Sumi's Kitchen

Hot Cross Buns ..Hot Cross Buns

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:10:00 +0000

Hot cross buns, Hot cross buns

One a penny , two a penny

Hot cross buns

If you have no daughters ,

give them to your sons

One a penny , two a penny

Hot cross buns.

I never knew that such buns really existed until I started blogging.Have been thinking that these were some fancy made up buns for the kids rhymes.Still remember the day when I came across this recipe in a blog , during my early days of blogging, called up my sister and was chatting about it and its history for quite sometime :)
Traditionally these buns are made as a breakfast for the Easter sunday. But for me whether its Easter or Christmas its just the holidays and the holiday spirit that engulfs us matters a lot, hence decided to bake this flavourful bread the past weekend.

I had picked up couple of cooking books published in the 1980's called the "Hamlyn - The All Colour Cookbook " from the local flea market recently.(These were the only books I could find in english ). It has the recipes for traditionally baked english goodies and 'Hot cross Buns' is one of them.

It may seem like lot of work, but its totally worth the effort.
All the measurements were in oz and pints, I converted them to cups and tblsp for our convenience. Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

12 0z / 3 cups Flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnomon powder

1/2 tsp of nutmeg powder

1/2 tsp of all spice powder(optional)

1/4 cup sugar

4 tblsp melted butter

1 eff beaten

1 cup raisin/sultanas/currants

For the yeast mixture:

1 tblsp dried yeast

1tsp sugar
2/ 3 cup warm milk (11oF)
2/3 cup warm water less 3 tblsp
1 cup plain flour

Makes 12 medium sized buns

Method:

Step 1:

Take a large bowl.Blend yeast with mixed warm milk , water , sugar and flour.
Leave until frothy, about 20-30 minutes.

Step 2:
In an another bowl sift together remaining flour (3 cups) salt and spices.Add sugar and mix well.
Step 3:
Beat the egg seperatly. Stir butter, egg and the flour mixture into the yeast mixture.Mix well

Step 4:
Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for approximately 10 minutes. Make into a smooth ball, cover with a tea towell or a tight lid and allow it to raise for 1 - 11/2 hour or until the dough is double in size.

Step 5:
Punch down the dough with your knuckles gently, take it on a lightly floured surface. Shape it to a log and divide into 12 equal portions. Take each portion and shape it into a ball by using the palm of one hand, first presing down hard and then easing up.

Step 6 :
Place it on a Baking tray lined with parchment paper, spaced well apart. Cover with a towel or greased polythene bag and allow it to rise for another 30 mins.

As you can see from the picture that I didn't shape the balls properly as I didnt follow the rolling into log and cutting equal shapes part.I just pinched the dough approximately like we do for chapati's.
But the earlier method works the best

Step 7:
Preheat the Oven to 180C. Make a cross witha very sharp knife to just cut surface of dough. Cut with a sharp knife little deeper , for more prominent cross after baking.Bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes. Enjoy the aroma that fills your house.

Step 8 :
For the glaze, Bring 2 tablespoon of milk and 2 tablespoon of water to the boil, stir in 2 tblsp of sugar and boil for 2-3 minutes. Brush hot buns twice

Enjoy your weekend breakfast with a cup of tea.
Taste better the next day when all the sugar and cinnomon seeps in.

To serve: Cut the buns into half .Toast slightly with butter and serve warm.

Ring Murukku for ICC.

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:49:00 +0000

This was the recipe chosen by Srivalli for this months Indian Cooking Challenge.
As a kid I loved to eat bagsfull of this snack, never knew the name until now. I was under the perception (dont know how) that this was also made with same murruku press directly in the oil. But when I saw the recipe, was quite glad to see that it was very simple.

The great procastrinator that Iam, didnt try to make it till the last day.Attempting to make things for the challenge was itself a big challenge for me.I followed the recipe 1 to the core, but reduced the red chilli powder to half(cos of the kid) and ..huh did I mention that I forgot to soak the moongdhal.
Couldnt wait of another half an hour for the soaking, for I wanted to take the pictures in the daylight.The Sun goes off here by 4.00 pm you know.
So I microwaved the dhal for 4 minutes and that did the trick. The Ringis (thats how I want to call them) didnt complain while frying. :)
I used 11/2 cup of rice flour, half of them got over while frying.,Ofcourse it was me, couldnt resist them.

Here goes the recipe as given by Srivalli.

Ingredients Needed:

Rice Flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Split Yellow Moong dal / Pesara pappu / Mung Dal / Pasiparuppu - 1 1/2 - 2 tblsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame Seeds - 1 tsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Ghee or oil - 1 tblsp
Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method to prepare:

Making the dough:

Soak moong dal in water for half hour to 1 hour.
In a deep bottom pan, boil water, then add salt, ghee and moong dal. Bring it to boil, simmer and slowly add the rice flour. Using a rolling pin or the ladle, mix the flour with water by stirring it well. When the flour is mixed and done, turn off the heat immediately. Cover with lid and keep aside for 10 to 15 mins.
Once the dough is cool, add chilli powder, sesame seeds, cumin seeds and mix well. Knead till you get a smooth dough. Adjust the salt and spice depending on your preference.

Frying the Chokodi:

Heat a pan with oil, enough to fry 3 -4 at time, if you conscious of not using too much oil. Simmer once it gets hot. The temperature should not be smoking hot.
Grease your fingers with oil and pinch out a small lemon size ball and roll between your palms to form a thick rope. Bring the two ends to together and press to form a rope. Ensure the ends are firmed pressed as not to give out during frying.
Continue with the rest of the dough until you are done with the entire batch. You can either cover it with a plate or a cloth to prevent the dough from getting dried.
Check if the oil is in the correct temperature, by dropping a tiny bit into the oil. Then gently slide the rings or the chakodis in batches of 4 -5. The flame has to be on high until the chakodis come up to the surface, then lower the flame to medium and cook till you get a golden colour on the chakodis.
When the chakodis are golden all over, using a slotted ladle, remove to a kitchen towel and cool. Store in an air tight container for longer shelf life.

