Valentine Cup Cakes/Hidden Heart Cup Cakes-Guest post by Sangeetha

I am so happy to share a guest post by my blogger friend sangeetha who is the first friend after starting my blog,initially our conversation started via email and FB then over the phone.Really I am very lucky to get a friend like Sangeetha,when I started the blogging I didn't know so many things and asked her help for so many things like a kid.Without any hesitation and lots of patientce she clarifies the doubts clearly.We used to talk over the phone almost every other day atleast for an hour regarding the kids,blog,photography as we both bought the DSLR same time and same model.These days I am busy with the lil one couldn't talk as much as before but once in a week we talk over the phone and chat in the FB.
When I asked her to do a guest for my blog,she immediately agreed without any second thought and asked me What type of recipe you want?
Though she has 500+ recipes I love the way and efforts she takes to bake cookies,breads and cake.So I wanted some baked recipe and she came up with the idea of Valentine cup cakes with hidden heart.

Now Present you Sangeetha in her own words.....

Nalini is one of my close friends in the blogging World. I am so happy to do this guest post for her. She has a lovely space with more delicious recipes which are presented well with inviting pictures. Her authentic south Indian recipes are more notable, have tried few recipes from her space and totally loved it. I love her Eggless Cookies and have bookmarked to try.

We are phone friends for more than a year, yes..we shared our numbers and used to talk almost daily but after her lil' princess arrival it reduced to once in a week. Most of the time our conversation begins with Blogging, Blogging & Blogging. We also discuss about photography, pictures, presentation this n that. We both have same DSLR so its easy for us to share and clear any doubts.  She is a very friendly and caring person. I am so happy to have her as one of my close friends. 

And one more happy thing to to share that today she is Celebrating her life's special moment and wishing Her a very Happy Anniversary. God Bless U & Ur Family with all health & Wealth. Good Luck Nalini!

Now coming to the recipe, Valentine Cupcakes/Hidden Heart Cupcakes with Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting. As its a Valentine Month, this is perfect and easy choice to treat your Valentine in the special day. I happened to see a video on you tube, making Basic Vanilla Cake and Vanilla Butter cream frosting. The cake turned out so good but the hidden heart didn't come out perfectly becoz since i forgot to push the heart down, so on baking it raised to top and also  i forgot to mark on the liners to cut the cake to get the perfect heart shape,when i cut it wrong way it appeared like a pink blob :( But i was happy with the output(taste wise)and my kids loved the cake with frosting. 

Makes About 6 hidden heart cupcakes

Ingredients

1. Vanilla Cake Batter (click here for the cake)

For Frosting

1. Softened Butter 1/2 cup
2. Confectioner sugar 1 and 1/2 cup
3. Milk or cream    2 tbsp
4. Vanilla extract 1/2 tsp

Method

• Make Batter as per the recipe.
• Then take about a 1/3 of the batter and place in small bowl Add red food color to the batter to get a nice shade of pink. Cover the plain batter with cling wrap and refrigerate until use.

• Put pink batter in a square baking pan and bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Remove from pan and allow to cool completely.

• Cut out heart shapes from the pink cooled cake with a 1"cookie cutter.
• Line muffins pan with cupcake liner.
• Place 2 tbsp of the plain batter in the bottom of a cupcake liner in a cupcake pan. Place one pink cake heart pointy side down in the center of the batter making sure to push it all the way down to the bottom.

•  Cover the top of the heart with about 1-1 1/2 tbsp of additional plain batter.
• Bake the cupcakes at 350 F for about 20 minutes until a tooth pick inserted in the plain batter comes out clean.

Once the cake cooled completely, frost the cake.

In a mixing bowl, using electric mixer cream butter until light and fluffy. Beat in confectioner sugar,vanilla and milk. If needed add milk to get desired frosting consistency.

Then pipe frosting and decorate with desired tips n design, if needed sprinkle sugar sprinkles.

Notes:

The entire recipe can make 8" round cake.

Got more left over Pink batter cake.

   

  Enjoy...............................................................
Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Methi(Fenugreek leaves) Chicken Curry

Today's recipe is a very flavorful,delicious and creamy chicken curry which goes very well with roti and rice.As the name indicates,the fresh methi leaves are used to flavor the curry and the highlight of the recipe is the addition of coconut milk.Coconut milk gives a very nice taste and consistency now on to the recipe....

