Creme Caramel / Caramel Custard

My son is having vacation from school and I'm trying to spend the maximum time with him nowadays. We both have manged to have structured a daily routine for both of us so that we can have our everyday run smoothly and less chaotic with lots of fun activities too.

I always feared making caramel and kept postponing this recipe for a very long time. But overcame the fear once I tried this dessert This is our family favorite dessert now which is made very often at home as its quite simple to make with all the ingredients usually available in most of our kitchens. It is very easy to make too - just have a little patience and be careful to not over-cook it. I just love the rich, silky and glossy form the custard turns out into after being baked in a water bath. As for the caramel, I do not like it dark as a little dark brown gives a slight bitter taste of caramel which I do not like at all., but you may choose to brown the caramel as per your taste and liking. You can make it for your weekend desserts or any special occasions.

Ingredients:-

• 8 eggs
• 1 ltr milk
• 10 tbsp fine sugar
• 6 tbsp sugar (for caramel)
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• few drops of yellow color

Method:-

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
• Melt sugar in a saucepan on slow flame. Cook stirring continuously till sugar dissolves and a light golden colour is obtained. Pour it into ramekins / baking dish or a bundt pan immediately and give it a whirl so that caramel is coated on the bottom and sides of the dish well. Keep aside.
• In a mixing bowl, add eggs, fine sugar, vanilla essence, and yellow colour. Beat well.
• Add to it milk and beat again.
• Strain the mixture in another bowl.
• Carefully pour this strained mix over the caramel.
• Place the baking dish into a larger baking pan filled with water halfway.
• Bake it at 180 degrees Celsius for 50 minutes to an hour.
• When it is done. Remove and cool.
• Chill in a refrigerator for atleast 12 hours.
• Loosen the edges, overturn and serve.

Notes:-

•  You can also steam it instead in a pressure cooker filled with water. Just make sure the container fits in the cooker well. Seal the container with foil and cover with a tight lid. Make sure no water enters the dish when the water boils. Once you hear the whistle, reduce heat and cook on slow flame for 15-20 minutes.
• Be careful that water should not dry while baking or steaming.
• Do not grease the mould / dish or else the custard will stick to it and break while overturning.
• There will be lots of caramel syrup when you overturn the dish.

Happy Baking!!

Sending this to:- Foodabulous Fest Event organised by SimplyTADKA & Rafeeda's Announcement Page and Shruti’s ‘Sweet Celebration’ Event and Pramitha love cooking celebrating 1st blog anniversary page and Srivalli's Kid's Delight Potluck Party and Amrita's Party Event  

My 100th post - A Guest Post from Nava : Orange Curry Leaves Chicken

I am soo happy today.. I can't believe that this is my hundredth post.. I never thought I would enjoy blogging soo much.. It’s been more than 5 months since I started blogging.. Although, I’ve not exactly been very regular at blogging for the past few weeks.. But with each passing day, I have learned soo much here.. I really love blogging now – making new friends who share the same passion with me and reading soo many amazing blogs..  Never thought I could be able to achieve this milestone.. 

There are soo many of my fellow bloggers and friends who have already crossed this path way ahead of me.. Now , I know what it feels like to be here.. I am soo proud of them and wish all my fellow bloggers lots of success and recognition always..  A BIG HUG! 

Thanks to my hubby for his motivation, my son for patiently waiting for his food, so that his Mom can take pictures for her blog first :D .. And, also such good, encouraging and supportive friends from this blog o’sphere..  I wouldn’t have been here without your love and encouraging words.. 

I would also like to thank my silent readers who keep visiting my blog. I really appreciate your visits. But would also be glad if you would say something or let me know what you felt about my posting.. It would definitely give me more confidence to write better each time.. 

Not to forget, my followers, people who are following me on GFC G+, FB, Pinterest, Twitter, Bloglovin, Networked blogs and Linkedin.. Thanks for reading all my posts and making your presence felt. 

I would also like to thank Pavithra, one of my co-bloggers who did a guest post for me when I completed 50 posts.. Pavithra, I really miss you dear.. Hope to see you back in action soon…

And last but not the least Padmini, who always tries my recipes and gets to me with her feedback.. I really appreciate it dear and want you to know that your response always makes me happy.. 

Thanks again everyone for being there with me throughout this journey.. Looking forward to share many more recipes with you all. 

