Hassle Free Peeling Of Garlic- Tuesday's Tip

Peeling garlic can very time consuming, but we also know that most of the Indian recipes that we cook , demands us to add garlic.


Okay! I agree that we can avoid adding garlic to some of the meals but most of the dishes like Schezwan Sauce/ Indo- Chinese Chutney, lehsuni daal, garlic chutney, daal tadka, instant tomato garlic pickle is incomplete, in fact almost impossible to cook without garlic.

I think one must not avoid adding garlic to the recipes because it not only enhances the taste but it is also very good for health. Garlic regulates one's blood pressure and is packed with vitamins and nutrients. 
 
Even when we like aroma of garlic, we also hate to peel it, but today on Tuesday's Tip I will share 3 easy ways to peel garlic.



Tip 1-

One of the most common ways to peel is separate the cloves from the bulb and then  press each clove of garlic firmly with the flat side of a chef's knife. The force will help to crush the clove and the papery skin will be loosened. From there, you can easily remove the skin.

Tip 2-
If you have time to spare, then soak garlic cloves in the bowl of cold water for 10-15 minutes. Once they've been in the water , the outer skin will slip off easily.

 Tip 3-

This is the quickest one.The trick  is to microwave the cloves for approximately 15 to 20 seconds on high power. The skin will separate away from the clove making it easier to peel.

After using these tips the peeling of garlic is pretty an easy job and pain free. Do try these tips and enjoy "hassle free" garlic peeling.

Enjoy garlic meals :-)

  

* Disclaimer :::: Not all the information mentioned above is my own and some of it are taken from various books and online sources like Google including the pics. My pics will have my logo on them , rest all are taken randomly from Google 

Tomatoes Pickled Chutney

We Indians love chutneys-any type, anytime and with all most all kinds of food. This is tomatoes and garlic chutney which can be served with sandwiches, rotis, muthiya, cheela, pancakes, rice, khakhra etc etc  (the list is endless :)). At my home chutney is always there ready in fridge because we enjoy it with all our meals. This is a quick chutney recipe; I hope you will relish it with your food like us!...

Tomatoes are very rich in Vitamin C and thus must be consumed in good amount. This chutney is made using pickle spices and that is why the taste is different- a unique combination of chutney and pickle. 

Ingredients:

• 5 tomatoes
• 6-7 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp fennel seeds/ saunf
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds/ rai/ sarson
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds/ methi
• 1/2 tsp black pepper seeds/ kali mirch
• 1 bay leaf/ tej patta
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/4 cup water

Method:

1. Grind tomatoes and garlic in a blender. Puree it completely.
2. Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, bay leaf, fenugreek seeds, black pepper seeds and fennel seeds.
3. When the seeds crackle, add the tomato garlic paste. 
4. Mix chiili powder and salt in the water.
5. Add water spices mixture in the pan and cover.
6. Cook till water evaporates and thick chutney is left.

Serve hot or cold. You can use this chutney for a week.

Tip: Having a party at home and wanna have finger food? Buy chips packet from the market and serve them with chutney. New version of salsa and nachos is ready!.

Event by Archana's Kitchen - Summer Fiesta

How To Avoid Over-Flowing Of Milk- Tuesday's Tip

All of us have to boil milk so that it does not curdle and produce stale smell. There are so many Indian recipes which requires boiling milk, like making paneer/cottage cheese, making deserts like sandesh, rasgulla etc. Boiling the milk can be a tricky task; one has to stand and guard so that milk doesn't overflow. There is an easy tip that if followed will help to avoid milk over flowing.

If milk over flows your stove and the vessel gets stained. You not only have to bother cleaning the stains but also have to pour some extra milk to replace the milk that has wasted in over flowing. 
Here is the quick tip. Before you pour milk into the pot for boiling, rub butter/ghee/oil along the top edge and the inside lip of the pot. Due to this, the milk won’t overflow when it foams up.

I have tried this so many times and yes it is effective. So stop gaurding the boiling milk and use that time to do something else.Do try this and let me know :-) See you with another tip on next Tuesday.

* Disclaimer :::: Not all the information mentioned above is my own and some of it are taken from various books and online sources like Google including the pics. My pics will have my logo on them , rest all are taken randomly from Google 

French Crepes Cake Layered With Blueberry Sauce And Topped With Mango Mousse

After so many days I am back with another recipe. I have made French Crepe Cake filled with Blubbery sauce and topped it with Mango mousse. Crepes are very popular in France, it is like a very thin pan cake that can be filled with fruits, vegetables, nutella etc etc. Crepes cake is the layers of crepes that are stuck on top of each other till it form into the shape of a cake. I used blueberry sauce to layer the cake and finally covered it with egg-less mango mousse.Tangy taste of mousse and sweet taste of blueberry complimented the taste and the cake was yum. I made this as my entry in Blogger's Buzz competition.

