courtesy: Art Royale Photography

May the God Guide you through this new adventure, 
     Bless you with all the Best things in life, 
        Wishing you days filled with Happiness and 
            Share your lives with joy and a bright promise for the future,
              Let your marriage be a journey of faith, commitment and togetherness
                 A friendship you can face with every Challenge together with confidence.
                    May this marriage give you both all the joy you ever wanted for 
                        And a journey with a blessing by the Lord.

A very Happy married life to you both on that specially day which brings you together heart and soul......

Love
Jayasri and Family..

Here is the other Bloggers who made this a real treat for eyes do check their blogs....

The post Milk Powder Burfi for a wonderful occasion appeared first on My Veg Fare.

TAWA SUBZI

INGREDIENTS:
FOR THE GRAVY PASTE:
800 to 900 gms of Tomatoes
3 Garlic Cloves
1 small Carrot
1 Bay leaf
5 to 6 Pepper corns
2 Medium sized onions
1'' Ginger
4 Green Chillies
3 Cloves/Lavung
a tiny tiny piece of star anise
1 tbsp Kasoori Methi
1/2 tsp of Cumin seeds
2 tbsp Oil
1 Cup of water

TO MARINATE VEGETABLES:
My tweaked version - for the original version check here
1 and 1/2 tbsp of Red chillies Powder
1/2  tbsp of Coriander powder
1/2 tbsp of Cumin powder
1 tbsp of Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tbsp Garam Masala powder
1 tsp Ajwain powder (cauliflower, Brinjal)
1 tsp Amchur powder ( Lady's finger/Bhindi)
3 to 4 tbsp of Curds
Almost 1/4 cup Besan flour/Chick pea flour

VEGETABLES:
I had around 3 to 4 cups of Vegetables
what I used in this Subzi were:
2 Green peppers
1 Yellow Pepper
1 Big Aubergine
1 Small Cauliflower head
Nearly 1 Kg of  Bhindi/Lady's finger
5 to 6 Medium sized potatoes
150 gms of Paneer
Around 1/4 to 1/2 cup oil for cooking veggies

METHOD:
Cut the cauliflower into little florets (cook them in water with a bit of salt for 10 minutes), cut the capsicums (peppers) into slightly big chunks, Aubergines into big chunks too (once cut keep them in water until you use them), cut the Bhindi/Lady's finger into 2'' pieces and give it a slit in the middle, peel the skin of the potatoes, cut them into chunks (keep them in water until use).
Mix everything under Marinate well enough with a tsp of salt.
Drain water from the cauliflower florets and leave it for sometime so the water drains completely.
In a bowl take capsicums, potatoes and Brinjal/Aubergines chunks add 2 to 3 tbsp of the spice powder for marinating, mix well and keep aside, then do the same with all the veggies, just add Amchur powder to the Bhindis/Lady's finger.
Keep all these vegetables for 2 hours using up all the marinating spice completely. If left over add this to the Tomato gravy ( I had a bit left over I put it in the gravy and it helped in thickening the gravy too because of besan flour, just make sure about the spiciness but)
When the veggies are marinating in a wok,  heat  2 tbsp of oil, add pepper corns, bay leaf, a tiny piece of star anise,  Cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, chillies  and onions then fry until they turn transparent then add chopped tomatoes and one carrot, with a cup of water close the lid and cook until well done in a low flame, check now and then that the curry doesn't dry out add some more water if needed ( I did not add any water as it was good to go).
Meanwhile while the Tomato gravy is in process, Take these marinated veggies, some of them like cauliflower and Baingan (aubergine) might have given out some water, you may add a bit more Besan flour to make it more stiff than gooey  and fry them with 2 to 3 tbsp of oil, one by one, when you are cooking capsicum fry them in a high heat that gives a crunchiness, Add potatoes to the oil first fry for few minutes until it is semi cooked then add  Aubergines mix well and close the lid with a tsp of salt and cook them in a low flame, mix now and then, until well done.
Now make the Tomato Gravy:  when you are in the process with the veggies, Tomatoes would have got cooked really quickly, with everything in it, take it off the stove and allow it to cool.  Using a blender/mixie, removing the Bay leaf blend everything well together into a smooth paste, filter and take the pith squeeze out all the juice and blend it again then add 1/4 cup of water and blend it again, filter again and throw away the left over pith.
Heat a pan with oil, Add this Tomato gravy to the wok taste it, adjust salt add Garam Masala, chilli powder and I added a tbsp of Pav bhaji masala for an extra kick to the dish, add finely chopped coriander leaves, mix well boil it for a few minutes, taste again for the right taste... Mmm..., that's delicious ready to go on the plate with all the roasted vegetables.

