Mocha Mousse

                                                                Image Courtesy of Internet.

A precise recipe for that devouring mousse you've always desired to perfect. The recipe is simple, easy to follow, and turns out just wonderfully. So what are you waiting for? Go on and try out this mouth watering dessert everyone will love.

Ingredients

Serves 6 - 8
2.5 tsp powdered gelatine
60 ml of water (2 tbsp)
175 g dark chocolate broken up
10 ml good quality instant coffee dissolved in 50 ml boiling water
4 large eggs separated
100 g castor sugar
250 ml double cream (whipping cream)

Method

Sprinkle the gelatine over 60 ml water in a small sauce pan.
Heat very gently until dissolved completely
Put the broken chocolate into a heat proof bowl over a sauce pan of hot water, until the chocolate has melted.
Carefully stir the melted chocolate.
Whisk the egg yolk gradually adding the castor sugar and continue to mix the mixture till it is very thick.
Stir in the melted chocolate and coffee dissolved in water and the liquid gelatine and leave it to cool
Then fold in half the cream which has been whipped until it just holds its peak.
Lastly whisk the egg whites until they are very stiff and using a large metal spoon fold them quickly and thoroughly through the mouse.
Pour into a serving bowl and leave for several hours.
You can garnish with cherries, mint leaves etc.

Heres How You Can Create That Perfect Meal

A guide to create a a lovely meal for your loved ones. The menu is an interesting blend of Indian and Western cuisine. A real treat for true foodies.

Christmas is that special time of the year, when everyone wants to spend time with their loved ones and make the most of those happy and cheerful moments. With Christmas round the corner everyone is busy preparing their signature goodies and works of art. People are planning out their special menus for the big day.
Preparing for the feast can be really easy if you plan out your menu with precision. Are you bored of making the same old dishes time and time again? This time round do you want to try out something new, easy to prepare and a mouth watering treat that will get everyone eating out of your hand.
Well heres a menu that you can never go wrong with and that will never let you down. Its more of an Indo-western spread. If you're not too comfortable with spicy aspect, you may want to adjust the spice bit as per your taste. But I promise you from my personal experience, that if done and planned carefully it will surely be a hit with everyone.
Starting with that special drink: Chocolatini. For this one you can pick up the baileys chocolate liquer.

Chocolatini

For one serving
Drop several ice cubes in a shaker
Pour 50 ml of Baileys irish cream, 10 ml of vodka n 15 ml of the chocolate syrup over the ice.
Shake together
Stain the drink into a chilled glass
And you are ready
To go with this drink we can have some bite sized cottage cheese appetizers.
Indian style Paneer on a stick

(you can make a variation with just chopped vegetables)
Serves 8
Get ¼ kg of soft paneer
½ tsp garam masala (A ground mix of cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and bay leaves)
1 tsp cayenne pepper powder
1 tsp of chaat masasla
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp cumin powder
¼ tsp of coriander powder
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
½ cup curd
Salt to taste (since the chaat masala is slightly on the salty side, check the taste before adding more salt)
Small tooth picks or you can pick up skewers their size
Two big dark green capsicums
1 packet of mushrooms
A bowl of mint leaves
Method
Cut the paneer (cottage cheese) into 1/2 inch long thick cubes
Cut the capsicums into similar sized cubes
Slice the mushrooms
Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and keep aside
Apply some of the marinade to the capsicums
The rest of the marinade to be added to the paneer cubes and refrigerate it for 3 hours.
Take the skewers
First pierce in the one cube of capsicum
Then pierce in 2 -3 leaves of mint
Then pierce a slice of mushroom
Followed by some mint leaves
Then pierce a chicken cube
Some more mint leaves
A slice of mushroom
Followed by mint leaves
And finally by a capsicum cube
Your skewer is ready to be shallow fried
Heat some oil in a pan and place the skewers you have prepared in the pan.
Keep turning the skewers regularly till well done on all sides.
Now for the main course
Spicy chicken appetisers

Ingredients


1 kg chicken (legs and boneless breast only)
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp lemon juice
For the marinade
450 ml of plain yoghurt
½ an onion coarsely chopped
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
2-5 cm of fresh ginger
1-2 roughly sliced hot green chillies
2 tsp of garam masala
Lime wedges
Method
Cut the chicken leg into two pieces and make small decent sized pieces of the breast. Make gashes in the pieces to aid in the marination process.
Make the marinade, combine the yoghurt, onion ginger garlic and garam masala in a blender. Strain the paste through a course sieve into a large bowl pushing through as much liquid as you can.
Put the chicken into the bowl containing the marinade. Rub the marinate well into the chicken pieces so that the chicken is well coated with marinade.
Keep the marinate mix in the refrigerator for around 3 - 4 hours.
On completion of the marination you can either choose to shallow fry the pieces or bake it in the oven for 20 -25 mins.
Lamb Lahori

