Baked Rice Chakli 'n' An Amazing Vacation.....

Baked Rice Chakli

Rice Chakli...you know sometimes the most odd coincidences happen...for quite a while my Mom was talking about making chakli at home ( we used to do it together when we were both younger, me a teen and hence quite enthu about all new & interesting cooking )....but now doing it on my own just did not appeal and I kept putting it off...

And this is where the odd coincidence comes in...

I was on vacation in US - visiting my sister-in-law To and her husband A, had an amazing time with them ( have to thank them once again..had a lot of fun.. )...met up with most of our family there especially those on the East Coast, visited Boston...had a great time with our family who live there....attended a birthday party, awesome cake, birthday girl's current favorite...'Elsa', the princess from the Disney movie "Frozen"...

.... visited New York...shows and sightseeing...Bill Cosby show, the Radio City Rockettes...Central Park one of my favourite haunts, and also took in the new sights...the newly opened World Trade Centre...and the 9/11 memorial...

Central Park

World Trade Centre

9/11 Memorial

Atlantic City Caesars Casino

..visited New Jersey, our old home, our old haunts...with some friends who stay there...Outlet malls, Atlantic City...shopping & eating out...and visited the new Swaminarayan Temple at NJ...thanks guys A&L&kids....

Swaminarayan Temple in NJ

...met up with another old friend & her family...late night movie (Happy New Year), shopping, taking her dog to the park...Minnie...such a darling....had a great time thanks to G...& her family...

all in all an awesome month of pure relaxation & enjoyment.

Have posted some pictures of New York and some of the colors of fall...have taken so many it is difficult to decide on which to post....

Fall colors in Allentown, PA

I think the month I visited was the best season out there...I love the  fall season in the East Coast of US...the colors were fantastic...could not stop clicking...

Eggless Chocolate Cake - Vegan

This ( the search for the recipe ) started when we were to have some guests from US....one of T's cousin and her family...which included a granddaughter who was allergic to diary...

I had a couple of favourite cakes - one date, and the other chocolate - but both had milk, butter, or eggs or yogurt....so checked the net ...and found this one in all-recipes site...

It is such a simple recipe and yet it turns out into an amazingly delish cake - it is a little chewy sort of brownie type...really liked it...after which I have made it many times - even for regular ( i.e. non allergic ) folks...and everyone has loved it too...

There are some changes that I have made to the original recipe....one is to reduce the sugar...we like ours to be just sweet...not too sweet...sometimes I replace a quarter cup of sugar with brown sugar - that gives it a more caramelised taste...
I also like to reduce the oil - so my standard substitution for that is to skin and grate an apple ( small ) - and then micro it for about 4-5 minutes with a few drops of water till it becomes soft and pulpy...cool and use in the cake batter...this increases the taste, nutritional value besides making it more healthy by reducing the oil...and of course cannot do without some nuts, so chopped walnuts it is...( this is optional and can be omitted )

Mango Kulfi

Mango Kulfi

I have to tell you all that it is my birthday today....but that is not the main reason I made this today....I have a long story for this...as usual...  :-)....please do not say "not again"...just bear with me...I promise to cut it short...

I had been eyeing the kulfi molds in the shops time & again...but somehow did not get around to buying it for some reason or the other...was not too sure how much I would really use it...have loads of stuff that I purchase with the vague plan of using it "some day"...

Then once T & I had gone grocery shopping and they had the cutest kulfi molds on sale...so tempting - this time T himself picked it up...so I decided to get it... and since then it has been laying around my cupboards...(I know, I know...but see I have used it finally)

Nyways..so the plan was that I would make kulfi soon...but that has been quite a while ago....and now about say 3-4 mths or 6...who knows..it was still not inaugurated...

Decided to get down to business...and b'day being a good day for a new beginning...kulfi it was...and being mango season ...my first foray into this was with a mango kulfi....

But as I said in my first line...it was not made for my b'day cause I had already planned a chocolate cake ( by popular demand ...my Mom actually )...so this morning was very hectic with me making both the cake and the kulfi and attending to messages, calls, what's app...etc...and also getting ready to go out for lunch & some shopping with sister dearest...

Phew! somehow managed, took the cake to my parents place, all gathered there - cut it, ate it, left some crumbs for our respective spouses...sorry guys...was really melt in the mouth...( I think I make it for almost everyone's birthdays...this is what all seem to want )...and kept the kulfi in the freezer in my new molds...cannot wait to see hubby's face when I take it out... I am bound to hear an "At last"...

So anyways after having patience to hear(read) me out...the least I can do is give you the recipe...here goes...sorry guys no pictures this time...was too busy this morning to get it..this mould has 8 kulfis - before the last one is over if I get the pictures taken I will update this post...

This turned out so great ...makes a good dessert or can be had just when the mood strikes...so cool and delish.

