Simple Chocolate Cake

I know, it's been a long time since I updated my blog. The posting is getting postponed for one or other reason. As I started working now I became little busy to concentrate on my blog. Or may be that's just an excuse. Sometimes we need break from any work, don't we? But it seems I've taken a long break, so decided to make a fresh start with fresh recipes.

I wish to start my fresh journey with this amazing yet simple cake recipe. My daughter made this cake all by herself with no help from me. She made it for her little sister's 9^th Birthday party that happened last Saturday. She decorated the cake so well that everyone at the party loved the decoration and of course the taste. Isn't it pretty?

Here is the recipe:

Recipe Source: About.com

Ingredients: 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (We used Whole Wheat Flour) 2 cups granulated Sugar ¾ cup unsweetened Cocoa 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Soda 1 tsp Salt 2 Eggs  1 cup Milk  ½ cup Vegetable Oil 1 ½ tsp Vanilla 1 cup Boiling Water Preparation: Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla to above mixture and beat well with electric mixer or an egg beater. Then stir in boiling water and mix well. The batter should be thin. Take two cake pans (8-inch), grease them well with a non-stick cooking spray. Pour the batter until ¾th of the pan is filled. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees. Then place both the cake pans on the middle rack side by side Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. When done, remove the pans from the oven and place them on the cooling rack to allow them cool for 10 minutes in pan. Then remove from pan and cool completely. Frost and decorate as desired.

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Eggless Chocolate Cake

I made this for my daughter’s birthday. It came out so good and yummy. But I didn't decorate the cake, I just dusted it with fine sugar.

Recipe Source: All Recipes

Ingredients: 2 ½ cups All-purpose Flour 1 ½ cups white Sugar ½ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder ½ cup Vegetable Oil (I used Olive Oil) 1 ½ cups Water 1 ½ tsp Baking Soda 1 tsp Baking Powder ¼ tsp salt 1 ½ tbsp Vanilla Extract ¼ cup semi sweet Chocolate Chips Preparation: Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour an 8 x 8 cake pan. Add sifted flour + cocoa powder + sugar + soda + baking powder + salt to a large bowl and mix well. Add vanilla + water + oil to the above mixture and mix well again.  Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the above cake batter into the greased cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Take the cake pan out of the oven carefully (it will be hot) and leave it for some time until it cools down. When it becomes cold, run a knife along the edges of the cake to loosen it. Transfer the cake to a serving plate, decorate as you like and enjoy the taste.

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Kala Chana Besan Burfi

I’ve become little busy these days and not cooking that much. I am sad that I am ignoring my blog by not posting frequently. So I wanted to post a new recipe today at any cost and searched in my archives to find some recipe. To my amazement, I found this delicious recipe which never got posted. I don’t know why I forgot this!!! 

This yummy dessert is from my sister who made these for us when we visited them one summer. I took photos immediately and thought of posting it on my blog, but totally forgotten it. Anyways, now it came like an angel for me when I ran out of new recipes. 

Here is the recipe as told by my sis:

Ingredients: Kala Chana Besan – 3 cups Sugar – 6 cups Water – 4 cups Ghee – 2 tbsp Preparation: Heat ghee in a pan and add besan and stir continuously making sure not to burn besan. Keep the flame in low setting. Stir besan well until it becomes aromatic, light and fluffy. Meanwhile prepare sugar syrup. Combine sugar + water in a bowl and boil until one string consistency is attained. Lower the flame and add besan and stir well so that no lumps are formed and the mixture comes together. Transfer the contents to a greased plate and spread evenly. Cut into desired shapes. Allow them to cool completely before removing from the plate. Enjoy these great tasting burfis any time of the day!!

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Oats Kheer | Oats Payasam

A healthy and yummy dessert

As we all know, whole grain products like oats are so rich in nutrients and fiber. Now-a-days oats are the most eaten breakfast cereal in most households due the health benefits they possess. They help in lowering cholesterol levels and are full of antioxidants and contain many more health benefits. 

