Banana Orange Cherry bread

Ingredients:
175 gm All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking powder
150 gm Brown sugar
2 Banana crushed
25 gm Mixed nuts, chopped
50 gm Cherry
6 Tbsp Orange juice
2 Eggs
150 ml Sunflower oil

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.

Grease and flour a 20 to 25 cm oven proof dish.

Sieve together the flour and Baking powder. Mix in the sugar, banana, nuts and cherry.

In another bowl, mix in all the wet ingredients i.e.,Orange juice, Eggs and the oil. Add this to the flour mixture and mix well till all the ingredients are incorporated.

Spread this mixture into the prepared dish and place the dish in the center rack of the oven.

Bake for 1 hour or till a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

Cool and serve.

Hot and Sweet Dip

This dip goes well with any crunchy starter.

For the hot and sweet dip you'll need..
1/2 cup Water
1/4 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Chilli powder
1 Tbp Lemon juice
1tsp Salt or to taste

Preparation:
Place the sugar and water in a pan and bring to a boil.

Cook till the syrup is of a 2 string consistency.

Add the chilli powder, lemon juice and salt. Mix well.

Cool completely and serve.

Sesame Paneer with Hot and Sweet Dip

Traditionally, this dish is made with tofu i.e. soya bean curd. But i'm using paneer instead. Paneer is coated with sesame seed batter which imparts a nutty flavour and a very chinese element to this crispy starter.

For the sesame paneer you'll need..
200gms Paneer(cottage cheese), cut into cubes or rectangle strips.
1/4 cup Cornflour
2 Tbsp All purpose flour (maida)
1/2 tsp Soya sauce
1/2 cup Sesame (til) seeds
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method
In a bowl, combine the cornflour, plain flour, soya sauce and salt with 1/4 cup of water to make a smooth batter.

Dip paneer pieces in the batter and coat the sesame seeds and deep fry in hot oil, till they turn golden brown.

Drain on a kitchen tissue and serve hot.

Serve with Hot and Sweet dip.

Vegetable palya

Ingredients:
2 Cups Vegetables(carrots,beans,peas,cabbage..
2 cups Water
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1 and 1/2 Tbsp Palya powder
1 Tbsp Tamarind juice
1 tsp jaggery
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Heat some oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add all the chopped vegetables, water and let it boil.
After the vegetables become tender and all the water is evaporated, add salt, tamarind juice, palya powder and jaggery.Fry for 5 minutes and Vegetable palya is ready.

Enjoy it with plain rice or chapati..

Strawberry Streusel Cake

Today i was expecting some guests at home and i planned to bake a cake. I found this recipe at about.com and i could not resist myself.. Well, the recipe goes like this..
Ingredients:
1 cup All purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
2 tbsp melted butter
1-1/2 cup sliced strawberries

For the Streusel Topping:
1/4 cup All purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preperation
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Butter and flour a baking pan with.

In a medium bowl mix all the dry Ingredients, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir these ingredients together with a whisk.

Now add all the wet ingredients, vanilla, the egg and the melted butter. Beat this together so it's well mixed. Then, pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Next, arrange the sliced strawberries on the top, gently laying them evenly around the pan.
In a small bowl, combine the flour and sugar for the topping. Create a crumbly texture by mixing with your hands. Pour in the chopped nuts and mix it all together.
Then, sprinkle the topping over the strawberries.

Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let it cool a bit before slicing.

Palya Powder

Palya is a South Indian(kannada) term used for dry vegetable side dish which can be taken along with Indian bread or mixed with rice to make a Masala vegetable rice. Any vegetable palya can prepared using this powder and Palya Powder is the basic ingredient for making palya. This powder can be preserved in a air tight container and can be used for months. Here is the recipe for Palya powder.

