Brown Sugar and Oatmeal Banana Bread

Very recently I came across a very gorgeous looking Banana Bread with a lovely almond mocha crumble dressing in Super chef’s blog http://superchef-mirchmasala.blogspot.com/2009/02/banana-bread-with-almond-mocha-crumble.html . Ooo! I was drooling…lol. The post had a link to a wonderful site dedicated to Banana Breads http://www.banana-bread.biz/banana-bread-with-pecan-coffee-crumble/ To begin with I wanted to try something very simple and basic before baking the banana bread with almond mocha crumble. And so I ended up baking Brown Sugar and Oatmeal Nut Bread. I religiously followed the recipe without making changes of any sort. The only change was that I baked the bread in a cake tin as I didn’t have a loaf pan. The recipe required an hour of baking but it took me only 35 minutes ( I used exactly half of the quantity mentioned in the original recipe). The result was great. My heartfelt thanks to Superchef!

Click here for the recipe http://www.banana-bread.biz/brown-sugar-oatmeal-banana-nut-bread/

The third pic from the top is for Gayathri's MCC http://justurs.blogspot.com/2009/02/magnificent-click-contest-2009.html

Egg Curry - The Bengal Style

The egg curry recipe which I am posting today is the Bengali style , which is made almost every other day in Bengali households, though there may be slight changes in the ingredients. I learnt this curry from my husband S. He is a fantastic cook, and can dish out some really mouth watering recipes. I’ll post many more of S’s recipes in the near future. Here’s the recipe for the egg curry.

Ingredients:

4 eggs, boiled and shelled
3 small potatoes, boiled, peeled and diced
1 medium sized tomato, finely chopped

1 tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp tomato ketchup
4 tbsp oil
1 bowl of water
Salt to taste
Sugar a pinch


For the masala paste:

Ingredients
1 tsp oil
1 big onion, sliced
2 cloves
3 garlic cloves
1” piece ginger
1-2 small pieces of cinnamon
3 elaichis


Method :

Step – 1

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and add all the masala ingredients and fry for about 7-8 minutes on a medium flame. Put off the flame and let it cool for a while. Then grind all the ingredients into a smooth paste by adding enough water. Once it’s done set it aside.

Step – 2

In a kadhai heat 4 tbsps of oil and shallow fry the eggs and potatoes, one after the other (don’t put both together) till they become golden brown. Place them on tissue paper to absorb excess oil. You have to be a little careful while frying the eggs.
Keep the fried eggs and potatoes aside.

Step – 3

In the same kadahi, heat oil (used for frying eggs and potatoes) add turmeric and red chilli powder, when the oil starts to bubble add the ground masala paste and sauté for about 7-8 minutes. Next add the chopped tomatoes and ketchup to the masala and stir for sometime. Then add water, eggs, potatoes, salt, and sugar to the curry. Mix all the ingredients gently. Cover and cook for about 10-12 minutes by stirring occasionally. Put off the stove and garnish with chopped coriander. Serve hot with roti or rice.

The last two pics are for Gayathri's MCC http://justurs.blogspot.com/2009/02/magnificent-click-contest-2009.html

Wheat flour Modak

Ingredients:

For the modak -

1 cup wheat flour

1 cup water

1 tsp oil

pinch of salt

For the filling:

1 cup grated coconut

1/2 cup grated /powdered jaggery

1/4 tsp ealichi powder

Method:

Preparing the filling:

In a saucepan melt the jaggery and add the grated coconut, elaichi.

Continue stirring till the water from the mixture evaporates, till the mixture becomes quite dry.

Switch off the flame and keep the mixture covered and set it aside.

For the outer covering of the modak:

Take water in a kadhai and heat it. When the water comes to a boil, add salt and oil and switch off the flame.
Add the wheat flour (atta) to the water and keep stirring to ensure that no lumps are formed. As you keep stirring, after a while, you will get a dough which is neither too sticky nor too dry.
Now keep the dough in a covered vessel and wait for it to cool down.

Transfer the dough onto a flat surface.

Grease your hands with oil/ghee and knead the dough to make it more softer.It is best to make modaks when the dough is slightly warm.

Divide the dough into small, equal portions and roll each portion into a palm sized,thin puris.

Put 1 tsp of the filling in the centre of the rolled out circles (puris)

Apply oil on the outer edge of the circle (puri) and fold/pleat on all sides.

Bring the folds/pleats together on top and seal it to form a peak.

The completed modak looks like a whole garlic pod.

Place the modaks on a greased plate without touching each other.

Steam it for 15 minutes.

Serve the modaks hot with a drizzle of ghee.

Rich Milk Kheer

Ingredients:

2 teacups milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup basmati rice, soaked in water for about 20 minutes

8 almonds, soaked in warm water for 10 mts, peeled and ground into paste

few strands of kesar soaked in 2 tsp milk

2 heaped tsp rice flour, dissoloved in 3-4 tsp milk

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

Method:

Pour the milk in a kadahi, when it begins to boil add sugar and stir till it dissolves completely.Drain out the water and add the rice to the milk and continue stirring for a few seconds. Next add the rice flour paste, almond paste, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, cinnamon powder and keep on stirring for a few seconds. Finally pour the kesar dissolved milk and cook the kheer on low flame till the rice is fully cooked. Serve the kheer hot or chilled.

Home made Rava Idli

Ingredients:

1 cup roasted rava (semolina)

2 cups curd

1 tsp baking soda

salt to taste

Tempering:

1 tsp mustard

1 tbsp urad dal

1 tbsp chana dal

1 tsp grated ginger

1 cup grated carrot

1 medium onion, chopped finely

1 tsp green chillie, finely chopped

1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing)

1 sprig curry leaves

To Garnish:

Finely chopped coriander and grated coconut.

Method:

In a large bowl add curd,rava,baking soda and mix well so that no lumps are formed.Keep it aside.

In a kadhai, heat oil and fry all the tempering ingredients along with onions and carrot for a few minutes.Put off the flame add the curd -rava mixture and salt to it and mix well. Next, pour the mixture into greased bowls and steam it for about 10- 15 minutes.

Garnish the idlis with chopped coriander and grated coconut and serve it hot with ketchup or chutney of your choice!!