Eggless Orange Cake

I had so many recipes in mind for making orange cake.But I was not inspired by any recipe ,like this.Today morning,when I saw Rak's kitchen,I was inspired by her simple ,yet delicious orange cake.I prepared it in no time and was fully satisfied.Ofcourse,its yet another fool proof cake.The addition of orange zest gives wonderful aroma to the cake,which you can feel while cooking  the cake itself.Condesed milk gives extraordinary texture and taste to the cake.Our family was fully satisfied with the outcome.The original recipe was from here.

Recipe Source:

Rak's Kitchen

Ingredients:
1.All Purpose Flour                         -           1 1/4 cup
2.Condensed Milk                           -           1 cup (minus 2 tbsp)
3.Butter                                           -           1/2 cup ( 1 stick)
4.Orange Juice                                 -           1/2 cup
5.Sugar                                            -            3 tbsp
6.Baking pwdr                                 -            1 tsp
7.Baking soda                                  -             1/2 tsp
8.Orange zest                                   -             1/2 tsp
9.Lemon juice                                  -             1 tsp
10.Vanilla Extract                            -             1 tsp

Method:
* Cut the orange into two halves and squeeze out the juice.
* Pre heat the oven for 356 degree farenheit or 180 degree celcius.
* Sift the all purpose flour,baking powder,baking soda and combine well.
* Take a mixing bowl,add butter and sugar.Beat it well.
* Now add the orange juice,lemon juice, condensed milk,vanills extract  and beat them nicely.
* Now slowly add the dry ingredients and mix it with a spatula.Don't beat after adding the flour,if not the cake will not rise properly.

* Now sprinkle the orange zest evenly on the cake and scald .
* Take a pan ,butter it well.Sprinkle some flour on top of the butter.This is a very essential step for making the cake to  rise well.
* Now pour the cake mix and tap it to spread evenly.
* Bake for 30 mins or untill the tooth pick comes out clean.
* Transfer it to a wire rack and cool completely.
* Cut and enjoy the cake.

Note:
* Dont add too much of orange zest,it may make the cake bitter.
* Take utmost care ,when the cooking time crosses between 25 to 30 minutes,if not the cake may become hard.Keep an watch at the cake .

Sending this to my event started by Priya

  Also sending this to Aipi and Priya's Bookmarked Recipes Event

Super Moist vanilla Cake / Never fail cake

 When I saw the title as "Never fail cake " in Cooking Is Easy blog,I cudn't resist myself from doing.The pictures were so impressing too.This is a full proof recipe and can never fail at any point,if u follow the recipe fully.This is originally a Betty Crocker recipe.Today I didnt plan to do.Rohith was getting bored and was asking for cake.So this recipe struck me and prepared along with Rohith.He was very helpful as u see in the collage.He likes to beat the cake all by himself.I was literally pulling the beater from him .The outcome was so perfect and all of us enjoyed it thoroughly.The cake was too fluffy and moist. It  was just like the store bought one.See this link for converting weight into grams .

Pans:
Use two 8 inch pans

Ingredients:
1.All-purpose flour    -                2 1/4 cups  

2.Sugar                        -                1 1/2 cups  
3.Butter                       -                1 stick  (8 tbsp / 4 oz /  1/2 cup)

4.Milk                         -                 1 1/4 cup 

5.Salt                           -                 1 tsp

6.Vanilla Extract          -                 1 1/4 tsp

7.Baking pwdr              -                 3 1/2 tsp

8.Eggs                           -                 3

Method:

* Pre- heat the oven for 350 degrees Farenhiet.

* Sift all purpose flour with salt and baking powder.Mix them well and keep it aside.

* Bring butter to room temperature.

* Take a mixing bowl,add butter and sugar.Beat them well.My son was very helpfull in beating the mix.

* Add eggs and vanilla extract.Let us beat them at high speed untill,it becomes fluffy.The more we beat,the more fluffiness we can get in the cake.

* Add the milk and beat the mix once or twise,just to make sure the milk is blended well into the mix.
*  Now bring ur beater to slow speed and add the flour mix.Slowly fold the mix and let it get mixed well without any lumps.Dont beat it.Just fold in.Because,if u beat it hard after adding the flour,then your cake wil not rise.

