Monday 31 December 2012

Happy New Year 2013


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Saturday 29 December 2012

Traditional Panettone ~ The December 2012 Daring Bakers’ challenge


Panettone, a traditional Italian Christmas bread was this month’s Daring Bakers Challenge… Last month I missed the Daring Bakers challenge and I somehow wanted to do this month’s and finally I managed to make it yesterday… It’s a time consuming bread and only attempt it when you don’t have much work to do…. it need several ‘rising’ and I started making this in the morning and ended up finishing it in the evening!... Please don’t panic seeing the long recipe, several rising or the amount of time consumed… It’s definitely worth the effort :)...  I did all the kneading work in my Kitchen Aid, also I soaked the fruits in rum and I only made half the recipe and baked in a 6” cake pan…
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Tuesday 25 December 2012

Jack Fruit Wine Recipe / Chakka Wine Recipe


May this Christmas fill your hearts with warmth, peace and joy! Have a Holy and a Blessed Christmas!


Hope all of you are ready for Christmas celebrations with family and friends..... Today’s Christmas special recipe is Jack Fruit Wine or Chakka Wine.... I got this recipe from my sister-in-law, Vimala sometime back..... since it is difficult to get Jack Fruit / Chakka here, or highly priced if available, I never got a chance to try it.... On my last vacation to Kerala there were a couple of jack fruits left over from that season at my mom’s place..... I love chakka and I ate ripe chakka to my heart content that day.... I even asked my aunt to make some Chakka curry/ puzukku too with unripened chakka… Chakka curry with kadumanga pickle is heavenly! So even after eating ripe chakka Chula/ jack fruit bulbs morning, afternoon and evening there was a lot left over..... and she was planning to make chakka halwa.... Then I thought about this wine recipe and told her will make some wine..... so we both made the wine that day and by the time I left Kerala the wine was ready..... so I took a bottle of wine from there and was waiting for the wine to age..... so here is how we made the wine....the quantity of water and sugar depends upon the chakka / jack fruit you use.... You may have to + or - water and sugar accordingly.....
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Wednesday 19 December 2012

Christmas Tree Cookies



It’s the time of the year I bake the most in a month.......Since my son doesn't eat Christmas Fruit Cake I baked these Christmas Tree Cookies for him and frosted it with Royal Icing using Meringue Powder.....You can find different cookie frosting ideas that I have posted earlier here.......While making the cookies if you find the dough sticky or difficult to handle, chill it a little longer or roll it between sheets of nonstick baking paper. Don’t add extra flour to the working surface as this will spoil the texture of the biscuits.
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Friday 14 December 2012

Chocolate Brownie Muffins


Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes

Hello everybody!!! I am back after a short unintended break :)... In my last post I had mentioned that we shifted our apartment, and I was busy with settling down here… in between both me and son was down with fever… now that everything is slowly getting back to normal I hope I can continue blogging regularly :).... So how are your Christmas preparations coming up? Have you baked ChristmasFruit Cake yet?? I made our Christmas cake day before yesterday and as usual I made a big batch this time too :)….

Now coming to today’s recipe, I got the recipe for these Chocolate Brownie Muffins from The Australian Women’s Weekly, one of my favorite cookbooks…. These little chocolate indulgences were very soft and moist and really delicious….. it has cocoa powder, chocolate chips, hazelnut spread and sour cream in it…. All the heavenly things in one muffin ;)…. Do try these very rich chocolate brownie muffins this holiday season and please do take care not to overcook these little indulgences when you are baking, they should be slightly moist in the middle….  
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Tuesday 27 November 2012

Chocolate Date Cake Recipe


Chocolate Date Cake

It’s been a couple of weeks since I have updated this space…. I was busy with shifting our apartment and settling down in the new home… Still I have a lot to unpack and I am only cooking some basic stuff just to survive ;)… Today just to relax, I thought of posting this easy one bowl chocolate date cake recipe that I made recently… The batter is completely prepared in a saucepan, and that means you only need to wash up one bowl!.... Dates add moistness to this dark, fudgy cake…. and this cake goes very well with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream…. A great dessert for a party with little effort :)…
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Tuesday 6 November 2012

Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake



I love citrus cakes and this PassionFruit Buttermilk Pound Cake was a huge hit in my family… Many tried the cake after I posted the recipe and I received a lot of compliments....since then I was thinking of making the Lemon flavor like in the original recipe from Deeba’s blog... Recently I tried that and we loved this very soft and yummy Lemon Cake....
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Saturday 3 November 2012

Homemade Mango Wine Recipe / Manga Wine


Manga Wine Recipe

It’s November already and hardly 52 days left to Christmas :).... Like I asked in one of my last year’s post have you started your Christmas preparations like soaking fruits for Christmas cake or making wine etc? This year I don’t need to soak much fruits as I have some left over from last year but wine I need to check if there is enough to last till Christmas ;)....  And if in case you are looking for a nice Christmas cake or wine please check my old posts.... Now we will proceed to today’s wine recipe…. This wine was made after a phone conversation with my neighbor and cousin Saira.... during one of our chats the topic of wine making came up and we got the idea of Mango Wine..... for a week Mango wine was in my mind and I was thinking how it would taste etc..... so on my next grocery shopping I bought a kilo of ripe mangoes.....Since my Guava Wine was a huge hit I decided to follow the same recipe and after the fermentation period I gave a bottle to my cousin to taste and according to her husband this is my best trial :)..... I am waiting for next summer so that I can buy some Indian Alphonso Mangoes and try this wine one more time.... I know it’s not mango season now, but if you are a wine lover and whenever you get hold of some good quality mangoes do try this I am sure you will love it..... 
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Sunday 28 October 2012

Passion Fruit Mille-Feuille / Napoleon / Custard Slice for Daring Bakers’


Mille-Feuille

This month’s Daring Bakers’ challenge is to make Mille-Feuille, the popular French patisserie treat. ‘Mille-feuille’ is French for ‘a thousand leaves’ (or ‘layers’), which is very apt, as it contains both layers of pastry (usually three) and layers within each pastry sheet..... Making puff pastry (or pâte feuilletée) basically involves a simple pastry dough, which is folded around sheet of butter (the beurrage). You then roll out your butter pastry package, fold it, roll it out, fold it, etc. – creating seams of butter that will puff up into distinct crispy layers when baked. The traditional mille-feuille is filled with a vanilla pastry cream (crème pâtissière) and is also known as a Napoleon, a custard slice or a vanilla slice. It’s often topped with royal icing and distinctive chocolate squiggles, and is popular the world over....
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Tuesday 23 October 2012

Passion Fruit Frozen Yogurt Recipe


Frozen Yogurt Recipe

When Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt was introduced in Kuwait a couple of years back there used to be a huge queue in front of the shop and we literally had to wait for at least an hour to get a scoop of frozen yogurt.... and it’s a very rare sight to see Kuwaitis wait patiently to get something :P.... Now Pinkberry has opened lot of outlets all over Kuwait and the novelty has worn off and so have the queues.....We love Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt and undoubtedly a die-hard fan of Passion Fruit, I tried to recreate this at home using the recipe from David Lebovitz's  The Perfect Scoop..... I have added some Passion fruit puree to his basic Vanilla frozen Yogurt recipe and it tasted awesome and very similar to Pinkberry’s Passion Fruit Yogurt....
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Thursday 18 October 2012

Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe

Chocolate Banana Bread

If you like chocolates and bananas you will definitely like this chocolate banana bread :)...had some over ripe bananas in hand and I didn't want to make regular banana bread or cake..... I wanted something chocolaty that day and hence chose to make this chocolate banana bread..... basic recipe is from Joy of Baking and I did some alterations..... Original recipe calls for walnuts, I didn't add any as I don’t like walnuts but I doubled the chocolate chips instead, also reduced the amount of egg and butter than the original recipe… this cake bread turned out perfect...... 
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Sunday 14 October 2012

