Eggless Nutella Pancakes

Who doesn't love the Chocolate Hazelnut spread, our very own Nutella? I guess both the kids and grown ups love it alike. Usually we use it as a bread spread for breakfast. So I thought of making some interesting breakfast using this delicious spread. Then these yummy pancakes were born in my kitchen :). Kids will surely love this with some chocolate syrup. You can cherish these pancakes with the maple syrup as well. They are simple to make and best for a quick breakfast.  I guess it can't be a frequent breakfast especially for grown ups, though we would love to indulge in some chocolaty breakfast at times :). Hope you all will try it out !!

Makes : 12-15 small pancakes

You need....

1 cup Wheat flour 

1.5 tsp Baking powder

1 tbsp Sugar

1/4 tsp Salt

1/3 cup Nutella

1 cup Milk

3-4 tbsp of Water

Oil

To prepare...

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Whisk Nutella with 1/2 cup milk to a smooth paste. Add rest of the milk to it and mix.

Now add the Nutella-milk mixture to the dry ingredients. Add few tbsp water if necessary to get a medium consistency batter without any lumps.

Heat a pan. Apply a little oil/butter. Pour a ladle of batter and spread a little. 

Let it cook for a couple of minutes. When the bottom part is brown, flip it and allow to cook for a minute.

Serve warm with any chocolate syrup or maple syrup or some honey.

Notes:
* You can also use all purpose flour instead of wheat flour.
* Increase or decrease the quantity of Nutella as per your taste.

Sending it to the events: 

Chocolate Mela by Sreevalli

 Kids Delight event hosted by Kavi, an event by Sreevalli

 Valentines Day at  Anzz Cafe

 

Valentines Day event at Teenz Yummy Delights.

Love n Chocolate Fest by Vimitha

Show me your HITS by Sangee

New year, New Dish at UK Rasoi

The Chef's Favourites Series : Butter Cashew Biscuits - A Guest Post by Sangee Vijay

My journey through the blogging world has given me one of the best things in life...a lot of friends, some of them has become very close to my heart :). So I thought of starting up a monthly guest post series - The Chef's Favourites. I want to invite some of  my blogger friends to write a guest post about one of their favourite recipes. They will also answer some simple questions which would help us to know more about  their likes. There will be one chef featured here at my space every month. 

The Chef for this month is Sangeetha who is well known to us as Sangee Vijay and she has a wonderful space Spicy Treats. When I told her about my idea about this series, she encouraged me and readily agreed to do a guest post. When I met her through the  blogging world, we quickly became friends. We realized we have so much in common and our friendship grew beyond the blogging world. She always encourages me with her opinions and comments, always enquire about me n my family. She is a talented cook and I am always amazed by her innovative recipes. If you see her blog, you would realize the efforts she puts for each recipe..well explained and great clicks. She is very hard working, can't sit idle at all and won't take rest even if she is sick, though I advise her :). 


Presenting to you Chef Sangee Vijay of Spicy Treats ...She is sharing with us one of  her favourite recipes - Butter Cashew Biscuits. Thank you dear for doing a guest post for me and the biscuits are just fabulous....a wonderful post :). Those who haven't visited her space, please hop to see a variety of lovely recipes !!

Over to Sangee now...

I am lucky enough to get so many good hearts through blogging and one such lovely friend of mine is Sobha, who blogs at Good Food.  Till from the  day one (I introduced to her space) i felt some unkown bonding towards her and her recipes. And also I wanted to take our friendship to next level and added her to my friends' list on FB. So glad to have found her.  I really love her healthy and yummy recipes, lots of eggless,butterless, whole wheat bakes and low calorie appetizers are notable. 

When Sobha asked  me to do a guest post for her blog's The Chef's Favourites Series I accepted to do without any further delay. And also she asked me to share any one of my favourite recipes along with some snippets.

About Me..

Nothing special to say about me - A Happy Home Maker :) This single word itself explains a lot right ?? !!

