Coffee Almond Cake

Here's the recipe for those who've been asking me for ages:

Ingredients:

Maida - 150 gm
Sugar 150 gm
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Eggs - 4
Almonds n raisins - a handful
Butter or Oil- 150 gm
Coffee - 1 to 2 tbsp as per taste

Method:

- Mix all the dry ingredients: Maida, sugar, baking powder
- In another bowl whisk the eggs and add oil and mix
- Heat a tbspn of water and mix the coffee till it dissolves
- Now mix all ingredients along with dry fruits in a blender
- Grease the baking dish with butter, sprinkle some baking powder or maida before adding the blended cake mixture
- Add some crushed almonds at the top of the baking mix for a crunchy texture.

Enjoy! :)

Chicken Kosha

One of those dull Saturday's when all I want to do is curl up with a good book, eat loads of chocolates (the fridge is stuffed thank goodness), and do absolutely nothing else. But so many chores and repairs to get done. To top it, I can't watch most of my favorite channels due to a bad signal caused by a building construction right in front of the dish antenna.

More than the TV woes, what I will miss the most is the lovely view of this beautiful, serene mustard field I could gaze upon from our dining room. Now all I see is this monstrosity of a large apartment complex being built called Fresh Living. Weird name! Even weirder when I wonder what's so fresh about a concrete structure in a concrete city but well can't do much about the haphazard development that occurs in Indian cities. I would need to move to the countryside or buy a farm of my own and since I lack funds to do that back to reality.

Well to motivate and distract myself from a lot of stuff decided to cook. I haven't cooked much the last 2 years so was apprehensive as to how it would turn out but thank goodness it turned out more than edible. :) So here goes my Mom's recipe customized a bit based on the ingredients available in the fridge:

Chicken - 8-10 pieces
Mustard Oil - I don't really measure. I just pour till it covers the pan
Bay leaf -1-2
Onions - 2
Tomatoes - 2
Garlic - 8-10 cloves
Ginger - 1 small slice
Green chillies - 8-10
Red chilly - depending on your preference
Cardamom - 3 pods
Cinammon - 1 stick
Cloves - 3
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1-2 tsp depending on how spicy you want the dish
Biryani masala - 1-2 tsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Coriander - 1 bunch chopped
Mint - 1 bunch chopped
Salt to taste
Sugar - 1 tspn

- Marinate the chicken with salt, turmeric, biryani masala. I decided to use biryani masala instead of chicken masala coz read somewhere it gives a wonderful flavor
- Heat oil and add the bay leaf, and dried red chilly until it infuses the flavor.
- Add the whole spices and onions and cook till it browns.
- Add the garlic, ginger, green chilli, turmeric, chilli powder and cook for 7-8 mins. Add a spoon of water if it tends to stick to the pan.
- Add the chicken and chopped tomato, a dollop of ghee based on your preference and season with salt and sugar.
- Cook in medium heat for 30-40 mins.
- Add the chopped coriander and mint leaves (Mint is not necessary but I decided to try my own variation)
- Cook until the water evaporates based on your gravy preference.
- Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with coriander and serve.

Methi Saag with Gajar and Alu

Found some fresh green methi in the supermarket today after work and picked it up thinking I will cook methi chicken. However, when I reached home found there was no chicken. Forgetful me! Sigh! It is quite a task thinking what to cook every day.

Rummaged through the fridge, found some carrots and potatoes and got started. Decided to make some daal too and eat it with this gujarati spiced roti called thepla that can be found in the super markets here.

Well, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Methi leaves (Fenugreek) - 2-3 bunches
Carrots - 3 chopped into squares
Potatoes - 1 chopped into squares
Kalonji - 1 tsp
Red chilli - 1
Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
Garlic pods - 3-4 finely chopped
Hing (Asafoetida) - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Sugar - depending on individual preference

- Boil the potatoes and carrots till half cooked.
- Heat some oil in a pan and add kalonji, red chilli and hing.
- Add the chopped garlic and chillies
- Add the carrots and potatoes and cook for around 10 mins.
- Add the methi leaves and let it cook till done.
- Add turmeric and salt and garnish with coriander.

