Muruku

Ingredients:-

1. 2 Cups of Rice Flour
2. 1/4 cup of Urad Dal
3. 2-3 tbps of groundnuts
4. 1 tbsp jeera
5. 1 tbsp Chilli powder
6. 2-3 tbps butter
7. Salt to taste
8. Water

Method:-

1. Roast urad dal till light brown and grind them to fine powder after cooling them.
2. Roast groundnuts as well and powder them
3. Add salt, melted butter, rice flour, urad dal powder, groundnut powder, chillie powder, jeera and make a dough adding required amount of water.
4. Use muruku maker and press the dough to required shape directly into the heated oil.
5. Fry till light brown.

Pasta with White Sauce

Ingredients:-

1. Cheese - 50 gms
2. Milk  - 200 ml
3. Corn Flour  - 2 tbsp
4. Butter - 50 gms
5. Pasta
6. Salt to taste
7. Olive Oil
8. Garlic
9. Onions 1
10. Peppers 1
11. Mushrooms
12. Pepper Powder

Preperation:-

1. Heat water with salt and 1/2 tbsp of oil. When it bubbles, add pasta to it.
2. Cook for 10-15 mins. Drain and run over cold water.
3. Heat Olive oil and add finely chopped garlic to it.
4. Add onions, peppers, Mushrooms. When saute keep them aside.
5. Heat butter in a pan. Add Corn flour and fry for 2 mins.
6. Add cheese and milk to this and cook with salt and pepper.
7. When this paste turns slightly thick add sauted veggies and pasta and cook for 2 mins.

Mirchi Bajji

Ingredients:-

1. Cumin Powder - 1/2 tbsp
2. Tamarind Pulp 2 tbsp
3. Sugar 1/4 tbsp or Jaggery
4. Salt to taste
5. Besan powder
6. Chillie Powder - 1/2 tbsp
7. Cooking Soda 1/4 tbsp
8. Oil
9. Banana Chillies - 6
10. Onions and Lemon for dressing

Preperation:-

1. For the stuffing mix cumin powder, salt, tamarind pulp and sugar and make a thick paste.
2. Cut banana chillies length wise and gently take off the seeds if any. Stuff these with the above paste.
3. Mix besan, chillie powder, salt and soda with water to make a think paste. You can add rice flour( 1 tbsp) to it as well.
4. Dip the stuffed chillies in this paste and fry them in boiling oil.
5. Dress them with sliced onions, lemon and cumin or pepper powder.

Jamie's Salad

I will name this recipe as Jamie's Salad, as I do not remember the recipe name. I watched this program "Jamies 15 mins" in TLC and guess why I love his program than other cooking shows( Nigellism, Exotic Everyday etc )? Cause you can cook awesome dishes just in 15 mins and he uses a lot of greens. Fresh, beautiful and delicious.

This salad that he prepared he used every possible greens and veggies that he could ever find plus smoked chicken and few exotic dressings. But I am limiting to these ingredients below:

1. Mayonnaise  4-5 tbsps
2. Fresh Sweet Corn - 1
3. Lettuce  - 200 gms
4. Carrots  - 250 gms
5. Cucumber - 2
6. Onions - 1
7. Pepper Powder - 2-3 tbps
8. Lemons (1)
9. Salt to taste
10. Yogurt  4-5 tbps
11. Pepper 1 red + 1 green

Dressing:-

1.  Add lemon juice to 4-5 tbsps of Mayonnaise. I llloooove American Garden Eggless
   
   Mayonnaise.
2. Add salt, pepper powder and yogurt to the above mix and your dressing is ready. If required you can add chilli flakes as well.

Preperation:-

1. Heat fresh corn on low flame for 5-7 mins. Take a knife and chop the sides, an easy to way to separate the corns.
2. Slice onions, peppers, lettuce, carrots, cucumber.
3. Mix all the above ingredients with the dressing.

Sear Fish Fry

I used to hate sea food. For the smell and for the fact that no matter with what you cook it does not catch the flavor. Well I was wrong till we visited this place "Grill Maximus" at HSR Layout, Bangalore. You get the best fish dishes here( Fish fingers, Fish and Chips, Grilled Fish). So we thought why not get used to eating fish food too. After all it is supposed to be a healthy food.

