Stuffed Buns

I had bookmarked these yummy buns @ yummy team’s blog right when they posted it. I never knew baking buns and bread is so easy. There are very few chances of any flops if you have some active yeast. They came out really well and AJ was happy to finish it especially since it had chicken filling. Thanks to Yummy team and Maria and Ria for this wonderful recipe.

Ingredients for bun:

All purpose flour                --    3 cups

Yeast                                --    3 tsp

Salt                                   --    1 tsp

Sugar                                --    2 tbsp + 1 tbsp

Water                               --    2 tbsp

Egg                                   --    1 + 1 (egg white only)

Milk                                  --    1 cup

Butter                                --    4 tbsp + 1 tsp

Sesame seeds                    --    to sprinkle

 

Ingredients for filling:

Chicken breasts                 --   3 -4

Onion                                --   1 medium

Green Chillies                     --   2 

Ginger Garlic paste            --    1 tsp

Turmeric Powder               --    ¼ tsp

Chilly Powder                    --    ½ tsp

Coriander Powder             --    ½ tsp

Garam Masala                   --    ½ tsp

Pepper Powder                 --    ½ tsp

Salt                                    --    to taste

Oil                                     --    as required

 

Preparation of filling:

Cook chicken pieces with salt, turmeric powder and half of pepper powder. Add water if required. Water will come out of the chicken pieces. Shred the cooked chicken, or slightly grind it in your mixer.

 

Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onion, green chillies, ginger garlic paste and salt. When the onions are translucent, add chilly powder, coriander powder and garam masala and sauté it well for 2 minutes in low flame.

 

Add the shredded chicken to the masala mix, then add pepper powder and mix well.

 

Preparation of buns:

Dissolve yeast and 1 tbsp of sugar into the warm water. Make sure that the water is just warm. Hot water may kill the yeast. Keep it aside until it forms froth and rises.

Mix the salt, sugar, milk, 4 tbsp of butter and one egg with half of the flour. Knead well and slowly mix the rest of the flour until you get a soft dough.

Grease a big bowl with butter, place the dough in it and keep it covered for 2 -3 hours until it doubles its size. Greasing the bowl will prevent the dough from sticking on to the bowl.

 

Divide the dough into equal sized balls. Flatten them, add the filling and shape it into a ball once again. You can flatten them in your hands itself. I used the plate just for the sake of a click.

 

Whip the egg whites until they are frothy. Apply the egg wash on each ball and sprinkle some sesame seeds on it.

 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F and bake the buns for 20 – 25 minutes or until it turns brown. Mine was ready in 20 minutes.

Serve hot.

This goes to YeastSpotting for this week.

Varutharacha Chicken Curry

Friends.. I have updated the tips on the curry leaves with a new tip and also have added a replacement for the  coriander-chilly powder mix. Please check here.

Ingredients:

Chicken                                --    ½ kg

Potato/Raw banana              --    1 medium size

Finely Chopped Onions        --    1 big onion

Ginger garlic paste                --    1 tbsp

Green chillies                        --    3 -4

Tomato                                --    1 medium size

Turmeric powder                  --    ½ tsp

Coriander – Chilly powder mix        --    2 -3 tbsp

Cloves                                  --   3 - 4

Cinnamon                             --   1 medium piece

Coconut                               --   ½ of medium size

Mustard seeds                      --   ½ tsp

Curry leaves                         --   1 stem

Coriander leaves                  --   2 -3 stem

Red chillies                          --   2

Small onions (Shallots)         --   2

Ghee                                  --    2 tbsp

Salt                                     --    to taste

Preparation of Chicken Curry:

Add the chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, diced raw banana/potato, green chillies, ginger   garlic paste, cloves, cinnamon, curry leaves, turmeric powder, coriander-chilly masala powder, tomato and salt to the chicken and mix well. Keep aside for 15 - 20 minutes.

 

Fry the shredded coconut and grind it to a fine paste/liquid form. (See here)

Cook the chicken on a medium flame. Add water only if required. 

 

Once the chicken is 90% cooked, add the ground coconut and let it boil. Add water if more gravy is required.  Add the coriander leaves.