Fish Chop and Fish Fry

Potluck Day! :) Loads of excitement and planning on what to take for this big day at work. Finally, on public demand zeroed in on fish fry and fish chop. Marinated fish pieces overnight with turmeric, salt, chilli powder and ginger garlic paste to fry the next morning.



Called up Mom to get the recipe for fish chop. Pretty simple.



- Steam the fish and boil potatoes separately.
- Remove the bones from the fish and mash thoroughly with the potatoes.
- Add salt, cumin powder, chilli powder.
- Heat some oil in a pan and fry onions till brownish.
- Add the mashed mixture to the pan and fry till the raw smell disappears.
- Add some finely chopped coriander and chillies and mix some more.
- Remove from pan and once it has cooled, take small portions and roll it into round flat shaped portions.
- Beat 2 eggs with some salt and pepper.
- Roll the chops in this egg mixture and bread crumbs and fry till done.

You can prepare in bulk and store in the deep freeze. So when you have guests just remove and heat in the microwave or pan before serving. At your own risk. :)) However, for me it never lasts more than 2-3 days coz guess too many cats around. ;-)

Jaggery Cake with Oats

I love nolen gur (its a special jaggery that you find in Bengal in winter). Since I had some left in the freezer thought would try something different. Decided to bake a cake with nolen gur instead of sugar. After baking the cake, there was some jaggery left over so also made "nolen gurer payesh".



Sharing the recipe of Nolen Gur Cake with Oats. If you do not have this variety of jaggery, you can always substitute with 1 cup of sugar.

2 cups flour
1 cup jaggery (nolen gur)
1/2 cup oil
25 gms butter
1 cup oats
2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

- Mix all the ingredients in a blender
- Grease a baking dish and pour the mixture in.
- Sprinkle some crushed oats on top.
- Set the oven temperature to 200 degrees and bake for around 45 minutes or till a fork comes out clean.

Simple Banana Cake

For the umpteenth time I bought bananas last week for Joy and a week later it is still there. So decided that before it spoils, let me try baking a banana cake that I used to see my Mom bake years ago.

Ingredients:

4-5 ripe bananas mashed
75 gms butter
1-2 eggs
1-2 tbsp of milk or milkmaid for added flavor
90 gms of castor sugar (you can even use plain sugar)
1 and half cups of plain flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of sodium bicarb
1 tsp of orange essence (you can use vanilla essence too)
1 tsp cinnamon powder

- Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and sodium bicarb in a bowl
- Beat the eggs, milk and butter and add them to the mashed bananas.
- Mix the dry mixture with the rest of the ingredients in step 2 along with orange essence and cinnamon powder and whisk them in a blender.
- Pour into a greased baking dish and bake with the temperature set at 200 degree for around 40-45 minutes.

Voila! Its ready.

Bread Poha

Its been two weeks since I have been trying to lead a disciplined life, waking up at 6, cooking breakfast, packing our lunch and even cooking enough for dinner so don't have to cook twice. Whew! Never ever imagined that I would be cooking this much but then guess the craving for good food and lack of good cooks around gives way to all this hard work in the kitchen. :) Well, guess my experiments in the kitchen will continue till I find another cook.

The recipe today is a quick and easy snack I used to see my Mom cooking. I usually pack it as a mid-meal snack to take care of any hunger pangs sometime between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and tea when you get the craving to munch something. Yeah, yeah I know I eat too much but atleast this is a filling and tasty alternative to snacking on chips and other junk food at work.

Ingredients:

8 slices of bread cut into squares (you can use smaller quantities but I make enough to share at work) :P
2 potatoes cut into squares (you can even use carrots)
1 cup of peas
1-2 green chillis depending on your preference
1 tbsp ginger paste
2 chopped onions
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
A handful of chopped coriander
Salt to taste
Oil

- Boil the veggies (potatoes, peas) in a pressure cooker.
- Heat oil in a separate pan and add cumin and the mustard seeds.
- Add onions, chillies and the ginger paste and fry till onions turn brownish
- Add the boiled veggies and stir for 2 minutes.
- Add the bread squares and stir some more
- Add turmeric, salt and coriander and fry for 2 minutes.

