Bake Fest #15 - Guest Hosting

Hello everyone! I am so happy to announce hosting bake fest on my blog again. Thanks Vardhini for the opportunity. If you are familiar with Vardhini's Cooks Joy, you will know how creative and fun her food is. I love her clicks. Her food comes through as though it's sitting in front of you, calling your name. Mmmm... Bake fest has been on the rounds for a while, so all of you must be familiar with the rules, still, here it is.

~ Send in any recipe which has been baked / broiled.
~ Only vegetarian or vegan recipes please. Eggs are allowed in baking.
~ Usage of logo is appreciated as it helps spread the word.
~ Linking back to my announcement page and to Vardhini's Bake Fest announcement is mandatory. If sending an old entry, it needs to be re-published with both links.
~ You can send in any number of new entries and a maximum of 2 old entries.
~ If you have any problem linking please send me an email @ sumeesculinary@gmail.com

Please use the link below to submit your entries.

Brownies with Sour Cream Chocolate Ganache

Happy and Prosperous New Year to all my beloved readers. Hope this year brings you new joy and hope. May you realize all your dreams and get to eat and savor what you would like! Last year I was in India enjoying this day with all the loved ones. It's a totally different atmosphere over there, or probably since we always visit and are on vacation it feels that way I don't know. But I always fondly remember all the new years spent back home.

So here you are at the doorstep of 2013, leave behind 2012 with these yummy brownies. You can choose to make these plain brownies or top it with ganache. This ganache made from sour cream adds touch of sourness to the sweet brownies.. Yummy treats! Have FUN filled day.. I leave you with these brownies to enjoy. Until next year... 

Prep Time: 15 min | Baking Time: 45 to 50 mins | Makes: 8 inch square brownie

Ingredients:

For Brownie - 
All-purpose flour - 3/4 Cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp.
Unsalted butter - 3/4 cup 
Olive oil - 1/4 cup
Semisweet chocolate morsels - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Cocoa powder - 1/2 cup 
Sour Cream - 3/4 cup 
Large eggs, at room-temperature - 3
Vanilla extract - 2 tsp.

Ganache - 
Sour cream - 1/2 cup 
Semisweet chocolate morsels - 1 cup 

Method of Preparation:

~ Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray or butter a 8 inch cake pan.
~ Sift flour, salt and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. 
~ In a large mixing bowl keep the chocolate morsels or chopped chocolate ready. 
~ In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add Olive oil to it. Switch off the heat just before it boils.
~ Pour the hot mixture over the chocolate and let it stand for a minute.
~ Now stir it with wooden spoon, so that the chocolate is completely melted.
~ Beat in sugar, eggs and sour cream with vanilla essence at the end. Mix until it's smooth.
~ Gently fold in flour mixture into the batter.
~ Pour the batter into prepared pan and spread it evenly.
~ Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
~ Place the pan on cooling rack to cool the brownies. 

~ Now for preparing the ganache.
~ Place the chocolate in a microwave oven safe dish. Stick it into the microwave on high for a minute. Take out for every 20 seconds to mix once and put it back.
~ At the end of the minute, it should be melted.
~ Fold in sour cream and mix it thoroughly.
~ Spread it immediately over the cooled brownies and let it get set. Note that you have to do it quickly, otherwise ganache will harden and it will make it difficult to spread it on the brownie.
~ Cut them into square after the ganache has been set and enjoy the yummy goodness.

Sending this off to Bon Vivant#10 - Festive Feasts going on at my space. 

And to Cook's Joy - Bake Fest#14,

Roshni's Show me your Hits, 

FoodOMania's Christmas Cook-off

Swathi's Christmas Recipes
Simply Food's Let's Cook Edible Gifts for Christmas

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Lemon Cookies

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all are enjoying the festivities and goodies with your family and friends. I made these cookies yesterday for Santa Claus's visit, which combines all of my son's favorite things. Brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon flavor. :o). This was inspired by the recipe found here. 

