EGGLESS FATFREE BROWNIES

Posted on November 29, 2012 by nituchugani

Eggless and fatfree brownies?? Yessssss….now for those of you who have a cholesterol problem can also have these brownies once in a while. The result was gooey brownies that tasted just a wee bit dry..so if you are not restricting your fat intake you can add half a cup of melted butter to this recipe.
I have also recorded a video to show you exactly how its done because i get many comments from people saying that their cakes do not turn out. Please keep in mind that the oven temperature is important and also the baking pan. For best results do use a good quality cocoa powder.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup is appox 250 grams
1.5 cups all purpose white flour (maida)
1 cup of white sugar
3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
1 cup ( a little less of warm milk, you can also use a lactose free or soya milk)
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of lemon juice, can also be bottled lemon juice
1 teaspoon each of baking powder and baking soda
1/2 cup of melted butter , OPTIONAL
1/2-1 cup of chopped walnuts, or nuts of your choice
METHOD:
Heat the oven to 180 degrees.
Mix the white flour, th e cocoa, the sugar and the salt . Add the milk and the lemon juice and mix well. Add the baking powder and baking soda and mix. If adding the melted butter you might just need to add even less milk. Lastly add the chopped nuts. Mix and pour into a lightly greased square baking tray and bake for about half an hour or until done.
FOR THE CHOCOLATE TOPPING:
Melt a 100 gram chocolate bar in the microwave or over a double boiler and cool till slightly thickened but still spreadable.
Spread over the brownies.
If living in Spain please use Valor Cocoa Powder

NITU DIDI TIP: you can also substitute the butter for olive oil…healthy healthy healthy!!
Nitu Chugani©

Posted in A Piece of Cake???, Eggless Sweet Temptations, Everything Vegetarian, Floury Matter, Healthy Options, Jain recipes, Recipes with videos | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

HOW TO DECORATE A SIMPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE

Posted on November 28, 2012 by nituchugani

 

 

This is a simple video on how to decorate a chocolate cake in a fish shape. All you need to do is bake a chocolate cake. You can use any of the recipes from my blog. Then you need some melted chocolate (put some chocolate bars to melt in a double boiler) and then you need some smarties.
This video will show you how.

Posted in A Piece of Cake???, Recipes with videos | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

DESI SPANISH TUNA PIE

Posted on November 27, 2012 by nituchugani

 

Empanada Gallega is a spanish pie which is stuffed with tuna, boiled eggs, onions and red capsicum. Its one of the most popular pies and available in the bakeries and supermarkets. The pastry is made with white flour, eggs, oil (or lard) . My friend Dipa has recreated this recipe and sent it to us for my SpanIndian cuisine. She made the pastry simply with self raising flour, salt and water. The original spanish filling of tuna, onions, red capsiums and boiled eggs has been replaced by tuna, onions, coriander leaves and cumin powder.
So would you like to make this pie?
INGREDIENTS FOR THE PASTRY:
500 grams of self raising flour
1 teaspoon of salt
warm water as needed to make the dough
FILLING:
200 grams of canned tuna, drained
1 onion chopped fine
1 red capsicum chopped fine
3 tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon of cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon of red chilli powder if you want it spicy
METHOD:
Make a dough using the self raising flour,salt and warm water. Keep covered for two hours. Heat the oven to 180 degrees.
Mix the ingredients for the filling, check and correct seasoning. Divide the dough into half. Roll out a square about 1/2 centimetre thick and place on a rectangle or square baking pan. Spread the filling all over that sheet of dough. Roll out the remaining dough into a similar square and place on top of filling. Seal edges well with your fingers and then using a fork scrimp the edges. Make a few slits on the top of the pie to let the steam out with a knife.
Brush with beaten egg or melted butter and bake till the pie crust is pleasantly golden brown.
Cut into pieces when cool and serve.
Makes an excellent tupperware meal, picnic food or even a snack for a high tea.
Pic and recipe sent to me by Dipa Mots.
NITU DIDI TIP: You can fill this pie with any filling of your choice, vegetables in white sauce, soya mince, seasoned curried tofu, etc etc….

