Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting - India Flag Special Cupcakes for Republic Day

Wish you all a very Happy 64^th Republic Day to all my Readers, bloggers, friends!!!

I thought I would enhance this year Republic Day celebrations with tri colors of our India flag and baked these delicious vanilla cupcakes with awesome colors of frosting 

A recipe for vanilla cupcakes and butter cream frosting is a perfect pair for model cupcakes. These are very simple to make and taste so yummy

Srav’s Culinary Concepts turns ‘3’!!! With Coffee Cake

Three Cheers for Three Years!!!! I am celebrating three years of blogging and I am totally overwhelmed with this journey J

A Big Thanks to everyone who supported me in my journey of blogging and many thanks to all my blogger friends for all the encouragement with your valuable suggestion.

Celebration is not complete without sweets & treats. So here is a sweet treat ‘Coffee Cake’ for this wonderful fest.

Coffee Cake is a simple sweet moist rich cake usually made with nuts and spices. This Coffee cake with its rich crumble topping tastes great as a morning treat with a cup of coffee.

Strawberry Choco Chips Muffins

Strawberry picking season has begun!! Last weekend we went for strawberry picking and wanted to do something with all the strawberries, seriously these strawberries were so fresh, juicy and craved to bake something right away after returning from picking. So last Saturday evening after picking baked these Delicious Muffins!! 

Strawberry and Choco Chips go so well in muffins. They tasted so yummy where the strawberries made the muffins moist and the chocolate chips gave sweet taste. We loved these Muffins!!

Sago Payasam – Diwali Special

With gleam of Diyas

And the Echo of the Chants
May Happiness and Contentment Fill Your life

Wishing all my readers, friends, bloggers a very happy and prosperous Diwali!!

To celebrate this diwali occasion prepared this sweet – Sago Payasam.

This is one of the simple and easy sweet which can be prepared very easily and takes very less time. When we were kids my mom used to prepare this Sweet quiet regularly and I used to love it a lot.

Dry Nuts Ladoo – Diwali Special

Days before the Diwali festival my mom used to start preparing traditional delicious sweets and savories and we as kids used to enjoy them. Diwali is a festival which has a custom of exchanging   sweets and savories that are especially made at home.

This weekend I made Dry Nuts Ladoo which is very easy to make as well as tastes delicious. These ladoo’s are not only delicious but also highly nutritious. When I was kid my mom used to prepare them quiet regularly.

Spooky Witch Finger Cookies – Halloween Threat

Hey everyone!! Boooo!!!! Happy Halloween!!!!!!!

For this Halloween I made these Spooky Witch Finger Cookies.  Well this is one of those spooky desserts that I have always seen, but never actually made until for this Halloween.

A little creepy and scary, but really fun to make, these finger cookies are actually very delicious and great spooky decoration and sure a smash hit for Halloween party!!! The ingredients in the cookies are basic ingredients like almonds, flour, sugar and vanilla extract. Almonds act as fingernails for these spooky finger-shaped cookies that kids and grown-ups like and will enjoy!! As the finger cookies expand so make them as thin.

Choco Chip Sour Cream Muffins

I love to bake on Sunday evenings with wonderful treats like muffins, breads, cakes, cupcakes…

This weekend I was in fridge-cleaning mood (as I overbought lots of grocery and need to make some room to accommodate and I was in this process). In the back of my fridge I found a container of sour cream which was nearly ready to expire. Then a speedy internet search guided me to these Choco Chip Sour Cream Muffins.

Eggless Mango Cake

This weekend I bought new baking pans and I was very keen to bake some cake. Then taught of baking an eggless mango cake which I tried couple of months back but could not post the recipe which I bookmarked from ChefInyou.

This Mango Cake was so moist and scrummy. The cardamom powder to it adds great fragrance and nice flavor to cake. I love its color and its taste is splendid.

Chocolate Almond Biscotti – My 150th post

This is my 150^th post which is quite exhilarating!! I am really thrilled!!

First thing a very big bow/thank you to all my fellow bloggers, friends, family and readers for visiting/reading/following my blog and for your sweet and wonderful comments and hugs to my lovely hubby who tastes all my dishes and helps in all my cooking.

