Armenian Nutmeg Cake ~ Daring Baker’s Challenge Part -2

The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake.

Armenian Nutmeg cake is a two layer cake. It’s very aromatic, easy to make and perfect for a tea party. I halved the recipe and baked the cake in a 6” pan. Since I didn't have walnuts with me I used some pistachios and almonds. Also I used the food processor method to make this cake. 

Nazook / Armenian Pastry ~ Daring Bakers Challenge Part -1

The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake.

Nazook is a flaky pastry, with a sweet filling, that is very common in Armenia, Russia, Iran, Ukraine and many other places around the world. It is a delicious snack with afternoon tea or coffee. I only made a quarter amount of the pastry and got 12 pieces of Nazook. I really enjoyed making this super easy sweet pastry.

Fish Pie Recipe

Fish pie was a regular dish amma used to make for special guests whenever she had to serve a two or three course dinner. It is a substitute for fish molie / fish masala/ fish pollichathu and is an easy to make dish which goes well with bread or dinner rolls.... All the preparation can be done ahead of time and baking can be done just prior to serving..... Surprisingly I found fish pie was my mother in law’s favorite also:)...and now it’s my favorite too.... Both the recipes are slightly different and today I am sharing my mother in laws recipe here.... will share amma’s recipe another time :).....   

Punjabi Chicken Masala Recipe

When I posted the Garlic Naan recipe I had this curry picture along with the Naan and got so many requests for the recipe. I had intended to post this soon after but somehow couldn’t. This is a Lakshmi Nair recipe from the Magic Oven show. I like her recipes and whatever I have tried has turned out good. I make this Punjabi chicken recipe regularly as it goes very well with any kind of Indian flat bread or mildly spiced rice or pulav.  As always we prefer boneless chicken with small pieces for our curries, but you can use chicken pieces with bone in and bigger pieces if you prefer. 

Beetroot Squash

Back home Amma used to make a variety of squashes with the seasonal fruits available like Grape, Mango, Orange, Lime, Passion fruit etc. Here in Kuwait as fruit juices are easily available, I never bothered to make squash at home until recently as my son drinks a lot of juice.... Now I started making it at home so that I can at least avoid giving him packet juice which contains lot of preservatives....also he is such a picky eater who refuses to eat any veggies so the only way to include some veggie in his diet is through juice :D...he loves to drink this juice as his mouth and lips become red after drinking this :D.. This juice tastes like Grape juice and is healthy too.....

Paal Payasam / Easy Rice Kheer in a Pressure Cooker

Wishing all my Malayali readers A Very Happy Vishu!

I made this payasam yesterday intending to post the recipe in the evening. When it was time to take pictures our weather God was so kind that a sand storm started ruining our entire photo shoot so we had to take the pictures today :P..... This is a very quick Paal (milk) Payasam which will be ready in half an hour and is ideal for festivals or if you are planning a big party and want to make a large quantity of something quick and delicious.

Chicken Croquettes Recipe

These Chicken Croquettes can be made ahead of time and fried just prior to serving. Kids will love this as an evening snack / nalumani palaharam or in their tiffin box along with some ketchup or wrapped in chapathi or bread.... This recipe was shown on a Malayalam TV channel by Lakshmi Nair sometime ago.... I have been making this since then with some changes as I lost her original recipe... When I made this recently I thought of posting it here so it will be easier for me to find it instead of searching through a pile of books :).... Try this when you host a party next or for your kids....I am sure you will love it....  I made this with chicken but you can even use minced beef....

Beetroot Wine Recipe

"Wine is a living liquid containing no preservatives. Its life cycle comprises youth, maturity, old age, and death. When not treated with reasonable respect it will sicken and die."

- Julia Child 

Recently when I found good dark colored beetroot I bought some to make wine and squash . Mom used to make this wine very often;   it’s very easy, does not require daily stirring and will be ready to drink in 14 days J…. If you have not tasted beetroot wine believe me it’s very tasty and resembles grape wine in color and taste…. Try to get dark colored beetroot for this wine….  Immediately after making, the wine will be very dark in color and will become clear and transparent with aging…

Wish you all a Very Happy Easter!!!

Passion Fruit Jelly Panna Cotta

Easter is around the corner, have you finalized your Easter menu?  Sundays are working days in this part of the world and no exception for Easter or Christmas! So we don’t have any big plans for Easter.... If you are looking for a quick and delicious dessert to include in your Easter menu this is an apt recipe.... You can serve this as an individual serving too :).... It will hardly take 15 minutes to prepare; just chill for a couple of hours and your dessert will be ready to serve! Since I was not planning to unmold the dessert I used less gelatin in both jelly and Panna cotta as Patricia suggested in the originalrecipe.And if you are searching for Indari Appam / Pesaha (Passover) Appam recipe here is the link for the recipe I posted last year… and of course Good Friday special Kanji and Payer recipe can also be found here if you are looking :D