Nankhatai ( shortbread cookies )

 

Nankhatai ( shortbread cookies )

Nankhatai cookies are Indian shortbread cookies its delicious ,light ,crispy & eggless . Nankhatai is quite popular tea time cookies ,Traditionally these cookies are made with all purpose flour ,ghee ,sugar & semolina they are many variation of nankhatai cookies made with different combination . First time tried with besan flour ( Gram Flour ) But this time baked these cookies using fried Chana dal both are gluten free recipes .

Ingredient – 1 cup – Fried chana dal ; 1/2 cup – powder sugar ; 1/4 cup – cashew powder ; 2 no – cardomom pods  ; 1/2 cup – ghee or  Clarified butter ; 2 tbsp – curd ; pinch of baking powder & salt.

In mixer grind fried chanadal with cardamom pods into fine powder ,
In seperate bowl mix ghee with curd and a pinch of salt & baking soda then all the dry ingredient fried chana dal , cashew powder & powder sugar . Knead into soft dough .

Make equal sized balls out of the dough and place them on the baking tray Flatten slightly to form a cookie. Finally, add chopped pistachios on the top of the cookies and gently press it .

180°C pre–heated oven and bake for 20 minutes . Allow it to cool and sever with hot tea .

Hflc Lunch Menu Series 6

Hflc Lunch Menu Series 6

Chicken ghee roast, Omelette, Homemade Bun toasted with Butter

Home made labneh Cheese

Chicken Ghee Roast : Chicken Ghee Roast, is a classic recipe among South Indian chicken recipes, Fiery red color, tangy and spicy with a flavour of ghee roasted spices, served with Bread or Rice

Chicken -750 gms ; yogurt – 1/4 cup ; 1 tsp – turmeric powder ; whole red chilli – 10 no ; kashmiri whole chilli – 10 no ;1/4 cup – ghee ; 2 - big onion chopped ; 2 – tomatoes ; 2 tbsp – ginger & garlic ; 1 tsp – fennel seeds ; 1 tsp – peppercorns ; 1 tsp – cumin seeds ; 2 tbsp – tamarind paste ; 2 tbsp – coriander seeds ; salt to taste

Wash and cut chicken into bite size pieces and marinade it in yogurt along with turmeric & salt for about 2 hour. In a heavy bottom pan heat 1 Tbsp ghee and add, whole red chilli, kashmir chilli, fennel seeds, peppercorns, cumin seeds, ginger, coriander seeds, Fry in medium flame for about a minute. Add ginger garlic & tamarind paste and grind as fine paste, kept aside.

In the same pan, add 1/4 cup of ghee, chopped onion and salute it. Once the onion colour changes then add tomatoes and marinated chicken sauté it for while. Add the grind spices paste and cook for a while with lid closed.chicken should be completely cooked in low flame  and get coated with thick layer of masala can see the ghee separates on the sides of the pan 

Homemade Labneh 

Labneh is nothing more than strained yogurt with rich & creamy texture similar to cream cheese 

Arrange a double layer of muslin cloth in a strainer  , refrigerate  for 24 hours use the whey water for marinate fish & meat .add salt to labneh dizzle some olive oil & chilli flakes ,serve as dip.

 

Marble Mawa Cake

 

Marble Mawa cake

Milk solid (Mawa or khoya) based cake, with Dry fruits topping. Its mild sweetness makes a perfect combo with cup of tea & coffee.

I’ve shared Mawa cake Gulten free version using home made mawa this time tried with instant mawa & marble cake

Ingredient :

For mawa : 1 tsp – butter ; 1/4 cup -milk ; 1/2 cup – milk powder

For cake : 120 gms – butter ; 1 cup – powdered sugar ; all purpose flour – 1 & 1/2 cup (remove 1 tbsp of flour) ; 1 tsp – baking powder ; 1/4 tsp – baking soda ; 1 egg ; 3/4 cup – milk ;1/4 tsp – cardamom powder ; 1/4 cup – chopped nuts ; 1 tbsp – coco powder

Mawa Preparation : In a thick bottom pan heat the milk & butter, add milk powder little by little (on low flame) and stir continuously to prevent lump formation.

Cake Preparation : In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder & baking soda and keep aside. In a separate bowl beat the butter and sugar, until it became pale in colour. Add egg to the mixture and beat at slow speed, until it mixed thoroughly. Add mawa along with other dry ingredient and milk. start to beat further until it combined well.

Separate the batter into two portion and add 1 tbsp of coco powder into one portion (if needed add 1 tsp of milk) and mix well.

Pour the plain batter into greased cake pan and sprinkle some nuts then pour coco batter portion and swirl. Sprinkle the nuts and transfer the cake pan into 180◦c pre-heated oven and bake until it’s done.

