Merry Christmas...Vanilla & Almonds Muffins

Yooo.... It's Christmas time. Merry Christmas to all my blogger friends and readers. Whenever i think of Christmas, only one thing comes to my mind is lots of colors, celebration , shopping , gifting, baking and baking... This time i have planned to celebrate Christmas very simple, may be i will go out for dinner with my hubby or I will cook something never tried before at home. I am saving my celebration to have blast on New Year eve.

Ingredient
1 cup of all purpose flour
80 gm unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg, 2 pinch of salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp Almond flakes
2-3 tbsp tooty frooty

Baking Method
Preheat the oven for 10 minutes at 180c. In a large mixing bowl, add butter and sugar. Beat till it becomes light and creamy, add in egg, vanilla essence and milk, mix well till it becomes fluffy. In a separate mixing bowl add flour, baking powder, salt, tooty frooty, mix them together nicely. Now add the mixed flour into the wet ingredients, beat till all the ingredients are combined well.

The batter should not be too thick neither too thin. Grease the muffin cup with butter. Now fill the muffin cups till half with batter and then add a layer of almonds flakes. On top of it add some more batter. Then bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes at 180c. Allow it to cool in room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before taking it out from the tray. Serve warm or cold. In this batter you can make 6 to 8 muffins.

Pumpkin Soup..

Pumpkin soup is satisfying and warming and it is a wonderfully comforting soup to enjoy in the winter. There are lots of different recipes for creamy pumpkin soups, depending on what type of soup you want. There are recipes for healthy pumpkin soup, mixed vegetable and pumpkin soup. The list goes on and on. But i liked simple pumpkin soup, with a little touch of Indian taste. Which is healthy and tasty too. Here in india i never find that dark color pumpkin. Most of the time you get to see the lite green color pumpkin, because of that i don't get that beautiful color of pumpkin soup. Anyways that pumpkin also taste the same. Here goes the recipe enjoy :)

Ingredient's

6cups Vegetable stock

4 cups pumpkin puree

1 cup chopped onion 

1tsp chopped coriander leafs

1 clove garlic, minced

1tsp dried oregano 

5 whole black peppercorns 

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1tbsp butter, Salt to taste.

Cooking Method

In a deep pan, heat stock, salt, pumpkin, onion, garlic, coriander leafs and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered. Then puree the soup in small batches (1 cup at a time) using a food processor or blender. In a same pan add butter and dried oregano. When the butter in melted. Then add puree and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for another 30 minutes uncovered. Stir in heavy cream. Serve Hot.

Iam sending this recipe to Sayantani Mahapatra of A Homemaker's Dairy giveaway sponsored by cuponation.in.

Steamed Chicken Momo's

Every time I see momos on a restaurant menu, I order them without a second thought. Some how i feel momos are the best food to eat. And i was not knowing it is very easy to make also and after a bit of hobnobbing around on the net, I found my recipe. So finally I try at home, Chicken Momos is a delicious snack which can be steamed as well as deep fried. But i always prefer steamed momos.. You might also like some more recipes of Chicken..

Ingredients For Dough
2 cups flour
Salt to taste
Water

Ingredient For Filling
1/2 kg chicken mince
1 large onion, 8-10 cloves of garlic chopped very fine
1 tbsp chilli sauce
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
Salt to taste
3 tbsps oil

Cooking Method
Mix the flour and salt to taste and add a little water at a time to make a stiff dough. In a large mixing bowl, add all the filling ingredients and mix them nicely. Divide the dough into equal-sized balls and roll into very thin circles of roughly 4" diameter. Dab a tiny bit of water on the edges of the circle. Put a tablespoon-full of filling mixture in the centre of each circle. Fold the edges over the mixture and pinch and twist to seal or fold the Momo in half (into a semi-circular shape) and pinch the edges shut. Get as creative as you like with shapes, as long as you make sure to seal the edges well. Place the Momos in a steaming dish and cook for 10-15 minutes. Serve hot hot with tomato sauce or chutney.

Prawn Biryani (Pressure Cooker Version)

Prawn Biryani.. The delicious and tastiest biryani i have ever eaten. I have become a huge fan of this dish from the day i have cooked. Though it was bite of sweet in taste because of prawns but awesome. You guys must be thinking when ever i cook biryani i always cook in pressure cooker, right!! Let me explain. Cooking in pressure cook is very easy compare to open pot, because it saves lot of time and efforts, and i personally feel it taste good too. You might also like some more recipe's of Prawn.

