Thursday, February 24, 2011

"Pretty in Pink"



@Studio Baker - "Berry Chocolicious"




















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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Lamb and Puri

I love Lamb curry and Puri. I could remember when I was eleven and we had moved in to our spanky new house. We had a Punjabi Indian family as neighbours and their house always smelt of heavenly curries. It smelt different from the curries which my mom made. I thought my mom's were great but that new smell from the Punjabi lady's kitchen moved me beyond words.

I had to ask her, just needed to find out what she had thrown into her pot. So nosy little me went poking around her kitchen one day. My oh my what a learing experience that was, she had me learning on  all kinds of Indian spices, her home made roasted spices for garam masala (her secret recipe), asafoetida and for the first time in my life I knew that mustard oil existed. This is something which my mom never use.

So everytime I made lamb and puri, it brings me down memory lane, back to her kitchen. She would serve it with jeera rice as well as puri or chapati and some lovely "spicy potato mash".

Blueberry Cream Cheese Cup Cake



















Monday, February 14, 2011

Tutti Fruity Cup cake

These babies come with fruit fillings of blueberries, strawberries and even tangy orange to balance the richness of the creamy cup cakes.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Strawberry filled Chocolate Cup Cake


I never say "No" to Chocolates! Especially "exquisite beauties" such as these made from 100% Belgium Chocolates....

Have tried many recipes but I like this one best from Chef Hidayat. Light and luscious.

Ingredients for the Chocolate Cup Cake:
2 cups self-raising flour (sifted)
1 tsp baking powder (sifted)
4 tbsp cocoa powder (sifted)
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup salted butter (softened at room temperature)
1/4 cup buttermilk or plain yoghurt
4 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla essence
1/2 to 1 cup bakeable chocolate chips (depending on how chocolatey you like)
 
Method:
Preheat oven to 180degreesC. Line muffin pan with cupcake paper cups.
Mix together the butter, yoghurt, sugar, eggs, vanilla essence. You may use an egg beater if you do not have an electric mixer. If you are using mixer, put it on low.

Add the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and mix gently. Add the choc chips and mix using a spatula.
Fill up cups up till 2/3 full only, as the cake will rise when baked.

If you are using filling (I used strawberry) you may fill up the cups up to 1/4 full and put 1 tsp of filling and top up with the cake mixture till about 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes. You may need to vary the baking time according to your oven. Mine bakes at 15 minutes.

Cool the cakes before you swirl them with icing cream. Decorate as you like...voila..you got cupcakes..:)

To make the icing cream:
1 cup butter (250g)
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
Cream to ivory white and add the flavour colour of choice and continue creaming until you get a nice colour that you like. I use strawberry pink
 
 

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Spinach Green Pulao

I just felt like going green that day. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and home alone. I needed something to eat with potato chips...lol..I said "green", I did not say healthy.. Something simple, something quick and most importantly as little washing up as possible. A one pot snack was in order.

Ingredients for Spinach Green Pulao
1 tbsp ghee or butter
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 cinammon stick
4 cardamom pods
3 cloves
1 tsp garlic mince
2 tablespoon chopped onions
1 tbsp chopped green chillies
1 tsp cardamom powder (optional)
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup basmati rice, soaked, washed and drained
2 cups water
2 cups chopped spinach and mustard green

Heat the oil, add cumin seeds, cinammon, cardamom pods, cloves, chopped onions and fry till translucent. Add the garlic and green chillies, stir around until fragrant, add the cardamom powder if using, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Add the drained rice, mix and fry a little. Add water and leave it to boil.When the water is three-quarter absorbed, fold in the greens gently. Cover and leave it alone till done. Turn off the gas, fluff gently and leave covered for 10 minutes before serving.

Breakfast -Grilled Mushrooms & Eggs

As much as I wanted to, I usually could not muster breakfast...its simply too early for me. Don't nag me...my mother does that all the time...I have heard it all before "breakfast is the most important meal of the day". My body could only manage coffee in the morning and nothing else. Except maybe on weekends, I may have some breakfast.

