FUDGY BROWNIES

If you're like me and you love fudgy brownies, you're probably going to air paint my name in a heart when you try out this recipe by Laura Vitale. It's unbelievably easy and undoubtedly the best brownie recipe I've tried till date. It's just so warm and gooey and fudgy and mmmmm *vanishes into the perfect brownie fantasy*

INGREDIENTS

150 gms of Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
200 gms of Bittersweet Chocolate, melted
1 Cup of Sugar
2 tsp of Vanilla Extract
¼ tsp of Salt
1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
2 Large Eggs
2 Tbsp of warm Water
1 tsp of Instant Espresso Powder ( I used Nescafe Coffee powder)
2/3 Cup of All Purpose Flour (Maida)

1) Preheat oven to 180 C. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
2) In a small cup mix together the warm water with the instant espresso powder, set aside.
3) In a large bowl whisk together the sugar and butter until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla extract and espresso mixture. Beat until all is combined.
4) Add the melted chocolate and whisk, add the dry ingredients and mix everything together until it’s incorporated but don’t over mix.
5) Pour batter into your prepared pan and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes or until when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with moist crumbs but not wet batter.
6) Cool for about 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Cut into bars and serve!

PS I always make them a day in advance because they taste just perfect the next day!!

PERI PERI RICE

I’m not really a rice person but this dish is irresistible. I picked up this recipe from www.fauziaskitchenfun.com and it apparently goes well with peri peri chicken which I haven’t tried yet. But want to. Real soon. Till then, all the vegetarians can rejoice!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup rice (cooked)
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green capsicum, finely chopped

2 tbsp. peri peri sauce (I used Nando’s portugese bbq flavor as I don’t like it too spicy.)
1 tbsp. ketchup
1 tsp. garlic paste
salt to taste (I used Maggi cube as a substitute)
1 tbsp. oil & 1 tbsp. butter
2 tsp. soya sauce

Heat oil and butter and put onions. Fry for a few seconds, then add garlic paste and capsicum and fry for a minute. Add the peri peri sauce and ketchup and mix well. Add the rice and mix well until rice is coated. Finally add soya sauce and salt. Mix again and turn off the flame after 2 minutes.

Serve hot! And add chopped sausages or boiled shredded chicken if you’re anti vegetarian.

PS: if you can’t find peri peri sauce, you can make it yourself at home and here is the recipe

http://www.fauziaskitchenfun.com/peri-peri-rice-peri-peri-chicken-with-sauce/

Enjoy!

EASY PEEZY CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

Who doesn’t love choco chip muffins? Especially since these are soo easy to make. These aren’t too sweet either and a perfect treat for any occasion. One of the reasons why I love this recipe is because it uses oil instead of butter. Butter annoys me as it has to get to room temperature and it’s difficult to measure as well. The other reason is that all these ingredients are usually available at home at all times, especially if you’re the baking type. These muffins aren't too sweet and I like it that way because the choco chips make up for it. This recipe makes 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all purpose flour (maida)

½ cup white sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt (skip this if your using salted butter)

¾ cup milk (I used powdered milk and added about a tablespoon and a half to slightly warm water)

1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used sunflower oil, you may use equal amount of butter instead)

1 egg

¾ cup chocolate chips (I used Hershey’s semi sweet choco chips and they are awesome)

1 tsp. vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C

Line a baking pan with muffin cups

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Mix well

In another bowl, combine milk, egg, vanilla and oil

Add dry ingredients and mix until all ingredients are blended in. Batter may be lumpy.

Add in the chocolate chips and give it a mix

Spoon the mixture into muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. If you’re using a convection microwave, bake for about 5 minutes on HIGH MIX. Cool for about a minute and serve warm.

Stop drooling now and head to your kitchen asap! Happy baking!!

TUNA CUTLETS

If I tell you guys how tasty this is, you won't believe me. You HAVE to try these super-duper easy cutlets which can magically appear in less than 30 minutes! And lucky for you, this is a no fail recipe by my mum. You could be the dumbest person in the world (you probably are) and still get these right.

INGREDIENTS

1 can of tuna (it’s always pre-cooked)
2 large potatoes (boiled and mashed)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (you can increase this)
Finely chopped coriander
1/2 tsp. garam masala (increase according to taste)
1/2 tsp. chilli powder (increase according to taste)
2 tbsp. tabasco
1 egg
Oil for deep frying

Mash boiled potatoes. Heat little olive oil in a pan and add onions. Sauté till translucent. Reduce flame to low and add the contents of the tuna can, including the oil. Add the masalas, potatoes and mix well until everything sticks together. Put tabasco and mix again. Turn off flame. Make cutlets with the mixture, dip in egg first and then in bread crumbs (see below) and deep fry. I tried shallow frying it, it was kind of hard to fry it on the sides.

The breadcrumbs fry really fast about 30 seconds on each side.

Questions always welcome :D Bon Apetit

MIXED VEGETABLE KORMA

I wasn’t a huge fan of green peas until this recipe. It’s delicious and really easy to make.

INGREDIENTS

1 carrot (finely chopped)

1 potato (finely chopped)

Few baby corns (I used about 3 which was left over from my stir fry)

A cup of peas (I used frozen ones)

2 onions (finely chopped)

1 large tomato (finely chopped)

3-4 tsp. Ginger garlic paste

1 small stick of cinnamon

3 cloves

½ tsp. garam masala powder

½ tsp. turmeric/haldi powder

1 Maggi Cube (I use this as a substitute for salt and it gives a wonderful flavor. If you don’t have this, use salt according to taste)

1 ½ cup water

Olive oil

To grind:

3-4 green chilies (I used 4 and it became quite spicy)

1 tsp. coriander seeds

1 tsp. jeera

6 cashews

6 tsp. freshly scraped coconut

2 tsp. coriander leaves, finely chopped

Grind the above masala and set aside. I suggest you may boil the carrots and potatoes for about 5-10 minutes prior. Alternatively, you can cook it for a longer time after adding the masala.

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add the cloves and cinnamon. Add the onions and sauté. Add ginger garlic paste and mix well. Now add the tomatoes and cook until soft. Add the remaining vegetables, turmeric and garam masala powders. Stir well and let it cook for some time. Now add the ground masala and mix. Add a cup and a half of water and let it cook on medium flame for five minutes. Now crumble the cube into the vessel and mix well. Cover the lid and let it simmer until vegetables are cooked. (It took me about 30 minutes for the vegetables to completely cook on medium flame)

So tasty!

Serves 3-4 really hungry people.

PS. You can use other vegetables too like French beans, cauliflower, paneer or anything you like. Alternatively you can use frozen cut vegetables as well.