Whole Wheat Bread Pudding

Thanks to Lavanya, for sharing the image and recipe. 

Recipe for bread:

• 3 cups of whole wheat flour ( I used Annaporna atta)
• 2 1/2 tsp of active yeast
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tbsp Salt
• 2 cup warm water

Add all the dry ingredients and slowly start adding warm water. Mix and form the dough. Do not knead at this stage. The dough should be more like a poori dough. Knead it to activate the yeast.
Keep aside for about 20-30 mins till the dough double its size.
Knead the dough until its soft  in a gentle way . Place on the baking pan and bake at 230C for about 30mins.

Recipe for pudding :

• Bread
• 2 cups of milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4  of sugar
• 1 tsp of Apple spice mix
• 1/4 cup of ghee (clarified butter)
• hand full of raisins

In a small cake pan place the bread in such a way there is no gap. I  used half of the bread I baked for this pudding. Drizzle 1/8th of the sugar on the bread and some raisins. Generously brush the ghee all over the bread. Now mix the milk, eggs and apple spice mix well and pour over the the bread mix. Add the remaining raisins and sugar over the pan . Preheat the oven @  200 for  5mins. Now place the pan and bake @200C for 30mins. The top of the pudding should form a golden crust and inside of the pudding should not be soggy. Cool the pudding for 5mins before serving.

Masala oats

Recipe and Photos shared by Lavanya. Thanks to her for sharing .

Ingredients:

• Regular oats - 1 cup 
• Frozen or regular peas  - 1/4 cup

To coarsely grind : 

• coriander - 1 tbsp
• Peppercorns - 1 tbsp 
• Cumin - 1 tsp.

To temper :

• Cumin - 1 tsp.

Method : 

In a kadai heat 1 tbsp oil and temper with cumin . In the meantime coarsely grind coriander, peppercorns and cumin with pestle and mortar or mixie. 

Add the frozen peas in the oil and slightly fry them. Add salt to taste and when the peas starts to split, add the coarsely grinded masala. Add water and cook the peas. 

When the peas is almost done add oats and cook (method more similar to how we cook veggies while making kichdi). Cook the oats till its completely cooked.
Best to add buttermilk or rasam at the end.

Royal icing

This recipe along with photos was shared by Lavanya.

• 2 large eggs (egg white only)
• 2 tsp lemon juice.

For flooding consistency, (carrot pic)

• 3 cups of confectioner sugar.

Now to you beater/ processor, at low speed beat the egg white add the sugar in batches. The right consistency for flooding when we drop it from a spoon, the batter should flow in thick batches (something similar to string consistency in jaggery).

For pipping consistency icing add more sugar until it has a consistency similar to that of mayonnaise.  (rabbit pic) In more appropriate terms,

• 1 large egg (egg white only)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• about 2 cups of confectioner sugar.

remember not to keep the frosting open. This forms a solid layer on the top of the icing. Always cover with usual plastic food wrapper. Else we have the scrap out the solid layer first before using the frosting.  Also, when you pipping, make sure you always place it on a damp cloth/paper. I used my coffee cup. Covered the bottom of the cup with damp paper towel and when ever I had to keep my pipping down, i placed in into the cup containing the damp towel. This prevented the icing from forming a thick solid layer.



Though the process is little time taking, the output is always enjoyable. Specially for the kids, I bet they will for sure love the icing on their sugar cookies and cakes

Vanilla cake with chocolate frosting

Thanks to Lavanya for sharing this recipe along with photos..

Cake:

• 1 1/2 all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup oil (else 1/2 cup butter= 1 stick butter)
• 3/4 cup milk

Mix the wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately. Now in batches mix the dry ingredients with the wet.Beat until silky.

I used a mini cake pan set and filled my greased mini cake pan with the batter. Bake it at 350F (180 C) for about 20mins or until when picked with a tooth pick, nothing sticks to the pick.


Now cut the top layer of the cake and form a even platform for both the mini cake.Fill the gap with vanilla frosting. and place one over the other. Now cover the cake with chocolate frosting.



Vanilla frosting.:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp confectioner sugar.
• 2 tsp vanilla extract.

