Prunes Brownie (Eggless)

My recipe is totally inspired from Jeena's recipe of Prune's pudding and I give her full credit for letting this idea pop in my mind. Few days back I read Jeena's Recipe of Prune Pudding where she mentioned benefits of prunes and I was totally ignorant with what all can we do with prune, This was the first time I brought prunes and kept in my fridge for long time as I didn't know what to do.

Then I read her recipe and I wanted to try that but I was running short of all ingredients reason being as am leaving for India soon so am trying to empty my kitchen and didn't want to buy new things. She used Couscous, Dark Molasses Sugar , Honey, Cocoa Powder, Light Brown Sugar, Tin Prunes , White Danish Bread, Almonds and dusting sugar and funny thing is I didn't have any of these things except prunes :D not even bread, though bread is one thing which is always in my fridge and as it was already dark so couldn't go out and get bread
But I wanted to try prunes so badly that came up with idea of brownies and believe me it turned out so well.
I bet Jeena's recipe would be great to try and I will definitly try that one when I reach India but here I would like to share recipe for brownies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup semolina (suji/rava) - roasted
1/2 tin condensed milk (milkmade will do)
2-3 bars of dark chocolate (melted)
10 -12 prunes ready to eat ones
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup roughly chopped almonds and cashews
1/4 cup Butter - melted

Method:
Take roasted semolina in bowl and add condensed milk, melted chocolate, butter, baking powder and mix well. If you feel mixture is too tight you can add little bit of milk to soften it. Add prunes to it and mix well. Grease a baking tray and add this mixture to it. Now put the roughly chopped nuts on it. It will look like this.

Now pre-heat oven on 180 degree and then put the tray for baking. Bake on 180 degree for 10 mins and then on 150 degree for other 25 mins. You can test it with knife and if knife comes out clean it is done.
Cool it for 5 mins and take out
it's ready to relish :)

I already had my bite :D
P.S : You can read the health benefits of prunes on her blog

Papad sabzi

Today I was watching mirch masala on star plus where he was telling about papad curry and this is the one which I make most of the time and that too with three different ways as it is the most easiest and fastest recipe that I know. Being married in rajasthan, this one is prepared in rajasthan extensively so here is typical rajasthan papad ki sabzi

Papad Curry 1

Ingredients:

• Papad or popadam 2-3 (roasted or fried and kept aside)you can even use the left over papads from last night dinner


• Cumin seeds 1 tsp


• Curd - 2 tbsp


• salt to taste


• red chily powder - 1 tsp


• tumeric powder - 1/2 tsp


• chopped coriander - 1 tsp


• water 1 cup


• chopped garlic - 1/2 tsp (optional)


• Heeng 1 tsp (only if papad doesn't have hing)


• Ghee - 1 tsp
  

Method

• Add ghee to pan and crackle cumin seeds along with hing, fry garlic.


• Take the pan off the gas and add curd along with tumeric, chilly powder and then put it back on gas.


• Mix well and don't let it curdle, add water to it.


• Break papad to pieces and add it to curry and let it boil for 2-3 mins. Make curry thick as per your choice.


• Add salt to taste and garnish with coriander. it is ready

Papad Curry - 2

Ingredients:

• Papad 2-3 (raw papads)


• cumin seeds


• curd 1 tsp (optional)


• water 2 cups


• tumeric and red chilly powder,


• coriander powder


• salt to taste


• ghee - 1 tsp
  

Method:

• Heat ghee and crackle cumin seeds, add haldi and red chilly powder and coriander powder and saute well.


• saute till it forms a net like consitency (1-2 mins) then add water, you can also add curd to it.


• As the water come to boil add raw papad pieces and boil (2mins)


• add salt and it is ready

Papad curry -3

• papad roasted or fried 2-3 ,


• rest same ingredients except curd and water instead take cream or malai 5 tbsp

Method:

• Crackle cumin seeds in ghee and simmer gas


• Add malai to this and let it simmer and do not allow malai to become ghee


• Add tumeric and red chilly powder and cook for 3 - 4 mins then add papad pieces to it and bring to boil.


• Garnish with coriander leaves. it's ready

The above two curries are quite common in every rajasthani household and third one is my version which I like the most :) Biggest benefit of this curry is that it comes so handy when I run short of ideas or not in mood to cook as it takes only five mins and this is the one which is made by such ingredients which are always at my home

Tofu Curry

I had tofu for last three four days in my fridge and didn't knew what to do. Asked one of my friend and she gave me a wonderful recipe of this so thought of sharing with you guys.


Full credit of this recipe goes to Shikha Chopra, my friend here in UK, and this is how she told me to prepare:

Ingredients:

• SOFT TOFU 4 SMALL CUBES
• GREEN CHILLIES 2
• RED CHILLIES 2
• JEERA 1/2TSP
• CORIANDER SEEDS 1TSP
• TOMATO 1
• MUSTARD SEEDS FOR SEASONING
• OIL 2TSP
• BUTTERMILK 3CUPS
• CURRY LEAVES
• CORIANDER LEAVES
• SALT TO TASTE

Method:

Pour oil in kadai add mustard seeds and let it splutter

add tomatoes and fry

grind tofu, jeera, g. chillies, r. chillies, coriander seeds adding a little water

mix the ground paste in buttermilk

add salt to taste

add this mixture to the fried tomatoes

add curry leaves and corainder

keep it slow flame and take it off the stove when it starts boiling.

donot allow it to boil

It was so easy to prepare and turned out well too.
I served with hot steaming rice

Cookies this time

Ingredients:

