Crème Brulee–Eggless

Crème brûlée (/ˌkrɛm bruːˈleɪ/; French pronunciation: ​[kʁɛm bʁy.le]),^[1] also known as burnt cream, crema catalana, or Trinity cream^[2] is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a contrasting layer of hard caramel. It is normally served at room temperature. Making egg-less Crème Brulee was top of the list in dare section and also it was a challenge given by Jayant uncle who is a food and found of crème brulee and many other french desserts.  

Rose Sandesh

Blogging Marathon # 35 Week 4 Day 3

Theme : Special Theme : Bookmarked Recipes - online or otherwise

Course : Dessert

Sandesh (Bengali: সন্দেশ Shôndesh; Hindi: संदेश) is an Bengali dessert created with milk and sugar.^[1] Some recipes of Sandesh call for the use of chhena (cheese) or paneer instead of milk.^[2] Some people in the region of Dhaka call it Pranahara (literally, heart 'stealer') which is a softer kind of sandesh, made with mawa and the essence of curd.^[3]

Paneer Palak Methi Chaman

Blogging Marathon # 35 Week 4 Day 2

Theme : Special Theme : Bookmarked Recipes - online or otherwise

Course : Main Course

During winter season we get lots of green leafy vegetable and especially in Gujarat or Northern region of India include greens in their dishes. If you visit any house you would find either Palak, Methi, Sarso, Bathua, Amaranth etc prepared everyday as one of the main course. They say in Gujarat that Green leafy vegetable are good source of iron, calcium and is warm for body and that is the reason you will see all sorts of green leafy vegetables in winter. At my place it is a must to cook green leafy vegetable atleast once a day when in season, my mom and papa loves methi and hare lashun ki bhaji and it is cooked every alternative day. Now a days we get all sorts of green leafy vegetables throughout the year, but the taste is not same. Somehow in winter i feel the taste of vegetable is something different more fresh and that particular flavour is found only during winter. 

Rajgira Paneer Parantha (Faraal Recipes)

Blogging Marathon # 35 Week 4 Day 1

Theme : Special Theme :  Bookmarked Recipes - online or otherwise

Course : Breakfast, Snacks, Upavaas Khana

I am a big fan of trying out Tarla ji's recipes and also when ever I browse through some, and if given  blog or site have habit of bookmarking recipes and think shall make some day but could not make all. Thanks to Srivalli's brain child Blogging Marathon where we are given themes and we love to face new challenges every month and this month we had to do 3 weeks from her selected theme based cooking and the bonus was the last week theme is bookmarked either online or anyway, so I selected Tarlaji's recipes for Bookmark reason a i am big fan of her and reason b wanted to tribute the diva by making making her recipes.

Bhapa Doi

Blogging Marathon # 35 Week 3 Day 3

Theme : Regional Recipes with Course Specific - Bengali

Course : Dessert

Bhapa doi is traditional delicacy of Bengal, made from sweetened thick milk and curd, steamed to set almost like cheese cake. The traditional recipe is time consuming one as you have to reduce sweet milk, set curd or yogurt, mix reduced milk and curd and steam to set further. I am sharing you the very popular and quicker version of Bhapa doi by adding condense milk or evaporated milk instead of reducing milk. Is very refreshing in summer and had once when we attended Bengali marriage and asked the recipe from Malika aunty who is known for her Bengali sweets in our circle, she is acclaimed Bengali cook among our group and in the Bengali community of Lagos.

Bhoger Khichuri - Bengali Khichadi

Blogging Marathon # 35 Week 3 Day 2

Theme : Regional Recipes with Course Specific - Bengali

Course : Main Course

My second post under the theme of Bengali cuisine is Bhoger Khichuri or Bhagara Khichi or Masala Khichdi. Bhoger khichi is an authentic dish which is offered to Goddess on Durga Puja, Sarawathi puja, Kaali puja or Lokkhi puja, it is must dish at every household or at pandal, rice being the staple food of Bengal it is a tradition to make bhog made from rice in any form.

Jhuri - Aloo Bhaja (Aloo ki sali)

Aloo Bhaja or Jhuri is very popular snack and side dish in Bengali cuisine. Aloo bhaja is prepared in many ways i.e. thick slices, fine slices, and the most famous is thinly grated or thin juilines of potato deep fried till crispy served with Dhal, Khichuri and also great for tea time snack.

