Baingan Ka Bharta

Baingan ka bharta..  a very popular punjabi cuisine.. As the main source of my cooking is my mommy, I've never heard about the recipe for baingan ka bharta from her.. She used to say "I'll prepare this one day,"  but she has not tried this so far.. And I was dying to prepare this authentic punjabi cuisine. One day, I was browsing through food blogs and came across Deesha's Vegetable Platter. She had a simple recipe for Baingan ka bharta.. Voila! there it is "Bookmarked".. And this recipe was served the same night for dinner...

The recipe is adapted from Vegetable Platter.

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
2 red onions - finely chopped
2 tomatoes - chopped
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 chopped green chilli
1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp kitchen king masala
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt as per taste
2 tbsp mustard oil
A handful of chopped cilantro

Method:

Make tiny slits around the eggplant, coat with mustard oil & roast the eggplant on the stove top, until the eggplant gets charred on all the sides.

Once the eggplant is roasted, allow it to cool. Later, peel off the skin & mash the eggplant with the back of a spatula. Add salt & lime juice, mix well & set it aside.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, Add cumin seeds, once the seeds pop & splutter, add green chillies & ginger garlic paste & saute

Add chopped onions & saute until they turn transparent. Add chopped tomatoes, add red chilli powder & saute till the tomatoes are cooked & oil separates

To this, add mashed eggplant. Mix well & cook for a while on low heat.

Add salt as per taste. Add garam masala & kitchen king masala, mix well. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve hot with roti or rice.

This recipe goes to Priya's Bookmarked Recipes Every Tuesday event.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Fried Noodles with Purple Cabbage and Tofu Manchurian

Hello my dear fellow bloggers... Its been long time... I'm so sorry guys I was busy with my studies.. I missed u all so much.. But, now I'm back................ Yippie!! I will try to post regularly..
So I'm going to resume blogging with one of my new experiments, "Fried Noodles with Purple Cabbage and Tofu Manchurian."

Whenever it comes to noodles, it means I'm running out of time and I'm looking for easy, quick to make and delicious as well.. And "Fried Noodles" top the list.. Also, I've never tried with manchurian because I had an impression that it's time-taking and requires lots of patience, and I was ignoring it for a long time...

But, now I'm into it.. Noodles in any shape or form are my weakness. Stir-fried noodles are one of my favorite dishes because it's delicious and a cinch to make. Just throw some ingredients together, and it comes out so good every time that I can almost eat the whole pan myself.

This dish can be made with wheat or egg noodles. I have used egg noodles because they have a chewier texture and have a pleasant yellow color. This dish is very flexible, you can add whatever protein and veggies you wish to include. I would love to add carrots, cabbage, snow pea pods, celery, red bell pepper, sprouts, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms.. 

Ingredients (Fried Noodles with Purple Cabbage):

A package of egg noodles / wheat noodles
1 cup of purple cabbage, finely sliced
 Large handful fresh cilantro
½ onion, finely sliced
3 - 4 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 slices ginger
3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons rice vinegar 
1 Tbsp soy sauce
4 green onions, chopped

Method:

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles according to package instructions. Stop cooking the noodles when there's still a good chew. Drain, rinse in cold water, drain again, and set aside.

Heat a tablespoon of oil over high heat in a wok or skillet. First add the ginger slices and then garlic slices, stir fry until raw smell is gone. Now add onions and saute until onion turns translucent. Add purple cabbage, season with a little salt, and stir fry until the cabbage is cooked but still crisp/crunchy and definitely not mushy. Remove to a bowl and set aside.  

In another skillet heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium high heat and add your noodles. Toss them around, get them well coated in the oil, and break up any clumps. If it's too sticky and clumpy, go ahead and add more oil.

Pan fry the noodles, stirring and flipping them frequently until some of the noodles get a nice a crunchy golden brown exterior.  Season with soya sauce, toss the noodles freuqntly and make sure everything is evenly coated with the sauce. Taste and see if it needs additional seasoning. 

Add fried cabbage into the noodles and toss well until everything is mixed well.

