Chocolate Banana & Walnut Cake

So Ramadan has come to an end and it's Eid so I wanted to post something sweet for this occasion.  I always thought the combination of chocolate and banana is interesting. I went ahead and tried out this cake and OMG it turned out oooeeeyyy gooeeyyy and so moist. My parents and friends absolutely loved it and want me to make it again. So if you love bananas and chocolate, you would definitely love this cake. It is simply amazing. Try it out!

Stuff you need:
2 eggs
1 ripe medium size Banana, mashed ( Bananas that have turned dark brown or almost black from outside is the best choice)
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cup flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup warm water mixed with 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup crushed walnuts ( if you don't have walnuts you may use almonds or even experiment with cashew nuts)

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degree Celsius, grease your cake tin and keep two large bowls handy.
2. In one bowl sift and  mix all the dry ingredients( except sugar) :- Flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder.
3. In the second bowl add the wet ingredients- eggs, milk, oil, warm coffee mixture, vanilla extract, mashed bananas and sugar. Mix this very well with a whisk or an egg beater until it is very smooth and has no lumps.
4. Now pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and gently fold it in using a rubber spatula. And then add the walnuts. Do not use a whisk to mix this or the cake will end up very dense.
5. Pour the batter into your greased cake tin. I used a 9 inch round cake tin that was around 3 to 4 inches deep.
6. Put the cake tin in the oven and check on it after 40 to 45 minutes. If you use a larger cake tin that is wide  it would be ready within 40 minutes or so. It took me 50 minutes to bake this cake. You know the cake is ready when you insert a toothpick in middle of the cake and it comes out clean.
7. Take it out of the oven and let it cool down completely before you add the frosting of your choice.

So this is how it turned out.. It tastes great even without frosting. I love having this cake as it is but frosting does add the extra lift. :) Eid Mubarak everyone! Have a wonderful day!

Chana Chaat

So I decided to make Iftar today for a change. Preparing snacks is the least of my favorites but anyway, decided to make Chaat today. This is just a simple and basic recipe. Hope you guys like it..

Stuff you need:
1 1/2 cup Garbanzo beans/Chickpeas; (soaked for 24 hours and then boiled)
3 medium sized potatoes, boiled and diced
5 medium tomatoes, diced
1 large onion, finely sliced
1 tsp chopped ginger
2 tbs chopped coriander leaves
4-5 green chilies, chopped
1 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp red chili powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Chaat masala (or according to taste)
a pinch of sugar
1/4 cup Tamarind water
5-6 tbs oil
4-5 tbs water

1. Heat oil in a wok or non stick pan on medium heat and then add the mustard and cumin seeds and wait until it pops. Then add the diced tomatoes and chopped ginger and fry it in the oil until the tomatoes become very soft.
2. Now mix in the red chili powder to the tomatoes and cover the pan on low heat till the tomatoes becomes almost liquid and the oil starts to separate.
3. Add the garbanzo beans, potatoes, sugar, salt and 2 or 3 tbs water and cook this on medium heat with lid closed for 4- 5 minutes.
4.Add the tamarind water (reserve some to serve), onions, coriander, chaat masala & green chilies. Give it a mix and let it sit on the stove on low heat for a couple of minutes. And then serve.

Oreo Blizzard

All I can say is that it's yummy, quick and very very easy to make. You hardly need to do anything to make this.. But don't get too used to it.. :)
(serves 1 person)

All you need is
1/4 cup cold milk
5-6 Oreo cookies
4 scoops of vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream (depending on your preference)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence


1. In a blender add the Oreo cookies, milk, vanilla essence and ice cream.
2. Pulse the blender a few times until everything mixes well. Avoid blending it for long because this would make it too runny.
3. Pour it in a glass and add another scoop of ice cream if you want and add some roughly crushed oreo on top and enjoy!

Karahi Chicken

Here is something really delicious and yet not fancy or complicated to make. Just simple and tasty! Hope you guys try. And your comments are always welcome...

Stuff you need:
1/2 medium chicken
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
4 medium tomatoes, cut length wise
1 inch ginger piece, ground
5 garlic cloves, chopped
4-5 tbs yogurt
1 tsp salt
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 dry red chili
3-4 fresh green chili, cut in half
Coriander leaves, chopped
5-6 tbs oil

1. Heat oil in a non stick pan and add the onions and fry it until it becomes a little transparent.
2. Add the chicken, dry red chili and the salt and fry this on medium heat for sometime until the chicken starts to turn brown.
3. Now add the dry spices, tomato, yogurt, ginger and garlic and mix it properly. Close the lid and let this cook for sometime until the oil separates. ( Do not add any water)

4 When you notice that the oil has separated and the chicken has become tender, add the green chilies and coriander leaves and cook this for couple of minutes.
5.Serve it with naan or rice.

