Yum...yum...yum...Doughnuts

 

 



 

          Ingredients :

 

1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm milk

1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup / 1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/4 cup sugar ( + 2 Tbsp if you like it sweeter )

1/2 cup hot milk

1 tsp salt

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour ( you might need 1/4 cup or little more to make a soft  elastic dough )

1 egg , beaten

oil for deep frying

 

How to proceed :

 

          I used my Cuisinart automatic bread machine to make the dough .

 

1) Add all the ingredients in the order as listed .

 

If you want to make it without bread machine

 

1) Add 1 tsp sugar and yeast to warm milk and allow to prove .

2) Mix together butter , sugar and hot milk till the butter is creamy and melted and sugar dissolves .

3) Let it cool a bit .

4) Add egg and mix well .

5) Add 1/2 cup of flour and yeast .Mix well .

6) Add rest of the flour to make soft elastic dough .

7) Cover and let rise till double in volume .

8) Punch down the dough lightly .

9) Divide the dough in 3 / 4 ( to roll it easily )

10) Roll the dough with little or no pressure about 1/4 of an inch thick . 

11) Cut the doughnuts with doughnut cutter . I don't have one so I used the cookie cutters .

12) Keep on lightly greased cookie sheet and let rise for about 30 minutes .

13) Heat oil on medium heat .

14) Fry the doughnuts on medium low flame till golden brown .

15 ) Keep on paper towel .

16 ) Dip in the glaze while still warm .

 

 

 

Plain Glaze :

 

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 Tbsp+ 1/2 tsp boiling water

 

    Mix together to make glaze of coating consistency( it should coat the back of spoon ) .

 

Chocolate Glaze :

 

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

 

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

 

       Melt in double boiler or microwave on 50% power for 30 sec - 1 min . stirring occasionally .

 

Sprinkles for decoration

 

 

The leftover dough can be rolled to make doughnut holes . I put them in a zip lock bag with powder sugar to coat well .

 

Elmo cake for Sophia's 1st birthday

                         This cake is for the sweetest 1 year old girl Sophia . She loves Elmo and my friend , Sophia's mom wanted to have a smash cake for Sophia and her sissy . So here it...Happy birthday .

                          It is a basic white cake with whipped cream icing . The mouth is made with melted chocolate .

Cake decorated by Jr and Princess Pea

                  This is Jr and Princess Pea's first attempt of cake decoration . And they made this momma very proud . The cake is a basic white cake with whipped cream icing . Here's wishing Saarth a very happy birthday ...

DIY Bench , our Long Weekend Project

                           Mr. AJ and I  LOVE  DIY projects . Being back from a long vacation we wanted to stay home and have fun during the fourth of July weekend . We wanted to have something in the foyer to sit and still not make it look like a formal seating arrangement . We even did not want to put chairs there . A bench was a perfect solution for that . The material ( wood ) for this bench was under $30 . We decided to paint it instead of staining and added baskets that look neutral . The bench is made with 2x4s and is very sturdy . You can find the plan and the step by step directions here.

Strawberry soup for my princess

                I am back to blogging after a long break of almost four months . Yay... Since the day we got home after the dream vacation at the Disney World  , Princess Pea had been asking me to make Cinderella's favorite strawberry soup that she had at the character dining with Cinderella ,Prince Charming , her step mother and Step sisters . What a great experience it was ! I made this soup when We were invited for a cookout on hot summer  evening .. This  soup is very cool and refreshing and a good start to Royal Feast ..
 
               Though I was given a recipe for the soup along with our pictures taken at 1900 Park Fare , I changed it to make it with whatever I had in my fridge . The pink soup is also perfect for girl's birthday parties as well as tea parties .

What we need :

2 lb. strawberries ( frozen work well too )
2-4 tbsp. sugar ( depending on the sweetness of the strawberries )
2 cups milk
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup yogurt
strawberries or mint to garnish

To Proceed :

1) Wash and chop the strawberries .
2) Add sugar and let it sit in the fridge for 1/2 hour .
3) Blend together strawberries , milk , sour cream and yogurt till the soup is creamy .
4) If you find the soup to be very thick , adjust the consistency with some more milk .
5) Chill well and serve .
6) Garnish with either fresh sliced strawberries or a spring of mint .


