Veggi Fare

Aloo Dum - Spicy potatoes and away for a month

2012-01-06T21:13:00.000+01:00

Aloo dum is one of my favourite starters /snacks. In my hometown, Kolkata, it's also a favourite street food, and, of course, I happen to be a big fan of street food.

Normally I do not eat too much chilli. This is, however, one of the few recipes which I love in spite of it's high chilli content. The dish is spicy and tangy and simply mouthwatering. But a word of warning - whenever I eat this, I always keep a bottle of water and some Kleenex handy. The eating ritual is a classic - I take one bite and then a sip of water, and then another bite, then a quick nose wipe with the kleenex, then another bite, and another sip of water - you get the picture, I guess. My face soon turns red and eyes watery, but still I enjoy this as much as anything else. My sis and bro always pull my leg afterward, but it's worth it! My love for this dish overpowers my lack of tolerance for spicy food.

Of course, the original recipe would have one fry the potatoes - but I generally do a baked version.

I love this one, and I hope you like it too!

Ingredients

500 grams - baby potatoes (or if you don't get them, really small potatoes), boiled and peeled
6 tbsp - sunflower oil + to grease the baking tray
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
4 bay leaves
2 tbsp - coriander powder
2 tbsp - tamarind pulp (adjust according to your taste)
2 tsp - salt (or according to taste)

To be coarsely ground together using little water:
60 grams - garlic, peeled and chopped
6 pieces - whole red chillies
2-3 inches of ginger
1 tbsp - cumin seeds

To garnish: rock salt, lemon juice according to taste and loads of finely chopped coriander leaves

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Grease the baking tray with a little oil. Place the potatoes and mix lightly so that the oil coats the potatoes.

Place the tray in the center of the preheated oven and bake until slightly golden (alternately you can also fry the potatoes).

Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds, bay leaves and the coarsely ground paste. Be careful as the paste splutters a lot.

Saute the paste on a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add the coriander powder and salt and cook for another 10 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally.

Add the baked potatoes. Mix lightly, cover the bowl and let it cook for 10 mins, stirring occassionaly.

Add the tamarind pulp. cover and let cook for another couple of minutes.

Remove from the heat, but leave the pan covered. To enhance the taste and the flavours, prepare afew hours in advance (previous evening for today, or in the morning for the evening.

Serve at room temperature, after garnishing with the rock salt, lemon juice and coriander leaves (garnish just before eating!).

Enjoy the potatoes - while I enjoy a prolonged India trip. Will be away for a month, will be in touch with you again in February.

Welcome 2012- Coffee Chocolate Chequered Cake (eggless)

2012-01-03T19:41:00.000+01:00

Wishing all of you a very happy and successful New Year! I hope this year bring loads of love, joy and happiness to your lives.

I welcomed the new year by making this chequered cake. Normally, when I bake a cake for just the 2 of us, I avoid using rich icing, but since this cake was meant not just for us, I took the liberty and used a very (calorie) rich icing.

The cake turned out quite well, in fact, my hubby especially wished for this cake on his birthday. The combination of both the cakes and the espresso-butter icing complemented each other really well. Now that definitely is a good way to start a new year :-)

Ingredients

Coffee Cake

1 cup - whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp - baking powder

1/4 tsp - soda bicarbonate

3 tbsp - sugar

a pinch of salt

100 ml - condensed milk, sweetened

5 tbsp - buttermilk

5 tbsp - sunflower oil

1 - nespresso chocolate espresso (approx 50 ml), cooled

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and grease generously a 21 cm / 8 inch round cake pan.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt, soda bicarbonate, baking powder and sugar.

In another bowl, mix well the condensed milk, oil, buttermilk and espresso.

Make a hole in the center of the flour mix and tip in the liquid ingredients and mix lightly.

Pour the batter in the greased cake pan and place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for approx 25 mins or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake rest in the pan for a couple of minutes.

Invert the cake and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Chocolate Cake

1 cup - whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp - baking powder

1/4 tsp - soda bicarbonate

3 tbsp - sugar

4 tbsp - cadburys cocoa powder

a pinch of salt

100 ml - condensed milk, sweetened

5 1/2 tbsp - sunflower oil

7 tbsp - buttermilk

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and grease generously a 21 cm / 8 inch round cake pan.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, soda bicarbonate, baking powder and sugar.

In another bowl, mix well the condensed milk, oil and buttermilk.

Make a hole in the center of the flour mix and tip in the liquid ingredients and mix lightly.

Pour the batter in the greased cake pan and place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for appx 25 mins or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake rest in the pan for a couple of minutes.

Invert the cake and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Espresso Butter Icing

250 grams - unsalted butter at room temperature

1 3/4 cup - sugar

1 tsp - vanilla extract

2 - nespresso chocolate espresso, cooled

Add the butter and vanilla extract to a large bowl. Cream the butter using an electric mixer. Add the sugar and espresso, a little at a time and beat well on medium speed until creamy and light.

Assembling the Cake

Cut out two small circles from each cake. I used a 5 inch and a 2 inch cookie cutter to cut out the circles. So now you have, for each cake, an 8 inch ring, a 5 inch ring and a 2 inch circle.

Brush the sides of the cut out circles and the insides of the cakes with the espresso-butter icing.

Reassemble the cakes with the cut-out pieces, replacing the middle ring with the piece of the alternate colour - you will now have two cakes with alternate coloured rings.

Apply the icing on the top of one cake and carefully place the other cake on top.

Cover the sides and the top of the cake with the rest of the icing.

I decorated the cake with some chocolate ganache and dusted the cake with cocoa powder.

Notes

If you have just 1 cake tin then let it cool completely after the first cake before baking the second in it.
Let the cake cool completely before cutting out the circles.
Brushing both the sides and the insides of the circles helps in keeping the pieces together, and more icing is not necessarily bad either.
For leveling the icing on the cake: Dip the knife in hot water for a minute, wipe the knife and carefully use the hot- dried knife to level the icing on the cake. This will enable you to give the icing a smooth and even look. Repeat if required, but always use a hot dry knife.
Both the cakes are supposed to be less risen than normal.

Enjoy!

Exotic Veggi Burger

2011-12-25T23:31:00.000+01:00

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas! For those who do celebrate it - hope you had a wonderful and happy time with your families and loved ones.

My husband is a die hard burger fan - and is ready to eat one anytime, anywhere. So- especially for him - I made these burgers today for lunch. It did take quite a bit of time making and assembling these, presenting them in a nice way and finally clicking the photos and the rest of the work. After finishing lunch, I happened to talk to both my mom and MIL. As usual, they asked what we had had for lunch, and I told them about the burgers.

My mom was quiet for a second and then she said, "You have a lot of passion and patience - that must have taken a lot of time and effort!" and believe me, that one small sentence meant a lot and covered so many unsaid emotions. It's normally not very easy to impress my mom, but she definitely made my day with that one small sentence. Then, I called up my in laws and had a chat with my MIL. It was the same conversation all over again. She was a little more expressive in letting out her thoughts - but with the same basic content - "that must have taken a lot of time and patience!", and she took down the recipe as well. After talking to both of them, I was basking in a small pool of sunshine and happiness despite the cold gray outside, and enjoying my Christmas thoroughly.

And of course the official taster (my dear hubby) had a big smile on his face throughout the lunch, and for half the day after that!

Well, the moral of the story is - sometimes, when I am in a hurry or in a bad mood or simply run out of patience, I do try and take a short cut. Now, as I am writing this, I am saying to myself - it IS worth the time and effort and sweat, not to take shortcuts, to keep the passion flowing, to go on creating new recipes.

