Blueberry Jam Cookies

Made blueberry jam cookies last night..love baking at midnight..not sure if others do this too :D

Same recipe as before ..http://asthac.blogspot.in/2011/06/butter-cookies.html?m=1

Steamed methi dumplings

Steamed Methi dumplings

Made steamed methi muthia/dumplings today..fresh methi has a diff taste ..straight from my backyard...:)
Can have these anytime..as breakfast or with lunch ,as snack etc..

Ingredients -
Chopped methi leaves-1cup
Organic whole wheet flour-3/4th cup
Gram flour/besan-4 tbsp
Suji-1 tbsp
Sessame seeds-1 tbsp
Lime -half
Coriander &cumin powder-2tsp
Salt-1tsp
Chilli powder-according to taste
Curd-1tbsp
Little water for kneeding

For tempering-
Olive oil-2tsp
Hing
Curry leaves
Rai
Sessame seeds

Recipe-

1-Firstly chop methi leaves mix lime juice and sm salt in it and keep it aside.

2-take all flours and masalas curd and add a tsp oil ..mix methi and rub it with hands..add little water to make dough thts
Soft and little sticky.

3-cut the dough in two parts..shape them into two long thick cylinderical shape.steam them like u steam dhoklas..put thm in a vessel and add water to a pan..put the vessel inside pan..cover it with lid..

4-Steam for 7-8 mins..check by inserting a fork or something that it vomes out clean
Dont over steam or it will become hard and dry.

5.cut them into circles..keep them little thick.for tempering heat oil in a pan..add rai,sessame seeds,hibg and curry leaves..add methi dumplings...saute for 2mins.And its ready.

Other thing that made me happy today was Violet rose in my garden.though I have diff colors of rose but violet being my fav color..its special :)

Savory Onion crackers

Baked Onion crackers

Will be posting Recipe soon

Calzone Pocket

Calzone Pocket

Ingredients

For outer Bread cover-

Yeast-2tsp

Bread flour/All purpose flour-2cups

Butter/Oil-2tsp

salt by taste

sugar-1 tsp

warm water and milk-1 cup

For filling-

Grated Cheese-1/2 cup

Capsicum

Tomato

Onion

cabbage

Oregano

Recipe-

1.For making the outer bread,,depends on yeast you are using..i used yeast that can be directly mixed to flour..so mixed a bit of salt,sugar yeast and warm mixture of water and milk and knead the dough for 7-8 mins till smooth..cover it with a wet muslin cloth ,spread some oil in the bowl and keep dough in a warm place.

2.Take a tsp of olive oil stir fry all veggies for few mins..i prefer to keep them a bit crunchy..

3.After an hour or more ,the dough will double in size..take some portion,,spread it in round shape with a rolling pin..put the veggie filling in half portion ,,put cheese and oregano..

4.Now seal it with other half portion and print with fork on edges.give some cuts on the above so tht it gets baked properly inside.

leave it for 10 mins..then bake it at 180 degree in a pre heated oven for 20 mins till golden brown,,also depends on your oven.

Bajra vada

Bajra Vada

Long time since i posted on my blog..as i plan to start writing a bit again..heres winter special recipe of bajra vada.one can of course have it through out the year.but winters has its own charm..u love to have such food during this time..bajra is a healthy option keeps u warm too.Bajra vada is a gujarati dish..and as i have lived for so long in Gujarat..my love for gujju food ia obvious :)..heres recipe of bajra vada..one can store it for 2-3 days if u make lot of it.

RECIPE-
Bajra- 1 cup
Flour-2 tbsp
Suji-1 tbsp
Methi chopped-3/4 th cup or according to your taste
White sessame seeds- 3 tbsp
Garlic ginger green chilly paste-1 tbsp
Salt- 2 tsp
Coriander powder- 3tsp
Chilly powder-1TSP
Turmeric powder-1tsp
Curd- 1/4TH cup

Mix bajra flour,plain flour,suji and 2 tsp of oil ..thn mix curd..rub it with hands.
Mix garlic ginger chilly paste ,and rest of the ingredients..use very little water and make a soft dough.
Make small dough balls..and press it by hands..keep them little thick .
Heat oil in a pan and deep fry them on slow flame..dont overcrowed.and its ready..it tastes good warm/ hot also u can store them for 2-3 days.:)
Enjoy it with a cup of tea like i did in my garden:)

Sago patties (Sabudana Vada)

Sometimes..

                                                      

                                                                Gets mad ,
                                                my gypsy heart sparkles and  is over cautious
                                                  sometimes is carefree.
                                                   trusting sometimes
                                             And sometimes as quiet as the deep sea .

