Dal Kabila

I was really impressed by the name..Dal Kabila. Really had to try out this recipe from the cook book, Prashad - Cooking with Indian Masters. Many a times don't you get impressed when you see a dish with an exotic name... I do..and it gives me great pleasure to see how a great chef cooks a dish and presents it...So I'm playing a chef(real) for a day...presenting this dish from my kitchen to yours. Also my critics(kids & hubby) loved it.....

I'm also really curious about the origin of this name. Did try to look it up with no luck... If anyone out there has some information please enlighten Moi... As far as I know the word 'Kabila" means Tribe in Hindi...So maybe cooking for a tribe...Well cooking for a tribe or not..It did turn out good..try it for yourself !!!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups Urad Dal
• 5 tsp Garlic paste
• 7 tsp Ginger paste
• 3 cups chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro/coriander
• 4 green chillies(optional)
• 8 whole red chillies
• 5 tsp Coriander seeds
• 1/4 cup ghee/oil
• 2 tsp Garam Masala
• 1 1/4 tsp Fenugreek/Kasoori methi (optional)
• salt
• 7 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

**I substituted oil intead of ghee and used a little of Amul butter...So feel free to make changes as per your taste and calorie intake...

Preparation :

• Wash and soak the urad dal for about 2 hours. Drain and boil dal with about 4 cups of water and salt and cook until tender.
• While the dal is cooking dry roast the red chillies and coriander/cilantro seeds and grind it or pound with a pestle.
• Heat oil in a Kadhai/thick bottomed pan. Add the garlic paste. Saute till golden brown. Add the fresh pounded spices and stir for about 15-20 minutes. Add the tomatoes. Saute for about 2-3 minutes and now add 2/3 of the chopped cilantro, ginger paste and saute till the oil leaves the masala. Now Add the boiled urad dal and let it simmer for 5 minutes on medium heat.
• Next add the butter, Garam Masala, lemon juice and the rest of the chopped cilantro and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Your delicious Dal Kabila is ready to be served with any Indian bread of your choice.
• This recipe serves 4.

Pumpkin Carving 101- How to carve a pumpkin

Halloween has become a favorite holiday for us after we moved to the US. Its celebrated on october 31st. Its such a colorful holiday. The main attractions would have to be getting all dressed up and going 'Trick -or-treating". Also pumpkin carving is a big part of Halloween too.. My kids love going pumpkin picking and then obviously we have to help them carve as well. This year we carved a haunted house on a hill onto our pumpkin.

You would need :

• A Pumpkin
• A pumpkin carving kit is preferable. I bought one from Kmart. You could also use a large spoon and a thin bladed knife.
• template/design. Mine came with the kit. Many designs are available online as well.
• Lots and lots of patience !!!!

Now the magic begins :
Cut out a circle at the top of the pumpkin around the stem using a knife.

Now clean the inside of the pumpkin and scoop all the seeds and the flesh etc by hand or with a large spoon. Also scrape the inside walls of the pumpkin clean as shown using a spoon.

Now place the template onto the pumpkin and transfer the design using a transfering tool or a toothpick.

Now you could begin carving , just follow the design. I have used a carving saw provided in the kit. You could use a knife(thin-bladed) for this step.

Also you really will have to take your time for this step...This will really test your patience...

There you go..all carved and ready for the test...

Place a votive candle inside the pumpkin and see your haunted house on a hill come to life....Boo !!!!!!!

Happy Halloween...and I'm sure you are all ready with your costumes....If not you still have some time. Also would love to hear about your pumpkin carving experiences.. As for us we had a blast.

Kala Chana Curry- Black chick peas curry

Happy Dussehra to all my readers...

Also taking this opportunity to wish my dear brothers a Happy birthday... Both my brothers have their birthdays in October..R's was on October 13th and V's birthday is today October 18th.. I love both of them dearly and miss them. May God bless them both and I'm so thankful to God for this awesome Gift !!!

Without further ado let me get on with the recipe...

Ingredients:

• 1 cup black chana/ Black chick peas
• 1 large red onion finely chopped
• 2 large tomatoes pureed
• 1" piece ginger
• 2-3 green chillies
• 4-5 black peppercorns
• 4-5 cloves
• 1" piece of cinnamon
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin-cilantro powder
• 1 tsp amchoor powder(mango powder)
• 1 tsp garam masala
• salt to taste
• oil

* I made a paste of ginger and green chillies.