Koraishutir Kochuri - Matar Kachori

Blogging Marathon # 35 Week 3 Day 1

Theme : Regional Recipes with Course Specific - Bengali

Course : Breakfast / Appetizer / Snacks

It is time travel to Bengal for this week's post, yes am going to share few Bengali dishes to you and thanks to Srivalli who is the leader and creator of our Blogging Marathon group and she gives us this beautiful opportunity to  share some regional recipes under this theme. Through out the world if you ask or query bout Indian Food people have notion that Curries, Paneer / Cottage cheese with gravy and flat breads such as Naan, Parantha, Tikka or Tandoori is it. Bengali cuisine is the most popular Eastern Indian food, but again we think Bengali means only fish or with mustard, but it is not so Bengali cuisine has wide variations in food and all recipes are very nutritious and healthy and baring few recipes.

Fada Laapsi - (Gujarati Pressure Cooker Recipe)

Blogging Marathon # 35 Week 2 Day 3

Theme : Pressure Cooker Recipes
Course : Dessert

My today's post all time favourite of Gujarati's and a must sweet during auspicious occasions such as marriages, house-warning ceremony, any feast to celebrate birth of a child or during kesh mundan etc, laapsi is a must and in olden days the menu without laapsi was considered as incomplete. Laapsi is made from broken wheat known as dalia, slowly roasted in ghee and cooked in milk and sugar. But in today's era people are slowing moving towards the North Indian or International Food as part of menu. I wanted to post this recipe for long time but was looking for ideal occasion and thanks to Srivalli who's brain child Blogging Marathon is ideal platform as this week my theme was Pressure cooker recipes and this is a perfect dessert recipe under the category.

Vegetable Pulao - Pressure cooker recipes

Blogging Marathon # 35 Week 2 Day 2

Theme : Pressure Cooker Recipes
Course : Main course

I love to cook in pressure cooker a reason it is very quick and saves fuel and time and secondly the falovurs of masala / spices are blended well and every grain or bit is full of aroma and flavours. My husband likes the open cooking method say if I ask him shall we make Pulao his first choice would be to make in pot rather than cooker as he likes the bite of rice to be al-dente but i love it to be soft, and when he is not around it is one pot meal. So today we are going to make very simple yet delicious pulao.

Amritsari Chole - Pressure Cooker

Blogging Marathon # 35 Week 2 Day 1

Theme : Pressure Cooker Recipes
Course : Main course

When we were given the themes for this month challenge i was very happy to pick pressure cooker recipes, preparing in pressure cooker not only saves energy but also saves time too. I love to make traditional punjabi dishes such as Maa ki Daal, Dal Makhani, Chole, Rajma in cooker reason one is that it cooks faster and taste better and gives the authentic taste as of slow cooking gives and secondly it is one pot recipe, once you saute the gravy and rest is taken care of, no hazel of stirring or sticking at bottom of pan.

My first post under this theme is Amritsari chole recipe, which i learnt from my husband, he too is great cook and there would be no better occasion to showcase his recipe. Lets make Amritsari Chole.

Preparation time : 10 mins + Soaking time : 6 - 8 hrs

Cooking time : 40 mins

Serves : 4

Difficulty level : Easy

Ingredients :

2 cup channa / white chick peas

1/2 cup onion finely chopped

1/2 cup tomato crushed / pulp

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp lal mirch / red chilli powder

1 tsp haldi/ turmeric

1tsp dhania powder / coriander powder

1/2 tsp anar dhana / dry pomegranate seeds

1/2 tbsp grated ginger

1/2 tbsp garlic paste

salt to taste

2 bay leaves

1 tsp jeera

For Masala/ Spice Blend:

5 cloves / laung

1"  cinnamon bark/ taj

3 choti ealichi/ green cardamom 

3 kali elaichi / black cardamom

1/2 tbsp black pepper

For Garnish:

1 dollop butter

few slices of onions

Other things required:

Pressure cooker

Spoon

Grinder or grater

Method : 

• Soak channa in water for atleast 6 - 8 hrs or overnight.
• Heat butter and oil in pressure cooker on slow heat. When it gets hot add bay leave and jeera seeds.
• When it is brown add finely chopped onions, saute for a min, add ginger garlic and saute for a 2 -3 mins.
• Grind the spice blend to coarse powder.
• Once the onions are golden brown add all the spices and saute for couple of minutes, add in crushed tomatoes.
• Saute for 10 mins or till the oil seperates, add in soaked channa and saute for a 2 - 3 mins.
• Add around 2 -3 cups of water, let the water boil.
• Close the lid of the cooker and pressure cook for 6 - 8 whistles.
• After whistles, simmer for 5 mins.
• Open the cooker when it is cool.
• After opening the lid if the gravy has not thickened simmer it for 5 mins or till the gravy has thickened.
• Transfer to bowl ans serve hot with puri or bhature or kulcha

Note :

