Hark, now hear the angels sing, a king was born today,

And man will live for evermore, because of Christmas Day.

Mary's boy child Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas Day.

December 25

Merry Christmas to all of you. I wish you all the peace and love in the world.

It is a different Christmas but it is still a very merry one. I had a hyperactive week going for me - a day trip to Mulshi, meeting with a gang of girl friends over lunch, going out for movie and a gourmet lunch, cooking and baking Christmas delicacies, sending gifts to a few friends whom I couldn't meet in person and binge watching Christmas themed movies. Just as you being to think how I am getting all this time - I took a two week break from office work. Wanted to detox and spend some time not doing any work. I will be writing about my trip to Mulshi in a separate blog soon.

This time I went a little overboard with trying new recipes on Christmas. This whole orange cake is one such recipe. You heard it right, this recipe has the entire orange - peel, rind, flesh and all! It is rich, nutty, damp and sticky with oodles of orange flavors. Best part which I love, the amount of whisking is next to nothing! Once in a while we all need a nice moist, dense cake as a change form the fluffy ones. This one–loaded with orange flavor and tender flecks of peel, and not too sweet–is perfect for brunch as well as dessert.

This whole orange cake recipe is adapted form the Genius Desserts cookbook. In this recipe, the whole orange is blitzed and made into a thick puree which adds a hint of marmalade-like bitterness to the cake. But because of the presence of the whole skin the cake is very fragrant of oranges. A nice and thick batter with a hint of vanilla cuts through the citrus and adds a beautiful dimension. 

I tried to incorporate the Christmassy flavors into this cake and tweaked it a a bit adding shredded carrots, dried blueberry and rum. And finally once cooled dusted it with powdered cinnamon sugar to give the final festive touch. My whole kitchen was bursting with the aroma of fresh orange and warm cinnamon undertones!

The beautiful dried blueberry is from @true.elements. I think I am falling in love with them, and I keep adding these teeny tiny dried fruits to everything I am making these days - sweet or savory. Its delicious and as good as the fresh ones. The combination of orange and blueberry was an absolute hit.

Check Out the DIY Background I made for this shoot.

Check Out the DIY Background I made for this shoot.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes  

Procedure 

1. Take water in a deep vessel and boil the orange for 10 minutes uncovered.

2. Now drain the water and repeat step 1 for 2 more times. Let the orange cool down.

3. Once the orange is cooled cut the orange into chunks and remove the seeds. Pulse the orange chunks in a food processor or high-speed blender until mostly smooth but not completely puréed

3. Sift in the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar) into a large mixing bowl and mix

4. Now whisk together the wet ingredients (yoghurt, vanilla, oil, rum and the orange pulp) until combined.

Important Note: If you do not appreciate a little bitterness in the cake then I would recommend not to use whole orange. You can substitute the orange pulp with with 3/4 cup of orange juice and 1 tsp orange zest.

5. Add the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and fold in. Use cut and fold method, we do not need vigorous mixing in this cake. 

6. Now add the grated carrots and the blueberries and fold in the same way.

7. Preheat oven to 180 Degree Celsius. Grease a 6 inch round cake tin with butter and dust it with 1 tbsp of flour .

8. Now pour the cake batter into the tin and tap a few times to release any air bubbles tapped in the mixture

9. Bake the cake for about 40 minutes in the middle rack of an oven or in a microwave (convection mode) till the tester comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.

10. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and allow it to cool down completely before decorating it.  The cake should come to room temperature.

11. Mix castor sugar/confectioners' sugar and cinnamon powder in a bowl. Use a strainer to sift in this cinnamon sugar all over the cake.

Optional Decoration: The cake is itself yummy so its recommended you keep the decorating to a simple sugar dusting however many prefer to glaze it with an orange glaze or royal icing. You can also put some pieces of fresh oranges on top while serving. This cake can also be enjoyed with a little yoghurt dip on the side. 

Check Out the DIY Background I made for this shoot.

Pan roasted Brussels sprouts are also called pan fried Brussels sprouts, sautéed Brussels sprouts or pan sautéed Brussels sprouts - and all of them are basically the same. It is the process in which the delicate brussels sprouts are cooked in a fat medium over high heat. The best part about this recipe is that the ingredients are pantry staple - something you would already have at hand, recipe is very simple and the final taste is absolutely exceptional, buttery, flavorful and yet crisp.

Adding the nuts and cranberries give it a lovely crunchy Christmassy texture and pops in a little oomph factor into the simple dish.

