Baked Red Velvet Donuts!

My kitchen drawer where I keep my bake ware is almost always in a disarray. All the different shapes and sizes of pans and trays oftentimes do not play very well together when it comes to staying organized. Then to top that I just cannot resist buying a baking pan or tray that I come across and it catches my attention. The donut tray I used for this recipe was another such thing that I had to have when I saw it the other day at the store. It was a Wilton brand pan and this recipe was in fact right on the packaging itself. They make the perfect shaped donuts and whats better is that you can actually eat a few since they are baked and not deep fried. To kick it up another notch, if the donuts are the red velvet kind, what's not to like, after all who doesn't like red velvet cake. These came out really nice and soft and velvety and then with that cream cheese glaze on top, you just go 'yummm'. They are perfect  treat for the upcoming Valentine's day too.
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Nutella filled baked donut Muffins

Featured on: The Kitchn, Huffington Post, Parenting.com, DDG Daily

ow many times have you picked up a donut and set it down? Did I touch a nerve there? If I did, then read-on. I don't claim these to be the healthiest things around but they are perfect when you have a serious craving for those fried beauties. You get the same donut taste without all the frying. Being smaller they also give you portion control, be cautioned though that you will be tempted to pick up a few. These are delicious little treats, baked scrummy soft fluffy doughnut muffins coated with cinnamon sugar and filled with Nutella, how can you argue with that! Hot out of the oven, you blow on them till they cool down just enough and then chomp away... yes you can close your eyes too when you eat, it adds to the pleasure. We shamelessly finished the batch and don't even have any regrets.

They are very quick and ridiculously easy to put together. They also make for a great breakfast muffin and your kids will just love them.

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Cinnamon Rolls/Buns!

alfway through my pregnancy when I was carrying my little princess there was brief period of about a week when cinnamon roll was the only thing I would eat. We bought a whole big pack from our local Sam's club. The craving was gone in a few days but cinnamon rolls were stuck in my mind.

Cinnamon rolls need no introduction; sticky, sweet, sinful and utterly delicious. But the best thing about making your own is the irresistible aroma of the fresh rolls baking in the oven. The straight out of the oven, warm, soft and glazed rolls are heavenly you just want to dig into them and gobble them up... irresistible! On the day you feel like indulging, make these beauties.

I made them a few times since, made them again last week. Whenever I make them, the wonderful smell reminds me of my pregnancy days and then I see my little princess making a mess of herself eating them up. There is no better feeling. That makes this one special for me.

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Chandrakala/Stuffed Sweet Festive Pastries

ere is another recipe from me that gives me an intense sense of nostalgia.

The start of 'navaratra' marks the beginning of the festive season in India. Navaratra culminates in Dussehera after which comes the much awaited Diwali with Dhanteras and Chhath between and immediately after. These followed by Christmas and of course the welcome of the new year. Festivities in India are associated with pomp and fervor, family, dressing in your finest, prayers and worship, time off from school, carnivals, guests and of course food, lots of food. How is that for nostalgia!

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Minty Raspberry and Blueberry Spritzer!

ime flies. Probably the most corny yet the most profound phrase of all time. Summer is already coming to an end. Can you believe it appears like it was only yesterday that we celebrated the New Year 2011 and it it already September, even feels funny writing 2011, want to think its still 2006! While we get ready to welcome the fall with the thoughts of celebrating Dussehra, Diwali and Thanksgiving, this is one pretty pinky summer cooler you must try. Summer is 'berry season' so here is an ode to summer with this 'berrylicious' cool vibrant drink which  is perfect for a lazy summer afternoon or a casual get together or even those fun weekend pool parties. Kids will love this and you can even add a splash of vodka for a little adult treat!

