Eggless Pineapple cake

Baking is a real fun & interesting. I like watching cooking shows both in TV & internet. One among my fav show is Dhamu's cooking & manjulas kitchen b'coz of the simplicity in the dish.
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I tried this eggless pineapple cake from manjulas kitchen which turned out to be the best in my cake collection. The flavour of cardomom powder with the crushed pineapple makes this cake little special & taste unique.

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Ingredients :

1. All purpose flour - 1 1/4 cup
2. Baking powder - 1 tsp
3. Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
4. Condensed milk - 1/2 can (or) 7 oz
5. Crushed pineapple (tin) - 1/2 cup
6. Pineapple syrup (that comes along with the pineapple in the tin) - 1/2 cup
7. Cardomom powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Salt - 1/4 tsp
9. Melted butter - 1/2 cup

Directions to bake :

• Strain the syrup from the crushed pineapple & keep aside.


• Mix all the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardomom powder and salt together.


• Combine condensed milk, melted butter, 1/2 cup crushed pineapple & 1/2 cup pineapple syrup together.


• Now, fold the dry ingredients into the above mixture carefully.


• Grease the baking pan preferable 8 * 8 pan & pour the cake mixture.


• Bake them at 325 F for 25 min.

• Brush the warm cake with 2 tsp of pineapple syrup to keep it moisture.

Serve & have fun.

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Banana Dosa

I was really amazed to see & taste this simple, quick & tasty banana dosa first time. During my last month of pregnancy, my hubby gave me a treat to celebrate the coming of little one in Residency hotel. There, I had this dosa & got this recipe from the chef directly. I should thank them for sharing this recipe without any hesitation. It was the wonderful experience.

Then on, I frequently make this dosa for my breakfast. It is just mixing all the ingredients & cooking them. This is my comfort & favourite breakfast menu.

Ingredients :

1. Riped bananas - 3 big sized
2. Maida - 1/2 cup
3. Rice flour - 1/4 cup
4. Sugar - 1/4 cup (as per ur taste)
5. Cashew nuts - 1 tbsp
6. Ghee for frying

Directions to cook :

# Smash the bananas without any lumps. Chop the cashewnuts to tiny pieces.

# Combine all the ingredients together. Do not add water. Bananas will automatically releases some water.

# Heat the pan, spread the banana batter into a disc shape. Apply some ghee arround the edges. Cook till golden brown in either sides.

Serve warm.

Sending this to the event "Monthly mingle : Ravishing rice" hosted by Nags & started by Meeta.

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Chicken curry & chicken kuruma with leftover mint chutney

It gives us a little happiness to see when there is no leftover. But the fact is, even the leftover can be turned to yet another delicious dishes. I made mint chutney morning & with the left over I made chicken curry for the afternoon & chicken kuruma for the night.

It was nice to see and taste different dishes from morning till night. Addition of mint will enhances the flavour & taste. It taste great :)

Chicken curry

Ingredients :

1. Chicken - 500 gms
2. Cinnamon - 1 stick
3. Cloves - 3 nos
4. Finely chopped onion - 2 nos
5. Riped Tomato - 1 large
6. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Chilly powder - 2 tsp (as per us spice level)
9. Mint chutney (leftover) - I used 3 to 4 tsp
10. Salt to taste
11. Oil - 2 tsp

Directions to cook :

# Clean & cut the chicken into small pieces.

# Heat oil in the pan, add cinnamon stick & cloves.

# Add finely chopped onion & saute it for 3 min. Add ginger garlic paste.

# Add finely chopped tomatoe, turmeric powder & then chilly powder.

# Add the salt & mint chutney. Cover and cook till chicken becomes tender.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Chicken kuruma

Ingredients :

1. Leftover chicken curry
2. Coconut paste (according to the qty of curry)
3. Salt to taste
4. Corriander leaves.

Directions to cook :

# Grind the coconut to a fine paste.

# Mix the chicken curry & coconut paste. Add some water for little thin consistency.

# Allow them to boil. Add salt & garnish with finely chopped corriander leaves.

Perfect for rotis.

Sending this to the event "The Potluck - Chicken" hosted by Viki.

