Chocolate Cake hai Khaana, toh khud banana :)

Thanks to @ohayesha who baked a cake for her friends birthday and twitpic-ed it. That just could not stop me from being tempted and I rushed into kitchen for baking one for myself. And, my cousins somehow smelled that I was going to bake a cake and they showed up on the door. :D And rest as they say, is History.

 Brownie Hot Chocolate Cake.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (maida)- 1 and 1/3 cup,
Sugar- 1 and half cup,
cocoa powder- 4 tablespoons,
Baking powder- 1 teaspoon,
Vanilla Extract- 1 teaspoon,
Butter- 3/4th cup,
Some boiling water,
Eggs- 3,
Choco chips,
Chopped walnuts - to garnish.

Method:

•  In a bowl, mix flour, add sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and vanilla extract.
•  In another bowl, beat eggs, butter and boiling water together.
• Now, mix all the ingredients to make a smooth batter, beat for few minutes.
• Add choco chips and nuts.
• Bake in a preheated oven 350 degrees F or 180 degrees C for 20-30 mins

-or-
in a Microwave for about 8 minutes.


For Frosting,

 

Let the cake cool first, then, cook some condensed milk and chocolate powder for a few minutes until the consistency become pourable. Pour on the cake and do some art work of your choice with chocolate sauce.

The Out come:

The Fiasco: When I took the cake out of oven, it was liquid from the center. It looked like a well. When I put it in the oven again, I was sure it is waste. and will turn hard now. But somehow, it survived. Thank god for that. :)

P.S. I loved the cake so much that I could not decide which picture to put on. So uploaded all of them. :D

Tikka Chalta hai

So winters are setting in and the laziness is finding its way back. Not that I don't want to cook, I am just being lazy. Trying quick recipe is the key. :D Where I don't have to dedicate a lot of time and where I don't have stay standing in the kitchen :D Also, I have been wanting to try something with Mushroom so getting back to my good Old recipe. The Mushroom Tikka.

Mushroom Tikka

Ingredients:
Mushrooms- 200gms,
Fresh Cream- 50gms,
Gram Flour- 50gms,
Ginger Garlic Paste- 50gms,
Red Chillie Powder,
Garam Masala,
Haldi(Turmeric) Powder,
Cumin Powder,

Chaat Masala.
Salt to taste.

Method:

• Dice and wash Mushrooms and keep separate.
• Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
• Add Mushrooms, let them marinate for about 20 Mins.
• Bake till crisp in a pre-heated oven at 240 degrees for about 20 mins.
• Sprinkle Chaat Masala.
• Serve with mint/ Corriander Chutney.

TheOutcome:

The Fiasco: I forgot taking the picture when I took them out of the oven. :D

Main Course bhi try karna chahiye :)

Starters and Snacks I have been into. Just thought why not try a main course dish. I am not a Paneer fan and being a vegetarian we do not have much options in main course other than Paneer. And then, cauliflower enters into the scene. Cauliflower, generally paired up with potato makes a very commonly and most widely cooked Indian meal in winters. Aaloo-gobhi as we call it. Tired of it, i thought of trying the gobhi a new and delicacy way. Picked the Murg Mussallam recipe and made it with Califlower. Okay, being a non-veggie, you can kill me for that. But, somehow, it turned out to be delicious. *pats her back*.

Bringing you the recipe.

Gobhi Mussallam

Ingredients:

1 nos Cauliflower (separated into florets);

Oil for frying;

2 nos. Onions (1 ground to a paste, 1 finely chopped)

1 tbsp Ginger-garlic paste

1 tsp Turmeric powder

2 tsp Red chilli powder

2 tsp Coriander powder

4 nos Black Peppercorns

3 nos Cloves

2 nos Green Cardamom

1 nos Black Cardamom

1”stick Cinnamon

1 small piece Mace

½ cup Tomato puree

1 tbsp Khoya (grated)

2 leaves Silver varq

3-4 nos Almonds (cut into slivers)

1 nos Green chilli

Salt to taste

Method:

• Heat oil in a kadhai and deep fry cauliflower florets till golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper and keep aside.
• Combine the onion paste with ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and coriander powder. Keep aside.
• Heat oil in a frying pan and saute chopped onion with whole spices till onion is golden and spices release flavour. Cool and grind to a paste. Keep aside.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan and saute the onion-ginger-garlic paste. Mix in tomato puree and khoya and saute.
• Mix in onion-spice paste, salt, add cauliflower and water and cook till cauliflower absorbs the flavour and gravy thickens. Heat oil in a tadka spoon and fry the green chilli whole.
• To serve, arrange florets in a plate and pour gravy around them. Apply silver varq, sprinkle over with almonds and place fried green chilli on top. Serve hot.

