Some food can be so comforting at times and this one is one such dish. The first time i tasted this one dish it was made by my mother-in-law and i immediately fell in love with it. I mean a combination of cheese and corn can only be so heavenly.Over the years i have kind of mastered this dish and have been making it in a lot of variations.Sometimes I would turn it into a mushroom - corn souffle or at times would just dunk in chicken pieces into it..but truly whatever i have done with this dish it has always turned out to be a winner.So today I am sharing with you the original recipe..you of course can add your own twists to it!
Ingredients:
Sweet corn kernels( par boiled) - 2 cups
Egg - 1 nos
Cream - half a cup ( alternatively you could also use milk)
Grated Cheddar cheese - half cup
Salt - to taste
pepper -to taste
Mozzarella /Pizza cheese - for topping
Method:
Coarsely grind in a mixer the following : sweet corn kernels,grated cheese,cream, salt and pepper.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish , top with the grated mozzarella / pizza cheese and bake for 25 mins at 200 degrees Celsius.
You can of course add your own variations to the same by adding mushrooms, sausages, bacon bits,boiled chicken or some mixed herbs.
So go ahead, experiment and create a beautiful dish.
All the adulation i got for making that Almond cake has really got into to my head (just kidding ). The family is having to eat a lot of cakes every other day!! Not that they mind (well i hope so ) Today of course i baked these cute " Vanilla Muffins" for my little fella. Super easy to make these muffins, am sure is going to bring a big smile on his face when he gets back from school today.
Ingredients:
Plain flour - 2 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Baking powder - 2 1/2 tsp
Milk - 1 cup
Eggs - 2 nos
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Butter / refined oil - half cup ( I used refined oil )
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Method:
Pre heat oven to 250 degree C
Mix flour, sugar , baking powder , salt in a large bowl. Add the milk , oil and vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed for 1 min.
Add eggs to the mixture and beat for 1 min on medium speed, then on high speed for another 1 minute.
Bake in cupcake moulds for 15 - 20 mins
Try this today and bring a smile on the face of ur loved ones!
PS - Since i had some time in hand, ended up frosting the muffins with choco butter cream.
I had promised my teachers in the school that I would treat them to some home made chicken biryani..so today i got down to doing that. But I realised that there were a couple of them who were vegetarians so i better make something nice for them too..why should they be left out. Honestly after making that biryani i was fully exhausted and didn't really have the enthu to do some elaborate veggie dish.I just started tossing in a few things and the outcome was simply superb!I made an easy "Oriental tossed rice". Here is the recipe and btw was a bigger hit than the biryani : )
Ingredients:
Basmati rice - 2 cups par boiled
Chopped onions - 1 medium
Corn kernels - half cup
Chopped capsicum - half cup
Chopped coriander - a handful
Chili flakes - 1 tbsp
Oregano - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Olive oil - 1 tsp
Method:
In a pan heat the olive add. Add the chopped onions, once it turns light brown in colour add the chopped capsicum and corn kernels. Fry for a couple of mins and toss in the par boiled rice. Season with the chilli flakes, oregano and salt. Mix well and remove from heat.
Serve with sliced lemons.
Now cooking cant get easier than this !!!!!
Last evening I made something that made me super happy ..so had to share it with all. Now first let me confess, baking cakes is not my comfort zone. It takes a lot of patience and dedication to make those perfect cakes. But I have been trying for long now to make a pretty looking cake at least once.So yesterday I decided to give it a shot.I started with making a plain sponge cake but ended up making something that made me very proud.I put up a pic on one of the well known foodie page on FB and appreciations have been flowing in since morning.Here"s my recipe of " Sponge Cake with butter cream frosting and caramelised Almonds"
Ingredients:
For the Sponge cake :
Flour - 1 1/2 cup (sifted)
Sugar - 1 cup
Eggs - 3 large
Salt - a pinch
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Almond essence - 1 tsp ( u could use 2 tbsp lemon juice also )
Warm milk - 6 tbsps
Method:
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs for 5 mins until very thick and light yellow in colour.Add sugar gradually beating constantly.Add the almond essence or the lemon juice and mix well. Next tip in the dry ingredients ( flour, baking powder) gradually and fold into the mixture. Lastly add the warm milk, mixing quickly and blending thoroughly.Pour into a greased pan and bake at 250 deg for 30 mins.
Pls note that don't let the cake overcook.
De mould and let the cake cool completely before getting on to the next step.
Ingredients for Butter cream :
Butter - 100 gms at room temperature
Icing sugar - 100 gms
Method:
Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Better if you use an electric hand blender.Once that is done , add the icing sugar gradually, beating gently into a thick paste.
Ingredients for Caramelised Almonds :
Almonds - half cup
Sugar - half cup
Water - 6 tbsps
Method:
In a pan add the sugar and water and put it on high heat. Once the mixture starts simmering add in the almonds and let it cook till the sugar mixture turns brown and caramelises.
Remove from heat and let it cool.
Keep aside a few whole almonds for garnish and grind the rest into crumbs for decorating the sides of the cake.
