Nitha Kitchen

How to make Raised Garden Bed in Slope Area | Detailed Step By Step Post for Beginners in Gardening

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 23:28:00 +0000

Some unused area in our backyard (shown below) has been taken care to yield organic veggies from last year. Still few more works are pending and planning to make it this year, so I will update this post with more pictures and information in near future and If you like this post do hit like, share with friends and bookmark for future use. We were thinking to make that slope useful and effective from the day we got the house. After installing fence and a year after the closing we made the raised garden beds with the help of H's office colleagues, a special thanks to them otherwise it couldn't be happened in right time.

After this two 4X4 feet garden beds (shown in first picture above) we both of us made a garden bed of 4X4 again by our self, you can see it in last few pictures. So below is the unused area of almost 20 feet length and 10 feet width. Today I am sharing the pictures and ideas collected from our garden bed installation. Feel free to comment or mail for your doubts.

Before going to detailed post lets see how the square box for the garden has been done. We left some space in the deep slope down (not to touch neighbor fence) and started right after our grass bed. Also left some space (2 feet) in the side to go and take care of plants so plan and leave some space all over the bed.

Materials Needed For Making the Raised Garden Bed
The 8X2 feet untreated woods - You can cut them at Home depot/Lowe's to 4X4 and bring it home, but if you have tools you can cut them at home (for the first two beds they did cutting in front of the house)
Supporting Sticks - It comes in a pack of 6, will add more pictures soon.
Construction Screws - Long Screws to drill
Drainage Rocks
Garden Soil
Top Soil
Compost
Drilling Machine
Fabric Sheet to control weeds
Eye protecting glasses while drilling
Garden gloves to work on

They cut them in to two planks each and drilled to make 4X4 perfect square box.

You have to dig a bit to place them perfectly. This is the main thing in the slope gardening. So use dummy planks as a leveler and start digging three sides. The deep slope needs a slight dig mark and not much.

and it continues in the below picture as well.

Before placing the square box in the slope they added a one side support/base to the extreme slope so that it levels up. This is the second main thing to note. Do check it out in the below picture.

Once done with support board, place the square bed and connect them both with support sticks( need to drill here with construction screws). So for the bottom garden bed we added two layers/rows of 4X4 box, like shown below. Also can you see the supporting sticks at the corner of two row beds it was implemented all over the inner sides of bed to make sure it aligns with the other bed properly.

Once done with placing the beds and drilling, add the fabric sheet so to prevent weeds from the ground. And then add the drainage rocks (they are heavy in weight) and we added rocks to fill 2 inch height (almost covered the first box).

Later add the garden soil for 4X4X2 size box we added 6-7 bags I believe.

Add compost to it, mix it up. Later add top soil on top. So the first bed is ready, now they started working on the second most thing. Same 2 rows of 4X4X2 box and here no extra wooden plank support is needed like they did in the deep slope.

In the above picture placing the First box for the second 4X4X2 bed...

Fixed the Second box in the below picture, added support sticks then filled with soil...make sure to add support sticks after placing the second one and drill at more places so they won't move out of alignment.

Top soil

The final outcome :-) notice those supporting sticks placed between first and second bed.

Now what :-), have got reasonable yields in my first garden experience. This year just started something indoor. And few pictures below are the yields I got last year. Yup I started everything from seed and even lettuce :-).

Later we made the third bed, here is the picture of it.

We added some trellis and this model we got it from google images (the trellis sticks are just for $10 for each bed excluding screws).

First covered one bed later for the second one too...can you see the slight visible third garden bed on your right?

Last year I got more yields of south Indian greens, bottle gourd and avarakkai (chikkudu) and okra too. This year planning to add more tomato, capsicum and as usual keerai varieties.

Grandma and grand children separating the avara kottai/ beans from the matured one. Feel free to comment or mail your doubts. This post is our reference for future beds as well. So bookmark this post, do share it with your friends, keep watching it for more updates coming soon :-) Thank you.

Kale Stir Fry | Keerai Paruppu Poriyal

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Wed, 07 Mar 2018 15:26:00 +0000

I already have Green Leaf / Keerai and dal combos a lot. We love this combo so same implemented in Kale with chana dal recently...I go Indian grocery 2 weeks once so I buy drumstick/Moringa leaves one week and alternate week I buy this kale from Publix , price wise second one is cheaper than the other one. But both are equally a very good nutrition suppliers so I have the habit of feeding my kids often with these green leaves. Kale belongs
to the Brassica family, which also includes cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi and collards. Kale and Moringa, both are rich in Fiber, Manganese, Iron, Zinc, Folic Acid, Thiamin and several Vitamins (Proportion varies). Today I have the simple yet healthy stir fry using this Kale (If not replace with Moringa or Spinach or Methi or any green leaf). Can have this stir fry with rice or as a stuffing in chapati rolls, quesadilla.

Ingredients
Kale - 1/2 Bunch
Cooked Dal - Toor or Chana or Moong Dal - 1/4 Cup
Shredded Coconut - 1/4 Cup
Green Chili - 2 Numbers (Small Finger Size)
Salt and Oil - As Needed
Onion - 1 Medium Size
Cumin - 1/2tsp

Method

Remove the thick stem parts out of kale.
Soak the leaves for 15 minutes in water filled bowl.
After that wash twice or thrice and drain the excess water.
Now using big knife chop them by arranging more kale in a row, so that you can finish chopping quickly.
In the below picture the left side is Kale and Right side is Moringa/Drumstick/Murunga Keerai

Once done with chopping them all, heat oil in a pan/kadai.
When oil is hot splutter cumin seeds.
Add chopped onion, pinch of salt.
Saute till onion turns golden brown.
Now add chopped kale, within 2 minutes they reduce in size but this tooks a little time to cook like moringa, so sprinkle some water and in medium flame cook till they perfectly cooked.
Meanwhile pulse the green chili with coconut in food mixer, keep aside.
Add the separately cooked dal, pulsed green chili and coconut mixture.
Add enough salt, stir all together let them cook till all water evaporates and poriyal turns dry.
Serve as suggested before, you can use the same stuffing in buns (Oatmeal Bun refer HERE).

I usually post daily cooking in Instagram, here are several lunch scenes using this recipe with different green leaves, below is kale leaf stir fry/poriyal

Looking for

Broccoli Bhurji --> HERE

Egg Kurma --> HERE

Kale and Peas/Pattani/Vatana Stir Fry in the below picture

Looking for recipes of other dishes

Yellow Peas | Pattani Sundal | Vadana Stir Fry --> HERE

Sabudana Kichdi --> HERE

Moong Dal Sambar --> HERE

Parupu Rasam --> HERE

The above one is Methi Leaves and Chana Dal combo

Looking for recipes of other dishes

Peanut Chikki --> HERE

Potato Curry/Kurma --> HERE

Bittergourd Curry / Pagarkai Puli Kuzhambu --> HERE

Stuffed Bell Pepper Veg Bowl | Healthy Capsicum Rice Bowl | One Pot Meal

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 15:02:00 +0000

I have been practicing this healthy lunch bowl for several years and once in a while when sun peeps out I am delighted to click the lunch preparation (aren't you?). Also my laptop cracked and useless for a while and recently it gained its power (me too :-) ). So you can expect some unique recipes flow in my kitchen for sure in the near coming days….Today's recipe is such a healthy mix of protein, vitamins and carb (a balanced one pot meal) and feel free to add your favorite veggies, beans, rice and spices(refer note) . It’s just an idea how I make this healthy filling energy bowl and also I baked these veg bowls not so long the filling is already cooked so I don’t want to burn the capsicums (if you wish proceed beyond the time I specified). Also capsicums cook fast when you brush them with
oil mixed with spiced salt (the bell pepper tastes great so love doing this way) or just melted salted butter. This same filling can be used with a mild alteration any where like veg Quiche or savory muffins, Veg rolled roti and Quesadilla.

Veg Filling
Onion - 1 Medium
Tomato - 1 Medium (alter with 1 lemon juice add at the end)
Carrot - 1/2 Cup
Beans - 1/3 Cup
Cauliflower or Broccoli - 1/2 Cup (Shredded
Chopped Garlic or Garlic Powder (Optional) - 1/2tsp
Spinach or Kale - 1 Cup
Green Onion - 1/4 Bunch (Optional)
Capsicum - 1/2 Finely chopped
Seasoned Salt - 1 tsp (You can replace with mix of garam masala and red chili powder)
Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp
If you have Banana Flower or Wonderberry (Turkey Berry Leaves) feel free to chop and add
Cooked Rice - (Optional, sometimes I add 1/4 cup brown rice)
Feel Free to add your favorite veggies like potato, mushrooms so and so

Ingredients needed for assembling the rice bowl
Few Color Capsicums
Cooked Beans - 1/2 Cup (I prefer Black Beans or Kabuli or Black Chana mostly)
Monetary Jack Cheese or Sharp Cheddar or Mozzarella or Shredded Paneer - 1/2 Cup (Slight mix of Mozzarella is fine, you can increase the cheese quantity if you like)

Also for Vegan version either skip cheese or use Vegan Cheese

Preparation of Filling

Soak the beans for 6 hours at least (if using the dried one) and cook them separately...let them cool.
Meanwhile add olive oil in a wide pan.
Temper some cumin seeds (optional), add chopped onion, garlic (if using) saute with a pinch of salt and wait till it turns golden brown.
Now add chopped capsicum (you can use green chili or red chili powder instead of capsicum here)
Saute till capsicum turn tender.
Add the chopped tomatoes, seasoned salt, red chili or garam masala or garlic powder right now with a 1/2tsp salt.

Let them cook till it turns mushy and mix well with the other ingredients.
Now its time to add beans since beans take some time to cook compared to other veggies (Stepwise Pic 1).
After 4 minutes of beans cooking add thinly sliced carrot (Pic 1), saute by covering with lid for 2 more minutes (If needed sprinkle some water)
Add shredded broccoli or cauliflower it may not take more than 2 minutes to cook (Pic 2).
Now Kale or spinach (Pic 3) saute for couple more minutes till they become wilt.
That's it all the veggies are done, adjust salt accordingly.
You can add cooked and drained beans to this filling right now (Pic 4).
Don't add cheese when they are hot.

Assembling

Wash the capsicums, cut the top and brush with oil if you like to (Pic 5, I skip oil brushing).
Now when the mixture is not so hot add cheese to it.
Dump them in the capsicum, (reserve few cheese and add it on the top, prefer to add frozen cheese on top so they take time to melt).
In preheated oven bake them at 375 F for 20 to 25 minutes.
Serve hot :-)

Tips

You can add grilled meat or sea food with it.
The can be tried in Instant Pot as well.

