Cauldron cake

I thoroughly enjoyed making these cute cauldron cupcakes for this month's Baking Eggless challenge suggested by Archana of 'The mad scientist's kitchen'.For the chocolate cupcakes,I have used white vinegar as the egg substitute and the cake turned soft and fluffy.The most challenging part was making the chocolate handles.It lasted only for few minutes but then it started to bend.The cake tasted fabulous and we all liked it.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour	¾ cup
Sugar	½ cup
Baking soda	½ tsp
Cocoa	2 tblsp
Salt	a pinch
White vinegar	½ tblsp
Vanilla essence	1 tsp
Oil	¼ cup
Water	½ cup

For the filling:
Butter	4 tblsp
Icing sugar	1/4 cup
Vanilla essence	½ tsp
whipping cream	2 tblsp
For the Chocolate icing:
Butter	1/2 cup
Icing sugar	1 ½ cup
Cocoa	1 tblsp
Vanilla essence	½ tsp

Method:

For the Cupcake:

• Preheat oven to 180 º C.
• Sift flour,cocoa,baking soda and salt.keep aside.
• Mix oil,water,vinegar and vanilla essence in a bowl.Pour this mixture to the sifted dry ingredients and mix till everything comes together.Add little extra water if the mixture is stiff.
• Pour the batter evenly on the muffin pan lined with paper liners and bake at 180 º C for 18-20 mins or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.Allow to cool.

For the Filling and icing:

• For the filling,beat butter and icing sugar till light and fluffy.Add vanilla essence and whipping cream and beat till fluffy.
• For the icing,beat butter and sugar till fluffy.Add cocoa and vanilla essence and beat till desired consistency is reached for piping.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and keep in the freezer.
• For the chocolate handles,melt baking chocolate in a double boiler.Fill it in a small cone made using parchment paper and pipe handles on the baking sheet and freeze till assembling the cake.

Assembling the cake:

• Take a small portion from the center of each cupcake and fill it with the prepared icing.
• Pipe the chocolate icing on the top of each cupcake.
• Peel the chocolate handles from the sheet and fix on each cupcake and serve.

Vegetable Kurma

This is one of the easiest kurmas made with mixed vegetables.It tastes best with chapathi.Lets quickly see the recipe.

Ingredients:

Mixed vegetables(carrot,peas,beans,potato,cauliflower)	1 ½ cups
Onion	1
Fennel seeds(Sombu)	½ tsp
Oil	2 tsp
To grind:
Onion	1 piece
Roasted gram dhal(pottukadalai)	1 tblsp
Coconut grated	2 tblsp
Ginger	1 small piece
Garlic	1 clove
Green chilly	1

Method:

• Cut vegetables to small cubes.Cook them using little water and keep aside.
• Grind the ingredients given in "To grind" list to a fine paste.
• Heat a kadai with oil and add fennel seeds followed by chopped onion and fry till the onion turns translucent.
• Now add the ground paste and cook well stirring continuosly till the raw smell is gone. 
• Add the cooked vegetables,salt and water needed to get the desired consistency and cook in low flame for 5-7 mins.
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Note:

• I have used frozen mixed vegetables(carrot,peas and beans) with potato and cauliflower.
• Don't add more Pottukadalai as it will thicken the gravy more.

Molten Lava Chocolate Cake

I made Molten Lava chocolate cake for this special day 12/12/12 and for Superstar Rajinikanth's Birthday.My husband is a great fan of Rajini and we enjoyed this gooey,chocolatey cake.If you are a chocolate lover this is a must try.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour	4 tblsp
Sugar	2 tblsp
Cocoa powder	1 tblsp
Oil	2 tblsp
Yogurt	2 tblsp
Milk	2-3 tblsp
Semi sweet Baking Chocolate	1 square
Vanilla essence	¼ tsp
Baking powder	¼ tsp
Baking soda	¼ tsp

