Veg Bowl

Chunky Monkey Ice cream

2012-05-27T10:15:00.001+05:30

I must have been lucky to have stashed a few over ripe bananas into my freezer that day. It must have been my day. I’ve rarely frozen bananas. If they overripe and rot, they go to the trash bins. But then that’s hardly the case. We mostly manage to consume them otherwise. Had seen this ice cream on Smithfield some time ago and was seriously wooed by the thought of a quick and healthy, delicious ice cream. Call it sheer temptation! I love the way its called – Chunky Monkey Ice cream. Cute and jazzy. Donno whoever named it so, its funky though :D

I haven’t splurged at buying an ice cream maker yet, but I am way too tempted to. Have been looking for options. Kenwood is a great brand though, shelling nearly 4k is not worth in my opinion. Unless I get my hands on practically and see how it really performs, I think I am glad to do with my blender for the moment. Also for the fact that my always freezer is loaded and full to the brim, I doubt I will have any space left to keep the bowl freezing.

This ice cream recipe is a perfectly delicious mid-afternoon summer treat that does not require an ice cream machine. What’s best is there’s no cooking involved, it’s jiffy, dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar free, and yet has all the perks of a delicious ice cream. It’s healthy enough that I made this for my toddler who enjoyed it thoroughly and left crying for more! Pop some peeled bananas in the freezer the previous night and the next day you are ready to go. I peeled and chopped them to small chunks for easier churn. It’s amazing how much frozen bananas have a texture similar to ice cream when churned. A handful of walnuts and good chocolate chunks will elevate the taste. Does this remind you so much of Ben and Jerry’s delicious banana ice cream with chunks of chocolate, banana, and walnuts? This thing tastes similar.

This 5 minute healthy chunky monkey ice cream couldn’t get easier to prepare.

Chunky Monkey Ice cream

INGREDIENTS

3 bananas, peeled, chopped and frozen
2 tbsp. chopped walnuts
Handful of chocolate chunks or chocolate chips
A tablespoon of honey (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Place frozen bananas in your food processor. A tablespoon of honey is optional, you can add it if you like your ice cream sweet. Pulse until its mashed well and comes to consistency of ice cream. If you have difficulty while churning the frozen bananas, or if banana isn’t binding, try adding 1-2 tbsp. non-dairy milk or wait for a minute or so to defrost slightly and then churn. Scoop out a ball of soft serve into a serving bowl. Top with chopped walnuts and chocolate chunks. Serve immediately.

I am hooked to this ice cream and like to make this often. Trust me, yeah, I really do. The little one loves it too. This was an easy cheat option to fool her when she showed her revulsion towards the real fruit. Minus the chocolate, she hardly knows it just the same thing frozen. In an indulgent mood, I like the Chunky Monkey Supreme version with peanut/almond butter and cocoa powder added for richer taste. That’s my craving for dessert.

Nutella Bread Rolls

2012-05-20T21:45:00.012+05:30

Hope you had a good weekend just like I did.

These sweet little buns made my weekend. It was fabulous.

Saturday was phenomenally good with a family outing to my workplace. What’s so good about being at workplace, where one spends 10 odd stressful hours slogging, that too on a weekend? Our org campus is massive, sprawling green, with pebble and stone laden pathways that wind beautifully into buildings that become our workspaces on our weekdays. Yeah, on a regular week day we probably would not take time out see this serene beauty surrounding us with the same eye, however over the weekend it was a completely different thing. No stress from work, no timelines to adhere, no brain racking meetings, no conference calls to answer to, no stressful last minute rush… simply a relaxed day out in the plush greenery with my family. It put a sense of pride in me to show my family my workplace, the place where I spend most part of the day.

I had plans to bake some cinnamon rolls for the weekend. I wished to proof the bread dough on Friday night, but pushed it for Saturday as other priorities consumed my energy. I had cinnamon rolls on my mind for quite some time and couldn’t get them off even in my sleep! Just managed to rush through the morning before leaving out from home to proof the dough. Put in the bit of muscle work (kneading) by multi-tasking between the breakfast and packing for the day out. Sneaked to click a few photographs too… here and there ;) Phew!

Back home, sun shone bright and nice in sky. Had left the dough on the balcony and it rose to doubles and triples. I was elated like a kid!

Initially, I had plans for cinnamon rolls. I almost put together brown sugar and cinnamon, when a jar of nutella put me into confusion! Felt too tempted for a chocolate version. Anyway, we are not too high on cinnamon in our desserts, so took a second opinion from my husband and he was too swift to vote for Nutella rolls. Chocolate seduction in a bread roll! Deliciously yum!

Nutella Bread Rolls

INGREDIENTS

For the dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup warm milk (maybe a little more or less)
2 tsp. active dry yeast (I used Baker’s here)
1/4th cup melted salted butter
1/4th cup powdered sugar

For the filling:

60gm melted butter
1 tbsp. nutella spread or any chocolate hazelnut spread

Sugar glaze or melted chocolate to drizzle (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Dissolve 2 tsp. of active dry yeast in half a cup of warm milk and a teaspoon of sugar. Warmth helps yeast wake up from its sleep and sugar aids in providing food to the yeast. Keep it aside for 10 minutes till it turns active and frothy. This is how it should look.

In a glass bowl, combine all the ingredients for the dough, the yeast milk, sugar, butter and flour, pouring just as much extra milk as necessary so as to form a sticky soft dough. I use a wooden spoon to mix the ingredients. As you beat the ingredients, the dough will initially tend to be sticky, but later will begin to leave itself from the sides of the bowl.

Knead into a smooth elastic dough with as little flour as possible. Stickier the dough, lighter will be the bread. Beat/knead the dough for atleast 5-7 minutes so as to release its gluten which helps in a nice, light bread.

Place the dough in a bowl, cover it and allow the dough rise until it has doubled in size (should take about 90 minutes in warm condition).

This is how it would look after 90 minutes. Look at the texture when pulled apart.

Once risen, punch the dough down...

Knead it further for 5 more minutes.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to form a rough rectangular shape with uniform thickness.

Spread the nutella paste all over the dough. Sprinkle with nuts if desired. Beginning with the long edge closest to you, begin rolling the dough into a tight roll.

Slice the roll into 9 even pieces. Place them on the baking tray and keep them in a warm place (like an oven pre-heated to 40 deg C and turned off) for atleast 1 hour, until they've roughly doubled in size. By now I had transitioned from evening to night, so you can see that by the time the rolls went to oven it was late! Bake them at 180 deg C for 30 to 35 minutes.

I rarely do step-by-steps, but this time around I succeeded, at least to an extent. You ought to thank me for that. I use regular tea cups for measurement, so you can be assured of its correctness.

These nutella buns are rich and soft, and deliciously sweet. Complimenting them with a dollop of nutella frosting will make them absolutely irresistible.

These are quite easy to make. And honestly, there is nothing better than the smell of homemade buns fresh out of the oven. Heavenly!

Showing you a slice of what I eat is so typical of me! So here it goes...

Caramelized Peanut Bars / Chikki

2012-05-12T19:40:00.006+05:30

As a kid, one of my favorite pass-time sweet snack was Chikki. Like I guess for many too. And that meant home-made ones only. Growing up years saw us primarily eating healthy good food. Mom hardly allowed us to buy these bars from market as she feared the hygiene factors involved in these 'unbranded products' which were sold mostly in small tea-stalls and bakeries as loose unpacked products with no manufacturing date, expiry date or content information. She concerned the quality of product and to satisfy our cravings would make them often at home.

And even today as an adult, having crossed 2 decades and now closing to my 3rd decade, I have not run out of love and cravings for them. Seriously, I am hooked to it. I walk up to the snack counter at my work place, almost daily, just to grab a few pieces of these nutty caramelized peanut bars, post my lunch, to relish a healthy favorite treat. Of course, they come from a known manufacturer and I like to bite into their fresh, crisp polythene wrapped bite sized portions. It's an alternative for healthy dessert. And at a gullible price of Rs 1 for a piece each, I can't ask for anything better than this to satisfy my sweet cravings.

I am sharing this recipe which I got to learn from my mother, her way.

Caramelized Peanut Bars / Chikki

INGREDIENTS

2 cups peanuts
1 cup regular sugar
1-2 tbsps. ghee/ clarified butter
1 tsp. cardamom powder
1 tsp. ginger powder (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Grease a flat steel plate with some ghee and set aside.

Roast the peanuts on a medium low flame, stirring frequently till they change their color to golden brown and become aromatic.

Take the sugar in a kadai or a heavy-bottomed pan. Heat it on a medium low flame stirring continously till the sugar melts and begins to turn golden brown. At this stage we need to keep a constant eye on the sugar syrup. When all of the sugar melts completely, switch off the flame and add in the peanuts quickly. You need to be swift and quick here. Just before you stir in the peanuts, add in the cardamom and ginger powder. Quickly stir all of the peanuts into the sugar, mix well and transfer it to the greased plate. Smooth the prepared chikki with the back of a flat wooden spoon. Using the tip of a knife, drag lines across to form sqaure/bite sized pieces. Allow to cool then break them off.

These can also be made with jaggery as well. Infact, traditionally I believe jaggery was used. Jaggery takes more time generally than sugar and getting right consistency is a bit tougher than that with sugar.

These chikkis can be stored for a couple of days in an airtight container, in a cool, dry place. I have made similar chikkis with Til/Sesame in the past. I could cut them into prefect squares, however this time around I delayed a bit and couldn't get them in desired shapes. Nevertheless, they taste great. So who's complaining!

Lime n’ Mint Spiced Drink

2012-05-02T21:55:00.005+05:30

We had a day off yesterday. We made mighty plans for the May day. Husband dear had planned to take our little daughter and me out to the jungle to show the wild habitat. A trip to Bannerghatta national park for our little toddler followed by the jungle safari was on our agenda. The day before, I got busy scuffling through the bags packing bottle and baby food required for the little one the next day. We were eagerly looking forward to spending an entire day outside in the jungle along with the company of lions and tigers. Plans flopped when my husband found out that the zoo and jungle safari were closed Tuesdays. Instead, we made it to the Namma Metro ride in the late afternoon, followed by a stroll on Brigade road, some cold coffee to soothe our thirst, return ride by Metro and called it a day.

For the day we had a hand, we relaxed through the morning wrapping up regular kitchen chores. The little baby went to her usual nap post her breakfast and I got busy cleaning up the kitchen counter. A small bunch of mint leaves, picked and washed left over from the morning breakfast of Pudina Paratha lay untouched. A green chilli lay there right next to it. I probably forgot to use all of the mint and chillies.

