page for hours assuming to get filled by its own. My brain refuses to work and I feel I am out of recipes, innovative pictures and props to make things look worth it. Though I have few recipes lying in my draft for quite some time now yet they dont seem good enough to mention. On such days being a blogger is a real curse and I wonder what am I exactly doing here....(It was suppose to be a valentine post though!! )

Strawberry Shrikhand/ Strawberry infused Greek Yoghurt

Happiness and peace is a state of mind. It is rightly said that whatever you have in your head you feel it in your heart. B says it almost twice a day. He thoroughly believes in it and has successfully passed on his preachings to me. For me there are alot of small, little, unimportant for some kind of things which gives me immense happiness and is enough to lit my smile. I know this is an unusual post for a food blog but whats the harm in getting serious in life (atleast sometimes)!

Makki Di Roti/ Cornmeal from Maize Flour

  It was again one of those rare days when unplanned things go well. B getting naustalgic remembered how well his mother used to make him those traditional food. He went on with all those desi food, finally asking me if I could make makki di roti for him. I am still to figure out if he posed me with a challenge, pull my leg Or it was just a casual question which met with an instant reaction. I jumped with a YES! (I had to prove it to him I can cook good if not better).