Easy, Moist and Soft Lemon Cupcakes

Christmas season is around the corner, I can see many blogs filled with yummilicious cakes.Sometimes my little one sits along with me and goes through all the sites which I am checking and she started asking for cakes or cupcakes for school. I was in no mood to bake after all the baking last week. But since it was a rare request from my little one, I started again.

I wanted to bake something which I never did and so I ended up picking these tangy lemon cupcakes. These cupcakes I had made for Diwali mela in school and they were a big hit !!

Thinking about them, I baked again. This would have been better with lemon glaze but since for home baking, I won’t use much sugar, I ended up decorating the cupcakes with sprinkles, which were looking very cute and attractive.

These cupcakes are truly lighter and a perfect “melt in your mouth” type.

Ingredients:

1. Maida- 1 ¼ Cup
2. Baking Powder- 1 tsp
3. Sugar- ¾ Cup
4. Butter- ½ Cup
5. Eggs- 2 nos
6. Vanilla Essence- 1 tsp
7. Lemon Juice- 2 nos
8. Lemon Zest- 1 no
9. Milk- ¼ Cup
10. Sprinkles- Few

Method:

1. Sieve maida and baking powder thrice and keep it aside.
2. Beat the eggs and vanilla essence till creamy and fluffy. Cream the butter and sugar to light pale colour. In this add the egg mixture and beat well.
3. Add the lemon juice and zest and stir well.
4. Fold the flour and milk to the butter mixture alternately, till everything is well incorporated.
5. Line baking tray with cupcake liners, pour the batter in each cupcake liner and decorate with some sprinkles on top. Bake for about 20 minutes and enjoy these tangilicious cupcakes.

Cabbage Potato Masala

After all the baking I am back with a simple and a delicious side dish for chapatis and rotis. This is an easy, yet flavorful dish which can be made within minutes.

If you are not a cabbage fan, just try this out and you will love cabbage from then on. Vegetables are an important part of our diet. I have realized that mixing two to three vegetables will make an amazing dish. Just try this interesting preparation with cabbage and potatoes and I am sure that you all will love this.

Ingredients:

1. Cabbage (sliced)- 1 cup
2. Potato (boiled & cubed)- 2 cups
3. Onions- 1 no
4. Ginger garlic paste- 1 tbsp
5. Turmeric Paste- 1 tsp
6. Red Chilli Powder- 2 tsp
7. Garam Masala Powder- ½ tsp
8. Salt- as per taste
9. Oil- 1 tsp
10. Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
11. Curry Leaves- few

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves.
2. Add the sliced onions, when they turn light brown in colour add the ginger garlic paste.
3. When the raw smell disappears, add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder and garam masala powder.
4. Add the sliced cabbage and salt. Stir and close with a lid.
5. When it is cooked well, add the boiled potatoes and mix. Close and cook for about 2 min. Serve hot with rotis.

Chicken Pickle

At last I have managed to take some snaps of this chicken pickle before it vanished from the bottle. When I made this pickle, my husband who is a big fan of pickles (especially when it is made  of chicken) said that it would finish off within 2 days and so it happened.

From the time I made this pickle, he was consuming it with almost everything from upma, dosa, rice and even idli !!. So now as it is much in demand, I manage to prepare this often before it gets finished off.

I love to make pickles as this was like a big challenge for me to prepare and store it without getting spoiled. This pickle I never stored in refrigerator. It would stay perfect outside.

From so long I was thinking of preparing this pickle but whenever I fried the chicken pieces, it would be vanished within seconds... But this time I managed to make this when I was alone at home. I googled for many recipes and atlast I finalised with this recipe. I made changes according to my specifications.

Non veg pickles are famous in Kerala. My mom is an expert in fish pickle and my MIL is an expert in Prawn pickle. Here is the recipe of yummy and delicious chicken pickle…

Ingredients:

1. Boneless Chicken- 250 gms
2. Turmeric powder- 1tsp
3. Red Chilli Powder- 2 tbsps
4. Garam Masala powder- 1 tbsp
5. Ginger and Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
6. For the gravy:
7. Oil- ¼ cup
8. Mustard Seeds- 2 tbsp
9. Red Chillies- 8-10 nos
10. Curry leaves- few
11. Green Chillies- 4-5 nos
12. Ginger( grated)- 2 tbsp
13. Garlic- 10- 15 pods
14. Asafoetida- 1 tbsp
15. Red Chilli Powder- 3 tbsp
16. Salt- as required
17. Vinegar- 3- 4 tbsp

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken pieces with red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder,ginger and garlic paste and salt. Keep this aside for about 1hr..
2. Heat oil in a kadai and fry the marinated chicken pieces till golden brown in colour. Drain and keep this in a paper towel.
3. In a pan heat oil, add mustard seeds, when they splutter add red chillies, curry leaves and stir well.
4. Add the grated ginger and garlic pods.When they turn golden brown add asafoetida powder and red chilli powder, mix and add the fried chicken pieces and at last add salt and mix well.
5. Switch off the flame and when it gets cooled add vinegar and enjoy this delicious pickle.