Vanilla cupcakes with Strawberry frosting

September is a special month for me.. My hubby's birthday is coming & I want to bake a perfect cake for him.Last year I baked a eggless cake and that came out well. Thank god.

I have tried many eggless cakes but most of them are just flops.I was looking for fool proof recipe & came along this with help of my cousin. The recipe was posted in food network & I followed all the steps as mentioned in it.

This is a simple vanilla cupcake recipe yields about 10 cupcakes. The recipe didn't ask for baking soda but I just couldn't hold with out adding as they say old habits won't go so easily :)

I'm not a fan of frosting still tried this strawberry frosting recipe from food network.I'm kind of worried about all the calories in them :)

Go thru my recipe and have a virtual treat of them.

Ingredients

For Cake

11/2 cups of all purpose flour

11/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt 

2/3 cup sugar 

2 Large eggs @ room temperature 

3/4 cup unsalted butter melted

1/2 cup milk ( Used 2% fat milk)

2 tsp vanilla extract

For Frosting 

1/2 cup butter @ room temp  

4 cups Icing sugar

1/4 cup milk ( Used 2% fat milk)

2 tbs strawberries jam

 

Preheat oven @ 350 degrees F.

Dry Ingredients

Sift all purpose flour & mix baking powder,baking soda,all purpose flour & salt together in a bowl. 

Wet Ingredients

In another bowl beat eggs & sugar together till the sugar has dissolved.Then add melted butter & Vanilla one after another to the same bowl & keep mixing it with a hand mixer.

Mix the dry & wet ingredients along with milk.Once the batter is ready set the muffin tin with cupcake sheets and divide the batter equally in them.

Place cakes in oven and bake them @ 350 degrees F for 20mins or till the stick comes out clean. ( I used a tooth pik)

Once they are done cool them on a rack.  

Frosting

In a bowl take butter & mix it smooth. Then add sugar to the bowl along with milk and strawberry jam.

Mix it till it comes out smooth & creamy.

 

*** I used hand mixer so it wasn't so perfect. Use a electric mixer for better results. 

Frost once the cakes cool down. They are soft & puffy.

Note: 

1. The sugar in the cake was just enough sweet. So if you love sweet you can the sugar in cake. 

2. Replace butter with olive oil Or use half butter & half olive oil. 

Parippu Curry | Moong Dal Curry

Happy Onam to all my friends.

I'm celebrating my 100th post with Onam special dish Parippu Curry.I got the recipe from Hari Chandana's blog "Indian Cuisine".I made few changes to the dish according to my taste. The dish was delicious.

Ingredients 

1 cup moong dal

1 cup finely chopped onion

Pinch of turmeric 

For Grinding

1/2 cup coconut pieces 

1 tbs cumin

4 green chilli's 

Salt 

 

Seasoning

1 tsp mustard 

2 red chilli's

1 crushed garlic pod 

1 Tbs ghee

Curry leaves 

Dry Roast moong dal till it turns light brown.Pressure cook it along with onions& turmeric for 2 whistles.

Mean while grind coconut, cumin, green chilli's & salt to a smooth paste. 

Now mash the dash and mix it with the coconut paste and cook it for 10 mins.

Heat a pan with ghee add mustard once they start jumping add garlic & red chilli's. At last add curry leaves and switch of heat. 

Mix dal with seasoning & it's read to serve. 

Note: 

1.Use coconut oil instead of ghee for a traditional curry.

2. Use less water to grind the coconut. 

Out Come: I was worried about my hubby's reaction as he is hesitant to try new dishes but he surprised me saying it was too good...hmmm then I'm all happy :)

Iron chef America

Sending to Susan's Black and White Wednesdays!

Oats Khara Sundal

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi & Eid Mubarak to all my friends.

Like every year I made clay ganesha at home.But this year I made a Bala Ganesha from whom I just couldn't turn my eyes off.I felt he was looking at me for his yummy treats :)

As part of tradition we make undaralu, pulihora & payasam. This year I added seasame kozhukattai & uppu kozuhukattai for prasadam.I didn't want to offer god my experimental dish so I made it later as a snack.

