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.