On my journey of my blogging I really started learning many new recipes/baking in spite of my busy work life which really makes me proud of myself.

Rava Ladoo - Shivaratri Special

Wishing All My friends,Readers,blogger friends and Dear Ones A Very Happy Shivaratri !!

For this  Shivaratri I made this Rava Ladoo which is simple and wonderful sweet and can be prepared easily on special occasions and whenever you want to have some sweet.My mom used to make them very frequently when we were kids.
Love them !!

Vermicelli Sesame Jaggery Ladoo

This weekend I tried these unique ladoo which is simple and wonderful sweet and can be prepared easily on special occasions or whenever you desire to have some sweet.


Sesame and vermicelli are my favorite and thought to try this combo, along with jaggery which tasted very yummy.

These are prepared by simple ingredients like Sesame, Vermicelli and Jaggery. This ladoo tastes very crunchy due to vermicelli and very yummy flavor with sesame and jaggery

Chana & Moong Payasam - Pongal Special

Bhogi Bhoga bhagyalato
Sankranti siri sampadalato
Kanumu kalasi melasi Kanuvinduga
Sankranti sambaranni
Jarupu kovalani Korukontu
HAPPY SANKRATHI !!!!


Wishing All My friends,Readers,blogger friends and Dear Ones A Very Happy Pongal !!

For this Pongal I made this Payasam as naivedyam for god.

This is simple, wonderful sweet which can be prepared easily on special occasions and whenever you want to have some sweet.

My mom used to make this payasam quiet regularly for us. Channa & moong dal Payasam is prepared with channa and moong dal paste added to milk and jaggery syrup. Adding Coconut and milk gave a yummy flavor. It can be enjoyed either hot or cold.

Pittu - Steamed Mixture of Rice Rava & Jaggery

Pittu is a traditional south indian sweet which is prepared in Andhra. This is all time favorite of mine.
When we were kids my mom used to make this dish quiet regularly as it is very healthy.

Wheat Flour & Jaggery Bonda/Sweet Bonda – Diwali Special

Diwali festival is Full of lights, May your life be filled with colors and lights of happiness. 

Wishing All my Friends, Bloggers, Readers and Dear Ones A Very Cheerful and Sparkling Deepavali !!!

Hope you all had/having a great and safe Diwali :)

 @Home

For this Diwali I made this Sweet Bonda which is simple and wonderful dessert and can be prepared easily on special occasions and whenever you want to have some sweet with jaggery.

My mom used to make them very regularly when we were kids as evening snacks and we used to enjoy them after coming back from school.

These are prepared by simple ingredients like Wheat Flour and Jaggery. Adding coconut, rice flour and milk gave a yummy flavor. If we want we can omit them and use water instead of milk. 

If we want crispiness to bondas we can use rice flour, if not we can avoid it. To get better shapes of bonda we can use a deep curved ladle or an icecream scoop to pour the batter into oil.

Ingredients:

Wheat flour – 1 cup

Jaggery grated – ½ cup

Sugar (optional) – 1 tsp

Dry Coconut grated (optional) – 2 tsp

Elachi Powder – a pinch

Milk – 5-6tsps

Water

Salt a pinch

Oil for deep frying

Preparation

• In a wide bowl take wheat flour, add grated jaggery , milk , sugar, elachi powder, coconut, salt and mix well.
• Add little water if required and mix well till the consistency of batter will be like vada batter.
• Keep this mixture aside for 1-2 hrs.
• Heat oil in a pan; pour the batter into it with the help of ladle.
• Cook well on medium flame.
• Fry bonda’s well till golden color and drain them to kitchen towel.

Sending this to Dish it out - Wheat and Jaggery hosted by SouthIndianHome originally started by Vardhini, Serve It - Festival Potluck hosted by Krithi & Denny,  Diwali- Festival of LIGHTS hosted by Anu ,  My Diwali MyWay hosted by Khusi, Only Sweets and Desserts hosted by Gayathri originally started by Pari and to my event CC-Festive Food

Badhusha – My 100th post - Diwali Special

Hooray for my 100^th post!! Wow what a journey it has been. I am so excited about this little milestone!!

