Cake Pops

I have been doing a lot of special themed cakes in the last two months and always end up with some amount of cake crumbs after I carve the cakes. This time I made these colorful cake pops with the left over cake pieces/crumbs and chocolate ganache, for my little cousins.

These are not the typical, perfect cake pops and I have no specific measurements for this recipe, it was just an experiment, that ended up being successful :) 

So got any cake left after Christmas? Then try these colorful cake pops and let the celebration continue!

Natural red velvet cupcake with butter cream frosting

Wanna bake something colorful for Christmas and yet keep away from synthetic food colors? Then here is the perfect choice for you! Natural red velvet cupcakes. The secret behind the natural coloring is pureed beetroot! Yes, you read that right. I too was shocked when I came across this recipe for the first time, but trust me, you will never find a hint of the beet taste in the cake. Top it up with an easy butter cream frosting and you'll have your festive cupcakes ready :)

Eggless M&M Cookies | Eggless Gems Biscuits

It's feeling a lot like Christmas!! 

Festive season and holidays, along with fresh home baked goodies! What more do we need to excite a kid or bring back the kid in us?!

I wanted to make some colorful cookies for my little cousins who would be coming home for their vacation. While hunting my refrigerator, I found a pack of M&Ms lying there unopened. It reminded me of a recipe that I had come across in Jeyashriskitchen.com and bookmarked long back. With pretty much simple ingredients and easy method, I tried them right away and yeah the colorful cookies are now baked to perfection and waiting to surprise my little cousins!

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season :)

Check out these cookies too for this special season:

• Saffron-walnut cookies
• Custard powder cookies

My Cheerful Kitchen turns 1 :)

It is hard to believe that my baby blog has turned a year old today :) I never imagined that an experiment in the kitchen on a boring Sunday afternoon, would lead me into this beautiful blogging world. 

It has been a terrific year. If at all I could post 125 recipes, while still continuing my job as a software professional, I owe it all to my family and friends who have been my pillar of support.

Not all my experiments have been successful, I've faced a lot of failures - cakes not baking well, too much salt or no salt, food getting burnt, oil spilling and the list would go on. But every single mistake of mine just increased my passion for cooking and baking.

I came across various food and cake designing blogs in this journey, which made me realize nothing is impossible as long as our passion is alive and active!

Working on weekdays and managing the blog on weekends has not been easy. But I enjoyed it :) My parents and many relatives have been directly or indirectly marketing my blog and facebook page! I am truely blessed to get this unconditional love. My friends and colleagues too have been great critics and encouraged me a lot.

For the past two months, I have taken up baking and cake decorating quite seriously, due to which there has been a drop in the number of recipes that I post. Will surely post more, as and when I find time. I thank you all for constant encouragement and I need your blessings and wishes to take it further :)

On this special day, I am happy to share the pic of a colorful strawberry flavored butterfly!! More recipes coming soon on My Cheerful Kitchen - Spreading the cheer, far and beyond my kitchen!

 

Eggless Ginger-Honey-Choco mug cake

Cloudy evening, down with cold, craving for ginger and honey but no mood to spend a long time in the kitchen. What do I do?? Mix up ingredients of my choice and come up with a delicious mug cake!! Yeah time to give myself a treat :) The flavor ginger, added with honey was so soothing to my soar throat. But please do not consider this as a medicine ;) It would taste divine anytime and this is my most favorite mug cake till date!

No maida, no egg, no butter - so this is a healthy treat that is perfect for sudden sweet cravings!! To top it up, it takes a maximum of 5 minutes for preparation and baking (Much lesser time to finish it off ;) )

Recipe source - Priya's easy and tasty recipes.  From the original recipe, I replace carrot with ginger and half the sugar with honey and was absolutely delighted with this wacky experiment!

You might also like to check out the other mug cake recipes that I have tried:

• Red velvet mug cake
• Carrot mug cake with vanilla yogurt icing
• Peanut butter mug cake

Pepper and Garlic flavored eggless scones

After a series of special themed cakes, it was time to take care of myself. Yes, I've been down with cold and cough. This made me crave for pepper, garlic, honey, ginger and cinnamon. But I was in no mood to prepare something exclusive, nor did I just want to satisfy myself with a pepper-garlic rasam or a hot cup of ginger-honey tea. I wanted something special!! That too with a pleasant and cloudy weather.

