Dreamy Delights

Tandoori Chicken

2010-12-07T15:26:00.000-05:00

This Thanksgiving we had tandoori chicken with stuffing. I used 2 cornish chicken for making this dish. It’s really easy , if you can marinate it over night that would be great . The yogurt should be thick so that the marinade holds on to the chicken, for that what I do is put it on my tea stariner and let it sit for atleast an hr. That really does the trick, it comes out really thick. Hope you all will like it.

Ingredients:

Chicken- 4 Lbs

Marinade 1:

Chilli powder- 1Tbs
Lime Juice- 1Tbs
Ginger-Garlic Paste- 2Tbs
Salt- as needed

Marinade 2:

Thick Yogurt- 10Tbs
Ginger Garlic Paste- 2Tbs
Lime juice- 2 Tbs
Pepper- ½ Tbs
Chilli powder- 1 Tbs (or as needed, mine is extra hot chilly powder)
Kasoori Methi- 1 Tbs
Garam masala powder- 1 Tbs
Cumin powder- ½ tsp
Turmeric Powder- ½ tsp
Coriander Powder- 1 Tbs
Salt – as needed
Red Food Color- a pinch
Stuffing – store bought (optional)

Method:

Wash and pat dry the chicken well. Slit the chiken on breast, thighs and also the joints. In a bowl mix all the ingredients under Marinade 1. Rub this mix into the slits ( just the slits). Let it sit for 30 mns.

In a big bowl mix all the ingredients that comes under marinade 2. Check for seasoning. Put the chicken in this marinade and rub the marinade all over the chicken, into the slits and cavities. Coat the chicken with little oil and let it sit for 2-3 hrs or atleast an hr . If you don’t have time an hr will do .

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

On a baking tray place the chicken back side up and bake for 30 mns. Take the tray out and turn it. Since it was thanksgiving I stuffed the chicken at this point. Bake the chicken breast side up for another 30 mns. Take it out and dig in .

Note:

When the chicken cooks it leaves a little bit of sauce, I wanted my chicken tobe a little dry and not soggy . So I used a cookie cooling rack, I placed it on the baking tray and put the chicken on top of it. Or you can put a bed of cut vegetables on the tray and put the chicken on top of it.

Blackberry Crisp

2010-11-09T11:58:00.000-05:00

Hmm looks like I am back after my disappearing act. It’s been 5 months since I left my blog alone. If you ask me what happened, I might say my son’s vaccation is the culprit. Hmm but the the truth is that only half of it is true and the other half was my lazziness or I guess I was bored for a while. Well I started new things, I am a farmer and café owner, who can grow or cook things in 2-8 hrs, how nice. I am talking about Face book and it’s endless applications.

Well coming back to our blackberry crisp, I made this for my husband’s office party. They were hosting a baby shower for a collegue . I had a big list of things ,but narrowed down to this one. The funniest part is that this is the first time I am making this dish and after he left with the dessert I was really worried about how it would taste. Luckily they liked it, the next day I made the same at home and we enjoyed it barely warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Tangy ,sweet ,warm blackberry filling with crisp,cinnamony ( is it even a word?) sweet topping with creamy vanilla ice cream , the rest you can guess…….

Ingredients:

Filling:

Black berry- 4 cups
White sugar- 1/3 cup
Lemon juice- 2 tsp
Corn starch- 1tsp
Cinnamon- ½ tsp

Topping:

Flour: ½ cup
Packed Brown sugar: 1/2 cup
Cinnamon: ½ tsp
Quick cooking rolled Oats: ¾ cup
Salt: a pinch
Softened Unsalted Butter:4 tbsp/ 1 stick

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degree.

Wash and drain berries. In a bowl mix dry berries , sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch well (all the ingredients under fillings).

Empty the contents along with the juices into a well buttered baking pan . Press it down with a spatula , just be careful not to mush the berries

In another bowl mix all the contents for the topping either with a fork or hands. It will resemble coarse crumbs. Empty the contents evenly on the filling .

Bake it for 45 mns. Once it’s done cool it ,serve it barely warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Jangri or Jalebi??

2010-05-25T14:13:00.001-04:00

Hmm as usual our (mom and i) talk ended up in food. Almost 99% of the time it’s the same thing. The other day I came across a name “ Jangri”, I thought it’s some new dish , when I opened the recipe I realized it’s our old Jalebi. Pardon me if I am wrong, in Kerala I have never heard a sweet by name Jangri, it’s Jalebi there. So I started telling my mom about this and she started telling me the story about how she learned to make Jalebi.

In my mom’s house when they had a wedding they used to bring the Brahmins famous for making sweets and stock up on all these goodies. She used to go near the work place and watch them make ladoos, jalebis etc. My grandmother never allowed them to enter the kitchen, so when she takes a nap, my mom would sneak in and make all these. So for tea the whole family will relish on the snack and later comes my mom’s punishment for entering the kitchen. Even when we used to make something my grandmother was so concerned at the same time proud, hmm miss those days.

My mom used to stitch special clothes for making jalebis, she’ll make a small hole in between the cloth and stitch around. This will make sure that cloth won’t tear, or I have seen her heating up metal skewer and making hole in the center of plastic bags.

All these details made me so excited that I decided to give it a try. The result was really good, I made almost 2 dozen. After making the batter try the design (Draw two circles, over it draw small circles ) on a plate, this helps a lot when you are making them. I hope you will also like it, enjoy………

Ingredients:

Jangri:

Whole white urad dal- 1 cup
Rice flour (optional)- 1 tbsp
Orange food color/ Jalebi Color- a pinch
Water- Less than ¼ cup
Salt - a pinch

For Sugar syrup:

Sugar- 3/4 cup
Water- Just to cover the sugar
Lemon juice- 1/2 tsp
Rose essence/ crushed cardamom pods/ saffron strands- 4 drops/4 pods/ a pinch
Orange food color/ Jalebi Color- a pinch

Method:

Soak urad dal for atleast 2hrs. Grind with very little water ( Add little water at a time to make smooth batter, it shouldn’t be watery). Make a smooth and fluffy batter. To this add salt, color and rice flour. Mix well.

In a shallow pan heat the sugar with water, Let it boil for 3-4 minutes. Add lemon juice, food color and essence or cardamom pods or saffron .Mix well and switch off the stove.

Take a zip lock bag and make a small hole with a thin nail or metal skewer.

Heat oil in a flat bottomed pan. The heat should be low .The oil should not get fully heated, when it starts forming small bubbles in the bottom put a drop of the batter. If the batter rises fast then the oil is too hot. If it stays there for sometime and then rises up then the temperature is perfect. Using the batter in ziplock bag make jangris.

Once the jangris gets cooked on both sides, take out carefully and put them in the sugar syrup.

Remove the jangris from the hot sugar syrup after 4-5 minutes .

Note:

If you are using mixer grinder, stop it in between grinding, this will avoid the batter from getting hot.

If you are using food processor it just takes 15mns to grind the batter and no need to stop in between.

If you are using wet grinder, you can avoid adding rice flour. Again this is optional. Without rice flour it becomes too crispy and more of urad dal taste.

I am sending this to Celebrating Mom Event started by Shabitha Karthikeyan

Fresh Fruit Tart

2010-05-13T10:55:00.000-04:00

Recipe Courtsey : Laura Carmen

I am dedicating this dish to all the wonderful mothers out there. My mom loves fruits and custard, so I made this for her on Mother’s Day. Light crispy crust, flavorful custard and fresh bright fruits made it a very elegant dish. She loved it and so did my husband and son. My baby had made some gifts for me and so this Mother’s Day was Extra Special for me. I hope you all had a great day and enjoyed it well.

Tart crust:

Butter, cold- 8 tablespoons
Sugar- 1/4 cup
Flour- 1 1/2 cups
Salt- 1/8 tsp
Egg yolk- 1 large
Half & Half/ Milk- 2-3 tablespoons

In a bowl add the flour, sugar, salt and combine well. Grate or cut the cold butter. Add this to the bowl and mix well. Add the yolk and cream/milk and mix well. The dough should be crumbly (not wet) but should hold together when pinched.