Ingredients:
Red chilli - 3/4 cup
Coriander seeds - 1 1/4 cup
Channa dhal (Kadale bele) - 1/2 cup
Urad dhal (Uddinbele) - 1/4 cup
Fenugreek seeds (Methi seeds) - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon - 3" piece
Clove - 3
nutmeg - small piece
Mace - 2 Strands(optional)
Cardamom - 1
Poppy seeds - 2tsp
Curry leaves - about a hand full

Preparation:
Take a tsp of oil in a pan on a medium heat and fry Cinnamon, cloves, curry leaves and fenugreek seeds till they turn slight brown. Switch off the heat and add the poppy seeds. Keep aside and let cool.

Now fry the rest of the ingredients that is Channa dhal, Urad dhal and coriander seeds without oil.

Now combine all the fried ingredients and grind it to a smooth powder.

Preserve this powder in a air tight container.

Take a look at Vegetable palya.

Making Chapati - Indian Bread

Chapati or roti is the traditional flat Indian bread, normally eaten with curries or cooked vegetables. It is made most often from wheat flour, cooked on a flat or slightly concave iron griddle called a tawa. It is similar to a tortilla in appearance. Like breads around the world, chapati is a staple accompaniment to other foods, may be spread with ghee (clarified butter).




Here are the ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup All purpose flour(maida) [For a 100% whole wheat chapati, substitute this with wheat wheat flour]
1 cup Water
5tsp Oil(sunflower or vegetable)
1tsp Salt
2tsp Sugar
1 cup wheat flour in a large plate for dusting the dough while rolling it out
Oil for brushing the chapathi

Method:

Mix all the above ingredients and knead it well to form a soft non sticky dough. Rest it for about 1/2 an hour.

Divide the dough into small balls. Flour the surface, using a rolling-pin, roll out the dough into a thin,round patty, about 4 inches in diameter.

Brush some oil over the surface and fold it into half and then fold it again into a triangle.


Dust the triangle with little whole wheat flour and roll into a large, flat triangle.

Preheat a non stick pan or a tawa over medium heat. Place the rolled dough on the palm of one hand and flip it over on to the tawa. When the color changes on the top and bubbles appear, turn it over and brush some oil over the surface. Flip it over and again brush some oil over the flipped surface. Cook lightly on both sides. When both sides are done, use kitchen tongs (chimta) to remove the chapati from the skillet.

Chapatis are usually eaten with cooked dal (lentil soup) or vegetable (Indian curry) dishes, and pieces of the chapati are used to wrap around and pick up each bite of the cooked dish.

You can have chapati with palak paneer, mixed vegetable palya or any other North Indian curries..

Tips
This chapati can be stored in air-tight containers in the freezer for upto 2 months. Just defrost and heat it up on tava before use or just microwave on high for a minute.

Making Paneer- Indian cheese

I tried making this paneer for the first time and it turned out great!
The recipe goes like this..

Ingredients:
1 litre Milk
11/2tsp vinegar or 1/2tsp lemon juice or citric acid( i used lemon juice)

Preparation:
Boil the milk in a pan.

When it's boiling add lemon juice which is dissolved in 2 tbsp of water.

When milk curdles full turn off the gas and keep aside for 5 minutes.

Pour it on to a cotton/muslin cloth and squeeze the excess water.

When all the water is drained from the paneer place the cloth on a vessel which is turned upside down and place another vessel on top of the cloth. Pour water into the upper vessel so that there is extra weight on the cloth. keep this for an hour.

Note: Do not throw away the leftover water as it can be used for kneading chapati or paratha dough

Sun dried tomato, basil and parmesan whirls

I found this recipe on cherrapeño's blog and was waiting to try it. Its a great starter recipe and its very different from the other starters. Sun dried tomato gives a very different and tangy taste. And the parmesan cheese would just melt in your mouth..


For the recipe click here

Nawabhi paneer

This dish is another curry dish which goes wonderfully with any Indian flat bread or rice. Kesar or saffron a highly revered spice that is also very expensive. North Indians use ample use of kesar in their cooking. Most commonly used in sweets and mithai, a small amount of keasr can change the entire flavour of a dish. Kesar is also used to flavour hot milk topped with malai or cream.
Here this much adored spice has been used to flavour a curry to which soft, melt in your mouth paneer have been added. Dissolving the kesar in little warm milk or water before adding to a dish greatly enhances its flavour and colour.
This curry tastes awesome, just like the one you get in the restaurants and goes lovely with any Indian flat bread or rice. My husband loves this dish! Do try and let me know..