Mango and Passion Fruit Mousse


Mango & Passion Fruit Mousse Recipe

As usual when I return from my annual vacation in Kerala, my father gives me frozen passion fruit pulp; this year I got 3 big bottles of passion fruit pulp :).... That means you guys will get to see more passion fruit recipes here ;).... this time I tried Mango and Passion fruit Mousse and the end result was awesome...... Alphonso mango pulp and passion fruit pulp mixed with whipped cream and egg whites you just can’t go wrong :).....  It is a very easy to make dessert with absolutely no cooking involved....  Ensure gelatin and puree are at equal temperature to prevent lumps when combining.... Mousse is best made day before serving..... Since this mousse contains raw egg whites I will not recommend this dessert for small kids or pregnant ladies...... 
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Monday 8 October 2012

Armenian Kabab Recipe


Armenian Kebab

A great Appetizer / Snack for a cocktail party which can be made ahead of time and fried just before serving. I used minced chicken but you can use any minced meat. Try this with your choice of meat when you plan a party next time.....
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Monday 1 October 2012

Poached Pears in Homemade Grape Wine


Poached Pears in Wine

I was thinking of making this for quite some time and now that pears are in season I decided to go ahead. It turned out to be one of the most elegant and perfect fruit dessert I have made in recent times!  Pears cooked in spiced wine will pair with anything you can come up with whether it’s served with a dollop of ice cream, whipped cream, marscapone, crèmefraiche, devonshire cream ,chocolate sauce, custard or as a topping for plain cake, crepes, waffles or simply as it is; truly amazing.... As this can be made and stored ahead it’s a perfect dessert for parties.... You can use either red wine or white wine, store bought or homemade.... Spices can be added according to taste.... I tailor-made this to suit our personal taste..... so you are free to + / - any ingredients..... colour of the poached pears depends upon the colour of wine you use and mine was homemade light red wine, so my pears didn't turn out deep red... try this lovely dessert this season and I am sure you will love it..... 
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Thursday 27 September 2012

Empanada Gallega ~ September 2012 Daring Bakers’ Challenge



Patri of the blog, Asi SonLos Cosas, was our September 2012 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she decided to tempt us with one of her family’s favorite recipes for Empanadas! We were given two dough recipes to choose from and encouraged to fill our Empanadas as creatively as we wished!

Empanada (or empada, in Portuguese) is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Western Europe, Latin America, and parts of Southeast Asia. The name comes from the Galician, Portuguese and Spanish verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread.The filling for empanada can vary, meat, chicken, cheese, fruit and vegetables. It is really up to your taste and preference and there is plenty of room for creativity. It can be served warm or cold. I chose to make individual sized empanadas instead of one big one and I used ground meat filling with some slight differences.
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Saturday 22 September 2012

One Bowl Eggless Chocolate Cake Recipe


One Bowl Eggless Chocolate Cake

How about making a quick and easy, moist and crumbly and tasty chocolate cake, that requires only one bowl to mix everything and is eggless too??? Not impressed by my description ;) ;)... Believe me it’s as easy to make as spinning a magic wand and you will get the awesome cake in front of you without much effort.... Once you have baked & cooled the cake you can frost it with chocolate ganache by pouring it on top of the cake in the pan.....this cake is not very sweet, if you are not frosting it, it is excellent with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream.... Get ready and bake this cake as soon as possible....
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Tuesday 18 September 2012

Pan Roasted Baby Potatoes


 Roasted Baby Potatoes

During a casual talk with my cousin cum neighbor Saira, she told me to try this pan roasted baby potatoes and gave me the recipe for the same.... These potatoes are a great choiceas a vegetarian appetizer along with other non-veg appetizers for cocktail parties..... This is a very basic recipe and you can add any spices according to your personal taste, eg. if you wish you can add coriander powder or cumin powder or garam masala.... Addition of fresh cream gives a unique and rich taste to the potatoes.... This goes well with Indian flatbreads or Pulav too..... 
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Tuesday 11 September 2012

