Veg Bowl

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

2012-01-14T11:20:00.000+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)

2012-01-08T01:31:00.001+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

2012-01-03T09:30:00.004+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 atleast 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 glamour 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.

Pizza Margherita with Thin crust Millet flour pizza base

2011-11-06T20:40:00.008+05:30

Festivities in the last week continued at my work place too and the ones who offered to work on these holidays were treated with food as a part of celebrations. To put it this way, I have been eating enough of store bought pizzas at my work place off late. The kind of pizzas offered aren't my best pick. Thick crusts of bread are not so fresh and all it feels is like biting into thick bread base with skeletal toppings. Eating pizzas and pastas at pizzerias with family and friends have diminished than ever before, more evidently since I have been making the base at home, albeit attempting their healthier counterparts. Seconding the reason that I have taken to liking thin crust pizzas than the deep pan ones.

If you've been through my previous posts on pizzas, you well know how much I love my pizzas loaded with toppings. Ironically, much against my liking, a vital element of a good pizza is not overloading the pie with toppings. Less is definitely more on pizza. And with thin, crisp crusts like this one, I can well assure that. :)

Pizza Margherita has been catching quite an attention from long. Every time I look up the pamphlet to place an order, Margherita calls out to me. But then, only tomato, basil loaded stuff doesn't appeal either, right? Is it just the name? I am not sure. I push the thoughts for a next time and go ahead for fancier toppings.

Something impelled me to make this classic pizza at home. First the recipe from the cookbook 'Vegetarian cookbook' said making this was a breeze and then Soma's blog compelled me further. I got down to making one of those classic recipes that's meant to stay the way it is. Did you know how Margherita Pizza got it's name? It is said that the Neapolitan chef, Raffaele Esposito created the Pizza Margherita, a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil, in honor of the Queen of Italy, Margherita of Savoy. It was created to represent the colors of the Italian flag. Now isn't that pretty interesting how a simple pizza, laden with tomatoes and cheese alone can get an exotic name?

Pizza Margherita with Thin crust Millet flour pizza base

INGREDIENTS:

Homemade Pizza dough

1 tsp dry yeast
1/4 cup sour yogurt or warm milk
A teaspoon of sugar
Salt to taste
1 cup flour mixture (Wheat Flour + Millet Flour in ratio of 3:1)
Water, if required
1 tsp Olive oil

Sauce/Toppings:

1 cup tomato puree
4-5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp oregano flakes
1 tbsp fresh/dry basil leaves
1-2 tomatoes, chopped in rings (optional)
1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Prepare Thin crust Millet flour pizza base:

In a mixing bowl, blend yeast in lukewarm water along with a teaspoon of sugar. Allow this to rest for 10 mins. This should be frothy by now.

Heap the flour mixture into a large bowl and make a pit in the center. Pour the yeast mixture, salt and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Knead gently to form a smooth, soft, slightly sticky dough. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place for an hour like an oven until almost double in size. About 20 minutes before baking, punch down, knead a minute or two and then form into a ball. Roll out thin crust pizza base.

Prepare the Sauce:

To prepare the sauce, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic and oregano for a few seconds. Do not let the garlic brown, they should only sweat. Add pureed tomatoes. Boil till the sauce is fairly thick. Adjust salt to taste.

Assemble the Pizza:

Spread sauce over thinly rolled out pizza crust, layer tomato rings (optional), sprinkle basil, good helpings of mozzarella cheese and finally a dash of olive oil. Finish with generous black pepper and a little salt. Bake in a pre-heated oven of 220 deg C for about 20-30 mins. Cut into wedges and serve hot.

The base follows a standard recipe with a substitution of millet flour instead of all purpose flour, making it a much healthier version. Count a few perks of home baking :) Millet flour is gluten-free, hence the dough would have less elasticity; don't expect it to behave the way all purpose flour would. I used a mix of whole wheat flour and millet flour in 3:1 ratio.

You can leave out the tomato rings, instead use roughly chopped tomatoes in the sauce. used dry basil leaves, however I suggest you use fresh basil if available. Basil and tomatoes marry well with each other and they are a combination made in heaven, making this pizza simple, yet bursting with fresh flavors.

What sounds like a tedious amount of work isn't actually any. It's wonderfully aromatic when you have the otherwise awful smelling yeast sitting in the oven converting a yeasty dough to a freshly baked crusty base topped with tangy cheesy tomato sauce and the entire house envelops with the charming smell of freshly baked rustic pizza. What an end to a Sunday evening!!!

Tamarind Candies / Imli Heeng Goli

2011-10-31T20:40:00.002+05:30

Diwali celebrations just got over and we are still hanging on in festive mood. Lights put up for Diwali haven't come down yet, kandeels hanging up high in air are yet to be pulled down and diyas welcoming the door steps are to be removed. Flowers have lost their fragrance and Rangoli has faded into thin air and I am busy cleaning up the oil spill overs. Diwali may have been over, but it's spirit is still alive.

This Diwali was filled with loads of fun with lights, colors and lots of food on plate to eat. No crackers for me as the loud noise and pollution do not fascinate me much. But putting up lights and decorating home with diyas and kandeels is always on my to-do-lists. With all the festivities that went by and for the ones we have ahead, here I have a post festival treat to soothe your heavy tummies! And with sweet treats and spicy savories, what can be better if it is followed by some digestive candies to soothe your content tummies! I felt this post was apt for this season of festivities. :) So here's my version of digestive Tamarind Candies, aka Imli Heeng Goli.

The recipe comes from my dad where he uses minimalistic ingredients to make an extremely tasty, tongue tickling, lip smacking digestive candies, surely not something you can resist eating just one. I was craving for these some time ago and it brought back fond memories of my high school days when these candies were our favorite after meal treats to smack into. One of our school peons would sell these as tiny homemade candies wrapped cutely in thin transparent polythene sheets and sell them at a cheap price of 10 paisa. These candies will surely send your taste buds tingling.

Imli Heeng Goli

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp tamarind
2 tbsp jaggery
1 tsp jeera powder/cumin seeds
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp compounded asafeotida/hing
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp of castor sugar/powdered sugar for coating

DIRECTIONS

Dry roast cumin seeds till they darken lightly and turn aromatic. Pound the compounded asafeotida if in rock form. Add it to the roasted cumin. Add in the chilli powder and salt to taste. The spice mix is ready now.

Separate tamarind seeds, if any and discard them. Grate the jaggery and add it to the tamarind. Add the above spice mixture to this and start kneading it gently. Kneading it may call in a bit of your muscle effort as dry tamarind is stiff and working with it can be quite an ardent task. However, the tamarind, jaggery and spices will come together eventually to a dough like consistency. Taste and check for the spices. Increase jaggery according to taste. Your resultant dough should turn stiff and you can roll them just like a candy. Roll them to small logs or round candies using palms of your hands. Roll them in coarsely powdered sugar and store in clean air-tight containers free from moisture.

