Green Salad

  This Salad is one of the family favourite one

I picked the ingredients randomly,chopped and mixed with salt and pepper..

Ingredients
Apple,diced-1
Cucumber,de-skinned&diced-2 cups
Crushed peppercorns-1 tbsp
Lettuce,de-veined & chopped-1 cup
Kiwi,de-skinned & diced-half cup
Salt-half tsp
Sugar-a pinch
Method
Mix all the veggies and fruits ,Before serving toss with salt and pepper ,sprinkle a pinch of sugar...
Adding Salt to salad,makes the cut fruits juicy and the pinch of sugar gently coats the slices,gives wonderful taste
U can substitute the apple with any fruit or vegetable available for u...

Sesame Paneer

My camera is given for service and i am missing it a lot...No words to say how i feel now,since i used it more than my mobile and tab..The camera comes handy whenever the food is ready ,i will click mostly without much thought of light and set up...But clicking some dishes is more difficult for me..Either the food gets over soon or there will not be enough light to click.With all those hurdles,i need many pictures to blog here and my cam always gave a bend to support me :)...

This is a starter i made for a lunch,perfectly fits as an appetizer for a party..Sesame and Paneer is just an amazing combination and everyone will luv it...The slices supposed to be diagonally cut and served hot..But i felt its more filling as an appetizer,but still you can try with thin diagonal slices..

Ingredients

Paneer slices-100 gms

Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder-1 tbsp

Turmeric powder-1 tsp

Cumin powder-1 tsp

Garam masala-1/2 tsp

Kasuri methi-1 tsp

Lime juice-1/2 tsp

Roasted Sesame-1 tbsp

Oil-1 tsp

Salt to taste

Method

1.Mix Chilli powder to salt in a bowl and make into fine paste

2.Mix the paneer with the paste and marinate for ten minutes or rest it in fridge until u need it

3.In a grilling pan or non stick pan ,apply a tbsp of oil and toss the paneer for couple of minutes

4.Once,the paneer is cooked,sprinkle some more sesame seeds on paneer slices and press it with unused flat laddle

5.Without tossing it,remove the slices ,move it to a plate 

6. Arrange the slices positioned at one direction and serve with a tooth pick

Either Tomato ketup or Sweet Chilli Sauce can be served with this!

Bread Halwa

Bread Halwa is a famous sweet in muslim community..I guess a same set of menu is repeated in most muslim marriages and of course,this halwa turns to be a hit /must and going well with the indian crowd...I got the recipe from Chennai Food guide page,during their Biryani cookout workshop..I have already posted their Brinjal thokku recipe here...While making the halwa,the expert well explained that breads needs to be more browner to get the actual taste of halwa..She deep fried all the breads in one go...I was guilty to do the same..I took time and toasted the bread to dark brown with oil...So,you can try either way.

Ingredients

Milk Bread-one loaf(10-12 nos)

Sugar-one cup

Milk-half litre

Sweetened khoya-1/2 cup

Cucumber seeds-2 tbsps

Cashewnuts-a few

Ghee/oil-100ml

Method

1.Deep Fry/Toast the bread with ghee/oil till it turns dark brown

2.Boil the milk,add the bread one by one,let it turn soggy and break it with laddle

3.Once the 3/4 th of the milk is absorbed,add the sugar

4.Heat the ghee/oil in another pan,fry the seeds and cashews

5.Add it to the halwa,Stir it often,Sprinkle the khoya at the end and Stir for two minutes 

Halwa should be well incorporated with all the ingredients

CFG has come up with "Greek cuisine workshop",here are the details....

CFG Workshop – ‘It’s All Greek To Me’
Cooking Demonstration at Kryptos By Will, KNK Road, Nungambakkam on Saturday 15th Sept 2012 4pm onward. Seats limited to 20. Pricing – Rs 800 per person. You will be shown how to prepare a salad/starte+main course+dessert...Further details Contact: nishanth.scsa@gmail.com

Eggless Chocolate Cake

There is lot of demand for eggless baking which i never heard of before..Many people requests for eggless cake recipes through this blog..I have tried recipes without eggs for cakes which has comes out really good and very easy too..One of the best thing on eggless baking is you dont need a hand beater and no careful folding of batter...Though i have many recipes on eggless baking,I want to try this one which is making a big round in many magazines here..The AD for nestle milkmaid had a huge chocolate cake slice picture really took my breath for a minute.During my recent visit to bangalore,i received a booklet on the same too..Omg,Luks like this recipe is chasing teasing me to bake.. :)

Ingredients

Milkmaid-half tin(200gms)

Milk-1/2 cup(75ml)

Dahi-100 ml

Butter-100 gms(at room temp)

Flour-1 cup(100 gms)

Cocoa-50 gms

Baking Soda-1 tsp(I used half tsp)

Walnuts,chopped-1/2 cup

Method

 Beat the butter and nestle dahi until light and creamy

Seive flour,cocoa and baking soda

Fold the flour in the mix,alternating with milk and condensed milk

Fold in the walnuts/cashews and pour into greased tin

Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes @ 170*C till tooth pick inserted in the comes out clean

Allow it to cool for 5 minutes and then remove from the tin 

For the Chocolate icing

Condensed milk-1/4 tin

butter-50 gms

Cocoa-4 tbsps

Just mix all of them to smooth icing

Here is my verdict on the recipe and the cake...

