Dark Chocolate Cake

Ever thought of surprising your kids and family members by an homemade Birthday cake, here it is, perfect for birthdays, this is a great recipe for an easy, foolproof chocolate cake. Its moist, fudgy and nutty. Satisfy that chocolate craving with this mouth melting dark chocolate cake recipe.

Ingredients: 3 eggs
                   11/4 cups powdered sugar
                   1cup all purpose flour(maida)
                   1/2cup cocoa
                   1/2tsp baking powder
                   a pinch of cooking soda
                   3/4cup oil
                   1/2cup cashew finely chopped
                   1tsp vanilla essence

Method: 1)sieve flour, cocoa, baking powder and cooking soda together.
              2)beat sugar and eggs very well together.Add essence. Add oil gradually beating mixture
                 lightly.
              3)fold in flour a little at a time, with a wooden spoon, till all the flour is used up.
              4)pour half of the mixture into a greased baking tin of 8'' diameter, sprinkle some cashew
                 evenly on it, pour the remaining mixture and sprinkle the remaining cashew on it evenly.
              5)bake this in a preheated oven at 180degree celsius for 30mins.
              6)let it cool for 5-10mins before removing from tin. Do the icing if required.

See also: Plum Cake

Small onion kulambu

Kulmabu is a very popular recipe in Tamil nadu. There are numerous varieties of kulambu among them this is the most simple recipe, this is also called as poodu kulambu as garlic is used in large quantity. This spicy and tangy kulambu is a an very good combination along with rice. Keep some papad along with it and this makes an perfect lunch menu.

Ingredients: 1cup pearl(small/sambar) onions
                    1/2cup garlic pods
                    2cups tomatoes finely chopped
                    1/2cup tamarind pulp
                    1/4cup coconut milk
                    1tbsp curry leaves
                    3-4 whole red chillies
                    1tsp mustard seeds
                    1/4tsp methi seeds
                    a pinch of asafoetida
                    2tsp sambar powder
                    1tsp red chilli powder
                    1/4tsp turmeric powder
                    1/2tsp jeera powder
                    5-6 sesame seed oil
                    salt to taste

Method: 1)heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, methi seeds and when they splutter add asafoetida,
                 curry leaves, red chillies, garlic pods and fry for a minute. add onions and fry till they turn
                 pink. add tomatoes and fry till they turn soft.
              2)add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, sambar powder, jeera powder and fry till the oil
                 separates.
              3)add tamarind pulp, coconut milk, salt and cook it in low flame for 5min.
              4)serve hot with rice.

Matar Paneer

Matar Paneer is one of the favorite delicacy among vegetarians. This is an excellent and an mouth watering side dish, probably most frequently ordered dish in Indian restaurants. Green peas and Paneer cooked together into a delicious gravy, it is usually served as an side dish along with naan, roti, paratha, rice and pulao.

Ingredients: 1cup paneer(cottage cheese) cubes
                    1cup green peas(fresh/frozen/soaked)
                    1/2cup tomato chopped into cubes
                    1/4cup onions chopped into cubes
                    6-7 garlic cloves
                    1' ginger
                    1tsp dhania powder
                    1tsp red chilli powder
                    1/4tsp turmeric powder
                    1/2tsp garam masala powder
                    1/4tsp amchoor powder
                    3tsp oil/butter
                    1tsp cumin seeds
                    salt to taste

Method: 1)grind together onions, tomatoes, garlic and ginger into an smooth paste.
              2)heat oil/butter in a pan, add cumin seeds and when they splutter add the masala paste and fry
                 till the oil separates.
              3)add dhania powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, amchoor
                 powder and fry for a minute.
              4)add green peas, paneer, salt and cook in low flame till the green peas turns soft. add water        
                 if required while cooking.
              5)serve hot.

See also: Vegetable Makhanwala
               Dum Aloo
               Tomato Curry
               Sweet Corn Curry
                 
                    

Jack Fruit Dosa

Jack fruit dosa is a dosa variation with an unique flavour and aroma. It can be prepared in 2 varieties salt and sweet, salt one is prepared using raw jack fruit and the sweet one is prepared using ripe jack fruit. here i'm sharing the sweet jack fruit dosa recipe.

