Tomato and Peas Pulao

                           Wish you all a very Happy New Year

Hope everyone is in holiday and new year mood,after a week of baked goodies for the holidays,today I am back with a rice dish.This is yet another colorful rice with the ripe tomatoes and plumpy green peas with the flavor of coconut milk,which is a one pot meal.Its a good option for lunch box with simple raita,potato fry or chips,home made fryums.Now on to the recipe of mildly tangy tomato pulao....

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Basmathi rice	11/4cups
Tomato	5-6nos(medium size)
Green peas(soaked)	1/2cup
Onion(thinly sliced)	2nos.
Ginger&garlic paste	1tbs
Green Chilly	5-6nos.
Chilly powder	1/2tsp
Coriander powder	1/2tsp
Garam masala powder	1/4tsp
Turmeric powder	1/4tsp
Thick coconut milk	1cup
Mint leaves	10-15 leaves
Coriander leaves(chopped)	as needed
Salt	to taste
Ghee	1tbs
Oil	1tbs

For seasoning

Ingredient	Quantity
Cloves(lavangam)	4nos.
Cinnamon	2 inch piece
Star anise	2nos.
Fennel seeds(sombhu)	1/2tsp
Cardamom(elakkai)	2nos.

Method

                            Soak the rice for 30 minutes,heat a pressure pan or cooker with oil and ghee,season it with the ingredients given for seasoning.Saute the onion and green chillies with a pinch of salt to transparent then ginger and garlic paste.Now add the mint and tomatoes,cook till mushy.

Add all the powders,salt and stir it for a minute then add the soaked rice,mix it everything gets mixed well.

Now add the coconut milk and 11/2 cups of water,allow it to boil.

Once its boiled add the green peas and coriander leaves,cover it with the lid and keep it in a medium flame for one whistle.Then keep it in the low flame for 5 minutes and turn off the stove.Open the lid after the pressure subsides and gently mix it.

Serve it with raitha or chips.

• Tomatoes can be pureed in the blender and used,ripe tomatoes gives nice color and taste to this recipe.
• Cashews can also be added while sauteing the onions which gives extra rich taste.
• A tsp of lemon juice can be added for extra tangy taste.

                                  
Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Besan Nankhatai/Gram Flour cookies

Nankhatais are the traditional short bread kind of cookies which is popular in India.These cookies are made out of a combination of gram flour,all purpose flour and semolina with butter or ghee with the flavor of cardamom.I got this recipe from one of my neighbor's MIL long back(may be 5years),I have been baking these cookies years and always comes out perfect.Today is the last day of blogging marathon#11,now on to the recipe....

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Besan/gram flour/kadalamaavu	1/2cup
All purpose flour(maida)	1/3cup
Semolina/rava	1/4cup
Butter	1/2cup
Sugar	1/2cup
Salt	a pinch
Baking soda	a generous pinch
Cardamom powder	1/2tsp
Almonds and pistachios(sliced)	2tsp to garnish

Method

                    Mix in together all the flours,baking soda,salt and cardamom powder.Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Now cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until fluffy,add in the flour mixture and mix it well to make a soft dough.

Now divide the dough into equal portions and smooth out each portion and make a round ball then slightly flatten it.Make a cross with a knife or fork on the flatten dough.

Press few pieces of nuts gently.Arrange it on a greased or lined baking try and bake it for 10-12 minutes or golden color at 375 F.Cool it on a wire rack.

Store it in an air tight container.

 Enjoy................
 
Check the blogging marathoners here.

Also sending this to Bake Fest#2,Let's Cook-Baked Goodies,Christmas delicacy.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Banana Nut Muffins

Muffins are my son's favorite breakfast with milk and especially he loves the banana flavor.Whenever I have over ripe bananas, make this one for the next day breakfast or snack.This is the first time I made egg-less version and can be made in 30 minutes,doesn't need any special ingredients.Today is the 6th day of blogging marathon#11,here goes the recipe for egg-less delicious muffins.....

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
All purpose flour	11/2cups
Butter	1/4cup
Oil	2tbs
Sugar	1/2cup
Banana (mashed)	2no.(large)
Vanilla extract(optional)	1/2tsp
Walnuts(finely chopped)	3tsp
Salt	a pinch
Baking powder	1tsp
Baking soda	1/2tsp

Method

             Preheat the oven to 350 degree F,mix together flour,salt,baking powder and baking soda.
Cream the butter,oil,sugar,mashed banana,vanilla extract in a bowl with a hand blender until fluffy and light.

