Mom's Bday Cake

Made an eggless cake and decorated it :)

Sevaiya Kheer (with besan)

Roast some sevai in ghee.
Then roast 1 tbsp of besan in ghee. Add to this 1/2 lt milk and stir well to avoid lumps.
Add some condensed milk (optional), milk malasa, crushed almonds, cardamom powder, saffron etc. Bring to boil, and add sevai. Simmer for 5 mins and serve

Coffeehouse scones

Tried this recipe, and got amazing results...

Coffeehouse Scones: 2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda   1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces 2/3 - 3/4 cup (160 - 180 ml) buttermilk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place oven rack in middle of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.  Add the buttermilk and vanilla extract to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently and form into a 7 inch (18 cm) round that is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. Use a 2 1/2 inch (6.5 cm) round biscuit cutter to cut the dough into circles. Transfer the scones to the baking sheet and brush the tops of the scones with a little milk.

Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Can be stored at room temperature for a few days.

Makes about 10 - 2 1/2 inch (6.5 cm) or 8 wedge-shaped scones.

Ajmeri dahi curry

Saw this on a TV show, as a part of a Chaat dish, tried it out to sip as a curry. Don't remember the name of the dish :(

Take 2 tbsp of curd and 3 tbsp of besan, mix well, add 5 cups of water and keep aside.

In a vessel, heat 3 tbsp of oil, and add to it mustard seeds. When they splutter, add 2-3 peppercorns, 1 clove, 1 broken bay leaf, 1 piece of cinnamon, some red chilli powder, some garam masala powder, asafoatida (pinch), some turmeric, few curry leaves and raw mango powder.

To this add the curd mix and bring to a boil. Add to it some ginger-chilli paste. After 10 mins, when it thickens, add salt to taste and serve.

Quite tangy and chatpata.

Coconut cup cakes

100 gms (1 cup) maida
120 gms (3/4 cup) castor sugar
80 gms butter
2 eggs
60 gms desiccated coconut
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
According to consistency-cold milk

Seive flour & baking powder
Seperate eggs - beat  whites and keep aside
Beat butter, sugar and egg yolks, till creamy. Add essence
Fold in flour, baking powder and desiccated coconut
Add in stiffly beated egg whites
Add cold milk little at a time till mixture reaches dropping consistency.
Put mixture in paper cups lined in a tart tray
Garnish with a little coconut and bake for 15-20 mins at 180C

White Bread - 1st try

Quite good, but not perfect, so I'm not posting the recipe yet..

The Dough

After First Raising:

Punched and arranged:

2nd Raising:

Done!!

Buttermilk scones

2 cups - 225 gm maida
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter - I ignored the salt and used salted butter instead - chilled
3/4 cup buttermilk

Mix dry ingredients. Rub in butter till it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add buttermilk to make a soft dough. Knead lighty for 30 secs only. Donot over knead. Roll into the desired shapes, 1/2 inch thick.
Bake for 10-12 mins in a preheated oven at 220C.