CRUNCHY PEANUT HEARTS from my Bon Amigo!

There are these friends, whom you instantly contact for help...be it anything! And Aparna was one among  them.I must also mention that I wouldn't trouble her for anything other than things related to food!We met in Goa in September and she helped me in my search for some fresh cream too :) And Oh yes! how could I forget that...she packed some of her homemade cookies for me! She is a FAB baker and a perfect vegetarian cook! And now, while I am trying to settle in this new country, she is helping me 'feed my blog' :) Thank you so much A! :)

Over to Aparna...

When Ria requested me for a guest post for her blog how could I refuse? I first met Ria and got to know her in the “virtual fellow food blogger” kind of way and then met her “for real” when she came down for a visit to Goa a few months back.

A few months back she told me she was getting married, and asked if I could do a guest post (and I quote Ria here) “to feed my hungry blog” during the time she would be busy with wedding related stuff. Well, a friend in need is supposed to be a friend indeed!

She got married 2 weeks back and since I couldn’t make it to the wedding, the least I could do was bake her some virtual goodies. Now, I know that some insanely rich and decadent cake or confection would be more fitting as a wedding present.

But if I know anything at all about weddings in India and the days that follow, it is that Ria would be extremely happy to see some very simple uncomplicated food. Perhaps some crunchy cookies to go with her cup of tea?

Its funny how when I started blogging, I had very few cookbooks and used to feel very limited by the lack of variety of recipes to cook/ bake. Now I have many cookbooks, I seem to have so many recipes that I don’t even remember which book contains what anymore!

Late last year, Ria had sent me a bunch of vanilla beans (think she’s a vanilla bean bearer to lots of us foodies!) and also a copy of The Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits (that’s cookies to some of us). True to nature, I flipped through the pages, admired the book, put it on the shelf and then somewhere along the line forgot all about it!

When I suddenly realized that I had promised Ria a post, I remembered her book and it seemed a good idea to bake something from it. I really like Australian Women’s Weekly books because they contain simple recipes with short ingredient lists, and have always worked very well for me.

And my daughter likes cookies, which her friends like even better!

So here are some Crunchy Peanut Hearts, very slightly adapted from the original.

These cookies have quite a few pluses in my opinion. They’re made from an AWW recipe, they don’t need butter or oil, they have fibre (oats), they contain no eggs and are very good, I didn’t need to go shopping for any of the ingredients, and here’s the best part of all. I just dumped everything in my food processor and voila, the dough was ready!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup rolled oats, coarsely powdered

1/3 cup dessicated coconut

1 tsp finely grated lemon rind

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

1 tbsp honey

2 to 3 tbsps water

Method:

Sift the flour, baking soda and cinnamon into a bowl. Add the sugar, rolled oats, dessicated coconut and lemon rind and mix well. (I did all this in my food processor bowl)

Rub the peanut butter into the dry ingredients (I did this on the food processor but using the plastic dough making blade) until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Now add the honey and water, a little at a time, stirring till a soft dough forms.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, knead lightly till smooth, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Take the dough from the fridge and divide into two portions. Roll out each portion into 1/4" thickness, dusting lightly with flour if necessary. Cut out cookies with a 2 1/2" fluted cutter or cutter of desired shape.

Place on lightly greased baking trays and bake at 180C for about 10 to 12 minutes, or till golden brown. Allow the biscuits (cookies) to cool on the trays for about 5 minutes and then cool completely on a rack.

This recipe makes about 30 biscuits (cookies) but I got 40 since my biscuit cutter was a bit smaller.

COFFEE CAKE WITH COFFEE MASCARPONE FROSTING

Dear All,

I am happily married now and this is my first day in the US. And I don't think I'll be doing any serious cooking for another 2 weeks or so, since we need to settle down.So here is Deeba , my cake partner, taking up my space to do her bit of writing and baking :) Deeba needs no introduction,she is like Mary Poppins ( I just watched the movie last night in the flight) pulling out or rather baking all these gorgeous stuff one after another! So here is another one from her! Hope you all enjoy what she has baked for me :D I really wish I could taste this cake in real! Thank you so much Deeba! HUGS!

When Ria invited me to do a guest post for her, I didn’t have to think twice. Yes of course. I got to know her about a year ago when she found me through blogging as we share a love for food, especially cakes. The food blogging world being what it is, she quickly became my primary source for vanilla beans and an active twitter friend!

