chocochip and nuts muffins

My daughter loves chocloate cakes and muffins very much ,so this time i decided for her bday will try some muffins as her birthday cake we had already ordered outside so was not keen on making another cake and therefore started browsing eggless chocolate muffins and finally i bookmarked this recipe from DK's chefinyou blog.I was never good at baking as most of the times my eggless cakes were  never well risen  but  was highly  impressed by myself  this time when these muffins turned out superbly fantastic :P.My daughter also loved it and specially she liked the choco chips poking out and she was trying to pull all the chips and popping into her mouth.This is my entry for chaitra's bread mania event and priya for hosting this mth's T & T EVENT by lakshmi.
ingredients :
1/2 cup butter at room temp
1 cup sugar
11/2 cup yogurt
2 cups plain flour (maida )
1/2 tsp baking pwd
1/2 tsp salt
1tsp soda bi-carb
1tsp vanilla extract
3/4 th cup chocolate chips
for toppings :
2 tsp brown sugar ( i used white sugar though )
1 tsp cinnamon pwd
3-4 tbsp chopped walnuts ( i crushed it in mixer instead )
1/4th cup chocolate chips
method :
In a mixing bowl beat butter and sugar together till light and fluffy,add yogurt and mix well,add vanilla and mix well.In another dry bowl combine flour,salt,soda and baking powder together.Add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and mix until moistened.Gently mix the chocolate chips into this mixture .Mix all the toppings ingredients together .Line a mufffin tray with a paper-lined cups and fill about 2/3rd of the mixture and sprinkle about a spoonful of topping on it and bake on a preheated oven on 350F for 15-20 mins or u can check by inserting a toothpick in the muffin and if it comes out clean that means they are done.

chocolate pedas

These days im am following too many blogs and when my daughter's birthday came closer by i literally was too happy and excited as i had a chance now to try all my fellow bloggers recipes which i had bookmarked since long,i was really amused by the various new inventions made by them and heartily thanx them for sharing those recipes ,im just learning more and more varieties these days ,i made these chocolate pedas for my daughter and her tiny friends and i felt it was too easy and quick to make as well,it was fun making these pedas as my kid also helped me ,she was quite excited as well and was njoying every bit to roll them in her tiny palms ,she was the first person to taste and she immediately responded by saying one word " yummy " and it really made my day.I picked up this recipe from my favourite blog priya's easyntastyrecipes who is very creative and innovative chef ,please guys do drop in her blog ,its my sincere request.I just made some slight changes in this recipe, i reduced the quantity of condensed milk ,the actuall recipe asks for 1+1/4 th cup of condensed milk where as i used only 1 cup which was perfect sweet for our family and i used dollar sweets instead of almond for decoration as i thought kids will find it more attractive.

ingredients :

2 cups milk powder

1 cup of sweetened condensed milk

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp of dark chocolate pwd  ( i didnt had dark chocolate so used 2 tbsp of cocoa pwd )

1-2 tsp cardomon pwd

almond flakes / $ sweets for decoration

method :

In a microwave safe bowl mix milk powder,chocolate pwd/cocoa pwd,butter,condensed milk and cardamon pwd and mix well ,it will be quite sticky and stiff but do mix well and microwave it on high for 2-3 mins stirring occassionally till the mixture gets crumbled ( pls note ...the cooking time may vary according to different  microwave qualities ).Let the mixture cool for a while , form into the desired shape when still little warm,applying little butter on your palms.Decorate them with sprinkling a pinch of dollar sweets on them or else you can even use almond flakes instead.

MY DAUGHTER AARUSHI TURNED THREE TODAY !!

