Red Kidney Beans Curry

I was not a great fan of beans back in India. I make beans curries only for my husband but then I had a chance to taste some of the north Indian curries and wonder how they make the curries so tasty. The only thing I identified in the curries are butter and the beans as they grind all ingredients. Then to my surprise I learned it is yogurt or curd that make it different.

The recipe ..

Ingredients

• 1 cup Red kidney beans
• 2 tsp Ghee
• 1 tsp Butter (optional)
• 1 big Onion
• 1/2 tsp ginger paste
• 1/2 tsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1 Tomato
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
• 3 Tbsp plain Yogurt or Curd 
• some coriander leaves
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp sugar

Method

1. Cook the beans with water and some salt. And keep it aside.
2. Saute onion in some oil and ghee in a frying pan. Once it is translucent add ginger/garlic paste and saute for 1 mnt. Then add tomatoes and saute.
3. After 2 mnts, add the tomato paste and saute again for couple of minutes.
4. Then add coriander powder and both the chilli powders and saute until the the oil starts come out. At this stage you can blend this mixture if you want. Make sure the mixture is cold before blending.
5. If you are blending, bring it back to the frying pan.
6. Add the cooked beans into the mixture and stir it. If want, you can add some more water and cook for 5 minutes.
7. Add yogurt make sure its not sour. Check the salt and add sugar. 
8. Once its start boiling ,remove from the heat and add butter and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. If its fresh then its great ,I only had dried ones.
9. Serve!

Enjoy!

Pasta With Mushroom Sauce

Its good to have some change sometime for dinner. If I feel like this, I just grab some mushrooms from the super market and make sure there is pasta at home. 

Ingredients

• 1 pack pasta of any kind
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 onion
• 1/2 tsp ginger paste
• 1/2 tsp garlic paste
• 1 tomato
• salt as needed
• pepper as needed
• oil as required
• 1 cup milk
• 2 Tbsp flour
• chopped fresh or dried parsley leaves for garnish

Method

1. Cook pasta in water with salt and 2 tsp oil. Drain once its cooked.
2. Saute onion in a frying pan with oil. Once its translucent add ginger garlic paste and saute for couple of minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and saute.
3. Once its sauted well add the mushrooms and fry it until it turns slightly black in colour.
4. Now add the milk and mix enough salt and pepper to taste. Put the flour and stir. After sometime the mixture starts to become thick.
5. Mix the pasta with the milk mixture. If it looks dry, add a little more milk. Check the salt and pepper
6. Garnish with parsley and grated cheese (optional).

Serve!

Bolognese

My husband and my elder son are fans of bolognese , one of the reasons I make this often.

This recipe serves for 5 - 6 people.

Ingredients

• 1 pack spaghetti
• minced meat 500g
• 1 onion
• 1/2 tsp ginger paste
• 1/2 tsp garlic paste
• salt
• pepper powder
• 1 can tomato based pasta paste or tomato puree
• shredded cheese for topping

Method

1. Cook spaghetti in water with salt and a little bit of oil. Once its cooked ,drain it and keep aside.
2. Saute onion in a frying pan with oil. Once its transculent add ginger, garlic paste.
3. After couple of minutes add minced meat and fry until its cooked.
4. Add tomato puree to it , taste so that it wont become sweet. Cook for a while adding salt and pepper.
5. Reduce the water content if you want to.
6. Transfer the spaghetti into a bowl and pour the minced meat sauce over it and put grated cheese.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie

Everyone like cookies, so do I. But the first batch of my cookies got burnt due to my over anticipation to eat it. But for the rest of the cookies, I was really careful and the result was crisp outside and soft inside cookies..

The recipe makes big 18 cookies..

Ingredients

• 2 cups All purpose flour
• 1 cup Chocolate chips
• 200 gm butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Method

1. Mix white sugar and brown sugar with melted butter. Add vanilla extract followed by egg. Beat the mixture.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture. Don't worry if the mixture is stiff.
3. Fold in the chocolate chips and cover dough with plastic wrap and put in the freezer for 1 hour.
4. Cut the dough into equal sizes and make into balls and bake in preheated oven at 150C for 10-15 mnts until it turns brown.
5. Let the cookies cool for a minute then remove from the cookie sheet and place in wire rack to cool completely.
6. Serve!

Happy Baking!

Pizza

This is my first recipe that I learned ,to make my husband and my elder son happy. Usually I make pizza with cheddar cheese, I thought any cheese will do. But last time , I tried with parmesan ,its a little bit costly but it smells and tastes really good.

After making this, I am sure you won't go for ready made pizza.

The recipe goes below..

This yields 2 pizza.

