Kulfi

Summer is around and catching up pretty strong here in Bangalore. What best way to beat the heat than with cold kulfi that is delicious and refreshing. Here I present to you my variation of the kulfi.

Ingredients:

Kulfi -

Milk - 4 cups

Badam - 2 for garnishing

Sugar - 3 tbsp

Instant coffee - ¾ tsp

Coffee-Toffee Sauce -

Butter - 2 tbsp

Sugar - ½ cup

Fresh cream - ¼ cup

Salt - ⅛ tsp

Instant coffee - ½ tsp

Water - 3 tbsp

Method:

Boil milk in a thick bottom pan. On a medium flame cook the milk until it thickens (should take around 45 to 50 minutes). Keep stirring during the process. Once the milk is reduced to roughly ½ the quantity, add coffee, sugar and mix well. Switch off and let it cool. Once cooled pour it into a 4 inch square kulfi mould and put it in the freezer for about 6 to 8 hours.

For the coffee-toffee sauce, heat a thick bottom pan, melt the butter. Add sugar and mix thoroughly. To this add water and let the sugar melt (remember to lower the heat and don't let the sugar caramelize). Once the sugar has melted, add salt and stir in the cream and mix nicely with a balloon whisk. Now add the coffee and let it boil for about a minute. Switch off and cool down the sauce.

Cut thick slices of the kulfi and arrange them on a serving place, pour generous amount of the sauce. Sprinkle some shavings of badam. Enjoy delicious coffee infused kulfi with coffee-toffee sauce (Had a tough time plating, with the kulfi melting pretty fast in the heat).

Chicken Tikka

Ingredients:
Chicken breasts - 350 gms, cut into bite sized cubes

Lemon - 1

Hung curd - ¼ cup

Garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Grated ginger - 1 tbsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Red chilly powder - 1 tsp

Cinnamon - 1 inch

Cardamon - 5

Shahi jeera - ½ tsp

Nutmeg - ⅛ of whole nutmeg

Wooden skewers soaked in water

Melted butter

Method:

Prick the chicken pieces with a fork. Squeeze lemon over the chicken and mix thoroughly. Leave it for about 5 minutes. Dry roast and grind cinnamon, cardamon, shahi jeera and nutmeg. In a bowl, add curd, garlic, ginger, oil, red chilly powder, ground masala. To this, add chicken, cover the bowl with cling wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven @ 200º C. Arrange the marinated chicken cube on the skewers, brush some butter on top and pop it into the oven. Cook for 25 minutes @ 200º C. After every 10 minutes, flip the skewers so that the other side of the chicken is cooked as well, brush butter on top before putting it back into the oven.

Once done, allow to cool and squeeze some lemon over top. Enjoy the succulent tikkas with onion rings.

Chicken Stuffed Bun

Ingredients:

Bun -

All purpose flour - 4 cups

Active dry yeast - 2 tsp

Water - ¾ cups, luke warm

Milk - 1 cup, luke warm

Sunflower oil  - ¼  cup

Sugar - 1 ½  tsp

Salt - 1 ½  tsp

Chicken stuffing -

Onion - 3 medium, sliced

Minced chicken - 250 gms

Curry leaves - 1 tbsp, roughly chopped

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Garam masala - ¾ tsp

Ginger - 1 tbsp, chopped

Chicken masala - 1 tsp

Turmeric - ½  tsp

Red chilly powder - ½  tsp

Pepper powder - 2 ½  tsp, freshly ground

Oil - 2 tbsp

Salt to  taste

Method:

In small bowl, add water, sugar milk and yeast. Whisk the mixture thoroughly. Let it stand for 10 minute. Add salt and oil to the mixture. Take flour in a large bowl, make a well in the middle and pour the yeast mixture. Sprinkle some flour on the counter top and knead the dough thoroughly to incorporate some air into it. Place it back into the bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Keep it aside in a warm place (around 30º C) for about an hour and half.