• Soak channa in hot water if you want to make channa in an hour or so.
• Let the masala saute well in oil, this is necessary to extract the flavours of the spices.
• Never cook or saute the gravy in high flame.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#35 

Hope you have enjoyed reading this post. Please take a minute to share views and valuable comments. Regards,
Briju Parthasarathy

Eggless Slovak Paska Bread

Thanks to Eggless Baking which is brain child of Gaytari and to Yeast spotting we had to bake Eggless Slovak Paska Bread or Paska Peep. This bread is Easter Special bread which takes many decorative shapes and forms and one of such bread is Paska Bread, traditionally this bread is made with egg and butter but we our group try to make eggless version of this bread. The original recipe makes 3 loaves but have reduced the recipe by 1/4th and it makes 1 5" round and couple of peeps. So lets make the bread

Recipe Source : Eastern European Food

Preparation time : 2 hrs to 3 hrs

Cooking time : 40 mins

Yields : 1 round loaf of 7" and 2 peeps

Difficulty level : Medium

Ingredients : 

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup luke warm water

1/4 tsp salt

85 gm / 3/4 cup butter

2 tbsp curd

13/4 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp baking soda

2 - 3 cups of flour

Milk + Butter for Brushing

2 tbsp oil for coating

Other things required : 

Bread Machine (Optional)

Pan

Measuring cups and spoon

Cake pan / Round ring

Aluminum foil

Oven

Bowl and kitchen towel or cling flim

Method : 

• Heat milk, butter, salt and sugar in pan till butter melts. Let it cool to room temperature.
• Sift baking soda and flour.
• Dissolve yeast in luke warm water and sprinkle 1/3 tbsp sugar on top and let it proof for 5 mins or till frothy.

If using bread machine:

• In an bread pan fit the kneader hook. Pour in milk mix. yeast water and curd. Add in 2 cups of flour ensuring it covers corners.
• Insert and lock the bread pan into bread machine. Select dough cycle and Press start. After 10 mins or 15 mins check if the dough looks sticky add in half cup of flour. 
• After the cycle is complete remove from machine.
• Divide dough into three parts.

If kneading with hand:

• In an big bowl add 2 cups of flour, make a well pour in milk mix, frothed yeast mix and curd.
• Knead the dough, at intial point it would be very sticky, add flour little by little till you get nice elastic dough and has stopped sticking.
• Place in bowl smear with oil and cover with cling and let it proof till double or for 1 hr.

For making bread:

• Divide the dough into 3 parts. Make round loaf of each part.
• Place one round loaf in the centre of greased pan.
• Make the braid from the rest dough, reserving little for decoration and place around the loaf.
• Decorate the loaf with cross or Easter decoration i.e. leaf or cross.
• Cover and let it proof for 1 hr.
• Brush butter and milk mix very gently on the loaf.
• Bake in preheat oven for 40 to 45 mins at 180 c/ 350 F or till golden.
• Immediately remove from oven and transfer on the wire rack to cool. 

For making peeps:

• Roll out the dough into rope of about 12", tie a knot from one end keeping 1/2" outside for beak and around 2 - 3" for tail
• Insert two cloves on either side of beak, make three slits at the other end of the rope this will be tail.
• Place in greased baking tray and allow to proof. Brush with butter n milk mix.
• Bake at 180 c for 30 mins or till golden brown.
• Remove from oven and let it cool on wire rack.

Note:

• The amount of flour varies on the quality of the flour. It took around 3 cups for me.
• To check the temp of water if you place a drop of water on your palm it should feel just hot.
• If using rapid yeast use only 11/4 tsp of yeast or else you will end up with after taste of yeast.
• Proofing time may vary depending on the weather. If it is cold weather place your dough in pressure cooker this will help to proof properly.
• After placing the bread, throw couple of ice cubes on the bottom of pan. This will help to form nice crust.

Bread tasted yummy and i enjoyed it with cream cheese.

Hope you have enjoyed reading this post. Please take a minute to share views and valuable comments. Regards, 

Briju Parthasarathy

Corn Spinach Open Sandwich

Blogging Marathon # 35 Week 1 Day 3

Theme : Cooking with Corn

For the final post under the theme of Cooking with Corn i was wondering what to post, and as they say you will make it if you are determined, i had to go for a meeting and usually I carry something like rolls, sandwich as in Nigeria we don't get good vegetarian food, and the hold ups are such at times I have been in the hold up for 3 hrs and nothing moves, during these time my carry take helps me a lot and came up to make Corn Spinach open sandwich, as it is very quick and easy, i always have some frozen spinach as it is very handy and also a can of corn kernels and baby corn in pantry do here is quick version of my take on sandwich.