This is how you have to serve says Vaishali...
Arrange all the vegetables (Check out her blog for a good click of what she says) in a circle, pour the tomato gravy either on top of it or in the middle or in a bowl and when serving on your plate take the veggies and the gravy to top it and enjoy it with your choice of Naans, parathas, rotis or pulkas etc...
It was fabulous definitely give it a try..,
will see you soon with the next blog hop wednesday ( it's day after tomorrow!)

The post Tawa Subzi appeared first on My Veg Fare.

I can’t believe it, it is already nearing  the end of August and  it is already the reveal day for SRC , I was not even ready for this as I wasn’t doing well from some days, I just made this yesterday night, Going through Kosher cooking for ordinary people quite an interesting journey, simple recipes with beautiful clicks, she has two blogs, check both of them when you have time, Lovely blog, lot of lovely baking too.., I have Bookmarked a few,  I wanted to make something which was unique and something close to her home and heart, I came to know that she is a Jewish and this was traditional sweet  during Purim, during  Jewish festival.

The lovely things I enjoyed seeing in her blog was her kids enjoy making these and trying to bake with their little hands and smiling was much fun to see.

When I was googling I found a lot of things and different recipes and fillings for this pastry too...

This has a little story; it’s the celebration of good triumphing over evil, intelligence and courage trumping greed and oppression.  It’s based on a story that took place some 2500 years ago, when evil Haman’s plan to annihilate the Persian Jews was foiled, he was hung on the gallows he himself had constructed.

During Purim there are many wonderful foods associated with it, Filled foods such as Hamantashen are typical, as they represent the intrigue associated with Queen Esther and Uncle Mordechai’s uncovering of Haman’s wicked plot.  Sweet foods convey our wishes for a sweet future. Sephardic Jews eat cookies that are fried or baked in the shape of Haman’s ear, which was purported to be twisted and triangular in shape, Ashkenazi Jews enjoy fruit or nut filled triangular shaped cookies or pastries – a shape said to represent Haman’s hat, Haman’s pocket or alternatively the three patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

What fascinated me was the Poppy seeds in their traditional filling!, It’s been said that Poppy seeds were the popular ingredient in Purim confections, aside from their general widespread use in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, the seeds are said to be the only food Esther consumed during her three-day fast prior to revealing  Haman’s plot to the king.  Some say poppy seeds also symbolize the promise God made to Abraham to have offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sand of seashore- the antithesis of annihilation. 

Mohn or poppy seed filling with a mixture of ground poppy seeds, milk, sugar or honey, raisins and nuts was popular addition to triangle cookies in medieval central Europe and the finished confections were known as Mohntashen or poppy seed pockets. Iti is said that because these cookies sounded like the name ‘’Haman’’, Hamantashen (or Haman’s pockets) thereby became adopted in the 11^th century as the first unofficial purim treat.

When I saw this filling I was so interested well, for our Indian sweets we use poppy seeds, that got me hooked and I decided i am going to try this recipe only thing was I substituted it with oil and made a quarter of this recipe. I rolled it out very thin, so it was a little crispy but I really got confused few sites said that need to be crispy but some said more like a cookie (softer version), anyways it turned out really well, I liked the poppy seed filling, but I made little ones with Nutella filling too.., just for my kids to enjoy.

Here is the recipe for this delightful dish...

This recipe is very flexible as she says you can add flour until it is non sticky I might have added around 180 grams of flour.