Meanwhile, lets get on to making the stuffing. Heat a pan, add oil. Once the oil is hot, add onion, ginger and curry leaves. Saute till onion turns translucent. To this, add all the dry masala (coriander powder, garam masala, chicken masala, turmeric, chilly powder) along with 1 ½ tsp of pepper powder. Saute for around a minute or two. Now add the minced chicken, blend all the onion masala into the chicken. Cover and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat or until the chicken is done. Add the remaining 1 tsp of pepper powder, mix thoroughly. Take it off the heat and let is cool down completely.

By now the dough would have doubled in size. Sprinkle some flour on the counter top, and knead the dough to push the air out (this process is called knocking back the dough). Now divide the dough into 9-10 balls of about 90 gms each. Flatten each ball to form a disc of about 3-4 inch. Place the chicken stuffing in the middle, fold the edges together to seal the stuffing. shape it back into a ball and place on a greased baking tray (Remember to leave some space between the buns, they would further rise while proofing). Once all the buns are stuffed, keep it aside in a warm place for around 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200º C. Bake the buns @ 200º C for 30 minutes. 10 minutes before the baking is finished, brush some butter over the buns. Place them back into the oven and continue the baking. Once done, allows the buns to cool.

You could replace the chicken with the stuffing of your choice. I suggest paneer would be a great choice for the vegetarians. Enjoy. Please don't forget to give me your feedback.

Vegetarian Pizza

I have always wanted to try making pizza ground up, never had the confidence to attempt the dough and the sauce. Also, I don't believe you can make good pizzas with the ready to bake pizza-base available in stores. But now, having tried couple of bread recipes and pasta sauces I was pretty confident on the outcome.

On a Saturday evening I set out to prepare a vegetarian version, began making the dough, got the desired consistency, and the sauce came out well. I had some regained confidence in me. Baked the pizza, and voilà what a wonderful recipe it turned out to be.

So easy to make, I have decided not to order restaurant pizzas any more. I am sure after you try out the recipe you would more than agree with me :).

Ingredients:

Pizza base-

All purpose flour (Maida) - 4 cups, plus extra for dusting

Water - 2 cups, Luke warm

Active dry yeast - 2 tsp

Sugar - 2 tsp

Salt - 2 ¼ tsp

Butter - ½ cup, melted & cooled to room temperature

Tomato sauce-

Red ripe tomatoes - 700 gms

Onion - 1, small sized, finely chopped

Garlic - 3, large cloves

Chilly flakes - 1 tsp

Olive Oil - 2 tbsp

Dried oregano - 1 tsp

Dried basil - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Toppings [You can add your own toppings]-

Paneer/Goat cheese/Tofu - 200 gms, cut into small bite sized chunks

American corn - ½ cup

Green capsicum (bell pepper) - 2, medium sized

Onion - 1 large, thick sliced

Mozzarella cheese - 200 gms

Black pitted olives - 10 to 12, medium sliced

Green Chilly - 2, finely sliced

Method:

In small bowl, add water, oil, sugar, salt and yeast. Whisk the mixture thoroughly. Let it stand for 10 minutes. Take flour in a large bowl, make a well in the middle and pour the yeast mixture. If the dough gets too gooey, let it stand for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle some flour on the counter top and knead the dough thoroughly for about 5 minutes. This will help to incorporate some air into the dough and also activate the gluten.  Place it back into the bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Keep it aside in a warm place (around 30º C) for at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile, lets get on to making the sauce. Cut the tomatoes into half, remove most of the seeds using your fingers. Then cut them into quarters. Heat the oil in a pan, add onion, saute till translucent. Add garlic and the chilly flakes. Saute till the garlic gives off its aroma. Add tomatoes and cook on a high flame till the sauce thickens. With the help of a wooden spoon mash the tomato as much as possible. Add salt, basil and oregano. Cook for another 10 minutes. Switch off the heat, let it cool. Roughly blend the sauce in a blender/food processor. Keep it aside.

