Khandvi

Mention of khandvi conjures up the image of delectable melt in mouth savory experience but also of one considered tricky to master.

Thanks to one of my dear friend who standardized this recipe so well that since then I have been making it often without glitches. Sharing here the same recipe here on request of many :).

Ingredients:

 1 Cup Besan (Gram Flour)

 1.25 Cup yogurt (People in bangalore please use Milky Mist brand for perfect consistency)

1 Cup Water

Salt

Sugar

Turmeric

Chilli Powder

Asafoetida

Mustard seed

Sesame Seeds

Oil

Method:

Mix Besan, Yogurt and water well . Remove lumps if any. Add Salt , sugar, turmeric, red chilli powder, asafoetida as per taste.

Place this mix in a pot. Steam cook this pot in pressure cooker. After 3 whistles lower the flame and keep cooking for 15 minutes. Switch off and wait for the pressure to drop.

Meanwhile , prepare the tadka. Take about 3 teaspoon oil, add mustard seeds, once they begin to crackle switch off the gas and add sesame seeds.

Take out the besan mix and mix well for about minute or two with ladle.

On a clean kitchen counter start applying ot with flat ladle in thin layer. Once all the mix has been applied start cutting with knife in 1.5 inch wide strips. Apply some tadka on top and spread it all around. Now start rolling the strips .

Garnish with remaining tadka, grated coconut and coriander on top.

Enjoy!

Carrot and Radish Pickle

Ingredients

Carrot                                500 gm
                                          Wahsed ,peeled and slit lengthwise
Radish                               250 gm
                                          Washed, peeled and slit lengthwise

Green chilli                       50 gm
                                          Washed , peeled and slit lengthwise

Ginger                               100 gm
                                          Washed,peeled and slit lengthwise
Salt                                    4 tsp
Mustard Oil                      1/2 cup
Red Chilli
powder                              1 tsp
Turmeric powder              1 tsp

Black Pepper                    1/2 tsp
Carrom Seeds                   1/2 tsp
Mustard seed powder       6 to 7 tsp
Asofoetida                        2 pinch
Vinegar                             2 Tbsp

Method

Wash and let dry carrot, radish ,green chilli and ginger. Slit them lengthwise about 2 inch long pieces. Add 2 tsp salt, mix well and keep it in glass container with lid on. Let it sit for 24 hours. Stir once after 10-12 hours.If you want to increase or decrease the quantity of vegetable please feel free to do so.

After 24 hours juice will collect at the bottom of jar. Strain the juice and take out all the vegetables on kitchen towel and let dry for about 1 hour. If you have sun put this to dry in sun.

Once it is dry add all the dry spices except asofoetida and vinegar and mix well. Also add 2 tsp salt.
Heat the mustard oil till it starts smoking. Switch off the flame and let it cool down a bit. After that add asofoetida. Pour this oil over the vegetables and mix well. Once everything is mixed well add vinegar and mix again.

Pickle is ready for consumption.  Though it will taste far better 2 - 3 days later after it had time to sit and release juice and flavors come together.

Chocolate Chip Cookie pizza

Made this for small bake sale at our community. Forgot to take proper picture of final cookie but nonetheless it was perfect. Very well received. For recipe please visit : https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2016/06/27/chocolate-chip-cookie-pizza/.

Recipe 

Whole Wheat Bread

In my quest for perfect loaf of whole wheat or more appropriately Atta aka Chapathi flour bread here is another recipe with more than satisfactory results. Only regret that it is part whole wheat. Would like to try it out with 100% wheat and update the results.

I have baked quite a few whole wheat loaves earlier. The whole wheat flour used in U.S is different then the atta we use for chapathi. Hence all recipes that call for whole wheat flour do not give same results.

But this recipe yields a light and moist  loaf which is pleasure to cut and toast unlike my earlier loaves. Have worked with vital wheat gluten earlier but this is first time I used milkpowder and indeed it made the difference.

Recipe has been adapted from here. I made few changes to the original recipe. Instead of 1.5 cup of AP flour I used  1 cup . Instead of  instant yeast I used Active dry yeast amd surprisingly even when I added it directly to dough mix without proofing it worked well.

Some more pictures from the various steps

Mixed Millet Upma, Breakfast recipe

My breakfast today turned out pretty good. Had this pack of Organic mixed millet by 24 Mantra brand.

So took 1 small cup of the grain. Chopped small onion , tiny green chilli and carrot. In a pressure cooker take about 2 tsp oil. Add cumin seeds, let tham splatter . Add crushed ginger and chopped green chilli.. After a minute add vegetables.Saute it for couple of minutes. Add grain ,stir everything nicely so grain gets a thin coat of oil. Add salt to taste, and 1 tsp turmeric.  After about 6 minutes of sauteing add water double the amount of grain, so here we take about 2 small cups. Close the lid. Let it sit for 4 whistles. Switch it off. Let the pressure release. And open to piping hot cooked millet. Add lemon juice and garnish with fresh coriander. Loved it.

Eggfree Mini Chocltae cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

Baked about 100 of these for Childrens Day celebrations in my younger ones school. This is a fail proof recipe.

http://www.crunchycreamysweet.com/2013/09/10/eggless-chocolate-mini-cupcakes-recipe/

Topped it with Chocolate Ganache. Took about 1/2 cup of fresh Cream. I used Amul brand. Put it on double boiler (Small container with cream inside a big pot of simmering water). Once cream is hot added about 1 cup of chopped dark chocolate. I used Bournville with 50%  cocoa. Let it sit for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame. Take it out of double boiler. Stir it nicely. Let it sit to cool. Ganahe is ready. I used a ziplock with hole to put dabs of it on cupcakes and then smeared them evenly with knife. Decorate with sprinkles. All done. The recipes yields about 36 mini ones so I ran three batches.

Farm to Table--Vanngi Baath, Eggplant Rice

Finally I made this Maharshtrian specialty, Vanngi Baath or Eggplant rice. The sight of fresh eggplants hanging delicately on plants propelled me to think beyond regular Aloo Baingan. I had long back purchased a Vanngi Baath masala powder also. 

The rice came out very flavorful, easy to put together and I added a new way to consume eggplant in my repertoire.

I mostly followed the recipe from here 

http://www.subbuskitchen.com/2009/09/brinjal-ricevaangi-baath.html#.WCbB_UCcGM8 except that I omitted cashews and did not make fresh masala. Instead used the store bought. I had bough Navdarshnam Vaangi Mix from Naamdharis here in Bangalore.

Method is pretty simple. I took  1 Cup Basmati Rice. Soaked it. Meanwhile chopped the brinjal in small pieces. Took approximatelt 6 small ones.Make sure you put cut brinjal in water otherwise they will soon turn black. 

Now cook the rice. I always cook my rice in salted water.And in separate pan take abut 2 tsp oil. Put the chopped brinjals amd start sauteing. Mid way add salt to taste and 1 tsp turmeric. In abput 10 mins with  constant stirring these eggplants would be ready.  Take them out and in same pan take about 1 tbsp oil. Add cumin, curry leaf and chopped onion. Saute it. Meanwhile Rice will be ready. Once the onion is soft add cooked eggplant and 2 tbsp of Vaangi masala mix. Mine was spicy and in other brands it might differ. So adjust accordingly. Give a good stir. Now add cooked rice. Gently mix everything. Serve it with Raita !!