Layered Brownies Sandwich With Moka Buttercream

Wishing you all a happy,prosperous and beautiful 2011..We guys are in party mood and i cant able to visit all ur blogs frequently coz of many relative's visits and enjoying many delicious dishes, i prepared this layered brownies sandwich sterday with moka buttercream..This dessert is quiet simple at the same time they tastes marvellous also this is the first time i prepared buttercream using instant coffee, eventhough myself and my hubby love coffee flavours, i was quite skeptical while serving this layered sandwich to our friends and relatives about the buttercream,but fortunately everyone love this coffee flavour and they enjoyed having this simple at the same time a delicious layered brownies sandwich.



For Brownies:
1/2cup Flour
2nos Eggs
3/4cup Sugar
1/4cup Butter
1no Dark chocolate bar
1/4tsp Salt
1/2tsp Vanilla extract
1/2cup Nuts

Preheat the oven to 325F..Melt the butter with dark chocolate bar in microwave oven for few seconds, mix and keep aside..meanwhile beat the sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and salt until they turns pale and smooth mixture, finally add the flour, melted chocolate-butter mixture and turn everything as a smooth batter..Add the nuts, pour the batter in a greased rectangular pan and bake for 35minutes until the crust turns firm..

Mocha Buttercream:
2cups Confectioner's sugar
1/2cup Butter
1tbsp Instant coffee
1tsbp Milk

Beat the butter until they turns soft, gradually add the confectioner's sugar to the butter, beat well.. meanwhile mix the coffee in milk, pour this coffee to the suger-butter mixture and beat well until they turns as soft cream..Keep in fridge atleast for an hour..

Cut the brownies as squares, using a piping bag pipe out the moka buttercream over the brownies, arrange an another brownies over the buttercream and pipe out again the buttercream as u desire..Enjoy as dessert..

Oats Thattai

After trying out quinoa thattais, here comes my next version of thattai with oats, this time i have prepared them just by using store bought rice flour,dry roasted urad dal flour and roasted grounded oats with sesame seeds and cumin seeds, which i spiced up with peppercorns, dry red chillies, fennel seeds and garlic cloves, this crispy thattai turns out extremely crispy, tasty and prefect to munch for snacks...Quiet an easy snacks which gets ready in less time,since its doesnt need goes for soaking..Do try friends, am damn sure u guys will definitely make them often..



2cups Rice flour
1/2cup Roasted urad dal flour
1cup Rolled oats (roasted & grounded)
1tsp Butter
1/2tsp Asafoetida powder
2nos Dry red chillies
1/2tsp  Fennel seeds
1tsp Peppercorns
2nos Garlic cloves
1tbsp Sesame seeds
1tsp Cumin seeds
Salt
Oil

Grind the dry red chillies, fennel seeds, peppercorns, garlic cloves as fine powder..Take this grounded powder along with rice flour,roasted and grounded oats flour, urad dal flour, butter,asafoetida powder,salt, sesame seeds and cumin seeds in a large vessel and knead a soft dough with enough water..

Heat oil for deepfrying, take a golf ball sized dough, line  two  greased baking sheet or ziplock bags in a poori press,arrange the dough between the baking sheets or ziplock bags, give a genlte press to flatten the dough..Drop this flattened thattais to the oil, fry until the both sides turns golden brown, repeat the same process until the dough get finished..

Conserve these thattais in an air tightened box and enjoy!

Mushroom Ajwain Rice

If u need for a simple, quick,delicious at the same a flavourful rice dish, do try this mushroom ajwain rice, since i had some fresh mushrooms,i tried out this rice with mushrooms..U can surely use any sort of veggies for making this delicious rice..Ajwain gives a beautiful flavour to this rice and if u serve this rice with papads or with spicy potato fry,they tastes absolutely divine and nothing will beat this combination..This rice suits prefectly for a lunch box menu or for a get together party, even with a non vegetarian side dish am damn sure that this rice will be definitely a big hit..To spice this rice, i just used slit opened green chillies and store bought pav bhaji powder,both together turned out this rice even more delicious..Sending to my own event CWS-Ajwain seeds guest hosted by Kavita..



2cups Basmati rice (cooked)
2nos Onions (sliced lengthwise)
2nos Green chillies (slit opened)
1tsp Ginger garlic paste
1tsp Garam masala powder
1tbsp Pav bhaji powder
1tsp Ajwain seeds
1/2tsp Cumin seeds
1cup Mushrooms (chopped as small chunks)
1/4cup Green peas (optional)
Salt
Oil
Few chopped mint leaves

Heat enough oil, fry the ajwain seeds and cumin seeds until they turns brown, add immediately the sliced onions, ginger garlic paste, sauté until the raw smell goes away..now add the slit opened green chillies, chopped mushrooms, green peas, cook everything in simmer along with garam masala powder, pav bhaji powder with enough salt until the veggies get well cooked and the oil gets separates..(u can add water if needed, i didnt added water and cooked everything in simmer)..Immediately add the already cooked basmati rice and toss gently until everything gets well mixed, finally add the chopped mint leaves and serve hot with papads or with any spicy side dish..

Oats & Cinnamon Palmiers

These flaxy palmiers are prepared with cinnamon,sugar and oats.. Yea with oats!!!..Actually my store bought pastry sheet was sitting since few days in fridge which i wanted to finish as puffs, but coz of laziness i tried making them as this cute yummy palmiers today just by making a paste with cinnamon,sugar,oats along with some hot milk, this cute looking hearts tastes absolutely fabulous for snacks..Cinnamon flavour oats palmiers looks soo cute na..



1no Puff pastry sheet
1tbsp Cinnamon powder
2tbsp Sugar
2tbsp Rolled oats
3tbsp Hot milk

Make a paste with cinnamon powder, sugar and rolled oats with hot milk, spread this cinnamon-oats mixture generously over the pastry sheet and fold on both sides to bring both edges to the middle to form a log, arrange in freezer for 15minutes.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 400F, cut the slightly freezed log as small pieces and arrange over the baking sheet lined over a baking tray, bake for 12-15minutes until the crust turns golden brown..

Enjoy..

Stuffed Aloo Palak Paratha

I never says no to potato and spinach, both are our family favourites.. Most of our dinner goes for parathas and also its quite a best way to sneak veggies or greens either by adding directly to the dough or by stuffing,its has been a long i havent prepared aloo parathas and i tried out this aloo palak combo in this paratha for our sunday's dinner and served along with a simple mixed veggies kurma, eventhough these parathas doesnt need any special side dish..I used few ajwain seeds for tempering the aloo palak masala which turned out more flavourful, these parathas tastes awesome even for lunch and u can very well freeze them for future dinner or lunch, i slightly cooked my parathas and freezed them in ziplock bags, its really handy and quick whenever u feel lazy to cook..Sending to my own event CWS-Ajwain Seeds guest hosted by Kavita..



Aloo-Palak Masala:
3nos Potatoes (cooked & mashed)
1cup Spinach (chopped)
2nos Onions (chopped)
1no Green chillies (chopped)
1tsp Ajwain seeds
1tsp Garam masala powder
Salt
Oil

Heat oil, let crack the ajwain seeds, add the chopped onions, chopped green chillies, sauté everything for few minutes, add immediately the chopped spinach leaves,cook for few minutes..now add the mashed potatoes, garam masala powder and salt, cook everything in simmer for few minutes, put off the stove..Keep aside and let them cool..

Paratha:
2cups Wheat flour
1/2cup Hot milk
Salt
All purpose flour for dusting

Take the wheat flour in a large bowl with salt, gradually add the hot milk and water,knead everything as a soft dough,keep aside for half an hour..Make a lemon size balls from the dough, dust with all purpose flour,roll them as a small disc, place a medium sized ball of already prepared aloo palak masala, seal the edges together, roll them as parathas by dusting with all purpose flour and rolling gently..

Heat a tawa, drop gently the stuffed aloo palak paratha,drizzle few drops of oil,cook on both sides in medium flame until they get cooked well..Enjoy hot..

Pasta & Mixed Veggies Oats Pakoda

Have u ever tried adding pastas in making pakodas, i tried it out for the first time sterday with some leftover over-cooked pastas along with rolled oats and with some mixed veggies..I was surprised to see these pakodas turned out super crispy and we couldnt even stop munching these crispies for our snacks..We loved enjoying this yummy beauties with a cup of hot coffee, quick and easy pakodas which gets really ready in few minutes..Trust me u can make these crispy pakodas often just by cooking pastas little bit more from the next time while cooking ur usual quantity of pastas and am damn sure u guys will definitely love these crispies..



1cup Cooked pastas (any variety)
1/4cup Rolled oats
1/2cup Mixed Veggies
2tbsp Gram flour
1tsp Ginger garlic paste
3tbsp Rice flour
1tsp Red chilly powder
1/2tsp Garam masala powder
Chopped coriander leaves
Salt
Oil for deep frying

Take the cooked paste, rolled oats, mixed veggies, gram flour, rice flour, ginger garlic paste, red chilly powder, garam masala powder and chopped coriander leaves with enough salt..Springle some water and turn everything as a thick batter..Heat oil for deep frying, make small bites from the batter and drop gently to the hot oil, fry until they turns crispy and golden brown..