So hold on...this is a long one!

Ingredients

Guacamole

1 - ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and roughly chopped

1 - onion, peeled and chopped

1 tbsp - lemon juice

1 - green chilli (or according to taste)

3 tbsp - olive oil

salt and pepper according to taste

garlic (optional)

1 1/2 tbsp - coriander leaves

Put the avocado pulp, oil, onions, green chilli, garlic, lemon juice, coriander leaves, garlic, salt and pepper in a mixer and grind coarsely. Keep aside.

Tomato Gooseberry Relish

2 medium size - tomatoes, chopped

2 - gooseberries (amla), pitted and chopped

1/2 cup - red bell pepper, chopped

2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped

2 - 3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 - green chilli (or according to taste)

1 tbsp - sunflower oil

1 1/2 tbsp - coriander leaves, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a non stick pan. Add the pepper, ginger, chilli and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes on medium heat.
Add the gooseberries and cook until they are slightly tender. Add the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients and cook until the tomatoes are soft.
Remove from the heat and let it cool. Grind in a mixer. Keep aside.

Zucchini Patties

1 - zucchini, grated
1 - onion small size, peeled and grated
1 - green chilli - finely chopped
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1 - potato medium size, boiled, peeled and grated
2 tbsp - chives, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
sunflower oil to pan fry the patties

Squeeze the excessive water out of the grated zucchini and onion. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix.
Make 6 round patties and pan fry them on medium flame until both the sides are evenly golden.

Beetroot Patties

1 - beetroot, peeled and grated

1 - carrot, peeled and grated

1 - potato medium size, boiled, peeled and grated

2 -3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated

1 - green chilli (or according to taste), finely chopped

2 tbsp - parsley, finely chopped

1/4 tsp - garam masala powder

1/2 tsp - dried mango powder (amchur)

salt and pepper to taste

sunflower oil to pan fry the patties

Squeeze the excessive water out of the grated beetroot and carrot. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix.
Make 6 round patties and pan fry them on low flame till both the sides are evenly golden.

Onion Rings

1 - onion, peeled and cut into rounds
oil to pan fry
salt and pepper to taste

Pan fry the onion on a medium flame until slightly burnt. Sprinkle the salt and pepper.Turn carefully and fry until the other side is slightly burnt as well.

I made the baguette following the recipe from the "Artisan Bread in five minutes a Day".

Butter to toast the diagonally sliced baguettes and I used some dried basil to give a little flavour to the baguettes.

Cheddar slices

green salad of your choice

Vinegar onions (I used one with balsamico)

Apply the guacamole to one side of a baguette slice. Put some greens on top of it (I used lambs' lettuce, aka corn salad). Put the zucchini patty and then the cheese slice onto it. Coat the 2nd piece of baguette with the guacamole and put the coated side on the top of the cheese. Apply the tomato-gooseberry relish on the top of the 2nd piece of baguette, put some greens, put the beetroot patty and cheese slice. Coat the 3rd piece of the baguette with the relish and put the coated side on the top of the cheese.
Insert a skewer into the burger and top it up with the balsamico vinegar onion.

Serve the burger hot and fresh with the salad, pan fried onions, guacamole dip and tomato gooseberry relish. Enjoy the happy faces.

Chocolate Cinnamon Christmas Cookies

2011-12-20T00:29:00.000+01:00

This time around, inspired by the christmas spirit and by the lovely smells of the season, I baked a whole lot of cookies. My hubby and I decided, rather than the two of us eat up all of them and get fat - he takes some to his office and I would give some to my friends.So after finishing the daily chores, I finally got the time in the evening, after dinner, when my hubby was lost reading a book and I was in the cookie dough :-)

By the time, I finished baking these, it was past midnight. Actually, I like baking in the night, after finishing the rest of the work, that's when I can concentrate best. I do not have to think about anything else, do not have to attend phone calls, which is generally when I tend to lose the track of time.

Before packing the cookies in their respective boxes, I tasted one and was really happy with the outcome, I could have easily had a few more, but resisted the temptation. Actually, I did not want my friends to have less, you see ;-)

This recipe is adapted from the Weihnachts Bäckerei, a German recipe book that I borrowed from a friend.

These cookies were so good that I have been already asked to make them again. Now that definitely is a good sign, isn't it? :-)

Ingredients

50 grams - chocolate 70%, finely grated
250 grams - all purpose flour (maida)
100 grams - blanched almond powder
100 grams - castor sugar
175 grams - cold butter
2 tbsp - milk
1 tsp - cinnamon powder

1 tbsp - cocoa powder

1 tsp - dried ginger powder (saunth)
a pinch of salt

For rolling - 1 tbsp cocoa powder + 4 tbsp vanilla sugar, mixed together in a bowl

Method

Mix together the flour, almond powder, castor sugar, cinnamon powder, dried ginger powder, salt, cocoa powder and finely grated chocolate in a bowl.

Add the small pieces of cold butter and the milk into the flour mix and rub together with the fingers until it forms itself into a dough.

Make 2 rolls out of the dough. Cover the rolls with plastic wraps and let them chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C and line a baking tray with a baking paper.

Take out the dough from the refrigerator, remove the plastic wrap, cut the rolls into small pieces, flatten each piece slightly, give a slight fork impression on the center of each cookie(optional) and place them on a lined baking tray.

Place the tray in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 15 - 18 minutes.

Take out the tray from the oven and immediately roll each cookie in the cocoa-vanilla sugar mixture and place them on a wire rack to cool completely before storing.

Enjoy!

Eggless Molten Lava Cake- Especially for you my dear sis!

2011-12-14T22:15:00.001+01:00

My sister recently got engaged to be married, and the wedding takes place in January. I asked her a few days ago if she wanted anything and immediately came the reply, "Yes, I want a dessert platter from you." And, she especially requested for Molten Lava Cakes.

I will certainly make her a dessert platter when I am in India - but for the time being, I wanted to give her a virtual treat with the recipe for her favourite cake. As it happened...I got busy talking on the phone, forgot about the cakes and baked them a bit too long (around 20 rather than the optional 12 mins). Hence they were a little stiff inside, as in this photo below, even though the taste was perfect.

I felt a little bad that because of my carelessness the cakes did not turn out as my sis would have loved them to be - although the taste was great, they were not as gooey and molten on the inside as they should have been. So, of course, I decided to bake another lot, and this time my eyes were fixed on the watch and exactly after 12 minutes, I took the cakes out of the oven, clicked the photos and also tasted it. I was very happy with the result this time, and I hope my sister likes them too, at least virtually!

I made the cake according to my sister's taste and therefore have used chocolate with 50 % cocoa. Personally, I would have used darker chocolate. Feel free to use the chocolate of your choice.

Do you have any other wishes, dear Sis? I'd be more than happy to fulfill them :-)

Ingredients for 3 cakes

50 grams - 50% chocolate
6 tbsp - water
30 grams - butter
30 grams - whole wheat flour (aata)
10 grams - castor sugar
1/2 tsp - baking powder
a pinch of salt
60 grams - 50% chocolate for the molten part, divided into 3 parts of 20g each.

Method

Melt the 50g chocolate in a double boiler.

Remove the chocolate from the heat. Let it cool for a couple of minutes. Add the water and butter. Put it back on the double boiler and keep mixing until the butter melts.

Remove from the heat and let it cool for 3-4 mins. Meanwhile, put the flour, baking powder, salt and castor sugar in a bowl and mix.