This Lime n’ Mint Spiced Drink was a welcome outcome of my forgetfulness :).

Lime n’ Mint Spiced Drink

INGREDIENTS

Juice from 2 limes
Handful of fresh mint leaves
1 green chilli
500 ml. chilled water
Salt & Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

In a blender, add a handful of fresh mint leaves along with a green chilli and blend well. Add in about 50 ml. water, lime juice and salt to taste and blend again. Transfer to a tall glass jug. Top it up with remaining cold water and shake well. Add in more lime juice if you like it tart and tangy. Stir well. Serve.

Lime juice served cold with mint crushed in a blender along with a green chilli, salt and pepper is a warm drink that can do equally good to you on chilly winters or hot summer noon. To keep it rustic, I did not sieve through. But if you want it clear, just sieve through and serve chilled. To make the drink pretty, just dip the rim of glass in some of the juice, roll it over some salt and then pour the juice. Stick a lime slice on the side and you are set to go!

Broken Wheat / Dalia Upma

2012-04-24T20:05:00.000+05:30

So we were off to Delhi and then Punjab for a couple of days. A trip that promised us a well deserved holiday, travel and loads of fun. Apart from the series of celebrations and the wedding, it was an excitement to explore more of Punjab frontiers that I had never been to. I feel rejuvenated just as I am back from our Delhi Punjab trip. Undoubtedly as it's known for, both stood out to be a thorough gastronomical feast to our ever hungry selves. If Delhi's metro ride seemed ultimate fun and an easy route to curb the traffic, Amritsar's exquisite Golden Temple was a devout treat to our eyes and peace to our reverent soul. While streets of Jalandhar brought similarities to the small town down like Mangalore, what set them apart is probably their difference in culture, language and food. A food that realms under magical addiction of ghee and butter, served with love and passion for relishing and feeding.

North is famous for culinary creations. I was looking forward to the most coveted Amritsar's Temple Langar, supposedly a must visit if you are around this place. Baisakhi brought in huge volume of devotees and the unending queue to visit the temple premises, following the Langar left us disappointed as we couldn't make it. However, right outside the temple, Bhrawan Da Dhaba blew me off with those fresh Laccha Parathas and Tandoori Kulchas, served with a massive dollop of melting butter, a food fit for kings. Being back home feels good. After all that travel, excess indulgence in food and celebrations, it’s a relief to our tummies and rejuvenated selves. Dalia or broken wheat upma that I made back home gave us a respite from all that heavy foodie indulgences we had over the holiday.

Dalia Upma / Broken Wheat Upma

Inspired by Tarla Dalal’s book, Healthy Breakfast
Also available on Tarladalal.com

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup broken wheat /dalia
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 slit green chilli, chopped
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
1/4 cup green peas
1/4 cup carrot cubes
1/4 tsp. mustard seeds
4-5 cashews
2 tsp. oil
Salt to taste

To Garnish

2 tbsp. chopped coriander
A dash of lime juice

DIRECTIONS

Clean and wash the broken wheat thoroughly. Drain and keep aside. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Add the mustard seeds. When they cackle, add the onions, cashews, green chilli, and ginger and sauté till the onions turn translucent. Add the green peas, carrots, broken wheat and salt and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1½ cups of water and pressure cook for 1 whistle. Before serving, add a dash of lime juice to zing the flavors. Garnish with the coriander and serve hot.

While on our journey, a couple of my favorite cookbooks kept me and my little one engaged with their recipes and eye catchy photographs, also my ways to wield travel boredom. This Dalia upma by Tarla Dalal was one of the recipe from that cookbook I am hooked to, ever since it caught my attention. Dalia, a food I always considered was fit for the sick and patients, this recipe changed my perception then on. I make upma very often and using dalia is a good twist to the original upma. I’ve made this umpteen number of times and we all love the way it transforms a boring ingredient to an exotic, healthy breakfast dish.

Kahlua Pistachio Mini Popsicles

2012-04-09T23:35:00.002+05:30

I am just back from a short hiatus. The past two weeks have been extremely hectic for me as an official tour took me to the 'City of Pearls', Hyderabad. My weekdays were phenomenally stressful, packed with working late hours, loads of learning and deadlines I had to submit. It's a city I had heard about and visiting it for the first time was indeed exciting. I always look forward to the gastronomical adventure in most of my trips and just as I expected the Hyderabadi biriyani and Karachi biscuits did not disappoint me for sure. Of course I had limited time at hand since this was not meant to be a holiday trip... but I am not complaining!

Even as I begin to unpack my stuffs I am ready packing off for a week long planned holiday tour. It's been a travel packed month as I am looking forward to a fun packed trip to northern frontiers of our country. A distance travel, sangeet, mehandi, baaraat, marriage, bidai... meeting relatives, fun with shopping and some gastronomical delight with floats of ghee and gleam with butter in food to indulge into and more is what we are looking forward to. Delhi, Jalandhar, Amritsar is calling us for lots more.

Back in Bangalore right now the summers are here and the sun has been blazing real hot. My sunscreens, gogs and umbrellas are out of their hiding as temperatures soar high. They'll make their trip north too. Fruit juices, milkshakes and ice-creams have been ruling our menu to quench thirst. I am missing our chill winters terribly. Also my humble prayers to rain God for a few showers.

This Kahlua ice-cream was made to beat the summer heat. Sure treat for coffee lovers.

A couple of my readers have dropped me questions on how I manage to get good ice-creams without any ice-cream maker. Though I would still stress on the fact that homemade ice-creams cannot be as creamy and voluminous as store bought ones. My simple trick is to fill the ice trays with the ice-cream batter, freeze them chill and then churn them in a high speed blender/mixer. It breaks the ice-crystals easily. Transfer to another container and then you return them to the freezer. It helps to a large extent.

Kahlua Pistachio Mini Popsicles

INGREDIENTS

200 ml middle fat cream
200 ml condensed milk
200 ml full fat milk
40-50 ml Kahlua (replace with strong coffee decoction instead for non alcoholic version)
2 tbsp chopped Pistachios
Sugar adjusted to taste

DIRECTIONS

Combine condensed milk along with the full fat milk. I do this in a mixie. Whip the middle fat cream to soft peaks. I used Milky Mist here. Add this to the whipped milk. Give a quick whizz. Add in the Kahlua. Replace with strong coffee decoction instead for non alcoholic version. Taste and adjust sugar to your taste.

Transfer this to ice trays and freeze them for 2-3 hours. Once almost set, transfer the ice-cream to a mixie and give a quick whizz till the ice cream is creamy. Transfer to the ice cream tray again and repeat twice. In the final churn add the pistachios and mix well. Transfer to popsicle moulds if available. You may also transfer to regular freezer proof containers and serve like regular ice cream.

I hope this ice cream brings smiles on your faces. It's super simple, easy-peasy and makes up a great treat. Simple to remember recipe with ingredients in equal quantities. Do try it sometime and be prepared for accolades to follow :) Hope you have some soothing moments with this treat while I shall be back with more next week.

Baby Corn Pulao - A Guest Post from Sharmis Passions

2012-03-20T07:30:00.003+05:30

Over the years that I have spent blogging on Vegbowl I never had a guest post and I wonder why? Having spent three years on this blog passionately, I should have ideally done this task earlier, probably been inviting more bloggers to write and share their recipes on Vegbowl. Somehow I kept procastinating on this. Better late than never, I have decided to invite my pals and blogger friends to help me share and fill my space with recipes and thoughts that they wish to pen down here. It's a good start I must say and that will kill any monotony in my style which I have been carrying throughout here. Do you wish to be a part? Mail me now!

To begin with I am incredibly happy to share my guest for the day Sharmilee as she shares her recipe for Baby Corn Pulao on Vegbowl with us. Sharmilee is an extremely talented blogger from Coimbatore, India and blogs on Sharmispassions. Her website has been around since 3 years and has gained immense popularity as she hosts a huge reportire of varied dishes ranging from starters to desserts with immense efforts that are shown in her step-by-step recipes and droolworthy photographs. I have been a huge fan of Sharmilee's work and I am glad to invite her to my place. Thank you Sharmilee for gracing my virtual space with your fabulous dish.

I always admire the pics at Veg Bowl and love MD's writing style, I never miss to read them. When she approached me for a guest post, I had no second thought as she is one of my fav and inspiring bloggers and a good friend too :) Thank you MD for the opportunity.

Recently vegbowl has moved to its new home and I wish MD and Vegbowl good luck in all the future endeavors!

Coming to baby corn pulao recipe, I recently tried this from a magazine, it was a instant hit at home so thought to share it with you all.

Baby Corn Pulao

Basmati rice - 1 cup
Water - 1.5 cups
Baby Corn - 8 cut into small pieces
Big Onion - 1 cut lengthwise
Curd - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste

To Temper:

Bayleaf - 1/2
Cinnamon - 2
Cardamom - 2
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tsp

To grind:

Big Onion - 1 chopped roughly
Garlic - 5 pearls
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Turmeric powder - a genrous pinch
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Dhania powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2

Method:

1.Grind the ingredients listed under 'to grind' with little water and grind to a fine paste. Soak basmati rice for 15-20 mins, drain water. Add a tsp of ghee and saute the rice in a pan for 2 mins till the moisture leaves. Set aside.

2.In a pressure cooker, heat oil + ghee add the items listed under 'to temper' saute for a minute. Then add onions and saute till slightly browned. Then add the masala paste and baby corn, saute till raw smell completely leaves.It may take around 5-7 mins.

3.Then add curd, required salt and give a quick stir. Then add rice and water and pressure for 3-4 whistles in medium flame. Wait till pressure releases then fluff it up with fork gently without breaking the rice.

Serve hot / warm with onion raita.

My Notes:

• You can use the same recipe to make sweet corn pulao too.
• Adjust spice level according to your taste buds. The measurement above is medium spicy.
• You can serve it with plain or onion raita

Thanks Sharmilee for sharing your recipe here. It is an honor to know such a fabulous blogger like you!

Dual Celebrations with Watermelon Sorbet!

2012-03-15T10:15:00.001+05:30

This watermelon sorbet is so easy and simple that I reckon you to try at least once. The fact that you'll need no fancy ice-cream maker to whip it will make you thank me for that. It's a beauty that watermelons come with such naturally sweet flavors and bold red colors which add up to the dreamy prettiness of this sorbet. I found it hard to keep my little toddler at bay too! Seriously!