Eggless No Bake Fresh Cherry Cheesecake


Eggless Cheesecake

It was our Wedding Anniversary yesterday and I made this quick, no bake, eggless cheese cake to celebrate this special day of our’s :)..... I have been making this cheesecake for the last several years with different toppings..... Already posted a Peach and Mango Cheesecake some time back.... This time I used fresh cherry as I wanted to consume as much cherry as possible before the Cherry season ends..... I have even stored some cherries in the freezer for later use..... The topping recipe is from Deepa’s blog… its really good and my hubby likes to eat the topping by itself… Pitting the cherries without a cherry pitter was a serious task for me earlier....  but found out an interesting idea using a pastry tip on this site; also check out Magpie’s blog on how she used a small mouthed bottle to pit cherries :).... In place of cherries you can use strawberries or a mixture of cherry and strawberry with the same topping recipe....
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Sunday 9 September 2012

Watermelon Soda


Watermelon Juice

Tried this refreshing summer drink after seeing the recipe on a local TV show. Thanks to my friend Purnima for bringing it to my attention.
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Monday 3 September 2012

Doraemon Cake / Black and White Layer Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting


Black and White Layer Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

After two months of vacation I am trying hard to come back to blogging...... School re-opened for my little one and I hope everything will be back to routine from now on… that means I will get some free time for blogging;)…. Our little one celebrated his 8th birthday while we were in Phuket…. His only demand was that I have to bake him a birthday cake as soon as we got back… so within a couple of days of getting back I made this cake for him… this time he wanted a Doraemon cake as this is his favorite cartoon now a days…. Though it’s easy to frost a Doraemon face, somehow I didn’t get it perfect…..I was too tired and exhausted from travelling and crossing time zones.… But Aaryan was very happy to get his favorite Doraemon cake ;)…. I made a black and white layer cake with vanilla buttercream frosting…. So here we go to the recipe…

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Monday 27 August 2012

Happy Onam!

Happy Onam

image courtesy: fun munch

Hi everybody….I am back after a 2 months vacation… First we went to Kerala and spent time with family and later to Bangkok and Phuket for some quality R&R... we  enjoyed the quiet time resting and relaxing on the beaches of Phuket with various cocktails and beer and of course the awesome Thai food!  We had a wonderful time over there and will post photos of our trip soon….

Even though I had scheduled some posts I have been away from my blog most of the time… and could not respond to your comments or queries on time…. After coming back I tried my best to reply to all of you and if I have missed any please let me know…. And thanks a lot to all my readers who have visited this space and to those who liked my FB page too… 

Since Onam is around the corner I know all Malayalies will be busy preparing for the Sadhya and I too had big plans to post Onam specials this time but I couldn’t as I am trying hard to settle down here at home after a 2 month vacation and on top I have to assist my son to finish off his holiday homework! So I am not posting any sadhya items here :D….. Meanwhile you can browse some of the very few Onam special recipes I have posted earlier here ;)…. 

Wishing all my readers a Very Happy Onam!

Here are some of the Payasam recipes I have posted earlier….  

Palada Prathaman
Palada Prathaman
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Monday 13 August 2012

Shahi Paneer Recipe

Shahi Paneer Picture


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Monday 6 August 2012

Masala Chicken Fry


Picture of Masala Chicken Fry

This chicken curry recipe I got from Mother in law and is a good side dish for Palappam, Vellaappam or even with some boiled rice and moru curry. Instead of chicken you can make this curry with beef or mutton too…

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Monday 30 July 2012

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting


Peanut Butter Frosting

I made these cupcakes sometime back but did not like the way I frosted it… at that time I didn’t have those jumbo size icing tips and I tried to frost it aiming for a nice swirl design and failed terribly …. so don’t judge by this picture….These are rich and incredibly moist cupcakes with a light and fluffy texture. These are made by the same method used for making brownies – melted chocolate is added to a whisked mixture of eggs and sugar, and then flour is stirred in. The resulting batter almost resembled a mousse; both thick and light. And this is my attempt on trying Peanut Butter frosting; I think you will like this frosting only if you like peanut butter… otherwise I doubt… we loved these chocolate cupcakes more than the frosting
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Monday 23 July 2012

Kashmiri Chicken Recipe


Kashmiri Chicken Picture

Like I told in my Butter Chicken post Kashmiri Chicken curry is the another chicken dish I learned before my wedding from my mom… This is our favorite recipe for chicken curry andit goes well with all types Indian breads or pulav....
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Monday 16 July 2012

