Bajra & Paneer Ladoo (Pearl Millet & Cottage Cheese Ladoo) by Preeti Tamilarasan of

How educating blogging can be, you get to learn and cook dishes from all around the world even when you have not tried or tasted their food before. Another interesting thing that we could learn through blogging is Food Photography, and this person have mastered the art of food photography very well, and I'm sure many of you know this person well, its non other than Preeti Tamilarasan of Indian Kitchen. Now let us see, what she have prepared for us for this Diwali, you might be thinking what Diwali recipe now, buddies its still November for me the celebration is still on. Thank you so much da PT for this wonderful guest post.

Today i'm sharing my 7th guest post for one of my dear blogger friend Karthi from Sumanarthy's Kitchen. We came to know about each other through Facebook and i still can't believe we have known each other for past one year. How soon the time flies by. I always liked her non-veg recipes which resembles my style of cooking. When she asked for a guest post, i was all excited. I took some time and finally came up with the idea of preparing my fav indian sweet "Ladoo" 

Paneer ladoo is made with crumbled paneer and sugar/condensed milk. I replaced sugar with karupatti vellam(palm jaggery), which makes it more healthy. You can also try this with normal jaggery. Lets check the recipe,

Makes 13-14 medium sized Ladoo

Preparation time : 5 mins

Cooking time : 15-20 mins 

Ingredients :

• 1 cup crumbled cottage cheese (Paneer) – homemade or store-bought
• 8-9 tbsp Bajra Flour (Pearl Millet / Kambu Maavu)
• 1 cup grated palm jaggery (karupatti vellam / palm jaggery)
• 1 tsp cardamom powder

Method :

• Dry roast bajra flour on low flame till nice aroma comes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
• Grind crumbled paneer in a mixie until smooth. Transfer it to a bowl. Combine jaggery and ¼ cup water in a pan or kadhai. Once it melts down completely, remove from the heat and strain it to remove impurities. Pour it back to pan and switch the flame to low. 

 

• Add cardamom powder and ground paneer. Keep stirring to avoid lumps. Once paneer is completely dissolved with jaggery syrup, add bajra flour little by little. 

 

• Add 1 tbsp at a time and keep stirring the mixture on low flame. Initially the mixture will be sticky. Once it starts leaving the sides of pan, remove from the heat and allow to cool for a minute. 

• Grease your palm with oil or ghee and start making small lemon sized ladoo. Store in an airtight container.

Notes :

You can replace Bajra with Oats or wheat flour. 

 

Moist Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

Cake
300g of all purpose flour
100g of cocoa powder
400g of castor sugar (I have used 300g only)
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of vanilla extract
250ml of hot water
250ml of vegetable oil
250ml of low fat milk
3 large eggs

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda and keep aside for later use.

In a mixing bowl beat eggs with sugar and vanilla extract then add water, vegetable oil and milk. Now add in the sifted dry ingredients gradually without over mixing the batter.

Pour this batter on a baking pan which have been applied with butter and flour (I have used bundt pan), dust off excess flour and bake this cake for 30-45 minutes at 150 to 170 degrees depending on your oven requirement. The cake is done when you insert a skewer and it comes out clean, let the cake cool overnight or at least few hours before pouring the ganache.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

50ml of cream

200g of dark chocolate

1 tbsp of butter

Melt all dark chocolate and cream over double boiling method, once chocolate is perfectly melted add in butter for a glossy look. Let the ganache cool before pouring over the cake and decorate upon your creativity.

See how glossy is the ganache 

Do try and let me know how it turned out for you!

Walnut Chocolate Chunks Brownies

Every-time I go shopping for pantry items, I have always wanted to try Pillsbury's ready made brownies mix. Its super easy to make and awesome, fudgy delicious brownies. I have added some chopped walnuts to give perfect brownies, finally my dream came true....hehehe...

Ingredients:

1 pack of brownies mix
1 cup of chopped walnut
75 ml of water
30 ml of oil
1 egg

In a bowl, mix everything together, pour into a 9x9 greased square tin and baked for 20 minutes on a preheated oven at 150 degrees. Once baked let it cool before cutting and serving the brownies. Now our Hazelnut Chocolate Chunks Brownies is ready to be served!

