chocolate brownie

this is a recipe inspired from one of the blogs, i stumbled upon searching for a brownie recipe, It sounded simple and assured good results and hence i went ahead with it.. so here is the recipe with a lil bit of improvisations from my end

1/2 cup ghee (or melted butter, i mix some vegetable oil with ghee..)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup maida (all purpose flour)
1/4 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
some almonds, walnuts chopped

Preheat oven to 350F / 180. Grease and dust some flour on the pan you would use. I use the aluminium fil wrap when i bake it in glass dish,since metal is supposed to work better and faster in oven. Mix ghee+oil, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one by one and mix well after each addition. Add the cocoa powder mix thoroughly.Lastly add the flour, baking powder and salt mix very well. Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until done.


Let it cool completely and you may add frosting if you wish. I was happy with enough chocolate in it and so i dint :)

parda biryani

I just tried this recipe for lunch.. and turned out so lovely that i must just write it down here quickly before i forget any step..

ok here it is all step by step

1. soak basmati rice+ regular rice (in proportions of your choice..more basmati rice gives more flavor of basmati. You could as well use basmati rice alone, i personally prefer just 1/4th of basmati and rest regular rice) for around 30min
2. make a soft dough of chapati/wheat flour and maida equal proportion of both, add a pinch of salt and  baking powder.knead just enough dough to make a big chapati to cover your "oven safe" serving bowl.
3. chop onion - thin and long, wash and chop carrots and beans 1" long and slant,  chop tomatoes in to large cubes, chop culiflower and make fine and small cubes of paneer.
4. deep fry chopped onions to golden brown, drain the excess oil on a kitchen towel. sprinkle a pinch of salt, mix and set aside for later use.
5. in a heavy bottomed pan, heat 2 tsp of oil, add cumin,once they splutter add paneer and roast till slightly golden in color.
6. Add 1tsp of ginger garlic paste and finely chopped green chilies
7. Add the remaining vegetables (except tomatoes), also add some green peas
8. add 1/2 cup of curd and 3tbl sp biriyani pwd,salt -enough for vegetables,. mix well evenly coating the vegetables. 
9. sprinkle finely chopped mint leaves(optional, i did not use) and cilantro
10. add additional water if required for the vegetables to cook.
11. mean while drain the soaked rice and add it into boiling water, add few drops of oil, salt and some cumin seeds, 
12. once the vegetables and rice are almost done(do not cook them completely,just a lil more than half cooked)
13. add tomatoes to the vegetable mixture and mix well.
14. drain the excess water from rice and add the rice to vegetable mixture,over the top.Do not mix the rice with the masala. Let them form layers. 
15. you may sprinkle some edible saffron color on top of rice (i did not have edible color so mixed 2-3 drops of soya sauce, pinch of turmeric in 2 tsp of water and sprinkled it over)
16. cook with a closed-air tight lid for 5-7min until rice and vegetables are done.
17. preheat oven at the highest temperature, 500F.
18. while the oven gets ready, transfer the biryani layers without disturbing much into your "oven safe" serving dish. try to keep the layers intact as far as possible. lil bit of  ups and downs are ok..but never mix. Sprinkle the fried onions on top evenly, forming the top most layer

1. roll out your dough big enough to cover and seal your dish. apply some moisture on the sides of your rolled out dough and use this moisture to seal the dish over sides tightly.
2. place it in the oven at max heat until you see the top layer of dough is cooked and has brown spots.
3. use a knife to break open the parda/ baked dough sealing your biryani, just before serving..and serve the hot biryani with curd raita.The baked cover is edible too..it will be crisp and tasty.

these steps make it seem like a difficult recipe, its just because i've detailed it.. believe me its simple and its all worth the taste..and from soaking rice to getting biryani out of oven takes just about an hour. its perfect for parties and mass cooking as well. And it was so beautiful and aromatic, we couldn't wait to take pics..will try to take pics next time and upload them here.

Also am waiting to try this style of biryani with chicken..will let you know how that turns out.

quick baked cookies

pre heat oven for 15 min at 400

while the oven is pre heated.. you can get set with the cookie batter. All you need is

1 cup all purpose flour
1/3cup cooking oil
1/3cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
2-3 drops of vanilla essence

beat egg in a wide mixing bowl until yolk and  withes get mixed add oil and stir again to form a uniform mixture. Add vanilla essence and mix again.

Slowly mix in sugar. Once all the sugar is incorporated add all purpose floor and baking powder in stages little by little with constant mixing. The cookie mix is all set to be baked.

On an greased cookie/baking tray sprinkle some dry flour..(remove the excess flour..after shaking and spreading all over the tray evenly) drop spoon of cookie batter at 2" distance along the tray. Flatten the mixture with a spoon/glass bottom which is greased and dipped in sugar. Bake in the pre-heated oven at 400 for 8-10 min..or until you see the slight brown coloring at the base of cookies.

Let the cookies stand till they cool and enjoy them once set..

spicy egg layers

cooking time 20min

you need:
1 tsp jeera / cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp methi / fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp sounf / fennel seeds
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
pinch of garam masala and
a pinch of red chili powder
2 eggs

in a pan, heat oil and fry all the spices, add 1/4 cup of chopped onions and stir fry, once onion is cooked add tomatoes and cook till they are soft add salt. Grind this mixture to a think smooth paste without using much of water.

heat oil in the pan and add pinch of garam masala and chili powder (just enough to give the aroma and flavor). Add in remaining onions, once they are cooked add tomatoes.Afer the tomatoes soften add the paste of spices and bring to a boil. See that all excess water evaporates until you get a consistent mixture which you can spread on the pan. Break open 2 eggs on top of the spread mixture..slightly spread the eggs without stirring them completely.. they egg should form a layer over the masala. just sprinkle a pinch of salt over the egg layer. Cook with a covered lid for 3-5min until the egg sets such that you can cut into pieces like a cake. Serve hot..

Goes well as a side dish with Rice-dal and even bread / roti or just to much on at snack times..make sure not to over cook the eggs. Cook just enough to bake them set.

AddFry the remaining onions