Hot cross bun

It’s officially spring now! Weather in this part of the world is still chilly but we are getting more daylights which make it feel a lot like spring. Alarm doesn’t go as siren waking me up from middle of a deep sleep, In fact some days I am up before alarm ! Ah the joys ..Such small small things definitely make me happy :)

Every year closer to Easter I see Hot Cross buns floating around in the blogs. So last weekend I decided to bake some with my little baker. He enjoys every bit of baking, sometimes a bit over enthusiastic which drives me crazy! He did pretty much everything expect the kneading. Waiting for the dough to proof is something we need to work on as he kind of lost interest after that. I baked it in the night and went to bed letting it to cool down and next day morning it was ready to get iced with a cross. It was a special weekend treat for our breakfast and we enjoyed every bite of it!

Before signing off let me all wish you a Happy Easter and a Happy Holi. It’s Easter break for us for the next two weeks so hopefully I will be back here soon with another post soon, until then bye!

Recipe source- Joy of baking

Plain flour - 500 gm

Instant yeast – 2 tsp/7gm

Granulated sugar – 1 tsp

Milk – 400 ml ( luke warm)

Light brown sugar -  ¼ cup (55gm)

Ground cinnamon – 1 tsp

Ground cloves – 1/4 tsp

Ground nutmeg – ¼ tsp

Ground all spice – ¼ tsp( optional)

Salt – ½ tsp

Melted butter – 70 gm ( 5 tbsp)

Egg – 1 +1 (large)

Candied fruit and peel – 1 /4 cup (80 gm)

Raisins – 1/2 cup( 100 gm)

For glaze

Icing sugar – ½ cup /60 gm

Milk/cream – 1 1/2 tbsp

Method

• Dissolve yeast in lukewarm milk. Add a teaspoon of sugar and keep it aside for 5 minutes.
• In a mixing bowl measure the flour. Add the spice powder, sugar and salt. Mix until combined.
• Add the yeast solution to the flour and mix until moistened.
• Gradually add the melted butter and mix.
• Lighlty beat an egg with fork and add it to the dough, mix /beat until it’s incorporated.
• Add the raisins and candied fruit peel and mix. Knead the dough until it’s soft.
• Place the dough in a slightly greased bowl and loosely cover it with a cling film (greased) until its double in size. Takes might take about 2 hours. It depends on how hot your kitchen is.
• Punch the air from the dough and divide it into 14  -15 equal size balls in a baking tray leaving enough space between them.  Allow it to prove for another one hour covering it with a cling film.
• Before baking make an egg wash with 1 egg and I tablespoon of milk and brush it on top of the buns.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees until its golden brown or a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Allow it to cool completely.

For Glaze

• Combine icing sugar and milk until smooth (it should be thick). Pour the glaze in a piping bag and pipe a cross on top of each bun.

Fish Molly/ Kerala fish molly/ fish stew

Back home fish was a daily affair, the only dilemma we had was which fish to buy .The fish here lack that flavour we grew up eating with. From eating it daily we went down to eating it only maybe fortnightly. 

One cold January morning during our normal grocery shopping weekend, we came across this Asian shop which sells fresh Indian fishes. It was quite an accidental discovery and we were very thrilled. The options were also  quite impressive. Being fish lovers, me and my hubby were like kids in a candy shop. We usually end up buying a lot more than we need and some weekends I would prepare three different dishes with fish ! Anyway we have been buying regularly from that shop and enjoying our fish ever since. When I found some fresh Pomfret last week, I bought it with the plan of making this fish molly, a Kerala special fish curry. I paired it up with Appams and it went down as a treat for us.

I really wonder how this curry got the name Fish molly. Molly is a female name quite common in Kerala, perhaps it was one Molly who developed this recipe :)

Ingredients

Pomfret / kingfish / or any firm fleshed fish – 500 gm

To marinate

Salt

Pepper – 1 ½ tsp

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Lime juice – 1 tbs

Cinnamon stick – 1 small

Cloves – 3

Cardamom - 3

Fennel seeds – 1 tsp

Bay leaves – 2 ( fresh or dry)

Onion ( medium) – Thinly sliced

Tomato – 1

Ginger minced – 1 1/2 tsp

Garlic minced – 1 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves – 2-3 sprigs

Oil preferably coconut oil

Very thin Coconut milk - 1 cup (  if using tinned coconut milk dilute 1/4 cup  coconut milk with 3/4 cup water)

Thin coconut milk – 1 cup (½ cup tinned coconut milk with ½ cup water)

Thick coconut milk – ½ cup

Fried onions – 2 tbs (optional)

