Mushroom Fry

Ingredients

• 2Cup - Sliced mushroom


• 1Cup - Onion (finely chopped)


• 1/4Cup - Tomato sauce


• 1/4Cup - Bell pepper


• 1tablespoon - Ginger Garlic paste


• 1/4tsp - Mustard seeds


• 1/2tsp - Urad dal(splitted)


• 2nos - Red chilli


• 1/4tsp - Turmeric powder


• 1/2tablespoon - Corriander powder


• 1/2tablespoon - Cumin powder


• 1/2tablespoon - Pepper powder


• Few curry leaves


• Corriander leaves

Procedure
In a pan heat the oil,add mustard seeds,when it splutters,add urad dal,red chillies,curry leaves n fry for few mins.

Add bell pepper,onions,when it turns transparent,add ginger garlic paste n turmeric powder n fry till the raw smell goes off.

Add tomato sauce,cumin corrinader powder n fry till oil oozes out.

Add the well cleaned sliced mushroom,n mix well.Close the lid n cook for 5mins or till it oozes some water.

Open the lid n cook till it becomes dry and add pepper and mix well.

Granish with corriander leaves.

vanilla -coffee cake!!

I prepared vanilla-coffee cake for my class 3.It came out very well compared to my previous one :)..In this class we did practise for basic flowers,borders and leaves.Here comes my decorated cake!!

Recipe for the Cake

• 2 1/2 Cups - All purpose flour
• 1 1/2 Cup - Granulated Sugar
• 3 nos - Large eggs
• 1/2Cup - Butter
• 2 tsp - Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp - Baking soda
• A pinch Of Salt
• 2 tsp - Pure vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon - Espresso coffee powder
• 1tsp - Cocco Powder
• 1 1/4 Cup - Water
  

Procedure

Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl by hand or on low speed with an electric mixer.

Mix all purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder ,baking soda, salt, and melted butter to the beaten eggs along with water in a low speed.

Add the vanilla extract n mix well with the batter.

Now divide the batter into half,Keep one portion aside.

In a 1/3 Cup hot water mix the coffee powder and cocco powder.Pour into one portion of the cake batter and mix well.

Pre heat the oven to 350 deg.

Grease the pan with butter or non stick spray.

Spoon 1/4 cup vanilla batter and on the top spoon 1/4 cup coffee batter,repeat the same utill the batter is used up.

Bake it for 35 -40 mins or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean.

Cool the cake and level it using leveller/knife before Icing.

Butter Cream Icing

Stiff Consistency

• 1 Cup - Soild White vegetable shortening/Crisco
• 1tsp -Flavor( Pure vanilla extract, almond Or butter) It can be used in combination also.
• 2tablespoons - Milk or water
• 1lb - Confectioners' sugar/powdered sugar
• 1tablespoon - Meringue powder
• A pinch of Salt

For the above cake icing n decorating i just doubled the quantity of the ingredients under butter cream icing.

I added extra 1 tablespoon of milk to make medium consistency which is requied for the above cake decorating.

Using the hand mixer blend the above all ingredients until its creamy.

After your use,seal the remaining icing and refrigerate it.It will last for weeks.

Note :

While doing butter cream icing there three types in consistency Which depends on the decorations.

Stiff Consistency:Its used for making flowers like roses n sweet peas.

Medium Consistency:Its used to create Figure piping,borders,stars and flowers with petals tht lie flat

Thin Consistency: Its used for writing,making vines,leaves.For this u need to add 2 tablespoons of milk to the stiff consistency.

Chilli Chicken

Ingredients

• 1lb - Chicken
• 3tsp - Corn Flour
• 1no - Egg
• 1 Cup - Onion (finely chopped)
• 1/2 Cup - Capsicum/Bell pepper
• 1/4 Cup - Spring Onions
• 1/2 Cup - Ginger (finely chopped)
• 1/2 Cup -Garlic (finely chopped)
• 5nos -Dry Red chilli
• 1/2 Cup - Cashews
• 1/4Cup - Soy sauce
• 2tsp - Chilli Garlic sauce
• 1tsp - Tomato sauce
• 1/2tsp - Pepper powder
• 1/4tsp - Red chilli powder
• 1/2 Cup -Water
• Salt to taste
• Pinch of Sugar

Procedure

Mix 2tsp of corn flour,egg , little salt n pepper with chicken and fry in the hot oil till it turns yellowish-brown color.Place in the paper towel to drain excess oil.

Mix a tsp of corn flour in 1/4Cup water n keep aside.

