Banana Bread

Ingredients:

1 tsp baking powder
4 number Bananas
100 grams butter salted or white butter
4 cup Maida
as needed salt
1 tsp soda baking
1 1/2 cup sugar
few drops vanilla essence

Directions:

1. Take a bowl mash bananas make a paste add vanilla essence.
2. In another bowl add butter, salt pinch ,sugar mix well, now add the banana mixture mix well again.
3. In another bowl add maida, baking soda, baking powder mix well
4. Now add maida mixture to Banana and butter mixture mix well to avoid lumps.
5. Take a cake mould grease the tray with butter and sprinkle maida pour the batter into it and preheat the oven 325 F cook for 45 min

Eggless RedVelvet Cupcakes

 

Ingredients:

 

All-purpose flour--------------- 1¼ cup

Castor sugar------------------- 1 cup

Cocoa powder------------------ 2 tbsp

Baking powder------------------ ½ tsp

Baking soda-------------------- ½ tsp

Salt----------------------------- ½ tsp

Milk----------------------------- 1 cup

Vinegar------------------------- 1tsp

Oil------------------------------ ⅓ cup

Red food colour----------------- as needed to make the batter bright red

Vanilla Essence------------------ 1 tsp

 

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder.
3. Add in sugar and give it a good stir, till everything mixes well. Set aside.
4. In another small bowl add vinegar to (room-temperature) milk and set aside for 5 minutes or until milk curdles.
5. Once it curdles, stir in oil, red food colour and vanilla essence.
6. Now take the flour plus sugar bowl and make a whell in the centre, pour in the liquid ingredients and stur gently.
7. Beat for only 30 seconds, do not over beat it please. Otherwise your cup cakes will not be fluffy and moist.
8. Once it's silky smooth, pour into 12-14 cup cake cases and bake for 15-17 minutes, depending on your oven.
9. Once done, check if the toothpick inserted in the centre of the cup cake comes out clean or has one or two cooked crumb on it.
10. Leave them in the pan for 3-5 minutes and then lift and gently place them on a wire stand.
11. Cool completely before icing.

 

Fruit and Nut Cookies

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 cup
Cornflour - 2 tbsps
Butter - 1/2 cup, room temperature, softened
Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup 
Salt - pinch
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp 
Dried fruits and nuts - 1/4 cup each of finely chopped raisins, dried cranberries, pistachios, almonds

Method:

1. In a bowl, add the softened butter, powdered sugar and salt and beat till light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract, cardamom powder and lemon zest and mix well.
2. Add the flour and cornflour and mix to make a soft dough. Add the finely chopped dried fruits and nuts and mix well.
3. At the time of baking, pre heat oven to 160 C and remove the dough from the freezer. Unwrap and slice the dough into 1/4" slices and place them on a parchment paper or aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Place them at least an inch apart as they expand on baking.
4. Place baking sheet in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 13-15 mts or until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Choco-Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cups All purpose flour (Maida)

3/4 cup Unsalted butter

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp Baking soda

1 tsp Vanilla extract

a pinch of Salt

3 tblsp  Cooking oil

1 cup Semi Sweet Chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat the oven for 350 deg F. Butter should be at room temperature.
2. In a large mixing bowl beat Butter and Sugar until it is fluffy. 
3. Slowly add Flour,Vanilla extract, Baking soda, Salt & Cooking oil. Mix well till it forms a soft dough. It should not stick to your hand or bowl.
4. Add Chocolate chips and mix gently.
5. Make small balls of the dough and place them on a ungreased cookie sheet, each ball should be at least 2 inches apart.
6. Bake for 8- 10 minutes, once you notice that they have turned light brown at the edges, take them out & leave them on the sheet until they cool. Then transfer them to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Note : If the mixture is dry, you can add little Milk. If its wet, add little more Flour

Semiya Kesari

Ingredients:

Semiya/ Vermiselli 1/2 cup
Water 1 cup
Sugar 1/2 cup
Cardamom Powder  - pinch
Ghee 4-5 tbspn
Cashew Nuts 6-7
Orange Food Colour pinch

Method:

1. In a pan add 2 tsp of ghee and fry the cashew nuts into golden brown.
2. Bring the water to boil in a saucepan.
3. Keep it aside and add the vermicelli | semiya to this. Slowly add the boiled hot water to this and cook the semiya in low flame.
4. Let the semiya gets cooked completely and let all the water gets absorbed and add sugar.
5. After adding sugar, the mixture will be bit watery. This will come to normal texture when you stir for sometime.
6. Add in the fried cashews, ghee and cardamom powder. Let the ghee starts oozing out and switch off the flame.
7. Semiya kesari is ready to serve now.

Simple Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup  sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
3 cups grated carrots
few chopped walnuts

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C
2. Powder the sugar as a fine powder.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and sugar. Add the oil and eggs, mix until blended, then stir in the carrots and nuts. Divide the cake mixture evenly between the two prepared tins.
4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven. A skewer inserted into the cake should come out clean. Cool cakes on wire racks before removing from tins.

