CRUNCHY COCONUT COOKIES

These coconut cookies are really crunchy, tasty and delicious; made from simple pantry ingredients which are easy on budget.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup Self Raising Flour (Maida)
175 gm Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 Egg
1 Cup Grated Coconut
150 gm Butter

METHOD:

Preheat oven at 180 C / 350 F for 10 minutes.
In a glass bowl, cream together butter and sugar with a hand blender, till fluffy.
Add egg in it and blend till light and fluffy.
Shift together flour, baking powder and grated coconut. Fold this mixture in the butter mixture. Refrigerate for 30-40 minutes.
Divide the dough into equal portions and make small balls. Flatten the balls and arrange them on the baking tray lined with baking paper.
Bake for 22-25 minutes till light brown.
Let cookies cool down on the cooling rack.

Serve or store it in a air-tight container.
Enjoy this delicious, crunchy, munchy coconut cookies....

NOTE: These cookies really spread while they are baking. Make sure to leave plenty of room on the tray.

RUI MACHER POLAO (ROHU RICE)

After a long gap, today I come here with a super delicious Bengali delicacy "Macher Polao" (fish in rice), which I made with Rohu, a fish of sweet water. I told earlier also, 'Bengali meal is incomplete without fish'. In this cuisine, you can get variety of fingerlicking good fish dishes. Rohu Rice is delicately cooked with basmati rice, rohu fish and spices, which is ever yummilicious and mouthwatery, just tryout and relish! 

INGREDIENTS:

400 gm Rohu Fish / Rui Mach (cleaned, washed and cut into 4 pieces)

1&1/2 Cup Basmati Rice (washed and soaked in water for 30 minutes)

1 Bay Leaf

1 tsp Ginger Paste

1 tsp Red Chilli Paste (or as desired)

3/4 Cup Thinly Sliced Onion

3 Pods of Garlic (finely chopped)

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

1/2 tsp Garam Masala Powder

(Dry Roasted & Pounded Spice Mixture of green cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, clove, caraway seeds & white pepper)

4-5 tsp Clarified Butter (ghee)

Salt to taste

Cashewnuts & Raisins As Required

2 tsp Sugar

2&1/2 Cup Warm Water

Oil for Deep Frying

METHOD:

Wash rice and soak it in water for 30 minutes.

Marinate fish with salt and turmeric powder for 15-20 minutes. Deep fry fish pieces and keep those aside.

Heat 2 tsp clarified butter (ghee) in a deep frying pan. Add chopped garlic, saute for 20 seconds, then add sliced onion. Fry till onion turns into golden brown.

Add bay leaf, chilli paste, ginger paste and 1/4 tsp garam masala powder; saute for 2 minutes on medium low heat. Mix fried fish pieces into this spice mixture and fry for another 2-3 minutes, remove from pan and set aside.

Add remaining 2 tsp clarified butter (ghee) in the same pan. Add 1/4 tsp garam masala powder, turmeric powder, cashewnuts, raisins, rice and salt in it. Fry for 2-3 minutes on low heat.

Add warm water in it and give a nice stir. Higher the flame till it starts to boil. Simmer the stove, cover and cook exactly for 15 minutes.

Switch off the heat now. Arrange fried fish pieces, sugar and onion mixture on the top. Cover it for another 10 minutes.

Serve warm with any curry or raita. 

Enjoy this lucious essence of Bengal, "Macher polao" (Rohu Rice)!!!

APPLE CHEESE CAKE (BAKED VERSION)

This baked apple cheese cake is really yummy and easy to make. Light and flavourful baked cheese cake topped with caramelized apple wedges. Raisins added some extra flavour to it. The simplicity makes this cake so special. I only had single slice left of the cake to take the final pic. Guess how delightful this cake is!!!

INGREDIENTS:

FOR CRUST:

20 gm / 0.7 oz Butter (Softened)
120 gm / 2.1 oz Orange Wafers

FOR CHEESE CAKE:

1 Apple, Cut into 8 Wedges
113 gm / 4 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese
70 ml Whipping Cream or Fresh Cream
2 tbsp Self Raising Flour (Maida)
40 gm / 1.4 oz + 1 tbsp Sugar
1 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
2 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice
10 gm / 0.35 oz Melted Butter
1 tbsp Raisins

METHOD:

Line a square pan with parchment paper / Baking paper.
Place all orange wafers in a ziploc bag. By using your hands smas it nicely.
Add 20 gm butter and mix it thoroughly. Press firmly by using the bottom of a glass on the prepared pan with parchment paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until set.

