Apple Cinnamon Muffins

This time I tried Apple cinnamon muffin.while preparing it I realized that it is the most simple recipe with a pretty less preparation time. As the saying goes "An apple a day keeps a doctor away" brought that into this as well.In addition to above Cinnamon as we all know can be used in so many ways which includes using it as condiment and flavoring material.It is widely used as a spice as well with a  tendency to cure common cold.This turned out to be one of the best Muffin among all I baked. My kids usually stay away from sweets given their taste buds used to eat spicy food. But, to my surprise this time they tried  and liked it too probably the cinnamon effect especially the aroma when its getting baked..I am posting this recipe in BM#45 under the theme "cakes and muffins with fruits and vegetables"

Ingredients:

• 1 Apple
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 Tspn baking powder
• 1/4 Tspn of baking soda
• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup of  powdered sugar
• 1 Tspn of cinnamon powder
• 1/2 Tspn of vanilla essence(optional)
• 1/4cup chopped Almonds( I just sprinkle few on top)
• 3 tbspn of milk
• Oil or butter to grease the muffin moulds

Procedure

• Preheat the oven to 400F.Grease the muffin moulds with butter or oil and keep aside.
• Cut the apple into small pieces and keep aside
• Sieve the flour including baking powder and baking soda and keep aside.
• Mix the butter in a bowl well until is soft
• Now slowly add sugar to the butter and mix well
• Add apple and cinnamon powder,vanilla essence and mix it well
• Slowly add the flour and few almond slices.
• Add 2 to 3 tbspn of milk and mix gently.
• Slowly add 2 tbspn of batter in each muffin mould
• Arrange the tray in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 mins
• Slowly remove from the oven and transfer to a serving plate.

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Orange muffins

Muffins are individually sized baked goods,made from a thick batter, and baked in a muffin tin,possibly muffin liners.Here I am posting very simple and interesting orange muffins.Juicy and sweet and renowned for its concentration of vitamin c oranges makes the perfect snack and a special tang to many recipes.They are good source of dietary fiber.I am posting this recipe in BM#45 under the theme Cakes and muffins with fruits and vegetables.Here goes my recipe.

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour 1 3/4 cups( 1 cup and 3/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup butter( 8 tbspns)
• 1 tb orange zest( I grated with grater)
• 3/4 cup white powdered sugar
• 1 tspn of baking powder
• 1 tspn of baking soda
• salt a pinch
• 1 tspn of fruit essence or vanilla essence.

Procedure:

• Preheat oven to 400 F.Prepare the muffin tin with muffin liners in.
• Prepare orange juice with fresh oranges in a blender or juicer.( i took 3 to 4 small oranges )
• In a bowl mix all dry ingredients i.e all purpose flour,baking soda,baking powder.
• Take another bowl add egg,butter( room temperature),food essence, orange juice.Mix everything well.
• Slowly add  dry flour ingredients to the above mixture.Combine everything well.
• Now fill the muffins cups about 3/4 cup.
• Now reduce the oven temperature to 350 F and bake for 20 to 25 mins or when a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Wait to have it until it completely cools down.

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Also linking this to srivalli's kids delight Anniversary party

Garlic bread

 Garlic  bread is a favorite with many dinners and can be made using with different kinds of bread.The traditional method uses a long thin bread such as french loaf or a crusty italian bread.Garlic bread is prepared by cutting thick slices off the bread loaf,which  is then coated liberally with either olive oil or butter.There after minced garlic is rubbed on the oil coated bread.Mixture of minced garlic,oregano,parsley  ,olive oil spread inside the bread.This is the first time I tried making italian bread searching recipes in the Google,finally i got a very good video  recipe and i followed that recipe.Iam posting this recipe in BM#45 under the theme Healthy tea time snacks.

Ingredients;

• All purpose flour 2cups
• Rapid rising yeast 1 packet(about 1/4 oz or 7g)
• water 1  cup( luke warm  or around 100f)
• One egg white (optional)
• one tspn of salt
• 1 tsp of sugar

Procedure

For bread loaf:

• Combine yeast, sugar in a bowel  of warm water,dissolve yeast  completely and let it sit for 5 mins.After 5 mins we see some bubbles in the yeast mix.(if you don't see anything just wait few more mins)
• In another bowel take 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour and salt, 1 tbspn of olive oil.now add yeast mixture to the dough.
• Now slowly mix the dough and knead until soft and smooth.If dough is little sticky add extra flour until it is stiff and smooth. cover it with a lid.Rest the dough for 2 hrs near warm temperature.
• After 2 hrs we see dough is doubled in size.,once doubled again  punch down knead for 5 mins.Roll into nice 12- inch loaf
• Grease a baking cookie sheet and sprinkle some corn flour.place the bread on the pan,.Make small slits on the top and brush with egg white
• once risen,mist with water and place in a preheated 425f oven.Wait for 45 to 50 mins or until bread is done i.e golden brown. wait until it cool down and then cut into  desired shape.

