Recipes

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

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

August 28, 2013 By

Salads are My all time fav and i skip lunch and have salads instead some times . Today am here with an delicious salad recipe to share which have become mine and H’s fav salad . I have always loved the flavors in Greek style dishes! So this salad has all the flavour of Mediterranean incorporated to which i have made some change .This recipe is highly nutritious as it makes a great side dish, or quick and healthy snack by itself..It can also be made as an wonderful salad topper that pairs perfect with a grilled foods .. Thank so much to +Shobha Keshwani ji of Food Mazza to bring this to potluck party this month 🙂 We enjoyed this fresh salad completely .

Ingredients

For Salad

Chickpeas 1 cup (boiled)
Tomatoes 1 (diced) ( I have used cherry tomatoes)
Onion 1 chopped into small pieces
Cilatro / Parsley …. handful (chopped ) you may substitute it with coriander
Paneer – 2 tbsp (cut in to small pieces)

For the dressing

Olive oil 1 tbsp
Lemon juice or vinegar .. 1 tbsp ( I have used White Vinegar )
Garlic 1 cloves (crushed)
Hung curd / thick yogurt … 1 tbsp
Black pepper – For seasoning (to taste)
Salt to taste
Cumin pd – 1 tsp

Method

Mix all the salad ingredients in a bowl.
In another bowl combine together the dressing ingredients.
Pour the dressing in the salad ingredients and toss them well with the help of fork and Spoon till well combined.
Refrigerate and serve it chilled.

Tips

You can use Tofu/ feta cheese instead of paneer. The original recipes call for feta cheese but i made them with paneer.
You can also add parsley to the recipe for extra flavour .
This salad taste more delicious when served chilled.
If you don’t find cherry tomato you can chop the whole tomato and add to the salad.

Thanks to shobha ji to bring this delicious salad this Month .

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Lychee Lemonade

August 23, 2013 By

Lychee is an tropical fruit from china which is one of our fav fruit now . This was the first time My H picked some lychee from grocery . My h was so gud to pick them and tell me to make some innovative dish. Then i thought omg he is so confident that i will surely make use of them in a yummy manner 😛 so to keep up his confidence level i made a delicious drink.

The inside of a lychee is a clear, pinkish-white color. .. The outside of the fruit is a hard spiky shell. Its seed is brown or black some times in color and very hard. The seeds are poisonous and should not be eaten. The fruit is rare because dragon fruit climbs the bough on lychee plants, causing them to die. The lychee has a sweet taste, and may be frozen, made into sauces, jam, puree, or preserves. When frozen, the lychee tastes similar to sorbet. Today i made a chilled lemonade prefect for hot days isn’t it .. Lets move on to this delicious drink recipe ..

Ingredients

Lychee – 12 nos
Sugar – 2 tbsp (adjust to your taste)
Water – 2 cups
Mint leaves – 1-2 nos (optional)
Lemon juice – Squeezed from one Medium size Lemon
Ice cubes – few

Method

First remove the pink shell from the lychee and cut them to remove the inner seed in them.
In a blender put the lychee flesh, lemon juice, water, sugar , mint leaves and blend them till the mixture lets well combined.
Now strain the juice to remove the fibrous part and get a smooth drink in a glass.
Serve them chilled with lots of ice cubes .

Tips

You can also add honey instead of sugar which will make them more nutritious and healthy.

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Rajasthani Ghevar – Raksha Bandhan spl

August 21, 2013 By

On this special occasion am so happy to share this traditional rajasthani ghevar .The festival is marked by the tying of a rakhi, or holy thread, which comes in many colors and fancy designs, by the sister on the wrist of her brother. The brother in return offers a gift to his sister. The brother usually presents his sister with an envelope filled with money, though other presents such as sarees and clothing can be given. The brother and sister traditionally feed one another sweets. These sweets include anything from Jalebi, Kaju Katli, Burfi and the most traditional rajasthani ghevar. Raksha Bandhan is celebrated on shravan purnima. I know all remember this Ghevar is a popular post in my Blog as I challenged Ghevar for SNC. Am here with another ghevar post today 🙂

Ghevars are usually and traditionally large in size approx. 200 mm. or 250 mm. (8″ or 10″) squares or rounds and are either sweetened with syrup or served topped with sweet rabdi (i.e. thickened milk). Lakshmi Mishtaan Bhandar in Jaipur is famous for their “melt in the mouth” Paneer ghevars and many other sweet shops in Rajasthan also specialise in the same. We can find them all over India in the occassion of raksha bandhan .Ghevars are earmarked as a traditional dish for some special rituals and festivals. They are generally prepared in January for Makar Sankranti ( or you call them pongal), in March-April for Gangaur and in July-August for the Teej festival ( in some parts they celebrate karwa choth ) . But you can enjoy these at any time of the year by just following the recipe given below. And of course ghevar is more prepared for rakhi and in our family we take ghevar as sweet for our brothers . As my bro likes them a lot i am dedicating this traditional and crispy ghevar’s as my virtual treat for him 🙂

