Carrot & Pineapple Cake with vegan Fondant Icing

For my Wilton course 3 class 2 , I had to take a cake and fondant icing.But Fondant icing that we get in store is not a vegetarian, so was in a big dilemma as to do what?Just buy the fondant icing and cover it on Styrofoam or bake a cake and try vegan fondant. I found a recipe for vegan fondant and bought all the ingredients too. Since i didn't know the consistency of the fondant I took that to the class. My instructor was happy with it and said a little more powder sugar should do the trick.Hurray!I was happy. But working with fondant is not as easy as it looks. My hands were sour the day i made fondant at home because it demands lot of kneading.

I felt my fondant was not that stretchy as it has to be, may be because I used Agar flakes instead of powder.Will try powder and see it next time. That's why it was breaking apart. But I could eat the cake with no guilt, I was happy for that. Fondant icing looks very neat and natural compared to other icings that's what I felt.

Carrot and Pineapple Cake was something I wanted to try for sometime now.So I made it for the class and I turned out very tasty with a little pineapple chunks in each bite.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Brown sugar
2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups finely-shredded carrots
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup applesauce (i used crushed Pineapple with juice)
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 egg substitute (Ener-G) (I skipped this as I was using lot of Pineapple and juice)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnut)

Method:
Stir together dry ingredients.Mix in the carrots, oil, crushed Pineapple with juice(if u think the juice is too much then pour a little bit at a time) and vanilla.Beat about 2-3 minutes , until well mixed.Stir in the nuts, if used.Bake at 325 F for about 40-50 minutes , or until a toothpick comes out clean.Cool on a wire rack.

It was very moist and yummy!

Vegan Fondant Icing(I found the recipe here)
For fondant icing, the ingredients are:

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (I used agar agar flakes)
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup Glucose (There is a glucose mixture that Wilton sells, but you can use light corn syrup, you'll just get a softer fondant)
2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
1 tablespoon Glycerin
8 cups sifted confectioner's sugar (about 2 lbs.) -- 8 cups is a lot, plan on using more like 6. The 8 really makes it stiff and dry/cracked.
Icing color and flavoring, as desired.


Method:

Combine agar flakes and cold water; let stand until thick. Place mixture on stove and boil 5 minutes, or until dissolved. Remove from stove add glucose and shortening, and mix until shortening dissolves. Add glycerin, flavoring and color. Cool until lukewarm (should happen pretty quickly). Next, place 4 cups confectioner's sugar in a bowl and make a well. Pour the lukewarm agar mixture into the well and stir with a wooden spoon, mixing in sugar and adding more, a little at a time, until stickiness disappears. Knead in remaining sugar. Knead until the fondant is smooth, pliable and does not stick to your hands. If fondant is too soft, add more sugar; if too stiff, add water (a drop at a time). Use fondant immediately or store in airtight container in a cool, dry place. Do not refrigerate or freeze. When ready to use, knead again until soft.

This recipe makes approx. 36 oz., enough to cover a 10 x 4 in. high cake.

Note:Try using Powder instead of flakes or soak it in hot water for couple of minutes and wait till the water cools down, flakes didn't dissolve really well and i could see some flakes on my fondant.
Once the fondant is done try to store them in a close container and use a little bit at a time as they dry up very soon. Roll them and cut in desired shape and decorate it.

Apple-Date Swirl Cookies

This is my 50th post and so wanted to do something sweet, so here is a very Delicious cookie I ever had.I found this recipe in a small book by Betty crocker called "Fall Baking". It has some wonderful recipes, which are simple but quite interesting recipes. I have altered some of the ingredients according to my family tastes but have the original recipe here. I felt it was a little sweeter, so u can reduce the sugar content for the cookie. The filling is the best part in this cookies, its very soft, chewy,delicious and perfect for Christmas. Kids love them as its sweet and chewy.

