Celebrate Chinese New Year with Traditional Almond Cookies

Chinese New Year is here! There is gonna be lots of firework in China, symbolizing the festive spirit. It is believed that Buddha invited all the forest animals to invite him on a particular day. Twelve of them appeared and Buddha named a year after each one of them. New year calls for a huge get together and Chinese food is my all time favorite. People pay a visit to each other's house, share meals, gifts and of course happiness. 

In Chinese culture, red color is considered sacred. It symbolizes fire, which means bad luck is driven away. People wear red color garments, children write short poems on red paper. Children are given luck money in red envelopes. In ancient times, the tribals lit up bamboo stalks. They believed this would drive away the evil spirits and that they can lead a peaceful life. So lets pay a visit to our friend's place with a box of traditional almond cookies.

Ingredients:-

1 pinch salt,

100 ml corn oil,

1 beaten egg yolk,

150 gm plain flour,

100 gm caster sugar,

100 gm ground almonds,

100 gm blanched almonds,

3/4 teaspoon baking soda,

3/4 teaspoon baking powder.

Preparation Method:-

1. Sieve the flour, caster sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Add the ground almonds to the flour and sugar mixture.

2. Slowly trickle in the corn oil to this bowl. Blend until a cohesive dough forms. Heat the oven to 180 D.C. Roll the dough into small balls, place almonds above them and press a bit as shown.

3. Place on a baking tray. Make cookies until all the dough is used up. Lightly glaze the top of the cookie balls with the beaten egg yolk.

4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cookies become slightly golden. Leave to cool. Enjoy the homemade cookies.

Happy New Year!

Rebel Wilson and her love for Pavlova

Rebel Wilson, the 28 year old Australian actress, writer and a stand-up comedian, flew home for celebrating Christmas with her family. Neither did she prepare turkey nor honey glazed ham, but was seen munching on the traditional Pavlova or ‘Pav’. This is well portrayed on social sites such as Twitter and Facebook. The recipe has a crunchy and crisp outer-shell and is soft and moist from inside. The texture makes me crave for it right away. I love authentic recipes. Hope you enjoyed Chocolate Lamington.

Did you know that Pavlova has a historical significance? Pavlova is a dessert. It is named after a famous Russian ballet dancer called Anna Pavlova, when she visited Australia. There is yet a long story behind this. Pavlova makes a great summer dessert in entire Australia and New Zealand. Different fruits added to this recipe, give a colorful topping thereby making the dessert yummier. So let’s celebrate Australia day with authentic Pavlova.

Ingredients:-

16 Egg Whites,

2 diced Kiwi fruits,

A pinch Cream of Tartar,

300 ml thickened Cream,

1 1/2 cups Caster Sugar,

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract,

250g diced Strawberries,

Mint leaves for Garnishing,

1 tablespoon Icing Sugar mixture.

Preparation Method:-

1. Preheat oven to 120 D. C. Line a baking tray and baking paper. With an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks are formed.

2. Now add caster sugar. Beat until the sugar dissolves. Then add cream of tartar. Beat for 1 minute.

3. Spoon mixture onto circle. Using a spatula, shape into a circle as shown. Make furrows. Bake for 1 hour or until firm. Turn off oven.  Allow to cool.

4. For the cream, using an electric mixer, beat cream, icing sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form.

5. Place the cool pavlova on a serving plate. Top with cream mixture, mint leaves and fruits as shown. Serve.

Enjoy Australia Day!

Celebrate Australia Day with Traditional Chocolate Lamington

Australia Day, falling on January 26, has become nation's largest annual public celebration. It brings together Australians from all walks of life. Be sure to grab your spot along the streets of Australia to cheer the bulk parade participants. It's the national day and ultimate time to celebrate with classic and traditional dishes. Australia has a rich variety of food and drinks. Last year I shared with you Australian Cocktails and I'm so glad that everyone loved to dance with those drinks. 

This time I come up with the traditional dessert called Lamington. Lamington are squares of sponge cake that are dipped in melted chocolate and grated coconut. Lamingtons are usually made up of stale cake. I have used fresh cake. So the trick is to freeze it. After this, sauce the lamination when it is slightly frozen. Though I am equally fond of strawberry and raspberry flavor, this time I tried Chocolate Lamington. You can also add in strawberry cream in between the cake as I have done. 

For the Cake:-

3 eggs,

1/4 cup milk,

1/2 cup sugar,

1/4 cup cornflour,

3/4 cup self raising flour,

3 teaspoons melted butter.

For Icing:-

1/2 cup milk,

3 1/2 cups icing sugar,

1/3 cup cocoa powder,

2 teaspoons melted butter,

2 cups desiccated coconut for coating.

Preparation Method for Cake:-

1. Preheat oven to 180 D.C. Now grease and flour a square shaped cake tin. Take a bowl. Beat eggs, sugar, butter and milk in it. Sift this mixture in flour and cornflour mix. Mix until well combined.

2. Pour the mixture into the greased tin. Bake in preheated oven until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. Bake time is 25-30 minutes.

3. Allow to cool. Cut into smaller squares. Place in the freezer until it begins to harden, for 1 1/2 hours, uncovered.

Preparation Method for Icing:-

1. Stir butter, milk and cocoa powder, together. Then stir in the icing sugar.

2. Dip frozen cake squares into icing mixture and then into grated coconut.

3. Place on baking paper and allow to defrost. This must take 1 1/2 hours at room temperature.

 Enjoy Australia Day!

Chikki with Lohri - Festival of North India

Lohri is one of the major winter festivals of North India. It is celebrated every year on January 13, to mark the day of Uttarayan or sun's journey towards north. Indian markets are flooded with “Chikki” throughout winter. Chikki is a traditional ready-to-eat Indian sweet generally made up of groundnuts, dry fruits and jaggery. There are several varieties of chikki like sesame chikki, dried chikki Maewo, peanuts chikki, gram dal chikki etc.

Chikki is very beneficial to health. It contains proteins and iron. Jaggery helps in cleansing the body and acts as a digestive agent. It satisfies the sweet tooth completely. On this joyous night, sing heartily, dance merrily on the dhol(drum) beats around the bonfire with your family and friends. Say goodbye to winter and welcome Lohri with Groundnut Chikki.

Ingredients:-

250 grams of peanut seeds,

250 grams Jaggery,

1 1/2 teaspoon Ghee/Clarified butter

Preparation method:-

1. Roast peanuts until brown. Do not roast in the microwave for more than 2 minutes. Peel off skins on cooling.

2. Put a teaspoon of ghee in a frying pan and heat.

3. Prepare the jaggery syrup. Allow the jaggery to melt in the frying pan for 4 minutes or until the completely melted and frothy.

4. Now add peanuts and mix well for around 3 minutes. Grease the plate with clarified butter. Add the mixture.

5. Cut into diamond or square shape when warm with the help of sharp knife.

6. Preserve in glass jars when cool. 

 

Say Happy Lohri with your favorite Chikki!!