Now when you try to get access to quality fruits like blueberry or cranberry it might happen that you don't get them year long. I have come across a brand True Elements which sells a lovely quality of dried blueberry, goji berries and cranberry which you can have as is or use in any of your recipe. They also have a plethora of healthy seeds and breakfast option. I have used the dried cranberries from them in this recipe and I really loved the taste. You can buy them from their site or even from Amazon. This is not a promotional post, since I really loved them I thought of again mentioning them.

Meanwhile the beautiful diary that you see in the frame is from the June Shop. I stumbled upon their website nearly at the beginning of the lockdown period and found a lovely set of spoons which I had purchased. Who ever saw that set would compliment me. It has been a long way from then and this brand grew wonderfully with so many amazing products on their catalog. Recently they were generous enough to send me this lovely name embossed diary to me as a gratitude gift. It was so unexpected that they would value and acknowledge me as their customer and I felt just amazing. So thank you The June shop for this lovely gift!

How to clean and cut brussels sprouts?

To clean the brussels sprouts, trim the ends (the hard parts if any). Most store-bought Brussels will have the stem mostly trimmed off, but if you want to really make sure there aren't any woody parts, take a sharp knife and just cut off the bottom hard part of the sprout.

Rinse them in a large bowl of cold water. (Try not to put under running water, as the brussels sprouts are tender and the leaves may come apart due to water pressure). Brussels sprouts do not usually have much dirt on them, but any dust or sediment should float to the bottom.

Once washed place them on a kitchen towel in a single layer and cover them with the towel and pat dry them as much possible.  

Once dry, for this recipe you need to halve or quarter them depending on the size. Since I had small ones I halved them. (Also they look better halved).

Check Out the DIY Background I made for this shoot.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes  

Marination Time : 30 minutes (Optional)

Procedure 

1. Start by prepping the brussels Sprouts as mentioned above. Now after this I like to marinate them a bit. Take a mixing bowl and put the halved brussels sprouts. Add salt, paprika, chilli flakes, crushed pepper and 1 tsp of olive oil. Give it a toss so as to coat the brussels sprouts with the spices. Let them sit for about 30 minutes. This is optional. You can straightaway go for cooking too.

2. Now in a heavy bottomed pan add oil. When it starts to sizzle a bit, add chopped garlic. fry them till golden and then drain the garlic and put it aside.

3. The oil in the pan will now be infused with a lovely garlicky flavor. Now crank up the heat if the oil is not hot. Then place the marinated brussels sprouts cut side down in a single layer on the pan. 

4. Cook until the brussels are deep , dark, golden brown on the face down. Then flip them and let the other side also get a beautiful caramelized sear in same way.

Note: Brussels are very delicate once they are cooked, so when you flip be gentle. I have heard chefs even use a tweezer to flip them in restaurants. That's how delicate they become!

5. Once both the sides are evenly caramelized take them out form the pan. Not to the remaining oil, add the chopped nuts and dried cranberry. Toss them until nuts are fragrant on medium flame. Now return the cooked sprouts pack to the pan. Add also the fried garlic and gently fold everything in.

Note: I used almonds in this recipe with skin on. I feel some nuts with skin on tastes better. Almond is one of them. But you can always take the skin off if you want.

 

Serve hot along with your meal.

December 15

Deck the halls with boughs of holly

Fa la la la la, la la la la 

'Tis the season to be jolly

Fa la la la la, la la la la

It is that time of the year! A season of happiness and joy. It already feels a lot like Christmas!

It has been a different kind of year and we learned a lot and also we have a lot to be grateful about. If you ask me, after such a treacherous year do I still feel jolly? I would say yes. Somehow once we are into December I feel an infectious amount of joy bubbling inside me thinking about Christmas. 

I am a huge Christmas fan. I don't think one needs to be of a particular religion to feel the spirit of this season.  I love everything about Christmas-every single thing - the Hallmark Christmas romance movies, reading holiday stories, decking up Christmas trees, baking Christmas cookies, making gooey Christmas cakes, putting up pretty lights, buying Christmas decorations, making DIY wreaths, attending Christmas Mass, visiting places in and around Pune which puts up pretty decorations for Christmas, enjoying mulled wine with a good Christmas dinner - you get the drift.

