THE KITCHEN AFFAIRE

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.