It was a friday morning on 20th april 2007,it was akshaya tritiya today and exactly at 10.16 a.m ,a baby girl was born,she was simply stunning with wide eyes and just excited to see another colourful world who had been in dark in her mother's womb for 9 mths and was not ready to shut her eyes for a single minute ,she wants to see everything going on around her and gave sleepless nights ,as she always slept whole day and her day started bang in the night when her mother wanted to sleep badly,this is my daughter AARUSHI who was given name after 1 mth as we were in dilemma with usual conflicts of long listed names..it was really  difficult to choose one name...fianlly this was the name suggested by my dear sister which means first rays of sunlight...
she turned three today on 20th apr 2010,time flies so soon ,was thinking of yesterday when she was not able to talk on her last birthday and today she is just a  chatter box .. so talkative and naughty and adamant...phew!! its all the more difficult now at this stage to handle her,she is only 3 years old but sometimes she behaves like she is my grandma ,sometimes she is hilarious and sometimes very innocent,stubborn and aggressive gal...
she have entered into a new phase of her life now..she have started going to her kindergarten and hope she learns some new good activities..specially sharing which is a far cry for her..she wants to take stuff from others but she wont like to share her's with others..life is getting more complicated with all her new demands and styles ,she is so choosy and fussy most of the times but at the same time i have noticed if made her understand she definately listens and at times she is also corrupted, have to bribe her every now and then with her favourite lollies...may god bless her ...and give me some strength and patience to be a good mom..

Today i celeberated her birthday with few of my friends and their kids in a nearby park ,and must say had a gala time with all of them,my daughter's birthday party was kinda successful and rocking with all her friends and my friends who helped  me to make this party more into a  memorable event.I would like to thanks all of them by coming and helping me simultaneously and encouraging me ,this was my first such big snack b'day party ,there were total 20 adults and 19 kids...i have never thrown party for so many people before and was really worried but by god's grace everything was good and we all had a great time together,my daughter was also very happy and excited .And ofcourse last but not the least the spread which i made ..
1.choco chips and nuts muffins
2.chocolate pedas
3. crunchy cornflakes & oat cookies
4.almond pedas
5.spring rolls
6.veg  puffs
7.panneer rolls/wraps/indian style burritos
8.fairy bread

will soon post the recipes too ... :)

pineapple halwa

On the weekend i had brought one small pineapple ,though i m not fond of pineapple fruit but i like pineapple juices very much and when i thought of making the pineapple juice out of this pineapple ,i just tasted one slice of it before making and i found it was little sour and not so tasty so my husband immediately thought of pineapple halwa which is quite famous in bangalore and it was long after coming to australia we did not had a chance of having it,and finally i ended up making this halwa and that day happened to call my friend with her sister who are here for a holiday and they both loved it very much.I am sending this recipe for priya's cws-cardomon seeds event.

ingredients :
1 cup suji/semolina/rava
1 cup sugar ( adjust according to your taste )
1/2 cup ghee
1 cup pineapple pulp ( peel and cut the pineapple into  pices and blend in a blender to make a pulp )
cashew nuts /almonds/rasins to taste
1-2 cardomon pods
1/2 tsp yellow food colour (optional / i used liquid food colour )
21/2 cups water
method :
Heat ghee in deep pan,add cashew nuts and cardomon ,add suji and roast till light pink in colour.Boil water in another pan and add yellow colour to the boiling water,after the suji is roasted add pineapple pulp and stir continously,add the boiling water and keep stirring to avoid lumps,when all the water is absorbed add sugar and mix well till the sugar is completely dissolved,sprinkle cardomon powder to taste and serve hot.

vegetable daliya / broken wheat upma

This recipe is very healthy and delicious,we usually make daliya when we want to have light food and if somebody is not keeping well,specially that time daliya makes wonders,but now a days trying and adding vegetables to all possible dishes is become must.My husbands's naani ( grand mom ) makes simple daliya with broken wheat adding moong dal everytime so that it becomes more healthy and the consistency gets little thick,so i adapted her method of daliya adding vegetables to it and the results are just mind blowing,we have this in our breakfast and sometimes for dinner as well.One of my friend had never made daliya and she always wanted this recipe and when i made this yesterday for our dinner i remembered her and so just for her i have posted this recipe so soon .
ingredients :
1 cup broken wheat/daliya
2 tbsp split moong dal (yellow moong dal ),optional
1 cup mix vegetables chopped( carrot,peas,french beans,potato,onions )
1 tbsp ground nuts
1 green chilli chopped
1 tsp red chilli pwd
1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
2-3 curry leaves chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds
salt to taste
lemon juice to taste
chopped corriander leaves
1 tbsp oil/ghee.
method :
Wash moong dal and keep aside.Heat oil in pressure cooker,add mustard seeds,curry leaves,green chillies,ground nuts,mixed vegetables and fry for a while.Add broken wheat and fry till reddish brown in colour,add all the dry masalas and moon dal,fry for a while.Add 4-5 cups of water and pressure cook on medium flame till done ( i take around 3-4 whistles ).Serve hot adding little ghee over it and garnish with corriander leaves and lemon juice.

