A big HELLO to everyone ! It has been a long time since we updated a post here. So much has been going on in our personal lives that the blog sort of took second seat. Although, one of the highlights during this time was that  Sunitha and I visited after 13 long years.  Those of you, who are our friends in Facebook might already know about that reunion. I was so busy with the preparations and planning. Sunitha is in the middle of a move and that is why off the blogging scene for a while. Sorry about that !



Today's post has been in my drafts for a while now.  Hopefully,  I will be back in the swing of things as far as blogging goes soon.  I am waiting for my children to finish summer vacation, general visiting, travelling and holidaying the family is involved in right now.  Coming back to the recipe, the whole inspiration behind making this dessert was Kulsum from Journey Kitchen.  She did a guest post on it.  I have combined her recipe and the traditional one but I must thank her for tempting me with her beautiful pictures.


The preparation is very much similar to that of Basundi, if you haven't noticed.The main difference here is the presence of Apples.So if you love Basundi, just like me, you must try this !



Ingredients:

Milk- 4 cups/1 liter
Condensed milk-2 Tbsp
Sugar- 1/4 cup
Apples,peeled and grated- 3
Cardamom powdered- 1 tsp
Saffron- a pinch soaked in a Tbsp warm milk
Pistachios, blanched and slivered- 2-3 Tbsp

Method:

1.Boil milk in a thick bottom pan and cook until it is reduced to about half the quantity.
2.Add sugar and condensed milk and stir continuously for 4-5 minutes.
3.Add the grated apple and cook for about 4 minutes.
4.Add the cardamom and saffron. Mix well and switch off the heat.
5.Throw in the pistachios.Serve warm or cold.

Notes:

1.You could use condensed milk as a sweetener instead of sugar, just like Kulsum says.
2.It is better to use a sweet variety of apple for this preparation.
3.You could replace pistachios with almonds if you like.

My husbands favorite and a very common dessert in American homes I thought it makes sense to post this for Thanksgiving.  My version has been inspired by quite a few recipes online and also an old better homes book.  I make the pie crust at home and I promise you its' worth your while.  Hot, flaky, buttery goodness of the crust makes all the difference to the pie.  The filling is pudding like tasting sweet, tangy and cinnamony.  Serve the pie hot topped with vanilla icecream and be sure to share your pie to see how their faces light up in awe!

Ingredients: (To make the Crust)
All Purpose Flour - 2 cups
Sugar - 1 Tbspn
Salt - 1 tspn
Butter/Cisco shortening - 12 tbspn (you could also try using half of both or just any one)  I have also tried it with 1/2 butter and 1/2 canola oil and it was just fine)
Ice cold water - 5-7 tbspn

The measurment is for a 8-9 inch pie pan.

Method:
1. Mix flour, salt and sugar.
2. Cut the butter into the flour.  Make sure you integrate the butter and flour well slowly keeping the consistency powdery and not kneading together. (If you are using all oil make sure you add 1 tbspn oil at a time wetting the dough all over)
3. Once you have incorporated the butter or oil slowly add the cold water a spoon at a time bringing the dough together which you can roll out into discs.
4. Leave the dough in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour and start working on your filling.

Ingredients: ( For Filling)
1. Granny Smith Apple - 5-6 nos (I used the red colored apple which is meant for apple pie.  The trick here is to buy only the sour green apple or the red apple meant for pie which is also slightly sour
2. Sugar - 3/4 to 1 cup
3. Cinnamon - 1/2 - 1 tspn
4. Salt - a pinch
5. Nutmeg - optional.. I made mine with only cinnamon
6. Flour - 2 Tbspn
7. Butter - 1- 2 Tbspn

   I never imagined I would eat a cooked apple  until my time in Germany proved me wrong.  It started with Apple pie, and thereafter nothing could stop me.  Next thing I know, I was experimenting with baking apples, as well as other fruits.  But then again, I never thought I would be making savory dishes with apples, until recently.  Oh Yeah! I made this simple raita for lunch and everyone, including my toddler loved it.





Two kinds of Green apples, for comparison,the Golden delicious is so sweet and the Granny Smith is tart and perfect for baking.





