Methi Pulao

I don't have the luxury of making one pot meals coz Abbas completely detests them. Not that he demands elaborate meals, he is happy with Rice, Daal and Brinjal/Potato/Egg fried also. He likes his rice in its pure plain white form. I love my rice in just about any form. This is a kind of rice that I learnt from one of my aunts. The flavour of fenugreek leaves in the rice is simply mind boggling and I can have this one on its own. Well, it can be served with raitha or perhaps some onions rings and lemon wedges.

Ingredients:

Rice - 2 cups
Fenugreek leaves - 1 1/2 to 2 cups
Tomatoes - 2 medium sized
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 3 tbsp

Grind together:
Onions - 2 medium sized
Green chillies - 5 or to taste
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Wash methi leaves and squeeze out the excess water from them, chop, keep aside.

2. Cook rice separately (salt has to be added in the process) and spread on large wide plates to let all the steam escape.

3. Heat oil in a pan, saute the ground onion paste till raw smell goes away.

4. Add tomatoes and saute till oil starts oozing from the edges.

5. Add methi leaves, turmeric powder and salt and saute for 3 minutes. Mix cooked and cooled rice gently with this mixture and methi pulao is ready to be served.

Begun Bhaja - Bong Brinjal Fry

Rice + Dal + This Dish = Happy + Content + Abbas (On the dinner table)

He is simply fond of Begun Bhaja. It is a 'no fancy', humble Bengali accompaniment on one's comfort platter. The turn off of this dish is that brinjal consumes a lot of oil. One tip that helps in reducing the oil absorption is to add a hint of sugar while marinating the brinjal slices. The best of Begun Bhajas can be made when the Brinjals take their own sweet time to get fried on the lowest of flames.

Ingredients:

Brinjal - 1 large, cut into thick slices

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - for shallow frying

Method:

Mix all the ingredients (except oil) such that all the Brinjal slices are coated with Masala. Heat oil in a pan and place 2-3 slices, depending on the size of the pan. Lower the heat and close with a lid. After 3-4 mins, turn the slices upside down and cover with lid again. Continue to cook till the brinjals are cooked completely. Increase the heat and remove the slices by slightly pressing them with a spatula to drain out excess oil.

Methi Murg

This is one of those dishes that has been lying in my drafts for ages. Dunno why it neever got posted. Now that I'm struggling hard to make appearances in the blogging world, this draft comes to my rescue. The recipe is from Sailu's blog. Whenever I wanna try a new variety of chicken dish, I turn to Sailu and her recipes never fail me. I had prepared this on Abbas' birthday this year and many more times then on. Every time I have got rave reviews coz it's unique flavour bowls over anyone who tastes it. Mindblowing combination of methi leaves and spices, best way to promote consumption of greens by adding them in a Chicken curry that people hardly deny eating. This recipe sure is a keeper.

Ingredients:
1 kg chicken, washed and cut into medium sized pieces
1 cup packed fresh methi leaves, add little salt+sugar+water, keep aside for 15 mts and squeeze out water
2 large onions, sliced, saute in a tbsp of oil till brown and cool
1 tsp green chilli paste (2-3 green chillis)
3/4 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tomato, pureed
1/4 cup yogurt
large pinch turmeric pwd
3/4 tsp red chilli pwd
1 tsp coriander pwd
1/2 tsp cumin pwd
garam masala pwd (2 cloves, 1″ cinnamon, 1 elaichi)
salt to taste
7-8 cashewnuts, soak in warm water and make paste
2 tbsps oil

Method:
1. Make a paste of browned onions and curd. Keep aside.
2. Heat 2 tsps oil in a cooking vessel, add the methi leaves and saute for 7-8 mts or till they turn crisp. Remove and keep aside.
3. Heat the remaining oil in the same vessel, add ginger garlic paste and green chilli paste and saute for 3-4 mts. Add turmeric pwd, red chilli pwd, cumin pwd and coriander pwd and combine.
4. Add the tomato puree and cook for 3 mts. Add the onion-curd paste and cook for another 3 mts.
5. Add the chicken pieces and combine well. Cook on medium high flame for 3-4 mts. Reduce flame, place lid and let the chicken cook till three fourth done.
6. Add the cashewnut paste, garam masala pwd and sauteed methi leaves and combine well. Add few tbsps of water if necessary at this point of time. Cook till the chicken turns soft and you get the gravy consistency of your choice. It should be a thick creamy gravy.
7. Turn off heat and serve hot with white rice, biryani, flavored rice or rotis.

Eggless Chocolate Cake with Mocha Icing

This is one more from Divya's blog. I've been quite successfully baking for quite some time now and trying my hand at icing and cake decoration. I have never attended any cake decoration classes, learning a lot from my fellow bloggers. This was my first trial with chocolate icing and must say I never knew it was a breeze to make. I regret for not having tried my hand at it earlier. The best part is the cake is eggless, perfect for an occasion where you have vegetarian guests (So that you don't miss out on their compliments!). Do check my kids' pics where they licked off cake tin, while I was icing the cake.