Yeah another reason why we were away from fish were those tiny small irritating bones that get caught in your throat. So we went to meat shop and asked for a fish that has no bones. And the guy suggested Sear Fish. Later we learnt that Sear Fish has the highest fat content :-(.

Anyways my first trial at cooking fish was a grand success. Here's the recipe, not a recipe really. I follow Nigella who cooks with all canned, and read-made stuff. So you get these fish fry masala in stores. Just Marinate with it and fry the fish over. Well, "documenting" the same,

Ingredients:-

1. Sear Fish - 500 gms
2. Fish Fry Masala
3. Lemon juice
4. Salt to taste
5. Oil to fry

Preperation:-

1. If you ask the meat shop guy to chop the fish for fry he will nicely slice it into thin pieces. With Sear fish you don't have to clean and no messy stuff at home at all.
2. Add 1 full lemon's juice, fish fry masala pack and marinate the fish for 1/2 hr.
3. You can add salt per your preference. 
4. Heat oil in a pan. I used Olive oil. And fry these pieces on medium heat.

Aloo Palak with Broccoli

Ingredients:-

1. Potatoes   - 200 gms
2. Broccoli   - 200 gms
3. Palak        - 2  big bunch
4. Tomatoe   150 gms
5. Onions     1
6. Garlic  - 4-5 cloves
7. Chillie Powder - 2 tbps
8. Coriander Powder - 1 tbsp
9. Garam Masal  - 1/2 tbsp
10. Ginger Garlic Paste 1 tbsp
11. Salt to taste
12. Oil

Preparation:-

1. Slice Broccoli and potatoe and boil them with salt.
2. Once they are boiled, drain and run them over cold water. This keeps the green color of broccoli.
3. Heat water with salt. Take a big bowl add spinach leaves to it and pour the boiling hot water over them. Cover this bowl for 5 mins so that the leaves get cooked.
4. Drain the water. Grind this into paste with garlic cloves.
5. Heat pan, add oil.
6. Fry sliced onions and when brown, add ginger-garlic paste.
7. Add sliced tomatoes and cook till tomatoes soften.
8. Add poatoes, broccoli and spinach paste to this.
9. Add Chillie powder, coriander powder and salt if required and cook for 5 mins.
10. Add garama masala at the end and cook for 1-2 mins.
11. Serve with pulka :-)
    
    
    

Pumpkin Curry

Ingredients:-

1. Pumpkin - 500gms
2. Onions -1
3. Red Dry Chillie 2
4. Curry Leaves 6-8
5. Mustard Seeds 1/4tbsp
6. Turmeric - pinch
7. Chillie Powder 2 tbps
8. Coriander Powder 1 tbsp
9. Amchoor Powder 1/2 tbsp
10. Salt to taste
11. Oil

 

Preperation:-

1. Peel the hard skin off the pumpkin. Chop them into small cubes,
2. Heat Oil. Add mustard seeds to it. When they splutter, add dry chillie, curry leaves and slices onions.
3. When onions on translucent add pumpkin cubes. 
4. Add rest of the spices and boil by adding enough water for the pumpkin to cook.
5. When pumpkin is cooked add Amchoor powder and cook for 5 mins.

Pumpkin Halwa

Ingredients:-

1. Pumpkin - 750 gms
2. Sugar      - 400 gms
3. Ghee      - 100 gms
4. Cashews - 50 gms
5. Raisins  - 50 gms
6. Ilachi pods  - 5
7. Milk - 3 tbsps

Preperation:-

1. Grate pumpkin after peeling the skin off.
2. Heat ghee in a pan and roast cashews and raisins.
3. Add grated pumpkin and milk and cook till pumpkin gets soft.
4. When pumpkin is cooked add sugar and ilachi powder.
5. Serve cold.
   

Egg and Drumsticks Leaves

Ingredients:-

1. Drumsticks leaves - 200 gms
2. Eggs - 4
3. Onions 2
4. Dry red chillie - 2
5. Green chillie - 6
6. Curry leaves 4-6
7. Mustard Seeds
8. Garlic pods 4
9. Salt to taste
10. Oil

Preperation:-

1. Boil drumstick leaves in water with salt. When they are 3/4 cooked drain the water and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds for seasoning.
3. Add finely chopped onions, curry leaves, green chillies, red chillies, garlic and fry them till onions are golden brown.
4. Add eggs and fry for 3 mins.
5. Add leaves to the same and fry till the mixture gets dry.
6. Can be served with rice or chapathi.