I may not be a hunter for recipes, but I know if something's got hooked to my mind, getting it off isn't that easy till I've made it. Sort of a similar thing with this sorbet too. Having tried my hands at couple of ice-creams and fro-yos, I realized I never featured any sorbets here. Not surprising though, since I've never been a fan of ice-candies, so you'll know why I hardly make them. I have a strong inclination for ice creams so my obvious choice have always been them. But the fact is this sorbet is different from those regular ones. You'll love it if you favor your fruits, even if it means you are not a fan of sorbet.

Summers are here, the weather has been stupendously hot and watermelons are in season. They accompany us back home every time we are out on our grocery shopping. So it's not surprising we are melon freaks. They are light and refreshing. They bounce life with their naturally sweet flavor, also them making a great summer snack. They have brilliant color and textures perfect for sorbets. That's a good enough reason I should make them.

Traditionally, sorbet is a frozen dessert usually made from fruit juice with a mushy consistency. My recipe deviates from the essence of using sweetened water flavored with fruit, instead I chose to freeze the cut fruit pieces and then blitz them in a food processor. It's short-cut, healthy, low-cal and guilt free. A watermelon contains about 6% sugar and 92% water by weight, so it needs no extra water and freezes beautifully well.

Watermelon Sorbet

INGREDIENTS

1 kg watermelon
1-2 tbsp sugar

DIRECTIONS

Deseed and chop the watermelons to bite sized pieces. Snack on a few pieces to taste and check for their sweetness. If naturally sweet you may refrain from adding sugar. Else, add a tablespoonful or two of sugar. Squeeze juice from half a lime and toss them well. Transfer them to a freezer proof container and freeze them for at least 5-6 hours or overnight. Just before making the sorbet, remove them from freezer and allow them to sit on counter top for 3-5 minutes. Give them a blitz in a food processor till the watermelon ice cubes break to crystals, yet don't let them melt. Work quickly. Scoop them out to a serving glass and serve immediately.

This incredibly refreshing icy sorbet is just lovely. The flesh adds so much texture and helps to hold the dessert well. It's filled with goodness from fruit, has vibrance in flavor with beautiful peppy color. Easy to make and elegant to serve. Simple and delicious. Just the right thing for summer soother!

I have two celebrations going on today. My little toddler turns one this very day. Exactly a year ago, it was today she was born which brought immense joy and happiness to our lives which words can't possibly express. Secondly, my bloggy baby has turned 3. The summer of 2009 on March 15th, somewhere in the noon, I published my first post publicly. Little did I know that I would sail a long journey with my blog, which grew constantly and in every way is an identity to me and my work. Happy Birthday both my babies, I love you both!

Successful S’mores and failing Vegan Marshmallows!

2012-03-07T07:27:00.002+05:30

My attempts at making homemade marshmallows without corn syrup were successful and much appreciated, however not vegan. I’ve made these marshmallows couple of times now and they turn out perfect each time. Simple, easy and just 2 ingredients for a recipe that will not fail. Armed with that confidence and of sheer curiosity, I’ve been trying to experiment with agar-agar as a replacement for gelatin.

Of several sites I’ve read, successful vegan marshmallows have been possible with Xanthum gum, protein isolates, both of which I can’t fetch locally, hence agar is closest ingredient I can rely on. My struggle with making vegan marshmallows has been for a while, but to no avail. Agar simply fails to act the way gelatin does. My guess is that agar and gelatin have a different composition and gelling properties at different degrees, so they behave differently.

It’s magical what gelatin does to sugar syrup when whipped at high speeds, converting the entire syrup into a snow-white mass of fluffy, creamy, melt-in-mouth marshmallows… amazing! Agar fails to whip up the sugar syrup or stabilize it. My experiments with various proportions of agar, also cooked agar with the syrup and attempted to heat agar separately, all yielded disastrous effect to the end result. Even cooked agar at times failed to dissolve well, leaving speckles in the suspension. It either ended up in a pale caramel colored gooey, slimy mass of colloid or a sticky toffee like brittle, nowhere close what marshmallows are meant to be. An utter flop. An assurance that vegan marshmallows cannot be made with sugar and agar alone, they definitely need something more to be whipped up and stabilized. Till I get some Xanthum gum and protein isolates in my reach, I shall leave vegan marshmallows to rest in peace.

That apart, making homemade marshmallows is a breeze and fun too. Many with whom I shared these, were actually stunned when I told these were homemade… a pause, a blink in the eye and prying, some astonished if it was seriously homemade or just tagged so… had to convince! For the chocolate lover that we have at home, these marshmallows may not have made much of an impact, but these S’mores definitely did! He said “Wow, these are yum. Can we have more of these please!!!” S'mores as they call it for some more please... these little sandwich bars are popular American traditional campfire treats consisting of a roasted marshmallow and chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker, sinfully yum and decadent.

S’mores

INGREDIENTS

2 Graham cracker squares (I used Nutrichoice cracker squares)
10 gm. chocolate bar, broken/melted if necessary (milk, dark, semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate)
1 large homemade marshmallow

DIRECTIONS

On a clean plate, place one cracker square. Top it with the piece of dark chocolate. Microwave on high for 15-20 seconds to melt the chocolate slightly. Stick a fork into the marshmallow or using a tong, swirl the marshmallow lightly over open flame till the edges are golden brown. Do not hold longer as they will melt and fall apart. A couple of swift turns should do the job. Immediately place the marshmallow on top of the partially melted chocolate. Alternatively, you may toast the marshmallows under a grill too. Top it with the second cracker and press down gently so that some of the chocolate and marshmallow goo slides out on the sides. When the S'more is fully assembled, let it sit for a few seconds. Gently press them together and eat them like a sandwich! They taste best when warm.

Graham cracker squares are not available in India. An alternative would be digestive biscuits. However, I chose to use Nutrichoice cracker squares. They are thin, salted cracker squares and balance the sweetness from chocolate-marshmallow filling, just right for our tastes. The warm bittersweet chocolate and gooey marshmallows render creaminess to the dessert with a luscious center while the Nutrichoice cracker squares poise the sweetness, perfectly balancing it out. These are perfect little desserts which can be made ahead and taken to parties and adventure trips, pretty enough to win accolades.

Homemade Marshmallows

2012-03-01T07:12:00.001+05:30

Over the years there have been couple of recipes I’ve wanted to try but could never attempt for reasons plenty. In a land where ‘certain’ ingredients used primarily in Western cooking were unheard of and almost impossible to fetch, I wouldn’t blame myself if I pushed those recipes aside. Fortunately though, today we live in a pretty diverse city which has access to many of these imported items, it is still a challenge to fetch a Filo sheet, Wonton wrappers or even Puff Pastry sheets. I have not been lucky yet. I have given up mt hands on a local whipping cream, then would you expect me to look out for corn syrup, xanthum gum, agave nectar, etc.? Thanking my stars, least I have access to some good dark chocolate, vanilla extract or butterscotch chips, not with ease though!

I don’t remember eating marshmallows as kids. It’s not something we get here in stores. Only a couple of years ago, on our vacation to Ooty, I must have tasted my first marshmallows. And because you are on a vacation to a new place, you often tend to try foods that are speciality of that place, homemade chocolates and marshmallows happen to be quite popular here. And as predictable it can be, it was not one of those favorites among my parents for the lack of flavors or taste. And hence forgotten too…

Then, two years ago when my husband and me went on a vacation trip to Munnar and last year to Ooty, these marshmallows rocked my memories of those soft, pillow-like, melt-in-mouth candies. I had the freedom to enjoy couple of them there and packed a few to be eaten back home. Again as predictable it can be, marshmallows were never among my husband’s favorites too! So all that pack was devoured by me alone. Of course, to satisfy my husband’s chocolate addiction, our dear Rocky Road Bars were their counterparts!

Being a vegetarian, I was ignorant then that the animal product, gelatin goes into making these marshmallows. Though it doesn’t bother me much, since I am not staunch about vegetarianism (it’s just our way of life… didn’t we consume cod liver oil as kids… or what about the capsules... were eggs ever vegetarian…?), bringing home gelatin did bother me. Over the past two weeks I have been craving for marshmallows and my frantic search for stores in Bangalore didn’t lead me anywhere. Even the candy shops in malls ran out of stock. Are they kidding me???

I badly wanted to make them in my kitchen. Google gave ample recipes, most of them had one thing in common, corn syrup and gelatin. Corn syrup is an ingredient that is impossible to get locally and I would have preferred the recipe without gelatin. I’ve never used gelatin in the past, since agar-agar has worked mostly for me. I was skeptical how the marshmallows would turn out if agar powder was used. Despite all the possible research online, I concluded that gelatin was the only way I could get these right, at least for my first attempt. Again, since this was the first time I was attempting marshmallows, I decided to stick by what the recipe demanded, of course minus the corn syrup.

It turned out that these marshmallows were the best ever I’ve tasted. Absolutely yum and totally melt-in-mouth feel. If you taste one of these you’ll realize why you may never want to go back to the store-bought ones. Making these were darn easy and hardly any effort. With no candy thermometer at hand, I was mentally prepared for disasters… what if the sugar syrup ended in a caramel… will I get the right consistency… what the heck is that soft-ball stage… will the syrup whip well to marshmallow cream… will I be able to lift these marshmallows off the tray… if these fail, then what next… ???

Quite a lot of study went into making these little sweet treats. Several sites, recipes, reviews, comments which helped me gear up making these in my kitchen. I was armed with puffed rice at hand to make rice krispies, should these fail on me. And if the marshmallow cream failed to set, my digestive biscuits and dark chocolate were at my custody for some S’mores. Bear with me, these photos were taken at night on my kitchen counter with flash on. What was meant to be a weekend activity, I ended up making these on a weekday night. Put my little tot early to sleep and nudged myself to make these, I could barely hold my excitement. Sugar syrup went on a rolling boil and I kept looking for that soft-ball stage. Every time I threw a drop of that syrup in cold water it would dissolve into thin water. I gave up on that technic and instead stuck by India method of single thread consistency. A safer bet. Dropped a tiny dollop of syrup on a steel plate, allowed it to cool a little and then checked their consistency between my thumb and forefinger for a single string. It worked well. My mixer bowl had the gelatin blooming, however the moment the sugar reached that right stage, in the final boil, I threw in the gelatin to the hot syrup and gave a quick stir. Off the flame, I put the hot vessel directly on my stand mixer and gave the hot sugar syrup the desired blitz till it fluffed up and doubled in volume. Unlike what most recipes suggest (pouring the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture), I added gelatin to the boiling syrup to avoid any lumps or un-dissolved gelatin stuff. I guess it worked well for me.

