Spicy Semolina Crackers

This recipe was posted online by Debarati Mishra. The moment I saw the recipe, Ijust headed to my kitchen. This crispy crackers goes well with an evening cup of tea. It's a total no fuss recipe and alk the ingredients are always available at home. Thanks Debarati for sharing.

Ingredients:

Semolina-1 Cup

Nigella seeds-1/2 Tsp

Baking Powder-1Tsp

Chilli Powder-1Tsp

Salt-To taste

Water-As required

Oil-As Required

Plain Flour-For Rolling

Method:

In a mixing bowl take all the dry ingredients.Take little water at a time and make a dough of rolling consistency.

Now add little oil to the dough so that you can roll it on the board to form  a chappati. Dice it into desired shapes and deep fry in hot oil.

Eggless Moist Banana Cake

When I came across this recipe I just couldn't take my eyes off. The cake was golden in colour and it looks divine. When I read the recipe I got to know that the baker used the caramelization technique in order to get that color. Well I tried too but failed. Anyways will try it again :-)
Thanks to Sandhya Ashvini Soni for sharing this wonderful recipe.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup Maida
4 Ripe Bananas
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
2/3 cup oil/ ghee…I used oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
Almond Flakes(Optional)

Procedure:

Sieve the dry ingredients and keep it aside.
In a mixer mix powdered sugar and bananas very well.
Add Ghee/Oil and Vanilla essence.
Pour these wet ingredients in a vessel.
Fold in the dry ingredients little at a time with the wet ingredients.
Combine all the mixture very well.Don’t over beat the batter. If u find ur batter a bit dry add some warm milk and mix to the required cake consistency.
Pour in a greased and lined pan and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 35 min.
Once done, let the cake cool down completely for 1 hr and then slice it.

Wholewheat Coconut Cookies

I baked these in the evening since the day I have come across this recipe. What I liked about this recipe was the use of ghee, just 5 Tsps compared to others where we require at least a half cup of butter or ghee.Ghee was out of stock, hence took time for me to try my hands on.

Recipe: 

1 cup Whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar / brown sugar - grind it fine
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
Pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
5 tsp ghee melted
1/4 cup milk

Make a dough of all the above ingredients. Refrigerate the dough for 15 mins. In the mean time pre heat your oven and lightly grease your baking dish. Make equal size balls of the dough and flatten them a bit. Bake it at 180 in a preheated oven for 15 mins. Cool them off completely before u put them in an airtight container.

The only change I made in the above recipe is the use of 1/2 cup powdered copra since I didn't had dessicated coconut.

Malai cookies

This is the easiest cookies recipe I have come across so far as its made up of only three ingredients. With a four month old toddler, sometimes life becomes really difficult. I wanted to bake these today and mmy daughter supported me too.She slept for an hour in the evening.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup maida
1/2 cup malai ( This the malai which we gather from the milk top everyday not the packet cream)
1/2 cup sugar powdered with some elachi ( u can use less sugar if u like we like it nice and sweet )

Method:
Just mix the malai and the elachi flavour sugar till nicely combined then mix in the maida and mix well .
Now preheat a oven to 180 degrees for10mins and grease a baking tray, put the above mixture in a piping bag and make the cookies with a star nozzle bake them for 8 to10 mins or till u get the desired colour, as every oven is different.
Take them out of oven and let it cool for sometime before transferring to an air tight container.

Sandhani

Oats and Cornflakes Cookies

While these cookies were getting baked, my home was smelling divine.Dad kept on asking what's baking and my answer was let's wait till I serve you with a cup of tea :-)
I came across this recipe in sharmis passion. Recipe was very well explained and the cookies turned out awesome.

Ingredients:

• Oats - 3/4 cup
• Cornflakes - 1/4 cup
• All purpose flour - 3 tbsp
•  sugar - 1/4 cup
• Butter/cooking oil - 1/4 cup
• Salt - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Grind Oats,Sugar and cornflakes each separately into find powders and keep it aside.
Beat butter and sugar till it's creamy.
Then add powdered oats, cornflakes,maida, salt and make a dough. Flatten it slightly and wrap it in a plastic sheet and keep it in the fridge for 15 mins.
Take out the dough and make equal portions out of it and press it slightly in your palm to give it the cookie shape.
Preheat the oven at 180C and grease a baking tray. Place the cookies on it with 1/4 inch gap between each cookies.
Bake the cookies for 15-20 mins or until the base turns golden brown.

