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!