Just a handful of ingredients go into making this tongue tickling candy. It's hard to resist eating anything less than one. I made a good handful of these and before the end of day, they were all swiped clean. These candies stay for a month long since they have no moisture in them. Pack them in thin foodgrade plastic wraps and they make great travel companions too.

Rolling them in sugar helps these candies to prevent sticking to each other. There can be variations to this recipe. Add in pepper instead of red chilli powder. Omit asafeotida if that's not a flavor of your choice. If you love biting into those Hajmola candies, then this surely will tempt you to make your own at home. A melange of flavors, sweet and spice, salt and tangy, simple and easy, yet a winner recipe.

Diwali: Kalakand

2011-10-26T00:00:00.003+05:30

Here's wishing all my readers a very Happy Diwali. Sorry about being away from sometime. I am here, back again after a short hiatus. Work and personal life has been keeping me on my toes, to an extent blogging had to take a short backseat. I did intend to post something earlier, but time has been a bitter enemy! Now that Diwali is right here, I nudged myself to post this for my readers.

Indian sweets are comfort food for me, after all this is what I grew up eating all these years. Diwali or Deepawali is perhaps the most beautiful of Hindu festivals in India. Diwali signifies the victory of good over evil and is commonly celebrated across most states in India. Personally for me each festival brings hope, life, energy and happiness. This Diwali has been special to all of us, especially since it's our daughter's first one.

The store I hit often has been flooded with Diwali goodies. Supermarkets boast of Diwali festivity with neatly stacked gift boxes of dry fruits and sweet-meats beckoning every nook and corner. Ofcourse, then when you talk about Diwali, how can you not picture traditional Indian sweets? While traditional desserts may not be a part of daily Indian menu, they do feature on festivals making them an integral part of our festive celebrations.

I have been dreaming of making Kalakand since a long time now, ever since I saw the recipe in Nestle recipe book that came with Milkmaid. The book itself is named as Diwali special sweets with 9 traditional Indian recipes, all worth trying. I am glad I tried this out and was loved by all.

Kalakand

Recipe by Nestle's Milkmaid recipe booklet, also available on Nestle.com

INGREDIENTS

1 tin (400g) Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 heaped tbsps Milk powder
500 g Paneer (Cottage Cheese)
3-4 powdered Cardamom (Elaichi)
Silver leaf

DIRECTIONS

Mash paneer coarsely and mix in milk powder and condensed milk. Heat the mixture in a thick bottom pan. Cook on medium heat with constant stirring till the mixture becomes thick and starts leaving the sides of the pan. Remove from the fire and spread onto a greased plate. Sprinkle elaichi powder & top with silver leaf or sprinkle kesar soaked in water & top with almond slivers. Cool and cut into squares.

Kalakand is expected to have a soft, crumbly texture with every bite. Don't be alarmed if you have some whey leaving from the edges while spreading the Kalakand. Good, soft Kalakand has some whey water seperating from it when it is spread on the tray. Most of it gets absorbed as the Kalakand cools. For this dessert in particular, I suggest it's best to make cottage cheese at home using fresh milk. However, if you are short on time, a store bought paneer works equally good. I have made this dessert a couple of times and it does feature on my favorites.

A thumb-rule while making desserts which I learnt from my mom is never to combine saffron with cardamom. Cardamom has a warm aromatic flavor which can camouflage the delicate richness saffron emanates. I used cardamom to flavor this dessert, but saffron flavored, Kesar Kalakand is definitely on my to-do list. Place each kalakand on paper cup and pack them to be shared with your family and friends. With subtle warm hints from cardamom, this dessert is rich and makes a great give away as gift.

Blueberry Banana Tea Cakes

2011-09-22T10:34:00.005+05:30

I have never come to dislike anything as much as I did with blueberrires off late. I think it was a thing of overdose. A good tin of canned blueberries were miserably used in every possible dessert to an extent that even the name of it would want me to shun it some time now. True that I had over worked with them, having used them in cakes, ice-creams, fro-yo, milkshakes. And if I had to say, even our breakfast with morning cereals were not spared.

Blueberries cost a bomb here and are not easily available in fresh. Before the tinned one was close to it's expiry I thought I should put them to best use. On the other hand, I could see my husband had too much of that flavor. He begged me not to use that last bit from that can, humbly requesting to discard even if it costed a lot. Had it not been for him, we would have probably ended up with some homemade blueberry jam for our breakfast.... very soon! He holds me culprit for this dislike.

Then, there was a time when Blueberry Muffins were my favorite take-aways from coffee shops and malls only because they were a rarity of kinds, but these days they no longer get a second glance from me, forget their purchase.

This cake is a twist in a tale. My husband isn't much of a sweet tooth. And if there's something he will ask for, then it has to be either a sinful chocolate cake or that rustic banana bread, both of which I can see him binge.

So when he refrained me from going on another blueberry spree, my only rescue was to pair it with bananas. He had been insisting on a banana bread for a long time and I decided he should be in a surprise this time :). Pleasant or not? It was for him to decide :D.

Blueberry Banana Tea Cakes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 ripe bananas (I chose yelakki bananas)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
A tsp of vanilla extract
Handful fresh/frozen blueberries

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Sieve together all purpose flour, wheat flour, baking powder and baking soda. Keep aside. Using a mixie, blend together the bananas with milk, sugar and vanilla extract. To this add melted butter. Finally toss the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Transfer the batter into a well greased cake tin or glass cake pan. Dot the top of the cake with fresh or frozen blueberries. I used tinned frozen blueberries here. Bake for 35-40 mins or till done. Test using a skewer or toothpick.

I generally use sweet Yelakki bananas in my cakes. That's the kind of banana we like for our regular helpings too. I am not particularly fond of Cavendish or the long bananas we get in markets. I balanced between the wheat flour and all purpose flour that gave my cake a nice nutty taste, yet did not steal away the flavors from it. The cake had a lovely texture with speckles from banana veins all over making it truly rustic.

I felt like a kid that day. Before I let the cake cool down, I enthusiastically cut my tea cakes in all sizes and shapes. I first cut them to triangles, then thought I needed them in squares, a few were cut into rectangles and few diamonds too ;) You can see I was a little too impatient for the cake to cool down. Surprisingly, blueberries and bananas made a great combo. Whatever shape it was cut into, it tasted great. They were absolute tea time treats.

Honey Ice-cream

2011-09-12T15:45:00.001+05:30

My mom celebrated her birthday last month and I had every reason to bake a cake, especially when it's for her. I made plans, that too elaborate and I was determined it had to work well, secretly. Wanted to bake an Eggless Blueberry Gateau and chalked out timetable such that things would fall in place.