 

Fry the mustard seeds, chopped shallots and red chillies in ghee and garnish the curry. Serve hot.

A New Venture & Few Awards

I was away from active blogging for one week and sorry friends that I missed out many of your recipes. Trying to get hold of everything very soon.

I just forgot about facebook n blog n twitter n orkut and was completely into my new project - Crocheting. The craziness that we show, when we re-start doing something  after a long time. I am pretty sure that I'll be back to my routine, of course charting a separate slot for crocheting too. Just can't wait to show you few pics of my project on its way - The clicks are not up to the mark as I shot them late night. Shall have a detailed post with the guide and measurements and better clicks as soon as I finish it.

It is so sweet of my friends, that they passed me few awards. Thanks a lot dear friends, for choosing me. Ayesha of  'Taste of pearl city' passed me the "Loving Blogger Award "

As per the rules I have to share this with three other fellow bloggers. I've chose
1. Adukkala Visheshams : They have a wonderful blog with variety of recipes. I love the way they explain each recipe
2. Shab's Cusine: Whenever I visit Shab's, I bookmark one recipe there. There are many in my bookmarks and I'll be trying out each and everyone. Her recipes reminds me of the food I used to have from friends place (May be nadan muslim food) and I love them. She has a wonderful space with amazing clicks. I love the initial write up there and the way she explains the recipe with exact measurements. 
3. Collaborative Curry: I started following them very recently and I am really sad that I missed it till now. But I am now browsing through their archives for the wonderful and delicious recipes they have in their space. I love their simple template and their awesome clicks get a great background there.

Neethu of 'Kitchen Express' and Sree of 'Sree's Recipes' passed me the versatile blogger award. 

As per rules I have to pas sthis on to next 15 fellow bloggers. I would like to pass this awards to :


Sarah of Vazhayila
Maya & Lakshmi of Yummy Team
Suji & team of Kairali Sisters
Suja of Kitchen Corner
Mallugirl of Malabar Spices
Nisha of Look who's cooking too
Maria of Maria's menu
Manju of Mirch Masala
Beena of My kitchen
Suhaina of My Singapore kitchen
Pan Gravy Kadai Curry
Vrinda of Sankeerthanam
Varsha of Will-O-The Wisp
Priya of Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes
Chaithra  of Aadhithyam

I would have listed all the fellow bloggers if I had an option.

Beef Pickle

I am not a person who is fond of pickles. I do not like the hot tangy taste of it. But when it comes to something non-veg, the story is different. If I have a bottle of pickle on my dining table, then why should I worry about another non-veg dish for the meal? That makes my work easier.

When I came here in Dec, I had loads of fish pickle which we finished in a month and from that day onwards AJ was asking me to prepare some pickle – either fish or chicken or beef.  Every time I get something for the pickle and end up in preparing something else with that. Finally we got some beef, and I grabbed a bigger pkt so that I don’t miss the pickle this time J

Ingredients:

Beef                                       --   ½ kg

Chilly powder                        --    3 tsp (adjust according to the hotness required)

Garlic                                    --    10 – 12 cloves

Ginger                                   --    1 big piece

Fenugreek                             --    ½ tsp

Asafoetida                             --    ½ tsp

Curry leaves                           --   2 springs

Mustard Seeds                       --   ½ tsp

Vinegar                                  --    5 tbsp

Sesame Oil                            --    7 tbsp

Salt                                        --    to taste

Preparation of Beef Pickle:

Cut the beef into cubes and wash them at least 5 – 6 times under running water.

Marinate the beef with salt, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp chilly powder, 2 tsp coriander powder, 2 tsp of garam masala and ½tsp ginger garlic paste. Keep aside for 15- 20 minutes.

Pressure cook it for 5 -6 whistles without adding water. Water will ooze out of the meat.

Empty this into a pan and cook on a low flame until all of the water evaporates. Add 2 tbsp of oil onto the beef and fry well. Keep aside

 

Crush the ginger and garlic and keep aside. Make sure u doesn’t grind them.

Add rest of the oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds. Add the crushed ginger garlic and fry until they turn light brown. Add the chilly powder and turn off the flame. 