1. All purpose flour (maida) - 1 cup
2. Baking Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
3. Butter (melted and unsweetened) - 1/3 cup
4. Sugar (powdered) - 1/2 cup
5. Vanilla essence - 1/2 spoon
6. Egg - 1
7. Crushed walnuts, almonds and cashews - 1/4 cup

Method:

1. Take all purpose flour in bowl and add baking powder, Mix well
2. Add butter to it and crumble with hands
3. Add Sugar to this, along with vanilla essence, nuts and egg
4. Mix well and form a firm dough
5. put in fridge for 15- 20 mins
6. Take out the dough and roll in shape of cookie (round)
7. press in center with thumb and place an almond (half slit) or a teaspoon of jam
8. Greese baking tray and arrange cookies over them
9. do leave some space in them as they tend to rise
10. Bake it at 180 degree for 10 -15 mins

p.s. I didn't pressed with thumb but it looks awesome

Eggless French Toast

This saturday wanted to try something new and easy so thought why not give a try to french toast but Indian way. I tried preparing and really came out well and is quite easy
And most important will find all the ingredients at home only.
So here it goes:

Ingredients

• 4-5 bread slices


• 1/2 cup rava/sooji


• 1/2 cup yogurt/curd


• 1 finely chopped onion


• 1/2 tsp ginger chilli paste


• salt to taste


• corriander finely chopped


• oil/butter to cook.

Method

Mix all the things except bread and oil and make a thick batter.
Take bread and cut them in squares or triangles as u prefer and can even cut there sides but I prefer not to cut

Coat the batter generously over the bread slices and cook on a tava till golden brown on both the sides adding a bit of oil or butter as required.

have it with ketchup

Coming up Next : Cookies this time

Cake Anyone????

It's been a long time I have updated my foodie blog.

So thought why not today. I always loved cakes since childhood and my mom used to happily bake for me. She even kept a seperate container of cake exlusively for me, which I never used to share with anyone :)

But as now it's long time I haven't had a cake from her, although had cakes from market but they didn't had the love she put in. So yesterday I thought why not I try my hand in baking a cake. I called up mom to know her recipe.

It was my first chance to bake cake and to be very frank I was bit nervous, don't know how it will turn out, but luckily it came out very well and is worth sharing with you guys.

So here goes the recipe as told to me by my mother:

Plain Sponge Cake:

Ingredients:

1. Maida (Self raising flour) --- 1 cup
2. Sugar --- 1 cup
3. Eggs --- 4 nos
4. Pure Ghee/Butter --- 1/2 cup
5. Milk --- 1/2 cup
6. Vanilla essence --- few drops
7. Baking Powder --- 1 level teaspoon

Method:

1. First of all take sugar and eggs in mixer and mix well.
2. Once it becomes creamy and smooth add ghee to it
3. Mix well
4. Add Milk and churn the mixer again. Mix it well
5. Now add maida or self raising flour gradually and keep mixing
6. Then finally add vanilla essence and baking powder
7. Mix it well for last time
8. Now pre-heat oven at 180 degree for 5 mins
9. Take a baking bowl and grease it with butter
10. Add the cake mixture to it, level it
11. Put in oven for 25 mins at the same temperature
12. Take out and do the knife test. Put a clean knife inside the baked cake if it comes out clean as entered cake is ready, if it has some cake particles stick to it, then it means it requires further baking for 5 mins or more. Once the cake passes knife test it is ready to be turned upside down in some serving tray

Voila cake is ready , enjoy your cake

P.s: I used ghee for baking.

Curd Rice

Hi friends!!!!

Long time I haven’t posted any recipe….that doesn’t mean I have stopped cooking here in Singapore :P

Instead I have increased cooking as here in veggie food is not available easily and the one we get is really very expensive….but life became so hectic here that didn’t got time to post any recipe. Here in I have learnt few new recipe’s although south Indian and not Singaporean :D And today am going to post one such south Indian recipe which I and Sachin liked it so much that once we get back to Jaipur first thing am going to prepare this only… So before we leave Singapore I thought atleast I should post one recipe…

So Friends here I am with CURD RICE :)

Time to Prepare : 10 to 12 hours….hahahaha…don’t you think that it is going to take so much time…what a heck…It’s really easy

Ingredients	Quantity
Rice	2 cups
Water	4 cups
Milk	5 cups
Curd	3 tbsp
Green chillies	4-5
Dried red chilly	2
Mustard Seeds	1 tbsp
Curry leaves	4-5
Peanuts (fried)	½ cup
Red chilly paste	½ tsp
Oil	1 tbsp

Method: (now let me assure you first it is really easy)

• Prepare rice with pinch of salt in it. (it’s upto you either prepare it in rice cooker or the conventional style but remember the ratio while prepare. Double the water, if rice is 2 cup water should be 4 cups)And keep it separate.
• Warm milk and mix 3 tbsp curd to it.
• Now pour this mixture (milk + curd) in the rice and mix it well.
• Cover this and Keep this mixture (rice + milk + curd) in warm place for 5 to 6 hours.
• After 5 or 6 hours take oil in pan and crackle the mustard seeds, curry leaves, chopped green and red chillies.
• Fry for minute and add this to rice bowl.
• Add peanuts also.
• Keep in fridge for 1 hour.
• Serve cold, garnish with coriander leaves, chopped tomatoes and cucumber slices.

I hope you will find it as good as Me and Sachin liked it :)

PS: Image has been googled as I didn't took the snap while I cooked :) so credit of image goes to who ever has prepared it ;)

~preeti