Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

No sane kid can refuse these cookies...its super simple and looks so cute.

I am not a big fan of jam.....decided to fill the cookies with chocolate...it was a big hit with my daughter and her gang...it disappeared in minutes....by the way my dad was part of my daughters gang.

There is a reason these are called thumbprint cookies..the indentation is supposed to be made with thumb.....but please don't try that or you will end up with 'BURNT THUMB' print cookies.

Ingredients

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Recipe source :-Brown Eyed Baker

• 8 tbsp Butter (113 grams) softened
• 1//2 cup Icing Sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla essence
• 1 1/4 cup All purpose flour
• 2 ounce Semi Sweet Chocolate chips (56 grams)
• 3/4 tsp Corn syrup (I used pan cake syrup)
• 2 tbsp butter

Method

1. Pre heat oven to 170 Degree C. Line baking sheet with baking paper and keep aside.
2. Beat together 8 tbsp butter ,icing sugar, vanilla and salt for 2 minutes on high speed with a hand electric mixer or a whisk.
3. Add the flour and beat on low speed and then increase to medium high.
4. Using a small cookie scoop or in my case 1 tsp measure , heap the cookie dough in the spoon and roll the dough into balls, and place 1 inch apart on a baking tray.
5. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, remove from the oven and make indentation in middle of the cookie. I used back of a small rounded measuring tsp to make the indentation. 
6. Pop the cookies back into the oven and  bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until the edges turn light brown.
7. Combine chocolate, 2 tbsp butter and corn syrup or pancake syrup in a small heat proof dish. Place over a pot of simmering water, stir until melted and smooth (or melt in the microwave). Allow to cool slightly. Fill the indentation with the chocolate mixture or jam.

Corn & Peas Fritters - Blog Hop Wednesdays

     
                                     Ok I will name this Blog Hop Disaster Wednesday.........

Last week when I decided to hop into the blog I was to paired with  this Wednesday..I decided to make Khandvi  from Santhosh Bangar's blog Santhosh's Kitchen.... I was a little apprehensive in the beginning coz I have had a bad experience before with this dish...but I like to challenge myself  ...tried it out again (over confident:)....I tried out the Microwave method of making the Khandvi...all was fine....till the time came to roll the Khandvi.....I was successful with few but the rest just refused  to be rolled (Picture Below).....the dish tasted exactly like it should have  and it disappeared in minutes....but it just wasn't presentable....So that was disaster number one.

Now  Disaster Number 2...I tried Khandvi again yesterday (coz I wanted it to be presentable)...this was not me being over confident.....it was plain foolishness. I struggled and struggled  ...but this time the Khandvi just refused to set....I thought at some point between the one and half hours of struggling...my mom would come for my rescue....but my mom ..being my mom...totally disowned me looking at  my condition and left the kitchen...No Khandvi :(

Disaster Number 3... I was jinxed ..I had to make something ...went back to Santhosh's blog today morning and finally decided to do something quick and simple...Corn and peas Fritters.....had all the ingredients at home...and they tasted good. Came to me room to quickly put up the post...only then to realize that Santhosh actually made these fritters for her Blog Hop Wednesday from another blog ( Anamika Aruns Taste Junction) last month...:))))

Moral of the story : Always read the entire post before trying out the recipe and

 Khandvi is only for experts.

Ingredients
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Recipe source : Santhosh's Kitchen

• 1 cup Corn Kernels
• 1/2 cup Peas
• 1/2 cup Channa dal (Bengal gram)
• 2 Green Chillies
• 1 medium Onion (finely chopped)
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 1 tbsp Dill Leaves
• 1 tbsp Coriander leaves
• 3 to 4 Curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• Oil for Deep Frying

Method

1. Soak Channa Dal in water for 2 hours. Cook corn and peas in water with little salt. Drain and keep aside.
2. Drain the Channa Dal, transfer to a mixie or blender, add cooked corn and peas, ginger and green chillies. Grind to a coarse paste .
3. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the onion, salt, chopped dill leaves, coriander leaves and curry leaves. Mix well.
4. Heat oil to deep fry, Make flat patties with the ground paste and fry in oil. Do not move the patties for 30 seconds (they might break apart). Fry till they turn dark golden brown.
5. Serve with chutney or Tomato ketchup.

