Homemade chocolates

Ingredients:

1/2 kg Morde chocolate bar
a few almonds


Fillings:

For Ganache:
Cream  - 1/2 cup
grated chocolate - 1/2 cup
a pinch of salt

For finishing
Mould plate
chocolate wrapping foils
a few almonds
Method:
Grate the chocolate bar.

Morde or selborne chocolate bar( available in market)

Choclate gratings

                                                        Melted in the double boiler method

Melt the gratings in a double boiler. Heat water in a vessel. In another vessel add the grated chocolate and place it in the vessel with hot water.

When the chocolate melts, pour them in the moulds of your choice readily available in market or spoon them on a greasy surface like plate to form your own patterns.


To make a ganache chocolate filling

Heat the cream, add the grated chocolate and salt to make a ganache mixture.

Pour the melted chocolate to fill half  the mold, place a spoon of ganache and cover again with the melted chocolate.

                                 Heat the cream( amul) or even the home collected cream

                                               

                                      Pour the half cup heated cream over half cup chocolate gratings and add a pinch of salt

                                           Mix well to make a creamy ganache


To make an almond filling chocolate.

Pour the melted chocolate  in the mould, place an almond and cover the almond with some more melted chocolate.

                                                           chocolate with almond filling

                                                    Chocolate with ganache filling

           

The chocolatiers licking their creations

                                                              The chocolates after getting dislodged

WRAPPING

 When cooled, dislodge the chocolates form the mould and wrap them in the colorful foils of your choice.
The above chocolatey affair was done by my son and daughter with a lot of disagreements, kicks, licks, mess and love thrown in.

                                              Being wrapped

                                                           Grab them now before its gone

Bonus:
The end product was awesome no doubt. I relished the chocolates made by my children and went to sit on the  dining chair when i found a blob of gooey melted chocolate on the upholtery.

When i showed this to my son, my son said. Don't worry ma, I will give you the upholstery polisher's number. He will do the shampooing job.

Wheat carrot cake with flax seeds

Ingredients
2 cup multigrain wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup honey
flax seed paster* (instead of 4 eggs)
2 cups grated carrots
1 cup unsweetened crushed canned pineapple, drained(optional)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
Combine dry ingredients( except flax seeds)
Add oil, honey and flax seeds mix well
Stir in remaining ingredients
Bake the mixture to eat a guilt free cake loaded with goodness of honey, carrots, wheat and flax seeds.

The cake was moist and spongy. forgot to click in the beginning, only the crumbs are what you see

To replace one egg:
1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
3 tablespoons water (or other liquid)

Stir together until thick and gelatinous.

You can also use whole flaxseeds:

1 tablespoon whole flaxseeds
4 tablespoons water (or other liquid)

Process seeds in a blender to a fine meal, add liquid and blend well.

You can make a bigger batch by increasing the ingredient amounts. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Eggless Black Forest cake

This cake was baked by my daughter and son to keep themselves occupied during their 15 day school break and I helped them. Recipe courtesy Milkmaid booklet.

Ingredients:
milkmaid tin ---- 1
refined flour ---- 13/4 cup
butter ---------- 100 gms
soda water ------ 1 1/4 cup
sodium bicarbonate--- 1 teaspoon
cocoa powder ----- 2 to 3 spoons
baking soda -------- 1 teaspoon
cream ------- 200 gms
powdered sugar ----- 2table spoons
tinned cherries ----- 20-30 numbers
vanilla essence ---- 1 teaspoon
nestle chocolate bars ---- 2











Method:

Sieve flour,cocoa,soda,sodium-bicarb.
In a bowl mix milkmaid,vanilla essence and butter till they blend well. Slowly blend in the maida mixture and soda water alternatively till all the flour and soda are used.
Now pour the mixture into a greased dish and bake for 15 minutes( my oven bajaj make)
or according to your oven settings

remove the baked cake and when cooled slice them horizontally to make two equal halves with the help of a twine thread or knife.

Soak the halves in sugar syrup present in the tinned cherries.

Parallely blend in the castor sugar and cream and layer the halves with the cream. Spread the cherries on the lower half and cover with the other half.

Now dress the top half also with the cream, grated chocolate and place few cherries and cool them in the fridge for half an hour.

Tips: Instead of tinned cherries, you can buy preserved cherries and soak them in hot sugar syrup and can use the syrup.


