This is an anytime- easy to make carrot cake with the ingredients available at home.. Once again I tried this with my own recipe

Ingedients :

Carrot -2 robust ones grated to small
All purpose flour -1 & 1/2 cup
Sugar powdered - 1 cup
Baking powder -1/2 tspn

Orange red Food colour - less than a pinch
Vanila essence - 1/2 tspn

Eggs -3 nos
Curd (set one) 1/4 cup
Milk -1 cup
Butter  50 gms
oil - 2 tspn

Seive together flour, baking powder and food colour. Leave it undisturbed

Beat powdered sugar and butter to thick foamy layer. Add only egg yolks now and beat. after it is foamy add egg whites. Beat to a foamy mix. Add the essence and mix well. Add milk and beat again.Now fold in the dry powders carefully without lumps. Finally mix the grated carrot and fold in (do not beat now).Finally add 2 tspn of oil on top of the batter and mix. grease a butter paper with some more oil and pour the batter on top of it on a baking mould. garnish with raisins/nuts as prefered

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes

Ragi Dosa

Ragi is a good source of protein and calcium.. Ragi is a health meal ideal for growing kids and diabetic patients.  Its surely a change from the normal dosa as u need not add on extra calories by the intake of more carbohydrates. 

It tasted yumm and surely is a good and healthy dish to be tried out. 

Recipe: 
Urad dhaal -1 cup
Ragi grains -2 cup
Rice - 2 cups
A handful of green gram and chana dhaal also I added
Methi seeds -2 tspn

Soak dhaal and ragi + others together for 4 hrs
Grind to a thick batter. Once fermented it will become loose. Make dosa as usual. Enjoy with onion-chilli chutney.

RICE FRYMS

Rice Fryms.
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I always love to make this as this is our all time favourite dish and with the double speed of making , this get finished faster in our home 
Summer is approaching and this is the ideal season for making these fryms. Can serve this with rice or can be had as a snack during rainy seasons. The light , crispy and fluffy texture of this fryms will definitely make it your favourite .

Here is an easy recipe for making this.

Rice (any quality) - 2 cups
Water - 6 cups
Jeera seeds -5 tspn
Asafoetida -2 tsp
Salt -as required

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp  

Can add any flavouring ingredients of your choice according to your taste buds.

Pressure cook all the ingredients for 4-5 whistles .Remember the rice has to be thoroughly cooked and mashed. Once the pressure subsides grind the rice to a thicker paste (without water) in a mixer. Squeeze it through a chakli maker and spread it on a cloth which in turn is spread on steel plates or a larger mat. Dry this under sun till crispier.( can remove this from the cloth on the second day and spread it on plates and dry till crispier ). store in containers and fry it in hot oil as and when required. 
Am sure this is going to rock your tables.

Rich dark chocolate cake

Chocolate is the favourite of all irrespective of any age they are in. there are lot many favourites of cooking available with chocolate and cakes and cookies are the top among them. 

I have tried this choco cake with the drinking chocolate powder and it was so awesome in taste that it was melting in the mouth. We all enjoyed the richness of the flavour and taste of this cake.

Here is the recipe I used for making.

Maida/all purpose flour - 2 cup

Baking powder -1/4 tspn

Baking soda- 1/4 tspn

Salt -a pinch

Sieve all these dry ingredients 2-3 times and keep it aside undisturbed. Add 3/4 cup chocolate powder. 

If chocolate powder is not there you can use chocolate bars or cooking chocolate as per your sweet tooth. If using bar chocolate, melt the chocolate in boiling milk and allow it to cool and bring to room temperature before making the cake. Please note to adjust the amount of milk in the recipe if using chocolate bar.

Sugar -2 cups powdered

Eggs -3 nos

Curd (thick) -1 cup

Milk - 1/2 to 3/4 cup

Butter -150 gm

Chocolate essence -1/2 tspn

Beat butter and powdered sugar till nicely blend. Beat again till slightly fluffy. Separate the egg whites and yellow and add yellows to this mixture and again blend.Beat till the mixture is fluffy and soft.Add curd to this.beat again, followed by milk. Finally add egg whites and beat. When butter seperates from curd on top add chocolate essence. Mix well. 