* The quantity ,I have mentioned here makes a really big cake.So take two round pans or a single large rectangle pan ,grease them first with butter.Then flour them .This helps the cake to rise a bit.

* Pour the batter in each cake pan and bake it for 35 to 40 mins or untill the fork comes out clean.Bake the cakes in batches.

* Transfer it to the wire rack and cool completely.
* Cut the cake into cubes and store it in a air tight container.(Sorry for the rough cuts on the cake.Rohith was doing all the mess while he was cutting it).

Note:
* The cake will rise upto 1/4 the size.So use a larger pan.
* Pre heat the oven for atleast 20 mins.
* While pouring the batter into the pan,fill it 3/4 the the space as the cake will rise a lot.
*Each oven has different settings,so bake the cake ,untill toothpick comes out clean.
* To convert cups to grams ,take 1 cup of all purpose flour ,that roughly equivalent to 140 gm.

Chocolate Brownies

Chocolate brownies are cousin sisters of  Cakes.I love the chewy and gooey taste of brownies.When I was bowsing thru net,got this recipe from youtube.It came out perfectly.But extra care shud be taken,while preparing brownies than for cakes.While removing from the oven ,brownies will be moist.But after cooling completely ,it will be firm and gives exceptional taste.Over cooking brownies,will make it chewy and elastic.So turn off immediately after cooking.

Ingredients:
1.Sugar                          -       1 cup
2.Flour                           -       1/2 cup
3.Chocolate chips          -        3/4 cups
4.Butter                          -        3/4 cup or 1 1/2 stick (But I have used 1 stick)
5.Eggs                            -         3
6.Vanilla Essence          -         1 tsp

Method:
Double Boiler Method:
Chocolate has to be melted in a double boiler method.Take a bowl,add water .Now take the chocolate chips , butter in a heat proof bowl and place it on the water bowl.The chocolate bowl,shud not touch the water.There shud be enough gap between the water and the chocolate bowl.Now place the double boiler on the stove at mediul flame.After 10 to 15 minutes,chocolate and butter would have melted well.mix it thorougly,untill all the chocolates melts.Take it off from the heat and cool completely.
Pre heat the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

* Take a mixing bowl,add eggs and vanilla essence.Beat them well.
* Now add , sugar to the mix and scald them well.
* Now pour the melted chocolate and mix.
* Slowly fold in the flour and pour the mix into the greased baking tray.
* Bake the brownies for 30 to 40 minutes or untill toothpick comes out clean.
* One  more signal to turn off the oven is,it will start raising a bit.
* Once cooked,cool completely and transfer it to the wire rack.

Sprinkle powder sugar on top of the brownies and cut it.

Note:
I wanted my brownies to be bit gooey,so I took it bit early.Coolingcompletely will help the brownies to cut evenly.Using buttered knife,will be very helpful in cutting the brownies.

Sending this to Priya's Crazy for cakes

Butter Naan- Tandoori oven effect made easy

Tandoor naan is my all time favourite.We used to crave for naans in  India,But I have not tried there.After coming to US,started trying this out at home.Previously used to prepare on the tava.It will be soft ,but I was not able to get that smoky naans with brown spots.I was searching thru net to get a tandoor effect for naans.Then came to know the procedure of  making tandoor naans at home thru a you tube video.Cooking naan on a flame is impossible,here as we have electric heaters.So I used the technique of using pans - covering the stove.It gave the naans brown spots and smoky flavour.This method is bit time consuming,but the outcome is so perfect .

Ingredients:
1.All purpose flour                            -          2 1/2 cups
2.yeast                                               -          2 tsp
3.Salt                                                 -          1/2 tsp
4.Sugar                                              -           1/2 tsp
5.Curd                                               -           1 tbsp
6.Luke Warm water                           -           1 cup or as required
7.Oil                                                  -            3 tbp
8.Wheat flour                                     -            2 tbsp (for dusting)

Method:
Preparing  the Dough:
* Take the luke warm water ,add sugar and yeast.Mix and keep it aside for 10 mins.
* After 10 mins,the mix would have become frothy.
* Take a mixing bowl,add flour,salt and curd.
* Crumble it well and now add the yeast water .
* Knead  it into a firm ,yet soft dough.
* Add oil to the dough and cover with a wet towel.
* Keep the dough in a warm place for 2 hrs or untill it doubles in size.
*  Divide the dough into equal sized balls.

