Recipes

Recipes Tested and Tried from my Kitchen.The recipes will include appetizers, sweets, main dish, side dish,vegan recipes all around the world.

Baby Corn Peas Masala

January 2, 2014 By

India is famous for its N number of gravies and choices of curries it provides to accompany the breads.Some are tomato onion based , some our curd based My family and H always love the onion tomato based gravy for any curry . This is one of his fav curry which i make for his lunch . This is super flavourful and yummy gravy which just tastes delicious and super yumm. If you are not a big lover of paneer mutter you can substitute paneer with baby corn and this will turn in to a delicious dairy free – A vegan gravy .

My mom used to make this gravy a lot , they taste extremely yummy when served hot with hot phulkas / Roti . I don’t get fresh baby corn near my place so I used the canned one but they taste more yummy with fresh baby corn too. Lets move to the recipe of this vegan curry.

Ingredients

Baby Corn – 10 – 12 No ( I used can. If you are using fresh baby corn pressure cook then for 2 whistles )
Fresh Peas/ Mutter- 1/2 cup
Onion – 1 no Medium ( sliced)
Tomato – 2 no Medium ( chopped)
Green chillies – 2-3 No
Bay leaves – 1 No
Cloves – 2 No
Cinnamon stick – 1 No
Cardamom – 2 No ( Whole)
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Red chilli pd – 1 tsp
Turmeric pd – 1/4 tsp
Coriander pd – 2 tsp
Cumin pd – 1/4 tsp
Garam masala – 1/4 tsp
Oil – 2 tbsp + 1 tsp

Method

In a sauce pan heat 1 tsp oil saute the onion and green chilli . Saute them till onion turn translucent.
Add tomatoes and cook them till the tomatoes turn mushy .
Turn off the flame and transfer the sauteed onion tomatoes in a blender .
After they cool grind them in to fine paste.
In a sauce pan heat the rest oil , add bay leaf, clove, cinnamon,cardamom .
After they pop add ginger garlic paste and saute for a while.
Then add tomato onion paste boil them, after they boil add the dry masala – Red chilly pd , turmeric pd, coriander pd , cumin and garam masalaand saute them .
Add the tinned baby corn / Boiled bay corn and Peas let them boil in the masala paste .
Add water if necessary to get the gravy like consistency.
Cook the veggies till done in the gravy and oil separates in the corner ‘s of the gravy .
Serve this gravy hot with warm phulkas/ Roti .

Linking to Vegan thursday ..You can check the other members in this group – “Vegan Thursday” Here

Coffee Chocolate Truffles

January 2, 2014 By

Wish You all a very happy and prosperous new year :). May this year start with lots of wonderful things happening in all your life my best wishes to all. Oh my an year of blogging is already over last year was an very lucky year and at the year end I have got my .com too, am so exited about 2014 awaiting for lots of happy things to happen . Did any one take a new year resolution ? I never take a new year resolution I don’t have any clue what should I take there are many things I would love to do . I am so happy that I got my own domain and i will sure try to improve in the coming year. Thanks to all the kind hearts who have been supporting me a lot this year 2013. 2013 have been a very supportive and encouraging year for my blog and me I have received so many appreciation and overwhelmed to recieve them . Thanks to all my readers for the tremendous support.

So to celebrate our start of next year , on a sweet note I have here a very delicious truffles which i made . This was suppose to be a yule log which priya ranjit suggested for our HBC but too many cracks troubled me a lot and Just was not satisfied so turned them to truffles. I would love to wait to get the perfection in eggless swiss roll.These truffle where a great hit and my H and his friends enjoyed it a lot showering me lot of compliments.

