Microwave cooking instructions by Mrs Varma February 20, 2007
Posted by coquette in Microwave cooking.1 comment so far
Our teacher/chef a lovely lady called Mrs Varma cooked…
Cake in 5mins (Amazingly soft and fluffy chocolate cake )
Rice Pulao in 12 mins
Aloo cabbage curry in 8 mins
chicken curry in 8 mins
I was so awed and spell bound that I was dancing the whole evening. I was just dying to cook in Microwave oven.
It was easier, faster and cleaner to cook in it.
My oven’s power is 900watts so adjust the timing in your oven accordingly. Else check in batches of 2-3 mins and stir the ingredients well (you’ve to stir else hot spots will set in..few portions will cook well and few will remain raw).
Gyan by Mrs Varma:
- Never cook for more than 4 mins at once in a microwave oven.
- Check after every 4 mins. Mix the ingredients and microwave again. This way you’ll know what’s happening.
- Once the dehydration sets in the food. you can’t help it.
- You’ve to keep checking till you get to know your machine well. Once you get used to it you can cook things at once for 10 mins(for rice etc).
- Using tomato puree is better than tomatoes itself. I forgot the reason why!. She also mentioned that Stuffed tomatoes shouldn’t be made in Microwave. They don’t taste good.
- Baking soda/Mitha Soda should be used while baking cakes in Microwave oven. Baking powder should be used while baking cakes in Convection oven (or) microwave oven in convection mode.
- Mustard seeds don’t splutter in the tadka in Microwave oven as heat comes from all the sides and not just from the bottom(in case of pan/kadai).
- If you think the curry, rice or anything is not yet cooked completely(just before perfection) then leave it aside for sometime as the food gets cooked in the standing time also.
- Microwaves penetrate only for 2 inches so it is better to use flat dishes to cook more.
I remember only this much. I’ll keep updating this as and when I remember more…
Please feel free to metion your observations also. I will be glad to add them.
Till the next post…
C’est votre coquette!!
Methi Matar Malai by Indira February 19, 2007
Posted by coquette in Indira, Microwave cooking.add a comment
Here comes the lady who has made me go crazy about food blogs, cooking and food as such!! I’ve been reading her blog since last 1 and half year.
I’ve prepared many things from her blog. Like Spaghetti in peanut sauce(which I tried as soon as I bought my mixer. It was great!!! ), oatmeal upma, bringal ginger curry, brinjal jaggery chutney(which was a hit at my in-laws place recently), Methi chutney, radish curry and many more…
Today..I’m going to blog about Methi Matar Malai which she has posted recently. I had all the ingredients in my refrigerator. I had taken the pain to segregate methi leaves in the morning and I was all set in the evening to cook it.
I took all the masala paste ingredients in the blender and I put it in oil to cook. In 2mins… My gas was finished. The cylinder…I shook it but still there was no gas left in it…What to do???
The same day in the evening I had attended a cooking class about how to cook food in Microwave oven.
Here I had the chance..The same night I cooked this dish by Indira in micrwave oven.
1) Indira said to add the masala paste in oil and cook till it turns red. The paste was green with peas and green chillies(It didn’t turn red…in my case). I put the paste in oil and microwaved it for 3 mins. The mixture left oil which means it has been cooked. You can rarely see the phenomenon on gas(I never managed to cook things until they leave oil…either they end up being charred or I feel I’ve cooked enough.)
This is the only step worth mentioning which will help you in cooking the gravy.
I’ve followed Indira’s recipe for the rest of the subji. I’ve made it in batches of 3 to 4 mins. I added 1/4 cup grated paneer (in the end) as methi was a bit bitter. I had to overshadow the bitterness. I also skipped adding potatoes as I thought it’s already fattening with so much malai so had to skip the carbs.
We had them with grilled Kulchas(raw being readily available).
I’ll be posting microwave recipes soon. It’ll take 2 days atleast for the gas to arrive so till then we’ll be having microwave versions of subjis and dals. I’ll post them as my friend Vamsi metioned that many people will need them due to easy cooking.