Ingredients:
200 gm paneer, cut into chunks
3 Onions, chopped
2 Tbsp Ginger and garlic paste
2 Green chillies, chopped
2 tomatoes OR 1/2 cup Tomato puree
25 gm Cashew nuts
3 Tbsp Dry coconut powder or dessicated coconut powder
1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1/4tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
1/2 cup curd
A few strands of saffron(kesar) dissolved in 2 tbsp milk OR 1/4 tsp kesar color
1 tsp Kasuri methi
1 tsp Sugar
Salt to taste

Initial Preparation

Fry cashew nuts for 1 minute and grind it along with dry coconut with little milk.

Fry the onions in little oil till they are soft and done. And then grind it.

Fry the paneer in little oil or ghee for a minute or till they turn golden brown. Add curd to it(entire paneer should be coated well).

Blanch the tomatoes and puree them.

Method:In a non stick pan, take some oil. Add the onion paste and fry for 2 minutes.

Add the ginger -garlic paste, green chillies and tomato puree. let it boil.

Add the red chilli powder, dhaniya powder, jeera powder, turmaric and garam masala powder and mix it well.

Then add the cashew and coconut paste. Finally add kesar color, salt, sugar, kasuri methi and the paneer mixture.

Add 1 cup of water and let boil.

Yummy Nawabhi Paneer is ready!!


Enjoy and have a great week!

Quesadilla

"Queso" is cheese in Spanish. And a quesadilla is a toasted tortilla with melted cheese inside. But in addition to cheese, you can put practically anything in a quesadilla.

Ingredients
1) Wheat Tortillas - 4
2) olives - few
3) salad leaves(lettuce)
4) coriander leaves - few(chopped)
5) capsicum, peas, corn, mushrooms,tomato, grated carrot,onion (any of your fav veggies which does not require heavy cooking)
8)Swiss cheese or mozzarella cheese - 1 cup(grated)

Method:
1) Basically you get different kinds of Tortillas. Any kind will do. They are nothing but just flat rotis.

2) Take 1 tortilla, toast it with cheese on it, until the cheese melts and covers the tortilla. (add some salt if you need). Add finely chopped veggies, coriander leaves, olives, salad leaves on the cheese melt. And another layer of cheese on top of veggies.

3)Lay another toasted tortilla on top of this tortilla and press it together.

4) It will be like a tortilla sandwich. You can cut it into 1/8 pieces, so each tortilla sandwich has 8 pieces.

It is a quick snack and is very tasty.

Here is another view..

Black eye beans and Red cow peas Curry

Ingredients:

Black eye beans - 1/2 cup





Red cow peas - 1/2 cup



Onion - 2(small,chopped)
Tomato puree - 1/2 cup
Ginger and garlic - 2tbsp(chopped)
Red chilli powder - 1tsp
Coriander powder - 2tsp
Jeera powder - 1tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Jaggery - 2tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

Soak Black eye beans and Red cow peas overnight and pressure cook the lentils with the turmeric powder.

In a small pan,fry the onions with little oil. Add ginger and garlic and fry till the onions look transparent. Take it off the heat, cool and grind it with very less water.

Take some oil in another pan,add the grinded onions, tomato puree and fry till the raw smell disappears(say about 5 mins).

After 5 minutes, add all the masala powders and fry for another two minutes.

Now add the lentils ,jaggery and salt and let it come to a boil.

Garnish with little butter and coriander leaves.

Waffles

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Baking time : 3 - 4 minutes
Makes about 6 - four inch square waffles

You'll need..

Butter - 40gm
Sugar - 30gm
Vanilla extract - 1tsp
Eggs - 1(large)
All purpose flour - 150gm
Baking powder - 1tsp
Milk - 100ml

Method:

Sift togeher the flour and the baking powder. Keep it aside.

Gently mix butter with sugar. When the butter mixture becomes soft,add the vanilla extract and gradually add the eggs one after the other.

