Cake House

Hummus is a Middle Eastern dip made with chickpeas as the main ingredient.  I was introduced to this delicious dip a few years back by one of my husband's aunt who had spent many years in middle east. I instantly fell in love with this versatile dip. Serve it with crackers or slather it over your bread slice to make sandwiches, it tastes lovely in all it's avatars. Although the ingredients are very basic to make Hummus, a few tips and tricks takes it to another level. After making it innumerable times, I have come up with a recipe which tastes delicious each time. Here is the recipe to make the best Hummus. All you need is Chickpea - 1 cup Garlic cloves - 12-14 Tahini - 4 tbsp ( mix 4 tbsp sesame seeds with 2 tbsp olive oil and little water and blend in a blender to make a smooth paste ) Extra virgin olive oil - 8 tbsp Lemon juice - 5 tbsp Salt to taste Roasted cumin powder - 1\2 tsp Chili flakes - 1 tsp Warm water from boiled chickpeas - 3-4 tbsp Method of preparation Wash and

I had mentioned in my previous ( Blueberry Cupcakes ) post about this blueberry milkshake. Here I am posting you this amazing, scrumptious, succulent, darkish purple blend which will be loved by all. I know that this is a summer time drink, but I love this any time and in any season and that too if it is made of blueberries. When my brother brought these blueberries last month, the first thing came to my mind was to make this milkshake which I was craving for… and here is the recipe. Ingredients: Blue berries- ½  Cup Milk- 1 Cup Sugar / Honey- 3 tbsp (as required) Vanilla essence- 1 tsp (optional) Method: Drop all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and a yummy, delicious, simple, easy, mouthwatering, milkshake is ready within minutes. Garnish with more berries on top.

Vegetable Jalfrezy....This medley of vegetables in a spicy masala is a delicious option for an Indian meal. I was cleaning my refrigerator yesterday and that's when I found half a capsicum, a few florets of cauliflower and a single carrot lying in the vegetable basket. These vegetables makes for a delicious mix vegetable curry and so without much brain storming, my dinner plan was ready. Frozen peas from the freezer and a packet of paneer added to this array of colorful veggies made into a lip smacking Vegetable Jalfrezi in no time. You can enjoy this dish with laccha Paratha or Naan. Here is the recipe to make it All you need is Ghee - 2 tbsp Oil - 2 tbsp Cumin \ Zeera - 1\2 tsp Onion - 1\2 cup ( thinly sliced ) Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp Green chili - 2  ( slit into half ) Tomato puree - 3 tbsp Tomato ketchup - 2 tbsp Coriander powder - 2 tsp Red chili powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - 1\2 tsp Garam masala powder - 1\2 tsp Salt to taste Paneer - 250 g ( cut into small pieces ) Mi

Hyderabadi Badam ka Hareera...This drink is one among the many authentic Hyderabadi recipes which is very popular as breakfast drink and is also made during the month of Ramazan. It is very nutritious and gives instant energy and is definitely a good start for a day. I like to make this drink when the days are a little cold and just sipping on this hot and energizing drink makes me feel so much better. Here is how to make Hyderabadi Badam ka Hareera. All you need is Ghee - 1 tsp Maida \ All purpose flour - 1 tbsp Almond powder - 1\4 cup ( I blended blanched almonds in a blender to make powder ) Full cream milk - 1 liter Saffron - a good pinch Chironji - 2 tbsp Sugar - 1\4 cup Cardamom powder - 1 tsp Clove powder - 1\2 tsp Dried rose petals for garnishing Hyderabadi Badam ka Hareera Recipe Heat ghee in a pan. Add maida and roast for a few seconds till it is slightly browned. Add almond powder and milk and bring to a boil. Keep stirring. Add saffron and chironji and cook on low heat for

U sually I like to eat pickles along with rice, breakfast and so on. My mom makes different varieties of pickles and I used to enjoy them always. So recently I started trying to make pickles in small amounts and got successful. This raw mango pickle holds a special place in my heart. This mango pickle is an important ingredient in any Onam sadhya. In different parts of Kerala, this pickle is made in different varieties. As Onam is nearing, I thought this is the best time to prepare this yummy and spicy pickle. Just try this out… Ingredients: Raw Mangoes- 5- 6 nos Garlic- 1 Cup Curry Leaves- few Red Chillies- 5-6 nos Mustard Seeds- 1 tbsp Fenugreek Seeds- 1 tsp Water- ½ Cup Red Chilli powder- 5 tbsp Turmeric Powder- 1 tbsp Fenugreek powder- 1 tsp Asafoetida Powder- ¼ tsp Salt- as required Oil- ¼ Cup Vinegar- 2 tbsp Method: Peel the skin of mangoes and chop the raw mangoes to small pieces (I used a food Processor). Add salt to the pieces, mix well and set it aside overnight. On the follo