Ingredients (Tofu Manchurian): 

1 package low-fat Tofu, cubed

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup corn flour/corn starch
salt to taste
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup tomato paste or ketchup
1.5 inch fresh young ginger, peeled and very finely grated
1 tablespoon garlic paste
water to make a thick batter
green onions, chopped, to garnish
oil to deep fry + 3 tbsp oil for making sauce
 
Method:
In a bowl, combine all purpose, cornflour, salt, ginger, garlic, red chilli powder, soy sauce and  just enough water to make a thick paste. Add tofu cubes into the paste and mix well so that tofu is evenly coated with the paste. Keep it aside for an hour.

Heat oil in a wok to deep fry tofu. Add tofu pieces into the oil and deep fry them. Remove and drain them on tissue paper and keep aside.

In a bowl, combine the tomato paste/ketchup, soy sauce, and salt with about 1 cup of water and set aside.

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a wide base pan. Add the minced garlic and the grated ginger and stir fry on high heat for about 4 minutes. Add the chopped onions and green chili peppers.

Saute everything together for about 3-5 minutes till the onions turn clear. Add the paste/ketchup, soy sauce that you combined in a bowl earlier. Simmer for about 3 minutes. 

Mix the corn flour with 2 tablespoons of water add it to the pan and simmer for another minute.

Now add the fried tofu in the sauce and cook them at high heat while tossing them frequently till all the sauce coats all the tofu pieces. Switch off the heat a minute after you start hearing a sizzle.


Garnish with the chopped green onions.  Serve immediately with fried noodles.. Utterly delicious!!!

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Palak Pakora / Spinach Fritters

Ah!! should I say "I'm back from a long break.." Well I say this everytime I blog with a hope that it's true... As you guys know I'm doing my Masters and for past two months I was held up with projects, reports and exams.. I believe I'm going to blog regularly... Yippie!!
I'm having an ongoing event in my blog.. Lemme tell you, I've received lots n lots of delicious and healthy entries.. I thank everyone for this active participation.. Love u all..

So, here is my entry for this event.. Palak pakora, one of our favourite tea-time snacks!!!

Ingredients:

Spinach (Palak), finely chopped - 2 cups
Onion, finely chopped - 1
Green Chillies, finely chopped - 2
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Gram flour (Besan) - 1/2 cup
Turmeric Pwd - 1 tsp
Red Chilli Pwd - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Salt - as per taste

For deep frying
Oil

Method:

Mix all the ingredients. If required add few tsps of water. Avoid adding excess water as the batter should be thick.

Heat oil in a deep pan. Take small amount of batter and drop them in oil in the form of small fritters.

Deep fry the pakoras until golden brown and crispy. Drain out excess oil and place them on a tissue paper.

Serve hot with ketchup or green chutney.

Enjoy!!

Sending this as an entry to  Veggie / Fruit A Month - Spinach event hosted by me and started by Priya.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Announcement : Guest Hosting Veggie/Fruit A Month - Spinach

Hello Everyone,

After a long break, I'm back with a wonderful event - a brainchild of my dear friend Priya Mitharwal. I would like to thank her for giving me this oppurtunity to host this event for the Month of May. She is such an enthusiastic blogger with all those creative thoughts..

When I saw this event hosted by couple of fellow bloggers, I felt that I should be a part of this monthly event; and then I jumped on to Priya's event page and found she has an available slot for May.. Yippie!! there I go.. Well I didn't get much time to think about the veggie for this event, but I remember Spinach - "My Mom's Favourite" and now Spinach has to be the star ingredient when I'm going to host this event. :D

Spinach is among the world's healthiest vegetables. The bright and vibrant color of the spinach leaves is not only pleasing to our eyes but very nourishing as well. Rich in vitamins and minerals, it is also concentrated in health-promoting phytonutrients such as carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin) and flavonoids to provide you with powerful antioxidant protection. This leafy vegetable is a shield against inflammatory problems, oxidative stress-related problems, cardiovascular problems, bone problems, and cancers at the same time.

So guys, start working with our star ingredient for the month - "Spinach" and share your creative ideas with rest of the blogsphere..