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Imarti

ave you ever wondered what the royalty of yesteryears ate. Especially in India where the land has seen its fair share of kings and queens of over the last couple of thousand years. If you think what they ate had to be rich, tricky to make, used expensive ingredients and extremely delicious, you are absolutely right.
The Imarti is one such sweet dish. It originated as a dessert for the royals in the ornate state of Rajasthan. Legend has it that this delectable sweet dish was created as a gift by the Rajput kings for the Moghuls during the Moghul invasion of India over four hundred years ago. The dish is now ever popular all over the country although in some parts of the country it is known as Jangri. It is almost as popular as its even more popular cousin the Jalebi. So much so that every sweet shop around the corner of every street that makes jalebi will most certainly also have imarti.
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Strawberry Ice-Cream

uscious plump strawberries so aptly represent the spring and summer in my opinion. Nature at its prime, vibrant and full while the strawberries are gorgeously plump, red, sweet and juicy, a delightful treat for the eyes and taste buds alike. The bright sunshine, the blooms and the flowers make you feel good and admire nature and so is the sight of the red strawberries which are to be seen everywhere. My shopping baskets get filled with the bright reds every time I visit the stores – they are irresistible (and also very cheap lol:)) And so as you have guessed I have been making a lot of things with these beauties lately and this is the first in the series - a stunning pink and delightfully yummy strawberry ice-cream.
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Crêpe with Strawberry compote and Pistachios

hen hubby introduced me to crêpes a couple of years ago, he called them the 'American Dosa'! These were the times when it had only been a short few weeks after I had arrived to the US after getting married and hubby was getting me acquainted with the local cuisine. There was this crêpe place near work that made the most amazing savory mushroom crêpes, he claimed. I totally loved them too. The sauteed mushrooms in a thick creamy gravy wrapped in a crispy yet soft crêpe. We went there several times. This was what seems like an age ago. Since then the place closed down and the exotic taste of the mushroom crêpe became a distant memory. Until one evening recently we drove down to a mall that is kinda far but we've always wanted to go there. We spotted a crêpe store in one of those food courts. This rekindled the memories of all the sweet and savory goodness of this great French dish.  We enjoyed all different kinds and now that I was a food blogger, I decided to make it for myself :)

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Watermelon Cooler

y hubby is not the biggest fruit lover. He likes (read: can eat) banana, guava and ripe mangoes. I on the other hand love all kinds of fruit (except banana and mangoes, go figure) and can live on the fresh fruit juice and salads for a few days. Also, because of all the goodness of fruit, I try to incorporate them in our meals at-least once a day. Hubby always takes one or two bites and I am the one left to finish his and my plate. Same with my little one. She is even stranger with her fruit habits. She only likes fresh pineapple and orange juice. Her reasoning why she doesn't like a particular fruit is because of the color, watermelon is too red, papaya is too yellow, guava is too green. But then who's to argue with her that my dear pineapple is yellow too, lol!

Anyway, thats a little 'fruity' detail about my family, back to the post. Days are getting hotter by the day in this part of the world. I had this big seedless sweet watermelon sitting in the refrigerator that I recently got from Costco. It was not possible for me alone to finish (although I did finish half of it all by myself). I thought why not make a drink out of it. The thought of adding a little sparkling water came to me, which in my opinion does wonders to any cool drink. Mixed in a few mint leaves and a little lemon juice and served it over some ice. To my surprise both hubby and kiddo loved it. It was refreshing, gorgeous and a great alternative to soft drinks and helps with your daily intake of fruit too.

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Shakarpala and Chivda - Diwali Treats

Us Indians know our festivals. Just to give you an idea, if you were to just add the major national and regional festivals, you will atleast have a list of a dozen. Festivals are always celebrated with much zeal, pomp and show in India. Among these, the arguably biggest festival is Diwali or Deepawali or the Festival of light. Biggest or not, it is definitely my favorite. People clean their homes, decorate entire houses with flowers, rangolis, electric lights and the more traditional diyas (earthen lamps). On diwali night kids and adults alike light firecrackers. You basically keep at it into the night till mom yells out of the window demanding you to return. Yes of course and how can you forget the food! During Diwali you can smell, shakarpala, namkeen, ladoo, mathri, nankhatai etc from every kitchen when you walk around the block. All these goodies also make for a wonderful homemade gift. I remember when I was a little girl, mom making loads of these and then packing individually in gift boxes and she would arrange them in a basket and give to me distribute in the neighborhood. I dressed in my brand new diwali dress would go door to door to deliver this goodies and always come home with basket full of goodies as return gifts. I used to love it :)
Even though these dishes are traditionally made during diwali, these home-made snacks can infact be made anytime as they come handy when unexpected guests drop in. Out of the several dishes as I mentioned, I picked Shakkarpala and Chivda as they are my favorites.
Chivda is a combination of toasted flattened rice, roasted peanuts, cashews, dalia and any of your favourite ingredients. Make this crispy, crunchy snack ahead of time and store in an air-tight container. It's perfect for times when you have an attack of the munchies. A warning: this stuff is addictive!

