Fresh Fruit Tart

December has already started and it is the season for fresh strawberries. This weekend, I decided to make Fresh Fruit Tart. I considered using fresh strawberries, mulberries, kiwi and dragon fruit for the topping.

Tart is a baked dish with a shortcrust pastry as the base with usually custard filling and topping.

Ingredients

For Pastry Crust

Maida (all purpose flour) - 200 gms

Unsalted Butter - 150 gms

White sugar - 50 gms

Salt - 1/8 tsp

Egg - 1

Cold water - 2 tbsp

For Pastry Cream

Milk - 300ml

Egg yolks - 3nos

Maida - 20gms

Corn flour - 20gms

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

For Topping

Strawberries - 15nos

Kiwi - 2 nos

Dragon Fruit - 1no

For Glaze

Corn flour - 1 tbsp

White sugar - 50gms

Water - 1 cup

Instructions:

For Pastry Crust

1. In the food processor bowl, take maida. Add sugar and salt
2. Cut cold butter in 1/2 inch cubes and add to maida
3. Lightly beat the egg and add to maida
4. Turn on the food processor and pulse it until all the ingredients just come together and forms the texture of small granules. If necessary, add 1 tbsp of cold water (if mixture is not coming together)
5. Take out the mixture and place on the clean working platform. Bring all the ingredients together to form a ball. Do not over work the batter otherwise pastry crust will not be light after baking.
6. Flatten the ball in the form of the thick disc, cover it with cling wrap and keep in the refrigerator for 30 minutes
7. Take 8-9 inch tart mould with loose bottom. Grease it with butter
8. Remove the pastry disc from the refrigerator and roll it on the clean working platform using rolling pin. The size of the rolled pastry should be at least 3-4 inches more that the diameter of the tart mould (Instead of flattening using rolling pin, I placed the pastry ball in the mould and flattened it evenly using fingers and palm while raising the pastry over the edges of the mould.)
9. Transfer the rolled pastry in the mould, press lightly with fingers along the inside edge of the mould and cut excess of pastry hanging over the mould top using knife.
10. Keep the pastry along with mould in the freezer for 15-20 minutes
11. Pre-heat the oven at 200 degrees centigrade
12. Take out the pastry and mould from the freezer, prick the bottom of the pastry.
13. Bake the pastry in the oven for 5 minutes at 200 degrees centigrade
14. Reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and back until crust turns light brown (around 15-17 minutes)
15. Turn the oven off, take out the baked pastry and allow it to completely cool
16. While crust is warm, apply either apricot glaze or lightly beaten egg whites on the inside surface of the crust. This prevents the crust becoming soggy once pastry cream is poured inside the crust
17. Once cooled, remove the bottom of the mould 
18. While pastry crust is getting cooled, prepare pastry cream

For Pastry Cream

1. Separate egg whites and yolks
2. In a bowl, take 3 egg yolks and mix well with sugar
3. Sift maida and corn flour in the egg yolks and mix well until smooth paste is formed
4. In the sauce pan, bring the milk to just boil (until milk starts foaming up)
5. Remove the sauce pan from heat and pour small quantity in the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly. This is called tempering of the egg yolk mixture
6. Slowly add the remaining milk in the egg yolk mixture while continuously whisking
7. Pour back the above mixture in the sauce pan and keep it on the gas stove on medium heat.
8. Whisk continuously (this will avoid curdling of the egg yolk mixture) until the mixture thickens with the custard like smooth consistency (around 1 minute or so). Whisking continuously will also help avoid any lumps being formed
9. Remove it from the heat and allow it cool completely. Cover the surface of the pastry cream with cling wrap to avoid formation of the skin
10. Once cooled, add vanilla extract and mix well.

For Glaze

1. In a small pan, take sugar, corn flour and water
2. Bring the mixture to boil 
3. Remove it from the heat and allow to cool completely. The mixture will be slightly thickened

Assembling the tart

1. In the cooled pastry crust, spread the pastry cream evenly
2. Slice the strawberries, kiwis and dragon fruits
3. Arrange the fruit slices on top of pastry cream in concentric circles or any other decorative form
4. Using pastry brush, apply cooled glaze on the surface of the fruits. This glaze bring shine to the surface of the fruits as well as prevents the fruits from turning stale
5. Store the tart in the refrigerator until served.
6. We can use any other fruits of your choice as well

Rolled crust inside the tart mould

Baked pastry crust

Pastry cream getting thickened

Ready and cooled pastry cream

Assembled Tart

Glaze applied on the tart

Chicken Ghee Roast

Being weekend, we have to have non-veg food; at least that is the expectation of both my sons. Today, I decided to try chicken ghee roast. It is one of the most popular dishes from Mangalore. This dish is supposed to be spicy and usually served with Neer Dosa or Ghee Rice. Large amount of ghee goes into making of this dish but that is what brings the flavor to this tasty Chicken Ghee Roast.......

