channa chaat(chickpea salad) with sweet date chutney

I am making sprouts these days for breakfast atleast 4 times a week. First I started out with simple mixing of sprouts, onion, tomatoes, chaat masala, salt and coriander leaves. Then the taste became a bit monotonous, so started looking for some variety. Came across this recipe for sweet chutney in Tarla Dalal's "fun food for kids" cookbook. Adding this chutney to the sprouts gave it a tangy and sweet taste which we just relished.
As we do not like to eat the sprouts uncooked, I generally pressure cook it without adding any water and switch off the stove immediately after one whistle. To make the sprouts, I soak the bean overnight. The next day, I tie them in a cloth for a day or 2. (depending upon the type of bean). Once I get the sprouts, I either use it right away or refrigerate for a later use.

Here are the recipes for channa chat and sweet chutney

Ingredients to make channa chat that servers 4 adults for breakfast 
Channa/chickpeas sprouts: 2 cups(Any other sprout can be used) 
Onion: 2 medium sized, chopped
Tomato: 3 medium size, chopped into small pieces Sweet chutney: 1/2 cup(recipe is below)
Chaat masala: 1 tsp(I did not have this, so I added black salt)
Salt to taste 
Coriander for garnishing

Procedure
1. Mix all the ingredients and serve. For this recipe, I did not add onions, even then it tasted too good. I am just loving this sweet chutney.

Ingredients to make 1/2 cup of sweet chutney
Dates: 1/2 cup(deseeded and chopped)
Tamarind: 1 tbsp
Cumin Powder: 1/2 tsp(Dry roast the cumin seeds and powder)
Chilli powder: 1/4 tsp
Water: 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup
Salt to taste

Procedure
1. Heat 1/4 cup water in a pan, add dates and tamarind and cook for 5 minutes.(If it becomes too thick more water can be added)
2. Allow to cool.
3. Blend in a blender and strain.
4. Add chilli powder, cumin seed powder and salt.
5. Mix well and use as required

This is my entry to Healthy Inpsirations Event-Salads event hosted by Usha.

Kichdi(Bengali style) and aloo bhaja

Khichdi was the only food I used to eat in the hostel mess during my engineering days in West Bengal, Durgapur precisely..Unfortunately they served it only once in a year on Saraswathi puja's day. The combination of kichdi and aloo fry used to be so tasty that I would go and stand near the mess door much before they started serving.

I got the recipe for Kichdi sometime back from one of my Bengali friends at office and prepared it for breakfast. It came out really good and we had it with aloo bhaja. This can be had for both breakfast and lunch. The best part is my son had the kichdi with aloo bhaja without any complaints. Do checkout Venpongal recipe for the South Indian version of this delicious kichdi made of rice and moong dal.
Here is the recipe

Ingredients for the kichdi to serve 4 to 5 adults
Raw Rice: 1 cup
Yellow Moong dal: 1/2 cup
Masoor dal: 1/2 cup
Water: 5 cups
Onion: 2 to 3 medium(cut into small pieces)
Mustard Seeds: 1/2 tsp
Ginger: an inch(skin removed) and grated
Green chily: 1 medium sized
Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder: 1 tsp
Jeera/cumin seeds powder: 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp
Mustard oil/Refined Oil: 1 tbsp(I used 1/2 tbsp of each)
Dry roasted jeera/cumin seeds: 1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure
1. Dry roast moong dal for a minute or 2 and keep aside. Wash rice and keep aside.
2. In a large pan, add oil and fry onion and ginger.( I used the same vessel that I keep inside the cooker)
3. Once it becomes soft, add rice and both the dals and mix well.
4. Add all the four powders and salt and mix well.
5. Keep the flame in medium and stir frequently so that rice does not get stuck at the bottom.(around 5 minutes)
6. Add 5 cups of water and pressure cook till 3 whistles. I like the kichdi to be well cooked, so I generally keep in sim after 3 whistles for 5 minutes and then switch off the stove.
7. Before serving, powder dry roasted jeera(I powdered coarsely with a pestle and mortar) and mix with kichdi.
8. Serve warm with aloo bhaja.

Ingredients to make aloo bhaja/potato wedges
Potato: 4 medium sized(peeled and cut into wedges)
Chilli powder: 1/2 tsp or less
Salt to taste
Vegetable Oil for frying: around 4 tbsp or more if needed

Procedure
1. Heat oil in a wide mouthed pan. Add potato wedges, as much the pan can hold.
2. Fry well on both sides and drain oil in a paper.
3. Follow the same for the rest of the wedges.
4. Add chilli powder and salt and mix well.

Serve with kichdi

Reminiscing grandma & Mung dal and Green peas pancake recipe

My maternal grandmother(whom we grandchildren affectionately called "ammai") passed away last Sunday at the age of 80. She was a very hard working, honest person who has nothing but showered love on her grandchilden.Even at a very ripe age she used to make something special for me to eat when I visited her. Even before few months, I would lie on her lap, she would gently brush my hair and tell some stories from Mahabharatha and like. Her memory power was just amazing that she would remember every small incident of her younger days and would be sharing with me, one of them was when she saw Gandhiji at the age of 7 or 8. We shared a special bond and loved each other's company. She has been a guiding factor to all of us and her passing away is a big loss for us but her blessings would always be with us.

I really don't feel like doing anything other than the regular chores. Anyway, I can't be like this forever and have to come out of it. So thought of posting this recipe which I had drafted to be posted last Monday.