It wasn't probably the best day for me. Somethings just don't work right, that too when you are super excited to the pinnacle about it. Two days in advance to the D-day, I took time off in the evening to bake the cake. I chased my husband to buy some fresh cream and he was out on the hunt for what would sound a meaningless, clueless ingredient to him. Meanwhile, I baked an eggless sponge using the recipe for condensed milk. My baby sat in the pram silently looking at me as I shoved the cake to oven, let it bake there and skipped around setting up things for the frosting. The cake baked to perfection and it rose beautifully. I flattened the tops, sliced the center, moistened them with the syrup and let them sit on the stand to work artistically later. Things seemed positive till then.

I put myself back to relaxed mode, turned on the music, sipping tea and waiting patiently for my husband to be back with my dedicated ingredient. Clock ticked away and three hours later, he was back. I eagerly looked into the bag, hoping a liter pack would pop out. 'No fresh cream anywhere in town' he announced! The impulsive me almost blurted out the cry. "Yeah! I hunted the entire town. It's nowhere. There's a vendor issue they say." he confronted. I was broken. To him, it was more simpler to order an eggless cake from our dedicated Chef Bakers outlet. He comforted wondering why I should go through all this trouble of making a cake when we get the same fancy stuff outside. It may have sounded the simplest solution to anyone then :) The cake I baked was pretty massive. I had sliced it across, moistened it well, even spread the blueberry compote. I felt a sudden gush through my spine as my plans went topsy-turvy. I felt totally at loss.

The recipe I bring today is nowhere related to the cake I wished to prepare. But it's surprising how things do not work at times despite planning. A well prepared me had least thought that it was just not my day that evening, while this honey ice cream made out of no fore thought turned out to be one of the best flavors, something I least expected considering I was making it only to wipe off the last few spoons from the bottle!

Honey Ice-cream

INGREDIENTS

5 tbsp honey
200 ml low fat milk cream
100 ml milk
1 tbsp cornflour

DIRECTIONS

Prepare a thick custard by heating a mixture of 100 ml milk and a tablespoon of cornflour. Heat it till the mix thickens and coats well on the back of a spoon. Refrigerate till needed.

Whip cold cream along with honey and the prepared custard till it's all well combined. Taste your ice-cream at this stage. Add more honey if preferred. Transfer to a freezer proof bowl and freeze it for an hour till it just begins to set. Once it's almost set on the edges, remove and churn it briefly. Repeat a couple of times. This helps ice-cream to be creamy. After the final churn, freeze till it's completely set.

The ice-cream is simple to make and uses everyday ingredients available in every home. You can skip the cream and make a gelato too. My husband is not a honey lover, but the moment he tasted a spoon of this ice-cream, all he said was "Wow!". And it's the flavor from honey that makes it rich and delicious. Top it with nuts and they will only make it more decadent. Roasted almonds make the best pair for these and that reminds me of my favorite Baskin Robin's Honey and Roasted Almond ice-cream. Probably my next project, yeah?

Ganesh Chaturthi: Nippattu and Masala Shenga (Spiced Peanuts)

2011-09-05T17:02:00.002+05:30

I am very fond of Ganesha, the God of wisdom and prosperity and invoke him everyday. I believe in God, the strength prayers bring and the rituals performed for well being of our family and society. They bestow peace to my mind, an orientation in life which is of utmost importance for a healthy life.

This year Ganesha brought bounty happiness to our home and family. This Chaturthi had to be special for all of us. I fondly love to call my little one as Bal Ganesh and of course with due respect to my Lord, she has been named after him. She's prosperity for us, just as her name suggests. For the festival, our entire family came together for prayers and offerings, followed by a good spread of lunch and we felt pretty well soaked in the festive disposition.

A day before the festival, my mom and me came together to make both sweets and savories for the festival. While Modaka, Shankarpali and Tambittu were sweets made to offer our Ganesha, for savories we had Nippattus and Masala Shenga. Masala Shenga/Peanuts were not exactly for the offerings, but surely to serve the guests who came over to greet us.

Nippattu

INGREDIENTS

2 cups rice flour
1 cup maida (all purpose flour)
1/2 cup besan (chickpea flour)
1 tsp hing (asafoetida powder)
2 green chillies
3 strings chopped curry leaves
2 tbsp coarsely ground peanuts
2 tbsp hurigadale (roasted bengal gram)
2 tbsp chilli powder
2 tsp white sesame seeds
Salt to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil
Water to knead
Oil for deep frying

DIRECTIONS

Mix in all the flours, i.e. the rice flour, maida and besan. Add the hing, green chillies, finely chopped curry leaves, coarsely ground peanuts, roasted bengal gram, chilli powder, sesame seeds and salt to taste. Drizzle about 2 tbsp of oil. Using water little by little, knead gently into a soft dough.

Pinch lemon sized balls from the dough and roll out on an oiled surface. You can either use a granite stone or use a butter paper to pat the nippattu. An inverted and oiled steel plate will also do.

Heat oil in a fry pan. Gently drop the rolled nippattu and fry them on a medium low flame till they turn golden brown. Remove them and drain on a kitchen paper. Store them in air tight containers and they are good to go for a month long, well if you can resist not eating them so long!

Masala Shenga (Spiced Peanuts)

INGREDIENTS

For the Spice mix

1 cup gram flour (besan)
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste

Other Ingredients:

3 cups roasted peanuts
Water as needed to bind the spices and flour
Oil to fry

DIRECTIONS

Mix all the spice mix ingredients mentioned above together in a large bowl. Add water in small quantities to the spices and flour. The quantity should be sufficient to ensure the spices coat the peanuts uniformly.

Heat the oil in a kadhai or fry pan on medium heat. Oil your hands a little as it will help in dropping the peanuts into the oil. Drop the peanuts in batches ensuring they are separated while frying. Fry the peanuts till they cook evenly and turn golden brown in color. Drain the peanuts on a kitchen paper to absorb the extra oil. Spread them out and allow them to cool down to room temperature.

Store the Masala Peanuts in an air-tight container and these are good for a month long. Again, these go very well as tea-time snack. Pack it up for travel treats or picnic munch-ons.

Both these spicy treats make great travel accompaniments and are excellent tea time snacks. Nipattu is another traditional dish from Karnataka cuisine and is commonly served as a snack in many Karnataka households. So the next time you have guests at home, greet them with these spicy Nippattus and Masala peanuts. Be promised, these spicy treats are sure to let their taste-buds lingering with it's spices.

Ganesh Chaturthi: Shankarpali and Tambittu to offer my Ganapati

2011-09-01T21:02:00.012+05:30

Wishing all my readers a very Happy Ganesh Chaturthi. Even before I have recovered from the heavy feasting we had on Krishna Janmasthami, we already have Ganesh Chaturthi here. More festivals to follow and I am looking forward to them eagerly. Festive season is here again and with good things happening in our life this year, I am all the more determined to celebrate our festivals with grandeur.

