A Sweet Punch~Tiramisu

Tiramisu is something I thought I'd never attempt. One the length of the recipe itself is intimidating and more so I just don't know how to frost, ice and do any of those wonderful intricate things. But then what's a sweet punch without a challenge? It's all about taking each step at a time following the recipe word to word...and I tell you....what you'd end up with is something not just delectable but a definite score on your baking repertoire. Not only did my family and Jeny girl love it, I think I managed to cheer up a sulky friend...who needed a sweet indulgence to lift his spirits up..

Ingredients:

Baking: From  my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

For the cake layers:

2 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup buttermilk

For the espresso extract:

2 tablespoons instant espresso powder

2 tablespoons boiling water

For the espresso syrup:

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon amaretto, Kahlua, or brandy

For the filling and frosting:

1 8-ounce container mascarpone (store-bought or homemade)

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon amaretto, Kahlua, or brandy

1 cup cold heavy cream

2 1/2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, or about 1/2 cup store-bought mini chocolate chip

Chocolate-covered espresso beans, for decoration (optional)

Cocoa powder, for dusting

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9×2 inch round cake pans, dust the insides with flour, tap out the excess, and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet. 

To make the cake:

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, and then the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don’t be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula. Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans at the midway point. When fully baked, the cakes will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the centers will come out clean. Transfer the cakes to a rack and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them, and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right-side up.

To make the extract:

Stir the espresso powder and boiling water together in a small cup until blended. Set aside. 

To make the syrup:

Stir the water and sugar together in a small saucepan and bring just to a boil. Pour the syrup into a small heatproof bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon of the espresso extract and the liqueur or brandy; set aside.

To make the filling and frosting:

Put the mascarpone, sugar, vanilla, and liqueur in a large bowl and whisk just until blended and smooth.

Working with the stand mixer with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, whip the heavy cream until it holds firm peaks. Switch to a rubber spatula and stir about one quarter of the whipped cream into the mascarpone. Fold in the rest of the whipped cream with a light touch.

To assemble the cake:

If the tops of the cake layers have crowned, use a long serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion to even them. Place one layer right-side up on a cardboard round or a cake plate protected with strips of wax or parchment paper. Using a pastry brush or a small spoon, soak the layer with about one third of the espresso syrup. Smooth some of the mascarpone cream over the layer – user about 1 1/4 cups – and gently press the chopped chocolate into the filling. Put the second cake layer on the counter and soak the top of it with half the remaining espresso syrup, then turn the layer over and position it, soaked side down, over the filling. Soak the top of the cake with the remaining syrup.

For the frosting, whisk 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of the remaining espresso extract into the remaining mascarpone filling. Taste the frosting as you go to decide how much extract you want to add. If the frosting looks as if it might be a little too soft to spread over the cake, press a piece of plastic wrap against its surface and refrigerate it for 15 minutes or so. Refrigerate the cake too.

With a long metal icing spatula, smooth the frosting around the sides of the cake and over the top. If you want to decorate the cake with chocolate-covered espresso beans, press them into the filling, making concentric circles of beans or just putting some beans in the center of the cake.

Refrigerate the cake for at least 3 hours (or for up to 1 day) before serving – the elements need time to meld.

Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with cocoa.

Lemon Drizzle Loaf

My husband's grandmother along with his aunt and little cousins decided to make a visit to Bangalore. Amidst all the eating out, mall hopping, window shopping and shopping there's no place like home at the end of the day. The kitchen in the least week were full of too many good cooks right from my mother-in-law to my aunt to my grandmother to my father-in-law. So I took a backseat from my share of kitchen duties for  the morning and afternoon meals and ensured tea time is where I'd contribute. A cake for consumption along with masala chai.

Ingredients:
Plain flour - 175gms
Baking powder - 1tbs
Caster Sugar-175gms
Butter - 175gms softened
Eggs - 3 beaten
Egg yolk - 1
Lemon/Lime - 1 finely grated
Lemon juice - 2tbs
Strips of lime/lemon zest.

