Tipsy Pudding

Tipsy pudding

Don’t worry this pudding does not make you tipsy and you will not fall down after having it. 

Why is it called Tipsy Puding? No idea!! What I do know is that this is a very easy recipe and is loved by one and all. 

The best thing about this dessert is that it is better made a day prior to a party and it tastes even better a day after the party. Trust me this recipe is for keeps. 

It is a very sneaky way to add fresh fruits if you have fussy eaters at home. You can add fruits such as apples, bananas, pears, tinned pineapples, etc. I have specifically mentioned tinned pineapples because using fresh one is a disaster for desserts. Fresh pineapples have an enzyme called bromelain that makes it bitter. The tinned processed pineapples are sweet. 

Ingredients

1x8” basic eggless vanilla cake
400 ml Amul cream
1 cup powdered sugar ( you can add more if you want it sweeter)
1 apple, chopped fine (do not peel)
1 banana, chopped fine
3 pineapple rings, chopped fine ( use tinned pineapple)
Nuts and raisins for garnish

The pudding is basically about layering the ingredients. 

Slice the cake into two layers. 

Sprinkle some sugar syrup on the cake slices. If you are using tinned pineapples then you can use the juice in the tin. 

Beat the Amul cream with the sugar till the sugar dissolves. Now add the chopped fruits and mix well.

Take a pudding dish. First put a layer of cake. Then layer with half the fruit-cream mix. Then put the second cake layer and top with rest of the fruit-cream mix. 

Garnish with nuts and raisins. Wrap the pudding dish with cling film and refrigerate till ready to be eaten.

 I make this dish often for parties and I make them the night before and keep refrigerated for 24 hours. This gives the cake time to soak in the cream and flavor from the fruits. It makes the pudding tastier. 

Afghan Chicken

Afghan Chicken

A no fuss appetizer. The dish is marinated twice and then roasted or grilled. I usually marinate the chicken in the morning and keep in the fridge. An hour before cooking I take it out of the fridge and then simply grill. This is indeed a no fuss preparation that does not require too much of your time. 

Ingredients

8 chicken pieces
First marinade
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tsp lime 

Marinate the chicken pieces in the marinade for about an hour.

Second marinade
2 tbsp cashews
2 cheese cubes, grated
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp cream
Salt to taste
1 egg, beaten

Blend together cashews, grated cheese and milk to make a smooth paste. Mix the beaten egg, cream and salt. Apply this marinade to the chicken pieces. Keep refrigerated for at least 6 hours. 
Preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius. Bake for 25 minutes. Serve garnished with onion rings.

Red Velvet Cookies

Red Velvet Cookies

Its Jingle Bells time. White snow. Rolly Polly Santa. Christmas Cake. Red Santa dress. Red velvet cookies seem apt for the season. 
Red Velvet cake is such a droolworthy sight. When I saw this Red Velvet Cookie on aspicyperspective I couldn’t stop myself from making them. The basic ingredient are the same the only difference being a thicker dough which makes it easier to roll out cookies. However I didn’t roll them out. I used my hands to make big balls and then pat them into squat discs. Very rustic looking cookies but were gobbled up within the hour. Ready to make another batch. 

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tbsp red colour
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla essence

Sift together flour, baking powder and flour. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
 Beat together butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.
 Add the red colour, vinegar and vanilla essence.
 Fold in the flour and knead gently. You will have a thick and sticky dough. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour so that the butter firms up again. 
Take out the dough from the refigerator. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Make walnut size balls of the dough. Press the balls with your palms to get round discs. Lay them out on a parchment paper on the baking tray. ake for 10 minutes. The cookies will be soft when you take them out of the oven but they will soon harden up. 

Christmas Cake

Christmas Cake

Yo ho ho!! It’s the season to be jolly!! 

Christmas cakes are basically fruit cakes with loads of dry fruits soaked in rum for about a month. The dry fruits swell up nice and plump. The cake is infused with the flavour of rum and each bite is a delight. A time consuming process because you have to plan and start much ahead; but worth every minute spent on it.

Ingredients

½ kg mixed dried fruits soaked in rum
 ( I used whatever I had in my pantry. These included munaka, almonds, walnuts, apricots, dried cranberries, kish mish, tooti frutti. You can use whatever you have handy. Just make sure that the weight finally comes to half a kilo.)

