Friday with a friend Guest post by Suja | Jam filled vanilla cup cakes | Vanilla cup cakes with Jam | Fluffy light vanilla cupcakes | Simple vanilla muffins with jam filling

One of my greatest sources of inspiration are food blogs. I am continually amazed by the creativity, wealth of knowledge and talent that is “out there” in the food blogging community.Really these guys are doing wonderful job with true dedication

Mixed vegetable chicken soup for weight loss | simple chicken soup for dinner | Diet chicken soup

It`s a simple chicken soup with few vegetables..I have added some ingredients like ginger powder,oregano,tomatoes according to my taste..It`s easy to make and perfect for dinner time.You can add any vegetables as per your taste..Try it next time.

Friday with a friend Guest post by Razina | Homemade Doughnuts with Dark Chocolate Ganache | Kids friendly Doughnuts Recipe (Yeast raised&deep fried)

Hi..Welcome to Friday`s guest post 

Razina,of The Recipes of India, is a blogger  whose big passions are food,cooking and chocolate! She loves to cook with simple ingredients  and keep it easy,healthy and delicious. Her blog is intended as relaxing place to pick up good recipes,ideas and forget about life`s worries.You can also connect with Razina on Facebook page ,please go check out her amazing recipes!

Hello Readers, I'm Razina - the face behind the website -  The Recipes of India. I've spent my growing up years in a country called The United Arab Emirates before relocating to India post marriage. I'm basically an Accounts professional with 7 years of hands on experience and worked in the cities of Dubai, Sharjah and Bangalore. But when mommy hood dawned on me, I decided a quit to enjoy and experience this beautiful phase of life gifted by God. It was then that my kitchen journey began and the excitement that I got when I made my first roti, my first daal, my first curry and so on. Thus The Recipes of India was born more out of necessity to keep a record of my daily meal for my own reference. Since then, I've come a long way and you will find simple as well as exotic recipes along with my baking experiments (my latest obsession) on my page with some random ramblings and snippets from my life. 

Before going to the recipe, Usha has sent me a few questions to be answered. Let me do it one by one :) 

1. About you in few words which we don`t know

Mother of a lovely kid, started cooking only after my kid turned one and I quit my job. Earlier I managed maggi and toast for breakfast and a cook for lunch and dinner. Currently, I'm trying to achieve a balance in my life between work, blogging and family with a positive attitude in life. 

2. 3 photography tips or kitchen tips

I don't get fab clicks as most of my cooking is done at evening times, but I'll share few photography tips that you can adopt.

1. Always click your food in natural light

2. Garnish your dishes and add few props

3. Click some 5-6 shots from different angles, and select the best ones

3. How to improve blog page views n fb page fans 

Currently, I'm not working on any of these due to time constraints. But the trick is to be regular with your post and be an active blogger in the blogging community. Staying connected is the key.

4. How food blog changed your Life and how many recipe u share per month 

Usually, I used to share 10-12 recipes, but this has dropped down drastically in the recent months due to time constraints once again. Blogging has changed my life completely for the better. It has opened up many new avenues for me - new recipes making its way to my dining table, baking, reviews, getting connected with companies and so much more.

5. Few lines about MLH (mahaslovelyhome) my blog

I can describe the whole blog just in one sentence - "A Galore of Yummy Recipes"

Now to the Recipe

Homemade Doughnuts with Dark Chocolate Ganache

When Usha invited me for a guest post, I was thrilled and immediately finalized that I will be sending across homemade doughnuts with chocolate glaze. This was a long pending recipe, I so wanted to make but lazy bug in me just kept procrastinating about it. So, finally I chanced upon this with the help of my little kid who excitedly helped me in cutting out the doughnuts while I prepared the glaze. It's a real easy recipe as it does not require proofing the yeast, so no failures as such. You can go ahead and opt for any glaze of your choice, but I made it the classic way of putting dark chocolate ganache glaze.

Ingredients:

For doughnuts:

All purpose flour / maida - 2 cups

Butter - 1/4 cup

Active dry yeast - 1 tsp

Sugar - 2 tbsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Milk - 1/2 cup, warm (quantity may vary a bit)

Oil - for frying

For chocolate glaze:

Dark chocolate - 8 ounce, grated

Confectioner's sugar - 1 cups

Salted butter - 1 tbsp

Heavy cream - 1 cup

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Rainbow sprinkles - for decorating

Method:

For making doughnuts:

1.In a mixing bowl, sieve flour and salt together.

