Vanilla cake with Chocolate Topping

In continuation to my previous post on hubby dear's birthday celebration plans I wanted to bake a cake.Tired of feeding him egg less, butter less, sugarless, whole wheat baked goodies for a change I wanted to bake with eggs,sugar and APF.Sanjeev wanted a simple Vanilla cake and I was craving for some chocolate hence merged both our desires and decided to bake Vanilla cake with chocolate topping.As mentioned earlier his birthday was on Good Friday and I was working that day,after making the Javvarasi payasam I was too tired to bake cake the same night hence decided to get up earlier than usual but had planned to cut the cake at mom's place as my dear bro and Sanjeev share the same birth date.I tried the below recipe by doubling the quantity and the cooking temperature but retaining the same cooking time.How Foolish was I..may be a tiring night ,early morning and a hectic planned work schedule waiting for the day makes one think so silly..When I removed the cake from the microwave oven it looked perfectly baked..Another mistake I tested it by inserting a knife closer to the center of the cake but more towards the edge..the knife came out clean and I thought it was perfect vanilla cake and started preparing the chocolate topping.Once I turned over the cake after it was cooled..BLOP fell the center totally unbaked just like the way it was before I placed it in the microwave..Was highly disappointed to feed my husband just the corners.Sanjeev is the best when it comes to cajoling me on such disasters in the kitchen..he uses the best of his people management skills to let me know that the intention is much more worth than the outcome..Well I know he hates to see me feeling low..but he also knows that I dont give up on accomplishing what I want  so easily.
He conveniently blamed the microwave oven for not being serviced ever since it was bought and made it a point to get it serviced over the weekend and motivated me to try baking the same cake again.
Kanishk my good old friend who is a wonderful cook helped me in identifying the areas where I could have gone wrong and Vinay another good friend and cook shared another simpler recipe.After all the encouragement of these 3 wonderful friends and with the cooperation of my little boyfriend my son , I tried the recipe again and it was a grand success.I got my bro and Sanjeev to cut the cake on Sunday when my parents had invited us for lunch.The cake was devoured by all in my family and the appreciation that I received was worth the attempt.I also shared it with my dear friends and colleagues at work who enjoyed it thoroughly and that really made my day..

Ingredients for Cake

1)Sugar - 1 cup
2)Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
3)Eggs - 2
4)Vanilla essence - 2 tsps
5)APF - 1 1/2 cup
6)Baking Powder - 1 3/4 cup
7)Milk - 1/2 cup
8)Salt - 1/4 tsp

Ingredients for Chocolate topping

1)Dark Chocolate - 2 bars (I used the bournville dark chocolate bars)
2)Icing Sugar - 2 tbps
3)Milk - 3 tbps

Procedure for cake

1)Preheat at 180 degree centigrade.
2)Sift flour , salt and baking powder about 3 times
3)Whisk egg white at high speed till foamy
4)Add sugar and beat until soft peaks are formed
5)Add yolk one at the time and beat at high speed till ribbon stage
6)Warm milk and oil
7)Blend flour in 3 batches into the egg mixture with minimum speed
8)Add warm milk + oil mixture and fold in using a spatula
9)Bake at 180 degree centigrade for 25-30min
10)Test it with a tooth pick or knife inserted in the centre of the cake
11)Cool it on a wire rack to apply the chocolate topping.

Procedure for Chocolate Topping
1)Melt the chocolate bars over boiling water.
2)Add milk and stir well
3)Add icing sugar 1 tbsp at a time and mix it well.
4)Cool it in the refrigerator for about 20 mins.
5)Spread a thin layer over the cooled cake.