Add the flour mixture spoon wise to the chocolate mixture, and mix well before adding the next spoonful.

Pour the batter into a greased mould, filling half the mould, place the 20 gram chocolate piece in the center and pour a little more batter over it until the chocolate piece is covered.

Place the moulds in the center of the oven preheated to 180 degrees C and bake for around 12 minutes for a yummy lovely gooey inside (and 20 minutes for a little stiff inside or if you are as forgetful as I am!).

Unmould and sprinkle a little castor sugar on the cakes.

Serve warm with icecream, fruits, whipped cream or as it is. It tastes simply awesome.

Enjoy!

Hot and Cold Soup!

2011-12-11T23:29:00.000+01:00

Hope you all had a great weekend. We had a great one -finally, after a long wait, we had the first snow of the season, and enjoyed it like little children :-) To celebrate the first snow, I made this Hot and Cold Soup.

I have noticed something ever since I started my food blog: my friends and family always call me whenever they eat something interesting, or notice a new way of presenting food, or a new garnish and sometimes, even when they've had something weird.

This soup idea was given to me by a friend who had a mexican hot and cold soup in a restaurant. She described the 3 layers, and that it was served in a glass and that it was very interesting. So, I borrowed the basic presentation idea and made my own version of this hot and cold soup.

The final verdict - It was a brilliant idea, I was happy with the taste of all the three different layers and the crispy zucchini skin added the zing. My hubby had a big smile on his lips when I served this soup and the smile stayed on after the first spoonful which is a surest sign that the recipe was a hit.

Ingredients

Ginger-Garlic-Chilli Paste

2 inch piece- ginger, peeled, chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled, chopped

2 - green chillies

Grind together the ginger, garlic and chillies using a little water.

First Layer

1 - zucchini

1/4 cup - onions, finely chopped

1 1/2 tbsp - mint leaves, finely chopped

5 pcs - sage leaves, finely chopped

1 tsp - ginger-garlic-chilli paste (more or less)

1 tbsp - sunflower oil

1/4 tsp - cumin seeds

1 - bayleaf

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup + 1/4 cup - milk

Method

Peel the zucchini, save the skin and keep aside. Cut the zucchini into small pieces.

Heat oil in a non stick pan, add the cumin seeds and bayleaf. When the seeds start spluttering, add the 1 tsp of ginger-garlic-chilli paste and saute for a min on medium heat.

Add the rest of the ingredients except 1/4 cup of milk. Cover the pan with a lid and cook until the zucchini turns soft.

Let it cool, remove the bayleaf.

Add the zucchini mix and 1/4cup of milk to a mixer and puree.

Transfer the pureed mixture to a bowl and put it in the refrigerator to chill.

Second Layer

2 cups - low fat yogurt

1/2 tsp - dried mint leaves

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup - milk

1/2 tsp - sugar

1 tbsp - olive oil

Take a tray, put 2 layers of dish towels on the tray and put a wet muslin cloth on the top of the towels.

Spread the yogurt on the wet muslin cloth and leave it for appx 15 mins.

Remove the yogurt with the help of a spoon and a good nice thick hung yogurt is ready. (By the way, you can use this hung yogurt for all sorts of deserts as well – and is a much quicker method than the usual actual "hanging").

Put the yogurt in a bowl, add the salt, pepper, dried mint leaves, sugar and mix. Add the milk spoon wise and mix well before adding the next spoonful. Finally add the oil and mix. Let it chill in the refrigerator.

Third Layer

1 1/2 tbsp - sunflower oil

1 tbsp - ginger-garlic-chilli paste

2 - big size tomatoes, finely chopped

1/4 cup - onions, finely chopped

1/4 cup - red bell pepper, finely chopped

2 pieces of cloves

2 tsp - cream

salt and pepper to taste

a generous pinch of sugar

Heat oil in a non stick pan, add the 1 tbsp of ginger-garlic-chilli paste and cook for a minute. Add the cloves, onions and red bell pepper and cook until the onions are soft.

Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and cook. Lastly add the cream and sugar and cook for half a minute and remove the mixture from the heat.

For the Zucchini Crisps

Grease a small baking tray, put the zucchini skin on the tray, sprinkle a little salt, pepper and citric acid and bake in a preheated oven to 220 degrees C until crisp.

Put the zucchini cream in the serving glass. Carefully add the yogurt layer (I put the yogurt into a whipping bag with a big nozzle, for a neat result) and finally add the hot tomato mix on the top. Garnish it with the zucchini crisps and some chilli threads.

Serve while the top layer is still hot.

Enjoy!

Cranberry Relish

2011-12-08T13:20:00.000+01:00

December is my favourite month of the year- in december both my hubby and I celebrate our birthdays as well as our weddnig anniversary – not to mention Christmas and New year...and of course, lots of pre christmas dinner parties... which means loads of good food and fun. For this one month, amongst all the partying, I normally forget all about calorie intake and simply indulge and enjoy.

So I thought, at least, I could indulge with something a little healthy (which has kind of become a synonym of my name, according to my best friend!), to compensate all the rich good food and keep a balance.

This week, when my hubby bought this box of cranberries, the moment I saw the box, it was very clear in my mind what I was gonna do with them. This recipe is very easy to make and tastes really awesome.

I had it with some rosemary and cheese crisps, while my hubby enjoyed it with papad / poppadams and it tastes good with Roti or bread.

The sourness of the cranberries, the flavours of all the spices and a slight sweet hint makes this relish an instant hit. We enjoyed this so much that my hubby already got another box of cranberries :-)

Ingredients

100 grams - cranberries, cut into half

1/8 tsp - fennel seeds (saunf)

a generous pinch of nigella seeds (kalonji)

3 tbsp - sunflower oil

1 - red whole chilli

1 tbsp - raisins

1/4 tsp - turmeric powder (haldi)

1/2 tsp - red chilli powder, more or less

1 tsp - coriander powder (dhaniya powder)

1/8 tsp - garam masala powder

1/4 tsp - mustard seed powder (peesi rai)

salt to taste

2 tbsp - water

a generous pinch of asafoetida (hing)
2 - bayleaves

1 1/2 tsp - sugar, more or less

Method

In a bowl mix together the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, salt, garam masala powder, mustard seed powder with 2 tbsp of water and keep aside.
Heat oil in a non stick pan, add the fennel seeds, nigella seeds, hing and red whole chilli.
Add the spice paste to the oil and saute for a minute on medium heat.
Add the cranberries, raisins and mix. Cover the lid and cook on medium heat until the cranberries are soft.
Add the sugar and cook again for half a minute.
Remove from the heat and serve. The relish tastes good hot as well as cold.

Enjoy!

Spelt Shortbread

2011-12-04T23:33:00.001+01:00

For me, cooking and baking is a stress buster, it really helps me to keep my calm. A little while ago, I was really in a foul mood, so bad, that, my head was hurting me. I thought, if I don't do something, this bad day could turn into a very bad day.

So, of course, I went into the kitchen. Took out the baking tray, whole wheat flour (aata), all purpose flour (maida), baking powder, sugar, oil and even butter (which I normally do not use much in my baking) but, then without doing anything, I left the kitchen, went to the study, turned on the computer, thought this would help. I started organising the desktop, deleting unwanted mails, when suddenly my eyes fell on an email from my friend with the subject "Shortbread". I opened it, read it, went to the kitchen and started making it. While making it, believe me, I did not for once think about what happened a while ago, and got busy making the shortbread.

