wheat garlic and coriander kulcha

Wheat  garlic  kulcha  is  a  simple  and  flavoured  ,  simplifiedd   and  healthy  version of  a regular  Kulcha .

Ingredients

• 2 cups  of   wheat  flour 
• 1/2 cup of  curd
• 3tsp of  crushed  garlic 
• 1 bunch  of  coriander leaves/cilantro
• 1/2 tsp baking  powder
• 1/4 tsp of  baking  soda
• 2Tsp of  oil or  ghee
• Water 
• Salt 
• Sugar  optional 

How  i  made  it 

• Put all the   dry ingredients  together
• Now  add all the wet  ingredients 
• Add the  cilantro 
• add water little  by  little  and  and  fold the  dry  ingredients   to a  nice  dough.
•  Keep  it  covered  for  1-2  hrs 
•  Take  a  small portion  of  the  dough ,  dust  your  board  with dry  flour .
• With  the  help of the  rolling  pin make  in to  small  circle   just  like  chapathi.
• Then roast  it  on a  iron  pan with   ghee or  oil.
• Serve it  hot  with any  side  dish of your  choice 

Funnel Cake .... from my US Diary

  Yeah   its  been   a  long time  that  i have posted a  recipe , its  seems  ages . We  were  relocating  from Atlanta  to  Chennai  and  it  ate  away  all my  time  and  my interest  in  blogging. Ok now iam  back    and this  time   bring  u   one  om  favourites  from  my American  dairy Funnel  Cake . Its   not the   usuall  cake  cake  stuf    but its  name  is  so. Its  one  of  the cutry  fair   dessert  which i  had  when i  had  when i  went  down  fr strawberry  picking and  many other ocassions. i   loved it   the  first  time  i had  it . i have  been  wanting  to  try this   for a  long time .

 its  a  a very  simple  recipe    dose not take  much  time   to  do   it .

 Ingredients

• 1/12 cup of  milk
• 2 eggs 
• 2 cups  of All purpose flour
• 1teaspoon  baking powder
• 1/2 tsp  ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp  of  salt 
• 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 3 tsp of  sugar
• oil for  frying 

How i  made it 

1.  In a  deep fryer  or  heavy skillet  heat oil . I took a small one  so that  it restrict  the size  of the  funnel cake  if u take a   bigger   one  then  u  batter  will spread  and  u will  need  a  metal  ring  to  hold  back the  shape.
2. In a  large  bowl , beat milk and  eggs together, combine  flour , baking powder, cinnamon  and salt. Stir  into the  egg mixture  untill smooth.
3.  Actuall recipe uses the  funnel  but  i  preferred to  use the piping  bag  and it  did  work  great. start  pouring the batter  in the  circular motion preferably  starting from the  center . Fry  o  both  sides  untill golden brown. Remove  and  drain on paper towels . sprinkle  with confectioners sugar and  serve  warm.

Itallian biscotti

 I was  against  buying this product  from costco.. ITALIAN BISCOTTI..  it  was  not becoz i didnot  like  it its  bcoz  it costed  much ... hhahah   me and  my  mind  then  i  got  it bcoz  Rhea  wanted  it . The  moment i tasted  it  i  knew  i am  gonna bake this . i did not search  for the  recipes  immediately , but  first  thing i  did  was  i  finished  the  box and then when i was  out  of  it i  searched  for the  recipes . Last  15 days i was  down  with  severe  back  pain  so  was not allowed  into the  kitchen .So the  delay...

 Its  very  delicious  and  believe  me   you will  like  it for  sure . Here  is the  step wise recipe  ...

Ingredients :

•  1 cup of almonds 
• 2/3 cup of Sugar 
• 2 large  eggs 
• 1tsp of  baking powder
• pinch of  salt 
• Vanilla  extract 
• almond  extract
• 1 3/4 cup of  All purpose flour 

How  i did it :

Step 1 : Toasting  almonds

•  Line the baking  tray  with the parchment  paper or  foil , Put ur  almond   in the   tray  either blanched or  with the skin . keep it in the  oven at  350 degree F  for  10 mins  or  till is  slightly  brown 

Step  2 : Biscotti 

• In a  big  bowl  take the all purpose flour, salt and the  baking  powder mix well and  keep it aside ,
• In another  bowl  break in  your  eggs  and  add the  sugar , and  beat  it  till it gets blended and  becomes  fluffy. Add in  your  vanilla and  almond  extract

•  Now add in the the flour and  baking  powder and  mix  in well. add your almonds from the step 1.
• Use hand  to mix  it  its   quite  sticky  but  if u cant  manage  it  add some  dry all purpose flour.
• Line  the  baking  tray  with a  parchment paper  or  foil, spread the wet  mix in form a  long bread or  log 

• Bake it  a preheated  oven  for 25 mins  at 350 degree F
•  Take  it  out  cool  for  10 mins  and  with  the  knife  cut  ito 1/2 inch pieces 

•  Places  these  cut  biscotti  on the  baking  tray  and   bake  it for the  second  time  at  300 degree  for  15 mins ,  nce  done   col them  off on cooling  rack .

Soya beans (Meal maker) gravy

This  one is  a protein rich  food  and is  very  delicious  if u  love the  taste of the meal maker , i have  been using   soya chunks  for  quite  some  time in my kitchen knwing all the nutrius  value its  had   got , though me  and  my  family were not a great fan of  it intially now we  have  started  liking  it, specially  my daughter  who  thinks  its chicken. She is  happy with it and so am  I.
This   one is  a  avery simple  recipe   which  is  easy    to make and  no prior preperations are required.

Soya Chunks Gravy.

•  1 1/2  cup of  soya  chunks
• 1 Onion 
• 1  tomato
• 3-4 Green chillies
• 1 big  table  spoon  ginger  garlic  paste
• 1 spoon  chilli powder
• 1 small spoon turmeric 
• springs  of  curry  leaves
• springs  of  cilantro/kotmir
• Pinch of  garam masala powder 
• Salt  to  taste 
• Oil 

 Step 1:  soak the  soya  chunks  in water   and  microwave it  for  couple of  minutes , cool it  squeeze  it   and keep the  chunks  dry.

 Step 2 :
In a   kadai   take  oil   and  once  heated  add  diced onions  and  slit  green chillies and  curry leaves , fry them till they are lightly brown in colour . Add in  ginger garlic  paste  fry till the  raw smell is  gone , add  diced tomatoes  and the squeezed out  soya  chunks  from step 1 and  a little  water , Add in  all  your spices,  cook   in  low  flame  till  the raw smell of  the  spices  is  gone and  the  tomatoes  is   completely  cooked .   Garnish  it  with  fresh cilantro and is  ready to serve .

chocolate walnut brownies

 hey  these are  my  favorite.. i love  brownie and  specially  with  vanilla  ice cream. They are  so  nice   crunchy yet soft  and  walnut  adds more  yummmmmmmmm to it. i love the  crunchy crust and the chewy center with lots  of nuts which  makes  it  more delicious. i  have  been a great  fan   of  brownies   but  never tried  them at  home  and  so this   was  my  virgin trial  and  this  was  for yamini  who  had  this brownie craving in her 7th month of  pregnancy. The  sad  part  of the  this  was  i  was baking  it  for her farewell party. 
This recipe  is  from the  the  website  joy of  baking.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons finely ground instant coffee
• 2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup broken or chopped walnuts or pecans

How  i made it 

•  In a  double  boiler   melt the butter  and   to it add the  cocoa powder and  coffee powder. Mix well. let  it cool down.
• Now beat the  eggs   into it and   now  add  sugar  and vanilla  essence  mix well.
• Whisk in the  cinnamon and  salt  and  flour together.
• Add the flour  and  mix well till its  incorporated .
• Add in ur  walnuts   pour it  in a greased bake pan and  is  ready  to bake 

Prehaet the  oven  at  350 degree F  and  bake it  350 degree F for  30 mins.

Mango Ice - Cream

 Mango Ice  cream

Ingredients that we need

• 500ml of milk
• Fresh Mango
• 2-3 spoon full of corn starch
• 500gms of sugar
• Half tin( 150 ml ) of condensed milk
•  250 ml of heavy whipping cream 

How i did  it

• Boil the milk in a heavy bottomed vessel , Add about 400 gms of sugar to it, keeps stirring and reduce the flame. Once the sugar dissolves , remove the milk from the flame.
• Mix  the cornflour  in  litttle cold milk , and stir  the mixture into the boiled milk, keep the  milk  back on low flame , till it thickens.(u will know when you see it) Switch off the  flame and cool the mixture.
• Take Mango( the amount depends on  your taste buds. i used about 3-4 ripe) in the mixer add to it about  50 gms of sugar and  blend it  into a smooth pulp. u can add some milk  to it  to make it  more soft . Add this mango pulp to the boiled and cooled milk.
• Add the condensed milk  and freeze it in the freezer.
• let the mixture get semi freezed , thaw it  blend the mixture using a blender or mixer,  u can  use had mixer too.
• Add the whipped cream to the mixture, blend it again (i used the hand mixer), to it add small cut peices of  fresh Mango (i used around 3-4 of them) 
• Freeze  it , your Mango ice-cream is ready.

Whipping cream.

Freeze the bowl and the whipper blades  before starting the whipping process, it should be very cold.

 take the whipping  cream in  a cold  bowl (I used the store bought heavy whipping cream)

 and  whip it  using a  hand blender till soft peak are formed , donot over do it as it  will convert to butter. once the soft peaks are formed add 2-3 table spoons of sugar . Now its ready to use.