Posted in Floury Matter, Fusion, Ideas for meals, Low Cost, SpanIndian, Tupperware Food | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

“DESI” SPICY SPANISH OMLETTE

Posted on November 26, 2012 by nituchugani

This is the first of my recipes for my creation of “SpanIndian cuisine” a fusion between spanish and indian cusine. Being an indian woman living in Spain my creativity has got the better of me where food is concerned. I am always searching for new, innovative recipes with ordinary easy available day to day ingredients to make life simple and eating or entertaining a pleasure.
For all of you who have visited spain or live in spain our spanish omlette or “tortilla de patata” is a real common sight in all the tapas bars. I have been living in spain for the past 32 years and could never get the art of making this omlette right till my dear friend Adela taught me step by step! I cannot eat anything non spicy so my next experiment had me chopping green chillies and coriander leaves to add to my omlette. The result??? Well…i am sure the spaniards are going to disagree with me and think i have just ruined their omlette but my “desi” tastebuds could not get enough of this delight! It was so good i could just eat it on its own 🙂 So… i plan to add more recipes to this category of “spaindian cuisine” and hope you try my recipes in your kitchens and give  me feedback.
INGREDIENTS FOR TWO HUNGRY PEOPLE
2 cups of potatoes, cut into uneven rounds about .25 cm thick
1/2 cup of sliced onions (if you dont like onions just omit these)
3/4 cup of spanish olive oil
1 tablespoon of grated ginger
4-6 green chillies chopped fine
1/4 cup of chopped coriander leaves
salt to taste
4 large fresh farm eggs
1 good non stick frying pan
METHOD:
Heat the olive oil gently in the frying pan taking care not to get too hot. Add salt to the cut potatoes and mix well. Put the potatoes into the heating oil and cook slowly on low heat till the potatoes are softened but not brown. To ensure they dont brown but cook is to cook them on low heat. Beat the eggs very well  in a big bowl  by hand and add a bit of salt (not too much as the potatoes already have salt). Remove the potatoes carefully with a slotted spoon trying to take off the oil and put into the beaten eggs. Fry the onions the same way in the remaining oil in the pan till softened. Mix the potato egg mixture well. Add the softened fried and well drained onions to the egg potato mixture and mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients. Reserve the extra oil from the frying pan and leave about just a tablespoon to cook the omlette. Put the egg mixture into the frying pan and cover it with a lid. Cook on medium to low heat till the bottom gets slightly browned and then flip with the help of a plate and cook on the other side till done.
This is absolutely delicious…the flavor of the olive oil gives it such a lovely taste.
NITU DIDI TIP: if you want to make the typical spanish omlette just omit the ginger, chillies and coriander.
If you dont have olive oil you can make it with cooking oil.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF COOKING IN OLIVE OIL
Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat, which actually rids the body of “bad” cholesterol and increases the amount of “good” cholesterol in the blood. Good cholesterol protects the heart and lowers the risk of heart and other cardiovascular disease.
This recipe is the original creation of Nitu Chugani©


Posted in Crack an egg???, Fusion, Gluten Free, Ideas for meals, SpanIndian, Spanish Tapas | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

DIZZY TIZZY POMEGRANET

Posted on November 25, 2012 by nituchugani

 

In Spain its a habit to serve fruit with some sort of dressing.  It is an age old tradition to add wine or liquer to fruit in many spanish homes. I went over to my friend Adela´s place and she had recieved a whole basket of these lovely pomegrantes. I just love them..tho peeling them to get these lovely pearly ruby grains are a pain. Its nice to sit in company and peel them that way you dont get bored and thats exactly what i did. Adela taught me a nice dressing for them to soak in till dessert time. I was a little taken aback and wondered how it would taste but it was yummy!! So here i am sharing this secret (she says its her grandmas) with all of you, with her permission ofcoruse
INGREDIENTS:
Pomegranet grains
for each cup of pomegranet grains you can add to taste:
some sugar
some freshly squeezed orange juice
and a splash of sweet dessert wine (like a valencian mistela or moscatel wine or even an alcohol free wine for my halaal viewers or some grape juice)
METHOD:
Put the pomegranet kernels in a bowl and mix with some orange juice, a bit of sugar to taste and then a good splash of sweet wine or alcohol free wine or some grapejuice. Let it rest covered in the fridge for an hour and then serve.
WHICH WINE GOES BEST WITH THIS????
HEALTH BENEFITS OF POMEGRANET:

Packed with antioxidants equal to those in green tea and red wine, and especially loaded with Vitamin C and Potassium, pomegranates are said to help:

  • Lower Risk of Heart Disease
  • Lower Risk of Cancer, Especially Prostate and Breast
  • Lessen Symptoms of Diarrhea
  • Reduce Cholesterol
  • Control Your Weight
  • Fight Cell Damage
Posted in Eggless Sweet Temptations, Everything Vegetarian, Fusion, Gluten Free, Healthy Options | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

CHICKEN SOUP FOR A COLD!!!

