Today morning when R woke up she asked me what i was making special today. As kids grow up almost everyday is going to be special and everyday they demand something special or some kind of goodies!

Here you go sweeties.. Double chocolate chip cookies for my dear daughter who loves any form of chocolate and blueberry muffins for my dear son who think boys should eat everything ‘blue’. I wonder from where he got the idea! LOL! And what all things he will learn like this when he goes to school next year!

To Die For Blueberry Muffins!!

These muffins came our soft and moist and it really tasted good. i didnt think it would be this good with frozen thawed berries but it is yummmm!

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup melted butter

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup frozen thawed blueberries

For the topping:

1/4 cup plus 1 tblsp white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

How to make :

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. In another bowl combine butter,egg and milk  and mix well. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill 3/4th of the  muffin cups and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

This cookie recipe was given to me by my friend Jen. But as R wanted double chocolate i added cocoa powder to it. Still it came out so soft and moist!

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 cup semi-sweet chips

Preheat oven to 325.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

Cream butter & sugars.  Beat in vanilla, egg & yolk until light and creamy.  Gradually mix in dry ingredients.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough onto greased cookie sheets. (Mine was around a tbsp) Bake for about 10-15 minutes.  Cool for a few minutes on the sheets, then finish cooling on wire rack.

My childrens day recipes go for the Kids Delight Event hosted at Spice Your Life!

Ramadan Day 5

I’m smiling as i type this because i was nicked as ‘Bonda’ during my childhood days! I used to be angry when my cousins call me that but now when i think back i cant help laughing because i really was fat and round! the gol gol type LOL! and i loved potatoes and i still do.

Potato is the Raja (king)of all veggies. I havent come across someone who doesn’t like potatoes. Fry ir or bake it or steam it of add to your stew it tastes so good.

Here is my simple recipe for bonda:

For the potato mixture–

1/2 tsp mustard and cumin seeds

3-4 tbsps of oil

4 large potatoes boiled and mashed

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

3 green chillies finely chopped

salt to taste

a handful of corriander leaves chopped finely.

Heat oil in a kadai and add the mustard and cumin seeds and let it splutter. Add onions and fry till onions are light brown. Add ginger-garlic paste to it and fry for 2-3 mts. Add green chillies and salt and  mix well. Add the mashed potatoes mix well and then chopped corriander leaves at the end and set aside till it cools. Make lemon size balls after cooling.

For the batter–

1 cup plain flour

1 tsp ajwain

salt to taste

water to mix the batter

Mix everything to form a thick batter.

**The batter should not be watery otherwise i wont stick to the bondas. In my picture my batter was a bit of watery so it did not stick to the batter.

*** Variations of the batter

> 1/2 cup plain flour and rice flour (According to me this one is the best)

> 1 cup rice flour

> 1 cup besan flour

Dip the potato balls in the batter and deep fry.

My bondas go for the Ramadan Event hosted by Lubna

Ramadan Day 3

Day 3 i kept on thinking what should i cook because as my daughter was not fasting i didnt get any input form her! i just hate to think and think what to cook. At last i ended up on the banana as usual and some bread pakoras along with Malabar chicken curry and pathiris.

Sometimes i just wonder how people back in calicutat  dads and moms home used to cook so many things during Ramadan. All day they would be reading the Quran and by 3 pm everyone will be in this kitchen making something or the other. Well those are the joys of a joint family! Every time i go there its a totally different world and i find it very difficult to come out of it especially when we have lots of same age cousins and have a lot to catch up!

This is yet another Malabar speciality. During Ramadan there will be at least one banana snack item everyday. And I’m just used to having it here also so cant pass a day without a banana! Thank god we get the same banana here is Singapore other wise i would have been lost during Ramadan!

When i made this yesterday my hubby as usual was saying wow! i haven’t seen this since last Ramadan! (he says this when ever he sees any Malabar snack item!)

For this recipe you’ll need

2 ripe kerala bananas cut in small cubes

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

10 cashew nuts crushed

sugar to taste (i used around 3 tbsps)

2 tsp oil

Heat oil in a non stick sauce pan and add the bananas. Fry it till brown.