Ingredients:

Filling
1cup Chopped Dates
3/4cup finely chopped peeled apple
1/4cup granulated sugar
1tsp grated orange peel
1/4cup orange juice

Cookies
1/2cup granulated sugar
1/2cup packed brown sugar
1/2cup butter(softened)
1/2tsp vanilla
1 egg(i used applesauce)
12/3cup All purpose flour
1/2tsp Baking soda
1/4tsp salt
1/4tsp cinnamon powder

Method:
In a pan mix filling ingredients, cook over medium heat,keep stirring until it boils and thickens(for about 5 mins).Set aside and cool. In a bowl, beat sugars, butter, vanilla and egg(applesauce) with an electric mixer on medium speed till well blended.Stir in dry ingredients.
Put the dough in between plastic wrap and roll it with a rolling pin into a rectangular shape.[I rolled it a round shape and my cookies were oval shaped]. Remove the top cover and spread the filling over dough.Roll the dough with filling inside, separating the plastic cover.Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 2-3 hrs or until firm.
Preheat the oven to 375*F. Cut the roll into 1/4th inch slices. Bake them for about 8-12 mins.

Crochet Puff Stich black Scarf

This is a pretty cool scarf which i loved the first time i saw it and was the first priority on my to do list forgetting all my other projects. I did wanted to finish before this winter begins. As u all have observed by now that i do crochet by following a YouTube video, which makes me learn and finish my project faster than learning from a book. This one also is from a YouTube video and I am a big fan of the lady by name Teresa, who makes wonderful designs and makes videos that any beginner can do and finish it with full confidence and pride. Thanks Teresa for all the hard work put behind by your team.

You can find the video link here and written text here in her blog. Just follow that, i added few more rows to make it a little bigger and added few embellishments to make it fancy and i also added 3 rows of single stitch and strings/tazzles to end it. A matching hat is under process, actually wanted to put both together but 'am tied with other things now and might not be able to finish it any soon, so will post once i am done with it.

Here is the pic and video of Puff stitch hat.

Cabbage Pakoda

Its similar to Onion Pakoda.

Ingredients:

1.5 cup Shredded Cabbage
1/2cup onion
1tsp Cumin seeds
1tbsp Besan flour
1tsp Rice flour
a pinch of hing and turmeric powder
1-2tsp Red chili powder
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:

Mix the onions(cut them into long thin strings, like you would usually do for onion pakoda) and cabbage in a bowl and sprinkle salt on in and mix well and keep aside for about 5 mins. Water starts to separate from onion. Now add Besan flour, rice flour, chili powder, cumin seeds, turmeric powder and hing and mix well. Make equal portion of balls and deep fry in oil and serve warm with chutney or sauce.

[Note: U can add finely chopped ghee chillies too if you like the pakoras spicey]

Carrot Halwa

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup Evaporated milk
1 cup Sugar
2tbsp Condensed Milk/Khova
a pinch of cardamom powder
few saffron(optional)
2tsp each Cahew nut and Raisins
1tsp Ghee(purified butter)

Method:

Put the shredded carrots in a non-stick/hard anodized pan(as it dosent stick to the pan and there is not wastage and no need to add lot of ghee).Add Evaporated milk and let it boil till it thickens. Now add sugar and condensed milk and mix well till it reaches the halwa consistency. Finally fry the cashew nut and raisins in a spoon of ghee and add it to the halwa with cardamom powder and saffron. The Halwa can be served hot or chilled, it can be even served on top of a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Mango Football Cake

This was a cake I made for my Husband on his Birthday.When i was browsing the cake decoration online found some baseball, basketball shaped cakes, So I got an idea to bake a football shaped cake since my hubby is a big fan of Football(US). There is lot of football theme cake pans acvailable in the market but I didnt wanted to buy them for 1 time use. So thought of baking a cake and cutting it to the desired shape, which was much more cost effective.

I had some mango pulp sitting in my refrigerator for quite a while which needed some immediate attention. So I remembered a friend (Chhaya) who had baked this vegan cake at her son's birthday party and I liked it a lot. So I gave it a try and it turned out wonderful. Since I was taking this Wilton cake decoration classes, wanted to do some experiment with my new creation. I was very happy that it turned out great and didn't disappoint me.

I baked the cake in a loaf pan and cut it into football shape with a knife, then used brown color icing to make stars(using Tip 16) all over and with white color(since i made my icing with butter flavor shortening, it is cream in color) icing to make lines(using Tip 3). Since it was a small cake it did not take much time to make stars all over but if its a big cake u can use the 3 star tip available, which makes icing the cake faster.

