New Year and some sweetness!!

Wishing all my readers a very happy and prosperous new year!!
and a joyous Makar sakranti!!

I know its a bit too late, but hey one has to recover from the new year parties and then festivals which continuously pop up on the traditional Indian calender.

Sakranti is a festival which marks the nearing end of the winter and it is believed that the sun changes hemisphere during that period. It is also celebrated as "Uttarayan" in Gujrat, "Makar Sakranti" in Rajasthan and "Pongal" in Andhra Pradesh & Kerala.

Here is a recipe of a sweet, savoury item which is usually a winter staple and is especially made in our household on the occasion of Sakranti.

Makes only 1 bowl

Ingredients
Til seeds-1 Tbsp
Sugar- 1Tbsp
Nuts- a handful
Green cardamom- 2-3 crushed

Method
1. Dry roast the Til seeds til just fragrant and slightly browned.
2. Pulse in a blender with sugar and nuts.
3. Add the fregrant elaichi aka cardamom.

Isn't it simple! Just about perfect for winters too.

Enjoy!

Milky Vanilla cupcakes- easy eggless recipe

A friend of mine was faced with a dilemma. Her son was asked to get "cupcakes" for the cristmas party which they were having at their school. Not really into baking; she wondered what to do as they had to get home made stuff.

That's when I came into picture. She knew my relations with the oven were good :-) and asked me to make cupcakes for her son. Always looking for an excuse to bake something new, I jumped at the suggestions and soon was busy digging into all the recipes I've got and searching the internet for more.

As per her suggestion, I decided not to frost them as they might get spoiled on the way, but could not help myself from sprinkling some chocolate on it.

Here's the recipe. (Adapted/modified from divinetaste)
Makes 12 big muffins

You'll need:
1. 210 gm (1 1/2 cups) plain flour/maida/All purpose flour
2. 1 tsp baking powder
3. 1 tsp baking soda
4. 100 gm (3/4 cup) milk powder (full fat)
5. 100 gm (3/4 cup) fine sugar
6. 100 gm (1/2 cup) butter, melted
7. 250 ml milk (I've used low fat)
8. 1 tsp vanilla extract
9. Chocolate drops- to decorate (You can use chocolate chips also)
 
Method:
1) Line your muffin tray with cupcake or muffin liners. Or grease and dust them with flour if you don’t want to use the liners.
2) Preheat the oven to 180 C/350F.
3) In another large bowl, put in the flour, baking powder and baking soda and mix well with a fork.
4) Put in the milk powder and the sugar into the flour and mix well.
5) Stir in the melted butter, vanilla extract and the milk and mix gently with the whisk. Do not over mix.
6) With the help of a spoon fill the prepared moulds with the batter (till 3/4 of the cup) and sprinkle some chocolate drops on them.
7) Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean.

I tasted it as soon as it was done. It was warm, fluffy, moist and a delight to look at. Just the right amount of suger for me, but some people may want to reduce it to 1/2 cup if they are using suger procured in India (I find that sugar much sweeter than what we get here).

Now there is only one question - Will the kids like it?

Sandesh : Indian Cheese Fudge

Every now and then you feel like appeasing your sweet tooth and end up shuffling through your recipe books or searching the internet to make something new. I did the same and came accross this appealing recipe. This is a traditional Bengali sweet and a little less famous than its well known cousin, 'Rasgulla' (pronounced rass-gul-la or raso- gul- la).

Bengal is an eastern state of India with its own unique cuisine. The sweets made there have created their niche among the plethora of sweet dishes made all over India.

This is a recipe which I took from a very inspiring blog called Ecurry authored by Soma .

Ingredients
1. Full cream milk- 750 ml (3 cups)
2. Sugar- 1/4 cup
3. Juice from 1 lemon (you can also use vinegar to curdle the milk)
4. Saffron/ kesar- 1 pinch
5. Crushed cardamom/elaichi- a few pinches

Method
1. Bring the milk to a gentle boil by keeping it on medium heat.

2. Add lime juice in small amounts till the milk is coagulated or curdled.

3. The moment you see clear greenish colored water, turn off the heat.

4. Line a colander/sieve with a cheesecloth and transfer the contents to it. Spray it with cold water and to wash off the lemon flavour. This step has to be done thoroughly otherwise, the Sandesh will take up the lemon flavor which is unbecoming of the dish.

5. Now gather the cheesecloth and twist it into a knot. Let this drain for 45 -60 min.

6. After draining , take out the "chenna" and knead it with hand.

"Knead evenly for about 7-10 minutes. During the last 3 minutes, add the sugar & the crushed saffron. Knead the chenna/cheese along with the sugar. By this time the chenna/cheese should be very smooth & not grainy at all. To test if it is done & ready for the next step, take a portion of the chenna/cheese & roll it in a sphere between your palms. The sphere should be very smooth on the outside with no cracks."..Ecurry

7. Take a non-stick pan and spread the chenna on it. Cook it on low heat while continuously stirring it,so that it does not stick to the bottom. This step should remove the raw smell , but should not be prolonged in order to avoid crumbly texture, due to which it won't remain good to mould.

