Princess cake with Roses

This is the birthday cake that I made for my friends daughters 7th birthday.
For the first time I tried roses and   I succeeded ooohhhhooo....:) ,a small pat on my back.
I made 7 roses on top ,each to hold a candle surrounding the princess.
May be I'll request my friend to send me a photo with the roses holding the candles and post
it for you guys...
For me baking is all midnight 'coz that's when my kids are asleep and no one to disturb me..
I like silence when iam into any art work

The base is a 10 inch vanilla cake with a 6 inch vanilla cake on top.

 Made the roses and arranged it

Noolkol Kuruma / Kolrabi Kuruma

Ingredients:

Noolkol / Kolrabi - 1 small cubed
Potato - 1/2 or 1 small cubed (optional)
Frozen Green peas - 1/4 cup
Onion - 1 cup chopped
Tomato - 1
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp (freshly grounded)
Cinnamon - 1
Fennel Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom - 1
Curry leaves - 4 or 5 leaves
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Water - 2 cups
Oil - 2 or 3 tsp
Salt - as needed


To grind for paste:

Shredded Coconut - 2 or 3 tbsp
Tomato - 1/2
Fennel seeds - 3/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 to 3/4 tsp (Upto your spice level)
Coriander powder - 3/4 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Cashews - 2 (optional)



Heat oil in a cooker, add Cinnamon - 1,Fennel Seeds - 1/2 tsp,
Cardamom - 1 to fry for few seconds.


Add onions & curry leaves, fry until onion slightly changes its color.

Add ginger garlic paste and fry until raw smell goes.
Add tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Fry until tomatoes are cooked soft.
Add the chopped vegetables and saute it well.

Then add grounded masala to the onion & tomato gravy. Fry it for less than a minute and add 1 cup or more water. (According to the consistency. It should not be too watery)

Allow it to boil for 2 minutes or until raw smell goes.


Close the cooker and pressure cook for 2 whistles.

Finally garnish with chopped corriander leaves.

Yummy mouth watering noolkol kuruma is ready.Enjoy it with
chappathi or rice ;))

Rich Banana Bread with walnuts and chocolate chips

Did i say its "Rich" banana bread........i should have said "fall in love instantly" banana bread.

:)) oh..yeah take a bite and you will crave for another bite.

Yummy Yummy Yummy ,there goes the last bit in my daughters tummy!!!!!!

:) hahaha.......try it and you 'll tune to my song...

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

3 medium bananas,smashed

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 

Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl melt butter for a minute in microwave.

Stir in sugar to the melted butter.

Add the eggs and vanilla,mix well.

Combine the flour,baking soda and salt,stir into the butter mixture until smooth

Finally , fold in the sour cream,walnuts and bananas.

Fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips.This is optional,i added because my daughter loves chocolate

chips.

Prepare a 9inch x 3 inch loaf pan placing a parchment paper at the bottom.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1hour & 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Here you go......ah ha....deliciously rich banana walnut chocolate chip 

bread is ready to enjoy as a breakfast or as anytime snack.Love it ,love it,love it.......Pleased with the way the ripened bananas has turned into.

Mushroom Biriyani

Ingredients :

Basmati Rice - 2 & 1/2 rice cups

Mushroom - 3 cups (sliced thick)

Green Chillie - 2 (i used thai chillies)

GingerGarlic paste - 1tsp

Lemon Juice - 1 Tbsp

Red Chillie Powder - 2 tsp

Corriander Powder - 2 tsp

Red Onion - 1 (medium size)

Tomatoes - 3 (medium size)

Mint leaves - 3 sprigs

Corriander Leaves - 10 sprigs

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp

Sakthi Biriyani masala powder - 2 tsp (optional)

For seasoning :

Bay leaf -1 (small leaf)

Cardamom - 1

Cinnamon Sticks - 2 pieces

Cloves - 4

First rice for 15 minutes if using basmati . 30 minutes if using puzhungal/boiled rice.

Steps:
Keep the pressure cooker on stove.Pour oil(3 scoops) and let it get heated.Then add Cinnamon Sticks,followed by cloves,followed by cardamom and bay leaf.Let it brown a little bit.

Then add onion and saute it.

Then add tomatoes and saute it.

Add green chillies along with it.

Add the masalas: Red Chillie Powder - 2 tsp,Corriander Powder - 2 tsp and turmeric powder.
Saute it until OIL SEPERATES from the masala.

Then add the mushrooms and saute it well.

Add half the amount of mint anf corriander leaves and saute it.Add garam masala and Sakthi biriyani masala.

Then add water (1:2 ratio ie., for 1cup rice,add 2 cups water)
Let it boil and get married with the spices.
Now add the remaining mint and corriander leaves.

Finally add rice and let it boil for few more minutes.Then close the pressue cooker and  turn the
flame to medium.Put on the weight once it steams and turn off after 15 minutes.The timings vary for
different cookers.

Once done,open the cooker and add lemon juice on top and carefully with a long laddle stir it
with the rice(careful not to break the rice as you mix it.Be gentle)

Yummy mushroom biriyani ready to enjoy with raitha.

Aval Payasam

I love payasam of any kind.When i was browsing i happened to come across this wonderful simple       delight.Its so simple that i made it in no time.I loved this especially because my little one who is one year old enjoyed this much.

Ingredients:(serves 4)

Aval//poha-1/2 cup
Jaggery -1/4 cup + 2 tblsp(adjust as per your taste)
Milk       - 1 cup
cardamom powder- a pinch
cashews,raisins - as required
Coconut(grated)-1 Tbsp(optional)
Ghee- 2 tsp


Method:
Heat a pan with 2 tsp of ghee and fry the cashews till golden brown and in the same pan,
add the aval and fry till golden brown.
Boil milk and add the fried aval to it and cook in medium flame till  the aval is done.
Add the jaggery,elachi and mix well,add milk if needed and mix well in low flame. Don’t boil
more than a minute otherwise the milk will start curdling.

Yummy aval payasam can be served hot or chilled.Enjoy!!!!

Adai Dosa

Add caption

Adai is such a versatile dish that it could be a treat by itself or could be combined with 

sugar or any chutneys.Adai with the crunchy onions and the spices is sure a wonderful 

delight that i love to eat it any time of the day.

Adais could be made instantly(fermentation not required) or it could be kept in the fridge and

used for the next day.I prefer using it the next day.Its a protein rich healthy easy to make food.

What more reasons do i need......here you go.

Sorry folks ,nowadays iam getting lazy taking step by step pictures.I will be in speed soon...

Ingredients:
(Makes 12-15 adais)
To Soak and Grind:
Raw Rice - 1 cup
Idli Rice - 1 cup
Urad Dhal - 1/4 cup
Toor Dhal - 1/4 cup
Channa Dal - 1/4 cup
Moong Dhal - 2 tbsp
Red Chillies - 2
Fennel seeds - 1.5 tsp

Ingredients to add to the batter:
Big Onion - 2 medium sized (finely chopped)
Ginger -1 small bit (chopped)
Green chillie -2 (chopped)
Coconut -2 tbsp grated
Turmeric powder - a generous pinch
Hing - a generous pinch
Coriander leaves- 5 tbsp finely chopped
Salt  - to taste


Oil - 1 tsp


Method:
1.Soak the rice and dhals for atleast 3 hours, Keep aside. Grind it together with red chillies and fennel seeds to a consistancy between  fine and coarse paste. Add salt, turmeric powder, hing mix well and set aside.

2.Add onion, ginger,coconut and coriander leaves and mix well.  Add little water to make it to slightly running consistency (slightly thicker than the dosa batter.)

3.Heat the dosa tawa , take one laddle full and spread the batter as we do for dosa. Drizzle oil and once it is cooked turn to other side and cook till golden brown.

Serve hot with coconut chutney (My husband prefers sugar.It tastes good too)

Cauliflower Manchurian-Dry Version

Ingredients:-

Cauliflower – 1 medium sized cut into medium sized florets
Spring onion chopped- a small bunch (Seperate whites and greens)
Garlic chopped – 5 tbsp
Green chilies chopped – 4-5 tsp (Use according to your spice level)
Soya Sauce – 1 and 1/2 tbsp
Green Chilli Sauce – 2 tbsp
Tomato Ketchup – 3 tbsp
Vinegar – 1 tsp
Coriander leaves – for garnishing
Oil – as needed
Salt – add only if needed
(Add 1 medium sized Onion and 1/2 Capsicum if you wish.i dont add it,if i am preparing it dry)

For the batter :

All purpose flour/Maida – 1/2 cup
Corn flour – 1/4 cup
Rice flour – 2 tbsp
Egg – 1
Ginger-Garlic paste – 2 tsp
Red Chilly powder – 1/2 to 1 tsp
Salt – to taste (consider the saltiness of soya sauce while adding it)

Method :-

Prepare a batter with the given ingredients adding required amount of water.Make the batter a little thick,otherwise it doesn’t coat well on the cauliflower florets.Heat oil in a kadai/ big wok,dip each floret in the batter and gently put it into the oil.Do not overcrowd the wok while frying.Do it in 2 or 3 steps as needed.Fry it until it turns golden brown in color.Drain into a tissue paper and keep them aside.

Heat  2-3 tsp oil in another pan,add chopped spring onion(only the whites),green chillies and garlic.Saute it for few seconds .Then add onions and capsicum.Saute it for few seconds.Then add soya sauce,chilly sauce,vinegar and tomato ketchup.Mix them well,check for the salt and add the fried cauliflower florets.Turn the heat to high and mix them together until all the florets are well coated with the sauce.Add spring onion greens and coriander leaves and toss it well for few minutes.Serve immediately.

Tada.........cauliflower manchurian is ready to be munched on.....

If you want to make it a gravy,add 1 tsp cornflour mixed in 1 cup luke warm water and simmer it for few minutes,before adding spring onion greens.

Will make it a gravy version next time.

New Year Cake with Mango roux buttercream

Happy New Year !!! to all my friends and fellow bloggers.
May God shower HIS precious blessings on us and guide us throughout this year and ever.
I thank GOD for all HIS blessings HE  has given me this year and for the forth coming years.
I thank my family,my friends,fellow bloggers and all my readers for supporting me and encouraging
me all through my  blogging journey.
Hmmm..... after spending days of vacation in Lake Havasu with our friends and family,back to
home town before new year.Had a wonderful time,good food and lots of fun.
It was evening dec 31st i made this cake.Multiple plans were running in my mind,since i was not
quite sure which cake i was goining to bake.My daughter and husband wanted me to bake
genoise cake with pineapple bavarian cake.But the pineapple that we bought was not ripen
yet.So i decided to make a plain vanilla cake with mango roux buttercream(Thanks Sugu for this
idea of wonderful light buttercream) decorated with chocolate melt.

Will post the recipie soon....