Poha Laddu

Ingredients:

Aval/Poha - 1 cup
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder -1/4 tsp
Cashew nuts -3-4 (break it into 3-4 pieces)
Raisins - 10
Hot melted ghee - 3-4 tbsp

Method:

1. Dry roast poha a little or until it is hot to touch. Do not over roast or brown it. After it cools a little, grind it to a fine powder and keep it aside.
2. Grind sugar to a fine powder.
3. Heat a tbsp of ghee and fry cashew nuts first. When it starts changing color, add raisins and fry a little. When it puffs up switch off the flame. 
4. In a bowl, mix together, ground poha, sugar, cardamom powder, cashew nuts and raisins along with that 1 tbsp of ghee.
5. Mix everything first. Then add more ghee little at a time. When you are able to make laddus out of the mixture, stop adding ghee. Grease you hands if required with ghee and make laddus from the mixture.
6. Delicious and healthy Aval laddu is ready

Sunundalu

Ingredients:

 1 cup black gram lentil (without husk)
 1 tbsp raw rice
 1 cup granulated sugar
 1/2 cup ghee/clarified butter

Method:

1. Dry roast raw rice in a vessel till red on low to medium flame and remove. Now dry roast black gram on a low to medium flame till deep red and till you get a nice aroma, which could take at least 18-20 minutes. You should keep stirring the dal while dry roasting, lest it burns. Remove and allow it to cool. Blend both the raw rice and black gram to a fine powder. Keep aside.
2. Blend the sugar to a fine powder. Keep aside. Heat ghee till it melts. Do not over heat. Keep aside.
3. Shape into round balls of the size of a big lime. The ghee should be just enough to hold the powders together and not drip while making balls.
4. Stored the sunnundalu in an air tight container. Stay fresh for at least 2 weeks.

Bottle gourd halwa

Ingredients:

• 2 piece Cardamoms(powdered)
• 5 number cashew nuts
• 3 tsp Ghee
• 1 cup koya
• 500 ml Milk
• 10 piece raisins
• 500 grams seedless white gourd
• 1 cup Sugar

Method:

1. Peel and grate bottle gourd.
2. Take a pan add Ghee,cashew nuts,raisins,mix it well tll they change the colour, then add grated bottle gourd and mix it.
3. Let it cook for 5 to 10 min in slow flame and keep mixing it.
4. Then add Milk stir it.
5. Now add sugar to it and mix then add Koya to it,keep mixing for 5 min your halwa is ready.

Sabudhana Kheer

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sabudana (sago)
3 cups milk
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp sliced pistachios
4-5 cashew nut chopped
1/4  teaspoon cardamom powder

Method:

1. Wash & soak sabudana (sago) in about 1/3 cup of water for at least 2 hour. Sabudana will soak up most of water, become light & fluffy.
2. Boil the milk in heavy bottom pan & let it boil for 8-10 minutes, stir occasionally so milk does not burn in bottom of the pan. Add sabudana & cook until it is soft & has become translucent.This should take about 4-5 minutes. 
3. Now add sugar, cardamom, saffron & boil for 2-3 minutes. Stir it
4. Also add chopped cashew nuts & almond. boil for 2-3 mins. Turn off heat
5. Shift the kheer in a serving bowl and can be served hot or chilled.

Banana Cake with Wheat Flour

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 1 and 1/2 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup (Melted)
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp
Bananas - 3(Mashed)
Sour Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp
Eggs - 2
Sugar - 1 cup (Powdered)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Whisk the egg and add sugar powder, vanilla essence and mashed bananas.
3. Sift together wheat flour,baking powder, baking soda and mix gentle with the egg, sugar, sour yogurt and bananas mixture 
4. Pour the banana cake mixture into the baking tray and bake it for 25 - 30 till nice golden brown color come out on top

Ragi Halwa

Ingredients:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup ragi flour
1 cup ghee
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/4 cup cashew nuts( fried in ghee)
1-1/2 cups water

Method:

1. Melt the ghee in a heavy bottomed pan on medium heat; add both the ragi and wheat flours into the ghee and stir them along with the ghee on low heat until you get a roasted aroma.
2.  In another sauce pan; dissolve the water and sugar. Stir in the cardamom powder to this. 
3. After about 10 minutes and the roasted aromas come out, add in the hot sugar water mixture to the four mix and stir continuously for about 2 minutes or till the water is all absorbed into the flour.
4. Once absorbed, add a tablespoon of more ghee and keep stirring for another 5 minutes until you get the flavors and the right texture.
5.  Turn off the heat, transfer to a serving bowl and serve the Ragi Halwa with the cashew nuts

Rava Kesari

Ingredients:

1 cup sooji/semolina/upma rava
1 1/2 cups sugar (adjust to suit your taste)
2 1/2 cups water
4 tbsps melted ghee/clarified butter/neyyi
12-15 cashew nuts/kaju/jeedi pappu
15-20 raisins/khis mish
3/4 tsp cardamom powder

Method:

1. Heat a heavy-bottomed vessel, add 2 tbsps of melted ghee, add cashew nuts and raisins and toast them till golden brown. Remove them and keep aside.
2. In the same ghee, add sooji/semolina and fry till light pink approx for 6 mts. You have to constantly stir it or else it will burn. Turn off heat, add sugar and mix.
3. Add water and cook on slow flame stirring constantly. It will come together like a thick pudding. It will take approx 8-10 mts to cook on slow flame.
4. Add half of the roasted nuts and raisins and mix. Cook on low flame for another mt. Add 2 tbsps of warm ghee and mix. Turn off flame, remove onto a serving bowl.
5. Garnish with the remaining nuts and raisins and serve warm.

Pongali (Pongal)

Ingredients:

1 cup raw rice
1 liter Milk
1 1/4 cup grated or powdered jaggery
5-6 cardamoms (powdered)
10-12 cashewnuts
8-10 raisins
2 tbsp ghee

Method:

1. Boil the milk
2. Wash rice and add to milk once the milk is boiled and cook at slow flame.
3. Cook jaggery in half cup of water till it dissolves completely.
4. Add the jaggery to the cooked rice after the rice is completely cooked in milk and cook on low flame for few minutes. Turn off heat.
5. Heat ghee and add the cashew nuts and raisins and fry till brown and add these along with the ghee to the sweet pongal. Now add the cardamom powder and mix well.
6. It can be served hot or cold.

Semiya Payasam

Ingredients:

1 cup Vermicelli

3/4 cup Water

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Milk

3-4 Cashew nuts

7-8 Raisins

2-3 Cardamom

Method:

1. Saute the vermicelli in ghee till it turns brown.
2. Boil water in another vessel..
3. Put vermicelli in boiling water and cover it, stirring occasionally.
4. After the vermicelli becomes soft, add the sugar stirring continuously.
5. Dissolve in the milk and add this to the vermicelli.
6. Powder the cardamom and add it to the mixture.
7. Flavor the desert with fried cashew nuts and almonds.
8. Simmer the vermicelli for about two minutes. Your delicious payasam is ready to be served .

Rava laddu

Ingredients:

1 cup sooji/upma rava/semolina
3/4 cup sugar (increase according to your choice)
1 tsp cardamom pwd
few cashewnuts
few raisins
3 tbsps ghee
few tbsps milk

Method:

1. Heat a pan, add a tbsp of ghee and toast the cashewnuts and raisins till golden brown. Remove from pan,  keep aside.
2. In the same pan, add the sooji and roast it for approx 7-8 mts till a nice aroma emanates the kitchen and it turns a light brown shade. Remove from pan and keep aside.
3. Take a vessel, add sugar, cardamom pwd, roasted sooji and remaining ghee and combine well. Sprinkle  few tbsps of milk and mix till it forms a crumbly mixture.
4. Using both your hands, form small ladoos and top with a roasted cashewnut and raisin. While shaping the laddos be careful such that the mixture stays together. Initially the laddu might tend to break hence be gentle and place the laddu carefully on a plate and it will harden in a few minutes.

Gulab Jamun

Ingredients:

Khoya / Kova (unsweetened) 1 cup 

Maida/ All purpose flour 3 tblsp 

Sodium bi carbonate (cooking soda) 1/8 tsp 

Elachi/ cardamom 2 

Sugar 1 & 1/2 cups 

Water 1 & 1/2 cups 

Saffron (optional) Few strands 

Rose essence (optional) 2 drops 

Oil/ vanaspathi/ Ghee As need for deep frying 

Method:

1. Bring khoya to room temperature if its frozen. Crumble it with your hands and measure it. Take khoya, maida and cooking soda in a mixing bowl. Mix well.
2. Slowly add water (add carefully as less is needed) and make a smooth dough without any cracks. No need to knead hard, just gather with your hands so that it forms a smooth dough without lumps. Keep aside for 5 mins and make equal sized balls. I made 27 out of it as I made it small. The balls should be smooth outside, but do not roll so tightly applying pressure. Just roll softly but until smooth.
3. Meanwhile prepare the sugar syrup with water, sugar, powdered elachi and saffron, bring to boil and boil for 8 minutes to 10 minutes in medium flame.
4. Mean while you can fry the rolled jamuns. Bring oil hot, not smoking hot, but hot enough to fry the jamuns. Keep in low flame and add the jamuns and keep rolling the jamuns gently with the use of the ladle inside the oil so that it gets evenly cooked and fried to deep golden brown in colour. Fry only few at a time, dont dump the jamuns so many in oil.
5. Drain in kitchen towel and immediately add it to hot syrup. Let it get soaked well. Add essence lastly if desired.