Ingredients

Maida/Flour-1 cup
Milkmaid - 1/2 tin
Milk - 1/2 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup
Powdered sugar - 1 1/2 tbsp
Cocoa powder - 1/4 cup
Baking soda - 3/4 tsp
Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

For the Mocha Glaze Icing

Cocoa powder - 4 tbsp
Softened butter - 4 tbsp
Coffee - 1 tsp
Icing sugar - 1 cup-sifted
Walnuts/Cashew/Badam - 2-3 tbsp,crushed

To Soak - 1/4 cup Coke

Method

For the Cake

1. Sift maida with cocoa powder,baking soda and baking powder-keep aside.
2. Mix sugar and butter,beat till fluffy.
3. Add milkmaid,beat well.
4. Add milk,vanilla essence and maida.
5. Beat well for 3-4 minutes till the mixture is smooth and light.
6. Transfer to a greased baking dish.
7. Microwave on 80% power for 8 minutes.
8. Let it cool.
9. Cut the cake into two and soak with coke( I did not cut the cake,just sprinkled coke all over the cake)

For the Icing

1. Microwave 4 tbsp water in a bowl for 1 minute.
2. Add coffee,cocoa and butter to it and mix well.
3. Gradually add the sifted icing sugar,mix well.
4. Glaze the cake with the icing and garnish with crushed dry fruits.
5. Refrigerate till the icing is set.
6. Serve with ice-cream.

This goes out to Priya's  Bookmarked Recipes - Every Tuesday Event.

Also goes out to Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen's Bake-Off Event

Condensed Milk Pound Cake

I have been on hibernation mode when it came to blogging. As Divya quoted rightly in one of her posts that she has named it 'Food Blogger Inactivity Virus'. I thought I must have been seriously affected. Sweet Punch was the only reason I made a 'once in a month' appearance. I've bin goin thru action packed weekdays, and weekends with one/many of the following: Maid bunks, whole day power cut, no water supply, child is sick, heaped up cloth-mountain to be ironed, and since last week we all were attacked by conjunctivitis. Well, I wanna come back now. And how? I'm posting two cakes bookmarked from Divya's blog, both using condensed milk.

I had bought a bundt cake tin on a whim coz I saw all my fellow bloggers baking mouth-watering attractive looking bundt cakes. I had baked a cake sometime back, but I didn't let it cool and it broke off to crumble. And then I saw Divya's recipe and thought of giving it a try. I followed the same recipe but used rose essence instead of vanilla essence. The cake turned out delicious but a little extra sweet, although the batter tasted right. Next time I make this, I would reduce the amount of sugar a little.

Ingredients

All purpose flour or maida - 1 1/3 cups
Sweetened condensed milk - 1 cup [ I used Amul Mithai Mate]
Powdered sugar - 1 Scant cup
Unsalted butter at room temperature - 1 cup
Eggs - 2
Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
Rose essence - 1 tsp
A pinch of salt
Method

1. Sieve the flour and baking powder until well combined. You can also whisk it well in a bowl until combined, if you don't have a sieve.
2. Beat butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy - 5 mins by hand, 2 mins by electric beater. Then add the condensed milk and repeat for the same time, until well combined.
3. Whisk eggs in a bowl for 2 mins with a fork and set aside.
4. Add the flour to the butter-sugar-condensed milk mixture and mix until just combined without beating too hard.
5. Add the eggs, rose essence and salt and combine well again.
6. Transfer to a greased cake tin or loaf pan and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C/325F for 30-35 mins. 7. Insert a toothpick at the center to test if the cake is done.
7. Cool, slice and serve. (Cooling is very important coz I have learnt form my mistakes)

This goes out to Priya's event -Bookmarked Recipes - Every Tuesday Event - 19th October 2010 (Volume 12)

Molten Lava Cake

I'm back again guys with this month's Sweet Punch! Thank god, I joined Sweet Punch, for atleast because of this I am making a compulsive appearance in the blogging world. I am juggling full time between work, home and kids. Specially the absence of Ma in my life has totally taken the spice out of it! She would be back in November and only then I would be able to breathe easy. Well guys, less talk due to time crunch.

Divya hosted this month's challenge. This cake is a breeze to make, less ingredients, easy straight forward steps. Most important is that the outcome of such a quick recipe can be so rewarding! Well, I had never encountered baking chocolate before this. Nags and Divya suggested to go for Morde. Unfortunately, I couldn't catch hold of it. Finally I got Lindt's Chocolate with Orange and Almond flakes. Used it, but was unsure if it was baking chocolate or not. Phew! My extra proactive mind added a hint of baking powder to the batter just in case. Also, I didn't have ramekins. So baked them in my muffin tray. Outcome was small yummilicious choco-orange-almond muffins with a not so-oeey-gooey inside. Even though I baked for shorter duration, no lava emerged! (Can't stop drooling over my fellow bloggers' lava cakes. I'm gonna get some ramekins soon and erupt that volcano and make that lava flow baby!) Abbas said "It was my best so far". Everytime, I come out with a Sweet Punch recipe, I'm managing to impress him more than the last time! That's what is driving me to participate every month without fail! Thanks Ria, Divya and Maria. Maria, come back soon. We'll miss you...

Molten Center Lava Cakes

Recipe courtesy - Hetal & Anuja @ Showmethecurry.com

Ingredients
Chocolate - 4 oz,113 gms
Butter - 4 oz,113 gms
Eggs - 2
Sugar - 1/3 cup
All purpose flour - 1/4 cup
Butter - for greasing the ramekins

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Melt chocolate in a double boiler OR Microwave it for 2 minutes with 30 second intervals,checking in between.
3. Once the chocolate melts completely,mix in the butter and stir well-let it cool.
4. In a mixing bowl,beat eggs and sugar till light and fluffy.
5. Mix in the chocolate-butter mix and flour and beat well till you get a smooth batter.
6. Butter bottom and sides of your ramekins and pour the batter about 3/4 full.
7. Place the ramekins on a baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes,shorter for gooey insides and longer for stiff insides.