Chocolate-Peanutbutter cookies & Muesli Cookies!

My internet connection was down for past few days.Got it fixed last night only.Forgive me,friends for the delay in commenting at your blogs.

These two cookies were made long time back and it was in draft to get posted.I think this is the right time to post them.Thanks to Srilekha for coming up with the wonderful theme-'Cookies'.I love cookies especially the one loaded with chocolate.I had a last batch of crunchy peanut butter in my fridge.I used them to make this chocolate-peanut butter cookies.It was great and I love the tiny peanut bits in it.I have no idea how I created the recipe and I just followed my instincts and got these lovely cookies.I baked them for a bit longer and it got  little dark .But there is no compromise in the taste.

The muesli cookie recipe was taken from thatslife.com.It turned out to be chewy,wholesome cookies.

Chocolate-Peanut butter Cookies :

You will need :

2 cups of All purpose flour/Maida

1/2 cup butter,melted

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup castor sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup Peanut butter

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Beat together sugar(castor and brown sugar),butter and oil.

Break in the egg and add vanilla essence .Beat well.

Sift salt,baking soda and flour.Add this flour to the egg/sugar mixture.Combine well.

Dump in the peanut butter and chocolate chips.Mix well .

Drop cookie dough using a tablespoon on to the baking tray giving 2 inch of spacing for each cookies.Bake in 250 C preheated oven for 20-25 mins.

(This one is taken with flash-on whereas the first picture is taken under sunlight without flash..hence the difference)

The cookie will be soft when removed from the oven.Once cooled down they become crunchy.Store in a air tight container.

Muesli Cookies :

You will need :

1 cup or 80g butter,at room temp

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla essence

3/4 cup maida/All purpose flour

1/4 baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 3/4 cup of muesli

Place the butter,sugar,eggwhites and vanilla essence into a bowl and beat with electric beaters until creamy.

Sift in the flour and cinnamon ,and mix with a wooden spoon.Add the toasted muesli and mix to combine.

Roll 2 teaspoons of the dough into a ball.Flatten slightly and place on prepared baking sheets.Repeat with remaining mixture.Bake in 250C preheated oven for 8-10 min or until golden.Allow cookies to cool on trays before storing.

Along with Chocolate-Peanut butter cookies & Muesli cookies,I'm also sending the following cookie recipes from my archives to EFM-Cookies event hosted by Srilekha,

Nankhatai

Raisin bars & Raisin rocks

My chocolate-Peanut butter cookies goes to Poornima's For the Love of Chocolate event.

Tried out the following recipes this week and they were just amazing..

Sriharivatsan's Cluster bean rice-A very unique rice with cluster beans and we liked the flavors of it.It was spicy and just right.I should try this rice with capsicum.Thanks,Sriharivatsan :)

Vishali's Cabbage stir fry-Loved this so much and I had it with rotis for dinner.I made it again for sandwich the next morning.Both were so good .Thanks ,Vishali :)

Deesha's Bread Poha-I found this recipe through google's search which is eventually at Deesha's place.The recipe is so simple and sounds very delicious so I tried it immediately.It tasted great..Thanks,Deesha :)

Have a great weekend!

Dum ki Biryani & Kaddu ki Kheer!

Dum ki Biryani and Kaddu ki Kheer(Bottle gourd pudding) are two famous dishes of Awadhi cuisine.I'm sending these two royal dishes to RCI-Lucknow event hosted by Lavi of Home Cook Recipes which is originally started by Lakshmi.Its so kind of her to extend the deadline untill April 6th.I adapted the Dum Biryani recipe of Chef Sudipto Battacharya,Radisson Hotel at ndtv cooks.I made some changes to suit my palate.This is my first attempt in making these two dishes and I'm happy with the result.

I thought of making a mughlai curry to go with the Biryani but due to lack of time I settled with simple cucumber raita.

These brass and bell metal bowls  are some of the treasures I inherited from my grandmas.

Okay before I start blabbering about my obsession for metal wares lets begin cooking!

Kaddu Ki Kheer 

You will need :

2 cups grated bottlegourd

1/2 litre milk

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Khoya

1 tbsp chopped pistachios

2 tbsp chopped Cashews nuts

few almond slices

1 Tbsp raisins

A pinch of saffron

1/2 tsp Caradamom powder

1 tbsp ghee

In a heavy bottom vessel bring the milk to boil.simmer for 10 mins to thicken the milk.

In the mean time,peel the bottle gourd,remove seeds and grate them.

Squeeze out any excess water.

Add the grated bottle gourd and sugar to the milk.Let it cook for 5-8 mins.

Parallely in a small kadai heat ghee and fry the nuts and raisins.

Mix the Khoya and dissolve them in the boiling kheer.

Add the caradamom powder ,saffron and fried nuts and raisins.Stir well and turn off the heat.Serve hot or cold!

Dum Ki Biryani

You will need:

For the rice :

2 cups Basmati rice

2 cups water

2 green cardadmoms

1 stick of cinnamon

2 bay leaves

1 tsbp rose water

1 tsp ghee

Salt

For the Vegetables :

2 cups vegetables (I used chopped potatoes,cauliflower florets,carrot,beans and onion)

4 tbsp oil

5 tsp garlic n ginger paste

2 green caradamom

2 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 cup curd

1 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh cream

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

A pinch of fennel seed powder

salt

For Garnish:

1 Tbsp thinnly sliced ginger

2 green chillies,slit

1/2 cup mint leaves

1/4 cup coriander leaves

1 cup thinnly sliced onions

Oil for frying the onions

5 almonds

10 cashew nuts

1 tsp saffron

4 tbsp milk,lukewarm

2 tbsp ghee

Wash the bastmati rice once and soak them in enough water.Soak saffron in milk.