Yummy yummy brownies

Home-made Mango Ice-Cream

Wow, it has been nearly a month since I have updated my space, as some of you may have known the reason to my disappearance is due to demise of my paternal aunt. I was in my parents house for two whole weeks, busy with prayers and rituals, now I'm back to my house and started blogging. I cooked many dishes but no time to take good pictures for my blog. Thank you so much to all my friends who have sent their condolences. 

Now let's get back to today's recipe, I made this ice-cream sometime ago but couldn't find time to blog about it. My husband loves ice-cream, it is a must have in our fridge as he love to have it while watching tv, I have planned to make ice-cream at home, this is a very easy method and anyone can make it at home. Come, let's see how easy it is to make this ice-cream;

Ingredients:

2 cups of mango puree (blend mango without adding water)

2 cups of milk powder

2 cups of chilled milk

2 cups of cream

1 cup of sugar

2 tbsp of cornflour

A pinch of salt

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1 cup of chopped mango

Blend all the ingredients above except for chopped mango, and pour all those things blended into an airtight container, mix in the chopped mango to the ice-cream and freeze it for few hours.

Remove all the frozen ice-cream, blend until smooth and refreeze overnight. I poured some of the ice-cream into individual glasses for easy serving. Now our home-made Mango Ice-cream is ready to be served. Best eaten on a hot sunny day. do try and let me know how it turned out for you!

I'm sending this post to Kauser's Kitchen Event

                                    

Not so Trifle

This is a dessert invented in the event of not to waste food, I have used the Salted Brownies that I made before, I spared some brownies crumbled to try making black forest trifle but I was too busy to go and purchase ingredients for it. So, I whipped up  chocolate butter-cream for this dish and used the balance strawberries I had in my pantry. Let's check how to make this;

Ingredients:

Trifle

2 cups of crumbled brownies

1 cup of chocolate butter-cream

2 whole strawberries 

1 tbsp of cocoa syrup

For Chocolate Butter-Cream

1 cup of unsalted butter (softened)

3 1/2 cups of icing sugar

1/2 cup of cocoa powder

4 tbsp of heavy cream

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1/2 tsp of salt

First of all prepare the butter-cream and set aside, whip the softened butter, gradually sift in icing sugar and cocoa powder and mix for a couple of minutes then add vanilla extract, salt and heavy cream, do not over beat or it will be curdled.

Now for the setting of the trifle, get a few glasses first add crumbled brownies, then spoon the butter -cream and alternate with brownies and butter-cream again. Finally pour some cocoa syrup and garnish with sliced strawberry.

Now our Not So Trifle is ready to be served, do try and let me know how it turned out for you!

Mango & Peach Pudding (Egg-Less)

It has been quite sometime since I have prepared pudding at home, so I planned to make my all time favorite Mango Pudding but I saw there were some peach slices in the pantry, I don't know how the combo works but it was actually awesome. Now let's check out how to make this;

Ingredients:

10 g of jelly powder

1/2 cup of mango puree

1 cup of sugar

750 ml of water

500 ml of milk

Few slices of peach (chopped)

A few slices of peach (for garnishing)

In a pan, mix water, jelly powder and sugar, let it boil over medium flame, sugar and jelly powder should be completely dissolved and reduces a little. Finally add in milk and mango puree and let it simmer for a few minutes.

Now pour the pudding mixture into your preferred mould or glasses and add in the chopped peaches equally to all the containers. Let the pudding cool down before transferring to fridge and let it set perfectly.

Once the pudding is completely set which takes only about 30 minutes, it is ready to be served with a dollop of cream and topped with sliced peaches. Tastes best eaten while its chill. Do try and let me know how it turned out for you!

Im sending this post to Kauser Kitchen's Event

                                            

Egg-Less Prune Cake

I'm so obsessed of prune and making Prune Cake, once I tried making this cake, I coudn't resist the flavour of the cake loaded with prunes and spices. This time I made it without adding any alcohol in it but I have substituted brandy for fruit flavoured essence. Anyone who tried this cake will never say NO to it, you will definitely love the taste of it. Now let's get to the recipe;

Ingredients:
1 cup of prunes
1/2 cup of sugar
1 cup of canola oil
11/2 cup of flour*
1 tsp baking soda*
1 tsp nutmeg powder*
1 tsp allspice powder*
1 tsp cinnamon powder*
1 cup of prune flavored yogurt
1 cup of hot boiling water
1 tsp vanilla essence

Boil the prunes for about 10 minutes to soften the prunes

for easy mashing moment

Drain the water and mash the cooked prunes with a fork, you don't have to 

mash everything too smooth, do leave some chunks for better texture

In a separate mixing bowl pour oil, sugar and mix well, you don't have to use a mixer to incorporate this cake mixture, using wooden spatula is sufficient. The recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar but I have reduced to half a cup because the prune is sweet and I have added flavored yogurt.