Sending this to Radhika :- Tickling Palates

Kane Rava Fry / Fried Ladyfish

Kane Rava Fry is one dish which is very closely associated with Mangalorean Cuisine. You go to any Mangalorean restaurant...you cannot leave without having Kane Rava Fry or Kane Naked fry. 

If its fried fish then it has to be Kane fry, its my favorite..and taste best when fried in coconut oil.

We try not to deep fry fish at home...we usually pan fry the fish with little oil...but this fish we shallow fried with 1/2 cup oil. If you notice in Mangalorean Restaurants the Kane fish has a thick coating of rava/ semolina...this is because the fish is deep fried in lot of oil, you can do that too if you want restaurant style Kane Rava Fry.

Ingredients
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• 1 kg kane meen/ ladyfish
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 4 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
• 2 tbsp rice powder (optional)
• salt to taste
• 1 cup Rava/ semolina (thick rava)
• Oil to fry (I prefer coconut oil)

Method

1. Marinate the cleaned ladyfish in red chilli powder, turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice , rice flour and salt. Keep aside for 30 minutes
2. Heat oil in a shallow pan (deep pan if you are deep frying). Heat the oil, roll the marinated fish in the rava and fry in oil , till cooked.It will take little less than 8 minutes.
3. Remove from oil and place the fish on absorbent paper.
4. Serve as appetizer.

Bolanjir Ghassi - Silver Fish Curry

If you notice, the base for almost all Mangalorean curries are the same, its just that what is added into the curry which makes all the difference. Bolanjir ghassi/and  yeti ghassi/prawn/shrimp curry has the same curry ..but still there is lot of difference in taste.

I personally am not a big fan of Silver fish, remember having a bad experience long back....Mom used to fry Silver fish and my dad and brother are used to eating the whole fish along with the bones and I tried doing that (I was in that phase of life where....if my brother can do it....so can I)...and I think you can guess what happened after that.......

I still don't eat bolanjir meen/ silver fish ...but I thoroughly enjoy the gravy, and my mom likes bolanjir meen a lot.

Ingredients
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• 1 kg bolanjir meen / silver fish
• 2 onions(finely chopped)
• 2 tomatoes(finely chopped)
• 2 tsp roasted coriander
• 1/4 roasted cumin
• 15 roasted peppercorns
• 1/4roasted methi
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• tamarind (little bigger than marble)
• 5 garlic (with skin)
• 1/2 inch ginger (optional)
• 1 cup coconut
• 10 roasted red chilli(long)
• 5 roasted red chilli (small)
• salt to taste
• 3 tbsp oil

Method

1. Clean bolanjir meen/ Silver fish. Keep aside.
2. Grind coconut,red chillies,coriander seeds, cumin seeds,peppercorn,methi seeds,tamarind,garlic,ginger and turmeric powder into a very fine and thick paste (add little water)
3. Place a vessel on medium high flame and add oil,when oil is hot add the chopped onion and fry till onion turns golden brown,now add chopped tomatoes and stir,add salt (its helps in melting the tomatoes).Cook till the tomatoes melt and resembles a puree.
4. Now add the ground masala and cook till the oil seperates, stir often.
5. Throw in the cleaned bolanjir meen/silver fish  and stir till well combined.Add 1 cup water or to required consistency and bring the gravy to boil.
6. Adjust salt and cook till the fish is done.
7. Serve with rice,dosa or chappati

Here ,in Bangalore..the fish mongers clean any fish you want except bolanjir. Maybe because its very small ans cleaning it consumes a lot of time. I have put up a video of my mom cleaning the fish.

