THE KITCHEN AFFAIRE

Appam is one of A 's favorites. So that was among the first few dishes I tried making when we were newly weds <3. And thanks to Divya of Easy Cooking for this easy and "made from scratch" recipe which comes out looking beautifully lacy and tasting delicious.  A  loves it, so do I. Here comes the recipe as it is...   Courtesy: Easy Cooking   Ingredients Raw rice – 1 C Cooked rice – ½ C Grated coconut – ½ C Salt to taste Baking powder – 1 t Sugar – 1 T Eno Fruit salt – 1 sachet Method Soak the raw rice for 4-6 hours. Grind to a smooth batter adding the cooked rice and grated coconut and enough water. Add the baking powder and salt. Mix well and keep it covered for 8-10 hours.[I keep it overnight] Next morning add sugar and mix well,add more water if the batter is too thick-it has to be of pouring consistency. Just before you start making the appam,add eno fruit salt to the batter. The batter will froth up ...

A and me love to try new stuff but there are days when we love to indulge in some of our favorite "not so healthy" dishes. One among that is Poori Bhaji masala.  A  reminiscence his college days when I make this. Those were days when he used to travel from  home to his college in local trains. And those trains used to sell hot and yummy Poori Bhaji masala for breakfast. Good times for sure! So here is our weekend cheat food special for you guys out there.. :)  Poori  Ingredients Wheat flour - 2 C Yogurt - a teaspoon Warm Water - 1 C (as needed to prepare the dough) Oil - to deep fry  Method Knead the dough (with yogurt) by gradually adding warm water.  Keep aside for 10 -15 mins. Roll them into small (not too thin) circles. Heat oil in a pan and wait till it gets hot. Test heat by dropping a lil' piece of dough into the pan, if the dough rises up instantly, it is ready. Drop the pooris one by one into th...

Courtesy: Marias Menu Maria made  9 inch loaf & 10 standard size cupcakes with the below specified qty Ingredients Milk – 1½ cups Butter – 100 gms (1/3 cup + 2 tbsp approx) Oil – ¼ cup (I used sunflower oil) Coco Powder – ½ cup ( I used Hershey’s) Self Raising Flour – 1 cup (Refer notes for substitute) Egg – 1 beaten, room temp Baking Soda – ½ tsp (refer notes) Sugar – 1 cup + 2 tbsp (250 gms) Method Preheat the oven at 180 C/350-375 F, a few mins before baking.  Heat together milk, butter, oil & coco powder till the butter melts. Let it cool to room temperature. Add flour, baking soda, sugar & beaten egg to the cooled wet ingredients. Beat it well using an electric beater or hand whisk till it is mixed well. You can either use it to make cupcakes or cake.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15- 20 mins for the cupcake & 25- 30 mins for the loaf cake. For cupcakes: Line your cupcake tin with paper liners (I use 2 liners pe...

The thought of egg puffs brings back fond memories of my college days. The bakery near my hostel sold the tastiest puffs in the world. That too, egg puffs. An egg puff and Sharjah shake was always the popular combination at that hangout. It was just fantabulous. I was trying to recreate that aroma and taste. Though I couldn't match that taste, it was pretty close. :) Ingredients Puff pastry sheets : 1  Eggs : 3  Chopped onions : 2 cups Ginger paste : 1 T  Garlic paste : 1 T  Coriander Powder : 1 t  Garam masala : 2 pinch  Turmeric powder : 1/4 t  Red chilli powder : 1 t  Salt as required  Oil : 3 T   Method Preparing Thaw the pastry sheet by leaving it out in room temperature for about an hour or so.  Boil the eggs and take the shell.  Cut each egg vertically(lengthwise)into two halves. For the stuffing Heat oil in the pan. Fry onion until it gets brown.  Then add ginger a...

