Recipe | Easy Cocoa Brownies

Easy Cocoa Brownies, the recipe is my savior when I have unexpected guests at home and my pantry is devoid of cooking chocolate. These Brownies are egg free and quite easy to bake. The process of heating butter and sugar gives a wonderful gooey texture to these Brownies.

Recipe | Churma Ladoos - Traditional Diwali Sweet

Hmm...traditional sweet recipe from Rajasthan -  and I could not think beyond Churma Ladoos. 

The instant flashbacks I get when I think of Churma Ladoos is - firewood, smoke filled kitchen, large black iron kadai (wok) and my grandma with a ladle sitting on a small wooden stool, slow roasting coarse whole wheat flour adding ladlefuls of fresh homemade cow’s ghee from a copper burni (pot) beside her and a funnel in another to fan the hearth.

Recipe | Quick Saffron Fudge or Kesar Peda

Kesar Peda is one of the 30 recipes I did for an assignment for a regional magazine. The issue is out and is liked by many who called to say the same. Here is quick saffron Peda recipe; 

Recipe | Kesari

Semolina Kesari is a popular sweet in South India. In my hometown Udaipur we make Suji ka halwa which has almost the same ingredients but proportions are different. Halwa has fluffy texture while Kesari is fudgy and seta like burfi.

  

Ingredients;

• 1/2 cup Semolina or rawa
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 3 tbsp. Ghee
• 10-12 cashew nuts
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom powder
• A pinch of orange food colour

Method; Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan and roast cashew nuts till they turn brown in colour.

Add semolina to the same pan and roast till it turns light brown in colour.

Boil milk in another vessel and add roasted rawa and orange colour in it. Stir it well so that there is no lump formed in the milk.

Cook for  3-4 minutes till rawa gets cooked.

Add sugar and keep cooking for another 4-5 minutes till Kesari leaves the sides of the pan.

Add ghee, cardamom powder and fried cashew nuts in it. Grease a large plate with oil and spread the cooked Kesari on it. Flatten the top with a ladle and let it cool completely.

Slice it in desired shapes and serve. 

 

Notes;

1. Replace water with the same quantity of milk for a slightly different taste. Milk makes this Kesari recipe richer and denser. 
2. Avoid orange colour if you are allergic to food colours.

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Recipe | Methi Pakoras or Fenugreek Fritters

Ingredients;

• 1 cup tightly packed Methi leaves
• 1/2 cup chickpea flour
• 1/4 cup rice flour
• 1 tsp. red chilly powder
• 1 tsp. Chaat masala
• Salt to taste
• Oil to deep fry
• Water as required

Method; Pluck Methi (fenugreek) leaves, wash it with water and chop them finely.

Take a large vessel and add chopped Methi leaves and rest of the ingredients eacept oil and water.

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly with hands. Add water if you feel the batter is not binding together.

If you want crisp Pakoras add very little water and keep the batter thick, almost like chapatti dough. If you wish to make soft Pakoras add enough water to make a batter of flowing consistency.

Heat oil in a wok and drop small portions of batter to make Methi Fritters or Pakoras.

Notes;

Add a little hot oil in the batter to get soft Pakoras.

 

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Recipe | Fresh corn Fritters or Pakoras

Rain and Pakoras go hand in hand. These crispy corn fritters or Pakoras make a perfect tea-time treat.

Ingredients;       

• 1 cup corn kernel fresh or frozen
• 4 tbsp. chickpea flour or besan
• 2 tbsp. chopped coriander leaves
• 1 onion
• 1 tsp. Chaat masala or lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. red chilly powder
• Salt to taste
• Oil to deep fry

 

Method; peel and chop onion finely. Grind corn kernel to make a coarse paste.

Take a large vessel and add all the ingredients together except oil.

Heat oil in a wok and drop small portions of batter in it. 

Fry the Pakoras till they turn golden brown in colour.

Serve hot Corn fritters or Pakoras with green chutney or tomato sauce. 

