Kaleji Do Pyaaza (Chicken Liver and onion curry)

This dish is for those who like chicken livers and/or gizzards. You can make it using any of the chicken gizzards and even throw in chicken pieces with bone if you'd like using the same recipe. Not everyone likes the texture or flavor of chicken livers but it is a great source of iron and while making chicken curry or biryani, adding puréed gizzards or chicken liver to the curry base gives the dish a special and appealing flavor and is the secret of a lot of Muslim meat dishes served in restaurants. 

Ingredients: chicken livers, onions (chopped into petal like long pieces), tomato paste/sauce/purée, red chili powder, garam masala, garlic, ginger, yogurt, cilantro.

The Masala: Garam masala can be any meat masala off the shelf (Shaan or Badshah are my personal favorites) but I make mine fresh by grinding cloves, badi elaichi, cinnamon, coriander seeds, desiccated coconut, black pepper, star anise in a coffee grinder. The aroma of the masala should be predominantly of the cinnamon, cloves and pepper.

• In a wide shallow pan or wok, heat oiled add thick chopped onions. Onions should be sliced into petal like shapes. 
• When onions become translucent but not brown or too soft, add just enough tomato paste to coat the onions, grated garlic and ginger.
• Add chopped chicken liver and stir it well. Add garam masala, red chili powder and mix.
• Beat yogurt in a cup until it's smooth and has no lumps. Add the beaten yogurt to the pan and let simmer till liver is cooked and oil separates. Don't cover to cook. The livers tend to disintegrate a little and it's ok as that makes up the part of the curry. 
• Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve with hot rotis or rice. Enjoy! 

Pan fried/ Steamed Asian Dumplings

Ingredients:

For wrapper: 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, rice flour for dusting, salt and sugar to taste, vinegar, lukewarm water.

For filling: chicken or tofu or paneer, spring onions (scallions), garlic, ginger, white pepper, salt, vinegar, oil. My stuffing is bland to make it more dimsum or Asian flavored but you can add spicy sauces, Maggie soup taste cubes or other flavors to suit your tastes. I have made Thai fillings with Thai curry paste added to the filling.

Procedure to make wrapper: mix the flour with your fingers or a fork, adding warm water sparingly. With your fingers try and make granules out of the flour as it starts to moisten. Then add salt, sugar and vinegar and make a firm but moist dough like that for rotis or tortillas. Roll the dough out into palm sized circular wrappers using rice flour if needed to dust and prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin. This will be the wrapper. These wrapper can be stored with Saran Wrap or butter paper between them in the fridge for a few days.

Procedure to make filling: In a shallow wok, add oil, chopped scallions, either minced chicken, paneer or diced tofu. You can substitute any of these with other meat, shrimp or crunchy veggies that will not soften the dough from inside--I have tried corn, spinach, broccoli, peas and carrots etc and it worked great. Mix the ingredients with the sauce of your choice and add salt, sugar and vinegar to the mix. Heat on a mild flame and with a fork mash your filling up a little. Make sure the filling is on the dry side and so don't use water. Pre-boil and drain the veggie or meat beforehand to keep it dry. You can add either white pepper or red chili to spice this up.

Procedure to make dumpling: On one half of the circular wrapper, place filling. Do not overfill, as it will burst open the dumpling. Fold the other hemisphere over the filling and with a bit of water seal the edges into a half-moon. Apply slight pressure on the top of the dumpling to seal it. Brush it with oil. After the dumplings are made, put them in a container that fits into your pressure cooker. The pressure cooker should contain water to steam the dumplings (remove the stopper, also called "whistle" from the cooker while steaming and let the heat be at medium max such that you see a steady stream of steam escaping from the stopper opening). Let the water from the cooker steam the dumplings for about 15-20 minutes. The steamed dumplings are ready to be eaten with a sauce. They can also be pan fried to make the outer area crisp. The steamed dumplings can be frozen and pan fried as an when needed.

