By Lavanya on June 11, 2009
Buckwheat Pancakes
For a filling, yet healthy breakfast item, there’s nothing to match buckwheat pancakes.
Ingredients
Milk, 275ml
Egg, 1
Salt, a pinch
Veg oil, 1 tsp
Atta (Wholewheat flour), 55g
Buckwheat flour, 55g
Olive oil, 1 tsp
Method
In a large bowl, take the milk, egg, salt and oil and mix well.
Sift the atta with the buckwheat flour in a separate bowl.
Add these to the milk mixture gradually, stirring non-stop till you get a smooth batter with no lumps.
Put it aside for thirty minutes.
To make the pancakes, add teaspoon of olive oil to a hot pan, ladle in some batter and cook until golden on each side.
Serving sugggestion: Serve with a dollop of plain yoghurt and drizzle honey all over for a sumptuous breakfast.
Posted in Main, Recipes | Tagged breakfast, Low GI |
By Lavanya on June 6, 2009
Rava (Sooji) , 1 cup
Sugar, 1 cup
Water, 2 cups
Ghee, 1/2 cup
Kesari powder, a pinch
Cardomom, 2 pods
Broken cashewnuts, 5
Edible camphor (Pachai karpooram), a pinch (optional)
Method:
Heat a tablespoon of ghee in a heavy bottomed pan and add the rava to it.
Roast it nicely, keeping the flame on low, till the rava turns golden.
Boil two cups of water and add the water to the roasted rava.
Add a pinch of the food colouring, mix well and keep mixing till the water gets absorbed.
Once the rava is cooked, add the sugar. Mix.
Add the remaining ghee (keeping a spoonful for roasting cashew) in stages and keep stirring.
You’ll know the kesari is dome when it doesn’t stick to the sides of the pan and rolls into a ball when you stir it.
Take the pan off the heat.
Heat the spoonful of the ghee and add the chopped bits of cashew. Make sure they don’t get burnt – take them off the flame whilst golden.
Powder the cardomom and the camphor.
Garnish the kesari with the cashewnuts and sprinkle the cardomom powder and camphor powder and serve.
Posted in Dessert, Recipes | Tagged Dessert |
By Lavanya on June 2, 2009
Home Baking: Olive and Oregano Bread
To make this, things needed are
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cups strong white flour
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup pitted black olives, chopped
1 tbsp olive paste (optional)
1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 1/4 cups hand-hot water
1. Lightly oil a baking sheet. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the onion until golden brown.
2. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Add the yeast, salt and pepper. Make a well in the centre. Add the fried onion(with the oil), the olives, olive paste, herbs and water. Gradually incorporate the flour and mix to a soft dough, adding a little extra water if necessary.
3. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Shape into a 8-in round and place on the prepared baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, make crisscross marks over the top, cover and leave in a warm place until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 7 / 425F.
4. Bake the loaf for 10 minutes then lower the oven temperature to Gas Mark 6 / 400F. Bake for 20 minutes more, or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack.
Posted in Recipes | Tagged Baking |
By Lavanya on April 9, 2009
What do you do when it is nearly tea-time, you haven’t got anything interesting to eat and your child’s giving you baleful stares? Simple! These quick and dirty cup cakes!
Quick Cup Cakes
To make these, you need
Self raising flour, 125 gms
Caster sugar, 125 gms
Sunflower oil, 125 ml (or if you have it, unsalted butter / margarine, 125 gms)
Eggs, 2 large
Vanilla extract, 2 tsp
Pre-heat your oven to 180 deg C / Gas mark 4.
Take a big mixing bowl and add in all the ingredients. Rope in your pint-sized slave as sous chef and make him/her do the mixing.
Pop in muffin cups into a muffin tray and half-fill it with the cake mixture.
Bake for 12 minutes.
Allow it to cool and decorate with icing / hundreds & thousands if you have any.
Makes 10.
Posted in Dessert, Recipes | Tagged Baking, Child friendly |
By Lavanya on March 17, 2009
Piping hot idlis
Idli – soft, fragrant, melt in the mouth rice-and-lentil cakes are the perfect South Indian breakfast items. Served with chutneys and/or onion sambhar, they can set you up for a great day. Making idlies can never be a spur of the moment thing – the rice and lentils have to be soaked for 4 hours+, ground fine and then fermented till the batter ‘rises’ for perfectly, fluffy idlies.
Ingredients
Boiled rice or idli rice – 6 cups
Whole urad dal – 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste
Wash and soak the rice in warm water for 6 hours.
An hour before grinding, soak the dal and methi seeds in hot water.
Grind the rice and dal separately, adding enough water till they are ground fine and you get a thick, wet batter.
Mix the two together with your hand, adding enough salt.
Cover and keep in a warm place and allow the batter to rise.
Idlies in the molds
Once the batter has risen, oil the idli molds and ladle the batter onto the molds.
Steam for around 12 minutes, till the idlies are cooked through.
Sprinkle cold water on top of the idlis and prise them out.
Serve hot with chutney / sambhar.
Serving Suggestion: Idlies with coconut chutney, tomato thokku
Posted in Main, Recipes | Tagged breakfast, South Indian |
By Lavanya on March 10, 2009
Photograph by Sundeep D
Can there be a more sumptuous treat than this Queen of Sweets? Fresh carrots, whole milk, assorted nuts make this a medley of yumminess.
