...and a little bit more...

Kurma Pasta

2011-11-10T17:25:00.002-08:00

This recipe works for me on so many different levels... I am not too fond of a tomato-based sauce with my pasta, and this is a great way to use over my leftover kurma from the previous day.
Even though I had entertained the thought of marrying the Indian kurma/korma and the Italian pasta, my aunt's "Kurta" (Pasta+Kurma, my cousins put that term together, so smart I think!) was what inspired me to eventually try this. She had used a combination of kurma and marinara sauce for her pasta if I am right. I decided to omit the marinara, and added some ricotta cheese for a creamier texture and give it some body.
You can use the very same kurma that you make at your house, whatever different blend of spices and vegetables that you throw in normally will work. Even some leftover kurma from the dinner you had from your neighborhood Indian restaurant the previous night will be perfect. But make sure the kurma that you add is something that you will enjoy eating in the first place. There is no point in adding something that does not taste good. It might eventually spoil the entire pasta dish.

Baking and serving it in individual ramekins makes for a pretty presentation and this way everyone gets a fair share of that lovely crust we put on top.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pasta (any shape) - 1 lb box
Leftover vegetable Kurma - 3 cups
Ricotta cheese - 1 cup
Plain bread crumbs - 1 cup
Parmesan cheese - 2 tbsp grated
Mozzarella cheese - 1 cup
Salt - To taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

Preheat oven to 425F.

Cook pasta in a quart of boiling water. Remove before it is fully cooked. It will continue to cook in the oven with the kurma, so try not to over cook them at this step.
Drain the pasta, and now add oil, ricotta cheese and mix well. Then add the kurma and salt if necessary (if you haven't already salted the pasta water)
Spoon the pasta mixture into small ramekins. Spread a little of the mozzarella cheese a little on each cup. Sprinkle the bread crumbs mixed with the Parmesan cheese on the top.
Drizzle a little olive oil at the end.
Now place the ramekins in an oven-safe tray and bake till the top is brown and bubbly.

Let it cool down a little bit and enjoy.

Baked Gulab Jamun

2011-08-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Yes! You heard it right! They are baked... these beauties are not fried, not this time around... :)
This recipe is dedicated to my cousin H. I promised her one for her bridal shower and never got around giving it to her. I wanted to make something healthful, an Indian dessert and one that I could create just for her. I have tried this recipe a couple of times once from a ready made mix and another time from scratch. Both have turned out very well. So here is the recipe for you my dear H...

Note: The jamun balls once placed in the oven needs your utmost care and patience. This recipe switches between baking and broiling in your oven. When you turn the broil mode on, you cannot take your eyes off the oven. It takes just seconds to burn them, so giving you all a heads up.

Baked Gulab Jamun

For the Jamun:
Khova powder/Mava powder - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Ghee/Clarified butter - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom - 1/4 tsp
Skim Milk - 2 tbsp (just enough to make a stiff dough)

For the Sugar Syrup:
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/4 cup
Corn Syrup - 2 tbsp
Rose essence - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Preheat oven to 375F.

For the sugar syrup, Place a pot on medium heat, add sugar, water and corn syrup and let it boil till it reaches a syrupy consistency. The corn syrup prevents the sugar from crystallizing. You can omit this if you are familiar with making this kind of syrup. Switch off the flame and add the cardamom and rose essence. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients listed under "Jamun" and knead well to make a stiff dough. Make small balls and place on a greased baking sheet. Place the tray in a pre-heated 375F oven. Bake the jamun balls till they are very lightly brown on the bottom. Just around that time, switch the oven to broil mode and let the jamuns get golden brown on the top. Make sure to keep a constant look on the tray, as the broil mode in an oven typically reaches 500F, and will burn the jamuns in no time. This should take about 2 minutes or less.
Once the jamuns are brown on both sides as shown in the picture, take them out and plop them into the sugar syrup and let it soak. You may make more sugar syrup if you like, the recipe that I have given makes just enough to soak the jamuns. It was my way of not adding too much sugar into the recipe.
Allow to cool completely and enjoy.

Corn and Black beans salsa with Baked Corn Chips

2011-07-16T21:05:00.007-07:00

Some dishes though simple are capable of making a meal by itself. This dish belongs to one of those categories. I know it sounds more like an appetizer, but with the chips being baked, it may not be all that bad to indulge in a few more. And it is pretty filling as well with the beans and corn. The salsa is pretty chunky and that is how we like it. The texture contrast makes for one amazing party in your mouth.

Corn and Black beans salsa with Baked Corn Chips

Ingredients

For the Salsa:
Frozen cut yellow corn - 1/2 cup thawed completely in a microwave
Black beans - 1 can washed thoroughly under cold water
Tomato - 1 medium chopped
To blend:
Tomato - 1 large
Serrano chilly - 1
Onion - 1
Garlic - 2-3 cloves
Cilantro - A handful
Salt

For the corn chips:
Yellow corn tortilla
Oil
Salt and Pepper

Method:

Chips:
Preheat oven to 400F.
Stack the tortilla one on top of the other and keep drizzling a tiny bit of oil in between each layer.
Cut it into four or more wedges depending on the size of the tortilla and lay it on a baking tray without touching each other. They should be apart for the chips to crisp up. Bake for about 5-8 min or till the edges start to brown. Immediately remove and sprinkle salt and pepper. Cool before eating.

Salsa:
Quarter the onion and lay it on a pan without oil. When they start to brown or blacken (yes, it is okay for the onions to become black where it touches the pan, it adds a smoky flavor), then add the Serrano chilly and garlic. When they start to brown up, add all of it to a blender with the tomato and cilantro. Blend it smooth.
In a bowl, add the beans, thawed corn, salt and the blended mixture.
You may add more cilantro for garnish.

Chocolate and Walnut Loaf

2011-02-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

For all practical purposes this is a cake. Except that it is made in a loaf pan to give an appearance of a loaf of bread. We love this here at home, made it plenty of times and just can't seem to get enough of it.
The chocolate on top adds to the decadence and the sensual aspect of this loaf, you could totally omit this if you watching what you eat.
Adding oil instead of butter yields a very moist cake, whereas you can't beat the buttery taste when you add the latter. I don't care that much for the buttery goodness, so I add any neutral tasting oil to it.
Ahem, I could write more... but really, if you will excuse me, I need to get back to eating my slice... :)
Happy viewing!

Chocolate and Walnut Loaf

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pastry flour - 2 cups
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Egg - 1
Skim milk - 3/4 cup
Vegetable Oil/Butter - 1/3 cup
Vanilla - 1 tsp
Semi sweet chocolate chips - 6 oz.
Chopped walnut - 1/2 cup
Melted chocolate - To drizzle on top

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream together butter and sugar together using a hand/stand mixer. Add egg and vanilla and beat well.
Sift together baking soda, powder and flour.
Add the flour mixture and milk alternating between the both till everything is combined.
Fold in the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips.

Transfer the mixture onto a greased loaf pan and bake at 350F for about 45-55 min.

Check if the loaf is done using a toothpick. Insert it into the middle. It should come out clean.

Let it cool on a wire rack and then drizzle melted chocolate on top. The top of the loaf will be cracked a little bit. It is normal.

Baked Idli (Rice cake) Manchurian

2011-02-15T22:07:00.002-08:00

Me missing from the blogging scene is not even a surprise now! I love cooking and blogging, but other things take priority every now and then like it rightfully should, so this time I am not even going to the why and what of my absence. But I am happy to blog at the moment and I will relish this till I am done with this post.
Idli Manchurian is not something I ate a lot or was familiar with when I was back home. I probably have had it a couple of times, not because I did not like it but because it was way too greasy and unhealthy. It is made by frying the Idli pieces that were dipped in batter and then stir fried with vegetables and sauces. Sounds yummy right? I know!
For my version, I baked them (vs. frying) and tossed it with a bunch of crunchy vegetables and tomato sauce and called it a day! It tasted good and knowing that I am eating something good made me a very happy camper right there in my kitchen.

Baked Idli (Rice cakes) Manchurian

Ingredients:

Steamed Idli (Rice cakes) - 6-8 cut into cubes
Carrot - 1 cup shredded
Green pepper - 1 cup shredded
Cabbage - 2 cups shredded
Ginger - 2 tsp chopped
Garlic - 3 tsp chopped
Mint leaves - 1 cup chopped
Curry leaves - About 6 leaves chopped
Spring Onion - 1 cup chopped lenghtwise
Salt - To taste
Soy sauce - 2 tbsp
Tomato ketchup/sauce - 2 tbsp
Corn flour - 1 cup (Chick pea flour/besan flour should also work)
Rice flour - 2 tbsp
Chilly powder - Depending on your heat level
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)
Black pepper -1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp + 2 tbsp

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Mix the corn flour, rice flour, salt, 2 tbsp oil, chilly powder (about 1/2 tsp), turmeric powder with a little water to make into a paste.

Add the idli pieces and mix well. The batter should be just enough to coat the pieces.

Spread it evenly on a greased baking sheet and bake until lightly brown and the coating of batter is baked. Check after 15 minutes of placing the tray in the oven.

Meanwhile in a large wok, add the oil, when hot add the curry leaves, ginger, garlic, pepper. Then add the veggies and stir fry with some salt. Add the mint and spring onions, soy sauce and tomato sauce at last. Now, add the baked idli pieces and mix well till it absorbs all the sauce and flavors from the veggies and herbs.
Serve hot.

Baked Edamame Fritters - Secret to a perfect no-fry Vadai

2010-08-25T08:50:00.002-07:00

Vadai/Indian fritters is by far one of the most loved snacks down South of India. A rare cold afternoon with rain thrashing down on the roof calls for a hot cup of chai and its most beloved companion - Masala Vadai.
The aroma of the vadais wafting from the gloomy kitchen with Amma frying them up ever so elegantly with me wrapped up in my blanket standing beside her is a memory that I cherish and yearn for even now.
My daughter would probably have memories of her mom pulling out a tray of healthy vadais right from the oven as opposed to frying them up!
I have already tried my hands on baked masala vadais, and they came out beautifully. It uses a different procedure.
Baking is not the same as frying them, agreed... but pretty close with the new method I have come up with. And without all those calories, do I hear anyone complaining?
Okay, here is the secret: "broiling"
Baking the vadais for about 10-15 minutes, and then putting the oven on broil mode for 2-4 minutes and getting that beautiful crispy crust on the top is as close you will ever get to frying them.

So the concept is, the fritters cook from below when you "bake" them, and then from above when you "broil" them. The coil heats up from the respective sides when you use the bake and broil mode.
And voila! You have the best crispy healthy vadais you will ever have!

Note: Do not move away from the oven when it is on "broil" mode. Temperatures reach up to 500F- 525F and will burn whatever is in the oven in no time.

Baked Edamame Fritters - Secret to a perfect no-fry Vadai

Ingredients:

Edamame - 1 lb bag
Channa Dal/Dried split chickpeas - 1 cup
Cabbage - 1/2 cup chopped
Green chillies - 3 tbsp chopped
Red onions - 1 large chopped
Ginger - 2 tsp chopped
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - A pinch
Chilly powder - 1 tsp (adjust heat according to your taste)
Curry leaves - 3 tbsp torn into pieces
Salt - To taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

Soak the channa dal/lentils in water for about two hours.
Cook Edamame until it is al dente. Do not overcook, it shouldn't be mushy.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Grind the channa dal/lentil and edamame until coarse. Do not make a smooth paste out of it.
In a large mixing bowl, add the ground up lentil and edamame. Add all other ingredients and mix well.

Take a large baking tray, line with aluminum foil and give a good shot of non-stick spray.
Take small balls of the mixture, flatten it in your palm and line them out on the baking tray like shown below.

Bake at 400F till the bottom is golden brown (about 15-20 min).

Then put your oven in broil mode and let the fritters sit for another 2-4 minutes in the oven, till you get a golden color on the top as well.
Keep a constant eye when your oven is on "Broil" mode. It will burn whatever is in your oven in a jiffy!

Take it out when it is done and enjoy warm with some chutney.

Baklava Cigars

2010-08-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I love Baklava is because it is loaded with nuts, has my favorite rose syrup all over it and uses the delicate phyllo dough!
Working with Phyllo sheets are tricky. You need to thaw them out to the right temperature so they are not too dry from the cold that they break or they are too thawed out that they stick together. One good tip is to use a damp kitchen cloth and keep the sheets covered until you are ready to work with them. Keep them covered even if it is only for a couple of seconds. That way they will stay soft and easy to work with.
It is not a pretty sight to have brittle phyllo dough all over your kitchen counter. Been there, done that!
Psst... I have even thrown the tiny broken pieces of the phyllo burying them along with the filling and rolled it all up in the hope that no one would ever find out! :)

This quick and individual portions of baklava are perfect for parties and for dunking in some sinful rich silky chocolate sauce, or caramel, or oh! oh! how about some dulce de leche?
Okay, allright! Let me stop right there because we did neither... no party, or dunking nothing in anything. We just enjoyed it way the simple way. The little sugar syrup on top was the right amount of sweetness especially if you are watching what you are eating. There is no need to let them soak in syrup like the regular Baklava. Sorry about being a little devil tempting you right there with the dunking part. Er.. remember?... We try to cook healthy here.

Baklava Cigars

Ingredients:

Phyllo sheets - 2 sheets for each cigar (buy a box, and use as many as you need)
Melted butter - 3 tbsp
Rose essence - 1/2 tsp
Dates - 1/2 cup
Roasted almonds - 1/2 cup
Roasted walnuts - 1/2 cup
Toasted Hazelnuts - 1/2 cup
Roasted Sunflower seeds - 1/4 cup
Raisins - 1/2 cup
Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup (optional)
Powdered sugar - 1/4 cup
Water - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Take out phyllo sheets from the freezer, open and cover with a damp cloth and set aside.
In a food processor pulse the nuts and seeds till they are coarse bits. Transfer onto a clean dry bowl.
Then blend the raisins and dates (chop them roughly before you put them into the food processor). Add the nuts, chocolate chips. Pulse only till combined. The whole mixture should still be coarse. You should be able to pinch out a lemon sized ball and roll it without sticking. It can definitely be on the drier side too. If it is powdery, that is okay too.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Now slowly separate out one phyllo sheet, and place on a working surface. Brush ever so slightly with melted butter and place another sheet over it and brush again with butter. Now place the filling in one corner of the sheet. Filling should be about 3" long and 1" thick.

Roll the sheet like you would a burrito. Seal the edges with a drop of melted butter.

Roll all the cigars the same way until you have exhausted all the filling. Brush all the cigars with a light touch of melted butter.

Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake till the cigars are golden brown in color.

Allow to cool completely. Meanwhile mix the powdered sugar and rose essence with a 1/2 tsp of water and pour over the cooled baklava cigars. This way it is not soaking wet in sugar syrup.

Enjoy when the sugar has slightly set. Tastes even better the next day!

Happy baking! :)

Eggless Chocolate chip Walnut cookies - Happy Birthday Amma

2010-08-09T22:02:00.002-07:00

I am guilty of not being the first person to wish Amma today. I wish I had. I know she does not expect anything from anyone, and she probably does not even care for such days.
And she is not going to be too thrilled for announcing this day on my blog :)
I know, and yet it makes me smile.
This cookie I baked today is just for her. She only has one criteria when it comes to eating what I make... it has to be completely vegetarian. No eggs, no fancy ingredients, just keeping it plain and simple. Just finished baking these, and let out a sigh of relief when she said she liked it.
Thank you for letting me make these for you today. You deserve much more than just cookies.
Happy Birthday Amma.

Chocolate chip cookies are one of the most comforting cookies that you could ever find. Making it eggless was a little challenging for I was afraid how it was going to affect the texture of the cookies. I have used flax as a substitute for egg in my breads and they have turned out nicely. So took that hint and ran with it this time. I avoided using any hearty flour like whole wheat or oat flour since I was already experimenting sans eggs.
I could not have hoped for a better tasting cookie. Loved the texture (which is crisp) and the no-fuss recipe... goes down in my book as a success.

Eggless Chocolate chip Walnut cookies

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 3/4 cup
Unsalted Butter - 1 stick
Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup (I added a little less, probably close to 1/3 cup)
White Sugar - 1/2 cup (Again I added a little closer to 1/3 cup)
Pure vanilla extract - 1 tbsp
Baking soda -1/2 tsp
Flax meal - 2 tsp (mixed with enough warm water to form a paste)
Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup
Walnuts - 1/2 cup

Method:

Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy using a hand mixer.
Add the flax meal paste, vanilla and baking soda and beat well.
Add the flour in three parts, mixing well after each addition.
After all the ingredients are well combined, add the chocolate chips and walnuts and mix with a wooden spoon.

The dough will be pretty thick, roll it into balls and flatten them out evenly. They spread slightly, so leave 2" between them before baking.

Bake at 350F for about 12-15 min or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy with a tall glass of milk.

Yields: 20-24 medium size cookies

Potato Caraway Whole Wheat Bread

2010-08-02T20:54:00.014-07:00

I happen to love rye bread for its aroma and slightly pungent taste. Caraway seeds are usually added to Rye breads which gives this very unique taste. Caraway is related to the fennel/cumin variety and that type of flavor is not unknown to Indian cuisine. So when I was trying to come up with a recipe that used these seeds into an easy simple bread, I just couldn't wait to get baking.
The potato gives this bread a nice softness on the inside. The crust is just beautiful and thin, and this is by far the best flavor I have had in a bread. It would blend beautifully into a panini or a simple grilled sandwich.

I finally got a well aerated bread. Here is a macro shot to prove what good hydration can do to your bread. Spraying the insides of the oven with water and placing a small bowl of water in the oven while the bread is baking are all methods which also help with hydration.

Bread baking by far is the most fulfilling experience in the kitchen.

Potato Caraway Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour - 3 cups
Whole wheat pastry flour - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Vital gluten - 2 tbsp
Salt - To taste
Bakers yeast - 3 tsp
Warm water - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Mashed boiled potato - 1 large
Caraway seeds - 2 tsp
Olive oil - 3 tbsp

Method:

Combine all the three flours, salt and vital gluten and set it aside.
In another large bowl, take the warm water and add the sugar. To this sprinkle the yeast and let it bloom for about 10 minutes. It should start to foam up.
To this add the dry ingredients, mashed potato, caraway seeds and olive oil. Add water as needed to form into a soft dough.
Knead the dough for about 10-15 minutes by hand, lesser if you are using a kneader attachment on your stand mixer.

The dough will be pretty sticky. Do not add more flour, the dough should be very soft and supple.
Grease a large bowl with oil, and toss the dough around allowing it to coat well in oil. Cover and set in a warm place to rise and double in size. It should take about 2 hours.

After the first rise has taken place, punch down the dough (it will be sticky and kneading again is kind of tricky, so skip handling the dough too much.)
I just shaped mine into a round, and let it rise for another hour or so. If you'd like, use two loaf pans and divided the dough equally and let it rise again.

Bake at 375F for about 60 min or the bread manages to give a hollow sound when tapped at the bottom.

Allow to rest, and slice.

Beetroot Chocolate Cake with Rose scented Apricot Glaze

2010-06-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

I enjoy watching people cook, there is something more intriguing about actually seeing someone cook either in person or on television, than actually reading a cookbook. The only kind of books I have or read are novels (plenty of them.)
I do not own a cookbook, and I have an attention span of probably five minutes when I scan through one. I probably stop to ogle at those luscious pictures (especially desserts)
You can imagine what goes through my mind when some well intentioned friend tells me that I should write a cookbook! The irony of it. A person who does not own a cookbook, actually writing one!

This recipe is not from a cookbook, neither is it from a cooking show. This dish was born on a lazy Saturday afternoon. No fancy story to it, we were craving for some dessert after a nice lunch, decided to make something, anything with beets in it. Threw a bunch of stuff that I thought would meld together nicely and lo and behold my beetroot chocolate cake was born.

It has some sugar and butter use in relatively minimal quantities, but there is also whole wheat, beetroot, applesauce, and oats to make it into something that you can enjoy and yet not feel super guilty about it.
The glaze just rounded up everything beautifully. The Oat crust is completely optional. You could make the cake without it as well.
Verdict: It tasted just perfect. There is nothing I would ever change considering the whole cake lasted only that weekend. It was gone, far away to our very happy tummies.

Oats crusted Beetroot Chocolate Cake with Rose scented Apricot Glaze

Ingredients:

For the Oat crust:

Old fashioned oats - 1 cup
Light brown sugar - 4 tbsp
Milk powder - 1/2 cup
Melted butter - 3 tbsp

For the Beetroot Chocolate cake:

Whole wheat pastry flour - 3/4 cup
Finely grated raw beetroot - 3/4 cup
Original applesauce - 4 oz.
Room temperature butter - 5 tbsp
Light brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1/2 tbsp
Large eggs - 3
Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

For the Glaze:

Apricot preserves - 4 tbsp
Rose essence - 3 drops

Method:

Combine all the ingredients for the oat crust and press it down onto a single even layer on a 8" greased springform cake pan.

Sift together flour, cocoa, and baking powder and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar using a hand mixer.

Add the eggs and continue mixing for another 3-4 minutes until the eggs turn pale yellow in color.

Then add the applesauce, vanilla and beetroot and continue mixing. It will get a little messy, so do remember to keep the mixer on low speed.

Then add the sifted ingredients slowly into the wet batter.

Pour the batter into the cake pan already layered with the oats.

Bake at 375F till a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Probably after 25 min.

Allow the cake to cool completely before adding the glaze.

For the glaze, mix the apricot glaze and the rose essence and spoon just before serving.

Almond and Yogurt Flatbread cookies

2010-06-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

Last few weeks have been pretty eventful. I hardly have had time to think about cooking or blogging, I wouldn't complain or trade these days for anything else. It is all good!
So, today we have a flatbread cookie made with some yogurt, whole wheat and my favorite thing to include in cookies - Almonds. My love for the taste and texture of cookies with almonds has exponentially grown ever since I made Eggless Almond and Oats Cookie. It was/is a huge huge hit, and I now continue to make it for my friends and family. I haven't gotten a negative feedback till date. One cookie that I will never stop making!

This flatbread cookie is nothing like I have ever made so far. I saw a recipe in a book which I remembered and tried to make something similar. It does not have a very strong sweet or savory taste to it, which makes it ideal for pairing with a sweet fruit preserve or maybe head along the path of some salty garlicky butter.
Considering the addict I am for anything sweet, I spread some raspberry preserves and devoured them without a second thought. Even if you are not someone who bakes cookies at home, with a few simple ingredients this is one recipe where you can't really go wrong.
One wouldn't think Almonds and yogurt are something you put into a cookie dough together. It may sound odd but it would convert you the very minute you take a bite!

Almond and Yogurt Flatbread cookies

Ingredients:

Almond Meal - 1/3 cup
Plain Yogurt - 1/3 cup (I used low fat)
Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Whole wheat pastry flour - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp

Method:

Mix room temperature butter and yogurt well.

Sift flour, salt and baking soda and add to the yogurt mixture. Add almond meal and knead for about 10-15 min.
Let it rest for 5 minutes. Then, roll it out into a thin sheet using a rolling pin, say about 1/4" thickness.
Cut into squares and lay it on a greased cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 400F for about 7-8 min or until lightly golden.

It will firm up a little on cooling. Serve with your choice of butter or jam.
Never tried peanut butter on it... hmmm.

Creamy Whole Wheat Orzo Pudding

2010-05-17T08:09:00.002-07:00

Orzo is the most cutest shaped pasta ever in my eyes. They look like rice but only they are pasta. The regular Orzo would typically look white as they are made with Durum wheat/semolina, but these that were used in my pudding are whole wheat and hence they have this brownish hue to them.

I was so thrilled to find the w.w. ones, just because I had not seen them until then or see them being used in any of the recipes I came across.
So very excited, came home, made a beautiful Orzo pasta salad with my favorite vegetables, cranberries and plenty of sunflower seeds and the rest went into making this pudding.

I love Rice pudding, especially the Indian kind. It is called Payasam or Kheer and is very similar to that of its American counterpart. Except there is no eggs in payasam.
My mom to this date makes the best payasam. I don't know what it is that she does, but turns out just right every single time. Rich, creamy... with nice crunchy cashew nuts and fat raisins that cannot get any fatter from drinking all that milk that it soaks up. I could keep on dreaming about it. My, she works such magic with desserts!
So in short, that is where my Orzo pudding inspiration comes from. You could always substitute regular Orzo if you are not a fan of the w.w. kind.
Do keep an eye out for the tempering process (I have detailed it in the recipe below.)
It is a little tricky if you add too much hot liquid into the cold eggs. Gradually heating the mixture is key, just like any other pudding.
Just a small note before we head on to the recipe... this pudding does tends to thicken as it cools.

