“Crackers can be addictive!”  Hmm.. never knew till I baked these Flax seed wholewheat crackers for myself. Ragi, Millet, cornmeal, oats and Quinoa in the pantry pushed this super food to a corner. After a long hibernation that packet of shiny brown Flax seeds finally moved out from my refrigerator. And when I was thinking to bake something with my tiny treasure, got a call from mom.

I am not one of those fortunate daughters who stay close to their mom. I meet her once in a year or sometimes after a period of two years. But talking we do almost on a daily basis, thanks to these cell phone companies. During one of our chats she informed me that she made ‘Shakkarpare‘ (or Indian deep fried cookies) with flax seeds or Alsi as we call in Hindi. She does lots of creative cooking, now that her family responsibilities have reduced to minimum.

This is when I thought of making my own version of crackers by baking the same recipe of mom. And voila I got these highly addictive and healthy first batch of my Flax seeds whole wheat crackers smiling at me ready for a quick bite. Whole wheat and flax seeds impart a wonderful nutty aroma to the crackers, while the whole seeds (flax & sesame) give a crunchy bite and texture to the goodies.

Ready to roll out...

Ingredients;

(10-12 crackers)

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup Flax seeds
• 2 tbsp. sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup melted butter/ghee/oil
• 2 tbsp. powder sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• A few tsp. milk

Method; Pre heat oven to 375°F or 180°C  for 10 minutes.

Dry roast flax and sesame on slow heat for a few minutes. Take a large vessel and add flax seeds, sesame seeds, wholewheat flour, salt, powder sugar, baking powder and mix well with a fork.

Add melted butter (I added ghee, clarified butter) and mix the dry ingredients with light hands till it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Pour milk little by little till all the ingredients bind together to form a hard ball. Avoid adding too much milk if you want to get crisp crackers.

Take out the ball of dough and knead it on a floured surface to make a large circle. It will be difficult to knead the dough as the flax seeds will keep coming out. Press them again in the dough and mend any cracks and breaks in the flattened circle with hands.

Roll it as thin as you can without breaking and cut it into squares or rectangles with a Sharpe knife.

Arrange all the crackers on a greased baking tray and bake at 180°C for 15 minutes or till the crackers are slightly brown at the edges. Just keep in mind that the thinner the crackers are less time it will take to bake and vice versa.

Take out the baking tray and let it cool completely before biting into these addictive Flax seed wholewheat crackers.

Full of nutrients these crackers make a perfect healthy snack on breakfast table and would be a great picnic food as well.

These crackers are easy, healthy and quick to bake, you could even deep fry for a change.

Notes;

1. You can deep fry the crackers if you want to avoid baking.
2. Use sesame seeds alone if its difficult to find Flax seeds.
3. Roast both flax and sesame seeds before using in the recipe to help release nutty aroma and for that extra crunch.
4. Black sesame would give more nutritious crackers than the white or de husked variety.
5. I used a little less ghee (butter) and my crackers were a little hard or too crisp. Increase the butter/ghee to one more tbsp. for crumbly crackers.
6. These crackers stay good for over a week and more if refrigerated.
7. Powder the Flax seeds for easy handling of the dough.

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Flax seedsare making news for good reasons. A popular source of Omega-3 fatty acids this super food which was known as cattle feed and only to the paint industries is now gaining entry into the kitchens of many households. Flax seeds are a boon to vegans and vegetarians who find it difficult to get Omega-3 in their regular diet.

A little bigger and harder than sesame seeds, flax seeds have shinny yellow or brown color skin. The seeds can be eaten raw or ground and added to various food products. It imparts a lovely earthy aroma to baked goodies.

Whole flax seeds can stay good for 3-4 months while the ground seeds becomes rancid quickly and needs to be refrigerated till used. The best way to store the seeds is to roast it for a few minutes and then grind into powder and store in a zip lock bag in refrigerator.

Flax Seeds

Health Benefits;

• Flax seeds are fiber rich and thus are a natural laxative.
• Presence of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) or Omega-3 fat makes Flax seeds a very important & economical source of essential fatty acids for vegetarians and vegans.
• Flax seeds are low in carbohydrates and this makes it a wonderful food for weight watchers.
• It heals reduce the risk of heart attack, cancer and diabetes.
• It can help control high blood pressure and asthma.
• Flax seed are gluten free and are a great substitute of those having gluten allergy.