Chocolate frosting:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp confectioner sugar
• 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

For frosting, make sure you use a stainless steel bowl. Before starting the procedure freeze the utensil, blade of the mixer for 10 mins in your freezer. Frosting melts really quick so make sure everything is real cold. Mix the ingredients in low speed first and then increase the beater speed gradually until thick frosting is formed. Make sure the frosting is really thick else, it melts real fast.


Decorate your cake with frosting.

Maida Biscuits

The  tiny biscuits /  thukkada  recipe along with photo was sent by Lavanya . Hope you all like both the version ..

Savory biscuits.:

Maida 1 cup
Salt to taste
Chilli powder 2 tsp
hing ( a pinch)
oil.

Make like a chapati dough. Roll as thin as possible like that for a chapati.
Cut it in cubes using knife. Deep fry the cubes.

Sweet biscuits.:
 

Maida 1 cup
sugar 1 1/2 cup
cardamon powder
oil - 2tsp

Its the same procedure like that for savory biscuits. Since its sweet version, the dough will be more sticky. Use enough flour while rolling as chapati. Cut into small cubes. Deep fry the cubes.


Its a very easy evening snack to make.

Black Forest Cake

This cake recipe along with photo was shared by Lavanya


Ingredients needed :

• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup strong brewed coffee
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method : 

Mix the wet ingredients separately & dry ingredients separately. Now in batches mix the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Keep mixing until the batter is silky. 

Bake at 350F for about 35-40 mins until completely cooked. Poke a tooth pick or knife to check it does not stick to it. Let the cake cool. Cut the top of the cake and now cut the cake into two halves. Make sure the cake is cool.
 

For frosting, I used ready made frosting :

Be generous with the frosting. First spread the top of lower half of the cake generously with the frosting. If you love arranging with berries, its very creative.
place the upper half of the cake. Now complete the entire cake with frosting. Make sure the frosting is at room temperature. This will help to spread evenly and easily.
 

Finally decorate with fruits or more frosting/icing :

Green seedless grapes tasted yummy with this cake. Fresh berries also play equally good tasty role.
 

Let the cake cool in the refrigerator for a while. Give enough time for the frosting to soak well with the cake. 

For this i made sure, I take out 2-3 times from the refrigerator and brought back to room temperature and then refrigerated again. This helped to bring that mild sogginess to the cake which makes the  black forest cake even more yummier.

Hope everyone enjoys the recipe.

Banana Bread

 

Thanks a lot Lavanya for sharing the recipe along with the photo. 

Ingredients needed : 

• 1/2 cup Vegetable oil (You can also use same measurement of melted butter)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup milk (Sour cream is a next best choice if you love it tangy)
• 2 medium bananas, sliced

Method : 

Mix all the wet ingredients and mash the banana along with the wet ingredients. Slowly in batches add the dry ingredients and mix well. Coat the pan with oil or butter and pour the batter to the pan. Bake it at 350 F for about 30mins or until its golden brown. Cool it and slice it.

Cup Cake

This recipe and Photo was shared by Lavanya .

Ingredients : for 12 muffins :

• 1 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp of butter
• 1 1/2 tbsp of baking powder
• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk

 
Method :

Mix sugar, butter, egg together and beat until everything is mixed well. Add milk and beat till the liquid portion is all mixed together. Make sure the flour and baking powder are mixed once before adding the liquid part. Beat nicely till the batter is completely silky. Now divide the batter in three parts and add your fav. food colors.

Arrange the muffin pan with the cupcake lining paper and add the batter in whatever combination you like it to be. Bake it for 20-25 mins until cooked. If you love frosting, top your cupcake with frosting.

White Bread ~ Home made

Thanks a lot Lavanya, for sharing the recipe along with the photo..


Ingredients needed :

• 3 cups of All purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoon of active yeast (1 packet )
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 teaspoon of ghee..
• 2 cups of warm water

Method : 


Mix all the dry ingredients and add the water slowly and mix dough to poori dough consistency.

Wrap the dough mix with wet cloth  and set aside for 1 hour or until the dough becomes double the size. Since its winter here, I preferred to keep inside my switched off oven. The already warmth helped my dough to rise quickly.

Now knead the dough until its soft. Finally place it on the bread pan and bake @ 450 F for about 30mins or until golden brown.



Tips:

To make sure the dough doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan, place an aluminium foil or parchment paper cut to the exact size of the bottom of the pan. This makes sure your cleaning of the pan later is made easy.