Posted on November 23, 2012 by nituchugani

Who doesnt love a cuppa soup for comfort? Nowadays with such a variety of ready made and available soup mixes, instant soups we have forgotten what a real home made hearty soup tastes like. In Spain there is still the culture of making a “caldo” (stock) in many families. Stock is the boiling of either chicken, meat or fish bones with some vegetables for a long time. The liquid (stock) is then strained and used as a soup or for cooking rice or for enriching ones food. My son simply loves a home made soup, specially in winter. He visited me a while ago and complained of a slight sore throat and i quickly made this soup for him which he told me was amazing, soothing and very comforting.
Miraculously his sore throat disappeared! Was it a mothers tender love and care or a soup with that “special medicinal” ingredient???
Why dont you all try it out and let me know? I added sweet corn and fresh oyster mushrooms to the soup , but you can add any sort of vegetable you like and fancy taking into account not to over cook them in the stock or else they will lose their nutritional value.
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CHICKEN STOCK :
500 grams of chicken bones or 1 chicken leg and thigh, skin removed
I usually buy a whole chicken and have the butchers make fillets out of the chicken breast, chop the legs and thighs and seperate the carcass for soup. So what i do is add the chicken carcass and also the breast bone to make my soup.
3 litres of water
2 ” piece ginger, bruised…i take the piece of ginger and smash it with the mortar to let all the lovely medicinal properties ooze out and i pop it into the pan
1 onion, quartered
1/2 cup of chopped celery
8 whole black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon of salt
TO FLAVOR THE SOUP:
100 grams of fresh oyster mushrooms or any kind of mushroom you like , chopped
1 cup of canned sweet corn
1/2 cup of chopped leeks or spring onions
1 tablespoon of soya sauce
a good dash of white pepper powder
a dash of white vinegar
a few drops of sesame oil
This quantity made about 1.5 litres of soup, if you want to freeze the stock you can double the recipe. The more chicken bones you add the more flavorful the soup will be.
METHOD:
Put the water to boil with the ginger and once it comes to a boil add the washed chicken bones. Let it come to a boil again and remove all the scum (the whitish frothy thing which floats to the top of the pan) with a small sieve or a spoon. Add the pepper corns and salt , the onion and celery and boil it till it reduces to half. Strain the stock and remove the chicken flesh from the bones.
Put the stock to heat gently and add cooked chicken from the bones, the oyster mushrooms, the sweet corn and all the seasoning. Let it come to a boil and cook for five minutes. Check and correct seasoning and serve.
NITU DIDI TIP:
If you want a thick soup you can thicken it with a mixture of cornstarch and a little water. If you want to drink just plain chicken stock omit the vegetables and season as you like. If you like a thai flavor you can add some lemon grass, fish sauce and also some chilli sauce to it. If you love curry , you can add some curry powder to the soup.
To freeze the stock : Just let it cool to room temperature, put it into a good container , cover it a freeze it. Or you can put it into small containers as individual portions.
The ginger and pepper corns help comfort a sore throat. Ginger is very good for the stomach and digestive system.
My son actually felt much better after drinking two whole bowls of this soup. This soup is low in fat and calories and can be had as part of a diet too! It nourishes and fills you up.

IF YOU ARE VEGETARIAN: Just make a stock with vegetables and have it for your cold 🙂
TO READ ABOUT THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF CANNED CORN

Nitu Chugani©

Posted in Chicken, Fusion, Gluten Free, Healthy Options, Low Cost, Made in China, NO OIL RECIPES, Soups-hot and cold, Thai | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

KASHMIRI KOKTAIL KOFTE

Posted on November 22, 2012 by nituchugani

 

 

