Kitchen Corner-Try It

Palmiers/ Elephant Ear Cookies/Butterfly cookies This is one of my favorite cookies. It is crispy and crunchy butter cookies. It looks fancy yet is simple and unbelievably easy to  make. It is flaky pastry with slightly caramelized sugar and is a great holiday treat.Serve this with a cup of tea and enjoy! Ingredients Puff pastry -1 sheet Granulated sugar- 1/2 cup Cinnamon- 3/4 tsp Cardamon powder- a pinch Salt- a pinch Mix sugar,cinnamon powder, cardamon powder and salt and set aside. Thaw puff pasty as per instruction. Dust half of the mixed sugar on the working space (wooden board or marble)and spread the puff sheet on top of the sugar. Dust the rest of the mixed sugar on top on the pastry sheet. Spread the sugar evenly .Using a rolling pin gently roll on top so that the sugar gets pressed on either side of the pasty dough ( work quickly because sugar will soften the dough).  Fold the pastry dough starting from the corner towards you to the inside. Cont...

Chocolate Caramel Fudge  This is perfect holiday treat and is so easy to make.Wrap them in candy wrappers and it is a perfect holiday gift which you can share with loved ones and friends.So try this delicious chocolaty caramel goodness this Christmas. I have added some chopped nuts to give a little crunch. Ingredients Condensed milk- 1 tin ( 13.4 oz.) Sugar- 1/2 cup Mini marshmallows-  1 1/2 cup Butter- 3 Tbs Vanilla essence- 1 tsp Dark chocolate- 11 oz.( 311 grams) Chopped nuts of your choice- 1/4 cup Salt- a pinch For the caramel Condensed milk- 3/4 cup Brown sugar- 1/2 cup Butter- 2 tbs Light corn syrup- 1 tbs Heavy cream - 4 tbs White chocolate- 100 grams This recipe can be made in two stage, first the chocolate and then pour the caramel layer on top or make it together as the recipe below For the chocolate fudge : Take a heavy bottom pan or sauce pan and add the butter, sugar,salt and condensed milk.Put it in low medium heat,stir occasional...

Kerala Fish Fry/Karimeen Fry/ Kerala Style Pearl Spot Fish Fry Today's recipe is a spicy, succulent, and delicious fish fry. Do you love fish fry? Especially spicy fried fish, perfectly crispy and golden. Karimeen, or pearl spot fish, is a favorite for sea-food lovers of Kerala. Fish fry is something that everyone makes, and there is not much to blog about. But since this space features some of my favorites, I cannot skip this all-time favorite comfort food. We make fish fry almost once or twice a week and every time, make it with the excuse that I am not in a mood for elaborate cooking :). Karimeen fry is tempting and irresistible. It is a quick and simple side dish for rice. Pearl spot fish or Karimeen is a popular fish found in the backwaters of Kerala. It is a state fish of Kerala popular among tourists who visit Kerala. Karimeen is an exotic fish and is expensive. There are so many popular recipes with Karimeen like polichathu, mappas, etc, and top in the menu of Ker...

Today I am extremely delighted to have as my guest, my sweet friend and best buddy in blogging world Dhyuthi. She is the author of Melange! . We became friends right from the beginning and Dhyuthi constantly encouraged and supported me in this virtual blogging world. We never met each other in person, but each time she writes to me there is affection and genuine love. I am glad that I, got this wonderful friend through blogging. Her blog is refreshing and a space you must visit if you are a foodie. It features all those wonderful nostalgic taste and flavor of Kerala food along with recipes of modern taste. I adore her passion and love for cooking and efforts to record those traditional recipes,that would otherwise be easily forgotten. Today's recipe itself is an example. Dhyuthi is bringing back memories of a childhood snack- Kinnathappam. It is an authentic recipe and her Dad's specialty. I thank both of them for sharing this wonderful recipe with us. Thanks so much Dh...

Neapolitan Christmas Cake  Baking Partners fifth challenge post- Neapolitian Christmas Cake. Baking partners is the brain child of  Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen. It is a wonderful group of enthusiastic blogger who try something new in baking every month. Keeping the holiday spirit in mind Swathi suggested Christmas cake.So for this months challenge theme we had three cake recipes. Among the three I selected and tried the Neapolitian Christmas cake. It is a beautiful tricolor cake which soft,spongy cake layers made with egg whites. The filling is  layers of whipped cream frosting. There is a whole lot of flavors in each layer~coconut,ground almond and strawberry jam together makes this a very tempting and delicious cake . This cake is a sure winner and you will surely love it. Recipe source: Susan Kelliher Ungaro (ed.)Family Circle-Best Ever Cakes and Cookies, p. 214. Ingredients 3/4 cup cake flour(not self rising) 1/3 cup ground almonds 1 tsp ...

