Eggless Cinnamon Rolls with Chocolate and Mocha Glaze and a Desi Touch...

Cinnamon Rolls...
My favourite!
And as the going here is in Ranchi...a lot of people are now clamouring for them too...thanks to yours truly!
They smell absolutely heavenly and when you bake them...the entire  neighbourhood salivates....

These were for my neighbours -almost emaciated daughter...the one home for a few days...

She is totally my type.When hunger calls, shed rather eat Kellogg's Chocos than make an effort to dish out already prepared food  and heat it. She can live on chocolate...avoids sweets just because she wants to compensate and reward her sweet tooth with chocolate...

need I say more??

They smell so heavenly midway, that its almost like some one alive calling out from the oven...hey...

come on just one bite......
just like that ad from telly...
Temptation is a losing battle to fight.
The best deal...don't fight it...Indulge ! and then sweat it out later. The denial will be of  no help if the Mayans are proved right this December!
You don't want to be standing facing the tsunami ,saying stuff like-" I wish I had eaten that cinnamon roll "...do you??
I just know, that if the conspiracy theories are indeed true...and that if  we have to die this December...as long as I am with my family...I will die a happy and satisfied person.
Enough of the heavy...
Melancholy is what sweet dog is right now...driven crazy because of the aromas emanating from the oven...but restrained...

He can not be fed all the sweet that comes from the oven. Hair fall...I can not place a carpet on the floor , lest my blue carpet turns white thanks to sweet dogs hair.
Lets get back to happiness...and cinnamon rolls.
The recipe is again from my archived collection of recipes from better Homes and Gardens.
Loosely adapted, and using the brown sugar substitute...Jaggery or gur ki shakker.That is the Desi Touch.
Just a gentle reminder, this tells you why .
Yup , I love my books..you should see the tomes I have collected over the years , which i so resolutely refuse to let go or share.
Lets get down to the baking...just as I post this blog..I have double chocolate chip cookies in the oven...am I killing myself or what???

for the

Egg less Cinnamon Rolls with Chocolate and Mocha Glaze and a Desi Touch...

you need

1cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp dried yeast
3 cups  flour(plus extra for rolling)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp soda bi carbonate

The glaze 
60 gms butter
2 tsp cinnamon powder
generous 3/4 cup brown sugar (I used gur ki shakker/jaggery)
1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate- cut up
5-6 tbsp icing sugar
1/4 cup strong black coffee
1 tbsp cream/milk to brush the rolls


In a sauce pan mix the sugar and the milk and the oil.
Heat/scald-I heated it till the sugar dissolved and the milk was not extremely hot.

Let it come to tepid-luke  warm ...and the add the yeast. Stir vigorously.
After 5 minutes add in 2 cups of  the flour and the two powders.

Mix well and set aside till it doubles.
The before

You can have a cup of coffee in anticipation ..
And the after.

OK , now the messy dough into a bigger bowl...add in the remaining flour and knead.

OK, now work top...
The dough all rolled out to a rectangular shape...that is what you need the extra flour for.

The butter- patience is not one of my virtues...so instead of creaming it I bunged it into the microwave...where it melted.
So you should know better. Cream the butter and add the brown sugar.And the cinnamon powder.

To the brown sugar mix, I  also added a tbsp of the extra flour...I find that makes the rolls more defined. At this stage,add whatever you want. Nuts, raisins...whatever.
I like mine to be untouched by nuts. I like my nuts pure and sentient...just the perception of the nuts.Not lost in the rolls.
Pre heat the oven to 180C/350F.
Spread the mix on the rectangular dough.

Yes , I know ...the butter should be creamy...you can rectify my mistake...cream yours...
And then ever so gently roll the rectangular dough.

Tightly.And also pinch the ends of the dough to get a closed cylinder.

Now slice the cylinder.I made 3/4 inch slices with a sharp knife.

Laid out on parchment paper.Al Foil is no good here.

A brush with beaten cream or milk.

Now pop the tray into the oven. The rolls will spread and give you about 18 for this recipe.
In for 30 minutes approx...

The best way to know they are done...bite a bit...
Now the fun...sprinkle the chocolate over the rolls and watch it melt...or not.

The icing sugar in a bowl...add the coffee, a spoon at a time to give a thick dropping consistency. You don't want a runny glaze. Like honey -smooth and silky,is what is ideal.

Add the chocolate to that.

Now slather over the rolls...

The glaze hardens as the rolls cool and the chocolate melts and seeps into the rolls ...its a marriage of loving,awesome ,supporting ,sensual flavours...
And a close up to tempt you...