suji halwa and my first award

I am very delighted to  recieve my first award from LEENA of namma saviruchi ,i really didnt expected these awards so soon :) , its been just 4 mths i started my blog initially with day to day simple & easy cooking which i happened to learn from my near and dear ones for my personal reference and never ever thought of landing between such wonderful,energetic,creative,thoughtful ,charismatic fellow bloggers ,i really thank to those specially who started these food blogs through which i came across such  people who are so passionate about cooking and i daily learn something new from their blogs which i would have never imagined in my whole life.I, once again thanx leena for keeping me in her mind while passing these awards .

As most of you know these awards have some rules which says that i have to share these awards with my fellow bloggers who u think they deserve and the second thing is that you have to share 10 honest things about you.

The later i feel is really difficult part :) but as per the rule i would like to reveal some of my secrets ...

1.My name is Sonal Agarwal ,marwadi by caste ,born and brought up in Aamchi Mumbai ,married to Ajay Agarwal who is from Hubli ( karnataka ) and we are blessed with the naughtiest girl on the earth ,Aarushi Agarwal :)

2.We three are settled in Bangalore but for my husbands project we have come to Melbourne ( Australia ) ,its been a year now and only Infosys knows for how long we are gonna be here...

3.I love my family( both mumbai fly & hubli fly..specially my inlaws..they are just super kewl and fantastic ppl  )a lots and will alwaz be thankful to them & god obviously for being with me  .

4.I like to have  my own space and freedom ,i dont like bossy and dominating ppl

5.I freak on all junk foods no matter its paav bhaji to pizza to paani puris,burgers,sandwhiches,vada pavs (all mumbai roadside food stalls..khaau gullis ;) ),i really dont believe in dieting stuff, i eat bindas whtever teases my palate..

6.I luv MUMBAI ....mumbai meri jaan & INDIA ...nothing like apna desh..mera bharat mahan !!

7.I am lazy bones,i prefer going out and eat rather cooking all the time ...and this is really true :) and luv to sleep till late on weekends..( which my husband dont like )

8.I can sit whole day on internet chatting & browsing things ;)

9. I am a shopping manic..i shop till i drop & last but not the least

10.I like helping people ( all my frends & family especially ) whenever they need me i am alwaz there for them..and luv to cook for them ,i like to impress them by my culinary arts which i came to know offlate :)...hehehehe

And now im sharing these awards with some of my fellow bloggers...

1.Jay of tasty apetite

2.padhu of  padhus kitchen
3.priya of priya's easy n tasty recipes

4.malar gandhi of kitchen tantra
5.daisy blue of spicy lounge
6.jyoti of panchpakwan

To celeberate my first award i made suji halwa today and we all just loved it.
ingredients :
1 cup suji/rava/ coarse semolina
21/2 cups water
3/4 cup sugar ( pls adjust according to your taste )
cardomon pwd to taste
cashew nuts ,rasins and pistas to taste
2-3 tbsp ghee
one pinch yellow/orange food colour ( i have used orange here but the colour is optional )

method :
Heat 1 tbsp ghee ,add suji and cashew nuts,roast till the raw smell goes off ( may be for around 3-5 mins ) on medium flame.By the time add the water in another pan and let it boil ,mix the food colour in 2 tsps of water and keep aside.Add the hot water and then the coloured water in the roasted suji and stir continuosly avoiding all the lumps,when the water is absorbed add sugar and stir again for few mins.Let it cook till the sugar is completely dissolved stirring continously,add the remaining ghee and mix well .Sprinkle cardamon pwd and serve hot .