Thanks to this good friend of mine, who gave me this recipe, I was back to normal that day. Oh, by the way, the smell that emanates from the oven, when this lovely shortbread is being baked, definitely made me very happy :-)

Ingredients

125 gram - spelt flour (you can also make it with maida instead of spelt flour)

50 gram - cornflour

15 gram - semolina (suji)

125 gram - butter unsalted at room temperature

70 gram - sugar

a pinch of salt

castor sugar (optional)

Method

Add the sugar and the butter to a bowl and mix well with your hands.
Add the semolina, cornflour, spelt flour (you can also use maida instead of spelt flour) and salt in another bowl and mix.
Add the flour mixture, a little at a time and mix in with the butter, by the end, you will get a soft dough.
Put the dough in a small rectangular baking tray and press the dough, with the palm of your hand and level it using an inverted small flat botommed bowl or cup (I used a stainless stell bowl). Alternately, you can also roll out the dough using a rolling pin and transfer the rolled out dough on to a baking tray. (the former method is quicker and fuss-free)
Using a knife, cut to the size you wish to have. (My shortbread pieces were 2.5 cm wide and 5 cms long). Don't forget to prick the dough with a fork.
Bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees C for 38-40 minutes.
Let the tray rest in the oven for 2 minutes, take out the tray and immediately, cut again where you cut previously to seperate the biscuits and prevent breaking.
Sprinkle a little castor sugar on the top of the shortbread and let it cool completely before storing it an air tight container.

Enjoy!

Tiny Pineapple Wonders!

2011-11-21T22:49:00.000+01:00

Early to bed, early to rise, makes one healthy, wealthy and wise. Learnt this classic piece of human wisdom when I was in Kindergarten. However, applying it to daily life is another matter altogether. For both my hubby and me, it's the opposite case. We both are not morning people.

Many a times, whilst reading, or surfing the net or in my case also following what you guys have been up to, we have these sudden hunger pangs and cravings to eat something. My hubby generally settles for something junk, while I prefer having a cup of warm milk with biscuits (I am a milkaddict). But, this weekend, on saturday midnight, my dearest really wanted to have something sweet and we were, a rare exception, out of chocolates. So, in the middle of the night, I baked these tiny wonders, obviously he was more than happy to help me.

I adapted my recipe Bournvita Bundt Cakes a bit and came up with these cute looking things. Pineapple and coconut were a beautiful combination. And it just took just around 6-7 mins of baking time.

We had a little mid-night tea party, and there was a very happy face sitting beside me and seeing him happy, I was the happiest :-)

Ingredients

2 tbsp heaped - whole wheat flour (aata)

1 tbsp heaped - pineapples, finely chopped (one slice from the can)

1/8 tsp - baking powder

2 tbsp - honey

2 tbsp - sunflower oil

2 tbsp - coconut milk

2 tbsp - dessicated coconut

a pinch of salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix together the pineapple pieces with the rest of the ingredients.
Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and mix lightly.
Spoon the batter into the paper moulds and put them on a baking tray.
Place the tray in the center of the preheated oven and bake for around 6-7 minutes. Serve.

Enjoy!

Avocado Chocolate Pudding

2011-11-11T22:59:00.000+01:00

It's been ages since I made some pudding, and have had a rising desire for pudding for some days now. But the winter is coming - which generally means much more rich food and therefore, the recipe that I am gonna share with you is relatively healthy, and at the same time very simple to make and delicious and of course chocolatey.

So, it fit perfectly last weekend, as I was thinking about making something new, while my hubby was net-surfing - he stumbled upon this website, where he saw this recipe and he shouted from the study, "Hey! I found a very healthy-chocolate pudding recipe online. I think, it's something for you."

I was busy in my thoughts, and did not really pay attention to what he was saying, partly also because of the loud music on Radio (I always have music on when I am cooking). He shouted again, and when he did not get any response from me, he came to the kitchen, and said, "I have been calling you, but forget it, do we have avocado at home?" "Yes, we do, but why?" I said. He dissappeared for a minute, and came back with a print out and said with a grin on his face, "Today's dessert". How could I refuse making this recipe, especially when my dearest so expectantly gave me the recipe.

Of course, we had this dessert that day, with a few teeny-weeny changes from my side. This is the link, where he found that recipe, and, here is how I made it.

Ingredients

1 - ripe avocado, peeled and seeded

2 tbsp - butter unsalted

3 tbsp - cocoa powder

3 tbsp - honey (adjust according to your taste)

1 tbsp - walnuts, very finely crushed + to garnish

a generous pinch of cinnamon powder

a pinch of salt

1/4 cup - coconut milk (more or less) (you may also use almond milk)

Method

Put the avocado and butter in a bowl and mash together with a fork until smooth.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix vigorously until everything is mixed and smooth.

Garnish with the crushed walnuts and serve. (if the pudding ends up too thick, correct the consistency by adding a little more coconut milk to it)

Have a lovely weekend!

Moong Dal ke Parathe/Lentil Parathe

2011-11-07T13:09:00.000+01:00

We are enjoying a perfect european autumn - have had lots of lovely weather lately, slightly cool but sunny and bright - locally called an "altweibersommer" - literally translated - an old wives' summer. The term relates not to geriatric specimens of female persuasion, but rather to a local spider art which is particularly active weaving it's webs during warm autumns.

Anyway....back from ugggh spiders to it's been so beautiful as of late, and I hope it remains like this for a little longer. The weather is just perfect for long walks (which we definitely need after all the Diwali indulgence). These are a few photos from a short autumn walk this week.

Isn't it beautiful?

Coming to today's recipe - Moong dal ke parathe or as we call them back home - mogar ki pudi - is a very typical rajasthani dish - and you can eat them hot and fresh, or even for the next 3 - 4 days as they don't spoil.

I have had these a number of times (made by mom and my MIL) but I really had not bothered until now to make them at home. But, this time, when my in laws were here, I made them, with the help of my MIL. It tastes great with red chilli pickles or salted yogurt or shrikhand (thick sweet yogurt).

Ingredients

2 cups - whole wheat flour (aata)

60 grams - yellow moong dal (split yellow gram)

3 tbsp - sunflower oil

2 tsp - red chilli powder

1/2 tsp - garam masala

1/2 tsp - coriander seeds, finely crushed

1 tsp - kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

salt to taste

water to knead the dough

oil to roast the parathas

Method

Soak the dal/lentils for an hour and cook until slightly soft.
Mix together everything in a bowl and knead using water. The dough should be medium soft. Cover the dough with a wet muslin cloth and keep aside for 15 mins.
Divide the dough into small size balls and roll the balls out into a paratha.
Roast the paratha on both the sides on a non stick pan, using oil on each side until brown spots appear on the surface.
Serve.

I had them with shrikhand , while my hubby enjoyed them with red chilli pickle.

Enjoy!

Diwali Wishes with Stuffed Marzipan Baskets (badam ki tokri) and Marzipan Apples.

2011-10-26T14:25:00.000+02:00

Wishing all my Indian readers a very Happy Diwali. May this festival of lights fill your lives with love, happiness and prosperity.

On this auspicious day, I have made not one, not two but three indian sweets - the more the merrier! For this one day, calories are on the backburner (literally!) I decided to just enjoy the sweets and the festival. I am sure my hubby will be the happiest when he gets back from office and sees all his favourite sweets.

Almond sweets are a must at my place for any occasion, so I decided to share this with you. Because of the chaos in the kitchen, I forgot to note down the exact proportions of the filling, but , don't worry, the filling is really easy to assemble. If, by any chance, you have some leftover - it tastes good on it’s own, or you can, like me, make some of these cute looking marzipan apples.