Santa Claus in the picture is very special to my heart. It was a gift from my Mexican friend who is no more. Every time I see it, I remember her kind smile and the fun that we both used to have together. Her love for us was so unconditional. She must be singing and dancing to 'Feliz Navidad' up there in heaven. We miss you Julie. 

I have baked this few times and kiddos wanted me to make snow man with it yesterday. Since I didn't had much time to sit and cut through the dough, I made a snowman and snow-woman, asked them to dress them up and everything else around them was snow balls. :o). I could hardly get two pictures and the snowman and woman were perished by the kids.

Ingredients:

Multi-grain flour/ all-purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups 
Ground cinnamon - 1 1/2 tsp. 
baking powder - 1 tsp.
salt - 1/4 tsp.
Brown sugar - 1 cup 
Butter - 1/2 cup  or 1 stick
Egg - 1
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp. 
Lemon Extract - 1 tsp.
Grated lemon & lime zest - 1/2 tsp.  
cinnamon & sugar mixture - 2 tbsp. to roll the cookies in.

Method of Preparation:

~ In a small bowl, sieve flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. 
~ In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until soft peaks form.
~ Beat in eggs, essences and lemon zest. 
~ Add the flour in batches. Mix well.
~ Cover and refrigerate for about an hour to firm the dough.
~ Preheat the oven to 350 deg Fahrenheit.
~ Shape into desired form and sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar mixture or roll it into the mix.
~ Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until slightly browned.
~ Wait for few minutes and transfer them to cooling rack.

Sending this off to Bon Vivant#10 - Festive Feasts going on at my space. 

And to Cook's Joy - Bake Fest#14,

Roshni's Show me your Hits, 

FoodOMania's Christmas Cook-off

Swathi's Christmas Recipes
Jagruthi's event Know Your Sweetness - Brown Sugar @Krithi's
Simply Food's Let's Cook Edible Gifts for Christmas

Plum Cake/ Dry Fruits Cake

What is Christmas without a fruit cake isn't it? Bangalore bakeries have one of the best plum cakes I think. That sweet goodness always make me drool over even thinking about it. So this Christmas when my cravings got the best of me, I thought I will try to replicate that. And today being my anniversary, I thought I would bake it early and surprise my DH.

First step was to bring the tutti-fruity mix home. They were called Old English Fruit and Peel Mix. They had a recipe that I thought might do justice, but looked some more and found my inspiration everywhere. There are so many Youtube videos and recipes available online that it's unbelievable. So here is my version of the cake.

Prep Time: 15 min (plan ahead to soak the dry fruits) | Baking Time: 60 min | Makes : 8 inch round cake

Ingredients -

To soak -
Dry Fruits and nut mix - 2 cups (I used pineapple chunks, orange & lemon peel, citrons, cherry, dates, raisins)
Orange juice - 2 tbsp.
Chocolate Liquor - 2 tbsp.

Flour - 1-1/4 cup
salt - 1/2 tsp.
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp.
All Spice powder - 1 tsp. (it's a mix of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, dry ginger)
Olive oil / Butter - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 Cup
Eggs - 2
Dark Molasses - 1/2 cup
Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp.
Orange zest - 1 tbsp.

Method of Preparation:

~ I prepped all the dry fruits by cutting them really small, since my little one can go either way if she bites into big chunks. 
~ I soaked the dry fruits for couple of days in warm orange juice and chocolate liquor. Plum cakes are usually made with Rum and since we non-alcoholics never have that around the house, I just used chocolate liquor to see how it would turn out. 

Get to baking -
~ Spray the cake pan generously and keep it aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
~ Sieve, flour, salt, baking soda, all spice powder.
~ In a separate bowl, cream sugar and olive oil together. 
~ Beat eggs into the mix.
~ Add molasses, vanilla essence and the orange zest and mix well.
~ Mix the dry fruits into the flour mix. Coat them well.
~ Now gently fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. 
~ Pour into the prepared dish and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Verdict:
It turned out really moist and tasty as I remember the plum cakes to be. Kiddos enjoyed it since there were no nuts in them and completely full of delicious fruits. They all asked for seconds and more than half of the cake of wiped out clean at one go.

