Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen

Food for the crowd - Appetizers

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Thu, 14 May 2015 01:40:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered the role of appetizer in a course of meal?
Appetizer -

noun

noun: appetizer; plural noun: appetizers; noun: appetiser; plural noun: appetisers

a small dish of food or a drink taken before a meal or the main course of a meal to stimulate one's appetite.

Do we actually stick to this definition? Definitely not. If you ask me, the heaviest part of the meal calorie wise are desserts and appetizers. Not even the main course. I am talking about a regular Indian party food. I haven't been to other cuisines' elaborate meals, so can't talk about that.

The moment people talk about food in an Indian's party, discussion goes to different courses of the meal. What was for dessert? How many starters did they have? Roti or Naan? North Indian or South Indian? it goes on and on. Also, most of the people think a party isn't complete without having samosas or pakodas. Being a foody, I hate to see those two items in any party. And having cooked for big crowds so many times, I tell you the hardest course of the meal to prepare for a crowd is appetizer. If you stick to these deep fried staples that is.

So, how would you tackle the appetizer issue when cooking for a crowd?

1. Choose something very simple. It need not be an elaborate, deep fried food. Think of what you can make a day in advance and serve without losing the taste, flavor.

2. If you do want to serve some deep fried dish, make it few days in advance, cool and freeze. Day of the party, re fry them after thawing for few seconds. (Have you ever wondered how you can order different deep fried food in a restaurant and it comes to your table within 20 minutes? this is how)

3. Pick a chaat as appetizer. Buy most of the things made and mix with fresh cut veggies or make it yourself a week before. Bhel puri, Pani puri, Sev puri are all doable this way.

4. Try serving a light salad.

5. Make two or three kinds of dip, salsa with corn chips or pita chips.

6. Make a light soup. Serve with bread croutons.

7. Make the samosa filling and use phyllo sheets to cover them. Freeze and the day of the party, bake.

8. Buy already made frozen appetizers and heat in the oven.

9. Even though sandwiches are kind of main course, make a nice chutney as the base, top the bread with the chutney, then with thinly sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and top it with either cheese and bread or just plain bread. Cut these into tiny triangles and add a toothpick to hold them together. These make great appetizers too.

10. Make steamed appetizers like dhokla or idlis. If making idlis, make them in a big pan and cut them into tiny pieces. Sprinkle some kind of spice powder like chutney powder or idli molagai powder mixed with some oil. Serve.

Tips like these can go on and on. If any of you have any tips or ideas, please chime in.

Enjoy.

Nutty Doodh Peda / Nutty milk fudge

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Sat, 02 May 2015 19:40:00 +0000

If you google microwave doodh peda, you will get many hits. Most of them use milk powder, butter, condensed milk. When I made it for the first time some time back, I had added shredded coconut to it for a change and I liked it very much. Recently, I ate a burfi in someone's place. People ask me to guess what it is and when I said milk peda, the host said I am wrong and it is badam burfi. I couldn't believe it so asked her the recipe. What she told was the recipe of microwave doodh peda but with almonds added. I added cashews for a change. My whole family loved it. This is an easy recipe, so you can make it in a jiffy. But beware, this is addictive. Since it is one of those sweets which is not sickeningly sweet, it is hard to stop eating it.

Ingredients:
Condensed milk - 1 can (You could use low fat or fat free)
Non fat dry milk powder - 2 cups
1 cup of nuts toasted, powdered - I used cashews here. Use nuts of your choice
Butter - 1 stick or 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Saffron - few strands (optional)

Method:
Take a deep microwavable bowl. Melt butter in it. Take the toasted, cooled nuts in a blender jar.
Add dry milk powder to it and pulse. It need not be a fine powder. Coarse powder adds a texture to the end product. Go ahead and powder it fine if that is how you like it. Add the condensed milk to the melted butter and dump all the dry mix to it. Mix well and microwave for 5 minutes at 1 minute intervals. (My microwave is not a very powerful one, stop microwaving when you see color change in the mixture. It took 5 minutes in mine, but might be more or less in yours.) Stir between each interval. Add powdered cardamom, saffron if using and mix well. Let it cool for 10 minutes.

To shape:
Either you can grease your hands with some ghee and shape into pedas. I used the easier method of pouring into a 8" square pan lined with wax paper. Smooth and let it set for about 30 minutes before cutting. It actually becomes easier to cut if you put it in the refrigerator for some time. Either make them into squares or use cookie cutters to get pretty shapes. Keep it refrigerated.

Enjoy.

Catering food - Dos and Don'ts

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Fri, 01 May 2015 12:47:00 +0000

I have been living in U.S for 16 years now. Used to throw a lot of parties. I have never catered food from anyone till today. Some people might think it is because of the number of people. I have a record of cooking an elaborate meal for 80 people all by myself. So, number is not the issue, just my preference. When I say this, I have nothing against getting food from outside. But, having eaten catered food at lot of places has taught me few things about catered food. I am sharing those tips in case it helps anyone in planning their parties.

Dos and Don'ts in a nutshell:

1. Know what to expect. If you are getting food from a restaurant, make sure you have tasted your dishes. It might not be possible to taste all the dishes if you are getting from someone working from home. Rely on word of mouth.

2. Order as per the season. Avoid ordering food that goes bad very easily. It is best to avoid things that have coconut, mashed vegetables in hot weather.

3. Calculate the distance from where the food is coming. Food goes bad as early as 4 hours from the time it was made. If you plan to pick up the food a bit early, plan on refrigerating. Caterer starts cooking food at a certain time based on your time of pick up. Don't try to rush him/her and end up having to deal with the worry of food going bad.

4. Unless it is for a traditional, religious event, try mixing and matching types of food. Be creative.

5. Even though you are getting food catered, make something yourself. Something that is your signature dish and liked by all. There should always be a personal touch.