Creamy Whole Wheat Orzo Pudding

Ingredients:

Skim milk - 2 1/2 cups
Whole wheat Orzo - 2 1/2 cups
Fat free evaporated milk - Half a can (or) 6 oz.
Brown sugar - 1/3 cup (More or less according to taste)
Organic Blue Agave - 4 tbsp (I like the taste of Agave, if you do not have it ready, you can add more of the sugar)
Egg - 1
Baking soda - A pinch
Nutmeg - 1/4 tsp grated fresh
Cinnamon - 1/4 tsp
Pure Vanilla essence - 1 tbsp
Almonds - 1/4 cup chopped/slivered
Raisins - 1/4 cup

Method:

Beat together brown sugar, agave and egg in a bowl.

Combine skim milk and evaporated milk in a non-stick pan and bring it to a boil. Add orzo and let it cook till it is closer to al dente. Do not overcook since it will continue to cook during the process. Keep stirring every now and then to avoid sticking to the bottom.

Pour a little (maybe a ladle) of the milk mixture to the egg and sugar mixture and mix well. Add a two more ladles, one at a time and gradually mix it. Then add the entire mixture back to the pot and let it simmer with a pinch of baking soda.
Very slowly heating up the egg mixture is called tempering.
If you add it all at once to the hot pot of milk, the eggs will curdle and you will get scrambled eggs. And it is totally not pretty!

Add the nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla essence and stir well. Also add almond and raisins at this step.

The mixture will thicken as it is cooling. The pasta tends to drink up a good amount of milk.

I like mine thoroughly chilled. It tastes best that way.

Nutty Stollen Wreath Bread (Whole wheat)

2010-04-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

Stollen is usually a holiday bread made with dried fruits and nuts and citrus peel.
When I say "usually" you might have gotten the drift. Yes, my recipe here is not the traditional one, neither is it holiday time, nor is it sweet.
I know someone in the far corner of this world is probably shaking their head, going... why does this woman have to twist up every single traditional recipe that ever existed!
Sorry, can't help it!

I do like the sweet kind, but once in a while I do like them savory especially when I load them with nuts like this one. Oh, those delightful little mixed nuts that come in a jar! What is your favorite kind of nut in the medley? Mine is hazelnuts. Why, oh why do they put so few of them in there?
But that said, not many can keep their hands off of the salty golden brown cashews in them.
Ahem... the cashews in the jar keep disappearing magically and ever so slowly in our household! Just when there are just a few broken lone peanuts left, the vanishing act stops. If that person is reading this, then I think its time to own up!

So, for this recipe I also used some roasted sunflower seeds (I always have a few of those and pumpkin seeds on hand.) Like I have mentioned in the past... Always keep nuts in the freezer (especially if you have a large quantity), this prevents the natural oils in them from turning rancid quickly. They stay fresh longer, and if you are worried that they might turn hard, not to worry...they do not freeze.

Nutty Stollen Wreath Bread (Whole wheat)

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pastry flour - 3 1/4 cup
All purpose flour - 3/4 cup
Vital Gluten - 1 tbsp
Sea Salt - To taste
Baker's yeast - 2 tsp
Warm water - 1/4 cup (to activate yeast, more for making the bread dough)
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Roasted sunflower seeds - 1/4 cup
Salted mixed nuts - 1/3 cup (Peanuts, Cashews, Filberts, Pecans, Hazelnuts, Walnuts, Brazil nuts)
Coarse chop them if they are too large.
Egg wash - For brushing on top (One whole egg, mixed with a teaspoon of water) You will not need the entire egg.

Method:

Mix warm water, yeast and sugar and let it sit for about 10 min. The water should not be too hot or too cold. The former kills the yeast and the latter fails to activate the yeast. Yes, it is a little tricky if you are a first timer.

After the yeast starts to bloom, add the flour, vital gluten salt and form a dough by adding more water. Just enough to form a soft loose dough.

Knead for about 15 minutes by hand or use a dough hook attachment and knead till it is soft and supple.

Oil a large bowl, and let the dough sit in it covered for about a couple of hours. This is the first rise.

After it has doubled in size, add the nuts and knead just enough to distribute the nuts evenly.

Time to pre-heat the oven to 375F.

Using a rolling pin, roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness and slightly elongated as shown in picture.

Roll the dough (just like you would roll the cake for a jelly roll)

Seal both edges by inserting one into another and making into a round wreath shape. The seam will be visible.

Let it sit for about 10 minutes on a baking tray that you are going to use to bake. This is the second rise.

Then, using a pair of scissors cut the wreath partially (not entirely) into sections. The round shape should still be intact.

Brush lightly with a egg wash if desired.

Bake at 375F for about 45-50 min till golden brown, and it should sound hollow when tapped.

Let it rest for 10 minutes. Serve with warm butter/spread. I like mine with a little dollop of jalapeno jam.

Instant Oats Idli (Savory steamed cakes) with wheat bran

2010-04-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

I like oats, especially in this cookie form. But I am not a big fan of eating it with milk and getting it all squishy and slimy early in the morning.
I found a way to incorporate them into breakfast crepes and started making Oats dosai.
So eventually I started making Idlis with Oats as well. I somehow never got that right, maybe because I used oats in its raw form without dry roasting or whatever, and ended up with squishy idlis every time. I could not resist trying out Usha's recipe for Oats idli, I really did not think it would work, but it did! I have a few more of my recipes up for posting, but I simply had to schedule this one first... this is so good.
It is soft, spongy and totally scrumptious. I have made it twice already and this is probably the only kind of idlis I am going to be eating for a while.
I added some wheat bran to give it more airiness and make it fluffier. It worked! If you don't have it, you can totally skip it.
If you are a breakfast person like me who
-likes to eat healthy
- is tired of eating rice-based breakfast dishes
-doesn't want to go anywhere near milk and bland oats put into a bowl and eating it for the sake of eating it
-have no time to get any kind of cooking done in the morning
...then this is the recipe for you.
The idli mix can be made well ahead of time, and used whenever you need it. So you are not scrambling in the morning to get everything together.

Only caveat is... if you are not into full fledged Indian cooking, then chances are you might not have the hardware, which is the idli maker. If you have one, print out the recipe and get going!

Instant Oats Idli (Savory steamed cakes) with wheat bran

Ingredients:

Old fashioned Oats - 3 cups
Semolina flour - 1 1/2
Wheat bran - 1/2 cup
Fat free plain yogurt - 4 1/2 cups
Curry leaves - 7-8 leaves
Cilantro - 2 tbsp chopped
Broken Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp
Urad Dal - 1 tbsp
Channa dal - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1 tsp finely chopped
Dry red chillues/Fresh green chillies - 1 tbsp finely chopped
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Salt - To taste

Method:

Roast the old fashioned oats without oil in a pan for about 5 min on medium heat. It does tend to burn quickly if left unattended.
Cool completely and in a blender using the "pulse" mode grind it into a coarse powder and set aside.

Re-heat the same pan, add oil and when it is hot, add mustard seeds. Let it splutter.
Add urad dal, channa dal, ginger, chillies, curry leaves and cashews and roast well.

Now add the semolina on top of this and roast till it changes slightly in color (say a very light brown). Add salt and keep mixing.

Allow that to cool and transfer into a mixing bowl. Add oats powder and wheat bran.

This may be stored in an air tight container for later use. If you are using it the very same day, then add the yogurt and mix well. Add water if need be to loosen the batter a little bit. I had to do that.

Just before pouring them into idli mould, add the baking soda and mix thoroughly. Ladle the batter a little more than halfway and steam in a cooker or use a microwave idli maker.

Allow to rest for 5 minutes after steaming. Scoop out, and serve hot with chutney or chilly powder (molagai podi)

Yields 24-26 medium sized idlis.

Zebra stripe cake

2010-04-12T15:19:00.000-07:00

A cake could look stunning by the way you decorate it, but this is the first time I have seen a cake look beautiful from the inside. There are multiple versions of zebra cake on the net, I chose to go with Farida's recipe, and it turned out beautifully.
I initially tried making it with whole wheat pastry flour and the stripes totally did not stand out. Though I am not a fan of a.p. flour, I had to stick with the recipe one more time. I did use skim milk (I know that only does not constitute healthy eating), but this is one indulgence that compensates with its beauty. I might try dividing the recipe in half and use whole wheat pastry flour for the chocolate part of the batter next time. It is a lot of work, but I am curious to see if that would work. Or maybe a different kind of flour...
I added vanilla essence only to the chocolate batter since it dulls the white if added to the entire mixture.
I used Dutch-processed cocoa and unsweetened cocoa powder on two different occasions. The unsweetened cocoa gave a very light color to the chocolate stripes. I would definitely go with the Dutch kind. The black and white contrast is very prominent, just the way it should be.
After baking my cake cracked on the surface a little bit, but was not structurally damaging or anything. If yours breaks on the top, do no panic. All is beautiful inside!

This is probably one of the most elaborate posts I have done so far. So, here we go!

Zebra stripe cake

Ingredients:

Dry:
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Dutch-processed Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
Baking powder - 1 tbsp

Wet:
Canola/Vegetable oil - 1 cup
Large eggs - 3
Sugar - 1 cup (Sugar is considered a wet ingredient, don't ask me why)
Skim Milk - 1 cup
Pure vanilla essence - 1 tbsp

Method:

Sift the all purpose flour and baking powder together and set aside. This is to aerate the flour.

In a mixing bowl, using a hand mixer combine oil, eggs, sugar, milk for about two minutes till creamy. Do not add vanilla essence.

Divide the mixture into two equal halves and to one half mix the cocoa powder and vanilla essence and mix using a hand mixer. Do not add vanilla essence to the white half of the mixture.

Grease a 8" round cake pan with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 350F.
Use separate equal size ladles for each half of the batter. Ladle the white batter first, then immediately add the brown batter as shown in the picture. It should automatically spread out in the pan, there is no need to wait or tilt pan.

Keep alternating batter until you have exhausted both batters.

Bake in a pre-heated 350F oven for about 45 min or till a toothpick when inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Let it rest for about 15 min in the pan.

Invert and cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy the cake with your favorite frosting/whipped cream or just keep it plain. It is gorgeous the way it is.

Whole wheat Rotini with roasted veggies and feta in basil pesto sauce

2010-04-04T16:34:00.006-07:00

There is no "one" way, right way or a wrong way to make pasta. It is so versatile, the kind of pasta, the shape of pasta, the long array of sauces, vegetables, the list and combinations are endless.
This is just one way of making it. I like to use whole wheat hearty pasta (if you have not tried it yet, you totally should give it a go), and with homemade basil pesto sauce, and mixed fresh veggies it makes it my ideal wholesome meal.
As much as I would like to say that I prepared my sauce from scratch... I did not. Did I mention I killed my lush basil plant by letting it sit outdoors in the cold weather for weeks together?
No more plants till I can promise myself to take care of the next one.

So, getting back to the pasta dish, my favorite, no over-the-top sauces. Just plain, simple but packs a lot of heart.

Whole wheat Rotini with roasted veggies and feta in basil pesto sauce

Ingredients:

100% Whole wheat rotini - 1 box (Use any kind of pasta you like, I would not recommend the flavored ones for this recipe)
Fresh basil pesto sauce - 1/4 cup
Fresh veggies - 3-4 cups (Carrots, Snow peas, Asparagus, Bell pepper, Water chestnuts, Cremini Mushrooms)
Spring onion - 1/2 cup chopped
Fat free Feta cheese - 1/2 cup
Olive oil - 2-3 tbsp
Garlic - 4-5 pods
Salt - To taste
Red chilly flakes - 1 tsp (adjust according to taste)

Method:

Cook pasta according to package directions. I like mine a little al dente. Reserve half-a-cup of pasta water. (Do not rinse pasta in cold water.)
Transfer to a large bowl and set aside away from the heat.

Simultaneously, stir fry the veggies in olive oil, season and add to the pasta.
Pan roast the mushrooms with garlic, season and add to the bowl.

Add the rest of the ingredients - salt, pepper flakes, feta cheese, spring onions (I do not like to saute them), and the basil pesto. Toss together with light hands. Remember to add the reserved pasta water to bring it all together.
This recipe will make plenty of pasta. Halve the recipe if it makes things more manageable.

Microwave Mango Ricotta Kalakand - Back to blogging

2010-03-28T23:21:00.013-07:00

Seven months! That is how long I have stayed away from blogging. In retrospect I should have at least posted about the break, but really I did not intend to stay away for so long from what I love to do. Cook and blog.
Speaking of cooking, that has taken a backseat as well, for here comes my priority, all packed into one tiny bundle of joy... my baby girl who was born last year, just around the time I started the break. During this time, there are a few things I have learnt to appreciate much much more. One of them being the time I oh-so-easily spent cooking or baking at the kitchen perfecting every single dish. Now, things are not so elaborate. It almost seems like I would be a good host for semi-homemade cooking!
Well, that is not a bad thing right? Shortcuts. We all need them at some point or the other. And reserve from-the-scratch dishes for leisurely weekends and holidays.
I may not have time to post as frequently as I did before, but I am surely willing to try and keep some good recipes coming.

Kalakand, I have seriously no idea how it is made originally, but here is my take on a quick version of it. That lovely yellow color comes from adding mango pulp. Speaking of mango pulp, I used a canned product. But if you are lucky enough to get some juicy ripe mangoes and if you are able to make a pulp out of them... I SO ENVY YOU!

Before I start on the recipe, thanks thanks thanks to all those who missed me and sent me those lovely emails. It meant a lot to me! And yes, most of you guessed it right :) I have been spending a lot of time making baby food!

Microwave Mango Ricotta Kalakand

Ingredients:

Part skim ricotta cheese - 1 1/2 cup
Mango pulp - 2 cups
Butter - 1 tbsp
Fat free milk powder/Khova powder - 3 cups
Sugar - 2 tbsp (add more if needed, the mango pulp has plenty of sugar already)
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Saffron and Slivered almonds - To garnish
Yellow food color - If needed (for a brighter yellow color)

Method:

Very simple - Combine all the ingredients (except the garnish & food coloring) and microwave for 4-5minutes for about 6-8 times stirring in between. It might take longer.
Stop when the mixture has a thick curd-like texture and when you can form a small ball between your fingers.
Pour onto a greased plate, garnish, let it cool and then cut into desired shapes.

You could use a fun cookie cutter and cut out cute shapes for your little one or your neighbor's little one. Mom eats the scraps! End of story.

Fat-free & Whole wheat Angel Food Cake with Easy Chocolate Frosting

2009-08-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

As much as I like the dense moist rich cakes, it takes a lot of rich ingredients that make it the way it is. For a light airy cake, today I tried to make one of my favorite cakes which has absolutely no fat in it. It is as light as a cake can get, and is called the Angel food cake. The main ingredient in this is egg whites which have been carefully separated from the yolks. Even a little bit of yolk, will mess with the whipping process. To ensure that, I separated one egg at a time in a small bowl, checked for shells/yolks that may have contaminated the egg white and then transferred it to a bigger bowl.
Use a very large bowl, since the egg whites tend to triple in size when whipped up.
Sifting the flour twice (once before adding to the wet mixture and once while adding to the wet mixture) is very crucial. Folding in the dry into the wet should be done gently or the whites will completely deflate and you will get a very sticky dense cake.
Normally Angel food cake is done with cake flour or all purpose flour. I substituted half of that with whole wheat pastry flour just to make it a little healthier.
The cake turned out awesome, it was still airy in spite of deviating from the traditional usage of A.P flour entirely.
The chocolate frosting was just a second thought. I had some cream leftover in the fridge and decided to make a simple frosting which turned out the perfect topping for this cake.
Though the frosting is entirely optional, I would certainly recommend slathering on a little bit.
Tube pans are ideal for this kind of cake, but since I did not have one, I used a spring form pan, and had absolutely no issues with it. I did grease it before pouring the batter in.

One thing to keep in mind before you make this cake is, USE a hand mixer for whipping up the egg whites, and NEVER use a hand mixer while mixing the flour into the egg whites. Only fold gently with light hands just until combined.

Fat-free & Whole wheat Angel Food Cake with Easy Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

For the Angel food cake:

Egg whites - 8 large at room temperature
Cream of tartar - 1/4 tsp
Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup

Whole wheat pastry flour - 1/3 cup
All purpose flour - 1/3 cup
Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Pure Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Almond essence - 1/2 tsp

For Chocolate frosting:

Semi-sweet chocolate chips - 1/2 cup
Whipping cream - 1/4 cup
Splenda - 2 packets
Pure Vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp
Almonds - Chopped to sprinkle

Method:

For the Angel food cake:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sift baking powder, whole wheat pastry flour, all purpose flour and powdered sugar with the help of a sieve.

In another bowl take the egg whites, cream of tartar and whip using a hand mixer till soft peaks form. It will almost triple in size.
Now add the granulated sugar and whip again till you get stiff peaks. You wont need the hand mixer from now on.
Add vanilla and almond essence.

Now divide the dry ingredients that have already been sifted into three equal parts.
Take each part again in the sieve and sift right on top of the egg whites. Fold the flour using a rubber spatula. DO NOT beat the mixture.

After combined, add the other two parts one by one and fold very gently. Make sure not to deflate the egg whites.

Transfer to a greased baking pan, I used a spring form pan (for lack of a better one.)

Bake for 30 minutes or till lightly brown/cracked on top. Test with toothpick for doneness.

For Chocolate frosting:

Whip cream and sugar using a hand mixer till creamy, you may also use store bought whipped cream.
Melt chocolate chips in the microwave with a dash of milk for a few seconds. Mix well till there are no lumps and the chocolate is silky and cool to touch.
Add the chocolate and vanilla essence to the cream. Whip again till well combined.
Refrigerate the mixture for 30 min to allow the frosting to thicken.

Spread the frosting over the cake, sprinkle the almond bits on top and refrigerate for about 15 min. Cut and serve.

Vegan Brown Rice Tortilla Sweet balls (Laddu)

2009-06-29T04:30:00.000-07:00

Got very excited at the sight of brown rice tortillas. Rolls, wraps and a whole range of possibilities came rushing to my mind when I picked up a bag of these tortillas for the first time at my local health food store. They almost have a Indian chapathi look to it, with those little brown spots and beamed at me with a nice hearty look.
I cut them in half and then pieces to toast them in the oven, hence the half-moon look in the picture below.

Got home, opened the bag, tasted a little bit of the raw tortilla. Hmm, was not that impressed, I thought, maybe it would be better if I heated it a little. I was planning on making a egg salad wrap for breakfast this morning and lo and behold, there it was on block letters on the bag... that the product was gluten free and hence rolling them into anything would be quite a task. What it meant was that the thing broke at the slightest bend. Not a good start!
How disappointed I was :( But still I went ahead and toasted the tortilla on a griddle and served my egg salad on top. It really was not edible for me, ended up licking the egg salad clean, and the poor tortilla remained.

By that very afternoon, determined not to throw them away (I mean the rest of the tortillas, not the one I served the egg salad on!), came up with a sweet dish that could neutralize the slightly raw taste of these tortillas.
That was how these were conceptualized. They turned out beautifully just like I thought it would.
I surely go back for another bag of brown rice tortillas the next time. Just to make these sweet balls.
I think I will pass on making wraps with these unless I know really what to do with them.

I have been a tad busy with "stuff" and hence have not been able to visit other blogs regularly. But will be back after my long weekend holiday to see what you have been cooking. I hope you all have a fun Independence day long weekend, and enjoy the time with friends and family. See you soon with another recipe.

Vegan Brown Rice Tortilla Sweet balls (Laddu)

Ingredients:

Vegan butter/Regular butter (for a non-vegan option) - 3 tbsp
Brown Rice Tortillas - 5
Oat Bran - 1/2 cup
Powdered Jaggery (Indian brown sugar) - 3 tbsp (or add more according to taste)
Broken Cashewnuts - 2 tbsp
Raisins - 2 tbsp
Cardamom - 1/2 tsp
Rice milk/Regular milk - 2 tbsp (adjust accordingly)

Method:

Break tortillas into pieces and toast them in a preheated 400F oven for about 20 min till crispy.

Powder it using a food processor/blender and set aside.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. Add cashews and raisins and heat it for about a minute or till nuts are golden.

To this, add the powdered tortilla, oat bran, jaggery, cardamom and mix well.

Microwave again for a minute.

Take it out, add milk one tsp at a time and mix. You should be able to form balls by pressing together in the palm of your hands. Press tightly.
Store at room temperature for a day or two. Or refrigerate for up to a week.

Yields - 16 small laddus

Home-made Garlic Hummus with Ricotta cheese

2009-06-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

Bollywood in "So you think you can dance"! How cool is that?
There apparently was a Bollywood routine last season as well (which I seemed to have missed), but the fever this season is just at a whole another level because of the "Slumdog Millionaire" and the famous "Jai Ho" craze.
The dancers, Caitlin and Jason who performed to the Jai Ho song were pretty awesome. Some pretty great hand and foot work. I am no authority on dancing, but I have grown with enough Indian movies to know what an entertaining number would be. Our movies have an average of 5-7 songs a movie with actors twisting and turning their body parts in some graceful and some not so graceful moves.
Anyway, I just hope there is more Bollywood and more good dancing this season.
That said, my favorite was the samba performed by Max and Kayla. They just fired the stage up!
This dance oriented reality show (competition) airs on "Fox" on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Check your local guide for timings.

On to the recipe...
Today, we have a creamy hummus spread on a crunchy whole wheat pita bread.
I added part skim ricotta cheese to give it that light airy feel. You may omit it if you'd rather not have any dairy.
I toasted the pita bread using a bread toaster, came out really crispy and beats the pan heated pita any day. I did not have tahini on hand which is traditionally used while making hummus, so I used sesame seeds and ground it up into a paste. Tasted just as good.

Home-made Garlic Hummus with Ricotta cheese

Ingredients:

Boiled chickpeas/garbanzo - 2 cups (canned will also work)
Toasted sesame seeds - 3 tbsp (or use sesame paste)
Red chilly flakes - 1 tbsp
Pepper - A pinch
Salt - To taste
Garlic - 2 cloves (use roasted for a more nuttier flavor)
Part skim Ricotta cheese - 1/4 cup
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Cilantro - For garnish
Lime/Lemon juice - 2 tsp

Method:

Using a food processor or blender, make a paste out of toasted sesame seeds, red chilly flakes, pepper, salt, garlic with a little bit of water.
When you get a smooth paste, add chick peas and blend again into a smooth consistency.
Finally add the ricotta and drizzle olive oil. Give it a whirl just until combined.
Sprinkle the lime juice on top and mix with a spoon.

Spread over toasted whole wheat pita bread and top with chopped cilantro.

For pita bread, you may:

1. Heat it on a hot pan till lightly brown.
2. Cut into wedges and heat it in a preheated oven at 400F-425F for 10-15 min.
3. Cut a pita into 4 triangles and toast in a bread toaster for 3-4 min.(I followed this method)

Fresh Blueberry Oat "Cakes on a Pan"

2009-06-10T17:58:00.002-07:00

I think whoever discovered pancakes was a dessert fanatic like me and decided to have some indulgence with something sweet first thing in the morning. Seriously that is what my take on cakes on a pan, well pancakes are. I actually like to think that it might have been me in my previous birth, if there existed one. :)

For this recipe, use fresh blueberries if possible, I got mine specifically for this. The reason for using fresh berries is this... when the heat hits the berries on the pan, those little rounds burst open oozing out a beautiful purple juice on the pancake. And my, oh my, seeing that first thing in the morning is a sight to behold.
So, I got a "huge" box from Costco, I used like a cup of berries for this recipe, and the rest is happily stored away. If you are aware of any healthy and easy recipes for blueberries, I would love to know. I need some help using the rest of the box...
(OR)
I will have to come up with some new wacky recipe that will for sure look good on my picture, which might trick you readers into commenting the ever so famous "Lovely picture, Nice recipe" comment. *wink*

Each and every stuff that went into making my pancakes are exactly what you want to kick off a day, protein from the eggs, whole grains from the whole wheat flour and oats, dairy from the milk, nutritious blueberries, a tad bit of sugar and butter for that feel good factor, and some grease to get you going through the day. All in one long sentence and pancake.

Fresh Blueberry Oat Cakes on a Pan

Ingredients:

Fresh blueberries - 1 cup

Whole wheat pastry flour - 1 cup
Old fashioned Oats - 1/3 cup
Milk - 1-2 cups
Eggs - 2 large
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla - 1 tsp
Butter - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 3 tbsp (or more depending on your sweetness level)

Method:

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and using a hand blender whip the mixture till light and creamy.

