Dahi ki Pakori

Indian Vegetable Soup in Creamy Italian Broth

Hey All! I am back and I am back with this fusion Indo-Italian Soup and a wonderful news to share with you all. The good news is we are expecting OUR FIRST CHILD..... I know you all must be very surprised, isn't it, but that's true. After completing my first trimester in June, we went to India for a month to attend my sister, Neha's Wedding and have just come back on 7Th of August. Now, I'll try to be regular on my blog, but hey, still can't promise for sure. The baby has already started governing my life ;)) In my first 3 months, I was totally off food, no cooking, so experimenting with food was a far away thing for me, but now things have changed again. So, here I am..... back to share my recipes and experiences with you all. I would also like to thank all my blogger buddies for visiting my blog off and on and leaving their wonderful comments for me. So, lets start by cooking something that will satisfy your taste buds for sure...

Ingredients:

Onion (1, Finely Chopped)

Garlic (2 Cloves, Finely Chopped)

Tomato (2, Chopped)

Spinach (1/2 of the 8oz box of Frozen Spinach)

Chicken Broth (1, 8oz Can)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil / Vegetable oil (1 Tbsp)

For White Sauce:

Butter (2 Tbsp)

All-Purpose Flour (3 Tbsp)

Milk (2.5 Cups, at Room Temperature)

Cream (5 Tbsp)

Black Pepper (to Taste)

Salt (to Taste)

Method:

1. Start by making white sauce for the soup. Heat butter in a pan and add flour to it. Fry it till the raw flour taste goes away.
2. Add room temperature milk to the pan and stir until the sauce thickens.
3. Now add cream, salt and black pepper and stir again. Keep aside.
4. In a large pan, heat oil and fry chopped onions and garlic in it.
5. Now add chicken broth to it and let it come to a boil.
6. Add spinach and white sauce to it and stir well. Let it simmer for 5-7 minutes on a medium flame.
7. Serve it hot garnished with fresh chopped tomatoes and garlic bread on the side.

Tip: To make it completely vegetarian don't use chicken broth. You can also use diced Carrots and mushrooms in it to make it more nutritious. But don't forget to fry mushrooms with garlic and onion.

WHOSE GETTING MARRIED ??? ...... ;))

Hey Buddies,

This is the first wedding cake that I designed myself.... not for someone's wedding but just for trying tired cakes. One of my very good friends, Vivu, inspired me to try this type of cakes and here I am with my very first completed wedding cake.

Enjoy...

Recipe on Demand!

I wanted to take a break from painting our new home, setting it up...etc., etc., Hey buddies, the list is way too long ;). Actually the first phase of painting is done and the second one will begin after a while :)). I just wanted to come back to my blog. So, I am back here to share my thoughts and recipes with you all. Thank you all so much for keeping patience and visiting my blog off and on.

CHILLI GOBHI is the name of the sabzi (vegetable) that I am sharing with you today. Yes, yes, I know it sounds Chinese and believe it or not it is an Indian Chinese dish, that goes very well with Curds and Paranthas or hot buttered naan. I am posting this recipe on demand that came to me from my brother's friends in India. My brother NISHANT is working in a software company in New Delhi. He comes home (in Meerut) over the weekends and goes back on Monday mornings. He loves this a lot, so my mom makes this for him, mostly on every Monday mornings for his breakfast and for lunch. Then all of his friends in the office share their lunch with each other and that's how they came to know about it. All of them enjoy this sabzi a lot and they always ask Nishant for the recipe. Nishant asked me to post it on my blog so that they can show it to their moms, wives and girlfriends ;) . My mom learned this recipe from her brother's wife (my MAMI) and ofcourse I learned it from my mom. So, lets get cooking this on demand dish...

