Onion Fritters

Its been raining cats and dogs in the east coast and all I seem to think of is making (and ofcourse eating) pakodis aka fritters. I was happy to see a change in weather but did not take too long before I was wishing that it stopped raining.. turns out I am never happy with any weather ;). Since I always have a more-than-happy-to-eat-fried-food husband at home, I wasted no time and quickly whipped up the batter to make onion(one vegetable I always always n always have in my kitchen) pakodi. I am sure there are many many more variations of the batter for this recipe but me being very lazy did the quick and the easiest one :)

Ingredients
1/2 cup Rice flour
1/2 cup Besan
1          Medium onion
Oil for frying
Salt
Chilli powder

Procedure
1. Mix the rice flour, besan, salt and chilli powder with water until you have a batter with the consistency to coat the onions.
2. Peel and cut the onions in rings. Seperate the layers or rings.
3. Dip the onion rings in the batter and deep fry them in hot oil until brown.
4. Enjoy hot with Maggie Hot and Sweet sauce.

Note: I am used to only using besan for making the batter but I found rice flour gives a little crispness to the pakodi.

That's the way the cookie crumbles :) !

I already made it pretty clear that I am a big time chocoholic.. Anything that has chocolate in it, it becomes my instant favourite :) Infact I have turned my husband into a choco-addict as well.. Muuuhahaha (u know.. the devilish laugh).  He literally begs me to make chocolate treats/desserts now.. Life is bliss :D. Today while I was drinking green tea, I had this craving for a cookie with warm melting chocolate inside.,the next thing I know, I was on a search for some recipe with the ingredients from my baking shelf and preferrably a heathier version  and I found this.. It boasts of 21% fewer calories, 42% less saturated fat and 14% less fat than the original recipe but I personally felt there was nothing major under the healthy category except for the whole wheat flour and the amount of butter used.. that's good enough for me.. all the mind game I say! It also fits in  the bake-a-thon month thingie we have going here (I am under the impression that month = till there are enough contributions or till somebody comes up with a different concept :D). Also following suggestions of Divya and inspirations of other blog sites, I decided to venture into a new hobby.. photographing food! This is my debut, using Sandeep's SLR.. I am pretty excited about the whole deal.. So please comment/suggest on any pictures and recipes..will be happy and humble to accept them. I guess I have listed all my excuses and buried my guilt for indulging in chocolate pleasures so lets get started with the recipe..

Ingredients

3/4    cup granulated sugar

3/4    cup packed brown sugar

1/2    cup butter, softened

1/2    cup canola oil

1       teaspoon vanilla

1       egg

2       cups whole wheat flour

1       teaspoon baking soda

1/4    teaspoon salt

3/4    cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Procedure

1.    Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat sugars, butter, oil, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on low speed until blended. Beat in flour, baking soda and salt until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

2.    On ungreased cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, drop dough by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart.

3.    Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until very light golden brown (centers will be soft). Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

This recipe yields 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Source:Eat Better America

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Looks like someone has been patient enough to teach novices about food photography. Thought I should share the link. It looked really useful.

http://www.cookingandme.com/2006/07/food-photography-for-food-bloggers.html

Fridays + Friends + Food + Fun

Last weekend I had friends over at home(quite a gang I should say). In such occasions(especially with a group of hungry boys) usually I like to experiment some new dishes because even if something goes wrong in the process, there are still no leftovers and I really can not see food go waste(which is why I am trying hard to finish the box of chocolate covered rice crispy treats at home despite the fact that I am trying hard to loose the last few pounds of my monthly goal). I made chicken 65 which was applauded by everybody that evening. It was definitely a HUGE hit.. I mean who doesn't like spicy fried chicken? ;). It was really easy to make and I wanted to share the recipe with you here. Next time you are looking to please a crowd, go ahead and make this. You'll be star of the evening :). This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Ingredients:

Boneless skinless chicken  - 1lb (Cut into 1" cubes. I used both the breast and thigh meat)

