Viennese Rosettes

With basic ingredients, you can simply mix and bake these lovely rosettes. And they'll just melt in your mouth. Yum!!! 

Recipe adapted from Pepper, Chilli & Vanilla

Ingredients: (Makes ~ 35 cookies) 

125 gms butter (@ room temp)

125 gms maida 

50 gms icing sugar 

25 gms corn flour 

1\2 tsp essence

1 tbsp milk 

Method:

1. Sieve maida and cornflour together.

2. Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

3. Add Vanilla essence and maida-cornflour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix well. 

4. Add milk and mix till the dough becomes thick, but still sticky.

5. Fit the piping bag with star nozzle.

6. Pipe the rosettes on a baking tray,  lined with parchment paper and bake at 180 ° Celsius for 12-15 mins.

7. Remove from the baking tray and place on wire rack to cool.

My Notes:

1. The cookies were mildly sweet, so I sandwiched them with buttercream.

2. If you want to have them as plain cookie, you may add more sugar. 

3. My cookie batter/dough was quite thick and so it was difficult to pipe the rosettes. You can add more milk to get the right piping consistency and use a bigger nozzle. 

4. I'd like to try this one too... 

http://www.premascook.com/2011/06/vienese-fingers.html 

Will update soon... 

A Special Cake for my Junior!!!

I had recently made this cake for my son's birthday. I was so happy with my work, I felt I ought to share this creation of mine with you guys.

This cake is actually a chocolate chiffon cake. It has then been iced with whipped cream frosting. These delicious looking roses are piped with whipped cream frosting as well. The cake is bordered with my son's favorite chocolate twisted wafers.

Happy Baking!!!

Bitter Gourd Thokku

Bitter Gourd Thokku

It's a spicy, tangy thokku with a hint of sweetness. A yummy way to eat the "BITTER" bitter gourd. 

Ingredients:

Bitter gourd - 1 (big) 

Small onions - 25 gms 

Tomato - 1

Garlic - 3 cloves 

Tamarind - Half lemon-sized

Warm water - 150 ml

Salt - 1 tsp + ¼ tsp (divided) 

Oil - 5 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp 

Green Chillies - 1

Fennel seeds- 1/4 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 sprig

Jaggery - 10 - 15 gms 

Chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp

Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Fennel powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:

1. First, slit the bitter gourd, discard the seeds, and chop it finely. Add 1/4 tsp salt to it, mix well and keep it aside for 10 mins. Soak the tamarind in warm water for 10 mins. Mash the garlic slightly. Chop the onions and tomato and slit the green chillies. 

2. Later wash the bitter gourd and drain any excess water. Add chilli powder, Coriander powder, turmeric powder, fennel powder and 1tsp salt to it and mix well. 

3. Heat the Kadai, add oil, mustard and fennel seeds. Let it splatter. Next add onions, garlic and green chilles and cook till the onions turn golden brown. Then add the bitter gourd mixture and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add in the chopped tomatoes and stir for 5 minutes or until the raw smell goes and oil separates. 

4. Next filter and add the tamarind extract water and let it boil for 5 minutes. Finally crush and add the Jaggery, and let it cook until the mixture thickens and oil separates. 

Note:

1. My 5 tbsp oil is a mixture of groundnut oil and gingelly oil. 

Rusk Halwa

Rusk halwa

 When I was doing my PG in Madurai, I had a couple of Sourashtrian friends. Whenever they returned back to the hostel, after attending a marriage or some other function, they would pack a tiffin container full of this Rusk halwa. It's a dessert they make for all special occasions. Those days I just ate, ate and ate the delicious halwa but never thought to get hold of its recipe. Actually they call this as Bun halwa. The taste is halfway between our gulab jamun and the traditional thirunelveli halwa. Then, what else more to say, it's an absolute yummy dessert.

 A few years ago , I was mentioning about this halwa and its taste to my aunt. She immediately grabbed a pack of buns, dunked it in milk, sugar and ghee.... Stirred everything together and made a sweet (???!!!). Yes,it was not halwa, the taste and texture was terrible. I had to put on a smiling face and had a bowl of that. But I told her it was not of the same taste. Finally my uncle came to my rescue. He asked my aunt to discard it. Phew!!!  

Then after many years, I got in touch with one of the PG friend "S" . I asked her for the recipe and she immediately mesaged it to me. Thanks Dear 😊. 

When I read the recipe, and there... I found the secret... Though it's called Bun halwa, it's main ingredient was Rusk and not Bun 😂😝. 

So, here is the recipe for the yummy 'Rusk' halwa, mostly adapted from my friend's. I slightly changed the measurements and the preparation method according to my taste. 