Preheat oven to 180 C. Beat softened cream cheese in a bowl. Add Sugar in it. Blend again.
Add beaten egg and whisk the mixture well. Pour whipped cream and mix nicely.
Add lemon juice, vanilla essence and shift flour in it. Add melted butter in this mixture and fold well.
Pour the mixture onto the pan above crust.
In the mean time, heat a pan. Arrange apple wedges on it. Sprinkle 1 tbsp sugar. Heat both sides of the wedges, so that apple glazes well. Remove from pan and place the glazed apple pieces on the top of the cake batter now. Sprinkle raisins on the top.
Put the cake pan on the oven and bake exactly for 40 minutes. Allow to cool to the room temperature and refrigerate for atleast 3 hours before serving.

Cut into bars and serve!!!!

DAHI WALA MURGH (CHICKEN IN YOGURT)

This is a classic and gorgeour Punjabi dish, usually served as a main course. A spicy and a super delightful Indian style chicken curry which is very flavourful and luscious. The main ingredient is yogurt, chicken slowly cooked in yogurt gravy. Trust me, it is just fabulous!!!

INGREDIENTS:

1 Kg Chicken, Cut In Bones (Cleaned and washed)
4 Medium Tomatoes
2 tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Coriander Leaves (Cilantro)
1 tbsp Garlic Paste
1 tbsp Ginger Paste
1 Cup Thick Yogurt (Curd)
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1&1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder (Or as per taste)
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1 tbsp Dried Fenugreek Leaves (Kasuri Methi)
1 tbsp Coriander Powder
4 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste
FOR GARNISHING:
2-3 Green Chillies, Cut Into Slits
1 tsp Ginger Julienne
Few Sprigs of Coriander Leaves (Chopped)

METHOD:

Boil tomatoes for 10-15 minutes on medium heat. Let those cool and remove skin. Make puree from these skinless tomatoes and keep it aside.
Heat oil in a wok, when oil is enough hot, add chicken pieces and fry for 6-8 minutes or till chicken turns into golden brown. Remove pieces from the oil and set those aside.
Add cumin seeds followed by ginger-garlic paste on the same oil and saute for 4 minutes till ginger-garlic turns into light brown in colour.
Now add all the dry spices, i.e. turmeric powder, red chilli powder, faram masala, salt and coriander powder in the same oil.
Saute for a minute and then add tomato puree in it. Keep stirring for 4 minutes on medium flame, you can see oil leaves from the spices.
Pour yogurt on it and cook for a while.
Add fried chicken pieces, mix well. Cover and cook for 20 minutes on medium low heat. Add kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves), fold well and switch off the heat now.

Garnish with green chillies, julienned ginger and coriander leaves.
Serve warm with naan, paratha, chapati or any rice dish, it is always delicious!!!

CREAM CHEESE CHICKEN

So many favourite ingredients and flavours - chicken, cream cheese, garlic and parshley; all things are easy to make a fingerlicking good chicken dish. I explore it in my kitchen, a real delicious and quick recipe, your family will absolutely love it.

INGREDIENTS:

1 kg Chicken, Cut into medium sized pieces
1 Whole Lemon (juice)
2 tbsp Garlic Paste
3 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp + 1 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp (hipped) Minced Garlic
3 Medium Onion (chopped)
1 Cup Chopped Tomato
2 tsp Crushed Black Pepper
1 Cup Cream Cheese (I used Mascarpone Cream Cheese)
2 tbsp Dried Parshley
1 tsp Sugar
2-3 tbsp Finely Chopped Cilantro / Coriander Leaves
1 tbsp Chilli Flakes
Salt to taste

METHOD:

Clean and wash chicken pieces. Drain water completely.

Marinate Chicken with garlic paste, lemon juice and salt. Keep it in refrigerator for atleast 1 hour.

Heat 3tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp butter in a pan / wok. When butter melts completely, add minced garlic and chopped onions in it, fry lightly for 2 minutes.