Time flies and how, and the time for her to get married and join her darling Jobin is finally here. As she said, it's been a LONG 5 years. I will miss my 'vanilla bean girl', but she's off to greener pastures. Here's a cake I made as a birthday present for my Mom's friend, and I made a border for it inspired by Ria's post not so long ago. This style of making cake borders got my attentiuon instantly, and I have put it to great use...

in this Strawberry Bavarian Cream Cake,

and in these Nanaimo Bars too!

 

You can find a simple tutorial here if you like.

This is just what I love about blogging...the sharing of ideas and talent!  

I am sharing a very basic sponge cake recipe here today which forms a great base for any cake. It's easy to remember too and is one I use for my Swiss rolls all the time. It's 3 eggs + 1/2 cup flour + 1/2 cup sugar. This time I've used some baking powder too, which I don't use while making Swiss rolls. The recipe can be easily doubled to give you a 8-9" bigger cake. Do make sure you double the frosting too if you decide to double the sponge ingredients!

 Good luck to you Ria... All the very best always.

This post is for you!

Coffee Cake with Mascarpone Frosting

Recipe from Deeba @ Passionate About Baking

Makes one 6" cake, 8-10 servings

Coffee Sponge

3 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup vanilla sugar (or plain)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 pinch salt

2 tsps instant coffee powder

Filling/Topping

100gm mascarpone (homemade recipe here)

200ml cream (25% fat, chilled)

1/2 tsp instant coffee

3-4 tbsp icing sugar

Lace Border

50gms milk, dark or white chocolate (I find milk chocolate works the best)

Chocolate shavings and coffee beans for garnishing

1/4tsp cocoa if you want to make a web on top

Method:

For the sponge

Preheat oven to 190C. Grease and line a 6" cake tin.

Sift the flour + baking powder + salt 3 times. Keep aside.

Beat the eggs, coffee and sugar well with hand beater over gently simmering water till it triples in volume. A thick ribbon of batter should fall falls and holds in place for at least 5 seconds (beat for approx 10mins).

Gently fold in the sifted flour; mix lightly so that air doesn't escape.

Turn gently into tin and bake for 20-25 mins till done. Don't overbake or sponge will be dry.

Once done, remove from tin after 5 mins and leave on rack to cool completely. Cut horizontally into 2 layers.

For Filling Topping:

Whip all ingredients together until you get desired consistency. Cream should be thick and holds peaks.

Adjust sugar if need be. 

Assembling:

Use about 1/3 to sandwich the cake, and frost the sides and top with the rest. Leave to set for about 20 minutes in the fridge.

For the lace border

Melt the chocolate in a ziploc bag. Snip a TINY hole in one corner for piping.

To make a border for the cake, measure the height of the border that you would like, and the circumference of the cake. Cut our parchment paper to this measure and squiggle patterns or doodle with melted chocolate on it. (If you are unsure, keep a pattern under the parchment and trace out with melted chocolate). Wait for it to almost set, where the paper is still flexible and the chocolate is not set hard. Wrap it around the cake and press gently to the frosted sides so that the pattern sticks to the sides. Mine didn't hold a 100% because I didn't frost the sides, but it was fine anyway.  Chill for about 30minutes in the fridge to set the chocolate. Gently peel off the parchment.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

AS WE BECOME ONE...

A Bride's Prayer

O Father, my heart is filled with a happiness so wonderful. I am almost afraid  this is my Wedding Day. I pray Thee that the beautiful joy of this morning may never grow dim with the tears of regret for the step I am about to take.Rather may its memories become more sweet and tender with each passing anniversary.

Thou hast sent me one who seems all worthy of my deepest regard. Grand unto me the power to keep him ever true and loving as now.May I prove indeed a helpmate,a sweetheart, a friend, a steadfast guiding star among all the temptations that beset this impulsive heart of mine.

Give me the skill to make home the best loved place of all. Help me to make its light gleam brighter than any glow that would dim its radiance. Let me, I pray Thee, meet the little misunderstandings and cares of life more bravely.

Be with me as I start my mission of womanhood and stay Thou my path from failure all the way.Walk with us even unto the end of our journey. O Father, bless my Wedding Day, hallow my Marriage Night, sanctify my Motherhood if Thou sees it fit to grant me that privilege. And when all my youthful charms are gone, and cares and lessons have left their traces, let physical fascination give way to the greatest charm of companionship.