6. Don't order from a person just because they are cheaper. It definitely doesn't mean that more the price, better the quality. You need to know what is good and be willing to pay the price if it is good.

7. Set aside a budget. Stick to it. No need to get extravagant food and not enough of it. It is better to serve simple, well made food rather than serve exotic food that nobody wants to eat.

8. Make sure you as a host taste everything before you put it on the table for others. I have seen food having gone bad too many times and it is not nice to your guest to eat that and realize it has gone bad.

9. People enjoy food more when there aren't too many varieties. I lose all my appetite if I see arrays of trays. See if that makes sense to you.

10. When you get food delivered, if it comes in a warm box, make sure you remove the food trays and keep it in an airy room. Basement is actually the best place to keep the food in case there is time before serving. If the weather is warm, run your air conditioner or at least a fan.

11. It is always best to label your food. Lot of times, people won't know what it is and it helps if there is a label.

12. If possible, introduce a food that you have liked but is not known to most of your guests. It makes a nice topic of conversation while filling the plates.

Another tip not related to food.....

If the party is at home, trash pickup needs to be paid attention to also. With disposable plates and people not reusing the cups, plates, it gets full in no time. It helps to bring in the huge trash container inside if you can find bags to fit them with. What I do is line a collapsible laundry basket with multiple huge trash bags. Once it is full, just take out the top bag and tie it. It makes it very easy instead of looking for a bag and lining when the bag is full and there are people waiting to throw their plates.

If anyone benefits from this article, it was well worth of the time taken to write.

Have a nice weekend.

Super Heroes' Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 20:26:00 +0000

"An apple a day keeps doctor away, A hobby a life keeps Psychiatrist away"
First part is a known saying, second part is added by me. It has been a long time since I wrote a blog post. You see, if there are people who lack any hobby (example my husband), I am one of those who have too many hobbies. Juggling life with hobbies becomes challenging and it is more difficult if one hops from one hobby to another like I do.

Coming to the point of this post, even though I have been super busy with life, hobbies, I did find some time to decorate this cake for my friend's son's birthday. Nowadays, I tell people to get the plain cake from the bakery and I just do the decorating since it is not as time consuming. Birthday boy has a collection of super hero figurines and he wanted them on his cake. Since I have two girls, I know nothing about these super heroes but put together something that the kid suggested and my kids told some stories about. Birthday boy wanted iron man to fly and I faked it by building a rice crispy mountain and leaning iron man on top of a Popsicle stick.

Spider man looks like he is shooting the web. The stick is a spaghetti on which I piped some black icing. This was done when I was surrounded by 15 kids talking simultaneously at the party hall. It is one of the simplest cakes I have ever decorated but the birthday boy was happy. That's all it matters, right?

Enjoy.

Silicone Baking cups - a product review

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 02:59:00 +0000

A baker can get away without investing in fancy tools but cannot do without good baking pans. Any hobby baker or an obsessive baker will have many pans and cannot resist trying out new pans. I belong to such a category of bakers. You name the shape and size of the baking pan, I probably have it. When Rizzi from 'The New York Baking Company' contacted me to try their silicone baking cups and write a review on the product, I couldn't say no. Could I?

First of all, these are so cool to look at. Compact to store compared to the regular muffin or cupcake pans which take up quite a bit of space. Since these are silicone cups, you don't have to worry about the cupcake or the muffin sticking to the pan. And since they are not rigid, you can fit a lot of them on a cookie sheet and bake two batches on the same rack thereby avoiding the rotating the pan work.

I baked some chocolate walnut muffins and did not even grease the cups. I should have at least misted them with vegetable oil spray since a little crumbs did stick to the pan. But it could be just because the recipe was a low fat one and quite wet batter was used. Other than that, these worked great. These are dish washer safe, oven safe to 425 F, BPA free.

Since we don't have to line them with paper liners, it is a good way of going green. But, wash them in warm soapy water couple of times before using them for the first time.

Those of you who are interested in purchasing or knowing more about this product can check it out at silicone baking cups.

Product Name: Silicone Baking Cups

Brand: The New York Baking Company

RRP: $8.95

Material: BPA free silicone

Disclaimer: Product was given to use and write an honest review. I have not been compensated for writing this review.

Vanilla Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 03:01:00 +0000

This is one of those recipes which can be tweaked into different flavors by changing the additives. I was planning to make it a mango muffin but when I went to chop the mangoes, I found it was spoiled from inside and I had to throw it out. This made good snack for the kids and is pretty easy to make too. Pictures are really bad since it has been raining like crazy for the past 2 days here with no sun light whatsoever.

One Year Back - Honey Rolls / Buns
Two Years Back - Lemon Coconut Bread, Vanilla Cake using Homemade mix
Three Years Back - Dry Fruit Yeast Bread/Cake
Four Years Back - Coconut Almond Cookies
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 2 3/4 cups
Baking Powder - 1 TBSP
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Brown Sugar - 1/3 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/3 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Milk - 3/4 cup
Vanilla - 1 TBSP
Optional - 1 cup of dried fruits or chopped fresh fruit or chocolate chips or nuts.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners or grease the cups. In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, both the sugars. Stir in vanilla. Start adding the dry mixture to wet alternating with milk starting and ending with dry mixture. This batter is very very thick. Divide between the cups and bake for 20 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. These muffins almost look dry on the top but are very moist. Cool on the wire rack.

Enjoy.

Apple Pie Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 01:50:00 +0000

I have made apple pie only once in my life. I do know how to make it but never make it since I am not fond of it. Do you know the reason for me not liking it? It is because almost all the time, filling separates from the crust while eating and for some reason, I don't like the feel of just the filling or just the crust. So, I incorporated the apple pie filling into the applesauce bread and called it Apple Pie Bread. Cool right?

