Whole Wheat Banana Bread

You will need these in Ingredients:

Whole Wheat Flour - 1 and 1/2 cups
Baking Powder - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg Powder - 1/2 tsp
Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Ripe Bananas - 5 to 6 small ones (They must be ripened until their skin turns black)
Milk - 1/2 to 1 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom powder, and nutmeg powder together about 2 to three times.
2. Mix the jaggery, ripe bananas, 1/2 cup of milk, and oil together in a blender.
3. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture little by little and mix to make a smooth paste.
4. If the mixture becomes too hard, add milk little by little until the dough turns smooth.
4. Pour the dough into a greased 8X4 rectangular baking tin.
5. Bake the bread in an oven preheated to 180 deg C.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cake Mix

You will need these ingredients:

Chocolate Cake Mix - 500 gms (I used 2 Pkts of Pillsbury Moist Supreme Rich Choco Cake Mix)
Eggs - 2
Vegetable Oil - 1/2 cup
Chocolate Chips - 1 cup

Method:

1. Sieve the Chocolate Cake Mix into a bowl.
2. Add in the chocolate chips and mix.
3. Add in the eggs and the vegetable oil.
4. Mix until well combined. There should be no lumps or dry mix.
5. Divide the dough into small lemon sized balls.
6. Flatten the balls a little and place them evenly spaced on a greased baking tray.
7. Preheat the oven to 180 Deg C.
8. Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes.
9. Allow the cookies to cool before serving.
10. Serve with a glass of milk.

Note: 

1. You can use any cake mix to make your own type of cookies.
2. Warm the cookies in a microwave for a chewy bite.
3. Make sure that there is enough space between the cookies to flatten while baking.

Five Bean Stir Fry

You will need these ingredients:

White Cow peas (lobia) - 3 tbsps
Brown Cow peas - 3 tbsps
White kidney beans (rajma) - 3 tbsps
Bengal gram (Black chana) - 3 tbsps
Green gram (Moong) - 3 tbsps
Chilli powder - 2 tsps
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Garlic - 6 cloves
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Green Chilli - 3 small ones (increase or decrease the number according to taste)
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Coconut (optional) - 1/4 to 1/2 cup grated
Oil for tempering
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Soak all the beans in water and keep overnight.
2. Cook the beans in enough water, chilli powder, turmeric and salt
    - The kidney beans, bengal gram and white cow peas can be cooked together. These will take more time.
    - The brown cow peas and green gram can be cooked together. These will take lesser time.
3. Heat oil in a wok.
4. Crackle the mustard, add salt, and asafoetida.
5. When the raw smell from the asafoetida goes, add garlic and saute until it is slightly browned.
6. Add the green chillies and the curry leaves and saute for a few minutes.
6. Add the cooked green gram and the black cow peas and mix well.
7. Add the other three beans and mix them all well until they are combined.
8. Check and adjust the salt.
9. Add the coconut, mix, and remove from the fire.
10. This can be served with rice or rotis.

Note:

1. The cooking time depends on the pressure cooker you are using. I used the 3L cooker from Prestige. It took 10 whistles to cook the kidney beans, bengal gram and white cow peas. It took 4 whistles to cook the green gram and brown cow peas - lesser if you don't want the gram to be totally mashed.
2. You can use any beans you like. It doesn't have to be these five.
3. The coconut is optional. You need not add it. Coconut will definitely add to the taste.

Mango Yogurt

You will need these ingredients:

Mangoes - 1 to 2 ripe ones
Fresh Yogurt/curd - 1/2 cup
Honey/sugar - According to taste

Method:

1. Cut one of the mangoes into small pieces and keep aside.
2. Blend the other mango in the mixer.
3. To this, add the curd and honey (sugar) and blend until they are combined.
4. Pour the mixture into a bowl and add in the small mango pieces.
5. Cool the mixture in the refrigerator until serving time.

Note:
1. The mangoes have to be sweet. The sweeter the mango, the lesser sugar you will need.
2. Honey is a healthier alternative.
3. Do not freeze the yogurt. 

