Homemade Chocolate

Step by step procedure with photos to prepare a delicious and tasty dessert/chocolate - Homemade Chocolate. This chocolate recipe is very simple, easy to prepare with just 4 main ingredients and in just 20 minutes time. The texture of the chocolate would be soft and chewy. You could perfectly make any shape of your wish. Add sugar as per your taste. In my recipe I have added just a correct amount of sugar as it won't go bitter or go too much sweet. You can store the chocolate in fridge in a air tight container. It would last for a week when refrigerated. Surprise your kids with homemade chocolates. Scroll further for full recipe-Homemade chocolate.

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Preparation time:  5 min
Cooking time: 20 min
Serves: 25 chocolate pieces
Category: Dessert/Sweet/Chocolate
Recipe by Vidhya

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Ingredients

(1 cup = 250 ml)

Milk Powder - 250 grams/ 2 cups

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Coco Powder - 6 tablespoon

Butter - 2 tablespoon

Almond/Badam - for topping

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Method

• In a vessel take 2 cups of milk powder and 6 tablespoon of coco powder. Mix them thoroughly. When I was doing it, I found little lumps, so I just blended it using a blender and the mixture was free from lumps. Otherwise you can also sieve the mixture to get rid of lumps.
  
  
  
• Take half a cup of sugar in a thick bottomed vessel/pan/kadai. To dissolve the sugar add just enough water to the pan. I added 3/4 cup of water.
  
  
• Place the pan in the medium heat/flame and occasionally stir until the sugar dissolves completely.
  
• When sugar syrup starts boiling, add the milk powder and coco powder mixture to the syrup and mix it thoroughly. At this point lower the heat. Mix it thoroughly.
  
• It would come to a thick paste like consistency. Now add two tablespoon of butter and mix it thoroughly. Stir it continuously till the butter melts completely and blends with chocolate.
  
  
• Keep stirring for another 4 to 5 min.
  
• Grease a tray with butter and transfer the prepared chocolate to the tray. Spread it nicely. Top it with broken almond or any dry fruits/nuts as you wish.
  
  
• Keep the chocolate in fridge for at least 3 hours.
• After removing it from fridge, wait for at least 15 min and start cutting them into desired shapes. I just made normal squares. 
• Serve yummy chocolates, surprise your family and kids.
  

      Note:

• Use a blender to blend the coco powder and milk powder. You can also sieve the mixture before using it for cooking. Optionally, you can also sieve the powdered mixture after blending.
• Use any dry nuts of your choice for toppings. You can also add them at the last stage - mix it to the whole chocolate mixture, like we do in other sweets.
• You can also add a teaspoon of vanilla extract for extra taste.

Capsicum Rice-With Sambhar Powder

Step by Step procedure with photos to prepare a tasty and easy lunch box recipe - Capsicum Rice with Sambhar Powder. No Onion No Garlic rice recipe. This version of capsicum rice do not contain any masala items and it just spiced up with sambhar powder. In this rice I have added potato and peas which really complements to the taste. I used Basmathi rice and I would recommend the same to the readers. This rice is so perfect for lunch box as it can be prepared easily with less number of ingredients. This can also be prepared when you are looking for a simple dinner. Apalam/pappadum/fryums would go well with the capsicum rice. Now we will see the procedure to prepare - Capsicum Rice-With Sambhar Powder.

Check for an another version of the capsicum rice spiced with aromatic Indian spices by clicking on the link Capsicum Rice.

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Preparation time:  15 min (excluding 30 min rice soaking time)
Cooking time: 25 min
Serves: 1-2
Category: Variety rice/Lunchbox recipe
Recipe by Vidhya

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Ingredients

Basmathi rice - 1/2 cup

Capsicum - 1 chopped (I used 1/2 portion of yellow and 1/2 portion of red bell pepper)

Potato - 2 small/1 medium chopped

Peas - a handful

Sambhar powder - 1 1/2 tablespoon

I used home made Sambhar powder. For this dish you can use shop bought ready-made powder as well.
Curry leaves - 1 string
Mustard seeds/kadugu - 1 spoon
Coriander leaves - 1 tablespoon chopped for Garnishing
Cooking oil - 1 tablespoon

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Method

• Clean and soak 1/2 cup of Basmathi rice in water for 30 min. Cook the rice and keep it ready.
• In the mean time, chop the capsicum and potato.
• I cooked the fresh peas. The peas is left over from previous day cooking. You can also use uncooked fresh/frozen peas.
  