One Year Back - Pumpkin Pecan Bread
Two Years Back - Sweet and Spicy Almonds, Lemon Coconut Bread
Three Years Back - Holiday Gift Ideas
Four Years Back - Eggless Pecan Pie Bars
Adapted from a banana bread recipe from the book - The Sweet Melissa Baking Book
Ingredients: Makes one 9 X 5 loaf or 4 mini loaves
For the apple pieces:
Unsalted butter - 2 TBSP
Brown Sugar - 3 TBSP packed
Granny Smith or baking apples - 2 cored and chopped into 1/2 - 3/4 inch cubes
Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp

For the bread batter:
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Ground Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
Ginger - 1/4 tsp
Cloves - 1/4 tsp
Nutmeg - a pinch
All Spice - a pinch
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/3 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Sugar - 1 cup
Orange juice or water or milk - 1/4 cup
Applesauce - 1 1/2 cups

Method:
Apples:
Heat butter in a skillet. Add chopped apple pieces, brown sugar, cinnamon and stir. Let them cook for about 5 minutes or bit soft. Turn off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.

Making the bread:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper (recommended) or grease and flour. In a bowl, whisk together flour, spices, salt. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, sugar till eggs are beaten and have mixed well with sugar and oil. Stir in applesauce. Now add the dry mixture alternating with orange juice or milk. When no streaks of flour can be found, add the cooked apple mixture. Stir. This is quite a wet batter. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes or till done in case of a large loaf pan or 40 - 45 minutes in case of mini loaf pans. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn on to the wire rack very carefully to cool completely. I baked them into mini loaves.

Enjoy.

Almond Biscotti

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 20:33:00 +0000

I feel like I am writing a blog post after ages. I have been really busy and my newest obsession of puzzles is not helping the blog either. I was approached by several blogger friends who wanted to know if I would be posting baking recipes this month for my Bake-A-Thon. To be honest, I was afraid to even commit but thought it would be nice to get back into blogging. Here is the first recipe of the season for this year. These biscottis are crumbly, delicious and addictive.

One Year Back - Pumpkin Granola
Two Years Back - Cranberry Corn Muffins
Three Years Back - Holiday Gift Ideas
Four Years Back - Cake Decorating Basics - II
Adapted from - Bon Appetit magazine
This gives 3 dozen biscottis that are 5" long.
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 3 1/4 cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Oil - 2/3 cup
Eggs - 3 large
Baking powder - 1 TBSP
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Almond extract - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla extract - 2 tsp
Almonds - 1 cup lightly toasted and chopped.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder. In another bowl, beat eggs with sugar till thick (about 2 minutes). Add oil and beat few more times. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Dump the dry ingredients to wet and mix well. This is a sticky dough. Stir in chopped almonds. Divide the dough into two parts and shape each half into a log of 15" X 3". It should be about 1/2" thick. You can wet your hands and shake off excess water to help shape it. Leave at least 3" between the logs. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 F. When the logs are cooled, transfer them on to the cutting board and slice them 1/2" - 3/4" wide slices. Transfer them back on to the baking sheet placing them on their back and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the pan in between. Cool completely and store in an air tight container for 2 weeks.

Enjoy.

Bread Machine White Bread - Version 3 (with egg)

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 00:36:00 +0000

Bread is a staple once the school starts. It saves lot of time in the morning in getting lunch ready and it is their favorite anyway. Most of the time my kids take sandwich for lunch and that means I need a good loaf of bread for the week. Here is another version of a white bread that I baked. I baked it in a pull man loaf and that is why the shape is different. Not everyone has a pull man loaf pan so I have given instructions for baking in a regular pan.

One Year Back - Vegan Navratna Kurma
Two Years Back - Sweet Couscous and Apple Salad
Three Years Back - Sweet Milk Rolls/Buns
Ingredients: Makes Two 8 X 4 loaves.
All purpose flour or bread flour - 5 - 5 1/2 cups (Start with 5 cups)
Warm Water - 1 3/4 cups
Egg - 1 large
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Dry milk powder - 1/4 cup
Oil - 6 TBSP
Sugar - 4 TBSP
Active dry yeast - 2 1/2 tsp

Method:
Place oil, salt, sugar, egg, water, milk powder, flour and yeast in this order in the pan of the breadmachine and start on dough setting. When the bread machine has been running for about 10 minutes, see if the dough is nice and smooth. It should be a bit tacky (when you press the dough, it should stick to the finger but peel off neatly) but not sticky. If it is sticky, add more flour a TBSP at a time until you get a nice and pliable dough. Once the first kneading cycle finishes (most machines beep), remove the dough to an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise till double, about an hour. Punch down and shape into two loaves. Place in greased 8 X 4 pan and cover and let rise for the final time, about 35 - 40 minutes. Towards the end of the wait time, preheat the oven to 350 F. If desired, you can give an egg wash to get a dark crust or brush with milk. I did neither since I was using a pull man loaf pan. Bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until golden on the top and sounds hollow when the bottom is tapped. Cool on the rack and slice when completely cool. Brush the loaf with melted butter or oil after taking out of the pan.

If you want to make it by hand, refer to this post for the method: Basic White Bread.

Pumpkin Challah Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 01:34:00 +0000

I don't know what my obsession with bread baking is. I never get tired of baking yeast breads. If I can find more people to eat the bread I bake, I probably will bake more often. Here is an experiment of pumpkin challah. I tried one of the challah recipes and incorporated pumpkin puree into it. If you are an orange lover, add a TBSP of zest, use orange juice instead of water to make it a perfect autumn bread.