So here it is..

This is one easy, tasty and healthy pancake(or dosa??) that I have come across. Mung dal and green peas makes it a high protein breakfast whose taste is accentuated by the addition of onions, coriander leaves and ginger. My son called it green dosa and he liked it very much. I generally don't add onions for my son(almost 3 years old), thinking it might be spicy for him, but this time I wanted to give it a try. Surprisingly, he ate the dosa without any fuss. Everbody else also liked these pancakes and it tastes best when served hot. We ate the pancakes as it was, but I think ketcup might be a nice accompaniment.I found the recipe here.

Ingredients to make around 10 pancakes
Yellow Mung Dal(spilt): 1 cup
Green Peas(not the dried ones): 1 cup(I used frozen)
Ginger: 1 tsp (skin removed and grated) 
Coriander Leaves: 1 tbsp(chopped) 
Green Chilies: 1 long or 2 medium sized 
Onion: 1/2 cup or 1 medium sized onions(chopped 
Salt to taste
Olive Oil/Vegetable oil for sprinkling on the pancake while cooking

Procedure
1. Soak mung dal in warm water for 30 minutes.
2. After 30 minutes, drain the water and blend dal and green chilly in a mixer until it is ground well(no need to add water now)
3. Add grean peas and grind to an almost smooth paste.
4. Tranfer the batter to a bowl and add ginger, onion and coriander leaves and salt.
5. Add water to the batter to bring it to a spreadable consistency(round /4 to 1/2 cup) and mix well.
6. Heat a griddle/pan in medium flame. Add 1/2 tsp of oil and spread it.
7. Now spread a small ladle ful of the batter on the pan(like dosa) and sprinkle oil in the corner.
8. On medium heat, cook the pancake until side that is toucing the griddle is cooked well.(It would turn golden brown)
9. Flip the pancake so that the other side also gets cooked well.(This side looks greener than the other side)
10. Transfer to a plate and server hot as it is or with tomato ketcup.

Moroccan holiday bread

By each passing week, I am getting more and more confident in baking bread. I baked this moroccan holiday bread last weekend and it came out really good. I actually made it for Monday morning breakfast, but it got over within 1/2 an hour of coming out of oven. I adapted this recipe from Deeba's blog. The original recipe called for 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour and 1/4 cup maize/corn meal. I instead added 1 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 cup maize flour. When I was kneading the flour, it was very sticky, so I added more all purpose flour till the dough came to a kneadable consistency .(around 1/4 to 1/3 cup)I also substituted milk with soy milk. Procedure wise, I changed a bit here and there.

Ingredients to make a loaf of Moroccan Holiday Bread

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All Purpose flour: 1 1/4 cups
Maize/Corn meal: 1/2 cup(I used maize flour)
Active dry yeast: 1 tbsp
Lukewarm water: 100 ml      
Soy milk: 100 ml
Sugar: 1 tsp
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Sesame seeds: 2 tbsp(White or both black and white)
Olive oil/Refined oil for oiling the bowl and brushing the bread(optional)

Procedure
1. In a pan, heat soy milk to scalding and allow it to cool.
2. In a separate large bowl, mix together the flours, salt and the seeds.(keep few seeds for topping)
3. In a bowl combine the water, yeast and sugar and allow it to sit for 5 to 10 minutes. The yeast will become frothy.(If it doesn't, the yeast isn't active and its not worth proceeding any further.)
4. Once soy milk has cooled, add yeast mixture and soy milk to flour mixture and mix well.(Initially I added 1 cup APP flour, but the dough was very sticky and unmaneagable. So I added around 1/4 
to 1/3 cup APP flour which brought the dough to the right consistency)
5. Transfer the dough to a kneading surface and knead for 5 to 7 minutes and put into a well-oiled bowl and let rise for 1 hour or till it doubles in size.
6. After 1 hour, punch down and form a loaf and flatten slightly.
7. Place it on an oiled baking sheet(I lined the baking sheet with with butter paper instead of oiling) and allow to rise for 1/2 hour.
8. Preheat oven to 170 degree C(the original recipe called for 200 degree C)
9. Brush the top of the loaf with water, sprinkle seeds on top, & bake for 25 to 30 minutes until it's golden or a tooth pick inserted in the centre comes out clean.( I added water in the baking tray that came with the oven and place the baking sheet with the loaf on it)
10. Remove from oven, brush the top with olive oil and have it warm or once it is cooled down.

We had it with jam and it tasted too good. It was soft and at the same time a bit crunchy, I think because of the maize flour.
This is my entry to Priya's Cooking with seeds-Sesame Seeds event.

Vegan pineapple cupcake

This is one of the tastiest cupcakes I have ever had. Its so soft and flavourful that this is the first time I had a homemade cupcake without any icing or frosting. I adapted this recipe from Vaishali's mango cupcake.

Ingredients to make around 11 medium sized cupcakes
All purpose flour/Maida: 1 1/2 cups
Baking powder: 2 tsp
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Cardamom powder: 1 tsp
Pineapple puree: 1 1/2 cups(I used homemade one. Peeled, cut the pineapple and microwaved for 7 minutes. Allowed it to cool down and then pureed it in a mixer.)
Canola oil: 1/3 cup(I used sunflower refined oil)
Granulated sugar: 2/3 cup
Vanilla extract/essence: 1 tsp

Procedure
1. Pre heat the oven to and 170 degree C and place paper liners in the mmuffin tin or grease the tin with oil. 
2. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and cardomom powder together and keep aside.
3. In another large bowl, beat together the puree, oil, sugar and vainlla until well mixed.
4. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix until the batter is smooth.(Do not over mix)
5. Pour a ladleful of batter into the muffin tin.
6. Place the tin in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

The cup cake was so good that it got over within 10 minutes it came out of the oven. I will be trying this recipe with different pureed fruits.

