Microwave Chocolate Brownie

These chocolate Brownies are rich, dark and a very tempting dessert. They have crunchy nuts inside with a mushy texture and they just melt inside your mouth. They can be served as a dessert by itself or can even be served with a dollop of vanilla ice cream or with whipped cream.


You'll need..

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4th cup coco powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (maida)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method

Melt butter in a pan on a low flame and cool. Add the sugar and stir well to combine.

Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and coco powder. and add it to the butter mixture. Mix them well.

Add the eggs, keep mixing until smooth.

Add the vanilla and mix well. Stir in the chopped nuts.

Put the mixture into the microwave safe 8" square bowl and microwave on high for 4-5 minutes.

(The strength of each microwave differs, so first microwave for 3 1/2 minutes and check once with a tooth pick before you continue for another minute.)

Wait for it to cool for about 15-20 minutes. cut into cubes. Enjoy!!

Chinese Fried Rice

No Chinese meal is complete without a fried rice or steamed rice. To keep the rice grains seperate, spread the cooked rice grains on a tray and allow it to cool. Rub a little oil on the cooked rice and keep aside till you require it.

For the fried rice you'll need..
4 cups Chinese rice
1/2 cup beans, cut diagonally into hin strips
1/2 cup carrots, cut into long thin strips
1/2 cup Capsicum, cut into long thin strips
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/4 cup peas
1/2 cup Cabbage, shredded
1 tsp soya sauce
1 tsp Vinegar
1 tbsp Tomato ketchup
a pinch of Aginomoto powder
1/4 tsp pepper powder
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste
a tsp of sugar
1 cup spring onions

Method:

First parboil all the vegetables for about 5 minutes in a hot boiling water. Drain the water and keep the vegetables aside.

Heat the oil in a pan, add the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute. Then add the vegetables, Aginomato and saute for another minute.

Add the prepared rice, soya sauce, Vinegar, Ketchup, Spring onions ,sugar and salt. Mix well and saute for 2 minutes..

Garnish with some spring onions and serve hot.

Kesari bath ( Saffron Dessert)

Kesari bath is a sweet dish which is prepared during most of the festivals, funtions and weddings in south India. Kesar meaning saffron gives a nice aroma and the rich colour to the dessert. It tastes best when its hot.

Use the exact measurements given below and this dessert will taste great.
Ingredients:

Banana - 1 (Big, Fully ripe)
Milk - 750 ml
Semolina(Rava or Sooji) - 100 gm
Sugar - 200 gm
Ghee (Clarified butter) - 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Honey - 2 tbsp
Saffron - few strands
Kesar colour(optional)

Ghee (clarified butter) 2 tbsp
Cashew nuts 50 gms( halved)
Raisins 50 gms

Method:

Stir and roast the semolina in about 2tbsp of ghee till it gets golden brown. One way to find out if the semolina is done is you get a very nice aroma and the semolina starts flowing easily with the spatula. Keep aside.

Mash the banana and fry it in a non stick pan with the remaining ghee for about 5 minutes.

Add milk and saffron and bring it to boil.

Now add the roasted semolina little at a time and keep stirring so that no lumps are formed. Add sugar and stir well.

Finally add the cardamom powder, honey. Mix it well.

Close the lid and on a medium to low flame, let it cook for few minutes.

In another small pan, roast cashews and raisins in 2 tbsp of ghee till golden brown.
Spread it over the kesari bath at the end and serve.

Yummy Kesari bath is ready.

Enjoy!!

Spinach and Carrot Pulao

This is a very simple microwave recipe. I got this recipe from Bawarchi. It can be done in minutes and Very tasty too..


Ingredients
Basmati Rice 1 cup
Chopped Spinach 2 cups
Finely chopped Carrots 1 cup
Ghee 2 tbsp
Sliced Onion 1
Saunf(Fennel seeds) 1 tsp
Cardamom 2 pods
Cloves 3-4
Red Chilli powder 1/4 tsp
Green Chillies 2
Cinnamon 1 inch piece

Method:

Soak rice for 30 min in a flat dish (microwave glass).

