A Chef's Melody

Here's what you will need 3 cups unbleached All Purpose Flour or maida 2 tbsp butter 1 1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup warm water 1 tbsp Dry active yeast 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 2 tbsp extra virgin  olive oil The cooking process In a bowl mix warm water, sugar ,salt and active yeast. Keep aside till the mixture turns frothy. In a saucepan add milk and 1 tbsp of butter and turn off the heat once the butter melts. Wait till the mixture turns lukewarm. Sieve the flour 3 times so that it becomes light. In a large bowl, add the yeast mixture and the buttery milk mixture (Make sure the mixture has turned lukewarm).Now adds in the flour a cup at a time. Till u have smooth dough. Knead the dough really well for 10-15 mins. Place the dough and lightly grease the dough with a tsp of oil. Cover with a cling wrap and set aside for an hour. After an hour the dough will be almost double the size. Punch the dough down and knead it well for 5 mins on a floured surface. Shape the ...

Be it the birth of a boy or happiness of getting good marks or a new job, people distribute mithai preferably pedas.This recipe of microwave peda is quick easy and delicious. I prefer homemade pedas since I have had bad experience with store bought Indian sweets in US.I usually prepare these when we have some pooja at home or when as prasadam for temple. Here's what you will need 1 can sweetened condense milk 14 oz 2 1/4 cup milk powder (I used Nido brand) 8 tbsp clarified butter/ghee 1/2 tsp cardamom powder Few strands of saffron 4 tbsp milk Almonds/pistachios for garnishing The cooking Process Mix the saffron in 2 tbsp of warm milk keep aside . Meanwhile in a microwave safe glass bowl ( use a good size bowl to avoid spills ) mix all the above ingredients except the nuts for garnishing. On high power microwave for 2 mins.Remove and mix well. Again microwave for 3 mins stir the contents every 30 secs.Remove and mix well. Let it cool till it is warm enough...

Here's what you will need: 1 cup All  purpose flour(Maida) 1/2 cup sugar (powdered if you are using Indian sugar) 1/2 tsp cardamom powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 cup Clarified butter or ghee (melted  and at room temperature) The cooking process Sieve the flour and baking soda is a mixing bowl. Add in sugar and cardamom powder.Now add in ghee -a spoonful at a time, mixing all the ingredients simultaneously,till you are able to get all the ingredients together to form a ball.Don't drop in all the ghee at once. Cover the ball with a cling wrap place it in a airtight container and let it rest for at least 5 hours.It would be great if you could manage to keep it overnight. Preheat the oven at 350 deg F. Grease a baking sheet and pinch of small balls from the dough ball.Flatten them lightly between your palms. Place them on baking sheet 3 cm apart. Bake them for 15-18 mins until you see  light brown goodies with a few scars. Remove the ...

Until I came to US, I had never tasted Broccoli. I use to call it green cauliflower whenever I saw it at the vegetable vendor (he he....). But in US I found it in many chinese and thai dishes.It surely has looks similar to cauliflower but tastewise its very very different and it can't be used as a substitute for cauliflower. My husband during his bachelorhood along with his friend had once cooked a curry using broccoli and he says the house began to smell like hell (I don't know why).Not to tell but the curry was a disaster. Hence in our 3 years of marriage our refrigerator never saw (or smelled???) broccoli. Finally, after a long wait I somehow convinced him to try broccoli. "Lets try at least once.I have seen so many bloggers cooking it. I doubt it’s that bad." Poor fellow. As he says mein bibi ka sab sunta hu. "You can cook in my absence and both of you (me n my son) can have it. Please don't force me to have it. I will not eat it at all ....

Here's what you need: 1 cup wheat flour(I used Sujata atta) 1/2 packet of 13 oz baking dates or 20 seedless dates 3/4 cup milk 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup oil (canola oil or sunflower preferred) 1 teaspoon baking soda Handful of raisins and chopped walnuts The cooking process Soak the dates in 1/2 cup of warm milk for at least an hour. Switch on the oven to 350 deg F. Grind the soaked dates along with sugar,oil and the milk in which it was soaked to a smooth paste. Sieve the wheat flour along with the baking soda thrice.This really help to make the cake light.I have always follow this as a practice since I baked my first cake. In a large bowl add the paste,remaining milk and then fold in the flour one table spoon at a time.  Add the raisins and nuts and mix only until everything is incorporated well.Don't over mix.Always mix the cake batter in only one direction,this helps to incorporate more air making the cake lighter.You might need to add few t...

Be it a get together or a festival I always had this mithia at home and why not-who doesn't love it?Though I always had it store bought in those days.In the early days of my job,one of my colleague bought these and she said she made it and I was amazed.Not to mention they were yummy and I just believed her because there was no silver leaf(varakh) on it.This story goes nearly 5 years back -I had just done with my degree and I never asked her for the recipe.After I married my DH also loved these sweet diamonds and that was the time I googled for its recipe,tried it out many times and all attempts were successful.I found most of the recipes call for milk powder but I love the flavor of cashews so I prefer not adding it to my katlis. Here's what you need A 8"/10" frying pan 1 plate greased with ghee 1 flat plate or any flat surface greased. 1 wooden spatula A sharp knife / pizza cutter 1 cup whole cashews Grind it to fine powder.Do not add water or mi...

Ingredients For idli 2 cups sona masoori rice 1 cup urad gota 1/8 tsp methi seeds 3/4 cup thick poha For Sambhar 1 cup toovar dal soaked for an hour in 3 cups of water 1 red onion finely chopped/7-8 pearl onions 2 medium tomatoes veggies of your choice: I used french beans,carrots,pumpkin cubed 1 tbsp tamarind concentrate 1 tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp chilli powder 2 tbsp sambhar powder ,recipe here salt 1 tsp oil a small ball of jaggery fistful cilantro finely chopped For tempering : 1 tbsp oil 1 tsp mustard seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds pinch of hing 10 curry leaves 1 red chili slit 1/4 tsp methi seeds 1 1/2 cups chilled water(optional-helps if you are using a blender to make the batter) Method For idlis Wash and soak rice,urad gota,and methi seeds together in 6 cups of water for 6-7 hrs or overnight. Wash the poha well and add them to the soaked rice, dal mixture 30 mins before grinding. Grind the ingredients in batches with en...