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Atukulatho Sunnundalu (Sweet Beaten Rice/Poha Balls)

I saw this on a TV show long back and wrote down the recipe to try. This is slightly different to the regular Minapa Sunnundalu. In this we add more poha than urad dal. I thought this would make a perfect Telugu sweet recipe for Ugadi. So I tried it and they turned out so delicious and everyone loved them.

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Sweet Rava Pongali

I made this yummy sweet pongali for this Sankranthi. I also made Soya Bean Vadalu which I will share in my next post. 

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Quinoa – Coconut Payasam

Hope you all had a wonderful Deepavali. We had a good one too. I made this yummy and healthy payasam on Diwali day. Tasted super delicious and was a hit at our house. 

Ingredients:

• ½ cup Quinoa
• ½ cup grated Coconut (fresh or frozen)
• 6 cups Milk
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1 tsp Ghee
• Few Cardamom seeds, Cashews, Raisins

Preparation:

Wash quinoa well, add 1 cup of water and pressure cook for 3 whistles. 

Meanwhile, bring milk to a boil. Add sugar mix well until it melts in the milk. Add cardamom seeds and mix well.

Finally add coconut + cooked quinoa mix well and keep the contents on medium low flame for some time.

When the milk seems to boil again, turn off the flame. 

Heat ghee in a small pan, add cashews + raisins and sauté well.

Pour this on top of the prepared payasam and mix well.

Enjoy this delicious payasam and feel happy :) 

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Apple Kheer

This is a delicious kheer that I prepared on Vinayaka Chavithi Day. This is a simple yet mouth-watering kheer recipe. 

Ingredients:

• 1 Apple (I used Gala Apple)
• 4 cups Milk
• 1 cup Sugar (or depending on individual taste)
• ½ cup Vermicelli (సేమ్యా)
• 1 tsp Ghee
• Few Cashews and Raisins
• Few Cardamom Seeds

Preparation:

Roast vermicelli until it turns golden brown in color and keep aside.

Peel and grate the apple. Keep aside.

Bring milk to a boil, add sugar + cardamom and mix well. Then add roasted vermicelli and mix well. 

When the vermicelli becomes soft, add grated apple and mix well. Then turn the flame off. 

In a pan, heat ghee and add cashews + raisins and sauté well. Pour this on top of the kheer and mix well. 

Enjoy this wholesome and mouth-watering kheer either at room temperature or chilled.

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Moong Dal Payasam

పెసరపప్పు పాయసం

This is a delicious treat for festival days prepared with simple procedure.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup Moong Dal (పెసరపప్పు)
• 3 cups Milk
• 1 cup Sugar
• Some Cashews, Cardamom and Raisins
• 2 tsp Ghee (నెయ్యి)

Preparation:

Cook moong dal in a pressure cooker.

Boil milk, add cooked dal + sugar and mix well.

Keep on low flame for some time. Mix well and turn off the flame.

Heat ghee in a different pan and add cashews + cardamom + raisins. Saute well and add these to the prepared payasam, stir well.

A deliciously tasting Payasam is ready!

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Cracked Wheat Payasam for MAITRI

Hope many of you might have heard about MAITRI, a friendship chain started by Priya and Reshmi. I got excited about this chain and immediately joined it. The main concept of this friendship chain is about sharing a mystery ingredient among the foodies who are part of this chain. The foodie who receives the mystery ingredient has to identify it and make a food item with it and post on the blog. Sounds interesting, right? Then what are you waiting for? Join in the friendship chain if you are not already a part of it.

As a part of this friendship chain, I was matched with Shylaja of South Indian Home, who sent me a mystery ingredient and also a cute cuddly bear. I identified the ingredient as cracked wheat/godhuma rawa/dalia and I was right.

Here is the recipe I made with this ingredient,

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Cracked Wheat (గోధుమ రవ్వ)
• 2 cups Milk
• 2 cups Water
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 tsp Ghee
• Few Cashews, Raisins and Cardamom

Preparation:

Heat ghee in a pan and add cashews + raisins + cardamom seeds and sauté well until cashews turn golden brown in color and raisins bubble up.

