Unveil the flavours

I have some baking skills too. This I discovered recently when I cooked some perfect short breads. Now let me tell you what you need to bake them are really simple ingredients from your pantry. 1. 3/4 Cup of All purpose flour[I used Maida ] 2. 3/4 Cup of vanilla custard powder [I used wheat flour] 3. 1/2 cup of Powdered sugar [You can adjust sweetness as per your taste. I loved the breads with just about 2 tsp of powdered sugar] 4. 1 tsp of baking powder 5. 1/4 tsp  elachi powder 6. 2 Tbsp milk 7. Saffron/Kesar - few strands 8.4 Tbsp curds 9. 4 Tsp butter 10. Red Cherries for garnishing                           Dip Saffron/Kesar in milk for about 5 minutes. Sieve the all purpose flour + wheat flour and baking powder together into a dry bowl. Beat butter, curds, powdered sugar and kesar milk until all come together in a separate bowl. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ones to form a soft dough. ...

Kesaribath with a variation. Plain sooji with simple twist - the way all like it at home. Ingredients: 1. Ripe Banana - 1 or 2 2. Rava/Sooji  - 1 cup 3. Ghee - 2 tsp 4. Cashew and Raisins - 8 to 10 each 5. Sugar - 2 tsp Method: 1. Fry the cashew and raisins in a tsp of ghee. Remove them into a plate after 3 minutes. 2. In the same pan saute Rava for about 5 min. 3. Add a 2 cups of water and allow it to cook. 4. Cut the ripe banana into small cubes and add it to the boiling mix. 5. Add the sugar and cook on medium flame for about another 5 min. 6. Finally garnish with cashews and raisins.

KodubaLe is a tea - time snacking dish which is crispy fried and just right about the way one longs to munch along with a cup of hot coffee. Ingredients: 1. Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup 2. Chopped Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup 3. Chopped Curry leaves - 1/4 Cup 4. Rice Flour - 1.5 cup 5. Oil - to fry 6. Salt - to taste 7. Chilli powder - 2 tsp 8. Jeera - 1.5 tsp Method: 1. Mix all the ingredients[Except oil] into a dough similar to chapati/roti. 2. Make small balls of the dough and shape each one into a bangle. 3. Deep fry in oil to get yummy crispy KodubaLe to munch on. Above ingredients will make about 30 KodubaLe's of a size of 2 inches diametered bangles.

Navraatri calls for special cooking and here is what I cooked on the first day.- Kayi bella Barfi. Ingredients: 1. Fresh grated Coconut 1 cup 2. Jaggery 3/4th cup 3. Salt - a pinch 4. Elachi/Cardomom powder - 1/4 tsp 5. Ghee - 3 to 4 tsp Method 1. Place a pan on low flame. 2. Add 2 tsp of ghee. 3. Add the coconut and powdered jaggery into it. 4. Mix it well until it blends and entire mixture starts leaving the pan. 5. Add the Elachi powder and the remaining ghee for extra flavour and taste. 6. Pour the contents onto a plate greased with a drop of ghee. 7. Cut into square or diamond shaped pieces and allow it to cool. Note: For garnishing you can use raisins, cashews or any other nuts.

I will never go wrong with this burfi not only because its so easy but also for the fact that its yummy, delicious and a sweet with richness. Ingredients: 1. Unsalted Cashews - 400 grams 2. Sugar  - 200 grams 3. Strawberry - About 6 or 7 4. Badam milk powder - 2 tbsp Optional : Pistachios, Walnuts. Method. Grind the cashew into fine powder and pour it into a bowl. Cut strawberries and add 2 tbsp of sugar. Make a puree of it and keep it aside.[Do not add water to make the puree] Mix the remaining sugar to the powdered cashew. On a double boiler system place this bowl with the cashew sugar mixture. Slowly the sugar melts and mixes with the cashew making a fine paste. When the mixtures leaves the sides of the bowl thats when you make three equal portions of the mixture. For the first part of the mixture add the strawberry puree. Keep stirring till this gels well with the cashew-sugar dough. To another part add badam powder and a little of kesar color to make it attr...