HAMANTASHEN - JEWISH COOKIE FOR PURIM

FOR THE DOUGH:

5 ½ - 7 Cups flour (I used 1 and 3/4^th Cup, I added little more to make it non sticky)

3 Eggs (plus one extra for egg wash if desired) ( I used only one egg)

2 sticks margarine (i used ½ Cup Oil)

1 cup sugar (1/4 cup sugar)

½ Orange juice (2 tbsp Orange Juice)

1 tsp vanilla extract (1/2 tsp vanilla extract)

1 tbsp Baking powder (1 tsp Baking powder)

FILLING:

½ Cup Evaporated milk

4 tbsp of Mapel syrup

I had around 2 cups of coarsely grated nuts such as pistachios, Almonds, cashews, poppy seeds, Pecans, Dates and I added some Raisins in it, but I had also added some sweetened coconuts too, so I really Can’t give exact measurements for this.

  

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 325 degree/Gas mark 4

Combine all the dough ingredients in the bowl as I have no stand mixer I had to mix by my spatula and then used my hand, if you have a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, start with 5 ½ cups and work your way up to 7 cups if needed, just use the flour until it is well combined and not sticky any more, I started with 160 gms and then kept on using extra flour until I reached that consistency so I used around 180-190grams of flour.

After I did the dough I rolled it in a plastic wrap and kept it in the fridge for 2 hours, when I was Googling I found that if you leave the dough overnight, it really works very well.

After  2 hours I took it out and with little balls I made small round discs put in the filling and folded it into a triangle, it is very important about the sealing, wet the circle with water, overlapping and pinching the ends seal the pastry case well, so when you are baking they don’t open up and become messey, check here for the folding techniques.

METHOD FOR THE FILLING:

In a pan I boiled  ½ Cup of Evaporated milk with 4 tbsp of Maple syrup and I added 1 Cup of my chopped nuts and poppy seed mixture and in a low flame I kept stirring until it became thick like a halwa consistency.

Arrange these filled cookies on a Baking sheet with parchment paper for 15- 20 minutes, half way through turn the baking sheet, until it turn golden in colour (mine did not turn golden, but you would know that it is well done), If you give a Egg-wash it gives a lovely shine to the cookies, I just brushed it with milk.

Once completely baked remove them on to a cooling rack, and enjoy eating them.....

Here are a few links if you are interested

Cooking Hamantashen by Tina D. wasserman

Classicaly Kosher

Cup cake project

Thanks to Amanda and her team for this lovely concept and how I love to see the next one soon, If you want to see what others been doing in the Secret Recipe Club check out..., Thanks to Angela of Big Bear's wife for organizing our team, check out below what our team has done....

The post Hamantashen appeared first on My Veg Fare.

Hi everybody, I know I have been posting just cakes all the time!, as I want to finish my T and T project, I have to do this!, So soon I can post the round-up from PAB's blog, Did you read it right ?, Had a lovely time baking this cake and the drawings, It was fun spending time with the kids with this!, we all enjoyed baking and eating :), I had an eye on her signature from a very long time, and really wanted to try it out, and I did it. Only we wee bit got carried away and the left over we squeezed it all over the cake! 🙂

It's always just the weather makes me sore to do anything, well, by the way today, we have lot of sunshine, I have just decided I will enjoy it till it lasts. You need to check out her blog  HERE for beautiful photos of this really yummy cake and of course her signature too...

BAKING QUARK MOUSSE CAKE WITH ROASTED BALSAMIC STRAWBERRIES

FOR THE SPONGE CAKE

Thank you so much Deeba, for this wonderful recipe, and would I make it again Yay! YES OF COURSE...,  I enjoyed your signature drawing so much, I am so pleased with myself that I tried.

Oops I forgot something, I made this for my own event - T and T - Passionate about baking, by kitchen chronicles and zlamushka  and also to Anu's event - Berries - Strawberries, Hearth and soul, and to Priya and Aipi's Bookmarked recipes  and also to Jacqueline and Ruth's Book Marked recipes

The post Baking Quark Mousse cake with Roasted Balsamic Strawberries from PAB appeared first on My Veg Fare.