Add cracked wheat and fry well until it changes color. Then add sugar and mix well. Later pour water + milk, mix well and keep on low flame until the rawa becomes soft and cooked.

When the mixture starts to thicken turn off the flame and leave the pan for some time.

Then transfer the payasam to a serving bowl and enjoy. 

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7-Cup Sweet

This is a delicious sweet prepared by Soujanya, who is my cousin and also a good friend. She makes many varieties of yummy recipes. I tasted most of them at her house and they tasted so good. This is one such sweet that I immediately fell in love with and asked for the recipe. Thanks for sharing this yummy sweet recipe with a beautiful picture Soujanya!! 

Here is the recipe in her own words:

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Chana Dal Laddus - పచ్చి శెనగపప్పు సున్నుండలు

I prepared these delicious and aromatic laddus on Srirama Navami Day.

Ingredients: (Makes 26 small laddus)

• 2 cups Bengal Gram (Chana Dal, పచ్చి శెనగపప్పు)
• 2 cups Sugar
• ½ cup Clarified Butter (Ghee, నెయ్యి)
• Few broken Cashews
• Few Cardamom Seeds
• Few Raisins

Preparation:

Dry roast chana dal until it turns golden brown in color. Keep aside to cool down.

Later grind chana dal + sugar into a fine powder. Keep aside.

In a pan heat ghee and add cashews + raisins + cardamom. Sauté until cashews become golden brown in color and raisins bubble up. Pour this mixture on top of the chana dal – sugar mixture and mix well with spoon as the ghee will be so hot.

Allow to cool down a bit and mix well with hand. Take small portions of the chana dal mixture and shape into balls.

If the mixture remains little dry, add a little amount of milk (1 or 2 tbsp) and mix well. Don’t add too much milk as it will make the mixture watery.

Place the shaped laddus on a big tray and allow the laddus to harden for some time.

Enjoy the yummy laddus!!

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Rice – Sago Kheer (బియ్యం – సగ్గుబియ్యం పరమాన్నం)

This is a delicious kheer that is perfect for any festival. As I mentioned in my previous post I prepared this on the auspicious day of Ugadi. The kheer turned out so yummy and everyone liked it.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked Rice
• ¼ cup Sago Pearls (సగ్గు బియ్యం)
• 1 cup Sugar
• 4 cups Milk
• 1 tsp Ghee (నెయ్యి)
• Few broken Cashews
• Few Raisins
• Few Cardamom seeds

Preparation:

Wash and soak sago for some time (at least an hour) until it becomes soft.

Wash and cook rice. Keep aside.

When Sago becomes soft, add it to a bowl and pour little amount of water. Bring it to a boil.

Then pour milk + sugar and mix well. Then add cardamom seeds and mix.

When it almost reaches the boiling point, add cooked rice and mix well so that no lumps are formed.

Keep the flame on low and simmer the contents for some time.

Turn off the flame and transfer the kheer to a serving bowl.

Heat ghee in a small pan and add cashews + raisins. Sauté those until cashews turn golden brown in color and raisins bubble up. Pour this on top of the kheer and mix well.

A delicious and lip-smacking rice-sago kheer is ready!!

Note: If the kheer becomes thick on standing, you can make it thin by adding more milk. 

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Quinoa Halwa

A VERY HAPPY BHOGI, SANKRANTHI AND KANUMA
TO ALL MY READERS AND FRIENDS!

This is another healthy sweet I tried today for Bhogi. It came out so good and everyone (including the kids) loved it. For me Quinoa tasted like sago.  Taste was superb and I will make this again and again. Tomorrow for Sankranthi I am going to make Sweet Pongal (Chakra Pongali) and Pappu Chekkalu.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Organic Quinoa
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Milk
• 3 cups Water
• Few drops of food color (optional)
• Few Cashews + Raisins
• ¼ tsp Cardamom Powder
• Few Saffron Strands
• 1 tsp Ghee (Clarified Butter)

Preparation:

Heat ghee in a pan and add cashews + raisins and fry until cashews become golden brown in color and raisins bubble up.

Then pour water and add saffron strands + food color (if using) + sugar and mix well. Bring the water to a boil. 