Transfer the dough into a 9 .5 by 1 inch tart pan or pie plate and press into the pan with your palms, working the dough up the sides with your fingers and pressing it evenly around the rim. Trim any overhanging bits of dough. Chill for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 325 F. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the crust is golden. (I used a pie plate and it took like 25mns for me, for tart pan may be it will take only 10-12 mns. Keep an eye on the crust while baking and wait till it becomes golden)

Custard:

Large eggs- 2
Cornstarch- 3 tablespoons
Half-and-half- 2 cups
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Pinch of salt
Vanilla extract- 1 teaspoon
Butter- 1 tablespoon

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and cornstarch until the cornstarch is completely absorbed. Whisk in 1/2 cup of the half-and-half. In a saucepan, combine the remaining half-and-half, sugar and salt and bring to a boil. Whisk 1/2 cup of the hot half-and-half mixture into the eggs, then pour all of the egg mixture back into the boiling half-and-half, whisking constantly. The mixture will become very thick. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and butter.

Transfer to a bowl and immediately press a piece of greased plastic wrap over the top of the cream to prevent a “skin” from forming.

Assemble the tart:

When the custard and tart crust have cooled, spoon the cream into the crust and spread evenly with a spatula. Arrange slices of strawberries, kiwi, apricots, and whole berries on top of the cream in circles, starting along the outer edge. When assembling is complete, brush the fruit gently with melted fruit jelly. (Place 1/4 cup in the microwave in a small glass bowl, then brush on with a pastry brush. If all you’ve got is jam, melt it and strain it.)

Note:

The crust can be prepared using a food processor, put the dry ingredients and pulse it few sec. To this add the wet ingredients and pulse it for few seconds.

Peas Pulav/ Peas Pulao

2010-04-28T14:56:00.000-04:00

An easy way to jazz up rice. This is a perfect dish for parties and fun tiffin for kids

Ingredients

• Basmati rice – 1 cup
• Onion sliced -1/2 medium
• Green chillies slit - 1-2
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Cloves- 2
• Cinnamon- 1/2 inch
• Cardamom- 2
• Frozen Green peas- 1/2 cup
• Water- 2 cups
• Salt- to taste
• Oil - 1 tbs

Method:

1. Wash rice and set aside to drain

2. In a pan heat oil,add cumin seeds,cloves,cinnamon, cardamom,green chillies and saute well. To this add onions and sauté till onions turns translucent . To this add frozen peas

3. Add the rice and mix well

4. Add water, salt and bring it to a boil. Cover the pan. On low- med heat cook the rice for 15- 20 mns

5. Once it’s done remove from heat and fluff the rice slowly and serve warm with curry of your choice.

Shrimp Fry

2010-04-22T12:53:00.000-04:00

This is a quick fix when I am out of time or when I am lazy to cook :). This can also be served as an appetizer.

Ingredients:

Shrimp/ Prawn- 1 lbs (cleaned and deveined)
Chilli Powder- 1 Tbs
Tumeric Powder- ½ Tsp
Salt- as needed
Curry Leaves- 1 spring (optional)
Oil- to fry

Method:

Clean and devein the shrimp. Pat dry the shrimp and marinate it with chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and crushed curry leaves. Marinate for atleast 30 mns. In a pan heat some oil and add the marinated shrimp and cook it on low –med heat until the shrimp turns golden, 10- 15mns.

Eggless Naan

2010-04-16T15:21:00.001-04:00

My little one loves Naan, he can have it for bf, lunch and dinner. I always thought it involved lot of work, last Friday night I was thinking about week end breakfast. Somehow Naan just came to my mind and thought of trying it. I first thought of baking it, but felt like experimenting. Heated up my cast iron tava ( skillet, pan anything will do, but it needs to cast iron) and just 2-3 mns per side and it came out all puffed up and soft. This week I made Naan twice, my little one was so happy. I made it eggless, if you want you can add 1 egg and it makes it rich.

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour- 2 cups
Yeast- 1 tsp
Luke warm water- ½ cup
Sugar- 1 tsp
Salt- 1 tsp
Milk- ¼- 1/2 cup (room temperature)
Minced Garlic, onion, Kalonji ( for topping , optional)

Method:

In a bowl mix the luke warm water, yeast & sugar, mix well. After 5-10 mns it will rise. In a mixing bowl add the flour, salt and mix well, to this add the yeast mixture and mix well. Add milk to this little at a time, the dough will be very sticky. Drizzle some oil on top of the dough and close with a lid or towel. Let it rise for 30 mns - 1hr.

After an hr open the lid and punch down the dough and mix well. Oil your hands well before that. Take some oil and flour in separate bowls. Oil your hands well, take a ball of dough and make a smooth ball. Dust it with little flour. Dust the work station with flour and put the dough and press it down with your palm. When it reaches a small round disc shape, you can either toss it between both palms or roll it. Make a tear shape by dragging one end of the dough.

Heat the skillet or pan to the highest , once it’s hot bring the heat down a little bit and put the naan, 2-3 mns per side, turn the naan and you can apply little butter. Continue the same process with rest of the dough. You can add toppings before putting the naan on the tava. Enjoy….

Note: If you don't have a cast iron tava or pan, you can bake it in oven. Pre-heat the oven at the highest heat (500/ 550). If you have Pizza stone , keep it in the oven while preheating the oven. Once the oven is heated take the stone out place the naan on the stone and place it on the top rack close to the source of heat .If it's a cookie sheet ,lay them on the sheet and place on the rack close to the heat .

No Knead Ciabatta Bread

2010-04-06T13:59:00.001-04:00

Recipe courtesy: Food Wishes

I always wanted to bake bread , somehow I didn’t have the courage. May be it’s my previous experience with bread had stopped me. Back in india, before my marriage Sundays used to be my culinary experimental days: white rats? My parents and two dogs :). Once I came across this awesome honey bread recipe, I decided I am gonna make it. My mother being wiser told me to use half the quantity since it’s an experiment. Well no , I was very sure that this will be a success and I some how convinced her. The ingredients were 1kg all purpose flour, honey and blah blah blah. I made it according to the instructions and a golden brown loaf was the result. I made tea and invited my parents to the table. Hmmm you should have the seen the look on my father’s face, as if his daughter has conquered the world. They both sat down and I started slicing the bread, well the knife was not moving. How do you cut a chicken? Yeah I had to use the same butcher knife and the force. My mother was hesitant on trying the piece like thing I had served, but my dad somehow managed to nibble something from the sides and he was so happy that his daughter made “BREAD AT HOME”.

The saddest part is that since I didn’t want to hurt my parents tooth anymore I happily gave the bread to my dogs and they rejected it. After the first bite they gave me a stare that I will never forget. From that day I never went near them alone, who knows whether they will take the revenge???

Anways this Ciabatta bread came out well and my family loved, especially my little one. I made it one V- Day. Because of his curiosity he started poking the bread which I had kept on the table to cool down. I was trying to keep him away from my bread and forgot to switch of the oven with my Parmesan chicken and nearly burned it. Well life is not that easy!!!

Ingredients:

Bread flour / All Purpose Flour- 4 cups
Yeast- 1/4 tsp
Water- 2 cups
Salt- 1 1/2 tsp

Method:

In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, yeast, water and salt together. It comes out as a very sticky dough. Cover the bowl with silver foil and keep it at room temperature to rise for 18 hrs.

After 18 hrs, you’ll get a very bubbly sticky dough. On a silver foil or plastic sheet sprinkle some flour and scrape down the dough. Sprinkle some more flour on top of the dough and slowly punch down the air. Stretch it into long flat loaf. On a baking sheet spray some oil and sprinkle corn meal generously. Transfer the dough to the sheet and shape the loaf once more. Cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rise for 3 hrs.

Pre-heat the oven to 425 C. Fill a loaf pan with water and keep it inside the oven. Steam from this will give the bread a nice crust and chewy inside. Bake the loaf for 35- 45 mns. Cool it over a wire rack and enjoy….

My little one having fun !!!

Molten Lava Cake

2010-03-24T13:40:00.000-04:00

It feels so good to be back and alive……. Last 3 weeks were terrible, we all were sick. Thanks to my son for bringing home the flu & cough. The best part is that after 3-4 days he was fine and jumping up & down. I really missed all your awesome creations.