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 Kg (cut into smaller pieces)

Ghee - 4 tbsp
Sugar - 11/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 5 to 6 for garnishing

For Marination:

Curd - 1 cup

Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder - 2 tsp

Salt - To taste

For Spice Paste:

Corriander Seeds (dhania) - 2 tbsp

Cumin Seeds (jeera)- 1 tsp

Black Peppercorns (kali mirch) - 6-7
Fenugreek Seeda (methi) - 1/2 tsp

Garlic - 10-12 flakes

Tamarind - small lemon sized ball

Dry Red Chillies - 6-7 (if using "byadagi" chillies, then use 10-12)

Water - 2 tbsp or as required

Method:

1. Wash chicken pieces well. Marinate it with curd, lemon juice, red chilli powder and little salt. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours (I did it for one hour).
2. In a flat pan, dry roast red chillies on medium flame for 4-5 minutes. Keep aside to cool.
3. In the same pan, take 1 tsp ghee and roast corriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns on low flame for 4-5 minutes (make sure not to burn these spices). Keep aside and allow to cool.
4. Grind the roasted spices, red chillies, garlic flakes and tamarind together with 2 tbsp water to form a fine paste. Add little more water if paste is still too dry and difficult to grind.
5. In a non-stick pan, heat 2 tbsp ghee, add chicken pieces and cook covered on medium to high flame until chicken is almost cooked (it took around 8-10 minutes). Transfer the chicken pieces to another vessel and released juices / liquid to a separate bowl.
6. In the same pan, add remaining ghee, add ground spices and saute on medium flame for 5 minutes until ghee leaves the sides of the pan.
7. Add to it cooked chicken and reserved juice / liquid from the bowl. Add salt to taste. Saute well for 3-4 minutes. Make sure that all the chicken pieces mix well with spices.
8. Add sugar and mix.
9. Cook for 10 minutes on low to medium flame until chicken is cooked, juices are almost dried up and all chicken pieces are coated well with masala.
10. Remove in a bowl. Garnish with curry leaves.
11. Serve with white rice, ghee rice or Neer Dosa

Pavlova Miniatures

Yesterday, I had been for lunch at a restaurant and they had Pavlova as one of the many options for dessert. Pavlova is meringue based dessert having delicate but crisp crust and soft marshmellowy center. It is typically served by decorating the top with whipped cream and fresh fruits like Strawberries, Kiwi, Passion Fruits etc. This dessert is said to be created first either in Australia or New Zealand. After having tasted this lovely dessert, I decided trying to recreate it.

The base of Pavlova is made by slow baking the firmly beaten egg whites and then garnishing it with whipped cream, fruits crush and fresh fruits.

Baked Meringue Bases, Whipped Cream and Fresh Fruits

Ingredients

Egg Whites - 4 (make sure not even a drop of egg yolk is mixed)

White Sugar - 225 gms (finely ground)

Cornflour - 2 tsp

White Vinegar - 2 tsp (you can substitute it with lemon juice)

Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp

Whipping Cream - 250 ml

Kiwi Fruit - 2 nos.

Peach - 1 no.

Strawberries - 10-12

Fruit Crush - 3/4 cup (I used Mala's Very Berry crush)

Makes 9 Pavlova miniatures of 4 inch diameter

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven at 150 degrees centigrade
2. In a sufficiently big bowl take egg whites and beat until they hold firm peaks but are not stiff
3. Gently add sugar, one spoon at a time while beating continuously. Make sure that all the sugar is dissolved completely and then beat further until you get snowy and shiny meringue but it is not dry. (Ensure not to over beat the meringue else egg whites loose volume and deflate when folded with other ingredients)
4. Sprinkle cornflour, vinegar and vanilla essence on top and gently fold in the meringue to combine
5. In the baking tray, keep the silicone baking sheet (alternatively you can use baking sheet lined with parchment paper)
6. Spoon the meringue on the baking sheet and spread in approximately 4 inch diameter circles with 1 inch spacing between them. Try to make the rim little higher than the center so that it can hold whipped cream and fruits later (unfortunately, my meringues were not indented in center. You can use backside of the spoon to make indentation in center)
7. Put the baking tray in the oven, reduce the temperature to 130 degrees and bake for around 50 minutes or until the surface is slightly light brown and is hard if touched
8. Switch off the oven, keep the oven door slightly open and allow it to cool inside the oven itself for around 30 minutes.
9. Once cooled, transfer to wire rack
10. Meanwhile, peel and cut the fruits
11. In a cold vessel, take whipping cream and beat it until soft peaks are formed. (Add 1 tbsp sugar while beating if whipping cream is unsweetened)
12. While assembling the Pavlova, put a dollop of whipped cream on the baked meringue based and smooth it from all the sides. Place a spoonful of fruit crush and then place cut fruits on top
13. Enjoy the tasty Pavlova

Tip: If you are not assembling the Pavlovas immediately, baked meringue bases can be stored in airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days

Prawn Pulimunchi

Ingredients

Prawns - 500 gms

Onion - chopped lengthwise - 1

Dry Red Chillies - 10 to 12 

Coriander seeds - 1.5 tsp 

Turmeric powder - 1 pinch

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp 

Fenugreek/Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp 

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp 

Fennel seeds - 1 tsp 

ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp 

tamarind - 1 lemon sized ball

Curry leaves - 1 handful

Salt to taste

Oil - 1 tbsp

Method

1. Soak the tamarind in water for about an hour and extract the pulp.
2. Dry roast the chillies, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, methi seeds and turmeric
3. Heat little oil in a pan and roast the onions, ginger garlic paste.
4. Use little water and grind the tamarind, roasted ingredients and onion, ginger garlic to a fine thick paste.
5. Now take a heavy bottomed pan, keep on low heat, add oil and the curry leaves.
6. When they splutter, add the paste, salt and bring it to a boil.
7. Add the prawns and cook for 10 mins.
8. Serve hot with rice.