To make the Mango Cake:(I used half the proportion, since it was a small cake)

Ingredients:

2 cups All purpose flour
2 tsp corn starch
2½ tsp baking powder
¾ cup margarine/canola oil
1 cup of sugar
¾ cup of mango puree
1 ½ cup milk

Method:

Preheat the oven for 350* F.Mix all the dry and wet ingredients together with a hand mixer and pour it into the greased tray/loaf pan. Bake for 30-40 mins . Cool it completely for about 30-40 mins and then cut it into desired shape.

Carrot-cinnamon-nut Bread "Happy Thanksgiving"

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Its the holiday season and I am coming across so many new recipes to enjoy this season. So I was in hunt for new kind of bread for our afternoon snack. I found this recipe in Betty Crocker "Fall Baking" book.I liked it as it was simple and wanted to try out something new instead of the banana bread which i usually bake. The main recipe was with ginger instead of cinnamon, my family is not a big fan of ginger especially when its a bite size so I substituted it. It was good but since i made it vegan it felt a little dry and needed some more moisture in it. So I guess we can add a 1/4 cup of water/orange juice to it. I even used wheat flour instead of All purpose flour, so it made the bread a little bitter. I recently came to know that if orange juice is used when baking with wheat flour reduces the bitter flavour, so i shall try it next time. But over all it was good and new way to enjoy Thanks giving.

Ingredients:

2 eggs(i used 1/2 cup applesauce)
1.5 cup brown sugar
1/3cup Oil
1/2cup Milk
1tsp vanilla extract
2cups All-purpose flour(I used wheat flour)
2tsp Baking powder
1tsp ground ginger(i used cinnamon)
1/2tsp salt
1cup shredded carrots(about 2 medium sized)
1/2cup chopped nuts

Method:

Heat the oven to 350*F and grease a loaf pan and keep aside. In a food processor add applesauce, brown sugar until creamy. Now add oil,milk, vanilla essence. Now add Flour,baking powder, cinnamon, salt.Stir in carrots and nuts and pour it into greased loaf pan.Bake for 60 minutes. cool completely for 2 hours and then cut them into slices and enjoy them with butter.

Cup Cakes

In our 3rd class of Wilton Decoration we had a choice of either a 8inch cake or 6-8 cup cakes. I choose to take cup cakes to the class. 3rd class is a relaxing class as we don't learn much in this except few simple decorations like a bear, faces, apple, heart, grapes,swirl flowers. They r very simple but when did on cake looks very decorative and hard. Among all these i loved making clowns which was the simplest and fastest. I felt clown on a cup cake was too big, it looks better on a cake. Since it was just a practice class it was fine, but will try out sometime soon on a cake.

Rainbow Cake

Its been quite a long time that I posted something on my blog that's b'coz I was busy taking a cake Decoration Class. The class demands a little attention as you need to bake a cake and prepare the icing from home. With out regular cooking, house hold work this was an addition, so I couldn't make time for blogging but was trying to check all my friends blog regularly.

Its a great class to take up, if any one interested in cake decoration should definitely try one course. Its usually offered in Hobby lobby, Michael's and Joann stores. This course is of 4 classes and the Course I teaches basics like baking the cake, making the Butter cream icing and using the tips. I enjoyed the class as I got to learn some new things and got to explore with Icing. I have registered for Course II as well which starts in Dec, so till my next course I shall show my cakes in my blog. So expect the next few blogs just on cake decoration.

I shall not go in depth with the course but show u the cake i decorated. I made a store bought cake mix as I had lot of things to do so I didn't wanted to make a cake from scratch. As it was my first cake its not a perfect one but was happy that I could do it so well on my first cake.My confidence level was boosted for sure.

Instant Mango Pickle (Bisi Uppinakai)

This is a simple and instant way of preparing pickles.It doesn't last for months but holds good for couple of weeks, if refrigerated well.

Ingredients:

3-4 Small Mangoes or 1 Big
11/2 tsp Red Chilli powder
1tsp Mustard and Fenugreek seeds
salt to taste

For Tempering
2tsp Oil
1tsp Mustard
Pinch of Asafoetida/Hing

Method:

Wash and cut the mango to small cubes with the skin discarding the seed. Now make the tempering in a pan with oil and mustard seeds and hing, switch off the flame and add cut mango pieces, Chilli powder and Mustard-Methi Powder. Mix well. Allow it to cool in the pan so mangoes become soft and the dry powders are well blended. Mango pickle is ready to serve.