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 °C.
• Take a mixing bowl and add Flour,cocoa,baking powder,baking soda and mix well with a whisk.
• In another bowl,add sugar and yogurt and mix well.Now add the oil,vanilla essence,milk and mix well.
• Slowly add the dry ingredients to this and mix well with a whisk till there are no lumps.Don't over mix.
• Grease and flour a ramekin and add half of this batter,then add the chocolate piece in the center and cover it with the remaining batter.
• Bake at 180 °C for 16-18 mins.The cake is ready when the top is firm and the edges starts to leave the sides of the pan.Cool for 10 mins and invert it over a plate carefully and serve.

Note:

• I have given the measurements for a Single serving cake.You can easily double up the ingredients to get 2 servings.

Kadai Paneer

Kadai Paneer is a semi gravy dish which goes well with roti or any pulao/rice.Though I usually make other gravies with paneer this is a simple yet tasty dish and no grinding of masalas too.Here comes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Paneer	1 cup
Capsicum	1
Onion	1
Tomato	1
Ginger chopped finely	1 tsp
Coriander Powder	2 tsp
Garam masala powder	1 tsp
Chilli powder	as needed
Salt	as needed
Kasoori methi	1 tsp
Oil	1-2 tblsp

 
Method:

• Chop the onion,tomato and capsicum.
• Heat oil in a fry pan and add the chopped ginger followed by onion and fry well.
• Add Chilli powder,Coriander powder,Garam masala powder,salt and mix well.Now add the chopped tomatoes and fry well till they turn mushy.
• Add the capsicum and fry for few minutes till its cooked but still retain its colour and crunchiness.
• Add the paneer cubes and some water and cook till water is absorbed well.
• Finally Crush kasoori methi and add it to the gravy.Cook for a minute and kadai paneer is ready to serve.

Note:

• If using frozen paneer thaw it well before adding to the gravy.
• I din't fry or roast the paneer before adding to the gravy .You can fry and immerse in hot water and then add to the gravy if you prefer.

Vegetable Pasta

Whenever I want to have a change from the usual tiffin varieties,I prepare this easy and tasty pasta with vegetables.By the time the pasta is cooking you can cut the vegetables and saute them.Once the pasta is done the dish gets ready within 5 minutes.

Ingredients:

Pasta	1 cup
Onion	1
Garlic finely chopped	1 tsp
Capsicum	1
Frozen peas	¼ cup
Pasta sauce	2-3 tblsp
Olive oil	2 tblsp
Salt	as needed
Chilli powder	as needed

Method:

• Cook Pasta in water with little salt and a dash of olive oil till aldente.The pasta should be cooked well yet firm enough to bite.
• Drain it in a colander and rinse with water once.Apply 1 tblsp olive oil,cover and keep side.
• Cut onion,capsicum into thin strips.If you are using frozen peas cook it separately in little water and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan,add finely chopped garlic followed by onion and fry well.Add the capsicum and fry till its cooked.
• Now add the peas,pasta sauce,chilli powder and salt and fry for a minute.Add the cooked pasta and mix it well with the sauce and vegetable mixture.Cook in low flame for 2 mins and serve hot.

Note:

• Once the pasta is cooked,rinse it once and apply oil so that the pasta doesn't dry out and also no need to add more oil when adding it to the sauce.
• Pasta sauce gives a nice taste to the dish and I prefer adding it but you can try substituting with little tomato sauce too.
• I have not added cheese in this recipe.You can add little grated cheese after adding the cooked pasta to the vegetables and cook till the cheese is melted and serve.

Gulab Jamun

This is a special post to me ...yes its my 50th post :-).I wish to thank everyone who have encouraged me and also today is my Dad's Birthday.I am sending these Gulab Jamuns as a virtual treat and wishing him many more Happy returns of this day.
           Coming to the recipe,I had many misses when making Gulab Jamuns using the ready made mix.Though everyone say its so simple,somehow I missed either in the frying part or making over-sticky sugar syrup and so on.Then I decided to try it from the scratch and there were so many recipes using milk powder,Khoa/mawa when I searched in the net.I picked up this recipe from here as I wanted to try with simple,easily available ingredients and the video was so helpful.I got perfect Gulab Jamuns and I am hooked to this recipe now.I have made it a couple of times to see whether I get consistent result each time before posting here and if you follow the recipe exactly you will definitely get Soft,tasty Gulab Jamuns.

Ingredients:

Milk powder	½ cup
Maida	2 tblsp
Baking soda	¼ tsp
Ghee	1 tblsp
Yogurt	2 tblsp
Oil	For deep frying
For the Sugar Syrup
Sugar	1  cup
Water	1 ¼ cup
Rose essence	1 tsp

Method:

• Take a bowl and add all the dry ingredients and mix well.Add ghee and mix well.Now add yogurt 1 tblsp at a time and mix well.You will get a slightly sticky dough.Cover and keep aside for 5 mins.
• After 5 mins,You can easily handle the dough to make Jamuns.Grease little ghee to your hands and make small balls of the dough.The main thing to note here is to make the balls smooth without any cracks.
• Heat a kadai with oil.
• Take a pan ,add sugar and water and once the sugar dissolves let it come to a rolling boil,now reduce the flame to the lowest and switch off after 5 mins.Add rose essence and mix well.
• Once the oil is heated,test by dropping a small ball of Jamun,Once dropped it should sit at the bottom for few seconds and then slowly come up.
• This is the right temperature,slowly add 4 to 5 jamuns in one batch and fry them evenly to light golden colour.
• Drain them on paper towels.
• While you fry the second batch,drop the first batch of jamuns to the sugar syrup(slightly warm it up by keeping in low flame) and continue with the rest of the Jamuns.Give a minimum standing time of 1 or 2 hrs before serving.

Note:

• Frying the Jamuns in the correct temperature ensures its cooked well properly and evenly.If you fry them at high temperature,the outside browns too fast and inside will be undercooked and it will not yield soft jamuns.
• You can start making the Sugar syrup just before frying the first batch. Once it comes to a rolling boil,simmer for 4-5 mins and switch off.
• The original recipe uses 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water for the sugar syrup but I have reduced here as I preferred that way.
• Again when dropping the fried jamuns to the syrup,heat the syrup to the lowest flame.The main thing to note is the syrup should be hot for the jamuns to absorb it nicely.
• The above quantity yields 10 to 15 Jamuns.
• I have used full fat milk powder here.
• The good thing is you can easily scale it to half and do a small batch and moreover this is totally free from any preservative.

Yellow Pumpkin Soup

When I was chatting with my friend,she told me about this Pumpkin soup and it sounded healthy and interesting. I gave it a try and liked it.The soup has a mild sweetness from the Pumpkin and small onion used. 

Ingredients:

Yellow pumpkin(Parangikai) cut into cubes	1 cup
Small onion finely chopped	2 tblsp
Garlic finely chopped	1 tsp
Black pepper powder	to taste
Salt	to taste
Butter or Olive oil	1 tsp

Method:

• Cook pumpkin cubes with little water in a pan till it becomes soft.
• Cool and puree it in a blender.
• Heat a pan,add butter,chopped garlic and small onions and fry well.
• Now add the pumpkin puree,pepper powder,salt and little water to get the desired consistency.
• Boil for 3-4 mins,garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Strawberry Smoothie

This Strawberry smoothie is so easy and quick to prepare.You won't notice the taste of Yoghurt and its tasty and healthy too.

Ingredients:

Strawberry	6-7
Sugar	2 tsp
Fresh Yoghurt	½ cup
Milk	½ cup

Method:

• Blend Sugar,Strawberries cut into halves to a paste. 
• Add yoghurt and milk,blend till everything is combined well and serve.