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

Cauliflower (1)

Green Bell Pepper (2, Sliced)

Onions (3, Sliced)

Tomato Ketchup (1/2 Cup)

White Vinegar (1.5 Tbsp)

Crushed Black Pepper (to Taste)

Salt (to Taste)

Oil (for frying)

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and deep frying the cauliflower florets until golden brown (as shown above). Set aside.
2. In another pan or wok heat 2 tbsp of oil and fry onions and bell-peppers together until slightly tender but crunchy.
3. Now add cauliflower florets, salt and crushed black pepper. Mix well.
4. Add tomato Ketchup and white vinegar, mix well and fry for 2 more minutes.
5. Serve immediately with Paranthas or Naan.

Tip: Use different colored bell-peppers to make it more colorful and a pretty presentation. You can deep fry Cauliflower florets rolled in cornflour batter. It will make them crispy. For cornflour batter, mix 2 Tbsp of Cornflour with 5 Tbsp of water but no salt. It will be watery, but thats how it should be.

My First Fondant Cake and a Home for us!

My dear friend Swapna, just left a comment on my blog to ask if I am doing Ok or not. I am good, Swapna and thanks a lot for showing so much of your concern. Its so good to have friends like you.

Actually, today I want to share something special with all my blogger and non-blogger friends and that is, we just purchased a new house and have moved in. Now we are in the process of making this house a "HOME" for ourselves and thats the reason why I couldn't post anything on my blog, Frankly speaking, I didn't even had internet for 2 days, so I was completely out of touch and I don't know how long is this going to take. I will try to keep on posting something, as and when, I'll get a chance. For now, enjoy my First Fondant Cake, which I learned in my Wilton's Fondant and Gum Paste Class and keep coming for more......

Sandesh...A Bengali Sweet

First of all, I would like to thank you all for keep on visiting my blog regularly and checking on me that why am I not updating my blog these days. Actually, now I am taking Wilton's Fondant and Gum Paste class at Michaels, The Art and Craft store and also, we are in the processing of buying a house, which is eating up all our time and most of the weekends. So time is a little short these days :) Another thing I wanted to share with you all is, I couldn't make it to the Chefs.com Treasured Recipe Contest, at the end they selected the finalists themselves after conducting an audit of votes, but I will always be greatful for all your help and support. Thanks a lot once again....

So, the recipe of Sandesh that I am going to share with you today is a quick-fix sweet and no cooking required, accept boiling milk for making fresh Paneer. This is one of the most famous Bengali sweets (all of which are my favourites :D), which is cooked in almost every Bengali family. I learned this recipe from one of my Bengali friends back in India. She used to live near to our home and also have a lot of interest in cooking. She told me that this sweet can be made in two ways, either by cooking the paneer or by not cooking the paneer. We will be making the "NO COOKING REQUIRED" method today. So, lets get started and fill our kitchens with the flavors of Traditional Bengali cooking......

Makes 15-18

Ingredients:

Fresh Paneer (made from 1/2 gallon of milk)

Powdered Sugar (3/4 cup, or to taste)

Small Cardamom Powder (1 tsp)

Pistachios (25 unsalted, 18 whole and rest sliced)

Small muffin cups (15-18, optional)

Method:

1. Make fresh paneer from 1/2 gallon of milk and press it with something heavy for 45 minutes, so that all the water come out.
2. In a large bowl, start mashing it with your hands until smooth and a ball is formed. The heat from your hand will help it in becoming soft and smooth, which is very important since we are not cooking anything.
3. Now add powdered sugar and cardamom powder. Mix well with hands.
4. Divide the prepared paneer into 15-18 equal portions.
5. Roll one of them between the palms of your hands and flatten it.
6. Put one pistachio in the middle and roll into a ball.
7. Put each one of them in the muffin cups and garnish with sliced pistachios.
8. Let them set for 3-4 our in the freeze, before serving.

CAKES..CAKES..CAKES..

Hey Friends,

Sorry for not being regular on blog, I am a little busy these days, please bear with me for sometime and enjoy these cakes that I learned in my Wilton Cake decoration Course 1.

Thanks, Nidhi.

My First Cake (Which you all have seen before also)

The Second cake with shell border and drop flowers..

Roses with shell border, the third Cake..

A closer look...