Nankhatai....!! (Indian cookies)

Its a different but easy cookie... It really doesnt require a lot of ingredients... and doesnt consume a lot of time as well... The soft crumbly nankhatai brings back many a fond memory. The word Nankhatai comes from the Persian word 'Nan' which means bread and 'Khatai' probably come from 'Catai' or 'Cathay', the older name of China. Thus translating as 'Bread of Cathay'. Another version from North east Iran/ Afganistan is that Khatai is a type of biscuit, also referred to as Kulcha-e-namaki.. It has a little resemblance of the 'melting moment' cookie....

Ingredients:
All purpose flour                                           1 cup
Vegetable Ghee ( I used Aseel)                     ½ cup
Sugar (Powdered)                                          ½ cup 
Salt                                                                 a pinch
Cashew nuts                                                   2 tbsp
Cardamom (Powdered)                                  ¼ tsp

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Grease the baking tray.

3. Sift the flour with salt and cardamom powder.

4. Beat the powdered sugar with ghee until creamy.

5. Add in the flour mixture by 3 steps and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula.

6. Add the chopped cashews and mix well with hands and make a dough similar to chapati dough.

7. Make small balls from the dough and place them on the greased tray.

8. Bake this for 15 minutes at 180°C until the edges slightly starts to brown.

9. Don't let it bake till the color changes, cause it will become hard.

10. Cool the cookies on the wire rack and store in a closed container... Enjoy them with a hot coffee... :)

Arayes....!!!!

Arayes is an Arabic dish which is made with pita bread and minced meat. If you like to make your own pita and do arayes, you can. I made with store bought kubus/pita.

Ingredients:

Minced Meat (I used mutton)                                -              1/2 kg

Onion                                                                     -               1

Tomato                                                                  -                1

Pepper powder                                                       -                1 tsp

Garam Masala Powder                                          -                 1/2 tsp

Parsley leaves                                                        -                 1/2 cup

Olive oil                                                                 -                 1/2 tsp

Pita breads                                                             -                 2-3 big

Salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven at 180C for 10 mins.

In a bowl mix all the ingredients except bread and combine well.

2. Cut each pitas into 4 pieces.

3. Open each of them and fill them with the mix.

4. Layer this on a baking tray and brush olive oil above the breads.

5. Bake this until both the sides are crispy and the meat is well done.

6. This goes well with hummus, Greek yogurt or even ketchup :) :)

Gulab Jamun....!!!

One of my all time favorite Indian dessert!! I go to Indian restaurants and have buffet just to eat their yummy yummy Gulab Jamuns!!!! Its indeed easy to make but you got to be very careful with the way you do... Its all tricky!!!

Ingredients:
For Jamuns:
Milk powder                            -                       1/2 cup
Ghee                                         -                       1 tbsp
Maida                                       -                       1 tbsp.
Rava                                         -                       1 tbsp.
Warm Milk                              -                        2 tbsp. + as required
Lime juice                                -                       1 tsp
Baking soda                             -                       1/4 tsp
Sugar Syrup:
Sugar                                        -                        1 1/2 cup
Water                                        -                         1 cup
Cardamom powder                   -                         1 tsp
Rose water                                -                         1/4  tsp
Saffron                                      -                         4 strands (optional)
Lime juice                                 -                         1 tsp

Method:
Sugar Syrup:
1. In a pan add sugar and water and bring to boil over high heat.
2. Once it starts to boil, reduce the flame to medium - low for 5-8 mins.
3. We don't need it in one string consistency. That means not too thick or not too thin.
4. Once you feel the consistency is as desired, off the flame and add lime juice, cardamom powder and rose water.
Jamuns:
1. In a bowl mix together milk powder, maida, rava and baking soda.
2. Add ghee and lemon juice into this and mix well with your hands until it turns crumby.
3. Add milk little by little until you get a soft dough.
4. Cover and keep aside for 5 mins.
5. Meanwhile heat oil in a pan. This is where you have to be careful. Keep you flame on low and the oil must not be too hot as well. Careful to maintain the temperature.
6. Now you can see your dough might have become a little dry. Add more milk if required.
7. Now make really small balls out of the dough. I got around 22 of them. Don't worry about making tiny balls because it will puff up as you fry and will be double the size when you dip them in the syrup.
8. Deep fry the balls on low heat until golden brown.
9. Drain the excess oil and immediately drop them in to the sugar syrup.
10. Let them soak for minimum of one hour.
11. Serve hot or cold as you like :) :)

Honey Cake....!!!

