Black Tea infused Chocolate Pots

Inspired by this recipe http://gourmandeinthekitchen.com/2014/earl-grey-chocolate-pots-de-creme-recipe/ and some wonderful Black Tea from Sri Lanka

Ingredients (makes 8 small ramekins)

1 cup milk (full cream preferably)

1 black tea/earl grey tea bag  

2 large egg yolks

3 Tablespoons powdered sugar

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

120g cooking chocolate (at least 70%), finely chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Chocolate shavings, to garnish

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees

2. In a pan, bring the milk to a boil and turn off the gas. Turn off the gas and add the tea bag to the milk. Leave for 3-4 minutes till the tea is infused and remove (make sure to squeeze out the tea bag into the milk before removing from the milk)

3. In another bowl beat the sugar and egg yolks for 3-4  minutes till thickened

4. Add the chocolate to the milk and whisk.

5. Add the egg mixture, vanilla essence and salt and whisk all together to get a smooth batter

6. Divide equally among ramekins till the ramekin is filled slightly below the rim (this pudding does not rise much so no worries of batter spilling out ) In case you do not have ramekins use any heavy ceramic baking bowl

7. Line the ramekins in the baking try baking pan. Pour water into the tray so that atleast one fourth of the ramekins are covered with water (depends on the size of the ramekins and the depth of the tray but do not cover more more than half the ramekin height)
8. Bake for 25 minutes
9. Remove from oven and chill for atleast two hours before serving
10. Garnish with chocolate shavings

Roasted Zucchini Hummus

Hummus is my all time favourite go-to snack, any time of the day! I have always tried to make it from scratch, with freshly ground sesame paste, the result is however not as creamy in texture as the one available in restaurants. So I was inspired to buy a jar of tahini paste and I noted the difference immediately! To experiment with the tahini paste, I discovered various recipes for dips that use zucchini/aubergine and tahini. This version was a delight, and is a perfect accompaniment to lavash or pita bread. Serve cold, with pickled vegetables as a delicious mezze.

Ingredients

1 medium zucchini
2 cloves garlic
juice of one lemon
3 tablespoons tahini paste
1/2 cup hung curd/greek yoghurt
1 green chilli
Salt to taste


1. Preheat oven to 200 degree celcius
2. Wrap the zucchini in a foil and bake on the center rack for about twenty minutes till you can prick easily with a fork. Some recipes grill the zucchini slices on a pan with olive oil instead of oven baking, that will do as well
3. Remove the foil and let the zucchini cool
4. Cut into big pieces and blend into a coarse pulp in the food processor along with the garlic and the chilli ( I used the regular blender of my mixie) . You will notice a fair amount of liquid after the zucchini is blended, this can be removed with a spoon to get a thick creamy dip
5. Whisk in the lemon juice, tahini and the curd
6. Garnish with olive oil and chilli flakes. Chill and serve with pita/lavash

Turai ke chilke ki chutney

Back to the blog after a long hiatus!
I was served this chutney by a friend and I was so surprised when I learnt that the chutney was made from the peels of turai (ridge courd) ! It is apparently a common feature in a lot of South Indian homes. So the next time that you make turai do not throw the peels away. Wash and blend with other chutney regular ingredients and you have a side dish worth showing off!
When you peel the turai, you can discard the thin,pointed peel of the outer sharp edges and keep the softer inner peels. You can also add fresh coconut or roasted chana dal for variation.

Ingredients

Peels of two medium sized turais
1 garlic clove
1 small onion
3-4 green chillies
Few sprigs coriander (optional)
Salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Juice of one lemon

Mix all the ingredients together in the blender and blend into a fine paste. Since I used the dry blender I did not add any water. You can optionally add a tempering with oil,curry patta and mustard seeeds