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