HILARIOUS EASTER EGGS CAKES for your little ones.

With Easter festivities everywhere,from the malls with big fluffy Easter bunnies to take pictures with, or grocery store fridge aisle lined with easter theme cookie doughs and pre colored egg shells, my youngest wanted to get in on the action!

Mama! Can we paint eggs but I don't like them so I won't eat them!

Hmmm how about we save the shells and fill them up with something else edible, but what? I wondered aloud. 

How about cake mom!!

Aha ! why not ? Immediately I got googling on my computer, and Lo and Behold, found tons of ideas how to bake cake in egg shells. So we ended up creating these funny little hilarious characters today. I am just bummed that my little one's original idea is not really the original one! Anyway this is a super fun quality time activity with your kids! Do try :)

So just make any white cake batter, portion and dye with a few drops of neon colors.

 Use ziplock bags to pour each color about a teasp each and should all in all be 3/4th of the shell full.

Bake in preheated oven 350 degrees, for 17 to 18 minutes. Let the rainbow batter over flow. Thats going to be your crazy hairs :) Let cool and draw funny faces on each. My 10 yr old daughter came up with most of the expressions and original names for them all :)

Meet "The French Artist! "

Mr Moustache !!

                               

The Naughty Aunty!

and my daughter made this "Bucktooth Bob!"

The Blushing Betty !

The Shy Lady !

The Rainbow Family !

The cake is baked perfectly inside, nice and spongy.

And when u break the shell,the cakes comes out nice and clean.

And the best part is yet to come when you break open the shells to find some awesome rainbow cake arrangement! 

Do make these with your kids. they will really have a lot of fun with it! I will be wrapping them in clear cellophane and hiding them inside the family room and kitchen for the kids to try and find them.  Hope you have fun making these as we did.  Happy colorful Easter to you all !!

BHUNA GOSHT ( FRIED MEAT) FROM LANDI KOTAL

Before becoming the destroyed war ridden rubble that it is today, Landi Kotal was a simple tribal town between Afghanistan and Pakistan known to most as the best place to visit for meat lovers. To me the locals seemed to be carrying their rifles on their shoulders and their meat on their skewers with pride!!

I learned several dishes of the region in my teens and make them regularly to this day.

All these meat dishes from that region had something in common.They were surprisingly simple and minimum ingredients, yet huge on flavor. Sometimes less is more and few spices seem to go a long way as in that part of the world.

I will give you more recipes from that region over time,but tonight I want to start with my children's favourite.
Bhuna Gosht from Landikotal. (Fried meat )

Ingredients:
Beef stew meat cubed boneless 1 and 1/2 lbs (preboiled in water with a pinch of salt till almost done and very little broth left)
Tomatoes chopped 1 and 1/2 lbs
Green chilles mild medium sized 4 to 6 slit in half and seeds removed
Two small onions thinly sliced
Garlic minced 1 Tablesp
Ginger minced 1 Tablesp
Ghee or butter 1/2 cup ( if u are health conscious go as little as u want )
Red chilli powder 1 teasp
Turmeric powder 1/4 teasp
Cilantro to garnish

Method:
Fry sliced onions in hot ghee or butter. Stir and when starting to get golden brown add ginger, garlic, salt. chilli powder, turmeric.
Add 1/3 cup water and fry a little.
Add boiled meat and broth if any left from boiling)
Fry 5 minutes,then add chopped tomatoes.
Cook covered for 20 minutes.
Add green chillies, cook another 5 minutes or till the consistency you like.
garnish with cilantro and serve with naan or roti.
Enjoy!

TIP: I like to pre boil my meat for these type of dishes so that I am not stuck with a stubborn piece o meat that won't cook in time for that can ruin the flavors of the other ingredients while having to cook too long.
If your meat is tender and cooks fast, u don't need to pre boil.

I leave you with one of my biggest culinary fear! when Chef Ramsay might say to me!

LOL good night Fellow Foodies!!

My first VIRTUAL FACEBOOK FRIENDS COLLABORATION RECIPE ( The Ultimate Fried Crunchy Beans )

One day I was staring at the bag of fresh green beans from the organic farmer's market on my kitchen counter not knowing how to make an interesting recipe. I was feeling uninspired probably because  am not really a huge fan of green beans. I eat them because they are good for you but have not really acquired a taste for them. 
On the kitchen counter was also my Laptop open to my FB newsfeed, where I had just finished wishing happy birthday to 11 of my friends born that day :) 
I updated my status with the question. How should I make these beans today? Immediately I started getting tons of suggestions by my awesome friends who are just as enthusiastic about good food and recipes as I am. I incorporated all the ingredients I thought would go well together that they suggested into one recipe and the result was amazing!! 
So I must thank all my dear friends specially Zia, Zee Naeem and Seema. My beans came out amazing. crunchy, just the right amount of garlickiness, with sesame seeds and peanuts. yummm. love my friends for the best suggestions. Its going to be a regular now!!
                                        