Few Simple Rules:

1) Make recipes with Spinach as the main ingredient.It can be used in Salads, Soups, Stews, Curries, Gravies etc.

2) Recipe has to be vegetarian. (Eggs are allowed)

3) Link to this Announcement Page and Priya's Event Page.

4) You must make new recipes and post them in your blog.No archived entries please.

Please send in your entries with the subject of "Vegetable A Month – Spinach” , before/by May 31st, 2011 to reshrite@gmail.com with the following details:
 
Your Name :

Blog Name :
Recipe Name :
Recipe URL :
Recipe Photo :

Non bloggers can email me your name, recipe and picture at reshrite@gmail.com with the subject of "Vegetable A Month - Spinach" before/by May 31st, 2011.

Hope to see loads of creative and delicious recipes............ I'm Waiting!!!!!!!

 Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Guest Post for "Celebrate Sweets: Ice Cream" : Chocolate Chip Ice Cream by Diksha

Hello everyone,

Couple of days back, I got an email by this cute girl Diksha.. It was so fun to read her thoughts.. She is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and an Accounting major student. She loves to cook and often, helps her mother in kitchen. She likes Thai and Continental food; and likes Indian spicy food too..

So, this was a brief introduction about Diksha and now I'll leave this post to her...

Diksha - In her own words..

I'm not a blogger but I love to blog.. Blogging is my main source of knowledge about cooking.. I'm not good with cookbooks but I enjoy reading blogs where bloggers include their personal thoughts along with those wonderful recipes... I remeber, my first recipe was Thai Fried Rice and the rice got overcooked.. But thanks to my family, they still enjoyed the dish.. love u mama!! I believe may be not now but by the time I reach my mid 20s I'll be a good cook.. Just like my mama...

While I was blogging, I came across this event and its main theme is "Ice Cream".. How can I resist from participating when the star is my favourite ice cream.. I saw lots of amazing recipes linked to this event and thought giving my contribution too.. This is my third attempt of preparing ice cream.. The first attempt was "plain vanilla ice cream". I prepared it last summer and it was big flop.. I cried a lot but my mama said "Even though it doesn't look like an ice cream but it tastes great".. I love that comment and this gave me the courage not lose the battle.. Few months back, mama bought a new ice cream maker and now my job got very easy.. Last month, I've prepared chocolate ice cream and it was good.. my BF liked it!! And now I've chocolate chip ice cream and I loved the texture.. My mama liked it.. :D

Recipe:

Heavy Cream - 2 cups
2 cups half and half cream
1 cup sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
 3/4 cup good quality dark chocolate chips or shavings

Procedure:

Whisk the cream, half and half, sugar and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Heat until it reaches 170F to 175F. Stir in the vanilla. Pour into the bowl and refrigerate overnight. This procedure is to kill the bacteria.

Next day, pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and do according to manufacturer's direction, adding the chocolate chips or shaving about halfway through.

Transfer ice cream to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap such that it touches the surface of ice cream. Freeze for 4-5 hours.

Serve with chocolate sauce drizzled over it and few strawberries..

I hope you liked my recipe and as I'm not good at taking pictures so please!!!!!!!! :D

Sending this to Reshmi's "Celebrate Sweets: Ice Cream" event which was started by Nivedita.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Guest Post for Maitri: "Murrukku" by Raji

Hello everyone,

Hope you all had a great weekend and why not, this weekend was too special.. "Our Indian cricket team won the World Cup!!" Few minutes before framing this post, I was watching the final shot by Mahendra Singh Dhoni that created the history... Believe me guys, when the camera focused Dhoni's expression I got goosebumps.. What a moment!!! Terrific... WOWOOWOW!!

And in my previous post "World Cup is Ours", my blogger friend, Sojo has asked to prepare some yummy sweets to celebrate this occassion.. Done sweetie!! This is due and I'll make it soon... Well I had prepared almond pudding on Saturday but before I can take pics, it was all over.. No.. not me... Sree is the culprit.. :D So for Sojo and for Team India, I'll prepare something sweet and post it at the earliest.. ;)

Okay!! So now moving on to the post of the day... Here we have Murrukku and it is prepared by Raji, our non-blogger friend. Raji was introduced to me by Priya Mitharwal. I was matched with Raji, along with Priya, for Maitri. At first, I was planning to send her the same ingredient that I've sent to Priya but then I thought as Priya is a friend of Raji, I mustn't send the same ingredient to both of them... But anyways, Raji was smart enough to identify the mystery ingredient sent by me...