Add 1 cup milk, vanilla, baking powder and whisk again.

Add flour and oats and whisk well to combine. Do not over mix. The batter should not be runny or too thick. Add more milk at this point if need be. It should be thick, yet in pouring consistency.

Mix the blueberries.

On a hot griddle smeared with some oil, pour the batter in small circles. Do not spread. The batter should flow by itself.
When bubbles start to form on the top surface, flip the pancake over and cook on the other side.

Some berries will break open and give a beautiful purple juice onto the pancake itself. Enjoy it hot from the griddle with some agave, fruit preserves or syrup.

These pancakes are off to Jugalbandi's Click June 2009 - Stacks and Jeanne's WTSIM Berried Treasure

Parsley and Curry Leaf Buns

2009-06-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

Last week has been kind of busy and I really, really wanted to post this today for fear of giving an impression that I was on another break!
I have been putting this off just because I wanted to get something else done, and ended up doing neither this nor that. Sounds familiar? :)
I have been doing some cooking and baking meanwhile, never let the stomach starve of yummy foods.

I am kind of getting a hang of how to make bread and buns without a standard recipe.
The permutation and combination of different types of flours, ingredients and techniques just make the experience of baking much more pleasurable.
By no means, I claim to be an expert in baking bread, but haven't really made one that was inedible :) At least. so far...

I made these buns as a fond remembrance to the savory bread I am used to back home.
I used vital gluten since I did not use bread flour which is specifically made for baking bread and buns. The gluten gives it a nice rise and that is not easily attained by using dense flours like whole wheat varieties.
You may substitute different herbs of your choice and customize this to your liking.
Toast these buns and drizzle some olive oil for a heavenly warm bite.
I used them as burger buns and they were amazing.

Parsley and Curry Leaf Buns

Ingredients:

White whole wheat flour - 2 cups
Whole wheat pastry flour - 2 cups
Vital Gluten - 2 tbsp
Salt - To taste
Baker's yeast - 2 1/2 tsp
Warm water - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 tsp
Yogurt - 1 tbsp
Olive oil - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 tbsp chopped
Parsley - 2 tbsp chopped
Pepper - 1/2 tbsp
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp

Method:

Soak yeast in warm water along with sugar and let it sit for 15 minutes to foam and activate.

Meanwhile in another bowl, mix the dry ingredients - flour, vital gluten, salt and pepper.

Mix the dry ingredients with the activated yeast mixture, add oil and yogurt. Add the herbs and knead on a floured surface. Knead for 13-15 minutes by hand, or use a kneader attachment on the mixer. The dough should be soft and smooth.

Cover and let it sit in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours or till it doubles in size.

After that, take the dough, fold it over 3 or 4 times, releasing the air bubbles. Pinch into smaller balls, roll them neatly and firmly. Place it on a baking tray with enough room to expand while baking.

Cover with a cloth and place in a warm place again to rise. This method is called proofing.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

After an hour, brush them with oil or an egg wash on top. Sprinkle sesame seeds and bake till the buns are golden brown on top.

Let it cool and slather with a spread/butter of your choice and devour.

Low-Calorie Sweet Semolina Balls (Rava Laddu)

2009-05-22T06:20:00.000-07:00

These semolina laddus are a regular in the traditional Indian dessert menu. Normally hot ghee (clarified butter) is poured onto the flour and sugar mixture to bring them to a mass and then they are rolled into small balls. Even though those sweet rounds melt in your mouth, I am not sure they would be melting away from the hips anytime soon.

One thing to note is, when adding the warm milk (according to my method given below), make sure you do not add too much of it. I cannot stress the "less is more" theory on this one. As soon as you are able to form balls with the mixture (when it is still kind of dry) stop adding the milk, and work quickly. You may add more milk if the mixture starts to dry up at the end.
And when I say add milk, go by one tablespoon at a time. A very crucial step. Or one will end up with hard laddus at the end. They should break when slight pressure is applied. And that is a sign of a great laddu.

When you dry roast the semolina, and then grind it, do not expect it to turn into a powder completely. It will still remain slightly coarse. If you do achieve to make it into a fine powder, good for you! Please do share your tips as to how you do it.

I made them the first time a few years back, even before starting this blog. After making this version without the fat, I have never looked back.
There are many versions available on the Internet to make them, but here is my version of it.

Low-Calorie Sweet Semolina Balls (Rava Laddu)

Ingredients:

Fine semolina - 1 cup
Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup (I used less, you may adjust according to taste)
Cardamom - 1/2 tsp
Broken cashew nuts - 3 tbsp
Raisins - 2 tbsp (optional)
Warm milk - Enough to form a ball
Melted butter/Ghee - 1 tbsp

Method:

Dry roast semolina well. Turn off heat just before it starts to turn slightly brown.
Let cool.

In a dry blender, grind semolina till powdery. It may not turn completely into a powder form, but close enough is good.

Add the powdered sugar, cardamom and blend the dry ingredients well.

Take the mixture in a bowl, add ghee, cashews and raisins.

Adding warm milk one tablespoon at a time, mix everything together. Just when it starts to form a ball, stop adding more milk. Quickly form into balls using the palms of your hands.
Adding too much milk will result in hard laddus. The lesser the better.

Place laddus in a layer on a plate and let cool.

Enjoy them without the guilt.

Lite Coconut Milk - Mint Pulao

2009-05-16T08:16:00.002-07:00

There are only good memories associated with this recipe. One of my mom's best dishes, which in order to perfect took innumerable attempts for me. She uses wonderful thick first-press coconut milk from home grown coconuts and it gives it this rich texture and taste.
The only changes I made from her recipe, is using lite canned coconut milk (fewer calories!) and adding my favorite herb on this planet... Mint.

So, when I say attempts, it involved using a varied combination of fresh coconut milk, canned coconut milk, light canned coconut milk, brown rice, and then white rice.
This recipe is traditionally prepared using white rice in my family, but since I have switched to brown rice, I did initially try with it. It was absolutely tasteless! Not a good idea!
See, the part of enjoying this is the subtle taste of the coconut milk hitting you when you bite into the rice. My brown rice failed to absorb anything at all! And tasted like I cooked it with water instead of luscious coconut milk.
There are certain dishes that are not meant to be changed, and I guess this is one such recipe. If you are making this, use only White rice, there I said it!
Using basmati rice will enhance the experience, if not just use Jasmine or any long grain rice.

The rice grains after being cooked, should be light, fluffy and not mushy. Here's how I did it.

Lite Coconut Milk - Mint Pulao

Ingredients:

White Basmati Rice - 3 cups
Mint - A bunch
Lite Coconut milk - 3 cups
Water - 2 cups
Dry Bay leaves - 2
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon stick - 1
Dry Star anise - 1
Whole Cardamom - 2
Whole pepper - 3
Green chillies - 1 small chopped
Ginger - 1 inch chopped
Garlic - 3 cloves chopped
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - To taste
Roasted cashews - 2 tbsp

Method:

Clean and soak rice with some water for 15 minutes.

Finely chop mint, or use a blender like I did and grind the leaves with a few drops of water till they are mushy.

In a pan, add oil, when hot add all the spices, fry for a minute then add green chillies, garlic, and ginger. Saute well.

When all the above ingredients are well roasted, drain water completely from the rice (use a strainer), and mix it will the spice mixture.
Roast the rice till it turns opaque and the oil coats the grains of the rice completely. Add the ground mint and salt.
Mix well.

Transfer to a rice cooker, add the coconut milk and water. Mix thoroughly. You may need more or less water depending on the type of rice/cooker you are using.
My rice cooker senses the amount of liquid and cooks accordingly. If you are using a regular cooker/ a different type of rice cooker, then check the water content.

When done, add a tsp of oil and fluff the rice with a fork. Check for salt. Garnish with roasted cashews and mint. Serve with onion raita.

Sending this dish to:

Nags's Monthly Mingle #33 - Ravishing Rice Recipes
Ashwini's JFI:Mint

Roasted Carob Cookies with Walnut Meal and Oat Flour

2009-05-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

Recipe Source: Some part of my head that still has some iota of creativity!
This is my own recipe. And I go "whoo hoo."

Do you believe in celebrating Mother's Day? Or do you think it is just another commercial gimmick for boosting sales of cards, flowers, chocolates and the likes?
Acknowledging a mother on one day of the year seems a little absurd, but then why not? I am glad someone thought about it! It is a sad thing that we need to set just one day apart for a selfless soul, but if that gets the deed done... I am all for it.
After all, that is one soul that never stops loving you, no matter what.
Nothing or nobody replaces a mother. Ever.

This is my second cookie on my blog. I am not the organized kind that could sit down write a recipe, and then follow it to the T. I baked these cookies with what I had and what I liked, and it turned out just perfect. Since it is my own recipe, it is kind of very near and dear to my heart.

Carob powder is used as a chocolate substitute, and is derived from the pods of the Carob tree. It is naturally fat free, and is also extremely bitter. So watch out. Adjust the quantity of the powder if you are particular about the sweetness. Coco powder should work fine too.
The one I used here is the roasted kind, and would be available at the speciality section at your grocery store.

Walnut meal is nothing but ground walnuts. I keep my whole walnuts stored away in the freezer. For this I used a blender to process them. While grinding, it turns from powder to a wet mass very quickly. Mine did, and I used it slightly wet. This should not pose a problem.

Oat flour that I used was pre-ground from the store and was very fine. I have noticed that if you need to reach that same texture with regular/quick cooking oats, then you need to grind it for a longer time and also sift it.

Roasted Carob Cookies with Walnut Meal and Oat flour

Ingredients:

Oat flour - 1 cup
Milk powder/Mava/Khoya powder - 1/2 cup
Roasted Carob powder - 3 tsp
Baking soda -1/4 tsp
Pure vanilla - 1 tbsp
Butter - 4 tbsp
Sugar - 4 tbsp
Walnut meal - 1/2 cup

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Using a hand mixer whip up butter, sugar and walnut meal.

Add vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix oat flour, baking soda, milk powder, and roasted carob powder.

To the wet ingredients slowly add the dry ingredients and mix well either using the hand mixer or a rubber spatula.

You should be able to form a ball with the dough.

Pinch off smaller rounds and roll them into small lime-sized balls and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Place them 2 inches apart. They will spread out.

Bake them for about 20-25 min or more. They will spread and crack on top. When they are crispy around the edges, remove and let cool on a cooling rack.
Temperature of your oven may vary, so please keep an eye on them after the 20 min mark.

Yields: 16-18 cookies depending on size.

Sending it off to
Jai and Bee's Click May 2009 - Cookies
Srivalli's Mithai Mela

Whole Wheat Dimply Prune Cake - Where have you been?

2009-05-06T22:40:00.001-07:00

There, I made it!
Well now, I have to make a small speech.
I know, I have been MIA for awhile, hmm... what shall we call that now? Writer's block, I-experiment-too-much-that-I-ran-out-of-ideas (oh come on, that is not going to happen, you know that!), or just sheer laziness.
Like William Shakespeare named it, I am going to leave that up to you "As you like it." :)
Having said that, I am thankful to all the emails and comments/messages I got during my short, er... shall we call it a long break. I am perfectly fine, and all my ten digits are intact and I never could be happier for them.
Sometimes, it feels good to be missed! I totally enjoyed all the attention ;)
Can I get more?

During my time away, I did manage to check on some of your blogs, even though I could not comment, I now want to let you know I was there.
Generous souls have showered my blog with awards, which I would like to acknowledge here. I appreciate every little gesture. Merci. I will get around to visiting other blogs and your posts soon.

I have some amazing recipes, some of which, or a lot of it are my own creations as usual. If you have followed my blog, you would know me and my love for experimenting with food, and making healthy, wholesome eatables.
If you are new here, then "My Archives" would be a great place to start.

I am going to celebrate my being back in the blogging arena with a cake today. If you are as thrilled as me, you could send me cakes too, real ones I mean ;)
And my address is...

What cake are we talking about today? A cute one, a healthy one and a sure-to-impress deal. You will need nice ripe prunes (mine were not), and after cooling the cake, the juices from the prunes do soak into the cake, making it soft and moist.
There are a lot of recipes on the internet for this cake, but I adapted my recipe from Smitten Kitchen, just because I fell in love with the way it looked. How can I not! It is a beauty.

Whole wheat Dimply Prune Cake

Whole wheat pastry flour - 1 1/2 cups
Cardamom powder - 2 pinches
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Salt - A pinch
Unsalted butter - 4 tbsp
Light brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Sunflower oil - 2-3 tbsp
Vanilla extract - 1 tbsp
Cold milk - 1-2 tbsp (optional)
Red prunes/plums - To top, as shown in picture. Use as many as you like.

Method:

Sift flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon and set aside.

Halve the prunes and take the seeds out.

Butter/spray a 8" square cake pan, dust scantily with flour if you are buttering it.

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar till light and creamy with the help of a hand mixer. Use room temperature butter for best results. Add the oil next.

Add eggs one by one and keep whipping. When the mixture reaches a very pale yellow color (about 5 min), stop and add vanilla. Mix well.

Add the sifted dry ingredients slowly and combine well (you should still be using the hand mixer). Be careful not to over mix, when you see the last bit of flour mixed with the wet ingredients, stop. Over mixing the batter will result in a tough cake.
If at any point, if you feel the mixture is too thick, you may add a tablespoon or two of cold milk to loosen the batter.

Pour the batter into the cake pan. Top the batter with halved prunes/plums with cut side facing up.

Bake at 350F for about 30-35 min. Check for done'ness with a toothpick insert test.

Remove from oven, cool on rack, right side up for about 20 min.

Cut into squares like I did, or do whatever you want with it. Its your cake now!

Sending this cake off to Meeta'a Monthly Mingle #32 – Spring Cakes

There is a new foodie on the block

2009-02-04T17:33:00.006-08:00

Curiosity got you?
My mother-in-law has a blog of her own now (been a couple of days to be exact!) :)
You can check her out at "Gramina Kitchen"
The link is http://graminakitchen.blogspot.com/

She is an amazing cook, and I really mean it. She can whip up a great meal in no time, and her food blog will focus on South Indian traditional vegetarian cooking.

Do check her out at her blog. Just wanted to drop a line about it.

And as for my blog... I have been due for my next post, I know, I know... will post it soon... :)

Brown Basmati Egg Biriyani with Chickpeas

2009-01-31T23:22:00.000-08:00

This recipe is for a friend who asked me once... "How do you eat brown rice, I just can't seem to get used to it!"
I am sure she would be reading this today :) And I hope I can convert her from White to Brown with this recipe.

Brown rice has a lot of benefits. For one, it is very filling and you would tend to eat less. Well, there's a start!
It falls under the whole grain variety which seems to be recommended a lot these days. You must have seen those "Get more whole grains into your diet for a healthier you" appearing everywhere. If you haven't seen it, then you are looking at the wrong places, er... defnitely not in a fast food place.

So, what exactly is the difference between a brown and white rice, you may ask...
When only the outer husk is removed you get brown rice, and when the inner bran layer is removed you get white rice. Seems simple, but the bran layer is what packs all the nutrients. All that remains is white rice and carbs after stripping the grain of all its actual goodness.

Nutritional benefits of brown rice: They are rich in fiber, fatty acids (that lowers cholesterol), certain vitamins and Iron.

How to prepare brown rice:
If you have a rice cooker, then put it on "Brown rice" setting and forget it. Most modern rice cookers have this setting.

If you are using the conventional method, then wash the rice. Soak in warm water for at least an hour or two. Add water in the ratio of 1:2 (or in some cases 1 1/2). Depending on rice and texture preferences, these ratios might change. Always check your package instructions for how much water is recommended for one cup of rice.
Cook using a microwave cooker or cook on stove top like you would normally do for white rice.

Soaking brown rice is important. It allows germination and making it much more nutritious.

Changing from white to brown, does take time and you may not enjoy the fuller taste and feel of brown rice initially. But if you care more about your health, then more power to you!

This is a easy recipe to make especially if you are trying out brown rice for the first time. Egg Biriyani is an Indian dish normally prepared with rice, some vegetables and eggs of course.
I added chick peas to give it that added bite and flavor.
This is only kind of biriyani I make at home and I just love it.

Brown Basmati Egg Biriyani with Chickpeas

Ingredients:

Eggs - 4
Brown Basmati Rice - 3 cups
Garbanzo/Chickpeas - 2 cups (canned or soaked and cooked)
Red onion - 2 cups (chopped)
Tomatoes - 2 cups (chopped)
Egg Biriyani masala - 2 tsp
Ginger - 2 tbsp chopped
Garlic - 4-5 cloves sliced
Bay Leaf - 1
Cloves - 2
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves - 4 to 5 torn by hand
Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Fried Onions - 2 tbsp (To garnish, optional)
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - To taste

Method:

Hard boil eggs and keep separately.

Cook brown rice according to package instructions, which includes soaking in warm water and then cooking it with rice cooker or on the stove top.
The cooked rice should be al dente, not mushy. Cool completely.

In a wide pan on medium-high heat, heat oil, add cloves, bay leaf, curry leaves, ginger, garlic and saute well.

Add onions and saute till slightly brown. Add turmeric and salt.

Next add the tomatoes, pepper and saute for at least 5 minutes on medium high heat.

Add the egg biriyani masala and saute again. Add the garbanzo/chickpeas and mix well. Let the chickpeas cook for a while in the masala.

Score the eggs with a knife, or split them in half and add it to the masala.

At any point if you think the masala is too thick, add a little water. I normally don't do this, since the rice tends to become soggy when mixed together.

Turn off heat and then add the cooled cooked rice and mix well with a little oil to keep the rice grains separate.
Make assessment as to how much rice will be needed for the masala you make. Add more or less rice according to taste and heat level.

Mix thoroughly. Just before serving, add the fried onions and serve it along with yogurt raita.

This dish goes to:

Alexandra's Chefspiration's Healthy Choices
Ms's JFI Chickpea
Sudeshna's Harvest: The Festival of Rice

Mini Churros - Baked vs Fried

2009-01-24T13:09:00.000-08:00

Commonly referred to as "Spanish doughnuts", Churros are originally a Spanish breakfast dish which are deep fried and then coated with sugar. I was first introduced to Churros at Costco (the little eatery they have) by a friend of mine while we were shopping.
Bunch of girls, walking around a store for hours together, shopping, what else would anyone expect!
They were a $1 each and we were in love with it. I have so badly wanted to make them at home ever since but without deep frying them.

That is when I turned to my trusty puff pastry sheets that always reside in my freezer. I love making vegetable puffs or egg puffs with them, and this time we have something sweet. Please note that puff pastry sheets by themselves have butter in them, that is how the layers are formed, so remember the term "relatively" guilt-free.

I cut the pasty sheet into strips, drenched them in cinnamon sugar, twisted them and baked them till golden. Taste wise, if you have had churros before, then you will know the difference since these are baked. But if you have no clue as to what the original tastes like, then you will be pleasantly surprised. They taste awesome and with a little dulche de leche to dip... can't ask for a better relatively guilt-free dessert.
If you don't have dulche de leche, then try dipping them in caramel or nutella.
Oh! Please don't drool all over my blog! :)

Mini Churros - Baked Vs Fried

Ingredients:

Puff pastry sheets - 1
Cinnamon - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/4 cup (They don't take up so much sugar, it is only for coating, you will have some left over)
Egg - 1/2 beaten (optional)
A.P flour - To dust

Method:

Thaw out pastry sheets according to package instructions. It should be at room temperature or slightly still cold.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Mix cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and keep them ready.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and set aside.

Unfold the sheet, dust a little All purpose flour if need be and roll out slightly.

Cut into thin strips of desired lengths. I did mine about 3 inches long and 1 inch thick.

Brush beaten egg on both sides roughly. Coat with the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Lay them on the cookie sheet with little space in between them so that they can puff up.

Bake at 400F till slightly golden brown on top.

Serve with caramel, nutella or dulche de leche.

Spinach and Anaheim Chutney

2009-01-22T07:21:00.003-08:00

So, I really did take a tiny break for a few days since my last post!
Although not intended as a break, it morphed into one. I still have managed to catch up on some posts from other blogs, even though I have not been able to let my presence known.
So here I am, back to posting and visiting other blogs.

Seems like my Recipe for Disaster Series that I started last week was a serious hit. I gave a huge sigh of relief since I did not know how that was going to go down as a post. Some even suggested having events for disaster recipes, which I think is an awesome idea and seems like there are a lot of people like me around who would be willing to participate :)

After all that complaining and whining about how those food turned on me, let us take it easy with some Spinach and Anaheim chutney.
It really did not kick off as one, I was actually making onion and tomato chutney and then decided to throw in a good quantity of fresh spinach that was leftover after making salad the previous day.
Anaheim peppers were just an added bonus for that little kick.
Spinach is one of the greens that is easily available either fresh or frozen all year around and one of the most healthiest things too. It made for a great chutney and we enjoyed it with some dosais/crepes for dinner.
Here is my recipe for this chutney which was just made on the fly.

Spinach and Anaheim Chutney

Ingredients:

Red Onion - 1 medium chopped
Tomato - 1 medium chopped
Anaheim chillies - 1 medium sliced
Fresh spinach - 4 handfuls
Cumin - 1 tsp
Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 2 cloves
Salt - To taste
Olive oil - 2 tsp

To season:

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - About 3 leaves

Method:

In a pan on medium high heat, add olive oil and drop the cumin seeds, ginger and garlic and saute till lightly brown.

Next add the onions and saute till it becomes translucent.

Add Anaheim chillies, tomatoes, salt, pepper and cook under medium flame till everything is just done.

Turn off heat, add the spinach and mix well. The heat from the mixture will wilt the spinach. Do not over cook.

Allow to cool slightly. Add a little water and grind it in a blender till really smooth.

Transfer to a serving bowl.

In another pan, add a little oil, then add the mustard seeds and urad dal. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, turn off heat and add the curry leaves.
This would be the seasoning for the chutney. Mix well and serve.

I am sending this to:
Ramya's Chutney and Dip Mania
Alexandra's Healthy Choices

Recipes for Disaster Series 1 - Dare to try any of this?

2009-01-16T06:35:00.000-08:00

This time, I write about all of my recipe disasters till date, yes you heard it right... disasters! Come on! We all have them, right? And I don't make the perfect food every single time, and I don't think anyone does, right?
Most of them are because of my passion for new food and hence experimenting with them, and some just did not turn out right.

I am still going to be cooking and having failures every now and then, so I called this Series 1. More to come, er.. hopefully not!

So ready for my line up of not-so-good food? If you can't resist any of them and if any of you want the recipe right this moment... do let me know! LOL. I will be glad to give them to you! ;) I would totally understand your enthusiasm.

This is one post where I really would be disappointed if I get the "Yummy / Looks good / Nice recipe / Wow" comment! Please spare me my sorrow... Or I am coming after you!

Recipes for Disaster Series 1

Oats bun

Who on earth would such a thing as buns made entirely with oat flour! Me!
In my defense though, I was just starting out on my love affair with bread making and decided to make it super healthy by just using Oats flour. And what a bad idea that was! Oats flour by nature is a weak flour, and can only be used in combination with other protein rich flour to make bread.
They turned out like this...

But! Hang on there a minute... we did manage to eat them. I personally do not like wasting food and decided to have them this way... Not bad.

The next day it turned even tougher, so I had to cut them up and make upma with it, like this...

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Rock Baguette

Second on our disaster list is a baguette, made a long time back. I can make decent bread now. I kinda know what works and what doesn't at this point. I again experimented with some weak flours, barley, buckwheat and a whole lot of combination and it ended up like rocks. They were so hard, that I really could not make it edible. So we ended up playing bat and ball with it, er, the bat being the baguette. Not difficult to imagine, is it? It looked like this...

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Chocolate chip zucchini cookie

Third on my list... It was not entirely my original recipe, but I did make some changes and it ended up okay. It was edible the first day, and turned so so bitter the next day. So that lands up on this list as well. It looks okay though, right?...

___________________________________________________________________

Stove-top dough for a Cookie

Oh, we have another cookie lined up for this list. Oh well! It did not turn out to be a cookie exactly. I tried to make the dough on the stove top by heating demerara sugar, oats, flax, whole wheat and whole lot of other good stuff. But I got a gooey mass the first time...

How could I give up so easily!
Then I decided to try it again immediately and got this...

