FEBI'S COOK BOOK

 So so long... Yes its been so long time since I logged into Blogger and posted a recipe , so much that I am in loss for words, as to what to tell you all the reason behind my missed posts... Well if you all wont be shocked, the reason was laziness.... All the free time I had was in the mornings, when hubby left for work. And in the last few months I enjoyed sleeping in the morning or having some time for myself laid back on the sofa with a hot cup of tea. This is only a matter of quarter or half an hour before which my kids would wake up and start the routine tantrums. Now this time I am having squid roast recipe for you all, which is indeed very spicy.. This is for all who loves spicy food... I dint shoot too many pics of it from too many angles. Well in the coming recipes I ll try to give more attention to food photography as well.... Ingredients: Squid- washed and cut into rings- 250 gms Onion- sliced -1 Tomato- sliced 1 Ginger garlic paste- 1 tbsp. Green chilly- 1...

 I am sure, once you are back to home from the hot scorching heat outdoor, you would soon bounce back to coolness if you have a cold watermelon drink... Its so cool, so refreshing and so relaxing. Watermelon aqua fresca is such a soothing drink, with a slight lemon punch. You'll never ever have such a refreshing and energizing drink. Ingredients: water melon- 2 cups mint leaves- 6 leaves sugar- depending on the sweetness of the melon lemon juice- 2 tbsp. ice cubes Preparation: Blend all the ingredients together and strain.  Serve chilled.

Do you love something jhatpata? Well I am an Indian and I definitely do... I was bored of regular fruit consumption or transforming it into a fruit salad. And last week when I lacked side dishes for lunch for my hubby, for a rice hater like him, inorder to push rice down into his throat, I always had to assemble a whole lot of side dishes not to remind him that he is consuming rice,  so instead  of just chopping down some fruits, I added a TWIST.     As I mentioned, I was bored of just chopping fruits and consuming as it is. And my hubby loves adding chilli and salt to almost all fruits. So I pulled out everything available in fridge, to add extra fancy to my lunch. All I did was chopped available fruits, cucumber, added lime juice and seasoned with chilli powder and salt. Simple and yummy to gear up your lunch. And I was amazed to see my hubby gulping big spoonfuls of it. What better wordless compliment can you rece...

  If you ask me what is fruit yogo, my answer would be, "Its just yoghurt with fruits". simple, right. Well I normally buy this for my kids from the store whenever we go for grocery shopping and they just love it. After shifting to U.A.E. I came to know that you can actually consume the yoghurt as it is, straight from the packet, that's how emiratis here are. Once while I was in  the clinic to get my baby his routine vaccination, I saw a lady opening up  a store bought cup of yoghurt and fed it straightly to her infant child. It made me feel weird, but then I thought why not?. After all its not the kind of very sour yoghurt that we get at our home land, its just so rich and creamy. Recently I discovered this version of yoghurt being served with fruits and is actually available in the store. I normally like Strawberries so I always go for it if I was given an option. Other berries also tatses great with yoghurt. There other flavors too available in the store like O...

Are you looking for something to pack of to your loved ones? Well this is one of the best options for edible gifts for someone close to your heart.. Easy to make and ready to serve in no time...  Ingredients: Pakistani vermicelli- 2 packets condensed milk- 1 tin butter- 1/3 stick For garnishing: dark chocolate- 1/2 cup butter- 25 gms chopped nuts Note: I used only 1/4th of the quantity as mentioned above except for the garnishing part as too less of chocolate melting doesn't work properly. Preparation. Heat butter in a non stick pan on low medium heat and add broken vermicellis and fry till light brown. Off the flame and add condensed milk and mix well until well combined. Grease a square tin (or you can use any favorite mold of yours) and spread the vermicelli evenly. Let cool till it becomes hard. Cut into 1x 1" rectangle shapes. For chocolate garnishing: Add chocolate chips or dark chocolate bars into a dry non stick pan and add butter. Put the pan on...

The very thought of mozzarella and olives laid beautifully on top of pizzas make me drool. After all there is something fascinating about the elastic cheese that just knows to melt and highlight the tastes of the vegetables over the pizza. I initially used to use only normal tomato sauce over pizza whenever I make one at home. The relative sweetness of the sauce brought a dislike in me towards Pizza. I then discovered to bring out the flavors of pizzas it has to have oreganos and needs some spice for the Indian in me.  Last time when I decided to make Pizza, I cooked everything that has to be topped on a Pizza, as I don't like any raw tastes. I cooked the pizza sauce on stove, the vegetables and fried the chicken required for topping. I totally loved it and I couldn't believe when my hubby and mum-in-law finished one whole  large pizza, for some one who are not the kind of pizza loving people. For now, I am just posting the recipe of pizza sauce alone. This can be m...