Beat eggs, milk, sugar, cashew nuts  together and pour in to the banana.

Mix well and close the sauce pan.

Make sure the bottom doesnt get burned. I use a very thin metal plate to keep on top of the stove and keep the pan on it so that the things inside wont get burned.

Cook for around 10mts open and see whether its done. Serve hot!

Ramadan Day 2

Day 1 was very eventful as our daughter fasted for the first time. masha allah! She had her lunch at 1pm played for some time and then took a nap. After waking up form her nap straight away went to the kitchen to drink some juice!! But then when she was reminded that shes fasting she just played for some time watched some TV and hubby kept her engaged till magrib. Masha allah im so proud that she kept away from food and all the sweet temptations!

Unnakaya or Vayakkada is one of the very famous snack in Malabar. My hubby and daughter loves this so i make this atleast once a month. Today when i asked my daughter what she wants for Iftaar she said samosa and vayakkada again!

For Vayakkada youll need kerala banana not so ripe and not so raw just in between. It should not be soft or hard when you press it. Boil it in a closed pan till the skin comes apart.

After its cooked run it in a food processor to mash and make it like a roti dough. Alternatively you can also mash it when its hot with a heavy spoon.

Make lemon sized balls and set aside.

For the filling scramble 2 eggs and add sugar to taste and some crushed cashew nuts and raisins.

Flatten the banana balls, fill in 1/2 a tsp of the egg mixture in it and close it and make it in to ball again.

Smoothen the top and bottom of the ball in to a cone with ur palm.

Deep fry the vayakkada. This snack can be served any time breakfast or after lunch or teatime!

Vayakkada goes to Lubna’s Ramadan Event!

Chocolate chip cookies are my kids favorite. They can eat up to 4-5 cookies in one shot.. LOL!  I make them often but before i can take a pic of these they will be finished! My daughter doesn’t even wait for them to cool down she loves them when its warm and the choco chip are meting! (Girls!)

So today a cozy saturday morning everyone are asleep i woke up early and decided to make some of these to surprise them. I could luciky make a batch before all of them woke up and finally take a pic of it!

This recipe is again form my favorite All Recipes And here is the recipe for the Chocolate chip cookies

The changes i made are – I added only 1 cup chocolate chips instead of 2. And i did not melt the chip. I added them straight away. This is a fool proof recipe. I really enjoyed making those.

Chaat chaat chaat… yummy yumm… my home town is not famous or we dont have any chaat items at all. I tried chaats for the first time when i came to Singapore. It is one of the yummiest snacks i have ever tasted.. be it papdi chaat or dahi bhale or gol gapa i love all the chaats!

• Line up the papdi in a plate.
• Top it with onions. tomatoes and potatoes.
• Add the chilli sauce and tamarind chutney to it.
• then add the powders to it according to ur taste. i added around a pinch in each papdi.
• At last top up with sev and coriander leaves generously.

I love cutlets.. veg or non veg this is my all time fav snack. My daughter also started liking it now so thats another reason why i should make this often!

As i said in my earlier post the masalas in the recipe are not the exact as my son was sick i couldnt make out how much i added. But in the end it turned out to be yummmy and crispy!

200 grms chicken cooked and shredded
2 large potatoes boiled and mashed.
1 large onion finely chopped
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 green chills chopped finely
1 tbsp coriander pwdr
1/2 tbsp garam masala
lots of coriander leaves chopped finely
3 white bread (1 day old) or 1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg beaten
oil for shallow frying

Heat some in a kadai and add the onions. When they are brown add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another few mts. When both are mixed well add the shredded chicken and mashed potatoes to it and mix well. fry again for 2-3 mts and add the coriander pwdr and garam masala to it. Mix well and add the fresh coriander leaves to it. Let the mixture cool.

Cut small pieces of the bread and run through the mixer (the small jar) and it will turn to bread crumbs. You can also use the ready made bread crumbs.

When the mixture is cooled make small tikkis of it. Dip the tikkis in the egg and then dip in the bread crunbs. Make sure that it is well covered with the crunbs. And shallow fry.