Ingredients:

Rusk powder - 1 cup

Water - 2 cups

Sugar - 2/3 cup

Ghee - 1/3 cup

Cashews - 15 (broken) 

Raisins - 10 (optional) 

Method:

1. Heat all the ghee in a non-stick Kadai.  Fry the cashews and raisins, drain, remove and keep it aside. 

2. Next roast the rusk powder in the same kadai nicely for 2-3 mins in low flame. Do not let it to get burnt, keep stirring gently and continuously. 

3. Then add water little by little stirring continuously to avoid lumps 

4. When the ghee separates from the mixture, add the sugar little by little stirring continuously. 

5. Stir well so that all the sugar melts, add the fried cashews and raisins. Cook till the mixture leaves the sides and ghee separates. Remove from heat. 

Simple n yummy halwa is ready. 

Note:

1. My 1 cup measures 240 ml .

2. Using a good quality non-stick vessel makes cooking this halwa an easy job. 

3. I used cardamom flavoured rusk. If using plain rusk, you can add a few pinches of cardamom powder before adding the sugar.

4. Ghee and sugar can be added more or less according to your taste. 

Eggless Coconut Macaroons

I was searching a recipe for South Indian "thengai biscuit" and found this. It almost tasted the same. These yummy coconut balls are mildly sweet and full of flavor. 

Recipe adapted from Saras Yummy Bites

I tried with 1/4th of the measurements and that yielded 5 macaroons. Yeah... I know... The picture above shows only 4 after baking😝... It was so tempting and I impatiently gobbled one😆. Out from the oven, straight into my tummy 😋😊

Ingredients:
Sweetened condensed milk - 200 grams
Milk - 60 ml
Maida - 16 grams
Sweetened shredded coconut flakes - 135 grams
Semolina / Rava - 15 grams
Cardamom Powder - 5 grams
Baking soda - A pinch
Salt - A pinch

Method:
1. Mix condensed milk & milk together well with wooden spoon or whisk.
2. Then add semolina, maida, baking soda, cardamom powder & salt and mix it well.
3. Add the coconut flakes to this mixture & mix. The batter will be firm.
4. Roll them into small Lemon-sized balls or spoon the batter on a greased and floured tray.
5. Bake it 200° c for 12-15 minutes or until done (Mine got done in 15 mins) .
6. Remove the macaroons and cool them on a wire rack.
7. Store in an air-tight container.

Notes:
1.This recipe yields 20 macaroons.
2. The original recipe calls for 32 grams Maida. But for me half the measurement was perfect.
3. I prefer cardamom powder to vanilla essence for this recipe.  

Fluffy Marshmallows

Marshmallows... A different textured sweet. Soft and fluffy like a cloud. My brother and me...we used to have these a lot when the Nilgiris Super store came to Pondicherry...during our school days at the end of 90's. Especially, my brother loved it. Now, my brother's son too loves marshmallows. Those days we could get only 2 flavors : Strawberry and Pineapple. We preferred the latter a lot. Hmmm...Nostalgic 😊 

Recently I have started experimenting with gelatin, yeast etc. Thus, my first choice was to try making my brother's favorite Marshmallows. 

I was excited with the successful outcome... It had the perfect taste and texture. And more than that I was so delighted seeing  my brother and his son munching away all the pieces 😊.  Now my brother's son demands me to make flavors of his choice when he comes to my place. I readily hop, skip n jump to my kitchen to make the cute ones for my cutie pie. 

Recipe adapted from Manju's cooking class

INGREDIENTS:
Gelatin - 3 tbsp (soaked in 1/2 cup of cold water for 10 mins) 
Sugar - 2 Cups
Corn flour - 2 tsp
Water - 1 Cup
Salt - a pinch
Strawberry essence - 1 Tbsp
Pink color - a few pinches

METHOD:
1. Mix sugar, corn flour, salt, essence, color and water. Bring to boil to a thick syrup consistency. Switch off fire.
2. Pour this mixture to the soaked gelatin and beat with an electric mixer at high speed for about 10 minutes. 
3. Pour this into a greased tray. And let it set overnight at room temperature. 
4.Cut into squares and dust with corn flour.
5. Store it in air tight containers. Stays well for 2-3 days in room temperature. 

NOTE:
1. My 1 cup measures 250 ml.
2. You can add any essence and the corresponding color to make different flavoured Marshmallows. 

Nobitaaaaattoooooo!!!

Got more than a dozen of free Nobita and friends tattoos for some candies. I've seen kids buying candies just to get their favorite characters' tattoos. But my son differs from this.  Don't know why... He does not like them.

Now, what to do with these??? So, in order to encourage him, I decided to go for a tattoo 😜. Done👍,  I bear a tattoo on my left wrist 😆...

I kept showing my tattoo to him, now and then, thinking that he would ask for one...But nothing motivated him.