Add marinated chicken pieces in it and fry well for 12-15 minutes.

Mix tomato and black pepper. Saute chicken and mix everything lightly for 3-4 minutes on medium heat.

Add cream cheese and fold well. Mix parshley, salt and sugar with it. (While adding salt, just keep it in mind that cream cheese also contains salt. Stir lightly.

Sprinkle remaining 1 tbsp butter and cilantro on the top and switch off the heat now.

A real toothsome, fingerlicking good cheesy chicken is ready to serve now. Serve warm with toasted bread, or as a side with pasta, rice or any Indian flat bread........it is always yummilicious!!!

CONDENSED MILK ORANGE CAKE

Coming to the Shhhhh... Cooking Secretly Challenge which started by Priya Suresh akka from Priya's versatile recipes. The mission of this event is to know the fellow bloggers more mutually and share the cooking ingredients and cooking experience with her. As this the first challenge of this event and my co-blogger partner is noone rather than Nirmala Gurunathan, a wonderful co-blogger friend and a foodie writer of Nirmala's Kitchen. My secret ingredients were condensed milk and flour, I used both of the ingredients here to make this mouthwatering cake. It was really very dense. It had a good flavour, but you really do need to serve with whipped cream and fruit or simply sprinkle icing sugar on the top. 

INGREDIENTS:

14 oz / 400 gm Condensed Milk
1 Cup Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
15 gm or 1/4 Cup Melted Butter
4 Eggs
1 tbsp Orange zest
1 Orange, cut into round slices and de-seeded
2 tbsp Roughly Chopped Walnuts
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 tbsp Sugar

FOR GARNISHING:

1 tbsp Icing Sugar
Few Walnuts
Few Fresh Cherries

METHOD:

Grease and floured a 9" cake pan.

Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F. In a large bowl, well combine condensed milk, flour, baking powder, melted butter, eggs, 1/2 tsp vanilla essence and orange zest. Add walnuts in it, fold again.

Pour the batter on the cake pan.

In the mean time, heat a non stick pan. Arrange round slices of orange on it. Sprinkle sugar and remaining vanilla essence on it. Heat both sides of the orange pieces, so that orange glazes well.

Place the glazed orange pieces on the top of the cake batter now.

Put the cake pan on the oven and bake for exactly 40 minutes (time may little varry from oven to oven). Let it cool down on wire rack. 

Sprinkle icing sugar on the top, garnish with with walnuts and cherries. Serve and enjoy this toothsome delicacy!!!

CHITTAGONG CHICKEN

Here is a Bangladeshi dish, where chicken cooked in thick Chittagong style gravy. This flavourful chicken curry which is not only appealing to the eyes, but also a toothsome dish. Spicy, rich chicken gravy can be paired with vegetable fried rice, rotis, naan, dosa or appam. But I love to pair it with steamed rice only....trust me, its yummilicious.

INGREDIENTS:

500 gm Chicken with bones (cut into medium sized pieces)
2 Medium Onions (finely sliced)
1 Onion (paste)
6 Cashewnuts (soaked in 2 tbsps warm water and made a paste)
1/2 tsp Whole Coriander Seeds
1/3 Cup Mustard Oil
300 ml warm water
Salt to taste

FOR KADAI MASALA:

2 tsp Coriander Seeds
3-4 Dried Whole Red Chillies

FOR MARINATION:

2 tsp Garlic Paste
5 Medium Pods of Garlic
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Mustard Oil
Kadai Masala

METHOD:

HOW TO MAKE KADAI MASALA:

Dry roast red chillies and coriander seeds. Stir it from time to time until smell fragrant. Then let it semi cool and grind it to a coarse powder.

HOW TO MAKE THIS CHICKEN CURRY:

Clean and wash the chicken. Marinate chicken with all the spices mentioned on the above marination list. Cover and keep it in refrigerator for atleast 1 or 2 hours.

Heat oil in a kadai, add sliced onion and fry till it turns into golden brown. Add onion paste and fry for 8-10 minutes on low to medium heat.

Now add marinated chicken and fry on medium heat for 15-20 minutes or tilloil comes out from the sides. Add salt and keep stirring for 2 minutes.