Ingredients

    Pizza dough

• 3 1/2 cups All purpose flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp oil

    Pizza toppings

• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• grated parmesan cheese
• diced bacon
• diced bell peppers (capsicum), it will be colourful if you choose different colour ones
• cherry tomatoes or diced tomatoes

Method

1. Put warm water into a bowl. Add salt and honey and mix with a spoon. Add yeast, mix and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
2. Gradually add flour and oil and start mixing.
3. When the mixture gets too heavy to mix, start kneading the dough with your hands.
4. Knead the dough until you have a smooth ball. If the dough cracks it is too dry. Add water bit by bit until if forms a nice coherent ball. If your dough feels more like batter, it is too wet and you need to add flour bit by bit. If you need to add water or flour, do it by small amounts.
5. Coat the dough with oil, place it in a large bowl and cover it with kitchen wrap or a grocery bag. Let the dough rise for about an hour at room temperature, then push it down again so it deflates. Let it sit for about another hour. If you want to use it the next day, put it in a refrigerator.
6. Put the dough on a lightly floured surface, put a bit of flour on top and make it into the shape of a pie by stretching it out from the center outwards. Use a rolling pin until the dough is about 1/4" thick. Punch some holes in the dough with a fork to let the air escape while the pizza is in the oven.
7. Spread tomato sauce over the dough half inch away from the edges.
8. Sprinkle with grated cheese and put your toppings and finally sprinkle with a little grated cheese.
9. Bake the pizza in the preheated oven at 200C for about 20-25 mnts until the crust is light brown.

Cheers!

Sultana Cake

I really wanted to stop making cake for sometime to cut down on sugar. But I couldn't resist myself from making this cake as I love sultanas and also it does not have sugar , ahh I mean white sugar ;) ..

This is a perfect tea cake with less sugar. Here is the recipe below..

Ingredients

• 250 gm Sultanas
• 1 lemon juice and zest
• 1 orange juice and zest
• 150 gm chopped butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 All purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

Method

1. Grease the cake pan with butter and preheat the oven to 150C.
2. Place the sultanas and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes then remove from the heat and drain well. Add the butter, orange and lemon zest and stir until the butter melts and ingredients are combined.
3. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs and brown sugar and then add this to the sultanas mixture.
4. Sift together the flour and the baking powder and the sultanas mixture and stir just until combined.
5. Pour into cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Perfect combination for your tea, Enjoy!

Palmiers!

It took me sometime to learn this name. I was searching for a recipe with puff pastry that calls for no other special ingredients.

The recipe goes here...

Ingredients

• 1 sheet puff pastry
• lots and lots of sugar :)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 150C.
2. Sprinkle the workplace with sugar and place the thawed pastry sheet over it.
3. Sprinkle more sugar over the pastry sheet.
4. Roll up the left vertical side inward till the middle of the sheet. Roll up the right vertical side inward till the middle of the sheet. Both the rolls should meet in the middle and touching.
5. Cut the log into pieces of 1/2 inch thickness.
6. Place on baking tray with space around each cookie as it will increase in size.
7. Bake in the middle of the rack until the sugar starts caramelize.
8. Allow them to cool.

Enjoy!

Mini Quiche

Its really fun to try out new different recipes with puff pastry.

This one is easy to make and easy to eat :) . In our home it won't last an hour..

Ingredients

• 2 sheets of puff pastry 
• 2 eggs
• some chopped bacon or ham 
• sweet chilli sauce
• 1 chopped bell pepper (capsicum)
• some grated cheese (optional)

Method

1. Cut the thawed puff pastry sheet into square that fit into muffin cup in the muffin tray.
2. Place each square sheet into the muffin cups and put 1 or 2 tsp of beaten egg in each cups followed by other ingredients.
3. Put cheese toppings and bake in the preheated oven until the quiches turn light brown in colour.

Enjoy!

Vegetable Puffs

Thoughts about vegetable puffs brings back memories of my college days. Going to bakery after college hours with friends to have vegetable puffs with lime juice.... 

All you need is go below...

Ingredients

• 2 sheets of puff pastry (available in your supermarket in frozen section)
• 1 egg

    For filling

• 2 Potatoes
• 2 Carrots
• 1 Onion
• 1/2 Ginger paste
• 1/2 Garlic paste
• 1 tsp Coriander powder
• 1 tsp Chilli powder
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Garam masala
• salt to taste

Method

      Thaw the puff pastry

   Make filling

1. Cook diced potatoes and carrots in water with some salt. Drain it and keep it aside.
2. Saute onion with oil in a frying pan. Once transculent add ginger garlic paste. Fry for 1 minute and add all powders.
3. Saute the mixture for couple of minutes in low flame.
4. Add drained potatoes and carrots into the mixture and mix it well.
5. Let the mixture get dry, frying couple of minutes more.

   Make puffs

1. Sprinkle some flour on the work area and keep puff pastry sheet.
2. Cut the sheet into square pieces.
3. Stuff each square sheet piece with the filling and close the edges with some water.
4. Brush the stuffed puffs with egg wash (beaten egg).
5. Bake the puffs in preheated oven of temperature 150C for 20-25 mnts.