Pista Cake-Birthday Cake

While preparing this cake on that morning I was wondering if I will be able to do the icing part and get this cake ready before midnight in order to gift it my younger brother.Well it worked and I was fortunate to be back home early at 9pm..Hmm..9pm!!!!
Lets talk about the cake.It was a huge cake.I followed a simple recipe of a basic sponge and adding a cup of chopped Pistachios and a little green food colour to it.And the icing was done with whipped cream.The recipe below is for one cake.I prepared two cakes and then overlapped it with icing.

Recipe Source:Cakes and More

Ingredients:(For One cake)
All purpose flour(Maida)-1 Cup
Baking Powder-1 tsp
Sugar-3/4 Cup
Eggs- 2
Unsalted Butter-2 tbsps
Milk-1/2 cup
Chopped Pistachios-1/4 Cup
A tiny pinch of green colour

Procedure:
1.Pre heat oven to 180 degrees C / 375 degrees F. 
2.Grease a 8'' round tin with butter or oil. 
3.Sieve the flour and baking powder twice. Keep aside. 
4.Add a small pinch of flour to the chopped nuts, give a good shake to make sure the nuts are covered with flour. This helps avoid the nuts going to the bottom of the cake when you bake.
5.Heat the milk in a saucepan, add the butter to it. Cover to keep it hot.
6.In a large bowl, beat the eggs till thick. This is about 2 minutes on high speed with an electric mixer.
7.Add the sugar and beat for 5 minutes on medium speed. 
8.Gently fold in the flour mixture. 
9.Add a little green food color to to the warm milk. Stir it into the batter gently. Fold in the chopped nuts. The batter is neither thick nor thin. 
10.Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Rap it gently against the kitchen counter. This settles the air bubbles and helps avoid a domed cake. Bake for 30 minutes or till a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. 

Cool the cake in the tin on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the cake and transfer it to the rack. A neat way to do this would be to invert the cake onto a plate, re-invert on the rack. Cool completely.

For the frosting:

Whipped Cream-2 Cups
Icing sugar-1/2 cup

1.Beat the icing sugar and cream in a bowl till soft peaks occur.
2.Place one cake on the cake board and pour whipped cream on top it.Cover the sides as well.
3.Then place the second cake and cover it with cream as well.Make designs as per your wish with any nozzle.
I garnished it with sprinkles

Note:
*Keep the bowl and the beater in fridge for an hour so before whipping cream.
*You can use one cake and slice it into two and continue with the icing.

Phirni

This was supposed to be a normal rice Phirni but then I changed my mind to make it special. I added half the amount of rice and rest different types of nuts.I was very apprehensive in trying it out but it came out well.It was a mixed nuts phirni which has fig,almonds,cashew,walnuts,pistachio and raisins.I soaked these nuts in water and then grinded to a fine paste

Ingredients:
Basmati Rice-1/4 Cup
Milk- 4 cups
Mixed Nuts Paste(as mentioned above)-1/2 Cup
Sugar-1/2 Cup or upto taste
Cardamom Powder-1/2 Tsp

Method:
1.Wash and soak the rice for an hour or so.
2.After an hour,grind the rice coarsely with little milk.
3.In a heavy bottom vessel,bring the milk to a boil stirring continuously.
4.After 10-15 mins,turn the heat down and let the milk simmer and reduce to half.
5.Now add the coarsely grinded rice and let it thicken.
6.After 5-6 mins,add the sugar,mixed nuts paste,cardamom powder and mix well.
7.Once done transfer the phirni to a serving bowl and garnish with nuts of your choice.

Serve hot or chilled!!!!!

Sponge Cake with Butter Cream Frosting

This one is dedicated to my husband who celebrated his birthday on 31st December.I actually planned to bake a Red Velvet Cake but changed my mind in the last minute.Since last three weeks, I am really busy in office. In spite of having a smart phone, I don't have time to check my mails, Facebook or anything else.Somehow after finishing my household chores today, I thought of posting this recipe.Man..I badly need a break.Waiting desperately for April, to visit my parents.
I have skipped the procedure of baking the vanilla sponge cakes as its already available in my blog.