Ganesh Chaturthi is THE festival I never miss to celebrate. The festival marks the birth of Lord Ganesha. Just like many, Ganesha happens to be my favorite God too. Our childhood did revolve around listening to mythological stories woven beautifully by my paternal grandma during our bed-time.

Larger than life-like clay models of Lord Ganesha have been making rounds in market, weeks before the festival. That's good enough an hint that the festival is just round the corner. Public celebrations of the festival, tableau and processions are hugely popular with streets laced with rice bulbs, music and heavily decorated pandals that host the God for 10 odd days.

Lord Ganesh is often associated with food and is known for his fondness for sweets like modaks, laddus, karjikai and savories like chakklis, kadabu and kodbale. Every Chaturthi, we have a ritual at home of waking up early for the bath, followed by puja. An array of dishes, both sweet and savory made at home by my mom a day before the festival are offered to Lord Ganesha on this day. The celebration goes on for 11 days, hence the sweets and savories are made in large quantities so that can last long. Like every year, Modaks will be made to offer the Lord this year too. Apart from this, we have Shankarpali, Nippattu, Huri Shenga, Tambittu and Panchakajjaya to offer our Ganesha this year. Fortunately, I have my mom close by, so it's been a combined effort. I shall share the recipes for Shankarpali and Tambittu today. Nippattu shall be on another post.

Shankarpali

INGREDIENTS

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup ghee
Pinch of salt
Oil or Ghee for deep-frying

DIRECTIONS

Mix the milk, sugar and ghee in a kadhai and heat to a boil. When it is warm enough to touch add the salt followed by flour and stir well. Add the flour till it comes to a kneading consistency, good enough to form a soft dough.

Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough flat to a centimeter thick. Using a pizza-cutter cut into diamond shapes. Deep fry them in hot oil/ghee till they turn golden brown. Fry on medium low heat. High heat will result in dark brown crust on the outsides and under cooked beneath. Remove and drain on a kitchen paper.

The amount of sugar mentioned above is the right amount of sweetness we like. If you prefer it more sweeter, you may increase the amount of sugar as per your taste. The amount of flour mentioned above is an approximate number. While preparing the Shankarpalis, add in flour till it comes together to form a soft dough.

Spicy version of Shankarpali can also be made by replacing sugar with 2-3 teaspoons of chilli powder and omitting the cardamom powder. Shankarpali is a popular sweet all across the country. It's called Shakkarpare in the north while it's Shankarpali in the south. The names may differ, but the recipe is almost similar. It's pretty popular in Maharashtra and Karnataka and is often made on festivals in large quantities to offer the Lord and distribute among family and friends.

Tambittu

INGREDIENTS

1 cup rice flour
1/4 cup hurigadale hittu (roasted bengal gram powder)
1/4 cup coarsely ground roasted peanuts
1 1/2 cup grated dry coconut
1 cup grated jaggery
1/4 cup ghee (clarified butter)
2 tsp sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS

Dry roast rice in a hot pan till it turns golden. Allow it cool. Grind it with roasted chickpeas to a fine powder.

Dry roast the grated dry coconut and sesame seeds till brown and set aside.

Take ghee in a fry pan/kadai and heat it till it's hot (not smoking). Dissolve the grated jaggery in hot ghee and stir well till the jaggery melts completely and the liquid just comes to a boil.

Mix together the coarsely powdered peanuts, sesame seeds and grated coconut. Add this to the boiling jaggery ghee mixture. Add the rice and roasted chickpea powder and keep stirring till the mixture becomes like a dough to make balls. Mix well to prevent the formation of lumps. Switch off the stove. Close and keep till it cools down. Grease your hands and roll balls to make tambittu.

A little tedious it may sound, but isn't that effort required to impress your God? Tambittu is a traditional sweet dish commonly made in Karnataka household, often made to offer God during festivals. Again, these laddus stay well for a couple of weeks, so store them well in air-tight containers and they are good to go for your evening chai. You can see above we made a big batch to go for a few days.

As everyone celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi today with religious fervour, here's me wishing our Ganapati a very Happy Birthday. May Lord Ganesha shower you with success in all your endeavours. Hope this Ganesh Chaturthi brings home all the happiness, prosperity & fortune.

Jai Shri Siddhi Vinayaka

Cranberry Sponge Loaf

2011-08-20T15:37:00.003+05:30

"Do you really think you will use it? I bet, it will end up as a clutter in your home!" she said as she handed it over to me. I nodded in disapproval as I packed and shoved it into my bag. On the way back to home her words kept ringing in my ears "I'm sure this craze won't last long. You will give up soon after a few flip flops." I was determined, I wouldn't... atleast not so soon.

It's almost close to 3 years now since the day I borrowed her legacy Racold oven with the baking tin. The old square 9" baking tin that was handed over to me by my mother and that's when I actually began my baking with. And the test baking with pressure cooker was my inspiration to begin with :) I still love this old round aluminium oven that I borrowed. It feels ancient and classy. Back then mom did everything with cooking and baking that I do today. Baking cakes, cookies, puddings, mac and cheese, everything that would make kids feel happy about food.

Soon Indian markets began to flood with baked goodies and most of these products were easily available in big supermarkets. So with time all this took a backseat and she focused on cooking traditional healthy food. Again, she comes from a school of thought which said "Why bake when you can get the same stuff at an affordable price with no efforts in a well presented way?" Also, since it's just a piece or two one would buy, we would not indulge in over eating as against baking at home where surplus quantities tempt you to eat more. She has a point. She was darn sure that at some point in time I would agree with her. But these flops seem to have made me a bold baker. And beyond feeding yummy goods to others, I find it a great stress buster which helps me forget myself.

For the moment I ain't retiring. In fact since my daughter's birth I haven't really cooked much apart from our typical Indian menu. Time has been my real enemy :( Sorry, I am cribbing about it again. Incidentally, I got a good chance at hand this weekend to bake something as dear hubby agreed I needed some time off for myself.

Nita Mehta's recipe for Eggless Sponge seems to be quite popular. Many blogs have appreciated the recipe as a successful attempt at using curd (Indian name for yogurt) as substitute for eggs. Sharmilee, a dear blogger friend from Chennai blogs on Sharmispassions and I have been an ardent follower of her blog for long. We have been good virtual friends and catch up online often. Meeting Indian bloggers has it's perks, since our wavelength with baking and cooking match well and it's easier to connect with them. When I saw this recipe on her blog, I was totally convinced that the resulting cake would be spongy. Her step-by-step recipe motivated me further and I had to give this a try. I went ahead with the basic recipe, used butter instead of oil, added a handful of dried cranberries and the resulting loaf was soft, buttery and excellent.

