Banana Nut Muffins

This is a recipe for banana nut bread from cookingforengineers.com
I have tried this recipe several times. This time I made muffins instead of bread loaf.
I used food processor for combining all the ingredients.

The wet ingredients are: two ripe bananas, 6 Tbs. melted butter, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, and two large eggs.
For the dry ingredients: 1-1/3 cup flour, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/4 tsp. baking powder, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.
Link to the complete recipe

Okra Fry

Stuffed Okra from Krishna and Arjuna's World

*Tender okra - 20nos
For stuffing
*Gram flour - 2.5 tsps
*Coriander & cumin powders - 1/4 tsp each
*Turmeric powder - a pinch
*Salt and chilli powder - acc to your taste
*Oil - 1 tsp

Remove the topmost stem from okra, slit them open only on one side in such a way that it would be able to hold the stuffing inside. Mix all the stuffing ingredients. Stuff each okra with the mixture. Heat oil in a pan, add the stuffed okras to the pan. Turn them halfway, let them brown on both sides. If you have stuffing mixture left you can add that to the pan too; this will leave the okras nicely coated and will also impart crispy texture to them. This can be eaten either with chapati or rice or better yet as is!!

Showing off Cast Iron!!

After seeing Indira's post about her amazing cast iron collection, I wanted to show off my cast iron pans too. So here I go......

First comes my favorite one. Bought from Walmart. I use this almost everyday.

I use this to make dosa etc.


A set of 3, I use the small one for tadka, the medium one for small quantity cooking. The big one, as you can see, is not used that much. Therefore, it doesn't have a non-stick surface yet.

This is my wok for deep frying. Bought it from Ebay. This has a lid that came with it. Forgot to add it in the picture.

This is an oval shaped pan(fajita pan). My husband bought this just because it was on sale. Since the shape is a perfect oval, I do not know what to do on this. Maybe make some oval dosas?

And here is the last one.

Next on the wishlist is: Bethany Aebleskiver Pan(I liked that name!)

Thanks for looking. :)

Vegetable Frittata

Vegetable Frittata

Onions – 1 small
Salt & Pepper - to taste
Basil & Oregano (Dried or Fresh)-1/4 tsp each
Chopped vegetables – 1 cup (You can use carrots, potatoes, scallions, Bell peppers, Broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, peas, mushrooms etc.)
Large eggs – 3
Milk – 1 cup
Cheddar Cheese – ½ cup
Paprika
Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat up oil in an oven safe pan. Saute onions & vegetables with salt & pepper until the vegetables are soft. (If you are using vegetables that leaves water such as mushrooms, make sure you dry up the water at this stage otherwise the frittata will start weeping when you keep it for longer.) While the vegetables are cooking, beat the eggs and mix with milk in a mixing bowl. Add salt to taste. Add basil & oregano to the vegetables. Now add the egg-milk mixture. Cook a few more minutes on the stovetop, sprinkle with grated cheese and paprika, and then transfer it to the oven. Bake until it is set, 20-25 minutes. If you want the top browned, broil for 2 minutes. Remove from the broiler and cut into wedges.

Before going in the oven:


Right out of the oven:

Sweet Plantain Fry

Sweet Plantain Fry

Ripe plantains – 3
Egg – 1
Sugar – 2 tbsp
Black sesame seeds – 1 tsp
Salt – a pinch
Cardamom powder – ¼ tsp
All purpose flour – 1 cup

Heat up oil in a wok. Cut the plantain in half, and make 3 slices from each piece. Set aside.

Whisk egg and sugar together until smooth. Add sugar and cardamom powder. Add flour and enough water to make a smooth batter. Stir in the sesame seeds. Dip the plantain slices in the batter and then deep fry until golden color. Serve hot with tea.

Carrot Cupcake

Here is the cupcake version of the carrot cake.

Mutton Biriyani

Mutton Biriyani
(with rice cooked in the mutton broth)

Mutton cut into pieces – 2lbs.
Cardamom – 4
Cinnamon – 2 small pieces
Bay leaf – 1
Cloves – 4
Whole black pepper – 3

Basmati rice – 2 cups, soak for 30 minutes and drain
Onion – 3 medium
Garlic – 10 cloves
Ginger – 1 piece
Green chilli – 4 to 6
Coriander powder – 3 tsp
Paprika – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp + ½ tsp
Garam masala – 1 tsp
Fennel seeds – ½ tsp
Poppy seeds – 1 tbsp
Tomato – 2 big
Yogurt – ¾ cup
Chopped Cilantro & Mint – ½ cup
Lemon juice – 1 tsp

Cashew nuts
Raisins
Onion fried to a golden brown color(optional for garnishing)
Oil or Ghee

Pressure cook mutton pieces with salt, turmeric powder, bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper. Add enough water to cover all the mutton pieces. You will be using this broth to cook the rice. Pressure cook it until the mutton is 3/4th done. The mutton will complete the cooking process later in the masala.