Enjoy!

Butter Chicken

I tried to make this only because my mom wanted to try it, but to my surprise it came out well.

This goes well with any bread.

The recipe goes below...

Ingredients

• 1 kg Chicken (boneless) 

    For marinating

• 2 Tbsp Plain thick yogurt
• 1 Tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tsp Garam masala
• 1 tsp Ginger paste
• 1 tsp Garlic paste
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt to taste
• Butter (for frying)

    For Gravy

• 1 Onion (finely chopped)
• 1 1/2 tsp Ginger paste
• 1 1/2 tsp Garlic paste
• 2 Tomatoes (finely chopped)
• 1 Tbsp Kashmiri Chilli powder
• 2 Tbsp Tomato paste or sauce
• 1/4 cup fresh cream (you can add more or less depending on your taste)
• Honey or sugar ( depending on your sweetness level)
• Few Coriander leaves (chopped)
• Salt (to taste)

Method

1. Combine the ingredients for marinade and put in the chicken pieces.
2. Mix well and leave it to marinade in a fridge for at least for an hour (Its good to keep it for more hrs).
3. Melt butter in a pan on medium flame and fry the chicken pieces.(We grilled it instead)
4. Don’t fry it for long, make it a little brown. Later it will cook in the gravy.
5. In the pan, add little butter and oil and fry onions, ginger and garlic paste. 
6. When it turns brown add chilly powder and add tomatoes. Continue frying at low heat till the tomatoes are mashed up and oil comes out.
7. When the gravy is cool, grind in a blender.
8. Pour the gravy back to the pan and allow to cook on low flame.
9. Slide in the fried chicken pieces. Allow it to simmer till the chicken is well cooked. If u want, add more water.
10. Add tomato sauce, fresh cream, in the gravy.
11. Serve on a plate and add chopped coriander leaves and remaining cream.

Don't be afraid of the ingredients and preparation. Go for it!

Happy Cooking!

Chocolate Cake

I got this recipe unexpectedly while watching videos in YouTube. I have to say its super easy and tastes heavenly. So here goes the recipe for moist chocolate cake along with ganache ( cake frosting)..

One more thing you have to be careful is lining the cake pan with parchment paper or baking paper (I think you can use aluminium foil too), so that the cake won't stick to the pan.

The recipe makes 2 cakes and some muffins..

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 cup sugar
• 1 3/4 cup All purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup boiling water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375F or 150C.
2. Whisk first 6 dry ingredients together.
3. Add milk, oil, eggs and vanilla extract to the dry mixture and whisk until the bater is smooth.
4. At the end add boiling water to the bater and mix it. The bater will be thin.
5. Pour into the cake pan and bake for 15-20 mnts until a toothpick inserted at the middle of the cake comes out clean.
6. Remove the cake pan from the oven and let it cool for sometime.
7. Invert it !

Ganache recipe goes here..

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk cream
• 1 bar dark chocolate

Method

1. Boil milk cream in a saucepan until it starts boiling.
2. Remove the cream from stove and add the chopped chocolate bar.
3. Stir the mixture after 2 minutes until it is consistent.
4. To make it thick add butter and keep it in the fridge for sometime.
5. Spread the ganache on the cooled cake in the middle and spread it.

Enjoy! 

I got compliments after making this cake so will you, go for it !

Blueberry Muffin

I didn't think about blogging the cooking experiments until one of my friends suggested to start a blog after seeing pictures of my cooking in my facebook page. So here's me kick starting my blog...

Everybody love muffins and I thought its very hard to make these. But I really wanted to make muffins and I tried several recipes, but it took me sometime to get perfect recipe.

Few things that I learned to make nice muffins are

• right oven temperature
• where to place the rack in the oven
• follow the recipe 

If you follow the recipe, I can guarantee you that the muffins will melt in your mouth.

This recipe makes 20-22 muffins..

Ingredients

• 3 cups All Purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 10 Tbsp butter (1 1/4 stick), softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cup low fat yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 1/2 cup blueberries (frozen or fresh)

Method

1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle lower part of the oven. Preheat oven to 375F or 150C
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together, beating until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one. Beat in the vanilla essence.
4. Beat in one half of the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Beat in one third of the yogurt. Beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients. Beat in a second third of the yogurt. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients and then the remaining yogurt. Again be careful to beat until just incorporated. Do not over beat. Fold in the berries. If you are using frozen berries, take them from freezer just before mixing. Don't over mix it.
5. Coat each muffin cup lightly with a little butter. Or use one of those convenient vegetable oil sprays. Fill the muffin dough equally among the cups. Make sure to fill not more than half of the muffin cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick to make sure the centers of the muffins are done.

P.S If there is cups empty during baking, pour some water in those so that the heat will be evenly distributed in the muffin tray.

Happy cooking!