Homemade Vanilla Marshmallows (without Corn Syrup)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup cold water
2 tbsp. gelatin
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
A pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

To dust:

1 tsp. vegetable oil
1/8 cup cornstarch
1/8 cup powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

Prepare a pan: Mix corn starch and powdered sugar. Grease a square baking dish and dust with the cornstarch-sugar powder thoroughly. Grease a spatula with vegetable oil to transfer the prepared marshmallow cream.

Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water and allow it to bloom. Prepare your stand mixer by attaching a balloon whisk. A balloon whisk will help in pumping good amount of air, thus helping them double faster. In a heavy saucepan, combine water and sugar. Bring to rolling boil on medium heat, stirring occasionally. If you have a candy thermometer at hand, boil it till it registers 115 degrees C (235-240 F), soft ball stage. In case you don’t have one, drop a blob of syrup on a steel plate, allow it to cool a little and then check it’s consistency between the thumb and forefinger for a single string formation. As it cools down further you should be able to roll it into a soft ball. Many recipes suggest a soft ball stage by testing the syrup in a bowl of cold water, though I’m not sure why it didn’t work for me. Sugar tends to crystallize, hence keep a keen eye on your boiling syrup. Once it reaches the soft ball stage, quickly add in the salt and bloomed gelatin to the sugary syrup. Turn off the flame immediately and give a quick, proper stir to ensure that the gelatin has dissolved completely. It took me about 8-10 minutes to reach that stage.

Turn on mixer at low speed, slowly increasing it to high, beating it on the highest speed. Beat until very thick, fluffy and double in volume, about 12 minutes is what it took for me on a stand mixer. The entire mass will turn to a clean white fluff and when this cream no longer increases in volume it should be done. At this stage, add in the vanilla extract or flavoring of your choice and give a final whirl for a minute. Do not overbeat as it may stiffen and make it tougher to transfer. Do not feel tempted to touch or taste the marshmallow cream at this stage as it’s very sticky and stingy in nature and you’ll end up in mess everywhere!

Using the oiled spatula, transfer the cream to the greased tin. Scrape off all the batter from the bowl and spread evenly into the prepared pan. Gently level the tops using the greased spatula. Cool overnight or at least 4 hours before slicing. To slice, carefully transfer the entire sheet of marshmallows to a sugar-cornstarch dusted cutting board. Grease a very sharp knife or scissors and cut into desired squares. I suggest not to use a ridged knife as I had trouble cutting with them. Instead a sharp leveled knife should do that job better. Toss with remaining sugar-cornstarch mixture until all sides are evenly coated and no longer sticky.

To make mini-marshmallows, I used the rear end of greased piping nozzle, pressed them down on the marshmallow sheet and cut out rounds. To be used on marshmallow floats. They keep for over a week in air-tight containers. The longer you have them, the denser they get, making them perfect for cup of hot chocolate.

The entire process may sound lengthy and tedious, but honestly it isn’t much of an effort to make this fluff. Glad that these marshmallows turned out extremely yum and surpassed my expectations. My husband who’s not a fan of marshmallows too gave me a thumbs up. This recipe is a keeper for sure and I do intend to play with more flavors in future. Also, next on my card is an attempt to get them done the vegan way. Let’s see if the agar stuff works… will keep you posted.

Sweet move with Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bark

2012-02-22T09:31:00.001+05:30

You have to pardon me for my inconsistency in blogging these days. Being without my laptop since a couple of days makes me totally incompetent to maintain my blog at the desired pace I intend to and I feel totally at lag. I generally prefer posting at least one recipe each week, but haven’t been able to linger on to that. My camera flash card is flooded with pictures of food, food and more food, but seriously, haven’t got enough time to download them and edit. Couple of drafts have been sitting incomplete, soon to be posted. Worse, I received several wishes on my birthday last month from my friends and blogger pals, but I haven’t been able to respond to mails or thank any. My sincere apologies guys… !!!

I hate this procrastination. Ever since I have been without my system, I’ve been nudging my husband to lend his lappy on weekends, only to keep this space burning and alive, with a positive hope that I shall soon be united with my beloved lappy. To say that I am technologically dependent is an understatement, now that living without a system hasn’t given me any peace of mind, but driving me nuts. On the contrary I have some positive news for you all. :)

Coming to the point, after a lot of thought and wait, I finally decided to purchase my own domain. Yes, after 3 years of blogging I still feel passionate about it. I love doing this every bit, so I took a plunge to move from http://www.vegbowl.blogspot.com/ to http://www.vegbowl.in/. Now doesn't that call for some celebration??? Now here's some Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bark to raise the toast!

Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bark

INGREDIENTS

2 cups chopped Dark Chocolate
2/3 cup mixed roasted nuts (such as roasted walnuts, pistachios, almonds and melon seeds)
2/3 cup mixed dried fruit (such as raisins, quartered figs and apricots)

DIRECTIONS

Line a tray with foil or parchment paper. Microwave the chocolate in medium bowl for 2 minutes on high power. Give a stir, the chocolate should be melted and smooth. If not microwave for another minute. Alternatively melt the chocolate in a double boiler over saucepan of simmering water, stirring until melted and smooth.

Scatter nuts and dried fruit evenly over the paper/foil. Pour melted chocolate onto the fruit nut mix, spreading gently using a spatula. Chill until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes. Peel off the paper. Cut chocolate into irregular pieces. Serve the bark.

This chocolate bark is packed with goodness from fruits and nuts. I am a huge fan of dark chocolates, I always have them to munch on. My love for dry fruits and nuts is profound, I can add them to anything sweet and savory too. And am a bigger fan of roasted nuts, given the immense flavor and crunch they give to anything added. The bittersweet incense from the chocolate stark out beautifully when paired with the roasted earthiness from nuts and mellowed sweetness from dry fruits.

Orange Buttercream Cake for my Valentine

2012-02-14T11:51:00.002+05:30

I am totally pepped up with this thought of celebrating a day symbolizing love with your Valentine. Isn’t that so cute? Unfortunately, it falls on a Tuesday this year, that means we’ll be both at work and will be spent like any other week day. Shades of red have always been my favorite color, so there is no reason why I shouldn’t be soaked in colors of Valentine. And be it a festival or an occasion, you know I just need an excuse to make a dessert!

Initial thoughts of making chocolate cake for my Valentine took a backseat when I saw the bright oranges brought in from the Sunday shopping peeping out from shopping bag. They screamed to be used, probably not for the cake, but to be eaten fresh. As I packed a few off to be refrigerated for later use, the whipped cream on the refrigerator counter sat gleaming at me. Fresh cream cake wasn’t on my mind honestly. Experiments with fresh cream haven't had many success with me, so I didn't dare to this time. Buttercream was a safer route. After a real long time (I can say almost close to a year and half), I got eggs for the fat-less sponge base. Can’t get a better cake than a cake with Orange buttercream icing, yeah? Absolutely!

Oranges are in season. Seeing them flood the market in shades of bright yellow orange hues makes me go crazy for them. I cannot simply resist oranges, so reminiscent of a fruit which we often depend on to quench our thirst, especially during train and bus journeys. I completely adore fresh fruits, but wonder why I’ve rarely played around with them in my dessert. We relish fruits on a daily basis with stocks of banana, watermelon and muskmelon being quite a regular at home. Guess while I’m chopping fruits for a dessert a lot of it goes directly to my mouth rather than the dessert itself!

I have been toying around this idea of using oranges again to make a Gateaux since my previous bake with Baked Orange Cheesecake. Oh yeah, people loved it! It was hit at home. I’ve discovered a new found love in the zesty refreshing flavors of orange, prior to which the peels were meant to be discarded. I love that citrus zester and have been using more often since. I went on a serious hunting spree for that one tool! Totally worth the effort!

Keeping in mind the Valentine day, I baked this Orange Fresh Cream Gateaux over the weekend. This did not come as a surprise my hubby as he very well knew that a cake was on the way for him J. The eggs fluffed well to make the fatless sponge base devoid of any fat using the recipe inspired by Tarla Dalal. Drizzled juice directly from fresh oranges on to the cake. Now how good is that for you? A quick round of whip given to the cream and a good amount of orange rind and juice went into it, speckled bright and yellow. Spread the stuff and assembled it in less than an hour. It was a breeze.

Orange Buttercream Cake

INGREDIENTS

Fatless Sponge:

2 large sized eggs
50 gms (2 oz.) plain flour (maida)
50 to 80 gms fine tea sugar or powdered sugar

Buttercream Icing:

200 gm. softened butter
2 tbsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp. orange rind
A few slices of orange segments
2-3 tbsp. orange juice (for moistening the cake and icing)

DIRECTIONS

Sieve the flour. Grease and dust a baking tin. Beat the eggs and sugar very well until thick and double in quantity. Fold in the sieved flour carefully and mix gently with a metal spoon. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin. Bake in a hot oven at 200 degree C (400 degree F) for 15 minutes. The cake is ready when it leaves the sides of the tin and is springy to touch. Take out from the oven and leave to cool for a minute. Loosen the sides with a knife, invert the tin over a rack and tap sharply to remove. Cool the cake.

Slice the cake to two. Moist them well with fresh/canned orange juice. I used fresh juice here. Whip the butter and sugar to soft peaks. Add in fresh/canned orange juice along with fresh orange zest and whip further till stiff peaks form. Slather a dollop of cream and spread well on the center. Scatter a few orange segments and top it with the second slice. Slather and coat the cake with the remaining cream and top with candied zest and orange segments and chill for at least 3-4 hours. Serve.

I am not a huge fan of buttercream cakes, simply because they leave that buttery creaminess on the roof of mouth. Saying that this cake was not only loved by my Valentine, but also my mom and sis with whom it was shared. The cake got over even before I could carry it over for the 14th Feb! The orange rind is refreshing and makes the cake totally sinful. I was not totally satisfied the way I frosted this cake. I should have chopped off the cake hood flat before frosting. I could definitely have done a much better job. Frosting a cake is a real test of patience. You need to treat that cake like your baby, gentle and with care.

Are you geared up to celebrate this Valentine day with your special one? Do you plan to create a special dessert for your Valentine this year? What's your flavor? Would you go for Vanilla or Chocolate or is that a fruity one like mine? Share your thoughts with me.