Dipping sauce: I make a dipping sauce by grinding tomato sauce, garlic, vinegar, salt and red chili powder and thickening it over a shallow wide pan with addition of sugar. Pour this sauce into a glass bottle, leave open until it is at room temperature and then refrigerate to store.

Get Set Dosa! (An instant dosa batter)

Make this easy instant dosa batter using following ingredients instead of making the fermented batter that needs to be ground and takes overnight soaking of lentils used. 

4 cups idli rice flour (I have used just normal rice flour and that works ok too)
2 cups urad flour
1 cup soaked soft poha that has been mashed up
1/2 cup urad daal roasted and ground in a coffee grinder for the flavor
1/2 cup of rava
2 table spoons of salt
2-3 teaspoons of baking soda
2-3 big cups of yogurt
1 teaspoon of lime juice
Water as needed

Mix all above ingredients, adding water slowly while folding in all the flours evenly and mashing up the poha so that it is not lumpy when incorporated into the batter
Add water to make smooth batter consistency. As you mix the batter you should see the little bubbles of aeration from the baking soda.
Leave aside for about 10-15 minutes.
Heat a pan, use oil spray to grease evenly or oil that's spread out to coat the pan
Add the batter and tilt the pan around to spread the batter evenly
You can make the dosa as thick or thin as you want--I make thicker doses called poley or set dosa in some parts of the south.
If the dosa is sticking, adding a handful of rava in the batter, mix it for the next dosa or wait longer to flip it
Use medium heat to make the dosas

Serve with coconut or cilantro chutney (I make a quick chutney ground well in the blender with grated coconut, green chili, coriander/ cilantro leave, salt and sugar which is then given tadka with mustard seeds, red bedgi mirchi and urad daal).

Enjoy!

Baked Vegetables

Ok...first things first this one is not to be even thought of if you are on a diet :)
But its super-duper yummy
I have taken this from my mom's blog, but just wanted to share it here.

Ingredients:

1. Potatoes-  4 to 5 (Boil, peel & mash well)
2. Onion- 1 (chopped finely)
3. Green peas- 1 cup(Boil & mash lightly) 
4. Paneer- 1 cup(grated)
5. Green chillies- 3 nos (finely chop)
6. Coriander leaves- 1/2 cup(finely chop)
7. Cheese- 4 to 5 cubes.(grate it)
8. Butter- 2 tsp
9. Curd(Thick &creamy)-1/2 cup.
10. Cream- 1/2 cup
11. Lemon juice-1 tbsp.
12. Salt- to taste

Method:

• Take a oven-safe container(borosil type). Grease the container with butter.
• Mix the mashed potatoes, little coriander, little chopped green chilies and some salt
• Spread a layer of this mashed potatoes.
• Mix the mashed peas, little coriander, little chopped green chilies, little lemon juice and some salt.
• Spread a layer of this mashed peas above the potatoes.
• Mix the grated paneer, chopped onions, little chopped chilies and some salt.
• Spread this above the peas layer.
• In a bowl mix an equal layer of cream and curd.
• Spread this above the paneer layer.
• Add a layer of grated cheese above this.
• Bake it till its done.

Tip: An easy way to mash potatoes is to grate it in a medium size sieve. And when mash it lightly.You will never have lumps.I do that even for aloo paranthas.

Arbi Sabzi

Ingredients:

(Take a small katori as the 'cup' measurement)

1. Arbi- 1 kg
2. Besan - 1 cup
3. Rice flour - 1 cup
4. Chilly powder - 1 tbs
5. Haldi powder - 1tsp
6. Dhania powder - 1/2tbsp
7. Garam masala - 1 tbsp
8. Amchur powder - 1/2 tbsp
9. Salt - to taste

For tempering:

1. Oil - as per your judgement(this needs some generous amount)
2. Jeera - 1 tbsp
3. Hing - A pinch

Method:

• Mix all these ingredients from 2 to 9 in a big bowl and keep it aside( taste a little if any thing is less add to your taste)
• Wash arbi well. 
• Pressure cook Arbi with very very little water. (Tip: Keep water outside in the cooker and not directly in the vessel containing arbi)
• Drain the water cool it, peel the skin, spread it on a plate & let it dry.
• Then add this into that bowl of masalas and toss all the arbi in such a way that eachpeice gets an even coating of the masala.
• Then keep a kadai on fire, add the oil, let in heat. Add jeera and hing.
• Add all the arbi slowly, allow it roast a little. 
• When each gets brown coating and become crispy, switch off the gas(no need to deep fry).