*** The actual recipe calls for heavy cream but I substituted it with milk (whole or 2% is fine) to make it a bit healthier .
 
        You can use 1/2 cup of yogurt instead of sour  cream to make it a healthy version for Kings and Queens .****




             

Spiced Chocolate Rice

Ingredients :

Rice - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Milk - 3/4 cup
Grated ginger - 1/8 tsp
Green cardamom - 2
Cloves - 2
Ghee - 1tsp + 1tsp
Salt to taste
Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup
Milk , warm - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 2 tsp

For Garnish :

few grapes
strawberries

How to :

1) Wash and drain the rice . Keep aside for 10 minutes .
2) Heat ghee in pan andadd green cardamom and cloves to it .
3) Add grated ginger and washed rice and fry for 2 minutes.
4) Boil milk and water together and add to the rice.
5) Cook the rice completely .
6) Cool the cooked rice .
7) Melt the chocolate chips in microwavr for 1 minute or in double boiler .
8) Add warm milk to it .
9) Add sugar and mix well .
10) Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan .
11) Add cooled rice and the chocolate in the milk to it .
12) Cook till all the chocolate milk is absorbed in the rice .
13) Cover and steam for 2 minutes.
14) Garnish with sliced grapes and strawbrries .
15 ) Serve warm .

** This dish can be made with leftover plain rice too . In that case , heat ghee ,add cardamom and cloves , grated ginger and then cooked rice to it .
** You can use any favorite chocolate bar for this recipe .
** You can add fruits directly to the rice before serving .

Egg in avocado nest

     Ingredients :

1 Ripe avocado
2 Eggs
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder to taste
1/4 cup grated cheese of your choice
2 tbsp butter

    To proceed :

1) Cut avocado in half and remove the stone .
2) Cut a small slice around the center of the avocado so it can be a nest to hold the egg .
3) Cut a thin slice from the curved side of avocado so it can stay straight in the pan .
4) Heat butter in a pan .
5) Place avocado slice in the hot pan .
6) Crack one egg in the avocado .
7) Season with salt and pepper .
8) Sprinkle cheese on top and cook till the
9) Cover the pan and let the egg cook according to your liking .
10) Serve with homemade almond milk .

    

Choco Lassi

Ingredients :

2 cups yogurt
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips ( or any of your choice )
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk


To make the lassi :

1) Melt the chocolate chips in microwave or double boiler till completely melted .
2) Blend together yogurt , salt, sugar and vanilla till smooth .
3) Adjust the consistency with milk .
4) Add melted chocolate to it and blend again .
5) Pour it in a glass and top with some more melted chocolate .

Enjoy !!!!

** I add milk instead of water to thin the lassi as my son does not like to milk at all . You can add water if you want .
** You can use candy melts to make different colored lassi too.
** I decorated the glass with melted chocolate just to make it look fancier.

School supplies organiser

 

 

 

                      Pinterst inspired school supplies organiser . It's made with empty shoe box and bath tissue rolls . the shoe box is covered in wrapping paper and decorative plastic tape . 

Avocado bhajji / Avocado fritters with lemon cilatro dip

For the bhajjis :

2 Avocados,pitted and sliced
1 cup besan/ chickpea flour
1tbsp rice flour
salt to taste
1 tbsp hot oil
t sp turmeric powder
oil to fry

For lemon cilantro dip :

1 cup hung yogurt / greek yogurt
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
juice of 1 lemon
1 green chilli ,finely chopped
salt to taste

 To proceed :

Bhajjis :

1) Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan .
2) Mix besan , rice flour , turmeric powder and salt together .
3) Add a tbsp of hot oil to it .
4) Add water to make a thin batter .
5) Dip avocado slice in this batter and fry in the hot oil till golden brown .
6) Drain on paper towel .

Lemon Cilanto dip :

1) Whisk the hung yogury / greek yogurt till creamy .
2) Add chopped cilantro , green chilli and lemon juice and mix well.
3) Add salt according to your taste .
4) Chill in the refrigerator .

Serve the hot pakodas with chilled dip . Enjoy....