Tip: You can cover the pan with foil after 45 minutes if don't want the dark color on the outside. 

Sending this off to Bon Vivant#10 - Festive Feasts going on at my space. 

And to Cook's Joy - Bake Fest#14,

Roshni's Show me your Hits, 

FoodOMania's Christmas Cook-off

Priya's 60 Days to Christmas

Nupur's Come-Celebrate-Indian Sweets
Swathi's Christmas Recipes
Jagruthi's event Know Your Sweetness - Brown Sugar @Krithi's
Simply Food's Let's Cook Edible Gifts for Christmas

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe comes with a warning. If you make these cookies, you wont be able to stop at one. It's addictive, makes you want to bake and eat any time or day of the week. Cookies just melt in the mouth. Kids might want to snatch away your share. So keep your share guarded. ;o)

I once had followed the recipe on the back on Nestle semi-sweet Morsels packet. And once I was browsing for any other chocolate chip cookie recipe and found that Joy of Baking has posted a recipe mentioning the same Nestle Toll house. So now I know I have been following fool proof recipe. :o) Here is a run down on the recipe.

Prep Time: 10 min | Baking Time: 10 ~ 15 min each batch | Makes: About 3 to 4 dozen.

Ingredients:

All Purpose-Flour - 2 1/4 Cup
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp.
Salt - 1/2 tsp.
Unsalted Butter - 1 Cup
Brown Sugar - 1 Cup
White Sugar - 1/2 Cup
Vanilla extract - 1 tbsp.
Eggs - 2
Semisweet dark chocolate chips - 1 1/2 to 2 Cup
Walnut - 1 Cup (optional)

Yummy cookie dough!

Method of Preparation:

~ Preheat the oven to 350 deg Fahrenheit.
~ In a small bowl sieve flour, baking soda and salt and keep it aside.
~ In another bowl beat melted butter and sugar until combined.
~ Now add the eggs and vanilla extract, beat until it becomes fluffy.
~ Add the dry ingredients and mix them with a spatula. Do not over mix.
~ Fold in chocolate chips and nuts if using.
~ On a cookie sheet, set a parchment paper. Scoop out cookie dough and drop them onto it. Keep them about 2 to 3 inches apart.
~ Bake for 15 minutes, take out leave it for few minutes to cool and then place them on wire rack to cool them completely.

Sending this off to Bon Vivant#10 - Festive Feasts going on at my space. 

And to Cook's Joy - Bake Fest#14,

Roshni's Show me your Hits, 

Spotlight - Healthy Baking @Recipe Junction,

FoodOMania's Christmas Cook-off

Priya's 60 Days to Christmas

Multigrain eggless Banana Muffin/ bread

I usually end up with very ripe bananas which no one wants to touch. I constantly use them in my smoothies. But now with cold weather swooping in, it's not every day that I can have smoothies for breakfast. So I have been using up lot of bananas in the recipes. 

I have made these as muffins and also baked as bread. Personally I loved bread, probably because I had loaded them with walnuts. Kids loved muffins for their snack at school and home. 

Prep Time: 15 min | Baking Time: About 30 mins | Makes: 16

Recipe Source - Joy of Baking

Ingredients:

Multi-grain flour - 2 cups
Baking powder - 1 tsp.
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp.
Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp.
Flax-seed meal - 2 tbsp. (or you can use 2 eggs)
Milk - 1/2 cup
Maple Syrup - 1/2 cup
Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup
Mashed Banana - 1 1/2 cup (About 3 or 4 very ripe banana)
Canola or Olive Oil - 1/4 Cup
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp.
Walnuts - 1/2 cup coarsely chopped or powdered.

Same batter different look!

Method of Preparation:

~ Soak flax-seed meal in milk and keep it aside.
~ Prepare the muffin pan with spray or line them and keep it ready.
~ Preheat the oven at 375 F.
~ Mix all the five dry ingredients listed at the beginning.
~ In a separate bowl, with a hand mixer at a very low speed mix all the wet ingredients, maple syrup, mashed banana, olive oil, vanilla extract, flax-seed mixture with brown sugar.
~ Now with a wooden spoon mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing enough to combine. Do not over mix.
~ Spoon out the mixture into prepared muffin tins.
~ Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until nice brown crust forms and inserted toothpick comes out clean.



