Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with 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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Kashmiri Chicken Recipe

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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Nutritious Milagai Podi Recipe

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. 

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Kerala Fish Cutlets

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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Dulce de Leche Creme Caramel

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

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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Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

I had intended to post this on 15^th 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 Pie, Banoffee 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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Mango and Avocado Salad

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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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