FROM MY HEART TO YOU!! Butter Chicken, Kaddu-Palak Malai Kofta

Saint Valentine's Day or Valentine's Day falls on February 14.The holiday is named after two men,both Christian martyrs named Valentine! The day became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.In the United States, the marketing of Valentine's Day has tagged it as a "Hallmark Holiday"!(Info:WIKI)

So my buddies, are you ready to do some frivolous spending on a nonsensical holiday like this one??!!;D I know,I am very cynical!!I am not into this V'day too much,just glad that Arvind comes straight home EVERYDAY to me but happy to cook something for bloggers' V'day events!! But you make sure to enjoy the day though and have fun! Here are some dishes I cooked last week and a cake baked for today.

To all my beautiful blog friends,Happy Valentine's Day!!:))


The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines". Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards. The Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. The association estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.(WIKI)More info here!!

This week's Menu:
A Heart shaped Cake with Pink Frosting(for V'day!),two more from Aroma to choose,
Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani),(made this last Sunday for lunch)
Kaddu-Aloo-Palak Malai Kofta(Butternut Squash-Potato-Spinach rounds in Cream Sauce)
(made this on the 9th for Arvind's 45th B'day!)

Butter chicken:Serves 4
(you will get 1tbsp butter each, so quit whining! :D)

This Butter Chicken is one of the favorite dishes of my kids and Arvind I have created after many trials to find the easiest and tastiest gravy.There are not many ingredients in this and tastes great after a day when you give all those spices and meat a chance to mingle and seep thru' overnight.Make sure you have 4 cups of gravy for both dishes.Cook some rice or Parathas or Pitas and salad, you are good to go or make it vegetarian by adding your fav. Koftas (Veg balls)!

To make it vegetarian,cook the gravy in advance.Make some Koftas and bake in the oven to make it lighter since gravy is rich some cream and some butter and add to the gravy just before serving! What a great idea, don't you think? Two in one recipe.YUM!!

You Need:

3 boneless,skinless Chicken Breasts,cubed to bite sized pieces and cooked, 2 big Onions sliced, 2" ginger,2 Garlic both chopped,1 1/2 tbsp Coriander seeds pd,1/2 tsp Chilli pd,1 tsp Paprika,1/2 cup Tomato sauce, 1 tsp Garam Masala,1/2 tsp Turmeric,1/2 tsp cardamom pd,Pinch of Nutmeg and a tsp of Fennel seeds pd,2 tbsp Cashews or Almonds, 1 tsp Tandoori masala if you have it,1/2 cup Fat-Free half and half or 2% milk,4 tbsp Butter and Cilantro minced.Lemon slices to serve.

How To:


Heat 1 tbsp oil,fry onion slices until soft and reddish on the edges.Add ginger and garlic and saute for a minute.Put them all into a blender.Now toast the coriander seeds,2 cardamoms peeled and seeded,cashews or Almonds, until you get an aroma.Add to the blender along with chilli pd,paprika,turmeric and Tandoori masala,tomato sauce,blend to a smooth paste.Take it out in to a bowl.Heat 1/2 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp of Butter in a pan.



Add ground paste and fry until it leaves some oil on top.It will be quick since they are already fried.Add 1 cup water,boil and turn down the heat to low,add half and half or milk while stirring constantly until well mixed and simmering.Add cooked chicken,Garam Masala, Nutmeg ,Tandoori pd and Fennel pd.When you see oil specks on top,add last of butter and turn off the heat,and let the butter melt.Mix well,keep it in the fridge overnight.


To Serve:
Garnish with minced cilantro and dot with cream just before serving.Serve with Basmati rice,Pita or Parathas or Naans with a salad and crisps.
For vegetarian butter masala,heat the gravy next day and then add warm Koftas and serve as soon as possible.

Here is a plate of delicious Butter Chicken:

Malai Kofta:


Kaddu-Alu-Palak Koftas or Vegetable Balls:
Kaddu is Butternut squash or any gourd made in to balls with Spinach and Potatoes.

Butternut squash is sweet as you all know,so if don't want to taste too much sweetness in your Koftas,cut down the amount of Kaddu to 1/2 cup to mellow the sweetness.I used 1 cup,tasted good.

Here's how to make the Koftas!


Peel and grate or cube 1 cup Butternut squash and 2 cups of Potato.Add into the blender with 1/2 cup chopped Spinach,1 tsp cumin seeds powder,1 tbsp Coriander pd,1/4 tsp chilli pd, 1/2 tsp Garam masala,1/2 onion minced, 1/4 cup Besan (Gram flour(add more later if needed)) and 1 tbsp Corn starch,salt and blend to a very coarse paste without the water.





Adjust the seasoning and thickness to roll into a ball by adding as much as besan or corn flour needed depending on the softness of koftas and make about 8 balls.Chill in the fridge for half an hour.Take them out.Now either you can deep fry as I did or spray some oil on them and bake at 400F for 30 mins or until reddish on top.Cool.Add to the Malai(Cream) sauce just before serving.


Malai Masala: Same as Butter masala except cut down the butter to just 1tbsp and add 1 more cup of fat-free half and half mixed with 1 cup milk and water to thin it to 4 cups of gravy.Simmer on low and serve with Koftas and lemon ,onion slices.

A plate of Malai Kofta with rice,lemon slice and onion rings:


Enjoy the special occasion meal of either Butter Chicken or Malai Kofta and have a dessert on me!:))

Here is a beautiful cake for dessert I baked for us with lots of love and affection as main ingredients for V'day!:))

I know I didn't bake this cake from scratch but used a ready bake Devil's cake with some additional ingredients.But I did make it pink to make it special for Valentine's day!:))

You Need:
one package of Duncan Hines Devil's Food cake mix,3 eggs, 1/3rd cup Veg. oil,1 1/3cups water,1 tsp Vanilla Essence,1 Tub whipped Fluffy Vanilla Frosting,one drop of Red food color,Hershey candy coated Kissables and 2 9" heart shaped baking pan.

How To:



Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Spray the non-stick pan and keep it aside. Mix cake mixture,3 eggs,oil,Vanilla essence and water as directed on the package until well combined.Pour into both pans and tap it lightly on the counter to get the trapped bubbles out.



Bake them in the for 30-36 mins or until the knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.Take them out and invert on a cooling rack with a cookie sheet underneath to cool completely.To make the frosting:Take out the Vanilla frosting into a bowl,add a drop of Red food color,mix.Microwave it for 30 secs at a time until it's thin enough to spread easily,Do not heat until hot,it will curdle.

Making sure that cake is completely cool,pour warm frosting all over until it spreads itself on top and falls on the side.Do not try to spread yourself,you won't get smooth covering,if you do.Warm it again for 30mins if you want.Cover the whole cake with frosting,lift off of the cooling rack and onto a plate.Decorate with Kissables,chill in the fridge.Serve at room temperature.Enjoy!!

Pilsbury V'day cookies I made for Trisha's friends at school:


















Here are two more V'day desserts I made last week for you to enjoy:







Strawberry Shortcake















Carrot-Beet Halwa(pudding)









Have fun! See you all next Wednesday with pure Kannadiga vegetarian Maha ShivaRatri(which is on Friday 16th) goodies!;)