Mars Fudge Mud Cakes

I have used the following sentence before for one of my dishes....Iam going to use it again

I had this.......died......went to heaven.....and came back coz I knew there was more waiting for me.

I mean seriously ...this is EVIL mud cake...my legs felt weak after eating this....this was so so sooooo good, and I had double the fun coz I baked it with my sister Devs. We prepared the batter and put it in the oven..I told Devs..... "its going to take 20 minutes to bake" , Devs said..... "Okay" and I left the kitchen ,when I returned after 10 minutes, Devs was sitting on a chair right in front of the oven just staring at the cupcakes...

This is a MUST TRY for everyone, you won't be disappointed (I don't like to advertise my dish much ...but this one is worth it). So Shireen  (Ruchik Randhap) thank you for commenting on all my post  and you see I wasn't exaggerating when I said that " I had 4 cupcakes after eating the healthy fish :)"   in my previous post :)))

Recipe source : Australian Women's Weekly Easy Baking
Ingredients
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• 120 grams Mars Bar
• 150 grams butter , chopped coarsely
• 150 grams dark eating chocolate , chopped coarsely
• 1/2 cup (110grams) firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup (250 ml) water
• 3/4 cup (110grams) plain flour
• 3/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 2 eggs

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

• 50 grams dark eating chocolate , chopped coarsely
• 25 grams butter
• 1 cup (160 grams) icing sugar (sieved)
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp hot water , approx

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 Degree C, place muffin cases in muffin pans .
2. Chop 2 Mars bar finely and cut the remaining bar into thin slices to top the cake.
3. Combine butter, dark chocolate, brown sugar and water in a saucepan , stir over low heat till smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and let it cool for 10 minutes. Whisk in the sifted flour and baking powder, add the eggs and chopped Mars bars. Mix well.(the batter will be thin)
4. Divide the batter into the muffin cases and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let the cakes stand in the tray for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let it cool completely before frosting.
5. Method for fudge frosting : Stir chocolate and butter in a small heatproof bowl over small saucepan of simmering water until smooth. After the chocolate had melted remove from heat.Stir in the sifted icing sugar and cocoa powder. Stir in enough hot water until frosting is spreadable.
6. Cover the cupcakes with prepared frosting and top each cupcake with a slice of Mars bar.

Patra ni Macchi - Fish steamed in Banana leaves

I keep bragging that I am a hardcore Non Vegetarian.....and then I saw my recipe index....I actually have more vegetarian dishes when compared to non veg........then I started doubting myself , only then I realized how our kitchen works......I can make anything I want....from cookies ...to....cakes....desserts.....appetizers....vegetarian......But when it comes to non vegetarian food my mom pulls the plug. She always sticks to her authentic Mangalorean dishes , for some reason she refuses to come out of her comfort zone.Its always the same kori sukka, kori ghassi, her biryani, kori roti, bangude ghassi.... (by the way I just love all theses dishes).....This is why my Non Veg recipe index is short...we make the same dishes over and over again......

 All we try out with fish are Fish curry, fish masala fry or fish rawa fry...and when I told my mom that I wanted to try Patra ni Macchi....she marinated the fish with the usually spices for kingfish masal fry......and kept JUST 4 slices aside for me....JUST 4....... I was like .....Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.

I continued anyways.....Always wanted to try out this dish...remember having this at a family function very long time ago...I was so fascinated by it...and the taste lingered.....I always thought it was a Kerala dish...learnt recently that it is Parsi Cuisine...Very refreshing and healthy (like it matters...I had 4 cupcakes after eating this healthy fish:)

Recipe source : Parsi Cuisine

Ingredients
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• 4 slices fish (kingfish or promfret) - like I said mom kept just 4 slices aside :)
• 1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 cup Coriander leaves
• 1/2 cup Mint leaves
• 7 cloves Garlic
• 1 inch Ginger
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
• Juice of 1 small lemon
• salt to taste
• 4 Banana Leaves 

Method

1. Grind coconut, garlic, ginger, turmeric powder,coriander leaves, mint leaves, cumin seeds, lemon juice and salt to a coarse paste. Adjust salt and lemon.

