Custard Powder Cookies ~ Valentines day recipes ~ Happy Valentines day to all

I love the flavor of custard powder particularly vanilla flavored. I wanted to try cookies with this custard powder just to know how it would taste as I simply like its flavor. I tried a small batch today. It turned out as good as its flavor. But somehow chocolate chip cookies remains my favorite.. :-)

My Hearty Valentines day wishes to all of you.. !! 

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour 3/4 cup
Sugar 1/8 cup
Custard Powder 1/8 cup
Butter 60 gm
Milk 2 tsp

Method:

Powder Sugar, sieve and keep it aside.

Sieve All Purpose Flour along with Custard Powder, Baking Powder. Keep it aside.

Beat Butter (at room temperature) till fluffy and shiny. Add Sugar and beat till the mixture turns shiny.

Now add the flour mixture little by little. Combine well and add milk to form a stiff dough.

Pre heat the oven at 180 deg C for 10 minutes.

Roll the dough between two baking sheets. Cut the dough into desired shapes.

Bake at 180 deg C for 12-15 minutes or until done and gets slightly brown.

Notes: To make it more in quantity, just double the recipe. 

Green Capsicum Chutney / Bell Pepper Chutney ~ Indian Capsicum Dip

I am allergic to capsicum. My stomach burns even if i take a bit of capsicum. So I buy it rare though their vibrant colors attract me now and then. But I wanted to try this chutney that is quite famous in blogosphere. Almost every blog has this dip. I made it like Indian chutney. It came out well but really hot; I tasted little and served just to my hus. ;-) 

Ingredients:

Green Capsicum / Bell Peppers - Medium -2
Tomato - Large -1
Dried Red Chilly 1
Urad Dhal 1 1/2 tbsp
Garlic Cloves 4
Tamarind - a small gooseberry size

To temper:

Mustard Seeds 1/4 tsp
Urad Dhal 1/8 tsp
Curry leaves 2-3
Oil

Method:

Chop Tomato and Capsicum roughly into pieces.

Heat oil in a pan, when hot add Urad Dhal. When it changes its color, add the red chilly and garlic cloves. Fry till they turn slightly brown.

Now add chopped tomatoes. Fry till the oil separates. Add chopped capsicum pieces. Mix well. Fry for few minutes and then add grated coconut.

Fry for few more minutes until done. Set aside to cool.

Add Salt and grind it along with tamarind.

Heat oil in a pan. When hot, add Mustard seeds. When it starts popping up, add Urad Dhal and curry leaves. Fry till they slightly change their color. Pour this tempering over the chutney. Add water till it reaches desired consistency. 

Serves: 2
Serve with Idli or Dosa.

Notes: This is really hot. So add more tomatoes if you are looking for a less hot chutney.

This  goes to Vegan Thursdays. We share only vegan recipes first and last thursdays of every month.

Baked Bitter Gourd Chips ~ Indian Fritters

I prefer cooking Bitter Gourd at least once in a week just for its health benefits and we do not hate his bittery vegetable much. It has been a long time wish of mine to bake bitter gourd. But due to lack of time (or lazy me), I was just preparing either stir fry or deep fry with bitter gourd. This time I compulsorily made myself free to bake this gourd. It came out as crispy as deep fried ones.

Adapted from here.

Ingredients:

Bitter Gourd 2 Long
Chilli Powder 1/2 tsp
Sambar Powder 1/4 tsp
Rice Flour 1/2 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste 1/8 tsp
Salt
Oil 3 tbsp

Preparation:

Cut Bitter gourd into thin dics. (not very thin).

In a bowl, add tamarind and little salt. Crush tamarind to extract its pulp. Do this for few times so that all pulp is extracted. Add sliced bitter gourd. Allow soaking for at least for an hour. This is done to reduce the bitterness of the vegetable. 

Remove the slices. Drain and then add Ginger Garlic paste, Chilli Powder, Sambar Powder, Rice Flour and Salt. Mix well and keep it aside for at least ten minutes. Segregate the thinner and thicker discs separately. The middle of the bitter gourd is slightly thicker.

Pre heat the oven at 180 deg C for 10 minutes.

Line a baking sheet in the baking tray. Arrange the slices with little space in between.

Now bake it for 15 minutes at 180 deg C. Remove and then turn each slice to the other side. Bake it for another 15 more minutes or until done.

Remove the done chips.

                                   

Pre heat the oven again for 10 minutes. Meanwhile arrange the undone thicker slices.

Bake it for 15 minutes at 180 deg C. Remove and then turn each slice to the other side. Bake it for another 15-18 minutes or until done.Store in an air tight container.

Serve it as a snack or as an accompaniment to steamed rice with sambar/curd.

Notes: You can also bake all the slices together and then bake those undone thicker slices for some more time. I found this method quite easy.

If not using sambar powder, add a combination of cumin powder and coriander powder or just cumin powder alone.

I forgot to add jaggery. You can a tsp of grated jaggery while mixing the vegetable with masala powders.. 

This goes to Love 2 Bake event happening at spicy treats. We share baked recipes every Monday.

Pepper Chicken Thokku

Thokku refers to the gravy that is much thick. It can be had as an accompaniment to Idli/Dosa or just had with steamed rice or Biryani. My MIL makes this often whenever she doesn't prepare chilli chicken/deep fried chicken. She doesn't add coconut and it goes well with everything. I tried to achieve the same just by seeing its color and my Hus' hint that it is more peppery and spicy. I'm quite proud that it came out good quite similar to hers. 

Ingredients:

Chicken 250g
Tomato big 1
Onion small 1
Pepper powder 1/2 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves to garnish

To temper:

Cumin seeds 1/4 tsp
Aniseeds 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon a stick

To grind:

Pepper corns 1 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Dried red chillies 2

Method:

Clean and Chop chicken into pieces. Chop onions and tomatoes as fine as possible.

Dry roast the ingredients and powder it once cooled.

Heat oil in a pan. When hot, add all the ingredients to temper one by one. Wait till they turn slightly brown and splutter. Now add ginger garlic paste and chopped onions. Fry till the onions turn translucent.

Now add finely chopped tomatoes. Fry till the oil separates. Add pepper powder and turmeric powder. Fry for a while and then add the chicken pieces.

Give it a mix. Add just enough water for the chicken to get cooked along with salt. Cover the lid and cook it for five minutes.

Now add the ground powder and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes or until done.

Add coriander leaves. Stir well and now it is ready to be served.

Serves: 1
Serve with steamed rice or Idli/Dosa

Notes: If you want more gravy, add one more tomato and onions & grated coconut. Adjust pepper according to your taste.