2.Add butter, yeast and sugar and mix with hands

3.Now add milk little by little and knead it for around 4-5 minutes into a soft dough.

4.Cover it with cling wrap and keep in a warm place for about an hour so that it doubles in size.

5.Now punch the dough to remove any air bubbles and knead lightly

6.Sprinkle some flour on the slab and roll the dough into round shape using rolling pin with about 1/2 cm thickness

7.Now cut out the shapes with 2 sizes of round cutter (I used glass for the bigger circle and a bottle cap for the inner circle). My son helped me in doing it and in the meantime I prepared the glaze :)

8.Place the doughnuts on a tray and cover it with a wet kitchen towel and put it back in the warm place for about another hour so that they become fluffy

9.Then heat oil in a kadhai and fry the doughnuts on medium low flame, flipping around so that they get evenly browned

10.Remove and keep on an absorbent paper.

For making glaze:

11.In a mixing bowl add chocolate, sugar and vanilla essence

Bring cream and butter to a boil

12.Pour it over the chocolate and let it rest for 2 minutes without stirring

13.Whisk till smooth,dip the top of each doughnut into this smooth chocolate glaze and keep back on the cooling rack

14.Decorate it as per your liking, I added some rainbow sprinkles to make it look more festive.

Raw banana tomato curry | raw banana masala curry | Arati kaya koora | Kacha kela tamater ki sabzi

This is a simple raw banana curry with onion and tomato combination.It`s same like tomato curry except adding raw bananas in the dish..Adding tamarind juice gives a nice tangy taste and it`s optional too.

Friday with a friend Guest post by Fareeha Ahmed | Quick and easy south indian mutton curry | Mutton curry without onion and tomato | Simple mutton curry with coconut | How to cook spicy mutton curry | 1000th Recipe Of Mahaslovelyhome

I`m so excited for sharing today’s post with you guys because this is a special post in MLH. It`s Mahaslovelyhome`s 1000 th post...Iam in super thrill..yahooo....

Easy christmas recipes | Christmas baking recipes | 20 Simple christmas party recipes | Happy christmas to all | Natal receitas

Christmas is on the way..I hope you all are in preparations.Here in foz also started celebrations..Here Iam sharing some recipes which may help you..Please have a look and try it friends.. :)

Mango flan 

Coconut flan

Coffee custard

Banana flan

Brazil christmas chocolate cake

Basic christamas fruit cake

Sao paulo style christamas fruit cake

Eggless butter less wheat flour honey christmas  fruit cake

Eggless tutti frutti cookies

Bread pudding/bread flan 

Eggless Mango mousse with agar agar

mango trifle/mango fool

Mango sago pudding

Strawberry cream cheese mousse

Strawberry nutella mousse

Strawberry cheese cake

Strawberry cheese cake with agar agar

Eggless chocolate cookie mousse

Eggless chocolate cream cheese mousse

chocolate dates  truffles

triple chocolate cake

chocolate brownies

chocolate banana cake

microwave 5 minutes chocolate cake

Banana nutella mousse 

Dates fruit cake

Feliz Natal para todo !!!!

Eggless Chocolate Mousse | Easy Dark Chocolate Mousse With Step Wise Pictures | Eggfree Gelatin free Chocolate Mousse | How to Make Simple Chocolate Mousse In 10 Minutes

Chocolate mousse is my favorite dessert which I would like to make at home on sundays mostly..Yeah..I prefer home made mousse which is fresh and gluten free too..After heavy spicy meals on sunday love to have a bowl of dessert often.So,I prefer to try with chocolate..may be sunday the word itself brings the laziness I think..Because,Though I craves for dessert,though heart forces to try a new recipe every time laziness pushes to create a recipe in less time...

Gummadi Halwa | Pumpkin Halwa | Halwa recipes | South indian sweets | How to make halwa with step by step pictures

Cooking is an interesting job where you can create different kind of recipes,where you can experiment allot,where you can try any thing  or as per your taste regarding to food...Iam still a learner in this ocean where iam getting  the chance to cook new dishes every time by the grace of god..

Friday Guest post by Ushaupachar | Quick and easy home made chocolate fudge recipe | Rich chocolate fudge with step wise pictures | Kids favorite chocolate recipes

 I’m delighted to introduce you to the lovely Usha who runs the blog UshaUpchar Her beautiful recipes coupled with insight and wisdom makes for an excellent read.Actually Iam really happy to have the opportunity to introduce upcoming bloggers on this beautiful guest post series. 