Broccoli Bhurji Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 17:45:00 +0000

Broccoli Bhurji is a dry masala mixture which looks like scrambled version of it. The difference between South Indian poriyal and bhurji is, bhurji needs tomato, garam masala like spices and unlike the first one where coconut and sambar powder or chilis are must. I usually shred cauli flower and broccoli since my kiddos like to eat in that way, so
here too i shredded them. Also I have mentioned eggs here in the recipe and if you are not an Eggetarian do please skip it or use paneer. Do check my Instagram account to check how it was served for the lunch with other dishes.

Ingredients
Shredded Broccoli - 1 Cup
Ripen Tomato - 1 Number (Medium Size)
Onion - 1 Number (Medium Size)
Red Chili Powder - 1tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 3/4tsp
Eggs - 2 (Optional, you can replace with paneer or just ignore it)
Green Chili - 1 (Optional, I have used green capsicum instead of chili today)
Cumin seeds - 1/2tsp
Oil and salt - As needed

Method

Wash the broccoli florets, drain the water and shred it using the veg grater/shredder.
In a pan/kadai add oil, when it is hot temper with cumin seeds.
Then add chopped onion and chopped green chili or capsicum.
Saute them till the raw smell disappears, turn light brown and reduce in its size.
Now add finely chopped tomato and salt.
Let them cook till tomato turns tender and mushy.
Now its the time to add red chili powder and garam masala powder.
Also immediately add shredded broccoli and saute in medium flame.
You can cover them with lid and cook for a while say 4 minutes approximate.
Also sprinkle some water if needed while cooking, but i didn't do.
Once it cooked, now add eggs (you can separately saute the eggs and add here too) and saute all together till raw smell disapear and bhurji comes all together in a good consistency without any moisture.
Serve it with rice or wrap it in roti or even fold it in masala dosa.
The healthy filling bhurji is ready in minutes.
Also I skip step by step pictures for the posts if it is a easy to make dish.

Pineapple Pastry | Pineapple Cake Recipe From Scratch

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 00:55:00 +0000

Pineappply Pastry is a pastry cake (tehnically not a pastry) aka sponge cake layered with rich, smooth and silky whipped cream and chopped pineapples for each layers (can be of 2 or more layers), also the cake is finally topped/decorated with dollop of whipped cream and cherries. I have Tiramisu Sponge Cake recipe just adapted it and there in that recipe if you notice i have mentioned in the tip section that "If you miss beating egg whites to right consistency then the cake is really a mess to overcome add 1tsp baking powder in the flour mixture". The same tip I followed here and added the baking powder as
the main ingredient in the ingredient list. so this is a fool proof well rising sponge cake recipe for beginners in baking they can attain perfect cake without any hassle.

This cake is a light and feathery reasonable height (3.5 to 4 inch) sponge cake so when you are using the same recipe for a quarter sheet cake of two layers then increase the ingredient mentioned below as 7oz cake flour, 7oz sugar, .7oz baking powder with 7 large eggs bake it in half sheet and cut them in to two equal parts sandwich with the favorite filling...

I have few eggless cakes you can choose those from HERE

I used 9X13 rectangle pan (10 by 10 square pan also works for this measurement)

Yields :- 9X5 inch 3 layer Pastry cake

Ingredients
Cake Flour - 142 grams or 5 oz or 1.25 Cups ( 120 grams = 1 Cup, to make 1 cup cake flour take 1 cup all purpose flour minus 2 tbsp of APF + 2 tbsp corn flour)
Granulated Sugar - 5 oz or 140 grams or approx (3/4th Cup)
Baking Powder - 14 grams (.5oz) or A Pinch less than 1 Tbsp since 1 Tbsp = 14.38grams
Extra Large Eggs - 5 at room temperature
Pineapple Extract - 1/2tsp (Vanilla for regular sponge cake)

Method

Keep the eggs out from the fridge ahead of time or soak them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
Butter and flour or butter and place parchment on a half sheet pan or cookie sheet whatever pan you are using just make it ready.
Sift the flour with baking powder and keep aside.

Place the eggs( whole eggs), sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Use the wire whip attachment beat the eggs until very fluffy and pale yellow about 15 minutes on medium to high speed, i have attached a short video and few step by step beating stage HERE in the Tiramisu Sponge Cake, please refer it.
To test that the eggs are beaten well, drop some of the mixture in to a plate.
If it remains sitting on top/stiff then it means it is ready to add flour mixture.
Sift the flour on top of the egg mixture, a little at a time, and fold it gently with a wooden spoon.
You can go with other way of adding flour in to mixer that is, keep the egg sugar mixture in low speed and add flour in very small batches in to it by keep running the mixer, this method also works well.
The baking powder helps in rising the cake and allows the cake not to go flat, so use the mixer to mix the flour.

Pour the batter over the sides of the prepared pan.
Don't over work with the batter or bang the pan on the counter, leave it as it is for couple of minutes it will level properly.
In preheated oven bake at 430 F for 7-8 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Make sure you do not over bake your cake, because it will turn out to be dry instead of moist and spongy. At about 6 to 7 minutes check the cake with a toothpick in it to see if it comes out clean.
If it is clean your cake is ready, if there are some batter or moistness in the stick bake another couple more minutes.
Allow cake to cool for just a minute.
Now peel off the thin layer on top of the cake as shown in stepwise picture 1 below.
This peeling makes the pineapple syrup sits well on the cake so dont skip this step.
Once done flip the cake onto another wire rack and peel off the parchment paper if used any.
Let them cool completely meanwhile prepare the pineapple sugar syrup and whipping cream (refer stepwise pictures below).

How to assemble and decorate the cake

Heavy Whipping or Whipping Cream - 1 Pint (473ml)
Icing or Confectioners Sugar - 1/2 Cup (For Mild Sweet, you can increase the quantity)
Pineapple Slices - Few
Pineapple Syrup to soak the cake - 1/2 Cup (I made it at home (detail follows) you can use store bought syrup as well)
Pineapple Extract - 1/2tsp

Method

If the edges of the cake are a little hard you can trim them off and make equal proportion cake layers.
I divided the sheet cake in to approx 5 inch width and 9 inch height (Pic 3).
I have used the same pineapple stored juice and little more sugar say 2 tbsp and boiled it till all added sugar dissolved well (Pic 2).
Once the syrup went to lukewarm brush it to each cake layer well.

Place the first cake layer on a cake board, then add dollop of whipped cream (the cream should be soft and stop before it turning to hard stiff peaks) and top up with few pineapple pieces (Pic 3).
Repeat the same for next layers and finally cover all over the cake with whipped cream (Pic 4).
Decorate the cake as you wish (Pic 5) i used Wilton 1M tip to decorate.
Before decorating a small tip i would like to share here, the soft consistency whipping cream wont hold it shapes for a long time, so i have added another few tbsps of icing sugar and beaten the remaining cream to stiff peaks, then added in the piping bag to decorate.
Finally add some cherries over it (Pic 6).
The cake tastes best when soaked well in syrup and refrigerated for a while say 5 to 6 hrs or overnight.

Tips

Beat the eggs and sugar for no less than 15 minutes. It is during this stage that air is incorporated.
It will be easy when you cut the sponge cake when it is cold.
It is better if you prepare the cake a day before, wrap it in cling film and leave it in the fridge overnight. Also you can make it up to 3 days ahead.
For 6 or 8 inch cake pan same 350 F works.

Peanut Chikki | Peanut Brittle | Kadala Mittai | Groundnut Chikki

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 17:02:00 +0000

Just a simple 2 main ingredient snack but a healthy protein and fiber rich bar and energy booster for all age groups, that is none other than Kadala Mittai | Peanut Chikki | Peanut Barfi aka Burfi | Mungfali burfi | Shing Paak | Mandvi Paak (replace jaggery with white sugar). It has lot of names but process is almost similar, easier and healthier that you can try at home. This was my elders ones long time request after having it at neighbor house during play time. Happy to fulfill their needs whenever I get time and this is my first try ever so recording everything here that are all I went thru. If jaggery syrup is your barrier then do read my tips at the bottom of the post to break that scare. I feed my blog once in a while but I am very active in Instagram and post often what I cook for the day. So while posting this peanut chikki pictures there few of them liked it and asked
for the recipe. That motivated me to post this recipe in blog very soon and I am thanking those people who are always behind me to encourage for each and every post. If interested do check and follow my insta account :-). Let's move on to the recipe.

Recipe Source :- Own

Ingredients
Raw or Roasted Peanuts - 250 grams
Jaggery (Gundu Vellam) or White Sugar or Brown Sugar - 250 Grams (I used mix of jaggery and organic brown sugar)
Cardamom Powder - 1tsp
Dry Ginger Powder - 1/2tsp (optional)

Method

If using raw peanuts like me dry roast till the skins have black spots here and there and nuts get off with the raw peanut taste.
Remove from heat, allow to cool for a while when they are still warm remove the skins by gently crushing using hands.

Whatever we get here in Indian stores are mostly jumbo in size and quantity as well including peanuts, so I pulsed it for kids convenient.
Like shown in above picture you can pound it using mortal pestar or just a pulse in food mixer /mixie.
You can powder is very fine or coarse as you wish for the burfi..
So get ready with peanuts (stepwise picture 1) if you have roasted peanuts, slightly warm it in kadai before adding to the jaggery syrup...
Grease the plate or tray whatever using to cut the chikkis with oil(for vegan) or ghee. I am using marble stone here and greased it with oil.

Jaggery Syrup

Add jaggery or brown sugar or both, just a 1/3 cup water is fine for this allow to melt the jaggery completely in medium flame.
I have to specify this i just eye ball the syrup and stop at right time even for adhirasams and other sweets.
If that is tough for you add the foamy jaggery syrup to cold water, if they stay at one place and not mixing with water thats it, the syrup is done (Pic 2).
You can refer my Adhirasam or Ariselu Video for jaggery preparation.
Reserve some syrup in a separate cup before adding the roasted peanuts in to it.

Chikki Procedure Continues...

Finally add cardamom and ginger powder to it.
Now add the roasted nuts and mix all together (Pic 3).
Now pour over the prepared tray (Pic 4), first level it with the same spatula..
After a while you can use your hands to level and shape it.
I used my hands to do that, when you use spatulas they stick with jaggery so either grease them with oil or press it with parchment paper.
Once all set for cutting, make them in to squares using sharp knife, do this step when they are still warm (Pic 5).
Allow them to cool completely (Pic 6) and using the same knife lift them up..
The extra trimmed stuffs i gathered it and added the reserved jaggery syrup, reheated and made it bit sugary for kids...(after reheating place on the greased tray, level it and cut in to squares) ...You can find it easily that more jaggery burfis here in the below pic.
Store them in a air tight container, ours didn't last more than 5 days, but if handled properly they will remain fresh for more than 15 days.