     

Chocolate chip Cake

Made  Chocolate chip Cake for Dad's bday.Made Chocolate chip Muffins too a month back,Have realised everytime i make something after reading from somewhere,it turns out be good but not tht satisfying.so adding ur own touch always better.Cake turned out to be exactly how it should be,Soft and yum .here's the recipe for Chocolate chip cake :)

 

Ingredients-

2 cup-All purpose flour

1 cup -Sugar

1/2Cup Chocolate chips 

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup ghee

2-3tsp-cream

3/4cup-Milk

1&1/2tsp -Baking powder

few drops of Vanilla Essence

Recipe-
1.Grind a cup of sugar,Mix it with butter,ghee,cream,till fluffy.
2.Sieve flour,baking powder.
3.Mix Cream,milk,flour mixture&Sugar-butter  mixture.add vanilla essence.
 4.Grease baking dish ,pour some mixture,add few chocolate chips,then pour whole batter and decorate chocolate chips on top the way u like.
 5.Bake it for 20-23 mins at 190degrees.Cool it on wire rack for few mins.

Chocolate cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes:

1/2 cup (50 grams)  cocoa powder

1 cup (240 ml) boiling hot water

1 1/3 cups (175 grams) all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup (113 grams) butter, room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

  1teaspoon vanilla extract

 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly butter the muffin cups.

2.In a small bowl stir until smooth the boiling hot water and the cocoa powder. Let cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Then in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat only until incorporated. Then add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.

4. Fill each muffin cup about two-thirds full with batter and bake for about 16 - 20 minutes or until risen, and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. (Do not over bake or the cupcakes will be dry.)

Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing.

Crispy French fries

The original name for french fries was "potatoes, fried in the French manner"..

These crispy french fries mostly we eat at Mcdonald's and some good restaurants ,may be bit time consuming but the end result is great.

Here's the recipe-

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Potatoes, peeled
• 1tbsp All purpose flour(maida)
• 1 tsp Corn flour
• Oil for frying
• Salt to taste -
  
  PREPERATION:
• Cut potatoes into even strips using a knife
• Soak the strips in cold water .
• Place the bowl in the fridge for nearly 1 hour(optional)
• Drain the water and take out the strips on kitchen tissue/towel.
• Leave the strips on the towel till all the excess moisture gets absorbed (nearly 10 minutes).
• take a big bowl,add white flour/corn flour , salt and little water ,mix,and toss potato strips in this  .
• Heat oil in Kadai or deep bottomed frying pan and add potato strips. Fry strips for 2-3 minutes on a high flame and take out on kitchen tissue.
• Leave them to cool.
• Again add this semi fried strips to oil and fry them for nearly 5-6 minutes on a very low flame.
• Take out on a kitchen tissue/towel.

Strawberry cupcake

Finally got time to upload mouthwatering strawberry cupcakes I made few days back.have made Strawberry cake before,and have made diff cupcakes but made strawberry cupcakes for the first time,they came out so soft and delicious,tht it got over in two days.will be making again,soon :).heres the recipe.-

Ingredients-

• 2-3 tbsp strawberry preserve/puree(I used the one available in market)
•  1/4 cup chopped small pieces of strawberries
• 1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 ¼ tsp baking powder
 3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of butter, room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla  extract

1/4 cup milk

Recipe-
Preheat oven to 190 degrees. Line a muffin tray with cupcake liners; set aside.

1. In a small bowl, stir together preserve/puree and chopped fresh strawberries.
2. In a second bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder.
3. beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy, 2-3 mins.
4. Add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with milk in two additions, beating on low speed until just combined; scrape sides of bowl as needed. Fold in strawberry mixture until just combined.add vanilla extract too.
5. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.
6.  Transfer muffin tray to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 20-23 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.
7. To decorate with strawberry pieces,sprinkle caster sugar and 2 drops of lemon juice on washed and halves of strawberries for 10 mins then decorate on cupcakes with icing.

Low Fat Microwave Potato Wafers

Ingredients:

Potatoes, peeled, washed
 Oil- 1 teaspoon(optional)
 Chilli Powder -1/2 teaspoon ( you can use oregano, pepper powder/dried mint, chilli flakes etc too)
Salt to taste

Procedure 

1.Slice the potatoes with a slicer, Pat the potato slices dry.
2. Mix the oil, salt and chilli powder in a wide bowl, toss the potato slices in it. Mix gently with your hands, ensuring the slices get an even coating of the mixture.
 3.Lightly grease a microwave safe plate. Choose even sized slices and arrange them around the circumference of the plate. Do not keep any in the middle of the plate. Food kept in the middle of the plate gets cooked faster, and may cause it to burn.
4. Microwave on high for 4-5 minutes,but do keep a close watch as they may burn if u keep for long.
if it isnt crispy yet microwave for 5 more seconds til a bit brown(golden).Too much browning will give an unpleasant taste.
5. Remove the wafers from the plate, slide a knife beneath if needed.
6. Cool for about 5 minutes and allow to crisp fully. Store in an air tight container.

Basket Chaat

 Ingredients-

Small baskets(available in shops)
1onion
1tomato
1cup-nylon sev
boiled potatoes
boiled white peas
imli chutney
dhaniya chutney
chilli powder
salt
jeera powder
 blackpepper

Recipe-

1.Mash boiled potatoes,mix it with boiled white peas and add som chilli powder and salt
2.put mashed potatoes,peas in basket,add very few pieces of each ,chopped onion,tomatoes,add dhaniya chutney and imli chutney,add jeera powder,som chilli powder,blackpepper,and finally decorate with sev and som more imli chutney.