Notes: Remember to turn the heat to medium to high and high to medium for getting the chakodis to golden colour and also to be cooked evenly. Only this way you get crispy chakodis. These should not be cooked on low flame as they will absorb more oil and can turn soggy also at times.

Variation: Instead of Cumin and Sesame seeds, 1 tsp of Ajwain or Omam can be used along with chili powder.

Iam happy that I learned a new recipe through this challenge.

Tomato Olive Bruchetta with Mozerella

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:29:00 +0000

I regularly stock my pantry with the mini baguettes, that is ready after baking for just 12 mins.Very convenient to make garlic bread as well as bruchetta's with various toppings.
To make it more rich, I top it with some left over mozerrella cheese (if any).Makes a delicous tea time snack.

Ingredients:

4 mini baguettes or a single loaf of French bread
1/2 cup tomato sauce / Pasta sauce
1/ 2 cup chopped tomatoes.
1/2 cup choped black olives
1/4 cup chopped jalapenos
2 tblsp chopped garlic
4 tblsp olive oil

few tblsp of shredded mozerella

2 tsp dried oregano or dried basil as per taste.

Method.
Mix the chopped garlic with olive oil and leave it to rest for about 10 mins
Bake the bread as per instructions
When the bread is cooled, cut into oblong slices
If its mini baquettes cut into half lengthwise.

Brush the bread with the garlic -olive oil mixture.
Spread a tsp of tomato sauce or pasta sauce, and sprinkle with oregano.

Spread the chopped olives , tomatoes, jalapenos as per taste.
Top with shredded mozorella and bake for 15 - 20 mins or until the cheese melts and brown spots appear.

Serve hot.

Some variations

Can avoid the cheese and just bake for 15 mins
Can also avoid the veggies and just bake it as garlic bread.
Can also use different combination of veggies as per taste
(for ex ., onion + redpeppers+ jalapenos+ basil)

Sending these over to the WYF - Tea Time snack event over at Simple Indian Food an the Sunday Snacks - Cheese event at Mirch Masala

Parotta - Southern Stlye from Viki's Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:24:00 +0000

Have started cooking a lot from other blogs lately, and am clearing up my bookmarked recipes which is a huge list by the way.
This recipe luckily didnt sit for the usual long time in the folder, for the moment I saw the picture and the method in Viki's blog I knew I had to try it. Its been my long time wish to try and make these southern style parotta at home, but was not comfortable with the ghee loaded recipes that I found in many pages and also the methods used.

But this one was very simple, with some sesame oil (which we love to use) and the taste was just great.I also liked the quick tip given by Viki about freezing the parottas. I made 12 of them (It took 2 hrs for an amatuer like me) the day before and kept in the freezer.It worked out really well.I used parchment paper used for baking, to line the parottas, instead of Plastic sheets .It was very easy to just slide it out.

The recipe is definitly a keeper and worth all the effort.
Here is the recipe for keepsake:

Source - Viki's Kitchen

Ingredients:
Maida / All purpose flour - 2 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 1 tbsp
water - as per requirement
salt - 1 tsp
baking powder - 1/2 tsp
sesame oil - 1/2 cup

A flat surface like clean kitchen counter top.
Rolling pin.
plastic sheets - 20
Method:
Mix Maida with salt and baking powder.
Then add water little by little to get a chapathi dough consistency.
Then add 3 tbsp oil to the dough and knead well.
Knead for 5 minutes with beating and punching to get a silky smooth dough.
Cover it with a cling wrap or wet towel and leave it for 4 hours in the room temperature.
Then divide the flour in to 10 equal size balls.
In a small bowl, mix the rice flour with 2 tbsp of sesame oil to get a ghee like paste.
Step 1:
Take one dough ball,apply some oil to it and flatten it on a clean kitchen top . Flatten it till it tries to tear off. No need to get a smooth circle.But a very thin disc should be achieved.
(Do not try to take it with hands, just flatten it to a big circle.)
Step 2:
Take a little rice flour + oil mix and apply it smoothly over the flattened disc.
The rice flour gives a flaky texture and also prevents the layers from sticking with one another.
Step 3:
Using a knife , slit the disc into long ribbon like strips. Fold every strip once in a longitudinal manner like a paper.
Step 4:
Apply little oil on a plastic sheet . Make concentric circles using all the folded ribbons to get the shape as shown.
Step 5:
Place another plastic sheet above the dough . No need to apply oil now. Press it gently with a rolling pin to get a perfect circle.

Check out here for the pictorial of the steps given above

Make all the 10 parottas as described in the leisure time. keep them frozen in a freezer. If you want to fry them immediately, then no need to freeze.Heat a dosa tava. Apply a little oil over the surface.Remove the top plastic sheet. Peel off the parotta . Place it on the hot tava.Flip it again and again to get it cooked evenly.
Take out and serve hot.

I served mine with vegetable kurma which is also adapted from chicken salna recipe. Didnt get time to take the picture of this one.

Channa pulao.

This is another keeper from Viki's Kitchen.The recipe was totally new to me.

However I reduced the amount of redchillies mentioned in the recipe as it was too spicy for me. For 2 cups of Basmati rice I used 5 redchillies.

It turned out perfect for our taste buds.

Ok .. one more final picture...

Baked Aloo Tikki and a Special Award.

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:07:00 +0000

Before going to the recipe I want to mention about this award that I have received from Viki ( EliteFoods) whose blog I love to visit and have also tried some of her amazing recipes.What makes it so special is that, she has created it herself and am very happy to receive it first hand from her.To be very frank this is my second award from the Blogosphere.Thank you Viki.

I would like to pass this lovely award to the following ladies
CoolLassie at PanGravyKadaiCurry
Tina at Kaipunyam
HappyCook at MyKitchenTreasure.

Please pass on this award to as many blogers as you wish.

