Pehle PetPooja Phir Kaam Dooja

3 Minute Jhatpat Microwave Besan Laddoo

2009-10-21T04:52:00.000-07:00

I remember for one Diwali I spent almost half a day making besan laddoos for my friends.
And the first time that it was I forgot to powder the sugar as it was not told in the recipe to powder the sugar :-) The laddoos tasted good but we could feel the crunch of the sugar crystals as well :-) .
Laddoos are a favorite for all our Indian festivals be it Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali or Durga Pooja.
Now I will share a great recipe for the laddoos to be made in such an easy and quick way you will want to thank me for it.

This recipe will make 10 laddoos.

Ingredients
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1 Cup Besan/gramflour/Chickpea flour(preferably a little coarse or you can add a teaspoon of sooji along with the besan)
1 Teaspoon freshly ground Green cardamoms.
1/3 Cup Ghee
A few nuts like Cashewnuts or raisins to Garnish

Steps to follow
1. In a Microwave safe bowl add ghee and besan and MW High(850-900 Watt) Covered for 2 Minutes .Make sure to stop and stir after one minute.
2. Microwave on Low power for 1 more minute and stir after half a minute.
3. Check that you are getting the aroma of the besan and it is the color that you like.
4. If you feel it is still a little raw , you may want to MW for another half minute on low power till you reach the desired color and aroma.
5. Add cardamom Powder and Powdered Sugar to this mixture . Mix well and Bind the laddoos when they are a little cool but still hot enough to be bound together.
If the laddos are not binding well you can add a little more ghee or a liitle warm milk which will help in binding.

Garnish with nuts.raisins/silver warq on the top if you like.
Celebrate with any occasion and don't forget to comment on the post if it comes out well :-)
Here is the Video Recipe link for
Microwave Besan Laddoo

Microwave Kanda Poha

2009-10-21T04:22:00.001-07:00

Hey , if it is a Weekend, the day has to begin with a Breakfast of Poha.
The weekend can not be good without it. It's Impossible.
So here is a jhatpat recipe for Microwave Kanda Poha.
Kanda is a word for Onion as used in Maharashtra.
I remember in my hometown Bhopal, if we go out at 7 or 8 in the morning , there are so many shops selling Kadhai's full of Poha with garam Jalebi wrapped in a newspaper :-)
Good old days, Now that I am not living there anymore or in India , I just have to pray that I can still get the good quality Poha in the Indian Grocery shop so that we can still enjoy our favorite Poha Weekends.

So here is the
Kanda Poha recipe
Ingredients
2 Cups Poha
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup Diced Potatoes
1-2 Green Chillies
4-5 fresh curry leaves
few sprigs Coriander to Garnish
1 teaspoon Mustard seeds/Rai
1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds/Jeera
1 Teaspoon Dry grated coconut to Garnish
2 Tbspoon Lemon Juice
3 Tbspoon Oil
1/4 Teaspoon Turmeric
Salt and red chilly powder to taster

Steps to Follow
1. Wash the poha in water , drain the water Immediately if the poha seems to get soft too quickly .
If the poha is a bit thicker , you can let it soak for a few minutes, If it starts to break or get soggy take out the water immediately.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, Add 3 Tablespoon oil ,Mustard,Jeeraand Green chillies,curry leaves
Microwave on high (850-900 Watts) Power for 1 minute covered.
3. Add diced potatoes to this mixture. Microwave high covered for 3 minutes
4. Now add Onions , MW High covered for 2 Minutes
5. Add Turmeric to this mixture, add Salt and red chilly powder to the Poha and add to the onion potatoes mixture.
6. Microwave high covered for 3 minutes.
7. Add Lemon Juice and mix, Garnish with Coriander and coconut powder and serve hot :-)

I can assure you ,you will have a great weekend after eating this. Yippy !!!!

