Banana walnut loaf

            Have you noticed that the best aroma is that of a banana loaf baking. Infact the bananas smell so delicious themselves that there isn’t even the need to put any essence.   Another point which goes in favour of banana loaves is that they taste good even if one takes them out straight from the refrigerator.  And a combination of walnuts and bananas is the ultimate.

         Here is a simple yet delicious banana loaf recipe for you.

Ingredients:

1.         Three to four over ripe bananas about 300 grams in weight in total

2.      125 grams salted butter at room temperature

3.      150 grams demerara or brown sugar

4.       250 grams all purpose flour

5.       1 teaspoon baking powder

6.       ½ teaspoon baking soda

7.       2 medium eggs

8.      ¼ cup thick curd

9.       One eighth cup ( I just took half the ¼ cup ) warm water

10.            100 grams chopped walnuts

Method:

1.    Sift the flour and the baking powder and baking soda.

2.    In the food processor or blender jar or with an egg beater whip the butter, sugar  and eggs.

3.    Add the flour , peeled bananas ,the curd and warm water all in one go and mix till well blended.

4.    Fold in the walnuts.

5.    Pour the batter into a nine inch loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180° for 60 minutes.

Stir fried potato and peas

Potato and peas curry is known to most of us, but have you ever tried  eating the combination of delicious potatoes and fresh peas by simply stir frying them with a combination of the simple and basic spices commonly found in the Indian kitchen. Give it a try....I am confident that my snaps are self explainatory...so just for this one time...lets skip the narration...

Prawn Biryani / rice with stir fried prawns

If there is a quick biryani then there is  the 'prawn biryani', and if there is a quicker way to make prawn biryani , I hope I have hit on the quickest, simplest and yet delicious "prawn biryani". This quantity of Prawn biryani is more than sufficient for two adults.

Lets get going quickly by marinating 300 grams of prawns or approximately one cup heaped with one heapful tablespoon of ginger garlic paste, two tablespoons of lemon juice, half a teaspoon of chat masala, one level teaspoon Kashmiri red chilly powder, half teaspoon garam masala and  half a teaspoon of salt .Just mix all the wet and dry ingredients with a spoon and gently marinate the prawns .Keep it aside for atleast half an hour.

 Soak one cup rice .

Blend  two medium tomatoes,one cup coriander leaves ( 25 grams approx)  one green chilli and one teaspoonful ginger garlic paste. 

Take about 5 tablespoon sunflower / groundnut oil in a heavy bottomed pan and when the oil gets warm, add the spices like cumin seeds , a few cloves, two inch piece cinnamon stick and two badi elaichi.Stir for about half a minute and  follow it up  by two medium sliced onions. Stir fry the onions till they turn golden brown.

Pour in the paste and on medium flame keep stirring till the mixture leaves oil , about 7- 10 minutes.

Drain the rice and add to the mixture and stir fry for about five minutes, follow up with  two cups of water and salt to taste and let the rice cook completely.

Take two - three tablespoons of sunflower/ ground nut oil in a separate pan and stir fry two medium capsicums chopped into one inch cubes till they are still a little crunchy.

Remove from the pan and add the prawns to the same pan , stir fry and cook in the same way like I have mentioned in the prawn tikka masala except that here we are not to dry them completetly. The prawns should be cooked but the masala should not be completely dried , you could keep sprinkling a little water in between your stirring to ensure that.

Now your rice is cooked in one pot and the prawns in the other.

Just mix the rice, prawns and the capsicum and gently toss them and serve with raita.

 How to cook a quick meal

Give me a good chopping board and a good knife and I will chop quintals of vegetables in a matter of minutes.

Many friends have asked me how I go about the daily routine of making food and I will explain it keeping the basic North Indian meal as an example.

      First things first…I believe in having good tools for any job and I would fain do with sharpest knives  and a convenient chopping board.

Infact I have recently bought a new set of knives and a real handy chopping board.

So I have my vegetables all washed and scrubbed and the tools in order on the work top .

I place the pot on the gas with the required amount of oil and while the oil or butter or ghee is becoming warm, I quickly peel and chop the onions.

    I add them to the pot and while they are turning pink or golden brown or dark brown as the recipe requires , I keep stirring in between and chop the vegetables.

     On the other stove I place a smaller pan for the “dal ka tadka”.