Method

• Marinate the fish with ingredients mentioned under to marinate and keep it aside for ½ an hour.
• In a pan add some oil and shallow fry the fish on  medium flame until ¾ th done by flipping both sides, takes about 7 minutes.
• In another pan add some oil and sputter fennel seeds.
• Add in cinnamon sticks, bayleaves, cardamom and cloves and when nice aroma comes out add the sliced onions and  few curry leaves.
• Saute the onions until soft.
• Add minced ginger and garlic and fry until raw smell goes.
• Add very thin coconut milk and few  curry leaves let it boil.
• Add the fish along with thin coconut milk and cook for about 5 minutes.
• Finally add the thick milk and chopped tomatoes when it starts to boil remove from fire.
• Garnish with fried onions. 

Hydrebadi Mutton/lamb Dum Biriyani

One post a month, that’s my goal now. It’s almost the end of February and I can’t let this month go without any recipe so here I am with a family favourite lamb biriyani which I make often when I have friends over. This biriyani is something you can prep a day ahead which makes your job easier next day. If I am cooking it for Sunday lunch, like I did today, I do all the marination part the previous night so next day all I have to do is half cook the rice, layer and dum. All you need for this biriyani is some raita but if you have time make  Mirch ka salan with this and it is a match made in heaven J That’s one Sunday lunch sorted for you and  maybe even Monday and Tuesday too ! This biriyani freezes well and I freeze it straight away once it comes to room temperature and it comes as a life saver on days when I am too tired to cook in the evening.

Recipe source - here

Ingredients (serves 8-10)

Rice – 3  1/2cups 

Lamb /mutton – 1 kg

Meat tenderiser (optional) – 1tsp

Onion – 4 large ( fried) or 2 cups fries onions

Mint leaves

Coriander leaves

To Marinate

Shahi jeera – 1 tsp

Yogurt – 2 cups

Lime juice – 1 ½ tbs

Fried onion – ½ of it

Mint leaves – 1 small bunch

Coriander leaves – 1 small bunch

Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbs

Red chilli powder – 2 tsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Coriander powder – 2 tbsp

Cumin powder  - 1tsp

Green chillies – 4 -5

Crushed pepper – 1 tsp

 cinnamon stick – 1 small stick

cloves – 6 number

cardamom – 5

fennel seeds – 1 tsp

Salt

Oil

Method

• Marinate the lamb with meat tenderiser for 1/2 hour
• Meanwhile soak the rice for an hour.
• Add all the ingredients under ‘To marinate’ and keep it for another 1 hour.
• In the meantime boil some water adding salt. Add rice and cook until its half done. Drain it and keep it aside.
• In a big pot, tip the marinated lamb and spread it evenly.
• Add one layer of rice on top and sprinkle some reserved fried onions on top. Add some chopped coriander leaves and mint as well. Repeat layering until all rice is used up.
• Cover the pot with a lid and seal the edges with a plain flour dough/chapathi dough.
• Place the pot on top of another flat plan and cook it on a medium low flame for about an hour (Placing  the pot directly on the flame can burn your biriyani on bottom hence always  place the pot on top of another pan ) 

Malabar mutton curry/ Varutharacha mutton curry

We don’t buy Mutton/ lamb at home often, even when we buy it’s usually for biriyani so if you check my blog I don’t have much mutton recipes, but during this holiday time we have been entertaining a lot and I  have been cooking with mutton too. For my last party I promised my friends Keralan food so when I bought mutton, the first thing which came to my mind was this varutharacha mutton curry which my amma used to make a lot. To be honest I was never a fan of varutharacha curry back then so I rarely made it myself.

My hubby did ask me whether I am sure I want to experiment  as this is not something I cook often, usually when he say something like that I lose my confidence and give up on that dish and go for my tried and tested recipes but this time I was determined. I am glad that I didn't listen to him  as this curry turned out  super delicious. My friends loved  it too !

In this recipe I have added a leaf ( ramba leaf ) which was very new to me until my friend who is from Srilanka introduced this to me, something which they add a lot in Srilankan cooking usually to flavour rice. It’s readily available in Indian/Asian groceries here.You can read more about the leaf here. It's an optional ingredient so please don't bother if you don't have it. 

