विजयादशमीच्या शुभेच्छा!:-)

Wishing everyone a very happy dusshera and may the new year bring lot of happiness in our lifes :))

Baked Mango Karanji

I have already posted recipe for baked Karanji. But this one is with a twist. While surfing on the net I came through the recipe of mango laddoos and instantly thought of preparing karanjis using mango flavour. Rest of the recipe is the for karanjis as poste earlier ; here is the link:

http://i-m-not-a-chef.blogspot.com/2010/11/baked-karanjis.html

For stuffing:-

2 cups of Grated coconut

1 cup Mango Pulp

 

Finely Chopped Dry Fruits of your choice

2 tsp. Cardamom Powder

 

1 tin of Condensed Milk

 

1 cup Milk Powder

 

Mix everything together except cardomom powder and cook it in the microwave till the time mixture thickens completely. Remove it from the Microwave and add cardomom powder. Mix. Let it cool down before you start making karanjis.

 

 

 

Follow the remaining procedure as mentioned in the link posted above.

 

 

 

 

Home-made Ghee

This was sitting in my draft for a long time and today I finally decided to post it. Butter shortage in Sweden few days back made me do this tedious yet satisfying job. I make ghee by using unsalted butter like most of us living outside India do. Some time back I had over- whipped the cream that I was suppose to use for cake and it almost tasted buttery. So When I had this emergency for Ghee; I thought let me try making butter from the whipping cream ..and then Ghee from the butter. lets get straight to the recipe:-


You will need:- 
1. Whipping Cream (atleast 30-40%) - Qty. can very as per your requirement. Around 11/2 cup Cream will give you approx. 1 cup butter ( little more or less as per fat percentage) and then ghee.
2. and Blender


1. Bring the Cream down to room temperature.
2. Pour the Cream in a tall container so that when you beat it, it wont come out and spoil your clothes. 
3. Using a blender, beat the cream till butter and liquid separates. It does take quite a bit of time, So please have little patience. It takes about 15-20 mins.

4. When the butter starts separating, the butter particles and water will start splattering  all over ; that is when you can be sure that your butter is done.

5. The butter will accumulate together, so with the help of a spoon take it out from the water and spread it on the plate.

6. Using a fork or back of spoon flatten it out; so that the excess water will come out. Drain that out. Your Butter is ready.
7. Now for Ghee add butter in to deep and heavy bottom pan. Put it on medium heat.

8. After some time foam will appear on butter and milk solids will start to settle down.
9. Continue cooking till all milk solids settle down and white foam appears over butter.
10. Remove and Wait till ghee cools down.

11. Strain using tea stainer and store in to any Glass Jar.
Your Home-made Ghee from Home-made Butter is ready now.

Easy Butter Chicken

Last Evening I had prepare Butter chicken, as you all know it takes a lot of time to prepare and I had loads of work to finish before dinner and also prepare dinner on time. So I tried the short-cut method to prepare this makhani gravy. There is nothing you can do about marination and grilling process for chicken. It takes the usual time it is suppose to take. But once that is ready you can prepare this gravy within like 10 mins. of course if you have all the ingredients in place. Just Read further for a simple Makhni Gravy which you can use to make Butter chicken, Veg. Makhanwala, Paneer Makhanwala etc.


http://i-m-not-a-chef.blogspot.com/2011/01/butter-chicken-murg-makhani.html is the link for your reference. Please follow the directions for the list of ingredient of Marination and Process.

and now for the Gravy:-

You will need:-
Fresh minced garlic 2 tbsp.
Ginger juliennes of 1 inch piece
Green chilli juliennes of 2-3
Mace Powder - 1 tsp.
Green Cardomom Powder- 2 tsp.
Kashmiri Red chilli powder - 2 tsp.
Coriander Powder-  1 tsp.
Kasoori Methi - 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Honey 1-2 Tsp.
Cream - 1/2 cup
Butter - 2 tbsp.
Store bought tomato Puree/Paste- 1 cup

phewwww...lot of ingredients..but trust me...the gravy gets ready in 10 mins.

1. Just to remind again Please follow the process for marination and grilling the chicken.
2. Heat Butter in Pan and add minced garlic. Saute for a minute or two. Add Chopped ginger and green chilli juliennes. Saute.
3. Add tomato paste/puree and saute. Incase you are using paste and 1/2-2/3 cup water(not for puree).  Add Mace powder, Coriander Powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder and salt.
4. Saute till the raw flavour of tomatoes goes away. Once oil starts oozing out; add Cardomom powder.
5. Add Cream and mix well. Add chicken, mix well. Let it come to a boil.
6. Add Honey to kill the sour taste of tomaotes. Finally add the kasoori methi rubbed between your palms; give a good mix and remove from heat.
7. Garnish it with fresh cream and serve hot.

