Garlic Bread

Rich , buttery garlic loaf made with baguettes. Herbed garlic butter spread on baguette slices and baked quickly for 10 minutes. Best served as a side / appetizer with a bowl of soup.

 

 

 

 

Recipe Source : http://www.fussfreecooking.com/recipe-categories/meatless-recipes/garlic-bread-a-simple-make-ahead-entre-or-side-dish/ 

Ingredients

• 1 French baguette
• 4 Tablespoons of salted butter at room temperature
• 6 Garlic cloves
• 1/4 Cup tightly packed cilantro leaves
• 1/2 Teaspoon red chilli flakes
• 1/2 Teaspoon Italian seasoning ( mixture of dried oregano + thyme + rosemary+ basil)
• salt to taste

Directions

1. In a food processor, add peeled garlic cloves and cilantro leaves and pulse it couple of times until the mixture is smooth paste

 

2. In a small bowl, add softened butter. Then add ground garlic cilantro paste to the butter
3. Add red chilli flakes and Italian seasoning and stir in. Season with salt if required

4. Using a sharp knife slice the bread into thick slices

5. Apply herbed garlic butter on both sides of the bread slices
6. Preheat the oven to 200C. Grease a baking tray and arrange the bread slices on the try and bake at 200 C for 10 minutes or until they are crispy and golden

7. Serve hot
 

Chocolate Chip Muffins

These are moist, delicious and perfect for breakfast / snack with a cup of chilled milk.

 

 

Recipe Source : http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/chocolate-chip-muffins-recipe/

 

Yield : 10 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 Cups All purpose flour
• 2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/3 Cup granulated white sugar
• 1/3 Cup brown sugar
• 1/2 Teaspoon salt
• 1/2 Cup melted unsalted butter
• 2 Large eggs at room temperature
• 2/3 Cup Milk ( I used full cream milk)
• 1 and 1/2 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/2 Cups milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease a muffin pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside
2. In a large mixing bowl, add all purpose flour, granulated white sugar, brown sugar, salt, baking powder and whisk. Set aside
3. In a separate mixing bowl, add eggs, milk, melted butter, vanilla extract and whisk gently until everything is mixed together
4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in the well. Mix / stir until everything is just combined
5. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill the muffin pan up to three fouths full. Bake at 180 C for 20 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean
6. Remove muffins from the pan after 5 minutes and then cool on a wire rack
7. Serve warm with a cup of chilled milk

Raw mango and pineapple relish / chutney

Sweet, tangy , spicy and chunky raw mango and Pineapple relish with ginger. I served this as a dip with Jamaican chicken drumsticks. You can  serve this relish as a dip with appetizers or as a side with flavoured rice. Spread it on brown bread or just eat it as such, its delicious !

 

 

Yield : 1 and 1/2 cups of relish

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Raw Mango chopped into small pieces / cubes
• 3 Pineapple slices chopped finely - about 1/2 cup ( I used canned pineapple slices in syrup. You can use fresh pineapple)
• a big pinch of salt
• a pinch of turmeric powder
• 1/3 Cup Jaggery ( Use brown sugar or granulated white sugar if you don't have jaggery. I had tried raw mango relish with granulated sugar and it tastes equally good)

For the tempering

• 1 Teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 Teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 Teaspoon urad dal
• One sprig of curry leaf
• 1/2 Teaspoon finely chopped ginger
• a big pinch of hing / asafoetida
• 2 Green chillies chopped finely

Directions

1. In a large pot add raw mango along with a pinch of salt and a pinch turmeric powder. Add 1/3 cup of water and cook for 10 minutes until the raw mangoes are soft
2. Using the back of the ladle , mash the mango
3. In a separate pot, add jaggery and 1/4 cup water and cook on low flame for 5 minutes until the jaggery melts. Filter the jaggery syrup to remove any impurities
4. Add this jaggery syrup to the cooked mango. Add chopped pineapple along with 1/4 cup of pineapple juice
5. Cook on low flame for 5 minutes until the pachadi reaches the required consistency
6. In a small wok/ frying pan, heat 1 teaspoon oil. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. when they splutter, add urad dal and fry until they are light golden
7. Then add curry leaves and fry until they are crispy
8. Add chopped green chillies and ginger and fry for 30 seconds
9. Finally add hing and switch off the flame. Add this tempering to the mango pachadi and give it a nice stir
10. Store in air tight container and refrigerate