A chocolate lover ME never get an aversion to chocolates. I love them in all forms. But yeah nothing can beat the Dairy milk versions in the market. Of late the silk with a touch of Orange --- Yummmyyyy!!! I had been planning to make some chocolates at home from a very very long time. Had surfed the net which resulted a lot of versions of making simple dark chocolate right from scratch. Of all the recepies I found, the simplest one below is what I chose to start my trial with. Ingredients: 1. Sugar - 1 Cup 2. Milk Powder - 1 Cup 3. Butter - 3/4 Cup 4. Cocoa Powder - 3/4 Cup Method: Firstly sieve the Cocoa Powder and Milk powder into a container/bowl in order to have a smooth textured chocolate finesse. Now make a sugar syrup - to a single string consistency. Make sure it is a strong string which does not break easily.[I used fine white sugar , maybe you could give a try with icing sugar.] Remove this syrup from the direct flame. Next on a double boiler system add b...

I love rotis and I love to experiment flavors for its complimenting side dish. In this trial I have found this simple dish prepared with easily available ingredients very tasty that goes perfect with Indian bread. Here is how I prepare my Paneer Curry. Ingredients: 1. Paneer - 75 grams 2. Red Chilli - 1 to 2 3. Jeera - 1 tsp 4. Mustard - 1/2 tsp 5. Tomato - 1 diced into small cubes 6. Onion - 1 chopped fine 7. Garlic - 6 to 7 cloves 8. Yogurt/Curd - 2 tsp 9. Tamarind powder - 1 tsp 10.Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp 11.Olive oil - 2 tbsp 12.Turmeric - a pinch 13.Salt - to taste 14.Jaggery - small piece 15.Carrot - 1 small  Method: 1. Boil the diced carrot with a pinch of salt. 2. In a kadai heat a tbsp of oil. 3. Add jeera/cumin seeds, methi(mustard), red chilli and garlic pods and fry until the flavours fill the room. 4. Add the chopped onions, garam masala, turmeric and tamarind powder and fry till onions turn transperant. 5. Add the diced tomato and cook for anothe...

Summer and season of Mangoes calls for some exotic yet easy cold dessert. It was labor's day. I had plans of making a pudding sometime this summer ,so had bought a packet of agar-agar[china grass] when I found it in a local market store. I'd never known making a dessert which tastes so wonderful and yummy takes just about 15 minutes of  time in all. Here is how I made them. Ingredients: 1. Coconut milk - 1 cup[Fresh cream - 2 cups] 2. Yogurt - 1 cup 3. Milk - 1/4 cup 3. Mangoes - 3 small ones. [pulp equate to 1.5 cups] 4. Sugar - 1/4 cup 5. Agar-Agar - 2 tsp Method: 1. Boil Milk in a saucepan. Combine coconut milk,sugar and agar agar into this milk. Let stand for 5 minutes. Bring to simmer and reduce heat to low. 2. Simmer ucovered for another 6 to 8 minutes or until the agar agar is completely dissolved. 3. Remove from heat. 4. Sieve the mixture and whisk in yogurt and mango pulp until the mixture is smooth. 5. Transfer to custard cups and keep it refreigerate...

Rain Gods have shown pity on this garden city and there she stands [Bangalore] posing with a colorful rainbow, luscious greens fresh and lovely. What more can you ask for with a cup of evening coffee and some hot cheese bondas. It was a new recepie I tried with all the available ingredients at home on a sunday evening.I had expected a disaster to happen but voila it was a super hit. Ingredients: 1. Cheese - 50 - 75 grams grated. 2. Potato - Boiled and mashed - 2 medium sized. 3. Green chilli - 2 4. Curry leaves - 8 leaves 5. Coriander leaves - chopped 2 tbsp 6. Red chilli powder - 2 tsp 7. Corn Flour - 3 tbsp 8. Oil - For deep fry 9. Salt to taste 10. Pinch of turmeric Method: 1. Mix the mashed potatoes with grated cheese. 2. Add 1.5 tsp chilli powder, chopped green chilli,curry leaves, coriander leaves, salt to the mix. 3. Make small lemon sized balls of the dough. 4. For the covering batter, mix 1/2 tsp chilli powder, salt , corn flour and water.Ensure no lumps are...