Aapam and onion chutney

I got this recipe for aapam and onion chutney from my cosister. This is one of the easiest and tastiest breakfast recipes. I well in love with it the first time I had it in my her place. The combination of aapam and chutney was perfect and adding carrot to the chutney was a nice idea.
Here is the recipe.

Ingredients for aapam that serves 5 adults
Raw Rice: 1 1/2 cups
Boiled Rice: 1 1/2 cups
Urad Dal: 1 tbsp(full or split)
Fenugreek seeds: 1 tsp
Baking Soda: 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Grated Coconut: 1/4 cup.( I completely omitted this, still the aapam tasted great) 

Procedure
1. Wash both the rice and urad dal.
2. Soak the washed rice mixture along with fenugreek seeds in water for around 3 hours. 
3. After 3 hours, drain the water from the soaked rice. Do not throw the water. Store it in a bowl. It can be used while grinding.
4. Grind the rice to a smooth mixture by adding water only when necessary. (I did the grinding in a mixer. If the quantity is more grinder can be used.)
5. Transfer the ground mixture to a bowl and add salt and baking soda and mix well.
6. Leave the mixture alone for atleast 8 to 10 hours.
7. To make the aapam, heat the non stick aapam pan(I did not have one, so I used the normal kadai). 
8. Keep the stove in low to medium heat and a ladleful of batter in the pan and swirl the pan so that the batter gets spread nicely.(I could not do the swirling, so I just spread the batter with the ladle itself.
9. Cover the pan with a lid.
10. Remove the aapam from the pan once it is cooked well.
11. Follow the same procedure for the rest of the batter.

Ingredients for small onion chutney
Small onion/Shallot: 8 to 9 numbers(peeled)
Channa Dal: 1 tbsp
Tamarind: a small piece(around the size of 25 paisa)
Carrot: 1 small piece or a quarter of a medium sized carrot(peeled and cut into medium sized pieces)
Dried Red chily: 1 long(or more as per spice tolerance level :-))
Refined Oil: 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Procedure
1. Heat a pan/kadai and add oil.
2. Saute the onion and red chily for 2 minutes.
3. Allow it to cool and and grind the onion and red chily with the other ingredients.
4. Add salt.
5. Season with few mustard seeds.

Enjoy the aapam with onion chutney.
Note: If you are not using a non stick pan, it is better to apply oil in the pan atleast once, just before adding the first ladle of batter. Since I did not use a non stick pan, I did this.

Vegan cashew and walnuts Quick bread

I actually started out making vegan sandwich bread. Unfortunately yeast wasn't active, so could not proceed any further. I then decided to bake a quick bread and searched in google. I liked Madhuram's vegan cranberry quick bread recipe the best. I made some modifications to the original recipe and the final result was good. I also doubled the quantity.

Ingredients to make 2 small loaves
All Purpose Flour/Maida: 4 cups(I used 2 1/2 cups maida and 1 /2 cups wheat flour)
Granulated Sugar: 3/4 cup
Lion Dates Syrup: 3/4 cup(Instead adding another 3/4 cup sugar, I added this)
Walnuts and Cashew: 1/2 cup (coarsely chopped)
Baking Powder: 4 tsp
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Flax Seed Meal: 2 tsp
Warm Water: 1/2 cup
Orange Juice: 1 cup(freshly squeezed is better)
Vegetable Oil: 1/2 cup(I used Sunflower refined oil)
Applesauce: 1/2 cup

Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 180 degree C and grease the loaf pan.
2. In a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. 
3. Add sugar and nuts to the dry mixture and combine. 
3. Whisk/blend together the flax seed meal and water until white and foamy.I(I whisked for almost 5 minutes, but it did not turn foamy, anyway I used it.)
4. In another large bowl, mix together the flax seed mixture, orange juice, oil, dates syrup and applesauce.
5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just blended. 
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
7. Cool it before serving.

Note: Its better to check if the bread is baked after around 45 minutes. I did not do that and the bread got burnt at the bottom which can be seen in the photos.

Vegan wheat flour and oat bran muffin

The other day when I had been to Nilgiri's super market I saw oat bran. I remembered joyofbaking's oat bran recipe. So I bought it and made the muffins. I made a vegan version of the muffin and it came out very well. I replaced the egg with 1/4 cup applesauce and milk with soy milk. I did not have molasses, so after some thought process I decided to substitute with lion date syrup. The muffins came out surprisingly well and it tasted too good. As mentioned in the original recipe the oat bran gives a nutty flavour to the muffin which I enhanced by adding some walnuts.

Ingredients to make around 12 medium sized muffins
Whole wheat flour: 1 cup
Oat bran: 1 cup
Light brown sugar: 1/3 cup(I used demerra sugar)
Baking powder: 1 1/2 tsp
Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Ground cinnamon: 1/4 tsp
Apple sauce: 1/4 tsp
Unsulphured molasses: 1/4 cup(I used Lion brand date syrup)
Pure vanilla extract: 1 tsp 
Canola oil: 2 tbsp(I used refined oil)
Soy milk: 1 1/4 cup
Walnut: 1/4 cup

Procedure
1. Preheat the oven to 205 degrees C. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or grease the tin with vegetable oil. 
2. Mix flour, oat bran, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl.
3. Whisk together the apple sauce, molasses, vanilla extract, oil and soy milk in another large bowl.
4. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir just until moistened. Gently stir in the walnuts. (The batter will be thin.) 
5. Fill the muffin cups with a ladle of batter and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the center of the muffin comes out clean. 

