Sitting down to write about a year that just passed is challenging. As always there had been a highs and lows. On a personal side, things were pretty good (well, mostly). My little one turned 2 in June and started speaking in multiple word sentences. He also made many new friends. We visited India for two whole months and he had fun spending time with his grandparents and cousins.
On blog front I would say my frequency of posts were pretty satisfactory. I had posted quite a good mix of traditional family recipes and contemporary recipes. I did bake lot of stuff this year comparatively. I also started posting Baby and Toddler food ideas and it was a huge success. I tried many recipes which had been in my bucket list like these Butter biscuits, Kodhel, Garlic Herb Pull Apart Bread. Talking about bucket list I had been very active in Pinterest this year. I also tried to click better food pictures this year.. and I am still learning.
So here it is, My Top 5 posts this year based on page hits.
1. Kodhel - In this fast paced world many traditional recipes are forgotten. Kodhel is one such recipe from state of Karnataka and I was happy when I tried this and happier when I found this was the top post of the year.
2. Mixed Vegetable Kurma - This ubiquitous side dish for Indian main course was the second top.
3. Brown Rice Idli - Trying to make a healthy food choice is in everybody's mind these days. But one need not compromise the taste or come out of their comfort zone to eat healthy food.
4. Orange Blueberry Loaf Cake - A citrus-sy delight speckled with beautiful blueberries did attract dessert lovers like me. Not to mention the fact it is eggless.
5. Thengaipaal Sadham - A simple comforting rice dish to go with any spicy curry was also on the top search list.
Here is another list on 5 of my most favorite dishes I prepared this year (in no particular order).
1. Thalicha Sadham - This says "home" to me. Dad loves this dish, prepared by mom or grandma. Need I say more?
2. Bakery Style Kaara Buns - Having spent holidays in my aunt's place in Bangalore, this was one of the favorite evening snacks besides Kodubale (Note to self - try making Kodubale this year)
3. Aloo Capsicum Stir fry - Who doesn't love potatoes.. right? That too spicy, crispy ones. Making it at home is a breeze with my low-oil recipe here and have been making this for many times this year.
4. Mint Coriander Pulao - A simple pulao with fresh flavors is definitely on my list.
5. Chinna Vengaya Thokku - Grandma's recipe. I made this for my pickle-lover DH and he loved it so much.
That's it. My roundup for the year. Wishing you all a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!
Happy New Year! I made this no-bake pudding a few weeks ago for a small celebration. This pudding reminds me of a New Year many years ago when I was in college. I and my sister saw this pudding recipe in a magazine and decided to make this on New Year's eve. Now I remembered this one fine day but forgot the exact recipe. I did remember the steps but the chocolate sauce recipe eludes my memory. So I decided to make my own chocolate sauce.
Ingredients:
Serves - 6
Preparation time - 20 minutes; Setting time - 6 hrs
Marie Biscuits - 20
Whole milk - 1/3 cup
Butter - 2 tbsp
Semi-sweet Chocolate chips - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 1 tbsp (optional)
Water - 1/2 cup
Instant coffee powder - 1 tsp, heaped
Pecans - 1/2 cup, chopped finely (or any nuts of your choice)
Method:
Grease a 6" round pan and line with a plastic wrap with a overhang.
Melt butter in a microwave proof bowl and add the milk. Heat for 30-60 secs until just warm to touch. Add the chocolate chips and whisk until smooth. Add sugar if desired. Set aside.
Heat the water until boiling and add the instant coffee powder. Remove from heat and allow it to cool a little.
Dip the biscuits one by one in the coffee (1-2 seconds per biscuit) and arrange in the plastic wrap lined pan.
Arrange 5 biscuits per layer, overlapping slightly. Pour about 3 tbsp of the chocolate sauce over the biscuits to completely coat the layer. Repeat the biscuits layer, dipped in coffee. Pour the chocolate sauce. Repeat for a total of 4 layers of biscuits. The top layer should be chocolate. Sprinkle chopped pecans over the chocolate layer. Cover loosely with the overhang plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours or overnight.
A chocolaty treat to start the day will surely keep you in high spirits. My little one is a big fan of pancakes and becomes super excited if I say "Pancakes for Breakfast". For your holiday breakfast try these delicious Nutella pancakes. I came across this recipe in a book I borrowed from the library. I tweaked the recipe a little and tried it for our weekend breakfast. Topped with berries and maple syrup it is a delicious breakfast.
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 3/4 cup
Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Cocoa powder - 1 tbsp
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Egg - 1
Milk - 1 cup (or more as needed)
Vanilla extract - 2 tsp
Nutella / Chocolate Hazelnut spread - 3 tbsp
Olive oil / any cooking oil - 1 tbsp + more for the pan
Method:
Whisk the flours, baking powder, salt and sugar in a wide mixing bowl. In another mixing bowl whisk the egg and nutella until smooth. This could take some time. Add the vanilla, oil and milk and combine well. Add the milk mixture to the flour and use a whisk to incorporate. Tiny lumps are ok. If you feel the batter is pretty thick, use one or two tbsps of milk to thin it out.
Heat a non-stick pan in medium and pour about 1/4 cup of the batter in the center. Allow it to spread on its own. When bubbles start appearing on the surface, use a spatula to flip it and cook for another minute. Serve hot with maple syrup and fresh fruit of your choice.
Notes:
You could use all all-purpose flour or all wheat flour for this recipes. Butter can be substituted for oil.
I had been waiting to make these tutti frutti (alias name for candied fruits and peels) biscuits for Christmas this year. Last year we visited our friend Denny in Seattle for Christmas. She had made this and lots of other goodies for us to munch on while we spent the holidays there. Now, DH not a big fan of cookies, or sweets for that matter loved these cookies and asked me if I could make these when we came back home. I searched high and low for the candied fruits in the supermarket aisles but couldn't find it. Turns out these were seasonal and are only available around the holidays.. huh.. should've known it.. So this year I ordered the candied fruits online a couple of weeks before Christmas and was all set to try it out.
Ingredients:
All purpose flour / Maida - 3 cups
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
Butter - 1 cup (2 sticks) (see notes below)
Sugar - 1 cup
Egg - 1
Vanilla - 1 tbsp
Candied fruits / Tutti Frutti - 1-1/2 cups
Method:
Cut 4 sheets of wax paper each about a feet long. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder three times. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix again. Add the flour the little by little and mix slightly. Add the candied fruits and mix with your hands to make a dough. Divide the dough into four parts. Place one portion on one of the wax sheets and form a log, cylindrical or square. Roll the wax paper over and seal the ends with a twisting motion in the overhang pieces. Repeat for the remaining portions. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. This dough can frozen for a month.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Slice the logs into 1/4" thickness and place cut side down the sheet. These cookies does not spread much and so can be placed fairly close. For frozen dough, allow it to thaw for an hour or two before slicing. Bake for about 12-14 minutes. When done, the cookies will still be soft to touch. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool in the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before moving it to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes:
The butter should be slightly softened. It should yield when slightly pressed but not too soft.
Make sure the cookie sheet is cooled completely before repeating for the next batch. If you are running against time (aka 'being impatient') like me, remove the parchment and show the bottom of the cookie sheet under running tap water. Wipe with a towel and place the parchment again to repeat.
Christmas Fruit Cake! Well, I love to eat it. But to bake one.. Hmm.. I thought it was not for me. Honestly, I didn't think I would bake one when I woke up this morning. But then this recipe which I came across in a magazine haunted me. It is a pretty simple recipe with no alcohol and no pre-soaking of fruits is needed. The preparation takes less than 30 minutes but it still has all the richness and elegant taste of the traditional fruit cake. Now that I fell in love with this recipe something tells me I may try my hand in the traditional recipe soon. May be next Christmas?!
Ingredients:
Preparation time - 30 mins; Baking time - 60 mins
Candied fruits/Tutti Frutti - 2/3 cup
Chopped Dates - 1/3 cup
Chopped Figs - 1/2 cup
Raisins (black and golden mix) - 3/4 cup
Pecans - 1/4 cup, chopped
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup + more for dusting the pans
Ground Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 1/4 tsp
Nutmeg - less than 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
Butter, room temperature - 1/4 cup
Dark Brown sugar - 1/4 cup
Egg, room temperature - 1
Molasses - 2 tbsp (see recipe below if not available in stores)
Orange juice, fresh - 3 tbsp
Method:
Preheat the oven to 275 F/ 135 C. Grease 4 - 7 oz ramekins (I used 2 small and 1 big) with butter and dust with flour. Shake off excess flour. Mix the fruits and nuts with 1/2 cup of flour in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk the remaining 1/4 cup flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt and baking powder well. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand mixer until fluffy. Add the egg and molasses. Mix until blended. Now add the flour mixture alternating with the orange juice until just mixed, scraping sides often. Now pour the butter-egg mixture over the flour-coated fruits and use a spatula to mix until no streaks of flour remain. Fill the ramekins and smooth the top. Place in a baking sheet and position in the center rack of the oven. In the bottom rack place a 9" or 8" baking pan filled with hot water. Bake for 45 minutes for small ramekins and about 60-65 minutes for large ramekins. When done, the toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack. When cooled completely, remove from pan and place in the rack. Pack in a plastic wrap and store in fridge for a couple of days.
Notes:
The types of dried fruits and nuts used is purely your personal choice. Mix and match for texture variations. Other than what I have used, dried apricots, dried cranberries, dried cherries, dried pineapples, cashew nuts, walnuts are good options. 2-1/2 cups of dried fruits and nuts for this recipe is what we are looking for.
This recipe can easily be doubled.
Molasses Recipe:
Heat 3 tbsp, tightly packed brown sugar with about a tsp of water in a small saucepan in medium heat. When the syrup becomes a little thick, remove from heat and allow it to cool. Use in place of molasses as needed.
2. Mixed Vegetable Kurma - This ubiquitous side dish for Indian main course was the second top.
3. Brown Rice Idli - Trying to make a healthy food choice is in everybody's mind these days. But one need not compromise the taste or come out of their comfort zone to eat healthy food. 
4. Orange Blueberry Loaf Cake - A citrus-sy delight speckled with beautiful blueberries did attract dessert lovers like me. Not to mention the fact it is eggless.
2. Bakery Style Kaara Buns - Having spent holidays in my aunt's place in Bangalore, this was one of the favorite evening snacks besides Kodubale (Note to self - try making Kodubale this year)
3. Aloo Capsicum Stir fry - Who doesn't love potatoes.. right? That too spicy, crispy ones. Making it at home is a breeze with my low-oil recipe here and have been making this for many times this year.
4. Mint Coriander Pulao - A simple pulao with fresh flavors is definitely on my list.
5. Chinna Vengaya Thokku - Grandma's recipe. I made this for my pickle-lover DH and he loved it so much.
