A good news with my Chocolate Cupcakes

Friends, I have a wonderful news to share with you. After a long break I have restarted my career in IT from where I stopped three years back. I must say, I was very worried and concerned whether I will be able to back in this corporate world again. I passed many sleepless nights before the joining day. Now after successful one week in my new company I am slowly regaining the old confidence.

I might not be able to frequently make posts as I used to do earlier due to my full time engagement in my job. But definitely I wont disappoint my followers who had been supporting me all these years. I will continue posting as and when I am able to and will also drop by at your blogs regularly. Friends, I will need your best wishes and continued support in this juncture of my life

Chocolate Cupcakes

As all of you know I have tried my hand on only few baking preparations. I  am totally a beginner in this field but when it comes to my kid's favorite food I actually never compromise. I want to fulfill her wish always and so this time when she asked for chocolate muffins I tried making these simple chocolate cupcakes for my kiddo who is a great fan of cupcakes and believe me, what has come out is really surprising for me too. Wow, I can do it too!!

Ingredients:

Butter                                        100 gms

Caster sugar  (powdered sugar) ½ cups

Eggs                                           2

All purpose flour                       1 cup

Baking powder                          1 tsp

Cocoa powder                           2 tsp

Method:

1. Cream together butter and sugar by mixing with a hand mixer in a mixing bowl. Mix in eggs also. Now add all purpose flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and fold it gently into the batter.
   
2. Grease 6 cups in a muffin cups . Spoon batter into muffin cups filling it ¾ of the cup.
   
3. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
   
4.  Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool and decorate it .

Kids delight- Mango custard

In this season when you can see the king of fruits everywhere, "Mango Custard" can be one of scrumptious dessert you can opt for your li'l one. I usually prepare it in the morning and keep it in refrigerator and when my kid comes back from school, she gets delighted finding a big bowl of her favorite custard with a cherry on top.

Ingredients:

Mango                         1
Milk                             2 cups
Vanilla custard powder 2 tbsp
Sugar                          3 tbsp
Powdered sugar           1 tbsp
Fresh cream (optional)  1/2 cup
Dry fruits (optional)

Method:

1. Peel the mango and squeeze out the pulp from it. Take the pulp in a blender and make a puree of it.
2. Take 1/4 cup of cold milk in and cup and add custard powder. Mix it well so as to avoid formation of lumps.
3. Beat fresh cream in a bowl  with powdered sugar to make soft peak. keep it aside.
4. Heat a pan and add remaining milk. When the milks boils add sugar and stir for a couple of minutes. Now add milk mixed with custard powder and stir again for few seconds. Finally add  mango puree and stir for a minute. When the consistency of custard becomes thick . add 2 tbsp of  fresh cream (you can make this preparation without adding fresh cream also).you can now add some dry fruits  like chopped almond, cashew, raisins.

Pour it in a bowl and add some fresh cream on top. Now keep it in refrigerator  so that custard becomes thick. Serve it chilled.

Potol Aloor Malay Curry/ Stripe Gourd Curry with Coconut Milk

Malai curry is a traditional bengali dish  which can be prepared in both veg and non veg versions. The most common ingredient in all versions of this dish is coconut milk. So the basic curry is made with coconut milk in which vegetables or non veg like egg, chicken and being added. Here I made it using veggies like Stripe gourd and potato. It can prepared with other  types of vegetables also.

Ingredients:

Potol (stripe gourd) 300 gms Potato (diced)       300 gms Coconut milk           2 cups Onion (grated) 1 Ginger  (grated) 1 tbsp Turmeric powder   1 tsp Cumin powder   1 tsp Coriander powder 1 tsp Green chili paste 2 tbsp Methi (fenugreek seeds) 1 tsp Garam masala 1 tsp Salt (as per taste) Sugar   1 tsp Oil

Method:

1. Peel stripe gourd and potato and cut into medium sized pieces . Heat oil in a pan and add those pieces and fry for a couple of minute. Add turmeric powder and salt and again fry for 5 to 6 minutes on medium flame. Keep it aside.
2. Heat oil in a large pan and add methi seeds. when it splutters add grated ginger, onion and fry for a couple of minute and add green chili paste, turmeric powder, coriander powder, Cumin powder, and salt.
3. Fry the masala for sometime and when it separate oil  add coconut milk. Stir for a couple of minute and add fried stripe gourd and potato pieces and saute for 5 to 6 minutes.
4. When the potato and the gourd pieces becomes tender, and the gravy become semi thick, add garam masala and sugar and cover it for  few minutes.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with steamed rice. Enjoy this flavor of Bengal with your family and friends.

