Chatti Pathiri

We are back from 2 short trips. We all had a relaxing vacation, which we all needed so badly. Now coming back after almost 2 weeks of not being in the kitchen, I kind of feel lost in my own kitchen. Do you feel lost in your kitchen when you come back from vacation? It took me sometime to get used to what was there in the fridge or pantry and what wasn't. It is a strange feeling to feel lost in your own kitchen. Even cooking a dish that I must have made a million times can take a wee bit longer and I often forget an ingredient. Does that happen to you? Or should I blame this to - getting old you know, statement that we tend to make often.

In any case, let me start talking about the dish that I have been daunting to make for many years now. For one, I stay away from dishes that contain a whole lot of eggs. I tend to skip recipes that have more then 4 eggs in anything I have to bake or if something that is real drool worthy, I plan to make it when I have some guest over. That way I don't end up eating the dish by myself and everybody gets a share of the cholesterol laden dish he he! Secondly this dish has a lot of prep work, so I almost never have the time to make it. And the other reason is my son can't have a single bite, as he is highly allergic to almost all the ingredients in this dish. But I had to make it, as I craved for this dish way too long and was running out of excuses.

This is a sweet Malabar delicacy and this dish is also made in a different way and that is - with meat as a filling. I love this dish with the meat but my hubby is a fan of the sweet one. So this one is for him. Enjoy!

So here goes...

For the Pandam/Filling:

• 3-4 eggs beaten
• handful of cashews
• handful of raisins
• 4-5 tbsps of sugar ( +/- to your liking)
• 3-4 cardamom pods, crushed, seeds removed and powdered
• 1 tsp of oil/ghee

To Dip the otada:

• 5-6 eggs beaten
• 6-7 tbsps of sugar ( +/- to your liking)
• 6 cardamom pods, crushed, seeds removed and powdered
• 1/2 cup of milk (optional)

For the Topping:

• Handful of raisins and cashews
• 1 tsp of white poppy seeds

For Assembling the dish.

• 1 tbsp of oil
• 1-2 tbsps of sugar

Ingredients to make Otada/Malabar crepe - refer to this. But do NOT assemble the otada (i.e. with the shallots in the recipe, just make the otada/crepe's and keep aside).

Method:

To make the Pandam/Filling

Beat the eggs with sugar and cardamom and set aside.

In a non stick pot, heat the oil add the cashews and raisins, until the cashews start to become light brown and the raisins plump up. Add the beaten eggs, sugar and cardamom mix. Keep stirring to make the consistency of scramble eggs. Keep this filling aside.

Make the Otada/Crepe like this. But make sure the otada that you make should be more or less the size of the pot that you are going to make the dish in.

In another bowl beat the eggs with all the ingredients for the dip and set aside.

Now to Assemble the dish.

Pour oil in a pot that you are ready to cook the dish in. Place one of the otada's/crepes on the oil. Put a little of the egg filling. Take another otada/crepe and dip it in the egg, sugar and milk mix that is kept aside for dipping the otada's/crepes. Sprinkle some sugar. Put some more of the filling followed by the dipped otada/crepe and sprinkle of sugar. Repeat this till you have consumed all the filling and otada/crepes, with the last layer being the crepe. Pour over any of the remaining egg, sugar and milk mix.

Sprinkle the top layer with the white poppy seeds, cashews, little sugar and raisins. Cover and let it cook the dish for 25 - 30 minutes on a low flame till a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let it cool.

Once it is cool enough to handle, remove the lid and place

a dinner plate over the pot and flip the pot upside down. The chatti pathiri will be bottom side up now, slide the chatti pathiri back on to the pot ( the top layer with the cashews, raisins and poppy seeds facing down). Cook the chatti pathiri for another 5-10 minutes on a low flame to get a beautiful golden brown color. Once cool take a serving plate and flip the chatti pathiri over, so that top layer with the cashews, raisins and poppy seeds are on top and serve warm.

This recipe is going to Joy from Fasting to Feasting from Kitchen flavors who is conducting the event.

White chocolate and strawberry mousse

Whenever I have people over for a meal, I almost always end up making chocolate-based desserts. Last week we had some friends over for lunch and I made this dessert using fresh summer berries with of course, some chocolate! I've been meaning to make this ever since I read the recipe in this magazine. To read the story on how I got the magazine click here. The dessert was delicious. The strawberry coulis with sliced strawberries along with creamy white chocolate and strawberry flavor melts in your mouth. Hmm! I want more!

Ingredients:

• 750g/1lb 10oz strawberries + extra
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 250g/9oz good quality white chocolate, broken into pieces
• 1tbsp white chocolate liqueur (optional - I didn't use)
• 12g sachet powdered gelatine
• 450ml/16fl oz double cream
• 25g/10z icing/confectioners sugar

Method:

Place half the strawberries in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Pass the pureed strawberries through a fine sieve into a bowl, then add the lemon juice*. Slice the rest of the fruit and add to the puree.

Place the chocolate & chocolate liqueur if using, in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, then leave for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until melted. Meanwhile, sprinkle the gelatine over 50 ml water in a cup or small bowl and leave to soak for 5 minutes

Pour a quarter of the cream into a pan, add sugar, then warm gently. Add the soaked gelatine and stir for 5 minutes over a low heat until gelatine has dissolved- do not let the mixture boil.

Pour this cream mixture to the melted chocolate and stir until smooth. Add three -quarters of the strawberry puree. Pour the remaining cream into a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Gradually fold the whipped cream into the chocolate and strawberry mixture.

Divide the mixture between 4 serving glasses**, then leave to chill for at least 2 hrs or overnight. Chill the remaining strawberry puree, too.

Spoon the remaining strawberry puree on top of each mousse and serve.

Note: *My strawberries were a little tart so I added few tbsps of icing/confectioners sugar.

**I got more then 4 serving glasses as I served them in smaller glasses.

The first picture is going to Click of Jugalbandi for their monthly food photography event. The theme is bi-color this month.

Recipe from BBC GoodFood Magazine.