Khichdi with Masoor Dal (Lentils)

February 26, 2014

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A nutritious and tasty Khichdi with masoor dal and rice.

Ingredients

Rice                                   1 cup
Masoor dal                      1/2 cup
Cloves                                4
Cinnamon                        1 inch stick
Cardamom                       2
Cumin seeds                    1 teaspoon
Onion                                2 finely sliced
Tomatoes                         2 chopped
Green chilly                    1 slit
Coriander leaves            1 + 1 tablespoon
salt to taste
Ghee/Oil                          2 tablespoons
Curry leaves                    1 sprig
Hot water                         3 cups
Turmeric powder           1/4 teaspoon

Method

Wash rice and dal, keep it aside to soak for half an hour,
In a vessel add ghee/oil, fry the cumin, onions, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom.
When onions are golden add slit green chilly, curry leaves and a part of the coriander leaves.
Keep the remaining coriander leaves for garnishing.
Add chopped tomatoes, turmeric and salt.
Add the drained rice and dal. Fry for few minutes.
Add 3 cups of hot water, Bring it to a rolling boil. Cover and cook it for 8 to 10 minutes on low flame till the rice is done. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with a little ghee and salad.

Sending this to Mireille's, challenge cooking with seeds and linking it to Priya.

Labels:Rice, Lentils, Healthy, Main course, Vegan, Khichdi, Cooking with seeds

Eggless Chocolate Cake- Heart Shaped - Valentine's Day Special

February 25, 2014

I am hooked on to making eggless cakes.  Had read that flaxseed is a substitute to make eggless cakes also. Surfed the net and came across this recipe.  Tried it and it turned out superb.  I made a heart shaped cake since it was for our Valentine’s Day celebration.  All my friends loved it.  The original recipe is here. 

To use flax seed as an egg substitute, follow the measurements.

1 egg=1 tbsp flaxseed + 3 tbsp water

2 eggs=2 tbsp flaxseed + 6 tbsp water

Ingredients

All purpose flour    2 cups

Flax seeds                2 tbsp + 6 tbsp water

Sugar  powder        2 cups

Salt                            1/2 teaspoon

Unsalted butter     1/2 cup (I used homemade butter/malai)

Vegetable oil          1/2 cup

Cocoa powder        1/4 cup

Water                       1 cup

Buttermilk              1/2 cup

Baking soda            1 teaspoon

Vanilla extract        1 teaspoon

White vinegar         1 teaspoon

Ingredients For icing

Unsalted butter              1/2 cup

Whole milk or cream    6 tablespoon

Cocoa powder                 1/4 cup

Icing sugar                      4 cups

Vanilla extract                1 teaspoon

Method

Grease and line a baking pan with butter.

Take 2 tbsp flaxseeds a mixer-grinder. Grind it to a fine powder. You don’t need to roast them. Remove the flaxseed powder into a bowl. Add 6 tablespoon water to the flaxseed powder. Mix well and keep it standing for 15-20 mins. In the meantime we do the remaining steps.
Sift the flour, sugar and salt all together thrice.
In a saucepan, heat water with malai, oil and cocoa. Whisk it and bring just to a boil over medium heat, stirring continuously. Pour the hot chocolate mixture into the flour mixture mix well. Mix the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and baking soda in a bowl. Mix the flaxseed mixture and rest of the ingredients and blend well. The mixture should be smooth without any lumps. Pour into the greased baking tin. Now bake it in the oven at 170 degree C for 35 to 45 minutes. Please check to see if the cake is done by inserting a toothpick if it come out clean the cake is done.
Make a lot of holes with a toothpick so that the icing seeps into the cake. The holes cannot be seen once the icing has been cooled.

To make the icing

In a saucepan, melt butter. Add the milk and 1/4 cup cocoa and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in icing sugar and vanilla. Blend until smooth. Use a electric hand blender. Pour the icing over the hot cake. Spread it evenly on the cake with a spatula. Cool the cake. I added 1/2 cup cocoa powder and hence the color is dark. I boiled is for a longer time and made it thick since I wanted the icing to have a coating.



Lables: Eggless, Cakes.

Tomato Apple Jam - Valentine's Day Special

February 25, 2014

Ingredients

Ripe tomatoes                2 kgs

Onions                             2 medium sized, finely chopped

Apples                             2 Big

Sugar                               3/4 cup 

Salt                                   1 teaspoon

Chilly powder                1 teaspoon

Juice of lime                  1

 Method

Put the tomatoes into the boiling water, and boil for 2 -3 minutes till the skins loosen. Take the tomatoes out once they have cooled, just peel the skins and chop them.

Place the onions, tomatoes, apples in the blender and puree it. Put the puree, sugar, salt and chilly powder in a thick bottomed pan and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Turn the heat to low and cook till it becomes thick.  Stir it on and off so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom and burn.