Chocolate & Coffee Whole Wheat Cookies

2012-02-11T14:00:00.003+05:30

It’s been long since I baked some cookies and this seemed the perfect occasion when I should be baking more of them. My little tot is in her teething phase and loves putting almost everything into her mouth. Door-mats seem to entice her more than anything else and we have a tough time hiding them from her. We’ve been playing a lot of peek-a-boo games with her and my little brat is full of untiring energy, life and zest. She’s been gaining strength and weight to crawl and pull herself well now, but should have some more time to go before she can be independent on her feet. While she loves pulling objects and putting them to her teeth, we have a terrible time objecting her from doing so! This seemed the perfect reason for me to bake some cookies so that she can hold them and bite into her itching teeth.

With 2 bunny teeth on lower and 1 on upper gums and the fourth breaking its way out, she hasn’t yet got over her itch to bite into almost anything close to solid. While she’s pretty fussy with her choices when it comes to food, digestive biscuits seem to be her favorites. And no, not the milk dipped softened ones done specifically for her, but a solid bite into the biscuit is what she demands. I played around with these Chocolate & Coffee Whole Wheat Cookies, adapted from the cookbook, Chocolate: The Food and the Music to make cookies which were healthy so she can bite into. I’ve made 2-3 batches of varying ingredients, all on similar lines of the base recipe. For my little one, I skipped chocolate and coffee. I omitted egg completely, instead used thin flax-meal paste. For the adults, I like to use same amount of coffee liquor as much the volume of an egg. They turn out good each time promising to be good companions for your cup of tea. And my little toddler surely seems to be enjoying them.

Chocolate & Coffee Whole Wheat Cookies

Adapted from Chocolate: The Food and the Music

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg (replace with 1 tbsp. gooey flax-meal paste or 1 tbsp. of coffee liquor if making for adults)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp. bran (I used whole wheat bran)
1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cup rolled oats
1 tbsp. strong coffee (Add more for stronger flavor)
2/3 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 2 large cookies sheets. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl. Add the egg (replace with 1 tbsp. gooey flax-meal paste or 1 tbsp. of coffee liquor, if making for adults) and beat well, using an electric mixer.

In a separate bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt, then add in the whole wheat flour and bran. Mix in the egg / flax mixture, then stir in the chocolate chips, oats, coffee and nuts. If it's for the baby, skip the chocolates and coffee. Mix well.

Drop tablespoonful of the mixture onto the prepared cookie sheets, dabbing each lightly using the back of a spoon (if you prefer thin, crisp cookies), leaving room for the cookies to spread during cooking. Transfer the cookie sheets to preheated oven and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown.

Remove from the oven, the transfer to a cooling rack and let cool before serving.

I like thin, crisp cookies which have a crunch with every bite. That my prefect bake. On the other hand, my husband prefers more chewy cookies over the crunch. If you want your cookies crisp, you bake 2 minutes longer. For chewy ones, remove the cookies as they begin to brown on edges.

We use flax quite a lot in Indian cooking, specially South. While my mom’s roasted flaxseed chutney powder is my favorite, I personally dislike the flavor of flax in my baked goods. So I was cautious with my use of flax-meal powder this time and made a pretty thin paste instead of a thick gooey one. I like to think these are good for you. They have bran, rolled oats, whole wheat flour, flax-meal, walnuts and chocolate chips in them. Now, isn’t that goodness of everything in one?

Ragi Dosa

2012-01-27T09:50:00.003+05:30

Almost at the end of January and I am surprised how fast the month of January passed by. Wasn't it hardly a few days ago that we spent a gala holiday time partying for the New year? And boy, we've already crossed a month! Personally for me, this month has been packed with lots of surprises and challenges. On professional front, I am excited as my career graph moves a step ahead and am looking forward to the new learning and challenges it poses. Fortunately, the strong support from my family ties keep me enthusiastic and passionate about my work.

A lending hand does come from my parents, especially my mom. And with their relentless support I have been able to manage home smoothly. At times, when I am back home exhausted from a long day at work, mom resues me with her ready to cook batters, instant powders and spice mixes. Even her freshly chopped vegetables or picked and cleaned greens give me a helping hand that make our life much simpler. Preparing the batter or chopping vegetables may look less of an effort, but honestly it's one of those kitchen jobs I always detest to do. Like this simple Ragi dosa that doesn't require much of an effort, but a good amount of time for soaking and grinding. Looks extremely simple and hardly an effort, yet not so! While I generally get Ragi dosa batter from my mom, this weekend I pursued to make them myself so that my litte one could relish them too. This also happens to be my husband's favorites and he prefers this over the plain urad dosa.

Ragi Dosa

INGREDIENTS

1 and 1/2 cup ragi flour
1 cup urad dal
1 cup raw rice
1-2 tsp methi seeds
Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Wash and soak urad dal, rice and methi seeds in ample amount of water for atleast 3-4 hours. Discard the soaked water. Grind them together to a smooth paste using less than half a cup of water. Finally add in the ragi flour and stir the batter very well. The batter should be thick, not runny. Transfer this batter to a large vessel which can accommodate double the volume. Place in a warm dry place, like that of a pre-heated oven. Allow the batter to ferment overnight or atleast 8 hours. By then the batter will rise due to fermentation. Beat the batter well before preparing the dosa.

Oil an iron griddle and heat it. If using a non stick pan, oiling is not required, but I suggest you use an iron griddle for best thin and crisp dosas. Take a laddle full of batter and spread them on the griddle gently using the back of the laddle. If you find the batter too thick and not spreadable, then add little extra water, beat well and make dosas. Serve hot with fresh chutney.

Ragi or finger millet is extremely healthy, gluten-free and rich in iron and vitamins. You can make thin or thick dosas depending on your taste. We prefer thin and crisp dosas, sometimes paper-thin too and they go very well with ghee and chutney. On occasions when I am short of time to make chutneys, I serve these with a dollop of ghee-honey mix. As kids we've loved that combination and I can eat almost anything that way... breads, rotis, dosas, idlis... I guess almost anything. It's one of those traditional tricks my grandma used to lure kids to enjoy our breakfast. Simply mix equal quantites of ghee and honey and serve a dollop of this with the dosa. They taste yum!

Sihi Pongal

2012-01-14T11:20:00.001+05:30

We celebrated Makar Sankranthi on the 15th Jan at home in a small way. Nothing much really, except when it comes to food I wouldn't want to miss any kind of celebration. Since it's my daughter's first Sankranthi, keeping in mind the festive mood, I made two versions of Pongal, the sweet and the spicy version. Gud Pongal or Sihi Pongal, (sihi meaning sweet) is made of jaggery and is one of the easy and healthiest desserts that I have ever learnt to make. Though I don't often make this, Sankranthi gives me the best occasion to make and share this simple and easy recipe.

It also happens to be one of my husband's favorites... he often tells me that during Pongal festival, their neighbors would often send them both sweet and spicy pongal and as kids they would go raring over it and relish it unendingly. I rarely find him asking me to make something specific, but when these reminiscences of childhood bring back fond memories and he insisted I make some of this for him I couldn't refuse. This happens to be a common dish in most Tamilian homes during this festival.

Sihi Pongal

INGREDIENTS

3/4th cup moong dal
1 cup rice
1 cup milk
2 1/2 cups jaggery
1 tsp freshly pound cardamom powder
Handful of raisins and cashewnuts
3 tbsp of clarified butter / ghee
1/2 cup freshly grated coconut

DIRECTIONS

Wash, clean and pressure cook the dal and rice with 4 cups of water for 3-5 whistles. Alternatively cook them in a vessel till they are well done and mushy. Once cooked, add a cup of milk and jaggery and bring it to a gentle boil. Gently mash them using a spatula.

In a separate pan, heat 3 tbsp of ghee. Fry the cashewnuts and raisins and add to the pongal. Add the powdered cardamoms finally in the end. Mix well and serve hot.

Be sure to serve this with a massive dollop of ghee. Every morsel of this sweet pongal is heavenly and that dollop of ghee only elevates this experience. Rice and dal have starch which make this sticky on tongue if no fat is added. Adding ghee will balance the starch and enhance the flavors. Our fussy daughter is too choosy about food and variety. While she shuns the regular dal-chaawal combo, she happily enjoyed this Pongal and that gave me immense satisfaction.

Ragi Manni (Finger Millet Pudding)

2012-01-08T01:31:00.004+05:30

I have been meaning to do this post since long. Somehow I have been procrastinating and what was meant to be posted two months ago is coming up now. This is meant to be a baby food, but in due course I have taken keen liking to this and have made it my meal too. For almost 5 months, we did not introduce any external food to my daughter and she was fed on milk alone. However, since her 5th month, we introduced light foods like juice and mashed bananas. I had to get back to work, which meant feeding her in my absence was a challenge. We put her on external semi solids in her 6th month, with our baby growing from an infant to a toddler, only milk would not suffice for her growth.

My mom often teases me that I had strong affinity toward food since my birth. While most babies easily fuss about food and expect variety in terms of colors and flavors, I would happily take what ever was fed to me. One of the most common baby foods made with utmost care and regard is this Ragi Manni which simply translates to Finger Millet Pudding. Finger Millet, called as Ragi in Kannada is very nutritious as it's gluten-free and high in proteins, minerals, calcium and fibre. Ragi Manni is one of the best food you can begin to feed your baby with. It has a semi solid consistency and a texture similar to pudding.

It took me deal of an effort to make this brown slush look presentable. I mean how good can a porridge look otherwise? Left undisturbed for a few minutes, you know there's an ugly layer that forms on top making it totally unpresentable.

Ragi Manni

INGREDIENTS

Ragi - 1/2 kg
Handful of Almonds

DIRECTIONS

Wash and soak ragi millet for 8-10 hours or overnight. Drain the water out completely. Tie the soaked ragi in a thin cotton cloth like that of muslin and hang them in a cool, dry place to germinate. Within next day or two you should see the millet sprout. Once sprouted, spread them on a clean plate and allow to dry in shade. Soak almonds for a couple of hours. Drain the water and skin them. Allow the almonds to dry along with the millet.

Heat up an iron pan to medium low flame and gently roast the sprouted millet and almonds till it pops. Since this is a baby food, be careful not to let them burn. It may take some time, but be patient. Once roasted, allow them to cool down completely. Using a heavy duty grinder, grind it into fine powder. Store this powder in a clean, dry, airtight container.

Prepare the baby food:

There are two ways we make this. Sweet and Salt version. My daughter has less of sweet tooth and enjoys the salt version better.