These muffins make for a hearty and healthy breakfast.

Banana and Walnut breakfast pancake

This is one of the easiest, tastiest and healthiest breakfasts that I have made. These pancakes are perfect as evening snacks too. Its also an easy way of sneaking in the banana for kids/adults(like me :-) ) who run away even hearing the word banana. I found this recipe in Tarla Dalal's "Cooking for Kids" mini series. The original recipe called for adding a tbsp of butter to the batter which I omitted. Also, while making the pancakes, I used very minimal ghee(2 to 3 drops per pancake) instead of a tsp of butter per pancake..

Ingredients to make around 6 pancakes

All Purpose flour/Maida: 1 cup
Mashed Ripe banana: 1/2 cup(I got 1/2 cup mashed banana from 3 small sized bananas)
Walnut: 1/4 cup(chopped)
Warm Milk: 3/4 cup
Castor Sugar: 4 tbsp
Vanilla Essence: 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder: 3/4 tsp
Ghee or butter to cook the pancakes

Procedure

1. Combine all the ingredients except ghee/butter in a bowl. Mix well to make a smooth batter, making sure that no lumps remain.
2. Heat a non-stick pan, spread 3 to 4 tbsp (or 3/4th of ladle) of batter to make a thick pancake.
3. Cook the pancake over medium heat using a little ghee to cook both sides until golden brown.
4. Repeat the same for the rest of the batter.
5. Serve hot with honey or jam.

This is my entry to Suchitra's WYF-Breakfast event at Simple Indian Food.

Malay style Noodles

Friday night 8:30 PM-Dinner Time

Me to husband: I prepared the noodles specially for you after coming back from work. So you feed Rishi(son) tonight.
Husband: Don't tell me you prepared it for me. You made it for your Noodles event..
Me: Its not Noodles event. Its "Its a Vegan World-Malaysian" event.

I ended up feeding the son. To my relief, he relished the noodles and ate in just 5 minutes.

I saw the noodles recipe in MalaysianRecipes website..I modified the recipe to make it less spicy and vegan. It came out very nice, different from the usual soy sauce-vinegar stuff. Spinach and green peas makes it healthy too.

Ingredients

Noodles: 200 gms(I used Hakka Noodles)
Olive Oil: 2 tbsp(Refined oil is also OK)
Garlic: 1 tsp(finely chopped)
Tomato Ketchup: 2 tbsp
Tomato Puree: 1 tbsp
Green Peas: 1/3 cup(cooked)
Spinach/Palak: 1 cup(cleaned, chopped into small pieces)
Pepper Powder: 1/2 tsp
Water: 1/4 cup(or more if needed)
Salt to taste

Procedure

1. Cook noodles as per package instruction and keep aside.
2. Add oil in a big pan/kadai and saute garlic.
3. Stir in soinach and cook for 1 minute.
4. Mix in cooked noodles, ketcup and puree until coated.(2 minutes)
5. Add water to keep the mixture moist.
6. Add salt and pepper powder and mix.
7. Continue to cook stirring continuously for 5 minutes.
8. Add the peas and mix until combined.
9. Remove from heat and serve hot with tomato ketchup.

This is my entry to Vaishali's IAVW-Malaysian event.

On a different note, here is a picture of few things I bought during our recent trip to Srirangapatna.

Eggless Apple Raisin muffins

Why do some women put on weight after marriage? Put on some more after child birth? Why did I fall into that category of women???

Why can't I exercise regularly? Why can't I stop indulging on fatty food?

The first 3 "why"s are beyond my control, but the last 2... definitely I can do something about it..

As a first step, I have decided to bake cake/muffin or any such bakery product only after I reduce a kg of weight in next 2 weeks. I have my own method of working out and dieting(not starving) which I charted out by doing some research in the internet a few years back..It has always worked for me..Let me see how I fair this time..

Till my next baking adventure, here is a muffin recipe which I adapted from Madhuram's. As with any other fruit based muffin, I had this one too with chocolate cream. The rest of them liked it as it was. It tasted better the next day.

Igredients to make 12 medium sized muffins

All Purpose Flour/Maida: 2 cups
Baking soda:1 tsp
Walnuts: 1/4 cup(Chopped)
Water : 1/4 cup(or a bit more if the batter is too thick)
Brown Sugar : 1/2 cup
Granulated Sugar: 1/4 cup
Raisins : 1/2 cup
Apple : 1 cup(peeled and grated)
Butter : 1/4 cup(at room temperature)
Cinnamon: 1/8th tsp
Nutmeg a pinch

Procedure

1. Pre heat the oven to 180 degree C.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and walnuts in a bowl.
3. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a pan and bring to boil.
4. Remove from heat and cool completely.
5. Add the flour mixture to the cooled mixture and mix until combined. (Do not over mix. It would result in hard muffins)
6. Place the muffin liners in a muffin tin and fill with the batter. If liners are not available, directly fill the muffin tins to almost full.
7. Bake for 15 minutes or till a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Cool and serve.

It makes for a healthy and easy breakfast.