(you can use chicken)
Ingredients
1 chicken
Salt , divided use 1 ¼ tsp
Turmeric divided use ¾ tsp
Cayenne pepper ¾ tsp
Onions roughly diced 1 ½
Garlic cloves 5 nos
Ginger 2 inch piece
Oil 3 tbsp
Cinnamon stick 1
12 cardamom pods
8 whole cloves
Black pepper 8
2 large tomatoes chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
Coriander chopped for garnishing
Juice of one lemon
¼ cup beaten yoghurt
Water 1 cup

Method
Combine chicken , ¼ tsp salt, ½ tsp turmeric and ½ tsp cayenne in a bowl. Stir to coat the chicken with the spices and let it stand.
Finely chop the onion, garlic and ginger
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and add the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and peppercorns to it. Cook till the cardamom burst
Add onion mixture and 1 tsp salt. Cook stirring until onion browns around the edges. Roughly for around 10 - 15 mins.
Remove and discard the cinnamon, stir in remaining turmeric and cayenne. Add tomatoes and tomato puree and cook for 5 mins. Blend the mixture into a paste.
Heat the remaining oil in a pan, add chicken and cook stirring for around 2 mins.
Add the curd 1 tbsp at a time stirring well after each addition. Cook till it becomes slightly thick.
Add pureed tomato mixture and bring to a boil. Add the water. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and cover it partially and cook for around 25 - 30 mins.
Serve hot garnished with chopped coriander and lemon wedges.
Tip : the above dish can be accompanied by either some lovely naans or some nice saffron and jeera flavoured rice.
To wrap up this divine meal, what more can you ask for than
Mocha mousse

Serves 6 - 8
15 g powdered gelatine
60 ml of water
175 g dark chocolate broken up
10 ml good quality instant coffee dissolved in 50 ml boiling water
4 largeeggs separated
100 g castor sugar
300 ml double cream
Sprinkle the gelatine over 60 ml water in a small sauce pan.
Heat very gently until dissolved completely
Put the broken chocolate and the dissolved coffee into a heat proof bowl over a sauce pan of hot water, until the chocolate has melted.
Carefully stir the melted chocolate and the coffee liquid together.
Whisk the egg yolk gradually adding the castor sugar and continue to mix the mixture till it is very thick.
Stir in the melted chocolate and coffee and the liquid gelatine and leave it to cool
Then fold in half the cream which has been whipped until it just holds its peak.
Lastly whisk the egg whites until they are very stiff and using a large metal spoon fold them quickly and thoroughly through the mouse.
Pour into a serving bowl and leave for several hours.
Then cover with the remaining whipped cream.

That's it. Viola ! it's a really simple but mouth watering spread. Use your creativity and make this meal a lovely one which everyone will remember.

The Goan Bebinca a Delicious Layered Pudding

Of all the goan confectionaries, the one I love the most is the bebinca also known as Bibik. This heavenly tasting pudding is definitely something ordinary.

Prepared mostly around festival time, the bibik is one sweet sensation which should figure on every foodies list of things to eat in this lifetime.

The bibik originated in Goa in India and has been made famous the world over by restaurants and pastry shops that sell goan food and confectionaries. A simple blend of ingredients like plain flour, clarified butter, sugar and coconut milk, the magic or appeal of this sweet meat is in its layered structure. In fact the eating through the layers is the most fun part about the bibik. Traditionally the bibik is said to be made up of 16 layers.

Variations of this food are also found in countries like Philippines where it is prepared using rice flour. If you are a bebinca freak like me and it ranks among your most irresistible items to eat then probably you could try your hands at the recipe below so that you can create and devour this beautiful sweet with your near and dear ones. 

Heres how you can make you very own Bebinca.

Ingredients

600ml coconut milk 

400g sugar

10 egg yolks

200 g flour (sieved)

¼ tsp. nutmeg powder

100g butter or pure ghee

A pinch of salt

Preparation : 

Extract a thick juice from the coconut, using around 600ml hot water.Stir in the sugar and mix till it dissolves completely. Add yolks, one at a time and mix thoroughly. Mix in flour and salt till no flour lumps are left. Sprinkle nutmeg powder. 

Burn a tablespoon of sugar on slow fire, stir continuously, add 2 tablespoon warm water and stir briskly. Cool.Take half a cup of the coconut milk mixture, mix cooled caramelised sugar and pour into the coconut milk mixture. 

Once again pass the whole mixture through the muslin cloth. Preheat the oven

Take a baking pan and put 2 or 3 heaped tablespoons butter or ghee into it. 

Add half a cup of batter and bake it for 12 or 15 minutes. Spread a little butter on the baked layer, switch off the oven and grill the second layer for 3 or 4 minutes. ontinue, greasing, layering and grilling till all the batter has been used up. Cool thoroughly and turn on a wide plate.

Various ways of serving the Bibik

The bibik is a versatile sweet meat. It can be eaten hot as well as cool. It is generally stored in the refrigerator which helps it remain edible for long. So you have the choice of eating it straight out of the refrigerator as a cool desert. Or some even prefer to heat it slightly in the microwave and eat it hot. Make sure you don’t heat for long or on a high flame or heat. You could also have a hot and cold dessert by serving the heated bibik with a scoop of fresh vanilla ice cream.