Monday, 15 July 2013

Fruity Pizza Bites

Are you a Pizza lover and crave for pizza at each and every occasion  ? Then how about having a pizza as your dessert for a change. Yes thats exactly what came in my mind when I read Kalyanis this months magic-mingle-challenge with Kiwi and Basil leaves.

 Since long I wanted to try a fruit pizza with mangoes when they were in season but was not able to do it and now finally made it with Kiwi  and what better way to do it other than using delicious kiwi ?

This dessert though it looks pretty royal its very very simple , actually a matter of few minutes if the pizza base, in this case a sponge cake is store bought. This yummy dessert will get you lot of appreciation and you will be totally satisfied. It is a perfect dessert for a kids party .

 Basil too surprisingly went very well with this dessert although you can avoid it totally  if you don't want it.

We all loved it and am planning to have it often with different fruit combinations.




Ingredients :

1 small pack ...................slice cake ( I bought Brittania )
1 cup ..........................curds
2 tbsp............................powder sugar
1tbsp..............................chopped basil leaves
1....................................firm Kiwi fruit
few.............................pomogranate seeds

Method :

How to make Cream cheese as home :

Hang the curd in a muslin cloth for 2 hours to drain out all the water.
This hung dried curds is your homemade cream cheese.

Mix this cream cheese and sugar till smooth.
Add chopped basil leaves , mix  and chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
Now spread it on the slice cakes .
Arrange the cut kiwi fruit and pomogranate seeds decoratively.
Chill again till the time of serving.





Also sending it to :



gurus-cooking-giveaway-kids-special-13 

foodabulous--ramzan-and-mango  at sajustastes 

   Vallis kids-delight   at    sizzlingtastebuds 



Guru's Cooking Giveaway Kids Special '13
























Friday, 12 July 2013

Peanut Butter Cookies ( Home Baker Challenge - 3 )

After completing two Home Baker Challenges successfully for this month we had to bake a cookie suggested by Viji  of Virunthu Unna Vanga .

 I was surprised at the simplicity of the recipe and yet the selection of cookies done was perfect. They were so very yummy and crunchy that I was amazed. It took me less than an hour to make these cookies from scratch.

I just loved the nutty flavour of the cookies and the buttery texture.

Thanks  priya and viji for this lovely experience...







Ingredients : 

1 1/2 cup.................maida (all purpose flour)
1 1/2 cup..................peanut butter
3/4 cup........................sugar
1/2 cup....................unsalted butter
1 tsp......................baking powder
1 no......................egg




Method : 


1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees.
2. Mix maida and baking powder well and keep aside for further use.
3. In a blender , blend peanut butter, butter and sugar till smooth.
4. Now add the egg and beat well.
5. To this add the maida and knead well to form a soft dough.
6. Make small balls and flatten them with a fork to make depression marks.
7. Arrange them on a greased pan , two inches apart and bake for 15 - 20 minutes.
8 When golden in colour take them out and cool them completely.
9.Store in an air tight container.















Also linking these cookies to  :


Wednesday, 10 July 2013

Gajar Methi Mini Uttappams ( Carrot Fenugreek Pancakes)

Will you say no if you are served hot , soft and puffy delicious bite sized rounds fully packed with protiens, vitamins and calcium, off course you won't.

These round beauties are our very own  healthy and yummy mini uttappams but made with a little twist using grated carrots and chopped methi leaves . This makes the already tasty uttappam all the more nutritious and tempting.

You must see kids going after them and finishing them off . I bet all the mothers will be super happy to see their kids happy satistied faces. So get ready to give this treat to your family .

This is one of the healthiest breakfast which I can vouch for before starting the challenges of  the day. These uttappams keep you full and satiated till lunch time . Serve it with any chutney of your choice.

Serves around 5 people and is well enough for the breakfast.

This dish is off to hearth-and-soul-blog-hop-159 at  zestysouthindiankitchen

and also to   Vallis kids-delight   at    sizzlingtastebuds 

Ingredients :

1 cup .................grated carrot
1 cup.................finely chopped methi leaves
1 cup ...............chopped onions
1 tsp................finely chopped green chilly
2 cups ..............rice
1 cup...............urad daal
salt




Method :

Wash and soak rice and urad daal separately in water for 6 to 7 hours.
Grind both separately to a smooth paste without adding much water.
Mix them and keep for 5 to 6 hours to ferment.
Add salt to the batter .
The batter should not be very thin nor too thick.
Now  mix all the above ingredients in a separate bowl and keep ready.
Heat the pan and pour a spoon full of batter in each depression of the non stick pan.
Top with a teaspoon full of the mixed ingredients from the bowl.
When cooked on one side turn over and cook the other side too till onions are slightly golden.
Serve hot with chutney of your choice.