Rolling the naan:
After dividing the dough,let it rest for half an hour.This will make the balls again double in size.But I used a technique to reduce the time.I started rolling each ball and cooking it simultaneously.Instead of rolling all the balls and cooking it in a batch.This helps  other balls to raise in the mean time.
The picture shows theraised balls.

* Sprinkle  wheat flour and roll the balls into a medium thicknessed rotis.Using wheat flour for dusting ,helps  naan to spread a bit.
* Pull it into a oval shaped naan.

Cooking the naan in tandoor effect:
* Take a heavy bottomed pan.Apply water to one side of the naan and press it into the pan as shown in the  picture four.
* Now, turn on the stove to high ,place the naan pressed pan upside down .As shown in the picture five.The pan should cover the stove completely.This will create a tandoor effect,where naan gets cooked with smoke and  some fire spottings like the  picture six.

* When the naan gets cooked 90 % ,it will come out of the pan.Make sure that it doesn't fall on the stove .If so, naan will start burning ,after fallen on top of the coil.
* Now turn the naan and cook for a minute  on top of the flame ,with the help of the spatula as shown in the seventh picture.Dont over cook the naan,then it will become hard.
* The eighth picture shows the naan cooked on the other side.

Immediately apply butter or oil and cut the naan into 2.Serve it with any side dish.

Note:
* Instead of using pans,we can also use small pressure pans,which has heavy bottomed.
* Once the naan is cooked on the first side,ther others side will be cooked quickly.So dont keep it on the flame too much.Dont try to cook the naan on the tava .It shud be cooked on top of the flame.

* Since we have electric stoves,I have used this method.In India,we have gas burners.So we can show the naan directly on the flame,instead of covering it on the stove.


Sending this to Ayeesha's A.W.E.D Indian Cuisine started by D.K

Bourbon Biscuits with nutella filling - Day 5

Today is the 5 th day of blogging marathon and I am going to give u the recipe for bourbon biscuits. Bourbon biscuits was in my mind ,when Nithu bala called felow bloggers to vote for her, in manjula's kitchen contest.I was impressed with her recipe and prepared these biscuits.But I didnt use her filling for the recipe.I used nutella as the filling for the biscuits.It tasted yummy.I skipped the adition of coffee powder either.

 Ingredients:

1. All Purpose Flour – 1 cup

2. Butter – ¼ cup

3. Sugar – 1/2 cup

4. Instant Coffee Powder - 1/2 tsp (Optional)

5. Baking Soda – 1/2 tsp

6. Baking Powder – 1/2 tsp

7. Cocoa – 1 tbs

8. Vanilla Essence – 3/4 tsp

9. Honey – 1.5 tsp

10. Milk - 3-4 tbs

For the Filling :

I used Nutella as a filling,but if u want to whip the cream then here is the recipe.

1. Butter – 1/4cup

2. Icing Sugar – 1/3 cup

3. Cocoa – 1 tsp

4. Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp

Method:
* Pre heat the oven at 325 degrees .
* Sieve the flour,cocoa powder,baking soda,baking powder,and combine these in a bowl.
* Take another bowl, add butter and sugar.Beat it well,untill sugar gets dissolved well.
*  Now add the honey and vanilla essence and mix.
* Now add all the dry ingredients and fold in the mixture.
* Slowly add milk and form a soft dough as shown in the picture.

* Sprinkle flour on a smooth surface,roll the dough into equal thicknessed rectangle.
* Divide the dough into equal sized small rectangles.
* With a fork,prik some holes and sprinkle some sugar on top of the biscuit.
* Place these biscuits on a greased cookie sheet.
* Bake the biscuit  degrees,at 325for 15 mins or until it becomes crisp.
* Cool completely and fill each biscuit with nutella .
* Place another biscuit on top of it ,like a sandwitch.
* Refrigirate the biscuits,for the nutella to become firm.

Alternatively,If u want to use butter cream filling,then combine all the ingredeints under "For filling" and spread it on the biscuit.This filling will become firm by itself,we need not want to refrigerate.