2. Marinate the fish in the green paste , refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Place the steamer with water on medium heat. Place the banana leaves on top of the steamer for a minute (this makes the banana leaves soft and its easier to fold the leaves)

4. Place the marinated fish on the banana leave and fold (as shown below). tie with strings(optional)

5. Place in the hot steamer and steam for 15minutes.

6. Serve hot with rice.

Dal Makhni with Makki di Roti

I am very lucky to have a great bunch of sisters in my life.....each and everyone of them are so unique....though we all live in different corners of the world....get to see each other once a year(if we are lucky).......rarely talk over the phone. But the day we meet, its like we  met just yesterday.....

Neetu, Devs, Kooky, Sachi and myself are a crazy bunch....but there is Niriksha Akka (the eldest)...who is the most composed......whom I look up to......... has the most beautiful smile........

supermom........juggling her busy life with two amazing kids and  cooks amazing North Indian food.

Niriksha Akka sent me this dal makhani recipe which is one of  her most popular dish. I tried it out...and just loved it...Thank you akka .

                                                                      Niriksha Akka

Ingredients
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• 1 cup Black Urad Dal(washed and soaked overnight)
• 1/4 cup Rajma / Red Kidney beans(washed and soaked overnight)
• 3 Tomatoes
• 2 onions
• 2 inch Ginger
• 2 Green Chillies
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp oil

• 1/2 cup ghee or butter
• 2 tsp Jeera/ Cumin powder
• 1 tsp Chilli powder
• 4 tbsp Coriander Leaves (chopped)
• 5 tbsp Fresh cream

Method

1. Grind ginger, tomatoes, onion and green chillies into a fine paste.
2. Place a cooker on medium high flame, add oil, when hot add the ground paste and fry for a minute add the black urad dal and rajma, mix well. Add salt and enough water to immerse the dal completely. Cover and cook till 8 whistles go off. 
3. Turn off the flame and check the dal. Add more water if required (the dal will look sticky at this point).
4. Cover and cook again for 8 whistles. Take off the flame.
5. Place a pan on medium heat , melt ghee or butter, add cumin powder and chilli powder. Stir for few seconds and add this seasoning to the prepared dal.
6. Garnish with cream and coriander leaves.
7. Serve with roti , rice or makki roti.

                                                                 Makki di Roti

Making this roti for the first time...I think its supposed to be thicker....but I found it easier using the puri press....Please don't grill me if its does not look right....but it tasted good.:)

Ingredients

• 2 cups Maize flour
• hot water
• salt to taste
• ghee or butter to baste 

Method.

1. Mix maize flour and salt in a bowl. Knead into a soft dough using hot water. Keep aside for few minutes.
2. Heat a tawa, make roti with hand or using a puri/ tortilla press.
3. Put the roti on the hot tawa and fry on both sides. Apply ghee or butter.
4. Serve with dal makhni.

Mocha Choco Chip Cookies

These egg-less cookies are just amazing......My daughter just loves them.. ...they are much better than store bought cookies....and I know exactly what went into it.

Recipe source : Laura In The Kitchen (Laura Vitale)

Ingredients
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• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 1/4 cup (283 grms) softened unsalted butter
• 1 cup Semisweet Chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 3/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1cup Icing Sugar
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 2 tbsp Coffee Powder or Espresso powder
• 1/4 Cup Castor Sugar for dipping

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 Degree C.
2. In a large bowl cream together butter, coffee powder, brown sugar, icing sugar and vanilla, until well combined.
3. Add  sieved all purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder and salt and mix until fluffy and well combined.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Using a small ice cream scoop or 1 tbsp measuring spoon, form round cookie dough balls, dip one side of the cookie dough in castor/granulated sugar. Place on baking sheet with baking paper, sugar side up. Press slightly on top to flatten them out. Keep the dough couple of inches apart.
6. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the center rack of the oven till the sides of the cookies brown slightly . Rotate the tray half way through for even cooking.
7. Cool for 5 minutes on the tray and transfer onto  a wire rack to cool completely.

