Lecker and Yummy Recipes

Ranked as one of the Top Ten Halal Food Blogs for 2012 !

2012-01-26T09:52:00.002+01:00

Alhamdulillah ! I am greatly honored and immensely happy to share with you all that "Lecker and Yummy Recipes" has been ranked as one of the Top Ten Halal Food Blogs for 2012 in Crescentrating's Halal Friendly TRavel Ranking. I thank Crescentrating, all my fellow voters and my dear blogging friends for their valuable support.

I would like to thank my husband for his constant encouragement, positive criticism and motivation and who shops with me patiently until Iam done with all my fancy shoppings, who waits patiently with an empty stomach until Iam done with all my Photo sessions and who sits with me to select the pictures to be included in my posts :)

Last but not the least, I would like to thank all my family members for their lovely support and their long distance phone calls just to comment on my recent posts and pictures.

Thank you once again, but for you all, I would not have achieved this milestone!

Meat Loaf

2012-01-24T09:46:00.001+01:00

Simple ingredients, easy to prepare, wholesome in nutrients....On the whole gives a satisfactory meal and a great twist to the usual boring ground meat !

Spices are mixed together with the ground meat and oats and baked in a form of a loaf for a visual feast. The tomato ketchup and the brown sugar glaze on the top forms the crust of this loaf and gives that sweet sour taste. You can play around with the ingredients to match your family's taste buds. Hope you all enjoy as much as I did making this with my daughter :)

Ingredients :

Ground Meat - 500 gms
Onions - 1 (chopped)
Rolled Oats - 1 cup
Green Bell Pepper - 1 (finely diced)
Egg - 1
Garlic pods(crushed) - 2
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Green Chillies - 2 (finely chopped)

For the glaze:
Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup
Tomato ketchup - 1/2 cup

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients except brown sugar and ketchup.

2. Press this mixture into a loaf pan, which is lined by a parchment paper. Smooth the surface.

3. Mix the brown sugar and tomato ketchup together in a small bowl. Brush the loaf with this tomato-sugar paste.

4. Preheat the oven to 170°C and bake the loaf for about 45 minutes (a little more when you want it more crispier) and until the juices run clear when pierced with a skewer. Allow it to rest in the pan for about 5 minutes and then remove carefully.

5. Serve warm or at room temperature. Tastes good with Salads and boiled potatoes.

Makes a wholesome and healthy meal(when served alone) for all those who are on "low-carb diet" !

You could prepare and proudly take along this loaf for Potluck parties instead of the usual cakes :)
Tip:
1.You can prepare it in advance a day before an occasion and store it in a refrigerator. My husband said infact it tasted great the next day with more crispier edges. Re-bake it at 180°C for about 20 minutes or so just before serving. This way you could avoid all that stress and hectic especially when having kids around who tend to bother you unusually more when you are expecting guests.
2. You can as well replace rolled oats with bread crumbs. Add some grated carrots to make it more nutritious.
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Crepe Rolls with Smoked Salmon

2012-01-05T17:52:00.003+01:00

Smoked Fish was something which was not my taste initially, maybe because of its "raw" uncooked look.......but as I got used to seeing it everyday in the refrigerator (yeah, thats my husband's favourite and it gets into our shopping cart everytime we shop), somehow eventually developed a liking for it over the past 6 years...So when I came across this recipe in one of my cookbooks gifted by Umm Mymoonah when she visited me, I knew I was going to surprise my dear Hubby for his breakfast. The thin slices of Smoked Fish rolled along with the freshly prepared crepes and Cream Cheese leave a good taste in the mouth unlike the "only sweet" breakfasts !

Ingredients
All Purpose flour - 125 gms
Milk - 250 ml
Eggs - 2
Butter - 4 tsp
Fresh Dill or frozen - 1/4 cup (chopped finely)
Cream Cheese - 200 gms
Double Cream - 2 tbsp
Smoked Salmon slices - 400 gms
Salt - to taste
Pepper - to taste
Few Toothpicks

Method
1. Sift the flour and add the milk and a pinch of salt. Mix well until smooth.
2. Beat the eggs and add to the milk-flour mixture. Set aside this batter for about 10 minutes.
3. In a non-stick pan, heat a tsp of butter. Add 1/4th of the batter and quickly rotate the pan to spread the batter to the sides. Cook for about 2 minutes, until the side facing the pan turns slightly golden brown. Flip the side and cook for a minute again. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Repeat the process for the rest of the batter.
5. Make a smooth paste of the cream cheese with the double cream. Spice it a bit with pepper and salt. Add dill and combine everything well.
6. Spread a thin layer of this cream cheese paste over the prepared crepes. Layer it with the Salmon slices and then carefully roll the crepes like a swiss roll and cut into small slices of about 2 to 3 cms thickness. Hold the cut pieces individually using toothpicks. They are now ready to serve.

Note :
Tastes best when eaten immediately.
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Spicy Meat with Bell Peppers

2011-12-01T23:21:00.000+01:00

Cooking for me is like a sine wave. There are times when I am in such a cooking spree that I innovate and experiment my culinary skills and come out with many ideas and totally feel out of the world but there are times when the "peak" is down and I just warm up the frozen foods which I stock in my freezer to fill my stomach. Guess I am in the positive wave side now and am coming up with ideas, especially with the Meat. Its been almost a month since we celebrated Eid-ul-Adha and my freezer is stocked up with lots of meat now..... so are my posts sitting in my drafts ! So came up with this recipe where the spicy Meat is first cooked, then fried a little, and then added to the vegetables and Soya sauce. The Indian style cooked meat mixed with the prime Chinese ingredient Soya sauce and Bell peppers had a very good blend of both these cuisines. Your palates would love it !

Ingredients

Meat - 1 kg

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Chilli powder - 2 tsp

Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Finely chopped Ginger - 1 /2 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Water - 2 cups

Tomato paste - 1 tbsp

Olive oil - 2 tbsp

Red Onions - 2

Green Bell pepper - 1

Yellow Bell Pepper - 1

Soya sauce - 2 tbsp

Green Chillies - 3

Method

1. Trim the excess fat from the meat. Marinate with turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon chilli powder, ginger paste, and salt and set aside for about half an hour. Cook the marinated meat with 2 cups of water. I pressure cooked it to speed up the process.

2. Remove the cooked meat from the broth. Use this broth for some other purpose or just in a noodle soup.

3. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan. Fry the meat pieces. Add the tomato paste, 1 tsp chilli powder. Keep turning its sides to brown them evenly.

4. Slice the red onions about 1 cm size. Cut the bell peppers lengthwise.

5. In a separate pan, heat the oil and saute the red onions, bell peppers for 3 minutes. Do not over fry them. They have to retain their crispness and color. Add the soya sauce, chopped green chillies and chopped ginger. Saute for a minute.

6. Fold these vegetables into the meat and cook for a minute again. Serve warm with breads or rice.

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Türkische Piroggen

2011-11-25T13:57:00.003+01:00

Piroggen or Pierogi is usually a dumpling made of stuffed dough, which is first boiled and then fried or baked. It has a number of synonyms and is served in variety of forms and tastes in different cuisines. I stuck with the name given in my Turkish cookbook :). Germany is famous for its variety of breads, cakes and baked goodies, which are often sweet. You would find it sometimes boring to have "sweet-only" Potluck parties, especially when having an Indian background and India prides itself for its spices and savory cuisines. I decided to bake them to one such Party and believe me, this Piroggen was a big hit among my friend's circle ! Here, the pastry is only baked and is quite simple to make, melt in the mouth. I am sure you would enjoy these warm Piroggen with a cup of tea on a cold winter evening.

Ingredients for about 30 Piroggen

Butter - 150 gms

Olive oil - 75 ml

All purpose flour - 275 gms

Egg - 1

Yogurt - 2 tbsp

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Goat cheese - 140 gms

Parsley - 1/2 cup (finely chopped)

Egg yellow - 1 (for egg wash)

Sesame seeds

Method :

1. Combine and mix butter, oil, flour, yogurt, egg, baking powder, salt in a large bowl. Cover the dough with a foil and refrigerate for about an hour.

2. Mix the goat cheese with the parsley separately.

3. Take out the dough and form 30 balls. Stuff a tablespoon of the cheese-parsley filling inside each and cover the dough from all sides and roll into oval shapes or semi circular.

4. Place them in a baking tray and make the egg wash using the yolk. Sprinkle some sesame seeds for decor.

5. Preheat the oven to 180 °C and bake the Piroggen for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

6. Serve warm.

Note : If you are a non-veggie, try the ground meat and onions filling instead !

Iam sending this to the Winter Carnival at Tickling Palates of Radhika.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Walnuts

2011-11-21T11:15:00.005+01:00

Banana bread is one of my favourites. This is my first "experimental" bread which I baked by changing the basic recipe and by replacing the "all purpose white flour" with the whole wheat flour, which is more nutritious and rich in fiber and protein. My husband's friend had gifted us a beautiful basket of fresh Walnuts harvested from his farm. Couldn't stop adding them in my bread and enriching the flavor. Ever since, my confidence level has been boosted so much that I now try to make variations in my breads without any fear of wasting the ingredients ! The original recipe is adapted from here.

Ingredients
Whole wheat flour - 285 gms
Bicarbonate of soda - 1 tsp
Butter or margarine- 110 gms
Brown sugar - 225 gms
Eggs - 2
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Bananas - 4 (ripe ones, mashed)
Walnuts - about 50 gms (optional)
Rolled Oats - 2 tbsp (optional)
Buttermilk - 85 ml (or normal milk mixed with 1 1/2 tsp of lemon juice)
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Method
1. Mix the wholewheat flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the walnuts.
2. Cream the butter and the brown sugar until fluffy in a separate bowl.
3. To this butter-sugar mixture, add the eggs, mashed bananas, buttermilk, vanilla extract and mix well.
4. Fold everything into the flour prepared in the Step 1.
5. Grease a 20cm x 12.5 cm loaf tin (or a cake tin) and coat it thoroughly with the rolled oats.
6. Pour the flour mixture into this tin.
7. Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake the bread for about an hour or until it turns golden brown and the toothpick comes out clean when inserted.
8. Allow it to cool for about 10-15 minutes and serve warm or cold, though I personally prefer a warm one.

Note :
1. Since its very rich in taste, it doesn't need any Jam or spreads. An ideal loaf for picnics or a vacation. Just bake a loaf and carry it for the next morning's breakfast anywhere you go !
2. Stays good for 3 days in an air-tight container.
3. A good use of the leftover, very ripe bananas !

Iam sending this Walnut-rich bread to the Bread Baking Day # 44 hosted by Winged Snail

Chicken Rouladen

2011-11-18T14:39:00.002+01:00

Ever happened that you absolutely have no idea what you are gonna make for dinner and the ideas and the creativity in you just pop out from nowhere and you run with the flow and end up preparing an awesome and totally innovative recipe ??? Well, yes, here is one such recipe Iam gonna share with you today where one step lead to the other spontaneously....

After scanning through my recipe books and some blogs on the internet, I could hardly set my mind on anything. So finally head off straight to the kitchen and marinated the chicken, still not knowing what to do with that ! ........After an hour, when i started to make out something from it, my cute little preschooler, who just turned three, came running into my kitchen........ its as if its a written agreement for her that she should accompany me whenever i cook. Its been happening for quite sometime now.....she tries to give me a great helping hand be it washing the vegetables or stuffing the ingredients or applying egg wash on my breads or sprinkling the toppings....At first I was contemplating as to allow her to cooking at such an early age but later it occurred as to why to nip the interest and fun of a budding cook ??? ......Its actually become a daily routine nowadays and I must admit enjoying her company very much as she does....this fun to cook with her is totally worth the mess she creates in the kitchen :)...will keep you guys posted about her culinary journey as well and our experiences together in the kitchen :)

Well, coming back to the recipe, it turned out something similar to Rouladen !

Ingredients

For marination :
Boneless Chicken - 1 kg
Chilli powder - 1-2 tsp
Ginger powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Soya sauce - 2 tbsp
Sweet sour chilli sauce or any sauce - 2 tbsp
Tomato ketchup - 1 tsp
Salt - as required
Olive oil - 1 tsp
Lemon - 2 tbsp

For the filling:
Sweet corn - 1/2 cup
Green beans - 1/2 cup
any vegetable
Basil leaves or any herb - 1 tsp
Salt -a pinch
Lemon - 1
Toothpicks

Method :
1. Marinate the chicken with the ingredients for an hour.
2. Mix the vegetables for the filling. Stuff them on one half of the marinated chicken.

3. Close the stuffing with the other half and gently hold the sides together with the toothpicks so as to keep the filling intact inside.

4. Place the chicken on a tray and add few cut lemon slices. These lemon slices will juice out in the broth while baking to give a nice sour taste to the chicken. Make few cuts on the top to give that glamour look!

5. Preheat the oven to 180 °C and grill the chicken for about an hour or until it turns crispy golden brown outside. Carefully turn the chicken to the sides after half an hour for getting that brown color evenly.

6. Cut the Rouladen into thin slices and serve with mashed potatoes or rice. You could use the chicken broth underlying as a sauce.

A royal dinner for your loved ones....

Note:
1. Play around using your own ingredients and spices for marination and the vegetables used for stuffing. Simply would work out great !
2. The baking time varies according to the region you live and the size of the chicken. So please keep an eye on over-browning. In that case, reduce the temperature to 175°C and bake until cooked and golden brown.
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Karniyarik (Stuffed Eggplant)

2011-11-15T11:38:00.004+01:00

Karniyarik is one of those Turkish favourite dishes which could be unmistakably seen throughout the country on every simple to big occasions. Karniyarik literally means "split belly". The eggplant is split, stuffed with a mix of ground meat, garlic, onions and spices.

Ingredients
Eggplant - 3 or 4 (big size)
Olive oil - 90 ml
Onion - 2 (small and finely chopped)
Ground meat - 350 gms
Tomatoes -2 (skin peeled off and chopped)
Tomato-paste - 1 tbsp
Grated cheese - 120 gms
Salt - to taste
Ground pepper - to taste

Method
1. Split the eggplants into two. Remove the white part(you could use this for some other preparation).
Sprinkle some salt on the cut halves.

2. Allow it to strain through a sieve for half an hour. This helps remove all the browning, which gives bitterness to the vegetable.

3. In a separate pan, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil. Saute the onions. Add the ground meat, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and pepper and cook until the meat turns light brown.

4. Wash the eggplant, dry them using a paper towel. Place them in a tray. Stuff the ground meat filling.

5. Sprinkle the grated cheese. Mix the rest of the olive oil with 150 ml water and carefully pour it into the tray as a water-bath. This helps prevent the eggplant's skin from sticking to the tray while baking.

6. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Bake the stuffed eggplant for about 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 170 °C and bake for another 30-45 minutes until it is soft and done. Keep checking for the over-browning of the cheese from time to time !

7. Serve the Karniyarik with bread or rice. Tastes lecker when warm !

This recipe goes to the Global Food Festival, organised by Sizzling Tastebuds.

Monkey Bread for the World Bread Day

2011-10-16T01:37:00.000+02:00

Hurraaaah ! Today is the World Bread Day and every year, for the past 5 years, Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte has been so kind enough to invite all the bread lovers of the world to her virtual Potluck bread party !!! Thank you Zorra for this invitation. Its my pleasure to be your guest again for the second time :)
Iam on the way to the event with my Monkey Bread...
Well, the name sounds funny and catchy isnt it ? Thats what exactly caught my attention when i first saw it. The reason behind this so-called bread is unknown. Here, the dough is divided into small balls, rolled in cinnamon and brown sugar, coated with brown-sugar syrup, layered in a pan, baked and eaten by pulling the pieces apart....

Ingredients
For the dough :
All purpose flour - 4-5 cups
Dry yeast - 4 tsp
Lukewarm water - about 10 ml
Butter - 60 gms
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Milk - 250 ml
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Egg(beaten) - 1

For the coating :
Ground cinnamon - 2 tsp
Sugar or brown sugar - 1/2 cup

For the syrup :
Butter -125 gms (melted)
Brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Raisins - 1/2 cup (optional)

A bundt pan or any springform.
A freezer bag or any zip-lock bag

Method

1) Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and set aside for about 10 minutes.
2) Grease a bundt pan generously with butter.
3) Melt the butter along with the milk and sugar on a medium heat.

4) In a large bowl, mix together flour, yeast solution, salt, egg and the milk-butter-sugar. Knead it into a smooth dough. Please adjust the consistency of the dough by adding a little flour or water. Cover the bowl and allow it to rise in a warm place for about an hour.
5) Knead the puffed up dough gently and divide it into small pieces.

6) Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a zip-lock cover.
7) Add in the divided dough balls in parts and shake the cover well so that the balls are coated evenly with cinnamon-sugar.
Cinnamon enhances the flavor and aroma of a bread and I find every opportunity to include in my breads. If you are a "no-cinnamon" person, no worries, just omit it and go ahead with only the sugar.

7) Place two layers of the balls in the greased pan. Sprinkle some raisins. Continue the same with the remaining balls .

8) Melt the brown sugar and butter in a separate pan and pour it over the layered balls.

The butter seeps down through the layers to the bottom of the pan...

9) Cover the pan with a fresh foil and allow the dough to rise for another 20 minutes.
10) Preheat the oven to 210°C and bake the bread for about 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake it again for about 25-30 minutes until the surface turns golden brown.
11) Place the bread in a wire rack and allow to stand for about 10 minutes.
12) Flip the pan gently.
The butter and brown sugar gets caramelized and gets coated on the bread beautifully once turned upside down.

A rich treat as a Breakfast, Snack or a Dessert !

You could actually pull the bread apart with your fingers. Its sticky but doesnt matter you would end up licking them all ! The kids especially would love to do so. Infact my 2 year old daughter helped me from the start. She had so much fun and enjoyed every bit of the baking till eating. If you ever plan to have a baking day with your kids, this Monkey Bread is definitely the best option !

Cant really resist to post one more pic of this irresistable bread.....

Notes :
1) It stays fresh in an air-tight container for 5 days and for about a month in a freezer.
2) Its generally served warm but tastes equally good at room temperature.
3) You could drizzle the top with the powdered sugar glaze, could use nuts along with the raisins for the crunchy effect, options are many for the sweet teeth :)
4) This bread is baked absolutely from the homemade dough. Many recipes of this bread ask for the refrigerated biscuits which are divided into small balls and continued with the Step 6. But I prefer to work and play with my own dough and do it from the scratch.

Lamb leg grill with spicy coating

2011-07-31T20:18:00.003+02:00

The most awaited and the blessed month of Ramadhan has finally come and i would like to wish Ramadhan Mubarak to all the Muslims across the globe !!!!

Its been almost an year since i wrote something...With the arrival of another little bundle of joy at home, I have been totally neglecting this one for indeed a very long time. My blogging buddies have been so kind to me and their emails have been so encouraging and supportive during my absence that I would like to thank one and all for it.

With Ramadhan here, the blogging world eagerly waits for the Iftar Moments hosted by my close friend Umm Mymoonah of the Taste of Pearl City. Iam sure every one would be as excited as Iam.. This event definitely holds a special place for me. Though I kept myself away from blogging, I cant and I dont want to miss participating in this wonderful event... can I??

So, here is my recipe exclusively for the Iftar Moments...

Ingredients

Lamb leg - about 3 kgs
Butter - 100 gms
Red Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Garlic pods - 2 (pressed)
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
Ginger powder - 1/4 tsp
Saffron - 1/4 tsp
Olive oil - 80 ml
Ground Pepper - 1 tsp or according to your taste
Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - according to the taste
Water - 1/2 cup

Preparation

1. Spread 50 gms butter and ground pepper and rub it on the lamb leg thoroughly.

2. In a separate bowl, mix well the chopped onions, garlic, all the spices, olive oil and a little water.

3. Take half of this mixture and spread firmly on the buttered meat.

4. Pour the other half of the onion mixture and the rest of the butter in a large baking pan which should be large enough to accomodate the leg.

5. Now place the lamb leg on this onion mixture bath, cover it with a foil and marinate for minimum 1 hr at room temperature.

6. Remove the foil and slow grill the lamb leg at 175 °C for about 2.5 hrs until it turns crispy from outside and is cooked well. Every now and then, using a spoon, pour over the underlying onion juice on the lamb during grilling.
7. Using a sharp knife, cut it in slices and serve it as a steak with rice or bread.

I bet this juicy and grilled lamb-leg is a nice treat for the meat-lovers !

Note :
1. If the meat is uncooked, you could regrill it in the oven for another half an hour or so.
2. This grill time varies according to the size of the lamb leg in different countries. Please adjust the time accordingly.
3. Feel free to use spices of your choice :)

Strawberry-Pineapple Smoothie

2010-10-25T00:27:00.000+02:00

Strawberries are loved by almost everyone, especially when they are in market. But when they are out of season and you still want to have them in your diet because of their high health benefits, this drink would be a perfect !

Ingredients (for 2 glasses)

Frozen Strawberries - 150 gms
Pineapple juice - 300 ml
Sugar - 1 tbsp

Preparation
Blend together all the ingredients in a blender to make a puree of it.

Pour it into 2 glasses and enjoy !

Franzbrötchen

2010-10-16T01:57:00.005+02:00

Wow ! This was my expression when I first saw this bread in one of my favourite bakeries here and it tasted absolutely delicious. Actually it was my husband who suggested me to try it as this used to be his favourite breakfast to whichever city he travels in Germany. The very next moment I knew I was going to bake it for the World Bread Day event. The idea of participating in this event had been lingering in my mind all the time and it could not have been any more better than this one. I couldn't wait to get back home to search for the recipe in the internet. After some good searches, bookmarked one and couldnt rest until I tried my hands on it !

A Franzbrötchen is a small, sweet pastry, baked with butter and cinnamon. Sometimes other ingredients are used as well, such as chocolate or raisins. It is a type of pastry commonly found in northern Germany, especially Hamburg, and it is usually served for breakfast, but is also enjoyed along with coffee and cake. The Franzbrötchen was probably named in the style of the French (German 'französisch') model, the croissant, which is made of pastry and became popular in Germany after Napoleon's troops had occupied Hamburg between 1806 and 1814. According to a different historical tradition, they produced a longish Franzbrot (German for 'French bread') which resembled the baguette. Legend has it, that a baker in Hamburg had once seared such a Franzbrot in a pan of fat, which is considered the origin of the contemporary Franzbrötchen. -Source Wikipedia.

Like puff-pastry, the butter is incorporated into the dough through rolling and folding, creating layers that separate out during baking. The peculiarity of the Franzbrötchen consists in its being pasted with a sugar-cinnamon mix before going into the oven !

Ingredients for 16 brötchen

For the dough

All purpose flour(sifted) - 500 gms + extra for dusting the working space

Dry yeast - 1 pkt

Butter (unsalted) - 70 gms

Sugar - 70 gms

Salt - a pinch

Lemon zest - 1 tsp

Lukewarm milk - 250 ml

For the filling

Chilled unsalted butter - 125 gms

Sugar - 100 gms

Cinnamon - 1 tsp

Water - 2 tbsp

A large working space to roll out the dough !

Method

1. In a bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt, lemon zest together.

2. Dissolve the dry yeast in lukewarm milk with 1 tbsp sugar in a separate bowl. Set aside and allow the yeast to activate for 15 minutes(until you see a froth on the surface).

3. Mix this yeast to the flour mixture and knead well to form a smooth dough.

4. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and keep it in a warm place for about 30 minutes.

5. After 30 minutes, take out the dough, punch the air back and knead again for 2 minutes until smooth.

6. Dust the working space with the flour generously. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into 30x25 dimension.

7. Cut the chilled butter in small pieces and place it on one half side of the rolled dough.

8. Cover the other half over this and press the ends tightly so that the butter does not come out. I could have pressed even more better !

9. Cover this dough with a plastic foil and refrigerate it for about 15-20 minutes.
10. Take out the dough, dust the working space with four and roll it again to 50x30 rectangle.
11. Now fold the rectangle from the end (about 1/3 part of it) inwards and then fold the other end over it, so that there is a three layered dough.

12. Cover it with a plastic foil and refrigerate it again for 15-20 minutes.

13. In a small bowl, mix together cinnamon and sugar and set aside.

14. Take out the dough, dust the surface with flour again, roll it out to 80x40 rectangle. I could not roll it any further for the lack of big space. So please roll it out thin.

15. Moisten the surface by brushing it with water.

16. Now dust it with cinnamon-sugar mixture generously all over.

17. Roll out the rectangle like a swiss roll carefully and slowly and placing the patched face under.

18. Cut the roll into 12-16 parts using a sharp knife. (I cut about 12 so as to get bigger brötchen)

19. Now comes the fun part of shaping the bread. Take one roll, using the back of a wooden spoon, gently press down in the middle so that rolled out dough from the two sides pop out and the filling oozes out sideways.

20. The more they pop out, the better the shape.

21. Alternatively, you could also use the back of your knife for pressing down the rolls.

22. Repeat the process for all the other rolls. Place them in a baking tray lined with a baking paper with a distance of about 5 cms between them.

23. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes.
24. Preheat the oven to 200 °C and bake the brötchen for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

25. Allow it to cool in a wirerack for about 10 minutes and enjoy the Franzbrötchen with a warm cup of coffee and fresh juice !

The cinnamon-sugar mixture caramelises into a delicious sticky-crunchy coating during the baking process.

Note : Though the dough is leavened with yeast, it does not rise like bread due to artery-clogging additions of butter !

Verdict of my husband (read a very good food critic!) : Having tasted this Franzbrötchen in different bakeries here in Germany, he said the ones I baked had the exact taste but the only thing i would need to work on the next time is to roll out the dough even more thinner in step 14.

Tip :

1. I have heard that you could use brown sugar instead of normal sugar to mix with cinnamon. It seems it caramelises even more beautifully.

2. You could as well use Wholemeal flour instead. Got to try it the next time !

3. You could deep freeze the extra bread for your unexpected guests. It stays good for a month !

Its my pleasure to submit this recipe to the World Bread Day- 2010, an annual event started by Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte. The recipe has to be posted on the 16th October (World bread day) from all over the world. Even if you do not have the time to bake the bread, you could still participate by buying a bread at your favourite bakery, write about it and send it to the event. Isn't it cool ?

Cheese Bread with Chives

2010-10-13T00:31:00.001+02:00

Who doesn't like to get a bite of warm bread coming out fresh from the oven and especially when it is topped over with cheese and accompanied with a mild flavor of chives ????
Would you like to give it a try ? ;)

Ingredients
All purpose flour - 225 gms
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Chives (finely chopped) - 2 tsp
Grated cheese - 100 gms
Salt - 1tsp
Egg - 1 (beaten)
Butter (melted) - 25 gms
Milk - 125 gms
Bread spices (optional) - 1 tsp

Method
1. Sift the flour in a large bowl. Add baking powder and salt.
2. Add the chives to this flour mix.

3. Add the grated cheese. Please retain and set aside 3 Tablespoons of grated cheese for further use in garnishing.

4. In a separate bowl, mix well the egg, butter and milk together.

5. Add this egg mixture to the flour and mix well.

6. Greese a baking form (about 24cms) and line it with a baking paper. Using a spoon gently spread this prepared dough on this form.

7. Top the grated cheese over the dough.

8. Preheat the oven to 190 °C and bake the bread for about 30 minutes.

9. Allow it to cool for about 10-15 minutes. Cut into wedge shapes and serve with a warm soup.

This recipe goes to the Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Prof. Kitty this week and originally started by Haalo of Cook Almost Anything

Hummuṣ bi ṭaḥīna

2010-10-10T23:59:00.001+02:00

This popular dip found throughout the Middle East is made from mashed chickpeas (Hummus in Arabic) blended with sesame paste, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and salt. Its an Arabic name which means "Chickpeas with Tahini".
To know more about its nutritional benefits and serving methods, click here.

Ingredients
Chick peas (soaked in water overnight) - 300 gms
Garlic pods (crushed finely)- 2-3
Sesame paste (Tahini)- 200 gms
Lemon juice(from 1 lemon)
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Olive oil - 100 ml
Paprika powder (chilli powder)- 1 tsp
Salt - as desired
Corriander leaves(chopped) - optional
Parsley (chopped) - optional

Method
1. Cook the chickpeas until soft. Remove the skin. Make a puree using a blender.

2. Mix the chickpeas puree with garlic, lemon juice, cumin powder, sesame paste, salt to make a smooth paste.

3. Mix the olive oil and paprika powder in a small bowl.

4. Pour this oil over the puree paste. Add a little water if desired.
5. Garnish Hummus with corriander leaves and when served with a warm fresh bread, it serves as a complete protein rich food !

This recipe goes to Nithu Bala's CWF - Chickpeas event, started by Kiran.

Fish soup

2010-10-04T23:26:00.000+02:00

Fall is almost here and I couldn't stop thinking of warm and cozy foods, especially my favourite soups! A warm spicy soup on a breezy Autumn day is something that seems to be very essential on your dining table !

Ingredients
Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Garlic pods - 2 (finely chopped or crushed finely)
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Fish (bones removed, cut in small bite size cubes) - 250 gms
Fish bones, head - about 300 gms
Egg yellow from 2 eggs
Parsley (chopped or frozen) - 1 tbsp
Dill (chopped finely or frozen) - 1 tbsp
Salt
Pepper
Cinnamon powder (optional) - a pinch
Lemon juice - from 1/2 lemon
Water - 750 ml

Preparation

1. Heat the oil and saute the onions and garlic until the onions get transparent.
2. Add the fish bones, head parts, water, parsley and cook for about 40 minutes. Drain the broth and remove the waste.
3. Add the fish cubes to this warm broth and allow it to boil. Then cook in a low flame for another 5 minutes.
4. Mix the egg yellow with lemon juice in a small bowl. Add this mix to the broth and mix well. Do not cook any further.
5. Add the salt, pepper, zimt and garnish the soup with Dill.
Serve the Fish soup warm with a fresh bread !

This recipe goes to the event "Souper Sundays" hosted by Debinhawaii

Mansaf -Jordanian National Food

2010-10-01T01:07:00.001+02:00

Mansaf, the traditional dish of Jordan is comprised of "Jameed" - drenched rice, meat and Shrak bread.
Jameed is a special kind of sun dried yoghurt, that is generally fist-sized and hard as a rock. It is later broken down and cooked, then served in generous quantities alongside the rice and meat. Since, we do not get Jameed easily in Western countries here, I did not try it until when one of my Jordanian friends suggested that i make a substitute for it by mixing Yogurt, curd cheese with a powdered essence of Lemon. Though the taste would be a little different from the traditional Mansaf, it definitely was a rich feast ! Someday, would defnitely love to try it with the actual "jameed" !

Ingredients for 2-3 persons

Lamb - 1 kg
Basmati rice - 2 cup (washed, soaked in water for 15 minutes and drained).
Ghee - 3 tbsp
Onion - 1 (cutted to squares)
Arabic loaves of bread called Shrak or Pita
Parsley - 1 cup (finely chopped)
Salt
Pepper - 2 tsp
cloves - 3
spices (according to your taste)
Yogurt - 500 gms
Curd Cheese - 2 tbsp
Powdered essence of Lemon - 1/2 tsp (available in Turkish shops as Limon Tuzu)
Water - 1 litre

Preparation
1. Slow cook the lamb in cold water with salt and pepper. Bring to boil, simmer it and cook for 30 minutes.

2. Remove the meat and reserve the broth.
3. In a separate bowl, add Yogurt, curd cheese, powdered essence of lemon and whisk it well.
4. Mix this Yogurt mix with the reserved broth. Let it boil.

5. Add the meat, onions, salt, spices, cloves and simmer until the meat is tender and cooked well with the broth.

6. In a separate pan, heat the ghee and saute the rice for 2 minutes until the grains are coated completely with the ghee.

7. Add enough water and cook the rice until fluffy. (Please read the instructions in the packet of the rice used, as regards to the water).
8. Take a large serving plate. Spread out the one or two loaves of bread on it.

9. Pour over a laddle full of the Yogurt broth over the bread.

10. Put the cooked rice on the bread.

11. Arrange pieces of the meat on the rice bed. Pour over the Yogurt soup generously all over.

12. Sprinkle roasted pine nuts and/or Almonds and parsley.

Serve Mansaf along with a bowl of the Yogurt soup which could be poured as and when you are enjoying the feast. Its a single plate meal. All the members gather around and eat from this single plate with hand.

This festive rice recipe goes to the Festive rice event hosted by Torview

Banana cake

2010-09-30T11:08:00.001+02:00

This cake has a special significance to me. On a friday evening, my 3.5 year old son came running to me to the kitchen and asked me "Mamma, bake a cake for Abbu !" (He knows that his dad comes home only on weekends, as he was working on a different city). I was so surpised that he had observed me preparing good food and bake cakes for his abbu when he is back home. He ran to my cupboard and picked one of my baking books, scrolled the pages, selected this Banana cake !
So, to please him, I let him do all the preparatory work and help me bake this, which he just loved. He was so thrilled and when his dad came home, he waited until the dinner was over and then served this cake to him !
So this Banana cake is the result of Furqan's idea and his love for his abbu.....