** Adding rice flour to besan makes the cover little crispy...my grandma's trick... :)

Watermelon rind kofta curry

 Ingredients :

 For kofta :

2 cups grated watermelon rind ( green and white part)
1 cup besan( chickpea flour)
2 tbsp freshly made paneer
1/2 tsp ginger paste
salt to taste
oil to fry

For gravy :

2 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp
2 onions chopped
1 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp garilic paste
4-5 cashews
1 tsp khas khas( white poppy seeds )
2 tomatoes ,pureed
1/4 cup yogurt
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
2 cups water
2 tbsp chopped cilantro

To proceed :

Kofta :

1) Squeeze as much water as possible from the grated watermelon rind .
2) Add besan ,paneer, salt and ginger paste to form a loose dough .
3) Makje koftas of desired size and shape .
4) Fry in hot oil till golden brown in color and drain on paper towel .

Gravy :

1) Soak cashews and khas khas in warm water for 10 minutes .
2) Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and fry chopped onions till they turn dark brown .
3) Let the browned onions cool down .
4) Grind browned onions along with soaked cashews , khaskhas and 1/4 cup yogurt to a fine paste .
5) Heat a tbsp of oil in pan and add the onion paste .
6) Fry the onions till you see oil seperating from the sides . ( It won't take more than 2 minutes as the onions are already cooked )
7) Add ginger garlic paste and fry for another minute .
8) Add tomato puree and cook till oil seperates .
9) Add all the dry spices and fry for another minute .
10) Add tomato ketchup and continue cooking for a minute .
11) Add salt and water .
12 ) Bring the gravy to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes with cover .
13) Drop the koftas in the gravy .
14) Let the koftas sit in the gravy for 15 minutes .( off the heat )
15 )Garnish with chopped cilantro .
16 ) Serve hot with rice ,roti,puri or paratha.

** The green part of the rind is little hard .It gets soft when kept in the gravy for 15 minutes .
** Fresh paneer was made by boiling one cup of milk and adding a few drops of lemon juice to it . Put it on paper towel and it's ready to use .
** Adding yougurt while making onion paste reduces the amount of oil in the recipe .
** Adding a pinch of sugar helps browning onions .
** Tomato ketchup adjusts the sourness of the gravy along with enhancing the color of the gravy if tomatoes are not bright red .

Enjoy...

Castle Cake for my princess

  

Buffalo Cauliflower

                           
                            This is my entry for Pallavi's( A Cook @ Heart ) the "I must make that "contest . The pictures in her blog are so tempting I could eat the food with my eyes . She is hosting a contest and giveaway and this will will be my first participation at any event .

                           Tailgating parties are incomplete without the buffalo wings . Normally these are chicken wings and are pretty spicy . The spice in the wings is the only reason I decided to give them a try . On one of our trips to Niagara Falls , I decided to try them . Hubby dear took me to the "Anchor bar " where the wings are supposed to be originated . I am not a fan of non vegetarian food . Being raised a vegetarian I started eating chicken and only chicken after meeting my husband . He is a foodie and loves to eat non vegetarian food . But he has never asked me to cook meat at home as he knows how uncomfortable it is for me . After moving to the US I realized I can not eat the chicken we get in the restaurants here . The chicken in Indian dishes is so well seasoned and spiced ,one can hardly feel he is eating meat . But it's not the case here . But buffalo wings is a totally different story . Some of the wings you get in Anchor Bar are so spicy they have even named them "suicidal " . Till now you must have guessed how much I LOVE the wings . But then I don't like them with bones . They should be well seasoned and most importantly they have to taste the same as the wings at Anchor bar . Now here is the main problem . I am about 300 miles away from Buffalo ,NY . So if I want to eat wings , I have to either drive there or find an alternative .
    
                            This was my moment of  " I must make that " . Earlier there was Yahoo ,Google and now there is Pinterest . People there are so creative , there is hardly anything you don't find there . I had seen pictures for cauliflower steak , pizza and now wings . After reading the recipe I knew what I wanted to do . I had to tweak the recipe to suit my taste and the results were amazing . Kids and hubby loved it and so did I . the best thing is I can eat my favorite dish without eating any meat and without travelling 300 miles . I did not make the buffalo sauce at home and Frank's hot sauce worked very well  . One more thing to note is I did not miss eating the real wings at all .