Ingredients
1/2 kg Basmati rice, 1/2 kg Prawns
2 big size onion, 4 tomato, 3 green chilly. Finely chopped
3tbsp of chopped mint and coriander leafs
2tbsp Ginger garlic paste
2tbs red chilly powder, 1tbs turmeric powder, 1tbs coriander powder, 1tbs garam masala
1cup curd, 2tbsp lemon juice
2 bay leafs, 3 dry red chilly
2 small green Cordamom
Pinch of orange food color
Oil and Salt as per taste.

For marinating prawns
1cup curd
2tbsp lemon juice
1/2tsp ginger garlic paste
Salt as per taste.

Cooking Method

In a large mixing bowl, add curd, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, salt and prawns, mix it well and keep it the fridge for 30 to 40 minutes. Soak the rice in 1 cup of water for about 10 to 15 minutes with food color. Heat pressure cooker and, add oil, elaichi, bay leafs, and red chilly, leave till it become's brown. Then add onion, green chillies and fry to golden brown. after add all the masala powder and ginger garlic paste, fry for another 10 to 15 minutes. Now add the tomatos and fry till it starts leaving oil. Now add the marinated prawn and rice. Give a good mix and from top add mint and coriander leafs. Add salt if needed. Close the pressure cooker lid and cook for 3 whistle(1 in high flame and 2 in low flame). Serve hot with Raita.

Tips: Don't add too much of water. When you are cooking in a pressure cooker. If you are using Basmati Rice. Soak the rice in a water for 10 to 15 minutes before cooking for the best result.

Panchmel Dal, Panchratna Dal (Mixed lentil curry)

The Panchratna Dal is also known as Panchmel Dal and is a part of the rich Rajasthani Cuisine. It is a protein packed meal as it contains the goodness and nutritive qualities of 5 different lentils. I have changed this recipe a little and the results were a delicious, aromatic dal, which has become my favourite dal ... I got this recipe from a tv show called Health mange more in FoodFood channel.. This channel has become my all time favourite now, when ever i have nothing to do i watch this channel and get some unique and delicious recipes and try to cook in my way... I have many recipe yet to try. I'm waiting for the right time to cook. :) 

Ingredients

1/3 cup chana dal, 1/3 cup toor dal
1/3 cup moong dal, 1 tbsp urad dal, 1 tbsp whole moong
1 onion, 2 tomatos, 2 green chillies (Chopped finely)
3tsp chilli powder, 1/4tsp turmeric powder, 1tsp coriander powder, 1/2 tsp garam masala
3 garlic cloves
10 curry leafs
1 tsp cumin seeds
a pinch of asafoetida
2 tsp dried mango powder
3 tbsp ghee
Salt to taste

Cooking Method
Clean and wash the dals and add 4 cups of water. Pressure cook for 2 to 3 whistles or till the dals are cooked. In a bowl, combine the chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala with 3 tablespoons of water and mix well. Keep aside. Heat the ghee in a pan and add the cloves, curry leafs, cumin seeds, green chillies and asafoetida. When the cumin seeds crackle, add the onion and tomatos, fry till the tomatos are soft. Then add the prepared masala paste and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cooked dal, amchur, and salt and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes. Adjust the consistency of the dal before serving and if required, add some water.

Simply awesome..Why This Kolaveri Di

The simplicity of the song and power of the internet are responsible for the growing popularity of the song the tanglish musical hit Why This Kolaveri Di.

The song has become an anthem for the nation and is now a certified pop culture phenomenon having reached +4MN You Tube Streams, +10MN Facebook shares, the #kolaveri hashtag on twitter trending with tweets from media watchers, journalists, fans, industry barons, celebrities, and pretty much everyone. Sung by the actor and lyricist of the song Dhanush, Why This Kolaveri Di is genre bending with comical lyrics that adds to its popularity [Source: Times of India, 2 Dec 2011]

Pipe Papad Snacks...