Syrup
Icing sugar- 85gms
Lemon Juice - 3tbsp

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 1.2liter loaf tin. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the butter, caster sugar, egg yolks and yolk. Beat well until the mixture is smooth. Then stir in the lemon rind and juice. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface with a palette knife. Bake for about 40-50minutes until golden brown/ or skewer inserted comes clean. Remove from tin and set to cool on a rack.
For the syrup, place the icing sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and heat gently without boiling, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Prick the top of the loaf several times with a skewer and spoon the syrup over. Scatter with strips of lemon zest and cut into slices.

Pork Fry

More than me and my husband, my father- in-law is a lover of pork. The day he has bought pork, we leave the kitchen to him to make the pork to his liking. The same can be done with beef and should be eaten as an accompaniment with rice...

Ingredients:
Pork - 750gms cleaned and cut into cubes
Ginger -  20gms julienned
Garlic - 20gms julienned
Onions - 200gms finely sliced
Coriander Powder - 6tbs
Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp
Chilly powder - 2tbs
Fenugreek Powder - 1/4tsp
Aniseed Powder - 1/2tsp
Vinegar - 1tbs
Water - 100ml
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Curry leaves - two sprigs
Salt to taste

Keep aside half the quantity of sliced onions. Mix all ingredients except mustard seeds, and the onions kept aside. Cook the pork for about 30-40minutes, till the pork is cooked. Into a frying pan, heat oil, crackle the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add in the onions and saute till brown. Then add the cooked pork and saute till dark brown. Serve with rice.

Lunch Accompaniments - Snake Gourd Thoran and Carrot Thoran

Our afternoon lunches are incomplete without a vegetable thoran or a stir fry/saute. In the morning, after dropping my son off at summer camp, I was reminded of the snake gourd thoran my mum makes which is usually accompanied with a fish fry or fish curry. It's a sumptuous combination to be had. So instantly stopped to buy the snake gourd and got to making it the way Mummy does. Had some leftover carrots about to rot in my fridge, which also ended up being a thoran too.

Snake Gourd Thoran


Ingredients:
Snake Gourd - 300gms cored, de-seeded and finely chopped.
Coconut gratings - 1/4cup
Shallots - 10-12 finely sliced
Garlic - 5-6 pods finely chopped
Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/4tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1tsp
Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
Curry leaves - a sprig
Egg - 1 beaten
Salt to taste

Into a frying pan, heat some oil, and splutter the mustard seeds, curry leaves and shallots. Once the shallots turn brown, add the chopped garlic, chopped, green chillies and sauté for a minute. Then add the finely chopped gourd sauté the gourd for about 3-4 minutes. Add turmeric and cumin powder and again sauté for about a minute. Then add the coconut gratings, sprinkle in some water, so that the mixture doesn't turn dry.Cover cook on low flame for about 5-7minutes. Add the beaten egg into the mixture give it a good mix and cook for another 2minutes. Add salt to taste.Serve hot with rice.

Carrot Thoran

Ingredients:
Carrots - 300gms grated
Coconut gratings - 1/4cup
Shallots - 10-12finely sliced
Garlic - 5-6 finely chopped
Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/4tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1tsp
Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
Curry Leaves - a sprig
Salt to taste


Into a frying pan, heat some oil. Splutter the mustard seeds, followed by the curry leaves. Brown the shallots, and then add the chopped garlic and chopped chillies and sauté for a minute. Add the grated carrots and sauté for a minute, Then add the turmeric and cumin powder and continue sauteing for another 2minutes. Then add the grated coconut, sprinkle in some water - about a tablespoon or two, cover and cook for approximately 5minutes on low flame. Serve hot.

100th Post - Lemon Citrus Cheesecake

Its my 100th post...''Wooohhooo".. I'm totally ecstatic and overwhelmed at the fact that I have made it this far. After all the zillion ISD calls to my Mum on the basics,  I feel 'I'm not that bad a cook now'. So thank you Mummy for the constant thunderous verbal admonishing. Thank you Sat and Arun for being the guinea pigs to my every created dish and sometimes to the disastrous ones too. Thank you Jen gurl and BJ for being my everyday tasters to the desserts and bakes I dish out. My all time assistant needs special mention which is my son, for pitching in to help which only results in a messed up kitchen and house. And much to your surprise you just might find my vegetable peeler in his toy box, or an onion peel stuffed into the DVD player.