Tips

Don't let the jaggery syrup runny by adding too much water.
If you added so then cook them till syrup turns super foamy and thick in consistency before adding nuts.
Don't get panic and add the peanut to the watery syrup, if happened so then cook them all together till it attains thick / gathered well, in this case you get only soft chikkis.
Sugar and water need not to be equal proportion, just a little amount of water to dissolve the sugar/jaggery is fine.
If you crossed the right consistency and over cooked the sugar syrup they become very hard and dry, so before adding peanuts if you are not confident with the syrup add little more water make it right and then go ahead.
Don't let the peanut cook in syrup for a long instead of crisp they turn soft, just a minute stir is fine for crispy chikkis.

Veggies Stuffed Kuzhi Paniyaram | Mixed Veg Sandwiched Appe

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 14:45:00 +0000

Mixed Veg Kuzhi Paniyaram or Veg Mixture Sandwiched Appe is one healthy way to indulge veggies in your kids daily diet. This dish is gluten free and has the mix of protein, vitamins, Minerals and carb etc. This paniyaram doesn't need any extra side dish to accompany, it goes well with yogurt/curd or Idli podi. Also feel free to add veggies of your own to make this appe and I have provided two ways to make this appe
, do check the recipe instruction in detail to find out your convenient method. You can use any left over veg stir fry aka south indian poriyal too.

Ingredients
Shredded Assorted Veggies - I highly use broccoli, carrot, capsicum and onion - 1 Cup
Idli Dosa Batter - 3 Cups
Red Chili Powder - 1tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1tsp
Chana and Urad dal - 1 Tbsp
Oil - As Needed

Method

Clean and shred the veggies, also finely chop onion
You can use green chillis but for my kid’s sake I skip it usually.
Heat oil in a pan/kadai.
Temper cumin seeds, chana and urad dal.
Now add the onion and once it turn golden brown then add the veggies, salt, red chili powder, saute till they shrink in size and the mixture comes all together.
There are two ways to make this appe.

Once the mixture cooled, add it to the idli dosa batter and make appes in the appe pan, this is one method.
The other way is pour/fill 1/4 of each appe hole with idli dosa batter then top it with veggie mixture again pour a tbsp idli dosa batter.
For step by step pictures you can refer below pictures or I have already posted broccoli chutney stuffed appe in this way so you can refer HERE.
Flip the appe/paniyarams and cook well all over the sides.
I gave training to my daughter how to pour batter in appe, so forget the messy stuff :-)

It goes very well with sambar/chutney/ Idli podi or just curd is fine for this goodies.

Vetrilai Paruppu Rasam | Paan Leaves or Betel Leaves Rasam

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Sat, 20 Jan 2018 14:00:00 +0000

This winter is very cold and chill as what we haven't expected. So rasam /soup has become mandatory nowadays and after pongal i don't want to waste the leftovers like sugarcane, pan leaves and banana leaves...So I used sugarcane in the form of juice using our regular mixie /blender and served kids (refer HERE ). Kids stayed most of the days home due to inclement weather and so enjoyed lot of fresh foods on and off. It's the reason for my blog sleeping all these days since they kept me busy like a bee. Hopefully
will come up with more posts in nearing days. Coming to today's post I have used leftover vetrilai / Pan leaves in the form of rasam and elder one said it was so good with the infusion of pan leaves.

Ingredients
Tomato - 1 Small Size
Chopped Vetrilai / Pan Leaves - For Garnishing (From half of a pan leaf)
Tamarind - A small round less than gooseberry size
Mashed Toor Dhal - 1 Tbsp (dal enhances the rasam taste, you can add more or if you dont have handy skip it)
Mustard Seeds - 1/2tsp
Chopped Green Chili - 2 Numbers (very small size)
Turmeric Powder - A Pinch
Coriander Powder - 1/4tsp (Optional or replace with rasam podi if you have)
Chopped Curry Leaves - Few
Ghee or Oil - For Tempering

To Grind
Cumin Seeds - 1tsp
Black Pepper Corns -3/4tsp
Garlic - 5 Pods
Vetrilai / Pan Leaves - 1 Number

Method

Clean the pan leaves and make the other stuff ready to make rasam.
Extract the tamarind juice by soaking it in warm water for a while.
Mash the tomato in to the tamarind juice roughly.
Add cooked dal, coriander powder or rasam powder (if using) in to this tamarind mixture.
Grind all the ingredients mentioned under to grind and keep it ready.
In a pan/kadai add oil or ghee (my mil adds ghee for preparing rasams).
When it is hot temper mustards seeds then add ground paste in the same oil.
Add curry leaves, turmeric, green chili, saute till nice aroma attains.
Finally add tamarind mixture add salt and allow the rasam just to foam.
Garnish with reserved pan leaves.
Serve warm, this is how i served it :-)

Starting with my little ones favorite

1. Gajar ka Halwa / Carrot Halwa
2. Paruppu Keerai / Keerai Molagootal topped with milagai vartral
3. Sundakkai Vadhakal
4. Brinjal Sambar
5. Bitter Gourd Poriyal
6. Lemon Rice
7. Rice,Ghee and Curd.

Traditional Christmas Fruit Cake From Scratch | Both Non alcoholic and Rich Rum Versions!

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 16:29:00 +0000

I am really feel happy this year since I got a chance to make Traditional Fruit Cakes one with rich rum soaked dry fruits and another non-alcoholic version for kids with dry fruits soaked overnight in fresh orange juice. For last minute fruit soaking or no soaking methods do check my detailed recipe link HERE so you can get a clear idea before baking the cake. Also these Christmas cakes are neither not too fruity nor
less in count as I used moderate in the cake batter. They tasted divine since I made a small ramekin separately to taste it before hitting this post :-). This is my first attempt with alcohol soaked cake, and I have one more version with no alcohol and no soak method, check the recipe HERE. In each and every bite I relish the fruits and nuts with the aroma of fresh homemade spices. Have a fabulous Christmas and New Year with family and friends also if you try don't forget to leave your valuable feedback in the comment section below :-)

Since I am looking / waiting for the bright sun to peep out to get good pictures, I will update the sliced cake pictures later in 2 or 3 days...Currently I am sharing 2 or 3 pictures clicked in phone for the time shake. Also I felt, only coordinating the dry fruits and making it ready for the cake is bit time consuming compared to cake batter preparation.

Yields 1 - Bundt Pan or height increased 8 inch cake pan

Recipe Source :- Own

Ingredients
All Purpose Flour - 2.5 Cups (300 Grams)
Coarsely Powdered Almonds/Almond Meal - 3/4 Cup (mine is blanched and powdered at home)
Soaked Fruit Mix - 750 grams
Unsalted Butter - 2 sticks (1 cup or 227 grams, Room
temperature)
Eggs - 4 Numbers (If using Large size then 3.5 is fine)
Cinnamon Powder - 1tsp (mine is store bought)
Homemade Cloves, Cardamom and Dry Ginger - 1.5tsp (dry fried and powdered with 2 tbsp sugar)
Dark Brown Sugar - 150 grams (If you are skipping caramel syrup then increase another 75 grams)
Baking Soda - 1/2tsp
Baking Powder - 1.5tsp (I always use double acting chemical agents that available in US)
Salt - 1/2tsp
Mix of Orange and Lemon Zest - 2tsp
Vanilla Extract - 1tsp
Caramel Syrup - made from 1/3 cup of sugar --> yields 2 to 2.5 Tbsp (for that add sugar in heavy hot pan, on and off stir them with a tbsp of water. At one stage they turn super dark.in color, before removing from flame add 2 tbsp of boiling water to it, refer step 2 picture below).
Orange Juice - 2 Tbsp (Skip this for juice soaked fruits, refer notes)
The leftover fruit soaked alcohol (optional) - 1 Tbsp

Pan preparation
Non sticks pans can be used as it. The other baking pans needs to be greased with butter then 2 or 3 layers of parchment on the bottom and sides as shown in picture.
Also I arranged blanched almonds first on Bundy pan and then added the cake batter to it,to get the below effect.

Preparation

Strain the soaked fruits using strainer, keep aside.
Mix all dry ingredients including spice mix in a clean dry bowl.
Take a half cup of dry flour mixture and mix it to the soaked fruits.
To the dry ingredients mixture now add almond meal mix well and keep them aside.
Take another mixing bowl, add room temperature butter and brown sugar in it.
Beat them well till it turn soft and fluffy.
Add room temperature eggs one at a time to the butter mixture.
Now add caramel syrup and vanilla extract, orange juice(all the wet ingredients) to the batter, keep mixing.

Now gradually add dry ingredients in batches.
At one stage the batter looks like this shinny and fluffy.
Now add the fruit peels/zest and soaked fruits.
Now using spatula gently mix them from bottom to top.

In prepared pans drop the batter, level it and bake them in preheated oven at 325 F for first 1 hour and next 30 minutes at 300 F.
If needed you have to bake them at same 300 F till skewers comes out clean.
Once out from oven when they are still warm just apply fruits soaked liquid if any left.
Let them cool for hours or so on a wire rack to cool completely.

Now its storing time for the cake to mature, seal them tight using cling wrap and then tightly with aluminum foil...

I am going to let it for 3 days till Christmas, so when you want to store more than that, need to brush them with rum weekly once and then wrap it back.
Store them in cool and dark place, which is preferable.

How to soak Dry Fruits for Christmas Fruit Cake | How long to soak the fruits in Juice (Non-Alcoholic Version)

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 12:43:00 +0000

Here comes a detailed post on how to soak and store the dry fruits in either alcohol or juice to prepare the fruit rich yummy Christmas cake or plum cake. Here the post speaks in detail about both alcohol rich and non- alcoholic (juice based) fruit soaking methods and its shelf life and more. I will update the post with better pictures later since I waited a week to click them in good sunlight but no luck
before Christmas :-). I am working on the fruit cake recipes (both alcoholic and non alcoholic versions soon, so stay tuned i will add the recipe link HERE)

Yields Fruits for 2 - 8 inch cakes or 1 - 10 inch bundt cake pan and 6 inch cake pan.

Ingredients For Rum soaked Fruits
Dried Cranberry - 200gms
Dates - 300 grams
Tutti Frutti - 200 grams (I used Green alone since cherries and cranberries are red)
Dried Cherries - 100gms
Gold Sultans - 100 grams
Raisins - 150 grams
Finely chopped Nuts (Optional you can add this two nuts in the cake batter preparation) --> Almond - 75 Grams
Walnuts -75 Grams
1 Orange Zest (If you are soaking for months or year then skip this)
Dark Unflavored Rum or Any Alcohol - 700ml (A mark more over then all the ingredients)
After several days the fruits obsorbs the liquid and you need to add more...
Also every alternate day mix them gently using wooden spatula.