Now going to the recipe, I made this tikki's (or should I say cutlet) for a small get together.I had planed to make it as a regular tiki using the tawa and made the filling accordingly.I was interrupted by a very important work that day, so ran out of time and decided to take my chance and bake it.It turned out quite great and everyone loved it.

Ingredients:
4 large potatoes.
1 large onion chopped
3 green chillies chopped
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp chopped ginger
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves.
2 tblsp lemon juice
1 tsp chat masala( optional)
1/4 cup bread crumbs + 1/4 cup for rollling
salt as required

Method

Preheat the oven to 220C
Boil the potaoes.Cool and peel the skin.Mash the potatoes well
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well
Watch the amout of salt as the breadcrumbs and the chat masala will have salt in it.
Make small balls out of the mixture.
Take 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs in a plate.

Line the baking tray with foil.Grease slightly with oil.
Flatten the potato balls and roll the disc over the crumbs and place it in the prepared baking sheet
Bake it for 15 - 20 mins approx, or until the crust turns golden

Pav Bhaji with Moong Bean Sprouts

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:10:00 +0000

I started making pav bhaji after coming to belgium just because of the beautiful soft buns that we get over here. These buns , lightly toasted with butter and scooped into this gravy is a mouthful of delight and is simply irrestible. Hence this dish started making its way into my kitchen atleast twice a month, especially during those lazy weekend mornings when we get up late and decide to have a brunch. Since I make it quite often I decided to make it healthy and filling by adding sprouted moong dhal. This bhaji was delicious and it completely wipes away the guilt of having white bread and butter.

I soak and sprout the dhal on thursday so its ready for saturday morning.

Ingredients:
1 cup sprouted moong dhal
2 medium potatoes , peeled and cubed
1 medium onion chopped
2 medium tomatoes chopped finely
1 carrots peeled and chopped
1/4 cup of peas
1/4 cup of chopped beans
1/4 cup chopped cauliflower
2tblsp of ginger -garlic paste.
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
1/4 tsp garam masala pwd
1 tblsp pav bhaji masala
1 tsp chilli pwd
2 tsp coriander pwd
1 tsp lemon/lime juice
salt and turmeric as required

Method:
Add a Tblsp of oil in a pressure cooker.
Add the chopped onions and fry till translucent.
Now add the ginger-garlic paste and fry well.
To this add the chopped tomatoes, salt , chilli pwd, coriander pwd, pav bhaji masala and fry till oil leaves the sides.
Now add all the vegetables and the sprouts, give a good stir.
Close and pressure cook till 3 whistles.
After it is cooled open the cooker, add chopped coriander, and give it a boil for 2 mins without the lid. Add a tsp of lemon juice and stir well.

Note:
Alternatly you can also pressure cook the vegetables forst and then add to the masala, mix and boil for 10 mins.
The choice and number of vegetables is completly upto the individual taste.
If you dont have pav bhaji masala, substitute it with 1/2 tsp jeera powder+ 1/2 tsp chat masala powder+1/4 tsp of garam masala powder.

Sending this over to Meeta's for the Monthly Mingle where this months theme is "Brunch".

My First Chocolate Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:08:00 +0000

For an ardent chocolate cake lover like me it took me this long to bake one. I like plain chocolate cake with simple icing , not those which are loaded with layers of cream. So I usually satisfy my craving by settling on the store bought mixes. But this time I decided to give it a go and tried out the recipe from Pusiva's culinary studio. I did'nt like the strong bitter flavour of the cocoa powder that I get here, so used chopped cooking chocolate instead. The cake turned out to be moist and perfect, exactly the way I like it.

We had the cake with some whipped cream, but next time I will make a single layer of chocolate Ganache.

Recipe Adapted from Pusiva's culinary studio.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup plain flour
50gms of cooking chocolate.
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp hot water
1 tsp instant cofee powder or granules
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup water

Method:
Melt the chocolate by double boiling method and allow it to cool.
Mix the coffee poder in the hot water and allow it to cool.
Grease and prepare the cake pan
Seive the flour , baking powder and soda together.(if you are using cocoa powder, include that here)
Beat the buttr and sugar until light and fluffy.Add the egg and beat well for a min.
Now add the cooled chocolate, cofee mixture, vanilla essence , beat for approxately 2 - 3 min.
Add the flour little by little alternatly with water, finally ending with the flour mixture.
Give it a gentle stir by hand until all the flour dissolves. Do not beat while adding the flour.
Pour the mixture on to the prepared pan and bake in an 175C oven for 40 - 45 mins.

Note:
If your cake is browing quickly throw in a sheet of foil over the top of the pan after 20 mins of baking.
I baked the cake twice with and without the coffee powder , it tasted great. So the coffee powder is completly optional.

Having baked my first Chocolate cake I have gained confidence to try out so many different versions of chocolate cake out there with diffrent Icing. So you can expect few more posts on chocolate cakes from me in the future.

Enjoy !!!
Iam sending this Chocolate Cake over to Cook for Yourself event at Food for 7 stages of life.

Spicy Chettinad Chicken Fry / Chettinadu Kozhi Varuval

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:25:00 +0000

We have had an overdose of chicken lately for the past few weeks which made me try out some special chicken dishes and thus ended up with this wonderful recipe. I learned this one from a TV show in which some famous Chettinad ladies showcased their family recipes. At that time I wondered how few red chillies can bring spiceness to the dish, but I should warn you, It was really really hot and awesome. I generally try to avoid Chettinad dishes because of the grinding of the spices involved( as I dont have a smaller mixer), and also because of the amount of coconut involved( as I try not to use coconut in our diet). But after trying out this recipe I started searching for chettinad recipes for each and every vegetable that I had in my refrigerator and the whole week was like a chettinad fiesta. In this process I also stumbled upon Solai's chettinad kitchen blog, very nice blog for people who love spicy food with some fabulous recipes.
Here is the recipe for Chettinad Chicken Fry:

Ingredients

Chicken - 1/2 kg

For Marination:

red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

lemon juice - 1sp
For frying

red chillies - nos

cinnamon - 1 inch piece

cloves - 2 nos

fennel seeds/sombhu - 1tsp

chopped garlic - 2 tsp

chopped ginger - 1tsp

1 medium onion finely chopped

few curry leaves

salt to taste
Method:

Wash and marinate the chicken pieces with chilli powder , turmeric, ginger garlic paste,salt and lemon juice for atleast 1/2 an hour or overnight.