Wash quinoa well and add this to the boiling water and mix well. Also add milk and mix well. Cover and allow the mixture to thicken and quinoa gets cooked. Keep the flame on med. low as this tends to burn easily if put on a high flame. Keep an eye on it and keep stirring in between.

When the mixture becomes thick, transfer it to a serving bowl, garnish with more cashews and raisins and serve at room temperature.

Eat yummy stuff and enjoy the festivities!

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Barley Laddu – A Healthy Treat for a Happy Birthday

Yes, it’s a happy birthday to Trendy Relish (and also Essence of Andhra as it was previously called)!! It’s exactly been a year Trendy Relish was born and three years Essence of Andhra (Telugu Ruchi) was born. To be exactly clear: Trendy Relish came to life during the first week of January 2010 and Essence of Andhra has stepped into the wonderful world of blogging during the second week (around Pongal season) of January 2008. So I wanted to celebrate both birthdays in the middle that means today.

I am sooooo glad that I have decided to start my own blog in 2008. Or else how could I have made so many friends? Thank you so much dear friends, readers and visitors for keeping this little blog alive and for all the support you’ve been giving to my blog. Keep visiting and be encouraging!!

These days I’ve been trying to include many healthy ingredients (mostly I guess:)) as possible in my regular diet. I’ve been searching ways to make my kids also eat these healthy things. They always say, why all the healthy things taste so bad? So I thought why don’t we try to make these taste good for good health?

I wanted to celebrate the blog’s birthday with a healthy sweet treat which will make everyone craving for more. And it was a hit.

Coming to the recipe: I used Pearl Barley for making these laddus. These grains can be found in regular Grocery Stores. Pearl Barley is nothing but regular Barley where the hull and bran is removed by processing. This makes these grains cook faster and make them less chewy than the regular barley grains. They still possess all the health benefits as the regular barley.

If interested, all the health benefits of BARLEY can be read at this Site: WHFoods.

Ingredients: (Makes 16 small Laddus as in the picture)

• 1 cup Pearl Barley
• 1 cup Sugar
• ¼ cup Milk
• 2 tsp Ghee (Clarified Butter)
• Few Cashews + Few Raisins
• ¼ tsp Cardamom Powder

Preparation:

Check barley and remove any impurities it may contain. Then heat a pan and dry roast barley until it turns golden brown in color. Keep aside to cool.

When barley becomes cold, grind it into a fine powder along with sugar. Filter and grind the remaining coarse grains again until they become fine.

Heat ghee in a pan and add cashews + raisins and sauté until the raisins bubble up and cashews turn golden brown in color.

Pour this over barley + sugar mixture and mix well. Then add cardamom powder + milk and mix well by hand.

Note: Add little more milk if the mixture is still dry.

Take small portions of the mixture and shape into balls of desired size. Place them on a plate to dry for some time.

Enjoy these yummy and healthy laddus with a guilt-free feeling :)

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Brown Rice Laddu

Here is another variety where you can sneak in brown rice for anyone who doesn’t like to eat brown rice. As this a sweet item they won’t say no to it. :)

I made this for this Diwali as a healthy sweet treat and it was a hit.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Brown Rice
• 1 cup grated Coconut (I used dry)
• 1 cup Sugar
• ½ cup Ghee
• Few Cardamom Seeds
• Few Cashews and Raisins
• ¼ cup Milk, if needed (just keep on hand)

Preparation:

Heat a pan and dry roast brown rice until it becomes little puffed up. Keep aside to cool.

Then mix brown rice + sugar and powder them into a fine powder. Add coconut to this and mix well. Keep aside.

Heat a pan and melt ghee. Add raisins + cashews + cardamom and sauté well until raisins bubble up and cashews turn golden brown in color.

Pour this on top of brown rice mixture and mix well until it is blended well.

Note: At this point, if the brown rice mixture remains dry and can’t be made into balls, add milk mentioned in the ingredients and mix well.

Take small portions of the mixture and shape into round balls. Spread on a big plate and allow them to dry for some time.

Enjoy the tastiest and healthy laddu. I felt like these tasted similar to Rava Laddu.

