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]