Nan's yum-yums!

Pizza Sauce | Baby Friendly Pizza Sauce

2018-03-15T23:40:00.001+05:30

Hola People!

Its been just a few days short of a year since I penned something down here for you all! Thanks to some of my loyal readers who wrote in frequently to check on me. Means a lot.

Life has been hectic on so many aspects outside this little blog of mine and hence I was missing in action here.

Let me quickly fill you in on what all has been happening in the last one year that I have been absconding

My little sonshine turned two last month. He keeps me busy all day with his curiosity and cuteness!
I have discovered a new found passion in early learning activities for my boy and hence have been deeply involved in creating a whole bunch of early learning activities and DIYs for the little guy. We both have been loving this and I love that I am able to give him my full time and attention during this inquisitive age. If this is something that interests you, do have a look at what we have been up to here: Sonshine Mumma!
By chance and beautiful turn of events, I have landed up starting a little venture that I am immensely passionate about. I create Memory Quilts with baby clothes, sarees and tees. A new found hobby, sewing has been taken to new heights and being a one person army behind this, I am still trying to cope with the demands of juggling between all these different aspects. However, am slightly proud of what I have been able to create so far in the last 6 months. Again, if any of this interests you, I would love you to have a look at my page Sew Mini Moments.

Phew! Am done, I promise.

So amidst all these various beautiful things happening in my life, food blogging sadly went down the priority scale! But now I hope to be back if not as often as before, at least maybe once a month!

To break the long silence here, I have with me a super simple pizza sauce that I tried just today and loved it so much that I decided to blog it! It is baby friendly and I used this to make tiny pizzas for my boy and has been approved by the toddler foodie!

This is a basic sauce with minimal spice, which you can pump up the spices of, if you would like a bit more of a chilly kick. I have leftover and I am planning on making some pasta with this tomorrow!

Ingredients

Tomato - 4 ripe, medium, finely chopped

Onion - 1 medium, finely chopped

Garlic - 4 pods, finely chopped

Italian Seasoning - 1 tsp

Brown Sugar - 1 tsp

Red Chilly Powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - as needed

Olive Oil - a tbsp

Method

Heat oil in a pan and toss in the garlic and onion. Add brown sugar, saute and allow to mildly caramelize. This may take 2-3 mins
Then, toss in the tomatoes and sprinkle little salt, Italian seasoning, mix well and keep covered on medium flame. Allow to cook for 5-6 mins by mixing up the mixture in between once or twice.
Smash the tomatoes with the back of your spatula to release all the juices and bring the mixture together. Allow to simmer for another 2 minutes.
Once completely cooked, allow to cool and then blend it into sauce consistency. Don't add water to this, it is meant to be thick.
Store in a glass container and refrigerate. This will last a couple of days.

Sweet Potato and Banana Pancakes

2017-03-24T12:28:00.003+05:30

The natural softness of both, sweet potato and banana makes this pancake delightfully soft and fluffy. This has no baking powder, baking soda and only natural healthy ingredients. Whip it up for your little foodie and see them devour it with joy! :)

Ingredients:

🍌Sweet Potato - 1, pressure cooked and peeled.

🍌Banana - 1

🍌Wheat Flour - 3/4 cup

🍌Honey - 1/2 tsp and some more to drizzle on top

🍌Jaggery Powder - 1 tsp

🍌Water - as needed

Method:

🐝Mash the cooled sweet potato and banana in a bowl.

🐝Add honey, jaggery and wheat flour.

🐝Adds water and make thick batter.

🐝Keep aside for a few mins.

🐝Add a dollop of ghee to a griddle and pour our a tiny scoop of the batter.

🐝Allow to roast lightly on one side and then flip n cook on the other side as well.

🐝Serve with a generous drizzle of honey!

Pumpkin and Potato Bake

2017-03-22T16:45:00.000+05:30

Pumpkin and Potato Bake for the mini. Because tiny tums also need some fancy yums, no? :)

Note to self : Make an adult's version soon! You cannot keep stealing mini's food! 😛

Ingredients

Pumpkin puree - 3 tbsp
Baby potatoes - 3, boiled abd thinly sliced
Garlic - 1 pod, minced
Butter (unsalted) - 1 tsp
Wheat Flour - 1 tbsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Italian seasoning - a dash
Cheese cube - 1/2

Method

🎃Heat butter in a pan and roast the flour for a min not allowing it to brown.
🎃Add the minced garlic and saute for a min until rawness goes away.
🎃Add milk and whisk continuously to make a lump free creamy sauce.
🎃Add pumpkin puree and seasoning and mix well.
🎃Layer a baking dish with most of the sliced boiled potatoes.
🎃Pour the pumpkin cream sauce over it and layer the remaining potatoes.
🎃Garnish with grated cheese.
🎃Bake at 180 for 20 mins.
🎃Cool and serve the yum to the tiny tum! :)

Apple Wheat Pancakes

2017-03-22T16:31:00.005+05:30

Apple Wheat Mini Pancakes with a drizzle of honey, for the mini's evening snack!

Quick to put together and a lovely soft texture suitable for a baby! 👶

Ingredients

🍎 Wheat flour - 3 tbsp

🍎 Applesauce (or grated apple) - 2 tbsp (half an apple)

🍎 Baking powder - a tiny pinch

🍎 Vanilla essence - a few drops

🍎 Milk - just enough to make a thick batter

🍎 Honey - 1/2 tsp to mix in batter, a bit to drizzle on top

Method

Mix everything together to make a thick batter.
Heat a few drops of oil or butter in a pan n pour out a tiny scoop of the batter in the center of the pan.
Allow it to cook and then flip it over to cook on the other side as well.
Serve with a drizzle of honey.

Buttery Roasted Veggie Soup

2017-03-22T16:17:00.003+05:30

Buttery Roasted Veggie Soup for the happy foodie mini!🍵Oh wait, it was yum enough for his mum too (she may have stolen a spoon or two while feeding him! 😜)

Ingredients

🌼 Unsalted butter - 1tbsp

🌼 Garlic - 1 pod

🌼 Onion - 1 small, chopped

🌼 Veggies of your choice - 1cup, chopped

🌼 Salt, pepper - a hint

🌼 Water - as needed

Method

Sauté the garlic and onion in a pan until slightly caramelized.

Add in chopped veggies, salt and pepper and allow to roast for a couple of minutes.

Pressure cook the entire mix with a little water for 4-5 whistles.

Blend the mixture into a smooth soup.

Garnish with a dollop of ghee.

An experiment done right, says that bowl licked clean! 😁

Baby-friendly Veg-Au-Gratin

2017-03-22T16:02:00.000+05:30

Baby-friendly Veg Au Gratin for my 1-year-old mini foodie! From the almost polished-off dish, looks like it is approved by the tiny fellow with a big grin! 😀

If you would like to make this for your mini, follow the recipe for Veg-Au-Gratin with the following changes:

🌼 Replace maida with wheat flour to make the bechamel sauce.

🌼 Mash the pressure cooked veggies before adding it to the bechamel sauce.

🌼 Reduce the quantities of herbs n pepper powder. Add only a hint of both.

🌼 Skip the salt as cheese has enough already.

