EGGLESS OILESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

Posted on April 2, 2012 by nituchugani

This recipe and pic has been sent to me by my dearest Pinky Nagdev. She found the recipe online and made it. I myself have yet to try it out and i will soon. I have been asked to post the recipe so here it is… For a richer cake you can add 1/2 cup of melted butter. Pinky made it without oil and without butter!!! Thank you soo much Pinky sweetie 🙂

Eggless moist chocolate cake
Recipe courtesy Madhura’s recipes.com
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Ings ;

1 1/2 cup of white flour
1 cup lukewarm milk
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp. Of cocoa pwd
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Vanilla essence/chocolate essence
1 tsp. Lemon juice
2 pinches of salt

For chocolate ganache :
1 cup of whipped cream
150 gms of dark compound cooking chocolate (chocolate bar)
1 tbsp. Of honey

Pre-heat ur oven @ 200°C for 5-10 mins.
Sieve white flour , cocoa pwd , baking pwd and baking soda twice .
Mix lukewarm milk and sugar together in a bowl till sugar is dissolved completely and milk returns to normal room temperature. Add the sieved powder mixture (white flour, cocoa powder , baking soda and baking powder).Add salt. Mix well. Add essence and lemon juice. Mix properly to incorporate the ingredients nicely so that no lumps are left. Transfer this batter to a greased tin. Bake @ 180°C for about 25-30 mins approximately. Or till a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake . You can add half stick of butter for a rich taste if u need.

For the chocolate ganache :
Cut the compound dark chocolate into small bits. Heat the whipped cream till a single boil comes. Pour it hot on chocolate pieces. Add a tsp of honey and mix well till chocolate is fully melted n smooth.spread this on ur cake. Flatten with a spatula or a knife till smooth. Save half of this ganache for icing. Now melt around 50 gms me dark compound chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler and add to the leftover ganache. Mix well n keep it in the fridge to cool for around 5 mins. Transfer this thick ganache to ur piping bag n decorate ur cake accordingly.

Posted in A Piece of Cake???, Eggless Sweet Temptations, Healthy Options, NO OIL RECIPES | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

MEAT BHUNA

Posted on April 1, 2012 by nituchugani

This is a festive delicious meat recipe which is so popular in so many restaurants. “Bhuna” means to slowly cook the meat till its tender and thats exactly what i did. The slow cooking ensures the meat gets done and gets this amazing flavour. One needs a lot of spices in this but you can always put less if you cant take so much of spice.
INGREDIENTS:
500 grams of boneless lamb or meat of your choice, cut into cubes
250 grams of onions , chopped fine
3 tablespoons of finely grated ginger
3 tablespoons of finely grated garlic
chopped green chillies and coriander leaves
200 grams of fresh tomatoes, chopped fine
1-2 potatoes cut into big chunks (optional)
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
4 tablespoons of oil or ghee (for a restaurant like flavour you can use ghee or butter)
Spices for the beginning of the recipe: 1 bay leaf, 5 cloves, 1 small piece of cinnamon
FOR THE SPICES:
Roast and grind the following:
1 tablespoon of coriander seeds
1 tablespoon of cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon of cloves
2 inch piece cinnamon stick
8 cardamoms
METHOD:
Heat the oil /ghee in a thick pan and add the spices for the beginning (that is the bay leaf, 5 cloves and cinnamon) and let it sizzle for a few minutes. Then add half of the ginger and garlic and cook for a few seconds till the garlic and ginger starts to brown, taking care not to burn. Add the washed meat and let it cook till all the water that the meat oozes out evaporates and the meat starts browning. Add salt and the turmeric powder and the rest of the ginger garlic and then add the chopped onions and keep  on cooking till the onions soften totally and the meat and onions are browned. Add the ground spices and the tomatoes and let the tomatoes cook. Add the chunky potatoes and the green chillies and the coriander leaves. Add a little water (just enough so the potatoes cook). If you dont want to add the potatoes please done. Cook till the meat cooks and is quite dry.
PRESSURE COOKER RECIPE: the same above except use a pressure cooker and once you add the water just give it 2 whisltes.
Serve with boiled basmati rice or rotis of your choice
This is extremely delicious.
To make this richer you can add some dried chopped nuts in the end. I did not because my family doesnt like  it.

