Strawberry kesari

Nowadays the sweet tooth for me and my husband are growing bigger and we are craving dessert after each meal. I bought some fresh strawberries the other day (nope..we are not great fans of strawberries and my kiddo is one step ahead..she doesn't like any fruits at all) with the idea of making strawberry pancakes or adding them to fruit salad with apple and bananas. I made the fruit salad with half of the strawberries and even managed to sneak a couple of them in my kiddo's lunchbox (knowing it will go anywhere but my child's mouth). I didn't want to waste them and decided to make a dessert with the remaining fruits. As I expected my husband also suggested the same and specifically he wanted me to make strawberry kesari which I have tried only once a long time back. I had the same thing in mind so I readily accepted, although my response was "OK..I don't want to waste the fruits, but you should really have control on how much sweet you are eating". Presenting the yummy, sweet and pinkalicious strawberry kesari..

Things you'll need:
Semolina (rava) - 3/4 cup
Strawberry pulp - 1/2 cup
 (You can extract the pulp by grinding the strawberries as it is or with some milk, and you could filter it if you don't want the seeds in your mouth while enjoying the kesari )
Sugar - 3/4 cup or less (You might not want the sugar to overpower the flavor of the fruit)
Ghee (clarified butter) - 5 tbsp
Cashew nuts - 1tbsp
Raisins - 1 tbsp

Yield - 4 Servings

Method:

Step1:
Roast the semolina with a tsp of ghee until nice aroma from the semolina arises.  On a pan, add 3 tbsp of ghee and fry the cashew nuts and raisins until the raisins are puffed and the nuts are slightly browned. Add the water.











Step2:
Bring the water to a boil and add the semolina stirring continuously to avoid lump formation. Reduce the heat to minimum, add the strawberry pulp to the the mixture and stir well until it gets absorbed well.

Step3:
Add the sugar and stir. Adding sugar will make the kesari slightly watery but once the sugar gets incorporated well the consistency changes, so nothing to worry.  When the sugar gets mixed well and the kesari leaves the sides of the pan, Switch off  the stove and add the remaining ghee and stir well.

Yummy strawberry kesari is ready for you to enjoy...

Baked Mahi Mahi

I think the most universally common way to cook fish is to marinate them with desired marinade and fry them. But there are some fishes that tastes good when the are grilled or baked. One such fish is Mahi Mahi. The first time we got  Mahi Mahi, I marinaded the fish as usual and fried. But it turned hard and did not taste very good. Recently we had grilled Mahi Mahi in a taco, and it tasted so yummy. That's when I knew like Salmon Mahi Mahi has to be grilled or baked and should not be cooked for a long time. Even after all these discoveries I managed to slightly overcook the fish and it turned rubbery. So its very important to be very careful not to leave the fish in the oven or grill for too long. Now for the recipe..

Things you'll need:
Mahi Mahi - 1 lb
Olive oil - for brushing the fish
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
Salt - as required
Lemon juice (optional) - few drops

Yield - 6 - 10 pieces (Depends upon the size of each piece)

Method:

Step1:
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Clean and cut the fish into slices of desired size. Place them either directly on a baking sheet or on a rack placed above the baking sheet (If you prefer skin-on, place the fish flesh-side up ). Make sure to line the baking sheet with foil to collect any dripping from the fish.

Step2:
Mix the chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and lemon juice. The mix should be dry. Brush each piece of the fish with olive oil, then rub them with the spice mixture.

Step3:
Turn the oven to broiler setting and bake the fish for 15 mins (turning the fish in between, if required) or until the fish flakes when picked with a fork.

Serve it with few drops of lemon juice.