Nutritious Milagai Podi Recipe


Milagai  Podi Picture

Milagai podi / Idli/ Dosa podi is very common in South Indian homes... There are many recipes for this powder with minor differences.... I got the idea for this nutritious Milagai podi from my cousin’s mother in law, Sashi aunty; she told me, while making, she used to add different types of nuts, dals, beans etc for her grand kids.... So I also thought my dosa loving son may like this and made a batch of it.... But he prefers Sambar for his dosa.... But I know a lot of kids loves have dosa spreading Milagai podi on top of it… so if your kids loves Milagai podi try this nutritious one next time when you make..... just add little bit of different types of nuts. beans and dals, roast well and powder together.....  



Nutritious Milagai  Podi Recipe 
Ingredients:
Dried Red Chillies – 3 cups (45gm)
Urad Dal / Uzhunnu Parippu – 1 cup
Bengal gram dal / Kadala Parippu – 1 ½ tsp
Parboiled Rice / Ari - ¼ cup
Black Sesame seeds / Ellu – 1 tbsp
Curry Leaves – 12
Black Pepper / Kurumulaku – 2tbsp
Salt to taste
Sesame oil / Nallenna – 1 tbsp
Additional Ingredients to make it Nutritious:
Almonds / Badam -2 tbsp
Cashew nuts – 2 tbsp
Pistachios / Pista – 2 tbsp
Soybean – 2 tbsp
Thuar dal / Thuvara parippu – 2 tbsp
Method:
  • Heat a wok and add oil and roast the red chillies, taking care not to burn them, in a low flame till the colour changes and its aroma comes out. Remove chillies and keep aside.
  • In the same wok roast all dals and all other ingredients separately until deep brown stirring continuously.
  • Cool the roasted ingredients and powder altogether in a mixie till you get a slightly coarse powder.
  • Store this in an airtight container for several weeks.
  • When needed, mix 2 or 3 tbsp of this powder with 1 tbsp of Coconut oil and serve with Dosa or Idli. 




Milagai  Podi Picture




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Monday 9 July 2012

Kerala Fish Cutlets


Kerala Fish Cutlets Picture

A very common appetizer in Malayali Christian homes after Meat cutlets.....Perfect as a side dish with rice, chapathi or as an afternoon snack or a party cocktail snack..... the best part of making cutlets is that you can freeze it really well and fry as and when needed..... 
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Sunday 1 July 2012

Dulce de Leche Creme Caramel


Dulce de Leche Creme Caramel Picture

Remember in my Dulce deLeche Cupcake post I said that I have made another dessert with the leftover DDL.... this DDL Creme Caramel is what I tried...... I never liked Caramel custard when I was a kid and mom tried her best to make me eat whenever she made it.....other than regular caramel custard she made different versions like chocolate, coffee, orange etc...... Even now also I don’t like it and I know you must be thinking is there any person in the world who doesn’t like Caramel custard :D..... Somehow I cannot stand the eggy smell and taste in the dessert....but when I saw this recipe I thought of trying; this one was delicious with less egg taste and smell..... And it has my favorite DDL in it..... try this one if you like Caramel Custard and even if you don’t like Caramel Custard then also do try it and you may start liking Caramel Custard like me :D......

I am going to India tonight and won’t be able to visit your space or reply to your mails/queries or comments on time.....But I will try my best to reply as and when time permits.... I have scheduled some posts so that this space doesn’t go idle.....See you all after 2 months and enjoy your summer break! 
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Tuesday 26 June 2012

Vanilla Latte Cupcakes


Vanilla Latte Cupcakes

Owning a KitchenAid is a dream of all home bakers and I always wanted one for quite some time.... Unlike in the US it is not an easily obtainable appliance here and now that it’savailable hubby gifted me one last week. It was a dream come true for me to own a black KitchenAid!!!  Of course I first wanted to try a cake with a frosting on it and I chose this cupcake from my favorite blogger Annie’s Eats.... The coffee flavor cake is very soft and the frosting is coffee flavored Swiss Meringue Butter cream.  Both cake and frosting came out perfectly and we all enjoyed the cupcakes!  
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Saturday 23 June 2012