Now slowly fold in the dry ingredients. If you wish to add chopped nuts or tuti-fruti bits or raisins or any other fruit bits of your choice to this mixture, mix it with the dry ingredients and then fold in for uniform distribution. Mix well till no lumbs are formed. Note: do not beat but just fold in. 

Preheat the oven at 200 deg centigrade.  

Grease the baking tray with oil and dust with flour uniformly.  Pour in the batter ,spread it uniform in the tray and bake for 40 minutes or till the skewer comes out clean.. Cool and remove from tray once it is done.Enjoy.

Orange cashew cake with chopped nuts inside and chocolate Icing

Special cake for the special one :D

On my husband's birthday I was thinking about which cake to bake. This time also didnt want to go by any recipe and wanted to try something by my own and finally we both (me and my son) decided to bake this super yummilicious cake for papa.

Ingredients required:

All purpose flour (Maida)- 1 cup
Wheat flour (Atta) -1/2 cup
Baking powder -1/4 tspn
Baking soda -1/4 tspn

Sieve the above ingredients through a narrow meshed sieve. And repeat the process twice as it helps in giving better aeration to the flour and thus making the cake softer.

Chopped nuts - 1/4 cup
Mix well the nuts with the flour. Keep it aside.

Other ingredients required are

Orange juice fresh -1 cup ( of one big orange). I have used the fresh one to get better taste
Sugar -1 & 1/2 cup powdered
Egg -3 numbers (separate the yellow and white)
Curd -1/2 cup + milk 1/2 cup (Total 1 cup)
Butter -100 gms
Cheese -50 gms
Orange food colour -less than 1/4 tspn
Orange essence - less than 1/4 tspn .

For icing :
The ingredients required are Icing sugar, butter, fresh cream and chocolate bar. Melt the chocolate bar in milk and make it thicker and can use. the quantity you can use as required.

Mix butter + cheese and powdered sugar and beat well till fluffy.  Add egg yellow and beat it again. Add curd + milk and again beat. Add the food essence and beat again. Finally add the food colour and egg white. beat again till light . fold in the sieved batter and mix till no lumps are there.

Grease the pan , dust with  flour and pour the batter and bake in a preheated oven at 200 degree for 30 minutes or till done.

Beetroot Cutlet

This is a semi sweet and yummy cutlet. All the members in my family like this very much. My son also who does not like to eat vegetables or beetroot if given in a curry form tastes this without any complaint. So I guess surely this can become a hit in ur house too. :)

Ingredients required are

Beetroot grated -2 nos
Mashed aloo -2 nos
Onion chopped- 1 medium
Curry leaves, Ginger and gharam masala as required.
Can also add other ingredients according to your taste .

To enhance the taste I have added Mayonnise to this .can add butter or cheese instead

Mix everything together, roll on a batter of egg white or Maida, roll on bread crumps and deep fry. Enjoy with ketchup/sauce.

Yummilicious Choco-Nut Dosa

Yummy and Delicious choco-nut Dosa
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This crispy Dosa with chocolate melted in hot ghee is dedicated to all kids and all those who love to dig in Chocolates.

Very easy to make and yummilicous dosa for kids. I got surprised to see my son finishing and wiping off his plate very fast in few minutes. thats Really a satisfactory moment for any mom in this world. :D

The ingredients required are just three. 1) Dosa batter and 2) chocolate bars (either cooking chocolate /hazelnut choco bars that are available in various brands) and 3) few chopped nuts and badam (or can grate it too for better taste)

Pour out a laddle of batter on medium heat Tawa. Spread it to a thin dosa. Slowly increase the flame and drizzle drops of ghee on sides and center. Tilt the pan so that the ghee evenly spreads everywhere.

Now grate the chocolate on top of dosa. Immediately it starts melting on hot ghee. Spread the chopped or grated nuts.  Wait till sides get crispier. Can adjust the flame high/low accordingly. Slowly detach the sides of the dosa from pan and Roll on.

This is medium sweet in taste and the hot flavour of chocolate plus the yummy taste of ghee gives it a superb taste. This Dosa doesnt require any side dish also. You can have as such.Try this at home and  Enjoy :)

Rich chocolate moist wheat cake with dates and almond filling.