Enjoy hot with a cup of coffee..

AWED-French Roundup

Eventhough i was born and brought in old French territory called 'Pondicherry', i am living more than 10years in Paris,one of the famous city of the world..Needless to say am very much happy to host this AWED-French cuisine which is quite a famous cuisine for their pastries, desserts and many regional cuisines all around the world,i have to say big thanks to DK of Chef In You for letting me to host this beautiful and famous event where each and every month this event stop to many different International cuisine and its gives a great opportunity to try and taste many dishes from various country's cuisines..Am very proud to share this beautiful roundup and i have say a big thanks to my foodie bloggers from their beautiful contributions, thanks friends nothing is possible without ur supports..

1)Petits Choux à la créme from Vanessa of Sweet Artichoke..
2)Croissant from Gayathri Kumar of Gayathri's Cook Spot..
3)Veg au Gratin/Baked Vegetables in white sauce from Chaitrali of I m not a Chef..
4)Mushroom Galette with Caramelized Onion and Mozzarella from Aipi of US Masala..
5)Riz au Lait /French Rice Pudding from Rekha of Plaintain Leaf..
6)Apple & Raisin Mini Galette from Roshan of Roshan's Cucina..
7)Cannelés from Lizy of Hot N Steamy Food..
8)Salad de Concombres à la crémé fraiche/Creamy Cucumber Salad & Potage de Crecy/Carrot Soup from Dr.Sameena of My Culinary Creations..
9)Cherry and Blueberry Clafoutis from Faiza Ali of Faiza Ali's Kitchen..
10)Orangettes from Megha of Live to eat!!!..
11)Pain aux Amandes/Almond Bread from Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen..
12)Crepes, Beans & Potato Salad & Caramelized Apple from Menaga of Sashiga..
13)Pain au lait/Milk Bread from Cham of Spice-club..
14)Noble Napoleon from Veena Jhanak of Delishun..
15)French Fries & French Toast from Kurinji of Kurinji Kathambam..
16)Apple Pie Puff Pastry from Akheela of Torviewtoronto..
17)Roasted Cauliflower-French Style from Sowmya of Vegetarian Cultural Creatives..
18)Socca Pissaladiére from Janet of The Taste Space..
19)Cauliflower Baguette Gratin from Ameya of The Spice Savant..
20)French Baguettes, Brioche & Mini Apple Crossiant from Umma Mymoonah of Taste Of Pearl City..
21)Strawberry French Toast Kebabs, Rosemary Nuts and Spicy Cheesy Crackers & Chilled Beet Soup from Reva of Kaarsaaram..
22)Galettes de Sarrasin from Pj of Seduce Your Tastebuds..
23)Hearty Potage with Pistou & Alsacien Cinnamon Bredeles from Sweatha of Tasty Curry Leaf..
24)Pain Perdu from Denny of Oh Taste N See..
25)Purée de Petit Pois/Green Peas Puree,île Flottante/Floating Islands, Dry Fruits & Orange Brioche, Epinards à la créme/Creamed Spinach,Chouquettes,Madeleines au chocolat/Chocolate Madeleines & Profiteroles/Pastry Balls in Nutella Sauce from my kitchen..

Hope u guys enjoyed going through this roundup, this month's AWED is going at Priya's AWED -Vietnam, she choosed vietnamese cuisine for this month's theme, do send ur beautiful entries to her..

Egg Briyani

While going through my non vegetarian recipe index i came to know that i havent posted my recipe for egg briyani which i prepare quite often whenever i dont have meats or veggies, here is my favourite and delicious egg briyani from the kitchen, my egg briyani goes for hard boiled eggs and some scrambled eggs, usually many of us make egg briyani just with whole hard boiled eggs while i go for both boiled eggs and scrambled eggs, everyone at home love my version egg briyani..Just serve this hot egg briyani along with some onion raita, u guys will definitely fallen in love completely with this combo which tastes absolutely divine.



2cups Basmati rice
3nos Boiled eggs
3nos Eggs +1no Onion (chopped)
2nos Onions (sliced thinly)
3nos Tomatoes (chopped finely)
1tbsp Ginger garlic paste
2nos Green chillies (slit opened)
1/2tsp Red chilly powder

1/4tsp Turmeric powder
1/2tsp Cumin powder
1tsp Garam masala powder
1cup Coconut milk
2cups Water
1/2cup Mint leaves (chopped)
2tbsp Ghee
Salt
Oil
2nos Whole spices (bay leaves,cloves, cinnamon stick & cardamoms)

Heat the oil and ghee together, fry the bayleaves, cloves,cinnamon stick and cardamom until they turns brown, add immediately the sliced onions,chopped tomatoes, slit opened green chillies,ginger garlic paste and sauté with salt until the veggies get cooked and raw smell goes away.

Meanwhile wash the rice and soak the rice with coconut milk and 2cups of water,keep aside for 15minutes..

Add the boiled eggs (make few slashes gently),red chilly powder, turmeric powder,garam masala,cumin powder to the cooking veggies, cook for few minutes.

Drain the soaked rice and add the coconut milk-water,mint leaves to the cooking veggies-egg mixture,bring everything to boil..Finally add the soaked rice,cook in high flame for few minutes, put off the flame in simmer..Cook until the rice gets well cooked..

Heat few drops of oil,sauté the chopped onions, whisk the eggs, add the whisked eggs to the cooking onions and make scrambled eggs.

Gradually add this scrambled eggs to the cooked egg briyani,toss gently and put off the stove..Serve hot with onion raita..

Chocolate Mocha Cake

Merry Christmas to You all friends..We had a great christmas party here and we went to bed when its almost 5am, just danced and went to chruch of midnite mess..Had a great time, after a beautiful christmas brunch i wanted to make some cake and went for making this chocolate mocha cake as a low fat version just by using buttermilk and oil instead of butter and with a freshly brewed coffee..i love the coffee flavour in anything especially in ice creams, so needless to say that this mocha cake was one of my fav, i wanted to make some mocha icing but coz of laziness i skipped that part and just used some icing sugar and tiny cute choco balls for decorations, as its was quite simple and beautiful at the same time..



2cups All purpose flour
1cup Sugar
200grms Chocolate bar
1cup Freshly brewed hot coffee
3nos Eggs
1cup Buttermilk
1tsp Baking powder
1cup Oil
Icing sugar (for decoration)
Tiny choco balls

Preheat the oven to 350F..Beat the eggs and sugar together until they turns pale...meanwhile mix the all purpose flour, sugar,baking powder and keep aside..Add the buttermilk, oil to the egg-sugar mixture, beat well.

Add the chocolate chunks to the freshly brewed hot coffee, mix until the chocolate get well mixed..gradually add the chocolate-coffee mixture again to the egg-sugar mixture,whisk everything..Finally add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix gently with a spatula well.

Pour this cake batter to a greased round cake mould,bake for 25-30minutes in middle rack until a skewer inserts comes out clean..

Cranberry Chocolate Ring Bread

While christmas, we guys go for christmas market which is well known as Marché de Nôel, where the professionals and farmers used to sell their own products directly in their own store to us, we can get easily many regional products which are quite a hard task to get usually..Last time we went to this market, i got an opportunity to get dried cranberries from there and i didnt want to miss the chance..Immediately i bought half kg of this dried cranberries and  am ready to make bakes with them throughout the year, sterday i tried making this simple bread with those dry fruits with few chocolate chunks and this bread turned out truly fabulous eventhough the shape of the bread wasnt that much prefect, coz my son helped me to prepare this bread..He loved kneading and shaping this bread and i enjoyed watching the way he shaped the bread by following my instructions..He was very proud of his bread,definitely am very proud of him too..We enjoyed this bread when they were still warm, needless to say the oozing chocolate tastes extremely irresistible while having this ring bread loaves..Sending to Srivalli's Kid's Delight - Chocolate Feast..



3cups Bread flour
1/2cup Butter (melted)
1/4cup Dry cranberries
1tbsp Active dry yeast
1tsp Salt
1/4cup Sugar
Few chocolate chunks

Take the active dry yeast along with salt and a teaspoon of sugar in a bowl, add a cup of luke warm water, mix well and keep aside for few minutes,until the yeast turns foamy..

In a bowl take the bread flour,dry cranberries, sugar,melted butter, add slowly the foamy yeast and knead everything as a smooth dough, arrange this dough in a greased bowl and keep aside in a warm place for two hours, punch down the dough and roll them as large disc, now arrange the chocolate chunks over the rolled disc and roll them as a loaf...Join both the edges of the dough,cut the edges of this circle and arrange over a baking sheet, keep again in a warm place until they double their volume..

Preheat the oven to 350F, bake this ring bread in middle rack for 20-25minutes until the crust turns golden brown..Enjoy for breakfast or for a snack..

