BANANA-WALNUT LOAF

To be frank i don't know the difference between a loaf and a cake.i just googled it and got the answer as" it depends on the shape ".if its made in a rectangular dish then its a loaf and in a normal cake tin it is a cake.Am I right?many r familiar with this banana and walnut combination i guess.I used freshly de-shelled walnuts & fresh banana .We have a Persian grocery store near by my place where i get my fresh produce .I always bring walnuts (with shells) which r very cheap.Walnuts have Omega-3 and its very good for health.I only deshell them when ever i want to eat in order to keep them fresh.

The cooking time of this is more than the usual cakes or loafs .Banana helps this loaf to be moist even after cutting n storing.I topped the loaf with chopped almonds,chopped walnuts and chopped raisins.When i was about to take from the oven i was happy to smell it.The golden raisins n banana smell was too good...i loved it...finally my husband certified that the cake really came out well n its very tasty .Oh! i was very happy then...





1 cup maida/all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 eggs(medium)
1/8 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup mashed banana or 1 1/2 bananas
baking soda
pinch of salt
butter 2/3 stick finely chopped or butter at room temp.
non-stick cooking spray
dry fruits of ur choicefor garnish finely chopped a handful


mix all the wet ingredients and sugar and beat with an electric beater for 2 minutes.
now add the dry ingredients.
beat for 4 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven at 350 degrees F.
spray an oven proof dish with non-stick cooking spray or
line an aluminium foil in the tin and spary with non stick cooking spray.





pour the batter into the tin .
bake it on 350 degrees F for 30 to 40 minuntes or till a skewer comes out clean.
transfer it into a serving plate and cut into slices with a bread knife.

TINDORA IN SESAME POWDER

4 cups finely sliced tindora

salt

chilli powder

red chillie 1

3 spoons of sesame seeds

crushed garlic

karivepaku karam 1/2 spoon(optional)

fry tindora in oil till desired.

meanwhile u can make the sesame powder.

dry roast sesame seeds till they r light brown.

grind red chillies and sesame seeds to a fine powder.

add this powder to the fried tindora.

add salt,chilli powder,crushed garlic .

fry for 5 min and serve hot .

chapathi with tindora and home made kaju barfi

PANEER VADA

i just gave a try on paneer vada.i followed the aloo tikki recipe..but i used different ingredients.i din't use any veggie that binds and holds the texture.i want to use whole paneer and some seasonings.i concentrated on taste and not on texture or color.i don't want to fry it as paneer itself has lots of fat .so i baked it using non-stick cooking spray.

paneer 1 brick grated
1/4 cup chopped cilantro and mint
salt
methi and jeera powder 1/4 sp
garam masala
chopped ginger
onions 1/2 cup finely chopped
green chillies finely chopped

mix all the ingredients.
this is a thick mixture .
make small balls out of it and press each ball in middle of ur palms.
line a baking sheet with aluminium foil and spray non-stick cooking spray.

place the paneer on the sheet bake it for 20 min on 300 .
now let it cool and turn them.
i said let them cool because the paneer melts little bit and u can't turn them.when it cools slightly they regain their texture and u can turn them easily.
bake for another 15 min or till brown.
serve it with coriander chutney.

KARIVEPAKU KARAM &VANKAYA KARAM

VANKAYA KARAM:

This is a powder that is used for making brinjal fry.the powder is stuffed into the brinjal and roasted in oil which is popularly know as 'gutti vankaya masala' in andhra.the flavors of sesame ,urad give a rich taste to this dish.i usually make this powder and store in the refrigerator .i use it for only this stuffed brinjal curry.

4 table spoons urad dal,sesame seeds,dhania,cumin seeds
2 table spoons chana dal
4 red chillies or as per ur taste
salt to taste
2 table spoons coconut powder

dry roast all the ingredients except coconut powder and then fry for 5 to 6 min on a very very low flame.
now add coconut powder and saute for 2 min .
grind them in batches into powder.
grind the last batch coursely so that the taste is so good and crispy .