Fried coconut rice with veggies

Jazz up vegetable fried rice with coconut milk. Long grain / basmati Rice cooked with coconut milk and then mixed with fried veggies in Schezwan sauce. This fried rice is spicy, sweet and so much flavorful. You can replace Schezwan sauce with dark soy sauce for a mildly spiced version of this rice.

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 Cup basmati Rice / long grain rice
• 1/2 Cup coconut milk
• 1 Cup water to cook rice
• Salt to taste
• 1 Tablespoon sesame seed oil
• 1/2 Tablespoon finely chopped ginger
• 1/2 Tablespoon finely chopped garlic
• 1 Teaspoon Schezwan sauce
• 1 Carrot chopped into small cubes
• 10 green beans chopped finely
• 1 Spring onion chopped finely
• 1/4 Cup fresh green peas ( thaw of frozen)
• 1 Spring onion greens to sprinkle

Directions

1. Wash basmati rice several times and soak it in regular tap water for 10 minutes. set aside
2. In a large pot, add 1 cup water and 1/2 cup coconut milk and salt to taste and bring it to boil
3. Add basmati rice and reduce the flame to medium. Cover the pot with lid and let the rice cook for 10 to 12 minutes until rice is cooked al dente
4. Using a fork gently toss the cooked rice and stir in 1 teaspoon of oil
5. In a skillet /wok heat oil. When the oil is hot, add spring onion, ginger, garlic and fry on high flame for a minute
6.  Then add carrots, green peas and green beans and fry on high flame for a minute
7. Add Schezwan sauce and fry for couple of seconds. Finally add cooked coconut rice and gently mix everything
8. Sprinkle spring onion greens and serve hot

Jamaican Chicken

Have book marked this recipe for Jamaican chicken from 'Sprinkles and Sprouts' and wanted to try it. I had all the required ingredients for the marinade except Scotch bonnet peppers. I used byadagi chillies instead and the chicken turned out super delicious. Chicken drumsticks are marinated overnight and then oven roasted to perfection. It was mildly spicy, little bit sweet, moist and crispy. Kids loved it with mint cilantro dip. I am definitely making them again for the Friday dinner. A must try !

 

 

Recipe Source : http://www.sprinklesandsprouts.com.au/jamaican-chicken/ 

Ingredients

• 6 Chicken drumsticks
• 1 Spring onion
• 1/2 Inch fresh ginger piece
• 4 Garlic cloves
• 3 Dry red chillies
• 1 Teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 cup tightly packed cilantro leaves
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 Teaspoon organic honey
• 2 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• Salt to taste
• 1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves for garnish
• Lemon wedges/ slices to serve

Directions

1. In a food processor, add ginger, garlic, dry red chillies, spring onion, stalks of cilantro leaves, dried thyme and process until the mixture is smooth paste
2. Then add fresh lemon juice, honey, oil and salt and pulse it couple of times until it is blended well
3. Add the chicken drumsticks in a large zip lock bag and pour the marinade we prepared at step number two
4. close the bag and mix everything such that drumsticks are well coated with the marinade
5. Original recipe says refrigerate for 4 hours or over night. However I put the marinated chicken drumsticks in the freezer overnight. You can refrigerate overnight as per original recipe
6. If you are freezing , then next day morning thaw chicken and bring it to room temperature
7. Preheat the oven to 200C. Grease a large baking tray / pan and arrange the chicken drumsticks on the tray
8. Drizzle little bit of oil over the drumsticks
9. Cover the baking pan with aluminium foil and bake at 200 C for 15 minutes
10. After 15 minutes, reduce the oven temp to 180 C and bake for 30 minutes more with aluminium foil on
11. Then remove the foil, flip the chicken sides and bake at 180 C for 20 minutes
12. Check if the chicken is cooked through
13. Later turn the broiler mode on and roast chicken quickly for 1 or 2 minutes until you have a nice char on them. Keep an eye while they are under broiler. They tend to burn easily
14. Remove the chicken from the oven. Immediately cover the chicken with aluminium foil to seal in the juices. Otherwise chicken might dry out too quickly
15. After 10 minutes, remove the foil and serve chicken hot. Sprinkle with cilantro leaves and serve with lemon wedges

