Recipes

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

Eggless Chocolate Pudding using Custard Pd

October 17, 2013 By

Am a chocolate lover and i know you all too are 🙂 . So here i bought to a sinful and all time fav chocolate pudding for people who are carving for some chocolate sweets . I learnt this when i was studying Home science and didn’t get a chance to try it at home though . When I saw BM themes -Chocolates then this pudding popped up in my mind and wanted to include this the theme as it fits perfect to theme. I learn’t to cook only after i joined Home science in 11th std we used have a month where we used to set a canteen for whole school students in which we used sell bread jam , gulab jamun and other snacks, pickle , jams, squash studying Home science was Lot of fun.

Chocolate Pudding is nothing but a chocolate custard which is set using starch and they are smooth in texture . It is a variation of chocolate custard where starch is used to thicken and set instead of eggs. Now lets Move to the eggless version of chocolate pudding . Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#33.

Ingredients

3 tbsp Vanilla Custard Pd/ corn starch ( I used custard pd)
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Salt a pinch
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract ( if using corn starch)
11/2 cups Whole milk
5 tbsp Powdered sugar ( adjust to your taste)
1-2 Chopped Almonds ( To garnish)

Ingredients

In a bowl Mix cocoa pd, salt,custard pd,1/2 cup milk without any lumps and set a side .
In a sauce pan boil the milk and lower the flame after it boils.
Add the custard cocoa milk mixture to the Boiled milk and stir continuously, keep the flame low.
At one stage it will start to thicken and come together leaving the sauce pan you will be able to see the sauce pan now. Stir continuously else it might form lumps.
Turn off the flame and add butter to it give it a mix and transfer it to serving dish.

Cling wrap the serving bowls and refrigerate for 1- 2 hour .
Serve them garnished with chopped almonds.

Tips

If you are using Corn starch only then add vanilla extract to the pudding else it is not required .
You can use fat free milk too but whole milk gives the best sinful taste .

Banana Nut Cupcakes / Muffins

October 16, 2013 By

This banana nut muffins was supposed to be my HBC challenge last month been challenged by +Shama Nagarajan but some how I missed to post this. So here I am here with a delicious moist and super healthy cupcakes . If you have over riped bananas and don’t know what to do with them they are very very useful for making cakes as the sugar in the riped bananas will help to sweeten the cake so well and leaves out a very nice aroma in baked goodies. I always make use of the ripened banana in cakes and muffins which is an effective and delicious way to use them than using for any other sweets. You can add any nuts you wish here walnut goes well but you can add pecans and almonds too if you wish. These can be enjoyed as a muffin or can be frosted with butter cream or fresh cream frosting and turned in to cupcakes.
As whole wheat flour is used for these muffins/ cupcakes they are highly nutritive and a filling breakfast muffins . Lets move on to the recipe.

Recipe Source : Yummly

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup oat bran
1 tbsp ground Flax seeds (soaked in 3 Tbsp water for 5 mins)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 ripe bananas
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F/190 degrees Celsius.
In a large bowl sieve Flour , baking pd, baking soda , salt.
Mix in the oat bran, walnuts in flour mixture.
In another bowl mash banana, add flax seed mixture, oil, vanilla extract,milk and mix well.
Now Mix in the we ingredient slowly to the dry four ingredient with out any lumps.
Spoon into a the lined muffin tin / cupcakes mould and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Cool them a bit and remove the muffins/ cupcakes from the mould .
Frost these cupcakes with butter cream frosting or sieve some sugar on top and enjoy.

Tips

You can convert these cupcakes to cake by adding a little extra milk and making it a semi liquid consistency and bake them in cake pan

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#33.

sending to cooking 4 all seasons

BCAM – Breast Cancer Awareness Month Fund Raising Event

October 15, 2013 By

Hello Friends,

We are feeling proud to announce this useful fund raising event to bring awareness among many people and also to help people who are already diagnosed and need help with regards to the cost of the treatment.

