Fruit 'N' Nut Cake......Christmas Special

Hello dear foodies, I know I'm little bit late for posting this Christmas special recipe but I know there are some people like me who are still looking for those last minute ideas for making this Holiday Season special for their friends and families.

If you are a regular follower of my blog then you must have found many Holiday Special recipes here:

• Creme Caramel
• Cream Horns
• Vanilla Cupcakes
• Raspberry Pannacotta
• Strawberry Mousse Cake
• Strawberry Shortcake Shooters
• Strawberry Swiss Roll
• Skinny Mango Cheesecake
• Mango Custard
• Eggless Mango Mousse
• Palmiers......Heart Shape Cookies
• Nankhatai........Cardamom Flavored Cookies 
• Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

I am pleased to add one more recipe to this list i.e. Fruit 'N' Nut Cake. I know there are thousand of recipes available on the internet but my take on this Christmas Special Cake is very basic. As we both are non-alcoholic so I didn't add any rum or brandy flavor to this cake. If you want you may go ahead and add it.

So, without any further blabbering let's begin with the recipe:

Mango Custard

Hello all.....hope you are doing well. Few days back we arranged a small get together at our home. Get togethers are always full of fun and having it over a weekend is like "FUN-TASTIC". It's always good to have your friends and family around. Thanks to the weekend parties and potlucks; these are certainly very refreshing and a good way to rejuvenate yourself.

I planned an elaborate menu for the get-together which included:

Papdi Chaat 

Garlicky Egg Curry

Paneer Butter Masala

Chicken Biryani

Chicken Chaap

Mango Custard 

In case you are interested to know the recipes just click the names and you'll be redirected to that page. Although I don't have the recipe of Chicken Chaap but sooner or later I would like to share that delectable dish from Kolkata a niche in my blog. 

Coming back to today's recipe i.e. Mango Custard. We all love mangoes and you can find out my love for mangoes in my blog too. I have so many recipes made out of the "King of Fruits". Usually custard is a cooked mixture of milk/cream and egg yolk; it's consistency can vary from thin pouring sauce to a thick pastry cream. The cooking option also varies. But, the method I used is very hassle free and crowd pleasing too.

Personally, I think nothing can beat the flavor of Mangoes so I never do any tampering with it. I just used Mango puree to prepare this custard, if you want you may add fresh fruits of your choice too.

Let's begin with the recipe:

Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

Hello my foodie friends.......I was offline for quite a while and missing blogosphere reason being we moved to US again. Yes, it takes a lot of hard work and effort to move from one country to another and we did it twice within a gap of almost a year.

Wrapping up all the things and moving to another country, leaving our families & friends behind is a very difficult task and this time it was even more harder for us as we had settled up everything in our new home and got too much emotionally attached to it. 

Moving to a new city, settling down there and returning back to your scheduled routine takes time and that's what happened to me, I took almost 6 months to flip back. 

I would like to thank some of my blogger friends and followers who really care for me and my work. They were in constant touch with me and supported me during this phase of my life.

Anyway enough of this emotional dialogues I don't want to lose the excitement of writing a post after such a long time. This time I wanted to enjoy my come back with some dessert so what's better than baking. It gives me a sense of relief whenever I'm not feeling good about anything (I was missing my home very badly).

I baked a whole batch of Vanilla cupcakes and decided to do a little bit of frosting so what's better flavor than Strawberry? I used Whipped Topping that is available in the departmental stores which makes your job lot more easier, however, you may use Heavy Whipping Cream too. (whip it with an electric blender or whisk until soft peaks are formed). Meanwhile, I think my cupcake liners should get a special mention here as they are so cute that I couldn't resist baking.

So, let's start with the recipe:

Kung Pao Chicken

Hello Peeps......hope you all are doing good in this scorching heat. This year we the Kolkatians too are facing the harsh summer heat. Usually we don't face such kind of summer. So, what you all are doing to beat the heat? I usually drink lot of water to prevent myself from getting dehydrated.  