Here is also the Video recipe link for the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qYj9TbXIl0

Homemade Party Cakes

2009-05-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

Valentine Cake for Hubby at Midnight

The Pirate Cake for Birthday Party

Barbie cake for a little doll

Strawberry Mousse Cake

Orange Cake

Black Forest Cake for My hubby's B'day

Black forest Party Cake

Black Forest Cake Recipe

Ingredients

3 Eggs( use at room temperature and not straight out of the fridge)
100 ml Oil
100 ml Pepsi/Coca Cola
1 Cup Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
1 cup full fat whipping Cream
1 Small can Tinned cherries
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Essence

Procedure

Preheat The oven to 170 degrees while you start preparing the cake.

1. Mix together flour baking powder and cocoa powder and sift them thorugh a sieve.

2. Beat the egg whites seperately till they are stiff and does not flow when you invert the bowl. While separating the eggs make sure no yellow part of the egg remains or the egg white will not beat well.

3. Mix the egg yolk and sugar well .

4. Now add egg yolk mixture and oil to the flour, cocoa powder mixture .

5. Slowly mix in the egg whites with a light hand .

6. Add the vanilla Essence and in the end mix in the Pepsi.

7. Oil the cake tin and line it with butter paper , pour the batter and bake it at 170 degree for 30-45 minutes.

You will need to check when it is done by inserting a wooden skewer or knife in the middle of the cake.

Once you see that the batter does not stick to tke knife take it out and let it cool.

After about 1/2 an hour to an hour , you can take it out.

Frosting/Decoration

1. Chill the cream in the freezer for 15 minutes to half an hour along with the bowls and whisk/beater that will be used to beat the cream.

2. Add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar and beat the cream for 5-6 minutes with an electric beater or with a whisk for about 10-15 minutes till the cream doubles in volume and forms soft peaks.

You can keep an ice cube tray below the bowl to help the cream beat well.

3. Add a little vanilla essence to this icing.

Cut the cake into half and soak the cake with a few tablespoons of the cherry syrup from the tinned cherries on both halves of the cake .
Spread a generous coating of the whipped cream on the cake and add chopped /halved tinned cherries.
Put the other half back on the lower half of the cake and spread some more cherry syrup on the top layer of the cake and now spread a generous helping of the whipped cream .
If you have a icing bag you can make some stars as well.
Now decorate with cherries all over and sprinkle some chocolate flakes over the cake.
To make the chocolate flakes at home simply buy some chocolate bars. Freeze them well and then grate them using the grater /slicer section.

Writing Happy Birthday On a Birthday Cake.

In case you want to write Happy Birthday on the cake then take a few pices of chocolate and melt it in a small bowl in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.
Add a little cream/ milk and mix and heat again to get the desired semi flowing consistency of the chocolate mixture to write over the cake..
If you have a piping bag , go ahead and write on the cake otherwise you can use a plastic bag and make a very small cut on one of the edges and then fold it to make it like a piping bag. Fill it up and try writing over a surface before you can go ahead and start writing on the cake.

Make your loved ones happy with your wonderful creations.

:-)

3 Minute Microwave Sponge Cake

Ingredients

3 Eggs
Salt to taste
1/2 cup Powdered sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla essence
3/4 cup Flour (maida)

1 Teaspoon Baking powder
3 Tablespoon oil

Separate the egg whites and yolks.
Beat the egg whites using an electric beater or a whisk till they do not flow when you invert the bowl.
Sift the flour and baking powder together and mix it with the egg whites and sugar with a light hand.
Add 3 tablespoon oil and vanilla essence and mix lightly.
Smear a little oil in a microwave container and microwave high (850/900 watt) for 3 minutes.
It should be done but check using a knife for any uncooked batter and if so microwave for another 1/2 minute or till it is cooked well.
Leave to cool for a few minutes and invert it for use in Mousse cakes, pastries etc or just spread some lovely whipped cream along with cherries /Pineapple etc.

The first time I tried this I was soooooooooo happy to see that a cake can be done in just 3 minutes. Wow...... and it tastes just awesome.

Gatte Ki Sabzi

2008-09-01T02:36:00.000-07:00

'Gatte ki Sabzi' as it is called is one famous Rajasthani dish.
I remember when I was young and we were out of all vegetables at home. This was one hot favorite item that can be made with Gramflour,tomatoes,onions and curd.
Sometimes I wonder what we Indians would do without Besan/Gramflour.
There are innumerable dishes that can be made with this one main ingredient and without it cooking life would be half as intesresting .
So Thank whoever first discovered Besan and watch all the ingredients and instructions in detail on my Home made Video recipe.

