VERMICELLI BIRDS NEST

Birds Nest

Ingredients:

Potato - 250 gms
Onion - 1 medium chopped finely
Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1/2 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Amchur Powder - 1/2 tsp (dry mango powder)
White Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Chaat Masala - 3/4 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Peas - a few, boiled

Vermicelli - broken into small pieces
Oil for frying

Batter:
All Purpose Flour - 3 tbsp
Corn Flour - 1.5 tbsp
Water
Salt

Preparation:
Boil the potatoes and mash them till no lumps are there.

Place the vermicelli on a plate.

Mix the ingredients for the batter without lumps. Make sure the consistency is slightly thick and not thin.

In a pan, add a 1/2 tsp oil and to this saute onion and ginger garlic paste. Saute till raw smell goes and add to the mashed potato. To this add all the powders and salt and mix nicely. Make small balls out of the lump.  Dip each ball in the batter making sure all the sides are coated with the batter. Then roll them with vermicelli. The more uneven the coating the better will be the look of the birds nest :). Place them on a plate and likewise complete the rest of the potato balls.

I felt the balls were kind off very soft so placed then in fridge for about 20 mins or so. Once the balls have been set make small hole imprint on top lightly and in a pan, deep fry the balls till the vermicelli turns light burned color. Place them on to tissue to remove the excess oil. Place the peas on top to represent the eggs of the birds and serve warm with ketchup :). You can also fry them as whole and place peas in between the potato balls before rolling them to a ball.

I would like to this over for the event Tea Time Snack

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

BANANA BREAD (Cafe Style)

Banana Bread (the best bread ever baked!)

When it was time for blog hop wednesday, i was paired with Priya. I was awestruck with the recipes and especially the baking section which was my fav!. Seeing the cafe style bread made me no hesitant to try it out immediately. I had no confidence at first that it will turn out as good as she had made. But out of my surprise it came out well and the best part everyone was happily relishing on the bread slices asking for more. Doesnt that make you even more happier!!!.. Thanks a ton Priya for sharing and I m so glad i tried it out :) :)

Ingredients:
All Purpose Flour (sifted) - 1 3/4 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Eggs - 2
Ripe Bananas - 3 large
Oil - 1/2 cup
Buttermilk - 1/3 cup
Walnuts - 1/2 cup chopped
Chocolate Chips - 1/2 cup

Preparation:

Grease a loaf pan with butter and keep aside.

Sift the flour with baking soda. Then beat the eggs first till pale. Then add in the sugar and bananas and beat till smooth. If you need bananas to be chunky you can roughly crush before hand and add to the wet mix. Then add in buttermilk and salt. Whisk nicely and add in all the dry ingredients little by little.

Bake at 190C/375F for 1 hour and 5 mins. I bet the hosue will be smelling awesome right now :) :)...

Relish on warm or cold slice :)

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

TRADITONAL X'MAS CAKE

X'mas special Kerala Plum Cake

About 1.5kg
Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour : 300gm
Powdered Sugar - 300gm
Butter - 300gm
Egg - 300gm (approx 5 large eggs)
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Orange Juice - 1/2 cup
Caramalized Sugar - 6 tbsp
Lime Juice - 1 tsp
Orange skin - 2 tsp*
Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp
Cardamom - 2
Nutmeg Powder - 1/2 tsp
Clove - 2
Cinnamon - 2 sticks
Cashew nuts -  a ahndful roughly chopped
Tutti frutti - 1/2 cup
Cherries in syrup - 1/2 cup
Dates - 10 nos
Rum - 2-3 tbsp*

For the Caramalized Sugar:
Sugar - 1/3 cup
Boiled water - 1/3 cup

In a thick bottom pan, add in the sugar and melt it over low-med flame. After some time you will see the sugar startes melting and changing its color to light brown. Gradually it will turn dark brown and almost blackish color. Switch off the flame and pour in the hot boiling water. Keep aside to cool. (While pouring hot water be very careful as it will splatter)

Preparation:

Soak the cherries, dates, tutti frutti and raisins in rum for atleast a week. I had soaked themmore than 2 weeks. When needed, drain them and keep them aside.

Sieve the all purpose flour and baking powder.

Seperate the egg whites and egg yolks. Beat till egg is fluffy. Same way beat egg yolks till light in color.

Powder the spices together and keep aside.

In a bowl, add in the powdered sugar and butter and beat till creamy. Add in the egg yolks and mix once again.

Now add the egg whites and whisk nicely.

Then add in the flour little by little and start whisking. Add in the caramilized sugar, lime juice, essence, orange skin, nuts and the masala powder and whisk nicely till all are properly mixed.

Now in a plate add in the fruits and dates and rub in flour lightly. his helps the fruits to be in the flour. Otherwise if its wet it will go below while baking.

Add this to the batter and mix. if you want you cna save few for garnish too.

Transfer the batter to a pan and into the pre-heated oven at 180C/350F for about 50 mins. Since the quantity was more my oven took more time. Some may take hardly 30-40 mins. Check the cake with toothpick test.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

Notes :
Youc an use freshly grated skin of an orange and then powder them or even dried orange skin. I used fresh powdered skin.
For the orange juice, you can freshly squeezed one and also add a bit more than the said quantity if the batter is too thick.
If you dont have rum, you can use brandy or even wine too.