So no matter what I do feel good at this particular time of the year. If you look at my list of movies on Netflix right now at least the first 10 would be all the new Holiday movies. Thus when I think about seasonal recipes the flavors that play in my mind are of oranges, chocolate, rum, raisins, cranberries, rosemary, cinnamon, star anise red currant and so on. Funny thing is when I was in the US we never did any seasonal baking though I had access to all the finest ingredients. Instead I spent my time walking around the bakery section of the super marts taking in all the aroma of the freshly baked goodies. This was an indulgence I never missed. We also got an artificial 6 ft Christmas tree from Walmart and decorated it with very pretty baubles as one of my roommates back then was a Christian and we all took the opportunity as an excuse to indulge in some Holiday fun decorating the tree together over cups of hot cocoa and spicy gossips! However the massive ( more than 10 ft ) Christmas trees that were put up in the lobby of our Mansel Office was what awed me every year. The decoration was right out of any Hallmark Prince Movie and absolutely stunning. I would find excuses to go to the lobby and admire the Christmas tree when there was no crowd around. It felt like my private moment with the tree that way. 

My home was in Atlanta which didn't have snow during Christmas. Once during the Christmas time I had to be in Omaha (Nebraska) for official work and it was basically freezing. The night before Christmas the mercury had dropped considerably and the receptionist told me in all probability it would snow. I looked up the weather apps and checked for the exact time when the snow was expected and put an alarm. However it was hard to get any sleep because of the anticipation and post midnight I saw the flurries coming down. I cant explain how much joy I felt at that sight. I kept staring out of the window for long before I slept. And the next morning when I opened the curtains to my room I saw the entire scenery before me had turned a glittering shade of white. Cars and trees were all under a thick layer of snow! Post breakfast that day we went out and frolicked in the snow like kids. The only thing that remained was making snow angels and throwing snowballs. Which I was very much tempted to try out but since we were on a very formal office trip, I had to resist the temptation.  We ended up having a white Christmas eventually with an amazing Christmas dinner setup by the Marriot Staffs. Though I was away from home it was one of the best Christmas I had.

Christmases in Pune are nothing near to what I had experienced there but nonetheless I try to make it up with the different seasonal cooking and baking at my place. I kind of zero in on the quintessential recipes and then add a dash of improvisation to add a little fun into the whole process. I found that any Christmas cooking if done with friends or family in tandem becomes more enjoyable as you also exchange so many stories while you are making something.  Since mom is also here with me now, the baking sessions become very engaging. We have difference in opinion many a times about a certain recipe but then that's part of the fun, to pick and choose and to experiment at times.

So when I decided to make a mugcake which celebrated the essence of the Christmas flavors I wanted to go slightly overboard with the ingredients. It had to be something which clearly spelled C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S! 

So here is the mug cake recipe which is eggless, super moist, flavorful, gooey and delectable and gets done in under 2 minutes flat! It has the beautiful flavors of fresh orange, vanilla, rum, coffee, milk chocolate and blueberry which uplifts your mood the moment you bite into it! Ya you don't need to wait a month to make a rum cake, this one gets done in a jiffy :). 

Now when you try to get access to quality fruits like blueberry or cranberry it might happen that you don't get them year long. I have come across a brand True Elements which sells a lovely quality of dried blueberry, goji berries and cranberry which you can have as is or use in any of your recipe. They also have a plethora of healthy seeds and breakfast option. I have used the dried blue berries from them and I must say I loved them a lot! I ended up eating the berries just like that while I waited for the mugcake to get baked. And when you would bite into the berries in a spoonful of the beautiful mugcake you would actually feel it is better than any rum cake in the world ! You can buy them from their site or even from Amazon. Now convenient is that now! You will see me incorporating their products in some of my upcoming blogs.

I am leaving the brand names and link for all the ingredients I used in this recipe at the end of the blog. Be sure to check it out!

Preparation Time: 5 minutes  

Procedure

1. Juice the orange and keep the orange zest ready.

2. We start with the dry ingredients first. Take a mixing bowl and sift in the dry ingredients - all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder, coffee powder and salt. Mix them well

Tip: The coffee powder I used was an orange flavor coffee just to enhance the orange aromatics in the final cake. You can use any normal coffee powder too

Note: Please ensure you are sifting all the ingredients just like you do for a normal cake to make sure you get a nice and fluffy cake.

3. Now we add the wet ingredients. To the dry ingredients mixture add the oil, vanilla, milk, rum,  orange juice and orange zest. Whisk the batter until smooth and shiny. The batter should not be runny. Now add the chopped orange rinds, dried blueberry, chocolate shavings and give it a light whisk. 

