Nature Kitchen: April 2009

Murunga keerai dosa

>> Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Indian recipes r most popular & cooked worldwide from early centuries. And few of them r stored in the papers or in the memories. Here is my attempt to bring some of the forgotten Indian recipes to light. As a beginner, I m trying to gather information on this attempt. Plz share ur ideas or known ancient recipes which was hidding beyond.

Murunga keerai is best know for his medical values. It taste different which is healthy and highly nutricous. Adding them in the dosa batter, enhances the taste, looks colorful & attracts the kids - for which we r aiming at!!!!

Ingredients :

Murunga keerai (Drumstick leaves) - Handfull
Jeera - 1 tbsp
Peppercorns - 1 tbsp
Rava - 5 tsp
Dosa mavu (Batter) - 1/2 cup
Maida (All purpose flour ) - 3 tsp
Green chilly - 2 nos (as per ur taste)
Salt to taste
Water - 1/4 cup

Directions to cook :

# Mix all the ingredients together & the batter should be thin in consistency.

# Heat the pan, rotate a scoop of batter in a clockwise direction to form a circle.

# Apply oil on the corners & cook till crispy and brown in color.

Serve them hot with chutneys.

Sending this to the event "Grammathu kaimanam" hosted by Shama nagarajan

German Donauwelle

>> Monday, April 27, 2009

German cakes r world wide popular. Donauwelle cake is one among their popular cake, which means Donau- Some river name & welle - waves. I named it as wave cake, bcoz the chocolate glaze toppings will be decorated like a waves & of course, it will become a little mess while cutting them.

It taste great with vanilla pudding as one of the layer & chocolate over the top. I assure u, ur kids will just love this :)

Ingredients :

For the cake :

All purpose flour - 500 gms
Butter - 250 gms
Sugar - 300 gms
Eggs - 4 nos
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
1 glass of Sour cherries (I use canned stuff)
Cocoa powder - 1 tsp

Vanilla cream :

Vanilla pudding - 2 1/2 packet
Butter - 125 gms
Sugar - 8 tbsp
Milk (or) soya milk - 1 litre

Chocolate glaze :

250 gms semi sweet chocolate
30 gms butter
200 gms whipped cream (optional)

Directions to bake :

Baking a cake :

# Heat oven to 200 C & grease the 26 cm baking pan with a parchment paper.

# Sieve the flour, baking powder & set aside.

# Cream the butter, vanilla essence & sugar till light & gradually add the egg & beat until fluffy.

# Add the flour mixture & mix well.

# Divide the batter into two equal parts. Add cocoa powder to half part of the cake batter.

# First spread the white batter evenly in the baking pan. Next, top them with the chocoate batter evenly.

# Insert the drained cherries on top & push them halfway into the cake batter.

# Bake them for 20 to 25 min or until a toothpick inserted in the middle & comes out clean.

Cool the bake.

For the vanilla cream :

# Combine all the ingredients except butter & bring it to boil. Let cool & finally add the butter & whisk till nicely combined.

(Simple follow the instructions given in the pudding packet)

For the chocolate glaze :

# Melt the chocolate along with the butter. Once cool add the whipped cream.

Assembling the cake :

# Layer the cake as the bottom part.

# Top the vanilla pudding over them as the second layer.

# Finally, spread the chocolate glaze on the top & using the fork, draw some waves very carefully without mixing the chocolate with the pudding layer.

TIPS :

Cake batter will be very thick. I prefer using pipping bags to spread them in the baking pans.

Before spreading the chocolate glaze over the pudding layer. Refrigerate the cake, so that pudding will be set.

Cool the chocolate glaze & then pour them over the pudding layer. If u r not confident in drawing waves, u can leave it.

Happy baking.

Sending this entry to the event "For the love of chocolate" hosted by poornima nair.

Simple homemade chocolate with coffee flavour

>> Saturday, April 25, 2009

I love to eat chocolate any time especially after my lunch. Most of us love to eat different type of chocolate with or without nuts, caramel stuffing, fruit wine stuffing & lotz.....

Home made chocolates r quite popular in ooty. During my school excursion to ooty, I first tasted this yummy homemade chocolate & it tasted heaven......

I like to preserve the chocolate moulds u get along with the store bought chocolates. Sometime I use that as the mould. It may turn out to be perfect & sometimes little messy.

Ingredients :

Coffee powder - 1/4 cup
Cocoa powdr - 3/4 cup
Sweet condensed milk - 1 cup

Directions to make :

# Mix coffee powder & cocoa powder together.

# Add the sweet condensed milk and mix it well until they blend together.

# Pour them in the mould.

Freeze it.

Masala bread toast

>> Thursday, April 23, 2009

Weekly day mornings will be a like a olympic games, I literally run arround the kitchen. Nowdays, bread & cornflakes r becoming our family staple breakfast. Making little variating will make the big difference & taste unique.