 

Then mix the vinegar and the curry leaves. Add the fried beef and mix well. Powder the fenugreek and the asafoetida and add to the pickle.

Let it cool and store in an air tight container.

Chocolate Almond Layer cake

I am so happy to present my 50^th post. Never thought I could achieve this in 5 months. I would like to thank all my fellow bloggers, friends and family for your continuous support and encouragement.

Here is the other cake which I had made to celebrate the birth of our nephew. This is also from Passionate about baking, with a lot more changes from the original recipe.

Ingredients for cake:

All purpose flour                  --    ½ cup + 1/8 cup

Cocoa  powder                      --    ½ cup

Icing Sugar                           --    1 ½ cup

Eggs                                       --    6 big eggs separated

Vanilla extract                      --    1 tsp

Ingredients for filling:

Whipping cream                    --    1 cup

Icing Sugar                             --    4 – 5 tbsp

Slivered almonds                  --    100 gms. This would be sufficient to decorate the sides as well.

Ingredients for Ganache icing:

Whipping cream                    --    ½ cup

Dark chocolate                       --   150 gms broken into pieces.

Instant coffee                         --    1 tsp

Preparation of Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare a 9 inch pan lined with butter and dusted with flour. You can either use 2 pans or prepare this in one single pan and cut horizontally. I had 2 pans and so baked together.

Sift the cocoa and the flour.

Separate the egg white and yolks. Beat the egg whites till they stand soft in peaks. Keep aside.

 

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until they form a thick mixture.

Gently fold a third of the flour mixture, then a third of the egg whites. Repeat until all the flour mixture & egg whites have been incorporated.

 

Divide the batter equally and pour into the prepared baking pans. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the centre of the cake.

If the cake has a bulge on the top, cover the cake with a clean, wet kitchen towel and gently press it downwards, so that u get a flat cake. This helps during icing the cake.

Cool in the tin for 10 minutes and let it cool completely o a wire rack.

Preparation of filling:

Whip the cream and sugar until soft. Fold in almonds or nuts if you wish to. (I used plain cream and did spread the almonds over it on the cake.)

Preparation of Ganache:

Keep the chocolate pieces in a heat proof bowl. Boil the cream in a sauce pan. Do not let it foam and rise. Pour it in to the bowl with chocolate and mix them well using a whisk. Add the coffee powder and mix well.  Keep it aside and let it cool. This mixture thickens as it cools. If it thickens more than the spreadable consistency, slightly heat it in the microwave.

Assembling & Decorating the Cake:

Prepare a cake board. I used a card board, cut it into shape and covered it with foil paper.

Take a bit of the whipped cream filling on your knife (which I used instead of the angled spatula) and spread it in the centre of your board. This is done to stick the cake on to the board. Place the first cake on the board.

Evenly spread the whipped cream on the cake. Drop in few slivered almonds on the top of the spread cream.

 

Place the next cake over the icing. Now you have a sandwiched cake. Let it set for a while. You can keep it in the refrigerator for 15 – 20 min. (optional).

Now comes the decoration part. I spread the rest of the whipped cream on the sides of the cake using the spatula and stuck the slivered almonds on the sides using a fork.

Pour the Ganache slowly on top of the cake and let it slightly drip through the sides.

The light brown balls what you see on the sides are small meringues.

Ingredients:

            Egg white                  --   1 medium size

            Powdered sugar       --   ¼ cup

            Cocoa powder           --    1 tsp.

Preparation:

Beat the egg whites until they are soft. Add in the sugar a spoon at a time and beat until they are well combined and let them form stiff peaks.

Fold in the cocoa powder. Fill the mixture in the piping bag/ Ziploc cover and pipe out required shapes on a greased foil/parchment paper.

Bake in a preheated oven @ 200F for 45 – 50 min. Keep an eye and make sure they are not burnt. The time depends on the thickness of the meringues. 

            The next I did was spread some grated almond milk chocolate in between the  meringues.

Finally, made the rose in the middle of the cake. Mix icing sugar into the left over whipped cream until you get a dough consistency. Sorry that I did not notice the exact measure as I did not have an idea of making a rose. That was just a trial which was a success. Make petals out of the dough and let is set and cool in the refrigerator for atleast an hour.