Banana Bread

This is an easy one bowl recipe.

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
2 egg
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:
1. In a medium size mixing bowl, mash the bananas
2. Stir in the eggs, vanilla extract, and oil until combined.
3. Then add the flour, sugars, baking soda and salt.
4. Fold until combined.

Spoon into your prepared (oiled or lined with parchment) baking pan (I use a loaf tin) and bake at 160°C (fan assisted) for around 25-30min. Each oven is different so check in after 20mins or so. You know it is done when a skewer comes out clean when inserted.

Enjoy warm with a slathering of butter and a hot cuppa :)

Methi chicken

Methi chicken

Easy to make and so delicious with chapathi (will go well with rice too). Didn't get a chance to take a pic.. we polished it all off in one sitting.

Ingredients:

For the base sauce:
Yogurt- 1/2 cup
Chilli powder- 2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
Garam masala- 1 tsp
Coriander powder- 2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
Methi leaves- 1/4 cup (I used dried methi leaves- just soak in a little water to rehydrate)
Salt- to taste

Chicken- 1/2kg (preferably boneless and cut into small pieces)
Onions- 1 no: diced
Tomato- 1 no: diced
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Cardamon- 2 no:
Cloves- 2 no:
Cinnamon- small piece (1/2 inch)
Bay leaf- 1 no:

Method:
1. Mix all the base sauce ingredients together.
2. Head oil in a thick bottomed pan
3. Splutter cumin seeds
4. Add whole spices
5. Saute for a few seconds (till aroma releases)
6. Add onions to the pan
7. Saute till translucent
8. Add diced tomato and cook till soft
9. Add base sauce and cook for a few minutes (till oil starts to separate)
10. Add the chicken pieces and cook till done
11. Serve with chapathi or rice

Enjoy 

Boli Kerala style (or Poli or Holige as it's called in other south Indian languages)

I first had boli in Bangalore and fell in love with it- so soft and flaky and sweet but not too sweet. Yummilicious when had warm with some extra ghee on top- not for the calorie conscious for sure but a lovely treat.

Had been wanting some Boli and not being able to find it anywhere in Sydney, decided to make it. The below is a concoction of various recipes I saw online. It's easy but time consuming but have to admit, the final result was good!


Ingredients: 

Outer cover:
2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp Turmeric powder
3/4 cup oil (I used sunflower oil)
Water
Salt to taste

Filling:
1 cup channa dal
3/4 to 1 cup grated jaggery (or can use sugar)
1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
1-2 Tbsp Ghee

The above made around 14 bolis of a fairly decent size.

Method:

To make the outer cover dough-
1. In a large bowl, add in the flour, salt and turmeric powder. Mix well.
2. Add a few tbsp of oil to get to a crumbly texture
3. Add enough water to make a sticky dough
4. Slowly start incorporating around 1/2 cup of the oil and knead the dough till well mixed
5. Place the rest of the oil in the bowl and ensure the dough is almost covered with the oil. Cover with a tea-towel or plate
6. Leave to rest for at least 2 hours- if possible, leave for around 7 hours
7. Before using, mix the rest of the oil into the dough. The dough should be very elastic.

Filling:
1. Soak channa dal preferably overnight
2. Strain and then add enough water, boil well (or pressure cook). Do not overcook- the dal should be well cooked that you can smash between your fingers but not mushy
3. Drain and keep aside to dry out
4. Mash the dal to fine paste (or pulse in a mixie). Ensure you do NOT add any water.
5. Add in jaggery and ghee and over low flame, heat the mix till jaggery is melted.
6. Continue cooking the mix till the consistency changes and the mix comes away from the bottom of the pan easily
7. Leave aside to cool

To make the boli:
1. Once filling mix has cooled, divide into equal number of balls around the size of a large lime or small lemon. Do not let it sit for too long as the mix will harden.
2. Divide the dough mix into the same number of balls but slightly smaller in size than the filling mix. This will ensure the whole boli has filling in it.
3. Flatten the dough mix in your palm, place the filling in the center and stretch the sides of the dough over the top to cover. Smoothen the filled ball and slightly flatten in your palm.
4. Without applying too much pressure, roll out the boli as thin as possible. Use some flour for dusting if needed.
5. Heat a non-stick pan or tawa on a medium low heat
6. Add some ghee to the pan. Cook the boli on the pan till air bubbles appear. Add some more ghee and flip the boli (just once). Cook the other side as well. Try not to get any brown spots on the boli.