To make this, you need
Carrots, grated – 1 kilo
Whole milk – 1 litre
Khova / Khoya / Mawa – 150 gms
Sugar – 2-3 cups
Ghee – 3 tbsp
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Broken cashew – 1 tbsp
Golden raisins – 1/2 tbsp (optional)
Cardomom / elaichi – 2-3 pods
Take a thick-bottomed kadai and heat the milk in it. Once the milk starts boiling, slowly add the grated carrots into it. On a low flame, let the carrots cook in the milk.
Keep stirring frequently to prevent the milk forming a layer on the bottom and/or getting burnt.
Once all the milk has been absorbed, add the grated mawa to the mixture. The mawa / khova / khoya will add a creamy texture to the halwa.
After the mawa has been folden in, add the sugar.
The sugar will melt and needs to be stirred constantly to prevent from caramelising.
After the sugar has blended well with the cooked carrots, add the ghee and continue stirring.
As the halwa gets cooked, it will absorb the ghee into it.
The halwa is ready when it stops sticking to the sides of the pan and rolls into a ball when stirred.
Take it off the flame.
Heat ghee in a smaller pan and saute the nuts and raisins before adding them to the halwa.
Add powdered cardomom and mix well.
Enjoy!
Posted in Dessert, Recipes | Tagged Dessert, Featured |
By Lavanya on November 25, 2008
Lunch is served - Tomato rice with onion raita and appalam
Ingredients
Rice, cooked, 1 cup
Tomato thokku, 2 tbsp
Sunflower oil, 2 tsp
Urad dal, channa dal, 1 tsp each
Freshly ground chilli powder*, to taste
Gingelly oil, 1 tbsp
Curry leaves (optional), for garnish
Cook the rice with just enough water so the grains separate easily.
Spread on a plate and allow it to cool.
In a kadai, heat the oil and fry the urad and channa dal till they turn golden. Keep aside.
Add a dollop of tomato thokku to the rice, along with a spoonful of gingelly oil and mix slowly with the tips of your fingers. Gradually work in the thokku to the rice till the rice turns an even red colour and the mixture is totally incorporated into the rice.
Just before serving, add the crunchy dals to the rice, garnish with the curry leaves and serve hot.
Serving suggestion: Serve hot with a cool raita and appalam (pic)
Posted in Main, Recipes | Tagged Indian, Lunch |
By Lavanya on November 25, 2008
The perfect accompaniment to spicy, rice dishes.
Onion raita
Ingredients
Onion, 1, chopped
Salt, to taste
Yoghurt, beaten, 1 cup
Oil, 1 tsp
Mustard seeds, 1 tsp
Asafoetida, a pinch
Curry leaves, a few (optional)
Beat the yoghurt well, with some water to get a creamy mixture. Add salt and mix well. Keep aside.
Take oil in a pan and heat it. Drop the seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves in it and let it all splutter.
Now toss in the chopped onions and saute it well.
Add the cooked onions to the yoghurt, mix well, check salt and serve.
Raita can also be made with cucumber, tomatoes or mixed (onions, tomatoes and cucumber). Just dice the veg of your choice and add it to the yoghurt mixture. Only onion needs to be fried in oil to take off its raw taste. Cucumber, tomatoes etc can be added to the yoghurt straightaway.
Posted in Recipes, Sides | Tagged Accompaniment, Raita |
By Lavanya on November 25, 2008
Tomato thokku
Ingredients
Tomato, chopped, 1 can
Onions, diced, 1
Green chillies, diced, 1-2 (or as required)
Oil, 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, 1 tsp each
Asafoetida, turmeric powder, a pinch
Salt, to taste
Chopped fresh coriander, to garnish
In a thick bottomed kadai, heat the oil. Add the dals and fry golden. Next, add the mustard seeds and allow it to splutter. Add asafoetida and fry for a few seconds before adding the chopped onions and chillies. Fry till it turns clear.
Next, add a can of chopped tomatoes, mix well along with salt and turmeric powder. Cover and cook on a low flame.
Stir the mixture on a regular basis, till the oil glistens on top and separates from the mixture.
Take off the flame, cool and store in an air-tight container.
Posted in Recipes, Sides | Tagged Indian, Tambram, Tomato |
By Lavanya on November 22, 2008
Hot onion pakoras on a cold winter afternoon – heaven! Couple it with hot masala chai for a sublime tea-time treat.
Onion pakora
Ingredients
Onion, 1, sliced lengthways
Besan (bengal gram flour), 1 cup
Rice flour, 1/2 cup
Salt, to taste
Cold water, as required
Oil, for frying
Pakoras frying in hot oil
Mix the flours well, with salt. Add a few tablespoons of cold water and rub it in the flour mixture, till you get a dough that isn’t wet but tightly packed. Too much water will result in a bajji-ish batter.
Add the onions to this and mix well.
Heat oil in a kadai. Drop a breadcrumb in it and if it browns in under a minute, then your oil is hot enough.
Gradually add spoonfuls of the pakora mixture in the oil.
Fry well till the pakora gets to a crisp, golden colour.
Take it out and drain on kitchen towels.
Serve hot with tomato ketchup.
You can add chopped veg like cauliflower, beans etc to the onions to make yummy vegetable pakoras.
Posted in Recipes, Tiffin | Tagged fried, snacks |
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