Preheat the oven @ 220º C. Keep the toppings within reach. By now the dough would have doubled in size. Sprinkle some flour on the counter top, and knead the dough to push the air out (this process is called knocking back the dough). Divide the dough into two equal portions. I like my pizza crust thick, but in case you like a thin crust, you can make three out of this batch. If you want do not want to utilize the entire dough now, you could wrap it up in a cling wrap and place it in the refrigerator for later.

Roll each portion of the dough into a 9 inch sized disc, place it on to a meshed pizza tray. If you don't have space int he oven to bake all the pizza at once, you may place the rest of the dough in a bowl and cover it with a damp cloth. Spread the tomato sauce on the base, cover the base with mozzarella cheese and add the toppings. Pop it into the oven @ 220º C for 20 minutes or until done (preferably in the middle rack, that way it would cook from the bottom as well).

Enjoy delicious pizza straight out of the oven.

Walnut Brownie

A pack of walnut has been lying around for couple of weeks now. Well, what better way to make use of it than bake brownies. Years back I had prepared the egg less version which was too good, so wasn't sure how this would turn out. Well, it turned out quite well and dense in the middle just the way I wanted it to be. I am sure you'll like it as well.

Ingredients:

Walnut - 150 gms

Eggs - 3, at room temperature

Sugar - 200 gms, powdered

Salt - ½ tsp

Baking powder - ½ tsp

Dark chocolate bar - 200 gms

All purpose flour (Maida) - ½ cup

Sunflower oil - ½ cup

Vanilla essence - 1 ¼ tsp

Cocoa powder - ¼ cup

Butter for greasing baking tray

Method:

Preheat oven to 180º C. Grease and line a 9 inch square cake tin with butter paper. In a baking tray, spread the walnuts and roast it in the preheated over for around 5 minutes. Once done, cool it and chop it to small pieces.

Melt dark chocolate in a bowl using double boiler and keep it aside. In a bowl, start beating the eggs one by one. To this, add sugar, oil, vanilla essence, salt. Beat till pale and creamy. Now add this mixture slowly into the melted chocolate, keep beating on a medium speed until thoroughly mixed.

Sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into the chocolate and egg mixture, fold it nice and slowly until its blended completely. Now fold in the walnuts and pour the mixture into the baking tin. Tap the baking tin on the counter top to remove any bubbles trapped in the mixture. Put it in the oven @ 180º C and bake for 35 minutes or until done.

Hope you enjoy the brownies. Please don't forget to leave your valuable comments.

Chicken Lollipop

Ingredients:

For the marinade -
Chicken Lollipops - 15

Lemon Juice - 1 ½ tbsp
Black pepper powder - ½ tsp, freshly ground
Salt to taste

For frying -
Bread crumbs - ½ cup
Egg - 1 large sized, beaten

Corn flour - 1 tbsp plus extra for coating the lollipops
Oil for deep frying

Method:

Mix all the ingredients for marination and keep aside for an hour.

In a bowl, add cornflour, salt and egg, mix well. Coat the lollipops one by one in corn flour, pat it to remove any extra corn flour. Dip into the egg mixture and coat it with bread crumb. Deep fry on high flame for ½ a minute and then on a medium flame fry till golden brown and done.

Enjoy the lollipops with my oriental dipping sauce.

Butter Chicken

World renowned Indian curry, next to ofcourse the infamous Chicken Tikka Masala, Butter Chicken is enjoyed with plain or buttered Naan. Succulent chicken breast strips cooked in  rich, creamy buttery tomato and onion sauce is an absolute winner on taste, my family just loved it. Hope you like the recipe..Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

Chicken breast - 500 gms, cut into ¾" strips

Red chilly powder - 2 ½ tsp

Corriander powder - 2 tsp

Kasuri methi (Fenugreek leaves) - 1 tbsp

Cashew nuts - 25 gms

Sugar - ½ tsp

Garam masala - 1 tsp

Tomato - 600 gms, chopped

Fresh cream - 100 ml

Ginger garlic paste - 4 tsp

Onion - 2 medium, finely sliced

Butter - 70 gms

Water -  3 cups

Oil - 5 tbsp

Corriander leaves - ¼  cup, finely chopped

Salt to taste

Method:

Take chicken in a bowl, add 1 tsp red chilly powder, 1 tsp corriander powder, 2 tsp ginger garlic paste and salt. Mix thoroughly with your hands, massaging the spices into the chicken pieces. Heat oil in a pan (shallow fry pan), when its smoking hot, add chicken saute for around 2 mintues. Just sear the chicken to ensure all the moisture is trapped within. Drain and keep the chicken aside (we'll the need the juices that will ooze out of the fried chicken).

In the same pan, fry onion, add 2 tsp of ginger garlic paste, 1 tsp corriander powder, 1 ½ tsp red chilly powder. Add 1 ½ cup of water, cashew nuts, bring to a boil. To this, add tomato, kasuri methi (crushed to powder using your palm). Cover and cook till tomatoes are soft and mushy. Switch of heat and let it cool slightly before blending into a smooth sauce in a food processor/mixer (make sure to cool it sufficiently well, else it may explode out of your food processor because of all the steam generated).

Heat the pan again, on a high flame, melt the butter, add all juices that would have oozed out of the fried chicken. Add the blended sauce, 1 ½ cup water, salt, bring to a boil. I have avoided using food colours here. But, you can add red colour at this point to make it restaurant like. Add sugar, chicken. Simmer, cover and cook for around 5 mintues or till the chicken is done. Now add cream, garam masala, switch off after a minute or two. Garnish with corriander leaves.

Enjoy with Naan or steamed rice.

Naan - Indian Bread

I just love bread. The aroma of freshly baked bread is simply intoxicating. Baking good bread depends completely on getting the right proportions of flour and fluids and I would urge you to use standard measuring utensils while following these recipes (and not rely on the tea and table spoons available in your kitchen). In this recipe I present to you "Naan" or "Naan Bread" (for the rest of the world), one of the very easy to make Indian breads and definitely a high scorer on consistency, flavour and aroma.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (Maida) - 4 cups

Active dry yeast - 2 tsp

Water - ¾ cup, Luke warm

Milk - ¾ cup, Luke warm

Sunflower Oil - 2 tbsp

Sugar - 1 ¼ tsp

Salt - 2 ¼ tsp

White Til (Sesame seeds) / Kalonji (Nigella)

Butter

Method:

In small bowl, add milk, water, oil, sugar, salt and yeast. Whisk the mixture thoroughly. Let it stand for a minute. Take flour in a large bowl, make a well in the middle and pour the yeast mixture. Mix it thoroughly. Its alright if the dough is gooey at this moment. Because gooey dough will guarantee a very soft Naan. Cover the bowl with a wet cloth and keep aside for around 30 minutes.

Apply oil to your palm before handling the dough. Divide into 7-8 dough balls and place them in a large plate. Cover it with a wet cloth and let is stand for 30 more minutes.

Flatten the dough balls on a counter-top, elongate on one side to get the signature Naan shape, sprinkle some sesame seeds or kalonji, and place them on a baking tray. Pre-heat the oven on grill mode for around 10 minutes. Place the tray on the top most rack, close to the grill. Bake for 4 minutes on each side or until done. Rub butter on both sides.

I bet these beautiful Naan needs no accompaniment and can be had without a curry. Hope you liked the recipe, leave a comment, tell me how it turned out for you.