In a pan heat the oil,add red chilli,finely chopped Ginger-Garlic,Cashews and fry for few mins.

Add Springonions,onions,capsicum ,red chilli powder,pepper powder,salt n sugar and fry till onion turns transparent.

Add Soy sauce/Chilli garlic sauce/Tomato sauce and mix well.Add 1/2 Cup water n bring it to boil.

Add the chicken to the gravy n mix well.

Atlast add 2 to 3 tsp of corn flour water to the chicken,it turns the gravy thicken.

Granish with bell pepper/onions/lime juice at the top.

This recipe also goes to to viki's-The Potluck-Chicken.

Spicy Potato Fry

Ingredients

• 2 nos - Potato
• 1tsp - Cumin seeds
• 1no - Onion(optional)
• 1/4tsp - Turmeric powder
• 1/2tsp - Red chilli powder
• 1/2tsp - Corriander cumin powder

Procedure

Cut the potatos into cubes and boil it for 10 mins

In a pan heat the oil,add cumin seeds,when it splutters,add onion and fry till it turns transparent.

Add turmeric powder,red chilli powder n corriander cumin powder n fry for few mins.

Add the potatos and coat well with the mixture.keep in low flame and fry for few mins.

Serve hot with curd rice/dal.

Chettinad pepper chicken

Ingredients

• 1Cup - Chicken pieces
• 1no - Onion(finely chopped)
• 1no - Tomato(finely chopped)
• Whole garam masala ( cloves,cardamom,bay leaves,cinnamon)

• 1tsp - Ginger-Garlic paste
• 2tsp -Freshly crushed Pepper powder
• 1/2tsp - Aniseeds
• 1/2tsp - Cumin seeds
• 1/2tsp - Mustard seeds
• Few Curry leaves
• One Green chilli
• 1/2tsp - Red chilli powder
• 1/4tsp - turmeric powder
• 2tsp - Corriander powder
• 1tsp - Cumin powder
• 1/2cup - Corriander leaves
• Salt to Taste
• Oil

Procedure

Marinate the chicken along with red chilli powder,turmeric powder n little gigner gralic paste for 30 mins.

In a kadai,heat the oil,add mustard seeds when it starts crackle,add cumin seeds,aniseeds,when it spluters add onion n fry till in turns golden brown.Add Salt.

Add Ginger Garlic paste ,turmeric powder,green chillies,curry leaves and fry till the aroma goes off.

Add the finely chopped tomato,corriander powder,cumin powder,red chilli powder n cook till the tomato mashed completely and oil gets seperated.

Now add the marinated chicken and mix well the masala.Cover the lid and cook for 10-15 mins till the chicken oozes out and chicken turns tender.

Finally add the freshly crushed pepper powder and mix well.

Granish with the corriander leaves.

Serve hot with chappathi/roti/rice.

Thanks to padma n Ramya to inform me about Viki's The Potluck-Chicken event.This recipe is on the way to viki's-The Potluck-Chicken.

Cup Cakes!!

I had a left over butter cream icing,so i was thinking how to make use of it.Lot many things came to my mind,finally i decided to make cupcakes/conecakes with butter cream icing!!



Ingredients

• 2 cups - All purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups - Sugar
• 1/2 tps - Baking powder
• 1/2tps - Baking Soda
• 1/2 tps - Salt
• 2 (or) 3nos - Large Eggs
• 1/2 Cup - Melted Butter
• 1tsp - Vanilla extract (Or any flavor)
• 1 Cup - Water
• 1/2Cup - Milk

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl beat the egg in a low speed for a min.

In the same bowl mix all purpose flour, sugar,vanilla extract, baking powder, salt, baking soda, milk and water . Mix for 2 minutes at low speed.

Fill the cupcake paper liners 1/2 to 2/3 full of batter,do not overfill.And arrnage in a cupcake pan.

In the same way fill the ice cream cones 1/2 cones full of batter

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

For Ice cream cones it will take extra 5 mins to bake,so bake it seperately.

Cool 10 minutes in pans then remove it and place on wire racks to cool completely.

Decorate cupcakes as desired.

Aloo Bonda

Ingredients

• 2nos - Potatos(boiled n mashed)
• 1tsp - Cumin seeds
• 1 cup -Onion
• 2nos - Green chillies
• Few Curry leaves
• 1/2Cup -Corriander leaves
• 1/4tsp - Turmeric powder
• 1/2tsp -Ginger Garlic paste
• Salt to Taste

For Batter

• 1cup -Besan/Gram Flour
• 1/2tsp - Red chilli Powder
• 1/4tsp - Ajwain
• 1/4tsp - Baking Powder (optional)
• Salt to Taste

Procedure

Mix besan,red chilli powder,ajwain n salt along with water to make a thick batter n keep aside.