Fried butter chicken cashew masala | Chicken cashew masala | butter chicken kaju curry | fried chicken gravy | chicken gravy recipes for roti

Chicken or mutton what ever it is..I like to cook more than eating..Every time love to try different version recipes or indian popular recipe more than try the same old methods.. This was the recipe which is in draft from last 2 years almost..yup..

Essential kitchen tips and tricks | Cooking tips & Techniques

USEFUL KITCHEN TIPS

1.Peel onions in bulk leaving the root and top intact  and 

then store in an open container in the vegetable bin in the 

fridge. Keeps for quite some time and you don’t get the smell of onion in the fridge.

2.plan meals for the week so in that way when you do your weekly shopping you know what you need to buy and stick to a budget.

3.When rolling pastry dough’s its easier to roll them between two sheets of cling film or baking paper , remove one on top and just invert it onto the prepared try so the sheet underneath lands on top. So this way there is no fiddling with the pastry and breaking it up.

4.When you prepare Briyani, add a tsp of lemon juice only at the final stage, when the rice gets boiling, lemon juice prevents the rice from sticking with each other.

5.When you prepare Dosa or idly, transfer the required of batter you need at that time to a bowl and proceed your work, else the whole batter will soon spoiled.

6.While boiling eggs add in ½ tsp of salt and ½ tsp of cooking soda, this prevents the egg from cracking while boiling.

7.To peel the skin of almonds / badam easily, soak in hot water for 10-­15 minutes.

8. Add a pinch of salt while sauteing onions which will make it soften easily.

9.When chopping raw banana, soak it in water to avoid dis colouration and apply little salt water on hands to avoid getting stains

10.Disinfect the sink and its traps once in a week and clean

 the veggies / fruits in a running water after socking about 10-

15 min in a salt and turmeric water (to remove the chemicals 

and toxics)

11. Get rid of odours in your refrigerator by putting soda bicarbonate in a bowl & placing it in the fridge. Vinegar also works and so does a sliced lemon.

12. when u have headache then Mix lemon juice+ginger juice+salt with lukewarm water &drink it. It cures immediately.

13. Added excess salt to the curry ? don't panic. Just knead a little besan and make small rolls and add to the gravy. Remove them before serving. These discarded rolls can be re-used to make gatte ki sabji.

14.How do u find the pure honey ?? In a Newspaper u drop a little honey,it will not dissolve it.if it dissolves then its not pure honey

15.mix rice flour & milk,makes a paste.apply it in ur face.after 10 mins wash it in cold water.the face will be shiny.

16.Always assemble items before cooking.

17.Eat brown basmathi rice for day to day they are extremely rich in nutrients. Soak it before cooking to get soft rice.

18.Soaking dal before cooking enhances flavor.

19.To reduce the bitterness of methi leaves, first mix them with some salt and set aside for a few minutes. Then rinse under running water. This helps to draw out all the bitter juices, improving the taste of these healthful greens Store spices in a cool, dark place.

20. Humidity, light and heat will cause herbs and spices to lose their flavor more quickly.Shallots burn easily because of their high sugar content. For this reason, sauté briefly over low to medium heat.

21.When making beetroot curry , grating it saves more time than chopping it finely and to cook it ..or you can cut it into chunks and pressure cook it and then it will be easy to chop it finely .

22. Apply oil on both the hands before peeling and chopping yam, it will reduce itchiness.

23.Use kitchen tissue paper to wipe dosa pan, while preparing dosa instead of using small piece of cloth.

24.Use baking brush to smear oil while preparing Roti or paratha.

25. If your pressure cooker gives any trouble like water/pressure leakage after closing it place ur gasket in freezer for the whole day and use, u can find the difference.

26. Whenever we buy some steel plates or any steel cookwares, you find a brand label, when we try to remove it surely it will have gum stain or we could n’t peel the label properly. To overcome that problem, show it in the flame (Bottom of the label) for a while, it will automatically get peeled off ! Interesting is it !! This applies only for STEEL OR BRASS product…

27. During your hurry-burry cooking time, peeling of garlic and onion skin will always an irritating process. For that, soak onion and garlic in a bowl of cold water for 5 mins, then try to peel.. The skin will come just like that.

28.Use lime juice instead of tamarind while cooking.Add 

jeera while tempering which is good for your tummy. 

Pressure cook eggs for a whistle instead of boiling it .Saves 

energy and time..

 29. You can store fresh peas and use in off season. Just Peel them and store in an airtight container in freezer over 6 

months..