Spread butter on the top the bread flour during the beginning and at  about 5 mins before finishing the baking.

Pooranam Bholi / Poli ~ Type 2

This will approx give 10-12 bholis

For Pooranam:

1 cup chana dhal ( kadalai paruppu)

2 cups Jaggery (or according to your sweet preference)

Grated coconut- 1/2 cup

Ghee - 2tbsp

Cardamom powder - a pinch

For Dough

Maida - 2 cup

Salt - to taste

Turmeric - 2 pinch

Oil

Method : 

For Pooranam

Pressure cook the chana dhal (to  powder consistency). Strain the remaining water and mash it and keep it aside.

In a kadai add ghee . In a medium flame add the mashed channa dhal and jaggery. Keep mixing till the jaggery completely dissolves. Finally add the grated coconut & cardamoom and mix well. Now let the pooran cool from hot to warm. Now make ladoos and keep aside. It is always easy to make the ladoos when warm.

For Dough

It is same procedure as poori. Mix the maida, salt and turmeric along with water and Oil. Make sure the dough is oily instead of watery. The dough should be little rubbery. Make small lemon sized balls out of the dough( same like poori)

Now take a milk cover  and cut it into two squares ( I usually prefer a sandwich bag), apply oil and place the dough. Spread the dough to a minimal size circle and place the pooranam at the center. Now seal the pooranam with the dough. Place the other sheet on the top of this big ball and with a roller make chappatis.

Heat the pan and cook the bholi on either side. Instead of oil use ghee on the both the surfaces of the bholi.

Tofu Bhurji

Ingredients :

Firm Tofu- 1 full packet
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Turmeric - 1/2 teaspoon
Jeera - 1/2 teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - 1/4 Teaspoon
Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
Fresh Coriander leaves- to garnish
Oil- 2tbsp
Salt and pepper to taste

Method : 

Firstly, drain the water completely and dry the tofu for sometime. Grate the tofu and keep it aside. In a kadai add oil, and jeera. Add onion and fry till translucent. Now add the tomato and add turmeric, coriander powder and Red chilli powder when the onion and tomato are completely cooked. Mix well and finally add the grated tofu. In a low-medium flame mix the tofu to the mixture in a very gentle way. Do not brake the tofu further. There will be little water from the tofu, so cook until the water is completely evaporated. Finally garnish with coriander leaves. Its an easy side dish for chappathi or paratha.

Paneer-Peas Pulao

Thanks a lot Lavanya, for sharing this recipe ...she says : The inspiration for this dish was from your blog only , Kavitha's Jeera Pulao.

Ingredients needed :

• Oil
• Paneer - 1 cup diced.
• Whole garam masala
• Jeera - 1 tsp
• Presoaked Basmati rice - 1 cup (presoaked for minimum 30 mins).
• Green chilli - 1
• Mint leaves - lil
• Corriander leaves
• Potato - 1/2 of medium sized finely sliced
• Peas - 1/4 cup
• salt
• Fried onions.

Method :

In a frying pan add oil and jeera. After Jeera Splutters, add green chilli, mint leaves, corriander leaves, potato, and peas. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes.Now in a rice cooker add the cooked vegetables along with basmati rice (quantity of water should be twice the amount of Basmati rice) with required salt. Meanwhile fry the onions and paneer separately and keep it ready.When the rice gets 90% cooked, add the paneer so that it gets mixed with rice well. The crispness in the paneer too remains to certain extent and will taste nice. Finally add the fried onion to garnish.

Mango Pachadi ~~ Tamil New year Wishes

அனைவருக்கும் தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துகள்

 

My Menu for today is :

• Mango Pachadi 
• Paruppu Payasam
• Aama Vadai / Paruppu Vadai 
• Mango Rice
• Mor Kuzhambu

Thanks to Lavanya for sending Mango Pachadi recipe to me ...She was not able to find the recipe in this blog ...and she has sent me the recipe along with photo..So posting it again here ...

Ripe mango-1

Jaggery - 1 cup

Oil- 1tbsp

Mustard- for seasoning

Dried Red chillies -1

Turmeric - 1/2 tbsp

Salt - a pinch

In a kadai, add oil and mustard. Once the mustard sputters add the mango, salt ,  turmeric , dried red chillies. Add water and let the mango cook until soft.  When the mango is half cooking, I added the jaggery. Since the jaggery available here is not  the one like India(where we can get that string consistency), I let it boil until the mango is fully cooked.