\ What more is lovable to Indians more than Lassi. And specially if its of Mango, then the Indian inside you comes out.  Lassi is an Indian flavoured yoghurt, originally from Punjab, and usually spiced with cumin or other spices and mixed with fruits or lime juice. Some of the Lassi's also use rosewater. There are many types of Lassi- traditional, sweet lassi and so on... Traditional Lassi however is savory drink with yoghurt, water, salt and ground cumin blended together. While sweet lassi uses fruits instead of spices... Lately, my hubby and me have been trying with the Mango Lassi often at home, now for me its something I always want to have a go at. Its a refreshment to beat the heat. I love mangoes but yoghurts are something I keep aloof from, as  I don't much like its taste. But last Ramdan when my hubby prepared mango Lassi for me after dinner, I dint know that you can give yoghurt such a beautiful version. ...

Paneer in creamy gravy, is a vegetarian dish, as you all know, my point here being, this  is one of the rare vegetarian dishes I try at home. My hubby is a bit reluctant in eating veggies, veg curries and legumes. So I wanted to try something with paneer with its gravy tasting similar to chicken gravies... And hence this dish. I used some of the similar steps that I used to prepare my admirable kind of chicken curries, giving it the rich creaminess using cashew milk and my favorite seasoning with kasoori methi. Also instead of using whole tomatoes, I used tomato ketchup to impart thickness to the gravy...Here goes the recipe... Ingredients: Panner - 200 gms ghee- 3 tbsp. to fry paneer+ 3 tbsp. for the gravy onion- 1 medium ginger garlic paste- 11/2 tsp tomato ketchup-2 tbsp. tomato paste-1  tsp chilli- 1 or 2 Kashmiri chilli powder- 1 tsp turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp kasoori methi- 1/2 tsp garam masala powder- 1/2 tsp pepper powder- 1/...

If you wake me from mid sleep and ask me , What is the one thing in the world that you like to have for breakfast, my answer would be a sandwich. I love sandwiches and I like to just assemble some available stuffs at home and wrap them all inside a pita bread or any other breads. And for me, anything would be exciting if served with a mayo spread. I love mayo spread and sometimes I just love to have simple egg and bread sandwich with mayo spread. Lately I have been coming across recipes with guacamole spread, which is new to me, but sounds healthy and have been tempted to try at home... But to my surprise, my hubby don't enjoy much of sandwiches... I think he is the one and only thing in the world God created from exactly opposite of myself... well opposites attract... If he would enjoy sandwiches, my daily breakfast menu would've been different varieties of sandwiches and by now I would've been a sandwich expert. I think I should try to transform my kids' taste...

Even though I love cooking, in a way its passion and hobby for me I must admit that, daily cooking routine and same repated menu is something which   I really don't enjoy and tiring at times, the worst part being cleaning the post-cooking kitchen mess. Once a while, to add twist to my normal boring routine,I make excuses, and pamper my hubby to agree to enjoy restaurant meals, the best part being not having to wash plates and wipe messy table. We have this weird habit of visiting every new restaurant that we come to hear and experimenting typical malabari dishes... Though I do not recommend having restaurant food on daily basis, due to the unhealthy food style and hygienic issues, once a while it is ok to forget about all the demerits involved. And lately, we discovered a restaurant in our neighborhood, actually quite far, but we don't mind in taking the trouble to drive to our favourite restaurant, which restaurant I think serves th...

Ingredients: Maida- 1 big cup Curd-1/2 small cup Egg- 1 Salt- to taste Ghee- 2 tbsp Baking powder- 1 tsp ( or 2 tsp if you want the dough to rise within 1 hr) Vegetable oil- enough to deep fry the battoras in a wok Preparation: Knead the dough using all above ingredients to a soft dough. If the mixture seems to dry, add in some more curd or milk until you get a soft dough. Let the dough rest for two hours. Make 5-6 large balls out of the dough. Roll each dough to 1/4'' thickness. Now cut the circle shaped dough into 4 equal portions so that you get a cone shape. Heat oil in a wok, fry the battooras in the hot oil till it turns golden brown. The oil has to be really hot or the battooras will be too oily and soggy. Serve hot with chicken roast, chicken chilly roast etc.

Recently I posted a recipe of coconut laddoo , which is a very simple and yummilicious recipe. Now this is also similar to that recipe, or you can say its coconut laddo version 2. It tastes similar and ingredients are also similar. I am posting this, only because if you think you want to try an alternative method. This laddoo was made by mum and I photographed it as soon as it was done. If you are into the habit of munching sweets after meals, this would be the best choice. Also you can try this for tea-time. Go for it, and you will not regret trying it. Ingredients: dessicated coconut powder- 1 cup milk powder- 1 cup castor sugar- 3/4 cup luke warm milk - 4-5 tablespoons pistachios- to garnish Preparation: Mix the first four ingredients given above very well so that all the ingredients combine together. Take a small portion of the mixture and make a small ball. Press some chopped pistachios on top of each balls. Serve and enjoy.  