Preparation :

• Soak the black chana in enough water and keep it overnight.
• Pressure cook the black chana with about 4 cups of water, salt, turmeric, cloves, black peppercorns and cinnamon, until cooked.
• Heat oil in a pan. Add Bay leaves. Add the onions and saute till golden brown.
• Next add the ginger/green chilli paste. Fry for about 2 minutes.
• Add the tomato puree. Fry for about 2-3 minutes.
• Next add the red chili powder, cumin-cilantro powder, amchoor powder, garam masala. Fry till oil leaves the masala, about 5 minutes.
  Now add the cooked black chana along with the liquid. Bring it to a boil. Let it simmer on slow flame for about 15 minutes.
• Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro. Serve it with hot puris with a side of sliced onion , sliced tomatoes and a wedge of lemon ...Enjoy... !!!!
• This recipe serves 4.

Spongebob Cake - Eggless chocolate cake

Baked this Spongebob cake for my younger son's 3rd birthday.. Spongebob is a favorite TV show in our household. In fact I was introduced to Spongebob even before I had kids..thanks to my hubby..So it was only obvious I had to attempt this cake and got a wonderful opportunity when we were deciding what cake to bake for RiShawn...His birthday was September 25th..a bit late in posting this recipe...

Happy 3rd Birthday RiShawn....

A Special thanks to my little baking buddy , Jay for all the help in making this cake.. Its an eggless chocolate cake and have used buttercream icing.

Ingredients :

• 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 3 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preparation :

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease a 9 X 13 inch pan.
• Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Add sugar and mix well.
• Add oil, water and orange juice and mix well.
• Pour into the prepared 9 X 13 pan and bake for about 50 minutes to an hour. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Let the cake cool completely before icing it. I baked the cake the previous night and let it cool overnight. Did the icing the next morning.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Nascar Cake- Jeff Gordon #24 Cake

Wishing all my readers Happy Independence Day !!!!. Today is India's 64th Independence day.

My son is a huge fan of Nascar racing. His favorite is the #24 car -Jeff Gordon. I guess he's been following Nascar since he was 3 yrs old.. My husband is into Nascar too..He follows Jimmie Johnson #48 car...So for his 7th birthday , my son (Jay) wanted me to bake him his Nascar #24 car cake... I baked an eggless chocolate cake and used buttercream frosting. Let the icing set for couple hours and then covered it with fondant. The recipe for the eggless chocolate cake will follow soon...

Eggless Banana & Walnut Muffins

I stumbled across this recipe at "Saffron hut" and looking at the awesome results wanted to really test this recipe. This blog has so many amazing recipes with such beautiful clicks. So it was a no brainer when I decided to follow this recipe. I have also seen that there are no posts/updates for a long time now and going through her beautiful blog makes me feel and hope she begins blogging again. She is an asset to the blogging world. On that note I feel very guilty and really miss my blog and all my readers and do really wish I can keep posting regularly and visit you all more and be updated about all of you my blogger friends.

Why did I choose an Eggless recipe you might ask. I thought It would be a challenge to bake without eggs. People have been doing it for various reasons. Some by choice and some not by choice (for instance some are allergic to eggs). Also I had a few overripe bananas and since my son's home enjoying his summer break and he's always eager to try new baking recipes. So I got the ingredients ready and in fact he did the entire mixing and made the muffin preparation. I just helped him spoon them into the muffin cups and put it in the oven. So another great project to get the kids involved. I was really happy with the muffins and so proud to have my son as my baking buddy...

Ingredients :

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 4 ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tbsp chopped walnuts for sprinkling on the top

Preparation :

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Line the muffin pan with muffin paper cups/liners.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl and keep it separate.
• In another bowl mash the bananas. Add sugar and butter and mix it well.
• Now gently add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients and mix it well. Do not over mix it. Add the chopped walnuts. Mix it.
• Fill the muffin cups upto 3/4 to the top with the muffin mix and sprinkle some chopped nuts on the top.
• Bake for about 25 minutes or till the muffins turn golden brown.
• This recipe makes 12 muffins.

Fondant Cake

My very first fondant cake. Its a vanilla cake covered with fondant and decorated with gumpaste daisies... I'm getting super duper busy these days. Its my son's summer vacation and my in-laws are visiting us this summer. Hopefully can make some time for my blog, which I miss so much and catch up with all of you as and when time permits...