After the filling rest the cake in the fridge for about ½ an hour, and then frost with chocolate Ganache to which recipe follows below J



BALSAMIC STRAWBERRY AND CREAM FILLING:

1-2 tbsp powdered sugar

If you want to see the lovely Clicks log on to her website for the pleasant to heart, eyes and soul clicks of this beautiful cake here is the link http://www.passionateaboutbaking.com/2011/04/bakingbarbaras-old-fashioned-chocolate-cake-with-
balsamic-strawberry-cream-filling-eggless.html

I am sending this to my own event Tried and Tested from Deeba's Blog of Passionate about Baking event of zlamushka's taken care of Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles  and also ''Only Baked'' event started by Pari of foodelicious and hosted by Harini of Tamalapaku. I am sending this to Anu's event Berries - Strawberries 

The post Baking Barbara's old fashioned chocolate cake with Balsamic strawberry & Cream filling - Eggless appeared first on My Veg Fare.

I love her blog, and her as a person, she has a fabulous blog, again like my T and T,  She is a blogger who bakes a lot, and if you love to bake, here is one blog you will love. I love to  say I baked my first cake from her blog and so immensely enjoyed by the whole family and did I tell  you I made this cake twice and sent it to H's office who also enjoyed it so much and my H loved it so much, he kept saying it was Gorgeous, and I loved it so much because of the flavour and fruit in it, It is one my favourite cakes, I never posted this cake, but surely will make again and post it soon, at least for this event, I even tried my first Eggless cake from her blog, which gave me a boost to all my Eggless bakes, I love her blog and I hope you all love her blog too..., A pure vegetarian blog with lot of lovely recipes, try out some of her recipes and send it to me.

BLOGGERS MARATHON # 3 - PARITA of Parita's World

As always we have to follow little rules:

Your Blog's Name
URL link of the recipe post

The post Bloggers Marathon # 3 - Parita's World appeared first on My Veg Fare.

ROASTED GARLIC FOCACCIA

well, let me start with my Tried and Tested recipes from her blog as it is my event and I certainly need to participate right ? so here is my contribution for this event. Of course it is not just the event it is how much I love her blog, for such lovely recipes she presents to us right ?.
I love baking that is why I chose her blog and that too especially Bread, which is my favourite and I love baking Bread, I think it's in my blood, If I get a chance I have lot of things I would like to update my oven so I can bake much more good quality breads and what I always look for in my breads. Love the smell of the bread fresh from the oven even my kids love it when I baking a bread, isn't it great.., well let me stop and get back to the recipe.
This is not the first time I have baked Focaccia, it's just me, love to try breads in every blog I stumble upon!, when Deeba talks about this recipe or should I say all the recipes in her blog she winds you up in her little finger filled with beautiful photographs and the little write up, you get mesmerized and you get connected up, like the two cakes I baked from her blog, I was thinking how my daughter is just like hers or should I say it must be the age of all teenagers!., Oops lost track again didn't I ?, She found this Focaccia recipe from Pease pudding, which was very interesting for her as it did not need any poolish, it is like a starter or mother dough and is also referred to as a preferment or biga., so that's it, it looked beautiful I got hooked :).
A few days back I had made this oil for Focaccia from an other blog, which I will try to post soon enough (!*?), I need to as I made this Olive oil from that blog, and now I permanently use it in most of my bread recipes when I use olive oil. Try it you will love it, as my kids say the bread you bake with that oil takes you to an other world.

HERB FRAGRANT OLIVE OIL
Few sprigs of Rosemary, Basil, Oregano, Sage, Thyme, Marjoram, Tarragon, parsley and chives. I had few of them from my garden, few bought it from super-market.
I added 1 cup of Olive oil to these fresh herbs and allowed it to simmer on a low flame, I did not want to boil Olive oil, for 20 to 25 minutes, as you can see in the picture until all the herbs kind of wilted in the oil and when cooled down I filtered it, Now a days I make it often and store it in an oil jar, and use it when ever I want it. Coming back to the recipe of Focaccia

INGREDIENTS:
500 gms of Strong Bread Flour
1 and 1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp Fast action Yeast
500 ml Luke warm Water
2 to 3 pods of roasted Garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Toppings: sliced Garlic 2 to 3 pods, sea salt, few fresh herbs, I used some wine Tomatoes and some olives.