Vegan Scones

When I asked Vaishali of Holy Cow if Scottish dishes are allowed for IAVW-British event, I really did not have any particular dish in mind. But coincidently I made vegan scones which are Scottish in origin. I had been planning to bake the scones since I saw them in so many blogs. This weekend I could and we liked them very much. Especially I loved it with the jam topping. We had them for breakfast before leaving for Innovative Film City for a weekend getaway.

Ingredients to make around 20 scones

All purpose flour: 2 cups
Castor Sugar/Granulated white sugar: 2 tbsp
Baking powder: 2 tsp
Vegan butter: 5 tbsp cold (I used Nutralite)
Soy milk: 1/2 cup
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Jam for topping(I used mixed fruit jam)
Vegan buttercream for topping(optional)

Procedure

1. Pre heat oven to 180 degree C.
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. Add butter and rub so that the mixture resembles bread crumbs.(I did this with hand)
4. Make a well in the centre and add the milk and mix to form a soft dough.(Mix lightly without giving much pressure,otherwise the scones will be very hard)
5. Make lemon sized balls of the dough and flatten.
6. Place in a baking tray covered with parchment paper and bake for around 15 minutes or until the top of the scone turns slightly brown.
7. Top the scones with jam and vegan buttercream(I just mixed a tbsp of nutralite with 2 tbsp of icing sugar).

Have it as a breakfast accompanied with some fruit juice or as an evening snack with a hot cup of tea.

This is my entry to IAVW-British hosted by Vaishali.

Rava/Semolina idli(Steamed semolina and yogurt mixture)

I can say without doubt that rava idli is one of the healthiest, easiest and tastiest breakfasts suitable for all ages. I have been making rava idlis using the readymade MTR rava idli mixture. I was lucky enough to get the recipe from one of my colleagues to prepare the batter without using the readymade mixture. It just involves seasoning and mixing the seasoned mixture with yogurt and steam them in idli maker. It is as simple as that.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients to make 20 rava idlis

Rava/Semolina: 2 cups(around 270 gms)
Carrot: grated: 1 cup(around 90 gms)
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: around 10 leaves
Coriander leaves: a few
Green chilly: 1 medium size cut into small pieces
yogurt/curd: 3 to 4 cups(around 600 to 800 gms)
Refined Oil: 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Tomato: 1, cut into very thin rounds for garnishing(optional)
Cashew: around 15 piece fried in ghee(optional)

Procedure

1. In a pan/kadai, add the oil. Once it is hot, add the mustard. When it splutters, add green chilly, curry leaves and coriander leaves.
2. Saute for few seconds. Then add rava and stir in low/medium flame until it turns light brown in color.
3. Add carrot, cashew and salt and mix well. Remove from heat.
4. Place the mixture in a big bowl and add the curd/yogurt and mix well.
5. The mixture should be semi solid in consistency. Leave the mixture for 30 minutes.
6. The mixture would have thickened a bit by now. So add some water or curd to make it to a pourable consistency.
7. Pour the batter into idli maker, keep tomato piece on top and steam for 5 to 7 minutes in a pressure cooker.(without putting the weight)
8. Remove from the cooker after 10 minutes and serve with coconut chutney.(coconut chutney can be prepared by grinding 4 to 5 tbsp of grated coconut, 2 tbsp of roasted channa dal(pori kadalai), 1 green chilly and a small piece of tamarind in a mixer. Then season the ground chutney with mustard useeds and urad dal and add salt to taste.

Healthy rava idli and tasty chutney is ready.

Note: I generally don't make it very spicy. So, the green chilly can be increased accordingly.

I am sending this to Show me your breakfast event hosted by Divya Vikram and EFM Theme -Breakfast Series hosted by Srilekha of Srishkitchen.

Update:My friend who gave this recipe took time to visit the blog. Seeing that the rava idli was a bit hard, she said that cooking soda(less than 1/4th tsp) can be added to make softer. So next time I might do that, though I liked it as it is.

Power packed baked cereal

I bought a mini series book on "fun food for kids" by Tarla Dalal some time back. This is the first ever cook book that I have bought. I misplaced the book somewhere within a week of buying it. Last weekend I found the book and was reading through the recipes. With Madhuram's low fat(Eggless) baking event round the corner, I thought of making the power packed cereal, provided in the book. Also I had all the ingredients available.

Overall the cereal tasted good. Its mentioned in the book that this cereal makes a high carbohydrate breakfast for kids.But I might not have the cereal as a breakfast, but would prefer eating as a snack. The cereal is quite healthy too as it uses very less oil and the cereals and nuts are baked in an oven to get a crispy texture.

Here is the recipe..

Ingredients

Rolled Oats: 150 gms(I had Quaker brand Oats and I think it was not rolled oats)
Corn flakes: 25 gms(I used Kellogs brand, the original flavour)
Brown Sugar/Demerra sugar: 70 gms
Nuts: 50 gms(a mixture of chopped walnut, cashew and almond)
Sesame seeds: 1 tbsp(I used white ones)
Salt: 1/4th tsp
Water: 50 ml
Vegetable Oil: 3 tbsp(I used 2 tbsp refined oil)
Vanilla Essence: 1/2 tsp
Raisins: 2 tbsp

Procedure

1. Mix oats, corn flake, sesame seeds, corn flakes, brown sugar and nuts in a bowl.
2. Mix oil, water, vanilla essence and salt in a separate bowl and whick together.(I did it with a spoon)
3. Add to the dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Spread the mixture in a baking tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 160 degree C for 20 to 30 minutes or until it turns crisp and golden brown.(Stir occasionally when the mixture is in the oven, otherwise it might get burnt.)
5. Add raisins and store in an air-tight container.