So to celebrate my coming back I thought of posting this molten lava cake which I had made for V-Day. If you are a chocoholic like me, trust me this is all you need to hit the spot. If you want a smaller portion you can use muffin tray with paper cups and reduce the baking time (10-11 mns) , done that too. This batter can be made in advance and frozen, thaw it to room temperature 1 hr before using and bake it. Enjoy……..

Ingredients:

BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate- 4 squares
Butter- 1 stick
Powdered sugar- 1 cup
Eggs- 2
Egg yolks- 2
Flour- 6 Tbsp

Method:

Preheat oven to 425°F. Butter four 3/4-cup custard cups or ramekins. Place on baking sheet.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min. or until butter is melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar until well blended. Blend in eggs and egg yolks with wire whisk. Stir in flour. Divide batter among prepared custard cups.

Bake 13 to 14 min. or until sides are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 min . Carefully run small knife around cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto dessert dishes. Serve immediately, topped with whipped topping or ice cream .

Recipe Courtesy: Kraft Food

Cream Cheese Filled Strawberries

2010-02-24T14:34:00.000-05:00

This is a light, yet elegant and romantic dessert. After a heavy V-Day meal I thought of serving a simple dessert and this worked well. This recipe is from Paula Deen Show, but I tweaked a little. The original recipe called for full pack of cream cheese and Pecans. To make it light I used half pack of Fat Free Cream Cheese and added little Marsala wine to make it more flavorful. It tasted like Tiramisu in a Strawberry topped with chocolate.
I am sending this Priya's Heart For St. Valentines Day & PJ's No Cook Event

Ingredients:

Strawberry- 14-16
Cream Cheese- ½ packet
Confectioner Sugar- ¼- ½ cup
Vanilla Extract- 1 tsp
Marsala wine- 1-2 Tbsp
Magic Shell- as needed (optional)

Method:

Clean and dry the strawberries. Cut a thin slice from the bottom of each strawberry so the berries stand upright. Carefully make “X” incision on the berries , half the way. Fan wedges just slightly, taking care not to break them. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, wine and vanilla until combined. Using a Ziploc bag or pastry bag, fill the strawberries with the cream cheese mixture. Drizzle the stuffed strawberries with magic shell. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Chicken Tikka & an Award

2010-02-22T14:09:00.000-05:00

This is a semi home made version, there are days when you feel like having something spicy but not in a mood to get into the kitchen. This is my fix for those days, yep i used Shan Tikka masala to make this spicy chicken tikka . It pairs well with roti , rice or a simple salad for a low carb meal. I am sending my chicken Tikka to Rahin’s Semi Home made - Indian Recipes Event

Ingredients:

Chicken- 800 gms
Shan Tikka Masala- 1 packet
Ginger- Garlic Paste- 2 tsp
Lime/Lemon Juice- 1
Oil- 1-2 tsp

Method:

Clean and cut chicken into desirable size. With knife make slits on chicken. In a shallow bowl mix all the ingredients, to this add the chicken and mix well. Marinate for atleast an hr.

Pre-heat oven to 400 F

In a baking tray spray oil and arrange the chicken. Bake it for an hr, turning once. Serve immediately

Aparna from Ladies Special Adukala has passed this award , thank you Aparna for considering me. As a rule I am passing this to my Blog buddies. Please accept this award an post it in your blog.

Jagruti

Sarah

Adukkala vishesham

Swathi

Saraswathy

Cicily

Malar

Guacamole

2010-02-12T13:13:00.000-05:00

A healthy & tangy dip,perfect for parties. If you want chunky style , you can mash 3 avocados and cut one into cubes and add at the final stage. Sending this Guacamole to Siri's Healing Foods-Avocado, PJ's No Cook Event

Ingredients:

Ripe Avocado- 4
Chopped Tomatoes- 2
Chopped Onion- ½
Lime/ Lemon Juice- 1
Minced Garlic- 2 cloves
Salt- 1 tsp or as needed
Chopped Jalapeno- 1
Chopped Cilantro- ½ cup

Method:

In a bowl add all the ingredients and mash it to desired consistency. Serve immediately with chips.

Avocado Juice

2010-02-10T13:23:00.002-05:00

Yes!! You read it rt. I had 2 avocados left and was thinking of what to do. Google has once again saved the day. I came across this Indonesian jus alpukat or Avocado Juice recipe. At first I was little hesitant, but thought what’s life without a little risk.

But the result was good, so buttery, nutty flavoured juice. It has a taste similar to the flesh of tender coconut. So here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Simple Syrup:

Sugar: 5 Tbsp
Water: 5 Tbsp

Juice:

Avocado: 2 ripe
Cold Milk: ½ cup
Chocolate Milk- 1 Cup ( I made it adding 2 tbsps Hershey’s cocoa powder to 1 cup milk)
Crushed Ice- as needed

Method:

In a sauce pan add the sugar and water and heat it till the sugar dissolves. Removes from the heat and cool it.
In a blender add the flesh of avocados, ½ cup cold milk and grind it well. Add 1-2 tbsp of simple syrup and mix well.
In a tall glass pour the avocado juice, then add a layer of ice and then pour the chocolate milk. Enjoy!!!

Sending this delicious avocado juice to Siri's Healing Foods-Avocado

Simple Fruit Salad

2010-02-10T13:18:00.001-05:00

Fruits are good for health and if eaten before a meal, it really helps to control the portion. I think this fruit salad is perfect for summer. Very refreshing and filling, I really mean it, when we had this we skipped our lunch. Lightly sweetened with honey, it satisfies your sweet tooth.

Sending this to PJ's No Cook Event and Divya's Show Me Your Salad

Ingredients:

Cantaloupe cubes - 1 cup
Honey dew melon cubes- 1 cup
Pear cubes- 1 cup
Apple cubes- 1cup
Grapes- 1cup
Watermelon cubes- 1 cup
Honey- 2 tbsp
Lemon/Lime juice- 1 tsp
Chopped mint – 1 tsp (optional)

Method:

Mix together honey, lemon juice, and mint well, reserve. In a big bowl add all the fruits, pour the dressing on top and toss well to coat all the fruits. Serve immediately.

Chicken Wings

2010-02-09T11:12:00.000-05:00

This is a perfect appetizer for parties, if there is a potluck my dish would be wings. There are 2 ways to prepare wings, either fry it or bake it. If you are planning to make a large batch, baking would be a better idea. For my son’s 1st b’day I did the mistake of frying the wings and I never thought I will be able to finish it on time. Luckily I did.

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken wing pieces- 2 1/2 lbs.

FRANK'S HOT Sauce- 1/2 cup

Butter, melted- 2 Tbsp

Paprika- enough to sprinkle on wings

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degree F

Clean and dry the wings. Cut the wings into 3 parts and discard the tip. In a bowl put all the wings and sprinkle some paprika and mix it well. Spray a baking sheet with pam or oil. Arrange the wings on the sheet and bake the wings for 30 min. Turn it once and bake again until crispy, another 30 mns.

Take the Baked wings out and remove it from the baking sheet, In a bowl mix the hot sauce and butter. Pour it over the wings and toss it well to coat the wings

Serve with chunky Blu Cheese sauce and celery sticks.

Eggless Sponge Cake

2010-02-03T13:15:00.001-05:00

Sorry i forgot to take pics after cooling.

I wanted to make an eggless cake for my Tiramisu and I was in a crunch for time. I came across many recipes with baking soda, baking powder, soda etc. I was surprised when I saw one of the ingredients, little bit hesitant in the beginning. Finally I gave it a try and proved my self wrong. My family also agreed the same and my husband kept asking for more cake and THAT is a green signal for me.
Ingredients:

All purpose flour- 1.5 cups

Baking Soda – 1tsp
Sugar- 1Cup
Salt- ½ tsp
Oil- 5 tbsp
White Vinegar- 1 tbsp
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
Cold water – 1 cup

In a mixing bowl sift flour, salt, sugar and baking soda. Mix well. Add in Oil, Vinegar, Vanilla Extract and Water. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together with a hand blender until there are no lumps. Pour batter into a greased baking pan . Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 mns. Poke a toothpick or fork into the center. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready. Remove pan from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes before flipping it over onto a platter.

