Indian Cooking Challenge: Ras Malai May 15, 2010

This month’s challenge is Ras Malai and I was more than happy to try out the recipe from scratch. Before I get to the recipe and the challenge, I would like to wish MySpicyKitchen on its 2nd Birthday!  Exactly two years ago, MyspicyKithen was born and today, what better way to celebrate it than with my favorite Indian sweet, Ras Malai!

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Indian Cooking Challenge: Ariselu March 15, 2010

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Lemon Yogurt Cake January 24, 2010

This is Ina Garten’s cake.  I saw it couple of days ago on food network and wanted to try it. The reason I liked the recipe is that it doesn’t call for butter and uses only vegetable oil. I know oil is fat too but I rather use oil to butter! I have not come across a cake of Ina or Paula Dean that is not load with loads and tons of fat. Since this recipe has no butter, I wanted to try it and baked it  yesterday. I thought the cake was ok but U & his cousin liked it. If U likes it then it is not as bad as it tasted to me…

Source: Ina Garten of Food Network
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Preparation: 5-10 minutes
Baking Time: 1 hour
Yields: 1 loaf

Strawberry Pistachio Pudding April 14, 2009

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Wish you all a Happy Ugadi!!! March 27, 2009

Wish you all a Happy Ugadi and a Happy New Year to everyone who celebrates it today, according to the hindu lunisolar calendar.  After coming to the USA, I have not celebrate Ugadi in a long time.  I normally do not do anything special for Ugadi, like the other festivals. For me it is like any other day.   Today, I was in the spirit of celebrating and decided to make semiya payasam.  I know it is not a traditional Ugadi sweet and I even considered Bhaksyalu/Burelu, and Mr.U did not show any interest in it.  So I decided on Semiya Payasam.  I am the one with a sweet tooth in the house and I wanted to prepare something quick and fast.

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Mysore Pak November 29, 2008

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Event Entry and an Award September 22, 2008

New post, new picture and an archived recipe for Srivalli’s Microwave Easy Cooking (MEC) Event.  The theme for this month is Chocolate and what better than Chocolate Strawberries, to make my debut into MEC events!  I use my microwave purely for reheating food and to boil milk, for making yogurt.  I don’t use it for cooking and hence, never participated in these events so far.  Hope I will use it more often for cooking and participate more in MEC events.

When I first posted this recipe back in June, I tried piping the chocolate strawberries with white chocolate. When I prepared these strawberries last week, I did not. Also, this time, I used toothpicks to handle the strawberries.  I inserted the toothpick in the center of the strawberry, which made it easy to dip it in the chocolate and also easy to eat holding the toothpick, without making a mess of my hands.

Total Time: 2 ½ hours
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Setting Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

• 16 oz Strawberries
• 1 cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1-2 tsp Vegetable Oil
• ¼ cup White Chocolate chips for decoration(opt)

Ready to refrigerate for the chocolate coating to harden

Method:

• Wash the strawberries and pat dry with paper towel.
• Line a cookie sheet or a platter with wax paper
• In a microwave safe bowl, take the semi-sweet chocolate chips and heat it for 1 minute.
• Remove from microwave, add vegetable oil and mix well until the chips are completely melted.
• Dip each strawberry in the melted chocolate so that 3/4ths of the strawberry is coated.
• Put it on the wax paper and continue dipping all the strawberries.
• In a separate microwave safe bowl, melt ¼ cups of white chocolate and fill it in a ziploc bag.
• Squeeze all the chocolate to one end/corner of the bag to form a cone. Make a small cut at the tip of the bag. Squeeze the chocolate forward and pipe the chocolate coated strawberries .
• Put the strawberries in the fridge for 2 hours to let the chocolate coating harden.
• Remove from the fridge 5-10 minutes before serving.

Note:

• Use ripe but firm strawberries.
• Finish the chocolate strawberries in 48 hours of preparation.
• Microwave settings vary. Don’t over heat the chocolate. Very thin mixture of melted chocolate doesn’t coat the strawberries well. If the mixture is too thin, add some vegetable oil or shortening. Don’t use butter. Moisture in the butter doesn’t let the chocolate coat the strawberries.

Frozen Berries with Warm White Chocolate September 8, 2008

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Orange Basundi August 22, 2008

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Mango Pie July 18, 2008

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