30. When you break the coconut and may not use the 

whole at once. Remove all pieces from shell and put it in a 

bowl of water and rock salt. Place it in fridge and can be 

used for about a week. It will remain fresh and white.

31.        If there is an excess of salt in gravies add bread pieces into it. It will thicken the gravy and reduce saltiness.   

32.When you par-boil rice for making Biryani, in the water 

add enough salt, lemon juice,1/4 tsp Shahi jeera, few 

peppercorns, clove, cardamom and cinnamon( 1 each). This 

flavours the water well and the in the rice along with salt 

enough lemon will be absorbed and makes the biryani 

delicious .

33. When making poori,  after making balls apply little oil 

and toss them well. You can roll them out without dusting 

flour and it also keeps the oil clean while frying.

34. If you have less time for making Parotta , Add little 

baking powder to the flour, and knead the dough well for 15 

minutes with Hot water. Within an hour you can make soft 

Parottas.

35.Grate the coconuts and store them in freezer, when you 

want to prepare coconut milk with the frozen coconuts, soak 

them in warm for 5 mins and grind in a mixer squeeze out 

the coconut milk..

36. I usually Peel Pearl onion, garlic and store it in a airtight 

container and refrigerate them, in the same way i remove 

the head cap of the green chili and store them in a air tight 

containers this make the green chili to be fresh for more 

than 10 days..

37. For cleaning kitchen i use warm water, so that the strains 

and oily dirt comes out easily, for whipping the kitchen 

counter i use some soft cotton cloths which are old and 

unused, so that washing the cloths are easy..

38. Follow your intuition and try new ingredients in recipes you feel comfortable cooking and most of the time it would be a great success. 

39. Look for fresh and healthy ingredients when you go to the supermarkets or fruit and vegetable markets. 3. Cook fresh everyday – It takes a bit of effort and planning to practice this but it creates a big positive impact in one’s life.

40. Arrange the food on a table and add some contrast backgrounds.
41. Have loads of patience while taking pictures and sometimes photography takes longer than your cooking time.

42. Using appealing serving dishes makes a difference to the picture.

Apple yogurt smoothie | Apple honey yogurt smoothie for kids | break fast apple smoothie | Quick and easy yogurt smoothie for break fast

2 years back,i was the girl who tried lots of combination smoothies,milk shakes and diet juices.Even,I don`t know the reason why I suddenly stopped making them for break fast time..Again,now because of sweet yogurt,got a chance to create this version smoothie..

kasoori methi chicken | easy south indian chicken curries | spicy chicken curry recipes for roti | Simple chicken curries for rice and chapathi

This is a simple spicy chicken curry which goes well with rice or rotis.. The difference between this curry with other curries is here kasoori methi,which is playing the main role.  

Diwali Easy Recipes | Sweets and Snacks Recipes For Diwali Festival | Happy Diwali 2015 | Wish you happy deepavali to all

Wish you a very happy and safe Deepvalai to you all :)

Rich Chocolate Cake with drinking Chocolate | Easy Chocolate Cake with Chocolate juice | Chocolate milk using spongy chocolate cake | Chocolate snack cake for kids | 4th Birthday of Mahaslovelyhome

Same like other recipes,this new version also very simple and easy to follow.. the chocolate milk (juice) which  i used in the recipe gives a true chocolaty taste n deliciousness..This chocolate sponge cake is fluffy in texture and moist too..If you like, can do chocolate icing too.You can store in an airtight container up to 2-3 days..Serving a slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream is the best idea for ever..

Friday with a friend Guest post by Divya | Vegetable puff pastry using home made pastry sheets | Home made veg puff pastry | How to make home made puff pastry

Iam really excited to share today`s guest post.yesterday,I mean november 5th mahaslovelyhome completed 4 years.on this same day i started this guest post series and till now introduced 36 bloggers.

Home made Chocolate Kulfi | Quick and easy chocolate kulfi | Chocolate kulfi ice cream without kulfi moulds | Summer treats for kids | Indian style chocolate ice cream recipes

Kulfi is an Indian Ice-cream which is kids favorite. It is unchurned and therefore you will not need an ice-cream maker. Traditionally, Kulfi comes in flavours such as cardamom, almond, pistachio, mango, kesar(saffron) etc. Here Iam  sharing about how to make chocolate Kulfi with coffee touch. I used cocoa as  a main ingredient and  freezing over night gives a best shape.hope you will try making it too and fall in love with it. :)