CUSTARD BISCUITS/YO-YO BISCUITS

CUSTARD BISCUITS / YO - YO BISCUITS

I have seen this recipe in many blogs long back. The name yo-yo itself is what made me attracted to trying out these biscuits. As the name sounds they look also yo-yo and easy to prepare :)..
Ingredients:
All Purpose Flour - 1.5 cups
Custard Powder - 1/2 cup
Butter - 220 gms
Icing Sugar - 1/2 cup


Preparation:

(Sorry about the lighting part)

Sieve the flour and custard powder.

Whisk butter and sugar nicely. Add in batches the flour and mix till you get a soft dough. Make small balls from it and press lightly with a fork to form a cookie mark. Bake in a pre-heated oven @ 190C for 10 mins. Cool and store in an air-tight container.

Thats my little one eating one of the yo-yo biscuits joyfully ;)

I would like to send this over to JATW conducted by my dear friend Kavi :)

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

AVAL UNDA (Flatten Rice Balls)

Aval Unda

I had no idea how to make this or even heard of it. Recently during the Harvest festival in church, my father told me that he bought thse. I asked him what was added in it and he said he thoguht the ingredients where so and so. Thats when i decided i should give a hand on this recipe and see how it will be :). I was surprised the outcome was awesome and definitely tasty!

Ingredients :

Aval (Brown flat beaten Rice) - 1 cup
Coconut grated - 1 cup
Sesame Seeds - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
Water - 1/4 cup
Cashew Nuts - 1/4 cup chopped roughly

Preparation:
Place pan over stove and once hot add in the flat rice and fry for 2-3 mins over low flame till the rice flakes are crispy. Make sure they dont change color. Remove the rice flakes. Then add in the sesame seeds and roast till nice aroma comes. It took me nealry 3- 4 mins. Remove from flame to cool.

Powder the rice flakes in a grinder. Optionally you can keep as it is or even half grind too. I preferred the grinded version.

Now in another pan. add in jaggery and 1/4 cup water and melt the jaggery. Once melted completely sieve for any impurities. Then to this add coconut and nuts. Mix properly. Mix in the sesame seeds and grinded aval powder and mix nicely. Once slightly cooled start making small balls with them and keep to cool completely. You can store them in an air - tight container for days :).

I would like to send this over for the event conducted by Julie :)

I would like to send this also over to Jingle all the way , a event conducted by kavi :)..

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

POTATO KIBBEH

Potato Kibbeh

Potato kibbeh is basically a middle eastern dish with potato and carmellized onions sometimes stuffed with meat (chicken, lamb). I would prefer to make this dish veg and then serve with non-veg to go with it. I surely would make this several times as its very healthy and filling too.

Recipe Source : Discover Lebanon

Ingredients:
Potato - 1 large boiled and mashed ( roughly about 1 cup)
Wheat Bulgar - 1/2 cup
Garlic Powder - 2 tsp
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil - 2 -3 tbsp

Walnuts - 1 large handful
Onion - 1 medium chopped finely

Preparation:

Roast the walnuts in 180C pre-heated oven for about 55-7 mins till nuts turn slightly brown in color.
Roast the onions in 1 tsp of oil in a pan till lightly brown color.
Wash the bulgar and blend it in a processor.
Mix the mash potato, blended bulgar, garlic, salt and pepper.
Divide the mix into two parts. Place one part into the baking dish. Layer the onions and walnuts on top. Then layer with the second potato mix. Cut over the top into squares roughly and pour the olive oil so that it sweeps between the cuts.

Bake in pre-heated oven at 10C for 40 mins. You will see it will turn lightly brown in color.

Serve warm as it is or you can have with tuna (which i had and it tasted superb) or with cooked chicken mince.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

Notes :
You can add variations like cashew nuts, raisins or even cooked meat instead of walnut areas.

BANANA FRITTERS (Pazham Pori)

Banana Fritters/Ettakka appam/ Pazham pori

Ingredients:
Ripe Plantains (Ethakka) - 3 numbers
Maida - 5 tbsp
Rice Flour - 2 tbsp
Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
Jeera Powder - a large pinch
Turmeric Powder - a pinch
Sugar - 1 tsp *
Salt - a pinch
Water just enough for making the batter
Oil/Ghee for frying

Preparation:
Mix the flours, powders, sugar and salt. Add water little by little till you get a thick flowing batter. Make sure the batter is not very thick or very thin. When you dip the spoon and take out, the batter should flow slowly from the spoon.

Remove skin and cut the plaintains into half. Then cut each half vertically into 3. If you want thick ones you can cut into 2. I prefer the thinner version.

If you are not into calorie counting feel free to use ghee for frying to enhance the flavour. I used oil. Pour in oil in a pan and once hot, add in the dipped plantains(banana) and fry till both sides are light browni n color. Serve warm with tea/coffee.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

Notes:
Add in sugar quantity in accordance tot he sweetness of the plantains. If its nicely ripe and sweet and in very less sugar.