So, girls please welcome Raji..!!

Raji, in her own words...............

Well, it all started when my good friend Priya told me about "Maitri"and also asked whether I will be interested .ofcourse, I said YES!

Then, I got matched with Reshmi who sent me an email asking about my address in order to send me the mystery ingredient.I was very excited and curious to know what it could be? I got the package on monday and when i opened to see what was inside it, guess what i found? I could immediately tell it was" ajwain" by the smell of it. Conicidentally, i was going to make murukku for my daughter who loves it so much. So, i used the ajwain(mystery ingredient) to the make murrukku.Thats abt the mystery ingredient.Wait a minute! let me tell u abt the best and sweetest part remaining in the package, which is this beautiful plate and lovely greeting card awaiting just for me sent by Reshmi as a token of friendship.I was immensely overwhlemed by her guesture.Thanks! Reshmi for this wonderful gift. What a great thought..I will always remember you.Thank you for being my friend.

Now for the recipe for Murukku:

Ingredients:
rice flour- 4 cups

urad flour -1 cup

butter softened 2-3 tbsps

ajwain(mystery ingredient) powdered- 1 tbsp

red chili pwd- 1 tbsp

salt -as per taste.

Procedure:

Mix all the above ingredients in a mixing bowl by adding water little by little.Knead the dough until it becomes soft( it shouldn't stick to the hand).

Now with the help of murukku press make the desired shaped on a plate and keep them ready.

Once the oil gets hot, gently slide these murukkus in the oil and fry them until it turns golden yellow.

Crispy golden yellow murrukkus are ready to eat.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Reminder: "Celebrate Sweets - Ice Cream"

Three more days to go... Come on friends!! I know in this era of "Weight Watchers", everyone is quite concerned about their diet.. But I believe "Summer is incomplete without Ice-creams" And I'm pretty sure that each one of us has their favourite delicious and yummilicious recipe that has ice cream in it.. So guys, make it a go... share your favourite recipe and make it a hit in every blogger's kitchen for this summer..

We have had some excellent entries from both blogger and non-blogger friends. Thank you all so much for your participation. But I'll encourage to participate more and make this event a big success.

This post is just a reminder that this event will end on April 6th, 2011. Also, there is an ongoing $25 CSN giveaway along with this event. So, if you haven't had a chance to link your entries yet, please do participate. For more information, visit "Celebrate Sweets - Ice Cream" event page.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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World Cup is Ours!!

After 28 years, India won the Cricket World Cup beating Sri Lanka in the Grand Finale by 6 wickets with 10 balls remaining.. What a wonderful match? Even though I didn't sleep last night because of this most awaited match but I'm still feeling energetic thinking of the fact that "World Cup is Ours!!".. The Champions are back........ We are the Champions!!

When India lost Sehwag on the very 2nd ball and Tendulkar in the 6th over at a score of 31-2, I told Sree "Honey!! What u say?? Are we going to win??" and he said "Just wait n watch!!" And then Gambhir and Kohli brought India back in the match.. Although there was pressure rebuilding when Kohli was out but then the Captain of Indian team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, played the captain's innings and what we've now is "Winning World Cup" playing on our home ground.. What a fabulous inning!!!!

New World Cup Champions, "Team Blue, Team India" 



A Tribute to Master Blaster "Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar".. 

[Image Source: Cricket.WorldCup-live]

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Birthday Cake for a Birthday Girl... Happy Birthday to Me!!

Yes... finally no more waiting. Today is "The Day!!" It is said "The best birthdays of all are those that haven't arrived yet" ;) But this birthday is quite special for me.. This is my 1st birthday in my blog-world!! I've set some targets and all I've to do is work on it.. So, I've lots of resolution to be made on this day.. Usually I've fewer New Year resolutions coz my year starts today and I make resolutions on this day.

