Home made Pineapple Jam for Pineapple Tarts

Chinese New Year is around the corner and everyone is busy with baking goodies, shopping and all. Pineapple tart is my favourite and last year I made both open face pineapple tart and enclosed pineapple tart. I didn’t post the recipe of pineapple jam. So here I am posting it. Pineapple jam is easy to prepare at home. You can prepare the jam in advance and use whenever you want.

 

Ingredients

• Small ripe pineapple – 1 (about 2lbs/1kg)
• Sugar – ¾ cup (185g)
• Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
• Cloves – 2
• Star anise -2

Method

Peel and core pineapple. Chop into small pieces. Process them in a food processor or blender until smooth paste.

Heat a heavy bottom pan; add pineapple paste, lemon juice, sugar, cloves and star anise and mix. Simmer uncovered over medium heat. Stir frequently until it become thick about 20-25 minutes.

If you are able to make a ball out of the jam, then that is the right stage to switch off the heat. Transfer the jam to a shallow dish, let it cool. Remove cloves and star anise.

Store in airtight container and keep in refrigerator.

Open Face Pineapple tart

Enclosed Version

 

Summer Pudding | Pudding Recipes | Pudding with Berries | Healthy Desserts

A pudding with mixed berries, easy to make and a perfect cool dessert for a hot day.  Moreover this is a healthy dessert. To make it more healthier version replace white sandwich bread slices with whole meal bread slices. Got this recipe from "Healthy Desserts" book.

Spicy Honey Chicken | Chicken Recipes

This is a dry version that can be served as a starter or side dish. You can make a wet version of this by adding water mixed with corn flour.

 

 

 

Ingredients

• Boneless Chicken Breasts – 2 ( 250g )
• Capsicum – ½
• Corn flour – ½ cup
• Onion – 1
• Dry red chillies – 2 or 3
• Soya sauce – 1tsp
• Honey – 2 tsp
• Tomato ketchup – 2tbsp
• Red chilli sauce – 1 tbsp
• Vinegar – 1½ tbsp
• Spring onion – for garnishing
• Oil - for frying

• Marinade
• Egg – 2
• Black pepper powder – ½ tsp
• Chilli powder – 1 ½ tsp
• Corn flour - 1 tbsp
• Oil – 1 tbsp.
• Salt – ½ tsp

Method

Wash the chicken and cut into bite size cubes. Mix the ingredients written under marinade and marinate the chicken pieces and keep it in the fridge for an hour.

After an hour, sprinkle corn flour on the marinated chicken and mix well. Make sure each chicken piece is coated with corn flour.

Heat a pan on a medium heat; add enough oil for deep frying. Deep fry the chicken pieces until golden brown.  Drain and keep aside.

Cut the capsicum into bite size cubes. Cut the onion into 8 pieces.

Heat a non-stick fry pan, add 2 tsp oil. Reduce heat, break dry red chillies into bits and add it and stir.

Remove the pan from fire, add soya sauce and honey. Mix well. Add tomato ketchup, red chilli sauce and vinegar and mix. Return the pan to fire and sauté for few seconds.

Add onion and capsicum sauté for few seconds. (If you don’t like the dry version, add ½ cup of water mixed with 1 tsp corn flour at this stage. Bring it to boil and follow the below steps else skip this)

Add fried chicken pieces and sauté. Make sure each piece is coated with the sauce. Remove from fire, garnish with spring onion and serve hot.

 

 

Yellow Corn Flour Puttu | Yellow Corn Meal Puttu | Manjal Chola Mavu Puttu | Manja Mavu Puttu

This is one of my childhood favourite that my mom used to make for evening snack. This puttu can be served as a breakfast or evening snack.

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

• Yellow Corn Flour/ Corn Meal - 2 cups
• Grated coconut - 1 cup
• Salt to taste

Method:

In a bowl mix yellow corn flour and salt. Sprinkle little water and mix well without any lumps. Again sprinkle little water and mix well without any lumps. Repeat sprinkling water & mixing until you get the right consistency. The flour should be wet enough for steaming. It should not become too watery. The right consistency should be you could make a ball with the flour and it could be breakable in to flour.

Fill the puttu kudam with water(quantity should be from ½ to ¾ th of puttu kudam). Close it with the lid and heat it.

Once the flour mixture is ready, fill the puttu maker with coconut layer and flour mixture.

Layer the puttu maker with some grated coconut first, then the ragi mixture and then the grated coconut again. Repeat the coconut layer and ragi mixture until you fill the puttu maker. ( for step by step explanations with pictures click here.) Now the puttu kuzhal is ready with flour.

Once the water in the puttu kudam starts boiling, fit the puttu kuzhal and heat it until the steam comes out from the top of the puttu maker. Continue heating for 5 more minutes and remove from heat.

Serve with sugar and banana.

 

More Puttu Varieties

Ragi Flour/Finger Millet Puttu

Rice Flour Puttu

 

 

Linking this to Akila's Dish Name starts with "Y"

 

Wheat flour and Dates Syrup Steamed Cake | No Egg No Butter Steam Cake | Healthy Evening Snack Recipes

This one of a healthy snack that can be prepared with minimum efforts, now a days this is one of evening snack for my kids.

Mug Bread Pudding | 2 Minute Bread Pudding | Microwave Bread Pudding | Pudding Recipes

For this pudding any bread will work,  I used regular sandwich bread, but richer the bread, the richer the bread pudding.