METHOD:
In a large bowl as I always do I poured around 3 to 4 tbsp of luke warm water, to this I added yeast and sugar, and left it for few minutes, just to make sure my yeast is still in working condition!, few minutes later if you see that it is bubbling up that means a thumbs up sign, yeast is active now dump in the flour, salt and 2 to 3 tbsp of Oil and then the water and mix it well together.

When you do this you would notice that it had more water (500ml), it was quite difficult to knead the dough I just started kneading the dough with my plastic spoon, for few minutes then I floured lightly my table top and poured the dough on to it, just dipped my hand in the flour and kneaded it a bit just to ensure that it came together well enough and tried and made it into a ball, oiled my bowl and the dough and sealed it with a cling film and left it some time (depending on the outside temperature) until it doubled in size.
Preheat oven 200 degree centigrade/Gas Mark 6
Once it is doubled in size, Grease the oven dish you are baking in I used my lasagna dish, oiled them very well with olive oil then poured this dough into it, No need to knead it again, then generously pour extra virgin olive oil on the Focaccia, and make multiple wells (or should I say dimples), and then add all the toppings you want, at this stage you can leave it for a second rise for 1/2 an hour or just bake it directly for 20 to 30 minutes, until well risen and golden in colour or prick with a skewer tell you that it is done.
Take it out and allow it to cool then remove and enjoy the flavorful lovely Italian bread.
verdict : It was simply delicious and the kids loved it, and I loved baking it with complete satisfaction :).
c u soon with other two Oh! no three recipes from her blog soon..
take care, Oh! wait want to take an other look at my lovely bread here it is...

sorry for the funny photos that is how my daughter takes them :).
I am sending this to my own Tried and Tasted event started by zlamushka and now taken care of by Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles and Guest hosted by me from Passionate about baking.
I am also sending this to Only series of Pari's guest hosted by Harini of Tamalapaku's Only Baked event.

The post Roasted Garlic Focaccia appeared first on My Veg Fare.

So let's start trying out some recipe (s) from her blog....

Deeba's - PASSIONATE ABOUT BAKING - May 2nd - May 31st

As always little rules to follow:
nothing much...
Please remember this is a vegetarian blog and eggs are allowed
Do link the Tried and Tested event to zlamushka's blog, and then to Kitchen Chronicles as they both needed to be acknowledged for this beautiful event.
If you have already tried any recipes from her blog, no need to re-post just link this event page to that post, and mail me.
Please stick as much as possible to the original recipe.
Non- bloggers are welcome too, they can send me a mail and a picture of what you have made.
Please send me your entries to cookingisdivine@gmail.com with T and T- May 2011 as subject.
Send me your name, URL link of your recipe and a photo of your dish
Please send in your entries from May 2nd - May 31st ( I will posting the round-up by first week of June.
Oops I had almost forgotten :),
My lovely Non-bloggers can also participate in this event, Just write to me with your recipe and a click of the dish and I will be glad to share it with all my other entries.....

A very special thanks to Ksenia, who has been kind enough to make this logo for this lovely event
Please do include the logo in your creations from Deeba's blogging world if possible :)). Many thanks.

A small change in the logo it is May '11, Looking forward to seeing your creations from her's to mine.
If you have any doubts, please mail me, and if I have missed out anything do please write to me, I might me be a little late in responding to you as again because of net connections.

The post Guest Hosting Tried and Tested event - Passionate About Baking appeared first on My Veg Fare.

Here are entries I received.

I would like to thank Bharthy which was so nice of her, I felt so touched and emotional reading her post, how sisters are, A true beautiful ode to her lovely sis.
I have two sisters whom I love so much with all my heart, just go to her blog and read about it, if you have sisters, you will truly enjoy it just like me.
Living far away from my sisters I feel so depressed, when I read her post I cried and smiled and laughed thinking of my sisters too....
Enjoy the entries..

Butterscotch Blondies, Aethapazham/Nenthranpazham Vazhattiyathu (Ghee Roasted Bananas, that was quite a mouthful couldn't pronounce just copied it !!), Thella Pulusu and this must read Ode to my Angel

A wonderful and truly a lovely blogger is priya, I just love her attitude and I think she is great and tries to participate every one of the events announced in blogosphere I think. A very big thank you lovely girl.