I am still wondering what happened, it was bitter and I really couldn't do anything with it. So it remained in the dough form forever!
___________________________________________________________________

Beetroot and Chocolate kheer/pudding

Next is my Beetroot and Chocolate kheer/pudding. What a waste of perfectly red fresh beets! I am still beating myself over this one.
I normally do not think of the recipe ahead. I just go with the flow and keep adding and zeroing on the recipe and ingredients. So, this started out as a beetroot payasam, and then I just could not leave it alone, so kept adding one thing after another including my lovely dark slabs of chocolate. I should have stopped then and there since it did not taste great. But would I? No!
I added perfectly roasted cashewnuts and raisins in hopes of making them better.
Verdict: Ruined! Just did not taste anywhere close to normal food!
Then I see this "Beet and chocolate cake" from Bee @ Jugalbandi. I am so envious!Those look so good! I hope I can get there one day.
I am still wondering where I went wrong. And this is what mine looked like...

Pretty isn't it? That is where it stops!

While you are at it... Please check out two of my perfectly good recipes (Spinach Potato Naan/Flatbread and Lowfat Eggless Almond & Oats Cookies) that are up for voting. Details on the top right corner of my blog. Thanks!

Banana Popsicles dipped in Chocolate and Nuts

2009-01-13T22:22:00.000-08:00

Ice-cream is such a dangerous thing to have "on hand"! The oh-so-easy snack, comforting and indulgent. Now, with so many kinds of them... Lowfat, FatFree, LowSugar, SugarFree, LowCarb, Heart Healthy and many more, an average person no wonder gets overwhelmed.
I take time to read each and every ice cream's nutritional facts before settling on one, seems like an awful lot of time to be reading some label, but here is why it is important.
Most of the fatfree stuff has tons of sugar in them, I don't know why, but they seem to be compensating the lack of grease with sugar! And then there is the story about artificial sweeteners, the jury is still out on that. But either way doesn't help. The fat content is something that needs to be taken into account too.

Every child reserves the right to a nutritious and healthy food, why feed him/her junk, greasy, sugary stuff in the name of fast-food then? Why would one opt for such a lifestyle for your own kid? Beats me...

So, when your child asks for an ice cream the next time(I am not for denying a child the little pleasures, but moderation is what I suggest), if possible make a home-made low sugar and fat version at home. But if you are one who says "Wish I had more time and resources to be making ice creams at home" then this is something you'd want to consider.

Firstly, the bananas when frozen do not get hard. They are still soft and chewable.
I used a combination of dark and semi-sweet chocolate this time, and I am going completely dark the next time. I was not sure how this was going to turn out, so opted the easy way out by mixing both.
If you are making this for children, I don't think they would be enamored by the dark chocolate taste, so go for semi-sweet all the way.
It is very important to freeze bananas completely before dipping them in chocolate and after. Skimping on time will end in a mess. They stay frozen for a long time, so make sure to make lots of them and store them in the freezer in bags for a quick treat any time of the day.

Banana Popsicles dipped in Chocolate and Nuts

Ingredients:

Bananas - 5 large
Dark/Semi-sweet chocolate - 1 cup
Fatfree Half and Half milk- 2 tbsp
Chopped Nuts (Almonds/Peanuts/Walnuts/Pistachios) - As needed

Hardware:
Skewers or Ice-cream sticks - 10 (break off sharp tip if using skewers)
Tray
Wax paper

Method:

Cut bananas in half, insert an ice-cream stick into each one. Lay it on a tray lined with wax paper and freeze for about 4-5 hours. I freeze them overnight. They need to be really cold and frozen before the next step.

Melt chocolate and milk over a double boiler, the top bowl should not touch the water below.

Keep stirring the chocolate till it becomes silky smooth.

Take the bananas right when you are going to make the dipping, not before that.

Dip or spread the chocolate onto the bananas and immediately sprinkle or roll in chopped nuts.

Lay it flat on a wax paper on a tray and freeze again for 3 hours or till the chocolate has hardened.

To store, you may store it in freezer bags once they are completely frozen.

Makes a great snack for kids and for the kid in you!

No-Knead Garbanzo and Fava Bean Bread - Breadline Africa

2009-01-09T09:34:00.001-08:00

I don't think there exists such a bread, neither did I think there existed a flour which was made with Garbanzo and Flava beans. Very intriguing in fact.
What does one make with such a kind of flour... I have no idea!
I still have a huge crush on making breads and I make them out of anything I can. That is how this bread was conceptualized.

"Weird" one may call... Or call it "bold", but someone has to do it. I knew it was somehow going to be a dense bread. I added more moisture than I would for a normal bread to make it lighter and get those darn little air pockets which I love in my bread (more on that technique later... later as in... the next bread post)

This turned out to be a no-knead bread, just because the dough was not ideal for kneading. And this way it was quicker and effortless too. I added vital gluten, to add to the protein value.

I would request whoever is reading this to take up the tag and bake something that you are comfortable with for a good cause. I am not tagging anyone in particular.
But if you can, do bake and make it count. More information below.

Thanks to Ann, Usha, Uma, Navita, Yasmeen, Soma and Sanghi for tagging me.
____________________________________________________________

Breadline Africa is a registered charity in South Africa that is seeking to put an end to poverty in South Africa and further afield in Africa. Their aim is to break the cycle of poverty and help communities to achieve long term self-sustainability. Breadline Africa was founded in 1993 by social workers and communities in South Africa with minded colleagues in Europe, (who were well placed to source out donations). They are geared to help fund small ground level projects in Africa which are most likely to succeed with financial help.

It launched the Worldwide Blogger Baker Bake-Off Challenge aiming at raising $ 1 M in funds. This bake-off gives us baking bloggers the power to make a difference in this world. What do we do? Bake bread. Give Dough. Feed Africa. Vals says, "You can sign up for the campaign, make a donation, upload your bread recipes and document your culinary adventures in the media center to spread the word. You don't have to donate money but simply just mention the campaign and create awareness."

From the Breadline Africa Bake-Off site:

On 15 October, we launched The Breadline Africa Worldwide Blogger Bake Off.The Blogger Bake Off is an online campaign that challenges bloggers to get involved by baking bread, and then acting by donating to end poverty. And then, challenge their readers and five other bloggers to do the same.

With the money raised, we will be supporting grass roots community projects aimed at ending poverty and hunger in Africa. We’ll be placing container kitchens, vegetable gardens and more in poor communities, sending emergency food relief where needed and helping these poor communities to help themselves.

The rules for bloggers are outlined below:

1.If you are tagged, copy and paste the rules into your post.
2.Bake bread, do something you wouldn’t normally do, and blog about it. Upload your picture and recipe.
3.Give dough, donate to Breadline Africa and help us end poverty.
4.Tag five bloggers, and ping us so we know you’ve done so.
5.The person who raises the most funds will get to name a Breadline Africa community kitchen and win $500 Amazon Vouchers. There are also three minor prizes of $250 Amazon vouchers for people who receive the most votes in the following categories:
Most Unusual Recipe; Most Nutritious Recipe and Most Traditional Recipe.

No-Knead Garbanzo and Fava Bean Bread

Ingredients:

Garbanzo and Fava bean flour - 2 cups
Whole wheat pastry flour - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup (just to lighten the bread)
Vital Gluten - 3 tbsp (mandatory)
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Salt - To taste
Baker's Yeast - 2 tsp
Sugar - 1/4 tsp
Warm water - 1/3 cup

Method:

Mix sugar, yeast and warm water and rest for 10 min.

Sift the flours, salt, vital gluten.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the flour. Mix it with the yeast mixture.

With a heavy wooden spatula mix everything together. There should be no lumps or unmixed spots.

Grease a large bowl and transfer the dough and let it sit for 2 hours.

After two hours it should have risen a little. It won't double in size like a regular dough but close enough.

Punch down the dough. You wont be able to knead it, so just pushing it down will do.

Sprinkle a little corn flour or grease a loaf pan, and transfer the dough into it.

Let it rest again for an hour.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Bake for about 30-40 min. And then rest for about an hour.

Slice and serve with butter/spread.

The flavor and texture of this bread is different from the regular ones, but it tasted good.

This goes to Srivalli's and Susan's My Legume Love Affair - Seventh Helping
and
JFI - Chickpea by ms

Eggless Savory French Toast crusted with Chickpea flour

2009-01-05T21:38:00.001-08:00

A quick and tasty recipe for those who can't have eggs either by choice, by dietary restriction or for the sake of change, like me.

I adapted this recipe from Mahimaa's blog. I did make some little changes to the recipe, which I have listed below. The thing that caught my attention was the ease of making it, and of course the nice change it brought during breakfast time. I am a big hearty breakfast person, just can't kick off my day without it.

The one thing that was a challenge was making those onion bits stick to the bread/batter. Next time I am going to chop them really fine. Other than that it was perfect. I used my potato bread (I will post the recipe soon, turned out my best so far, yay!) as the base for this dish. But really, any kind of bread would work nicely.

The chickpea & rice flour formed a nice crust and struck a lovely balance of soft on the inside and slightly crusty on the outside.
You can find chickpea flour in almost any grocery store (not just the Indian ones).
Rice flour (if you can't find any) may be substituted by cornflour for the added crusty finish.

Eggless Savory French Toast crusted with Chickpea flour

Ingredients:

Whole wheat bread slices - 3 (or as many as you want)
(Adjust the following ingredients according to the number of bread slices you are making)
Chickpea flour/Besan - 1 cup
Rice flour - 2 tbsp
Water - Enough to make a paste with the flour
Red onions - 1/2 cup (very finely chopped)
Cilantro - 1/4 cup (finely chopped)
Red Chilly flakes/Pepper - To taste
Salt - To taste
Olive oil - Just enough to cook on both sides

Method:

Mix the chickpea flour, rice flour, chilly flakes/pepper, salt and water to make a thin paste.

Add the red onions and cilantro and mix well.

Heat a non-stick pan, drizzle a little oil on medium heat.

Dip the bread slices in the batter, the onion bits may try to fall off, try to add them on top after laying it on the pan.

Cook on both sides till lightly golden brown.

Serve hot with chutney or tomato ketchup.

5-minute Microwave Brownies - Low fat & Whole wheat

2009-01-02T07:05:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone who is reading this a very Happy & Healthy New Year 2009.

I started blogging towards the latter part of this year, and this feels wonderful! I have made a lot of new friends, and a lot of new, healthy recipes that I am proud of.
Along the way, I have learnt a lot of things about cooking and eating healthy which I would have been clueless about a few years back. Thanks to all the encouragement from my family and friends.

There is this tradition that I believe in (so do a lot of people) that making and eating something sweet today, will make the whole year sweet and enjoyable.
Chocolate says festive, joy and sweetness to me. And a brownie is an excellent way to put all there is in a chocolate to play. This is my healthy take on this recipe from George Duran of Food Network.
This recipe was requested by one of my friends from school... she wanted them,
low-fat, relatively healthy, sugar free and one that can be made in a microwave quickly.

I have covered almost all of them except for the sugar part. I used regular granulated sugar but it may be substituted with Splenda if you are making it for a diabetic person. You could also use Agave as a slightly better alternative for regular sugar.

Whole wheat pastry flour is one of the healthiest forms of flour out there, and is suitable for baking and making pastries. If you don't get this where you live, then you may use All purpose flour.

Points to note:

Use a 8" or 9" pan for baking this, and it should be at least 2"-3" tall. The batter tends to expand a lot while cooking.

I baked the brownies for 5 minutes in my microwave. And learnt that 4 minutes (or lesser) in mine would have been ideal since it is quite a powerful microwave.
It tasted great when served immediately, but mine dried out a little as time went by.

So while making this, adjust the cooking time according to your microwave.
For a normal microwave: 4 1/2 - 5 minutes (exactly) to make this.
For a powerful microwave: Not more than 4 minutes.

Do not bake in the microwave for more than 5 minutes even if it looks undone. It tends to cook a little during the 3 minute resting period.

Go ahead, impress your friends and family with this quick dessert this New Year.

5-minute Microwave Brownies - Low fat & Whole wheat

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pastry flour - 1/2 c (minus 1 tbsp)
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Eggs - 2
Sugar - 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (add more if you like them sweeter)
Unsalted butter - 4 tbsp
Unsweetened chocolate - 3 oz.
Vanilla - 1 tbsp
Chopped Walnuts - 1/4 cup
Chocolate chips - 1/4 cup (To sprinkle on top)

Method:

Spray a 9" microwave safe dish and keep aside.

Sift whole wheat pastry flour and baking powder and set aside.

Beat eggs and sugar and keep aside. Do not use a hand mixer for this. A simple large whisk/large fork would do the trick.

In a microwave safe bowl, add the butter and the unsweetened chocolate and microwave it for 1-2 minutes till completely melted. Take it out and whisk till shiny and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

Mix in the vanilla, eggs and sugar mixture to this and whisk quickly. Make sure the chocolate is not too hot, or it will scramble the eggs.

Add the flour until completely incorporated. Fold in the nuts.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. No need to cover entirely. It should look like this.

Microwave for 4-5 minutes.

Let it rest for 3 minutes.

Spread the chocolate chips (that has now melted) on top into a smooth layer.

Cut and serve with cold ice cream, or enjoy them as it is! How quick was that?
For a few minutes of work, this is way better than the oven baked ones.

Makeshift Burrito with Red Chard rice, Tempeh and Veggies

2008-12-27T08:33:00.000-08:00

With the holiday season around, there must have been a lot of sweet stuff going around in the form of cookies and cakes at your home... here is a nice change.
You could put this burrito together with stuff you have on hand.

This is just another way to eat burritos. Veggie burritos are pretty bland from where I get them. So only way to have them like I want them was to make my own.
Stuffed them with home-made rice flavored with red chard (getting my greens that way)
And this was my first time using tempeh, I would have preferred baked tofu though.
Use any veggies you have on hand, a dollop of sour cream or avocado would finish it off nicely.

Makeshift Burrito with Red Chard rice, Tempeh and Veggies

Ingredients:

Whole grain tortillas - 1 or 2 per person
Cooked brown rice - 3 cups
Red Chard - A bunch
Tempeh - A small packet (Cooked according to package instructions)
Cabbage, Carrots & Zucchini - As much as you want, roasted
Jalapenos - A few sliced
Salt - To taste
Pepper - To season
Olive oil - To roast veggies and for making rice

Method:

Clean and cut red chard. In a pan add oil on medium heat, add the greens along with stems (cut). Add salt and pepper and saute. No more flavors are needed, but you may
add mexican spice seasoning if you prefer, to the rice.

In a griddle, cook tortillas on both sides with a little oil.

To assemble, stack veggies, cooked tempeh, and the rice in the tortilla and roll as you would a burrito.
Wrap in paper/ foil and serve.
You are all set! There goes an easy way to get nutritious food into your tummy.

Breakfast Lentil crepes - Traditional Adai made easy

2008-12-22T15:25:00.000-08:00

This recipe was requested by a co-blogger. And here it is!

Adai as we traditionally call it, is basically a mix of lentils and rice ground together to form a batter. And then formed into crepes on a griddle and cooked on both sides.

And what makes my method easier? Here is why...
Originally, rice is soaked along with the lentils and ground together, there are specific grinders that are used for this purpose.
Since I don't have the heavy duty grinder, I use the normal blender.
Now, here is the problem with using normal blenders... it might be too much stress on the machine to grind soaked rice, and also if you are using a very powerful blender, it produces heat (you can feel the contents warming up) which eventually cooks the batter even while it is grinding. Not good!

To avoid the problem, I used "Idli Rava" - Cream of Rice instead of the actual rice.
There is no need to grind this. The only grinding you will be doing is for the soaked lentils (which is relatively easy on the blender)
Also remember to add enough water, so the blender does not heat up.
(Detailed instructions below in the recipe)

I have used four different types of lentils for this recipe. All of them can be found in an Indian grocery store. Mung and Split chick peas (Channa dal) can be found in the bulk section of your regular grocery store (if it has one).
You may use whole or split Mung beans for this recipe. Both give a different taste and are both great. I personally like the whole green mung dal for this.

There is no need to ferment the final batter, you may proceed making crepes as it gets done. And not having to grind the rice saves on a lot of time and energy.

Breakfast Lentil crepes - Traditional Adai made easy

Ingredients:

Idli Rava - 2 cups
Mung Dal - 1/4 cup
Urad Dal - 1/4 cup
Thur Dal - 1/4 cup
Channa Dal - 1/4 cup
Dried Red chillies - 4 (you may add more if you like)
Curry Leaves - 8-10
Hing/Asafoetida - A couple of pinches
Salt - To taste
Water - 4 cups (To mix with Idli Rava)

Method:

Wash and soak all the four varieties of dal with red chillies and curry leaves for at least 4-6 hours. I soak them overnight.

Next day, just before grinding the lentils together, mix the Idli Rava with 4 cups of water to form a batter (it will absorb the water when you let it sit while you grind the dals, and that is okay). There is no need to add more water.

Grind the lentils, chillies and curry leaves in a blender in batches. Add enough water to get the machine running. Grind till smooth.

Add it to the Idli rava that has already been mixed with water. Mix well.

Add Hing/Asafoetida and again mix thoroughly.

Cover with a lid and let it sit for a couple of hours. Or you can prepare crepes immediately if you are in a rush. Does not alter the taste very much, and both ways are great. The batter would look like this. Add water before preparing crepes just enough so that it resembles a pancake batter.

To prepare crepes... Check out this step-wise pictorial. The picture below is from my earlier post which I made for regular dosais, but "Adai" follows the same method.

You will need a smooth non-stick griddle on medium heat.
Step 1: Pour a small ladle of batter in the center, and spread out in circular motion till you get a thin layer. Drizzle oil.
Step 2: Flip over when the bottom side starts browning, and cook on other side.
Step 3: You may leave it on the griddle for a little longer to get crispier crepes, or take it off the heat as soon as it starts browning to get a softer crepe.
Step 4: For this particular dish, I would suggest softer crepes, as that is how it is traditionally prepared.

Variations include:
Grinding garlic and ginger along with the batter.
Adding cilantro and or onions just before making the crepes.

Enjoy with Chutney or Molagai podi (which is basically a mixture of chillies and lentils ground together, mixed with oil and dipped into)

Pumpkin and Carrot Fudge - Ouch, my fingers hurt!

2008-12-20T16:37:00.000-08:00

My hands are wet and hurting as I type this, reason? Playing in and with snow without gloves on, nope! Not a good idea... but really couldn't resist! :)

Here goes one more of my own recipes, oh! the pleasure it gives me to create something new...
Why and how I came up with this is pretty simple, the pureed pumpkin and carrot (when cooked) share a similar flavor, slightly sweet and yet it has a earthy feel to it. And I thought why not marry those two together and make something sweet!
Carrots are widely used in Indian cooking especially in desserts, so I was pretty sure about how this was going to taste... Good!

I did write vaguely about the sugar measurement in this recipe, as the carrots in itself are pretty sweet, so I added little less than half a cup for this recipe. But I leave it completely up to your discretion to add more or less.
Normally I would have let the sugar melt and let it come to a soft candy stage and then go about adding the other ingredients, but since the amount of sugar used is pretty low, I had to follow a different method.
Anyway, who cares how I got there, it tastes good, and that is all what matters.

Pumpkin and Carrot Fudge

Ingredients:

Pumpkin puree (no sugar added) - 2 cups
Carrot - 2 cups (finely grated)
Non fat milk powder - 3-4 cups
Melted butter/Ghee - 2 tbsp
Sugar - To taste
Cardamom - 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg - Two pinches (grated)
Slivered Almonds - A little to garnish

Method:

In a heavy bottomed pan, or a good non stick pan, mix the pumpkin puree, sugar and carrot on medium heat. Cover and cook for about 30 min. Stir a couple of times in between.

Once all the water has evaporated and the carrot is cooked, start adding the milk powder.
Add milk powder a little at a time and keep stirring on low-medium heat. Add the melted butter.
Let it cook for about 45 min. Sirring every now and then is important. Add nutmeg and cardamom and mix.

Turn off heat and transfer onto a greased pan (which is couple of inches high) and spread evenly and press down with the back of a spoon.
Garnish with some slivered almonds on top, and again press them slightly down, or they will fall off the fudge.

Let it cook completely. Cut into desired shapes, bar, squares or diamonds and serve.
It is a fudge, so expect it to be semi-soft.

Spinach Potato Naan/Flatbread - Stove top method

2008-12-16T15:12:00.000-08:00

Notice the difference in my pictures in this post? My image copyright appears smack in the middle of the pictures. I used to think it was not very aesthetic to put my copyright overlaying in the middle of my images. But now with the frequency of plagiarism I see around, I would rather compromise with the beauty of my pictures rather than make it eye candy and leave it out there in the open. Thanks Sangeeth for caring enough to make me understand how important this is. She did mention that adding the copyright at the corners would be too way too easy for people to crop it out and re-post (which makes perfect sense.)

Seriously, it is not worth making your blog, pictures, and post look nice and perfect (without proper precautions) when somebody else is going to be effortlessly lifting it right in front of your eyes.
Here are some good articles from Sangeeth and Cham on how to protect your blog and pictures. Read them, implement them if you care.

If you remember, I had done a Garlic and Red chilly Naan/Flatbread using the oven method. It was my first try and I am sure getting better at this.
Who needs an oven when you can make these in a jiffy with resources that you have on hand?

Here is another nutritious version using the stove top method.
Requested by a reader, I have tried to make a better illustration this time for those who really would like to try it out.
Points to note:
That tiny bit of potato adds a nice softness to the bread. So I would call that ingredient mandatory.
I used 100% stone ground Atta (Indian whole wheat flour, it does give best results for this type of bread.
The dough is a sticky one inititally when you start to put everything together, so please be mindful of the water that you add while kneading.
Roll the dough out thin (check in the illustration below), it does tend to puff up when you toss it on the hot pan.

Head out to restaurants for naan?... nah! I think mine worked like a charm.

Spinach Potato Naan/Flatbread - Stove top method

Ingredients:

Atta/White Whole wheat flour - 3 1/2 cups
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Frozen Spinach - 2 cups (Thaw and squeeze out moisture completely)
Potato - 1/2 cup (Boiled and mashed)
Caraway Seeds - 2 tsp
Salt - To taste
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Yeast - 2 tsp
Warm water - 1/4 cup

Method:

Add yeast to warm water and let it rest for 10 min.

After the yeast has frothed, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. You may or may not have to add more water depending on the moisture content from the spinach and potato.

Add warm water and combine to form a nice loose dough. Knead for 15 min by hand on a floured surface. Dust with flour as and when needed during the kneading process.
The dough should look like this when you are done.

Cover and let it double in size, which would take anywhere from an hour to two. Mine took two hours. It should look like this.

Fold the dough over about 4-5 times.

Heat a non stick pan on medium-high heat.

Dust a board with flour and pinch out a ball and roll it out with the help of a rolling pin. (Spreading with hands does not work for me)
I divide my dough equally, they will rise a little as you make the rest, so knead each ball slightly right before you roll it.

The rolled out dough should be thin, as it tends to puff up on cooking, giving it a flatbread texture. You can see how thin I rolled it out.

Transfer the dough gently onto the pan and cook till you see bubbles start appearing.

At this point, I like to smear a wee bit of little oil/butter on the top side and then flip it over.

Cook on both sides till you get a nice brown color and the bread is cooked through.

It will continue to cook for a while after it comes off the pan, so let it rest for a few minutes.

Dab a little butter/spread on top, and serve warm.

I store them out for a couple of days without refrigeration. You may re-heat by wrapping them up in a paper towel and microwave them till slightly warm. Alternatively, you may wrap them in aluminum foil and warm in the oven.

Yields: Around 10 flatbreads

Some great events that I am sending this to:
Susan's Yeast Spotting
Sangeeth's Eat Healthy - During Pregnancy

Savory Semolina Kichdi with Vegetables - Mom's Best

2008-12-13T06:16:00.001-08:00

This is for my brother and the recipe is from my mom.
My mom is one of the best, no... "the" best cook I have ever known. If cooking comes naturally to me, it is probably because of her. And her desserts!... they are to die for!
Especially now that I cook quite a bit (and get to eat just what I cook), I do miss her food a lot. I am a reasonable cook, but somehow cooking for oneself can be quite, Ahem... boring at times.

Kichdi is a pretty traditional Indian dish, and is basically a jazzed up version of the humble Upma. The fragrant spices and the array of vegetables kicks it up a notch.
Since this recipe calls for a variety of ingredients, some of which you may or may not be familiar with, I did a picture representation of the most important ingredients this time for easy understanding. (Check list in the recipe section below)

I made peanut chutney to go along with it, but really any kind of chutney goes well.