Chocolate Coated Coconut & Almond Truffles

If you love coconut, then this is definitely for you!! I once tried these long back at my Arab friend's house and really liked it. It is really very easy to make, does not require anyyyyyy cooking, tastes delicious and requires very few ingredients. Hope you like these?

Ingredients
2 cups + 1/2 cup  dry desiccated coconut
1/2 cup finely ground almonds
14 oz can condensed milk
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
150-200g milk chocolate or White chocolate (your preference)
1 tbs butter

1. In a large bowl, add the desiccated coconut, ground almond, vanilla essence and condensed milk.( Pour the condensed milk half cup at a time so that it can form a dough.)
2. Mix this until it forms a firm dough. In case you feel the dough is too wet add a little bit more of the desiccated coconut. If it is too dry add a little bit more of condensed milk.

3. If you are able to shape it into firm balls (LOL!) then you have nailed it.
4. To melt the chocolate, add some water to a  deep bottom pan and let it come to a boil. Then  place another heat proof bowl on top of the pan making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the boiling water.
5. Add the chocolate and butter to the bowl and let it melt.
6.Now take the coconut dough and shape them into small balls.
7. Dip these balls into the chocolate. You can either fully coat the coconut balls with chocolate or coat it half way through. I have done both and used some white chocolate as well on some of the balls.
8. Next take 1/2 cup of the desiccated coconut in a bowl and roll the chocolate coated balls into them. If you have coated the truffles with chocolate half way through then you can sprinkle the coconut on the part with the chocolate.
9. Once you're done coating them, let them chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours.

Enjoy!

Kulfi

So it's summer time and we crave cold stuff. I was extremely bored at home so I thought of making Kulfi for everyone. Anyway, here is the recipe and I hope you guys like it. :D

Goodies:

4 + 1/2 cups whole milk

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 tbs powdered milk

1 can Nestle fresh sterilized cream  (this is normaly used as thickers)

2 slices white bread

1/4 tsp saffron, soaked in 2 tbs milk

1/2 tsp fresh cardamon powder
1/3 cup chopped pistachios (roasted)

1/3 cup chopped almonds (roasted)

1 pinch salt

1/2 tsp cournflour

1. In a deep bottom non stick pan, boil 4 cups of milk on medium high heat. Keep stirring and clean up the build up from the sides of the pan. Once the milk comes to boil reduce the the heat to low and let the milk reduce to half it's quantity. Stir once in a while.

2. Take the bread slices and cut off the crust/edges and cut the bread into little pieces. Put this in the blender along with the cornflour and 1/2 cup of milk. Blend it until it is smooth and add this to the milk in the pan, which is reduced.

3. Keep stirring the milk until you notice that the milk has thickened. Add the sugar, salt, milk powder and fresh sterilized cream and cook it for 5 more minutes on low heat. ( Using sterilized cream reduces the chances of the cream splitting when it is heated)

4. Now add the saffron, cardamon powder, pistachios and almonds and mix it well. Take this off the stove and let it come to room temperature.

5. Once it cools down pour it into molds of your choice or if you don't have a mold pour it into a bowl and cover the bowl with a plastic wrap touching the surface of the Kulfi.

6. Freeze it for 8 to 10 hours. 

And then enjoy!!   

 

Spinach with Chicken (Palak Chicken)

Yes I know it looks green but it is delicious and simple to make. The first time I came across this dish, I was not too eager about it but once I tried it, I really loved it. So I gave it a try at home and it turned out good. Here is the recipe. Try it out.

Goodies you need:
500g English Spinach (palak)
800-900g chicken, skinless
4 tbs Yoghurt
6 tbs Oil
3 Black cardamon
2 Bay Leaves
1 cinnamon stick
3-4 green chilies
1 Large Onion chopped
2 cm ginger piece, peeled
8 whole garlic cloves
3 large tomatoes, cut in quarters
2 tsp coriander powder
1tsp garam masala
1/4th tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup coriander leaves
Salt to taste

1. In a food processor or blender, blend the spinach leaves with coriander leaves,  mint leaves, green chilies and a little bit of water to make a smooth paste.
2. Make another paste in the food processor with tomatoes, garlic, ginger and few tbs water. ( Do not mix this with the spinach paste)
3. Heat the oil on medium heat and fry the cardamons, fennel seeds, bay leaves and cinnamon for about 20 to 30 seconds.
4. Add the onions and fry this for 5 minutes or until the onions begin to turn light brown.
5. Now add the chicken pieces and fry this well with the onions for the next 5 to 6 minutes.
6 Now add the tomato paste, coriander powder, garam masala powder salt and ground pepper and let this simmer for 10-12 minutes, with the lid on. Stir this once in a while.
7. Add in the yogurt and mix it in and let this cook till the sauce thickens and starts to dry out.
8. Add the spinach puree to this and let this cook for another 12 minutes till the puree changes color, thickens and most of the water has evaporated.

When it is done, it should look somewhat like the picture on the left.
Serve this with Rice or Naan.

Try it out and I hope you like it! :D