I do not know what exactly is the name of the parathas.. But what my mum calls it is Ceylon paratha... The dough is very simple like how exactly you make chappatis... But this recipe involves rolling and folding and then rolling again... Also it involves a lot of ghee too apart from smearing...     Ingredients: wheat- 2 cups water- enough to knead the dough tightly salt to taste desi ghee- 1 tbsp. for each paratha Preparation: Knead dough using wheat, salt and water to a soft dough... let the dough rest for about an hour... Make balls from the dough in the size of a big lime. Roll out into circular discs. Apply ghee inside the rolled out chappati ( 1 tbsp. for each paratha). Fold from 4 sides to form a square and press to form a square shaped chappati. Cook in a frying pan from both sides and smear with some more ghee. Serve hot with chicken roast, beef roast etc.  

I was about to post this recipe during Ramadan, but due to tight time schedule dint find time to post. I prepared this post as Lubna of Yummy kitchen   requested me to do this post as a part of Ramadan for an event hosted on her blog named 'Joy from Fasting to Feasting- VI'. I was excited to accept her invitation and agreed to do the post. But I couldn't send her my entry on time... But she was kind enough and waited patiently until I sent her my post...  Speaking about this recipe, this  is a very common and popular recipe amongst our family members and is something which we love to cook during most of our Iftar parties. Its crisp outside and juicy inside is something which most of us would love to indulge in. You can prepare these rolls and store in the refrigerator a day ahead If you want to and fry them just before serving. For recipe of chicken spring roll click here .

Hello friends, I am up with another dessert this time. My all time favorite, cheese cake. I've been longing to make a dessert since long but didn't find time to make some. Two weeks back my hubby happened to visit a fruit and vegetable market where he bought some really fresh fruits for really reasonable prices. amogst those were some cherries and strawberries. Initially I thought of making strawberry cheese cake with cherry topping or a simple cheese cake with cherry topping. But somehow I ended up adding pureed cherries to the filling and topped it with some cut strawberries and some whole cherries. I actually doubted if I would be able to impress my family with this cheese-cake, as every time I present something proudly, It wins no merit at all, as their taste is completely different from mine. But with God's grace, I happened to treat some guests, whose taste was very much similar to mine, and they all really loved it and finished it no time. I made a th...

Sorry no time for introductory speech... Jumping straight into the recipe.. Ingredients: chicken- 1 medium sized onion- 3 sliced thinly tomato- 2 medium sized ginger garlic paste- 2 tsp chilly- 2 chilli powder- 3 tsp coriander powder- 1 tsp turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp garam masala powder- 3/4 tsp salt- to taste coconut oil- 4 tbsp. curry leaves- a stem coriander leaves- 1/4 cup Preparation: Boil chicken pieces with onion, tomato, chillies, ginger-garlic paste, chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt along with some water, until the chicken pieces are half cooked. Cook keeping the lid of the vessel closed. Separate the chicken pieces from the gravy. heat oil in a wok and fry the chicken pieces. Take off the chicken pieces from wok. To the same oil, add curry leaves and the chicken gravy and cook on high flame till the water dries off. Stir constantly so that it does not get burnt. Once the gravy loses all its water content and becomes like a fry add...

Hey, am up with another post. Without making a long speech let me tell you that this a delicious recipe, with a lovely combination of mangoes and  cream cheese. Cheese cakes are something in the form of a pudding, which are extremely creamy and luscious. And for all mango lovers this would be extreme form of ecstasy. Since I did this in cups, I dint add gelatin, because it does not requires getting set as it can be directly dolloped in your mouth straight from the cups... But if you are doing it in a spring form pan you can use gelatin for getting it set... I am so lazy to melt and mix gelatin, that I prefer this method. Ingredients:   mango pulp- pulp of 1 big mango, sugar- 5 tbsp. or adjust according to ur taste level, mango essence- 1 tsp(optional) whipping cream- 250 mls cream cheese- 300 gms digestive biscuits- depending on how many cups you want to make, crushed with some butter to line the bo...

Hi friends. I am up with an iftar special post. Since holy month of Ramadan has started I thought, I will bring you something you can try for Ramadan while breaking fast. As all muslims know, It is sunnah of the prophet to break fast with dry dates, if dry dates not available, you can break your fasts with dates, or else with water. This is the usual criteria. Rest of the snacks come later. Well its always not the snack for some people, while breaking fast. They break fast with some dates and fresh juices, and after performing the salah, they proceed with dinner directly, so that they don't get overloaded with food. Well that's how I am too sometimes. Now, If we were orderd to fast during Ramadan, It is to put a limit to our normal diet and to let us know the starve of the hungry people, Then why should we go for a whole lot of food? Even if I prepare snacks I just make one or two of them, and then have some fruits too. I love this month, as it is not like the rest of the y...