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Chicken(with bones)	1lb
Onion(chopped)	2nos.
Fresh Methi leaves/vendhaya keerai	1cup
Green chilly(slit)	4nos.
Ginger&garlic paste	1tsp
Coriander leaves(chopped)	2tbs
Curry leaves(chopped)	1 sprigs
Thick Coconut milk	1/3cup
Lemon juice	1tsp
Salt	1/4tsp
Oil	2tbs

For the marination

Ingredient	Quantity
Red chilly powder	2tsp
Coriander powder	1tsp
Garam masala powder	1/2tsp
Turmeric powder	1/8tsp
Ginger&garlic paste	11/2tsp
Yogurt/thayir	2tsp
Salt	1tsp

For tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Cumin seeds/jeeragam	1/2tsp
Fennel seeds/sombhu	1/4tsp
Cloves/lavangam	2nos.
Cinnamon/pattai	1inch piece

Method

• Clean and cut the chicken to bite size pieces and to this add the ingredients given for marination.Mix it well and refrigerate for an hour or more.
• Heat the oil in a skillet and add the cumin seeds,fennel,cloves and cinnamon.
• Add the green chilly,onion and methi leaves,saute it till the onion gets transparent.
• Then add the ginger&garlic paste and 1/24tsp of salt,cook it till the raw smell goes off.
• Add the marinated chicken and saute it till it changes the color or 3-4 minutes.
• To this add 1 cup of water and cook it covered in a medium flame for 7-8 minutes or till the chicken gets cooked completely.
• Now to this add the coconut milk and cook it for only one boil and the chopped coriander leaves turn off the stove.
• Finally add the lemon juice and mix it well.
• Serve it after 2 hours with rice or roti to get the flavors incorporate well.

Enjoy.....................................................

• Use of fresh methi give a nice flavor and aroma to the curry,do not use the kasoori methi as it changes the taste and flavor entirely.
• I used the store bought coconut milk as it is really thick and gives a creamy texture.
• The over night marination gives nice taste and the chicken will be juicy.
• No tomato is added in this curry and adding the yogurt and lemon juice gives the tanginess to the curry.
• Do not boil the curry after adding the coconut milk for a long time and add the lemon juice after turn off the flame.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Milagu/Black Pepper Kulambhu-No Onion and Garlic Recipe

As the weather here is so cold,making me lazy and not in a mood of cooking anything.Unfortunately no quality Indian restaurants around so I have to cook something simple and light.Finally decided to make milagu kulambhu as it doesn't need onion and garlic so no chopping can be finished in less than 30 minutes.My mom makes this kulambhu slightly in a different way which I share it later but this recipe is from my mom's collegue who doesn't eat onion and garlic.I paired up this kulambhu with carrot poriyal(stirfry) using the chopped frozen carrot and home made arisi vathal(fryum),had a healthy meal.Here goes the recipe................................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Tamarind/puli	small lemon size
Turmeric powder/manjal podi	1/4tsp
Channa dhal/kadala paruppu	11/2tbs
Red chilly/varamilagai	3-4nos.
Black pepper corns/milagu	1tbs
Cumin seeds/jeeragam	11/2tsp
Curry leaves/karivepillai	1 sprig
Salt	to taste
Oil	2tbs

For the tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Mustard seeds/kadugu	1/2tsp
Fenugreek seeds/vendhayam	6-7 seeds
Asafoetida	a pinch

Method

Soak the tamarind in a cup of water,meanwhile dry roast the red chilly,channa dhal,cumin seeds and black pepper to a golden color or till a nice aroma comes out.Let it cool and grind it to a powder.

Now squeeze the tamarind and take the extract and keep it in a bowl.To this tamarind extract add the ground powder,salt and turmeric powder.Heat a pan with the oil and splutter the mustard seeds then goes in fenugreek seeds and asafoetida.Add the tamarind water to it.Add little more water(1/2 cup),allow it to boil till the raw smell goes off.

Serve it with rice and papad.

Enjoy..............................................................