Banana Bread

On a Monday afternoon, when your laptop decides to crash, and you hate working on standby machines, blogging is the only thing that comes to my mind (since my hooligans group is sleeping or busy)


This is what i saw on the Master chef Class by Matt Preston's . Haven't tried it yet...so girls, please go ahead ,bake it and let me know how it was..

Ingredients
3 over ripe bananas well mashed
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Process

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Mix the melted butter and the mashed bananas in a large bowl. Add the brown sugar, egg and vanilla sugar. Keep aside. Sift the baking soda, salt and flour (dry ingredients). Add the dry ingredients in batches to the wet mixture and mix well for about 5 minutes. Pour the batter into a greased 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool and slice to serve or store.

Use ashmita's dressing toppings while serving...Vanilla Icecream on top of a slice would be a great idea too...

Paneer Makhanwala

Ingredients

250 gms Paneer
200 gms Fresh Cream (Malai)
200 gms Tomato Puree (Tamatar Ka Raas)
2-3 tblsp Butter
2 tblsp dried Fenugreek Leaves (Methi Ke Patta)
1/2 tsp Red chilli (Lal Mirchi) Powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala Powder
2-3 Green chilli (Hari mirch)
As per taste Salt (Namak)

Method

• Melt the butter in a pan, add slit green chillies, tomato puree, kasuri methi, salt, red chilli powder and simmer for 4-5 minutes.
• Add the cream and garam masala powder and cook further for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the paneer pieces and cook for a minute.
• Serve hot garnished with coriander. Tastes best with butter roti.

Chholey Palak

Ingredients: cooked canned or frozen spinach, chholey (garbanzo beans), cilantro, tomato paste, onions finely chopped, garlic and ginger grated, badshah punjabi chholey masala, dhania powder, red chili powder, fennel (saunf) powder, turmeric, lime.

If you are using raw spinach and raw, soaked chholey, use a pressure cooker. Following recipe is for using cooked spinach and canned chholey.

Process:

• Heat oil in a wide pan, add heeng, onions. After onions become translucent, add grated garlic and ginger. Add tomato paste and one cup of chopped canned or frozen spinach. Add chopped cilantro. 
• Let this mix cook. Add fennel powder as this compliments the taste of spinach. 
• Once oil starts separating and spinach seems to be well cooked, add chholey and stir. 
• Add the dry spices--masala, red chili powder, dhania powder and turmeric. Stir and cook without lid till chholey are tender and cooked. 
• Add masala and additional garlic as per taste. Add salt and sugar. Add water. Cook for about 10-15 minutes till curry thickens. 
• Serve with a slice of lime and either hot roti or rice. This dish can also be eaten with just some chopped onions and cilantro. 

Enjoy! 

Dassera-Vijayadashmi Special: Microwave Sheera

Ingredients: coarse sooji (rava), ghee, milk, saffron, cardamom powder, crushed almonds, water, golden raisins.

Process: 

• Before starting, soak saffron in a table spoon of cold milk. It should turn yellow in a few minutes. 
• In any microwaveable container, add rava and a little bit of ghee. The rava should be a fourth of the depth of the container or less. 
• Microwave for 1.5-2 mins. Stir to mix in ghee. The rava should now be golden or pearl colored (see picture). 
• Add the saffron milk, water to about half the depth of the container, cardamom powder, raisins, crushed almonds and stick into microwave for about 4-5 minutes. Remove and stir. 
• At this point you can tell how close the rava is to being cooked. Add some more water, salt (yes salt! It brings out the flavors nicely) and sugar as per taste and mix. Now microwave again with a slightly uncovered lid on. 
• After the sheera is ready, I also add a banana. Sometimes instead of sugar, I add sugar substitute per serving. 