In wide pan heat few tblsp of oil.

Add cinnamon, cloves, curryleaves, sombhu and redchillies to the hot oil.

Give it a stir for a minute and add the chopped onions, garlic and ginger. Fry till translucent. Now add the marinated chicken pieces, stir well, add 1/2 cup of water and close with a tight lid. Cook in medium flame for 10 mins. Open the lid, stir well , check for salt and cook till the water is absorbed(approc 10 more mins). Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Special Note:-Alternatively you can cook the marinated chicken first by adding them to a pot of boiling water along with cinnamon, cloves for about 6-7 mins.Strain well and reserve the liquid for making soup. Then follow the above process by adding little amount of water. Both method works well.

Some pictures of the Chettinad Chicken Kuzhambhu/Curry and Pepper Rasam that I made on the next day for lunch.

Kodhumai/Wheat Rava/Cracked wheat Uppuma and Coriander-Peanut Chutney

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:34:00 +0000

This is a very simple and filling meal which makes its way in to my kichen atleast once a week. Usually I make this uppuma for dinner whenever I make sambhar for lunch, so that I need not put extra effort for making any chutneys.Sambhar and wheat rava uppuma are a classic combo. But yesterday for a change I made this coriander - peanut chutney to go with this delicious uppuma, which equally tasted good.
Change is always good right..

Wheat Rava Uppuma

Ingredients:

Wheat rava/cracked wheat - 2 cups

water - 4 cups

1 tsp mustard seeds

1tsp urad dhal

1 tsp channa dhal

1 tsp chopped ginger

2 green chillies, slit

1 medium onion chopped

few curry leaves

Method

Dry roast the Rava in a pan without oil i medium flame for atleast 10 mins

(Do not avoid this step , as it reduces the raw smell of the wheat a lot)

Heat a tblsp of oil in a non stick pan/kadai.

Add the tempering ingredients mustard, urad dhal, channa dhal and curry leaves when the oil is hot.

When the mustard pops add the onion , chillies and ginger, fry till onion turns translucent

Now add the water and salt to taste.Close with a lid and allow it to boil.

When the water is boiling, slowly add the wheat rava and stir well. Reduce the flame to medium , close with a tight lid and cook for 10 mins.

Stir well, reduce the flame to very low, close with a lid and cook for another 10 mins.

Coriander peanut chutney:

Ingredients:

1 bunch of coriander leaves

1 handful of mint leaves(optional)

1/2 cup of roasted peanuts

2 green chillies

1/2 tsp tamarind paste

1 garlic pod

Method:

Grind all the above ingredients with the required amount of salt

Make the tempering with mustard , urad dhal, curry leaves and pour over the chutney.

Stir well and serve.

Bhoondhi Laddoo - A Diwali Treat

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:20:00 +0000

Made these yummy ladoos for Diwali from my mother's recipe. Though there are different forms of ladoos, bhoondhi ladoo has been my favorite, especially I love the ones from Adyar Ananda Bhavan... I didnt have any special laddle for making them, so used the regular slotted laddle (Jalli karandi) a slightly bigger one. The initial rounds of bhoondhi came out just fine but the final three batches got messed up, as they began to clog together. Probably the heat got reduced or the batter became too thin/thick , I am not sure, but who cares I got enough bhoondhi's to make 25 ladoos. I added chopped almonds and raisins instead of the traditional cashews, not that I dont prefer them , I realised that I ran out of cashews at the last minute, but the almonds tasted equally good and balanced out the sweetness of the ladoo.

The recipe is very simple and it hardly took 1 hour for me to finish . Hope you all give it a try.

Ingredients:

2 cups gram flour

a pinch of salt

a pinch of cooking soda

for the syrup :

3 cups of sugar (for each cup of flour 11/2 cup of sugar)

1 cup of water ( for each cup of flour 1/2 cup of water)

few cardomom pods

1 drop of yellow food colour (optional)

1 cup chopped almonds/cashews

1/2 cup raisins

Method:

- Take few tsp of ghee and fry the almonds and raisins as we do for payasams. Keep aside.

- Take enough oil in a wide bottommed vessel(atleast an inch thick)

- Mix the flour soda and salt with enough water , just enough to resemble Idli batter.(The batter should not be either too thick or too thin).

- Once the oil is hot(keeping the slotted laddle over the oil) , spread a laddle full of batter over the slotted laddle in circular motion. The bhoondhi's will fall in the oil.

- Fry them for 2 mins , take them out and drain in a paper towel.The bhoondhi should not become crisp.

- Repeat the same with the remaining batter.

- Switch on the other stove and heat the sugar and water in parallel. Add the smashed cardomom pods to it.

- Allow it to boil and reach the single string consistency i.e., if you touch and release the liquid between your fingers it should form a string.

- At this point switch of the stove and mix the bhoondhi, and fried almonds and raisins.Give it a stir with a wooden spoon, close with a lid and allow to cool for few minutes.

- While its still warm , make it to lemon sized balls.

Note : If the mixture gets cooled after sometime heat for a minute in a a Microwave.

If you do not have a microwave, Sprinkle some warm milk as you make the balls

This recipe makes 25 - 30 medium sized ladoos.

Sending these yummy laddoos to the following events:

Sweet series host at Mom's recipes

Diwali Dhamaka event at Purva's blog

Sweet Celebrations HOsted by Mansi at Fun and Food Cafe

FIL - Ghee Hosted at Sanghi' Food Delights

Pineapple fresh cream cake

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:12:00 +0000

I have been planning to make this cake ever since I saw the recipe in "Passionate about baking". The fear of Icing the cake with whipped cream or for that matter any Icing has kept me away from these kind of cakes. Finally I mustered my guts and baked this cake for my Husbands birthday who is an ardent lover of pineapple desserts.
The cake turned out soft and spongy, but the Icing scared me Initially.I baked the sponge at 2.00am in the night (wanted it to be a surprise you know!), and thought of Icing it early in the morning. But when I started Whipping cream, dont know what happened, the cream started to curdle after 6 mins, probably because I whipped it at high speed. I was totally disappointed as I didnt have any more cream left in the fridge.

