NUTELLA MUG CAKE IN 2 MINUTES

I'm almost earning the mug cake queen title. I think I'm in love with them. They're like a godsend to the procrastinators community. And someday I'm going to make the ultimate mug cake. Meanwhile, check out this recipe from The Cookbook, one of my favorites. I did end up microwaving it for 2 minutes instead of 1.5 and it became slightly dry, but that of course, wouldn't deter me from savoring it to the last bite.

And I may have forgotten to divide the batter between two mugs. LOL. On the bright side, you can learn from my mistakes.

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!

CHILLI SAUSAGES

Hello again! I present to you the ultimate meat treat. And if you don't finish making these in under 5 minutes, you have issues!!

INGREDIENTS

About 5 or 6 sausages, totally depends on what quantity you want.
1/2 tsp. chili powder/bafat powder
2 tbsp. tomato ketchup
3/4 tbsp. soya sauce
Finely chopped coriander
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp. olive oil

Slice sausages at room temperature. Since mine are frozen, I always warm them in the microwave but I don't recommend doing that. I don't know why. Lol. Heat olive oil in pan, add sausages and saute for 30 seconds. Add the chilli powder and mix well. Add ketchup and soya sauce and mix well. Add salt. Throw in coriander and turn off heat. Serve Hot.

This makes an awesome starter or a short eat, whatever the occasion may be. Let me know how it goes.

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!!

IVY GOURDS WITH CASHEWNUTS

I’m not a fan of tendli, in fact I despise them. But these authentic mangalorean styled ivy gourds are irresistible.

Look at that steam!!!

INGREDIENTS

450 – 500 grams ivy gourds/tendli

2 tsp. ginger garlic paste

5 – 6 curry leaves

Few cashew nuts

2 tsp. mustard seeds

1 onion, sliced

1 green chilli, slit

½ cup fresh coconut

1 tomato, chopped

1 tablespoon of any vegetarian masala

A little jaggery (I used about 2 – 3 tbsp. of sugar as I did not have this)

1 maggi cube (I use this as a substitute for salt and it gives a wonderful flavor)

1 cup water

2 tbsp. olive oil

Heat oil, add mustard seeds. When they start to splutter, add curry leaves, onions, ginger garlic paste and green chilli. Mix well and sauté till onions become translucent. Now add tomato, vegetable masala and crumble the maggi cube into the mixture. Stir for 2 – 3 minutes and then add the cut tendli along with the water and let it simmer. When the water reduces to half, taste the gravy and see how you like it. Some people don’t really like sweet food, so if you are satisfied with the taste at this time, you may skip the sugar. If not, add the sugar and mix well. Finally add fresh coconut and cashews and cook till tendli is done. Took me about 20 minutes on medium flame.

Yenjoy!!

YAM (SURAN) SUKKHA (with coconut)

First time I made yam (suran). And it’s a real pain to cut and clean. But the end result is pretty good. Plus you can try this dish just to humor me for all the original recipes (this too) I've been and will be sharing with you all.

INGREDIENTS

1 tsp. mustard seeds

1 tsp. cumin seeds

4-5 curry leaves

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 tsp. ginger garlic paste

1 tsp. coriander powder

1 tsp. turmeric powder

½ tsp. chilli powder

½ tsp. garam masala powder

1 tsp. sugar

1 maggi cube (I use this as a substitute for salt and it gives a wonderful flavor)

Fresh coriander, finely chopped

A chunk of yam (peeled, clean and chopped into small pieces)

1.5 cups fresh coconut

1.5 cups water

A little tamarind

2 tbsp. Olive oil

2 tbsp. fresh coriander for garnishing. 

Heat oil. Add mustard and cumin seeds. When they start to splutter add curry leaves and onion and sauté till it becomes translucent. Then add ginger garlic paste and mix well. Throw in the chopped yam and add half cup water. Let it cook for about ten minutes till the yam becomes little soft. Add all the masala powders and stir well. Then add the tamarind, sugar, maggi cube and the coconut. It should look a little dry by now. Mix all the ingredients well and add remaining water. Cook on medium flame for about 15-20 minutes or until yam becomes soft. Garnish with fresh coriander.

This dish is mostly for those who like coconut. In a good way. Lol. And I'm a hardcore Mangalorean in terms of coconut lovin'. So enjoy!!

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