Andhra Delicacies - Pappula Podi & Gongura Chutney

Pappula Podi

Ingredients:-

1. Putnala Pappu( Fried Gram) - 150 gms
2. Dry Red Chillies - 6
3. Garlic Cloves - 6 ( Optional)
4. Grated Coconut - 4-5 tbps
5. Cumin Seeds - 1-2 tbsps
6. Salt to taste

Preperation:-

1. Fry cumin seeds and red chillies on low flame for 5 mins.
2. Grind all the ingredients in a mixer and voila the podi is ready.
3. Serve with rice and ghee. Goes well with Gongura Chutney.

 

Gongura Chutney

Ingredients:-

1. Gongura leaves - 1 bunch
2. Dry Red Chillies - 4
   
3. Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
4. Ural Dal & Chana Dal - 1-2 tbsp
5. Onions
6. Curry Leaves
7. Mustard Seeds
8. Garlic Cloves - 6 (Optional)
9. Oil & Salt as required

Preperation:-

1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and add gongura leaves.  Saute them for 5 mins.
2. Fry cumin and dry red chillies on low flame for 5 mins.
3. Cool them and grin gongura, red chillies, salt and cumin seeds. 
4. Heat 1 tbsp of oil and add mustard seeds. Add urad and chana dal and fry them.
5. Add split/ cut garlic cloves and when they turn light brown add curry leaves and onions.
6. Fry for 3 mins and add the ground paste.
7. Keep adding oil so that the paste does not stick to the pan( unless you are using a non-stick pan).
8. Fry this mixture for 5-10 mins. This can be stored as pickle as well.
9. Can be served with rice and ghee or with curd rice.

Pasta

Ingredients:-

1. Sphegatti ( 1 pack )
2. Paneer ( 150 gms)
3. Capsicum
4. Onion
5. Chillies
6. Ginger-garlic paste ( Optional )
7. Soya Sauce
8. Salt to Taste

Preperation:-

1. Boil water till it starts bubbling. This is when you should add sphegatti to it. Add salt and few drops of oil to keep sphegatti from being sticky.

2. Drain the sphegatti with cold water.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add chillies, onions to it. Add ginger-garlic paste.

4. Add capsicum and paneer, and fry in sufficient oil till the paneer gets cooked.

5. Add soya sauce and sphegatti and cook for 5 mins till the sphegatti gets the flavors.

6. Serve hot with garlic bread. 

Chicken Fry

Ingredients:-

1. 750 or 1 kg Real Good Chicken
2. Chillies(4)
3. Chopped Onions(1)
4. Coriander
5. Pudina
6. Cashews
7. Garam Masala (1 tbsp)
8. Chillie Powder ( 2 tbsp)
9. Lemon Juice (2 tbsp)
10. Curds( optional)
11. Garlic-Ginger Paste (2 tbsp)
12. Turmeric Powder
13. Dhania Powder ( 1tbsp)
14. Salt to taste
15. Oil

Preperation :-

1. For marinating - Add  lemon juice,  ginger-garlic paste, chillie powder, dhania powder, garam masala to the chicken. Add chopped coriander and pudina leaves. Add turmeric and slit chillies into half and marinate all of these for 30-45 mins.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Fry cashews. Add onions and fry them too.
3. Add the marinated chicken to this and cook with a lid on till the chicken cooks.
4. If the chicken is taking too long to cook add 2-3 tbsps of curds to this. This will make chicken soft too.
5. Once the chicken is cooked fry them without the lid. Fry till chicken is roasted and turns dark brown.
6. Add coriander, pudina for garnishing at the end.