Ingredients :

a big cauliflower head
1 cup rice flour
2 tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 cup buttermilk / water works as well
1/8 tsp grated garlic
2 tbsp Frank's hot sauce
salt to taste

Buffalo hot sauce :

1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup Frank's hot sauce

How to :

1) Preheat the oven to 450 F.
2) Cut cauliflower into bite size florets .
3) Mix buttermilk , rice flour ,all purpose flour , grated garlic , hot sauce and salt to make a medium consistency batter . The batter should coat the back of the spoon .
4) Add cauliflower florets in the batter and stir gently to coat the florets well .
5) Line a cookie sheet with aluminium foil and spray with non stick spray .
6) Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or till the florets are gloden in color .
7) Meanwhile mix melted butter and hot sauce together .
8) Add the florets in the sauce to coat well .
9) The wings are ready to eat at this time . If you want the sauce to seep in the florets , put it in the oven for couple more minutes .
10 ) Serve hot with any dressing of your choice . The wings are normally eaten with blue cheese dressing but that's not a favorite at my place . So we had it with ranch .


             So my friends,  try these vegetarian wings and enjoy !!!
      

Dry fruit truffles

                      The kiddos will eat anything with chocolate . So will their friends . That made me decide this year I was going to gift chocolates to my kiddo's friends . Jr always says ," everything comes with a catch ". The catch here is these are healthy chocolates . Luckily none of the kiddo's  friends are allergic to anything . I had to make these when kiddos were at school as it gives me the best opportunity to sneak in many things . The truffles have dates ,almonds ,pistachios , raisins , walnuts ,peanuts ,cranbeeries and spices like cardamom ,nutmeg and saffron . The options are endless . Only thing to remember is dates and raisins help to bind all the dry fruit and add natural sweetness .

Ingredients :

1cup dates
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup cranberries
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup almonds
1/4 cup peanuts
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1/8 tsp nutmeg powder
a few strands of saffron
3 cups wilton candy melt wafers


To proceed :

1) Line a cookie sheet with wax paper .
2) Grind all the dry fruits in fruit processor till the mixture comes together .
3) Add the cardamom and nutmeg powder and saffropn and pulse for couple of times.
4) Shape the dry fruit mixture in desired sized balls .
5) Melt the candy melts according to the package direction .
6) Dip the dry fruit balls in melted chocolate and keep them on the wax paper to harden .
7) The chocolate hardens in less than 10 minutes .
8) Wrap them individually in candy wrapper or keep in an airtight container .

         

                   Jr's friends liked it so much they have requested the same gift on the friendship day ..Yay...

Paneer butter masala

                          There are very few things my kiddos eat without any fuss . Paneer butter masala or orange gravy as Princess Pea calls it ,tops the list . Many times when I ask her what she would like to eat she asks for the ' orange gravy ' . Though I like to make the gravy using the freshest ingredients , sometimes the time is not in my favor . That's when this semi-homemade concept comes handy . I am a big fan of the show "Semi homemade with Sandra Lee" on food network . Store bought ingredients make this preparation super easy . Many new moms and  the students in the dorm have been asking for the simple form of this recipe and that's the reason it made to my blog .

Ingredients :

1 tbsp + 2 tsp oil
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp ginger -garlic paste ( I like to  grate ginger and garlic freshly )
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp kasoori methi
16 oz tomato sauce ( I prefer no sodium sauce and season it according to my taste)
1/8 cup heavy cream or whole milk
14 oz paneer
2 tsp chopped cilantro
salt to taste
2 cups water

To proceed :

1) Cut the paneer into desired shape . I cut it in bite size cubes.
2) Place the cut paneer with 2 tsp oil in a ziplock bag . Give it a nice shake so all the paneer cubes are coated with oil .
3) Toast the paneer in a heavy bottom pan on medium low heat till golden brown . This is to eliminate frying the paneer .
4)Boil 2 cups of water and add a the toasted paneer to it . Let it sit for 5 minutes .This will make the paneer super soft .
5) Heat butter and oil in apan .
6) Add ginger garlic paste and a tsp of water and fry for 2 minutes .
7) Add the tomato sauce and let it boil for 5 minutes .
8) Add garam masala and red chilli powder .
9) Microwave kasoori methi for 30 sec and crush it between your palms to make a coarse powder .
10) Add kasoori methi to it .
11) Add salt according to your taste .
12) Add heavy cream .
13) Drain the water from paneer and add it to the gravy .
14) Let it simmer for couple of minutes .
15) Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves .



** If you want to make the makhani gravy using fresh tomatoes ,you can findthe recipe here.**
         

Serve the paneer butter masala with plain or jeera rice ,naan,roti or paratha .

          Enjoy !!!

Dessert Pasta in white chocolate sauce

                    Which kid does not like pasta and chocolate . One sunday morning when Princess Pea and I were enjoying our quiet time together in the wee hours , somehow the talks drifted to food . She started talking about how she had always dreamt about pasta in chocolate sauce . A thought flashed in my mind and I decided to make the recipe exactly the same way she was telling me . Belive me , I was not sure of the outcome but still decided to go ahead only to please Princess Pea . When we tasted this dish , it was absolutely divine . Let me not waste my time and tell you how this dish was created .

Ingredients :-

1 cup pasta of your choice ( we used penne)
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream or whole milk
1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup freshly sqeezed orange juice
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp butter
1/8 tsp vanilla
strawberries ,banana sliced
oranges wedges

To proceed :

1) Cook the pasta according to the pakage directions and drain the water . Refresh in cold water , drain and keep aside .
2) Melt heavy cream and white chocolate chips in a double boiler till the chocolate is melted and thickened to coat the back of the spoon .
3) Melt butter in a heavy bottom pan . Add orange juice and honey and cook till the sauce is thickened .
4) Melt the semi sweet chocolate chips .
5) Toss the pasta in white chocolate sauce .
6) Add sliced bananas ,strawberries and orange wedges.
7) Garnish with melted semi sweet chocolate .

             

Baked Potato cheese Boondi Shev toast

                              Every day like many other moms , I wonder what to cook for afterschool snack that won't be too heavy nor too light to make the kiddos hungry within half hour . Both Jr and Princess Pea love munching on boondi and bhujia shev . And that definitely does not keep them full even for little time . So here is something both mom and kids compromised on this toast .

Ingredients :-

Potato toast :-

4 potatoes boiled and mashed
2 tsp ginger - garlic - green chilli paste
1 tbsp corn flour / all purpose flour
1 tsp black pepper powder
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp roasted cumin ,crushed
1 cup grated cheese
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
salt to taste

Topping :

1/2 cup boondi
1/2 cup bhujia shev

To Proceed :-

1) Preheat the oven to 400 F .
2) Grease a 8 x 13 pan.
3) Mix all the ingredients for the potato toast .
4) Spread the toast base in the greased pan .
5) Spread the topping on the toast and press them gently in the toast .
6) Bake for 15 mins or till golden in color .
7) Cool for 5 minutes before cutting in desired shape and size .
8) Serve warm with ketchup or dip of your choice .

No bake granola bars

                             The kiddos at Kane's Coop are spoiled . They have such a long list of preferences while buying granola bars ,I have not yet found any single one available on the shelves that makes them happy . So the mommy in me decided to give it a try . Pinterest was there as usual to help me . I made the bars with all the good stuff I wanted to sneak in without kiddo's knowledge .They don't like crunchy bars so I thought of making no bake bars and the kids loved .... absolutely loved these .

Ingredients :

4 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup raw honey
1/4 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup chopped cranberries
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/8 cup chopped pecans
1/8 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp flax seeds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

To proceed  :

1) Grease a pan .
2) Mix all the dry ingredients .
3) Melt butter on low heat .
4) Mix melted butter ,peanut butter and raw honey together.
4) Add it to the dry ingredients and mix well .
5) The mixture will be moist and sticky.
6) Press the mixture in the greased pan according to desired thickness .
7) Put it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours .
8) Cut in desired sized bars . ( I used the pizza cutter )
9) Wrap individual bar in plastic wrap or wax paper .
10) Store in the refrigerator .