Quick and Easy Ghee Rice and Moong dal tadka Cherupayar from Priya of Priya's easy n tasty recipes

Jeyashri of Jeyashri's Kitchen sent me this but wrote that she was sending it to Only Breads event of pari's, I did not check but sent it to pari thinking she had made a mistake, the funny thing was I noticed later on that she had made this for my event :)), just had a good laugh, thanks love anyways.
Actually I had planned to make these too.., had no paneer so left it out, My kids are not a big fan of paneer or Tofu so I thought this was a good one, but certainly I will try this out soon.

Bread Paneer Rolls from Jeyashri's Kitchen with great recipes and drool worthy clicks too....

The V Kitchen who has a lovely blog and sent me these lovely Chocolate Walnut Brownies with lovely photos

Raji of Raks Kitchen was the first one to send me her entry which she had double tested :)), as it was done by Nags sis Bharthy too.. :)) read her blog about this and go to the comments section to enjoy the sisters commenting about this, A nice warm smile will seep through your mouth..  hahaha......
Baby Corn Manchurian 

Radhika of Tickling Palates who has wonderful blog with eye-catching clicks has sent me this lovely Garlic Bread Rolls 

Sharmi of Sharmi's passion which has some wonderful passionate cooking and baking going on in her blog, needless to say has a classic recipes with beautiful clicks, I was introduced to her by Raji's event, what a beautiful blog..... sent these Corn in Onion sauce

Premalatha of Prema's Thaligai who has a step-wise pictures pick-me-up clicks, beautiful blog with lovely recipes sent me this Coriander Rice and okra Curd Pachadi..

These are my entries to her event....
Eggless Chocolate melting moments (which was a big hit with my kids they are demanding me to make me more), Most fabulous Banana cake, Baby Potatoes in Red coriander sauce

I made 2 more I think which i will try to post soon or I will post it for other events thanks Nags for the lovely recipes, Oops I forgot I made her Tobleron bars I have all the step-wise photos but not the final product I had it in my fridge thinking I will take the click later on, I don't know that I would make such a grave mistake, when I looked for it, it was all gone!, now I have to make them again :), just to take the last click. I will just post the step-wise pics and the day I make them I will post the final product I guess howz that ?
will bring our next blogger to run our marathon with.. on sunday...., Hope this time I will run with my schedule as planned...., so I can cover lot more bloggers soon...

I again like to thank you all for sending me these entries, love you all thank you once again.........
C u soon take care bye....

The post Round-up from Nags - Edible Garden (cooking and me) appeared first on My Veg Fare.

EGGLESS CHOCOLATE MELTING MOMENTS:

INGREDIENTS:
125gms Butter
60 gms Icing sugar
100 gms plain flour
25gms corn flour
20 gms cocoa powder
1 Snickers Bar (this is my tweak to this recipe)
METHOD:
It is a very simple and quick recipe, easy to make and bake.

Bring the butter to room temperature, add Icing sugar, corn flour, plain flour, cocoa powder mix all of them well together, I grated some Snickers Bar into this (may be next time, I might try out lot of other chocolates grated into it 🙂 ). It was not forming into a ball very nicely so I used 2 to 3 tbsp of water and lo! you can see the ball formed, I made this into small balls as you can see, flattened it a little bit, and baked them for 20 to 25 minutes, Gas Mark 4/180 degrees.
They form into a lovely cookie soft but not breakable to the touch, beautifully baked and done, ready to eat.
I just did as told, dusted some Icing sugar on top of it, as Nags says these were well behaved, they came off my baking sheet very easily as hers :).
Take an other look at these beauties, the clicks haven't come out as hers please do not compare.
My mobile and the night could only get this much out of my camera.
As she says, hey vegetarians go ahead and bake some for yourselves.

My verdict: Next time I thought I will add a bit more sugar, as per the demands of my kids!
c u soon with an other recipe...........

The post Eggless Chocolate Melting Moments appeared first on My Veg Fare.