Dates Peacan Chocolaty Brownies And Whole Spices Veggie Pulav

 Dates Peacan Chocolaty Brownies

Just few weeks back I had got lots of choco-chips and Peacans from the costco. Thinking I could bake some cakes, muffins. So today when payesh that I made last week was getting over, I thought it would be nice to make these brownies for dessert hoping they would last for week.. But frankly, they have turned out so well, I wonder if they are going to last even till monday :) We already have had 2 pieces each :)

Ingredients

80g Dark Chocolate bar

1.5 Cup semi sweet choco-chips

3 Cup Powdered Sugar

1.5 Cup Maida

1 Cup Butter

1 Cup Dates

1 Cup Peacans

3 Eggs

1 Spoon Vanilla Essence

Salt to taste

Method

• In a glass bowl, add dark chocolate, 1/2 cup semi sweet choco-chips and butter and microwave for 1 minute. Stir well.
• Microwave for 30 more seconds and stir well. Keep aside.
• Sieve maida couple of times and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 375F/190C
• In a big bowl add eggs, powdered sugar, vanilla essence. Beat for 5 minutes.
• Add in above made chocolate paste, maida and salt to taste. Mix lightly, just enough to make it consistent paste.
• Add in remaining 1 cup of chocochips, dates and peacans chopped. Again mix it lightly.
• Grease a pan and pour in batter into it. Bake the brownies at 375F/190C for 35 minutes.
• Serve with ice-cream, topped with chocolate sauce and some nuts chopped finely.

Notes
I normally microwave chocolate to melt it - works wonders :D, but if you don't have microwave, you can boil water in a pan and keep a bigger bowl on top of it with chocolate and melt it over low heat. Be careful not to over heat the chocolate or it would spoil the taste and feel of the chocolate.

Whole Spices Veggie Pulav
I like black pepper a lot. Not powdered one but whole ones or the crunchy ones, like in papad. Since we moved here, I have been having only garlic papad instead of the spicy one that I normally like. Blame it to Ajoy ;-) for he likes that one or on me that I am bored to serve two different varieties to both of us. But then yesterday I said - that's about it. I have to have those black pepper by hook and crook and that's how this recipe came up :) It was huge hit and I am going to make it again sometime soon.


Ingredients
2.5 Cup Rice
2 Cup Cauliflower florets
2 Raw Bananas
1 Medium sized Eggplant
1 Potato
1 Cup Mutter
1/2 Spoon Black Pepper
1/2 Spoon Jeera
4-5 Cloves
4-5 Cardamom
A pinch of Saffron
Salt to taste
Oil
Ghee

Method

• In a pan bring water to boil and add rice. Cook the rice over high flame, with constant stirring till its done.
• Strain remaining water from the rice and keep the rice aside.
• In another pan, heat oil and fry cauliflower florets, egg plant pieces and raw banana slices. Keep aside.
• Fry mutter for a second and keep them aside too.
• Grate potato and fry them making in chunks to get crispy hash brown like chunks. Keep them aside too.
• In another pan, heat ghee, add cloves, cardamoms, black pepper, jeera and let them splutter.
• Add rice, fried cauliflower, eggplant and banana slices. Stir it and let is cook for couple of minutes.
• Heat a spoon and add saffron crushing it a bit. After it starts sending nice aroma, mix in rice lightly.
• Add in salt and stir for another minute. Serve by garnishing it with fried muttor and crispy potatoes.

NotesI wanted rice to be white and yet give that saffron filled rich aroma and hence I didnt put it while making rice but added it at last minute. I used black pepper in abundance as you already know the reason about it too :) but i didnt use much of cardmom or cloves, because I do add it to some of the vegetables or chicken/mutton dishes and also because I dont like them as much as black pepper :) So adjust spices according to your taste. The above portions worked wonders for me and right now enjoying even during lunch while writing this. yummy.