Homemade AppleSauce

           I have read and seen in so many books and blogs that applesauce can be used in baking and that we can reduce the amount of fat in baking when using apple sauce. Back in the US, you can find applesauce in all grocery stores, but I was just a beginner in baking then and I have not used it in baking till now. In India, only few stores have it, and now I wanted to try it out in baking, so I thought I'll make it at home. Making applesauce at home is not at all difficult, in fact it's very very easy, just cooking the apples with some lemon juice. We can make applesauce with almost all apples, but soft varieties would be better..

Homemade Bread Crumbs

          Today's post is Homemade Bread Crumbs, though this is not a big recipe, I just wanted to have it in my basic posts. Whenever I bought bread crumbs, I used a small amount and most of the time the remaining got trashed, because it crossed the expiry date. I prefer making it at home, that way, I can make just the amount I needed, and also, we can add different seasonings or flavors to the bread crumbs..

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

         Ricotta cheese is available in India, at least in the big cities, but somehow I didn't like the texture of it. Ricotta ( meaning recooked ) is actually made from the whey left from making cheese. But when we make it at home, the method is almost similar to how we make Paneer/Indian Cottage Cheese. The texture of homemade Ricotta was creamy and it tasted very good. We can have it in sandwiches, use it in baking or in pasta dishes, I used my batch of ricotta to make ravioli and some cookies, will be posting them soon..

Homemade Vegetable Broth ( Stock )

          Couple of days back, I had made some soup, and I had to use vegetable broth/stock in it. Initially, I was thinking of buying the canned one, but as we know, in India, not all shops carry canned stock/broth, so then I decided to make my own. I had all the veggies in hand, making broth is actually very easy, it takes some time though, like about an hour or so, at the end of which you'll have this clear and healthy vegetable broth..

Soft And Fluffy Idlis ( Steamed Rice Cakes )

          Soft and fluffy idlis, I wanted to have a post on it, in my Basic Recipes section, for a long time now. Though I make it so often, I keep forgetting to take pictures or I put it off, thinking that I'll make a post the next time, when I make them. Finally, today I made it..

Homemade Candied Orange Peels

          For last month's Eggless Baking Challenge we had to do Norwegian Christmas Bread and I needed candied orange peels. I couldn't find them in the nearby stores, so finally made my own at home. Though it takes more than an hour to make this, the method is actually pretty simple. At the end, I had more than 2 cups of candied orange peels, it can be refrigerated and used in various breads and cakes..

Microwave Dulce De Leche

          Dulce De Leche, I love this flavor in ice creams, very rich and delicious and for a long time now, I had wanted to make it at home. Traditionally, it's made by cooking milk and sugar for a long time, but the short cut method is using condensed milk. There are a number of ways of preparing dulce de leche from condensed milk, the pressure cooker method, stove-top method, regular oven and the microwave oven. I didn't want to try the pressure cooker method, where we have to cook the can, immersed completely in water with a small hole on the lid, I was a little scared of the can bursting. Of all the above methods, I found the one using the microwave, to be much easier. After cooling, dulce de leche can be refrigerated and used in making ice creams, cakes, as a frosting on cakes and of course you can't resist yourself from having it as such too..

How To Freeze Green Peas

          My freezer is always stocked up with green peas, whenever fresh peas are available, I get them and freeze them and when fresh peas are not in season, there is always store bought frozen peas. When I buy fresh ones, usually, I shell them, wash and freeze the peas as such and mostly use them up within a week or two. This time I got a lot and I wanted to freeze it in the proper way, so that it would last longer. It's a very simple method, if you have shelled the pea pods, the rest takes very little time..

How To Cook Quinoa

           Quinoa is a fairly new grain, only 3 or 4 years back I got introduced to this wonder grain (it's not a complete grain, they call it as a pseudocereal). It was not love at first 'taste', in fact it was many months later that I tasted it again and only after that I slowly started to use it in day to day cooking. I usually try to replace rice with it, it's very rich in fiber and protein and has a slightly nutty taste. Cooking quinoa correctly might be tough for first timers, so I thought I'll do a basic post about cooking it..

Homemade Paneer

          Though I have made over 150 posts, there is not a single post about a basic recipe like our sambar and masala powders or making a good idli batter, so today I thought I'll make some posts in between other dishes about them. I feel a food blog is not complete with these basic recipes and to start with, today's post is about making paneer ( Indian cottage cheese ) at home. It's very easy and it comes out very well, you'll stop buying it from the store..