Eggless Chocolate Nut Cake ( using Microwave oven)

Eggless Chocolate Nut Cake ( using Microwave oven)

Ingredients

1. All purpose flour/Maida - 1 cup

2. Milk - 1 cup

3. Refined Sugar - 1.5 cups 

4. Cooking Oil - 2 to 3 tea spoons

5. Butter - 1/4 cup

6. Cashew nuts/Almonds ( any nuts of your choice ) - 1/5 cup

7. Baking powder - 1/4 tea spoon

8. Baking soda - 1/2 tea spoon

9. Cocoa/chocolate powder - 3 tea spoons

10. 2 to 3 pieces of Chocolate bar  - broken into small chunks

Procedure:

1. In a wide bowl, pour the milk and add sugar in it. Mix until all the sugar is dissolved completely in the milk.

2. In a sieve, add the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and sift them together till there are no lumps.

3. Add this flour mixture to the milk, oil, butter and mix well using a whisk, till the cake mixture is smooth, fluffy and has no lumps.

4. Apply butter inside a microwave safe bowl, spread the chocolate chunks and nuts all over the bottom. Now pour the cake mixture in it till about 1/2 full. Gently tap the bowl to ensure that the air bubbles trapped inside the cake mixture raises and get removed from the top.

5. Cook this cake mixture in the Microwave over for 6 minutes. 

Then stop the oven , check whether the cake mixture is raising and then cook for another 4 to 5 minutes checking intermittently at 1 minute intervals till it is fully cooked and raised at the top.

Insert a knife/tooth pick through the center of the cake and it should come out clean without the mixture sticking to its surface.

 

6. Invert the Cake  onto a plate/cooling rack and allow it to cool down for 20 minutes.
Slice and serve in a bowl.

  

This delicious mouth-watering cake serves 4 to 5 people and is a very quick and easy recipe.

Okra (Ladies' finger) curry - poriyal

Okra (Ladies' finger) curry - poriyal

Okra poriyal is a mildly-spiced Indian side-dish which is taken along with Rice or chapathi

Ingredients

1. Okra/Bhindi/Ladies' finger  - 250 gm ( chopped into small pieces)

2. Red Onion - 1/2 cup - finely chopped

3. Green chillies - 4 to 5 ( slit length-wise)

4. Cilantro/Coriander leaves - a bunch

5. Curry leaves - 4 to 5

6. Mustard - 1/4 tea spoon

7. Cooking oil - 2 to 3 tea spoons

8. Salt - 1/2 tea spoon ( adjust according to your taste)

9. Turmeric powder -a pinch

10. Red chili powder - 1/2 tea spoon

11. Red chillies - 2

12. Coriander powder - 1/4 tea spoon ( optional)

Procedure: 

1. Heat 2 to 3 tea spoons of oil in a wide pan.Once the oil is hot, add mustard, red chillies and allow to splutter. 

2. Add curry leaves, green chillies, red onion and saute till the onion turns golden brown.

3. Add okra pieces and sprinkle salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder and keep sauteing.

4. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally.

5. Turn off the stove when okra turns dark and becomes slightly crispy. Sprinkle chopped cilantro  on top and stir lightly.

6. Serve hot with cooked rice or chapathis and enjoy this okra poriyal.

Venpongal

Venpongal

Venpongal is a south indian rice and green gram based healthy and delicious breakfast recipe. It tastes best when eaten hot  along with chutney and sambar combination.

Ingredients

1. Rice  - 1 cup

2. split deskinned green gram  or moong dhal or pasi paruppu - 1/2 cup

3. Cashew nuts - 10

4. Whole Black pepper - 1 tea spoon

5. Jeera or cumin seeds - 2 tea spoons

6. Ginger - 1/2 inch piece - finely chopped

7. Ghee or clarified butter - 1/4 cup

8. Curry leaves - about 10

9. Salt - 1 tea spoon

Procedure:

1. Wash the rice thoroughly with water, drain the water and keep the rice aside.

2. Heat a pressure cooker and dry roast the moong dhal or pasi paruppu till the raw smell goes off and the color just starts to change.A Nice aroma starts to come at this stage.

3. Add the rice to this and mix well for about a minute.

4. Add 4 cups of water and 1 tea spoon of salt to this and mix well. (you can adjust salt as needed).

5. Cook this rice dhal mixture for 6 whistles in the pressure cooker till it is well cooked and becomes mushy. Turn off the heat.

6. Once the pressure goes down, mix the rice dhal mixture well.

7. Now heat a pan, add 1 table spoon of ghee.

8. Once the ghee melts, add the ginger, cumin seeds, cashew nuts , pepper and curry leaves. Fry till the cashew nuts turn golden brown and the cumin seeds crackle.

