Roasted red bell pepper hummus

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 can chickpeas; drained
1/2 cup red bell peppers; roasted
2 garlic cloves; minced
1 tsp kasmiri chilli powder
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt


Add all ingredients but the oil into a food processor and start processing. Add the oil slowly until you reach the consistency you’d like. Enjoy it with edible spoons IE with chips of your choice(pita chips/ tortilla chips/ crostini's).

Vanilla cake with choc frosting

Mix together cake flour, water, eggs and oil to a smooth batter.


Spray the pan with cooking spray or smear with butter generously. Bake at 325F for 1 hr for a 8 inch diameter by 3 inch height. ( 8 X 3)


Remove from oven. A well done cake should leave the sides of the pan.


Remove after 10 mins, while it is still warm to ensure the easy release of the cake.


Cool on a cooling rack till completely cooled.


Smear some icing on the base of your cake board so that the cake won't slide during placing.


Make as many layers as desired. In my case, due a good height of cake pan, I got 4 layers out of 3".


Pipe a ring of icing so the filling does not ooze out, between each layers.


Ice the top of the cake first by using a lot of icing on top since it is easy to remove extra icing but hard to put it back on if your spatula touches the cake, making all the crumbs to ruin your cake.


Ice the sides next, again without letting the spatula touch the cake. At this point, the spatula should touch the icing only at all times, for the same reason explained above.



A comletely iced cake, also called crumb coating. The cake is visible and the crumbs may show through the icing...no worries, since this is getting a second coat of icing. Now the cake can be chilled for an hour to seal the crumbs. I skipped the step since I did not get crumbs on my first coat.


A second coat was applied(In my case chocolate) Decorated and was ready for presentation.





Here's a second look as I totally loved making this for my sweetie!


The irresistable chocolate rose. If I may say so, myself!

Sourdough bread

Sourdough 101
Don't freak out looking at the pictorial....it is just broken in parts so a beginner can do it with no(or less) confusion. It's pretty easy considering that I've failed a few times and came up with a no-fail recipe. I guarantee it!

Ingrediemts needed are pretty much what we always have ready. Theres nothing much to it. Really! What gives this bread a 'tang' is what we need to have ready a day in advance.






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A starter:
Mix together 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup warm water, 1/2 cup yogurt and 1 tsp yeast(optional) and let sit for 12-24 hrs.
I left mine for a full 24 hrs.
At this point you can do one of two things:
a) take half and follow rest of the procedure with it or share/discard the second half
b) keep the second half & feed half cup water and 1/2 cup flour and let sit 24 hrs for another day of bread making/pancakes/muffins/scones etc.
It can also be saved in refrigerator, loosely covered and keep feeding it every week and this lasts good for a whole year( some bakers say, indefinitely) provided, u take half out and add half cup of each water and flour, religiously. That is another topic with a longer explanation and for another day.

So here's my starter all mixed in & ready to work its magic.


This is how it looks next day. Add 1 1/2 cup flour and 3 cups water and mix well.



This is how it looks after 12 hrs. Let it sit 12 more hrs to get the tang.


24 hrs later, you will see a well fermented batter.


Add 2 to 2 1/2 cups of flour, 3 tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp salt, 1tsp sugar and mix well to make a pliable dough.


This is how your dough should look like....non sticky and smooth.


5-6 hrs later, the dough has doubled up in volume. You'll know it is ready when you poke a hole at the center & the dent stays in.


Take a look at the beautiful gluten that was working hard to make it look like this...stretchy, yeasty smell & pliable. Its time to punch it down, shape into whatever your heart desires. Typically a loaf, baguette, Boule or rolls.



I shaped mine into lump (talk about being lazy. In my defense, all the wait for the dough to be ready was tiring enough!). Set aside for 1 hr (OR until it has doubled up in volume) to proof( second rise).


Mist the risen dough with water (for crisp crust) and bake for 17- 20 mins @ 450F. For a better color, use beaten egg white as a wash instead of water.
My baked bread sort looked pale...sigh! I wasn't happy with the color but the taste was 'to die for'. The smell that filled my kitchen was amazing. Absolutely a keeper recipe for us, I'll work at it to achieve the color as well as I see many more breads coming out of my oven.
* A well baked bread should sound hollow when tapped on and the crust should feel crisp when poked. Yeah, I can be crazy like that!


Now admire the beautiful bread, pat yourself on the back and bite into the bread with a pat of butter.

Methi paratha

Ingredients:
Wheat flour
Methi leaves - 1 bunch, finely chopped
garlic - 4 cloves, grated
turmeric - 1 tsp
red chilli powder - 1 tsp
amchur powder - 1/2 tsp
jeera powder - 1/2 tsp
salt
In a large bowl, add all the above ingredients with enough water to make a pliable dough. Cover and set aside for a couple of hrs to let the gluten work.
Roll out thin parathas and roast on a griddle with a little oil.
Serve hot with mango pickle.

Special request by My Prince!

Thalipeet

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Rice Flour
1/2 cup Gram Flour
1 tbsp Semolina
2 cups cabbage
1 medium Onion,
2-4 Green Chillies,
Coriander Leaves,
1/2 tsp Jeera Powder
1/2 tsp dhaniya Powder
1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
Salt to taste
Oil for roasting


Method:
Finely chop the cabbage, onion, green chillies and coriander leaves.
Mix all the ingredients except oil it into stiff dough using water.
Heat the griddle and apply oil. Keep a small ball in the centre of the griddle and flatten using a ladle or fingers to make the thinnest roti you can.
I also make a small hole in the centre, like the way traditional Maharastrians make to pour a tsp of oil. Oil is applied in the centre as well as the edges of the thalipeeth. Cook evenly and roast both sides to crisp.
Serve with yogurt and pickle.