Rajma Masala - Red Kidney Beans Curry

Recipe source :Mharo Rajasthan Recipes


Ingredients
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• 1 cup Red Kidney beans / Rajma (washed and soaked overnight )
• 1 cup onion (finely chopped)
• 1 cup tomatoes (finely chopped)
• 1 inch Ginger (grated)
• 3 cloves Garlic (grated)
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 2 tsp Rajma Masala
• 1 tsp Chat Masala
• 1 tsp Cumin powder
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp oil
• 4 tbsp Coriander leaves Chopped

Method

1. Cook the Rajma/ Red Kidney Beans in pressure cooker till done (8 to 10 whistles)
2. Place a pan on medium high heat and add oil, when oil is hot add onion, ginger and garlic. Fry for about 3 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and the dry masala powder and salt and fry till oil seperates.
4. Add cooked rajma/ red kidney beans and mix well (if you want the rajma to be soft and mushy you can pressure cook at this point)
5. Garnish with coriander leaves.
6. Serve with Methi Paratha.

Methi Paratha

Blog Hop Wednesday...continues..............

Recipe Source :Mharo Rajasthan Recipes

Ingredients
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• 2 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 cup Fenugreek leaves (washed and chopped)
• 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Cumin powder
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp oil
• Water to knead.

Method

1. Mix all ingredients in a big bowl, add water little at a time to make dough which is neither too soft nor too hard.
2. Make Round chappatis and cook on hot tava on both sides. Apply ghee or butter.
3. Serve with any curry ..Rajma masala or Dal Makhni.

Mharo Rajasthan - Blog Hop Wednesdays

Its Wednesday and I am blog hopping.This week I was paired with Priya Mitharwal ---Mharo Rajasthan Recipes.

When I first visited Priya's blog...I saw the first few recipes and I decided to make chocolate brownie ... then I realised that Priya specializes in Rajasthani food and I wanted to get outside my comfort zone...... "Baking"  for once. So I went through her Rajasthani recipes (by the way Priya has close to 100 Rajasthani recipes )..when I was going through her list I was amazed...I could actually visualize  one of my favorite vegetarian restaurant Rajdhani's thali just appear before me....Priya has crazy collection of recipes and I was very confused...I bookmarked more than ten recipes....and sat down thinking.

I am not sure if I have mentioned this before ...our family is ' Hardcore non vegetarian'...but there is one day in a week  'Thursday' when most of the ladies in the house are Vegetarians (yes including me and my sister Devs)...I still don't know the reason why........hence Thursday is always considered a dull day for us and if anyone  invites us for a party on a Thursday (which rarely happens)....its frowned upon.So coming to the point .....this Thursday I took charge of the kitchen....it was 'Mharo Rajasthan Thursday'  and I finally decided to make Rajma Masala, Methi paratha and Jaljeera.

I  love to cook for my dad, my hubby and daughter...but my favorite guinea pig is my sister Devs...I love cooking for her and she is my best critic and her opinion matters.... So this is what Devs had to say...."I can have vegetarian food like this everyday" (In our house that sentence is equal to committing a crime)

Today I will be putting up Jaljeera recipe.....tomorrow Rajma Masala and Methi paratha.

Ingredients
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• 2tbsp Cumin/Jeera (roasted and coarsely powdered)
• 10 to 12 Mint leaves
• 1tsp Mango powder (aamchur)
• 1/2 tsp Black salt
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• Salt to taste
• 3 cups cold water

Method

1. Make a paste of all the ingredients except water.
2. Mix the paste with cold water blend well and refrigerate.
3. Strain before serving. 

Sending this to Tickling Palates

Cinnamon Rolls

The best Cinnamon rolls I have ever had was in Bahrain at Cinnabon, they make amazing cinnamon rolls.