Then sift all the dry ingredients marked * and stir into the sugar and oil mixture

Add mashed prune, prune flavored yogurt and hot boiling water to the cake mixture,
Ree have used buttermilk but I substituted with yogurt and water.

Pour the cake mixture in a 8' buttered cake pan and bake at 150- 170 degree for 30-40 minutes depending on your own oven. Mine I baked at 150 degree for 35 minutes

Our Egg-less Prune Cake is now cooling and can be served once you remove it from the mould. 

Do try and let me know how was it!

Salted Brownies

I made another favorite of my Dearest Husband's Brownies for Valentines Day, this time I sprinkled some salt on the cake batter to give a great taste to the brownies but before going to recipe, I would like to share a poem that I wrote many years back. This is an unique poem it's a Tamil poem written in English, I apologize to those who can't understand but its all about love. It may seem funny because I can't read or write in Tamil but I wrote this 10 years ago out of love, nothing planned, all of sudden I had the inspiration to write.

Etho Oru Vegathil Unai Kanden

Mayanggi Poi Nindren

Nee Yennidam Varavillai

Naanum Unnai Vidavillai

Nee Yen Munnil

Nee Yen Kannil

Nee Yen Kanavil

Nee Yen Manathil

Ninaikavum Mudiyamal

Marakavum Mudiyamal Thavikiren

Nee Varuvaaya

Unnai Tharuvaaya

Naan Kaathirupen

How is my poem? Okay now without wasting anymore time, let me share the recipe for today;

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup of unsalted butter

1/2 cup of white chocolate (chopped)

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/2 cup of soft brown sugar

3 large eggs beaten

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup of all purpose flour

1/4 cup of chocolate chips

1/2 tsp of salt

Melt butter and white chocolate on double boiling, remove from the water bath add cocoa powder, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix everything well and fold in flour and pour on a buttered square or rectangle cake pan. Finally add the salt over the batter, using a stick swirl the salt over the batter. 

Bake this mixture for 35 minutes at 150 to 170 Degree brownies should not be baked like cake it should be slightly wet so 35 minutes will be accurate, once the brownies bake let it cool before cutting and serving it. My husband prefers to have it warm and sometimes with vanilla ice-cream.

Dust with cocoa powder before serving or plain depending on your preference

Do try and let me know how was it!

Custard Marble Cake (Eggless)

Of late, I have been so crazy of baking this makes me to search for unique recipes from blogger friend's space. I have saved more than 100 blogs which I visit almost everyday, so one of the blog I visit without fail is Priya Ranjit's Cook Like Priya. The other day I saw Priya posted an unique cake baked with whole wheat flour and custard flour, I told myself I'm definitely trying this recipe no matter what as I had all the ingredients needed for this cake in my pantry. Thank you so much Priya for sharing such a wonderful cake with us.

This is a special cake and would be loved by people who are health concious and looking for a light and fluffy cake. Let's look at how to make this cake;

Ingredients:

1 and 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour/atta

1/4 cup of all purpose flour

3/4 cup of custard powder

2 tbsp of cocoa powder

1 and 1/4 tsp of baking soda

1 and 1/2 cup of milk

3 tbsp of vegetable oil

1 tsp of vanilla extract

3/4 cup of sugar

Sift baking soda, whole wheat flour, all purpose flour and custard powder and set aside.

In a mixing bowl add sugar, oil, vanilla extract, milk and mix until the sugar is almost dissolved. Slowly add in the dry ingredients little by little until it forms a smooth batter. Now take out 1/4 part of the batter and mix the cocoa powder to it ( I have mixed cocoa powder with little milk).

I have used a loaf pan to make this cake, you can use any cake pan of your choice. Butter the sides of the loaf pan and pour all the original batter to this pan, then pour the chocolate batter in the middle of the original batter and make swirl with a chopstick or knife to form the marble effect to the cake.