Eggless coconut cookies

Crispy, buttery cookies loaded with desiccated coconut and topped with crispy coconut flakes.

 

Yield : 14 Cookies
Recipe Source : http://www.spiceupthecurry.com/eggless-coconut-cookies-recipe/

Ingredients

• 3/4 Cup All purpose flour
• 1 and 1/2 Teaspoon Corn flour
• 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• a big pinch of salt
• 1/4 Cup desiccated coconut + 2 Tablespoons to top the cookies
• 1/3 Cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/2 Cup Icing sugar  / confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160 C /  320 F
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside
3. In a large mixing bowl, add all purpose flour, baking soda, salt and corn flour. Mix everything
4. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar together until the mixture is creamy and pale
5. Add vanilla extract and stir in
6. Now  add the flour mixture to the butter and using a spatula mix everything. This mixture will be quite dry
7. Using hands, bring together the mixture in to a ball
8. Divide the ball into 14 equal sized balls
9. Gently flatten the balls and press desiccated coconut in the center of each cookie
10. Arrange the cookies on the lined cookie sheet and bake at 160 C for 25 minutes or until the edges are crispy and golden
11. Let the cookies cool in the sheet for 10 minutes, then remove them and cool in a wire rack
12. Store in airtight container
 

Pan seared chicken

Chicken marinated in yogurt with Indian spice mixture, pan seared and simmered in chicken broth. Flavorful, moist and crispy chicken! Best served as an appetizer with your favourite dip. I served it with mint cilantro yogurt dip with naan.

 

 

Ingredients

• 500 grams Chicken cut into small cubes ( I used bread pieces)
• 2 Tablespoon plain natural yogurt / curd
• 1 Teaspoon finely chopped ginger
• 1 Teaspoon finely chopped garlic
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 Teaspoon red chilli powder / red chilli flakes / paprika
• 1/2 Teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon garam masala
• 1 Tablespoon rice flour
• Salt to taste
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/3 Cup chicken broth
• chopped cilantro leaves to garnish
• lemon wedges to serve

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, add yogurt, ginger, garlic, chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, salt to taste.
2. Sprinkle lemon juice and mix everything
3. Add chicken pieces and mix to coat chicken with the yogurt spice mix
4. Sprinkle lemon juice and gently toss
5. Cover the chicken with plastic wrap and refrigerate for atleast 2 hours. After 2 hours, if there is any water inside chicken, drain water completely. sprinkle rice flour to the marinated chicken and toss/ mix gently
6. In a large skillet, heat oil. When the oil is hot, reduce the flame to medium and add chicken pieces in the skillet
7. Increase the flame to high and fry the chicken 4 minutes. Then flip sides and fry for 4 more minutes until chicken browns nicely and has a nice crust
8. Add 1/3 cup of chicken broth / water and close the skillet with lid and let the chicken cook on medium flame for 10 minutes or until the water evaporates and chicken is cooked through
9. Increase the flame to high and cook chicken for 5 minutes until the chicken turns crispy and has nice golden color
10. Transfer chicken to the serving dish and squeeze juice of half lemon and sprinkle chopped cilantro leaves
11. Serve hot with lemon wedges and sliced onion