Prudent Choice;

1. Use Flax seeds oil as a dressing for salads similar to Olive oil. Do not heat flax seed oil.
2. Eggs in baking can be completely replaced by flax seed powder soaked in water which becomes glutinous instantly.
3. Sprinkle powder flax seed on raita, curd, smoothies and milk shakes.
4. Mix flax seed powder with whole-wheat flour to make chapattis or Indian flat breads.
5. Make sandwich spread with flax seed powder ground with peanuts and green chilly.

Refreshing Yogurt Dip or Raita

Ingredients;

(serve 2)

• 1 cup fresh thick yogurt or curd
• 1/2 cup sliced cucumber
• 1 small onion
• 1 green chilly
• 2 tsp. Flax seed powder
• 1 tsp. roasted cumin seed powder
• Coriander or mint leaves to garnish
• Salt as desired
• A pinch of Asafoetida

Method; Wash and dice cucumber in bite size pieces or grate it, peel and slice the onion finely. Slit the green chilly into two halves. Roast cumin and flax seeds for a few miutes on slow heat and grind into fine powder.

Take curd  in a serving bowl and add diced cucumber, onion and diced green chilly. Add salt and asafoetida. Sprinkle cumin and flax seed powder and mix well.

Garnish the refreshing Yogurt dip or Raita with chopped coriander or mint leaves. Serve it with plain rice, flat breads, as sandwich spread or with baked or grilled veggies.

Try these healthy Flax seeds whole wheat crackers.

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A bowl of creamy wobbly Panna Cotta soaked in juicy fresh fruit compote is a best bet for an easy, quick and exotic dessert for any day! Panna Cotta means “cooked cream’ in Italian and this simple dessert is served with caramel, chocolate sauce or any fruit compote. Compote is a sort of thickened sweet sauce cooked with stewed fresh or dried fruits mainly berries in sugar.

It is really hard to switch over from the incredibly addictive cream based panna cotta with  yogurt and coconut milk. But then a look at the health benefits of yogurt and coconut makes it a wiser decision to do so. Panna Cotta cooked with coconut milk which I make often takes the recipe to different levels. I made two batches, the one set in the ramekins are with cream & yogurt combo and the other in the glass is just plain yogurt panna cotta. And no, I did not miss the creamy culprit from my recipe

Never thought I will be regularly making my own versions of healthy Panna cotta replacing the most part of cream from the ingredient list with yogurt.

To give more creamy and rich texture to this Strawberry Yogurt Panna Cotta with Grape Compote, I started adding a tablespoon of milk powder before setting the yogurt for the recipe. This helps set a firm and creamy yogurt. I like using China grass or agar-agar than the stinky gelatin as a setting agent in my recipes.

Strawberry Yogurt Panna Cotta

Ingredients;

(serve 4)

• 2 cup yogurt/curd
• ½ cup cream
• ½ cup powder sugar
• ½ cup crushed strawberries
• 2 tsp. china grass
• 2 tbsp. cold milk

Method; Whisk the cream with a fork for a few minutes till it becomes soft and fluffy. Wash & hull the strawberries and crush them with a fork.

Thick Yogurt or Curd; To make thick yogurt, dissolve 2 tbsp. of powder milk in 2 cups of warm milk and and add the culture or a teaspoon of set curd in it. Leave it for 8-10 hours to set. You can also strain the set yogurt to drain the whey (liquid) from it in a muslin cloth for a few hours.

Sprinkle china grass over the bowl of cold milk and let it stand for a few minutes. Boil the milk with china grass till it is dissolved.

You can also add cream to the milk and china grass mixture and boil it for a minute, I avoided this step as I did not want to cook the cream. Diverting slightly from the origin of Panna Cotta (cooked cream).. Huh..;-)

Cool it slightly and add it to the yogurt.

Add the yogurt mixture, powder sugar and crushed strawberries in the whipped cream and fold it lightly till all the ingredients are mixed.

Grease 4 ramekins or any other mold you want to set the Panna Cotta in. Place a Pour the liquid quickly into the ramekins.

Took a scoop before I could even pour the compote

Refrigerate the ramekins for about an hour to set the Panna Cotta completely.  Serve with fresh fruit sauce or compote of your choice.

Relish the Strawberry yogurt panna cotta straight from the ramekin or de mold it and dig in..

Grape Compote

Ingredients;

• 2 cups purple/red/black grapes
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. orange/lemon zest (optional)

Method;Wash and crush the grapes with hands or blend it in a liquidizer for a few seconds. Do not blend the grapes completely, let there be some pulp in the compote.

Add sugar and zest if using in the crushed grapes and use it as fresh fruit sauce to garnish the Panna cotta or follow this recipe to make thick compote.