Hope your mini loves it as much as mine did! ☺

Oats and Nuts Granola Bar

2017-02-23T16:46:00.002+05:30

Now, who would not like to munch on something that is incredibly delicious, ridiculously easy to make and also truly healthy snack?! Well, I am always on the look out for such recipes. Being a nursing mum to a one-yr-old, I am always hungry! I need a snack at any hour of the day. And of course it has got to be healthy.

When I bumped into this recipe by Vikas Khanna in a cook book for kids, I simply had to try it out! It seemed to fit the description of an ideal baked snack! Granola bars are just an answer for such hunger pangs! Guilt-free, wholesome and absolutely yum!

I am fond of granola bars and have been meaning to bake my own batch for quite a while now. I am so glad I chose to bake this as my first as it is simply very easy to make. Very few ingredients and quick to put together. I was delighted at the soft yet firm, chewy texture of these bars. So satisfying and oh-so-yummy! :)

So this granola bar is a basic one with just a few add-ons like almonds, raisins and chocochips. You can get creative with your add-ons and put in anything that you fancy... toasted sesame, cranberries, pumpkin seeds... anything at all!

Am sure you will love this recipe... go ahead, get baking! :)

Ingredients

Butter, unsalted - 100 gm

Brown Sugar - 100 gm

Honey - 100 gm

Oats - 300 gm

Black Raisins - 1/2 cup, chopped

Almonds and pistachio (or any other nuts of your choice) - 1/2 cup, chopped

Choco-chips - 1/4 cup

Method

Line a flat rectangular baking tray with a parchment paper and keep ready.
Combine the butter, brown sugar and honey in a saucepan and heat until everything has melted into a liquid.
In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, raisins, nuts and chocochips.
Pour the melted liquid onto this bowl of dry ingredients and mix well.
Transfer this mixture onto the prepared baking tray. Press well to ensure the mixture is tightly packed together and is flattened.

Bake in a preheated oven at 150 degrees for 20-30 mins or until the top is slightly browned.
Take out and allow to cool for 5 minutes then using a knife make the slices in the mixture before it hardens. Do not try to take the slices out at this time, the mixture is not yet set and hence the bars will crumble.
Allow to completely cool and set. Then, take out the mixture from the tray and gently separate the bars.
Granola bars are ready to be munched on! :) Store in an airtight container.

Wheat and Jaggery Cookies

2016-12-28T10:33:00.001+05:30

Baking makes me happy. I bake for occasions, for family, for friends, or just because I feel like it!

And lately, my baking has begun to revolve around my infant son. I have been eagerly waiting to feed him homemade healthy bakes and watch the glee on his face as he enjoys them. Well, finally at just over 10-months-old, I have been able to give him tiny bits and pieces of my cakes and much to my delight, he does enjoy munching on them! :)

While the happiness I get when I feed my baby homemade goodies is priceless, I am also conscious about the quantity that I feed him. Since our regular bakes contain refined sugar and white flour, I do not give him too much of it. Just a teeny weeny piece at a time.

However, his appetite is ever growing and I have to keep ready healthy munchies every few hours to feed his hungry tummy. Apart from the usual baby friendly stuff, I wanted to give him variety and something ready that I can just take off the shelf and feed when hunger strikes.

...and so begins my baking journey to create baby friendly bakes! :)

While browsing for ideas, I found this recipe on Padhu's Kitchen and by just a quick glance at the ingredients was convinced that this was the perfect bake for my little guy. Took me all of 30 mins to put them together and keep away to bake. Once done, I gave him a tiny bit to taste and it was an instant hit! He gobbled a lion and nibbled on a giraffe on the first sitting :D

These cookies are perfect for babies as they contain no refined sugar or flour. They are absolutely healthy. I had these adorable little cookies cutters sitting and waiting patiently to be used. I used them to shape these cookies and was ecstatic at how incredibly cute they turned out! :)

If you have a teeny tummy to feed at home, this recipe is a must try! Actually, these may just please you too... go ahead and try a small batch and see if you like these healthy bites! :)

Happy Baking!

Ingredients

Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1/2 cup, powdered
Butter - 100 gms, cold unsalted
Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Milk - 2 tbsp

Method

Cube the butter into small pieces and place into a mixing bowl.
Add in the wheat flour, salt and mix the them together with your hands. The butter should blend in well and the mixture should resemble bread crumbs.
Add jaggery and cardamom powder. Mix well.
Now, to bring the dough together, add in just a bit of milk. Combine well to make a soft dough.
Place this dough in the refrigerator for 15 mins.
After 15 mins, take out the dough. Dust your work area with flour and roll out the dough using a rolling pin, into medium thickness.
Using cookie cutters, cut out the shapes that you desire and place these on a greased baking tray.
Gather the remaining dough and repeat the rolling out and cutting process until all the dough in used up.
Bake the cookies at 180 for 15-20 mins or until the sides turn a light brown.
Cool the cookies on a wire rack and store in an airtight container once completely cooled.

Snowman Pizza

2016-12-20T15:23:00.000+05:30

It is December and Christmas is just round the corner. Not that I really celebrate it, but somehow this month brings in a lot of holiday cheer in me and makes me want to bake, bake and bake! Well, I guess its just another excuse to bake! ;)

The Christmas Fruit cake is a must-bake during Christmas and is on every body's bake list this season. I mean, how can Christmas pass by without an indulgence into a flavoursome, nutty, fruity cake right?!

So having baked the much awaited fruit cake this year, I was in for more baking and wanted something savoury and different this time. Something cute yet festive.

That was when this little guy popped in my head. Having seen similar bakes on Pinterest, I have been long wanting to bake these cuties. Now was the right time!

And also since I cannot make a snowman with snow, I thought I will bake a snowman with dough!! Teeheehee... thanks for bearing with me through that cheezy rhyme! :D

So this isn't a recipe post really, its more of how to shape and decorate a regular pizza into a snowman pizza. For measures on making a pizza dough, the link is in the ingredients list. For the rest, its totally up to you on how you want to decorate your little guy. I have mentioned here what I used to decorate my snowman.

Happy Baking! :)

Ingredients

Pizza Dough

Pizza Sauce

Olives

Carrots

Onions

Cheese

Olive Oil

Flour

Method

To make a snowman shaped pizza, take a portion of the pizza dough and divide it into three balls of concentric sizes.
Flatten each out and place them in an overlapping manner such that the smallest is on top and the biggest at the bottom (see picture for clarity).
Press the area that overlaps to ensure the rounds do out get detached while baking.
Poke all over the flattened out rounds using a fork. This is to ensure the dough doesn't balloon up while baking.
Smear pizza sauce on the base and spread grated cheese all over.
Place two olive slices for eyes, a triangular piece of carrot for nose and a slice of onion for the snowman's smile. Place round pieces of carrots for the snowman's buttons. Voila! Your snowman is ready to be baked :)
Bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes or until the crust is light brown and baked through. Do not over bake the top as you don't want a snowman looking sun burnt! :D
Once done, remove the pizza and sprinkle pizza seasoning on top and enjoy your adorable little snowman! :)

Eggless Orange Cake with Orange Glaze

2016-12-07T17:07:00.000+05:30

Simple flavoursome cakes entice me more than fancy shuancy looking pastries with oodles of frosting and cream.