9. Add this tempering to the venpongal. 

10. Mix well and server hot with coconut chutney or sambar.
 

Enjoy this delicious mouth-watering venpongal as a morning breakfast with coconut chutney or sambar !

Tomato Onion Chutney

Tomato Onion Chutney

Tomato Onion chutney is a tangy, hot and spicy side dish which can be taken along with Idli, Dosa, Oothappam, Paniyaram, Chapathi, venpongal etc.,

Ingredients

1.Tomato - 2-3 Ripe Tomatoes

2. Red Onion - 1 chopped (or) 10-15 Shallots/Pearl Onions

3. Green chillies - 4 to 5- chopped into small pieces
4. Ginger - 1/2 inch piece - chopped into small pieces
5. Cilantro - a handful ( optional)
6. Salt - 3/4 tea spoon
7. Cooking oil - 3 tea spoons
8. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tea spoon
9. Curry leaves - 8 to 10
10. Water - 1/4 cup
11. Red chilli powder - 1/4 tea spoon ( optional)

 
 Procedure:
1. Heat 1 tea spoon of cooking oil in a pan.

2. Once the oil is hot, saute Green chilli and Ginger pieces in it.

3. Add Red onion pieces and saute well till it turns light brown.

 4. Add the tomato pieces and cook the tomatoes till the raw smell goes off.

5. Add salt and mix well.If you want the chutney to be spicier, then add 1/4 tea spoon of chilli powder and mix well. Add 1/4 cup of water and cover the lid and allow to cook for 5 more minutes. Keep stirring occasionally. Once the raw smell is completely gone and the tomatoes are cooked well, remove the pan from the stove and allow to cool.

6. Grind the tomato onion mix in a mixer-grinder into a fine paste.

7. Heat 2 tea spoons of oil in a pan. Once oil is hot, add 1/4 tea spoon of mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Add the curry leaves to this tempering and pour in the chutney and allow to come to boil. 

8.Remove from heat and transfer it to a bowl.

9. Tasty Tangy hot tomato onion chutney is ready. Serve with hot Idli, Dosa, Oothappam, Paniyaram, Chapathi, venpongal etc.,

Potato Spring Rolls

Potato Spring Rolls

Spring Roll is an Asian appetizer/snack. It is a snack in which vegetables or meat are rolled inside a thin spring roll sheet made of corn or wheat and deep fried. This particular recipe is about having mashes boiled potatoes mixed with spices as a filling, for the spring roll.

Potato Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

1. Spring Roll base/sheets ( available at Asian/Indian stores). These sheets are generally stored frozen. Before preparing the spring rolls, thaw the sheets outside the freezer. Keeping it in normal room temperature for 30 minutes will make it easier to remove the sheets without getting torn or without getting stuck to each other

2. Potatoes - 2,  cut into cubes

3. Minced Garlic - 1/2 tea spoon
4. Green chillies - 8 to 10
5. Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
6. Red onion - 1/2 - cut into small pieces

6. Cilantro - a handful
7. Salt - 1/2 tea spoon(Adjust as per your taste)

8. Cooking oil - For deep frying the spring rolls
9. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tea spoon

Procedure: 

1. Wash the potatoes, cut into cubes, boil them with 1/2 tea spoon of water. Peel the skin, remove any excess water and keep the boiled potatoes aside in a bowl.

2. Mash the potatoes coarsely till there are no large lumps.

3. Grind the green chillies, ginger, garlic, cilantro with 1/4 cup of water in a mixer-grinder/blender and add this to the mashed potatoes. Add 1/2 tea spoon of salt and mix them well with the mashed potatoes.

4.  Heat 1 tea spoon of oil in the pan. When oil is hot, add 1/2 tea spoon of mustard seeds and allow them to splutter.

5. To this , add the red onion and saute till it turns light brown.

6. Now add the potato mix to this and keep mixing till the potato mix is cooked well and the raw smell goes off. Once cooked well, remove the potato mix from the pan and keep aside.

7. Take 1 tea spoon of all purpose flour and 1 tea spoon of corn flour. Mix them with 2 tea spoons of water to form a thick paste.

7. Place 1 tea spoon of the potato filling near one of the edges of the spring roll sheet.

8.Fold the edge inside covering the potato filling and start rolling the sheet from one edge diagonally/Roll it tight inwards to avoid spilling of the filled potato mix.

9. When it is half-rolled, apply the flour paste on the edges and seal the edges of the spring rolls.

10. Heat oil in pan. Deep fry the spring rolls till they turn golden brown.

 

11. Serve hot and crispy spring rolls. This would taste great with hot and sweet tomato sauce, mint chutney etc.,