Heat a pan and pour the grape and sugar mixture let it simmer for 2 minutes. Cool it and use the compote.
To make thick compote, dissolve a tsp. of cornflour in 1 tbsp. of water and add to the liquid, simmer it for another 1 minute and take off the flame.

Phew..too wobbly..succeeded in it taking out..

Place a slice of strawberry at the base of the ramekin before pouring the liquid to get the above look. De mold the Panna Cotta carefully as it will be very wobbly and might break sometimes.

Cool the grape compote and spoon it over the strawberry panna cotta just before serving.

The crunchy bits of grapes give a wonderful texture to the compote in Strawberry Yogurt Panna Cotta with Grape Compote recipe. Use fresh blackberries or blueberries for the same for a different taste.

Notes;

1. Panna cotta made with yogurt without any cream tasted just delightful as the one with cream. The panna cotta set in the glass is with thick yogurt minus cream.
2. Blend the strawberries with yogurt if you don’t like chunks of fruit in your dessert.
3. If using granulated sugar, add the sugar in the milk which is used to set the curd.
4. Use honey in place of sugar in both the recipes.
5. Make sure to use seedless black/purple.red California grapes. They are sweet and have very thin peel and will require less sugar in the compote recipe.
6. Any fruit jam could be used to garnish the panna cotta. Make the jam little runny by adding a few teaspoons of plain water.

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“Write Potato on a paper and she will eat that too” mom warned him beforehand. And poor hubby was not prepared for this potato overdose in his life. Not a great fan of this starchy veggie he was grumpy to see tiny chunks of potatoes in everything that was served to him. But as they say, Love me, love my dog’ errr..potatoes, he started liking them for good

I could almost write a cook book on all the potato recipes I collected & cooked over the last few years. And in my quest to present my favorite veggie in better ways I am in constant search for some innovative ways to serve it. I adopted one of  mom’s favorite recipes ‘Potatoes in white gravy’ which we used to call ‘khus-khus wale aloo’.

Mom’s recipe got a makeover in my kitchen with a few greens in it, need I say the Baby potato in healthy green gravy is a winner at my home! Spinach which is almost bland in taste matched perfectly with the slight bitter and sharp tasting fenugreek leaves. Oh..did I tell you that this was the first time my children ever tasted and loved eating fenugreek leaves!

Ingredients;

(serve 4)

• 12-15 baby potatoes
• 12-15 Fox nuts (Makhana)
• 3 cups green puree (Spinach & Fenugreek leaves)
• 1/2 cup fresh yogurt/curd
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt as desired
• Water as required

For the Gravy

• 2 tbsp. poppy seeds (Khus-Khus)
• 10-12 cashew nuts
• 1 medium onion
• 4-5 garlic pearls
• 2 green chilies
• 2” ginger piece
• 1 tsp. Aniseed (saunf)

These are Fox nuts or Makhana and Poppy seeds or Khus-Khus.

Method;

Soak poppy seeds (khus-khus) & cashew nuts in milk or little water for about one hour.

Wash and boil the baby potatoes till they are half done. Peel and poke each potato with a fork, this will ensure that the potatoes imbibe the flavors of the gravy.

Pick, wash and grind the spinach (Palak) and fenugreek (Methi) leaves into a fine paste in a blender.

Peel and chop the onion, garlic and ginger into fine pieces.

Add all the ingredients for the gravy in a blender and grind them into a fine paste. Add a little water if you find it difficult to grind.

Heat oil in a wok and add the ground paste, cook for 5 minutes at medium heat taking care to stir it at regular intervals.

Add salt, sugar, boiled baby potatoes, yogurt and green paste to the gravy and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add warm water if you want your recipe to be slightly liquid in consistency.

Garnish the Baby potatoes in healthy green gravy with Fox nuts or Makhanas and serve it with plain rice or any other flat bread of your choice.

Notes;

1. The recipe is not very spicy, increase the green chilly if you like more spicy curry. You can also add a tsp. of red chilli powder at the end.
2. Add water if you want a runny consistency for the recipe.
3. Avoid poppy seeds and fox nuts (makhana) if you can’t get it.
4. You can make the green gravy with spinach alone, if you find it difficult to get fenugreek leaves. You could blanch the leaves in hot water for a few seconds before grinding, this will reduce the cooking time and also the raw smell of leaves.
5. A pinch of garam masala will make the curry more flavorful.
6. Add a tsp. of fresh lemon juice for that extra zing in the curry.
7. Use the same gravy with any other vegetable of your choice. Green peas, cauliflower, carrots would make a scrumptious treat.
8. Add cubes of cottage cheese or Tofu in the same gravy for a healthy and delicious version of the same recipe.
9. Garnish the recipe with fresh cream for that exotic look.