It can be served with milk and fruits.

Note: I added some milk and sugar to the baked cereal and had. It tasted yummy.

This is my entry to Madhuram's Low fat(Eggless) baking event.

Akki(Rice) Roti

Akki(Rice) roti is a famous karnataka breakfast dish. I have had these rotis in restaurants in Bangalore and also have tasted a homemade roti few years ago when my colleague brought it for lunch. I have tried making these rotis a couple of times. Though it was eatable, I could not get the perfect rotis.

Today I felt like eating these rotis. I browsed a couple of food blogs and liked the recipe in padmaskitchen. I followed her recipe and the akki rotis came out good, definitely better than before. I did not have the batter as thin as she had. I think because of that my rotis were a bit hard. Next time, I will have to try with proper consistency. Also, flattening the batter in a room temperature pan is a good information and I think that really made the difference. We had the rotis with coconut-dalia(pori kadalai) chutney. Its a very filling and tasty breakfast and definitely different from the dosas and idlis we generally have.

Here is the recipe as adapted from Padmaskitchen. She has given detailed pictures too.

Ingredients to make 10 to 12 rotis

Rice flour: 600 gms 
Onion: 1 cut into small pieces(150 gms)
carrot: 1 grated(50 gms )
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp 
Coriander leaves: chopped
Green chillies: 2 long(cut into small circular pieces)
Yogurt/curd: 150 gms
Water: 250 ml or as required to bring the batter to the correct consistency
Refined Oil: For making the rotis
Salt to taste

Procedure

1. Mix rice flour, carrot, onion, salt, cumin seeds and coriander leaves.(I did not use coriander leaves this time as I did not have it.)
2. Add yogurt to the above mixture and mix well.
3. Add water little by little to bring the batter to the correct consistency.(In Padma's words, the batter should be of uttappam batter's consistency and not that of dosa's)
4. In a room temperature pan, add little oil(less than 1/4th tsp) and spread well.
5. Take the batter in hand and put at the centre of the pan.
6. Flatten the batter with the fingers.(If the batter sticks, little oil can be applied to the fingers. Thats what I did)
7. Spread some oil(less than 1/4th tsp) on top of the batter too.
8. Keep the pan in a stove. Turn around the roti once the bottom side is cooked well. (It will take around 2 to 4 minutes for the roti to get cooked well. The cooked roti will be light brown in color.)
9. For the next roti, run the bottom side of the pan in cold tap water, so that the temperature is reduced and repeat the same procedure.

Tasty and filling akki roti is ready. It tastes best when eaten hot with coconut chutney.

Pongal-Sambar: A South Indian breakfast

Pongal and sambar has been a favourite at our home since my childhood. My mother makes a kind of sambar that equals hotel sambar(that we get in our native city) in taste. The best part of this sambar is that it does not require any seasoning and it is oil free..Can you believe it!!!Yet it just tastes great and truly mouth watering.

Yes, we need to add around 3 tbsps of ghee and oil to make the pongal. But considering the fact that the pongal that is made with the above said quantity of oil and ghee serves 7 adults, I think its OK.

So here is the recipe for one of the most famous South Indian breakfasts.

Ingredients for pongal that serves 7 adults

Rice: 450 gms
Moong dal: 150 gms
Water: 1/2 cup more water for every cup of rice that we use generally to cook rice.
Pepper: 1 1/2 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Refined Oil: 3 tbsp
Ghee: 3 tbsp
Cashew: 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure

1. Coarsely grind pepper and cumin together.
2. Wash rice and moong dal and pressure cook. Allow 4 whistles.
3. Fry cashew in a tbsp of ghee.
4. After frying cashew, in the remaining ghee, fry cumin and pepper powder.(just for 30 seconds)If ghee is not enough to grind the powder, add some more.
5. Remove rice from pressure cooker.
6. Add oil, remaining ghee, salt, fried powder and cashew to the cooked rice and mix well.

"Breakfasty" Pongal is ready

Note: As per cup measurements, for 1 cup of rice, 1/4th cup of moong dal has to be taken.

Ingredients for sambar

Tuvar Dal: 150 gms
Mixed vegetables: 250 gms(can use onion, carrots, pumpkin, tomato, brinjal etc)
Tamarind: 10 gms
Sambar powder: 1/2 tsp(I use MTR sambar powder)
Masala powder: 1/4th tsp(I use MTR masala powder)
Besan/gram flour: 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure

1. Cook the vegetables and tuvar dal(I generally pressure cook by putting vegetables in one vessel and tuvar dal in the other one and allowing 2 whistles)
2. Soak tamarind in hot water. Once it is bit cooled, extract juice from tamarind.
3. In a pan/kadai, add the cooked vegetables.(If there is water left in the vegetables after cooking, add that too in the pan.)
4. Add tamarind juice, salt and sambar powder and allow it to boil till the raw smell of tamarind goes off.(around 10 to 15 minutes)
5. Mash boiled tuvar dal with the back of a ladle. If it is very thick add some water.
6. Pour the tuvar dal mixture in the pan and allow it to boil.(around 5 minutes) The sambar can be of thin consistency at this point of time.
7. In a small bowl, mix besan with a tablespoon of sambar and pour back into the pan.
8. Mix well and allow to boil for 2 minutes.
9. Add garam masala, mix well and put off the stove.