How To:
For the two Sponge Cakes:Vanilla Sponge Cake Recipe

Once the two sponge cakes have cooled down,get ready for the frosting.
For Butter Cream Frosting:
Butter(at room Temp)-1 Cup
Icing Sugar-4 Cups
Liquid Colors-I preferred Orange and Green
Vanilla Essence-2 Tsps
Milk-2-3 Tbsps

Method:

1.Beat the butter until smooth and creamy.Add the vanilla.

2.Gradually mix in the icing sugar.Beat the frosting until light and fluffy.Add milk or sugar to get the right consistency. Separate the mixture into two bowls.To one add orange color and to the other add green color. 

3.Place one cake layer (bottom side facing up) on the serving plate and spread with about 3/4 cup of orange frosting. Place the other cake layer (bottom side facing up) on top of the frosting and cover the entire cake with the remaining frosting. Place some of the frosting in a piping bag and pipe a decorative border around the top of the cake.

4.With the remaining green frosting I did the basket weave pattern.

Grilled Chicken

This recipe of course do not need any introduction.It is a very famous dish in India and Pakistan and in fact its famous world wide.Tandoori Chicken,Kalmi Kabab,Malai kabab,Tangdi kabab..the list goes on and on but appetite will never be full!
Last week during my sister in law's visit on dinner,her three year old daughter "Araina" started jumping with joy when she saw this chicken being grilled in the oven.I also baked fish that day and this little cutie pie enjoyed both.

Ingredients:

Chicken-900-1kg(Whole and cleaned)

Hung Curd-From 500gms curd

Ginger-Garlic paste- 2 tsps

Turmeric-1/2 Tsp

Chilli Powder-1-2 Tsps

Tandoori Masala-1 tsp

Red Chilli Powder-1 tsp or as required

Dhania Powder-1 Tsp

Garam Masala-1 tsp

Red Colour-A pinch

Salt-As per taste

Lemon Juice-From half a lime

How To:

1.Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients for at least 5-6 hours or overnight.

2.Bake it in a preheated oven at 200C in convection and grilled mode.Flip it once one side is cooked.

3.Sprinkle chaat masala and serve with onion rings and lemon wedges.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Yogurt Loaf Cake

This is my first recipe in 2013.Wishing everyone a very very Happy New Year.I baked this cake yesterday night.Somehow now a days my husband is very fond of loaf cake.He says he loves the size of the slice.And when I thought of baking one last night,this book marked recipe came into my mind.Baking with Olive Oil???Sounds very weird right?Huh..I reacted the same way when I saw this recipe of Dorie Greenspan.The cake was extra soft and as usual like any other loaf cake, this cake was too a Super hit.

Source: Dorie Greenspan
Ingredients:
All purpose flour-1 1/2 Cups
Eggs-3 large
Extra Virgin Olive Oil-1/2 Cup
Sugar-1 Cup
Baking Powder-2 tsps
Salt-A pinch
Finely grated Zest-From one line
Yogurt-1/2 Cup
Vanilla Essence-1 1/2 Tsp

Method:
1.Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 180c. Generously butter an 8 1/2-x-4 1/2-inch loaf pan, place the pan on a lined baking sheet and set aside. 
2.Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and keep near by.
3.Beat the eggs at high speed in a glass bowl till pale and frothy.

Then gradually mix the sugar and beat at the lowest speed till all the sugar dissolves.Add finely lemon zest.

4.Whisk in the dry ingredients, yogurt and the vanilla.

5.Switch to a spatula and fold in the oil.The batter will be thick and shiny.

6.Transfer the mixture to the greased loaf tin and bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 mins or until a knife inserted in the middle come out clean.

7.Unmould and cool to room temperature right-side up.
You can keep the cake at room temperature for at least 4 days or freeze it for up to 2 months.

 

Strawberry Lassi

Well, on one of our trip to Hampi, we went to a very famous place to have lunch.There we ordered their famous "Coconut Lassi".I must say it taste divine.I cannot forget the taste.Since then I have become a big big fan of lassi.Then after a month on our trip to Gokarna we tasted various lassi like Mango and lime lassi,Banana Lassi,Strawberry Lassi and many more.I could say that we can experiment with lassi and i am sure all will taste good.

Ingredients:
Yogurt-1 Cup
Sugar-
Ice Cubes-2 nos
Strawberry-5-6 Nos chopped

Method:
In a blender put all the ingredients together and blend in for around 30 seconds in high speed.
Pour the lassi into the glass and top it with thin strawberry slices and serve.