In a pan heat the oil,add cumin seeds,when it splutters add green chillies,curry leaves,corriander leaves n ginger garlic paste,turmeric powder n fry for few mins.

Add finely chopped onions n fry till it turns golden brown, add the mashed potatos n mix well n allow it to cool.

In a kadai heat the oil for deep fry.Make the potato mixture into balls n dip it in the batter.Let it coat all the sides.

Drop in a hot oil n fry till it turns golden brown on all the sides.

Place it in a paper towel to drain excess oil

Serve hot with tomato ketchup/coconut chutney.

1st Cake @ Cake Decorating Class!!

I love to bake cakes as well to eat :-) I was searching for the cake decorating classes from longtime n i found in net that wilton conducting the classes @ Joann n michaels!! But somehow it dragged for more than six months n atlast i joined the class now:).

I was very excited about the class.My instructor asked us to prepare cake n butter cream icing.Im all set to the class.

In class she instruct abt the basic designs and made us to practice for one hr and the next hour we did decorate on the cake.

Here is my 1st cake with butter cream icing!!

Thanks Padma for the lovely award...thank u so much!!

Now for the rules:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog.

2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.

3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs (Only if you like).

4) Add links to those blogs on your blog.

5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blog

I would like to pass this award to

• Padma
• Sanghi
• Ann
• Ramya
• Easy cooking
• Renuka

Please accept my dear friends..

Bottle Gaurd Curry

Its yet another one of my favorite dish with chappathi/roti.

Here comes the recipe.

Ingredient

• 1 medium bottle gaurd
• 1Cup - Onion(finely chopped)
• 1/2Cup - Tomato
• 1/4Cup - Tamarind water
• 1tsp - Gigner Garlic paste
• 1tsp - Cumin seeds
• 1/4tsp - Turmeric Powder
• 1tsp - Red chilli powder
• 1tsp - Corriander Powder
• 1tsp - Chicken masala Powder (Optional) I love to add it
• Salt to Taste
• Oil

To Grind

• 1/2Cup - Coconut
• 2tsp - Roasted channa dal/Pottukadalai

Procedure

Grind the Coconut,roasted channa dal along with little water to fine paste.

Heat the oil in a pan,add cumin seeds,when it pops up,add onion n fry till it turns transparent,add tomatos n cook till the oil oozes out.

Add Ginger Garlic paste n fry till the smell goes off n add all the powdered ingredients n stir for few mins

Add Chopped Bottle Gaurd n mix well,add 1/4 water,close the lid n cook for 5-8mins

Now add the grounded paste n tamarind water mix well,close the lid n cook till the bottle gaurd turns soft n gravy thickens.

Serve hot with Rice/chappathi/rotis.

Aloo Paratha

Ingredients

• 3Cups - wheat flour
• 1/2tsp - Sugar
• 2tsp - Yogurt
• Salt
• Warm water

For Stuffing

• 3nos - Aloo
• 1 Cup - Onion
• 1tsp - Cumin seeds
• 3nos - Green chillies
• 1tsp - Ginger Garlic paste
• 1/4tsp - Turmeric Powder ( optional)

Procedure

Make a soft dough using wheat flour,sugar,salt,yogurt n warm water,n keep aside for 15 mins.

Boil the Potato,peel the skin n mash it.

Grind Green chillies along with ginger garlic paste.

Heat the oil in a pan,add cumin seeds,when splutters,add onion n fry for few mins,add mashed potato n grinded paste n mix well.

Roll out the chappathi little bit n stuff it with aloo masala n fold it,Again roll out as you do for chappathi.

Heat the tawa n do as you do for chappathi.

Serve hot with plain curd or raitha!!

Pav Bhaji

Believe me, I never tasted Pav bhaji till my marriage.. after my marriage my husband took me to one fast food restaurant n there i ate pav bhaji 1st time in life,i really loved it very much.That time i feel i missed that for so many years :( poor dharani. After that when i was in chennai we used to go there to eat pav bhaji.

After coming to US i thought i will never get a chance to eat pav bhaji,but my thought went wrong,my hubby's friends invited us for having evening snacks with them,it was suprise to me when i saw pav bhaji there(Store bought pav n readymade bhaji mix).The taste was good but not that great compared to the one which i had in india!! :(

So after a long search i found the video recipe for pav n Bhaji in vahrehvah.com n i was so excited to make pav bhaji.I collect all the required ingredients n made pav bhaji.It was excellentbut still i didnt get the taste of the one i had for the 1st time :).Though i made it long back i just want to share my pav bhaji with u all!!


