Makai ni Kadhi / Corn in yogurt gravy

Blogging Marathon # 35 Week 1 Day 2

Theme : Cooking with Corn

While planning for the Marathon first thought that shall make all Indo - Chinese dishes but later thought why not dish out from corners of the world, so for my second day we are travelling to culinary journey of Gujarat. Am preparing very famous dish Kadhi, Kadhi is gravy made from chickpea flour, curd/yogurt, chilies, seasoning with salt and sugar. It is perfect combination of sweet and sour with after note of chillie, is ideal with rice, pulav/pilaf or even with any kind of bread.

Baby Corn Tempura and Spicy Vegetable Stir Fry

Blogging Marathon # 35 Week 1 Day 1

Theme : Cooking with Corn

Baby corn or corn are my favourite vegetables, I love to add in kebab, tikka, noodles, salads. Corn on the cob with flavoured butter is my all time favourite. When I saw the mail for this months theme for Blogging Marathon that we are would be cooking with corn I jumped for taking the category with Cooking with Corn as my first week Cook off.

Khajur Mawa Roll

Khajur Mawa Roll is very tasty, low in calories, nutritious recipe. Dates is a fruit which I believe every kid likes, as kid my mom used to make us eat pitted dates stuffed with as there is a say in Gujarat that dates is good for growing up kids as it is rich in iron, protein and fibres,helps to improve digestive system, lower bad cholesterol and last it gives warmth in winter which helps to boost your immune.

Halwasan

Halwasan is one of the most popular sweet of Gujarat made from milk, wheat germ or semolina rich golden colour fudge. Halwasan was first introduced in 1905 by Ratilal Chunilal Halwai and his sweet shop is known as Ratilal Chunilal Halwasanvala, there are many varieties available and many claim that they make the best in the industry but no one can compete with them. Halwasan is what Mysorepak means to South Indian or what Sandesh is to Bengali's. It was my most favorite sweet of all, making this halwasan took me back to my childhood days, when we used to come to Gujarat for our holidays my dada used to bring this specially from Khambhat known as Cambay, he used to travel 50 kms just to bring this special sweet. In those days it was called as King of all sweets as it was the most expensive sweet of all. 

Toffee Bars

Diwali is not only festival of lights but also festival of joy and happiness, we have tradition of making sweets and savory not only for family members but also for friends and relatives. My friends wait for festivals as they know that they would get some treats from my place and expectations are also very high from me to produce something new and innovative from my kitchen. This Diwali was the most busy one for me, had so many projects running simultaneously  and  had loads of sweets to prepare.

Panki - A tribute to Tarla Dalal

Tarla Dalal ji was the diva of Indian Cuisine, Goddess of Indian Amateur Cooks, the most celebrated cookbook author of India. I don’t have words to describe her glory and achievements. She was an inspirer to many upcoming Cook book author’s, bloggers and I was very much influenced by her books, and started my cooking journey by referring her books. Tarla ji’s website is a hub of Indian & International Cuisine and series of Recipes under Categories such as Healthy Food, Diabetics Friendly, Kid’s recipes, Pregnancy recipes, Zero oil recipe and so on…

Often you will find that some people touch your lives without meeting them personally, on depart of such personalities you feel there is a permanent  vacuum which cant be filled and such was Tarla ji. I came to know about the news when I saw mail from our Blogging Marathon group. With the suggestion of our group member Padma it was decided that we would do a tribute by cooking something from her collection and logo was created by Preeti.

Easy Home made Granola

Granola is a breakfast and very popular snack in America consisting of rolled oats, nuts, dry fruits, honey and sometimes puffed rice is used, usually baked till crisp. They make for an easy breakfast on the run, snack  or filling addition to the lunch box. Unlike the store bought one's these are fresh and made from wholesome ingredients you like. These bars are semi soft without being cookie like and dont crumble.

Sargva na Thepla - Drumstick Leaves Thepla

In today's date we mom's are most worried about our children's health and growth as the diet have changed over years and addition of more and more artificial supplements are introduced from very early age. The age old traditions and Dadi Ama ke nuske is forgotten in the present world. Our kids have become fussy eaters, they need to be fed by disguising nutrient rich vegetables and food or preparing dishes in such a way that they dont know what is in the dish. I accept this has helped us to learn and adapt new cooking skills but how many mothers can do that. Srivalli has started a beautiful drive by creating Blogging Marathon which helps so many mothers out there to cook and feed their children with dishes loaded with nutrition and also help them to learn new ways of cooking.

 

One such dish is Sargva na Thepla i.e. Drumstick leaves Thepla this was my favorite dish when i was kid, it was like a custom to make this atleast every fornight and once we reached pubirtal age she used to make it more often especially as is richest source of Iron, Vitamin A.

Home made Self Raising Flour

If you run out of Self Raising flour or if the not available, here is the easy way to make your own.

Preparation time : 5 mis

Ingredients : 

All purpose flour / Madia

1 1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp salt.

Tex Mex Veggie Scones

Tex Mex is a term describing regional American Cuisine using products available in USA nad using culinary creations of Mexican cuisine is a perfect fusion of Mexican dishes with American twist.

As we all know some kids are very fussy about eating and one such kid is my niece, I used to try every possible way  to feed her some veggies. It was a marathon to feed her. She used to eat stuffed things with cheese so i made these scones for her sports day. She knew that i have added some vegetables in this but could not remove them as they were so finely chopped that she had to eat it, when she came home from sports day, i was amazed to see that not a bit was left. It was a wow dish and all her friends relished it. So my sneaky and tricky way won and also here in Lagos the most demanded from my friends kid's especially for their day's out or events. Thanks to BM i could post this recipe which was in hidden treasures and am excited for my first post.

Cheese Dip

Yummy dip ideal for sandwich, scones, savory muffin, biscotti and puff's. Very easy to make under 10 mins. I ensure you kid would relish it and lick up the bowl.

Sweet Potato and Corn Kebab / Shakarkandi aur Makai ke Kabab

Shakarkandi / Sweet potato is used a lot in our kitchens especially during vrat's as it is sweet in taste and has lots of carbohydrate that gives you stamina to fast whole day. But do you know that it is very good for diabetic people as the GI index of Sweet Potato is much less than Potato and it taste yummier. I wanted to make something special for our Tea Party so thought why not try to combine corn and  sweet potato and make something interesting yet appealing, ideal for get-together and parties.

Kalakand - Milk Fudge

Kalakand is an exotic and traditional sweet made from milk and sugar, ideal for Holi, Navratri and Diwali. It is most popular in Western India and is known as Mawa mishri in Rajasthan and Pal Khoa in South. This recipe is very easy to make, traditionally the sweet is prepared by boiling milk till it thickens, alum is added to the thickened milk and further cooked till it reaches granular stage, at this stage sugar is added and cooked till it leaves the sides of pan or light golden in colour. 

Coconut Laddu / Nariyal ke Laddu/ નારીયેલ ના લાડુ

Coconut Laddu is one of the popular sweet in India, specially made during festivals such as Navratri, Shravan Maas, is one of the most relished sweet during fast or vrat. Nariyal laddu is very easy and simple sweet and very quick to make... no hassle of making syrup, can be made within 30 mins. I learnt this from my mom, she used to make this during vrats and specially on the first day of navratri. This recipe is very close to heart as this was the first sweet dish which i prepared without her help when i was only 12 yrs old. This post is in memory of my mom and to my lovely sisters who loves this sweet.

Hope you will enjoy and make this during navratri. Wishing my all dear friends and readers a Happy Navratri.

Tarte Flambee

Tarte Flambee is to the northen Alsace region of France. Tarte flambee is the perfect response to Italian , in Germany it is called a Flammkuchen and is very popular and will find it on the menu of French Restaurants. Tarte flambee is made from thin crust pizza or bread dough generously spread with creme fraiche and sprinkled with onions and bacon. I have not used bacon for my vegetarian version. You can also add in spinach or mushroom. Thanks to  Saraswathi Tharagaram and co hostShobhana Shekar of Kitchen secrets and snippets of International Food Challenge for challenging us to make three dishes selected from  France - Alsace Lorriane.

Sending this post to Priya's Event : CWS - Cooking with Wheat

Ferrero Roucher Tart

This month's challenge for Eggless Baking Priya Srinivasan of Enveetu Kitchen suggested this chocolaty and love of every one Ferrero Roucher Tart for Gayatri's Baking Eggless. The tart is all time favorite of my family. The original recipe is inspired from Trissalicious, have made some changes in hazelnut spread as my husband personally prefers soft and sticky topping. The mousse was the best thing i enjoyed making in this dish, i substituted egg with heavy whipping cream and veg gelatin. Am sorry could not post the step by step pic of the recipe as was busy in preparing dishes for my dinner party.

Pureto Rican Tostones - Fried Plantain Bowls

In any part of Caribbean you will find plantain on the menu in some or the other form. Whether steamed, roasted, fried, mashed. Green unripe plantains are mostly used in savory dishes as they are starchy and almost taste like potato, whereas ripe are used in cakes, breads and desserts as they are really very sweet and gooey. Tostones or twice fried plantain are perfect vegetarian side dish or snack in Pureto Rican feasts. Plantains closely resembles banana in their appearance, however they are never eaten raw like you would eat banana. Plantains require cooking and are integral part of tropical food and cuisine.

Tomato Infused Risotto with Peas

Tomato Infused Risotto with Peas

One of the greatest gastronomic feast of Italian cooking, risotto is made with a special rice to create deliciously creamy dish. It is surprisingly simple to make, but does require little patience because it involves slow cooking and constant stirring. As long as you use correct rice and good homemade stock, and take your time, you'll be on your way to making a perfect risotto. Risotto flavoured with tomato essence makes a perfect 5 Star Dish for your family gatherings, Dinner Parties. 

I enjoy and love watching great chefs shows and one of these Michelin star Chef Raymond Blanc's episode on Tomato inspired me to make this lovely risotto and it was a star dish at my dinner party. You need to have lot of passion to try out new things and new innovative ideas in your kitchen.  

Dahi ke Kebab

Dahi ke kebab is one of the most popular and traditional recipe of Awadh. Awadhi cuisine is from the city of Lucknow which is capital of Uttar Pradesh. The cuisine consist of both Vegetarian and Non - Vegetarian dishes. Awadh has been greatly influenced by Mughal cooking techniques. Kebab's  are the integral part of  Awadhi, Lucknow is proud of its kebabs. There are several varieties of popular kebabs in Awadhi cuisine such as Kakori kebab, Shami kebab, Boti kebab, Galawat kebab which are non - vegetarian kebabs, some of the popular vegetarian kebabs of cuisine includes Dalcha Kebab, Dahi Kebab, Arbi ke kebab, Rajma Galoti kebab, Zamikand kebabd (Lucknowi yam kebab).

Homemade Paneer / Indian Cottage Cheese

Paneer (Punjabi: ਪਨੀਰ; Hindi and Nepali पनीर panīr; Armenian: Պանիր "Panir"; Urdu: پنير; Kurdish: پەنییر penîr; Persian: پنير‎ panir; Turkish peynir;) is a fresh cheese common in South Asian cuisine. In eastern parts of Indian Subcontinent, it is generally called Chhena. It is an unaged, acid-set, non-melting farmer cheese or curd cheese made by curdling heated milk with lemon juice, vinegar, or any other food acids.

Dating back to anicent India, paneer remains the most common type of cheese used in traditional South Asian Cuisine.

Murukku

Murukku (Tamil: முறுக்கு) is a South Indian snack of savory crunchy twists made from rice and urad dal flour.^[1] Murukku means twisted in the Tamil language.^[2] The town of Manapparai in Tamil Nadu is particularly known for its murukku.^[3] Murukku is made in many varieties as a traditional treat for festivals such as Diwali and Krishna Janmashtami.^[4] Murukku are often served on special occasions in Tamil Brahmin families, but at my home we make murukku round the year. 

Potato Rosti

Rösti ([ˈrøːʃti]) or Röschti is a Swiss dish consisting mainly of potatoes. It was originally a commonbreakfast eaten by farmers in the canton of Bern, but today is eaten all over Switzerland and also in many restaurants in the western world. Many Swiss people consider rösti a national dish. Today, rather than considering it a complete breakfast, it is more commonly served to accompany other dishes such as "Spinat und Spiegelei" (spinach and fried eggs, sunny side up), cervelas or Fleischkäse. It is also a dish one can order in most restaurants to replace the standard side dish of any given meal.

Thattai

Thattai is very famous snack in Tamilnadu. It is prepared during special occasion and festivals specially for Sri Jayanthi or Krishnashtami, but it is made round the year at my house. There are so many versions or varieties of Thattai. Thattai preparation differ's from state to state or from one part to the other. I remember our aaya Rani used to make this every month for us she used to call it as Udupi, we asked her why so she said this is what her mother taught her. Her version is very different from what they make in Tamilnadu, she used to add thin sliced onion and homemade fresh butter instead of ghee and no gram flour was added, they tasted yummy, my friend Smitha's  Mom used to make lovely thattai. She used to boil water and add everything in the boiling water, mix well add 1 tbsp of oil and allow to cool before making thattai. The end result of any Thattai is crispy yummy snack.

Tomato Chips

On a rainy day a cup of hot coffee / tea and to accomplish it some chips makes our day. Chips means lots of carbs, fats and kcal, but this chip of mine is mouth watering yummy and yet not heavy on carbs and fat as they are prepared from zesty tomatoes. Yes you read it right they are tomato chips and that to made out of the tomato skin which we usually discard after blanching.

