Eggless Plum Cake | Eggless Fruit Cake Recipe

I know it's really really lame to post a plum cake recipe right after Christmas and I wasn't really meaning to do it. But then I realised I will have to wait a whole year and I was positive I would forget the recipe and my notes if I postponed this recipe that long so here goes.

I shared Omana Paul's Plum Cake Recipe last year and quite a few people have tried it and shared feedback. However, as with any other cake recipe, I also got a ton of requests for an eggless plum cake recipe.

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Mushroom Korma-Indian Mushroom Masala Recipe

My niece was visiting Kottayam with me last week for Christmas holidays and while browsing through Vanitha (a Malayalam magazine), we saw a great-looking recipe for Kadai Mushroom. I promised her I'll make her a mushroom dish before I leave and even bought and kept some fresh button mushrooms in the fridge.

The Kadai Mushroom didn't happen finally but instead, I made this easy and delicious Mushroom Korma instead. Amma wanted me to make a mushroom recipe that would go with rice and preferably with coconut in it and this Mushroom Korma was the perfect answer.

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Kerala Chicken Roast Recipe | Spicy Indian Chicken Roast Recipe

This Kerala-Style Chicken Roast Recipe is a family favourite which amma's friend makes and sends over when we visit Kottayam. The fiery red colour and the delicious gravy of the chicken curry is sure to impress you as well. 

Visits to Kottayam always involve a lot of great food. Like I was telling TH the other day, I have come to realise that my family expresses affection through food - and lots of it! Amma goes into overdrive preparing for our visits days before we actually get there and as soon as we do, the extended family starts calling with plans of days and meals and meet ups.

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Eggless Cake Recipes~Eggless Cupcake Recipes~Eggless Baking Recipes

I get a lot of comments and emails asking for specific eggless cakes and cupcake recipes. I have quite a few eggless cake recipes posted in the past but realised there's no one place that I have compiled everything. So here it is.

I will keep updating this page as I post more eggless cakes and eggless cupcakes. Note that most eggless cakes can be baked as eggless cupcakes (and vice-versa), it's really up to you.

Eggless Cakes | Eggless Cupcakes

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15 Easy Christmas Cakes & Christmas Cookie Recipes

Living in a place like Kottayam, it's tough not to join in the occasion of Christmas and celebrating with our own food, cakes, and bakes. Amma used to bake plum cake when I was a kid but since we get a ton of cakes from friends and family anyway, she stopped doing that. We would still bake an occasional ginger cookie or snowball cookies to have the oven going and serve guests homemade goodies during Christmas.

For the past two years, I have been in Kottayam for Christmas and joining in on the fun. I bet Christmas baking is being planned and done in your homes too and I hope this quick short list of 15 Christmas cakes and cookies will help you out.

Have a Merry Christmas 2012, everyone!

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  Fruit Cake
  
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  Orange Cake
  
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  Snowball Cookies
  
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  Ginger Cookies
  
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  Lemon Cake
  
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  Spiral Cookies
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  Sugar Cookies
  
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  Eggless Choc Sponge Cake
  
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  Chocolate Biscotti
  
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  Choc Fudge Cake
  
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  Almond Cookies
  
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  Choc Lava Cakes
  

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  Eggless Oreo Cheesecake
  
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  Chocolate Crackle Cookies
  

Crinkle Cookies Recipe | Crackle Cookies | Christmas Cookie Recipes

Crinkle cookies or crackle cookies are pretty unique in that they have a slightly raised, cracked top and a crispy outer "crust" and yet a soft almost cake-like interior. The cracks on top are highlighted by the icing sugar we roll the cookie dough in before baking.

My interest in Crinkle Cookies was aroused when I read Confessions of a Closet Baker which has a similar cookie and a story surrounding it, which the author refers to as Starry Starry Nights. What a lovely name compared to Crackle Cookies or Crinkle Cookies, eh?