Without further ado (I have to rush to the kitchen now), here is the recipe.

Ingredients

For the dough

100 grams - almonds, preferably no bitter almonds

100 grams - sugar

For the filling

this is an approximate measurement

5 tsp - a mixture of finely chopped dried figs (anjeer), almond slivers, pistachio slivers

1/2 tsp - rock candy white sugar crytals (misri)

1/4 tsp - cardamom powder

a few strands of saffron

2 tsp - sugar

water

For the Marzipan Apples/Badam Apples

a few strands of saffron mixed with a few drops of rose water (should be like a thick paste)

pistachio slivers

cloves

Method

Make the dough. See my recipe badam katli here.
Make the sugar syrup using 2 tsp of sugar and very little water. Keep aside.
Add the figs, almond and pistachio slivers, misri, cardamom powder and saffron strands to the sugar syrup and mix.
Take a little portion of the marzipan dough and press it with your hands. Use a rolling pin and roll out into a circle unitl it is around 1 mm thick.
Loosen the rolled out dough and carefully lay it into a silicon tart mould. Remove the excess dough jutting out of the mould and shape the top with your fingers.
Carefully remove the shaped marzipan basket from the mould.
Fill in the stuffing into the marzipan baskets and serve. (optional- you can also brush the top of the baskest with the saffron-rose water paste, make them look more inviting)
For the marzipan apples- Use the leftover dough (if you have any)
Take around 1 tbsp of the dough and roll it between the palms of your hands and make a small ball.
Brush the sides of the ball/apple with a thick saffron-rose water paste
Push in the clove (upside down) on the top of the apple and press gently.
Press the pistachio slivers on to the side of the clove.
Serve and enjoy.

The above mixture of dough yields approx 5 baskets and 5 apples.

Happy Diwali and Enjoy!

Red Chilli Pickle

2011-10-20T08:27:00.000+02:00

It's hard to keep up with time these days...nonetheless I am enjoying every bit of it. It was really good to have mom n dad in law at home. I have been learning a lot of traditional recipes from my MIL. Today's pickle recipe is also by her.

I had a bag full of chillies as gift from an acquaintant, who, ever so generous, gave me these chillies and said, "You are Indian and you do use a lot of chillies in your cooking, don't you?" I was a little taken aback and a bit lost for words. I forced a smile on my face - for what does one do with a Kilo of chillies?

Well, I started thinking on how to use so much chilli (I can't eat very spicy food, well, my hubby can... but that's another story). I gave half the chillies to a good friend of mine, who said, she would freeze them. But, even after that, "What should I do with so many chillies?" was a constant thought in my mind. The next day, my in-laws were arriving from India. My MIL, saw the chillies and said "Why do you have so many chillies at home?" I narrated the story and she smiled and said, "We'll make something really delicious out of them." and this recipe was born. Some went into this pickle and a few went into a thai red curry, recipe follows soon. As for the rest - we sun-dried them, for later use.

To my astonishment, the pickle turned out not too spicy, as I thought it would be. It came out so yummy and went well with so many sorts of indian food, that even non chilli fans like myself could have fun with them. The next time my acquaintance wants to give me more chillies, I'll say - bring it on!　

Ingredients

20 pieces - red chillies

1 tbsp - ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 1/4 tsp - mustard powder

1/2 tsp - cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp - garam masala powder

2 tsp - salt (more or less)

2 tsp - rock salt

1 piece - dried dates, finely chopped (chuare)

3/4 tsp - sugar

a very little piece of mace

100 ml - lemon juice (more or less)

Method

Wash the chillies and dry them completely, cut into rings and remove the seeds

Put the chillies in to a glass bowl, add all the ingredients to it and mix well.

Cover the bowl with a muslin cloth and keep it in sunlight for 4 days (do not forget to stir once in a while). At night, put the bowl, still covered with the cloth, at room temperature.

After around 4 days, store in an air tight container. Shelf life 3-4 months at room temperature or you can keep in the fridge for appx 10 months.

Enjoy!

Summery Saffron Drink

2011-08-29T18:02:00.000+02:00

For the last 15 days, we have been enjoying food like never before, and it is becoming quite visible on my waistline ;-). My in-laws are visiting, and my mother in law and I have been busy cooking a wide variety of dishes - I am learning to cook loads of traditional dishes from her. And, of course my recipe collection is increasing :-) She taught me some traditional Rajasthani sweet dishes, pickles, appetizers etc etc etc.

This here is also a recipe I have just learnt from her. It's a very refreshing, rich and summery drink. Can be made in a jiffy and has a shelf-life of 6 months (only in the theoretical case that you manage not to finish it off before then!) Saffron is my favourite spice, and for me, any dish /drink/dessert with saffron is more than welcome. I love saffron. Infact, my mom always teases me that if I had my way, I would make a curry with just saffron in it.

This drink tastes good with soda, sparkling water, plain water as well as with a shot of Wodka. I served it with a few crushed sprigs of mountain mint / Calamint (an intense variety of mint) and it was really refreshing. Of course, normal mint is just as good.

Ingredients

6 cups - sugar

2 cups - water

1 gram - saffron strands

3/4 th tsp - rose water

mountain mint/ calamint to garnish

Method

Put the sugar and the water in a big vessel and cook on high flame, stirring continously. Remove the sugar dirt, if any, with the help of a spoon. Bring the sugar syrup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook further for appx 2 mins. Remove from the heat.
Let it cool slightly for around 5 minutes.
Grind the saffron with the rose water lightly with a mortar and pestle.
Put the saffron mix in the sugar syrup. Cover the vessel for 10 minutes.
Store in glass jars when completely cool.

Tip

If you notice sugar crystals in the sugar syrup, first transfer the non crystallised part into another glass jar and than add a little hot water to the remaining syrup. Let it cool completely before storing in a glass jar.

Enjoy!

Gatte ki Sabji (Traditional Rajasthani Curry)

2011-08-12T14:42:00.000+02:00

After seeing my last post “Mozzarella Sage Ice Cream”, one of my cousins called me up and said, " I don't like Mozzarella!" and before I could say something, she added, "Can’t you post something simple and traditional next time?" "Okkk", I said, and thought "What that suppose to mean?" and then, after our regular this and that, here and there chat, she said, "And, please no more avocado recipes"

I took a deep long breath and thought and thought and then went through my drafts and chanced upon this curry recipe. This is a traditional Rajasthani curry (though not the simplest one!) and is one of my favourites. This recipe is by my lovely mom :-) and has a lot of memories attached to it. Without going into all of them, I’ll just share one little secret. My hubby who generally eats everything under the sun, was somehow not too fond of this curry since his childhood – even though his mom was famous for it. When I made this curry for the very first time, my hungry hubby came to the dining table and saw this curry and said "Oh, you made gatta today", he said, he would just have one bite of gatta, because I made it, otherwise he is not too fond of it. I said, "Don't, if you don't like it", he repeated, "I'll have a bite" with a smile on his face. He had his first bite and I had mine, he had his second and third, while I was still on my first bite (i'm a slow eater) and soon the curry was over. And believe me when I say this, that I did not get much of that curry that day :-) From that day onwards, we have a convert at home :-)

Go ahead and make this curry, I promise you will not be dissapointed. And, I hope my cousin is not dissapointed in me :-)

Ingredients

100 grams - gram flour (besan)

1/2 tsp - salt

1/2 tsp - red chilli powder

1/8 tsp - garam masala powder

1 1/2 tbsp - oil

1/2 tsp - kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

yogurt to knead the dough

For the gravy

2 1/2 tbsp + 1/2 tbsp - sunflower oil/ghee

1/4 tsp - fennel seeds (saunf)