Papad are an important part of South Asian cuisine. Papadum, also known as papad in Northern India, pappadam in Malayalam, happala in Kannada, appalam in Tamil, appadum in Telugu, pappadum or poppadom in the UK, is a thin, crisp Indian preparation sometimes described as a cracker. It is typically served as an accompaniment to a meal in India. It is also eaten as an appetizer or a snack and can be eaten with various toppings such as chopped onions, chutney or other dips and condiments. In some parts of India, it is served as the final item in a meal. And can be cooked by deep frying, roasting over an open flame, toasting, or microwaving, depending on the desired texture... You might also like some more recipes of Snacks.

Ingredient's
1 pack of pipe papad
1/2tbsp red chilly powder
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying.

Cooking Method
In a deep frying pan, add sufficient oil, when the oil is hot, add the pipe papad, and deep fry to golden brown. Remove from oil and sprinkle from hot, red chilly powder and salt. Mix it well.
Serve hot with Rice and sambar...

Road Trip To Masinagudi

Masinagudi is a very nice place with a backdrop of Nilgiris hills, surrounded by lavish green forest (glad to see so many trees and greenery after a long time, otherwise living in urban concrete forest mostly we see these forests in Discovery/NGC channels only). Google shall be able to provide much more information about history of this hill station, in case if you are getting curious to know more J

We enjoyed the drive till there. For breakfast we had pit stop at Kamat (After Ramnagar). Road condition is good but don’t expect anything like driving on NH7 (Hosur -> Krishnagiri) which is superb. Read More...

Grilled Chicken With Mash Potato And Stirfry Vegetables....

From last couple of weeks my Sunday's are generally getting boring in terms of cooking. It seems that i have reached to the saturation of cooking same food and with same ingredients over and over. Usually i get chicken and cook it with Indian chicken masala and spices.So the flavors are almost same irrespective of how much variation i try in cooking with spices and chicken masala.
Last night i tried a new variation of saute vegetable with minimum oil. It was so yum to eat and my husband also liked it very much. So he asked me to prepare tomorrow's lunch with same saute vegetable and combination of chicken and mash potato. I should thanks to him for giving me a wonderful and new idea for preparing such a yummy dish for this Sunday's lunch.

Ingredient's (To Marinate Chicken )
2 chicken breast
1tsp black pepper seeds
1/2tsp mustard seeds
10 garlic cloves
1/2tsp oregano
1tsp white vinegar
1tbsp lemon juice
3tbsp oil and Salt to taste

Cooking Method

Make a small slit on the chicken breast and set it aside. Mix all the above ingredients in a blender (including 2 1/2tbsp oil and salt) and make a smooth paste. Then apply on the chicken breast and keep it in the fridge for 1hour. Now heat a non stick pan with 1/2tbsp oil, and place the chicken breast and fry to golden brown both the side, with close lid.

Ingredient's (For Mash Potato)

3 boiled potatos
50 gram butter, room temperature
1tsp garlic paste
1/2tbsp dried oregano
3tbsp fresh cream
Salt to taste.

Cooking Method
Mash the boiled potato in a large mixing bowl. Then add the garlic, butter, oregano, fresh cream and salt, mix it well and keep it in the fridge.

Ingredient's (For Stirfry Vegetable)
Half cabbage, 1 large carrot, 5 french beans. (cut in to stripes)
1/2tsp soya sauce, 1/2tsp red chilly sauce
Salt to taste
1/2tsp oil.

Cooking Method
In a wok add oil, when it is hot, add cabbage salt and half of the soya sauce and stirfry in a high flame for 3 to 4 minutes, Then in a same pan add carrot, beans, salt, chilly sauce and left over soya sauce, and stirfry in a high fame for 2 to 3 minutes.

Paneer Bhurji (Paneer Stirfry)

Paneer bhurji is a punjabi vegetable recipe with paneer or cottage cheese crumbled and then cooked with a choice of onions, tomatoes and select masalas. Serve hot with rotis, naans or parathas.  Paneer Bhurjee also makes a great topping for fresh, hot toast!!!

Ingredients:

300 gms fresh paneer (mashed into a crumbly texture)
1 medium onion chopped fine
1 small tomato chopped fine
1 green chilli chopped fine
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsps oil,  Salt to taste
Chopped fresh coriander to garnish

Cooking Method
Heat the oil in a pan on a medium flame, till hot. Add the cumin seeds and fry till spluttering stops. Add the onions and fry till soft. Now add the green chillies and tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes are pulpy. Add all the powdered spices and mix well. Fry for 2 minutes. Add the paneer. Mix well and cook for 2 more minutes. or till the water get observed. Season with salt. Garnish with the chopped fresh coriander and serve hot with Chapatis or Parathas. 