Tip: you can add any dried fruits of your choice at this stage  like cranberry, rains etc. 

Note: Do not add too much of blueberry it might prevent the cake from rising properly.

4. Now pour the batter into a microwave safe cup. 

5. Cut a chocolate cube into 4. So in total we would have about 12 small cubes. Now just poke them in the cake batter in the cup and leave a few at the top too.

Tip: adding chocolate chunks would ensure the mug cake has lovely gooey chocolate pockets when you eat it. That's the part you will love best in your mugcake.

6. Put it in the microwave for about 90 seconds. This time will depend entirely on the power of the microwave. I have a 1400 watt microwave and it took me 90 seconds. I would recommend you keep it for 80 seconds and then keep add 10 seconds each time till the cake is done.

To check the doneness, insert a toothpick in the middle of the cup till the entire length and if it comes out clean it is done.

7. Now garnish with a generous drizzle of gooey Chocolate syrup, finely chopped orange peels and a few silver sugar balls

Tip: the chopped peels give a lovely spurt of citrusy flavor in each bite.

How to remove the pith from the orange peel to use in garnish?

The pith is the spongy white substance that's between the peel and the fruit in oranges and other citrus fruits. Its bitter hence should be carefully removed from the peel.

Peel off the skin of Orange normally and take out the flesh. Now for the next step take a paring knife or any knife which is not too big but sharp. Now make small 2 inch pieces of the peels and place the peel flat surface on a cutting board with the zest side facing down, and use a sharp paring knife , pare away the pith carefully following the curve of the peel.

Brands I used for this recipe

1. Milk chocolate - Amul

2. Dried Blueberry - True Elements

3. Orange Coffee - Country Bean

4. Rum - Bacardi / Old monk

5. Vanilla essence - Sprig Vanilla Extract

6. All purpose Flour - Josef Marc

7. Chocolate Syrup - Amul

8. Cocoa Powder - Weikfield

9. Baking Powder - Weikfield

Dec 14

Chicken Mandi has always been on my bucket list. The soft succulent meat pieces soaked in beautiful aromatics, the fragrant long grained rice having a dash of freshness form the lemon slices - if there is something I like over biryani at times is this meat & rice dish.

Mandi (مندي‎) is a traditional Yemeni dish that originated from Hadhramaut, Yemen.  It consists of meat and rice with a special blend of spices, cooked in a pit underground for long hours. It is a very popular dish in the Arabian Peninsula and also a staple dish in many areas like Egypt, Turkey, the Levant etc. Mandi has become equally popular in our country because it is less of a hassle than a typical biryani and yet has richness of flavors and taste.

Mandi is considered the main dish served during special events, such as Eid, weddings, and feasts in Yemen and southern Saudi Arabia. In Arabic themed restaurants, apart from the regular seating, there are some sections where you can sit on the floor cushions and rice & meat dishes are served in a large plate when two three people sit together and eat from the same plate. 

The word "mandi" comes from the Arabic word "nada", meaning "dew", and refers to the moist 'dewy' texture of the meat, which is result of the slow cooking it in a clay oven or tandoor, typically a hole dug in the ground. Dry wood pieces are burned in the tandoor and once it reaches a certain temperature the rice pot is then suspended inside the tandoor without touching the charcoal and the meat marinated with the special mandi masala is then placed on a wire rack on top of the rice. The tandoor is then closed and the meet and the rice is cooked on slow heat of the oven. The fat and the spices that drips from the steaming chicken infuses the rich flavors into the rice pot below, while the tandoor adds the smokiness to the overall meat and rice.

Even though it all sounds too elaborate and hard to replicate at home, but that is not the case. humans always find a workaround to do difficult things easy way. So today I will be talking about how we can make this amazing flavorful dish right in the comfort of your home without even having a tandoor!

And after all what better than to flag off the winter season with a heart warming plate of chicken mandi. I had a lot of fun cooking and eating it and hope you will enjoy too!