Add warm water, stir well and cook it covered on low heat for 30-40 minutes or the gravy thicken and chicken is tender. Open the lid now, add cashew paste and coriander seeds. Fold well. Cook for another 2 minutes.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

SUBZ MURG

I gave an authentic Bengali touch (as I used mustard paste and poppy seeds paste) in regular vegetable chicken. You may use any combo of veggies which are abundantly available in your pantry. This nutritious and delightful dish, featuring chicken, is a great way to incorporated more veggies and less meat into your family's diet. A low fat chicken dish with colourful vegetables, is so simple yet flavourful and sound delicious for ginger, garlic and mustard paste. 

INGREDIENTS:

250 gm Boneless Chicken Breast, Cut into 1" Cubes
2 Carrots (roughly chopped)
1 Green Bell Pepper (cubed)
7-8 Florets of a Cauliflower
10-12 French Beans (1" sliced)
6 Broad Beans, Cut into Halves
1 Large Onion (roughly chopped)
2 tbsp Plain Yogurt / Curd
1 Bay Leaf
1/2 tsp Minced Garlic
1 tsp Ginger Paste
1 tbsp Mustard Paste
1 tbsp Poppy Seeds Paste
3 tbsp Oil
2 Green Chilies, Cut into Slits
1/2 tsp Sugar
Salt to taste
1 tbsp Finely Chopped Cilantro For Garnishing

METHOD:

Wash chicken very nicely, marinate chicken with yogurt and little salt, mix well. Set it aside for an hour.
Heat oil in a wok. Fry all vegetables (except onion) seperately. Drain and keep those aside.
Heat remaining oil on the same wok. Add bay leaf, followed by garlic and onion. Fry till onion turns golden brown. Mix marinated chicken and ginger paste with it. Fold well. Fry till chicken leaves oil from the side of wok and the chicken is almost tender.
At this time, add fried vegetables, green chilies and 3/4 cup of warm water in it. Cover and cook on low flame for another 10 minutes. Keep stirring occassionally.
Now add mustard paste, poppy seed paste, sugar and salt in it. Cook for 2 more minutes. Turn off the heat now. Sprinkle coriander leaves on the top. Give a nice stir.
Serve hot with any bread, rice, roti or anything you like.

METE PEYAJKOLI (STIR-FRIED MUTTON LIVER WITH ONION GREENS)

Few weeks before, I seen this recipe in a Bengali Magazine, but made few changes according to my tastebuds. Trust me, it is very delicious with hot phulkas or steamed rice. Just tryout, it will be one of your favourite items.

INGREDIENTS:

250 gm Mutton Liver (goat liver)
500 gm Onion Greens
1 Medium Onion (finely chopped)
1 tsp Ginger Paste
2 tsp Garlic Paste
1 tsp Green Chili paste
1/2 tsp Kashmiri Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Cup Chopped Tomatoes
1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder
1/2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Butter
3 tbsp Mustard Oil
Salt to taste.

METHOD:

Wash mutton liver, cut into 1/2" pieces. Make those pat dry and set aside.
Wash onion greens nicely and chop into 1" pieces. Keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan or wok. Add chopped onion in it. Fry till onion gets translucent.
Add mutton liver and fry it alongwith onions for 3 minutes. Now add ginger paste, garlic paste, turmeric powder, green chili paste, red chili powder, tomato and salt in it. Fold nicely till tomatoes get mushy and leave oil from the side of the pan.
At this time, add green onions and mix well. Lower the heat now, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Open the lid now, add sugar and sprinkle little water on it. Fold well and cook covered for another 10 minutes or till mutton livers are tender. Switch off the heat and sprinkle black pepper powder, butter and lemon juice on the top. 

Serve with roti, paratha or steamed rice, it's yummilicious!

FULKOPI DIYE BHETKI MACH (BARRAMUNDI IN CAULIFLOWER CURRY)

In my childhood days, my mom used to make this fish curry specially on Winter days when fresh cauliflower and bhetki mach were easily available in markets. Still I remember the taste and flavor of this fish curry and I made exactly like my mom’s way. Bhetki is my favorite fish as it is soft and with very less bones. If you like fish then definitely you love to have this light fish curry with loads of tender cauliflower, new potato, juicy tomato and the touch of coriander leaves, which is always flavorsome and luscious with plain boiled rice.