For Alcohol Free Fruit Soaking
Dried Cranberry - 200gms
Dates - 300 grams
Tutti Frutti - 200 grams (I used Green alone since cherries and cranberries are red)
Dried Cherries - 100gms
Gold Sultans - 100 grams
Raisins - 150 grams
Finely chopped Nuts (Optional you can add this two nuts in the cake batter preparation for crunchy bites in your cake) -->
Almond - 75 Grams + Walnuts -75 Grams
1 Orange Zest (If you are soaking for months or year then skip this)
Orange Juice From 4-5 Big Oranges - 2 Cups to 2.5 Cups or Apple Juice Approx (A mark more over then all the ingredients)
Caramel Syrup - made from 1/2 cup of sugar --> yields 3 to 3.5 Tbsp syrup (for that add sugar in heavy hot pan, on and off stir them with a tbsp of water. At one stage they turn super dark.in color, before removing from flame add 3 tbsp of boiling water
How long to soak

If using Rum or any alcohol then minimum 2 weeks to maximum year. If they are going to be for a year then skip orange zest and nuts in soaking.
If you prefer a short period of time like 2 to 3 weeks in alcohol then orange zest and nuts are absolutely fine with other ingredients.
You can soak overnight(8 hours) or 2 days as well, just reduce a bit quantity of alcohol in this case.
I prefer finely chopped fruits and nuts always, since my kids doesn't like big chunks in their mouth...

Pic 1 :- Got a new measurement cup to showcase the fruits and nuts :-)
Pic 2 :- All the finely chopped stuffs
Pic 3 :- Since I used large quantity of dates (it needed a spl pic :-), this is the picture of chopped ones
Pic 4 :- soaking done with fresh Orange juice

Overnight Soaking

For a quick soak and bake, gather all ingredients and either in alcohol or orange juice do soak them at least 8 hours before the bake and not more than 10 hours in room temperature.
I used fresh foamy homemade juice and result of the cake is awesome as shown below :-)
Also if you soaked the fruits in fresh Orange juice and cant bake within that time then do store it in refrigerator and make sure you use it within 24 hours (here sugar syrup/caramelized sugar is a must).
Here you can very well add orange zests and chopped nuts to soak.
The very first picture is fruit juice based soaking and no alcohol in that.
I too have no soak and fruit boiling method (Instant Version), do check that version of christmas fruit cake HERE.
Also for the people who live in warm places, don't forget the caramelized sugar along with the juices, it acts well as a good preservative in the soaking process.

This year I planned to make both alcohol version and non alcohol version for kids and here is the picture of it.

How to store

What you all need is a big glass jar with air tight lid .
Also a dark and cool place to store the fruits in rum or fuuit juice.

What to remember

On alternate days do stir with clean wooden spatula and again continue storing.
When the liquids are absorbed by the fruits add more alcohol or juice accordingly.
Also do remember to add caramel syrup with the juices you like to soak the fruits.

Eggless Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies | Christmas Chocolate Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 20:09:00 +0000

Chocolate chip shortbread cookies are a perfect snack with a cup of coffee or tea, can be sandwiched with cream and serve it as after school snack for the kiddos. These Chocolate cookies are slightly crisp and taste is just out of the world. They are very easy to make as well, Just roll the dough as a log, cut in to even slices, if the slices are reasonable thin as mine ( ¼ inches ) you will get perfect lightly crispy cookies. If they are thick like 1/3 inch then they are moist and so soft. This is one among the several cookies I made for cookie exchange event (refer below pic for the collection of cookies i made), among all this cookie is my personal favorite :-)
. Also you will get a handful of cookies in just 30 minutes, make this holiday so special by trying out this yummy cookies!
To look out my cookie recipe, check HERE.

Yields: 26 Cookies

Ingredients
All Purpose Flour/Maida - 320 grams (2 ½ Cups)
Unsalted Butter - 226 grams (1 Cup) (room temperature, for this winter you must keep it out several hours before making the dough)
Light Brown Sugar - 100 grams (½ Cup unpacked)
Granulated or Regular Sugar - 50 grams (½ Cup)
Any Chocolate - I used mix of Hersheys and Bakers Baking Chcoolate - 3oz / ½ Cup chopped/slivered
Vanilla Extract - ½ tsp (Teaspoon )
Kosher Salt - ½ tsp

How to silver Chocolates

When the butter is out for creaming, do keep ready with chocolates you use.
Using sharp knife do start chopping side ways.
Using the sifter or sieve with big holes do remove the powdered, small bits of chocolates.
Do keep them ready as shown in picture below.

Method

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using hand mixer, cream the butter and sugars until lightened and fully combined.
Add the vanilla extract to combine.
Add the flour and salt separately in a bowl, mix together then add it to the creamed butter on low speed until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

At one stage you no need the mixer and do start working with hands.
Add the silvered chocolate and mix with the spatula just only to distribute the chocolate.
Scoop batter onto parchment paper and roll into a log or two as per your convenient as shown in picture 2 but make sure the diameter is about 3 inches .
Wrap with cling wrapper and do refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Slice log into ¼ inch slices (tend to slightly crispy) even ⅓ inch (will tend to soft and moist cookies) also works but not more than that.
Place 1 inch apart on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until the edges begin to brown and the centers are matte and no longer doughy.
Cool completely on a wire rack.
Store at room temperature in an airtight container for 7 days.

Tips

The unbaked cookie dough can be stored in the refrigerator for 7 days.
You can add mini chocolate chips instead of silvered chocolates.

Also my wish to click pictures in snow got fulfilled :-)

An Eggless Cinnamon Rolls Recipe Using Tangzhong Method | Breakfast Rolls Recipe From Scratch

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 01:30:00 +0000

I am herewith an egg less version of cinnamon rolls aka breakfast buns. If you are my serious follower then you might know that I usually prepare most of the snacks at home for my kids to take them to school. This is one from that list I make it on and off and I pack it in Ziploc for their morning snack. That's the reason for very
less icing on the top of the buns :-) So if you are planning to take out the rolls do add less icing or skip it. In winter nothing to worry the icing sets well over the buns only in summer you have to be cautious. Let’s move on to the detailed recipe.

Ingredients needed for the TANGZHONG (Starter)
Unbleached Bread Flour or All Purpose Flour - 3.5 Tbsp (Tablespoons)
Water - 6 Tbsp
Whole Milk / Regular Milk - 5 Tbsp

Ingredients needed for the Dough

Unbleached Bread Flour / All Purpose Flour - 4 Cups
Dry Milk Powder - 4 Tbsp or 1/4 Cup (I use nonfat dry milk powder)
Instant Yeast - 1 Tbsp (If using Active dry yeast then 1.5 Tbsp)
Lukewarm whole milk - 1 Cup plus 2 Tbsp
Unsalted Butter - 6 Tbsps, melted
Salt - 1 and 3/4tsp (teaspoon)
(You can reduce milk to 1 cup and add an egg to this recipe)

Ingredients for the Filling

Dark Brown Sugar - 3/4 Cup
Cinnamon Powder - 4tsp (mine is home ground)

For the ICING (I have reduced the icing to half)

Confectioners or Icing sugar - 2 Cups (You can powder the regular sugar, sift it and add cornstrach to make it on your own)
Melted Butter - 2 Tbsp
Vanilla Extract - 1/2 tsp
Whole milk or Cream or half and half - 2 to 3 tablespoons, enough to make a thick but spreadable frosting
A pinch of salt

Adapted From :- King Arthur

Preparation

First prepare the Tangzhong

Combine all of the starter ingredients like flour, milk and water in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.
Place the saucepan over medium heat, and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until thick and the whisk leaves lines / traces on the bottom of the pan.
This will probably take only a minute or so.
Remove from the heat, and set it aside to cool (can use when it is lukewarm but don't add too warm mixture to prepare the dough).

To make the dough

Mix the Tangzhong with the remaining dough ingredients until everything comes together.
Let the dough rest for 20 minutes, covered with lid or so, this will give the flour a chance to absorb the liquid, making it easier to knead.
After 20 minutes, knead the dough either by hand or mixer or bread machine to make a smooth, elastic and somewhat slightly sticky dough.
Shape the dough into a ball and let it rest in a lightly greased covered bowl for 60 to 90 minutes, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk.
Meanwhile prepare the filling, to make it just combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, mixing until the cinnamon is thoroughly distributed.
Once dough has risen well, gently deflate it, divide it in half, and shape each piece into a rough rectangle.
Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough into an 18" x 8" rectangle ( Stepwise Pic 1).
Sprinkle half the filling over the rolled-out dough (Pic 2).
Starting with a long edge, roll the dough into a log. With the seam underneath, cut the log into 12 slices, 1 1/2" each, so you get a total of 24 rolls.

Repeat with the second piece of dough and the remaining filling.
Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan with melted butter and I placed a parchment over it (its optional). place the rolls in the pan (Pic 3).
Cover the pan with cling wrap (so that the rolls wont dry out) and let the rolls rise for 45 to 60 minutes, until they're crowding one another and are quite puffy (Pic 4).
While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the bottom third.
Uncover the rolls, and bake them for 22 to 25 minutes, until they feel set.
While the rolls are baking, stir together the icing ingredients, adding enough of the milk to make a thick spreadable icing.
The icing should be quite stiff, about the consistency of softened cream cheese.
Since I tried an egg less version the rolls might be just lightly browned; that's ok.
Remove the rolls from the oven (Pic 5 below), and turn them out of the pan onto a rack.

Spread them with the icing; it'll partially melt into the rolls since the rolls are hot.
Serve the rolls warm. Store completely cooled rolls for a couple of days at room temperature.

Traditional South Indian Sundakkai Vathal Kuzhambu without Coconut | Version II

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 12:37:00 +0000

After a break I am back with a traditional tambaram recipe today, it is none other than vatha kuzhambu. My mom had packed lot of sundakkai aka turkey berry vathal (If you want to make it at home you can check how to make sundakkai vathal from scratch HERE). So weekly once vatha kulambu or puli kuzhambu is mandatory at home. Coming to the recipe, I already have coconut based

kulambu version while a friend of mine

shared her no onion no coconut vatha kulambu with us I was totally inspired and asked her about the recipe. This recipe was given by her orally and do try this version and let me know your feedbacks.