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 250 gms
Butter - 125 gms
Milk - 125 ml
Sugar - 110 gms
Eggs (beaten)- 2
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Banana (ripe, and mashed) - 4 (medium size)
Bicarbonate of soda - 1 tsp

Method

1. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl, using an electric beater.
2. Slowly add eggs in parts and keep beating it.
3. Add Vanilla essence and mashed bananas and beat well until smooth.
4. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in milk.
5. In a separate bowl, sift the flour together with baking powder and add this to the banana mixture, in parts, alternating with the milk.
6. Whisk it using a metal spoon until the batter is smooth.
7. Pour this into a greased springform, lined with baking paper.
8. Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake the cake for about 50-60 minutes until the surface turns golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.

Serve it with Tea along with freshly cut bananas.

I would like to send this recipe to
Healthnut Challenge 7 : Tropical Temptations.

Dish Name Starts With B by Akila

bakes and cakes

Bake-Off hosted by Champa of Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen.

Haysa Al-Tumreya (Dip for Dates)

2010-09-29T22:09:00.000+02:00

Dates are used in many recipes throughout the Middle East and are enjoyed alone as a snack or sometimes complemented with a dip. Haysa Al-Tumreya is nothing but a combinaion of flour and oil, cooked together.

Ingredients for 6-8 people
All purpose flour - 3/4 cup
vegetable oil or shortening - 1/2cup
Dates, pitted.

Method
1. Combine the flour and the oil in a pan and heat over low flame. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture turns golden brown.
2. Remove from heat and pour onto a serving bowl/plate.

Serve while hot with a bowl of pitted dates.
This recipe goes to AWED- Saudi Arabia hosted by Niloufer originally started by DK of Chef in you

Notes :

Talking about dates, I would also like to mention about its significance in Islam and its worthy mention in the Quran. Allah reveals her situation

The pains of labor drove her to the trunk of a date-palm. She exclaimed: "Oh, if only I had died before this time and was something discarded and forgotten!" A voice called out to her from under her: "Do not grieve. Your Lord has placed a small stream at your feet. Shake the trunk of the palm toward you, and fresh, ripe dates will drop down to you. Eat and drink, and delight your eyes. If you should see anyone at all, just say: 'I have made a vow of abstinence to the All-Merciful, and [so] today I will not speak to any human being.'" (Surah Maryam, 19 : 23-26)

Prophet `Isa's (as) Birth and Allah's Support of Maryam
Allah fully supported Maryam throughout her pregnancy. It is very difficult for a woman to give birth, a potentially life-threatening experience, all alone, without medical equipment or a midwife's assistance. Nevertheless, Maryam overcame all of these difficulties by placing her complete trust in Allah. Allah helped her with revelations while she was struggling toward a date tree in the full throes of labor pains. Allah told her not to grieve, that He had placed a stream at her feet, and that she should shake the date tree in order to get freshly ripe dates to eat. He also told her to drink and to delight her eyes. As a result, she gave birth in the best possible circumstances.

From the Hadith Sahih Bukhari :

Hadith Book 27, Number 3828:
Hadith Narrated Abdullah ibn Busr ibn Atiyyah ibn Busr:
The Apostle of Allah, Muhammad (peace_be_upon_him) came to visit us and we offered him butter and dates, for he liked butter and dates.

Hadith Book 023, Number 5078:
‘A’isha reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: A family which has dates will not be hungry.

Hadith Book 27, Number 3827:
Hadith Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu’minin:
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) used to eat melon with fresh dates, and he used to say: The heat of the one is broken by the coolness of the other, and the coolness of the one by the heat of the other.

Hadith Volume 7, Book 65, Number 351:
Hadith Narrated ‘Abdullah bin Ja’far bin Abi Talib:
I saw Allah’s Apostle eating fresh dates with snake cucumber.
Notes: dates are warm and sweet, cucumber cold and salty, the perfect balance

Nigella seeds Tea

2010-09-29T12:49:00.001+02:00

Yes ! Nigella seeds Tea ! When I first saw this recipe in one of the websites, I was totally amazed at how innovative people could be ....I tried it immediately and believe me it was truly aromatic and refreshing. Theres nothing like holding a warm cup of tea and enjoying every sip of it in a cold weather. Above all, with its very high medicinal values , a cup of Nigella seeds tea daily will be highly beneficial for the body.

Ingredients
Boiling water - 1 cup
Nigella seeds - 1 tbsp
Honey - 1/2 tsp (optional)
A dash of Vanilla extract
Milk or cream (optional)

Preparation
1. Crush the nigella seeds using a hammer or a mortar and pestle. Please do not powder it finely. You just want them to release the essential oils.
2. Take the boiling water in a tea kettle and put the crushed seeds into it. Cover the kettle and let it rest for 8-10 minutes.
3. Filter out the seeds and discard the contents.
4. Flavor with milk, cream, honey or vanilla as desired.

Tip :
1. Please do not allow the seeds to steep in the water for a long time, it gives a bitter taste.
2. If you have a teaball, place the crushed seeds in it and the teaball in the cup. After 8 minutes, take out the teaball and serve the tea.

This recipe goes to CWS- Nigella seeds hosted by Taste of Pearl City started by Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes,

Maqloobeh

2010-09-28T15:50:00.005+02:00

Maqloobeh is one of the most famous Palestinian dishes. Each village and town in Palestine has its own version of it. Its fame is spread out to many Middle Eastern countries as well. Maqloobeh in Arabic means "Invert or Upside down" for the last process of flipping the pot over in a big platter for serving. The most original recipe is prepared with Lamb chunks/Chicken and fried eggplants. Many use cauliflower, carrots, potatoes. You could make it completely veggie too. Its usually prepared on special occasions.
I had my first Maqloobeh with Eggplants and Potatoes in one of my Palestinian friends place 5 years back...aah that was so delicious that eversince wanted to give it a try. But its only now for the first time I could actually prepare it !
Well, my version of Maqloobeh has Chicken, fried eggplants, potato with Rice. I didnt have any special occasion for preparing it and so went ahead, prepared it and made itself an occassion :)

I have tried to picture all the steps involved for easy understanding. Believe me, it was so much fun preparing it. Please be prepared for left overs. The display is everything in this recipe. So you need to prepare this minimum quantity which serves for atleast 3-4 people. Or you could invite your friends over for dinner, or altogether skip preparing dinner the next day as we often do when we have left over Biriyani ;)

Ingredients
Chicken - 750gms to 1 kg(or approximately 6-7 big pieces)
Eggplants - 2 (large)
Potatoes -3-4 (optional) - sliced
Onions - 2 (medium size, chopped)
Basmati rice - 3.5 cups
Oil - 1.5 cups
Garlic cloves - 5-6
Water - about 7 cups
Pine nuts or almonds - roasted
Kitchen Tissues
A large serving plate
Spices:
Black pepper - 2 tsp (or more, according to your taste)
Cumin powder - 2 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 3 tsp
Cardamom powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
All Spice - 2 tsp (Arabic spice. I couldn't get that, so I went ahead without using it)
Salt - to taste

Method
1. Marinate the chicken using 1 tsp of all the spices for half an hour.

2. Cut the eggplant in 1 cms slices and soak in salted water for half an hour. This prevents the browning of the slices which eventually causes bitterness.

3. Take each slices and drain the water using a kitchen tissue.
4. Heat the oil in a large bottomed pan and deep fry the eggplant until golden brown. After frying, remove the excess oil using kitchen tissue.

5. In the same oil, fry the potatoes until crispy golden brown. Remove them. Drain excess oil.

6. Fry the chopped onions and garlic cloves until crispy brown. Do not over fry them, lest they give bitterness. Remove from oil. Drain the excess oil using a kitchen tissue.

7. Fry and brown the chicken pieces in the same oil.

8. When the chicken is more than half done, add the water and cook the chicken in a medium flame for about 10-15 minutes. The spices released by the chicken gets into this water. Take out and separate the chicken pieces from the broth. This broth is reserved and used for cooking the rice.

Till now, its only the preparation process. Now comes the actual fun part of assembling them in layers!
Are you still with me ???? Then...... lets proceed.........

1. Take a large bottomed pan in which you desire to cook the rice. I used the electric rice cooker and it was absolutely the best ! If you dont have it, no worries, you can still get it right in a normal cooking dish.
2. Place the chicken pieces tightly and closely and try to cover the gaps if possible.

3.Cover the chicken layer with the eggplant layer.

4. Now comes the potato layer over this.

5. Then the fried onions and fried garlic...

6. Then comes the rice, which was soaked in water for 10 minutes and drained well.

7. Sprinkle turmeric powder over the rice.

8. Sprinkle all the rest of the spices and salt(required enough for the quantity of rice used)

Are you still there ?????????......well, just wanted to make sure ;)

9. Cover the layers with a small serving plate. You will know the reason in the next step !

10. Now, gently pour over the reserved chicken broth (6 cups) over this plate. This plate prevents all the inner spices and onions from coming out while you are pouring the broth over the rice, thereby the contents and the arranged layers are undisturbed !

11. Now, slowly take out the plate and with a spoon gently press the rice grains to make sure they are immersed into the broth completely and that the spices are a little mixed. Please do it lightly and only superficially and not disturbing the underlying layers.

12. Cook it in a rice cooker. If you are cooking it in a normal dish, cook the rice in a high heat until the broth starts boiling. Then lower the heat, use a heat protection disk if you like to prevent burning, cook the rice for about 30 minutes until the rice gets fluffy. (The cooking time depends greatly on the rice used. Please refer to the package for instructions as to how much water it needs. You can add a little more water while cooking, if needed.).
Please DO NOT try to mix the rice while cooking. The layers have to be intact and not disturbed until you get to spoon it for eating ! Remove from heat, cover and set aside the rice for 15 minutes.

Now comes the "opening ceremony" of this whole cooking event ......

1. Place a large serving plate that would fit to your cooking dish as shown below.

2. Quickly but carefully flip the dish in the serving plate. You could get the help from your husband or someone if you want and thats what I did :). Tap the bottom of the dish lightly and remove it slowly and carefully.

and Voila !

Garnish with roasted pine nuts or cashews or almonds.

Serve Maqloobeh with plain yogurt or a salad. The whole family gets to eat this Festive rice from this single plate!!!

Enjoy !

Thank you for your patience in reading such a long post :)

This festive rice recipe goes to the Festive rice event hosted by Torview and to Visual Treat by Creative Sanyukta.

Squid Manchurian

2010-09-27T13:57:00.001+02:00

Manchurians, with a blend of Indian and Chinese cuisines, are a lovely and favourite starters when you are in a big restaurant or just hang around with friends to get the street food.
Its one of my family's favourite and my mil had once called me from India just to get the recipe for it.

This Squid Manchurian is what I came up with when I discussed the day's mealplan with a husband who needs varieties in food and who encourages and gives plenty of ideas! You dont seem to be alone in wondering what to serve for the dinner isnt it :)..... Wanted to try out squids for a long time and brought some, when on the way, my hubby suggested me, "hey, why dont you try making Manchurian with it". The idea was not bad at all. But i was not quite sure how would it turn out to be, as i was running out of time and had to prepare a sidedish for the Fried rice quickly and no time for backup. But he encouraged me to proceed with it without any sort of fear. He was absolutely right ! It was so delicious that I cant describe more.

Ingredients
For frying the squids
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Chilli powder - 1 tsp (according to your desired taste)
Salt (desired taste)
Water -sufficient enough to form a thick batter of flowing consistency.
Oil for deep frying.
For the sauce
Squids - 200 gms
Spring onions - 1/2 bunch or normal onions - 2 (finely chopped)
Ginger - 1 inch size, crushed or finely chopped
Green chillies - chopped, required according to your desired taste
Soya sauce - 1/4 cup
Tomato ketchup - 1/4 cup
Cornstarch - 1 tbsp, mix with water to make a paste.
Water - 1 cup
Salt to taste
Corriander for garnishing
Lemon juice for extra taste.

Preparing the sauce
1. Heat the oil in a pan and saute the onions until transparent.
2. Add the ginger, salt, green chillies, soya sauce and tomato sauce and a little water (1/4 cup) and mix well.
Please check the taste. If the sauce has too much tomato taste, add a little more soya sauce. The end result should have the soya sauce as a dominant taste, and which gives it a characteristic Chinese taste. If the Manchurian becomes a little dry, then add water, adjust it with soya sauce and ketchup. There are no hard and fast measurements to it. Your tongue is the best critic !
3. Cover the pan with a lid and set aside.

Preparing the squids
1. Clean and cut the squids to ring shapes. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, sift the flour and add chilli powder, salt, water and mix well to form a smooth thick batter of flowing consistency. The batter should not be too watery !
3. Heat the oil in a pan.
4. Dip and immerse the squids one by one into the prepared batter to coat them completely (just like you do for bajjis or pakoras). Fry them in the oil until golden brown.
5. Remove the squids and drain the excess oil in a kitchen tissue.
6. Immediately put them into the prepared sauce, which should still be warm.(You could reheat it shortly before mixing it with the squids).
7. Cook and mix them all together in a medium flame for a minute.
8. Garnish with chopped corriander with a few drops of lemon squeezed.
Serve the Squid Manchurian immediately with Rotis or Fried rice.

Tips :
1. You could alternatively buy the readymade frozen squids which are spiced up already and meant for frying and skip the batter preparation totally. This saves a lot of time and you get more crispier squids.
2. The procedure is the same for Chicken Manchurian or Gobi Manchurian for veggie lovers. Replace the squids with your preferred choice.

This recipe goes straight to the Combo meal.

Moroccan Meat soup with Red Lentils

2010-09-24T15:13:00.001+02:00

A rich and healthy soup enriched with vegetables like potatoes, carrots, lentils and Meat. Its a complete meal in itself,very simple to prepare, and goes extremely well with a piece of bread or rice. I would say its a "must try" recipe for meat-lovers.

Lets go straight to the recipe now....

Ingredients for 2-3 persons

Meat pieces - 250 gms ((preferably big pieces with bones)

Red lentils - 100 gms

Red onions - 2 (medium size, finely chopped)

Olive oil - 60 ml

Water - 1.5 lit

Potatoes - 2 (cut in small pieces)

Carrots - 2 (cut small)

Corriander leaves - 1 cup (chopped finely)

Salt - as desired

Pepper powder- as desired

chilli powder - as desired

Lemon juice - from 1/2 lemon

Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker, saute the onions, add meat pieces, salt, pepper powder, cinnamon powder, chilli powder together until the onions get golden brown.

2. Add the red lentils, potatoes, carrot and water and pressure cook until the meat and lentils get tender.

3. Once the meat is done, take it out from the broth and separate the flesh from the bones.

4. Puree the broth using a blender into a smooth consisitency. If the consistency is thick, add more water to it and then blend it.

5. Finally add the shredded meat to it and cook for another 2 minutes.

6. Serve the soup with chopped corriander leaves, and with a few drops of lemon squeezed.

Tip:

Cinnamon is the most commonly used spice in Moroccan cuisine.

This goes to the event "Souper Sundays" hosted by Debinhawaii

Kartoffelchen

2010-09-21T22:47:00.003+02:00

The recipe of these simple to make kartoffelchen, was given to me by one of my close friends from Kazakhstan when she visited me. She had prepared them and brought this quick dessert for a BBQ party at my place. I was so amazed when i had the first bite, (it was neither too hard nor too soft) and even more amazed when i got to know its ingredients and the procedure of making them. A successful marriage of biscuits and cocoa powder and an ideal party dessert treat to enjoy! I am sure you would appreciate its preparation as well....

Ingredients for 50 kartoffelchen

Plain biscuits or Marie biscuits - 400 gms
Ground Hazelnuts or Almonds - 1/2 cup
Butter(melted) - 200 gms
Cocoa powder or Nutella or melted chocolate - 1/2 cup
Egg (beaten) - 1
Sugar - 2 tbsp

Preparation
1. Powder or crush the biscuits in a blender.

2. To this, add the powdered Hazelnuts, cocoa pwder(i used nutella), egg, sugar.

3. Finally add the melted butter.

4. Mix well using your hand into a crumby mixture.

5. Make small and firm balls out of this mixture.

6. Now comes the most interesting part, these kartoffelchen have to be kept in a deep freezer(minimum for half an hour), packed in a freezer bag or a zip-lock bag ! yes, you heard me right.

7. Keep them in a normal refrigerator 15 minutes before serving them. I used mini truffles paper forms for the feast to the eyes :)

Tips :
They stay good for about a month in the freezer !
So go ahead, prepare them in advance, well ahead of a party or take out the required quantity and serve these kartoffelchen to your unexpected guests. Isn't it amazing :)

This recipe goes straight to sugar high friday bite size dessert, guest hosted by Aparna and originally started by Jennifer

and to Nithu's Celebrate Sweets- Ladoo originally started by Nivedita.

