Swiss Roll/ Jelly Roll

Oh! You have no idea how excited I am sharing this recipe with you. This comes from a pastry chef himself. So you can be sure that it works – perfectly! While you might have seen numerous recipes giving you 20 different steps to do it, a list of do's and dont's, separating the whites from the yolk,   making simple syrup,  folding 4 different ingredients in a specific order, and still not got it right! But now, the secret of awesome swiss roll is out. Such a fool proof recipe you will be compelled to make it at every given opportunity! Diligently follow measurements and the steps and you won't go wrong ever! (Do read notes at the bottom for tips and tricks!)

Two ingredients that make this super moist and flavorful is the warm mixture of milk + oil, and addition of honey respectively. Your cake will fold very easily and not crack and will have a lovely dewy flavor of honey!

I decided to make two swiss rolls each with a different flavor, since eating just one flavor can a little monotonous at times :). And if you can get two varieties from baking just one cake, why not! Oh, did I give this secret out too!! :)

So one swiss roll was made with strawberries, for which I used home made strawberry jam. While strawberry and cream is a classic combination in itself, but don't under estimate lemon and cream duo, as it is a super vibrant, fresh, zesty and bursting with flavor kind of combination. The tartness of the lemon and the sweetness of cream with the mellow honey flavored cake is a pure joy!!! You just HAVE to give it a try. Buy a bottle of good quality lemon curd, and you will know what I am talking about!! 

I still can't get over this !!!

You need:

For the cake:

Large Eggs – 4 

Egg yolk  of 1 large egg- 1

Sugar – 80 Grams

Honey – 30 grams

Flour – 80 Grams

Milk  - 30 Grams

Oil – 20 Grams

For the strawberry filling:

Whipped Cream – ½ – 1 Cup (depending on how creamy would you like it)

Strawberry Jam – ½ Cup (adjust as per your liking)

For the lemon curd filling:

Whipped cream - ½ – 1 Cup (depending on how creamy would you like it)

Lemon Curd– ½ Cup (adjust as per your liking)

1. First keep the baking pan ready before starting with the cake batter because once the cake mixture is ready you will have to immediately bake it without wasting any time. If you wait for too long, the cake will not rise and will be chewy. To get started apply butter on the baking tray and line the baking tray with a parchment paper. Use a block of butter straight out of fridge and smear it all over the baking tray.  That makes the baking paper stick nicely to the pan. Now place another parchment paper repeat the butter application. Now sprinkle some all purpose flour on the tray and tap it gently as you rotate the tray to uniformly coat the entire baking tray with a thin layer of flour. This will stop the cake from sticking to the tray. and with 2 layers of parchment paper, this becomes fool proof. Makes life easier :)
2. Preheat the oven to  390°F (200°C).
3. Add the eggs, egg yolk, sugar, and honey into a bowl and mix well.
4. Now on a double boiler whisk this well till the mixture becomes lukewarm. If you have a candy thermometer the temperature of the mixture should be roughly 102°F (39°C ). If not, check the temperature with your finger, it should be lukewarm and not too hot, else you will have to a bowlful of sweetened scrambled eggs. And trust me they taste awful!! Some experiences are worth sharing :) 
5. Once the mixture is 102 F, take the bowl away from the heat and start mixing with an electric mixer. Note: this 
6. The mixture will turn into a cream. Keep mixing until there are no air bubbles left. This can take up to 10-12 minutes or more. Basically it should not fall off the whisk when you lift this mixture in your whisk. 
7. Add the sieved flour (all at once) and fold in slowly using a flat spatula. Be gentle as the mixture will lose all air bubbles and cake will fall flat if not folded in gently.  Warm the milk and oil in the microwave and add it to the dough. Again fold in gently. The liquid tends to sink to the bottom of the bowl, so mix with a bottom-to-top movement. 
8. Pour the dough onto the baking pan and level it gently. Yes, please be gentle, this cake is a delicate baby. 
9. Here’s one more trick: To make sure that there are no big air bubbles left in the dough, drop the pan on the table once. OK OK.. I meant face up to let the gentle tap of hard surface at the bottom of the pan push all the air out. Ok, to simplify it further, hold the two ends of the tray and place it an inch above the table. Gently drop the tray. That's it!
10. Put the pan into the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes at 390°F (200°C) until the surface turns golden brown.
11. While the swiss roll is in the oven, make your tea/ coffee and enjoy it. (This is not a part of the recipe, you silly!)
12. Once done, take it out of the oven and heavily drop it onto the table to let the steam in the dough go out. This steam could turn to water later and make the roll soggy. No we don't want a soggy swiss roll after all that whisking! 
13. Next, put another parchment paper on top of it and turn it around to make sure the cake is not sticking to any part of the tray. Carefully strip the baking paper from the top side. 
14. Now evenly spread the strawberry jam followed by whipped cream for the strawberry swiss roll, and lemon curd followed by whipped cream for the latter one.  
15. Gently roll with both your hands to form swiss rolls. The cake will be moist enough to easily roll without cracking. However, you can also use the following technique. Starting from the side closest to you, start to roll the cake using the parchment paper. Gently peel back the parchment paper as you keep rolling. Once done, keep the seam at the bottom so that it doesn't open up. 