Masala bread toast would be a perfect breakfast & I m sure ur family will just love this !

Ingredients :

Bread slices - 6 nos
Egg - 2 nos
Besan powder - 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Onion - 3 nos
Green chilly - 3 (as per ur spice level)
Ginger - 1/2 pc
Corriander leaves
Salt to taste

Directions to cook :

# Grind onion, green chilly, ginger & salt together.

# Meanwhile, beat the egg with a pinch of salt & turmeric powder.

# Now, mix the onion paste, kadala mavu, corrainder leaves with the egg & it look like this.

# Heat the pan, dip the bread slices to this mixture & shallow fry them till golden brown or until cooked.

Serve hot with ketchup.

Tomato basket

>> Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Vegetable carving is an interesting & little art oriented subject. I like playing with vegetables and fruits to decorate my final dish to look little attractive.

Tomato basket looks pretty & would be perfect in salad decoration. Try this & I m sure U will enjoy this art !!!!

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Belgium homemade waffel

>> Sunday, April 19, 2009

I remember my first time I tasted this awesome waffel in THE WAFFEL HOUSE couple of yrs back, which melted like a butter along with some fruit toppings & maple syrup. Fortunately, my first attempt was a hit.

I like to serve this with a spoon of butter & maple syrup as the toppings. We can also use fresh fruits or whipping cream or even the honey as the toppings. Kids will love this. I prefer making this for the weekend breakfast, so that I can enjoy & feel the real taste of this :)

Addition of cinnamon will enhance the flavour & occasionally I prefer a tsp of rum instead of vanilla essence. Taste little different.

Ingredients :

1/2 cup warmed water
Sugar - 2 tsp
Dry yeast - 1 packet
2 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
Warmed milk - 2 cups
Butter - 1/2 cup
Vanilla - 1 tsp ( or rum - 1 tsp)
Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
Egg - 2 nos
Salt - 1/8 tsp

Directions to bake :

# Mix the sugar (2 tsp) & 1/2 cup of warmed water. Add the yeast and stir until dissolved. Let the mixture stand for 10 min.

# Now add the rest of the ingredients, except the egg white. The batter should be smooth without any lumps. (Mix them with an electric mixer). Cover & rest the batter for atleast 1/2 hr.

# Beat the egg whites light & fluffy. Fold them carefully into the batter.

# Heat the waffel iron & pour the batter. Bake for 4 min or until golden brown in color.

Serve them hot with butter & with ur desired toppings.

Caraway seed cake

>> Friday, April 17, 2009

Cake baking is a wonderfully rewarding skill, and one that many of us have enjoyed from an early age. Many people remember helping mum or grandma in the kitchen, stirring the cake mixture and being lucky enough to lick the spoon or blow at the end of the mixing !

Caraway seed cake is very simple with limited ingredients & it taste awesome. U can feel the taste of seed dominating the whole cake.

Ingredients :

All purpose flour - 1 1/3 cups
Corn flour - 3 tbsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Butter - 200 gms
Sugar - 200 gms
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
Eggs - 3 nos
Hot water - 2 tsp
Caraway seeds - 1 tbsp

Directions to bake :

# Sieve all the dry ingredients together (Flour, corn flour, baking powder)

# Cream the butter and sugar, stir in the grated lemon zest.

# Beat the eggs till light and fluffy & add them to the butter mixture.

# Fold the flour to the butter mixture gently (Use 8 stroke)

# Pour hot water over caraway seeds and add to the cake mixture.

# Pour the cake mixture into the prepared cake pan & bake them at 160 C for 50 min or until well risen and golden.

Happy baking :)

Vegetable briyani

>> Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Vegetable briyani is most popular rice in south India. Though it requires quite a big list of ingredients, its simple to make & taste simply superb.

In most of my busy days, the first comfort dish which hits my mind is this briyani. Its just assembling all the required ingredients & its ready in no matter of time.

Best way to serve this with onion raita & a boiled egg. Person like me prefer having this with potato chips too....

Ingredients :

Basmati rice - 1 cup
Vegetables - Carrot, beans, capsicum, peas, cauliflower, potato
Cinnamon stick - 1
Lavang - 3 nos
Cardomom - 2 nos
Bay leaf - 1 no
Ani seed - 1 no
Other briyani spices (Ur choice)
1 large sized onion
1 large sized tomato
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Mint leaves - 1 cup
Corrainder leaves - 1/2 cup
Green chilly - 2 nos
Chilly powder - 1 tsp (As per ur spice level)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Corriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 4 tsp
Ghee - 2 tsp
Cashewnuts - 10 nos
Fried onions - 1/4 cup
Fried bread pcs

Directions to cook :

# Clean & fry the basmati rice in the 2 tsp of ghee. Keep it aside.
# In a heavy bottomed pan (Preferably pressure cooker), heat oil & add all the spices, green chilly & onion. Saute them for 3 min.
# Add mint leaves, corriander leaves & gingergarlic paste. Saute them for 2 mins.
# Add the tomatoes & then vegetables. Cook them for 3 mins.
# Add turmeric powder, chilly powder, corrainder powder & garam masala.
# Finally add the basmati rice, salt & 1 1/4 cups of water. Cook them till done.
# Mean while, fry the cashewnuts in the oil or ghee.
# Cut the bread into small cubes leaving the corner portions & deep fry them in the oil & keep it aside.
# Once the rice is cooked, mix the cashewnuts, fried onions & bread.