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Mint chutney

Most of the south indian houses, chutneys are often made to accompany with dosa, idly & sometimes even with rice. Chutney with sambar are the best partners to specify. Mint chutney is really tasty and healthy dip for its medical benefits.

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I like to serve this chutney with the seasonings on the top (without stirring them). Even the leftover can be used in the other dishes like chicken curry, sandwich and even in eggs. It's really handy :)

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Ingredients :

1. Mint leaves - 1/2 cup
2. Coconut - 1/2
3. Red chilly - 4 nos
4. Hing a pinch
5. Ginger - small pc
6. Urad dal - 2 tsp
7. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
8. Tamarind juice - 1 tsp
9. Curry leaves - 1 tbsp
10. Oil - 2 tsp

Directions to grind :

# Heat 1 tsp of oil in the pan, add 1 tsp urad dal, 2 red chillies, hing, ginger piece and finally mint leaves. Saute it for 2 min & switch off the heat. Dont overcook the mint leaves.

# Once cool, grind the mint leaves with the coconut, tamarind juice and salt to taste.

# Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp of oil in the pan, add urad dal, mustard seeds, 2 red chilly & curry leaves.

# Mix this seasonings in the grinded chutney.

Serve with dosa, idly or even with rice.

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Viennese apple strudel

The apple strudel is said to be a famous Viennese dish. This would be the best option for heavy breakfast. I normally make the stuffings & wrap it inside the pastry sheet and refrigerate it overnight. Next day morning, i bake it & serve it, that makes my job little easier.

Dust the flour in the surface and unroll the pastry sheet. This helps from sticking. And finally before baking, pat the excess flour from the pastry. Even my husband didn't believe its homemade. I came out great. Planning to do pineapple pastry next time. Bake this & enjoy this yummy & heavy breakfast with ur family.

Ingredients :

1. Pastry sheet
2. Apple - 3 nos
3. Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
4. Lime juice - 1 tsp
5. Brown sugar - 3/4 cup
6. Butter - 1 tbsp
7. Egg - 1 no
8. Milk - 1 tbsp
9. Flour for dusting

Directions to bake :

# Heat the butter. Add the finely chopped apples & saute it till tender.

# Add brown sugar & cinnamon powder. Saute it for 5 more mins.

# Finally add lime juice & switch off the heat.

# Let it cool. Preferably refrigerate it.

# Now stuff this apple in the pastry sheet. Dust the flour & unroll the pastry sheet.

# Beat the egg and milk together. Apply this in the edges of the pastry sheet & wrap them tightly.

# Make some holes & brush the beaten egg on the top of the pastry sheet.

# Bake at 400 F for 15 - 20 min.

Happy breakfast :)

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Gum Paste & Flower for cake decoration

Another interesting & easy flower, which look pretty on the cake. I used light yellow & red color for this flower. We can also use multicolor for more attractive. Gum paste can be used to make this pretty flower. But the only issue is it becomes hard very soon. So we have to act little fast & decorate it over the cake.

GUM PASTE

Ingredients :

4 cups icing sugar
1 cup cornflour
Few drops of peppermint essence (or use fav flavour)
1 1/2 tbsp gelatine
6 tbsp water

Directions to assemble :

# Soak gelatine in water for 10 mins. Then cook over double boiler until transparent.

# Make a well in the middle of the powders. Pour gelatine mix into the middle. Gradually incorporate the surrounding flour and knead till you get a good dough. Cover with wet cloth.
Use the dough to make numerous items such as flowers, animals, birds etc....

Making a Flower

STEP : 1
STEP : 2

STEP : 3

STEP : 4

STEP : 5

STEP : 6

STEP : 7

STEP : 8

Happy decorating :)

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Birthday chocolate cake & My first award

Cakes makes the day special. That too when we bake a cake with a pinch/tonnes of love, wht else a big gift would be..... Though, the cake falls down, sure it taste awesome.....

I tried baking a chocolate cake with thin choclate icing on top to celebrate my husband birthday. I didn't frost in the middle of the cake (we r in diet :)) It was perfect for the day & made the day memorable.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY my love.