I really never thought I can make these many kinds of recipes, but over the last 6 months, I have exposed a love to baking, tried many new recipes first time, organized some foodie events, and met so many inspirational and lovely bloggers of whom some have already became friends!! I love reading all your comments and you all inspire me to carry on.

I wanted to say a heartfelt thankyou to all my friends, followers, bloggers and readers. And I am very grateful to my sweet hubby who supports and helps in my cooking.

To celebrate this small milestone, I prepared badhusha. I learnt this recipe from Raks kitchen. 

Badhusha is an Indian festive Sweet made easily with available ingredients of flour and sugar. First time I made these Badhusha’s and I enjoyed making those shapes. They came out so soft and I and my hubby enjoyed them a lot.

Initially I taught it is very difficult to make, but when I decided to prepare I felt it is very easy and infact I made it on weekday after coming from work within 1 hour, enjoyed making them :)

Source : Rak's Kitchen

Ingredients:

All purpose flour/Maida – 1 ½ cups

Butter – ¼ cup

Ghee – 8 tsps

Curd – 1 ½ tsp

Baking Soda – 2 pinches

Sugar – ½ tsp

Water – ¼ cup

Oil for deep Frying

For Syrup:

Sugar – ½ cup

Water – little

Elachi powder – ¼ tsp

Lemon juice – 1 tsp

Preparation

• Melt butter in microwave and keep aside.
• In a wide bowl, add ghee,sugar,baking soda,curd and whisk it to mix well.
• Later add flour and mix well without lumps.

• Add water slowly and mix well to make a smooth dough.
• Keep the dough aside and covered it with wet cloth for 15 mins.
• Boil water with sugar and elachi to make thick syrup. Remove from heat and keep aside.
• Divide the dough into small lemon sized balls.
• Take a ball, flatten slightly and twist the sides using fingertips decoratively and shape the edges.
• Prepare all the balls and keep aside by covering them.
• Heat oil in a frying pan.  Add some badhushas into oil. Remove from heat and let it cooked for 5 mins.
• Later the badushas float on top, again switch on the heat and cook on medium flame for another 5 mins or till they turn golden color.

• Drain them in paper towel and immediately put them into the sugar syrup for about 5 mins and serve in a plate.
• Sprinkle nuts or dry coconut and serve !!

Sending this to Serve It - Festival Potluck hosted by Krithi & Denny, Diwali Special - Sweets & Savories hosted by Radhika,  Diwali- Festival of LIGHTS hosted by Anu,My Diwali MyWay hosted by Khusi, Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Priya, and to my event CC-Festive Food, Only Sweets and Desserts hosted by Gayathri originally started by Pari

     

Kobbari Bellam Ladoo/Coconut Jaggery Ladoo

This is a very popular sweet of India made during festivals and feasts.  Coconut Jaggery ladoo is one of the true delight for all the coconut lovers and for the people with sweet tooth.

I love and enjoy this sweet a lot. In my childhood my mom used to make them regularly as we used to have lots of coconut in our home.

This sweet can be prepared with very less ingredients --- Fresh Coconut, Jaggery.  

Ingredients:

Fresh grated Coconut – 1 cup

Jaggery grate or cut into small pieces – 1 cup

Elachi powder – 1 tsp

Sugar – 1 tsp

Ghee – 1 tsp

Preparation

• In a heavy bottom vessel take grated jaggery in very little water and cook on medium heat till the jaggery melts.
• After cooled filter the jaggery water and keep aside.
• In the same vessel add fresh grated coconut, jaggery water.
• Let coconut cook well in the jaggery syrup.

• Stir continuously and Cook until the mixture close to thick.
• Add Sugar and cook well.
• Add Elachi Powder and ghee.
• Turn off the heat and keep it aside for few minutes.
• When the mixture is warm grease your palm with ghee and start making small balls of the mixture.
• Yummy Kobbari Ladoos are Ready !!!!