poffertjes/mini pancakes

Poffertjes are tiny dutch pancakes which are topped with powdered sugar,maple syrup and butter ,also called as dutch treats  .I came across this term for the first time when we had been to "Tesselaar tulip festival in victoria " which was about 40-45 kms away from melbourne during spring,that was the first time i came to know the beauty of the miraculous colourful tulip bulbs as well as these tiny baby puffed pancakes and i just went crazy,they were scrumtiously yummy and delicious,we really couldnt stop eating, its been months now but my mouth is still watering ;) ...immediately after coming home i did browsed for the recipes but all recipes were with eggs,and eggs we dont get at home,basically we are not allowed to cook anything with eggs at home ,so it was kinda difficult to find an eggless recipes and now when on this easter sunday we went to a restaurant in the suburb near by i again found the same dutch treat which was awesomely yummy and so this time i didnt sit back and now when i have started blogging i came across few of the the blogs (which i generally follow) had many of the pancake recipes and that too eggless and  to top it few with wheat flour which i found was quite healthy otherwise usually these mini pancakes are made up of selfraising flour/plain flour and so i was more then happy to adapt one from here.Poffertjes basically are made on special cast-iron with shallow indentations in the bottom which is quite similar to our indian style (mini )paniyaram pan or it can be made directly on non stick pan using heaped teaspoon batter ,it is also  baked at some places.Here's my version of the mini pancake which we all loved when i made for my  monday morning breakfast after the long lazying weekend.

ingredients for the pancakes :
1 cup wheat flour ( i used philsbury aatta )
1 cup buttermilk ( i took 1/2 cup yogurt + 1/2 cup water )
2 tbsp raw sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon pwd
1/4 tsp soda bi-carb
1 tsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
for toppings :
powdered sugar/maple syrup/any of your fav fruits/ butter/ chocolate sauce/whipped cream/dash of lemon juice/fav icecream

method :
Mix wheat flour,sugar,cinnamon pwd,salt and soda together,add buttermilk and mix together till there are no lumps left,the batter should neither be too thick nor too thin it should be medium consistency,you can adjust the buttermilk quantity accordingly.Let this batter rest for 10-15 mins.Heat the pan/griddle,melt the butter,as soon as it sizzles add the teaspoonfulls of batter and cook till you get bubbles on top,gently flip it over with a spatula and let it cook for another few secs ,you can also make all the mini pancakes and keep in a heated (approx 120 c ) oven and serve hot with your fav toppings.Pancakes usually tastes better when warm.
pls note : when you fry pancakes adjust the heat constantly as they may get browned very fast and so if required reduce the heat a bit.I didnt had powdered sugar so i sprinkled icing sugar :),the above pic is full of butter,this plate was for my daughter and she is fond of extra butter ,so for all kids this is one super best recipe and for all my friends pls dont put on extra weight by adding so much butter ...hehehe...;)

sending this to the event pancakes hosted by priya's easy n tasty  blog and to jagruti of joy of cooking for her joyful eating whilst travelling event .

shakarpare using rasgulla sugar syrup

Shakarpara is yet another favourite and common snack amongst all, we usually make this during diwali festival which can be stored for end number of days.I have the original recipe of shakarpare already in my archieve but i had to use my rasgulla sugar syrup and so i invented this easy method ,i remember whenever we use to buy rasagullas in india,we use to squeeze them completely and then consume,so all the leftover syrup i would give it to my maid and she use to happily take it away,but here i dont have any maids and on top of it i didnt wanted to waste so i thought of using it this way,this one is more or less the same except that instead of making sugar syrup i used directly the sugary syrup which i had in my hands.The quantity here is too much,i purposely made as we all love it with our tea/coffee and nothing like home made snacks,you can reduce half the quantity and try.This recipe is my last and final entry for the event " leftover delicacies "

ingredients :
1 cup rasgulla sugar syrup
3/4 cup ghee
21/2-3 cups plain flour / maida  (approx 500 gms )
method :
Heat sugar syrup and ghee together in a pan,let it come to boil,take off the flame and let it cool down for sometime ,but it should still be little warm .Mix in the flour and make a tight dough.Roll out the dough into half cm thickness,cut into diamond or square shape and deep fry on medium flame till brown in colour,let it cool down and store in airtight containers,serve with tea or coffee.