Here, we bloggers joined together to spread this awareness lot faster and in a wider range in the network world.We would like to sincerely thank each of our blogger friends to put this forward and as well as help with regards to the donation as well. Here is list of all my blogger friends who are contributing their time and space for this

NOTE: Anyone who is interested in posting this event on their website/blog, please feel free to contact Anu at anu (dot) healthykitchen (at) gmail (dot) com event.

Anu Shoj of Anu’s Healthy Kitchen

Vardhini of Cooks Joy

Priya Suresh of Priya’s Versatile Recipes

Manjula of Desi Fiesta

Sangee of Spicy Treats

Nalini of Nalini’s Kitchen

Tanusree of Ma Niche

Priya Ranjit of Cook like Priya

Viji of Virunthu Unna Vaanga

Sathya Priya of my kitchen odyssey

Shama of easy2 cook recipes

Sangeetha Priya of nithas kitchen

We decided to donate to Susan G. Komen (http://ww5.komen.org/), which was created by Nancy G. Brinker in 1982 who is Susan G. Komen’s sister. She is “Fulfilling the Promise” which she gave her sister when she was dying. That promise became Susan G. Komen for the cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. To know more about Susan G. Komen and the organization please visit the above link mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph.We welcome all my friends to spend few moments here and if you feel its worth donating you can do so.

Here are the details as to how to donate:

You can either directly go to their website (http://ww5.komen.org/Donate/Donate.html) and donate in any method that which you are comfortable
Or you can email Anu at anu (dot) healthykitchen (at) gmail (dot) com, and she will reply to your email and take it from there.
Event Date Oct 1th – Nov 15th
Please email me / leave a comment here, before/after you do the donation with the
Amount You Wish/Did Donate (This is just to calculate how much we have
Collected at the end of this event, We are not concerned as to how much you would

Note: If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at Manjula(dot)bharathkumar (at) gmail (dot) com or leave a comment here at the end of this post

On the go, Anu at Anu’s Healthy Kitchen will keep on updating the list of persons who donate and at the end of the event we will also mention the amount we collected in total.

Am so happy to be a part of this fund raising event 🙂 . Thanks to +Anu Shoj for this wonderful initiative . This is my first blog post for a social cause feeling very happy to share this with you all .

Honey Comb Buns / Khaliat Nahal (Honeycomb Buns or Bee’s Hive Buns)

October 14, 2013 By

When I first saw my dear friends sharing this amazing and fabulous buns in blogosphere I was so excited to try it and tried these beautiful buns at my home. It was so worth trying I will try it again and again bcoz we fell in love with this super moist bread and I made a sweet filling so it was super yummy . Thanks to +Sangeetha M for making me try this delicious bread. These honey comb breads can be a great snack with tea or coffee or can be enjoyed as is . Thanks to Aparna for sharing this amazing recipe .

As Tomorrow is Eid wanted to share this bread which is most popular in muslim community . They make the sweet version of this bread for Iftar – the evening meal after following a day fast . This bread is an arabic method are generally stuffed with cream cheese and glazed with saffron flavored sugar syrup But hear I have tried the sweet stuffing as we do for Dilkush or Thengai bun, the sweetened coconut stuffing.

Eid Mubharak To All

Recipe source : My Diverse Kitchen

Ingredients

For the dough:

2 1/2 cups Bread flour /All purpose flour
1 cup lukewarm milk
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp sugar ( to add in yeast)
3 tbsp sugar ( to add for the dough)
1/4 tsp salt
40gm butter, melted
2 tbsp milk for brushing the dough

For the filling

1/2 cup Grated coconut
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp Tutti Frutti

Sugar Syrup/ Glaze:

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
A pinch of saffron
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp lime/ lemon juice

Method

Cool the butter before using.Put 2 cups of the flour, salt, sugar and melted butter in the bowl and mix it well with you palms till they become crumbly .
Combine the milk, sugar and yeast in a small bowl and keep for 5 minutes.
Mix in the Milk yeast mixture to the flour and knead the dough until you have a smooth and elastic dough which is not sticky.
Add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour as you need to get the consistency of bread dough. Use the 1/2 cup flour as need I used all 2 1/2 cup flour .

Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a greased bowl, and also coat the upper part of the dough with oil. Cover and let it rise till double in volume, for about an hour.
Turn the dough out onto your work surface. You will not be needing much flour as the dough would be pliable.
Cut it into 2 halves. With your palms, roll out each half a “rope” about 9” long. Cut each rope into 1” pieces and roll the cut dough into balls and do the same for rest of the dough.
Take each piece and flatten it out a little with your finger and palms and place half a teaspoon of filling in the centre.
Now pinch all the ends to the center and close the dough ball without any gaps . Smoothen it into a round ball. Place this in a well-greased round 9” cake tin. Repeat with the same remaining dough and the filling.
Arrange the filled balls of dough in concentric circles in the cake tin.
Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise for about 30 to 40 minutes.

Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle the sesame seeds over this. Bake the buns at 180C (350F) for about 25 minutes or until they’re a nice golden brown on top.
Let them cool in the tin for about 5 minutes and then on a wire rack.
If you’re making the sweet version, make the sugar syrup/ glaze during the first rise of the dough.

Sugar Glaze/ Sugar Syrup

Make this when you keep the bread dough for first rise .
Put the sugar, water and saffron in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.
Let it simmer in low flame for a few minutes until it starts thickening a bit.
Turn off the heat and add the honey and the lime/ lemon juice. Mix well and let it cool. Keep aside till needed.

How to proceed

When the sweet buns come out of the oven, pour the syrup all over the top of the the buns.
The bread should be too hot and the syrup/ glaze should be cool.
You can even brush the sugar syrup if you don’t like too much sweet.
Let it sit for a while for the syrup/ glaze to set a bit. Serve them warm with tea/ coffee.

Zucchini Halwa

October 14, 2013 By

An halwa with zucchini which i first saw madhur jaffery’s cook book which i own and was is my to do list and today on the navratri occasion i got a chance to try this yummy halwa . Halwa’s are very very traditional sweets of India and they are prepared in many festive occasions. There are enormous varieties of halwa’s been prepared in India , in which Milk halwa’s are one such traditional one’s. I tweaked the recipe from madhur jaffery’s cook book and prepared this delicious Zucchini halwa for this festive occasion . Zucchini is a summer squash which is a international veggies when turned over in to a indian sweet am sure you will be amazed to taste them as they taste truly desi in halwa’s .
I have used whole milk and ghee to make it the desi and rich way but you can also try it with low fat milk . Lets move on to the recipe. Linking this CC Challenge of the month Hosted by +Srivalli Jetti

Recipe source : Madhur jaffery’s Cook book

Ingredients

2 cups – Grated Zucchini (from 2 medium sized Zucchini)
1 1/2 cup – Milk
1/2 cup – Sugar
1/2 tsp – Cardamom ( optional)
A pinch – Green color
2 tbsp – Ghee
3-4 No’s – Chopped Pistachios

Method

In a pan heat the ghee and saute the grated zucchini for few mins.

Now add in the milk and cook till all the liquid evaporates and forms a mass.
After all the liquid in the milk evaporates and forms a mass , add the sugar , cardamom, green color and stir well continuously.

Stir till the sugar is combined well and the mixture comes together in halwa consistency .
The ghee in the halwa should leave the sides and the halwa should no more stick to the pan while stirring. Do not over cook though the halwa should be melt in mouth consistency.

Garnish with some chopped pistachios . serve them warm.

Sending To priya’s versatile recipes and Spicy Treat

Sending to cooks joy

Spooky Witch Finger Cookies

October 11, 2013 By

Disclaimer

This Post contains fake body parts and blood used in the pics. If you are light hearted and afraid of spooky things ignore this post. It might also contain suggestions for violence which is just for making it spooky, so parents don’t show it to your little once .

