lazy cooks chocolate turai cake

In all fairness,this is a chocolate zucchini cake ,but we don't get zucchini here....we get turai(same family)......and plenty of it!So the time has come to start puting this in EVERYTHING!.......But jokes aside,the cake is really lovely and moist..and not a hint of the veg.

On a completely unrelated note,I have zero will power(which is why I am not a size 0,or 1 or 2...or heck any of the single digits!).........which is why instead of sitting and doing my assignments(I'm doing my masters in Psychology)I spend all my time(when we have the net connection,that is),on my blog,visiting all of you and generally not even going near my books........So until I finish the damn assignments,I'm not going to come near my laptop........but I love you guys and will get back soon(I hope!)Please keep visiting...and soon...real soon I'll visit all of you:)
INGRDS
1 cup wholewheat flour(atta)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa pdr
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking pdr
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cups grated turai(zucchini)
METHOD
1.Seive the dry ingrds(flour,baking soda,baking pdr,salt and cocoa pdr) and keep aside.
2.With your hand mixer,beat the oil ,sugar and eggs....add the essence,the turai and the flour..beat well.
3.Prepare(butter and then dust with flour)a baking pan,pour the mixture and bake in a pre heated oven at 180 deg C for 40 mins.
4.Once the cake has come out of the oven and is cool,pour the glaze on this(I had dusted icing sugar once....but within minutes it got absorbed into the cake.)..so the chocolate glaze it is then!
Chocolate glaze
50 gms butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons of icing sugar
2 tablespoons of cocoa pdr
a little milk to get the right consistency(1-2 tblsps)
METHOD
1 .My mom used to use only icing sugar,I mix the two because I'm always running low on that...you do what makes you happy

 

2.Melt the butter in a pan ,add the sugar, get it off the heat add the icing sugar,cocoa pdr and a drop of essence,now add a tblsp of milk,...then a little more ...stir well pour on the cake......cut a slice .....yum.....and no guilt beacuse its all healthy...we're eating vegetables!

marshmallow clouds and award

Cookies from heaven!Not just because they're divine but too many of them and the angels will be that much closer(clogging arteries for eg.).It is NOT a dieters cookie(do dieters even eat cookies?or even any food?...apparantly 5 almonds is considered a complete meal by the slim ones!)I was mindlessly scrolling through some recipes when  this one jumped at me and I just HAD to make it......I changed the recipe a bit(I do have some residue of my college education left...nutrition and all)...the orignal is here

INGRDS

150 gms butter(butter makes things better........trust me)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 eggs

3/4 cup whole wheat flour(atta)

3/4 cup oats
3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup dark and white chocolate chips

1/4 cup cocoa pdr

1 cup frozen mini marshmallows(yes..frozen..put the marshmallows in the freezer)
METHOD

1.Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy,add the essence.......now add the eggs and beat again.Add the flour...s,oats,cocoa pdr,chips.Beat again.

2.Take a tablespoon of this chocolatey goodness in your hands and put 2-3 marshmallows in the centre,roll in put onto a greased baking tray,get all the cookies ready this way.

3.Put in a preheated oven for 15-20 mins........these will still be a little soft,like gooey little cakes...coz the marshmallows peek out and melt...........YUM!
I recieved the Liebster Blog Award from Ambreen at http://simplysweetnsavory.blogspot. Her blog is really nice ,filled with absolutely delicious ,mouthwatering dishes....Do hop across and check it out.And also check out PT 's blog (Indian+Kitchen),she was kind enough to think of me too....and finally sharan of http://vigsha.blogspot.in/(sharan's smarayalarai,thought of passing this award to me too..........their blogs are really nice,filled with wonderful recipes.

The Liebster Blog Award is given to upcoming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. The Meaning; Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcoming.

The rules are :
1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you.
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
4. Create 11 questions for the people you've tagged to answer.
5. Go to their page and tell them.
6. Remember, no tag backs!

Some random things about me..please read from here
1.What was the inspiration behind your blog?
I wanted to put down my recipes for my kids,they show no interest in learning anything today but they are fond of eating!
2.Which aspect of blogging do you find more interesting?
The interaction with the other bloggers and ofcourse some nonbloggers......it was amazing to realize that there are so many like minded people around,what was really nice was complete strangers extending their hand in friendship....you guys rock.