Rava Ladoo

Got this recipe along with the photo from my friend Lavanya ...Today being the third day in blogging marathon , I chose the sweets category ... thanks a lot Lavanya ,  u saved my day ...

do check out our fellow bloggers recipes , who are taking part in the blogging marathon ....

Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma, Pavani,  PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Srivalli 

Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena 

Ingredients :

• Rava/Sooji - 1cup
• Sugar - 1/4 cup
• Milk - 1/2 cup
• Grated  coconut - 1/4 cup
• Cashews - 5-10 (according to your love for cashew)
• Raisins - hand full
• Ghee - 2tbsp

Procedure:

For the entire procedure keep you stove in medium flame. In a pan roast the cashews and Raisins with ghee until they become golden brown. Add the grated coconut and fry till you smell the coconut and ghee (not more than 1-2mins) Now add the rava/sooji and keep tossing until the rava turns slightly brown.Add the sugar and keep stirring until the rava,sugar and coconut along with the cashew and raisins mix well. Its now time to add the milk. The caramelized sugar would have already helped the ingredients to mix well. So add milk appropriately so the mix is in a consistency of making ladoos.
Now switch off your stove and allow the mixture to cool.  At medium heat, start making the ladoos.
Never let the mixture to cool down completely, then its not possible to make ladoos.

PS: Consistency of making ladoos means, when u take a little amount of the mixture and try to make a ball, it should not fall apart.

Update from Lavanya :(few had doubt with the Rava and Sugar ratio  )

Its definitely 1/4cup of sugar and 1 cup of Rava. This proportion gave a correct sweet taste. @ suma, The milk helps to give a kind of wet texture to mixture which will help you to make ladoos. otherwise the mixture will fall apart. Also, milk gives an extra flavor.

Mushroom - Pepper fry

The recipe along with the photos were shared by my friend , Lavanya . A special thanks to her...

Ingredients :

• Mushroom - 1/4kg
• Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
• Tomato - 1 (finely chopped)
• Garlic - 2 cloves(chopped)
• Ginger- 1tsp(finely chopped)
• Green chilli - 2nos( cut vertically into 2)
• Dhaniya Powder - 3/4tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Ground pepper - 2 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Hing - a pinch

for tempering :

• Oil - 4 tsp
• Mustard seed- 1tsp
• Curry leaves- 5-6

Method :

Boil the mushroom in water with salt for about 10mins(until its soft)
In a kadai add oil,sputter the mustard seeds. Add the curry leaves and a little pinch of hing. Add the onion, garlic, giner and green chilli. Cook till the onion is soft. Add the tomatoes and cook till its cooked. Now add the mushroom along with dhaniya powder, turmeric and pepper.Mix well and add 1/2cup of water.
Cook till the water is completely evaporated and it becomes a dry masala.

Its awesome to have with chappati or jeera rice.

Venthaya Keerai Thugayal

Ingredients needed :

• Methi leaves - 1 or 2 bunches
• Urid dhal - 2 tbsp.
• Red chillies - 3 or 4
• Tamarind - little
• Hing powder - 1/4 tsp.

Method :

Chop methi leaves and keep it ready. In a kadai add chillies+ hing powder + tamarind and fry well and keep it aside then , add methi leaves and fry for few mins , and cool it, now grind all the ingredients , if needed add water and grind it into a coarse paste , then in a kadai add oil and temper it with mustard seeds + urid dhal and add this paste and fry well for few mins.

Note : U can also add small onions , and grind it

Welcome to Sasi & Sasi's Crispy Wheat Rava Dosa

Time for another addition to the list of lovely contributors to my blog...dishes and recipes vary from nation to nation, city to city and coming to the core, even from one individual to another...the same recipe with the same ingredients get their own taste wen prepared by two different persons..well, tatz the magic of cooking...one of those unsolved mysteries on earth :)
      Havin spoken abt the different flavours one cud come across, wat else cud be the reason for me dedicating a special section for my friends and their signature dishes...cooking is something in which u cud nvr ever stop learning..therez alwayz something new and different to try out...yeah, the learning juz never ends...oops, looks like i started with some kinda welcome note to one of those special contributors bt then moved into a whole differnet topic after the first line...hehehehhe...sorry abt tat ...
     Coming back to the line, this new entry to my blog is a friend of my pal gays...her name is sasi and heard tat shez expecting a new addition to her family soon...hearty congrats sasi...hope to catch ya up with loads of ur tastty n yummy dishes before u get occupied with the lil munchkin...ask me abt getting busy with a baby...uhh...jobs never seem to end...hope every mom will agree on tat...well, nways, in spite of all the tiredness u will be put into, nothingz more fun and happier in life, than babies...hmm..hmmm...again getting diverted...So, lemme put as period to my stories and say "Welcome to the blog sasi..."