Chocolate Coconut Barfi

Ingredients-

Dessicated Coconut-1cup
Nestle Milkmaid-1 can
Cooking Chocolate-1 cup
Chocolate sauce-2tbsp
 Marie Biscuits-15

Recipe-

Melt Cooking chocolate in a double boiler.Mix it and chocolate syrup  with some milkmaid,and grinded marie biscuits, bind it to make a dough.keep ths aside.
Mix dessicated coconut and milkmaid and mak another dough.
now keep them in fridge for 15 mins.if chocolate dough is hard ,to soften it microwave it for 30 sec.
now roll chocolate dough on a plastic sheet..and coconut one on other sheet,put the coconut dough on chocolate dough and cut them in barfi shape,or any desired shape.

Strawberry Jam

Made strawberry jam today.made it in same way like mango jam,used 1 cup crushed strawberries , 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar,1/2 lemon juice.
In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F (105 degrees C). Transfer to hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace, and seal. Process in a water bath. If the jam is going to be eaten right away, don't bother with processing, and just refrigerate

Jhal-muri

Thought to post jhal muri today,one of my fav snack in evening,though nothing can beat the jhal muri of road side or wt we buy in trains when i travel to Bihar.:D :)

It seems to be similar to bhel from Mumbai but tastes quite different,but this is easy to make too.will post ingredients soon

Trifle

Made trifle today with a nice base,smooth strawberry cheese mousse ,chocolate sauce,chocolate cake.
will post recipe soon.

English Berry and Bread Desert

• Mixed berries(strawberries,green and black grapes ,one can use blueberries too,if available)
• Sugar -- 2/3 cup
• Water -- 1/4 cup
• Stale white bread, crusts removed -- 6 to 8 slices
• Butter (melted or softened) 
•  
•  
• Method
• Clean the berries with a rinse of fresh water and drain thoroughly. If using strawberries, trim and slice into quarters.
• Add the berries, sugar and water to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low flame. Cook just enough to soften the berries, but not so much they lose their shape and turn mushy. Remove from heat and set aside. Adjust sugar to your taste.
• Line the bottom of a deep bowl or mold large enough to hold all the berries with a slice or two of bread to cover. Line the sides of the bowl neatly with the remaining slices of bread(apply butter neatly to them), trimming them to fit. Make sure there are no gaps between the slices.
• Pour the berries into the bread-lined bowl, reserving some of the juice. Fold any bread slices that stick up over the berries and top with some more bread slices to cover. Pour the remaining juice over the top bread slices to moisten them.
• Place a small plate on top of the pudding and put a soup can on top of the plate to weigh it down. Place in the refrigerator and chill overnight.
• Place a serving platter upside-down on the bowl and quickly flip them over. Remove the bowl, leaving the pretty pudding on the plate. Drizzle the reserved juice around the pudding. Garnish with fresh berries and mint sprigs. Serve with cream, whipped cream or clotted cream or vanilla ice cream.

Brown Bread/Bun

Made Brown bread today ,as its healthy..thought it may not be as soft as white bread,but turned out to be very soft and nice.
Recipe-
Yeast-2tsp
1/2cup-All purpose flour
3/4 cup-Wheat Flour
1tbsp-sugar
1cup-water
2tbsp-milk
1tsp-salt
2tsp-Olive Oil
 1tsp-melted Butter

1. Mix flours and salt well.
2.boil the water for few seconds,it should be jus warm,not too hot,or yeast will die.add milk.then add yeast
and sugar.
2.Leave the yeast mixture for 10 mins,till a frothy layer on above.
 3.Mix it to flour slowly.Knead it for minimum 10mins,dough should be soft,if too sticky add very little flour,adding too much flour will spoil the buns.add olive oil and keep it in pot for 1 hour ,covered with a wet muslin cloth at a warm place,I keep it in microwave(just preheat it for 1 min,and switch off and can keep inside microwave)
4.After 1 hour or more,the dough will double in size,knead it for a min again.now take small portions and shape them into round /bun.Brush them with little milk.let them rise again for 25 mins again on a greased oven tray.
5.Bake at 200 degree for 10-13 mins.brush with some melted butter and let them cool.
(I grill them for a min aftr brushing with butter ,it gives nice crust colour)

Instant Chocolate Mousse

 Since long , was thinking to make Chocolate Mousse , finally made it,what a wonderful desert to have after dinner,here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Chocolate
• 3/4 cup Cream
• 1/4 cup hot boiling water
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3 tbsp  Sugar Or as sweetness required
• 1 tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 4 tbsp Butter

Method:
Take a heavy bottomed saucepan. Combine all of the ingredients together. Keep the gas on low flame.
 Keep stirring the mixture otherwise the chocolate might stick to the bottom.
 Roughly about 7 mins the mixture should incorporate well. Switch off the gas. Again mix the batter with a spatula. Now pour the batter into the desired mold.

 keep the mousse to set for about 2hours in the fridge.Serve chilled.I didnt but one can decorate it with strawberries,dry fruits,cream,chocolate chips etc.