NO BAKE CHEESECAKE!!! X'MAS SPECIAL

No Bake Cheeeeeeessssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeee Cakeeeee!!!

 
Ingredients:
 
For the Base :
Marie Biscuits - 15 nos
Butter - 40 grams
 
 
For the Middle part:
Whipping Cream - 1 sachet of dream whip (total of 500 ml of whipped cream)
Sugar - 1/4 cup powdered
Cream Cheese - 300 ml (any brand will do)
Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp
Mango Puree / mango pieces - see notes
 
For the Top part:
Mango - 3 big
Gelatin - 1 tbsp

Preparation:
 
Powder the biscuits using chopper. Then add in the butter and again run the chopper in three pulses. Transfer equally to the glasses you plan to serve as base layer. Press lightly with spoon and place the glasses in the fridge to set.
 
Meawhile peel and chop mangoes roughly. Puree them in a grinder.
 
In a bowl beat the whipping cream tiff. Add in vanilla essence and sugar. Beat cream cheese in a seperate bowl till soft and fluffy. Add to the whipped cream and mix properly. Add in half of the mango puree to the mix and stir till all is mixed well.
 
Take the glasses out of the fridge. Now on the top of the biscuit layer, layer the cream based mixture on top (almost 3/4 of the glass) and keep it fridge to set for atleast 2-3 hours.

 
After 3 hours, prepare the gelatin as per instructions written (Boil required amount of water and add gelatin to it). Once the gelatin had cooled a bit, add rest of half  of the mango puree to the prepared gelatin. Pour over top of the set cream part filling all the glasses till top (every glass will have 1/4th of this mango part). Keep again fridge to set for about 4 hours. It would be best if kept overnight. Garnish with chocolate shavings, pista or almonds. (refer pics for layering)
 
Except for the setting time, this dessert is very delicious and easy to make. I can bet you will be a star in front of guests ;)
 
Cheers,
Neetz ;)
 
Notes:
The amount ingredients mostly depends on the amount of serving glass and its quantity. So adjust accordingly.
Add required amount of powdered sugar to the gelatin mix if mango is not sweet.
China grass can also be used in place of gelatin.
For the cream base, instead of mango puree you can even add roughly chopped mango pieces.

(The mix of ingredients i have found in many of my fellow bloggers and otherwise. So I really cant pin point the recpe from so and so :) )

CHOCOLATE NUTELLA COOKIES (Eggless)

Eggless Nutella Cookies - BHW

Another exciting wednesday for blog hopping came in and this time I was paired with one of my bloggy friend Priya :). I was so dleighted to know that I was paired with her as her blog as a treat to my eyes and i actually got confused what to make seeing all the wonderful dishes she have made. I was looking for simple recipe and as usual baking being my passion these days, these cookies were instant eye cather to me eyes. I did make changes to it and added extra few ingredients to it. I liked this biscuit coz unlike other biscuits it wasnt so sweet and for a family like mine, this was perfect :). Do find the link to the idea i got form her blog from here.

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour - 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp
Cocoa Powder - 1/3 cup
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Softened Butter - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Brown Sugar - 1/4 cup
Vanilla Essence - 1/2 tsp
Nutella - 8 tsp
Milk - 6 tsp

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 163C/325F

Sieve Flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and keep aside.

Now with a electric mixer beat sugars and butter till smooth. Add int he essence and nuteela and beat for another minute or so. Slowly add in the mixed flour and start folding in. Add milk in between and fold the whole mix into a soft dough. Refrigerate for 15-20 mins to make the dough hard.

Make small balls and place them on to a baking tray placed with baking paper. Flatten them with a bottom of a glass. Bake till slight cracks are formed and cookies are still soft. This wil take about 10 mins or so.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)


I would like to send this over for KIDS DELIGHT cevent onducted by Kavi and Srivalli and Valentines Event

                              Valentine fest serve with love

Bon Vivant Series

DEVIL FOOD CAKE WITH FROSTING

Devil Food cake

This is my first major frosted cake that i am making in my life. The frosting work and design has been little sloppy as i nearly lost my patience towards end :(.... But this also taught me a lesson that baking and to design a cake is no easy job and you need tons and tons of patience.