Ingredients

Maida – 1 cup
Ice cold Water – 1 cup
Chilled Milk – 1/4 cup
Clarified Butter/ Ghee – 1/4 cup
Ice cubes – 6-7
saffron stands few
ghee / Olive oil for frying ( I used cooking Olive oil )
Almonds and Pistachios (for garnish)
Rose essence or kewra essence few drops
Cardamom pd – 1 pinch (optional)

For sugar syrup

Sugar – 2 cup
Water – 1 cup
Cardamom pd – a pinch
Rose / kewra essence – few drops

Method

For the sugar syrup

Combine the sugar and water in a pan and simmer till it reaches a 1 string consistency.
Put a drop of sugar syrup on your thumb and touch drop with forefinger. When you pull both the fingers apart, a single thread of syrup should form without breaking.
Add rose/kewra essence and also cardamom once the sugar attains the consistency.
Remove from the heat and keep warm.

For Ghevar

In a bowl first take the ghee and 4 -5 ice cubes
In a large round bowl, take solidified ghee with some ice cubes and churn/whisk it till it turns white and smooth. Remove the ice cubes.
Soak saffron in 1 tablespoon of milk. Add maida, then water and then milk to the mixture in turns little by little .Do not drop all the ingredients in a go. Adding saffron to the mixture will make it light yellow in color, you can also make them plain white too.
Avoid any lump in the mixture.Once lumps are formed it will become difficult to break the lumps
Heat ghee in a deep pan. Slowly pour the above mixture into the center of pan.
As soon as the batter touches the hot ghee, bubbles start to appear. Be sure that the ghee bubbles do not start jumping out of the vessel. If you see that the bubbles are getting high enough, stop pouring for a while, and continue later.
After the first spoon or after pouring , wait for a few seconds till the bubbles settle, and then pour the second spoonful . Repeat this for 3-4 times if you want to increase the size and thickness of your ghevar I poured only 2 ladle full to make mini ghevar . This actually depends on the size of the vessel; the bigger the size, more are the number of ladle or the number of times you have to pour the batter required.
If the ghee or oil is not hot enough, the batter will start sticking to the bottom, so keep the flame on medium to high depending on the temperature required.
When you pour in the batter, you’ll see that the batter starts scattering and collects near the sides in a circular fashion. As you keep increasing the batter, the disc starts taking its correct shape. In the meanwhile, if the batter sticks in the middle after pouring, use a skewer to detach that. Keep on increasing the center space by using that skewer after the batter has settled. After 2-3 pourings this is completely you choice on how thick enough you want your ghevar be i tried 3 – 5 ladles .
Once all the mixture is poured into the pan, lower down the heat to medium high. Let it cook till light brown.
Take it out and keep it on paper towel or a plate , Repeat this for all the batter left and stack the ghevars one by one on top . so that excess ghee will drain out.
After all oil get drained out , dip it in sugar syrup and remove it .Garnish it with dry fruits and cardamom powder.

Tips

Dry ghevar’s without syrup can easily be stored for 15 days. When you want to have them, dip them in the hot syrup an hour back and serve then.
While making the batter, if lumps form, simply use a blender/mixer for getting the smooth consistency. Be careful not to blend it for a long time else the ghee would separate and curdle the mixture; just 1 pulse of mixing is enough to break the lumps.
Using ice cubes while whisking the ghee saves time and the ghee creams or smoothens faster.
Always remember the batter should be ice cold and the oil should be hot while frying.
We are using ice cold water and milk to keep the batter emulsions free and the process of whisking takes less time .
If you find the batter sticking to the bottom , do not panic, take a break, put the flame on high, and try after 1 minute.
Pour the batter in very thin streams, almost like pouring drops.
Keep the height for pouring at its max.
Do not overdo pouring. Begin with 1-2 spoons and gradually increase if you go successful.
After topping them with hot syrup, keep them for some time; so that the ghevar is nice soaked.
You can also garnish the Ghevar with fresh khoya and top them with thick rabdi .