Oil free tasty sambar is ready.

Note: This sambar is generally eaten with pongal, idli or vada. To eat with rice, generally this sambar is made.

kachaudi dal

One good thing about the food events is that you get to know about the ingredients that you have never heard before and try to make something with it. If the recipe comes out good, its a double bonus. One such event is Think Spice and the ingredient that is new to me is kalonji. As usual I called my aunty in Calcutta. Without any thinking, she stared giving me the recipe for this very aromatic kachaudi that uses kalonji. I then came to know that she just got this recipe from one of her friends and planning to make them. For people who are not very familiar with the word kachaudi, its kind of a stuffed puri.

When I was making these Kachaudis(and tasting or rather testing it, side by side) I got a nice taste of kalonji. That is when I realised how many times I have eaten this spice put in kachaudis that I used to relish in the Durgapur railway station during my college days.. My mother and husband who have had these kachaudis before in Durgapur and Benaras respectively certified that the kachaudis I made were very authentic. I was elated and thanked my aunty for giving this great recipe which also brought back the memories of my college days.

I also made an aloo-channa dal side dish for the kachaudi.

Recipe for both the items follow.

Kachaudi (around 16 puri sized kachaudis)

Ingredients for the stuffing

Urad dal: 250 gms(split or full, anything is OK. I used full eventhough my aunty told me to use the split ones as I did not have them)
kalonji: 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Ingredients for the dough

All purpose flour/Maida: 300 gms
Wheat flour/Aata: 100 gms(Aata can be completely omitted and 400 gms of maida can also be used)
Water to make the dough
Salt to taste

Refined oil for frying the kachaudis

Procedure

1. Soak urad dal in water for half an hour.
2. Make the kachaudi dough and keep aside.(Procedure is same as how we make puri dough)
3. Drain water from urad dal and grind it in a mixer. Add very little water while grinding. It need not be very smooth, it can be a bit coarse. The consitency should be solid and should be able to hold the mixture in hand.
4. Pressure cook the ground dal by making medium sized flat balls and keeping them in idli container. (Even if idli container is not there, the balls can be placed in an wide mouthed vessel and pressure cooked.) Do not put the weight when the steam starts coming. Put off the stove after 5 minutes.
5. In the meantime, add refined oil in a kadai/pan and keep in medium flame.
6. Remove the cooked dal from cooker once the steam is completely released.(10 to 15 minutes after putting off the stove)
7. Place the cooked urad dal balls in a bowl.
8. Add kalonji and salt to taste.
9. Break the balls by mashing them with hand and mix well so that kalonji and salt are spread evenly.

To make the kacaudis

10. Make small balls.(The size of the ball depends on the size you want the kachaudis to be)
11. Make a bit bigger sized balls than the urad dal stuffing, with the dough.
12. Roll the dough to a small circle.
13. Place the urad dal stuffing at the centre, close it by bringing the rolled dough from all sides and ending at the top.
14. Roll once again to desired sized circle.
15. Once the oil is hot, put the rolled kachaudi in the oil.
16. Fry both sides until light brown. (The kacahudi puffs up like puri when you drop it in the oil)

Aromatic kachaudi is ready.

Dal

Ingredients(that serves 5 to 6 people)

Potato: 450 gms (boil, peel and cut into cubes)
channa dal/Bengal gram: 100 gms (cooked. I generally pressure cook)
green chily: 2 medium size
Cumin seeds: 1 tbsp
Saunf(perunjeeragam in tamil): 1 tbsp
Ginger: a small piece(peeled)
Garlic: 4 to 5 cloves
Tej pattha: 2 to 3 leaves
Refined Oil: 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure

1. Grind green chilly, cumin seeds, saunf, ginger and garlic to a smooth paste.
2. In a pan/kadai, add oil. Once it is hot, add tez pattha. Simmer and add the ground mixture.
3. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the boiled potatoes and stir well.
4. Add the cooked channa dal and salt.
5. If it is too thick, add some water. The consistency of the dal should be thin. Put of the stove after 5 to 7 minutes.

Serve hot kachaudis with dal. The kachaudis are very filling and it makes for a good breakfast.

This recipe for Kachaudi is my entry to Think Spice-Think Kalonji event hosted by ammalu's kitchen.

Rava(semolina) pongal

I had been to my native place during ugadi long weekend. I was asking my grandmother for some recipes. She not only gave this recipe for rava pongal but also prepared it for me. I guess this is the height of affection that one can show considering her old age.

I made the pongal for today's breakfast. I am also dedicating this pongal to my ever lovable grandmother whom we affectionately call "ammai".

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients that serves 5 adults

Semolina/Suji(ravai in Tamil): 250 gms
Water: 900 ml (basically for one cup of suji, 3 cups of water is required)
Moong dal(split): 100 gms
Cashew: 10 to 15 pieces
Ghee: 4 to 5 tbsp
Pepper and Cumin seeds: (in the ratio of 3:1. ie: for three tbsps of pepper, take 1 tbsp of cumin seeds and grind them coarsely together)For this recipe 1 to 1-1/2tbsp corsely ground pepper-cumin powder is required.
Salt to taste
Curry leaves

Procedure

1. Pressure cook moong dal by adding the required water.
2. In a pan/kadai add 2 tbsp ghee and add suji. Fry till golden brown(stir every now and then)
3. In the meanwhile, boil water in a bowl.
4. Once the suji is golden brown, add the boiling water and keep stirring. Add salt.
5. Once the water is absorbed(it will be in a semi-solid state) add the cooked moong dal and mix well. Add a tbsp of ghee.(optional)
6. Remove from heat.
7. In a small kadai add a tbsp of ghee. Once it is hot, add the cashew and fry till golden brown.
8. Put the fried cashew in the pongal.
9. In the same small kadai, add some more ghee(1 tbsp), add the pepper-cumin powder and curry leaves. Just fry for few seconds and add this also to the pongal.
10. Mix the pongal well.

