Bread Pakodas/ Bread Pakoras and my first Skirt...;)

Thank you so much for leaving me condolence messages on my previous post. I'm back in Bangalore now and decided to do a blog post today.

Having had loads of free time on my hands....I have been thinking a lot....what constitutes a good food blog? new recipes? a lot of recipes? good photographs? a lot of followers? giveaways? loads of comments on the blog posts? what does? My blog doesn't feature a lot of what I have mentioned above....but then I realised it doesn't matter.....as long as we find absolute pleasure in doing a blog post, we should keep doing it. At the end of the day blogging needn't be something to prove your worth, you should have something nice to say, definitely, but its so important to enjoy the experience. Armed with such great words of wisdom, I'm gonna start doing my blog posts again. :)



I'm not a big fan of bread in general. But come rain n' I can never refuse some good hot bread pakodas. The best part about them though, is the fact that they are so easy to make and most people are guaranteed to enjoy them. It so happened, a cousin of mine dropped in with her family one evening n' I, as always, had nothing to serve them n' these pakodas came to my rescue. So here you go...enjoy this simple snack...:)



Ingredients:

1. Brown Bread: 3 slices (cut them into whatever shape you like)
2. Eggs: 2-3nos
3. Salt: as per taste
4. Chili Flakes: as per taste
5. Cheese: grate it as required (I have used Britannia's Sour Cream n' Onion Cheese cubes)
6. Vegetable Oil: as required (I do shallow fry so use very little oil for this)

Method:

Step 1: Slice/cut the bread pieces into the shape that you want.

Step 2: Whisk the eggs and add salt to it.

Step 3: Heat the oil in a pan n' dip the bread pieces in the whisked eggs n' fry them.

Step 4: Once fried, serve them on a plate n' sprinkle it with some chili flakes n' grate some cheese on top n' its ready.



Being away from my laptop n' camera, I have been able to do a lot of things I had kept for later, like learning to stitch. My mom n' chechi stitch really well but I never sorta had an itch for stitching. But this time when amma came n' stayed with me, she bought me a sewing machine n' so I better start putting it to good use. I stitched 3dresses for my 2 n half yr old niece as she is starting play school soon. I don't have pics of those with me, chechi said she will send them to me soon, but attached is a pic of a skirt I stitched while in Bhopal. For a first time effort, I'm really proud of it. :)



I also found time to scout for some good recipes. I have been meaning to explore more, but haven't been able to manage the time to. Rj having been on his own for a while now, has been eating out every day, he can't cook a thing to survive. So all that 'healthy home made food is better' mantra, I kept telling him is down the drain. Now I really have to impress him with some healthy home cooking which tastes great. lol...Actually, I have a lot of posts to do of the dishes I had made before I went off, so I will quickly post those first.

Chicken Sammies

I'm feeling all down just coz my bestie, Nidz is unwell n' is not on FB today...:(....I would love to type more here just to keep myself occupied but don't want to bore you :)....So coming to this post, I love having sandwiches for breakfast especially on weekends, they are simple, easy n' you can add just about anything you fancy as an ingredient and it never fails...My amma specialises in sandwiches n soups I think (she makes them in a jiffy). She insisted I keep a few pieces of the chicken aside last week before making a curry and guess what? I was able to use that for these sammies. ;)I love referring to sandwiches as 'Sammies'. I made just enough for 3ppl, so please increase the quantity as per your requirement. Here you go...



Ingredients:

1. Bread: 10slices
2. Chicken: 4-5 boneless pieces (medium sized- make them smaller to cook faster)
3. Onion: 1no (medium) finely chopped
4. Green Chili: 1 no (finely chopped)
5. Ginger: a really small piece (chopped or coarsely crushed)
7. Carrot: 1no (grated)
8. Coriander/ Cilantro Leaves: 1tsp (chopped)
9. Salt
10. Pepper
11. Oil
12. Butter: for spreading
13. Egg: 1no
14. Cheese: (optional)

Method:

Step 1: Cook the boneless chicken (small) pieces with a little salt n very little water. Keep checking to see if the water has evaporated. (Add little more water if n when you see that the water has evaporated before the chicken pieces are cooked through). Once done, keep it aside to cool.

Step 2: In a pan heat oil, add the chopped onion, green chili n' ginger and allow it to cook well.

Step 3: Add the grated carrots to the above n' keep it covered and cook it for 3-4mins.

Step 4: Scramble the egg in a separate pan and add the scrambled eggs to the above.

Step 5: Shred the chicken pieces and add it to the above along with chopped cilantro.

Step 6: Keep it covered n' cook for another 2mins, stir well n' adjust the salt. Add freshly ground pepper according to your preference of spice. (you can add a little garam masala instead of pepper at this point if you want, though I didn't do so)

Step 7: Spread some butter on one slice of the bread, add the filling, top it with some shredded cheese (if you are using any) cover it with another slice n' grill it in a sandwich maker.




I think this filling tastes better with grilled than plain bread. I know the snaps aren't looking as 'bite into me' as I wanted them to, but trust me it tastes great. I'm sending this also to the event Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays hosted by Deb from Kahakai Kitchen. Happy Cooking!

Royal Bread & Butter Pudding- Princess Di's Favorite Pudding

Princess Diana had a fondness for the Bread and Butter Pudding that was made by her personal Chef Darren McGrady. He shares this recipe in his cookbook "Eating Royally". If someone were to ask me to think of the most good looking woman ever, I will say 'Princess Diana' without a blink of an eye. I found everything about her charismatic, there was something just so genuine about her.