Dissolve 1 teaspoon of ragi powder in milk ensuring there are no lumps. Heat this on a low flame till ragi is cooked and it thickens. Heat through well stirring constantly. Once completely cooked, add in sugar or jaggery to taste. I use sugar since the jaggery often has dust and many impurities. Allow to cool and serve to your baby.

For salty version, dissolve 1 teaspoon of ragi powder in 1/2 cup of water. Bring this to a boil, stirring on a low flame. Once thickened and completely cooked add salt to taste. Allow to come to room temperature. Add in yogurt to this prepared ragi, whisk well and serve to your baby.

Baked Cheesecake with Orange Glaze

2012-01-03T09:30:00.006+05:30

Celebrations generally continue at our place with birthdays falling in the first week of January. The Capri girl that I am, I am usually flooded with greetings not only for the New Year, but following my birthday too. I am extremely poor at remembering birth dates and I feel overwhelmed when people take effort to remember my birthday and wish me, including my close friends whose birthdays I've always missed to wish. It happens often that I end up remembering them a week or even a month later, then repenting not having wished them, once again.

The trip to Mangalore earlier during the Christmas was fun. Being at home town is always comforting and that too in a city where I grew up and spent most of my teen life. Yes, I do have a sense of belonging attached here. We relaxed and the trip took us away from all the hustle bustle of city life. We rested through our stay, while the calm, serene and peaceful city indeed did the best to our souls and we felt extremely rejuvenated post the trip.

And even as we were bouncing back to our routine life, we had another trip planned in advance to Mumbai. Hubby hadn't seen Mumbai for more than a decade and badly wanted to pay a visit. With all that travel and bag packing done, there wasn't much scope for baking for my birthday. Fortunately, we were home on the New year eve. With our baby around, her sleep and food patterns would hamper her schedule and put us to trouble, so we stuck to staying indoors and partying at home. Same evening when I had a little time at hand, I put a few ingredients together and worked briskly to bake this simple yet delicious cheesecake which we not just enjoyed over the New Year Eve, but was carried over to my birthday as well.

Baked Cheesecake with Orange Glaze

INGREDIENTS

For the Crust

75 gms digestive biscuit (I used McVities)
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp melted butter

For the Filling

1 cup grated homemade fresh paneer (cottage cheese)
1 cup medium fat cream
1/2 cup thick hung yogurt/Amul Srikhand
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp corn starch

For Orange Glaze

1/2 tsp agar-agar powder
1/4 cup orange juice, fresh or canned
1 tbsp sugar or more, depending on your taste
1 tsp orange rind
Flesh from 1 orange

DIRECTION

For the crust: Mix the finely crushed biscuits, sugar and butter and press the mixture evenly into a 6" diameter loose bottom tin or a spring-form pan. Chill in a freezer.

For the filling: Blend the paneer till it's liquid and pour-able. Add the hung yogurt and sugar to blend with paneer further. Ensure it's blended well uniformly. Whip in the medium fat cream and add it to the above mixture along with corn starch and vanilla. Whiz once more.

To assemble: Pour the filling over the set crust. Bake in a hot oven at 200 degree c (400 degree f) for 15-20 minutes or till the sides are set and the center is still a little jiggly. Remove and allow to cool in th refrigerator.

To prepare the glaze: Dissolve the agar in cold water and bring it to boil. Add in the orange juice, rind, sugar and orange flesh. Bring to a boil and pour on prepared cheesecake. Allow to set. Decorate with orange rind if desired.

The key to a good cheesecake is to allow it to set overnight or at least for 6 hours in refrigerator. That's when the flavors develop and mingle well, also letting the cake set firmly. The cheesecake was fabulous and made up for not just the New year, but my birthday too. On the flip side, I found the crust uneven and thicker on edges and I need to work on getting them right. I also felt the filling could have increased in quantity for the crust made, which would in turn give the cake the desired height, making it more presentable. But nevertheless the cheesecake had all the flavors right. The orange flavors burst out with every bite. The orange rind is extremely refreshing and adds that zing factor to this cheesecake, so I suggest you do not miss on that. They not only add flavor, but the glamor element to the cake. Cottage cheese cannot be tasted and blends well with the cream, thus making this cake soft, moist, cheesy, citric and rich. A totally decadent treat.

Spiced Fruit and Nut Christmas Bars

2011-12-28T17:45:00.008+05:30

Hope you guys are having fun time with your family and friends. A little late though, but I am happy I managed to post this for the holiday season. Travel to Mangalore with my family kept us busy. Packing bags and cleaning up the refrigerator took a deal of my time. Packing bags was never this challenging as it was offlate with the baby. The baby bag almost took the entire world in it, all in minature sizes! The chill Bangalore weather just added more winter clothing to the travel bag making it heavier. Phew!

With all this, I had least expected I would bake. Hubby was back from his adventure trip and demanded a fruit cake. I rebeled initially, given the amount of work I had at hand, but later couldn't resist the thought of baking for Christmas, to bake and pack something that we could carry for our trip too so that our family could enjoy.

Spices, fruits and nuts make such a quintessential part of Christmas baking, that without them the holiday's celebration does not sound complete. This is the coldest time of the year and the spices and liqour soaked fruits and nuts give all that warmth to make the winter holiday season eventful.

Baking a cake didn't figure out in my list this year, that's probably because a spiced fruit cake uses exotic ingredients like the best of fruits and nuts, soaked in liquor, tossed in homemade spice mix and baked to lend warm, heart rendering flavors to the cake. When there's so much of pre-planning and process involved, I ensure I make it with utmost care and caution. And that calls for time and attention. Instead on the lines of similar flavors, I had in mind these spiced bars that I baked the morning we left outstation, so that we could enjoy them through our journey with ease.

I apologize for these snaps. They aren't the best and do not justify the burst of flavors these bars have. I photographed them in a hurry and packed them off to be relished later.

Spiced Fruit and Nut Christmas Bars

Inspired by Panforte Di Siena from Big Book of Baking

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4th cup all purpose flour
3/4th cup brown sugar
3/4th cup butter
1 tbsp mixed peels
1 tbsp honey
1 cup Kahlua/Tia Maria/Coffee liquor
1 cup mixed fruits and citrus peels (raisins, sultanas and dates)
1 cup mixed roasted nuts (almonds, pistachios, melon seeds, walnuts, etc.)
All spices homemade mix

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C. Grease and line a square cake tin. If you prefer wedges, use a round baking tin.

Chop the dates finely. In a saucepan, add in kahlua, honey, brown sugar and butter along with raisins, sultanas and chopped dates and bring it to a rolling boil. Boil for about 6-8 mins. By this time the raisins and sultanas will swell. Add in the citrus peels and all spice mix. Turn off the stove and allow to cool a little. As the mixture cools down, add in the all purpose flour and stir well. Finally add in the chopped roasted nuts to this mixture and toss them together. The batter is bound to be stiffer than the regular cake batter. Transfer it to the prepared cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes. Once baked, remove from oven and allow to cool a little. Slice them to bars or wedges as desired.

These bars were inspired by Panforte Di Siena from Big Book of Baking, but with a difference. They are a cross between cake and cookies, sort of like fudges. These bars are rich and buttery, so you may reduce the butter to half a cup as well. I used Kahlua to flavor them. The hint of coffee liquor comes out subtly against the warm coziness from spices in an earthy backdrop from brown sugar. A touch of Christmas with a mélange of vivid flavors.

With just 3 days to go, New Year 2012 will be here. The advent of new year comes new hopes and new possibilities. I hope this year brings good luck, joy and happiness to all and brightens up every life. Here's wishing all my readers a Happy New Year 2012.

Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Muffins

2011-12-22T01:34:00.009+05:30

You know Christmas is here when your eyes tune to seeing shades of reds and whites everywhere. I am eyeing at the holiday season which is all set to beckon us with some travel, which means loads of fun and excitement with family and friends, which I am eagerly looking forward to. To all my fellow readers, I extend my warm and hearty wishes for Merry Christmas and Happy New year.

Seriously, I can't imagine Christmas without a fruit cake of any kind. Christmas is already here and my fruits aren't soaked yet. I would probably settle for a store bought one. Sweet cravings of plum cakes and rose cookies flood my memories as I think of them. The deep amber cakes dotted with dry fruits and nuts lining the stretch of glass shelves in bakeries and cake shops tempt me further and the aromas linger, hanging on so strong and etched.

Last week my hubby and dad set out on a biking expedition to greener pastures to enjoy the serene country side. The nature lovers that they are put the two of us, mom and me into trouble! With their trip came additional responsibility of bag packing and baby sitting my daughter. And you know that with a nine month old baby at arm all the time, who craves for the best of our attention, it can't get any easy for us. With more in my hand than I can ask for this year, I doubted if I could really extend myself to bake for the Christmas course.

Right before the day they set out on their trip, I scuffled through my pantry to pull out packets of roasted pistachios fervently, all of which I have been zealous to put to use for long. I put together pistachios and chopped chocolate chunks to make half a dozen ultimate pistachio chocolate chunk muffins for the ultimate adventure biking trip! These muffins were not only eggless to boast for, but also rich and luxuriously decadent that with every bite their energy levels boosted to the zenith!

Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Muffins

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp corn flour
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup melted butter
1 cup minus a tbsp of sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp chopped pistachios
Fistful of chocolate chunks

DIRECTION

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line muffin liners on muffin pans. Sieve together all purpose flour, wheat flour, baking powder and baking soda. Keep aside. Beat the butter and sugar till it's light and frothy. To this add vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and toss gently till they are just combined. Finally add the chopped pistachios and chocolate chunks and give a final stir. Transfer the batter to the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 30-35 mins or till top looks golden brown done.

I draw inspiration from dozens of recipes I see flooding across the net, all hosted in style and glamor for the holiday season. Every click takes me to a new recipe and it tempts me further. As I bake a fruit cake of some sort every year, this year too plans weren't any different. I would have probably exhausted myself pondering hard what best I could do to revamp the traditional fruitcake I have been making since couple of years.

When I came up with these muffins, I was so glad the way they turned out, moist and crumbly, yet not utterly sweet and the buttery richness lent it a decadence which both the men enjoyed through their journey. Again, dad being particular about eggless cakes, these eggless muffins were enjoyed by him too without complaining. With pistachios and chocolate chunks you know they can't go wrong. Pack off to be given to your family and friends this holiday season!

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!!!