This is the second recipes from our HBC challenge been hosted by +nalini suresh this month. I love to make spooky cupcakes and pumpkin or jack o lantern cookies bu haven’y tried witch fingers this was the first time i tried . Though i made it look spooky the cookies where enjoyed a lot at my home. They where melt in mouth and super delicious cookies which my h had with a cup of milk and said this tastes yumm. thanks to +nalini suresh for sharing such spooky recipes this month .

Witch finger cookies are another spooky delights made for halloween. They are super soft from in and delicious cookies perfect for tea time . You can also make them in any shape you like and bake them . As halloween is nearing i shaped the cookies into witch finger shape.

Recipe Source:All recipes

Ingredients

1 Stick butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar/ icing sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8-10 nos whole almonds
Milk (optional to sprinkle)
Red decorating gel

Method

Combine the butter, sugar, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl.
Beat together with an electric mixer or a ladle till nice and creamy , gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt, then make a dough , if the dough seems to be crumbly you can sprinkle a bit of milk and make them smooth.
Refrigerate the dough for 20 to 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
Remove dough from refrigerator in small amounts. Scoop 1 heaping teaspoon at a time onto a piece of waxed paper I wanted a fat witch finger so i took 1 heap tbsp of dough.
Use the waxed paper or a board to roll the dough into a thin finger shaped cookie.
Press one almond into one end of each cookie to give the appearance of a long fingernail.
Pinch the cookie lightly near the tip and again near the center of each to give the impression of knuckles.
Draw some lines using a knife on the knuckles and near the nails to give it a finger look.
Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are slightly golden in color, 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove the almond from the end of each cookie; squeeze a small amount of red decorating gel into the cavity, place the almond again to cause the gel to ooze out around the tip of the cookie.

Tips

To avoid you cookies from spreading you have the cream the butter and sugar well and refrigeration is necessary.
Do not over sprinkle milk in the dough as it might make the cookies hard.
Bake the cookies only till the sides have started to turn light brown and cookie should stay white .

Eggless Ghostly Spider Cupcakes

October 11, 2013 By

I was so excited to try the Halloween delight being shared by our HBC host this month +nalini suresh of Nalini’s kitchen . She had challenged with wonderful halloween recipes for this Months challenge when saw the challenge I wanted to make at least two out of them and so I did 🙂 Here is the first one from her Ghostly cupcakes recipe , I made them eggless with flax seeds and they turned out super soft and spongy . You can actually convert this cupcake recipe in to cake by baking them in cake pan . Thanks to nalini for sharing such spooky recipes for halloween theme..we really enjoyed them a lot 🙂

Halloween in not much far and here is the perfect recipe to match the festive season, In the U.S when I first came across about this halloween festival, yes festival !! it is so celebrated like an festival ,so I thought how funny in india we run away from ghost and witches and here they wear ghost costumes and celebrate . But then I researched why exactly this festival is celebrated it is because in an year to remember the dead saints , martyrs , The eve of western christians feast or all hallows / saints . So they remember the faith departure they celebrate this day. The activities performed for halloween are Pumkin carving in to jack o lantern, costume party,and any spooky things are done and yeah Trick o treat which is one of my fav I enjoy when kids come knocking the door asking for trick or treat 🙂 Ok now speaking about halloween there are variety of spooky dishes made for it and these cupcakes as suggested by nalini It can be made into a mummy cupcake but I made a spider one . So for my eggless cakes theme as these cupcakes can be converted to can I made these super spongy cupcake.Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#33.

Lets move to recipe ..