Stuffed Karela

Ingredients:-

1. Bitter Gourd  (6) - small sized
2. Chopped Onions
3. Chopped Tomatoes
4. Chopped Green Chillies( Optional )
5. Groundnuts
6. Urad Dal
7. Chana Dal
8. Tamarind
9. Jaggery or Sugar
10. Coriander Seeds or Coriander Powder

Preperation:-

1. For the stuffing - Fry groundnuts, urad dal, chana dal and coriander seeds. Grind them along with them onion, tamarind( that was soaked in water for 5-10 mins). This paste should be thick and dry as much as possible. 
2. Slit bitter gourds length wise and remove the insides. I like seeds inside and so I add them back to the fry later.  Boil these in water. Add turmeric, salt and curds. Curds takes away the bitterness. Be careful as to not boil these too much that the outer layer breaks off during stuffing.
3. In a pan heat oil. Add chopped green chillies and onions. Add Tomatoes to the same and fry them till tomatoes are completely mashed.
4. Stuff the gourds with the filling and add them to the pan. 
5. If the gourds are very bitter, add jaggery or sugar at the end( around a spoon) and fry them for 5 mins.

Andhra Recipe - Pala Puri (Milk Puri)

Ingredients:-

1. All purpose flour or wheat flour
2. Almonds (5)
3. Cashew  (10)
4. Poppy Seeds
5. Grated coconut ( fresh )
6. Sugar
7. Milk
8. Salt to Taste
9. Oil

Preperation Time - 40 mins

Preperation:-

1. Fry poppy seeds on low flame for few mins.
2. Soak cashews, almonds, poppy seeds and coconut in milk for half an hour
3. Peel off almonds skin and grind all of these to make a paste
4. Heat milk and add sugar and above mix
5. Cook for 15 mins
6. For puris, mix flour with sufficient water and salt. Make marble sized balls and knead them into puris. Fry them in oil
7. Dip or soal these puris in the boiled milk and refrigerate them
8. Best served when cool

Pala Puri

Stuffed Capsicum

Ingredients :-

1. 4 capsicum
2. curry leaves
3. mustard seeds
4. chopped onion (1)
5. chopped green chillies (3)
6. turmeric
7. coriander leaves
8. salt to taste

For the Stuffing :-

1. 4 Potatoes
2. 6-8 dry red chillies
3. Coriander seeds ( 1tbsp )
4. Chana Dal ( 1 tbsp)
5. Cumin seeds ( 1 tbsp )
6. Urad Dal ( 1 tbsp)
7. Grated dry cocounut ( 1 tbsp )
8. Tamaraind pulp ( 1 tbsp )
9. Groundnuts ( 4 tbsp )

Preperation :-

1. Pressure cook potatoes with salt. Cool them off, and mash them.

2. Fry dry red chillie, corainder seeds, chana dal, urad dal, cumin seeds and grind all of them to powder

3. Fry groundnuts and grind them to powder as well.

4. Mix all the powders with coconut powder and tamarind pulp.

5. Add turmeric and the above mix to mashed potatoe. 

6. Heat 2-3 tbsps of oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, greeen chillies, onions and fry them. Add turmeric before you take it off the heat.
Add coriander leaves to this mix. Now the stuffing is ready.

7. Cut capsicum at the top horizontally. Remove the seeds inside and fill these with the stuffing. Sprinkle little salt on top of the
capsicums. Apply oil and microwave these for 4-5 mins.

Chocolate Cake Recipe

Got this from one of my friends at work...


Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of all purpose floar( Maida)
• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• 2 tea spoons of baking powder
• 1 cup of drinking chocolate powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of curdled milk
• 2 tea spoons of vanilla essence
• 200 gms of melted butter

Preparation:

1. Mix first 4 ingredients and keep them aside
2. Bring milk to medium heat and add vinegar or lemon juice. Once the water separates from milk cool it off and keep it aside
3. Beat eggs, vanilla essence, butter and milk together
4. Add the floar mix gardually and make a paste
5. Grease the pan and pour this mix into it
6. Use auto-cook menu for Chocolate cake or use Cook + Bake Combination at 110 c.