I enjoyed making these rolls.....baking makes me happy ...its very therapeutic and the house smells heavenly .Wanted to try these rolls out ever since I saw it on Ria's Blog...with a few changes..I have used brown sugar instead of regular sugar and added raisins and cashew nuts for crunch.

 You should  definitely try these out...its very simple......and it tastes goooooood.......But Cinnabon still rules .

Recipe Source :All Recipes  and   Ria's Collection

Ingredients
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• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 cups All purpose flour
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar

• 3 tbsp butter (softened)
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup brown sugar or white sugar or mix both 
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup Cashew nuts

• 1 cup Icing sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp melted butter
• 1/4 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 1/2 tbsp milk

Method

1. Heat 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water and 2 tbsp butter in a pan until warm. add yeast and sugar to this mixtures and stir.
2. In a big bowl combine flour, salt and break in one egg. Add the milk yeast mixture and mix with hand till all ingredients are well combined and you are left with a sticky dough.
3. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead for few minutes.Place the dough in a bowl and cover with cling wrap. Keep in a warm area for 45 minutes to 1 hour and let the dough rise .
4. Meanwhile prepare the filling by mixing brown sugar, cinnamon powder , raisins, cashews ...keep this aside until further use.
5. After the dough rises ...punch it down to remove air. Place dough on a floured surface and roll it into a large rectangle , spread 3 tbsp softened butter all over the rectangle dough and spread the brown sugar mixture evenly on the butter.
6. Roll the dough into a long from the long side. Pinch the sides to seal and cut 12 to 15 slices. Place the slices , cut side down in a 13 x 9 inch greased baking pan.Cover and keep in a warm place and let it double its size (around 30 minutes)
7. Preheat oven at 190 degree  C. Place the rolls in oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or till the top has browned and the house smells heavenly.
8. Meanwhile prepared the icing by mixing sieved icing sugar , vanilla essence , milk and melted butter into a thick frosting. Keep this aside.
9. Remove the baked rolls from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes and apply the prepared the frosting evenly on the rolls.

Note: Heat the rolls in a microwave for few seconds before serving.

Chattambade - Bengal Gram Fritters

I don't know about you ,but I remember... ..since I was a kid and  till date whenever  I go to functions...weddings or poojas where food is served on banana leaves....I never shy away from asking the person who serves  for 2 chattambades and 2 papads.

Ingredients

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• 2 cups Channa dal (Bengal gram dal)
• 1 small onion (finely chopped)
• 2 green chillies (chopped)
• 2 tbsp Dill leaves (chopped)
• 2 tbsp coriander leaves (chopped)
• 4 to 5 curry leaves
• salt to taste
• pinch hing
• oil to deep fry

Method

1. Wash and soak channa dal in water for 2 hours.
2. After 2 hours , drain the water and keep 2 tbsps of channa dal aside and  transfer the  remaining channa dal into a mixie and using very little water or no water at all  grind for few seconds to a very coarse paste.
3. Add coriander, dill leaves,curry leaves ,onion,green chillies and salt and give one final spin (for 2 seconds)
4. Transfer to a bowl and add whole channa dal and mix well.The paste must be thick.
5. Heat oil in a deep vessel, make flat vadas and slip into hot oil, continue the same with rest of the vadas. Fry till the vadas turn golden brown.
6. Serve with chutney.

Kadubu Shaped Modak (Indian Momos)- Blog Skip Wednesday

I know I was supposed to post this last Wednesday  but due to few reasons I could not....I apologize.

So  I am naming this Blog Skip Wednesday.

I know I know.... this not the actual  modak shape....but believe me I tried ...I saw this video on 'how to make modak'.....and I thought 'wow that is super simple' and tried it out and failed miserably. I was all set to give up and my mom (moms are superwomen, they get ideas in a split second)  told that I could use a kadubu mold....different shape....but same taste. 