The baking pan I use has a size of 30x33 cm. If your baking pan has a different size, you need to scale the amounts of all ingredients accordingly.

For example, if you use a 40x40 cm baking pan, you will need to multiply all the amounts with: (40*40):(30*33) =1.6

If you plan to make two different rolls, each with a different flavor,  cut the cake lengthwise into two long rectangles. Please, please, PLEASE don't cut into two squarish cakes even by mistake as you won't be able to roll it then. So to make it simple, imagine how the roll would look once its ready. And NOW, if you were to cut  this swiss roll into 2 halves how would you cut. Just slice the cake along that very same line!!! Please don't tell me you still did it!! :)

Baklava

Sweet-Tooth or No Sweet-Tooth, this one is difficult to resist. 

I learnt 3 important lessons while making this sweet meat. Never use butter substitutes to layer phyllo sheets, don't grind all the nuts together. I meant the dry fruit nuts, you silly! And lastly, treat the phyllo sheet like a friend and handle it with confidence- it will listen to you and not break/ fall apart. 

Please read my remarks in the bottom before you  proceed to avoid disasters and heart breaks! :)


You need:

Phyllo dough – 1 pkt (around 10 sheets will be used)

Butter melted - 1 Stick 

Finely chopped nuts of your choice – 1.5 Cups (I used equal qty of pecans, almonds and pistachios)

Sugar - 1/8 cup (2 Tbsp)

Clove powder – 1/8 tsp (optional) 

Nutmeg powder - 1/8 tsp

Cinnamon - 1/8 tsp

Ground Pistachios – To garnish
For the syrup:

Sugar - 2 cups

Water- 1 cup

Lemon juice - 1 tsp 

Rose water - 1 Tbsp

Orange blossom water – 1 Tbsp (skip if you don't have)

Making the syrup:

Place sugar, water and lemon in a pot and let come to a soft boil, simmer for 10 minutes then remove from heat and add rose water and orange blossom water. Now simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely before adding to the sweet. (You can make this syrup once you have put the baklava in the oven for 35-40 min. By the time baklavas come out, syrup would have cooled)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Coarsely grind all the types of nuts in a food processor (one type at a time)
3. Now mix nuts, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon powder and sugar in a bowl. 
4. Butter the baking tray on all sides. Place a phyllo sheet. Now apply butter all over this sheet using a pastry brush. 
5. Place the next sheet on top of this sheet. Apply butter all over the second sheet making sure there are no big  air bubbles in between. Repeat this step to form a layer of 10 phyllo sheets.( simply put, butter each later of the phyllo dough and layer 10 sheets to form a base)
6. Sprinkle nuts uniformly.
7. Repeat the layering process with 5-6 layers on top of the dry fruit filling.
8. Carefully cut the pastry into any shape, most common is square or diamond shape. 
9. Place in oven and bake for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Drizzle the baklava while in the pan with the simple syrup and then let cool completely before serving. Top each piece with ground pistachio.

*Use only unsalted butter and please don't use any other spread or vegetable spread. I tried to avoid butter and instead decided to use melted vegetable spread that tastes like butter. I melted the spread in a dish and soon had a film of vegetable oil floating on water. The phyllo sheets got only water between the layers and I ended up with a sticky gooey baklava instead of the flaky layers. I had to redo to perfect it! :(

** Try using an organic phyllo dough. Keep them frozen till you have everything ready for stuffing, melted butter for layering. These sheets thaw in minutes. Keep a moist kitchen towel handy to cover the those sheets which are in the queue.

***Grind each type of nut separately as each takes different time to grind. If you grind them all together, some may become too fine, paste like and leave oil. 

Jalebi

Ah Jalebis!! 

You need:

Maida/ All purpose flour – ½ Cup
Cardamom Powder – 2 Pinch

Active dry yeast – 1/2 tsp 

Corn flour – 1 tsp
Oil – 1/2 tsp
Yogurt – ½ Tbsp
Warm Water – 2.5 Tbsp (6)

Sugar – 1 Cups

Water – ¾  Cup

Saffron – pinch

Lemon Juice – ½  tsp

Cardamom Powder – 1/8  tsp

Vegetable oil/ Ghee (Clarified butter)  - For deep frying

Making the Jalebi batter:

1. In a mixing bowl, add maida, cardamom powder, dry active yeast and corn flour. Mix thoroughly.
2. Mix oil, yogurt and water in a bowl. Mix well. Add little at a time to the flour mix so that there are no lumps.
3. In a larger pot add very warm water and place the bowl with the batter  inside the larger bowl. Just make sure that the water does not spill  into the batter. Cover the larger bowl with a cling wrap and allow the batter to rest for 30 minutes. You can also pre heat the oven to 180 F for 5 min. Switch off and keep the batter inside the oven, with the door closed. After fermenting batter will be a little lacy. So don't panic. :)

Making the sugar syrup:

1. In the meantime, start making the syrup by mixing water, lemon juice, saffron and sugar in a heavy bottom pan. Cook for 15 minutes on medium heat till you get single thread consistency. You can also use a candy thermometer to make your job easier. Once the syrup reached 200 F/ 95 C, reduce flame to low, simmer for 10-15 min. Add cardamom powder in the end, when the syrup is ready. Else cardamom loses its flavor. Once the syrup is made, switch it off. 

Making the jalebi:

1. Mix the fermented jalebi batter well and put it in a ketchup or mustard bottle with a spout . You can also use a zip lock bag  and snip one end once the batter is filled up. Another option is to use a piping bag (nozzle  number 3). 
2. Squeeze out the batter into the hot oil in small circular motions. To check if the oil is ready, put one  drop of batter in the oil, the batter should sizzle and come up without changing color right away. Jalebi should be in a pretzel shape about 2-3 inches in diameter.
3. Fry until both sides are golden color.
4. Gently remove jalebi using a tong or skimmer.  Shake off excess oil and place directly into sugar syrup.
5. Allow jalebi to remain in the syrup for just a minute (flipping to coat both sides), shake off excess sugar syrup and transfer onto a plate.
6. You can store jalebis in an air tight container for 4-5 days unrefrigerated.

*Traditionally jalebis are deep fried in ghee/ clarified butter. If you don't want to use ghee to deep fry and still want that hint of ghee, just add 2 Tbsp of ghee in the oil you plan to fry jalebis in.

Crème Brulée

Crème Brulée - name itself is like a song! A nice, mild flavored dessert! Its super silky, smooth and and easy to make. I prefer using light cream as it feels much lighter and airy when you eat. Though traditionally its made with heavy cream which makes it much richer and a little more dense. But then, it's a matter of personal taste. Just replace light with heavy cream if you want to go the traditional way!

Warning: You cannot afford to go wrong with the measurements and steps! It's simple but read and proceed :) !

You need:

Light cream – 475 ml (½ Quart)

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped or 1 tsp fine quality pure vanilla extract (this is imp!)

Sugar - ¼ cup

Large egg yolks - 3

Sugar – 2-3 Tbsp to make caramel topping.

For the topping: 1 Tbsp butter, 3-4 Tbsp sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for another use. (if you are using Vanilla extract, add the extract once off the flame)
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color.
4. By now the cream will be warm and not boiling. Add the cream to the yolk, sugar mixture a little at a time, whisking continually, else the egg yolks will scramble. This is very 
5. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins.
6. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan.
7. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Make cure the water doesn't spill into the ramekins, while pouring or moving.
8. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 35-40 minutes. Don't wait for the center to become stiff, otherwise your crème brulee will not be silky smooth.
9. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Making the sugar caramel top, once the crème brulee is set:

1. Since I don't have a kitchen torch to brown the sugar on top like what you see in restaurants, I make my own crunchy caramel topping. 
2. Take a tablespoon of butter in a heavy bottom pan. 
3. To that add 3-4 Tbsp of sugar and a Tbsp of water. 
4. On a medium high flame, cook it till you get a caramel consistency. 
5. Once it become golden brown, reduce the flame to minimum possible and stir till it become a little darker. Make sure you don't burn it. That's when you know it has got the toffee texture. i.e.; it's not a gooey caramel but a crunchy hard toffee when it cools. Just test a little before you pour - on a cool plate drop a little caramel, and it should immediately harden.
6. Immediately drizzle on top of the crème brulee (before it cools in your pan and becomes a toffee:) )

Top fruits of your choice and serve.

*If you have a kitchen torch, nothing like it!

Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Sprinkle vanilla sugar evenly on top of the crème brulee. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Mughlai Chicken Korma

Hands down, the BEST chicken dish I have ever made so far. Of course, its rich, but then, its Muglai! When you bite into the first morsel, you know it was made for Moghuls! In a nut shell , this chicken dish is Royalty personified!

Have tried cutting down on oil and cream, and quite satisfied with the effort vs result. While going by my standards it is a rich gravy, but for some others, 6-7 tablespoons of oil with 3 tablespoon of light cream (for a gravy that serves 2-3 people) may not be a big deal for such an aromatic royal treat. Trust me, make it for your guests, and they will soon be spreading the word around about your cooking skills!

As most other recipes, this is my version of the Muglai Chicken Korma (no store bought special korma masala), which has been improvised over a period of time. And looks like, this time around, it was made to perfection. Follow the recipe as is, it's fool proof !!

You need: 

Don't let the extensive list scare you, as most of them are regular spices we use for daily cooking. And the cooking steps are super simple.

Chicken - 300 grams (preferably big pieced with bones, moguls didn't ever eat get to eat  boneless I guess:) )

Onion - 3 medium (sliced)

Garlic - Large cloves - 5-6

Ginger 1/2 inch piece

Tomato - 1 large (finely chopped)

Curry Leaves - 10-12 nos. 

Black Cardamom - 1 no.

Green Cardamom - 5-6 Nos.

Cinnamon Stick - 1/2 inch

Cloves - 8-10 nos.

Whole black pepper - 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

coriander powder - 1.5 tsp

Red chili powder - 1 tsp

Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Dry ginger powder/  Sonth - 1/2 tsp

Garlic power - 1/4 tsp

Green cardamom fine powder - 1/4 tsp

Oil - 6-7 Tbsp

Yogurt - 3 Tbsp

Light cream - 3 Tbsp (usually its heavy cream, but I use light and it works just fine)

Almonds - 7-8 (skin removed. Though this makes the dish look even more special while serving, but I skip it. It's totally optional)

1. In a heavy bottom pan add 2 Tbsp of oil. Fry the onions with chopped ginger and garlic for 1-2 min. Blend well into a very fine paste without adding any water (this step removes the pungent and bitter taste of onion and at the same time, you will need much lesser oil now to make the same recipe )
2. In the same heavy bottom pan, add the remaining oil. Add the onion, ginger, garlic paste now and fry for 2-3 min, till nice pink color is seen. Blend this into a fine paste/
3. Add chicken and mix well. Cover and cook for 4-5 min.
4. Add tomatoes, curry leaves and all other spices (both powdered and whole)
5. Stir well. Cover and cook till chicken is done. You can make out when the masala starts leaving oil on the sides and also starts sticking a little to the base. 
6. At this stage,  mix yogurt and light cream thoroughly to get a homogeneous mixture. Add this to the curry above, cover and cook till its done well. 
7. Add almonds and raisins once you switch off the flame. (skip if you are watching your weight but if you are inviting special guests over, you can always add almonds/ raisins to make the dish look so very Muglai!)
8. Serve hot with Paratha or Naan.

Paneer Butter Masala / Makhni (Cottage cheese in creamy tomato gravy)

This dish needs to no introduction in Indian cuisine. While dining in a restaurant, no special meal is complete without a paneer butter masala. I had earlier posted a healthy paneer butter masala recipe which is super for a regular dinner at home. But if you want to serve finger licking food to your guests or impress someone special, nothing beats this dish. No one will ever guess how little time you spent making this special meal, as the end product looks straight out of a gourmet restaurant! And for those chefs who fuss so much over paneer butter masala - your secret is out! :)

You need:

Paneer/ Cottage Cheese – 200 grams ( cut into triangles or cubes)

Tomato – 3 Large (should be super ripe and red)

Onion – 1 Medium (roughly chopped)

Cashew nuts – ¼ Cup

Butter – 2 Tbsp

Oil – 2 Tbsp

Kashmiri mirch/ Paprika – 1 tsp

Ginger paste – 1 Tbsp

Garlic paste – 1 Tbsp

Tomato paste – Approx. 2-3 Tbsp (superior quality organic, adjust as per taste as paste of one brand is different from another)

Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

Garam Masala – ¾ tsp

Honey – 1 tsp (adjust to taste as one brand sweetness differs from another)

Kasuri methi – 1.5 tsp

Salt

1. In a pan heat a tablespoon of oil and add cashewnuts, onion and tomatoes. (put them all together). Once the tomato becomes soft and pulpy, blend it a very fine paste. Sieve through a mesh to remove all the fibre and coarse ingredients. You should now have a very smooth pulp. Keep it side.
2. In a pan, add the butter with a tbsp of oil (to avoid butter from burning). On a very slow flame, saute ginger and garlic paste till you get a nice aroma. Don't let it brown as this is done just to get rid of the raw taste and smell of the ginger, garlic.
3. Now add kashmiri mirch and stir for 3-4 sec. Don't let it brown. Add the tomato pulp from step 1 and tomato paste. Adjust the quantity of the tomato paste based on how tangy is the tomato puree prepared earlier. This is also done to get the bright red color. Cover and cook for 7-8 min, till the raw taste is gone.  
4. Now add the cardamom powder, garam masala, paneer, salt and honey. Mix well and cook for another 2-3 min.
5. Add the cream and give it a stir .
6. Crush dry roasted kasuri methi between your palms to make it into a fine powder and, add to the gravy. Switch off the flame. Serve hot!!!

* No matter how red the tomatoes are, somehow when I blend them, they turn orangish in color, so I used a fine quality tomato paste along with fresh tomatoes. This gives a nice taste and a deep red color. When you add the cream later, it gives the perfect butter masala color.

* You will have to adjust the salt, garam masala and honey as per taste since most of these ingredients vary from one brand to another. I always use home made garam masala.  

Chicken Do-Pyaza (Chicken in onion gravy/curry)

This gravy requires onion and chicken in the same quantity. However I just love the sweetness of onion in this gravy, and therefore end up adding a little more than equal.

You need:

- Chicken (preferably boneless) - 300 grams

- Onions - 300 grams

- Garlic cloves - 5-6 coarsely chopped

- Ginger - 1 inch chopped

- Yogurt - 4 Tbsp (should not be sour)

- Oil/Ghee - 1/2 cup

- Do-pyaza masala - 3 Tbsp (I use Shaan masala)

However you can also make your own masala, by mixing 1 portion of garam masala with 1portion of following spices (very coarsely ground, eg; coriander seed should be broken into half/quarter) :

- Coriander seeds - 1 tsp (toasted)

- Cumin seeds - 1 tsp (toasted)

- Fenugreek seeds - 4-5 (toasted)

- Fennel seeds/Saunf - 1 tsp (toasted)

- Kasuri Meti - 1/2 tsp

- Cardamom - 1-2

- Turmeric- 1/2 tsp

1) In hot oil add chicken, garlic, ginger and fry on high till chicken becomes brown.

2) Add 1 cup water, cover and cook on low heat till the chicken becomes tender.

3) Once the chicken is tender, open the lid and increase the heat to high and fry the chicken till all the liquid is evaporated. Add onions and fry for 10 min. Mix yogurt and masala ( Shaan do-pyaza masala OR the mix of garam masala + ground spices mentioned above) and add to the chicken. Mix well and cover with a lid. Let it cook until the onions separate from the oil/ghee.

*If you don't want to use so much ghee in the curry, you can use oil and add just a Tbsp of ghee to add flavor