Sending this off to Bon Vivant#10 - Festive Feasts going on at my space. 

And to Cook's Joy - Bake Fest#14,
Roshni's Show me your Hits, 
Spotlight - Healthy Baking @Recipe Junction,
FoodOMania's Christmas Cook-off
Priya's 60 Days to Christmas

White Chocolate Chunk - Oatmeal Cookies

With holidays just around the corner, I have been baking up lot of stuff to present it to you guys and to friends. Baking is really fun when kids get to do their part and you stick it in oven, set timer and forget. Voila, you have your beautiful creation at the end of it to enjoy. :o)
This is one my cookies recipe that I tweaked to use oatmeal rather than just flour. It turns out pretty soft and with chocolate chips in it, oh you will be wanting more.

Ingredients:
Quick Oats - 1-1/2 cup
Flour - 1-1/2 cup (I used multigrain)
Baking Soda - 1 tsp.
Salt - 1/2 tsp.
Butter - 2/3 cup
Brown Sugar - 2/3 Cup
Eggs - 2 large
Yogurt - 1/3 cup
White Chocolate chunks or chips - 2/3 cup

 Method of Preparation:
~ Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
~ Line the cookies sheet with foil and spray with butter.
~ Mix first 4 dry ingredients in a small bowl
~ In another bigger bowl, combine melted butter and brown sugar with hand mixer until fluffy.
~ Add eggs one by one and then beaten yogurt
~ Once all are combined well, add dry ingredients in batches. Each time making sure it's all mixed properly.
~ Finally fold in the chocolate chips.
~ Scoop out tablespoon of cookie dough and place it on cookie sheet.
~ Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the top turns golden brown.
~ Take out and cool them on wire rack after 5 minutes.

Sending this off to Bon Vivant#10 - Festive Feasts going on at my space. Do check out the new concept attached to Bon Vivant at the above link. 

And to Cook's Joy - Bake Fest#14,
Roshni's Show me your Hits, 
Spotlight - Healthy Baking @Recipe Junction,
FoodOMania's Christmas Cook-off

Bon Vivant #10 - Continuing Festive Feasts & Announcement

This month I was thinking about the event and I realized, it should be festivities continued. Holidays galore in December month, bringing floods of invites, parties and festive food. So I decided to continue with November month's theme of Festive foods. I would love to see what you would bring to the Holiday table.

For the coming year I want to start a new concept with Bon Vivant. From January of 2013 on wards  I will be choosing my favorite recipe for the month to feature. Here are some of the guidelines I will be following.
- It will be titled "Favorite Bon Vivant of the Month"
- I will choose a recipe from all the entries to Bon Vivant in the previous month (in this case, it will be Nov-Dec of 2012 Bon Vivant).
- I will inform the owner of the recipe before-hand about the selection, so if you have any apprehension you can let me know and I will pick another one to feature. Also I will wait for two days for reply, just so that I don't wait too long to choose another one. 
- I will try that recipe in the next month, take pictures, but link for recipe will be given to the original recipe of yours. So I will feature you, your blog and your recipe on my blog. 

A humble note: I am featuring one recipe a month, that does not mean that other participants weren't good enough. It's just that I liked the recipe and wanted to try it immediately. Solely based on my instincts and discretion.

Now coming to Rules for the Bon Vivant event :

~ Multiple entries are allowed. Usage of the logo is a must.
~ Linking back to this announcement page is mandatory to get the word out. I have noticed many of them are not back linked. I will have to promptly remove them if not linked back after one notice.
~ Vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes are allowed. No pork or beef ingredients please.
~ Blog post should be in month of November or December.
~ Two old posts are allowed, if re-posted again in November or December.
~ Please link up your post using the linkz below. In case of any problem linking please send me an email with your name, recipe name, recipe click and url to sumeesculinary@gmail.com
~ Non-bloggers can email the recipe along with a picture of the dish to the above email address.