Now slowly add the flour  and fold it well until everything gets blend well with a spatula,

Stir in the chopped walnuts,grease the muffin tray or line it with liners.

Spoon the batter into each cup of the muffin pan or tray and bake in the preheated oven for 20-23 minutes or until the tooth pick comes out clean.Cool it in the cooling rack.

Muffins are ready.

Enjoy......

• Instead of butter and oil,vegetable shortening can be used.
• Finely chopped pecans can also be added.
• The amount of sugar can be increased or decreased according to the taste.
• If the batter is thick and not in a dropping consistency add couple of tbs of milk.

Click here for the other marathoners participating in Blogging Marathon#11

Also linking to Sangeeths's Bake Fest#2,Radhika's Let's Cook-Baked Goodies,Kirthi's Serve it Series-Baked Sweet
Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprint cookies are filled with jam or jelly in the indent made by the thumb on the cookies which is perfect for holiday baking and today is the 5th day of blogging marathon.These cookies are simply delicious and crispy,soft,mouth melting with the sweetness of the jam or jelly also called as thimble cookies,here goes the recipe .....

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
All purpose flour	1cup
Butter	1/2cup
Sugar	1/4cup
Strawberry jam	2tbs
Vanilla extract	1/2tsp
Salt	a pinch
Baking powder	1/2tsp
Baking soda	a pinch

Method

                 Mix in the dry ingredients flour,baking powder,soda and a pinch of salt.
Cream the butter and sugar till it becomes fluffy and smooth,add in the vanilla extract and mix it well.
Now add in the flour 1/4 cup at a time and mix it well everything is incorporated well.

Now the dough will be very soft.Wrap it in a polythene wrap or butter paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes.Take out the dough and divide into equal balls and smooth it gently,keep it on the baking tray.

Gently press the top of the cookie with the thumb and fill in the jam.Bake it at 350 F for 10-13 minutes.Cool down on a wire rack completely.

Store it in an air tight container.

Enjoy......

• The cookies will be soft when it is hot and becomes crisp on cooling,take out from the oven after 10-12 mins.
• The smooth out balls can be rolled in finely chopped nuts which gives extra rich taste.
• Keep the cookies on the baking tray 2 inch apart.

Also check out my friends who is running in Blogging Marathon#11.

Linking to

1. Bake Fest#2.
2. Let's Cook-Baked Goodies
3. Only-Cookies and Cake
4. Serve it Series -Baked Sweet
5. Christmas Delicacy

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Peanut Butter Cookies

For the 4th day of blogging marathon I made the peanut butter cookies which is my son's favorite cookie.This is an easy to make egg-less peanut butter cookies which is simple and crunchy with the flavor of peanut.This cookie I learned it from my close friend and when I made it first time I was not quiet happy with the texture,it was bit hard.But this time it came out perfect and now to the recipe....

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
All purpose flour	2cups
Butter/Vegetable shortening	1cup
Sugar	1cup
Peanut butter	3/4cup
Vanilla extract	1/2tsp
Salt	a pinch
Baking powder	1tsp
Baking soda	1/2tsp
Milk	1/2cup

Method


                      Preheat the oven to 375 degree F and grease the baking tray or line it with a parchment paper.
Beat the butter,sugar first then peanut butter until soft and creamy.
Now add the flour,salt,baking powder and soda and mix it well.Add the milk and stir it well till everything mixed well.
Roll the dough to a smooth ball,keep it on the baking tray 1 inch apart and flatten with flour dusted fork.Bake it for 15-17 minutes(mine took exactly17 mins) or till golden color.Cool it on a wire rack.
Peanut butter cookies are ready.

Enjoy.......

• I used white sugar which can be substituted with brown sugar.
• The amount of peanut butter can be increased up to 1cup.
• Instead of milk,butter milk can be used.
• For extra sweetness the balls can be rolled in the sugar before flatten it.
• For the given measurements ,I got 35 cookies.

Check the marathoners running in BM#11 here.

Also sending this to

• Bake Fest#2 
• Let's Cook-Baked Goodies 
• Only-Cookies and Cakes 
• Christmas Delicacy

 
Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com