Pancakes

Pancakes are perfect for lazy mornings. Just whisk it up, let to rest for few minutes and fry them up. Indulge with maple syrup or strawberry syrup or honey. Top pancakes with any fresh fruits.

Ingredients:

Plain flour - 150g
Baking powder - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Egg - 1
Milk - 250ml
Salt - a pinch
Melted butter - 1 tbsp

How to make pancakes:

• Place all ingredients except the melted butter in a bowl.
• Using a whisk, mix the batter without any lumps.
• Let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
• Add melted butter just before frying the pancakes and mix.
• Heat a nonstick pan and grease with butter.
• Pour a ladle of batter on the pan on low flame.
• Turn pancakes once bubbles appear on top.

Strawberry Syrup

There are just few things in culinary that we unanimously love so much. We three are so fond of fresh strawberries and Vanilla sugar pretzels :) Can't stop munching on the little red jewels.

It's strawberry season over here and I couldn't take my eyes off from the small size wild strawberries that are much tastier than the large ones.

This time decided to make strawberry syrup which goes really well with pancakes, strawberry milk . Adapted recipe from addapinch

Ingredients:

Fresh sliced strawberries - 2 cups (250g)
Sugar - ½ cup
Water - ½ cup

How to make syrup:

• Place sliced strawberries, sugar and water in a sauce pan and bring it to boil 
• Let it then simmer for 15 minutes in medium flame.
• Take it off the heat and let it cool.
• Blend it in a blender for about 5 seconds to get few strawberry chunks.
• Let it cool completely. Store it an airtight container in refrigerator.
• Enjoy syrup with pancake the very next morning :)

Prawns Biryani

Nowadays making Biryani for my family isn't much time consuming. I actually find it very easy than making rice, curry and side-dish. Prawns is my little ones favorite and so made prawns biryani for dinner on her b'day. You just need raita and pickle and just relish it on.

Start off with making rice and prawns masala mixture simultaneously and will in turn be easier to set together.

How to make ghee rice:

Basmati rice - 1 cup
Cloves - 2 nos
Cinnamon stick - 1 inch
Bay leaf - 1
Cardamon - 2 nos
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Boiling water - 2 cups

• Better to use a wide frying pan to cook the rice.
• Pour ghee to hot pan.
• Add cloves, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and cardamom to the ghee and fry for few seconds. 
• Meanwhile boil 2 cups of water in a sauce pan.
• Add the basmati rice and fry for 5 minutes in medium flame.
• Pour boiling water to the rice. Add salt and mix just once. DO NOT STIR in between.
• Place lid and set timer for 15 minutes. Let rice get cooked in medium low flame.
• After 15 minutes, switch off the flame and take off the lid. Cover the pan with kitchen towel  for the steam to get absorbed in the towel.
• Fluffy rice will be ready.

How to make prawns masala:

Prawns - 1 cup, To marinate - add ½ tsp chilli powder, ¼ tsp turmeric powder and salt, mix well
Onions - 3 , finely sliced
Green chilly - 2, slit lengthwise
Ginger - ½ tbsp,finely chopped
Garlic - 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Tomato - 2 no, finley sliced
Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - ½ tbsp
Garam masala - ½ tbsp
Sour cream - ½ cup (optional). Can substitute yogurt
Salt

• Slightly fry the marinated prawns in coconut oil and set aside
• Heat oil in a pan. Saute the onions and slit green chilly. Once it's sauteed, add ginger garlic and fry till the raw smell is off.
• Add the powders and fry for 2 minutes until nice aroma of the fried powders arise.
• Add slices tomatoes and saute till it's soft 
• Add sour cream and fried prawns. Let it boil for few minutes for the flavors to sweep thru
• Garnish with coriander leaves.

To set the biryani:

• Switch on the pan with prawns masala on a very low flame.
• Just top the cooked basmati rice over the prawns masala. 
• Sprinkle garam masala and chopped corinader leaves.
• Drizzle a teaspoon of ghee over the set rice.
• Cover with lid and let it sit on low flame for 15 minutes. 

Chickpea Avocado Salad

As a Malayalee, I always stick to having proper sumptuous breakfast like puttu, appam, pathiri, dosa, idli etc. I don't want to go with western style breakfast of toast and corn flakes. That would definitely make me a lazy bump. Once in a while for a change, that's okay. No, I can't follow that on a daily basis. My little one is so much fond of puttu and upma. It's been a trend nowadays that she decides the breakfast menu. Well, as long as she doesn't take control of the lunch and dinner; then I would be in trouble.

While thinking on what to cook for lunch, I didn't want to cook rice and curry. Actually speaking we got bit bored with rice. Have been making a bit different recently with Korean grilled chicken, egg biriyani..

And thought lets go for some healthy salad. Luckily did have some chickpeas, avocados .. its easy peasy.. 