So on our recent trip to Pune, one of my aunts, a passionate baker, had made this delicious cake for us. I could not stop with just one piece of the goodness. I gobbled a few slices at one sitting and oh boy, was it good! It was a very simple orange flavoured eggless cake she said. I simply loved it and wanted to recreate it when I got back home.

So, when I finally did get some time off mommyhood I decided to bake this yumminess. I used my trusted Eggless Vanilla Cake recipe and tweaked it a bit to make this orange flavoured eggless cake. The citrusy flavour that the orange juice and zest imparts in this bake is simply yum!

And the best part you ask? It has a good portion of whole wheat in it and brown sugar to up the health quotient. This cake is all the more dear to me since it is the first bake of mine that my little one tasted and loved!

Wheat cakes are generally slightly more dense when compared to entirely all purpose cakes, but since this one has a good measure of orange juice to moisten the batter up, the final texture of the cake is not dense at all, in fact is very moist and soft.

The light orange glaze on top... oh, that completes the citrusy goodness of the cake :)

If you love simple cakes as much as I do, this one has surely got to be tried! Happy Baking!

Ingredients

All purpose flour/Maida - 1 cup
Wheat Flour - 1/2 cup

Thick Curd/Yogurt - 1 cup

Orange Zest - 1 orange's
Orange Juice - of 1/2 an orange

Brown Sugar - 3/4 cup

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Baking powder - 1 and 1/4 tsp

Olive oil - 1/4 cup

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

For the Orange Glaze

Orange juice - 1/2 cup

Powdered Sugar - 1 tbsp

Method

Pre-heat oven to 160 deg.
Line a loaf tin with butter paper and keep ready.
In a small bowl, mix well the orange zest and sugar until you get a nice orange crumbled sugary mixture. Keep aside.
Take curd in a bigger mixing bowl and add in the orange zest-sugar mixture and mix well until sugar dissolves.
Add in the Baking soda and Baking powder and mix well. In about 2 minutes, tiny bubbles appear on top.
Now, add in the vanilla essence, orange juice and oil to the mixture and combine well.
Slowly, in batches, add in the flour and fold in the mixture until no more dry flour is seen and you get a thick cake batter.
Pour in this batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Take off the loaf and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Now, remove the cake from the butter paper and then place it on a cooling rack.
Meanwhile prepare the orange glaze by mixing together the powdered sugar and orange juice.
Pour this orange glaze on top of the cake loaf and allow it to sit in the tin for about 20 minutes until completely cooled.
Now, slice it into pieces and enjoy the delicious cake :)

Vegetable Au Gratin

2016-09-28T13:21:00.000+05:30

Continental cuisine has always been my got-to choice when eating out. The creamy sauces, herbs, cheese and spices make these dishes flavourful and enticingly appetizing. There are so many dishes that I have eaten and loved. But for some reason have been putting away recreating them at home. I always had this inhibition that these fancy dishes may be too hard to replicate at home. Au Gratin has been on my to-do list for ever!

Au Gratin is basically a French method of cooking something with a topping of crusty cheese or breadcrumbs. The base could be vegetables or meat.

The ingredients are mildly cooked and mixed in a creamy white sauce and then baked with a topping of cheese. The cheese melts and turns a beautiful golden brown and voila, your Au Gratin is ready to be devoured! :)

The beautiful medley of vegetables, creamy sauce and cheese is my kind of Yum! Mild flavoured vegetables such as carrots, peas and potatoes are the most preferred while making an Au Gratin.

So a few days back, after a super exhausting previous day, I needed something to cheer me up! And nothing cheers me up better than cooking good food and of course enjoying it! I just chose Au Gratin as my dish of the day. I had a basic recipe for gratin which I tweaked a bit and began gathering the ingredients. While the baby napped, I was able to put together this dish and also enjoy my fancy meal-for-one at peace!

Now, that totally cheered this Mumma up! :)

I was blown away by the ease of the recipe and decided to definitely blog it. This dish is a keeper and I am so glad I tried this. Now, to try more variations of gratin recipes! Stay tuned :)

Treat yourself to this delicious creamy dish. If its your first time, you will love it! And if you are a gratin lover like me, you know what am talking about!! :)

If you would like more flavour in your sauce, you can also add in some tomato ketchup to spike it up. And if you like some crunch, you can add in some bread crumbs as well along with the cheese toppings.

To complete the fancy meal, pair the Au Gratin with some Garlic Bread. They are a match made in food heaven! Enjoy! :)

Serves : 1
Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

Vegetables (assorted of choice) - 2 cups, chopped
I used Baby Corn, Carrots, Peas, Potatoes, Broccoli and Mushrooms)

For the White Sauce
Butter - 1 heaped tsp
Flour | Maida - 1 heaped tsp
Milk - 3/4 cup
Pepper and Salt - to taste
Cheese - 1 tbsp
Herbs Powder | Seasoning - a sprinkle

For the topping
Cheese - 1-2 tbsp

Method

Chop the vegetables into tiny cubes (or pieces). Add half cup water and pressure cook for a single whistle.
In a heavy bottomed pan, add the butter and allow it to melt.
On a low flame, add the flour and whisk for a minute till the flour is incorporated with the butter. Do not let it burn.
Take the pan off the flame and add in the milk. Whisk well until the flour mixture has no lumps. Place back on stove and stir continuously until the sauce thickens.
Add the boiled veggies along with the water. Add salt, pepper and the herb seasoning. Mix well.
Cook on low flame until the water evaporates and the sauce thickens coating the vegetables.
Turn off the flame, add in the cheese and mix well.
Now transfer the contents into a baking dish.
Top it off with the remaining cheese.
Bake at 200 C for 25 minutes or until the crust turns a golden brown.
Serve! :)

Serve it with a few slices of Garlic Bread or simply enjoy it as is! It is yummilicious either ways! :)

Basil Pesto Pasta

2016-08-26T10:39:00.000+05:30

Oh, I LOVE Pasta!

If you have seen my posts on pasta you will know that I get experimental with the sauces. I love trying out new combinations and flavours.

Pesto Pasta has been on my to-do list for ages and I have no clue why it kept getting postponed to later. One reason was I didn't want to use ready made pesto, I wanted to make my own. But considering how easy making pesto sauce is, I still remain clueless why it took me so long to try it out! :P

Well, anyway... so finally I got to making my own pesto and the next step of course was cooking up the much awaited Pesto Pasta! :)

It turned out to be so delicious that I think I might have just found my new favourite pasta flavour! Yayyy! So herby, so flavourful and so very yummy! If you have the pesto in hand, it only take like 20 minutes to out this dish together.

I had plenty of time on had that day, so baked a loaf of bread and made Garlic Bread out of its slices to serve with my pesto pasta! It was a winning combination. DO try it! :)

Ingredients:

Pasta - 2 cups

Pesto Sauce - 4 tbsp

Capsicum - 1 large

Baby Corn - 4-5

Onion - 1 large

Olives - 4-5, sliced

Fresh Cream - 1/2 cup

Italian Seasoning - to taste

Salt & Pepper - to taste

Method:

NOTE: If you are using freezed pesto, remember to bring it to room temperature and then combine the grated cheese into it, before using it for the pasta.