Its amazing how an added spice can change the whole flavor of a simple recipe and even give it an exotic name!
Well…. this recipe is just one of them. An on the spur addition of a spice turned my desi meatballs into a delicacy. These small pop in the mouth meatballs can be served in your parties as a starter or even given to kids as healthy finger foods in place of nuggets which are deep fried.
You can use the meat of your choice. Having such an international following i need to cater to everyone and so i leave the choice of meat up to you.
INGREDIENTS:
250 grams of minced meat of your choice, the meat should be very finely minced
2 cloves of garlic, grated using a hand grater
1/2″ pc. ginger grated using a hand grater
3 tablespoons of finely chopped coriander leaves
2 green chillies chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon of dried mint
1/2 teaspoon of red chilli powder or paprika
1/2 teaspoon of home made garam masala (please see my youtube video on how to make a lovely fragrant garam masala)
1 teaspoon of pounded fennel seeds (saunf/aniseeds)
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
salt to taste
3 tablespoons of butter
METHOD:
Marinate the meat with all of the above ingredients except the butter. Let it marinate for a few hours. Shape into small cute rounds. Heat the butter in a non stick pan taking care not to burn and place the meatballs in the pan and cook till browned and cooked through.
Serve hot with a toothpick inserted in each if you want to serve them for a party.
DELICIOUS!!!
Nitu Chugani©

Posted in Fusion, Gluten Free, Ideas for meals, Indian Restaurant Dishes, Lets eat Meat!!, Spices | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

CHICKEN BIRYANI WITH SAFFRON

Posted on November 21, 2012 by nituchugani

I am so happy to post this recipe today ! My follower Hitesh Chandani won some of my lovely saffron in a giveway therought http://www.masalaminds.com. He made this chicken biryani and was kind enough to send me the pic and the recipe. I know how many of you just love a good biryani so here is an excellent recipe.
Thank you so much Hitesh for the lovely recipe and pic 🙂
INGREDIENTS:
Boneless Chicken breasts – 250 gms.
5 Onions , 4 Tomatoes chopped
4-5 green chillies chopped
Ginger garlic paste
Red chilli powder, coriander seed powder, salt
Chicken Masala
and i Used some Old Bay Seasoning for Meats
Nitu Didi Spanish pincho spice seasoning
half cup Yogurt
Biryani masala for layering
and a Bowl of MILK mixed with few strands of “Nitu didi Saffron”
Some coriander and Mint Leaves for chicken as well as garnish
Rice parboiled. mixed with a bit of yellow color.
METHOD:

In a pressure cooker, put some oil and saute the Chopped onions and Green Chillies till with ginger garlic paste, till they are brown.
Then add the boneless chicken and chopped tomatoes and keep stirring for about 5 minutes.
Add Salt , 3 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander seed powder, 3-4 tsp Chicken masala 2 tsp Old Bay Meat Seasoning, 1tsp pinchito masala. and the Yogurt and mix it very well.
Then cover the lid and let it steam for a while. (till upto the whistle blows twice)
Remove the lid and let it dry for about 2 minutes.
Now in a deep pan, start layering for the Biryani.

Grease the bottom with oil.
and make layers (i made two layers) with Rice > Chicken > Biryani masala > Sugar > Chopped coriander and Mint leaves > and Milk mixed with Nitu didi Saffron.
and Cover it with lid with a low flame on.

Then within 5 minutes the Biryani is ready to serve.

(It is Optional to put some Fried Onions and Potatoes in the Biryani on top of the layers.)

NITU DIDI TIP:

You can also make it without the pressure cooker. Just follow the steps but add a little water so the chicken cooks.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF SAFFRON IN YOUR DIET

Cancer suppressor

Crocin, Safranal and Picrocrocin from saffron may be involved in anti-cancer activity by inhibiting the growth of human cancer cells.

Anti-Depressant

Saffron tea has been used to treat depression. Ingesting large amounts of the tea and spice has been reported to cause feelings of happiness and joy.

Feedback on Nitu Didi Saffron by users of it

Posted in Chicken, Gluten Free, Ideas for meals, Indian Restaurant Dishes, Rice is Nice, Saffron | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

PANJABI DAL MAKHANI ALSO KNOWN AS DAL MAHARANI

Posted on November 20, 2012 by nituchugani

Punjabi Dal Makhani(Also known as Dal Maharani or Kaali Dal)