Favourite Recipe here @ Good Food

Almost all are my favourite :) But the most impressed one was her Wheat Kozhukattai-Sweet n Savory. I never thought to make kozhukattai with wheat flour, I am simply amazed at her creativity. And also I like all her Soya recipes- Tandoori Soya is the most favorite one. Thank You Sobha for all your amazing recipes . Do keep sharing such wonderful dishes.

Favourite Cookbook

I love reading books a lot, but after my school days I stopped reading books and my full time concentration went on my studies only. As I did my Bachelor's degree in Govt. college, all those 3 years went searching for my subject books and notes. Later also I didn't get time to spend with books, the same with cookbooks too, never tried any recipe from a cookbook. But every time I happen to see any  books with some interesting recipes n ideas while shopping,  immediately I take note in my phone and later forget it totally. And also I don't have any book collections except the books I won so far :)

Favourite Chef

My Mom - the best Chef of the world - from whom I happened to taste and learn all heavenly dishes.  Still yearning for Amma's Samayal and nothing can compensate her preparations. If u are my reader for long time, u might have noticed that I have mentioned in many of my recipes about my Mom n her recipes I shared.  

Favourite Spice

Fennel seeds - I just love to have it in all my recipes except Rasam .  Love it's  flavor and taste and you can see me using it in all my recipes, at least a 1/2 tsp :)

Favourite Cuisine

Indian Cuisine comes first- Southern, Chettinad, Kerala& Northern, then i love Chinese, Italian, Mexican & North American also.

Favourite Recipe

Now I am going to share mine and my kids favourite Butter Cashew Biscuits.  I tried this so many times and now this has become my family favourite. These biscuits/cookies taste similar to Good Day Cashew Biscuits and even more fresh and flavourful than the store bought ones. Good day Biscuits and Bourbon biscuits are my favourite ones. I never thought that I could make those lovely cashew biscuits at home.I posted a similar cookie recipe with almond also. Both of these are worth to try and no doubt your kids will love to munch them. We finished these batch in one day :) Now to the recipe...

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour   1 and 1/4 cup

Rice Flour   1/3 cup

Butter    1/2 cup

Icing Sugar    1/2 cup

Baking Powder    1/4 tsp

Salt     1/2 tsp

Vaniila Extract    1/2 tsp

Cashew Nut    1/3 cup

Egg White    from one large egg

Milk      2 tbsp

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degree Fahrenheit.

Line a baking tray with aluminium paper. Add few drops of olive oil, spread it and arrange the cashew nuts.
Bake it for 8-10 minutes or until it turns light golden brown.

Once done remove from the oven, allow to cool and grind it to a fine powder and keep aside.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift flours ,salt,baking soda and combine well and keep ready.

In another bowl, add butter and using  an electric hand blender beat butter until light n fluffy.

Add icing sugar and beat until fluffy and add vanilla, milk and egg white, then  beat to combine.

Now add flour mixture and gently mix everything well and using hands make it to a smooth dough.

And cover the bowl, using cling wrap and refrigerate the dough for 2 hours.

After  2 hours , line baking tray with parchment paper and keep ready.

Preheat oven to 375 degree Fahrenheit.

After that, divide the dough in to 3 equal parts. Place one part in a parchment/wax paper in a firm platform and place another parchment paper over the dough and press it.
Using a rolling pin roll the dough firmly to 1/4 " thick  and then remove the outer paper.
Using a cookie cutter or any rim of a can/bottle,  cut and place the cut out dough 2 inches apart into the already lined/greased baking tray . Then using a fork press each rolled out dough to get stripe impression.

Then bake it for 15-18 minutes ( for me it took only 12 minutes) or till the edges n bottom turn light golden brown colour.

Allow to cool them on wire racks and store it on air tight container.

That's it...Home made Best Butter-Cashew Biscuits are ready . Enjoy your tea time with these melt in mouth cookies/biscuits. 

Have a Good Day!!

Notes:

* Instead of Cashew nut you can also use Pistachios and Almonds or a combo of any two nuts.

* If you don't have icing sugar, just add 3/4 cup of granulated sugar to blender and powder it finely and use it. I tried using both icing and granulated sugar but icing sugar gives you more fine taste n melt in mouth cookies.

