My Cooking Wonders

My Official kick off for the holiday season!! This is my favorite time of the year to bake and cook just because this is one season people eat food without counting calories(that is what I think atleast). So this year I started it off with these wonderful cookies I happened to see pictures of on pintrest..These taste as good as they look. Give it a try and a very Happy Holidays!! Ingredients   For cheesecake filling 4 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup granulated sugar Pinch of salt 1 egg yolk 1 tbsp sour cream 1/4 tsp vanilla extract For cookie dough 1 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 tsp salt 1 egg yolk 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp ground ginger 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg  pinch of ground cloves For Topping 4 ounces semi sweet chocolate 1/2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil Method Step 1 : For cheesecake filling In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in sugar and

Gulab jamun is a kind of sweet that can be made for any occasion be it a festival or party or a get together. Gulab Jamun is traditionally made with Khoya which is a bit time consuming. So this time I kind of cheated and took a short cut by using milk powder which takes less time but tastes as good as the traditional recipe. There are lot of ready made Gulab Jamun mixes available in the groceries stores today but I prefer making my own mix :). Give it a try and I promise these jamuns tastes better than the ones made from the ready made mixes.. Last but not least.. Happy Diwali guys!! Ingredients For Jamuns 1 cup milk powder 1/4 cup all purpose flour 3 tbsp butter at room temperature 3 to 4 tbsp milk at room temperature(just enough to knead the dough) fat pinch of baking soda pinch of baking powder 1 tbsp almonds power (blanch the almonds in warm water. Remove the skins and pat dry. Grind to a fine powder) (Optional) 1 tbsp pistachio powder (Optional) oil for dee

Life sometimes keep you crazily busy...I have been busy taking care of other stuff which kept me away from posting my recipes. Finally I am BACK!! It makes me feel better to be able to resume my blog YAYYYYY!!  Coming to my wonder today, people from south India need no introduction about this dish. This is most popular and traditional dish prepared during this time of the year in my place. This time of the year is called as 'Sravana Masam' and most people perform special rituals(known as Varalakshmi Vratham) during this time and Poornalu are prepared as the main offering to Goddess Lakshmi. Here is the recipe to make yummy Poornalu....... Ingredients For outer layer 1 cup Urad Dal 2 cups Rice pinch of baking soda couple of pinches of salt Inner stuffing 1 cup Chana Dal 2 cups Water 1 1/2 cup Jaggery 2 tbsp dry coconut powder(optional) Pinch of elaichi Powder Method Soak Urad Dal and Rice in water for 5 to 8 hours or overnight. Grind Dal and rice t

It is my vegan day again and I have a potluck at work. It being the end of the week, my refrigerator is almost empty. All the vegetables I have left on hand are some potatoes. I usually have a pack of puff pastries and wonton wrappers in my freezer section. So I decided to make some turnovers with potatoes instead of good old mushrooms :) I have to say that they turned out well than I expected and this dish was an hit at the potluck. Ingredients 1 pack puff pastries(2 sheets) 2 cups cooked and coarsely mashed potatoes 1 cup chipotle salsa 1 tsp Curry powder 2 tbsp Cilantro leaves Water for sealing 1 egg (optional) Method Thaw the puff pastry per instructions. Cook the potatoes till fork tender. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Roll each of the puff pastry sheets little bit to be in the shape of a square. Dust the surface with all purpose flour before rolling. Cut each sheet into 6 squares. Coarsely mash the potatoes, salsa, curry powder and cilantro in a medium bowl. Ch

With Valentine's day right around the corner I thought of posting something romantic…What is more romantic than Chocolate?? So I picked chocolate covered peanut butter balls. These balls costume little time and lots of patience but trust me you will be proud at the end(I do not about others but I am proud after I am done) …. Give it a try.. Good luck and Happy Valentines Day in advance!! Ingredients 2 cups creamy low sodium peanut butter 2 tbsp spiced rum(Strictly optional) 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 2 1/2 cups powdered or confectioners sugar 1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature For Topping 16 ounces semi sweet chocolate 2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil 1/2 cup of roasted skinless peanuts Method Chop the butter into pea sized pieces. Take peanut butter and peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl and heat for a minute, stirring the mixture for every 20 seconds, till the mixture is soft and little bit runny. Now add vanilla extract and rum(if using) to the p