Stir Fried Yam (Chena Mezhukupuratti)

"A pan full of Yam" - Chenna Mezhukuparatee/ Sauteed yams

Onions can make you cry but this dish had me crying even before I peeled the onion. Why? Because this dish was prepped by mum when she visited in February 2015. I have almost no clue of how to peel and cut every root vegetable possible. And Dad and Mum used to grow these root veggies in their yard. Yam is one such root veggie that Mum and Dad carried with them to our home in Chennai. This was when they were visiting us for the first of the two times at Chennai, before Mum passed away.

She prepped this dish and asked me to cook half of it and refrigerate what I didn't need right away and so I did. When we were moving from Chennai, I need to clear up my fridge and I came to the container in the freezer and decided to have it on Saturday 27.6.2015.

This dish was physically prepped by Dad and Mom and finished off by me (after Mum passed away). The yam itself was homegrown. When Mum was prepping the dish for me, little did I know that only a few weeks away would Mum leave us for her Heavenly Abode.

I had first chosen to share this dish after New Year  as most homes would have been dialing down the extravagant meals after the festive season. I know of homes that go completely detox or purely vegetarian after all the indulgent weeks have gone by. But now with the Lenten season in, it seems apt to post this recipe.

I do not think I have consumed as much yam in my lifetime as I did while we were moving from our home in Chennai as I needed to use the prepped yam and would not let a morsel of it go to waste. Mum must have had a good laugh. Miss you Mum.

So since I didn't know how to skin the yam, Mum put Dad on the task as her skin was quite sensitive to it. Then Mum did the initial cooking of the yam and asked me to store the excess in the freezer and use as required. This root vegetable can actually be precooked and stored in the freezer even up to 6 months. I would not recommend it as the fresher your veggies are, better is their nutritional value.

So to make this simple recipe,

You need:

• Mustard seeds -  1 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig
• Onions - 1 medium size, sliced
• Green chilies -1-2 nos slit
• Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tbsps
• Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Elephant Foot Yam/Chenna - skinned and sliced - cut into long 1/4" sticks
• Coconut oil - 1 tbsp

The Make:
Preparation Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Serves 4 adults

1. Boil the yam in water with shake of salt, turmeric and some pepper powder.
2. Splutter mustard seeds in heated oil over medium heat in a non-stick pan or wok. Then add the curry leaves. Lower heat to medium-low.
3. Saute onions, green chilies, ginger garlic paste, turmeric, Coriander pwd and salt. 
4. Toss in prepped yam and saute for 10 minutes making sure to not have the yam stick or burn against the pan.
5. You can also leave out the green chilies and add a tablespoon of chili powder after tossing in the yam. Another alternative is to add pepper instead of the green chilies or chili powder. You can also add some jeera/cumin powder. 

Hope you enjoy this dish with a nice steaming bowl of rice and your favourite gravy.Serve hot with rice or chapatis.I went all out and added this as a mash in the centre of my dosa. I even tried it in some white pasta. 

Mango Jam #noPectin

It has been a while since I last posted a recipe on the G'Gina's Kitchenette. You know what they say, 'When life hands you lemons make lemonade!( or in this case use it as a part of your Jam - I know PJ)' But what do you do when it hands you death, accident, unwanted troubles and family and friends' health issues?

Well not to burden you with the details but I have had quite a few check in on me..I lost my Dad-in-law in July and have had some issues with family health. Also an unfortunate accident happened, one that I will learn from. I had once lost all hope. But I trust God will bring peace and favour to us.

Celebrating crossing 100,000 page views - Mango Soufflé #FoodieExtravaganza

G'Gina's Kitchenette has crossed another milestone and I am so thankful to all our readers. Reaching this milestone would never have been possible without my Good Lord and my constant inspiration Mummy.

So to celebrate this milestone, I would like to share my Mango Soufflé recipe as a part of our Foodie Extravaganza June event. I had a choice to either bake this soufflé or to use the normal double boiler method. I preferred the latter to allow the natural flavours of mango to appear. Not only did my little one like this soufflé, two of my friends (and neighbours) Divya and Ribu, did too. I missed on giving some to another friend and neighbour, so I may make this again this afternoon. In fact the talk of my making this soufflé was two-fold, one was as a part of the Foodie Extravaganza challenge and the other one is because there is a tradition that I follow from Mum. We never return an empty container back to anyone who offers us their food/delicacies. Ribu made this awesome fish curry for me to try and Divya offered me one of my many staples I used to regularly have in Hyderabad (Gongura Pickle). 