Recipe Source : +nalini suresh

Ingredients

3/4 cup All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp espresso powder / Instant Bru pd
11/2 sticks salted butter (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp ground Flax seeds + 6 tbsp water ( soaked for 10 mins)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Yogurt
1/4 cup Milk ( extra if needed – optional)

For making spider garnish

Frosting
Chocolate vermicelli sprinklers
Black Licorice Strings
Candy pearls / M n M’s

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake tin with holders.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, espresso / Instant Bru powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in the flaxseeds mixture and mix well. Add vanilla extract and beat until just combined.
Mix the flour mixture in butter mixture little by little and followed by yogurt , If the batter is too very thick you can add milk to thin a bit but now too very thin . Pour the batter into cupcake holders.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

I decorated my cupcake like spider but you can make mummy garnish too.
Frost the cake with blue or any color frosting and cover the frosted area with chocolate vermicelli sprinklers.
Cut black licorice strings to desired length for leg and insert on sides of cupcakes.
Use two candies / pearls for eyes.

Tips

Decorate cupcakes as you like can be a mummy , spider or boo any way to fit the halloween theme.
You can convert this cupcake in to cake by baking the batter in a cake pan.

Sending to just not the cakes

sending to cooking 4 all seasons

Eggless Sathumaavu/ Health Mix Vanilla Cake

October 10, 2013 By

I have already tried the sathumaavu cake version shared by a non blogger for my event ” Come on – lets cook buddies ” but still wanted to experiment with it and so made this super moist and a soft cake . This cake is little dense as we have used healthy mix / sathumavu in it but they are so so moist and who will say No to a healthy cake . This cake can be frosted or even without frosting it tastes yummm.

Sathumaavu is a health mix powder which can be consumed by any aged people bcoz it is filled with nutrients needed for all ages.This in india are given to growing kids mainly as improves child development and body building . Sathumaavu kanji / porridge is a very very healthy way to have this ingredient . Sathumaavu is made with Ragi, Corn, Parboiled Rice, Wheat,Green gram dal, Spilt gram dal, Almond/Badam,Cashew nuts, Barley, Peanut,Sago, Horse gram -which is made into powder and used for making porridge , seeing the ingredients you can guess how healthy they are . So thats y its is called “Sathu ” means Healthy and “Maavu” means Flour, an health mix pd .

Cake with sathumaavu / health mix is a delicious and a healthy tea time cake or can be a dessert . This I made for my second week of BM under eggless cakes theme .Lets move on to the recipe.

Ingredients

Maida – 1 cup
Sathumaavu/ Health mix – 1/2 cup
Condensed milk – 3/4 cup
Baking pd – 1 tsp
Baking soda – 1/2 tsp
Apple cider Vinegar – 1 tbsp
Milk – 1/2 cup ( extra if needed )
Vanilla extract – 1/2 tsp
Oil – 3 tbsp

Method

Sieve maida, sathu maavu ,baking pd, baking soda in a bowl.
Grease and flour the cake tray and preheat the oven at 350F.
In another bowl add the we ingredients milk, condensed milk, oil, vanilla extract and mix well.
Now slowly fold the flour mixture with the wet ingredients and for a semi liquid batter.
Add extra milk if you feel the batter is very thick only to make it semi liquid .

At last at the apple cider vinegar and fold it in the batter, do not over mix it.
Immediately transfer the prepared batter in the greased cake pan.
Bake this in preheated oven at 350 F for 15 – 20 min till a toothpick inserted in the cake come out clean.
Once the cake is done cool it in the wire rack and turn it upside down in a plate.

If you wish you can frost this cake with some butter cream or enjoy them as is like a tea time cake.

Tips

Adjust the condensed milk as per the sweetness you are looking for.
This cake tastes delicious when served warm but can last for day .
If you don’t have apple cider vinegar you can use Distilled vinegar or lemon juice instead it is just to react with Baking pd and soda so that they fluff nicely.

Madras Masala Paal

October 8, 2013 By

Yesterday it was so raining and was so pleasant, I thought something warm to drink would make it more pleasant so made this Madras spl Masala paal . I have tasted this Milk in saravana bhavan , chennai a decade ago. This is a very healthy and flavorful drink which is most popular in Tamil nadu . So for todays Tamizhar samayal I wanted to make this yummy and delicious drink perfect for rainy days and winter .

