Mughlai Chicken....!!!

Hey all...!! I have always been thinking to keep posting daily but what to do each day I get busy with something or the other.... October was a month of Birthdays and cake orders and so had no time to sit down and write up recipes... And its a lil lazy task to find time to type ;) But since I love blogging and I am a person who purely depends on blogs for new recipes which I have never tried, I feel updating my blog is necessary... & I have a quite a list of friends who depends on my blog & keep on waiting for new recipes to be added up.... 

So now.... regarding Mughlai chicken.... Mughlai cuisine refers to a cuisine consisting of dishes developed in Medieval India by the people of the Mughal Empire. It represents the cooking styles used in North India especially Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Hyderabad. The cuisine is strongly influenced by Central Asian Cuisine, the region where the Turco-Mongol Mughal rulers originally hailed from and it has turn strongly influenced the regional cuisines of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. 

The taste of Mughlai cuisine vary from extremely mild to spicy and are often associated with a distinctive aroma and taste of ground and whole spices. This Mughlai Chicken is a variety of such a cuisine which has a blend of ground and whole spices and the chicken is cooked in a thick gravy of onions tomatoes and spices....

 Ingredients:

Chicken                                                                          1 kg

Onions                                                                           3

Ginger (chopped)                                                           1 tsp

Garlic (chopped)                                                            1 tsp

Tomato                                                                          1

Turmeric Powder                                                           1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder                                                          1 tsp

Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder                                         2 tsp

Kasoori Methi                                                                1/2 tsp

Garam Masala                                                                1/2 tsp

Cashew Nuts                                                                  1/2 cup

Jeera Powder                                                                  1/2 tsp

Oil                                                                                   2 tbsp

Butter                                                                              1 tbsp

Salt

Method:

1. Soak the cashews in water for 15 mins. Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onions and saute.
2. Once this is translucent, ass chopped ginger and garlic and saute well.
3. Add turmeric, coriander, and red chilly powder and saute until the raw smell goes off.
4. Now add the chopped tomatoes and saute until they are soft.
5. Off the flame and let it cool. Meanwhile blend the cashews into a smooth paste.
6. When the masala has cooled down, blend it into a paste.
7. Now heat a pan and mix the chicken with the masala and add 1/2 - 1 cup of water and cook well.
8. Once the chicken has been cooked, add the cashew paste into this and mix.
9. After the cashew paste has been added do not boil it.
10. Off the flame. Now in another pan heat butter.
11. Add jeera powder, garam masala and kasoori methi into this and saute a little.
12. Now pour this over the curry. Enjoy the yummy yummy mughlai chicken :)

Pancakes.....!!!

Pancakes are the easiest breakfast item to prepare... They are sweet and filling as well... You can prepare the batter a day before preparing the pancakes and store in the ref or even you can cook the pancakes, cover and store. Reheat and use the nest day. Any how I like to prepare both batter and pancakes the time I serve it. The recipe of pancake syrup has also been added to this post.

 Ingredients:
Pancake:
Flour                                                   1 cup
Egg                                                     1
Baking powder                                   1 1/2 tsp
Butter(melted)                                    2 tbsp
Milk                                                    1 cup
Sugar                                                   1 tsp
Salt                                                      1/4 tsp

For Syrup:
Brown sugar                                        1 cup
White sugar                                         1 cup
Corn syrup                                           1/2 cup
Water                                                   1 cup
Vanilla Essence                                   1 tsp

   

Method:
Pancakes:
1. In a bowl combine all dry ingredients, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. In another bowl slightly beat the egg. Add milk and melted butter into this.
3. Now combine both dry and wet ingredients and mix to get a smooth batter.
4. Grease a small pan and pour about 2-3 tbsp of batter.
5. Cook one side until you see bubbles on the upper side and when they starts to break, flip and cook the other side.
6. Cook all the pancakes until the whole batter has finished.

Syrup:
1. In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, white sugar, water, corn syrup and vanilla essence.
2. Keep this on medium heat until boil.
3. Let it cool. You can transfer this into a bottle and store in the ref for as many days as required.
4. Pour the syrup over the hot pancakes and enjoy :) :)

Coffee Macarons....!!!

Macarons have always been the trickiest to make.. But dont know thistime i felt it easy maybe thats why it came out well :) Its all about the proportion, the way you mix it up. But there is always a way out to bring it well. If you find your batter a bit loose you can add enough almond powder to stabilize the consistency....! So now on to the recipe... For a detailed recipe you can check my french macarons post.. This is just the recipe to bake the coffee macarons!

 Ingredients:

Almond powder	100 gm
Eggs aged	100 gm
Powdered sugar	180 gm
Coffee Powder	6 gm
Granulated Sugar	35 gm
For filling:
Cooking cream	¼ cup
Cooking chocolate	150 gm
Coffee powder	4 gms

Method:

1. Separate the egg whites and keep in the kitchen counter for 24 hours to age it.

2. Beat the egg whites on a stand mixer until foamy.

3. Once its foamy, start adding the granulated sugar slowly.

4. Beat this until stiff and shiny peaks are formed.

5. Now keep this aside and grind the almond powder, coffee powder and icing sugar in a grinder and sift to avoid large chunks.

