Christmas has started….

Presents & Parties,

Music & dancing into the night.

Singing & laughter, raising the rafters,

Have yourself a wonderful time!

This happens to be my favourite Christmas song this year, after S performed this & a few more songs at her school performance. There is definitely something magical about watching little kids go up on the stage and sing & dance without any inhibitions. S is totally into the Christmas mood now, the tree is decorated and we are listening to Christmas songs (almost all the time!!). The only thing remaining is the food and today I have no excuses for putting it off, especially because the school holidays have also started. I am anyway looking out for a chance to bake, so no complaints there!

Here are some recipes you can try out too.

Savoury

• Gratin Dauphinoise
• Stuffed peppers
• Roasted Red Pepper & Baby corn Lasagne
• Enchiladas with Nachos & Guacamole
• Gnocchi with a Tomato-Basil Sauce
• Golden Onion Quiche

Sweet

• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Classic Pound/Butter Cake
• Cherry & Almond Cake
• Orange Victoria Sponge Cake
• Chocolate Almond Biscotti
• Shortbread Triangles
• Cherry Scones
• Saffron Almond Cookies
• Hazelnut Chocolate Bars
• Tiramisu

 

Heres wishing all of you a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

Blog Hop – Mini Kaja

I feel like I am perpetually running these days and always getting late for something or the other. Late for S’s school, my work, to cook dinner, to sleep and so on. Its no wonder then that I am late for posting for the Blog Hop too.

I was paired with Sreevalli of Ammaji Recipes for this week and I had decided on what to make from her blog, long back but things were veru hectic and so everything was delayed. But I here I am finally posting Mini Kaja, an Andhra sweet which seemed so simple to make that I read the recipe 2-3 times before I was convinced.

 

Mini Kaja

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Plain Flour (Maida)
• 1 pinch of Baking Soda
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup Yogurt
• 1 tblsp Ghee (Clarified Butter) + 3 tblsp while rolling
• 1/4 cup Rice flour
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
• Water
• Oil for frying

 

Method: Combine the plain flour, baking soda and the ghee. Use the yogurt to knead all this into a dough. Cover this and let it rest for about 2 hours.

To prepare the sugar syrup, take the sugar in a deep pan, cover it with water and let this come to a boil. Once it starts boiling, reduce the flame and simmer until the syrup almost reaches a one string consistency. Add the cardamom powder this, mix well and switch off the flame.

Heat the oil in a kadai for frying. Divide the dough prepared earlier into 3 equal parts, roll each part to a thickness of about 0.5 cm. Spread 1 tblsp of the ghee on to this and sprinkle some rice flour. Now gently roll this and cut into small strips. Repeat with the remaining 2 parts of the dough and use up the 2 tblsp ghee.

Drop these kajas into the hot oil and fry ona  medium flame until they turn brown and crispy. Drain them on to a kitchen towel and after 1-2 minutes, drop them into the prepared sugar syrup. Keep them soaked for about 15 minutes before transferring to an air tight container for storage.

My  Notes: As is evident, it is quite simple to make but the end result is addictively delicious. We couldnt stop munching them even though I am not too fond of sweet things!