For putting the cake together..First , frost the cake with the butter cream on all sides and as smoothly as u can. Never mind if its not so neat first time around! Mine wasn't too: ))
While the butter cream is still soft apply the crumbed almonds onto the side of the cake.(This is a messy process but fun too ). Decorate the top of the cake with the whole caramelised almond and refrigerate the cake for 3- 4 hours so that that icing sets well.
Serve proudly!!!
Have been away from my blog for a while now and how much i missed being in the kitchen.Weddings, invitations to birthday parties and lunches and my mum"s visit kept me away from the kitchen.Also mum being in town means i get days off from the kitchen as she takes over and pampers us with her yummylicious creations.She made a whole lot of goodies while she was here which would get polished off even before I could take a picture of it!!!She went back yesterday and i finally got back to my kitchen.After eating all those lovely food over the last few days i decided to make something very simple - "Kadhi with moong dal pakoras ". The traditional recipe uses pakoras made of besan but i thought of making it a bit more healthy!
Ingredients :
Curd /Yoghurt - 2 cups
Besan - 3 tbsp
Moong dal - half cup soaked in water
Haldi - 1 tsp
Dry red chilies - 4 nos
mustard seeds - a tsp
curry leaves - 6 -7 leaves
hing /asafoetida - a pinch
refined oil - 1 tbsp
Chopped ginger - 1 tbsp
Chopped green chillies - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Method:
For the moong dal pakoras :
Soak the moong dal for couple of hours , grind it into a paste with little water. Add salt ,chopped ginger and green chillies.
Heat oil in a non stick pan , fry small pakoras and keep aside.
For the Kadhi :
Mix curd , besan, salt ,turmeric. Add half cup water and and whisk well into a light paste. Put this mixture in a pan ,put it on heat and let the mixture simmer. Keep stirring continuously or else the mixture might curdle.Once it starts simmering, add the moong dal pakoras and remove from heat.
For the tadka (tempering ) :
In a pan, add a tbsp of refined oil. Once the oil heats up add the mustard seeds, dry red chillies and curry leaves. Once it starts crackling pour over to the kadhi mixture.
Serve hot with plain rice and enjoy the goodness.
My husband loves "Bhetki Paturi " - bhetki fillets, smeared with a mustardy spice mix, wrapped in banana leaves and cooked. This item is mostly found in the Bengali wedding menu!!! And also wen ever we go out dining to these Bengali cuisine speciality restaurants husband always has to order this one dish. So last Sunday i decided to give making it a shot at home. The only issue were the banana leaves but my sweet maid came to my rescue and got me a nice big green leaf from her home.Now there was no stopping me.Presenting the wonderful Bhetki Paturi...even i was amazed how easy it was to make it.
Ingredients:
Bhetki fillets - 8 pieces
Lime juice - 1 tbsp
Mustard paste - 4 tbsp
Cream - 2 tbsp
Turmeric - 1tsp
Salt - to taste
Mustard oil - 3 tbsp
Whole Green chillies - 8 nos
Banana leaves - cut into squares
Method:
Clean and pat dry the fillets. Marinate with a little salt and lime juice and keep aside.
Make a marinade with mustard paste, cream, turmeric, salt and mustard oil.Marinate the fillets in this and keep aside for 10 mins.
Take one square of the banana leaf, place a fillet along with some mustard mix, top with a green chilli. Wrap the banana leaf and make it into a small parcel securing the top with a toothpick or u could use a thread. Similarly make parcels of all the fillets.
Place a tawa or a flat pan on the gas stove. Arrange all the parcels on the tawa and cover it with a lid. Let it cook on low flame for 7 mins on each side. You would notice that the banana leaves would turn colour into light brown.
Your dish is ready. There are other methods too of cooking the fish parcels - like you could steam it too. But grilling them in the pan gives it a very good flavour.Just to add that hubby had three of those and later complained of over eating!!
So you can see that we have got a new look. This is actually because of my Dad who commented the other day that my page looks a little nude and i should make it more glitzy and glamorous. This is the best i could manage considering i have very limited technical know how.But the cooking continues. Today i was in a hurry but wanted to make something special nevertheless. So i made this "Chicken Qorma" that is completely my mums recipe. There would be many versions of this that you could find but this is the no frills one.Some basic ingredients and u have this really light and fragrant chicken gravy dish.
Ingredients :
Chicken - 500 gms ( i used boneless but it tastes better with the one with bones)
Curd/yoghurt - 200 gms
Onion paste - 2 tbsp
Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Raisins - a handful
Cashews - a handful
Whole garam masala - 2 each of green cardamom, cloves and cinnamon
Green chillies - 4-5 nos whole
Salt - to taste
Sugar - 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Method :
Clean the chicken and marinate it with the curd.Keep aside.
In a pan, add the ghee, splutter the whole garam masala.
Next tip in the onion - ginger paste and fry until golden brown in colour.
Once that is done, simply add the chicken along with the curd. Add salt, sugar, raisins, cashews, and the green chillies.Cover and let it cook and simmer for 15- 20 mins.
Check if the chicken is cooked, if not let it simmer for another 5-7 mins.
Serve hot with plain rice.
Now isn"t that easy peasy to make!!