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Nutty Carrot Pudding a.k.a Gajar Halwa, this ubiquitous dessert hardly needs any introduction to those who love Indian food! This rich, decadent and comforting sweet made with red carrots adorns the dinning table of  many households during the chilly winter nights. The juicy sweet red carrots which gives the distinct color and taste to the pudding are available only for a few month in a year and its presence also welcomes the beginning of winter days in India. Fresh carrot juice, pickled carrots in  jars, exotic carrot jam, colorful pilaf with tiny chunks of red carrots and just plain carrots is what I love to serve mine.

I remember mom making a huge quantity of carrot halwa and storing it for almost 2-3 months in her refrigerator. Wish I could do the same, but then my children don’t prefer the same dessert over and over again, unless it is served in a different way. Everyone at home like anything served as individual portion, a cupcake or mini pies was what I decided to make out of it.

I made all the three varieties of no-bake crusts given below and served it as Mini Nutty Carrot Pudding Pies. And voila they all disappeared before I could even test which crust was better than the other The crust added the health quotient to the rich and indulging nutty carrot pudding.

These pie crusts are no bake and makes healthy substitute to the All purpose pie crusts which require baking and are time consuming to assemble. The following crust recipes also give a wonderful crunchy texture and flavor to the crust.

Nutty Carrot Pudding or Halwa

Hard to resist...

Ingredients;

• 4 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup sugar/palm sugar/jaggary
• ½ cup crushed nuts (cashew/almond/pistachio)
• 1 tbsp clarified butter/ghee
• A few raisins
• 1 tsp. cardamom powder

Method; Wash and grate carrots. Heat clarified butter/ghee in a heavy bottom vessel. Add grated carrots and sauté for a few minutes.

Add milk and keep cooking at slow flame till all the liquid is absorbed and the carrots look like a semi solid ball.

Add palm sugar or white sugar, the pudding will become liquid again. Cook for 5-10 minutes till it all the liquid is dried.

Take off the flame and add powder cardamom, nuts and raisins. Serve it as a dessert with a dollop of ice cream or just plain.

A Few Healthy Pie Crusts

1. Cookie Crust;

• 1 cup digestive biscuits
• 1 tbsp. powder sugar
• 4 tbsp. butter
• A few drops of milk

 2. Cornflakes Crust

• 1 cup crushed cornflakes/wheat flakes
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. honey

3. Nutty Crust

•  1 cup Almond meal flour
• 10-12 Medjool Dates (juicy dates)
• A few drops of water

Method; All the recipes above follow the same process. Just grind all the ingredients in a blender and make dough. Use more liquid if the dough is too dry to make pies.

Nutty Carrot Pies

Arrange paper cup liners in a muffin tray and fill each with half of the pie crust mix. Press the crumbles slightly to make a firm pie crust.

Top it with carrot pudding and press it with the back of a spoon. Garnish it with more crushed nuts if you desire and serve.

These pies will make a perfect dessert for your children’s party.

Nutty base or cornflakes/wheat flakes will give a wonderful crunch and texture to the carrot pudding.

You can always mix and match the ingredients to make a creative crust of your own.

Serve these mini nutty carrot pies in colorful paper cups as a party dessert or during birthday parties for kids. The pie is a great way to reduce the quantity of rich and indulging carrot pudding in each serving and thereby making it almost a healthy and guilt free dessert.

Isn’t it an easy and fun way to serve our traditional sweet, use your imagination and create different crusts and serve yours. will it also make a good Valentine day’ gift? Let me know..

Notes;

1. You could use condensed milk in place of milk to make it into more exotic and rich treat.
2. Fry the nuts and raisins in a little clarified butter/ghee, it gives a crunch and wonderful aroma to the nuts.
3. You can replace bottle gourd, sweet potato and pumpkin with carrots to make the same pudding.
4. These pies stay good for 5-6 days as there is no water in the recipe.
5. Try the same dessert recipe with Apple pudding. Replace the grated carrots with apples.

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I love my morning cup of steaming hot milk tea, grilled cheese sandwich and the crisp stuffed Paratha (Indian flat breads) with creamy yogurt Raita. Yes I heard it, so do you. But then hold on, if you are one with me you need to pause for a moment and read the following post from our AFBHLS guest Harini. Who knows this might change the way you look at your breakfast table as it did to mine. Now that my weekly grocery list has less of those extra cheese boxes and I have started loving my tea without milk.