The chocolate and the coffee glaze just kissing the roll........yum!
They were!
Totally awesome!

And they deserve to be made...if you ask why I am tempting you...totally.
I once made some comparatively tame rolls  here, but it is OK to indulge once in a while.
And BTW these rolls were so easy ,my  neighbour made them as soon as she could.
And for an absolute newbie baker they were delicious...

No excuses left now...

So what are you baking today???

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Yakhni Pulao or Yakhni Pilau Fat Man Style

The hand that rules the remote control decides the menu!

An adage to add to the many ,that I note from my experiences with the three boys in my house.And  they say that women are complicated.People, you are so ,so naive...
Like the tiger prowls to look for its next meal...hubby dear is always on the look out for his version of a no sweet , no vegetable, highly spiced up meat dish for the next meal.
Anything belonging to the subcontinent ...even Chinese will do for him.
The colour red means YUM here!
The story begins, when one evening we were bickering like little cubs...(for the remote...I wanted to watch Charlie Sheen tell you exactly what not to do while sweet child wanted to watch fat, ugly brutes throw people on the ground-WWE) , and in saunters  hubby dear..one nod of his( non existent) leonine tresses and the remote zoned in to its supposedly, rightful owner.(Me-I get to record all I may not even want to watch on the tata sky +) So , by default we saw ....

The Fat man and 13 Brides on ndtv goodtimes

And this cute, fat, man called Bikramjit Ray is looking for his bride...who can cook like his mother(the most daunting task faced by any woman!) trying out different cuisines and different foods.

This time he was meeting with a prospective Kayasth(north Indian) bride who made Yakhni Pulao( Pilau).

That was our lunch the next day.

We love Yakhni ...which is a simple spiced stock and is used in curries and rice-thus pulao.

Complicated???Any meat and rice dish that uses stock to cook the rice is a pulao and the when the rice is cooked in water and then made that is what is biryani...

Next morning...the kitchen was set up like an assembly line production...the boss was cooking -no less huh...and I was designated to the position of a sous chef-chopping and peeling and doing all the dirty jobs...

The result validates my theory...men are better at cooking meat!

The  Yakhni Pulao/Pilau was so delectable, it needed no accompaniment, no raita , no gravy ...NOTHING!

Easily the yummiest non spicy yakhni ever.

We, the people from Jammu and Kashmir know yakhni like this. This was a revelation!!

And if you are new to Indian flavours ,this will be spot on!

First time I used star anise...and loved it!

With pictorial instructions,let this blog post be our new bible to the delish Yakhni Pulao.

for the

Yakhni Pulao or Yakhni Pilau -Fat Man Style (loosely adaptaed)

you need

for the yakhni

1/2 kg mutton

salt to taste

1/2 tsp turmeric

1large onion quartered

1 1-inch  piece ginger

8-9cloves garlic

1 9-inch square cheese cloth

2 sticks cinnamon

2 star anise

4-5 green cardamon

2 black cardamom

1tsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp peppercorns

7-8 cloves

3-4 bay leaves

8 -10 dried red chilles(optional)

for the pulao

2 cups basmati /long grain rice soaked at least 1/2 hour

3 tbsp ghee/ mustard oil

1/2 cup finely sliced onions

1 tsp shaih zeera/cumin seeds

2 tsp ginger garlic paste

salt to taste

1 tbsp red chilli flakes(omit , if you can live without your spices)

1/2 cup yogurt 

Start with the spices and a  clean Cheese cloth.

Tie up the bouquet garnis...

A slow cooker or an induction cooker is best. However , if you want to speed up the process, a pressure cooker will do. Hubby dear is a big fan of slow cooked food...so we started early.

Almost 2 1/2 litres of water, the mutton , the bouquet garnis, the quartered onion, whole ginger and garlic into the pot.

Now the salt- I used a tbsp of salt and the turmeric...and put this pot on to boil.

On the cooker for almost 2 hours at a low heat till the meat is 80% done and the stock is about 1 litre.

Boiling away...

After 2 hours and many smatterings of stock on the counter...I strained the whole thing and collected the stock .Pick out any offending pieces of onion or ginger or garlic and set the bouquet garnis aside to squeeze out when cool.Also taste the stock...you will be dying to.

Now the rice.

Heat the oil/ghee, Since we use mustard oil...we smoke it err heat it to its smoking point.

Add the cumin seeds and then the sliced onions.And the ginger garlic paste and a little salt. Go easy on the salt...you can add more later.

Add in the yogurt and stir furiously...till it comes to a boil.

Add in the meat pieces and squeeze  the juices from the bouquet garnis into the stock. Hubby dear added all to the mutton...but I didn't approve. Discard the squeezed bouquet garnis!