Also, I'm bit upset coz this is my 1st birthday when I was blowing my birthday candle and there was only one voice singing a birthday song for me, tats Sree.. I miss my dad-mom, my sis, my brother and all those who love me and where a part of my birthday bash.. :( You know guys, Sree did his best to make me not miss anyone else and a gift for this day would be his love, his care and all those pampering that makes me feel "I'm not getting older, infact I'm getting younger!!" I admire how he plays the role of my parents, my life partner and my best friend.. I won't thank him for this coz this will not do justice to his love.. So, my first resolution would be to love him more than what he do.. Ever since I got married this is one of the resolutions I make on my birthday and would always be!!

Am I getting emotional???? Chill out, It's party-time, It's my birthday time!! I'm still in my sleepy pants and dancing around my laptop singing "happy birthday to me!!!".. Come on guys, join me and make it faster coz we got to wind-up soon before Sree is out of his shower.. He has asked me to stay away from laptop and I'm still wondering "Why??" Is this his way of giving me "Birthday Bumps!!"

As I suspected, today it is full of surprises.. Sree has asked me to get ready, he is taking me out somewhere.. It's a secret!!!!!! I love surprises and I'm very excited... :D May be he is going to buy me "Diamond Pendant" kidding guys.. I don't want to have this surprise, I'll faint!!! Wheeeeeeeeww.......

Birthdays are nature’s way of telling us to eat more cake. So, lets move on to "Cake Story..."

Age is a number and mine is unlisted!!

As Sree was very busy, also he was planning to take day-off on my birthday, so I thought I'll prepare the cake.. Well, it was my wish to see him preparing my birthday cake but tats fine.. may be next birthday ;)
So, my plan was make it a surprise.. I'll prepare the cake and when Sree is back from office I'll surprise him..

Yes guys, it's my birthday!! But tats fine.. I love to bake my birthday treat..

Now, I was preparing everything and I got a call.. Tring.. Tring..!! Lets see the conversation; R is mine and S is Sree's...

R: "Hello"
S: "Arrey, mei bol raha hun"
R: "Oh! kya baat hai, itne jaldi"
S: "I was thinking of getting a birthday cake for you"
R: "Oops!! Stop.. Did you order it?"
S: "Nopes.. Why? What happened?"
R: "Nothing"
S: "Are you planning something? Hey, don't do this"
R: "kya."
S: "I'm going to buy cake for u"
R: "Arrey, but I've started preparing"
S: "@#$%$^$#^ Why you didn't tell me?"
R: "Oooye Hello!! It's my birthday I'll do whatever I want to.. #@%@^@%"
S: "Ok.. ok.. I'm sorry baba!! Lets do like this.. You bake the cake and I'll do the cake decoration.. Deal??"
R: "Lemme think.. Hey, no!! You'll spoil my cake.. Never"
S: "Please.. please.. My sweetie.."
R: "Ok.. Tell me.. You know how to do icing??"
S: "Na"
R: "Then"
S: "Do we need to do icing to decorate a cake? :D Well, is it difficult to do?? :("
R: "No.. But if it is you, then Yes!!!"
S: "oh!! Now what.. ok you do the icing.. I will think of something else"
R: "Are you sure.."
S: "Yes honey.. I'll call u later on"
R: "Ok dear.. bye bye"

Well, I was feeling bad for Sree.. Poor Boy!! I've spoiled his planning.. :( The very next minute I got another call.. Tring.. Tring!!

S: "Hey, U remember we have seen bow over XYZ birthday cake"
R: "Ummmm.. Yes. So??"
S: "I'll do tat.. Once you do icing make sure you leave enough space so that I can top it with my Bow of Love"
R: "(cough) What?? Bow of Love.. Cool hubby.. Ok! go ahead. I've fondant with me so you can use it "
S: "Okie dokie.. I'll be back soon :D Bye"
R: "See you.. Bbye"

Wow, tats interesting "Bow of Love".. Lets see how is he going to do.. Then, I was back to preparation. I've bought a new hand-mixer and believe me guys "it's awesome to work with it" Whether it is mixing the batter or preparing icing, everything is done in minutes..