khakra

Khakras are one of the most common and favourite gujarati snacks  i ever had since my childhood.Its quite healthy and handy too,usually all kids and adults love the crunchy,munchy,crispy taste of it,its very tempting also.Generally khakras are made up of wheat flour adding lots of different varieties like masalas/spices (chiili pwd ,garam masala ),methi leaves,spinach paste ,pudina leaves etc but here i have just added carom seeds , very plain wheat flour khakra without using even a drop of oil ( totally fatfree ) as i had only 1 ball of dough left and wanted to finish that portion of dough,so i rolled them into carrom seeds and divided into 2 small portions and made 2 khakras out of it which we three finished after our meals in seconds just like we eat papads :),i had seen my mom doing this when we were small ,if 1 or 2 portions of the dough was remaining she use to make khakras and distribute among us, still we siblings use to fight over it,we all wanted to have some more of it.This leftover one ball of my chapati dough which turned into khakra flies to the event " leftover delicacies " hosted by dear Daisy. 

ingredients :
2 cups wheat flour  /atta/regular chapati flour
2 tsps carom seeds
1/2 cup kasthuri methi /spinach paste/finely chopped pudina leaves ( optional,can add for the flavour ,though i didnt use here )
1 tsp chiili pwd ( optional )
salt to taste
oil ( optional )

method :
Mix flour,salt,chilli pwd,kasthuri methi,carrom seeds together,add enough water and make the dough.Divide the dough into small equal balls ( half of your regular size chapati ball )roll the balls  very thin almost transparent chapatis using dry wheat flour very carefully so that it doesnt tear ,heat the tava/griddle,slap the chapati on it and roast both the sides till half done,then apply very little oil ( i usually dont put oil )on both the sides,flip over and with the help of clean kitchen towel press the chapati in circular motion moving on the tava on a low flame till it is evenly browned,this is very important step so that the chapati doesnt puff up and it will get more crisp and stiff,then turn over and roast the same way till it becomes crisp and brown.Let it cool down for few mins ,repeat the same process for all the portions of the dough and then you can stack it up and store in air tight containers.Khakras are usually eaten with pickles/ground peanut dry chutney/phutane chutney ,also i luv to apply little ghee/oil all over the khakra sprinkling little salt and red chilli powder and having with hot coffee/tea.

gajar ka halwa ( my 100th post )

I am so excited to post this yummy, delicious, drooling halwa which i made today to celeberate my 100th post in my blog .Wow!! i just cant imagine i have posted so many recipes in such less time ,seriously i counted all my posts so many times to check wether it is really my 100th post or not, i m still looking forward for writing 100 and many more  recipes .I started blogging last december (2009) and today have completed 100 posts,i do have  few in my drafts but surely wont count them ;) ,i guess im obsessed with my cooking these days and also with building up my blog :P ,i started this blog as many of my recipes were piled up and was difficult to maintain in the book which was everynow and then had become my daughter's colouring book,i should actually be thankful and grateful to my princess ,maybe becoz of her i could think of this blog.
I really want to confess something today that i am not a WRITER,writing is not my cup of tea,i really cannot express myself or the introduction given for the recipes through writing but still i have managed to write a bit of my memory towards few of them, here in my palate corner i only want to share the recipes which are tried in my kitchen which i personally found  very palatable and so wanted to know the world about it,also im getting immense pleasure in trying my fellow bloggers toothsome recipes which i could have never imagined before,i thank all of them ,i am getting inspiration from them and thats the reason i want to post more and more,im learning a lot new cusines/dishes and varieties from their blogs. Here's my  version of carrot halwa  though today it had become little mushy as i only have a thin grater here and had real pain in grating with my hands as no food processor also :( but at the end  it was fruitful.

ingredients :

1 kg carrot ( approx 3-4 cups grated )

3 tbsp ghee

1/2 lt milk ( approx 2-2.5 cups )

1/2 cup sugar (adjust according to your taste ,i usually add less sugar )

cardomon pwd to taste

almond slivers or almond flakes for garnishing

method :