Oats Upma

Recipe from - http://www.vegetarianrecipes.net/oats-upma/

Mutter Paneer Masala Recipe

Ingredients

Mutter Paneer Masala

1. 2 cups of fresh green peas
2. 1 Cup Paneer 
3. 2 large sized tomatoes 
4. 1 tbl spoon of ginger garlic paste
5. 1 tbl spoon of cashew paste
6. 1 large sized onion
7. 4 green chillies
8. 4 tbl spoon of chilli powder
9. 1 tbl spoon of garam masala
10. salt to taste
11. 1/4 tbl spoon of turmeric powder
12. 1/2 cup of curds
13. oil as needed 
14. Chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Preparation

1. Heat oil and fry paneer till they turn golden yellow color.

2. Make tomatoe puree by grinding them in a mixer.

3. Soak cashews in water for 15-20 mins and grind them to paste.

4. Chop onions and green chillies.

5. Heat the oil and fry green chillies and onions. Add turmeric powder, ginger-garlic paste and fry for few mins.

6. Add tomatoe puree, curds, cashew paste, garam masala, chilli powder and salt.

7. Add peas and paneer to this and let it saute till the peas are cooked.

8. Add coriander and serve hot.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

How much I hate it when things do not turn the way I expected them to? Seriously I need to take few things lite in my life. Reason for starting a blog post that is titled with one of my favorite cakes, on a negative note...my trail of baking this cake at home did not turn out well. It came out ok, after so many trails and experiments with Micro Wave.

I tried baking using MW twice before. It either became too hard like a biscuit or it was not cooked inside. I googled and then found that baking with MW is not easy and many women had posted same problem. But someday I am going to nail this. I am still trying to analyze what went wrong. Was baking powder less? I added more butter? Or is the MW to be blamed? I will blame the MW cause I could bake excellent cake( of course last time sugar was less) without MW, using Mom's oven and it came out well. Soft, fluffy and tasty( I like it with less sugar).

Anyways am posting this recipe as there is absolutely no problem with the recipe though. It's almost same as the recipe that  I posted for Banana Cake. Here's the recipe.

For the topping

1. Tinned pineapple slices
2. 1/4 cup of sugar ( I used white sugar, but brown sugar is recommended)
3. Butter (as needed, I used 6 tbl spoons of butter )

For the Cake Batter

1. All purpose flour ( maida) - 2 cups
2. 3 eggs
3. 3/4 cup of sugar ( You can make it 1 cup or 1.25 if you like the cake to be too sweet)
4. 3/4 cup of butter
5. 1 tbl spoon of baking soda

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

6. 1 tbl spoon of baking powder
7. 1 tbl spoon of lemon juice
8. 2-3 tbl spoon of milk

Preperation

1. Mix all the ingredients for the batter in  a mixer. You could add essence or color to this if you wish.
2. For the topping mix butter and sugar and heat it on medium flame till it starts bubbling.
3. Grease the baking bowl( for MW you NEED to use baking bowls eg. Borosil) and pour the sugar syrup.
4. Place the pineapple slices.
5. Pour the batter into the bowl.
6. I used Auto Cook Menu A-12( Onida Convection MW ). Or you could bake it using Bake/ Keep Warm settings at 150 C for 30-40 mins. You can stop the MW anytime and see if the cake is baked.
7. Turn the baked cake upside down, add cherrys as shown in the image.

Stuffed Aloo-Methi Paratha

Ingredients:

Aloo-Methi Stuffing

For Parathas
Wheat flour
Oil
 
For the stuffing
Boiled potatoes                             - 3
Fenugreek (Methi) leaves                - 1 set
Green Chillies, finely chopped           - 2
Chopped Onion                              - 1
Chilly powder                                - 1/4  teaspoon
Coriander leaves , finely choppes     - 1/2 set
Turmeric powder                           - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Preparation
1. Prepare the paratha dough and keep it aside for 20-30 mins.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil. Add green chillies and onion. Add a pinch of salt and turmeric powder to this and let it fry for 5 mins.
3. Add methi leaves chilli powder and let ti saute for 2 mins.
4. Mash the boiled potatoes, add the above mixture to this. You can add garama masala powder ( 1/2 teaspoon) if you wish. Add coriander leaves and salt per your taste.

Stuffed Aloo-Methi Paratha

5. Make lemon sized balls with the dough.
6. Roll these balls to a small sized chapathi. Make sure that the edges are thinner than the center. Place a small ball of the stuffing in the center. Bring the edges to the center to cover the stuffing.
7. Roll this to make a paratha.
8. Heat a pan and fry the paratha with oil at medium heat.