And so may we walk hand in hand down the highway of the valley of the shadow which we hope to lighten with the sunshine of good and happy lives.

O Father, this is my prayer. Hear me, I beseech Thee.

Amen.

LINZER HEART COOKIES & A FRENCH CONNECTION!

You must be wondering what exactly I meant by 'French Connection'. No, I am not talking about the movie, nor the big retail chain. But I am talking about my very sweet friend Jamie who live in Nantes, France.She is this perfect mix of the perfect wife, mother, blogger and a friend. For me, she is that 'friend' who fulfils the proverb 'A friend in need is a friend indeed.'

I tweeted  out to Jamie few months ago, to help me feed my hungry blog during my wedding days as I didn't have the heart to starve my dear bloggie. And she accepted it without thinking twice! Isn't she the best! Mwwwaahhhh!! And have a look at those perfect treats that she baked for me!

And let me warn you, she writes really well! So do not blame me if you get hooked onto her writing skills! ;)

LINZER HEART COOKIES FOR VALENTINE’S DAY


RIA’S BIG ADVENTURE

LOVE & MARRIAGE
Love and marriage, love and marriage
Go together like a horse and carriage
This I tell you brother
You can't have one without the other
Love and marriage, love and marriage
It's an institute you can't disparage
Ask the local gentry
And they will say it's elementary
Try, try, try to separate them
It's an illusion
Try, try, try, and you will only come
To this conclusion
Love and marriage, love and marriage
Go together like a horse and carriage
Dad was told by mother
You can't have one without the other

- Sammy Cahn & Jimmy Van Heusen

VALENTINE’S DAY AND A WEDDING

Ah, Valentine’s Day. Our hearts go pitter pat as the date approaches, florist shops fill up with lush red roses, heart-shaped chocolates tucked into delicate, pale tissue paper or tumbling out of boxes tied up in plump pink ribbon are displayed in every candy shop window and showcases of jewelry of gold and silver, diamonds and rubies, both elegant and gaudy, invite us to dream. Visions of chubby cherubim and putti, Cupid gently taking aim with his bow and arrow, the promise of romance and snuggling up with the one you love all are part and parcel of the magic that we call Valentine’s Day.


The month of February, cold and harsh, a blanket of white if we are so lucky, a breath of spring occasionally whispering in our ear, stuck unforgivingly somewhere between the rousing, festive end-of-the-year holiday season and the warming, welcoming arms of spring. February, rarely one’s favorite month, finds us impatient for the winter to end, dreaming of summer vacations in the sun, and escape. But for the romance of Valentine’s Day. So we strap on ours skis or snuggle down under blankets, our hands wrapped around a mug of hot cocoa or we dream of our knight in shining armor as we stir flour into sugar, rub in butter and scent with vanilla and cinnamon and wait for Valentine’s Day. For most of us, Winter respite comes in the form of a heart, that sentimental keepsake, that unlooked for display of affection, candlelight and a glass of champagne warming us up halfway through this otherwise cold, snowbound month.

And then some of us, the lucky ones, get married. Married in the month of February. How romantic is that? Like celebrating Valentine’s Day all month long, like having a special Valentine’s Day all to yourself. My darling friend Ria, far off in exotic India, has been stitching wedding favors, planning menus, putting together her trousseau and fitting the wedding dress of her dreams all in preparation for her February wedding. Darling Ria turned to me for a guest post and how could I refuse? Love and marriage and Valentine’s Day are food for a romantic like me, sentimental fool that I am, stirring up emotions and memories of my own special day so many years ago, a day followed by so many candlelit dinners, so many gifts slid across white tablecloths or placed in the palm of my hand, so many boxes tied up in satin ribbon, so many celebratory bottles of champagne, so many romantic getaways for two. And a near-perfect marriage (no marriage is perfect, my dear) is like the perfect Valentine’s Day: romance blended with joy and laughter, a mad mingling of serenity and excitement, the fusion of the exchange of serious sentiments and a wild burst of frivolity. It is a union of anticipation, worry and joy, hope and dreams.


Ria, I pulled out my years old, battered notebook, dug around until I found the perfect recipe, the perfect treat for this special day in your life. The page is torn and stained, the words beginning to fade, but this is the most romantic of treats that I have chosen for you. The perfect cookie, delicate and tender, a white, white heart, white as the snowy month of February, white as the pureness of love, a sweet, meltingly sweet cookie with a heart as red as love, as red as the passion of lovers, bursting forth on the tongue in a flood of tangy, fruity flavor, the flavor of cherries, deep and mysterious, as mysterious and flavorful as that wonderland we call married life. [ I SO LOVE YOU FOR THIS JAMIE! HUGS!!!!!]