Recipe Source : Sweet Vegan

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup cold water or brewed coffee
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Chocolate Frosting – 2 cups

For Outer Layer

Shortening or oil – 2- 3 tbsp
Candy melts ( I used green color) – 1 cup ( Melt them in double boiler of in microwave for 30 sec )

Method

Preheat oven to 375°F. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.
In a large measuring jug, mix together all liquid ingredients except for the vinegar.
Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until smooth.
Add the vinegar and stir until even distributed throughout the batter. Pour onto un-greased edged cookie sheet (a flat one won’t hold in the batter and you’ll have quite the mess on your hands)and bake 10-20 minutes. depending on your oven.
When cake is cooled, crumble the cake add the chocolate frosting to it and knead them.
Divide and make equal sized ball.
Melt the chocolate using double boiler or in microwave add shortening or oil as needed to make the melted chocolate a little Flowing in consistency.
Dip each ball in the melted chocolate coat them well and lift it using a fork , tap the fork so that the excess chocolate will fall.
Keep the coated truffle on a parchment paper and let the chocolate set .
After they set melt the candy melts transfer it to zip lock cut a tiny hole and drizzle the chocolate on truffles .

Here is My treat for all my buddies of Blogging world 🙂 Wish you all a happy new year 2014 🙂

Linking to Divya’s Culinary Journey and Cooks Joy

Biscuit Brownies ( No Bake)

December 28, 2013 By

Who would not love cooking without fire , Especially when it is an delicious dessert. This month My partner in potluck is Ramya of Lemon Kurry and she bought a wonderful No bake brownie which I had to make . They were simply delicious and yummy , we enjoyed this quick to make and delightful dessert . Thanks to ramya for brings this yummy dessert to the party .These quick to make brownies would sure attract your kids and they are a really quick to make and serve,a must try for chocolate lovers .

I have already tried No bake cheerio cookies and this time I have a no bake brownie which was a super hit one and my H loved it. Thank you ramya for this amazing recipe. I just followed her recipe didn’t have drinking chocolate so just used the melted chocolate chips as substitute . Let move to the recipe..

Recipe Source : Lemon Kurry

Ingredients

Marie Biscuits/ Digestive Biscuits – 20 No
Cocoa Pd – 3 Tbsp
Melted chocolate chips – 2 tbsp ( I melted the chocolate chips in Microwave) or You can also use 2 tbsp of drinking chocolate
Condensed Milk – 1/2 cup
Almonds/ Pistachios/cashews – 3 – 4 No ( chopped)
Milk – 2-3 tsp ( If needed)

Method

In a bowl add melted chocolate/ Drinking chocolate, cocoa pd and Mix them well.
Put the marie biscuits in a ziplock close it and roll the biscuits using rolling pin till they are finely powdered.
Add the biscuit pd to the chocolate and cocoa mixture and Mix well.
Add condensed milk and mix them well.
If you feel the brownie batter is much drier then you might add milk if needed and make it a moist.
Line a square shaped pan with parchment paperand spread this biscuit mixture evenly smooth the top with a greased spoon.
Refrigerate them till set it might take 20- 30 mins.
After they are set cut them in to squares and enjoy .

Sending to Jagruti’s Potluck party

Chettinadu Kaikari Biryani

December 28, 2013 By

Biryani’s are always my fav as they are packed with so much nutrients and I prefer them spicy. India is famous for is N num of varieties in biryani and am sharing a very famous biryani which I make often at home . This Biryani I first learned in my Home science and this was the recipe which saved me while board practical as this was Tasted by Chef Mr. Damodaran sir and he liked it :). I always love the coconut milk flavor in biryani and always use them instead of water. As you all might be knowing chettinadu foods mostly are prepared with ground masalas and they normally contain coconut in them .

Chettinadu Kaikari biryani is my family fav and it tastes better when you use fresh coconut milk for this recipe. Some People also make them by grinding a masala paste which normally include shallots and all the spice which I have used here as whole like cloves, bay leaves etc. This is a simple way I generally make this biryani and this taste so yummy . You can add any veggie of your choice and make them as spicy as you like .

