Chinese Parcels

Chinese Parcels.. crispy on the outside and spicy noodles filling inside.. A very apt starter for an evening party..

Ingredients:

For the dough

2 cups maida

1/4 tsp baking powder

1tsp salt

For the filling:

2tbsp oil

1/2 cup noodles boiled

1/2 cup mixed and chopped veggies ( beans, carrot and cabbage)

1 onion chopped

1tsp ginger garlic paste

1tsp salt

2tbsp tomato sauce

2tbsp green chilli sauce

1tsp soya sauce

1tsp vinegar

Method: Mix the ingredients of dough and make normal dough with water. Keep aside for 20mins.. Make filling till then.. Heat oil in a pan.. Add in onion and saute till transluscent.. Add in ginger garlic paste and saute again for a min.. Add in mixed veggies and salt.. Cook till the veggies are tender yet crisp.. Off the gas and add in sauces and noodles.. Mix well.. Adjust seasoning according to taste.. Preheat the oven at 220c.. Now take the dough and divide into 16 equal size... Roll out a dough and place the filling in between.. Lift 2 sides and seal, just like the way you fold dosa.. Now again lift the open ends on the opposite and seal again in between.. It will be in the shape of a parcel.. Place all the parcels on a greased baking tray and brush with oil.. Place it in oven and bake at 220c for around 30mins or till the top turns golden brown in color.. Serve hot with ketchup..

                                         Saute onions in hot oil till transparent..

                                          Add ginger garlic paste and saute again for 2mins..

                                    Add in veggies and salt and saute till veggies are cooked..

                                          Add sauces and mix..

                                             Add noodles and mix.. Filling is ready..

                                 Roll dough into thin circles and put stuffing in between..

                                            Lift 2 opposite sides and seal in between..

              Again lift other 2 opposite ends and seal again to form envelope shape..

 Place on a greased tray and brush with little oil.. Bake at 220c for around 30mins...

                 Once they are golden brown remove and serve hot with ketchup..

Note: can change the fillings according to taste and preference.. ie spinach mushroom filling, spinach and cheese filling, corn filling etc..

Chocolate Biscuit Cake

One of the most easiest and yummiest cakes i have ever made.. I had this recipe in store for about months.. But always delayed making it, for the next time.. Not sure of how the outcome would be like.. Finally i decided to make this cake as i wanted to eat a dessert badly and that too something made of chocolate, as im a big chocoholic.. All the ingredients were available in my pantry, and the time taken to make this cake was also minimum..  I assembled all the ingredients and started making this cake.. It was fun breaking the biscuits into pieces, making the chocolate sauce fresh from scratch and then making ganache for the topping.. It was a destressing process....

                Once the cake was ready and served, the first bite created a kind of magic to my senses.. A sense of satisfaction, peacefulness and all the more happiness at the outcome of the cake made me feel ecstatic.. The texture was crunchy and the velvetty feeling of ganache filled my mouth...The first day when you eat the cake soon after it is made, you get a crunchy taste of the biscuits and the velvetty taste of ganache.. And if you eat the next day you get a cake like texture.. Soft and creamy, as the flavours blend even more together and the biscuits soak the chocolate syrup well..  I will definitely make this cake again very soon...

Ingredients:

375-400gms digestive biscuits

For the chocolate syrup:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup butter ( i used salted butter)

For the ganache

1/2 cup chocolate

1/4 cup cream

Method: Break digestive biscuits in chunks in a bowl.. Donot crumble it to powder.. Keep it aside.. Grease a ring mould with butter and keep aside..
For the chocolate syrup, in a pan mix both sugar and cocoa powder.. Add in water and mix well.. Add in butter and heat it on low flame till butter and sugar melts and the syrup starts to bubble.. Around 3-4mins.. Off gas and let it cool for 10-15mins.. Add this to the biscuit chunks and mix well.. Put this mixture in greased mould and level it with a spoon..  Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.. Meanwhile prepare ganache..
In a bowl mix chocolate and cream together.. Microwave it at a low temperature for about a minute and half till chocolate melts.. Alternatively you can heat it on gas on a very low flame.. Remove the bowl and mix well with a spoon till it gets thick and comes to room temperature.. Remove the set biscuit from refrigerator and spread this ganache on top of it.. Again cover and leave it in refrigerator for about an hour till the ganache sets.. Remove and leave it outside for 5mins, run a knife on the inside of the mould, demould, cut and serve..        