Mix Veg Parantha

Parantha/ Paratha is very popular North Indian Breakfast meal specially in Punjab. Parantha is an amalgamation of the words parat and atta which means layers of cooked dough.

It is one of the most famous popular unleavened flat breads in the northern part of India and is made by pan frying the whole wheat dough on tawa/ griddle. The parantha usually contains ghee or cooking oil which is also layered on the freshly prepared parantha. Paranthas are usually stuffed with boiled potatoes, leafy vegetables, cauliflower, cottage cheese/ panner, radish, onions. Today I am going to show you how to make mix vegetable parantha's using simple ingredients and easy to make. They are best for kids lunch box as usually kids try to avoid eating vegetable and you can make them eat without any hassles and it taste yum and they will never know that they have eaten vegetables.

Amritsari Dum Aloo

Dum Aloo is named so because it is cooked under pressure 'DUM' (pressure in hindi) and Aloo means potatoes. IT is one of the famous and the most popular north indian dish. It belongs specially, to Kashmiri Cuisine but is also popular dish of Punjabi, Bengali cuisine. The potatoes used in Dum Aloo are baby potatoes and are first deep fried and cooked slowly in spices for long time.

Today I am going to show you how to make Amritsari Dum Aloo has a tang from tomatoes and yogurt and sweetness from onions in combination with Punjabi khada masala.

There are many variations of Dum Aloo i.e. ways to prepare aloo from deep frying, semi cooked in water and then fried or even can oven roast it, all depends on what you prefer If you ask me i personally prefer to deep fry first and then add in gravy but it is upto you to decide what way you would like to make. All variations taste almost same the key is in the making of gravy.

Rava Dosa

Rava Dosa/ Rava Dosai is very popular South Indian Breakfast or Tiffin, is very easy and quick to make as compared to other Dosai's. Rava Dosa or Rava Dose is an Indian crepe of South India. It is a derivative of the popular Dosa. It is made with rava, especially Bombay rava- fine  rava (ravai' in Tamil, 'ravva' in Telugu, 'rave' in Kannada) or semolina which doesn't need fermentation (if it is fermented, dosa tastes good) and is usually considered a fast tiffin. Rava dosa can be made plain, masala and with onion.

I personally feel to make it with onion, chillies, pepper, lots of coriander and curry leaves to add zing to the dosa. Dosa can be served with coconut chutney, kara chutney(tomato chutney), Milagai Podi (Gunpowder and ghee) or with sambar. You can also serve without any side's, still it taste yum!

Khandvi

Today i am going to take you to journey of making Khandvi in Gujarat and Surali Chya Vadya in Marathi is a famous Western India dish. It is made from chickpea flour, sour buttermilk, spices and is similar to savory swiss roll. The mixture is then cooked slowly, spread out thinly on sheet and cut, rolled into scroll shaped. It is said to be difficult to make khandvi and many of you would have only relished in Savoury and sweets shops.

Khandvi was my mum's signature dish. Whenever we used to host dinner or lunch khandvi has to be star dish as in our circle she was the only one who used to make yummy and mouth melting khandvis. She used to say the secret of making best khandvi lies in three factors, proportion of flour and liquid, no lumps and slowly cooked and last timing. This post is tribute to my mum as whenever i make khandvi it feel as if she is with me and supervises and have never failed to make it.

Eggless Pate Choux Pastry and Eggless Chocolate Mousse

This months challenge at Gayatri's Baking Eggless Group is Pate Choux Pastry and Chocolate Mouse. Choux pastry, or pâte à choux (pronounced : [pat a su] is a light pastry dough used to make perfiteroles, croquembouches, eclairs, Frenchcrullers, beignets and gougeres. It contains only butter, water/ milk, flour and egg.

When baking pate a choux, the choux is baked first at high temperature, and then finished at low temperature. The reason for this is that choux pastry is leavened with steam, rather than a chemical leavening agent like baking soda or baking powder, or a biological leavening agent like yeast. The high initial temp in baking choux is what generated the steam to cause it to rise. The word choux in French means cabbage and choux pastry gets its name from the fact that the little balls of choux paste used to make cream puffs resembles little cabbage.

Spaghetti Pesto Alla Genovese

An authentic Italian recipe for pasta and pesto - with plenty of basil, pine nuts and parmigiano. Pesto pasta is one of the most popular dishes in Liguria, Italy. What you find in many places just isn't the same as what you are going to see here. In my recipe "pesto" really means, what pesto alla genovese should be... and very easy to make at home.