With few adventures later somehow made the Icing and decorated the cake by evening. The cake tasted too good , and I have already made plans for making it again.The step by step proceure and the tips in the recipe helped me a lot.

My little prince also turned two this September.We celebrated with a small gathering of friends and collegues. I managed to prepare the dinner with some help from neighbour friends. Wanted to share the dinner menu with you guys. Here are some pictures..

Appetizer:

Veg Cutlet

Main course:

Idlis
Vada curry and coconut chutney
Tomato rice sevai
Rice
Vegetable biriyani
Peas -jeera pulav
Curd rice
Curries
Chicken curry
Egg curry
Eggplant curry with Peanuts

Potato Fry

Fryums and Sago Vadam and Onion Raita

Dessert:
Carrot halwa

Brownies

Icecream

Yummy Vanilla Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:30:00 +0000

Iam back from a month long break...We had three good weeks of vacation in India, and then back here I had to prepare for my kids second birthday.It went on very well last week, though hard to believe that my tiny one is growing so fast.Will post the pictures of the menu in the next post.But before that I wanted to publish this post that was sitting in my drafts for a long time.The auto scheduler didnt work for me !!!

Have tried several recipes for vanilla cupcakes from diferent sources, but didnt quite turn out well. So I stopped making them for a while until I saw this recipe from "Passionate about baking" . Made it thrice since then , and every time it baked beautifully and was yummy.

Without taking much of your time here is the recipe:

I didnt make any changes to the original recipe, just made them with large muffin pan instead of the mini ones. Made 12 cupcakes.

Source: Passionate about Baking

Ingredients:

Flour – 2 cups

Baking Powder – 2 tsp

Salt – ½ tsp

Butter – ½ cup

Sugar 1 ¼ cup

Eggs – 2

Milk – 1 cup

Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp

Method:
Preheat the oven to 190deg C.
Grease well muffin trays.
Sift together flour + baking powder + salt 3 times. Keep aside.
Cream the butter and sugar well on high speed until light and fluffy.
Beat in vanilla essence, followed by eggs beaten in 1 by 1.
Now beat in flour and milk alternatively till well incorporated.
Put about a tsp full in each muffin casing, about ¾ full, as it will rise.
Bake at 190deg C for 10-15 mins till golden brown.
Remove immediately and cool on racks.

Apple cinnamon muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:08:00 +0000

I had bookmarked this recipe from Baking bites long back but didnt get to it.Whenever I think of trying this recipe either I will be short of apples or the apples will not be fresh.Since Iam travelling to India on a three weeks vacation Iam planning my menu everyday such that no vegetables or fruits are left out in the refrigerator.Veggies I can manage, but fruits ! with only three days left there is a lot of fruit (peaches,cherries, pears, apples)to be finished thanks to the visit to the farmers market..So dont be surprised if there is an other post on something with peaches.(ya I have a bookmarked recipe of peaches too..)

I didnt use the recipe as such, made a few changes like avoided eggs and used milk instead of buttermilk.I also used whole wheat pastry flour.The result was soft moist and delicious muffins.

Recipe adapted from Baking Bites

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract ( I used vanilla sugar)

1 cup milk

2 cups diced apple

3 tbsp coarse sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnomon

Method

Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and spices.

In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar , melted butter, vegetable oil and vanilla.

Working in two or three additions, alternately stir in flour mixture and milk, ending with an addition of flour and mixing only until no streaks of flour remain visible in the batter.

Stir in diced apple.Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups filling each to the top, or slightly over.

In a small bowl, stir together coarse sugar and additional 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.

Sprinkle generously over muffins.Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.

Cool muffins on a wire rack.

Mine made 9 large Muffins.

The theme for this month's Think Spice event hosted by Sunita herself being "Spiced sweet treat" these gorgeous Apple Muffins spiced with cinnamon and ginger makes their way to the event.

Easy breezy salmon curry

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:20:00 +0000

I try to cook fish almost twice a week.Mostly it is salmon and rarely it is some other white fish. We all know that Salmon is one of the richest source of omega 3 fatty acids and it reduces bad cholestrol.

But Salmon doesn't fit in the usual south Indian 'meen kulambhu ' that we prefer (somehow it makes the fish rubbery) I reserve that dish for some trouts or any other fish from the market. So I always make this quick and delicious curry to be relished with white rice or roti's.

Its a must try recipe for people who love to eat salmon.Even if you dont like (like I used to be ) you will start liking it after this recipe.

Ingredients:

2 - (15 oz) salmon strips cut into cubes.(you can also use frozen ones)

3 cloves of garlic finely chopped.

1 onion finely chopped

1/2 cup of tomato paste

1/2 tsp turmeric power

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp whole peppers

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds(optional)

1/2 tsp fennel seeds/powder(optional)

curry leaves

Method:

Take 2 tblsp of olive oil in a flat bottommed vessel.

Add the curry leaves, whole pepper, fenugreek and the fennel seeds when the oil is hot.

Add the chopped garlic and onions and fry till the onion turns translucent

Now add the tomato paste, turmeric powder, coriander powder , chilli power and salt.

Add half cup of water and mix well.Close with a lid and allow it to boil for 10 mins in a medium flame.

After the raw smell o the tomato paste disappears, add the salmon pieces , gently give it stir, reduce the flame to low , cover and cook for 10 more mins.

Note:

The gravy should be thick. So cooking in the low flame after adding the fish is a must to avoid burning. Adjust the salt and spice to your taste, before adding the fish.