So my birthday cake flavor is "Chocolate and Cocoa-Strawberry Cream Cake" and as of now without "Bow of Love"

Here is the recipe!!

Ingredient :

For batter

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour   
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup sugar, powdered
4 eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup oil / butter
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

For Frosting

4 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp strawberry extract

Method:

For Batter

Grease and flour two 9" round cake pans. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks, buttermilk and sugar till well blended and frothy. Combine flour, salt and baking soda; gradually beat into liquid mixture till blended.

Take another bowl and beat the egg whites until stiff peaks. Fold into the prepared batter.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F for 15 mins.

Transfer the batter to greased pans and bake for 20-25 mins or till toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let it cool for sometime and then transfer to the wire rack to cool completely.

For Frosting 

We are going to prepare frosting in 2 batches. One with cocoa and other with strawberry extract.

Beat 3 cups of whipping cream, 1 1/2 cups sugar and cocoa powder till stiff peaks form.In another bowl, beat remaining whipping cream, sugar and strawberry extract till stiff peaks form. Cover both the bowls.

Assembling

Cut each cake horizontally into two layers. Place one layer on the plate and layer it with cocoa frosting. Repeat with other layers. Spread a layer of frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Smoothen it with spatula.

Decoration

I did basketweave design for sides of cake and swirls at the top circumference of the cake using cocoa frosting. Using strawberry frosting, made a sequence of stars covering the lower circumference of the cake and also the space in between basketweave design and top swirls.

I was quite happy seeing the final outcome.. But it was still incomplete. Something is missing.. But, I was tired enough to identify what's missing.. So, I did nothing much and kept the cake in freezer.

As said, Sree came early and he was eager to see the cake.. He was so tempted that I doubt, atleast, he must have tasted the icing. lol!!! Within 1 hour he was in kitchen to start with his Mission : Bow of Love. I was surprised but impressed as well.. These are few moments that occur very rarely and I'm happy that I'm able to cherish them.. :D

"Mission: Bow of Love"

Sree started with lots of kick-boxing to my poor fondant and then coloring them.. I loved how he was estimating the amount of icing color to get the perfect tone.. Then another round of kicks, followed by rolling them out and finally forming beautiful and cute looking bow, I was enjoying each moment seeing him working hard to get his share of contribution to my cake.. :P

Atlast, Sree's Bow of Love was placed right at the top of my cake. After few more additions, my cake was looking perfect. I had lots of beautiful cake but this cake is so cute that I hate to eat it .. :(

Now I understand why I was finding my cake as "Incomplete" coz it was missing its Bow of Love. And my cake is complete with its perfect topping just the way I'm complete with my perfect partner..

So guys, thanks for reading the whole, not-so-long post :D and yes for your wishes.. Will describe how was my whole day in my next upcoming post..

Till then take care and enjoy!!

Sending this as an entry to Priya's Crazy for Cakes event.

Also, sending to Rumana's Treat To Eyes - Series 2  event.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!



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Mooli ke Parathe (Radish Stuffed Flatbread)

Hello Everyone,

Two more days.. I'm so excited! Yes this end-of-month is very special for me.. I've lots of plans, waiting for surprises and have resolutions all set to be implemented.. any guess?? Well, I'm not going to reveal the secret.. You guys have to wait for two more days.. ;)

Last weekend, we bought white radish, a very common salad stuff in North India.. As I was born and bought up there I've seen that neither lunch nor dinner is complete without salad and by salad I mean "slices of onion, white radish, tomato and green chillies with salt sprinkled over them." One plate of this salad is served even before your meal is served.. Sometimes this is tummy-filler or sometimes time-pass ;) Seriously guys.. this is one of my mom's kitchen tricks.. Whenever she is running late in kitchen, she will ask me/ my sister to prepare a plate of salad and serve it to my dad.. So, that by the time he is busy with those healthy slices, she can make-up her delay.. And after 26 years of their marriage now my dad is aware of this trick :D All credits goes to "The Great Reshmi"

Coming back to mooli ke parathe.. As you all know, I'm crazy about stuffed parathas and radish stuffed paratha is very high in nutritional value. Moreover, I use raw radish filling for my parathas. There are cooks who prefer the mixture being cooked before stuffed. But I love the raw flavor of mooli in my paratha..

