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.

Vanilla Chocolate Biscuits

Made These Vanilla Chocolate Biscuits yesterday.:)

Ingredients:

For the biscuits:
Maida - 1 cup
Powdered Sugar - 1/4 cup
Butter, softened - 125 gms
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Vanilla flavoured custar

For  cream-
· Butter, softened - 25 gms
 Powdered sugar - 1/4 cup
· Cocoa Powder - 2 tsp
· Custard powder - 1/2 tsp
• 
  
  1. Mix custard powder and maida, keep aside. Cream butter and sugar until creamy, add vanilla essence to it.
  
  2. Now add custard powder, maida to butter sugar mixture and mix well to form smooth dough.Chill the dough for 30mins.
  
  3. The dough would be firm by this time. Now pinch off equal bits and roll them into balls and press it lightly with the fork dipped in flour to get the marks on top. Repeat this for the entire dough and place them in the baking tray.
  
  4. Chill the biscuits until preheating time. Preheat the oven to 170 deg C for 10mins. Now bake the biscuits for 15-17mins. Allow them to cool completely.
  
  5. Now add the ingredients under buttercream and beat well until creamy. Sandwich the cream between 2 biscuits and enjoy your yoyo biscuits. Store it in airtight container.