Eggless Chocolate Butter Cookies

Its has been a while i havent prepared cookies, needless to say everyone at home started asking for some butter cookies,so i went for making butter cookies finally i finished as chocolate version by using unsweetened cocoa powder which was sitting since a while in my pantry..This cookies are truly quick,easy  to prepare and very tasty also buttery..We just enjoyed having, eventhough i used butter these cookies are completely egg free also i can say that these cookies tastes awesome even after a week if they are conserved in an air tightened box,but am damn sure once these cookies gets cool, u cant imagine how quick they will get vanished.



1+1/2cups All purpose flour
1cup Sugar
1cup Butter (room temperature)
1/4cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
A pinch salt

Beat the butter until they turns soft, add the sugar to the butter,beat for few minutes..now add gradually the flour, cocoa powder and turns a dough...Preheat the oven to 350F, arrange a baking sheet over a baking tray..Make a small balls from the dough, flat them in ur palms and arrange over the baking sheet..bake in middle rack for 10-15minutes or until the top turns firm..Keep aside and let them cool..

Enjoy with a cup of coffee..

Chicken Xacuti/Shakuti

Chicken Xacuti is pronounced actually as shakuti, quite a famous dish in Goan cuisine, since a long i wanted to try this delicious Goan chicken gravy and few days back i got an opportunity to prepare them at home, also i found out this delicious chicken dish from here..Clyde, the owner of this fabulous Goan recipes site,says that this word xacuti is most probably derived from the word chacuti which is portuguese, also says that portuguese chacuti looks brownish in colour when compared with the red goan xacuti all coz of kashimiri red chillies used in this dish..Am happy to try and taste this dish, they tastes super delicious along with rice and rotis..I have made few changes as per my tastebuds, also sauteed onions before cooking the chicken which the original recipe doesnt go for..Sending this delicious xacuti to Nayna's Flavors of Goa guest hosted by Denny..



1kg Chicken (cut as medium size)
1no Onion (chopped)
1/4tsp Nutmeg powder
Few potatoes (cubed)

For Xacuti masala:
6nos Kashmiri red chillies
1/2cup Grated coconut
4nos Cloves
1tsp Turmeric powder
10nos Peppercorns
1tsp Cumin seeds
1/4tsp Fenugreek seeds
1tsp Fennel seeds
5nos Garlic cloves
1/2inch Ginger
1no Cinnamon stick
2tbsp Poppy seeds
1tsp Coriander seeds
1/2tsp Sesame seeds
1no Onion

Fry the red chillies with few drops of oil, add all the spices given in list for xacuti masala and fry for few minutes..Blend them with enough water as a nice bright red colour xacuti masala.

Heat some oil,sauté the chopped onions, add the masala, chicken pieces and cook in slow flame for an hour.. add the nutmeg powder, potato cubes and cook until the potatoes get cooked....

Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate truffles are the simplest candy also easy to prepare, just with chocolate and cream these truffles get ready easily once the cream and chocolate mixture turns hard..Using high quantity of chocolate turn out this chocolate truffles too yummy, since i used dark chocolate chunks for making this chocolate truffles, they tastes too yummy and we couldnt able to stop munching these dark beauties..Its hardly need few minutes to get cook, if u r in hurry u can easily keep the ganache prepared with chocolate and cream in freezer so that the ganache get hards quickly and u can easily turn them as delicious truffles..



250grms Dark chocolate
1/2cup Whipping cream
Almond powder (for dusting)
Cocoa powder (for dusting)

Put the cream in a pan, bring to simmer, now add the chocolate chunks and stir everything until the cream and chocolate turn as a ganache,transfer the mixture to a bowl, arrange the bowl in fridge for two or three hours..

Make a small bite size balls from the chilled ganache, roll them in cocoa powder or else in almond powder..Enjoy!

Drumstick Leaves & Potato Stir fry

Its really hard and usually very tough task for us to get fresh Indian greens here, but sometimes we get rarely fresh greens and we dont ever think twice to get them, whenever i get our Indian greens i'll go for freezing for further use,so that those frozen greens wont lose their nutritive value also its handy to cook whenever we like having our greens..Last time i had a chance to pick super fresh drumstick leaves and as i told before, i immediately washed and freezed them..This time i combined both potatoes and these frozen drumstick leaves to make out a simple stir fry and they turned out super delicious, we loved it as side dish along with sambar rice..



3nos Potatoes (cooked)
1cup Drumstick leaves
1no Onion (big & chopped)
3nos Garlic cloves (crushed)
1tsp Red chilly powder
1tsp Coriander powder
Salt
Oil
1/2tsp Cumin seeds

Heat enough oil, let crack the cumin seeds, add immediately the chopped onions, crushed garlic cloves, sauté until the onions turns transculent, add immediately the drumstick leaves,sauté for few minutes..add the cooked potatoes along with red chilly powder, coriander powder and salt..cook everything in simmer for few minutes, stir occasionally..

Serve as side dish..

MW Masala Peanuts

I was craving for something for snacks with peanuts, since i was quite lazy nowadays i went for a easy preparation of masala peanuts through microwave oven, i just prepared this masala peanuts using gram flour, rice flour,chilli powder, fennel seeds & garlic along with few drops of oil..Very simple at the same time a fabulous crispy snacks to munch along with a cup of coffee that too during this chilled weather..Usually i prepare this masala peanuts by deepfrying and making this masala peanuts through microwave oven was completely quick and easy, we cant find much difference between the deep fried one and this microwave cooked masala peanuts..My teddies loved it..



1cup Peanuts
2tbsp Gram flour
2tbsp Rice flour
1tsp Fennel seeds
2nos Garlic
1tsp Red chilly powder
1tsp Oil
Salt

Grind the fennel seeds and garlic as fine paste,now take the peanuts along with gram flour, rice flour, red chilly powder, fennel-garlic paste, salt and oil,now gradually add the water,mix everything well until the peanuts gets well coated with the flour mixture..Line them as a single layer over a microwave safe tray or plate and cook in high for 5 minutes (stir in between)or until they turns crispy..

Enjoy for snacks..

Tofu & Veggies Kofta Pulao

Since i have prepared koftas with tofu and methi leaves, everyone at home asked me to prepare again, so today i prepared them in an another way using just tofu along with few veggies and turned everything as a delicious,quick at the same time a very easy pulao, this pulao tastes extremely delicious and i served them along with onion raita..This pulao suits prefectly for lunch box menu, as a main course dish for a party menu or else a sunday special dish for vegetarian lovers..I cant stop myself making dishes with tofu and i have no words to explain how these koftas are delicious, u can also skip the deep frying part and u can surely bake ur tofu koftas through oven, next time am gonna make some gravy with this beautiful and healthy koftas..Making koftas with tofu sounds extremely easy and prefect for me to feed my family to enjoy happily this healthy bean curd called 'Tofu'..



Tofu & Veggies Koftas:
3nos Potatoes (big & cooked)
1cup Extra firm tofu (grated)
2tbsp Gram flour
1tbsp Corn flour
1/4cup Carrot,beans (chopped finely)
1/2cup Onions (chopped)
1tsp Red chilly powder
1tsp Garam masala powder
1/2tsp Cumin powder
1/2tsp Fennel seed powder
Salt
Oil for deepfrying

Heat few drops of oil, sauté the chopped onions, chopped veggies until they turns soft..Take now the cooked and mashed potatoes, gram flour, corn flour,grated extra firm tofu, sauteed onions and veggies, red chilly powder, garam masala powder, cumin powder, fennel seed powder and salt and turn everything as thick batter..

Heat oil for deep frying, make medium size balls from the batter and drop gently to the hot oil,fry until the koftas turns golden brown..Alternatively u can bake them, by arranging over a greased baking sheet, bake them in 350F for 15-20minutes until they crust turns brown..

For Pulao:
2cups Basmati rice

pinch Food colour (its completely optional)
2no Onions( chopped)
2nos Tomatoes (chopped)
1tsp Ginger garlic paste
3nos Green chillies (slit opened)
1/2tsp Cumin powder
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
1/2tsp Pepper powder
1/2tsp Garam masala powder
2nos Whole spices (bayleaves, cloves, cinnamon stick)
Salt
Oil
Coriander leaves & mint leaves (chopped)

Cook the rice with 3cups of water and food colour,keep aside and let them cool..Heat enough oil and add the bayleaves, cloves, cinnamon stick, fry until they turns brown..add the chopped onion pieces, ginger garlic paste,chopped tomato pieces and cook until the raw smell goes away...add immediately slit opened green chillies, garam masala powder,turmeric powder, cumin powder, pepper powder , curryleaves and salt and cook everything in simmer until the oil get separates, finally add the tofu-veggies koftas,chopped coriander leaves, chopped mint leaves and saute for few minutes...

Now add the already cooked rice and toss gently until everything get well mixed..Serve hot with any raitas..

Ajwain Samosas With Potato & Soya Masala

Its non stop snow here and we guys need some deep fried fritters to enjoy with a cup of coffee while its snack time here, today i prepared this mini and delicious ajwain samosas using potato and soya chunks masala as filling..These tiny samosas tastes marvellous when served along with a cup of tea, ajwain added in the outer layer gives a beautiful flavour while having at the same time helps for easy digestion, needless to say once i fried these mini samosas, they just vanished within few minutes..U doesnt even need to serve them with ketchup and kids will definitely love this mini samosas since they were cute and easy to eat with a healthy filling prepared just with smashed potatoes and scrambled soya chunks along with onions and few spices...