One Year Back - Pumpkin Chocolate chip bread
Two Years Back - Vegan Sourdough Chocolate Cake with peanut butter glaze
Three Years Back - Sourdough Pumpkin Spice Cake
Ingredients: Makes two 8 X 4 loaves or two braids.
All purpose flour - 5 cups
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Active dry yeast - 2 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/3 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Pumpkin puree - 1/2 cup (measured in dry measuring cup)
Warm Water - 1/2 cup
Sweetened dried cranberries - 1 cup (optional)

Egg Wash:
1 egg mixed with 1 TBSP of water. (You will have left over egg wash)

Method:
Place oil, salt, sugar, water, eggs, pumpkin puree,flour and yeast in this order in the pan of the breadmachine and start on dough setting. When the machine beeps, add the dried cranberries if using. Let it complete the dough cycle. This dough doesn't rise much. When the dough cycle is complete, punch down the dough and divide into two parts. Either make braids dividing each part into three and braiding or shape into a loaf. Place in greased 8 X 4 pan if baking as loaves. You can keep the braids on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes. It will not become double in size. Take care not to let it rise too much. If that happens, it will collapse after baking in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Before placing the loaves in the oven, brush with egg wash. Bake for 25 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 325. Continue to bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown on the top and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Brush the loaf with melted butter or oil after taking out of the pan if desired. Cool completely before slicing.
If you want to make it by hand, refer to this post for the method for making the dough: Basic White Bread.

This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli and Vaishali.

Buttermilk Brownie Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Just because a recipe comes out of a published cookbook/baking book doesn't mean it will make what it advertises for. I had such an experience with this recipe. I won't mention the book name just because I have baked few things from that book and they turned out great every time. So, I will give it a benefit of doubt that it was a mistake in printing.

I have been baking for 15 years now. Very actively after I had kids, about 7+ years. I might not be an expert in baking but very very rarely things don't turn out the way they should when I bake. Because of this vast experience in 'baking', I can make out if something is not correct before it goes into the oven. When I mixed the batter for these muffins, I knew instantly that it will not work. I added more flour to fix it and it turned out perfect. If, I had baked as suggested in the recipe, it would've been a disaster. These are a bit sweeter than regular muffins but the name itself suggests that and I was alright using that much sugar. You can cut it down to 3/4 cup if you don't want a sweeter muffin.

One Year Back - Vegan Navaratna Kurma
Two Years Back - Sweet Couscous and Apple Salad
Three Years Back - Sweet Milk Rolls/Buns

Ingredients:
Oil - 1/3 cup
Water - 2/3 cup
Buttermilk - 2/3 cup
Unsweetened Cocoa - 1/4 cup
All purpose flour - 2 1/3 cups
Sugar - 1 1/3 cups
Baking Soda - 3/4 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Egg - 1 large
Vanilla - 1 tsp

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line muffin cups with paper liners. This recipe should give 14 regular sized muffins. In a bowl, whisk together salt, baking soda, all purpose flour. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, cocoa, egg until cocoa is mixed well with egg and oil. Add water and buttermilk to it and mix. Stir in vanilla. Dump the dry ingredients to this and whisk gently to mix. Pour into the prepared pan. It gets filled more than 3/4 th of the muffin cup. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on the wire rack for 5 minutes in the pan and then remove to cool completely on the wire rack.

Enjoy.

Pumpkin Chocolate Bars

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 01:31:00 +0000

My favorite time of the year has started. Autumn is my favorite time of the year. Even when the falling leaves leave the trees bare and the ground gets covered with dry leaves, it has its own beauty. Don't you think? And what other way to celebrate the start of the season by baking these pumpkin bars? For a foodie, it is perfect. These are soft cookie kind of bars but are a bit cakey. The original recipe was for the cookies with butter and different method of mixing and baking. I simplified the recipe and made them into a pan cookie recipe. However it was made, it turned out delicious.

One Year Back - Vegan Navaratna Kurma
Two Years Back - Sweet Couscous and Apple Salad
Three Years Back - Sweet Milk Rolls/BunsAdapted widely from the book 'the complete baking cookbook' by George Geary
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 2 1/2 cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Egg - 1 large
Oil - 1/2 cup
Pumpkin puree - 1 cup (store bought or home made)
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks - 1 cup
Optional - 1 cup nuts like walnuts or pecans (I didn't add any)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a 13 X 9 pan with vegetable oil spray. Set aside. In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder. In another bowl, whisk together oil, egg, sugar, pumpkin puree. Stir in vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients to wet and mix gently. Mix till there are no streaks of dry flour left. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts (if using). Dump the contents to the pan and smooth with a spatula. Bake for 28 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on the wire rack in the pan. Slice when completely cool.
This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli and Vaishali.
Enjoy.

Aloo Methi Bhath (Potato fenugreek rice dish)

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 01:05:00 +0000

Inspiration can come from anywhere - source unknown.
I don't know where I had read this line but it is so true. I was familiar with the dish Aloo Methi (Potato and fenugreek leaves side dish), I was familiar with aloo paratha, methi paratha. I had no idea that people make aloo methi paratha as a different dish altogether. I was watching a show and in that they serve aloo methi paratha for breakfast. The moment I saw that, this idea came and since I had the main ingredients on hand, I converted it as a rice dish. I might not know rocket science but I can make rice out of anything and everything that is vegetarian. This was delicious. The bunch of fenugreek leaves I used was small. Unless it is huge, you can actually use two bunches to enhance the flavor of methi or fenugreek.