I wanted to make this for long but somehow always thought maybe some day during some occassion and dragged for long. But then finally i got a reason to make this coz its my BEST FRIEND VIDYA'S B'DAY!!.. HAPPY B'DAY SWEETHEART!!! She really is the sweetest devil in my life and have been with me through thick and thin. Now you all understood why i wanted to make this cake for her ;). As the name itself the cake is named Devil cake but when you eat its full of sweetness exactly like my vidhu is :) :)...
"Vidya, its sad that you are not near to have this share but we all will have on your behalf :) :)"

Ingredients:

All purpose Flour (Sifted) - 1.5 cups
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Powdered white sugar - 3/4 cup
Unsalted Butter - 9 tbsp
Eggs - 2 nos (room temp)
Vanilla Essence - 2 tsp
Water - 1 cup (boiled)
Cocoa Powder (Sifted) - 1/2 cup
Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup packed

For the Frosting:
Butter - 3/4 cup
Brown Sugar - 2 tbsp
Water - 1/2 cup
Semi Chocolate chips - 1.5 cups

Procedure:

Pre-heat oven to 180C/375F. Butter the pan in which you are going to bake.

Sift the flour with baking soda and baking powder and keep aside.

Sift the cocoa powder and to this add brown sugar and keep aside.

Boil 1 cup water and add to the cocoa and brown sugar mix and stir.

In a bowl, add the softened butter and white sugar and beat till creamy and pale. To this add the vanilla essence and beat once again. Then add the eggs and beat till pale. Add in the flour little by little and whisk till all the flour has been mixed. Now fold in the the cocoa mix to the flour batter. Fold in nicely till all the ingredients are mixed properly. Pour the batter to the buttered pan and keep it in oven. Bake for 40 mins or till cake test is done.

Recipe courtesy - Nigella Lawson

Meanwhile we will start preparing for the frosting. In a pan add water, butter and brown sugar. Keep over stove and when it starts to boil switch off . Add the chips to it and stir continuosly till the chips has been dissolved. Then keep aside for the mix to cool.
When cake is done, keep for baout 40-1 hour to cool. By that time the frosting mix also will cool down completely and will be thickened nicely.

Remove the cake to a plate and cut through the middle. Spread the frosting generously in the middle part of both cut side of cake and place them back together to look the same as before cutting. Then apply frosting again on all over the cake and place it in fridge to chill for some time. Maybe 20-30 mins. Cut and serve :)

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

Notes:
If you do not prefer to cut the cake in middle, then pour the batter in two 8"round pan.



I am sending this over for the KIDS DELIGHT event conducted by Kavi and Srivalli  and VALENTINES EVENT

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:
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.
I would like to send this over to JATW conducted by my dear friend 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 CHOCOLATE BREAD MUFFINS

Banana Chocolate Bread Muffins

Ingredients:
Flour - 1 .5 cup
Banana - 3 nos ( Ripe)
Eggs - 2 nos
Brown Sugar - 1 cup
Curd - 1 cup
Salt - a pinch
Vegetable Oil - 3/4 cup
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Milk Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup
Roasted Walnuts and  Cashew Nuts - few crushed

Preparation:

Preheat  oven to 180C/350F.

Sift the flour with baking soda twice and keep aside.

Seperate the egg whites and yolks. Beat the egg whites till fluffy.  Mix in the yolks and sugar and beat till sugar is dissolved. Then add in the bananas cut and beat till bananas get mushy. i made sure no banana lumps are there. Then add in rest of the wet ingredients (curd,oil) and salt whick nicely. Add in the egg whites and whisk slowly. Then add in the nuts, chocolte chips and sifted flour little by little and fold in gently. In a muffin pan, place the muffin papers. With a icecream scoop add in 2 scoops of the batter into each. Garnish with nuts or walnuts. Bake for about 25-30 mins or till toothpick inserted come out clean.
Wait to cool down a wire rack itself.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

Eggless Vanilla Sponge cake-STEP BY STEP PICS

Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake - Step by Step Intructions

I refer to many books on ccoking that i can get my hands on. I love baking everythig that I can and thats when i came across nita mehtas recipe cookbook on eggless ones. This is one of the basic ones and superly easy and yummy too. If you ask me whether I will make this again. Yes! a thousand times more.