Etli Kuru Fasülye (White beans with Beef)

2010-09-20T23:46:00.002+02:00

Kuru Fasulye is a traditional and the most popular Turkish dish and it is associated with Turks around the world just like sish kebab. Served warm with bread, rice or Bülgur Pilavi, it tastes best in cold weather !

Ingredients (for 4-6 persons)
White beans - 500 gms(soaked in water overnight) or canned ones
Beef or Meat - 500 gms (bite size)
Onions - 3 (medium size and chopped)
Green Paprika - 3 (seeds removed and cut in small pieces)
Tomatoes - 3 (pulp and seeds removed and then chopped)
Butter - 3 tbsp
Tomato paste - 1 tbsp
Water or Meat stock - 5 cups
Salt - added to desired taste
Pepper - added to desired taste

Method
1. Drain the soaked white beans and cook them separately. Set aside.
2. Heat the butter in a pan. Saute the onions and then add Paprika, Tomatoes, Tomato paste, salt, pepper and mix well. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the meat and water/stock and cook until the meat gets tender. You could pressure cook everything together.
4. Once the meat is done, you could finally add the cooked beans and cook for another 5-10 minutes in a slow flame. If you are using canned beans, wash them well and directly add them in this step. This would save a lot of time!
If you want more watery consistency, add more water/stock or cook on a slow flame for 10 minutes to thicken the gravy.

Tip
If you want to make it completely vegetarian, just omit the meat and prepare using vegetable stock for extra richness !

This recipe directly goes to Divya's Show Me Your Curry, and to MLLA 27

Basic Buttercream cake and cupcakes for Beginners

2010-09-16T02:05:00.008+02:00

Many of my friends who are new to baking and who have just started using their ovens have been asking for a basic cake recipe. So this simple recipe is especially for those who want to try their hands on baking their first cake ! You cannot go wrong anywhere :)

Materials you need
Springform - 20 cms or 26 cms (the lesser the diameter the more the thickness of the cake)
Electric egg beater
Small weighing machine
A large plastic bowl for mixing the batter.

Ingredients for the sponge cake
Butter - 125 gms
Sugar - 170 gms
Milk - 125 ml
All purpose flour - 250 gms
Eggs (beaten) - 2
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp (you could use any desired flavour)
Baking powder - 2 tsp

Method
1. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl using the electric beater until it forms creamy.

2. Add the eggs slowly to this butter-sugar mixture and keep beating it simultaneously. Add the vanilla essence.

3. Beat well again to form a creamy consistency.

4. Sift the flour in another bowl. (This is done to avoid any lumps forming as a result of mixing with other ingredients). Add the baking powder. Mix well.
5. Add the sifted flour to the butter-sugar-egg creamy mixture portionwise alternating with the milk.
Mix well using a metal spoon to form a smooth paste without any lumps.

6. Pour the batter into the greased springform lined with parchment paper (greasing is to apply butter all over the bottom of the springform so that the batter doesnt stick to the bottom after getting baked).
7. Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake the cake for about 30-35 minutes. Take a wodden toothpick and insert it in the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean without anything sticking to it, then the cake is done !
8. The most important step. Do not try to take out the cake immediately after coming out from the oven. Let it rest at room temperature for atleast 15-20 minutes and then take it out. This prevents the warm cake from getting stuck at the corners of the springform and comes out easily.

Tip : Serve with Tea or Coffee.

Butter cream for decorating the cake

Ingredients
Butter (unsalted)- 60 gms
Icing sugar (sifted) - 60 gms
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Method
1. Beat the butter and icing sugar into a creamy consistency using an electric beater. Add the essence and beat well again for 2 minutes to form a smooth mass.
2. Decorate the cake with the prepared buttercream as desired. Or simply spread it on the cake surface using a knife, sprinkle and garnish with nuts or fruits as desired.
3. If you have a piping bag, you can do wonders in decorating. Well, that was my first time using a piping bag and i was not so confident about using it properly. Just gave it a try and it was not so bad as i had expected.

The same recipe for the basic cake could be used for serving large number of guests. All you have to do is just double the recipe and pour the batter into a large rectangular tray greased with butter and lined with parchment paper. I had used almond essence and sprinkled with almonds. It was simply delicious. Cut into 30-35 small square pieces ! voila you have baked a cake for a decent gathering with no additional efforts.

or you could decorate the individual pieces with the buttercream and serve. Sky is the limit for your imagination !

or you could fill them in muffin forms lined with parchment paper cups. But the baking time should be reduced to 10-15 minutes ! It serves 24 muffins when you use the original recipe.

Its a perfect and healthy treat for the kids. An ideal recipe for the kids parties :)

Dont panic ! I baked all these varieties on different occasions :)

How to store cakes
1. You need to always store the cake in an air tight box. With this buttercream decoration, it stays good for 2 days in refrigerator.
2. Otherwise the simple sponge cake stays good for 5-6 days at room temperature.
3. In a freezer, it stays good for a month !

I would like to send this recipe to Bake-Off hosted by Champa of Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen.
It also goes to the event Dish Name Starts With B by Akila and to bakes and cakes

Lemon Rice

2010-09-15T01:12:00.001+02:00

Here Iam, this is me, theres no where else on earth i'd rather be !!!!!
Boy, its good to be back again after a months break to blog and to blog hop !
I would like to kick-start with one of my favourite recipes. This had always been our childhood vacation food from the time i remember. Comes a vacation or a picnic, my mom used to pack this refreshing lemon flavoured rice for us. This recipe is very special to my heart. Cant thank my mom enough for her love and care she has been providing and her constant support ever since i stepped my tiny little pink foot on this world ! This post is for you Ammi :)

Even after so many years, we siblings still remember the time when we used to open the lunch boxes hungrily and eagerly to finish its contents. Its been years now and recently when i had a chat with my brother (did i ever mention that he is a food lover too and we chat for hours anything and everything related to food :). He had himself prepared this lemon flavoured rice for lunch and was eating all by himself thinking of our mom and we both went back to time remembering our good old days and our vacations.
well well well, here iam engrossed with my goody memories.....Now coming back about the recipe....

South Indians must be familiar to this rice variety but for those who are wondering about lemon juice being mixed with rice ?????.....The explanantion goes like, adding lemon to the cakes and cookies gives a wonderful aroma and a mild sour taste. Same goes to this rice too......but here, the sour taste is a little bit strong (but i bet you would love it ! if you are not a "sour person", you could as well reduce the amount of lemon juice added in the recipe) ..... Rice is prepared separately and is mixed with the lemon juice and lentils seasoned and oil fried.

Now we go to the recipe......

Ingredients
For rice
Raw rice - 2 cups
Water - 4 cups

For the lemon juice seasoning
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
Urad dal lentils - 2tbsp
Chana dal lentils (Bengal gram) - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves - 5-6 leaves (optional, but enhances the flavor when used)
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Green chilli - according to your taste
Salt - according to your taste
lemon juice - 1 big
water - 1/4 cup.

Method

1. Cook the rice with water until done. Set aside.
2. In a pan, heat the oil. Add mustard seeds. The seeds splatter and pop.
3. Add chana dal, urad dal, green chilli and saute until the lentils turn brown.

4. Add curry leaves and turmeric powder, salt and saute for 5 seconds.

5. Finally add the lemon juice and 1/4 cup water and let it boil.

6. Mix this well with the rice set aside.

Serve it with potato fry and lemon pickle :)

Ramadhan Mubarak !!!

2010-08-10T01:25:00.006+02:00

As Ramadhan, the most blessed and Holy month for Muslims has come, I would like to brief about this a little. It is in this auspicious month the Holy Quran was first descended to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon Him) through angel Gabriel. Ramadhan is a time of reflecting and worshipping God. It is also a time when Muslims are expected to slow down from worldly affairs and focus on self-reformation,spiritual cleansing and enlightenment, this is to establish a link between themselves and God through prayer, reciting Quran, supplication, charity, good deeds, kindness and helping others. It also allows Muslims to practice self-discipline, self-control, sacrifice, and empathy for those who are less fortunate; thus encouraging actions of generosity and charity.
Hence, I would like to take a short break from blogging during this month and might not be able to respond to your comments promptly and regularly and neither could I give you my feedbacks on your posts. But shall get back to you soon and catch up with all your yummy recipes again :) Thank you so much for visiting here.

Ramadhan Mubarak to all the Muslims out there. May Allah give you enough strength to be steadfast in your prayers and fasting and bless you with all that is good in this world and the hereafter ! Aameen !

Watermelon in a Glass !

2010-08-06T13:27:00.010+02:00

After a hectic day of work or shopping, you come home hungry and tired and want to have a quick and easy refreshing food and drink. What else would be better than a delicious and satisfying thirst-quencher to make the rest of your day in hot summer !

Ingredients
Watermelone (scaled, removed seeds,cut in small cubes) - 400 gms
Set aside some cubes for garnishing
Ice cubes

Method
1. Blend the watermelone cubes in a blender into a puree.
2. Place some ice cubes in a tall glass.
3. Pour over the watermelon puree over it.
4. Decorate it by inserting the cubes in a skewer.

Sit back on your couch, relax, and enjoy with a glass full of this treat !

Iam sending this to the event Melone hosted by 1 x umrühren bitte, to Iftar Moments by Taste of Pearl City, and to "Only" , guest hosted by Priya Mitharwal, started by Pari.

Gözleme

2010-08-06T04:09:00.022+02:00

When I first came to Germany, i happened to attend an International Food Festival organized by the local city here. My friends had set up a big Tent stall for selling Turkish food to the people. In the background, many Turkish women, old and middle aged were preparing fresh flatbreads (Gözleme) on a large traditional griddle. I was so amazed to watch them preparing it. One of the old ladies out there saw me and kind enough to ask me if I wished to give them a helping hand. Hurrah ! what a fabulous opportunity and I at once grabbed it! I did all the stuffing work, and brushing the breads with oil once they are done. That was an unforgettable exciting experience. My interest for Turkish cuisine was probably born at that moment. And it has grown so much in 6 years that I am posting Turkish recipes in my blog now !!!!

Gözleme is a savoury traditional Turkish hand made and hand rolled pastry. Fresh pastry is rolled out, filled and sealed, then cooked over a griddle. Gözleme varieties include:

Spinach and Feta Cheese
Spinach and Feta and Minced meat
Spinach and Feta and Egg
Egg
Minced Meat
Cheese
Potatoes
Mushroom

Source : Wikipedia

Ingredients
For the filling (I have used Minced Meat and Onions for my stuffing)
Onions - 3 (finely chopped)
Long green Chilli - 2 (chopped)
Minced meat - 300 gms
Paprika powder(or chilli powder) - 1/2 tsp
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Salt
Pepper

For the Dough
All purpose flour - 500 gms
Milk - about 60 ml
Dry yeast - 1 pkt
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Lukewarm water for activating the yeast - 2tbsp
For glancing
Butter - 1 stick
Oil - 2 tbsp
You need a non-stick pan with a lid for Baking !

Preparation
Filling
1. Heat the oil and saute the onions until transparent. Add the green chilli, minced meat, paprika powder,salt and pepper and cook until the meat becomes tender.
The idea is to cook whatever stuffing you are using (e.g. potatoes, spinach) beforehand.

Dough
1. In a small bowl, add the yeast, lukewarm water and sugar. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
2. In a separate large bowl, mix all the ingredients and the yeast solution. Knead well to form a smooth dough. Cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth and let it rest at a room temperature for 30 minutes.
3. Punch the air back and knead the dough once again for 2 minutes until smooth.
4. Divide it into lemon sized small balls (of the size that fits your hand and this also depends on your pan size you are going to bake in).

Glancing
Melt the butter and oil together by heating them a little.

Preparing the Gözleme
1. Dust the working surface with flour. Using a rolling pin, flatten the balls to paper-thin thickness.

2. Place the filling at the half portion.

3. Cover the other half over it and seal the edges well by pressing with your fingers. You can as well use a fork for better sealing and design.

4. Heat the non stick pan. Place the pastry over it. Cover the lid. Bake for 4-5 minutes until the side that is cooking is done and brown dots appear. Turn the other side and cook for another 2 minutes(with the lid closed). (You can keep changing the sides for getting it fully cooked)

5.When both the sides are done, remove from the pan and immediately brush it with the butter-oil mixture for extra glance.

6. Serve it along with Soups and Salats.

Tip :
You can prepare the dough in large quantities and freeze it for later use. It stays good for about a fortnight.
If you are interested, you can view a video about the preparation of Gözleme from here. It would be fun to see how they prepare it :)

This recipe goes to Iftar Moments by Taste of Pearl City and to Spotlight : baking without oven.

Bulgur Pilavi

2010-08-06T02:18:00.011+02:00

Bulgur has been a major staple in many rural areas in Turkey; during the Ottoman Period, the rice was a very precious commodity that only the rich could afford. This made the bulgur a very popular option and healthy one too. It is rich in fiber and provides good source of protein.
Bulgur Pilavi is one of the many great varieties of pilaf and is a common favourite dish among the Turks (and my family too !). Its a very healthy and delicious treat for the kids.
In making bulgur pilavi, red tomatoes, onions, green peppers, and other spices are usually added to the Bulgur and simmered in vegetable/chicken stock to make it wonderfully nutritious side dish.

Ingredients

Bulgur (coarse grains) -300 gms
Onion - 1 (big and finely chopped)
Tomatoes - 2 (big)
Green Bell Peppers - 2 (cut in small cube sizes)
Red Bell Peppers - 2 (cut in small cube sizes)
Vegetable stock/chicken stock - 800 ml
Butter - 60 gms
Salt - use less salt, as the vegetable stock already has in itself salt content !
Pepper - add to taste

Preparartion

1. Soak the Tomatoes in hot water for about 15 minutes to remove their skin. The skin will peel off easily. Remove the seeds and cut each tomato into 6 parts.
2. Wash the bulgur and place it in a sieve for draining the water. Let it rest for few minutes in the sieve until all the water is gone.
3. Heat the vegetable stock.
4. Heat 40 gms of butter in a non-stick pan. Saute the onions for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the bulgur and the rest of the butter to the onions and cook for about 3-4 minutes.
6. Add the chopped bell peppers, tomatoes, salt and pepper to the bulgur and mix well. Cook for 3 minutes.
7. Add the stock and let it boil. Reduce the flame and then cook for another 10 minutes by stirring regularly to avoid the bottom of the pan from getting burnt. When all the water from the bulgur-stock is gone, stop stirring it !
8. Remove the pan from the heat. Cover it with a Kitchen cloth and let it rest for 15 minutes.
9. Now mix and stirr the Bulgur Pilavi well and cover it again for 10 minutes before serving it.

In Turkey, Bulgur pilav is usually served with any variety of meat dishes such as kofte (meat ball), kebap (kebab), Yogurt and any casserole dishes. It goes extremely well with Patlican Salatasi.

Tip :
1. Use the olive oil (1/2 cup) alternative to butter if you are restricting your saturated fat intake.
2. This is a basic recipe, but feel free to add flavourings, such as thyme, bay leaves or pepper. Or add almonds or pine nuts to the bulgur for a more substantial dish.

This recipe goes to the event A.W.E.D Turkey, hosted by the the taste space, originally started by DK.
and to Iftar Moments by Taste of Pearl City.

It also goes to the event Dish Name Starts With B by Akila.

Cherry on the Top !

2010-08-05T23:43:00.008+02:00

Well, this is not a recipe in actual sense, rather a Tip you could say. My friends wanted to just drop by in a short notice. All I could think was to make quick & easy fruit salads and some snacks to serve them. I usually have canned fruits for emergency purposes. So this was one of my quickest idea which I felt like sharing. Who knows you might someday use this tip to explore something new ;)

Do you really need a recipe for this ????
Anyways, just for the sake of mentioning, here it is...
Peaches(canned) - 1 can
Canned Prunus cerasus( the sour cherry) for the toppings.

If you have time you could spoon the whipped cream over the half-cut peaches (which is hollow in the middle)and garnish with cherries or nuts.

This quick and easy Peach salad goes to Veggie/Fruit a month, hosted by Taste of Pearl City, started by Priya and also to Iftar Moments.

Aalu Gosht ka Saalan

2010-08-05T03:32:00.007+02:00

Aalu Ghost is considered a king of combinations in a non-veg Indian and Pakistani cuisine. Potatoes and meat make a beautiful pair with their flavours complementing each other. The method of preparing it is almost the same everywhere but different spices are used to give a slightly different flavour. My mom used to add coconut paste to increase its consistency.This is my version of the recipe.