Sending this curry to the Spotlight "FISH" event hosted at APPAYAPPAN. Its her first event and I agree with her that there is less spotlight on the Non veg dishes in the blogosphere.Its wonderful to see a collection of fish recipes at one place. Hope to see more spotlights in the future.

Cherry cake

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:01:00 +0000

Baked this beautiful cake past weekend with some leftover cherries from the farmers market.

Browsed a lot of recipes from the net and finally settled on the one from Joy of Baking.

I followed the recipe as given, but had to replace the sugar with brown sugar, as I realised that I ran out of white sugar, after beating the eggs.

But the cake baked beautifully and was delicious.I made this in the evening and the cake plate become empty by the time we had tea.

Ingredients:

1 pound (454 grams) fresh cherries, pitted
1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (150 grams) brown sugar
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup (80 ml) milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).

Butter and flour an 9 inch (23 cm) spring form pan and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
Rinse, dry, and pit all the cherries. Cut the cherries as desired.

Take about 1/4 (about 15) of the cherries (to be placed on the top of the cake during baking) and cut them in half.
In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl , beat the eggs and sugar until thick and lemon colored (about 3-5 minutes).

Add the melted butter, milk, vanilla, and lemon zest and beat just until incorporated.

Add the flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Gently fold in the whole pitted cherries.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula.
Bake for 15 minutes then remove from oven.

Quickly arrange the remaining cherries, cut side down, on the top of the cake.

Return the cake to the oven and bake for a further 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake portion comes out clean.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly.
Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of softly whipped cream.
Makes 8 - 10 servings.

Source : Joy of Baking

Eggplant curry with Peanuts for JFI

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:14:00 +0000

This is a delicacy which my mother makes often.I relish this dish just with plain rice and a tsp of ghee.This is also a great side dish for any spiced rice such as pulav, biriyani, jeera rice etc.,

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant

1 handful of roasted peanuts , ground into a coarse powder.

1 medium onion chopped

1 small tomato chopped

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric pwd (optional)

1 tsp whole pepper

1 tsp cumin/jeera seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp urad dhal

1 tsp channa dhal

1 tsp tamarind paste dissolved in 1/2 cup of water

curry leaves optional.

salt and oil to taste.

Method.

Wash and cut the brinjal or eggplants into 1 inch long strips.

Take 2tblsp of oil in non stick kadai/pan.

Add the mustard and wait till it splutters.

Now add the urad dhal, channa dhal, pepper , jeera and currey leaves.

Once the dhal is brown, add the onions and fry till translucent.

Add the eggplants and fry nicely till it shrinks in size, now add the tomatoes, chillipowder, turmeric, and salt. Sprinkle some water, reduce the flame and close the pan with lid.

Allow it to cook for 8 10 mins, and then add the tamarind juice(1tsp paste dissolved in 1/2 cup water).

Increase the heat and stir well till all the juice is absorbed.

Now add the coarse peanut/groundnut powder , chopped coriander leaves, stir well to combine and switch of the stove.

Note:

Always add the peanuts, only when all the water is absorbed and the curry is almost dry. Otherwise the dish will become very soggy.
As a variation you can also add 2tblsp of shreded coconut with or without the peanuts .
Roasting the brinjal in more oil (20r 3 tblsp more) and allowing the brinjal to cook in the oil will definitly enhance the taste even better i.e. if you are not worried about the extra calories or fat that bringa along with it :).

This is a great dish to prepare for potlucks, get together's or any party for that matter.

Iam sending this to ths months JFI conceived by Indira hosted at 'The cooks hide out'

Test Post

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:23:00 +0000

POst to check if my feed is picked up correctly

Dates and Walnuts Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:27:00 +0000

Wanted to bake something healthy and filling for our weekend trip to Paris last weekend.When I started browsing, I came across Aparna's post on Dates muffin and I was quite satisfied with the recipe as all the ingredients mentioned were in my pantry and dates sounded more healthy and the combination with walnuts suited my taste.

Muffins are easy to pack and carry too.

I had a type of whole wheat flour with the bran, so I decided to replace the all purpose flour and the wheat germ with WWF and increased the amout of oil by a tablespoon.

The result was a delicious and sweet smelling muffins. The smell of the wwf doesnt seem to bother my toddler and the muffins kept him going during that tiresome weekend.

Ingredients:

2 cup whole wheat flour

¾ cup light brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ cup dates, deseeded and chopped finely

½ cup walnuts

1 cup milk

4 tbsp oil

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Chop the the dates and walnuts into smaller pieces. Set the oven to 200C.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Put all the wet ingredients in another bowl and mix well.

Now pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and fold so that everything is just mixed.

If the batter is over-mixed, the muffins will not be soft and springy in texture.

Spoon the batter into greased muffin cups about 2/3 full.

Bake for about 15 to 2o minutes.Mine baked for 25 mins probably because of the wholewheat.Cool slightly, remove to a rack.

I made 10 as my muffin cups are slightly on the larger side.

Will bake these often from now on, probably will add some orange juice next time as suggested by Madhuram. Iam sending these muffins to her 'Whole Grain Baking - whole wheat ' event.

Pictures and Memories - A "no cooking" Event Announcement

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:24:00 +0000

Well, let me start with event announcement first.
Its summer already and Iam sure many of you have planned your travel and some of you might have just returned from your trips during the long weekend.I love travelling in Summer, be it a simple picnic or a long tour for days I try to enjoy the most. Thanks to technology now every one of us carry a digital camera around and trying to capture the beautiful moments of our trip.In that coarse we always end up with loads of photograph which lays unnoticed after a week or two.
During summer I see some posts here and there about the summer trips and some clicks
Lets make it interesting and take it one step further through this event
Lets start sharing our memories through some pictures with our blog friends, so that others can also get to know about the spot/city/place you visited.

But an event is not an event without some rules. So lets get to the rules, shall we...

To make this event intersting I have two categories.
Category 1: Foodie shots
As a food blogger myself , whenever I travel, I like to take pictures of restaurants, street stalls, cafe's, fridge magnets, soveniers....etc., anything that is cute , related to food, and has a local flavour captures my attention and I start clicking them and Iam sure its the same with the rest of you.
So dig in your archives and find those cute pictures and post it in this category .