Ingredients:
All purpose Flour - 1.5 cups
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder - 1.25 tsp
Castor Sugar - 3/4 cup
Curd - 1 cup (Use thick curd)
Oil - 1/2 cup
Vanilla Essence - 1.5 tsp
Milk - for brushing the top of bread

Preparation:
In a bowl beat sugar and curd till sugar gets dissoved. Then to this add baking powder and baking soda and whisk gently.Add in cooking oil and essence and whisk again.

My kitchen has less lighting effect. Thats why the pics looks dark :(

 Leave the mixture aside for 5-10 mins. You will see bubbles lightly forming on top. Then add in the flour slowly at a time and whisk till you get a thick creamy batter. Pour to a cake pan either placed with baking paper or greased with oil all over. I used a loaf one.

  Baked cake as soon as it is out of oven.

Pre-heat the oven initally to 200C and when you are ready to put in the batter adjust the thermo to 180C and put int the cake pan. Bake for 30 - 40 mins till the toothpick test come out clean.

After 25 mins take out the pan and brush the top with milk and put in back into oven till cake is done.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

Notes :
-The original recipe asks for 1 cup of sugar. I reduced the sugar as we all are having less sweet tooth ;)
-You can use any vegetable oil and i used canola one.

I would like to send this over to the event Bake with your heart. yet another superb event coducted by Khushi. Thank u dear for conducting events like these for cookholics like us :D.
I would like to send this over for the event  Christmas Delicacy conducted by Julie. 

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Pineapple Upside Down Cake (quick and simple recipe)

I love this cake and i would highly recommend everyone to make this whenever you feel like making some special cake as it is very easy and sure to be finger licking ;)

Ingredients:

Pineapple Rings* - 7 (See notes)
Softened Butter - 3 tbsp
Brwon Sugar - 3/4 cup (packed)
Cherries in Syrup

For the Cake batter

All purpose Flour - 1.5 cup
White Sugar - 1/2 cup
Softened Butter - 4 tbsp
Eggs - 2 nos
Baking Powder - 1.5 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Vanilla Extract - 1tsp
Pineapple Syrup from tin - 3 tbsp

Preparation:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F

For the caramilization:
Rub in some extra butter all over the round 9" pan first. Then mix in the softened butter and brown sugar nicely. Pour into the pan evenly. Take the Pineapple rings from syrup (tinned ones) and press lightly to take out the soaked syrup in the rings. Place them evenly round and centre onto the sugar-butter mix and press lightly. Then place cherries in the centre of the rings and press lightly. Placing cherries is purely optional but i highly recommened it, as the cake will have a classy effect :).

For the cake:
Seperate the egg yolks and whites. Then beat the whites till fluffy. In a bowl beat the egg yolks and white sugar till pale and light. Then add in the butter. Whisk slowly and nicely. Then add in the salt, milk and vanilla extract and whisk again till all are dissolved properly. Then add in the flour little by little and whisk slowly. Add in the baking powder and the pineapple syrup from the tin. Whisk again. Finally add in the egg whites and whisk slowly till you get a smooth batter.

Pour this cake batter over the pineapple rings-sugar set pan. Tap the pan slightly. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 40 mins till you get a clean inserted toothpick. Wait to cool down for 15-20 mins. Run a knife slowly on the sides to lossen the cake and then place a plate on top of the pan and turn over the pan tot he plate. You are gonna get an expression of wowww when you see the top layer now!. enjoy having a slice of warm cake.. yyyyuuuummmmmmmmm!!

Notes:
- Amount of pineapple rings depends on the size of your pan. anywhere from 5-7 nos will be used mostly.
-Use tinned pineapple rings. If you want to use the real one, clean and cut the pineapple slices thin and evenly.
- In case you are not using the tinned version, for the tinned pineapple syrup you can use pineapple juice.
- Skimmed or low fat version of milk works fine here. I used low fat one.

