Goodies in a Basket

Simple Vegetable Sandwich

2009-11-08T07:55:00.000-08:00

Simple Vegetable Sandwich

Ingredients:

2 medium potato boiled, chilled and shredded

1/2 carrot shredded

1 bell pepper chopped

1/2 onion chopped

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp oil

salt to taste

1 tbsp parsley chopped

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

3/4 tsp garlic grated

cream cheese to spread

In a pan, heat oil and butter. Add garlic, onion, cumin and chilli powder. Saute for about 2 min, then add bell pepper, carrot, parsley and potato, fry on medium high heat for 3 to 5 min. Apply a thin layer of cream cheese on 6 slices and add vegetable filling. Toast sandwich in a lightly buttered pan. Serve!

Potato, Carrot and Zucchini Patties

2009-11-07T07:04:00.000-08:00

Potato, Carrot and Zucchini Patties

Ingredients:

4 medium to small potatoes (boiled and chilled, then shredded)

2 small zucchini shredded

1 carrot shredded

1/2 tsp cumin powder

salt to taste

3 to 4 tbsp bread crumbs

2 tbsp chopped parsley

2 tbsp chopped coriander

2 to 3 green chillies finely chopped

1/4 to 1/2 cup of cheese shredded

1 beaten egg with 1 tbsp of milk

Beadcrumbs for coating

Flour to dust

Mix everything together in a bowl and make patties. Dust with flour lightly , dip in egg wash and coat with bread crumbs. Shallow fry on medium high heat till golden. Serve!

Omellete with Pepper, Mushroom and Chilli

2009-11-05T07:45:00.000-08:00

It is as good as it looks and brilliantly simple to make. And what you see drizzled over the omellete is warm cream cheese..do I need to say more? I am submitting my entry to Brunch event hosted by Meeta of What's For Lunch Honey?

Omellete with Pepper, Mushroom and Chilli

1 egg

1 tbsp green pepper finely chopped

1/2 green chilli chopped

2 mushrooms sliced

1 garlic clove grated

1 tbsp of milk

1 tbsp of cream cheese

In a bowl, beat egg, add green pepper, green chilli and milk. Mix and keep aside. In a pan, heat oil, add in the garlic and mushrooms and a bit of salt. Fry till fragnant abt 1 min. Pour egg and let it settle and cook from one side. Flip and cook from the other side. Take out in a plate and drizzle warm cream cheese on top. Enjoy with buttered toast.

Easy Chocolate Cake

2009-11-04T16:42:00.000-08:00

This cake is good. Easy and soo good!! A friend of mine brought this over at my place and when it was desset time, everyone was all over it. Thank You Areeba, for this heavenly distribution!! :) You could double the recipe and make a double layered cake or make a sheet cake like my friend did. The one thing I absolutely love about this cake is the texture, the taste is amazing too but the texture..soft..really soft. The coffee tones are vibrant, which gives a whole new taste to this chocolate cake.

Kesar Malai Chicken (Creamy Saffron Chicken)

2009-11-02T14:07:00.000-08:00

Kesar Malai Chicken

Ingredients:

500 gm chicken cut into 1 inch cubes

2 tbsp cream

1/4 to 1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp mace

few strands of saffron in milk 21/2 tsp

1/2 to tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/4 egg beaten

1/2 tsp cornflour

salt to taste

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 1/2 tbsp garlic

1 tbsp oil

2 finely chopped green chillies

Mix everthing in a bowl and marinate over night. Heat pan, add chicken with marinade, cover and cook on low flame for about an hour and no water is left. Serve!

Baghare Alu

2009-11-01T06:42:00.000-08:00

Baghare Alu

Ingredients

1 potatoto peeled and sliced in quaters

2 to 3 whole red chilli

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

6 to 7 curry leaves

1 onion chopped

2 tbsp oil

salt to taste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 green chilli chopped

Start by heating the oil, add the onions and saute till light golden. Add in the garlic, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, whole red chilli, curry leaves and saute till fragnant, about 1 minute. Add the sliced potatoes, salt and turmeric. Fry on high heat for about 3 to 5 minutes. Add in the green chilli about 1/4 cup water and cover the pan. Cook till water dries and potatoes are soft. Serve

Baked Pasta with Chicken, Pepper and Corn

2009-10-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday went for a visit at Saira aunty's place. My luck, I was served pasta :) which turned out to be amazing! I immediately asked her for the recipe, was quite surprised when I found out it was really simple to make. Plus this doesn't need much ingredients or sauces or tomatoes (which for some reason are pricey here :S) The white sauce made for this pasta uses cornflour intead of flour, which is new to me. I do now prefer cornflour as the texture it gives smoother, lighter and better.

Baked Pasta with Chicken, Pepper and Corn

Ingredients:

200 gm pasta boiled (any kind)

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp butter

1 chicken breast cut into small cubes

1 spring onion chopped

1/4 cup green pepper cubed

1/4 cup red pepper cubed

1/4 cup yellow pepper cubed

1/2 cup corn

2 cup milk (if you want the sauce to be on the lighted side, take 1 cup milk and 1 cup water)

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 cup chedder cheese

1 tbsp cornflour

salt and pepper

In pan, heat oil and butter. Add chicken, season with salt, pepper and 1/2 tsp of thyme. Fry till water dries. Throw in the vegetables and fry for another 2 to 3 min. Keep aside. To make sauce, heat milk with salt, pepper and cornflour till it reaches the right consistency. Take out boiled pasta in baking dish, top half of the white sauce, then add chicken and vegetables. Top it with remaining sauce. Sprinkle cheese and bake at 220 C for 15 to 20 min or till hot and bubbly. Serve.

Chedder Cheese Balls

2009-10-27T20:51:00.000-07:00

I have been cutting back on fried food. I have. Promise. Since having fried food all through Ramadan, I have gone on a break. Well I was. Until a good friend (Shaista from http://mixcalculations.blogspot.com/) of mine suggested to participate in blog events, and so I am. This particular event is my favourite because it is based on cheese. Now who doesn't love cheese? I know I do. I love it so much, I wish I could add it to everything. It would actually make everything better :D This recipe I picked, is from a pakistani famous Chef Rahat and is dead easy to make, plus gives a perfect result, with the crunch, the melting cheese in your mouth, the flavors of onion, mustard and chedder.

Chedder Cheese Balls

Ingredients:

3/4 cup chedder grated
1 onion grated

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp mustard powder or 1/2 tsp mustard paste

3 tbsp bread crumbs

1 egg separated

salt

1 tsp dried thyme ( if fresh use 2 tsp)

bread crumbs for coating

flour for dusting

In a bowl, add cheese, yolk, thyme, salt, mustard paste or powder,onion, bread crumbs and black pepper. Mix well and shape into balls. I made really tiny cute ones and got almost around 20. Dust the cheese balls in flour, dip in beaten egg white and coat with bread crumbs. Refridgerate atleat 30 min before frying. Serve immediately.

Pan Fried Chicken Tikka

2009-10-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

Baked Penne

2009-10-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

Baked Penne

For the meat sauce:

1 cup chedder

1 cup mozzerella

3 tbsp oil

1 onion chopped

250gm mince meat

12 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp worstershire sauce

4 tbsp parslet chopped

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp peprika

2-3 tbsp chilli garlic sauce

1 tsp black pepper

2 tbsp heaped tomato paste

1 tomato

1/2 carrot

1/2 roasted red pepper (optional)

For the white sauce:

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp oil

2 tbsp flour

1/2 litr milk

salt to taste

Heat oil, add onion, meat, 6 garlic cloves crushed, salt, spice and fry on medium flame. While the meat is frying, blend the tomato, carrot, tomato paste, chilli garlic sauce, roasted red pepper, leftover garlic cloves altogether with 1/2 cup of water.

After the meat is brown in colour, add in the worstershire sauce, 2 tbso of parsley and thyme. Fry another min. Add in the the well blended sauce, cover and cook on low flame for about 30 min or till all water has dried and meat is cooked.

Boil the pasta in well salted water. Strain and toss with a bit of oil. Add to the meat sauce and add the leftover parsley. Mix and keep aside

In another pan, add butter and oil. When melted, add flour. Mix and when it starts bubbling and milk. Keep stirring till it reaches the right consistency. Not too thick as it has to cook in the over and not to thin so that it remains runny. Take it off flame and add half of the mozzeralla and chedder to the white sauce. Stir and keep aside.

In a baking dish , add half the pasta top it with half of the white and repeat.Sprinkle the leftover cheeses all over, cover with foil and bake till bubbly..umm about 30 to 40 min at 220C.

Sesame Fried Noodles

2009-10-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

Sesame Fried Noodles

2 to 3 chicken breast cut into small cubes

2 tbsp chilli garlic sauce

2 tbsp soya sauce

3 tbsp oil

6 cloves garlic

1 carrot sliced into thin strips

1 can of mushrooms sliced

2 capcicum sliced into thin strips

2 to 3 green onions sliced

2 green chillies

4 to 6 tbsp soya sauce

1 to 2 tbsp chilli garlic sauce (can substitute 1 tsp of sambal olek for 1 tsp of chilli garlic sauce)

400gm boiled egg noodles

1 tsp of sesame seeds toasted

Start by marinating the chicken in soya sauce and chilli garlic sauce. You can leave this overnite or just 15 to 30 min like I did. In pan, heat oil and add in the chicken, mushrooms with the 3 clove of garlic crushed and chicken cube. Fry till water dries and a little golden (on medium high flame). Its better to use a good non stick pan for this :)

Now add the leftover crushed garlic, green chillies and carrots. Cover and cook till carrots are a bit tender. Throw in the white part of the green onions and fry for a min. Add the bell pepper and sesame seeds fry for another min. Now add in the noodles, green onions and the sauces. Mix properly, taking care that the noodles do not break. Fry on high flame for just a minute and serve immediately!

Cheese Omellete

2009-10-13T03:30:00.000-07:00

Don't give me BS about breakfast being the most important meal of the day. I don't even eat breakfast. No I am not too busy to cook it, just too lazy. However, I do have breakfast and eat it 3 to 4 hrs later when I wake up, which usually ends up being lunch and not really breakfast food. But sometimes, when I've got a hankerin for good beginning of my day with eggs, I usually go with my cheese omellete. I keep my breakfast simple, but never boring as I have it rarely and when I do I want something as good as this. My mom on the other hand keeps it simpler and enjoys a usual fried egg. I love early mornings, where we have butter toasted bread, eggs cooked the way we like it and people we love to have it with. This recipe was inspired by a good friend of mine.. who made it for me and from then I was hooked. Thanks Farheen !

Cheese Omellete

Ingredients

1 egg beated

1 green chilli thinly sliced

1 cheese sliced chopped or any shredded cheese

1/2 onion finely chopped

1 tbsp milk or cream

salt to taste

oil for frying

Heat oil in a non stick pan, add all the ingredients in a bowl and beat till mixed. Pour in pan, and quickly spread the cheese with a fork to evenly cover the egg. Fry one side properly before flipping carefully (i like my like my cheese a bit golden) . Serve :)

Singaporian Fiery Fried Noodles

2009-10-12T06:12:00.000-07:00

Singaporian Fiery Fried Noodles:

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

1/2 inch ginger grated

2 cloves garlic grated

7 to 8 mushrooms sliced

1 tsp turmeric

125 gm prawns or chicken cubed (marinated in 1 tbsp soya sauce and 1 tsp chilli sauce)

1/4 cup bean sprouts (I didnt have any on hand)

1/4 cup carrots

1/4 cubs red bell pepper ( i had green)

200gm rice noodles

2 spring onions

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2 to 3 tbsp soya sauce

1 tsp rice vinegar

red or green chilli or both

1 beated egg

fresh coriander chopper for sprinkling

1/4 to 1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp curry powder (optional)

Heat oil, saute gingerand garlic till fragnant. Add sliced mushrooms and fry for a min or two. Add in the turmeric and chicken or prawn. Fry till water completely dries. Add the vegetables, starting with the carrots, bean sprouts, red pepper and lastly spring onions. Fry about two minutes before adding other vegetables and make sure the flame is on medium high. Add the noodles, sauces, fresh chilli and white pepper. Mix carefully. Now pour the beaten egg and quickly fry the noodles, taking care not to break it till the egg is properly coated and cooked. Sprinkle coriander and serve!

Eid One Dish Party

2009-10-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

We have this tradition sort of thing keeping a "one dish party" where a menu is decided and then everyone choose one dish to bring. It is kept wherever convinient, but this Eid it was at my place. The menu decided was Chinese as everyone was tired having the same old desi food. The menu included chicken chilli, chicken jalfrezi, sesame beef, fried rice and chowmein. As mum is not a chicken eater, she chose to make sesame beef. I did take the pictures as soon everything was heated and going to the table, while my aunts frowned at me for making the food cold and not letting anyone eat :D Here it is..

Mum's Bread Pudding

2009-10-09T14:14:00.000-07:00

Lauki Ki Kheer

2009-10-08T15:29:00.000-07:00

Lauki Ki Kheer

Ingredients:

2 cups lauki shredded and squeezed

1 litr milk

1 tsp rose water

1/2 tsp elachi powder

3/4 cup sugar

In pan add lauki and dry out any excess water. Add in the milk and elachi powder, cook till reduced half. Add in rose water and sugar, cook for another 10 to 15 min.

For the garnish, heat 1 tsp of butter or ghee. Add in the nuts and raisin, fry for 2 min. Spoon over the kheer and serve.

Note: can be served warm or chilled.

Chicken Badami Korma

2009-10-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

Rich and delicately spiced, chicken korma is a dish fit for kings. Korma relies on mainly on fragnant spices like cardimom, cloves and coriander for its flavour, with far less of fiery chilli, so is ideal for those who aren't into hot curries. Korma is a characteristically creamy and silky Indian dish, having its roots in the Mughlai cuisine of North Indian. It can be traced back to the 16th century and the Mughal incursions into North Western parts of India and modern day Pakistan and Bangladesh.

I do not consider myself a creator of authentic Indian cuisine and therefore do not want to come off as a chicken korma expert. This recipe comes from my mum also known as " Korma Queen ", for making one hell of a Korma everytime :)

You can make a richer version by substituting half of the yoghurt with cream when you really feel like spoiling yourself.

Baigan Ka Raita (Eggplant Yoghurt Dip)

2009-10-06T17:53:00.000-07:00

Baigan Ka Raita

Ingredients
1 eggplant washed and sliced into thin rounds
1 tsp mustard seeds
few curry leaves
3 to 4 whole red chillies
2 garlic cloves mined
1 green chilli chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tomato chopped
1 onion chopped
handful of coriander leaves chopped
oil as needed
400 gm yoghurt

Start by shallow frying the eggplant slices till golden from both sides. You can always brush the slices with oil and bake em for a healthier option.
Beat the yoghurt with a lil bit of water. Mix in the chopped tomato, onion and coriander leaves, salt and fried eggplant slices. Mix carefully and keep aside.
Add oil in a pan, with cumin seeds, mustard seeds, whole red chilli, curry leave and garlic. Fry till frangnant and add in the yoghurt. Serve

Fried Maash Ki Daal

2009-10-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, so many of you have been not so happy with me as I do not have a post up on my blog for "daal" yet. My excuse? I am not a daal (lentil) person. No I dont think of it as big bowl of comfort food, even though its cooked almost every week at my place. For me its just boring daal, ergh! I could eat a small bit of it with pickle if there is nothing else to eat and I am desperately hungry. Except for this. This particular daal, my favourite, is one of mum's patent dishes which is cooked in almost every party she keeps. It is different and way better than the bowl of yellow mush, not anything fussy or fancy, just downright delicious. Kinda dhaba style which tastes heavenly and is really simple to make.

Fried Maash Ki Daal
Ingredient:

1 cup maash daal soaked overnight
1 medium onion chopped
1 medium tomato chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
4 black peppercorn
3 cloves
4 whole red chilli or 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder or both if you can take the heat :P
2 garlic clove chopped
1/4 cup butter melted
2 chopped green chillies
handful of chopped coriander for garnish
1/2 inch of ginger thinly sliced

Wash lentil and boil with salt till soft. Be careful not to leave it for too long or it will get really soft and break.

In a pan add 2 tbsp oil, onion, cumin seeds, black peppercorn and clove. Fry till onion is translucent.

Add the garlic and fry till fragnant. Throw in the tomato, salt and red chilli, cover and cook till its water completely dries.

Add the boiled lentil with 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook on low flame till ready. Add in the melted butter, stir and garnish with coriander and ginger.

Stir Fried Vegetable with Paneer

2009-10-03T16:32:00.000-07:00

While the other dishes on our Eid menu were grand, this was blindingly simple. The colours were vibrant and the vegetables delicately spiced. I took the liberty on adding vegetables that I had on hand, just make sure all the vegetables marry well. You could always fry paneer before adding it to the vegetable, totally upto you. Next time, I would add cashew nuts just for some crunch!

Stir Fried Vegetables with Paneer
Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp butter
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 inch pc of ginger chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped
4 green chillies
2 potatoes boiled with a bit of turmeric
1 green bell pepper
1/2 cup boiled peas
Few spinach leaves
1/2 cup paneer cubes

In a pan, heat oil and butter. Add in the onions, ginger and garlic. Saute till fragnant.
Add all the vegetables (except the tomatoes) and fry till half done. Throw in the paneer, tomatoes, green chillies and handful of coriander chopped.Fry another 2 to 3 min till heated thru. Serve immediately.

Bihari Boti

2009-10-02T18:03:00.000-07:00

Kofta Chana Pulao (Meatball chickpea Rice)

2009-10-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

This was one of the dishes that were on the menu of our Eid Party. Like I said mum and I wanted to cook somthing other than usual Pulao or Biryani. After giving thinking and thinking and giving ourselves a headache, mum came up with this. I admit, I am not a huge fan of chickpeas but went great along with the meatballs and the outcome was beyond delicious.

Basboosa (Saudi Sweet) and a short break!

2009-09-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

The parties and gatherings are beginning. Had a hard time deciding the menu for Eid, wanted to cook something traditional, other than biryani. After giving it a thought for a week, mum and I settled on Kofta Chana Pulao, Bihari Boti (Pan Fried), Baigan Ka Raita, Chicken Badami Korma, Fry Maash Ki Daal. As this Eid is called the "mithi eid", I have prepared four sweets in advance as well. Yes I have gone crazy! I started with Sheer Khurma, a must on Eid. Then I made Lauki Ki Kheer, Mum's Bread Pudding and with so many ripened peaches in the fridge I finished off with Peach Crumble. Will be posting the recipes soon :) Hope you had a wonderful Eid !

Oh and this was sent to us from our sweet neighbors today! Its a typical saudi sweet made of semolina and yoghurt. Its quite simple to make and tastes a bit like our traditional semolina halwa, but is shaped more like a cake. Will be posting the recipe as soon as my neighbor has the time to give it to me. Till then, enjoy the pictures!

Eid Mubarak!

2009-09-19T22:26:00.000-07:00

I was not really sure what time I should release this post because of timezone differences so I decided to go with mine.
So A very blessed Eid Mubarik to every soul reading this, may we enjoy the delights found in Ramadan all year round, may all our Ibadah and prayers be fulfilled and may we have showers of continual blessings of Allah on us, our families, parents, friends, Pakistan, Muslims and every living soul – Amen!
Have a great time celebrating this joyous occasion and to those of you who are not celebrating it, may you have a good weekend :)

Iftaar (the saudi way)

2009-09-19T06:47:00.000-07:00

Our Saudi neighbors sent a plate full of some baked and fried goods for iftaar to us. How sweet of em! Wouldn't you be happy with a neighbor like that? The good part, these goods were delicious!
The donuts were pillowy soft and so light! The flafils were crispy and flavorful, not bland like the ones I have had from restaurants.The third item..don't know the name yet, these were amazing as well, filled with plain feta cheese. Will post the recipes as soon as i get em! Till then enjoy the pics!

Puff Pastry filled with Chicken, Corn and Cheese

2009-09-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

I have already given the recipe for the filling here. I won't say that filling in puff pastries is a much healthier way than filling in a samosa and frying, but both taste equally scrumptious. Trust me!

Banana Caramel Shake

2009-09-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

Using leftovers is a big challenge. I think and I think and sometimes I actually do what I am thinking, and cook up something not so nice. If I can't use what I have on hand and cook something good outta it..what kinda wanna be chef am I? But I don't lose hope and I stubbornly keep on trying, feeding my family while they make faces...then it happens. In between all my failures, I encounter success. Yippeee! Fine I know this isn't a really big thing to get all crazy about, but I still used caramel (which I could have finished just by licking it) This is one of em..my banana caramel shake..from which I got surprised looks and many compliments!

Banana Caramel Shake:

1 big banana

4 to 5 tbsp caramel

1/2 litre milk

1 scoop vanilla ice cream

Blend all together and serve chilled!

Chicken, Corn and Cheese Samosa

2009-09-15T12:40:00.001-07:00

This recipe was given to me by my favourite aunts of all! Saira aunty thank you soo much, people still rave about these whenever I make em. The filling is very simple to make and tastes amazing. Trust me, people are going to go all ohh and ahh when they have these. Oh I bet mushrooms would be a nice addition as well.

Chicken Corn Cheese Filling:

2 chicken breast

4 cloves of garlic

3 to 4 green chillies

2 tbsp coriander chopped

1 chicken cube

2 cup corn (drain water and dry if using from a can)

1/2 cup mozerella cheese

Boil chicken with chicken cube and garlic till cooked. Dry water completely. Cool chicken and shred. Add in the corn, green chillies, coriander and cheese. Use as filling.

Mince Meat Samosa

2009-09-15T12:39:00.001-07:00

I know what you are thinking. And no I have not gone all huge eating all this fried food. The reason? These snacks, are mostly consumed only during ramadan. We hardly have it all year round. No one goes through the trouble of making these snack so regularly in normal days and directly because of the buzy schedule. Plus no one is really THAT fat enough to have breakfast, lunch, SNACKS and then dinner. Its just too much. In Ramadan, most people after having a full iftari skip dinner. Yes we are one of them. We enjoy iftaar to our fullest :D
Note: This does not mean having five of these...moderation people!

Mince Meat Filling:
250 gm mince meat
1 onion
ginger garlic paste
1 tsp roasted and crushed cumin
1 tsp roasted and crushed coriander
1 tsp roasted and crushed whole red chilli
3 to 4 green chillies chopped
handfull of coriander chopped
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp oil

Heat oil in pan, add in the onions and saute till soft. Add the meat, ginger garlic paste, along with the spices ( except for the garam masala) and salt. Dry water and fry till cooked through. Add in the green chillies, coriander and garam masala. Mix and use as filling!

Chocoffee Shake

2009-09-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

This shake is a pure satisfaction on any day. Its got both coffee and chocolate, a great combination don't you agree? Don’t be afraid if you aren’t a big coffee drinker ( I am not either). Its has got a hint of bitterness that you will love. This is still a milkshake through-and-through, and it won’t overwhelm you with a strong coffee flavor. It’s a delicious balance of chocolate, coffee, sugar, vanilla ice cream.

Chocoffee shake

1 litre milk

2 scoops vanilla or chocolate icecream

6 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp coffee

9 tbsp chocolate powder

5 ice cubes

Blend together and serve!

Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

2009-09-14T14:34:00.001-07:00

The sides from the bread that I had cut to make chicken tikka sandwiches were drying out and calling me to use them up. I already had made bread crumbs earlier with other sides , so decided to make Pioneer Woman's Bread Pudding as I had it on my list to make since a long time. I soaked the bread in the milk mixture all night and baked it in the morning, I prefer it that way as it gives a more gooey soft bread pudding. I skipped the original sauce the pioneer woman used and made caramel sauce instead which turned out perfect. I loved the fact that it use only two eggs and sooo much bread! Its a great way to use all the stale bread you have got in the best way possible. I know you won't be disappointed!

The Pioneer Woman's Best Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons vanilla

2 1/2 cups milk

2 cups sugar ( I would add 1/2 cup less next time, was too sweet for me)

3 1/2 to 5 cups sourdough bread, cut into 1-inch cubes ( i used exactly 5 cups)

1/3 cup pecans, chopped finely (don't care for nuts)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat together eggs, butter,vanilla, and milk. Add sugar and mix

until sugar is dissolved.

Arrange bread cubes in a baking dish, keeping the crust facing up around the edges in scattered

within the dish. Pour liquid over the bread.

Sprinkle pecans all over and bake for 55 to 70minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Whiskey Cream Sauce:

1/2 cup sugar

1 stick butter

1/2 cup cream

1/4 cup Jack Daniels

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Stir constantly over low heat until mixture reaches a low boil. Pour a small amount over the individual servings of bread pudding.

Caramel:

1/2 cup sugar

1 stick butter

1/2 cup cream

Melt sugar till caramelized. Take it off the flame and add in the butter and mix till combined and cool. Add in the cream and sieve if necessary. Pour on top of the warm bread pudding. Enjoy!

Note: you could always save half of the caramel and serve it in a bowl.

Potato Croquettes

2009-09-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

I bought a frozen box of potato croquettes when it was on promotion. It was the first time I had these and fell in love with it. Why wouldn't one with these incredibly soft, buttery filled with feta cheese. Soon the box had finished and I wanted more. I actually wanted to make em myself! One should know how to make these great things right? So I read the ingredients from the back of that emptied box and gave it a try. I wont lie and tell you that I got exactly the same results..but these were equally delicious! The texture was quite the same compared that from the box, the taste was a bit different. Warning, these croquettes are very hard to handle and have to be chilled before stuffing and frying. Yes they do take time and a bit of hard work..but I assure you its all worth it!

Note: could not take proper pic of it sadly, as the dish was quickly taken away from me and devoured before i could get decent pictures! :(

Chicken Tikka Sandwich!

2009-09-14T13:45:00.000-07:00

Alu Samosa

2009-09-13T17:19:00.000-07:00

No I did not make these thin and incredibly crispy samosa sheets. They are store bought and I love them. The crispy delicate crunch and then soft spicy potato filling..yumm! I hate having them in thick handmade dough..they are nothing compared to these beauties.

Alu Samosa

Ingredients:

3 boiled potatoes chopped in small cubes or mashed

1 tsp roasted and crushed coriander

1 tsp roasted and crushed cumin

1 tsp roasted and crushed whole red chilli

salt

1 tsp khatai pd (dried mango pd)

3 to 4 greenchillies finely chopped

3 tbsp of chopped coriander

1 onion chopped

3 garlic cloves minced

Heat a pan, add a tbsp of oil, throw in the onions and garlic. Fry till translucent and fragnant.

In a bowl add everything else and the onion and garlic. Mix well, stuff a heaped tsp in store bought samosa pastry and fry

Mint Lemonade

2009-09-12T13:42:00.000-07:00

Want a recipe for an amazing thirst quencher plus an energy booster? Even if you are not a huge fan of mint like me, please please give this a try; you will fall in love with it. Promise!

Mint Lemonade

Ingredients:
30 mint leaves
15 tsp sugar
juice of 3 limes
15 ice cubes
6 glasses of water

Start by dissolving the sugar in the lime juice ( you might need a splash of hot water if you are in a hurry). In a jug blender add the mint leaves, 2 glasses of cold water with 9 ice cubes.Buzz away till mint leaves are finely chopped and the ice is crushed. Pour in a jug and add in the remaining glass of water with the lime juice and sugar mixture. Give it a good stir. Add in the remaining ice cubes and drink away!

Chicken Makhni (Butter Chicken)

2009-09-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

Chicken Makhni

Ingredients
For marination
4 chicken breast cut in 1 inch cubes
2 tsp yoghurt
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste
For gravy:
3 tomatoes blended smooth
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 cup water
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp cream
1 tbsp cashew nut paste
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp kesuri methi
2 tbso cumin powder

Marinate chicken for atleast 30 min. Heat a tbsp of each butter and oil in pan and fry chicken till its water dries. Keep aside
In the same pan, add the remaining butter and oil, heat and add tomatoes and cashewnut paste
(I usually blend tomatoes with cashewnuts). When the exces water dries, add chilli powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder and kesuri methi. Fry till oil separates. Add chicken and water, cover and cook till excess water dries and chicken is completely cooked. Lastly add cream, sprinkle chopped coriander and serve.

Dahi Boondi

2009-09-07T15:51:00.001-07:00

Bhelpuri

2009-09-07T14:39:00.000-07:00

Mix Chaat

2009-09-07T10:38:00.000-07:00

Pakoray

2009-09-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

Kadhai Gosht

2009-09-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

Where I come from, there's hardly any dish more 'homier' than this good old Kadhai Chicken. As the name itself says, its made in a deep wok and fried till the its almost dry. Its blindingly simple to make and you would actually be really surprised how good it tastes. It's fresh and red, with all the tomatoes, plus it has the zing of green chillies and black pepper (in my version) , and the aroma of cinnamon and ginger.. it won't be the same without it. Satisfying, yet extremely simple desi soul food, just the way my mom used to make it ( till i took over the kitchen :D )

Kadhai Gosht

Ingredients:
4 tbsp oil
250gm mutton
2 tsp tomato paste
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
1/2 tsp crushed black pepper
2 green chillies sliced lengthwise
1 tbsp ginger sliced

In a pan, add mutton, tomato paste, onions and salt. Add a glass full of water and cook till meat is tender on low flame. Dry water completely.
Add the oil, tomatoes, ginger, green chillies and crush black pepper. Fry on high flame till oil separates from gravy. Garnish with a bit more of ginger, green chillies and handful of coriander leaves.
Note: I always boil the meat for a minute, drain and then use.

Potato Omellete

2009-09-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

Potato Fritters

2009-09-05T18:59:00.000-07:00

Oh these were good! Sliced potatoes dipped in spicy gram flour batter and fried till crispy...the perfect snack.

Potato Fritters

Ingredients:
1 tsp coriander finely chopped
1 tsp green chillies finely chopped
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
4 tbsp gramflour
1/4 tsp soa bi carbonate
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp rice flour
water as needed
2 potatoes sliced

Mix altogether to make a better thin enough to coat. Dip the sliced potatoes and fry in hot oil till golden and crispy. Enjoy with yoghurt dip or plain ol' ketchup!

Simple Egg Scramble with Onion and Greenchilli

2009-09-05T17:59:00.000-07:00

This might seem like a stupidly easy thing to post a recipe for but I guarentee the number of people who can actually cook scrambled eggs properly are very few and far between. The amount of times I have had weird wet scrambled flat eggs are too many to count. Scarmble eggs are simple to make but easy to screw up. I learnt some tips from my mommy darling! I dont get the chance to make eggs almost all year round as I don't have breakfast. Just don't have the appetite, mental capacity or the energy to get up and cook something when I wake up. But during Ramadan is different as you are up all night ( well I am ) and you can't really have dinner twice, so breakfast becomes essential!

Egg Scramble with Onion and Greenchilli

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 greenchilli thinly sliced
1 small onion chopped
1 clove minced garlic
2 tbsp milk
salt
Beat the eggs (keep the yolks! If I find one more person who only cooks with egg whites I'm going to poke him numerous times with my egg-soaked fork and hope he gets salmonella) and add in the milk and salt. Beat the hell out of the egg and milk mixture for about 30 seconds, keep aside.
Heat up a pan and add in 2 tbsp oil. Throw in the onion and garlic, fry till translucent and fragnant.Add the finely sliced greenchilli and saute for a min.
Add the beaten eggs and let it sit for a min. and start "scrambling" the eggs by pushing the cooked stuff off the bottom and letting the runny yellow part directly onto the pan.
After a couple of minutes of scrambling, you should have some nice, fluffy, yellowy-white eggs. I like to pull mine off the stove top before it starts getting brown.
Enjoy!

Another Blog Award!

2009-08-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

Yes I got another blog award :) Swapna thanks for being such a sweetheart and honoring me.I also, love your blog. You can follow Swapna's brilliantly written blog here

Mutton Masala with Lemon Rice

2009-08-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

Black Chickpeas Salad

2009-08-22T14:58:00.000-07:00

I’m going to give you the world’s easiest recipe for chickpea salad. This salad though simple, is a winner with every crowd.
However this salad is equally as good for your heart. That’s because beans are an excellent source of soluble fiber, which helps reduce levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, and in turn lowers the risk of heart disease. Soluble fiber also slows down digestion and helps regulate blood sugars, so it helps you stay fuller for longer too.
But to be honest I don’t love this salad because of its health benefits — although that’s a very nice bonus. I love this salad because it tastes absolutely scrumptious!

Black Chickpea Salad

Ingredients:
1 cup black chickpea
1 tsp crushed cumin
1 tsp crushed coriander
1/2 tsp crushed red chilli
salt to taste
water for boiling
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
1- 2 green chillies chopped
juice of 1 lemon
fresh coriander chopped

Boil the chickpeas with the spices and salt, till soft. There will be some water left, reduce it till its 1/4 cup.
Take it out in a bowl, toss it with onion, tomato, green chilli and coriander.
Pour in the lemon juice and serve!

Fresh Fruit Bowl

2009-08-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

This is a must have at all iftaar. Its healthy and refreshing, filling plus really easy to make. Actually you just have to chop some seasonal fruits (bananas, apples, grapes, peaches, guava, pineapple, kiwi) add up- a bit of orange juice and if you want a tbsp of Tang. Chill and serve!

Spicy Potato stuffed Indian Bread: alu parathas!!

2009-08-22T04:34:00.000-07:00

Ramadan, the busiest month of all. With people coming from all over the world to Makkah for Umrah and in between visiting Jeddah, keeping us Jeddahians (not sure if that's even a word) busy on our feet. Not complaining! I love making iftari and having dinner parties, gives me an opportunity to experiment. With so much time spent in the kitchen I barely have time to post anything I make. But I shall take time out, will just skip the blah blah which I am doing right now and will go straight to the recipe :)
Alu parhathas, made probably the same way as most people make it. The only difference is how I roll out my parhathas which results into a perfectly round, crispy layered goodness!

Alu Parhathas

Ingredients

For the dough:
1 cup flour
1tbsp yogurt
1tbsp ghee or butter
1/4 cup milk
salt

For the filling
3 potatoes boiled and mashed (i like a good filled parhatha)
2 finely chopped green chillies
3 tbsp finely chopped coriander
salt
1 tsp roasted and crushed cumin
1 tsp roasted and crushed coriander
1 tsp roasted and crushed whole red chili
Butter as needed to cook

For the filling:
Throw everything in a bowl, mix and you are done. Divide into the same number as dough balls.
Note: roast and crush cumin, coriander and whole red chillies together. Store in an airtight container. Saves time!

For the dough:
Sieve flour. Add salt, butter or ghee, curd and add milk a little at a time. Knead into medium soft dough. Knead well for 5-6 minutes. This process can be done quickly in a food processor. Cover with a wet cloth and let the dough sit for 20-30 minutes. Knead the dough again.
Divide the dough into 4 equal balls for small parhathas ( i like everything small..seems cute) or 3 medium size parhathas.
Take one dough ball and roll it out as thin as you can get on a well floured surface (don't torture yourself with the shape of the rolled dough). Spread the potato filling and roll the dough towards you vertically keeping it as tight as you can. Roll the strip of rolled dough into a spiral shape (roll it horizontally now). Tuck the end underneath and press to hold it there. Dip the spiral into flour and roll it out into a 6″ circle.
Heat an iron griddle, cook the parathas with generous dabs of butter on both sides letting it completely cook from one side before flipping and adding more butter if needed. Fry till golden and crispy :)
Enjoy with raita!

Ramadan Kareem !!

2009-08-21T16:44:00.000-07:00

May this coming season of Holiness and reflection move us all forward to a time of peace, security and happiness :) I hope you and your families have a blessed Ramadan!

Hyderabadi Chicken

2009-08-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

I was going thru my cookbooks deciding what to make for my mum's dear old friend when i saw this written in my very first cookbook (6 yrs old). Its so hard to decide when you have to make something with chicken as there are soo many recipes to choose from. Why I picked this? Its different from every other chicken recipe as it uses one ingredient which I have
only used on my face till now and Kheer ofcourse. I love experimenting and trying out new things and I"m so glad I picked this. The aroma it had was simply amazing and the taste? You would have to try it to experience..you won't be disappointed. Promise!
Usually when I am writing down recipes I write down the name where I got it from on the top of the paper. This particular recipe was taken from an Indian cooking show, by a lady named Moon Moon Sen. Unusual name but so is the recipe :)

Hyderabadi Chicken
Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil
2 medium onion finely chopped
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
salt to taste
400 to 500 gm chicken ( i used boneless)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tomatoes blended
1 tsp tomato paste
3/4 tsp dried fenugreek leave (love this)
1/2 tsp saffron soaked in a bit of milk
1 tsp rosewater (surprised??)
2 tbsp fresh cream
2 tbsp coriander chopped

Start by heatin the oil, add the onions and saute till light golden ( not brown..keep a close eye).
Add in the ginger garlic paste with the chicken plus salt and fry on high flame till water dries completely about 8 to 10 min.
Add in the turmeric powder and the red chilli powder. Mix.
Now add in the blended tomatoes with a tsp of tomato paste, cover and simmer on medium flame till chicken is completely cooked and oil separates from gravy. Fry till it sticks to the bottom of the pan and then add 1/4 cup of water.
Add the fenugreek leaves , rose water and saffron, and cream. Reduce it till the gravy thicken and oil separates from it.
Throw in the coriander, give it a final stir and dish out!

Garlicky Potato Salad

2009-08-18T05:40:00.000-07:00

This is THE best salad ..that is if you are a garlic lover like me. I have made this a couple of times and it always and I mean ALWAYS turns out ohhh so good! And who doesn't like potatoes? Yeah so this isn't the most healthiest salads of all but its okay to have it once in a while. Its got a bit of heat from the green chilli and a added crunch of green bell pepper with a very garlicky tangy dressing. I wonder how would marinated grilled chicken go with it..yum yum yum!!

Ingredients:
3 small potatoes boiled and cut in cubes
1 small lettuce tore in bite size peices
1 bell pepper finely chopped
2 tbsp heaped yoghurt (use skimmed if on diet)
1 tbsp mayo
1/2 tsp mustard
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 green chilli (skip it if you can't take the heat)
1 tsp oil
salt to taste

Make the dressing by taking mayo, yoghurt, mustard and salt in a bowl.
Fry garlic and and green chilli till fragnant and add in the dressing. Mix.
Toss with potato, bell pepper and lettuce. Served chilled!

Testing a new kitchen gadget!

2009-08-16T05:16:00.000-07:00

I have been looking for new kitchen gadgets, just to try new things. Luckily I found this :D

From which I made a simple fried egg shaped into a cute flower..

Then I just kept taking pictures from different angles...

Happy 62nd Independence Day

2009-08-14T03:55:00.001-07:00

I cannot refrain from expressing my happiness saying AZAADI MUBARAK to all Pakistanis inside and outside of Pakistan as we celebrate our 62nd year of independence with a bang.
This independence day let us smile and rejoice even more and reaffirm our love for the nation and for our forefathers who toiled and sacrificed for this land of the pure. We must continue that journey and in doing so we must begin by paying tribute to all our forefathers and at the same time retain hope for a better tomorrow in this new Pakistan.
Pakistan must become the Pakistan as envisioned by Allama Iqbal and the Quaid-e-Azam, for nothing less will do.
Happy Independence Day!

Baked Eggs with Tomatoes, Red Onion, Garlic, Cheese and Herbs

2009-08-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

Last night sleep evaded me. I tossed and turned and then tossed and turned a few more times. Actually a lot of times. Still nothing. Tired of just lying around and waiting, I got out of bed thinking of making a realllllly early breakfast :D So at 5 a.m in the morning I was in the kitchen with my head in the fridge, looking around thinking what I could make. And then I saw some eggs. AHA! Yes and like that I knew what I wanted to EAT.
These were really simple and yummy. There aren't any measurements for this, just throw in any kinda tomato sauce and herb ( I used dill and it was wonderful! ) and if you are a cheese lover like me, then add some cheese as well :D.
Note: I used the herb by sprinkling it over the egg before it was baked but you can add it in the tomato sauce.

Baked Eggs
Ingredients:

1 tbsp of oil

1/2 red onion finely chopped

1 garlic clove minced or chopped

1 tomato chopped or a can of tomatoes

any kinda chilli sauce or just a pinch of red chilli pd

1 green chilli chopped (optional)

1 egg

a bit of dill chopped

crumbled or shredded cheese (any kind would do)

Preheat oven at 200 C.

Start by making the sauce. Heat pan , add in the oil followed by the onion and garlic. Saute till soft about 3 to 5 min ( do not let it turn brown )

Add in the tomatoes, salt and chilli sauce. Simmer till the sauce thickens.

Spoon the sauce in the dish. Then carefully break an egg into the dish, sprinkle salt and a bit of dill (any other herb would do). Bake for about 10 min if you want your eggs half cooked and 20 min if you want them completely cooked. Sprinkle cheese and place it under the broiler for 1-2 min or until cheese melts.

Serve hot with buttered toast!!

Blog Awards!!

2009-08-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

I finally got awards Yayyyyy!!! and i thought nobody really knew I existed =D These lovely awards were given to me by sweet Shaista of MIXCALCULATIONS. Thank you soo very much!!
Okay so the rules are: Respond and rework – answer the questions on your own blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, and add one more question of your own. Then tag eight or ten other people.

Lets get to the first part: Respond

1. What is your current obsession?
FOOD :D making it, reading it, talking about it or just thinking about it :D

2. What are you wearing today?
Right now I'm still in my pjays.

3. What’s for dinner?
Haven't thought about what to make yet .

4. What’s the last thing you bought?
Cookie cutters!!

5. What are you listening to right now?
Nothing.

6. What do you think about the person who tagged you?
I don't know much about her, but she seems like a sweet person..

7. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Any where close to my sisters!

8.What are your must-have pieces for summer?
Anything would do if its loose and light.

9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
To a really great amusement park!

10. Which language do you want to learn?
Arabic and French

11. Who do you want to meet right now?
My sisters!!!

12. What is your favorite colour?
Pink, black, yellow, orange and purple!

13. What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own closet?
I love everything I own!

14. What is your dream job?
Being a Chef in my own restaurant!

15. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
Shoes!!

16. What do you consider a fashion faux pas?
Clothes that are TOO small and tight.

17. Who are your style icons?
No one in particular.

18. Describe your personal style?
Cute, in style and comfy!

19. What are your favourite movies?
For right now its V for vendetta and all animated movies!!

20. What are you thinking of making next?
My very own white bread =D

21. Coffee or tea?
Coffee!! (both hot and cold)

22. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
Talk to my sisters or watch a movie or go out and shop like crazy!

23. What is the meaning of your name?
God's Gift

24. Which other blogs you love visiting?
Any cooking or baking related blog.

25. Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
Crumbles, pies and pastries!

26. Favorite Season?
Winter

27.Which is your dream destination?
Switzerland , Mexico, Paris and Italy!

28. Who inspired you to start a blog?
Fellow food bloggers ( thank you guys!!!)

29. Which is your favorite international cuisine ?
I love everything, it usually depends on my mood!

And now the second part: Rework

30.What kitchen gadget do you want to purchase?
Ummm..for right now i want an ice cream maker!

31.When and what did you eat in a restaurant last time?
Pizza!

32. What do you feel like having right now?
Mexican food!

Finally comes: Tagging

I am passing these awards to the 10 wonderful blogs that truly inspire me..

Arabic Bites

Tender Crumb

Bread and Honey

All things edible

A mad tea party

Greedy gourmand

Half baked baker

Fahrenheit 350

The parsley thief

The hungry housewife

Melting Moments

2009-08-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

So this is the first time I am baking cookies..any cookies. When I saw these on Joy of Baking, I just couldnt wait to make em. Could you resist something called Melting moments? I absolutely, definitely, positively couldn't. And I'm glad. They are soft ,buttery and vanilla sceneted..perfect!
These cookies use a lot of butter. Loads of it. One cup to be exact. Each time I pop one in my mouth, my subliminal cholesterol counter sends a little zap to my brain.
The cookies are incredibly easy to make and store for up to two weeks in an airtight container. If any cookies make it through the first week then you're more restrained then I am =)

Melting Moments
Adapted from Joy of Baking

1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (60 grams) cornstarch (corn flour)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (30 grams) powdered (confectioners or icing) sugar
1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
1 cup (110 grams) powdered (confectioners) sugar, sifted

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least one hour or until firm.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
When dough is firm, form into 1 inch (2.54 cm) balls and place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 12 - 14 minutes or until the edges of the cookies start to brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, line another baking pan or tray with parchment or wax paper. Sprinkle about half of the confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar onto the bottom of the pan and then place the slightly cooled cookies on top of the sugar. Put the remaining sugar in a fine strainer or sieve and then sprinkle the tops of the cookies (or you can just roll the cookies in the sugar).
These cookies store very well. Place in an airtight container between sheets of wax paper and they will keep a couple of weeks.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Old Fashioned Pound Cake

2009-08-04T12:26:00.000-07:00

Why is a pound cake called a pound cake? It may be that you gain a pound after eating it but nah..thats not it. Pound cakes were earlier made using a pound of butter, sugar, flour and eggs and thus the name. This pound cake is the way it is suppose to be made with no mordernized cut the sugar and butter. I did halved the recipe though as I could not bring myself to use 8 eggs which now really makes this cake a half pound cake :D It had a big crumb and was a bit too dense and buttery (i was growing another butt eating just a slice). I guess i'll be making a more mordernized pound cake after all :)

Old-Fashioned Pound Cake:

1 pound butter (4 sticks), softened
1 pound sugar (2 cups)
1 pound eggs (8 to 9 large)
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 pound all-purpose flour (4 cups)
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in flour, baking powder and nutmeg. Grease a 10-inch tube or bundt pan and pour the batter in. Bake at 350-degrees for one hour and thirty minutes. (Cover with foil the last thirty minutes.)
Invert and cool. You can just dust with powdered sugar, or glaze it. Pound cake is perfect plain and really doesn’t need anything more :)

Chicken Jalfrezi

2009-07-24T05:13:00.000-07:00

Simple Honey and Cinamon French Toast

2009-07-22T04:23:00.001-07:00

Where have I been?I wish I'd had been to London to see the Queen, but not that fortunate am I?Not yet though! Last month was all busy with weddings , relatives and now with exams. As much as I love to cook, I had taken a break from it as the heat in Karachi was just TOO much to handle. I'd come out of the kitchen looking as if someone had thrown a bucket of water at me. YES it was THAT hot!
A week before I left for Jeddah, my sisters had requested a list of dishes that they wanted to have, sending me back into the hot kitchen. After I was done with cooking I had just enough patience left to take pictures but posting seemed like a lot of work. So now that I am having my exams, I have the time to post if not the time to cook.
So what did I start with??Breakfast ofcourse :D I know how much my sister R loves cinamon and french toast, so I tweaked with the basic recipe and voila!

French Toast

Ingredients:
1 egg beaten
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 tsp cinamon
2 tbsp honey
1-2 tbsp fine brown sugar
3 bread slices
Un salted butter for frying.

Start by whisking together egg, milk, cinamon powder, honey and sugar in a bowl. Dip the bread slices ,letting it sit for atleast 1 whole minute so it is completely soaked. Heat up a pan, add butter and fry the soaked slices until golden and puffy. Yum!!

Malai Kofta

2009-06-09T04:37:00.001-07:00

The summer heat is getting to me. I have started entering my kitchen less and cooking less. I make only what is required for survival which explains why I hardly seem to have anything to blog about. Besides we also have load shedding and water shortage problems and they do not offer me any encouragement to venture into hi-fi cooking! But when my mum handed me some paneer she had made and requested for some Malai Kofta I couldn't refuse.

Malai Kofta is one of the ultimate food seductions. Spicy dumpling of Indian Cottage cheese that is deep fried and served in delicious, creamy and spicy gravy of fresh cream and onion-tomato paste is nothing short of sinful indulgence. Try cooking it once and see your taste buds falling head over heels in love with this tempting Malai Kofta. Yes, Malai Kofta is a temptress, a seductress and highly addictive! ;)

Malai Kofta

Ingredients:
For Kofta:
1½ cups crumbled paneer
2 large potatoes, cooked, peeled and well mashed
1 medium onion, very finely chopped
2 tbsp coriander, very finely chopped
2 green chillies, very finely chopped
1 egg, beaten for dipping
Bread crumbs required for coating
For Gravy:
4 tbsp oil
1 large onion finely chopped
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 inch cinnamon stick
3 cloves
3 green cardamoms
5 black peppercorn
1 black cardimom
4-5 large tomatoes, pureed
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp cashew / amond paste
¼-1/2 cup fresh cream
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp crushed cumin

For Koftas:
First, mix paneer with mashed potatoes, onions, coriander leaves and chillies.Use hands when mixing all these ingredients and make sure that all the ingredients are mixed properly and are lump free as possible.
The consistency whole mixture should be as that of chapatti dough and you should be able to make kofta of any shape without breaking them.Let them chill in fridge for 30min.
Dip the kofta in egg and coat in bread crumbs.
Next heat oil for shallow frying and reduce the heat to medium to low flame.
Shallow fry them in batches of 5-6 kofta at time.
Fry them till they turn golden brown and crisp and place them in a bowl lined with kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.Alternatively you can bake them in an oven at 175 deg centigrade for about 20-30 minutes

For Gravy:
Heat oil in a pan and add onions. Stir it continuously for 5-7 minutes till it turns golden. This is the very important step as you don’t want to rush and end up having bitter tasting gravy. So be patient!
Once the onion paste is cooked thoroughly add ginger garlic paste and whole spices. Saute for a minute.
Next add tomato puree, tomato paste, cashew/almond paste and red chilli powder. Cover and cook till oil separates from gravy.
Next add in milk. Cover and cook on low flame. Bring this whole gravy to gentle boil, about 5 minutes.
Add in the cream and adjust the seasoning, adding little more water if the gravy is too thick and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Switch off the flame and mix in finely chopped coriander leaves and green chillies.

To Assemble and Serve:
Heat the gravy for few minutes and then transfer it to serving dish. Arrange the koftas in gravy and top it with finely chopped coriander levaes. Malai Kofta tastes best when served with any Indian flat bread or flavoured rice like Saffron rice or Cumin rice.

Mexican Chicken

2009-06-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

Probably not the most authentic recipe but who cares if its delicious :P I cant believe i havent blogged this yet! Oh well better late than never.I got this recipe on some television show..hmm..cant seem to recall the name.I remember making it the first time, thinking to myself that this would come out okay and not anything special as it did not have many ingredients to put in..or cheese ( i love cheese :D). Why did i even try?I was having a WORST craving for mexican food. A craving, yes, but no authentic recipe. And no patience to go looking for one so i just used this :D which suprisingly turned out great! and still does everytime i make it :D Enjoy!

Mexican Chicken

Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil plus 2 tbsp butter
1 medium onion chopped
2 to 3 chicken breasts
1 chicken boullion
2 tsp paprika or red chilli would do as well
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 tomatoes blended to a puree
jalapenos (optional)
1/2 cup cream
1 can of mushrooms
1 can of corn

Heat oil and add in the chopped onions.Fry till soft.
Add in the chicken and the boullion, frying on medium flame till it starts to get golden.
Throw in the sliced mushrooms and fry some more for about like 5 min.
Add in the tomato puree, red chilli and the paste.Cover and cook till the water dries for about 10 min.
When the oil separates, add in the corn and fry for another 5 min, keeping the flame medium all the time.
Turn the flame low and add in the cream.Heat till it starts bubbling and you're done!

Apple Cobbler

2009-05-31T06:55:00.000-07:00

Warm apple cobbler and ice cream. Doesn't that almost make your mouth water? Well i have been thinking about it since mum got apples and wanted just the right recipe to make it.So i searched and searched till i finally found it here. This was absolutely perfect! I loved the crunchy, butter topping and the oozing, appley interior :D

Ingredients:

For the apples:
1/2-3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp freshly grated nuteg
2 pinches ground cloves
3 Tbsp. honey
1/4 cup apple ciderJuice of
1 lemon
12 cortland or other sweet tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
6 Tbs. butter, cut into small pieces

For the topping:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
10 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup rolled oats
6 Tbs. heavy cream
Vanilla ice cream

For the apples:
Preheat oven to 325. Combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, honey, cider, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Add apples and toss well. Put apple mixture into a large baking dish in an even layer, scatter with butter. Bake, gently stirring once or twice, until apples begin to soften and release their juices, about 30 minutes. Set apples aside to cool for 30 minutes.

For the topping:
Sift flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together into a medium bowl. Using a pastry cutter or 2 table knives, work butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal flecked with pea-size pieces of butter. Stir in oats. Add cream, stirring until just combined.
Increase oven temperature to 375. Scatter topping over apples in a broad band around inside edge of dish, leaving apples in center of dish exposed. Bake until topping is golden brown, about 45 minutes. Allow to cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve with ice cream.

Chicken Quesadillas

2009-05-28T01:49:00.001-07:00

Just uploading the picture makes me want this again..sigh. I had been cravinggg for mexican food since I don't know when and this is just what I wanted :) Making home made tortillas (even if they come out pefect)...well lets just say I would be happy to use store bought :D Making the dough..trying to roll perfect round tortillas and to top it all of the HEAT of summer wasn't all that nice of a experience. I subsititued jack cheese (not available here) by half cheddar and half mozerella which came out pretty good. Sour cream (hell expenisve here), was pefectly subsititued by sour yoghurt and cream. See how desperate I was for anything mexican? Even with all these substitutions and no jalapeno, this was absolutely satisfying...

Grilled Chicken With Creamy Basil Sauce

2009-05-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

Have you ever created a whole dinner around an herb?When my sister mentioned having chicken with basil sauce in some restaurant, i just had to try and make it at home!I began by searching for the right recipe, but unfortunately all of them required fresh basil which i did not have.So i substituted that with dried basil which went really well.The only thing missing which i would have liked was the green colour of the sauce but the taste I assume would be the same if I had used fresh basil.So I went in the kitchen ,with my head full of many inspired recipes and begin making my own with what I had on hand.The verdict? The chicken turned out moist and tender - the lemon, basil and garlic really made the chicken extra delicious. This dish paired perfectly with the mashed potatoes and would be equally amazing with pasta.

Grilled Chicken With Creamy Basil Sauce

4 skinless chicken breast
salt
1 tbsp garlic powder
juice of 1 lemon
4 tbsp oil

For the sauce:
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 chicken cube
2 tbsp cream
1 chopped tomato
1 tbsp dried basil

Rub the marinade on chicken and keep it aside for 30 min atleast.
Prepare your grill and cook the chicken.
For sauce, start by heating butter then adding flour.Stir.
Add in the milk , chicken boullion and cook till it starts bubbling.
Add in the cream, stirring while it thickens to a sauce like consistency.
Lastly add in the tomato and dried basil and cook for about a min.

Donut Muffins

2009-05-23T07:27:00.000-07:00

These muffins are every bit as delicious as they look. I saw them a couple times posted on Baking Bites, and could not resist any longer.
The texture...it's not like a muffin at all - it's not like a donut either - it's a very fluffy something or other but tasted so much like a donut. These did not involve the mess of deep frying and were made simply by using a muffin tin. It's a totally easy breakfast creation, and you can add different spices to change up the flavor. I sprinkled some leftover chocolate on four of them for my neices (they like everything chocolaty!) and drizzled honey on two (experimenting :D) and the rest were brushed with butter and coated in cinamon and sugar. These are especially killer with a cup of coffee.
I was a little worried that I had screwed up when I first removed the muffins from the oven. They looked incredibly bland and boring. But, as I brushed each with a coat of warm, melted butter, the color deepened, and the cinnamon-sugar mixture adhered beautifully. Stick to the recipe and everything should turn out fine.
As an additional note, I made these last night, and just had them this morning. I actually prefer the flavor and texture more than the just out of the oven feeling.

Sugar Donut Muffins
Makes 12
Adapted from Baking Bites

3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (I actually did not have any, so I used 1/4 teaspoon of both ground ginger and cinnamon)
1/4 cup vegetable oil (do not be tempted to change this to butter - it will change the texture of the doffin)
3/4 cup milk (low fat is fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup of sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable oil. (Do not be tempted to use liners - the point of doing these directly in the muffin tin is to have them pop out and be able to get sugar to stick to the sides without the addition of butter...you could, if you so desired, add butter on the sides as well before rolling in sugar.)
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg until light in color. Pour in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract. Mix to combine.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Pour into egg mixture and stir to combine.
Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
While muffins are baking, melt butter and pour remaining sugar into a small bowl.
When muffins are done, lightly brush the top of each with some melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in sugar and cinnamon. Cool on a wire rack

Chilled Yoghurt With Honey and Banana

2009-05-20T07:15:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been unbearably hot and I was too lethargic to do get up and do anything other than lay on the couch and complain about the heat.Rather than going in the kitchen and cooking something up i just used what i had in the fridge.Got half cup of yoghurt, whipped it up smooth with about 2 tbsp of honey, sliced in a banana and sprinkled sugar on top.Tadaaa!!

Perfect Party Cake

2009-05-14T05:21:00.000-07:00

I'll admit,I've never used a Dorie Greenspan recipe before and I'm usually skeptical when it comes to trying out recipes from new people. BUT I've read Dorie Greenspan success stories so much that I was excited to finally get a chance to try something out. I was very pleasantly surprised with this cake.This was a piece of cake from beginning to end. This is a testament not to my mad cake-baking skills (ha! not!) but to the true perfection of Dorie Greenspan’s recipe, from her book Baking From My Home To Yours. When it comes to baking, I know I'm not likely to develop a repetoire of all sorts of wildy different, intricate desserts, so I am all about delicious basic recipes that I can modify to use in different ways. With that in mind, this cake is the perfect recipe for me. Dorie explains that if lemon isn't your favorite flavor you could swap out the lemon extract for any other flavored extract or no extract at all like i did.You can also experiment with different flavors with the layer of preserves that goes between all the layers, the buttercream, and the cake decoration. You could even add in cocoa powder and make the cake chocolate. The possibilities are endless and this cake's versatility definitely makes it one I'd feel using again and again.