Ingredients
Meat or Lamb pieces (with or without bones) - 1 kg
Potatoes - 3 (medium sized, peeled and each cut into 4-6 pieces)
Onion - 4 (sliced)
Ginger paste -2 tsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Tomatoes - 3 (big and chopped)
Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
Cardamom -2
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon stick - 1 inch
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp or according to the spicy taste
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Corriander powder - 4 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Water - 1 1/2 to 2 cups
Salt - to taste
Corriander leaves - 1 cup (chopped)

Method
1. Heat the oil in a pan or a pressure cooker.
2. Saute the onions until golden brown.
3. Add the ginger paste and the garlic paste. Keep stirring until the paste combines well with the onions and leaves out of the pan without sticking to it. (Care should be taken that the onions do not get burnt at the bottom. So please keep stirring it well ).
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until they get tender for about 10 minutes. Keep stirring it again regularly for every 2 minutes.
5. Add the spices (red chilli powder, turmeric powder, corriander powder, cumin powder, and salt) and cook for about 5-7 minutes.
6. Add the meat pieces to it. Mix it well.
7. Depending upon the potato variety, you could add the potatoes now together with the meat or later when the meat is half cooked.
8. Add the water and pressure cook it until the meat is done and tender. If you are cooking on a pan, cook it on a medium flame. You need to keep checking the bottom by stirring it well at regular intervals so that the ingredients are not burnt. If necessary, add a little more water and cook on a slow flame.
9. Garnish it with corriander leaves and serve along with steamed rice or breads or chapatis.

Tip :
You could use the same recipe for making Meat with any other vegetables like brinjal, drumstick, White Radish, Green peas, or Beans. But make sure you use less water when you prepare using these vegetables because they lose water when cooking.

Iam sending this recipe to Taste of Pearl City, of Umm Mymoonah for Iftar Moments , Divya's Show Me Your Curry, and to Akila's Dish Name Starts with : A

My Second and Third Awards

2010-08-05T02:17:00.000+02:00

Akheela of Torview has honored me with this Versatile Blogger award ! Being a regular follower of her posts, I find her very talented and creative. Her blog speaks it all. Please find time to visit her world of cooking. Thank you so much Akheela for sharing this beautiful award. I feel appreciated :) Jazak Allah Khair !

To accept this award, i need to share 7 things about myself. Well, I
1. am a God-fearing proud Muslim
2. love to be with my family and want to be a grateful and obedient wife
3. like to read about parenting and child psychology and try to implement on my highly pampered little ones.
4. like to read about islamic history and stories.
5. love to eat, cook and appreciate the cook
6. like to maintain ties with far and distant relatives by occassionally calling them.
7. love to organize parties and invite friends.

Also, I need to share this award with 15 of my blogger friends. Its a tough job since i am very new to blogging and not made many friends yet, atleast not yet ! So my fellow followers please please collect it from me as a token of thanks :)

My Third Award
Umm Mymoonah of Taste of Pearl City has recognized me again by passing me these lovely awards. I cant thank her enough. People in blogging world might know her only through her creative and beautiful space. Despite the fact that she is soft spoken, humble and very friendly, she is a very good friend of mine too. I know her only since 4 months and seems like we knew each other for ages. Its wonderful to have a great friend who is just a phone call away ! Thank you Ayeesha for being there :)
These are the awards she passed me...

Kisir

2010-08-04T02:22:00.006+02:00

Here is another Turkish recipe from me :) My family is so fond of Turkish cuisine that it has almost become a usual thing to prepare Turkish meals atleast twice a week. Not only that, the Turkish friends we have and the mosque we attend to serve different varieties of this cuisine at special occasions, that sometime we feel that we live in Turkey ! A good thing about this cuisine is, it doesnt require many spices and the natural taste of the main ingredients are preserved.
Kisir is a traditional Turkish Salad/Starter/Snack made from bulgur, parsley and tomato paste. For kisir, a finely grounded bulgur is used, unlike the coarse bulgur used for Bulgur pilav, couscous is sometimes used instead.Well, here goes the recipe....

Ingredients
Fine bulgur - 90 gms
Spring onions - 2
Long green pepper - 1
Garlic pods - 4
Tomato mark - 2 tbsp
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Parsley - 2 tbsp
Mint leaves - 3 tbsp
Salt -1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Lettuce leaves (optional)
Pomegranate juice - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method
1. Wash the bulgur well. Drain the water.

2. Soak it in boiled water for about 1 hour.

3. The fine bulgur granules after absorbing water would have swollen now.

4. Drain and squeeze out the water from the bulgur using a spoon. This is an important process. The end result depends on how well you squeeze out the water and how dry the bulgur is !

5. Alternatively, you could squeeze it out using a clean muslin cloth. This method works the best !

6. The resulting bulgur has to be absolutely dry.

6. Chop the spring onions, parsley, mint leaves, green chilli, garlic pods.

7. Add all the chopped vegetables, herbs, tomato mark, olive oil, pomegranate juice, salt, pepper powder to the bulgur and mix well with your hand.

8. The final product gets its beautiful red color from the tomato mark.

9. Shape it in ovals or round forms and serve the Kisir together with lettuce leaves.

Tips :
1. You could as well chop the lettuce leaves and mix it with the kisir.
2. This could also be used as a filling for Burger sandwiches. Cut open a bread, stuff the filling, add sliced onions, tomatoes, cucumber and ketchup /mayonnaise. An ideal Snack for picnics !

This Salad goes to the event Visual Treat by Creative Sanyukta.

Upside down Pineapple cake

2010-08-03T02:28:00.007+02:00

This soft cake with a strong pineapple flavor was a real melt in the mouth. Felt like with each bite, the mouth was screaming and asking the juicy pineapple pieces "give me more" ! Try this, and you would never get satisfied with just one slice :)

Ingredients
Melted unsalted butter - 20 gms
Brown sugar - 2 tbsp
All purpose flour (sifted)- 125 gms
Canned Pineapple slices - 440 gms
Butter - 90 gms
Sugar - 110 gms
Eggs - 2 (beaten)
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Method
1. Grease a ringform (20 cms) with the melted unsalted butter. Sprinkle brown sugar over the butter.
2. Take out the pineapple slices from the can, dry them using a kitchen tissue. Reserve 80 ml of the pineapple concentrate (from the can) for later use.
3. Cut the slices into halves and arrange them on the form over the brown sugar.

4. Using a beater, beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until smooth and creamy. Add the beaten eggs slowly in parts to this butter-sugar and beat well. Add the vanilla essence and mix well.
5. To this, add in parts, the sifted flour, baking powder alternatively with the reserved pineapple concentrate. Mix well using a metal spoon.

6. Spread this batter evenly over the pineapple slices in the form and cover it completely.

7. Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake the cake for about 35 minutes.

8. Let it rest for about half an hour in the form and when it cools down to the room temperature, very carefully turn the upside down.

9. Serve it along with a Tea or juice.

This recipe goes to the event Bake-Off hosted by Champa of Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen.

Grissini

2010-07-31T00:05:00.006+02:00

Grissini are generally long, thin pencil-sized sticks of crispy, dry bread originating in Turin (a major city in northern Italy) and the surrounding area in Italy. They are better known in many English speaking nations as bread sticks, and they are a popular accompaniment to many Italian meals. My kids call it "pencil bread" :). Grissini are very popular in Spain as well. Toppings vary from simple coarse salt to seeds or dried herbs of your choice. It looks very crispy from outside but inside it has a soft mouthfeel. Somehow it was fun and I enjoyed baking this bread :)

Ingredients for making 8 Grissinis
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Milk - 80 ml
Butter or Margarine - 25 gms
Dry Yeast - 1/2 pkt
Warm Water - 60 ml
Sugar - 1/2 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Poppy seeds and/or Sesame seeds

Greased tray - 2
Method
1. Dissolve the dry yeast in warm water. Add the sugar and let it rest for 5 minutes.
2. Take a pan, heat the milk and add butter. Cook until the butter gets melted.
3. In a large bowl, sift the flour and add the salt, yeast solution, and the milk-butter. Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and soft.
4. Divide the dough into 8 small balls. Using your fingers, roll out each ball like a pencil shape of about 30 cms.
5. Place the pencil shaped dough on a greased tray, four at a time, and leaving a distance of about 3 cms between each.

6. Cover the tray with a kitchen towel or Foil and let it rest for about 20 minutes.
7. Brush the surface with cold water.

8. Sprinkle poppy seeds and sesame seeds.

9. Preheat the oven to 210°C and bake the bread for about 10-15 minutes until golden and crispy.
10. Remove the tray and let the Grissini come down to room temperature.
11. Meanwhile, repeat the process for the second tray.
12. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C and bake the Grissinis for again about 5-10 minutes, until they get dry and crispy.
13. Serve it with Soups or Salads. There are a wide range of ways to serve grissini. A platter of them on the table is certainly appropriate, and they can also be used as appetizers. They may also be eaten out of hand like a snack, and the more bready versions can almost make a meal in and of themselves, especially when dressed with ingredients like Parmesan.

Tip:
1. Grissinis stay fresh and crispy for about a week in an air tight box. There is no need for reheating them in oven!

2. Kids love its shape and its a perfect snack for them !

This Italian bread goes to the Bread Baking Day # 32, created by Zorra of 1 x umrühren bitte.

This also goes to Bake-Off hosted by Champa of Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen and to Susan's Yeast Spotting,
And also to Kids Delight, hosted by Pari

Lentil-Paprika-Tart

2010-07-30T02:27:00.003+02:00

I was always confused between a Pie and a Tart. Well, the difference is that Pies can have tops or pastry-dough covers or not but they do have depth. Tarts are very similar to Pies but are always open topped and the pastry dough is very thin usually under one inch. They have either a sweet or a savory filling.
This was my first Tart try and i guess it was not that bad. I used a savory filling of red-lentils and paprika and it made a good combination.

Lentils contain high levels of proteins and are one of the best vegetable sources of iron. This makes them an important part of a vegetarian diet, and useful for preventing iron deficiency. Iron is particularly important for adolescents and pregnant women, whose requirements for it are increased.
Source : Wikipedia

And now comes the recipe...
Ingredients
For the pastry dough
Wholemeal flour - 225 gms
Margarine - 100 gms
Water - 4 tbsp
For the filling
Red Lentils - 175 gms
Vegetable stock - 300 ml
Onion -1 (chopped)
Red bell Pepper(Paprika) - 2 (cut in small parts)
Yeast extract - 1 tsp (optional, but gives extra savory flavor when used)
Tomato mark - 1 tbsp
Parsley - 3 tbsp (fresh, finely chopped or frozen but thawed)
Pepper - 1/2 tsp

Method for the preparing the pastry dough
1. Sift the flour in a large bowl. Add margarine and mix well to form a crumby dough.
2. Add the water and knead well until the dough is smooth and soft. Wrap it in a clingfilm and refrigerate it for about 20 minutes.
Preparing the filling
1. Cook the vegetable stock and lentils together in a pan until the lentils are soft and are water free.
2. Heat the margarine in another pan and saut the onions and paprika until the paprika is soft.
3. Remove from the heat and add the cooked lentils, tomato mark, parsley, yeast extract and pepper and mix well.
4. After 20 minutes, take out the dough in a surface lightly dusted with the flour. Flatten it using a rolling pin and fit it into a Tartform (24cm)

5. Using a fork, poke holes into the pastry dough.

6. Now place the Lentil-Paprika filling over it.

7. Preheat the oven to 200°C and bake the Tart for about 25-30 minutes.

8. Cut into wedges and serve as a starter.

This Tart goes to the event My Legume Love Affair guest hosted by Siri, started by Susan

and also to Bake-Off hosted by Champa of Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen.

Lamb Goulash

2010-07-28T02:15:00.003+02:00

Goulash (pronounced as Gu-yash), has its name originating from Hungarian gulyas, the word for a cattle stockman. It was traditionally a thick stew made by the herdsman. Its considered to be the national dish of Hungary. Today it is prepared in both soup and stew forms with a variety of combinations of vegetables, onion and beef/lamb/pasta depending upon its ethnicity. The real flavor of all the vegetables and the meat is retained, since I do not use any spice at all ! Flour is used to thicken the goulash, which gives it a starchy texture and a blander taste.
To sum it up, its a complete, wholesome and a healthy meal in itself, with the potatoes and flour providing the starch and the meat providing the required proteins for the body.

Ingredients

Lamb goulash Meat/ Lamb shoulder(boneless) - 1 kg
Onion (chopped) - 2
Garlic pods - 3
Spring onions - 3-4
Potato - 3
Carrot - 3
Celery - 1/2
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
All purpose flour - 3 tbsp
Parsley(fresh, finely chopped or frozen) - 1 cup
Dill - 1 cup
Salt - according to taste

Preparation
1. Cut the lamb into small cube sized pieces.
2. Chop the onions, garlic pods, and spring onions.
3. Wash and cut the carrots, Potatoes and Celery into thin long strips.

4. In a pan, put the lamb cubes and add water just sufficient enough to cover them. Cook for 5 minutes and then drain away the water.
5. In a different pan, heat the olive oil and cook the lamb cubes in it for about 3 minutes by constantly stirring them all around.
6. Add the onions and garlic.
7. Sift the flour over the lamb and mix thoroughly.

8. Add 1 litre of water to it and cook for another 15 minutes.
9. Now add all the other ingredients (spring onions, carrot, potato, celery, parsley, dill, salt and pepper) and cook until the meat is tender. (I pressure cooked it to make it faster!)

10. Serve it with boiled or mashed potatoes, polenta or alternatively, as a stand-alone dish with bread !

Tips :
1. You can as well add your desired spices like paprika powder or pepper powder to make it spicier !
2. If you do not want to add flour, add mashed potatoes instead to make it thicker and smoother.
3. To make it a thin soup, use water or chicken broth.

This Stew goes to the event "Souper Sundays" hosted by Debinhawaii
Its my pleasure to add this wonderful Souper Sundays logo :)

I would also like to share it with Taste of Pearl City, of Umm Mymoonah, who is running a wonderful event for Ramadhan. By now, everybody would have definitely known about this great event going on ;)

Cornmeal Bread

2010-07-27T03:18:00.005+02:00

Sometimes we have no time for making a time-consuming breakfast or might just be feeling lazy to prepare one on a busy working day. This cornmeal bread, which is an "oven-free" could be prepared in less than half an hour! Cornmeal is a flour ground from dried corn. It is ground to fine, medium, and course consistencies. When fine ground, it is known as cornflour. This Moroccan recipe calls for a medium ground Cornmeal. The bread made out of this cornmeal has a very typical corn flavor and leaves a delicious taste in your mouth with a satisfying full stomach. I am sure you will love it too if and when you try it sometime.

Ingredients (for 6 breads)
Cornmeal flour(semolina) - 2.5 cups
Sugar - 1/3 cup
Butter (melted) - 8 tbsp
Milk - 2/3 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Preparation
1. Mix all the dry ingredients (cornmeal, sugar and alt)
2. Add the melted butter and milk and knead well to form a smooth and soft dough.

3. Divide the dough into 6 balls and flatten each ball between your palms.

4. Take a nonstick pan and cook each side of the bread for about 7-10 minutes on a medium heat. Every now and then, using a wooden or plastic spatula, please make sure that the side that is cooking is not burnt !

5. Serve it with Jam or honey.

Tips:
1.Stays good for 3-4 days in an air tight container.
2. An ideal snack for picnics.

This recipe goes to A veggie/fruit a month: Corn guest hosted by Akheela of Torview for Priya's monthly event and to Iftar Moments Hijri 1431 of Umm Mymoonah and to Spotlight : baking without oven.

My First Award !!!!

2010-07-26T15:33:00.000+02:00

Having started to blog only recently and seems like I am slowly and totally getting into this blog world with each day.... Every blog I visit have some awards and giveaways. I used to wonder what these awards are and how much fun it would be to have one ! I am elated to having received my own one now :) Thank you Umm Mymoonah for sharing this award with me. It definitely means a lot to me and that too coming from you, makes it all the more special. Its she, who introduced me to this blogging world and gave me an insight about it. She has many creative and wonderful recipes. I have tried many of her recipes and I vouch for her creativity. Please do visit her blog to find her Taste of Pearl City.

This award, actually started by Tasty Appetite , and according to the rules, must be shared among three of my blogger friends. I find it really very hard to chose among my blogger friends who are my constant motivation ever since i started blogging. But this had to be done! So, after a long confusion, I have decided to share it with...

1.Yasmeen of Yasmeen Health Nut. Every blogger should be knowing her for her wonderful recipes and commendable photography. I have a special place for her because she was the first to comment on my blog when i first started it and encourages me regularly with her loving comments.

2. Satya of Super Yummy Recipes. Her recipes are really Super and Yummy. She started blogging only recently as I do and has really a nice space. Please do visit her to explore her cooking world.