Eggless Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Bought a new silicon muffin tray with flower shape. I wanted to try my hands on muffins and with berries in the season I immediately set my mind on blueberries. I started looking out for a recipe on the net and trust me there are thousands of them. This is a mixture of 2-3 recipes I read; I have modified it my way because some had flax seeds, some had eggs etc. ; I didn't have flax seeds available at home and I was not ready to use eggs as the "Ganesh Festival" is still on. They are great for breakfast, part of a lunch or as a snack. A perfect on-the-go treat. Just read further for the simple yet delicious recipe:-

Ingredients:- (will make about 6 good size muffins)
1 cup white whole wheat flour (whole wheat pastry flour is also fine)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda 
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar 
1/4 cup milk
40 ml vegetable oil (i used sunflower oil)
1/3 cup Fresh Orange juice 
1/2 tsp vanilla essence(optional)
1/2 cup fresh blueberries 

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degress C, line 6 muffin molds with wax paper/ grease the muffin molds.
2.Wash blueberries and pat them dry with a kitchen towl. Add 1tbsp of flour and coat them well. Set aside.
3. Sieve together whole wheat flour, baking soda and baking powder 2-3 times.
4. In a seperate bowl whisk together oil, sugar, milk and vanilla essence.
5. Make a well in between the flour mixture and slowly add in the liquid mixture, fold lightly using spatula. DO NOT over mix .
6. Now add in the flour coated blueberries reserving some for garnishing and fold in lightly.
7. If the batter is too thick then add orange juice as required. The batter should not be runny but of a thick consistency that you can spoon out.
8. Spoon the batter into the muffin pans, filling upto 3/4 full. Garnish with reserved blueberries.

9. Bake them for 20 to 30 mins, until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

10. Remove and serve them warm with a cold glass of milk or ice cream.

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi :-)

Hi Friends!

I know, I know that I’ve been missing from the blogging world and I assure you that I am back with bang and what better occassion would that be; other than "Ganesh Chaturthi".

सर्वाना गणेश चतुर्थीच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छा!!!!!!!!!गणपती बाप्पा मोरया !!!मंगलमुर्ती मोरया !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :)

I wish you all a Very Happy Ganesh Chaturthi and have a rocking festival ahead!!

 

That is the Ganesh Idol at my mom's place...and we are missing all the fun here in Sweden where things are definitely nowhere as exciting as they are; back in Pune :-(........

 

Special sweets are prepared on Ganesh Festival with the Modaks taking the place of pride.

I prepared them for the first time today all by myself. Earlier I only use to help mom while making it and now have understood how difficult it is to make them. It took me around 1.5 hrs. just to mold 9-10 modaks....phewwww...anyway will not be sharing the recipe as this only the first time I have tried this but I am sharing the photograph here.

 

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Dhokla Manchurian

You'll will be amused at the title of this post. But this is something very interesting...found this link while surfing on you tube and immediately thought of sharing with you all ; also found the story behind the invention of this dish ; it goes like this:- 

A Gujarati businessman went on a business trip to China with his wife. The shrewd businessman asked his wife to mix Chinese spices to the Dhokla and that's how the Dhokla manchurian was really born. This is how the story is said...but we Indians are very creative and adaptive into any environ that is the crux of the whole story....so i think you'll will enjoy this video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYneV-knkII

Please guys, If anybody knows the recipe for this particular dish; do share it with me, would love to try this version of dhokla. :-)

Pani Puri

Hello all the Bloggobuddies!! 
Re-posting this along with the recipe of Pani (the Puneri style) for Pani Puri. Pani for Pani Puri differs from city to city and all of them taste different and yummy.  But this one is specifically for "Punekars". This is specially for my friends here in Gothenburg. so friendssss here goes the recipe:-


For Tamarind Pani:- 
I would no specify the quantities here as it may defer according to the requirement. (But roughly the proportion for tamarind and jaggery is 1: little less than exactly 2)
Tamarind Pulp (Home-made/ readymade)
Dark Jaggery ( adding litle more than actually required jaggery for this; will make Pani more tastier and will give differnet flavour and colour)
Salt to taste
Chat masala 1 tsp.
Ajwain slightly crushed 1 tsp.
Mix in the tamarind and Jaggery very well and add water as per requirement. Mix in the salt, chat masala, ajwain. Chill it before using. Chilled water works best for Pani Puri.


For Tikhat Pani:-
Mint leaves, Green chillies, coriander, chat masala, jeera powder,fennel seeds, 1 inch piece ginger, 4-5 black pepper, 4-5 laung, 1 tsp. Ajwain, salt.
Grind everything together finely and then mix in water as per the required quantity. Chill it before using. Chilled water works best for Pani Puri.