You guessed it right our AFBHLS guest blogger is a ‘Vegan‘ close to four years and is a great inspiration in spreading the message of healthy vegan lifestyle through her recipes and articles. Tongue tickler is a culmination of her love for dreaming & writing and her blog is a journey from a lacto-ovo-vegetarian to becoming a vegetarian, and then a vegan. Apart from healthy vegan recipes which are delicious and satiating you can also find many gluten free recipes.

Her love for her camera speaks volume though all the mouth-watering pictures on her blog. Here are some of my favorites from her blog;

1. If you like your veggies, greens and legumes then this authentic Gujarati dish Oondhiyo is for you;

2. This healthy Mushroom with greens is a  perfect appetizer for any party and makes a nutritious snack as well.

3. And here is something to rejoice for if you are a vegan, a Christmas cake with rum and fruits.

I love this beautiful picture of hers clicked by another lovely food blogger friend Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen. Over to you Harini..

Harini from Tongue Tickler

Sanjeeta wrote to me sometime back inviting me to share my ideas on a healthy diet in a guest post.  Of late, I know I have been cooking mostly healthy dishes.  I am glad it is being noticed!

I do not subscribe to the notion that being fit is being healthy.  I associate ‘fit’ with appearance and ‘health’ with a placid state of mind.  I am not very much into yoga or any other form of physical exercise.  I try to meditate and do some basic relaxation exercises which I learnt during my recent tryst with ‘THAC‘.  While my food habits were close to that Dr. Vijaya Venkat suggests, my knowledge of physiology and the reasons why the body expects us to behave in a certain manner were not clear.  I think it is necessary for all of us to re-educate ourselves about the functioning of the human body.

In the span of four years that I spent blogging, my view about food and health have progressively changed.  I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian, later became a lacto-vegetarian and now am a vegan.  I always knew eggs gave me none of the things advertisements promised, but I treated it much like a bag of chips.  A little wouldn’t hurt.  It made my cakes tasty, but it was easily replaceable with milk, so it wasn’t difficult to give it up.  When I learnt that milk was not meant for me but for the calf, I was shaken.  I did a lot of reading, debated the whole thing in my mind – the calcium dilemma, the protein punch – and I learnt the truth we all hate to acknowledge.  That ‘yes, milk is good, but is specie specific’.  Cow’s milk is meant for cows, goat’s milk for goats, and human milk for human babies.  I looked around for something to negate my new found reasoning.  I found none.  I asked all those questions that readers often ask me and I learnt to accept the bitter truth.  I did not want to give up something only because I was holding on to it psychologically.

When you are not convinced about what is right, you must view yourself as a third person and thrash out the issue – fair and square.  The truth usually presents itself, bare and sometimes, hard to face.

By then, I had my priorities right.  I gave up the addiction.  I am yet to give up my addiction to food entirely but I have changed my habits for the better.

The reasons why I adopted a vegan lifestyle are ethical but the gains on health front have been numerous.  I do not believe in forcing my ideas here.  But, I do suggest that you give it a chance.  Within a month of being a ‘wise vegan’ you will find improvements in your health.  Simple things like acidity, migraines, joint pains, even menstrual pains reduce or disappear.  I am convinced that the diet best suited to human beings is a diet bereft of meat, dairy and animal products.  I used the words ‘wise vegan’ because just being vegan does not exclude all of the unhealthy stuff.  My health mantra is to use organic provisions, local produce as far as possible and to avoid preservatives or shop brought ‘off the shelf’ items.  I keep my food simple and rely on light spices to boost flavours.  I do not use hydrogenated fat as a rule at home.  I use steaming or baking as opposed to boiling or frying.  I minimize the use of oil and gluten rich foods.  My daughter is lactose, nut and gluten intolerant and it is by accident that I realized that gluten-free foods are naturally healthier.  I believe in serving foods that look beautiful and smell delicious.  I have my weaknesses.  I still haven’t been able to completely give up white sugar, white flour, wheat and white rice!  But I am getting there.  Having said that, I know that the quest to health is a personal journey, and if you have a different line of thought, I completely respect it.

I admit I was surprised when Sanjeeta asked me to share my thoughts in this matter.  She has a very open mind and I am happy that she gave me this opportunity.  I love that she is so creative with her recipes.  It is not easy to revamp a dish while keeping true to its original version.  Sanjeeta does a fantastic job!  It is a pleasure for me to share this simple soup recipe with you, dear readers.  Bon appetit!