Finely chop the onion. You can do this in a food processor. Chop the garlic-ginger-green chilli very finely. This also can be done in a food processor. Heat oil/ghee in a big frying pan with a heavy bottom. Fry the cashews and raisins and set aside. Add the onion and cook until it is soft and light brown. Add the garlic ginger green chilli mixture to this and cook until all the raw smell disappears. Add coriander powder, turmeric powder and paprika and cook for a few minutes. Add yogurt, stir well, and cook until all the extra water from the yogurt evaporates. Add garam masala. Powder fennel seeds and poppy seeds(you can use a coffee grinder) and add to the pan. Remove the mutton pieces from the broth using a slotted spoon and add to the masala. Stir well. Add the tomatoes. Bring to a boil. If it is too dry, add a few tablespoons of water from the pressure cooker. When it boils, lower the heat and cover the pan. Cook for 20-25 minutes on low heat. Stir occasionally. Add chopped mint and cilantro right before you turn off the stove.
Measure the broth. Add more warm water if needed to make it 3 ¾ cups. Bring it to a boil. Add more salt if needed. Add lemon juice and rice. When it comes to a second boil, lower the heat and partially cover the pan. Cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the stove. Keep it tightly covered for another 10 minutes. Gently separate the rice using a fork and start mixing with the masala in another big pot. Make layers of masala and rice and top with the fried cashews & raisins. Bake in a 300 degree preheated oven for 20 minutes. I keep my biriyani dish on top of the oven stone for even heat distribution. After 20 minutes, turn off the oven and let the biriyani rest there for some more time. Garnish with fried onions and enjoy.

Some more pictures from the workshop:

Also check out: Fish Biriyani

Shortbread

Ann's recipe for shortbread

300 degrees for 45 - 50 minutes
1/2 c butter
pinch salt
pinch baking soda
1/4 c fruit sugar,(Same as Berry sugar or very fine granulated sugar)
1 c flour
sugar to dredge .
Mix together Flour, salt and baking soda.
Cream butter and fruit sugar. Add flour mixture and mix well.
Pat firmly into round cake pan. Use tines of fork to make a decorate edge around the outside of the dough. Now use fork to poke holes all over surface. (This stops the shortbread from rising up during baking.. Bake in low oven until just starting to color. Should not brown.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with fine sugar. Let sit 5 minutes and then Cut into wedges while still warm. Do not remove shortbread wedges from pan until cool.
Note:
This recipe can be doubled and baked in a rectangle pan, and cut into fingers rather than wedges.

Roses

I did a test run on Annita’s rose recipe. Please tell me how it looks. Need more practice???

Prawn Pickle

Kay, this one is for you.

I got this recipe from my mom. So I don’t have the exact measurements. Here it is as she explained it:

Clean the prawns and marinate in salt and turmeric powder for at least 30 minutes. Cook the prawns in a pan without adding any water, which means cook until all the water evaporates from the prawns. Now heat up some oil and fry the prawns until they change color. Drain.
Heat up gingelly oil and fry some curry leaves. Remove the curry leaves from the pan. Next add ground garlic ginger paste and fry it until they are golden and all the raw smell disappears. Make sure you are frying up to this point otherwise the pickle will be bitter. Add chilli powder and salt. Add the fried prawns and curry leaves and mix very well. Add vinegar and bring to a boil. Just one boil and remove from the stove. Let it cool and transfer to a glass jar.

When I made this the second time, I increased the quantity of garlic ginger paste because I like to have lots of gravy in the pickle. It came out really delicious with lots of thick gravy.

This is a picture of my second attempt.

First picture is here. See the difference after increasing the quantity of garlic ginger paste?

Help!!! I'm stuck!!

I still cannot upload the pictures! I get a blank window instead of the usual "Done" window when I try to upload pictures. I tried from a different computer(the same network) to make sure its not my computer. Anyone else having the same problem? Is there any email address to submit complaints? Please let me know if you have a way to fix this. Thanks in advance.