Ingredients 

1/2 cup Broken Oats 

1/2 cup Rice flour

1/2 cup water 

1/2 tsp butter

2 Green Chilli

Salt (Varies acc to your taste)

2 tsp fresh grated coconut 

Seasoning 

1/2 tsp Mustard 

1/2 tsp Jeera
1/2 tsp Urad Dal

1 Red chilli 

Curry leave

1 tsp oil 

Heat a vessel with water and butter & bring it to boil.Keep stirring the water while you add rice flour to vessel. This allows you to get a nice dough with out lumps. 

Remove it from heat once the rice flour is done.Cool it. 

Meanwhile heat a pan with 1 tsp butter and oats. Fry them till a nice aroma comes from them or till they turn light brown.

Add the fried oats, salt & Chilli to rice flour. Mix it well.

Roll out balls with the dough.Grease the idli plates with little butter and place balls in it.Steam cook them for 15mins.

Heat a pan with oil and add seasoning to it. Once the mustard starts spluttering add curry leaves & remove it from heat.

Mix grated coconut & seasoning.

Note:

1. If you have rolled oats butter fry them once they cool down coarsely grind them.

2. Use some butter to roll out balls if they are sticky.

Out come:In each and every bite you can taste the fiber feel.Oh they are delicious...

Lollypops on sale

Sending to Susan's Black and White Wednesdays!

Tomato basil lasagna

I always wonder when did I start falling for pasta so much. I don't remember much but I once had it in Olive garden and it was just yummy. From then on I started mastering it at home.  This dish generally goes for dinner in our house which we njoy it pepsi or coke. 

Thinking of dinner if I ask my hubby to opt from my menu he always votes for pasta with lots of cheese.In general I don't prefer cheese in my serving so cheese just lands on my hubby's plate which he njoy's a lot :)

You can see the variation in below pics...

This pic was taken at our dinner time where I sprinkled a little more cheese and warmed it in the oven for my hubby.

Ingredients

4 Sheet of Lasagna

1/2 cup chopped Onion

Basil leaves 

1 tsp oil 

Salt

1 cup grated Swiss cheese ( Can replace with Mozzarella )

For Tomato Sauce 

6 Tomatoes  ( I used canned tomatoes)

1 Garlic pod

1 small bunch of Basil 

2 Tbs Olive Oil

Ground Pepper (Acc to your spice level)

2 Tbs Parmesan cheese 

Salt

For White sauce 

2 tsp All purpose flour 
2 tbs Butter 
1 cup milk 
1 Garlic Pod

Ground Pepper (Acc to your spice level)

2 Tbs Parmesan Cheese

Salt

Bring water to boil in a large vessel along with oil & salt. Drop the Lasagna and allow it to cook. Once it's cooked drain water leave it aside. 

Heat pan with oil and saute onions till they become soft. Rest will cook in the oven so leave it aside.

For tomato sauce 

Heat a pan with oil add garlic. Fry for few seconds and add tomato. Bring to boil on medium heat. Once the tomatoes are done add salt , pepper & Parmesan cheese to it and switch off the heat.

Once it's cool puree it along with basil. 

For white sauce 

Heat pan with butter and add grated garlic to it. Then add flour to the pan and fry it till the raw smell goes off.Keep stirring the flour along with salt & pepper. Mix milk little by little while mixing the flour with a spatula with out forming  lumps.

Add parmesan cheese to the sauce and cool it aside.

Take a Lasagna sheet spread the white sauce on the sheet along with little tomato sauce. Place the fried onions on the sheet and sprinkle some cheese.Roll off the lasagna as shown above. 

Place the rolled lasagna's in a pan and pour the tomato sauce on them. Bake @ 350 degrees for 20 mins.

 

***The cool part is that you can make a it ahead of time and freeze it. Just reheat in oven when ever you want to have.Though I prefer a fresh one it's not a bad idea. 

Out Come :  It's cheesy, yummy & delicious.This pasta is layered with different sauces & cheese. You can feel the taste of all in every bite. 