Note:If u want extra tempering u can add it in the end but don't boil the pickle after u put all the masala's as Mangoes will become very soft and mushy. While serving every time keep in mind the spoon is not wet otherwise the pickle gets spoiled.

Pav Bhaji

A good friend of mine wanted Pav Bhaji recipe from me, so here you go Darshana, hope u like my version.

Ingredients:

1pack Pav/Dinner Rolls(I usually buy Sara Lee brand)
1tbsp Butter
2/3 Lemon slices

For Bhaji
----------
1cup Mixed Vegetables (Cauliflower,peas,Carrot,Beans, capsicum/bell peppers, tomato, potato)
1/2cup Finely chopped Red Onions
1-2tsp Pav Bhaji Masala
salt to taste
cilantro for garnish

Method:

Pressure cook the vegetables for 1 whistle.In a pan add 1 tsp butter/oil and add 1/2 the onions and saute it well,now add Pav bhaji masala and saute for few more seconds till the oil separates. Add the cooked vegetables(Mash it well before adding) and salt and mix well and let it boil once, add a little water if required(let the bhaji bee a little on a thicker consistency).

Toast the pav/dinner rolls by cutting it into half, with a little butter and keep it on a serving plate with bhaji on one side and a little chopped onions on the top with butter and cilantro.Serve hot.

[Note: You can add any vegetable of your taste with potato as standard ,it makes the bhaji thick]

Badam Burfi

Happy Deepavali to all the blogger out there.
Ingredients:
1cup Almonds
1cup Sugar
1tsp Ghee
1/4cup or less Milk

Method:

Soak the Almonds for 30 minutes in warm water and peel the skin.Now blend it with sugar and milk. Now put a spoon of ghee in a nonstick pan and keep it on Medium heat and pour the mixture and keep stirring for about 20 mins or so. Till all the paste leaves the edges and forms like a ball. Now grease a plate with a little ghee and pour the mixture and cool completely and cut it to desired shape.

Note: To know when its ready to pour it on a plate is the burfi starts to get dry.

Moong sprout Cutlet

Ingredients:

1cup Moong sprouts
2 green chillies finely chopped
1 cup Boiled and Mashed Potato
1tsp grated Ginger
1tsp Garam Masala Powder
2 slices White/Wheat bread
2tsp oil
salt to taste

Method:

Keep a tava on the flame and preheat it.Mix the Moong sprouts,Mashed potato,green chillies, ginger,garam masala powder,salt and soaked bread(soak the bread in a cup of normal water and squeeze all the water) and keep aside. Now divide it into equal sized balls.Now take one ball and flatten it a little and put it on the tava and apply a little oil on each side and shallow fry it.Serve hot with ketchup/chutney.

Dil Kush (Sweet Puff)

If you are from Bangalore or surrounding cities and used to go to the bakery's then u will be very familiar with this name. "Dil Kush" is a Hindi word and means "Happy Heart"or "Which makes the Heart Happy". Its one of the sweet snack available there and we used to eat at least once a week.Its a very dense and heavy snack for an evening.Its filled with lots of dry fruits and tutti-frutti's.

From a very long time i was craving for this recipe and searched the net but couldn't find it.So I tried to make my own and it was quite near to the one's available in the bakery. So I am happy it did not disappoint me. Its easy and can be made on any day for an evening snack.

I know the picture is not so good will upload a good view when I prepare it next time.

Ingredients:

Puff Pastry sheets
1 cup Dry coconut
1 cup Tutti-Fruity, dry fruits(Raisin,cashew nut)
pinch cardamom powder
1tsp melted butter

Method:

Preheat the oven at 400* F. Now thaw the puff pastry sheet for 30 Min's,mix tutti-fruity, dry fruits and cardamom powder. Roll the pastry sheet to a round shape about 6inch diameter. Make 2 such round pastry sheet. Now add the mixture and apply butter and close it with the other pastry sheet and fold it tight and apply butter allover on the top and bake for about 7 Min's or until it turns golden brown. Then cut it into 4 parts and serve. Don't keep it for too long as the mixture inside makes the bottom soggy.