Boli is ready to eat. Enjoy!!

Chocolate coffee fruit n nut cake

Step 1: The soaking

250gms dried fruits (I used dates, figs, raisins and sultanas)
2 cups brandy (in portions)
Juice and zest of 1 orange
Juice and zest of 1/2 lime

Method:
Mix above ingredients together (using 1/2 cup of brandy at a time). Let is soak for 24hrs/till fruits have soaked up all the liquid. Stir daily to check. Top up with more brandy when fully soaked up.
(I soaked for 3 weeks prior to making the cake. Should be soaked for atleast 24hours using 1/2 cup brandy)

The cake

Preheat over to 160 degree Celcius (fan assisted)
Line a cake loaf tin with baking paper

Start with the cake
Step 2:
1 cup strong instant coffee
1 tsp baking soda
50 gms dark chocolate (roughly chopped)
Soaked fruits (from Step 1)

Method:
Soak the above ingredients together while you make the rest of the cake batter. The chocolate should melt in the hot coffee. Stir occasionally

Step 3:
200 gms plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/8 tsp nutmeg powder

75gms butter (room temperature)
75 gms sugar
125 gms dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

100 gms mixed nuts- lightly toasted and cooled (I used whole and flaked almonds and walnuts)

Method:
1. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg powder. Keep aside.
2. Beat the egg whites till they form soft peaks. Keep aside.
3. Cream the butter, sugar and egg yolks till well mixed. Add the vanilla extract and mix again.

4. To the butter and sugar mixture, alternatively fold in in parts the flour, soaked fruit coffee mixture (step 2) and beaten egg whites. Repeat till all the ingredients are well mixed. 

5. Finally add the toasted nuts. Mix well. 

6. Pour batter into prepared cake tin and bake on middle/lower shelf for around 50-60 mins or until skewer inserted in cake comes out clean. 

7. Leave to cool for 10-15 mins and remove from cake tin. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

  

Enjoy!

Dosa (Indian pancake)

Dosa- the traditional Indian pancake which I grew to love.
Living in a cold(ish) country, I thought it was impossible to make dosa at home as the batter needs some heat to ferment. With no suitable warm space near radiators/in the "hot room" (boiler room), I had resigned to just the occasional indulgence when we go out to South Indian restaurants. But with some ingenious thinking (not by yours truly- thanks but I really cant remember whose idea this was), we overcame that obstacle. Oven pre-heated to low temp...now why didn't I think of that??

The below makes a lot of dosas (2 of us eat at least 4 meals with this quantity). The batter keeps well in the fridge for 2-3 days. When you go through the trouble of it, why not make it for a few days eh?

Ingredients:
1 cup basmati rice
1 cup glutinous rice (you get to buy Idly rice in Indian stores. But am sure it'll work with risotto rice as well though not tried it)
1 cup urad dal (a type of lentil- also available in Indian stores. Doesn't matter if whole or split)

Method:
1. Soak the ingredients in cold water for at least 4 hours
2. Wash it well to remove all the soaked water.
3. Grind in a mixer with just enough water to make a smooth paste (I use a blender and fill water to the same level as the rice-dal mix. Works well)
4. Transfer batter to a large(ish) bowl (remember the batter rises- so ensure you don't fill to the brim).
5. Keep in a warm place for 8-10 hours to ferment and rise. (8 hours for warmer places)
If, like me, you live in a not so warm country, pre-heat oven to 50 degrees (not too hot or you'll end up cooking it). Switch off oven and place the batter in the oven.
6. After around 8 hours, the batter would have risen. Add salt to taste. If the batter is too thick, add a little water. Ideally you want consistency like runny custard)

To actually make the dosa-
1. Heat a frying pan (preferably non-stick) on a high flame
2. Splash little cold water on the pan to reduce the heat just long enough for you to pour a ladle of batter and spread it thinly in circular motions (like a crepe)
3. Dot butter mixed with some vegetable oil around the dosa and on it so that part becomes nice and crispy. You can also use ghee (clarified butter) for this.
4. Cook over high flame. Once the dosa starts to brown and rise away from the pan around the edges, turn it over and cook for another 30 secs or so (when cooked, the dosa easily comes off the pan)
5. Transfer on to a plate.