Sending this to Serve It - Festival Potluck hosted by Krithi & Denny, Diwali Special - Sweets & Savories hosted by Radhika,  Diwali- Festival of LIGHTS hosted by Anu , Dish Name Starts With K hosted by Ahkila, My Diwali MyWay hosted by Khusi, Only Sweets and Desserts hosted by Gayathri originally started by Pari, Healing Food - Coconut hosted by Sukanya originally started by Siri, Veggie/Fruit A Month hosted by Priya.

Kudumulu, Paala Undrallu -----Vinakaya Chavithi Neivedyam

Suklaambara Dharam Vishnum

Sashi Varnam Chatur Bhujam
Prasanna Vadhanam Dhyaayet
Sarva Vighna Upashaanthaye.................

వినాయక చవితి శుభాకాంక్షలు !!!

Wishing All My Readers, Friends a Very Happy Vinayaka Chavithi !!!!

For this Chavithi I prepared  Kudumulu, Paala Undrallu ,Pulihora. Here I am posting the recipes of Paala Undrallu, Kudumulu.

Kudumulu

Ingredients:

Raw Rice – 1 cup

Water – 2 cups

Channa dal – 4 tsps

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Ghee – 1 tsp

Preparation

• Soak Channa Dal in water for 1 hour.
• After 1 hr drain water and keep aside.
• Heat ghee in a pan, add soaked channa dal, jeera and fry for 1 min.

• Add Water and salt and bring it to boil.
• When water is boiling, reduce the flame.
• Add rice rava and stir continuoslt without any lumps.
• Cover it for 5-8 mintues.
• Turn off heat and cool
• Once it gets cooled make balls.
• Pressure cooks these balls on medium flame for 10 mins.
• Kudumulu are ready !!

Pala Undrallu

Ingredients:

Rice Flour – 1 cup

Milk – 1 cup

Sugar – ¾ cup

Grated Coconut – ½ cup

Water – 2 ½ cups

Elachi Powder – a pinch

Preparation

• Fry rice flour for 2 mins.
• Boil 2 cups of water and add rice flour.
• Mix well and immediately cover with lid on very low heat.
• Cook for 5 minutes and let it cool
• After it gets cooled make small balls and pressure cook them without whistle for 10 minutes.

• In another vessel add ½ cup of water, sugar and bring to boil.
• On low flame add coconut and rice balls and mix well
• Cook for 5 mins
• Add milk and cook for another 5 mins.
• Lastly add cardamom powder.

Carrot Kheer

Carrot Kheer is milk based dessert which is very easy to make and full of nutrition. Although it is a kheer it does not need any ghee, it is just prepared by using carrots, milk. The main ingredient of this dish is carrot which is rich in vitamin A. This kheer reminds me of badam milk that I used to have at my grandmom’s place when we were kids. I miss those days :(

I learnt this recipe from my husband’s friend Tulasi he is really a good cook and he prepares a lot of varieties. I learn many recipes from him. My husband made that floating cute smiley. 

Carrot kheer serves best any time of the day, and is a perfect nourishing summer drink which can be prepared in less time. If you want to have a healthy dessert this is a great option.

We can also add nuts like almonds, cashews (raw ones) to get a nutty flavor.  But in my preparation I used just carrots, milk, sugar and flavored with cardamom.

Ingredients:

Carrot – 4 no Big ones

Milk – 1 liter

Cardamom – 3 pods

Sugar – ½ cup or as required

Preparation

• Peel the skin of carrot, cut into chunks and boil for 15-20mins
• Cool and grind to a smooth paste. While blending we can use the boiled water until the paste gets blended well or if boiled water is not sufficient we can use little part of milk to blend them if required.
• Bring milk to boil and add sugar.
• Reduce the flame and add carrot paste to it and stir continuously.
• Cook on low flame for 10-15 mins or till the raw smell of carrot goes away. 
• Lastly add cardamom and serve.

Sending this to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Priya, Veggie/Fruit of the Month - Carrot hosted by Reva originally started by Priya , HCC - Healthy desserts hosted by Jolly Vindaloo originally started by Smita, MMK- Indian Mithai Mela hosted by Kalyani.