Recipe and pic by my dear friend Sheena Shahani…thank you Sheena

Ingredients:
4/5 cup whole urad dal (whole black beans) 1 tablespoon

channa dal washed and soaked in lukewarm water for half a day
1/5
cup rajma (red kidney beans) washed and soaked in lukewarm water for
half a day (pressure cook this separately first with one whistle)
1½
tbsp ghee
1½ tsp salt
½ cup tomato puree
1 large tomato chopped
1½
tsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp
haldi powder
2tsp MDH dal makhani masala
1 tsp garam masala
Salt
– to tasteGrind to a paste:
2 dry whole red chillis
preferably Kashmiri red chillies – deseeded and soaked for 10 minutes
and then drained
1” piece ginger
6-8 flakes garlic
or adding later:
1/4 cup milk mixed with 1
tbsp creamMethod:
Drain the water of the channa and urad
dals and wash several times in fresh water, rubbing well, until the
water is clear.
Pressure cook dals and rajma with 5 cups water, salt
and ginger-garlic-chilli paste. After the first whistle, keep on low
flame for 30 minutes. Remove from flame.
After the pressure drops,
mash the hot dal a little. In a pot, fry in ghee the
tomato, kasuri
methi, tomato paste, garam masala and dal makhani masala. Transfer dal
to this mixture and cook. Add butte. Simmer on medium flame for 30
minutes, stirring dal occasionally. Remove from fire. Keep aside to cool
till the time of serving.Before serving, add milk mixed with
cream to the dal. Keep dal on fire and bring to a boil on low heat.
Stirring constantly. Simmer for 2 minutes more, to get the right colour
and creamy texture. Remove from fire. Serve garnished with a dollop of
cream, ginger juliennes and chopped coriander leaves.
Posted in Everything Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Ideas for meals, Indian Restaurant Dishes, Lentils, Nitu´s Spicy Delights | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

CHICKEN CHOW MEEN

Posted on November 20, 2012 by nituchugani

Chinese noodles! yum yum yum! I can eat them almost once a week! Some people say their noodles never turn right…sometimes too soggy and sometimes too dry…Well…first one needs to follow the instructions on the packet of the noodles. Its better to undercook them than overcook because they can always finish cooking in the wok while stir frying, but if they are overcooked they turn out soggy.
So which noodles? I use egg or wheat noodles and sometimes rice noodles too. My favorite is ofcourse egg noodles.
You can stir fry them with vegetables of your choice, chicken, meat, prawns etc. You can even make your own combinations, flavor them with soya or curry powder.
For this particular recipe i have used a different method which i shall explain to all of you in an easy way.
INGREDIENTS FOR 4-6
1 packet (400 grams) of egg noodles
350 grams of finely sliced chicken breast
1 green capsicum, sliced
1 red capsicum sliced
1 big leek, sliced
3 chinese mushrooms, soaked in water and then sliced (do not throw away the water in which they are soaked)
OR 1 cup of sliced fresh mushrooms
1/4 cup of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of ginger garlic paste
1 tablespoon of rice vinegar
1 tablespoon of chinese wine (OPTIONAL, FOR HALAAL PLEASE OMIT)
2 tablespoons of sesame oil, one for marinating and the other to add in the end
6 tablespoons of cooking oil
2 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed in the water which the mushrooms have been soaked
METHOD:
Marinate the chicken in the ginger garlic paste, rice vinegar, chinese wine, sesame oil and soem soya sauce.
Boil lots of water in a pan and add the noodles and take off the heat. Let the noodles soften in the hot water. I take a pair of scissors and cut them so they are easier to eat and handle. Once softened i drain them and put them on a big tray to dry out for about 10 minutes.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wide wok and put a batch of the cooked noodles in and let them cook on one side till browned and crispy and then turn and let them cook on the other side. Brown all the noodles batch by batch using some more oil untill you have all the noodles browned. Keep them aside. In the same wok add some oil and sautee the chicken on high heat till it turns brown, Drain off and keep aside and let the juices remain in the wok. Add the mushrooms, capsicum , leeks and season with a bit of salt. Stir for a few seconds and then add the noodles and the soya sauce and mix well. Keep on tossing on high heat and then add the cornstarch dissolved in the water and cook till the cornstarch thickens. Check seasoning, add more soya sauce if needed. You can also add some chilli sauce if you like it hot. Sprinkle with sesame oil in the end and serve hot.
Follow the same method if using only vegetables, you can use cabbage, bamboo shoot, beansprouts, tofu etc.
I use these noodles

THE VIDEO :

To buy these scissors do message me

Nitu Chugani©

Posted in Chicken, Floury Matter, Fusion, Made in China, Pasta, Quick Recipes, Recipes with videos, SpanIndian, Tupperware Food | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments