Mini Frittatas

Ingredients :

Thinly sliced chicken (skinless and boneless) – ½ cup
Large eggs – 8
Green chilies – 3 thinly sliced
Green onions (spring onions) – 3 thinly sliced
Whole milk - 1/2 cup
Freshly ground black pepper – 2 teaspoon
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese - 1/3 cup
Chopped fresh cilantro (coriander) leaves - 2 tablespoons
Butter or Nonstick cooking spray to grease the mini muffin tins.

Procedure :

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

2. Fry the chicken in a skillet until golden brown and cut it into small pieces.

3. Spray mini muffin tins with nonstick spray or butter.

4. Beat the eggs, milk, pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the chicken bits, cheese, green chilies, green onions and cilantro.

5. Fill the greased muffin cups almost to the top with the egg mixture.



6. Bake until the egg mixture puffs and is just set in the center, about 8 to 10 minutes.
7. Now your frittatas are ready, loosen the frittatas from the muffin cups and slide the frittatas onto a plate. Serve immediately.

Handy Tips :

The frittatas may sink down (it may become flat on the top) very soon, so serve it immediately it is taken form the oven

Pancake with strawberry syrup

Ingredients :

Pancake:

All-purpose flour – 1 cup
Baking soda – 1 ½ teaspoon
Plain yogurt - 1 cup
Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
Milk - 3/4 cup
Unsalted butter, melted - 2 tablespoons
Egg whites - 3
Salt – 1 pinch
Vegetable oil for iron skillet

Strawberry Syrup:

Strawberry cut into quarters – 1 cup
Sugar – ½ cup
Water – ½ cup
Lemon zest – 1 teaspoon

Procedure :

1. Heat a non stick pan over low heat to warm up for 5 minutes.

2. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, pinch of salt.

3. In another bowl combine the yogurt, vanilla and milk.

4. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients. Lightly fold in the melted
butter.

5. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.

6. Gently fold in the egg whites.

7. Add 1 teaspoon of oil to the skillet and add 1 spoon of batter to the pan, spreading the batter to form even 2-inch pancakes.

8. Cook until bubbles cover the surface, flip and cook until golden underneath, about 30-40 seconds.




9. Continue with the remaining batter. Serve immediately with butter and sauce.

Strawberry Sauce:

1. In a heavy bottom pan add sugar and water, bring it to boil.
2. Then add the strawberries and boil the mixture until a sauce is formed.
3. This can be served hot.

Handy Tips :

Sauce can be thin or thick according to our wish. If we want a thick sauce boil it for a long time or we can add corn starch while it is boiling.

Spinach Paratha

Ingredients :

Wheat flour - 2cups
Spinach - 1 cup
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Fennel seeds – 1tablespoon
Green Chilies - 3-4 (you may add more if you want to make it spicy)
Salt to taste

Procedure :

1. Grind ¾ spinach, green chilies, ginger, garlic, fennel seeds, and turmeric powder in a mixer.

2. Chop the other ¼ cup of spinach finely.

3. Add the paste to wheat flour with salt, chopped spinach and make dough.

4. Roll it into small balls.

5. Prepare parathas and put it on hot tawa or frying pan apply ghee on both the sides & serve hot with curd or chutney.

Arisi Payasam / Rice Pudding

Ingredients :

Basmati rice – half cooked – 1 cup
Milk – 3 cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Condensed milk – 3 tablespoons (optional)
Saffron – few
Cardamom powder – ¼ teaspoon
Chopped nuts as desired (I have used almonds)
Ghee – 2 tablespoons

Procedure :

1. Cook the rice, make sure that the rice is only half cooked.

2. Boil the milk in a heavy bottom sauce pan.

3. Now add the half cooked rice to the boiling milk and cook until the rice is soft.

4. In the mean while, soak the saffron in 1 tabspn of milk and add that mixture to the sauce pan.

5. Heat ghee in a small pan and fry the chopped nuts.

6. After the rice is cooked softly in the milk and the milk is reduced to half, add the sugar, ghee with nuts and cardamom powder and condensed milk. (sugar can be added or reduced as our wish)

7. Now it can be mixed well and decorated with some chopped nuts and saffron and can be served hot or cold.

Carrot Milk Shake

Ingredients :

Carrots pealed and cubed – 1 cup
Milk (may be low fat milk or whole milk) – 1 cup
Cashew nut– 4
Sugar – 1 0r 2 teaspoon

Procedure :

1. In a microwave safe bowl put the carrots, milk, sugar, cashew nut and microwave it in high for 2 mins or till the carrot is cooked.(this can be done in the stove top also).

2. Now let the mixture cool and pour it in a blender and blend it until the carrot is well mixed with the milk.

3. Pour it in a glass and serve it hot or cold.

Chocolate Dream

Ingredients :

Cake:
All-purpose flour - 1 1/2Cups
Superfine sugar - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Best-quality cocoa powder - 1/3 cup
Soft unsalted butter - 1 1/2 sticks
Large eggs - 2
Vanilla extract - 2 teaspoons
Sour cream - 2/3 cup

Special equipment: 2 (each 8-inch diameter) layer round cake pan, buttered.
I have used a flower shaped cake mould.

Frosting:
Semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces - 6 ounces
Unsalted butter - 3/4 stick
Confectioners' sugar (powder sugar) - 2 1/2 cups
Light corn syrup - 1 tablespoon
Sour cream - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon

Procedure :

1. Take everything out of the refrigerator so that all ingredients can come room temperature.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Sieve all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, coco powder, salt. Keep in a separate bowl.

