Meet Indian Cousin of Falafel

Yes! you read it right, Indian Cousin of Falafel. Both are Legume based snacks, made with grinding soaked legumes, mixed with spices & herbs and deep fried. I know I got you when I say deep fried, who doesn't like deep fried food. One is world famous, made with garbanzo beans or you can say our very own white chana/chite chole or in plain English chickpeas. Where as other one is not very famous outside India, I'm talking about dal ke pakode(Lentil fritters) here. Famous or not famous these are perfect for any time, specially for this cold weather we are getting here in north east, snow storm after snow storm.

snow measurement by kiddos while the white stuff was still falling

Different parts of India have different versions of these made with different lentils but the one I'm going to talk about today is moong & chana dal pakode. In Dilli you can find moong dal ke ladoo(they are not called pakoras) from street vendors and that is totally different version, right now i'm saving them for some other day. But in Rajasthan very similar dal ke Pakode is very famous street food. I still remember after few weeks of my marriage when I went to Rajasthan we had these & they were the best...hot & hot....means garma garam & very spicy...loved it.

You can certainly make it with combination of different lentils(moong dhuli/yallow moong, masoor dhuli/Orange lentils & chana dal/Bengal Gram are my fav. for these pakoras) or with one only but the recipe today here is for the one made with moong & chana dal/lentil mixed together. It's very simple recipe more of a guideline. You can follow the recipe or add your own flavors to it & enjoy them garama garam with chai or roll them in a roti with some salad to keep it on the line of Pita & falafel sandwich or as we call it roti wrap.

What I Used :

1. 1/2 cup moong dhuli (yellow moong lentils) Soaked5-6 hrs.
2. 1/2 cup chana dal (Split & skinned Bengal Gram) Soaked 5-6 hrs.
3. half cup packed chopped fresh cilantro
4. 1 & 1/2 TBSP. of finely chopped ginger
5. 3-4 green chillies finely chopped
6. 3 TBSP. finely chopped onion (Optional)
7. 3/4 tsp. ground cumin
8. 3/4 tsp. ground cilantro
9. 3/4 tsp. garam masala
10. 1/2 tsp. red chilli powder
11. 1/4 tsp. Turmeric powder /Haldi
12. salt as per taste  ( I use mix of table salt & kala namak/black salt)
13. Oil for deep frying

Tip : If not sure about the spice & salt level, you can always taste a tiny bit of batter(a drop size) to check the salt as it doesn't contain any ingredients like raw meat or egg which can make you sick. I always do it while making any kinda fritters/pakoras.

 

What I did :
1. Wash and soak both the lentils for 5-6 hrs.

2. Drain water and grind them to paste using no or very little water(depending upon the power of your blender). I like to keep the texture bit coarse like wet semolina/suji.....take a little mixture between your thumb & finger & feel the consistency. You can have it smooth too.

3. Next add cilantro, ginger, green chillies, onions and all the dry spices. Mix them altogether.

4. Heat oil for frying preferably in a kadai, because that way u have to put less oil as compared to regular pot/pan.

5. Keeping the gas on medium drop the small size balls of the batter into the ball. Fry them till golden brown.

6. Drain on paper towel. Serve them while they are still hot/garma garam with some hot/spicy green chutney.

No Ketchup Please only kids are allowed to take regular ketchup :) .

Punjabi Mathi/Mathiyan...to welcome the festival Season

With the onset of autumn, festival season starts in India and along with it starts Wedding Season too. Yes ! it's a season in itself, Navratri marks the beginning of auspicious period in Indian calender(Lunar calender is followed to calculate dates of most of the Indian festivals), followed by a list of festivals. Weather is perfect, time is auspicious so most of the weddings in India take place in Oct.-Dec. Though Jan. & Feb. also come under the category of auspicious time for weddings but it gets really cold during those months specially in North.

Festivals & Weddings means sweets & more sweets. But eating too many sweets can make you crave for savoury goodies, that's why savoury snacks are also part of gift/goodie bags which are exchanged during the festival season. One of such snack is Mathi/Mathiyan, it's an  all time favourite snack any time of the year. Festival & Wedding season in a Punjabi household is never complete without this snack. I don't make too many sweets for the festival season but mathi is must. This time it was special because "I MEASURED THE INGREDIENTS ", yes, I write a food blog & I don't measure the ingredients every time I cook(another excuse for not blogging so regularly). That's how I learned it, that's how I passed the recipe to so many friends & luckily everyone got the good results, but this time I had to measure it so that I can blog about it. Here's the recipe I learned from my MIL over the phone some 11 yrs. back but now with measurements, please do not skip the notes :

Note : Whole process of making Mathis will take around 1 hr. So, make sure U have that much time before U start with it. Usually for weddings & festivals these are fried in desi ghee/clarified butter, but I don't have guts to do that so I stick with canola oil only.

What I used :

2 cup - All purpose flour(i use Maida)

1 tsp. - Salt(adjust as per your taste but I find this much is just right)

1/2 tablespoon - ajwain/carom seeds

3 tablespoon - melted Desi ghee/clarified butter at room temp.  (might need little less or extra)

1/2 cup + 2 or 3 tablespoon  - Water

oil to deep fry (i use canola)

What I did :

NOTES FOR THE DOUGH : To get the best result which in a lay man language means "Khasta Mathi", make sure dough is tight/hard. Khasta means when U break these cracker kind of Indian snack, it breaks but with little flakes. To achieve that result we don't need soft dough, so use only little water at a time as each flour have different water absorbency capacity so U might not use the whole water mentioned above or U might need 1 tsp. or so more.

To check if it's hard enough, insert a finger inside the dough once it's kneaded, if the hole made by your finger stays as is, you are good to go. Also, once the dough is done it won't look like very smooth dough. Always keep the dough covered.

Now, coming to the process :

First of all take some big mixing bowl or better if you have Indian style Paraat(a shallow pan with 4-5 inches high sloppy edges). Transfer 2 cups flour, salt and ajwain  in it & mix it with your hands.