1/8 tsp - nigella seeds (kalonji)

a generous pinch of hing (asafoetida)

1 - bayleaf

3 tbsp - low fat yogurt

1/4 tsp - red chilli powder (more or less)

1/2 tsp - turmeric powder (haldi)

1/2 tsp - dried mango powder (aamchur)

1 tsp - coriander powder (dhaniya powder)

a generous pinch of garam masala

salt to taste

1/4 tsp - dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) + to garnish

Method

Mix together the besan, salt, red chilli powder, garam masala and kasuri methi in a bowl. Add the oil and rub with the fingertips until it resembles fine bread crunbs. Add yogurt spoon by spoon and make a hard dough.
Divide the dough into 4 parts and roll out into cylinders.
Boil 4-5 cups of water in a deep pan.
Add the cylinders (rolled out gatte) to the boiling water and boil for approx 15 - 20 minutes or until you see small white spots on the gatta.
Drain and let the gatta cool before cutting them into small pieces. Do not discard the boiled gatta water.
Mix together the yogurt, red chilli powder, haldi powder, aamchur, dhaniya powder, garam masala powder, salt and kasuri methi in a bowl and keep aside.
Heat 2 1/2 tbsp of oil in a pan and saute the gatte for a few minutes and remove from the heat.
Heat 1/2 tbsp of oil in a pan, add the saunf and kalonji. When the seeds start to crackle, add the hing and bayleaf. Add the yogurt mix and cook on a medium heat, stirring continously. When it starts to boil, add the gatte and cook again for a couple of minutes.
Add the reserved gatta water to correct the consistency of the gravy and cook for 3-4 minutes on low heat.
Garnish with dried fenugreek leaves and serve hot with phulka (indian bread) and kadhi or even with Daal bati.

Enjoy!

Mozzarella Sage Ice Cream

2011-08-03T16:33:00.000+02:00

What does one do when one has a lot of recipes lying in the drafts? Well, one tries to post them, one after another, and, that's exactly my plan :-)

This recipe's idea was born to my dear hubby after eating some really nice mozzarella cheese in Milan, Italy, and he told me about it very excitedly. I thought for a second and said, "huh!!! Mozzarella Icecream???" To which came the prompt reply, "Yes, why not? I think you should give it a try." I silently repeated these two words "Mozzarella Icecream" in my mind and was trying to somehow assemble the ingredients and also made a rough version of it in my mind. (though I was a little apprehensive - I thought it will either be a big hit or a major disaster)

My next step was to share my thoughts with my hubby, who immediately said, "When are you making it?" and hence this recipe was born.

Together with the roasted almonds( recipe taken from Angiesrecipe) and the distinctive taste of sage, it was indeed something quite unique and amazing.. And, I must say, both me and my hubby were more than pleased with the outcome. So, if you want to try out something experimental...just go for this one :-)

Ingredients

125 grams - buffalo mozzarella

100 grams - mascarpone

10 pcs - sage leaves, finely chopped

2 tbsp - honey

1/4 cup - low fat milk

a pinch of salt

For the roasted almonds

150 grams - almonds

1 tsp - olive oil

1 tbsp - water

1 tbsp - honey

1/8 tsp - salt

1/4 tsp - cinnamon powder

25 grams - sugar

Method

Place mozzarella, mascarpone, sage leaves, salt, honey and milk in a food processor and process till smooth.
Transfer to a plastic container, cover and freeze till half set.
Place the half set ice cream in the food processor and process till smooth. Transfer to the plastic container and freeze again till half set. Repeat one more time.
Now fill the processed ice cream in small heart shaped silicon moulds (I got 5 of them) and put the moulds in the plastic container, cover the lid and let it set completely.
Unmould the ice cream atleast 10-15 minutes before serving. Garnish with sage leaves and roasted cinnamon almonds.

Roasted Cinnamon Almonds

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Place the almonds in a single layer in a lined baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes or until slightly brown. (don't forget to stir the almonds a couple of times in between)
Mix the sugar, salt and cinnamon powder in a bowl and keep aside.
Mix the honey, oil and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add in the roasted almonds and cook stirring constantly until all the liquid has been absorbed.
Transfer the almonds to a bowl, add the sugar mix and toss until they are evenly coated.
Spread the almonds on a parchment paper. When cool, store at toom temperature in an air tight container.

Enjoy!

Guacamole Paratha Wraps!

2011-07-27T10:52:00.000+02:00

More than half of 2011 is already gone and how... The year has been quite eventful for us (in good ways) until now, and time seems to just fly away...and, somehow, amongst all these things, I really neglected my blog and haven't been writing regularly, or, for that matter, even trying out and creating new dishes took a backseat.

Today, I am posting a recipe which has been lying in my drafts for months now. Finally it sees the light of the day and after this I am on a blog-hopping mode, to check out what my friends have been upto. So beware :-)

I try to include avocados in my diet plan at least once a week. And, today's recipe was created on one such day. I was cleaning up my refrigerator and wanted to finish off a lot of leftover green stuff before shopping for fresh veggies...you know what I mean, don't you? :-). Thus wre born these wraps - and, since that day, I have made these wraps a number of times and both my husband and I love them.

A special mention of my sis in law, who too is on an avocado spree these days :-) Try out this recipe and I hope you will not be dissapointed and just in case you are, then it's certainly the Avocados that are at fault ;-)

Ingredients

For the Guacamole dip

1 - ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and roughly chopped

1 - onion, peeled and chopped

1 tbsp - lemon juice

1 - green chilli (more or less)

3 tbsp - olive oil

salt and pepper according to taste

garlic (optional)

1 1/2 cup - whole wheat flour (aata), (may need more)

ghee or butter to brush the parathas (optional)

For the filling

1/2 cup - red bell pepper, chopped into cubes

1/2 of an aubergine, chopped into cubes

1/2 of a zucchini, chopped into cubes

1 - carrots, chopped into cubes

4 tbsp - olive oil

1/2 tsp - citric acid

1/2 tsp - red chilli flakes (more or less)

2 pods of garlic, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

100 grams - feta cheese, cut into cubes

Method

Put the avocado pulp, oil, onion, green chillies, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper (add coriander leaves if you have some, i ran out of them so couldn't ) in a mixer and grind coarsely.
Add the aata (flour) to the guacamole paste and knead. Cover the dough with a wet muslin cloth and keep aside for half an hr.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C
Put all the ingredients of the filling except the feta cheese in a baking dish and place the baking dish in the center of the oven and bake for approx 20 mins or until done.Don't forget to toss the vegetables a couple of times in between.
Add the feta cheese to the baked vegetables and mix well.
Divide the dough into 5 parts and shape each into a ball and slightly flatten them and roll out into thin parathas (approx 18 cms circumference)
Roast the parathas on both sides on a non stick pan, brushing a little butter/ghee on each side (optional)
Put the filling in the center of the paratha and cover as shown in the picture and serve hot.

My hubby had them with yogurt-garlic-chilli dip (another refrigerator-cleaning-action!) and I loved them even without the dip :-)

Avocado Gazpacho

2011-06-19T01:53:00.000+02:00

I am on Avocado high these days and experimenting a lot with this wonderful and nutritious fruit, trying out new things.

In fact, there was a time when I never used to buy avocados - funny looking fruit, I often wondered then, wondered about it's taste and wether I would be able to do anything with them, and generally conveniently ignored them at the fruit counter. Well, things have changed now, so has my taste, and we now have something or the other with avocados at least once a week.

