Coconut cake

This coconut cake recipe is  not a new recipe but the old coconut cake  recipe with new pics and a small variation.I doubled all the ingredients except sugar.Sugar i added according to taste, which was roughly a little less than 1 and 1/2 cups.I also added  a dash of coconut essence.Since this is a  mix , pour and bake type of cake , i love it.Perfect to bake when my little Shanaya is taking her small nap.I cannot wait for the day when my little darling will be able to eat the dishes i prepare ..!!Now she is just turning 5 months, so i have some time.
Coming back to the cake, the ingredients used are such that you can  always try slight variations and may be come out with a new tasting cake every time.

Cinnamon teacake

Never expected to be back on the blog this fast...i am honestly out of touch with blogging.. but as i had mentioned in the earlier post, my hands were itching to bake.I baked brownies before this but could not find time to take good pictures or rather the brownies disappeared before i could take pics!!
Cinnamon being one of my favourite spices i decided to bake  an easy and simple cinnamon tea cake... i started hunting for fast and easy recipes... yes, it had to be fast and easy cos my baby is hardly 3 months old.And being alone at home does not make it easier!!So i hunt a few websites and come across this cinnamon tea cake recipe, tweak it a little and i have this!!

Eggless Butterless Coconut Cake

Wish You All A Very Happy New Year!!Hoping and praying for a peaceful new year.A year in which we Indians can hope for a change in mindset, change in attitude and change in the system.I hope 2013 will be that year of change. With positive thoughts of  a positive New Year i bring you this simple recipe of a  coconut cake.

Eggless Butterless Coconut Cake

Since many days my hands have been itching to bake something new, something different.At first i had thought of baking Christmas cake.. but there was such a huge inflow of cakes that i decided against it.
But yesterday i came across a simple, easy and quick  coconut cake recipe which i had to try asap.
The ingredients were easily available.. there was no beating or whisking requires.. no eggs needed and no butter!!!And a perfect day to bake.. i would have some cake to cut on New Year.
The quantity of ingredients made a very small cake..so it was the perrrfffeeecttt cake!!!!

Ingredients

Self raising flour-1 cup
(i did not have it so i substituted with these 3 ingredients
  All purpose flour-3/4 cup,Baking powder-1 tspn,Salt-1/4 tspn)
Sugar -1 cup
1 cup coconut (i used dessicated )
3/4 cup milk

Method

Preheat oven to 180degrees and grease a cake tin well.
Mix all the ingredients together .
Pour into prepared tin and bake till a skewer inserted into cake comes out clean.

Yes , that's it.. just mix, pour and bake!!!Kids can easily make this cake so get your little ones involved or they can make the whole thing!!!

Eggless Butterless Coconut Cake

Adapted from:  www.bestrecipes.com.au

 I added a capful of  pineapple essence.

Garlic Cilantro Rolls

This is not the first time i am posting this recipe.. Actually i had posted this recipe last month and lot has changed between then and now.. the big change being the title of my blog.Now i was a little confused as to what to do .. should i go back and change the pictures , try to edit the pictures or  write a new post??

Naan Kataayi

The eggless Indian cookies..yes we have also have cookies to our credit.Naan katayi can be made using a mixture of maida,semolina and besan but here I have used only Maida(once I tried with the other 2 and it was a flop so ready for that only later).This I have  made before too and has never failed me.You can also use flavours like elaichi or cinnamon and garnish with nuts.. but I chose to go simple…so the plain simple naan kataayis.
I also have  a  faster way of making it  here.
I have  a lot of catching up to do in the blogosphere… 4-5 days without the internet was  very very boring… in the mean time I prepared a few posts on windows live writer and hence I am ready to post… so, many calls to the customer service and finally  I am “connected”…They were adamant that we try to fix the problem with their instruction over phone.. but that was just not happening… finally after many failed attempts ,they agreed to send  a technician…phew!!!I just realised that life can be boring without internet…no blogging .. no recipe videos.. no FB.. no news… no reading other blogs… no watching movies!!!Anyway now I have it and I am glad… good to be back to the virtual world!!

Masala /Khara Biscuits

Despite being in Dubai and visiting supermarkets at least twice a week( that's become my favourite outing and hobby) i resist my temptation to load up on goodies.Going into a supermarket lifts my mood.. dangerous sign???!!!If i am tempted to buy anything and everything off the shelf.. yes,it is a dangerous hobby.. But sometimes i make it a point to carry a list and do not go elsewhere!!! Well that's the best i can do to stop myself from buying unneccesary things!!

So shouldn't i be getting  a pat on my back for not stocking up on the different varieties of cookies, biscuits, cakes and other goodies?? Honestly I don't buy any.I think" i make them, then why should i buy them".It feels good to offer homemade goodies when you have guests at home and they go " You made these?? wow!!How did u do it?"

N took some cookies to his office and somebody ( a poor soul not introduced to the art of baking) said," how can these be made at home?" i was smiling from ear to ear!!!! :)

So i decided to stock up on something " not sweet " as people are conscious  about their sugar intake.So i decided to make something with salt.. a salt biscuit or something..