Next come ghee, make sure it's cool before you pour it over the flour. Rub the ghee into the flour using your hands. Once rubbed nicely, take handful of flour & make a fist, open it if the flour maintain the shape of your fist when U open the fist means it's good. If it's too crumbly add little bit more ghee.

Now using only little water at a time knead it into a hard dough, it might feel crumbly in the beg. but don't loose your patience here. Keep working on it & it will come together, it might not look very smooth dough but that's what we want, a hard dough. Cover it with a plastic wrap or wet(squeezed) towel & let it rest for 10-15 minutes.

When ready to fry start heating the oil in a karahi/wok or deep pot on med. to med. high heat, do not use high heat. While it's getting hot take a fist full of dough, roll it into a snake/log of not more than 1 inch thickness. Cut around 1/2 inch length disc from that log.

Now take one disc flatten it & using rolling pin roll it(not too thin around 1/4 of a cm.). Repeat it with all the disc. Using a knife make 1-2 small cuts on the flat disc or alternatively use fork to prick the disc, this step ensures that when you fry the mathis they don't fluff up like poori or bhaturas. Also when U roll the mathis/disc if dough is of right consistency U will never get the smooth edges they will be little broken or kind of fray looking which is perfectly normal.

Check the oil temp. by dropping a tiny piece of dough, if it gets all the bubbles around it and goes to bottom & come back to the top quickly means oil is ready(sorry no oil thermometer in Indian kitchen, but this trick works like a charm). If it stays at the bottom it's not hot enough. If the piece of dough gets too brown very quickly means oil is little too hot U might wanna turn the gas off for few minutes.

Once the oil is ready drop rolled disc one by one into the hot oil (do not over crowd them in oil bath) & deep fry them till they are light brown in color, turn them & let other side also get cook & get the light brown color. DO NOT FRY ON HIGH HEAT, as that will make outside to cook quickly & inside will remain still soft.

While first batch is frying roll the second batch & so on. Repeat the process till U are finished with the dough.

Once they are completely cool store them in air tight container, preferably not transparent type. WHY ? because otherwise they will be gone in a day :-) everyone likes to munch on these before after & in between meals.

NOTES : If U are not comfortable rolling & frying side by side, in that case either call your husband to do the frying part OR otherwise roll all the disc/mathis first and keep them covered away from gas & fry them in batches.

VARIATIONS : I usually make two batches, the one given above. Other one is with extra virgin olive oil instead of ghee and with few more spices : coarsely crushed black peppers + dry methi leaves crushed(Kasuri methi)  + garam masala. If U prefer you can put whole black peppers, that's what normally Punjabi mathis have but my kids will take that black stuff out from each mathi they eat so I started to put coarsely crushed & they don't mind that at all.

To get the perfect rounds U can also roll one big disc & then cut small circles out of it using cookie cutter or just right size(1.5-2 inch) cap of some bottle etc. but I like the organic look of rough edges. Instead of making round mathis if U want you can make them into diamond shape known as nimki in some parts of India or long strips which are called namakpare(common in Delhi) or sankhein (i heard this term after my marriage from my MIL who lived in Rajasthan after her marriage). For these make one big disc & then cut them into strips & further into small around 2-3inch pieces(picture above will give you more clear idea).

Enjoy them as is or with a hot cup of tea. Make an extra batch, pack in a nice box & take with you, next time you visit your family or friends.

Keema Patties/ Puff Pastry with Minced Meat filling

As I promised in my last post, here's one very easy recipe using keema(minced meat)....Keema Patties as we use to call it in India or I should say Savoury Puff Pastries with minced meat filling. It can be served as snack or as we like to have it as holiday brunch item also. Usually I cook keema a day before for this & then it's his responsibility to get these patties/puff pastries into final shape & to the table. You can use any left over keema or make fresh batch, only thing important here is, it should be totally dry & at room temperature. In case of any water in the cooked keema cook it on the high flame without any cover & keep stirring it till all the water evaporates & keema is pretty dry. Let it cool completely before using in the recipe. Following recipe will yield 4 patties.

What U need :

• 3/4 cup cooked keema(recipe here) for filling
• 1 ready-to-bake puff pastry sheet(each pack has two) thawed acc. to package direction

Note : Fish out the bay leaves & whole red chillies from the filling.

What U do :

• Open up the pastry sheet. Cut the puff pastry sheet into 4 equal squares.
• Divide keema filling into 4 equal parts. Put each portion of filling into the centre of each square.
• Wet one of your finger and run it over the inside edge of pastry sheet square.
• Fold it into triangles & press gently onto the sides to seal the edges. Repeat with all the squares.
• Put it on a lightly greased baking sheet. Using a fork pierce the triangles at 3-4 places. Bake as per the package directions or at 400 degree F till the patties turn lightly golden brown.
• Serve with your choice of sauce/ ketchup/ chutney and please be careful, meat inside will be really hot & did I told U they are addictive and I really mean it.

Healthy Banana Bread loaded with all the good stuff....not only Whole Wheat but Eggless too

It's been little busy over here, summer vacation is over. Trying to set some routine after 2 & 1/2 months of  break. Mind is working hard again to find interesting options for school lunch & after school snack, on top of that this year in 3rd grade they have to take snack too. So here's this simple recipe which I feel is a very good option for any time of the day snack, we have been eating this as morning breakfast with a glass of milk or coffee. It's quite filling & healthy too. It's Banana Bread but not regular kind, I'm using not only whole wheat flour but oats also in this. I had no plans of making this bread but thanks to my little one she has found one new hobby, whenever she can grab a banana she likes to peel it, until now she usually would eat it too, but now-a-days she only peels them & she's done. Now what do I do with 3 peeled bananas in a day. So I twisted my regular banana bread recipe added few more things to it and here goes the recipe(please do check the variations at the end of the recipe, got whole wheat version too) :

What U need :
dry ingredients :

• 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp. all purpose flour (I used maida)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour(I used atta-flour used for making Indian style flat bread)
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 /1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. dry ginger powder(optional)

wet ingredients :

• 3 med. size ripe bananas
• 3 Tbsp. veg. oil
• juice of 1 orange
• 4 Tbsp. honey
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar

good stuff :

• 2 Tbsp. dry roasted flax seeds
• 1/2 cup roasted, chopped almonds
• 10 dates chopped

What U do :

1. Take all the good stuff(nuts & dry fruit etc.) & sprinkle 1 Tbsp. of flour on them & mix them with the hand so they get good coating of flour. It  helps preventing them from sinking to the bottom of the pan.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients using a fork making sure no lumps are formed.
3. In a big bowl mash bananas using the back side of fork & add rest of the wet ingredients from the list.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ones. Gently mix them.
5. Add mixture of good stuff to the batter, fold it in.
6. Bake it in the greased loaf pan for 35-40 min.(till the tooth pick comes clean) at 350 degree F.