Last week I was paired with Nirmala from Nirmala's kitchen , and I chose to make Modak from her blog. Thank you for the recipe Nirmala.

Print this recipe
 Ingredients For filling

• 1 cup fresh coconut 
• 1/2 cup jaggery(grated or powdered)
• 1 tsp cardamom powder

Method for filling

• Place a pan on medium heat, add in coconut and jaggery and cook till the jaggery melts and the mixture is little dry. Add  cardamom powder and mix well. Keep this aside and prepare the outer cover for the modak.

Ingredients For outer covering

• 1 1/2 cups raw rice powder (I used pathri powder)
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbsp ghee
• pinch salt

Method

1. Heat 2 cups water in a non stick vessel, add ghee and salt. When water comes to boil add the rice powder. Keep stirring to avoid lumps.Take off the flame.
2. Cover and keep aside for few minutes
3. Knead the rice dough while its warm, apply oil to your hands and the vessel you are kneading in. The dough should be smooth, soft and shiny.

To make Modaks

1. Make a rice ball, oil a chappati stand and place the rice ball on it, roll out the rice ball into a circle and place it on the kadubu mold, place 1 tbsp of filling and close the kadubu mold and press. Remove excess rice dough from the sides and open the mold and remove the kadubu and place on a greased plate. Continue with the rest.
2. Steam the modaks for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Serve with ghee

Note : Roll the rice dough thick ,or while steaming the modaks might crack, mine did:)

Sending to Radhika's tickling palates

Seven Links Challenge

Laxmi from Samayal Diary sent me this challenge

The  Post Beautiful Post


Link: Spinach and Mushroom Quiche

I just love the simplicity of the picture, its just about the Quiche and nothing else. Loved the way the top of the quiche has browned . Enjoyed every minute of making the quiche.

The  Most Popular Post


Link : bangude ghassi (mackerel fish curry)

This post got the highest number of hits followed by Chicken ghee roast. This is my mom's signature dish and I have mentioned in this post that.....' 50 % of the the mackerel fish caught at sea... comes to our house' ... believe me I wasn't exaggerating, I had mackerel today and I know I will have it next week and the week after  .......my mom has succeeded into brainwashing my daughter to love mackerel fish curry too.

The Most Controversial


I don't think I have any controversial post ......and hope I don't have any in future...


The Most Helpful Post


Link: Neer Dosa with Video

This post I think is the most useful coz I have put up video of how to make neer dosa.

The Post That was surprisingly successful
Link:  Marvai aajadina (clams sukka)

This was very surprising coz  I had just started my blog...was in Bahrain...poor photography... handful of followers and then ........when I put up this post I had 400 hits in less than 5 hours. I WAS SHOCKED.But I think this dish gave me that push..to keep me going.

The Post that did not get the attention it deserved


Link:  Avarakkai chops

Just 27 hits , my favorite vegetarian dish and JUST 27 HITS.....do I have to say more...This proves that non vegetarians visit my blog more than vegetarians.

The Post I am proud of 

Iam proud of all my dishes (lol.... such a cheesy line), but since I have to choose....I will choose 2. Ghee roast is one of my favorite chicken dishes,I never thought I could ever get that restaurant taste...was very happy when I could recreate the same dish at home and I am proud that I made the dish from scratch.

And my Dad's birthday cake for obvious reason.......

Link: Chicken Ghee Roast

Link:Dad's Birthday Cake

Forwarding the Challenge to
1. Shireen Sequira  Ruchik Randhap
2. Anamika Arun Taste Junction
3. Prathima Rao prats corner
4. Mallika      veg bowl
5.Prema  Prema's Thaligai

The rules

1. Blogger is nominated to take part.
2. Blogger publishes his/her blog
3. Blogger nominates upto 5 bloggers to take part

The categories

1. Most beautiful post
2. Most popular
3. Most helpful
4. Most controversial Post
5. A post whose success surprised you
6. Post you feel did not get  attention it deserved
7. Most proud of.