Rava/Semolina/Sooji varies from place to place and the water that it can absorb while it cooks also varies. So please adjust the water content accordingly. Check recipe for more info.

Off topic, I promised one of my readers a Naan/Flatbread recipe this week, a variation from the one I made earlier but had to put that on hold for this one. I will shortly post that one too. Sorry!

This kichdi has a pretty long ingredient list, so hang in there.

Savory Semolina Kichdi with Vegetables

Ingredients:

Semolina/Rava/Sooji - 3 cups
Water - 4 cups (I used less water, since I do not like it to be gooey, but if you like a more binding kichdi, please add 1 cup or more of water, which would make it 5 cups)
Carrots - 1/4 cup diced
Peas - 1/4 cup
Beans - 1/4 cup cut into small pieces
Corn - 1/4 cup (optional, you may increase/decrease other veggies as you like)
Red onion - 2 cups diced
Tomatoes - 3/4 cup diced (I omitted this, since I do not like tomatoes in my kichdi)
Green chillies - 2 tbsp chopped
Ginger - 2 tbsp chopped
Garlic - 2 tbsp chopped
Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon stick or powder - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - Two pinches
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
Cilantro/Coriander - A handful
Curry leaves - A few
Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp
Urad Dal - 1 tbsp
Channa Dal - 2 tbsp
Salt - To taste
Cashewnuts - A handful
Oil/Butter - 4 tbsp (I used Extra Virgin Olive oil)

Method:

Dry roast the semolina/rava till it is lightly toasted and set aside.

In a pot/pan (which has a lid for later use), heat the oil and add mustard seeds, let them splutter, add urad dal and channa dal and dry them on medium heat.

Add the cashews and saute well (You may roast them separately and add them at the end as garnish too, it remains crunchy that way, I kinda like mine blended into the dish). Take care not to burn them. Add cloves.

Then add the ginger, garlic, curry leaves, cinnamon, turmeric, green chillies, asafoetida, salt and pepper and roast.

Toss in the red onion and cook till lightly browned.

Now, mix the vegetables, tomatoes (if you like), turmeric and cook halfway. It will continue to cook after we add water. So do not over cook them now.

Add the water and cover and let it come to a boil.

Remove lid, reduce the heat to medium, add the semolina/rava slowly in a stream but keep mixing with your other hand continuously. Or else it will form clumps.

Cover immediately and let it cook on low-medium heat for 5 minutes.

Uncover, add the chopped cilantro, lemon juice and a wee bit of butter, mix well and serve.

Chutneys go great as a side for this dish. Get your pick here.

This dish goes to Sangeeth's Eat Healthy - During Pregnancy event

Low fat Almond and Oats Cookie - Eggless

2008-12-10T15:28:00.002-08:00

It is amazing that the amount of different varieties of cookies I make, and yet this is my first post on my blog under "Cookies"!
Yay! This day marks the creation of my new label!

And how did I land up on this one? The last place I would look to find a cookie recipe...when my hand reaches the trash can to toss something, nope, it is not yet inside it :) That would be gross!

Just when I was throwing away a plastic bag which previously contatined oat flour. My eyes grew wide and my hands trembled with excitement!
Well, not exactly... I just had to stare hard enough to read the recipe by itself, it was that small !
Yep, found this treasure right there. Lesson learnt.
So the next time look out for those recipes on those packages. You are bound to find something that interests you.

The recipe was in original not a very healthy one, had butter and sugar enough to make me sick. But with a little adjustments, I was able to turn them into the best cookies I have ever tasted! And healthy too.
Trust me on this one okay? I don't give my approval nod that easily, and I promise delight to those of you who care to try it.
It is not that difficult, so what are you waiting for?

Low fat Almond and Oats Cookie - Eggless

Ingredients:

Sifted oat flour - 1 1/4 cup (May substitute by grinding quick cooking oats, and sifting it if you dont have ready made oat flour on hand)
Almond meal - 1 cup (May substitute by grinding whole almonds into a powder)
Butter - 3-4 tbsp
Sugar - 4-5 tbsp (depending on your sweetness level)
Pure Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Method:

Preheat oven at 300 F.

Grease cookie sheet and set aside.

Using a hand mixer blend butter and sugar together until creamy (about 4 min)

Add the oat flour, vanilla extract and almond meal and mix with a rubber spatula until well combined.

Form into small balls and place on the cookie sheet. They spread out, so leave enough place between the cookie dough balls.

Bake for about 30 min. Or till slightly cracked and brown on top.

Remove from tray and let them cool. They will firm up on cooling.

You may roll them in more sugar if you want, but I doubt if you can ever keep away from them for that long! They are one of the best cookies ever!

Yields: 20 medium cookies. They are crunchy, not soft.

Here is a lovely set of events I am sending these cookies to:

Vandana's Baking for Beginners
JZ's Santa's Holiday Challenge
Sharmi's Cookie Baking Event
Trupti's Winter Treat Event
Purva's Festive Food - Christmas
Happy Cook's Home Made Christmas Gifts Event
Sangeeth's Eat Healthy - Pregnancy
Susan's Christmas Cookies

Quesadilla with Leftover Veggies and Whole grain tortillas

2008-12-06T08:02:00.000-08:00

What I eat as everyday food, is not just the breads, cakes and fancy stuff that I write about. So, here is one meal that you can quickly put together with just a few leftover and essential ingredients from your pantry and fridge. I used some leftover veggies from making eggs the previous days.

Quesadillas are one of my favorite Mexican foods that can be easily re created at home and is relatively healthier depending on what you decide to stuff in them.
This is one of the dishes where I like mine better than the restaurant served ones.

I have not given any measurements for the recipe, as it is really is upto you to add how much and whatever you want.
My most common problem with making quesadillas is overloading the veggies. Use lesser than you think you would need. That should do the trick.

And when buying re-fried beans (that normally come in cans), and if you are a vegetarian, check for the ingredient list at the back of the can. Sometimes they do add some kind of meat products/derivatives.
So in short, check for 100% vegetarian beans. Fat free is even better.

This is as easy as it gets.

Quesadilla with Leftover Veggies and Whole grain tortillas

Ingredients:

Whole grain tortillas - 2 (One folds into two, so really depends on how much you want)
Leftover veggies - I used Zucchini, Onions, Jalapenos, Cilantro, and Olives
Fat free re-fried beans - To spread
Jalapenos - A few sliced
Cilantro - Chopped
Part skim mozzarella cheese - Grated
Red chilly flakes, Pepper and Salt - As need be
Olive Oil - As need be

Method:

Heat a non stick griddle on medium heat.

Lay the tortilla and spread warmed re-fried beans. Sprinkle cheese, and layer the veggies on top of it.

Season with salt, pepper / red chilly flakes.

Top off with cilantro or any herb or your choice.

Folder over, and lay it on the hot greased griddle, and cook on both sides with a little bit of oil.

Sweet cinnamon monkey bread - A cinnamon roll wannabe

2008-12-03T15:10:00.000-08:00

The sweet smell of baked cinnamon rolls wafting through the air, many a times wondering how it could actually sweeten up the air it mingles with. The aroma and warmth of it just unbeatable.
Sigh! But those cinnamon rolls are loaded with butter and sugar that makes it exclusive, isn't it? Oh well, at least the icing that goes on top of it. Without the icing, it is just makes a mass of swirled dough!

This recipe fuses two of my favorite things, bread and those sinful cinnamon rolls. I did come up with this just because I couldn't resist the idea of bringing those two in one healthful dish and also because I just adore the spice called Cinnamon.
In fact, it is such a versatile spice, used in both savory and sweets dishes. But again, to best preserve its aroma and flavor, I always store a good quality cinnamon powder and sticks in the freezer.

The name "monkey bread", because it is basically a pull apart bread, that comes off in little individual rolls. They are usually single layered, but I stacked them on top to give it that bee hive effect.
You may also slice them, toast it, and slather a little of some good spread mixed with honey and "wow" yourself! :)

My recipe calls for 1/4 cup of cinnamon and sugar mixed together, but this actually does not knead that much. It is just the minimum I could come up with so that I can acutally roll the dough in. You will have a lot of leftover which you may use later.
So people who are trying to stay away from sugar... try not be intimidated by this one.

Sweet cinnamon monkey bread

Ingredients:

White Whole wheat flour - 3 cups
Whole wheat pastry flour - 1 cup
Yeast - 2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Warm water - 1/4 cup
Salt - To taste
Water - To knead
Cinnamon + Sugar - 1/4 cup (Adjust the concentration of cinnamon as need be)

Method:

Mix yeast, and 1 tsp of sugar with warm water. Let it activate for about 10 min.

Meanwhile mix the flour and salt together. Add it to the yeast mixture and knead along with salt and more water.

Knead till it forms a smooth ball. That should be about 15 min. The more you knead, the better rise you will get.

Cover and let it sit for about 2 hours, till it doubles.

Plop it over onto a floured surface and fold over a few times.

Roll them into balls and coat each one with cinnamon sugar and arrange on the baking pan of any shape you prefer. They will expand, so space in between them in okay.

Cover and let it rise for about an hour or two.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Bake for about 40 min or until golden brown on top and the cinnamon sugar gives it a nice color.

Rest for about an hour outside the oven.

You could either pull them apart or slice them to serve.

Ricotta Chocolate Fudgy Wedges - Not a speck of flour

2008-11-30T07:41:00.000-08:00

For those who have been wondering where I have been for the last week... I happened to take a small trip for the holidays and now I am back :)
So, if it is not too late, Happy Thanksgiving!
My last post was about plagiarism experienced by another blogger, and now it seems to have been solved. Or at least I hope it is entirely.
One thing I learned through all this was, it is important for us to keep an eye out for other bloggers, notify them of pictures/content that have been used without giving due credit of without prior permission (if you come across any that is.)
You never know when it might happen to you, and at that time, you will have to reach out for help.
I tried to do my part, and I am happy about it.

Necessity is the mother of all invention; necessity being the dire need to use up leftover Ricotta cheese from making Fatfree Rasamalai, and the invention being these chocolatey, fudgy wedges. What is not to like with chocolate and fudge going in the same sentence?
Oh, and did I mention that it was fat-free?
This is one of my own inventions, and I am pretty content. This is not a firm wedge, it is soft delicate and needs a fork or spoon.
No flour has been used in this recipe, so this would be perfect for people with wheat/any kind of flour intolerance.
Please remember that this does have dairy and nuts.

It is best served chilled and tastes even better the next day.

Ricotta Chocolate Fudgy Wedges

Ingredients:

Fatfree/Lowfat Ricotta Cheese - 3 cups
Nonfat Milk Powder - 1 to 2 cups
Sugar - 1/2 cup or to taste
Semi Sweet Chocolate chips - 1 cup (or more for prominent chocolate flavor)
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Nuts & Chocolate chips - To garnish

Method:

In a non-stick pan, heat ricotta cheese and sugar on medium heat till the water evaporates.
Add the milk powder and mix well till the mixture thickens.

You should be able to form a ball with your hands.

Melt chocolate chips in a microwave and add it to the ricotta mixture.
Add vanilla essence.

Still well until combined.

Remove from heat and transfer into a round greased tray.

Let it cool. Cut into wedges and sprinkle with nuts and chocolate chips and serve cold.
Tastes even better the next day.

Cutlets wrapped in Roasted Eggplant blankets - Fight against plagiarism

2008-11-24T03:12:00.000-08:00

What kind of person steals others hard work and take credit?
There have been many a bloggers who have been victims of plagiarism and just completely fell off the blogging world.
Writing a food blog is a lot of hard work, and almost becomes an extended part of oneself. In some cases, we look for some kind of a creative outlet through this work.
Cooking, taking pictures, in many cases coming up with your own recipe is not easy. And bringing it all together in a cohesive manner is even more tougher.
Malar Gandhi of "Kitchen Tantra" has been a recent victim of plagiarism, and has voiced her concerns in her post.
So please voice out your support to her and many others. This could happen to any of us.
Leaving comments and appreciating ones work is not only what we food bloggers are here for.
And if you have any suggestions about how to deal with this issue, please leave your comments on Malar's blog.

Support, and let the world know that we won't let our fellow blogger(s) down.
Voice it out, and voice it out loud.
Probably as big as this Eggplant!

Keeping today's recipe simple...
Remember my Garbanzo and Potato cutlet?
This is just kicking it up a notch, making it look pretty and what not...
Would be a perfect appetizer for a party and fun events.

Cutlets wrapped in Roasted Eggplant blankets

Ingredients:

Garbanzo Cutlets

Large Eggplant - 1
Salt - To taste
Pepper - To sprinkle
Olive oil - To roast eggplant slices

Method:

Make the Garbanzo cutlets and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Slice the Eggplant into thin slices lengthwise.

Heat oil in a large flat griddle.

Lay on the eggplant slices and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides and cook till soft.

Wrap the cutlets in the roasted eggplant slices and seal it with a toothpick.

Bake until lightly brown and crispy.

Remove and serve along with tomato sauce or chutney/dip.

Works well as an appetizer.

Cranberry Pickle - Taureans and reds

2008-11-21T06:58:00.000-08:00

I know, this picture above is a little blurry, but I couldn't resist posting it. The red on the green background... just adored the combination.

"Are you a Taurean? They stay away from red. Red infuriates the "bull.""
Ever heard that before?
It was in a "Sun Signs" book (the author I don't remember, but it was a fairly well-known book, and it is pretty old too) that held my attention for a long time. This sounds very amusing to me at the moment, I am a Taurean and I love red!
Either the advise was wrong, or I am just plain different.
Red is the reason (though not the only reason)I can't keep my hands off this one pickle. And no, this red does not make me charge :)

This is the Indian pickle. Not the kind soaked in vinegar. Very small quantities (because it is very hot) can be used as a side dish in a sober meal. I personally prefer to pair it with rice mixed with yogurt. Commonly referred to as the "Curd rice".

Select nice bright red cranberries for this pickle. Fresher the better. You can test its freshness by throwing a berry on the kitchen counter, if it bounces back (like a ball), then it is pretty fresh. The ones that don't may have been sitting at your grocer's for a little too long. I recommend using the freshest ones for this pickle. It does make a difference. Cranberries initially start out as white berries and turn red as they ripen on the plant. And are a decent source of antioxidants.

These look like little rubies, don't they?

Cranberry Pickle

Ingredients:

Fresh cranberries - 3-4 cups
Red chilly powder - 1 cup (Please adjust the heat level according to your taste)
Salt - To taste (It is a pickle, so it needs more than a regular dish)
Mustard seeds - 2 tbsp
Asafoetida/Hing - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds powder - 2 pinches
Olive Oil - 3/4 cup

Method:

Heat oil in a small pan. When it is warm, add mustard seeds.

After they splutter add the Asafoetida.

Immediately add the cranberries, red chilly powder, salt and mix well on medium heat.

Saute till the berries start to pop open. About 10 minutes. Do not let all of them to pop, they will turn mushy. You should be able to see some whole cranberries.
That is what makes it interesting.

Turn off heat, add the fenugreek seed powder and mix well.

Cool and store in an air-tight container for a week at room temperature. Or store them in the refrigerator for later use. Mine stays nicely for a month or two.

Garlic and Red chilly Naan/Flatbread - Oven method

2008-11-18T14:44:00.002-08:00

Among all the breads I have posted here, not one is an Indian flatbread (excluding the "chapathis" of course!)
This is where that leaves me... this time staying close to my natural abilities, and came up with my own version of "Naan" which is fondly referred to as the Indian flatbread.
The flour used in this recipe is "Atta", a whole wheat stone-ground flour (Or you may just use the regular whole wheat flour.)
If you are close to an Indian store, try to grab a small bag of this (Atta). They do have heavyweights like the 20lbs. bags! But if you are new to these kinds of breads you may not end up using all of it, so in this case smaller is in fact better! :)

Dried red chillies add a hot zing with the garlicky flavor complementing it perfectly. Being my own creation, I did go a little high on the heat levels, but the recipe listed below uses a saner amount of chillies.

A small tip about removing garlic smell from your hands after peeling them... rub your fingers over a stainless steel spoon keeping both spoon and hands under flowing water. This will remove the stubborn smell from your fingers and prevent it from getting onto other food that you maybe multi-tasking with. Works for me!

And again, this is an oven version of the flatbread, I will be posting other methods of making them sooner or later. This is my first attempt at Naan and I just hope it will get better from now on. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Garlic and Red chilly Naan/Flatbread

Ingredients:

Atta/Whole wheat flour - 3 1/2 cups
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Yeast - 2 tsp
Warm water - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Garlic - 4 cloves
Crushed dried red chillies - 4-5 (Depending on how much heat you can take)
Salt - To Taste
Olive oil - 3 tbsp + a little for brushing on top of the bread.
Water - To knead bread

Method:

Chop and roast the garlic along with dried red chillies in a small pan with olive oil. Set aside.

Add the warm water to the yeast, add sugar, mix well, and let it sit till frothy (about 10 min)

Mix flour and salt, add the yeast mixture, garlic and red chilly flakes and add water enough to form into a not-so-tight ball.

Knead this dough ball for about 15 min to develop the gluten and it should be smooth when you are done.

Coat with a tad bit of oil, cover and let it rest in a large bowl for about 2 hours. The dough will expand.

After a couple of hours, the dough will look like this.

Preheat oven to 425F.

Take it out on a floured board and fold over for about 4 to 5 times and pinch out large lemon-sized balls and roll it out with the help of a rolling pin or just use your hands to spread it out like a pizza dough.

Place on a baking stone or sheet, and bake for about 10-15 min or till it is brown on top.
Brush with olive oil/butter as it comes out of the oven.

Enjoy warm with your choice of vegetables and yogurt to make a nice balanced meal. Or make it extra special with rich gravies.

Sending it off to Susan's Wild Yeast Spotting event

Low fat Banana Brownie Pizza - Sensual yet casual

2008-11-17T07:58:00.001-08:00

Would like to thank firstly all those people who thought my blog and its content was worthy of awards. Thanks everyone, and will get around to passing it soon.

Care for some dessert pizza with chocolate and bananas?

I have had some questions about whole wheat pastry flour recently, to answer those in short, you can find this is the flour aisle (or the speciality flour aisle) in the grocery store (in the US), or in the bulk section of the health food store. I am not sure about the availability in other countries.
They are a finer and lighter than the regular whole wheat flour, and can be used as healthier substitute for all purpose flour in cakes, cookies and brownies such as these. Sifting the flour gives a airier texture and feel to the end product, though not completely necessary.

Another point to note (like I have already mentioned) when making brownies, is not to use a hand mixer of any kind. Brownies are dense and chewy, unlike the cakes which are lighter. Using a hand mixer will only incorporate air into it which won't make for a perfect brownie.

Bananas in the batter add a light fruity aroma and taste to it, and with chocolate is it just the perfect sensual yet casual dessert pizza one could ask for.

Low fat Banana Brownie Pizza

For the banana brownie layer:

Whole wheat pastry flour - 1 cup
Melted semi sweet chocolate chips - 1/4 cup
Unsweetened cocoa - 1/4 cup
Nonfat dry milk powder - 1/4 cup
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Ripe banana - 1 large
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Egg - 1 large
Buttermilk - 1/4 cup
Vanilla extract - 1 tbsp

For topping:

Bananas - Sliced
Heavy whipping cream - Whipped and chilled
Agave nectar - To drizzle

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease a round cake tin and set aside.

Mix all the dry ingredients, whole wheat pastry flour, cocoa, milk powder and baking soda in a bowl.

In a food processor, combine banana, melted chocolate chips, sugar, egg, buttermilk, and vanilla till smooth.

Whisk in the dry ingredients into the wet mixture just until combined, do not over mix.

Bake at 350F for 20-25 min or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center. Do not over bake.

Allow to cool completely. Top with whipped cream, and bananas and drizzle a little agave nectar (or honey would work fine too) on top. I added a wee bit of chopped chocolate as well.

Cut into pizza like wedges and indulge.

This goes to Aparna's Sweet celebrations and Mansi's Vegtarian Thanksgiving

Wild Rice Salad with Cashews and Lemon-Mint Dressing

2008-11-13T15:11:00.002-08:00

I took this amazing cooking class instructed by Omid Roustaei, (who is also a personal chef) a few weeks back. As healthy and nutritious as all his creations that day were, there was one particular dish that caught my attention "The wild rice salad".
It was a sensual burst of flavors in my mouth, almost like a perfect medley of sweet, bitter, nutty and every bit pleasantly Herby.

Wild rice is a different variety of rice that grows in water, and only the flowering part is above the water. It is black in color and high in protein, amino acids and dietary fiber, and low in fat. Gluten-free like every other rice.
They are normally used in sync with other rices and sold like a medley, but they can be brought separately too, and can be used in salads like these. They are harder than normal rice, and thus takes longer to cook.
I don't use wild rice on a regular basis, so got what I needed in the bulk section of the grocery store, that works out cheaper too.

The original recipe called for cranberries which I omitted, added green bell peppers, and subtituted zucchini with raw mangoes. And it turned out just the way I liked it.
Mangoes did add its own magic to the whole salad. It is a must try. And super healthy too.

Wild Rice Salad with Cashews and Lemon-Mint Dressing

Ingredients:

Salad:
Wild rice -1 cup
Vegetable broth - 2 1/4 cups
Raddichio/any bitter greens - 1/2 cup
Raw mango - 1 small (diced) (Could substitute this with zucchini)
Red pepper - 1 (diced)
Green bell pepper - 1 small (diced)
Carrot - 1 (diced)
Roasted salted cashew nuts - 1/2 cup
Salt - To taste

Dressing:
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Lemon juice - From 2 large lemons
Garlic - 4 cloves (finely chopped)
Mint - 1 bunch chopped
Pepper - 1 tsp
Salt - To taste

Method:

In a cooking pot, combine wild rice, salt and broth and bring to to a boil. Simmer, and cover. Cook for about 40 - 60 min or till the grain is soft.
I used a rice cooker to cook the wild rice, so did not have to keep checking.
Cool completely.

In another large bowl, mix all the ingredients listed in the dressing section.

To this add the cooled wild rice, the rest of the vegetables, (except cashews), salt and pepper and let it sit for an hour in the refrigerator.

Just before serving add the roasted cashew nuts and serve.

Yields 4 to 6 servings.

This goes to:

Sangeeth's Eat Healthy Fight Diabetes event
Srivalli's Rice mela event
Kimi's Nourishing Holiday Food event
Ivy's World Food Day event
Suganya's Vegan Ventures event

Whole-wheat Chocolate Linzer cake - Photography in the dark

2008-11-11T08:44:00.004-08:00

Any good food photographer will stress the importance of good lighting when one is doing food photography. (I am not one!) But what does a person like me do when the sun just won't shine???
With the cold gloomy winter setting in (if you have ever been/lived in the Pacific NW, then you would empathize with me) , taking photographs of food is getting challenging every day. I just have a normal digital camera, and I am so lost.
I have seen the food lighting project in a few blogs, but I just haven't got around to figuring it out, unless someone would do it for me. ;)
And the "white balance" feature in the camera just makes the food look eerie. LOL.

I would love to hear from you, how do you take good pictures when the right amount of lighting is not there?
I will update this post with good suggestions and ideas as I get them, that way everyone can benefit.

Few Updates: (For the rest, pls check the "comments" section)
I would have loved to link back to you guys (like I normally do), but the "post options" is screwed up right now in blogger! So frustrating!

"Priya of Akshayapatram": Lighting is a major problem and you can never beat good sunlight. I made the lighting system based on Lowel ego lights following Jai's instructions. It works very well, but I find it bulky to move around my apartment, as I don't have a dedicated place to set it up in. For now its lying on my bedroom floor and I usually don't have the patience to carry the food there to set it up and take photos. So size it based on your needs.
I have been managing at my kitchen counter with the tube lights ON,white light is the best! Planning on getting a smaller lamp that will be brighter, use a thin paper to diffuse the light coming out of table lamps though to avoid its harshness. You could also make use of the thermacol pieces that come with packages to bounce the light off surfaces to get good shadows/even lighting.
And then there is always an editing/post processing software to help you out a little. If you have a decently good capture, you can make it work by adjusting the brightness/contrast/exposure settings on it.

"Purva of Purva's Daawat": Softwares like picasa helps you making adjustments in the brightness of your picture.

"PG of My Kitchen stories": Try to optimise the colour balance in Adobe photoshop. It does no magic, but you can improve them a bit.

"Nirmala of Passionate Trials": Install a photo editor like Gimp (free) or Photoshop and you can add brightness to your photos very easily.