One Year Back - Pumpkin Chocolate Bread
Two Years Back - Vegan Sourdough Chocolate Cake with peanut butter glaze
Three Years Back - Sourdough Pumpkin Spice CakeIngredients:
Rice - 1 1/2 cups
Potatoes - 2 medium sliced into long thin slices (like french fries cut)
Red Onion - 2 medium sliced thin
Fenugreek leaves - 1 bunch cleaned and leaf and tender stem chopped (Or you could use any other greens of your choice)
Oil - 3 TBSP
Ginger - 1" piece peeled and grated
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Cashews - 3 TBSP
Salt - to taste
Red Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp (Or to taste)
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Amchoor powder / Dry mango powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - a generous pinch
Sugar - 1 TBSP

Method:
Wash and rinse the rice. Cook and cool. Fluff with a fork to separate the grains and spread it on a plate. In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add cumin seeds. When they splutter, add ginger followed by cashews. When the cashews turn a little golden, add onions. Sprinkle some salt, turmeric and let it cook. When onions are almost cooked, add potatoes and mix well. Cover a lid and let the potatoes cook till soft but not mushy (5 - 8 minutes based on your pan and how big you have cut them). Keep an eye on it since they will they stick to the pan and burn easily. When potatoes are tender, add the fenugreek leaves. Mix well. Now, add the red chilli powder, sugar, cumin powder, amchoor powder and give it another mix. Greens should cook in less than 5 minutes. When they have wilted, add the cooled rice and mix well. Check for salt and adjust if needed. Cover with a lid and lower the flame to the lowest and let it sit untouched for 4 - 5 minutes. Turn off the heat. Serve as is or with a bowl of yogurt.

Enjoy.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread (Bread Machine recipe)

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 22:13:00 +0000

Sunday morning, after we got done with breakfast, my kids asked me if I had time to take them shopping. Their shopping is mostly for junk that I try to postpone till the end or try to talk them out of buying it. Obviously the answer was "No" and my younger one asked why I didn't have any time for going to Wal-mart for buying fake baby food for her doll. I went on giving the list of chores I had to do that day and one of them was bake bread for sandwiches for the week. She immediately said "Mommy, you can take that out of the list of chores. We can buy bread when we go shopping". Smart, isn't she? But she is stuck with a stubborn mommy who wants to bake bread herself. Whose mistake is that?

One Year Back - Pumpkin Chocolate Bread
Two Years Back - Vegan Sourdough Chocolate Cake with peanut butter glaze
Three Years Back - Sourdough Pumpkin Spice Cake
Ingredients: (Adapted from Breadman Pro Breadmachine manual)
Whole Wheat flour - 3 3/4 cups
Vital Wheat gluten - 1/4 cup
Salt - 2 tsp
Baking Soda - 3/4 tsp
Active dry yeast - 2 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1/4 cup
Honey - 1/4 cup
Warm Buttermilk - 1 1/2 cup (1/2 cup yogurt topped with water to get 1 1/2 cups works too)

Method:
Place oil, salt, honey, buttermilk, whole wheat flour, vital wheat gluten, baking soda and yeast in this order in the pan of the breadmachine and start on dough setting. If you want to bake it in the bread machine, select whole wheat cycle. If using the dough setting, remove from the machine after the cycle completes, shape into a loaf and place in a greased 9 X 5 pan. Let it rise for 45 minutes to an hour. Preheat the oven to 375 F and bake for 40 - 50 minutes or until brown on the top and sounds hollow when tapped at the bottom. Brush with melted butter or oil on the top after baking. Cool completely on the rack before slicing.

If you want to make it by hand, refer to this post for the method: Basic White Bread.
This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli and Vaishali.

Whole Wheat Banana Aebleskiver / Gundu Pongal / Paniyaram

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 01:18:00 +0000

Now that the school has started, dilemma of what to pack for lunch has become a routine. It is very easy if I have bread on hand. It can be turned into some kind of sandwich even if there isn't lot of time. But since I have decided not to buy bread, that means I have to keep baking bread twice a week so that we have bread on hand or come up with something else that kids would eat. Today was one such day where there was no bread and not too much time. I packed these as lunch since they are not that sweet. I thought they taste less sweeter than the nutella sandwich that my kids love.

One Year Back - Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
Two Years Back - Vegan Sourdough Chocolate Cake with peanut butter glaze
Three Years Back - Sourdough Pumpkin Spice Cake
Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Flour -1 cup
Fine Soji / Semolina - 1/2 cup (See Notes)
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1 cup (Use almond milk for vegan version)
Banana - 1 large ripe
Water - 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup (depending on how large the banana is and how much water the wheat flour absorbs)
Cardamom - 4 pods crushed into powder (You could use cinnamon instead)
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp
Oil - for cooking

Method:
Mix the flour, soji, sugar in a bowl. Add the mashed banana along with milk to make a batter. Slowly start adding part of water and mix gently. It should be like a pancake batter, easily scoopable but does run down. Set it aside for 10 minutes. Flour will have absorbed some liquid. Add the remaining water to make the correct consistency batter. Add baking soda and cardamom powder and mix gently.

Heat the Aebleskiver pan / Pancake puff pan and add at least 1/4 tsp of oil to every cup. You might have to use a bit more if your pan is not a non-stick one. Pour the batter and cover with a lid. When you start seeing the steam and the top of the batter has crusted at the edges, gently flip and let the other side cook. Remove and serve with a glass of milk or if more sweetness is desired, with some maple syrup.
This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli and Vaishali.

Notes:
If you cannot get soji, you could use fine ground cornmeal or even quick oats.

Enjoy.

Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 18:53:00 +0000

This is another set of cupcakes I baked for my neighbor. They make very light and fluffy cupcakes. It was a big hit among the crowd who ate these.

One Year Back - Anise Biscotti
Two Years Back - Healthiest Pie Crust
Three Years Back - Yam Zucchini Curry
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/3 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Buttermilk - 2/3 cup (Or use 1/2 cup thick yogurt and top it with water to reach 2/3 cup and mix)
Vanilla - 2 tsp

Method:
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a 12 muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside. In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. In a larger bowl, beat eggs, oil, sugar till thick and creamy. Stir in vanilla. Add dry mixture to the egg and sugar mixture alternating with buttermilk starting and ending with dry mixture. Whisk gently. This is a thin batter. Divide the batter among the cups and place in the oven. Immediately after closing the oven door, reduce the temperature to 350 F (325 in case of non stick or dark pan). Bake for 20 - 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove to the wire rack to cool completely. Serve as is or frost with your favorite frosting.

Enjoy.