A cookie, like marriage, is a mix of the choicest of ingredients in the perfect blend of just the right quantities: sweet, creamy butter, lots of butter to create something rich and smooth; sugar, powdery and fine, as ephemeral as fairy dust, gliding through your fingers, adding sweetness in just the right balance, in perfect harmony with the earthiness of the nuts; flour and cornstarch, both sturdy yet light, airy yet strong, something basic, clean and pure to bind all the other ingredients together in a perfect harmony, a necessary cohesion of flavor and texture until something beautiful is created, a delicacy to be handled with care so that it doesn’t break, something to be savored on its own yet enhanced by the stunning, passionate surprise of the cherry red preserves, that one exciting, secret ingredient holding all of the rest together. Share it, enjoy it, savor it.

A marriage will warm up the most blustery of Februaries. It will thaw the coldest of hearts as well as a blazing fire and a steaming mug of grog, as sure as a stunning young bride in all the glow of her love. Enjoy, Ria, and I wish you all the best!


LINZER HEART COOKIES

¾ lb/3 sticks (345 g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (125 g) powdered/confectioner’s sugar
1 egg
2 cups (250 g) flour
1 cup (120 g) cornstarch
3 oz (80 g) finely ground nuts (almond, hazelnut or walnut)
Cherry preserves (Red raspberry is the classic filling)
Powdered/confectioner’s sugar for dusting cookies (about ½ cup/ 65 g)


Cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat just until blended.

Sift together the flour and the cornstarch then add it to the butter/sugar/egg mixture beating in as much as you can with the electric mixer then stirring and folding in the rest by hand until homogenous and it pulls together into a dough.

Working quickly (the butter is melting as we speak!), scrape the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead just until you have a smooth dough. Wrap well in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.


Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C).

Cut the ball of dough in half and wrap back up one half and stick back in the fridge to keep chilled. This dough gets very soft and sticky as it warms to room temperature. Roll the half you have kept out on a floured to a thickness of 1/8 to ¼” (don’t forget you will be sandwiching the cookies so it will double the thickness). Using heart-shaped cookie cutters of any size, cut out pairs of hearts. Place them side by side and, using either a tiny heart-shaped cutter or a round cutter (for the small hearts I used the small end of a pastry tip) cut out a center hole from ONE of each pair of cookies (this will be the top of the sandwich). Gently lift and place the cut out shapes on an ungreased baking/cookie sheet.

The center hearts will make tiny little individual cookies to pop into your mouth.

 [ I LOVE THIS PICTURE! ]

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until firm and just barely golden brown (lift one up and the bottom should be starting to brown). Remove from the oven, allow to cool a bit on the baking sheet until firm enough to lift and transfer onto cooling racks.

Repeat with the remaining dough.

Pair up the hearts with one solid bottom and one top with a hole cut out. Spread a dollop of cherry preserves on the bottom cookie of each pair. Place all of the top cookies on a rack on top of a plate or a piece of aluminum foil and very generously dust with a thick coating of powdered sugar. Top each bottom cookie with the preserves with a sugared top and press very, very gently so as not to break the cookies.


Now, now! I must admit I have never seen a Linzer cookie as pretty as this! And what a way to celebrate V-Day! Jamie, your JP is SUPER lucky to have you! :)

Thank you so much for this BIG help for me. And the saying 'actions speak louder than words' did come true in our case! Hugs!

CHOCOLATE HAZLENUT MOUSSE CAKE.... for World Nutella Day.

So, once again I am going to talk about friendship ,beyond 'borders',in this case, I mean borders of states :) Avanika  and myself, we live in 2 different far-off states but, we have a lot of things in common, first being the love for food! I must describe her as a wacky, full -of- life 19 yr old passionate food blogger. And I must mention something else too, I am terribly jealous of her...she is SO young! Gosh, as my b'day is approaching (oh! it's actually 3 months away! ) I feel I am growing OLD! But, Jobin's b'day comes before mine, so I am better off! :P

Thank you Av ( as I always mention her on my twitter /chat msgs) SO much for accepting to 'feed' my ever - so -hungry blog! Now, it's not just the blog, it's the owner too! I am on a diet you see! ;) Because I am left with exactly 9 days more!