Note

Recipe for pav Bhaji video1 and video 2

Bread Upma

Everyone will have their own recipes for bread upma... have a look at my version of upma :)

Ingredients

• 5-6 Slices Bread
• 1Cup - Onion
• Tomato - Medium Size
• 2nos - Green chillies
• 1tsp - Cumin seeds
• 1/2tsp - Mustard seeds
• 1/2tsp - Ginger Garlic paste
• Red chilli powder
• Turmeric Powder
• little Chicken masala powder
• Few corriander leaves

Procedure

Heat oil,add mustard seeds when splutters,add cumin,onion n fry till it turns transparent,add ginger garlic paste, tomato when oil oozes out,add chilli powder,turmeric powder n chicken masala powder n fry for few mins.

Cut the bread into pieces n add to the onion mixture n mix well till the masala get coats in the bread.

Granish with corriander n serve hot!!

Spicy Besan Sev

Sev is very famous Indian snack,which is used in many chaat items.Some ppl will call this as Omm Podi or Oma Podi as its traditional recipe contains only Ajwain(omam) n Besan flour n salt.My Mom always make mixture using sev,kara boondi,peanut n some flakes.I always love that with any rice varieties and Curd rice.

Ingredient

• 1Cup - Besan Flour
• 1/2tsp - Ajwain Powder
• 1tsp - Red chilli Powder
• 1tsp - Rice flour
• Salt

Procedure

Mix the above all ingredients n make a soft dough

Heat the oil in medium,when it is hot,using sev press or iddiappam fill this dough and press in the hot oil n deep fry it.

Remove from oil and place it in a paper towel to drain the oil.

Crush it into small pieces,Allow to cool n store it in a air tight container.

Serve it with evening tea/coffee!!

Egg Puffs

I love egg puffs a lot.. n i was searching for the recipe in net,fortunately i found in www.vahrehvah.com.I tried the recipe along with Onion fry stuffing.Really it turned out very well.I tried out the puff pastry sheets also.I followed the recipe from this video .Else you can buy it from shops. I hope i dont want to retype the Ingredients and procedure.. try n enjoy!!

For Onion Curry

• 1no - Onion (cut lengthwise)
• 1/2Cup -Tomato
• 1tsp - Ginger-Garlic paste
  
• 1tsp - Cumin seeds
• 1/4tsp - Mustard seeds
• 1tsp -Red chilli powder
• 1/4tsp - Turmeric Powder

Procedure

Heat oil in a pan,add mustard seeds,when it pops,add cumin seeds,onion n fry till it turns transparent,add ginger garlic paste,turmeric powder n fry till smell goes off,add tomato till it becomes tender.Now its ready for stuffing.

Make the puffs as shown in the video,along with that stuff the onion curry.

serve Hot with Tomato or Red chilli sauce.

Capsicum Masala Rice

Capsicum masala rice is very simple n easy to prepare.I was inspired from vah chef cookbook n i tried this with little changes.It turned out really nice!!
Ingredient

• 1Cup - Capsicum (mixed colors)
• 1/2Cup -Boiled Green Peas
• 1/2Cup - Onion
• 21/2Cups - Cooked Rice

To Grind

• 3-4 nos - Dry Red chilli
• Few Curry leaves
• 1/2tsp -Mustard seeds
• 1tsp - Urad dal
• 2tsp - Channa dal
• 1tsp -Corriander seeds
• 6tsp - Groundnut
• 1/2tsp - Garam masala

Procedure

Dry roast the ingredients from "To Grind", n keep aside

In a pan heat a 2tsp of butter,add onions,peas n Capsicum n fry for few mins,then add salt n the grinded Powder n mix well.

Now slowly add the cooked rice in a low flame n mix well.

Serve Hot with boiled eggs/plain curd/raitha.

Simple Chicken Biriyani

I tried many versions of chicken biriyani,but i never get the perfect taste of the biriyani,so whenever i plan to make biriyani,my hubby will say ohh my God save me from dharani's Biriyani,so i wont do biriyani often,though its one of my favorite dish:( .Few days back i tasted it in my friend's home.It was too good n i asked her for recipe.Its very simple n easy to cook.I tried this sunday n it turned out well.We enjoyed our sunday's lunch!! Atlast i got appericiation from my hubby for biriyani!!Thanks to Prasanna..

