DID U KNOW .. .

DID U KNOW .. .
1 Bhuno means to fry spices and/or meat over a medium to high heat.
2 Meze or mezze is a selection of small dishes served in the Middle East and the Balkans as breakfast, lunch or even dinner, with or without drinks.
3 Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas, fava beans, or both. Falafel is a traditional Arab food, usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces. Falafel balls may also be eaten alone as a snack or served as part of a meze.
4 Chaunk also called tarka, tadka, vaghaar or Baghaar is a tempering as a garnish and/or cooking technique used in the cuisines of India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, in which whole spices are fried briefly in oil or ghee to liberate essential oils from cells and thus enhance their flavors, before being poured, together with the oil, into a dish. Chaunk is added at the end of cooking, just before serving (as with a dal, sambar or stew), or else prepared at the beginning of cooking.

Did u know this .. ... .

Did u know this .. ... .
1 Powdered milk or dried milk is a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it; milk powder has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and does not need to be refrigerated, due to its low moisture content.
2 Baked milk is a variety of boiled milk that has been particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. It is made by simmering milk on low heat for eight hours or longer.
3 Coconut milk powder is an ingredient in most Southeast Asian cooking and is not the liquid inside a coconut. It is prepared by soaking the grated flesh of a coconut in hot water or scalded milk, then straining the combination. Coconut milk is classified as thick, thin, or coconut cream. Thick coconut milk is the result of the first soaking and squeezing. If this milk is refrigerated it separates, and the top layer is the cream. Thin coconut milk is what is produced when one steeps the coconut meat a second time and then strains.
4 Canned coconut milk separates naturally. The top layer can be spooned off for recipes calling for cream, or the two layers can be mixed together to get the most commonly called-for thick coconut milk.
5 Powder-like, fine texture, and white, coconut milk powder is manufactured through the spray drying process of raw unsweetened coconut cream. Very different from the more widely available and coarser desiccated coconut made from the white coconut meat, coconut milk powder is a good substitute for fresh coconut milk.
6 Condensed milk is cow's milk from which water has been removed. It is most often found in the form of sweetened condensed milk, with sugar added, and the two terms 'condensed milk' and 'sweetened condensed milk' are often used for it.
7 Sweetened condensed milk is a very thick, sweet product which when canned can last for years without refrigeration if unopened. Though there have been unsweetened condensed milk products, they spoiled far more easily and are uncommon nowadays. Condensed milk is used in numerous dessert dishes in many countries.
8 Evaporated milk, also known as dehydrated milk, is a shelf-stable canned milk product with about 60% of the water removed from fresh milk. It differs from sweetened condensed milk, which contains added sugar. Evaporated milk is fresh, homogenized milk from which 60 percent of the water has been removed. After the water has been removed, the product is chilled, stabilized, packaged and sterilized.
9 Filled milk is any milk, cream, or skim milk that has been reconstituted with fats, usually vegetable oils, from sources other than dairy cows. Pure evaporated filled milk is generally considered unsuitable for drinking because of its particular flavor, but is equivalent to unadulterated evaporated milk for baking and cooking purposes.
10 Scalded milk is milk that has been heated to 82 °C (180 °F).
At this temperature, bacteria are killed, enzyme in the milk is destroyed, and many of the proteins are denatured. Since most milk sold today is pasteurized, which accomplishes the first two goals, milk is typically scalded to increase its temperature, or to change the consistency or other cooking interactions due to the denaturing of proteins.
During scalding, a milk watcher (a cooking utensil) may be used to prevent both boiling over and scorching (burning) of the milk.
Scalded milk is called for in the original recipes for Béchamel sauce, as adding hot liquid, including milk, to a roux was thought less likely to make a lumpy sauce or one tasting of raw flour.
Scalded and cooled milk is used in bread and other yeast doughs.

did u know ... .

did u know ... .
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on a cooked mixture of milk or cream and egg yolk. Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce (creme anglaise) to a thick pastry cream (creme
patissiere) used to fill eclairs. Most common custards are used as desserts or dessert sauces and typically include sugar and vanilla. Custard bases may also be used for quiches and other savory foods.
Custard powder or instant custard powder are cornflour-based powder which thickens to form a custard like sauce when mixed with milk and heated to a sufficient temperature.
Custard tarts or flans patissier are a pastry consisting of an outer pastry crust filled with egg custard and baked.
Frozen custard is a cold dessert similar to ice cream, but made with eggs in addition to cream and sugar.
What is a substitute for custard powder?
Custard powder is simply cornflour with vanilla flavoring and a yellow coloring. So to substitute, just use the equivalent amount of cornflour and add vanilla essence to your taste. i. e It consists of corn flour, flavorings, and colorings. 
It is usually cooked with milk and sugar to create a dessert.