Ingredients

Sundakkai Vathal - 1/2 Cup
Tamarind Extract - 1/2 Cup
Salt and Gingely Oil - As Needed
Crushed Garlic - 4 Numbers (Optional)
Turmeric Powder - 1/2tsp
Red Chili Powder or Sambar Powder - 1-2tsp as per taste
Curry leaves - Few

To Saute and Grind
Chana Dal - 1 Tbsp
Methi Seeds - 1/2tsp
Dry Red Chilli/ Milagai Vathal - 4-5 Numbers
Mustard Seeds - 1/2tsp
Coriander Seeds - 1 Tbsp or Powder - 1/2 Tbsp
Salt - 1/2tsp

Method

Dry roast the ingredients given under to saute and grind without oil, once cooled done powder it fine.
Soak tamarind in warm water and extract the pulp with required water.
Add generous oil and once it is hot temper 1/2tsp mustard seeds, add crushed garlic and curry leaves.
Now add the vathal and saute well in oil to light its bitterness.
Add turmeric, tamarind extract (if I is thick dilute with 1/2cup water)
Allow them to boil till it reaches half in quantity.
Simmer the flame and add the ground powder, stir well immediately to prevent lumps.
Adjust salt and spice accordingly and once it reaches the vathal kulambu consistency as shown in pictures, remove it from the flame.
Serve with suta appalam and rice

I have served here with Idlis since my MIL likes to have Tiffin items with Vatha Kuzhambu :-)

Popular Thalapakattu Mutton Biryani Recipe | Thalapakatti Biriyani Seimurai | Green Chicken Biriyani Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Mon, 22 May 2017 01:27:00 +0000

The famous Dindigul Thalapakattu Biriyani / Thalapakatti Biryani is one popular biriyani from southern part of India. We often go for parties and there is no other way to entertain us and kids as we are far away from family and relatives...In few recent parties I noticed this green Biriyani with lamb and it tasted awesome that is the trending biriyani from a local restaurant in our area I heard from friends. My hubby challenged me whether I can make same kind of tasty biryani at home. In the first trial I added tomato and felt a slight variation from that version, so next time I skipped tomato and with slight increase in homemade biriyani masala ingredients
I attained the same exact taste. Later this is the weekly trending biriyani in our sunday non veg menu, no one want to go back to basmati rice biryanis and I am happy to share the exact recipe I am using in my kitchen to you all...I have mentioned few star ingredients and please don’t skip or alternate the taste differs when you change those.

Star Ingredients
Green Chili
Samba Rice
Butter or Ghee
Grind Part II Ingredients
and Pressure Cooker

Recipe Source :- Own

Ingredients
Seeraga Samba Rice - 3 Cups
Mix of Oil and Butter - 4 Tbsp + 4 Tbsp (Be generous for this recipe)
Coarse Onion Paste - 1/2 Cup (try to use shallot/small onion otherwise regular onion works)
Sliced Big/Regular Onion - 1/2 Cup
Lemon Juice - 2tsp
Whole Garam Masala - 2 Each for tempering

Garam masala to grind I
Cloves - 6-8 Numbers
Cardamom - 4 Numbers
Cinnamon - 3 splited pieces of each 2 inch length
Bay leaves - 2 Numbers
Marati Mokku (Star Anise) - 2 Numbers
Whole Pepper - 1/2tsp
Salt - 1/2tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 Tbsp (you can use whole coriander too)

Grind Part II
Mint - 1/2 Bunch
Coriander Leaves - Little more than Mint
Green Chili - 10 Numbers (I use small little finger size as shown in stepwise picture 1 below, so use accordingly)
Garlic - 8 Cloves (Big Size)
Ginger - Little More than Garlic

* Blend green chilis, ginger, garlic, 3/4th of coriander leaves and 3/4th of mint leaves(reserve few to chop and add finally in the biriyani) and keep them aside.

Marinate Part (Only applicable for bone in meats, if it is boneless directly add all the ingredietns specified here in the biriyani gravy you prepare)

Turmeric Powder - 1/2tsp
Thick Yogurt - 3/4 Cup
Red Chili Powder - 1tsp
Meat (Mutton or Chicken) - 450grams to 500grams Approximate

Mix Red Chili Powder, Turmeric Powder, 1tsp salt, remaining half quantity of mint, coriander leaves and half quantity of yogurt (remaining half part of yogurt is going to add in the gravy later) in a wide bowl.
Let the cleaned mutton or chicken marinate with it for 30 minutes at least.

Method

Dry fry the ingredients given under "garam masala to grind" and make nice powder (Pic 1).
Keep the other ingredients ready (Pic 1).
In a wide pan kadai add oil/butter, let the butter to melt completely.
Now add whole garam masala like bay leaves, star anise and cinnamon.
Add the sliced onion and once it turn nice brown add the coarsely ground small onion/shallot paste.

After 2-3 minutes add ground ginger garlic chili mixture.
Once the oil separates and nice aroma attains(Pic 3), add the marinated chicken or mutton pieces, if I use boneless meats I directly add it in the masala preparation and skip marination part (Pic 3)).
So if using boneless chicken its optional to marinate, you can directly add the meat with other ingredients given under "Marinate Part" in to the biryani gravy.
Now add the homemade garam masala we made in Grind Part I.
In the chicken part the masala gravy looks like shown in Pic 5.
If using mutton then pressure cook this mixture with 1 cup of water for 3 hisses (Pic 6 below).
Once done with the meat cook with masala either chicken or mutton, add the remaining yogurt, lemon juice, chopped reserved mint and coriander leaves to it (Pic 4 & 6).

Now mix the prepared gravy either with chicken or mutton to soaked rice and necessary salt
You can use either pressure cooker or electric cooker to make it.
Remember for 3 cups of Basmati rice 4.5 cups of water is fine and for samba add 5 cups of water to 3 cups of uncooked rice.
The water includes the soup out of gravy we prepare for the biryani.
Once pressure goes off spread it immediately in a tray and mix some lemon wedges to it.
It tastes awesome when you serve with sliced onions too.
Here is the pictures from different weeks, below I have served lamb biriyani with village/ country style Chicken Kuzhambu.

Here in the below picture it is Chicken Thalapakattu Biryani with Chettinad Chicken Curry, Fish Kuzhambu (Recipe next week), Cucumber Raita and White rice.

Here in the below picture I have served the biriyani with chilli chicken (post recipe later), Mutton Kuzhambu Mutton Varuval, Onion Raita and Boiled Egg. Most of our weekends goes likes this and hope you enjoyed this post.

Homemade Graham Crackers | Eggless Cinnamon Wheat Crackers

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Tue, 16 May 2017 12:52:00 +0000

Graham crackers or Digestive Biscuits are made from whole wheat flour that has not been sifted. It were originally invented in the early 1800s by a Presbyterian minister by the name of Sylvester Graham, who introduced this and believed that a vegetarian diet attained by home-made whole grain bread made of natural stone ground and coarsely ground whole wheat flour at home keeps people healthy. Later his followers created graham flour, graham crackers, and graham bread in US and marketed; Graham did not invent these products nor profit from them. I have made it few months back for the cheesecake purpose and mentioned it in the recipe HERE, you can check the recipe how I powdered these crackers and made crust or base for cheesecake with step by step pictorial. I have taken
ample time to post the cracker recipe, sorry for the delay ☺.

According to Wiki.

Yields 12-15 cookies as shown here, since I made it for cheesecake purpose I made it big size.

Ingredients
Graham flour or Whole Wheat Flour - 1and 3/4 Cup
Unbleached All Purpose Flour/Maida - 3/4 Cup
Unsalted Cold Butter - 1 Stick (8 tablespoons, cut into small pieces)
Honey - 2 Tbsp
Molasses - 1 Tbsp (you can use Jaggery syrup or plain sugar syrup or Honey here)
Water - 3 Tbsp
Sugar - 1/4 Cup
Salt - 1/2tsp
Baking Powder - 1tsp
Cinnamon - 1 and 1/2tsp (I prefer strong flavor, you can reduce to 1tsp)
Additional sugar, for sprinkling

Method

Mix all dry ingredients together.
Add cube cold butter and using fork just break it in the flour to get crumbly texture as shown in picture 1 below.
Add honey, molasses and water make it firm yet pliable dough as shown in picture 2.
Wrap the dough and chill it for 40-45 minutes until the dough turns firm.
Anyways I am going to powder it for crust, if you have the same plan just roll the chilled dough over the parchment paper using rolling pin.

Transfer the parchment as it is to a cookie pan or sheet(Pic 3).
Adjust the edges and use cookie cutter to make some patterns (Pic 3, I have used 2 and 1/2 inch square cookie cutter).
The edges I left it so and I powdered them after baked.
In preheated oven bake at 350 F /180 C for 15 minutes.
Allow to cool and use as desired, leftovers do store in airtight container for later use.
I have shown how I used for mini cheese cake bites..do click the image for the recipe.

Perfect Moist and Fluffy Vanilla Funfetti Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Sat, 13 May 2017 15:15:00 +0000

My kids came with little precious gifts for the mother's day (will post the picture later) and hope the same for you all, Wishing you a very Happy Mother's Day :-). Today I am here with a special recipe on this special Day, its Vanilla Funfetti Cupcakes with White chocolate buttercream frosting (added red food color). I have reduced as much sugar I can though they are moist and perfect. These cupcakes are made with High-Ratio Mixing Method ie Two Step or Quick-Mix, it is also called the Two Stage Mixing Method in this way it has perfect tender cupcakes and I am practicing this recipe
for several years without fail. Few information about the High-Ratio Mixing Method before entering in to the recipe in detail. It is an alternate mixing technique for butter cakes which involves mixing all the dry ingredients first, then beating in cold, but softened butter. Then, the eggs and liquid ingredients, such as buttermilk, milk, are slowly added. Mixing this way guarantees a smooth batter that doesn't separate, thus making for a light and delicate baked goodies. Let's move on to pictorial recipe.

Yield: 24-26 Cupcakes or use 3 - 8 or 9 inch pans for this recipe. If you reduce the recipe to halve that will yields 2- 6 inch cakes as shown or 1- 8 inch height cake or 12 - 14 cupcakes of standard size. So baking time varies for each different pan you use.