Happy Dassera 2013! 🙏

High Five Macaroons

Yes girls... High Five... because these macaroons don't have flour or butter... and they are ready in less than 30 mins !! Lets begin :) 

3 egg whites

1 cup almonds

2 cups powdered sugar or sugar substitute

A pinch salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup shredded or finely chopped coconut (optional)

If you have the time use blanched almonds just so they can be ground easily (blanched as in -  pour boiling water on the almonds and drain the water in a minute). Now take half the sugar (1 cup) and almonds and grind them together in a food processor. Keep them aside. 

Next take the egg whites, vanilla , salt and beat them till soft peaks form. See the below picture for reference.

Now take the rest of the sugar and add it to the egg mix slowly one tablespoon at a time. Add the almond / sugar mix to this batter 1/2 cup at a time. DoNOT use an electric blender anymore (if you have been using one till now). This would be a disaster.. Just use a plain spatula or a spoon and very slowly fold the almond / sugar powder into the egg white mix. You know you are going the right direction if it looks like something like this.... 

Keep folding till they are completely inseparable :) like our Hooligans' group ! (wink)

Transfer this mixture into a large pastry bag and create 1 inch moulds on a pastry sheet OR Wait... I just promised this would take less than 30 mins... oopsie!! lets skip the pastry bag and instead take an ice -cream scoop and do the same thing on the pastry sheet. Look below.

Sprinkle coconut (shredded or chopped) on these moulds or not !! remember I said they were optional at the beginning.

Bake in a preheated oven (375 F / 190C) about 10 minutes or just until set (cookies shouldn't crack). They should look like this .... and you know you are ready to pull them out of the oven.

 Ah., they have cracked a bit ... I'm not good at this myself :-(

They can be served when they cool down. You could create a sandwich by combining 2 macaroons with whipped cream stuffed in between... or the dessert topping from the previous post  or some berry jam... or just plain macaroons .... 

This is what I did

Enjoy!

Thai curry fried rice

Ingredients: long grain basmati rice, lots of crunchy veggies like onions, green peppers, red peppers, baby corn, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, peas, green beans, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms. Canned and frozen veggies are what I use. Essentially any veggies you have that don't need water to be fully cooked. Thai red curry sauce, coconut milk, chili garlic sauce (can be made at home by mixing red chillies, garlic, vinegar and a dash of tomato paste), ginger, basil leaves, oil.

Process:

Chop veggies into big long pieces. I keep baby corn whole.
In a wide wok, add oil. Add onions to the hot oil. Before onions turn soft, add all other veggies (canned ones do not need to be cooked prior to addition). Add only a teaspoon of coconut milk for flavor! You can totally make this without the coconut milk. Add basil leaves, grated ginger and let simmer.
Stir in sauces and salt. At this point you can add any protein: tofu, chicken, shrimp etc. which has been precooked. Stir into sauce.
Cook long grain rice.
In a big bowl stir in sautéed veggies with rice. Add salt, sugar or sauce to taste. Stir in lime juice.
Serve hot.

Suggestions: I have made this recipe with other ingredients like peanuts, cashews, paneer etc. and essentially added whatever veggies I had available. Sometimes you can add egg whites to the oil during the sautéing of the onions instead of adding meat protein. Sometimes I make just the stir fry and eat it with or without rice. If you want to make a curry, add Lite coconut milk and simmer until oil separates. You can essentially make this dish as healthy or unhealthy as you want 😀

Bread Poha

INGREDIENTS:

1.    Bread slices-(12)

2.    Onion-3 nos chopped

3.    Tomato- 1 chopped

4.    Turmeric pdr-1/4 ^th tsp

5.    Chili powder-½ tsp

6.    Jeera pdr- ½ tsp

7.    Salt-to taste

8.    Cilantro,chopped- 1tbsp

9.    Salt to taste

Tempering-

1.    Cooking oil-1.5 tbsp

2.    Mustard seeds-1 tsp

3.    Chillies-2(chopped)

4.    Curry leaves-

PROCEDURE-

· Cut bread slices in medium size cubes.