Wish you a happy Raksha bandhan to all my readers !! 🙂

For Other variations and methods with step wise clicks to Make ghevar Click here

Eggless Butterless Chocolate Cake (Garnished with fresh Berries)

August 19, 2013 By

Today’s recipe is filled with chocolaty gudness and this was the surprise cake i made for my H for his b’day 🙂 .. He loved this cake so much as it was ” Eggless butterless” and above all i decorated them with fresh fruits made them look more inviting. H was so impressed and loved this surprise cake . This is an delicious and simple eggless and butterless cake which was so so soft and moist . This cake is sure an yummy and tasty delight prefect for b’day’s as people now days our so diet conscious. This will make them eat 2 pieces instead of one as they are butter less 🙂 Lets Move on to the recipe ..

Ingredients

All-purpose flour / maida – 2 cups
Sugar – 3/4 cups (1 cup if you are not using frosting)
Cocoa powder – 1/2 cup (you can decrease the quantity if you want)
Vegetable oil/ Olive oil – 1/2 cup (i used cooking olive oil)
Water – 1 cup
Milk – 1/2 cup (at room temperature)
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Baking Soda – 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Vanilla essence / extract – 1 tsp
Salt – a pinch

Method

Pre-heat the oven at 350 F (180 C )
Grease a cake pan with some butter or ghee and dust some flour in the pan . This works best and avoids sticking of cake in the pan.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
Add sugar and mix together.
Next, add oil, water, milk and vanilla and mix thoroughly, Mixing the batter in one direction.
At last mix in lemon juice and mix till they are combined . Do not over mix them.
Pour into greased cake pan and bake in a pre-heated oven for about 45 mins or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool them completely on a wire rack and frost them with butter cream frosting
I decorated my cake with fresh strawberries, rasberries and sprinklers :). I also drizzled some chocolate sauce on each slice while serving.

Tips

You can decorate these cake as you wish i decorated mine with berries.
You can also use this cake vegan by adding almond milk or soy milk instead of whole milk.
I found that making cakes with oil makes them stay longer than 1 one day .
Store the cake in an air tight container you an refrigerator or keep them at room temperature . It tastes fresh the next day too.
After transferring the batter in the cake pan do not let is stand bake them ASAP.

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Tomato Potato Channa Pulao

August 18, 2013 By

If you don’t want to spend much time in kitchen and enjoy your weekends , spend all the time with your family this is an delicious lunch time Rice variety which can be made in minutes and healthy too. This is an delicious combo of tomato , potato and channa , A very healthy combo even which i made for +Vardhini Koushik (Author of cooks joy ) from her Blog click here for her virtual b’day treat 🙂 . Thanks to vardhini for sharing this delicious and quick rice variety which my h loved a lot :). This was an yummy and so healthy combo which we would make again and again. Lets Move on to the recipe ..

Ingredients

1 cup cooked channa (garbanzo / chickpeas)
11/2 cups basmati rice
3 cups water (For cooking rice)
1 tbsp oil
1 bay leaf
1-2 nos Cloves
1/2 inch piece Cinnamon
2-3 pods Cardamom
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 medium onion chopped
3 green chillies (adjust to your taste)
3 tomatoes
2 small potatoes (boiled & cut in to cubes )
1/2 tsp Coriander pd
1/2 tsp chilly powder/sambar powder( i used sambhar pd u can use both if you like spicy )
1/2 tsp Cumin pd
Pinch of turmeric
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Salt to taste

Method

Wash the rice and soak for 30 minutes. I made the rice in rice cooker so added salt,cloves, bay leaf ,cardamom and cinnamon in the rice while cooking (for 11/2 cup rice add 3 cups of water in rice cooker ).
Heat oil in wok add the onions ,ginger garlic paste and green chillies. Saute until onions are translucent.
Then add the tomatoes and cook them till they turn mushy.
Add salt, turmeric , sambhar pd, cumin pd and chilly powder , coriander pd and saute till the sides leave out some oil.
Add the Boiled potatoes and channa (garbanzo beans) give them a nice mix till the masala’s coat them well. Then add the cooked rice and stir them well in low flame.
Tomato potato channa Rice is done. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Very healthy quick rice is ready to serve with raita . I served this with Maa inji pachadi.

Tips

You can Cook and freeze garbanzo beans so that it can be handy when you nead them. but if you make fresh thats even more better.
Fresh ginger and garlic can also be added instead of ginger garlic paste.

Thanks for sharing this delicious rice variety +Vardhini Koushik 🙂 Loved this yummy rice a lot 🙂

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Pani Puri Bonda

August 17, 2013 By

I tried this delicious and yummy Pani puri bonda some days ago and was drafting it for so long. This was an one unique bonda which i had tried till now and we fall in love with it . I had some extra store bought puri’s lying in my pantry and thought of making bonda instead of usual pani puri with these cruchy puri and they turned out so so yummy and my h just loved it and gave me lots of compliments . These Bonda as made with puries gives the crunchy touch and the fillings makes a good combo 🙂 Lets move on to the recipe with out further ado.