You can even add a dash of lemon if you want some zest. The bread poha is ready to be eaten or packed as a mid-meal snack or even lunch if you wish.

Eggless Milkmaid Cake

This is an eggless milkmaid cake that I baked the other day. I have used milkmaid for the first time while baking and decided that henceforth will use milkmaid as it adds a delicious flavor to the baking. I also added Quaker oats that I bought recently but didn't quite like it for breakfast so decided to use it in my baking instead.

You can also add cocoa for a chocolatey taste. In my version didn't add as Joy is not too fond of chocolate but for all chocoholics this is a good option. Here goes:

Milkmaid - 1 tin of 400 gm
Butter - 100 gm (I use Amul but you can use the unsalted variety)
Flour - 2 cups
Aerated drink - 100 gm (Thums Up, Pepsi or even plain soda)
Cocoa Powder - 3 tbsp
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Vanilla essence
Oats - 1 cup

- Mix the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder in a bowl
- Mix the milkmaid and the butter in another bowl till the butter dissolves completely.
- Fold in the dry mixture and the soda bit by bit until its completely mixed with the milkmaid and butter.
- Add the vanilla essence.
- Add the mixture to the mixie and run it for about 2 minutes.
- Add the oats and mix some more.
- Grease a baking dish with butter and add the cake mixture to it. Sprinkle some oats on top for a crunchy taste.
- Heat the oven to 200 degree and bake for about 35-40 minutes.
- Keep checking with a fork to check if it completely baked. If the fork comes out clean, the cake is ready.



Forgot to click a pic immediately after it was baked but did have some crumbs left. Agree, it doesn't look that good but those who tasted it know that appearances can be deceitful. :))

Simple Mutton Biryani

This is something that I cook quickly when I am in a hurry. No frills, no fuss mutton biryani! Here goes:

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 2 cups
Mutton pcs (I usually buy boneless mutton cubes)
Bay Leaf - 2-3
Cinnamon - 2 sticks
Cardamom - 4-5 pods
Onions - 2
Ginger garlic paste
Green chillies - 3-4 chopped
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Tomatoes - 2
Jeera, dhania and haldi powder - 1 tsp each
Salt to taste
Mutton stock and water if required - 4 to 4 and a half cups (varies depending on the cooker)

- Boil mutton with bayleaf, 2-3 cardamom pods, one cinammon stick and salt
- Heat some oil in a separate pan and brown the onions
- Add ginger garlic paste and fry for 2-3 mins
- Add chopped green chillies, pepper powder, the remaining cinammon sticks and cloves
- Add grated tomatoes and let it fry for around 5 minutes
- Add jeera, dhania and haldi powder
- Add the boiled mutton pieces and keep the mutton stock in another bowl for use later
- Add chilli powder and salt and fry some more
- Take the required quantity of rice in the rice cooker.
- Add the fried mutton to the rice.
- Add the mutton stock to the rice. If required, add some water and cook till it is ready

Rajma Curry

Deb and I are fed up of the same old veggies for lunch. In our earlier location, we used to have a large gang of folks to lunch with so always had variety. However, since we moved to a different location we have been eating the same old veggies n non veggies day after day. So decided to cook some rajma. Didn't follow any recipe...just the usual ingredients.

