Cake House

N owadays I am not getting enough time due to my cutie’s school and also some part-time commitments during the day time. So I am finding it really difficult to spend quality time on blogging. Keeping in mind the morning time office-school hurry, nowadays my recipes have also become more of quick and no-fuss preparations. This time I am introducing you to a pulao which you will find equally apt for a working day lunch box or a lazy holiday brunch :-) Chicken pulao is a dish which I cannot resist any time. This is yet another easy and simple dish which can be made within minutes with very little effort. We can also add vegetables as you may like. This is a colourful and flavorful one pot dish. In this dish the rice is flavored with spices and cooked along with marinated chicken. This tastes exactly like biryani but is much simpler and easier to make. Ingredients: For marination: Chicken- ½ kg Curd- ½ cup Red chilli powder- 1 tsp Turmeric powder- ½ tsp Salt- as required For pulao: Rice- 2...

T he ideal way to start a day is with a healthy breakfast. Egg is a very common ingredient in the breakfast menu. Today I am going to introduce an authentic andhra gravy which can be served with rice and chapatis alike. Boiled eggs in tamarind gravy is my all time favorite curry along with steaming rice. Since I spent most of my life in Andhra, I love the authentic andhra flavors. Pulusu in andhra means spicy tamarind gravy. With less ingredients and within no time we can prepare an amazing side dish for rice. Boiled eggs fried in oil This is a classic dish in which boiled eggs are cooked in yummy tamarind sauce and other spices. This dish is a package full of flavors. To balance the tanginess by adding little sugar or jaggery. Different varieties of pulusu can be made using bitter gourd, ladies finger, and so on. Ingredients: Egg- 3 nos Oil- 2 tbsp Onions (chopped)- 2 nos Tomato (chopped)- 1no Mustard seeds- 1 tsp Cumin seeds- 1 tsp Curry leaves- few Green chillies (slitted)- 2 nos Re...

Start with the sauce. Bring  40 cl  orange juice to the boil after adding 1 tsp of gingerpowder . Reduce and  thicken  to about 20 cl. Add 5 cl cream and boil again. Then, on a very low heat whisk in 100 gr cold butter in small cubes, one at the time. Reheat later. Put a tomato 20 sec in boiling water then cool under the cold tap, take off the skin, remove the seeds and dice the rest Put 1/2 a paprika under the grill till blackend. Take off the skin. Cut into strips. Wash a cucumber . Cut 5cm off, remove the skin and slice the flesh (but not the seedcore) in 'matchsticks'. Do the same with the green skin of a courgette . Put the courgette matchsticks on a shallow plate and cover with olive oil to keep crisp. Cut a thin slice of mango into matchsticks. Do the same with 1/2 red onion. Fry the fish  (the recipe from Bernard Bach was for red mullet, but in my opInion any nice fish will do) skin side first till crisp then turn for a...

Use the blender to pulp 500 gr of strawberries with some sugar, a squeeze of lemonjuice (to preserve the colour) and a gluck of creme de cassis. Add some pieces of strawberry and keep in the fridge for at least 6 hours. Serve with a scoop of lime sorbet and a sprig of mint. One or two turns of the peppermill will enhance the flavour.  Se

S ometimes when we think about snacks, we get all kinds of snack ideas into our mind. Here in this recipe, I am introducing you to a mouth watering snack, Stuffed Chicken Masala bun. These buns are best enjoyed if they are made at home. Though it is little time consuming to make but the taste and crunchiness is worth the effort. This is a perfect snack for kids when they come back from school. Baking with yeast will be a real headache for most of us, but using a perfect yeast like the active one will yield good results. Stuffed buns can be made with different varieties of stuffing. I saw masala stuffed buns from Rak’s kitchen and was very sure that I am going to try this and instead of vegetables, I added boneless chicken pieces. These can be served as a breakfast dish, a lunch box item or an evening snack. In whichever way you want, this is a perfect treat to eat at any time of the day. Ingredients: Onions- 2 nos Tomatoes- 1no Boneless Chicken ( boiled and cubed)- 1 cup Jeera- 1 tsp G...

Nems Cut some leftover chicken meat in small pieces.  Cut the white of a lemongrass finely, grate a tsp ginger. Mix with a teaspoon of soy-sauce , tsp of oystersauce , tsp of castersugar with a tbsp white wine vinegar. Marinate the meat in it for half a day or longer.  Divide a celery stalk in 4 cm parts and cut these lengthwise  finely in strips. Do the same with a piece of paprika (bell pepper).  At dinnertime mix the meat with the veggies. Dip a sheet of rice'paper' in hot (not boiling) water. Dripdry. Put some coriander leaves on it. Wet a second sheet and use it to cover the first. Put 2 tbsp of the meatmix on one half of the ricepaper. Roll it as tight as possible for a bit. Then fold the sides inwards and continue rolling. Boil some water and get a bamboo steaming basket on top. Steam for about 5 mins. Serve with sweet&sour sauce. Grilled paprika, mushrooms, blue cheese, Brie, orange/ginger butter, basil-oil Mackerel, cellery, grilled paprika ...

