Gingerbread Cookies

Wishing all my friends a Merry Christmas !!!

During every Christmas, gingerbread cookies was in my wishlist, but ended up baking some different varieties of cakes or cookies. The main reason why I didn't try out preparing these is because I didn't have gingerbread man cutter. This time when my bro visited me, he bought so many different varieties of cutters and from that bunch, I got this gingerbread man cutter. Felt very happy and quickly googled on some recipes and got this amazing recipe which requires less ingredients those are easily available in our kitchen and also that this is less time consuming dish.

The dough needs to be kept in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or it will be sticky. This ginger and spice bread cookies make perfect Christmas goodies to munch on and to gift the near and dear ones. The amount of cinnamon, cloves and ginger can be adjusted according to individual taste.

To make the cookies soft, bake it for lesser time and if you like it harder, then bake for little more time. At present, my house is filled with the aroma of spices from my baking sessions. Enjoy this Christmas with these deliciously crunchy cookies.

Ingredients:

1. All purpose flour- 3 Cups
2. Baking powder- 1 ½ tsp
3. Baking soda- ¼ tsp
4. Salt- a pinch
5. Cinnamon powder- 1 tsp
6. Cloves powder- ½ tsp
7. Ginger (grated)- 3 tbsp
8. Brown Sugar- 1 ½ Cup
9. Egg- 1 no
10. Butter- 6 tbsp

For Royal Icing:

1. Sugar- ½ Cup
2. Egg White- 1 no
3. Lemon juice- 1 tbsp

Method:

• Beat the egg whites till stiff peaks. In this add the lemon juice and icing sugar little by little and beat well using the blender till it forms smooth and shiny.
• Pour this in a piping bag and design on cookies.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Sieve the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon powder, cloves powder thrice. Keep this aside.
3. Beat the egg in a glass bowl, add sugar and butter. Beat till the sugar gets dissolved.
4. Add the sieved flour mixture and mix well till blended and forms a smooth dough. Keep this dough in refrigerator for about 2 hrs.
5. Place the dough on a floured surface and roll using a rolling pin. Cut the rolled dough into desired shapes using cutter.
6. Place the shapes on a greased baking tray and bake for about 10- 15 minutes.
7. When it is done remove the cookies and place on a wire rack. Let it cool.
8. After the cookies are cooled decorate them using royal icing.

Eggless Banana Almond Cake Loaf- 4th Blog Anniversary….

The festive season has begun and Christmas is around the corner. I think everyone will be busy in baking goodies, plum cakes, ginger breads and so on. In my busy schedule nowadays, my little one insisted me to bake a cake as its been a while I made something interesting. So one day I started my bake-athon and made egg less banana almond cake, chocolate cupcakes, strawberry cupcakes, salt cookies and corn flake cookies. By the end of the day, I was too tired but happy to see the end result.

I love banana flavored cakes and so whenever there are ripe bananas, I will try to make the delicious banana bread which I had posted earlier. I stumbled upon this egg less version, when I was searching for some other recipe. From so long I was thinking of trying something without egg and got this amazing recipe. My parents love this cake along with their evening tea.

One more thing, last month was my blogs 4th anniversary !!

I could not post anything at that time because of my busy days and nights with my new born.

So here I am, raising a toast on my blog’s birthday and to celebrate this festive season, posting this amazingly delicious, soft and moist cake. Read, try, and enjoy …

Excuse me for not uploading the sliced cake picture, as it got over  within minutes of  slicing.. :)

Ingredients:

1. Bananas- 2 nos
2. Wheat Flour- 1 ½ Cups
3. Baking powder- 1 tsp
4. Sugar- ¾ Cup
5. Oil- ⅔ Cup
6. Vanilla Essence- 1 tsp
7. Almonds (crushed)- ½ Cup

Method:

1. Mash the bananas using fork till smooth paste and keep this aside.
2. Sieve the wheat flour and baking powder.Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Mix sugar, oil and vanilla essence using a hand mixer till the sugar is dissolved.
3. In this add the sieved flour and fold gently little by little, till everything is mixed well. Add the crushed almonds into the cake batter. I have sprinkled chocolate pieces on top.
4. Pour this in a greased cake tin and bake in a preheated oven for about 20- 30 minutes till the tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
5. When cooled slice the cake and serve.

Chicken Tikka

As my little one is keeping me busy all the time, I am unable to spend much time on my blog. Then too whenever I get time, I like to read my fellow bloggers posts’ and would try to write a new post. As my parents are here to take care of the baby, I got some time to try out my favourite chicken tikka which is served as a starter in almost all the restaurants.

Marinated chicken and vegetables

Chicken tikka is an easy to cook dish, in which boneless chicken pieces are marinated in yogurt and spice mix and then grilled in oven. Traditionally, this chicken tikka is made in clay oven.

When we visited UK, I was really surprised to see the packets of chicken tikka masala in almost all the supermarkets. I came to know later that Chicken Tikka is a hugely popular dish in the UK. It's there in the menu of almost all restaurants serving Asian food. Here is the amazing recipe of chicken tikka in which I have also added capsicum, onions and tomatoes. So sit back, relax and enjoy...

Ingredients:

1. Boneless Chicken- 250 gms
2. Capsicum (Cubed)- 2 nos
3. Onions (Cubed)- 2 nos
4. Tomatoes (Cubed)- 2 nos
5. Ginger and Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
6. Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
7. Red Chilli powder- 1 tbsp
8. Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
9. Cumin Powder- 1 tsp
10. Coriander Leaves- few
11. Garam Masala Powder- ½ tsp
12. Curd- 1Cup
13. Salt- as required
14. Lemon juice - 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Wash and clean the chicken pieces. Keep this aside.
2. In a bowl, mix curd, red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, cumin powder, lemon juice, coriander leaves, salt, ginger and garlic paste finely.
3. Add this mixture over the chicken, tomatoes, capsicum and onion pieces and mix well with hand, so that everything will be well incorporated.
4. Meanwhile soak the bamboo skewers in water for about 30 minutes. Thread the marinated chicken, capsicum, tomato and onions one after the other on the skewers. Repeat the process till all the pieces are threaded in the skewer.
5. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C and grill the chicken skewers for about 30- 40 minutes.(Place these skewers on the top most rack that is near to the coil). Smear oil and turn the skewers in between, so that it will get cooked evenly.
6. When it is done, remove them on a plate and enjoy this along with mint chutney.