Gatte ki Sabzi-YouTube
or
Gatte ki Sabzi-Rediff.

Rangeela Capsicum Raita

2008-08-29T00:22:00.001-07:00

Just a few days back I discovered this lovely orange colored capsicum in the vegetable market here in Nice, south of France.

All these tempting colors of red,orange,yellow and green were giving me an inviting look to do something creative with them.

But what should I make , I know my husband hates capsicums unless they are crunchy like in salads. Once well cooked I know he will just take them out from whatever vegatable I cook and put it in the corner of the plate giving it a forsaken look.

I had read in some places about capsicum raita and I thought when I will mix all the colors on the base of the white curd they will look wonderful.

So Voila ! here was my recipe simple and easy, Just put all the capsicums in the microwave

for 2 minutes till they are just about cooked yet do not give the completely boiled /cooked taste.

Add the tempering of mustard and cumin in oil . Sprinkle some jeera ,coriander and red chilli powder and there you are . Chill and serve.

Use your own imagination to make it look wonderful and appealing like in the image above :-).

For Detailed Ingredients and Video Recipe

Watch on YouTube- Raita Rangeela

or

Watch on Rediff Ishare-Raita Rangeela

7 Minute Sabudana Khichdi

2008-08-28T00:28:00.000-07:00

Sabudane Ki Khichdi is my real favorite of all times.

I remember when I was younger , I always used to ask my mother to prepare Sabudane ke Khichdi for my breakfast on my birthdays and even today given a chance I would still ask for the same.

I would even love the days of the navratri fasts just to eat this mouth watering dish.

But I have found that a lot of people have some problem in getting the sabudana done just right.

Either their sabudna turns out chewy and hard or it is completely mashed up.

There are 2 methods of soaking sabudana , usually I soak the sabudana in just enough water overnight so that all of it is absorbed and the sabudana becomes nice and fluffy in the morning.

I use 1 measuring cup sabudana and 150 ml water which is like just 1/2 - 1 inch above the sabudana in the container.

The second method is to soak the sabudana in water which is around 1.5 - 2 times the quantity of the sabudana . Leave it soaked for half an hour and then drain the water completely and leave the sabudana for 2-3 hours or more till you find that sabudana is ready to be used and all water has been absorbed.

Adding roasted and ground groundnuts makes sure that the pearls of the sabudana do not stick to each other.

Having told the basics now I should say that with the invention of the mcirowave making sabudana is even more easier and faster.

There is no more the problem of stirring frequently or standing in front of the kadai/ gas to prevent the sabudana from sticking to the bottom of he pan.

Just add the sabudana to the microwave with potatoes and tempering and Voila ! Here is your sabudana ready to be eaten.

For Detailed recipe and instructions watch my Video on

YouTube- Sabudana Khichdi

or on Rediff - Sabudana Khichdi

3 Minute Jhatpat Microwave Dhokla

2008-08-27T02:57:00.000-07:00

There are times when I am really hungry and then I am in a mood of some breakfast that can be prepared really fast.

For such hungry days or when some guests arrive unexpectedly I can just go into my kitchen and prepare these delicious dhoklas which are easy and fast to prepare.

This is the modified microwave version of the traditional Gujrati dhoklas.

It takes just 3 minutes to cook and all you need is some besan/gramflour and eno as the main ingredient and Voila ur Dhoklas are ready in no time.

To get the video recipe with demonstration and ingredients click

Here- Recipe for 3 Minute Dhoklas

In Rediff Food Video - 3 minute Dhokla

Tiranga Paratha

2008-08-26T05:55:00.000-07:00

Here is a unique and different recipe that I tried on the occasion of independence day.It uses Carrot and spinach to give color to this paratha which resembles the colors of our national flag.
For Ingredients and Instructions watch :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV081iu7ERw

http://ishare.rediff.com/filevideo-tiranga-paratha-id-406320.php