Even though I've prepared this for couple of times but this time Sree recognized the amazing flavor and said "Mast hai yar.. Super" "Are you preparing it for the first time??" Well, I can understand. This happens when you are more busy watching T.V than eating what is served to you.. ;)

So, lets move on to the recipe.

Ingredients:  

For Dough

Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Oil - 1 tsp
Water - as required

For Filling

White Radish - 1, peeled and grated
Red Chilli Pwd - 1 tsp
Turmeric - a pinch
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
Aamchur Pwd - 1/4 tsp , optional
Salt - to taste

Method:

Take the grated radish, sprinkle little salt and squeeze out the excess liquid into a bowl. This will be used while preparing the dough. Keep it aside.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients (for filling) and keep aside.

Now, take wheat flour into a large bowl and add a tsp of oil to it. Using the excess water of radish, start kneading. If this is not enough for kneading you may use normal water. But I would suggest to make use of squeezed out water from radish. This enhances the flavor of parathas. Knead the dough to medium softness, cover and let it stand for 30 mins.

Divide the dough into equal portions. Roll each portion keeping the edges thinner than the center. Place a spoonful of raddish mixture in the center and roll it into a ball. Lightly flour it and roll into round parathas.

Heat a tawa or griddle. Place paratha over tawa and apply oil/ butter on the top. Flip and apply oil on the other side. Roast till both sides are golden and fully cooked. Repeat the procedure.

Serve hot with curd or pickle.

Enjoy!!

Sending this as an entry to "A Veggie/Fruit a month" event hosted by Sweet Artichoke and started by Priya.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Vegetable Puffs

Hello everyone,

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Yeah, we did shopping, cleaning, laundry and lots of cooking.. ;) While shopping as usual I was busy with the grocery and Sree was roaming here and there. And he bumped on puff sheets kept in the freezer section.. Aww!! he almost ran towards me and yelled "My Vegetable Puffs!!!!!!!".. You've promised me a month ago and still haven't prepared.. Oops!! it's true.. I was postponing it for a month.. Sree is crazy about snack items esp. spicy stuffs.. And chicken puffs is his favourite.. But I was least interested in non-veg puffs. So, finally we decided with vegetable puffs.

I was confused with the shape of puffs. Some are rectangular and some are triangular shaped. Then, Sree was explaining the concept.. To differentiate between puffs, vegetable puffs are rectangular, non-veg puffs are triangular and paneer puffs are bit bigger in size.. WOW!! what an explaination but atleast makes sense.. ;)

Finally, on Sunday evening we had vegetable puffs with a cup of  hot tea. Here is the recipe for vegetable puffs.

Ingredients:

Puff Pastry Sheets - 1 packet, thawed
Potatoes - 2, boiled and mashed
Onion - 1, thinly sliced
Green Peas - 1/4 cup, boiled
Carrots - 1/4 cup, chopped and boiled
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Red Chilli pwd - 1 tsp
Turmeric Pwd - a pinch
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

In a pan, heat oil and add cumin. When they sizzle, add onion and saute until translucent. Add ginger-garlic paste. Saute for few mins. Add all the masalas and 1 tsp water. Saute the masalas.

Add vegetables (mashed potatoes, boiled green peas and carrot) to the masala. Add salt and mix well.
Remove from heat and let it cool for sometime.

Preheat oven to 400F for 15 mins. Meanwhile, take puff pastry sheets over a lightly floured surface. Roll it out a little using rolling pin and cut into required shape and size. Mine was already cut into rectangular shape. So nothing much to do. :D

Take a spoonful of vegetable mixture and place it on one side. Make sure, you leave little space on sides of the sheet. Close the sheet from the other end. As sheets are bit sticky, so just press and seal the sides.

Bake them for 20-25 mins or until they are golden brown.

Serve hot with ketchup or chutney.

Enjoy!!