Recipe source – Amma and my own

Ingredients

Mutton/Lamb – 1 kilo
To marinate

Chilli powder -1 tbsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

salt
Ginger garlic paste – 1  tbs

Onion - 6 medium

Tomato -3 small

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbs

To roast

Grated coconut/ ചിരണ്ടിയ തേങ്ങ – 1 ½ cup

Shallot/ചെറിയ ഉള്ളി – handful

Coriander seeds/ മല്ലി – 2 tbs

 Cinnamon /പട്ട– 1 stick

Cloves/ഗ്രാമ്പു– 4-5

Cardamom/ഏലക്ക -5

Star anise/തകോളം

Fennel/പെരുംജീരകം – 1 tbsp

Peppercorns/കുരുമുളക് – 1 tsp

Whole Red chilli/ വറ്റല്‍ മുളക് – 3

Curry leaves/കറിവേപ്പില – 5-6 sprigs

Poppy seeds/cuscous/കസ്കുസ് – 1 tbs

Ramba leaf/ രംഭ ഇല /  ( optional) – 1 small piece

Coriander leaves/ മല്ലി ഇല

To temper

Coconut pieces/തേങ്ങാ കൊത്തു – 1 tbs

Shallots/ ചെറിയ ഉള്ളി  -4 thinly sliced

Curry leaves/ കറിവേപ്പില– few

 Method

• Marinate the mutton with red chilli, turmeric, salt and 1 tbs ginger garlic paste for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• In a pan add some coconut oil and add the whole garam masala (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, fennel,star anise) and when nice aroma comes out add grated coconut, coriander seeds, whole red chillies, curry leaves and roast for few minutes. When it start to turn change colour, add poppy seeds and carry on roasting until golden brown. DONOT roast beyond this point.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Once it’s cool grind it adding very little water into a smooth paste and keep it aside.
• In a pressure add coconut oil and add chopped onion and saute until light brown.
• Add in the rest of the ginger garlic paste and saute until raw smell goes.
• Add chopped tomatoes, few curry leaves and cook for few minutes.
• Add in the marinated mutton, 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 4 -5 whistles or until mutton is cooked.
• Once the pressure releases open the pressure cooker and add the ground masala paste, curry leaves, ramba leaf and boil everything for 5-10 minutes. 
• In a small pan add coconut oil and fry the sliced shallots, coconut pieces separately until brown, throw in some curry leaves along with them before you remove them fire and add it to the gravy.
• Add chopped coriander leaves and garnish. 

Chilli fish with step by step pictures

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Good time surely flies... before I blinked my eyes two weeks of holiday just flew past! sigh..No more late nights or alarm free mornings :( but I think to appreciate and enjoy the holiday we need to earn the break or it won’t be this fun. Anyway I am glad that I got back into the mood of blogging during this break and I actually took an effort to take pictures of things I cooked. I am not sure how long that is going to last though.

Coming to today’s post, chilli fish is one of my favourite dishes. I have been making this for a long time now, especially when I have friends over but like many other recipes it never found its way to blog. It’s such a hassle free recipe with no deep frying bit but still tastes awesome.Talking about the  step by step pictures eventhough I managed to click all the steps they are not really good ones as my helper (hubby) got so impatient and ditched me after taking 1-2 pictures so I  had to click most of it with one hand  :)

Ingredients

 For marinade and frying 

Boneless fish - 500 gm

Maida/ Plain flour - 6 tbs

Cornflour - 3 tbs

Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp

Salt

Pepper - 1 tsp

Water - 1/4-1/2 cup

Egg -1

Oil for shallow frying 

For sauce

Onion - 3 medium (cubed )

Spring onion – 5 ( chop whites and green and keep them separate)

Capsicum/ pepper - 1

Green chillies - 2( cut diagonally )

Minced ginger – 2 tsp

Minced garlic – 2 tsp

Tomato sauce/ tomato ketchup – 5 tbs

Soya sauce - 4 tbs

Chilli garlic sauce - 2 tbs

Oyster sauce ( optional ) – 1 tbs

Salt 

Cornflour - 2 tbs

Water - 5 tbs

Method

• In a bowl add Plain flour, cornflour, salt, pepper, ginger garlic paste, egg and water and make a batter ( thick enough to coat the the fish) 
  
  
  
• Dip the fish in the batter and shallow fry them in a pan adding oil flipping the sides until they are golden brown for about 5 minutes on each side. Drain it on paper towel / kitchen tissue and keep it aside.
  
  
  
  
• In the same pan add minced ginger, minced garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes.  
  
•   Add cubed onions and chopped green chillies and sauté until onions are soft.  
  
• Add spring onion whites and saute for a minute or so.
  
• Add tomato sauce.  
  
• Add soya sauce.
  
• Add oyster sauce.   
• Add chilly garlic sauce and cook for few minutes until oil starts to separate. 
  
• Add chopped capsicum and stir for 1-2 minutes.  
  
• Now add the fried fish and coat it in the sauces and cook it covered for 3- 5 minutes.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Finally dissolve 2 tbs of corn flour in 5 tbs of water and pour this to the paneer and mix well. 
  