 

Javvarasi Payasam

Birthdays are always fun..No matter how old you grow somewhere at the corner of your heart you still expect something special from your loved ones on this special day.With every passing year we run out of ideas to make this day even more special than the previous years.Books,gizmos,t-shirts,surprise party, etc etc were done in my list and this year I chose to please hubby dear's taste buds with his most favourite Javvarasi Payasam.Since his birthday was on weekday I decided to make it the previous night so that I could surprise him at 12.00am.Little did I know that Sanjeev's curiosity for my presence  in the kitchen for longer hours especially after a tiring day would be an easy guess to know what I was upto.As expected he landed up in the kitchen while I was trying hard to put my son to sleep and had his grub even before it was 12.00am.He loved it so much that he was all the more ready to have it again at midnight.While my son wondered what and why we ate at this odd hour he just hoped we dint feed him and he pretended to appear sleepy but never slept until we fell asleep..
Thanks to Navira for suggesting me to add Saffron and rose water to get that rich taste and wonderful smell..

Ingredients
1.Javvarasi - 1 cup
2.Milk - 1 litre
3.Sugar - 1/2 cup
4.Saffron - 3-4 strands
5.Rose Water - 2 Tbsp

Procedure
1.Wash the Javvarasi under running water and strain out the excess water.(Make sure that the Javvarasi is washed properly as my earlier attempts at this dish curdled the milk).
2.Soak the Saffron strands in rose water.
3.In a heavy bottom vessel boil milk and let it condense as you stir constantly till the quantity is reduced to 3/4.
4.Add the Javvarasi and stir it constantly till the milk reduces to 1/2 of its quantity.
5.Add sugar and continue to stir till sugar dissolves.
6.Let it cook for a while till the javvarasi is completely translucent.
7.Remove from Stove and add in the Rose water along with the saffron strands.
8.Stir it well and serve once it is cooled.

Oats Idli

We have rotis almost every night for dinner,on weekdays after a hectic workday my body just doesn't allow me to get innovative with the dinner menu and we resort to rotis.Though Sanjeev always encourages,appreciates and loves it when I experiment with food he is also highly obliging of the fact I cannot spare any energy to cook something new altogether for dinner on weekdays.Hence we reserve newer Menu options on dinner table for Weekends. I wanted to try Oats Idli  for quite sometime and after a series of blog hopping I finally managed to come up with the below very simple,easy and yet tasty recipe giving hubby dear and whole new flavour of Oats than the usual Oats porridge that we have for breakfast.The idlis turned out to be very tasty and light .Though it appears like rava idli they are very moist and tastes best when served hot.Sanjeev relished every bit of it and wanted me to try out other variations like Oats Dosa and Oats pongal too...

Ingredients
1)Oats - 1 cup ( I used Quaker Oats)
2)Wheat Rava - 1/2 cup
3)Curd - 1/2 cup
4)Water - 1/2 cup
5)Cooking Soda - 1 pinch
6)Finely chopped Vegetables (Carrot,capsicum,green peas) - 1 cup
7)Green chillies - 2
8)Finely chopped Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
9)Grated Ginger - 2 Tbsp
10)Lemon juice - extracted from 1/2 lemon
11)Olive Oil - 1 Tbsp
12)Salt - to taste

Procedure
1)Dry roast the Oats until the raw smell has gone and powder it.
2)Heat Olive Oil and fry the finely chopped vegetables green chillies with needed amount of Salt.
3)Add Grated Ginger and continue to cook till the raw smell has evaporated from the vegetables.
4)Add wheat rava and combine it well with the vegetables.
5)Close the lid and let it cook for 1-2 mins.
6)Add the powdered oats and mix them well.
7)Remove the pan from the Stove and mix in curds and lemon juice.
8)Continue to stir with some water to ensure there are no lumps.
9)Add cooking soda just before making the idlis and mix it well.
10)Pour the batter on the greased idli plates and cook them on high flame in a regular pressure cooker or idli cooker for 10 - 12 mins.
11)Serve it hot with chutney powder or Sambhar.