Ingredients for the Vanilla Cupcakes
Cake Flour/All Purpose Flour aka Maida-3 Cups (In 3 cups all purpose flour remove 6 Tbsp flour and add 6 Tbsp corn flour to make own cake flour)
Regular Sugar - 1and3/4 Cups (I usually add 1 and 1/4 cups which works for me)
Baking Powder - 2.25tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2tsp
Salt - 1/4tsp+ a pinch
Unsalted Butter - 3/4 Cup (16 Tbsp, 1 and 1/2 sticks)
1 Whole Egg + 3 Egg Whites
Vanilla Extract - 3tsp
Thick Buttermilk or Little Watery Yogurt - 3/4 Cup
Milk - 1/2 Cup (Reserve 2 Tbsp and use as needed to attain batter consistency)
Fun fetti or Rainbow Sprinkles - 1/2 Cup

Method

Arrange the cupcake pan with cupcake liners or cake pans greased with butter and flour.
Preheat oven to 350 degree F or 180 C.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or in mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt and mix together on low speed for 1 minute.
Or you can sift twice so the dry ingredients incorporate well.
Now with the mixer on low, add the cold butter sliced in to cubes in batches only a few cubes at a time.
Continuing until all the butter has been added and the mixture resembles coarse sand in texture.
Now reduce the mixer speed to low and add the egg whites and 1 whole egg one at a time.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each additions.
My daughter made it few years back with the help of me for my birthday, below pictures are them.

Slowly pour in the butter milk/yogurt and vanilla and mix until combined.
Finally add the milk and increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, until batter is smooth and creamy.
Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, until batter is smooth, scraping the sides of bowl as needed.
If needed add the reserved milk in tsp and when it attain perfect batter consistency(refer above pictures) stop adding milk.
Now using a rubber spatula, gently stir in the funfetti sprinkles (below picture).

Recent make and decorating pictures below...

Fill the liners two-thirds full (about 1/4 cup of batter in each) and bake for 15-18 minutes, until the centers are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
For 8 inch cake 3 layers may need 20 minutes approx. baking time.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove individual cupcakes and arrange it on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
The below picture is from what I made last year , a large batch that i baked nad packed for the family in India, esp for my mom who like funfetti cakes :-)

And the chocolate buttercream frosting, I made it huge for a birthday party I clicked it that time and I will give the recipe with minimal quantity, use food color of your choice.

White Chocolate Buttercream Recipe

Unsalted Butter - 1/2 Cup (1 Stick)
Vegetable Shortening - 1/2 Cup (1 Stick)
Icing Sugar - 4 Cups (For soft and ice cream texture reduce sugar and for stiff add all the sugar mentioned plus 1 cup)
White Chocolate - 8oz packet (melted)
Vanilla Essence - 2tsp
Water - 3-4 Tbsp

Cream butter and shortening and then add sugar in batches, after the third batch add half quantity of water and vanilla extract..If needed add remaining water for the last batch and for very stiff consistency you have to reduce water and add more icicng sugar as required. this remains in melted in hot temperature for 3-4 hours..if you make like mine. nad I used Wilton 1 M tool for decoration.

Just posted the recipe, will update when I missed anything...

Eggless Black Forest Cake with layers of Hot Chocolate Sponge | A Scratch Recipe with step by step Pictorial For Beginners!

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Tue, 09 May 2017 15:05:00 +0000

Coming to today’s recipe this eggless chocolate cake is made in a way the cake batter slowly mixed with well boiled aka hot chocolate mixture in batches so the batter gets shiny glossy and have to pour the prepared batter immediately in the cake pan and bake in pre heated oven to get super spongy chocolate cake. I am practicing this method and recipe for a while and its super hit all over. I am going to share some pictures where I have used at the end of the post. Also I used this sponge as a base for Black Forest Cake.
I have included the recipe and decoration pictures in detail for your reference. Do please read the entire recipe with tips completely before start making it to get the perfect one.

Yields - 3 - 8 inch layer cake of 1.25 inch height each approx or 24 mini cupcakes plus 1- 6 inch cake of 3 inch height

Ingredients for the Hot Chocolate Cake
All Purpose Flour/Maida - 2 and 1/4 Cups (You can replace half of the quantity with wheat flour)
Cocoa Powder - 1/2 cup (I use mix of dark and natural cocoa)
Sugar - 1/2 cup (You can add a proportion (1:1) of dark brown sugar, ie 1/4 cup regular sugar and half cup dark brown sugar as I did so)
Coffee Powder - 1-1.5tsp (Optional)
Sweetened or Semi Sweetened Chocolate Bar (Baking bar or regular chocolate both works, use good quality with 60% cocoa otherwise increase 2 tbsp of cocoa powder) - 1 Bar (4 oz)
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 1.5 Cups
Oil - 1/2 Cup (Regular Oil)
Unsalted Butter - 1.5 Sticks / 16 Tbsp
Vanilla Extract - 1tsp

Almond Extract - 1/2tsp (Optional)
Warm Water - 1 Cup plus 2 Tbsp (this plus 2 Tbsp you may not need just to adjust the consistency of the batter, do check the short video)
Butter Milk - 1/4 Cup
Baking Powder - 2.25tsp
Baking Soda - 3/4tsp
Salt - 1/2tsp

Method
Make sure you have the ingredients ready out from the cabinet.

Clicked pictures when I made it for Wheels on the Bus theme (pic at the end of the post) and another for this black forest cake. Also you can notice ~~vanilla cakes at the backdrop I baked it for another cake, hope to post the recipe in another 5 days.~~

In a separate bowl add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt sift together then keep aside.
Melt the butter, when they are hot add brown sugar, oil and condensed milk to it (Pic 1).
Now add the flour mixture in batches(Pic 2) for the first batch add the butter milk.

Now in warm boiling water melt the chocolate bar once it dissolved completely add it to the cake batter in batches immediately without any delay, alternate with the remaining dry flour mixture.
Finally add vanilla extract and the final batter should be like shown in video below.
Also the batter looks shiny, glossy (Pic 3 and 4) and bubbles appear here and there its normal.
Pour the batter in desired pan and bake for mini cupcakes it took just 7-8 minutes in 350 F or 180C.
For the round 2-8 inch cake pans it will take 20-22 minutes.

Here is the baked goodies picture

And the mini cupcakes I took it for a potluck last saturday with chocolate buttercream icing, here is the picture of it.

How to make Black Forest Cake
The cake is so soft and tender so do follow the tips correctly to attain the perfect decoration.
3 layers of Chocolate Sponge (prepared from above recipe)
For 6 inch cake with 3 inch height, you may need 450 ml heavy cream/whipping cream
For 8 inch cake with 3 layers of 4 inch height approximate, you may need 750ml of whipping cream approx.
You may reduce the whipped cream but I have given the maximal quantity.
Icing Sugar - 1 Cup or more (1 cup is for light/mild sweet, you can increase as you like)
Vanilla Extract - 1tsp
Cherry Syrup or Any syrup as you like to wet the cake (you can add 1/2tsp coffee granules to simple sugar syrup if you don't have any flavor)
For homemade cherry syrup refer here.
Pitted and chopped cherries
Few Maraschino Cherries with stems to decorate on top.
Milk Chocolate or Fav good quality chocolate - 1 packet

For simple sugar Syrup
1/3 Cup Sugar + 1 Cup water (this is light sugar syrup, just boil until sugar melts that's it, here you can add mild vanilla or coffee flavor as you like).

So whatever chocolate cake you bake, make even layers of 3 or 4 as you like.
Keep ready with the ingredients you need for decoration (Pic 1).
Do read the tips at the end of the post too.
Wet the cake sponge, I wet both sides but be careful while handling it will break otherwise (Pic 1).
Arrange the first layer, add a dollop of whipped cream, even it and top with some chopped cherries (Pic 2).
Repeat the above process for next layers as well (Pic 3).

Meanwhile melt the good quality chocolate (3/4th I shredded for decoration quarter part I melted to make some pattern over the cake, refer stepwise picture 4 above)
For that just microwave or using double boiler melt it and apply over parchment paper, thin it (I made it too thin and it started melting while clicking on sun light so better make it medium thick)
Score randomly here and there using knife and then freeze the parchment paper till use.
So one done with applying cream all over the cake, make pattern on the sides of the cake I have the tool which I used in stepwise picture 4.
Now add the shredded chocolates all over the top and sides of the cake (Pic 5).
Use Wilton 1M tip and make designs on top of the cake using whipped cream.
Now decorate it with cherries with stem(Pic 5 & 6), also at the center gently decorate with chocolate patterns (Pic 6) that made and kept in freezer.
Enjoy :-)

As I mentioned earlier the cake is so moist, so here are few tips to handle with care while decorating the cake.

I made the cake earlier and freezed it till use, so 2 hours before the time of decoration I kept it under room temperature.
Cut them when they are cold so you get minimal crumbs.
I just warmed each layer for just 20 seconds (1 inch cake layer) to retain the soft then when they are still warm I added the syrup.
So I have arranged all the layers like it, but don't apply whipped cream when the cake or syrup is warm, it will melt the cream.
And for cupcakes the batter should be little runny so after the video stage you have to add another 1/4 cup hot water.
For cakes make consistency as shown otherwise so hard to work with.

Here is the picture of simple Hello Kitty and Wheels on the Bus made with eggless hot chocolate cake.

Few asked how I made this Wheels on the bus, I took a print out of a bus picture I found in google search and here are few pictures how I used it to make the fondant bus. I prepared the fondant bus cake topper two days ahead of cake assembling. The fondant is homemade marshmallow fondant and I have not used any special cookies cutter to make the bus except faces and wheels where I used two different size round cookie cutters to make round. Also I used edible food writer(Pic 2) to mark the faces.

Hope you enjoyed this lengthy post see you soon with other interesting recipe :-)

Egg Free Crust Free Mini Veg Quiche From Scratch!

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Fri, 05 May 2017 14:06:00 +0000

When I posted the egg based quiches in HBG (Home Bakers Guild) Facebook group few has been asking for eggless version of it thru personal message and in the post comment section. I tried the eggless version this week and it came out too good but for a moment I thought of
postponing because of dull pictures. Sometimes weather do justice for such good recipe :-), never mind for time being I decided to post it with those dull pictures and ~~hope to come up with better pictures when I make next time~~. So don’t underestimate the recipe its fool proof and yields 30 mini quiches, I used one 24 mini muffin pan and for remaining batter I used regular muffin pan (just added 1/3 in each) and topped those with leftover sautéed veggies. They turn out crisp and little one who hates veggies had it without any complaints ;-)

Yields 12 Standard Muffins or 36 mini muffin bites as shown

For the Quiche Base

Heavy Cream/Whipping Cream - 1 Cup
Whole M‎ilk - 1 and 1/3 Cup or more as needed (sooji absorbs liquid more so you may need another 1/4 cup milk to get right consistency)
APF/Maida Flour - 1 Cup plus 2 Tbsp
Sooji/Semolina or Coarse Corn Meal - 1/2 Cup
Baking Powder - 1tsp
Salt - 1/2tsp (If using seasoned salt do eye ball it, cheese and other spice mix also has salt)
Pepper Powder - 1/2tsp

Italian Seasoning Mix or Seasoned salt - 1tsp (Optional)

Garlic Powder or Onion Powder - 1/2tsp each (Optional)
Fresh parsley, chopped - 2tsp or dry parsley of 3/4tsp

Parmesan Cheese Powder - 2 Tbsp (Optional)
Fresh basil, chopped (or other herb) - 2tsp or dry version of 3/4tsp
* Cheddar, gruyere, mozzarella, or other cheese - 1 n 1/4 Cup (prefer sharp/mild cheddar cheese)

*If you are in US then do try Mature English Cheddar available in Costco (shown below).