PEANUT & SESAME CRUNCHY STIR FRIED BEANS

RECIPE:
in a little oil, fry one teaspoon minced garlic, one teaspoon crushed red chilli peppers. 
Soon after add beans one lb, soya sauce 2 tablesps, salt half teasp. sesame seeds 2 teasp, stir fry 5 minutes now add 3 tbsps crushed roasted peanuts unsalted, stir for a min and remove from heat. quick and easy and a million dollar worth! any buyers ??
enjoy!! :)

I bid goodnight with this cutest 7 seconds Vine Video. Who knew this song was about green beans?? It's hilarious. A must watch!! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoll2cV8L8Q

CRISPI CHATPATI BHINDI  (SPICY CRISPY OKRA)

I learned this quick yummy OKRA side dish from my mom when she called me one day long distance just to tell me how excited she was to have found a new way to make "Bhindi".
It was not the usual tomatoes and onion laden slimy (although yummy) fried stuff or cooked sticky, with meat and gravy.
Instead this Bhindi was crisp and spicy! lemony and crunchy! and good enough to be devoured with a fork like a snack with an independent soul that did not depend on any roti or paratha!
I decided to try it right away as a side dish to Chicken karahi I was planning for dinner that day. This recipe is indeed befitting it's British name "Lady Finger". Dressed sophisticatedly, crisp and cultured  instead of the usual sloppy slimy stuff !! :)
You can see my enthusiasm is inherited ! :)
Well here is the recipe.

My Okras are surrounded here by salad leaves and red radishes from my husband's backyard garden.

INGREDIENTS:
OKRA   1 lbs  (After removing the stubby ends, slice lengthwise each okra into 4 long strips.)
ONION  1 large (thinly sliced)
LEMON/LIME juice  1/4th cup
Cumin roasted and crushed 1 tablespoon
crushed red chilli peppers 1/2 teaspoon
salt to taste
Olive Oil as little as you want for sauteing
chaat masala (optional) 1 tbsp

METHOD:
Fry and toss Okras in a pan with Olive oil until crisp and crunchy. Will be browned a little too.
Remove onto a bowl.
Use same pan and a little more oil to fry the onions until crispy red/brown. Don't over do it or else will burn quickly.
Pour the Okras back into the pan with onions. lower the heat, add salt, crushed red chilli peppers, crushed and roasted cumin and lemon juice.Toss well for just a few seconds. Remove onto a serving dish.
For that extra chatpati kick sprinkle chaat masala too.
Serve warm or cold.
Enjoy !!

KILLER TIP!
Try the same recipe with CORN and/or PEAS  instead of OKRA !  You can call these a healthier version of comfort food!

Goodbye for now with this funny parody of "Oprah" by captainscratchy.com

What Germans do with Painted Easter Eggs and apple trees

While living in Germany, my little toddlers and I for a couple of Easters painted eggs with our neighbourhood friends and hung them on a tree. The following story reminded me of that. I have not seen this tradition in my neighbourhood in the USA. Maybe its time to start one !!  :)

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/world/Photos+Incredible+German+Easter+tree/8135306/story.html

My First Foodie Post and its about not being a Tough Chicken!!!

Hello friends,
Time and time again I have been told, "You should have a food blog! " So here I am! This will be a place to share all my fusion recipes with you all, and also to share anything food related on the net that tickles my fancy! Your feedback and comments are always welcome.

No more Tough Chewy Chicken Roasts!!
Today let me share some very simple tips for all your skinned chicken roasts with any kind of marinade. If you want juicy but fully cooked roasted poultry. Do the following.

1. As you marinate your skinned chicken with any kind of spices/masala. Add two tablespoons of minced Raw Papaya to the marinate. (You can find raw papaya in most Asian/South Asian stores if not in your regular ones.should be hard,  greenish and not yet sweet) (remove the seeds, mince it in a blender with skin. make small portions of 2 tbsp each and freeze them for all your future marinades for all kinds of meats except fish. I always freeze portions in an ice tray.
2. marinate the chicken directly in a pot, poke it all over with a fork and leave it in the fridge for at least 6 hrs.
3.cover the pot tightly and steam the chicken over the stove for about 10 minutes, turning it once.
4. Now deep fry or bake uncovered in the oven until its golden brown on the top.
This way you ensure the chicken is cooked thoroughly and is not dry and chewy. Because of  pre steaming, it takes less time to cook all through the center while baking or deep frying hence it does not dry up!  I prefer Raw Papaya which works like magic and is prefered  just because I don't trust the chemicals in packaged tenderizers :)
Feel free to ask questions!