Chocolate Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 01:29:00 +0000

One of my blogger friends suggested my blog to her friend/reader when the recipe for chocolate cake was requested. Funny thing is that person got overwhelmed by so many chocolate cake recipes but none of them were simple for her. I think she went through the recipe index for cakes and didn't look down for the 'Quick Chocolate cupcakes'. I had an opportunity to make these cupcakes for my neighbor's kid's birthday. They wanted some vanilla cupcakes and some chocolate cupcakes. This is very chocolatey since coffee enhances the flavor.

One Year Back - Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
Two Years Back - Vegan Sourdough Chocolate Cake with peanut butter glaze
Three Years Back - Sourdough Pumpkin Spice Cake
Ingredients: (Makes 12 standard sized cupcakes)
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Cocoa - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Semi sweet baking chocolate - 1 Oz chopped fine(See Notes)
Oil - 1/3 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Strong freshly brewed coffee - 2/3 cup
Vanilla - 2 tsp

Method:
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a 12 muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside. In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. In another bowl, take the semisweet baking chocolate and pour hot coffee over it. Whisk and let it sit till it comes to room temperature and the chocolate has melted. In a larger bowl, beat eggs, oil, cocoa and sugar till thick and creamy. Stir in vanilla. Add dry mixture to the egg and sugar mixture alternating with coffee and chocolate mixture starting and ending with dry mixture. Whisk gently. This is a thin batter. Divide the batter among the cups and place in the oven. Immediately after closing the oven door, reduce the temperature to 350 F (325 in case of non stick or dark pan). Bake for 20 - 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove to the wire rack to cool completely. Serve as is or frost with your favorite frosting.

Notes:
You can use up to 3 Oz of semi sweet chocolate squares. It just increases the intensity of the chocolate and doesn't alter the texture of the cupcakes.

Enjoy.

Hawaiian Sweet Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 02:04:00 +0000

I probably own about 10 books that are exclusively on Bread Baking. That combined with numerous baking books which have a section dedicated for bread baking makes me have more recipes than what I can bake in my life. Very rarely I follow any recipe and this one is no exception. The book that it is adapted from talks about short cuts to getting the yeast bread made in half time. Since I was not looking to rise the dough in half time, I made modifications to the recipe and the method. Original recipe also bakes it as a round loaf in a pie plate. But, I was looking for a bread to make sandwich for the kids' lunch and hence baked it in a regular pan. Result was a very rich and fluffy bread that my kids loved with Nutella and as a grilled cheese sandwich.

One Year Back - Whole Wheat Bread with vital wheat gluten
Two Years Back - Easy Marinara Sauce
Three Years Back - Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from Bread in Half the Time by Linda West Eckhardt and Diana Collingwood Butts
Ingredients:
All purpose flour or Bread flour - 3 cups
Active dry yeast - 2 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Sugar - 3 TBSP
Non fat dry milk - 1/4 cup
Oil or melted butter - 1/4 cup
Warm water - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 2 large (Or thick yogurt 1/2 cup)
Butter to brush the loaf after baking - optional, I didn't use it.

Method:
Bread Machine Method: (Warning: Do not bake this in the bread machine, just use it to make the dough)
Place all the ingredients in the pan of the bread machine and set it for dough cycle for 1 1/2 lb loaf. When the cycle completes, take out the dough and shape and bake as explained below.

To make this by hand:
Take water in a bowl. Add sugar and sprinkle yeast on it. Let it froth ( 5 - 10 minutes). To this, add the oil, salt, eggs, vanilla and beat to break the eggs. Slowly add the dry milk powder and start adding the flour. When you can no longer turn the spatula, start kneading by hand to get a smooth dough. It will take about 10 - 15 minutes to get a smooth dough. Dough will not be sticky and will be smooth and silky. Cover and let rise till puffy. It need not double in bulk. It takes between an hour to hour and a half for this. Gently deflate and shape into a loaf. Grease a 9 X 5 pan and place the shaped dough in the pan. Cover and let rise till it reaches the rim of the pan, about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 F and bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until dark brown and sounds hollow when tapped. This rises very well in the oven.
Cool on the rack and brush with butter if desired once out of the oven.

Enjoy.

Cream Cheese Sandwich Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 02:31:00 +0000

No, this blog has not been converted into an exclusive bread baking blog. I have been busy with stuff and the only thing that I have been baking is bread along with regular cooking. Here is another sandwich bread recipe that is adapted from another cream cheese sweet bread on this blog. I cut down the cream cheese amount to make it more of a regular bread that is not too rich.

One Year Back - Anise Biscotti
Two Years Back - Healthiest Pie Crust
Three Years Back - Yam Zucchini Curry
Ingredients:
1/3 fat Cream cheese - 4 Oz (1/2 of the 8 Oz block)
Sugar - 2 TBSP
Warm Water - 3/4 Cup
All Purpose Flour - 3 Cups
Salt - 1 tsp
Active dry yeast - 2 tsp

Method:
To make the dough by hand: Mix the warm water, sugar, yeast. Let it froth for 5 - 10 minutes. Start mixing the cream cheese, salt and the flour to the yeast mixture and knead it for about 5 - 8 minutes. Coat with a bit of oil and cover and let rise till double about one hour. When the dough has doubled in volume, punch down and deflate and proceed with shaping the dough and baking as described below.

To make the dough in a bread machine: Place all the ingredients except milk in the bread machine pan in this order. Water, cream cheese, salt, sugar, flour and yeast. Set the machine on dough setting and start. When the cycle is complete, take the dough out, deflate it and shape into a loaf.

To Shape and Bake:
Grease a 9 X 5 pan with vegetable oil spray and place the shaped dough in it. Cover loosely with an oiled aluminum foil and let rise till double - about 30 - 45 minutes. When the dough has doubled, preheat the oven to 375 F. Brush the loaf with milk. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn down the oven to 325 F and bake for another 20 minutes or till done. When done, the loaf will have beautiful golden brown and will sound hollow when the bottom is tapped. If the loaf is browning too fast, tent with aluminum foil. Let cool in pan for about 5 minutes. Remove to the wire rack to cool completely. Slice when completely cool.
This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli and Vaishali.