Kothimeera Tomato Pachadi | Tomato Coriander Chutney

A very simple dish which goes well with Rice, Dosa or Idli. Lately when I visited a friend she made this chutney for lunch. It was awesome.

Ingredients

2 Cups of sliced Tomatoes 

1 cup Coriander Leaves 

3 Red chili's

2 Garlic Pod

Salt  

1 Tbs Oil 

Heat a pan with oil ad add the above ingredients to it.Close the pan with a lid and allow them to cook well. Once they are done grind them to a smooth paste. Salt can be adjusted according to the taste. 

Gongura Pappu / Pulichakeerai Dal

I have been to San Diego  last week end & to my surprise I found " Gongura / pulichakeerai " in indian store. I jumped with joy as it's hard for me to find this tangy leaf in my place. when ever I buy them I freeze them or oil fry them to store them for longer periods. 

As you all know Gongura Pickle/ Chutney is very famous & same way gongura pappu/dal is famous too. I 'm from Guntur, AP & I have to say that I'm very fond of this leaf & dishes too.

 

Garlic and Gongura they go well with each other in any dish. But I have to mention that the chili powder recipe is a borrowed recipe from one of my friend. This chili power adds lot's of flavor to the dish.

Ingredients 

For dal

1 cup Toor dal

1 cup finely chopped Gongura leaves 

1 cup chopped onions 

Seasoning 

2 tsp Garlic Chili powder 

1 tsp Mustard 

1 tsp Jeera 

1 Red chili ( Break it in to pieces) 

1 tsp Oil 

Pressure cook toor dal, gongura leaves& onions. Allow it for 2 whistles & cool it. 

Mean while in pan add oil add red chili, jeera & mustard. Once mustard starts jumpings switch off the heat. 

Mix up chili powder with dal and allow it to cook for 5mins. Then add seasoning to it & dal is ready to serve. 

For Garlic Chili Powder 
1 cup Red chili powder 
2 tsp Dhania 
2 Garlic flakes
1/2 tsp methi seeds
1/4 cup of Curry leaves

Dry roast dhania, garlic, methi & curry leaves. Garlic takes a little time so remove rest of the ingredients from the pan and fry garlic. 


Grind chili powder & masala mix. 

*** You can feel the aroma once you open the mixie lid. 

Out come: What can I say It's so tasty... :)

 

Mullangi Sambar | Mooli Sambar

This version is little different from the normal one. We add both sambar and rasam powders for flavor. It gives you a unique taste.

Ingredients 
1 Medium onion chopped
2 Medium Tomatoes diced
1 cup sliced Mooli (Mullangi)
1 Tbs Oil 
2 Tbs Tamarind  
1 Tbs Jaggrey
Salt
For Sambar paste
1 Tbs Sambar powder
1 Tbs Rasam Powder
1 Tbs Poppy seeds
1 Tbs Coconut powder
Seasoning

Mustard 

Jeera

Crushed Garlic

Red chili's 

1 Tbs oil

Heat a vessel with oil add onions and saute them till they are transparent.Now take tomatoes & Mooli and add with onions.
Add salt to vessel and close it with a lid. 


Grind Sambar powder,Rasam Powder,Poppy seeds & Coconut powder to a smooth paste. 
Once the veggies are done add the ground paste,Tamarind, Salt , Jaggery & 21/2 cups of water. 
Bring it to boil. Meanwhile prepare the seasoning.


Seasoning
Take a small pan heat it with oil then add mustard, jeera, Redchili, garlic. Once mustard starts jumping add it to sambar. It's ready to serve.


Out Come: The sambar was all yum with mooli flavor. It tasted too good. Try it :)

 

My Favorite Dish

We all are the finest cooks who enjoy cooking various dishes from all over the world. But very deep in our heart we all have a special love to some dish which we always admire.

So the whole idea of this event is to post a dish which you like, love & enjoy a lot.

I'm overwhelmed to announce my second event " My favorite Dish". I have been planning on this event for a very long time. I have been planning on this event for a very long time.All these days this post was sitting in my draft and finally its out in its quest .