Just tried this recipe out of my own imaginative recipe and added the ingredients that I liked to bake this cake. Was doubtful till the cake was fully baked about how it will come out. But to my surprise it came out nice and yumm. Thanks to God  for that :D

After Baking. I hope you can see the dates bits

With rich cream chocolate icing and cherry and cashew nuts decorated on top

Well Now here is the recipe how I made this

Wheat flour ( Mixed grains atta) - 1 & 1/2 cup
Sugar powdered - 1 cup
Milk - 1 +  1/2 cup
Cooking chocolate - 100 gms
Butter- 100 gms
Egg -1  full (including white and yellow)
Thick curd or yoghurt - 3/4 cup
Coffee powder -1 tspn
Hot/boiled water- 1 cup
Dates- 10 nos chopped thin
Almonds -chopped to bits -2 tspn
oil -2 tbpn
baking powder-1/2 tspn
Baking soda- 1/2 tspn

1) Seive the flour, baking powder and baking soda.
2) In another vessel mix butter ( room temperature) with powdered sugar. Beat till fluffy. Add one egg and continue beating.
3) In a pan boil  1 cup milk , add the cooking chocolate into it and dissolve completely by mixing.
4) Add 1 tspn coffee powder to the boiled water (1 cup) and allow it to rest till the coffee dissolves in.Once it is thick black strain and keep the coffee decotion aside.
5) Using another half cup milk grind the dates bits in a mixer.
6) When all these come to room temperature mix everything together one by one.
7) Finally add the curd.
8) Fold in the dry mixture ( flour+baking powder+ baking soda) to the wet mix. Beat everything thoroughly till no lumps are formed
9) Add 2 tbsp of oil atlast just before pouring in to the tray
10) Grease a baking tray with oil and pour in the batter
Bake in a preheated oven @ 200 deg C for 25-30 minutes ( Time can be adjusted according to you oven settings or bake till the skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean )

Allow it to cook and use the icing of your choice to decorate.

Spincah -Methi Cutlets

Spinach-methi leaves cutlet 
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(with some sweet corn and carrot)

Wanted to make my son eat some green vegetables and hence made this cutlet as he likes cutlets very much.
Here is how I made it

Spinach leaves - a handful
Methi (leaves alone) - a handful
Chop the leaves to small and blanch it in warm water for a few seconds
Sweet corn -1 cup (grinded coarsely) 
Green peas -2 tbsp
Mashed potato -2 nos
Onion -1 medium chopped
Carrot -1 small grated
salt as required
gharam masala -1/2 tspn
pepper powder -a pinch
Mix everything together with mashed potato. if it is not binding properly can add 1 or 2 bread slices or can add maida flour also. 

Make to small patties and roll on a batter of maida flour +corn flour+salt +cheese+tomato ketchup.
Roll on bread crumbs and fry.
serve with tomato kethcup

Tomato Rice with Mushroom Manchurian

Recipe for tomato rice
Rice -1 cup 
Pressure cook the rice in 21/2 cups of water and keep it aside
Tomatos -2 medium chopped thin
Onion -1 medium chopped thin
garlic -5 nos chopped
ginger -1/2 inch chopped thin
lemon -1/2 

for seasoning
 mustard, saunf, cinnamon stick -1 inch, cloves -2 nos, cardamom -2, bay leaf -1 
In a kadai heat some oil and saute the seasoning ingredients one by one. Then add onion, garlic, ginger chopped  and saute nicely till thin, add tomatos and allow water content to evaporate completely. can add tomato puree also if you want to avoid adding tomato. (for making puree of tomato boil the tomatoes in water,peel off the skin and puree it)
Mix rice now and add salt too. squeeze one lemon on top and mix. add chopped dhaniya leaves to garnish

Recipe for easy to make mushroom manchurian.