I chop the onions and tomatoes and keep them aside and begin the tadka as well.

         Simultaneously  the onions for the sabzee are done and then  I put the masalas followed by the  vegetables and cover .

       I have the vegetables and the tadka cooking and while that’s happening I have to be around  to stir and toss in between so I knead the dough , arrange the washed utencils , wash the pulses/ dal in the pressure cooker itself , just wipe off the  working top, wipe the masala containers which tend to get messy etc etc.The dal tadka gets done soon,  and then  I place the pressure cooker on the stove.

       So  you see that in the span of 30- 45 minutes I have made one complete meal and tidied up my kitchen as well.The rotis are best served hot so either they are prepared while the family is on the dining table, to serve them hot hot or sometimes prepared in advance and kept in a hotpot or casserole.

     Thats the easiest  and quickest I could make it seem and trust me its a lot more intersting and easier than that.

   Happy simple cooking!!!

Almond cake

I just love this Almond cake because it reminds me of sunny winter days.

We will begin by measuring 100 grams of almonds and powder them in a dry grinder.

Then we move on to  100 grams butter at room temperature and 150 grams castor sugar.

Cream the butter and sugar or if you are in real hurry then add the three eggs right away and get a nice creamy batter.

Sift 50 grams  flour , almond powder and one teaspoon of baking powder.

Add  the flour mixture one tablespoon  at a time to the egg mixture and beat gently with the hand or your egg beater. Add a teaspoon of vanilla essence.

Spoon the batter into your baking dish and decorate with halved almonds.

Bake at 180 degrees for thirty minutes.

Enjoy the cake with a hot cup of tea or coffee

Baked egg delight

Baked Egg Delight

 Baked Egg Delight , this colorful and delicious dish is so simple to make that its unbelievable and the best thing is that you can play around with the ingredients and alter and substitute a few and  get a different and amazing flavor each time.

Ingredients for Baked egg delight:

1. Three to four slices of a little stale bread
2. two tablespoons crushed garlic
3. 5 tablespoons olive oil and more to drizzle later
4. half cup each of sliced mushrooms and  chopped capsicum
5. a few sliced mushrooms to decorate on top
6. one medium tomato chopped fine
7. half a teaspoon black pepper
8. half a teaspoon oregano ( dried)
9. about half a cup or more of grated cheddar cheese
10. three large eggs
11. a little extra olive oil for drizzling on top

Baked Egg Delight

You could use butter in lieu of olive oil , any other bread in place of the white loaf , red and yellow bell pepper in place of the regular green capsicum , cherry tomatoes in place of the regular tomatoes , you could add a dash of tobasco , you could replace oregano with fresh coriander or parsley , add garlic salt and red pepper flakes in place of black pepper….I mean just do any thing that suits your taste or your style. You could add chicken shreds and sausages , use mozzarella or parmesan....just keep trying a lot of variations and get a different tatse every time.

Baked Egg Delight

• Lets begin by placing three slices of a day old bread kept in the refrigerator overnight in the well greased flat baking dish. The whole idea is to have a little dry bread so that it will soak in a lot of the egg and still be a little firm so that the slices cut well. Read on you will soon understand what I mean.

•  Crush some garlic with a mortar and pestle , use as much as you like, I have used about two tablespoons of crushed garlic.

•  Take about five tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and add the garlic to it. Keep the gas flame at medium.

•  Stir for about a minute to get rid of the raw smell of the garlic and then add half a cup each of chopped mushrooms and capsicum , one small tomato chopped fine. Stir fry for another minute and then add half a teaspoon of black pepper and oregano each.

• Pour half of this mixture over the slices and make sure that the bread slices get drenched with the olive oil.

•   Put some grated cheddar on top .

• Place another three slices on this layer and again follow up by the rest of the vegetables and the cheddar. Drizzle some more  olive oil if you feel that the bread is looking dry.

• Place some more mushrooms cut lenthways .

• Beat three eggs with half a teaspoon of salt and slowly pour the eggs over the arranged slices. Be careful lest the egg might spill off.

• Preheat the oven to 180° and bake for 28 to 30 minutes.

Baked Egg Delight

 Tastes best when it is served immediately. I recommend having "baked egg delight " for breakfast , but I guess i would be a good choice as a comfort food for dinner too.

Baked egg delight