Note:
Knead the dough well without any cracks.Grease ur hands with butter ,and knead it .Dont bake it longer than 15 mins.Be cautious around 12 to 15 mins,there are several chances for the biscuit to burn.Mine burnt for the first batch.So be very cautious.Nutella will be some wat soggy,so refrigerate over night ,for the nutella to get firm.Pre heat the oven for atleast 20 minutes.

Check my bloggingmarathon buddies in action.
Champa, Divya, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Monica, Padma Dharmaraj, PJ, Savitha, Smitha, Srivalli, Usha, Veena Aravind,

Vegetable Pizza with home made Tomato sauce

Pizzas are my family's favourite.We love to order the veggie lover from "Pizza hut" often.My son loves it a lot.I was thinking to recreate it at home.Today got a very good oppurtunity.So workedout with the ingredients in hand.The spices and the topping depends on individual's taste.We can alter it accordingly.
My hubby was satisfied and gave a suggestion,to grease the tava with butter before cooking the pizza.
Planning to implement his thought in near future.

I have used tava to bake the pizza.But if u have a pizza stone then no need for the tava.Bcoz pizza stone will cook the pizza faster and cooks thoroughly.The tava helps to cook the pizza fast after heating it on the stove top.

Recipe Source : Prema's Thaligai.

Ingredients:


For the Pizza Sauce:
1.Ripe Tomatoes                         -                4
2.Onion                                       -                 1/4
3.Red pepper                              -                  1/4
4.Garlic                                      -                  3
5.Green chillies                          -                  2
6. Basil leaves                             -                   1 tsp
7.Oregano  pwdr                         -                    1 tsp
8.Red chilli flakes                       -                     as required
9.Pepper pwdr                             -                   few pinches

Method:
* Dump the tomatoes in hot water and peel the skin off.
* Take a pan,add little oil and saute the chopped onion,red pepper,slit green chillies and garlic.
* After cooling it,grind it in the blender with the tomatoes.
* In the same pan,add oil and pour the grinded tomatoe mixture .
* Bring it to boil and sprinkle some red chilli flakes,pepper pwdr,basil leaves and oregano pwdr.
* Cover and keep it aside.

For the Dough:

Ingredients:
1.All purpose flour                        -                 1 1/2 cup
2.Yeast                                           -                 3/4 tsp
3.Luke warm water                           -                1/2 cup  or required
4.Salt                                              -                 1/2 tsp
5.Oil                                               -                  2 tbsp

For Topping:
1.Chopped mushroom                    -                 1/2 cup
2.Chopped peppers                       -                  1/4 in each color.
3.Sliced onion                               -                  a hand full
4.Mozeralla Cheese                       -                  1/2 cup or required.
5.Garam masala                             -                  a pinch
6.Garlic pwdr                                -                   a pinch

Method:
* Dissolve the yeast in luke warm water for 10 mins.
* Mix it with the flour and prepare a soft dough,after sprinkling some oil.
* Let it rest for 2 hrs or untill it doubles in size.
* After 2 hrs ,take the dough out and knead it again .Divide it into 2 equal sized balls.
* Dust the floor with some flour and roll it into a medium thicknessed round dough.

* Take  a tava and place the rolled pizza.keep it on the stove top for 2 mins or untill it becomes slightly hot.This helps the pizza base to get heated and cook faster in the oven.
* Now take a laddle full of pizza sauce and spread it on the pizza.
* Now arrange the veges on the pizza in any order u prefer.
* Now sprinkle the cheese on top of it.We can be liberall in doing this.
* The more cheese u sprinkle,the more it will taste.but I have used bit lesser ,keeping my family's health in mind.

Baking:
* Pre heat the oven for 450 degrees and place the tawa with the pizza.
* Cook the pizza for 10 to 15 mins or untill the crust becomes golden brown.
* Take out ,sprinkle some garlic pwdr,garam masala and serve hot.

Note:
* The toppings are purely to our taste.We can also add some cooked chicken on top of it,if we want.
* The herbs added in the sauce are purely to our taste.The original recipe called in for oregano,since I didnt have it ,so used basil.
* We can also make the sauce an indian one ,by adding all the masala.
* My H suggested to grease the tava with butter and then place the pizza before cooking,which I am going to try it out next time
* Adding garam masala gives a indian touch.
* The mozerella cheese shud be a good brand,if not it wont taste like the pizza shops.