Cook the pasta in hot water as per instructions in the packet, drain and rinse in cold water. Allow to cool.
Meanwhile, in a pan, heat oil and saute diced onions.
Once done, add in the cubed capsicum and baby corn. Cook for 5 mins on medium flame.
Toss in the pesto sauce and fresh cream and mix well. Allow to cook for a further 5 mins.
Add the cooked pasta into the sauce and mix well. Add the salt, pepper and seasoning. Combine all the ingredients together.
Toss in the sliced olives on top and gently mix once more.
Serve with garlic bread.

NOTE: If you like a more creamy consistency, you may go ahead and toss in a bit more sauce and cream into the pasta towards the end and add in a bit more seasoning accordingly. Cover the pan with a lid and allow to cook on low flame for a few minutes.

I served the pasta with slices of garlic bread :)

Basil Pesto with Almonds

2016-08-26T10:38:00.000+05:30

Basil is such a fragrant herb that it gives every dish it is added to, a beautiful aroma and freshness. This pesto sauce is nothing but herby deliciousness. I have been meaning to try making my own pesto sauce for ages and have been putting it away for no solid reason, that I can think of! But am so glad that I finally made myself go for it and make this yummy sauce at home a couple of days back.

It is super simple and quick to put together with the simplest of ingredients. If you get your hands on fresh basil leaves, the rest of the ingredients would probably be right in your pantry.

You can use up this sauce right away, after you prepare it or can freeze and store it for up to 3 months! Well, I love such stuff which make cooking on hurried days a breeze.

I made a batch and intended to make pasta a few days later. I in fact transferred the freshly made pesto into an airtight container and shoved it away into the freezer only to take it out a few hours later to make Pesto Pasta!! Teehee... couldn't wait too long to make my much awaited pasta with this delicious sauce, could I!? :P

Go ahead and do yourselves a favour. Make this scrumptious pesto and treat yourselves to some pasta or slather it on toast and enjoy its herby, creamy goodness! :)

Ingredients

Basil Leaves - 2 cups

Olive Oil - 2/3rd cup

Almonds - 1/4 cup

Cheese - 1/2 cup

Garlic - 2 pods

Pepper Powder - to taste

Salt - to taste

Method

Coarsely blend together the basil leaves, almonds, garlic and half cup of olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper. Blend some more.
Transfer into a bowl.
If using or serving immediately: mix in the cheese and the remaining olive oil and into the pesto sauce until well mixed. Serve.
If storing for later: transfer into an air tight container and pour the remaining olive oil over the sauce. Store in the freezer. When required, take out the sauce and allow it to come to room temperature. Mix in the cheese just before serving.

Can be used to make Pesto Pasta or as a topping for toasted bread too. Pesto stored in a freezer, holds well for up to 3 months. Enjoy! :)

Cinnamon Coffee Marble Cake

2016-07-09T22:25:00.000+05:30

Oh, Hello there! :)

Life has been very busy on the personal front. Blogging took a backseat for almost a year now. Well, a tiny little human has taken priority over everything else in my life currently :) Yes, I have been blessed with a beautiful baby boy in February this year and my routine as you can imagine is nothing like it was before he came by :)

Here is a snippet of how my life has changed since my boy arrived: Baby-steps into Mommyhood.

Thankfully, my little is cooperative and I am able to pursue my hobbies in between my busy schedule with him. I have taken a liking to sewing lately and have been creating little somethings for my munchkin. From crib bedding sets to pyjamas to patchwork quilts. I love trying my hands at my new found love of sewing whenever I find time.

Hence, blogging has been pushed away for a while now. I do get to bake on occasions and cook up some fancy dishes. But I couldn't really bring myself to sit and update this little space lately.

However, finally here is a recipe I truly wanted to share with you all. I baked this last week for a mini family together. Its a marble cake with the flavours of cinnamon and coffee dancing in harmony.

The flavour of coffee and cinnamon goes so well together, if they were a couple, they would fare high in a compatibility test!! :D

It's simple, easy and quick to put together. Trust me, your guests will be pleased to be welcomed with such a pretty cake! :) Go ahead, bake this up and make your loved ones happy! Happy Baking :)

Makes : 1 Loaf

Ingredients

Cinnamon Cake Batter

All purpose flour/Maida - 1.5 cups
Thick Curd/Yogurt - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1 and 1/4 tsp
Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Cinnamon Powder - 1 tsp

Coffee Cake Batter

All purpose flour/Maida - 1/2 cup

Cocoa Powder - 1/4 cup
Thick Curd/Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
Vegetable oil - 1/4 cup
Coffee Powder (Instant) - 1 tbsp

Method:

Pre-heat the oven at 180 deg C.
Prepare a baking pan, by lining it with baking paper and greasing it with butter and flour.

Cinnamon Cake Batter

In a mixing bowl, beat the yogurt and sugar and mix well until the sugar dissolves in the curd.
Add baking powder and baking soda to this mixture and mix well.

Set aside this mixture for 5 mins until small bubbles appear on the surface.

Add vanilla extract and oil to this mixture and mix all the ingredients well.

Add the flour in parts and gently fold in the batter until there are no lumps and no more dry flour is seen. Sprinkle the cinnamon powder and mix well.

Coffee Cake Batter

In another mixing bowl, prepare the batter for coffee cake follow the similar process as in the cinnamon cake batter, except, instead of adding plain flour, sieve together cocoa powder, all purpose flour and coffee powder and then proceed onto preparing the batter until no more dry flour is seen.

Layering Cinnamon Coffee Marble Cake

In the prepared baking tray, pour dollops of the cinnamon and coffee batter in patches.
Using a toothpick, gently mix in the two batter, to create a marble look.

Bake the cake in pre-heated oven for 30-35 mins or until a tooth pick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Mushroom and Capsicum in Yogurt Gravy

2015-10-12T18:08:00.000+05:30

There are days when I crave for just plain rice and a simple spicy side dish to go with it. That is when I resort to my all-time-favourite Mushroom Pepper Fry. It is a wonderful recipe that creates a perfect balance between spice and flavour that I cannot get enough of it. I simply love that dish.

Having said that, too much spices is not always good for your tummy. So, I fight my urges to prepare that dish every time I buy mushrooms. Yeah, I somehow tend to blindly get into the mode of making the Pepper Fry each time I have stock of Mushrooms :)

So, here is this other recipe which is higher on the health quotient and milder in flavour yet delicious, which I prepare on days when I crave mushrooms but not too much spice. With the intermittent crunch of capsicums and the tang of the yogurt gravy, this dish proves to be a good companion for simple plain rice. You can also serve it up with Chapati or pulkas.

I love LOVE learning new simple mushroom dishes, if you do have some up your sleeves, do let me know in the comments section below. I would love to try it out in my kitchen and post them here :)

Ingredients
Button Mushrooms - 200 gms (10-12), washed and sliced lenth-wise in a 'T' shape
Onions - 1 big
Capsicum - 1 medium
Green Chilly - 1, finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch cube, finely minced OR Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp
Carrom seeds | Ajwain - 1/2 tsp, crushed
Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 - 3/4 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Curd - 3/4 cup, beaten.
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method

Heat oil in a kadai and toss in the crushed carrom seeds. Allow to cook for about a minute on low flame.
Toss in the chopped onions, green chillies and ginger paste. Cook till onions turns light brown.
Now, add in the Mushroom slices and cook for about 5-7 minutes on medium flame till the mushroom look well cooked.
Add chilly powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, salt and mix well.
Reduce the flame and add in the beaten curd and combine everything well.
Add in the capsicum and stir. Allow to cook until the curd reduces and thickens, coating the mushrooms well. This would take about 5-6 minutes.
Take off the stove and serve with rotis or ghee rice.