KARIVEPAKU KARAM




i add 1/2 a teaspoon of this curry leaves powder in some selective dishes .this has many advantages
those who dont have curry leaves at the time u need, u can add this powder.
good to use in idles,dosa with ghee.
good for those who dont like to eat curry leaves in tadka or other form.
good for preventing grey hair.

dried curry leaves 5 hands full
3 spoons urad dal
3 sp djania
2 sp chana dal
3 sp cumin seeds
dry red chillies as per ur taste
salt

dry roast the curry leaves for 5 min stirring it continuosly to take away the remaining moisture.
dry roast all the other ingredients
grind them in batches to a fine powder .
store it in an air tight container.

BOTTLE GOURD HALWA

1 small bottle gourd

1/4 brick of khoya/khoa/mawa

sugar

water

1/4 cup ghee

cashews

peel and grate bottle gourd.measure the amount of bottle gourd in a cup.

wash and grate khoya brick.measure the amount.

now take sugar equal to the number of cups of bottle gourd and khoya.

mix only a 1/4 cup of water with sugar and bring to boil.

meanwhile pan fry the grated bottle gaurd with 2 sp of ghee.

fry till water leaves the bottlegourd.

make sure that the sugar syrup in a soft ball stage.

add this sugar mixture to the fried bottlegourd.

stir well .add khoya,cashews fried in ghee and the remaining ghee.

stir till the mixture thickens.

serve hot or cold.

making sugar syrup:

for ball stage:

for making sugar syrup u need to take 4 parts of sugar and 1 part of water all the time.

boil it and when u see the bubbles forming,take a small bowl and drop sugar syrup into the water.

check if u can make a ball out of the it.then it is ready to use.

for string stage:

for string stage take a little amt of syrup .

make sure it is ok to touch and check using two fingers.

if there r any string between ur fingers then it is in string stage.

different type of recipe requires different syrups.

JAM ROLLS

JAM ROLLS these r my favorite when i was in INDIA ...i searched for jam rolls here in LA but couldn't get one...and finally i decided to make them...the rolls i had in india has mixed fruit jam and coconut topping instead of frosting......and today i made my own way of whipping cream frost with a teaspoon of gelatin to make its texture look stiff and thick.i used icing sugar instead of normal granulated sugar.for the sponge cake recipe i dint follow any recipes but i added an extra egg yolk,pinch of baking soda and two tablespoons of milk.it really came out well and it had the texture i needed inorder to roll the cake. luckly the cake didn't get cracks while rolling it...

for cake

3 eggs
flour
baking soda a pinch
baking powder 1 teaspoon
milk 2 table spoons
sugar
foil
non stick cooking spray
butter
jam of ur choice

for frosting

small box of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 pack gelatin powder
2 tablespoons water
electric hand beater


prepare the cake batter (follow the link).take an oven proof tray place a foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray or butter.
pour the batter and make sure that the batter is only1/4 inch thick.



Bake it for 10 to 15 min on 350 degrees F or till a tooth pick comes out clearly.now meanwhile make the frosting with whipping cream.

Trim off the edges with a bread knife and make a perfect square out of it. roll with the towel as soon as u bake it.so that the cake stays moist and does not get cracks....

place the sqaure on a dry towel and fold it as closely as possible.

set it aside for 30 minutes.

after 30 min unroll the cake remove the towel and spread any jam of ur choice.

now roll it back very carefully.

dissolve the gelatin in 2 table spoons of water.now in a wide bowl pour in the heavy whipping cream,1/4 cup icing sugar,2 table spoons of gelatin water.beat on high till stiff peaks form and place it in a refridgerator for 45 min.save the time by doing it at the baking time.


now frost the roll with the whipped cream frost place a paper napkin on both the sides of the roll inorder to clean the mess easily.

frost the rolls and remove the papers.

decorate with straberries or oranges or with roses made with icing.

place it in the refridgerator till u serve.

slice it and serve.