Dosa is best eaten hot as it can get chewy or rubbery when cold. Enjoy with sambar or chutney or potato curry or chicken curry or anything you fancy. Also tastes good with honey.

Yumm yumm. 

Panna Cotta

I love Panna cotta. Never realised it was so simple to make.

Ingredients:
250ml double cream
50ml milk
50gms sugar
1 tbsp rum (optional)
2 tsp instant coffee powder (optional)
1/2 vanilla pod- just the seeds (optional)
2 sheets gelatine- soaked in cold water and squeezed dry

Method:
1. In a pan, add all ingredients (except gelatine sheets), stir well and bring it up to a boil
2. Remove from heat and add gelatine soaked sheets and whisk in well (should dissolve easily)
3. Pour in mould (or cups/glasses/anything you can easily turn it out from) and set in fridge for at least 4 hours
4. Once set, partially immerse in warm water/rub the mould between your hands to loosen the panna cotta from the sides of the mould. Turn it on to a plate.

Enjoy with your feet up :) 

Lemon Cheesecake - No Bake

For those times when you are in desperate need of an easy-to-make dessert. It takes around 25mins to make and then a few hours to set- simples :) No pic this time round unfortunately.

Ingredients:
Base:
250 gms biscuits (I used 75% shortbread biscuit and 25% oat biscuits- only because I had some at home)
50 gms melted butter (since the shortbread is already rich in butter, you get away with using lesser. Otherwise the ratio of biscuit to butter is 2:1)

Topping:
200 gms cream cheese (I used plain Philadelphia)- should be at room temperature
4 Tbsp sugar
200 gms Lemon curd (yeah - I cheated and used the store bought one)
200ml double cream

Method:
1. Crush the biscuits to an almost fine powder (easiest in a food processor. Or can be done by placinf biscuits in a bag and then using a rolling pin)
2. Add the melted butter to the biscuit powder and mix well.
3. Layer this on to the base of a well buttered springform cake tin. Press down with a spoon or your fingers to even it out and to compress it.
4. Put it under the grill (or bake) for 5mins (just to let it set a little). Remove from oven and let it cool.
5. Add sugar, cream cheese and lemon curd and mix well.
6. Add half the cream and mix well. Check if more sugar/ lemon curd is required (per your taste).
7. Add the remaining cream and mix well. Check if the consistency is thick (like whipped cream). If not, use a balloon whisk to make it thick. I used really thick double cream and didn't need to use the whisk at all.
8. Pour the mixture onto the biscuit base. Even it out and swirl the top to create a pretty pattern (looks nice)
9. Set in the fridge for couple of hours. I put it overnight (around 7 hours)

Enjoy the cheesecake with a nice cuppa.   

Orange nutella chocolate chunk cookie

Ingredients:

1/2 cup salted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
2-4 oranges, juiced
zest from 1 orange
1 and 1/3 cup self raising flour
2 tbsp nutella
100 gms dark chocolate, broken up into chunks

Method:
1. Cream butter and sugar (both brown and white) together till well incorporated
2. Add vanilla extract, whole egg and juice from orange and mix well
3. Slowly add the flour to mixture and incorporate well. Try not to mix too much.
4. Add the nutella to mixute and mix well
5. Put in the fridge for 10-15 mins. This will help the butter in the mixture set a little and wont spread as much when baked
6. Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees celcius
7. Take the mixture from the fridge, mix in the chocolate chunks and using 2 teaspoons, spoon the mixture onto the baking tray lined with baking/ parchment paper. Ensure there is a bit of gap between the cookie blobs.
8. Bake for 14-16 mins. The cookie is ready when the sides begin to brown.
9. Remove from oven. Let it cool for a few minutes on the baking tray. Then remove from tray and put onto an airing rack. Let it cool completely.

Cookies are ready to eat :)

Kerala style chicken roast

This is my version of the kerala style chicken roast.