* If u find hard to roll the dough , simply take 2 teaspoons of dough, shape them in to small balls, about 1/4" inch thick and press gently using a glass bottom and place 2 inches apart  in to the baking tray greased or lined with parchment paper.

My Cooking Tip :

Cook with more passion and interest, Your recipe should reveal your love to whom U serve. That's the best tip to get perfect and delicious recipes. I follow the same :))

Thank You guys and hope you all will like my recipe and Thank You Sobha for this wonderful opportunity. Love You !!

Corn Bonda

Having some hot bondas on a cozy cold evening is just wonderful rt. Yesterday it was drizzling here all day and the climate was so cold. I thought of preparing some warm snack to beat the chillness...something easy and quick. My eyes met the perfect candidate sitting inside the freezer, our favourite Corn :). I thought of an idea of making bondas using them. Then everything was so quick....delicious warm bondas were ready soon. Of course I used my wonder pan this time as well, yes... the paniyaram or aebleskiver pan. No deep frying, just few drops of oil for cooking..isn't that great ? We all enjoyed the healthy yummy bondas.
Check out other bonda recipes: Egg Spinach Bonda and Paneer Spinach Bonda.

Makes 12 bondas

You need..

1.5 cup Corn ( I used frozen corn)

1/3 cup Onion finely chopped

1" pc Ginger finely chopped

1 tsp Chilli powder

1/2 tsp Coriander powder

1/2 tsp Garam masala

2-3 Curry leaves finely chopped

few Coriander leaves chopped

Salt

Oil

For batter:

1/4 cup Besan / Gram flour

2 tbsp Rice flour

1/2 tsp Chilli powder

Salt

To prepare..

Combine all the ingredients under For batter along with some water to get a smooth paste of medium consistency. Keep the batter ready.

Wash the corn and drain the water completely. Microwave for 2-3 minutes or until soft. Once cooled, blend to a coarse paste without adding any water. You will get a slight sticky paste and I made it coarse so that  I could retain some corn without losing shape. 

Add onion, ginger, chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala, curry and coriander leaves, salt to the corn. Combine well. The mixture will be slightly moist. Now make small balls out of it and keep aside. 

Heat a paniyaram or aebleskiver pan. Add few drops of oil in each hole. Take each ball , dip in the batter and place in each hole. Cover and cook for few minutes until the bottom gets brown. Slowly flip it to other side and cook till brown. Serve warm with some ketchup or chutney.

Sending this to the Kerala Kitchen event hosted by Kaveri , original event announcement here.

Show me your HITS by Sangee

CWS- Corn at South Indian Recipes

New year, New Dish at UK Rasoi

My 150th post : Aval Payasam / Poha Kheer

I am so glad that this is my 150th post. Never knew blogging would become such a passion for me. I have told earlier also how difficult is for me to do daily cooking and cleaning when my naughty son is around, so you can imagine about the blogging rt. My husband always ask me how I manage cooking, clicking and blogging when my son is keeping me busy all the time :). These words always encourage me and keep me going, now I have reached so far. I am happy that I spend time with my toddler and find some time somehow with my space. I thank my husband for all his support and encouragement and also to my son who is making me creative with his changing food preferences :) I am also thankful to each one of you who has given me constant support with your encouraging comments and wishes. I have learnt so many new recipes and new cooking styles from each one of you, which has helped me to improve my culinary skills. Thank you my dear friends :)

So guys, let's celebrate this occasion with a simple sweet.  Aval Payasam is very easy to prepare and very delicious too. Hope you all will like this.

Serves: 2-3

You need...

3/4 cup Aval /  Poha / Flattened rice (I used thick variety)

2.5 cups Milk

1/3 - 1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 tsp Cardamom powder

1/4 cup Water

2 tsp Ghee

1 tbsp broken Cashews

To prepare..

Heat ghee in a pan. Fry cashews until golden brown and keep them aside. In the same pan, roast the poha until they turn light brown and crispy.

Boil milk in a thick bottom vessel. Add water and poha to milk. Cook on medium flame until poha becomes very soft. Add sugar and cardamom powder, cook for few more minutes until it reaches the consistency you like. Garnish with cashews. Serve warm or chilled.

Sending this to the following events:

Kerala Kitchen event hosted by Kaveri , original event announcement here.



 ABC Series:Desserts



 Valentines Day at  Anzz Cafe.

Valentines Day event at Teenz Yummy Delights

Chilli Paneer

The indo-chinese dishes are always so popular among most of us. I remember as a kid I used to order only Gobi manchurain or Chilli gobi whenever we used to dine out. Now the same craze is not there, but still these  remain as a favourite. We usually see these as appetizers in most of the parties and they always get over soon rt. I have tried Chilli Gobi and Chilli Soya, but this was the first time I tried Chilli Paneer. I made it as a quick and healthy version. I don't like deep frying, so I shallow fried them and did not use any flour for coating. They tasted great  and we all just loved it. Serve it as an appetizer or as a side dish.

Serves : 3-4

You need...

2 cups Paneer cubes

For marination:

1 tsp Soya sauce

3/4 tsp Ginger-garlic paste

1 tsp Chilli powder

1/4 tsp Pepper powder

A pinch Salt

For the sauce:

1 Onion diced

1 Bell Pepper diced

2 Garlic cloves chopped finely

1" pc Ginger chopped finely

2-3 Green chillies slit

1 tbsp Soya sauce

2 tbsp Tomato sauce

2 tbsp Chilli sauce

1 tbsp + 2 tsp Oil

To Prepare...

Add all the ingredients under For marination to the paneer cubes. Mix well and keep aside for half an hour.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Shallow fry the paneer cubes. Toss the paneer cubes so that they are  light brown at all the edges. Transfer these to a plate and keep aside.

Mix all the sauces - soy sauce, tomato sauce and chilli sauce in a bowl and keep it  ready.

In the same pan, heat the rest of the oil (2 tsp). Add ginger and garlic and saute until a nice aroma comes. Add green chillies and onions, saute until they are pink. Now add bell pepper and a little salt and let the bell pepper get cooked.  Add the paneer cubes and finally the sauces. Combine well and let the paneer get coated with the sauces.Serve as appetizer or as a side dish with fried rice, pulao or chapathi.

My son doesn't usually eat anything spicy. To my surprise he enjoyed some of these :). In the below click he was trying to help me to take a click by holding it, but he was so eager to munch it that I couldn't take a better click :)

Notes:

* You can add some spring onions at the end.
* You can also deep fry the paneer cubes after dipping in corn flour batter.
* Adjust the sauces as per your taste.

Sending this to Hot n Spicy Treats at Food Corner

Eggless Choco Banana Brownies

Winter is not at its peak and hasn't started snowing yet here, but my son is feeling so bored right from the start of the winter. He is 2.5 years old now....very energetic, restless, talkative and naughty. His frequent trips to the park and to his friends houses has reduced as it is so cold outside.  Though he has a few favourite cartoons, he doesn't watch for long.....he loses interest soon which is good in one way rt ;). He has a lot of toys and played enough with all of them. He likes to spend time with his parents or with his friends.

I shouldn't go near my laptop, talk to friends over phone for long, watch movies....instead should spend time with him...all rules set by him :).  As a result there are no technology addicts at home, thanks to my son :)...So you might be wondering how I blog, cook, take clicks...oh, yes...its so difficult and I do it most of the time when he sleeps at noon or if my husband is around...everything I adjust according to his timings and I am managing somehow :). Hope some of you are facing same situation like me with restless kids, especially during winter :)

Now coming to the recipe, today's recipe is a bookmarked recipe from Treat and Trick. I am always amazed by her wonderful recipes especially the baking ones which are so easy and nice. The overripe bananas at my home made me choose this simple, eggless recipe. The banana brownies came out really good and as all are chocolate lovers at home, didn't take time for the brownies to vanish soon. I have followed the exact recipe only with slight changes.

Original recipe at Treat and Trick here.

Makes 9*9 " pan of brownies.

