5 Jan 2014

Avarakkai Masala / Broad Beans Masala

Today we made avarakkai in our home. This is a healthy vegetable which goes well as a side dish with rice. It is very easy  and different to make. We make a ground paste of  onion, tomato, pepper, garlic and ginger and add it as a masala. If you want, you can add more of this paste so get a more rich and deep flavour. We also make a simple avarakkai poriyal which tastes great with rasam rice.

Avarakkai Masala

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3 Jan 2014

Idli Upma Recipe

Idli Upma is a simple and easy breakfast dish, usually made using left over idli's or idli that have turned out hard. It makes the boring idli interesting and desirable! I am not a fan of idli, only because I've had so much of it so any day I would prefer the idli upma over plain idli, whether it's made of fresh idli or left over hard idli's.




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2 Jan 2014

Banana Cake

I am fond of banana cakes. So is everybody else in my family. It s extremely easy to put together and makes use of over ripe bananas. This is one recipe that gets done very frequently by me, mostly to use up bananas that no one wants to eat, since it's become all black. But those over ripe black skin bananas are the ones that make a banana bake extremely delicious! There are plenty of things to bake with over ripe banana. And I keep trying different recipes of banana cakes, muffins, banana breads etc. Check out the other banana recipes too.


Banana Cake

For this cake, there was a request for banana cake from my family. It was my father's birthday and since my parent's don't prefer cream cake, they wanted this one. I was only too glad to oblige since I love banana cakes! This time there were no over ripe bananas at home so I went hunting for them. I am sure the fruit vendor thought I was some weird woman to pick up black skinned, over ripe bananas when he was giving me some good looking bananas! But who cares what he thinks, I got to eat a delicious banana cake out of those 'bad looking' bananas! My family loved it too and it got over that same night.

I always add walnuts to my cakes. It makes the cake taste more good and crunchy also it helps to sneak some nuts into my daughter! You can leave it out ans still get a delicious cake. The only addition I made to the original recipe is I added a tsp of cinnamon powder which took the flavor to a whole new level. I also didn't do the topping.


Banana Cake


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How to make Ganache

Ganache is the silky soft chocolate cream you find on cakes as a filling or as a frosting. It is what makes a chocolate cake more sinful and delicious, making you want to lick it off!

It is basically made by mixing cream with chocolate. It is very simple to make once you know the basics and ratio of chocolate to cream. Generally, the higher the cocoa butter in the chocolate ( the darker it is), the less cream you will need. So for dark chocolate ganache the ratio will be 2:1 - twice as much chocolate to cream. For milk chocolate - 2.5:1 (chocolate to cream), for white chocolate 3.5:1 ratio is used. It also depends on the type of chocolate you are using. Generally ganache is made with dark / semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate but you can make it with milk chocolate too. 


Dark Chocolate Ganache

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29 Dec 2013

Instant Microwave Brownie (eggless)

This is by far my most favorite dessert of all time! Simply because it gets ready within 5 minutes and my sudden cravings for chocolate is instantly met. If you are even mildly interested in baking, you will have all these ingredients readily available in your kitchen. It is ridiculously simple to make and wonderful to taste! 


Instant Brownie

According to me, this is the most useful recipe I have procured, as a result of all the hours I have spent browsing through the internet! Since I love chocolate, this recipe comes in very handy in times of emergency and it serves just one or maybe 2 if your in the mood to share (I normally don't share chocolate!), so no feeling guilty for eating too many brownies.

This recipe is available all over the internet as instant microwave brownie or brownie in a mug. I adapted this recipe from Art of Desert. I have made this brownie plenty of times and I have tweaked it to adapt my taste buds. 

Instant Brownie

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Chocolate Mousse Recipe ( Eggless)

Chocolate mousse tastes divine! It is light, airy and simply delicious. Mousse with eggs definitely tastes better than those without eggs but I am quite skeptical of eating raw eggs! So because of my paranoia we settled for eggless mousse this time. It is easy and simple to make. I did not use gelatin to set this mousse but you can use if you want to. And I used sweetened whipping cream hence did not add sugar. If your using unsweetened whipping cream, do add icing sugar and whip the cream to stiff peaks.
Here's the recipe for chocolate mousse with cooked eggs. For now, let's see how to make the eggless version.



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28 Dec 2013

How to make buttermilk for cakes

Many cake recipes calls for buttermilk. The buttermilk makes the cake or whatever you are baking, more moist. I love recipes which calls for buttermilk and prefer trying them out. 
You can make buttermilk from curd too but for bakes this method is preferred. It is simple, easy and accurate and takes about 10 minutes to make.


How to make Buttermilk for bakes

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21 Dec 2013

Onion Tomato Chutney | Easy Chutney Recipes

Eating idli and dosai becomes so monotonous unless we make side dishes that tastes awesome. And everyday thinking of a side dish is itself is an event! I tasted this chutney at my mother in laws house – she is a great cook and anything she makes tastes delicious! I loved this chutney and since my husband also liked it, this has become a regular in our home.


It is very simple to make with no masalas. You can temper with mustard seeds and add at the end. I always do that or you can serve as it is.
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20 Dec 2013

King Fish - Fish Fry Recipe / Vanjaram Fish Fry Recipe


Fish Fry is our favourite. We love any fish fry but mostly prefer Vanjaram because it's easy to eat! Unlike some other varieties of fish, this fish has only a centre bone which is easy to remove. Also it tastes really good so this is a regular in our daily meals.

Marinating the fish is important. When you marinate them well and let it rest for a couple of hours, then the flavours are all soaked in and tastes awesome.

I have already posted Sankara fish fry. The marinade for that is different from the marinade I have used in this recipe. Do check out.



Ingredients


  • Fish                             5 pieces
  • Turmeric powder      1/2 tsp
  • Coriander powder     1 tsp
  • Lime juice                   1 tsp
  • Corn flour                   1 tsp
  • Red chilli powder      3 tsp
  • Salt                              to taste
  • Oil                               to fry








Method

1. Clean and wash the fish.
2. In a bowl mix the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, lime juice, corn flour and salt well.

3. Add the fish pieces to this paste and make sure to coat the fishes well.
4. Let it marinate for a couple of hours.
5. In a kadai, add required oil. Add few pieces of fish at a time and deep fry until the fishes turn golden brown.
6. Remove and place it on tissue paper to absorb the excess oil.      


Until next time,




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15 Dec 2013