I checked out a few recipes here and there and finally decided on these  Khara biscuits from Sharmis Passions.I substituted the butter with refined oil and some other changes here and there(sha had suggested a few)

Ingredients i used:

All purpose flour- 1 cup
Refined oil- 4 tbsp
White sesame seeds-1tbspn
Curry Leaves- few cut into small pieces
Mint leaves- Cut into small pieces
Coriander leaves- cut into small pieces
Ajwain(carom seeds/bishop's weed))-1tspn
Salt- to suit your taste
Sugar-1/2 tspn
Milk-6tbsp(original recipe used 4tbsp,adjust according to the dough used)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 C
Mix oil and flour well till the oil in completely absorbed.
Then add in all other ingredients and knead into a stiff dough ( like chapathi dough)
Flour a surface and roll out the dough into a sheet of 1/4th inch thickness and cut out desired shapes.
I used a small round cutter to make the miniature ones and the lid of my baking powder to cut the biggger ones.
You may prick holes on the biscuits with the fork to avoid any rise.
I did not do this ,still my biscuits did not rise...
Bake  for about 15-20 minutes till teh biscuit gets a light brown colour.Cool on wire rack and store in airtight containers.
When taken out from oven they slightly soft but will become crispy after cooling down.

Notes:

Original recipe used butter , i substituted with oil
I omitted the green chillies and added Ajwain and mint leaves extra.
You may also add any other seeds of your choice and give a twist.
The black or white sesame seeds can be used ,i had only white.

My miniature version

Good with your evening tea or coffee!!

Custard Jam Drops

I made these cookies many days back  but somehow i kept delaying this post.

I have made these cookies many times and each time they  have come out well and are a sure shot hit :) . I have tried in the MW as well as Convection oven.. It comes out well in both modes!!
This cookie was introduced to me by my good friend Arundhuti. We have been very good friends since  2007 or so but we have never met.Hoping to meet soon. We will have  a lot of " food talk" and "dog talk " to do and of course the shopping, eating,etc etc etc

Thank you Aru for this wonderful recipe.

She blogs here but recently busy with other beautiful things in her life...one of them being........yes,motherhood.She has been blessed with a beautiful cute little baby girl -Sia.I hope she comes back to the blogosphere soon.

Ingredients

Flour - 1 cup9 all purpose flour)
Custard Powder- 1/3 rd cup
Powdered sugar - 1/3 rd cup
baking powder- 1/2 tspn
butter- 1/2 cup
Vanilla Essence - 1/4 tspn
Milk- 2 tbspn
Mixed fruit jam 8-10 tbspn

Method:

Mix together baking powder and flour and keep aside.
Beat the butter and sugar till creamy.Add in the vanilla essence also.
Now add the custard powder and teh flour and knead well using the milk.
You will not need more than 2 tbsp.. it is perfect for this amount.
Roll into 16-18 small balls and flatten with your palm.
Now make  a small depression with your thumb in the centre and put in the mixed fruit jam,say 1/4th to 1/2 tspn
Keep the cookies on the  baking tray leaving half inch space on all sides of the cookie.
bake in oven preheated to 180C till golden colour.

for N

Notes:

I sometimes skip the jam as N does not like the jam in it.
This time i rolled the flour and cut out different shapes in it- this was specially made for my friends son.He would eat each shape out of curiosity!!
I have tried the same recipe substituting the vanilla with butterscotch essence and that was also very tasty.

I skipped the baking powder once and the cookies turned a little darker than i wanted so would recommend that you  don't skip it.

I used the  vanilla custard powder ,you can give  a try with some other custard.Do let me know which flavour u used and how it came out.

I tried adding the jam after the cookies were made but it was just too sticky so would recommend adding jam before baking.

Tip: Please make sure that your baking sheet is completely cooled before you start the second batch of baking

try it out and let me know how it was.Simple , fast way of making a yummy cookie.They are awesome believe me.This tempts me to have one from my stock!!

So check it out and let me know!!

Microwave Nan Katais

Microwave Nan Kataais




Today being Sunday i was in a mood for some baking. I had initially zeroed in on  a cake recipe but then in the last minute i realised that i do not have eggs at home. Then  i decided to make something egg less ...


That's when i took out my old recipe book and started hunting for my nan kataai recipe and also referred a food blog i really love.( mentioned in source below)
Yipee.. managed to get it and so it was  Nan katai today.. well Microwave Nan Kataai.

Ingredients


Maida-3/4 cup
Powdered sugar -1/4 the cup
Ghee -1/3rd cup
Badam or cashew to garnish( optional.)


Method.


Mix all ingredients to form a soft dough which can be easily rolled in your hands.divide into small portion and roll into a ball and slightly flatten.( i flattened some to take the shape of cookies and some we re a little bigger like the original nan kataais)
Pre heat oven to 180 degrees and bake till done.I used an IFB microwave oven ,so baked it in convection mode for 6 minutes. When i took it out it was slightly soft but then became harder after a few minutes.
It was perfect ,neither too hard nor too soft.


I waited for  the MW oven  to cool before i kept the second set of nan kataais.I remember burning a full batch  of jam drop cookies when i baked  them immediately!!


I kept a badam on each kataai and then baked. You may use any nuts of your choice. I had lot of badams at home , hence i used those.
You can also add any flavour to the dough  cardamom, saffron, rose .. anything of ur choice. I love it without any flavour.

Recipe source: some book from where i had copied it many years back and this blog.