Onto one of my personal favorite. This is a tricky cake. You got to be very careful while baking this. It can burn easily or even the sugar can be high in this. So I would suggest keep an eye on it while you are preparing and baking this as well. Honey cake is normally made assembling very thin layers of cake and thick layers of cream. I haven’t made that thin slices here because of my limitations. It has an awesome aroma of cinnamon and honey and hmm its just yum!!! This was made for my lil nephew's birthday. I have used a fondant icing in this. You can check for fondant Icing recipe in my blog..

Ingredients

All-purpose flour                                          2 cups

Cinnamon powder                                        1 tsp

Baking soda                                                  ¾ tsp

Baking powder                                              ½ tsp

Honey                                                            1 cup

Eggs                                                               3

Vegetable oil                                                  ¾ cup

Salt                                                                 1 teaspoon

Butter                                                             50 gm
Cream cheese                                                 200 gm
Confectioners’ sugar                                      2 cups
Honey                                                             1 tbsp
Cinnamon                                                       a pinch

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C. Grease the pan and keep aside.

2. In a bowl sift together flour, cinnamon powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

3. In another bowl, beat eggs until light and add honey into it. Now add the flour mixture into this and mix well until incorporated.

4. Now bake it for 30 mins or until a tooth pick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

5. Cool down the cake completely before frosting.

Frosting:
1. Mix all the ingredients for frosting in a stand mixture and beat until well combined.
2. Refrigerate for atleast 2 hrs.
3. Assemble the cake and frost the way you like to :)
Note: For fondant icing - check Fondant Icing Recipe in my blog.

Fondant Icing Recipe....!!!

Fondant icing or fondant is an edible icing used to decorate cakes and pastries. Most of the people have a wrong concept about fondant that it is not edible. You are wrong, it is EDIBLE! It is made our of icing sugar, corn syrup, gelatin and butter. This is easy to make but got to be little careful while making the dough since it will be too sticky..! You can find some pictures below. The cakes I decorated using fondant icing..!!!

Ingredients:

Icing Sugar                                                500 gm

Gelatin                                                       20 gm

Butter                                                         50 gm

Corn syrup                                                 2 tbsp.

Glycerin                                                     1 tbsp.

Corn starch                                                as required to knead the dough

Method:

1. Soak gelatin in 1/4 cup of water for 10 mins.

2. Melt the gelatin in microwave.

3. In the same bowl add corn syrup, cubed butter, glycerin and heat in microwave until the butter is completely melted.

4. Let it cool down.

5. In an electric stand mixer with paddle attachment, add icing sugar and the gelatin mixture and knead to a dough.

6. If you feel it too thin add some more icing sugar.

7. Now take out the dough out of the stand mixer and place on a corn starch powdered surface.

8. Knead this well into a dough. You must dust your hands with corn starch or grease with butter in order to knead it well and not to stick onto hands.

9. Keep this refrigerated for at least 2 hrs before using.

10.This can be stored for 6 months in fridge. Top your cakes with the tasty fondant :) :)

Thalassery Biriyani - A Restaurant Style...!!!

Biriyani is a very common food that we prepare when we have guests or usually on Fridays! There are a wide variety of Biriyani all over the world... To say, in Kerala almost every district has a distinct way of preparing Biriyani... Basically I am from Thrissur and the way we prepare biriyani is entirely different from the ones Thalasserians or Kozhikodians make... Well, the best biriyani I have ever had is from my hubby's dad's house back in Thalassery... So now I have prepared a Thalassery biriyani and the recipe comes from a chef in a Thalassery Restaurant and not from any home cooks... I tried this quite a few times and we all loved it... There might be a lot of people coming up saying that this is not the authentic one.. That's why I gave this tagline as Restaurant Style! I quite love the flavors and the way it tastes.. So give it a try.. Its an easy and simple recipe...