Apple Jam

Jam is something I had never experimented before as I always used to have a store bought bottle in my refrigerator.But recently a good friend of mine returned few tapes of Sanjeev Kapoors' cookery show on Zee TV "khaana Kazaana".I used to watch that show and record all the good dishes.So I re-watched few and found a Green Apple Jam recipe in that and wanted to try that in order to clear the green apples I had left over from the Dasara Festival. For my surprise it turned out to be one of the easiest and healthy with no such chemical preservatives.v Its definitely a keep. Apples can be substituted with any other fruit like Strawberry, blueberry, banana, cheery,Mango, pineapple or mixed fruit too.

Ingredients:

3 Green Apples
2 cups Sugar
Green Food color(optional)
1tsp Lemon juice(Citric Acid)

Method:

Peel the skin and seeds off of green apples and cut it into small piece.Put them in heavy bottom vessel and cook them on medium flame for about 15 mins so it cooks well and becomes almost like a paste. Now add sugar and keep stirring them occasionally ,once the sugar melts and gets to a consistency add few drops of food color(which I didn't add) and lemon juice(Recipe demanded for citric acid but I substituted with lemon juice),stir well and allow it to cool. Store in a glass container in the refrigerator for months.

Note:Always cook in a medium/low flame so its easy to know the consistency of jam.

Gasagase Payasa (Poppy seeds Milkshake)

Gasagase Payasa/Kheer is one of the traditional drink in Indian cooking especially South India.It made in different method one of the method which my mother makes is here.My MIL dry raost's the poppy seeds and then grind them.So it can be made in 2 ways.Poppy seeds is the main ingredient used to make this Payasa/kheer. Poppy seeds are used mainly as Opium so drink this at night or when you are relaxing at home as you may doze away.

Its a simple and easy to make drink.So make them on weekend and relax.

Ingredients:

2tsp Poppy seeds
1tsp Rice
15-20 Almonds
1tbsp Fresh coconut
1tbsp Jaggery
1 cup Milk
1pinch Cardamom powder
2-3 strings Saffron(optional)
Almond slices for garnishing

Method:

Soak Poppy seeds, almonds,rice for about an hour add coconut and grind it to a fine paste.Now in a pan take 1 cup milk,jaggery and the paste and get to a boil in a low flame. Once the Payasa/kheer thickens switch off the flame and garnish with almonds and serve warm or chill it in the refrigerator and serve a cool drink.

Note: Boil the payasa in low flame as the bottom burns fast.

Edible Graduation cap

I know its been quite a long time that i posted anything here as I am busy with a new blog on Fashion Jewelry.I shall attach the link to this blog. I had promised i will be posting on a graduation cap which is edible so here it is.They are so cute that it will steal the show.Its very simple if all the ingredients are available on hand. So if you want to prepare it collect all the ingredients so it makes easy and saves some time.

Ingredients:
(To make 1 graduation cap)
1 Banana
1 square sweet crackers(avoid salted ones)
1tbsp Chocolate chips/Hershey's kisses
3-4 Long string dry Coconut(sweetened/unsweetened)
1 Mini M&M
Method:
Cut the banana to 1 inch size.Important thing is cut it in the middle or where the banana is of equal size and should stand well. Now melt the chocolate chips in microwave for 1-2 Min's. When its melted mix it really well with a fork and dip the banana and place it on a plate.Now dip the cracker and cover it well with chocolate and place it on top of the chocolate covered banana.Now take 3 long string coconut and place it on the middle on top of the chocolate covered cracker and place one mini M&M on top freeze it for 30 Min's or till ready for the presentation.

Note: Melted chocolate thickens very fast so add a little butter when melting so it stays liquid for a little longer time

Baby Corn Manchurian

Manchurian is an appetizer very popular in India. Gobi Manchurian is every bodies favorite but it can be made with paneer, tofu or baby corn.Here I tired with baby corn as i had a can bought from the grocery stores and was just sitting in my pantry from quite sometime. Me and my husband love baby corn in any form but honestly loved this baby corn Manchurian.It was very tasty and crunchy.Any Manchurian is time consuming and long process but its worth all the effort.

Ingredients:

1can Baby corn(Fresh baby corn if available)
1tbsp All purpose flour
1tsp Corn starch
1drop Red food color(optional)
water
Oil for deep frying +1tsp
1/2cup Onions finely chopped
1-2 Green chillies finely chopped
1tsp Garlic paste
1tsp Ginger paste
1 green onion
1tsp soy sauce
1tsp chilly sauce
salt to taste
coriander leaves for garnish

Method:
First heat the oil in a pan.Now wash the baby corns and dry them well with a tissue.Now mix all purpose flour, corn starch a pinch of salt, food color with enough water and make a batter.Dip the baby corn individually and deep fry them till it turns brown.cool it on a tissue.