Posted in Indian Restaurant Dishes, Lets eat Meat!!, Nitu´s Spicy Delights | Tagged , | Leave a comment

BAKED CHEESE CAKE

Posted on March 31, 2012 by nituchugani

This is not the regular cheesecake wihich is made with a base of breadcrumbs… This is a cheesecake made with cottage cheese and baked in the oven. It just has a few ingredients and is soo easy…just mix and bake!!! Needless to say its absolutely delicious! I have done a video tutorial of this to take you through it easily 🙂
INGREDIENTS:
400 grams of cottage cheese
5 eggs
5 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
liquid caramel sauce to line the baking dish
METHOD:
Beat the eggs well till fluffy and add all the other ingredients and mix very well.
Pour some liquid caramel sauce into the baking dish and then pour the cake batter. Bake in  a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 30-40 minutes till a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let it cool and then unmould it.
This is delicious and is an age old recipe!!!

Posted in A Piece of Cake???, Gluten Free | Tagged , | Leave a comment

GULAB JAMUNS USING SEMOLINA

Posted on March 31, 2012 by nituchugani

This is another way of making gulab jamuns. This recipe and pic has been sent to me by our dearest Dipa Motwani of malaga. She has used sooji (semolina) in her gulab jamuns and that will give them a little coarse taste which is wonderful.
INGREDIENTS:
7 tablespoons of milk powder
1.5 tablespoons of white flour
1 tablepoon of semolina(sooji)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
natural yogurt as needed
FOR THE SYRUP: 2 glass of of water, 2 glasses of sugar
a pinch each of Nitu Didi cardamom powder and pure spanish saffron
rose water or rose essence
chopped nuts for garnish
METHOD:
mix the milk powder, with the semolina and white flour and make a dough using the oil and the yogurt. Knead the dough well. Keep aside covered.
Put the water and sugar to boil with the cardamom and the saffron till slightly thickened. Make balls out of the milk dough. Heat oil in a deep fryer and fry the balls on low heat till golden brown. Heat the syrup and put the balls into the syrup and just give them one boil. Serve with chopped nuts.

Posted in Eggless Sweet Temptations, Everything Vegetarian, Floury Matter, Indian Restaurant Dishes | Tagged , | 4 Comments

STEAMED BROCOLLI WITH LEMON AND OLIVE OIL DRESSING

Posted on March 28, 2012 by nituchugani

This is a simple brocolli recipe which retains the vitamins and flavor of the brocolli. Lemon juice and olive oil are also good for health so this is a whole in whole very low calorie and healthy recipe. If you dont have olive oil you can substitute it with melted butter or any kind of oil. Do keep in mind that the flavor of the dressing depends on the kind of oil you use.
I have created a video tutorial showing you to make this to make life and cooking easy!!
INGREDIENTS:
500 grams brocolli cut into florets
juice of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons of olive oil
salt to taste
METHOD:
Mix the lemon juice with the olive oil and salt and let it sit so that it absorbs all the flavors. Put a pot with water to boil on heat and when the water starts boiling add the brocolli florets and cook till al dente. Drain the brocolli and then pour the dressing on the top and serve!!
Eat happy and healthy!!

Posted in Everything Vegetarian, Healthy Options, Vegan | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

STRAWBERRY JAM (SIMPLE HOMEMADE RECIPE)

Posted on March 28, 2012 by nituchugani

Jams and marmalades are loved by all and are very cost effective when made with seasonal fruit. Right now in Spain strawberries are in abundance and my sister Helena Ballesteros makes a lot of jams with seasonal fruit. She passed me her recipe for strawberry jam which she makes, bottles and sells. She has a real friendly and easy recipe without the use of pectin and her jams taste and stay perfectly.
INGREDIENTS:
season fruit, here we have used strawberries, 250 grams
sugar 250 grams
a small piece of apple with the skin for the pectin content
METHOD:
Place the cleaned fruit in a pan with the piece of apple and the sugar and put it on heat to cook. Cook it till the sugar melts and you get a nice thick pulp. Pack the jam into sterilised bottles and screw on the cap tightly. Press bottles in a deep saucepan and cover with water completely. Put on heat till it boils and leave at boiling temperature for 40 minutes. Remove from heat and when cooled remove the bottles from the pan. Now you have your lovely jam ready to eat!!!

