My First try at Baking

Baking is something that always fascinated me but I could not bake as I did not have an oven in my kitchen. Few days back on our marriage anniversary my husband gifted me an oven (he does good things some times). Frankly speaking it was really sweet of him. This is something that I had always wanted and since our new oven got a place in my kitchen I have been doing a hell lot of baking, grilling etc etc... These days most of our dinners are baked :). I have been making full use of my oven and I am really really happy about it.

Cooking is an art but baking is definitely a science. In baking you have to add exact amounts of ingredients and at the right temperature. That is when all the ingredients start the chemical reactions like in a chemistry lab (i know i exaggerated it!!!) and you get a perfectly baked dish. If anything goes wrong between your quantity of ingredients, temperature of the oven and the ingredients as well and the time for which you are baking it your dish is surely going to find its way to the dustbin.

This particular chocolate cake is the first thing that I tried in my oven. It was more for testing purpose. I wanted to check whether my oven is working fine and what are the features that it has. So I bought cake mix and baked one delicious cake. The cake was very soft and moist.

Ingredients:
- Cake Mix (1 packet - I used Pillsbury chocolate cake mix)
- Oil (1/2 cup)
- Eggs (2)
- Cashews (6-7)




Method:
- Mix oil and eggs together.
- Fold in the cake mix.
- Put batter in cake tin and add cashews on top.
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celcius for 10 mins.
- Bake the cake for 20 mins at 170 degrees celcius.

Your cake is ready.

This is my entry for :
Kid's Special at Tickling Palates and Zesty South Indian Kitchen's My favourite Cake recipe event

Chicken Cigar

It seems like it has been ages since I last wrote my blog. My parents had come over to my place so I was doing nothing but giving them time and eating lots and lots of Ma ke haath ka khana (mother's hand cooked food). So this time since I am writing after so many days I decided to write something very very special.

Chicken Cigar is a starter which is pretty easy to prepare and gets me appreciations whenever I prepare it. This is very tasty. The crunchy bread on the outside and juicy chicken stuffing inside add to the flavour of the dish.

Ingredients:
- Chicken Keema (200 gms)
- White Bread slices ( 7-8 )
- Salt (acc to taste)
- Coriander ( 1 bunch chopped finely)
- Onions ( 1 chopped finely and 1/2 julienned for serving)
- Coriander powder (3 tsp)
- Cumin powder ( 3 tsp)
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Tomato Sauce (for serving)
- Cucumber (for serving)
- Sunflower oil (2 tbsp for stuffing and 1 cup for deep frying)
- Green chillies (according to taste)
- Cumin seeds (1/2 tsp)
- Egg (1 beaten)
- Cornflour (1 tbsp)
- Water (1 cup)

How to prepare the stuffing?
- Wash the chicken keema properly.
- Marinate chicken keema with lemon juice and salt for 1 hour.
-  Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok.
- Add Cumin seeds, chopped onions and green chillies.
- When cumin seeds splutter add marinated keema into it.
- Fry for some time.
- Add coriander powder, cumin powder, salt, turmeric powder, chopped coriander and mix well.
- Let it cook fully and keep aside to cool.
- Once it has cooled down separate the stuffing as shown below:

How to prepare the Cigar?
- Cut the sides of the bread.
- Put the stuffing in the middle of the bread along the length.
- Fold the bread like a cigar.
- Add a little water to your hands before folding it. This will help it bind together.
- Make a batter of the egg and cornflour. Add a little salt to it.
- Heat oil for deep frying in a deep wok.
- Dip the bread cigars into the batter.
- Deep fry them until brown.
- Serve hot with sauce, kasundi, salads etc.

Note: Vegetarians can use paneer and boiled potatoes in place of chicken.
          The keema stuffing can be had along with roti as a side dish.

Shell Pasta in White Sauce

There is nothing better than pasta in white sauce. You can have it for dinner or breakfast. I personally prefer having it for breakfast. Breakfast is the  most important meal of the day. It should be filling, nutritious and healthy. To make it healthy I add in a lot of fresh vegetables. You can also add some chicken or prawns if you want. This does not take much time to prepare and is very tasty - hence perfect for any weekday breakfast or dinner.

 Ingredients:
- Shell Pasta(small)  (3 cups)
- Tomatoes (small 1 julienne)
- Capsicum (1 cut into long thin strands)
- Carrots (1 julienne)
- Garlic (1 clove crushed)
- All purpose flour / Maida(1 tbsp)
- Milk ( 2 cups)
- Salt(Acc to taste)
- Cheese of your choice (2 tbsp)
- Olive oil ( 3 tbsp)
- Pepper powder (1 tsp)

Preparation:
- Boil water in a pan.
- When the water is boiling medium the flame and add in pasta. Also add in 1 tbsp olive oil. This prevents the pasta from sticking together.
- When the pasta is cooked (it should be soft yet firm; make sure not to overboil it) drain the water and put some cold water on the cooked pasta. Drain the cold water too.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil a skillet and add thegarlic to it. When garlic turns golden brown add the vegetables to it. Saute the veggies for 2-3 mins. Keep aside.
- Now for preparation of the sauce, add 1 tbsp oil in the wok. When the oil is hot add in Maida and fry it till the raw smell of flour goes.
- Now add in the milk, salt and stir so that no lumps are formed.
- When the sauce is a bit thick add the cheese, veggies and pasta. Cook together for 2-3 mins. Add in the pepper powder and mix.
- Serve hot.

:)

This is my entry for Cook Click and Devour.

Prawn in Coconut milk Gravy

Mother - She is the person who loves you all through your life without asking for anything in return. Mother , Ma, Mom, Mummy, Mamma  - these are all different words but raise the same feeling in your heart every time you say it. Today is my Ma's birthday. This post is dedicated to her.

