The Taste Island

    Carrot cake is a simple cake with grated carrots mixed into the batter.Like other cakes, you dont have to run for the ingredients, as the main ingredient needed for this is carrot. This cake tastes best with cream cheese frosting. You will definitely fall in love with this astonishingly moist and easy recipe!! Ingredients: Dry ingredients: All purpose flour/Maida - 2 3/4 cup / 400 gm Baking powder - 3 tsp Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp Carrots (finely grated) - 400 gm Raisins - 115 gm or 1/2 cup or as desired Wet ingredients: Sugar - 2 cups / 400 gm Eggs - 4 Vanilla extract - 1 tsp Oil - 400 ml For frosting: Cream cheese - 480 gm Powdered sugar - 4 cups / 600 gm Butter - 1/2 cup / 120 gm Vanilla extract - 1 tbsp Preparation: Sift together flour, cinnamon powder and baking soda. Keep aside. To a bowl add sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and oil. Whisk until it becomes thick. To this add sifted flour little by little and mix gently using a spatula. Use cut and fold method. Add raisins ...

    Chicken stroganoff is a Russian inspired creamy chicken dish with tender mushrooms in a simple, mildly flavored sauce. This recipe is perfect for a weekend dinner !!! Ingredients: Chicken boneless - 500 gm Mushroom - 10 (sliced) Corn flour - 2 tbsp Sour cream - 1/2 cup Chicken broth - 1 cup Big onion - 1 (sliced) Pepper powder - 3 tbsp Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp Spring onion - 1/2 cup (chopped) Mustard sauce - 2 tbsp Butter - 25 gm Oil Salt to taste Preparation: Cut the cleaned chicken pieces into medium sized pieces. Marinate it with salt, 1 tbsp pepper powder and 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste. Keep aside for 30 mins. Heat little oil in a pan and fry the chicken pieces. Flip and cook both the sides. Remove the cooked chicken pieces from the pan and keep aside. Heat a pan and add the same oil used for cooking the chicken. Also add 25 gm of butter. Add sliced onion and saute till it becomes translucent. Add remaining ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell goes. Add sal...

    Orange cake is a moist, aromatic and soft cake made with freshly squeezed orange juice and orange zest. This one is very easy to make as we have to just take all the ingredients and blend them.Try this best, all time favourite moist orange cake recipe!! Ingredients: All purpose flour/Maida - 1.5 cup Baking soda - 1/4 tsp Baking powder - 1 tsp Butter - 2 tbsp (at room temperature) Egg - 2 Oil - 1/4 cup Sugar - 3/4 cup Curd - 1/4 cup Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp Orange juice - 1/2 cup freshly squeezed Orange zest - 1 tsp Salt - 1 pinch Preparation: Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Sift twice and keep aside. Take a bowl. Add oil, sugar and 2 tbsp butter. Beat together for few mins. Add 2 eggs to the same bowl and beat well. Add 1/2 cup orange juice and combine well. Add 1/4 cup curd and mix again. Add vanilla essence and orange zest. Mix well. Preheat the oven for 10 mins at 180 degree Celsius. Finally add flour little by little and mix gently using a sp...

    Brinjal fry is an easy dish which can be prepared very quickly. Brinjal was not my favourite before trying this recipe. But now its one of my favourite side dish. This goes well with rice. Any brinjal fry recipe can't be simpler than this. Try and let me know the feedback!! Ingredients: Brinjal - 1 Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Pepper powder - 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tsp Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp Oil Salt to taste Preparation: Wash and slice the brinjal into round shapes. It should not be too thick or thin. Medium sized thickness is fine. Mix 1 tsp of oil with salt, turmeric powder, pepper powder, kashmiri chilli powder and ginger garlic paste. Marinate the brinjal slices with this mixture and keep aside for 10 mins. Heat a pan and add some oil. No need to add too much oil as we are not deep frying this. Place the marinated brinjal pieces. Flip and cook both sides till its color becomes light brown. Remove from pan and keep it in a kitchen tissue to remove the exces...

    Apple and raisin crumble is a lovely dessert that can be prepared very quickly with minimum ingredients. Its a delicious dessert made with mildly spiced apples and raisins topped with buttery crumbles. This is the easiest recipe you will ever find. Ingredients: Apple - 2 Raisins - 1/2 cup All purpose flour/Maida - 1/2 cup Brown sugar - 1/2 cup Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup Butter - 25 g Lemon zest - 1/4 tsp Lemon juice - 1/4 tsp Vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp (optional) Preparation: Clean and cut the apples into small pieces. To a bowl add flour, butter at room temperature, brown sugar and vanilla essence. Mix well with hands till you get the consistency of bread crumbs. Keep aside. Take a pan and add the apple pieces along with granulated sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. If you like the cinnamon flavor you can add cinnamon powder at this stage. Mix well and cook for 5 to 10 mins. Switch off the flame and add raisins. Mix well. Preheat the oven at 180 d...

    Cinnamon roll is a luscious roll served generally in North America and Northern Europe. It can be topped with cream cheese glaze or sugary lemon syrup. Here is the recipe for making absolutely enticing, big, fluffy and soft cinnamon rolls easily at home!! Ingredients: For Dough All purpose flour/ Maida - 250 gm Powdered sugar - 15 gm Yeast - 7.5 gm Granulated sugar - 1 tsp Salt - 5 gm Milk powder - 15 gm Butter (room temperature) - 10 gm + extra for spreading between layers Lukewarm water - 150 ml For Cinnamon Mixture Cinnamon - 1 inch piece Granulated sugar - 1 tbsp Brown sugar - 3 tbsp For Sugary lemon syrup Lemon juice - 1/2 of 1 lemon Powdered sugar - as needed Water - 1 tsp (optional) Preparation: Take half of the lukewarm water in a bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Mix well and keep aside for 5 mins or till it becomes frothy. In a wide bowl add flour, powdered sugar, milk powder and salt. Mix well. Add activated yeast mixture and mix well. Add remaining warm water slowly a...