Besan Cheela (Vegan Gluten-free Omelette)

2011-12-15T18:38:00.000+05:30

Being a vegetarian never came to me as a forethought. That's the way I was brought up at home, in a way my identity too which I was secretly proud of. Never did the urge to try out meat strike at me. And though it's not about being rigid or religiously steadfast, I am content just being vegetarian. Though I do believe for the ones who have been living on meat throughout life, treading the path of being a vegetarian or vegan is not an easy venture at all. It's enduring, challenging, gutsy and calls for exuberant will power to quit all that you've loved eating throughout. My salutes!

If I see from the view of a convert, it can be hard to be a vegetarian or vegan eater. If you’re out to eat, the restaurant might not have options that fit your diet, especially if a vegan. If you mostly cook at home, it can be hard to find recipes that fit into your vegetarian or vegan meal plan. Don’t get me wrong, there may be plenty of recipes that will work, but what about the times when you find an awesome recipe that contains ingredients, like gelatin or eggs you would rather not use? That’s when it’s time for substitutions, the smart way.

One of my readers, Carolyn recently shared her thoughts on being vegan and cooking vegan food. She says substitutions can be easy, but some not really. When it comes to spices and flavor enhancers the idea is simple: Find something that tastes similar. For example, if your recipe calls for lemon or lime juice, they can usually be interchanged without any issues. If you need cinnamon but don’t have any, you could use nutmeg or allspice instead. These types of substitutions are fairly easy, but what about when it comes to more substantial ingredients in the dish? Tofu is a decent substitute for some kinds of meat, but you might be better off just leaving it out altogether. For dairy, there are many soy alternatives available that are almost exactly the same as the original.

When it comes to baking and sweets, it can get tricky. Also comes the egg conundrum! One of the biggest substitution issues, especially in baking, comes with eggs. It can be challenging to get the right substitutions, so always start by figuring out what role the eggs play in the dish. In pancakes, for example, eggs don’t play much of a role in structure or taste. If you understand what substitution works where, you’ll be surprised at how many more dishes you’ll be able to add to your cooking repertoire.

Personally for me, though I consume eggs in camouflaged form in desserts, I have never liked anything beyond that. Infact, in the past year and half, since my pregnancy and delivery, I never bought eggs home. I can't stand the smell of eggs fried on an open pan and the air wafting from omelette stalls even in far distance make me pukish.

On similar lines of what is stated above, I often make this Besan Cheela, a pancake made with spiced gram flour (also called as chickpea flour, garbanzo flour or besan) batter for our breakfast. Besan Cheela, a popular North Indian street food snack is sure to satisfy your rumbling appetite.

Besan Cheela / Vegan Gluten-free Omelette

INGREDIENTS

2 cups besan (also called as gram flour, chickpea flour, garbanzo flour)
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1 tsp chopped green chillies
1/2 cup chopped coriander (dhania)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
Salt to taste
1 cup water
Oil for cooking

DIRECTIONS

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and gradually add a cup of water to get smooth, dropping consistency batter, similar to the one we get when an egg is whipped.

Heat a non-stick pan/tava on a medium flame. Grease it well with a teaspoon of oil. Pour a ladle full of batter and spread the batter evenly in the pan.

Cover it with the lid and allow to cook for 4 to 5 minutes on a medium flame or till it browns in colour and the edges crisp. Open the lid, drizzle some oil and turn it upside down and cook the other side till it turns to brown in colour and crispy. Repeat the same process with the remaining batter. Serve hot with tomato sauce.

Served hot with either green chutney or tomato ketchup, this Besan Cheela is a lip smacking dish that easily makes up for an excellent eggless, vegan and gluten-free omlette with similar textures and flavors to that of it's egg-y counterparts, ofcourse devoid of that awful smell or taste from eggs. Gram flour has relatively high proportions of protein in comparison to other flours, so you'll not miss out on that. Though this is quite satisfying for our breakfast, this is a fantastic tea-time snack too. Simple and easy to make, it can be put together in less than 5 mins and is a good rescue for bachelor cooking or to serve at-the-drop-of-hat guests.

Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

2011-12-10T01:10:00.007+05:30

To forget the real world outside and just being glued to the big screen for three hours, there’s something almost magical about the way movies can whisk you away to another place and time, all without leaving your seat. My husband and me are such big movie buffs that we are often found at the theater on weekends. And no, that does not account for watching a DVD at home. It has to be a theater. Period.

If there's something I miss the most, it's camping at a theater on the weekends. I can probably watch the same movie at home on a DVD, but it can't beat that theater experience. I am eagerly waiting for my daughter to grow up... with a hope that we can go back to watching movies, pick up those nachos and popcorn, sit back and relax to catch up movies in theater together as a family and revive that experience on 35 mm screen. For the moment, there's enough on my plate, that I can't seem to find enough time for movies or other entertainment.

Weekends have been catching on me like crazy, we did pretty much nothing but stayed back at home. Rest, rest, rest, that's all my body cries for... and weekend seems to be the only time I can catch a bit on my sleep, personal space and hobbies. I love it that I have so much in hand, hopping around like a bunny all the time with so much to complete that I have no time to think about anything.

Of-course, I missed baking through the week so much that I promised I would dedicate an entire afternoon doing just that. This Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna was my effort to make a gloomy weekend peppy. I think I was pretty much fruitful at that. :)

Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

INGREDIENTS

Lasagna sheets, about 8-10 numbers
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 ltr milk
A tsp of nutmeg powder
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 pack Button mushroom (about 200 gm)
1 bunch spinach
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Prepare the lasagna sheets as per the instructions on the pack.

Bechamel Sauce

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over a low heat and stir in the flour and saute until the mixture darkens slightly (about 1/2 min). Gradually pour in the warm milk, stirring continuously until the sauce is smooth and begins to thicken. Add in a bay leaf. Reduce the heat and stir until it boils. Stir constantly as it tends to settle and burn at the bottom if unattended even for a minute. Heat until the sauce thickens to a thick-custard consistency (about 5 mins). Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix in generous tablespoons of grated cheddar cheese.

Prepare the vegetables

Pick, clean and wash the spinach and mushrooms. Chop them roughly. Heat some oil in a pan and throw in the spinach. Cook till they are wilted. Add in the mushrooms and saute them for 2 minutes. Do not over cook else they will turn soft and mushy. Season with salt and pepper.

Assembling the Lasagna

In an oven-proof dish, layer the lasagna sheets first, followed by a layer of spinach and mushroom mixture. Follow it up with white sauce and spread it well. Layer lasagna sheets again, another layer of the spinach mushroom mixture, followed by the cheese sauce, then another layer of lasagna sheets followed by the remaining veggies and then the remaining cheese sauce. Top with grated cheddar cheese. Bake in oven at 180 C for about 30 mins or till the top cheesy layer browns.

Cook the pasta a little less than done (al dante), since it absorbs liquid from the sauce and cooks further when you bake in oven. The amount of cheese to be used is your choice, reduce if you are on a diet. But I suggest you use a big helping of good cheese since the paste per se lacks spices, especially if it uses the white sauce (as against my comparison with Indian cuisine), it's only the cheese that offers a rich taste to this dish. The lasagna is a meal in itself. Pair it with salads and they'll make a complete meal for you.

Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits

2011-12-01T01:27:00.010+05:30

I am bidding an adieu to November and giving a warm welcome to cold Decembers which I am eagerly looking forward to. While the Western countries have almost set foot into holiday season with Halloween, Thanksgiving and now Christmas to look forward to, my blog hopping takes me across to sites with numerous recipes posted marking the holiday season. Foodbuzz, Tastespotting and Foodgawk have been bubbling with tempting pictures of food ranging from pies, cookies, cakes, roasts, et al., all for the holiday season.

With Diwali going by the last month, I pulled down the lights and diyas only to put it aside for some time. On the back of my mind, I knew Christmas will be here soon and these would be put to use again. I have been scuffling through my cabinets to pull out the decorative baubles and tinkles which have not only left me fascinated over years, but also draw my daughter's attention these days. The vivid colors from wreaths and ornaments have caught her undue attention and the tinkling sound from bells seem to keep her engaged endlessly. Christmas has caught up with her and the lights fascinate her beyond anything. We'll soon put up the Christmas tree, light it and decorate our home. I don't think I even need a reason for celebration!

I decided upon the quintessential baking of fruit cake this year too, which may sound usual since I do it every year during Christmas. It's neither tradition nor a norm I follow, it just makes me feel good. For a long time now, I pushed burning my oven to Christmas, since baking needs precision in measurement of ingredients and with a baby on my arm most of the time, I can hardly imagine doing that.

The weather I guess has been a good motivator for these biscuits. And though the sun comes out occasionally beneath the silver lined clouds to warm up overcast skies, yet there's an exhilarating nip in the air which has been my real boost for these Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits.

Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup salted butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon red chilli flakes (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 450°F and grease the pan with a teaspoon of the melted butter.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Cut chilled butter to small cubes and add it into the dry ingredients. Rub using your fingertips until resembles bread crumbs. Add the buttermilk and mix briefly, just to incorporate it. Try to work gently, do not overwork the dough else the biscuits will not be delicate and light.

Gently mix in the cheddar and black pepper. The dough will be fairly sticky. Place the dough on a smooth, well-floured surface and pat with your hands to about 3/4 inch thick. At this stage you can either wrap them and place it in freezer or continue to bake. Roll and cut out the biscuits, using a cookie cutter. Dip the cutter into flour between cuts to keep from sticking. Place the biscuits on the prepared pan. Prick them with fork. The remaining dough may be gently gathered together and rolled out again for more biscuits. Brush the tops lightly with melted butter.

Place the biscuits in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool a little. Lift them from the baking tray and serve warm.

The dough is fairly sticky, hence refrigerating it helps in better handling of the dough. Roll them thinner than I did and they will end in crisp, nibbling biscuits. Roll them thicker and they will make scones. Serve them with some sliced tomatoes and cheese and they make raving starters for any party.

I love my biscuits warm and spicy. Adding a dash of chilli flakes pepped up the biscuits and added warm notes to it. We paired them with a warm cup of tea and these spiced flaky biscuits made a great companion for a relaxed chill, rainy evening.

Nucchinunde with Coconut Chutney

2011-11-26T00:15:00.058+05:30

I am pitiful at authentic South Indian cuisine. I can make an excellent tove or saaru and whip up nearly good tamblis, rava idlis, dosas and few chutneys with ease. Then there are a few exceptions with our own Hulis, sasive, gojjus in which I fair just about okay, but I hardly dare to make anything 'South Indian' beyond that. We grew up eating traditional meals that included ,wide variety of huli, palya, sasime, gojjus, etc in our daily course. Bisi bele baath, Chitranna, Kadabu, Holige were meant for occasions. But then that's not where our cuisine is limited to. Karnataka cuisine is very diverse and if I had to gauge myself then I would feel terribly guilty where I stand.