Cranberry Sponge Loaf

Inspired by Sharmispassions.com
Source: Nita Mehta

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups All purpose flour
1 cup Thick Curd/Yogurt
1 cup Sugar
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 Fresh/Dried Cranberries

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C for 10 mins. Grease a butter paper and layer it in the loaf pan.

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.

Coat the cranberries in all purpose flour. Finally fold in the cranberries gently. Pour the batter to the loaf tin and bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees. Then reduce the temperature to 180 deg C and bake it further for 30-35 mins. Check using a fork inserted into the center of the cake. It should come out clean. Allow the cake to cool down for 10 mins, then invert and remove the butter paper. Slice them into pieces and enjoy with a cup of milk or coffee.

This recipe is a keeper for sure. I have attempted many variations with this recipe. Tried cupcakes with the same recipe, they were an instant hit. Attempted a small increase in the amount of flour, did not beat the batter much, added a few chocolate chips and made yummy muffins, we were bowled by it's taste and texture. No one can tell they lack eggs in them. It's so simple that it needs no bookmarking and can be easily replicated anytime. The recipe for eggless sponge can be adapted to make different flavored cakes, gateaux, cupcakes, layered treats and much more. Just a few ingredients will result in a cake that is extremely yum, with the perfect sponge and excellent texture.

Welcome to my kitchen! My baking essentials & shops I hop

2011-08-08T18:20:00.019+05:30

I apologize for being so late on this. I probably should have done this post long time ago, but I am doing it here finally! I have been receiving many requests on fetching ingredients and equipments related to baking in Bangalore from my blogger pals and mostly from my non-blogger friends who follow my blog. From ingredients I use to the springform pans and white ceramics I fetch, where and what - these are the common queries I have received from many. Unfortunately, baking at home is not so popular and most Indian homes won't see many of these items. Keeping in mind, the hassles I went through personally while shopping for pans and tins along with the ingredients required, I have put in an honest effort at sharing baking essentials I use and the places I fetch them from in Bangalore.

Dairy products and Cheese

Milk: I use regular Nandini milk with 3% fat in it. Full fat milk is used when I make puddings, halwas, kheer or when a recipe specifies it. Else skimmed milk works just fine.

Cream: I use 25% fat Amul Fresh Cream for all my recipes and I love the fact we atleast get this one in market. Whipping Amul/low fat cream to stiff has been a common problem to most of us living in India. :) Weather makes it worse. I am sure most of you will agree on that. Although, that’s not entirely possible to whip it stiff, I can suggest alternatives here.

1) Make an old fashioned cooked frosting called Custard Frosting for recipes that call for whip cream/frosting. It holds the shape well and tastes pretty good.

2) Another alternative is to increase the fat content in low-fat cream you whip. The higher the butterfat content, the better it will whip, since the whipped fat traps the air bubbles. Introduce butter in slow streams while whipping cold low-fat cream till it holds stiff peaks.

3) If using gelatin is not a problem with you, add gelatin to low-fat whipped cream. The gelatin will help to stabilize the cream. Read here and here.

We get non-dairy Rich's whipping cream which most coffee joints across the city use, but since it's sold only for industrial/commercial use, getting access to it easily is another task itself. Apart from this, I've seen imported brands like President's Whipping cream and Whip cream sprays in supermarkets, however I have never used them.

Whip Cream powder: I bought whip cream powder only once. It was fetched from my trusted local bakery. And although it whipped well and tasted exactly like fresh cream, I did not go back to it again with the fear of using an unbranded product and not knowing it's constituents. I recently came across Bluebird products online and will be keen to order some soon. They have whip cream powder on their list.

Butter: It's Nutralite: Better than Butter most of the times. Amul Lite is my alternate choice. I have always used them confidently with results which are on par with butter. These are low-fat, low-salt table margarine derived from vegetable oils. That saves me from the task of adding extra salt.

Condensed Milk: I use either Nestle's Milkmaid or Amul Mithai Mate. It can be either and depends on which one is of the latest date.

Mascarpone cheese: I have tried Italian cheese available on stands in Foodworld. It's almost similar to what we can make at home. Bring some milk cream to boil, add in a teaspoon or two of lime juice and allow it to curdle. Give some standing time and strain using muslin cloth. Allow it to set in the refrigerator for atleast 2-3 hours. Mascarpone is ready to use. Homemade mascarpone cheese is better since it's fresh and free from additives and preservatives.

Mozzarella cheese: There are many brands out there, but Britannia or Amul are my trusted brand. I use it in pizzas with pretty satisfying results.

Cheddar cheese: It can be either Amul or Britannia.

Cream cheese: Philadelphia cream cheese is easily available in most supermarket counters. I've tried Britannia cream cheese, but since it's mildly salted, I'm not sure if it works well for a cheesecake, though they claim it can be. I haven't tried it yet. Again, about 180 gm pack costs about INR 150, which is way too expensive. So I am happy in trying alternatives for cream cheese if I'm making a cheesecake.

Greek Yogurt: This is something I haven't come across anywhere in Bangalore. If using in desserts, I substitute Amul Shrikhand. It works like magic in cheesecakes. I always have stock of homemade yogurt which we consume on a daily basis. So if it calls for use in eggless cakes or brownies, I use homemade yogurt only.

Oils

Oil: I use Saffola or Dhara vegetable oil. There's no certain preference over these.

Olive Oil: I'm currently using a Spanish product called Musa. I have always used Extra virgin olive oil and follow no particular brand. There are many available in the market, hence you can make your choice.

Flavored oils: Where recipes call for flavored oils like garlic oil or herb oil, I heat up some oil, add in the garlic and allow the flavors to infuse for sometime. I make mine at home and since it's fresh it adds great flavors. The same goes to herb oils as well.

Sugar

Sugar: Parry's superfine sugar works like a charm even where caster sugar is asked for. I use it in my daily tea as well as in baking.

Caster sugar: Eagle caster sugar is the best I use. When I don't have one at hand, I simply put my regular sugar into mixer and grind them fine.

Brown Sugar: It's been long since I purchased brown sugar. Imported variety of light and dark brown sugar is now available here, but they are expensive. They cost about INR 250 for 500gm pack and I think it's not totally worth spending that huge amount when baking at home.

Demerera sugar: Again Eagle's sugar is my best choice.

Icing sugar/Confectioner's sugar: I pretty much use regular sugar powdered in my mixie.

Miscellaneous Baking Products

Flour: I use regular all purpose flour or maida for baking almost everything. We do not have easy access to highly refined flour or bread flour in India, hence this is the best choice. I sieve the flour once for cakes and cookies and twice to make breads and pizza base. I have never faced problems with that till date. Again, Bluebird products online have Super Sifted Flour on their list.

Self-rising flour: If you only have all-purpose, here's how you can make one at home. Measure the desired amount of flour into a container. For each cup of all-purpose flour measuring about 125 gm, add 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt. Sift well to combine.