Now I know Vinegar is good for cakes too. After mixing the batter, I tried it and I couldn’t taste the vinegar, that gave me some hope. But waited to confirm on that till the end. The result is good.

Biscotti

2010-02-03T12:48:00.003-05:00

This is the second posting i am planning to send to Respost event started by Desi soccer Mom. My posting looked like this. Atleast now my blogger friends would see my work.

Actually this batch was my second attempt. The first batch was totally burned, i write down all the recipes before i make, just outline. Hmm so the baking time got mixed with another recipes and instead of 350, i baked it at 450. So you can imagine how it would have turned up. I was getting excited since i planned on starting a blog and posting this. So the first batch went staright to trash, had to start over and the 2nd attempt turned out good.

My husband and mom love biscotti and the second attempt was worth. The result: they loved it and i am happy.

Since it’s holiday season I made cranberry and almond biscotti, you avoid these and you will get the plain ones. It’s very similar to shortbread cookies in versatility. You can add almost anything to it and alter to your taste buds. To make it more rich, melt some semi sweet chocolate or white chocolate and dip them. It pairs well with tea or coffee.

Ingredients

• all-purpose flour- 2 cups
• baking powder -1 1/2 teaspoons
• sugar- 3/4 cup
• unsalted butter, room temperature -1/2 cup (1 stick)
• grated lemon zest ( i used pure vanilla essence)- 1 teaspoon
• salt- 1/4 teaspoon
• large eggs- 2
• almonds, coarsely chopped ( toasted) -3/4 cup
• dried cranberries- 2/3 cup

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest (or essence), and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the almonds and cranberries.

Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 30 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.

Eggless Tiramisu

2010-02-03T12:05:00.003-05:00

When Desi Soccer Mom announced the reposting event, this is one of the postings that came to my mind. Initial postings are those that never get any comments or the spot light. I remember how I used to get up in the morning and run to laptop, just to see the comments. So let me try introducing my Tiramisu once again. My earlier post looked like this. In my first posting i forgot to add the Eggless Cake Recipe, which i have added here. Also i thought of using cake fingers cause i couldn't find eggless lady finger in store, so just thought of experimenting with cake fingers instead.

I wanted to make it eggless cause my mom was fasting on Friday and X'Mas happened to be on that day.
So keeping mommy dearest in mind i made this, unfortunately my mom had it only the next day cause it has Kahlua and Marsala wine.
If you don’t want to add alcohol, pls don’t .This won’t drastically change the taste, In the original recipe, there was no liquor as the cake was originally aimed at children and the elderly

Ingredients:

Eggless Sponge cake – 40 Slices

Soaking Syrup

Coffee Powder ( instant)- 5Tbsp
Hot Water- 1Cup
Kahlua or any coffee liqueur - ¼ cup

Cheese Mixture

Mascarpone cheese- 3 cups (24 OZ)
Cream Cheese - 8 OZ
Vanilla Essence - ½ tsp
Marsala Wine- ½ Cup
Confectioner Sugar - ½ Cup

For Dusting

Cocoa Powder

Cream Topping:

In a bowl, with a wooden spoon or hand mixer, beat the mascarpone cheese and cream cheese until it is soft and smooth. Add marsala wine , sugar and vanilla essence and beat until smooth.

Coffee Soaking Syrup:

In a large shallow bowl combine the coffee powder (instant), hot water, and Kahlua. Set aside.

To Assemble:

Dip sponge cake slices in the coffee mixture and place them side by side in a single layer over the bottom of the pan. Spoon 1/2 of the cream filling over the cake layer, making sure they are completely covered. Repeat with another layer of cake slice by dipping them in the coffee mixture and placing them on top of the cream. Again, cover the cake layer with rest of the cream. Sift the cocoa powder over the cream cheese. Cover the Tiramisu and refrigerate at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

I am sending this Repost event hosted by Desi Soccer Mom

Stuffed Chicken Lollipop in Manchurian Sauce

2010-02-01T11:43:00.000-05:00

This is another appetizer for parties. When you cut the wings, there will be 3 pieces. One is the drum stick; second one that looks like wings and the third is the tip. The wing piece (with two bones) is good for stuffing; I have used the wing piece for this recipe.

This can be served with or without sauce. I made a Manchurian sauce and tossed the fried lollipops.

Ingredients:

Chicken wings- 2 lb

Marinade:

Garlic Paste or minced- 3 Tbs
Soy sauce- 2 Tbs
Chilli Powder- According to taste

Filling:

Paneer chopped- 100gms
Onion chopped: ½
Coriander Leaves chopped- 6-7 springs
Green Chillis: 1 chopped
Ginger- garlic chopped – to taste (optional)
Salt- to taste

For Dipping & Coating:

Egg- 2
Bread crumbs: 1 cup
Oil: for frying

Sauce:

Garlic chopped – 5 tbsp
Green chilies chopped – according to taste
Onion Chopped- ½
Capsicum cut into cubes- ½ (optional)
Soya Sauce – 1 tbsp
Green Chilli Sauce – 1 tbsp
Tomato Ketchup – 3 tbsp
Salt – add only if needed
Oil – as needed
Coriander leaves – for garnishing
Spring onion chopped- a small bunch
Cornflour- ½ tsp
Water- ½ cup

Method:

Clean and dry the wings. Cut the wings into 3 parts and discard the tip. The second piece has two bones, cut the flesh around the bone. Hold it down on the cutting board and slowly push the meat down. Then slightly twist one of the bones and take it out.

In a bowl mix garlic, soy sauce and chilli powder. Add the clean wings and marinate it for 30 mns.

In another bowl mix chopped paneer, coriander leaves, g.chillis, onion, garlic ginger chopped and salt.

Fill the meat pockets with stuffing.

Whisk egg in a bowl. Dip the stuffed lollipop in egg and coat with bread crumbs and gently put it into the oil. Fry it in 4- 5 batches .Fry it until golden brown in color. Drain into a tissue paper and keep them aside and allow it to cool.

Sauce:

Heat little oil in a pan, add chopped onion,green chillies,garlic and saute them for a while. Add capsicum and saute. Now add soya sauce,chilly sauce and tomato ketchup. Mix them well, check for salt. Mix ½ tsp cornflour to ½ cup water and simmer it. Once it’s cooked well add the lollipops . Slowly mix them together until all the lollipops are well coated with the sauce. Add spring onion and coriander leaves and toss it well for few minutes. Serve immediately.

Award Time

2010-01-27T10:58:00.000-05:00

Wow !! My first award ,I am really excited to receive this award from Saraswathy and Swathi.

Thanks Saraswathy & Swathi.

This Kreativ Blogger Award comes up with some set of rules and here are the rules

1.Thank the person giving the award.

2.Copy the award to your blog.

3.Place a link to their blog.

4.Name 7 things people don't know about you.

5.Nominate 7 bloggers

6.Place a link to those bloggers

7.Leave a comment letting those bloggers know about the award.

7 things about me

I love snow.

I am scared of spider.

I love to watch cartoon.

I love cooking and eating.

I love to play games with my son.

I love long drives.

I hate summer.

Now I pass this award to my fellow bloggers:-

Sangeetha

Shabs

Nisha

Priya

Padma

Priya

Rachana

Broccoli Stir Fry/ Broccoli Thuvaran

2010-01-27T10:45:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

Broccoli Steamed – 2 cups
Chopped onion- a small piece
Shredded coconut- ¼ cup
Cumin seed- 1tsp
Garlic- 2 Cloves
Curry Leaves- 1 spring
Chilli powder- to taste
Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp
Salt- to taste
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Urad daal- 1 tsp

Method:

Grind coconut,cumin seeds, garlic, chilli powder, turmeric powder and few curry leaves coarsely. In a pan heat a tsp oil and splutter mustard seeds and urad daal. Then add chopped onion and saute’ till translucent. Add the ground coconut mixture and fry for 2 mns. To this add the steamed broccoli and mix it well. Add salt. Serve with rice.

Chicken Lollipop

2010-01-25T10:21:00.000-05:00

This is a great finger food and a perfect appetizer for parties. When you cut the wings, there will be 3 pieces. One is the drum stick; second one that looks like wings and the third is the tip. The drumstick piece is good for this recipe and I have used that piece in this recipe. The wing piece (with two bones) is good for stuffing, well I tried that too.