Ingredients:
1/2 kg chicken
3-4 medium sized onions, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes
1-2 green chillies, slit in the middle
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
3/4 tbsp Chilli powder
2 tbsp Coriander powder
2- 3 tbsp Pepper powder
Salt to taste
Vegetable Oil

Method:
1. Marinate the cleaned and washed chicken in salt and pepper
2. Heat the oil in a pan/ wok
3. Fry the chicken (shallow fry) till it is cooked and starts to turn brown. Remove from heat and keep aside
4. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a pan
5. Sauté the onions in the oil till it turns translucent
6. Add the green chillies and stir for a bit
7. Add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a little more time
8. When the onions start to brown, add the turmeric, chilli and coriander powders.
9. Keep stirring well till the raw smell of the powders go away
10. Add the chopped tomatoes now and the salt
11. Stir for a while till the tomatoes are soft
12. Add a little water to bring the mixture together and boil till the water evaporates.
13. Add the fried chicken when the mixture is thickening and stir well
14. Cook for another minute over a medium flame.
15. Remove from heat

Chicken roast is ready to serve.

I had the roast with dosa. But it can be had with rice as well.

Home-made vanilla and honey ice-cream

I was fascinated with a cookery show where they made ice-cream. Seemed easy enough so I thought I'd give it a go. I liked this... :)

Ingredients:
300 ml thick double cream
2 eggs, separated
50 gms sugar (approx)
2-3 tbsp honey
1 vanilla pod

Method:
1. Beat the egg whites till they are stiff.
2. Add in the sugar bit by bit and keep beating till all the sugar is incorporated into the mixture
3. Pour the double cream into a saucepan and put over a medium heat.
4. Slit the vanilla pod in half and scrap the seeds from inside. Add this to the cream
5. Bring the cream to boil while stirring continuously. Add the egg yolks to this mixture and mix well. Remove from heat.
6. Add the honey to the cream and mix well.
7. Pour the cream into a freezer proof dish and gently fold in the stiffened egg white mix
8. When well mixed, place the dish in the freezer.
9. After an hour or 2, remove from freezer and mix the ice-cream mixture thoroughly. Only the sides would have begun to set by this time. I think this stops the formation of ice crystals and makes the ice-cream creamer.
10. Repeat the churning process after an hour.
I churned it 3 times in total and then left it to set fully for 2 hours. The end result was creamy soft ice-cream. Mission success :) Had mine with warm apple crumble

Carrot halwa (Gajar ka Halwa)

This yummy rich Indian dessert can be made in numerous ways but I somehow like the following recipe a lot. It's a bit more manual labour than some of the other recipes but in the end, I think that its all worth the effort!!

Ingredients:
2.5 cups finely grated carrots
1.5 cups sugar
4 cups milk
7 cardamom pod, seeds only
2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

Method:

1. In a heavy bottomed pan (I used pressure cooker but a non-stick pan is ideal), put the grated carrots in and let the moisture evaporate over a medium flame. Ensure you keep stirring so that the carrots don't burn.
2. Once the moisture evaporates and the carrots start to clump together, add a tbsp of ghee and fry the carrots for a minute- the colour changes and this indicates that the carrots have absorbed all the ghee flavour.
3. Add 3 cups of milk, all the sugar and cardamom seeds. Stir till the sugar has dissolved. Cover and cook on a high flame for 10-15 mins.
4. Remove cover, add in the last cup of milk and stir well.
5. Reduce flame to low and simmer. This slow cooking means that the carrot gets cooked well and you don't have to hang around full time.
6. Stir the mixture every 15-20 minutes.
7. When the mixture has reduced to a thick consistency, add the tbsp of ghee and increase the heat.
8. Keep stirring continuously preferably with a long handled spoon. The thicker the mixture gets, the more it will spit till its more solid than semi-liquid. Be careful not to have any hot halwa splatter on you.
9. In around 10-15 mins of constant stirring, the halwa will thicken and will not stick to the bottom of the pan. This is when you know the halwa is done.
10. Remove from heat and spread into a flat dish. This will help you cut it into pieces easily.

Carrot halwa is ready to serve. You can serve it hot or once its cooled. I like it hot just plain on its own or with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream.