Now take a different pan and add a tsp oil and add onions and saute',add ginger garlic and green chillies and fry then well.Now add fried baby corn, soy sauce and chilly sauce and saute them on high flame for 1-2 Min's and add green onions and pour it on a serving plate and garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with soy sauce/chilly sauce.

I am sending my post to Nithya & Pavithra's First event"Garnish the Dish".

Note:Always saute the Manchurian in a high flame so it gets crispier and roasted a little.

Masala Dosa(Crepes)

Breakfast is said to be the most important part of the day as it makes your days routine.One of the most popular Breakfast in south Inida is Masala Dosa."Masala Dosa" mentioning this Breakfast/snack makes everybody crave to eat.

I read an article online about Masala Dosa and your Personality, which i loved and wanted to share it with you all, so here you go following with the recipe to make one.

Masala Dosa and Your Personality:

There are many ways to eat a masala dosa .What ever the way one eats; there is a very good reason for doing that. It shows some traits of the person...


Case 1: People who open the masala dosa and eat it: These are the people who are very open about their life. Everyone one the persons friends would know all about him/her. I have generally seen guys do this rather than girls. Some people think that it is a gross way of eating but in truth, these people are just portraying who they are and how their life is.

Case 2: People who start from both end and approach the masala later: These are the people who like to wait for the exiting things to come to their life. Sadly when the times comes, they are not too interested or just do not know how to enjoy it to the fullest. These are the folks who just want life as either dry or exiting. They just do not know how to phase their life and enjoy it no matter what. There are two types of people within this group

Case 2.1: People who do not finish all the masala:These folks just do not care as much for the fun times as they are already brought down by the harsh reality of life. The dry periods in their life has left them with so much scars that they do not want to be really happy when the time is right... They just take only as much as they needed and end their life. A very sorry state indeed.

Case 2.2: People who finish all the masala with the little dosa they have: These are the folks who just are the extremes. They just go all out in life. No matter it is dark or bright. They may not enjoy life to the fullest but they sure make sure that they get every single good and bad thing out of life. Sometimes these folks are really hard to get along with. They are either your best friends or your worst enemies. They do not have a middle path at all.

Case 3: People who start from the middle and proceed to both ends: These are the people who like to get right to what they think is their best part of life. Usually these guys finish of the good portions in a hurry and get stuck with nothing but worst parts of their life. The thing to note among these people is that the tendency to burn out very early in their life. Like the above case, there are two kinds of people in this group too.

Case 3.1: People who do not finish the dosa: These folks are really the saddest of people. They are the ones who tend to end their life as soon as it hits the bad patch. For them, they only need and want the best things in life and nothing more. Typically, they are not prepared or tuned to life as a whole. They just want to enjoy from first till last. Sadly, no one in the world can live without even an ounce of sadness in life. Not even the richest of the richest. But to self destruct at the mere sign of distress is very bad. That is what these guys tend to do. Some learn to live life but most of them do not.

Case 3.1: People who do finish the dosa: These folks are the typical human beings. We all enjoy the greatest of times in life and push the sad parts thinking about the great times in life. Typically the plate is clean and nothing is left for fate or in life. Happiness and sadness are part of life and these guys know that and are kind of prepared for it. Life is not always happy but there are moments of happiness here and there.

Case 4: People who eat the dosa making sure that the masala lasts for the whole dosa: These people are very rare. These are the people who like to attain balance in their life. It is hard to displease these people and it is hard to make them really happy. They like their balance and are very protective of it. Sadly these are the people who tend to be lonely as anyone else may upset the balance of their system. Perfectionist to the core and are very careful. These guys do not make the best company but are needed in any group to make the group from going hay wire.

Case 5: People who do not share and eat the dosa as if it is precious: These folks are very protective about their life. They do not want anyone to come and interfere in their life. They like to hide their true nature and intensions for their benefit. Beware of such people as they are in every group for their own need and nothing else.