Corn Flour                       - 3tbspns

Egg                                - 1

Ginger Garlic paste           - 1 1/2 tspn

Salt                                - To taste

Pepper                            - 1 tspn

Red food color                  - 8 drops

For Gravy/Sauce:

Canola oil                - 3 tbspns

Ginger                     - 1 tbspn (finely chopped))

Garlic                      - 5 Cloves (finely chopped)

Green Chillies           - 5

Chilli Sauce              - 2 tbspns

Cumin seeds            - 1 tspn

Cumin powder          - 1 tspn

Ginger Garlic paste   - 1/2 tspn

Curry leaves             - 6-7 leaves torn in half

Chilli powder            - 1/2 tspn

Pepper powder          - 1/2 tspn

Red food color           - 10-12 drops

Salt                          - To taste

Water                       - 1/2 cup

Procedure:

• In a bowl, take the chicken and add the cornflour, ginger garlic paste, salt, pepper, egg, red food color and mix till the chicken is coated well. If you find the mixture too liquidy then add some more cornflour.
• Heat oil in a deep bottom pan and deep fry the chicken in the oil.
• After all the chicken is fried, heat a skillet on medium flame, add oil and let it heat up a little.
• Now add the cumin seeds. After they sputter a little, add the ginger and garlic and let it fry for a minute.
• Now add the green chillies and the curry leaves to pan and fry for another minute.
• Add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw flavor goes away.
• Add the chilli sauce, chilli powder, cumin powder, pepper powder, salt at this stage and fry for a minute.
• Add the red color, water and the fried chicken at this point. Mix well so the gravy coats the chicken and wait for the chicken to heat up in the sauce.
• Serve hot.

Sadly, I do not have a picture of this recipe :(

This recipe was inspired from my neighbor and adapted from wahreywah.com

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I had the pic I had posted on facebook! Though it is notthe perfect pic, you can see that 1/4th of the dish is already hogged.. :) I vouch the chicken was awesome!
-Div

(Chicken) Egg drop Soup

To commemorate the occasion of National Soup month and also being an ardent fan of soups(I even bought a soup recipe book long ago!), I decided to go on a soup dinner tonight despite of a not-so-interested-about-soups husband.. lucky for me, the weather is in my favor :D

While I was going through the recipe book to pick a soup, I was in a fix.. there were about 500 varieties! And the ingredients were from all over the world representing different climates and cultures.. I did not even hear about soups served cold till I came to the USofA. When I was really young and was introduced to the we-dine-out-of-home-for-special-occasions-only culture, the only two soups I used to see on the menu in the restaurants of Tirupati were the Tomato soup and the Veg/Chicken Egg drop soup aka Sweet corn soup. So I decided to make my favorite soup of childhood :)

Ingredients:

• Creamed style sweet corn can (you can find it in the canned food section)
• Chicken breast (cut into small pieces)- one
  
• Corn starch (not cornmeal)- 2tbspn
  
• Egg whites - 2
  
• Salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups water
  

Procedure:

• Boil the water in a pan.
• After the water boils, salt it and add the sweet corn from the tin.
• Let it boil again. Now add the chicken breast meat and let it boil till it cooks(for about 3 mins)
• Mix the cornstarch in a separate bowl with a tbspn of water and add this to the soup. You will notice that the soup thickens.. you can always add some more or less cornstarch depending on how you like the consistency of the soup but always remember to keep stirring the soup continuously while adding the thickening agent(cornstarch) so no lumps would form.
• Add the Egg white and whisk it in the bowl so there will be no big chunks of egg. Egg whites cook very quick so this step can also be done with the flame switched off.
• Finally add freshly ground black pepper and Enjoy!

Note:

• This soup should serve about four people as a meal.
  
• As this belongs to the family of Chinese soups, it can be served with soy sauce, chili vinegar and the likes as enjoyed by you.
• For a vegetarian version, cut carrots and green beans into very small cubes(chewable) and add it to the boiling water after step1 and boil it till they cook.. the rest would be the same in both cases except of-course you skip the chicken and egg in your soup.