Update: I think its working now, but I cannot add a picture to my previous post of sprouts!! Go figure!
Here it is:

Sprouts

Thanks a million Kay. What a wonderful way of sprouting the beans you have there.
Sprouts 101

It was super easy. But mine didn't make sprouts in 8 hours. It took about 15 hours!!!

I cooked sprouts with cabbage today.

In to the hot oil, added in this order- mustard seeds, red chili, black whole urad dal, red onions, garlic-ginger, curry leaves, turmeric, shredded cabbage, salt, sprouts. I guess coconut lovers can add coconut too.

Cannot upload the picture for some reason. Will try again later.

Egg Curry

Egg curry

Onion – 1
Garlic – 3 cloves
Ginger - 1 small piece
Green chillies – 2 to 3
Tomato – 1 small
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Chilli powder – ½ tsp
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Garam masala – ¼ tsp
Coconut milk – 1 cup
Oil
Salt
Curry leaves
Eggs

Heat oil and sauté very finely chopped onion until they are golden color. Add crushed garlic, ginger and green chillies and cook for a few minutes. Add the masala powders and stir well. Now add the tomato, curry leaves, and salt. Cook until the tomatoes are soft. Add boiled eggs and turn off the flame. You may add one cup of coconut milk if you want more gravy. You may also garnish with chopped cilantro.

Picture before adding the coconut milk:

After adding the coconut milk:

Strawberry Sauce

It's the strawberry season again. I made some strawberry sauce by boiling strawberries with sugar and lemon zest for about 10 minutes. This is good over pancakes, ice cream, cheese cake etc. This will stay in the fridge for about 10 days.

Baklava

Baklava

Filo pastry sheets – 40
Unsalted butter – 1 ½ cups
Finely chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, pistachios, walnuts etc. You may use a mix of all these or any one of your choice) – 2 cups
Powdered cinnamon – ¼ spoon
Powdered nutmeg – ¼ spoon
Sugar – 1/8 cup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine nuts, spices and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Melt the butter in another bowl.
Layer 12 filo sheets in a buttered baking pan brushing each with melted butter.
Spread one cup nut mixture evenly on the top.
Top with another 12 filo sheets brushing each with butter.
Spread 1 cup nut mixture.
Top with the rest of the filo sheets brushing each with butter.
Brush the top layer with butter.
Gently cut into desired shapes.
Bake 30-45 minutes or until the top layer turns golden.
Remove from the oven.
Pour cooled syrup all over while the baklava is still warm.
Sprinkle some ground pistachios for garnishing.
Baklava tastes better if you let it sit at room temperature for 3 days.

Simple syrup:

Combine 1 ½ cup sugar with ¾ cup water in a heavy saucepan. Add 1 tbsp lemon juice and some lemon zest. Bring to a boil. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Pizza

Samosa

I used egg roll wrappers for the cover.
This is how I made the filling.

Measurements are approximate.
Potatoes, boiled and cubed – 1, big
Shredded carrots – 1
Green peas, cooked or frozen – ½ cup
Scallions, finely chopped – ¼ cup
Red onion finely chopped – ¼ cup
Green chilli, chopped - 1
Cumin powder
Chilli powder
Amchur powder
Garam masala, optional
Salt
Cilantro
Oil

Heat oil and sauté onion, scallions and green chilli until the onions are translucent. Add cumin, chilli and amchoor powders. Next, add peas and carrots and cook until they are soft. Add the cubed potatoes and slightly mash them with a spoon. Cook for 5 more minutes or until it is dry and add cilantro. Turn off the flame. Let it cool.

Baked Ziti

Ziti is long hollow cylindrical shaped pasta.

There are several ways we can prepare this.

Cook the ziti according to package instructions.

Prepare a tomato sauce. You can make your own tomato sauce using vegetables (you can use mushrooms, peppers, carrots, broccoli, spinach etc.) and/or meat or sausage. You may also use store bought pasta sauce.

Mix the cooked ziti with the sauce and a cheese mix of your taste. I use a mix of lots of mozzarella and parmesan. Ricotta cheese is very common in baked ziti, but I don't like ricotta.
Transfer this to a baking dish.

Top with more mozzarella and parmesan.

Bake covered for 30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

If you like a browned top, you may uncover the pan and bake again, or place under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes.

Picture updated on May 5, 2007

Peanut Balls