Shakarpala is deep fried flaky and crispy dough cubes that are coated with sugar syrup almost like a doughnut glaze. Not to mention it is my papa's most favorite snack ever.

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Date and walnut muffin (eggless)

Growing up, for breakfast we mostly ate chapatis along with with some pan fried veggies  or poha or upma and on special occasions or on weekends poori and sabji.That was mostly the routine of course with variations on some days. Our parents did that forever and so did their parents (and I am sure their parents did the same :). After which off we went to where ever we had to go, school, college or work. Our current lifestyle being a little different, these days I go for much a lighter breakfast especially on weekdays. Be it a bowl of cereal or oatmeal or a quick sliced bread sandwich with some fruits and veggies. To keep things interesting, I always find myself looking for ways to come up with interesting but light and yet 'breakfasty' recipes. I have found that a light muffin or a light fruit bread comes really handy. Also you can create different variations of the same basic muffin or bread. Here's a recipe for a date and nut based muffin that was really liked by hubby and my princess alike. It is mildly sweet, has a distinct taste of dates, cinnamon and walnuts, not to forget the bite of tangy cranberries and is extremely light that makes it just right for breakfast.
Here it is -
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Thai sticky rice with mango

e ate sticky rice  with Thai curries all the time at our local Thai restaurants . Never really gave it much thought. After all it was just rice, just a little more sticky then usual, right?

Wrong. One day when watching Top Chef on Bravo I saw one of the contestants actually being sent home for not getting this rice right, I remember the dish was Thai sticky rice with mangoes. I wondered 'how can you mess up rice even if you are a basic cook, let alone a chef'. That's when it got my curiosity. When I started looking at how to make it that is when I realized it is not as easy as I thought. I looked around a bit more and ever since have thought of giving it a shot. The desire came back when I saw the Sticky rice with Mango post on Priya's site. The dish looked perfect the way she had made it and having a good detailed explanation definitely helped make it appear do-able. Here's my attempt to recreate the dish as described by Priya. The rice package I bought however required a sticky rice steamer to make it. Since I did not have it, I just used my regular rice cooker with its steamer attachment. Have included the details below.

Thanks darling, we relished it, it tasted awesome.. and  I can now proudly add sticky rice to my resume :)

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Sparkling Italian lemonade and a Win !!

Basil infused lemonade..how does that sound..refreshing..cool..and so Italian na!..So its Giada time again and this time it is her Sicilian sparkling Italian lemonade which I had bookmarked the moment I saw  the ingredient list... lemon n basil... now I just love the flavor of basil the slight minty and an unique refreshing flavor which I like to put in everything... pesto, pasta, pizza... it just tastes awesome! Never put basil in drinks though so made this and It is out of this world good... crisp and delightful!! The basil is very subtle and surprisingly good with the lemon. I diluted it with a little bit more water because it was a bit strong for my taste, but overall we loved it. 

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Ras Malai - My 50th post :)

 can’t believe its my 50th post already.. and it’s been loads of fun all the way. USMasala is not even two months old and I am very very proud of this milestone :) I have been totally addicted to the world of blogging... my hubby can vouch for that :D as am ignoring everything else. Your encouraging comments is always the first thing I read in the morning and they always make my day. I have made so many friends and have discovered so many wonderful blogs it feels awesome!! I am thankful to all my readers especially my fellow bloggers who welcomed me with an open heart in the blogsphere with their encouraging words. Guys your love and support is the reason I have become 100 times more passionate about cooking, experimenting, taking beautiful pics... ok now the big confession all the pics of USMasala which I always get compliments for is taken by my dear hubby... so I thank him too for making my blog wonderful and so colorful... Thanks sweetheart!
So to all you wonderful people out there, a big THANKYOU and watch out for more from USMasala. LOVE you all!!
For my 50th I have chosen my hubs all time favorite Indian sweet Ras-malai. Hope you guys like it.Ras-Malai, soft spongy and delicate cheese balls in a creamy thick sweetened milk sauce with a hint of saffron, nuts and green cardamom, is a delectable and one of the most popular of all Indian desserts.

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