Here is what I ended up making - Pepper-Garlic flavored scones and Ginger-honey choco mug cake! All done in just half an hour. Sounds good right?! Do try them out and let me know how they turned out to be.

I came across the recipe for scones in litebite.in and modified it according to my taste and ingredients available.

My stepping stones in cake decorations

For those of you who are wondering why "My Cheerful Kitchen" has been silent for a while, here is the reason - I have always been passionate about arts, crafts, cooking and baking. When all these could be put together, I just started loving the output!! Yes, I am talking about sugar crafting and cake decorations. I attended wonderful workshops on intensive icing and fondant decorations, conducted by Mrs.Shyamala Sivaraman and Naveena Thangadurai of Yum's the word, respectively. 

I started of by baking special themed cakes for mom and dad's birthdays and when I posted those photos on Facebook, they became and instant hit among my friends and relatives and started getting orders too :)

Managing work and passion is not easy but still when my weekends got busier because of my passion for baking, I loved it! This is why I have not been able to post many recipes over the past few weeks. Will surely try to post them as and when I try out any interesting recipes.

Happy to share with you all the photos of the cakes that I made recently

My First Fondant cake, that I did during the workshop at Yum's the word!! Dedicated to My Cheerful Kitchen :)

Two special cakes that I did during an intensive icing workshop conducted by Mrs. Shyamala Sivaraman. A bonnet cake and a cute little doll cake!

A Shirt cake for my dad's birthday, that represents his office uniform and has their logo and his initials - also a celebration of his 33 years of dedicated service!

A royal cake for my Queen - My mom :) with roses, bow and tiara designs

My first official order! A bike cake made for my friend who wanted to surprise her husband on his birthday :)

A cute love birds cake for a lovely couple on their wedding anniversary!

An elegant swan couple cake for my friend's wedding reception!

Happiness is to keep your passion alive and active! Yes, I am very HAPPY now :)

Saffron-Walnut Cookies

All these days I was managing my baking with a convection oven but now I am really excited to have purchased a traditional OTG oven, after consulting my mentor in baking, Mrs.Shyamala Sivaraman. Yippie!! Here is the first recipe that I tried in my new oven. I adapted the recipe from Priya's versatile recipes. The best thing about the recipe is the aroma of saffron, the divine smell just spreads all over the house! 

Christmas fruit cake (Eggless and alcohol free)

Christmas is nearing and here is the cake recipe for the festive season! A fruit cake that is alcohol free and also eggless :) I am a big fan of fruit cakes/plum cakes/tea cakes. Traditionally fruit cakes are made by soaking dry fruits in rum for many days but when I came across this recipe is Maria's menu, I was so excited to try it out and very happy with the way it turned out :) 

The original recipe uses apple juice to soak the fruits, I have replaced it with orange juice. You could use try with either. 

You could also check out my other eggless cake recipes for the holiday season!

• Eggless glossy lemon cake
• Whole-wheat orange cupcakes with caramelized orange zest (Eggless and butterless)
• Eggless vanilla sponge cake in pressure cooker
• Eggless Sticky Date Pudding

Whole-wheat orange jaggery cupcakes with caramelized orange zest (Eggless and butterless)

A rainy evening, warm home-baked cupcakes with a hot cup of tea!! Sounds divine right? Well I just experienced the bliss with my family and I'm very happy to spread and share the cheer with you all!

I have adapted the recipe from two sources. The muffin recipe is from vegrecipesofindia.com and the idea for caramelized orange zest is adapted from Rachel Allen's show - Cake diaries!