3. Suja of Kitchen Corner- Try It. She is a wonderful blogger and makes lots of spicy curries, fries and many more. Many a times I really had my mouth watering after seeing her pics. And I have bookmarked many of her recipes. Iam sure you would find her recipes tasty too.

Yasmeen, Satya and Suja please collect this Loving Blogger Award and share it with three of your favourite bloggers, and mentioning why you like them best. The intention seems to "spread the message of love from our heart..!"

Cucumber Salad with Mint

2010-07-23T01:52:00.002+02:00

Salads are my favourites and the meal becomes somehow incomplete without them. If you don't have many vegetables in your fridge, then this cucumber salad would be a right choice ! Its very simple and easy to make, gives a rich aromatic flavour of the mint together with its different dressing.

Ingredients
Cucumbers(small) - 5
Fresh mint leaves(very finely chopped) - 1/4 cup
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
sunflower or any vegetable oil - 80 ml
Orange blossom water - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp

Preparation
1. Cut the cucumber into thin slices and mix it with the chopped mint.
2. For the dressing, in a separate small bowl, mix together lemon juice, oil, orange blossom water and pepper.
3. Pour the dressing over the cucumber-mint and mix thoroughly.

4. Serve !

Tips:
1. You can also use dried mint leaves and large cucumber. But before making the salad, soak the cucumber slices in salt water for half an hour to remove the bitterness.
2. If you do not have orange blossom water, mix 2 or 3 drops of orange essence in 2 tablespoons of water and then use it.

This recipe goes to the event "Souper Sundays" hosted by Debinhawaii
Its my pleasure to add this wonderful Souper Sundays logo :)

This recipe also goes to the Taste of Pearl City, of Umm Mymoonah,who is running a wonderful "Iftar Moments" event for Ramadhan. For more details about her event, click here.

Moroccan Harira

2010-07-22T02:36:00.003+02:00

In Morocco, harira is traditionally eaten right after sundown during the holy month of Ramadhan. This ninth month of the Islamic calender is a time for prayers, spiritual reflection, and acts of generosity for Muslims. It is a time for fasting from dawn to sunset. Not a morsel of food or drop of drink passes the lips of observant Muslims.
The fast is a form of obedience and submission to God. As soon as the sun sets, everyone rushes to break the fast with a supplication to Allah asking for His forgiveness.
The prophet Muhammad (May Peace and Blessings be upon him) declared, ‘Three men whose supplication is never rejected (by Allah) are: when a fasting person breaks fast (in another narration, the fasting person until he breaks his fast),the just ruler and the one who is oppressed.’[Hadith from Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi - Hasan].
It is the custom of the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) to break the fast first with dates and water and then a barley broth. Harira takes broth to an altogether different level. It is a wholesome meal prepared with nutritious and healthy ingredients giving a delicious aromatic flavour. It is served as a maincourse or with some rice or breads. There are so many variations to this recipe. You could as well use different combinations like lamb and lentils, chicken and lentils and so on. In this recipe, I have used Chicken and chick peas as prime ingredients.

Ingredients
Chicken pieces - about 12
Chick peas (soaked overnight in water) - 125 gms
Chicken stock - 750 ml
Onions(sliced) - 750 gms
Butter - 100 gms
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Paprika powder/chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Parsley(chopped) fresh or frozen - 1/2 cup
Saffron - 1/4 tsp or a pinch of orange food color
Salt - to taste
Lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
Preparation
1. Marinate the chicken pieces with chilli powder, cumin powder, salt and pepper for 30min.-1 hr.
2. Heat the butter in a large pan and saut the onions until golden brown.

3. Add the marinated chicken, saffron, chick peas(drain out the water in which it was soaked), chicken stock and mix well so that the chicken pieces are covered with the ingredients completely.

4. Cook it under medium flame for about an hour, until the chicken becomes soft. Keep stirring from time to time to avoid the bottom of the pan getting charred.
5. Just before serving, add the parsley and squeeze out few drops of lemon juice.

Tips to Serve :
1. You could serve this Harira with rice. Cook 250 gms of rice and layer it in a large serving plate. Arrange chicken pieces over it and pour over the Harira. Add parsley, squeeze few drops of lemon and serve as a complete and wholesome meal !
2. Serve with a bread, salad and fresh dates for dessert.

Since Harira is called a Ramadhan recipe, its my pleasure to share it with Taste of Pearl City, of Umm Mymoonah,who is running a wonderful event for Ramadhan. For more details about her event, click here.

Potato Bread

2010-07-21T19:40:00.004+02:00

This is the softest bread I've ever baked !The addition of mashed potatoes to the flour while mixing gives it the soft touch. The crust is equally soft too...One could say that its a salty version of some cake, so soft it is ! It goes well with soups.

Ingredients
All purpose flour - 3.5-4 cups
Potato puree (potatoes cooked and mashed) - 1 cup
Warm water - 250 ml + 30 ml for the dry yeast.
Dry yeast - 1 pkt
Chives - 1/2 cup
Dry Milk powder - 2 tbsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Egg white - 1 (for egg wash)
Cold water - 2 tsp
Sunflower seeds and/or Pumpkin seeds

Preparation
1. Dissolve the dry yeast in 30 ml lukewarm water with a teaspoon of sugar in a separate bowl. Set aside for 5-10 minutes for the yeast to get active.
2. Sift the flour, mix it with salt and milk powder in a large bowl.
3. Mix the potato puree and chives and add them to the flour.

4. Add the yeast solution to the flour mixture, warm water and knead it into a soft dough. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it rest in a warm place for about an hour.
5. After an hour, knead the dough once again for 3 minutes and divide it into 12 balls.
6. Place the balls in a springform as shown in the picture below. Cover it again with a kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place for 45 minutes. Give an egg wash by mixing the eggwhite with 2 tsp of cold water and brush it on the surface of the bread. Sprinkle sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds as desired.

7. Preheat the oven to 210 °C and bake the bread for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 180°C and bake for another 20 minutes.
8. Serve with a warm Red gram soup.

Tip : You could as well make a sandwich out of it !

This recipe goes to the event No croutons Required hosted by Lisa and to Iftar Moments.

Ispanak Tepsi Börek

2010-07-21T02:14:00.004+02:00

After trying out many recipes from the Turkish Cuisine, I took the courage to try out Börek, which i always thought would be a very difficult one. I have eaten Börek in almost every Turkish friends' place and in every gathering in a Turkish mosque, everytime wondering and appreciating the cook there. But unless you give it a try, you wont know how simple and easy it is ...isnt it ? I am glad that my first try was very satisfactory and successful!
Börek is a common term for all pastries that use Turkish yufka i.e. phyllo dough. Depending upon the filling, the shape and sometimes the region, the term börek is preceded by a descriptive noun : Kiymali börek (Mincedmeat börek), or ispanak börek (Spinach börek) and the most common style being a layered one. Tepsi in Turkish literally translates as "tray". Spinach börek is defintely the nation-wide favourite and my favourite too !

Ingredients
Phyllo dough sheets/Yufka Pastry Sheets- 1 pkt (contains about 6 sheets)
For the filling
Spinach (fresh or frozen) - 1 cup
Potatoes - 2 (cooked and mashed)
Goat cheese - 100 gms
Salt - to taste
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Garlic pod - 1 (crushed)
For the sauce
Olive oil- 1/3 cup
Eggs - 2
Milk - 1 cup
For decoration
Egg yellow for egg wash - 1
Nigella seeds

Preparation of the filling
1. Heat the oil and add the potatoes, spinach (thaw the spinach first, if using a frozen one), salt, garlic and pepper and fry for about 4 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, mix this potato mixture and the goat cheese and mix well with a fork.

3. In a separate bowl, add the olive oil, milk and beat in the 2 eggs and mix well to form the sauce.

4. Grease a deep bottom tray, approx. 8 x 11.5 inches, with olive oil( or a pan that is approximately the same size with the phyllo sheets).
5. Layer 1 phyllo sheet in the tray. Leave the overhanging phyllo to the sides for the final wrapping.

6. Brush this layer with the egg-oil-milk sauce generously

7. Repeat this layering of phyllo for 3 sheets, brushing every single layer generously with the sauce. The phyllo layered here should not be overhanging, just cut them into small sizes or bits and pieces to fit into the tray. They need not be very perfectly shaped.The idea is to just cover the underlying sauce !
8. After the third layer of phyllo, do not add the egg sauce. Place the filling now and cover it again with another phyllo layer.

9. Keep repeating the alternating process of sauce and phyllos. (You could layer as many layers as you want depending upon your available phyllos and sauce).
10. Finally tuck and wrap the overhanging first phyllo on the top to cover all the underlying layers. Pour over whatever is left from the sauce on top.
11. Give an egg wash by brushing the surface with egg yellow.
12. Cut the phyllos in small square pieces with a knife, like how you cut a cake.

12. Sprinkle nigella seeds on the top.

13. Place the tray in a preheated oven at 180°C and bake it for about 30 minutes until the surface turns golden brown.

14. Wait for 10- 15 minutes and cut again on the pre-cut squares and serve with tea !

This recipe goes to the event Iftar Moments, hosted by Umm Mymoonah of Taste of Pearl City.

This recipe also goes to the event A.W.E.D Turkey, hosted by the the taste space, originally started by DK.

Lamb Yakhni Biriyani-dum in Oven!

2010-07-20T14:57:00.004+02:00

Lamb Biriyani is an important Maincourse in Indian Cuisine especially among Muslim population. Be it an Eid festival or a wedding or a get-together or any special occassion, Biriyani is there ! The main ingredients being rice and Lamb/Chicken. There are different ways of preparing it depending upon the region where you come from and every house has a signature Biriyani.
Generally, the lamb pieces are cooked in an aromatic spicy Yogurt broth and this broth is called Yakhni. Then Yakhni is layered with cooked rice and is given to dum (steaming). I used to give this dum over a normal hot plate until one of my friends gave me this great idea of giving "dum" in an oven! Believe me, it tastes wonderful with a typical smoky aroma which a characteristic of this Biriyani.
So here goes the recipe....

Ingredients
For Rice
Basmati rice - 4 cups
Water- 5.5 cups
Oil - 1/2 cup
Cinnamon stick - 2 inch sized
Cardamom - 3
Mint leaves - 1/2 cup
Salt - according to taste
For Yakhni
Lamb - 1 kg
Oil - 1.5 cups
Onion (medium sized, sliced) - 8
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 3 tbsp
Tomatoes (medium sized, chopped) - 4
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon stick - 2 inch sized
Green Cardamom - 3
Chilli powder - 1 tsp (use it according to your spicy taste)
Corriander powder - 6 tsp
Yogurt - 500 gms
Fresh Mint leaves - 1/ cup(chopped)
Fresh Corriander leaves - 1 cup(chopped)
Salt - according to taste
For Layering and Garnishing
Corriander leaves(chopped) - 1 cup
Nuts(Raisins, cashews, chopped Almonds, lightly roasted in a teaspoon of oil)- 20 gms each
Saffron or Food colorant- orange red color and/or yellow color dissolved separately in 1/2 cup of water
Lemon juice from 1 big lemon.

Preparation of rice
1. Cook the basmati rice in water together with the ingredients cinnamon, cardamom, oil, mint leaves, and salt. It is easier to cook it in an electric rice cooker. If you wish to cook it in a normal pot, take care that you dont stir the rice often and that it is not burnt. The point is, the rice should be a little more than half-cooked and the grains are not broken !

Preparation of Yakhni
1. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Add cardamom, cinnamom, cloves, cumin seeds and saut the onions until golden brown.
2. Add the ginger garlic paste and keep stirring until it mixes with the onions and leaves the bottom easily.
3. Add the lamb pieces and mix them well until they are covered with onions all over them. Fry for about 5 minutes.
4. Now add the tomatoes, chilli powder, salt, corriander powder, chopped mint leaves, corriander leaves and mix well. Cook for about 5 minutes.
5. Beat in and add the Yogurt. Mix well. No need to add water. Cover the lid and pressure cook until the lamb is fully cooked and is soft.
6. You will see a thick layer of oil on the top of the Yakhni. Do not mix the Yakhni now. Carefully remove the excess unhealthy oil from the surface using a big spoon. Then mix then yakhni well.

Final layering
1. Take a large tray preferably a deep bottom, suitable for use in oven.
2. Spoon the yakhni together with a few lamb pieces covering the bottom of the tray.
3. Then cover the yakhni layer with a layer of rice. Sprinkle the food colorants here and there. Add a tablespoon of corriander leaves, and sprinkle a tablespoon of lemon juice. Please do not mix the rice now.
4. Now comes the third layer of yakhni over it. No need to cover the rice layer completely. Just place it here and there.
5. For the forth layer, add the rice and repeat the process of sprinkling food colorant, corriander leaves, and lemon juice.
6. Repeat the layering until all the yakhni and rice is used. If you find excess yakhni remaining, retain it in a fridge and you could use it as a gravy with breads and rotis for the next day !
7. Finish off this layering with the top layer being yakhni.
8. Cover the tray with an aluminium foil and place it in a preheated oven at 200 °C for 10 minutes.
9. Lower the temperature of the oven to 150°C and dum the Biriyani for another 10-15 minutes.
Garnishing
Just before serving, mix the layers well and finally garnish with the roasted nuts and corriander leaves and serve warm with raita or Yogurt sauce.

Tips :
1.You could use many layers depending upon your depth of the tray used. But care should be taken to ensure that the first and the last layer should be a yakhni layer otherwise the rice may get burnt during dum !
2. Stays good for 2 or 3 days in a refrigerator.

Since Ramadhan, the most sacred and auspicious month for Muslims is nearing, its my pleasure to send this recipe to Taste of Pearl City, of Umm Mymoonah who is hosting an exclusive event on Iftar Moments.

This recipe also goes to th global Ramadhan event Joy from Fasting to Feasting (Season - III)

Cantaloupe Granita

2010-07-17T15:27:00.003+02:00

Cantaloupe is my favourite fruit in summer. I have some real good memories of my childhood with this fruit when my grandma used to cut them into small cubes and mix it with sugar and some crushed ice and give us in bowls and we kids used to mash them with spoon well until they become pulpy and juicy. It tastes wonderful in hot hot summer. And today after so many years, i found a similar recipe in Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen of Champa and wanted to try it immediately. Its a mere coincidence that she has announced a CSN Giveaway for trying out her recipes from her blog ! Iam glad to send this recipe for this giveaway :)

Ingredients
Cantaloupe -1 (medium sized)
Brown sugar - 1/2 cup

Method
1. Cut the cantaloupe into small cubes and add sugar to it and blend it using a blender.
2. Pour this puree into an air-tight container and freeze it.
3. After every hour crush the "partly-frozen" puree with a fork to form a crushed ice product. Freeze it again. Repeat this process of crushing for 3 or 4 times, eventually freezing it after every crushing.
4. Scoop out this granita into bowls and serve immediately.

Tip : You could as well use normal sugar instead of brown sugar.

This recipe also goes to the event Cold Desserts hosted by Torview.

Ezogelin Soup

2010-07-14T17:08:00.003+02:00

Ezogelin Soup is another common soup in Turkish cuisine, the main ingredients being Bulgur and red lentils. It is also the most frequently cooked soup in my home. Bulgur wheat, rich in fiber and protein has interesting natural weight-loss benefits. The origin of this soup is attributed to Ezo, the bride from Gaziantep, the sixth largest city in Turkey. Its the most simplest and healthy soup and could be made quickly.

Ingredients (for 4-6 persons)

Bulgur - 100 gms
Red lentils - 150 gms
Butter - 50 gms
Onions (chopped) - 3
Carrot (large, cut into small pieces) - 1
Tomato puree - 2 tbsp
Paprika powder - 1tsp or chilli powder(according to the taste)
Dried mint leaves - 1tsp
Water - 2.5 litres
Salt - to taste
Pepper powder - to taste

Preparation
1. Heat the butter and saut the onions and carrot until the onions turn transparent.
2. Wash the Bulgur wheat and red lentils, drain excess water and add to the onions. Cook for a minute.
3. Add the tomato puree, salt, pepper, dried mint leaves, salt, pepper powder, water.
4. Pressure cook them until the red lentils become soft.
5. Squeeze out a few drops of lemon to the soup and serve warm !

Tip : This soup goes well with breads and makes a complete and wholesome meal. The kids would love it too.
If you dont have dried mint leaves, use chopped fresh mint leaves instead.

This recipe goes to the event A.W.E.D Turkey, hosted by the the taste space, originally started by DK.