 

Whole Wheat Steamed Chicken Momos/Dumplings

It was around 10 yrs ago when I had first tasted momos, my brother had bought it for us and we at home wondered how this wonderful dish was prepared.With the exponential increase in workload I prefer to have lunch at the pantry but certain days when I go to the cafeteria I always see a big queue in front of the momos counter.I wanted to try out this dish but was skeptical about using whole wheat flour and was wondering if it would be as soft and tasty as the ones made from all purpose flour.It was Sunday evening and hubby dear was out to meet his friends and I had all the ingredients at hand,my little brat was busy running around the car trying to get his grandparents tired and I couldn't think of any better moment to try out this dish.To my surprise the dumplings came out so well that it tasted as good as the ones you get at the authentic Chinese restaurants, the brown colour was due to the whole wheat flour and the awesome mouthwatering taste overrides the not so professional pleats.Hubby dear and my parents enjoyed it thoroughly that I have constant request for preparing the next set at the earliest..

Ingredients
Chicken Filling
1)Chicken Breast - 1 (minced)
2)Green Chillies - 3
3)Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tbp
4)Salt to taste
5)Soya Sauce
6)Finely chopped coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
Dough
1)Whole Wheat Flour - 2 cups
2)Hot Water - 1 cup

Procedure
1)Add salt in hot water and let it dissolve.
2)Add the whole wheat flour and knead it well till a soft dough is formed.
3)Blend together green chillies,ginger garlic paste,salt and soya sauce.
4)Add the above blended mixture to the minced chicken and mix it well.Add chopped corinader leaves and mix it again till well incorporated.
5)Shape the dough into small balls and roll out thinly
6)Place a teaspoon of the filling in the middle of the rolled out dough and bring the edges together to make small tight pleats.
7)Pinch the top and twist it to ensure the dumplings are closed tightly.
8)Place them on a idly cooker and steam for around 15-17 mins
9)Serve with chilly sauce.

Fiery Grilled Chicken

I'm sure many of us would have encountered such inventions in our kitchen when we plan to cook something ,the recipe gets goofed up and we try some corrections and a new new recipe is born..Well thanks to my friend Navira who shared her chicken broast recipe , I decided to try the grilled version of the same but for some reason the oats coating over the chicken was overdone leading to a hard surface.I modified the recipe by letting the chicken marinate with oats than having to coat it and added some more spices .This correction turned out in to be an invention of the KFC style Fiery Grilled Chicken. I shared these grilled chicken drumsticks with a couple of my husband's relatives and my parents who loved the crispy yet the non greasy texture.The multiple blast of flavours as you chew through it rekindles all your taste buds."It tastes as good as the KFC Fiery Grilled Chicken" is what most of them who devoured complimented me.

Ingredients
1)Chicken Drum Stick - 12 pieces
2)Egg White - 3 eggs
3)Oats - 4 tbp
4)Salt to taste
5)Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbp
6)Chili powder - 2 tbp
7)Black pepper powder - 1 tbp
8)Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
9)Curry leaves - 1 handful
10)Corn Flour - 1 tbp
11)Oil - few droplets for greasing

Procedure
1)Wash the chicken drumstick pieces well and keep them aside
2)Blend egg white,ginger garlic paste,curry leaves and corn flour
3)Add oats,chilli powder,salt,turmeric powder,pepper powder to the above mixture.
4)Marinade the chicken pieces in the above paste and refrigerate it for about 2-3 hours.(Do not freeze)
5)Preheat the greased crusty plate in Microwave + Grill mode for 3-4 mins
6)Place the chicken pieces with even spacing between them and cook in microwave + grill mode for 20 mins turning their side after ever 10 mins.

Rava Upma with Flax Seed powder

Hubby dear is a big fan of my mother's Rava Upma,he says my mom makes the best Upma in the World.My mom too loves Sanjeev's rare compliments and prepares several boxes of Upma anytime its on the breakfast Menu and offers it to us so that we can consume it during different parts of the day.We being crazily in love with it have no objection what so ever in having it for all the 3 meals of the day..You can imagine how much we relish mom's Upma..
Another person who cooks yummy Upma is my dear friend Mangu's mom.. I miss eating her Upma especially during the bad days at work..
It was a Saturday evening and hubby dear was reminded of my mom's Upma and wanted me to prepare the same.I was a little apprehensive given the  high standards that my mom had set for this simple recipe but I definitely didn't wanted to disappoint him..Mom was out of station on a temple tour and I didn't wanted to disturb her asking for the recipe so I tried the below recipe with some healthy ingredients and it was a super duper HIT!!..Hubby dear enjoyed it thoroughly and so did my FIL except for the carrot chunks that intefered his taste buds..