· Slice the ends and keep it aside.

· Take a kadhai. Add oil. When it heats add the mustard seeds. When it  splutter, add the green chillies. When they turn a bit light in color. Add the Curry leaves & add the onions

· Take the breadends in a mixie jar. Add salt, turmeric pdr, chilly pdr, & jeera pdr to it. Grind coarsely, not finely.

· When the onion gets done add the bread(cubes & crumbs).

· Add the finely chopped tomatoes.

· Mix well. Do not roast it too much. It shouldn’t become crisp. 

Though some people prefer it that way too!

This should serve 3 people.

Pound Cake

2 cups apple sauce (substitute it with butter if you dont have apple sauce or if you want to eat unhealthy)
9 eggs (try keeping them outside for a while so its not too cold)
2 cups all purpose flour (maida)
2 cups sugar or sugar substitute
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt


Whisk apple sauce (or butter... dont use both, you will not have a pound cake at the end of this but something else) with sugar in the bowl till creamy... now start adding 1 egg at a time, making sure each egg is completely mixed with the batter before adding the next. You know you are going in the right direction when the batter looks like curd :) thats not the final product, remember we are trying to bake a pound cake!! Anywho, now add vanilla and salt and continue beating it for half a minute tops. Dont over do it.

We have more ingredients in the list above, so lets try using all of them ... lets pick the flour first. Add half a cup at a time to the batter and continue mixing it same like the eggs before. Now it should look like cake batter... if not, start again from scratch and keep at it till you perfect it :)

Once you deem it perfect, move it to a baking tray (2 trays if need be)... Set the temperature (of the oven) to 350 F / 175 C and it should be an hour to finish. You will know when you see the top of the cake look golden brown but thats not enough... try using a tooth pick or a knife (slimmer one) to see if its done

Vanilla Pudding

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons cornstarch


Heat milk on medium till bubbles form. In a separate bowl, mix sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add this to hot milk, a little at a time, stirring constantly to avoid lumps and cook (dont forget to keep stiring) until it thickens. Turn off the heat and add vanilla and butter.

Keep in refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving. You could use the Dessert topping from the previous post on this while serving too :)

Dessert topping

1 bottle (cheap or not.... ) dessert wine
3 cups mixed berries (strawberry, blue berries, rasberries, black berries)

Mix all the ingredients and cook over slow flame for an hour or until the wine reduces to half.

Use this on top of any ice cream, frozen yogurt, regular yogurt or cake.

Juice for you....

This would work only for those of you who have a Juicer!

Juice 1  [kale / collard / apple / lemon]
5 Kale leaves (antioxidant)
3 Collard leaves (vitamin A,C,K)
2 apples (keep doctor away)
1 tsp lemon juice (clear skin)

Juice 2 [orange / apple / grapefruit / ginger]
1 orange (strengthens immune system)
2 apples (keep doctor away)
1 grapefruit (weight loss by reducing insulin levels)
1/2 inch ginger (soothes/heals digestive system)

Juice 3 [carrot / apple / ginger]
4 long carrots (improves vision / cleanses body)
2 apples (keep doctor away)
1/2 inch ginger (soothes/heals digestive system)

Juice 4 [beet / kale / apple / ginger]
1 Beet (detoxify / renew blood)
5 Kale Leaves (antioxidant)
2 Apples (keep doctor away)
1/2 inch ginger (soothes/heals digestive system)

Daal palak: Spinach Daal

Ingredients:

Produce: chopped spinach, garlic cloves, ginger, toor daal, onion

Dry spices: mustard seeds, heeng, red bedgi mirchi, fenugreek (methi) seeds, dhaniya (coriander) powder, turmeric, oil, tamarind, jaggery

Process:

In a heated pressure cooker add two-three teaspoons of oil
Add mustard seeds, red bedgi chili, urad daal, methi seeds, heeng, to oil. Let sputter.
Add chopped onion. Let onion turn translucent, add either tomato paste or tamarind water, crushed garlic and ginger, some turmeric
Add spinach and let simmer
Add toor daal. Add water, dhaniya powder, jaggery and pressure cook for 10-15 minutes. Mix the contents and make sure the daal blends with the spinach.
Serve hot with rice or rotis. It can also be eaten as soup with a slice of bread.