I have received lot of requests from my friends to post the recipe for Puris for Pani Puri. In India it is widely available in every corner and nook of  every city. But Indians who are leaving outside India...it is really difficult for them to have panipuri as and when they want to. Of-course US and London are the exceptions that I know of, there may be many more places, but I did not have that privilege in Germany and now in Sweden. So for me, if I have to have Pani-Puri it requires a little bit of planning and patience. It takes a lot of time to make puris....haha...and if you make some 100 puris at a time then it takes patience...don't u agree.....so here goes the simple recipe:-

Refined Flour 1/4 cup

Fine Semolina 3/4 cup

Water 1/2 cup ( you actually require a little less water than 1/2 cup)

That is all you need and of course oil for frying. 

1. Now mix together Semolina and Refined Flour and add water little by little. Make sure that your dough does not become sticky. Cover and rest the dough for at least 10 mins. 

2. Divide the dough in 60 small parts and roll them out into a puri.

You can roll all the puris at once; just make sure you keep them covered on a wet kitchen cloth. (This will prevent the puris from drying and help them puffing evenly).

3. Fry the puris starting from the first batch that you rolled out in a really hot oil. Let them get proper colour and remove and drain on kitchen towel. Puris for Panipuri are ready.

Note:- If your dough becomes sticky, then use little oil while rolling out. But the puris will become soft eventually. Wait.......don't get upset. Pre-heat the oven on 200 o C and put all softened puris into the oven for 8-10 mins. and remove them. Once they get completely cooled down the puris will become crispy.

Danish Pastries

I love danish pastries. During my stay in Copenhagen; I had loadssssss of them.Well...I dont eat stuffed pastries often..but I do eat the freshly baked croissants...I just love them. During college practicals; we use to make these from scratch but now life has become much more easier as it is easier to get the frozen puff pastries. I did exactly the same this time and made few shapes. Hang on...I will share the basic Puff pastry recipe from scratch very soon. Right now lets get back to different shapes of danish pastries.

It requires 3 Ingredients: - Frozen Puff Pastry sheets, Jam ( i used Home-made Blueberry Jam), and Cream cheese ( I flavored it with little sugar and Lemon zest)

                               

There is nothing much to say about how we go about making these. The pictures that I will post; will speak for themselves. Just 2-3 things to be kept in mind are:- 

1. Take out the pastry sheets and thaw( leave them outside at room temperature separated on dusted surface to avoid sticking) them till they come to the room temperature.

2. Before you start making shapes, Pre-heat the oven at 200 o c for 10 mins.

3. Once the pastries are ready bake them for 15-20 mins. / till they turn golden brown. Remove them from the oven and cool them completely on cool rack.

so here are the pictures:-

1. Braided Danish

2. Windmill

3. Pinwheels 

4. Vol-au-vent

Strawberry CheeseCake

This is what I made some time back for my Anniversary. It's a no-bake cheesecake, very easy to prepare and extremely yummy and delicious. This needs little bit of preparation and planning. You will need time on hand to prepare this as it takes about 6-7 hours to set the cake. Read further for the recipe.

250 gm strawberries 

200 gm Digestive Biscuits ( Mcvities biscuits work fine)

3 tbsp melted butter 

1 tin Milkmaid ( sweetened condensed milk)
1 cup hung curd
1 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp granular gelatin / 4-5 gelatine sheets soaked in water
4 tbsp water

Chocolate vermicelli for garnishing (optional)

2 tbsp. Strawberry Crush for Garnishing (optional)
6-8 fresh strawberries - for garnishing

1. Grind the biscuits and mix in the melted butter with it. 

2. Line the base of the cake tin evenly and smoothly with the biscuit mixture. Put in the freezer to set for 15-20 mins / in the refrigerator for 1 hr.

3. If you are using granular gelatine/ gelatine sheets; it is necessary to soak them for 10 mins. before using.
4. Puree the strawberries in a mixie.

5. Beat the hung curd and condensed milk together in a different bowl.

6. Whip the cream in another bowl and blend well into the previous mixture of curd and condensed milk, also mix in the strawberry puree to make a smooth mixture. 

7. Melt the gelatine over double boiler/ in the microwave. When hot gelatine is added into the mixture, there will be some lumps that will form, to avoid this when gelatine is melted; add 2 tbsp. water to make it thin. 

8. Then pour the gelatin slowly into the strawberry mixture. Keep stirring continuously to avoid any lumps. It is very important that all the ingredients are at room temperature; not hot/cold.
9. Take out the frozen biscuit base from the refrigerator and pour the strawberry mixture onto the set biscuit base. Put in the refrigerator to set overnight/ at least for 6-7 hours .

10. Once set Decorate the cake with Chocolate Vermicelli, thinly sliced strawberries, and strawberry crush. Serve chilled.