• I personally prefer slightly thicker version of kulambhu,so adjust the consistency according to your preference.
• The kulambhu may be slightly bitter initially after some all the flavors get incorporated the bitterness won't be there.
• The kulamhu will be even more tasty on the next day.
• I used the fresh tamarind if you are using the tamarind paste 2tbs can be used for this given amount.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Manathathakkali Vathal podi/Dried Black Night Shade Berry Powder

This post has been lying in my drafts since 4 months and finally today I am sharing this healthy powder.
Mathathakkali is called as black night shade both the leaves of this plant and berries are used to treat ulcer in natural medicine
These dried berries are slightly bitter in taste but it has lots of medicinal value and is used in traditional medicine.
This powder is  mixed with rice along with a dash of ghee or sesame oil and given especially in the postpartum period as it has healing property.Here is the recipe........................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Manathathakkali Vatral/dried berries	1/4cup
Red chilly/varamilagai	3nos.
Channa dhal/kadala paruppu	1tbs
Urad dhal/uluttham paruppu	1tbs
Cumin seeds/jeeragam	1tsp
Black pepper/milagu	1tsp
Curry leaves/kerivepeillai	1sprig
Asafoetida/perungayam	a generous pinch
Salt	to taste

Method

Dry roast the red chilly,channa dhal,urad dhal,black pepper and cumin seeds in a medium flame in a pan.Then add the vatral and roast till it becomes crisp.

Let it become cool,after cooling grind it in a blender or mixie along with salt and asfoetida to a fine powder.

Store it in an air tight container.

Enjoy..................................................

• This powder stays fresh and flavorful for 2 weeks.
• Adding ghee or sesame oil is very important to reduce the bitterness and can be eaten only with hot rice.
• The spicy level of this powder is mild for the given red chillies but can be increased to personal preference.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Cauliflower and Chickpeas(channa) Kurma

This is my mom's recipe which goes very with almost everything such as roti,paratha,rice and pulao.Whenever we have get together or guests this one will be in her menu,if cauliflower is not available she replaces it with either potato or soya chunks.This is a creamy and delicious kurma with coconut base and coconut paste needs to be finely ground to get a creamy texture.Here goes the recipe..............................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Cauliflower florets	2cups
Chickpeas/channa(cooked)	1cup
Onion(thinly sliced)	1no.(medium size)
Garlic(thinly sliced)	3 cloves
Tomato	2-3nos.(
Green Chilly(slit)	3nos.
Coriander leaves(chopped)	2tbs
Curry leaves(chopped)	1 sprig
Mint leaves(optional)	10-15 leaves
Chilly Powder/milagai podi	11/4tsp
Coriander powder/dhaniya podi	1tsp
Turmeric powder/manjal podi	1/8tsp
Garam masala powder	1/4tsp
Lemon juice	1tsp
Salt	11/2tsp
Oil	1tbs

For the seasoning

Ingredient	Quantity
Cloves/lavangam	4-5nos.
Cinnamon/pattai	2 inch piece
Bay leaf	1no.
Star anise	1no.
Fennel seeds/sombhu	1/4tsp
Green Chilly(slit)	3nos.
Coriander leaves(chopped)	2tbs

To grind

Ingredient	Quantity
Coconut(grated)	1/2cup
Cashews	3nos.

Method 

1. Put the cauliflower florets in the boiled water along with a pinch of salt and drain it.Then put the tomatoes in the boiling water and cook it and after cooling peel the skin,grind it.Grind the coconut and cashews a very fine paste and set it aside. 

2. Heat a pan with oil and splutter the fennel seeds and add the whole garam masala.Saute the onion,garlic and green chillies along with a pinch of salt.

3. Then add the tomato paste and cook it,now add all the powders and stir it for a minute.Add a cup of water and let it boil till the raw flavor goes off. 

4. Add the blanched cauliflower and cooked channa and cook it for couple of minutes then add the finely ground coconut paste and cook it for 3-4 minutes or till the raw smell disappears and becomes thick.

5. Finally add the chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice and mix it well. 

6. Kurma is ready.Serve it with roti or pulao.

Enjoy................................