Instant Oats Dosa | Ready in 20 Mins

2015-10-08T18:22:00.000+05:30

If you are like me, you do not like spending too much time in the kitchen!

I want my cooking to come together quickly without much hassle. At the same time, I do get bored of the list of simple recipes I have in hand, especially breakfast items and hence am constantly looking for interesting and innovative recipes.

The other day, my colleague mentioned of an instant dosa she had made for breakfast which took all of 20 minutes to put together from start to finish! My ears shot up and I was immediately all questions on how she made it.

The simplicity of this dosa floored me and I made it the very next day. Was surprised at how easy it was to prepare and its taste is oh-so-yummy!

I paired it with a simple Coconut Coriander chutney. You can pair it with any condiment of your choice.

Here you go, hope you all enjoy it! :)

Ingredients

Oats - 1 cup

Rice Flour - 1 cup

Rava - 1/2 cup

Curd - 1 cup

Green Chillies - 2-3, finely chopped

Coriander Leaves - 1 cup, finely chopped

Salt - To taste

Water - as needed

Method

Dry roast the oats in a heated pan until they turn light brown. Do not over toast the oats so as to burn them. Allow to cool.
In a blender, combine the roasted oats, rice flour, rava and salt. I did not completely fine ground it, left it a little coarse for an interesting texture. You may grind it to a completely fine powder, if you like it that way.
In a huge mixing bowl, combine the blended powder, curd, coriander leaves, green chillies and water.
Mix until you get a smooth batter which is runny and not too thick.
Make dosas as usual on a hot griddle and drizzle with some little oil.
Enjoy them hot with your choice of chutney!

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta

2015-06-05T07:39:00.000+05:30

I love the taste of smoked, roasted vegetables. It infuses an earthy feel to the dish and a taste unique that cannot be substituted by any other method of cooking. Baigan ka Bharta or Fire-Roasted Eggplant, is one of my all time favourite dishes cooked by directly roasting the brinjal over the stove until tender and pulpy and then mushing the flesh and infusing it with Indian spices. Oh YUM!

So, this particular pasta has been on my to-do for a while now. I have heard of Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup and Pasta and have been curious on how it would taste. Was sure I would love it, considering my liking for this method of cooking, but I had never tasted it before.

Just like in most cases of my planned cooking experiments, I just began creating this dish one evening after a work day! Yes, planned for me just means I have to have the core ingredient and sufficient time, then the rest of the recipe just gets built on. I can never set aside a day or date to venture into my cooking experiments. That only rarely works. I am more of a spontaneous cooking kind of a person!

So, I bought these lovely red bell peppers and stocked them in my fridge and hoped I could make some time out in that particular week. And so, this one day was the day when I decided to make this for dinner!

Just like in Baigan Bharta, the roasting makes the skin char and blacken and the inside flesh soft and tender. I imagined a particular flavour in my head and went on building on it. I wanted roasted garlic, peppery spice and only slightly cheesy flavour. That is just want I did!

This dish can be made a little richer, by adding in some fresh cream into the sauce, if you like. You can also add in more veggies. I kept it very simple and less fattening and let the roasted red bell pepper be the hero of the dish :)

Also, next time I plan to add in some dry red chillies, maybe the Kashmiri variety to the sauce to give a tad more redder colour. The taste however, was a winner and I am glad to have created this simple recipe! Enjoy :)

Serves: 3

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cooking Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

Pasta – 3 cups
Red Bell Pepper – 2
Onions – 1, big
Garlic – 10-12 pods
Sweetcorn – ¼ cup
Black Pepper – 1 tbsp.
Butter – as needed
Rock Salt OR Table Salt – a pinch
Olive Oil – a tbsp. and some more for sauteing.
Italian Seasoning – 1 tbsp.
Red Chilli Flakes – 1 tbsp.
Cheese – 2-3 cubes | 1 cup grated

Method

To make the Pasta Sauce:

Cook the pasta as per instruction in the packet (in a pot of boiling water for about 5-7 minutes), drain the water and keep the pasta aside.
Roast the red bell peppers directly on the flame until charred black evenly on all sides and have slightly shrunk.
Make sure you turn the bell peppers at intervals to ensure even roasting.
Allow the bell peppers to cool.
Meanwhile, dice about 3/4th the onion and 4-5 pods of garlic. Finely mince the remaining onion and garlic and keep aside for later.
Heat a tbsp. of butter in a pan and toss in diced onion and garlic.
Roast until brown.
Now, peel the cooled roasted red bell peppers and remove the stem. The seeds can remain.
Toss in the peeled peppers, roasted onions and garlic, crushed pepper, salt and a tbsp. of olive oil into a blender and blend into a puree. You may add in a little water, if needed. Not too much! Set the sauce aside.

To make the Pasta:

Take a slightly bigger pan, toss in a tbsp. of butter and a dash of olive oil, the remaining minced onion and garlic and saute for a few minutes. Add in the sweetcorn and mix.
Pour in the red bell pepper sauce and a little water if the sauce is too thick and mix.
Add half the grated cheese and allow it to melt in the sauce by mixing it well.
Sprinkle some Italian seasoning, red chili flakes and salt (if needed), mix and allow to cook for 2 mins on low flame.
Finally add in the cooked pasta and bring all the ingredients together.
Garnish with some cheese and little more Italian seasoning. Serve hot with garlic bread.

Radish-Carrot-Methi Parathas

2015-05-28T14:08:00.001+05:30

If you have been following this blog for a while, you would be aware of my love for parathas. I just love putting together different varieties of ingredients together to make simple and wholesome parathas. It is so much easier making parathas than making chapathis and serve-along, as these deliciously flavoursome parathas can simply be paired with curd, raita or just some pickle.

So, in my journey to create more fun varieties of parathas, I stumbled upon this creation. This one has a combination of goodness from carrots, radish and fenugreek leaves. Each one bringing with it some unique flavour and health benefits.

I just shaped them into pretty ovals instead of the usual rounds. Variety is the spice of life, isn't it? so, why not make some fancy shaped parathas? :) These were easy to put together as the core ingredients need very less cooking time and since these are kneaded in along with the flour, the prep time is very short!