Note :

This bread was little crumbly but very flavorful, it reminded me of fruit cake & was quite soft even for next couple of days. I did made this for 3-4 times in this month but every time with little variations. Actually this recipe is very forgiving one can easily adjust the ingredients according to the availability or taste. All the variations had almost same amount of oats.

Variations :
First was with half all purpose flour & half whole wheat flour.

 Second was with totally whole wheat flour, came out really good without any compromise on taste.

Third was again totally whole wheat flour but I added 2 Tbsp. of Ragi(finger millet) flour & 1 Tbsp. of flax seed(alsi) meal(powder) also. Instead of almond & dates I only used around 1/2 cup of black raisins & I didn't had any oranges so I added 1-8 0z. carton of apple juice, reduced oil to 2 Tbsp. only(works fine) also reduced the sugar a little bit. Bananas used were also one & a half only. I baked them in mini bundt pan so baking time was reduced to 16 min. only at 350 degree F(recipe yielded 12 mini bundt cakes-I had filled each cavity to 3/4 level). I highly recommend this recipe if you are trying to bake with whole wheat flour as it was light & not at all heavy texture. And these were not at all crumbly. Here's the click...

And this wonderful healthy bread/mini bundt cakes  goes to Champa for her weekly bake-off.

Roti Stir-fry......quick snack, using left over roti

As I mentioned in my previous post now a days lunch is home made ice cream, so on one such day after gorging on home made vanilla & mango ice cream around late afternoon when stomach started to rumble that was the sign that I need to go to kitchen & cook something. So this quick dish is result of all the above. I had some left over rotis(Indian flat bread), instantly the idea of roti poha on the lines of bread poha came to my mind. This dish was done in within less than 10 minutes start to finish, it's just a guideline one can add any veggies of their choice.

What U need :

• 4 left over rotis/chapatis, cut into around 1 x 1/2 inch pieces
• around 1 & a half cup of thinly shredded cabbage
• 1/3 cup of frozen peas
• 1/3 cup of frozen corn
• 3-4 green chillies, chopped
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds (rai)
• few curry leaves
• 2 Tbsp. of cooking oil
• pinch of asafoetida(hing)
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder(haldi)
• 1 tsp. red chilli powder(lal mirch powder)
• 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
• 1 Tbsp. dry roasted sesame seeds
• cilantro or green onions, chopped for decoration
• juice of 1/2 a lime

What U do :

• Take a wide pan/wok/karahi, heat oil in that.
• Add mustard seeds once they splutter add curry leaves, also add hing.
• Turn the gas to high & add cabbage & cook it for 1-2 minutes on high heat only and then add peas & corn. Keep stirring veggies as it's on high heat.
• After another minute or so add salt, turmeric, chilli powder & chopped green chillies.
• After another minute or so add roti pieces, mix everything together. Once rotis get coating of all the flavors, around 2 minute, turn the gas off.
• Sprinkle peanuts, sesame seeds and lime juice. Garnish with green onions or cilantro.

Note : this dish is done on high heat & no liquids are used, only little oil, so make sure U keep stirring the veggies otherwise they might stick to the bottom of pan. If needed use only a spoon or two of water. Cooking them quickly on high heat helps in retaining the crunchiness of cabbage. If  U prefer little water can be used & cabbage can be cooked till it's fully soft. Once dish is done Covering the pan with lid will also helps in getting some moisture to the dish & making it little more soft.

So next time U have any left over rotis, try this recipe it's perfect as anytime snack or as morning breakfast, healthy and filling, enjoy.

Blueberry Muffins with Orange streusel and Eggless too

Summer means berries, berries & more berries. This Sunday when he got few packs of fresh blueberries, he told me to make blueberry muffins. I have made these quite a few times & we all love these over the regular kind of blueberry muffins. First time when I ate these on one of our road trip I absolutely loved these....moist & nice crumb with lots of blueberry flavor & nice crunch on the top, to me it's perfect. I will prefer these over any other kind of muffins. I have used Orange zest for topping one can easily change it to lemon zest if they like, also if you wish store bought jam(chunkier kind) can be used but I really recommend sparing 10 minutes & making a small batch of jam. Recipe below is for 12 regular size muffins.

What U need :
for muffins
2 cups + 1 Tblsp. unbleached all purpose flour
2 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 & 1/4 cup light brown sugar
4 Tblsp.(1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
4 Tblsp. veg. oil
1 cup buttermilk(I use 3/4 cup plain dahi/yogurt + 1/4 cup water)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup blueberries rolled in 1 Tblsp. of flour

for jam
1 cup blueberries
3-4 Tblsp. regular sugar

for streusel topping
2 Tblsp. regular sugar
zest of 1 orange

What U do :
1. Make jam

• Cook blueberries with sugar on med. heat for about 7-10 minutes till u get the jam like consistency. Mash the berries with the back side of the spoon. Use more or less sugar as per your taste & tartness of berries. Let it cool.