Peanut Butter Cookies

You will need these ingredients:

Peanut Butter - 1 cup 
Sugar - 1/2 to 1 cup 
Egg - 1 

Method: 

1) Add peanut butter into a mixing bowl. 
2) Add the sugar little by little and mix it together. 
3) Taste the mixture at intervals to ensure that the amount of sugar being used is perfect for you. 
4) Add in the egg and mix until well combined. 
5) Divide the dough into small balls and flatten them using a fork or you hands. 
6) Place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper or a greased baking tray. 
7) Preheat the oven to 180 Deg C. 
8) Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cookies have browned nicely.
9) Cool the cookies before serving. 

Note: 

1) Adjust the sugar according to your taste. I just needed 1/2 a cup. 
2) You can either use crunchy or creamy peanut butter. I used creamy. 
3) If you add a teaspoon of nutella between two cookies, you can make these sandwich cookies.

Grilled Chicken with Herbed Mushroom Sauce

You will need these ingredients:

Chicken breasts - 2 boneless, skinless 
Olive oil ( I used coconut oil) - enough to drizzle the chicken with
Button mushrooms - 200gms 
Olive oil - just enough to coat the pan (you can also use spray)
Butter (again, I used coconut oil) - 1 tbsp
Flour (all-purpose or corn) - 1 tablespoon
Chicken or beef stock - approximately 1 cup
Fresh herbs (I used rosemary, thyme, and chives)Salt - to taste
Pepper - to taste

Method:

1) Drizzle the chicken breasts with oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
2) Grill over high heat until cooked through.  Let rest under aluminum foil while you prepare the sauce.
3) Wash and dry mushrooms and cut in half.  Heat enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan to high. 
4) Add dry mushrooms and stir them around until they begin to brown. 
5) Lower the temperature to medium and cook the mushrooms for about 5 minutes, or until they are tender.
6) Add butter and flour to the mushrooms.  Stir it all around and cook for 2 minutes. 
7) Add the stock and stir well. 
8) Raise the heat and let the sauce boil to reduce and thicken. 
9) When it’s the consistency you like, taste for seasonings and add salt and pepper.
10) Add the fresh herbs (rosemary/thymes/chives - Since I didn't have fresh herbs, I didn't add these. I added pepper instead).
11) Serve the sauce over the chicken with mashed potatoes on the side.

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ice cream

You will need these ingredients: 

Chocolate Ice-cream – 750gms (I used Amul) 
All-purpose flour – 1 cup
Baking soda – 1 tsp
Eggs – 2
Sugar – ¼ cup to ½ cup (this has to be adjusted according to the taste of the  ice-cream. If the ice-cream is extremely sweet, there is no need to add sugar) 
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp 
Dark mini Chocolate chips – ¼ cup (optional) 

Method: 
1) Preheat the oven to 220 Deg C. 
2) Pour the ice-cream into a big bowl and melt it completely and set aside until it reaches room temperature. 
3) Add in the eggs and sugar and whip the mixture well until combined and until the sugar dissolves completely. 
4) Add in the baking soda and the flour and mix it well. 
5) Pour in the vanilla essence. 
6) Whip the entire mixture for 5 minutes until combined well.
7) Grease a baking tray and spray some flour on it. (I used a baking tray of 9 inch diameter). 
8) Lightly tap the tray to release the air bubbles. 
9) Sprinkle the chocolate chips on the cake. 
10) Bake the cake in the oven preheated to 220 deg C for 25 to 30 minutes.
11) The cake is baked when a skewer inserted into it comes out clean without the dough on it. 
12) Cool the cake completely before cutting it into slices. 
13) The cake can be served with chocolate or butter icing.

Note:
1) You can also use self-raising flour to make this cake. In this case, you do not have to add baking soda.
2) If the ice cream you are using has eggs, you need not add eggs either.
3) If you do not have mini chocolate chips, you can also use tiny pieces of chocolate. Make sure that the pieces are not too heavy to prevent them from sinking to the bottom.