Ingredients :
Mushroom - 1 packet
Onion- 1 big
Capsicum -1 small
garlic-5-6 cloves
ginger-1/2 inch chopped thin
green chilli -3
coriander leaves -chopped -few
and spring onion chopped -few ( i didnt have it in stock this time)

Soya sauce -2 tsp
Chilli sauce-1/2 tspn
Tomato sauce-1 tspn
oregano -1 pinch
Corn flour -1 & 1/2 tspn dissolved in water ( the quanitity of corn flour can be taken according to your desire for making the gravy very thin/loose or slightly thick. Here in this recipe I used 1 tspn only as I wanted it a medium dry cum thick gravy type)

salt and oil as required

Clean the mushroom taking the individual pieces  and wipe it dry. Cut it only at the time of making.
chop all the vegetables into cubes and keep it ready
Heat a kadai and add the mushrooms now. before that cut into two or four halves depending on the size. Dry roast it till it starts sticking on to the walls of kadai. By doing this it removes the excess water content from the mushroom and also gives it a smoky taste. then pour some oil on top of the mushrooms and saute dry. Now add vegetables one by one and saute till tansluscent. add the sauces one by one and instead of ajinomoto I have used oregano powder to get the flavour.
Finally add the corn flour dissolved in water to this and allow it to boil and get thickened. Adjust the salt level. serve hot
Enjoy this easiest chinese recipe at your own home's comfort.

Radish -carrot cheese cutlets

Tried this for My son's snack box recipe on one day. Was really good. Sorry that I couldn't click a better picture but the recipe is really worth trying

Ingredients :

Radish -1 big grated
Carrot -1 small grated
Onion -1 medium sliced thin or chopped
Mashed potato -as required
(I have used the ready made mashed potato available in markets)
Cheese -1 cube grated
gharam masala -1/2 tspn
red chillipowder -1/2 tspn
Bread - 2 slices
Bread crumbs - as required
Maida + salt + cheese (1/2 cube grated) -for making a thick batter

Mix together radish, carrot, mashed potato, onion, cheese grated and bread crumbs together to a thick dough. make small balls out of it and make the shape of cutlets. roll it on maida batter and roll on bread crumbs and fry in hot oil. serve with tomato ketchup.

Paneer fritters

A simple and easy paneer recipe for kids. I know Paneer is the all time favourite food of kids . so definitely this is a worth trying item.
This can be packed in lunch box or snack box and can send it to school to surprise your little ones

Recipe

Paneer -1 pkt (200 gm)
Maida + Red chilli + tomato ketchup + Green chilli sauce + salt + garlic paste - enough to make a medium
thick batter.
Bread crumbs - enough to roll on
Cut the paneer to cubes , roll on batter and then on bread crumbs and deep fry in hot oil. Serve with sauce or ketchup.

Pulses Dosa with Tomato chutney

We have heard about different types of Dosa. We use different types of grains like rice, wheat, ragi, soya etc for making dosas. This is a special dosa made out of sprouted pulses alone and I was really doubtful about how it will come out. Just tried it once and it is soft at the same time yummy and healthy too.

As you know pulses supply the same amount of calories as cereals and in terms of the protein content it is twice the protein content as that of cereals and hence is an excellent aid for boosting the metabolism and thereby weight loss. More above the nutrient content is also rich. So its worth trying as it gives lot of health benefits.

Here is the recipe

Green gram -1/2 cup
Black chana -1/2 cup
Flax seeds -1/4 cup
Horse gram -1/2 cup

You can add more varieties of spices available in ur kitchen as per your taste.

Urad dhaal - 1/2 cup

Soak all these together with few methi seeds and allow them to sprout.
Grind them together to a smooth batter along with some poha, say a handful. I have added the left over dosa/idli batter also to allow better fermentation and not to make it sour.If you dont have left over batter add 2-3 tbspn of raw rice also while grinding.

Make the dosas as usual. Tastes even much better if added ghee or drizzled oil over top.

Recipe for Tomato chutney
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tomato -1 medium
Onion -1 big
Red chillies -6
Garlic -4 cloves
Salt as required
Saute everything dry in a kadai and grind to a smooth paste . Pour a table spoon of oil over the chutney after grinding.

Small onion Bonda (ulli vada)

Yummy yummy yummy.. Thats the only word by which I can express the taste of this snack

                        My Hot platter of Small onion Bonda with hot milk tea.

Ingredients:

Small onion -1 cup .( If small use as whole and if large split into two pieces)

Besan flour - Enough for a batter

Red chilli powder -1 pinch

Curry leaves -chopped - a few

Hing - a pinch

Salt - as required

Oil for frying

Make a batter of besan flour, hings, red chilli powder, curry leaves and hing. Roll the onion on batter and fry. Serve hot.