Ingredients
1)Sooji Rava - 1 cup
2)Chopped Carrot - 1 cup
3)Chopped Beans - 1 cup
4)Finely chopped Onion - 1 cup
5)Finely chopped Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
6)Finely chopped curry leaves - 1/2 cup
7)Turmeric - 1 tsp
8)Chilli powder - 2 tbsp
9)Garam masala - 1 tsp
10)Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tsp
11)Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
12)Olive Oil - 2tbsp
13)Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
14)Whole Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
15)Salt - to taste
16)Finely chopped tomato - 1 cup
17)Water - 2 cups
18)Lime juice - 3 tbp
19)Flax Seed powder - 3 tbp

Procedure
1)Heat 1/2 tbsp of Olive oil in a non-stick Deep Fry Pan .Add rava and flax seed powder.
2)Roast it constantly by folding in until the raw smell is completely gone but ensure that it doesnt turn brown.The oil secreted from the flax seed powder will prevent the rava from sticking to eachother once cooked.
3)Add 1/2 tbp of Olive oil and roast for another 2-3 mins.
4)Transfer it into a wide plate and let it cool by itself at room temperature
5)Heat 1 tbsp of Olive oil and add mustard seeds,fennel seeds and whole urad dal seeds
6)Add the chopped onions once the seeds begin to splutter.
7)Add ginger garlic paste,turmeric powder,salt ,curry leaves,coriander leaves and garam masala.Cook them till the onion turns brown.Continue to fry them by constantly scrapping the bottom.
8)Add the chopped tomatoes,chilli powder,carrots and beans and cook them by closing the lid.Stir it occationally and sprinkle a little water if the need be.
9)Once the vegetables are soft add the rava and gently fold till they are well incorporated.At this point you will find rava as white dots all over the cooked masala and vegetables.Close the lid.
10)Boil 2 cups of water.
11)Add the hot water , lime juice and gently fold in.At this point the rava would quickly absorb the water and you  will still notice some white dots.
12)Close the lid and let it cook for 5-6 mins in low flame opening the lid after every 2 mins to fold in.
13)Turn off the stove and let is remain on the stove with lid closed for another 3-4 mins.
15)Add some more the chopped coriander leaves and fold in.
16)Serve with raita or with pickle.

Low Fat Banana Muffins

Ever since I started baking , hubby dear was on a constant request to bake goodies out of ripe Bananas.As an obvious choice nothing could be simpler,quicker and taster than Banana Muffins.I had tried baking them earlier using granulated sugar but was skeptical about using artificial sweetener.This time I tried replacing sugar with artificial sweetener and trust me there was absolutely no loss either in the texture nor in the taste of the muffins.
My friends at work relished it thoroughly and so did my family members .I recollect this compliment given by my BIL which definitely motivated me alot "Anni ,Egg less,butter less,sugarless muffins are supposed to be tasteless but this is very very tasty".So without much ado here comes the recipe

Ingredients
1)Whole wheat flour - 3/4 cup
2)Artificial sweetener - 2 tbsp
3)Milk at room temperature - 3/4 cup
4)Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
5)Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
6)Olive oil - 2 tsp
7)Salt - 1/4 tsp
8)Vanilla essence - 2 tsp
9)Mashed ripe banana - 1/2 cup

Procedure
1)Sift the flour,baking soda,baking powder,salt for about 3-4 times and keep them aside
2)In a mixing bowl add oil and artificial sweetener and mix them.
3)Add the mashed banana and vanilla essence and mix them till all of the wet ingredients are well incorporated.
4)Add the flour mixture little at a time and fold them in.Ensure not to overdo the batter mixing part here.
5)Preheat the microwave with Microwave + Grill option for 3 minutes.
6)Place the paper cupcake in the muffin mould and fill each of them with 2/3 of the above batter.
7)Place them in the microwave and cook in convention mode for 13-15 minutes until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
6)Cool them on a wire rack for 5 minutes.