Tip 2: cut the cake with a thread to get two equal halves

pani puri

Pani puri aka golgappa aka Puchka aka water balls.



A street food which you find around the corner of most streets in India.If the puris are brought from shop, this can be easily made without spending lot of kitchen time during summers and what's more it can be made by the kids themselves. Can be fortified and made nutritious with sprouts as fillers and by adding dates syrup in sweet water.

Ingredients:

For the spicy mint water: (to make 2 litres)
De-stemmed pudina leaves - 2 cups
de-stemmed coriander leaves -- 2 cups
green chilly ------------- 1 (optional)
pani puri masala powder ---- 1 table spoon
juice of 1/2 lemon

For sweet sauce

Tamarind ---- 1 lemon size
jaggery ------- 1/4 cup
ajwain ------- a tea spoon
dates syrup ---- 1 table spoon (optional)

for the filling :

1 cup of boiled sprouts of green gram/ kabuli channa/ alu
salt ---- 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

For filling:

Pressure cook channa/alu/sprouts.Season it with salt and keep aside.

For the masala pani:

Grind the washed pudina, coriander and chilli in a grinder.
Add the ground mixture to a litre of water along with a table spoon of pani puri masala.

For the sweet/meeta pani.

Mix the extract of tamarind and jaggery and filter to remove the fibre or dust if any.
boil the mixture till the raw smell of tamarind disappears.
sprinkle with ajwain seeds and add a spoon of dates syrup.

For garnishing:
finely chopped onions.

Assembling:

Punch the top of the puri, fill in with the sprouts and onion, dip it in the green mint water and pop it into the mouth. If you want it slightly tangier and sweeter, add a spoon of sweet tamarind water.

P.S: with a little help from elders like in soaking and boiling the children can make this food themselves.

Aloo tikki burger

An easy food which can be assembled by children themselves.

Ingredients:

Buns---- 1 no
sliced cucumber -- 4 pieces
sliced onions ----- 4 pieces
sliced tomatoes----- 4 pieces
cheese slice ------ 1 no
washed and cleaned cabbage/lettuce leaf ---- 1 no
tomato sauce ---- 1 tbspoon
mayonaisse ------- 1 table spoon
sweet onion sauce ---- 1 table spoon

for the patties
Boiled and mashed potato -- 1 cup
a slice of bread
chilli paste --- 1 spoon
salt to taste:

Mix the patty ingredients and bind them well. pat them into patties and grill.

To assemble the burger

cut the bun horizontally.
arrange the following over the base bun in the following order
lettuce/cabbage leaf
cucumber slices
tomato slices
cheese slice
alu patty
onion slices
drizzle

drizzle the choice of your sauce between the layer
cover the top cut bun
Pin a toothpick from the top most bun to the bottom most through the center.

Ragda patties

Ragda patties - as the name suggests are patties made of potato and the ragda is a mishmash of spicy green peas. This dish tastes good when accompanied with sweet chutney,green chutney and tossed with some sev and finely chopped onions.

Ingredients:

Boiled dry green peas --- 50 gms
juice of tamarind -------- 2 table spoons
onion paste made from 2 big onions
red chilli powder--------- 2 teaspoon
Dhania powder------------ 2 teasoon
ginger- garlic paste------ 1 teaspoon
turmeric ----------------- 1 teaspoon
coriander ------- for garnishing
salt for seasoning

Patties:( to make 10)

potato(big)------- 4
red chilli powder
dhania powder
salt to taste
ginger powder(optional)
bread crumbs (to coat the patties)
cooking medium for shallow frying.


Method:( for patties)

Boil the potato and mash them. To the mashed potato add the spices and mix them well till they bind well.

Now shape them like small cutlets and coat them with bread crumbs.

shallow fry the patties on a tava till they turn brown. Lay them on a serving tray.

Method: ragda

Soak the dry green/white peas overnight.
Boil them well in a pressure cooker.
When done mash them.

In a wok, add a table spoon of cooking oil.
Add jeera and after it splutters, add ginger- garlic paste , after some time add onion paste and saute them till they cook in the oil. Add red chilli powder, haldi, dhania powder and allow it to cook well in the oil

Now add the tamarind juice and cook for 2 minutes. Add the mashed pea puree into the wok when the raw smell of tamarind disappears and cook till done.