Verdict:
The subji was very tasty and my husband had 2 cups which I should say is an achievement in itself. He never eats more than 1 cup unless it’s very tasty…
Till the next post…
C’est votre coquette!!
Carrot Cake by Shilpa February 15, 2007
Posted by coquette in Shilpa(Aayi's recipes).1 comment so far
I’ve baked this cake on 31st night. This was my first new year celebration with my in-laws and I wanted it to be special.
More than that we don’t own a normal OTG and my in-laws own one so whenever we visit them, I make sure that I bake something.
So far my experiments were good enough and they yielded good results.
Now…I own a microwave oven but not an OTG. I got to know that cakes bake better if they are baked in an OTG rather than a microwave oven with convection mode. I’ve to see that as I didn’t bake a cake in my oven yet.
I’ve followed Shilpa’s recipe to the T but just skipped the apple filling and icing.
Verdict:
What a cake!!! I got so many compliments!!! People liked it a lot and it was finished withtin no time. It was so soft and amazingly sweet!
You know what happened after that? My husband told me if you promise me that you’ll bake a cake for me every weekend then I’ll get you a Microwave Oven. I said that I will and that’s how I got my new Micrwave oven. I didn’t keep my promise though. I’ll soon bake one as I’ve the recipe ready. This one I’ve picked up from some site and not a food blog.
Inferences:
- Maybe the presence of oil and eggs made it extremely soft.
- It was very sweet. 1 cup maida and 1 cup sugar. So I’ve to reduce the amount of sugar to atleast 3/4th cup.
- After a while…The cake left an oily trace on the plate…that made me think …maybe the oil amount also should be reduced. Maybe to half a cup?
Do let me know if you have made this cake and how did it come out. I would be really glad to share the experience. Also… Do let me know your views about the difference between Microwave oven and OTG for baking cakes…That would be really helpful.
PS: I got 2 comments on my blog. The first one is from Lulu and second one from Trupti. 
I was so happy!! I hope to get more visitors soon…
Till the next post…
C’est votre coquette!!
Tomato Dosa by Sailu February 4, 2007
Posted by coquette in Sailu.2 comments
Hello everyone!! After a long hiatus I’m posting this. Not that I didn’t cook anything from food blogs…just that I was not much in a mood of writing and in my office the internet connection was pretty dysfunctional.
Anyway.. today is the day of Dosa and especially Tomato Dosa.
My husband had a bad experience in South India. He stayed there for nearly 1 year and eating so much spicy / sour and different food for such a long time had a bad effect on him. He just doesn’t prefer South Indian food. I, on the otherhand grew up on it so I miss all that. I generally prepare less spicy and less sour dishes for him. I should say that…Now, I eat even less spice than him!!
I never prepared Dosa on my own. I used to buy the batter from store and just spread it on the pan and eat them. I never prepared the batter myself. After marriage I did this just once and my husband had it without complaining. I felt maybe he didn’t like them at all.
Recently Sailu posted this Tomato Dosa’s recipe. The dosa looked so wonderfully red I was very tempted. I asked my husband is he’s willing to eat Dosa for the morning breakfast. He said OK.
This recipe is taken from Sailu’s this post.
I always go through Sailu’s site as she is a South indian who prepares north indian dishes as well. I’ve also prepared Dal Makhani from her blog itself which also turned out great!! That might be another story…
Verdict:
Fantastic!! This is straight from the horse’s mouth! 
I mean from my husband’s mouth. He loved it!! He said I’m glad that you read all those food blogs!! Wow!! I am very happy. Finally he ate something south indian and loved it as well!!
My Inferences:
- I soaked rice and dal overnight. I wonder if soaking more makes any difference. I will find about this from my mother.
- I still don’t know if this has turned out just the way Sailu has made them. They were beautifully red though.
I prepared this with peanut chutney and I also applied onion paste (Onion + salt + red chilli) on the inside of the dosa. My mom used to do the same and it tastes amazing.
I hope you get a chance to prepare the same sometime and you also get a chance to tickle someone’s taste buds.
Till the next post…
C’est votre coquette!!