  

Notes;
Grate a fresh corn and use in the recipe for better taste.
Replace 2 tbsp. of chickpea flour with rice flour more more crispy fritters.

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Recipe | Quick and Easy Tofu Fritters

Paneer Paoras or cottage cheese fritters are a common street food in many parts of India. I like to use Tofu to make these fritters,.A delicious tea time treat Tofu fritters are easy and quick to make.

Travel | Somnath Temple in Gujarat, immersed in God's word Part - 5

Continued from Part 4
'Prayers does not change God, but it changes him who prays.' ~ Kierkegaard. This eternal shrine of Somnath in Gujarat was destroyed six times and was rebuilt with more  vigour and devotion every single time. The first temple was supposed to be built before the beginning of Christian era. The present temple is the seventh temple on the original site of Somnath which was completed in 1995.

Travel | Gir in Sasan, Our First Sight of Asiatic Lions in Wild Part - 4

Continued from Part -3

The Safari system is pretty organized in Gir if you have prior booking for the rooms as well as for the safari.

Each safari cost INR 2000 including guide charges which is mandatory. I already read about people facing troubles in sightings lions in shared gypsies with noisy & cramped rides. We did not share our gypsy with anyone and did all are safaris by ourselves.

Travel | Gir is Calling, Sinh Sadan in Sasan Part -3

Continued from Part 2
Finally we were heading towards the mystical forest of lions called ‘Gir’in Gujrat. You can take a taxi from Diu or board a local bus which is a much cheaper option if you are on a budget.

There are many resorts and hotels near Gir forest but you may lose precious time if you book there. Everyone who wishes to go for lion Safari has to come to Singh Sadan to get a permit before heading to Gir forest.

Travel | A Wonderful Day on the Island of Diu Part -2

Continued from Part -1
Diu is a small ex-Portuguese island which lies at the southernmost tip of Gujarat and was a Portuguese colony before it was taken over by Indian government in 1961. Diu is not a part of Gujarat and is governed by Delhi which makes it an isolating place.
Beaches, forts, churches, cheap booze, simple people and laid back life defines Diu well.

Travel | A Relaxing Vacation in Diu Beach Resort Part - I

Continued from here.
To me the best thing about vacation is brainstorming the places to visit and then write down a tentative plan for the entire trip. Online reviews and Google comes to rescue for searching a comfortable hotel/resort, book safaris in advance and design the itinerary all by myself.

Years of traveling together to some known and some unknown destinations made the nature lover, an adventure enthusiast and the history buff in us go places.

Wedding in Rajasthan - A Celebration of Love, Food and many Emotions

"Marriage is not about the beginning; marriage is about the process and still being able to love through all things." ~  Rhonda. A marriage is a once in a life time ceremony in which not only vows, but also two families are shared between a man a woman tying knot.     

An Indian wedding is a perfect blend of traditions, grandeur, delectable cuisine and sacredness of celebrations. The unbound enthusiasm and the flow of emotions of all the family members have to be seen to be believed.

Travel | Udaipur Trip I - Of Appreciating Man-Made Beauty and Walking Through History

The nostalgia attached with every travel is hard to overcome. Each travel has a story to tell and every travel experience brings out the best times of our lives.
My Udaipur trip is a yearly ritual which I eagerly wait for. I remember reading it somewhere that visiting Udaipur is nothing short of reliving royalty and appreciating the city's man-made beauty!

Recipes | Eggless Coffee Cake, Cocoa Brownies and CBC Meets

The rapid increase in the number of groups on Facebook is a menace if you are one of those unfortunates who have been added blindly every other day by their admins without your consent and with no relevance to the subject of your interest.
I was added to this particular group almost a year back and I ignored it with the pretext of just another FB group where bloggers drop in to give a shout out for their new blog posts or share the pictures of their cats.
But to my surprise, this small group has come out as one of the most active, focused and close-knit family of bloggers from Chennai on Facebook.
This is Chennai Bloggers Club or CBC, a bundle of young, enthusiastic and talented bloggers from Chennai.  This group has made me realize the mighty powers of pen and to think about writing beyond food.