Rose Milk with Sabja/Tukmaria/Basil/Falooda seeds

Basil seeds aka Falooda seeds ~ I have never been familiar with these seeds until few summers back. To be precise, the summer that I got married. I was introduced to it by none other than my hubby. It was a Sunday, mid-Agni and we had booked movie tickets for a morning show. By the time we were back it was 12 in the noon and quite humid that we were sweating all over. We needed a drink and that is when the huss stopped by the soda factory that he has been visiting right from his school days. That was the first time that I had rose milk and I was given a large glassful of chilled rose milk with these seeds floating around. One mouthful and I really loved it and since then it has been soda factory rose milk whenever we pass that shop.

It was quite a summer this time with the mercury rising to 42C. And then there were showers, relieving showers. Just when I thought that the blazing summers had come to an end, it started again. Yes it is super hot in the morning and then we have cool showers in the evening. We needed cool, refreshing drinks to cope up with this two-faced weather and so I tried copy-cat-ing the soda factory rose milk for our brunch drink.

~*What U Need*~ Full Fat Milk - 1 1/2 cups Water - 1/2 cup Rose Syrup - 1 tsp Rose water – ½ tsp Sugar – 4 tbsp or to taste Sabja seeds - 2 tsp soaked in water for 30mins

How I Made it:
Soak sabja seeds in little water for 30 minutes till soft and transparent. Blend the rest of the ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until serving. When serving pour into glasses, top with soaked sabja seeds and serve...

Serve chilled always!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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(Amma Cooks) Chicken Dum Biryani

Tell me one non-vegetarian who doesn't like Chicken dum biryani. I am yet to find one. Am no exception too. I love this biryani or let me put it this way, I have a love-hate relationship with this biryani. Love it cos it is mind-blowingly delicious, hate it cos it is outrageously painstaking and labor-intensive... All with its chopping, sauteing, frying and more chopping, it gives you one hell of a time. But end of the day, I can assure you that you will be getting a plate of pure bliss that will leave you wanting for more. That is "the fruit of labor" that you are left with.

I can never stand in the kitchen for hours, chopping onions, frying 'em in one burner of the stove and sauteing 'em in the other, making the masala, fluffing the rice and finally putting them together. I am not that kind and so I never think about trying my hands on the ever famous Chicken Dum Biryani. Moreover hubby prefers the one-pot pressure cooker biryani to this and that makes things easy. Also when you have an SME at home you never have to worry about it.

Amma makes the best dum biryanis and when it is dum biryani at home, appa dons the chef's hat too. He helps her (BTW he is so good at chopping onions), chopping onions like a breeze, cleaning chicken with such skill, following her instructions to the 'T'. So whenever I have that craving for home amma-cooked dum biryani, I call them down and enjoy it to the fullest. Its that simple, so now you know why I never bothered to give it a shot.

This time when she made it, I was there with my camera to click step by step pics but having a kid on his toes never helps with things going the planned way. Finally I had to abandon the camera and the task too. But I did take decent shots of the dum biryani and I so wanted to share it with you. I will update the post with the tutorial soon.

~*What U Need*~ Servings - 6 to 8 Chicken - 1/2 kg Oil, Salt For the Rice: Basmati rice - 2 1/2 cups Water - 5 cups Ghee - 2 tbsp Cardamom - 2 Cloves - 3 Cinnamon - 2 1" piece Bay leaf - 1 Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Salt For the masala Onion - 1/2 kg Tomato - 200 g Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tsp Garam masala - 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp For frying Sliced onions - 1 cup Cashew - a handful Raisins - a handful Ghee/oil - to fry To grind Coriander leaves - half a bunch/a handful Mint leaves - half a bunch/ a handful Grated coconut - 1/4 cup Green chilli - 4 Sour curd - 1/4 cup Saffron - 1/4 tsp soaked in warm milk

How I She Made it:
Prep work:
Grind coconut into a smooth mixture. Grind mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chilli and curd into a coarse mixture. Set aside. Soak the rice for 10 mins. Lets prep it up next. Heat oil in a big kadai, add ghee, fry the crushed cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bayleaf. Add the rice and fry foir 5 mins till the water evaporates. Add the water, salt and cook till 75% done. Remove and fluff with work. Set aside to cool down. Heat oil to fry the onions. Deep fry the sliced onions till brown. Remove and set aside. Similarly fry the cashews and raisins.

Method:
In the same pan, add the remaining chopped onions and fry till golden brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes off. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry till oil separates. Add the masala powders and fry well. Add the chicken and cook till the water separates and half done. Add the coconut mixture and fry well. Once the sauce starts thickening up, add the coriander-mint paste and cook till you get a semi-gravy. Season with salt.