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Banana Payasam

This is a very delicious dessert for festival days.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Vermicelli (Semiya)
• 3 ripe Bananas
• 6 cups Milk
• ½ cup Sugar
• 2 tsp Ghee
• Few drops of Orange Food Color (Optional)
• Few raisins
• Few cashews
• Few cardamom seeds

Preparation:

1. Mash bananas well with a fork or hand and keep aside.
2. Dry roast vermicelli until it turns golden brown in color. To this, add mashed bananas + sugar and mix well.
3. Pour milk and bring it to a boil. Keep the pan on med. low flame and allow vermicelli to become soft and cooked.
4. When the vermicelli appears cooked and the payasam becomes little thick, turn off the flame.
5. In a different pan heat ghee and add raisins + cashews + cardamom seeds. Stir well until the raisins bubble up and cashews turn golden brown in color. Add this to the prepared payasam and mix well.
6. Great tasting payasam is ready!! Yummy!!

Please Note: Dear Sra expressed, if milk would curdle when we cook banana and milk together. But I don't think so, as it didn't happen to me. But if you are still in doubt, you can add banana just before turning the flame off.

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Minapa Sunnundalu (Urad Dal Laddus)

This is a famous Andhra delicacy made with pure ghee. These are very easy to prepare and taste superbly delicious. Urad Dal is considered to give strength to the backbone.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Black Gram (Minappappu) (Urad Dal)
• ½ cup Sugar
• ¼ cup Ghee (Clarified Butter)
• A few cardamom seeds/powder (Optional)

Preparation:

Dry roast urad dal on a med-low flame until it turns golden brown in color. Then transfer to a plate and allow it to cool down.

Later grind the dal into a fine powder, add cardamom seeds if using and keep aside.

Also powder sugar finely and mix with powdered dal.

Melt ghee and pour this hot ghee on top of the urad dal mixture. Mix well with hand (yes, you can handle it) until ghee mixes well with the dal mixture.

Don’t let the mixture stand for a long time as it tends to dry soon. Take small portions of the mixture and shape into balls.

Arrange them on a plate to dry for some time and enjoy the tastiness of these aromatic laddus.

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Coco-Cocoa Balls

I made these for my daughter’s b’day party. Kids liked these sweet balls so much. These are so simple to make and taste so delicious.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups grated Coconut, dry or fresh
• 1 cup Cocoa Powder
• ¼ cup Milk
• ½ tsp Vanilla Essence
• ½ cup Sugar

Preparation:

Heat a non-stick pan and add all the ingredients except milk and vanilla essence. Keep stirring for some time and add milk and vanilla essence and mix well.

Again keep stirring until the mixture becomes thick and leaves the sides of the pan. Then remove the pan from the flame and keep aside to become less warm.

When it is still warm but easy to handle, take small portions and roll into balls. Again roll these balls in some grated coconut for coating.

Spread on a plate for some time until they become dry. Then store in an airtight container. These will be good for 2 weeks or even more if refrigerated.

These are soft and chewy and so tasty. Enjoy!!

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Carrot – Coconut Paayasam

I made this yummy paayasam yesterday on my daughter’s birthday. It tasted so delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup grated Carrot
• 1 cup grated Coconut, fresh
• ½ cup Vermicelli
• 1 cup Sugar (more or less depending on the sweet levels)
• 2 cups Milk
• 1 tsp Ghee
• ¼ tsp Cardamom Powder
• Few strands of Saffron
• Cashews + Raisins + sliced Almonds

Preparation:

Add vermicelli in a pan and dry roast until golden brown in color. Then add carrot + coconut + sugar, mix well and pour some water.

Bring this mixture to a boil. When the carrot and vermicelli are cooked and becomes soft, pour milk + saffron and mix well.

Again bring this to a boil and turn off the flame.

In a small pan heat ghee and add cashews + raisins + almonds + cardamom and sauté well until cashews turn golden brown in color and raisins bubble up.

Pour this on top of the prepared paayasam and mix well. Enjoy this yummy paayasam either at room temperature or chilled.

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