Egg Bonda

Egg bhajji or also known as egg bonda is a favourite delicacy in our place. We elders and kids are in our family equally love to have this. Once in a while forget about the calories and pamper your taste buds in a minimal way with such great and tastier snacks. 

Imagine how awesome it will be to have this with a hot cup of black coffee on a rainy day.. Craving?? me too. ;)

Ingredients required

Egg boiled and de shelled - 3 nos ( or as required)

Besan flour, Red chilli powder, salt and a pinch of hing - as required for a thick batter.

Cut the egg into two halves. Coat the batter over it and fry in hot oil. Serve as such for better taste or can have with any chutneys or sauces.

Paneer Fried Rice

One more Awseome dish from Paneer family.. Paneer fried rice is my son's favourite as it is easy to chew, and easily digestible, very light to tummy.

Please see the recipe for making Fried rice in my easiest chinese album.  Only difference is I added Paneer instead of veg or non veg.

Paneer Pakodas

Very easy and simple Recipe for making Paneer pakodas. Excellent snack box recipe for kids.

Ingredients required are:

Gram flour , salt, a pinch of hing and red chilli powder  to make a thick batter.
Can add chopped small onions, green chillies etc to the batter if interested. 

Method:

Cut the paneer into desired shapes. Long strips or cubes. Mix in batter and fry in oil. Serve with tomato sauce.

Rice Fryms

This is my mom's Traditional recipe. She is always an expert in making a new dish out of scratch. This one is an 'always seen ' item in my mom's Kitchen. Before the rainy season arrives she will make this , dry under sun and keep it in store ( in the glass bottles) and we as kids always used to ask her to fry this with as side dish for rice.
My Son also love this now and in that way am sure this will become any child's favourite.
Another main plus point with this dish is the ingredients required .. This is made using the left over rice( you an make this with freshly cooked rice also)  and a few spices that are already available in your kitchen any time. So whenever you have free time you can make this in your own home. the only difficulty is in drying this under the sun. So be ready to make this when you have plenty of sunlight available ie; during summer :))

Ingredients

Cooked Rice , Red chilli powder, Jeera seeds ,Asafoetida and Salt

The quantity depends on the quantity of cooked rice you take.

If you are using the left over rice of many days ,Keep it in fridge daily and when it comes to a large quantity you can make this.
Procedure:
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In a kadai heat the rice. Evaporate till dry. Add Red Chilli powder, Jeera seeds, Hing and salt as required and saute till it forms a lump. Keep on stirring to avoid charring.

Now when it is cooled grind it in a mixer to a thick paste. Using a spring hopper ( sevanazhi) squeeze it out through the 'murukku' stencil , to the desired shape on a flat plate with a cloth spread on it. Always remember to use Satin or silk cloth. dont use paper or cotton cloth as this will stick on to the fryms when dried and is unhealthy.

Now dry these in sunlight for 2-3 days or till it is breaking off easily from the cloth. Fry in hot oil and serve. We have it with rice. and it tastes excellent.

Vazhakka bhaji

Raw banana bhaji. This can be made as an evening snack or Kids snack box recipe. Its very difficult to make the kids eat raw banana. So in this way this is a difference. 

Ingredients
Raw Banana - 1 no cut into Thin long slices.
Gram flour  -enough to make a thick batter.
Red Chilli powder, salt , a pinch of hing to add on to the batter

Make a thick batter using the gram flour and dip the banana slices on it and fry. To add on the crispiness/crunchiness you can make a variation by rolling the pieces on bread crumbs and fry in hot oil. serve with Tomato ketchup

This is surely a nice evening Snack to be served with hot tea

Macroni Fritters

This is going to be yet another lunch/snack box recipe for kids. Kids would love to have macroni and pastas. so why dont you prepare it in a different way.

Recipe:


Macroni -1/2 cup.

Boil Macroni in water or pressure cook for 1 whistle with salt added. Strain and wash in cold water (2 times) Allow the water to drain. Make a batter of maida ( for vegeterians) or egg white ( for non veg lovers) with chilli sauce, salt, tomato ketchup (1/4 tspn) and soya sauce (1/4 tspn) . Mix well and roll over bread crumps and fry in hot oil