Pineapple gojju

Absolutely yummy. The reason you attend weddings and functions in Bangalore. No function is complete without pineapple gojju in the meal :)

Ingredients

Pineapple - Canned is fine. Cut to small pieces
Urad dal - 4 tb spoons
Methi - 2 teaspoons
Coriander seeds - 2 teaspoons
Tilseeds - 2 teaspoons
Red chillies - 10
Tamarind - lemon sized (Soaked for 30 mins)
Jaggary - 3/4 cup
Dry coconut - 1/2 cup
Seasoning - Mustard seeds, haldi, curry leaves.

Method

Roast all other ingds. except jaggery and tamarind. Make powder. Set aside

Heat oil, put mustard seeds. After it stops sputtering, add haldi, curry leaves.
After a minute, add pineapple, stir well, cover and leave on low fire for 10 minures.
Add tamarind, jaggery, salt, powder to pineapple based on your flavor level.

Really Good Morning - Pancakes w/ Maple syrup

Well according to me "Good Morning" is sort of a misnomer. Mornings are never good for me. I am always groggy, ill tempered and hate to get up. But yummy pancakes with maple syrup, and in bed makes for a great morning!!

Ingredients for Batter

1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1 extra large egg
1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a small mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Whisk the milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla until smooth in a 1-quart measure. Pour into the dry ingredients, and whisk until creamy. Set aside for a while

To make pancake, just pour a cup onto the pan. Make sure pan is not very hot

Back in London again - Scones and tea

One way that we reminisce about our trip to London and kind of relive it here is by enjoying afteroon tea, or specifically tea and scones with butter/cream/jam.

Below is a recipe on a scone that works. Ofcourse the first time I tried it looked mouth watering but tasted bitter because I used baking soda instead of baking powder (first disaster in cooking :(( ). Below is a description of when to use baking powder and when to use baking soda.

Some recipes call for baking soda, while others call for baking powder. Which ingredient is used depends on the other ingredients in the recipe. The ultimate goal is to produce a tasty product with a pleasing texture. Baking soda is basic and will yield a bitter taste unless countered by the acidity of another ingredient, such as buttermilk. You'll find baking soda in cookie recipes. Baking powder contains both an acid and a base and has an overall neutral effect in terms of taste. Recipes that call for baking powder often call for other neutral-tasting ingredients, such as milk. Baking powder is a common ingredient in cakes and biscuits

Lesson learnt: So if you see baking soda but don't see buttermilk, recheck recipe and think twice ;)

Ingredients

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
3/4 cup cream
1 egg
Handful dried currants or dried cranberries

Method:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix well. Cut in butter and shortening. In a separate bowl, combine cream with beaten egg then add to dry ingredients. Stir in fruit. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Roll dough out and cut into biscuit size rounds. Bake for 15 minutes or until brown.

Twist to the recipe (Courtesy Ina Garten from Food network): Add orange zest

Maddur Vada

This is my first recipe posting. I have decided to log all recipes that I have tried and that works so that next time I want to make it, I don't have to google for it all over again and figure out the changes I made to it etc.etc..

Here is the first recipe for my most favorite vada. Used to eat it on the way to Mysore from Bangalore without fail..and always so yummy and the highlight of the trip.(Let's go to mysore, we can eat maddur vada on the way)

Ingredients

1/2 cup rava
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Green chillies, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 tbsp. coriander leaves, chopped
3 tbsp. melted ghee
1 tsp. salt
Oil for deep frying

Method

Mix together all the ingredients except the oil, adding very little water to make a stiff dough.
Flatten on hand and fry.

Courtesy: Payaswini's Cookbook