Eggless Banana bread

I had always wanted to bakes cakes and bread at home. Cakes and muffins I usually do but bread baking will take some more time I guess. I am scared of Mr.Yeast (or is it Ms). Anyways, the point is I tried making some Pizza last time with Active Dry yeast and the dough did rise well and the Pizza was deliciously soft. But it had some peculiar smell. The product had not expired and I still do not know what was the issue. My blogger friends suggested me to use fresh yeast but I have no idea where to look for here.. So bread baking is still a dream for me. I am on baking spree and chance upon every occasion to bake something. It makes the kitchen warm in this harsh winter and also the wonderful aroma of cake makes me happy. I have some good friends who are ready to try out any cake at any point of time :D which is another advantage for me.

I had wanted to try making Banana bread at home and my search took me to Mansi's site. I wanted an eggless one as my friend's mom does not eat eggs. Her recipe was simple, straight forward and I decided to try it out. I bought banana's and waited for them to ripen :D.

I just added some almond bits on top for crunch and did not make any changes to the recipe. The result was too good and my friend's mom loved it. Thanks Mansi for sharing this wonderful recipe with us. I will surely make it again.

Blueberry Muffins

Recently when I went shopping, I found a small batch of fresh blueberries. I had never tasted blueberries nor used them. We enjoyed few of them by itself and I wanted to bake with the rest. After a lot of google search I zeroed on Maria's recipe. The recipe was simple and I was bowled over by the photograph. I did not make any changes to the recipe. I just halved it and got 7 jumbo muffins out of it. The house smelled divine and the outcome was perfect. Thanks Maria for a keeper recipe. I am going to make it often now. Please click here to view Maria's recipe.

Just sink your teeth into it and enjoy the divine taste of soft and moist muffins :)

Capsicum and Potato side dish ~ Quick side dish

I just love capsicum. It lends a complete different flavor to simple dishes. This is one such dish that can be made on a weekday with no much effort, yet a tasty option. Have it with Chapathi or simple rice and dal :) I learnt this from my dear friend S. If you love capsicum then this dish is for you. There is no exact measurements for this dish just play with flavours as you wish :)

Here is what's needed :

2 medium green Capsicums thinly sliced

2 medium Potatoes thinly sliced

1 medium Onions thinly sliced

2 medium Tomatoes roughly chopped

1/4 tsp jeera

1 tbsp ginger garlic finely chopped and crushed

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

Red chilli powder, Garam masala powder and Kitchen king masala to taste

Salt to taste

Oil

Procedure:

1) Heat oil. Add jeera. When it splutters add onion and fry until done.

2) Add the powders,capsicum and potato. Fry well for 2-3 mins.

3) Add chopped tomato and salt. Mix well, cover and cook till done without adding water.

4) Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.

Celebrations ~ Milk burfi

Pardon me for my sudden absence from this space...I just got back from my 2 weeks trip to Mangalore. It was all of a sudden and the tickets were surprise gift for me from my hubby dear on my birthday.. My brother Uttam got engaged on 15th nov and I had gone to Bangalore to attend the function. It was really good meeting my friends and relatives.

Aparna who is my very good friend is my blogger friend too.. She and her hubby too made it to the engagement. I also go tot meet my rakhi bro Sandeshanna and Durga vanni.They also came home and we had pretty good time talking about our good old days. You guys really made our evening memorable :)

I also got to meet Suma and her cute little kid Smera... In spite of such short notice I am really happy that we could meet..She is really sweet. Her kid is very friendly and easy to get along..We had a really good time. I am already looking forward to meet her next time. Thanks Aparna and Suma for making my trip memorable.

This trip was pretty pleasant and hectic. First it was bro's engagement. I am really lucky to have such a sweet and cute Vanni (sister-in-law). I was able to make it to temple functions with my Father-in-law and parents ( I really miss going to temple here.. :(). I even got my results of MSc(IT).. I cleared my fourth sem.. and now I am a masters degree holder.. I have been really wanting this for quite sometime..

I also celebrated my birthday last month. This was one of my best birthday well planned by my hubby. He invited all my friends and at sharp 12 I cut 2 cakes. One on account of my birthday and second on account of our engagement day. Yes, We got engaged on my birthday :D hubby arranged cakes, chips, coke etc for party and it was really fun to have everyone around in-spite of it being a week day.

Anyways with so many good news it will be unfair if I don't share sweets with you all.. What if it is virtual!! Here is my MIL's famous Milk burfi. It is really simple and if done with patience turns excellent. She gets request from young and old alike to make this sweet and it gets over in no time.. This time I told her that I wanted to learn it from her and also told her that I wanted to post it on my blog . My FIL too helped us with this and made neat pieces of burfi :) We had fun time making this together. My batch from India is already getting empty and all my friends have asked me for recipe... I need to make it again :D

Here is what's needed:

2 cups Milk

3 cups Sugar

1/4 cup Besan/Chickpea flour

1/4 cup Sooji/Semolina

1/4 cup ghee

Cardamom powder to taste (Optional)

Procedure:

1) Fry besan with little ghee until frangrant and colour changes slightly. Cool it completely.

2) Add milk(cold need not be boiled) and mix. Make sure that there are no lumps.

3) Add sooji and sugar and mix well.

4) Keep it on the gas on medium and keep stirring often.

5) The mixture tends to thicken and starts leaving edges. Add cardamom powder if using. There is actually no need to use as this sweet has its own fragrance from ghee and milk. To test if done take a small lump of mixture and cool it. If it hardens then it is done. Takes about 50 mins to 1 hr. Inspite of that if it is not done then add 2 fistful of powdered sugar and mix well. Check again.

6) When done, spread it on a greased plate and level it with a glass whose bottom is smeared with ghee to prevent it from sticking. Cut into desired pieces and store it in jar when completely cooled.