Ingredients:

2 and half cups milk - half a litre - 500 ml
1/4 cup milk powder
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 sugar to be added if required (depending on the mangoes)
1 cup of mango pulp (about 3-4 alphonso mangoes depending on size)
1 Tblspn of crushed almonds & walnuts ( can use any nuts )
a few sprigs of kesar (saffron )


Method :

1) Bring the milk to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer till it reduces to about half.
2) Add the rest of the ingredients except the mango pulp & sugar. Mix thoroughly.
3) Let it cool down completely - then add the mango pulp to the mixture. 
4) At this stage do the taste test...and add sugar if required as per your requirement. 
Since the milk powder I used had been sweetened, and the condensed milk is sweetened and the mangoes were sweet enough I did not require any additional sugar.
5) Pour the kulfis into moulds and keep in the freezer for 8 hrs or overnight.
6) To demould, run some water over the outside of the moulds, and gently twist the stick to remove it.

Enjoy !!!

They were so amazing...that I am very happy with my purchase...feel it was totally worth it, even if I do not make it again ( which will not be the case...as hubby was already making plans as to which flavour should be next...maybe badam pista kulfi )...this is a total paisa-vasool purchase...

I do urge you all to try out this delicious recipe...and you do not need the kulfi moulds ...it can be set in any dish...I had some leftover which I poured into a couple of other containers too...had to cut and serve them up...tasted just as good...yum !!!

So let me know how it turns out for you...
P.S.....as you have guessed from the pictures above that I did manage to take some before we finished it all off...and hence the update...

Ragi Bread (made with yeast)

Ragi Bread

I think we are all increasingly become a wired society...just this moment I connected my camera to the comp ...to upload the pictures of the bread I had made...there u go ...wires...then job done..rolled it up and put it in...
In the morning - more wires ...to charge up my laptop...wires of mobiles(in plural) ...for each of us...why(?!?)...who knows...being so connected to the world is not necessarily a very good idea...methinks. Soon with evolution we might start growing wires out of our own bodies ( theory being that - that which is not used disappears and that which is frequently used becomes stronger )....science fiction ?!? you say...well u never know...it just might be the future.

Nyways just random & stray thoughts...were we better off when lives were simpler...and access to all a little bit more restricted...when we were not so privy to every itty bitty detail of others lives & happenings(Facebook & What's app)....where they all are at any given time...what they ate, what they saw, did, enjoyed...who they met...
I guess every bit of development & progress has it's cons...and we have to live with that whilst enjoying it's benefits.

What has that to do with this recipe...nothing actually...sorry guys...to let you down this path...just thought I would let out a bit of my angst.

So coming back to this bread...I am on a bread discovery, new flours discovery, and more healthful alternatives to the original options...hoping to achieve food nirvana some day... :-).

This bread contains a mix of 3 flours, used ragi ( nachani ) my new favourite, whole wheat, and some all purpose to lighten the dough a bit...
Dates is my new sweetener...have written more about it below...
Fruits or veggies my all time favourite...try to always incorporate them in my baking..

It all worked out beautifully and came together in the form of this bread...which can be had for breakfast or evening tea, or even a midway snack...it is not sweet at all...so for those with a sweet tooth...the sugar or dates can be increased...otherwise it could be had as is...with butter or fruit preserves of choice.

And here goes, the recipe for an amazing bread is as given below....


Ingredients:

3/4 cup Ragi flour
3/4 cup Whole wheat flour
1/2 cup All purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
3/4 tsp active yeast
1 Tblspn sugar
8-10 dates, seeded and chopped**
1 Tblspn olive oil ( or any other oil )
1 large or 2 medium carrot(s) grated (optional)*
1/2 tsp salt


Topping (optional ):
1 tsp milk 
1/2 Tblspn sesame seeds

Method:

1) Warm the milk, add sugar and yeast and keep aside for 10 minutes, add the chopped dates to this mixture.
2) Mix all the flours in the bowl, add salt, oil, and mix thoroughly.
3) Add the grated carrots, and the yeast mixture, knead to form a smooth dough - you could add some water or flour if required, the dough is a bit sticky.
4) Oil the dough surface, and the bowl, keep covered with a moist cloth for 1 hour in a warm place. The dough rises to double it's size.
5) Beat the dough down and knead it lightly, shape in form of a loaf...put it in a baking dish - cover with cloth and keep again for 1 to 1 and 1/2 hrs to rise again.
6) After the second rising - pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C, brush the dough with milk, and sprinkle sesame seeds over it, press lightly so that it sticks to the dough.
7)Bake 180 for 35-40 minutes till done. Check with a toothpick to see if done.

8) Cool over a wire rack - then slice and serve.
Enjoy !!!

Note:
*1) The carrots are optional - it is just to add some more flavour and to increase the nutritional quotient...you could add spinach or bottle gourd ( dudhi ) or zucchini...but in case of those you may need to remove some of the water esp. regards dudhi or zucchini...so as to not make the bread too moist.
Apple or banana also make a good addition...have used it in other recipes - turns out good.
You could also just go with plain ....

