Recipes From My Kitchen

A genuine problem faced across the culinary world is the conversion aspect. We love to try out recipes from various parts of the world..but a look at the recipe and there you go again...pounds, ounces, grams, cups...Gosh! that looks complicated...Lets try the recipe some other time.... Tired of this..one day I went to the local market and got myself a kitchen weighing machine with a maximum capacity of 5 kgs. If you don't have one already, try and get one here ..trust me its quite something!!! The weighing machine helped me to have a common platform to work on..GRAMS/KILOGRAMS! I always prefer to convert the recipe to grams because that way I cannot go wrong with the measurement. When measuring using cups, there is always a possibility to "add more" or "add less" than what the actual recipe calls for. For example, when a recipe calls for 1 cup of flour, we don't know whether it should be 1 leveled cup or 1 heaped cup. Adding more or adding less, drastica...

I was introduced to something known as a Swiss Roll when I had been to a baking course few years ago.. Years later, after having forgotten and also lost the recipes given by that teacher, I joined another crash course in baking few months ago, where I was introduced to Swiss Rolls again. Well, the teacher taught us a very simple one with jam which was not something that I would jump in the first instance to make. Few weeks back, we went to a restaurant for Sunday Buffet Lunch where they had a huge spread of sweet dishes apart from the starters and main course menu. They had this beautiful, little, Strawberry Swiss Rolls which were out of the world!!! I kept looking at them, wondering why it never occurred to me that I could enhance a simple Swiss Roll to something as delicious as this... Swiss roll is a type of sponge cake baked in a very shallow rectangular baking tray, and then usually filled with jam or buttercream, rolled up, and served in circular slices. The origins of the...

Happy Makar Sankranti & Pongal to all!!! Makar Sankranti is perhaps the only Indian festival whose date always falls on the same day every year i.e. the 14th of January. Can you guess why? This is because the festival of Sankranti is based on the solar calendar unlike the rest of Indian festivals, which are based on the lunar calendar. Makar literally means "Capricorn" and Sankranti is the day when the Sun changes it's position from one sign of the Zodiac to the other. Even though Sankranti comes every month, in the month of Magha (January) it is considered especially auspicious as it coincides with the harvest season and marks the end of the winter season. (Info: Google) Being a South Indian, I've relived the happiness and joy of Pongal every year... Though I did make chakara pongal which is customary in our house, I also decided to make Til Ke Laddu or tilgul . The sesame seed or til is given a lot of importance because in this season it is considered ...

Warning: If you are calorie or diet conscious - do not read any further..this recipe is not for you. . However, if you want to indulge or give-in to that sinful pleasure of a delicious chocolate cupcake..read on... And for those who are like me..the "live life - queen size" types.. who don't count their calories or sorrows...this is just the perfect indulgence that you can ask for...or I would say..make for yourself!!! Treat yourself to this wonderful, truly-divine, moist, chocolatey..yummy chocolate cupcake..with a whipped cream frosting...:) Now it does not take a special occasion to prepare something as wonderful as this..does it? I don't think so...And there is absolutely no special reason why I prepared this...except the fact that I was browsing through a very old recipe book which I had purchased from a second-hand bookshop in London, and saw this recipe...I went through the ingredients and wow!!!...I had everything that needed to be there...and that itself...

Well folks, its a brand new year and this is my first recipe post...I haven't blogged for sometime now..mostly because I was out-of-station. I've been getting lots of calls and emails from friends and relatives saying that they were missing my recipes.. :) I'm happy..I'm excited..Well atleast some of my friends and family follow my blogs..:) I wanted to start this year's blog with a sweet recipe..and decided to make this wonderful Oatmeal-Raisin cookie from Martha's website. I had bookmarked this recipe long back..and decided to try it out. I did not make any alterations to the original recipe except that I used quick oats instead of old-fashioned oats and altered the temperature a little bit. Ingredients: Makes 3 doz 1/2 cup flour , 1/4 tsp salt , 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder , 1/2 tsp baking powder , 1/2 tsp baking soda , 1/2 cup unsalted butter , 1/2 cup brown sugar , 1/4 cup granulated sugar , 1/2 tbsp vanilla essence , 1-1/2 tbsp milk , 1 e...

There are days when you don't have a good vegetable in the refrigerator and you are forced to think "out of the box" ....literally. I usually alternate a day of vegetable and a day of legume since dinner is the only meal the whole family has together. I want to make sure its healthy, nutritious, but ofcourse...suits everybody's taste buds :) I stack up a whole set of legumes in my little pantry and they are real life savers I must say!!! Black-eyed beans or Lobiya as its commonly called in India, is not a very common dish at home. However, I try and include it in some form or the other. I prefer it in my salads..it adds a beautiful crunch apart from the fact that they are low in fat!!! Black-eyed beans are rich in soluble fiber which helps to eliminate cholestrol from the body. As a high-potassium, low-sodium food they help reduce blood pressure too. When combined with grains, beans supply high quality proteins which provides a healthy alternative to meat and an...

For breakfast today I decided to make Corn Croquettes. Corn is high on proteins and carbohydrates which makes it an ideal ingredient for kids. They are a good source of Vitamin C and yellow corn has a small percentage of Vitamin A in the form of beta carotene. Corn is also rich in fiber so its a great way to start your day..it keeps your stomach full for a long time. Ingredients: Makes 16 medium sized croquettes approx 2 cups fresh corn kernels , cleaned, par boiled, 2 medium sized onions , very finely chopped, 1 cup boiled potatoes , grated, 2 tbsp, green coriander , finely chopped, 2 tbsp, cornflour , 1 green chilly , very finely chopped, 1 tsp lemon juice , 2 tbsp oil , Salt as per taste, Method: 1.) Boil the corn kernels (par boil) and potatoes and set aside. This can be done well in advance which saves a lot of cooking time. 2.) Coarsely grind the corn kernels in the mixer. Grate the potatoes. Chop the onions, green chilly, and coriander finely. 3.) In a bowl, mi...