In all honesty I would never dare to compete with the one who cooks South Indian food on a daily basis. Our cuisine uses very little oil and the fat mostly comes from the use of coconut. Even in recipes where coconut is not used, it is a blend of freshly ground spices used with a delicate balance that brings out the best from the dishes. To balance the spices, tang and sweet itself is a challenging act. To say, mastering them to bring out authentic flavors will take years. It's a fear that I would go through one of those catastrophic moments if I tried them in my own kitchen.

There are a few recipes that are confined to regions alone. A few recipes rarely make to hotels and restaurants. I have never understood why people blame that we've restricted to Idli Sambhar, Dosa Chutney or Bisi Bele Bath, that's just not true. Really, Nucchinunde is one such breakfast dish I had not heard or eaten anywhere before. It was never made at my mom's place, so I don't know exactly what it tastes like. But on a quick google search for some traditional Karnataka recipes, I came across couple of sites citing Nucchinunde as one of the traditional recipes seen in Karnataka households.

I've tried the recipe from various sites, but the use of tuvar dal alone gives out a strong dal flavor which is not my favorites. So I tweaked the recipe a little by addition of rice flour to suit us. This is loved by all at home and is now this is a regular menu at my place.

Nucchinunde

INGREDIENTS

1 cup tuvar dal
2 tbsp rice flour
1 inch ginger chopped
1/4th cup fresh grated coconut
2-3 green chillies
A pinch of hing
Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Soak tuvar dal in water for an hour. Drain out the water completely and grind coarsely without adding water. Add green chillies, finely chopped ginger, fresh grated coconut, salt to taste, hing along with 2 tablespoons of rice flour while grinding.

Pinch balls from the dough and press them between the fingers and palms of your hands such that finger impressions are retained on the dough. Place them in a steamer/rice cooker and steam them for 10-15 mins. Serve hot with coconut chutney and laden with ghee.

Coconut Chutney

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup grated coconut
2 green chillies
Salt to taste
1 tbsp sour yogurt

For Tempering:

1 tsp Oil
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Urad dal

Grind the grated coconut with green chillies and salt to taste along with a tbsp of sour yogurt till smooth paste. Transfer this to a serving dish. To temper it, heat some oil, add in mustard and urad dal and let them splutter. Add this to prepared chutney.

The recipe may not be authentic, but is surely traditional. I tweaked the recipe to suit our palate, but you can omit the rice flour and use only tuvar dal if you want to keep it authentic. That way the Nucchinunde will be soft and perfect. Increase in rice flour beyond 2 tablespoons will make the resulting Nucchinunde stiff. Again, there is no hard and fast rule with spices too. It's one of those traditional recipes I make during our festivals and we have come to relish this with either simple coconut chutney, sambhar or vegetable kurma.

Comfort Sunday Lunch: Jeera Chawal with Moong ki Dal and Grilled Pudina Paneer

2011-11-21T13:00:00.004+05:30

Late part of the year is when I love the most with the seasons changing pleasantly. Mornings get colder than it has been since through the year and it feels comforting to snuggle underneath the blanket a little longer to catch up a few extra mins of sleep. Thanks to the Eastern winds, the showers we had in the past couple of weeks from the Bay of Bengal have given a warm welcome to misty mornings and cold nights.

Winters are here and I get a feel of Decembers' already. And unintentionally though, I have stayed away from baking from past couple of weeks, my reservations have been to make full use of my oven for Christmas and I definitely intend to post a few baked goodies for the year end celebrations. At the moment my kitchen has been busy churning out simple hot meals, mostly to satisfy our cravings for comfort home food.

I love my Sundays, don't we all do? Being home with family and enjoying a humble home cooked meal with them is the best way I love to spend my day off. While hectic week at work goes at a slow pace, my weekends seem to breeze through like a blink of an eye. Before I realize the weekend is over, Monday is already in... and I hate being hit by Monday Blues... Don't mistake me, I love my work, my job is great and my company treats me well, no complaints at all. What I dislike are those tiny tit-bit tasks at home I need to rush at and complete ahead of time... boil milk, pack lunch, clean up the kitchen, dress up my baby, see her off, they sound simple as if they don't buy any time, but indeed they do and fairly lot.

And that's probably the reason why I have learnt to value my weekends lot more. Late breakfast and lunch on weekends are a usual trend these days. I do my best to feel relaxed and thoroughly enjoy my Sundays by soaking up some sun, a morning chai, a brisk walk that leaves me fresh with some quality time for myself. Lunch has becomes a simple affair ever since my baby started off with her solids, solely because our focus right now is her growth. She demands an unswerving attention and it gets tough on our nerves to multitask constantly. By all means, I still try to make a simple meal sound exotic, like infusing the aromatic Jeera Samba rice with lightly ghee roasted cumins to transform it to flavorsome Jeera Chawal. I paired this with the healthy Moong ki Dal and Grilled Paneer (Cottage Cheese) which is mildly spiced and flavored with hints of mint, after all weekends ought to be different than usual.

Jeera Chawal with Moong ki Dal and Grilled Pudina Paneer

Jeera Chawal

1 cup Jeera Sambha rice / Basmati rice
2 cups water
1 tbsp fresh clarified butter (ghee)
1 tbsp cumin seeds (jeera)
Salt to taste

Wash and clean the rice in flowing water and soak it in water for 15-30 mins. In a thick bottom pan, fry cumin seeds in a tablespoonful of ghee. Drain the water and add in soaked rice to this and fry lightly for about 3-4 minutes. Add in 2 portions liquid to every portion of rice. Add salt to taste. I use a rice cooker to cook my rice and in 20 minutes, the rice is perfectly done. Alternatively, you could use a heavy steel utensil and let the rice simmer for 20 minutes covered without disturbing it. Turn off the flame, keep it covered for sometime and use a fork to gently swirl the rice. Handle the rice gently, garnish with chopped coriander if required and serve hot.

Moong ki Dal

1 cup Moong dal
1 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste

For tempering

1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1/2 tsp hing
1 tsp jeera / cumin powder
1 tsp coriander / dhania powder
1 tsp fenugreek / methi powder
1 tsp chilli powder

Cook one cup moong dal in three cups of water till mushy. Add turmeric to this for faster cooking. Once the dal is cooked well, add in salt to taste.

Prepare the tempering for the dal. Heat some ghee in a wok/pan and add in the dry masalas mentioned above. Fry for a quick 30 seconds till the spices turn aromatic. Do not let them burn. Add this to the prepared dal and garnish with coriander leaves and lime if preferred. Serve hot with rice.

Grilled Pudina Paneer

200 gm Paneer (Cottage cheese)
1 tbsp Tomato chilli sauce
Handful of fresh mint leaves
1 tsp cornflour

In a wide bowl, crush handful of fresh mint leaves in tomato chilli sauce along with a teaspoon on cornflour. Add cubes of diced paneer to the prepared sauce and allow it marinate for a few minutes. Drizzle a little oil over the marinated cubes and grill it for 10-12 minutes or till they brown. Flip the cubes and grill the side to golden brown. If you don't have a grill pan/oven, you may use the regular tava to do this. Serve hot with Jeera Chawal and Moong ki Dal.

Eggless Chocolate Chip Muffins

2011-11-14T18:35:00.004+05:30

Today, the November 14th is celebrated as Children's Day throughout India and I extend my hearty wishes to all the children a Happy Children's Day. May your childhood be filled with loads of fun, thrill and happiness and may you sail a smooth journey to a better bright future. After all childhood is all about innocence and playfulness, it's about joy and freedom to enjoy and have fun.

Coming to think of my childhood, I have had good share of fun in my childhood days. Thanks to my dad's job, we moved places and changed many schools. New place, new school, new friends, new uniforms, new teachers were common to us and we were quite open about accepting this change. In fact, in a way we were accustomed to this as our parents had tuned us to accept the fact that we would be loyal to a particular school only for sometime :) It was not until I reached my ninth grade that we decided to settle down and not change schools anymore as that would hamper our studies.

Like every other kid, I too have fond memories of my school. Infact there are so many that it would be hard to jot them all here. Children's day was always kind to us. The day meant no uniforms, no books, only loads of fun filled entertainment and games, all to compensate for the stress from competition we had taken from teachers, parents and society to prove ourselves better! Probably one of those days when going to school meant no burden to us. Our school would organize fun activities with teachers taking part actively to hold cultural performances followed by games, prizes and sweets that would make us kids a day to enjoy and remember. While through the year long we kids would carry bags that could easily be weighed in a couple of kilos, on Children's Day we were allowed to come hands free to have loads of fun. After all that celebration I probably looked forward to sweet distribution as my personal favorite part of the day. You'll know I was a foodie even as a kid :)

Nonetheless, how can an occasion be celebrated without any scrumptious food? Since it is a day for the kids, I made these easy and delicious muffins on this Children's Day to treat the kids. The recipe is egg-free and yet another adaptation from Nita Mehta's cookbook. Enjoy a scrumptious Children’s Day!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups All purpose flour
1 cup Thick Curd/Yogurt
1 cup Sugar minus 1 tbsp
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 1/4 tsp Baking powder
1/2 cup Butter
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
A fist full of Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C for 10 mins. Layer the muffin tin with muffin liners.

Sieve all purpose flour twice and keep aside. Cream the sugar and curd until sugar completely dissolves. Add baking powder, baking soda to the creamed mixture and mix well. Leave aside for 5 mins and till bubbles appear on the mixture. Now add in vanilla essence and softened butter and beat well. Next slowly add all purpose flour in portions at a time and blend with wet ingredients. Beat well with a till creamy and thick. Finally fold in the chocolate chips gently. Pour the batter to the prepared muffin liners and bake in the pre-heated oven for 15-20 mins (time depends on the oven you use). The top should be golden brown in color and centres cooked.

I used cooking dark chocolate chips in my cake batter which gave us gooey chocolate patches as we bite into the cake. You may also use chocolate chunks for the same effect. If you want firm chocolate bites, use regular chocolate chips (the ones we get in Nilgiris outlet, Bangalore) that don't melt easily. With addition of chocolate chips/chunks, this makes great tea-time goodies for the little ones. Every kid would love to sink his teeth into one and grab his second and third.