If I do have breakfast, I like something with mushrooms. Mushrooms on toast, parotta or chapati, mushroom omelette, fritata, quiche...But my all time favourite has to be grilled mushrooms with scrambled eggs basmati rice. This is really easy and I do not even consider it to be a recipe. Just saute the mushrooms with butter, ghee or olive oil, add a pinch of anything which fancies me, garlic, salt, pepper, basil, thyme, marjoram, even mint or coriander leaves, spring onions..chilli flakes..lol..anything or simply nothing, just salt and pepper. Scramble the eggs with butter and add a little plain basmati rice. It has to be butter for me...and its yum...comfort food at its best.

Mint Pulao

There would be days when I would miss Biryani but just could not afford the hassle and time of going through the rigmarole of Biryani preparation. My solution is mint rice.

Ingredients for Mint Rice:
1-2 tbsp ghee, butter or olive oil
1 handful cashew nuts
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1 Cinnamon stick
4 Cardamom pods
2 cloves
4 Shallots sliced
1-2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 cup finely chopped fresh Mint (save 1tbsp for garnishing)
1 tsp dried Mint (optional)
1/2 tsp Chilli flakes (optional)
1 Green Chilli slit
1 tsp lime juice (optional)
1-2 tsp yoghurt
Salt & pepper to taste
1 cup Basmati rice (washed. soaked and drained)
2 cups Water
Fried onions and chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:
Saute the cashew nuts in the ghee till it is brown not burnt. Set aside and throw in the cumin seeds till they splutter. Add the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and whatever whole garam masala you like. I use shallots but you can use onions as well. Fry them till they turn translucent and add the ginger garlic paste, green chillies and lots of finely chopped fresh mint. Saute till its fragrant. Finally stir in the yoghurt . I don't grind the mint as I like the texture of chopped mint. I prefer to add a pinch of dried mint. It is optional, so are the chilli flakes and lime juice. Salt and pepper to taste. Saute in the drained rice. Add water and cook it till its done. Turn off gas, fluff ever so gently and keep covered for few minutes before serving. Garnish with cashews, fried onions and coriander leaves.

Sarson Ka Sag Rice

This is for my sweet friend Monika Batasi. We are millions of miles away but we share the same taste in food. Moni hails from beautiful exotic Darjeeling and she is as beautifully exotic as her birthplace. She laughs at my food ideas as she knows that there is no such thing as "Sarson ka sag rice" in Indian cuisine or lots of other nonsensical stuff that I think of. It is something a mad Asian girl like me would do...lol. Although there had been some bad reputation on Mustard oil and even banned in some places, I could not help liking the taste of it. And so does Moni...:)... Lets just say we both love "living on the edge"..

The measurements below are just an estimate because I do not usually measure. I just eyeball everything and put the amount "as I feel its right"...lol. So you have to adjust to your liking too. Tough one but thats the way it is. To me cooking is about "what feels right"...if it is too rigid, its no fun.

Ingredients for Sarson Ka Sag Rice
1 tbsp Mustard oil
1 tsp Ghee (optional)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds(optional)
1 tsp cumin seeds1 piece dried chilli
4 cardamom pods (optional)
1 tsp finely minced ginger
1 tbsp chopped green chillies
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 to 2 cups basmati rice, soaked, washed and drained
2 cups water
2 cups chopped spinach and mustard green

This is essentially a pulao so it starts with heating the oil and ghee (if using). Splutter the mustard seeds (if using) together with the cumin seeds (essential). Throw in the dried chilli, cardamom pods, green chillis, minced ginger and turmeric powder. You really have to open wide your kitchen windows as the spices will heat up with a smoky aroma. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Saute together with the drained rice till nicely blended. Add water and let the rice boil till almost done. Gently fold in the vegetables and let them all finish cooking covered in the pot. When all the water has absorbed, gently fluff the rice, turn off the gas and keep covered. Leave it alone for 10 minutes and serve hot. Oh you may throw in Urad dhal or cashew nuts but I don't bother because I eat this rice with Chinese Kung Pao chicken which already has got loads of cashew nuts in them. Sarson ka sag rice with Chinese Kung Pau Chicken....Indian Chinese combo which works for me.