Happy Valentine's day!

The one thought that kept me occupied all of today is the thought of Valentine's day tomorrow. Hands down, it is my favourite holiday. I've been day dreaming of all the heart shaped desserts I can do.....cheesecakes?,flan?, decadent cakes?....just can't decide!
Festivities went with tiramisu brought by R Kini and Anjeer kulfi made by me. Anjeer kulfi recipes can be found here.

Methi paneer

Ingredients:
Onion- 1, finely chopped
garlic - 2 cloves, crushed
paneer- 100 gms, crumbled
methi leaves- 1 bunch,just leaves, about 2 cups
jeera - 1 tsp, crushed
red chilli powder - 1 tsp
turmeric - 1/2 tsp
garam masala - 1 tsp
salt

In a kadai, heat 2 tbsp oil and saute onion till translucent.
Add all the masala powders, salt and paneer peices.
keep stirring to mix in spices and roast paneer peices, about 5 mins.
Add methi leaves, and cover and cook for about 5 mins till leaves wilt and are cooked.
Serve hot with Chapathi.

Falooda

Ingredients: Makes 4
1 cup Rose syrup
1 cup cup milk
6 tbsp basil seeds (tukmariya/subza) - soaked in water
6 tbsp vermicelli - cooked only for a couple minutes
4 scoops vanilla icecream
4 tablespoons of strawberry jelly

Method:
In a tall glass,first add the rose syrup, add the basil seeds, vermicelli and milk very gently so it layers nice and doesnt mix up. Top it with icecream and jello chunks. Needs long spoon and preferably smoothie straw to indulge in both the solid and liquid chilled experience.

Garlic, pesto, marinara bread

Recipe is same as the Rustic Italian bread, rolled into a french bread shape.

Shrimp Scampi

Not a great pic, but, this will do to get the idea! The scampi tastes great with crostini, like they serve it at "Bertucci's", although it is also served with linguine and marinara sauce at most Italian places.

Ingredients
Shrimp - 1 lbs
garlic - 4 cloves,crushed
olive oil - 1 tbsp
butter - 2 tbsp
dry white wine - 1/2 cup
lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Parsley for garnishing
salt & pepper


Heat olive oil in a skillet, add butter and shrimp. When the shrimp has turned pink, add salt and garlic; saute for 2 mins. Remove shrimp and set aside.
In the same pan add wine and lemon juice and bring it to boil. Add shrimp, parsley and season with pepper and a dash of olive oil.
Serve immediately with crostini's.

Sugar cookies

Ingredients
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp salt

Method:
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Roll out dough on floured surface or in between two sheets of parchment paper, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on parchment lined cookie sheets. Do not grease or flour the sheet.
Bake for 6-8 mins (the edges will turn slightly brown). The cookies at this point will look under done but it is completely cooked. Remove the baking tray and let cool( if not cooled, the cookie will crumble during removing from the sheet) 2 mins on the counter top, remove cookies with a statula and lay them on wire rack to cool.

Note: this dough can be made and shaped into a log, covered with parchment paper, saran wrapped and stored in ref/ freezer for later use. If frozen, thaw it for 1 hr before slicing.Refrigerated and sliced cookies can go right in the oven with the addition of 2 mins during baking time.

Apple strudel muffins

Ingredients for the batter:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups, finely chopped apples

for strudel/ topping
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup oats
1 tbs butter

Method
Batter: In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla, stir in apples, and gradually add the flour mixture ( dry ingredients) a little at a time making sure that the batter is lump free.

Strudel:In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour,oats and cinnamon. Cut small pieces of butter and add in, blend until mixture is like coarse crumbs. This crumb is used as Sprinkle over tops of muffins in muffin pan, before baking .

Bake:Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line with cupcake liners - in a 12 cup regular muffin pan or 24 mini muffin pan. * I sprayed the muffin pan with cooking spray on top of the liners for clean removal of muffins.* Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan - half full only.
Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven for 12 muffins, or 7-12 mins for mini muffin pan (until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean). Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

cabbage bhaji

Ingredients
Cabbage -small, about 1 lbs, finely chopped
potato - 1 small, thinly sliced
Green chilies 3, chopped
Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon
Oil 3 tbsp.
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Mustard seeds 1 tsp

Heat the oil in the kadhai and put the mustard seeds and once they start spluttering add green chillies and curry leaves. Add potato,cabbage and turmeric, cover and cook the cabbage( without adding any water) till done. Add salt and keep stirring the bhaji every once in awhile to roast the vegetable.
Serve with hot Rice or Chappathis.

bhindi fry bhaji

Ingredients
Bhindi/ lady's finger/okra 1 lb
garlic, 3 cloves, crushed
jeers 1/2 tsp. crushed
turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
red chilli powder 1 tsp
amchur powder 1/2 tsp
salt

Method:
Cut okra into slices and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan add jeera and bhindi and fry till most of the sliminess has disappeared and the bhindi has browned its edges. this will take about 15 mins.
Add amchur powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Fry for a few more mins to evenly coat the bhindi and get it crispy.

ghardhudhi upkari

 

Ingredients:

1 ghar dudhi/ Bottle Gourd,washed, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 cup Channa Dal/Split Chickpeas, soaked in water for 30 mins

1 Onion, thinly sliced
2 Green Chillies, slit

1 tsp Garam Masala

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Jeera
1 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

Method:
Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds sliced onions. Saute till they turn translucent.Add slit chillies, garam masala, turmeric powder, soaked chana dal, 1 cup of water and cover and cook for 5 mins. when the chana is half cooked, add ghar dudhi and mix well. cove and cook till done.
Serve with chapathi's.