My First Indian Rice Pudding

Kheer is a creamy saffron and cardamom infused rice pudding. One to be honest I have not really taken to, until now. Having made it for the first time yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised that I quite liked it. That I just made some for my Dad who had popped round to spend some time with me. Now once my little ones wake up from their nap. I am going to introduce it to them, hopefully they will like it from a younger age unlike their Mum who seems to have appreciated it recently.

A very comforting bowl of sweet milky rice. With warm notes of Indian spices…why oh why? Did I not make this earlier? It’s a must try, do give it a go friends and let me know your verdict!

Have a beautiful start to the week, much love, D x

INGREDIENTS

600ml full fat milk
3 heaped tbsp long grain rice
5 tsp sugar or to taste
1 to 2 cardamom pods
Pinch of saffron
Crushed pistachio

METHOD

Rinse the rice and soak in some water for 30 minutes

Boil 500ml milk, once brought to a boil. Add the rice and stir

Simmer on a very low heat. Once the rice is half cooked, add the sugar, saffron and crushed cardamom seeds

Continue to cook on a low simmer. Pour in the remaining 100ml of milk and stir. Cook until the rice becomes mushy and the milk thick and creamy, stirring occasionally

Serve warm or cold with a crushed pistachio garnish

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Chapatis

Peppers give immense flavour in cooking especially when it’s roasted! Packed with vitamin C, it’s great for when you have a cold. With both my little ones sniffling away and always comforted with a rolled up chapati in their hands when playing. I thought why not introduce the pepper to the chapati?

I was sooo happy with the result and so were they. A soft orange chapati with strong notes of pepper and coriander. I sent a couple for my Mum to try and she loved them. She wants the recipe! So this one is for you my dearest!

INGREDIENTS

1 red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves
Handful fresh coriander
¾ tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp coriander & cumin powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp garam masala
250g chapati flour
1 tbsp sunflower oil
Boiling water to bind
Extra flour for rolling
Butter

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 180°c, pierce the pepper and place on a baking tray. Roast for 20 minutes or until the skin is shrivelled and the pepper soft. Set aside to cool down

• Remove the stalk and seeds, place roasted pepper in the food processor with the garlic, coriander and all the spices and seasoning. Blend to a paste

• Change the blade tool to a dough hook or plastic bread blade, add the flour and oil. Whizz to combine the flour with the pepper paste, once mixed add a little boiling water to bind the flour into a ball of dough

• Meanwhile heat a non stick frying pan on a slow to medium heat. Take a tablespoon amount of dough and form into a ball, flatten and on a clean floured surface roll into a round of approximately 10cm

You will have to flour the chapati as you roll to avoid sticking

• To cook, place the chapati into the heated frying pan, once it shows up a few bubbles turn around carefully with a spatula

Wait again for a minute or so and turn over again. When both sides of the chapati is cooked brown spots will appear

Take out of the pan and set aside on a plate. Spread a little butter onto the chapati

Repeat for the rest of the dough

Either to be eaten alone or with a curry of your choice

Lemon melting moments

I was 11 and in primary school when our teacher gave us an assignment, which I’ll never forget!

She took out a bag of lemon sherbets and gave one to all of us in the class. The teacher was very innovative as this was part of an English lesson. Upon her instructions we were told to open the wrapper and have the sherbet and to mentally record the flavours, sensations and the effect it was having on our tongue. We were then told to open our exercise books and write a description of the effect the lemon sherbet had had on our palette.

I enjoyed this lesson extremely! Especially as we were treated to a sweet which was tantalising, sweet, sour and the sherbert bounced around on my tongue when the lemon boiled sweet cracked and the bubbling sherbert seeped! It was then that my love for all lemony things had begun.

You will find that I will explore lemon as a main ingredient in many of my recipes as I love it so. These lemon melts are deliciously soft and crumbly. With the lemon icing sandwiching the cookies together for a sweet treat, that goes wonderfully with a lovely cup of tea!

This great recipe is at: ~
all recipes melting moments with lemon icing

Pineapple cake from the oven, I’m literally in Heaven!

“OMG?!..This pineapple cake is sooo good!” The reaction of my three year old when he was given some to eat. Out of the mouth of babes! So I don’t need to say anything about the taste!

This is my first pineapple upside down cake and I didn’t over caramelise the topping as I wanted to control the amount of sugar, especially as the pineapple is sweet. I opted to bake the cake in a shallow large tart dish and found it worked well. The batter baked around the pineapple rings and cherries and just sumptuously sank the pineapple into the cake. This way the pineapple ring and depth of the cake was the same. Not too cakey or pineappley! Just right!

Fresh cherries add an essential sourness to this dish instead of glacier ones and I prefer fresh ones always. I hope you enjoy this cake as much as my family did! Also taking some over to Angie’s place…The Novice Gardener

Have a beautiful weekend…rest and relax plenty…see you soon! Much love, D x

INGREDIENTS

110g self raising flour
85g granulated sugar
90g softened butter/low fat butter spread
1 large egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp milk
Tin of pineapple rings drained
Fresh cherries stoned
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp butter

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180°c, grease a large tart/pie dish

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla extract together, until nice and fluffy

Add the egg and combine until smooth

Slowly mix in the flour and pour in the milk. Mix well till combined

Put the brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of butter into the pie dish. Place in the oven so that the butter melts. The sugar will melt a little only

Gently place 7 pineapple rings into the dish and then take a stoned cherry and put into the middle of the pineapple

Pour in the batter over the pineapple rings. Level out with a spatula and bake for 20 to 30 minutes

Until the the top is golden brown. Leave the cake in the dish for 30 minutes

Carefully invert the cake onto the plate. Serve alone or with some vanilla ice cream

Thought For Thursday

I saw this first thing this morning “lol” 🙂 and I just love my Parmesan cheese! 
I love a whole mountain top adorning my penne arribiata…who’s with me?