Blogger's Buzz is not any common virtual event, it is an "Actual" event that will take place in London on 23rd Feb 2013. We are all very excited to be a part of Blogger's Buzz and hope to have lot of fun.

Ingredients
For Crepes (will make 40 crepes)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 eggs
• 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For Bluberry Sauce

• 100 grams white chocolate
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup blueberry
• 2 tbsp  unsalted butter.

For Mango Mousse (see step by step pictures here)

• 1 cup alphonso mango pulp
• 1 sachet of gelatin
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp fresh ginger (adrak) juice
• 1 tsp finely crushed mint leaves (phudina)
• 3/4 cup whipped cream 

Method:
For Crepes

1. Mix all the ingredients till it forms smooth batter.
2. Melt the butter in the non stick pan and add a spoon full of the batter on it, swirl until the pan is covered with the batter.
3. Cook till the crepes leaves the sides, flip and cook on another sides for 2 minutes.
4. Keep reapateing the step till all the crepes are ready. 

For Bluberry sauce

1. Grind together cream and blueberries till cream turns in light purple color
2. Take pan and heat cream-blueberries mixture with white chocolate and butter.
3. Mix till chocolate and butter melts.
4. Allow it cool.

For Mango Mousse
(see step by step pictures here)

1. Soak gelatin in 5 tbsp of cold water.
2. Add the mango pulp, milk and sugar, mix well and bring to boil, while stirring continuously.
3. Remove from the flame and strain the mixture using a sieve.
4. Transfer the mixture into a steel bowl and place the bowl in a deep vessel filled with ice-cubes for 8 to 10 minutes or until the mixture cools and thickens. Whisk the mixture vigorously and continuously till it is in ice-cubes vessel to avoid any lump formation.
5. Add whipped cream and fold gently and freeze till you assemble the cake

Assembling cake

1. Take one crepe and spread bluberry sauce on it, cover it with one more crepe and cover it with blueberry sauce again.
2. Keep repeating till the same step till all the crepes are done.
3. Freeze for sometime.
4. Cake the cake and cover it with mango mousse. I used the simple spoon technique called as forming waves to decorate the cake.

Take all the crepes

 Lay on the plate and spread blueberry sauce.

 

 Keep repeating the step and assembling the crepes.

This is how it will look when all the crepes are assembled.

 

 Finally cover it with mango mousse and top up with blueberry sauce.

Clean Microwave in 5 minutes- Tuesday's Tip

Today I will share the simplest and the quickest way to clean microwave. This method is so very easy that anyone can do it. I know and I understand that cleaning microwave can be a tough task and for some very expensive too. There are so many microwave cleaners available in the market that cost much and are not very effective.
Many of us are so busy with our work that we usually ignore that microwave is dirty and is caked with food and splashes of oil and dirt everywhere; we all want to clean it but we think that cleaning is very time consuming and thus we shun that.


Today I will share the secret to clean microwave in only 5 minutes,this tip will not only clean it but also remove dirty odors. It only requires water, vinegar. Result: a sparkling clean microwave!

Here is the tip:-
Fill a microwave safe bowl with 1-2 cups of water and add a dash of vinegar (about a tablespoon or two). Put the bowl in the microwave, shut the door, and turn it on for 5 minutes.
The steam from the bowl will help loosen up dirt and bits of food, and the vinegar will help eliminate any odors. Once the 5 minutes are up you can start cleaning right away, or if you’ve got stubborn dirt just leave the door shut for a few more minutes for the steam to continue to work its magic.

Be careful when you pull the bowl out, it will be very hot. Remove the turntable tray (carefully, it will be hot as well) and wash it in the sink. Now just take a cloth and wipe down the inside of the microwave; the dirt and food will come right off!

I was able to clean off dirt without scrubbing. Mostly what I saw when I looked at the microwave were the big spills on the bottom. But after I was done cleaning I realized the entire thing had gone five shades whiter! Don’t just assume your microwave is yellow. It’s not. Microwaves are white.

Happy Cleaning!! I hope this tip was useful.


* Disclaimer :::: Not all the information mentioned above is my own and some of it are taken from various books and online sources like Google including the pics. My pics will have my logo on them , rest all are taken randomly from Google