Ingredients

• 1lb - chicken
• 1cup -Basmati Rice
• 2tsp - Biriyani Masala(I used Shan Chicken Biriyani masala)
• 1Cup - Onion(Cut lenghtwise)
• 1/4Cup - Fried Onions
• 1Cup - Tomato
• 1Cup - Corriander-Mint leaves
• 1tsp - Ginger-garlic paste
• Whole Garam masala(2-cloves,1inch-cinnamon stick,1-Bay leaves,2-cardamoms)
• 1/2tsp -Turmeric Powder
• Red chilli Powder - as required
• 1tsp - Aniseed(sombu)
• 2tsp - Curd
• Salt
• Oil

Procedure

Clean the chicken and marinate with salt,turmeric powder,red chilli powder n curd,keep aside for 30mins.

soak the Basmati rice for 20 mins.

Cook the rice in rice cooker n keep aside.Dont over cookFor 1Cup rice add l Cup water.If you dont have rice cooker,use a big pan to cook the rice on stove top.dont over cook.

In a kadai,heat oil(6-8tsp),add whole garam masala,aniseed,onions, n fry till it turns transparent.Add Ginger-Garlic Paste,n fry for a min.Add Tomatos,when oil oozes out, add corriander-mint leaves n stir for few mins.

Add Red chilli powder n Biriyani masala n mix well.Now add the marianeted chicken n mix well with the gravy,Cover n cook till the chicken oozes some water n oil.

Add 1/2Cup Water n bring it to boil.

Now mix the rice with Gravy in a low flame n Granish with fried onions n Corriander leaves.

Serve hot with onion/cucumber raitha.

Fresh Orange Juice

Oranges has it is own importance n its a must we should include in our daily diet,Check here for More about oranges!

Ingredients

• 2nos - Oranges
  
• Sugar
  
• Water
  

Procedure

Put all the ingredients into the juicer n blend well.

Using sieve extract the juice,n serve it.

Kothu Paratha

I Love this a lot!! During my collage days whenever i came home from hostel,that night( usually Friday night) my mom used to prepare this dish for me,very sweet of her!!.. Yesterday while talking with my hubby about those days,it came to my mind n i feel just i want to have immediately,so we both decided to prepare this n peeped into the freezer for frozen parathas,fortunately we had,n started our preparation.Here goes the recipe for one of my favorite dish.

Ingredient

• 4nos - Frozen Paratha(Daily delight/Balaji)Indian style
• 1Cup -Onion(Chopped lengthwise)
• 3nos - Beaten Eggs
• 1Cup -Chicken curry(if you dont have chicken curry use "1 1/2Chicken masala Powder")
• 1/2Cup - Tomato
• 1/2Cup - Capsicum
• 2nos - Green chillies (cut lengthwise)
• 1/4tsp -Mustard seeds
• 1/2tsp - Urad dal
• Few Curry leaves
• 1tsp -Red chilli powder
• 1/4tsp -Turmeric Powder
• 1/2Cup -Corriander leaves

Procedure

Cut the Parathas into small pieces and keep aside

In a kadai heat Oil,add mustard seeds,when splutters add urad dal,curry leaves,Green chillies n toss for few mins.

Add Onions,capsicum n fry till it turns tender n transparent.

Add all the above powdered ingredients n stir till the raw smell goes off.

Add chopped Tomatos n cook till turns tender and mashed.

Add the parathas n toss well in the mixture.

Now add the beaten eggs n coat well the parathas mixture.

keep on stir untill the egg gets cooked.Dont forgot to stir as it will get stick to the pan if its a stainless steel.

If you planning to add chicken curry,add it this stage n mix well n keep stir for 3 -5mins.

Granish with coriander leaves n serve hot with chicken Curry/Chalna/Raitha.

I love this with plain Onions :-)

Vanilla Milkshake

During my collage days i often used to have jucies n milkshakes with friends in our cafeteria,Good old memories :-).Im very fond of Butterscotch n vanilla milkshake.Normally for milkshake they will add only the ice cream,milk n sugar,i got bored of it,so i just tried adding few almonds,chocolate syrup n fruits.It gave a very good taste.

Ingredients

1Cup - Vanilla Ice Cream

1/2Cup - Milk

Few Almonds(optional)

Sugar -As required

2tsp -Chocolate Syrup

Procedure

Blend above all the ingredients in a blender except Choco Syrup. Pour it into the glass n top with chocolate syrup.

Note

You can add some fruits like strawberry,pomegranate on the top,it will give good taste.