Sending this to Paris's Only bread event

Also sending to Aipi and Priya's Bookmarked tuesday event

Also sending to Champa' Kid's delight - Restaurant recreation started by Srivalli

Also sending to Sanyuktha's Cooking with whole food - Toamto event announced by Kiran

sending this to Priya's Fast food not fat food

Cinnamom Sticks - Day 4 of blogging marathon

       Today is the fourth day of  "7 days Blogging marathon "  started by Srivalli.Today I have selected the theme "Kids friendly recipe".Today I am going to present u ,my sons favourite,Cinnamon sticks.This recipe has a long recap .
          We used to go to a mall near grapevine.Whenever ,we go there,we used to buy cinnamon sticks in "Annie and auntie" store.They have wonderful cinnamon sticks,which will be very warm,soft and sprinkled with lot of cinnamon sugar.My son loves it a lot and a very big fan of it.So whenever we go there,I used to watch the girl making cinnamon sticks.She is very profesional and used to prepare 25 to 30 sticks within 10 mins.I used to watch her.This gave me an inspiration and started searching for recipes.Once ,I came to know that, pizza dough can be used to prepare these sticks.So this marathon gave me a chance to recreate those we had in that store.
             My hubby was delighted after having those spongy cinnamon sticks and rohith started sprinkling cinnamon - sugar mixture and njoyed well.Give it a try, ur kids will surely njoy.

Ingredients:


For the dough:
1.All purpose flour               -                 1 1/2 cup
2.Yeast                                  -                 3/4 tsp
3.Luke warm water                -                1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp
4.Salt                                      -                1/2 tsp
5.Oil                                       -                1 1/2 tbsp

For dusting:
1.Sugar                                   -               3 tbsp
2.Cinnamon    pwdr                -               1 tsp
3.Butter                                   -               2 tbsp

Method:

For the dough:
* Take a cup add yeast and warm water.Let it dissolve becoming a frothy liquid.
* Take a mixing bowl,add the flour,salt and yeast water.
*  Knead it into a soft dough by addin oil to it.
*  Let it sit there covered by plastic wrap for 2 - 3 hrs or untill it doubles.

Shaping:
* After 3 hrs,take out the dough and knead it again,without any cracks.
* Divide the dough into small equal parts and roll it as  shown above.
* Make sure the length is even.But I had some irregularities ,which I wud concentrate next time.
* If we roll them in large bulky piece,then it wud blow bigger after baking.So inorder to get a stick like shape ,roll them thinly.

Baking:
* Take a cup and mix sugar and cinnamon pwdr together.
* Take a cookie sheet, grease with butter and arrange the sticks in a row ,with intervals.
* Now brush the sticks with butter and sprinkle the cinnamon mixture.
* Keep the remaining pwdr for giving a final touch.
* Pre heat the oven for 400 degrees and keep the tray and bake for 10 - 12 mins or untill it turns golden brown.
* After 5 mins,take out the tray and brush it again with butter.
* This helps the sticks to retain its softness.

Serving tips:

* We can bake it days ahead .

* While serving,just heat it in the microwave ,sprinkle some sugar and serve.

My son loved it a lot.Its bcoz ,lot of sugar sprinkled on it.

Note:

We can also brush with cold water instead of using butter.The reason is ,we need a binding agent thats it.It can either be butter or cold water.But I prefer butter,as it gives that color and texture.

  Sending this to  Pari's "Only cooking with - Bread event "

       
Also sending to Reva's A.W.E.D British started by Dk

Check out my blogger marathon buddies in action..u will surely be treated well with their appealing treats, Sri valli, Azeema ,  Bhagi , Champa , Gayathri Anand , Gayathri Kumar , Harini , Jay , Meena , Minu , Padma, Pavani  , PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu ,Rujuta, SantosBangar , saraswathi , Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena,Kamalika.

Chicken Tikka

Tikka means bits or pieces,chicken tikka is bits of chicken marinated in spices and roasted in Tandoor.
Since ,we dont have tandoors,we can roast them in oven or grills.After trying paneer tikka,chicken was in my mind for long time.When my friends ,shared me the secret of adding onion paste to chicken tikka,I cudnt resisit to prepare that.Onion paste givs the dish an unique flavor.Today ,prepared chicken dhum biriyani and tikka for lunch.Will post the biriyani recipe soon......