What you need?

1 1/4 cup All Purpose flour

1 tsp Baking powder

2 tbsp unsweetened Cocoa powder

1 tsp Salt

2 overripe Bananas 

3/4 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Oil

1/2 cup Milk

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1/2 cup Chocolate chips

How to prepare?

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a  cake pan.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.

Blend the bananas to make a puree and put in another bowl. Add sugar, oil , milk and vanilla extract to this. Whisk well.

Combine dry and wet ingredients now. Finally add the chocolate chips and mix.

Pour this to the cake pan. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted at the centre comes out clean.

Cool completely and cut into squares.

Sending this to following events:

Cooking Concepts-Chocolate Fest at Srav's Culinary Concepts

Banana recipes at My Culinary Creations



Chocolate Fest by Sreevalli




Kids Delight event hosted by Kavi, an event by Sreevalli

Paneer Stuffed Paniyaram

I am really glad that many of you shared your views about the latest technology and its effects on parents-kid relation which I had mentioned in my last post.  As some of you have said it's a pity that these technology addictions among parents as well as kids are very common now and can be seen around us. I too agree the fact that some parents spend so much time in front of laptop or television or gadgets and they don't even spend any quality time with their kids. Hope such parents realize sometime that they are setting a bad example to kids. I thank all of you who gave your thoughts about the topic and it was nice to read them.

Today's recipe is stuffed Paniyaram with Paneer filling. Paniyarams are one of my favourites and I made it a little interesting by using some paneer filling. They are easy to make and taste very yummy. You can have them even without any dip or chutney as they are delicious by themselves. These make an excellent breakfast or snack. Hope you all will try this out. Check out the regular Paniyaram recipe here.

What you need?

2.5 cups Dosa batter

1/4 cup finely chopped Onion

2-3 Green chillies finely chopped

1" pc Ginger finely chopped

3-4 Curry Leaves chopped

few Coriander leaves chopped

Salt

For the Stuffing:

1/2 cup grated Paneer

1 Onion small, chopped

1 Tomato chopped

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tsp Ginger- Garlic paste

1 tsp Chilli powder

1/2 tsp Coriander powder

1/2 tsp Garam masala

1 tsp Oil

few Coriander leaves

Salt

How to prepare?

Add onion, green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, coriander leaves and salt to the dosa batter. Mix well and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Splutter cumin seeds. Add onions and ginger garlic paste, saute until onions turn transparent. Add tomatoes and cook till tender. Now add chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and salt. Mix well and add the grated paneer. Combine well and finally add the coriander leaves. The filling is ready now.

Heat the paniyaram or aebleskiver pan. Add few drops of oil to each hole. Pour the batter to about half of each hole. Add a spoon of filling now. Pour a little batter to cover the filling. Cover and cook for a couple of minutes. Now slowly flip each paniyaram. Cook on other side too till it turns slight brown. Serve hot with or without chutney.

Makes about 28 Paniyarams.

Sending this to the Kerala Kitchen event hosted by Kaveri , original event announcement here.

Show me your HITS by Sangee

Rava Laddu

Do you use technology to shut up your kids ? I recently read an article in the newspaper and thought of sharing with you all. It says that some parents encourage kids to use latest technology and gadgets so that they can spend time relaxed shopping, dining out or even at home browsing, chatting etc. Some people let their kids sit in front of television for hours and thus don't interact much with them. Some give their mobile phones to kids to watch cartoon videos so that they can do shopping or spend time with friends without any disturbance from kids. Initially parents encourage kids for their own conveniences and later once the kids  get addicted, end up in a situation of utter helplessness.

I feel such parents end up spending less time with the kids which affects the kids development and their social interactions. They are also missing all the fun time with the kids which they can't get back,  once the kids grow up. What I believe is the kids should be aware of the latest technology, but they shouldn't be addicted to tv or video games or any gadgets. As a parent, I believe we should spend lots of time with our kids and  not miss the fun at each stage.

With all that said, lets move on to the recipe - Rava Laddu. This is one of the sweets you can make quickly and they are very delicious.