8. The cooking which change the shade of cheese a little. It should take about 12-15 minutes to cook it. When its done it'll no longer stick to the pan and will come together.

9. Quickly, remove it from heat and transfer it to a bowl.

10. Mould it into balls/other shapes in decorative moulds while it is still warm to touch. Once cooled, you wont be able to mould them, though it will still be edible.

11. Take a mould and press down some portion on it. Smoothen the edges with fingertips. Keep a bowl of water handy for this task. Wet your fingers for smoothening.

12. Once set, they hold their shape and can be garnished with nuts (pistachios and almonds) or saffron or coarsely grounded green cardamom.

This recipe sounds like a lot of work. Yeah, maybe a little..but its totally worth it. I'm sending this recipe to Tina's "CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE" which is a monthly event, encouraging the blog newbie's to spread their stories over yummy recipes borrowed from each other.

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A birthday and Pineapple Cake

 We celebrated the birthday of my mother in law this month. She is a perky and fun-loving person with a genuine smiling face. It is very easy to talk to her and she befriends you with her laughter charm. Given the special person she is, I wanted to make a cake really suited for her birthday.

Pineapples are in abundance here and they are as sweet as it can get. We've been feasting on ripe pineapples almost every day during the duration of their (my mother and father in law) stay. So this cake came out to be the perfect choice for this joyous occasion.

Pineapple layer cake
Make a 9" round cake (ref: here and here)
Note:
If you are using fresh pineapples then soak the slices in thin sugar syrup. This will prevent pineapple from turning bitter. Otherwise used tinned ones.
For the Sponge:
Ingredients:
250 gm (1 & 3/4 cups) plain flour
2 tbsp vanilla custard powder
4 tbsp icing sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda/ sodium bicarbonate
1 tin/400gm sweetened condensed milk
100 gm (1/2 cup) butter
175 ml (3/4 cup)  milk (can use water instead)
2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
Method:
1. Grease and line the bottom of an  9” round cake tin with greaseproof paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, assemble the flour, custard powder or cornstarch, icing sugar,  baking powder and baking soda, mix with a spoon or a fork.
3. Preheat the oven at about 150 degrees centigrade.
4. Put in the condensed milk,  butter, vanilla extract and milk into the mixing bowl containing the dry ingredients. Beat with an electric hand mixer, whisk or spoon  until the mixture comes together and there are no lumps. It should not be overbeaten otherwise it'll cause the cake to be hard.
5. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for an hour at 150 degree centigrade.
6. The cake is done when a knife comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the cake.
7. Cool the cake.
Cream icing
Ingredients
Whipping cream- 500ml chilled
Icing sugar- 4 tbsp
To Prepare the Cream:
1. Chill 2 Bowls in the Fridge. Chill the Beater/Whisk.
2. Divide the Whipping Cream in 2 Bowls. Add 2 Tablespoons of Sugar to each bowl along with the Cream.
3. Put one bowl back in the Fridge to Chill.
4. Beat the Whipping Cream, & the Sugar in one bowl till the cream is thick,  fluffy & forms peaks.
5. Repeat with the other bowl of cream.
To assemble the cake
1. Slice the sponge cake into 2 halves carefully
2. Keep the bottom half in the serving plate and sprinkle with pineapple juice till its well soaked.
3. Spread a layer of cream and top it with thin pineapple slices.
4. Very carefully keep the top portion on the prepared one and soak it again with pineapple juice.
5. Spread the cream over the cake to cover the sides and decorate with more pineapple slices.
6. Chill for a few hours or overnight for the flavors to set in.
 

Enjoy!!

Inspired Greek salad

There is nothing quite and filling as well as light than a salad. An amazing range of salads can be created with simple ingredients. So when I wanted something filling, yet not really a meal, I rounded up on Greek salad.

Since I did not have all the ingredients for the salad. I experimented around the original which I read here.

Serves 2
Ingredients
1. Cucumbers (we call them chinese cucumbers here)-2 , cut into round thick slices
2. Black olives- 9-10
3. Tomatoes-2 , quartered ( halved cherry tomatoes are preferred)
4. Green bell pepper/capsicum- chopped into squarish pieces. Take 1 (small sized)
5. Olive oil for drizzling- about  1 tbsp
6. Paneer - about 50 -70 gm, cut into really small cubes, or if its crumbly use your hands
7. Oregano - 1/2 tsp
8. Black pepper- 2-3 pinches
Method
Take a deep bowl and put all the ingredients in it and toss well for proper mixing.
Serve cold or at room temperature.