Moreover, I like to keep my refrigerator stuffed with some homemade drinks and Ice-cream. Ohhhhh....I love ice-cream like a kid. I know you don't need to be a kid to indulge yourself in a scoop of ice-cream. A helpful advice to all my calorie conscious friends, sometimes it's fine to treat yourself with a scoop. Your tastebuds kindda like it.

This time I'm posting the recipe of Kung Pao Chicken. I made this dish few weeks back and managed to click few pics. This recipe is an American-Chinese Dish but I adjusted it to please our Indo-Chinese tastebuds. 

Kung Pao Chicken is a quick and easy Chinese dish which is ready to serve in less than 30 minutes. The best thing I like in this dish are the roasted peanuts, most Chinese restaurant use the aromatic mouth numbing Sichuan peppers. They give a different flavor to this dish along with the dried chili peppers that I always find irresistible.

The best part of Chinese Cuisine is that you can tweak it the way you want. It's not necessary you need to follow the recipe as it is. You can add or subtract the ingredients to your liking. 

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Crab Croquettes

                         
Hello foodies, hope you all are doing good. It’s that time of the year when we all shed the layers of woolen clothes and get into some bright, beautiful colors of spring. Though, we don’t have official spring here in India but still I have seen many stores (clothing) offers discounts in the name of Spring……Lolzzzzz

Lately, it’s been too hot and humid here in Kolkata, West Bengal and I’m afraid how I’ll be surviving the upcoming months. I think the best way to deal with summer is to keep yourself hydrated every time. Drink as much as water you can which helps in releasing the toxins. Last year I had posted many summer special drinks and I’m sure they will help in quenching your thirst.

• Virgin Watermelon Sangria
• Aam Panna 
• Pinacolada
• Cucumber Lime Mojito
• Mango Kulfi
• Mango Ice-cream

Anyway I think I’m getting deviated from today’s post which is about Crabs. I haven’t tasted Crab until I went to US and trust me I didn’t like it much as I was getting a very weird kind of smell but when I came to India and found crab sticks in one of the superstores, I thought of trying it once again and the very first recipe which came to my mind was to make Croquettes out of those.

These Crab sticks are very hassle free to work with as they come ready to use. You don’t have to even crack the shells (that's the worst part of eating crab). The recipe calls for very few ingredients and the time it takes from pan to plate is less than 10 mins. Because it’s such a hassle free dish it works best when you have unplanned guests at your home provided you have crab sticks handy in your freezer. So, without any further ado let’s begin with the recipe:

Recreation of Dynamite Shrimp

Time flies……...it’s been a year since we are back from US and living in India. In this one year I did lot of things starting from decorating our new home to learn absolutely new recipes. I always appreciate people exploring new things and implement the same in their and other's daily life. Its an awesome feeling.

When we were in the US we used to dine out very often and our favorite restaurant would be “Buffalo Wild Wings” which is a sports bar with 360 degree view of TV's being installed even in the restrooms. They are specialized in making Chicken Wings. Being there, I had a fear of not getting same Chicken Wings here in India but I was actually wrong. I found few shops like Spencer's and Republic of Chicken who sell just speciality wings and guess what I have re-created that dish at home (recipe here).

Apart from gobbling Chicken Wings one of the other restaurants we used to love is “P.F.Chang’s” which is a Chinese Restaurant adjusted to American Cuisine. It’s no secret that most American Chinese food restaurants serve dishes that have been adapted to please the Westernized American palate. My husband introduced me to this restaurant and one of the dishes we used to love there was “Dynamite Shrimp”. Though I’m allergic to Shrimp I couldn’t resist myself to this mouth watering dish. So we restricted ourselves to this restaurant and used to visit there very rarely.

Dynamite Shrimp is made from deshelled and deveined shrimps coated with corn flour-egg mixture and then deep fried. Finally, these fried shrimps are dipped in a sauce and served over bed of lettuce.