Mutton & Flat Beans Seeds Curry..

This curry is very near to my heart because in my childhood days this use to be my favourite curry anytime. I use to eat this curry 4 to 5 times in a week and take in my lunch box to school. All my friends use to ask me why your mom don't know to cook any other dish. My mom use to search and get this beans only for me and cook the same curry everyday for me. After a long time i got this flat beans and tried to cook like my mom. It was taste but not that taste like my mom... I still miss all those days terribly.. Anyways here is the recipe of Mutton and flat beans seeds curry :)

Ingredient's
1/2kg mutton, 250gram flatbean seeds, 2 potato's (cut into medium pieces)
1onion, 2tomato's, 4tbsp chopped coriander leafs, 6tbsp coconut paste
1/2tbsp cumin, 2tbsp red chilly powder, 1tbsp turmeric, 1tbsp coriander powder
2tbsp ginger garlic paste
Salt & Oil to taste

Cooking Method
Grind the onion, coriander leafs and cumin to a smooth paste, then grind the tomato's to a smooth paste separately. In a pressure cooker add oil, when it is hot add the onion and coriander paste, fry for 2 minutes, then add all the masala powder, ginger garlic paste and coconut paste, fry for another 2 to 3 minutes, then add the tomato paste and fry till the oil separates, add mutton and salt, mix it well. Close the lid and cook for 2 whistle. Then open the lid and add the flatbean seeds, potato's and a 2 to 3 cup of water and mix it gently and add salt if needed and cook for another 2 whistle(1 in high flame and 1 in low flame).
Serve hot with Plain Rice.

Innovative Film City...

Quick getaway from hectic REAL life to pleasant REEL life!!!

It was a long time pending plan to visit Innovative film city which we could not complete because of one or other reasons. Few of my colleagues have visited this place with family and feedback was quite good, as they really enjoyed the time spent over there.

Friday night, while having dinner with my wife at Kobe Sizzlers @ Garuda Mall, we thought to visit Innovative film city next day morning. We called up some of our friends to check if they can join us and after few minutes we got one couple on board. So Saturday morning was all set for a drive to Innovative film city.

Saturday morning, we decided to meet up near the BEL Circle, Vidyaranyapura and reach the NICE road by 10:15am. As most of the time, plan didn’t work out and with some delay we could finally start from Vidyaranyapura at 11:15am. 

We took the road next to Prestige apartments and reached the NICE road in about 15 minutes. Before i should write my experience of driving on NICE road, i must say it was AWESOME drive. We paid the toll of Rs.55 to enter the NICE road stretch and were told to take the left exit after 17km. In a small drive before we took exit turn, I guess after around 15 minutes, my Ford Figo touched the mark of 110Km/h without my notice. The scenery along on the sides of NICE road is so refreshing. All you could see if big green and open space, it was such a treat to eyes.

After taking exit from NICE road, we continued towards Bidadi, it’s just one straight road then and in no way you can get lost. After around 27km, we could see the big board of Innovative Film City on the left side of the road. From there you can find proper road directions to reach film city. With one small break on the way we reached there by 12:30pm and parked the car in a big open parking ground.

There are 2 kinds of tickets available- Rs.499/- for full day and Rs.299/- from 3pm onwards (Credit cards are accepted). We took the full day combo tickets which included most of the rides and attractions which we could enjoy. For the camera and Handy cam, separate charges (Rs.100/-) are applicable.

We enjoyed our day over there and by the time we left the film city we were fully tired. It was really a much needed break and couldn’t have been better than this. It’s a place which gives you chance to bring out your creativity in photography with all such sets around the film city, so don‘t forget your camera.

Few of the things which we really enjoyed –

Mirror Maze – It was terrific. We got scared after going inside few steps as we could not find any way exit nor entry gate and were totally confused. But don’t worry, somebody will take you out so don’t afraid to be lost inside J

Ripley’s – Must watch. Watch out for one way mirror kept next to tongue rolling girl. From the other side we could not stop our laugh watching people trying to roll their tongues. I bet you could just sit there whole day watching people rolling their tongues and you will not stop laughing.