Ingredients:
1.Boneless  Chicken                     -             1 cup
2.Bell peppers                              -              1/2 in each color
3.Onion                                         -              1 ( 1/2 for grinding and 1/2 for cubing)
4.Tandoori masala pwdr               -              1 tbsp
5.Chilli pwdr                                 -              1 tsp
6.Turmeric pwdr                           -               1/4 tsp
7.G & G paste                               -                1 tbsp
8.Thick curd                                  -                 1 tbsp
9.Lemon juice                                -                2 tbsp
10.Oil for brushing                        -                2 tbsp
11.Red food color                         -                a  pinch

Method:
* Cube the bell peppers, and half onion.
* Marinate everything in a zip loc bag or a bowl and mix it well.
* Grind the half onion and mix it into the mixture.
* Keep the marination in fridge over night.
* Soak the skewers in water for 1 hr .
* Arrange the chicken along with the cubed bell peppers and onion.

* Pre heat the oven for 450 degrees and place the skewers on a tray.
* Cook for 20 minutes ,brushing the chicken in between also turn it around in equal intervals.
* At last ,turn it to broil mode for the last 10 mins or until the chicken becomes reddish brown.

Squeeze some lemon juice,sprinkle some chaat masala and serve hot.

Note:
The reason for keeping in broil mode is to make the chicken dark brown color ,quickly.We can also use plain chilli pwdr and garam masala pwdr ,instead of using tandoori masala pwdr.
I love to cook it slightly black, to get the smoky flavor.....but if u want,u can remove it before getting black.

My 150 th Post - Coconut Macroons / Thengai biscuit

 I am happy to post my 150 th post today.I wud thank all my friends and fellow bloggers for  bringing me ,this joyfull moment.Celebrating this occasion with coconut macroons or thengai biscuit.
 Coconut macroons or biscuits are my favourite.We used to buy it in a small petty shop next to our school.I remember ,it will cost 50 paise .I wud bag around 1 rupee ,some how and buy it.It will not be a same menu ,one day this,one day 'then mittai',elandham pazham,a slice of mango and it goes on and on.Will munch these and walk back to home .Hmm I was surprised ,when saras gave me home made macroons.I was mesmerised by the taste and prepard it asap.This is her recipe ,which I altered a bit.

Ingredients:
1.Condensed milk            -         1 cup
2.Sweetend coconut fakes-         2 1/2 cups
3.All purpose flour           -         1/2 cup
4.Milk                               -         1/4 cup
5.Rice flour                       -         1 tsp
6.Baking soda                   -          a pinch
7.Salt                                 -         a pinch

Method:
* Take a big bowl,add condensed milk and milk,whisk it well.
* Now slowly fold in all purpose flour,rice flour,baking soda,salt and mix well ,without any lumps.
* Sprinke the coconut flakes and mix well.

* Now take a greased cookie sheet and drop the mixture using a laddle or karandi as shown.
* Pre heat the oven for 400 degrees and pace it .
* Cook till it becomes golden brown or for 12 - 15 mins
* Cool completely on a wire rack and serve.
My son love to have it with choco chips.So topped the second batch with choco chips..The original recipe called for rava,since i didnt have rava,used rice flour for crispness.

Recipe Courtesy : Saras Kitchen

Note:
Dont worry ,if u see that the bottom of the biscuit starts brown unlike the top.When u cool it it becomes crisp automaticaly.If u dont have wire rack for cooling,just use the rack in ur oven for cooling the macroons.
Sending this to Aipi and Priya's Bookmarked Recipes

Oven Roasted chicken 65 - A healthy version

Chicken 65 is a very famous starter in Tamil Nadu.It has originated from a military canteen.The name ,may be because ,it had contained 65 ingredients in the past.Not sure the exact reason.My husband's fav.But I always feel hesistant to do it ,as it contains oil.My frnds ,started doing this in oven and told me it tastes the same.I was not fully convinced,but when I did this,it is 100 % true.There is no difference in taste ,between oil fried and oven roasted.Since we are brushing enough oil, it tastes better with a smoky flavour.My hubby loved it a lot.