What you need?

1 cup Rava / Semolina

3/4 - 1 cup Sugar

1.5 tbsp Ghee

2 tbsp Cashews

1 tsp Cardamom powder

Warm Milk

How to prepare?

Dry roast rava for a few minutes until it becomes light brown and leaves out a nice aroma. Grind it in a blender to a powder and transfer the rava to a bowl.

Powder the sugar in the blender and add it to the rava. Add cardamom powder to this. Combine well.

Heat ghee in a pan. Fry the cashews until light brown. Add this to the rava mixture and mix well.

Sprinkle milk a little at a time and mix until you are able to make laddus out of it.

Serve and refrigerate the left overs.

Makes about 15 small laddus.

Notes:
* You can use raisins or any other nuts as well.
* If you are using cardamom pods, grind them along with sugar.
* It's better to consume these at the earliest and refrigerate the left overs.

Sending this to the Kerala Kitchen event hosted by Kaveri , original event announcement here.

Eggless Apple Cake

Hope you all remember the Eggless Carrot Cake which I had posted during Christmas time. Yesterday I made the same cake, but substituted apple for carrot. The cake was very soft and moist, it was like melt in the mouth texture. I must say it's a yummy cake and so easy to prepare. 

I have been showered with so many awards recently and I want to thank all my friends for that. Your encouraging comments and gestures are always my inspirations. Without delay, I am moving on to the recipe now....

What you need?

1 cup Wheat flour

1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Baking soda

1.5 tsp ground Cinnamon 

A pinch Salt

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Oil

1/2 cup Yoghurt

1 tsp Vanilla essence

1 Apple chopped

1-2 tbsp of sliced Almonds

How to prepare?

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a cake pan and keep it ready.

Sieve together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

Whisk sugar, oil, yoghurt and vanilla essence well.

Add chopped apples to the flour mixture. Now combine wet and dry ingredients.

If you feel cake mix is dry, add few tbsp of milk. I didn't add as I found it fine.

Transfer the cake mix to the pan. Add some almonds on the top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Insert a toothpick or knife at the centre to check if it comes out clean.

Cool completely and remove from pan. Cut into pieces and enjoy !!

Notes:

* Add any nuts or raisins to the cake mix or just as topping.

* You can use all purpose flour instead of wheat flour. The texture of the cake will be slightly different if wheat flour is used, but sure it tastes as good as using all purpose flour.

* Cool the cake completely before cutting.

Thanks a lot to all my dear friends who thought about me while passing on the awards :)

Roshu of  World of Tastes  , Anzz of  Anzz Cafe , Prathibha of Cook-Ezee  has sent me the Inspirational award. I have already received this award, answered the questions and shared the award as well. So I am not   passing on this again. But thank you guys for sharing the award with me. :)

Aparna-Gomathi of Square Meals has passed me the Versatile Blogger award.

I would like to pass this to following friends:

Ramya of Ramya's Recipe

Ms. Wan of  Cooking Varieties

Faseela of Good Food ends with Good Talk

Ganga of My Favourite Foods

Deepa of Hamaree Rasoi
Sreevalli of Ammaji Recipes

Sangee of Spicy Treats , Julie of Erivum Puliyum, Aparna-Gomathi of Square Meals has passed me the Happy Blogger Award.

I would like to pass these to following friends:

Kaveri of Palakkad Chamayal

Reshmi of Easy Cook

Christy of My Kitchen Flavours-Bon Appetit

Vimitha of My Culinary Trial Room
Chandrani of Cuisine Delights

Jay of Tasty Appetite

Nisha of Nisha's Kitchen
Vineetha of Ruchi

Prathibha of Cook-Ezee and Nalini of Nalinis Kitchen has passed me the following awards.

    

I would like to pass these on to...

Prabhamani of Prabha's Cooking

Anjana of Mayeeka

Viki of Viki's Kitchen

Maha of Maha's Lovely Home

Deeps of Naughty Curry

Sayantani of A Homemaker's Diary

So friends, grab these awards and share with your friends...:)

Have a wonderful weekend friends !!