The Outcome: 

Gobhi Mussallam

The Fiasco: While frying the onion and whole spices, I brought it to perfect golden color and put the gass off. Just dint remove it from the pan. And when I came back to check it, the golden color had turned a little black. #FML. Somehow, it dint really burn. #ThankGodForThat

Corn Aaya ke Nigaahon Mein Chamak Jaag Uthhi

Being a Punjabi, I love Makki ki roti. Also, I love masala corn. I love corn in every thing. Baby corn is one of my favorite-st topping on Pizza and other continental dishes. I was just wondering that India produces corn on herself and still, we use corn only for either makki ki roti or at the most eating roasted corn from roadside. And then, somehow, this idea flashed into the scene. Honestly, this idea is inspired somewhat from a recipe they showed in Masterchef India. But, its mostly my own. 

Corn Idlies. 

Ingredients:
1 cup Corn kennels- I used frozen corn;
1 tbsp Gram flour;
1 -2 tbsp curd;
Salt, Chilly powder to taste;
2 tsp Roast Cumin seeds;
few drops of lime juice;


Method:

• Boil or Microwave (3 mins) frozen corn. Keep aside to cool it. Grind coarsely in mixer.
• In a bowl, mix gram flour and curd and make a fine paste. Be sure there are no lumps of gram flour.
• Mix the ground corns into the gram flour- curd paste.
• Add few drops of refined/ olive oil to cut the dryness of gram flour and corn.
• Add salt and chilly powder.
• Beat for a few minutes to make sure that the paste is mixed well.
• Steam the mix in idli maker on the gas or in the microwave (6-7 minutes).
• Let the idlies stand for a few minutes to let them cool down before you take them out of the idli maker. that way, the idlies come out smoothly.
• On a non-stick pan, shallow fry the idlies.
• Pour the lime juice.
• Garnish with roast cumin seeds and serve with ketchup.

The Outcome: 

Corn Idlies

The Fiasco: I opened a new pack of the frozen corn and it turned out to be extra sweet which I only discovered after the idlies were served. :D

Mausam Kebabi hai

Winter evening, clean home, glasses of wine, a romantic novel, the company of the beloved. And Kebabs. Sounds romantic no?

You think making kebabs is a tedious job or not healthy? I tries making kebabs out of Soy chunks. Yep you read it right. Soy. Healthy and easy to cook.

Ingredients:

1 cup Soy chunks;

2 nos Boiled Potatoes;

2 tsp All purpose Flour;

2 tsp Ginger Garlic paste;

1 tsp Coriander Paste;

Few drops of lime juice

Spices to taste:

Salt, Chilly powder, Cumin seeds, Coriander powder

Method:

• Boil Soy Chunks, drain thoroughly and keep aside to cool.
• Grate boiled potatoes.
• Mash the soy chunks and potatoes together.
• Add ginger garlic paste, coriander paste, lime juice, salt, chilly powder, cumin seeds, and coriander powder.
• mash together to make a fine batter.
• Add flour to get desired consistency.
• Make balls out of the batter, flatten them a little.
• Keep in fridge for 2 hours at least so they get set.
• When ready, roll the kebabs in the flour and shallow fry in a non stick pan.
• Serve with chutney, ketchup of your choice.

The Outcome:

Soy Kebabs

The Fiasco: I dint drain the soy chunks through enough, so the kebabs were crisp on the outside but a little slick from the inside. Just make sure to drain the soy thorough.

P.S. Do drop in comments if you try this recipe. also, let me know, if you do any variation in the recipe :)

Kuch Meethha Ho Jaaye

Having contributed to a few Food blogs, I always wanted to have my one of my own, where I could key down my attempts at cooking. Also, the movie 'Julie and Julia' plays a pivotal role in the formation of the blog. 
I am not a great cook. Honestly. Somehow, the culinary skills are genetic. 
Now that winters have started, winters being the food season, I thought to kick the dormancy out and try getting back to cooking.

This happens to be the first post of the blog, so this had to something sweet. Also, I started the cooking season with sweet. Honey Cinnamon Cookies it is. One healthy cookie with Honey and whole wheat floor.

Here is the recipe:

Honey Cinnamon Cookies: 

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 cup honey (or to taste)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ea. cinnamon, cloves, half a pinch of salt, cardamom

3 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour

Method:

• In a saucepan, cook honey and butter together until it reaches the boiling point.
• Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
• Sieve  flour, baking soda and spices until no streaks remain together. Add sufficient flour to the honey and butter mixture to make a soft dough (about 3 3/4 cups).
• If dough seems too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time. If dough seems too dry or dense, add a tablespoon of milk until dough is of a good consistency.
• Form the dough into thin rolls, wrap in wax or parchment paper and chill thoroughly in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
• Slice into 1/8-inch thick slices and bake in a preheated 375°F oven for about 10 minutes or until done.

Final Product

Fiasco: The shape, as you can see. :D