We used to love this appetizer. My only complain was about the portion served as it was too less compared to the price. Maybe we used to feel so because of our love for Shrimps.

I always say that being a foodie is a boon and a curse at the same time. You get to know about so many different  varieties of food from different cuisines but if you love those dishes you’ll be craving for that dish to death.

My love for Dynamite Shrimp did something like that to me. From last few weeks I was so much craving for that dish that I started looking for the recipe and tried them all but couldn’t match the flavors. Finally I got my hands on this recipe and trust me it is very much close to the restaurant style or “P.F.Chang’s” style “Dynamite Shrimp”. Do give it a try and let me know your honest opinion on my recreation of Dynamite Shrimp.

Date Palm Jaggery Fudge/ Gurer Sandesh

The name of Nolen Gur (Date Palm Jaggery) is enough to make any Bengali nostalgic. Date Palm Jaggery or Nolen Gur can only be found in some parts of India including West Bengal and few North Eastern states. However, the downside of this jaggery is that you can get this only during winters.

In order to enjoy flavors of Nolen Gur all year around, I usually stock up enough jaggery for the entire year in refrigerator and use it whenever I wish to. In that way you can enjoy the flavors all year long.

Few posts back I promised to post few recipes which I decided to post during the entire winter season here in India. I think I was able to keep that promise and posted each and every recipe except Gurer Rosogolla. 

In order to compensate that I thought of preparing Gurer Sandesh which is equally enjoyed in each and every Bengali household during the entire winter season. Though I prefer Gurer Rosogolla over Gurer Sandesh but both of them have their own delicacies.

Sandesh means Fudge. You can get numerous flavors in Sandesh throughout Kolkata but among all Nolen Gur is my favorite. Making Sandesh or Fudge at home is a child's play. You just need to have Cottage Cheese and the choice of flavor.....that's all!!!

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Peas Kachori/Koraishutir Kochuri

Hello my dear foodies, it's been a long time since I posted anything on my blog. Actually lot of things happened on my side; lot of friends and families visited our place, family functions and I suffered from cold and flu too. 

Since so many things happened so, I was not in the mood of blogging anything. Even this post was lying in my drafts folder from long time so I decided to complete and publish this post. In that way I can think what to blog next. Believe me I don't have any ideas what to 
blog next, can you provide me some ideas?

Anyway, this post is about one of the most popular winter delicacies in West Bengal and i.e. Peas Kachori or Koraishutir Kochuri (as we Bengalis call it). In Kolkata, January is the month of Picnics. People organize lot of picnics with their friends, families, office colleagues, schoolmates, college mates, commutation mates etc......Whomsoever you picnic with the breakfast (in Picnic) begins with Koraishutir Kochuri and Aalur Dom (Dum Aaloo). This delectable dish is also a common affair in Sunday Breakfast in most of the Bengali households.

This palatable dish is mostly enjoyed in winters as Peas are available in abundance during this time but thanks to the supermarkets where you can find frozen peas year long. 

Koraishutir Kochuri is generally enjoyed with Aalur Dom but you can also have it as it is. I enjoy it with stuffed green chilli pickle. So, without any further babbling let's begin with the recipe:

Schezwan Rice

Few days back I took a day off from work and utilized it in the best possible way I could. I did whatever I had planned for that day but amid of all the chores, suddenly a thought ran through my mind - What to have for lunch? Well, I opened my Fridge and found some cute little veggies peeping through the vegetable basket. 

After seeing those I thought of preparing Noodles (usually that's the best option I get when I want to finish off my veggies). But with the flick of mind I thought why not Schezwan Rice! It was completely impromptu preparation but the end product was so palatable that I couldn't resist the blogger inside me to click few pics to blog. 

Schezwan Rice is one of the most loved dishes in Indo-Chinese cuisine. You can find this dish in almost every Menu Card of Indo-Chinese restaurant. If you love a little spicy food I'm sure you will love this dish too. I'm not a full-time spicy food lover but I do like it sometimes. It's hot, spicy and completely irresistible. 