Tasty rava pongal is ready.It can be had with coconut chutney or as it is.

Note: The left over pepper-cumin powder can be used for rasam.

Vegetable mayo french roll sandwich

I once again made Arundhati's french roll and as usual, it came out flawless. This time I made vegetable mayaonnaise salad adapted from here and sandwiched it between the french roll. The result was a very delicious vegetable mayo sandwich. It was not only delicious but also very filling. With just two french roll sandwiches for each, we were full.

I have already given the recipe for french roll here.

Here goes the recipe for vegetable mayo salad.

Ingredients to fill 8 french rolls.

Vegetables: 1 cup (Carrot, cucumber, capsicum and tomato cut into small cubes.)
Coriander Leaves: 1 tbsp (chopped)
Pepper powder: as per taste
Salt to taste
Eggless Mayonnaise: 3 tbsp (vary the quantity if needed to bring the salad to almost spreadable consistency)

Procedure

Mix all the above ingredients together.

To make the sandwich

1. Cut the french roll into two halves.
2. Apply mayonnaise salad on one side of the roll and keep the the other half on top of it.

This is a very good breakfast recipe. Instead of frech roll ordinary bread can also be used.

Aloo tikki Pav/French roll

I made this Pav a while ago following the recipe provided by Arundhati and it came out so well, I desperately wanted to make it once again. But I did not make any side dish to be eaten with Pav at that time and we just applied the left over cake icing on the pav and ate.

My parents have come and so I made this Pav once again..Though the left over icing is still there(:-)) I wanted to make something else as side dish.. Thought of making bhaaji, but I did not have the required ingredients..Then thought of making the vada that is given with pav, but that is deep fried and did not want to make that too.

Suddenly an idea stuck, why not make aloo tikkis that can be sandwiched between the pav and eaten…Generally if I make something new, I search the food blogs for recipe..But for these aloo tikkis that I wanted to make I did not search the net and thought of making it on my own because I had very minimal ingredients and I would not be able to do justice to the original recipe even if I made.

So here goes the recipe for Pav and aloo tikki

Pav

Original recipe from Arundhati’s blog.

Ingredients

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All purpose flour/Maida: 600 gms(this time I used equal quantities of wheat flour and maida. Initially I used only 500 gms. But it was very sticky, hence I added some more till the dough became workable which was another 100 gms.) Dry active yeast: 1 tbsp Sugar : 2 tbsp Water: 350 litres (some more to sprinkle on the dough if it is too dry.) Refined Oil: 2 tbsp Procedure

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1. In lukewarm water add yeast and sugar.In 15 minutes, there will be a layer of yeast froth formed.If this does not happen, the yeast isn’t active and the dough might not rise.) 2. Then add the yeast water to half the quantity of flour and mix well.(I generally make the batter using hands only, ie: don’t use spatuala or ladle) 3. Now add the remaining flour little by little and keep mixing. Water might not be sufficient and some water can be sprinkled to bring the dough together.I also added 1tbsp of oil during this stage. This is when I added the extra 100 gms of flour making the overall quantity to 600 gms. 4. Bring the dough to a kneading surface(it’s the granite slab in the kitchen for me) and knead for 15 minutes.(I knead for 15 minutes, but the original recipe called for kneading around 10 minutes) 5. Apply another tbsp of oil all over the dough and cover it with a thin cotton cloth and allow it to raise for 1 hour and until the dough doubles in size. 6. Deflate the dough gently and make around 12 balls of equal size and place the balls in the baking tray. See to it that they don’t touch each other Cover the tray with a thin cotton cloth and allow the dough to rise for another 45 minutes. 7. Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees C. 8. Place baking tray in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. 9. Apply butter on top of the pav as soon as it is removed from the oven.

Aloo tikki

Ingredients

Potatoes:  3 large, boiled and mashed, to make 12 tikkis, equal to the number of pavs
Red chillie powder:  a little less than ¼ tsp. We generally don’t eat spicy stuff.According to individual taste more can be added.
Chat masala powder:  a little less than ¼ tsp
Salt to taste
Masala powder:  a little less than ¼ tsp
Rusk:  around 10 pieces nicely ground
Sooji:  1 tbsp Refined oil to shallow fry the aloo tikkis

Procedure

1. Mix all the above ingredients except rusk with the mashed potatoes.
2. Make 12 balls of equal size.
3. Flatten each ball with the palm and smother both sides of the ball in the rusk powder and shallow fry in a hot tava by applying some oil.

To make aloo tikki pav

1. Cut the pav into two halves.
2. Keep one tikki on one side of the pav.
3. Put some sauce on top of the tikki.(Can add onion, tomato, chutney etc too) and keep the other half on top of it.

Delicious aloo tikki pav is ready. This recipe could be a good choice for small b'day parties.

Note: Though my family members liked the wheat taste in the pav, I prefer the original maida pav.