Few examples that I could think of...

a local street stall sellinng waffle, hotdogs, burgers, Indian street food, Ice creams etc.,
A a unique table setting in a restaurant
Something interseting in a menu board that captures ur attention
soveniers, fridge magnets related to food..
a picnic lunch spread up on the park...

Any picture that has an association to the culinary side are welcome in this category.

For those of you who are planning to travel , keep this event in mind ,and bring us some nice foodie shots.

Category 2: " My favourite pictures" .
This can include pictures that are your favourites.It can be a landmark , scenic pictures or wildlife or anything that you like.

And now coming to the Rules.

1. Please write a post about your recent summer trip with pictures that goes into two categories as mentioned above.
2. You can post 1 or 2 pictures in the 1st category with a maximum of two pictures.(minimum 1)
3. you can post 3 to 5 pictures in the 2nd category with a maximum of 5 pictures.(minimum 3)
4. Please give atleast a two line descripton about each of the picture. You can share your memories and also the trip details
5. Please note that this not a photography event or competition, so dont worry about how the picture looks.This is just an event to share our memories.
6. The last date is Sep 30 2009. Iam planning it to be a quaterly event.
7. Send me an email with the folloing details: ( sumi (underscore)ammu(at)yahoo.com)

your name
your place of travel
your blog url
your post url
and attach a picture from category 1.

8. Dont forget to link this event announcement page in your post.
9. I will post the round up by October first week
10. Non bloggers can also send in their entries through the email.I will post it in my blog as and when I get it.

With the rules being laid out for the event, let me post my entries to the event.

A Trip to Paris
Last weekend we packed our bags to Paris, although its a mere one hour train trip from Brussels , we were very excited about it.Especially my 22 month old toddler after watching endless episodes of "Thomas the tank engine" was very much obssessed with the train that at one point he refused to come out of the Station.

Paris...Its a very lovely city vibrant with colours and with streets filled with people.It was kind of nice to watch a hustle bustle city even at the late hours after a long time.We took the tour bus and enjoyed the trip around the city eventhough we had a tough time packing and unpacking the stroller everytime we get on and off the bus .Yes..Can you beleive it , we were not able to take the stroller in the bus.Thats the one thing I didnt like in this trip, the city was not at all stroller friendly, even the entry to the metro station..Oh.. I dont want to start about it.

But over all we had a nice time, walking around the city and thanks to mother nature the weather was too good.We absolutly loved the Lovre Museum, and the Eiffel tower at the night.
Try to visit the city if you get a chance.

And here are my entries to the event.

Category 1 : Foodie shots

These cute fridge magnets captured my attention the moment I landed in Paris which was in my purse a while later.

Category 2: My Favourite pictures:

Eiffel tower at night.

During the day time

The incredible 'Mono Lisa'

The Lovre Museum

A view of the open tour bus.

For Click

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:06:00 +0000

Sending this picture of the Rava Ladoos for CLICK - Stacks

Rava Urundai /Ladoos - Indian Cooking Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:55:00 +0000

Making these rava urundai's took me down the memory lane to the diwali days when we were kids.My mom used to make these every year during diwali, but the method used was totally different from this recipe.As Srivalli said its the other method by grinding the rava and sugar together. My mom grinds the rava in the mill few ays before diwali, and on the night before diwali she makes everything ready for us kids to make the balls.Its very difficult to make the balls with powder mixed with hot ghee.But we used to have fun while doing it.

After marriage I tried making rava urundai for a diwali get together and it turned out a disaster, more like 'kesari balls', you know what I mean :).

So making this sweet was really a challenge to me eventhough the recipe sounds so simple.

But it turned out great and I liked it.I omitted raisins and added some almond flakes along with less cashews. you may be wondering about the colour, but I dindt add any colours.

The semolina that I get in the local retail retail store over here is yellow in colour.

I made 12 medium sized urundai/ladoos out of this recipe

Recipe and method as given by Srivalli for ICC

Makes - 10 Laddoos of normal size

Rava / Semolina - 1 cup

Sugar - 1 cup

Ghee - 25 gms

Milk - 25 ml

Cardamom powder - a pinch

Cashew nuts - 10 whole nuts

Raisins - 10 nos

Grated fresh coconut - 25 gms

Method to prepare:

Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a kadai. Once the ghee is hot enough, simmer the flame and roast cashew nuts and raisins. Once the raisins balloon up, remove.

Then roast the grated coconut. Remove once done. Keep all these aside.Add the remaining ghee and roast the Rava till its well roasted and aroma starts coming out.

In a bowl, take all the roasted Rava, Nuts, Coconut and add the Cardamom powder.

Then add the sugar. Mix well.Then slowly add the warm milk into the bowl.

Check if you are able to gather as balls. When you find that milk added is enough to get you laddos, transfer it back to the kadai and cook in sim for 2 mins.

Mix well and then cover it and let it rest for 2 mins. Then immediately make balls or laddoos.

Notes:While roasting the Rava, make sure you have the flames in sim, else there is a chance of the rava getting over roasted.Its enough to add only the required amount of milk to get you form balls.

Depending on the rava and the sugar at times we may not use all the 25 gmsSince we add milk, its best to consume within 5 days of making them.

If you store them in fridge, you can have them for a week.The other version followed isThe rava after being roasted can be powdered using a blender. Add sugar to this and make a powder. Add a little ghee to this mixture and make small balls out of this.

Expecting more such recipes in the upcoming "Indian Cooking Challenge"

Tried and Tasted - Rajasthani Kadhi.

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:05:00 +0000

This months 'Tried and Tasted' is hosted at KitsChow and the blog she has selected is Meena's "Hooked on Heat". I have been following Meena's blog for a long and long time now .Its very hard to come out of her blog one you start browsing through her recipes.The amazing pictures and the simple recipe along with her long stories keep us hooked on. Hers was one of the blogs that inspired me start with my own and I came to know about the concept of food events through her event " From My Rasoi" .