Heat 2 tbsp oil and fry the vegetables for 10 mins.

When the vegetables are frying,mix all the rest of the ingredients under the 'For the vegetables'  section.After 10 mins,add the fried vegetables to this curd/spice mixture.Mix well and set aside.

Drain the water completely from the soaking rice.In a deep pan,bring 2 cups of water to boil and add all the spices ,salt and ghee given under 'For the rice' section.

Add the drained rice and simmer and cook covered till done.

Heat 2 tbsp oil and fry the marinating mixture for 5-7 mins.

When its frying ,slice 1 big onion..Heat 5 tbsp oil and then add the onions..

Fry them till they become brown and crisp.

In the same oil fry the cashew nuts in low flame.

In a large oven proof bowl,layer a portion of  fried vegetable mixture and then a layer of cooked rice.Do this step until you get finished up with all the vegetable mixture and rice.Gently mix them only once.

Top it with coriander,mint,green chillies,fried cahsews and onions(reserve some for garnishing at the end),almonds,and the soaking saffron along with milk.Drizzle 2 tbsp ghee .

Cover this using a aluminium foil and cook in 250 C preheated oven for 25 mins.

Or cover them with a plate and seal the air gaps using chapati dough.

If you don't have oven,place a tawa over flame and when it got heated up,place the sealed bowl over the tawa and cook in low flame for 30 mins.

Note:Traditionally,Dum cooking involves imparting smoky flavour to the dish.If you like this flavor ,you can do it by placing a small piece of  live charcoal in the center cored onion or betel nut leaf.Place this  over the biryani and keep it covered for 10 mins.

Once removed from oven,open the biryani bowl and give a gentle stir .

Transfer in a serving dish,garnish with the reserved browned onions,cashews and coriander leaves.

I'm also sending the following dishes from my archived posts to RCI - Lucknow event,

Navratna Korma

Shahi Tukre

Malai Kofta 

This week I tried Malar's Green plantain fry.Its very different from the usual plantain fry we make at home.I liked the spicy,tangy taste in it.Thank you ,Malar for the wonderful reicpe :)

Y'day I made the lemon bread featured at Cham's Spice-club.The bread is a super hit ,Cham.Thanks for  posting it in your blog.The bread came out so perfect and my cousins were not believing that I made it :(  I had to swear them that they aren't the store-bought ones.Its so yummy-scrummy!

I used pistachio's instead of walnuts.

And also ,I tried the basic white bread from Nags Edible garden.This is my second successful attmept in baking bread.It came out so well like yours.Thanks for the step-by-step tutorial,Nags :)

Have a happy weekend!

Cucumber Sandwich!

Cucumber sandwich is a classic ,summer sandwich.The idea of making cucumber sandwich hit my head when I was reading the great play of Oscar wilde 'The Importance of being Earnest '.In the first chapter,Algernon ,an aristocrat  eats cucumber sandwiches prepared for his Aunt Augusta while refusing to share them with his friend,Jack .

When I was reading those lines, I got some serious craving for cucumber sandwiches.So I ventured to make these lovely,refreshing snack.

You will need :

1 cucumber

12 White Bread slices

Butter,at room temperature

1/2 cup Sour cream /Mayonnaise

1 lemon

1 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp salt

Cut off the ends of the cucumber and start peeling thin slices of cucumber using a vegetable peeler.

In a large bowl,throw the cucumber shavings ,squeeze out the lemon juice and sprinkle salt and pepper.Give a gentle toss.

Lay the marinated cucumber shavings on a paper towel to absorb excess moisture.

Remove the crusts of bread slices and apply butter to each slice.

Place a dollop of cream/mayannoise over the buttered side of all the bread slices.Spread them evenly.

Place the cucumber slices overlapping each other over 6 slices lined up together as shown in the picture.This way we can avoid maximum wastage of the cucumber slices.

Place the other 6 buttered/creamed bread slices over the cucumber slices.Cut them to 6 separate sandwiches.

You can cut them into triangles or rectangles or squares.Or even use a cookie cutter to cut out various shapes.I cut each of them into four squares so that they can be in bite-sized.

I also made two round shaped sandwiches by using a cookie cutter!

These pretty sandwiches are great for picnic,parties and for tea time!

I'm sending these to AFAM :Cucumber event hosted by Neha of Tasty Recipes which is originally started by Maheswari

I tried Nags of Edible Garden's  Carrot- Babycorn stir-fry  had it with rotis and few slices of cucumber.This was my y'day's dinner.I liked the combo of carrot and baby corns.Very simple and delicious .Thanks,Nags :)

I also tried Onion savory crackers (Nippatu) featured in Madhuram's Eggless cooking.I followed the recipe posted by Redchillies which was originally taken from Ramya's The Cook's collection.

My mom became a big fan of these crackers.Love the onion bits and sesame in it and also the butter flavor.Thanks for sharing,guys!