Masala paal is a south indian rich and healthy drink which can be had by any aged people . This healthy drink is always served Hot in winters so that the heat of the spices in this milk keeps us warm. I love this delicious drink warm in rainy days !! Lets move on to the authentic drink from Madras aka Chennai :)..

Ingredients

Badam – 8-9 No’s
Cashews- 4-5 No’s
Pistachios – 2-3 No’s
Milk – 2 cups
Pepper pd – a pinch
Cloves – 3 No’s
Cinnamon stick – 1″
Cardamom – 3 No’s
Sugar – 1/4 cup ( adjust to your taste)
Saffron – few strands
Turmeric – a pinch (optional)

Method

Blanch the almonds and remove the skin.
In a blender grind badam, cashew and pistachio with little water into smooth paste and keep it aside.
In a saucepan heat the milk , Once it starts boiling add cinnamon , cloves, cardamom , saffron and lower the flame to simmer.
Now boil the milk in simmer with all these spices till it reduces a bit and becomes a little thick.
Constantly stir the milk as it might burn in the bottom .
After it thickens add the ground nuts paste to the milk and stir them .
Boil it for a while ,till the nuts paste is well combined to the milk.

Switch off the flame and let them cool a bit.
Strain in a glass and serve the warm.

Tips

If you want you can add some chopped nuts to the drink even.
Adjust the sugar level to your taste.

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

Kugelhopf (Savoury Bread)

October 8, 2013 By

So happy to be apart of IFC ( International food challenge) an group evolved by +Saraswathi Tharagaram (author of saras yummy bites ) and +Shobana Sekar (author of Kitchen secrets and snippets ).This Months IFC was been hosted by shobana and we are exploring Alsace – Lorraine region cuisine which is basically inherits partly french and partly German cuisine but they come under French cuisine .

Alsace and Lorraine are separate regions in France’s north-eastern corner, and share borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland But they differ in language , tradition and atmosphere.Alsatian cuisine, somehow based on Germanic culinary traditions, is marked by the use of pork in various forms. Traditional dishes include baeckeoffe, flammekueche, choucroute, quiche lorraine and fleischnacka. Southern Alsace, also called the Sundgau, is characterized by carpe frite (that also exists in Yidish tradition).

Ingredients

For dough
All purpose flour / Maida 1 1/2 cup
Instant yeast 1 tsp
Warm milk – 6 tbsp
Curd – 2 tsp (Whisk it till smooth and should be at room temp)
salted Butter 2 1/2 tbsp
Oil 1 tbsp
Sugar 1 tbsp

For Filling
Cheddar cheese – 3 tbsp
1 medium size Onion (chopped)
1 small zucchini (cut into cubes)
1 tomato ( deseeded and cut into cube)
salt to taste
Oil as needed
Mixed Herbs or Thyme – 1 tsp

Method

To prepare the dough

In bowl add 1 cup flour, salt , sugar, yeast and the softened butter and mix well
Mix them well till they resemble crumbly.
Now add warm milk , curd to the dough and Mix them well , it will form a sticky dough.
Now add oil and combine them well.

Add the remaining 1/2 cup flour and Mix well with the dough.
Knead the dough for 4-5 minutes with your hand.
Apply some oil to the dough and pan.
Cover and keep the dough in a warm place till it doubles in size , it takes about 1- 2 hours .

To prepare the filling

In a pan heat a tsp of oil and saute the onion with a pinch of salt until they are translucent.
Remove them from the flame and transfer them to a bowl .
Noe saute the tomatoes in the same pan for few secs and then transfer to the bowl
Now saute the zucchini with a pinch salt until they are half done .
Transfer all the sauteed veggies in a bowl and add pepper pd, salt if needed , cheese, herbs.
Mix them well and keep it aside.