Kottayam Churuttu Recipe / Thin Flour Pastry Sheets Filled with Sweetened Rice Filling

Churuttu Picture

Churuttu, is a famous Syrian Christian Palaharam / snack from Kottayam region of Kerala. These cones of syrupy avalose podi enclosed in wafer thin Mandaka / pastry are a favorite of everyone in Kottayam. Mammi cheduthi’s churuttu is one of the palaharam / snack I grew up with and I absolutely love it. Back home we used to go to Kurishu Palli, which is very close to Mammi cheduthi’s house every Friday evening and on our way back we usually stopped at her place to buy a packet of Churuttu. Even now I buy Churuttu only from her place during my vacation; I have tried Churuttu from other places too.... but none of them came even close to Mammi’s churuttu :).... I always wanted to make churuttu at home as the filling is same as Avalose Unda but I wondered how to make mandaka at home..... Got one recipe from Lathika George’s book “TheSuriani Kitchen” and her version of Mandaka is made out of unroasted rice flour mixed with boiling water. Then I did a Google search and found one out here and also a video clipping from a Malayalam channel showcasing Mammi cheduthi’s recipe..... so I made the mandaka combining all and it came out quite good.....  And for filling I used my Avalose Unda recipe,,,,,

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Monday 18 June 2012

Dulce de Leche Cupcakes


Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

I had intended to post this on 15th June to celebrate my brother’s birthday and also Father’s day.... But couldn't as I was busy with a three day long weekend that put paid to my plans to celebrate my brothers birthday virtually like I did earlier..... But it’s better late than never right?  These cupcakes are for you my dear bro my best friend, supporter, helper...... Thank you for being such a wonderful and caring brother in the world! May God Bless you with all the happiness in life that you truly deserve......  I promise I will make this cake when we meet next!

I tried Dulce de Leche(DDL) of which I have become an ardent fan.... The more recipes I try with DDL the more I like it.....earlier it was Banoffee PieBanoffee Slices and Dulce de Leche Brownies  and now these cupcakes..... This is one of the best tasting cupcakes and frosting I have made recently! The Cupcake itself is very soft and tasty.....and it was my first attempt of making Swiss Meringue Butter cream frosting; I absolutely love this smooth, creamy and delicious frosting..... Far better than regular butter cream frosting!!! Addition of DDL in the frosting was heavenly..... Do try this with either homemade DDL or store bought.... I used store bought DDL and you will soon find out what I did with the rest of the DDL...... so stay tuned for another delicious dessert with DDL :) :)  
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Thursday 14 June 2012

Mango and Avocado Salad


Mango and Avocado Salad


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Sunday 10 June 2012

Blue Lagoon Cocktail


Blue Lagoon Cocktail

We love drinks with blue Curacao and most of the time when we dine out I end up ordering a blue Curacao drink..... So recently when I found Curacao syrup I grabbed a bottle and made this simple cocktail..... all the measurements are eyeballed so adjust according to your personal taste.... I used white rum for the cocktail version and I think vodka might be a better option for cocktails.....  I also tried this with soda and sprite and both are nice.... For a mocktail version just omit alcohol.... Now the temperature has touched almost 50°C it was really refreshing on a lazy weekend evening..... And of course as I have more than half the bottle of syrup left you may soon find a lot of similar cocktails / mocktails with different combinations out here and also if you have any nice cocktail recipes please do share with me :)......
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Thursday 7 June 2012

Baked Mini Donut Muffins


Baked Mini Donut Muffins

For quite some time I have been planning to make these beauties after seeing it on several blogs around the net. These cuties are really yummy and very easy to make and resemble cinnamon sugar doughnut holes. The best part is these are baked and not deep fried.... Addition of nutmeg in the muffins was really great and it nicely complimented the cinnamon sugar coating..... really loved it and couldn’t stop munching them one after another ;).... These are very addictive and I must warn you that you will end up eating a lot!  Instead of mini muffin tins I baked these in my seashell pan and I got around 30 mini muffins..... 
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Monday 4 June 2012