Ingredients:

Chickpea - ½ cup, soaked overnight

Avocado - ½, roughly chopped

Red onions - 1 small, finely chopped

Tomato - 1, finely chopped

Parmesan cheese - handful

Extra Virgin Olive oil - 1 tsp

Coriander leaves - to garnish

Lemon juice - just a squueze

Salt

Pepper

How to:

• Pressure cook the soaked chickpeas with salt and water
• In a bowl, mix the cooked chickpeas, chopped avocados, red onions, tomato. Garnish with coriander leaves, parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Add salt and black pepper powder to your taste
• Toss well and dive in to yummy salad

Banana Bread

Banana bread gives me a fond memory of my little one going for her swimming lessons while in Sydney. She was 1 year and 7 months old. Dyuti used to insist on buying a slice of Banana bread from a cafe shop next to our house. It wasn't that she wanted the bread every time we pass that shop; only after her swimming lessons.

Now that she has grown up and taste buds has changed, she wasn't that keen on munching it. Anyways we did love this banana bread with the walnut crunch. Followed the link:Banana bread

Ingredients:

Very ripe bananas - 350g (4 nos)
Plain flour - 180g
Baking powder - 2½ tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Light brown sugar - 160g
Eggs - 2, beaten
Melted butter - 4 tbsp, plus extra for greasing
Walnuts - 50g, roughly chopped

How to:

• Sift plain flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl
• Mash two-third of the banana to a smooth paste and the remaining mash roughly
• Using electric whisk, whisk eggs, brown sugar and melted butter until the sugar dissolves. Whisk in high speed until it turns pale and slightly increased in volume
• Pre-heat oven to 170C. Grease the loaf tin about 21x9x7cm with melted butter and lightly flour the tin
• Fold in the mashed bananas and the roughly chopped walnuts in the wet mixture.
• Transfer to the loaf tin and bake for about an hour until skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it onto a rack to cool completely.

Egg Noodles with Asian flavors

Dyuti is very fond of Maggi noodles. I'm not a big fan of it; though I make it for her only once in a month. So bought Egg noodles which is indeed better than Maggi. I've tried roasting few veggies, fried prawns with egg noodles and it really does taste great. This time had lemongrass at home and thought of going with Asian flavors.

Ingredients:

Egg Noodles - 2 blocks
Chicken Thigh fillets - 500 gms, cut into bite size chunks
Soya Sauce - 2 tbsp
Vinegar - 2 tbsp
Ginger - 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Garlic - 1½ tbsp, finely chopped
Lemongrass - 1 , finely chopped
Green chilli - 1 no, cut in rings
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt
Onion & Capsicum slices (optional) - handful
Coriander leaves - to garnish, finely chopped
Sesame oil, Sasame seeds - to garnish(optional)

How to:

• Marinate the fillet pieces with the Asian flavors for few hours. Add salt if needed.
• Cook the marinated thigh fillet. Add half a cup water if required.
• Add sliced onions & sliced capsicum once the chicken is half done. I prefer the gravy to have slightly thick pouring consistency.
• Boil water in a saucepan. Add generous salt to the boiling water.
• Add egg noodles in the boiling water and let cooked al dante
• Strain cooked egg noodles. 
• Spoon egg noodles in a bowl, pour the chicken sauce and garnish with coriander leaves, sesame oil and sasame seeds.

Vanilla Sugar Soft Pretzels

Yes, it's been such a long time I have logged in here. I've been lazy to write up and take photos. Now that I did succeed in making these soft Pretzels thought of uploading it.

Small pretzel specially for my little one.

Pretzels originates from Germany. It's new craze for my daughter Dyuti. She just started having Pretzels from the Stratford Mall in London. Whenever we pass through the Mr.Pretzels stall, the smell of freshly baked Pretzel just push us near to the counter. Dyuti loves the Vanilla Sugar Pretzel. She stands in the queue, gives the order and comes with the Vanilla Sugar. She is a bit reluctant to share as she is so fond of it; but still we manage to take a bite. And we love doing that part. Don't we, Sathya? We should really take a video of how she relish it.

The very first time I tried making Pretzel wasn't that good. Not good in the sense it didn't look appealing; the size and shape. Now this second attempt I got the knack of shaping it up and looks nice.

Have gone thru here and there for the recipe. I did follow joythebaker; made few changes to match it to my daughter's taste buds.

Ingredients:

Lukewarm water - 1½  cups
Dry Yeast - 1 sachet or 2¼ tsp
Sugar - 1½ tbsp

Bread Flour - 4 cups
Salt - 1 tsp

Oil - for greasing
Sugar, melted butter, pure vanilla extract - to spread on top of the pretzel

How to make the Soft Pretzels:

• Add sugar and yeast to lukewarm water. Let the yeast prove for 30 minutes.
• Sift flour and salt.
• Once yeast is proofed, make a well in the flour and pour the proofed water.
• Mix well with a wooden spoon.
• Tip it on to bench top and roll into a sticky dough.
• Transfer the dough in an oiled bowl and let it rest for an hour.
• Once dough is doubled in size, cut into 12 equal parts.
• Roll into thin long strip and shape into pretzel. Let the pretzels rest for 30 minutes.
• Pre-heat oven to 230 degree celsius. Place pretzels on baking sheet.
• Spread melted butter, pure vanilla on top of the pretzels. Also sprinkle sugar generously on top.
• Bake pretzels till it turns golden colour.

Notes:
Pretzels are normally dipped in baking soda solution (baking soda in boiling water). I've skipped it as I felt the pretzels getting bit soggy.  This is just to give brown colour on the pretzels.