Ingredients

Mixed vegetables- 1 cup ( chopped) – ( I used Beans, carrot, Potato here)
Basmati Rice – 2 cups
Onions – 1 No (Chopped)
Tomato – 1 medium sized ( chopped)
Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp
Red chilli pd – 1 tsp
Sambhar pd – 1 tbsp
Coriander pd – 2 tsp
Cumin pd – 1 tsp
Turmeric pd – 1/4 tsp
coriander leaves – 1/4 cup chopped
Salt to taste
coconut milk – 3 1/2 cups
Yogurt/curd – 3 tbsp
Bay leaves -2 nos
Cinnamon stick – 1 ” piece
Cardamom – 2 nos
cloves – 2 nos
Oil – 2 tbsp

Method

In wok / kadai heat oil add bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon and cardamon .
After they pop add chopped onions, ginger garlic paste and saute till onion translucent.
Add tomatoes and saute till they are cooked and mashed well .
Now add Red chilli pd, coriander pd , sambhar pd, turmeric pd , salt ( remember to add salt including the rice) and cumin pd . Mix well.
Add all the chopped vegetables saute them for a while until well combined.
Add curd / yogurt and mix them well and cook for a while then turn off the flame.
In a rice cooker put washed rice , coconut milk and vegetable mixture and cook them .
If you are making in pressure cooker cook the for 2 -3 whistles.

Kalkandu vadai ( Chettinadu spl)

December 27, 2013 By

As you all might be knowing for this weeks BM i have choosen chettinadu cuisine and will be bring chettinadu recipes for three days . The first one was Kuzhi paniyaram for breakfast or snack , and today am here with a sweet appetizer this is a very very delicious and yummy sweet vada which can be served as a appetizer or as a sweet too. This sweet vadai is a very famous chettinadu spl dish which is prepared on auspicious occasion and festivals .

This recipe I have seen many times in TV shows and also some of our blogger friends have shared it when I was blog hopping I was thinking to make it soon and today I made these yummy vada after a long postponement . This yummy sweet vada can be served hot or cold . Check Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 35 .. Lets move on to the recipe..

Ingredients

Urad dal / Black gram dal – 1 cup
Raw rice – 2 tbsp
Sugar / Kalkandu ( sugar candy/ Misiri) powdered – 3/4 cup or
Oil for frying

Method

Wash and soak urad dal and rice mixture for 30 mins.
Drain the water completely, add sugar/ powdered Kalkandu/ sugar candy pd and blend them in a blender/ Mixture till fine Batter.
Add water while grinding if needed only in drops .
Transfer the batter in a bowl and heat the oil for frying the vada’s.
Wet your hands with water and take a small portion of the batter slightly press and make a hole using your thumb.
Slide the edge of the shaped vada using your thumb till and allow it to drop in hot oil.This needs a little practice to get perfect shaped vadas.
These vada will puff up well fry them in very low heat as they tend to darken faster becoz of sugar in it.
Turn and fry them both sides till light brown in color.

Tips

If using kalkandu / sugar candy just grind it in mixer to fine powder and use them.
Instead of Raw rice you might also add channa dal or bengal gram dal.

Christmas Saffron Honey Cake

December 25, 2013 By

Hope all are having a very nice time with friends and family on this christmas holidays . While all are busy in holidays here I got today an very delicious tea time cake with lots of flavor and aroma in it . We just love tea time cakes and I made this cake as I had this idea of making a cake flavored with some indian spice and to give it a indian touch I included Saffron and cardamom to the cake it turned out a super soft and delicious cake and perfect to snack on any time .

This month for SYS viji had given us wonderful ingredients choices and I got honey as my ingredient and so I made this delicious cake with honey in it . The honey brings a lovely brown color to the outer part of the cake and these were super soft that we where really tempted to finish them the same day. A very light and moist cake with wonderful aroma is what makes it more irresistible. Let mov on to the recipe for this yummy cake.