Which brings us to today's recipe. The inspiration came from a TV show. However, my timing was bad and I just managed to catch the finished dish which was "Cold Avocado Soup with Prawns", which immediately registered in my mind and I made this soup the very next day, and served it with tomatoes and mozerella.

Ingredients

For the vegetable stock

600 ml - water

1 - small onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1/4 cup - red bell pepper, chopped

1 - bayleaf

4-5 - whole black pepper

3-4 - cloves

salt

For the Soup

1 - ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and roughly chopped

1 1/4 tbsp - lemon juice

2 tbsp - coriander leaves

2 tbsp - low fat yogurt

2 tbsp - olive oil

2 - cloves

salt and pepper to taste

a few thyme leaves
vegetable stock

4 pieces - baby mozerella

5 - cherry tomatoes

2 inch - ginger

1 - dried red whole chilli

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/4tbsp - olive oil

sprigs of thyme leaves

Method

Put all the ingredients for the vegetable stock into a big vessel and bring to a boil. Boil for approx 5 minutes. Sieve and let the stock cool.
Put the avocado pulp, lemon juice, coriander leaves, a few thyme leaves, yogurt, olive oil, salt, pepper powder and the vegetable stock into the mixer and blend well. Sieve with a strainer and let the soup chill in the refrigerator.
Heat the oil in a pan together with a few sprigs of thyme leaves. Add salt, pepper powder, ginger piece and red whole chilli. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook on a medium heat until the tomatoes are slightly tender. (I foolishly gave a cross cut on the tomatoes but would advise you not to).
Arrange the mozerella and the tomatoes on to a skewer. Serve the cold soup with the tomato-mozerella skewer and a sprig of thyme leaves.

Enjoy!

Almond Mint Drink

2011-06-03T14:59:00.000+02:00

The weather in this part of the world is pretty decent these days, warm and sunny, with interspersed bouts of clouds and some rain. Both my husband and I spend our free time, whenever we can, in our small garden. Last Sunday, when we were having our evening tea and enjoying the nice sunny day in the garden, we suddenly saw a reddish-brownish flurry of movement - it was a large squirrel, a cute little furry thing, on about its search for nuts and other eatables. It hopped about from one place to another and inspected our garden. And finally found something to eat and decided to stay still for a minute in one place...Quicker than the squirrel, my hubby ran off to get the camera, to capture this beautiful little thing. He did manage to get a few good photos.

Isn't it cute? :-)

This drink was made one such warm sunny day last week and was indeed quite refreshing. A perfect way to beat the heat.

The mint and almond combination in a drink is unique in it's own way and the taste is great. Thanks to my mom for this recipe - moms are the best cooks, aren't they?

Ingredients

1/2 cup - mint leaves, chopped

1/8 cup - almonds

3 pieces - cloves

3 pieces - cardamom

1 1/2 tbsp - sugar (adjust according to your taste)

1 1/2 cup - water + a little to soak

almond slivers to garnish

Method

Soak together the almonds, cloves and cardamom for 3-4 hours.
Remove the water.
Grind together the almonds, cloves, cardamom, mint leaves and sugar using some water.
Sieve/press through a muslin cloth and extract all the liquid and keep aside. Reserve the residue.
Put the residue back into the mixer and grind again using little water and sieve again.
Put the drink in the refrigerator to chill.
Garnish the drink with the almond slivers and serve.

Serves : 2

Enjoy!

Stuffed Cucumber Curry

2011-05-08T22:06:00.000+02:00

Have you ever had a writer's block? Well, I am facing this right now...I am sitting in front of my computer screen, wanting to write something special, a thousand ideas running through the brain, but somehow not able to write anything. Words do not seem to come to mind and I am just aimlessly looking at the screen, waiting for my brain to convert the ideas to words that I can put together into a meaningful sentence...but I still go on looking at the screen (this could be a long evening.....!)

Well, now, I'm giving up for the day and just jumping to today's recipe.

Ingredients

1 - long cucumber

For the stuffing

2 tbsp - gram flour (besan)
1 - green chilli, chopped
2 inch piece - ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/4 tsp - red chilli powder (more or less)
1/4 tsp - garam masala
2 1/2 tbsp - sunflower oil
1/4 tsp - dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
1/4 tsp - whole coriander seeds, roughly broken
1 tbsp - lemon juice
4 tbsp - fenugreek leaves (methi), chopped
1 tbsp - coriander leaves, chopped
salt to taste

For tempering

2-3 tbsp - sunflower oil
1/4 tsp - panch phoran ( a mix of fenugreek, cumin, fennel, mustard and nigella seeds)
a generous pinch of asafoetida (hing)

Method

Peel the cucumber. Cut a 2cm wide "window" into the cucumber with a margin of around 2 cms at both ends as well as the bottom (see photo) Remove the cut out part.
Rub some salt onto the cucumber all around.
Add all the ingredients of the stuffing to a bowl and mix well.
Fill in the stuffing into the cucumber Cut the cucumber into approx 5 cm long pieces.
Heat the oil in a pan, add the panch phoran and hing. When the seeds start to splutter, add the stuffed, cut cucumber pieces and cook on a low heat, turning the pieces carefully every couple of minutes until they are brown from all the sides. (the cooked cucumber should not be too soft)
Serve hot with rice or rotis, or even as a starter!

Enjoy!

Back after a long break with some delicious Crumpets.

2011-04-26T21:11:00.000+02:00

Apologies for vanishing suddenly from the blog world and being away for such a long time....and especially about leaving midway my two part recipe of Saffron Plum Compote with Crumpets. So, here am I again, and here is part 2 of the 2 part recipe.

But first, a big Thank You to all of you who have left mails with comments and wishes - It makes me feel really special and happy. I sometimes wonder about this beautiful bond of friendship we share with each other - though we have not met, we are bound by a common passion - for blogging, for good food, for sharing our thoughts, our joys and sometimes our sorrows.

This passion connects us in a special way, and I enjoy it, like it and even miss it when I am not active.

Today's recipe was lying in my drafts for a long time...I made it with a Saffron Plum Compote (recipe here). These crumpets (recipe taken from here ) went very well with the whipped cream (mixed with a little vanilla extract and castor sugar) and the fruity saffrony flavour of the compote. And it looked really pretty too!

Hope you like the crumpets as much as we did and I promise to be a regular again!

Ingredients

112.5 grams - all purpose flour

1/4 tsp - sugar

1/8 tsp - salt

1/2 tsp - dried yeast

75 ml - warm milk

75 ml - warm water

a generous pinch of cinnamon powder

Method

Place the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon powder and the dried yeast in a large bowl and mix well. Pour in the warm milk and water and mix well until well combined.
Cover the bowl with a cling film or a plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place to rise for about an hour or until the batter doubles the volume.
Remove the plastic wrap and stir the batter really well.
Grease lightly a non stick pan and heat the pan over a low flame. Sit the greased crumpet rings in the pan and leave to heat up for a minute.
Pour in the batter to fill the rings just over halfway up the sides. Cook on a low heat until plenty of small holes appear on the surface and the batter has just dried out.
Remove the rings carefully and turn the crumpets to cook further for a couple of minutes.
Let the crumpets cool on a wire rack.
Serve the crumpets with some whipped cream and saffron plum compote.

With or without the cream these crumpets were simply delicious...

and this one is for you :-)

Enjoy!

Saffron Plum Compote

2011-02-20T23:28:00.000+01:00

It's finally time that the winter should be over, that the new green on the trees can be seen again and the chirping of the birds starts again, and that a few rays of golden sunshine light up this part of the world again...Well we did have a small preview of spring a couple of weeks ago, but the last few days have again been cold and dark and dreary, wet and grey.