Posted in Eggless Sweet Temptations, Everything Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Jams and Marmalades, Low Cost, Vegan | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

METHI(FENUGREEK) CHICKEN

Posted on March 27, 2012 by nituchugani

Fenugreek leaves are very good for health and a great source of iron as well as having significant levels of potassium, fiber, and calcium. Few diet experts say that the leaves are nearly healthier than the spinach in providing an excellent dose of vitamin K.
You can either use it fresh if available or dried which is called kasturi methi.
The recipe i share today is a chicken flavoured with this herb and coriander leaves. It has no spices except turmeric and so its a great recipe for those who cant tolerate spices. It also contains very little oil so i am going to categorised it under my health recipes section. I have served it with plain boiled basmati rice but it can be served with rotis also.
INGREDIENTES:
1 whole chicken around 1.2 to 1.5 kilos in weight, cut into pieces and skin removed
2 onions chopped fine
3 tablespoons of ginger garlic paste
2 red tomatoes chopped fine
2 bunches of fenugreek leaves, remove the leaves, wash and chop
1/2 bunch of coriander leaves, chopped fine
green chillies chopped fine if you want it spicy
a pinch of Nitu Didi turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 tablespoon of oil
METHOD:
wash the chicken and marinate it in 1 tablespoon of ginger garlic paste and salt and turmeric powder while you proceed with the recipe. Chop the onions fine and put them in a pan together with the oil to sautee. When the onions start turning brown add the remaining ginger garlic paste and cook for a few minutes taking care the onion does not burn. Add the chicken pieces and cover the pot. Let the chicken cook and when it starts browning add the fenugreek leaves and cook it for a while. Add the tomatoes and the coriander leaves and the green chillies. Cover the pan and let it cook. If the chicken is still uncooked (which might just happen, depending on what kind of chicken you buy) just add some water and let it all boil till the chicken is cooked. Check for seasoning and correct. Serve hot with basmati rice or rotis.

Posted in Chicken, Gluten Free, Healthy Options, Low Cost | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

KORMA

Posted on March 26, 2012 by nituchugani

Korma is a real popular indian dish served in many restaurants. Its a creamy sauce flavoured with coconut and mild spices. Its nice and rich to serve in parties and many people just love it. Korma has coconut in it and it you dont like coconut you can try making it without coconut but then that will be more like a shahi sauce instead of a korma. The use of cream is also very common but i have made this “my ” way and have omitted the cream. If you want this dish more rich then you can always add a splash of cream to this recipe. The photo is of chicken korma but you can make it with any fish or meat or paneer or vegetables. The main thing is to learn the sauce which i am here to teach you. I would like to add this is one of the dishes i taught in my cooking workshop in Madrid and my students simply loved it …i hope you all love it too 🙂
INGREDIENTS FOR CHICKEN KORMA
250 grams of boneless chicken breast, diced and marinated in the following
1 cup of yogurt
3 cloves of garlic
1 small piece of ginger
put the yogurt in the blender with the ginger and garlic and blend. Add salt and marinate the chicken in this overnight
KORMA SAUCE:
1 tablespoon of ghee or butter ( i used ghee in the workshop to give it a restaurant flavour, but butter will do or even oil)
1 onion chopped fine
1 bay leaf
2 pieces each of Nitu Didi cardamoms and cloves
1 small piece of Nitu Didi cinnamon stick
1/4 cup of cashewnuts or almonds
3 tablespoons of tomato paste
200 ml of coconut milk
salt and red chilli powder to taste
coriander leaves finely chopped
a splash of cream if you want it nice and creamy
METHOD:
Sautee the onions in the ghee in a pan with the whole spices and salt. When its transparent and hasnt changed color add the cashewnuts and the tomato paste and red chillies if we want it spicy. Take it off the heat and let it cool a bit and put it in the blender till its all well blended. This is your basic korma sauce. You can add whichever ingredients you want to it. If youw ant to add cream it should be done at the end of the dish.
FOR THE CHICKEN KORMA
cook the marinated chicken over a grill till done. I also hold it over the flame for it to get that lovely charred taste . Cut it into pieces and add it to the korma sauce. Please do not over cook the chicken as it tends to get hard. I also add the chicken marinate to the korma sauce for extra flavour.
FOR MUTTON AND FISH KORMA: follow the steps as for chicken korma
FOR VEGETABLE AND PANEER KORMA:
marinate the vegetables and paneer as above and then cook them till half done. Finish cooking them in the sauce. You might need to add a bit of water for cooking the vegetables or for more gravy,

Another version of this …picture by Edna Bear..she used chicken with bones, barbecued it and put it into the sauce ! What a lovely idea..Ednas becoming very clever!!

Posted in Chicken, Indian Restaurant Dishes, Paneer | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

IDLI AND DOSAS

Posted on March 25, 2012 by nituchugani

Idlis and Dosas are soo popular in India and now worldwide! I am sure many of you have your own “recipe” for making these lovely light and fluffy idlis and crispy dosas. I was in Dubai and learnt how to make them from my dearest friend Sheena Shahani…her batter was 2 cups of rice, one cup of 1 urad dal and 1 cup of boiled rice and a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds. The dal was soaked overnight with the fenugreek seeds and so was the raw rice. The next day all is blended well and the batter is left to ferment. This recipe is Dipa Mowanis recipe with her very own pics. I am soo grateful to Dipa for actually taking the trouble to take pics and send us her recipe!!! Thank you soo much Dipa my love:)

Recipe of Dosa And Idlis ….
its the same
2cups of rice ( half Kilo )
1cup of Urad dal ( 250 grams )
soak them at night in water seperate
the next day grind separately with a bit of water
then mix both together and add salt and put into a container and leave it to ferment covered
for 24 hours in a warm place till it gets fluffy and increases in size
after that take a Idli recipent and pop a bit of oil and pour the batter
the idli maker sould be covered  and wait till its made…. the
batter should not  be very wattert it sould be thick open the cooker and
remover the ildlis with a fine knife and sever them with Sambar and cocnut chutney
or coriander chutney ,,,, hope you like it !!!
Posted in Everything Vegetarian, Floury Matter, Gluten Free, Healthy Options, Indian Restaurant Dishes, NO OIL RECIPES, Veg Starters, Vegan | Tagged | 6 Comments

SAMOSAS

Posted on March 24, 2012 by nituchugani

Who doesnt know or hasnt tried a samosa? I think its one of the most popular indian starters and all time favourite snack!!! Its the all time comfort food and people swear by it!
I have taken the ordinary samosa recipe up a notch by making the dough with tomato juice!!! I have a video tutorial explaining how to go about the dough and shaping the samosas so the recipe will just include the ingredients…the rest you can see on the video ok????
INGREDIENTS:
for the dough
500 grams of white flour
4 tablespoons of cooking oil
1.5 teaspoons of salt
tomato juice as needed to make the dough
FOR THE FILLING:
750 grams of boiled, peeled and chopped potatoes
300 grams of boiled peas (can use frozen)
1 onion chopped fine
1 tablespoon of Nitu Didi garam masala
1 tablespoon of Nitu Didi cumin powder
salt to taste
a pinch of Nitu Didi turmeric powder
chopped coriander leaves and green chillies to taste
oil for deep frying
METHOD:
make the dough using all the ingredients for the dough
FILLING:
mix all the ingredients for the filling and proceed to make the samosas as per the video tutorial

Posted in Everything Vegetarian, Floury Matter, Indian Restaurant Dishes, Low Cost, Veg Starters, Vegan | Tagged | Leave a comment