The cake baking process was fairly simple but it's hard to horizontally half the cakes (to make four layers total), because they don't rise too much.I still have to figure out what went wrong hmph! Dorie's original recipe calls for raspberry preserves, but I wanted to make my cake with cherries and so i did just that.For the tops of the cake, I parted from Dorie's recipe once more as she uses grated coconut to decorate the cake and I just dont like coconut all that much. Yes i know the cake wasn't really for me but i was the one making it (haha!).I replaced the coconut with lots of chocolate shavings and also to make it less creamy (my aunt likes it simple and yeah so do i :D), i omitted the buttercream from between the layers, only topping the cake with it.

The cake was welcome back cake for my uncle and aunty who just came back from Canada, and they both loved it. The cake cut beautifully and tasted...well, perfect. I'll be making this cake a lot. I think it is, indeed, the perfect party cake.

Perfect Party Cake
From Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home To Yours

Makes 12 to 14 servings
For the Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves, stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-x-2-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make The Cake: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the tough – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up. (The cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.)

To Make the Buttercream: Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or other large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6 to 10 minutes. During this time, the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny, smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake: Using a sharp, serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. Spread it with one third of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with the third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream left over). Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving: The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but it’s best to let it set for a couple of hours in a cool room. Serve it at room temperature with anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing: The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to 2 days.

Balti Chicken

2009-05-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

The word balti literally means 'bucket' (hehe), but in reality it is a round bottomed wok with side handles which was originally used by the people of Baltistan in Pakistan. Baltistan was once an independent kingdom. It's now part of Pakistan but it's commonly known as "little Tibet". There are still Balti people living in the northernmost regions of Pakistan(:O). Balti is a type of Kashmiri curry; the name refers to the place where it originated as well as the dish in which it is cooked and served.THANKFULLY this dish tastes great no matter what vessel it is cooked in :D

Balti Chicken
Adapted from Chef Zakir

Ingredients:
1/2 kg chicken(can use boneless as well)
4 tbsp oil
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 onion finely chopped
2 tomatoes blended
1 tbsp red chili powder
Salt to taste
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
4 tbsp yoghurt
1 cup fresh cream
1/2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
2 green chillies chopped

Heat oil in pan, add the finely chopped onion and fry till light golden.
Add ginger garlic paste and sauté till fragnant.
Mix in the chicken peices and fry on medium flame till light brown.
Add blended tomatoes with red chili powder, salt, cumin powder, garam masala powder.Cover and cook on low flame until oil rises to surface, about 20 to 25 min.
Add yoghurt and fry stirring often, about 5 min on medium flame.
Take it off heat, adding in the cream, fenugreek leaves and green chillies.Mix and put it back on flame.
Cover and cook for about 2 min.Serve!

Raw Mango Drink

2009-05-01T06:13:00.000-07:00

Anddd i'm back! Cool misty mornings have given way to hot and clammy days here..ergh! now i'm just looking forward to the arrival of the monsoons in June. The monsoons bring their own set of discomforts but it would mean a very welcome respite from the heat of the summer!
The summer does have its own advantages though, one of them being mangoes (ONLY ONE)!The only thing which keeps me at the border of sanity is chilled watermelon,lemonade and now this drink.Thank God for that or else i would be running naked screaming at the top of my lungs "I'M MELTING" - wouldn't that be arresting?literally.

Raw Mango Drink

Ingredients:
4 raw mangoes
3 cup sugar
1 cup water

Wash, peel and grate the raw mangoes.
Mix the mangoes, sugar and water in a deep saucepan and boil till the mangoes are soft.
Put this mixture into a food processor and blend till smooth.
Pour into glasses, dilute with a little chilled water if needed, mix well and add crushed ice.
Serve!

Parmesan Chicken With Tomato Sauce

2009-04-29T00:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long absence! My sister had jaundice and is still recovering from it.She has to take this special diet where everything she eats has to be boiled with less spices and not a drop of oil.She forbid me to make anything till she gets better :C It was so damn hard staying away from the kitchen but then my other sister asked me to something nice for dinner i couldnt help myself.After a lot of pleading , my sweet sick sister finally allowed me to cook :D After a lot of thinking what to make, i decided on a delicious italian breaded chicken smothered with cheese and served with creamy mashed potatoes.Yummm!!
P.S : i promise to take a better picture next time!

Parmesan Chicken

6 chicken breasts (flattened)
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp oil
1/2 cup breparmesan cheese
salt to taste
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour

Marinate chicken with paprika, garlic powder, salt, herbs and oil.
In a bowl, add flour.
In another bowl, add breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, herbs and salt.Mix well.
Beat the eggs in separate bowl.
Begin by coating the chicken in flour, dipping in egg and then finally coating in breadcrumbs.
Fry the coated chicken on a lightly oil pan on medium flame till light golden.Set on a baking dish.
Bake for 20 min at 180 C.

Tomatoe sauce

6 tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
salt
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 can of sliced mushrooms
1/2 chicken cube

Start by blending the tomatoes and garlic to a smooth paste.Keep aside.
Heat oil in pan and add the mushrooms.Fry till light golden.
Add in the chicken cube.Mix
Add the blended tomatoes plus the tomato paste. Fry till water dries
Add in half a glass of water and cook till saucy.
Top it on parmesan chicken plus a handful of mozzerella cheese and bake till cheese melts.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

6 boiled mashed potatoes
salt
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk
3 tbsp cream

In a pan add mashed potatoes, salt, milk and cream.Stir and cook till creamy.
Add in the butter and turn the flame off.Mix well.
Serve on side with parmesan chicken.

Tawa Fish

2009-03-31T08:54:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest..i am not a big fan of seafood.On the other hand, my mum loves it! So i decided to make a nice fish dinner for her.I ended up having one big piece of it :O I KNOW! So believe me when i say that this recipe is truly amazing! It does not involve a lot of work..just some patience as it is slow cooked on low flame, which gives the fish maximum flavor and a light crispy texture :D You can use any kind of fish, but if you are using fillets (like i did) make sure you keep them about 4 to 5 inch not smaller that that.Right from the tawa direct to your plate these small crunchy pieces will be a treat to your taste palate especially during a cold weather.

Tawa Fish
Adapted from Chef Zakir

Ingredients
1 kilo fish
3 tbsp ginger garlic paste
salt
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp tumeric powder
1tbsp garam masala powder
salt
2 tbsp ghee or oil
1/2 cup thick tamarind paste
5 tbsp of green coriander chopped
4 onions cut in rings
2 green chillies thinly sliced
1/2 cup oil

Start by washing the fish properly the marinate it in 1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, salt for 30 min.Wash properly again.This helps in getting rid of the smell.
In a bowl add 2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, oil, taramind paste, green coriander and salt.Mix well.
Rub the marination on the fish peice and keep aside covered in the refridgerator for an hour or two.
Heat the tawa (griddle).Add oil and spread it all over the tawa with a spoon.If your tawa isn't big enough to fry the all fish pieces together then add half the oil, reserving half for the next batch of fish.Keep the flame low.
Place the fish on the sides of the tawa and spoon oil over the pieces.Do this repeatedly for 5 minutes.
Add the onions and green chillies in the leftover marinade.Keep aside
With the help of a fork, slowly slide one peice of fish from the side to the centre of the tawa.Fry till golden from beneath (this will take time as it will be fried on low flame).Slide it to the side again.Repeat this with all the fish peices.
Turn the fish peices and spoon oil over the peices.Do this repeatedly for 5 minutes.
Again, slide one fish at a time to the centre, fry till golden from beneath.Slide it back to the side.
Let it rest for 2 minutes.Take it out in a serving platter.
Add the onions and green chilli in the same oil and stir fry.Take out.
Sprinkle lemon juice over the fish peices and enjoy!

Mini Vegetable and Cheese Pies

2009-03-31T05:38:00.000-07:00

A quick blog post. Made mini vegetable pies for lunch with leftover pie dough from the apple pie I made a day back. I used vegetables that I had on hand for the filling to keep it simple and quick. You can really add anything and everything..just have to be a little creative I guess :) I will be adding corn, green bellpepper and mushrooms the next time i make em! The pies turned out amazing (what doesn’t with cheese in it?) and full of flavor!

Mini Vegetable and Cheese Pies (makes 3)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
½ potato cut in cubes
½ carrot cut in cubes
3 tbsp fresh or frozen beans
½ tsp turmeric
2 tbsp tomato paste
¼ cup water
1 green chili finely sliced (optional)
Grated cheese (any kind) for sprinkling on top

Heat oil in pan and add garlic, vegetables, salt and turmeric powder.Fry for a min.
Add in the tomato paste and fry till it starts sticking at the bottom.
Add water, cover and cook for 5 to 10 min (till water dries)
Turn the flame off; add in the green chili and cream. Mix and keep aside to cool.
Once cooled, fill it in the prepared pastry lined mini pie dish equally.
Sprinkle cheese and paprika (if you like it hot like I do) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 180 C till light golden. Enjoy!

Apple Pie!

2009-03-29T14:27:00.000-07:00

Yes if i hadnt mixed two recipes it would have been a beautiful picture.Stupid me!I got the crust recipe for this from the blog Novel Eats which had an amazing step by step instruction about the pie crust and it did turn out amazing..all light and flaky.I will be giving it a hint of sugar by adding a tbsp of it the next time i make it.Not much but just a hint, so that it goes with savoury toppings too.The filling was not too sweet because i did not add white sugar trying to make it healthy.It should have had been more buttery, more sweeter and more saucy!What went wrong then you might be thinking?Well i read about this apple pie in which you slice the apples and place them on the crust and do the lattice work and pour some kinda sauce.It sounded different and had many great reviews so i thought to give it a try.I know i could have made 2 pies with 2 different recipes and on separate days.This was when i didn't know that making pies is not as hard as it looks.This was the first time i made an apple pie and it was quite easy.Seriously!

So i started with the crust which was no trouble at all.The filling on the other hand, sigh!I had so many ideas running in my head and i wanted to test them all at that moment.First was that i wanted my apples extremely soft in my pie not tart.For that i diced the apples in cubes and cooked them for a min or two.Second, i wanted to try the different recipe i had read about pouring the sauce on the top.For that i had to keep sugar in check, so that it wouldn't get overly sweet.I guess i was fretting about it so much that i hardly put it in lol.The worst thing of all, i had only two apples to work with..yes i know i could have gotten more but i was too lazy :D I always seem to like to do things the hard or more complicated way, but it is usually worth it in the end.This is the first time I did this type of lattice pie crust I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out, and I thought, hey – this isn't as hard as it looks. It's truly not that time consuming either.

The pie itself tasted really great.I'll probably make this again since it isn't that difficult to make.This pie could have probably used another apple or two and plenty more of sugar, but still, it was pretty close to fantastic.

The recipe includes the sugar that i skipped :D plus the ugly sauce which ruined my pic but tasted great lol!

Crust
Adapted from NovelEats

Ingredients:
2 cup flour
2/3 cup plus 2 tbsp chilled butter (cut in cubes)
1 tsp salt (i added 1/2 tsp)
4 to 6 tbsp chilled water
Milk for brushing the top of the crust (i used a slightly beaten egg, gives it a good shine)
Sugar for sprinkling ( i skipped this because i add the sauce)

Filling
Inspired by a lot of recipes.

Ingredients:
5 apples
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinamon powder
1/2 tsp clove powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
handful of raisins
5 tbsp butter
1 tsp cornflour

Sweet Sauce (i made half of it)
Adapted from here

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

For the crust:
In a bowl add flour and salt.Mix well.
Add in the cubed chilled butter and break it up using a fork till it is crumbly.
Add in the chilled water one tbsp at a time until the dough is wet enough.
Gather the dough into a ball using your hands and divide it in half.Shape them into two flattened rounds, wrap each individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for about half an hour
or more.This will help the dough to roll out more easily and will be more flaky in texture once its baked.Don't over mix the dough and try to make it smooth.
Roll out the dough to a size that is at least an inch or two larger than your pie pan.
Carefully remove the pastry dough from the floured surface, being careful not to tear. Using a rolling pin makes it much easier.
Place it into a pie pan, and press against the bottom and side of the pan. If you have areas of the pan that are not covered you can use extra pastry dough to fill them in.
Cut the excess dough from the pie pan and reserve.