Add the ghee and spices with the onion.Microwave high uncovered for 3 min.Add spinach and carrots. Microwave high for 2 min.

Drain the water from the rice and add to the vegetables. Add two cups ofwater, salt and red chilli powder. Mix well. Microwave high covered for 12min.

Stir once after 5 min. Stand for 2 min.Fluff it up with a fork.

Serve hot.

There can be many variations done to this recipe.. You can add your favorite veggies (peas, potato..), a little pulav masala to make it more spicy or a tomato if you like it tangy.

Enjoy!!!

Mixed Vegetable Kootu

Ingredients:
Toor dhal - 1/2 cup
Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
Vegetables Cut into chunks (Carrot, Beans, Peas, Ridge Gourd(Heerekai), Chayote Squash (Seeme badnekai), Potato) - 2 cups
Groundnuts (soaked overnight) - 1/4 cup
Kootu powder - 3 Tbsp
Greated Dry coconut - 3 Tbsp
Coriander leaves - few
Tamarind juice - 2 Tbsp
Jaggery - 1 Tbsp
Turmaric - a pinch
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Pressure cook Toor dhal, groundnuts, and vegetables with a pinch of turmaric. Wait for 2 whistles. Let the cooker cool.

Grind coconut, kootu powder, coriander leaves to a paste with little water.

Take oil in a pan, when hot add urad dhal. When urad dhal starts turning brown, add cooked dhal and vegetables.

Add the grinded paste, tamarind juice, jaggery and salt to taste. Let it come to boil.

Kootu is ready. Enjoy it with rice and a tsp of ghee.

Kootu Powder

Kootu is a South Indian dish. Its basically a Lentil curry with Groundnuts and vegetables. It can be taken along with rice as well as chapathi. Its got a peppery hot flavour which goes great during winter. The basic ingredient for making kootu is kootu powder.

Following ingredients are required for making Kootu powder.

Channa dhal 1/2 cup
Urad dhal 1/4 cup
Jeera 2 tsp
Coriander seeds 2 Tbsp
Red chilli 3
Pepper 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon 1" piece
Poppy seeds 1 tsp

Method
Fry all the ingredients except poppy seeds until golden brown and until you start getting a good aroma. Take the pan off the heat and add the poppy seeds. Transfer the contents into another plate as there are chances of the ingredients getting burned if they stay longer inside the hot pan. Let the mixture cool,then grind it to a powder.

Store it in a air tight container.

You can prepare 3 to 4 preparations of Kootu with this powder. Quantity of the ingredients can be doubled or trippled to make more powder. This powder can be stored for months in an air tight container at room temperature.
Have a look at Mixed Vegetable kootu.

Kadai Paneer

The kadai is one of the most commonly used cooking utensil in Indian kitchen. It is mainly used for deep-frying and may be called India's version of the chinese wok. Delicious subzis can be prepared in a kadai and this gives the dish a distinct feel. As a result subzis that are prepared in this manner adopt the word kadai in their name. Thus originates the dish kadai paneer. Its a semi-dry dish that makes use of whole red chillies making it a treat for all your senses. Capsicum adds just the right amount of crunch while kasuri methi bestows its wonderful fragnance upon this creation. Serve this dish in a miniature kadai with some hot coal underneath to give it the authentic kadai-fresh look!


Here are the ingredients..
2 Capsicum, cut into chunks
2 Onions, Chopped
1 Tomato Chopped
3 cloves Garlic, chopped
1/2" Ginger, chopped
3 Clove
1" Cinnamon
2 whole red chillies, broken
1/4 tsp Turmaric
Handful of coriander leaves
3 tbsp Cream(optional)
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste

For the marinade:
100 gms Paneer, cut into long cubes
3 Tbsp yogurt, beaten
1/2 tsp Kasuri mthi(dry fenugreek leaves)
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 Tbsp Oil

Method
In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients for the marinade and keep aside.

In a pan, take 2 Tbsp of oil and fry the capsicum uncovered till tender. Keep aside.

Take 1 Tbsp of oil in another pan. Fry the cloves and cinnamon. Add the chopped onions, Ginger, garlic and whole red chilli and fry till the onion becomes soft.