Enjoy.

Breadmachine Oatmeal Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 01:47:00 +0000

Here comes another bread machine bread recipe that can be converted into a mix for convenience. I have other oatmeal bread recipes on the blog if you prefer to make them by hand.

One Year Back - Radish Curry in peanut sauce
Two Years Back - Summer Salad with asian dressing
Three Years Back - Chocolate Loves Vanilla Bread
Ingredients:
Warm Water - 1/2 cup
Buttermilk - 1 cup (warm)
Active dry yeast - 1 TBSP
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Oil - 1/4 cup
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Whole Wheat flour - 2 cups
Rolled oats - 1/2 cup
Salt - 2 tsp

Method:
Place oil, salt, sugar, water, buttermilk, flours, oats and yeast in this order in the pan of the breadmachine and start on white bread setting. My breadmachine pan is kind of odd shaped and yields a very wide loaf. So, I took out the dough after final mixing and second rise and plopped the dough into an oiled 9 X 5 pan and let rise there for the final time. Baked it at 375 F for 30 minutes and then turn it down to 350 F for 15 minutes or till golden. Brush the loaf with melted butter or oil after taking out of the pan.

If you want to make it by hand, refer to this post for the method: Basic White Bread.

To make the mix:
Take all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, sugar and cut in 4 TBSP of butter into it. Add yeast and oats and place them in a ziploc bag in the refrigerator. When time to make it, just measure water and buttermilk and dump the contents of the bag into the bread machine pan and start the machine.

Notes:
Depending on how you measure the flour, you might need a couple of TBSP extra flour or water. Test once and then adjust as per your measuring habits.
This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli and Vaishali.
Enjoy.

Sweet and Sour Chickpeas Curry (To serve with Rice)

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 01:48:00 +0000

I had eaten chickpeas curry as part of a South Indian Thali in a restaurant long time ago. That chickpeas curry was a bit watery than the traditional chana masala and didn't smell of ginger and garlic. This is an attempt to recreate that curry. I was very happy with how it turned out and was even more glad that everyone in the family loved it.

One Year Back - Brownie Biscotti
Two Years Back - Poppy seed drink / Gasagase Payasa
Three Years Back - Craisins and White chocolate chip biscottiIngredients:
Chickpeas - 2 cups (dry)
Oil - 2 TBSP
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Red Onion - 1 large chopped
Tomatoes - 2 medium chopped
Salt - to taste
Turmeric powder - a generous pinch
Red Chilli powder - 1 - 1 1/2 tsp or to taste
Jaggery or Brown Sugar - 1/3 - 1/2 cup as per taste
Tamarind extract - 1 heaping tsp (Or extract juice from a lemon sized tamarind soaked in enough water)
Cilantro - chopped 2 TBSP
To powder:
Almonds - 1/4 cup (or cashews)
Cardamom - 2 whole
Cinnamon - 1" stick

Method:
Soak chickpeas in enough water for 8 hours or overnight. Drain all the water and add fresh water to it. Pressure cook the chikpeas till soft. In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add cumin seeds. When they splutter, add onions and stir. Sprinkle some salt, turmeric and stir. Let the onions cook. When onions are cooked, add the tomatoes to it. Add chilli powder, brown sugar or jaggery, tamarind and let the tomatoes cook. It will turn like a sauce.

Meanwhile, take the almonds, cardamom and cinnamon in a blender jar and make a powder. To this powder, add about a cup of cooked chickpeas with enough water and make a paste. You can use the water of the cooked chickpeas to it. Pour this paste to the pan and add the chickpeas reserving the water. Add the reserved water enough to get the correct consistency. Adjust the salt and garnish with cilantro. Let it come to a boil and then turn off the heat. This goes very well with rice. If you want to serve this with rotis, you will have to make it a bit thicker.

Enjoy.

Banana Nut Granola

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 01:32:00 +0000

Saga of over ripe Bananas

Some people just toss it in the trash can.
Some people freeze it for later use in smoothies or milk shakes.
Some people bake banana bread or muffin using them.
Some people bake banana cake using them.
Very few people can think of making granola with them and I am one of those. Idea came because of my previous experience with Pumpkin Granola. It was delicious and I probably will make this kind of granola more often than others.

One Year Back - Brownie Biscotti
Two Years Back - Poppy seed drink / Gasagase Payasa
Three Years Back - Craisins and White chocolate chip biscotti
Ingredients:
Rolled Oats - 6 cups
Brown Sugar - 1 cup packed
Canola Oil - 1/4 cup
Mashed banana - 1/2 - 3/4 cup (From 2 large bananas)
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 tsp
Raisins - 1 - 1 1/2 cups (Or your favorite dried fruits like dried cranberries or chopped dates)
Walnuts - 1 cup chopped

Method:
Preheat the oven to 300 F. Line two large baking sheets with aluminum foil and spray with vegetable oil spray. Set aside. In a bowl, take rolled oats and chopped walnuts. Toss gently. In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, canola oil, mashed banana, salt and cinnamon. Heat stirring occasionally till brown sugar melts a bit and combines with the rest of the ingredients in the pan. It doesn't have to boil. Pour this on to the Oat and walnut mixture and stir to combine. There will be a lot of lumps, leave them as is or break them into smaller lumps. Spread on the two baking sheets and bake for 45 - 55 minutes stirring once midway and rotating the baking sheets. If you have spread it thin enough, it should be ready in 45 minutes. If you have too many big lumps, it will take up to an hour. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. I would suggest you to break the lumps into smaller ones since it will add texture uniformly through out the cereal. Add raisins and mix. Once cooled completely, store in an air tight container. This should be good for two weeks if not eaten by then. I prefer to eat this with warm milk instead of cold milk.