Ingredients

For Filling

6 Puri’s (pani puri puri’s)
1/2 cup Boiled corn
1/4 cup Tomato sauce
1 medium Potato (boiled)
1 /4 tsp Onion
1/4 cup Coriander (chopped)
1/4 tsp Turmeric pd
1/2 tsp Red chilli pd
1 tsp Chilli sauce
1/4 tsp Chaat masala
salt to taste

For Batter

1 cup Besan
1 tbsp Rice flour
1/2 tsp Red chilli pd
1/4 tsp Turmeric pd
salt to taste

Method

In a bowl add cooked corn, onion, mashed potato ,red chilli pd, turmeric pd, chaat masala, salt and coriander leaves. Mix them well.
Make a hole on top of the puri.
Fill half the puri with corn potato filling then add tomato sauce , chilli sauce on top and again cover them with little filling and seal the hole in the puri with the filling.
In another bowl add besan, rice flour, salt, red chilli pd , turmeric pd and salt . Mix well with required amount of water to make a thick batter (like a bhaji/ fritters batter we make).
Heat oil in a kadai for deep frying . Dip the filled puri’s in the gram flour batter and they fry them in oil till golden brown .
Enjoy these Hot with any chutney or sauce !!

Tips

Seal the puri well with the filling so that the filling doesn’t separate while frying.
The Bonda batter should not be too thick nor too thin.
The spices and sauces can be added depending on each one’s taste .
You can also make the filling with raw banana skipping potatoes if you wish.
Don’t make it cold they taste yummy when they are hot or warm.

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Chocolate Asian Marble Bread (Roux / Tangzhong method)

August 17, 2013 By

I was so happy to try this fancy bread when i saw this first time at simple recipes, +Priya R was the one who gave me this link to see this fancy bread and i wanted to bake them badly 🙂 . So HBC gave us this wonderful chance for us to try and learn many baking stuffs. I included this fancy marble bread as one of the challenge . This bread is made with roux method or tangzhong method Which is popularly used method for japanese breads . This water roux is nothing but bread flour and water which is boiled and after it ripples it form a thick paste . This roux makes the bread so so soft . This was the first bread i tried using this method . This bread can had with any spread , jam so that it taste more better . I was not happy with pattern though , But the bread turned out very moist and soft.

Recipe Source : Simple recipes

Ingredients

Water roux:

1/3 cup bread flour
1 cup water

Other ingredients

2 ½ cups bread flour
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons milk powder
Water (As needed to knead the chocolate dough)
1 ½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons yeast
2 tablespoons butter

Method:

Water roux:

In a small pan, mix all the ingredients of water roux, place in a low heat and stir constantly, cook until ripples form.
Set aside to cool by covering with a plastic film/ cling wrap to avoid the top from drying.
You can store this water roux covered for 2 days in fridge.

Main Dough:

In the bowl, add the water roux, and all the other ingredients, except for the butter, water and cocoa powder.
knead it until it forms soft dough. Add the butter and knead until the butter incorporates into the dough.
Divide the dough in approximately 2/3 and 1/3 portions. Remove the small portion and set aside by covering with a plastic/cling film.
Knead the bigger portion until the dough is smooth and elastic. Set aside in a bowl by covering the dough with a plastic/cling film.
Take back the small portion and knead it again and add cocoa powder and water as needed and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Cover the chocolate dough and set aside in a bowl by covering with a plastic/cling film.
Let both dough proof until the dough doubles to its original size.
Knock back both dough and let it rest for 5 minutes on the counter, cover both dough.
Flatten the chocolate dough into a rectangle shape of approximately 6 x 9 inches and the white dough to 12 x 6 inches. Layer the chocolate rectangle in between the white rectangle.
Flatten the rectangle and cut in 2 equal portions. Layer one piece on top of the other and flatten again. Repeat this procedure a couple of times.
Cut the flatten dough into 3 equal pieces. Then again cut into 3 equal strips. Gently roll the strips and place 3 together and make a braid. Place the braided bread in the tins. Cover the tins with plastic film and let them rise in a warm place until the dough has almost tripled its original size.
Meanwhile, preheat oven at 350 F. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter. Remove from the tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Tips :

After making the water roux cover and cool them completely before adding to the flour to make the dough.
You can also use All purpose flour or maida to make this bread.
Kneading the properly is very much required to get the right texture of bread.
While baking to check the dough whether it is done just knock the bread and it should give a hallow sound and the crust should have turned light brown from sides.
Sit the bread on a wire rack for about 1 hour before making slices , that’s when you will be able get clean slices.
If you want you can skip the chocolate part as some may not like the chocolate added in breads and as the don’t have the sweeter taste. Just blind fold the dough and keep on the loaf pan for 2nd proving .