Bake the cake in pre-heated oven (pre-heat for 10 minutes) for 150 to 180 degrees depending on your oven's requirement for 35- 40 minutes. The most important part of baking this cake is that you have to leave the cake for minimum 2 hours or overnight to have soft and fluffy cake.

Unmould the cake and cut into slices and our Custard Marble Cake is ready to be served. Do try and I'm sure that you will love it!

Less-sweet Dates Kesari

Ingredients:

1 cup of slightly roasted semolina
1/2 cup of coconut milk
2 tbsp of ghee
2 tbsp of chopped dates
2 tbsp of broken cashew nuts
1 tbsp of yellow raisins
2 drops of yellow coloring
1/2 cup of sugar
A pinch of salt
1 cup of water

Fry cashew nuts and raisins in ghee and keep aside.

In another pan, boil water once boiled add in coconut milk, yellow coloring, sugar, salt and mix well to dissolve the sugar. Do not boil once coconut milk is added, now slowly add in the roasted semolina mix well. 

Add in chopped dates, cashew nuts and raisins incorporate well with the semolina, add in 1 tbsp of ghee before serving the kesari to give a good shine.

Now our Less-sweet Dates Kesari is ready to be served, do try and let me know how was it!

Guest Post by Vimitha Anand: Grilled Honey Pineapple in Chocolate Sauce

It seems like the year 2013 was just born but it's already the 3rd day, today will be the final day of celebration with Guest post from my fellow blogger sisters. To end it I have invited our lovely Vimitha Anand again to a guest post for me, she's not someone new to my space. Her first guest post for me was Sabudana Vada on 23rd October 2012, she shared a lot of wonderful recipes in her blog My Culinary Trial Room. Now let us see what she have prepared for us;

Like all the food bloggers out there, I wanted to end 2012 with a recap, a thankyou note and a wish. But then the kid never allows me to sit in front of the laptop these days. So giving up on the replay post, I moved on to other thoughts. A whole lot of ideas have been going through my mind on what to post on new year's eve. Orange curd tartlets or a chocolate mudcake.. why not butterscotch blondies (..oh the blondies have been in my to-do list for a long time) or nutella brownie bites. Ideas seem to come pouring. But I just couldn't bring myself together to bake something. And just like a booster, came by the FB msg from Karthi. She wanted another guest post for her beautiful blog and the theme was Xmas and new year. Since I had already posted a Christmas fruit cake for this year, I took up the theme of New Year. Not wanting to do an elaborate bake, I wanted to keep it simple and when I saw a fully riped pineapple sitting on my kitchen counter, I knew what the recipe was going to be. Its a simple but elegant dish and is best served hot, topped with a dollop of ice cream and drenched in chocolate sauce.

WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY AND SAFE YEAR AHEAD

~*What U Need*~ For the chocolate sauce/gravy Butter - 2 tbsp Unsweetened cocoa powder - 1 tbsp Flour - 1 tbsp Sugar - 2 tbsp Milk - 1/2 cup Vanilla - 1/2 tsp How How I Made it: Chocolate Sauce: Heat butter in skillet. Stir in flour, cocoa powder and sugar and continue to cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the milk slowly say 1 tbsp at a time, whisking till incorporated. Cook for another 2 minutes, until thick. Add vanilla and remove from flame.

Store in air tight containers...

~*What U Need*~ For the Grilled Honey Pineapple Pineapple slices - 4, fresh or drained Honey - 2 tbsp Butter - 2 tbsp How I Made it: Grilled Honey Pineapple: Heat butter in a grill or griddle. Place the pineapple once the grill is hot, drizzle honey around the sides and cook for 3-4 mins till nice and caramelized. Flip, drizzle more honey and cook again. Once caramelized remove from pan.

Serve hot, with a dollop of ice cream (..which I missed) and drizzled with chocolate sauce.

** My Notes: ** Use fresh pineapple or canned ones. If using canned drain the juices fully. ** Using a grill gives the beautiful lines, but since I didn't have one, I used a griddle. But I highly recommend using a grill. ** You can also add 1 tsp of lime juice and 1/4 tsp of cinnamon. ** I used Cadbury's cocoa powder and hence skipped the vanilla. ** Cook till forms a thick custard and if it is too thick, dilute using milk to the desired consistency ** The sauce can be stored and used within 2 days. Serve as a dip for fruit bites or breads. So that's it Folks... 

With Love, Signs off!!!