Have a truly wonderful day friends…
Much love, D x

Come Join Me….

ShivaayDelights.com is on PINTEREST…I have been on it for a few years now, but i’ve just retitled as ShivaayDelights.com.  It’s a great place to connect and find lots of information and most importantly yummy recipes. 

I didn’t realise how many pins I had accumulated so far until Elaine @ Foodbod messaged me and said that I have 3.7k pins!! Wow! I was amazed but as you can see it is highly addictive this pinning and you’ll get to know me even more!… Now that’s a bonus! Lol 😉

Come have a look and follow me on Pinterest…Shivaaydelights.com
I will be pinning a lot of  your WordPress blog recipes and posts too as I always have and am dedicating a board to it too very soon!

Join Pinterest if you haven’t done so and come follow Shivaay Delights… I can’t wait to connect there too and follow you back!
Much Love D x

Just Grapes?!!

Yup…Just grapes, “seriously I’m not kidding you!” As my 3 year old has been saying to me recently! As it gets hotter here in the UK, these frozen grapes are perfect to snack on, ideal to cool down drinks (especially in a glass of white wine). For all ages, an instant ice creamy treat with all natural goodness!

I just love them!

You’ll need two things to make this happen…well three..some grapes, a bowl and a freezer!

Wash the grapes, place in a bowl and place in the freezer for a few hours or over night and “Ta~da!” Hey presto…yummy, cold, frozen little ovals of delight!

☆ Put some grapes in the freezer now…and let me know how you like them…
Can’t wait to hear from you all. Have a refreshing day, chat soon. Much love, D x

A Roasted Sweet Chilli & Plum Chutney

I had a punnet of plums sitting there looking very lonely in my fridge and next to it, a vibrant red sweet chillI pepper, just calling out to me… saying I will say save these plums! Ok, so now I have fruit and veg talking to me lol! But boy did this pepper do good.

It teamed up with the plums so nicely and roasting them also added to their flavour. It’s the first time I’ve worked with a sweet chilli pepper and it truly is something!
Tangy and sour notes from the plums and a little heat from the pepper. The texture together is so velvety, perfect as a dipping sauce or as a chutney. I’ll definitely be making this again! Hope you enjoy it!

Have a wonderful week, much love D x

INGREDIENTS

1 large red sweet chilli pepper
6 red plums
1/2 tbsp salt or to taste
1/2 tbsp granulated sugar or to taste
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 clove garlic peeled

METHOD

Preheat oven to 200°c

Place the sweet chilli pepper and plums on a lined baking tray, bake for 20 to 30 minutes until soft and the aroma of the chilli and plums is sweet. Set aside to cool

De seed and de skin the chilli and plums. Remove the stones from the plum

Add the roasted prep into a food processor with the rest of the ingredients and blitz to a smooth chutney/sauce

Ready to serve

Quick Vegetarian Hawaiian Pizza Fix

Spicy, salty, juicy and sweet. Those were the flavours that was dancing around on my palate yesterday evening for my dinner! I love pineapple on pizza! And I had a major craving yesterday evening! So i thought I’d make a pitta pizza ~ instantly there and then.

You may look at the ingredients below and think ok?! I can see why she used these ingredients until you get to chopped coriander! I did add coriander and boy did it taste gooood! Give it a go you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
Have a super weekend! Much love D x

INGREDIENTS

Pitta bread
2 pineapple rings drained
sliced green chilli
chopped coriander
Onion slices
Cheddar or Mozzarella cheese
Tomato sauce made at home

METHOD

• Tomato sauce ~ ours was made with tomato passata, olive oil and a couple of crushed garlic cloves and dried oregano. Cook through until you get a thick sauce

• Lightly pre grill the pitta bread, lay on a lined baking tray with foil

• Spread some tomato sauce

• Top off with the onion and chilli. Gently place the pineapple rings on top

• Scatter the coriander and sprinkle on some cheese

• Place in a pre heated grill for 5-7 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown

Crispy Potato Thins

I made these potato roasted thin chips a little while back to accompany my Habanero chilli & mango sauce
They become crispy because of the olive oil, healthier then chips and so simple to do. Actually I think I fancy them again today! And I have a big bag of white potatoes just sitting pretty in my pantry! Yay! I know my boys will love them…Sorted!

Also dear friends, I will be taking this week to reblog some stunning recipes I have come across from so many of you foodie friends out there. I am always inspired by everyone and I want to share this inspiration with you all. So keep an eye out..you may be featured on Shivaay Delights! 🙂

Until then, have a beautiful and restful weekend! Much love D x

INGREDIENTS

White baking potatoes 7/8
Olive oil
Salt to taste
Dried coriander

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 190°c/200°c

Slice the potatoes thinly with skin on or put them through a food slicer/processor for an even slice, parboil for 5 to 7 minutes, drain

Place the thins into a lined roasting tray. Massage about 1 to 2 tbsp olive oil with salt to taste. Until potatoes are gleaming..

Roast in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, ensuring both sides are golden brown

Sprinkle some dried coriander and you are ready to serve with a sauce of your choice