For Ajwain Dough:

1cup All purpose flour

1tsp Ajwain seeds

1tsp Baking powder

Salt

1tbsp Olive oil

Knead everything with enough water as a smooth and soft dough, keep aside closed with a damp cloth for an hour..

Potato & Soya Masala:

2nos Potatoes

25nos Soya chunks (cooked & grounded)

1no Onion(big & chopped)

1tsp Red chilly powder

1/2tsp Garam masala powder

1tsp Coriander powder

Few curry leaves

Salt

Oil

1/2tsp Cumin seeds

Heat enough oil,let crack the cumin seeds, add immediately the chopped onions, curry leaves, sauté until they turns transculent, add now the grounded soya chunks, red chilly powder, garam masala powder, salt and coriander powder, sauté everything for few minutes.

Finally add the smashed cooked potatoes, cook everything in simmer,put off the stove and let them get cool completely..

Make tiny balls from the dough, dust with few flour and roll them as circles, cut in the middle of the circles, make two demi cricles, just fold the sides to make a cone, now gently put some already prepared potato and soyachunks masala inside the cone, press the sides tightly until they gets sticks.

Continue the process until the masala and dough get finished, u can get almost 35-40numbers of this mini samosas..Also u can stick the edges by using a simple flour and water paste..

Heat enough oil for deepfrying, gently drop the samosas, fry until they turns golden brown,enjoy with ketchup or with a cup of tea..

Dry Fenugreek leaves(Kasuri Methi)& Mixed Veggies Masala

Whenever i have some small quantity or leftover veggies, i usually mix them and make simple masala to enjoy with rotis or as side dish for rice dishes, this time i tried making the same masala with kasuri methi and ajwain seeds to change my usual way of making this masala, this recipe goes for easy preparation also healthy, quite simple but delicious at the same time, personally i felt making this sort of masala with kasuri methi tastes absolutely great at the same moment i can feed my small family with healthy stuffs in it..Adding kasuri methi and ajwain seeds turned out this masala more healthy and tasty, we enjoyed having this masala along with rotis for our saturday dinner,we loved it..U can also prepare this masala as sandwich with toasted bread slices y not as filling for stuffed rotis, u have so many choices to enjoy this masala.



3nos Potatoes (big & cooked)
2nos Carrots (grated)
1cup Green peas (frozen)
1/2cup Cabbage (shredded)
1/4cup Capsicum(chopped)
2nos Onions (chopped)
2tbsp Kasuri Methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
1tsp Garam masala powder
1/2tsp Red chilly powder
1tsp Coriander powder
1tsp Ajwain seeds/Carom seeds
Salt
Oil
Few curry leaves

Heat enough oil,fry the ajwain seeds until they turns brown, add immediately the chopped onions, curry leaves, sauté until the onions turns transculent..now add the grated carrots, frozen green peas, sauté everything for few minutes with salt, until the veggies gets shrinks..Finally add the cooked & mashed potatoes, shredded cabbage, chopped capsicum,sauté along with garam masala, red chilly powder and coriander powder,put the flame in simmer, cook everything until the veggies get well cooked...

Enjoy with rotis or as side dish with rice..

Chocolate Mousse Swiss Roll

I havent prepared swiss rolls since a long, we guys love it so much, after a long hesitation i prepared our favourite chocolate mousse instead for cream or for jam usually used for making swiss roll also i went for a chocolate swiss roll sponge cake instead of a vanilla sponge cake..Eventhough this cake and chocolate mousse goes for simple ingredients, the preparation time and assembling process was quite a bit long when compared to other cakes and bakes i usually goes for, anyhow its definitely a worthy dessert to try and enjoy..I prepared the chocolate mousse a day before and yesterday i prepared this chocolate swiss roll sponge cake, once the cake get cooled, i spread the already prepared chocolate mousse and arranged them fridge for six hours before serving..This chocolate mousse swiss roll tastes excellent when served as dessert after a lunch or for snacks with a scoop of vanilla icecream...Needless to say this vanished within few minutes, my teddies loved it that much..



For chocolate mousse:
I prepared  my usual chocolate mousse and kept overnite..

For Chocolate Swiss roll Sponge Cake:
4nos Egg whites
4nos Egg yolks
1/2cup Flour
1/2cup Sugar
1tbsp Butter (melted)
1/4cup Chocolate powder

Preheat the oven to 350F..Beat the egg yolks, sugar until they turns smooth and plate,add the flour,butter and chocolate powder to them, mix everything well and keep aside..Now whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peeks forms..fold the whipped egg whites to the already prepared chocolate batter, mix gently until they get well mixed..Line a baking sheet over a swiss roll pan or a baking tray,spread this batter and bake for 12minutes,until the top turns firm..remove the baking sheet carefully..

Keep aside and let the sponge cake gets cooled..Now spread the already prepared chocolate mousse..roll them, arrange them in fridge for few hours and enjoy them...

Tofu & Methi Koftas

Our recent favourite is this tofu and methi koftas, i tried them yesterday for our snacks, coz a packet of tofu was sitting since three days, at the same time there were some fresh methi leaves, i was breaking my head to finish those sadly sitting tofu and leftover methi leaves to make something for our snacks..I finally finished them as this koftas, i have added few potatoes to make them more tasty and this koftas very extremely delicious when served along with ketchup, i was happy to finish the tofu and methi leaves as a crispy snacks and enjoyed a lot..These koftas suits prefectly as side dish for any sort rice dish as well as an appetiziers for a party menu..

3nos Potatoes (big & cooked)

1cup Extra firm tofu (grated)

2tbsp Gram flour

1tbsp Corn flour

1/4cup Methi leaves/fenugreek leaves (chopped)

1/2cup Onions (chopped)

2nos Green chillies (chopped)

1tsp Garam masala powder

1/2tsp Cumin powder

1/2tsp Fennel seed powder

Salt

Oil for deepfrying

Heat few drops of oil, sauté the chopped onions, chopped green chillies, chopped methi leaves one by one until they turns soft..Take now the cooked and mashed potatoes, gram flour, corn flour,grated extra firm tofu, sauteed onions, green chillies, methi leaves, garam masala powder, cumin powder, fennel seed powder and salt and turn everything as thick batter..

Heat oil for deep frying, make medium size balls from the batter and drop gently to the hot oil,fry until the koftas turns golden brown..Serve hot with ketchup or any hot sauces..

Sugarfree & Eggless Banana Oats Bread

I absolutely want to make some quick bread using over ripen bananas sitting in fruit basket since yesterday but coz of tight work,i wasnt able to make them yesterday, without any hesitation today i prepared them after lunch as quick bread with oats, over ripen bananas and honey along with maple syrup as sugar free version also as low fat version as i used yogurt and oil instead of butter..This bread is completely low fat, egg free, sugar free and delicious at the same time...My teddies enjoyed this bread with a cup of milk once they came back home after leaving the school and enjoyed this warm bread just by dipping them in milk, we enjoyed having this bread when they were still warm..Healthy bread to enjoy anytime with any spread, also its really very easy to prepare and quick..Needless to say we loved it..Sending this healthy bread to A Fruit/A Veggie For A Month -Banana guest hosted by Aipi, event by Priya..



1+1/2cups All purpose flour
1cup Rolled oats
1/2cup Honey
1/2cup Maple syrup
1cup Yogurt
1cup Oil
1tsp Baking powder
1tsp Baking soda
2nos Bananas (over ripen)
1/4tsp Salt
Sugar pearls (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350F..Blend the over ripen bananas as puree with yogurt, oil, honey and maple syrup..meanwhile mix the flour,oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt, now gradually add the puree and stir until everything get well mixed..Pour into a greased loaf pan,sprinkle the sugar pearls over the batter, bake in middle rack for 25-30minutes until the top turns golden brown..

Enjoy warm..

Sweet Potato & Oats Paratha

Most of our dinner goes for parathas,soups or simply salad with sandwiches..After making some boiled sweet potatoes and enjoying them for snacks,there were some leftovers and none at home wanted to have them, immediately i prepared a delicious paratha with oats and with some few seeds..This paratha tastes super delicious,mildly sweet, flavourful coz of the seeds i have added at the same healthy coz of the whole wheat flour and oats in this rotis..With a beautiful colour, this paratha turned out super soft and delicious,we enjoyed having this paratha with Paneer butter masala for our dinner..Both together turned out dinner more comforting and divine..Sending to CWS-Ajwain Seeds guest hosted by KAvita, event by me.



2cups Mashed sweet potatoes
2cups Whole wheat flour
1cup Quick cooking oats
2tsp Mixed seeds (ajwain,cumin,sesame & flax seeds)
Salt
Hot water
Few flour for dusting
Oil for cooking

Take the mashed sweet potatoes, whole wheat flour,oats,mixed seeds, salt in a large bowl, gradually add the hot water and knead everything as a smooth and stiff dough,keep aside for half an hour, divide the dough as 10-12medium balls, dust the balls with flour and roll them as circular disc with a rolling pin..finish the remaining balls as the same way..