Be it a homemade or canned or a takeout, lets keep the soups coming for the last week left in the month!

Till then enjoy your bowl of hearty soup!

what soup are you?

There is nothing like cuddling next to the fire place with a warm bowl of soup on a cold day.  It is such a feel good meal which keeps you so full and happy after a long winter day. I came across this article and wanted to share it here.. did you know that this month is celebrated as the National Soup Month?

Soup Therapy

To honor this, I decide to have soup for dinner tomorrow. ;)

Happy soup eating! :D

Going Green!

 I used to hate anything and everything which could be categorized as 'good-for-you' when I was a kid but guess I am all grown up now. sigh! Yup. that's my dinner plate... seriously! very proud and showing-off :D

 Recently my husband got determined to go on a 'healthy' diet spree(good for him). That should explain i guess :)

I cribbed when I was also included in the plan but a simple lemon vinaigrette with a huge pile of spring salad mix made me happy. Big fan.(doesn't mean I am going to order a salad if I go out for dinner:D) Combine it with a protein(grilled fish/chicken breast or tofu for a vegetarian option) and a fruit for dessert.. you will feel so proud of yourself after an amazing workout. I did for sure!

Here is how I made my venigrette:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil(E-V-O-O as coined by Racheal Ray)- 2 tbspns
Freshly squeezed Lemon Juice(makes alot of difference)- 1tbspn
Salt- 1tspn(or less depending on you- I never measure)
freshly ground black pepper- 1/2tspn

Just whisk it all in a salad bowl(and the consistency changes immediately). Now toss your prewashed salad leaves until coated and Enjoy! That is it.. No kidding.


Note: Always add the vinaigrette right before you serve so the leaves stay crunchy.
 
You can also add

• Chopped almonds or walnuts or pecans for some crunch.

• Sun dried tomatoes for the chewy texture.

• Boiled egg whites for protein.
  

• Garlic and herb croutons for a bonus ;)
  

I am sure there are many many more variations on the basic salad recipe I posted here.. will keep updating as and when I try them personally :)

Healthy Eating everyone :)

PS: Hey Divs, Refreshing your memory, incase you got carried away, I am not on the PATH but enjoying the light meals and everyday workouts for now :D

Sweet Beginnings :)

Thanks for the intro Div, yea I vowed to co-author and now I vow to be alive unlike my other blog(if you noticed :D). I always wanted to blog because if you know me, I always love to talk. But I realized I am a lot lazier than I thought I was. If only I had the device like Stephen Hawking to convert my thoughts to words and to sentences and to articles.. okay now I am wandering away. The point is I never had a commitment or the motivation. Its always nice to have somebody around to keep you going, especially if you are like me :)

The blog has been aptly titled for me for I am the kind of girl who never categorizes chocolate as 'junk' or 'unhealthy' and drinks green tea every single day to detox my body :D

For my first blog here I want to share my mom's cake recipe which is liked by everybody till date. This recipe was my debut to the culinary world.. my first cooking class from mom :)

Ingredients:

Maida aka all-purpose flour - 1 cup
                             Sugar  - 1 cup
         Vegetable/canola oil - 1 cup
                              Eggs  - 4 large
                 Baking powder  - 1 tsp
                Vanilla essence  - 1/2 tsp

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 330 degrees F

Beat the eggs and sugar with the vanilla essence in a large bowl (my mom used to do this in a mixer jar)

In another bowl mix together the flour and baking powder

Add oil to the dry ingredients and mix well

Now add the eggs n sugar mixture to the batter and mix well

Pour it in a greased and floured 9" baking dish and bake for 55-60 minutes until the toothpick comes out clean

Note:

Adding 4tbspns of unsweetened coco powder along with the dry ingredients will give you a chocolate cake

You can add your choice of nuts to add a little crunch to the cake

Definitely give it a try and let me know how you like it.. Its a foolproof recipe and trust me you can not go wrong with it!

Happy Baking :)

Sush