     

      Wax Museum - Few statues are really worth watching.

 Roller Coaster – Must try. Will keep your heart young.

Haunted Mansion – It was good. Luckily they didn't make it so haunted.
Roller Skates - Fun to try even if you don't know how to skate but just be careful ;)

Beach – After a tiring day, best place to relax and play in wave pool.

Food Court – Good option of foods. McDonald is also there.

After a wonderful day we left from there at 6:45pm and reached back to BEL circle by 8:30pm. You need to be careful while coming back to enter the NICE road as it’s on the right side of the road so need to take U-TURN to enter NICE road....

Adrak Wali Gobi Ki Sabji (Ginger With Cauliflower Stir-fry)

This is one of the very unique recipe. I liked this recipe so much that i can eat this atleast twice a week.. It taste awesome with ginger flavor in it and it is very good combination with cauliflower,even you can try with potato's also. I got this recipe from a tv show called TurbanTarka in FoodFood Channel. He cooks the best north indian dishes and i have lots of recipes yet to be tried.. I'm sure the people who loves to try out something new this is the best place to see recipe's....

In case you are looking for more variations, here is the list of some more recipes of Cauliflower..

Ingredient's

1 medium cauliflower (cut into small pieces)
5 garlic cloves, 2 green chilies, 3tbsp finely chopped ginger
1/2tsp cumin, 1/2tsp red chilly powder, 1/2tsp turmeric
1/2tsp coriander powder, 1/2tsp garam masala
Oil & Salt to taste.

Cooking Method
Cut the Cauliflower into small pieces, Take a deep frying pan, add oil, when it is hot, add cumin, green chilies, garlic cloves and ginger. Fry to golden brown then add all the masala powder and salt, fry for 1 to 2 minutes. Now add the cauliflower and mix it gently. And cook for another 10 to 15 minutes in a low flame, keep stirring in between. Garnish with coriander leafs and Serve hot with Roti or Paratha.

Happy Diwali 2011

WISH YOU ALL PROSPEROUS AND HAPPY DIWALI
Happy Diwali to all my blog readers and my blogger friends.... I am going to have lot of fun this Diwali and hope the same for all of you................ Have Fun and safe diwali :)

Pistachio & Butter Cookies...

This was the best cookies i have ever made. The taste of pistachio in this cookies was just awesome and so perfectly baked cookies.. I was shocked by eating this cookies, now i have confidence that even i can bake wonderful cookies.. Hope my future childern's will be happy too :)
You may also like some more recipe's of Cookies.

Ingredient's
All Purpose Flour-1cup
Corn Flour and custard powder- 1/2 cup
Unsalted Butter- 200gms
Icing Sugar-1/2 cup
Vanilla essence-1 tsp
Pistachio- 2tsp (finely chopped)

Baking Method
Preheat the oven to 325F. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Beat butter, vanilla and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture, pistachio to this and mix. Make a soft dough and set it aside for 15 to 25 minutes. Dust your hands lightly with flour, take tsp full of dough and roll it round with hands, place it on the baking sheet with space for spreading between them and keep 1 pistachio on top of the cookies. Bake cookies for 15 min. Then keep it in the oven until lightly golden. Cool for 5 mins on tray and then on rack. Store in airtight container...

Iam Send this to Vardhini from Zesty Palette

Chicken Lollipop!!!!

Many a times while eating chicken lollipop in restaurants i always had this question in my mind -"How do they cook?" Recently while shopping in Reliance fresh i saw the frozen chicken lollipop and that time only i decided to cook and surprise him. As always he was fully surprised... Do try this simple recipe and let me know how was it tasting.. 
Some more recipe's of Chicken...

Ingredient's
6 chicken lollipop
1tsp red chilly powder, 1/2tsp turmeric, 1/2tsp coriander powder
1tbsp ginger garlic paste, 2tbsp lemon juice, 2tbsp maida
Bread crumbs (for coating)
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Cooking Method
Wash and keep the chicken aside. In a mixing bowl add all the masala powder, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice and salt, make a thick paste. Then add the chicken lollipop and mix it nicely. Keep in the fridge for atleast 1hour. Before frying coat the lollipop with bread crumbs. Then add enough oil in a deep frying pan and fry the lollipop to golden brown...
Serve hot with tomato sauce.