Heat a tawa, drop gently the flattened paratha,drizzle few drops of oil and cook on both sides until u can see the brown spots..Serve warm with any sort of side dish

Baked Oats Crusted Chicken Fingers

I made these crispy at the same time absolutely guilt free chicken fingers today for our lunch and we enjoyed having them with some pastas..Actually i wanted to deep fried them,but finally i finished making these crispy chicken fingers as baked version with a simple oats crust..My teddies enjoyed this crispy fingers along with tomato ketchup..As usual i just went for few drops of oil which i brushed over a baking sheet and lined these oats crusted chicken fingers..Baking these chicken fingers turned them so crispy and easy also its need very less preparation time..I used chilly powder, pepper powder,cumin powder and salt to spice up the chicken fingers,u can also prepare this chicken fingers just with pepper powder and salt or else any other store bought spice powder, u have numerous choice to spice up these chicken fingers..These guilt free chicken fingers suits prefectly for a party menu or as appetiziers..



2cups Chicken pieces (sliced lengthwise)
2tsp Rice flour
1tsp Red chilly powder
1/2tsp Cumin seed powder
1/2tsp Pepper powder
Salt
Oil (for brushing)
1/2cup Rolled oats
3tbsp All purpose flour

Add the rice flour, red chilly powder, cumin seed powder, pepper powder and salt to the chicken pieces, mix everything well,leave aside for half an hour..meanwhile make a thick paste with all purpose flour and water, dip each and every chicken pieces to the batter and roll them over a rolled oats, keep aside..Preheat the oven to 350F..

Brush the baking sheet with few drop of oil,arrange the oats crusted chicken fingers and bake them for 20-25minutes until the crust turns golden brown..Enjoy warm with ketchup..

Tangy Ajwain Gravy/Omam Puli Kuzhambu

Ajwain seeds are well known as carom seeds or as bishop's weeds is quite famous among Indians for its valubale medicinal uses...Raw ajwain smells almost exactly like thyme because it also contains thymol, its gives more aromatic and slightly bitter and pungent.In Indian cuisine, ajwain is almost never used raw, but either dry-roasted or fried in ghee or oil. It is also traditionally known for its digestive aid, relieves abdominal discomfort due to indigestion and antiseptic. In south India, dry ajwain seeds are powdered and soaked in milk, which is then filtered and fed to babies.

Many assume that it relieves colic in babies and for kids it also improves digestion and appetite.While in North India, ajwain seeds are often consumed after a heavy meal, its commonly offered after dinner parties .My grandma used to make this gravy whenever we goes to her village and this gravy is quite common in our grandma's place, when i was young i used hate this gravy at the core, but now i cant stop making this gravy often whenever i feel like having them, this gravy tastes more delicious after a day and tastes absolutely divine with fried papads..A prefect dish to enjoy during this chilled weather.



1+1/2cups Tamarind extract
10nos Shallots or 2nos Onions (diced)
1no Tomato
5nos Garlic pods
1tbsp Ajwain seeds (roasted & powdered)
1tsp Pepper powder
1/2tsp Cuminseed powder
1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp Mustard
1/4 tsp Urad dal
2tsps Dhania /Coriander powder
1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
4 nos Curry leaves
1/4 cup Gingelly oil
Salt

Heat gingelly oil in a heavy bottomed pan..once the oil is hot, add the mustardseeds,urad dal and let it splutter..add the fenugreek seeds,curry leaves, fry it...add the shallot,tomato,garlic pods to the oil..fry everything well in gingelly oil..

Meanwhile mix the pepper powder, cuminseed powder,roasted ajwain seed powder,chilly powder, salt  and dhania powder to the tamarind extract..add this spiced tamarind extract to the shallots...cook them for 20 to 25 minutes in medium flame with the lid closed..stir it occasionally...once the oil get separates from the kuzhambu put off the stove...

Enjoy with hot steaming rice and papads..

Dal Palak

Since few months am a happy owner of Mallika Basu's Miss Masala cookbook..While going through this beautiful cookbook i got hooked with this dal palak which sounds truly very easy,with simple ingredients also at the same time its goes for quick cooking process, i loved the simplicity of this dal palak and tried out for our today's lunch..As the recipe went for frozen spinach,immediately i just went through my freezer,fortunately i got a pack of already smashed spinach cubes..Finally i prepared this dal with those smashed spinach cubes and enjoyed this dal palak with some spicy chicken masala for our today's lunch..Both together turned out our lunch truly prefect...This dal palak was completely different from my version of dal palak,am happy to try this dal palak as everyone at home loved it...Sending to DNSW-D hosted by Akila..



1/2cup Moongdal
1/4cup Masoor dal
1/2tsp Turmeric powder
6nos Garlic cloves (chopped)
1no Onion (chopped)
1no Tomato (chopped)
10nos Frozen spinach cubes
1tsp Ghee
1/2tsp Chilly powder
1/2tsp Lemon juice
Salt

Pressure cook both dalswith turmeric powder until soft,meanwhile heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds and chopped garlic cloves (keep few aside),sauté for few minutes, add the chopped onions and chopped tomatoes, cook until they turns soft..immediately add the frozen spinach cubes and salt,cook everything in medium flame, now add the already cooked dals to the cooked spinach,add enough water if needed..Cook for few minutes..

Heat the ghee, add the remaining chopped garlic cloves and red chilly powder,fry for few minutes..Once the garlic turns brown, add this tempering to the dal..Finally add the lemon juice and serve with rice..

Kashmiri Dum Aloo~~ICC

Every month we guys have to try and taste the recipe given by Srivalli for Indian Cooking Challenge and this Kashmiri dum aloo is our november's challenge, its quite a simple recipe which tastes truly marvellous and thanks for this recipe Srivalli, we guys enjoyed this yummy side dish with some rotis sterday and both together tastes sooo yummy and this dum aloo was slightly sour coz of the yogurt i used for, my H love anything with potatoes even its tangy,sour or sweet so needless to say how he would have enjoyed this delectable dish..Srivalli and Lataji both together choosed this Kashmiri dum aloo from here..Since i prepared this kashmiri dum aloo sterday afternoon, those tiny potatoes tasted truly delicious as they were sitting in the gravy since afternoon, i just reheated this dish in microwave oven before serving..We loved it...Definitely a fingerlicking side dish and am gonna make often..



1/2kg Baby potatoes
2cups Fresh yogurt
1tsp Ginger powder
1tsp Fennel seed powder
1/4tsp Cardamom powder
2tbsp Oil
1/2tsp Cloves powder
1/4tsp Asafoetida powder
1/2tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1tsp Cumin seed powder
1tsp Garam masala powder
Salt
Oil for deepfrying
Firm dough (to seal the edges of the pan)

Wash and poke the potatoes with a fork and soak in salted water for 20minutes, heat the oil for deepfrying,pat dry the soaked potatoes and fry them in medium flame until the skin turns golden in colour, drain the excess of oil with a paper towel and keep aside..

Meanwhile take the yogurt, chilly powder, ginger powder, cardamom powder, fennel seed powder in a bowl,mix everything well and add the potatoes to this paste..Heat the two tablespoons of oil, add the cloves powder and asafoetida,add immediately half cup of water, salt and bring to boil..

Add the already prepared potato-yogurt mix to the boil water,give a stir and cover with a lid, now seal the edges of the pan with dough so that the steam cant escape..put the stove in simmer and cook for 10-15minutes..Put off the stove, remove the cover and add finally the cumin and garam masala powder..Cover again and cook for few minutes..

Serve hot with rotis or naans..

Ajwain /Omam Rasam

My all time favourite comforting food is definitely rasam with anything, a prefect dish to enjoy with fried papads while its cold and snowy outside, this time i prepared my rasam with ajwain seeds, i havent had them since a long ..As i was quite lazy to cook, i went immediately for making this easy breezy,comforting at the same time a delicious rasam..As usual this rasam goes for simple ingredients but i prepared a rasam powder with ajwain seeds along with coriander seeds,cumin seeds, peppercorns, dry red chillies and toor dal..This rasam tastes truy fabulous and divine when served along with some spicy side dish and hot steaming rice..Sending this rasam to CWS-Ajwain Seeds guest hosted by Kavita, event by me..



Ajwain Seeds Rasam Powder:
1tbspCoriander seeds
1/2tspBlack peppercorns
1/2tsp Cumin seeds
1tsp Toor dhal
2tsp Ajwain seeds
3nos Dry Red chillies
1sprigs Curryleaves
1/4tsp Turmeric powder

Dry roast one by one everything without oil in simmer except the turmeric powder..let them cool n grind as bit coarse powder with turmeric powder..conserve them in a bottle..

