Tuesday 22 March 2016

Nutty Chocolatey Mawa Donut Gujjiya.......

Nutty Chocolatey Mawa Donut Gujjiya.......

Holi hai Bhai Holi hai....
Khelo Rango ke Sath.... 
Gujjiya kha ke mast raho....
Aahi hai Subhakamnaye Hmara Apke Sangh..... 

Gujjiyas are classic dish made with all purpose flour dough and Mava filling, deep fried and dipped in Sugar syrup... 
This is a Gujjiya with a twist... 

For the Donut dough
Ingredients 
2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour + 1/4 cup extra for handling the dough and rolling the dough 
3 tbsp Melted Butter 
2 tbsp Powder Sugar 
Salt to taste 
1 1/4 tsp Dry Yeast 
1/4 cup Lukewarm Water 
1 tbsp Sugar for the Yeast 
1/4 cup or more Lukewarm Milk for kneading a soft dough


Method 
Add yeast, sugar and  lukewarm water in a cup and keep it aside till it rises. Take flour in a mixing bowl,  add salt and powder sugar. Mix it.  Mix in yeast and milk little at a time as per the milk is required for kneading a soft dough. Add a tbsp of butter and keep kneading the dough for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the remaining butter on the dough and  keep it aside cover till the dough rises. 
P. S. If the dough gets sticky sprinkle some flour and knead it. 
Knead the dough well. Stretch the dough and fold on a flat platform.

For the Nutty Chocolate Mawa filling 
Ingredients 
3/4 cup of Mawa
1/2 cup of Chocolate Chips 
Handful of Almond and Pistachio flakes or chopped

Method 
Take a pan, add the mawa and cook it till the mawa starts to form a dough, take it off the flame. Add the Almond and Pistacho flakes and mix it. Add the Chocolate chips, mix it well and keep it aside.

For the Donut Gujjyas 
Ingredients 
Dough
Filling 
Oil for frying the Gujjyas

Method 
Take the dough and knead it again. Divide the dough in to two portions. Take one portion and roll the dough, cut circles out of the sheet with a round cutter. Add the filling and fold one side to the other side. Press it and fold the edges. Keep it for 20 minutes. Heat the oil. Fry the Gujjyas till brown. Take it out. Cool it. Sprinkle it with coloured sugar powder... 

For Garnishing 
Use coloured sugar powder..... 

P. S. Take 2 tbsp of Sugar in a grinding jar and add few drop of colour. Mix it with the spoon.  Grind the sugar. The colour will get mixed with the sugar. If darker shade is required then add more drops of colour and grind again. This coloured powder sugar canbe used to decorate cakes and other desserts...

Sunday 20 March 2016

Eggdli Muffins...

Eggdli Muffins... 😃😃

A twist with the leftover idli batter with eggs....... Good for breakfast or snacks... Enjoy with Chutney or Sauce... 
Ingredients 
1 bowl of Idli Batter
1 Onion chopped 
Few Coriander leaves chopped 
1 or 2 Green chillies chopped 
2 Eggs 
Salt to taste 
1/4 tsp Chilli powder 
1/4 tsp Sambar powder 
Oil to grease the Muffin tin

Method 
Take a mixing bowl, add the batter, eggs, onions, coriander leaves, green chillies and salt. Mix the batter. Grease the muffin tray moulds. Pour the batter in the muffin moulds. Sprinkle the chilli powder and sambar powder on top of the batter. Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 20 minutes or till done. Insert  a toothpick and check... Serve hot with the Chutney...
P.S. Other vegetables like chopped capsicum, carrot can be added. Leftover keema can also to added for a change...

Saturday 19 March 2016

Thandai



Thandai is a refreshing drink made on Holi. It’s cooling and hence the name thandai .There are variations of thandai. It’s more popular in the north. 


Thandai Masala

Ingredients 

30 Almonds 

20 Pistachios 

4 tbsp  Melon Seeds

8 Rose Petals 

1/2 tsp Poppy Seeds

2 Green Cardamom 

6 Peppercorns 

1 tsp Fennel Seeds 

1 tsp Rose Essences

Few strands of Saffron 

2 tbsp Sugar


Method 

Grind all the ingredients together and store in an airtight container.


Thandai Drink

Ingredients 

2 to 3 tbsp of Thandai Powder 

1 glass of Cold Milk 

Sugar as per sweetness

Few Almond flakes and Saffron strands for garnishing 


Method

Mix in one glass of chilled milk and add sugar according to the sweetness required. Add the thandai powder and mix well. Garnish it with Almond flakes and few strands of Saffron. Let it stand for sometime for the taste to enhance. Serve it chilled.

Coloured Powder Sugar..

Coloured Powder Sugar...
It is used to decorate cakes and cookies. It can be very easily made at home. Using gel colours and sugar. 

Ingredients 
2 tbsps Sugar (take big granulated sugar)
Few drops of desired Gel Colour
(I have used Ameri Gel Colours)

Method 
Take a small grinding jar. Add the sugar and 2 to 3 drops of colour. Grind it. If more darker shade is required then add 2 drops more and grind it. Make it in small batches so that much grinding is not required. 
If made in larger quantity then the grinding jar can become hot and the sugar will become moist.

Thursday 17 March 2016

Whole Wheat Sweet Chocolatey, Minty and Spicy Soda Bread.....

Whole Wheat Sweet Chocolatey, Minty and Spicy Soda Bread.....


Soda bread is a variety of quick bread traditionally made in which sodium bicarbonate is used as a leavening agent instead of the yeast. The ingredients of traditional soda bread are flour,soda, salt, and buttermilk. The buttermilk in the dough contains lactic acid, which reacts with the soda to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide. Other ingredients can be added such as butter, egg, raisins, or nuts.
   In Europe, soda breads began to appear in the mid-19th century when bicarbonate of soda first became available for use as a raising agent. Breads, griddle cakes and scones with soda bicarbonate and cream of tartar or tartaric acid became popular in Austria, Polish cuisine, Britain and Ireland. Traditional soda bread, eaten in Serbian cuisine, also uses soda bicarbonate. 
Whole wheat soda bread  is known as wheaten bread in parts of Ireland and Polish flat soda bread is known as Proziaki.
Net Resouce.... 

I wanted to cook up something quick for my hungry caterpillar who was going to come back from the school picnic... The door bell would ring any moment.. While I was thinking, the recipe of soda bread ran in my mind. It had to be of her liking... So gave a twist to it and here is my version of soda bread... 

Ingredients
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Milk powder
1/4 cup of Chocolate Chips
Few Mint leaves broken
8 Sweet Pepper Chillies whole or 1 fresh Red Chilli sliced
1 tsp Baking powder
2 Pinches of Salt
1/2 cup Caster Sugar
2 tbsp Melted Butter
3/4 cup Butter Milk
1/4 cup Club Soda
P. S. You can use 1 tsp soda bicarbonate instead club soda and increase the butter milk quantity by 1/4 cup. 

Method
Take a mixing bowl, add whole wheat flour, milk powder and caster sugar. Mix it. Add salt and baking powder. Mix it. Make a well in between. Add butter milk, mix it. Add club soda. Mix it. Add the chocolate chips, chillies and mint. Mix it. The dough will be a bit sticky. Brush an iron pan or any baking tray with butter. Add the bread dough, spread it. Bake it for 40 minutes or till done at 180 degrees celcius in a preheated oven. Cool a bit and the remove the bread from the pan. Cool it completely before cutting it.