Ingredient:-(for 2 person)

• Wheat Rava - 2cups
• Chilli -2 nos
• Salt -1tsp (small spoon)
• (Shallots) Small Onion -2 nos
• chopped Curry leaves & coriander leaves - a handful (This is optional)

Method :

Soak rava for 15 min and grind them to paste with onion and chilli. The paste should be in dosa batter consistency.Add salt , curry leaves and coriander leaves.
Heat the pan and make dosa with this batter.You will be able to make thin crispy dosa with less oil or no oil.

The wheat dosa that we make with wheat flour normaly requires more oil and its sticky when compared with this one. Also most of us use wheat rava only for upma. I can assure that this will be a different one.

Ragada Patties (Padma's recipe)

For Patties :

 
Potato -3 medium
Bread slice - 3
Ginger - a small piece
Green chillies - 2 or 3
Salt

For Ragada/Gravy:- 

Yellow Peas - 1 cup soak overnight
Onion - 1
Tomato - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Dhaniya powder - 1/2 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tbsp
Amchur powder - 1/4 tbsp
Salt

Cilantro

For Toppings:-

Gravy/Ragada Tamarind date chutney Sev/omapodi Chopped onion Chopped tomato Chopped cilantro Broken puri pieces(poori for pani puri's) or can use marie biscuit Chat masala

Method for making Patties :

Boil and mash potatoes well. Grind green chillies and ginger with few drops of water and add to potatoes. Powder bread in a dry mixer and also add and mix well. Make balls and flatten to a round shape with 1/2 inch thickness. Heat tawa and place the patties and dry roast with oil or butter...remove and place in a plate.

Making Ragada/Gravy :

Boil peas till soft. Heat oil in a kadai and onions and fry till brown, next add ginger garlic paste and saute, now add tomato and cook till they are mashed well. Now add all the powders and saute. Finally add the cooked peas and some water.. Boil well and add salt.

For arranging:-

Place patties and pour some gravy on top. Top it with all the toppings like tamarind chutney,sev,chat masala,broken puris/broken marie biscuits,chopped onion.chopped tomato and cilantro. Is a very good chaat/snack item. You can also use the patties for kids burger...place in between buns with sauce/mayo and serve..they will like for sure.

Pav Bhaji (padma's recipe)

Pav/ Buns - 4

Vegetables - Potato/beans/carrot/ peas and any other of your choice mixed - 3 cups

Onion - 1

Tomato - 2 small

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Chilli powder - 1 tbsp

Pav Bhaji masala powder - 2 tbsp

Butter

Oil

Cilantro

Salt

Method :

Pressure cook all the vegetables until they are very soft. Remove and mash well.

In a kadai heat butter or oil and add onions, fry till they turn golden brown, add ginger garlic paste. Now add the tomatoes and mash and cook well. Then add the powders and saute. Finally add the mashed vegetables , salt and little water and cook for few minutes. Toast buns both sides with little butter on a tawa.

Garnish the bhaji with chopped onions, cilantro and lime juice and serve with buns.

Potato capsicum masala fry (Padma's Recipe)

Potato - cut into cubes

Capsicum - chopped into thick pieces

onion - 1

chilli powder

dhaniya powder

salt

mustard seeds

urad dhal

jeera( optional)

In a kadai heat oil and add all the temperings- mustard seeds, urad dhal, jeera. When they splutter add chopped onions and fry till transparent , next add just the capsicum and fry until they are 3/4th cooked...remove from kadai and keep aside. In the same kadai add potato , litttle salt and cover and cook, saute now and then. when they are 3/4 th cooked and the fried capsicum and cook together..check salt or add salt. Finally add the chilli powder and dhaniya powder. Frying seperately won't let the capsicum to get soggy.