For Rasam:
1nos Tomato(big & juicy)
1tsp Ajwain seeds rasam powder
1/2cup Cooked dal water
1no Crushed garlic
1tsp Lemon juice
3nos Curry leaves
1/2tsp Mustard seeds+cumin seeds
1/4tsp Asafoetida powder
2nos Dry red chillies
2tsbp Chopped coriander leaves
Salt
Oil

Chop the tomatoes as small bites and add to the cooked dal water along with ajwain seeds rasam powder, salt,crushed garlic,curry leaves and enough water...heat a tsp of oil,add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida powder and red chillies,fry until brown..Add the dal water immediately, let them boil..put of the stove once they starts boiling add the lemon juice n chopped coriander leaves..

Enjoy with rice and any side dish..

Hanh Dam - Vietnamese Vinegared Onions

Its really a hard task to find out vegetarian or vegan dishes from wonderful Vietnamese cuisine, while searching for something easy,quick and with less ingredients, i found out this easy breezy vinegared onions at Wandering Chopsticks and immediately i tried making some vinegared onions, for my surprise they tastes very good when served along with meats and rice dish, exactly like our Indian raitas..My H loved this vinegared onions after a day with some grilled meat, he loved it..Obviously these vinegared onions goes to AWED-Vietnam guest hosted by Priya,event by DK..



1no Onion (big)
1tsp Sugar
1/2cup Rice vinegar or white vinegar

Slice the onion as thin as possible,so that they will absorb the vinegar and turns soft..Add the sugar and vinegar to the sliced onions, mix everything and keep aside for few minutes..Serve as side dish, if there is some leftover conserve them in fridge and enjoy the next day, personally they tastes more tasty the next day..

Dal Masala Paratha

Recently i got an opportunity to buy a packet of whole masoor dal and i love making dishes with that whole masoor dal, today i tried this dal masala paratha using those whole masoor dal, kasuri methi leaves and with some roasted ajwain seed powder.This parathas tastes marvellous and soft with mild ajwain flavour..We enjoyed having this yummy paratha with spicy coconut chutney for our dinner and this paratha turned out truly awesome..As most of us know that ajwain seeds tends to help for easy digestion, i loved the addition of few roasted ajwain seed powder in this paratha.Voila,one more healthy paratha to try and taste from my kitchen.



1cup Whole masoor dal
2cups Whole wheat flour
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
1tbsp Roasted ajwain seed powder
2tbsp Kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
Salt
Oil

Pressure the whole masoor dal with turmeric powder and enough water until the dals turned soft, keep aside and let them cool..Once the dal gets cool,drain the cooked dal water and keep aside, mash the cooked dal and take them with whole wheat flour, roasted ajwain seed powder, kasuri methi and salt, with dal cooked water and half a cup of hot water, knead everything as smooth and soft dough..Make 10-12medium sized balls and roll as round discs using flour and rolling pin...

Heat few drops of oil in a tawa, drop gently the flattened paratha,cook the paratha on both sides, drizzle oil if needed..serve with any sort of spicy side dish..

Eggless Banana & Oats Muffins With Salted Butter Caramel

I couldnt stop making dishes with salted butter caramel spread, its tastes truly awesome in bakes aslo i can use them instead of sugar in bakes since this salted butter caramel are really very sugary at the same time with mild salt in it..Its suits absolutely prefect for making muffins and i was amazed by the taste, yep salted butter caramel turns out the bakes incredibly delicious..I prepared this muffins last week as eggless version but not as vegan coz i went for milk in this muffins..These muffins goes awesome for breakfast and for snacks at the same time its completely guilt free since i prepared them with whole wheat pastry flour and rolled oats..If u cant get this salted butter caramel spread, u can definitely prepare this muffins with some store bought caramel syrup and sugar..The choice is urs, everyone at home completely fallen in love with this muffins and am definitely gonna make different bakes with this salted butter caramel spread in future..Sending this muffins to A Fruit/A Veggie For A Month-Banana guest hosted by Aipi, event by Priya.




1cup Whole wheat flour
1/2cup All purpose flour
1cup Rolled oats (grounded coarsely)
1+1/2tsp Baking powder
1/4tsp Baking soda
3/4cup Salted butter caramel or 1/2cup sugar +3tbsp caramel syrup
1/4cup Oil
3nos Bananas (mashed)
1/2cup Milk

Preheat the oven to 350F..Take the whole wheat pastry flour,coarsely grounded rolled oats,all purpose flour,baking powder, baking soda in a bowl, mix the mashed bananas,oil,salted butter caramel and milk with a wooden spoon in a another bowl until everything gets well mixed..gently fold the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, dont overmix the batter else the muffins will turn hard..Spoon the batter to the muffin tins springle few oats on the top and bake for 20-25minutes in middle rack until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean..Let them cool..

I served this muffins topped with some salted butter caramel spread..

Chicken White Briyani/Kozhi Vella Briyani

I never prepared briyanis without tomatoes and i cant even imagine this, my H asks me rarely to make briyanis, unfortunately he asked me to make some briyani today but wat to do coz of  my laziness i have completely forgetten to buy tomatoes from farmer's market yesterday finally i went for making chicken briyani without tomatoes and prepared this white briyani, the final result was amazing and i have completely skipped the food colour and turmeric powder which tends to give some colour to this white briyani, tastewise they tastes excellent and delicious as like the briyani and coconut milk rice we usually make at home..We love it and enjoyed with carrot raita and boiled eggs..Now i know wat to make if i dont have tomatoes at home..




2cups Basmati rice
3cups Coconut milk
1/2kg Chicken (chopped as medium size pieces)
3nos Onions (chopped lengthwise)
1tsp Ginger-garlic paste
2nos Whole spices (bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamom)
1cup Mint leaves (chopped)
Oil
Salt

For Marination:
1/2cup Yogurt
1/2tsp Green chilly paste
1/2tsp Ginger garlic paste
1tsp Garam masala powder
Salt

For Masala Paste:
15nos Shallots
3nos Green chillies
1tsp Fennel seeds
1tsp Coriander seeds

Marinate the chicken pieces with ginger garlic paste, green chilly paste,garam masala powder, salt and yogurt and let them sit for an hour..meanwhile grind all the ingredients given in the list 'for masala paste' with enough water as thick paste...Soak the rice for 15 minutes, drain the water..fry the rice with a few drops of oil until they get a shiny texture, keep aside..

Heat enough oil in a heavy bottomed vessel, fry the whole spices until brown, now add the chopped onions, ginger garlic paste with salt, saute until the raw smell goes away..now add the grounded masala paste,chopped mint leaves and marinated chicken pieces, saute for few minutes...now add the coconut milk, bring everything to boil...Finally add the already prepared rice, cook in medium flame for few minutes and put the flame in simmer,close the vessel with a lid ,cook until the rice gets well cooked..

Serve hot with any sort of raita..

Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge

I love fudge, but i was planning since a long to prepare some chocolate fudge with peanut butter finally i got an opportunity to try out today, its tastes exactly like snickers and my teddies enjoyed having them for desserts, for snacks while my little one enjoyed having this fudge with his baguette slices for his breakfast, we guys literally fallen in love with this irresistible fudge, we enjoyed having them ,needless to say that there is no leftover and i was planning to make some as soon as possible...



1cup Sweetened condensed milk
1cup Dark chocolate chips
3tbsp Peanut butter
2tsp Butter
1/2cup Chopped mixed nuts

In a heavy sauce pan, melt the chocolate chips,condensed milk,butter,peanut butter and stir continously..remove the pan and add the chopped mixed nuts..spread the mixture over a baking sheet and keep aside until the mixture get cooled, arrange them in fridge for atleast 2hours or until firm..Cut into squares and enjoy it..

Yam & Oats Pakoda

Am an addict to oats and i tried many dishes also some bakes with this wonderful grain, today am gonna post this yummy fritters which i prepared few days back using mashed yam and rolled oats along with few spices, actually i wanted to prepare pakodas just with yam but as usual my tiny mind wanted to add some oats to make this deep fried beauties somewat healthy and i couldnt resist to try out this combo, they tastes wonderful and suits prefectly as a crispy side dish along with curd rice and we loved it also an appetizier or snack along with ketchup..



2cups Yam (cooked & mashed)
1cup Oats (grounded coarsely)
2tbsp Rice flour
2nos Onions( chopped)
2nos Green chillies (chopped)
1/2tsp Garam masala
1tsp Fennel seeds
3nos Garlic cloves
Salt
Oil

Grind the fennel seeds and garlic cloves as fine paste, now take the mashed yam, grounded oats, rice flour,garam masala and salt, meanwhile heat few drops of oil, add the chopped onions and chopped green chillies and sauté until the onions turns transculent..Add this sauteed onions to the yam-oats mixture, turn them as thick batter..Heat enough oil for deep frying, make small balls from the mixture and drop gently to the hot oil, fry until they turns golden brown..

Enjoy hot as side dish or for snacks..

Announcing Cooking With Whole Foods - Oats

I love to cook with whole grains in my everyday cooking , when Kiran of Sumadhura announced her first event calling cooking with whole foods, i immediately mailed her to get a month to host this incredible event..Voila, its now my turn to host this wonderful event and obviously i choosed my favourite grains 'Oats'..Oats is such a versatile whole grains, u can start ur day with porridge and finish ur dinner with crispy pancakes with this beautiful grain oats, by going through as a lunch with oats y not a snack with oats, u have numerous choice to make and enjoy foods from different cuisine prepared with this wonderful oats...

Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined or slightly processed or refined before being consumed..Whole foods include grains, fruits,vegetables, milk, meat ,poultry and fish..We all know that food is a main element which keeps us healthy, but sometimes due to hectic life style nowadays we rarely consume healthy foods...So dear friends dont wait to make out healthy dishes using oats and send them through mail,also u have two months to cook and send to me..

Wat all u need is:
1)Create any dish using Oats and post the recipe in your blog. You can use any variety of Oats. Non-Bloggers can send their recipes with the details to the same mail id..

2) Please link this announcement in your posts and u need to link Kiran's Announcement Page.. Usage of the logo is very much appreciated.

3) Many entries per person is allowed..

4) Send your details:
Name:
Blog's Name:
Recipe's Name:
Recipe URL:
Photo (with 300px wide)

to Priyasuresh09@gmail.com before February 10th 2011, midnight.

5)Archived posts are accepted..


Thanks to Kiran for letting me hosting this wonderful event, so friends keep on cooking with this fabulous whole grain and send everything to my mailbox..

Mutton Pepper Roast

I rarely make dishes with mutton and this weekend i prepared this spicy delicious mutton pepper roast by preparing freshly grounded pepper powder, this mutton roast tastes extremely delicious and fabulous with hot rice and rasam , we enjoyed having this hot spicy mutton roast for our sunday's lunch, this mutton pepper roast tastes also fabulous along with rotis,if dont like mutton u can prepare this similar pepper roast even with chicken, which goes tremendously along with rice..Eating this hot spicy mutton pepper roast with rice and hot piping rasam while its snowing tastes extremely delicious.

For Marination:

1/2kg Mutton pieces

1cup Yogurt

1/2tsp Red chilly powder

1/2tsp Garam masala

1tsp Ginger garlic paste

Salt

For Pepper Roast:

2nos Onions (chopped)

2nos Tomatoes (chopped)

1tsp Ginger garlic paste

2nos Whole spices 

1/2tsp Red chilly powder

1tsp Pepper powder

1/2tsp Garam masala

2nos Green chillies (slit opened)

Oil

Salt

Few mint leaves

Marinate the mutton pieces with yogurt, ginger garlic paste,garam masala and red chilly powder and keep aside for an hour, pressure cook this mutton pieces with marination upto three whistles..

Heat enough oil, fry the whole spices and add the chopped onions, chopped tomatoes,slit opened green chillies along with ginger garlic paste and cook until the veggies get cooked..now add the pressure cooked mutton pieces (without the cooked water) to the cooking veggies, sauté for few minutes... add the garam masala powder,red chilly powder and cook everything for a while, finally add the cooked meat water and cook everything until the water gets evaporates..

Finally add the pepper powder, cook until the oil gets separates from the cooked mutton roast..Serve the mutton pepper roast with chopped mint leaves..

Dal Pulao

An easy,healthy at the same time a nutritious one pot meal to enjoy with some spicy potato fry..This pulao goes for an easy cooking process and this pulao tastes truly amazing and delicious..I cooked the rice and whole masoor dal together in pressure cooker and prepared a simple masala which i finally tossed gently with this cooked and dal rice, if u dont have masoor dal u can go very well with channa dal or toor dal...Since i dont wanted to make out as vegetable pulao i completely skipped the addition of veggies and prepared simply as a delicious quick pulao with dals and rice..This pulao goes prefectly a lunch box menu or for a pot luck party, a prefect feast for vegetarians..Sending this delicious rice to MLLA#30 guest hosted by Priya, event by Susan and to DNWS-D hosted by Akila..

2cups Basmati Rice

1cup Whole masoor dal or channadal

2nos Onion (chopped lengthwise)

2nos Tomatoes (big & juicy,chopped)

2nos Whole spices (bayleaves, cloves, cinnamon stick,cardamoms)

1tsp Ginger garlic paste

2nos Green chillies (slit opened)

1/2tsp Red chilly powder

1tsp Garam masala 

Salt

Oil +1/2tsp Ghee

Few mint leaves

Few coriander leaves

Cook the rice and dal together with 5cups of water..keep aside and let the cooked rice and dal gets cool completely..Now heat enough oil, fry the whole spices until they turns brown, add the chopped onions, ginger garlic paste with salt until the onions transculent, now add the chopped tomatoes,slit opened green chillies, red chilly powder, garam masala and cook until the oil gets separates..Now add the rice and dal mixture and ghee gradually and toss gently until they get well mixed..

Chop the mint leaves and coriander leaves, add them to the cooked rice..Serve hot with any spicy side dish or spicy fries..

Dry Fruits & Orange Brioche

Brioche is a French bread with eggs and butter which tends to give a rich and tender crumb..I tried out brioche sterday with orange juice,nuts and with a mix of dry fruits..This brioche tasted extremely yummy with those dry fruits and some chopped nuts, this brioche looks really very festive when i sprinkled some sugar pearls over them..Brioche origin in France and these brioche is considered as a viennoiserie. It is made as the same basic way as bread, but has the richer aspect of a pastry because of the extra addition of eggs, butter, milk and sugar. Brioche, along with pain au lait and pain aux raisins which are commonly eaten at breakfast or as a snack. Brioche is often cooked with fruit or chocolate chips and served as a pastry or as the basis of a dessert with many local variations in ingredients, fillings or toppings..This brioche goes directly to BBD#35-Breads With Dry Fruits guest hosted by Umm Mymoonah, event by Zorro and to AWED guest hosted by me, event by DK and to DNSW-D hosted by Akila..



4cups All purpose flour or Bread flour
100grms Butter (room temperature)
3nos Eggs+1no Egg yolk (for brushing)
2tbsp Active dry yeast
1/2cup Luke warm water

1/4tsp Salt
1/4cup Sugar
1cup Orange juice
1tsp Orange zest
1cup Mixed dry fruits (raisins,dry apricots, dry cranberries)
1/4cup Mixed Nuts (almonds,pistachios & cashews)
Few sugar pearls

Make a foamy yeast with active dry yeast,lukewarm water,salt and sugar..Now take the flour, butter, beatened eggs, sugar, orange zest, dry fruits, nuts in a large bowl, gradually add the foamy yeast,orange juice and turn everything a smooth and soft dough..

Arrange the brioche dough in a greased bowl covered with a towel in a warm place until they doubled their volume..Punch the dough down,divide them into 3 pieces, roll them well with ur palm of your hand n form as smooth ball..Roll each ball as thin ropes..braid the ropes together, press the dough together to the ends..Place the braided brioche in a loaf mould, brush the top with egg yolk and sprinkle some sugar pearls...Bake them at 350F for 25-30 minutes..Let them cool for 10 minutes before serving..

Brioches are best when eaten straight from the oven but once cooled, they may be stored in an airtightened box at room temperature for upto 3 days...

Chilli Prawns

Seafoods are our family favourites, after fish we guys love prawns as anything with anything, we love it that much, i was planning to make out some side dish for our sterday's lunch and finally while brownsing i have completely fallen in love with Sashi's Chilli Prawns which was truly catchy,tempting and delicious, immediately i tried out them with prawns and bellpeppers eventhough Sashi didnt went for bellpeppers in her recipe, since i had some bellpeppers i added them to give more flavour to this yummy chilli prawns also i completely skipped the red food colour she used, else i did the same as Sashi went for her chilli prawns..Its suits prefectly even as an appetizier and definitely a real feast for seafood lovers especially to those who loves prawns to the core..Thanks to Sashi for sharing this delicious chilli prawns..



500grms Prawns
1tsp Ginger (finely chopped)
6nos Garlic cloves (finely chopped)
2tsp Soya sauce
1tsp Cornflour
2tbsp Chilli sauce
1/4tsp Sugar
1tso White vinegar or rice vinegar
Salt
Oil
2nos Onions (diced)
2nos Green chillies (slit opened)
1nos Bellpepper (cubed)
Few spring onions
Chopped coriander leaves

Marinate the deveined, cleaned prawns along with soya sauce, chilli sauce, cornflour,sugar, vinegar, salt and keep aside, heat enough oil, now fry the diced onions, slit opened green chillies until they turns brown, add the chopped ginger,garlic, cook for few minutes..put the flame in high and immediately add the marinated prawns, stir continously to avoid the burn, after few minutes add the cubed bellpeppers and fry until the water get evaporated and the shrimp get cooked..

Finally add the spring onions and coriander leaves and serve hot..Serve with fried rice..

Apple & Chocolate Crumble (With Oats & Almonds)

Its time to try and enjoy fruit crumble with some chocolate chunks and nuts for this month of Sweet Punch, we guys have to try a fruit crumble eith with pears,apples or a mixed fruits with a crumble prepared with nuts and flours, but since i dont want to make this dessert with butter i went for some olive oil, rolled oats and whole wheat flour to make the crumble which turned really super crispy and absolutely healthier when compared to the usual crumble..Fruits crumble are quite a simple easy dessert which goes for simple ingredients and a fabulous dessert to enjoy without any guilt, u can enjoy very well this fruity dessert along with icecream, whipped cream or simply chilled, u have numerous choice to enjoy this delectable dessert..Thanks to Ria for choosing this delicious dessert and we loved it..