If only shallots were easy to peel, I would actually replace onions in all recipes with them!  They have divine flavour!  But they can be a bit of a pain, and they are irreplaceable.  One might think – “Ok!  I can use one medium sized onion instead of a shallot.”  But no!  Shallots are unique.  They have this mild sweetness that is pretty seductive.  So important that I used them right up there with pumpkins in the title!

Recipe: Steamed Pumpkin soup with shallots

Serves: Four soup bowls full

Ingredients:

• Yellow pumpkin (I used 1 small whole pumpkin) – 444g
• (After removing seeds, being steamed and being pureed, this weighed approximately 400g or about 3 cups)
• Vegetable stock- 3 cups, approx. 520g
• Shallots, peeled and sliced thin – 6
• Garlic clove – 1
• Bay leaves – 3
• Olive oil – 1 tbsp.
• Pink salt (powdered kala namak) and pepper to taste

Method:

Set the stock to thaw.

Cut pumpkin into six thick segments or big chunks.  Steam cook for about 20minutes or till a knife slides smoothly into the cooked pumpkin.  You can boil or bake pumpkins but this is the healthiest method and easiest too!

[If you do not have a steamer, heat enough water in a large vessel and when it comes to a rapid boil place a steel strainer over it to create a steaming contraption.  The strainer while fitting snugly into the vessel should remain at least an inch or two above the water surface.  Place the pumpkin segments inside the strainer, skin side down and cover with a fitting lid.  Lower the heat to medium and let cook in the steam till a knife easily slides into the pumpkin flesh.  I used a steamer and my pumpkins were done in about 20 minutes.]

When done, remove and let the pumpkins cool till they are easy to handle.

Meanwhile, cook the shallots.  Heat oil in a sauce pan to medium hot.  Add bay leaf followed by garlic and sliced shallots.  Reduce heat and fry till the shallots turn light brown and slightly caramalized.  Remove a few aside for garnish along with a bay leaf if you would like to, at this stage.

By this time, the pumpkins should have turned warm.  Using a knife, gently pare the skin and puree the pumpkin along with the above mixture containing shallots, garlic and bay leaves to a grainy consistency with a cup of vegetable stock.  You can make it super smooth too, but I like it a little coarse.   If you do not like the slight texture from bay leaves you might want to remove them before you puree.

Return the pureed soup along with two more cups of stock to the sauce pan. Warm through, adjusting salt.  Serve with a dash of lemon pepper on the top, and some of the caramalized shallots.

Steamed pumpkin, just pureed makes delicious baby food, even without the addition of salt.

Thank Harini for sharing this wonderful Steamed pumpkin soup with us, shallots in the recipe is a star ingredient. I like the creamy texture and the wonderful color of this soup.

I look at Veganism as one of the toughest and the epitome of all forms of diet. Wherein health, environmental and moral aspects all are being taken care of during the transition of becoming a Vegan.  And I applaud you for being one!

Thanks again for the inspiration and being a wonderful AFBHLS guest, this post will remain close to my heart. We all wish a healthy and prosperous life to you.

You can follow Harini for more on food, veganism and some wonderful food photography on Facebook and Twitter.

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Think of a dessert and fresh fruits top my list hands down. A bowl of sliced juicy strawberries, apples and grapes sprinkled with castor sugar or with fresh yogurt is what I and my hubby crave for. There is always a difference of opinion at home, my children love to settle for a  chocolate bar if there is just plain fruits for dessert. But they look pretty cool of late, now that they know their food blogger mama  needs to update her blog with a recipe every week

These crisp and  scrumptious looking Oatmeal tarts with fresh fruits & yogurt filling was our weekend dessert and must say that its filling and yummy till the last bite. Oatmeal added in the recipe to make the crust gives a lovely texture and makes the base healthier. I used hung yogurt to make the filling, you could use a filling of fresh cream and fruits for more exotic tarts.

A wonderful food blogger friend Divya Kuduva whom I met a couple of times wanted me to write a guest post for her blog as she was busy settling down in her new home . This petite, sweet and soft spoken foodie friend has many mouth watering Indian recipes and baked goodies at her blog, do take time to visit her space.

Over to Divya’s blog for the recipe…

School days were some of the happiest days of my life, attended sports day function at daughters’ school.  She danced, did march past, played games and I relived old memories.

My little princess

Those days we did not have such high tech cameras to take videos and color pictures (1970′s), but have preserved and cherish all those black & white pictures of our school days.

“When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” ~  Patrick Rothfuss.