Well, to somewhat light up the atmosphere, I decided to combine my favourite spice with one of my favourite fruit. Last week I went to the Vitualienmarkt - Munich's historical marketplace, where one can find all possible varieties of exotic fruit and vegetables, all times of the year. My basket did have some luscious plums on the way back, which I could not resist biting into until I was back home. But the few that did make it back home, went into this delightful compote. The best part about the compote is, you can serve it warm or cold, you can keep it for a few days (well, that is, if you can resist the temptation to clean it off at first chance!), and it goes well with almost any dessert - or is absolutely yummy on its own, licked by the spoonful ;-)

Along with the compote, I made some Crumpets (recipe up next on your favourite food blog, so stay tuned!).

Ingredients

3 - plums, pitted and chopped
1 tbsp - crystallised ginger, finely chopped
2 1/2 tbsp - honey (more or less according to your taste and how sweet the plums are)
1/4 tsp - cinnamon powder
10 - 12 strands of saffron

Method

Place the plums, crystallised ginger and honey in a pan and cook on a low heat, stirring occasionaly until the plums are slightly soft.
Add the cinnamon powder and saffron and cook for a minute.
Remove from the heat and serve hot or cold with a dessert of your choice.

Enjoy!

Remembering Maa with her favourite Fenugreek Raisin Apple Curry and Okra Curry

2011-02-06T18:02:00.000+01:00

It's been 2 years today since she left us and I still can't believe it. Maa, my grandma in law, to whom I was really really close. Unfortunately, both my hubby and I were the only one who couldn't meet her when she was taking her last breaths and we miss her dearly.

For 8 years, on every India visit, for those few days, I always spent a lot of time with her in the kitchen - that was the place where we not only cooked together, but also shared and talked about a lot of things. That obviously included food and she taught me a lot of traditional recipes.

She was a great cook and it's hard to replicate the dishes she made. Even her simple and easy to make dishes don't taste the same when we make them. One example is this bhindi ki sabji (okra curry), which is our as well as was her favourite vegetable, one which she would always make multiple times when we were visiting.

Another thing she loved was cooking veggies with a sweet touch - or even fruits in curries! And my hubby (and to some extent me) have picked up this taste as well.

Since I am dedicating this post to her, I have taken the liberty to use loads of oil compared to my usual standards - which was the way she cooked. In fact she actually used to almost deep fry the okra, then squueze out the extra oil and then tell me, "dekho, saara tel nikal gaya, ab isme jyada tel nahi hai" translated into english, "look, I have squeezed out the extra oil from the okra and now it's not that oily"... and I would just smile. And, believe me when I say that her okra curry was simply yummy and the best I've had.

This platter has all her favourite dishes and am sure, this would have made her really happy.

Fenugreek Raisin Apple curry

Ingredients

2 tbsp - raisins, soaked overnight

1 - dried red whole chill, soaked overnight

1 tbsp - fenugreek seeds (methi),

1 - apple, peeled and chopped into small pieces

3 tbsp - sunflower oil

1/8 tsp - fennel seeds and nigella seeds

a generous pinch of asafoetida (hing)

1/8 tsp - turmeric powder + a pinch

1/4 tsp - coriander powder

1/4 tsp - dried mango powder (amchur)

salt to taste

red chilli powder (optional)

2 tsp - sugar

Method

Soak the fenugreek seeds overnight in some boiling water with a pinch of turmeric powder and a pinch of salt. Cover the lid.
Remove the water from the soaked fenugreek seeds, chilli and raisins the next day. Cut the chilli into small pieces.
Heat up the oil in a non stick pan and add the fennel, nigella seeds and hing. Add the apple, fenugreek seeds and raisins. Cook for a couple of minutes.
Add the rest of the spices and mix lightly and cook for another couple of minutes or until the apples are slightly soft.
Add the sugar and mix. Cook for a half a minute and remove from the heat.
Serve hot.

Okra curry (bhindi ki sabji)

Ingredients

500 grams - okra, cut into small pieces

6 - 7 tbsp - sunflower oil

1/4 tsp - turmeric powder

1 tsp - red chilli powder

2 tsp - coriander powder

1 tbsp - raw mango, grated

1 tbsp - coconut, grated (i used dessicated coconut but fresh tastes better)

salt to taste

corainder leaves to garnish

Method

Heat the oil in a non stick pan and add the okra. Cook on a medium heat until the okra gets a little darker / brownish in colour.
Remove from the heat and add the spices, grated raw mango and coconut. Mix well.
Place the pan back on the heat and cook again for a couple of minutes.
Add chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Missing you Maa...wish you were here with us.

Mashawa / Maschaua Kebaps

2011-01-27T08:46:00.001+01:00

Years ago, I had this delicious Mashawa soup for the first time at an Afghani restaurant and immensely enjoyed it - the rich flavours and the spicy taste of the soup immediately struck a chord in my heart. Since then, it has become one of my favourites when eating out - and is not only yummy, but a pretty rich source of protein as well - which is important for vegetarians.

I wanted to try out this soup at home for a long long time and bought this packet of mixed beans and lentils thinking I would make it finally.

I washed the beans, soaked them overnight, and went off to bed. The next day, I continued with the process, pressure cooked the beans and as I was simultaneously doing other stuff, for some strange reason, drained the water completely and left the cooked beans in the sieve. A couple of hours later, I stepped back into the kitchen coz I was starving...saw the beans and was amazed at my own forgetfulness.

Well, the result was that the beans were all dried up. So, I thought, why not make something else with them? Thus was born this recipe - thanks to my forgetfulness! We had these kebaps with a yogurt dip - and they turned out to be at least as good as the soup, even though a bit different and slightly drier than they would ideally be.

As they say...necessity is the mother of invention!

Ingredients

3/4 cup - assorted beans and lentils, soaked in some water overnight

1 medium size - onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp - dill, finely chopped

3 pods of garlic, finely chopped

1 tbsp - ginger, finely chopped

1 - green chilli, finely chopped (more or less)

1/2 tsp - garam masala powder

1 1/2 tsp - lemon juice (adjust according to your taste)

1 tbsp - olive oil +some more to pan fry the kebaps

red chilli powder (optional)
salt to taste

Method

Pressure cook the beans for 3-4 whistles/rings, drain the water and leave in the sieve for a couple of hours.
Heat 1 tbsp of oilve oil in a pan, add the onions, garlic, ginger and saute until the onions are soft. Add the cooked beans and mash them slightly. Add salt and cook again for a couple of minutes.
Add the lemon juice, garam masala powder and chopped dill and mix well.
Remove from the heat. Shape the beans into a long cylinder and insert a skewer inside.
Sprinkle a little olive oil on the pan and cook the kebaps until golden brown from all sides.
Serve hot with any dip of your choice.

Enjoy!

Best Indian Food Blog?

2011-01-22T00:25:00.000+01:00

Dear friends,

Veggi Fare has been chosen as one of the finalists in the Food Blog Category for the "Best of Indian Blogs" title run by Blogjunta

If you like my recipes, please do vote for me. Don't worry, this vote grubbing exercise is not a precursor to me going into politics. And unlike politicians, I'll give you a promise I can actually keep- I hereby promise to continue putting out new recipes, and to make them as innovative and yummy and healthy (well not always!) as possible.

To vote, please click on the widget on the right hand sidebar - my blog is 2nd from top.

Thanks and love,

Rachana