Croissant

Bonjour friends...this is my first encounter with French cooking. And well what better way to start than with baking. Presenting to you, the classic French puff pastry....Croissant. The recipe does not have too many ingredients, but requires time, patience and lot of love.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (Maida) - 4 cups plus some extra flour for dusting

Active dry yeast - 1 tbsp

Sugar - ¼ cup

Milk - ½ cup, luke warm

Water - ½ cup, luke warm

Salt - 2 ¼ tsp

Butter sticks - 200 gms, cold

Egg wash-

Egg - 1

Water - 1 tbsp

Method:

Take milk in a large bowl, add yeast, whisk nicely. Add sugar and salt, mix well. Now add 4 cups of flour, mix thoroughly (no need to completely knead the dough at this point). Roughly shape into a ball place it in a large plate and cover it nicely with cling wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

Place a large piece of cling wrap on the counter top, place the butter stick on top and cover it with another cling wrap. Now gently start beating the butter flat with a rolling pin. Flat it to around 1/2 cm thick. Repeat for the the rest of the sticks. Put the flattened butter back to the refrigerator. Now take out the dough and roll out to from a 12 inch square. Place the flat butter sheets in the centre of the square and arrange next to each other. Fold one flap of the dough covering the butter, stretching it slightly so that the point just reaches the center of the butter. Repeat for rest of the flaps. Press the edges together to completely seal the butter inside the dough. Dust the dough and start rolling the dough lengthwise while keeping the width as is. Roll till the length is around 24 inches and width about 8 inches (Keep dusting the dough making sure it does not stick to the counter top). Now fold one end of the dough (along the length) till the middle, and then fold the other end to the middle (both ends meet at the center). Fold the dough from the center so that the dough forms a  6 inch x 8 inch rectangular shape. Place the dough in a baking tray, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for ½ hour. Take out and roll the dough till the length is around 24 inches (lengthen the other sides this time, viz the open ended sides) and repeat the above process for three more times refrigerating the dough every time for ½ hour.

Once set in the refrigerator, take out and roll into a 40 inch x 8 inch long sheet. With a scale, make marks at 5 inch intervals on one side lengthwise. Mark intergvals of 2 ½ inch on the other side. With the help of a pizza cutter, cut triangles such that the base of the triangle is 5 inch. Once done, make 1 cm long cut right in the middle of base of the triangle. Now pull the edges slightly (on either sides of the cut) apart and fold and keep rolling in-wards towards the pointed edge of the triangle to form the basic croissant shape.  Now bring both the edges together to form the final croissant shape. Place it over butter paper set on a baking tray. Leave it in a warm place (around 30º C) for proofing. Make sure the place to not too warm or else the butter would just melt away. Keep it for around 2 hours.

Beat the egg and water in a bowl to form the egg wash. Now brush the egg wash gently (do not apply pressure on the croissants, they are very delicate at this point). Pre-heat the oven @ 200º C and bake for 20 minutes (after the first 10 minutes rotate the sheet and continue baking).

Enjoy the delicate and buttery flavoured croissant.

Pasta in White Sauce

The humble pasta strikes back...here i go with another interesting pasta recipe. A vegetarian delight...absolutely love the aroma.

Ingredients:

White Sauce-

Butter - 2 tbsp

Garlic - 1 tbsp, chopped

Cornflour - 2 tbsp

Milk - 2 cup

Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Cheese - 1 slice

Oregano - ½ tsp

Thyme - ½ tsp

Salt to taste

Blanched Veggies-

Mushroom - 150 gms, cut into medium chunks

Carrot - 160 gms, small chunks

American corn - ½ cup

Capsicum - 140 gms, small chunks

Fusilli - 350 gms

Red chilly flakes

Parmesan cheese

Method:

Melt some butter in a pan. Add garlic and saute till garlic gives off the aroma. Now add cornflour and saute for a while (don't let it turn brown). Pour in the milk, keep stirring till blended. Cook till you get the desired thickness (don't make the sauce too thick). Add salt, pepper, oregano and thyme. Add the blanched veggies and cook on low flame for two minutes. Adjust seasoning and keep the sauce aside.

Cook the pasta (Fusilli) in abundant boiling water (add salt to the water) till done. Also add may be a 1 tbsp of oil into the boiling water. Drain the pasta, drizzle some olive oil into the pasta and mix it well with the sauce.

Serve with grated parmesan and sprinkle red chilly flakes lightly over the top.