Add tomato and turmaric. Close the lid and let it cook for another 7-8 minutes. Keep stirring in between. Add the coriander leaves in the end and blend this entire cooked mixture.

Take the pan with the fried capsicum and add the blended mixture. Also add the entire mixture used for the marinade. Add salt to taste, sugar and the cream. Cook covered for 2 minutes.

Delicious Kadhai paneer is ready.

Kosher Challah

Kosher Challah is a Jewish Bread which is braided before baking. This bread is also used for French Toast which is a popular breakfast food.

For making One small loaf you'll need..
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups sifted All purpose flour
3/4th packet dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water(about 38 to 40 Deg )
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1 egg yolk for brushing
1/2 cup water

Method

combine the yeast, sugar, and 1/4 cup of lukewarm water and leave it for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add in the eggs, oil, 1/2 cup of water, and the yeast mixture. Mix well using both your hands. knead well. Cover it with a plastic wrap and let it raise for about an hour in a warm place. The dough should be about double its original size.

After an hour punch down the dough, and then let it rise again for about an hour.

Divide the dough into three long strands. Attach them on top. Braid them like how your braid your hair. At the end bring the strands together and tuck them under.



Place the braided dough on a oven plate which is lined with a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and let the dough rise one last time.

Finally, brush the dough with the egg yolk. This will bring a nice golden color to the finished bread.

Bake for 50 minutes. Let it cool before you cut.

Enjoy!

Tomato Rice

This dish is my all time favourite. This used to be one dish which i used to buy regularly in our collage canteen. It used to taste awesome.
Ingredients for my recipes goes like this..

250 gms Basmati Rice

2 Tomatoes, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup Peas

A small carrot, grated (about 1/2 - 3/4th cup)

2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped

1 inch Ginger, finely chopped

3 Cloves

1 inch Cinnamon

1/2 TSP Jeera

1/4 tsp Red chilli powder

1/4 tsp MTR Pulav masala ( or Garam masala powder)

Pinch of Turmaric

1/2 tsp Kasuri methi (Dry fenugreek leaves)

500ml of water

Salt to taste

1 Tbsp Oil

Method:

Wash and soak Basmati rice in water for about 1/2 an hour.

Soak cloves and cinnamn in little water, just enough to cover the spices.

Heat oil in a pan and add Jeera. When jeera splutters, add onion, ginger, garlic, a pinch of salt and fry for few minutes.

When the onion turns soft, add peas and tomato. Close the lid and cook for about 6-7 minutes till the tomatoes are done and soft. Add the soaked spices along with the water.

Now add the grated carrot and all the powders i.e., turmaric, red chilli powder, pulav masala and kasuri methi. Fry on a high heat till all the water gets evaporated. Keep stirring so that it doesn't stick to the pan. Dont make it too dry.

(Carrot is a substitution for a tsp of sugar. Its just another way to get good things in..)

When most of the water gets dried up, shift the entire mixture into a microwave safe glass dish. Add rice, water and salt to taste.

Cover and Microwave high for 20 minutes.

Yummy yummy tomato rice is ready.. Give it a try and enjoy!!

Chocolate Souffle

Serves - 10-12
Ingredients:
Milkmaid 1 tin
Cocoa powder 3-4 Tbsp
Chocolate 50gm (made into small pieces and for decorating)
Walnuts 50gm(chopped)
Gelatine 2 1/2 Tbsp
Milk 2 cups
Cream 1 1/3 cup

Preparation:
Dissolve gelatine in 1/2 cup water over a pan of hot water( i.e., using a double boiler)

Add cocoa to 1 cup milk. Heat over a pan of hot water(again using a double boiler) and make a smooth paste.

Add dissolved gelatine, cocoa paste, rest of milk, chopped walnuts and chocolate pieces to Milkmaid. Mix well.

Whisk cream till stiff. Fold into the Milkmaid mixture.

Pour the mixture into a souffle dish or any other ceramic dish and chill.

Serve decorated with stiffy beaten cream and chocolate. Enjoy!!