In the past few weeks we read several times about  the recipe for roast chicken from Thomas Kellers.  When   Felicity Cloak mentioned it again in the Guardian, where she always compares '5 ways to cook the perfect .....' I decided to try it myself. The main idea is to use a very hot oven and no liquid. At all. So I rinsed the chicken inside and out. Dried it  with kitchen paper. Trussed tightly with kitchen twine (important) . Waited till the oven was  230C. Added salt and pepper, put it in the  oven for 40 mins and waited. Took it out and let it rest for 15 mins Felicity was a bit disappointed that, although the skin was indeed very crisp, the meat was a bit dry. Well this one was perfect. I put some thyme on it and served the breasts with the juices, a bit of butter, some mustard and a simple salad. Delicious. But that is not the end of it. We still have the thighs for another meal. And the carcass , still full of juicy bits. Which we used for...

If you do not have IKEA near you, go out and buy 2 nice thick (as they will lose 40% height) pieces of salmon (about 500 gr each), skin on. You will also need coarse sea-salt, caster sugar, white pepper and  dill                                                                                                                                  ...

Different tomatoes. Real buffalo Mozarella. Basil-oil (=basil +oil+ clove of garlic+ pinch of seasalt+ blender). Pepper. Bread. Nothing to it.

V egetable stew is a perfect accompaniment with appam, chapatis and so many other breakfast items. Stew can be made with chicken and mutton as well. This mild and creamy curry can be made very easily. I learnt this from one of my close friends. After marriage, I was not very good at cooking and my friend helped me with this easy and simple curry for chapatis. In this recipe, instead of coconut milk,we can also add regular milk and an amazing curry will be ready within minutes. I love the subtle flavors and also the thick and creamy gravy. With simple ingredients we can make a dish which will be loved by all. So, without wasting any time I am into the recipe. Ingredients: Carrots (chopped)- 2 nos Potatoes (chopped)- 2 nos Onions (cubed)- 1no Green peas- ½ cup Ginger (crushed)- 1 tbsp Peppercorns- 1 tbsp Curry leaves- few Coconut milk- ½ cup Cloves- 2 nos Cinnamon- 1 small stick Method: Boil the vegetables, ginger and peppercorns in pressure cooker by adding little salt and keep this asi...

If you have finished a nice beefstew there often is some very tasty thick liquid left in the pot. Which we decided to use as a sauce. In the fridge were some ratatouille, broadbeans and haricots verts left and we also had some tomatoes. We only had to buy a porc fillet and could start cooking. If you like it: put the oven on 80C. Boil some water and drop 2 tomatoes in for 30 seconds. Get them out with a slotted spoon (keep the water) and hold them under cold running water to stop cooking. Remove the skin and cut into 4 parts. Remove the seeds. Put in a small oven dish, sprinle with sea salt and thyme leaves, Add olive oil till almost covered and 2 garlic cloves (in their skin). Put in the oven for 3 hours.   Bring 4 small  cups of water to the boil and put in a small cup (it will increase in volume!) of polenta. Keep stirring on a low heat for about 3-4 mins. Pour into a shallow plate and see how it swells up while it cools. Go and find something else to do. After 15...

  We had 9-year old Nick for a week. His mother  made us buy lots of brocolli and stuff. But of  course he enjoyed pizza and hamburgers. When he  went home yesterday we were left with the brocolli.  With a fish from the freezer we could make this, inspired by Bernard Bach (Le Puits St. Jacques) Begin with the brocolli. Remove the tough stem, boil al dente for 3 to 4 mins. Cool quickly in cold water with icecubes. Then use a saucepan to reduce 2 tbsp balsamico and 1 small cube of sugar till just (otherwise you'll end up with toffee) syrupy. Add 5 tbsp soysauce and take off the heat. Mix 1/2 tsp Maizena with 2 tbsp water and add the balsamico/soy and whisk till coherent and syrupy. This will be used to laquer the fish. Now get back to the brocolli: use the blender to liquidise with some liquid cream (the less you use, the greener it will stay) till nice and smooth. Re-heat later in a saucepan Clean 12 mussels and boil in some whi...