Aval payasam with jack fruit flavour

Regret to inform that I have not clicked a picture of this invention, but when the verdict came from my family to be good , I thought I should be saving the recipe for future use and moreover my mother in law kept praising about it and my heart jumped with joy . So following is the recipe for the same and before entering to the recipe we need something called as 'chakkavaratiyathu' for this recipe which is similar to jam made with jack fruit pulp cooked and reduced in jaggery to a thick consistency.

Ingredients
Paper aval ( very thin beaten rice flakes) - 2 cups
Chaka varatiyathu - 3-4 tbsps
Coconut milk - of one full coconut 
Jaggery water - (  jaggery melted in 1 cup water and sieved to remove impurities )
Water - 2 cups
Cardomom powder - a pinch
Nuts - as required
Ghee - 2 tbpsn

Note : the amount of jaggery depends on the sweetness you prefer and sweetness of the chakka varitayathu

Method
Mix beaten  rice flakes, jaggery water, coconut milk and the chakka varatiyathu and  required amount of water in a pan and cook it until the contents are cooked this may not take long since beaten rice cooks very fast, sprinkle the cardamom powder for flavoring. Fry the nuts in ghee and add into the payasam for additional flavor 

Your quick jackfruit aval payasam is ready! 

Couscous with steamed vegetables

 This is specially for weigh watchers and is very very simple to make, assemble and fill your tummy for a quick dinner .. Here goes the recipe for the same

Ingredients
Couscous - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Salt - as required
A mix of vegs like carrot, mushroom , baby corn  or any of your choice in number and variety
For seasoning 
Extra virgin olive oil - 2 tbspn
Pepper powder - a pinch or as required
Fresh thyme - 2 - 3 tspns
Juice of one lime

Method
Boil the water, switch off the stove and add in the couscous and  a teaspoon of olive oil  and close it with lid for 10 mins.  Open and with a fork to check whether the couscous have absorbed all the water and become soft and fluffy  Add in the vegetables to this and also do the seasoning , mix well and enjoy!!

Hazelnut cookies coated with tempered chocolate

A post after a while :) and yes it is a cookie... This is one thing which is very easy with cookies is that its easy to make and you can finish of your work when you enjoy it in less time. And what better way to spend time with your kids when you bake along them. Had lots of hazelnut in my pantry bought for making home made Nutella, so thought of trying cookies with the same. Here goes a recipe for it

Ingredients
Hazelnut - 1/2 cup (powdered)
Almonds - 1/4 cup (powdered)
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Sugar ( powdered) - 1/3 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
Milk - if required

Method
Assemble all the ingredients in a mixing bowl except milk and gently mix together until it comes together. Make sure it doesn't come stiff or hard. If you feel so add  milk tsp by tsp to make the dough soft. Knead it softly . Make balls , flatten it and bake in a preheated oven at 150 degrees Celsius

If you check my other post of cookies, you will now how I bake my cookies :)

Once cookies are baked, let it cool in a wore rack .
Meanwhile temper dark chocolate and coat it over cookies and sprinkle sprinkles of your choice.