Have fun making these and enjoy eating them for breakfast, lunch or dinner! :)

Makes: 6 parathas

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

Wheat Flour - 2 cups
Radish - 1 large
Carrot - 1 large
Onion - 1 medium
Fenugreek Leaves | Methi - ½ cup
Cumin Seeds - ½ tsp
Cumin Powder - ¼ tsp
Chilly Powder - ½ tsp
Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp
Garam Masala - ¼ tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Water - as needed

Method:

Finely slice the onions, grate the carrot and radish.
Heat oil in a pan and toss in the cumin seeds. Once the splatter, add the onions and saute till they turn translucent.
Now add in the grated carrot and radish along with the methi leaves.
Add the chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, garam masala and salt. Stir well to combine all the ingredients.
Allow to cook for a few minutes and then turn off the flame.
Once the mixture cools, take a large mixing bowl, add the wheat flour and the mixture and knead into a dough using water as needed.
I used a hand blender with bread hooks to make the dough and found the process to be so much mess free!
Make lemon sized balls of the dough and roll them out into ovals (you can make simple rounds as well, but some fancy shape is fun right? J )
Roast each rolled out paratha on a griddle and smear a little bit of ghee on each.
Serve with pickle or raita!

Huggy Bear Cookies and Puppy-face Cookies | Shortbread Cookies [Egg-less]

2015-05-05T11:17:00.000+05:30

Baking breads and cakes has become a part of life for me these days. I am happy to have found basic fool-proof recipes for both over which I experiment time and again to create different varieties of bakes. I remember the days (oh, not too long ago!) when I would ogle at blogs that have such gorgeous bakes, and I would wonder when I would join the bandwagon and begin my own baking odyssey.

I am glad that the baking bug didn't take too long to bite me and bite me it did, real hard! I have been on a baking spree since and beware... now am contagious, spreading the baking bug to many more through my Baking Workshops!! J

I have been putting away experimenting baking cookies primarily for the butter that goes in it. But then, a bit of butter makes life better doesn't it?

So, here is a basic egg-less cookie recipe that I loved. The adorable shapes are inspired from Pinterest. Hope you enjoy this post as much as I enjoyed putting it together! J

Ever since I saw the Huggy-Bear cookies on Pinterest a few months back I have been scouting around for a teddy-bear cookie cutter. They were too cute not to be tried out! So, the instant I found a little teddy-bear cookie cuter, I made it mine.

Last week, I finally got some time to try my hands at making these cookies. I looked up a basic cookie recipe that was egg-less. I used the recipe for Shortbread cookies from Sharmi's blog page and created these little guys.

I am my biggest critic when it comes to baking and I rarely rarely give a double thumps up to my bakes at first attempt. But this one is an exception! A sure winner! I could not stop feeling proud of this creation, right from the great taste to the perfect shape of these cookies. They were simply yum and cute!

I just couldn't wipe the happy grin off my face that day and I was like a little kid beaming with glee after learning how to paint a perfect picture! Tee hee hee J

I baked these for my friend's 2-yr-old who simply loved the 'Bow-Bow' cookies and demanded for more, after he demolished the first one I gave him. And seeing the delight this brought to the tiny tot, I baked these again for my 4-yr-old niece and it was a hit once again!

They are easy to put together but look oh-so-pretty! Bake these for your little ones, for gifting friends and relatives, for parties that you host at home, or simply to pamper the kid in yourself! J

Makes: 25 cookies (approx.)

Prep Time: 30 mins

Baking Time: 20 mins

Recipe source for cookie dough: Sharmi's Passions

Ingredients:

Maida | All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
Cooking Butter (unsalted) – ½ cup OR 100 gms
Powdered Sugar – ¼ cup
Vanilla essence – ½ tsp
Salt – a very small pinch (you may even skip this if you want the cookies to be completely sweet)

For cookie decorations:

Teddy Bear Cookie Cutter
Round Cookie Cutter

Choco chips
Almonds
Tooth Pick
Kitchen Knife

Method

Making the Cookie Dough:

Ensure the butter is at room temperature. Take it in a mixing bowl and add in the powdered or icing sugar and vanilla essence.
Beat the butter-sugar mixture into a creamy consistency. This should take about 5 minutes. Initially the butter may seem lumpy, but keep going, eventually you will be able to beat it well.

Now toss in the flour and salt. Using your hand, bring the mixture together into a firm dough ball. You may add in a few drops of milk if needed to bring the dough together.
Keep this dough ball in the refrigerator for a few minutes to allow it to firm up, as the butter may make it sticky and tricky to roll out!

Shaping the Cookies:

Now, let’s prepare the working table and shape our cute little cookies J

Placing a baking sheet and dust a little flour on in it. Keep ready all your items required for shaping and decorating the cookies and a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Take a small portion of the cookie dough and using a rolling pin roll out into a thin disc, of about ¼ inch in thickness. This process needs patience as the cookie dough may stick to you rolling pin initially. Be gentle and roll the dough small portions at a time, to avoid it from sticking to the rolling pin. Show the dough some love and patience and it will cooperate! J
Using the round and teddy shaped cutters, cut out the cookie dough.
Carefully remove the shaped cookies onto a tray, collect the scraps and bind into a ball and repeat the process of rolling out and cutting until you have used up all the dough.

To shape the Huggy Bear cookies, place an almond in the centre of a teddy-shaped cookie, diagonally as shown in the picture.
Gently fold in the hands to make them hug the almond. Careful with this, as the cookie dough may crack. Just press in to keep it in place and hold shape.
Using a toothpick, make eyes and nose. Repeat this for all the teddy cookies.

To shape the Puppy-face cookies, using a kitchen knife make two diagonal cuts on the sides of a round cookie, as shown in the picture. Gently, spread them apart a little.
Use three choco-chips to make eyes and nose. Repeat this for all the round cookies.

Baking the Cookies:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees for 10 mins.
Bake the cookies for 15-20 mins until they turn slightly brown on the sides/top.
Allow them to cool for a few minutes before transferring them, as they would be brittle to touch at this point.

Enjoy these adorable little guys and share them with friends and family, if you can get over their cuteness and have the heart to eat them J

Pizza Rolls

2015-03-16T23:30:00.000+05:30

Its 11:37 pm. Its a work-day night. I had to take a personal day off from work today and am taking a day off tomorrow as well. Things have been hectic on the home front today. It has been a very long tiring day and yet, here I am sitting and typing away on my blog post like I have a blog exam tomorrow!

Blogging is like therapy for me. It calms me down and gives me the much needed recharge I want from a exhausting day. No, not always, not every single tiring day ends up like this. But today is one such day when in the evening all I wanted was for night to fall and to cuddle tight in my bed. But as night approached, I do not want to sleep and relax myself, but find the relaxation in doing what I absolutely love... write, blog and share a snippet of my life through words.

And there are the other extreme kind of days, When I have all day to my disposal. No agenda planned for the day. No chores. No outings. Just a home-idling day and yet, not a thought props up in my head to create a blog post.

Sigh! Let us just leave along the ways this weird mind works :)

I have been meaning to publish this post for over 3 months now. I have no idea why it hasn't seen the light of day until now! I just had the pictures in her and couldn't get myself to type the post!

Anyway, finally here it comes today amidst my chaotic mad day! A fun shaped pizza!

Have you felt like you want to wrap all the goodness of a pizza into a tight hug and make it a roll? :) Here is how you do it!! :)

Makes: 6 rolls
Time (approx):

Prep - 25 mins
Proofing - 60 mins
Shaping - 30 mins
Baking - 30 mins

Ingredients

For the Dough:

Wheat flour - 2 cups
All Purpose Flour - ½ cup
Instant Yeast - 1 tbsp
Sugar - ½ tbsp.
Pizza Seasoning - a pinch
Salt - a pinch
Water - as needed
Olive Oil - as needed

For the Filling:

Pizza Sauce | Tomato Ketchup - as needed
Veggies

You can use any combination of veggies that you like. I used only the two I had in stock at that point: Onions, green capsicum!