The muffins can be had as such, without the glaze or zest and they are low in fat, as I have used only whole-wheat flour, jaggery and olive oil. To make it a little special, you can include the sweet and tangy topping. Try out this delicious recipe and do let me know if you liked it :)

You might also like to try out my other low fat cakes:

• Healthy Banana Walnut Loaf
• Whole-wheat brownies (Eggless and butterless)
• Carrot - wheat flakes cake (Eggless and butterless)
• Ragi Chocolate Cake (Eggless and butterless)

Kasi Halwa | White pumpkin halwa

Wondering why a traditional sweet recipe now? Ofcourse there is no reason required to have a sweet, but I tried this recipe on Diwali day and got time to post just now!! 

Kasi halwa is made with white pumpkin and is a traditional sweet that is served along with the grand breakfast during weddings and other family functions. It is pretty simple to make, do try it out and let me know how it turned out to be :)

Recipe source: Jeyashri's Kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

• White pumpkin - 2 cups, grated
• Sugar - 3/4th cup
• Ghee - 3 tablespoons
• Cashewnuts - a few
• Cardamom powder - a pinch
• Orange food color - a pinch

METHOD:

1. Grate the pumpkin. Slightly squeeze the water that is let out from the pumpkin. Do not overdo it
2. Heat a tablespoon of ghee in a pan and fry the cashewnuts. Keep aside
3. In the same pan, fry the grated pumpkin. Cook on a low flame, till the pumpkin is cooked well (About 15 minutes). The pumpkin has to become soft
4. Add sugar and food color at this stage. After adding sugar, the mixture will again become watery. Cook on a medium flame, adding ghee in intervals, till the halwa leaves the sides of the pan
5. Add cardamom powder and mix well
6. Remove from heat, garnish with fried cashew nuts and serve warm
7. You can also refrigerate it for 2 days, after it is completely cooled

See you all soon with another interesting recipe!

Hyderabadi Style Lunch menu - Vegetable Dum Biriyani and Khubani Ka Meetha

Traditional Hyderabadi Biriyani is prepared in a authentic way of slow cooking by sealing the pressure or dum. I have seen dum biriyani preparations only on television programs. I have not tasted it too! So I never thought about preparing a dum biriyani at home. 

Recently, after the festive season, there were lots of dry fruits at home. So I was hunting for a recipe with dried apricots and came across Khubani Ka Meetha in vegrecipesofindia. That's when I was hooked on to various vegetarian dishes from Hyderabad cuisine. Along with the dessert, I prepared this biriyani and it was a complete meal and a special one for a Sunday! The recipe might look quite long but do not panick, with proper planning and getting the ingredients ready, the process will be very simple. Try it out and do let me know how it turned out.

Khubani Ka Meetha (Dried apricot dessert)

Khubani Ka Meetha is an authentic dessert that is famous in Hyderabad. It is a perfect finish to a Biriyani meal :) Khubani is dried apricot and the sweet dish prepared with apricots is known as Khubani Ka Meetha. The amount of sugar added is very little (just about a teaspoon), as apricots have a natural sweetness in them. Enjoy the mild yet rich dessert warm or cold with fresh cream.

Peanut Butter (Quick and Easy)

I never knew peanut butter could be made so easily at home, until I came across the recipe in Aparna's My Diverse Kitchen. It is a very quick and easy recipe, which took me less than 5 minutes to prepare! I need not go hunting for peanut butter in stores and investigate the ingredients anymore :) So for a power packed breakfast to kick start your day, try this delicious peanut butter recipe at home and enjoy it with your choice of bread!

Poondu-Milagu Thuvayal (Garlic-Pepper Chutney - My Grandma's Recipe)

Apart from my experiments in baking and other fusion recipes, I always enjoy learning traditional recipes from my mom and grandma. One such lovely recipe that I learnt from my grandma is Poondu-Milagu Thuvayal (Garlic-Pepper Gravy/Chutney).

My grandma was married at a very young age and in those days our family used to be very orthodox due to which onion and garlic were never included in our cuisine. Things have changed now though and we all love onion and garlic for their various health benefits. You might wonder how I call this a traditional recipe when garlic was not even included in our cuisine earlier??!! There was just one period when garlic would be included and that was for pregnant women and lactating mothers! Garlic is said to improve blood circulation, reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels during pregnancy and increases the milk supply of lactating mothers. This is the reason why the humble garlic was allowed to enter the kitchen of even orthodox families those days!