Garnish with mint or coriander leaves





Ingredients:

Granny Smith/Any tart Apple- 1/2, peeled and cored
Yogurt- 1 cup scant
Green Chillies- 1
Onion, finely chopped- 2 tsp
Ginger, finely grated- 1/2 tsp
Salt- to taste
Dash of lime juice (optional)

Method:

1.Finely chop the apple into small pieces.
2.Finely chop the green chillies too.
3.Whisk the yogurt in a mixing bowl.
4.Add the salt and other ingredients except lemon juice and mix well.
5.Chill,mix in the lime juice, garnish and serve.

  Howz it going for you guys?  I have been super lazy to cook.  I have also started another walking regime which makes me very reluctant to cook, fearing I will be overdoing the calories.  None of this works though.  I walk and then eat well too.  I use all this as just an excuse not to cook.  Anyways, here is a very tasty apply recipe for you which I made when my guard was down and I craved sugar.



  I have never had apple fritters before yesterday. Today,  I am in love.  To begin with I had some apples which were sure to rot if it sat any longer in the nice glass dish I had it displayed on the kitchen counter.  My friend J called me last week and told me she was making apple scallops.  I decided to try it myself but then got the idea of fritters and then candying it and decided candied sounds like fun. A lot of recipes online suggest we make the batter with eggs, however, since we make banana fritters without it I went along with out eggs.  It came out well, if I may say so myself. 




  Making it candied was not the easiest process but if you are serving it for dessert for a party the effort is worth your while. However, if you are trying to cut down on sugar stop with the fritters and enjoy them as they are.   


Ingredients:
Red Delicious Apples                   - 4 cut into chunks or thin if you like it nicely cooked
Corn Starch                                 - 1 Tbspn
All purpose flour                          - 1/2 cup
Water                                          - to make a loose batter to dip and fry the apples
Salt                                              - to taste
Oil                                               - for deep frying

Sugar Coating
Sugar                     - 1/2 cup
Water                    - 3 Tbspn

Method:
1. Slice apples, dust with corn starch and set aside
2. Dip in batter and deep fry to golden brown and drain on a kitchen towel (paper napkin)

Coating
1. Heat the water and add sugar a little at a time dissolving after each addition
2. Bring the syrup to a golden brown color
3. Dip in ice cold water holding the apples on a fork and let it be for a few seconds allowing the sugar to solidify
4. Drain water by holding it vertically on a paper towel and set on the serving dish
5. Follow this with all the apple pieces and then sprinkle with sesame seeds
6. The sugar will become hard quickly so work in small batches
7. If sugar syrup solidifies re heat on low flame stirring continuously. 

Contributor: Sunitha 

    It has been a pleasantly-hectic weekend with family.  We packed in a lot of traveling, eating, joking and general banter over the course of  three days my brother-in-law and family visited.  I enjoyed myself thoroughly and was super energetic through the days!  As soon as they left,  I deflated like a popped balloon.  Here is what happened:



My b-i-l recommends power naps highly. So much that we caught him at it quite a few times through our travelling.  But every time he awoke after these naps, he was super enthusiastic, and I decided it was time to test this theory myself.  I chose my day for this experiment to be yesterday (after they left), and my power nap ended up being embarrassingly long.  That is my excuse for not showing up online yesterday.  Let's blame it on power naps shall we? :) However, I am here to make this all right now.   I have a dessert which will knock your socks off!

 


When the family visited, I made some apple cobbler and it was received quite well. If it's that good, then I know you will be interested to know more.  Here you are, enjoy!



Ingredients:
For the Apple Layer:
Apples        - 3 Gala and 2 Granny Smith
Sugar          - 1/2 cup and 2 Tbspn granulated Sugar
Flour           - 2 Tbspn
Vanilla Essence - 1 Tbspn
Cinnamon Powder - 2 Tspn
Butter - 2 Tbspn
Water                    - 1/4 tspn
Salt                       - 1/4 tspn

For the Crust:

Sugar - 1/2 Cup
Butter - 2 Tbspn
Egg    - 1 Large
Baking Powder - 1/2 Tspn
Flour - 1/2 Cup
Salt    - 1/4 Tspn

Method:
1. Peel the apple and cut into small pieces
2. Mix ingredients under "For the Apple Layer"
3. Grease a 9 inch pan with butter and add apple mixture and set aside

For Topping:
1. Beat all the ingredients under 'topping' and spoon over the top of the apple mixture in small portions around.
2. The batter will spread while baking and cover the top.
3. Space the batter out evenly to allow spreading and covering the top while baking.

Bake in a pre heated oven at 350 D F for 35 - 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown
Don't forget to serve it warm with cold vanilla ice cream.