Homemade Guava Wine Recipe / Perakka Wine Recipe


Perakka Wine Recipe

I got this recipe from my aunt a few years back. She gave me a bottle of this wine and the recipe when she visited me while I was holidaying in my home town. The moment I tasted the wine I was in love with it and it is now one of our favorites. Guava / perakka is not easily available here and when I found some a couple of months back I immediately made this wine. This wine is very sweet which mellows with ageing. I think the addition of kalkandam / rock sugar gives it a very nice taste and whoever has tasted this wine so far has given it 5 stars :) :)…. Thanks to Sally aunty for giving me this recipe.
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Friday 1 June 2012

Murgh Ke Sooley / Koyla Chicken Curry / Smoked Chicken Curry Recipe


Koyla Chicken Curry

There are some recipes from my early days of blogging that definitely need a revisit.... This is one such Chicken curry recipe.... This Smoked chicken is one of my best and easiest chicken preparations; I make it very often and it compliments very well with Indian flat breads or pulav’s. It’s also a hit at dinner parties.... But may be due to the pathetic photos I posted earlier, I felt it didn’t get the attention it deserved, so recently when I made it again I took step by step pictures.... when ghee is poured on the hot charcoal, the resultant smoke gives the chicken a nice flavor.... This is a healthy chicken preparation and you can also marinate and smoke the chicken ahead of time and bake it in the oven just before serving.....
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Sunday 27 May 2012

Honey White Challah Bread ~ May 2012 Daring Bakers’ Challenge


Honey White Challah Bread

                                                 Featured on Foodbuzz Top9
May’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge was pretty twisted – Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to make challah!  Using recipes from all over, and tips from “A Taste of Challah,” by Tamar Ansh, she encouraged us to bake beautifully braided breads.
Our host Ruth grew up in a traditional Jewish household where this beautiful bread graced the table every week. She gave us lots of information and background relating to traditions of Challah. Believe it or not, the word “challah” does not actually mean bread.  Any whole loaves can be used at the Sabbath or holiday table for the traditional blessing.  Challah, instead, is the word referring to the portion of bread which, in the days of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, was set aside and given to the high priests. 
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Tuesday 22 May 2012

Paneer Butter Masala Recipe / Paneer Makhani Recipe


Paneer Butter Masala Recipe

There are several Paneer Butter Masala recipes on the net. This is how I make it at home. This doesn’t have much cream or butter in it and we can reduce or completely omit it when you make this on a regular basis. Usually when I make it just for us I never add cream and always reduce butter to half; trust me it still tastes great :).... This is a Lakshmi Nair recipe from the Magic Oven show..... in her original recipe she adds 1 cup of peas too; since we don’t like peas much I avoid adding it.... Also I try to avoid using food colours as much as I can, hence my curry is orangish and not red :)...... 

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Sunday 20 May 2012

Allipidi / Rice Dumplings in Sweetened Coconut Milk



Allipidi, a sweetened rice dumplings cooked in coconut milk is a classic Kerala breakfast or an evening snack/ nalumani palaharam. I usually make this for breakfast on weekends. So yesterday when I made this I thought of taking some fresh pictures and reposting. A perfect gluten free and vegan recipe from Kerala Christian homes....
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Tuesday 15 May 2012

Erachi Podi Recipe / Homemade Meat Masala Powder/ Homemade Curry Powder



This is the same curry powder recipe I have mentioned in a lot of my previous posts.... If you have this Erachi podi / curry powder in stock you can whip up some veg or non-veg curries quickly.... We usually use this to make Beef Ularthiyathu (recipe coming soon), meat/ egg roasts or in veg or non veg mappas.... to make all these curries you only need to add a couple of spoons of this curry powder and you don’t need to add any other masala powders.... back home we make a big batch of this curry powder and if you store it well in air tight containers,  it will last for months without any problems.... I never use store bought curry powder/meat masala in any of my dishes.... I always have enough stock of this with me and I get my share of this curry powder from my mom’s sister.... Since she makes large quantities, she gives the cleaned and roasted spices to a mill to have it powdered..... You can make this in small quantities and powder it in your mixer grinder at home.... so here is how we make the curry powder at home.....
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