Weekends are boring until I cook something new and refreshing. So there is a fun to do recepie awaiting for you. Basic ingredients available in a nearby store is what you'll need. Ingredients: 1. Milk - 1/2 litre 2. Milkmaid - 100 to 150 grams 3. Almonds - 15 nos. 4. Elaichi/cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp 5. Fresh Cream - 2 tbsp (Optional) 6. Corn flour - 1 tsp Method 1. Bring the milk to boil. 2. Grind about 10 almonds coarsely. 3. Pour the almond powder into the boiling milk. 4. Add the milkmaid and continue stirring for about 5 min. [Also add the fresh cream if available.] 5. Add the elaichi powder. 6. Add a little water to the corn flour and pour the mixture into the boiling milk mixture. 7. Stir continuously on medium flame for another 2 minutes or until the solution thickens. 8. Chop the remaining almonds into thin slices. 9. Pour the contents till 3/4th of the kulfi container. Sprinkle the chopped almond slices and fill the kulfi mixture to the brim of the cont...

One evening when I saw the fruit basket at home filled with variety of fruits I could not resist from making some fresh fruit salad. I open up the fridge to find some stuff that would aid in enhancing the taste and the decorum. Here is the list of ingredients I found for my salad mission. Ingredients: 1. 3 table spoons of custard powder[I used plain vanilla flavour] 2. 250 ml of milk 3. Sugar - 50 grams/ Sugar substitute 4. Fruits of your choice[apple,mango, kiwi, 5. Nuts and raisins 6. Milk maid - 2 tsp 7. Fresh cream - 6 tsp 8. Fruit jam - 1 tsp Method: 1. Mix custard powder in 3 table spoons of cold milk and a little water. 2. Boil Milk. Add the custard powder solution into milk. 3. Add sugar/substitute into the mixture. 4. Keep stirring for about 5 minutes on a medium flame until it thickens in consistency. 5. Pour this mixture into separate serving bowls [about 1/4 bowl level fill]. 7. Keep this in the refrigerator to chill and settle for about half an hour. 6...

I was introduced to this wonderful tea-time snack while I lived in Pune for a year. This is a typical maharashtrian savoury that I cherish everytime a piece goes into my mouth. A few days ago I had bought local packeted version of bakarwadi and found the masala not tasting as it should have been. That is when I decided to make them myself. Why not a try thought I. Preparation time is about 15 min and garmagaram snack is ready in half an hour. On a rainy evening accompanied by a cup of tea this is an awesome eatery. Ingredients: 1.  Besan flour - 1/4 cup 2.  Maida/all purpose flour - 2 cups 3.  Jeera - 2 tea spoon 4.  Elachi - 2 pods 5.  Cloves - 3 6.  Red Chilli - 4 or 5 7.  Grated Dry coconut - 3 tbspoon 8.  Khus Khus - 2 tsp 9.  Sugar - 1 tsp 10. Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp 11. Haldi Powder/Turmeric - 1 tsp 12. Amchur powder - 1/2 tsp 13. Salt to taste 14. Tamarind paste - 2 tsp 15. Oil for frying. 16. Curd - 2 tsp. Method:...

Let me tell you all cheese lovers, this is an awesome treat that's gonna be ready in bare 25 minutes[and mind you that includes the chopping of vegetables too:)] Ingredients: 1. 2 Onions medium sized. 2. 2 Potatos medium sized. 3. 25 grams cottage cheese/Panneer 4. Green Chillies - 2 to 3 - hotness tempered as needed. 5. Pizza cheese - 50 - 75 grams [I used a local variety available in the market, you could substitue this with any cheeze of your choice : parmesan , blue or american would work wonders] 6. About 6 teaspoons of salsa sauce.[This was an optional ingredient. Tomato sauce can be used as a perfect substitute.] 7. Salt to taste. 8. Pepper powder - 1 tea spoon 9. 3 Baby corns 10. Oriagno[Any special herb can be added to enhance the taste.]  - However this is opional. 11. Butter or oil - about 2 teaspoons. Method: 1. Peel potato and onion. Cut them into thin slices. 2. Boil the potato thins in water for about 2 min and drain water completely. ...