INGREDIENTS:

7-8 pcs Barramundi Fish (bhetki mach)

2 Medium Sized Potatoes, Peeled & Cut Each Potato in 4 Cubes

8-10 Florets of Cauliflower

1 Finely Chopped Onions

2 tsp Ginger Paste

1 tsp Garlic Paste

1 Medium Tomato (chopped)

Whole Garam Masala (1-2 Bay Leaves, 1/4 tsp Caraway Seeds, 3 Cardamoms, 4 Cloves)

2 tsp Turmeric Powder

1 tsp Red Chili Powder

1 tsp Freshly Pounded Cumin Seeds

½ tsp Garam Masala Powder

1 tsp Sugar (optional)

2 tsp Clarified Butter (ghee)

2 tbsp Finely Chopped Cilantro (coriander leaves)

½ Cup Mustard Oil

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Wash fish pieces nicely and make those pat dry. Marinate fish with little salt and 1 tsp turmeric powder. Mix well and set it aside for 15-20 minutes.

In the mean time, add cauliflower florets in boiling water. Cover and cook for 3 minutes. Drain the excess water. Wash cauliflower once again in cold water, drain water completely and set it aside.

Heat 4 tbsp mustard oil in a wok or kadai. When it is smoking hot, carefully place 2-3 fish pieces on it. Fry till golden brown on each side, it will take 3 minutes to fry each side. Remove from oil and keep those aside. Continue the process with remaining fish pieces.

Smear potato and cauliflower florets with salt and little turmeric powder. Add potato in the same oil and sauté for 4-5 minutes on medium flame. Once potato done, drain those from the oil and add cauliflower florets in the remaining oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes again drain those florets and keep aside.

Heat remaining oil in the same pan. Add bay leaf and whole garam masala in it. Saute for 30 seconds, till a nice aroma comes out. Mix onion in it, fry till it turns golden brown. Add ginger-garlic paste, sauté for 2minutes, mix cumin paste and sauté for another 2 minutes.

Add chopped tomatoes, salt and  red chili powder. Fry till tomato turns mushy and leaves oil from the sides. Add sugar, clarified butter and 1&1/2 cup of warm water. Fold well. Let it boil. Amount of water depends on the amount of gravy you want to be on the dish.

Now add fried potatoes, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add fried fish pieces and cook for 3 minutes more. Add fried cauliflower, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Finally switch off the heat now. Sprinkle coriander leaves and garam masala powder on the top. Cover the lid and leave it for 5 minutes.

Serve warm with steamed rice.

Sending to:  Holiday Recipes ~ 3rd Blog Anniversary Event

COCO CREAM CHICKEN KABAB

As we plan our holiday menu, we look for new and unique dishes to featur on the table. The dishes we feature must be very rich and flavorsome to keep with the festive theme. Thus, I made this unique coconut creamy chicken kababs, no onion, garlic and ginger is to be used here; a little twist in my regular kababs. A very flavorful dish, delicious appetizer, once you have it, will surely want more.....truely fall love on it. 

INGREDIENTS:

500 gm Boneless Chicken, Cut into 1”X1” cubes (cleaned & washed)

¼ Cup Thick Curd / Plain Yogurt

½ Cup Freshly Grated Coconut

¼ Cup Warm Water

3 Green Chilies

50 gm Cashew Nut Paste

½ tsp Freshly Pounded White Pepper

2 tbsp Sattu (roasted gram flour)

Salt to Taste

2 tsp Melted Butter
1/4 tsp Chaat Masala (optional)

Few Bamboo Skewers (soaked in water for 3-4 hours

METHOD:

Grind curd, grated coconut, warm water and green chillies together. Blend for a minute or two. Now coconut cream is ready. Set it aside.

Combine chicken pieces, cashew nut paste, sattu, coconut cream, white pepper and salt, mix thoroughly. Keep marinated chicken in refrigerator for atleast 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 220 C for 10 minutes. Thread the 2-3 chicken pieces into a skewer. Arrange the skewers on the baking tray. Brush chicken with little butter and bake for 10 minutes. Flip the other side of the kababs, again brush the melted butter and bake for another 8 minutes. Take out the baking tray from the oven.

Sprinkle chaat masala on the top and serve warm with onion rings, any spicy sauce or chutney.

Sending to: Holiday Recipes ~ 3rd Blog Anniversary Event