Cappuccino Cake #FoodieExtravaganza

I was truly delighted when I heard the theme of April's Foodie Extravaganza event 'Coffee Cake' by Caroline of Caroline's Cooking. So delighted that I even skipped the description or skimmed over the description of the event. She really meant any cake that would be accompanied by tea or coffee. Well no regrets! Coffee happens to be my favourite hot beverage.

In fact this is ideal as there are rare times when I am in a dilemma as to whether to have coffee or tea and have even wondered if  I should mix the two (eeeeeeeeks! I know). But such is the case when I have the dual feeling. I never crave tea as such but there are times when I cannot have coffee owing to the meal I had prior which left a heartburn or acidity. In these cases I think the Cappuccino cake would compliment the cuppa tea. A cuppa tea with Cappuccino Cake! Hmm!

I got a Bundt spring cake tin from Dad's and Mom's place. Mom had last baked a Christmas cake and guess what I found some residual crumbs stuck to the bottom of the tin. Yes and as you may have imagined, I spent a few minutes reminiscing over Mum's cakes and how she inspired me to bake cakes. I almost didn't want to use the cake tin until I felt Mum's voice saying, "Oh just get on with it girl, there isn't time!" And so I  did!

My little girl has her summer vacations so I am busy keeping her happy with her activities, play time with friends, etc. Elizabeth, a good friend of recent and my excellent neighbour, who I recently spoke of in the Pain Au Chocolat blog post generously assisted me with my presentation as I scurried to get my pictures before dusk. And as I nervously used my brand new DSLR to click pictures of my Cappuccino Cake creation. Yes! I can almost hear the many friends, family and colleagues say 'Finally there she gets her DSLR'. I have to tell you though I am still such a novice at it despite going to tutorials of the same. I need to spend time with this new baby.

Thank you whole heaps Elizabeth and darling Joanne who let me know how moist this cake turned out. Children never lie and Joanne said she liked the cake and so did my sous chef and admirer Isabelle my darling daughter. Hubby I have left enough cake for you too. So no more grumbling! John, Elizabeth's husband and Joanne's Dad too liked the cake. I am glad it turned out to be a life saving buffer Elizabeth ;).

You can make the Cappuccino from scratch or if it is too much for you, you can even buy Cappuccino satchets and make it. I did two things, one I used 2 satchets of Cappuccino coffee and I also used an extra strong coffee. I only did this as I was lacking time to make the same. Next time, I will make Cappuccino from scratch just to see if there is a difference or not.

Today is the birthday of three lovely neighbours - Priya Thomas:May you have a wonderful year ahead, a handsome little boy Sujith and a darling little girl Jiya. Hope you both have a fun birthday celebration and blessed year ahead.

On with the recipe,

You need:

For the cake batter:

• 270 gms or 2.5 cups of flour
• 2 satchets of Cappuccino Coffee
• 250 gms of Dermerara or brown sugar
• 250 gms of butter
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 3 large eggs
• 200 ml of strong coffee, room temperature
• Some butter for greasing

For the icing:

• 300 ml of double cream or Amul cream, refrigerated overnight
• 2 tbsp of brown sugar or Dermerara sugar
• Coffee beans (optional)

The Make:

Preparation time: 10 minutes | Standing time: 10 minutes|  Cooling time: 30-45 minutes | Serves 6-8 

1.  In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar well. Next add in the eggs, Cappuccino powder and flour together and mix well with a large wooden ladle. 

2. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a cake tin of 25 cms with butter.

3. Add half of the strong coffee (once lukewarm) and beat with an electric beater until well combined. Allow to stand for 10 minutes.

4. Carefully place the bundt cake tin into the oven and allow to bake for 30-35 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, whisk the cream well. If you are using Amul cream, the fat percentage is less and in this case, separate the whey from the cream before whisking. Add sugar to the remaining coffee, set aside 4 tbsp of the coffee and pour the rest into the cream and whisk well. Freeze the whisked cream while the cake is being baked and while cooling off to room temperature.

6. Once the cake is baked and cooled off, drizzle the remaining 4 tbsp of coffee over the cake.

7. Remove the cream from the freezer and generously top your cake with it as desired. Sprinkle some roasted coffee beans on top as desired.

Hope you enjoy making this Cappuccino Cake!

Thank you Caroline for such a wonderful theme and for hosting the same!

It's Foodie Extravaganza Day and this month's theme is Coffee Cake with Caroline from Caroline's Cooking is hosting What is Foodie Extravaganza? It's when a group of bloggers get together and make a recipe using one main ingredient. Where do we get the ingredient? We look at The Nibble and pick something off of their list. Croissants are actually celebrated on January 30th, but it's in January, so it's fair game. You can check out our group Pinterest board for past recipes. If you're a blogger, you can join along with us by requesting to join on our Facebook page. Now, on to the goodness being shared this month:

• Almond Raspberry Cake by Food Lust People Love
• Blueberry vanilla coffee cake by Fearlessly Creative Mammas
• Cappuccino Cake by G'Gina's Kitchenette
• Caramel Coconut Coffee Cake by cookinandcraftin
• Classic Coffee Cake by Basic N Delicious
• Coffee Cake Cookies by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Coffee Cake in a Jiffy by Our Good Life
• Coffee Cake Muffins by I'm Hungry
• German Beer Coffee Cake by Wholistic Woman
• Gluten free hazelnut pear cake by Caroline's Cooking
• Kärleksmums (Swedish Coffee Cake) by Tara's Multicultural Table
• Lemon Thyme n Mint Loaf by Baking in Pyjamas
• Orange Coffee Cake with Pecan Streuse by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Polish Placek by Cooking With Carlee
• Simple Coffee Cake by Sneha's Recipe
• Strawberry Coffee Cake Muffins by Making Miracles

Kids' Special# 4 - Soft Noodles with Veggies and Poached Egg #FoodieExtravaganza

It has been a long time since the last Kids' Special. I started this tradition of sharing Kids' meals a few weeks before my Mummy passed away and frankly speaking I never wanted to restart it as it reminded me too much of her. 

When Lauren Mitchell of From Gate to Plate hosted March's  #FoodieExtravaganza event Noodles, I had no choice but to restart the Kids' Special as I had already prepped the dish and had to only post the same. And for this thank you from the bottom of my heart dear Lauren. Also special thanks for allowing me to partake in this month's Noodles event though I was a little late without which I would have probably further delayed the sharing of G'Gina's Kitchenette's Kids' meals tradition. 


I have always wanted to make noodles or pasta from scratch. Never had a chance to buy the pasta maker though (someday!! sigh!)


Although this is not Mum's Recipe per say, it reminded me a lot of how she would cook up noodles for her grand kids when we all came visiting home as all of them love noodles.



You need:

• 1 packet of dried noodles of your choice (400 gms)
• 1-2 eggs (optional, I used quail eggs)
• Vegetables of your choice - chopped or diced (2 cups)
• Salt to taste
• Seasoning - A pinch each of turmeric, garam masala, coriander powder
• Cup of Fresh stock or 1 stock cube
• 1:1 ratio of Water to noodles
• Water to boil veggies
• 1-2 cloves of garlic shavings (optional)
• Drizzle of oil
• Drizzle of Soya sauce

The Make:

Serves 2 kids | Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes | Cooking Time : up to 20 minutes

1. Boil the noodles in same quantity of water (or a little less) on medium-low heat. Once the water is cleared, set aside. Boil the veggies until half cooked in another bowl. Drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile in a wok, drizzle some oil in a wok and add the half cooked veggies and garlic shavings and saute well. 
3. Next add the stock cube, seasoning, salt to taste and saute for a minute.
4. Toss in the noodles and a drizzle of soya sauce (my kid likes it. You can skip it if you like) and saute it for a minute.
5. Serve hot with a poached egg on top. I intentionally did not swirl the water while poaching the egg as my kid likes to see the yolk. This was done with quail egg.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE.    

And now for the star recipes from the #FoodieExtravaganza Noodle Party goers:

One Pot Garlic Pasta by From Gate to Plate
Haluski (Fried Cabbage & Noodles) by Making Miracles
Homemade Chinese Noodles by Fearlessly Creative Mammas
Spicy Shrimp with Peanut Noodles by cookinandcraftin
Bacon and Beer Mac & Cheese by Sew You Think You Can Cook
Sopa Seca de Fideo - Spicy Mexican Noodles by Food Lust People Love
Green Bean and Squash Laksa by Caroline's Cooking
Kakaós Tészta (Hungarian Cocoa Noodles) by Tara's Multicultural Table
MiMi's Baked Ziti by Cooking With Carlee
Tortellini and Tomato Salad by The Freshman Cook
Homemade Noodles by Our Good Life
Tossed Homemade Macaroni Noodles by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Kids' Special# 4 - Soft Noodles with Veggies and Poached Egg by G'Gina's Kitchenette