Banana Muffin

This is a muffin which I make regularly when the banana’s starts getting black and no one like to eat it.  The darker it become, the bananas flavor is stronger. 

The dry ingredient and wet ingredients can be mixed separately and kept ready in the night.  Wet ingredient mixture should be stored in the refrigerator. You can mix it together in the morning and can make fresh muffins in the morning for your child’s tiffin.

Ingredients

Dry Ingredient

Maida – 100gm ( ¾ cup)
Sugar – 50 gm ( ¼ cup)
Brown sugar – 2tbsp
Baking powder  - ½ tbsp
Baking soda – ¼ tsp

Wet Ingredients

Butter – 60gm (melted)
Egg – 1 room temperature
Banana – 2 mashed
Vanilla essence – ½ tsp
Banana essence – ½ tsp

Method

1.   Mix together all the wet ingredients and mix  together and keep aside.

2.   Mix all the wet ingredient, beat with a fork and keep it in a separate bowl .
3.   To the dry ingredients mix the wet ingredient mixture.
4.   Mix together just to combine, do not over mix.
5.   Fill in the muffin moulds.  Fill till 3/4. Makes around 9 muffins.
6.   Bake at 180⁰C for 20 min.
7.   You can do icing with Maple Cheese cream icing.

Chakkakuru Manga Curry

I have a major major taste bud for chakkakuru (jackfruit seeds).  This is one of my father’s DNA transfered to me.  Even today my grandmother at the age of 85, if she comes to know that her son is coming to visit her. She will sit and scrape all the chakkakuru seeds and make some delicacy out of it.

All my relatives and mallu friends know this liking of mine.  So anyone coming from Kerala to visit us in Gurgaon would get me minimum 2 kg seeds.  I treasure it as gold in my refrigerator.

This is one of the recipes I make with Jackfruit seeds.  You can have this as a chare kootan with rice i.e. a nice accomplishment with rice.

Ingredient  

Green Mango – 1no. (cut into medium size pieces)

Jackfruit Seeds ( Chakkakuru) – 2 cups
Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
Salt – as per taste

For the paste

Green chilli – 2 nos
Grated coconut – ¾ cup
Turmeric powder – ½  tsp
Jeera – ½ tsp
Garlic – 3 nos

For Tempering

Mustard seeds – 1tsp
Whole red chilly – 2 nos
Shallots (sambar onion ) – 4 nos (chopped into long strips)
Curry leaves - a spring
Oil – 1tsp

Method

1.      Remove the outer cover and the brown covering  of the jackfruit seed. Cut into 4 lengthwise strips and clean it nicely

2.      Cook this seeds in the cooker with  ½ tsp. turmeric and little salt for a whistle and 10 more min.
3.      To this add the mango  and cook for another 2 whistle
4.      Grind coarsely all the ingredients for the paste
5.      Mash this mango and jackfruit mixture.
6.      To this add the paste and mix well.
7.      Let this come to low boil.
8.      Switch of the heat and keep aside
9.      Heat oil in another pan.
10.  Allow mustard seed to splutter.
11.  Add red chilly, shallot and curry leaves and fry until they are brown.
12.  Pour this seasoning over the curry.

Donuts & Sugared Donuts

The first donut I tasted  must have been around 15 yrs back in one of the station near Goa, on my first trip to Goa.  I still remember the taste.  At that time I use to consider it as a special Goa bakery item.  Making  it was out of question. As years went by it became common in local bakery, but still making it was unimaginable.  Then came Roopali’s cooking class, and that’s were I learnt making donuts where so simple.  Once you know the basic, then you can make lots of variation.

And the best part is kids love it as evening snacks.

 

Ingredient

For yeast mixture

Dry yeast – 2tsp (or a sachet with is normally 7gm)
Warm water – ¼ cup
Sugar – ½ tsp

Other Ingredient 

Maida – 1 ½ cup (150gm)
Milk powder – 1 tbsp leveled
Egg – 1 at room temperature
Sugar – powdered ¼ cup
Milk – 1 to 2 tbsp or as required for kneading
Butter – 1 tbsp ( softened)

Method

1.      For yeast mixture: Mix ½ tsp sugar with water, sprinkle yeast over it, mix. Keep it covered in a   warm place for 10-15min, till it gets frothy.

2.      Put the maida, milk powder and sugar in a mixing bowl and mix well.

3.      Make a hill of the mixture and a well in the center.

4.      In this well add egg and the frothy yeast mixture.

5.      Knead it to a dough. Remove the dough  from the bowl and place it on a clean kitchen platform.

6.      Add the soften butter and again knead for about 5 to 10 min. pressing with you palm.

7.      Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover it with plastic sheet.

8.      Keep this in a warm place for 2 hrs or till it swells up to double the size.

9.      Punch this swelled dough back and knead again till smooth.

10.  Roll this into long strip.

11.  Cut it into equal portions.

12.  Roll this portions round and make a hole in the center.

13.  Arrange these rolls in greased tray, leaving a distance of minimum 2 inches and cover it with a wet muslin cloth. Leave it for an hour.

14.  Heat oil for deep frying. After heating the oil, lower the flame.

15.  Fry donuts in low flame till golden brown and crisp.

16.  Dust sugar powder on the donut if you want.