Rajma - 1 cup (soaked overnight)
Aloo - 2-3 (I didn't use any as Deb is diabetic but you can)
Onions - 2
Chillies - 2
Garlic - 4-5 cloves
Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Coriander - a handful
Butter - a spoonful
Water - as per preference

- Boil the rajma in a pressure cooker with a little salt, turmeric and chilli powder.
- Heat some oil in a non-stick pan and once the oil is hot add the cumin seeds till it splutters.
- Add the chillies, chopped garlic and onions and let it cook till onions have browned
- Add the tomatoes and stir some more for 3-4 min
- Add the turmeric, chilli powder and garam masala and mix thoroughly.
- Sprinkle the chopped coriander
- Add this mix to the Rajma in the pressure cooker and stir thoroughly
- Add a little water, depending on the gravy consistency that you prefer
- Add salt to taste and a dollop of butter
- Pressure cook the rajma again

Voila! The Rajma curry is ready.

Aloo Paneer

Woke up late this morning and was in a rush. But still needed to pack my lunch. So made this quick dish. Luckily, had a pack of Heritage paneer in the fridge. Chopped it into squares and kept it in a bowl. Since I had run out of peas and didn't want to go through the tedious task of chopping spinach, decided to go with Aloo Paneer. Psst. Still had time to spare to write the recipe. :)

So here goes:

Ingredients:

Aloo - 2-3 (chopped into squares)
Paneer - 1 pkt (I use Heritage or Amul, but you can use any brand or even homemade paneer)
Mustard Oil - 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Bay Leaf - 2-3
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp
Haldi powder - 1/2 tsp
Green Chillies - 2-3 whole
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Milk - 2-3 tbsp
Ghee (preferred) or butter - 1 tbsp ( it gives a nice flavor)
Coriander Leaves - for garnish

- Heat some oil and fry the potato cubes lightly and remove from heat. You can also fry paneer lightly but I prefer not to.
- In the same oil, add 2-3 bayleaves and cumin seeds and wait till it splutters.
- Add the ginger paste.
- Mix the cumin powder with water and add till you see the water drying up.
- Pour in the fried potatoes along with one cup of water and wait for the potatoes to soften.
- Add the paneer and mix thoroughly and let it cook for around 5 min.
- Add the whole green chilies, garam masala, sugar, milk and lastly add salt.
- Cook for around 5 min and remove from heat.
- Garnish with coriander before serving if you wish.

Mutton Vindaloo

Now that I am back to cooking as the cook got married for the second time and went off to Orissa, back to shortcuts, home deliveries and cooking in bulk. This is one recipe that I got from a dear friend of mine but did customize it as I didn't have many ingredients. I also added potatoes coz for hubby, mutton is incomplete without extra large potatoes.

So here goes:

Mutton - 1 kg
Potatoes - 3 large
Onions - 5
Chillies - 12
Garlic - 15 pods
Ginger Paste - 2 tsp
Vinegar - 3 tbsp
Cumin - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 2 sticks
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Water - 1-2 cups
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves

-Marinate the mutton with turmeric and salt and keep aside for atleast half an hour
-Grind the garlic, ginger, chillies, cumin, mustard, pepper, turmeric to a paste.
-Add the vinegar to the paste and mix thoroughly.
-Grind the onions to a paste and keep aside
-Heat some oil and fry the ground onions till it turns brownish
-Add the paste and fry for another 10 minutes
-Add the mutton pieces and continue frying till the water starts evaporating.
-Add the potatoes and mix thoroughly.
-Add the required quantity of water depending on your preference for the gravy.
-Add the sugar and salt to taste and pressure cook till meat is tender (I generally wait for around 10-12 whistles)
-Garnish with coriander before serving

Maachher Jhol

Well, this is an awesome fish curry that Shayeri got to work the other day.