Ingredients:

Chicken wings- 2 lb

Marinade:

Garlic Paste or minced- 3 Tbs
Soy sauce- 2 Tbs
Chilli Powder- According to taste

Batter:

Egg- 1
All purpose flour: ½ cup
Cornflour: ¼ cup
Garlic Paste or miced: 3-4 tbs
Salt: to taste
Chilli powder: to taste
Soy Sauce: 2: Tbs
Oil: for frying

Method:

Clean and dry the wings. Cut the wings into 3 parts and discard the tip. Take the piece, cut the flesh around the bone. Hold it down on the cutting board and slowly push the meat down. The second piece has two bones, follow the same method and push the flesh down. Then slightly twist one of the bones and take it out.

In a bowl mix garlic, soy sauce and chilli powder. Add the clean wings and marinate it for 30 mns.

In another bowl mix together all the ingredients with water. The batter should be thick enough to coat the lollipop. Heat oil in a big wok, dip each lollipop in the batter and gently put it into the oil. Fry it in 4- 5 batches .Fry it until golden brown in color. Drain into a tissue paper and keep them aside and allow it to cool.

Serve with ketchup.

Adai Dosa

2010-01-19T14:42:00.001-05:00

It’s very simple recipe yet very flavorful. My mom used to make it thick like an appam and she used to grind it coarsely. It pairs well with white chutney and a sweet strong tea or coffee. To make this dish healthier I used more daal and less rice

Ingredients:

Rice – 1/2 cup
Whole Green Mung – 1/2 cup
Channa Daal – 1/2 cup
Toor Daal – 1/2 cup
Onion – 1/2 small
Green Chili – 1, to taste
Cilantro Leaves – ½ a small bunch
Curry Leaves – 1 spring
Asafoetida (Hing) – a pinch or to taste
Salt – to taste
Ginger – 1/2″ piece
Sesame Oil – for making dosa

Method:

Wash and soak the daals, whole mung and rice in water for 3-4 hours or overnight. Drain out the water. In a mixer add the rice, mung and daal. Grind using a little water. To this add all the other ingredients and grind well. The consistency should be that of pancake batter.

Heat a skillet/tava on medium to high heat. With a paper towel oil the tava and pour a ladle full of batter in the center of the tava and spread the batter evenly. Drizzle oil on the Adai and allow it to cook for a couple of minutes. Flip the Adai to the other side. It should be golden brown in color. Cook for another couple of minutes and serve immediately with curry of your choice. I served it with white chutney.

I am sending this to MLLA - 19 started by Susan

White Coconut Chutney

2010-01-19T14:34:00.000-05:00

Dosas or Idilis are often served with Sambar and coconut chutney. There are different kinds of coconut chutney. This chutney is very easy to make and pairs well with dosa, idili, masal dosa and adai dosa.

Ingredients:
Coconut grated- ½ cup
Shallots-5 nos
Ginger – a small piece
Green chilly - 1
Asafoeitda( hing)- a pinch
Tamarind- size of a gooseberry
Curry leaves -few
Salt – to taste
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp

Method:

In a mixer grind together grated coconut, ginger, tamarind, green chilly, shallots, asafoeitda with a little water. If it’s too thick add some more water. In a pan heat some oil and splutter mustard seeds. To this add curry leaves and add the coconut mixture. Add salt and heat it for 2-3 mns. Serve hot.

Blueberry Scones

2010-01-19T13:10:00.000-05:00

Flaky Scones, a cup of coffee and an interesting book on a cold snowy day, what else can u ask for? I never cared for the coffee house goodies. When we moved to MI from GA, we brought very few things and surprisingly it din’t have our coffee maker. When DH comes back from work , he’ll ask “ shall we go and get a cup of coffee”. “Oh Yeah” I was waiting for that, lucky for us there is a “Biggby”near by. It’s there I first tasted these; it pairs well with coffee, tea, hot cocoa . Very versatile dough, you can add anything that you like for eg: chococlate chips, cinnamon, raspberries or don’t add anything and you get the plain scones. The simple secret behind a flakier scone is that the butter should be very cold, the colder the butter the flakier the scone.

Ingredients

Flour- 2 cups
Sugar- ½ cup
Baking powder- 2 tsp
Baking Soda- ¼ tsp
Salt- 1tsp
Lemon Zest- 1tsp
Milk- ½ cup
Sour cream- ½ cup
Unsalted butter- 1 stick/ 8 tbsp
Fresh/ Frozen Blueberry- 1 ½ cups

Prepration:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Grate the butter and keep it in the freezer. Grating the butter will avoid butter lumps in the dough. If you are using fresh blueberries, keep it in the freezer for 1-2 hrs. This will stop the blue berries from bleeding when added to the dough .If it’s frozen, don’t thaw it.

In a bowl sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt. To this add lemon zest and frozen grated butter. In another bowl add milk and sour cream. Mix well. Add this to the dry ingredients and stir just until the dough comes together. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and then pat and roll, the dough 4-5 times. If it gets sticky add more flour on the surface. Roll out the dough into a circle or square that is about 12 inches.

Fold it into square and freeze it for 10mns.

Heavly flour the board and roll the frozen dough again into a square. Spread the frozen blueberries on the dough and slightly press them down.

Start rolling the dough from one end and form a tight log. Cut this log into 4 pieces. Cut each piece into two triangles.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place the scone on the baking sheet and brush it with melted butter or egg wash. You can sprinkle some cinnamon or sugar on top of this, that’s optional. Bake it for 18- 20mns. Once it’s done, cool them on a wire rack and enjoy with butter or preserves.

Vegetable Noodles

2010-01-16T17:56:00.000-05:00

I am a big noodle lover, so does my family. I don’t think that will ever change. This is a quick but satisfying meal. This is a vegetarian version. If you are planning to make non-vegetarian version add scrambled egg and fried chicken seasoned with pepper and salt, if it’s seafood add fried shrimp seasoned with pepper and salt.

Ingredients:

Noodle- 1 packet (I used ching’s)
French Beans- 2-3 cut into juliennes
Carrots- ½ medium cut into juliennes
Cabbage – 1 small piece cut into juliennes
Capsicum- ½ cut into juliennes
Soy Sauce- 1 Tbsp
Green Chilli Sauce- 1 Tbsp
Salt- to taste
Garlic- 2 cloves

Oil- 2 Tsp

Preparation:

Cook the noodles according to the instruction. Run cold water over the cooked noodles, drain it. Add a tsp of oil, this will stop the noodle from sticking.

Heat a pan and pour oil. Add chopped garlic, carrots, French beans, cabbage and sauté till they are half cooked. Add Soy sauce, Green Chilli sauce, salt. Mix well. To this add the noodles and stir fry.

Serve hot.

Inji Curry/ Ground Ginger Curry

2010-01-16T16:58:00.000-05:00

No “Sadya”(feast) is complete without Inji curry. This simple curry is considered to be equivalent to 101 curries.It’s served like a pickle. My mom always made sure that we were never low on this curry. My sister loved this and she used to have with Dosa and idili, yeah she’ll start her day with that. My husband also loves this a lot. He likes to finish his meal with mooru curry (similar to kadi) mixed with little inji curry. Somehow I didn’t have the courage to make this and as usual depended on mom to make it for us. Yesterday she was getting ready to make this and I thought why don’t I grab the occasion and try it myself. So under my mom’s supervision I made it. The result:- I learned how to make and my hun loved it.

Ingredients:

Grated/ thinly sliced Ginger- 2 cups
Tamarind- Size of a small lime
Salt- 2 tsp
Chilly powder- 3 tsp
Curry leaves – 2-3
Jaggery- a small piece
Mustard seeds- ½ tsp
Curry leaves- 4-5
Water- as needed
Oil- as needed

Prepration:

Soak the tamarind in some water and keep it aside. Squeeze half of the juice from the grated ginger. Heat a pan on low flame and add some oil, once the oil is hot add the ginger and 2-3 curry leaves. Fry the ginger till it’s golden brown or crisp. Just be careful not to burn it . Keep stirring it. Once it’s done switch of the flame and remove from the heat. In a mixer put the roasted ginger, tamarind water. Grind it into a paste.