Garlic stuffing:

Ingredients

• 4 to 5 garlic cloves
• 2 tbspn of chopped parseley
• 2 tbspn of chopped oregono
• 1/2 tspn of salt
• 1/2 tspn of pepper
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 2 tbspn of unsalted butter. 

Procedure:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place the garlic in a food processor  and process until it is minced(.I grated the garlic in my grater.)
• Add the parsely,oregano,salt and pepper and pulse twice or you can mix all in a bowel.
• Heat the olive oil in a medium pan and add the garlic mixture.Remove the pan from heat after 1 or 2 mins.
• Slice the bread into slits or horizontally and spread the butter on half and garlic mix on the other half.Wrap the bread in aluminium foil and place in the oven for 5 to 8 mins.open the foil and continue baking another 5 mins.

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Poha raw banana cutlet

Cutlets are very popular in India and a very easy snack.It is a great evening snack with tea.Here I am posting poha and raw banana cutlet.Plantain or raw banana provides adequate levels of minerals such as iron,magnesium aand phosphorus.Poha is one of the few Indian dishes that can be had for break fast,lunch or snack.It is highly nutritious too.Eating poha regularly can prevent iron deficiency as it it rich in iron.So combination of these two is a great way of eating healthy snack.I am  posting this recipe in BM#45 under the theme tea time snacks.Here goes my recipe.

Ingredients:

• Raw banana ( aratikai or plantain)2
• Poha5 tbspns(thick)
• Chili powder1/4 tspn(optional)
• green chili finely chopped 2 to 3
• cumin powder 1/4 tspn
• daniya powder 1/4 tspn(coriander seeds powder)
• Amchur powder or lemon juice 2 Tspn

Procedure:

• Take a pressure cooker and keep the  raw banana in the cooker and add  cup of water and cook it for 1 whistle( don't add more water just enough to steam it)
• When the cooker completely releases the pressure,remove the lid and peel the skin from the banana and mash it.
• Take a bowl add green chili,poha(soaked for 5 mins and squeeze extra water from it.),amchur powder,jeera powder,chili powder (optional), and mashed  raw banana,salt.
• Heat a non stick pan add 1 to 2 tbspn of oil,when it is hot take a little mixture in your hands  roll it into a round ball and press gently to flatten it.
• In the similar way make few more balls approximately (lemon size) and flatten them.Slowly place these in hot oil and fry until both sides turn golden brown.Now yummy cutlets are ready.

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Samosa

Samosa is a popular snack in India.It generally consists of a fried triangular pastry shell with a savory vegetarian filling made with potato,onion, and with some spices.It is all time  favorite tea time snack.There are lot of versions in making the stuffing.In south india samosas are slightly different and the fillling is influenced by the local food habits.Today im posting punjabi samosa where the outer covering is little thicker compared to other parts.Here I prepared my own stuffing which suits our taste. Iam posting this recipe in Blogging marathon #45 under the theme tea time snacks.Here goes my recipe.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour or maida 2 1/2 cups
1 tspn of ajwain
1 tspn of salt
water as required.
Ghee or clarified butter 4 tbspns

For stuffing
Potatoes 3 medium size
Onion 1 medium size finely chopped
Daniya 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds1/4 Tspn
Jeera 1/4 Tspn
Ginger finely chopped1/2 Tspn
Garam masala 1/4 Tspn ( optional)
Green chillies finely chopped 1 tspn( optional)
Turmeric1/4 Tspn
Chilie powder 1/4 Tspn
Amchur powder 1/4 tspn
Salt to taste
Oil 2 tbspn

Procedure:

• Mix maida salt,ghee ajwain in a bowl.Now slowly add water to make into dough not too hard or soft just little more harder than we do for poori.cover the dough with moist cloth and keep aside atleast 30 mins.
• For potato stuffing heat a pan add mustard,daniya,jeera,when it starts spluttering add ginger , boiled potatoes( u may add veggies of your choice.),turmeric, chilli powder and salt ,fry 3 to 5 mins in a medium flame and switch off the stove.when it cools down add amchur powder.
• Now to prepare the outer layer for somasa take lemon size balls from the dough and roll into thin chapathi as shown in the pic( nearly our palm size)
• Divide the chapathi into halves with knife by cutting in the center.Now take one part and fold into atriangle and seal along the fold.Fill the stuffing inside and wet your handsand seal the edges of the dough with water.
• press the ends tightly so that the filling will not come out during frying.
• Heat oil for deep fry in a pan,when it is hot reduce the flame into medium and drop 3 samosas for frying.Fry until golden brown,by turning bothe sides.Fry samosas in low to medium heat as they must cook well inside as well.
• When they almost cooked take out on a tissue paper and enjoy.

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Chicken fry (kodi vepudu)

Chicken fry or kodi vepudu is a famous Andhra dish.This dish is all of our favorite . We can prepare this dish with Natu kodi or country chicken which adds more taste to the fry.This dish is very delicious and flavorful a, easy recipe.Here goes yummy recipe ,enjoy with hot steamed rice.

Ingredients

• Chicken 2 lbs
• Onions 2 large
• Green chili 3
• coriander leaves to garnish.
• Chili powder 2 tspn
• Turmeric powder 1/2 tspn
• Ginger garlic paste 3 tpn
• Daniya powder 1 tspn
• Oil 3 tbspn
• salt to taste

Preparation:

Marination: Marinate chicken with chili powder,turmeric powder,salt,ginger garlic paste,daniya powder and oil just 1 tspn.Mix well and keep aside for atleast 30 mins

(Grind one onion into fine paste and keep aside.Chop remaining onions and green chili and keep aside.)

For dry  masala

• Cinnamon 2 small stcicks
• cloves 4 to 5
• Gasagas(poppy seeds) 1/2 tspn
• Cardamom 4
• Black pepper whole 1 tspn
• (Grind all these into fine powder)

Procedure:

• Heat oil in a pan,when the oil is hot add chopped onions and green chili,when onion turns brown add onion paste,ginger garlic paste 2 tspn.Fry well until the raw smell goes off.
• Now add marinated chicken to the above paste,mix well.Cover with a lid and wait for 20 mins( in medium flame)After 20 mins we can see water coming out from the chicken.
• Check out how soft the chicken,still if it needs to cook continue 5 more mins with lid on.
• Remove the lid now and  fry well until the chicken is dry.Now add dry spice powder and mix well 5 more mins,add fried onions for extra taste and garnish with coriander leaves.

Vada

Medu vada or vada is a popular south Indian snack which is very healthy and needs only few ingredients to cook.This traditional south Indian snack not just every day cuisine but also part of menu in festivals and puja days.This is sometimes referred as Indian doughnut.This is my family's most favorite snack.I Usually cook vada atleast once in a month as being liked by all.I'm posting recipe in BM#43 under  festival theme.I cook this recipe on Varalakshmi pooja.Here goes my recipe.

Ingredients

• Urad dal 1 cup
• water as needed( I use 1/4cup)
• Oil for deep frying
• onion 1/2 chopped(optional)
• Ginger small pieces( chopped finely 1 tspn)
• Green chilli 2( chopped finely)
• Salt to taste.

Procedure

• Soak urad dal minimum 6 to 8 hrs ( for very good vadas) .I usually soak overnight if possible.
• Drain the water from dal and grind  dal in a blender using very less water.
• Next after grinding take out the batter in a bowel,add salt and mix chopped( onions,green chilies,ginger) mixing these ingredients is optional,I do this as our family likes this way.( i do one batch without onion,chili,ginger during festivals and offer god as prasadam)
• Heat oil in a kadai or deep pan.
• Now to make vadas, wet your hand and take little amount of batter in your hand( approx medium lemon size)flatten it and make a hole in the center and slowly leave in the oil( its a tricky part,if you feel its difficult you may try using a ziplock bag)
• Repeat the process for all the vadas.
• Cook the vada until golden brown on one side and flip other side and cook again.
• Remove these vadas on a paper towel and let them cool few mins.

 Tips for perfect vadas:

• Always prefer grinding dal in a food processor or wet grinder.
• Soak  urad dal overnight for soft crispy vadas.
• Before cooking I keep the batter in a refrigerator for atleast half an hr.

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