But now, my grandma makes it regularly and we all enjoy this with hot rice. This can also be categorized as a pickle (considering the spices and amount of oil that goes into it!!!) as it can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 months.

Whole wheat honey walnut cookies (Eggless and butterless)

 

Baking is a great stress buster. The aroma that spreads the house while baking goodies is such a wonderful feeling! Adding to that, if the recipe is a healthy cookie that can be enjoyed guilt-free, then nothing can beat it. Here is one such recipe that can be prepared easily and also in very less amount of time. Whole wheat honey walnut cookies that has no maida(refined flour), is eggless and butterless but absolutely delicious!

After the festive season, many would have received dry-fruits and nuts as gifts, so pick up the walnuts from the pack and start baking these yummy cookies right away!

Sambar Rice (A comforting one pot meal in Hotel Saravana Bahvan Style)

Hope you all had a wonderful Diwali loaded with happiness and sweets! After the festive feast, here is a comfort meal. The humble sambar rice, made in Hotel Saravana Bhavan style. I too am one among the huge list of fans of HSB sambar. At home, we generally prepare only arachi vitta sambar. So when I came across this recipe in Sharmi's passions, I immediately bookmarked and tried it. I was so happy as the result almost matched the famous HSB sambar. So for all sambar lovers, try this relishing one pot meal and do let me know your feedback :)

Gulab Semiya Kheer (Rose vermicelli kheer)

Mild sweet dish with a tempting rose fragrance, makes Gulab Semiya Kheer a divinely delicious dish. I came across this recipe in 101 diet dishes by Nita Mehta. The original recipe is a rice kheer flavored with rose. I replaced rice with vermicelli and was delightfully satisfied with the result. I had bookmarked this recipe almost a year back but I got to try it only recently when mom got these lovely paneer roses. The roses were fresh and had a wonderful fragrance. It is a very simple recipe and if you get these paneer roses, do try it out! So if you do not prefer high calorie loaded sweets for the festive season, then this is the best dish for you!

Crunchy Mullu Murukku

Oh yeah! I have been posting only sweets for Diwali so far.. so for the extra crunch, here is a murukku recipe that I learnt from my mom. It is simple, crispy and perfect snack to go with the festive sweets!  Generally murkku is made with rice flour and gram flour. This time myself and mom tried it by replacing the gram flour with roasted gram flour (pottu kadalai) and the result was a perfect crispy murukku! Try it out to relish its crispness :)

Traditional Boondhi Laddoo (A treasure from the kitchen of my great grand mother!)

Diwali and Laddoo are synonymous at my home! Yes, this is the only time in the year, when mom and grandma prepare this divine sweet. So we tend to call it Deepavali Laddoo rather than Boondhi Laddoo :) This is a traditional recipe that has been passed on from my great grand mother! Every year while making this recipe, my grandma would recall how great grandma used to prepare 200 laddoos all by herself!! I can't even imagine that. Usually we prepare around 50-75 laddoos, during Diwali, for distributing among our relatives/friends/neighbors. But this year, as I am already preparing different types of sweets, to post in the blog, grandma made only 15 laddoos. This recipe was completely prepared by her and my mom helped her in mixing and shaping the laddoos. So my contribution here was to just admire my kitchen queens prepare the sweet and happily click pictures! I am very happy to share this traditional recipe with you all! Just follow the steps and the result would be great!!

Badam-Walnut-Poha Laddoo (Easy and healthy)

Can you imagine a laddoo without ghee or sugar and yet taste delicious??!! Here it is a vegan laddoo that is low in fat but high on taste! Filled with the goodness of almonds, walnuts and flattened rice (poha/aval) and sweetened with palm sugar. An absolute healthy treat for the festive season :)

Recipe source: Swathi's Recipe

Eggless No-bake Paneer Cheesecake with Mothichoor crust and Gulab jamun topping!

Diwali is nearing and I am very happy to experiment in My Cheerful Kitchen :) Trying a fusion dessert was in my mind for a long time. Then when I came across the idea of an Indian version of cheesecake in Sweet n Savory, I immediately bookmarked it and what other ideal time than Diwali to try this out!! 