Rules :) 

1. Vegetarian dishes & eggs are allowed. 
2. Post it in your blog and link the recipe to my Event.
3. Archived recipes are fine too.
4. Use of Logo is Appreciated.
5. Can send multiple entries.
6. Don't have a blog... Do send in your recipe along with a picture of your dish. I will post it for you..
7. Send in all your recipes to ammaji.recipes@gmail.com with below details.                                  

      Subject : My Favorite Dish
      Name : 
      Blog Name:
      Recipe Name :
      Recipe Url :
      Attach a picture of the recipe with your mail.

Do send in all entries before Sep 25th... I will be waiting for all your wonderful dishes. 

No Yeast Bread Sticks along with Tomato Hummas

I'm an all time fan of bread sticks. Whether it is soft or crunchy I just don't care. Today I was really craving for bread and I just realized that I'm running out of yeast & bread in my pantry.

I went a head and googled for some non yeast bread recipes. Here I have to thank all those who blogged about this wonderful recipe. 

Seriously it takes less time compared to the normal one's & even tastes good too. 

Coming  to Hummus I followed Ina Garten's ( Food network star) recipe. Guess what ??? It turned out yummy. 

Recently when I have been to lake Tahoe I had tasted the tomato Hummus. It was delicious.

I just couldn't wait to give a try making it.

For Bread sticks

1 cup of Maida or All purpose flour2 tsp Brown Sugar

2 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Salt

1/2 cup Milk

Sesame seeds (optional)

1/4 cup of melted butter 

Take maida, sugar, baking powder & salt in a bowl. Slowly add little by little milk to make a  dough. Sprinkle some flour on the table and knead the dough for 2 to 3 mins.Now roll the whole dough like a chapati in any shape u like. Cut the dough in to nice long pieces using a knife.

Baking

Preheat oven @ 300deg. 

Take a baking pan line up the pieces and brush them with butter on both the sides & sprinkle some sesame on them.

Place them in the oven n bake them for 20 mins @ 350deg or till they nice and crisp.

For Hummus
1 Cup Chickpeas (Soaked in water whole night,Drained & Cooked)
2 Garlic Cloves
10 Cherry Tomatoes
Salt
1/3 cup sesame paste
2 tbs of lemon
1 tbs Red chili flakes

Microwave tomatoes for 3mins or till they soft. 

Grind tomatoes and all the ingredients to a smooth paste. 

*** Serve bread sticks warm with hummus. 

Out come: It was a yummy crispy dip.

 

Minumula Chintapandu Pachadi | Urad Dal Chutney with Tamarind

This chutney is a nellore delicacy with lots of tangy & crunchy taste to it. It's a very delicious chutney you will fall in love automatically. 
I first tasted & learned this recipe from my MIL. When I moved to Korea I was on my own experimenting in cooking. I failed many times in getting the perfection for this recipe. As they say " Try,Try & Try Till You Achieve" & atlast I did.
My hubby Loves this recipe so I make sure that I make it perfectly as he likes :) 

Ingredients

3/4 cup of urad dal (Minapappu)

3/4 cup of tamarind

Seasoning

6 Red chilli

1 tbs dhania
1 tsp mustard 
1/2 tsp methi seeds

1 tbs oil

Hing ( Asafoetida )

Salt for taste

To start with clean tamarind & soak it in water.

Heat pan with oil & add mustard once they start jumping add red chili ,methi seeds, dhania & hing to it.Remove it from pan & allow it to cool.In the same pan add urad dal and fry them till they turn light brown or till the nice aroma touches your nose.
Grind the seasoning first then comes tamarind & salt turn. After grinding then add urad dal to mixie. Just use pulse button to break the urad dal as shown in the picture as the chutney should be crunchy. (Don't grind it to paste)
 

Out come:  Serve with hot rice with a dollop of ghee. It tastes delicious. 

Bloomed Tomatillos

This pic goes to Susan's Black and White Wednesdays!

A colorful carrot soup came out Black & White

This pic is going to Susan's Black and White Wednesdays!