Fish Puttu/Fish Stir Fry Fish puttu is a delicious comfort dish. It is scrambled fish stir fried with onions and spices. I often make scrambled fish with caramelized onion,but this is a more healthier version and tasty too. I tried this recipe for the first time at my aunts house in Chennai. It looked very similar to meen thoran, but had a different taste and I love this dish.Any meaty fish can be used to make this recipe like shark,salmon or king fish. Here I have used Tuna.Fish puttu tastes delicious with rice and rasam. Ingredients Fish- 1 1/2 lb (here I used fresh Tuna) Onion- 1 medium Chopped Ginger- 2 tbs Chopped garlic- 1 tbs Grated coconut- 3 tbs Green chilly- 3-4 Cumin- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp Chilly powder- 1/3 tsp Pepper powder- 1/3 tsp Asafotida- a pinch Urad dal-1 tsp Curry leaves- a few Chopped coriander- a hand full lemon juice- a few drops   Cook fish with turmeric,salt and pepper powder. Sprinkle a few drops of water and cook...

Kaara Vada Today I am very excited and happy to be a guest at Dhyuthi's Melange . I am fortunate to find this sweet friend through this virtual blogging world. Our friendship started two years back,but when we write to each other its just like two old friends. We talk  about everything..food,blogging,nostalgic memories of childhood,our family,hobbies,etc.,etc., :) Dhyuthi's blog is a space that I visit every time and each time I see a new post here, I will have something to relate to. In this space I often comment 'this post makes me nostalgic', 'my grandmother used to make this'.. ... I know this may sound  cliche. But  Dhyuthi understands me better than any of my blogger friends.Many of the post here rekindles those found memories of  the readers, the flavors and taste of good home food. I adore Dhyuthi's passion for cooking and blogging. So when Dhyuthis asked me to do a guest post I did not wish to lose such a wonderful opportunity. Dhyuthi wan...

Bread Cups with Tangy Spicy Corn Bread cups is a quick snack or appetizer. This is a fun filled recipe and kids will love this. You can be creative and use any kind of filling-vegetables, spinach,egg, meat or tuna stuffing. I usually make this with less spicy meat filling for my kids lunch box.Here I used a tangy and spicy corn and it is baked in a muffin tin. The crust is bread dough, but for a quicker version you can cut bread slices into rounds and press down into muffin tins to make the cups. Ingredients For the bread Flour - 2 cup Yeast - 1 1/2 tsp Warm water- 3/4 cup Salt - 1/2 tsp Sugar- 1 tsp oil - 2 tsp melted butter- 2 tsp For the filling Frozen Corn kernels- 1 cup Chopped onion- 1/2 onion Chopped tomato-1 medium Garlic- 2 clove Egg yolk-1 Pepper and salt as per taste Butter- 1 tsp Parmesan cheese- 2 tbs Chopped coriander or parsley For the bread mix in sugar and warm water and add yeast and set aside for 5-6 minutes till it is frothy. ...

Chocolate Rum Balls~ Guest Post from Priya Ranjit Today I am extremely delighted to share with all of you this wonderful guest post-A perfect chocolaty treat for Christmas. It is an honor to have as my guest, my cute and bubbly friend Priya Ranjit , who is the author of Cook Like Priya .  There is no need of an introduction, Priya is everyone's favorite. She lovingly calls me chechi and for me she is my little sister in this virtual blogging world.She started blogging in July this year and we first came to know each other through the group- Baking Partners. Priya lives in UK with her husband. She is a great cook with innovative ideas and is a passionate blogger.Her space features versatile recipes which are delicious and easy to cook and the highlight is her photography and presentation. You cannot stop visiting her space and every time you go there, you find an inviting fresh look. Some of her recipe which I really admire is her Rose Cake, Rose flavored Coconut lad...

Mutton Vindaloo Today's recipe is the hot and spicy Goan favorite, Vindaloo. It is lip-smacking delicious, spicy curry. Authentic Goan Vindaloo is made with pork, but you can also use beef or mutton. In today's recipe, I have used mutton. It is popular among Christians, and the  Anglo-Indian community.  Most Indian restaurants have Vindaloo on their menu. This curry is even popular outside India. It has a familiar pickle sourness, and taste because of its star ingredients- vinegar and mustard. There are chilies- lots of them for a fiery look. But there is a right balance of taste and flavor. This dish has a history of its own. It was inspired by Portuguese culture but slowly adapted to Indian tastes. It is an Indianized version of popular Portuguese dish  Carne de vinha d'alhos  in which meat is marinated in wine and garlic. It is often refereed to as pickled pork or garlic pork.It was mispronounced  and became vindalho or vindaloo in Indi...

Raspberry Chocolate Mousse Cake A chocolate mousse cake with a burst of raspberry filling gives this cake a unique chocolaty fruity flavor. It tastes even better when the flavors blend for a day or two. This is a rich and delicious cake and chocolate lovers will love this cake. For the filling I have used instant chocolate pudding and raspberry cake filling. But if you want to make home made chocolate mousse check earlier cake recipe here Ingredients Recipe adapted from: Family circle -Best ever cakes and cookies Chocolate cake layer All Purpose flour- 1 1/2 cup Egg- 2 Sugar- 1/2 cup Coco powder- 4 Tbs Baking powder- 1 1/3 tsp Baking Soda 1 tsp Salt- 1/3tsp Vanilla essence- 1 tsp Buttermilk- 1/2 cup Butter-3 tsp For the filling Whipping cream-1 1/2  cup Milk-1 cup Vanilla essence-1 tsp Raspberry extract- 1 tsp Chocolate instant pudding- 1 box ( 5 oz.) Raspberry cake filling- 1/2 cup (Seedless) Preheat oven to 350 degree and geese and pr...