3nos Apples
1/2tsp Lemon juice
2tbsp Sugar
100grs Milk chocolate (chopped roughly)

For Crumble:
2tbsp Whole wheat flour
10nos Almonds (grounded as coarse powder)
2tsp Sugar
3tbsp Rolled oats
2tbsp Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350F..Chop the peeled, cored apples are small pices, add the lemon juice, sugar and half of the chocolate chunks, take this mixture in a ramekins..Meanwhile take the flour, oats given for crumble in a bowl, add the olive oil and make a breadcrumbs like mixture with ur fingers, finally add the remaining chocolate chunks,sugar and grounded almond, give a stir...Spoon the crumble over the apples and press them lightly..bake the crumble in middle rack for 30minutes until the crumble turns golden brown..

Enjoy with ice cream or chilled..

Choco-Caramel Hotpots

We cant resist to some delectable dishes while going through our fellow foodie blogger's space and very often i bookmark many dishes to try and taste, but some dishes will pull u out to try immediately without any delay,one among those recipe is this hotpots, i saw this hotpots few days back at Aipi's Chocohotpots, i could resist to her beautiful clicks and tried them yesterday..i went for nutella spread along with some salted butter caramel spread so that i completely skipped the coffee and chocolate chips she went for, also i didnt used not even a single spoon of sugar as both the nutella and caramel spread turned out this hotpots prefectly sweet else i followed as same as Aipi's recipe went for this hotpots, to be honest we guys relished each and every spoon of this hotpots,yeah we thoroughly enjoyed it..Needless to say that these delectable hotpots goes to Vandana's Baking For Beginners II...



2tbsp Nutella spread
3tbsp Salted butter caramel spread
2nos Eggs
3tbsps All purpose flour
1/2cup Butter

Grease the ramekins with butter and keep aside and preheat the oven to 350F...In a microwave oven ,melt the butter, nutella spread, salted butter caramel spread together until they turns like a syrup..Meanwhile beat the eggs well, gradually add the all purpose flour and the melted butter-choco caramel mixture until they gets well mixed..Pour this mixture to the greased ramekins, bake for 20minutes until the top gets firm..If u shake the ramekins, the inner should move, put off the oven..

Serve immediately this hotpots and enjoy..

Cafe Sua Da/Vietnamese Iced Coffee

I cant start my day without my cup of coffee and am an addict to the iced coffee, while am searching for some Vietnamese dishes, i got hooked with this iced coffee and i tried out today eventhough its super cold here...This iced coffee goes for simple ingredients and gets ready in very less minutes, just need some sweetened condensed milk, a thick coffee decoction and some ice cubes, thats all..We enjoyed having this iced coffee and am an addict to this iced coffee now..Sending this super delicious iced coffee to AWED-Vietnam guest hosted by Priya, event by DK..



2tbsp Sweetened condensed milk
1cup Thick coffee decoction
Ice cubes

Take the sweetened condensed milk in a glass, add the ice cubes to the sweetened condensed milk..finally add the coffee decoction, give a stir and enjoy...

Babycorn Fritters With Coriander Leaves

Its snowy,rainy and very cold here, we guys are getting very lazy nowadays coz of this chilled weather, when coming to snack time everyone at home wanted to have something as fritters even my little one needs something to munch for his snack eventhough am trying to keep my teddies away from deep fried fritters, sterday i cant even sit in front of my system and had a lazy sunday,but anyhow had a great sunday on watching movies and xmas shopping..Coming to this fritters i prepared them with some fresh babycorns and prepared the bhaji batter with finely chopped coriander leaves to give a nice flavour while having this fritters, we enjoyed having them for our snacks..

20nos Fresh babycorns

1/2cup Gram flour

1/4cup Corn flour

1/4cup Rice flour

1/2tsp Fennel seed powder

1tsp Red chilly powder

1/4cup Idly batter

1/4tsp Baking powder

1/4tsp Turmeric powder

3tbsp Chopped coriander leaves

Salt

Oil

Cook the babycorn in hot water with enough salt until they turns soft, drain the excess of water,squeeze out gently the babycorns and keep aside..Mix the gram flour, corn flour, rice flour,chopped coriander leaves, fennel seed powder, red chilly powder, baking powder, idly batter,salt and water as thick batter..Heat the oil for deep frying, dip the cooked babycorns to the prepared batter and deep fry them until they turns golden brown..

Enjoy hot!

Lilva Beans & Tomato Sambhar

I recently picked a packet of fresh lilva beans from chinese store, eventhough they are frozen..i love this green lilva beans very much and havent had them since a long,needless to say that i was very happy to get this rare precious lilva beans..I wanted to make them as curries or either gravies,finally i went to prepare them as varuthu aracha sambhar along with some tomatoes, both together works out wonder and the picture itself will say how tasty this gravy was..Since i prepared a special spice powder for making this sambhar it doesnt need sambhar powder and the taste was totally different from the usual one..Yep as usual i tried adding some different spices to prepare the special spice powder for this gravy in which i have added some anardana seed powder to give them a slight tanginess..We enjoyed this sambhar with papads and rice, loved it...Sending to CWS-Hyacinth beans guest hosted by Siri.

1cup Toor Dal(cooked)
2cups Lilva beans
1no Onion(chopped)
3nos Tomato(Juicy & chopped)
1/2tsp Lemon juice
1/4tsp Asafoetida powder
1/2tsp Mustard seeds+Urad dal
1/4tsp Cumin seeds
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
Salt
Oil
Curry leaves

To Grind:
1tsp Fenugreek seeds
2tbsp Coriander seeds
5nos Red chillies
1tsp Cumin seeds
1/2tsp Asafeotida powder
1tbsp Channa dal
1tsp Anardana powder
1tbsp Grated coconut

Dry roast all the ingredients given in the list 'to grind' one by one and grind as fine powder and keep aside...Heat oil in a kadai, add the mustard seeds,urad dal, cumin seeds, asafoetida powder and allow it to splutters..add the chopped onions, chopped tomatoes and fry well, now add the lilva beans,curry leaves and saute for few minutes..

Add the cooked dal along with enough water,salt and mix well..Add now the enough grounded spice powder, turmeric powder,cook until the beans get well cooked..Finally add the lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves..

Eggless Banana & Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream

Caramel au beurre salé known as salted butter caramel is quite a famous caramel spread we get easily in Brittany , a popular region in north west France..My H bought two bottles of this famous salted butter caramel from there when he went for his official work, i tried using those salted caramel spread for making this icecream along with bananas, both together works out wonder and i totally skip adding sugar in this icecream, since the caramel spread i used was very much sweetened, this icecream was truly creamy, yummy and completely egg free..Eventhough its snowy here, my H love icecreams..finally he was really happy to enjoy some home made creamy icecream with his favourite spread...Sending to Kid's Delight-Holiday Special hosted by Srivalli and to A Fruit/A Veggie For A Month-Banana guest hosted by Aipi, event by Priya..



2cups Double cream/Full fat whipping cream
4tbsp Salted butter caramel spread
2nos Bananas
1tsp Lemon juice

Beat the bananas, lemonjuice, salted butter caramel spread and double cream in a blender until they turns smooth..Pour this mixture to a stainless steel box and arrange them in a freezer, after an hour take out the box and pour the slightly frozen icecream to the blender,beat again for a while..Now pour again to the plastic box or stainless steel box and let them sit in freezer for overnite..

Enjoy this creamy icecream topped with some salted butter caramel spread..

Madeleines Au Chocolat/Chocolate Madeleines

The madeleine or petite madeleine is a traditional small cake from Commercy and Liverdun, two communes of the Lorraine region in northeastern France.Madeleines are very small sponge cakes with a cute shell-like shape as they are baked in special moulds with shell-shaped depressions.A cake batter is used to make these madeleines. Traditional recipes include very finely grounded nuts, usually almonds with few lemon zest, for a lemony taste or else with orange flower water, but my choice went for chocolate..I recently bought the madeleine silicon mould after a long hesitation, coz i usually buy these cuties everytime we go for shopping eventhough those store bought madeleines are loaded with sugar and butter, finally i decided myself to get a mould for this madeleines to try out some low fat versions at home as we love them very much..Sending this beauties to AWED-France guest hosted by me, event by DK and to Kid's Delight-Holiday Special hosted by Srivalli..



1/3cup All purpose flour
1/3cup Sugar
3tbsp Butter (room temperature)
1tbsp Oil
2nos Eggs
1tsp Baking powder
2tsp Dark chocolate powder

Preheat the oven to 350F..Beat the eggs and sugar until they turns pale, add gradually the oil and butter beat until they turns smooth, now add the all purpose flour,baking powder, dark chocolate powder, stir until they get well mixed, dont beat vigorously..Pour a tablespoon of this batter to the silicon madeleine mould (if u r using usual madeleines mould, grease them well) arrange them in middle rack and bake for 12-15minutes..

Enjoy the warm and yummy chocolate madeleines..