Fruit Biscuit - Karachi biscuit style

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour - 1 cup
• Unsalted Butter (room temperature) - 80 gm
• Powdered sugar - 1/3 cup
• Tutti frutti - 1/2 cup
• Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
• Elachi powder - 1/2 tsp
• Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Method:

• With electric beater, beat sugar and butter till it becomes soft and glossy.
• Now add cinnamon powder, elachi powder and vanilla extract, beat it once.
• Slowly, add flour to the butter mixture and blend everything well.
• Finally fold tutti frutti to the cookie dough.
• Don't knead the dough, just shape it like a log and wrap it with cling film.

• Refrigerate the log-shaped cookie dough for an hour.
• Cut the log into half inches slices. 

• Preheat the oven at 180 degrees.
• Arrange the cookies in the baking tray with one inch apart as the cookie expands little bit.

• Bake it for 15 minutes, let it rest for 10 minutes after baking, store it in the airtight container.
• This taste best with coffee, enjoy your evening.

Carrot Vichy - French Food

This is very easy to prepare and kids will definitely love it.

Ingredients:

• Carrots (peeled and chopped) - 1 cup
• Butter cubes of 1 cm - 10
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Brown sugar - 1 tsp
• Salt - pinch
• Lemon - 1 tsp
• Chopped Parsley - 1/4 cup
• Olive oil - 2 tsp

Method:

• In a pan, heat olive oil, toss carrots for 2 minutes then add rest of the ingredients except parsley. 
• Cover the pan and cook over low heat for about 20 - 25 minutes until water evaporates and carrot is cooked tender. 
• Finally stir in parsley and serve hot.
• This is quick, easy and very tasty.

Carrot Cake - Jamie Oliver style

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour - 175 gm
• Brown sugar or cane sugar - 175 gm
• Sunflower oil - 170 ml
• Grated Carrot - 175 gm
• eggs - 2
• Baking powder - 3.5 gm
• Cinnamon powder - 2.5 gm
• Tutti frutti - 30gm
• Ginger paste - 2.5 gm
• Baking soda - 2.5 gm
• Vanilla essence - 2.5 ml

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and grease the baking pan.
• In a large pan, take the oil, sugar and egg, beat it nicely with electric beater. Add vanilla essence and beat once. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger and cinnamon powder. Slowly fold flour mixture to the egg mixture. Finally add carrots and tutti frutti, fold it nicely.
• Pour the cake mixture in the cake tin and bake it for 35 minutes. Use a tooth pick to check when it is done. The cake slightly bounces when you touch in the middle which shows it is well baked.
• Let the cake cool, slice it and enjoy this tasty, spongy and healthy cake. 

Mushroom Pakoda

Ingredients:

• Button mushroom - 200 gm (12 pieces)
• Big onion - 1(chop it lengthwise)
• Gram flour - 3/4 cup
• Asafoetida/hing - pinch
• Garam masala - 1 tsp
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Chopped ginger and garlic - 1 tsp
• Chopped coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
• Curry leaves - little, i used curry leaves powder.
• Salt
• Oil for frying

Method:

• Clean all mushrooms and remove the stem.
• In a large bowl, add onion pieces, gram flour, hing, chilli powder, ginger, garlic, coriander leaves, curry leaves powder, garam masala, and salt. Mix it nicely. Add water little-by little, the consistency should be thick, i added 1/2 cup of water.
• Heat oil in a wide pan, coat mushroom with the gram flour batter and fry it golden brown.
• Serve it hot.

Note:
We are not stirring in mushroom in the onion-gram flour batter cause mushrooms break easily.

Eggless Nuts Cookies

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour/ Maida - 1 cup
• Butter - 80 gm (room temperature)
• Natural cane sugar/nattu sakkarai - 1/2 cup or 80 gm
• (if you don't have this sugar, try brown sugar or refined sugar)
• Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
• Salt - pinch
• Mixed nuts(cashew, almond, walnut) - 1/2 cup

Method:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
• Cream sugar and butter with electric mixer,beat in vanilla and salt.
• Reduce the speed of mixer and gradually add flour, blend it nicely.
• Finally fold in nuts.
• Roll the balls from the dough and flatten it. Place it in the baking plate, one inches apart.
• Bake cookies until it turn light brown, it took 20 minutes in my oven. 
• Transfer it to the rack, cool it and store it.
• These cookies are very crisp and tasty. 

Pakoda Kadhi

Ingredients:
For making pakodas

• Besan/Gram flour - 1 cup
• Onion - 1 (big)
• Green chilli - 2
• Salt - as required
• Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
• Hing - little
• Water - 1/4 cup or as required

For kadhi

• Besan/ Gram flour - 2 tbsp 
• Curd - 1.5 cup
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1tsp
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - as required
• Onion - 1
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Chilli - 2
• Chopped ginger - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - little
• Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:
Pakoda:

• Mix all ingredients given under pakodas except water. Start adding water little-by-little to get the right consistency. The pakoda batter should not be thick as well as watery. 

• Heat oil in a wide pan, drop small balls of batter and fry it golden brown.
• Keep this aside.

Kadhi

• In a pan, mix besan, curd, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt, garam masala and turmeric powder. 

• Beat it nicely, keep this aside.
• Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan, add fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, slit green chillies, chopped onion, ginger and curry leaves (i used powdered curry leaves).

• Saute this for a minute, then add the curd-besan mix and 1/2 cup water, let it boil for 4 to 5 minutes. When it start thickening, add pakodas and boil kadhi for a minute. Finally garnish with coriander leaves.
• Leave this pakoda kadhi for 10 minutes before serving for nice taste.
• Kadhi taste wonderful with rice.