This drink is perfect to serve to guests at a party/get-together. Not only is it a refreshing drink but also a beautiful one. Really! Just look at the pics :) Dont you think so? I have to say thanks to my friends for introducing us to this drink. We had it a couple of times and fell in love with it. So when we had guests this time we thought this would be a winner. And it was.. Everybody loved it..  :) Ingredients Pina Colada non alcoholic frozen fruit mix - 1 can Dacqri  (red color) - fruit/strawberry mix - 1 can  Pineapple flavor fanta soda - 1 Ice cubes - 2 C Oranges, sliced -  2 Mint leaves - a sprig Cold Water - a cup Method  (Prepare the drink right before the guests come - max15 mins before) Mix Pina Colada and Dacqri fruit mix in a large bowl or a beverage dispenser (as seen in the pic). Add the Pineapple soda to it and mix. To this, add the rest of the ingredients and give it a quick stir. Close the dispenser with the lid....

Ingredients Chana dal (split bengal gram/kadala parippu) – 2 C Onion – 1, finely chopped Green chilli – 3, finely chopped Ginger – 2 t, finely chopped Curry leaves – 2 sprigs Kayam (asafetida) – 1/8 t Salt - to taste Oil for deep frying Method Wash and soak chana dal in water for 2 hours.  Drain the water completely and make sure that the dal is dry. Coarse grind the drained dal (do not add water) for a few seconds. Make sure not to grind it to a smooth paste.  Add rest of the ingredients except oil to the ground mix and gently mix together.  Make small balls with the ground mix. Heat oil for deep frying pan on high flame.  While the pan gets hot, flatten the balls in your palm. When oil is really hot, reduce the flame to low-medium and add the vada/fritter.  Fry till the vadas (fritters) become golden brown or if you like it extra crispy, fry till you get a darker shade.  Drain excess oil on a tissue paper....

Ingredients Pizza Dough : Makes enough dough for two 10-12 inch pizzas 1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F) 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (check the expiration date on the package) 3 1/2 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose but bread flour will give you a crisper crust) 2 Tbsp olive oil 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon sugar Pizza  Olive oil Cornmeal (to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone)  Pizza Sauce    Garlic - 2 cloves, minced Onion - 1/4 chopped Green bell pepper - 2 T, chopped Tomatoes, crushed - 10/14 Oz can Italian seasoning (dried Basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano) -1 t Tandoori Masala - 1 t Red chilli flakes - to taste Pepper - 1 t Sugar - 1/4 t Salt - to taste Basil Leaves - Fresh Topping Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese, shredded Bell peppers, stems and seeds removed, thinly sliced Onions, thinly sliced Cherry tomatoes, chopped Paneer  Corn Italian seasoning Jalapeno peppers   Me...

There are days when you want to eat something new but not put in a lot of work to it. :P  Yeah.. The fact is, I was lazy but in a mood to eat something other than the regular stuff. And so, here I was blog hopping, as usual, and there I go.. I land on this awesome recipe for Tomato dosa by Sharmis Passion. Thanks to her for this lovely recipe. :) Yummy red colored dosas! Bliss :) We loved it.. Here is the recipe for you guys .. Ingredients Dosa Batter - 2 C Tomato - 2 chopped Garlic - 4 chopped minced Coconut - 1 T Red Chillies - 2 Jeera - 1 t Curry leaves - few chopped Red chilli powder - 1/2 t Oil - as needed Method Saute the tomatoes in a tsp of oil until mushy and the raw smell goes. Once it cools, grind to a fine paste by adding coconut, garlic and red chillies and little water. Add jeera, curry leaves , red chilli powder and the tomato coconut paste to the dosa batter and mix well. Heat a dosa pan, keeping in low medium flame take a...

Some days the mood to bake comes at odd times. Yesterday was one such day. I was done with cooking and cleaning up. It was almost 11 PM when I felt like baking something quick. That was when I thought of these yummy coconut macaroons.  They came out so yummy too :D We loved em.. Source - Taste of Home Ingredients 1-1/3 cups  flaked coconut 1/3 cup  sugar 2 tablespoons  all-purpose flour 1/8 teaspoon  salt 2 egg whites 1/2 teaspoon  vanilla extract Method In a small bowl, combine the coconut, sugar, flour and salt.  Stir in egg whites and vanilla; mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets.  I used the heart- shaped cookie cutter ;) Bake at 325° for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.   Yield:  about 1-1/2 dozen.