Pindi Chole

I have made this recipe several times.Its a common dish but the addition of tea water to the normal chickpeas is the twist.My husband prefers this dish over chole masala.Last night when i made this, I wanted to make Bhature too but my very health conscious husband refused to have bhature and hence I landed up making Phulkas.

Ingredients:

Kabuli Chana(Chickpeas)-1 cup

Onion Paste-6 Tbsps

Tomato Puree-4 Tbsps

Ginger-garlic paste-1 Tbsp

Red Chilli Whole-1

Mustard Oil-3-4 Tbsps

Chole Masala-1 Tbsp

Garam masala-1 tsp

Chilli powder-a-2 Tsps

Dhania powder-1 tsp

Amchur Powder-1 tsp

Chopped Coriander-For garnish

Green Chilli Slit-For garnish

Salt-As per taste

Water-1 Cup

Method

1.Boil the Chana in enough tea decoction or else you can just put 3 tea bags(unflavored) with water.

2.In the heated kadhai add oil and then the whole red chilli and then add the onion paste,ginger-garlic paste and tomato puree.Bhuno these all for couple of minutes in low heat till the oil separates.

3.Add all the dry masalas and fry for less than a minute.

4.Add the boiled chick peas and then add one cup of water.Content of water is  discretionary.I wanted it to be little thick so added just a cup.Let it boil for couple of minutes and finally season with salt.

5.Garnish with coriander and serve with poori,bhature or hot phulkas.

Vegetable Fried Rice

Last Friday I was terribly suffering from back pain.I could hardly sit in the office and some how managed the day.While coming back home I picked half a kilo of chicken and thought of preparing stuffed parathas and chilly chicken gravy.But when I came back home I don't know what happened to me.I landed up making too many dishes dedicated to my husband.
By the time my husband came back from office he had Stir fry vegetables,Vegetable fried rice,Tawa chicken dry and Vegetable balls in hot garlic sauce lined up on the table.I have already posted Chinese Egg Fried Rice recipe.Hence i am not putting step wise pictures.

Also recently I bought a Chinese wok.So was excited to cook something in it.Im posting a picture of how a chinese wok look like:

Source:Google

Whats Needed:
Any Cooked Rice-1 Cup
Shredded Carrot-1/4 Cup
Shredded Beans-1/4 Cup
Shredded Cabbage-1/4 Cup
Shredded colored Capsicums-1/4 Cup
Soy sauce-1 Tbsp
Oyster sauce-1 tbsp(Optional)
Chilli Sauce-1 Tbsp
Vinegar-1 tsp
Crushed Garlic-1 Tbsp
Olive Oil-1 tbsp
Salt-As per taste
Pepper Powder-As per taste

How To:
1.Heat the wok on high.Once it is super hot add oil and add crushed garlic.saute for a minute.
2.Add all the shredded vegetables and sauces.do not over cook the veggies.Let it be crunchy.
3.Then add the rice and toss for a couple of minutes and finally add the salt and the pepper.
4.Garnish with spring onions.

Note:
1.Cook the rice 10-12 hours in advance.i cooked the rice in the morning and kept it open in the fridge.You can use one day old rice too.
2.Never add salt to the vegetables.the veggies start to leave water.Hence add it at the end.
3.There are so many sauces available.You can use Black bean sauce,fish sauce.Anything and everything will do.

Happy Cooking!!!

Green Dosa

This was prepared by couple of days back for breakfast.I have heard a lot about this recipe as its super healty and hence famous.I was apprehensive of trying it out as I thought the batter will stick to the tawa and dosa won't be proper in shape.But i was completely wrong.It turned out really well(No soda added to it).A must try and it i am sure it will be a superhit.You can add grated carrot too in the recipe.

Whats Needed:

Dry peas-1/4 Cup

Urad Dal(split)-1\4 Cup

Rice-1/4 Cup

Green Moong-1\4 Cup

Moong Dal-1/4 Cup

Chopped Coriander-1Tbsp

Chopped green Chillies-1 Tsp

Chopped Onions-2Tbsps

Salt-as per taste
Oil-For drizzling

How To:

1.Soak all the dals and rice overnight with enough water.

2.Grind it to a fine paste with required amount of water.The consistency should be same like normal dosa batter.

3.Add chopped coriander,onions,chillies and salt.

4.Heat tthe tawa and add a spoon ful of batter and make the dosa.add little oil on the edges.

5.Once cooked on bottom flip it and keep it for another one minute.

Serve hot with chutney of your choice.