So anyways, coming back to this recipe, I had never ever made a bread pudding. (I wonder if I'm the only one out here who has never made one...)We have shifted to Oat meals for breakfast instead of bread...so when ever I buy bread now, I end up with left over. I decided to try this recipe just for luck n it clicked. Whats more...I have followed Princess Diana's favourite pudding recipe....;) What with all the hoo ha of the Royal Wedding that got over this weekend, I decided to do a blog post with a Royal Recipe! :) So here you go.




Ingredients:

1. White Bread: 12 slices (crusts removed)
2. Unsalted butter :1 1/2 sticks (melted) *
3. Egg Yolks : 9nos
4. Vanilla Essence: 2 tsp
5. Sugar: 3/4 cup
6. Milk: 1/2 cup
7. Heavy cream: 2 cups
8. Sugar: 2 tbsp (granulated-to dust on top of pudding)
9. Caster Sugar: 2 tbsp
***********************
10.Sliced almonds, lightly toasted : 3 ounces
11.Raisins: 3 ounces
12.Amaretto: 1/4 cup (liqueur)

* I used only 4 slices of bread and reduced my portion accordingly. But the recipe here is directly as it was published. For me 100gms of melted butter was sufficient. In India we don't get sticks of butter, so wasn't really sure how much was required. Also, I didn't add almonds, raisins n' Amaretto coz Rj doesn't enjoy biting into them in his desserts n' cakes. But I believe they would definitely enhance the taste.

Method:

Step 1: If you are using Raisins, soak the raisins in the Amaretto, and leave covered with plastic wrap at room temperature 6 to 8 hours or overnight. If you don't want to add liqueur in your recipe soaking them in Water should be fine.

Step 2: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut 4 slices of the bread into 1/2-inch dice, and spread the diced bread on the bottom of a casserole dish. Sprinkle the raisins on top of the bread cubes, and pour any remaining liquid over the bread.

Step 3: Cut the remaining 8 slices of bread in half diagonally, and then cut each half slice in half diagonally to create 4 even triangles per slice. Dip the triangles into the butter, and arrange on the top of the raisins, overlapping the triangles slightly. Pour any remaining butter over the top of the bread.

Step 4: Whisk the yolks, vanilla essence, and sugar in a large bowl until combined.

Step 5: Bring the milk and cream to a boil in a heavy saucepan over high heat, and pour the hot mix onto the egg yolks, whisking constantly.

Step 6: Pour the warm egg mixture over the bread, making sure all of the bread is coated, and set aside the coated bread for 20 minutes to allow the egg mixture to soak into the bread.

Step 7: Place the casserole dish in a roasting tray filled with hot water halfway up the sides of the casserole dish, and bake in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown on top with the filling just set.

Step 8: Remove the dish from the oven and roasting tray, and sprinkle with the extra sugar. Sprinkle with the toasted sliced almonds, and dust with powdered sugar. Cool slightly, and serve warm with a jug of cream and some fresh berries.

Bad snaps are owing to the baking done in the night. :(...but the dish is rich n' nice. The chef says the final texture is a cross between a bread pudding and a crème brûlée. Happy Cooking!

Banana Bread- my first baking adventure

My first baking adventure, so to speak has to be this. I have never tried baking other than with Betty Crocker mix, i have never found the need to bake from scratch when BC has such an easy n' good cake mix made available. Well, all that changed when Ruby my friend baked some Banana Bread n' got it to office. I just loved how simple n' undemanding the bread/cake felt. What she gave us was more like a cake than a bread.

But i was inspired n' i just had to give it a try. The recipe i'm using is by a Pakistani cooking expert- Shireen Anwar. It is so simple, i baked it twice already. Mine came out exactly like a bread. Gave it to friends from office n' they said they liked it. We had it with some hot coffee in the morning n' it tasted even better...as usual i made this before heading off to work with little time to spare for a creative photograph. Pardon, the crinkly look on the side, it is coz of the baking paper i had used to line the baking pan which on my second try i realised was not even necessary. :(

Ingredients:

1. Banana: 3nos (medium)(mash it into a thick paste)- use the extra ripe ones if possible
2. Flour: 2 cups
3. Baking Soda: 1/4 tsp (i didn't have any with me, so i didn't use this)
4. Baking Powder: 1tbsp (since i didn't add baking soda i used 1 1/4 tbsp of baking powder)
5. Vanilla Essence: 1tsp
6. Oil: 1/2 cup (i used sunflower oil)
7. Caster Sugar: 3/4cup (i used brown sugar instead n' hence took 1cup)
8. Eggs: 2nos
9. Walnuts: 1 cup (broken/crushed)
10 Yogurt: 1/2 cup
11.Butter: 1tsp (mainly to grease the pan, add the extra bit into the mix)

Method:

Step 1: Grease a baking pan with butter and keep it aside. Pre heat the oven on 180°C.

Step 2: Mix all the ingredients other than flour, baking powder and walnuts. Beat everything together at a low speed. Don't over beat just enough to mix well.

Step 3: Add the flour n' baking powder in portions into the above mixing it at the same time to avoid any lumps to form.

Step 4: Add the walnuts and mix well.

Cooking time should be 45-50mins depending up on your oven. If required, check only after 35minutes to see if it's already done. Since i used brown sugar it wasn't very sweet and i liked it that way. So if you prefer your cakes sweet, use caster sugar itself.

All thanks to An Open Book (who let me know about this event) i'm gonna send in my first entry for an event. The event is Bake Off and it's hosted by Champa from Stories from an Indian Kitchen. Don't know if my entry will qualify, but no harm in trying i guess. :)