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Bok Choy Dal Curry | Bok Choy & Lentils | Bok Choy Recipes

There are so many different dal recipes in my life, coming to think of it. There's the generic dal tadka which is my go-to recipe with roti or chapatt. There's the dal makhani which I rarely make unless we have company. Then there's the Kerala-style dal curry with moong dal that's a favourite because we add coconut to it and it goes with roti / chapati and rice equally well.

When amma was visiting me in May this year, she was very smitten with all the green in the wet market here, particularly bok choy. Bok choy, also called Chinese cabbage, is generally steamed or lightly sauteed and eaten with rice. I haven't cooked with it after making a stir fry with it - Stir Fried Bok Choy Recipe.

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Double Chocolate Biscotti | Christmas Cookie Recipe

Biscottis have been on my mind for a while and I had bookmarked quite a few biscotti recipes over the past few months, looked up the technique, figured out if I wanted to add nuts to my biscotti, leave it plain, add fruit zest, and a million other things.

The final kick came in when I got some lovely almond orange biscotti from a friend on Diwali. They were beautifully baked and immediately sent me to the kitchen to bake up my own batch of Double Chocolate Biscotti!

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Eggless No-Bake Oreo Cheesecake Recipe | No-Bake Cheesecakes

My eggless no-bake Mango Cheesecake recipe has been received well by everyone. A lot of you tried it, loved it, and shared pictures with me. But one thing that a few people complained about was that the cheesecake recipe has gelatine in it and gelatine is not apt for vegetarians. So here's an eggless cheesecake that has crushed Oreos in it (yum?!) and no eggs or gelatine. Win? Win!

I'd been meaning to make an Orea cheesecake (also called Cookies and Cream cheesecake) for ages and wanted to experiment a bit with making a no-bake, eggless cheesecake with no gelatine and no agar agar either. This recipe right here? This is the answer. Deliciously creamy no-egg, no-bake Orea cheesecake that comes together in about 15 mins and all it needs is some chilling time in the refrigerator before serving.

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How to Make Curd (Dahi-Thayir-Yogurt) Homemade Indian Curd

It's interesting how my curd consumption has changed after marriage. Particularly, after marrying an Iyer boy. He eats curd with everything. When I say everything, I mean everything. With dosa, chapati, idli, noodles (ok, only sometimes with noodles), rice, roti, paratha, you name it and it's been eaten with curd.

I quickly realised I need to master the art of how to make curd at home because buying those Nestle curd cartons from the store was not working out very well for our wallets.

Also, there's something special about homemade curd. Although you are not really doing anything special, it feels a bit magical to heat up some milk, add some curd in there, mix, set it aside, and magically have it harden up and taste awesome after a few hours. That's really all there is to homemade curd or yogurt.

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Mixed Vegetable Curry-Vegetable Curry Recipe-Chettinad-Style

Amma makes different kinds of Mixed Vegetable Curries. Some of them use coconut or coconut milk and will be a South Indian Kurma style (recipe coming soon), some vegetables curries will be without coconut and just use very simple masala or spices that is usually served along with roti or chapati.

A couple of years back, she discovered Kalpasi. I searched online but didn't find more info on this spice called Kalpasi that's used extensively in Chettinad recipes and cooking.

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Paneer Makhani~Paneer Makhani Recipe~Microwave Method

The restaurant-style Paneer Butter Masala (which has "inspired" a lot of people, actually) is one of the most popular paneer recipes in this site. While I have made it countless times mostly for guests, the addition of cream, which truly makes the recipe restaurant-style, does add some unwanted calories from fat too.

I didn't let that bother me too much, because this is Paneer Butter Masala and some dishes are meant to be eaten without thinking of calories. Then I came across this Nita Mehta book in the library called 101 Microwave Recipes and found a Paneer Makhani recipe in that! I took a picture of the recipe page on my phone, came home, and promptly made it.

Now, before I go any further, I must say that I don't care much for cooking in the microwave. I like cooking with fire, turning it up or simmering it down and stirring and frying and tapping the ladle against the wok, etc. All that is an essential part of cooking for me.

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