Today, I have a special blogger on my blog as my esteemed guest.. The very well-known Nava of Nava-K. I am really in awe of Nava, her excellent writing and beautiful photography. She shares her love for beauty, travel and food. Everytime I see her posts, I wish if I could click such eye-catching pictures.. I asked her if she would be interested in doing a guest post. And I was soo glad that she agreed.. Thanks a lot Nava for sharing this amazing recipe with us..

Over to Nava:-

To start off, lemme me thank Nilu for the request of a guest post in her space. It’s definitely an honor which I couldn’t turn down because I value my friendship with fellow foodies. That said I have politely stayed away from invites on taking up cooking challenges. Basically it isn’t within my capacity and most importantly, I don’t have the time. My space is about recipes I cook for my family besides sharing other lifestyle contents like my food ventures, travel journeys and product reviews.

For me, everything revolves around time. I have enough to occupy myself but I can sneak 1 hour for blogging. I can’t explain how I do it but so far so good. As much as I was enthusiastic about sharing my recipe, I took a while to decide. I was confused but with my collection of recipes which is sky rocketing, I maneuvered easily.

“Orange Curry Leaves Chicken” is about marrying the Chinese and Indian ingredients. It’s one of my favorite, available among the rest of the dishes in Chinese chap fun or mix rice stalls. I don’t know what are the ingredients the stall owners add but from the taste, the prominent slanted towards fresh orange juice, curry leaves corn flour to thicken the sauce and in my invention, I combined chili flakes.

The flavors are very interesting, the sweet sour burst of orange juice, perfumed with curry leaves and the little dainty spicy tone.

Ingredients:-

For the chicken

400g chicken – cut into bite sizes

½ tbsp ginger paste

½ tbsp thick soya sauce

½ tbsp rice flour

1 tsp corn flour

Salt for taste (if needed because soya sauce can be salty)

** Mix and stir these ingredients together

For the sauce

¾ freshly squeezed orange juice

3 shallots – sliced thinly

½ inch ginger – sliced thinly

½ tbsp corn flour – dilute with water

3-4 sprigs curry leaves

¼ orange – sliced (optional)

2 tsp chili flakes (or as per taste)

Oil as needed

Sugar and salt – as needed

Method:-

Deep fry chicken pieces till crispy and crunchy.

Remove and keep aside.

Leave about 2 tbsp of oil in the same pan.

Saute shallots and ginger.

Pour orange juice in and add chili flakes, curry leaves.

Season with sugar and salt.

At the point sauce is bubbling, stir in corn flour bit by bit till sauce thickens.

Add chicken pieces and continue to stir to coat into the sauce.

Off the heat and combine in orange slices.

Thanks Nava, for taking some time and making this delicious Orange Curry Leaves Chicken for me. I’m sure all my readers would have loved it.. Hope to see more of your wonderful posts in the future :-)

Chocolate Cake

I made this chocolate cake yesterday. This is definitely the best chocolate cake I learnt from my sister 'S'. It is very easy and super fast to make with all the ingredients easily available at home. And the result is a moist, fluffy, perfectly light and soft cake. Again another favorite of my hubby and son and both of them were delighted to have this dessert after dinner.

Ingredients:-

• 1 cup levelled all purpose flour (maida)
• 1 cup sugar (powdered)
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup boiling water 
• ¼ cup refined oil
• ⅓ cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 egg

Method:-

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 
• Grease an dust a 9 inch baking tin and keep aside.
• Sieve together maida, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
• Add powdered sugar to this and mix well.
• Add egg, milk, oil and vanilla essence.
• Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
• Now add boiling water and stir well.
• The batter will be thin.
• Pour the mixture in the baking tin.
• Bake at 180 degrees Celcius for 30-35 minutes or until done.
• Cool completely on a wire rack.
• Remove the cake from tin.
• Cut in slices and serve.

Notes:-

• If you like your cake to be more sweet, you can add 1½ cup sugar instead of 1 cup.
• For simple icing:- double boil 100 grams milk chocolate with ¼ cup butter. Cool and use.
• If you are icing the cake, do not increase sugar.
• For the eggless version, just add ½ cup buttermilk instead of egg

Happy Cooking!!