Hearth & Soul Hop



Mix Vegetable Biryani


Rice is the staple diet of almost half the population of India and with varieties of rice, pulavs and biryanis found in our country  I doubt whether anyone will get bored with rice. Though personally I like non veg biryanis today for the potluck party I decided to make this delicious mix vegetable biryani which was much liked by my family .

Served it with raita , achar and spiced buttermilk. The combo was awesome.

Sending this to potluck-party-cyber-style  by Jagruti



Ingredients :

For the vegetable :

1/2 cup each ..................( carrots, capsicum, french beans , peas, cauliflower)
1 1/2 ...............................onion ( chopped )
4 tbsp............................ginger, garlic, coriander and green chillies paste
1 tbsp..........................chilly powder
1 tsp........................... clove, cinnamon and cardamom powder
1 tsp............................turmeric powder
2 tbsp........................ghee
salt

For the rice :

2 1/2 cups .................rice (basmati preferably long grains )
1 cup.........................curd
3 to 4 ......................cloves
2...........................cardamoms (opened a bit)
1 inch ..................cinnamon
1 tsp....................cumin seeds
1/2 tsp..................pepper
2........................bay leaves
1......................stone flower ( Dagad phool )
2 tbsp...............ghee
salt

For garnish :

1/2 ......................onion (thinly sliced)
1 tsp.....................cornflour
10 to 12 ..............cashewnuts
10 to 12............... raisins
1/ cup ...................ghee
1..........................small tomato ( round slices)
1 .......................capsicum ( thin stripes )






Method :

For the garnish :

Sprinkle salt on sliced onions and mix .

After 10 minutes squeeze the water out of them.

Sprinkle cornflour on them . (this ensures that your onions become crisp very fast while frying)

Heat ghee in a  non stick pan and fry cashews and raisins separately till golden.

Keep them aside and in the same ghee fry onions till crisp.

Keep the onions aside.

Use the same ghee to make rice and vegetable.


For the rice :





Wash and drian the rice for 15 minutes.

Heat ghee in a big pan and add all the saboot masala.

When they give out nice aroma add washed and drained rice and stir it for 5 to 10 minutes.

Add salt and whisked curd and 4 cups water and cook till almost done with .

Dont cook the rice fully or else it will break.

Spread the rice on a big flat plate.



For the vegetable :






Heat ghee in a pan and saute onions till transparent.

Add the green paste and fry till the rawness is gone.

Now add all the vegetables except capsicum .

Add all the masala powders and salt and cook till almost done.

In the end add capsicum and cook for 2 more minutes.

Arranging the biryani :







In a broad microwavable dish arrange the rice layer at the bottom.

Spread a layer of vegetables on it .

Again repeat with the rice and vegetable layer.

On top spread all the remaining rice .

Sprinkle some saffron mixed milk on the rice ( this gives a very nice flavour) and

2 to 3 tsp ghee on top .

Now bake the dish in oven for 10 to 15 mintues at 180 degrees celcius.

You can also arrange the layers in a cooking pan and cook it by keeping it on a thick bottom tawa.

Garnishing :

Garnish the biryani with cut tomatoes, capsicums .

Sprinkle fried onions, coriander leaves, cashews and raisins.

Serve hot with raita , papad and pickle.











Monday, 8 July 2013

Banana Oats Milkshake

I love to have shakes and juices and mocktails . But my idea to have them till now was  to enjoy these refreshing drinks in the evening or at night with one meal dish at leisure .

Though recently I have started preparing them in the morning for my son who leaves college early . So because of him we all are also getting into the habit of having these drinks in the morning as a part of our breakfast, and I am amazed at the diffrence in my energy levels due to this.

Since I have made them a regular during breakfast I have become more active and  enthusiastic and so would recommend all to start this healthy practice at home.

Today I had made this lovely banana milkshake with oats and dates . It was deliciously filling and we enjoyed it thoroughly.




Ingredients :

1 no..................ripe but firm banana
2 tbsp...............roasted and powdered oats
2 cups ..............milk
4 no..................dates
1 tbsp...............crushed walnuts


Method :

Blend everything except walnuts in a blender to a smooth consistency.
You can add more milk if you like.
While serving top with crushed walnuts.


Sending this to following events :

taste-of-tropics-banana  

gurus-cooking-giveaway-kids-special-13 

Walk through memory lane  at  samachuruchikalam 



Guru's Cooking Giveaway Kids Special '13













Wednesday, 3 July 2013

Spinach Chia Seeds Smoothie


Yes you read it right , I made this yummy smoothie with spinach leaves. When I first came across this recipe at  foodgawker I too gaped at the mention of using spinach in a drink. But finally decided to give it a try and I was just taken aback with its yummy and refreshing taste.