Speaking of my "My blog", this is something that birthed out of sheer boredom. In my random surfing on the net I have came across images of dishes being plated/ baked/made in the most exquisite and alluring ways possible. And bang on I knew that more than the cooking, its capturing the food through the lens that gives me the absolute pleasure. A new found hobby, and blogging is all about a continuous journey of not only cooking different culinary styles, but experimenting the new, being introduced to the unknown and getting to know amazing blogger friends. An ode to myself for having reached one of the many milestones - Cheers!!

Ingredients:
[For the base]
Digestive Biscuits - 150gms crushed
Butter - 2 oz melted

For the filling
Lemon Jelly - 5oz
Cream Cheese - 8oz
Castor Sugar - 4oz
Vanilla Essence - 1/2tsp
Whipping cream - 250ml
Sour cream - 150ml

To garnish
Kiwi - cut into semi roundrels
Strawberries - quartered

Into a large bowl, combine the crushed biscuits and melted butter. Press onto the bottom of a well greased of 8-9 inch spring form pan. Refrigerate to chill while making the filling.
Dissolve the jelly in 150ml of hot water, and leave it cool and set partially. In the meantime, using a hand - mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in vanilla essence. Add the sour cream and beat well. Into another clean bowl beat the whipping cream till stiff and soft peaks are formed. Fold the cheese mixture into the whipped cream. Fold in half-set jelly. Pour over the biscuit base and leave to set in the refrigerator overnight. Once the cheesecake has set, garnish with kiwis and strawberries and serve.

Tip: To procure lemon jelly is what I found difficult, so instead used 2tsps of gelatin dissolved in 4-5tbs of water. Microwave the gelatin mixture for about 5-10 secs till dissolved. Add about 1tsp of lemon essence to the gelatin mixture. Add this to the folded cream cheese mixture and combine well.

Sinful Indulgence - A Chocolate Making Workshop

It was an instant decision for me and Nithya to go for the workshop, and boy are we glad we did go for it. I haven't ever tried making chocolates, but after watching Jayashree demonstrate the process of chocolate making. I'm all set to head straight to buy my fancy moulds, my ingredients and make this a whole hearted indulgence..

Tempering the chocolate is the most important step to successful chocolate making.

A hardshell of chocolate filled with a variety of centers - a Hawaiian Surprise, Honey dew, Caramel Eclairs, Butterscotch, Chocolate Crispies, Almond delight.or even with a Day and Night Filling...the list just goes on and on and on...let your creativity do its wonders!

After filling the chocolate moulds, tapping the moulds will release any tapped air bubbles, again an important pointer for that perfect little look.

Our beauties once they were refrigerated and released from captivity

Care for your chocolate by keeping the chocolate sealed. Store the chocolate in a cool place and not in the refrigerator.


We wrapped these lady loves and cased them for our keeping!!!

..........And now for the Liqueur-Filled beauties...........


Get the cocktails mixed and ready..

Using a dropper fill the ladies up.........

A good aftertaste should leave positive chocolate flavors in the mouth for two minutes or more.

Thus  presenting an alcoholic cordial with chocolate flavoring....

Honey Chicken Wings

Chirag's 4th Birthday party and the Nutties brought her culinary skills to create some awesome snacks for her kiddo guests. This recipe she said is straight out from Farida's blog...I checked it out..tried it out...and  I tell you...the breadcrumb dredged wings just disappeared.....any guesses where to??...I remember my son screaming in excitement..."mama made kfc chicken dada"...and all I see is the plate laden with the wings being handled by a three year old not to mention a 31 year old's brain scheming the whole drama (i.e.hubby dearest)....

Ingredients:

Chicken wings - 16

Tomato Ketchup - 2tbs

Mayonnaise - 2tbs

Honey - 2tbs

Crushed black pepper to taste

Salt to taste

Breadcrumbs

Into a mixing bowl, combine the chicken wings with ketchup, honey, mayo, salt and pepper. Toss to coat the wings well. Leave in the refrigerator overnight. Remove the wings from the marinade, dredge them in breadcrumbs and bake them into a preheated oven of 160C for about 40minutes till they turn a nice golden brown and juices run dry.