Awards time again!!

Friends, Today I am very happy  as I have been showered with a bunch of wonderful awards from my dear friend Babli. She is an amazing cook, a very talented blogger and a great photographer. She is having an amazing blog  with drool-worthy photos of varieties of recipes. Thanks a ton dear for your generosity. Really it feels great to get recognised and motivated by you.

I would love to pass those awards to all these well deserved blog. Happy blogging!!
Ambreen
Mary
Jay
Priya
Arundhuti
Cook from Doha
Melange
Food and taste
Julie
Sensible Vegetarian
Ria
Aarthi
Radhika
Deepthy

Sooji upma/Nonta Suji

Semolina or sooji upma is a  common breakfast item that I usually make during weekend when we get bored of eating roti sabji and bread omlete . This is a very easy preparation and I made it a healthy one too by adding vegetables like carrot and capsicum.

Ingredients:

Sooji/Semolina	2 cup
Carrot (chopped finely)	1/2 cup
Capsicum (chippes finely)	1/2 cup
Ginger (grated)	1 tbsp
Green chillis (chopped)	2pc
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Cumin seeds	1tsp
Bay leaves	2
Roasted peanut	2 tbsp
Turmeric powder	1 tsp
Salt as per taste
Sugar	1 tsp
Ghee
Chopped coriander for garnishing

Method:

1. In a pan, add little ghee and roast sooji  in medium flame for about 5 minutes. Keep it aside.
   
2. In a pan heat 1 tbp of ghee and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and bay leaves. When mustard splutters, add grated ginger and green chili. Fry for a few seconds and add chopped vegetables (carrot and capsicum) and fry for 5 minutes.
3. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and roasted peanut, salt and sugar and stir well.
   
4. Now add roasted sooji and mix it well. Pur 4 cups of water (double the amount of sooji added)to that. Stir continuously in low flame for 5 minutes.
   
5. Remove it  add some ghee adn garnish with chopped coriander.

      Serve hot as a wonderful breakfast item.

Cheesy Macaroni

Cheesy macaroni is one of those special items which  make a nice smile on my kids face when she opens her lunch box in school. Even my hubby also loves this very much. Recipe is as usual of my type " Easy and fast cooking". It doesn't need much of ingredients also. This indeed is a very tempting dish and a complete breakfast by itself.

Ingredients:
Macaroni (Elbow)              1 cup
Butter                               1 tbsp
All purpose flour                2 tbsp
Milk                                 1 cup
Processed cheese (grated) 1/2 cup
Pepper powder                1 tsp
Salt (As per taste)

Method:

1. Boil macaroni in 2 cups of water adding 1/2 tsp of salt. Cook it until macaroni becomes soft. Drain water and keep it aside.
2. To make the white sauce, heat a pan and add butter. Now add flour and  saute lightly in low flame so that it doesn't change the color. Now add milk slowly and stirring it continuously so as to avoid forming lumps.
3. Add grated cheese and keep stiring. Adjust the consistency of the white sauce by adding more milk. Add salt and pepper powder and stir again.
4. Heat butter in a pan and add boiled macaroni and toss it properly. Now add this macaroni in the white sauce mixture and mix throughly.

       Garnish adding other herbs or you can  serve it  without garnishing also.

Prawn Pakora/Prawn Fritters

Prawn pakora is an excellent  snacks starter for prawn lovers. This snacks I usually made for my kid who love to eat prawn in any form even though she is very fussy eater. This is a very simple recipe and doesn't need any prior preparation and marination. So here is my instant pan fried Prawn pakora recipe for you:

Ingredients:

 Jumbo sized prawns  10 Pc
Gram flour (Besan)    1 cup
Egg (beaten)             1
Ginger garlic paste    1 tbsp
Turmeric powder       1 tsp
Red chili powder        1 tsp
Soy sauce                  1 tbsp
Orange fod color        (optional)
Salt                           As per taste
Sugar                       1/2 tsp
Oil for frying

Method:

1. Shell and divine the prawn and wash it properly.
2. In a bowl, add gram flour, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt and sugar.
   
3. Now add beaten egg  and then water and make a semi thick batter. Now deep the prawn pieces and keep it for half an hour.If you don't have time to keep it then you can deep it and fry it.
   
4. Heat oil in a pan . Take the prawn pieces coated well with the batter and drop into the oil one after another. Deep fry them in low flame first and then in medium flame for 5 to 6 minutes until it become golden brown in color. Take it out in a tissue paper to soak the excess oil from it.

Serve hot with Tomato sauce and enjoy this great snack starter with your family and friends.