    Soup sticks can be easily made at home which tastes great with any soup or even with simple tomato ketchup. Freshly baked soup sticks are always a pleasure for everyone. A bowl of hot soup and crunchy soup stick to bite on is what you can ask for when you want to relax. Ingredients: Maida/all purpose flour - 215 gm Sugar powdered - 7 gm Salt - 5 gm Olive oil - 15 ml Yeast - 5 gm Lukewarm water - 125 ml Granulated sugar - 1 tsp Ajwain / Carom seeds - 1 tsp Chilli flakes - 1 tsp Mixed herbs - 1 tsp (optional) Egg - 1 Preparation: In a bowl add yeast, granulated sugar and half of our measured lukewarm water. Mix well and leave it for 5 min for activation. In another bowl add maida flour, powdered sugar, carom seeds and salt. Mix well. Add activated yeast mixture and mix well. Add rest of the water and mix well. Knead the dough till gluten is formed. Add olive oil and knead again till it becomes slightly bouncy when pressed. Tuck in the dough into a ball shape and leave it for...

    Focaccia is a flat Italian bread product baked in oven. Its texture is almost similar to that of a pizza dough. Its light and airy. Its topped with olives and rosemary. Lets have a look on how to bake this one. Ingredients: For Dough: Maida - 250 gm Warm water - 150 to 160 ml Powdered sugar - 15 gm Instant yeast - 8 gm Granulated sugar - 1 tsp Salt - 5 gm Olive oil - 1 tbsp For Topping: Pitted Black olives - 5 pieces Rosemary - few pinches Cherry Tomato - small pieces (optional) Olive oil - 2 tbsp   Water - for sprinkling Preparation: In a bowl add yeast along with 1 tsp granulated sugar and half quantity of warm water. Here its 75 ml to 80 ml. Mix well and let it rest for 5 mins. It will become lightly frothy. Take a big bowl and add maida, powdered sugar, milk powder and salt. Mix well. Add the yeast mixture slowly to the maida mixture and mix well. Once everything is combined well transfer them into a hard surface like kitchen counter. Keep on kneading for 7 t...

    White sandwich bread can be easily prepared at home. They are much healthier than the ones we buy from bakeries. In bakeries, they add so many artificial ingredients for increasing the softness and shelf life. In this recipe we are not using any ingredients such as bread improver or gluten powder. Only the basic ingredients and some effort with kneading. The rest part is simple. Baking bread at home is a wonderful experience. Ingredients: Maida - 250 gm Powdered sugar - 15 gm Granulated sugar - 1 tsp Milk powder - 15 gm Salt - 3 gm or 1/2 tsp Instant yeast - 8 gm or 2 tsp Warm water - 150 to 160 ml Butter - 10 gm Sesame seeds - 1 tsp Egg - 1 Preparation: In a bowl add yeast along with 1 tsp granulated sugar and half quantity of warm water. Here its 75 ml to 80 ml. Mix well and let it rest for 5 mins. It will become lightly frothy. Take a big bowl and add maida, powdered sugar, milk powder and salt. Mix well. Add the yeast mixture slowly to the maida mixture and mix well. O...

    Mango cake is made with simple and easily available ingredients. Its full of fresh mango flavor. Also, this particular cake is not commonly available in bakeries. Try this cake during mango season when mangoes are easily available or you can try with canned mangoes. Try this delicious cake. Ingredients: Dry ingredients: Maida - 1 1/4 cup Baking powder - 1 tsp Baking soda - 1/2 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Wet ingredients: Butter - 2 tbsp Powdered sugar - 3/4 cup Egg - 2 Oil - 3 tbsp Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp Mango pulp - 1 1/2 Preparation: Sift together maida, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Keep aside. Line a cake tin with baking paper. Keep aside. Take a bowl. Add oil, butter and powdered sugar. Beat well. Add egg and vanilla essence. Beat well. Add mango pulp and combine well. Preheat the oven at 180 degree for 10 mins. Add sifted flour in 3 batches and combine well. Take care not to over-mix the batter. Transfer the cake batter to the lined cake tin and tap twice to release...

    Idiappam is a traditional Kerala style dish for breakfast. Its healthy and oil free with its main ingredients being rice flour and grated coconut. An idiappam maker is used to make this. The steamed idiappam is best served with chicken curry / kadala curry/ egg curry / vegetable stew etc. Let's have a look on the recipe. Ingredients: Rice flour - 1 cup Grated coconut = 1/2 cup Boiling hot water - 1 to 2 cup Salt Preparation: Take a wide bowl and add rice flour and enough salt. Mix well. Keep aside. Take a saucepan and add water. Let it boil. When it starts boiling add water little by little to the flour and mix well with a spoon. Add water and keep mixing till no streaks of raw flour is seen. Now with hands carefully knead everything together to a ball. Close with a lid. Take small balls of dough and fill it inside the idiappam maker till its full. Place the steamer on the stove and add enough water. Let it boil. Keep the steaming mould in to the steamer. You may also use...