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Eggless Ragi chocolate cupcakes

August 16, 2013 By

Made these delicious and healthy cupcakes for +Priya Suresh aks virtual b’day party from her Ragi chocolate muffins which converted to eggless and made these delicious and moist cupcakes. Thanks to priya aks for sharing such healthy and delicious recipes. When i was searching for recipes which i can make for her b’day these muffins captured my eyes and i wanted to try them so i made them eggless and my h loved this healthy version 🙂 Lets Move on to the recipe.

Ingredients

3/4 cup Ragi flour
1/4 cup All purpose flour
3 tbsp Cocoa powder
1/4 cup Butter
2 tbsp Oil
1/2 cup Milk ( adjust this more or less according to consitency needed)
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 cup Condensed milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla essence
pinch of salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 F, grease the muffin pan with butter or line with paper liners.
Sieve together the ragi flour,all purpose flour,cocoa powder,baking powder,baking soda and salt and keep aside.
Beat together condensed milk ,butter and oil, add the milk and beat well.
Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and form a semi liquid consistency of batter.
Line a muffin pan and fill the muffin/ cupcake pan with the batter.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Cool the completely on a wire rack and then frost the with any frosting would like butter cream would be great.

Tips

If you feel the batter is too very thick you can add more milk till you acquire the consistency you want.
You can also make these with sugar but the texture is better if you use condensed milk.

Thanks to priya aks for sharing this delicious muffins and eggless version was a great hit in my home 🙂

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Fresh Strawberry Chocolate Stuffed Pull Apart Bread/Monkey bread

August 13, 2013 By

I have been in love with these pull apart breads as this was the first time i made breads they where really yummy and i love to add my touch in any recipe and so tried my hands with these delicious bread . You all would have seen my rainbow bread , I had some left over dough so thinking of what to do with the dough i got an idea of turning them in to sweet pull apart bread and this recipe was the result 🙂 So i had 2 recipes already to challenge for my HBC group. Am this month’s Host and glad that all loved this pull apart breads . This is my second bread for HBC challenge .. Lets Move on to the recipe ..

Ingredients

Bread dough ( i used the leftover bread dough from My rainbow bread – for dough recipe click here )
Note : you can also use dinner roll to make this pull apart
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup (approx) chocolate chips ( i used milk chocolate chips)

Method

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray fluted tube cake pan/ loaf pan/ bunt pan with cooking spray.Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface. Divide dough into 24 pieces; roll each piece into a ball.
In each divided roll stuff some chocolate chipes and seal them nicely so that the chocolate don’t come out
In small bowl, stir together brown sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon.
Dip 10 balls of dough into 1/2 cup melted butter, tapping off excess; roll in brown sugar-cinnamon mixture. Place coated balls in single layer to cover bottom of pan.
Spoon half of the strawberries over layer of dough.
Dip 10 more balls of dough into butter and coat with brown sugar-cinnamon mixture; arrange in single layer over strawberries.
Top with remaining strawberries. Dip remaining balls of dough into butter and coat with brown sugar-cinnamon mixture; arrange in layer over strawberries.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.
Remove bread from oven; cool in pan on cooling rack 5 minutes. Place serving plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. Remove the pan. enjoy these pull apart/ monkey bread warm 🙂

Tips

Monkey bread is best served the day it’s made, but if you want to store it and serve it another day, keep it covered, in the refrigerator for up to two days.
To reheat, place in 200°F oven until thoroughly heated.

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Low – Fat Mango Lassi

August 11, 2013 By

An delicious summer drink makes our summer more refreshing . Yes am here with an yummy cool drink today which is a best for summer . Lassi flavored with mango and the main part of this drink is its low fat isn’t sound cool . Lassi is an important part in punjabi cusine as they serve lassi after every meal in a tall glass. But since now a days we are so much counting oure calories i thought of making them low fat way and they tasted really yummy and refreshing 🙂 . Lets move on to this yummy and healthy Low fat mango lassi recipe ..

Ingredients

3 ripe, sweet mangoes (medium size- remove the flesh)
1 1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek Yogurt or Non fat plain yogurt
2 tablespoons honey (adjust to you taste)
Ice cubes ( as you wish)

Method