The prime ingredient of this recipe is the: Schezwan Sauce. If you have it handy then making Schezwan Rice is like a child's play. I like to add lot of veggies to my Fried Rice. You can make this recipe completely Vegetarian or add meat of your choice. This time I added few shrimps. 

So, let's start with the recipe: 

Bhature

Chole-Bhature is one of the most popular recipes of North India. It is a breakfast invented in Delhi after partition and now a days, it is a popular breakfast around Northern India and other parts of the country too.

I had spent almost 8 years of my childhood in Punjab and may be that's the reason I have a great affinity towards North Indian cuisine. I have posted the recipe of Punjabi style Chole long back. Here is the link of the recipe for Punjabi Style Chole. It took me almost a year to post the recipe of Bhature (to be very frank I don't know the exact reason). 

Bhature is one of my family's favorites. These soft fluffy deep fried breads are so delectable that I consume 1-2 Bhatures while making them. One might think procedure of making these Bhatures seems to be very tough but trust me this "no failure" recipe will prove them wrong. The first time I made these, I was quite amazed that how soft and fluffy they came out. Since then every attempt I made, I ensured I have it accompanied Chole with Bhatures and nothing else.

One more specialty of this recipe is that its Yeast Free. So, let's keep the calorie part aside and indulge yourself into this lip smacking recipe of Bhature:

Patishapta.......Crepes with Coconut Filling

Last week we all celebrated the Harvest festival which is known as "Makar Sankranti" in India. As India is a very diversified country this festival is known by many names; Bhogali Bihu, Pongal, Magha Sajji, Suggi, Sankrat to name a few. We Bengalis called this festival as "Poush Sankranti" as this festival marks an ending of Bengali month called "Poush".

For us this festival is known for the reason of making "Pithes" so another name for this festival is "Pithe Parbon". I still remember the tradition of making Pithe-Paayesh in my family. My Mom along with my Grand Mother used to make lots of Pithes to celebrate this festival.

To keep the spirit alive I too make some Pithes which I learnt from my Mom. I have posted few recipes of Pithes here. You can have a look here:

Golap Pithe/ Edible Rose Garden

Hridoy Horon Pithe/ Heart Shape Pithe

Malpua/ Sweet Indian Pancakes

Gajorer Patishapta/ Carrot Crepes

Gurer Paayesh/ Rice Pudding with Date Palm Jaggery

As these days Nolen Gur (Date Palm Jaggery) is widely available in West Bengal, so I wanted to combine the goodness of Nolen Gur with the awesomeness of Patishapata. So, let's begin with the recipe:

Gurer Paayesh....Rice Pudding with Date Palm Jaggery

Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous NEW YEAR 2016. May this year brings lot of happiness in your life. Hope you all had enjoyed the festive season and the new year celebrations with your friends and families and of course with lot of food.  

In every bengali household Rice Pudding embarks auspicious occasions and no party is complete without this. There are two ways of preparing rice pudding one with Sugar and the other one with date palm jaggery. 

Date palm jaggery a.k.a Nolen Gur in Bengali, is very special and every Bong's favorite.  It is the first extract of the palm juice. The juice is boiled, a little salt is added to it to act as a preservative, so the jaggery does not taste too sweet. It is then cooled and poured into a long cone made of palm leaves. The cone is then wrapped in rice straws and preserved. At the time of use, the cone is finely sliced, so that the jaggery is cut into a disc with a palm ribbon around the edge. Unfortunately, you get Nolen gur only in winters in West Bengal, Bangladesh and some parts of Southern India.  

As this is the season of Palm Jaggery I thought of preparing this Rice Pudding with Nolen Gur. We Bengalis like to prepare rice puddings with a special kind of rice called as "Gobindo Bhog Rice". Many people prepares it with Basmati Rice too but I believe using Gobindo Bhog Rice takes this pudding to a new level. 

This recipe is very simple to prepare, you just need to keep an eye so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Without any further a let's begin with the recipe: