Mutter Corn Potli is a recipe which goes very well as tea time snacks or as appetizer at parties. There are variety of snacks dishes in India and many of them are the ones which are prepared fresh and served hot. Mutter Corn Potli is very similar to popular snack Samosa however with little cute shape and a slightly different filling. Potli in Hindi is referred to a small jewelry bag. The crust for this recipe is prepared using all purpose flour and filled with sauteed peas & corn with tangy spices mix. The Mutter Corn Potli tastes awesome with date & tamarind chutney. You can adjust the spicy level to your taste. Serve it with tea, coffee or even drinks.
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Lavang Lata ( Latika)
Lavang Lata, a sweet for which we were crazy in our childhood. Every time we went to market for some shopping, the desire to eat this sweet used to make us pester our parents until they actualy bought it. It’s a Bengali sweet however pretty famous in Eastern UP and Bihar too. This sweet is made during festivals like Durga puja, Dipawali or Holi as well as readily available in sweet shops but homemade tastes always better. Lavang Lata is crispy on outer surface and little juicy inside. The outer layer is made using all purpose flour and it is filled with mix of milk mava and nuts. The outer layer is sealed using lavang (clove) which gives a exotic aroma to it. When served warm it tastes awesome. The richness of mava, nuts and ghee give a delicious taste. Indulge at your on risk or ensure you do some good exercise after enjoying it.
Strawberry Modak
Wishing you all a very happy Ganesh Chaturthi!!
Ukadiche Modak is a very famous Maharashtra sweet dumpling which is offered to Lord Ganesha during Ganesh Chaturthi festival celebration. Modak is made using rice flour shell which is filled with a sweet mixture of grated coconut, jaggery, poppy seeds and flavored with green cardamon and nutmeg powder. The Ukadiche modak is steam cooked. As such there are varieties of modak’s recipes like mava modak, puran modak, kesari modak and dry fruit modak. I have also published couple of modak recipes Ukadiche Modak and Indian blackberry Modak. This recipe is a another variation of modak recipe which has a filling based on strawberry. Straberry gives a unique fruit flavor as well as sweet and sour taste to the modak. Rest of the filling ingredients are same like coconut, mava and jaggery. Preparing modak first time or first few time could be a daunting task as it requires patience and some practice to get the right texture and shape. There are some modak mold available and you can try that. 
Tricolor Cupcakes
Wish you all a very happy Independence day!! Cupcakes are favorite of all the kids so sharing this tricolor cupcake recipe to celebrate the Indian Independence day. The three different types of cupcakes are made with carrot, vanilla and green tea to get the color. Baking and decorating cakes are in itself is an art. To bake a perfect moist cake you need to have right ingredient and perfect baking time. I am an amateur in baking and has been practicing to bake a good cake. Decoration is very challenging job however there are aids available to get it done though needs practice. I used Russing piping kit specifically to decorate these cupcakes with rose flowers shape. I have also used homemade buttercream frosting for decoration. Enjoy your Independence day celebration with tricolor cupcakes and share with your friends too.
Buttercream Frosting
Frosting as you are know is used for decorating cakes as well as cupcakes. Though there are variety of frosting available is stores it’s always good to make them at home so that is fresh and according to your taste and flavor. You can make different kind of frosting like chocolate buttercream frosting, cream cheese frosting, orange buttercream frosting and so on. I am sharing this simple buttercream frosting recipe and other can be prepared using similar process. This recipe is little stiff consistency as I wanted to use this to create designs using Russian piping tip however you can adjust the consistency by adding milk based on your need. You could also tint it using the food color as well as add your own flavor. It’s very important to keep butter and shorting at room temperature as well as powder sugar is well sifted to make proper frosting.
Makki Ki Roti & Sarson Ka Saag
Makki (corn flour) ki roti and Sarson (mustard) ka saag is one of the very famous Punjabi dish which is also very much liked by people in Northern part of India. Makki flour has very less amount of gluten hence it’s little difficult to make the roti (bread) out of it. Adding little bit of wheat flour makes it easier to make the roti. Kneading the flour is one of the important step while making this roti. Traditionally, the roti is made using palm of both hands by thumping both side to expand however that requires some practice, so I have used butter paper to make this roti and spread it using fingers. Generally this roti is much thicker than actual wheat flour roti and cooked in clay oven however I have cooked it on Tava top. Sarson leaves are generally available during winter season hence the dish is mainly prepared during winter. Sarson ka saag is made using mustard leave, spinach and bathua leaves. You can also add chana leaves as it gives a great taste to it. I have added little sweet corn to the saag as it reduces the bitterness of the mustard leave and gives creamy taste. Adding roasted gram flour gives thickness to the saag. The saag can be also served with normal roti or paratha. When I was kid, my Mom used to make it using roasted corn flour at home and serve with saag and ghee. I really miss those days very much. 
Daal Baati
Daal Baati Churam is a very popular traditional Rajasthani dish. The celebrations like marriage, festival, parties and so on in Rajasthan are incomplete without this traditional dish. Daal Baati Churma is basically three items put together as a meal. I have already shared the recipe of Churma in my earlier blog and in this blog I am sharing the recipe for Daal and Baati. Baati is made from wheat flour balls with lots of deshi ghee. Traditionally, the Baati balls are backed in clay or coal based tandoor which gives a very specific smoky flavor to the recipe. However, I have made the Baati in electric oven and it really came out well. The crispy Baati with desi ghee aroma makes the dish tastes amazing. The Daal for this recipe is mixture of five kinds of daal (pulses) also known as panchmel daal. The daal is cooked with salt, water and turmeric powder however the seasoning with ghee, ginger-garlic and some gram masala brings in the real flavorful taste in Daal. Serve this recipe to your guests and I am sure they would love it.
Sambar Polenta (Cornmeal)
Polenta aka cornmeal is granules of corn available in grocery stores all around. The Polenta is cooked in many ways like it can be baked, grilled or fried. This recipe is prepared using boiled Polenta which is typically simmered in water with salt and ghee or butter. Polenta takes a little long time to cook and creamy texture.You could each boiled Polenta as is or It can be served many different ways. For this recipe we would prepare a sambar to serve with Polenta. Sambar is a south Indian soup which is prepared using mix of vegetables of your choice, toor daal and special sambar masala. In this recipe, I have also added green pigeon peas along with toor dal to get twist in sambar taste. There are varieties of sambar recipes available and you can use anyone if you like or you can use your own sambar recipe. Polenta used to be one of common meal item when I was young and my grand mother use to make it and serve with toor dal and spicy curry. In northern India is it referred as “Makki ka bath”. I literally love Polenta and every time I make it, it bring memories from childhood. Polenta with sambar was an awesome combination and very delicious, you could also try it with rasam. 