Fruit 'n' Nut Pulao ~ Veal Stir Fry with Cold Cucumber in Yogurt

My brother loves home cooked food, and he looks forward to his weekends with me only because I'd always have something cooked keeping in mind that he'd be over. Veal is his favourite be it veal chops, a biriyani or stir fry.

Fruit and Nut Pulao

Ingredients:

Long grain Basmati Rice - 500gm cooked
Dates - 100gm de-seeded and chopped
Raisins -50gm soaked in warm water
Almonds - 100gm
Onion - 2 large finely sliced
Salt to taste

Fry the alomnds in butter till golden brown. Remove and keep aside. Add the sliced onione to butter and fry till just turning brown. Add raisins and dates and gently stir fry over the flame for about 2-3mins. Add 3/4cup water and simmer gently till the dates are tender and the water is absorbed. Melt 11/2tbs butter in a large heavy saucepan. Add half the cooked rice and spread almonds, raisins, onions and dates over it. Add the remaining rice and dot with butter. Cover with the lid, steam for about 20-30minutes. Serve warm

Veal Stir fry

Ingredients:

Veal cubes - 1kg
Coriander Powder - 2tbs
Chilly Powder - 1tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp
Ginger garlic Paste - 1tbs
Coriander Leaves - 4tbs chopped
Mint Leaves - 1tbs chopped
Onion - 2 large finely sliced
Cumin Powder - 14tsp
Garam masala - 1tsp
Salt to taste
Black Peppercorns -  10-12 crushed

Saute the onions till evenly browned. Add in the ginger garlic paste and then sauté for a minute. Then add in all the powders, and saute till the fat separation happens. Then add in the veal and fry till the veal is cooked. You could spoon in some warm water time to time to allow the veal to cook. Then add in the chopped coriander and mint leaves leaves and continue sauteing for 2-3minutes till the flavors are imparted. Add salt to taste, sprinkle in the crushed peppercorns. Serve with pulao and enjoy!


Cucumber Raita


Ingredients:

Lebanese Cucumber - peeled and cubed into small pieces
Yogurt - 4cups
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste

Whisk the yoghurt well. Add the chopped up cucumber and add salt and sugar to taste (depending on either of the salt or/sugar to be empowering~ personally we prefer the sweetness over the saltiness). Serve with pulao.

Honey Spice Cake

I happened to text my friend on what's baking today and the next thing you know I have my door bell ringing with BJ at my door-step..like as if the smoky arm attached to a beckoning hand, reached out to the unsuspected nose of the fortune and helplessly lead him to my kitchen. Did BJ like it? did he savor it?...I'm yet to get a response....even if he didn't..the rest of us (my husband, son and of course myself) did....

Ingredients:
Butter - 2/3cups, plus extra for greasing
Brown sugar - 1/2cup generous
Honey - 1/2cup
Water - 1tbs
Self raising flour - 1 1/2cups
Ground ginger - 1/2tsp
All spice - 1/2tsp
Seeds from cardamom pods - 8 ground
Eggs - 2 beaten
Icing sugar - 3 1/2cups (I used only 1 1/2cups because I ran out of it)

Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F. Grease a baking tray. Place the butter, sugar, honey and water into a heavy bottomed pan. Set over a low flame till the butter and sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and cool for about 10minutes. Sift the flour into a large bowl, mix in the ginger, all spice, cardamom. Make a well in the center and add the honey mixture and the beaten eggs and beat until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 40minutes till done, or till the skewer inserted becomes clean.
Sift the icing sugar and stir enough warm water to make a smooth flowing frosting. Spoon over the cake allowing it to flow down the sides. Let it set.

Suma Rowajee of Cakes and More has passed on this award for the day, thank you Suma for passing it on. The last two days have been ecstatic especially with the win from The Best Chocolate Cake event hosted by Divya Kudua. Once again Divya, thankyou for having hosted the event.

