Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake

Ingredients

2 Cups maida

1 tin Nestle milkmade (Condensed milk)

1 cup butter

1/2 tsp soda bi carbonate

1 tsp baking powder

11/2 tsp Vanilla essence

1/2 cup milk 

Method

• Melt butter under room temperature and keep aside.
• Sieve maida with cooking soda, baking powder and keep aside.
• Now cream butter and milkmade with the help of an electric blender now add vanilla essence and mix .
• Add flour mixture to this and add milk little by little till you get a smooth semi thick consistency.
• Grease a baking tin of your choice then pour this cake batter in it.
• Preheat the oven to 180'c and bake it for 30-35 mins or till cake is done.

Burnt Garlic Rice

Ingredients

1 cup Basmati rice

3 tbsp Butter 

12-15 cloves garlic

1 onion (Sliced)

1/4 cup cabbage(shredded)

1/4 cup carrot chopped finely

4-5 Red Chilli (Slice)

1/4 tsp ajinomoto(optional)

1 tbsp oil

salt to taste

a few fried cashews for garnishing

For seasoning

3 tbsp crisp fried garlic (should be dark brown in colour)

Method

• Wash and Soak basmati rice for half an hour and then drain & keep aside
• In a pan add 3 cups of water and when it starts boiling add basmati rice and cook it till done 
• Drain it and spread it in a plate and allow it to cool
• Add 3 tbsp butter and salt to it and mix it well and keep aside
• Heat rest of the butter and 1 tbsp oil in a pan, add garlic and broken red chillies and fry till till it turns brown
• Then add sliced onion and fry till translucent 
• Add chopped carrots,cabbage,ajinomoto and fry for a couple of minutes
• Lastly add rice and mix it well, add salt if needed & cook on a low flame for 10-15 minutes, and  lastly add fried garlic & fried cashews for garnishing
• serve hot with any chinese gravy
• 
  
  

Vegetable club sandwich

Ingredients

8-10 slices of bread

1/2 cup chopped cabbage

1 cup grated carrots

1/2 cup eggless mayonnaise

2 tsp water

2 tsp freshly crushed peppercorn

2 tbsp tomato ketchup

salt to taste

Method

• Discard the sides of the bread and cut it into triangular shapes
• In a bowl add chopped cabbage,carrots,eggless mayonnaise,crushed peppercorn,tomato ketchup,salt and water and mix it well 
• Apply this mixture on one slice of the bread and close it with another and serve 

Chicken Ghashi

This is one of my Son's favorite chicken curry which takes in a little bit of your hard work but at the end you will just love the way your curry has turned out......Oh the taste is so yummy you will love every bite of it ...Yum my son loves this curry he always says 'Mum pls do that brown chicken curry ...I just love to see the smile that comes out his face when he sees this curry ..

Ingredients
1/2 Kg Chicken 
4-5 onion 
2 tbsp Coriander seeds
1/2 tsp black peppercorn 
1 tsp jeera
10-12 Fried Red Chillies (bedagi)
1/4 tsp methi
10-12 flakes of garlic
3 tbsp ghee
3 tbsp oil
1/2 cup scraped coconut
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
salt to taste
For Seasoning
1 onion chopped
1/2 tsp garam masala
salt to taste

Method

1. In pan add 1 tbsp ghee, 1 tbsp oil roast coriander seeds, peppercorn, jeera, methi, garlic flakes, fry till garlic turns golden brown , now add 2 sliced onion fry well then add coconut and fry till coconut turns brown. Add 1/4 cup water and grind to a smooth paste along with 10 fried Red chillies to a fine paste.
2. In pan add ghee fry chopped onion fry till it changes colour then add chicken pieces fry add water then add ground masala paste, coconut milk, salt and cover and cook for 15-20 mins then add 1/4 cup more water and boil till chicken is cooked then add the seasoning to it. Gravy texture here depends on what consistency you need it .
3. For seasoning .....Heat oil in a pan then add finely chopped onion and fry till onion turns brown take care while doing it and do it on a low heat add garam masala and add this to the chicken masala.
4. Bring to a boil and simmer and cook for 3-4 mins. Serve with plain Rice you will simply love it ...tastes even better after 2-3 hrs ...YUMMM!!!

Hara Bhara Kababs

Ingredients

1/2 cup chana dal(split gram)

1 cup chopped spinach leaves

1/2 tsp ginger grated

1 tbsp finely chopped garlic

3 tbsp bread crumbs

2 tbsp cornflour

2 green chillies finely chopped

1/2 tsp garam masala powder

1/2 tsp chat masala powder

1/2 tsp jeera

3-4 peppercorn

2 cloves

4 tbsp oil

For filling

1/2 cup grated paneer

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

salt to taste

Method

For the filling

• Mix paneer,coriander leaves,red chilli powder,salt and keep it aside

For the kabab

• Crush cumin seeds,peppercorn and cloves and then keep it aside
• Clean and wash dal and pressure cook it with the above crushed spices,salt,2 cups of water and cook on a low flame till one whistle and then mash the dal(dal should be completely dried without water)
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, add  grated ginger,garlic & chopped spinach leaves and fry till its dry and fried
• Add fried spinach,cornflour ,green chillies,red chilli powder,garam masala powder,chat masala powder to the mashed dal and mix it well, add salt if needed
• Add bread crumbs to make it crisp
• Make med size balls of it then add 1tsp of the filling & cover it and then flatten it like that of a cutlet
• Heat 3 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan and shallow fry it till golden brown on both the sides and serve with green chutney or tangy sauce

Matar Misli

Ingredients

1/2 cup green peas(dried)

2 potatoes

2 tsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

2 big onions finely chopped

4 green chillies finely chopped

1/2 cup grated coconut

6 fried red chillies

lemon size piece of tamarind

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

8 garlic cloves crushed

2 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped

salt to taste 

2 tsp oil

Method

• Soak peas in water overnight,next day wash it 
• Peel potatoes and cut into small cubes and keep aside
• Pressure cook the potatoes and peas in 2 cups of water with salt till done 
• Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and fry coriander seeds,mustard seeds and cumin seeds for 2 minutes
• Grind these with grated coconut,fried red chillies,tamarind ,turmeric powder and grind to a smooth paste 
• Add this paste to cooked potatoes and peas and boil for a while till the gravy thickens,add salt if needed
• Add green chillies,onion and coriander leaves and close the lid and cook for another 10-15 minutes
• Lastly for tempering heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and add crushed garlic and fry till golden brown and then add this to the gravy and serve hot with steamed rice

Baked Whole Wheat Pretzels

This is yet another interesting recipe of nita mehta which i tried it for the first time and it was very tasty as it have nice flavours in it & its very healthy as it has wheat flour in it....u can have it as a snack .....

Ingredients

1 cup warm water

1 1/2 tbsp dry yeast

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp ajwain

2 tbsp kasoori methi

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

salt to taste

2 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp white sesame seeds

Method

• Mix milk and 1/2 tsp salt and keep aside for brushing over the pretzels
• Sift wheat flour with baking soda and salt and keep aside
• In a large bowl, mix warm water,yeast and sugar ,cover nicely and keep in a warm place for 10 minutes until frothy
• Add ajwain and kasoori methi ,sifted flour to the yeast mix and knead the dough for 10-15 minutes till it is smooth & elastic and keep aside for 30 minutes
• Divide the dough into 15 equal parts, take each piece and roll ourt a thin rope out of it as shown below
• 
• Make a loop and twist ends like a rope and seal at the end(see picture)
• 
• 
• Place the pretzel on the greased tray and brush apply the milk & salt mixture on each pretzel and sprinkle white seasame seeds
• Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 15 minutes till golden

(u can make big and small sixe pretzels, if u make small ones it will be crunchy and hard and if u make big pretzels it will be semi-soft after baking)

Chatpata Aloo Fry

Ingredients

250 gms baby potatoes (boiled and cut into halves)

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

8-10 methi seeds

1 sprig of curry leaves

2 green chillies

2 tbsp tomato ketchup

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp chana masala powder

1/4 tsp haldi powder

1/4 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp gram flour

2 tbsp coriander leaves

1 tsp salt

2 tsp oil for shallow frying 

2 tbsp oil 

Method

• Heat oil and shallow fry the potatoes till golden brown. Add salt and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds, jeera, methi seeds , curry leaves, sliced green chillies and haldi, red chilli powder, coriander powder, gram flour, chana masala powder, tomato ketchup, coriander leaves and fry.
• Now add potatoes , water and fry till all the masala coats the fried potatoes well.
• Serve hot with Chapathi /Poori.