This goes to the event "Souper Sundays" hosted by Debinhawaii
Its my pleasure to add this wonderful Souper Sundays logo :)

Cheese-Onion Tartlets

2010-07-09T15:16:00.002+02:00

This was my first homemade tartlet. I had always wanted to try it out for a long time but its only now I could actually bake them and Iam glad it was a 100 percent success. Its a melt in the mouth soft tartlet with a mild taste of the combination of egg, cream and cheese with a strong flavor of spring onions. An ideal snack with tea or goes well for a breakfast too. Coming to the recipe now...

Ingredients for the 12 tartlets

All purpose flour - 100 gms

Butter - 75 gms

Water - 1-2 tbsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

For the filling you need :

Egg (beaten) - 1

Heavy cream - 100 ml

Grated cheese - 50 gms

Spring onions (chopped) - 3

Salt - a pinch

Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

Procedure

1. Sift the flour in a large bowl.

2. Add the salt and butter and mix well to form a crumbled mixture.

3. Add the water and knead into a soft dough. Wrap it in a clingfilm and refrigerate it for 15- 20 minutes.

4. Meanwhile prepare the filling by mixing together the egg, heavy cream, grated cheese, spring onions, salt and pepper.

5. After 20 minute, take the dough out and flatten it using a roll pin. Cut into small circles of 7.5cms diameter. For convenience cut the circles in parts of 4 each time and roll out the dough again, flatten it and then cut another 4. This makes it easier to work with the dough.

6. Gently place the circles in the muffin pan(small) as shown in the picture.

7. Pour over the filling into each well slowly.

8. Preheat the oven at 180 °C and bake the tartlets for 20- 25 minutes unitl the filling becomes a mild golden brown.

9. Using a plastic spoon or a wooden spatula gently and very carefully take out the tartlets from the sides. They will easily slip out.

10. Serve them either warm or cold.

Tip : You could as well use the readymade tarts available in the store and use this cream-cheese filling.

This recipe goes to the event Bake-Off hosted by Champa of Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen.

Carrot Salad with a Moroccan flavor

2010-07-08T13:28:00.002+02:00

This carrot salad with its wonderful dressing containing different spices like Cinnamon, Pepper, Ginger with raisins and honey gives it the typical and the characteristic Moroccan flavor. Since my husband loves this sweet-sour combination very much, this salad got a big applause :)
Carrot lovers could give it a try......

Ingredients

Carrots (big, scaled and grated) - 5
Cucumber (cut in small pieces) - 1
Raisins - 50 gms
Lemon juice - 1/2 tbsp
Ginger powder - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
Honey - 1/2 tbsp
Olive oil - 50 ml
Pepper - 1/2 tsp

Preparation
1. Mix the grated carrots, cucumber and raisins in a bowl.
2. For preparing the dressing, in a separate small bowl, mix together lemon juice, ginger powder, cinnamon, honey, olive oil and pepper.
3. Now add this dressing into the carrots mixture and mix well.
Serve with rice or breads.

Tip : The raisins look good when you soak them in water for 10 minutes before adding into the carrots.

This recipe goes to the event "Healing Foods - Carrots" hosted by Suma of Veggieplatter, which was started by Siri. Thank you both !

This recipe also goes to the event Vegetable Marathon started by Shilpa and hosted this month with carrots as the theme by PJ. Thank you PJ and Shilpa !

This Salad also goes to the event No Croutons Required hosted by Jacqueline

Chilli Red Beans with Minced Meat

2010-07-05T17:09:00.005+02:00

I made it as a stuffing to my Tortillas and it made a perfect combination to it. You could as well use it with chapatis or as a stuffing to any bread.
Ingredients
Minced meat - 250 gms
Chilli red beans (Chilli Rote Bohnen in German) - 1 tin. You could get this from any supermarket in the "canned food" section. It has some chilli and spices mixed into it. It gives a slightly different taste, different from the normal spices used in an Indian cuisine.
Onion (chopped) -1
Olive oil or any oil - 2 tbsp
water - half cup
Salt to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil and saute the onion until transparent.
2. Add the minced meat, chilli red beans, salt and water and cook it until the meat is done.

Tortillas and Wraps

2010-07-05T16:58:00.005+02:00

Tortillas look very similar to the Indian flat breads "chapatis". I had always wondered what these Tortillas are made of. Luckily, I found this recipe in one of my bread books and was amazed to know its ingredients and so had to try it immediately :). They make a good, healthy and light meal. You could just stuff it with any vegetable available in your fridge and/or with left over fried chicken or with mayonnaise, ketchup, depending upon your taste. So lets get into the job of how these Tortillas are made...

Ingredients (for approx. 10 Tortillas)
All purpose flour - 1 and a half cup
Corn flour - 1 cup
Lukewarm water - approx. 150 ml

If you are wondering if I had omitted to mention any ingredient, no I have not ! These are all the ingredients it requires ! Isnt it simple ? :)

Method
1. Sift and mix the two flours in a bowl.
2. Add the water and knead it for 5 minutes into a smooth dough.
3. Divide the dough into 10 balls.
4. Take a ball and using a rolling pin, flatten it out into 0.5-1 cm thickness. (Please do not roll it out thin. Otherwise they will be difficult to fold later. While working with one ball, cover the other balls with a clingfilm so that they dont get dried up !)
5. Take a nonstick pan and heat it. Place the "flattened roll", one at a time, and cook it in a medium flame for 2- 3 min. Turn the other side and cook again for a minute. There is no need to add oil or butter !
6. Repeat the process for all the other balls.

Gently rub off the flour sticking on the nonstick pan with a kitchen tissue from time to time to avoid the Tortillas from getting burnt.
Serve it with your favourite stuffings. For a crispy munch, use crushed Torilla chips.

I had tried to make a light "Chilli Red Beans-Minced meat" stuffing. The recipe you could check it out from the link Chilli Red Beans- Minced Meat in the Curries and Gravies section.

Tips : The unstuffed, plain Tortillas stay fresh for a week in an airtight container. Bake them or Microwave before reusing it for 3 min. at 180°C

You could as well cut the unused Tortillas into small pieces and deep fry them in hot oil and your Tortilla chips are ready as a snack !
This recipe goes to Spotlight : baking without oven.

Pastry purses

2010-07-01T18:12:00.003+02:00

Puff pastries are my all time favourites. They could be mould into any form and shape and the end result is always satisfactory. Its a perfect snack with tea. It could be baked quickly in just 3 steps :)
I baked this pastry for my friend's party and i remember someone unknown to me, who happened to taste this, had got my contact number and had called me. I was totally surprised that some unknown stranger had taken so much efforts to call me and ask for this recipe. And now, I would like to share it with you too......

Ingredients
1. Take the frozen pastry puff and thaw it at room temperature for about 20 min.
2. Cut into square shapes and fit them into a muffin pan, with the pastry touching the bottom and the corners lightly pressed and flattened at the sides.(so that they dont point upwards and get burnt quickly while baking).

3. Bake them at 200 °C for 12 min. (follow the instructions on the pastry pack you are using). They get puffed up beautifully.

You could use anything as a filling. I have used buttercream with a cherry on the top. The other time i had baked this i used whipped cream with nuts sprinkled. You could as well scoop an icecream into it (but serve it immediately).

This simple party treat for Birthdays, Kids Party, Kitty parties, any get-togethers, goes to the event Party Treats hosted by Sara's Corner started by Meeta

Chilli-Mais-Brot

2010-06-30T22:53:00.003+02:00

What do you do when you get into the kitchen having a mood of baking a bread and when you open your cupboard you find you run out of yeast !!! Well, i had this experience many a times and thats when i discovered this bread with "No Yeast". Its a German bread baked with semolina (called Polenta or Maisgriess in German). So if you ever want to surprise your family by baking a nice bread with just 4 steps and in less than 45 minutes(which includes the preparation time !), here is the recipe....

Ingredients (makes approximately 12 pieces)

All purpose flour (sifted) - 25 gms
Semolina (Polenta) - 125 gms
Baking powder - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Green chilli pepper (chopped with seeds removed) -1
Spring onions (finely chopped) - 4
Eggs - 2
Sour cream - 140 ml
Olive oil (or sunflower oil) - 100 ml

Method
1. Mix all the dry ingredients i.e. flour, semolina, baking powder, salt, chilli pepper, spring onions in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with sour cream and olive oil. Mix this well with the dry ingredients.

3. Pour this batter into a square form or a circular form lined with parchment paper and bake it in a preheated oven at 200 °C for 25-30 min. until lightly brown.
4. Cut into square shapes and serve as an appetizer or a snack.

Stuffed Tomato pots

2010-06-29T23:42:00.004+02:00

If you are a rice-eater and are bored of serving the same things over and over again, here is a different way of presenting it. The good thing about this recipe is you could use a variety of combination of vegetables with the rice ! There are not much spices involved, the natural flavor of olive oil is sufficient enough to give a rich taste. I generally use olive oil in most of my cooking for its health benefits . Here in this recipe, I have used Minced Meat to give a stomach-full feeling.

Ingredients for 4 persons
Tomatoes (Big and Ripe, and preferably thick skinned) - 8
Onion -1 (chopped)
Minced meat - 150 gms / small cut vegetables of your choice
Raw Rice - 100 gms
Olive oil - 2 tbsp (you could as well use any other sunflower oil)
Salt
Pepper

Preparation
1. Wash the Tomatoes. Take out the pulp using a spoon and collect it in a bowl.

2. Now, prepare the Stuffing by heating the olive oil in a pan and saut the onion until transparent.
3. Add minced meat, raw rice, half of the tomato pulp, salt and pepper to it and fry for 2-3mins. Add 1 cup of water(or more depending on your rice) and cook it until the rice is done and the stuffing is water-free.

4. Stuff the prepared rice into the Tomato pots and place them in a greased tray.

5. Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake the pots for about 30-35 minutes.

Tips : Serve it with raita or Yogurt and a Salad.
Preserve and save the rest of the Tomato pulp for other use.

Flower Bread with Walnut-Chocolate filling

2010-06-28T23:41:00.003+02:00

Ingredients for the dough
All purpose flour (sifted) - 500 gms
Sugar - 120 gms
Butter - 50 gms
Milk - 100 ml
Heavy Cream - 120 ml
Egg - 1
Fresh yeast - 20 gms / Dry yeast - 1 pkt
pinch of salt

Ingredients for the chocolate-walnut sauce
Heavy cream - 240 ml
Chocolate chips - 360 gm
Butter- 65 gm
Walnuts (chopped) -100 gm
Melted butter - 75 gm

Preparing the chocolate sauce :
1. Boil the heavy cream.
2. Remove from heat, add the chocolate chips and mix well until all the chocolate is melted completely.
3. Add the butter portion wise in small amounts and keep stirring it.
4. Finally add the walnuts and mix well. Set aside.

Preparing the dough:
1. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and knead for about 10-15 minutes until it becomes soft.
(In case, if you are using dry yeast, dissolve it in 2 tbsp warm water with 1 tsp of sugar and set aside for 10 min. until it becomes frothy and then incorporate into the mixture and then knead).
2. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and place it in a warm place for 2 hrs.
3. After 2 hrs, the dough would have risen. Knead the dough again for 2 minutes.
4. Cover it in a cling film and place it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
5. Take out the dough and roll it using a rolling pin.

6. Spoon over the chocolate sauce and spread it evenly using a spatula.

7. Roll the dough upwards carefully. (Use a large knife to manage the dough better).

8. Cut the dough into slices about 3 cms wide.

9. Place them in a Springform tin. Allow them to set for 15 min.

10. Preheat the oven to 180 °C
11. Just before baking, brush the top of the chocolate slices with melted butter.

12. Now, bake it in the oven for about 15- 20 min.
13. As soon as it comes out of the oven, brush the surface once again with melted butter.

14. Dust the surface with powder sugar (This step is optional).
Present and Serve for Breakfast or Tea !

This is my first recipe which goes to the event Bread Baking Day 31. For more details click here

Italian Focaccia with Onions and Olives

2010-06-23T22:59:00.003+02:00

This is one of the first few breads i baked and till date this stands first in my bread baking list. My husband says its the "King" of all breads in my bakery, with its wonderful combination of olive oil and red onions giving it a nice flavour!!
Now, coming to the recipe...

Ingredients
All purpose flour -350 gms (use WeißenMehl Type 550 in Germany)
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Dry yeast - 1 Pkt
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Lukewarm water - 250 ml
Green or black olives(seedless and cut into half) - 100 gm

For garnishing
Red onions - 2 (cut in rings)
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Oregano- 1 tbsp (optional, but gives a very rich flavor to the bread if used)

Method
1. Sift the flour in a large bowl and add all the ingredients except olives.
2. Knead it for about 5 min. to a very soft dough. If the dough is still sticky, rub your hands with a little olive oil and then knead.
3. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and place it in a warm place for about 1.5 hrs until the volume gets doubled.
4. Knead the dough again for 2 min.
5. Gently stuff in half the quantity of cut-olives into the dough and enclose it.

6. Carefully divide it into 4 parts and roll them into 4 balls (with olives hiding inside).

7. Place them in a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Enough spacing between each ball should be taken care of. Otherwise they stick together on baking !
8. With your index finger, gently press the balls as shown in the pic. thereby flattening them a little.

9. Place the remaining cut-olives and red onions over each ball. Sprinkle olive oil and oregano over the toppings (you could be more generous with the olive oil to get a rich taste).

10. Cover it again with a tea towel and allow it to rise in a warm place for another 30-60 min.(The more time it rises the more fluffy the bread gets).
11. Preheat the oven to 190 °C and bake it for 30- 35 min. until golden brown.

The result :

After your first bite :-)

Krachel- Moroccan Bread

2010-06-07T08:28:00.002+02:00

Ingredients for (6 or 7 breads)

All purpose flour - 2 cups (Sieved flour)
Lukewarm Milk - 1/4 cup
Butter - 3 tbsp
Eggs - 2 ( one for the dough and the other for egg wash)
Orange Blossom water 1 tbsp (optional)
Salt - pinch of salt
Dry yeast - 1 1/2 tbsp

Anis seeds (small fennel seeds) - 1 tbsp
Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp (for garnishing)
Sugar - 1/2 cup

Method

1. Disslove dry yeast powder in 1/4 cup warm water and put in the sugar. Set aside for 15 min. for activating the yeast.
2. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients first and then slowly add the wet ingredients.
3. Knead it into a soft and sticky dough.
4. Cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth and keep it in a warm place for 1 hour.
5. Knead the dough gently again for 2 min. and make 6 - 7 small balls.
6. Grease a tray and place the balls leaving enough space between them to rise during baking.
7. Make an egg wash on the surface. Sprinkle sesame seeds on the top.
8. Preheat the oven to 175 °C and bake the breads for 30 min.
9. Tastes good for the breakfast.

French Crepes

2010-05-19T18:24:00.002+02:00

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 3/4 cup

milk - 1 cup

Eggs - 3

Butter - 4 tbsp

Sugar - 1tbsp

vanilla extract - 2 or 3 drops

pinch of salt

Method

1. Boil the milk.

2. Add the butter into the milk and stir well.

3. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and beat in 3 eggs.

4. Slowly add the boiled milk into the dry ingredients mixture. Mix well to form a batter of flowing consistency.

5. Take a non-stick pan and heat it on a medium range flame.

6. Take a big spoonfull of batter and pour it on the pan. Immediately and quickly rotate the pan spreading the batter to the sides. Cook for 2 min. and turn the side and cook for another 1 min.

7. Spread chocolate cream (e.g. nutella) on one half side of the crepes and stuff in cut bananas, or nuts or any fruit of your choice.

Red Lentil Soup

2010-05-19T16:24:00.002+02:00

Its the most common Turkish soup. A Turkish meal definitely has a soup, bread, (as a starter), a Salad, followed by a Main dish, which finally ends with a dessert. This soup is very easy to make, you could skip 1 or 2 ingredients and it still tastes good ! Whenever I bake a bread, i make such thick soups (which i bet is a perfect combination ! ), along with a Salad and i get a very complete and healthy meal!

Ingredients for 2-4 persons

Redgram - 200gms
Vegetable stock - 300 ml
Paprika powder/chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (according to your taste buds)
Salt
Onion - 1
Potato -1
Carrot - 1
raw rice - 1tbsp
Celery 1 (optional)
Water - 2 cups
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
garlic pod -1
white bread slices -2 (cut into small cubes)

For garnishing
parsley(fresh or frozen) - optional

Method
1. Cut onion,potato,carrot into small pieces.
2. Pressure cook or slow cook together redgram, onion, potato, carrot, celery, rice, paprika powder, Vegetable stock, water, salt, until tender.
3. Now blend the cooked soup with a blender. If the soup is thick, add some more water and then blend it. You could as well leave small pieces of carrot and potato unblended.