Case 6: People who offer their first bite to others: These guys are overly friendly. They do anything to be part of a group and make everyone feel like the group is important than the individuals. They are the glue that holds any group together. They are very friendly and bring the best of all the others in the group. They go out of their way to help other friends. Most groups should have a person like this and they are the ones who plan the group outings and other group activities. Once this person is out of the group, typically the group slowly falls apart.

Case 7: People who take one or two bites and then offer the dosa to others: These guys care about friends and friendship but they take their time to get into the group. They take their time in making friends and they typically are very committed once into the friendship. These guys like to always be in the side lines and typically do not jump into anything in life. They always take their time to analyze the situation and then make a decision. These guys take the better safe than sorry approach.

Case 8: People who wait for others to make the offer first: Typical people I must say. They are unsure about everything. Even if they wanted to offer, they will wait till the other person offers the food first. If the other person is silent, so are these people. They are the followers. They do terrific idea, they will pitch it to someone else and get their advice before proceeding. Sadly, most of the elderly world like these types of people.

Case 9: People who offer dosa only when they cannot finish it on their own: You all may be familiar with these kinds of people. People who are very generous only when all their needs are fulfilled. These folks are selfish but at the same time not misers or greedy. They just want to satisfy themselves before they give it to the world. They typically do not stuff themselves nor do they tend to starve. They are very good people who would give you the best of advices in life. They would make sure that you are not sad following their advice.

Case 10: People who offer the whole dosa and eat from others plates: These folks are other extreme. They know what they want, they get what they want but they cannot enjoy what they want. Instead they tend to settle for other things in life which satisfies the needs but does not satisfy the person completely. These guys are termed as born losers cause even when they have the thing they wanted, they can't stop others from stealing it from them.

So next time you sit with a person eating a masala dosa, look closely and see if he/she falls into one of the above categories. You maybe surprised as how much it reveals about the person.

Enjoy eating Masala Dosa !!!

Ingredients:

1 cup Dosa Batter(soak 3:1 Rice and urad dal for 4-5 hrs and soak 1tsp of methi seeds seperately for few hrs and grind it well with lot of water and add with Rice and Urad dal and grind it to a fine batter and ferment it overnight)
salt to taste

Stuffing/Palya
1cup Boiled and mashed Potaotes
1Onion
2-3 Green chillies
4 curry leaves
1tsp Fresh coconut
1tbsp oil+to fry dosa
1tsp Mustard seeds
1tsp urad dal
1tsp channa dal
1tsp Turmeric powder
Fresh coriander leaves for garnish
Method:

First prepare Palya-take a pan and put a tbsp oil and make tempering by adding mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, turmeric powder,curry leaves and green chillies,onions & saute well.Now add boiled and mashed potaotes and salt to taste and mix with coconut and coriander leaves and keep aside.

Now on tava put 1 big spoon dosa batter and make dosa as thin as possible by adding 1 tsp oil.Once its nicely roasted put 1 scoop of Masala palya in the middle and fold it on both sides and serve with chutney and sambar.

[Note:Dont add salt to the batter before it ferments and add salt only to the batter u r using to make dosa's, the remaining you can store in the refrigerator and use it whenever u need so they dont get sour.
Palya can be made way in advance if required.]

Sorekai Halwa

Sorekai means Dhoodhi or Bottle gourd, is a vegetable used for many purpose. Its one of the tastiest halwa's next to Carrot. I never thought it would taste so good as the vegetable is pale and dosent have much of its own taste. By adding some flovors and sweet it turns out to be really good.

Ingredients:

1 Big Sorekai(Skin peeled and grated)
1cup sugar
1 cup Milk
a pinch of cardamom
Green food color(optional)
1tsp Ghee
1tsp Cashew nuts broken
1tsp Raisins
Few strings Saffron(optional)

Method:

First squeze all the water in the Sorekai and keep aside.In a pan add this sorekai and a little milk and boil it till the vegetable is cooked well.Now add sugar, food color(i didnt add it) and keep stirring till it reaches the halwa consistency.Fry the cashewnuts and raisins in ghee and add it to the halwa with few strings of Saffron and serve warm or chill.

[Note: If you like the halwa to be rich and oily can add more ghee but if you do it in a non-stick pan extra ghee is not at all required.]

Kuchida Kadubu (Steamed Sweet Dumplings)

Kuchida Kadubu is a steamed sweet dumplings which is a delicious and a very traditional sweet made during festivals. Its a little time consuming but really worth it when you taste it.This is a healthier alternative to the fried ones.