Enjoy!

Minestrone soup

This soup packs a punch with its veggie-filled goodness and is a favorite during cold season. The best minestrone soup I have had was in Madrid, Spain at a just-another-cafe near Plaza Mayor. But this recipe is no less, courtesy Jamie Oliver.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil 
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped 
0.5 red onion, peeled and finely chopped 
1 carrot, washed and chopped 
1 stick celery, chopped
0.5 zucchini, chopped 
1 small leek or spring onions, washed and chopped
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf 
2 tomatoes finely chopped
1 large potato, scrubbed and diced 
2 cups (1-quart container) low-sodium vegetable broth (optional- i use water) 
0.25 cup mixed small pasta shapes a bunch of basil (optional)
salt as per taste
4-5 leaves basil chopped
large pinch freshly ground black pepper 
5 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

• Heat a large pot over a medium heat and add olive oil. Add the garlic, onion, carrots, celery, zucchini, leek/spring onions, oregano and bay leaf and cook slowly for about 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the vegetables have softened.
• Add the tomatoes, potato, water, then cover with a lid and bring everything slowly to the boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes, then check (with the tip of a paring knife) that the potato is soft and cooked through.
• After that, add the pasta, and cook for 10 more minutes, until the pasta is cooked. If the soup is too thick for you after cooking the pasta, thin it with a little more broth or water.
• The basil is optional but I think it is a nice little addition. If you decide to use it, stir some chopped leaves into the soup. Finish by seasoning with a little salt and black pepper and pass the Parmesan around the table for people to sprinkle on their soup.

Dal Khichdi

1 cup dal
2 cup rice wash and soak in water
1 cup green peas soaked in water
1 tomato cut in small pieces
12 garlic cloves in very small pieces
6 curry leaves
1 bay leaf
1 stick dal chini
2 cloves
1 elaichi
6 peppercorns
2 dry red chilli
4 green chillies medium round slices
2 tsp jeera
1 tsp hing pwd
1 tbl spn garam masala powder
1 tsp haldi powder
1 tbl spn salt
1 tbl spn ghee
2 tbsp oil

Method
Cook the dal in 5 cups of water with haldi for 4 whistles.
In a kadai add oil.after heating add jeera.after the jeera splutters add hing curry leaves garlic cloves green chillies red chillies.and the other dry masala.add haldi powder.
After the chillies change colour add tomatoes.
Then add the peas and rice.mix well.add 4 cups of water to the rice.mix well.add half quantity of salt and garam masala.
Let the rice cook in the water on high flame.
After the water evaporates cover the vessel n let the rice cook.
In the meantime mash the dal n if the dal is too watery strain the dal and seperate the dal and water.
After the rice is almost done add the dal and mix well.add the rest of the salt.keep on adding the dal water to gt a watery consistent.
*if there is no water in the dal add hot water to the khichdi.
Cover the lid and let the khichdi cook.
After the. Khichdi is done, in bowl heat ghee add a lil garam masala n pour it on the khichdi.

Serve it with papad and curd.

Chicken Chilli

 CHICKEN CHILLI

500 -600 gms Boneless Chicken
2 tbsp Soya Sauce
1 Egg
2 tbsp Corn Flour/Corn Starch
5-6 Chopped Green Chilies
2 Green Onion Chopped
1 tsp Garlic Paste
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp White Pepper Powder
1 tsp Sugar
A pinch of ajinomoto
2 cups chicken Broth/ Water
1 tbsp Oil
Oil to fry

Preparation:

• Cut the boneless chicken pieces into1 " cubes.
• Take 1tbsp. Soya sauce, 1tbsp. corn flour, salt, egg in a bowl and marinate chicken pieces in the the mixture for about 10-15 minutes.
• Heat oil and deep fry the marinated chicken pieces till golden brown.*dont fry it for too long, the pieces tend to get hard
• Now in a separate wok / kadhai heat 1 tbsp. oil and add garlic paste,spring onions and green chilies and sauté for few seconds.
• Add 2 cups of chicken broth or water. Bring to boil and add sugar, pepper powder, salt , ajinomoto and remaining Soya sauce.
• Add fried chicken pieces to it and cook for few minutes.
• Dissolve the remaining corn flour in 1/2 cup water and add to the curry stirring constantly to avoid lumps.
• Cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Serve chicken chilli hot garnished with chopped green onion tops.
• Goes well with steamed / boiled rice.

Orange Cranberry Cake

This is one of my favorite cakes, easy to make, low risk and that orange zest flavor is simply awesome.  It is not an original recipe but taken from this site. 

1 cup all-purpose flour (maida)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar, divided
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg - (great, if like me,you don't like the smell of a too-eggy cake)
1 tsp freshly grated clementine or orange zest
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk (you can make buttermilk by blending yogurt with little water)
1 cup dried cranberries 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F with rack in middle of oven. butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. cut parchment paper to size of pan, butter and flour the paper as well.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3.  Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar on medium speed until pale yellow and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add egg and beat until well-combined. add vanilla and clementine zest, mix until combined.

4. At low-speed, add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Throw in the zest as well. Mix until just combined.

5. Spoon into prepared pan, smoothing top. scatter fruit on top of batter. sprinkle 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar on top. bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. the time varies depending on type of fruit used, but plan on about 25-35 minutes. if top becomes browned, you may cover with foil until center is set. allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool on rack. or serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

*For orange zest, all you need to do is grate the orange colored portion of the skin  like in this video. 

Zucchini bake

Zucchini bake

Ingredients:
4 Zucchinis - cut lengthwise, little thicker
1 Onion - thick round rings
2 Tomatoes - big cubes
2 Carrots - cut lengthwise
Garlic - grated (as per taste)
Ginger - grated (as per taste)
Salt to taste
Olive Oil

Procedure:
1. Pre-heat oven at 350F
2. Mix all the above in a baking pan (preferable glass)
3. slow bake in the oven at 350F for 30 mins (leave it for less time for more crunchy veggies or leave for more time if you want mushy texture)

* But make sure you do not dry out the veggies. Keep the juices from tomato, onion and Zucchini.
* Feel free to add any other veggies.
* Try it over rice.

Chicken biryani---Aditi Nadkarni

The masala:
Cinnamon, badi elaichi, coriander seeds, tej patta, cloves, star anise, nutmeg, green elaichi, red bedgi mirch, pepper--roasted fresh and ground in a coffee grinder



The rice:
Basmati rice, washed and soaked in water and then soaked again in water with saffron until the saffron spreads its yellow wings and colors the water. Then boil rice until about 3/4th cooked.


The process:
Sautey finely chopped onions, ginger, garlic, red chilli powder, in oil. Add yogurt and let simmer until oil is visible on top. Add chicken and potatoes and let simmer. Sprinkle homemade garam masala generously on top. Cook for 20 minutes until chicken is white and potatoes are cooked. Don't forget salt!! Use chicken with bone--adds flavor.


Assembling the final product:
Half of the boiled rice is cooked with the meat and the other half just seasoned with salt and sugar and some cardamom. Cook until meat and rice are both fully cooked.


Serve the biryani with cucumber raita. Enjoy!

Chilli Cheese Toast

CHILLI CHEESE TOAST

Ingredients

Bread slices - 12   

Cheese cubes - 3
Butter - 100 gms
Green chillies - 3
Salt - to taste
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves - 1 tbsp

Method :

1. Apply little butter to bread slices.
2. Chop green chillies into thin round pieces.
3. Grate cheese using a fine cheese grater.  
4. Mix all the other ingredients together, for filling except bread.
5. Keep little of the filling in between two slices of bread.
6. Press and toast using a sandwich toaster. (Both sides till brown)
7. Serve with ketchup