"Uma of Essence of Andhra": When you want to take a picture at night, just switch off the light in the room! Then switch on the flash of the camera and click the photo. You'll definitely get a perfect picture. I clicked a few pictures using this method and they are just perfect and bright. Will post those pics soon!

Cake, my dear loving cake... (I had ample sunlight when I took these pics, so I am not complaining about this one)

This is a cake modification of the "Austrian Linzer tart" recipe, and I have tried to take on a guilt free variation with a "no-butter", and "less-sugar" version made entirely with 100% whole wheat flour. What better than indulging in a cake without having to worry about your waistline!

Whole-wheat Chocolate Linzer cake

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 2 round cake pans (maybe 8-9" diameter)/line them with parchment paper.

Dry Ingredients:

100% whole wheat pastry flour - 3/4 cup (Try not to use the regular whole wheat flour, unless you want a very dense cake)
Cocoa powder - 3 tbsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Wet Ingredients:

Whole almonds - 2/3 cup
Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp
Skim milk - 2 tbsp
Almond extract - 3/4 tsp
Large eggs - 4 (Separated, meaning white and yolks in separate bowls)
Sugar - 3/4 cups (I use a little less)
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

For finishing:

Strawberry preserves - 3/4 cup
Confectioner's sugar - Just enough to cover the top of the cake
Fresh strawberries - As many as you like!

Method:

Sift all the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Take the egg whites and beat them on low speed in a hand mixer till soft peaks form, slowly add 1/4 cup sugar and beat till you get stiff peaks.

Grind the almonds in a food processor, then add the milk, almond extract and vegetable oil and pulse till it forms a wet mass.

Beat the egg yolks & 1/2 cup of sugar separately in a bowl till the mixture turns pale yellow and creamy. Add vanilla essence.

Now add the almond mixture and mix till incorporated with the egg yolk mixture. Then add the flour mixture and fold/mix evenly.

Add one-third of the beaten egg whites and fold into the above mixture. Do not beat/whisk (as tough as it may be), then add the rest of the egg whites and fold till the batter looks even.

Divide equally into the two prepped pans and tap gently to settle the air bubbles.

Bake in a pre-heated oven for 10 min, turn the pans midway, then bake for another 10 min.
Cool completely on a cake rack for atleast an hour.

Spread the strawberry preserves evenly on top of one cake, and then place the other cake on top and press firmly.
I did have pre-powdered sugar with cardamom (Indian spice) and it co-ordinated pretty well with the cake.
Dust the powdered sugar on top and decorate with fresh strawberries. Cut yourself a slice and enjoy!

This goes to:

Aparna's Blog anniversary
Mansi's Vegetarian Thanksgiving
Not Quite Nigella's The Ultimate Chocolate Cake
DK's AWED American

Semolina Bread Loaf - Amateur's delight

2008-11-08T22:13:00.001-08:00

What is Semolina to a lot of people, is good old Sooji/Ravai to many of us.
It is also predominantly used to make pastas of different shapes and sizes. When one could make so much out of it, why not bread?

The last time I did a bread post, the most comments I got were how daunting bread making was to most of them. I really wanted to make something that was approachable and doable by even someone who is just starting out. So here it is, this time I forbid you from leaving comments that you can't do this :)

If you have never tried making bread before, this is a great place to start. And if you are a bread maker in the family, then this is something you should never miss.

For someone who is into healthy food like me, it may not be as "healthy" as whole wheat flour, but it does come out light, fluffy and has a beautiful light yellow tinge to it. How can one resist that?

Semolina flour should be available in the flour aisle of your grocery store, but I doubt there would be a pantry that uses Indian provisions where Semolina/Sooji/Ravai is missing!
So grab that, and grind it into a fine powder. It is sometimes difficult to achieve that because they are still coarse after grinding. If you have a heavy duty blender, sure give it a shot. I just got mine from the store. It was way easier.
But even the semolina flour that I got from the store, was a little coarse (texture was like fine granulated sugar)
I found the recipe from here, but the method I have followed is slightly different, and hence the detailed procedure in this post.

Go ahead, be bold, give it a try. I have tried to explain step-wise with pictures for your benefit.
Bread making doesn't have to be daunting anymore. Go girls and boys!

Semolina Bread Loaf

Ingredients:

Semolina flour - 3 1/4 cups (finely ground)
Warm water - 1 1/2 cups
Instant yeast - 1 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Olive oil - 1/4 cup
Celtic sea salt - 1 1/2 tsp (Or to taste) (Can substitute with regular salt)

Method:

Dissolve yeast and sugar in the warm water and set aside for 5 minutes. It will froth up.

Add the flour, olive oil and salt and mix well.

Knead for about 15 minutes by hand till you get a smooth ball. Dust with flour if needed.

Coat with a teaspoon of oil, cover and let rise for 2 hours.

Grease a loaf pan and set aside.

After 2 hours the dough would double in size.

Take it out, folder over three or four times. There is no need to punch it down.

Roll into the size of the loaf pan, place it seam side down into the pan. Cover and let rise for about 1-2 hours. This method is called proofing.

Preheat oven to 375F.

When you see the dough spilling over the sides of the pan after rising, it is time to bake it off.

Bake it for 35-45 minutes, and the crust should be golden brown.

Remove from loaf pan, and let it rest for about an hour.
You may store this at room temperature for about 3 days, and store in the refrigerator for longer. I doubt if one can keep their hands off of this bread! Tastes divine.

This goes to:

Susan's Yeast Spotting
Mansi's Vegetarian Thanksgiving
Boaz's Bread Baking Day #14: Colored Breads
Suganya's Vegan ventures

Tofu Fennel Veggie skewers - Cookbook win

2008-11-05T06:54:00.000-08:00

It does feel good to win something, especially a cookbook for a foodie like me.
Sra had this wonderful event "My legume love affair" last month. I did send my recipes like I do for any normal event, and then came the pleasant surprise that I won a cookbook for the event. I did not even know there was a giveaway until then.
Thanks Curry Leaf for letting me know about the win first, and for sharing the enthusiasm :)
The winning legumey recipe I sent in for the event was Garbanzo beans & Potato Cutlet

Let's talk some skewers, grills and fennel...

Grill pan would be an ideal choice for making skewered vegetables, but it not necessary. I used a normal griddle, and worked out just fine. You may alternatively also try roasting in the oven.

Skewers are normally made from wood, and need to be soaked in water before punching in the veggies. Otherwise you will end up burning the skewers from the heat.
Nobody likes burnt wood on the vegetables now, do they?

Fennel bulbs have a mild anise flavor and are commonly mislabelled as "anise" in some supermarkets. When buying fennel bulb, look for a white bulb with nice bright green thin leaves (like in the picture above, yeah I did cut off the top before I realized I wanted to take a picture).
The bulb is basically inflated leaf bases and are layered (like an onion)
Fennel seeds are commonly used in Indian cooking for seasoning or as a spice.
Another one of my recipes, that uses fennel is Egg Puffs.

Tofu Fennel Veggie skewers

Ingredients:

Firm tofu - 1 package
Fennel - A bulb
Carrots - One or two
Green bell pepper - 1 large
Red onions - 1 large
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Salt - To taste
Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Olive oil - 2 tsp
Wooden skewers

Method:

Cut all the veggies into large cubes.

Drain water completely off the tofu, wrap in towel and place an heavy object on it for about 15 min.
Cut tofu into the same size as the veggies into cubes, and toss together with salt, oil, pepper, turmeric and red chilly powder till completely coated with spices and oil.

I like to roast my tofu in the oven at 425F for 20-30 min before skewering. That way my tofu is well cooked and the veggies are a little raw and get grilled only after skewering.

Skewer all the vegetables and tofu, and grill them on a pan till the sides are brown and roasted.
Another option if you don't have a skewer or a grill pan would be to toss all the veggies and tofu into a hot wok and saute.

Serve hot with rice or noodles.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

2008-11-03T15:03:00.002-08:00

My second pumpkin dish in a row :) This is exactly the opposite of the Roasted Pie-Pumpkin spicy chutney I made a few days back. Time for something sweet, and something chocolate!
It just made me realize how versatile the pumpkin as a vegetable is, very few vegetables could boast of being that, tasting good in a dessert as well as a hot and savory dish.

Two thumbs up to Adam from whom I adapted this recipe... I made this the very same day he did the post. Well, it did take some time for me to post it, due to blah, blah, blah... but nevertheless here it is.
The only sad thing was I did not have any ice cream to go with it that day. Warm soft chewy brownies with cold vanilla ice cream melting on top. My taste buds just go bonkers over it.
But otherwise, it was great by itself.

Just a quick tip, whatever kind of brownies you are making, it is advisable to use a spatula to mix all the ingredients together. Using a hand mixer will incorporate air into the mix, and the brownie will end up like cake. Brownies are naturally dense, so keep them thick and soft.

I did make some small changes with the flour, cream cheese, butter, and sugar, so I have given the recipe below for the brownies you see in the picture.
If you like pumpkins and chocolate, this is your kind of dessert.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients:

For the Pumpkin Cheesecake layer:

Fat free cream cheese - 8oz.
Pumpkin puree - 3/4 cup
Egg yolk- 1 (you will use up the white for the brownie part)
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Cinnamon powder- 1/2 tsp
Ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg powder- 1/8 tsp

For the Brownie Layer:

Whole wheat pastry flour - 1/2 cup
Unsalted butter - 2 oz.
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Espresso - 1 tsp
Semisweet chocolate chips - 4 oz + 4 oz
Eggs - 1 whole, and 1 egg white
Vanilla - 1 tsp
Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Walnuts - 1/2 cup (chopped)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease a 8" square pan and set aside.

Take the softened cream cheese and sugar and cream together with the help of a hand blender. For about 4-5 minutes.
Add pumpkin puree and the egg yolk. Then the cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger powder goes in. The resulting mixture will be somewhat thin, you may want to check the consistency as you add the pumpkin puree. Stop when you think it gets too watery.
I used about 3/4 cup and the batter was still a little thin.
Refrigerate this mixture until you make the brownie layer. It does help to thicken slightly.

For the brownie, melt the butter and add 4oz. of chocolate chips to that and keep stirring. I did this in a microwave, checking at regular intervals. Chocolate burns faster in a microwave. Keep stirring till it is glossy and let it slightly cool.

Now add the sugar, keep mixing. Then add eggs and vanilla and mix well with a rubber spatula.

In another bowl, sift together the whole wheat pastry flour, espresso and baking powder.

Toss the dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture, mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Add the walnuts and the rest of the chocolate chips (4oz.)and fold in.

Take the greased pan, pour in the brownie mix, then pour the pumpkin cheesecake mix on top.

Bake for about 45 min. Check the middle with a toothpick. Bake until it comes out clean. Do not overbake.

This goes to:

Aparna's Blog anniversary
and
Art You Eat #5 - Autumn Edition

Roasted Pie-Pumpkin Chutney - Spice it up

2008-10-31T07:15:00.001-07:00

Have you ever tried to make something that you wouldn't normally associate with a vegetable or fruit? I bet you have at some point. This is one such recipe, taking sweet pie-pumpkin and turning it into something hot and fiery.

Pie-pumpkins are the smaller, sweeter variety of pumpkins, and have a firmer and a bright orange flesh.
Yes, they are slightly sweet, but you won't even taste it by the time you are done making the chutney.
Please do bear in mind, that this is a nice spicy/hot chutney (not for the faint of heart), the dried red chillies added were primarily to balance out the sweetness that is naturally associated with these little pie pumpkins.

As I have mentioned in the ingredients list, you could adjust the heat by lowering or adding more red chillies.
I just threw in all of my favorite things that I would normally add while making any chutney, or creating one like this for that matter.

There are very few spices as such in this dish, one that I would like to mention today is turmeric.
Turmeric has a component called "curcumin" and is emerging as a natural agent that helps fight cancer. It is also anti-inflammatory and acts as an antioxidant.
Indian cooking uses a lot of turmeric in most of the gravies, spice mixes and some savory dishes. It has graced this chutney as well.

Verdict: One of the best chutneys my kitchen helped me cook up. Delish!

Roasted Pie-Pumpkin Spicy Chutney

Ingredients:

Pie Pumpkin - 1
Onion - 2 medium (large dice)
Tomato - 2 medium (large dice)
Cumin - 1 tsp
Dried Red chillies - 4-5 (I added like 10!)
Ginger - An inch
Garlic - 3 big cloves
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 6-7 leaves
Asafoetida (Hing) - A pinch or two
Salt - To taste
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Sesame seeds - To sprinkle on top

Method:

Preheat oven to 375F.

Cut pie-pumpkin into smaller pieces (3 or 4 depending on size). Place them on a baking tray. Drizzle a little oil on it, and bake it at 375F for 40 min or more. Insert a knife, and check for doneness.
You should be able to scoop out the flesh after roasting in the oven.

In a pan, heat oil. Add the cumin, curry leaves, garlic and ginger and saute.

Add the red chillies and turmeric.

Add the diced onions, and fry until translucent. Then add the tomatoes.

Saute all the ingredients till it is slightly soft, not mushy.

Add the pumpkin flesh that you scooped out earlier, salt, asafoetida and mix everything together under medium heat and let it roast for about 5 minutes.

In a blender, add some water, add the pumpkin mixture and salt and grind till smooth.

Taste at this point, and adjust salt/heat to your taste. If it is too mild, add some red pepper flakes and grind together.
If it is too hot, try drizzling oil as you grind.

Spoon onto serving bowl, top off with a few sesame seeds. Can be served with Indian breads, Dosai/Idli, or even like a spread in sandwiches.

This goes to:
Madhuram's AFAM-Pumpkin event

Nutty Energy Power balls - Healthy laddu

2008-10-28T07:07:00.002-07:00

I wish all my readers/bloggers/non-bloggers a very Happy Deepavali.

Quick background: Deepavali is a major Indian festival, also called the "festival of lights" and marks the day when Rama (the great king of Ayodhya) defeated the demon Narakasura. More here.
The name "Deepavali" as such has undergone a make-over and has become "Diwali", but I still prefer to call it Deepavali. It has a nice ring to it.

This post happens to also mark my 50th! Still huffing and puffing! But feels like yesterday. Three months since my creative juices started flowing. Been a happy trooper since then.

Since I am celebrating Deepavali and my 50th post together, in tandem with my blog's theme of eating healthy, I present a sweet treat shaped like laddus (Indian dessert), but these are a healthy alternative to their counterparts which are loaded with butter and sugar. This is my own creation, and really has no hard-and-fast rules as to what goes in, you may increase or decrease quantity as needed. The dates and the raisins are the ones that hold the whole ball together, so I wouldn't tamper with that.
To find out what is in them that actually makes it a powerhouse of energy and nutrition, read on...

Nutty Energy Power balls - Healthy laddu

Ingredients:

Flax seeds - 10 tbsp
Peanuts - 1/4 cup
Dates - About 10
Quick Oats - 2 cups
Nuts - 1/4 cup (Assortment of almonds, walnuts and pecans)
Raisins - 1/4 cup
Chocolate chips - 1 tbsp
Cardamom - 1/4 tsp

Method:

In a food processor, blend all the ingredients separately except the dates and raisins.

Add the dates and raisins separately and blend. This will turn into a nice gooey mass. Now add the rest of the ingredients and mix everything together in the food processor.

Shape them into little balls, and serve. Store in an air-tight container for later use.

Thanks Yasmeen for the "Chocoholic Award". I somehow did manage to get some chocolate into this recipe ;)

Rolling them off to:

Priti's Festive Food: Diwali
Sunshinemom's FIC-Brown
Srivalli's JFI – Festival Treats
Aparna's Blog Anniversary
Easy Crafts WYF: Party Food
Vaishali's Sweet Vegan

Eggplant Curry Pizza on a Pita

2008-10-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

Why is it that as adults we forget to be like children at times? The carefree attitude, no responsibilities, being happy with little things that cross our way... and the most importantly - to laugh.
Ah, it was so good to be a child. Free from pressures, stress and all the lifestyle changes that come with it.
I am not asking everyone to leave their jobs or responsibilities and sit at home and fool around. But wouldn't it be nice to make some teeny weeny time to be children again.? That would be the greatest relaxation one could ask for.
Smile at small things that you wouldn't stop by to appreciate, and appreciate things (and people) that we would otherwise take for granted, and laugh with your loved ones like we were children again.
As we grow up, we need bigger and grander things to make us laugh. The little things that amused us as children don't interest us anymore. The small actions that we used to enjoy have lost its charm. Yes, the problems, the loss, the relationships, the rat-race all come as reasons in this rapidly changing world. The only question is "What is it that matters to me at the end of all this?" Tough, but me included needs to figure that out.
But for the meantime, there needs to be no reason, or a grand joke. Smile, it costs absolutely nothing. :)

I wouldn't bog you down with a heavy dose of cooking today after all that talk...
Let us keep it light and quick.
Pizzas and I go a long way back. Getting the pizza base from the store back home, and adding on cheese and toppings, and compensating the lack of a oven with a griddle, and by covering it up with a big pot to make the cheese melt.
You ask why the trouble? Well, the "pizza huts" hadn't started mushrooming yet.
And what else was a girl supposed to do, than make her own pizzas?
Now, it is a breeze, like this one. I used the Eggplant in coco-peanut curry as the main ingredient in this one. Worked like a charm. So, if you are having leftovers of curries, and masalas, now you know what to do!
Smear on!

Eggplant Curry Pizza

Ingredients:

For the masala recipe: Click here

For the pizza base: Use a ready made whole wheat pizza crust, or a pita bread. I used a whole grain pita.

Pizza sauce - Just enough to smear on the base
Potato slices - Baked or microwaved with a little salt (optional)
Part skim mozzarella cheese - To sprinkle on top, you could do heavy or light as you prefer.
Red pepper flakes - To season

Method:

Preheat oven to 425F.

Smear the pizza base with the sauce lightly.

Top with the eggplant masala and place a few potato slices on top.

Sprinkle with cheese and red pepper flakes.

Bake it off at 425F till the cheese is bubbly and lightly brown.

Take it off the sheet and dig in. As simple as that.

Thanks Ramya for passing on the "Hard Working Food Blogger Award" and for thinking of me.

Almond Puri with Fat-free milk halwa - For the books

2008-10-22T15:19:00.001-07:00

Confused as to why all the sudden "fried goodness" from me?
Well, this is an old post and has an update, this recipe "Almond Puri" along with my "Egg Puffs" recipe has been published in the "Ekal INCREDELICIOUS 2008 Recipe Treasures" book.
This whole experience from participating, winning, and to this, could be called my trigger to start writing this blog and showcasing my recipes online. I am pretty happy with both.

Puri is a kind of unleavened bread that is deep fried in oil. It is served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is basically savory, meaning it is made from flour and salt. But this is a dessert variety. I have not tasted sweet puris anywhere else other than those made by my mother. So, this is what says "home" to me.

My enthusiastic post written earlier on is here:
Now it feels like reading a long lost secret letter!

My "Almond Puri" recipe won the second place in the "Ekal Incredelicious 2008" in the dessert category. Yay! my first win in any competition ever! And feels good...
This is my mom's recipe which my brother and I used to love as children. Just a few tweaks here and there, and made it my own.
If you have visited my blog before, you might have noticed that I am normally into healthful cooking, but a few puris in moderation never hurt, right?

I must admit that there were quite a few interesting and delicious plates alongside mine, and were quite innovative. Got an opportunity to learn a lot of new things! A good experience overall :)
I am posting this recipe for the people who tasted it yesterday and wanted to try it at home. Happy cooking!

Almond Puri with Fat-free milk halwa

Ingredients:

For Puri:
Whole wheat pastry flour/Atta – 2 cups
Almond paste – ½ cup (Soak, peel, and grind almonds into a paste)
Nutmeg – ¼ tsp
Salt – 1 pinch
Melted butter – 1 tbsp
Clove – A few to seal the puris
Water – If and as needed (to form a dough like consistency with the above)
Oil – For frying

For Filling:
Rice powder – ¼ cup
Ghee (clarified butter) – 3 tbsp (or just enough to form a paste with the rice powder)

For Syrup:
Sugar – 2 cups
Water – 1 cup
Cardamom powder – ½ tsp
Saffron – 1 pinch crushed

Accompaniment (optional): Milk halwa (Easy method)
Condensed milk (Fat free is an option) – 1 can
Plain yogurt (Fat free is an option) – 3 tsp
Cardamom – 1 pinch
Ghee (clarified butter) – 1tbsp
Mix all the above in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave for 2 min, take it out, mix, and microwave again for 2 min. Repeat till the mixture is light brown in color. Serve as accompaniment with the puris.
For detailed recipe check out FAT FREE MICROWAVE THERATIPAAL

Method:

Syrup: Mix sugar and water in a heavy bottomed pan and let it come to a boil. Wait till it reaches one string consistency (235° F–240° F). Add saffron and cardamom and set aside.

Puri: Mix the whole wheat flour, almond paste, salt with the melted butter. Knead till it reaches dough like consistency, if needed add a little water.

Form small balls, and roll out into circles, say 5” in diameter. Brush on the filling paste, fold into a semi circle, again brush on filling and fold such that it forms a triangle.
Seal the layers with a clove in the middle to prevent it from opening. Press down edges very slightly.

Shallow fry them over medium heat in a pan till golden brown.

Dip the puri in sugar syrup and serve them with slivered almond and pistachios along with milk halwa as accompaniment.

This is off to these lovely events:

FIC-Brown by Sunshinemom
JFI – Nov’08 – Festival Treats by Srivalli
Yummy Festival Feast - Diwali by Pallavi
Festive Food: Diwali Celebration by Priti

Banana Walnut whole wheat scones - Bananas or nuts?

2008-10-20T14:08:00.002-07:00

Have you heard of the "Talking library" in Santa Monica this weekend? It was on the news a couple of days back. The concept goes something like this...
You can borrow a human book, yes a person (instead of a book) who can converse with you on a particular subject for 30 minutes. And then if there are no holds on that person, then you can extend the lending hours.
To avoid hassle to the regular patrons of the library, these sessions are held in the open or in designated areas of the main library.
It is a part of exchanging culture, ideas and knowledge.
If you ask me, I think it is an excellent idea, I even went up on the Internet looking if there was something similar in my local library! Unfortunately not, but maybe I should place a suggestion...

This has nothing to do with today's recipe, but it was a pretty interesting piece of information worth sharing.

Are you in for bananas or nuts? Try both...
Walnuts, or any nuts for that matter are best kept in the freezer section of your refrigerator. Why? Because, nuts in themselves are loaded with natural oils, and those oils make the nuts turn rancid if kept out at room temperature. Have you had the nuts smell weird after being kept out for a long time? It happened to me all the time, but now I just get a huge bag and stash them, and forget it until I use it for something as delicious as these scones. Huge bags, because nuts are economical when purchased in bulk.
I don't need to talk about bananas now, do I?

These scones make for a great healthy breakfast or a snack to go along with coffee or tea. The frosting on top is basically a little sugar and butter drizzled on top, but this is completely optional. Since I reduced the sugar content of the scones, it was perfect to just add just a tad on top. A little honey would work just as well.

Banana Walnut whole wheat scones

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pastry flour - 3 cups
Banana - 1 cup mashed
Light brown sugar - 1/2 cup packed (I used a couple of tablespoons less)
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Cold butter - 3 tbsp (cut into small cubes)
Low fat Buttermilk - 1/4 cup
Pure Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Egg - 1
Salt - A pinch

For topping:
Walnuts - 1/3 cup (coarsely chopped)
Brown sugar - 1 tbsp

Method:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Mix the topping ingredients: brown sugar and walnuts and set aside.

Sift whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Mix in the brown sugar.

Add the cold butter and either using a pastry cutter, or with your bare fingers, rub in the flour into the butter till it is crumbly.

Now, add the egg (beaten slightly), bananas and the buttermilk and form it into a dough. Do not over knead.

Flour the surface you are going to work on, and transfer the dough, form into a ball, and roll it or pat it down into a circle, about 8" in diameter of 1/2" thickness.

Sprinkle the toppings and press it down gently.

Cut into wedges.

Grease a cookie sheet and place the wedges gently onto it.

Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes or till golden brown on top.

They are great as it is. But if you want to kick it up a notch, then drizzle honey, or combine a little sugar and butter and drizzle on top after completely cooled.

Peanut Brittle Bar to you, Chikki to me

2008-10-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

"Chikki" is what we used to call peanut brittle bars as children (I still call them that). Sounds kind of cute isn't it?
It is a integral sweet part of every school going kid, little bars of chikkis bought from small-shop vendors at the corner of every street.
They are traditionally made from peanuts and jaggery (Indian brown sugar), but they can also be made from other ingredients that I will get to shortly.

