Cocoa Orange Marble Cake

On a sudden carving to eat a marble cake last weekend, I made this chocolate orange marble cake, and it turned out to be one of the best sponge cakes I have made in recent times!.... The cake was very soft and crumbly and we absolutely loved its taste and texture…the marbled orange and chocolate flavor was really good even my son who is a picky eater loved it! It was so good that within 3 days we finished the cake…..

Khumb Masala / Mushroom Masala

Another Mushroom curry which is a lighter and healthier version of my previous post; tastes really good with Indian flat breads or variety rice which can be included in your everyday meal…. I tried this from my childhood friend’s blog which is apparently one of the most tried out dishes from her collection of delicious recipes… so here is another vegetarian recipe for you to try during lent.....

Badami Khumb / Badami Mushrooms (Mushrooms in Almond Gravy)

Since it’s the Lent season, I make a lot of vegge dishes these days…. And also I got a couple of requests to post more vegetarian dishes during Lent… I got this Badami Mushroom recipe from Ranji’s Kitchen Corner via a dear friend Purnima… tried this several times and it is really good with chapathi and pulav…. You can replace mushrooms to chicken to make it Badami Murgh (Almond Chicken)… I have tried that also….I think this gravy will go very well with cauliflower, broccoli or with potatoes (never tried with any of those vegges though)…..Try this delicious dish in your kitchen with your choice of vegetables or with chicken or mutton :)….and please don’t forget to let me know the outcome :) :)….

Whole Wheat & Oat Raisin Cookies

I have tried these healthy cookies from Deeba’s blog several times. I changed the recipe a little bit to make it healthier by reducing the amount of butter, omitting and replacing to raisins…. Try these Whole Wheat chocolate chip Cookies either by adding chocolate chip like in the original recipe or by replacing it with raisins or any other fruits like I did… either way it is delicious J… Here is how I made these healthy cookies….

Kappalangaum (Omakkaum) Payarum Thoran (Stir Fried Raw Papaya & Red Gram with Coconut)

Part-3 of my Papaya/ Kappalanga/Omakka Series....

Kappalangaum (Omakkaum) Payarum Thoran (Stir Fried Raw Papaya & Red Gram with Coconut)

Ingredients:
Kappalanga/Omakka (RawPapaya) -1/2 medium, chopped fine
Vanpayar (Red Gram)-1/2 cup
Freshly grated coconut- 1/2cup
Chumannulli (Shallots) -8-10nos ( or Onion -1 small)
Dry red chilles-3-4 nos
Garlic - 2clove
Jeerakom (Cumin Seeds)-1/2tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4tsp
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds - 1/4tsp
Curry Leaves- a spring
Oil - 1tsp

Method:

• Pressure cook vanpayar (red gram) with enough water and salt and keep aside.
• Peel skin and remove seeds inside the papaya.
• Clean it well and finely chop/ grate it. (I used my food processer to chop the papaya). 
• Ground coarsely, coconut, shallots, dry red chilies, garlic, cumin seeds, turmeric powder and salt.(Also uses food processer for this) 
• Heat oil in a frying pan and splutter mustard seeds. 
• Add coarsely ground coconut mixture and curry leaves and sauté for a minute. 
• Add chopped papaya and vanpayar (red gram). Mix well, cover and cook on low flame for 5 minutes. 
• Open lid and stir well until all the water in it evaporates.
• Serve hot

Murgh Methi Malai / Chicken in Creamy Fenugreek Sauce

Last month on a fine morning I plucked my fresh grown methi leaves/ fenugreek leaves from my kitchen balcony with the thought of making Methi chicken that I previously used to make with dry fenugreek leaves. While waiting for my helper to come I happened to see in my reader that Ria had updated her blog with Methi Malai Chicken and you guessed it.....I changed my plan to make my usual methi chicken to this one and it was a good decision….we loved this curry… she got this recipe from one of our FB friends Bindu… so here is the much talked FB fame MMC (Methi Malai Chicken) :) … Thank you Bindu for this wonderful recipe and thanks Ria for posting this in your blog :)...

Tomato, Spinach and Cheese Swirl Bread

I got this recipe from The family Circle Cook book which I borrowed from my cousin/friend/neighbor. This book has been with me for almost a year now and I earlier posted a cake and a salad that I tried…. This swirl bread always fascinated me and finally I tried it out and I am really happy with the result…. This tricolor bread is perfect for a party to impress your guests…this is really good to make sandwiches or you can serve this with fish pie, meat loaf, finnish pie, fish molee or simply with hot soup….. I halved the recipe and made 2 small loaves which was more than enough for two meals for my small family…. Try this low fat healthy bread in your kitchen…… you can even replace all purpose flour to wheat flour/ Atta for a healthier version….the method may appear lengthy or difficult… but believe me it is really easy to make :)...

Whole Wheat Almond Eggless Cookies

This month’s Sweet Punch challenge was to make Whole Wheat Almond Eggless Cookies from Manjula’s Ktchen. These are absolutely easy to make cookies. You can give this recipe to kids who are interested in baking as their first experiment. I am sure they will be happy to make such tasty cookies by their own :) :)… I have already made these cookies twice in a month! I am trying to cut down the butter intake as far as possible, so first time I only added 1/3 cup of butter and the cookies were just fine and second time I reduced it to ¼ cup and increased milk to 2 table spoons more….second time also cookies tasted good but was not as crumbly and melt in mouth type… Do try these easy cookies with the actual amount of butter or by reducing it, the end result will be really delicious cookies to munch :)...

Rum Baba / Baba Au Rhum

My cousin/friend/neighbor Saira recently told me to try making Rum Baba. It was the first time I was hearing that name. So did a search on the net and found out that: A Rum Baba or Baba au rhum is a yeast-risen cake studded with dried fruit and soaked in hot rum syrup and served with whipped cream or pastry cream. It is most typically made in individual servings (about a 2" tall slightly tapered cylinder). This recipe features the delicate flavor of citrus, imparted by just a hint of orange and lemon zest. Likewise, a small amount of warm vanilla has been added to the soaking syrup to cut down on the rum’s boldness. The result is a baba rum full of complex layers of flavor, while still holding to the traditional French recipe. You can find more about the history and origin about Rum Baba here in Wiki.

Since I didn’t have a rum baba mould, I used my muffin pan to make this. I just followed the recipe from About.com, but only made half the amount. Got 12 rum babas in a small muffin pan. We enjoyed these rum filled babas. Thank you S for introducing this dessert to me J

Chicken Fatayer

Fatayer is an Arabic Pie stuffed with spinach, cheese, chicken, lamb or za'atar and like Shawarma it is a commonly available street food across the Arab world. Here at a walking distance from our flat there is an Arabic restaurant from where we regularly buy fatayer and shawarma. Chicken and cheese fatayer are our favorite filling. I actually do not know what paste they mix with the boiled and shredded chicken, if it is feta cheese or labneh or white sauce….. I usually use white sauce but mixing the chicken with lebneh is equally good. My little one loves fatayer so I sometimes make these at home. Here’s how...