Hope you enjoy this dessert :)

Chicken Kabab Puffs

This is my husband's and my variation of chicken puffs (similar to pasty but softer crust)

Ingredients:
1 pastry sheet (store bought)
250 gms boneless chicken kababs (see recipe for fried chicken kabab on this blog)
1 onion, sliced
1 tomato, chopped
1 tbsp Ginger-garlic paste (or finely minced)
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tsp garam masala (curry powder)
Salt to taste
1 egg, beaten

Method:
1. Make the fried chicken kababs (recipe in this blog). Ensure that the chicken pieces are cut very small- about 1/2 inch pieces each.
2. Sauté the onions
3. When the onions start to turn translucent, add ginger-garlic and stir for a minute. Add the tomatoes and tomato purée.
4. Add the garam masala when the tomatoes are cooked through.
5. Add salt and stir for a while.
6. Add little water to bring the mixture together and simmer till the water evaporates. The onions and tomatoes would have reduced to a thick mixture.
7. Add the fried chicken kababs to this mixture and stir for a minute or two.
8. Remove from heat and keep aside
9. Cut the pastry sheet into equal rectangles (roughly about 3x5 inch pieces) or squares
10. Fill half of the pastry sheet with the chicken mixture. Leave a little gap on the side to seal
11. Brush some beaten egg on the side of the pastry sheet and fold the other half over the chicken mixture. Press to bind. The egg acts as a glue to bind the sheet.
12. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper (so that the puffs don't stick to the bottom.)
13. Brush the top of the puffs with beaten egg to give it the beautiful glaze when baked
14. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (fan assisted oven)
15. Bake in pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes
16. Remove from oven and serve hot.

Hope you enjoy the puffs as much as we did :D

Unakka Chemmeen chamanthi (Dry shrimp Chamanthi)

This side dish made with dry shrimp and coconut adds a special flavour to your meal. Best had with rice porridge (kanji).
In the picture above, the chamanthi is served with Biriyani, Raita, papad and pickle.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup dry shrimps (unakka chemmeen)
1 cup grated coconut
1 clove garlic
1 inch piece ginger
4-5 dried red chillies (vattal mullaku)
1/4 onion (or use 4-5 shallots)
few curry leaves
1 lime-sized ball of wet tamarind
Salt to taste
1 tsp Coconut oil

Method:
1. In a pan, dry roast the shrimps till they are brittle to the touch. Keep stirring continuously so that the shrimps don't burn.
2. Remove from heat and keep aside
3. Put a few drops of coconut oil in the pan. Put the dried red chillies in the oil and stir till crisp.
4. Remove from heat and keep aside.
5. Put all the ingredients in a mixer and blend to a fine texture. Try not to add any water.
6. Once ground well, remove from mixer and shape into a ball.

The chamanthi is now ready to serve.

Moroccan style Lamb Chops

This is my variation from the many recipes I looked up before making this.

Ingredients:
1/2 kg Lamb chops (around 4-8 depending on size)
1 tsp Vinegar (I used cider vinegar. Think Balsamic would be better)
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp pepper powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
3-4 tbsp Olive oil
salt to taste

Method:
1. Marinate the Lamb chops with all the ingredients listed for atleast 2 hrs.
2. Heat a frying pan
3. Add some olive oil and leave for a while to heat up
4. Place the marinated lamb chops on the hot oil and move around a little for the oil to spead
5. Cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side for pink in the middle finish (rare to medium rare). Cook longer if desired but lamb is best served pink.
6. Remove from heat and place in foil for a further 2-3 minutes

Lamb chops are now ready to serve.

I had mine with khubhus (Arabic bread), hummus and a fresh salad made with lettuce, bell pepper, big red chilli pepper and tomatoes with a simple lemon and olive oil dressing.

Hummus Tahina

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas (400 gms)
1 clove garlic
2-3 tbsp Tahini (Sesame paste)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 Lemon (Juice)
2 sun-dried tomatoes (optional)
4-6 stoned olives (optional)
Salt
Olive oil (to bring mixture together)
Water (to bring mixture together. use with olive oil)

Method:
1. Put the garlic in the food processor with a few chickpeas and blend
2. Add the remaining ingredients and blend by slowly adding olive oil (or olive oil and water) to being mixture together.
3. Make into a smooth paste.

Hummus tahini is ready to serve.