Ingredients:
1.chicken                                     -       1 cup
2.Chilli pwdr                               -        1 tbsp
3.Turmeric pwdr                          -        1 /2 tsp
4.Sakthi masala chicken 65 pwdr -        1 tsp
5.G&G paste                                 -        1 tbsp
6.Lemon juice                                -        1 tbsp
7.oil                                               -         1 tbsp
8.Red color                                    -         a pinch

Marination:
* Wash the chicken pieces and pat it dry on a towel for 5 mins.
* Take a mixing bowl and add all the ingredients , and marinate for 1 hr.Make sure the marination is dry.

Baking:
* Pre heat the oven for 450 degrees upto 30 mins.Place the marinated chicken pieces on a aluminium foil covered pan and brush it with oil.

* Cook for 15 mins,take it out and flip it around.Brush with oil again.
* Cook for another 10 mins and turn it to broil mode.
* Now keep an eye on the chicken,if needed,turn it around.
* After few mins, it wud have turned to reddish brown color.

Take it out from the oven and serve after squeezing some lemon juice.

Note:
The reason for using foil is, when chicken starts cooking,it leaves out juices and makes marks on the plate.So its wise to use foil covered trays.

For more Chicken varietites, go here

Almond Cake with whipped cream frosting

Almond cake is a very healthy variety to cakes.My friend ,Sho used to do it often.Inspired at her preparations, cooked this cake.Whenever, I start preparing cakes,Rohith will be very excited to mix it with the hand mixer.We can prepare it by using store bought almond paste,but I prefer to use it home made.Almonds are very good for health,both for kids and adults.Bcause ,it has good cholestrol.
Recipe Source : Shanavi of "Kitchen secrets"

Ingredients:
1.Almond Paste                       -            1 cup
2.All purpose flour                  -            1 cup
3.Sugar                                     -            1 1/2 cup
4.Butter                                     -            1 stick
5.Eggs                                       -             2
6.Milk                                       -             1/2 cup
7.Baking pwdr                          -             1 1/4 tsp
8.Salt                                         -             1/4 tsp
9.Vanilla Essence                      -             1 tsp

For Topping:
1.Whipped cream                     -              2 scoops
2.Sugar                                     -               2 tbsp
3.Cherries                                 -              few
4..Sprinklers                              -              1 tsp
5.Waffers                                  -               2


Method:
* Bring the butter to room temperature.
* I made almond paste at home.
* Just add abt 70 almonds in a bowl and add water and keep in microwave for 90 sec .
* Now it will be easy to peel the skin off.
* Just add it to the blender and make into a paste.
* Take a bowl and mix flour,baking pwdr,salt well.
* Take a mixing bowl,add butter,sugar and beat it fluffy.
* Now add almond paste,vanilla essence,eggs  and beat it real good.

* Now add the  flour mixture, slowly into the bowl.Dont beat it hard.
* Pre heat the oven for 350 degrees ,pour the mix into greased cake pan.
* My son wanted to have cup cakes,so poured remaining into the muffin tray.
* Cook th cake for 30 mins or untill it becomes,golden brown,or until the tooth pick comes out clear.
* Remove it and cool it completely.

Topping:
Mix the cream with sugar well and fill it into the decorating cone .Fill the cup cakes and decorate as ur wish.I have used sprinklers for 1 cake,cherries for the other and broken wafers for the third.

Sending this to Aipi and Priya's "Bookmarked Events"

Potato Stuffed Capsicum with shredded cheese topping

Stuffed capsicum or Bharwan Capsicum is a very famous north Indian dish.It is a spicy stuffing of potato into capsicum.Capsicum is my all time favourite.I wud love to add it in any dish.When potato is stuffed in,the flavor doubles.We can alter the stuffing by paneer also.This goes very well with rotis ,parottas or any bread items.This weekend,I got a chance to prepare this wonderful dish.It went out very well.To be healthy, I prepared it on a oven.We can also cok it on a tava.

Ingredients:

For outer layer:
1.Capsicum           -            2
2.Oil                      -            1 tsp

For Stuffing:
1.Potatoes             -            1/2
2.Onion                  -             1/2  
3.Green chillies     -             2
4.Garlic pods         -             4
5.Carrot                 -             1/4
6.Garam masala    -              1/2 tsp
7.Shredded cheese-              1 tbsp (optional)
8.Lemon Juice       -              1 tbsp
9.Cilantro        

Method:
Potato Stuffing:
* Boil the potato,carrot and mash it .
* Take a pan of oil,add chopped onion,green chillies and crushed garlic.
* Saute it well,till it oozes out oil.
* Now dump in the mashed potato-carrot mixture and mix it well.
* Add garam masala and toss it.
* Adjust salt to taste.Sprinkle lemon juice to the mixture.
* Garnish with cilantro.