Ras Malai

This  one  is  consider as the  king of  milk sweet and  they  say  its  heavenly.I  have not tasted it as i  dont  like milk sweet , but  i  could not  keep  my   hands from trying  it  as its  my  mom favorite and  i wanted Rhea and  bass to  enjoy it as well. I made this  especially  for  my Mom. i am sure  she  would have  loved  it and appreciated my efforts.
Mom  this  is  for   u .

 Ingredients

 To  Make  Paneer

•  1 1/2 lts of milk (use any  milk  u  like   i  used the  whole  milk)
• 2-4 tsp of  vinegar  or  lemon juice 
• nice chesse cloth (  i used  white  thin cotton dupatta)  
• ice  cubes

 How  I made it .

 In a  nice  big  vessel take  in your milk , keep on medium flame and  bring  it  to a  boil, once  it  comes to a rolling  boil , add  diluted  vinegar or  lemon juice  to it  and  keep  stirring , the  milk will start  curdling once u  see the  water seperating  add ice  cubes and  switch of the  flames . The  addition of ice  cube  is to  stop furthur curdling of the milk . Strain out all the water  and  take  the  cheese/ paneer in ur  chesse cloth, close  all the  four  ends of the  cloth, like   making a   knot, squeeze out all the   water ,   rinse  with fresh  water  to remove the  last traces of  vinegar, now  tie a  knot  hang it for  30 -40 mins so that all the water is drained.  Your paneer for Ras malai is  ready.

To  Make the Ras ( milk sause)

Ingredients

• 1 lts Milk
• sugar
• Cardamom Powder
• Nuts (pista and badam)
• saffron strands.

In another  big vessel take  milk and  keep in a  low  flame , bring the  milk to boil , add strands of  saffron.You get a  nice  mild yellow  colour  and  keep stirring , its  its  reduced to half of the volume. Once the  volume is  reduced add sugar and  nuts. Keep it aside to cool.

To make the  paneer dumplings .

Take the  paneer that  was  made , and knead  it slightly  so that  it becomes  soft  and smooth , take a  small bit and  with the  help of   your palm  make a  small  dumpling and  the  press it  to  flatten it .  In  another  big  bowl  take  sugar and  water  in 1: 5  ratio, that  is  1 cup of  sugar and  5 cups  of  water.  Bring it  to a  rolling  boil once its  boiling add these  5-6 dumplings  to it , and  cover it . Boil the  dumplings for about 5-6 mins. you can see that the dumpling   have increased in  volume and  has become soft and  fluffy. Strain them and  add them to the  Ras /milk cream u  prepared in step 2 .Repeat the  same  process for all the  dumpling  made . Note that  the  sugar syrup dosent   get  thick.
Keep the  Rasmalai in the fridge and  serve it cold.

Dil pasand Bakery style

 The  word Dil Pasnad  directly  takes  me  back  to my  childhood , all of  which i grew  up eating Dil-pasand and honey cake  and  cream bun from Bangalore iyengars bakery. Yummmmmmmmm !!!!!!!!!!!!!  i still can  feel the  taste and   will never forget it. Every interval  at school , every special class and every outing was incomplete  without  it ,  Infact when i was pregnant , this  was  there in my  big  wish  list i had  of  food, Believe  me or not i  went to bakery  in my  ninth month  and  had this  without anybody  knowing,  as i was  on  strict no-sugar diet. i cannot  resist the  hard crisp coat  with  cruchy  coconut filling with lots  of  tutty- futty. I  relished it and  i did not want Rhea  to miss out on this  and  therefore  tried this .

 Ingredients:

• 1 puff pastry sheet  (pepper ridge) Thawed at  room temperature.
• 2 cup Shredded coconut( i used the  store bought ) Thawed  at  room  temperature 
• 1 cup Tutty frutty 
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1tsp cardamom powder.

 How i made it.

Take a wide pan  add sugar to it add water just enough to dissolve the sugar, Keep  it on  medium flame , Allow it  come to a boil  now   add the shredded coconut , tutty  futty  and  the  cardamom powder. Mix  up all the  ingredients  in a  such  a  way that  they  get  blended . If  u feel that  the  mix  is  a  little  runny  then keep it up on flame till its dry .
 Mean while  get ur  pastry  sheet ready , Thaw  it in room  temperature and open it  up , cut   out a  big circle  from one  of the  sheets  and  another  circle  from another  sheet  but  a  little  smaller in size than the  first circle.
Now put  in the  coconut stuffing  on the  center of the  first  circle and  spread , cover  it  with the  second  puff pastry sheet. Seal the  edges  and is   ready to  bake ,  Bake  it  at 350 degree F, for  20-30 min or  till its golden brown  in colour.
With the  left  over  puff pastry  sheets   use your  own imagination and makes  diffent shapes and  sizes.
Enjoy the Di pasand  with ur  child hood  memory , iam sure  u will  love  and  crave  for  more .