Please link all your entries below

Halloween Sugar Cookies

A big shout out to my sister and bhavaji on their 20th anniversary! Can't believe it's been so many years. Their's being the first marriage in our house, I have so many fond memories of their special day. Not only special day, but all the moments leading up to this day after their engagement. May you both have many many many more years of happiness and love together! Happy Anniversary you two. XO

I made these simple sugar cookies for Halloween.. Kids wanted to bake cookies, so I let them do what they wanted. From mixing the dough to cutting and decorating. They loved the whole process. And wanted more cookies than their fair share. I actually don't mind them eating these cookies, since I know exactly what all went in there, rather than the ones from store.

Prep Time: 15 min | Baking Time : 10 to 15 min per batch | Makes : About 24

Bats, ghost, broom, spider-web, pine tree and pumpkins

Ingredients:

Multi-grain Flour/ All Purpose flour - 1 1/2 Cups
Salt - 1/4 tsp.
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp.
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Unsalted butter - 1/2 cup
Egg - 1
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp.
Lemon Extract - 1 tsp.
Sprinkles - As needed.

Method of preparation:

~ Preheat the oven to 350 deg Fahrenheit.
~ Mix and sieve salt and baking soda with flour. 
~ In another bigger bowl beat butter and sugar until smooth.
~ Add egg and vanilla, lemon extracts. 
~ Cover the dough in a plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for half an hour. 
~ Take and form it into log and cut them into discs. Sprinkle the top.
~ Alternatively, roll them out and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. We had some fun Halloween cookie cutters. And kids had blast choosing what they wanted. 
~ Then bake them for 10 to 14 minutes. 


Sending these to,
Bon Vivant #10 - Festive Feasts @Sumee's Culinary Bites.

I love baking @Tickling Palates
Bake Fest #13 @Anu'z Healthy Kitchen
Spotlight - Healthy Baking @Recipe Junction

Rasmalai - Quick Version

Happy and Prosperous Diwali everyone! May this Diwali bring you New Joy, Hope and Dreams.. Hope everyone is having scrumptious feast on this festive day! We are going to have Bisibele Bhaat, Raita, my kids favorite Matar Paneer for dinner. 

I made Rasmalai for offering as Prasad to Goddess of Lakshmi. Ras means syrup and Malai means Milk Cream. It turned out really good. Rasmalai is one of my favorite bengali sweets, mostly because it is never too much sweet. And would get mataki rasmalai from KC Das coming back from work.. They were so divine. 

My version here is what I have heard from lot of my friends who do this and I adapted from it to come up with my fastest version of Rasmalai. So when you want a quick fix on Rasmalai, try this recipe and you would be impressed with yourself.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cooking Time: 10 minutes 

Ingredients:

Rasgulla - 1 Can

Whole Milk - 1 1/2 cup

MTR Badam Milk Powder - 2 tbsp.

Method of Preparation:

~ Drain the Rasgulla's out of the syrup and put it in a bowl filled with water. Let it soak in the water at least for 15 minutes to half an hour. Idea is to take out the over sweetness from the Rasgulla's. More time the better.
~ Boil the milk in a wide pan with badam milk powder. After about 10 minutes, switch of the heat. You can get a head start by using hot milk initially or heating milk in microwave for about 2 minutes.
~ Gently squeeze out the water from each Rasgulla and add it to the boiled milk. Let it all cool and then cover and refrigerate. You can top with nuts and serve it cold.

Happy Diwali once again and sending this yummy rasmalai to following events.


Bon Vivant #10 - Festive Feasts @Sumee's Culinary Bites.

Lets Cook #21 - Potluck @Tickling Palates
Diwali Bash @CooksJoy
Jagruti's Celebrate Navratri & Diwali hosted @Simply.Food
Diwali Event @Anu'z Healthy Kitchen

Doodh Peda/ Khoya Peda

Since everyone has been busy with Diwali preparations, I thought I will let you guys on one of the quickest sweets recipe. Yeah, that's doodh peda, or Milk Peda's. Faster way is to use the readily available fresh Khoya. I have listed the basic ingredients below. But you can make lot of variations to this. Especially with decorating. You can place a piece of dry fruit like almond sliver, cashew/ pistachio. Also you can add any flavors like mango or strawberry or rose essence.