Notes:
You could add vanilla instead of cinnamon and add a cup of chocolate chips instead of raisins for a different taste. Add chocolate chips once the granola has cooled.

Enjoy.

Breadmachine White Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 00:49:00 +0000

School will start in about 2 weeks from now and I will need to have bread on hand since kids take sandwiches most of the days. Even though I had started buying the bread last year for this purpose, I got bored with it. So, I am going to experiment with a lot of breadmachine recipes for which, I will make the mix and keep them in seperate bags. Throw the contents of the bag with the measured liquid and start the machine. Even though I am not a fan of the shape of loaf when it comes out of my bread machine, that is something I have to compromise on if I am too busy to bake the bread in the oven with a nice shape. Here is a no fail white bread recipe. I was impressed by it since it had less yeast than most other recipes and hence had a nice and slow rise.

One Year Back - Brownie Biscotti
Two Years Back - Poppy seed drink / Gasagase Payasa
Three Years Back - Craisins and White chocolate chip biscotti
Adapted from - King Arthur Flour
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 3 3/4 cups (See Notes)
Warm water - 1 cup
Warm milk - 1/3 cup
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Oil - 3 TBSP (or butter)
Sugar - 2 TBSP
Active dry yeast - 1 1/2 tsp

Method:
Place oil, salt, sugar, water, milk flour and yeast in this order in the pan of the breadmachine and start on white bread setting. Gives the best white bread that is light and spongy. My breadmachine pan is kind of odd shaped and yields a very wide loaf. So, I took out the dough after final mixing and second rise and plopped the dough into an oiled 9 X 5 pan and let rise there for the final time. Baked it at 350 F for 45 minutes. Brush the loaf with melted butter or oil after taking out of the pan.

If you want to make it by hand, refer to this post for the method: Basic White Bread.

To make the mix:
Take flour, salt, sugar and cut in 3 TBSP of butter into it. Add yeast and place them in a ziploc bag in the refrigerator. When time to make it, just measure water and milk and dump the contents of the bag into the bread machine pan and start the machine.

Notes:
Depending on how you measure the flour, you might need a couple of TBSP extra flour or water. Test once and then adjust as per your measuring habits.
This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli and Vaishali.

Lentil and Squash stir fry / Bele Palya

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 02:53:00 +0000

It is not easy to be a blogger. It definitely is not easy being a food blogger unless you have a house full of people who are ready to eat the outcome of all the experiments that you do in the kitchen. How much can a house of two adults and two kids consume food wise? So, here is a post that is a simple, every day dish that was not made specifically for a blog post. This shows how we add lentils to almost everything to get part of our protein in an Indian Vegetarian cuisine.

One Year Back - Brownie Biscotti
Two Years Back - Poppy seed drink / Gasagase Payasa
Three Years Back - Craisins and White chocolate chip biscotti
Ingredients:
Chana dal / dehusked split chickpea lentil - 1 cup
Chayote Squash - 3 peeled and pit removed and chopped into thin chunks
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Hing / Asafoetida - a generous pinch (optional)
Chana dal/ split dehusked chickpea lentil - 1 TBSP (for garnish)
Coconut - 1/4 cup grated (optional)
Red chillies - 4 - 5 broken
Cilantro - 2 TBSP chopped (optional)

Method:
Wash and rinse the lentil. Take it in a pan with enough water and cook it till tender. You could use pressure cooker for a quick cooking. Drain the water when it is cooked (don't throw away the water - use it in sambar, rasam or even soup).
In a pan, heat oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add broken red chillies, hing if using, curry leaves, 1 TBSP of chana dal. When the dal gets toasted, add the cut chayote squash. Sprinkle some salt and stir and let it cook till tender. You will have to stir it often to prevent burning. When the squash is cooked, add the drained cooked dal, coconut and mix well. Adjust the salt if needed and add cilantro if desired. Lower the heat and cover with a lid and let it sit on low flame for 3 - 5 minutes and then turn it off. Traditionally it is served with rice and sambar or rasam. But this goes very well with roti, chapathi.
This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli and Vaishali.

Notes:
You could use yellow squash or zucchini instead of chayote squash. Just cook it till tender and not mushy.

Enjoy.

Vegan Date Walnut Loaf

noreply@blogger.com (Champa) — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 03:17:00 +0000

Mildly sweet with chock-full of dates and walnuts is what describes this loaf cake. It is a perfect balance between cake and bread.

One Year Back - Peanut butter cookies
Two Years Back - Avocado Brioche, Roasted Banana Ice cream
Three Years Back - Deep fried cracker ( Nippattu )
Adapted from 500 Cakes by Susannah Blake
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Baking Powder - 3 tsp (1 TBSP)
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/2 cup (Or use 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup oil)
Boiling Water - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup (Or light brown sugar)
Vanilla - 1 tsp (Or use any spice powder 1 tsp like cinnamon, cardamom etc)
Pitted dates - 1 cup chopped (about 20 - 24 whole pitted dates)
Walnuts - 1/2 cup chopped
Flax meal - 1 TBSP mixed with 3 TBSP of warm water (or use 1 large egg for a non vegan version)

Method:
Take chopped dates in a bowl. Pour boiling water over it (Measure the water after it has boiled). Let it sit till the mixture cools down to room temperature, about 30 - 40 minutes. Spray a 8 X 4 loaf pan with vegetable oil spray. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 F (325 in case of non stick or dark pan). In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and spice powder if using. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together sugar, oil and the flax mixture. Stir in vanilla. Add the date and water mixture and flour mixture alternating whisking slowly till no dry flour streaks are left. Stir in walnuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 - 60 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn it on to wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.

Notes:
I used a 9 X 5 pan which is a little bit too big for this amount of batter. That is the reason for short loaf.