My Ma is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in life. Whatever I am today I owe it to her.I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her. She is an independent woman who has the ability to balance her work and personal life smoothly. All through my childhood she never let us feel she was busy or did not have time for us. Somehow she managed to find time for her family. I cherish each and every moment I have spent with her. She is the best mother in the world.
She has sacrificed a lot for us, for her family. "Ma if you are reading this I just want to wish you a very Happy Birthday. I want you to know that me and Arnab love you more than anything else on earth. Thanks for everything you did for us. We love you."

On my birthday she used to bake a lovely cake every year without fail. I am not very good at baking so today I tried making some Prawn curry for her. Prawns are her favourite. So I just thought of sharing the recipe with you guys.

Ingredients:
- Medium sized Prawns (10-12)
- Coconut milk (1 cup)
- Bay Leaves (2)
- Green Chilli (2-3)
- Salt (Acc to taste)
- Sugar (1/2 tsp)
- Onion paste (1 tbsp)
                                                      - Cinnamon (1 stick)
                                                      - Turmeric (1/2 tsp)
                                                      - Sunflower Oil (2 tbsp)


Method:
- Marinate the prawns with 1 tsp salt for about 1/2 an hour.
- Heat oil in a wok.
- Fry the prawns till they are cooked on both sides. drain on paper towel.
- In the same oil left in the wok add bay leaves and cinnamon.
- When it leaves a nice smell add in the onion paste, slit green chilli and turmeric powder.
- When the onion turns golden brown add coconut milk and prawns.
- Add salt and sugar and bring to boil.
- Serve hot with white rice. :)


This is my entry for :
WTML at Sizzling Veggies which is originally Gayathri's event

and

Srav's Culinary Concept:Mom's Recipe      

 

Vegetable Manchurian

So how many times have you made mistakes in your life?? This question is a pretty difficult one and most of us would choose not to answer it. But according to me its good to make mistakes sometimes in life. That is how we learn. Mistakes make us stronger. They give us the ability to differentiate between right and wrong. Life without mistakes is a life not enjoyed. Mistakes are life's own way of teaching us some impoortant lessons. So why is it that all of a sudden I am talking so much about mistakes today. Keep reading if you wanna know.....

Yesterday I had a strong craving for Chinese and prepared some Veg Manchurian for dinner. Vegetable manchurian is an Indo Chinese dish that is nothing but fried vegetable balls in Soy Sauce.

So here is the recipe for all of you :

Ingredients :
For the vegetable balls :
- Finely chopped Cabbage, capsicum, carrots, onions, green chilli ( 2 cups)
- Maida/All purpose Flour ( 3 tbsp)
- Cornflour ( 1 tbsp)
- Salt (Acc to taste)
- Garlic (2 pods finely chopped)
                                                      - Ginger (1/2 tbsp grated)
                                                      - Oil (for deep frying)

For the sauce:
- Garlic finely chopped (3 pods)
- Ginger grated (2 tsp)
- Green chilli (2)
- Capsicum (1 cut into squares)
- Sugar (1 tsp)
- Maida(1 tbsp)
- Soy sauce (2 tbsp)
- Tomato Sauce (1 tbsp)
- Water (2 cups)

Method :
- Mix all the ingredients except oil  for the balls in a large bowl.
- Heat oil in a wok for deep frying.
- Make balls from the veg mixture and deep fry the balls till brown.
- Do not add water while making the balls. Water that comes out of the veggies is enough for binding the veggies together.
- Now for the sauce in a pan add the oil.
- When oil is hot add garlic, ginger and green chilli.
- Saute in medium flame for a minute and add sugar to it.
- Now mix the water to maida and add to the saucepan.
- Add little salt if required and let it come to a boil and let the sauce thicken.
- Add tomato sauce and soy sauce and add in the fried balls.
Serve hot with a bowl of rice.

Now coming to mistakes again. By mistake in this dish I had added an extra tbsp of soy sauce and that is the reason the colour is so dark. Although the taste was good the look of the dish was not that attractive. So when you are preparing the dish make sure you add just the required amount of soy sauce so that the veg manchurian looks good too... :)

Gajar Ka Halwa...

There are some things in life that give you immense happiness no matter what situation you are in. For me even thinking of having home made Gajar ka Halwa is one of those things. I love this dessert. Although this is a dessert I also have it as a snack sometimes. This recipe is from Tarla Dalal's book "MITHAI". I followed the recipe blindly without changing even a single bit and ended up preparing super delicious Gajar Ka Halwa. :) :)

Ingredients:
- 6 medium carrots grated
- 1/2 cup full fat milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
- a few saffron strands
- 2 tbsp cream
- 3 tbsp ghee
                                                      - 3-4 cashews


Method :

- Heat the ghee in a broad non stick pan and saute the carrots for 2-3 mins.
- Add the milk and stir till it evaporates.
- Then add the sugar and continue stirring until the mixture is slightly thick.
- Add the cardamom powder, saffron dissolved in a little milk and cream and stir well.
- Serve hot garnished with cashews.

:)

This is my entry for :

- WTML at Vegetarian Food and me which is originally Gayathri's event.

 - Spring Seasonal Food at Srav's Culinary Concepts

An Award :)

I am really Thankful to Gayathri from Gayathri's Cookspot to send me the book "MITHAI" for winning the WTML Series for March 2012. It is really great to receive awards for your recipes.

This is a huge motivation. The below picture is of the book that I got.

 

The first recipe that I tried from the book was Gajar Ka Halwa and shall be posting the recipe very soon.