Cake Flour: Make your own with one cup sifted cake flour with 3/4 cup (85 grams) sifted all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (15 grams) cornstarch.

Baking powder: I use Weikfield baking powder and it gives me a good rise.

Baking soda: It's Weikfield again. The thumb-rule is to always keep it closed in an air-tight container and never use a wet spoon while handling baking powder or soda.

Yeast: I source fresh yeast from a local trusted bakery nearby, specially for baking pizzas and bread. I've used instant dry yeast from Eagle's and Baker's, they are good, but do not give the best rise. I've been told that Gloripan instant yeast works well too.

All spice powder: For an Indian, all spice powder would probably mean garam masala, but this does not suit baking. I always have a stock of homemade spice powder which is an instant rescue for recipes that call for it's use. My mixed spice is homemade and is freshly ground with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg going into it. I store it in air tight glass container and it stays fresh for months.

Vanilla extract: I buy my bottles of vanilla extract during my trips to hill stations. It's been long since I bid bye to the synthetic vanilla essence you get in markets. I've come across blogs which tell how to make vanilla extract at home and I know it's super easy, but I haven't attempted them yet. May be some day!

Vanilla Sugar: Honestly, I have never used it or did not see the need to use it.

Dark/Milk/White Chocolate: Morde and Marco chocolate compound. Those are the choices we have here. As much as I love Ghiradelli and Lindt, I don't see it's worth using them for my regular baking as they cost a bomb. And with a bar costing close to INR 550, I would rather enjoy eating them as is. :)

I buy my chocolates from Tuscany, Forum Value Mall. A little over-priced than what it costs outside, I buy it from here since this is the closest to where I live. You can fetch the same from many other vendors across Bangalore. I have purchased dark chocolate bars and chocolate chips from Nilgiris, Brigade Road and Durga Enterprises in Madivala. The ones sold in Durga Enterprises melt easily on heating. If you want chocolate chips that hold shape even after baking, look for them at Nilgiris. They work great in muffins.

Cocoa powder: I have used Cadbury's before Hershey's hit Indian market. I have been using Hershey's since then as I love it's dark, denser color and taste.

Canned/ Dry fruits and Nuts

Blueberries, Cranberries, Cherries: These fruits are not common in India, atleast I have not seen any of these in form of fresh fruits anywhere in Bangalore, though fruit jams are easily available in most supermarkets like Foodworld and Reliance Fresh. I use Mother's Maid and I pretty much like it. I get them imported from Dubai and these are canned blueberries that come in tins. I used to get fresh blueberries whenever my husband would visit the States, but unfortunately, they rot easily and have a short shelf life.

Unfortunately, we do not grow these in India. Northern part of India does grow peaches, plums and cherries, but these are very expensive in South. I use imported dried blueberries and cranberries from Ocean Spray which I got from US. It will last me for a couple of months. They work good in cakes and muffins.

Fruits and Fruit preserves: I always prefer using fresh fruits and organic preserves. I buy my jams, marmalades and fruit preserves from Fabindia. They have host of good organic products. They also sell organic vanilla pods and vanilla powder.

Cherries: I purchased a can of tinned cherries from Durga Enterprises in Madivala. When fresh cherries are available, I like to pick them then.

Hazelnuts, Pecans, Pine Nuts: Again these nuts are not so popular in India, but I have seen them in Hypercity mall, AECS Layout, Bangalore. I have purchased hazelnuts from there, but never tried bought Pecans or Pine nuts.

Cashews, Almonds, Pistachios: My parents used to buy almonds and cashews in bulk from wholesale dealer and I would take it from them, but I have now moved to buying in smaller quantities from supermarket. I buy half a kilo packets and use them as required.

Slivered almonds: Slivered almonds are ideal for baking and for making cookies and to me, beyond baking, the task of chopping almonds, powdering sugar, lining the tin, softening butter, happen to be the most boring. I wish I could avoid them! I used to buy packs of slivered almonds from Nilgiris, but again, it's expensive and hardly last for 2-3 bakes or so. So I have been doing this job at home in my kitchen. I suggest you follow the recipe given on this site. It works beautifully!

Dried herbs: I use Keya products for oregano, basil, thyme when fresh herbs are not at hand. They are freeze dried and are pretty good to serve the purpose.

Perishables

Herbs: Nothing beats the flavors from fresh herbs. I buy organic spinach from Namdharis. I purchase all my herbs from Foodworld, Whitefield. Whenever they get fresh stock of rosemary, parsley, lettuce or basil, I love to load my shopping carts with them. They have a wide variety of herbs which are uncommon to Indian cooking.

Vegetables and other products: Foodworld, Whitefield is my one-shop-stop for most products. It has a good range of fresh, local and imported products which satisfies my requirement for baking. It stocks many imported ingredients like variety of cheese ranging from Mozzarella, Parmesan, Cream Cheese to Flavored cheese, Whipping Cream Spray, Lindt Dark Chocolates, Haagen Daz ice creams, imported tinned fruits, imported soy milk, imported silken tofu, variety of local and imported pastas, gnocchi and lasagna sheets, Range of sauces like Teriyaki, Worcestershire, Tabasco. They also have fresh rare seasonal vegetables and fruits like Chinese cabbage, celery, broccoli, oyster mushrooms, asparagus, wheat-grass, lemon grass, fresh parsley, Granny Smith apples, prunes, kiwis, chinese pears, dragon fruit, mangosteen, plums, etc. Most of these products are available in Hypercity mall, AECS layout and Nilgiris on Brigade road where I shop often. For organic products, my choices are Namdharis and FabIndia.

DISCLAIMER: The products mentioned here are not meant for advertisement. This is not a paid endorsement or any kind or promotion for any product or shop. These are product I use and shops I visit. This has been posted with an intention to help others.

Chocolate Chip Flapjacks

2011-07-28T16:35:00.003+05:30

That's yet another addition to my ever-growing book collection. Earned points from my account and got a gift voucher from Crossword. That ended up in me buying another cookbook and this time it was exclusively Chocolate. I purchased this book named Chocolate: The Food and the Music, with recipes using chocolate as base ingredient. The hardbound book comes with CD which carries a collection of sweet melodies along with 100 odd tempting chocolate recipes. I guess it's probably aimed at making a romantic evening dessert for two. :)

I have been scanning through recipes from the book for long now and decided finally I should put it to use. DH got a new pack of oats and it's been lying to be used for our breakfast. He loves it, especially when he's had heavy dinner the previous night. I fuss over it. Agreed it's good to keep your tummy light, but I think it's a little too light, sort of like a patient's food :( I eat it, but by no means reserve any liking for it. May be I should put it this way... I don't like them in form of porridge, probably? What I do instead is to disguise it in food in form of oat flour. I pound some regular oats to fine powder and make instant oat dosa. They are good for disguise and one can't say oats have gone into it. I recently experimented with some oat flour muffins and they were yum!