Laccha paratha...These flaky, multi layered flat bread is one of my favorite Indian bread to go along with the rich and creamy curries that are served in the restaurants or are made for special occasions at home. Although these parathas are easily available these days at the local superstores, making them at home just makes sure we are using good quality ingredients and no preservatives. I tried making them at home a few days back and the result was very encouraging. Although these uses a lot of oil and refined flour, but then you don't have these everyday. So here is how to make laccha Paratha at home. All you need is All purpose flour \ Maida - 3 cups Sugar - 1 tbsp Salt - 1 tsp Oil - 1 tbsp and more for applying and frying Laccha Paratha Recipe Mix flour, sugar, salt and 1 tbsp oil in a bowl. Make a soft dough using water. Knead the dough for 5-6 minutes until it becomes soft. Cover and keep the dough for 20 minutes. Knead gain for 3-4 minutes. Cover and keep for another 20 minu

We got the last of the beetroots and snow peas from our garden. Started with the dressing by bringing 3 tablespoons of port, 1tblspoon of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of mustard, 1 tablespoon of sugar and a finely chopped shallot to the boil, for 2 mins. When it was cooled again we added some fresh thyme leaves, pepper and salt and whisked some olive oil in. Boiled the beetroots for 45 mins and the peas for 4 mins. Diced the beetroots and half a Granny Smith. Mixed beetroot, apple and dressing. Served as shown, with some goat chess on top. Nive for a summer lunch...

S ince quite some time now, I was in search of fresh blueberries, but I couldn’t get any and those which we get in market were so expensive that I decided to get it through my brother who works in the UK, when he was planning to visit me in July. I am a huge fan of fresh blueberries. When I visited UK and Europe last year , I had eaten these blueberries in tonnes. My bro was not sure whether they will stay fresh till he reaches Bangalore, but I was confident and he bought about 2- 3 packets.  I wanted to make many dishes out of these, but ended up eating most of it, just like that. And with the last few which I had saved, I made these cupcakes and also a blueberry milkshake (which I will be sharing later). In these cupcakes, I have added fresh blueberries along with white chocolate chips and lemon zest. The lemon zest imparts a strong citrusy flavor to these cupcakes. These lemon, blueberry and chocolate chip cupcakes would make a perfect addition to your breakfast menu. Try this out

Malai kofta... Soft dumplings made with panner in a rich and creamy gravy makes a stunning vegetarian main course option. There are any ways in which you can make this dish. Some people prefers it in a white cashew nut based gravy and other swears by the onion and tomato version. I too make this dish in a variety of ways and each one is special to me. But for today, I am sharing you the one with only tomatoes and cashew nuts and I am sure you will love it. Here is how to make Malai Kofta. All you need is For Kofta Paneer - 300 g Boiled potato - 1 ( medium size ) Ginger - 1\2 tsp ( grated ) Green chili - 1 tsp ( finely chopped ) Coriander - 1 tbsp ( finely chopped ) Salt to taste Garam masala powder - 1\2 tsp Cornflour - 2 tbsp Cashewnuts - 1 tbsp ( finely chopped ) Grated dry coconut - 1 tbsp Raisins - 1 tbsp ( chopped ) Oil for frying For curry Butter - 2 tbsp Oil - 2 tbsp Cloves - 3-4 Black peppercorns - 4-5 Black cardamom - 2 Cinnamon - 1 inch stick Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp Tomat

B eing the kind of lazy person I am, I really dont like spending time grating, roasting and grinding coconut and to add to that, my husband doesn’t like coconut in any currys. So always I will be looking for gravies which does not require coconut. Once for breakfast, my friend made a chana curry without adding coconut. Usually Keralites like to make varutharacha kadala curry i.e chick peas using roasted coconut curry along with puttu. So when my dear friend made this easy kadala curry and also that it tasted exactly like the one which we make by adding coconut, I thought that this is my kind of dish and I noted down the ingredients and when I got a chance, I made this for breakfast along with puttu. This is not at all time consuming and can be made easily. The flavours in this dish is really enhanced when the crushed garlic along with onions and tomatoes are roasted and added to the cooked chick peas. The thickness in the gravy is obtained by adding ground chick peas. Just try this out

Hello friends!!! Hope you all are doing great. I am back in action after a mad week which had so much fun and learning and travel and making new friends and loads of gifts and what not :). I will miss all the fun and madness for a few days but then it is all a part of life and hope this learning and sharing will continue for a long time. Let me also tell you that my recipe for  Ginger and Curry Leaves Martini  won the first prize at the contest held by  Urban Dazzle . I received a beautiful snack tray and gift vouchers as my prize :). Coming to today's recipe, this Badam ka sharbat is a perfect drink to be made during summers or whenever the weather is hot and humid and you wish to drink something really refreshing. The concentrate keeps good in refrigerator for up to a week and all you have to do is to add some milk in it to make a healthy and energizing drink. Here is how to make this delicious Badam ka Sharbat. All you need is Almonds \ Badam  - 250 g Water - 5 cups Saffron - a