Pinwheel Biscotti

Long back i had tried pinwheel sandwich so i thought of trying the same technique for these biscuits and it came out quiet well this time too and was very delicious and liked by all at home...so thought of sharing this easy recipe with u all...am sure u all will like it as well as enjoy doing this way ...so here it is

Ingredients

2 cup Maida

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup butter softened at room temperature

1 cup sugar(powdered finely)

3 tsp milk powder

3 tsp cocoa powder

2 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 cup Milk

Maida for kneading 

Method

• Sieve Maida and baking powder and keep aside
• Beat the sugar and butter with the help of an electric beater till fluffy
• Add vanilla essence,sifted Maida gradually and mix it well for 3-4 minutes
• Divide it equally into 2 parts
• IN one part of the dough add milk powder and enough milk and sprinkle maida if its sticks to ur hand to form a soft dough
• In another part of the dough add cocoa powder and enough milk and sprinkle  maida if its sticks to ur hand to form a soft dough
• Take a greased plastic wrap(u can use a cling film) and pat the white colour dough with your hand to get a rectangular shape and cover it with another greased plastic wrap on it and keep aside
• Similarly repeat the same procedure for the chocolate colour dough
• Refrigerate both the rolled dough on a plate for 2 hours atleast 
• Remove the top piece of plastic wrap from both rolled doughs and invert the chocolate dough on top of the vanilla dough,
• Lift the vanilla dough by the plastic wrap underneath it and snugly roll up both layers into a log, peeling away the plastic wrap as you go. Wrap the log in the plastic and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours
• Remove it from the refrigerator and take out the plastic wrap from the roll and slice it into 1/4 inch thick slices 
• Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 10 minutes or till done depending on the oven each one have got. 
• Cool it on the wire rack and then store it in an air tight container and serve whenever u want to..

Dum Vegetable Biryani

Ingredients

For Rice

1 1/2 cup basmati rice

1 " cinnamon

2 bay leaf

3-4 cloves

2 green cardamom

1 small piece of mace

salt to taste

2 tsp oil

For vegetable gravy

1/2 cup cauliflower cut into florets(parboiled)

1/2 cup carrot chopped(parboiled)

1/2 cup boiled peas

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 med size onion sliced

4 slit green chillies

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

2 tomatoes finely chopped

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder

3/4th  cup milk

2 tsp curds

1 tsp poppy seeds

4-5 cashewnuts

1 tsp garam masala powder

2 tbsp mint leaves

2 tbsp coriander leaves

2 tbsp ghee

2 tsp oil

salt to taste

For the masala powder

2 green cardamom

1 ' cinnamon stick

2-3 cloves

Other ingredients

1 cup sliced & fried onion

1 " ginger cut into julienne

Method

For the rice

• Wash and Soak Basmati rice for 1 hour,drain and keep aside
• Heat water in a pan,when it starts boiling add 1 bay leaf,cloves,cardamom,cinnamon,mace,salt,oil and drained basmati rice and cook till 3/4th done and then keep aside ,mix salt if needed

For the vegetable gravy

• Grind poppy seeds and cashewnuts with little water to a fine paste and keep aside
• Heat oil and ghee in a pan, add  cumin seeds and fry till golden brown, then add ginger-garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes off
• Add sliced onion and fry till translucent and light brown and then add slit green chillies and fry for a minute
• Add coriander leaves,mint leaves and fry, add tomatoes till it gets mashed and it leaves oil at the edges
• Then add turmeric powder,chilli powder,coriander powder and fry for a couple of minutes
• Add all the vegetables,salt and fry for 5 minutes and then add curds and fry then add milk and boil till the gravy till it thickens,add poppy seeds-cashewnut paste and lastly add garam masala powder and mix well and fry for couple of minutes and then keep aside in a bowl

For the Masala powder

• Grind 2 cloves,2 green cardamom and 1 " cinnamon to a fine powder 

For the Layering

• Grease a oven dish with ghee, spread little vegetable gravy evenly and then spread some cooked rice and then sprinkle the masala powder,fried sliced onions,ginger julienne
• Repeat this procedure till all the gravy and rice are layered as shown below
• 

• Close the dish with the aluminium foil and bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 30 minutes
• Serve Hot

( u can add chicken instead of vegetable for chicken biryani....and it will be as tasty as this one)