A flapjack is a sweet tray-baked oat bar made from rolled oats, butter, brown sugar and golden syrup. This dish is found in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and is also found in Australasia, but known as a 'muesli bar'. In other countries including Canada, the United States, and South Africa, flapjack refers to a form of pancake, although flapjacks do exist as 'Hudson Bay Bars'. Source: Wikipedia Now call it Flapjacks, Granola Bars, Muesli Bars or Hudson Bay Bars, I love them all!

I am gripped by books that have catchy photographs, it's an eye-candy. This is one such book which has an amazing collection of tempting chocolate recipes which I would love to re-create. Chocolate Chip Flapjacks were made inspired from this book. I tweaked the recipe a little by reducing the amount of butter to 100gm and sugar to 30gm and increased honey by 3 tablespoons. Also threw in a good amount of dates which is sweet by nature too. Again, as I insist always, test-taste your food for sweetness before you push them into oven for baking. However, the recipe I've put down here is right from the book with no changes.

Chocolate Chip Flapjacks

Adapted from the book Chocolate: The Food and the Music

INGREDIENTS:

115gm butter
60gm caster sugar
1 tbsp honey or golden syrup
350gm rolled oats
85gm dark/plain chocolate chips
85gm sultanas
50gm pitted and chopped dates

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C. Lightly grease a 8" cake tin.

Place the butter, caster sugar and honey in a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring often, till the sugar has melted and mixture has combined well. Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in the oats and mix in till they are well combined. Add the chocolate chips, the dates and sultanas and combine well. Turn into the prepared tin and press down well. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30 mins. Cool slightly and mark squares on it. When almost cold, cut into squares and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Flapjacks are extremely easy to make. I suggest instead of the stove-top method, you can even microwave the said ingredients, mixing them at regular intervals, till the sugar has melted. Just toss in rest of the ingredients and bake them. I assume this would be simpler and may be I should give it a try next time. You can add dry fruits, nuts as per your tastes. These are great as snack bars for kids or tea time treats. Also good for travels and as picnic accompaniments.

Chocolate Biscuit Pudding

2011-07-22T21:55:00.005+05:30

My countdown begins as I have just about a week to go. My heart is aching as my maternity leave comes to a fag end and I shall soon resume work full time. Time has flown so quickly and my tiny tot is in her fourth month. Joining back office won't be any easy as I leave my little one behind and shall be away for 10 odd hours. My heart wrenches and eyes wet even as I think of being without her. I have been her throughout the night and day all these months, almost every minute. Staying away from her with be a challenging task for sure.

We have named her Ridhi and we love her name. It's unique and means wealth/ prosperity/ success/ good fortune in Sanskrit. Hunting a name for her was an ardent task in itself. Hundred odd names were looked up, many suggested by our near and dear ones, mostly to be rejected. Blame me? I am choosy. My better half was not any better. I had many clauses, so did he :) Name should be unique, be meaningful and hopefully should be associated with any God or Goddess... etc, etc, etc...

I remember as kids we had couple of common names in our class that would lead to an awful confusion while names were called out. Fortunately enough I did not face such incidents in my high school or pre-college, but, I have been through it while in my graduation where I shared my name with another girl for four years. I am hopeful she won't have any hassles of facing half a dozen similar names in her class :D I would often blame my parents as I never liked my name till Ms. Sherawat made my name popular! I know it's thinking a little too ahead, but least, as she grows old she would not blame us as I did!

As my countdown to join work begins, I am going into a panic mode. The passionate cook in me hasn't been able to cook or bake much and with me resuming office soon, I fear if I will be able pursue my passions. I am hoping I should, for the love of cooking and blogging. For moment I'm feeling positive.

What I have for you today is this Chocolate Biscuit Pudding made using microwave method instead of the traditional stove-top one. I've made this sort of a pudding cake earlier in vanilla flavor and have received several positive reviews by my readers on it. In fact, it's one of the most popular posts on my blog and I am glad it's received well since it's been a never fail recipe for me personally.

I have been using microwave quite a lot off late as it simplifies my work a tad bit. I am loving to make eggless custards in microwave as there is no hassle of custard settling at the bottom. Just mix in everything and microwave for a few minutes, stirring them in intervals. I bet you will love this method too.

Chocolate Biscuit Pudding

INGREDIENTS

1/2 lt full fat milk (approx 2 1/2 cups)
2 tbsp cornstarch
200 gm sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder (+ more if you prefer darker)
100 gm Marie biscuits
A few tbsp of warm milk
Chocolate vermicelli to decorate

DIRECTIONS

Microwave method: Dissolve all the ingredients in a microwave safe pot and microwave on high for about 8-10 minutes or till thick. Stir the mixture in regular intervals of 2 minutes. Check the consistency and microwave further if it's not thick enough. Ensure it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove and allow it come to room temperature.

Stove-top Method: Dissolve the cornflour into 1/4 part of milk and set aside. Bring rest of the milk to a boil. Pour in the cornflour milk mixture in a gentle stream, stirring the milk continuously. It's best to do this in a non-stick pan.

Dip each biscuit in warm milk and lay them side by side on a pudding plate. Spread the prepared pudding onto the biscuit layer. If you want to make a cake, follow up with another layer of biscuits and pudding. Fill the pudding into piping bag with star nozzle. Sprinkle biscuit crumbles on the pudding layer and pipe decorations on the prepared cake. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Decorate with chocolate vermicelli on top before serving.

I made this pudding as a weekend activity while my hubby was baby sitting our daughter. It's super quick and easy using microwave method. The pudding sets well in the refrigerator and tastes great cold, so I suggest you do that. I admire art in any form. The creative side of me has hardly been able to explore much of cake decorations, except for the Black Forest Cake I made for dad last year. I'm inspired by blogs who can pool in so much time and patience to blossom their creativity in practice. I'm sold instantly. This pudding is a testimony to satisfy that urge in me to decorate cakes. It's magical.

Mango Ice cream

2011-07-07T18:25:00.001+05:30

Mango season is almost seeing it's end and I realize I do not have a single post on mangoes for this season. We have been enjoying mangoes thoroughly almost every single day. Neelam variety of mangoes have hit the stands already and soon the last batch of mangoes for this season will dissapear without any being used in desserts, soley to please my blog first and our taste buds next :)

I love mangoes in their true form, especially if they are naturally sweet. To me they can compete with any dessert. These days our meals complete with mangoes, thus leaving no room for any other dessert. I initially thought of using them in a baked version of my beloved mango cheesecake which I made sometime back. But soon the thoughts on baking took a backseat as time is not at my luxury these days. I think of baking and my baby calls out for me with her cries even before I can pre-heat my oven or get my pans out. Thoughts disappear. The pans are back in their shelves. I need to attend her. I sit down to write a line or two for my blog and again she calls out for me. I need to attend. Period! Finally I get a chance today... to jot down beyond just a sentence or two. Phew!