Hummingbird cake is a

Hummingbird cake is a banana pineapple spice cake from the United States. Ingredients include flour, sugar, salt, ripe banana, pineapple, cinnamon, pecans, vanilla, eggs, and leavening agent. 
It is often served with cream cheese frosting. The cake has been a tradition in the Southern United States since the mid 19th century.
http://img4-3.southernliving.timeinc.net/static/pdf/humcake_feb_1978.pdf

A Pretzel is a type of baked bread

A Pretzel is a type of baked bread product made from dough most commonly found in a unique knot-like shape. Pretzels originated in Europe. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive symmetrical looped form, with the ends of a long strip of dough intertwined then, twisted back into itself in a certain way ("a pretzel loop"). 
Now, pretzels of various shapes are available around the world. Pretzels are often seasoned and flavored with various salts, sugars or other various seeds or nuts.
The pretzel shape is used for a variety of sweet pastries made of different types of dough (flaky, brittle, soft, crispy) with a variety of toppings (icing, nuts, seeds, cinnamon). Around Christmas they can be made of soft gingerbread ("Lebkuchen") with chocolate coating.
The ideal pretzel, as served in Germany, has a dark brown, crispy, salty crust, and inside a soft dough. It has a plump "body", and thin, crispy (not dry) crossed "arms." The pretzel is traditionally made from white (wheat) flour, malt, salt, yeast, and water.
Before baking, the formed pretzel is dunked briefly in a mixture of sodium hydroxide and water. In German this mixture is called Natronlauge. This is what gives the pretzel its unique color and flavor. Because of this technique, this type of pretzel is also called a Laugenbrezel. Then Pretzels are topped with coarse salt or sometimes with sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, or poppy seeds before being put into the oven. Laugengebäck refers to baked items that are made with the same dough and technique as the Laugenbrezel, but are either formed differently or have added toppings.
Pretzels today continue to be formed by hand as has been done throughout history.

a little info ..

[ Picture for veiwer reference only]
1 Cassata or Cassata siciliana is a traditional sweet from the area of Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Cassata may also refer to a Neapolitan ice cream containing candied or dried fruit and nuts. Cassata consists of round sponge cake moistened with fruit juices or liqueur and layered with ricotta cheese, candied peel, and a chocolate or vanilla filling similar to cannoli cream. It is covered with a shell of
marzipan, pink and green pastel colored icing, and decorative designs. The cassata is topped with candied fruit depicting cherries and slices of citrus fruit characteristic of Sicily.
Some cassata are made in the form of a rectangle, square, or box.
2 An Ice cream cake is a cake incorporating ice cream. A popular form is a three-layer cake, with a layer of ice cream between two layers of cake. The term may also simply refer to ice cream presented in the form of a cake, or a combination of ice cream and cookies.
3 Fried ice cream is a dessert made from a breaded scoop of ice cream that is quickly deep-fried creating a warm, crispy shell around the still-cold ice cream. The dessert is commonly made by taking a scoop of ice cream frozen well below the temperature at which ice cream is generally kept, possibly coating it in raw egg, rolling it in cornflakes or cookie crumbs, and briefly deep frying it.
4 The Cassata ice-cream consisting of layers of ice-creams of different flavors and a layer of sponge cake too.

The Most Common Cooking Mistakes . . .

The Most Common Cooking Mistakes . . .
You don’t taste as you go.
When cooking tasting should be automatic because many recipes don’t always mention the "right" amount of seasoning, cooking times are not very clear. 
Most important is cook as per your family's taste.
Do u read the whole recipe before you start cooking.
A wise cook reads the recipe well before it’s time to cook.
i. e To have all the ingredients gathered, prepped, and ready to go before you turn on the heat.
If doing any substitutions then do it wisely n carefully so that will not ruin the taste.
Know cooking terms so that not boiling when you should simmer.
Never overheat chocolate. Instead do it slowly, heat gently, remove from the heat before it’s fully melted.
Have u ever forgotten to soften the butter for cookies n cakes then
put it in the microwave to do the job quickly. But butter is best if it stands at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes to get the right consistency.
Know your Oven well and get used to it..
If not exact about measuring ingredients.
Never overcrowd the pan while cooking.
Learning to leave food alone is one of the hardest lessons in cooking; it’s so tempting to turn, poke, flip.
A hot pan is essential for sauteing veggies or creating a great crust on meat, fish, and poultry. It also helps prevent food from sticking.
Check the nuts when you are toasting them.
Good food begins and ends with the ingredients. The dishes you cook will only be good, or superb if the best or good quality ingredients are used.
Browning butter is a sure way to spoil a dish.
Only dress your greens especially for salads just before serving.
Rice to be over or under cooked is a common mistake made by all.