Sending this entry to :- Breakfast recipes and My Bowl of Snack and Whats with my Cuppa 2 and Monsoon Temptations

Dahi Phulki / Lentil Dumplings In Yoghurt Sauce

I simply love dahi phulki and it is also a favorite recipe in my family. It is a simple yet delicious snack usually made during summer-time. It can be served as an appetizer or side dish to any meal. This is a traditional recipe passed on from my grandmother to my mother and now to me.

Ingredients for phulki:-

• 1 cup white urad dal (skinned black gram dal)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• ¼ tsp red chilli powder
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• pinch of cooking soda
• salt to taste
• oil for frying

Method:-

• Soak urad dal for 4-5 hours in enough water.
• Drain all the water from the dal and grind it along with black pepper and ginger.
• Grind it to a smooth paste using as little water as required.
• Add red chilli powder and cooking soda to the batter and mix well.
• Leave overnight for fermentation. 
• Add salt to the batter and whip it well.
• Heat oil in a wok.
• Drop dollops of the dal batter to the hot oil and fry the phulkis till light golden.
• Remove and keep aside.

For the yogurt Sauce:-

• 2 cups yogurt
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• ½ tsp red chilli powder
• salt to taste

Method:-

• Whisk yogurt along with cumin powder, garlic paste, red chilli powder,salt and ½ cup water.
• Add the phulki's to this sauce.

Ingredients for tempering:-

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 3 - 4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

Method:-

• Heat oil in a small saucepan.
• Add garlic and cumin seeds.
• Saute till light brown.
• Pour over dahi phulki's and serve.

Notes:-

• If you like the phulki's very soft, you may soak them in salted water for a few seconds and squeeze out the excess water before adding to the yogurt sauce.
• You can add chickpea flour (besan) instead of urad dal for instant phulki's. Make a batter of chickpea flour, salt, little red chilli powder and a pinch of cooking soda. 

Happy Cooking!!

Sending this entry to :- CWS–Urad Dal & Priya's CWS Page and My Bowl of Snack and Dish it Out – Lentils/Legumes and Vegetables and Mission Explore Food: Lentils & CookCookandCook & Thoushaltcook and Spotlight: Beans & Lentil

White Chicken Biryani

Biryani - The name in itself says that it is a royal dish among all the other rice preparations of India. It is served on all auspicious and special occasions. When it comes to Biryani, one can understand by the tempting aroma and fragrance of the dish, how much effort the cook has put into it. From the frying of the onions just to a particular golden colour, the proper usage of saffron, the cooking of the meat till tender, the addition of the spices and curd, the layering of the rice, putting the biryani on dum to the final serving of the Royal Biryani. There are many varieties of Biryani, but today I'd like to share my White Chicken Biryani with you all which is actually a combination of Dum Biryani and Yakhni Pulao.

Ingredients:-

• 1 kg chicken
• 2-3 onions (sliced)
• 4 potatoes (peeled & cut into big cubes)
• ½ kg rice 
• ½ cup oil    
• 1 tbsp cashewnuts (ground)
• 2-3 green chillies (ground to paste)
• 1½ tsp black pepper pdr
• 2 tbsp all spice pdr
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 cup yoghurt (whisked)
• ½ tsp saffron 
• 1 cup milk
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 bayleaf
• salt to taste

Method:-

• Deep fry onions in oil to a pale golden colour. Drain and keep aside.
• To the same oil add potatoes and fry on slow flame till tender.
• Wash the rice and soak in water for 15-20 minutes. 
• Boil water in a vessel along with cumin seeds, bayleaf and salt.
• Add the rice but remember to leave the rice slightly underdone.
• Drain the rice and keep aside.
• Add saffron to warm milk and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a wok and add to it chicken, ginger-garlic paste and fried onions. Mix well. 
• Now, add salt and black pepper pdr. Saute well for 5 minutes until the chicken becomes light brown in colour.
• Add all spice pdr, green chilli paste and cashewnut pdr. Mix well.
• Add ¾ cup water and simmer till chicken is tender. 
• When chicken is done, turn off the flame and add whisked yoghurt and fried potatoes. Mix well.
  
• Layer cooked rice on top of the chicken.
• Sprinkle the saffron milk on the rice.
• Cover and cook on slow flame for 5-10 minutes.
• Serve hot with salad or raita.

Notes:- 

• While frying onions, add a pinch of salt. This speeds up the frying process.
• You may boil the chicken a day before the cooking to make it easier the next day.
• Do not overcook the rice or else it will become mushy.

Happy Cooking!!