Ingredients:

Fish (Rohu or Katla) -8-10 pieces
Red Chilli Powder – 1tsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Onions - 2 (chopped)
Tomato – 2 (chopped)
Coconut Powder – ½ tsp
Green Chillies - 2
Salt - to taste
Coriander leaves – 1/2bunch (chopped)
Tomato puree (optional)
Mustard oil – 4-5 table spoons

Recipe:

-Marinate the fish with turmeric powder, salt, red chili powder and one spoon of mustard oil. -Keep aside for 10 minutes.
-Heat mustard oil in a pan and fry the fish pieces till golden brown. Ensure that the oil is properly heated before frying to avoid stickiness.
-Take out the fried fish pieces.
-In the remaining oil, add the chopped onions and stir till they are golden brown and translucent.
-Add the chopped tomatoes and continue stirring to ensure an equal fry.
-Add salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder.
-Add green chilies and pour two table spoons of tomato puree.
-When the oil starts separating, add 1 cup of water. Add 2 cups of water in case you want to keep thinner gravy.
-Add coconut powder and mix with the gravy.
-Add the fried fish pieces in the gravy and let it boil for 5minutes till the gravy becomes thick.
-Add chopped coriander leaves, keep the burner in high flame for two minutes and switch off the gas.

Now pack the fish curry in a tiffin box and get it to office for all folks who left a comment. :)

Egg Pulao

This is for all the domestic goddesses I know. Another simple and delicious egg recipe handed over from generation to generation. Well, you can cook the rice separately in a rice cooker or pressure cooker. Next, you can fry 1-2 chopped onions (lengthwise) separately till it turns brownish. The fried onions can be added to the pulao at the end along with chopped coriander.

Now for cooking the egg, you will require:

Ingredients:

Eggs - 4-6 (can vary depending on the number of folks and their appetite)
Onions - 3-4 chopped
Tomato - 1
Refined Oil/Mustard Oil - Based on your health-o-meter
Salt to taste
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Powdered garam masala (Cloves, cinnamon and cardammom) - 1 tsp
Fresh Coriander - a handful

-Hard boil eggs, peel and fry in salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder till nice and red!
-In the same kadai, add some more oil, add onions and fry till light brown.
-Next, add the tomatoes and fry till cooked.
-Add the masalas and salt and cook till it is done.
-Now add the cooked rice and mix it well
-Garnish with the fried onions and chopped coriander

The egg pulao is ready to eat!

Dark Chocolate Cake

This recipe is amazing. I am sure a lot of folks at work will vouch for this. I have added dark chocolate and walnuts to the original recipe and also changed the baking time as I prefer the traditional slow way of baking but the taste remains divine.

Ingredients:

2 eggs (on the smaller side)
100 gms unsalted butter
100 grams maida
100 grams sugar
1 Dark Chocolate bar melted
1/2 tspn baking powder
30 gms cocoa powder (can vary, depending on preferences)
Handful of walnuts
Few drops of vanilla essence
Milk


-Beat eggs till light and fluffy
-Add sugar and vanilla essence and continue beating
-Add butter and beat some more (Microwave it till it melts)
-Add dark chocolate (Microwave this too till it melts)
-Sieve maida, cocoa powder and baking powder and gradually add to the mixture
-Add a few tablespoons of milk and mix till it reaches the desired consistency
-Crush and add the walnuts
-Bake at 180 degree in a greased bowl for 35 mins in the microwave
-Once it cools, cut into pieces, pack in a tiffin box and bring to office the next day :)

Prawn Curry

Ingredients:
Prawn - 500 gm
Potatoes- 2 cut lengthwise
Green peas- 1/2 cup
Onions -2
Ginger paste-1 tsp
Chilli powder-1 tsp
Turmeric powder-1 tsp
Tomato-1
Oil- to cover the pan
Bay leaves-1,
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt according to taste

-Peel, clean and wash the prawns
-Apply salt and turmeric and fry
-Remove from pan, fry potatoes and keep aside.
-Fry the bay leaf with onion, ginger and garlic paste and fry. Mix turmeric and chili powder in little water and add in the pan.
-Add tomato pieces and fry
-Add potatoes, peas, prawns, salt and water and cover the pan. Let it simmer until the gravy thickens.
-Add garam masala powder and remove from heat.

Chocolate Cake

This recipe is dedicated to all the chocoholics around. Well, baked this yesterday for a lunch party at Meenu's. Meenu added her own special touch and we (Prati, Gowri, Meenu and I) had chocolate cake topped with vanilla ice cream topped with Hershey's chocolate sauce topped with choco chips. Yummilicious. Here goes:

Ingredients:

Maida - 2 cups
Cocoa Powder - 3 tbsp
Sugar - 1 cup
Eggs - 3
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Melted chocolate - 1 bar
Butter - 100 gm
Oil - 50 ml
Water - 150 ml
Chopped Walnuts if you like the nutty crunch
Orange essence since I did not have vanilla essence

-Mix all ingredient in a mixer till it forms a ribbon like consistency
-Grease a baking bowl with oil/butter and sprinkle some flour
-Pour the cake mix to the baking bowl
-Set the oven temperature to around 180 degree Celsius and bake for around 35 minutes

Eggless Coffee Cake

Today, I decided to bake an eggless cake for dessert for some vegan friends of mine who are visiting. I haven’t tasted it yet but thought I will share it with you folks as it is pretty simple.



Ingredients:

Sugar – 1 and half cup
Flour - 2 cups
Vegetable Oil – ½ cup
Cinnamon powder– 2 tsp
Coffee powder – 2 tbsp
Baking soda – 1 tsp
Baking powder – ½ tsp
Milk – 1 cup
Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp
Chopped walnuts - 1/2 cup

-Mix all ingredients in a mixer
-Grease a baking bowl with butter or oil and sprinkle some flour on it
-Pour the cake mix to the baking bowl and place in the oven
-Set the oven temperature to around 180 degree Celsius and bake for around 30-35 minutes
-Wait till it cools and then cut into slices

North Eastern fish curry

Well, Nupur you absolutely must try this recipe. It is simple to cook, amazingly hot, the house smells when it cooks but the taste is absolutely divine especially for those who have a zest for north-eastern cuisine. Special thanks to Joy's friends in Nagaland for their inputs.

Its also a healthy recipe as there is minimal use of oil. In the original recipe, the fish is boiled along with the veggies so there is no use of oil, but in my customized version I fry the fish as I am so not used to boiled fish. I also grind fresh ginger and garlic and store the paste in the fridge.

Ingredients:

Fish - 6-8 pcs (any variety)
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Water- 3 cups
Ginger garlic paste - 3 heaped tbsp
Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Tomatoes - 2
Peas - 1 cup
Potatoes - 3 pcs chopped to small squares
Salt - to taste
Coriander

-Rub the fish with turmeric and chilli powder and fry on both sides till it turns reddish
-Boil 3 cups of water in a separate kadai
-Add the ginger garlic paste and chilli powder and mix till it boils
-Add the potatoes, peas and tomatoes and boil till the vegetables are cooked (around 8-10 minutes)
-Add salt to taste and mix
-Add the fish pieces and boil for another 5 minutes
-Garnish with chopped coriander

Phulkopir Torkari

Today I am going to post something for my vegan friends. This is especially for you Meenu, cauliflower curry bong style! I have never tasted this curry as I am allergic to cauliflower, but Joy simply loves it. Well, not that he has a choice. :)

Anyways, next time, I will try and find a healthier recipe for you and Ash since I know you both are trying to reduce fried food.

I generally cut the cauliflower into large sized florets and slit the potatoes lengthwise into 4 pieces. I make garam masala at home by grinding cinnamon, cloves, elaichi in a grinder. If you are pressed for time, you can always use the packet variety that is readily available across most grocery stores.

Ingredients:

Cauliflower - small size
Potatoes - 2
Green chilli - 2
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - - 1 tsp
Bay leaf - 1
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Water - 3 cups
Coriander - a handful

-Heat oil in a pan and add cauliflower. Fry till it turns reddish and remove from heat.
-Fry potatoes till reddish and remove from heat.
-Add cumin seeds, green chilli and bay leaf in the same pan. Sauté till it splutters.
-Add the fried potatoes and cauliflower.
-Add ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder and chilli powder.
-Add cumin powder, salt and 3 cups of water. Cover and cook till vegetables are done.
-Add garam masala powder and mix.
-Garnish with coriander.