Prep Time: 5 min | Cooking Time: 10 min | Makes : About 25 to 30 pedas

Ingredients:

Khoya / Mawa - 2 cup, grated
Ghee - 2 tsp.
Sugar - 1/2 Cup
Saffron strands soaked in 1 tbsp. of milk (optional)
Cardamom Powder - 1 pinch (optional)

Method of Preparation:

~ Heat a thick bottomed pan and add ghee. 
~ Add grated khoya in it and on a low flame keep stirring until the mixture comes together.
~ Now add the sugar and saffron, give it a stir and switch off. 
~ When it's still hot and you can handle the mix with hands smeared with ghee, pull out small balls of peda, shape them into ball, then gently press the middle to make a thumb impression. 
~ Decorate them with desired dry fruit. 



Sending this to following events,
Bon Vivant #10 - Festive Feasts @Sumee's Culinary Bites.

Lets Cook #21 - Potluck @Tickling Palates
Diwali Bash @CooksJoy
Jagruti's Celebrate Navratri & Diwali hosted @Simply.Food
Diwali Event @Anu'z Healthy Kitchen

Roundup #9 - Simply Sides

Another great roundup with great recipe collection. Thanks to all those who participated. I have to admit I haven't been regular in visiting all the participants, but I promise to do better in coming months. There were several changes in my little part of the world that I couldn't spend as much time as I would like to on visiting blogs. Please take time to go through the recipes below and try them out. And join in for the "Festive Feasts" Bonvivant going on right now.

Quinoa Vegetable Pulav

Quinoa grain is high in protein content and also has a good source of phosphorous, calcium and iron. It is very useful especially for Vegetarians and Vegans who are lactose intolerant. It's pronounced as 'Kinwah' and is now readily available in many stores. I remember when I initially looked for it, had to check around two or three places before I could find it. Below recipe is a simple and quick one pot meal idea. This can be served as breakfast or used instead of rice Pulav/ Pilaf for main course. During days leading to Diwali it's hard to find time to prepare full-fledged meal. Quinoa Pulav comes handy during these times.

Prep Time - 5 min | Cooking Time: About 15 to 20 min| Serves : 4

Ingredients:

Quinoa - 1 Cup
Vegetable Broth/ Water - 2 Cup
Salt - 1 tsp.
Frozen Soy/ Edamame - 1/2 Cup
Frozen Corn - 1/2 Cup
Bell Pepper chopped - 1 cup
Fresh Basil Leaves - 4 leaves chopped fine

Method of Preparation:

~ Place Quinoa in a microwave safe bowl. Gently wash the grain with cold water couple of times. Drain the water.
~ Now add the vegetable broth, salt and all the vegetables.
~ Microwave in batches of 5 minutes twice and mix.
~ Then start microwaving in sets of 2 or 3 minutes depending upon the amount of water in the pulav.
~ Once all the liquid is dried up, add chopped basil and let it stand covered for a minute or so.
~ Fluff it with fork and serve it up with your favorite raita or pickle.

Note:
1. This is a microwave version, but you want to do the same on stovetop. Just continue to boil until all the liquid is dried up. Cover and let it sit for few minutes until fluffy.
2. For quicker version I used frozen vegetables which get cooked during microwaving of quinoa. You can separately saute the vegetables in a pan and add it to the cooked Quinoa. In this case Quinoa cooks within 10 minutes in microwave.

Sending this to following events,
Bon Vivant #10 - Festive Feasts happening at my space @Sumee's Culinary Bites.