ORANGE CAKE WITH WHIPPING CREAM FROST

This is my first experiment on home made frost and decorating the cake.There r many types of frosts.royal icing,butter cream frost,cheese cream frost,whipping cream frost.As a beginner i wanted to start with whipping cream frost.i dint know what to add and how to start with.With the hep of some sites and my views i planned it and made the frost with no additions to it except color and sugar.I wanted to take the cake decoration class..but it dint work out as there is no time....
there is a tip for u the amount of sugar,eggs and maida should be equal then u'll surely get a perfect cake..trust me..

1/2 cup orange juice
2 eggs
maida
sugar
baking powder 1 tea spoon
butter 1/2 cube(room temp)
heavy whipping cream
hand beater
orange food color
mandarine oranges can

Take a measuring cup and add eggs to it.
see how much quantity u have.
take the same amount of sugar as eggs and pour it into a wide bowl.
add butter in to the same bowl and beat it together till everything blends.
now take the same amount of maida as sugar and add a tea spoon of baking powder and sift it.
now add the sifted flour to egg, sugar and butter mixture.
now add the orange juice(1/4 cup).make sure that its not too thin.after adding the orange juice it should be like idle batter.
grease the cake tin with nonstick cooking spray or butter.
bake it on 350 degrees F for 20 min. or till a fork or tooth pick comes out clean.
cool it.

when the cake cooled u can start frosting it.

take a wide bowl. pour in whipping cream, 1 sp of sugar(u can add more if u want to), 1 sp of orange juice.
beat it with an electric beater on high till stiff peaks form.it should be very thick .
now take this and put it in the freezer for 20 min .
now take ur cake decorating stuff and decorate it with frost and oranges. do not frost untill the whipping cream is thick .
u can add any food color for ur design.

CHICKEN TANDOORI

chicken drumsticks 1 pound(6 pieces)

tandoori masala powder 2 spoons( i used MDH)

curd 1 cup well beaten

salt

ginger garlic and green chillies paste 1 sp each

lemon juice 2 spoons

red chilli powder

dhania powder1 sp

food color

remove the skin from chicken and wash .

take a wide mouthed bowl and mix all the ingredients except chicken.make sure that the color,salt,spice is perfect.

add chicken pieces .cover with plate and plastic wrap.

marinate it overnight in the freezer.

take it out before several hours of baking.

make sure that the pieces r soft .

take an oven proof tray and place the aluminium foil.

arrange the pieces.

bake it on 450 degrees F for 20 min and turn the pieces and bake for 10 more min so that they cook well on both sides

EGG PUFF & SWEET ROLLS

Oh! my god i made egg puff this is unbelievable..when i was in india i use to concentrate much on the making of puff than enjoing it.At that time i dint know how its made.i just gave it a try and succeeded...thank god that was so yummy


puff pastry sheets
boiled eggs 2(2 puff can be made out of 1 egg)
salt
garam masala little
jeera and methi powder a pinch
chilli powder
egg wash or water

place the puff pasry sheet on a flat surface cut 1/2 inch on any two sides to make it small(10 cm *10 cm) to make a perfect square.
dust chilli powde,salt ,garam masala,jeera methi powders.
put more in the middle.
cut the boiled egg .
place one half (yellow downwards) on the pasrty sheet and hold the two ends and fold it.at the fold apply some egg wash...so that this acts as glue.
bake on 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.

sweet rools can be madde out of scrap.

take the left over pieces and dust sugar on it.

roll and press gently in middle of ur palms.
bake them along with the egg puff.

CHILLI CHICKEN

chicken boneless and skinless 1 pound

green chillies 7 or 8 cut long

curry leaves handful

lemon juice 1/2 cup

garam masala

salt

chilli powder

oil

marinate the greenchillies in lemon juice before staring the process.

cook the chicken curry.

seperate the pieces.

take a wide pan add a spoon of oil.

leaving the lemon juice add green cillies and fry for a minute.

sprinkle 1 sp lemon juice on chillies.

now add chicken pieces and fry till desired .

if required add garam masala,salt n pepper(it tastes better if u add a pinch of salt little garam masala n pepper)

add curry leaves and fry for another 2 minutes.

sprinkle 1/4 sp of lemon juice..