Take a large cooker and grease with ghee. Add a layer of rice followed by a layer of gravy. Sprinkle fried onion, cashews, raisins, chopped mint leaves and a pinch of garam masala. Repeat till you are out of rice and gravy finishing with rice, fried onions and mint leaves and saffron milk. Close with the pressure cooker lid with the whistle on. Place this setup on top of a dosa tawa filled with sand and cook in low flame for 15-20 mins or till the mint leaves on the top get cooked.

Serve hot with raitha and boiled egg!!!

** My Notes:
** The cooking time of the rice is very important so be careful.
** When cooking on dosa tawa, do it on very low flame.
** Also add a dollop of ghee on the top for more flavor.

So thats it Folks...
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Cheesy Sweet Corn Sandwich | Sandwich Ideas

I am a sandwich person. I love sandwiches totally and I love playing with the fillings. Be it a simple potato sandwich or something elegant like this nutella caramelised sandwich, I love sandwiches. Don't talk about the huss, he is just the opposite... He wants idlis and dosas for breakfast and when it is a weekend, the latter is a must... Crispy dosas with hot sambar is his thing.

Show him variety and he will be pleased... And so using different sandwich fillings interests him. I once tried a peanut butter and cheese combo which was happily welcomed and since then I have been trying new fillings updating the blog then and there. Be it the desi aloo matar filling or the all-american nutella caramelised banana filling, he we have been enjoying sandwiches these days, thanks to the creative cook in me.

A three and a a quarter cup of boiled corn kernels, half a capsicum residing in the last corners of the fridge seemed to challenge me ~ an open challenge to put them to good use, a good and tasty use. Sandwiches were all that I could think of and some grated cheese for the huss would certainly do the job. He loves anything cheesy and so the masala cheese cubes are a pantry and a sandwich staple for him. You can skip the cheese if needed too for the mayo makes up for the cheesiness.

~*What U Need*~ Bread - 8 slices Sweet corn kernels - 3/4 cup Capsicum - 1 finely chopped Mayonnaise - 2 tbsp Pepper powder, salt - to taste Butter/ghee/oil - to toast Grated cheese - 1/2 cup

How I Made it:
Pressure cook corn until soft. In a mixing bowl, add corn, capsicum, mayonnaise, salt and pepper and mix well. Apply the corn filling on the bread slice, sprinkle grated cheese and close with another bread slice.

Toast with butter till the cheese melts.

Serve with some cucumber slices sprinkled with salt and pepper!!!

** My Notes:
** You can even use onion and finely chopped carrots.
** U can use regular white bread too..

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Chocolate Walnut Muffins | Choco-nut muffins | Cocoa-nut Muffins

There are gonna be cakes, lots of cakes for the next few days here, lets count these luscious chocolate cupcakes too.. Munchkin's monthly birthday bake and then hubby's birthday cake and then again there is my parents' anniversary cake which I had promised to bake once appa comes back... I have my hands full and am loving all the baking ideas that are going through my mind.

Baking is one thing that I love totally and I wait for the silliest of the silliest reasons to bake. And when it is birthdays and anniversaries, I can never stop... Its been quite sometime since we ordered birthday cakes from bakeries, its always been my baking.. ever since I got that first piece of edible cake out of our oven, its been me. Be it the wackiest frosting or the not-so-decent layered cake, the family is fully satisfied with what I make for them on their day.

These days, the 22nd of every month is much awaited by the whole family. They know that there is gonna be some baking and so they wait for their share... Now that the munchkin is all-grown he gets his fair share too. I baked these for his 14th month, handed him one(after removing the nuts obviously) and there he was running around taking an occasional bite all by self. I know that he enjoyed every bite of it.

Coming to these cupcakes, they are soft, super-soft that it just melts like cotton-candy on the day they were baked. I would say the next day is ideal to get the wholesome taste off these beauties. They are rich, soft, moist and super tasty. The crunch from the slightly toasted walnuts and the chocolate rice on top completes the platter. Serve them warm with some chocolate sauce and ice cream, it makes a perfect dessert.

Adapted form FoodandWine Alll purpose flour - 1 cup Baking powder - 1 tsp Baking soda - 1/2 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp(skip if using salted butter) Sugar - 1 cup Bittersweet chocolate - 2 oz/56 gms Butter - 3 tbsp Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp Egg - 1 Chocolate vermicelli - 1/4 cup Chopped walnuts - 1/4 cup

How I Made it:
Preheat the oven to 175°C. Grease and flour a 6-cup muffin pan or line with muffin liners. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a saucepan, combine the sugar with 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil over high heat and stir until the sugar dissolves.

Add the chocolate and butter and let sit for 5 mins. Whisk till chocolate has melted and evenly combined. Stir in the vanilla, allow to cool slightly.

Beat the egg into the chocolate mixture at medium speed until combined. Whisk this mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk till evenly incorporated or beat at medium speed. Pour into the muffin molds, top with vermicelli, walnuts and bake for 12-15 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool and serve

Serve warm or at room temperature!!!