And to all Thalasserians and Thalassery home cooks, I do not state that this as the authentic way u prepare!! 

 Ingredients:
Chicken                                                                            1kg
Khaima Rice                                                                     2 cups
Onions                                                                              6-8
Ginger-Garlic- green chilly paste                                      2 tbsp.
Tomatoes                                                                          5
Garam masala                                                                   4 tsp
Cardamom                                                                        8
Cloves                                                                               8
Cinnamon stick                                                                 2
Bay Leaf                                                                           1
Coriander leaves                                                               a handful
Mint leaves                                                                       a handful
Salt
Water                                                                               3 cups
Ghee\Oil

Method:

1. Cut the chicken pieces, clean and keep aside. Wash and drain rice and keep aside 

2. In a pan heat ghee or oil and fry whole of the thin sliced onions until golden brown and crispy and keep aside.

3. In the same oil fry cashews and raisins until golden brown and keep aside.

4. In a bottom thick vessel add 2 tbsp. of ghee (you can use the one we used to fry onions).

5. Add cardamom(4), cloves(4),cinnamon stick(1),bay leaf(1),nutmeg(1) and tomatoes and sauté well until the tomatoes are soft.

6. Now add ginger-garlic-green chilly paste into this and sauté until the raw smell goes off.

7. Now add the cut chicken pieces, salt, 3tsp of garam masala and fried onions(keep aside some for garnishing).

8. Mix this well, add some chopped mint and coriander leaves and close and cook until the chicken is almost done.

9. Meanwhile heat ghee in a vessel and add rest of cardamom, clove, bay leaf and nutmeg.

10. Add the rice into this and fry for 5 mins.

11. Add 3 cups of boiling water into this, close and cook until the rice is almost done.

12. Now once both rice and chicken are almost done, off the flame.

13. In a bottom thick vessel add 1 tbsp. of ghee and add the whole masala into this.

14. Add chopped mint leaves, coriander leaves and some fried cashews and raisins. Add 1 tsp garam masala over it.

15. Above that add the whole rice. Add the rest of fried onions on top, some more chopped leaves and fried cashews and raisins.

16. Close the lid tight and keep on sim for 25 mins.

17. Open the lid and serve rice and masala separate as shown in the picture.

18. Yummy restaurant style Thalassery biriyani ready to eat. Serve hot with raita, pickle and pappad :) :)

Malwani Chicken with Hirwa Masala.....!!!

This is such a refreshing curry both visually and to eat as well. Malwani Chicken with Hirwa masala is made in fresh green masala. I has cilantro, ginger and coconut. What more do we need? The fresh 3 ingredients in the curry!! That makes it YUM!

Ingredients:

Chicken                                                    -                         1 kg

Onion (chopped)                                      -                          3

Ginger - garlic paste                                -                         1 tbsp

Fresh grated coconut                                -                         1 1/2 cup

Cinammon stick                                       -                         1/2 inch

Cardamom                                                -                          4

Bay Leaf                                                   -                          1

Cloves                                                       -                          3

Cumin Seeds                                             -                          1/2 tsp

Garam Masala                                           -                          1/2 tsp

Fresh Coriander                                         -                           1 bunch

Ginger (chopped)                                      -                           1/2 inch

Green Chilly                                              -                             4

Method

1. Marinate chicken with salt and ginger-garlic paste and keep aside for half an hour.

2. Grind 3/4 cup of coconut with a 1/4 cup of warm water.

3. Sieve it and extract thick milk and keep aside.

4. Grind together fresh coriander leaves(1/2 bunch), grated coconut(1/2 cup), chopped ginger(1/2 inch) and green chillies together into a paste.

5. Add cinnamon, black cardamoms, green cardamoms, bay leaf, cloves and cumin seeds and sauté until the raw smell goes off.