I did expected the cake will be little chewy since it had condensed milk...But the recipe is very clever proportions...It was equally balanced with the butter,sweetness and the rest...The cake is more dense,light,moist and fudgy..It holds the flavor of cocoa ,and to surprise it is not sweeter in taste..

Sprouts Kozhukattai

As i posted yesterday about sweet version of yalpanam kozhukattai...this one is complete healthy...I just used sprouts instead of sweet poranam...u need not have to skip the lunch or dinner to eat high calorie of kolukattais...U can have 3-4 of these for dinner as i did..

Ingredients

Brown rice flour-1 cup

Hot water-2 cups

Salt to taste

For stuffing

Mixed sprouts-1 cup

Method

Boil the water and salt ,sprinkle the flour slowly and stir it non stop until it forms a tight dough..

Cover and rest it for ten minutes

Cook the sprouts with salt until it turns tender,season it with mustard and asafeodia

Apply some oil on a zip-lock and spread dough

Keep the filling in center 

and press without removing the zip-lock,and seal the edges

Steam it for 7-8 minutes,and switch off the flame

Let it cool for 2 minutes and then remove the kozhukattai

Yalpanam kozhukattai/யாழ்ப்பாணம் கொழுக்கட்டை

We got to know this through "tamilini" sweet shop which has many srilankan sweets...this kozhukattai is famous ,because of its unique taste.....it is made with brown rice flour and moong dal...both the filling and outer gives wonderful taste...As they say healthy food is not tasty,u should try this version...

 Ingredients

Brown rice flour-1 cup

Hot water-2 cups

Salt to taste

For stuffing

Half cooked moong dal-1/3 cup

Coconut,grated-1/3 cup

Sugar-2-3 tbsps

Method

Boil the water and salt ,sprinkle the flour slowly and stir it non stop until it forms a tight dough..

Cover and rest it for ten minutes

I used double house puttu maavu

Cook the dal on stove top,drain the water,add coconut and sugar

Apply some oil on a zip-lock and spread dough

Keep the filling in center 

and press without removing the zip-lock,and seal the edges

Steam it for 7-8 minutes,and switch off the flame

Let it cool for 2 minutes and then remove the kozhukattai

My dad's write up on today's dinathanthi

Kozhukattai with oats stuffing

I have already posted many recipes of kozhukattai here...Lets check the previous posts now..this post is with the recipes of very basic dough with five different methods...Modagam which is deep fried ones.Today i tried oats filling instead of coconut..It was equally good in taste and felt very healthy even after gulping many of them ;-)

Ingredients Rice flour-1 cup Water-1+1/2 cups Jaggery-half cup Dry roasted,Oats-one cup Cardamom powder-half tsp Salt-1 tsp Oil-1 tbsp Method 1.Boil the water,add salt and oil 2.When the water bubbles,pour the flour and stir with the ladle without a pause 3.In another pan,melt jaggery in half cup of water and strain to remove the dust. 4.Add the roasted oats,Cardamom powder allow it to cook and forms a non-sticky filling. 5.Use the mold,spread the dough and press slightly to release the excess dough...Add the filling and seal it with dough 6.Steam them for 5-7 minutes and its done! I used dark jaggery,Since its too sweet ,so I added less..So,when u r making,add according to the sweetness of your jaggery.

Home Bakers - Bangalore

Home Bakers Showcase held in bangalore which was again a hit...i am inspired by many home bakers now,they are making yum'mazing job which the bakeries fails to do..Of course,the mass productions are boring at end,you have got a chance to try new kind of cakes and pastries....It been almost a year i stepped out of chennai....I am glad i went for the showcase event..the ladies were so humble,i asked one of the them,what they brought..She said "Everything ,since all i  baked came out well today"...I found the prices were reasonable,and the products are up-to its best standard and looked very professional :)

Vaishnavi Reddy-the Sugar Goddess

Vaishnavi Reddy-the Sugar Goddess

I went early to the place...I need to check "who is selling what", have to click and also to buy/reserve..phew,I was crazy...But this time i bought many goodies :) 

Only Savouries from Charmaine

Latha Kiran from Itz Yumm

  
Vibha Gupta-Sugar Craft

She was busy on teaching the kids to make kiddy cupcakes 

 from Nikitha Babu

Ashwini Radhakrishnan-Baker Craft

No,Its my brownie

Gateaux Opera Cake
Ashwini Radhakrishnan-Baker Craft

 Vaishnavi Reddy-the Sugar Goddess

Ashwini Radhakrishnan-Baker Craft

  Hamsini from Delices

Mummalicious 

  
Hamsini from Delices

Hamsini from Delices

Vaishnavi Reddy-the Sugar Goddess

Ashwini Radhakrishnan-Baker Craft

the couple were selling the below cake which stole the show :)

 

Bakers Name	Links
Hamsini Appadurai	Delices
Vaishnavi Reddy	the Sugar Goddess
Vibha Gupta	Sugarcraft
Ashwini Radhakrishnan	Baker craft
Ankita Singha	Mummalicious
Latha Kiran	Itz yumm
Deepakshi Raju	Cake Cottage
Charmaine Saldanha	Charmaine
Vaishali Maniar	Crumbs
Nikitha Babu	Nikitha
Heena Awasthi	Do it sweet

So,here the bakers list!