Chicken Fry ( KFC style )

This is  one  of recipes i got  from my friend and neighbour   from chennai , But the  same  recipe  is also posted by vah chef. Its almost the same  with a little a difference  in the  first  step. But  both taste  great .Its  simple  to make but  people  who  hate il will stay  away from it  as it requires deep  frying.

Item : Chicken fry ( KFC Style)
Source:  My friend Sameera and  Vah chef

Ingredients:

To  marinate ;

•   1 lb of  chicken  ( washed  cleaned and  if  pieces are big then  you have a  make  tiny slits  on them )
•  1tsp Chilli powder
•  1 tsp Ginger garlic  paste
•  Lemon juice ( from one lemon  medium sized)
•  Salt

 To Coat:

• 1 egg
• 1/2tsp of  Ginger garlic  paste 
• salt 
• 1/2 tsp of  chilli powder
• Curry leaves
• Cilantro/ coriander leaves
• 1cup maida
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• food  colour 
• Oil for  frying 

How  i did  it  :

  Take water and add ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, salt , and lemon juice  now add the chicken pieces to it. Should immerse completely,  the  water  level should  be above the  chicken pieces . Soak it for 4-5 hrs.  I prefer to leave it in the fridge overnight. If u are in a  a  hurry  u  can  do the whole process  using  warm  water and  leaving  it for  1  hr .

Drain  the  water and  take  the  pieces in a dry  plate . 

In  another  bowl  add 1 egg, add  chilli powder, salt ( add a  little  as u have added it  n marination too), ginger garlic paste  and  curry leaves and  cilantro. mix  well.

In another  plate  take  your  all purpose flour, mix  bread crumbs , add a  pinch  of  food  colour and  salt and chilli powder( adjust the  amount of  chilli powder  and  salt in all the three steps  so that  u  do  end  up adding more.)

Take the  chicken pieces  dip it in the  egg mix, roll  in to the  dry  flour  and  then  deep fry it in  oil  at  medium  flame .

Molten chocolate lava cake

 Oh!!!  this  is  a very  yummy  cake  and  heaven for all  chocolate lovers. This  cake  has  a  runny chocolate inside  and  was  my all time  favorite. I used to  eat  a lot in  CCD (cafe coffee day) @ Bangalore. This   goes  best  when  served  warm  with cold plain vanilla  ice cream. Wow!!!,  this  is  really very  tempting  and I bet, you  cannot  resist  it . I  never  ever  thought i will bake this  cake at home. Applause to me!!!!!!,   that was  a  super  hit  at  home  and   with all my  friends . Today  on occasion  of our  fourth anniversary, i made this  cake  and  served to all my friends. i was  on cloud nine  when i  received the comments for the cake. The  recipe  of  it is  from a  famous  cooking website show me the curry and  and  blog i follow edible  garden. Thanks  to them.

This  is   third  time  in a  row  that  i am trying this recipe , first  time  i baked,  it  was a  super duper  hit.  Being very  enthusiastic  with all the praises i  got,i made couple of mistakes in my second try and went  into  drains ,   First  was to use the  wrong chocolate , i used the bitter  chocolate for the  semi sweet once, this  was  not a  delibrate mistake  but  was side  effects  of being  over enthusiastic,  i picked the  wrong packet  from the  freezer. and  second  one  is  i  baked it  for almost 20 mins , end  result was a  completely bitter  chocolate  cake  which was  no good. Learn from  my  mistake plzzzzzzz will u?

Item : Molten Lava cake
source : show  me the curry  and  edible  garden
baking  time  10-15 mins
preperation time   20 mins

Ingredients:

• 4oz (113g) of semi sween baking chocolate (i used the  chocolate chips )
• 4oz (113g) of  unsalted butter 
• 2eggs
• 1/3 cup (75 gms) of  sugar 
• 1/4 cup (40 gms) of  All purpose flour
• Powdered Sugar  for dressing 

How i made it .

• In a double  boiler  melt the chocolate ,  once  it  gets  soft and  shiny  add  butter  to it , mix well till the better  gets  meletd . Take  it off from the flame and cool it .

• In a seperate bowl  add eggs and  sugar   and  beat  it untill light and  fluffy .

• Mix the  melted and cooled  chocolate to the  egg and  sugar  mixture

•  Now add the all purpose flour and  mix  it   well.
• Butter  up  your ramekins and bake  pans  and  pour the  batter  till 3/4th  way full.
• Bake  it in a preheated oven for 350 degree Fahrenheit for 10-15 mins  , do not  over do  it .