Easter lunch - Vegetable Pulao and Beef fry

Easter lunch was at my inlaws house, and the spread was as elaborate as my mother-in-law could cook. My father-in-law being the mutton expert, of course got his hands into making a mutton stew to be combined with hot appams, a veg pulao to be had with beef fry (again a dish done Daddy's ishtyle). I guess the only person missing at the table was my Ratish (my bro-in-law)....we caught him online all the way from New Zealand.... only to be a baddie and tempt him with an exceptional account of what lunch was like at 'Home'

Vegetable Pulao


Ingredients:
Long grain basmati rice- 2cups
Carrots - 1/4cup julienned
Beans - 1/4cup diagonally cut
Peas - 1.4cup
Capsicum - 1/4cup diced and cubed
Fried Onions - for garnish
Salt to taste
Ghee 


Boil the carrots, beans and peas till al-dente . Fry the capsicum in a 1tsp of oil into a non-stick pan for a minute and keep aside. In the mean time cook the rice separately till nice and fluffy . While cooking the rice you may want to flavour the rice with 2 cinnamon sticks, 2 cardamom pods, 2 bay leaves, 4 cloves and salt. Once the rice is drained of all the water the spices too can be removed. Into a frying pan, add ghee and simply toss the boiled vegetables for a minute or two and then gently combine with the boiled rice. Garnish the rice with fried onions and serve warm.

Beef fry


Ingredients:
Beef - 500gms
Button onions - 1/2cup
Coconut slivers - 1/4cup
Ginger-2tbs julienned
Garlic - 4 plum sliced
Cardamoms-4
Cloves - 4
Cinnamon sticks - 2 sticks broken
Dry red chillies - 5 broken into pieces
Peppercorns - 10-12 crushed
Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp
Tomato paste - 1tbs
Salt to taste
Curry leaves- 2 sprigs


Cut the beef into bite size pieces. Crush onion, ginger and garlic onto a chopping board and add into a non stick pan along with the beef. Add rest of the ingredients. Pour enough water to cook and cook for 30minutes till the beef is well cooked and the pan juice is coated on the beef. Heat oil onto a non-stick pan and fry the curry leaves, then add the tomato paste, coconut slivers and cooked beef. Sauté till browned on medium heat.

Good Friday - Rice Gruel/ Rice Kanji

Good Friday is the victory over man's failure to death and sin; while Jesus exchanged sin and death for redemption and grace.

Rice Gruel is the typical Keralite lunch on Good Friday accompanied with greem gram, spiced buttermilk, pappad and pickle....

Greem Gram Thoran

Ingredients:

Green Gram - 1cup

Coconut Gratings - 1/4cup

Button onioins - 5sliced

Garlic - 2 cloves crushed

Cumin powder - 1/2tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4tsp

Salt to taste

Mustard seeds - 1/4tsp

Curry leaves - 2sprigs

Dried Red chillies - 2 broken

Cook the greem gram in 2 cups of water until it becomes soft and the pan juice dries up (If additional water is required add water inermittently to cook the dal). Grind the coconut gratings, cumin powder, garlic, a couple of button onions to a coarse paste and place into the cooked gram. Cover and cook until the masala is cooked through. Temper the mustard seeds, curry leaves and button onions to a golden colour. Fry the red chilli and turn the tempering into the cooked dal. Stir well and serve.

Spiced Buttermilk

Ingredients:

Yogurt - 1cup

Water - 1cup

Green chilli- 2 thinly sliced

Button onions - 2 thinly sliced

Ginger - 1/4tsp

Few curry leaves 

Salt to taste

Blitz yogurt in a bowl until smooth, add water and rest of the ingredients and stir well. Chill until serving time.

Mango Chutney

Ingredients:

Raw mango - 1 whole peeled, de-seeded and cut into smal pieces

Coconut gratings - 1cup

Button onions - 4

Green chilly - 2

Cumin powder - 1/4tsp

Salt to taste

Grind all the ingredients to a paste adding water little by little. Serve immediately with the kanji.

Banana Bread

I ate this at Simi's place in my usual round of neighbourly chat, amongst the assortment of her bakes. Followed it word for word as given in her recipe except that I put in more chocolate chips, cause more the chocolate the merrier was the mantra for the day. I even had my son help me bake this, he was more excited about the whole thing than I was.

I even had my friend Jen walk in through my door just when I left the cake to cool on the dining table and was it candy to her eyes or what, she simply couldn't resist asking me to cut a portion for her...like it was left there to just dig into...the aroma of a fresh bake was irresistably wafting through my whole house.