For the filling:
Heat butter in pan.Add the apples with all the spices and both the sugars.Stir
Cook the apples for a minute.Only a MINUTE.The apples will soften more when they are baked with the pastry.
Add cornflour and bring it to a quick boil.Turn the flame off and let it cool completely.

For the lattice:
Roll out your remaining dough, then cut into thin strips – depending on how perfect you want this to be you can get as specific on the width as you want, or if you're like me you'll just eyeball it.
Take half of your strips and lay them evenly on top of the filling that is now on the bottom pie crust.
On one far edge of the pie pan fold over every other strip, then take a fresh strip and lay it near the edge of the pie pan and fold the strips back over.
Fold over the other remaining strips of dough, and lay a fresh strip of dough on top, and fold the strips back down.

Keep repeating this and ideally you will have a perfectly woven pie crust.
Once you have finished weaving, cut the over hanging pie crust strips, then push together the layered pieces of crust to ensure that it stays together when you slice the pie after it has baked.
Make a border with thin strips and mark it with a fork.
Brush the lattice and borders with the beaten egg.

For the sauce:
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Stir in flour to form a paste.
Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil.Reduce temperature and let simmer.
Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
Preheat oven at 220 C.Bake the pie for 15 min in the preheated oven.
Reduce the temperature to 180 C.Continue baking for 30 to 35 minutes, until the pie is light golden.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!!

Lemon Cream Pie

2009-03-26T02:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my dad got me a set of six 4 3/4" small pie pans :D :D :D which got me all excited and i couldn't wait to use it.I wanted to try something new, anything other than chocolate.This pie caught my eye when i was browsing a food blog Nook and Pantry The recipe is adapted from Dorie Greenspan, who learned it from none other than the king of pastry, Pierre Herme.It was for a 9" pie pan so i halved the lemon cream and the pie crust recipe and made 4 small pies.I don't know how thick or thin a pie crust should be and actually thought that the crust i made was for 2 small pie pans only.I haven't had a lemon cream pie ever so i really had no idea what it would taste like. The recipe called for 2 1/2 stick of butter and i was quite hesitant about it but then ended up using the exact amount.The lemon filling had a very pronounced tart lemon taste(i think i used 2 1 /2 lemons instead of 1 1/2 which had be puckering my lips and squinting my eyes as the lime kicked in). It didn't have a creamy texture like i hoped it would, so the next time i make it i'll be reducing the butter and the lemon juice plus add a bit of cream to it.The pie crust was amazing in taste.The texture? Well, as it was my first time making a pie crust, some mistakes were bound to happen.I already knew that the dough was not to be over mixed or it would loose the flaky texture but when i tried to bind it together, it fell apart.I tried again n again till it came together.This melted most of the butter and so i lost most of the flaky texture.Next time ill add more cold milk so that it binds more easily.I rolled the crust a bit too thin ( i still don't know how thick or thin it should be) making it a little hard (couldn't cut it with a knife or have it with a spoon) and dark in colour .Yes it didn't turn out perfect but it was still a success!This crust recipe is definitely a keeper and ill definitely give it another try!

Lemon Cream

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan (i halved both the recipes to make four 5 " pies)

Ingredients

1 C sugar

Zest of 3 lemons

4 eggs

3/4 C lemon juice (roughly 3 lemons)

2 1/2 stick of butter, cut into one tablespoon pieces

1 premade tart shell

You'll need an instant-read thermometer, a fine mesh sieve, blender or food processor.

First bring some water to a simmer in a saucepan.

In a bowl or pan big enough that can set over the saucepan, rub the zest with the sugar till it is moist, grainy and very aromatic, off heat

Whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice.Turn the heat down so that the water is barely simmering, and set the bowl over the saucepan. Whisk and cook the cream until it reaches 180 degrees F.(In this step, i altered the recipe a bit and cooked the cream until it was really thick.I did this just to be sure the eggs were fully cooked).As you whisk—you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling—you’ll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180 degrees F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point—the tracks mean the cream is almost ready.

As soon as it reaches 180 degrees F, strain the curd into the blender or food processor.Discard the zest that's left behind in the sieve. Let the curd stand until it cools to 140 degrees F, stirring occasionally. This will take about 10 minutes.

Put the cap on the blender and turn the blender on high (or turn on the processor) and, with the machine going, add the butter about 5 pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going—to get the perfect light, airy texture of lemon-cream dreams, continue to blend the cream for another 3 minutes. If the machine protests and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats.

Pour the cream into a bowl or container and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.(The cream will keep in the fridge for 4 days and, or tightly sealed, in the freezer for up to 2 months; thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.)

Assemble the tart just before serving. Spoon the cold cream into the tart shell and serve immediately.

Prebaked Tart Shell - Flaky Pate Sucree (for a 8 in to 9 in tart pan)

Adapted from Nook and Pantry.

Ingredients:

1 C flour

1/3 C confectioner's sugar

1/4 tsp salt

6 Tbsp butter, chilled cut into 1 inch pieces

2 Tbsp beaten egg or 1 egg yolk

2 Tbsp milk, cold

1/2 tsp of vanilla

Pulse the flour, confectioner's sugar, and salt together in a food processor until combined.

Add the pieces of butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal with no large butter pieces.Alternatively use a fork or pastry cutter to cut in the butter, or freeze the butter and coarsely grate it then use your fingers and rub the pieces into the flour. It is very important to keep the butter cold otherwise it will melt and make the crust really greasy and you'll lose all the flaky layers.

Mix the vanilla into the beaten egg or beaten egg yolk. Drizzle the beaten egg and about 1 Tbsp of the milk over the flour and butter mix. Pulse again until the dough just comes together, forming large clumps. If it looks too dry add a little more milk.Press all the dough clumps together and form a round disc, cover in plastic wrap and chill at least an hour up to overnight. Lightly flour a work surface and your rolling pin and roll out the dough to into a large circle.Move the crust around often to make sure it doesn't stick to your work surface. If so use a dough scrape to loosen it.

Transfer the dough to the tart pan by draping it over the rolling pin. Lift the edges of the crust and gently press the dough down into the pan. Roll over the top of the dough with a rolling pin to trim the excess. Prick the surface of the dough with a fork. Freeze the dough for 20 - 30 minutes or refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF while the dough chills.Press a sheet of aluminum foil onto a crust and fill with pie weights, beans, or clean pennies and bake on the middle rack for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and baking weights (be careful the weights will be very hot!) and return the crust to the oven to bake for another 5 - 10 minutes until it is a golden brown. Set on a rack to cool until room temp before filling. (Since i made small pie pans i baked it with foil for 25 min and without foil for 5 min).

Banana Bread

2009-03-23T03:05:00.000-07:00

I haven't baked many banana breads, just once which turned out to be a bad experience.Back then i didn't know that the mixing order of ingredients actually mattered, the importance of sifting the flour mixture to distribute the baking soda evenly and when using a handmixer to be extra careful not to overmix.But today, looking at the amazing photo showing off a peice of delicious banana bread posted by Nook and Pantry i decided to give this recipe a try.For this you don't need to lug out the mixer or anything fancy, just 2 bowls and good wide spatula so cleanup is quick and easy.The recipe has an option of adding walnuts and i would have but didn't have any on hand.The result was unaffected and the banana bread turned out to be soft, moist and tender.But that isn't the best part.The crust..ahh the crust! It was just heavenly.Loved the good crunch of the sugar topping!

Banana Bread

Adapted by Nook and Pantry.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp cinamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup mashed ripened bananas (about 3 medium size)

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup water

Topping

2 tbsp sigar

1 tsp cinamon

2 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

Butter and flour the bottom of a loaf pan.

Start with sifting the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinamon, salt in a bowl.

Then whisk the eggs, bananas, oil, honey, water in another separate bowl.

Combine both.Be very careful not to over mix.Using a rubber spatula, very, very, very gently mix the flour with the wet ingredients. Stop as soon as the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter should be chunky instead of smooth.

Bake at 180 C for 55 min until a wooden skewer comes out clean after inserted into the bread. Let the bread cool in the pan; slice and serve.

Punjabi Kadhi

2009-03-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

Yes i know its not a something to drool over but man does this taste good.I make this whenever i'm sick of having any kind of meat.Its light, delicious and perfect.Made this for dinner last night and thought of sharing the recipe :)Oh and also this dish is served with the pakoras in it, but i prefer to have it on the side :D

Ingredients:
400 gm yoghurt
5 tbsp gramflour
salt
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 small onion
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp garlic
water as needed

Tadka:
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
few curry leaves
1/2 sliced onion
2-3 chopped green chillies

Pakoras:
5 tbsp gramflour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp crushed red chilli
1 tsp crushed cumin
1/2 tsp crushed coriander
1 onion chopped
2 green chillies chopped
3 tbsp coriander chopped
1/2 tsp rice flour (for crispy texture)
water as needed
oil for frying

For the kadhi:
Put all the ingredients in the blender and process till smooth.
Pour it into a pan and cook on high flame till it starts to boil.Then set the flame on low and cover and cook till thick.
Add a glass of water and let it simmer on low heat for about 30 min stirring occasionally so that it does not stick below.Traditionally, the kadhi would bubble away on low heat for hours, thickening gradually.
Add more water if needed; the consistency should be that of a very thick creamy soup.Bring it to a rapid boil.
If your want your pakoras in the kadhi then add em up and give it a good stir.Take out in a serving dish.

For the pakoras:
To make pakoras, gradually add water to the gramflour to make a thick smooth batter.
Add salt, baking soda, rice flour, crushed red chilli, crushd cumin, crushed coriander, green coriander, green chillies and onion.Mix
Heat oil in a pan and drop the batter spoonfulls (teaspoon).Fry till golden brown.Drain on tissue paper.

For the tarka (tempering):
Heat oil and add the onions.When it turns pink add in the both the seeds.
When the onion start to go light brown, add the curry leaves and the green chillies.
Pour it over the kadhi, serve with rice or just slurp away like i do :D

Mutton Biryani

2009-03-10T12:32:00.000-07:00

So who doesnt like biryani?Yes just what i thought!Biryani is something like a love potion.For those of you who have made this dish before, you know exactly what i mean :D.I cooked this for lunch and my dad loved it! If your man or dad is a good 'ol boy from the motherland (Pakistan), and you make this for him on a lovely weekend afternoon, you know you can talk him into letting you get away with...well, anything!For those of you who aren't too sure about it, biryani is a rice dish from the subcontinent India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, usually containing meat, chicken or seafood with a mixture of spices and sometimes vegetables.There are several ways that one can make biryani and the fact is that there are more than 26 different varieties of biryani.Every one back at Pakistan has her/her mother's/her mother-in-law's own version of biryani.Well i adapted my version from my mom, who i think makes the best biryani! I guess the most hard part of making biryani is the timing.Rice, meat and potatoes all have different cooking time.Getting that right is a big success.I always do the potatoes separately so that they dont break or stay hard.The rice, well that is tricky, because if you boil the rice equally and then layer it in the gravy,they can end up pretty soft when you dish out.And so i give you the trick i use! Its not hard but you have to keep your timings right.Believe me, with this you will always get the right texture for your rice!

Ingredients

For Gravy:

500 gm mutton

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

3 tomatoes quatered and slice

3 small onions thinly sliced

1/2 cup oil

2 tbsp ghee

2 tbsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp zeera powder

1/2 tbsp garam masala powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

3/4 cup yoghurt

salt

2 big cardimom

1 tsp whole zeera

6 cloves

8 black peppercorn

1/2 bunch coriander chopped

1/2 bunch mint chopped

2 potatoes peeled

4 green chillies

pinch of nutmeg powder

pinch of mace

3 tsp kewra water

few drops of yellow colour

1 lemon

1 tsp lemon zest

For Rice

2 cinamon sticks

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp whole zeera

1 cardimom

4 cloves

3 cup rice

water

salt

For the rice:

Add water in a pan and keep it on high flame.