Add milk and mix it well. See that no lumps are formed.

Finally add the flour mixture. The waffle mixture should be fairly thick but fluid enough to drop off a spoon.

For this recipe you'll need to buy either an electric or stovetop Waffle iron and both consists of two metal grids , facing each other, that are held together with hinges. You just need to follow the manufacturer's instructions.

To make a waffle you pour about 1/2 a cup of the batter onto one side of the iron, the second metal grid is then closed over the batter and the waffle is cooked until crisp and golden brown. Use a wooden spatula to remove the waffle once its done.
Serve it immediately with whipped cream and any fruit(strawberry or berries)

Enjoy!

Channa masala

Ingredients:
Chickpeas - 500gms( Soaked overnight and pressure cooked with salt)
Onion - 2 + 1 (2 roughly chopped for grinding and 1 finely chopped)
Tomato - 2 + 1 ( " )
Ginger and garlic - 2tbsp(chopped)
Poppy seeds - 2 tbsp
Dates(karjoor) - 2(seeded and soaked in little water)
channa masala powder - 2 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Amchur powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Tamarind juice - 2 tsp
Coriander leaves - To garnish
Butter - 2tbsp
Salt to taste


Method:

In a pan,take half of the butter and fry the roughly chopped onion with a pinch of salt till slightly transparent.

Add ginger-garlic paste and fry till the raw smell disappears. Then add the chopped tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes turn soft. Take the pan off the flame and let cool.

Now grind the onion-tomato mixture along with Poppy seeds, Soaked dates and 1/2 cup of the cooked channa.

In the same pan, take another half of the butter and fry finely chopped onion with green chilli. Once the onion is done,add the chopped tomato. Cook for some time.
You can now add the grinded mixture along with the masala powders. Add salt and tamarind juice.

Add the remaining cooked channa and little water to get the required consistency and bring it to boil.

Garnish your channa masala with coriander leaves and onion rings.

Serve hot with Batura.

Palak Paneer

Many of the best loved Indian dishes are the ones where paneer(Indian Cream Cheese) is combined with a vegetable. Paneer is widely used and very popular in India, especially in North due to abundance of milk and milk products in the area.
This combination of spinach with paneer is not only highly nutritious, but is a splendid blend of taste, texture and flavor. Even before you taste it, the look tempts you. The paneer in this recipe has been fried to add some extra flavor. You can however add the paneer pieces without frying if required. Cream is added to give the richness to the dish but its optional.

Here are the Ingredients..

Serves 2

Spinach(frozen or fresh) - 4000gms
Paneer(cottage cheese) - 150gms(cut into 1" cubes)
Onion(chopped) - 1
Tomato (chopped) - 1
Ginger,garlic paste - 1tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1tsp
Turmaric powder - 1/4tsp
Coriander powder - 1tsp
Jeera powder - 1tsp
Garam masala powder - 1tsp
Whipped cream - 1/4 cup(Optional)
Kasuri methi - 1tsp
Hing - a pinch
Jeera - 1tsp
Butter - 2tbsp
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste

Method:

Heat Butter in a pan. Add jeera and hing. When the jeera splutters,add onion and ginger-garlic paste with a pinch of salt. Salt helps cook the onions faster by releasing moisture from the onions. Fry till the onions are done and the raw smell of ginger and garlic disappears.

Now add turmeric and red chilli powder and tomatoes. Once the tomatoes are soft and done, add the remaining masala powders and spinach. Cook for about 5 -10 minutes. Take the pan off the flame, cool and grind.

Mean while take a pan with little butter and fry the paneer cubes. Fry them till they turn golden brown. Keep a vessel with some water and ice cubes in it ready. Once the paneer is done,take it out of the pan and immerse the pieces in the ice cold water. This lets the paneer stay soft.

Take the grinded mixture in the same pan. Squeeze out the water from the paneer cubes using both your hands and add it to the grinded spinach. Add salt and sugar to taste,kasuri methi and cream. Let it come to a boil.

Palak paneer is ready to eat. It can be taken with chapathi or Simple Jeera Rice.