Stuffing Process:
* Wash and cut the top layer of capsicum,remove the pit,seeds and make it hollow.
* Brush oil in and out of the capsicum.
* Take a sccop full of stuffing and fill it inside the capsicum.
* Now top with shredded cheese and spring onion.

Baking:
* Pre heat the oven for 400 degrees.
* Place the stuffed capsicum on a tray and bake it for 30 mins or untill the outer layer of capsicum is shrunk.
* In between,brush the capsicum with oil.
* Serve with hot rotis....


 

Banana Muffins

Christmas is nearing, and still ,I havent baked anything.....This thought was killing me and I had so many projects in hand ( Proiect Lead ?) ha ha ha.This banana muffin was the one which ,kept on pricking me to prepare it.One day I prepared it, but it was not firm enough to name it as a cake.It become brittle and we have to eat it as a pudding:(
 The two big mistakes I made were,
                    * Added melted hot butter.
                    * Mixture was beaten hard after adding flour mixture.
 After making several research,I identified the problem areas and prepared it well this time.The muffins were a grand success.Rohith was very happy in preparing the muffins along with me.He was running here and there to celebrate it and distracted me a lot.Hmm wat to do.kids are  kids..........
 I got around 11 cup cakes ,from these measurements.I have poured more in some liners,if not I wud have got couple of more.

Ingredients:

1.All Purpose Flour                -        2 cups (320 gms)
2.Bananas                               -         2  (medium sized)
3.Egg                                      -          1
4.Butter                                  -           1 stick
5.Sugar                                   -           1 cup (160 gms)
6.Baking pwdr                        -           1/2 tsp
7.Baking soda                         -            1/2 tsp
8.Salt                                      -            1/4 tsp
9.vanilla extract                      -             1 tsp
10.Choco chips                       -            1/2 cup

Method:
* Mix ,flour,salt,baking pwdr and baking soda in a bowl, with a whisk.Make sure the mixture is well mixed well, as of in figure 1.

* Peel the bananas and mash it well.I have taken medium sized bananas.The proportion is,for 1 cup flour,1 banana is taken.The bananas shud be ripe enough to make it a blend.

* Take  a big bowl ,mix butter and sugar using a blender.The butter shud be in room temperature.We can also melt the butter,but cool it completely before adding.Either way ,we can do it.The only concern is ,it shud not be hot.In my previous attempt,I added hot butter,so my cake was not firm enough.

* Break the egg and add it to the sugar-butter mixture and mix it ,untill it forms white fumes as in the figure 5.I mixed it at the maximum speed.This gives , a great fluffiness to the cake.The more u whisk, the more fluffiness u get in this.

* Now dump in the mashed bananas,vanilla extract and whisk it again to the fullest.As seen , in the pic,my son was very helpful in whisking and he had a good time ,with the hand mixer.

* Slowly mix the flour mixture ,into the bowl.Reduce the speed of the mixer to low.Make sure ,we dont have any lumps ,while blending.Dont mix it ,for more than 3 mins,after adding flour.The less u mix it after adding flour,the cake will br less firm.
* The final mixture is shown in figure 7.Take a muffin tray and place the liners inside the tray.Slowly ,scoop in the mixture upto half of the muffin liners.If u pour more mixture,then our cup cake will over flow.If u dont have muffin liners,no probs,just grease the tray with butter and pour the mixture .

* Top the choco chips on the cup cake as shown in figure 8.We can also ,mix it with the mixture.But I have just topped it.

* Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees for 20 mins.Now place the muffin tray inside the oven and bake it for 15 - 20 mins or untill ur tooth pick comes out clean.

* Remove the cup cakes from the tray and cool it on a wire rack or a plate.We can also decorate the cake with whipped cream.I dont want to add calories,so served just like that.

Sending this to Priya's Veggie /Fruit month, hosted by Aipi

Also sending it to Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen's Bake Off Event