Candied orange peels

One of the things that I am consciously trying to do these days is reduce the amount of waste that is produced by my household. Though I still have a long way to go to be zero waste, I am on the path towards this goal. To this end, I now take my own cloth shopping bags to the stores, use reusable storage bags to store fresh produce and am trying my best to avoid single use plastics. Most vegetable peels are turned into stock and I make my own household cleaner with citrus peels. This time, though, I tried something different with orange peels. I made candied orange peels. This is quite an easy recipe, though it requires a little bit of time. The candied peels add great flavor to simple bakes like breads and cakes.

To make candied orange peels, you will need:
Peels from 3 oranges (washed and sliced into thin, long strips)
Water - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup

Boil 7-8 cups of water in a large saucepan. When it starts to boil, add the orange peels and let it boil uncovered, for 5 minutes. Drain and repeat the process again. This is done to remove the bitterness of the peels. If the peels are very bitter, you can boil and drain the water thrice. The orange peels that I used this time were not very bitter and it was enough to boil them twice.
Heat half a cup of water in a pan. Add sugar to it. Once the sugar dissolves, add the orange peels and let them cook on low heat for 20-25 minutes. Remove the peels onto a cooling rack and leave them to dry overnight. If there is any sugar syrup left, you can use it in smoothies or juices. Store the peels in an airtight container.

Do check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 84.

Love letter - my favorite hostel snack

Like all hostels, the one I lived in when I went to college was not known for the food it served. In fact, there were some dishes that were downright unpalatable. However, given the fact that we were young and almost always ready to eat, we polished off pretty much everything that was served in the mess hall, no matter how it tasted. One of the things that I really looked forward to is a snack that the chechis in the mess made in the evening. Popularly known as "love letter", possibly due to the fact that it has something sweet rolled into it, I am not sure if this dish has a different name.

What you need:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Water
Salt - a pinch
Mix the ingredients to a smooth batter of pourable consistency.

For the filling:
Grated fresh coconut - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Cardamom powder - a pinch
Mix the ingredients together in a small bowl.

To make:
Heat a dosa tawa. Pour a ladleful of the batter and spread it into a circle. When you see bubbles beginning to appear, flip over and cook until there are brown spots on both sides. Place some filling inside and roll tightly.
Serve hot.

Do check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 84.

Plum jam

Making jam at home is not a difficult task. It is something for when you have lots of time on hand, though. You cannot hurry through it and there are no short cuts you can take. If you want your jam/preserve to last for a long time, then you must painstakingly follow the procedure and let it take its own time. This plum jam was made when plums were in season and this is my first entry for Blogging Marathon #64 under the theme Pickles & Preserves.


What you need :
Plum - 8 large, pitted and chopped (approx 4 cups)
Sugar - 1 cup, heaped
Time and Patience - immeasurably large amounts

In a large sauce pan, combine the chopped plums and sugar. Stir with a spoon and set aside for at least an hour. This helps the sugar to dissolve and the plum to release its juices.
Now bring the plum sugar mixture to a boil and then simmer on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let it come to room temperature. Repeat this step a total of four times, mashing the plums with the back of your spoon each time to get a chunky texture. If you don't want chunks in your final product, you could blitz it with a hand blender or blend it in your blender for a smoother texture. After simmering the mixture the fourth time, pour it into a sterilized, still hot glass jar, seal and allow to come to room temperature. This can be stored at room temperature until it is opened. Once opened, store in the refrigerator.

How to sterilize your glass jam jar :
Stand the glass jar upright in a large container of water. There must be enough water to cover the jar completely and then some. Bring the water to a boil and continue boiling for 15 minutes. Switch off heat and put the lid of the jar and the tongs you will be using into the water. Let it stay immersed for 10 minutes. Remove everything onto a clean paper towel and let stand for 1 minute. Pour the jam into the bottle while the bottle is still hot to avoid cracking.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#64

Seven cup cake - An easy Diwali sweet

 Seven cup cake is one of the sweets that my mother whips up with ease whenever there are guests or even when there aren't. Despite the name, this sweet is neither a cake nor a cup cake. It is in fact, more like a burfi - a very soft and addictive one at that. 

I have always been am scared to try my hand at making Indian sweets - in this case, because, turning out a perfect barfi that will hold its shape, and be not too soft(that will make it a halwa) or too hard (that will ensure that the dentist has a very happy Diwali) requires knowing the precise moment at which the heat is to be switched off.
With this recipe, chances of going wrong are very less(note that I didn't say nil) because it doesn't involve complicated steps like letting the sugar syrup reach a certain consistency or  hours and hours of stirring to get a glossy sheen. On the face of it, the recipe is pretty simple - you mix all the ingredients together, and stir them. The only catch is that you need to know when to take it off the stove. It is all very easy to say when the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan......but without practice, you won't know when the sides are just boiling and bubbling and when they start to sort of curl in to indicate that you can switch off the heat.
This is the first sweet that I have made for this Diwali and I can't help but gloat over the fact that I was able to slice it neatly into pieces and it just melts in the mouth.

What you need:
Besan/Gram flour - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Sugar - 3 cups

Take all the ingredients in a large, thick bottomed kadai. Mix well.

Cook on medium heat. I have pictorially tried to show you the various stages that the mixture will pass through.

When the mixture starts thickening and leaving the sides of the pan, pour on to a greased plate.

When warm, score with a sharp knife into square or diamond shapes.

Once cool, cut into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Sugary plantain

I've sternly told myself at the beginning of this year that I will waste less. No, it is not a resolution.....but it is something that I hope I will be able to incorporate as a daily practice.
You see, there's this problem that I have. There is a vegetable market within a stone's throw of where I live, not to mention umpteen supermarkets that stock fresh veggies and fruits. Every time I walk past, something or the other catches my eye and I end up buying it whether I need it or not. End result is that I end up with more veggies and fruits than my three member family needs(can eat) and there's always something that lies in that forgotten corner of the fridge and by the time it sees the light of day, it is quite likely to be (ummm.....now how do I put this nicely???)....inedible!!!
So, starting from now, I am only going to buy what I need and I am going to use it all up before I walk down to the market again.
Now, what has this got to do with plantains, you ask......
Well, I came back from my hometown laden with a whole lot of ripe plantains....most of which I managed to use up. Some of it,however, was in danger of being unceremoniously dumped into the dustbin. Now, we can't have that happening just after deciding that this is going to be No-Waste-Year, can we??? That's when I came up with this idea.
There's no recipe as such.
All that you have to do is take a few overripe plantains. Remove the skin and chop it up into small pieces. Add some sugar. I used three plantains and added about 6 tsp of sugar. How much sugar you use is totally up to you. Mix well. Add some ghee if you'd like to and microwave this on high for 6-8 minutes, stirring it halfway through, until some of the plantain pieces start browning. Let it cool and dig in!!!