Tip of the Week

Cold eggs are easier to separate than warm eggs.

To achieve maximum volume when beating eggs, have them at room temperature.

Potatoes Biscuits

Ingredients

1. 2 boiled Potatoes

2. 2 cups of all purpose flour / maida

3. 3 tsp of baking powder

4. ½ tsp of seasoned salt / ½ tsp of onion salt

5. 3 tbsp of butter

6. ½ cup of milk

7. ½ tsp of red pepper

8. ½ tsp of toasted cumin seeds

Directions

1. Preheat the oven at 450 F

2. In a chopper mash the potatoes with butter

3. Mix Flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and cumin seeds.

4. Mash them well and make the dough by adding milk little by little.

5. Now flatten the dough upto ½ inch thick sheet.

6. After that cut the small biscuits with cookie cutter.

7. Now lay them on greased sheet.

8. Bake them until they turn golden brown in sides or till 20-25 minutes.

9. Serve these crispy cookies with tea or coffee.

10. You can also make it as a little snack like spread the hummus on biscuits.

11. Garnish with cilantro leaves and sliced black olives.

-Chitra

Tip of the Week

Freshness Test for an egg: Place an egg in water mixed with a little salt. If the egg is fresh it will sink. The quicker or farther it sinks, the fresher it is. If the egg floats, it has spoiled.

Tip of the Week

For all of you bake a lot, this is useful one. Sometimes when you bake with egg, cakes or cookies smell like egg. For this add one tbsp. of honey while beating or making the flour dough. It will also be good substitute for sugar. If you want to use honey instead of sugar, you have to check the measurements.

Honey one of natural sweetener, consists of several components: fructose, glucose, maltose and sucrose. It is 25 to 50% sweeter than sugar, and has a distinctive flavor. The flavors and colors of honey can vary depending upon the bees' diet--buckwheat honey, for example, is darker and stronger than clover honey. Baked goods made with honey are moist and dense, and tend to brown faster than those made with granulated sugar. Use ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon honey in place of 1 cup sugar, and reduce the other liquid ingredients by 2 tablespoons. Unless the recipe includes sour cream or buttermilk, add a pinch of baking soda to neutralize the acidity.

Brownie Biscotti

This semi-homemade biscotti is worth a try. Its amazingly good with coffee and tea or even iced tea.

Ingredients

1. 1 Pack of Brownie Mix (Chocolate Cappuccino)

2. 2 eggs

3. ½ cup of sliced almonds

4. 1 ½ cup of all purpose flour

5. 1 stick i.e. ½ cup of butter or margarine melted (unsalted)

6. ½ cup of chocolate chips (optional)

7. 1 tsp of vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven at 350.

2. In a mixing bowl add flour and brownie mix ( I used Archer Farm’s Chocolate Cappuccino flavor with chocolate chips)

3. Add chocolate chips and almonds, sift it.

4. Now in a separate bowl add butter and eggs and whisk.

5. Then add vanilla extract to egg mixture.

6. Now add wet ingredients in dry slowly and mix with hand or mixer.

7. Mix it well to the extent of firm dough.

8. Form it in a ball and cut in two halves.

9. Now take the first half and make it as vertical stick and press it lightly to form a long thin rectangle.

10. Do it for the second and place both of them on baking sheet on the parchment paper or foil.

12. After baking it for 30 minutes remove them from oven and let it cool for 6-8 minutes.

13. Now cut them diagonally for about 1 inch.

14. Place them on the baking sheet again and bake them for another 10 minutes.

15. Now turn off the oven and let the biscotti’s sit there in warm oven for about 30 minutes. This will crisp the biscotti’s.

16. Take them out now, and cool them for 2 hours before serving.

17. Store in air tight container and serve with coffee and milk.

-Chitra

Tip of the Week

Whenever you cook your red meat (mutton) add a piece of pineapple and a piece of raw papaya, in this way it will be cooking fast and soft and adds different natural sweet flavor to it.

Velvet Mashed Potatoes with Read Beans

Ingredients

1. ½ cup of medium boiling potatoes

2. ¾ cup milk

3. ½ pack of cream cheese (cubed and softened at room temperature)

4. ½ cup of butter (softened at room temperature)

5. ½ tsp of salt

6. ½ tsp of freshly grounded black pepper

7. 1 tbsp of finely chopped dill.

Directions

1. Peel the potatoes and cube them and keep them in bowl.

2. Heat 2 cups of water and boil it.

3. Add 1 tsp of salt and add potatoes.

4. Cook them on medium heat for 30 minutes or till tender.

5. In a large bowl add the boiled potatoes and mash them very well.

6. In a separate bowl add milk, butter, cream cheese, dill and salt and pepper.

7. Now start adding the wet ingredients in potatoes by stirring well in between to make the mashed potatoes light and fluffy.

8. Put the mashed potatoes in centre of plate and pour the beans soup all over it.

9. I used the beans soup which I had some leftover from my lunch; you can make any gravy item for this like chicken soup of vegetable soup or serve like that also as a side with grilled fish or chicken.

-Chitra

Tip of the Week

For keeping paneer in refrigerator for longer time, cut in smaller pieces and add warm water. Keep on changing water every day. By this way you can store for 4-5 days.

Mung Daal Pakoras/Green Gram fritters

Ingredients

1. 1 cup of mung daal / split green gram lentil soaked for 30 minutes – 1 hour

2. Salt to taste

3. A pinch of turmeric

4. 1 tsp of eno fruit salt (if you cannot find from any Indian store let the batter ferment overnight)

5. 5 green chilies

6. 1 grated reddish with its leaves / mooli

7. ½ cup of chopped fresh mint leaves

Directions

1. Grind the soaked daal and make it thick batter add water if it is really thick.

2. Add salt to taste, turmeric and eno while grinding so that it mixes well.

3. In the mean while in a deep dish pan add 3 cups of oil for frying the fritters.

4. Now when the oil is hot take a small ice cream scooper (1 tbsp size) and dip in warm water.

5. Keep on dropping the batter in oil. Do small batches. Keep dipping scooper in warm water in between so that batter does not stick so much.

6. Now dip green chilies in the batter and fry them too.

7. Serve them hot with grated reddish and chopped mint leaves on sides and spicy mint chutney and some sweet chutney.

-Chitra

Tandoori Chicken Kebabs

Ingredients

1. ½ kg of boneless , skinless chicken pieces thoroughly washed

2. 2 tbsp of tomato ketchup

3. 3 tbsp of hung curd

4. 2 tbsp of tandoori chicken masala / chicken masala

5. Salt and red chili powder to taste

6. 1 tbsp of mango/amchoor powder

7. 1 tbsp of cilantro/dhaniya leaves chopped up

8. 1 tbsp of ginger and garlic minced

9. ½ cup of lemon juice

10. 2 tbsp of oil

Directions

1. In a zip lock bag add all the dry spices and shake it well.

2. Pierced the chicken pieces well with fork for all the spices to blend in.

3. In the zip lock bag add ketchup, curd, ginger garlic, and oil and lemon juice.

4. Shake it well and then add chicken pieces.

5. Toss it well with tongs and let it marinate for 4-8 hrs or overnight.

6. Preheat the oven at 350 for 10 minutes.

7. Take the foil paper and set the grill on it.

8. Take out the chicken and let it sit on grill for 5 minutes so that juices come down on foil paper.

9. Now grill the chicken for 40-50 minutes, until it is golden brown.

10. Serve hot with pudina/mint chutney, onion rings and lemon wedges.

-Chitra