Ingredients

Maida – 1 1/2 cups
Oil – 1/4 cup
Milk – 3/4 cup ( adjust the quantity as needed to make the batter to a cake batter consistency )
Condensed milk – 1/2 cup
Honey – 1/4 cup
Baking pd – 1 tsp
Baking soda – 1/2 tsp
Cardamom pd 1/2 tsp
Saffron strands – 1tsp soaked in 1/4 cup warm milk
Chocolate chips – 1 – 2 tbsp ( Optional)
Butter or oil to grease the pan

Method

In a bowl put Honey, condensed milk, Milk, oil, saffron milk mixture, cardamom pd and mix it well.
Now sieve the dry ingredients – Maida, baking pd and baking soda.
Mix the dry ingredients in to the wet mixture and mix them well till well combined.
Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease a loaf pan well with oil or butter.
Transfer the cake batter to the greased pan, top the batter with chocolate chips and bake it at 350 F for 20- 30 mins or till a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Linking it To Virunthu unna vaanga

Linking it to Merry Tummy

Chocolate Tutti Frutti Cake

December 25, 2013 By

Its Christmas eve I know all would have Baked a lot and all set to celebrated the Christmas and welcome Christ . But if you have some last minute planes to bake a cake then this recipe should be help to those . Christmas is one festival I love the most , I love the lights , fireworks and the sip the hot Chocolate. When I was at school we had this fun game of counting the stars and making wishes .In the way to school we used to search for homes hanging star’s and used to make a wish it was so fun I don’t remember whether my wishes came true or not but that was a really gud fun game for us. The second thing comes to mind is we used to play chris mom and chris child I know most of us know this game for every Christmas this game was so awaited and we had some funny pranks ,a very nostalgic moment. I wish everyone a very Merry christmas and happy new year 🙂

As tomorrow is christmas I wanted to share some last min cake ideas if you don’t have enough time to bake a fruit cake then am sure you will try this as it is a chocolate cake with tutti frutti which is super moist and very delicious to cake . It is a normal chocolate cake with a tutti frutti in it you will sure love the bites of tutti frutti in between the cake. So here is my treat for my readers and followers for this Christmas eve 🙂

Ingredients

All purpose / Maida -2 cups
Sugar -1 1/2 cup
Cocoa pd – 1/3 cup
Milk – 1 3/4 cups
Oil – 1/4 cup
Tutti frutti – 1/4 cup ( more if needed)
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
Baking pd – 1 1/2 tsp
Baking soda – 1/2 tsp
Apple cider vinegar – 2 tsp

Garnish
Confectionery sugar
MnM’s
Glazed Cheeries

Method

Pre heat the oven at 350 F
Grease a can pan ( here I used a christmas tree mould) Flour the pan and dust the excess.
Sift flour , baking pd, baking soda, cocoa pd in a bowl.
In another bowl mix oil, sugar , milk , vanilla essence and mix them till sugar dissolves.
Add the wet ingredient mixture in to the flour mixtur little by little and mix them well till they appear glossy.
Add the tutti frutti and mix well.
At last add apple cider vinegar and fold them in the batter till well combined.
Transfer the batter to the greased and floured pan.
Bake the cake at 350 F for 30 – 45 Mins.
Bake them till a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
After they are done let the cake stand on pan for 10 mins then transfer them to serving platter.
If you want you can frost with any cream frosting or just dust some confectionery sugar .
As I baked them in christmas tree pan I decorated them with some MnM’s and cheeries.

Linking to Divya’s Culinary Journey and Cooks Joy

Chettinadu Kuzhi Paniyaram ( With Idli Batter)

December 25, 2013 By

I love chettinadu foods a lot and mainly the kara paniyaram which i use to enjoy in the restaurants back in chennai 🙂 I always love to hear the sizzling sound the paniyarams make when the are poured in to the paniyaram pan . I make them most often at home and we enjoy them a tea time snack warm with tomato chutney. Panitarams are one among the array of delicious food from chettinadu cuisine and this is an super simple way i make them at home.