Serve them with green chutney( made of coriander, pudina and green chilli) and sweetchutney( made from tamarind,jaggery,dates and raisins).

serving tip:



Take a patty in a bowl/ plate
Ladle the required amount of ragda over the patty.
serve green chutney if you want it spicier or sweet chutney if you want it milder or both chutneys if you want to enjoy it spicy-sweet.
Toss over some finely chopped onions and sev and it is ready to relish

Ideal for kids parties.

(My children make this dish with my help)

Macaroni

Macaroni in red sauce and white sauce

Ingredients:

Macaroni --- 1 packet

Red sauce:

Puree of 2 tomaotes

1 medium sized capsicum

1 medium onion

1 crushed garlic pod

Sugar 1 tea spoon

2 packets of chilli flakes( generally comes with home delivery pizzas,store them for use)

2 packets of oregano

Olive oil/butter

Salt to taste

White sauce

Cheese ---- ¼ cup grated

Milk ---- ½ cup

Maida ---- 1 table spoon

Black Pepper powder --- 1 table spoon

Butter/olive oil

Method:

To make red sauce:

Take a table spoon of olive oil(butter) and when heated sauté finely chopped onion and capsicum.

To this add a crushed garlic and fry lightly.

Add tomato puree and sugar to the above mixture and cook well till all the ingredients bind.

Add chilli flakes,salt and oregano and cook for 2 minutes and your red sauce is done.

To make white sauce:

Melt a table spoon of butter on a low flame.

Add the maida and roast lightly.

Add milk to the maida and stir without forming lumps.

Add cheese to the above mixture till the cheese melts into the mixture. Spice the sauce with pepper

Cook macaroni in boiling water till done. Drain the water and wash them with cool water.

Separate the cooked macaroni into two portions.

Mix one portion with the red sauce and the other portion with white sauce.

Recipe courtesy: My 14 year old daughter

P.S: My daughter is an avid follower of cookery shows. She has tweaked and twisted to suit her taste.

Eggless Chocolate wheat cake

I wanted to bake the plum cake and so bought all ingredients but it was my 11 year old ( will be 12 next month) who insisted on baking a chocolate cake and so he baked a delicious birthday cake.

Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour ------ 1cup
Amul milk cream/ you can collect at home) ----- 1 cup
powdered sugar -------------- 1 cup
chocolate powder ----------- 1 table spoon
baking powder -------------- 1 tea spoon.

Method:

Sieve wheat flour and baking powder.
In a deep dish add cream, chocolate powder and powdered sugar and blend well.
Fold in the sieved wheat flour in the chocolate cream mixture and blend well.

Pour the mixture in a baking tray greased with butter and bake for 15 minutes(varies from oven to oven).

Instead of chocolate powder you can use 2 tablespoons of chocolate sauce.

Home made pizza

Today shreya and sharun baked an excellent pizza . They tried to make the pizza base themselves, of course with my help. Sharun found the recipe of the pizza base from NICK jr. site. We customized the recipe by adding our own variations and measure.

Ingredients(for base)
1. 1 cup maida
2. 1/4 tsp. salt
3. 1/4 cup warm water
4. 1/4 tbsp. sugar
5. 1/4 packet active dry yeast
6. 2 tbsp olive oil

To make home made pizza base:

STEP 1: Combine the flour and the salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Combine the warm water and sugar in a liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Pour the water and oil into the food processor and process until the mixture becomes a ball.
STEP 2: Remove the dough from the food processor and place on lightly floured work surface. Knead slightly until smooth. Place in an oiled bowl and let rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes.
STEP 3: Punch down the dough and let rise for another 45 minutes
STEP 4: Roll the base, mark it with fork and micro on combi 2 for 2 minutes(high)

For toppings:

1 cup each of cubed tomato, yellow, red and green bell pepper, shredded onions.

2 cups of mozzarella cheese gratings, pizza sauce and seasonings in accordance with personal taste.



When you're ready to add toppings, smear pizza sauce on the baked pizza base.
Sprinkle cheese and arrange vegetables as per your choice and sprinkle again with cheese.
Transfer the base to the grill rack and grill for 2 minutes / till the cheese melts.
Take out the pizza and season it with chilli flake/oregano according to your taste.