3. Cream the sugar and butter in a separate bowl. After the butter and sugar is mixed well, add eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream. (wet ingredients) Mix well.

4. Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until both are mixed together. Do not over mix after adding the dry ingredients.

5. Divide the batter in both of the buttered pans (I have used different shape moulds).



6. Now bake it for 25mins or until the cake tester comes out clean in 350 degree.

7. After it bakes, take the cake out the oven, let it cool and remove it from the cake pan or mold.

8. Don't worry about any cracks as they will easily be covered by the frosting later.

Frosting :

1. To make this icing, melt the chocolate and butter in a good-sized bowl either in the microwave or suspended over a pan of simmering water. Go slowly either way: you don't want any burning or seizing.

2. After the chocolate and butter is cooled a little, sieve the confectioners' sugar into it, add the corn syrup, sour cream and vanilla. Mix it well.

3. You may need to add a little boiling water, say a teaspoon or so, or indeed some more confectioners' sugar, depending on whether you need the frosting to be thinner or thicker. It should be liquid enough to coat easily, but thick enough not to drip off.

4. Place 1 of the cooled cake on a plate. (since I have used a mould I have slit open the cake in half horizontally, to fill the frosting).



5. Spoon 1/3 of the frosting on the middle of the cake....




6. Spoon another 1/3 of the frosting onto the top of the cake and spread it. Spread the sides of the cake with icing and leave a few minutes until set.

Handy Tips :

Oven temperature may vary according to the brands. So the baking timings may vary from 25 to 30 mins.

After the icing is done, we may decorate it with sugared flower candies or with colour sugar crystals.

Ghee Rice

Ingredients :

Basmati Rice – 1 cup
Water – 2 cups
Onion diced – 1 (big)
Tomato diced – 1 (small)
Green chilies – 2 spited
Garlic pods – 4
Cinnamon stick – 1 inch piece
Cardamom – 2
Cloves – 2
Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
Bay leaf – ½
Mint leaves – ½ bunch
Salt as required
Butter – 1 tablespoon
Oil – 2 tablespoon

For Garnishing :

Coriander leaves – few
Carrots – ¼ cup diced

Procedure :

1. In a pressure cooker heat the oil with ghee.

2. Then add the bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, cumin seeds, cinnamon stick. After they splutter add half of the mint leaves to the oil.

3. Then add the onions, tomato and green chilies and saute them. Then add the garlic pods and saute it for some time.

4. In the mean while rice should be soaked for 10 mins, add the soaked rice to the pressure cooker and saute it for 2 mins. Then pour the measured water (2 cups). Add salt.

5. Now close the pressure cooker and allow the pressure cooker to give one whistle sound. Then turn off the pressure cooker. Then transfer it into a serving bowl and garnish it with coriander leaves and Carrots.

Tips :

For extra richness we can add coconut milk instead of water.

Vegetable Fried Rice

Ingredients :

Basmati Rice (Cooked) – 1 cup
Carrot diced – ¼ cup
Green Beans – ¼ cup
Spring Onions – few
Green Peppers diced – ¼ cup
Green Peas - few
Cabbage – ½ cup
Green chilies – 2 spited
Onion diced – ¼ cup
Aji-no-moto – ½ teaspoon
Soya Sauce – 2 teaspoon
Salt as required
Black Pepper Powder – 1 tablespoon
Butter – 2tablespoon
Oil – 2tablespoon




Coriander leaves – few

For Garnishing :

Procedure :

1. Boil the rice with little salt and little oil, Cool the rice thoroughly.

2. Mean while dice all the vegetables and keep them separately.

3. In a deep non-stick skillet first add little oil and then put the carrot and saute it nicely. Then add salt add pepper powder then add some of the boiled and cooled rice and sauté it and transfer it into a big bowl.

4. Repeat the same step for all the vegetables as well as the green chilies.

5. Now add the ghee, Aji-no-moto and Soya sauce to the big bowl that has all the vegetables and rice. Mix the whole mixture of rice nicely until all the vegetables and rice are mixed together. Now transfer it into a serving dish and garnish it with coriander leaves.

Handy Tips :

The cabbage and onions must not be sautéed for too long bcoz they only add crunchiness to the fried rice.

Idli Podi

Idli Podi is one of my pantry staple i my house. Not only in my house but most of the south Indian's kitchen staple. Each once has a different versions for flavoring this podi. The recipe i follow is inherited from my grandmother. I have not made any changes to the flavors as i am so much used to how it would taste back from my childhood.

Ingredients : 

Channa dal – 1 cup
Urad dal – 1 cup
Sesame seeds – ¼ cup
Red chilies – 8 0r 10

Kashmiri Red Chilli - 4
Rock Hing - 2 inch Piece 

Curry leaves - Handful
Salt as required
Oil – 2 tablespoon

Procedure : 

In a hot skillet first add the sesame seeds and fry for 5 min in medium heat. Then transfer it into a bowl. 

Next add handful of curry leaves and fry until dry

Then add 1 teaspoon of oil and add the channa dal and half of the red chilies and fry till golden brown in medium heat and transfer to a bowl

Do the same with Urad dal

 Now add 1 teaspoon of oil and add rock hing and make it pop out properly

Cool everything to room temperature and add salt and grind it into a course powder.

These go very good with idly and dosa when mixed with ghee or oil.

Notes :  

If Rock hing is not available add powder hing

If curry leaves can be avoided in not available or if you don't like the taste