This is the most loved by my H and he keeps on telling me make them again n again .He gives me a lot of compliments for this one especially This recipe I experiment first for French dosa toast when my H told me that it tastes just like paniyaram I thought of making them as a paniyaram and here am with this crispy and delicious paniyaram . We usually like the over part of paniyaram little crispy and spongy inner part so i fried them to light golden brown but if you like the outer part to be soft too then you can fry them lighter .For serving you can serve them with any chutney but we love to have them dipped in sambhar like sambhar idli we like sambhar paniyaram too..so lets move on to the recipe . Check Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 35

Ingredients

Idli Batter – 2 cups
Onion – 1 medium size ( Chopped)
Green chilles – 2- 3 No ( chopped)
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Urad dal / black gram dal – 1 tbsp
Channa dal / bengal gram dal – 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
Oil – 2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method

In a pan heat oil, add mustard seeds after they splutter add curry leaves.
Add urad dal and channa dal saute them til they turn light brown in color.
Then add onion , green chilles and saute the till translucent.
Switch of the flame and transfer the mixture on to the batter add required amount of salt and mix them well.
Now add one tsp of oil in each hollow of the paniyaram pan and heat them .
After the oil in hot simmer the flame and add a tsp or so of batter in each kuzhi / Hollow.
Cook the paniyarams both the sides till light brown. Use a skewer to turn them.
Enjoy hot paniyarams an a snack or breakfast with any chutney :).

Linking this to Tamizhar samayal Tuesday whose brain child is +nalini suresh .

Bienenstich Kuchen (German Bee Sting Cake) – Eggless

December 24, 2013 By

Today am so very happy to present this post as this will be my first post for We knead To Bake which I recently signed in for next years Bread baking . I was so excited and couldn’t wait more and starting by bread baking from this months challenge. Thanks to Aparna Balasubramaniam for letting me in in this very popular baking group . So this month Aparna suggested a very very addictive and delicious ( I mean it ) super delicious bread / cake from Germany . This was so addictive My H was like give me more n more it was a super hit one and I and My H enjoyed this a lot. Germany Bee sting Cake originally known as Bienenstich Kuchen is a very famous german yeasted cake with a honey almond toffee like topping and custard pastry cream filling – this might sound so irresistible isn’t it – Indeed it is !!..

The Bienenstich has a brioche like dough which is normally made for yeasted cakeswhich might contain high amount of butter and milk in it.
Even egg is added to these but have an egg free recipe.The pastry cream filled in is not runny and must be a bit stiff so that it can carry the weight of the upper cake layer.
The problem in this cake is when you cut the cake into slices the filling might squish off which should not happen . So you must refridgerate it so that the pastry cream becoms stiff and you get a clean slice.The remaining filling can be used as a sauce or dip for this cake or can be licked as I did 😛 Let move to the recipe of this irresistible German cake .

Recipe Source : My Diverse Kitchen

Ingredients

For the Pastry Cream Filling

250 ml milk (I used whole milk)
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp vanilla flavored custard powder
200 ml cream ( I used Heavy cream )
1 tbsp corn-starch

For the Dough

1/4 cup milk (I used whole milk)
7 tbsp butter, at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
Instead of 1 egg I added extra 1/4 cup warm milk

For the Honey-Almond Topping

3 1/2 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup almonds, sliced* (see Note above)

Method

For custard filling

The filling can be made in the previous day and refrigerated till required.
Remove 1/4 cup of milk, and put the remaining milk and the sugar in pan.
In a medium heat, bring this to a boil while stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar.
Meanwhile, dissolve the custard powder in the 1/4 cup of milk. Add this in a stream, to the boiling milk and keep on whisking so that no lumps are formed.
keep on stiring until the custard becomes very thick.
Take the pan off the heat and let the custard cool to room temperature. Give it a mix in few intervals so that there is no lump formation and custard remains smooth.
If it does become lumpy after cooling, use a hand blender or mixer to make it smooth.
cover this with cling wrap and refrigerate
Once you are ready to fill the Bienenstich, whip 200ml of cream till soft peaks form. Then add the corn-starch and whip till it forms stiff peaks. Whisk the custard to make sure it is smooth. Gently fold the cream into the custard. If you feel it is too soft, refrigerate for a couple of hours and then use.

