Chilli Cheese Toast

I am posting a tasty and easy to make toast with the goodness of cheese and the flavour of capsicum and green chilli.

Ingredients:

Bread slices	4
Cheddar cheese grated	1/2 cup
Butter	2 tsp
Green chilli chopped	as needed
Capsicum chopped finely	3 tblsp
Coriander leaves chopped  finely	1 tblsp
Pepper powder	a pinch(optional)
Salt	as needed

Method:

• Take the grated cheese,chopped capsicum,coriander leaves in a bowl and finally add needed green chilli,pepper powder and salt.Mix well.
• Preheat oven to 190 ºC.
• Arrange the bread slices on a baking tray.Spread little butter on the top side of all slices.Drop a tblsp of the cheese mixture on each slice and spread them evenly.
• Bake at 190 ºC for about 6-10 mins till the corners of the bread turn brown and the cheese is melted.
• Cut each slice into two triangles and serve as such or with Tomato ketchup.

Note:

• You can toast the slices on a tawa too till the bread becomes crisp and the cheese is melted.
• Add green chilli according to the spice level you want.If making for kids use sparingly.
• You need only very little salt as the cheese already contains some salt.
• I have used processed cheddar cheese in this recipe.

Pudhina Kothamalli Thogayal

This Pudhina Kothamalli thogayal(Mint-Coriander chutney) is a combination of mint and coriander leaves along with coconut and spices.It is so easy to make and I have not used onion and garlic here.It goes well with Idli/Dosa and can also be mixed with rice.

Ingredients:

Mint leaves	1 cup
Coriander leaves	1/2 cup
Coconut grated	2-3 tblsp
Channa dhal	1tblsp
Urad dhal	1 tblsp
Red chilli	1
Asafoetida	¼ tsp
Tamarind	a small piece
Tomato(see note below)	1 small
Oil	1 tsp

Method:

• Take out mint leaves from the stalk and immerse in a bowl of water. After 5 mins any dirt/mud would have settled down.Now take out the leaves and rinse again.Clean the coriander leaves too.Chop the coriander leaves rougly.
• Take little oil in a pan,add channa dhal,urad dhal and roast till golden brown.Add the red chilli,asafoetida and Tamarind and saute till chilli is roasted.Tranfer the contents to a plate.
• Now add the chopped tomato and fry till it becomes mushy.Add the mint and coriander leaves and fry till it just shrinks in volume.
• Allow to cool and grind everything together with coconut and salt to a fine paste.
• Pudhina Kothamalli thogayal is ready to serve.

Note:

• Adding Tomato is optional.Just proceed with the preparation mentioned above except for the addition of tomato if you don't want to use tomato.I add tomato when making it as a side dish for Idli/Dosa.
• Add red chilli according to the spice level you want.

Eggless Dry fruit Cake

This Eggless dry fruit cake loaded with dry fruits and nuts is a flavourful and yummy cake which is easy to make too.  

                    " Wish you all a Happy New Year 2014 " 

Ingredients:

All purpose flour	1 ¼ cup
Baking powder	½ tsp
Baking soda	½ tsp
Sweetened condensed milk	½ tin
Butter melted	1/3 cup
Powdered sugar	2-3  tblsp
Dry fruits(golden raisins,tuitti fruity,black raisins)	½ cup
Nuts(sliced almonds,walnuts,cashew)	½ cup
Vanilla essence	½ tsp
Spice powder(Powder 2 cloves, seeds from 2 cardamom,small piece of cinnamon with 1 tsp sugar)
Milk	½ cup
For the caramel
Sugar	3 tblsp
Water	¼ cup

Method:

Caramel preparation:

• For the caramel, first warm 1/4  cup water and keep ready.Take a sauce pan and add sugar.let the sugar dissolve fully. Tilt the pan around so that it melts evenly.Once the sugar is melted it starts to become light golden.Once it becomes rich golden in colour immediately switch off  and add the warm water.(Be careful while adding water as it might splash). After sometime mix well and the caramel is ready.

Cake Preparation:

                            

• Take the chopped nuts and dry fruits in a bowl and add a tsp of flour and mix well.
• Preheat oven to 170 º C.
• Sift the flour,baking powder and baking soda.
• Take the condensed milk in a bowl.Add the melted butter and mix well with a whisk.Now add the prepared caramel,vanilla essence,milk,spice powder and mix well with a whisk.
• Now add the flour,powdered sugar and mix till there are no lumps.If the batter is very thick add little milk and mix.(The batter will be slightly thicker than regular cake batter)
• Fold the dry fruits and nuts gently.
• Transfer the batter to a greased and floured cake pan and bake at 170 º C for around 40-50 mins till a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Once done,cool completely before slicing else it might crumble.

Note:

• Use dry fruits and nuts of your choice.
• If you don't want to prepare caramel you can skip it and add extra milk and proceed ,but the taste may slightly vary.
• Start checking the cake after 30 mins.The baking time varies with oven.

Sending this to Vardhini's Bake fest# 27 hosted by Divya.