Why re-invent the wheel? A.K.A Jugalbandi's Poli

Someone does all the hard work for you and tells you exactly how to do a dish with step by step pictures. What do you do then? Well, you just print the recipe and do it that night.

I made Jugalbandi's Puran Polis last night and I am thinking with this and that Prabu will not be saying anything about my shopping spree this weekend ;) or better yet, he might even drive me to the mall ;).

I did not change anything to the recipe. Just did as they told me to . Prabu even took some left overs to work today to share with his friends :).

My pictures suck but here is the proof :P

Williams-Sonoma's Soft centered Chocolate Cake

I made this individual cakes for Prabu's birthday. I didn't make the espresso ice cream. Instead I bought HaaganDaz's Coffee icecream and it was goooood. The reason I picked this cake instead of others is for it's simplicity in ingredients and making. You don't need no fancy mixer, the prep time is short and it uses only few ingredients :).

Here is the link to the recipe from WS's website.

Desert. Me. Nooo.

I never baked anything sweet in my life till I saw Ina Garten on food tv. I have been religiously making her cookies every time we finish them.

Today I made a Blueberry cobbler. Why would I do such a thing? because I found this super nice blog lady who showed me how super easy it is. Here is the recipe from the pioneer woman cooks. I didn't have blackberries so I used fresh blueberries instead and instead of one baking dish, I used the new ramekins I bought from Tuesday Morning. You know a girl's gotta justify her purchases once in a while.

Speaking of other food blogs, do check Ms.Jaden at Steamy Kitchen. Please enter at your own risk ;). No, not because she uses the word fart and boobs on her food blog but because she's got negative calorie cakes and other yummy goodies on her site. And I do love me some food porn ( get your brain out of gutter now).

I am in love

with the cookies I made today ;). I cannot get enough of it. They are not some exotic master pieces. Just plain sugar and butter cookies. However, it's the first time I made a cookie in my life from scratch. Also, the recipe calls for a Kitchen aid mixer. I didn't have one. I used a food processor instead and it worked fine.

Also, I hand rolled the cookies. Didn't use a rolling pin or a cookie cutter. More power to me;).

Recipe by Ina Garten.

I love her food. She makes everything doable and easy to follow. I even ordered her cookbook and waiting patiently for it's arrival:).

Mango Shortcake

I decided to do an eggless mango cake because I wanted to use up the mango pulp I had. I got the recipe from a vegan website too. However, the plan changed as soon as I walked into the kitchen. Instead of pulling the flour, the butter, the baking soda and all, I decided to use the store bought pancake mix I had. I looked up the box and voila, it had a recipe for strawberry shortcake. Instead of strawberries, I used mangoes :) and I didn't even need a measuring cup.

Ingredients:

Bisquick Pancake Mix
Mango pulp
Ripe Mango - cut into thin slices

Procedure:

You can bake the cake as per the instructions on the box but this is what I did.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Sift the pancake mix and mix just enough mango pulp into it so that the end consistency is smooth but not runny.

Grease a bread pan or a cake pan and pour the batter in and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. If you stick a toothpick in it should come out dry. Then you know its done. Cool it on a cooling rack.

Meanwhile for the sauce: Heat a thick bottomed sauce pan and add the cut mango pieces and 1/2 cup of mango pulp to it. Let it come to a boil. Stir in between. Turn the heat off.

In a dessert plate, arrange a cut piece of cake and pour 2 to 3 tablespoons of the sauce with mango pieces on top.

You can also add whipped cream or serve the warm cake with sauce and cold mango sorbet.

Rice Pudding/Parvanam

This is my fastest, simplest way of whipping up an Indian sweet and this is the one and only Indian desert I think I have made so far.
Couple of things to note: The water and milk you use for this recipe should be at the same temperature. Try not to use warm milk with cold water.

I have 2 different sets in my family. One set likes the pudding cold and hard like an ice cream and the other likes it creamy and milky;).

So I make it hard to start with and for people who like it creamy, I just add warm milk towards the end.

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup ( uncooked)
Jaggery or brown Sugar - 1 cup or as per your taste (if you want less sweet)
Cold Water - 2 cups
Cold Milk - 2 cups
Cardamom - 4 crushed
Cashews - 1/4 cup
Raisins - 1/4 cup
Butter - 4 Tbsp.

Procedure:

Wash rice and water and milk to it and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook on low till almost all the liquid is evaporated.

While that's getting done, add the jaggery and 1/2 cup to a cup of water in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it for 2 to 2.5 minutes or till all the sugars are melted. Strain and keep aside

Back to the rice:). Once the rice is cooked, add the jaggery syrup to it. Mix and let it rest.

Melt the butter in a saute pan. Add cardamom, cashews and raisins. Stir till cashews turn golden brown. Add this mixture to the rice pudding. Mix and serve.