Pepper Chicken Roast

Ingredients
--------------
Chicken - 500gms
Onion    - 1
Tomato  - 1
Garlic    - 4 Cloves
Ginger   - 1 Inch
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 Teaspoon
Jeera      - 1/2 Teaspoon
Pepper   - 2 Tablespoon
Saunf     - 1 Tablespoon
Ghee      - 1 Tablespoon
Curry leaves
Coriander
Salt

Method
----------
1.Mix Chicken,Onion, Tomato,Ginger, Garlic, Turmeric Powder,Coriander leaves in a bowl.
2.Place this bowl in pressure cooker and cook for 1 whistle. Add water in pressure cooker and not in the bowl.
3.Dry roast Jeera, Pepper and Saunf and powder it.
4.Heat ghee and add curry leaves. Add the drained chicken pieces from pressure cooker and powdered pepper and saunf mix.
5.Add salt and roast the chicken pieces till dry. If required add more ghee and pepper powder.

Note:
Heat the drained liquid from pressure cooker with some more water. Add salt and pepper and enjoy your soup.

Appam

Ingredients

Raw Rice - 2 Cups
Coconut   - 1 Cup
Cooked Rice - 1/2 Cup
Sugar       - 2 Teaspoon
Salt
Cooking Soda - a pinch

Method

1 . Soak raw rice for 2 hours.
2 . Grind raw rice, shredded coconut, cooked rice into a smooth batter.
3 . Take 2 tablespoon of batter and mix with cup of water.
4 . Cook this mixture in low flame till its turned into a thick paste.
5 . Once cooled, mix this paste into remaining batter and leave it overnight.
6 . Mix a generous pinch of soda just before making appams.
7 . Add water if required and make the batter bit thinner than dosa batter.
8 . Heat the appal chatty. Add a ladle of batter , tilt the pan and cook with lid closed.
9 . Serve hot with coconut milk.

Velvety Pound Cake

Ingredients
Butter - 230 gms
Self Raising Flour  - 3 cups
Caster Sugar - 2 and a half cups
Eggs - 6
Whipping Cream - 1 cup
Vanilla extract  - 1 Tablespoon
Orange extract - 1 teaspoon
Almond extract - 1 teaspoon
Cream Cheese - 1 Tablespoon  (optional )

Method
1. Prepare a bundt tin by applying butter and flour.
2. Sift the flour. Cake flour can be used instead of s r flour.
3. Cream butter and sugar.
4. Add eggs one by one. After adding each egg beat for atleast 1 minute.
5. Add flour and cream alternatively and mix gently.
6. Add cream cheese and extracts.
7. Pour the mixture to prepared bundt tin.
8. Place it in middle rack of cool oven.
9. Set the temperature to 190 c.
10. Bake for 45 minutes or till the cake is  done.
11. Cool for 30 minutes.
12. Enjoy the velvet cake.

Condensed Milk Kesari

Prepared this simple sweet yesterday to celebrate my birthday.

Ingredients

Rava - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Cashews
Ghee - 3 Tablespoon
Condensed Milk - 3 Tablespoon
Water - 2 and half cup
Cardamom - 1
Food colour - a drop

Method

1.Heat a tablespoon of ghee in a pan and fry cashews and cardamom.
2.Take them off and in the same pan, fry rava nicely.
3.In the mean time, boil water and keep it ready. Crush the cardamom.
4.Add boiling water and food colour to rava and let it cook for 5 minutes.
5.Once it is cooked, add sugar and mix without any lumps.
6.Add condensed milk and add more if you prefer sweet.
7.Add ghee in intervals and finish it off with cardamom and fried cashews.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients

Salted butter  - 200gms
Heavy Cream - 2 Tablespoon
Icing Sugar - 3 - 4 cups
Vanilla Essence - 1 teaspoon

Method

1. Bring the butter to room temperature.  Never use microwave to defrost. Should be able to  make finger impression with slight touch in butter.