Serve them hot with onion raita.

Flower napkin folding

>> Monday, April 13, 2009

Table setting is an art exhibits how creative you r. Its little difficulty to concentrate on this frequently. Occasionally, I like to try something new to present my dishes more colorful & catchy. Especially, when hosting the guest I give equal importance both in cooking different & settting my table attractive. Here is one of my attempt on napkin folding which occupies first place in table decoration.

This I call it as flower napkin. I prefer folding the napkin to serve my fruits & chocolates while setting the table little classic.

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Italian vegetable Lasagna in white sauce

>> Saturday, April 11, 2009

Italian cuisine is famous for its varieties & cheese. One such dish is Lasagna with different stuffings & with cheese as the main ingredients. Lasagna in meat is the popular version.

Vegetable lasagna would be perfect for heavy dinner/lunch too. I prefer adding a egg along with the spinach as one of the layer & those who wish to layer them with plain spinach, will taste equally good.

This is perfect during weekends, can spend more time on preparing & eating this Italian food. Either white sauce or tomato sauce can be used & I prefer white sauce which goes good with vegetable lasagna.

Ingredients :

For the white sauce :

Butter - 2 tbsp
Finely chopped garlic - 1 tsp
Bay leaf - 1 no
All purpose flour - 1 tbsp
Milk - 1 cup
Salt to taste
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp

For the vegetable topping :

Oil - 1 tsp
Onion - 2 medium size
Vegetables - 1 cup (Carrot, beans, peas & ur fav)
Chilly powder (or) pepper powder
Salt to taste
Cinnamon stick & cloves (optional)

For the spinach topping :

Finely chopped spinach - 2 cups
Egg - 1 no (optina;)
Garlic finely chopped - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Pepper for spice (optional)
Lasagna pasta - 12 sheets
Cheese (Parmesen cheese, mozarella, ricotta cheese)

Directions to cook :

White sauce :

@ Heat butter in the heavy bottomed pan, add bay leaf, chopped garlic & flour.
@ Now add a cup of milk & salt to taste.
@ Keep stiring continously, till u get the thick consistency. Finally add pepper powder and nutmeg powder & keep it aside (remove the bay leaf finally)

Vegetable topping :

@ Heat oil in the pan, add cinnamon and cloves.
@ Add onion & saute for few min. Add the vegetables, chilly powder and salt to taste.
@ Once cooked, keep it aside.

Spinach topping :

@ Heat oil in the pan, add chopped garlic followed by spinach.
@ Then add pepper and salt to taste.
@ Once cooked, remove them from the stove & allow it to cool.
@ Now mix the beaten egg to it & keep it aside.

Cheese mixture :

@ Mix all the three varieties of cheese & keep it aside.

Lasagna sheet :

@ Cook the lasagna for 10 min in the salted boiling water.

Assembling all together :

# In the baking pan, first arrange first 4 sheets of lasagna sheets & then spread a layer of white sauce over them.
# Spread the vegetable mixture as a second layer over the white sauce.
# Sprinkle the cheese as a third layer.
# Arrange the next 4 sheets of lasagna over the cheese mixture.
# Spread the spinach toppings over them.
# Arrange the final 4 sheets of lasgana & spread the white sauce as a next layer.
# Finally cover them with the remaining cheese & bake them for 40 min at 180 C.

Delicious lasagna is ready to serve.

TIPS :

1. For the white sauce, can adjust the proportion of flour and milk based on the consistency required.

2. Adding cinnamon and cloves will taste good for the Indian tongue.

3. Truely, I didn't prefer adding all the 3 varieties of cheese. I just used only mozaralle cheese.

Chocolate chip muffins

>> Thursday, April 9, 2009

When it comes to baking, my first preference would be muffins. Only baking which never went wrong from the day one till now is this soft and fluffy muffins. I tried variety of combinations & it really turned out great & appreciable.

Chocolate chip muffins are the most popular combination accepted & baked world wide. This is simple & easy to make, which taste really yummmmmm....

I like to bake this muffins especially during morning & serve them as the breakfast along with a cup of coffee. Also share ur opinion "how to start the breakfast little different ?"

Ingredients :