Ice cream Sundae

Summers are not easy without Ice creams and Sundaes, especially in Texas :).  I usually make this real simple dessert to sooth the sweet tooth after dinner.  This is the right season to share it with you :)

Ingredients: 

1 cup fruits like cherries, grapes, berries. Some more for garnishing.

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

4 scoops nonfat vanilla Ice cream (you can use yogurt as healthy option)

strawberry syrup or chocolate syrup

Method:

Puree fruits with sugar and lemon juice in a blender. Serve over frozen Ice cream and top with fruits and syrup of your choice. Well I was serious when I said that its easy!!!!

Read More

Donuts The All time family favorite recipe

The extra shiny donuts are always exciting and enticing.Donut or doughnut  is a type of fried dough confectionery or dessert food. Here is a simple Donuts Recipe to make at home :

Ingredients:

2 tbsp dry yeast
2 cups milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter or any shortening
2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 eggs
6 cups flour

Method:

1. Dissolve yeast in 3/4 cup luke-warm water. Set aside.

2. Heat 2 cups milk in microwave for 2-3 minutes.

While milk is heating add shortening to a large bowl. Pour hot milk over it and whisk until mixed. Add salt, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Add 4 eggs and mix well.

3. Add yeast mixture to batter and mix. Add 2 cups of flour and mix with a wooden spoon. Mix well. Add 2 more cups and mix. Add 2 more cups and mix. At this point, the batter should not be runny. Add 1 more cup of flour, give or take 1/2 cup.  Mix until your dough is smooth.

4. Sprinkle flour onto a clean surface and pour batter onto it. Gently knead dough batter until the surface is not sticky to the touch. NOTE: The dough should be very soft but not sticky that you can't handle it fairly easily. Place the soft dough into a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl and let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Dough should be almost double in size when done.

5. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to about a 1 inch thickness. Cut the doughnuts out as closely as possible. You can save the middles for doughnut holes. Move donuts and holes to a clean surface. Cover and let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

6. Once the donuts and holes are done rising, fry them in a large frying pan with vegetable oil until golden brown.

7. While donuts are frying make your Glaze. To make glaze mix 7 cups powdered sugar with 2/3 cup water and 2 tsp. vanilla. Add donuts to glaze as soon as they are done frying and make sure both sides are covered.

Read More

Bhatura Panjabi style

 Bhatoora is a fluffy deep-fried bread from North India. It is often eaten with chickpea curry, chole or channe, making the traditional dish chole bhature.  This is a combination of may recipes I researched over the internet. The best part is that it uses more of whole wheat flour than all purpose flour. My family liked it, so thought of sharing with you :)

Ingredients:

21/2 cups atta or whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt or as required
1 tbsp oil or ghee or butter
½ or ⅓ cup warm water
vegetable oil for deep frying
¾ cup yoghurt
½ tbsp sugar
½ tsp baking powder
¾ cup all purpose flour/maida


Method:

1. In a bowl take the yoghurt, sugar, baking powder and all purpose flour.
Mix well for overnight fermentation.

2. If the yogurt is thick, then to thin the batter, add ¼ cup water.
Cover the bowl with a cloth and set it aside in a warm place overnight or for 8 hours to allow natural fermentation to take place.

3. The next day you will see tiny bubbles on the surface of the mixture. The mixture is ready for the next step when tiny bubbles appear on the surface.

4. Take another bowl, mix together the wheat flour with salt and rub the ghee or butter into it with your fingertips. Into this bowl, add the fermenting mixture and the warm water. Form a dough with these two mixtures.

5. Knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes or until it is silky smooth. Add a little flour if it is too wet. Gather the dough into a compact ball and cover it with a damp cloth. Again set it aside in a warm place for 2 hrs.

6. Knead the dough again.

7. Form it in to 15 balls and roll them into 5-6 inch discs. Heat oil or ghee and deep fry the bhaturas. 

Read More

Tomato Chutney for Dosa, Idli

Its a very spicy Tamil style chutney :)

Ingredients:

Tomato - 1 / 4 kg
Onion - 200 g
Garlic - 5 pallu
Ginger - 1 piece
Red Chilli – 3
Broken urad Dal - 2tsp
Toor Dal (Lentil) – 2 tsp
Coconut - 1 / 2 cup
Salt - the quantity

Merhod:

1. Take a pan and pour oil. Heat oil, fry Toor Dal and  Urad Dal.

2. Fry on medium heat until you get the pleasant aroma of the grains.

3. Add onion, fry until it becomes golden brown. Then add ginger.
Add garlic and dry red chillies. Fry for a minute. Now add the chopped tomatoes.

4.Fry the tomatoes until the raw smell went off. Keep in low heat for ten minutes.

5. Add required salt and leave it for a minute, switch off the stove and add the grated coconut.

6.Leave it to cool and grind, should not grind it way to smooth paste.
Tomato chutney is the best side dish for idli, Dosai and  masal dosai.

Read More

Pickled Jalapeneo

First I would like to show you pictures step by step, to make it really clear to you guys :)

Ingredients:

Jalapenos - 3 cups, sliced nacho style

Salt – 1.5 tbsp

Asafoetida - 3 pinches(optional)

Lemon Juice - 6 tbsp

White Distilled Vinegar – 1.5 tbsp

Vegetable Oil - 3 tsp

Bay Leaf 1

Method:

Wash the Jalapenos and slice them.

Put the Jalapenos in a clean, dry jar.

Add the Salt, Bay Leaf and Asafoetida and mix well.

Keep aside for 4-6 hours and let the spices seep into the

jalapenos.

Next add the Lemon  Juice, Vinegar and  Oil.

Cap the jar and give it a really good mix.

Keep aside for a day but don’t forget to keep mixing the

pickle every once in a while.

After a day, it is ready to eat. Store in the refrigerator after

that.

Read More

25 Best Nibbles to eat with Champagne

1. Almonds

2. Walnuts

3. Salted pistachios

4. Toasted pumpkin seeds

5. Croutons topped with sour cream and salmon roe

6. Little rolls of cured (but not smoked) salmon

7. Plain oysters

8. Thinly sliced, lightly seared scallops

9. Shrimp with light mayonnaise

10. Shrimp vol-au-vents

11. Diced lobster on potato salad

12. Crab pâté on toast

13. Taramasalata on thin crackers

14. Anchovy straws

15. Light-textured chicken liver pâté on toast

16. Chicken and leek vol-au-vents

17. Slices of white pork sausage

18. Rolls of mortadella ham

19. Small sausage rolls

20. Sliced quiche Lorraine

21. Sliced flamiche (leek tart)

22. Goat cheese wrapped in Parma ham

23. Mini gougères

24. Mini potato tortilla

25. Cubes of crumbly white English cheese

Read More

Tortilla wrap Roll-ups

2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese (room temperature)
1 24 oz. container sour cream
2-3 T taco seasoning
10-12 large tortillas

Toppings

Peas
Diced carrots
Diced green peppers
Chopped green onions
Finely grated cheddar cheese
cucumber slices
chopped mushrooms

Be creative with what you like!
Its just that tomatoes can make the wrap soggy so may be you should not add them :)

Blend cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Mix in taco seasoning.

In the center of each tortilla, put a small stripe of refried beans. On the rest of the tortilla spread the sauce making sure to get the edges. You want a decent amount to make sure all your toppings will stick. Sprinkle with toppings and roll up. Tuck in the ends and wrap in plastic wrap, but don't overfill. Refrigerate over night.
Slice before serving and serve with salsa.

Read More