In the water, add the whole spices and salt.Cover till the water comes to a boil.

Add the rice and wait till the water starts boiling again.

After letting the rice boil for 3 minutes, take 1/4 of the rice out, strain and shift into the prepared gravy spreading it evenly all over (do not mix).

Let the rest of the rice boil till almost done.Strain and shift it into the pan with the other rice.

For the gravy:

Start by heating oil in the pan.Add the thinly sliced onion and fry till light golden(you have to keep stirring to get an even colour).Take out and keep aside.

Add peeled and equally cut potatoes.Fry till light golden in colour.Take out and keep aside.

In the same oil add ginger garlic paste.Saute

Add in the mutton and salt.Fry till water dries.

Add in the beaten yoghurt with red chilli powder, garam masala powder, turmeric powder, zeera powder and the whole spices.Keep stirring the yoghurt continueously for 3 to 5 minutes.

Add about 1 cup water ,cover and cook on low flame till the mutton is almost done (might take an hour or more)

Add in the fried potatoes, tomatoes, green chillies, coriander and mint.Set the flame to medium, cover and cook for about 5 minutes.

Add pinch of both nutmeg and mace powder plus half of the fried onions and cook for 2 minutes uncovered.

Add the rice taken out first and top them with the left over onion(crush lightly with fingers).

Add the left over rice with 2 tbsp ghee, juice of one lemon, lemon zest, kewra water and colour.

Put the pan on simmer and turn the flame high till steam comes out.Then set the flame on low and cook for about 10 to 15 min.Enjoy!

Beef Lasagna

2009-03-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

Made lasagna for a party at our place.I have tried many different lasagna recipes over the years.This is the culmination of all that trial and error, a wonderful recipe that needs to be shared with the world :D.I'm sure you can find fancier, richer tasting versions, but for sheer easiness of preparation and basic yumminess, this one can't be beat. You don't need to pre-cook the lasagna noodles, and you can make it super-easy by using jarred spaghetti sauce although i make my own tomato sauce for this!There are some things which i would add in my lasagna like ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and italian sausage but because of the non availability of these products in Pakistan or just being plain expensive, i skipped it and believe me it turned out reall good without it :)

Ingredients:

For the Meat Sauce

3 tbsp oil

1 kg minced meat

8 tomatoes blended

2 tbsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp cumin powder

2 tsp italian herbs

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

salt

2 small onion finely chopped

270 gm tomato paste (almost 8 tbsp)

1/2 tsp crushed black pepper

10 cloves garlic finely chopped

For The White Sauce

5 tbsp flour

8 tbsp butter

1 litre milk

1/4 tsp nutmeg

salt

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

500 gm shredded mozzarella

Meat Sauce

In a pan add oil followed by chopped onions and 5 cloves of garlic.Saute

Add meat and fry till water completely dries and browns.

Add red chilli powder, cumin powder,salt and black pepper.Fry

Add blended tomatoes, tomato paste and remaining 5 cloves of garlic.Cover and cook till water dries.

Add 1/2 cup pf water and simmer on low heat till saucy.

Add italian herbs and chopped basil.Mix and keep aside

White Sauce

In a pan add butter, flour and nutmeg.Stir till well combined.

Add milk and cook till slightly thick.Keep aside to cool at room temperature.

Add chopped basil.Mix well.

Before using the lasagna sheets, soak them in hot tap water for 15 min.To start layering, cover a 9×13 inch baking dish with 2 cup meat sauce.Remove your lasagna noodles out of the water bath. Shake water off wet noodles and lay 6 noodles across the layer of sauce.Top half of the white sauce over it.Spread 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese over the white sauce.Spread 2 cup of the meat sauce over the white sauce.Lay down the next layer of noodles.Top the remaining white sauce over noodles.Spread the mozzarella cheese, saving some for the top of the lasagna.Put the last layer of meat sauce on the cheese.Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.Cover with foiland bake in preheated oven at 180 C for 25 minutes.Remove foil and bake uncovered for another 25 minutes.

Yellow Cake With Chocolate Frosting

2009-03-07T15:02:00.000-08:00

Yes i did indeed made yet another cake! I can't help myself, baking can be addictive but you will regret it when you see gaining weight because of it :D About this cake, well i looked over about 15 recipes of yellow cake in which most people added equal amount of yolks and whites which didnt make sense to me.If you are going to add both in same quantity then why can't you just call it a simple basic cake?I believe yellow cake is something special which in my world , is made up of 8 yolks and 4 whites.The yolks give the cake a intense yellow (if not using yolks which are pale yellow and if you do, just add a drop of yellow food colouring :D) and makes it heavy.Real heavy, but other than that it was perfect!The cake was buttery and vanilla scented,with a little extra leavener added to lighten the crumb.Although nearly any frosting pairs well with this celebration favorite, i prefer filling and frosting it with chocolate ganache.I did not have the ingredients needed to make one though so went with the chocolate frosting which turned out to be a bit hard when i took the cake out from the fridge but tasted realll good.I used a different method for making this cake.Instead of creaming butter and sugar together, i first put all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and then added room temperature butter.After combining the butter well with the dry ingredients, (you have to used your both hands for this) i added little milk.These ingredients are beaten together and then the yolks, vanilla extract, and remaining milk are added.In the end to give it a airy a little airy texture, stiff egg whites are combined.The reason for adding the liquid 'after' the butter and flour have been combined, is to reduce the gluten formation in the flour.This can only happen if the butter has first had the chance to coat all of the flour before the milk is added which has a toughening affect.The thing about this method is that it makes a cake that literally seems to melt-in-your-mouth and it has a very moist, dense, and velvety texture.The most important thing to remember when making this type of cake is to have all the ingredients at room temperature and to make sure you follow the instructions on mixing.

Ingredients:
8 egg yolks
4 egg whites
1 1/2 cup milk
200 gm butter
3 cup flour
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 cup powdered sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

In a bowl add yolks, 1/2 cup milk, vanilla essence.Whisk well until combined.
In another bowl add sifted flour, baking powder, powdered sugar, salt.
Add softened butter in the dry ingredients and mix it well with hands until crumbly.
Add in the remaining 1 cup milk to the 2nd bowl.Mix well
Add the yolk mixture little by little, beating for 30 sec after each addition.
Lastly add the stiff egg whites and fold it gently in the batter.
Pour in prepared two 9" pans and bake for 30 to 35 min.

Chocolate Frosting
200 gm butter
200 gm semi sweet chocolate block melted
1 cup powdered sugar

In a bowl add butter and sugar.Whisk till soft and creamy
Add in the melted chocolate and mix properly.
Apply on cake and decorate!
Take the cake out of the fridge almost an hour before serving :D

White Cake With Creamy Strawberry Frosting :D

2009-02-28T12:24:00.000-08:00

Today was dad's birthday so thought of making something special for him :) It was my first attempt and i don't want to brag but it turned out to be a success! :D.Yes i almost cried in the middle when applying the frosting thinking to myself i won't ever make it again because it was too much of work! But changed my mind when I had it.The texture was light ,moist ,flavorful and my family raved over it! The cake was light golden from outside and almost white from the inside.I was out of white butter so used yellow instead causing the batter to be slightly yellowish.Even for the most special of days you can’t go wrong with the classic good looks and great taste of this deserving star of the cake world. :)

Ingredients:
300gm or 1 ½ sticks butter soft
2 cups powdered sugar

½ teaspoons salt

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons cornstarch

3 teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoon cream of tartar

1 ¼ cups milk

¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

6-8 large egg whites (3/4 cup)

In a bowl, beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

Sift flour, cornflour, salt, baking powder.

Mix vanilla essence and milk together.

Add the dry ingredients and wet ingredients alternately to the batter, ending with the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg white till stiff.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold a little of the egg whites into the batter, then the remaining whites, just until combined.Do not over mix or the batter will deflate and you’ll lose all that air you worked so hard to incorporate.

Pour 1/2 of the batter into one pan and 1/2 into the other and bake at 180C for 25-35 minutes (check after 25 minutes), until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool the cakes in their pans for about 15 minutes then turn out of the pans on to a wire rack to cool completely.

Creamy Strawberry Icing:

1 1/2 tbsp flour

1/2 cup milk

100 gm melted white chocolate

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup icing sugar
100 gm butter soft

30 strawberries

Combine the milk and flour in pan and cook till thick.Cool for 10 min.

Add the flour mixture in blender with the melted white chocolate, vanilla essence and strawberries.Blend till smooth.

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar till soft.

Fold in the strawberry mixture till well combined.Refrigerate for exactly 20 min.

Before applying the frosting on the layers be sure to keep them in the freezer for at least an hour. This extra step, while it may take a little planning, makes the spreading of the frosting a much easier task.

Assemble: Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto a flat platter.Spread the cake layer with about 1/4 cup of strawberry sauce or your favorite jam(optional).Next, spread the frosting on top of the sauce or jam.Place the next cake layer, top of the cake facing down, onto the filling. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake.Decorate if desired.

Cover and refrigerate until serving time.

Carrot Cupcakes

2009-02-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

So i baked some carrot cupcakes for my mom.Personally i don't like the idea of having carrots in my cake but i thought of giving it a try!They came out pretty good and were on the lighter side and not heavy like some carrot cakes can be.I think its optional to put raisins and nuts in your cake but i definitely prefer having it in mine.The raisins tend to settle down when you pour the batter in cups and taste chewy and delicious after being baked and refridgerated.I topped them with cream butter topping and i must tell you that the combination was amazing!I’ve been a little obsessed with getting the right carrot cake recipe, so I’ve got two more testing runs to follow! Will compile a post once I’m done. For now, try this out!

Ingredients:

2 cup sugar (powdered fine)

1 1/4 cup oil

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 cup flour + 1 tbsp

2 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinamon

2 cup grated carrots

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup walnuts

In a bowl add sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla essence.Whisk till smooth.

Sift 2 cups of flour, baking powder, salt and cinamon.Combine with the oil batter.

Mix grated carrots, raisins, walnuts and 1tbsp flour.Combine with above batter till smooth.

Pour the batter with help of the spoon in cup till filled 3/4th.

Bake at 200C for 10 min and then decrease the temperature to 180C and bake for 20 min.

Cream Cheese Topping:

1 stick or 117 gm butter softened

1/2 cup unsalted cream cheese

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1tsp vanilla essence.

Mix all together till smooth and creamy and top it on muffins.Happy Baking!

Spicy Fish Burgers

2009-02-25T06:54:00.000-08:00

Last night's recipe was a totally delicious Spicy Fish Burger. The outter layer of the fillet was crunchy yet they were succulent, spicy and juicy from the inside.I have to admit that I am not a too frequent fish eater, concerned about fishiness and fishy flavor but I assure you that this was not fishy at all leftover or otherwise. Enjoy!

Spicy Fish Burgers

Ingredients:
5 fish fillet (cut about 5")
2 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp peprika
1 1/2 tsp mustard paste
1/2 tsp vinegar
salt
1/2 cup flour
1 egg lightly beaten
water as needed
breadcrumbs for coating
oil for deep frying

First marinate the fish in 1 tsp mustard , 2 tsp red chilli powder , salt.Mix well and refrigerate.
Mix flour, egg ,salt, vinegar, remaining mustard and peprika.
Add water to make a thin batter.It shoud be drippy but not liquidy.
Take the marinated fish and dip it in the batter and then coat it with breadcrumbs.Do this one by taking one fillet at a time.
Deep fry on medium flame till golden brown from both sides.Drain them on tissue paper

For the buns,toast each in one tsp butter till light golden.
Apply tartar sauce on both sides.
Place the fish fillet and top it with lots of lettuce leaves and a slice of cheese.
Enjoy!