Cherry Tomato Rice

Ingredients for Cherry Tomato Rice:
1 tbsp ghee, butter or oil
1 tbsp yellow lentil - washed, soaked, drained (optional)
1 tsp cumin
1 pc dried chilli
Few pieces curry leaves (optional)
1 small pc chopped onion or shallot
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 - 1 tsp dried chilli powder
1/2 cup slightly crushed Cherry Tomatoes
Pinch (less than 1/2 tsp) asofoetida/hing (optional)
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup Whole Cherry tomatoes
Some finely chopped mint or basil leaves (optional)
2 - 4 cups cooked Basmati rice
 
Method:
Heat some oil. You may use mustard oil if you are adventurous...lol...Add the red chilli ,splutter the cumin, add yellow lentils and add asafoetida/hing (if using).
Fry a little until nice colour and fragrant. Add curry leaves and chopped onions and fry till translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and fry till fragrant. Add dried chilli powder and slightly crushed cherry tomatoes. Add salt & pepper to taste. Add the mint or basil leaves (if using). You may use dried if fresh is not available.
Fry for 5 minutes. Add whole cherry tomatoes and rice. Mixed gently and serve hot with grilled paneer or haloumi.

"Peshawari" Vegetable Biryani

Not sure if this is authentic Peshawari, as I am not Pakistani but I used this "Landi Kortal biryani" recipe by Shireen Anwar from http://www.khanapakana.com , with a little adaptation due to what was available in my kitchen. I must say I truly enjoyed and loved it to bits.

"Landi Kortal" is a location within the Khyber pass at the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. And the Landi Kortal Biryani is a kind of Biryani cooked by the tribes there...lol..food really takes me places, learned things which I never dreamt of. Shireen used chicken and chickpeas in her recipe. But I used mushrooms and brocoli instead.
I am not a vegetarian but I just felt that simple flavours from vegetables allows more room for me to enjoy the subtle fragrance of the rice.

 I tweaked the recipe a little as I had ran out of coriander powder and used cardamom powder instead. I also added tomato puree and yoghurt for a mild tang.
I like the Peshawari style biryani because the spices, spring onions and herbs makes it aromatic without overpoweringly spicy.

Ingredients for the Rice layer:
1 1/2 cups Basmati Rice (soaked, rinsed and drained)
2 strands Pandan/screwpine leaves (tie into a knot)
1 Cinammon stick
3 Cardamom pods
2 Cloves
Small bunch of mint & coriander leaves
1 tsp salt
4-5 cups Water

Ingredients for the Vegatable layer:
1 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 cup spring onions chopped
1-2 green chillis chopped
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup Mushroom sliced
1 cup brocoli or vegetable of choice chopped
1 tsp tomato puree and some cherry tomatoes
1-2 tsp plain yoghurt
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup coriander leaves
Salt & pepper to taste

Method:
For the rice, add all the ingredients for the rice (except the rice) to the water and boil till your kitchen smells heavenly...lol. The reason for boiling is to really flavour the water so the aromatic water will flavour the rice. (Cooking is chemistry, physics and art all in one.) I suppose you can use kewra or rose water to flavour too. I saw some at the supermarket but they were not from a natural source so I have doubts about using them.

Add the drained rice and half-cooked or three-quarter cooked them. Do not fully cooked. Drained and put aside. For the vegetable, heat the ghee and throw in the cumin seeds till it splutter. Add the onions and ginger garlic paste. Add the green chillis, turmeric, cardamom powder, spring onions, mint and coriander leaves. Mix them well and add the tomato and yoghurt. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the vegetables, mix well but do not fully cooked to maintain the crunch of the brocoli especially. Turn off the gas and do the layering of vegetable mixture and rice. Cover tightly and cook it on low for about half an hour or until done to your liking. Fluff them gently, turn off heat and let rest for 10 minutes before serving with raita.