6. Now slowly fold the almond misture into the egg whites. THIS IS WHERE YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL. It may take a maximum of 35-40 strokes to get it done. DONOT OVER DO! We dont want a loose batter.

7. Now layer a plain baking tray with baking sheet. Pipe the batter on to the sheet with a plain piping tip. 

8. Rest this for 15 - 20 mins until a shell forms over its top.

9. Preheat the oven to 140 C for 20 mins.

10. Bake the macarons for about 15 mins on until the feet starts to form and a little brown appears on the feet.

11. Cool this down and slowly and carefully lift from the baking sheet.

Filling:

1. In a pan bring the cooking cream to boil.

2. Add the chopped cooking chocolate and coffee powder and mix well until the chocolate is well melted.

3. Cool this down and keep refrigerated before filling the macaron shells.

4. Once its cooled well, fill the macaron shells with the filling and sandwich them.

5. Keep the macarons refrigerated. Enjoy your coffee macs!!!! :) :)

Vanilla Panna Cotta....!!!

 Here is another dessert recipe... Easy and can be made really quick!! Just need time to get it set... I have the recipe for coffee flavor as well... Will be uploading soon after this.... I have given the topping as blueberry... But if u like to have it as it is u can... Or if you like to add some fresh fruits, that could also be a great combination!!

Ingredients:

Heavy Cream/ Thick Cream/ Whipping cream	2 1/4 cup
Sugar	2 tbsp
Condensed milk	1/4 cup
Cold Milk	1/4 cup
Vanilla essence	1/2 tsp
Unflavored Gelatin	10 gm
Blueberry topping/ fresh fruits (optional)

Method: 

              

1. Soak gelatin in 1/4 cup of cold milk for 5 - 10 mins.

2. In a saucepan, mix cream and sugar and bring to just boil. 

3. Add sugar and condensed milk into this and stir well.

4. Once the cream is really hot, remove from heat and add the gelatin mixture into this.

5. Stir very well until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

6. Pour the cream on to small bowls as per your wish.

7. Refrigerate this for minimum 4 hours or overnight.

8. Serve colg with blue berry topping or fresh fruits.... :)

Mocha Muffins....!!

Hey all!! I know this has been a really long gap since I din't update my blog. But what to do got really really busy with family, work, friends, occasions and so on.... N now am back with baking again ;) I am a big coffee lover and anything that taste coffee would be my favorite :D so here is recipe of Mocha Muffins....

Ingredients:

Eggs	2
Milk	1/2 cup
Oil	1/2 cup
Black coffee	1/4 cup(at room temp)
Vanilla essence	1 tsp
All purpose flour	3/4 cup
Cocoa powder	1/4 cup
Brown sugar	1 cup
Baking Soda	1 tsp
Sale	1/4 tsp
Nuts (optional)
Cappuccino or semisweet milk	1 cup

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 C.

2. In a large bowl whisk together eggs, milk, oil, coffee and vanilla essence.

3. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4. Add the nuts to this.

5. Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until incorporated.

6. Fill the muffin cups with batter using table spoon or ice cream scoop.

7. Bake for 18 - 25 mins or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

8. Mocha muffins are ready... Serve with hot coffee :) :)

Avocado Lime Ice Cream....!!!

A very easy home made ice cream.... One day my hubby shared a post on my wall and when checked it was a video that contained the recipe of this... So i decided the same day I would make it but as I dint have avocados in stock I had to wait another day too ;) finally next day I made it and he loved it :) Its too simple and easy with just 4 ingredients....

Preparation Time : 10 mins
Freezing Time : 4 hrs
Serves : 4

Ingredients :

Ripe Avocado	2
Lime	3
Condensed milk	¾ tin
Milk	½ cup

Method:

1. Scoop out the avocados and drop to a mixer jar.
2. Add the zest of 2 lime and the juice of whole 3 lime into this.
3. Now add the condensed milk and milk into this and process until smooth.
4. Now layer this in an even surface pudding dish.
5. Freeze for 4 hrs and serve chilled with honey if required.... :) :)

Mango Pickle.....!!!!

This is my mom's special pickle! This can be made as an instant pickle and it tastes soooo yummy!!! 

Preparation Time : 45 mins

Cooking Time : 15 mins

Makes : 750 gms

Ingredients:

Green Mango	5
Asafoetida/Hing powder(Kaayam)	1 tsp
Fenugreek seed powdered (Uluva podi)	1 tsp
Red Chilly Powder	3 tbsp(as your taste)
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Salt
Vinegar
Sesame Oil

Method:

1. Wash the mangoes thoroughly and clean them.

2. Chop this into small pieces.

3. In a clean bowl add the chopped mangoes and salt as per taste and mix and set aside for 10 mins

4. Now heat oil in a pan and sputter the mustard seeds.

5. Off the flame and add fenugreek powder and asafoetida.

6. Once it has cooled down add the red chilly powder and chopped mangoes.

7. Heat a little vinegar and pour above this and mix all together.

8. Store this in a water free container. You dont have to refrigerate it for the first 2 days. Later you can refrigerate. Enjoy with hot rice or chapatti :)