Caramelized Rava Kesari

This is a direct contradiction to my previous post. Yes, Carb (sugar) rich sweet recipe. Those who are in HFLC, please stay away from this. It’s exclusively meant for sweet toothed people

I’m sure, many of you know how to make a rava kesari. The twist here it is “Caramelized”, to enhance the ordinary kesari. This was introduced to me by my aunt Manju, who lives in France. This Caramelized version of kesari, impressed me so much I thought of sharing it here……

Ingredient  :    1 cup of Rava (semolina)   ;        ¾ cup of sugar      ;       3 tbsp of ghee      ;        2 cup of milk  ; ½ tsp  cardamom powder        ;     10 no's of chopped cashews

In a thick bottom pan start to roast rava at low flame for about 10 – 15 min or until a slight colour change. Transfer the rava into a plate and keep aside.

In the same pan, add sugar and put the flame at medium allow to caramelize. (During the caramelization process, water will be released from sugar) Meanwhile, boil the milk and keep it aside.

Once, the sugar turns into light amber in color, add the milk and 2 tbsp of ghee. (Take care of splatters as water and fat are in different temp)

Continue to cook and keep stirring until the caramel mixture become smooth. Add roasted rava to the mixture and star cook at low flame until the kesari starts to leave the sides of the pan.

Meanwhile, in small pan add 1 tbsp of ghee and fry the cashew to golden colour and add it to the kesari. As a final touch, sprinkle cardmom powder and serve hot or warm.

Mexican coffee buns / Papparoti

I had been there in paparoti couple of months ago, I enjoyed the bun and my Husband enjoyed the coffee. Since then, I wanted to make paparoti bun. I am glad, I could recreate the paparoti bun or Mexican coffee bun in my oven. (cyberkitchen). I adopted the recipe from here. Though the making procedure is bit long, it was all worth it in the end.

Ingredients  for bun dough  :  2 cups of all-purpose flour (sifted)     ;      3 tbsp of sugar   ;     1/2 tsp of salt       ;        1 ½ tsp of instant yeast      ;         1/4 cup of milk at room temp.       ;      1/4 cup milk + ½ tsp of lemon juice    ;     1 egg     ;       3 tbsp of unsalted butter at room temp.  

Ingredients  for topping :   ¼ cup of all-purpose flour     ;    1/8 tsp of coco powder     ;        2 tbsp of soft Butter    ;      2 tbsp of sugar     ;    1/8 tsp of salt     ;     1/2 egg slightly beaten     ;    10ml strong coffee 

Ingredients  for filling   :   12 No’s of 3 – 4 grams of  unsalted butter cubes   (kept frozen) 

Combine lemon juice and milk, stir gently and set aside until the milk precipitate and become a slightly sour mixture. This helps the bun to be richer and fluffier.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, instant yeast and mix well. Add milk, milk + lemon juice mixture, beaten egg. Mix well until all the ingredients are combined well. Cover the bowl in damp cloth for about 15 – 20 minutes. Knead the dough further, to form sticky elastic dough. (Use some flour to coat your hands if the dough is too sticky)

Add softened butter (not melted) and knead the dough until the butter is incorporated into the dough. Continue kneading until the dough is completely smooth and elastic and should form a thin layer when stretched.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured tabletop, Gently shape the dough into a ball with a smooth surface. Coat the dough balls with thin layer of oil, to avoid dough from cracking. Place them into greased bowl and cover with damp cloth until the dough become double in size.

Meanwhile, lets do the topping ………………. Combine flour and cocoa powder and keep aside. Add butter, sugar, salt in a mixing bowl and mix until all ingredients are combined. Add egg and continue beating until the butter mixture is completely incorporated. (Over beating may result a spongy texture topping)

Sift flour and cocoa powder into the bowl Add coffee, mix well until smooth and combined. Transfer topping to a piping bag, and keep in the refrigerator. After the dough has doubled in size, deflate the dough, gently knead the dough and divide into 12 small pieces. Take the frozen butter cubes from the freezer.

Gently stretch a dough ball out, press a piece of filling into the dough and pinch edges together. Seal carefully so the filling doesn’t leak while being baked. Roll the bun with the palms of your hands until round and even. Place on baking tray lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Repeat with the remaining buns. (make sure you leave enough space between the buns)

Cover the tray with damp cloth for a second rise. Once the dough has become doubled in size, do the topping. Remove the piping bag from fridge and start from the middle and pipe a circular swirl outward. Only cover about 1/2 – 2/3 of the bun’s surface, the topping will melt and cover the rest.

Transfer the baking tray into a 180°c pre-heated oven and bake for 15 – 18 minutes or until the top crust is golden brown and crisp. (If the top turns brown too quickly, cover the buns with a piece of aluminum foil and continue baking until done)