Crescent Danish Rolls

Had a can of pillsbury dough sheet which I had to finish and was bored of the regular vegetable filling for the same. I found this recipe for Danish rolls on the dough can. 

INGREDIENTS:

For the Rolls:

Pillsbury crescant rolls/ dough sheet: 1 can

Shipped cream cheese: 1 cup

Powdered sugar: 1/2 cup

Lemon: 2 tblsp

Any Jam/ Fruit preserves: 4 tspn

For the glaze:

Powdered sugar: 1/2 cup

Vanilla extracts: 1 tsp

Milk: 2-3 tspns

METHOD: 

Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Mix the cream cheese, lemon and sugar in a bowl, whip together and keep aside.

Spread the dough sheet and cut them to 8 pieces.

On each piece, place about 2 tablespoons of the cream mixture and roll it on the longer edge and seal it completely.

Stretch the rolls a little bit and then coil them into spirals.

In the middle place about 1/2 a tspn of jam or preserve in each piece.

Bake till they are golden brown (about 25-30 mins).

In the mean time, make the glaze by mixing the sugar, vanilla and milk. 

Add sufficient milk to make a drizzling consistency. 

Once baked, use a fork to drizzle the glaze on the warm rolls.

Kids will love this and will serve as a good snack for them.

Do not glaze when hot, this would melt the sugar in the glaze (I did it when the rolls were not cooled enough and the drizzle wasnt up to the mark).

One variation for this would be to make plain rolls and spread a layer of jam and sprinkle roasted pistachios and other nuts of your choice on it.

There can be several flavours for this and imagination is the limit.

Ciao till next time...Have fun! Vidya.

Gobi Manchurian

One of the things that I missed most when I came to US was street food like what I used to love in Bangalore. And when I say street food the first thing that comes to my mind is Gobi Manchurian. So here is my version of Gobi Manchurian. Hope you like it.

INGREDIENTS:

Gobi / Cauliflower: 1 medium sized

Corn Flour: 2 cups

Red Chilli powder: 2 tsp

Red Onion: 1 small

Green Onions chopped: 1/2 cup (optional)

Ginger (Chopped into cubes): 1 tblspn

Garlic (Chopped into cubes): 1 tblspn

Chopped Green Chillies: 6-7 nos (as per taste)

Chopped Cilantro: 1/2 cup

Tomato Ketchup: 1/4 cup

Oil to deep fry

Salt to taste

Water for the batter as needed

METHOD:

Cut the cauliflower into florets, wash well and soak in water and a pinch or turmeric and salt.

In a bowl, add corn flour, salt, chilli powder and add water to make the batter. The batter should be a little thinner than the ones used for bhajji. 

Heat oil in a kadai for deep frying. 

Drain the florets, dip it in the batter and deep fry them till golden brown. Keep them aside.

In a kadai add a little oil. Add the chopped green chillies, ginger, garlic, green onions and onions. Saute for a few minutes. Add the tomato ketchup and half of the salt. Saute.

Add the fried florets. and sprinkle the rest of the salt and saute well. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot. You can add more ketchup as per taste.

Ciao till next time...Have fun! Vidya.

Ulundu Vadai (Medu Vada)

Ulundu vadai or medu vada is one of my favourites. Its a deep fried dish made out of urad dal. Here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

Urad dal: 2 cups

Green Chillies: 5-6 nos

Red Onion: 1 medium sized

Ginger (grated): 1 tsp

Hing: a few pinches

Curry Leaves: a sprig

Salt as per taste

Oil for deep frying

METHOD:

Soak the urad dal for a couple of hours in water.

Grind the dal in a mixer with very less water into a smooth paste.

Add the finely chopped onions, green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, hing and salt. Mix well.

Heat oil in a kadai on a medium flame. 

Grease a plastic sheet / butter paper, add a handfull of the batter, make a small hole in the middle and deep fry till golden brown and crisp. 

Serve hot with Coconut / mint / tomato chutney and sambhar.

Hope you like it....Ciao till next time...Have fun! Vidya.

Happy New Year!!

Hey guys... Wish you all a very Happy New Year!!

With new resolutions, new hopes, new ideas and new experiments starts another year!

Suddenly on new years eve I came up with the idea of trying my hand at baking. This recipe is what my cousin uses...So Radhika, here I post your Eggless Dates Cake recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

Dates: 18 nos.
Milk: 3/4 cup
Sugar: 3/4 cup
All purpose flour: 1 cup
Oil (preferably canola): 1/2 cup
Baking soda: 1 tsp
cashews/walnuts crushed: 1 tblspn

METHOD:

If the dates are not deseeded/pitted, Soak the dates in warm milk overnight and remove the seeds. Add the sugar and grind the dates into a smooth paste using the milk used for soaking them. Add oil and mix. Sieve the flour and baking soda, add to the ground mixture one table spoon at a time and mix well. Add the nuts and mix.

Preheat oven to 350F and bake the cake in a greased baking dish for 30-40 mins.

To check if the cake is done, insert a knife at the centre of the cake and it should come out clean.

I tried the buttercream icing too. I had to manage the coloring with whatever I had that day and the color combination was not very satisfactory, but the taste was fine and everyone loved it.

For the icing, I used:

Butter: 1/2 cup
Confectioners Sugar: 3 cups
Vanilla extract: 1tsp
Milk: 2 tblspns

Mix all the ingredients except milk and blend with a hand blender.

Seperate this into portions needed for different colors.

Add the coloring and change the consistency by using milk as required (for spreading or decorating)

Corn syrup can be used in place of milk for dilution.

Ciao till next time...Have Fun! Vidya.