HAPPY WORLD NUTELLA DAY!!! This is by far, my most favorite holiday! I could literally LIVE on Nutella alone, so I just HAD to celebrate it. I've gifted my close friends jars of Nutella today, that's how much I love this day. And my aerobics instructor is absolutely loathing this day! :P For creating this wonderful holiday, I have to thank Sara and Michele.



Wait a minute now, ofcourse you're wondering who I am, and why you should listen to me gushing about Nutella so much! A little intro seems appropriate - I'm Avanika, fellow food blogger from Yumsilicious Bakes, and I like to consider myself as Ria's good friend, even though I never met her, we share a bond, and we talk about soo much stuff, it's weird!

Since she is getting married, in less than 2 weeks, she asked me to do a guest post, or 'feed' her blog. The very idea of guest posting scares me, I think, who'll want to listen to little old me? That's why I rejected 2 previous offers of doing guest posts, but when Ria asked me, I knew this was the time where I needed to step up. This is my small way of making her wedding a little bit easier! And plus, even if I screw it up, I know she'll still be my friend. Right Ria? :P

So in honour of Ria's upcoming marriage [CONGRATULATIONS Ria and Jobin], my first ever guest post, and World Nutella Day, I knew I had to go all out, and decided to make this fabulous cake. And fabulous it is. The silky smoothness of the mousse hits you first, after which the creaminess of the ganache combines, both of which are perfectly balance by the crusty base. It's an explosion of textures, right in your mouth :) I am so glad I made this, it's perfect for the occasion. I'm just going to give you the recipe now, so you can make it immediately.


Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Cake
Adapted from Epicurious

For shortbread base -

2 tbsp [30 g] hazelnuts, toasted and skins rubbed off
3 tbsp [70 g] sugar
1/2 cup [80 g] all-purpose flour
1/2 stick [1/4 cup, 55 g] unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp [20 g] unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt

Special Equipment
8-Inch Springform Pan



Instructions -

1. Preheat oven to 350 F [180 C]. Line the springform with parchment paper.
2. Pulse the toasted hazelnuts and sugar in a food processor until finely ground.
3.  Add the flour, butter, cocoa and salt, pulse together until a dough forms.
4. Press the dough onto the bottom of the pan, and prick with a fork.
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes [mine took 17]. Cool pan on wire rack.
6. This step is important for convenience, once the base is cool, lift it off the pan, take out the parchment paper, and put it back onto the pan.

For mousse

• 1 tsp unflavored gelatin (from a 1/4-oz envelope)
• 3 tbsp cold water
• 1/2 cup [5 oz] Nutella
• 1/2 cup [100 g] mascarpone
• 1 1/2 cups [200 g] chilled heavy cream
• 2 tbsp [20 g] unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp [70 g] sugar

Instructions -

1. Once the crust is in the oven, begin making the mousse. In a large bowl, combine the gelatine and water, heat on the stove until all granules of gelatin dissappear. Whisk in the Nutella, take it off the heat.
2. Whisk in the mascarpone until combined.
3. Whisk together the cream, cocoa and sugar until soft peaks form. Whisk 1/3 of this cream into the nutella mixture, and then gently fold in the rest.
4. Spoon over the cooled crust, refrigerate until set [3-4 hours].

For ganache

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3 1/2 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped

Instructions -

1. Heat the cream over the stove in a small bowl, until it boils
2. Immediately pour this over the chopped chocolate, stir to combine. The chocolate will slowly melt with the heat of the cream.
3. Let this mixture stand for a while, about 20 minutes, for it to thicken. Make sure not to let it rest for too long, it may become too thick.
4. Remove the cake from the springform pan, slide onto a serving plate.
5. Pour the gananche over the mousse layer once its set perfectly, allowing some to drip over the sides. Don't hurry this step up, since the weight of the ganache will collapse your unset mousse, which is kind of what happened to me.
6. Serve, and ENJOY :)

BURP! Sorry! ;) I really loved this dessert! I am sure Jobin would love it too! Thank you Av! Mwwahhh!

KUTTANADAN DUCK ROAST a virtual' virunnu' and a happy blog!

"Truly great friends are hard to find,difficult to leave, and impossible to forget".

Author Unknown

How many of you believe that we can be  friends  real good friends with people whom we have never met? Well, I am a strong believer of that. It could be the simplest of reasons for you both to be friends with each other. For me, through my love for food, have found many like-minded foodie friends who have been blogging as passionately or I would rather say, more passionately than me. Food was the topic that drew us closer, but as the days passed by, we realise there is something more that than just food! :) This is the best part of blogging.