2. To make streusel topping mix sugar & zest, keep aside.

3. Make muffins

• Heat oven to 425 degree F. Prepare muffin tin with non-stick spray or line muffin tin with paper liners.
• In a large bowl whisk flour+baking powder+salt.
• In another bowl mix sugar with oil & melted butter. Add buttermilk & vanilla, whisk everything together.
• Now add wet mix to dry mix & gently mix everything, using a hand whisk. Batter will be thick & might have some lumps, BUT DO NOT OVER MIX.
• Using a spatula fold in the berries coated with flour.
• Spoon the batter into muffin tins. Now using a small spoon add some jam to the center of the tin & with the back side of the spoon swirl the batter in the muffin.
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  Lastly sprinkle the streusel topping on the top of muffins & bake them for around 15-18 minutes(mine were done in 15 minutes).

Enjoy these muffins when they are still hot or keep them in the fridge for next morning breakfast or late night snack, warm them in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds or enjoy it cold if you like it that way.

Pav Bhaji

You don't have to be a mumbalite to love Pav bhaji, for those readers to whom these terms sounds like words from alien language Mumbai is the financial capital of India.The city also houses India's Hindi film and television industry, known as Bollywood.......largest in the world in terms of ticket sales and number of films produced and Pav Bhaji is one of the very famous street food from that city, popular through out India.

I don't think I have ever met any Indian who doesn't like Pav Bhaji. As it's not only tasty but you also get full dose of veggies in one shot (also a multi-day dose of fat/butter if you make it the typical way street vendors make it over there). I use to make bhaji at home & bring burger/buns/pav whatever best I can get my hands on from the grocery store. But if you like pav bhaji, you know how important pav is in this dish. Couple of months back while browsing thru my papers I found a piece of paper with the recipe for home made pav in it......I'm sure I must have noted down this from "Greh Shobha" magazine. It's an Indian magazine and my MIL has a big collection of it, so when ever I visit her, one of my favorite thing to do is read all those magazines and many a times note down few recipes also. So, I gave it a try and they came out good......decided, no more bread buying for bhaji.....I have made few changes in terms of flour. Here goes my version of pav bhaji :

What U need for Pav :

• 1 cup all purpose flour( i use maida)
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour(regular atta can be used)
• 1 cup bread flour
• 1 Tblsp. active dry yeast
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1cup luke warm water
• 3 Tblsp. oil
• few drops of milk

What U need for Bhaji :

• 1 large potato
• 2 green bell peppers(capsicum / shimla mirch)
• 2-3 carrots
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1/2 cup cauliflower
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 -3 medium size tomato, chopped
• 2-3 green chillies, chopped
• 2 Tblsp. tomato paste
• 3-4 tsp. pav bhaji masala (i prefer MDH)
• salt
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric(haldi)
• oil / butter

What U need for final dish :

• handful of chopped red onion
• handful of chopped cilantro
• Amul butter lots of it OR as little as you want(or any butter U like)
• lime/lemon pieces

What u do :
For Pav :

Add yeast & sugar to luke warm water, let it sit for 5-7 min. till it get little foamy. In a big bowl take flours add salt, yeast water & oil. Knead it to a soft dough. Take another clean big bowl grease it & keep the dough in it covered with plastic wrap. Leave it at warm place for 2 hours or so till it gets almost double in size.

Once double in size punch down the dough, knead it again & make around 8-9 same size balls. Arrange them next to each other in greased mould, I used Pyrex dish for that. Let them rest again at warm place for another hour. Heat oven at 350 degree F brush the dough balls with milk & bake for 15-20 minutes. Once the golden brown crust forms on the bread that means pav's are ready. Take out of the oven & mould let it rest & cool.

For Bhaji :

Steam all veggies except onion & tomato with very little water, salt & turmeric. Once done, mash them using potato masher or back side of serving spoon. Now take a big pan/karahi, heat some butter(I use half butter, half oil) & saute onions in it. Later add tomato paste, chopped tomatoes & green chillies. Let everything cook. Add pav bhaji masala, after a minute or so add mashed veggies & let everything simmer for at least 15-20 minutes. If  looks too dry add few spoons of water.

How to serve :

Cut each pav horizontally into two parts, top & bottom. Put some some butter on to the hot griddle/tava & toast pav's on it(cut side down). Now to serve put pav with the butter toasted side up in the plate & next to it put a serving of bhaji, sprinkle some lime juice, chopped red onions, cilantro & lots of utterly butterly delicious Amul butter(India's most famous butter).

Note : Bhaji tastes much better if you make it at least few hours ahead of time. One can easily control the amount  of butter used in this dish & it still tastes good.

I wanted to send it to Champa's "Baking with Book-Breakfast event" but never got a chance to complete it in the month of April. But still it's on it's  way to champa of Bangalore Baker for her weekly baking event.

Savory Semolina Muffins and No Bake Date & Nut Fudge

Today's post is all about trying recipes from the fellow bloggers. Almost a decade back when I started to have adventures in my kitchen, Bawarchi.com was the main or I should say only place where I would go searching for the Indian recipes. But many a times even I liked the recipes but because of lack of photos I never tried those. I always love reading cookbooks also with food photos. Fast forward o 2009, I discovered food blogs while looking for some recipes and instantly loved that how everything is given with photos. Result is my list of bookmark recipes, sometime I feel, to find a bookmarked recipe I need some sort of search program....I can't help bookmarking, because the details and pictures in the recipe make me go "try this one...try this one". So, to solve that problem I try to make the recipe same day I discover it(provided I have everything on hand plus time to make it). My first trial was Ragi Roti and in the past couple of weeks I tried 2 more recipes : No Sugar Nuts Fudge from Creative Saga and Savory Semolina Cake from Red Chillies, they have also adapted these recipes from other food blogs.

Now for the recipes I mainly followed the actual recipes but with some changes according to my taste & availability of ingredients.So for actual recipes please check the respective blogs as I'm going to mention only the changes I made.

1) No Bake Date & Nut Fudge actual recipe NoSugar Nuts Fudge(Creative Saga) :

Actual recipe doesn't ask to soak the dates but I did soaked them in 2 Tblsp. of warm milk as that made it easy to puree them. But that also add little extra moisture, so for that add either more oats or nuts. But I added sesame seeds & wheat germ which balanced it. Also, I kept only few pieces outside & rest in the fridge as I've used milk in it.