Ingredients:
Flour - 1 3/4cup
Butter - 100gms
Egg - 1 beaten well
Castor Sugar - 1 cup
Vanilla Essence - 1tbsp
Chocolate Chips - 1/2cup
Baking Soda - 1tsp
Banana - 3 large (mashed to a smooth consistency)

Preheat the oven to 160 C. Grease a loaf tin and keep aside. Sift the flour and baking soda and set aside. Cream the butter, eggs and vanilla till smooth. Add in the mashed banana and mix well. Then add the sifted flour little by little and continue to mix well. Then fold in the chocolate chips. Bake for 35minutes or till done. Serve warm and this can be stored in an airtight container for about a week if it lasts that long.

The other happiness added to the joy of baking is that Madhuri Kumar of Cook- Curry Nook passed on this precious award and made my day even special.

Snake Gourd and Split Gram Dal Thoran

Gourds are high in fibre and commonly used in Ayurveda diets to help purify blood tissue, enhance digestion and stimulate the liver.

Ingredients:
Snake Gourd - 250gms
Split Gram Dal- 1/4cup
Coconut gratings - 3tbsp
Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
Shallots - 8-10 finely chopped
Garlic - 2pods
Turmeric Powder- 1/4tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/4tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2tsp
Curry Leaves - 2 sprigs
Dry Red Chilli - 1
Salt to taste

Cook dal in one cup of boiling water.Drain and keep aside. Scrape off the skin, remove the pith and seeds of the snake gourd and cut into tiny cubes. Grind coconut, chillies, a couple of shallots, garlic, cumin powder to a coarse wet paste. Place the snake gourd into a non stick pan with the masala in the middle. Pour about 1/4cup water, cover and cook till the gourd is tender and the mixture is dry. Mix the reserved dal into it. Temper the mustard seeds, curry leaves and shallots. Add the dry red chilli and fry for a couple of seconds and pour over the thoran.

Coconut Stuffed Dumpling (Kozhukotta)

An easy to make tea time snack. Something that appeals to the young and old alike.

Ingredients:
Fine rice flour - 250gms
Boiling water - 500ml
Salt - 1/2tsp
Grated coconut - 250gms
Jaggery - 250gms
Water - 50ml

Boil and the jaggery till it melts with the water and strain this onto the coconut and cook till almost dry. Pour boiling water into the rice flour and make a soft dough. Make lime sized balls with the rice dough. Fill each ball with a teaspoon of the coconut filling close and seal. Steam all the dumplings for about 15-20minutes and serve warm with tea.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Succulent meatballs in a nice sauce to make your dinner as relishing as possible. 

Ingredients:

Minced Chicken or lean beef mince - 400gms (uncooked)

Breadcrumbs - 1/2cup

Onion chopped - 6tbs

Ginger garlic paste - 1/2tsp

Worcestershire Sauce - 1tsp

Pepper and salt to taste

Oil for frying.
For the Sweet and Sour Sauce

Brown Sugar - 1/2cup

Vinegar - 1/4cup

Soya Sauce - 1tbsp

Cornflour - 1tbsp

Tomato sauce - 1/4cup

Green Capsicum - to garnish

Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs. Make about 20 meatballs and deep fry in moderate hot oil till golden brown and cooked. Drain onto absorbent paper and keep warm.

Into a small pan, combine the ingredients for the sauce and bring to a boil and simmer till the sauce becomes thick. Arrange the meatballs onto a serving plate and pour the bubbling sweet sauce over and garnish with capsicum.

Tuna Rissoles

I was searching for vanilla beans in my kitchen cupboard and 4 cans of tuna just stare at me. Instant flicker of the bulb in my head and I was all set to make rissoles for the day.

Ingredients:
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
Ginger - 4cm finely chopped
Curry leaves - a sprig
Canned Tuna - 400gms drained
Potato -  31/4 cup boiled, mashed
Salt and Pepper to taste
Egg yolk - 1
Egg white - 1
Breadcrumbs

Heat oil into a non stick pan and saute the onions, chillies, ginger and curry leaves until tender. Flake the tuna into a food processor and add to the pan and stir fry for about 10minutes. Mix in the potatoes, salt and pepper. Stir in well for 15minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Mix in egg yolk and make the rissoles. Dip in egg white and dust with breadcrumbs and deep fry in medium hot oil. Serve hot.