So thats it Folks...
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Chicken Fried Rice

Have you tried the chicken fried rice from the Kaiyendhi bhavan's or mini hotels of "NAMMA CHENNAI". They taste too good and just right that you will want more. We have an occasional take-away from the mini hotel near our house or when the huss is in cooking mood, he makes this mixed fried rice. He sautes the veggies just right, adds the right amount of sauces and seasons it just the way it needs to be. Its his best dish till date.

We have been craving fried rice lately and since appa is away, we have no-one to get that take-aways for us. Finally we had to give in and so amma and me decided to make it at home. I always have those Chinese sauces at home and so putting them together sounded no big deal. In fact we thought it would be fun. What I have given below is the measurements that suited our palate, that which we came up with trial and error method. So do a taste check before you add some sauce or some pepper.

If you are a vegetarian then use crumble paneer instead of chicken, if you are an eggiterian then simply skip the chicken and if you are vegan, use just the veggies. Ajinomoto is a must for all fried rice recipes but lately a hell lot of research has been going on to ensure if it safe to use this in food... Why give it the benefit of doubt and so I never use it in my cooking... But if you are okay with it, then sprinkle a pinch of ajinomoto and mix well... I am not promoting the product at any cost here, but just telling that if u have used it in your cooking then add it when making this rice. They say it increases the flavor.

~*What U Need*~ Servings - 2 to 3 Cooked Basmati rice - 1 1/2 cups For chicken fry: Chicken breast - 2 pieces Vinegar - 1 tsp Lemon juice - few drops Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander powder - 1 tsp Garam masala - 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder - a pinch All purpose flour - 2 tbsp Cornflour - 1 tbsp Egg white - 1 Oil - to deep fry Onion - 1, sliced Beans - 7, chopped Carrot - 1, julienned Egg - 1 Green peas - 1/4 cup Soya sauce - 1 1/2 tsp Chilli sauce - 1/2 tsp Salt, pepper(2 tsp) - to season

How I Made it:
Cook your basmati rice with required water, cool and fluff with fork. Set aside. Mix the chicken with the ingredients given under chicken fry and marinate for 30 mins minimum. Deep fry in oil till cooked. Cool and shred or cut into pieces.

Chop onions and vegetables. Set aside. Heat oil, saute the onions for 2 mins. Move the onions to the other side of the pan, crack open the egg and scramble, mix with the onions.

Next add the vegetables and cook till tender but crisp. Add soya sauce, green chilli sauce, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Add the shredded chicken and give it a quick stir. Add the rice and mix gently till well combined. Check for seasoning.

Serve warm!!!

** My Notes:
** The vegetables should not get fully cooked.
** Do the whole process in high or medium-high flame.
** Adding scrambled egg is optional.
** Similarly u can skip chicken and scramble 3 or 4 eggs to make egg fried rice.

So thats it Folks...
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Mango Juice | Fresh Mango Juice | Summer Drinks

I can never get tired of mangoes, can you??? Mangoes are my weakness and everytime I come up with a mango recipe for the blog, I am at a loss for words... How many times do you think that I can keep on repeating the same "I love mangoes" phrase over and over for every post. Yet again I am here with a refreshing mango juice and I so have to say again that I am addicted to this fruit...

If I say eating mangoes as it is, is a pleasure then I would say drinking this juice cold on a hot summer day is double the pleasure. Chennai had some showers last week and the weather was at its best after the unbearable Agni. But things have come back to normal and it was blazing hot yesterday... Even the air from the fan was laced with heat and we were sweating like anything when under the fan. Only another shower can revive the climate...

We have to keep us hydrated and so juices are the only option. The last week had been quite busy and I had to travel a lot. So a big batch of mango juice was all I could think about. Chopped, blended, dumped into the fridge and whenever I came back home after a ride in the hot sun, the drink was a refreshing welcome. Again use best quality mangoes that are fully ripe so that u can minimize the sugar. Alphonsos are the best down south and banganapalles come second. The drink is really easy to make without any preservatives and tastes just like frooti or slice or maaza or any mango-based drink, infact it is more tastier and healthier when compared to its artificial counterpart.

~*What U Need*~ Ripe Alphonso mangoes - 2 Sugar - 2-3 tbsp Ice cold water - 3-4 cups Ice cubes - to serve

How I Made it:
Remove the skin and chop the mangoes. Take the mango pulp in a blender, add sugar and 1/4 cup water and blend tille smooth. Add ice water and bring to desired consistency.

Serve chilled!!!

** My Notes:
** Use best quality, very sweet and ripe mangoes.
** Add sugar to taste.
** U can replace sugar with honey also.
** If you donot have ice cold water, add ice cubes.
** U can also chill the mango in the fridge and then use the pulp
** If the mangoes are too fibrous, strain this mixture.