Peel and grate carrot ,heat ghee in deep pan/kadhai,add the grated carrot and fry for 3-5 mins.Add milk and stir for a while,keep the flame on low to medium heat and let it cook on its own,do keep stirring in between , cook till the carrot absorbs all the milk completely and reduces almost half of its quantity( it may take around 40-45 min in all),after the milk dries up,add sugar and stir continuosly on high flame till it gets dissolved completely.Take off the flame,sprinkle cardamon pwd and garnish with almonds.Serve when warm or also can be served with vanilla icecream ,this halwa can be store in refrigerator for few days and can be used as and when required.

rasgulla with icecream

Actually on the weekend i had called my friend and her family on dinner and had really planned in a very short time,so didnt had much time in my hands,so thought of buying a ready made sweet dish and as usual when if i am busy with cooking in my kitchen ,all the grocery and outside work is loaded on my dear hubby and finally he ended up with buying a can of rasgullas,somehow he wanted to have it ,so he started giving excuses that there were no other sweets left and bla..bla...bla...hmmmm.okie i said,thats fine, now that rasgullas are at my home we will definately use them,but ohoh these are the tin ones...i just dont like them,i feel they are too sweet and not so fresh but for my guests i had to offer some sweet dish and we were running out of the time so i quit arguing and finally after the dinner ,the sweet dish was served,i was glad  they liked the rasgullas very much as they had a sweet tooth they did not find it very sweet,phew !! great ,was really relieved with the guilt of serving them extra loaded sugary sweet dish...;),but i saw still few of them ,yeah actually exactly 4 of them are left,so as usual i dumped them in my refrigerator.3 days have already passed and still the rasgullas are lying  and i am just not liking them so finally i called my co-sister and seeked her advice and there she gave me this wonderful idea of  the leftover rasgullas which turned out to be a droolling dessert .This will be my another entry for the event "the leftover delicacies" hosted by Daisy Blue of  spicy lounge and soon will have to make something out of the leftover rasgulla syrup,which i hope will be my last entry for this event ;)

ingredients :

4 rasgullas  ( homemade/ready made from sweet mart or tin ones any rasgullas will do )
4 scoops plain vanilla icecream

1/2 cup dark chocolate grated/shavings ( i used mix dairy milk and dark chocolate )
method :
Remove the rasgullas from the sugar syrup and squeeze the rasgullas gently under the running water tap taking care it does not break,take off from the tap and make sure there is no water and syrup in the rasgullas,keep it aside.Take the icecream scoops and put them in a mixing bowl and beat them with your hand mixie or an electric beater or a spoon or an egg beater for 2-3 mins.Dip the rasgullas in the melted ice cream and mix gently so that all the rasgullas are covered nicely.Place all the rasgullas in the serving bowl with the icecream all over,sprinkle grated chocolate on top ,cover with a cling sheet or a lid and place it in freezer to set for an hour,please see that the rasgullas doesnt turn hard like ice cream,so you have to make an hr before serving it.

toor daal chutney

This chutney recipe i took from my friend who said its actually a manglorean style,and goes very well with akki rotis ,this chutney is very palatable and have a wonderful flavour of corriander seeds and also have a great aroma .This is my entry for the event cooking with seeds-corriander seeds hosted by food for 7 stages of life  which was started by priya of priya's easy and tasty recipes.

ingredients :
2tbsp toor daal
1tsp urad daal
21/2 tbsp corriander seeds
2-3 dry whole red chillies
1tsp tamarind paste
1tsp asafoetedia pwd
2tbsp grated coconut
2-3 curry leaves
salt
water
1tsp oil
for tempering :
1tsp urad dal
1tsp mustard seeds
1-2 curry leaves
1/2 tsp oil
method :
Heat oil on tawa/pan,roast toor dal,urad daal,corriander seeds,red chillies,till brown/red in colour,take off the flame add asafoetedia pwd,coconut and curry leaves and roast for a while, let it cool.Grind it adding salt,tamarind paste and enough water to make a coarsely ground chutney.Temper it with the above ingredients and serve with rava dosa or akki roti.