Banana Nutella Swirl Bread

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon(optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 10 tablespoons nutella

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease two 7×3 inch loaf pans or line with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda, and flour. Divide into prepared pans. Drop 5 tablespoons of nutella, on top of each loaf, spacing it evenly across top. Then using a knife, swirl the nutella into the batter a few times. Careful not to swirl too much.
3. Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Recipe Courtesy: Kirbie Cravings

Peanut Butter and Nutella Swirl Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup Nutella

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Mix until well combined.
3. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a large measuring cup or bowl. Slowly stir in to the peanut butter mixture.
4. Drop spoonfuls of Nutella on top of the dough and swirl it through the dough with a butter knife.
5. Chill the dough for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
6. Roll into balls by hand.
7. Place the balls of dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
8. Use a fork to lightly press the balls down and make a criss-cross pattern.
9. Bake until the edges are very lightly browned, about 7 to 10 minutes.
10. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

Recipe Courtesy: The Sweetest Kitchen

Whole Urad Dal Milagai Podi

Ingredients:
Whole Black Urad Dal - 1/2 cup

Chana dal - 1/2 cup
White Sesame seeds - 2 tbspns
Red chilies - 8 
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp

Method:

Heat 1 tsp oil in a kadai and roast whole urad until crisp over medium flame. It takes roughly 5-7 mins. Remove it and keep it aside.

Heat another tsp oil in the same kadai and roast chana dal until red and crisp. Remove and keep it aside.

In the same kadai add red chilies and roast until crisp and changes its color. Remove and let them cool. Add sesame seeds to the same kadai and let them pop. It takes hardly a minute or two. Set aside. Once the ingredients are cooled down grind everything with salt(according to taste) in the mixer to a coarse powder.

Spread the mixture on a plate and once it is cooled pour into the air tight container and store it in the refrigerator for longer life. Serve it with idli/dosa/upma. Mix the powder with ghee or sesame oil while serving.

Recipe Courtesy: The Chef and her Kitchen

Carrot Juice

Ingredients:

Baby Carrots - 50 Nos

Orange Juice - 1/2 cup fresh (2 medium sized Oranges yields 1/2 cup juice)

Sugar - 3 tbspns

Water - as needed

Method:

Chop the carrots and blend the carrots in the blender adding little water till it becomes a paste. Now strain it using a strainer and extract the juice completely. Again blend the strained carrots with little water and extract the juice again. Approximately it yields 1 1/4 cups carrot juice. You may add little more water if needed.

Add the orange juice and sugar. Mix it well and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Recipe Courtesy: Nalini's Kitchen

Broccoli Rasam

Ingredients:

Broccoli Florets - 1/4 cup

Tomato - 1 medium, chopped

Tamarind Paste - 1 tbspn

Coconut - 2 tbspns

Green Chilies - 3-4 (adjust according to spiciness)

Lemon Juice - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Tuvar dal - 1/4 cup, cooked and mashed

Salt - according to taste

Cilantro - 1 tbspn, for garnishing

To temper;

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Ghee - 1 tsp

Method:

Add the broccoli florets, chopped tomatoes, tamarind paste, turmeric powder and salt to 4 cups of water.

Let the mixture boils till broccoli florets are cooked. Now, grind the coconut and green chilies along with a tbspn of cooked broccoli and tomato mixture to a smooth paste. Keep it separate.

Now add the mashed dal to the mixture. Let it simmer for 1-2 minutes. Follow it up by adding the grounded paste. Add 1/4 cup of water to the rasam. When it becomes light frothy switch off the stove.

In a pan, add ghee. Once it is warm add mustard seeds. As it splutters, add it to the rasam.

Now add the lemon juice and garnish with cilantro.

Recipe adapted from http://rascookbook.blogspot.com