½ kg flour
½ kg sugar
½ kg butter
½ kg candied peel
1 tbsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp baking powder
10 eggs

Spice powder
15 green cardamoms
15 cloves
3 “ cinnamon sticks
1 tbsp nutmeg powder 
2 tbsp sugar 

Black syrup
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp water+ ½ cup water

First of all soak the dry fruits in rum for about a month. Don’t have time? No issue! Try to soak them for at least a week.

For the spice powder grind together all the ingredients.

Now make the black syrup. This is actually homemade treacle. Treacle is an uncrystallised syrup made during the refining of sugar. It is often used for flavour in baking. 

Mix together 1 cup of sugar and 3 tbsp of water and put on a medium flame. When the sugar starts to turn dark brown turn off the heat. Slowly add ½ cup of water.
 Be very careful at this point because when you add water to hot sugar it will splutter. 
The sugar will become rock hard. Not to worry. Put it back on flame and keep stirring. Slowly the sugar will melt and it will become a smooth syrup. Keep cooking till it thickens a little. 
Sift together flour, baking powder and spice powder. Keep aside. 
Beat together butter and sugar. Add the eggs one by one beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla essence and black syrup. Mix well.
Now take a serving spoon and start adding the flour one spoon at a time. Since you are using half a kilo of flour if you dump in all at once you will end up with a lumpy batter. So add one spoon at a time and mix well after each addition. 
Add the candied peel and soaked dry fruits. 
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Reduce the temperature to 140 degrees and bake for about 60-70 minutes. 
The batter is large enough to make 2x9” cakes. So bake in two separate pans or reduce the ingredients accordingly. 

Mughlai Chicken

Mughlai Chicken

God bless Mughlai cuisine!! We have friends over very frequently and it is a head scratching exercise to make something different every time. Mughlai cuisine is always my fall back food because you just can’t go wrong with it. The use of spices and accompanied by cream and almonds and cashews..everything makes the food super delicious. 

Ingredients

1 chicken, cut into pieces

Marinade in

1 cup hung curd
1 tbsp tandoori masala ( I use homemade tandoori masala)
Salt to taste
2 tbsp kasuri methi
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

For the gravy

 2 Onions, minced
2 tomatoes, minced
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
4 tbsp tomato puree
½ tsp shah jeera
1 tej patta
4 cloves
3 green cardamoms
2 black cardamoms
1 star anise
1 tsp peppercorns
½ cup desiccated coconut
½ cup almonds, ground to a powder
½ cup cashews, made into a paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp nutmeg powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 cup milk
3 tbsp cream

Marinate the chicken in the marinade ingredients for 2 hours. 

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Cook the chicken for 15 minutes. Keep aside.

Heat some ghee. Add the shah jeera, tej patta, cloves, green cardamoms, black cardamoms, star anise and peppercorns. 
Add the ginger garlic paste and fry a bit. Now add the minced onion. Cook till it starts looking dry. 
Add the minced tomato and tomato puree. Cook till the oil separates. 
Now add the turmeric powder, nutmeg powder and the garam masala. Fry for a minute and add the almond powder, desiccated coconut and cashew paste. Fry for a minute or two. 
Add the chicken pieces and fry well till the masala coats the chicken well. 
Add the milk slowly and simmer. You can add some water if you want more gravy. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add the cream and take off heat. 

Scotch Eggs

Scotch Eggs

Scotch Eggs or Deviled Eggs are an egg lover’s delight. It started off as a easy to carry food for English farmers who couldn’t trudge back home for meals. Now it’s a convenient non messy picnic food. 
We also have an Indian version called Nargisi Kofta where hard boiled eggs are covered with mutton. It is easier to cover the eggs with boiled potatoes although mutton mince, chicken mince and fish are also used.

Ingredients

4 hard boiled eggs
3 potatoes, boiled, mashed
1 onion, minced
2 green chillies, chopped
2 cups bread crumbs
1 cup water
2 tbsp cornflour
Salt to taste
1 tsp chaat masala

Mix together mashed potatoes, minced onion, chopped green chillies, salt and chaat masala. Cover the hard boiled eggs with the potato mix. Make a thin paste of the water and cornflour. Dip the egg balls in the cornflour mix and then roll in breadcrumbs. Deep fry the eggs. Your Scotch Eggs are ready.