Life before candy thermometers was a bowl of cold water sitting beside the hot sugar syrup which was boiling away in a hot pan.
We would take a little of the sugar syrup and drop it into the bowl of water to see what stage it was at.
If the syrup dissolved it meant we could only use it as a syrup.
If we were able to shape it with our fingers, then it was at the soft-ball stage, and if we could roll it out without the sugar dissolving into a very firm ball, then it was at the hard-crack stage.
Those were fun days, getting to dunk the sugar in the water, playing around with the various stages of melted sugar, and then since those little pieces couldn't be put back into the hot boiling liquid, we would end up eating them!
Life's little pleasures.

Now, I just fit the pan with the thermometer and forget about it. These are labor less pleasures, which seem to suit today's lifestyle.
And here I speak as though I am a hundred years old!

The recipe here today is for making peanut brittle, you may substitute the peanuts with other nuts (say almonds, pecans or cashews), sesame seeds, or even puffed/beaten rice. The procedure listed below remains the same.

Peanut Brittle to you, Chikki to me

Ingredients:

Skinned white peanuts - 2 1/2 cups (halved, not the whole peanuts)
Jaggery (Indian brown sugar) - 1 cup packed
Water - 1/4 cup
Cardamom - 1/2 tsp
Dried Ginger powder - 1/4 tsp

Hardware:
Greased tray
Candy thermometer

Method:

Dry roast the peanuts in a pan till lightly brown or microwave it for a couple of minutes till crunchy.

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper/aluminium foil and either, grease liberally or use a non-stick spray to prevent sticking.

In a non-stick pan, fit a candy thermometer, bring the jaggery and water to a boil, mixing it frequently.

When it reaches close to hard-candy stage (a little lower than that stage), turn off the heat, and immediately add the peanuts, cardamom, and dried ginger powder.

Mix well, so the peanuts are coated with the sugar syrup.

Immediately pour the entire mixture onto the greased tray, and spread with the back of the spatula into a 1/2 inch thick layer. Do this as quickly as possible, since it tends to harden quickly.

Let it sit for about an hour to cool. If you can break off a small piece, it means the brittle has set.

Now, break the entire slab into smaller pieces by hand.

Store in an air tight container for later.

Oats Whole-wheat Bread - I say Roll

2008-10-15T15:10:00.000-07:00

I would rather call them rolls, but they are larger than rolls and smaller than a regular loaf of bread, and there in lay my confusion with naming it. So call it whatever you want, this bread/roll/mini loaf is just the fresh, home-made bread that we all crave for.

Bread making is known to be therapeutic, I don't know why, nor do I have the facts to prove it, but I would like to believe it.
Not many things in cooking is as satisfying as using your hands to make it, knead it, watch it grow, and then bake it off to a comforting perfection.
Nothing says comfort like bread, and making it is nothing less of sheer pleasure.

And I hate to stress the point, but if you are eating bread, whole wheat is the kind you should entrust your body with. Well, at least most of the times.

Let me talk about the origin of this recipe a little bit. It was taught at a "PCC cooks" class which I was assisting. PCC is a health foods stores and has various classes on healthy food concepts and nutritious cooking methods. Not all their classes focus on health, but some do, and I try to take in as much information I can. So far, so good.

From my bread making experience, here are 6 tips for a good loaf:
(This is not the end of all, I will make more bread, and I will have a lot more to share)

->I am guilty of using fancy yeasts in the past, but for real a good normal "Instant yeast" should do the job neatly.
"Highly active" sounds like something that only explosives should be labelled.

->Flours high in protein yield very good loaves. Bread flour is certainly one, but not having used that before, and for "healthy" reasons I would rather stick to the whole wheat kind. White whole wheat is lighter in color and yields a lighter loaf than the regular whole wheat flour.

->Refrigerate whole wheat flour. They become rancid if stored at room temperature. Unlike all purpose flour, it is unbleached, unrefined and filled with nutrients and those are best preserved when refrigerated.

->If you don't use a bread machine, like me and many others, kneading by hand is a non-compromising option. Infact, it gives you the satisfaction of making it all with your own hands. Knead for at least 15 min to get the gluten working in the dough.
It is hard to over-knead the bread dough.

->Hot water kills the yeast, and cold water fails to activate the yeast. Warm water is ideal, not too hot, not too cold.

->Patience is key, let the dough rise. Let the yeast do its job.

So to get off to a nice promising start, I lost the original recipe! (Laughing devilishly)
I am going to try to get the recipe and the method off of my head right now. But I promise good results if you get around to trying it.

On another note, thanks to Uma, Suma, G.Pavani, Shama, Vibaas and Curry Leaf for the nice "Butterfly award" they so kindly passed over to me. I really appreciate it girls. :)

Oats Whole-wheat Bread/Roll

Ingredients:

White whole wheat flour - 1 and 1/4 cup
Cooked oats - 1 cup
Honey - 1 tbsp
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Toasted Sunflower seeds - 1 tbsp
Yeast - 1 tbsp
Warm water - 1/4 cup (use less or more to knead)
Celtic sea salt - 1/4 tsp (or to taste)
Quick oats - A handful to roll the dough in

Method:

Mix cooked oats, honey, and oil and set aside.

Add the warm water to the yeast and let it rest for 5 min. It will become frothy.

Mix the flour, yeast, oats mixture and the salt and start kneading. Add more warm water if needed.

Knead for about 15 minutes till the dough is soft and smooth. Add the sunflower seeds and work them in for 2 minutes.
Transfer it onto a large greased bowl.

Cover the dough and let them sit for at least an hour or two to rise. The more the better.

Preheat oven to 375F.

The bread dough should have doubled in size. Then, take it out and knead them again by hand for 5 minutes. There is no need to punch it down!

Shape it into a loaf/roll shape, wet the top surface with a little splash of water and roll it over the quick oats. This is just to give the top an nice look.

Score the surface and set the roll on a baking sheet on the top rack and bake at 375F for 30-35 minutes or till it becomes brown on top. The bread should sound hollow when tapped.

Let rest for about an hour before devouring.

Serve warm with a good, light cholesterol-free butter spread or fruit preserves.

This goes to Susan's Yeast spotting, Divya's Diet foods.

Pistachio Ice cream - Instant and fat-free

2008-10-13T14:54:00.001-07:00

This is my last ice cream recipe for this season. Not many are fond of cold stuff in the already freezing weather, and I don't expect to be as crazy as I am, so I have put ice cream making on hold till next summer :(
So, if you are still reading this blog, and if I am still writing :P(which I hope to) next year, you will definitely see some good stuff in the Ice cream category.

Other low fat ice creams here:

Rasamalai Ice cream
Banana choco-nut ice cream

Check out the Meme at the end of this post. Pathetic!

Pistachio Ice cream - Instant and fat-free

Ingredients:

Skim milk - 4 cups
Pistachio Jello Instant pudding - 1 packet (I used the sugar-free, fat-free kind)
Sugar - 3 tsp
Pistachios or Almonds - 1/4 cup chopped
Saffron - 1/4 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Blend all the ingredients, except the nuts in a blender till creamy and frothy.

Pour into an ice cream maker and let it do its thing for about 20-25 minutes.

Add nuts one minute before turning off the machine.

Best served immediately at soft-serve stage. Freeze for later use.

Usha and Uj have tagged me for a Meme about sharing 7 facts about me.

The rules of the tag are:
(a) List these rules on your blog.
(b) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
(c) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

7 facts about me:

1. Like to cook (Obviously)
2. Like to bake even more (Lesser pots and pans, lesser cleaning up)
3. Like to bake desserts in particular (Blame it on the sweet tooth er... teeth?)
4. Like chocolate in my desserts in some form (Who doesn't?)
5. Like if nuts are added to chocolate (I am nuts about nuts!)
6. Like it if I had it all to myself (Sigh!)
7. Like it if I did not have to work out after eating all that :(

I, in turn tag:

Adam
Curry Leaf
Prudy
Madhuram
Mitr Ideas
Mahimaa
Happy Cook

If you have already done this, pardon my ignorance and pls link back to the tag, so everyone can see it.

This goes to Divya's Diet foods event

Farfalle pasta in a Saffron infused creamy pizza sauce

2008-10-10T16:24:00.001-07:00

Can you imagine losing all your data from blogger? For food bloggers, the loss of content "I feel" means a lot of re-work. Cooking, presenting well, taking pics, writing down the recipe, posting the pics and recipe online....
That is heck of a lot of work to repeat, what would happen if you lost all of it? Hard to imagine right?

I was reading through a small article by Vanessa and I thought it was important to share the information.
If you already know it, or have implemented it, good for you! smart you!, please share such information that you already know of, so that people like me (who wouldn't have even given it a thought) can be aware of.

So, the issue here is "we don't back up" the content we so painstakingly write in our blogs. Well, at least I don't!
And if something were to happen to blogger (I am only talking about "blogspot" here) as Vanessa points out is inevitable some day. Issues like getting locked out or being banned from your own account are horrible things to hear, but what happens to all your blog posts? We normally don't subscribe to our own posts, so where is the backup?
What she suggests in her article is "create an email ID and send your posts to it" as you publish.
For this: Goto Dashboard --> Settings --> Email --> "BlogSend Address"
Enter your "non-google" email ID and have your posts sent to it.
I would in addition suggest, have a copy of pictures in your local hard drive.
Please back up data! And share information. Good luck.

Useful updates from Readers:
I am leaving them here, since not everyone feels the need to comment, and might end up missing out on all this wonderful knowledge.

Nick: "I actually upload my photos to photobucket.com and link to them from there as well as store all of them on my computer. The other thing you should do (if you made any changes) is to copy the HTML Layout code into Wordpad (or TextEdit for Mac's) and save it to your computer as well."

Ivy - "About blogger, there is an easy way to backup your blog. http://www.codeplex.com/bloggerbackup
However, I have moved to wordpress and have not yet found out how I backup my wordpress posts. If someone knows I would appreciate the help."

Mike of Mike's Table - "As for the backups, definitely a not glamorous thing but everyone absolutely should do it. I almost lost it all once but lucked out. I use Wordpress and there are a handful of plugins out there which do backups of everything (database + your photos) automatically and can even be scheduled to email the backups to you periodically. I believe there are also some which integrate with Amazon's storage service (S3), but that isn't free (although it sure is cheap)."

Now, let us back up some pasta in our tummy, shall we?
I am no Giada of pastas but I do cook decent tasting pasta meals :)
So, here are some things that might help while cooking pasta:
Good quality sauce makes the world of difference.
Do not keep stirring the pasta while it is boiling in the water, a couple of times would suffice.
Salt the water well before cooking the pasta in the pot.
Add oil (and salt) after draining the water to prevent the pasta from sticking to each other.
Cook pasta to al-dente (fancy word for not fully cooked/firm, should still have a bite to it like Giada says), or it tends to turn sticky/mushy (especially the whole-wheat ones.)

I bought Durum wheat pasta, I had it delivered (so I did not buy it after seeing it) and was under the impression it was whole-wheat, as that is what it said in the package, but apparently semolina is refined flour, so there is a unexpected indulgence. Healthier option would be whole-wheat farfalle undoubtedly.
Did you know Farfalle is derived from the Italian word "farfalla" which means butterfly. That explains the shape, doesn't it?

As for the sauce, I have used a jar of pizza sauce that I had at hand. If you choose to go my way, please use a good quality one, that is key.
Saffron gives the sauce such a rich flavor and aroma, you have to taste it to believe it. I was pretty happy with the outcome. If I have interested you enough, read on for the recipe.

Farfalle pasta in a Saffron infused creamy pizza sauce

Ingredients:

Organic Durum wheat pasta - 1 box
Pizza Sauce - 1 bottle
Heavy cream - 1/4 cup
Saffron - 1/4 tsp
Green onions - 1/4 cup chopped
Mixed vegetables of your choice - A few cups, cut in the same size
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Black pepper - 2 tsp
Salt - To taste

Method:

Cook the pasta according to package instructions, add a wee bit of salt and olive oil after draining the water and set aside.

Cook vegetables of your choice in a little olive oil, add salt, pepper and set aside.

For the sauce, bring the pizza sauce to a medium heat, add more pepper if needed.
Crush the saffron between your hands and mix it to the heavy cream.
Add the heavy cream to the hot pizza sauce and stir for a minute. Turn off heat. You may add herbs if you want, but I wanted to keep the saffron flavor prominent, hence I did not.

To serve, spoon the sauce at the bottom of the plate, layer with cooked pasta, then the vegetables. Add chopped green onions.
Sprinkle a little crushed dry saffron on top.
The heat from the sauce and pasta elevates the aroma of saffron. Heaven!

The bread served along with this pasta is Roasted Garlic Challah Bread

This is off to Aartee's Sapadu Ready event

Easy Low-fat Cheesecake with Strawberry marbling

2008-10-08T16:30:00.001-07:00

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
It is the second most common kind of cancer affecting women, after lung cancer.
I am all for women supporting women in any little way possible. Please raise awareness about breast cancer if possible in your blogs or websites. You can find more information at NBCAM
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is focused on encouraging women to take charge of their own breast health, by practicing regular self-breast exams, making sure to schedule an annual mammogram, adhering to prescribed treatment and knowing the facts about recurrence - NBCAM

Relevant to the awareness theme, I decided to make something pink, hence the cheese cake with pink strawberry marbling. And to stick to the health factor, the low-fat version.

This is probably one of the quickest cheesecake recipes you can whip up. So people who are on the run, or who are just plain lazy (like me at times) citing "lack of time" to bake this beauty is no excuse!

Condensed milk has a ton of sugar in it, so I did not bother to add extra sugar, if you would like it to be a little sweeter you may add a little, say a few spoonfuls of sugar. This is completely optional though.

I have done a marbled effect by swirling the liquid strawberry preserves with a toothpick on top of the cheesecake. You can do this step as soon as it is out from the oven.
You may add sugar-free cherry pie filling on top for a added visual appeal. Either way, chill thoroughly before indulging.

With lower fat content, it is a calorie-conscious indulgence without any compromise to your sweet tooth.
As you all might know by now, my sweet tooth is huge, golden and gleaming! I polish and make it shine with my desserts every now and then. (Grin)

Easy Low-fat cheese cake with Strawberry marbling

Ingredients:

Reduced fat graham cracker crust - 1 shell
Eggs - 4 (I used 3)
Low fat cream cheese - 1 small tub (About 180 gms)
Fat free condensed milk - 1 can
Low fat evaporated milk - 1 can
Sugar - 2-4 tbsp (optional, I did not use it)
Pure vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Method:

Preheat oven to 325F.

Beat the eggs until light and fluffy with a hand mixer.

Add softened cream cheese and beat for a about 3-5 minutes till the mixture becomes smooth and soft.

Add the vanilla extract, condensed milk, and evaporated milk and mix for another couple of minutes.

Pour mixture into the graham cracker crust and bake at 325F for 50-60 min. Insert a toothpick and check if it comes out clean. It there is cheese sticking to it, bake it for some more time. The center should be almost set at this point.

At that point, remove and let rest for at least 4 hrs in the refrigerator after bringing it to room temperature. Letting it sit in the fridge overnight is a better option.

Slice and serve chilled with sliced strawberries.

This goes to Ley's Baking for Breast Cancer Awareness

Garbanzo beans & Potato Cutlet

2008-10-06T17:04:00.002-07:00

I love(d) playing the guitar... but before you get any ideas as to how much of a pro I am... I was a beginner student at the Trinity school of music back home, and sadly never went beyond the basics. How pathetic. My guitar, as we speak is rigorously gathering dust beneath my armoire at home. Sorry all you musically inclined buffs, I mean no disrespect to music or the instrument, but that is how the way it is.
And boy! I did really lose touch with playing it. Isn't that one of the things that would come back to you even after a long hiatus? Like for instance driving a bicycle! And did I suck at that too recently. Not even gonna go there.
But I guess I could justify saying that I never knew how to play it thoroughly...

There goes one of the many things I have tried my hands at that didn't see the dawn of day. Is that why they call people "Jack of all trades, master of none?" And why is being master of any one trade "better" than the former? I never understood the assumption behind it.

With that story, can we get on to more important things like... making these figure-friendly garbanzo patties/cutlets! :)

Chick peas/Garbanzo beans are a true source of protein for vegetarians. They are very low in fat, and are also good ways of getting zinc, fiber and folate into your diet.
I always have a few cans stacked up in my pantry. It is great for and in curries, gravies, patties, hummus, or even in rice. Only thing I haven't tried yet is in desserts! Hmm, thinking of which... it might not be a bad idea!
Addition of potatoes in these patties are purely for the binding property to bring all of the ingredients together. And a potato or two never hurt, right?
Vegetables and herbs are completely flexible, and you could add what you have at hand, except tomatoes, that would be one soggy cutlet.
These are best eaten warm/hot right out from the pan. Microwave them before eating if you plan to store them longer.

Garbanzo beans & Potato Cutlet

Ingredients:

Garbanzo beans/Chick peas - 2 cans
Potato - 1 large (Boiled, peeled and mashed)
Red onion - 1 medium (finely chopped)
Green bell pepper - 1/2 cup (finely chopped)
Carrots - 1/4 cup (finely chopped)
Green onion - A handful (finely chopped)
Cilantro - 1/2 cup (chopped)
Curry leaves - 4-5 (torn into small pieces)
Bread crumbs - 1/4 cup (optional)
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
Black pepper - 1/2 tsp
Salt - To taste
Olive oil - Just enough to cook the cutlets (we are not frying them)

Method:

Dry blend the garbanzo in a food processor without water. It will end up with a crumbly texture.

Add the mashed potatoes to the beans and mash together well.

Add all the vegetables (red onion, green pepper, carrots, green onion) and herbs (cilantro and curry leaves) and mix well.

Add the chilly powder, pepper, chilly powder, garam masala, & salt and combine.

Lastly add the bread crumbs. Mix. This is just to absorb the extra moisture.

Taste the raw mixture to check for salt/spice. If the flavors are balanced, shape into small patties and set aside.

Heat a pan with a couple of tablespoons of oil on medium heat, and add the patties and let cook on one side for about 5 minutes or till golden brown. Flip to the other side and add oil if needed. I did not have to as you can see from the image below.

Swirling the patties around in the pan helps with the even browning of the cutlets and the little oil in the pan is evenly distributed as well.
Do not push the patties down with the spatula since it tends to break.

After the patties are cooked on both sides, remove from pan, and serve with sliced onion, and chutney or tomato sauce.
None of which are in the picture!

This goes to Vandana's Lunchbox special event & Sra's My Legume Love Affair event

Rasamalai Ice cream - Say cheese for low-fat!

2008-10-03T06:50:00.003-07:00

Got you curious, didn't I? :)
Rasamalai, ice cream and that too low-fat, sounds too good to be true, right?
Yes, I am putting all those three magic words in one sentence.

You might quickly want to check out the basic recipe from my blog for Fat-free Quick Rasamalai
The same ingredients from that recipe go into making this yellow delight. Only colder and creamer this time.
I used fat-free half-and-half milk the first time, and another day I used evaporated milk, both were pretty comparable. If you are feeling particularly indulgent, then you may use full-fat condensed milk.

Did you know that evaporated milk is basically condensed milk minus the sugar? All that stickiness is actually from sugar and sugar alone!

Talking of which, another great substitute would be Fat-free condensed milk, but it is loaded with sugar, you may want to cut down on the sugar that you add separately.
Since you add ricotta cheese, it will end up creamy either way.

Believe me, it is way too easy to make (as you can see from my instructions below) and the most delicious thing my ice-cream maker has churned up for a cold breezy fall day. Brrr!
People talk about eating ice cream on a hot summer day, and how cooling it is and stuff. But I for one, like to have ice creams on a cold day... rain would be an additional bonus!
How is that for being different? (I can envision a few of you frowning already!)

Low fat Rasamalai Ice cream

Fat-free/ Low-fat Ricotta Cheese - 2 cups
Sugar/Splenda - 1/2 to 1 cup (Depending on how sweet you want it)
Fat-free half-and-half milk/Evaporated milk - 2 cups
Skim milk - 1 to 2 cups (Depending on the quantity your ice cream maker can hold)
Slivered almonds and pistachios - 1/4 cup
Cardamom - 1/4 tsp
Nutmeg - A pinch
Saffron - 1/4 tsp crushed

Method:

Dump all of the ingredients into a blender except the nuts.

Blend till smooth, frothy and creamy. Couple of minutes.

Pour into an ice-cream maker, and let it do its thing for about 20-30 min. Add the nuts one minute before you turn the ice cream maker off.
You may eat it as soft-serve immediately or freeze it for a harder scoop. Like all other ice creams, you may have to thaw it out a little before eating (if you freeze it), or if your freezer is set to simulate "Arctic" temperatures like mine :)

This goes to Divya's Diet foods event

No-knead bread - Just for CLICKS!

2008-10-01T07:17:00.001-07:00

This is my first time participating in the "CLICK - The photo event" by Jugalbandi.
This month's theme is Click-Crusts

I thought it might be appropriate to bake something from their amazing collection of mouth watering breads. And that I did... very diligently picked out the No-Knead bread, and as usual in attempts to make it healthier blah blah... did some things that were just not meant to be changed.

Remember, this bread I made is just for clicks, if you want the original recipe check it out here.
All that said, I do really like the way it looks! The crust wasn't that bad to taste either.
Now this may sound weird, and it probably is from plopping the gooey dough into the pan and the skin must have folded into itself... Do you see a toothless granny smiling at you in the image above?
Just making sure that the image is stuck in your head... Good!

So now, if you want to learn from my mistakes, here we go:

Do not substitute the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. This is just not the place for it. The bread turned out really tough, almost inedible after a day.

Do not use highly active, rapid rise yeast. The whole dough just smells stale the next day. I used it because I did not have the Instant yeast that the recipe called for. I never have things that I need, when I need!

You definitely WILL need a huge pan/crock pot WITH a lid. I used a normal baking pan. I tried to plop the dough into a preheated pan and covering it with aluminium foil. You will only end up burning yourself.
If you really want good no-knead bread, go out and get yourself the hardware it requires.

The bread has high water content, so it is important to keep it covered while baking so that the water from the bread escapes as steam, creating little air pockets. This is my theory if I am right.
You can check out a video here on how to make no-knead bread, it might help you understand the process a little bit more clearly.

Crispy lentil fritters - Healthy Masala Vadai

2008-09-29T19:16:00.002-07:00

Dieting... We have all been there, done that.
Diets alone don't work. A healthy lifestyle combines a good balanced diet (when I say diet it means, a sane quantity of vegetables, whole grains, fruits, proteins, carbs, and fat) with a good amount of physical activity and is the key to a fit and healthy body. I am not going to go to the "mind" (as in body and mind) part here... it gets way too complicated.

I would ideally like to follow the "everything in moderation" theory, but sometimes it just doesn't happen, and binges do happen every now and then. But mostly that is the way to satiate every cravings that come your way. A little of everything.

Lentils in general are low in fat and have a very high protein and fiber content. These split yellow gram lentils used in this recipe have a very low glycemic index and supposedly have almost no effect on the blood sugar level. And hence recommended for people with diabetes. If you need more information on the different type of lentils, this is a good place to start.

Crispy lentil fritters (basically our good old vadai) are fried and served as a snack during Tea time, or made during special occasions in India.
Remember those hot set of vadais right out from the frying pan served on a newspaper or a plantain leaf along with cup of tea? Makes my mouth drool even today.
Since I always try to substitute the fried goodies with an healthier option and that is what this whole blog is about: "healthy food and living", I am very excited to share these baked fritters today. I felt that there was little or no compromise on the taste compared to the fried ones.
This is one of the best things that has undergone a successful transformation in my kitchen. I hope it will at your kitchen too.
Like Paula Deen says "I send you best dishes from my kitchen to yours".
God, I feel old now!

Crispy lentil fritters - Healthy Masala Vadai

Channa Dal (Split bengal gram/lentil) - 2 cups (If you don't have access to an Indian store to get this, then try "Bob's Red Mill" brand lentils)
Curry leaves - 10 leaves
Ginger - An inch
Garlic - 4 cloves
Red onion - 1 small finely chopped
Green chillies - 1 or 2 small
Rice flour - 2 tbsp
Cornstarch - 1 tbsp
Salt - To taste
Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
Cilantro - 1/4 cup finely chopped
Asafoetida (Hing) - An inch
Olive oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

Soak the lentils in water for about 2-3 hrs.

Preheat oven to 400F

Grind the ginger, garlic, hing, salt, pepper, and half the curry leaves till smooth.

Drain the water and add the lentils into the blender with no or very few drops of water and grind till coarse. I would "not" recommend grinding it to a smooth paste.

Add the red onions, rice flour, cornstarch, oil, green chillies, the remaining curry leaves (chopped) and cilantro and mix well. The batter should not be too thick or thin. At this point you can taste the batter to see if the salt and spice level is right.

Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray and spoon batter onto the sheet into little rounds as shown in the picture. It should be able to hold its shape, if it doesn't then it means you have added too much water.

Bake for about 15 min, flip it and bake for another 10-15 min. It should be golden brown and crispy.

Let it rest for about 5 min and serve hot with chutney or relish it just like it is with a hot cup of chai/coffee.
The fritters are upside down in the picture, I don't know what I was thinking!

This goes to Divya's Diet foods event, Srivalli's Festival treats event, EC's WYF: Salad/Starter/Soups Event, Lore's Original recipe event, Hima's Sunday snacks event and Pallavi's Yummy Festival Feast - Diwali event

Eggplant in coco-peanut curry

2008-09-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Curry Leaf for passing me the "Good job" award. I deeply appreciate it. And yes, I am passing it on today after a long time. And I am doing it in style! :p
I have written a one (well maybe two!) lines about the person who I am passing on the award to. I hope to follow this tradition each time I pass an award (don't beat me up if I don't!). I think it makes it more meaningful. What say?
So, if you are looking for the awards, scroll right down to the end of the post. But before that, may I interest you in my recipe? Please? Remember, I write a food blog? Hello?

This recipe landed from a picnic table onto my kitchen. I like gravies and curries, a lot, but sadly I don't make them as much as I would like to. One of my friends made it for a potluck picnic and all I heard was everybody rave about it. Now, I had to taste it myself to give it my verdict.
After spending a few minutes walking around the table and a few greedy glances later I ended up with my mouth stuffed with it, it was the best curry I had tasted in a long time. It was not that spicy and the medley of coconut and peanuts makes it one of the best curries I had discovered. My friend was gracious enough to share the recipe with me promptly, and many thanks to that, I am able to share it with you now.
What is more refreshing is that... it doesn't have that tomato base which graces every Indian curry/masala. Now, that is what I call a welcome change.

Eggplant in coco-peanut curry

Ingredients:

To saute Eggplants:
Eggplants/Brinjal - 6-8 medium
Salt - To taste
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Olive oil - 1 tbsp

For the curry:
Red onions - 2 medium
Red chillies - 4-5 depending on the heat level you prefer
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Blanched peanuts - 2 cups
Grated fresh coconut - 1/2 cup
Sesame seeds - 3 tbsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder - If you need more heat, add 1/2 tsp
Salt - To taste
Olive oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

Roast the eggplant in oil, as it starts to become tender, add the salt, turmeric and saute well. Set aside when done.

In the same pan, add oil, then add the cumin seeds.
Now add the red chillies, and the onions and saute till onions are translucent.
Set this aside as well.

Again, in the same pan, add peanuts to a tad bit of oil and saute till lightly golden.

Now the assembly part.

In a blender, add the sauteed onion & red chillies, peanuts (cooled), coconut, sesame seeds and a pinch of salt and grind with a little water till it reaches a paste-like consistency.

Take a tablespoon of oil in a pan, and add the paste and fry for about 5 to 10 min, just until it all comes together as one flavor.
Add turmeric and chilly powder to it, and saute for another couple of minutes.

Then add the eggplant, cover and let it cook on very low heat for about 10 minutes.

Your Eggplant in peanut and coconut curry is ready! It goes really well with plain rice or maybe even Mint chutney rotis.

Now, lets talk some "awards", shall we?

I would love to pass on the "Good Job" award to a few of my amazing fellow bloggers, in no particular order:

Suma Rajesh of Suma's Cuisine - I did try your microwave banana halwa. It was yum'o. It wasn't as pretty as yours as I did not shape them, but you get two thumbs up for ease and taste. Your recipe rocks!

Priya of Akshayapatram - You are one of the first blogs (what seems like so long ago) I came across and have looked up to when I was thinking of starting one of my own, I think I have mentioned this to you, haven't I? ;)

Rajeswari of Rak's Kitchen - I admire her way of clearly presenting the recipe. She lists every little procedure step-wise with pictures. Now, that is a lot of work, and she does it well.

Pearlsoffeast - I am still drooling over your chewy apricot and oats cookies. You did a great job with it, and the pictures in all of your posts is just incredible.

Madhuram of Eggless Cooking - She was the first blogger (apart from friends) who tried one of my recipes and gave me an encouraging feedback for it. Coming from her (being an awesome cook), I spent the rest of my day reeling in happiness.

Srikar's Kitchen - She is one of the first people to give a feedback on all of my posts most of the time, and I really appreciate it. That puts some pressure on you now, doesn't it? That is exactly what I am aiming for! He he he.

Rachel of Tangerine's kitchen- We happened to discover each other's blog only recently, but she has just inspired me with some really good dishes which I hope to make justice to some day :)

Oven-roasted Garlic Potato wedges - Vaccuming woes

2008-09-26T06:41:00.003-07:00

One thing I desist doing is vacuuming. It is just a boring monotonous job and takes up so much time.
There are some of my friends who "actually", believe me... who like to vacuum the house. Yeah, they get pretty excited! Unfortunately I don't fall into that category.
Then the discovery of iRobot's "Roomba" happened, and named her (it???) "Nancy" (LOL) and it has been bliss ever since.
I would like to point out that I am not marketing this or any other product on my blog, I have been using this product for a couple of years and it just makes life so much more easier, so I decided to share the information here.
When there is a gadget out there that can actually make life simpler, why not use it.
It is available at all stores that carry good vacuum cleaners, I think even Costco carries it. They have different versions in the carpet cleaning robot, which is called the "Roomba", and the hardwood/tile cleaning robot is called the "Scooba" which actually preps, washes, scrubs and squeegees the floor. It even docks itself into the charger once it is done cleaning the house.
They have a lot more models, but my guess is that these are the commonly used household models. As usual, please do your research before considering any product. You can check out the iRobot website for more details.

To see the Roomba in action (videos):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo5lPlG1Khw&feature=related
http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=122 (Click on "Watch Video" on your right)

As you go through the physically daunting task of imagining your home getting cleaned by the robot, I baked up a batch of Oven roasted potato wedges, my answer to those deep fried starchy wonders.
Why fry them when I can bake 'em?

Oven-roasted Garlic infused Potato wedges

Ingredients:

Russet baking potatoes - 4 large cut into wedges with skin (that is the part that gets really crispy)
Olive oil - 3-4 tsp
Garlic cloves - 4 halved
Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
Dried oregano - 1/4 tsp
Salt - To taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 425F.

In a large pot, add cold water and soak the potatoes with a little salt. (It is important to start the potatoes in cold water)

Bring it to a rolling boil. Turn down the heat to a simmer for 3-4 minutes. Not more than that.

Drain water and set potatoes aside.

In another pan, heat the olive oil, add the garlic and let it turn slightly brown. Remove garlic from the oil. Now add the black pepper, chilly powder, oregano, salt and turn off heat.

Add the partially boiled potatoes into the oil and toss well till coated with oil and spices.

Grease a baking sheet, and place potatoes in a single layer and bake at 425F for about 30 minutes or till golden brown and crispy.

Serve with tomato sauce, or light mayo.

Off to Hima's Sunday snack event

Chocolate chip Whole Wheat Pretzels - A plate to call my own

2008-09-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

Wondering why I would call that plate my own? Because I made it... yes, I made the cute looking yellow dinner plate myself at a crafts center. Unfortunately, it is not something one can make at home. I would have filled the house with plates if only I could.

It basically involves some basic stuff, like the "slip" (which is liquid clay), I could have used the pottery wheel, but I am not an expert at it, so decided to go with liquid clay.
The slip is poured into a mold, as you clearly can see I used a square dinner plate model. And it sits for about two days in the mold.
Then the third day, the plate is unmolded, it is still slightly wet, and then it is fired under very high temperature.
Next comes the paint, I chose lemon yellow.
You see... I was working on a theme here with lemon, lime and cantaloupe colors (basically light yellow, lime green and light orange) for a dinner set.
So after painting with the desired color, it is again fired to set the colors, then glazed (to give that glossy finish to the plate) and again fired. Lot of repetitions, yes...
It is a long process, but it sure is satisfying to eat from a plate that you made with your own hands. To call it your very own.

Slight shift in focus, away from the plate, and to what is on it today. Chocolate chip good-for-you pretzels made with white whole wheat flour. I like the regular cinnamon sugar pretzels a lot, but what fun would it be to make the same at home?
So I deviated a little from sugar to chocolate, still keeping it in the sweet category though! It is best eaten hot from the oven. So big batches are not advisable. I have given a little note about the yeast used in the ingredient list. So, keep an eye out for it. Other than that, we are all set to dive into the recipe.

Chocolate chip Whole Wheat Pretzels

Ingredients:

Method:

White Whole wheat flour - 1 1/2 cups
Butter - 2 tbsp at room temperature
Instant Yeast - 1 tsp (I used the rapid rise, highly active kind), this did not require adding water to activate it. If you are using the normal yeast, then you may have to let it sit in warm water for a few minutes before kneading it in with the flour, or follow package instructions.)
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Water - To knead
Chocolate chips - A handful
Water - 4 cups
Baking soda - 2 tsp

Method:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Mix the flour with the yeast, butter, salt and sugar and knead with just enough water to form a elastic ball. You may have to knead for at least 10-15 minutes or until smooth.

Cover with a cloth and let it rise for an hour or two, till it doubles in size.

Once it has doubled, then punch down and knead again for another 5 minutes. Make 8-10 equal sized balls and let it sit for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring the 4 cups of water and the 2 tsp of baking soda to a boil in a pot.
Then turn down to medium heat.

Then take one ball of dough and form it into a rope using the palm of your hands, in a rubbing motion.
Form into a long rope, at least 15 inches in length, and shape into a pretzel knot.
Make pretzel shapes with all the remaining dough.

Grease a baking sheet and set aside.

Drop the pretzels, two to three at a time gently into the hot water on medium heat. Let them boil for one minute on each side.

Gently transfer onto the baking sheet one by one.

Now insert the chocolate chips around the pretzel and gently press in so it does not fall apart.

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 400F or until lightly browned on top.

Remove and let cool for about a couple of minutes on a cooling rack.

Top with chocolate sauce and serve hot. Cold pretzels don't taste good in my opinion. So enjoy them fresh and hot from the oven.

Carrot cake roll with low-fat cream cheese filling

2008-09-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

I was planning to do this post yesterday, and I ended up pushing it as you can see till now. Do you ever experience those days when you don't feel like cooking or blogging or for that matter, even thinking about food? That is exactly where I was.
I was even contemplating doing a one line write-up which I finally decided against in the best interest of this blog and my readers. How boring would that have been?

I don't know where or what I was looking up for inspiration, but I ended up watching this Tamil movie "Kuselan" with Rajinikanth in it (time that I was supposed to blog.) Not a very good idea. There was about 20 min of story in the whole 3 hour movie.
Like somebody had done a post in a hurry! Exactly what I was working against.
I watched the movie in like an hour, I just had to run through most parts of it, and I did not miss a thing. I regretted not cooking or blogging by the time it was over! It seemed a much more inviting alternative at the end of all this.

That is exactly how I end up sharing these cute looking carrot rolls filled with low-fat cream cheese frosting.
My last post was a savory carrot muffin, and now I have baked up a sweet carrot cake roll. I know, it is a lot of carrots in one week, but I really do like them, next only to the bunnies.
I have adapted this recipe from "cdkitchen" with very few changes.
I tried to color the cream cheese filling with a nice light orange but it turned against me. I used whole wheat pastry flour and it kinda blended in with that color. So the nice twirls may not be that clear in my picture. So if you plan to make this, just leave the cream cheese to its natural color. So, that way it gives a nice contrast against the cake.
So here it is...

Carrot cake roll with low-fat cream cheese filling

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pastry flour - 2/3 cup
Cornstarch - 2 tbsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
Eggs- 3 separated
Honey - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
Grated carrots - 1 cup loosely packed
Cream of tartar - 1/4 tsp

Cream cheese filling:

Low-fat Cream cheese - 8 oz tub
Honey - 2 tbsp
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
Chopped raisins - 1/2 cup
Coconut flakes - 2 tbsp

Method:

Filling: In a mixing bowl, with a help of a hand blender beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Next add the honey, vanilla extract, raisins and coconut. Set aside.

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a jellyroll pan with wax paper. And grease.

Mix together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and cinnamon.

Beat the egg yolks with a hand blender until light, creamy and till the volume increases. Mix in the honey and vanilla.

Toss in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Do not over mix.

With a rubber spatula, fold in the grated carrots.

In a bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar till it forms stiff peaks.

Stir about 1/4 of egg whites into batter first, then fold in the rest. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or till done.

Sprinkle a towel with coconut flakes. Loosen cake and turn onto towel, peel off wax paper. Roll cake up in towel and let stand for 1 minute.

Unroll and let stand for 3 minutes, then roll up and let stand until cool. Unroll cake, remove towel. I guess this process kind of gives the flexibility to the cake in itself.

Spread with filling right to edges of the cake.

Re-roll cake.
Let the log sit for a few minutes, and then cut into one inch thick slices and serve.

This is off to Ruth's Bookmarked event

Savoury Carrot Coriander muffins

2008-09-21T17:01:00.001-07:00

Sweet... chocolaty... fruity... can one imagine beyond that about a humble muffin?

In fact, muffins and sweet are the only two words I thought would/should/can/will go together... until the inevitable happened.
Being a foodie, I can't afford to be closed to the idea of change, can I?

You might call this my debutante effort... the first time I baked a set of savoury muffins. I was at first weirded out by the fact that muffins could be savoury until I came across Lakshmi's recipe at her blog. It was simple and doable, with carrots and coriander which I happen to like to work with a lot. There are some variations from the original recipe, as in, I have used whole wheat pastry flour in place of all-purpose flour, which does change the texture a bit, and in my excitement as to how the muffins would turn out, I missed adding the yogurt which was one of the ingredients.
Nevertheless, the muffins turned out nicely, wonder if the yogurt would have made it softer and better. Will find out the next time around. But I have not missed that in my recipe below, so people who decide to try it out, don't miss it out like me.
Nutmeg is an additional spice I used for the sake of aroma and flavor. It is just one of those spices, that makes everything better including these muffins.

Savoury Carrot Coriander muffins

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pastry flour - 1 cup
Carrots - 1 cup grated finely
Coriander - 1/2 cup chopped
Nutmeg - A pinch or two, freshly grated
Freshly ground black pepper - 1 tsp
Plain yogurt - 1 tbsp
Tomatoes - 1/2 cup pureed
Skim milk - 3/4 cup
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - To taste
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

Preheat oven to 375F.

Mix the whole wheat pastry flour, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, pepper and salt together.

Add the oil, tomato puree and milk and mix just until incorporated. Do not over mix.
Add yogurt and mix.

With a spatula, slowly mix in the coriander and carrots.

Spoon batter into a greased muffin tin up to 3/4ths of the way up.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until golden brown on top. I would keep checking after 15 minutes just to make sure. Try not to open the oven door while baking.

Allow to cool and enjoy your savory muffins with or without your favorite chutney drizzled on top.

Baked off for Ruth's Bookmarked event
and Siri's Herb Mania - Cilantro/Coriander event

Pavani has tagged me for "Six spectacular quirks about me"
Rules of this tag are:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Being a quirk who happens to write a food blog, I am going to list those related to food for now.

* As though me eating weird/bad food wasn't enough, I generously offer it to the person sitting next to me. "Here try this, it tastes weird!!!" Oh yeah, and I have that face when I say it...

* I got to check my blog every now and then to see if it is hale and healthy.

* Like to cook in a spanking clean kitchen every single time. Sometimes I end up more time cleaning than cooking.

* I fantasize myself drinking a "cup of coffee".
Fantasize because... I don't drink coffee or tea or any kind of hot beverage. Somehow the "cup of coffee" doesn't appeal as much in reality.

* I discard tomatoes from a sandwich/burger everytime I eat one.

* I cook some mean dishes which turn out the best when I am angry or upset over something.

Now that I have bared my soul, the six people I tag are:

Srimathi http://www.fewminutewonders.com/
Ivy http://kopiaste.org/
Usha http://veginspirations.blogspot.com/
Nick http://www.peanutbutterboy.com/
Lore http://culinarty.sapiensworks.com/
Cham http://spice-club.blogspot.com/

Have fun!

Ginger and Orange Tofu Pudding

2008-09-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

How many times have I cut my finger while prepping food, the count is tipping over, I don't even want to remember. I am sure this is a tale of woe that I share with a lot of you.
I have tried the Rachel Ray's tip of curling the fingers in while holding the vegetable or fruit or whatever. Didn't work. Somehow the fingers seems to stretch out every now and then. And right at the nick of time the knife finds the finger. Ouch!
I have tried the finger guard, I require a whale of a motivation to make me wear that piece of silicone. It just seems to come in the way of the finger and the knife. (That is the whole point, duh! I know... but somehow my fingers don't seem to like it)
Finally, I am realizing that I don't have the proper knife skills. I use a chef's knife, but lack the technique.
They recommend using a really sharp knife. As weird as it may sound, it is apparently the key to not cutting your fingers... the argument being dull knives slide down the surface and instead of cutting the vegetable/fruit, they end up cutting the finger. Makes sense to me.
Secondly, keep the fingers as far away from the knife as possible when holding the veggies.
Thirdly, use a sliding movement and use as little pressure as possible, and let the sharp knife do the work for you.
And last, cut waxy vegetables from the inside so the knife gets a better grip on the surface.

And why am I talking about such a boring subject now, no reason... this recipe does not involve a knife, and I am glad!

Let us dish it out now... The combination of ginger, orange and tofu together has been one of my favorite in side dishes, noodles or rice dishes that is served in Asian restaurants.
I have tried to take those three distinct flavors and marry them together in a dessert this time around. It is simple, quick and has a unique taste. If you are apprehensive about it, make it in small quantities first to see if the taste and texture is something your taste buds enjoy.

Ginger and Orange Tofu Pudding

Ingredients:

Silken tofu - 1 pack
Whipping cream - 2 tbsp
Orange zest - 1/2 tsp
Ginger - 1/4 tsp (finely grated or ground)
Molasses - 3-4 tbsp (Adjust according to taste)
Vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp
Ginger snaps/cookies - 1 cup broken into smaller pieces

Method:

Beat the whipping cream with a hand blender till fluffy. Then add the already smoothed out tofu and mix till creamy.

Now add the orange zest, ginger, molasses and vanilla and mix just until incorporated.

Add the tofu pudding and crushed ginger cookies alternating in a serving bowl or glass cup.

Top with a little orange zest and cookies on top.

This goes to Lore's Original recipe event

Fat-free Chocolate Pistachio Roll

2008-09-17T13:46:00.004-07:00

Lately, my readers have been intimidating me! I was thinking they were being courteous when saying that they will "try it out" soon, but they are actually trying out the recipes that I put out on my blog! :p
Overall, I have received postitive feedback and that makes any blogger happy, especially for someone like me who has been blogging only for the past couple of months seriously. So, I am not complaining!

Hop back to the recipe, shall we?
This dessert is a modification on Tarla Dalal's recipe and I made it low in calories.
I could not find low-fat or fat-free khoya anywhere (if you have come across it, pls enlighten me), so I decided to make my own. Trendy aren't we?

Anyway, the rolls were so pretty to look at... the brown and the green with little specks of nuts. And what was even better was eating them.
I could eat desserts day in and day out. I have a gigantic sweet tooth, but the verdict has nothing to do with ;) I promise!

Fat-free Chocolate Pistachio Roll

Ingredients:

For Khoya:
Mix 2 cups of fat-free Ricotta cheese with about 2.5 cups of Non-fat dry milk powder in a non stick pan on medium heat. Keep stirring every now and then till it forms a nice homogenous mass. All the water from the ricotta should be absorbed, and you will be left with a nice doughy mixture.

For the rolls:

1 cup - Fat-free khoya (Recipe above, since it is not readily available in the market)
1/4 cup - Powdered sugar
1 tsp - Cocoa powder
2 tbsp - Chopped pistachios
1/4 tsp - Vanilla essence

Method:

Cook the khoya and powdered sugar in a non-stick pan on slow flame, while stirring continuously till the sugar has dissolved and the moisture has evaporated.
This would take about ten to fifteen minutes.

Cool, add the vanilla essence and mix well. Divide into 2 equal portions.

In one portion, add the cocoa powder and mix till combined. Roll (with the help of a rolling pin) into a rectangle of 1/4" thickness and set aside. I roll it on a wax paper to prevent it from sticking.

In the other portion, add the chopped pistachios and mix well, it will turn green from the pistachios, or you could add permitted cake coloring to make it more attractive.

Make the pistachio cylinder equal to the length of the chocolate rectangle, but it should be only wide enough so that the chocolate rectangle can be wrapped around it.

Place the pistachio roll on the chocolate rectangle and wrap so that the chocolate rectangle covers the pistachio roll evenly from all sides. Seams should not be visible. If crack forms, then roll the cylinder back and forth till it becomes smooth.

Wrap the roll in a plastic sheet/wax paper and refrigerate till firm, about 15-20 minutes.

Remove the plastic sheet/wax paper and cut into 1/2" slices & serve.

I am rolling it off to :
Sangeeth's Eat Healthy - CALCIUM Rich Contest - It has more than 2 cups of Non-fat dry milk powder.
Sunshinemom's FIC Green event - For obvious reasons, being green.
Nags The Saas Bahu Aur Sensex Contest - I kind of like to think as Saas and Bahu as the two complimentary colors in the healthy dessert but they are gelled together as one. I am patting myself for that piece of impromptu-creative-bull I came up with.
You can find the movie's website here

Fried green tomatoes - Goes Indian!

2008-09-16T20:03:00.004-07:00

Of course this is not fried! ... so those of you who came looking for some unhealthy greasy "bajji" stuff on my blog, bummer!
If you read on, I might have a chance to explain how this is done, and how it does not compromise on taste at all (if you have tasted the original FGT, if not... don't even bother thinking about originality!)

I didn't know what to do with Green tomatoes, I was so not looking for them.
I stumbled upon them at a local farm, picked them from a little vine thinking it would turn red one fine day. The worst part... I stashed it in the fridge and it never did!
A little rewind... after I picked the tomatoes the girl at the counter looks at me perplexed, and asks me what I was going to do with green tomatoes. (Psst... I am thinking she wanted to share the knowledge that she had about those greenies)
And clueless as I was, I bluntly replied that I had no idea. That was all she needed, and she started to explain how I could pickle them (pickle as in vinegar pickle, not the Indian one), or I could make fried green tomatoes.
I with my new found knowledge, humbly tugged my bag and left. Oh yeah, I paid her.

I am not that big on pickling things with vinegar. So, I was pretty much stuck with fried green tomatoes.
Another crisis, frying! That is not going to happen now, is it?
And there was born the idea of just pan frying them with a little oil. The end result was something I had never tasted before, very interesting texture and flavor with the tomatoes, and all in all it was a wonderful snack.
Since it was not deep fried, the tomato slices kind of has a sandwiched effect. Very pretty to look at.

Disclaimer:) I am not against fried food. I believe that anything in moderation is the way to go, but moderating unhealthy food everyday might become challenging, and hence I try to reserve the fried goodies for once-in-a-while.

Fried green tomatoes

Green tomatoes - 3 medium
Cornmeal flour - 1 cup (the regular cornmeal is coarse and making a batter out of it would be difficult)
Chick pea flour (Besan) - 2 cups
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Salt - To taste
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida - A pinch
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Water - To bring the batter together
Light olive oil - A few tablespoons as and when you need it (Remember we are not frying it)

Method:

Slice the raw green tomatoes into half-inch thick slices.

In a mixing bowl, add all the rest of the ingredients with a little water and make it into a nice not too thick/thin batter.

In a non stick pan, bring about 2-3 tbsp of oil to medium-high heat.

Dunk in the slices one by one into the batter, and drop them in the pan. You can see how much oil I have used in the picture below.

When one side is golden brown, flip to the other side and add oil "if" needed.

When it is done, lift off the pan, and let it cool and serve.

This is off to EasyCraft's WYF: Salad/Starter/Soups Event
And Lore's Original recipe event