Year's ago when we were kids, Nestle's condensed milk, Milkmaid often came with a complimentary recipe booklet which had a collection of some excellent recipes made using condensed milk. My mom would collect these recipe books, file them and often make sweet treats for us. I was inspired by a recipe for an eggless mango ice-cream from an old recipe booklet that I had borrowed from my mom's collection. I modified it to make the ice-cream more creamier and rich.

Do you by any chance know how I chop my mangoes? It's been a trade secret for long. Sssshhh ;) That's reveled now :D. I use a peeler to peel off the skin from the fruit. Then chop them to long wedges or squares as desired. I find this process easier and mess-free for the clumsy me. And that old steel peeler cum grater has been an obedient friend of mine serving it's purpose on a daily basis as needed. I can't survive without it.

Mango Ice-cream

Inspired by Milkmaid's recipe booklet

INGREDIENTS

2 ripe mangoes weighing almost 750 gms
400 ml sweetened condensed milk
200 ml low fat milk cream
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
100 ml prepared thick custard

DIRECTIONS

Prepare a thick custard by heating a mixture of 100 ml milk and 10 gm cornflour. Heat it till the mix thickens and coats well on the back of a spoon. Refrigerate till needed. Alternatively, you may use a store bought vanilla/mango flavored custard powder and prepare the same using instructions on the pack. I used a store bought vanilla custard powder for this recipe.

Wash the mangoes, skin them and chop the fruit roughly. In a mixie or using a blender puree the mangoes along with cold sweetened condensed milk, ice cold low fat milk cream (I used 25% Amul cream), prepared custard and the vanilla extract. Blend them well till they are homogeneous. A touch of vanilla enhances the flavor of mangoes. Transfer the ice-cream to a freezer proof, air-tight container and freeze them for an hour or two. Remove when you see the sides of ice cream setting. Run the ice cream in a mixie or a blender and return it to the freezer. Repeat the process a couple of times for creamier ice cream. Return to freezer and freeze for a couple of hours till set. Remove the ice cream and leave on the counter for 5-10 mins before serving. This will soften the ice cream a little and help in scooping it out with ease. Alternatively, you may dip the scooper in hot water first and then scoop out the ice cream to serve.

The original recipe suggested the use of gelatin which will help in reducing crystallization of the ice cream during the freezing process. Gelatin wasn't the best option for me, so I skipped it and had no problems with that. This is by far the creamiest ice cream I have made. I left the ice cream sit in freezer over night and I had no trouble with ice crystals forming on the ice cream.

Making ice cream at home needs some amount of patience especially if you do not have an ice cream maker. The daunting job of freezing, churning and re-freezing would be saved to a greater extent. I am envious of the one's who own it. But then making this way has it's own charm. My family enjoyed every scoop thoroughly, sought out for more helpings. Served with freshly chopped mangoes, we could taste the freshest, ripe fruit that went into it with every bite. This is my best way to bid adieu to the summers.

Corn, Capsicum and Olive Pizza with Creamy Mint Coleslaw

2011-06-21T18:43:00.002+05:30

Before she came into our life, our weekends would tend to be laid back and relaxed. Unlike other days, waking up late on Sundays, to enjoy a cup of tea and biscuits is followed by warming up for the lovely day ahead. While he holds my attention to the bits of snippets read from the newspaper I get busy preparing the breakfast. Later a walk down to the nearby supermarket is the most looked forward to as I enthusiastically load my baskets with items and groceries required for the week ahead.

An odd vegetable rarely seen peeks through the regular stack of veggies, seasonal fruits catch a paramount attention and new food products on stands excite me to the pinnacle. Sometimes just a handful of items may suffice our needs, but I always end up going over board shopping in a supermarket, especially on a weekend when time is at our luxurious disposal. The stroll over the counter rarely ends in window shopping. Yeah, this often happens :) Temptation over powers and rules over resistance. I stack my crates and load them with stuffs that tempt me, mostly fresh items that were not seen on my previous visit, picked right off the rack. The battling eyelids of my husband showing reluctance are often ignored. Back home, I am a content woman. :D

Since a couple of months I have been missing food events and blogger's meets. I pinch myself to say a no. But at this stage my baby needs me the most and hence missing these events is inevitable. I love meeting bloggers personally in these meets. Apart from just good food, there's lots more to it... loads of talks, sharing thoughts and new acquaintances, all revolving around one common passion, that's called FOOD!

When I happened to miss one such event, I had to make something different from usual to compensate the miss :) Pastas and pizzas happen to be our all time favorites. Fruits and vegetable are bought fresh on a day to day basis. I love using an array of vegetables that bring out varied colors and contrast on plate. The scarlet reds from plum ripe tomatoes, bright yellow shades of gold from the corn, dotted with somber shades of capsicum and olives are a color treat to my eye. This pizza puts together a great color wheel!

Corn, Capsicum and Olive Pizza

INGREDIENTS

2 medium sized Pizza base (Refer to this recipe for a Homemade Pizza dough. A store bought pizza base will also do.)
1 cup Pizza sauce, recipe for Homemade Pizza sauce

1/2 cup onions
1/2 cup tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels
1/2 cup green capsicum
1/2 cup black olives

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat the oven to 250 deg C.

Chop the vegetables as per your choice. I cut onions and tomatoes into rings, hand picked corn kernels from fresh corn while the capsicum was chopped to bite sized strips. The black olives I used were readily cut rings. Spread the pizza sauce on the pizza base. Top them with onion rings, followed by capsicum, corn kernels and black olives. Top this with shredded mozzarella cheese. A heavy topping of shredded quality mozzarella cheese will make this pizza delectably rich.

Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes. If using a store bought pizza base, please reduce the baking time, generally 15-20 mins should suffice. Bake till the cheese becomes golden brown in color. Slice and serve hot.

Creamy Mint Coleslaw

INGREDIENTS

2 cups shredded cabbage
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1 tbsp finely chopped onion
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used eggless mayo)
1 cup thick yogurt
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, optional
Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Mix mayonnaise, yogurt and lemon juice in a small bowl. Blend well. Add in the vegetables and freshly torn mint leaves. Toss well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Keep in refrigerator until ready to eat.

Pairing with this veggie loaded pizza, I made this comforting creamy coleslaw. It's light, yet creamy and saucy. I kept it low on mayo and heavy on thick yogurt, loving the tang it rendered. If your yogurt is sour, skip the lemon juice.

I love making pizza base and pasta sauce at home. May be a little extra effort, but the result is worth it. My pizzas are generally laden with vegetables and go easier on cheese. I love to keep my pizzas heavy on vegetables and lighter on cheese. This was a perfect compensation for a Sunday lazily spent and the event missed.