2. Beat the butter with paddle attachment for 3 - 4 mins.

3. Add 1/2 cup of icing sugar and beat in high speed for 30 seconds. Same way add till 2 cups of icing sugar , half a cup at a time.

4. Add cream and vanilla essence and beat till fluffy.

5. If icing is thin, add more icing sugar. If thick add more cream.

Madelines

Ingredients

2 Large eggs
50gms sugar
50gms Plain flour
50gms Almond Powder
60gms butter
A pinch of salt


Method
1. Melt the butter.
2. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt.
3. Add sugar and continue whisking.
4. Mix flour and almond powder together and mix it with egg mixture.
5.Add the melted butter.
6.Cover and keep it in refrigerator for atleast 2 hours.
7.Butter the madeline pan and keep it in refrigerator.
8.preheat the oven to 190c.
9.Fill the madeline pan with mixture and bake for 7-9mins.
10.Cool it in wire rack.
11.Enjoy with a cup of coffee.

Rich Fruit Cake

It's Xmas again and as we are going on vacation to India, I didn't prepare anything special for xmas except this cake. This time I went for Rum soaked fruit cake. Yesterday I baked the cake and I am waiting to taste it... Fingers crossed...

I made 2 big cakes , one square
 and another round one both 9 inches pan to feed my big family back home..

Ingredients
--------------
For the Fruits
------------------
Luxury Dry Fruit Mixture - 500gms
Cashew Nuts - 200 gms
Candied Orange peel - 100gms
Rum - 300ml

I made this 3 weeks advance. Cut the fruits and chop the cashew nuts and put them in a clean dry glass bowl with 250ml of Rum. Close with lid and keep mixing them every 2- 3 days.

Caramel Syrup
-------------------
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Water - 1 Tablespoon
Hot Water - 3/4 cup

Heat sugar in a heavy pan with a tablespoon of water. Keep stirring till it becomes dark brown. Remove from stove and add hot water carefully. Cool it.

Cake
--------
Self Raising Flour - 3 3/4 cup
Sugar   - 2 Cups
Molasses - 1Cup
Egg - 7 Large
Almond Powder - 1 Cup
Butter - 350gms
Baking Soda - 2 Tsp
Baking Powder - 1 Tsp
Salt - a pinch
Orange Marmalade - 4 Table Spoons
Spice Powder - 2 Tsp
Jeera Powder -1/4 Tsp
Vanilla Essence - 2 tsp
Whole Cashews - To decorate

Method
----------
1.Preheat the oven to 180 C. Separate egg yolks. Line the cake pans with double or triple layered baking paper.
2.Drain Fruits in a colander. collect the drained juice in a bowl.
3.Sieve flour with baking powder and soda. Then mix it with spice powders, salt and almond powder.
4.Cream butter and sugar together. Then add molasses and mix it.
5.Add egg yolks one by one and beat it nicely.
6.Mix 3 Tablespoon of flour mixture with fruit mixture.
7.Add the remaining flour to the butter, egg mixture in 4 times and mix with wooden spoon.
8.Add essense , orange marmalade and caramel syrup.
9.Now mix the dry fruits gently into cake mixture.
10.Beat the egg whites with a tablespoon of sugar and beat till soft peaks formed.
11.Mix them into cake mixture.
12.Pour the cake mixture into cake pans evenly.
13.Decorate with cashew nuts.
14.Bake in oven for 1 hour or till done. Mine took 1 hour 15 mins. So, after 1 hour I loosely covered the top with 2 layers of baking paper to prevent the burning in top.
15.When the knife comes out clean, Take it off from oven and sprinkle with 2 teaspoon of Rum.
16.Keep it rest for 30 mins.
17.Turn it upside down on a wire rack and let it cool for 1 hour.
18.Mix the remaining rum with drained fruit juice and brush it all over the cake.
19.Wrap it tightly with a cling wrap.
20.Wait patiently for a week to enjoy your cake..
21.I have no more rum left. But if we have anything left, we can brush the cake with rum every 3 days..