I made two versions, first version was for kids so I used almond meal instead of coarsely grind almonds & I didn't used any walnuts in this. Added 2 Tblsp. of Wheat germ + 1 Tblsp. of instant oats.

Second version : Coarsely grind almond & walnuts. I also added around 1 Tblsp. each brown & black toasted sesame seeds and 1 Tblsp. of wheat germ.

NOTE : a) If you are new to black sesame seeds, it's better to use them in combination with regular sesame seeds you use, as the flavor is really strong, but they have more calcium, for more details check here.

b) Wheat germ is a concentrated source of several essential nutrients & essential fatty acids. Which is naturally found in whole wheat flour. I use it in my baking & cooking whenever I'm using any other flour than whole wheat flour. I don't remember the actual source from where I read it but it said it should be used sparingly as it is concentrated form of nutrients and it also need to be stored in fridge as it can easily become rancid if not stored properly.

2) Savory Semolina Muffins actual recipe Savory Semolina Cake(Red Chillies)

Changes I made in this recipe were :

• chopped broccoli florets instead of peas
• no sugar I used only salt
• 2 Tblsp. of wheat germ
• baked them as muffin in regular muffin tin for 22 minutes at 375 degree F.

Loved the taste of Upma & the ease of baking it in the evening & having it for weekday breakfast next morning.

Thanks to Sowmya & Supriya for sharing these recipes. I feel this is the best way to celebrate my 50th post in this blog world by saying thanks to my blogger friends & enjoying some of their recipes.

Sweet Saffron Rice and Awards

Sometime for no special reasons & without knowing we forget our traditions. Similar is the story with this dish, till this date I never made Sweet Saffron Rice, not that they are complicated or anything but somehow I never made it. Last week while talking to my Mom she told me that's it's Basant Panchami make sweet yellow rice, that's how we refer it in our family. Basant Panchami is a festival to celebrate the first day of spring(basant) and also celebrates the birthday of  Saraswati : Goddess of knowledge and arts. Yellow color of the energy giving Sun has a lot of importance in regard to this festival, the coming of Spring after a long and arduous winter, the mustard fields in bloom are a bright yellow, exuding the warmth of an imminent season of Basant or Spring. In north India people celebrate this special day with religious activities and also by wearing kesari(yellow/saffron color) clothes and making yellow color foods.

So, here you go Mom I did made sweet yellow rice on the basant panchami for the first time. And the sweet aroma of desi ghee, cardamons and saffron is really incomparable. My mom usually put thin slices of dry coconut(available at Indian grocery stores) for garnish, but I didn't used as I didn't had any.

What U need :

• 1/2 cup basmati rice soaked for around 20-25 minutes.
• 4 Tblsp. of sugar(add more if you like it really sweet).
• 2 green cardamons(elaichi), seeds taken out & crushed.
• 2 pinch of saffron(kesar) soaked in 2 Tblsp. of warm milk.
• handful of raisins(i used dry cranberries).
• handful of slivered almonds, toasted.
• 1 cup of water
• 1 Tblsp. of clarified butter(desi ghee)

What to do :

1. Drain rice.
2. Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan, add cardamons and rice. Stir so that rice get coating of ghee.
3. Add raisins, sugar, saffron along with the milk and water.
4. Cover & cook the rice on medium, till all the water evaporates.
5. Garnish with toasted almonds & coconut(if using).

Note : If you don't have saffron, 2-3 drops of yellow food color can be used. Also once the rice are cooked, taste them for the sweetness, if needed add more sugar while they are still warm.

Time for Awards: My first regular visitor on this blog was SE of Denufood, she was the one who passed me my very first award and here are couple of more awards from her, Thanks dear for sharing them and being so nice and regularly not only visiting but taking time out to write few lines on each single post.

Rules for accepting the Kreative Blogger award :

1) Thank the person giving the award
2) Copy the award to your blog
3) Place a link to their blog
4) Name 7 things people don't know about you
5) Nominate 7 bloggers
6) Place a link to those bloggers
7) Leave a comment letting those bloggers know about the award

I would like to share these awards with :

1) Sidhhi of Cooked Dil Se....

2) Sowmya of Creative Saga

3) Sushma of Authentic Food Delights

4) Supriya of Redchillies

5) Sage of  SageCuisine

6) AshKuku  of Asra....Ashaon Ka.....

7) Gulmohar of Collaborative Curry

I just noticed my most of the blogger friends have name starting with "S" and now the list of 7 things people don't know about me :

1) Would love to have my own kitchen garden one day, till then I'm planting my herbs and veggies in the pots.

2) Can't watch T.V without reading some magazine or doing some crochet along with it.

3) Love fried foods, thanks to not properly ventilated kitchens here I don't fry often.

4) Love to start my day by taking all the veggies for the whole day, out of the fridge. Looking at the basket full of fresh veggies(though sometime they r in the fridge for almost a week) makes me happy.

5) Love to end my day doing some crochet/knitting even if it is for 10 minutes.

6) Not a health freak but believe everything in moderation is good.

7) I'm not an environmentalist but do my share in reducing, reusing and recycling. I try to use my own grocery bags but still end up with lot of produce bags as we mainly use fresh produce only. Below is the picture of plastic bag dispenser I made using used produce bags.

                          

Spicy Multi-Legume Cakes...... A Healthy Snack

I guess that's the perfect English name for dal(lentils/legumes) dhokla, a very popular gujrati snack, usually made using besan(chickpea flour). They are quite healthy full of protein, first of all the credit goes to the ingredients and secondly the method of cooking is steaming and most important of all they are tasty. All of you who make dhoklas must be thinking what's with the name "Multi-legume"......yes, in my house the dhoklas made with 4 lentils are very hit. In fact I never make the ones with besan(chickpea flour), but these ones at least once a week that too double batch, my daughter never gets bored eating this anytime of the day with the side of cilantro chutney.

I'm writing the exact amount of dals(lentil) I use, but the idea is to get one cup of lentils + rice together. The ratio is 1 portion each dal and 1and1/2 portion rice. Even if you use little bit extra of one lentil  and little less of other, really doesn't matter but try to use approximately same size portions, as they give right texture & softness. I use the containers which come with  5 litre Indian pressure cooker to steam dhoklas and these measurements make the perfect portion batter for 2 of those containers which I can steam together in one time.

What u need :

• 3 Tblsp. each dal : chana dal, yellow moong , urad dal, masoor dhuli *(check note for english names)
  
• around 5 Tblsp. brown rice (or sona masoori can be used)
• around 3-4 Tblsp. yogurt/buttermilk/home made dahi
• ginger 1 Tblsp. roughly chopped
• 3-4 green chillies
• 1 tsp.salt
• pinch of turmeric(haldi)
• baking soda 3/4 of tsp.
• handful of fresh cilantro chopped up for garnish

For tadka you need :

• little cooking oil
• 2 tsp. mustard seeds
• few curry leaves (curry patta)
• 5-6 green chillies cut length wise
• little salt around 1/2 tsp. (dhoklas already have some salt)
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 2 tsp. coriander(dhania) powder
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric(haldi)
• 1 tsp. cumin(jeera) powder

What to do :

1. Soak the lentils and rice together overnight or at least 6 hrs. or so.
2. Drain the water and grind soaked lentils+rice, salt, turmeric, ginger, green chillies, yogurt/dahi.
3. Add little water at a time no more than 4-5 tablespoons.
4. Once it's grind pour it into a bowl.
5. Put the pressure cooker onto the gas add around 2 cups of water in it.
6. Grease two containers(for steaming).
7. Add baking soda to the batter and mix it. Pour half of the batter into each container.
8. Once the water in the pressure cooker is boiling, place the containers into the cooker. Close the lid, DO NOT PUT THE WHISTLE.
9. On high gas setting it takes around 11-12 minutes.
10. Once done, take it out let it cool a bit for 5 minutes or so. Just run a knife around the edges to make it little loose and invert it onto the cutting board(just like you would do with the cake).
11. Cut it into small squares.

For Tadka :

1. Heat oil in a BIG non-stick pan (I like to use iron karahi/wok). Alternatively do this part in two batches and divide all the spices into half for each batch.
2. Add green chillies cook them for 30-40 seconds, add mustard seeds and curry leaves.When mustard seeds start to splutter add all the rest of the ingredients from tadka list and saute them for few seconds.
3. Add dhokla pieces. Gently mix them so that each piece get coating of spices.  Turn off the gas. If you are using iron karahi it will make little crust kind on the sides of dhokla pieces which is really very tasty.
4. Garnish it with some chopped cilantro and serve it with chutney/sauce of  your choice.

*Note : English names of the lentils used in this recipe are as follows :

1. Chana dal       : Bengal gram
2. Yellow mung  : Green mung
3. Urad dal        : Black gram (skinned)
4. Masoor dhuli : Red lentils

If  time and weather permits batter can be fermented overnight  and in that case no need to use baking soda.

You can also make these lentil cakes in advance and season them(tadka) when you are ready to eat or keep them ready in the fridge just warm them up whenever you get the craving for it. It's also a healthy option for morning breakfast on the weekdays or after school snack. This healthy protein pack vegan dhoklas are off to :

1)  EC for MLLA - 19th event started by Susan of the well seasoned cook.

2) Srivalli's event Kid's Delight : Wholesome breakfast.

Home Made Rice Crispy Treats

Happy New Year to all of you, may the year 2010 brings happiness everywhere.

First week of the year 2010 is already over, kids are back to school in fact dear daughter is going to have her first snow day(no school) of the year 2010 & I'm still not back to my routine. Winter vacations from the school for kids means getting up late in the morning & sleeping late in the night, which means no time for blogging for mom. I remember as a kid when we use to be home during holidays, my Mom would say she can never keep up with her routine work the days we are home and now I realize what she always meant.

Days when the DD is at home I hardly get to do anything on the Internet, in today's life that's what my daily routine is getting up in the morning......checking mail, reading some blogs, checking some news on the web, google some new recipe for the lunch, again google for help : for any queries which might come to mind.............check the mail............play with kids........oh, did I said check the mail, no...no...no..no.....not the postal mail, that only bring bills but the one which bring happiness : e-mail...........and one last thing before going to bed, yeah U got it by now, check the e-mail. And somewhere in between when ever U get some time cook breakfast, lunch, dinner & have some instant healthy options ready for snacks, play with kids, take care of baby, do the dishes, laundry, clean up, fool around.....blah.....blah.....I guess you got my point. Or in short I had relaxed time with no routines to follow & fun spending time with family.

For the first post of 2010 I decide on a cake but then DD suggested to post these home made rice crispy treats, I liked her suggestion, it's sweet, healthy as it's not only home made but uses gur as sweetener & best of all reminds me of my childhood. Near my parents house, a weekly market takes place on every Thursday. As a kid we use to go there regularly to buy some knick knacks, mom would buy fresh veggies & then we get to eat some tasty street food......moth(sprouted lentils), choole bhature, kari chawal to name few. It was like a weekly outing for us, even now also when I'm there at my mom's place & it's thursday I like to go there, not for any kind of shopping but for the food.......Now coming to today's recipe : Rice crispy treats or as we call it Marundas in Delhi, we use to buy these treats from one of the reri-wala bhaiya there, it's very simple thing but we never made it at home but we use to always look for him so that we can buy some. I don't remember exactly but I guess it use to be available starting the Diwali season, kind of a winter treat.

I don't have exact measurements for this recipe as it was more of eye-balling, and just in case if you don't get exact squares don't worry they will still taste yummy.

Ingredients :

• 1-2 tblsp. of water
• around half a cup of chopped jaggery(gur)
• around 4 cups of dry roasted puffed rice(Plain rice crisps/wheat puffs can be used)
• butter or ghee for greasing
  

Method :

Heat water in a heavy bottom pan add jaggery to it & let it melt, stir it. Once it melts let it cook for few seconds it gonna bubble up a bit, add 3 & 1/2 cup of rice puff & mix everything together so that they get coated with jaggery. If you feel there is still some liquid add some more puffed rice or let it cook for few more seconds. Turn the gas off & spread the mixture onto the greased baking sheet. Once cooled it will be hard, cut it into squares or desired shape. Store it in air-tight container, I kept it for around 5 days & I also used some plain wheat puffs in it. I specially love these as they don't contain any processed sugar & DD loves it because they are simply rice crispy treats. I'm sure many of you must have eaten these may be with different name, so whenever you guys have 5 minutes to spare do try these, it's sweet & healthy, to check more benefits of gur(jaggery) click here.

Last month or I should say last year Malar & Ashkuku passed me this wonderful award, thanks to both of you and at the same time I'm sorry I couldn't post it earlier but what could be better than starting the new year with an award. I would like to pass this award to all my blogger friends, please feel free to pick it up.

Before I end this post here's what we did on snow day off.......we crochet the dress & head scarf for the little dolly. Design by DD, crochet by me :

As I'm finishing this post, another snow day is already announced, so we might be adding few more accessories to miss dolly.

Onion, Tomato & Feta cheese Tart

While I'm writing this post another year is slipping through our hands and the year 2010 has already put it's footprints in many places of the world. Many people have already celebrated the arrival of the year 2010 in other part of the world & slowly it's coming our way & the moment it'll be here..... I know what's gonna be the statement....OMG! it's already 2010 I don't believe, happens every year, when the year is at the end, how we feel that year passed so quickly but when we are going thru some time it feels that it's never gonna end. No resolutions for me, as I have never done that kind of thing in my life, but like always.....'ll try to make better of whatever life brings. On that note I wish everyone in the blog sphere "A Very Happy New Year - Twenty Ten". I've already started calling this year Twenty Ten I kinda like that term.

Now coming on to the recipe, I thought of putting some cupcake/muffins made yesterday but then I thought let's put little bit more fancy stuff & that would also clear one entry from the draft before this year ends. This recipe is inspired from Barefoot Contessa(food network) show, I made it I guess in the beg. of this year, long before I discovered the world of blogging. But it came out so good that I took the picture, yes the pic is from that time only. I did changed the original recipe according to our taste and spices I had on hand. Here's how I made this :

Ingredients :

• 1 sheet ready to bake puff pastry sheet, thawed as per package directions.
• 8 tomato slices
• around half a cup feta cheese
• handful of grated Parmesan
• 2 Tblsp. of chopped cilantro
• 2 medium size red onion, thinly sliced
• spice mix (salt + black pepper +red chilli flakes in equal portions)
• evoo

Method :

1. Using little evoo saute the onions till they become caramelized(brownish in color). Let them cool.
2. Cut the pastry sheet into 4 squares. Now using a sharp paring knife score around 1 inch border on the sides of each square. Only score the border, don't cut through it, you don't want to separate it.
3. Now using a fork pierce the inside square at few places may be 6-7 times, that will restrict the puffing of inside square. Do not peirce the outside square(border).
4. On the inside square spread some caramelized onions, sprinkle spice mix. Sprinkle some feta cheese another sprinkle of spices. Time for 2 slices of tomatoes on each tart followed by some chopped cilantro, spices mix & finally parmesan cheese on top.
5. Bake around 20-22 minutes at 425 degree F oven, until pastry is golden brown( Check your package directions for baking the pastry).

Let it cool little bit before you dig into it. Perfect for snack, weekend breakfast or anytime of the day. Before I say bye to this year I wanted to say thanks to Malar and Ashkuku for passing me an award, I'm really sorry that I'm not able to display it(some problem with picture upload). Hoping to post it with my next post, thanks once again. This is my last post of the year 2009, wish you all safe and happy New Year.

Here it's called Stuffing, Back Home it was called Bread Poha

Before we move to today's recipe....what is this Fruit or Vegetable ???

Now for the recipe, nope it's not using the produce from the above pic, but it's the recipe from our thanksgiving dinner, something so important that you can't think of having a turkey dinner without it....it's stuffing.

It's typically made with bread croutons, some veggies, nuts & dry fruits. You can either fill the big bird with it (which I don't like) or another popular way is you cook it separately and serve it as side dish (it's called dressing when cooked separately). This time when I cooked bread stuffing, it reminded me of bread poha my Mom makes with lots of veggies & nuts, though it's not exactly same but has many similarities. I ate the leftovers for the next day breakfast & loved it.

Ingredients :

• 2 cups bread croutons(check notes for making your own)
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped granny smith apple
• 1/4 cup or more roasted & chopped almonds & walnuts
• 1/4 cup chopped apricots
• 1/4 cup raisins plus dried cranberries
• 2 Tblsp. of unsalted butter (or U can use all evoo instead)
• 2 Tblsp. of evoo(extra virgin olive oil (or you can use all butter instead)
• 1 Tblsp. of evoo for sauteing the vegetables
• 1/2 cup of vegetable stock or water ( I used turkey stock)
• salt as per taste
• black pepper as per taste
• 1 tsp. dried parsley

Method :

1. Heat butter & oil in a big heavy bottom pan. Add bread croutons to it & toss them to get coating of butter. Cook them on a med. heat for about 5-7 minutes, stir them in between. When they start to turn brown, take them out of the pan. If you don't have big pan do it in two batches using 1 spoon of butter & oil each, for each batch of croutons


2. In the same pan heat 1 Tblsp. of evoo & add celery, carrots & apples. Cover and cook them till they get soft, if needed add little stock or water at a time.


3. Once the veggies are soft add croutons, nuts & dry fruits. Also add salt, black pepper and parsley. Mix everything & add 1/2 cup of stock/water. cover & cook for couple of minutes.


4. Turn of the gas. Let it sit for sometime before serving.


5. This can be served as a side dish or can also be eaten as a snack or breakfast by itself. You can also top it with fresh cilantro(instead of parsley) & sprinkle some lemon/lime juice before serving. If you like you can also add other veggies like peas, bell pepper, green beans etc.. My mom makes bread poha version with some tomatoes in it.

Note : to make your own croutons, take 5 slices of 2-3 day old bread, preferably french bread or any hardy bread. I use whatever kind I have at home. This time I used multi grain bread. Cut the slices into 4 stripes & then further cut each strip into 4 pieces. Spread them onto cookie sheet & toast in the oven 350 degree F for roughly 10 min. or so. Shake them in between, once they turn crispy they are done. Remember if croutons are not crispy stuffing will turn mushy.

For Vegan version instead of butter evoo can be used.

This dish is quite healthy as I used multi grain bread to make croutons plus it has lots of veggies, nuts & dry fruits. Specially with all the other flavours going on kids can't figure out that it has multi grain bread in it(so no complaints). I'm sending this to WYF-Speciality event as I cooked it specially for Thanksgiving dinner and I'm also sending it to Yasmeen's HealthNut Challenge-3 : Healing Foods as it contains all the healthy ingredients from carrots to apples & almonds to cranberries. Last but not the least it goes to Radhika & Sudeshna's Food for 7 stages of life : Kids Event.

And yes, before I sign off did you guys guessed what the name of the fruit in above pic is. It's persimmon, known to the ancient Greeks as "fruits of the Gods". Saw it in the local Chinese farmer market, there were two varieties, one was sold in the pack of 6 or 8 that looked more like round tomatoes. The one I got was sold loose, so I got just one to taste, later checked on the wiki it's called "Hachiya". It was too(when I say too I really mean tooooooo) sweet, pulp inside had similar texture like ripe mango pulp but it was too sweet (we, in fact he only ate one bite, ate it just raw) may be I should have made milk shake with it.

Meatballs to the rescue......

Meatballs.....sounds very western, but we grew up eating this thing except that in our part of the world they were known as koftas....or to be more precise meat kofta...the other well known cousin of it was non-veg manchurian....so you basically got the idea what I'm talking about. Meatball is ball of ground meat mixed with different spices, sometime uses binding agent like egg, some sort of veggies like onion etc..

Different people in different countries make them in different ways. I too make them in 3-4 different ways but this is the one which is more popular in my household specially with my DD, so I always have these handy. Yes, I usually makes a big batch, let them cool down & then freeze them, so whenever DD wants something special for lunch in the school(though she wants special every single day but that's another story) or after school snack, meatball comes to the rescue.....in rice pulav,pasta salad or just like that.

Ingredient :

• 1 pound of ground chicken/turkey (i use 80% fat free, as little fat gives it nice softness & flavour)
• 1 pound of ground pork (u can use chicken only if u don't eat pork)
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 1 large carrot grated/shredded finely
• 2 tbsp. ginger garlic paste
• 4 or more green chillies finely chopped(adjust as per your taste)
• half cup of chopped cilantro( or parsley, whatever u like)
• juice of half lime
• 2&1/2 tsp. of salt (for 2 pound of meat)
• 1 tsp/ paprika
• 2 tsp. cumin(jeera) powder
• 2 tsp. coriander(dhania) powder
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. turmeric (haldi)
• 1 tsp. garam masala
• little oil

Method :

1) Saute the onions little bit so that they don't have raw onion smell(it helps in keeping the meat mixture soft).

2) Take a big bowl mix everything in the ingredient list including onions. Mix them using your hands. Cover it & let it sit in the fridge for at least 4-5 hours, I usually do this step in the night & keep the mixture overnight in the fridge.

3) Take the mixture out at least half an hour before you plan to make meatballs.

4) There are different ways to cook them, baking is one of them which I prefer to do. Grease 2 baking sheets using 1tblsp. of oil per sheet, pre-heat oven at 400 degree F. Grease your hand little bit, using a spoon scoop the mixture out & roll them into ball using your hands & put them into the baking sheet. Balls are roughly 1 & 1/2 inch in diameter. Once all the balls are done gently shake the tray so that balls kind of roll in it so that they get coating of oil on it(or otherwise u can use cooking spray).

5) Put them in the centre rack of the oven for 20-25 minutes or till they r done & golden brown in color. Once in the middle of baking take the tray out & shake it so that balls move little bit & rotate the tray position while putting it back.

6) To check for doneness cut a meatball into half, it should be no longer pink from inside.

Note : depending upon the size of meatball, kind of mixture & oven temp. baking time varies. If you want you can use meat thermometer also but i don't have one. When they are fresh they can be eaten just like that as finger food or if you plan to freeze them for later use, you can simply put them in the sauce/gravy while it's still cooking & let them defrost in the sauce itself, that way they won't dry up.

You can always use fat-free meat to make it totally healthy......as the fat if any, in this dish, is coming only from the meat.

Cheesy Spinach Rolls

Ah! my favourite, I can eat these anytime of the day. These are easy to make also, as we are using ready to bake phyllo sheets. In fact base recipe for this is from the pepperidge form ready-to-bake puff-pastry sheet box. Here's my twist on it.

Ingredient:

• 1 ready-to-bake puff pastry sheet(each pack has two) thawed acc. to package direction
• 1 box frozen spinach thawed
• 1 small onion chopped finely
• 2-3 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 spoon oil
• salt as per taste
• black pepper as per taste
• 2 green chillis finely chopped(optional)
• 1/2 to 1 cup of cheese of your choice(I used mixture of mozzarella & cheddar)

Method :

1) Thaw the pastry sheet, in the meanwhile heat oil in a pan & saute garlic & onion till they turn little soft add thawed spinach (first squeeze extra water out of it). Add salt, pepper & chillies mix everything together. Cook for a minute or two, turn of the gas. Let the mixture get cool.

2) Open the thawed pastry sheet on parchment paper(makes it little easy to shift). Leaving approximately half inch margin on all sides. Spread the spinach mixture on it then spread cheese.

3) Now make a roll as tight as you can(like a log), but taking care that pastry sheet doesn't break.

4) Press the ends & turn the seam side down. Cut the log into approximately 8-10 small rolls. Place flat on the greased cookie sheet.

5) Bake at 400 degree F oven for around 15 min.( check the pastry sheet pack for directions).

6) Enjoy them.