And saute the mutton till it is seared.

Now add in the soaked rice stir well ...and pour in exactly double the stock into the pot.Make sure you taste for salt. An under salted pulao is not good!And in your eagerness please do not over salt it.

Let it come to a boil and then simmer till the stock is all absorbed and the rice cooked.

And we were ready to eat..

attack...

Thanks to the fat man and his prospective bride...we had an awesome lunch (only!!!no left overs)

Treat to try...

Totally desi , totally unoriginal but totally YUM!!!

You can make this with chicken too...

but come back for more.

So what are you baking today???

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Sinful Chocolate Brownies

Yes, I'm alive!!!!!!!!!

I've been out of circulation for a week...but I'm Back with the most sinful chocolate brownies ever…

So sinful, they taste nothing like cake…

And taste all like chocolate, walnut covered goodness.

So sinful, whatever outside the bite is an exquisite torture!

The batter is deliciously edible and glossy and wet and spewing chocolate vapors as it is…baking it makes it even wicked!!

The only allusion I can give to this finger licking good brownie is “WICKED”!!! Totally unoriginal, but this is the only thing that comes to mind.

And if you are on a diet…like me –always in the middle of one or starting one or ending one…these brownies are like Satan…

In the garden of Eden…eve (d’uh…me!) and the brownies are calling to me like the serpent …”HISS…Chocolate Brownies HISSSSSSSS!!!!” one bite and a week’s worth of abstinence has gone flying out of the door…Chucked out of the garden of Eden!

Second only to …whatever takes you there!

These gooey brownies are going to make you forget the dry packaged triangles that you get at coffee shops. Reward yourself…you’ll thank me for it.

I have a new guinea pig…my neighbor’s daughter is home for her holidays…reed thin; her mother is fussing over Khushboo…and happy to stuff food down her throat. Chocolate brings universal happiness…. She was happy to be experimented upon…happy to be photographed and happy to eat. What more can I ask for?

Khushboo also had the courage to make her first cinnamon rolls .Almost perfect Cinnamon rolls. Comparisons are not good babes...if you ever hear tales of my first bak-escapades…and the stories of the people I experimented my culinary skills (non existent) upon…you’ll realize that you are way better than what I was.

I also used the same recipe for the ultimate chocolate chip cookie bar…but stand alone, these are even better than ultimate.
Enough of the blah…

For the

Sinful Chocolate  Brownies...

You need

175 Gms semi sweet chocolate

55 Gms butter

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp cocoa powder

3 eggs

½ cup walnuts (optional)

¾ cup plain flour

¼ tsp salt

Bain Marie…double boiler…

A sauce pan inside a wider pan fullof simmering water...place the chocolate in chunks and the butter to melt. If you add little extra chocolate by mistake…it's ok. You only improve the taste.

Grease and flour and if possible line your SQUARE 8*8 inch tin and sift the flour.

If you are using unsalted butter, add a little extra to the ¼ tsp slat. I used Amul butter, so ¼ Th will do.

By now your stuff should be melting, a quick stir will help.Add in the cocoa for that extra silkiness...and whisk.

Turn the oven on at this point. 180C/350F is needed.

Stir the butter chocolate mix to cool it down. You don’t want the eggs to cook in your mixing bowl.

Add in the sugar. Ground or super fine sugar is good as is granulated sugar.

Mix it well…you’ll see weird glossy mess/mass at the bottom of the pan.

Beat in one egg at a time and loosen the mass/mess to look like batter.

Add in the flour…all at once will do!

A good mix and then the walnuts…

A good sprinkle over is also great.

If you don’t intend baking ASAP…that excuse comes handy when you live in India where the power outages are a frequent occurrence…stow this in the fridge.

Pop them into greased cup cake moulds and take them out in 9 minutes…you have your chocolate lava cupcakes…

That is another post.

The electricity cooperated with us…and we were done in about 30 minutes.

My neighbor’s house and our staircase were abuzz with the vapor of the Sinful Brownies…

Cut out and just enjoy.

If your family is not at home stash the left over’s…you’ll need some when they come sniffing the Sinful Chocolate Brownies.

These are a onetime treat…remember the serpent…knowledge says too many brownies is not good for your constitution….eat them with care…a bite at a time.

So what are you baking today???

 Coming up...as soon as I can post...The famous cinnamon rolls...filled with chocolate shards and topped with a mocha glaze...

Yakhni Biryani...with star anise...

Should you thank me Khushboo...or should I thank you...after all the baking bug has bitten you too....

cheers!!!

Spread the happiness!!

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