6. Add the hirwa masala paste and sauté on low heat for 2-3 mins.

7. Add the chicken pieces and mix well. Continue to sauté for 2-3 mins.

8. Add 1/2 cup of water and cook until the chicken is done .

9. Add coconut milk and garam masala powder.

10.Mix well and let it heat through. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot. :) :)

Naadan Fish Curry......!!!!

Hi everyone... This time I would like to share a Kerala recipe with you all... A Nadan Fish Curry!!! During my childhood or even until I get married, this used to be one of the main dish on table for lunch... After marriage I dint get much chance to cook it or eat it since my hubby is not a seafood lover! So this is a common curry that my mom and my sisters make for lunch... This goes very well with white rice and I love to have some curd along with this :)

Ingredients:

King Fish                             -                                       1/2 kg

Shallots                                -                                        4

Tomato                                 -                                        1

Garlic                                    -                                        3 cloves

Green Chilly                         -                                        2

Turmeric powder                  -                                        1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder                 -                                         1 tsp

Red Chilly powder                -                                         1 tsp

Coconut Milk powder           -                                          4 tbsp.

Tamarind pulp                       -                                           lime sized

Fennel Seed                           -                                           a pinch

Salt

Water

For Tempering:

Shallots                                  -                                     6

Mustard seeds                        -                                     1 tsp

Curry leaves

Coconut oil

Method:

1. Clean the fish and keep aside.

2. In a blender add all the spices, fennel seed, shallots, coconut milk powder, water and blend until well combined.

3. Heat a pan and add sliced tomatoes, ginger, garlic, green chillies and add the coconut milk mixture into this.

4. Now add tamarind pulp and salt.

5. Once the tomatoes are soft, add the fish into this and cook on medium flame.

6. Once the fish is well done, off the flame.

7. In a pan heat coconut oil and sputter mustard seeds, add shallots and curry leaves and pour this over the curry. Add coriander leaves at the end.

8. Yummy fish curry ready :) :)



TIPS FOR STIFF ICING: Whipped Cream / Butter Cream

Hi All.. I have been receiving a lot of queries on how to get a stiff whipped cream. Here are some ways I do to get it stiff:

1. Using Dream Whip Powder – Don’t follow the instruction on the packet. Instead, for 1 sachet add very little milk (eg: 2 tbsp.). Milk has to be cold. Mix this well into a paste. Now beat this on high speed for 5 mins. If you feel if too dry, you can add milk little by little but not too much. Beat this on high speed until u get stiff peaks. If you follow this method correctly, for sure you will get thick and stiff whipped cream.
2. Using Whipping Cream (Store bought Packet) – In this method, the only thing you need to make sure is to keep an eye on your cream while beating. Beat your whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla essence on high speed until stiff peaks are formed. Special attention has to be given to make sure you don’t overbeat it. Because, over beating will result in curdling of your whipping cream. Once you feel the cream has reached your desired consistency, STOP beating it.
3. Using whipping cream & gelatin – In this method, we will be using gelatin to make it stiff and set. Soak gelatin on cold water and let it sit for 5-10 mins (quantity of gelatin and water depends on the quantity of your whipping cream). Meanwhile, start beating you whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla. Once the gelatin is set, melt this. Keep the beater on and then add this into the whipping cream and continue beating until stiff peaks are formed.

For best results, keep the cream refrigerated for at least one hour before piping it!

TIPS FOR STIFF ICING: Butter Cream

I follow only a single method for butter cream frosting. All you will need is Butter in room temperature, icing sugar, vanilla essence and milk. Start beating your butter until smooth and creamy. Keep adding the icing sugar until you get a thick consistency. The consistency of the butter cream is often checked by spoon test. If you scoop a spoon full of frosting, it shouldn’t fall as you try to drip it. I must hold its shape in the spoon for at least 10 seconds. If you find it too thick add little milk and if you find it too thin add some more icing sugar. This is how you manage its consistency.

I will soon be sharing the pics for different types of whipped cream and their piping methods. Happy Baking :) :)