So here is my lovely friend Maria , who instantly accepted my request to feed my ever-so- hungry blog during my wedding preparation time! It was a very short notice for her, but I was 100% sure that she can do it, because , she is a marvel at cooking! For all those who haven't been to her space,do check out her space!





I dont know how many of you know me, so I will do the introduction part first. I am Maria and I have a small space called MariasMenu.

It’s the first time I’ve got an opportunity to do a guest blogging, thanks a ton Ria dear. Am very excited about it :)

Before going to the recipe, let me wish our lovely bride & groom (Ria & Jobin) a happy & blessed married life!! I would like to quote a few lines from a wedding card, that I got for my wedding. I Liked the lines in that card, hence thought of passing it to you too.

A happy marriage means these things -

sharing little happenings,

togetherness that never ends-

hand in hand,

the best of friends,

encouragement,

a little kiss,

lots of pride in one another,

being honest with each other.

A happy marriage is

love and laughter,

and living happily ever after!!

May your marriage be filled with loads of love & laughter and may you live happily ever after!!

Now about the recipe…When Ria asked me to do the guest post I agreed immediately, even without thinking what will I post. As the days passed by I was getting more and more confused about what to make.

Then one day, I was chatting with my friend who got married recently and she happened to tell me about the “virunnu”. Virunnu kodukkal or rather virunnu (as its popularly known) is an age old tradition that we have in Kerala. Soon after the wedding, the newly weds start getting invitation from their relatives and friends (from both sides) to visit them. Its a time where you get to know the family of your spouse in detail. Not to mention that the highlight of the virunnu is the grand feast prepared by the host for the newlyweds. Each host tries their best to impress the bride & groom with their masterpiece dish :)

Now when my friend mentioned the word virunnu, I suddenly thought about Ria. I was thinking what will be that special dish that I would like to prepare for them. Finally I zeroed in on kuttanadan duck roast. If you are a frequent visitor here at Ria’s place, am sure you might have noticed her love for Kuttanad or rather her “motherland” ;). So here I am with this Kuttanadan duck roast especially for you. Hope you both will like it. Let me tell you how happy I am that I could atleast give you a virtual “virunnu”.

Once again wish you both a beautiful married life!



Here is the recipe:

1. Duck – 1/2 kg (after cleaning)
2. Shallots (small onion) – 1/4 cup, chopped
   Ginger & garlic – 1 – 1.5 tsp, chopped
   Chilly powder – 1-1.5 tsp
   Coriander powder – 2-3 tsp
   Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
   Garam masala – 1 – 1.5 tsp
   Black pepper powder – 1/2 tsp
   Vinegar – 2 tbsp
   Salt
3. Curry leaves
4. Oil & ghee
5. Onion – 2, sliced finely
   
   For garnishing
6. Onion – 1 small, sliced finely
   Potato – 1 medium, cut into wedges & boiled
   Curry leaves

Grind number 2 ingredients into a fine paste. Marinate the cleaned duck pieces with half of the ground paste. Keep it aside for 1 hour.

Heat oil in a pan (you can use a combination of oil & ghee also) and shallow fry the marinated duck pieces till it turns golden brown colour. Keep it aside. In the same oil add the finely sliced onions & cook. When the onion becomes golden brown colour add the remaining half of the ground masala. Fry it till the oil starts appearing. Add 2 cups of boiling water to the onion and masala mix. Combine well.

Transfer the fried duck pieces and the onion gravy to a pressure cooker. Cook till the duck is done. The cooking time varies depending on the type of duck (broiler or free range).Once the pressure is gone, open the cooker & cook till the gravy thickens. This curry usually doesn’t have much gravy, so you need to cook till the water is almost dried and each piece is thickly coated with the masala. Transfer the duck pieces to a serving dish and garnish with fried onions, potatoes & curry leaves. Serve hot with rice or appam.

For garnishing

Heat oil/ghee in a pan and fry the boiled potato wedges, remove from pan, In the same oil fry the thinly sliced onions & curry leaves.

Notes: I cooked the duck with skin on. Since I used a broiler duck, I cooked it for 5-6 whistles on high flame.

Thank you SO much Maria for doing this for me! Muah! We thoroughly enjoyed the virtual 'virunnu'!