Marination time - 2 hours to overnight

Mandi Marination Paste:

• Mandi spice - 2 tbsp 
• Lime juice - 1 tsp 
• Ginger powder - ½ tsp 
• Red chili- ½ tsp 
• Refined Oil - 2 tbsp 

Mandi Chicken and Rice:

• Chicken with full leg pieces - 2 
• Mandi spice mix - 1 tbsp
• Long Grain Basmati Rice - 2 cups
• Cashews - 3 tbsp 
• Almonds - 3 tbsp 
• Raisins - 2 tbsp 
• Onion - 3 tbsp 
• Green Chilli - 2-3 (slitted)
• Dry whole lemon - 1 ( 2 weeks old lemon*)
• Garlic Ginger paste - 1 tsp 
• Salt - 1 tsp 
• Saffron Strands - 4 to 5
• Water - 4 ½ cups 
• Cooking oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• Ghee - 1 tsp

Flavouring Agent:

• Dry whole lemon - 1 ( 2 weeks old lemon*)
• Charcoal - 1 piece
• Ghee - 1 tsp

Procedure

1. Start by preparing the spice mix. Dry roast coriander, black peppercorn, cumin, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon sticks for about 1 to 2 mins flipping occasionally. Add all the roasted spices in a mixer grinder and add salt, ginger powder, red chilli, turmeric, and nutmeg ( coarsely ground) to it. Pulse it till you get a fine powdered spice mix. It will smell divine at this point!

2. Now to prepare the mandi marination mix, take about 2 tsp of the spice mix prepared above and to it add half a lemon juice and cooking oil. Mix well to prepare a thick paste.

3. Apply the paste on the cleaned chicken pieces and let it sit for about 1 to 2 hours. The longer the better.

4. Now take a steamer and let water boil. When the water comes to a rolling boil with lots of visible steam, place the chicken legs carefully on the steamer ( the steam will be very hot! so take precautions) and put the lid back on. Steam the chicken on 30 mins on medium heat. At half the time, just flip the chicken so that both sides are uniformly cooked.

Tip: Any steamer with ample holes would do. If you are using a pot with a lid which has hole, make sure you close the hole with a tissue paper to prevent the steam from escaping the pot.

Note: Use drinking water in the steamer because the masala that gets mixed with the water on steaming will be used later in the recipe.

5. While the chicken is steaming soak the rice in water. Also soak a few saffron strands in warm water and let it sit.

6. Once the chicken is steamed take it out in a plate. Reserve the stock. Now head up a griddle/pan and add some ghee + cooking oil to it. Once it is heated, place the chicken in a single layer and fry it for 2-3 minutes on each side, ensuring a light browning.

  

7. Take a deep bottomed pot and heat it. Add 2 tbsp of ghee and let it be fragrant. To this add cashew, almonds, raisins/black raisin and stir them till they start getting a little brown and fragrant. Remove from the pot and keep it aside.

8. Now in the same pot add some cooking oil, and once hot add the sliced onions. Fry until brown stirring occasionally. 

9. Stir in about 2 tsp of the mandi spice masala (dry), salt, dried lemon slices, slitted green chilli and ginger garlic paste. Fold everything in. Fry for a couple of minutes.

Tip: Dry Lemon slices are typically added to mandi rice as a flavoring agent. So I would recommend not to skip it. Have any fresh lemon sit outside at room temperature for about a week or two until the outer cover starts dying out and use that lemon for this recipe.

10. Add the reserve stock which was collected from steaming chicken the earlier. Bring it to a boil.

11. Now add the soaked rice to the water.

12. Add saffron water

13. Once the rice is 3/4th cooked, add the raisins and  steamed chicken leg in a single layer. 

14. Sprinkle some mandi spice mix over.

15. Cover the lid and block holes on the lid if any. Cook for about 15 minutes on lowest flame just like biryani. 

Note: If you do not have a thick bottomed pot then on the heat place a griddle or frying pan and put the pot on top of it. It will help distribute the heat evenly this way.

16. Now put a small steel bowl in the center of the pot on rice. Over a flame heat a charcoal by holding it with tong. When the charcoal is hot place it in the bowl inside the pot and add 1 tbsp of ghee on the charcoal. Cover the lid immediately. Let the steam collect inside the pot and flavor the rice.

17. When you are ready to serve, add the fried nuts as garnish on the rice and serve it with raita or salad.

Pro Tip: Do not cook the nuts with the rice on dum, as it renders the nuts soft. Adding the fried nuts as garnish instead preserves the flavors and the crunch of the nuts.

Please note: Ideally chicken mandi traditionally is cooked by placing the rice in the pot and putting a grill on top of the pot and the chicken is placed on that. So both chicken and rice is cooked together. But since I didn't have that big a pot hence I have broken it down to two step - steaming the chicken first, cooking the rice 3/4 and then cooking both on dum for the final outcome. Taste wise it is absolutely the same.

Brands I used for this recipe

1. Long gran basmati - Daawat

2. Black raisin - Vedaka

3. Almonds- Vedaka