I have never tasted a cheesecake before. So this is the first time I am trying and tasting one. Usually cheesecakes have a biscuit crust, cream cheese filling and a glaze top. This Indian version uses Motichoor ladoo for the crust, paneer for the filling and topped with Gulab jamun! I am sure most of us would be left with ladoos and jamuns after Diwali and this is an interesting recipe to try out with the left over sweets! 

Celebrate Diwali in style with this delicious Indian Cheesecake!

Soft Mysore Pak - Krishna Sweets Style

Mysore Pak is a lip smacking South Indian sweet that is made with Gram flour(besan), ghee and sugar. It is very famous during weddings and festivals like Diwali. The traditional sweet is quite hard but it was the popular sweet store "Sri Krishna Sweets" that gave this dessert a soft twist! Yes the Krishna sweets version Mysore Pak is loved by all for its divine softness. I never imagined we could make it at home too! This is the first time I am trying a traditional sweet like Mysore Pak and it was a success! I found this recipe in sharmispassion.com and was happy to try out this festive season! I must accept that I have not reached the softness of Krishna sweets but still the taste matched and the sweet just melted into the mouth. Try this out for Diwali and make your guests hard to believe that it was made by you and not store bought (No offense to Sri Krishna sweets but there is no harm in trying out a small quantity at home too :) )

Short-cut Shahi Thukda with Apple Rabdi

Shahi Thukda or Double-ka-Meeta is a rich Mughalai dessert that is famous in Hyderabad. Traditionally it is prepared by deep frying bread in ghee, soaking them in sugar syrup and then served with a topping of rabdi (combination of thickened milk, sugar and saffron). I can't even imagine the amount of ghee that goes into deep frying a bread! I was delighted when I came across the idea of using rusk instead of deep-fried bread in kamalascorner.com :) I modified the recipe by including a low fat apple rabdi(inspired from Tarla Dalal). For the sugar syrup, I used left over gulab jamun syrup and hence that made my job even more easier. A very delicious recipe for the festive season that is also guilt free! 

Custard Powder Cookies

After a wonderful Dussera season, I am sure all of us are gearing up for Diwali :) I am planning to come up with some interesting recipes as MyCheerfulKitchen celebrates its first Diwali!!! 

Our lovely guests during Navaratri gifted us with loads of fruits and mom prepared yummy fruit custard. While I was thinking about what to do with the remaining custard powder, I came across an interesting cookie recipe in Jeyashriskitchen.com. The original recipe uses vanilla custard. You can use any flavor of your choice. I used strawberry flavor and the result was just YUMM!! This can also be a wonderful gift for Diwali. Make small cookies and pack them for your dear ones and celebrate the festival with lots of love and sweetness :)

1-minute Peanut butter mug cake

To cheer up a rather boring Sunday evening, I tried this interesting recipe which I had bookmarked long back, after seeing it in chocolatecoveredkatie.com . If you have got peanut butter or any nut butter at home then you can whip up this delicious cake in just 2 minutes (preparation and baking time included!!). It was such a pleasure to see my dad enjoying the cake, forgetting all his office worries. Do try it out and cheer up your loved ones :)

INGREDIENTS:

• Maida - 2 tablespoons
• Sugar - 2 tablespoons
• Peanut butter - 1.5 tablespoons
• Baking powder - a pinch (or 1/8th teaspoon)
• Milk - 2-3 tablespoons

METHOD:

1. Take a clean microwave safe mug. Add all ingredients to the mug and mix well till you get a smooth thick batter. If you find the batter too thick, then add 3 tablespoons of milk, else 2 tablespoons would suffice. I added 2.5 tablespoons
2. Clean the inside edges of the mug and also level the batter with the back of a spoon
3. Microwave it on high for 1 minute. If you feel it needs to bake more, then microwave it for an extra 15-20 seconds. Mine took 1 minute 15 seconds
4. That's it! Allow your cake to cool for a minute or two and then dig in! :) 

Note: 

• If you want to de-mould your cake, then grease the mug with oil before adding the batter
• You could use creamy or crunchy peanut butter

Instant Ragi-Oats Idli

Ragi or Finger millet is my favorite millet and I try to include it to my breakfast atleast twice a week. So while hunting for interesting Ragi recipes, I hit upon ragi dhokla in archanaskitchen.com and got inspired to try out this idli. A power packed breakfast to kick start your day!