I would like to send this over for the event Christmas Delicacy conducted by Julie. I m so glad she reminded me to send over this recipe for a wonderful super event! Thanks Julie.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

EGGLESS SOFT AND CHEWY CASHEW COOKIES

Eggless Cashew Cookies

Ingredients:
Cashew Coarsely grounded - 1/2 cup (take whole cashew in accordance to that before grounding)
All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
Cardamom Powder - a large pinch
Softened Butter - 1/3 cup
Castor Sugar - 3/4 cup (adjust the sweetness accordng to your needs)
Baking Powder - 1/4 tsp
Milk - 2-3 tbsp

Preparation:

Pre-heat the oven at 180C/ 375F. Place the measured whole nuts on the baking tray and bake for 10 mins till nuts are roasted. They will turn lightly brown in color. Keep it cool and ground coarsely.

Sieve the baking powder and flour.

In a bowl add in the butter and sugar. Beat till soft. Then add in the grounded nuts,cardamom, mixed flour and start to bind. If the binding gets hard and tough, add in tbsp of milk and see if you need more for binding to make a dough. Add only tbsp by tbsp if required. Bind to a dough and then keep it in fridge to set for 20 mins.

In a baking tray with a parchment paper, make small balls and flatten them slightly and place them on the tray with a 1 inch gap between each. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes or till side turn slightly brown in color. Wait for the cookies to cool completely to thicken and enjoy with a cup of hot tea :)

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

Softened Butter - 150 grams
Castor Sugar - 130 grams
Brown Sugar - 160 grams
Peanut Butter - 100 grams
All Purpose Flour - 300 grams
Baking Powder - 3 grams
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp ( optional)
Egg - 1/2 or alteranatively for veg - 2 tbsp milk

Preparation:
Sieve the flour and baking powder.

In a bowl add in the butter and castor sugar. Beat till sugar almost dissolves and butter becomes fluffy. Then to this add brown sugar and beat again. Then add in the peanut butter and egg/milk and beat again till soft. Add in vailla extract and mix. Then add in the mixed flour and make a dough. Keep in fridge to set for 20-25 mins. Then make small balls from the dough, flatten them slightly and place it on baking tray placed with parchment paper. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 - 25 mins. Cool the biscuits. Best for kids to have as evening snacks or for tiffins.

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

HOT CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE (MOLTEN LAVA CAKE)

MOLTEN LAVA CAKE ( makes roughly around 8 cakes depending on the ramekins you have)

Ingredients:

Dark Chocolate chips - 125 grams
Egg - 4 nos
Sofetened Butter - 4 tbsp
All purpose Flour - 60 gms
Castor Sugar - 1 cup
Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp ( optional)

Preparation:

Double boil the the choco chips and butter together till the chips melt.

Seperate the egg white and yolk. In one bowl add the yolks and the sugar and beat till creamy and pale in color. Add in the melted choco - butter and vanilla essence and whisk again. Then add in the flour and mix properly.

In another bowl add the egg whites and beat till stiff peaks are formed. Then add this to the flour-choco mix and with a spatula mix.

Rub the ramekins or small bowls with butter all over and dust it with flour. Then pour equal amounts into all 8 ramekins. make sure you pour in half only.

Bake in a pre-heated oven @ 180 C for 12-15 mins depending upon your oven settings. You will know its done when the outer top layer of the cake batter thickens and middle is soft and goovy. Take out and keep it to cool down completely. Run a knife on the sides of the cake slowly and invert to a plate. Powder the top with icing sugar and a scoop of vanilla ice cream (optional). When you cut on the side you wll the fluid inside oozing out slowly. Its not always you get oozing fluid. Sometimes it will be semi cooked and bit thick to flow. Some people prefers in the second way. Still the taste is divine.
Otherwise you can serve in the ramekins /bowl itself as shown in the pic below.
You are gonna be in bliss!!! ;) i bet people will adore you and you will be floating with compliments from them. Self experience speaks :)))

Cheers,
Neetz;)

WHEAT SANDWHICH BREAD LOAF

 Wheat bread

I have been planning to make wheat bread for a healthier diet and finally i managed to make today and i was so glad when i sliced the bread it was so much looking perfect and the taste was awesome!!!