Whatever,  I'm with a "Nobita" tattoo, in my mid-thirties😂... It's fun. 

Little Angels

Cute little Angels from my Mom's garden 🏡 

I'm at my Mom's place for my son's mid-term vacation. Yesterday morning, these cute ones waved at me, dancing to the tune 🎶 of a gentle cold breeze. Awww!!! 

And so... here are my clicks 📷 ... 

This was planted by my brother-like  "V".  He takes care of everything at my Mom's absence and sometimes takes care of my Mom too. He's family😊.

Location: My Mom's garden, Pondicherry. 

Camera: Samsung Galaxy S5 

Another cake disaster😜

Wanted to bake a marble cake with swirl pattern, so browsed and browsed for a recipe to work my idea. Finally, I was so confident as I chose a recipe from a blogger 🌍 who takes baking class. 

Last night, I mixed the batter, poured it into the baking tray, made the swirl pattern and put it into my oven. All set. 

The cake raised, raised and raised😰, flooded all over my oven😕, the crust darkened,  and then suddenly the cake went flat. 😣 It took more than an hour to bake.

The cake was so oily... And soggy... Not firm. 

.  It was a mess. 😥

I was about to discard it, But my mom came to rescue. She asked me to layer the broken cake pieces with tissue papers to absorb the oil. I did as she told and left it overnight. 

This morning, I tasted the cake. To my surprise, the taste was manageable, it was not that bad as I thought😆. My mom's trick worked. 😅😊

Again a cake wreck -  rescue operation was a success 😄

Saviour, cast away the darkness...

It's Christmas season, but my title holds a different feeling ... 

My city, Chennai, was shattered last week by the cyclone, 'Vardah', which was quite devastating. In the recent years, Chennai has become a soft target or magnet of Nature's violent behavior. Like the Tsunami in December '04, Heavy heavy rainfall in November '15 and this year... 'Vardah'. The cyclone uprooted a lot of trees, electric poles n transformers. Its so sad to see a dry Chennai in a week's time.  

During this cyclone hit, we were left with powet-cut and no-water condition, as we require the electric motor to pump the water up to the tank. Water... people managed by using the old traditional way... Yes, using a bucket and a rope to get the water from the tank directly (our very own "Well" technology). So that was a relief. But, power... Yes, the name is apt for electricity... No Electricity, no power. 

The nights were drained in darkness. People had UPS but that too went off in a couple of days as there was no electricity to recharge... Some places are still experiencing power-cuts as I'm blogging this. Rented Gensets... again scarcity... So darkness...darkness...darkness.

I... neither have UPS nor rented genset. But my nights were lit brightly with minimal effort and almost at no-cost. Guess what?!  SOLAR LAMP, yes... a simple but powerful solution.

Solar Lamp

Solar Panel

 My father bought her almost more than 15 years back. Comparing the re-chargable electric lamps to my solar lamp, I've bought around 4-5 of the former.  They tend to stop working after sometime.  But, all these years, she keeps working fine with just a couple of minor repairs. She travelled with me to Bangalore after my marriage. And now to Chennai 3 years back. She became my husband's favorite emergency lamp. He keeps insisting to take care of her.  

Having an 8 year old boy (my son) and experiencing the power-cuts and darkness, trust me, it's very difficult.
My Solar Lamp with a shape of a light-house, sits in a corner of my sitting room so humbly and the solar panel on the terrace... She brightened my nights.  She was there working perfectly, when I needed her the most. She didn't let me down. This experience was an eye opener. Now, I have an extra dose of respect for my dear Saviour... Yes... She did cast the Darkness, away. 

Get a solar lamp, it's an one-time investment, a promising long n strong bond. Go for it and experience the difference. 

Quilling - Ganesha 🙏

My Mom has a huge collection of Lord Ganesha's figurines. I must say...Quite a lot. 

Each one of them, unique in its own kind... Be it with what it is made of or the posture.

It has become a habit for us, like wherever we go, either my brother or my sis-in-law or me,  

We shop for her a Ganesha. 

So, how can I miss to make her a Quilling Ganesha!!! 

As I'm a beginner in quilling, I was browsing a lot for a simple method. Finally, this creation caught my eyes. 

And, here I am with my "Oh... So cute Ganesha" 

Materials required and method :

7 to 8 - 5mm for body
2 -  3mm for head
2 - 3mm for crown

*Stick head to the crown.

1 - 3mm  for each ear, slightly loosened and shaped into traingle

*Stick to the sides of the head.

1 - 3mm for left hand
1 - 3mm for right hand
1 - 3mm for trunk

*All 3 loosened to 2cm circle and shaped appropriately.

1 - 3mm for left palm
1 - 3mm for right palm

*Stick palm to hands.
*Stick the head and hands to the body.
*Decorate as u wish.