Ingredients: 1cup dosa rice
                    1cup ripe jack fruit chopped
                    1/4cup grated coconut
                    1/4cup jaggery
                    1/4tsp cardamom powder
                    ghee or oil to prepare dosa

Method: 1)soak rice overnight and grind it into an thin smooth batter.
              2)grind together jack fruit, coconut, jaggery by adding required water to form a smooth paste.
                 add this to the above batter along with the cardamom powder and mix well. The batter shoul
                 be little thick than the normal dosa batter.
              3)heat dosa tava, greese it with ghee or oil, pour a ladleful of batter on the tava, spread it
                 gently, sprinkle oil/ghee and cook well on both the sides.
              4)serve hot with honey and sweet coconut chutney.

See also: Sweet coconut chutney
        

Sweet coconut chutney

Sweet coconut chutney is a type of chutney made using coconut and sugar. It is an best side dish along with neer dosa, appam, plain dosa, jackfruit dosa, banana dosa, coconut dosa and even chapatis. It is very simple and can be prepared in few minutes. kids will love this and will finish their dosa without any fuss.

Ingredients: 1cup grated coconut
                    1/2cup sugar
                    1/4tsp cardamom powder
                    1tsp ghee

Method: 1)heat an non stick pan, add coconut, sugar, ghee, cardamom powder and fry in a low flame
                  till the sugar melts. add water if u feel chutney is getting dry.
              2)add chopped ripe bananas and dry fruits to enhance the taste.

Tip: this can be used as filling for modaks, gujiya, sweet kadubu and karjikai.

See also:Karjikai
              Neer Dosa
              Appam
  

Medu vada(urad dal vada)

Medu vada is an traditional urad dal based fried snack, medu vada is an south indian cuisine delight. It is loved by all and tastes great with coconut chutney and sambar. This is the base for dahi vada which i have posted previously.

Ingredients: 1cup urad dal
                    1/4cup coconut finely chopped
                    2tsp ginger paste
                    2tsp pepper corns
                    2tbsp curry leaves finely chopped
                    a pinch of asafoetida
                    oil for deep frying
                    salt to taste

Method: 1)soak the urad dal in water for 5-6 hours and grind it in the grinder(mixer/blender) by adding
                 required water to form a smooth batter. the batter should be thicker than idli batter and must
                 be extremely soft. then only the vadas will be crispy an soft.
               2)add coconut, ginger paste, pepper, curry leaves, asafoetida and salt to the batter and mix
                  well.
               3)heat oil in a kadai, wet the palms and take lemon sized batter and flatten to a round shape.
               4)make a hole at the centre with your thumb and slowly slide it into the hot oil. repeat the
                  same for rest of the batter.
               5)deep fry the vadas until they turn golden brown. serve hot.

Tip: if vada is absorbing more oil then add 2tsp rice flour to the batter and mix well. this will make vada
       crispier.
See also:
              dahi vada 
              Mixed dal vada         

Dahi vada(south indian)

Dahi vada is very popular all over India, even though each state has its own version, all the versions taste equally good. Today I'm sharing south indian dahi vada recipe here. Its called as 'mosaru vade' in kannada, 'thayir vadai' in tamil, 'thayir vada' in malayalam and 'perugu vada' in telugu.

Ingredients: 2 urad dal vadas(medu vada)
                   1cup curd
                   2tbsp pomegranates(optional)
                   1tbsp mixture
                   1tsp curry leaves
                   1/4tsp mustard seeds
                   a pinch of asafoetida
                   1tsp urad dal
                   1tsp oil
                   salt to taste

Method: 1)heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds n when they splutter add curry leaves, asafoetida, urad
                 dal and fry for a minute. add this tadka to the curd along with salt and mix well.
              2)soak the vadas in water for 3-4min, squeeze them gently to drain the excess water n place it
                 on the serving bowl.
              3)pour curd on the vadas till they get soaked completely.
              4)refrigerate it for 30mins and serve chilled by garnishing with pomegranates and mixture.