Veggies (Make sure the cooked stuff not more than 3 Cups and if you have any remaining do top it over as i did)

Veggies I used today
Chopped Banana Flower - 3/4 Cup
Mushroom - 1/2 Cup , chopped finely
Carrot - 1/2 Cup, shredded
Green Beans - 1/2 Cup
Fresh Spinach - 3/4 Cup, roughly chopped (sometimes i add south Indian red spinach and manathakkali/black night shade which works well)
1 Bell Pepper/Capsicum, chopped small (1/3 Cup)
Onion - 1/2 Cup onion, diced fine
Red Chili Flakes/Paprika - 2tsp (Optional)
Oil - 2 Tbsp

Feel free to add in whatever veggies you like, or have on hand. I used about 3-4 cups of chopped veggies in total. Prepare the veggies first and allow them to cool completely.

Method

Wash the veggies well, and clean and soak the banana flower till you use (Pic 1).
Par dry the banana flower and spinach to remove excess water (Pic 2).
In a pan heat oil add chopped onion, bell pepper, Green Beans, Red chili flakes saute for a while till they turn slight tender.
Now add chopped mushrooms and shredded carrot and saute them for a minute or two (Pic 3).
Add chopped spinach and banana flower, saute till they shrinks and mixture turns dry (Pic 4).

Set aside and allow to cool, make the other stuffs ready.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., and thoroughly grease (butter, Oil or non-stick spray) a muffin tin.
In a mixing bowl add flour, salt and baking powder mix together.
In a large bowl, add semolina half quantity of milk and half quantity of heavy cream let it sit for 20 minutes then add the remaining heavy cream to it.

Add the flour mixture, seasoning spices whatever mentioned above, cheese powder(optional) and pepper powder, mix all together.

If the batter turns thick add remaining milk.
Now add the veggies mixture (make sure they are not hot) to the bowl, stir well to combine.
This is the time you have to check if the mixture needs more milk, if so add tbsp at a time.
Stir 1 cup of the cheese to the mixture, and the remaining reserve it for topping.

Using an ice-cream scoop or 1/3 cup measure, scoop the mixture into the prepared muffin pan. Fill to about full of the height of muffin pan, then sprinkle a small amount of reserved cheese over each.
Place in the oven, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until set and the cheese has just started to turn golden on top.

You may see slight bubbles here and there that is the right indication.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 20-25 minutes before running a butter knife around each muffin, and gently removing from the pan.

Enjoy while warm, or let cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the fridge.
Leftovers can be reheated for several seconds in the microwave or a few minutes in a preheated oven or toaster oven.

I am not satisfied with the pictures posted now, ~~I have to upload better pictures when i make next time~~.

Note

Better to use non stick pan for making crust free quiches, they come out easily without mess.

For egg based quiche do check here.

Creamy Veg Pasta with Homemade White Sauce Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 16:19:00 +0000

This is my kind of making pasta in white sauce with few kids favorite veggies incorporated in it. Little one just showing his taste over pasta and this is a fusion mix of mac and cheese and white sauce recipe I would say. I am not completely using white sauce with flour, also usually add some
fresh cheese, heavy cream and cheese powder to make it creamy and rich in taste. I too add seasoned salt that gives good flavor to the crunchy veggies. Here is the creamy pasta with white sauce recipe in detail. If you don't have any of the ingredients mentioned like heavy cream or fresh cheese or cheese powder you can skip it.

Ingredients
Any variety Cooked Pasta - 2 Cups (I usually buy organic and sometimes whole wheat pasta and cook according to the packet instruction)
Mix of Finely chopped veggies and frozen - 1 Cup (I use capsicum, peas, corn and carrots mostly)
Italian Seasoning Mix - 2tsp (mix of dried herb parsley, basil, dill weed and red chili flakes)
Heavy Cream - 1/3 Cup or half and half (Optional skip it and replace it with 3 Tbsp Butter + 1 Tbsp APF/Maida)
All Purpose Flour/Maida - 2 Tbsp
Regular Milk - 1/2 Cup
Parmesan Cheese Powder - 2 Tbsp (Optional)
Pepper Powder - 1tsp
Mozzarella Cheese - 1/3 Cup (mix of sharp cheddar and Mozzarella works as well, you can skip it)
Spiced Salt - I use this salt and skip regular salt for the taste, its optional if you don't have it.

Method

Cook the pasta as per package instruction , wash, drain and keep aside.
In a wide pan add sliced capsicum, lengthy thin carrots, frozen peas and corn with a tbsp oil saute them covered with seasoned salt (optional) till they turn tender (say 5-7 mins approx.).
Once done keep them away in a plate and to the same pan add butter and flour (if not using heavy cream) then fry it to till nice aroma attain.
Once flour is fried add regular milk and bring it to boil.
If using heavy cream then no need to fry the flour, to the same veggie sautéed pan add milk, heavy cream and flour together. whisk to remove lumps and bring it to boil.

Once the sauce comes together add all the seasoning mix, sautéed veggies, pepper powder, optional cheese powder and stir all together.
Once they reach nice thick creamy consistency add the shredded mozzarella cheese, cook for a minute or two till cheese melts, adjust salt if any and serve it hot.

Note

When you add capsicum and spiced salt you can skip red chili flakes as kids won't tolerate too much spice.

Easy Peanut Chakli Recipe Using Instant Rice Flour | Verkadalai Murukku Recipe From Scratch

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 15:02:00 +0000

We the whole family is addictive to peanuts so on and off i make this peanut murukku aka chakli which takes not more than 20 minutes to prepare using instant rice flour and they are super crispy and addictive as seen in pictures. Perfect to have with garam chai or coffee...If you have store bought fried peanuts then the work is so ease
:-) just powder it and mix with other ingredients.

Ingredients
Instant Rice Flour – 2 Cups
Whole Peanuts – 1/2 Cup (just blanch in hot water like we blanch for almonds and grind to smooth paste with necessary water) or otherwise you can use peanut powder too in that case grind a small batch of rice flour and peanuts to fine powder.
Gram Flour – 1/4 Cup
Dalia dal/Pottukadalai Powder - 1/4 Cup
Cooking Oil – 2 Tbsp
Butter - 3 Tbsp (Softened)
Sesame or Cumin seeds or Ajwain – 1tsp
Red chili powder – 2tsp
Asafoetida powder or – 1/4tsp
Salt – As needed
Water - As Needed to make stiff dough

Method

Be ready with peanut paste, for stepwise blanching do check almond blanch here.
Mix all the ingredients (except oil and water) together with ground peanut paste.
Gradually if needed sprinkle water and make non crack able stiff dough.
Add the chakli dough in the murukku/chakli press with necessary design/mold.
Heat oil in a wok/wide pan and meanwhile make some chaklis in a plate.
For that just make spiral with the dough clockwise starting from smaller round and ending with bigger one.
Make the rounds too close so that they won't separate.

Once done connect the edge with previous round.
Keep 5-6 ready and while they cook you can make few for next batch.

Transfer the chaklis from the plate using flat spatula one by one to the hot oil.
Flip and cook both sides till they turn crisp and brown.
The first batch may be light in color and later batches looks good.
Drain with paper towel and have them with hot tea or coffee.
Allow them to cool completely and store in air tight container for later use.

Easter Basket Cupcakes | Vanilla Yogurt Cupcakes with Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting From Scratch

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 15:54:00 +0000

The Easter is the fun event here and kids enjoy lot with egg hunting and more...Kids were at home last week for spring break so they decided to make something for Easter and they wished to share it with their friends around. I baked the cupcakes and my elder did the piping on cupcakes. My little ones job was to add mini egg chocolates over the frosted cupcakes. Later they went to friends places to drop them. Trust me these cupcakes
are super soft as pillow (look at the below picture) which basically needs yogurt and few homey ingredients. I already have the recipe with butterscotch buttercream frosting in different post (it is also in the above picture at the side) so I modified it for 12 cupcakes and the rest will look in detail…

Ingredients For 12 Cupcakes

Cake Flour - 2 Cups (( 1 Cup Cake Flour = 1 Cup all purpose flour (-) minus 2 Tbsp of APF + 2 tablespoon of cornstarch or corn flour)

Eggs - 3 large, at room temperature
Bit Watery Yogurt ie Homemade - 1/2 Cup (optional plus 1 or 2 tbsp), at room temperature
Baking Powder - 2tsp
Salt - 1/4tsp
Unsalted butter, at room temperature - 8 Tbsp (1 stick, softened)
Sugar - 1.25 Cups
Vanilla Extract - 2tsp

Method

In a mixing bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt, whisk together and keep aside.
Add the butter to the large mixing bowl of an electric mixer.
Beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, until butter turns light and creamy in color.
Add in the sugar, and beat for 2 minutes more.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for one more minute.
Mix the eggs one at a time until incorporated.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
Add the dry ingredients alternate with yogurt, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add vanilla extract and mix for 15 seconds longer.
The final cupcake batter consistency should be as shown here.
Line a 12 cupcake holder pan with paper liners/baking papers.
Divide the prepared batter between paper liners, filling each about 2/3 of the way.
In preheated oven at 350°F bake 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

When we seek H to click our work, it usually happens like one below :-)

Decorate cooled cupcakes as desired.

To make Easter Basket Decoration

Green Buttercream Frosting - 3/4 Cup

Grass tool Tip

Piping Bag

Cadbury Chocolate Eggs (refer below picture)

Baked cupcakes to decorate

For the Frosting make Quarter of the ingredients given here

White Chocolate Buttercream Recipe
Shortening - 1/2 Cup (Optional you can use butter as well)
Butter - 1/2 Cup
Icing Sugar - 5 Cups
White Chocolate - 8oz packet (melted)
Vanilla Essence - 2tsp
Water - 3-4 Tbsp

Twizzlers as shown below for a basket handle but cupcake was too soft so it doesn't stayed long time at place when kids did that. I have given only 6 cupcakes to decorate and the rest I decorated with butterscotch buttercream.

You can see the basket red handle cupcake at the backdrop....