I wish I could keep the child in me alive forever.

Notes;

1. Use very thick yogurt which is completely devoid of whey.
2. Srikhand made with curd is a yummy and healthy filling for this tart.
3. You can make the filling with cream by beating it lightly and mixing all the fruits to fill the tarts.
4. Make sure to fill the tarts just before serving, else it will make the base soggy and less crispy.
5. Thick custard with fruits is also a scrumptious and healthier option than cream to fill these tarts.
6. Sliced fruits will release water when mixed with yogurt thereby making the filling quite runny. Add fruits to the thickened yogurt just before serving.

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‘I don’t need the bread, but it’s nice to do something creative‘. ~ John Goodman. My daily normal Indian meal has no place for yeast bread, I like my chapattis and rice with curries and other accompaniments. But then ‘creative & therapeutic‘ is what baking is to me and I love my breads and cakes for the same reason.

After years of baking I still feel ‘yeast challenged’ every time that I bake something and feel jittery to see the outcome. This month when Abby Dodge asked us to bake a Peasant Boule for #baketogether I instantly grabbed the challenge in order learn more from my fellow food bloggers and bake my own Peasant Boule as well.

I used the regular granulated yeast and mixed the dough with my hands and baked two loaves, one by following the recipe of Abby and the other with some variations to make it a healthy loaf.

I added Oatmeal, Honey, almonds and cranberries to my bake. Both the loaves look fabulous, if APF loaf is light & soft, Oatmeal bread is slightly dense but extremely filling and nutritious to snack upon. Honey gives a wonderful earthy flavor while almonds and cranberries add texture to this Honey Oatmeal Peasant Boule.

APF peasant bread and my Oatmeal loaf behind..rising well.

Honey Oatmeal Peasant Boule

Ingredients;

• 1 cup wholewheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ½ cup quick cooking oatmeal
• 2 tbsp. Honey
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. granulated yeast
• 1 ½ cup warm water
• 2 tbsp. dried Cranberries
• 1 tbsp. Almonds
• 1 tsp. sugar

Light and soft Peasant Boule..

Method; As I used granulated yeast and baked the loaf without stand mixer, the baking process is slightly different from the original.

In a large bowl add the flours, oatmeal, baking powder, salt, honey and mix all the ingredients well with a fork.

Make a well in the centre and pour warm water in it. Add sugar and yeast granules into it. Let it foam for a minute and mix all the ingredients to make sticky dough. Use dry flour or oil to handle the dough if you find it too sticky.

Roll it into a large ball and place it in a greased bowl, cover it tghly with a lid or cellophane sheet. Let it rise for about 45 minutes.

Grease a small round cake tin with butter or oil.

Take out the risen dough and flatten it on a floured surface. Place it in the round greased cake tin and brush it with melted butter. Let it rise again for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven at 190°C for 10 minutes.

A slice of hearty Oatmeal peasant boule in front and the light APF loaf at the back..

Place the baking tray in the oven and bake at 190°C for about 40 minutes till the top is brown and the bread sounds hollow when tapped from bottom.

Oatmeal bread..Dunk it in your favorite soup and enjoy!

Cool it completely and serve it with a hot cup of tea or a creamy tomato and carrot soup. Thanks Abby for introducing me to the intricacies of bread making, am loving my Peasant Boule and will be making it more often.

Do check out some of the delightful Peasant Boules from my foodie friends Jamie,  Barbara , Laura, Karen and many more On Abby’s blog.

Notes;

1. Check the recipe of All purpose Peasant Boule on Abby’s blog.
2. Oatmeal bread with nuts and cranberries is extremely filling and scrumptious loaf.
3. Replace cranberries with raisins or any other nuts of your choice.

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Strawberry is a fruit which brings smile to my face and saliva in my mouth ever time I see a pack in my supermarket. I just love the sight of these vibrant looking, dimpled chin Strawberries wearing curly green caps. As soon as I get my hands on them I start visualizing what will I be making with them…(if there remains some).

When I saw Scones on the Daring Baker challenge of this month by Audax, I knew exactly what I will be using my little babies for. And what a wonderful treat these Strawberry scones are to have it on my breakfast table!

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens! Thanks Audax for sharing some intricacies involved in baking scones and making it a simple and enjoyable treat to bake.

Scones are pretty easy to bake, just that one needs to concentrate a little on the texture of the dough while rubbing the butter with the flour. You can read more about perfect scone making from here. I added strawberries to my scones and replaced half of flour with wholewheat flour.