This is one yummy and perfect Lemon Cake recipe I found in the Food Network website. The recipe comes from none other than Food Network's famous program, Barefoot Contessa, hosted by  Ina Garten . One bite into this cake and you will forget all about your diet ;) And I thought why not bake such a yummy cake for our friends 25th wedding anniversary. And thats what I did.. :) What do you think? :) Courtesy :  Food Network For the cake 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature 2 1/2 cupsgranulated sugar 4 extra-largeeggs, at room temperature 1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6 to 8 large lemons) 3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoonbaking powder 1/2 teaspoonbaking soda 1 teaspoonkosher salt 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature 1 teaspoonpure vanilla extract Method  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch) loaf pans. You may also ...

We love Gulab Jamun. Even better if its home-made. :D  I wanted to make it from scratch. Not using the ready-made mix. And thats when I came across a couple of great recipes online. And finally ended up mixing and matching the recipes. Anyhow the GJs came out awesome. I took some to my workplace too. They loved it and so did we :D Check out the recipes guys! Ingredients 1 C dry milk powder 3 T all-purpose flour 2 T ghee (clarified butter), melted 1/2 t baking powder 1/2 C warm milk 1 pinch ground cardamom 1 quart vegetable oil for deep frying 1 1/4 C white sugar 7 fluid ounces water 1 pinch ground cardamom Method In a large bowl, stir together the milk powder, flour, baking powder, and cardamom.  Mix in the melted ghee, then pour in the milk, and continue to mix until well blended.  Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. In a large skillet, stir together the sugar, water, rose water and a pinch of cardamom.  Bring to a b...

This is something I had wanted to try since long. Thanks to a pot-luck party the other day, I got to try this.. And we all loved it :) Check it out.. Ingredients 6 hard-cooked eggs 2 T mayonnaise 1 t Sugar 1 t white vinegar 1 t prepared mustard 1/2 t salt Paprika Method Slice eggs in half lengthwise; remove yolks and set whites aside.  In a small bowl, mash yolks with a fork.  Add the mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, mustard and salt; mix well.  Stuff or pipe into egg whites.  Sprinkle with paprika.  Refrigerate until serving.

I found my passion for cooking after I got married.. :)  And it was only then that I came to know how much I loved baking too ... So much that I was always yearning to go for baking lessons.  It was early feb when this idea got to me. I was thinking what to do for hubby's bday. I wanted to bake him a beautiful cake for sure. Thats when I thought why not join for cake decoration lessons and bake a  nice lil' cake for him. And tada. Thats what I did. I enrolled for the Wilton Cake Decorating basic course and baked this lil' cake for him.. I baked a chocolate cake first and covered it with buttercream icing. Mixed colors and used piping to decorate :)  He totally loved it :) So did I.. 

This was the first cake I decorated during the Wilton cake decoration course. A simple pound cake. Used piping to decorate it. I was a lil' short of the buttercream icing, hence the cake is peeping out at the corners. :D Still, not pretty bad for a first timer. Right? ;) I loved the color combo. I was just trying to make it look as cute as possible. ;)

Finally, its time for the Round Up friends.. I am so glad that I got to host this event. You guys made it perfect with your amazing recipes.. :)  I was amazed to see the number of dishes you can make using lemon. I always tied lemon with lemon juice alone. Now thats what I call ignorance!! I am glad I dont think so anymore.. Lemon has a wide variety of uses in both the culinary and non-culinary world. It is used for aromatherapy, face cleansing (and many more things) apart from the huge list of culinary uses such as baking, pickling and so on. Here are the lip-smacking recipes from our friends. The first one comes from Janet. This combination of braised tempeh and green beans with lemon-sesame sauce is surely going to make you guys hungry. I am telling ya.. check it out.. And be sure to check out her space " The Taste Space ".. The next one comes from Rasya Srinath of " Veg Food & Me ". Her tangy lemon pickle makes me want to go home ev...