INGREDIENTS:

• Ragi (finger millet) flour - 1 cup
• Rava (sooji/fine semolina) - 1 cup
• Quick cooking oats - 1 cup
• Salt - as needed
• Red chilli powder - 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon
• Sour Yogurt - 1 cup **
• Eno fruit salt (regular) - 1 teaspoon or baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Oil - 1 tablespoon

For seasoning

• oil - 1 teaspoon
• Curry leaves - a few
• Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Sesame seeds - 1 teaspoon

**If you do not have sour curd, then you can squeeze a little lemon or add 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid

METHOD:

1. Mix ragi flour, rava and oats togther. Add in salt and red chilli powder
2. Add oil and yogurt to the dry mixture and mix well. Add water and bring to a thick batter consistency
3. Now add eno fruit salt to the batter and sprinkle water on it. When it starts to bubble, mix very gently and immediately pour in greased idli trays and steam for 10-12 minutes
4. Remove from heat, let it cool for 2 minutes and then demould the idlis
5. Heat oil and add the ingredients for seasoning. When the mustard seeds splutter, pour them over the idlis
6. Serve with any chutney of your choice

Sprouted Moong Dhokla

Off-late I have posted a lot of dessert recipes :) So now it is time for a healthy tea time snack - Sprouted moong dhokla. Loaded with the goodness of green gram sprouts and the flavorful coriander leaves. This recipe is inspired from Tarla Dalal site. The original recipe uses spinach and fenugreek leaves. I didn't have both at hand, so replaced with coriander leaves and loved the flavor! Try this simple, quick and healthy snack and enjoy it with you tea.

INGREDIENTS:

• Sprouted whole green gram - 1 cup *
• Green chilli - 2-3
• Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup, finely chopped **
• Besan - 2 teaspoons
• Curds - 2 tablespoons
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Salt - as needed
• Sugar - 1/4 teaspoon, optional
• Fruit salt - 1 teaspoon (I used regular eno fruit salt)

* If you do not have sprouts, soak whole green gram in water for 2-4 hours

** Coriander leaves can be replaced with spinach(palak) or fenugreek leaves (methi)

METHOD:

1. Grind the sprouts and green chillies into a smooth paste by adding little water
2. In a mixing bowl add the ground paste and all other ingredients except the fruit salt and mix very well
3. Finally add the fruit salt and sprinkle little water over it. When bubbles start appearing, mix the batter very gently and pour it immediately in a greased plate/thali dish/dhokla stand
4. Steam it for 10 minutes. Allow it to cool a little, cut into cubes and serve with green chutney or ketchup

Thinai Payasam | Foxtail millet Kheer

Recently, at home, we have started including a variety of millets in our daily cooking. Mom makes tasty and healthy dishes like upma, dosa, pongal etc with millets! So, as we gear up for the festive season of Navarathiri, I decided to try out something sweet with foxtail millet (Thinai in Tamil) and came across the recipe in Padhu's Kitchen. I have modified the quantities and proportion according to my preference. If you are looking for a healthy and tasty prasad (divine offering), for the festive occasion, then this is a perfect recipe for you!

INGREDIENTS:

• Foxtail millet/Thinai - 1 measure *
• Water - 4 measures
• Jaggery - 2 measures **
• Ghee - 1 tablespoon
• Cardamom powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Raisins/Cashewnuts/Almonds - as needed for garnish
• Milk - as needed

* The proportion for Thinai : Water : Jaggery  is 1:4:3 , A quarter cup of Thinai will be perfect to serve 4 (In that case, you need to use 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of jaggery)

** The jaggery I used was sweet enough. So this quantity was perfect for me, you can increase it to 2.5 measures

METHOD:

1. Melt ghee in a pan and fry the cashewnuts, almonds and raisins (I did not add cashews)
2. Remove the nuts from the pan and in the same pan, roast the millet, till a nice aroma arises. You can add more ghee if you wish to
3. Pressure cook the roasted millet with 4 cups of water for 4 whistles
4. In the meanwhile, add a quarter cup of water to jaggery and heat it for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and allow the jaggery to melt. Then strain the jaggery to remove any impurities
5. Mix the cooked millet, melted jaggery and cook on a medium flame. Allow it to boil well
6. Now add the fried nuts, cardamom powder and remove from heat
7. Add milk according to the consistency and sweetness that you require (I added about half a cup of milk)
8. Serve warm or chilled :)

Chocolate Oreo Pancakes - A celebration of 100 posts!

Extremely excited on posting the 100th post in My Cheerful Kitchen. I realised only last week, when I posted Onam Sadhya, that I have posted 99 recipes already! I wanted my 100th post to be special, yet simple, that I can be tried by all. So here goes my 100th post, for all chocoholics like me :) 

Recipe Source: chocolatecoveredkatie.com

INGREDIENTS:

For the pancake: (Makes 4 palm sized pancakes)

• White Vinegar - 1/2 teaspoon (can be substituted with lemon juice)
• Milk - 5 tablespoons
• Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
• Oil - 1 tablespoon (Vegetable or coconut oil)
• Maida - 1/4 cup
• Baking powder - 3/4 teaspoon
• Salt - 1/8 teaspoon
• Cocoa powder - 1 tablespoon
• Sugar - 2 tablespoon (can be increased or reduced according to your flavor. I used only 1 Tbsp and found it less sweeter. So next time I'd increase it to 2)

For the cream layer:

• Oreo cookies - 2-3 crushed (any cream/chocolate cookies can be used)
• Yogurt - 1/2 cup
• Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon
• Sugar - 3 to 4 teaspoons (depends on your taste preference and sourness/sweetness of the yogurt)

METHOD:

1. Pour the yogurt in a muslin cloth and hang it, to allow the excess water to drain. In a hot and humid place like Chennai, the yogurt will sour if hung outside in a muslin cloth for long. So I usually pour it in a strainer, place the strainer over a vessel and keep it in the fridge
2. In a bowl, mix together vinegar(or lemon juice), milk, vanilla extract and oil. Stir well
3. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients - maida, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder and sugar. Mix well
4. Grease a non-stick pan with little oil and heat it on a medium flame
5. In the meanwhile, combine the wet and dry ingredients together, till they are just mixed (Do Not over mix)
6. Pour spoon full of batter on the pan, to form palm sized pancakes. Reduce the heat if it has become too hot. Once you start to see bubbles on the top, flip the pancake and cook it on the other side
7. Mix the hung yogurt, vanilla extract and sugar together. Add in the crushed cookies to the filling
8. On a serving plate, place one pancake, spread a layer of filling and stack another pancake on top and repeat the process. That's it! Simple, yummy, chocolatey pancake is ready to be hogged on to!!!! 

Ada Pradhaman

Ada Pradhaman is a traditional Kerala dessert, which is made out of ada (rice flakes) and coconut milk. It has a rich texture and tastes divine when served warm :)

I made ada pradhaman for Onam and all of us at home enjoed it!

Recipe Source: mariasmenu.com

Puli Inji

Puli Inji is a sweet and sour ginger pickle. It is one of the important appetizers in a Kerala menu.

Recipe Source: chitrasfoodbook.com

INGREDIENTS:

• Ginger - 1/4 cup ( peeled & finely chopped)
• Tamarind – Big gooseberry size (or 1/2 teaspoon of tamarind paste)
• Green chilli - 2 ( finely chopped)
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Grated jaggery - 2 tablespoons
• Salt & water - as needed
• Roasted & ground methi seeds powder - 1/4 teaspoon

To temper

• Coconut oil - 1 tablespoon
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Urad dal - 1/2 teaspoon
• Red chilli - 1
• Curry leaves - a few

METHOD:

1. Soak tamarind in 1 cup of water.(I used half a teaspoon of tamarind paste and mixed it with water)
2. In a kadai,take the tamarind extract and add turmeric powder, salt, red chilli powder and jaggery. Allow it to boil well for 5 minutes
3. In another kadai, heat coconut oil and temper mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves, pinched red chillies, green chillies and finely chopped ginger. Saute well till ginger turns golden brown
4. Add this to the boiling tamarind mixture and add little water if required. Allow it to boil till the mixture thickens.Lastly add the methi seeds powder.Mix well & switch off the flame.Let it cool
5. Store in an air tight bottle and can be refrigerated 

Check out my Onam Sadhya inspired Kerala Lunch Menu

Cabbage Thoran

A Kerala style veggie!

Recipe source: chitrasfoodbook.com

INGREDIENTS:

• Cabbage - 1 cup (finely chopped)
• Big Onion –2 (finely chopped)
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon (optional)

To grind to a coarse paste

• Grated coconut – 1/4 cup
• Green chillies – 2
• Jeera (Cumin Seeds) – 1/4 teaspoon

To temper

• Coconut oil –2 tablespoon
• Mustard seeds –1 teaspoon
• Red chillies – 1
• Curry leaves - A few

METHOD:

1. Grind coconut , green chillies and jeera to a coarse paste without adding water.Set aside.
2. Chop the cabbage and onions . Mix together the finely chopped cabbage, onions, and salt
3. Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds and when they splutter, add pinched red chilli and curry leaves to it. Now add the ground mixture, veggies and saute for few minutes
4. Tastes best when served with hot rice and rasam!

Check out my Onam Sadhya inspired Kerala Lunch Menu

Olan

Olan is an important dish in the menu list of Onam Sadhya. It is surprisingly very easy to cook and also has a wonderful aroma :)

Recipe source: chitrasfoodbook.com

INGREDIENTS:

• Black-eyed beans /vanpayar / kaaramani – 1/4 cup (I used red kidney beans or rajma)
• Ash gourd or Yellow pumpkin -  2 cups, cut into cubes
• Green chilli – 3-4, slit lengthwise
• Water – as needed
• Thick coconut milk – 1/2 - 3/4 cup (adjust)
• Salt- as needed
• Curry leaves – few
• Coconut oil – 1 tablespoon

METHOD:

1. Soak the rajma overnight
2. Pressure cook the beans with 1 cup of water in low flame for three to five whistles. Drain the excess water & keep aside the cooked beans
3. Cook together pumpkin, green chilli, salt and 1.5 cups  of water, till the pumpkin becomes tender
4. Add the cooked beans to the ash gourd and mix well. Add coconut milk and curry leaves
5. Cook on low flame for 5-7 mins. Remove from the fire and drizzle some coconut oil
6. Serve hot with rice or roti

Check out my Onam Sadhya inspired Kerala Lunch Menu

Kerala Rasam

A unique flavorful Rasam from Kerala cuisine, that has a wonderful aroma and is absolutely delicious. 

Recipe source: chitrasfoodbook.com

INGREDIENTS:

• Cooked toor dal water – 1 cup
• Tamarind extract – 1 teaspoon
• Chilli powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Hing – 1/4 teaspoon
• Water – 1/4 cup
• Jeera – 1/4 teaspoon
• Methi seeds –1 / 4 teaspoon
• Tomato – 2
• Curry leaves – a few

To dry roast and powder

• Dhania – 1 teaspoon
• Pepper corns – 1 teaspoon

To Temper

• Coconut oil – 1 tablespoon
• Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Pinched red chilly – 1 
• Coriander leaves – to garnish

METHOD:

1. In a kadai , dry roast dhania and pepper corns and grind them into a powder
2. Take the tamarind extract, chilli powder, 1 tomato (crushed), jeera, hing and methi seeds along with little water. Boil everything till it reduces to half
3. Then add the dal, remaining 1 tomato(finely chopped), ground powder and the required salt. Boil for few minutes
4. Remove and temper with mustard seeds and pinched red chillies
5. Garnish with coriander leaves
6. Serve hot with rice

Check out my Onam Sadhya inspired Kerala Lunch Menu