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 .

Hariyali paneer tikka

Since the day I got my OTG, I was longing to try out some veg grilled item and finally I end up making some delicious paneer tikkas. It named as Hariyali Paneer Tikka because of its greenish color which makes it different from other type of tikkas.This one of tempting appetizer for my veggie friends.

Ingredients:

Paneer (cottage cheese)    200gms (cut into medium size cube)
Mint leaves                       1 bunch
coriander leaves                1 bunch
green chillies                      2
Garlic cloves                     2
Ginger garlic paste               1 tsp
yogurt                              2 tbsp
Gram flour                        1 tbsp
Chaat masala 1 tsp
Garam masala 1tsp
Lemon juice                        1tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Grind coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chillies and garlic together to get a paste.
2. In a bowl add the green paste, yogurt, ginger garlic paste, gram flour, chaat masala, garam masla, lemon juice and salt and mix well.
3. Add oil (I have used mustard oil here) and now add paneer (cottage cheese) cubes and mix throughly so the the paneer cubes are well coated withe the masala mixture. Keep aside to marinate for an hour.
4. Preheat the oven at 200°C. Now thread the marinated paneer cubes 1 inch gap into skewers and  place it on the grill rack of the OTG and grill for about 15 minutes with turning it at regular interval till they get cooked evenly on all sides.
5. Serve hot as a starter with green green chutney (remaining green paste by adding salt).

Tandoori chicken

Today I was thinking of making some grilled special item in my OTG  and my hubby has suggested to make chicken Tandoori as we all love eating this tempting item in restaurant. Before I have gone through several websites in order to get the recipe of authentic tandoori chicken and I found various ways to cook  it at home and   it is very easy to cook  in two major steps first by simply marinating it in yogurt and spices and then roasting/grilling it into conventional oven. I made it in its simplest version with chicken leg pieces and available spices and believe me still it looks perfect and  delicious.

Ingredients :

Chicken leg piece           8pc
Ginger garlic paste        2 tbsp
Lime juice                       1 pc
Soy sauce                        1 tsp
Cumin powder               1 tsp
yogurt                             3 tbsp
Garam masala powder  1tsp
Red chili powder           1tsp
Oil
Salt

Method:



1. Clean chicken leg pieces and give  horizontal slits in it.

2. In large bowl add yogurt, Ginger garlic paste, red chili powder, salt, cumin powder, garam masala powder, soy sauce and lime juice. Mix them well to get a thick paste. Now add chicken pieces and coat them evenly with the marinade specially inside the cut slit.

3. Keep the  the bowl covered and placed into refrigerator  and let it marinate for at least 4 hours. Bring it into room temperature before placing in the oven.

4 Preheat the OTG at 200°c. Now place the marinated chicken pieces on the grill rack of the OTG and brush it with little oil and let it cook for about 30 minutes. Turn after every 5 minutes followed by brushing with oil.

Garnish with onion rings and tomato slices and serve hot with green(coriander and mint) chutney.

Valentine days special Chocolate cake

Friends, I think you have noticed that I did not post any baked item in my blog so far because I was not having OTG in my home.Yesterday My hubby brought a new OTG for me seeing my passion for cooking.. It was really a pleasant surprise for me.Today morning I thought of inaugurating that by preparing any dish on that and so I started with making the simplest form of a cake using available ingredients left in my kitchen as I couldn't resist myself anymore from trying my culinary experiments on that. I usually make this type of cake in pressure cooker but it came out so nice in OTG that I got impressed by its spongy look and lovely taste and I succeeded in giving my hubby the first oven baked cake. He loved it very much. So this recipe is definitely dedicated to my dear hubby. Thanks a lot dear .. Happy Valentines day.

Ingredients:
All purpose flour 1 cup
Sugar 1/2 cup
Cocoa powder 2 tsp
Baking powder 1tsp
Butter 3 tbsp
Eggs 2
Milk 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence 1 tsp
Raisins 20 gms
Cashew 20 gms

Almond 20 gms

Method:
1.In a large bowl beat melted butter and sugar together with a wire whisk until it become light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs and beat continuously.
3.Mix Flour, baking powder and Cocoa powder together and add to the butter, sugar and egg mixture and mix thoroughly in one direction so as to

avoid formation of air bubbles.Add some milk in small amount to make it smooth batter.
4. Add vanilla essence and again mix thoroughly.
5 Grease the baking pan with butter and pour the mixture into it. Spread dry fruits (cashew, almond and raisins) on the top.
6 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Now bake the cake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool the cake for 10 minutes before inverting on to a serving tray. Decorate it with chocolate frosting it or chocolate syrup.