• Cook for another 1-2 minute and  sprinkle the sprinkle the spring onion greens turn of the flame.            
  
                                                            

Enjoy !                                                                                                                                               

Mirch ka salan / Green chillies curry

A New year again..fresh chapter, new hopes, new resolutions.. Let’s hope this year is going to be a great one for all of us. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year once again.

“A curry with chillies! OMG ” Is that what you are thinking ? That's what I thought  when I saw this curry in other blogs.  Our spice tolerance level is really low now, so there was no way I was going to try this until I tasted this from S’s place. She served  Hydrebadi biriyani with this salan and it was a great combination indeed so it didn’t take long before I tried it myself. I made it several times with biriyani but when we smell biriyani we are always hungry and never wait to take any pictures before we eat. Wondering how I manged this time? This time I made the curry first so I had some time while biriyani was on Dum J

I still don’t dare to use green chillies for this salan instead always use milder versions of chillies but if you think you can handle hotter green chillies go ahead and use it !

Recipe source - Vahrehvah

Ingredients           

Onion – 1

Cinnamon stick – 1 inch stick

Cloves – 2

Cardamom – 3

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Whole red chillies - 1

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Red chilli powder – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tbs

Tamarind paste – 1/4 tsp

Yogurt – ½ cup

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp

Sugar – 1 tsp

Green chillies/  milder green chillies – 100 gm

Curry leaves

Coriander leaves – finely chopped

Mint leaves- finely chopped

To roast

Sesame seeds – 1 tbs

Peanut – 1 tbs

Grated coconut/dessicated coconut – 1 tbs

Method

• In a small pan add oil and add peanuts roast for few minutes.
• Add sesame seeds until slightly golden
• Finally add coconut powder and roast for a minute or so. Let it cool down and then grind it to a smooth paste adding little water.
• Slit the chillies , remove seeds if you want and shallow fry it in little oil and keep it aside.
• In another pan add oil and add  mustard seeds when in sputters add  whole garam masala, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds until it releases a nice aroma.
• Add chopped onions and saute until it is brown.
• Add ginger garlic paste and curry leaves saute for a minute or so.
• Add chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and hing.
• Pour the ground paste, tamarind paste, some water and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add beaten yogurt and cook for another 25 minutes or  until the oil separates.
• Finally add the slit chillies, chopped coriander, mint and sugar and cook for another 5 minutes. 

Tres Leches cake

This season is all about indulging isn’t it? I have been baking non- stop for almost the whole of the December; making edible gifts for friends, baking workshop, cake orders and also baking for dinner parties. My oven baked many batches of fruits cakes, brownies, apple roses, peanut crunchy bars, vanilla cake, cupcakes etc. Some nights, I used to be up in the kitchen until midnight baking and my legs ached like hell. But I really enjoyed making home-made gifts. This year I took a plunge and also tried my hands on some non - edible DIY gifts which I am really pleased with and can’t wait to share it with you all soon.

Anyway coming back to topic, I always like to try out new dessert recipes when I have friends over and Tre leche cake has been on my list for some time. I made this dessert when we had friends the other day and it was enjoyed by all. To be honest I won’t call this phenomenal, especially when I compare it with my other desserts, but the good thing is, it is so easy to put together and it’s yummy.

Recipe source - here

Ingredients

Plain flour – 1 ½ cup

Butter – ½ cup/ 115 gm ( melted)

Sugar – ¾ cup

Eggs – 5 large

Baking powder – 1 tsp

Salt – pinch

Vanilla extract – 1 tsp

For soaking

Condensed milk – 1 can /390 gm

Evaporated milk – 340 gm can

Milk – 1 cup

For whipping

Whipping cream/double cream – 2 cup

Icing sugar – 3 tbs/ as per taste

Vanilla extract – 1 tsp

Fresh fruits (optional)

Method

• Sift flour, baking powder, salt and keep it aside.
• Cream eggs and sugar in an electric mixer for few minutes. The mixture will increase the volume.
• Add vanilla extract and beat again.
• Add the dry ingredients and fold in.
• Finally add melted butter and fold in.
• Pour the batter in a greased 9 inch cake pan and bake for 30 -35 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Whisk condensed milk, evaporated milk and milk together in a bowl.
• Transfer the cake onto a plate and poke holes on the hot cake and pour/spread the milk mixture slowly  on top of the cake with a spoon.
• Let the cake cool for 1 hour.
• Whip the cream with icing sugar and vanilla extract and spread it on top of the cake.
• Decorate with fresh fruits or as you like.