Heat the same pan, add some oil. Once it’s hot add mustard seeds and splutter. Add Red Chilli and curry leaves to this. Fry for 2 mns and add the ginger paste to this. If it’s thick add some more water. Keep it on low flame and let it boil. Once it starts boiling add chilli powder , salt and jaggery. All these can be adjusted to your taste. Once it starts to thicken, keep stirring. Switch off and let it cool down.

Aloo Vegetable Parathas/ Flat bread stuffed with Potato & Vegetables

2010-01-14T11:47:00.002-05:00

We all love Aloo Parathas, especially kids. My baby is a chapathi fan he calls them “pappadam”.I just thought of sneaking in some veggies along with the aloo and make it more healthy. Warm flatbread stuffed with potato & veggie mixture, Aloo-veggie Parathas can be enjoyed with yogurt, pickle or with any curry.

Ingredients:

For Dough:

Whole Wheat Flour - 1 1/2 cups
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Water – enough to make dough

For Filling:

Potatoes - 2 large, boiled and peeled
French Beans- 5-6 minced
Medium Carrot- 1/2 minced
Onion – 1/2 small, finely chopped
Salt – 1/2 tsp or to taste
Cilantro - 5 sprigs, finely chopped
Spray Cooking Oil – for pan frying

Method:

I a shallow bowl mix the flour, salt and water. Prepare smooth and soft dough and keep aside.

In a pan heat a tsp oil and cook the onion, minced carrots and beans till soft. In another bowl grate boiled Potatoes. Grating prevents lumps. Add the cooked vegetables, coriander leaves, salt and mix well. Make small filling balls and keep aside. Divide the dough into equal size balls. Roll out one dough ball into a small disk.

Place a filling ball on the center of the disk and fold the dough around the filling ball, completely enclosing it. Flatten the stuffed ball and dip it into the dry flour on both sides. This will be thicker than normal chappathis. Using a rolling pin, roll out the stuffed ball into a disk. Repeat the same process with other dough balls.

Keep a tava or skillet on the stove at medium to medium high. Spray or oil the tava and place the parathas on the tava. Once bubbles appear, flip the paratha over and lightly spray it with cooking oil. Allow this side to cook for 30 seconds and flip it over once more. Keep flipping the paratha until the look of raw dough is gone and it looks completely cooked. It should have light golden/brown spots. Serve warm

I am sending this to Creative Food for Picky/Fussy Eaters Healthy Breakfast and Dinner hosted by Saraswathi Iyer

Egg Fried Rice

2010-01-11T21:11:00.000-05:00

This is one of the dishes that I experimented on my parents and cousins a lot . Luckily my partner in crime also loves chinese, so I make it often . Yeah but it has to be served with Gobi Manuchrian, cause he loves it. So by default Fried Rice==Gobi Manchurian.

If you are planning to make vegetarian version just avoid the egg , if it’s seafood add fried shrimp and if it’s chicken fried rice add fried chicken seasoned with pepper and salt.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice-1½ cup
Water- to cook rice
Egg-1
French Beans (chopped into thin round slices)- 6
Medium Carrot cut into small cubes-1
Capsicum cut into small cubes-½
Onion Chopped- 1 medium
Garlic Chopped -2 cloves
Soy sauce-1 tbs
Green Chilli Sauce-1 tbs
Spring onion stalks (chopped into thin round slices)- 4
Oil
Black Pepper powder (optional)
Salt- to taste
Preparation:

Boil water in a large sauce pan and add oil. Add salt and rice and cook the rice uncovered until soft. Drain the rice in a colander and run cold water. Drain well and reserve the rice.

Heat a large wok or pan, add a dash of oil and scramble the eggs. Keep them aside.

In the same pan add some more oil add garlic and sauté just until they are soft. Then add onions and sauté till translucent. Add carrot and stir fry until it is half done. Add the beans and capsicum and stir fry until all the vegetables are half cooked.
Add rice along with soy sauce,green chilli sauce, pepper powder, scrambled egg and stir for 2-3 minutes until the rice is heated up and mixed well with other ingredients. Before adding more salt taste the rice. Switch off the heat and add the chopped spring onion .Serve warm

Gobi Manchurian / Cauliflower Manchurian

2010-01-11T21:10:00.002-05:00

DH is a big fan of this dish, Chinese means manchurian for him. No matter what, he sticks with the dish, he would be the first to order while I am still figuring out . The only thing that keeps changing about this dish is the dry & gravy part. So when I am making this at home, I make sure what he wants. This time I changed a little bit, just added ½ tsp cornflour to ½ cup water and added to final stage and reduced it. The result – dish was neither dry nor gravy type,but something in between and had a beautiful glaze. DH was happy and mom very proud . A good start for New Yr.

If you want ,egg can be added to the batter. If you want gravy add a tsp of cornflour to 1 cup water. Add this to the sauce and cook till becomes thick. Then add the fried cauliflower and serve.

Ingredients:-

For the batter :

All purpose flour – 1/2 cup
Corn flour – 1/4 cup
Garlic paste or minced – 2 tsp
Soy Sauce – 1/2 to 1 tsp
Salt – to taste ( both the batter and sauce has Soy sauce)
Water- as needed

Sauce:

Cauliflower – 1 medium sized cut into medium sized florets
Garlic chopped – 5 tbsp
Green chilies chopped – according to taste
Onion Chopped- ½
Capsicum cut into cubes- 1/2
Soya Sauce – 1 tbsp
Green Chilli Sauce – 1 tbsp
Tomato Ketchup – 3 tbsp
Salt – add only if needed
Oil – as needed
Coriander leaves – for garnishing
Spring onion chopped- a small bunch

Method :-

Batter:

Prepare batter with all the ingredients adding water. Batter should be thick enough to coat the cauliflower florets. Heat oil in a big wok, dip each floret in the batter and gently put it into the oil. Fry it in 4- 5 batches .Fry it until golden brown in color. Drain into a tissue paper and keep them aside and allow it to cool.

Sauce:

Heat little oil in a pan, add chopped onion,green chillies,garlic and saute them for a while. Add capsicum and saute. Now add soya sauce,chilly sauce and tomato ketchup. Mix them well, check for salt. Mix ½ tsp cornflour to ½ cup water and simmer it. Once it’s cooked well add the fried cauliflower florets. Mix them together until all the florets are well coated with the sauce. Add spring onion and coriander leaves and toss it well for few minutes. Serve immediately.

I served it with Egg Fried Rice

I am sending this Served With Love hosted by Arundhuti

Sweet Corn Vegetable Soup

2010-01-06T15:58:00.002-05:00

Sweet corn Soup

Kids and vegetables !! The result of this combination is a tough time for the parents and kids. Like all parents we also have a tough time feeding our son. The moment he sees the plate in our hand with food ,endless demands pops up ( tv, dvd, iphone,snow ,ice cream, pepsi etc etc) . 98% of the time my mother will be the victim of this event , yeah I meant she happily takes up the task and in return she will have to do all that he asks for. Along with the junk food I have seen him happily relishing on soups. So I made this soup for New Year keeping him in mind, since it’s sweet kids would love to have it and again it has all the veggies.

Ingredients:

Water- 3 cups
Carrot chopped - 1 medium
French Beans chopped – 5-6
Cauliflower chopped – 4-5 florets
Cornstrach- 2 Tbs
Water- ½ cup to mix cornstarch
Cream Corn- ½ cup
Corn Kernel- 3 Tbs
Salt- to taste
Pepper- ¼ tsp (optional)
Spring Onion - 4 chopped
Sugar- 1/2 tsp

In a stock pot add water and bring it to a boil, add carrots and cook it . When it starts boiling add beans and cauliflower, boil for 2-3 mns. Then add creamstyle corn and corn kernels, keep mixing till it starts boiling. To this add sugar, salt, pepper. Mix cornstarch in ½ cup water and add this to the soup. Let it come to a boil , switch off and add the spring onion. Serve it hot.

I served it with Vegetable Rolls.

Vegetable Rolls

2010-01-06T15:57:00.001-05:00

Always wanted to make these from scratch. This pairs well with Sweet Corn Soup or can be served with tea or coffee. Kids will love these crispy rolls.

Ingredients:

Filling:

French Beans- 2-3 cut into juliennes
Carrots- ½ medium cut into juliennes
Cabbage – 1 small piece cut into juliennes
Capsicum- ½ cut into juliennes
Soy Sauce- 1 Tbsp
Green Chilli Sauce- 1 Tbsp
Salt- to taste
Garlic- 2 cloves
Oil- 2 Tsp

Batter

All purpose flour- 1 cup
Water- to make batter
Salt- to taste

Oil- for frying

Prepration:

To make the batter mix flour, water , salt and mix them well until everything is blended without lumps.
Heat a small frying pan onto medium heat; pour ½ a ladle of batter to form circles .
Just cook the pancake on one side and take them out. Place them in a plate rubbed with oil.

For the filling heat a pan and pour oil. Add chopped garlic, carrots, French beans, cabbage and sauté till they are half cooked. Add Soy sauce, Chilli sauce, salt. Mix well and reserve it.

To make the rolls:

Mix a little flour with water, since we are not using egg this will hold the roll together.

Take a sheet and brush this flour mix on all sides . Place a small amount of filling .Fold both sides to enclose the filling in and then roll it completely to seal the filling in, as shown in the picture . Finally brush a little more at the end and this will hold the filling in place.

Heat a frying pan filled halfway with oil. Fry these rolls in the oil until golden and crisp.

Serve hot with ketchup.

PORTUGUESE TOMATO RICE

2010-01-05T11:20:00.018-05:00

There are many ways to dress up Rice dishes and I am always in search for new recipes. I stumbled upon this recipe and it looked easy to make. Flavorful , fragrant and easy to make.

I served this with chicken tikka.

Ingredients
• Olive oil- 2 Tbsp
• Finely chopped onion- 1 1/2 cups
• Minced garlic- 2 teaspoons
• Salt1- 1/2 teaspoons
• Crushed red pepper flakes- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon
• Bay leaf- 1
• Chopped tomato- 1 1/2 cups
• Cups water- 2 1/4
• Chopped fresh parsley leaves- 2 tablespoons
• Chopped fresh cilantro leaves- 2 tablespoons
• Long-grain white rice- 1 1/2 cups

Directions

In a 4-quart medium saucepan heat the oil over high heat until hot. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, 4 minutes. Add the garlic, salt, red pepper, and bay leaf and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomato and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the water, parsley and cilantro and bring to a boil. Add the rice and stir well. When the liquid returns to a boil, stir again, then cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook the rice undisturbed for 20 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender.
Let rice stand for 5 minutes undisturbed before fluffing with a fork. Serve immediately.

I am sending this to AWED-Portuguese guest hosted by Priya

Cantaloupe Cooler

2010-01-04T12:09:00.002-05:00

Cantaloupe, very crisp,musky and sweet flavoured fruit.Cantaloupe is normally eaten as a fresh fruit, as a salad, or as a dessert with ice cream or custard.This is a very refreshing drink and is best during summer to cool down the heat.Adding an orange will just give it a citrus flavour not too much to dominate the cantaloupe.

Ingredients

Cantaloupe- 4 wedges, cubed
Orange-1-2
Sugar- according to your taste
Water- 1-2 cups (depending on the thickness)

Mix all the ingredients in a blender and serve cold.

Brie wrapped with Crescent

2010-01-04T10:59:00.006-05:00

This is a very simple appetizer. If you like cheese, trust me this will hit the spot. If you haven't tasted Brie cheese ,pls try with a small piece. The cheese is really rich and has slight smoky flavour.The rind is edible and there's no need to remove it. It can be served or paired with any fruits.You can even cut the brie in half,layer it with craberries and then bake it.

INGREDIENTS
Crescent dinner rolls - 1 can
Brie cheese - 1
Egg, beaten - 1 ( optional)

DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 350°F.
If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough; separate crosswise into 2 sections. Pat dough and firmly press perforations to seal, forming 2 squares
Place 1 square on ungreased cookie sheet. Place cheese on center of dough. With small cookie, cut 1 shape from each corner of remaining square; set cutouts aside.
Place remaining square on top of cheese round. Press dough evenly around cheese; fold bottom edges over top edges. Gently stretch dough evenly around cheese; press to seal completely. Brush with beaten egg. Top with cutouts; brush with additional beaten egg.
Bake 20 to 24 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes. Serve warm with fruits and crackers.

Glow Serum

2010-01-04T10:42:00.003-05:00

7'o clock in my house is juicing time for the past two months now. Hubby has started this new hobby and he develops new recipes. We all enjoy this and i thought of sharing this simple recipe with you. For kids this can be strained. Since fruit juice is good and this one includes everything that's good for the skin, i came up with this name.

Ingredients:

Orange peeled - 4
Cataloupe- 1 wedge cut into cubes
Carrots- 4-5 ( we use baby carrots)
Water- 1-2 glasses ( depending on the thickness)
Sugar - according to your taste

Mix all the ingredients in a mixer. For kids it can be strained. For adults i believe this will be fine and it provides good amount of fiber.

Spinach Lasagne

2009-12-30T16:49:00.000-05:00

Cheese is another thing I can’t keep my hands off, I guess it’s in my DNA. My parents, sister and me love cheese in all forms. For X’Mas I thought of making Spinach Lasagne, mainly keeping mom in mind. Mom doesn’t eat beef and she was fasting so thought of Spinach. You can even add Zucchini ,broccoli or egg plant.

Ingredients

Barilla Oven Ready Lasagne- 1 box
Barilla Italian Baking Sauce – 2 jars
Frozen Chopped Spinach - 2 boxes
Garlic Chopped- 4-5 cloves
Ricotta Cheese – 1 cup
Cream Cheese - 4 oz
Salt – to taste
Parmesan Cheese- ½ cup
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese- 2 cups

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Thaw Spinach, heat the oil and saute chopped garlic. To this add the Spinach and cook till the water dries out.Mix ricotta cheese, cream cheese, salt and pepper. To this added cooled spinach mixture.

To assemble Lasagne:

Spread 1 cup sauce in 13x9-inch baking dish; top with 4 lasagne sheets. Spread ricotta cheese mixture completely over lasagne.Top with 1 cup sauce .Sprinkle on Parmesan cheese and half of mozzarella cheese.Repeat layering with 4 lasagne sheets, remaining ricotta cheese mixture, 1/3 cup Sauce and remaining lasagne sheets.Spread remaining sauce over lasagne and top with remaining mozzarella cheese.Cover with foil and bake 50 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Uncover; let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Kozhi Nirachathu / Stuffed Chicken

2009-12-30T15:34:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving, X’mas, New Year etc etc , almost all the special occasion will have baked bird on the table. I was getting fed up with baking the bird and was running out of ideas on how to jazz it up. Atleast Thanksgiving has the stuffing to make a difference. I was planning for X’Mas menu and then suddenly thought about an article in Vanitha, it’s regarding a lady who caters for weddings and her speciality is Adu nirachathu (Stuffed goat). This is done by stuffing the goat with chicken which has been stuffed with masala and eggs. Then frying the whole marinated goat.

So thought of taking stuffed chicken for the menu. Original recipe calls for frying the bird and then stuff it, I took the frying part out just to avoid the grease. The menu already had enough grease. So here it goes and every one liked it .

Ingredients :-

For Marinating :

Whole Chicken – 1 small

Vinegar – 1 Tbsp
Ginger- 1 medium piece
Garlic – 4-5 cloves

Red Chilly powder – 3 to 4 tsp

Turmeric powder – 2tsp

Salt – to taste
Oil- 3 Tbsp

For Stuffing :

Egg – 1 or 2 depending on the size of your chicken

Big Onion sliced – ½

Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 tsp

Red chilly powder – 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Garam masala powder – 1/2 tsp

Coriander leaves chopped – 1/2 cup

Salt – to taste

Oil – as needed

Method :-

Marination:

Clean the chicken thoroughly. Make tiny slits on the chicken on both sides, for the masala to penetrate well. Grind the ginger, garlic and vinegar to make a paste. Prepare a marinade using red chilly powder,turmeric powder,ginger garlic paste,Oil and salt adding necessary water to make a smooth paste.Apply the paste all over the chicken on both sides . Cover it well and marinate it for atleast 1 hr.