That was my first participation in a food event .

Though I have tried many dishes from her blog, I made this 'Rajathani Kadhi' especially for this event for the second time.The recipe is very simple and yet very different from the traditional South Indian mor kuzhambhu and the North Indian Kadhi.

Changes I made :

I used 2 red chillies for tempering, and since I ran out of coriander seeds I used 1 tsp of coriander powder.

I hope you all try this out and enjoy.

Strawberry Cake and Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:09:00 +0000

It was raining strawberries at home last week. My toddler just started eating strawberries and he likes it a lot even if its soar.Just the fact that my son has started a liking towards these pinkish beauties made my husband go for loads of them.Yes, he brought home a whole bag of it.

The best part of it is that he didnt know that strawberries doesnt have a longer life even if its refrigerated. So two days later I started browsing for some recipes to use the left over fruit, and came across two wonderful recipes.

The first one was Aparna's Strawberry muffin.

The recipe was so simple I immediatly baked them. As she mentioned in her post I added some sugar to the berries before mixing as mine was very sour.But the muffin tasted really good with no trace of the sourness.

The next one was a Strawberry spring cake from Asha's Foodie's hope.

This recipe was already book marked by me when she posted it last month, waiting for some neglected strawberries, and so baked that wonderful soft cake the next day.

Over all the recipes were so good and welcomed by all , that I baked them twice.

Iam posting the recipes here for keepsake:

Strawberry Muffins:

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar*

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chopped (not too fine) Strawberries

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

1 egg (or flax seed substitute**)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Put the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk lightly to mix well.

Add the strawberries to the flour mixture and mix to ensure they are well coated with flour.

In another bowl, lightly beat the egg/ flax seed substitute, vanilla extract, milk and oil together. Add this to the strawberry-flour mixture and gently mix together, in a folding motion, about 4 or 5 times. Do not over stir, or the texture of your muffins will suffer.

The batter will be lumpy and slightly floury.

Grease the muffin tins/ cups and divide the batter equally between them, so that each one is about 2/3rds full.

Bake at 180C for about 25 minutes till the muffins are done and lightly golden brown on top.

Cool for 10 minutes, unmould them and cool completely on a rack. This recipe makes 8 muffins.

Note : I used whole wheat flour completly for this recipe, and somehow my batter become a little thin , but my muffins came out just fine.

Strawberry cake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ( 1 stick) softened butter,

2 eggs,

1 cup regular white sugar,

1 tsp vanilla essence,

1 3/4 cups plain flour,

1/8 tsp salt,

2 tsp baking powder,

2/3 cup fresh red ripened Strawberries pureed.

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F/190C.

Spray cake pan with no-stick oil or butter well and keep aside.

In a mixer bowl, beat the sugar and butter first until fluffy.

Add in the eggs,mix. Then add in the vanilla.

Sift flour and baking powder, add to the creamed butter mixture and mix again gently on low speed until everything comes together.

Now, stir in the strawberry puree, beat until batter is well mixed and evenly pink.

Pour into the prepared pan, tap on the kitchen counter to top get the bubbles out.

Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven or until golden and skewer comes out clean form the center.

Take it out of the oven, let it sit for 5mins. Invert gently on the cooling rack.

When cool, sprinkle powdered sugar on top to serve or you can use Vanilla icing.

I served it with whipped cream.It was delicious.

Hence ended my starwberry saga for this season and No more for this year ! :)

Sending these Muffins and Cake to 'The Strawberry Feast' hosted by Happy Cook at 'My Kitchen Treasures'

Baked Salmon Cubes

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:36:00 +0000

I try to make salmon atleast once a week.Usually I whip up a quick curry to go with rice, but this weekend I wanted to have something very spicy for my brinjal and mango sambhar.Since my DH gives a big no to Fish fry, I baked the marinated fish pieces coated with tblsp of olive oil in the Oven .The taste was amazing and I did not miss my Pan fried fish at all. This is a must try recipe for those who love fish.

Ingredients:
2 Salmon Fillets cubbed.
1 tsp chilli power

2 garlic cloves chopped finely
1 tblsp Olive oil
1 tblsp lemon juice
1 tsp fennel seeds/powder (optional)

salt as required
Method:
Mix all the above ingredients and marinate for an hour(atleast a minium of 15 mins)
Preheat the oven at 250C

Place the Fish cubes in a tray lined with slightly greased foil.
Bake for 10 mins, and then turn the pieces and bake for another 10 mins .After this turn the fish pieces again, set the oven in the broiler mode and broil for 5-8 mins or until the colour turns to red.Depending on the oven the timings may vary. Just keep an eye on it so that the fish doesnt get burnt.
Make sure that its not broiled for a longer time as the fish will become dry and rubbery.

Banana Dates and Walnut Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Sumi) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:51:00 +0000

Banana bread being a regular outcome from my kitchen almost every week, I tried to give it a twist by adding some Dates and Walnuts to it. The taste of walnuts cuts through the sweetness of the dates in this recipe.I made this with whole wheat flour ( ground with husk ) which gave these muffins completly different taste and the texture was great too.

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
2-3 rippened bananas

10 - 15 dates, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup of melted butter or 1/3 cup oil

3/4 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1 tsp vanilla essesnce

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C

Sieve the flour and the baking powder mix thrice.

Mash the banana's and keep aside.

Using an elctric beater or by hand beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, to this add the milk (little by little), vanilla essence and beat well.

At this stage add the flour mixtue 1 spoon at a time and stir well to combine.(do not beat)

Fill in the muffin cup and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or till knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Fold in the mashed bananas, chopped walnuts and dates.

Note: Fill in the empty muffin cups with little water so that it prevents the top of the muffins from drying out .

Sending this as an entry to the 'Sugar High Friday (SHF)' event which was started by Jennifer of 'Domestic Goddess' hosted by Mansi of the Funs and the food blog.
The theme for this months theme is 'Fruits and Nuts'