Ingredients:

Wheat Flour - 2.5 heaped cups
All purpose Flour - 1 cup ( you can use whole wheat instead)
Warm Water - 1.5 cup
Oil - 4 tbsp
Sugar - 1/3 cup ( i used half white and half brown sugar)
Dry Yeast - 1.5 tsp
Salt - 1.5 tsp

Preparation :

Add in a bowl the suagr, warm water and yeast and keep it in warm place for 10 mins till the mixture turn frothy on top. By 10 mins your can smell the yeast in the whole kitchen. Add the salt and oil to the mix.

In the a big bowl mix both the flours nicely and then add the yeast water and knead to a dough. its gonna be a messy job with your hands. If the dough is too sticky use oil on your hands and knead for 10 mins or more till you get the dough like an elastic (This is very important for the bread to come out nicely). Rub oil all over the dough and keep this dough covered with a cling film in a bowl and keep it in warm place for 1 hour till the dough doubles in size. fter 1 hour, on a well foured surfce, gently punch down the dough to release the air trapped inside and gently knead again for a min. Shape the dough like a loaf and keep it in bread pan and covered for another 45 mins to double in size.

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F . Brush milk on top of the bread and then spray water inside the heated oven to create a moisture and put in the bread pan. Bake for 30 mins. By now the whole house will be smelling with awesome smell of baked bread. I felt i was in bakery store ;).

The pic shows as soon ,after the baking was done

Then roughly cover with aluminum foil and bake further for 10 mins and allow the bread to cool on rack itself. To know if the bread is done, tap at the bottom and it will sound hollow.

Let the bread cool down completely before slicing it and enjoy!

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

NANKATHAI (EGGLESS VERSION)

Nankathai (Eggless version)

I always loved this when i was a kid itself. I used to get in bakery shops and i used to just eat non -stop...sigh :( gone are those the days where I can eat like that..
Yes, forget about the waistline part and make a enjoy a few of these ;) .. quick and easy way to prepare when you really need to get something to eat sweet in a jiffy :)

Ingredients:
All purpose Flour - 1.5 cup
Wheat Flour - 1/2 cup
Ghee - approx 1 cup
Sugar powdered - 1/2 cup
Cashew, Almonds, Pista - 1/3 cup roughly chopped (optional)
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp

Preparation:
Put in all the flours, soda, sugar and the nuts mix. roughly mix with hand. Then slowly add in little by little ghee and keep mixing till you get a dough (a smaooth dough like a chappati dough). If the mix looks like crumbling add in a bit more spoonful of ghee.

In a pre-heated pan at 180C, place parchment paper on the baking tray. Make small balls of the dough and flatten them lightly and then place them on the tray. Bake for 8 - 9 mins approx and let it cool down completely to be stored in air-tight container.

I m sending this over for the event My Diwali My Way .

Cheers,
Neetz ;)

Note:
You can substitute the wheat flour to all purpose flour.
Wait the biscuits to cool down a bit to have a bite otherwise it might crumble.

SESAME COOKIES

Sesame Cookies

Cookies is all time favourite of mine! There were tons of times were i wished i had a body that doesnt put on weight on sweets ;). i know its not gonna happen as easily as it is said :(. Sad. Nevertheless, but it doesnt stop me from cooking them. I made these yesterday and sure enough as expected all were muching on it and finished in a jiffy!.

Ingredients :

All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
Sesame Seeds - 1/2 cup
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Sugar powdered - 1/2 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup
Egg - 1 no
Vanilla Extract - 1/2 tsp
Salt - a pinch

Preparation:

Dry roast in a pan the sesame seeds till nice aroma comes. Dont over roast them as they will taste bitter. I kept testing their doneness by eating a few in between.

Whisk egg nicely and then add in the vanilla extract and sugar and whisk till smooth texture is formed.

In a bowl mix properly the flour, baking soda, salt. Add this flour slowly to the egg mix and knead to get a dough. To this mix in the sesame seeds. If you want you can keep a few remaining to extra coat them like i did. If you feel the dough is too dry try adding in a liitle butter.

Pre-heat the oven to 190C. In a greased pan or pan placed with parchment paper, make small balls of the dough, roll them in sesame seeds (if you like) and flatten them and place them on the pan. Make sure you give them enough space to spread while baking. Repeat till the dough finishes. Bake them at 190C for 10 mins. Wait for the biscuits to cool down. Voila! your yummy biscuits are ready to have :)

Cheers,
Neetz ;)