Add the lime juice. Cook for another 10 to 15 minutes, and take the jam off the heat. Let it cool completely and transfer to sterilized jar. Refrigerate.

To check whether the Jam is done follow the following method.

Use the freezer test. At the beginning of cooking, put two or three small plates or bowls in the freezer. As you begin to approach the end of cooking, pull one out and put a small spoon of jam into the middle of the dish. Tuck it back into the freezer for two or three minutes (take your jam off the heat during this time, because if it the test tells you it’s done, you will have just spent three minutes overcooking your jam).When the time is up, pull the dish out of the freezer and gently nudge the dollop of jam with the tip of your finger. If it has formed a skin on top that wrinkles a bit when pushed, it is done. If it is still quite liquid and your finger runs right through it, it’s not done. The boil also changes towards the end. The jam starts to gather more thickly on the sides of the pot, and it begins to splatter more violently.

Labels:Jams & Sauces, Healthy, Vegan

Valentine's Day Special

February 25, 2014

We are a group of morning walkers who go trekking every day. We trek the Yeor Hills.  This year Vasudha our friend came with an idea that we should celebrate Valentine’s day.  So, each one of us decided to bring an item for breakfast.  We had Tea, Lassi, Chocolates and offcourse a bouquet of Roses. The most important part was that this bouquet was passed to each one us. A symbol of unity and Love. This is what I contributed to this celebration.  Herb and Cheese Pull Apart Bread, Tomato Apple Jam & Eggless Flaxseed Chocolate Cake. Thanks very much Vasudha for this plan.  We enjoyed this Valentine's Day celebration.

Labels: Breads, Jams & Sauces, Cakes, Healthy, Vegan

Herbs and Cheese Pull apart Bread

February 25, 2014

I always thought that bread making is impossible since my previous attempts were failure.  Since, then I never attempted to make bread again at home.  As I going through various blogs, came across this recipe.  In this blog I found that there a group of bloggers baking bread every month.  This gave me confidence that if they can do it I, too should try making this bread.  The original recipe is from here.

Herbs and Cheese Pull apart Bread

Ingredients

For the Dough

Warm Milk   1/2 cup

Sugar     1 tsp

Active dry yeast  2.1/4 tsp (I used a rapid rising yeast 2.25 tsp)

All-purpose flour   3 cups

Salt                    1 teaspoon

Butter (soft)     4 tablespoons

Garlic-Red Chili paste   (3 garlic cloves + 2 dry red chilies)

Milk                       3/4 cup + 3tblsp for brushing over the bread

For the Filling

Melted Butter                               15 to 20gm (about 3-4tblsp)

Dried Italian seasoning herbs       2 tsp (contains dried oregano, thyme, parsley)

Roasted cumin seeds                    2 tsp

Saunf powder                               3 pinches (optional for flavor)

Grated cheddar cheese                 1/2 cup

Method

In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar and the yeast in 1/2 cup of warm milk. Keep aside for about 5 minutes till the yeast mixture bubbles up. Grind 3 cloves of garlic with 2 dry red chilies to a coarse paste. Put 3 cups of flour, salt, softened butter, and garlic-red chili paste in a large bowl mix it well. Then add the yeast mixture and 3/4 cup of milk, knead till you have a soft, smooth dough which is not too sticky.  Oil your palms and shape the dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl, coat the dough with oil. Cover and let it rise for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until almost double in volume.

Dust the work surface lightly with flour. Punch the dough and deflate it,  shape it into a square and roll the dough out into a larger square that is about 12" by 12".

Brush the surface of the square with the melted butter. Mix to together herbs, cumin seeds, powdered saunf and evenly sprinkle it over the square and then spread the grated cheese. Use a rolling pin to very lightly press the topping into the dough to ensure the topping sticks.

Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough from top to bottom into 5-6 long and even strips – they do not have to be perfect. Lay each strip on top of the next, with the topping facing upwards, until you have a stack of the strips. Cut straight down through the stack dividing it into 6 equal pieces (6 square stacks).

Butter and lightly flour a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Layer the square slices, cut sides down into the loaf tin. Cover the loaf tin dough with a towel and allow the dough to rise double its size.  I preheat the oven for 5 minutes at 100 degree C and placed the loaf tin inside. It took more than 2 hours for it rise since it was winter.

Lightly brush some milk over the top of the loaf and Bake the dough at 350F for about 30 to 40 minutes until it is done and the top is golden brown.

My daughter was so thrilled to see this bread and was waiting for it cool down as when it was being baked the aroma of the bread filled the full house. As soon as the bread was cooled she sliced it and had it with butter and omelet. My friend and her family too had this bread and enjoyed it. I made this bread twice and she too tried it twice. My friends too enjoyed this bread on Valentine’s day.

Do give this bread a try and post your comments.

Labels: Breads, Healthy, Eggless, Herbs, Cheese