Star Fruit Upside down cake

    My mom periodically sends me these wonderful fruits called star fruits which grow abundantly in her backyard garden. While some of them are eaten , most of the times they just rot in my fruit basket and seriously I hate to see that. So this time around I googled star fruit recipes and it came up with some interesting ones, one of which was the  Star Fruit Upside Down Cake. 

Star fruit also know as Carambola, is a native of Philippines, Indonesia , India and Sri lanka.

Carambolas are rich in anti oxidants, vitamin A , vitamin C and potassium. The fruit in cross-section is a five point star and hence the name Star fruit.

Star-Fruit Upside Down Cake :

Ingredients : 

 
3 to 4 star fruit, sliced
1/4 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
Juice of 2 Florida passion fruit / Orange
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2  eggs
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup  milk
1 tsp. each of vanilla and almond extract

P.S : If using orange juice use orange essence instead
  
Preheat oven to 350 F / 150 C.
Arrange sliced starfruit in bottom of a greased 9 inch cake pan as close together as possible.You can also place cherries in between the spaces to give an added effect.
Mix together 1/4 cup butter, brown sugar and passion fruit/ orange juice and pour into pan, turning so mixture covers bottom. Set aside.
Cream together 1/2 cup of butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beat well.
Mix together dry ingredients. Add flour mixture, alternately with milk, to butter mixture. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts. Pour into prepared cake pan.
 Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until cake pulls away form sides of pan.
Let cool for five minutes before inverting onto serving plate.

Pantry Raid I

Ever since we finalised our decision to move back to sunny California...a million thoughts have been racing my mind...all the packing, cleaning, cooking, work, husband, kids.....I didn't know how I was going to do it all , although one thing was sure, I had to clean up my over stocked pantry. The movers were going to move our things based on pounds, and I knew for sure that if they were to move my stuff in the pantry...it would be one hell of a price to pay - LOL.

So I opened my pantry with the hopes of clearing it..but was soon overwhelmed with the idea of making something with each and every thing. So I guess most of it will be donated to friends and the homeless and the needful....but then there were some that could probably be our breakfast , lunch, dinner and dessert for the next couple of days which would literally save me from the trips to the grocery store . Anyways...I had to do what I had to do....so I started off with something that I really really love - Lychee's. One thing I always have in my pantry are canned Lychees - and lots of them. Lychees are one of my favorite fruits..I find canned lychees better and easier to eat than the fresh ones. At home, my son and I almost practically eat them after lunch, after dinner, as a snack, in a shake and sometimes when the sweet craving is beyond these things, I make a lychee pudding.

This recipe was borrowed from my friend, Nirupa who used to make it all the time for pot-lucks and dinners and ever since , has been my favorite dessert. It uses only four ingredients and makes a delicious dessert in no time at all except, of course, for the setting time .

So here goes :

Found in my pantry :

1. Lychee cans
2. Condensed milk
3. Gelatin

Lychee Pudding :

Heavy Whipping cream - 1 Pint

Condensed Milk ( 6 oz can)- 1

Unflavored Gelatin - 2 Packets

Canned Lychee - 2 Cans

Combine the whipping cream and condensed milk in a bowl. I find the pudding a little too sweet when I add the entire condensed milk. I just add half of it. If you prefer it sweeter, you can add more.

Open the lychee cans and reserve one cup of the lychee syrup and throw away the rest. Chop the lychee into four quarters and add it into the cream mixture.

Heat the reserved lychee syrup for about 30 seconds in the micro-wave and add the 2 packets of gelatin in it. When the gelatin completely dissolves in the juice add it to the cream mixture and mix well until well combined. Pour the lychee mixture in a serving bowl or a glass dish and allow to set for about 6-8 hours before serving.

Roll the Appam

Surullapam

Growing up, this used to be my favorite evening snack for tea. Mom used to make it all the time and I devoured each and every single one of them. Well today I opened my freezer and saw this big packet of grated coconut sitting for quite sometime and wanted to do something with it. It was tea-time and of course I made my mom’s surullappam. As I was eating them, my husband watched me intently as I was trying to take a bite with the whole thing intact..the delicate darlings that they are ...and he mentioned the reason why they were called surullappam is …apparently you just roll them up yet again (bottom to top) and eat them… which is a much faster way I guess!! True or not..or maybe he was just kidding..it definitely was a faster way to eat it...cas I had three down in no time at all !!!


Ingredients :

All –Purpose Flour – 1 Cup
Egg – 1
Salt – a pinch
Grated Coconut – 1 ½ Cup
Sugar – 4-5 tsp
Cardamom – 3-4


Whisk the egg in a bowl. Slowly add the all purpose flour. Add a pinch of salt and gradually add water. The batter should be very thin and should have a pouring consistency.


Crush the cardamom pods in a mortar and a pestle. In a bowl, combine the cardamom, grated coconut and sugar, mix well and keep aside.


Heat a flat pan or tava, rub some oil on the tava with a kitchen towel. Pour a ladle full of the batter in the form of a circle starting from the ends of the pan and swirl the pan so the batter comes to the center to form a complete circle. If you do see some holes, just pour a little bit batter to cover them up. This cook in seconds and there’s no need to flip. Add a spoonful of the coconut mixture in the middle and fold one side and roll it all the way to the other end. When serving, garnish with confectioners sugar.

Black Glutinous Rice Pudding

My first recipe post begins with something sweet, yup and it's healthy too.Black glutinous rice, also known as black sticky rice, has long dark grains and a nutty taste reminiscent of wild rice.This rice is mostly in thai, chinese and philippino desserts. You can get this rice at any asian stores in the US. The basic recipe calls for coconut milk, but here I have used grated coconut.It can be baked or cooked like rice. It has numberous health benefits like helping lower cholestrol levels and improving blood circulation...so I guess we can consider this a healthy dessert - right ?

Ingredients

Red Rice – 1 Cup
Water – 2 ½ Cups
Salt – a pinch
Sugar -2 ½ tbsp
Grated Coconut – 1/3 Cup

Soak the red rice with some water for about 15 minutes. Pressure cook the rice with 2 ½ cups of water for about 2 whistles or 10 minutes. Add a pinch of salt to the rice. Once the rice is cooked, add the sugar and the grated coconut.

Garnish with a little grated coconut of top while serving.