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Barley Flour Cake with Chocolate Frosting - MAITRI friendship chain

Hello everyone,

Till now I had posts that used to speak about "Maitri", the mystery ingredient and passing it to 2 other bloggers.. But here I've something that initiates "Maitri" and declares that this friendship chain is functional from now onwards.. Many bloggers have shown their interest and we've listed them in our records.. I'm happy for this huge participation and looking forward to many more. I believe that most of us are aware of Arusuvai friendship chain and now they are running the second season of this chain.. I hope we will also make Maitri grow tremendously.

I agree the situation in USA is bit different from India. We've certain concerns and limited resources that restrain us from getting involved. When Priya & I discussed about this idea even we were concerned about the similar situations. And finally we decided to make it happen. I would encourage everybody in USA to be part of this chain..

To all those who haven't read about "Maitri" yet, please click here.

So, now with great pleasure let me explain how we initiated Maitri. It begin with Priya & I sending parcel to each other. Last Friday, I received my box of mystery. Well I was excited from the day when I was informed by Priya that she has mailed my package.. Wow!! I used to wonder what would be the mystery ingredient and I donno what is she going to send me.. Out of curiosity, even I did research on her blog and I was pretty sure she would send me something related to rajasthani cuisine.

On Friday, around 2:00 pm, I went out to check my mailbox and there I found this small box by USPS.. I rushed to my apartment and I was so excited that while I was opening box and taking out all the stuffs, I forgot that I'm supposed to take pics of everything sent to me.. Then what?????? I loaded everything back into the box and here are the pics of "Box", "mystery ingredient" and "very cute goodies" sent by Priya Mitharwal...

Box & the mystery ingredient...!!!

Salt - Pepper Shakers & Spoon Rest!!! Love you Priya, they are so cute....

Now coming to my experience with mystery ingredient.. Before this can u guys identify what was sent by Priya..

Well, at very first look I felt it is Whole Wheat and I checked with Priya.. After 2 hrs she replied "No!!" with a big happy smiley.. But now what to do?? I tasted one of the grains and realized that it is not Whole Wheat... It is "Barley"!!!!!!! I was so happy and sure as well that this time I'm not wrong.. Again I emailed Priya and checked with her.. After 2 hrs she replied "u r genius" with a big sad smiley... ;)

I did lots of research to prepare something special and delicious with this ingredient. I bookmarked some breakfast recipes, then went for brownies and finally ended up with Cake.. And here is the picture of "Barley Flour Cake with Chocolate Frosting" and this is dedicated to Maitri and to all of my blogger friends.. Do grab your piece of cake.. :P

I'm not a good baker so my cake is not with perfect finishing but yes it tasted awesome.. Of course, how can something prepared with all those gr8 ingredients can go wrong. The Barley flour gave a different flavor to cake and with thick chocolate frosting and marshmallow fondant red balls, it was simply irresistible.

Also, this cake is special for me because for the first time I've worked with frosting.. And yeah you guys can see the frosting is not applied perfectly.. But I love this look.... ;)

So, guys lets move on to recipe:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups barley flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp baking pwd
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup oil
3 large eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla

for icing

3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F for about 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk the barley flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In the center of the bowl, make a well and add oil, egg yolks and vanilla. Beat with spoon until smooth.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold a fourth of the whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest.

Generously grease the baking pan. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cool for 20 minutes in the pan. Run a paring knife around the edges and then invert it onto a cake plate.

Meanwhile, prepare icing for the cake. In a work bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter. Sift the sugar and cocoa powder together and slowly add to the butter, beating well after each addition. Add the milk and vanilla and beat until well blended and fluffy.

Once the cake has cooled down to room temperature, frost it with chocolate frosting.

I had store-bought marshmallow fondant with me. So I added red color to it and kneaded well to get fondant evenly colored. Make tiny balls with fondant and decorate over the cake.

You can decorate your cake in number of ways but this was the least time-taking one.

Those who are interested to be part of Maitri, do leave a comment or email me at reshrite@gmail.com or priya at priya.mitharwal@gmail.com.

Sending this as an entry to Treat to Eyes: Series 2 event hosted by rumana.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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