Ingredients;

• 1 cup wholewheat flour
• 1 cup All purpose flour
• 1 cup Strawberries
• 2/3 cup yogurt/curd
• 5 tbsp. cold butter
• 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• A pinch of salt

Lemony Drizzle (optional);

• 1/2 cup powder sugar
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice

Method; Pre heat the oven at 200 °C and line a cookies sheet. Wash and hull the strawberries and chop them into small pieces. Sift flour and baking powder twice. Take a large vessel and add both the flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and mix it well.

Grate the cold butter and pour the dry ingredients into it. Quickly rub the mixture with light hands till it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Add yogurt and gently bring in all the ingredients together to make a soft dough.

Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead the dough very lightly 3-4 times. Make a large circle with the dough, use a floured knife and make wedges on it.

Keep the wedges touching each other if you want soft edges and a little far if you like crisp edges as I did to my scones. Galze the scones with milk or sprinkle them with granulated sugar (as I did).

Bake the scones for about 10 minutes till the crust is slightly golden brown and the edges start setting. Take out and let the scones cool a little before topping them with frosting.

Mix both the ingredients for drizzle and pour it on the scones.

Serve these Strawberry scones with the lemony drizzle, butter or any fruits preserve of your choice. Scones are a wonderful way to start your day if you are bored with your routine breakfast and it takes very little time and effort to bake them as well.

Notes;

1. Increase the sugar if you like sweet scones, this recipe is mild.
2. Press the strawberry pieces if they peep out of the wedges.
3. You could even puree the fruit and use in the recipe.

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‘With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books, I live without envy’  ~ Lope De Vega.  And now with my garden not in good shape I no longer live without envying my friend who has a sprawling garden to boast. She inquired about some garden supplies for her farm house which she could purchase on line without much fuss. After a few days of Google search I found out OLX which is a free online platform for classifieds. She was able to access the site from her mobile and could find out what she was looking for in her city with ease. She procured some rare hybrid seeds, organic manure, organic soil and many other useful gardening equipment she was looking for through OLX. In the bargain I found out a wonderful online resource to look out for buying and selling various products in my city.

Some days back when she presented me a few bundles of fresh green fenugreek and a couple of veggies from her farm this is what I cooked. Just as the Khichdi recipe in the previous post there is nothing spectacular in this recipe also, it has the least ingredients and cooks quickly.

But if you enjoy the freshness in your veggies and appreciate the natural flavors of vegetables rather than the overpowering spices in your curries than this is the recipe for you!

Though the recipe is quite simple in itself, the most important thing to take care about is the cooking time which can mar or enhance the taste of the curry.

Ingredients;

(serves 2)

• 2 cups of diced Bottle gourd
• 2 cups of fresh Fenugreek leaves
• 1 small onion
• 1 green chili
• 2 garlic pearls
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• Salt as desired
• A pinch of asafoetida powder

Method; Peel and dice bottle gourd (Lauki) in bite size pieces, larger the better as it will retain the nutrients of the veggie. Pick the fenugreek leaves (Methi) removing the hard stalk from it. Wash and shred it slightly. Peel and chop the onion & garlic pearl.

Heat oil in a wok and add the green chili, asafoetida powder, garlic and chopped onion, saute for a minute. Add the diced bottle gourd and cook for 3 minutes on medium heat. Add shredded fenugreek leaves, salt and cook for one minute.

Take off from heat and serve this simple yet flavorful veggie dish hot with Indian flat breads, plain rice or just as a snack. Yes I like to eat it plain without any accompaniment.

This is another version of the same recipe replacing bottle gourd with cassava (is the same as Tapioca with which we make chips) and potato. Use pre boiled potato in the recipe, cassava takes less time to cook.

Though I make this recipe with various alterations, my favorite is fenugreek leaves with bottle gourd. The juicy and succulent bottle gourd matches perfectly with the slightly bitter tasting fenugreek leaves. And yes I don’t forget to share my preparation with my friend, just to ensure a regular supply of such farm fresh products

Notes;

1. Make sure you don’t over cook the veggies, as it will alter the taste by reducing the flavors and juices of veggies.
2. I have tried the same replacing fenugreek leaves with spinach too, but nothing can match the taste of the former.
3. When picking the fenugreek leave make sure to leave a little of tender stalk which has all the juices to make the recipe more scrumptious.

Doesn’t such simple recipes make our lives easy, I love to find out and treasure these recipes from wherever I can. Recipes which could make me slog less but give great results both in terms of taste as well as health. In my recent preparation I used a secret ingredient to make the same, will post the it in coming post

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