3.How many hours do you spend on blogging in a week?
I really can't answer that,if the net connection is there,I might be on my laptop for a long..long time...however I live in the hills,where even a slight breeze ensures that we loose the connection,maybe for days together....so thereby my time gets rationed(and I get to do other work!)
4.What is the craziest thing you've ever done?
Can't tell ....my kids will read this one day!
5. What quality do you most like in yourself and why?
 OK seriously I'm not answering this one....let someone else answer this.:)
6. If you were given a chance to undo one thing from your life what would it be and why??
Hmmmm...........nothing really.
7.Whats your memorable moment/favorite memory since you became a blogger?
Actually everytime I get a new follower or a new like on fb.....I feel thrilled.
8.What is your idea of a perfect breakfast?
Eggs and bread..and a big pot of tea.
9.What is your favorite pastime?
Reading.
10.Who is your favorite blogger?
There are too many to name out here.
11.If you had to describe yourself in 3 words ... what would they be?
I would love to say fun ,fearless ,female(heh..heh)but i'll go for the tags that apply.....mom,wife and me!
I would like to pass this on to
1.snehal at http://snehalscreations.blogspot.in/
2.cathleen at http://atasteofmadness.blogspot.in
3.punitha at http://southindiafoodrecipes.blogspot.in/
4.alida at http://myitaliankitchen.blogspot.in/
5.http://treatntrick.blogspot.in/
6.hema at http://www.hemasfood.com/
7.jehanne at  http://www.thecookingdoctor.co.uk/
8.http://www.spiceupthecurry.com/
9.PT at  http://jopreet.blogspot.in/
10.http://suchi-kitchenkarma.blogspot.in/
Please friends, accept the award and pass on to other bloggers :)
1.What was the inspiration behind your blog?
2.Which aspect of blogging do you find more interesting?
3.How many hours do you spend on blogging in a week?
4.What is the craziest thing you've ever done?
5. What quality do you most like in yourself and why?
6. If you were given a chance to undo one thing from your life what would it be and why??
7.Whats your memorable moment/favorite memory since you became a blogger?
8.What is your idea of a perfect breakfast?
9.What is your favorite pastime?
10.Who is your favorite blogger?
11.If you had to describe yourself in 3 words ... what would they be?

sundried tomatoes,garlic and olive focaccia and box

 Hi............this poor thing has been sitting in my draft for AGES!!!!!!!!!!Only because I completely forgot to take the pics of the uncut....baked focaccia......and uh...this happened a couple of times....but now...finally the day has dawned when I can put this post up.....................I'm also attaching some pics of a recycled box that I have done for snehal's event.....those guys are really good(crafters all of them!),this is just my humble attempt ...please don't judge me!

The sundried tomatoes I had sitting in my pantry,I had done those when the sun was nice and shiney(as opposed to now,when it can't make up its mind!)You can see it  here lazy-cooks-sun-dried-tomatoes.html.

INGRDS 2 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp

5 cloves of garlic finely chopped

10 black olives stoned and finely chopped
1/2 cup of sun dried tomatoes chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
150 ml lukewarm water
TOPPING
5 tablepoons olive oil
sundried tomatoes chopped
3 olives chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped
METHOD
1.Mix together everything except the topping ingrds,make a well in the centre add the olive oil and water..........now mix thoroughly to form a soft dough.

2.Turn onto a floured surface and knead for 10 mins.Put the dough into an oiled bol and leave to prove for at least an hour.

3.Turn out the dough and knead lightly again.Roll out into an oval shape,about 1/2 cm thick .

4.Place the dough on a greased baking sheet,cover and leave to prove for 30 mins.

5.Pre heat the oven..........make indentations all over the top with your finger tips.......put the chopped tonatoes and olives and half the olive oil on top.Bake at 200 deg C for 25 mins...........transfer to a wire rack and spoon the remaining olive oil on top...........excellent when eaten fresh out of the oven....the next ay is going to see this get a little hard(but still good.....treat like a salty rusk!)
Now onto my little handmade box..... which is going to snehal's event at snehalscreations.blogspot...this is made with recycled stuff.....the box is what we buy act 11 popcrn in,the covering(?)is a handmade paper bag..which I cut up,the lid  and the rust coloured flowers had been donated by my friend and neighbour manisha(thank you sweetie)and all the embellisments have been taken from my daughters stash(love you darling!)....hmm....oh yeah..the effort is mine.

meetha madra(a himachali dessert)

Hi there........this is something that got made in my mom's ancesteral home.....normally during the changing of the seasons a meetha madra,khatta madra, khatta meat and boiled rice would be served.I love this,and don't really wait for the seasons to change....its a great dessert to serve anytime.Before I proceed anyfurther,those who are educators or for that matter all those who have small kids....do check out this site called HAMARA SANSAR,Paridhi is doing some really good work and we should encourage her.

back to the dish

INGRDS

1 1/2 ltrs milk

1 tsp fennel seeds(saunf)
5 caradomom crushed
1 tablespoon ghee(clarified butter)
300 gms paneer(can use cottage cheese)
1 copra (dried coconut)cut into thin 1/2 inch long pcs
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup cashewnuts
1/2 cup raisins
8-10 tablespoons of sugar
METHOD
1.In a heavy bottomed pan/wok/kadai,heat the ghee and add the fennel seeds and cardamom,fry for a min then add the dry fruits,including the copra.....fry till the coconut turns a light golden......now add the milk...let it come to a boil,then reduce it to a simmer.

2.After the milk reduces to half in quantity and has becone a nice golden color add the sugar,let it boil away for a few min.......then add the crunbled paneer.....boil for another 5 mins,switch off the heat.

3.Let it come to room tempreture to serve....I serve this hot in winters,cold in peak summers and room tempreture in this rainy weather.

sending this to sharan's event..celebrating-independence-day-sharans.........because my great grandather was a very active freedom fighter.......this particular dish is from his household....so I think its perfect for this event:)  

eggless malt cupcakes with malt buttercream

Hi guys........back again with the eggless version of the malt cupcakes..I  had a few enquires on how to make these malt-cupcakes-with-malty-buttercream.  eggless.........so after experimenting ........here it is ..ta da!

INGRDS
1 cup wholewheat flour(atta),1/2 cup oats.1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup curd(yogurt)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup malt(chocomalt,ovaltine,horlicks etc)
1/2 tsp baking soda.1/2 tsp baking powder(I will reduce the bakng soda to 1/4 tsp next time)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup oil
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM ICING
50gms butter
2 tablespoons powered sugar
4 tablespoons choco malt(or any of the other malt products)
2-3 tablespoons milk
METHOD
1.Since this comes from my kitchen..you know we are going to take the easy way out!Seive the dry ingrds and keep ready(the flours,and the b.p and b.s.add the oats )
2.In your blender,add the curd,sugar,oil,essence,blend.....then pour onto the dry stuff.mix.
3.Preheat your oven,and pour this mix 3/4 th way into the cupcake wrappers(which are sitting in a muffin pan).Bake for 25-30 mins at 180degC.

4 Now....heres the thing....these guys were awesome 15 mins into the oven..all rounded tops...like a cupcake should be...infact they could've gone for cupcake modelling...then they decided to flop down...sad...sad!......bUT.......once cooled and iced..they tasted pretty good.

ICING

Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy,add the milk and the chocomalt,beat again.........then ice generously the waiting...cooled cupcakes.

Malt cupcakes with malty buttercream

First and foremost a very big thank you to all the people who commented on my previous post.............I'm really touched by the kind words and feel really blessed to know such wonderful people..........I know I've not even met most of you........but you guys make the world a better place.

Onto this recipe.........a friend had asked me what to make chocomalt,well one recipe is the
  malty-walty-banana-cake..........and this would be another that I thought of ,when I should have been doing some other work!(for example studying!)Anyway I tried it out...and I'm sorry if I sound a little immodest when I say this...but they were superb!Do try out the whole thing NOT just the cupcakes...........it has to be with this yum buttercream...I completely agree that the icing is not going to win any beauty contest.....BUT..it has character....and character is good!
INGRDS
3 eggs
1 cup wholewheat flour plus1 cup all purpose flour sieved together with 1 tsp baking pdr
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup chocomalt(maltova,ovaltine,nutramul,horlicks..whatever)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM ICING
50 gms butter
2 tablespoons powered sugar
4 tablespoons choco malt(or any of the other malt products)
2-3 tablespoons milk
THE WAY TO DO IT!
1.Put ALL the ingrds for the cake(eggs etc)in a bowl,use your hand held mixer and beat till nice and smooth,3-4mins.
2.Put the cupcake wrappers into the muffin pan........now put spoonfulls of the batter into the wrappers till 3/4th way up(if you don't have the wrappers,simply butter the muffin moulds and dust with flour...then pour the batter 3/4th into each mould...........its easier and less messy with the cupcake wrappers)

after the heat treatment!

3.Bake in a preheated oven (180degC)for 20-25 mins.(put a shewer in /or a toothpick....if there is no batter sticking to it...your cupcakes are done)
ICING
1.Beat,with your hand held mixer the  softened butter and sugar,till light and fluffy,add the chocomalt and the milk...beat again....the texture should be spreadable.

2.Ice with a tsp.....put onto the cooled cupcakes.....decorate with whatever you have....I had mini marshmallows......I don't get malteasers in my neck of the woods....but if you can lay your hands on it ...then one malteaser on each cupcake would look awesome....grated chocolate would be nice too.sending this to http://www.alittlenosh.net/2012/08/tastetastic-thursday-89/#comment-8559..........tastetastic thursday.

R I P Casper

24 may 2004-13 jul 2012

I know this is a food blog......but this little boy has been a part and parcel of my posts.....an all important part of my life.He died on the 13th of July(Friday the 13th).He died of DKA caused due to diabetes,which resulted in multiple organ failure.

The start of his ill health,the detection of the diabetes and his death was a period of 13 days.
I thank you all for the lovely comments that used to be for him and thank you for the advice,for all those friends who have been such a pillar of strength to me........thank you....

God bless his soul.

lazy cooks macaroni salad

Hi folks.....finally time to put the recipe of the macaroni salad........quite simply because this time I remembered to take the pics ..........this miserable heat is kinda evaporating my brain cells!

This is a lovely summer salad,even my dear husband who likes only really hot and spicy dishes...likes this....its actually a complete meal in itself.......paired with a cool fizzy drink...perfect!
macaroni -2 pkts(I used 1 shell and 1 elbow pkt)
1 big mango(chopped-diced)
1 cup corn(cooked)
1 cup diced cucumber
1/2 cup diced cheese(cheddar)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup of hung curd/quark(take approx. 2 cups of curd...put this in a muslin cloth and hang for an hour....you'd be left with 1/2 cup of hung curd.........can also be called quark)
2 tablespoons mayonaise(I used eggless)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp of Italian sesaoning
1 tblsp of honey(optional)
METHOD
1.In a huge pan of boiling salted water,cut open and topple the contents of the two pkts(Of pasta).Cook till al dente,(should not be mushy....your pasta should have a bite in it),drain,and rinse in cold water.
2.Take the mayo,hung curd,salt,pepper , italian seasoningand honey...mix it well.
3.Take the macaroni,mango,cucumber,onion, cheese,corn....toss the dressing into it,taste and now refrigerate till its nice and cold.........perfect to have for lunch on a hot sunny day.

On a completely unrelated note.......does anyone know how to reduce blood sugar in dogs,my poor Casper has been detected with diabetes,and its a bit of a mystery out here..the docs want to put him on insulin....I've got a week left to get his blood sugar down(I'd asked for 2 weeks to work some magic),I've got this chap eating lauki(bottle gourd),paneer,and baba ramdev meds..........does anyone know anything else that might help reduce the blood sugar?

lazy cooks everything innit cookies

You know those annoying people who keep cooing to their dogs,talking to them and then telling folks that the animal understands every word.The kind of people who call their pets "baby" and "dumpling".......the kind of people who give you dirty looks when you give dirty looks to dogs.........well I'M one of those!The only reason that I don't have one of my dogs as my profile pic...is ..because I'm SURE  some smartass is going to comment that they always knew I was a bitch!So to prevent unplesantness..the pic remains mine! But....my precious ones do manage to come into the frame now and again.
Sometime back I mentioned that Caspar (my white spaniel)had been put on a diet by the vet........anyway a couple of months down and our friend weighs the same ..if not just a wee bit more......Since our man couldn't have the regular cookies...I made these "healthy" ones for him n me!My kids stick to their chocolate chip and variations of chocolate chip....these were made for my baby n me!
INGRDS
1 cup wholewheat flour(atta)
1 cup oats
1 cup dates-chopped
1/2 cup milk pdr
1/2 cup grated coconut.
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
100 gms butter
1 egg
1 tsp cinnamon pdr
1 tsp flaxseed pdr(optional)
METHOD
1.With an electric beater,beat the butter and sugar till soft and fluffy....add the egg...now topple everything else into the bowl.Beat till mixed.
2.Butter a baking tray,put spoonfulls of the mix,press down lightly with a fork.
3.Bake in a preheated 190deg oven for 12-15 mins.
4.Enjoy!
NOTE
This is not my own invention ....this is from an old magazine....and its really good....IT IS NOT A DOG BISCUIT.Its a regular cookie..:)