Tip: These rissoles dusted with breadcrumbs can be stored in the freezer bag for up to a month. Thaw before frying.

Watermelon Cooler

The current trend in our lifestyle is to scout for methods that would save time. Net result, we end up buying a tetra pack of whatever flavor of juice that is available without wasting time in preparing it. All this recipe requires is peeling, cutting the melon into pieces and switching on the blender to blitz everything in...try it out and see for yourself.....
Am sending this entry across for the event 'Serve me some' - Juices, Shakes and Smoothies hosted by Madhuri.

Ingredients:
Watermelon - 4cups de-seeded, without the rind and cut into small chunks
Cold Water - 11/2cups
Lemon Juice - juice of  1 whole lemon
Sugar to taste
Mint leaves a few

Blitz in all the ingredients except the mint leaves. Serve the juice immediately, with a lemon wedge and mint leaves.

Dense Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Criss had already told me much in advance about wanting a cake for her daughter's (Michelle) b'day. I was not quite sure what to bake....when Simi updates her blog on 'Blast from the past'...and bang on the recipe was just there...just waiting to be tried. As dense and moist as it could get, I got the children to attack this irresistible chocolatey double delight not to mention the grown ups too had themselves licking their fingers!
I'm sending this across to Divya for her event 'The Best Chocolate cake'.

Ingredients:
Dark Chocolate - 380gms chopped
Butter - 240gms cubed
Eggs - 5
Sugar - 100gms
Vanilla - 1tbsp
Flour - 100gms
Baking Powder - 1tsp
For the Chocolate Glaze
Dark Chocolate - 200gms chopped
Cream - 200ml
 
Preheat the oven to 160 C. Into a saucepan about a third full with water brought to boil. Place a bowl over the saucepan, add the chocolate and butter and melt the mixture and set it aside. Then beat eggs, sugar, vanilla essence till volume rises to double from the original amount. Then add this egg mixture into the melted chocolate and fold. Next spoon in sifted flour and mix well. Pour batter into a greased 9 inch springform pan. Bake till done or wooden skewer comes clean.
To make the chocolate glaze, pour the cream into a saucepan and heat till close to boiling point, Remove from the heat and add to the chocolate to blend together. Glaze and cool at room temperature.

Fried Cheese Sandwich

She is totally vivacious, boisterous and she's got a heart of gold. She also has a humour that would totally crack you up. When two women get together, especially if its someone you love...it could just mean only one thing....plain and pure "Gurl Fun". Thats what Jen did to me..she took a day off at work and we spent time together like there's no tomorrow. 

And for an evening snack we had some bread and cheese with a twist ..devoured it all...we needed more energy to continue our non-stop yapping and non-stop laughing.
I'm also sending this across to Divya for the event Sunday Snacks: Healthy Snacks

Ingredients:
Brown bread - 10slices
Britannia Slimz Cheese Slices - 5
Gram flour - 125gms
Water to make the batter
Salt to taste

Sandwich each cheese slice between two slices of bread and halve them into triangles. Make a thick batter using the gram flour, salt and water. Dip each triangle, coat well with batter and deep fry till golden brown.

Honey Ginger Tea

I can have this anytime of the day, although I love the ambiance at Barista Creme located at the Leela Palace to enjoy this cuppa...my husband and I enjoyed this over a sunrise from our very own balcony today.

I also know of a friend who absolutely loves this tea...couldn't help think of him as we consumed this soothing rather invigorating beverage. BJ this is to you!

Ingredients: 
[Serves - 2]
Ginger - a whole piece, cleaned and sliced into thin slices with the skin
Honey - 2tbs
Hot water - 2cups
Black tea - 1/3rd cup (I used Lipton Yellow label)

Into two cups, pour the honey and then put the sliced up ginger and let it sit for about 5minutes. In the meantime boil water. Pour the hot water into the cups about three fourth full. Then spoon in black tea to fill the cups, stir and enjoy!