Stuffing :

Boil the eggs till it is fully cooked. When it is cold peel off the shell and reserve
Heat oil in a pan and saute onion and ginger-garlic paste until onion turns translucent .Add the chilly powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder and fry it in medium heat until everything is blended together. Add salt and the rest of the ingredients for stuffing and mix together. Finally add the boiled egg (whole or sliced half),and fry for few more minutes. Switch off the heat and keep this aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Bake the marinated chicken breast side down in a pan sprayed with pam or drizzled with some oil. Bake it for 30 mns, take the pan out, turn the chicken. Now the breast side is up, fill it with the stuffing .Just be careful not to overstuff the chicken, you can either use kitchen twine to tie the legs or just leave it. Baste the chicken with the juices in the pan and bake it again for 30-40 mns .

Biscotti

2009-12-30T13:18:00.003-05:00

I had promised Rajeev ( my hubby) that I will bake something for his office, huh it’s been 3 months since I made the promise. Finally I thought ,it’s holiday season and I’ll make something. Since I had to bake Shortbread cookies for Arjun( my son), I thought I’ll make one more batch of those. What else to make? Searching for more ideas I went to get some Almonds ( I was hungry, I need fuel to charge my brain). The jar in which the almonds were stored had a label for Biscotti. “Yes” that’s the second item I am going to make for my hubby’s office.
My mom and hubby always got these from Sam’s Club, hubby liked it for taste, while my mother loved it for two reasons, one is the taste and second is the jar ( yes she never failed to remind Rajeev to buy them)

Since it’s holiday season I made cranberry and almond biscotti, you avoid these and you will get the plain ones. It’s very similar to shortbread cookies in versatility. You can add almost anything to it and alter to your taste buds. To make it more rich, melt some semi sweet chocolate or white chocolate and dip them. It pairs well with tea or coffee.

Ingredients

· all-purpose flour- 2 cups
· baking powder -1 1/2 teaspoons
· sugar- 3/4 cup
· unsalted butter, room temperature -1/2 cup (1 stick)
· grated lemon zest ( i used pure vanilla essence)- 1 teaspoon
· salt- 1/4 teaspoon
· large eggs- 2
· almonds, coarsely chopped ( toasted) -3/4 cup
· dried cranberries- 2/3 cup
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest (or essence), and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the almonds and cranberries.

Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 30 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.

I am sending this to Cakes n Cookies hosted by Sara

Marbled Chocolate Treat

2009-12-30T11:58:00.001-05:00

“Chocolates” I have been an ardent chocolate lover since the time I came into this world. I am constantly in search for chocolate recipes. The basic idea of this came from a food network recipe for “chocolate bark”. I wanted to add a base to this, something which will hold the chocolate from melting off and something that will give a crunch. I wanted to make this for my hubby’s office and I want them to melt in their mouth and not on everyone’s hand. I came across a recipe for a peanut and chocolate bark in a food magazine. I just altered it and “wallah “, lucky me it came out just as I thought.

If you are planning to make bark you need not break the grahams in half, but if you are looking for a bar break it in half

Ingredients:

Graham crackers - 8
Semi-Sweet Chocolate - 6 squares
White Chocolate -3 squares

Line pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Arrange grahams on bottom of pan, completely covering bottom of pan.

Microwave semi-sweet chocolate in medium microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 to 2 min. or until chocolate is completely melted when stirred, stirring every 30 sec. Stir until well blended. Pour over grahams; spread with spatula to cover completely.

Repeat microwave melting steps with the white chocolate. Drop spoonfuls of the white chocolate over chocolate-covered grahams. Immediately cut through the chocolate mixtures with knife several times for tiger-stripe effect.

Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until firm. Use foil handles to remove dessert from pan. Peel off foil. Cut dessert into bars or barks. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Shortbread Cookies

2009-12-30T11:35:00.002-05:00

“I want biscuit” my son demanded, I raided the pantry for parle-g. Nope it’s not there, hmm middle of the night where can I find some. I asked “you want cookies? (just thought he will calm down with that) , he looked at me ( more of a stare) “no I want biscuit”. Hmm that was new, he is a cookie fan. Somehow we were able to divert his attention. The next day morning he popped the same demand. I told soon after school you will get one, when mom and I went for shopping I came across the shortbread cookies, which almost looked like a biscuit. I was able to cheat my little one and to my surprise he liked the taste. At that point I decided I’ll make this, more over I had promised my hubby that I will bake something for the office.

My search ended when I stumbled upon joyofbaking’s shortbread cookie recipe. Shortbread cookies are very light , declious and very very buttery flavoured. You can even flavor it up with anything. For a good shortbread two things are very essential an AA quality Butter and pure vanilla essence (no imitations pls).

Baking was fun, my baby even helped in cutting out some of the cookies and he liked them too.

Shortbread Cookies:

2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
1 cup (2 sticks) (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (60 grams) powdered (confectioners or icing) sugar
1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

Shortbreads:

In a separate bowl whisk the flour with the salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter until smooth (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and beat until smooth (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Gently stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Flatten the dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill the dough for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) with the rack in the middle of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to 1/4 inch (.5 cm) thick. Cut into rounds or whatever shapes you wish using lightly floured cookie cutter. Place the cookies on the baking sheet and place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. This will firm up the dough so the cookies will maintain their shape when baked. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, or until cookies are lightly brown. Cool on rack.

Shortbread with keep in an airtight container for about a week or frozen for several months.
Makes about 20 shortbread cookies

I am sending this to Cakes n cookies hosted by Sara

Eggless Tiramisu

2009-12-30T10:50:00.000-05:00

The phrase tirami su literally means "pick me up" or "pull me up" in reference to the effects of the sugar and espresso. It is also thought to mean "pick me up to heaven" due to the delightful taste. It is a very popular dessert loved by everyone, atleast those I know.

It is made by layering cake or ladyfingers dipped in a mixture of coffee (espresso) and coffee liqueur (Kahlua), followed by a layer of Zabaglione or Zabaione (a rich Italian custard that is made by whipping egg yolks, sugar, and sweet Marsala wine over a water bath) that has been mixed with mascarpone cheese.

I wanted to make something new for X’Mas and declared to my family that Tiramisu will be the dessert. Hubby happily agreed to that ,but my mom asked for more details and she said I am sorry I’ll have it the next day , I am fasting on Friday and I can’t have.

So I wanted to make eggless version, unfortunately my mom had it only the next day cause it has Kahlua and Marsala wine. Instead of ladyfingers I made eggless sponge cake and cut it into ½ inch thick slices. I have added the recipe for eggless sponge cake too, pls check it out.
If you don’t want to add alcohol, pls don’t .This won’t drastically change the taste, In the original recipe, there was no liquor as the cake was originally aimed at children and the elderly

Ingredients:

Eggless Sponge cake – 40 Slices

Soaking Syrup

Coffee Powder ( instant)- 5Tbsp
Hot Water- 1Cup
Kahlua or any coffee liqueur - ¼ cup

Cheese Mixture

Mascarpone cheese- 3 cups (24 OZ)
Cream Cheese - 8 OZ
Vanilla Essence - ½ tsp
Marsala Wine- ½ Cup
Confectioner Sugar - ½ Cup

For Dusting

Cocoa Powder

Cream Topping:

In a bowl, with a wooden spoon or hand mixer, beat the mascarpone cheese and cream cheese until it is soft and smooth. Add marsala wine , sugar and vanilla essence and beat until smooth.

Coffee Soaking Syrup:

In a large shallow bowl combine the coffee powder (instant), hot water, and Kahlua. Set aside.

To Assemble:

Dip sponge cake slices in the coffee mixture and place them side by side in a single layer over the bottom of the pan. Spoon 1/2 of the cream filling over the cake layer, making sure they are completely covered. Repeat with another layer of cake slice by dipping them in the coffee mixture and placing them on top of the cream. Again, cover the cake layer with rest of the cream. Sift the cocoa powder over the cream cheese. Cover the Tiramisu and refrigerate at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.