Pizza seasoning - as needed,
Red chilli flakes - as needed
Cheese - 2 cubes/1 cup, grated

How to make the dough?

In mildly warm water, add sugar and yeast. Allow to sit for 4-5 minutes. The solution should begin to froth up and bubbles should appear on top.

Mix together APF, Wheat flour, salt, oil, Pizza seasoning, proofed yeast mix. Add extra water or flour as needed to make a firm, yet slightly sticky dough.
Keep this dough in a well-greased bowl, undisturbed for about an hour or hour and a half, covered with a damp cloth or with cling wrap.

How to make the shape the rolls?

After about an hour or hour and a half, the dough which was kept for proofing, would have doubled in quantity.
Punch down the dough and deflate it.
Lightly grease your palms and make even sized dough balls.
Dust your work floor and gently roll out a dough ball into an oval shape.
Smear some pizza sauce over the open face of the rolled out dough.
Spread some chopped vegetables and sprinkle some grated cheese, in the centre of the oval, as shown in the picture.
Sprinkle some seasoning and red chili flakes.
Fold one part of the dough sheet so as to cover the filling.
Now gently but firmly fold the other end of the sheet to envelope over the first fold.
Mildly pinch the ends of the dough after the second fold to ensure the fold doesn't open up while baking.
Using a kitchen knife, cut lines on the top of the shaped roll. Do not cut all the way through, just gentle cuts. This is to ensure the roll holds shape and don't rise out of proportion and also to make it look pretty!
Smear some olive oil on top of the shaped roll.

Preheat the oven to 170C and bake these buns for about 8-12 minutes or until the crust start to get golden brown.
Take them out and lay them over a wire rack to cool. Gently brush olive oil or milk on top to give a gloss and to soften them a little. Repeat for all other portions and keep aside for another 10-15 minutes.

There, now I can go and sleep peacefully. Mind relaxed. Mind happy :)

Good night peeps! :)

Rontas and Thoy | Rice-flour Pooris and Lenthils | Konkani Dish

2015-03-07T18:41:00.001+05:30

One of my favourite dishes while growing up is Rontas and Thoy. This delicious pairing made in food heaven belongs to the Konkani cuisine. Its probably the Konkani counter part of Poori Sagu.

Rontas is a crisp flat bread made of rice flour that is deep fried. And Thoy is a deliciously thick and flavoursome side made of toor dal. The crisp Rontas when dunked into the thick dal, is simply divine!

On my recent visit to my parent's place, I asked my mother to make these for me. It was yum, as usual and I savored every bite :)

Rontas, made of rice flour and is not rolled out like we do pooris and rotis. There is a technique to do this. I haven't tried making this by myself! I wanted to document it and blog the recipe so as to help me as well as you all recreate this magic at home.

So, I asked mum if she would help me with the details and she willingly obliged. She patiently let me click pics as she made the Rontas. So here are some detailed step-wise pics of mum in action making and shaping rontas!

Enjoy the yumminess! :)

Makes: 8-10 Rontas

Ingredients

To Make Rontas

Rice Flour - 1 cup
Water (very warm) - 1 cup
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste

To make Thoy

Toor dal - 1 cup
Green Chillies – 2, slit length wise.
Dry Red Chillies - 2
Hing | Asafoetida - a pinch
Mustard - ½ tsp
Cumin Seeds - ½ tsp
Curry Leaves - few
Coriander Leaves - to garnish
Turmeric Powder - ¼ tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Water - as needed

Method

To Make Rontas:

Making the dough:

Take the rice flour in a mixing bowl and add salt to it.
Now, slowly add in the warm water to the flour little by little and initially mix with a spoon.
Keep mixing and once the temperature is manageable, use your hands to bind the ingredients together.
Add in the oil and firm a firm but not too hard a dough ball.
Keep aside for about 5 minutes.

Shaping the Rontas:

Take a roti rolling pan and another flat, strong vessel (maybe a cutting board). Cover both with plastic sheets and smear oil on their outer surfaces of the plastic sheet. This is to stop the rontas dough from sticking on to the rolling plate.
Make small lemon sized dough balls out of the prepared dough.
Place a lemon sized ball in the centre of the roti rolling pan and using the other plate, press to flatten the dough ball.
Use your hands to further flatten it to ensure the flattened dough isn’t too thick.
Repeat with the remaining dough balls.
Heat oil in a frying pan and fry all the flattened rontas.
Place them in a plate lined with tissue paper to absorb the excess oil.
Serve them hot with a generous helping of delicious thoy! :)

To Make Thoy:

Pressure cook the toor dal until smooth and mushy. For extra spice, you can also add in the slit green chillies while pressure cooking. If you like it moderately spicy, you can add the green chillies later.
Take a deep bottomed pan and add in a tsp of oil.
Toss in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and red chillies. Allow to splatter and then toss in the cooked toor dal, salt, turmeric powder and hing. You can add in slit green chillies now, if you haven’t added it while pressure cooking the dal.
Add a little water to the dal and allow to simmer on medium flame for 5-7 minutes.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with hot rontas! :)

Strawberry Choco-chip Vanilla Muffins [Egg-less]

2015-02-14T00:21:00.000+05:30

Strawberries are such happy fruits! Don't they just make you smile every time you look at them? Vibrant, fresh and oh-so-pretty!

I love their colour and how they make everything they are added into look beautiful!

The markets are so full of strawberries right now and I have been enjoying this delicious fruit generously. After making smoothies and some gelato, I ventured onto making some muffins.

I used my tried and trusted egg-less Vanilla Cake recipe and made these muffins. Strawberries inside as well as on top made my simple muffins look elegant and those little chunks of choco-chips only made them prettier :)

I loved this little mid-week baking experiment and was mighty pleased to have treated my colleagues to some of these beauties :)

Grab those strawberries before they go out of season and make these adorable muffins soon, you guys!

Happy Baking! :)

Makes: 10 muffins.

Ingredients
All purpose flour/Maida - 1.5 cups
Thick Curd/Yogurt - 1 cup
Strawberries – 8
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1 and 1/4 tsp
Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Choco Chips - 1 tbsp

Method

Pre-heat Microwave (in convection mode) to 170 deg C.
Dice some of the strawberries into small pieces, while leave some to use as toppings.
In a mixing bowl, beat the yogurt and ensure all lumps are removed. Add in the sugar and mix well.
Add baking powder and baking soda to this mixture and mix well.
Set aside this mixture for 5 mins until small bubbles appear on the surface.
Add vanilla extract and oil to this mixture and mix all the ingredients well.
Add the flour in parts and gently fold in the batter.
Mix well, until no more dry flour is seen.
Add in the choco-chips and the finely chopped strawberries and mix well.
Place cupcake-liners in a muffin tray and pour in little batter into each, up to about 3/4th full. Place a strawberry slice on top of each muffin and toss in some more choco-chips.
Bake for 10 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Allow the muffins to cool for a while and then serve them with love! :)

These muffins store well for 2 days in room temperature and up to 4-5 days in a refrigerator. Mildly heat them before serving. Warm muffins are little servings of happiness!! :)

Strawberry Banana Gelato

2015-01-26T15:38:00.000+05:30

Ever since I whipped up the super simple and absolutely delicious Mango Banana gelato, I have been meaning to try making gelato with a variety of different combinations of fruits.