There are times when you have a lot of fruits lying in the fridge and there walks a guest with a bagful of fresh fruits. Don't worry of them right away. I will like to give you a splendid idea on how best you can feed your guests with a lovely dessert which is ready in like half an hour to 45 minutes inclusive of the setting time in the refrigerator. It definitely sounds interesting and pretty easy. Ingredients: 1. Fruits - I had plenty of chikoo and banana. So here goes a recepie I'd narrate with those available fruits. 2. Custard powder - your favourite Flavour. I chose plain vanilla as I thought of complimenting it with a hint of coffee. - 1 cup 3. Marie or glucose biscuits - about 10 to 15 nos. 4. Sugar/Sugar substitute 5. Raisins and Nuts 6. Milk - 2 cups 7. Black Coffee - 1/4 cup 8. Butter - melted - 2 tsp Method: 1.  Crush the biscuits/grind them in a mixer so that they are in the coarse form. 2.  Mix it with melted butter, 2 tsp of coffee. Pour half...

Ingredients: For the vada: 1. 200 Grams Sabudana/Sabakki 2. Coriander leaves - 4 strands chopped 3. A pinch of turmeric 4. Salt to taste 5. Green Chilli - 1 or 2 finely chopped 6. Jeera - 1 tea spoon 7. Potato - 1 small boiled. 8. Oil to fry. For the chutney: 1. Groundnut - 2 tea spoons 2. Cashew nuts - 2 to 4 3. Oil(I used olive oil) - 1 teaspoon 4. Green Chilli - 1 5. Salt to taste Method: Soak the Sabudana in water for about an hour. Drain out water completely and mix chopped coriander leaves, turmeric, chopped green chilli, jeera ,boiled potato and salt to it. Make small vadas[flat ovals] out of the mixture and deep fry in hot oil. Drain out excess oil and serve it with the ground-nut chutney. For the Chutney roast the groundnuts and cashew nuts on a low flame until the aroma of the nuts start to spread in the air. Grind it with a tsp of olive oil a green chilli and a little salt. Garnish with chopped coriander. Optional: You can also add chopped onion for ...

Ingredients: 1.Carrot - 2 medium sized 2.Brocolli - few florets 3.Onion - 2 medium sized 4.Green Capsicum - 1 5.Potato - 1 small 6.Garlic pods - 7 to 8 7.Corn Flour - 3 table spoons 8.Olive oil - 1 tea spoon 9.Green Chilli - 2 -3 10.Red chilli powder - 1 tsp 11.Garam Masala - 1 tsp 12.Salt to taste 13.Vinegar - 1 tsp Method: 1. Grate the carrots, chop the brocolli, onion and capsicum into small dices. 2. Boil potato and mash it to a paste. Add all other vegetables into it including chopped green chilli and garlic. 3. Add the masalas, corn flour and the olive oil to the dough. 4. Make small balls of vegetable dough and deep fry in oil until crip and brown . You can snack these balls dry with a chatni of your choice or can dip them in a sauce. For the sauce: 1.In a pan toss some chopped chillies and a tea spoon of oilve oil. After a minute add some chopped garlic and fry it. 2.Add 3 table spoons of tomato sauce, one tea spoon of green chilli sauce and 2 tea spoon...

This one is a recipie borrowed from my cousin. It is a new combination of the regularly eaten sweets - Jamoon and the Sonpapdi. Very simple and quick to make with no extra skill required. Ingredients: 1. Jamoon mix of 200 gms(I used the MTR brand) 2. Sonpapdi 5 to 6 pieces ( Used special one from Haldirams brand) 3. Grated coconut about 50 grams 4. Sugar powder - 75 grams 5. Elachi powder - 1 tsp 6. Milk - 1 cup 7. Oil/ghee - to fry the Moonlight(yeah new version of jamoon) Method: Make dough by mixing the jamoon mix and milk and 5 tea spoons of sugar powder. Now make small balls out of the dough, each of about inch in diameter. Make smaller balls/laddoos of Sonpapdi by softening it with a few drops of milk. Press the jamoon balls a little and place the sonpapdi balls in them. Roll back into a complete ball and place them aside. Once you have done the same with all of the dough. Meanwhile keep the oil/ghee to heat up. Pop out a few moonlights into the oil and fr...