Pesto

Pesto is a basil sauce that originated in the city of Genova in theLiguria region of northwest Italy.Italian purist insist that pesto can only be made using locally- grown Genoese basil, a small leafed variety with a delicate taste.The name is the contracted past participle of the Genoese word pestâ (Italian: pestare), which means to pound, to crush, in reference to the original method of preparation, with marble mortar and wooden pestle. The ingredients in a traditionally made pesto are ground with a circular motion of the pestle in the mortar. This same Latin root through Old French also gave rise to the English word pestle. 

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Methi Dhebra મેથી ના ઢેબરા

Yummmm is what I can say about Dhebra. it is perfect tea time and travel snack. When I prepare Dhebras it reminds me of my mom and grand ma they used to make lovely dhebras for snacks and it used to vanish within minutes. They were the best cooks and everyone in family and our circle. When ever we use to go for picnic or travel they were asked to make dhebras as they made the best in our group.

Sugar Free Kesar Peda

 Hmmm it's festival time means lots of sweet preparation at home, and sweets means loads and loads of calories and sugar. In today's scenario many of us are suffering from obesity, high blood pressure and diabetics. Doctors advise to stick to low carb and low GI food.Eating for diabetes doesn’t mean eliminating sugar. If you have diabetes, you can still enjoy a small serving of your favorite dessert now and then. The key is moderation.

How to Mawa at home

 Mawa / Khoya is milk product made from whole or full fat milk or milk powder. It is very popular in India and Pakistan for making sweets and curries. Mawa is household name in India I remember how my Mom and Grandma used to make mawa at home for preparing gulab jamuns, peda, barfi andy many more sweet dishes. It was quiet tiring process but the end result was lovely. They used to boil milk in thick clay pot on traditional chula/ charcoal stove for about an hour or so and make mawa. It taste yum and sweet and they used to say that the best taste of mawa comes when it is cooked in clay pot and slowly. I miss all those things now as we use shortcut methods to make mawa and ofcourse the milk is not the same i.e. we use UHT or fresh milk but still it is not same as it used to be in olden days.

Kaju Pista Roll

India is land of diverse cultures, traditions and languages in all its myriad forms. Every now and then India celebrates festivals of all sorts that is why India is also called of Land of Festivals. We Indian don need any special occasion to celebrate i.e we celebrate everything from birth of a child, birthday of God and Goddesses, any fasting, harvesting, planting to commence of rain any many so on. Every festival is a part of mythology or has some significance to our Vedas, Holy scripts. 

Tomato Pappu–Andhra Style

Dal called as “Pappu” in telugu is a vital part of every day meal of Andhra households. The preparation of pappu varies from region to region. There are two ways to make pappu: in olden days they used to temper the dal and then cook in slow cooker till done, it used to take long time and taste yum and other way is to pressure cook dal and tomato and then temper the dal. The consistency of dal can vary from slightly pourable or thick.
I prefer my dal the way it is made in Telenga thick dal and if you mix with rice and ghee it should form as a ball (in Telugu it is called 'muddalu') out of it. While posting this dal I went back to my memory lane of eating it at our Reddy Uncle’s place. Sending this link to Madhu's Indian Recipe and Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipe for their event Cooking with Seed (CWS) - Cook woth Toor Dal

Methi Papaya na Muthiya મેથી પપાયા ના મુઠીયા

How to make Butter at home

Materials required:
Bowl
Whisker or Churner or Hand Blender
Milk Full fat Cream/ UHT whipping cream
Ice cold water

Method 1:

1. Chill the cream for atleast 1 hour
2. In a bowl add cream and whip till the milk separates.
3. Add about 50 ml ice cold water to solidify the butter and remove milk residues.
4. You will get butter and buttermilk.

Method 2:

1. Empty cream in deep bowl.
2. With the help of blender blend the cream till you see milk separating from the cream
3. Pour in some water to remove excess milk.

Note:

• Cream should be chilled properly.
• You will get around half the weight of cream i.e. from 200 ml cream you will get around 85 - 90 gms of butter.
• Never use any cream or any cooking cream as they do not separate due to starch.
• Use heavy whipping cream or cream collected from milk.

Mathura / Bumiya na Peda

Peda, Pheda or Pera is a sweet from the Indian subcontinet, usually prepared in thick, semi-soft peices. The main ingredients are khoa, sugar and traditional flavourings, including cardamom seeds and saffron. The colour varies from a creamy white to a caramel colour

Mathura Peda/ Bumiya na Peda is a traditional sweet made from milk. In earlier days it was made from cow’s milk but now a day’s it is made from buffalo’s milk. Bura (powdered sugar) Mawa(dry milk), kesar and elaichi (cardamom) are used while making it. This sweet is specially prepared on the occasion of janmasthami, navratra, deepavali or any auspicious ocassion.