• Instead of coconut paste thick coconut milk can be used.
• Do not use store bought tomato puree and the ground tomatoes give the creamy consistency.
• The cooked chickpeas can be replaced with green peas.
• Adding the mint leaves is purely optional but gives a nice flavor.
• The kurma becomes thick on cooling so adjust consistency,if it is too thick add hot water with a pinch of salt.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Chicken Drumstick Fry

Most of our weekend lunch or dinner is non-veg,depending on the availability of ingredients it will be either a simple Chicken fry and rasam or Chicken Pulao and Chicken Curry.
Last week my kiddo was down with flu and cold wanted to give some chicken soup.As we make the chicken soup with boned chicken  got a big pack of chicken drumstick which is more for 3 of us.After making the soup for couple of days wanted to try something  with the remained drumsticks but not in a mood to make biriyani or Tandoori chicken.Suddenly got the idea of making fry with it which I had it in my sister's place last time to pair it with rasam for dinner.It was a so delicious and the chicken was cooked perfectly and made in less than 30 minutes.The only thing is chicken needs to be marinated for atleast 4-5 hours.I marinated the chicken in the morning and made it in the evening,now on to the recipe....................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Chicken drumstick	5-6nos.
Onion	1no.(medium size)
Tomato	1no.(medium size)
Ginger&garlic paste	1tsp
Green chilly(slit)	3nos.
Curry leaves	2 sprigs
Coriander leaves/Cilantro(chopped)	2tbs
Coriander leaves(chopped)	2tbs
Salt	1/4tsp
Oil	3tbs

For marination

Ingredient	Quantity
Ginger&garlic paste	2tsp
Red chilly Powder	2tsp
Coriander powder	2tsp
Garam masala powder	1/2tsp
Yogurt/curd	2tbs
Salt	11/2tp

Method

• Wash and clean the chicken and make 4-5 slits with a sharp knife on the chicken so that the marinade gets absorbed well.
• Mix the given ingredients given for the marination in a bowl and rub it well to the chicken pieces.Let it rest in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours or overnight.
• Heat a pressure pan with 2tbs of oil and saute the onion along with green chilly,curry leaves then add the ginger&garlic paste.Fry it till the raw smell disappears.
• Now add in tomato and the salt cook it mushy,once the tomato is cooked add the marinated chicken,mix it well.
• Stir it for a minute to get everything blends well,close it the lid and cook it for a whistle.
• Now heat a dosa griddle or wide mouth pan add the remaining oil,add the cooked chicken pieces along with masala and roast it till it becomes dry.
• Finally add the chopped coriander leaves.
• Chicken fry is ready.
• Serve it with pulao or rice and rasam.

Enjoy..........................................................................

• The amount of chilly powder given is for the spicier side,if you want milder version reduce the amount.
• This fry can be done in an open cooking method,it takes little more time and needs more oil to cook,to cut down the oil I made in the pressure pan.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Mixed Vegetable Masala Pasta(Indian Style)

My kiddo loves pasta,but he doesn't like to it for lunch box if it is loaded with cheese and pasta sauce.When it comes to lunch box he prefers this one and I make it for our dinner whenever I feel lazy to cook.Here goes my recipe for Indian style masala pasta....................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Pasta	1cup
Onion(sliced)	1no.
Tomato(finely chopped)	1no.
Mixed veggies(carrot,beans,capsicum)	1cup(cut into strips)
Ginger&garlic paste	1tsp
Green Chilly(chopped)	2nos.
Coriander leaves(chopped)	2tbs
Red chilly powder	1/4tsp
Coriander powder	1/4tsp
Garam masala powder	1/8tsp
Turmeric powder	1/8tsp
Tomato Ketchup	1tbs
Salt	to taste
Olive Oil	1tbs

Method

                         Cook the pasta in a boiling water till it gets soft and cooked.Drain the excess water and keep it aside.
Heat a pan with oil,saute the onion and green chillies till the onion becomes transparent,add the ginger and garlic paste.

Then goes in the veggies.Stir it well until the veggies become tender,now add the tomato cook it mushy.

Add in all the powders and salt,give it a mix.Now add 2 tbs of water cook it covered partially.Once it becomes thick add the cooked pasta and mix it well,keep it in a medium flame for a minute or two.

Finally add the coriander leaves and tomato ketchup and mix it.

Yummy Masala Pasta is ready.

Enjoy....................................

• Here I used the fusilli pasta you can use any shape.
• Adding tomato ketchup is purely optional,I add this one only for my kiddo.
• The amount of red chilly powder can be increased according to preference.

Click here to check my blogger buddies recipe for Blogging Marathon#24.
Linking this to Kid's Delight-Lunch box recipes hosted by PJ of Seduce your Taste Buds,started by Srivalli.



Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com