Ingredients :

1. All purpose flour - 2 cups
2. Baking powder - 2 tsp
3. Cocoa powder - 3 tsp
4. Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
5. Eggs - 4 nos
6. Butter - 1 cup
7. Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
8. Milk - 3/4 cup

Chocolate Frosting :

1. Semi sweet chocolate (or) Milk chocolate - 4 oz
2. Cream - 1/2 cup

Directions to bake :

# Grease the baking pan with the butter & flour.

# Sieve the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together. Keep it aside.

# Beat butter, vanilla essence and sugar till light and fluffy.

# Add eggs one by one. Beat well.

# Add flour and milk alternately.

# Pour the cake mixture into a greased pan. Bake it for 30 min in 200 C.

For Chocolate frosting :

# Bring the cream to boil on low flame. Switch off the flame & add the chocolate. Stir them to melt in the cream.

Assembling the cake :

Cut the cake horizantally. Spread the frosting & place the other half of the cake. Finally spread the remaining chocolate frosting all around the cake & decorate it, the way u like :)

TIPS :

If the cake is not moist or if u want to refrigerate it for couple of days, dissolve sugar and water & sprinkle them over the cake before frosting. Sprinkle them on both the half.

My First award :)

Thanks Padma for passing this award to me. I m happy to receive my first award from you :)

I would like to pass this award to Priya, Ramya, Aruna, Pooja of sai kitchen, Pooja of My experience in cooking, Suparna, Vicki & to all my blog friends. My hearty thanks to all of u for motivating me with the shower of lovely comments.

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Shark fish cutlet

Shark fish cutlet is my hubby fav dish. He likes it to have with plain dal or even with tomato ketchup. Believe me it taste yum !

If I want to get something done from my hubby, this is my weapon tooooo :)))))))) Though, it takes lotz of time, we will never regret for that after having the first bite...... We can also prepare the stuffing before & just assemble and fry them at the last min.

Almost at the time of stuffing the shark inside the potato, I found that bread crumbs is out of stock in my pantry. Finally, I made it using the bread & luckily it came out great & crispy. Normally, I buy the bread crumbs & use it, which makes it little easier. Share ur experience after having this crispy & yummy shark fish cutlet with me...... Waiting to hear it from u :)

Ingredients :

For shark stuffing :

1. Shark fish - 500 gms
2. Lavang - 2 nos
3. Cinnamon - 1 stick
4. Onion - 1 big sized
5. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
6. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp + 1/4 tsp
7. Chilly powder - 1 tsp
8. Salt to taste
9. Corriander leaves - 2 tbsp
10. Oil - 1 tbsp
11. Water - 2 cups

For Bread crumbs :

1. 2 days old bread - 6 nos

For Covering :

1. Potato - 5 to 6 medium size
2. Egg - 1 no
3. Water - 2 cups
4. Salt to taste
5. Oil to fry

Directions to cook :

For shark stuffing :

# Clean the shark throughly. Combine 2 cups of water, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp salt & shark pcs. Bring it to boil (approx 15 min).

# Once cooked, strain the water & scramble the shark pcs. Keep it aside.

# Heat 1 tbsp of oil in the pan, add cinnamon & cloves. Then add finely chopped onions & saute till golden brown in color.

# Add ginger garlic paste and turmeric powder. Saute for 3 more mins.

# Add chilly powder & scrambled shark with salt to taste.

# Finally add the coriander leaves & keep it aside.

For the bread crumbs :

# Cut the bread into the tiny pcs. Fry them in the hot pan till golden in color.

# Grind them in the blender.

For the covering :

# Boil the pototo in the water. Remove the skin & smash them nicely without any lumps. Add some salt & keep it aside.

# Beat the egg with a little salt & keep it aside.

Assembling : # Take a small circle of smashed potato & stuff the shark inside.

# Now dip the potato stuffed shark ball in the egg first & then in the bread crumbs. # Now shape them in the disc shape or ur desired shape & pat the excess bread crumbs.

# Heat oil in the pan and shallow fry them till golden brown in either sides.

Serve them with ketchup.

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Heart shaped napkin folding

Another interesting & cute looking napkin folding in the heart shape, would be perfect when served with love.

STEP 1 :

STEP 2 :

STEP 3 :

STEP 4 :

STEP 5 :

STEP 6 :

STEP 7 :

STEP 8 :

STEP 9 :

Happy folding :)

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