4. In a separate pan, heat the olive oil, add the crushed garlic pod, and the small cubes of the bread and fry it for few seconds until the bread pieces become golden brown. If you dont have breads, skip it and pour over just the crushed garlic fried in oil.
5. Garnish the soup with parsley.

Serve it hot with a fresh bread or Chapatis !

This recipe goes to the event A.W.E.D Turkey, hosted by the the taste space, originally started by DK.

Braided Bread

2010-05-19T03:10:00.006+02:00

Ingredients for the bread

All purpose flour - 3 cups

yeast 1 tbsp

sugar 1 tbsp

1 egg

Salt - 1 teaspoon

Olive oil - 3 tbsp or butter - 4 tbsp

Lukewarm Milk - 1/4 cupL

Lukewarm water for dissolving the yeast and kneading the dough.

Ingredients for the filling

minced meat 1 cup

onion 1 small

ginger powder - 1tsp

red chilli powder

salt

ketchup 2 tablespoon

1 tomato

cornflour for making gravy thick (optional)- approx. 1 tsp

Method for the filling

1. In a saucepan, add oil and fry the onion.

2. Add ginger powder and stir a little.

3. Add the minced meat and let the water evaporate.

4. Add tomato and spices. Cover the lid and let it cook for a while till the tomatoes are tender.

5. Finally add the tomato ketchup and then add cornflour mixed in a little water. let it cook for 5-10 mins.

Method for the bread

1. Dissolve the yeast in a 1/4 cup lukewarm water and add the sugar. Let it rest for 15 mins.

2. Mix the other ingredients, flour, sugar, salt, egg, milk, butter and finally add the yeast mixture.

3. Knead the dough by adding slowly the lukewarm water until the dough becomes soft and elastic.

4. Cover and place it in a warm place to ferment for 1-2 hrs.

5. Roll out the bread dough till it is 1 cm thick.

6. Place it in a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

7. Now, place the minced-meat filling along the centre.

8. Cut strips with a sharp knife on either side of the filling.

9. Cover the filling with the strips in the form of a braid, putting one strip from one side and alternating with the strip from the other side, by leaving a little gap of 1cm between the strips. In the end, close the braid by gently tucking the end at the back of the bread, as shown in the pictures below.

8. Cover the baking tray with a cloth and allow it to rest for another 1 hr. The volume would have increased a little more now.

9. Bake the bread in a preheated oven at 190 °C for 15 mins. Take out the bread from the oven and brush the surface with an egg (mixed with 2 tsp water) and again bake the bread for 10 more mins.

Enjoy it with a nice hot soup !

It also goes to the event Dish Name Starts With B by Akila.

Moroccan Tajine

2010-05-19T01:34:00.004+02:00

Tajines in Moroccan cuisine are slow-cooked dishes braised at low temperatures, resulting in tender meat with aromatic vegetables and sauce. Tajines can be made vegetarian or with meat. The preferred cuts of lamb are the neck, shoulder, cooked until it is falling off the bone. It can be made with any meat. Moroccan Tajines often combine lamb or chicken with a medley of ingredients and seasonings. My favourite combination is lamb and olives, which i ate in an iftar party hosted by a Moroccan family! It is generally presented in a large serving plate which is shared by 5- 6 people and is served with breads.

I would love to share this simple and delicious recipe with you...

Ingredients

Meat - 500 gms (preferably large pieces)
Onions - 2

Garlic pods - 3
olive oil - 2 tbsp
Lemon juice - 1tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tbsp
Ginger powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
a pinch of saffron or orange colorant (optional)
corriander leaves (chopped) - 1/4 cup
Green olives(seedless) - 300 gms
salt to taste

Method
1. Mix all the spices together with 1 tbsp of water.
2. Marinate the meat with this mixture for 2 hours.
3. In a separate pan, fry grated onions in olive oil until they are transparent.
4. Now add the marinated meat to the onions and mix well.
5. Add 1 litre of water and cook the meat until tender. (You could as well pressure cook the meat for quick results)
6. Take out the meat from the sauce.
7. Add olives to the remaining sauce and cook for 5- 10 mins. until the sauce thickens a little bit.
8. Finally add the meat to the sauce and serve with a bread !

Profiteroles

2010-05-04T22:21:00.001+02:00

Ingredients for 30 profiteroles

For the pastry
All purpose flour - 100 gms (sieved)
Unsalted butter - 75 gms
Water - 200 ml
Eggs - 3

For the cream
cream - 300 ml
Sugar - 3 tbsp
vanilla essence - 1tsp

For the chocolate sauce
chocolate chips - 100 gms (with atleast 70 percent cocoa- the more cocoa the more tastier)
cream - 1 cup

Method
1. Boil butter and water, with a pinch of sugar.
2. Remove from heat.
3. Slowly add the sieved flour and beat it quickly with a wooden spoon. Keep mixing until the dough leaves from the vessel. Care should be taken that no lumps are formed.Cool the dough for 5 minutes.

4. Add eggs one by one and mix it thoroughly with each egg. Keep mixing it until the batter flows smoothly from the wooden spoon.

5. Take a tray and place a parchment paper. Stick the four corners of this paper to the tray by "glueing" it with the same batter prepared above. Now you can be sure that your parchment paper doesnt move when you are working on it in the following steps.

6. Fill the batter in a piping bag and squeeze out small circles using the star-shaped tip. If you dont have a piping bag, simply take a teaspoonful of the batter and gently place it on the tray. Make sure there is enough space in between 2 circles, so as to provide room for them to rise during baking.

7. Take a small bowl of water and using a spoon, dip the bottom of the spoon in the water and gently press it on top of each circles, so as to avoid their protruding sharp edge(as a result of piping) from getting burnt while baking.

8. Preheat the oven at 190 °c
9. Place the tray in the oven and adjust the oven temp. to 220 °C. Bake for 15 min. Please DO NOT open the oven while baking.
10. When the pastries are done, turn off the oven and let them stay in the oven for 10 more min.
11. Take out the pastries from the oven and pierce each of them with a sharp point edge. This would allow the moisture to go out and prevents the pastries from shrinking.

Consider serving 3 profiteroles per person and pack the rest in an air-tight cover and store it in the refrigerator for 3 days or about a month in a freezer. You could reheat them in the oven at 150 °C for 7-10mins.

Preparation of the cream.
Cool the cream in the refrigerator for atleast 2hrs before u whip it. Also, chill the vessel in which the cream is to be whipped for half an hour or so.
1. Whip the cream with sugar and vanilla essence until it becomes thick.
2. Cut open the pastries. You would see hollow parts. This is a perfectly-made profiterole !
3. Stuff the whipped cream into it.

Preparation of the Chocolate sauce
1. Boil the cream and then melt the chocolate chips into it.
2. Using a blender, blend it thoroughly until all the chips are dissolved.

Serving tip :
Place 2 or 3 cream-stuffed profiteroles in individual serving bowls.
Pour the hot chocolate sauce over the profiteroles and serve !

You could as well save the left-over chocolate sauce and the cream in the fridge for the next day !

Pineapple with whipped cream

2010-05-04T18:17:00.000+02:00

Ingredients
Double cream - 300 ml
Cut Pineapple pieces - from the can (never use fresh pineapple, it would sour the cream!)
Sugar - 4 tbsp
Chocolate cookies - 6-8 pieces (each cut into 4 parts)
Walnuts- 50 gms (cut into small parts)
Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp (vanilla essence)

Method
1. Whip the cream with Sugar and vanilla essence in a large bowl.
2. Add pineapple pieces, cookies and walnuts.
3. Keep it in the refrigerator for an hour.
4. Serve chill.

Cheese pastry

2010-05-04T17:16:00.002+02:00

Its a very simple, easy to make pastry puff. You could stock the ingredients as a saviour in your freezer and could make it quickly for unexpected guests !

Ingredients
Frozen Readymade pastries- Thaw them for 15 minutes at room temperature.
Goat cheese - 1 cup
Frozen Parsley - 2 tbls (which you could get in the markets in the frozen section)
Beaten Egg - 1
Sesame seeds

Method
1. Powder the goat cheese and mix it with the parsley.
2. Place a tablespoonfull of this mixture in the center of the pastry and close it to form a triangle.
3. Stick the edges by pressing with a fork. Make sure there are no small openings anywhere !
4. Apply the surface with the beaten egg.
5. Sprinkle sesame seeds for extra taste.
6. Place them on a greased tray and bake it at 200°c for 12 min. (This baking time might vary according to the type pf pastry you have. Please follow the instruction in your pastry packet for baking)

Kulcha

2010-04-22T17:31:00.000+02:00

Ingredients
2 cups - All purpose flour
salt - 1/2 tsp
yeast - 2 tsp
sugar - 2 tbsp
oil - 2 tbsp
egg - 1
yogurt - 2 tbsp
luke warm milk - as required
sesame seeds

Preparation
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water with sugar
2. Let stand for 10 min.
3. Stir in egg, salt, yogurt, yeast and flour and slowly add milk to make a soft loose dough, preferably sticky !
Leave it to rest for 15 min.
4. Now add oil and mix in the dough.
5. Brush the oil on dough surface and leave it to rise for an hour.
6. Pinch off small handfuls of dough
Preheat the oven at high temp.
7. Divide the dough into three parts and take each ball and gently flatten it to 2 cms thickness and place it on the tray.
8. Sprinkle sesame seeds and coat it with oil slightly with a brush.
9. Please keep an eye until it turns golden color.
10. Change the side of your crispy naan and grill in for 30 sec.
11. Take out your hot kulchas and brush again with butter or oil.
12. Cut into small parts if you desire. Serve with hot soup or curry.

Couscous

2010-04-12T18:31:00.002+02:00

This dish, my husband's favourite, is a traditional staplefood in North Africa.
Couscous does not have much of a flavor itself.Thus couscous dishes are made with flavored stocks, herbs, and spices, with vegetables, dried fruits, nuts, and/or meat added or used as a topping. An iftar in an Arabic place definitely has couscous as a maincourse and is prepared with many different variations.

Ingredients
For the Couscous
Instant couscous -2 cups (plan on 1/2 to 3/4 cup couscous per person)
Water - twice the volume of couscous
Butter - 2 tbsp
For the stock
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 2 teaspoons
Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder- 2 teaspoons
Chopped onions - 2 medium sized
Chicken or meat - 500 gms (marinated in turmeric, ginger paste and salt)
Carrots -2
Zucchini -2 (each cut into two)
Mini Cucumber -2 (each cut into two)
Potatoes -2
Paprika - 4 or 5
Dry fruits
Dates 4 (optional)
Orange juice - 2 cups
Chick peas - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Pepper powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Preparation of the stock
1. In a large pan, heat the oil.
2. Fry and cook the marinated chicken/meat.
3. Take out the chicken.
4. In the same oil, add cumin seeds, chopped onions, turmeric powder and ginger paste. Cook until the onions become soft.
5. Now add, all the vegetables. i.e., carrot, potatoes, zucchini, chick peas,but add zucchini, cucumber a little later so as to avoid overcooking. Add orange juice, dates and lots of water. This gives a sweet sour taste to the stock. Add salt and pepper powder.
cover and cook until all the vegetables are soft.
6. Now add the fried chicken/meat pieces.
7. In the end, add the paprika and cook for some more time. Care should be taken as to not overcook it.
In a separate pan, fry the dried fruits and nuts in some oil.
Preparation of the couscous (Follow the instructions in the pack) or
1. Boil the water. Add salt and a tbsp of olive oil.
2. Now add couscous grains to the salted warm water. Cover and let it rest for 2 min.
3. Add butter and cook on a slow flame for 2 min. Separate the grains by using a fork.

Presentation and display
1. This is the most significant aspect of this recipe! Take a large serving plate. Spread the couscous on it. Now take out each vegetable and chicken piece from the cooked stock and place it on the couscous thereby forming a pattern. Sprinkle the dried fruits and nuts on the top.
2. You would be left with only the liquid soup after removing the vegetables. Just before serving add the soup in excess and keep adding it as and when eating, so that its warm.
Tip : The major fun and enjoyment lies when the whole family eats from this single large plate !

I am glad to send this recipe to an Iftar event hosted by Umm Mymoonah of the Taste of Pearl city and to Visual Treat by Creative Sanyukta.

Patlican Salatasi - Aubergine/Eggplant Dip

2010-04-12T17:01:00.004+02:00

Its a Turkish Meze and is very refreshing on the palette with a unique combo of Auberginen with garlic A very good substitute for raita (Yogurt Dip).

Ingredients
Egg plant - 1 big size
Yogurt - 500 gms
Olive oil -2 tbsp
garlic - 2 pods, crushed
salt to taste
pepper powder

Preparation
1. Wash and cut the egg plant into small cubes.

2. Cook them in water until soft.
3. Drain and squeeze out the excess water.
4. Mash the cooked egg plant with a fork.

5. In a bowl, Combine Yogurt, mashed egg plant, crushed garlic, olive oil ,salt and pepper.

Tip:
1. Serve it with rice or Bulgur Pilavi.
2. To get the best flavor, the eggplants could be cooked on a fire or a grill.

This recipe goes to the event Dish it out by Vardhini, guest hosted by Sangee Vijay of Spicy Treats

Turkish Sesame Bread

2010-04-12T16:09:00.000+02:00

This was my first bread i ever baked and will always remain my favourite !!! It was a love at first sight!
I got this recipe from one of my Turkish friends when i visited her 5 years back and she had baked it for me. It was the first time i came to know that a bread could be baked at home ! I was all new to this place and bread-baking was completely new to me since i come from South India where breads are a little uncommon. I wrote down the recipe then and there itself and tried it the very next day, which was a weekend. I still remember the glow on my husband's face when i surprised him on the table for the morning breakfast.
Well, here goes the recipe....

Ingredients

All purpose flour- 5 cups
Milk - 1 cup
Sunflower oil - 3/4 cup
Lukewarm water - 1/4 cup
salt to taste
pinch of sugar
Fresh yeast - 10 gms
Sesame seeds and/or Nigella seeds
Egg- 1 (Separate egg white and yellow part)

Preparation

1. Sieve the flour in a large bowl.
2. Add milk, oil, salt, sugar, fresh yeast(dissolved in 1/4 cup lukewarm water), egg white. Knead it for approx. 5 min. into a very soft dough. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and keep it in a warm place for an hour.
3. The dough would have risen to double the volume. Knead it once again for a min.
4. Divide the dough into 9 to 10 small balls (walnut size).
5. Take a ball and roll it to a palm size. Apply some oil on the surface.
6. Now, roll it tightly into a cigar shape.
7. Join the two ends to form a circle with a hole in the middle.
8. Apply egg yellow with a brush on the surface of each roll. This gives them a nice golden brown color when done.
9. Sprinkle sesame seeds on the top. This would stick to the egg wash done already on the rolls.
10. Repeat the procedure for all the balls.
11. Place them on a tray by providing enough spacing for each rolls to rise during baking.
12. Bake them in a preheated oven at 220° C for 12 min-14 min.

Nothing beats the smell and satisfaction of freshly baked homemade breads !

Citrus Cake

2010-04-05T15:47:00.001+02:00

This cake has got some real nice memories connected with it. I remember baking this cake last year on Eid day when my inlaws had visited us. My mother-in-law had helped me in doing all the egg beating and preparatory work and believe me, it was so much fun and a different experience to bake it together. It was a routine for us to sit together after dinner and have endless chats on sweet nothings with a nice cup of Tea and a dessert. My father-in-law, who generally doesn't like to eat cakes from the bakeries, liked it so much that he kept asking for more and more. He was so excited that he himself took this picture. This post is for you "Ammi and Abba". Inshallah when you visit us the next time, I shall bake it for you again :)

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 200 gms
baking powder - 2 tsp
Sugar - 200 gms
Eggs - 4
Sour cream - 150 ml
Scale of 1 citrus fruit
Citrus juice - 4 tbls
Sunfloweroil - 150 ml
For the Citrus-Sugar Syrup
Icing sugar -4 Tbls
Citrus juice - 3 Tbls

Method
1. Sift the flour and baking powder together in a large bowl and add the sugar.
2. In another bowl, beat in the eggs, sour cream, Citrus scale, Citrus juice, and oil together.
3. Add the beaten mixture into the flour mixture and work it into a soft consistency.
4. Pour it into a greased springform.
5. Bake at 180 ° C for 45 -60 min. until golden brown.
6. Meanwhile, prepare the sugar syrup by mixing the icing sugar and citrus juice together and cook it on a low heat until it thickens.
7. When the cake is done, take out from the oven and immediately brush the surface with the prepared syrup. Let it cool in the form before serving it with a cup of hot tea !

Its my pleasure to share this cake recipe for this year's Eid with Taste of Pearl City, of Umm Mymoonah,who is running a wonderful "Iftar Moments" event for Ramadhan. For more details about her event, click here.