I was indecisive as to the fruits I wanted to use in my next gelato experiment. But finally got down to it last month and created this super yummy dessert - Strawberry Banana Gelato!

Making gelato is very simple. It is just frozen fruits, yogurt and sugar if you like. I skipped any additional sweetener as my fruits were already sweet.

I love strawberries. They are succulent, tasty and pretty! The markets are full of strawberries these days. So, when I picked up a box of these beauties, I got right down into chopping and freezing a few to make my gelato!

Oh, the colour they impart to the gelato is gorgeous! I had to almost tie my hands up to stop myself from licking the gelato mixture that I just blended, and which I was yet to shove into the freezer.

Well, well, well... I bet you will have to do the same. Try it and tell me you didn't! :P

Ingredients
Strawberry - 4-5, ripe
Banana - 2, ripe
Yogurt - 1 cup, (use hung curd if you have, else regular yogurt of thick consistency will do)

Method

Cut the slice the strawberries and banana into small pieces and store them away in separate freezer-proof boxes. Freeze them in the deep freezer for 3-4 hours.
At the end of 3-4 hours, take yogurt in a blender, toss in the frozen strawberries and banana pieces and blend into a smooth pulp.
Store away this pulp into a freezer-proof container and deep freeze for 3-4 hours.
Scoop out the gelato into a bowl and enjoy the yumminess!

Colour-splash Parathas!

2015-01-14T19:08:00.001+05:30

I love being organised. I always have to have a plan in my head to get going. Chaos makes me dysfunctional. I like to be prepared and hate being caught by surprise. This applies to everyday chores too. I like to schedule a mental checklist and timeline for every chore and go by my plan. That helps me get things done.

And for busy work days, I plan up things over the holidays. Making chapathi dough, chopping some vegetables, grating coconut over the weekend, and stocking up the fridge with these essential for at least the first few work days makes it easier for me to get through the hectic weekdays.

So, the last weekend I had made two types of doughs. One to make Methi Parathas and another to make Beetroot Alu Parathas. As planned I made the two parathas one on Monday and the other on Tuesday.

Recently the husband has also started taking lunch to work. I find it quite interesting to pack lunch for someone. The early morning scrambling to pack up our lunch boxes, making sure everything is neatly packed and then seasoning it with love :) Then later in the day await the feedback and check if he enjoyed his meal. It is satisfying.

I was particularly curious on what his reaction would be after the second day's pretty pink parathas! :D He actually liked it! Since there was some more dough left of both, I asked him what coloured paratha he preferred for the third day of the week? He jokingly replied, both combined!

Well well well... you should never joke about food with a food blogger! :P This morning, much to his surprise, this is what he woke up to!! Haha! It was so much fun creating these :D

Are they not a pretty sight?!! :) They were quite an attraction at my work place too :)

Ingredients:

Beetroot Alu Paratha dough

Methi Paratha dough

Note: You can make this with any two types of parathas like spinach, pumpkin, carrot or any other kind you fancy!

Method:

Take a small portion of each dough, about half the size of a lemon. Combined they should be the size of a lemon.
Hold them together and form a lemon sized ball.
Roll them out like you would a regular chapathi.
Roast over a griddle and slather on some ghee if you like.
Enjoy the colourful parathas! :)

Oats-crusted Veggie Tikkis | Oats-wala Hara Bhara Kabab

2015-01-12T23:00:00.000+05:30

It was a productive Sunday at home. I got a lot of things ready for the upcoming week. Made two types of wheat dough... for making Methi Paratha and Beetroot and Potato Paratha, cut some veggies and made a dosa batter. All stacked in the fridge and ready for the busy work days ahead.

While I was at it, I put on some potatoes to pressure cook as the sudden craving to munch on tikkis struck! I had not really planned on what type of tikki I was making, but yeah tikki it was for dinner :)

I had a lovely bunch of spinach and one too many carrots. So, I decided they should go into the tikkis too. I pressure cooked the carrots too and blanched and pureed the spinach. That was when I recollected an interesting post that my sister-in-law had posted here of a super yummy looking Hara Bhara Kabab recipe.

Following a bit of the recipe and a bit of my instincts, I created the dough which because of the tad bit of extra water I had added to make the spinach puree turned out to be a little too sticky! Now, the genius of genius ideas (at least in my kitchen!) comes in crisis situations... like this one! So, to make the batter a bit more pliable and less sticky, I tossed in some oats! Yes, oats!! Now, that really served the purpose and my dough was as good as ever.

But the experiment didn't stop there :) I further played around with the oats and used it to crust my tikkis and oh-good-gracious-me it added such a magical touch to the tikkis, if I may say so myself, the tikkis were real good and I was thrilled to bits!

The crunch they rendered to the tikkis took it to an all new level and the inside was just perfect and soft. We teamed the tikkis with some burger buns and made simple burgers with mayo and ketchup seasoning along with some tomato soup. That was our Sunday dinner :)

Try this simple recipe and you would love how such a humble ingredient such as oats can elevate a dish so beautifully. And you will absolutely feel good about munching on a tasty snack, while enjoying the health goodness of oats.

Makes: 12 tikkis

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cooking Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Potato - 4 large
Carrot - 2 medium
Spinach - 1 cup
Mint leaves - ¼ cup
Green Chillies - 2
Red Chilli Powder - ½ tsp
Ginge-Garlic paste – ¼ tsp
Cornflour - 2-3 tbsp
Oats - ½ cup + little more (to coat the crust)
Salt - to taste
Water – 2 cups
Oil - 2-3 tbsp

Method

Peel the carrots. Pressure cook potatoes and carrot separately.
Allow to cook for about 5-6 whistled. Cool and peel potatoes.
In a mixing bowl, mash the potatoes and carrots.
Meanwhile, blanch spinach in a pan of water.
Allow to cool and then blend along with mint, green chillies, salt, ginger-garlic paste and a little water.
Add the puree into the potato-carrot mash.
Toss in the oats as well (keep aside 1 tbsp to using as coating later) and a tsp of cornflour.
Make a dough ball and keep in fridge for about an hour to firm up (you can use it immediately, if you do not have the time.)
Take some cornflour in a plate and the remaining oats in another plate.
Make small lemon-sized balls of the tikka dough and gently flatten in between your palms. Place these on a mildly greased plate. Store in the fridge for half an hour to firm up (again, you can use it immediately, if you do not have the time.)
When ready to fry, take a pan and pour on some oil.
Dip each flattened tikki in cornflour to coat evenly on both sides and then dab it in the oats such that the oats stick on to both the sides of the tikki.
Place the tikkis in the hot pan of oil and shallow fry. Turnover and fry the other side as well, until both sides are crispy brown.
Place the fried tikkis on a tissue paper-lined plate and serve hot as is, with ketchup, as a burger filling or any other way that you fancy!