Note: Try substituting orange juice for water for a light orange flavour.. And reduce the quantity of sugar too as orange juice would be sweet..
  I would personally reduce the quantity the quantity of sugar next time as it was a bit more on sweeter side for me..      

                                          Break biscuit into chunks

                                         Take sugar and cocoa powder in a pan

                                          Add in water and mix..

                                           Add butter..

                            Heat on low flame till mixture starts to bubble.. Off gas and leave aside for 10mins..

                                          Grease a ring mould with butter..

                                    Add chocolate syrup in the biscuit chunks

                                            Set it in the mould and refrigerate it..

                                             Take chocolate and cream in a bowl..

                                          Mix it and heat it at low temperature..

It should be thick and at room temperature..

                                          Pour it over the set biscuit cake and refrigerate it back..

                                           Remove, leave it outside for 5mins.. Demould..

Cut and serve..

Ragi and Whole Wheat Cookies

Ragi and Wheat Flour Cookies.. Healthy yet tasty... WIth all the goodness of ragi and wheat flour and richness of butter.. You wil start loving it instantly..

                Im not good at baking cookies.. Everytime there is something which goes wrong with my cookies and so they are either underbaked or overbaked.. I was bit apprehensive this time too in trying out this ragi cookie.. But when i saw the recipe in one of the blogs online, and they claiming it to be a full proof recipe, i thought why not give it a try.. And to my surprise, it turned out well in the first instance.. Crispy with the crunch in every bite, perfectly baked, it beats the store bought ragi biscuits in every way..

Recipe Source: here

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ragi flour

1/2 cup wheat flour

1tsp baking powder

1/2 cup or 100gms chilled butter cut in cubes (can use salted butter.. i used amul)

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1tbsp + 1tsp milk

Method: Dry roast ragi flour on medium flame for 4-5mins till you get a nice aroma.. Remove in a bowl and add in wheat flour and baking powder.. Mix well and add in chilled butter cubes.. Mix well with hands till the mixture resembles a coarse bread crumb.. Alternatively you can do this step using a food processor, which is the way i did.. Its quick as well as easy to do.. Remove in a bowl and mix in powdered sugar well.. Add in milk and form into a dough.. Cover and refrigerate for 20-30mins... Remove and roll into a 1/4inch thick disc.. Using a cookie cutter cut in small rounds.. Grease a baking dish with butter and place the biscuits in the tray.. Using the back of a fork make marks on the cookie... Again place it in refrigerator for about 10mins while you preheat the oven at 180c.. Once the oven is preheated place the cookie filled baking tray in the oven and bake for around 20mins till slightly brown.. Remove tray from the oven, the cookies will still be soft...Rest it for around 10mins.. Have it with a glass of cold milk or with a cup of hot tea... Store in an airtight container..

Note: Can add little more milk if the dough is not forming well.. Be careful, the milk should neither be less nor more.. Otherwise the dough will start crumbling.. So add accordingly starting with 1tbsp at a time..

Can add in 1/2 tsp vanilla essence and also little cardamom powder for flavour.. 

                                         Roast ragi flour on medium flame for 4-5mins

                                    Mix in ragi flour, whole wheat flour and baking powder

                                         Add in butter

                                        Pulse in food processor till it resembles coarse bread crumb

                                          Add sugar and mix well..

                                          Add in 1tbsp milk at a time and mix..

                                         Form into dough and cover and refrigerate for 20-30mins

                          Remove and roll into 1/4inch thick disc and cut into circles...

                         Place it in a greased baking tray and refrigerate for another 10mins..

                                     Bake in oven for 20mins.. Leave for 10mins.. Ready..