Lets Cook #21 - Potluck @Tickling Palates
Jagruti's Celebrate Navratri & Diwali hosted @Simply.Food

Bon Vivant #10 - Festive Feast

October was one hectic month at our household. Hope everyone had a good Dushera festival and Eid. With upcoming Diwali, I thought it would be nice to celebrate it on my blog. So all month long it will be festive feast @Sumee's Culinary Bites. Whatever you cook/ bake or put together for the festivity can be linked up below. Have a blast all month long. Happy festivites!!

Rules for the event :

~ Multiple entries are allowed. Usage of the logo is a must.
~ Linking back to this announcement page is mandatory to get the word out.
~ Vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes are allowed. No pork or beef ingredients please.
~ Blog post should be in month of November.
~ Two old posts are allowed, if re-posted again in November.
~ Please link up your post using the linkz below. In case of any problem linking please send me an email with your name, recipe name, recipe click and url to sumeesculinary@gmail.com
~ Non-bloggers can email the recipe along with a picture of the dish to the above email address.

Please link all your entries below

Caramelized Carrots

A simple side dish put together in a jiffy. That's what this dish is about. Everyone knows the benefits of carrots which is rich in vitamins and mineral with beta-carotene's. Remember when mom used to make us eat saying our eyes will have good sight even in older age. I love munching on the baby carrots. This is one of those vegetables that stays put for many days without going bad in the refrigerator. 

Ingredients:
Carrots - 4 big ones (Cut into coins)
Water (Vegetable stock) - 2 Cup
Lemon juice/ Vinegar - 1 tbsp.
Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp.
Parsley - 1 tsp.
Cayenne Pepper/ Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste

Method of Preparation:
~ Boil the water/ Vegetable stock in a wide pan.
~ Add the all the ingredients and bring the water to boil again.
~ Now cover and reduce the heat. Let the carrots cook in the steam.
~ Once carrots are done and water has almost dried up, open the lid and continue to cook until water dries up.
~ Serve it hot as a side dish to Rice & Dal fry/ burger/ couscous

Sending this to my Bon Vivant event - Bon Vivant #9 - Simply Sides.

Matar Paneer/ Peas with Cottage Cheese Gravy

Wishing everyone happiness on the eve of Navarathri! This is one dish where my kids don't fuss about peas. They love it because it has paneer along with it. This is a simple side dish which is very easy to make and has loads of flavor in it. Also you can easily make it into either a curry or little drier side dish depending upon what you are having it with.
Fresh ingredients of Peas and Paneer can be used; I have just listed my quicker version.

Prep Time: 15 min| Cooking Time: 20 min| Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Frozen Peas - 1 Cup
Paneer/ Cottage Cheese Cubes - 1 Cup
Onion - 2 medium
Tomato - 3 medium
Ginger - 1 lemon size
Garlic - 5 pods
Chili Powder - 1 tbsp.
Chicken Masala Powder (optional) - 1 tsp.
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp.
Dry Mango Powder - 1 tsp.
Cinnamon stick - 2 inch.
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp.

Method of Preparation:

~ Blanch the tomatoes, remove skin and puree them. (See Note for blanching)
~ Puree onion and keep it aside.
~ Thaw frozen peas and microwave for about 4 minutes.
~ In a wide pan, heat oil and cinnamon stick. Fry until cinnamon leaves nice aroma.
~ Now add onion and some salt. Sauté until it's tender.
~ Add grated ginger and garlic, chili powder, dry mango powder, turmeric and chicken masala powder.
~ After frying for few minutes, add tomato puree and cook until it starts to leave the sides.
~ Add peas and cook until they are done.
~ Adjust the salt for this and lastly add paneer cubes and switch off once everything is boiled together.
~ Goes really well with Roti, Chapathi or Puri.

Note:
~ To blanch, boil some water so you can immerse the tomatoes. Once boiling add tomatoes for about 15 to 20 seconds. Remove and immediately immerse in cold water. By doing this, the skin comes out very easily.
~ I mostly use the frozen paneer blocks. To thaw, place the paneer block in boiling water for about 15 to 20 minutes. Then you can cut them easily and paneer comes out really fresh, without being rubbery.

Sending this to my Bon Vivant event - Bon Vivant #9 - Simply Sides.