So thats it Folks...
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Oven Baked Vegetables

Cutting off oil as much as I can from our foods has become a routine ever since I got my OTG. I still remember the days when we were in search of an OTG that would suit our kitchen, that would be best for us. 'A' was fed up with my regular routine to all electronics shops on weekends and that too during the final days of pregnancy. He used to give me queer looks when I got dressed up to go to the shops. "Why don't you catch some rest and lets get the OTG after the baby arrives?". Bet he knew the return answer he would get cos he would walk away away silently to get dressed up.

As I said, I have tried to bake things whenever I can, so that oil can take a backseat in our daily food. So I baked some veggies not for our evening snack but for our dinner. Wraps, sandwiches and many more ideas were there and without a second thought I baked them. They were good~ in fact too good that just as the second batch was slid in, I started popping the cooled first batch one by one... I saved some though for our dinner and turned them into a light yet filling dinner. Do check out my coming posts to know what was cooked.

~*What U Need*~ Potatoes - 1(medium) Carrots - 1 Baby Corn - 2 Capsicum - 1 Olive Oil - 1 tsp Salt - to taste Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning - 1/2 tsp

How I Made it:
Cut all the vegetables as desired. I cut them into 1/4 inch pieces. Preheat oven to 220 C. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, keep aside. Mix all ingredients till the vegetables are evenly coated. Arrange in a single layer on the baking pan. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove, turn the pieces over and bake for another 10 mins.

Do wait for my next post to see what I did with my baked veggies.

So thats it Folks...
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Mango Chocolate Marble Cake | Eggless Butterless Baking | HBC#2

P.S: Sorry for the dull not-so-good photos... My P&S has given up and all were taken using my mobile...

After trying our hands on pizzas, we the homebakers of the HBC group are here with another easy and yummilicious bake. We were challenged by Sangeetha of Spicy treats to bake a cake combining two exotic ingredients ~ Mango and chocolate. I love mango and I can live on chocolate, so the challenge could not get any better. We were given two recipes ~ one recipe was an eggless and butterless bake while the other was with eggs and butter.

I am never into Eggless and butterless baking except the Vegan Mango Walnut Loaf which I tried last year and then again this no fail eggless vanilla sponge which I tried sometime back for the kid's monthly bake. But other than these I never try eggless n butterless baking... I try butterless baking many a times but eggless, not frequently... I am always into the conception that eggs are so essential for the cake to be soft, spongy and airy. And so I never go for eggless baking.

Moving on to the challenge, just like Sangee, its been my long time wish to combine the two flavors (mango and chocolate) in a cake. It all started with the Mango Chocolate Chunk cake that I tried last summer... The deep mango flavor in a moist crumb speckled with slightly melted dark chocolate chunks was to die for. The challenge was right in time. I went the fat-less way because my oven was just out of service and I wanted to trial-check it with a simple bake. This recipe sounded just right.

Half the bake was given to the kids of some daily laborers living near our house. They loved every bite of the cake and I got kisses and hugs in return... The perfect cost that one can get. Never knew that a warm smile from them would make me so satisfied... The remaining cake was divided again ~ one part for the PILs (parent-in-laws) and the second part for amma and me. Then again I had to set aside a major part for the kid... Whenever amma and me sat down with a slice for our evening tea, he would be there shuttling between the two for his rightful share... Do I need to tell that he enjoyed every bite???

~*What U Need*~ All purpose flour - 1 cup Baking powder - 3/4 tsp Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp Salt - a pinch Sugar - 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp mixed in 2 tbsp warm water Oil - 3 tbsp(Canola oil) Vanilla extract - 1/4 tsp Manga pulp - 1/2 cup Milk + Yogurt - 1/4 cup Buttermilk - 2 tbsp

How I Made it:
Preheat oven to 175C and grease & line your baking tin. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar & oil then to this add mango pulp, milk, yogurt, vanilla, buttermilk and mix well.

Mix the mango-milk mixture to the dry ingredients slowly till combined well.

Now take a small cup, add cocoa powder & 2 tsbp warm water and mix well. Then transfer half of the mango batter to another bowl and add this cocoa paste and combine well. Now both ur mango batter & chocolate batter are ready. Then to the cake tin, add mango n cocoa batter alternatively like a checker board pattern or simply fill with vanilla batter then add remaining cocoa batter in 3 small circles, make swirls as u like.

Tap the pan gently to set the batter evenly and bake it for 50-55 minutes or until done(check by inserting a knife or toothpick which should come out clean).

Serve with love!!!

** My Notes:
** I used fresh mango pulp. But you can use store bought sweetened pulp. In that case reduce the sugar.
** The cake is dense but super moist and flavorful.
** You can fill upto 3/4th of the pan, as this cake does not rise too much.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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