Tiramisu Coffee Cake with Mascarpone Cheese Frosting | A Scratch Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 12:44:00 +0000

Few are waiting for this post and sorry for the delay, due to personal commitments I delayed this post since Friday. After posting the Tiramisu Sponge cake (no butter and no oil recipe) post and Homemade Mascarpone cheese Post, few visitors have requested about the icing I used in this cake, mascarpone cheese proportion for the filling and frosting so and so. I have made you to wait for a while , I apologize for it. Here are the
answers for your queries, it is mascarpone icing that I used for filling and frosting. Will move in detail..

Ingredients
Since the cheese is made at home it does have lemon flavor to subtle that I increased vanilla extract. You can add coffee flavor by adding few tsps water mixed coffee granules (decation) in your cream if you wish.
Sponge cake - 3 layers
Heavy Cream - 1 Cup
Homemade Mascarpone Cheese - 1 Cup
Icing Sugar/Powdered Sugar - 1 Cup (or more)
Vanilla Extract - 2tsp
Shredded Chocolate bar For Decoration

Coffee Syrup
Warm Water - 1/2 Cup + 1 Tbsp
Sugar - 1 Tbsp
Coffee Powder - 2tsp to 1 Tbsp for strong flavor

Just mix all together and keep aside.

Method

Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks not stiff.

Add the slightly whipped mascarpone cheese and icing sugar.
All blends in a minute or two later add vanilla extract and finally the cream gives stiff peaks.

Stop at that point, sorry for the unclear picture.

Cake Assembling

Now coming to the cake slice the 6" cake to 3.
Add a tsp of cream to the cake plate.

Soak the one side of sponge with coffee syrup.
Gently place it over the cake plate coffee soaked side down.
Soak the other side of sponges with coffee syrup.

Now add dollop of mascarpone icing as a filling and even it.
Repeat the same for the remaining two sponges.
Finally add generous icing all over the cake and decorate it as shown in the picture.
I have used Wilton 1M tip.

Finally have added some shredded chocolate that is not in the stepwise picture.
Enjoy the cake chilled.
I have the inner view of the cake in some other source will post it by the end of the day.

Homemade Mascarpone Cheese Using Ultra Pasteurized Heavy Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 16:59:00 +0000

I have not started giving coffee for my kids so I postponed several years to make Tiramisu Cake at home. But whenever I go for shopping I never forget to look at the Tiramisu aka coffee cakes placed at bakery section of those stores.. After moving to new place my job of admiring cakes never stopped. We are getting lot of chances to mingle with neighbors around in birthday parties and get togethers. Few months back I got a chance to make Tiramisu cake for a potluck. When I searched for mascarpone cheese in near stores it wasn't in the regular cheese section (a month later I noticed them available in the speciality cheese case next to fresh deli section, jokes apart but they are more expensive). After a week search I planned to make cheese on my own, here's the trouble again
when I looked for the recipe it says to prefer non-ultra-pasteurized or non pasteurized heavy cream. It's hard to get non pasteurised cream near by and within 8 miles there is no Whole foods as I believe non-ultra-pasteurized may be at whole foods market.

I didn't give up and finally tried cheese with ultra pasteurized one that's what i had handy. My first experiment was success anyways I made the cheese twice to confirm the proportion of ingredients work out well. It's super duper success and made 2 recipes with that homemade mascarpone cheese (will post the recipes soon). The one recipe is Tiramisu cake, just check the below picture made with this cheese till i come with new post.

Now let's see an easy yet inexpensive method for making perfect textured mascarpone cheese at home. They are very quick to make (only resting time is long) and you can save some bucks.. I have a video just to show the cream getting thickened after the lemon juice and tartar addition.

Ingredients
Ultra Pasteurized or Pasteurized or Non Pasteurized Heavy Cream - 2 Cups (any whipping cream aka full fat cream works)
Lemon Juice - 2tsp (Freshly Squeezed from a lemon) or Vinegar
*Cream of Tartar - 1/8tsp (A Pinch)
*Since the cream is ultra pasteurized i used cream of tartar to be on safer side, if its not available skip it and add one more tsp of lemon juice.

Method

Just coat the pan with softened butter and add heavy cream to it.
Bring to boil in medium flame.
When you see bubbles on the sides of the pan remove from flame and add lemon juice and cream of tartar.

Keep stirring and you will notice/feel the cream getting thick while you stir.
Look this process won't curdle the cream, just it thickens the cream.
Let stir for couple more minutes to the steam to escape.

When cream cooled completely pour over a cloth (use a thick material or 2 layers, it should not strain much) tide well on a bowl.
Let them sit in refrigerator by covering the top with lid for 6-8 hours.
You can see a little whey water collected in the bowl and the cheese looks super perfect and airy in texture.

Can be used as the recipe calls and store in refrigerator for 2 days.
In unavoidable situation you can freeze, thaw several hours before use and blend in processor/mixie otherwise texture looks grainy.
I have used the brands as shown in below..and never tried non dairy whipping cream.
I got lot of queries with indian brands, pls do experiment with minimal quantity.
If you are benefited and the outcome is good do give a comment so other's will know.

Sabudana Khichdi | Sago Kichdi | Navratri Fasting Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 12:04:00 +0000

Today i am herewith a popular dish that people take during navratri vrat, which is happening now ie Ram Navratri. For those who are not aware of Sabudana/sago, it’s a tiny pearl made of tapioca/yucca root and people use it more often during fasting time. During last october i was invited for navratri pooja held at neighbors places. I liked this sabudana khichdi which was kept in lunch to core. I immediately noted

from friends how it was made and from then during my monthly satyanarayana vrat i am making it without fail. Feel free to modify the ingredients mentioned here if you don't takeany during vrat time. Happy Navratri wishes!

Ingredients
Sabudana -1.5 Cups
Whole Peanut - 1/3 Cup
Mix of Red and Green Chilis - 2-3 Numbers
Red Chili Powder - 1tsp
Curry Leaves - Few
Chana and Urad Dhal - 1 Tbsp
Salt and Oil - As Needed
Lemon Juice - Few Drops
Boiled Potato - 1 or 2 numbers
Cumin Seeds - 1tsp - to temper

Method

Soak Sabudana for 5 hours or overnight.
Drain the water completely and keep aside.
In a kadai/pan add raw peanuts, dry fry till the skins turn golden black spots and raw smell disappears.
Allow to cool completely and remove the skin off and powder it coarse.
In the same pan add few tsp oil, when it is hot allow cumin seeds to splutter.
Add the dhal one by one and then add chopped green chilli and curry leaves.

Saute everything well then add sabudana and cook for 3-5 minutes in medium flame.
Now add red chili powder, boiled potato, coarsely ground peanut and salt.
Allow them to cook for few more minutes.
Add lemon juice before serving.

No Butter and No Oil Vanilla Sponge Cake From Scratch | Tiramisu Sponge Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Sangeetha Priya) — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 14:40:00 +0000

If you are not comfortable with beating egg whites separately and fold with the cake mixture do try this method whick beats the whole eggs until fluffy and i was hooked with no butter and no baking powder recipe. I gave it a try few months back by increasing the height of my 6 inch cake pan using parchment. I made 1 and half of the recipe mentioned below and used two cake pans, one 6 inch and another 8 inch cake pan. The 6 inch i used for making tiramisu cake (recipe next week) and 8 inch we had it for tea time snack. This cake is very light, feature like texture and dry since there is no butter and its best for any syrup soaked desserts like cassata, tiramisu etc. It can be soaked with your favorite mixture and layered with cream fillings, covered with fondant, or just eaten on its own, sprinkled with icing sugar. I was impressed
with the minimum ingredients (no butter, no oil, no baking powder) and the way the cake was made and gave a try, its worth trying when you follow the tips correctly. Trust me you can bake this cake using handheld mixer too, i too tried several egg white based cake, macaroons using hand beater...

Ingredients
Cake Flour - 120 grams ( 1 Cup + 1 Tbsp, if you use all-purpose flour/maida, 120 grams = 1 Cup, so minus 2 Tbsp and add corn flour to fill it to 1 cup of cake flour using APF/Maida)
Granulated Sugar - 120 grams (½ cup + 1½ Tbsp)
Extra Large Eggs - 4 at room temperature
Grated lemon zest or Vanilla Extract - 1tsp (I used both for rich flavor)

Method

Keep out the eggs from the fridge ahead of time or soak them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
Butter and flour a 20 cm (8 inch) pan or 6 inch pan with 3 inch height (you can increase height as shown here).
I forget to mention how I added height to my regular 2" cake pan. Cut a long 5 inch parchment paper. Grease the pan with melted butter and neatly cover the side with parchment strip made. Also cover the bottom pan with round parchment before inserting this side parchment. All set to go.

Sift the flour and keep aside. Put the eggs, sugar, and lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Use the wire whip attachemnt beat the eggs until very fluffy and pale yellow about 15 minutes on medium to high speed, i have attached a short video and few step by step beating stage below.

After first 2-3 minutes...

Half way thru...

Check the short video its almost done in it and i have slowed the video while editing...

To test that the eggs are beaten well, drop some of the mixture in to a plate.

The above picture looks few more seconds it has to be beaten for the eggs to hold/stand. After few more seconds of whipping the below picture is the right consistency to stop..

If it remains sitting on top then it means it is ready, above picture.
Sift the flour on top of the egg mixture, a little at a time, and fold it gently with a wooden spoon.

When it comes to mixing part I become nervous so i forget to click picture sorry
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. gently level the sides don't work too much or bang the pan on the counter, leave it as it is!
In preheated oven bake at 340 F for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Do not open the oven for the first 20 minutes, it will make the cake deflate.
Turn off the oven, remove the pan from the oven, let it cool for 10 more minutes, loosen around the edges with a knife, then flip the cake on a wire rack upside down (without the pan) to cool.

Once cooled completely slice and make icing as you wish.
Here is my work over this sponge cake (i will be posting this recipe next week).

Tips

Beat the eggs and sugar for no less than 15 minutes. It is during this stage that air is incorporated.
Sift the flour on top of the egg mixture, a little at a time, and fold it gently with a wooden spoon.
It will be easy when you cut the sponge cake when it is cold.
If the beaten eggs are not fluffy and you missed the right consistency then add 1tsp baking powder to the flour and mix it up and bake as mentioned.

How to prepare a head and store

It is better if you prepare the cake a day before, wrap it in cling film and leave it in the fridge overnight. Also you can make it up to 3 days ahead.
When going for Tiramisu make the cake ahead and the next day you can decorate it.

This is how i decorated this sponge cake, hope you all like it, will post how I made it by mid of next week..Thanks for visiting :-)