To make the dough

Heat the milk until it is warm but not boiling. Cut the butter into pieces and add to the milk, stirring it until the better melts completely. keep side so that it cools down a bit.
Meanwhile, put the flour, sugar, salt and the yeast in the bowl .
Mix all the ingredients add the butter-milk mixture(it should be warm, not hot) and also 1/4 cup of warm milk and the then knead till it forms a smooth and soft (loose) brioche-like dough . The dough must be easily handle-able.
Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a bowl. Cover loosely and let it rise for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
This dough will rise quite well but not to double in size as our other breads do.
Deflate or punch the dough, and shape again to a smooth ball.
Place it in a 8” spring form cake tin lined with parchment.
It is very importation to line your tin with parchment otherwise it will be difficult take them out of the pan .
Flatten the dough a little, pressing down lightly so that the dough fits the cake tin.
It ok if it doesn’t touch the corner of the tin .
Let it rise for about 30 to 45 minutes more. It will not rise very much and look a little puffy.

To Prepare the topping while the dough rises

Melt the butter, sugar, honey and vanilla in a small pan, over medium heat.
Keep stirring frequently and it will start bubbling up. Let it cook for about 3 minutes or so ( not more than that else it will turn hard ) until it turns to a light beige colour. Add the sliced Blanched almonds, and stir well till the almonds are well coated.
Take the pan off the heat and let it cool a bit. The mixture will become quite thick.

To Bake the bread

After the dough rises spread the fudgy like topping evenly all over the top of the dough. If there are small gaps they will get covered once the bread/ cake is baking.
Bake at 180C (350F) for about 25 to 35 minutes until the top is golden brown and bubbling.
A knife inserted in the center should come out clean.
Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Then gently loosen the sides with a spatula and unmould. Let it cool completely on a rack.

When it has cooled completely, slice the cake into two equal layers carefully, using a very sharp knife.
Spread the pastry cream or the filling on the lower layer and top with the upper layer and refrigerate till ready to serve.

Banoffee Pie -SFC#3

December 22, 2013 By

Banoffee pie is something I would love to make again again Bcoz of the addictive dulce de leche in it :). Dulche de leche is a famous in south America which is nothing but a slowly sweetened milk till it attains a caramelized color . The milk is slowly cooked with sugar till it turns thick and turns into brown color. Now a days we make use of condensed milk to make it more easier and this way it takes less time to make a addictive dulce de leche which tastes just like a toffee. This addictive caramel milk is used in many desserts and one such english dessert is famous Banoffee pie. Banoffe Pie is one of my fav after i tried the first time when an non blogger share it in my space for come on – lets cook event. I was so excited when preeti of “ Simply tadka” suggested that this months international dessert for our “Sweet fantasy club” is going to be a banoffee pie.

Banoffee is a traditional British dessert, which includes Banana slices, sticky toffee or other wise called as dulce de leche , and topped with whipped cream are arranged in layers crust made with digestive biscuits, outcome is a addictive and irresistible dessert. Using crushed digestive biscuits for the crust balances the taste of this yummy treat.

Ingredients

Condensed milk – 1 Can
Marie biscuit – 10 No
Butter – 1/4 Cup
Banana – 2
Whipped cream – 1/2 Cup ( whipped till stiff peaks)

To garnish

Grated chocolate
Crumbled Chocolate cake
Cherries (optional)

Method

For Dulce de Leche (In Pressure cooker)

Prepare the pressure cooker by adding ample amount of water so that the condensed milk tin can immerse in it .
Remove any label from the tin and see if there is any damage in the tin if there is any damage don’t use it as it might lead to busting of cooker so be cautious.
Put the can in the pressure cooker which is filled with water , it should be fully immersed.
Close the lid put the weight / whistle and cook them in a till one whistle and then lower the flame and cook the for 20 mins.
Switch of the flame and let the pressure completely subsides.
Do not shake the pressure cooker at the time stay in the water till water completely cools down.
You can store the can/ tin in refrigerator and use them the next day or wait till the tin is completely cool.

Dulce de leche is ready to use!!

*Notes – Avoid opening the can of condensed milk when hot

For the crust

Powder the biscuits by putting them in aziplock and rolling them with the rolling pin to form a fine pd or use a mixer .Now Mix melted butter with the pd biscuit pd . Crust of the pie is ready.

Assembling the pie