• In a pan/kadai, add a tablespoon of oil. When it becomes hot add 1 spoon mustard seed and allow it to splutter. Now add curry leaves.
  
• Followed by curry leaves, add chopped potatoes. 
  
• Fry until the potato becomes nicely fried, fully cooked and slightly brown as shown in the picture. If you are adding fresh peas you can add them when potatoes are almost cooked and fry until peas and potatoes are completely cooked.
  
• Now add chopped capsicum. Give a stir.
  
• Since I used cooked peas, I added them at this stage. stir it and cook for 2 min.
  
• Add 1 1/2 tablespoon of sambhar powder/as per your taste.
  
• Give a stir and add salt as per your taste.
  
• Mix them well. Sprinkle little water if it look dry. Cook for few more minutes, until the veggies and sambhar powder blends nicely.
  
• Add the chopped coriander and give a stir.
  
• Remove the pan from hot plate/stove. Add the cooked basmathi rice, mix well and keep the kadai closed for sometime.
  
• Finally the Capsicum rice is ready to serve/for lunch box.
  

Garlic Cheese Toast in Oven

Step by step procedure with photos to prepare a crispy, cheesy and tasty-Garlic Cheese Toast. This is a simple and quick recipe. Follow the same procedure to get the best taste and its almost tasted like the one we have in pizza restaurants. In this recipe I have included cooked corn for topping since I always prefer stuffed garlic breads to plain garlic breads and it's totally your choice, you can also have them without corn. I used oven for making the toast. This dish would be ideal for evening snacks, when kids are back from school. Now we'll see how to prepare Garlic Cheese toast.

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Preparation time:  10 min
Cooking time: 7 min
Serves: 6 slices
Category: Toast/Snacks
Recipe by Vidhya

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Ingredients

(1 cup = 250 ml)

Bread - 6 Slices, White bread would be the best choice

Butter - 3 tablespoon

Garlic - 2 finely chopped/minced

Coriander leaves/cilantro - 1 tablespoon

Cheese - 1 1/2 cup grated, I used cheddar cheese.

Corn - 1/2 cup cooked
Crushed Black Pepper - for seasoning (Optional)
Mixed herbs dry/oregano - for seasoning 

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Method

• In a bowl take 3 tablespoon of butter (it should be soft in room temperature), minced garlic and chopped coriander leaves. Mix them well and it should be in ready to spread state.
  
  
• If you are using fresh/frozen corn, then cook them for 10 min. Grate the cheese.
• When the corn is cooked, mix the corn with shredded cheese.
  
• Take bread slice, on one side of it apply the butter and herbs mixture generously.
  
• Then on top the the bread spread, add a generous amount of corn and cheese.
  
• Then top it with mixed herbs dry/oregano and pepper.
  
• In the mean time during preparation, preheat the oven at 180°C. Place the bread on the oven grill/on the oven tray and further cook it for 7 min or until the cheese melts completely.
• Remove it from oven and enjoy the Garlic cheese toast hot with tomato sauce.
  

Notes:

• I used cheddar cheese, so I have not added salt in my recipe. If you are using any other cheese add salt and adjust as per your taste.
• Adding corn is optional, but it do add taste to the recipe.
• Increase/decrease the amount of garlic as per your taste.

Rava Idli/ (Instant Idli)

Step by by step procedure with clear photos to explain how to prepare a popular South Indian breakfast - Rava Idli.

                   The rava/semolina idli recipe is simple and unlike our regular idlis, we do not have to soak or grind to make idli batter and even fermentation is also not required. When you are looking for a quick and comforting breakfast, definitely rava idli would top the list as it is healthy and easy to prepare. I learnt this recipe from my mom and as well as from a cook book, that my mom gave me. In my recipe I have not used baking soda or similar substances - yet got a fluffy and soft idlis, which would make an ideal breakfast.

