Huevos Rancheros

Huevos Rancheros is a classical Mexican breakfast dish.

Ingredients
Eggs: 4
Olive oil: 2 tsp
Corn tortillas: 4 (each of 6 inch)
Refried beans with green chilies: 1 cup
Butter: 1 tsp
Shredded Cheddar cheese: 1 cup
Chicken: 1 cup (cooked and crumbled)
Salsa: 1/2 cup

Method
Heat oil in a pan over medium-high flame. Fry tortillas one at a time until firm, but not crisp. Remove on paper towels and drain extra oil. Meanwhile, combine the refried beans and butter in a microwave-safe dish. Cover and cook in the microwave until heated through. When tortillas are done, fry eggs in the same pan. Spread tortillas onto a plate and spread a layer of beans on them. Top with cheese, a fried egg, crumbled chicken and salsa.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients
Butter: ½ cup
Peanut butter: ½ cup
Sugar: 1 cup
Egg: 1
All-Purpose flour: 1 ¼ cup
Salt: ¼ tsp
Baking powder: ½ tsp

 

Method
Whisk together butter, peanut butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. 

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into batter and refrigerate the mixture for one hour.

Roll the mixture into equal size 12 balls and flatten them lightly with your palms and put on a greased baking sheet. Make criss-cross pattern with a fork. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F for 10 minutes or till the cookies begin to brown. Do not over-bake.

Onion Dosa

Ingredients
Rice: 2 cups
Urad dal: 1 cup
Chopped onion: 1 cup
Cumin powder: ¼ tsp
Sesame seeds: 1 tsp
Chopped green chilies: 2 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves: 2-3 tsp
Salt: To taste
Oil or butter: As required

Method
Soak Urad dal and rice separately for five to six hours and grind them separately to make a smooth batter. Add salt and allow it to ferment overnight.

Mix chopped onion, green chilies, coriander leaves, cumin powder, sesame seeds and salt in a bowl and keep aside.

Heat a non-stick tava and drizzle little oil. Pour one ladle full of batter and spread it evenly in a circular shape and spread out little onion mixture and press lightly. Drizzle oil or butter and cook for a few seconds. Turn over the dosa and cook on the other side for a minute before transferring it to a serving plate. Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Creamy Scrambled Eggs

Ingredients
Eggs: 4
Butter: 1 tsp
Cream: 2 tsp
Pepper powder: ½ tsp
Salt: To taste

Chopped coriander: 1 tsp

Method
Heat a heavy bottomed pan and add butter. Let it melt on a low flame. Meanwhile whisk eggs in a bowl properly. Add cream and whisk again till frothy. Add the whisked eggs into the pan and cook on a very low flame for about 10-15 minutes. Keep stirring in between to get the custard consistency. Later, the eggs will get thicker, but still will be creamy. When the eggs are dry and cooked enough, add salt, pepper and garnish with coriander and serve warm.

Eggless Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
Maida: 2 ½ cups
Sugar: 2 cups
Unsweetened cocoa powder: ½ cup
Baking soda: 2 tsp
Salt: 1 tsp
Warm water: 2 cups
Vanilla extract: 2 tsp
Oil: ½ cup
Apple cider vinegar: 2 tsp

For Chocolate Glaze
Sugar: 1 cup
Butter: 8 tsp
Milk: 4 tsp
Unsweetened cocoa powder: 4 tsp
Vanilla extract: 2-3 tsp

Method
In a baking dish, mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Make sure all the ingredients have blended together properly. Add water, vanilla, oil and vinegar and mix all the ingredients properly. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake the mixture for about 30 minutes. Later allow the cake to completely cool.

Take a pan and boil sugar, butter, milk and cocoa powder. Stir frequently and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the flame and stir for another 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla, stir and pour onto the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting.

Note: The glaze dries very quickly, so you have to spread it immediately and add any sprinkles.

Basbousa with Almonds

During Ramadan I tried some Middle East recipes. Here’s a dessert which is very simple to prepare but yet, very yummy. Basbousa with Almonds is a traditional Middle East dessert and is perfect with coffee or tea.

Ingredients
Water: 2 ¼ cup
Sugar: 1 ½ cup
Almonds: ¾ cup
Butter: ½ cup
Semolina: ¾ cup
Lemon juice: 1 tsp

Method
Bring water, sugar and lemon juice to boil in a pan. Simmer the syrup for 5-10 minutes. Cut the almonds into small pieces and fry in butter with semolina until golden brown. Add the syrup slowly to the semolina mixture stirring constantly over a low heat. See to it that no lumps are formed and the mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat and cover the lid of the pan and allow it to cool for a while. Later, pour the mixture into greased moulds and flatten the tops and garnish with almond pieces before serving warm.

The same can be done in a different manner, but in the oven and we can call it as Semolina Cake. Here’s the recipe for that.




Ingredients
Butter: 1 cup
Condensed milk: 1 tin
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Semolina: 2 cup
Almond pieces: 1 cup
Water: 1 cup
For the syrup
Sugar: 2 cup
Water: 1 ½ cup
Lemon juice: 1 tsp
Rosewater: 1 tsp
Almond pieces: 2 tsp

Method
Prepare the syrup first. Dissolve sugar in water in a saucepan. Add lemon juice and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes on a low flame and keep it aside.

In a bowl, combine butter, condensed milk and baking powder and mix well, before adding semolina, almond pieces and water and stir well. Preheat oven to 190 degrees and lightly grease a baking dish. Pour the mixture into the baking dish and flatten it with a spoon. Bake for 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Remove the cake from oven and pour the cooled syrup all over. Allow the syrup to be absorbed and place in fridge to cool completely. Cut into diamond shapes, garnish with almond pieces and serve. It can also be served warm without keeping in fridge.