This drink is totally rejuvenating as there are all the super healthy ingredients used like spinach, apples, plums and chia seeds.  Spinach as you all know is rich in iron as well as calcium and chia seeds (Sabja ) are well known for their Omega -3 and antioxidant powers.

This month we the members of  Groovy Gourmets  were supposed to make a drink from Food Gawker site but without lemon base  or milk , so I decided on this detoxifying drink and instead of lemon used plums  for the sourness. I also did not use Kale leaves as I didnt get them in my area.

All in all a very satistying experience and have decided to make this smoothie a regular in my kitchen.

Also sending this entry to vegan-thursdays

and hearth-and-soul-blog-hop-158


Original Source : ifoodreal







Ingredients :

Handful of .....................fresh Spinach leaves
1 medium.....................cucumber
1/2 ............................green apple
2..............................sour plums
sugar as needed ( I used 1 tbsp )
2 tbsp ...................Chia seeds ( 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp)
1cup ....................chilled water







Method :

Soak 1 tbsp chia seeds in 1/2 cup water.
They will swell up within 15 minutes, chill them till further use.
Thouroughly wash the spinach leaves.
Wash and slice the cucumber, apples along with the skin.
Deseed the plums.
Blend everything in mixer with 1 tbsp chia seeds , sugar and water.
While serving top with the chilled and swollen chia seeds.




Hearth & Soul Hop

Tuesday, 2 July 2013

Chennar Jalepi ( Paneer Jalebi For The SNC Challenge)

Who doesn't love bengali sweets... Rosogolla, malai sandwich , rasmalai Oh just the mention makes my mouth water. I have never been able to resist bengali sweets . So when these yummy chenna jalebis were suggested by   Chandrani  of Cuisine Delights for the  SNC Challenge  this month  I was very delighted. This is the best part of being a member of this group started by Divya  . Here we get a chance to make such lovely and varied dishes.

But these jalebis were different from the typical begali sweets make of paneer . Here it included frying the paneer and so I was excited to try out this dish. It turned out to be a super successful dessert with all the family members asking for more. Sadly I had used only 1 litre milk and had to promise to make them again soon in future.

Thanks Divya and Chandrani for giving me this chance to make such a yummy treat.


Ingredients :

1 litre..................milk
1.......................lemon
2 tsp.................maida
a pinch..............baking soda
1 cup...............sugar
1/2 cup water
5 - 6 strands..........saffron
1/2 tsp...................cardamom powder
few....................crushed cardamoms






Method :

Boil milk in a heavy bottom pan , when it starts boiling add the juice of lemon and stir it.
The milk will curdle and the whey will be separated.
Put the curdled milk in a muslin cloth and hang it for 15 minutes to drain out excess water.
Now in the meanwhile make sugar syrup by boiling sugar and water till thick.
Now to this home made chenna add maida, soda and cardamom powder.
Knead very well for 10 minutes till the dough is very soft and smooth.
Now make small balls, roll them and shape them like a pretzel.
Deep fry them in ghee or oil.
Fry them very carefully as they are very soft and may break if not handled delicately.
Dip them in the prepared sugar syrup .
The fried jalebis will absorb the syrup and swell .
Sprinkle some crushed cardomom on top.
They taste better if chilled .






Monday, 1 July 2013

Eggless Jam Swirled Muffins ( For the Baking Eggless)

We had to make Jam Swirled Muffins for the Baking Eggless Challenge of June . They were suggested by priya suresh from priyaeasyntastyrecipes  . These delicious muffins were an instant hit at my home and we all liked them . I have used curds instead of the eggs as I always feel comfortable using curds as a substitute and I was extremely satisfied with the results.

Thanks Gayathri and Priya for this lovely challenge.






Ingredients :

2 cups..................Maida (all purpose flour)
3/4 cup................sugar (powdered)
2 tsp....................baking powder
1/4 tsp................baking soda
1cup...................curds
1/2 cup...............milk
4 tbsp.................vegetable oil
few drops...........strawberry essence
1/2 cup...............strawberry jam ( add 1 tsp water and whip )








Method :

Blend maida, baking powder and soda in blender and keep aside.
Now blend sugar, curds, milk, oil and essence in the blender.
Carefully fold the blended maida mixture in the blended liquids.
Add the jam and just give a gentle swirl with fork so that the jam is not overmixed.
You should be able to see the jam and cake dough separately.
Now line a muffin tray with the paper cups and pour the cake batter.
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees and bake the muffins for 15 to 20 minutes .
If the inserted tooth pick comes out clean the muffins are done.
Remove from the oven and muffin tray and cool  them.
They taste good warm as well as cold.





Sending it to :
   Vallis kids-delight   at    sizzlingtastebuds 



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