Ingredients:
1cup RiceFlour
11/2 cup Water
a pinch of salt

For stuffing-
1cup Fresh grated coconut
3/4cup Jaggery
1tsp Cardamom powder
1tsp Roasted kuskus

Method:
First boil 1cup water and switch off the flame and add the Rice flour and mix really well and close it with a lid and keep aside.Now take a pan add jaggery and few drop of water and make syrup, add coconut and mix well and add cardamom powder and roasted kuskus.

Once both have cooled down, take a dime size rice dough and roll it to 4' diameter and put a spoon of stuffing and fold it to the shape of kadbu and make the rest of it and place it on idli plate and steam it for 4-5 mins and serve once it cooled. Enjoy it for 1-2 days.

Paneer-Kaju curry

Its been more than a month that i have made any post on my blog or visited my friends blog.The reason being I was busy with Parents. Its so wonderful being with them that I didn't get time to Blog. Now they are back in India I wanna get back to blogging. I am so happy to see so many new recipes and posts from all my friends.Will definitely try out some of yours.

Yesterday i tried a new curry i saw it on TV.I liked it as its rich and has very few ingredients, its called Paneer-Kaju curry.It tastes very good and nice for a party or a potluck.Kaju means Cashewnut in Hindi. Paneer is one of my favorite cheese, so I am always in for any vegetarian dish with Paneer in it.

Ingredients:
1cup Paneer cubed
10-12 Whole Cashewnuts
1 stick Cinnamon
3-4 Cloves
1tsp Jeera seeds
1tsp Coriander seeds
1tsp Kuskus
1tbsp fresh coconut
1tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
2-3 Green chillies
1 small Onion chopped
Fresh coriander leaves
1tsp Sunflower seeds(optional)
1tsp Red chilli powder
1cup tomato puree
3tbsp Oil
salt to taste
1tsp sugar
1tbsp cream
Method:

First fry the cashewnut and paneer in oil seperately and keep aside.Now dry roast cloves, cinnamon, kuskus,jeera seeds , coriander seeds blend it with ginger garlic paste , coconut and green chillies and make a fine paste.Now take a pan and put some oil and fry onions to golden brown and add the paste and fry for few more mins. till the oil seperates then add tomato puree.Now add a tsp of red chilli powder and add 1 cup water and boil it to the desired consistency.Now add fried cashewnuts ,Paneer and mix well add salt and suagr.Finally add cream and simmer for a mintue more and serve hot with Roti/chappathi.

[Note: You can add capsicums or any other vegetable if you want.]

Muthia(Steamed Dumplings)

Muthia is a very popular Gujarati dish, but its even made in south India with Toor Dal called "Nuchnunde"(will post this recipe sometime soon).Its a very healthy appetizer b'coz its steamed. Its so tasty that you can't resist by eating just one....you just keep eating. I found this recipe on Manjula's Kitchen an online website who has lot of video clips too.

Its a simple snack and doesn't take much of your time and most of the ingredients are available at home.The recipe calls for cabbage but i tried using Romaine Lettuce, as my Sister-in-law had tried and she said it tasted good. I guess this Muthia's can be done with any leafy vegetable, like Spinach or Cabbage(even Red cabbage).So its a must try snack.It can be served with green chutney or tamarind chutney but I did with a little hot and sweet Ketchup as I didn't have patience to make them.

Ingredients:

2 cups Finely chopped Romaine Lettuce(any lettuce with do)
1cup Besan/Gram flour
1tsp Cumin seeds
1tsp Turmeric powder
1tbsp Kasoori methi/dried fenugreek leaves
1tsp sugar
salt to taste
2tsp oil
1tsp Mustard seeds
Cilantro for garnishing.

Method:

Take a big bowl and add the shredded Lettuce,cumin seeds, turmeric powder, Kasoori methi , sugar, 1tsp oil, salt and mix well. Now add besan little by little and mix and make a soft dough, no need to add water as the lettuce is moist enough to make the dough.You can add a little more besan if the dough is too soft.Now grease the steaming plate with a little oil and divide the dough into 8 balls and place it on steaming plate ans steam it for 8-10 Min's.

For the tempering add the remaining oil to a kadai and add mustard seeds when they splutter add the cut muthia's and fry for 2 minutes and serve warm with chutney.