Now we will see how to make a instant and tasty Rava idli.

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Preparation time:  5 min (excluding 30 min batter setting time)
Cooking time: 40 min
Serves: 15 idlis
Category: Breakfast/idli
Recipe by Vidhya

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Ingredients

(1 cup = 250 ml)

Rava/Sooji - 1 cup

Yogurt (sour or fresh) - 1/2 cup

Ginger - 1 inch finely chopped

Carrot - 1 grated

Green chilli - 1 finely chopped

Chana dal - 1 teaspoon

Urad dal - 1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds/ kadugu - 1 teaspoon

Cumin seeds/ Jeera - 1 teaspoon

Ghee - 3 tablespoon

Peanuts - a handful

Coriander - a handful finely chopped

Salt - As per your taste

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Method

• In a kadai/pan, add 2 tablespoon of ghee and roast 1 cup of rava until it becomes aromatic and change colour. keep on stirring to make a even roasting. When you find the rava aromatic transfer it to a mixing bowl to make batter.
  
• In the same kadai/pan, add another tablespoon of ghee. When it is hot, add a teaspoon of mustard seed and allow it to splutter. Then add a teaspoon of jeera, a teaspoon od chana dal and a teaspoon of urad dal. Fry until the dal slightly changes colour and releases a nice flavour.
  
• Now add the chopped green chilli and a handful of peanuts. You can also replace peanuts with cashew nuts (10-12 nos). Fry it until the peanuts/cashews slightly changes colour.
  
  
• Pour the tempered ingredients to the mixing bowl. Allow it to cool for sometime.
  
• Add half a cup of yogurt and mix them all well. 
  
• Add salt.
  
• Add the grated carrot and chopped coriander. 
  
• Mix well to make batter. The consistency of the batter should be similar to our regular idli batter. Add little water if required. Now the rava idli batter is ready. Keep the batter aside for 30 min before making idlis.
  
• Grease the idli mould with ghee/oil. Pour idli batter to 3/4th of the mould. I steam cooked the idlis, it took 12-14 min for idli to get steam cooked. To make sure the idlis the fully cooked, insert a knife/handle portion of the spoon and it should come out clean.
  
• Remove the idlis from mould and serve hot rava idli with idli podi/sambar/coconut or tomato chutney.
  

Notes:

• You can replace peanuts with cashews for a traditional rava idli. Roast 10-12 cashews in a spoon of ghee and add it to the batter.
• While tempering you can include a teaspoon of whole black pepper.
• You can also include finely chopped curry leaves.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Step by step procedure with pictures to explain how to prepare Homemade Pizza Sauce. Very simple and quick sauce recipe. Prepare them and store it in fridge for a 4-5 days. It tastes great and aptly complements the pizza recipes. See below for the simple 4 step procedure to make Homemade Pizza Sauce. Check the link for Pizza Paratha recipe.

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Preparation time:  10 min
Cooking time: 15 min
Serves: 4
Category: Sauce recipe
Recipe by Vidhya

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Ingredients

Tomato - 3 big fully ripened

Ginger - 1 tablespoon chopped

Garlic - 1 tablespoon chopped

Olive oil - 2-3 tablespoon

Pepper - 1-2 tablespoon/As per your taste

Mixed dry herbs (Oregano, Basil, Parsley and Rosemary) - 1 spoon
You can also use fresh basil and Oregano.

Salt  - As per your taste

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Method

• Blanch tomatoes and make tomato puree. Blend the tomatoes along with ginger and garlic. Make a coarse paste and not a smooth one.
  
• In a pan, add 2 tablespoon of olive oil. when oil becomes hot add the tomato puree. Cook it until the moisture is removed and puree reduced.
  
• Add crushed black pepper, mixed herbs and salt. Stir it until it further reduced and oil oozes from edges.
  
  
• Transfer it to a bowl and the sauce is ready.
  

Note:

• I used mixed dry herbs. You can use Oregano and fresh basil to make your sauce.
• Once the sauce is prepared, store it in fridge for 4-5 days in a airtight container.