**2) The addition of dates is to increase the sweetness of the bread without increasing the sugar...
Dates provide a lot of health benefits - it is a rich source of iron, vitamins, minerals and also helps lower cholesterol...it is a natural form of sugar so I try to use it instead of sugar in most of my sweet dishes.

The previous time I had tried a whole wheat bread - it had become too dense - and since it was not too sweet either I did not have a lot of takers for it...so had to valiantly finish it off on my own...this time decided to try with smaller portions ...
So this was a half measure of an recipe with my modifications ....make one small loaf - the slices look big cause I cut it a bit diagonally...but you could go double it to get a regular sized big loaf...
Hope you try this ...I loved it...and do plan on making it again myself.
And regards my angst above...don't worry any communication from my readers is most welcome...please do let me know what you think..re. my recipes...or in general....life & the world... :-)

Cucumber Spinach Pancake

Cucumber and Spinach Pancake

In the good old days we used to have Sanjeev Kapoor on TV, Khana Khazana was the program which we could watch to see live cooking recipes...used to like to watch that....but many times would miss it ....whereas now we have two channels now showing us a lot of recipes full time - Food Food channel and the erstwhile Khana K....so when we are free we can browse those channels and watch some new, old, desi(local) or international recipe....

On one of those shows I came upon this one....it reminded me of one of my own rice chilla which I have already blogged...this was a simpler version and I thought let me give it a try...

It turned out pretty good and amazingly simple & quick...so guess it is something which will be part of my repertoire in future....works good for breakfast or a snack...or even if guests drop in and you would like to have something more substantial than biscuits & chai to serve them...

So without further ado...let me get on with the actual recipe..here goes...

Ingredients:

1 medium cucumber grated
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp red chili powder ( can add more if you like it spicier)
1/2 cup rice flour
2 Tblspns rava
2 Tblspns yogurt(curd)
water to make a batter
oil for frying


Method:

1) Grate a cucumber - squeeze out the water and keep aside. Chop spinach leaves and add to the cucumber along with salt and red chili powder.

2)Add the rice flour, rava, yogurt and mix - then add water to make a batter - first add the cucumber water - and if required add additional water. Do not make it too thin. Keep aside for about 10 minutes. 
The flours absorb the water and the batter becomes a little thicker.
Then add some more water if required so as to have a batter which is as thick as a dosa batter.

3) Put a few drops of oil onto a non-stick pan, then take a ladle full of batter and spread onto the pan. Cover with lid and let it cook till some brown spots appear. Flip the pancake and cook the other side too. Cook on medium heat so as to cook evenly and thoroughly.

4) Serve hot with ketchup or green chutney.

Enjoy !!!

For such a simple recipe the taste was pretty awesome...and the prep. time is so little...so ahead and try it out yourself...would love to hear from you, what you think about it...

Eggless Ragi Banana Cake

Eggless Ragi Banana Cake

Recently, I met up with one of my very close friends(D had a great time with you) who was visiting India ( she lives in Dallas US )...and we got to discussing the various grains and cereals and what is good and healthy...and can be used in a lot of our day to day cooking, baking etc...

One of those was amaranth...and while trying to get the Indian name for it we mistakenly referred to it as ragi...then later realised that it is not so...the actual name is rajagira...which is supposed to be very good, considered a superfood.

All this bought to fore my desire to move on to new methods and ingredients in my baking in my quest for a more healthy sweet or dessert...since we have tried unsuccessfully many a time to resist the sweet temptations.

So while browsing for recipes got a few using ragi ( nachani ) flour and was very impressed with a couple of them - one was a chocolate cupcake and the other a banana cake...
The latter won the toss mainly cause I had 3 bananas on verge of going to the bin if not used immediately...but I also wanted to try an eggless version and use sweetened condensed milk which was part of the first recipe....confusing right ....nyways the end result was a combination of parts of both.

Ragi is a cereal which is very nutritious, it is rich in  calcium, has a lot of dietary fibre, has a lot of iron, is a natural relaxant, and a host of other properties...

So after reading the above recipes I was quite keen to try it out - though I was unsure how it would be received by all at home, generally I do not have much takers for my "healthy attempts" ...but this one turned out so amazing - it was soft, delish (even with the reduced sweetness) and one could not make out that it was made without the regular flours...

Healthy Dates & Carrot Quick Breakfast Bread

Dates & Carrot Breakfast Bread

So now I am on a health trip - trying to find ways to reduce the sugar, all-purpose flour from my recipes...did a bit of experimentation with yeast...and then found my way back to the quicker variety with baking powder & soda...

Though right now I am still continuing with the carrots & dates & banana or apple pulps combinations, this particular bread recipe had agave ( for sweetness)  which I replaced with honey...the previous recipe was a whole wheat bread which was very dense - so decided to go a bit lighter this time with a combination of flours...and since this had oats(loads of goodness)...felt I could add in a bit of AP flour...the sweetness is due to the dates and honey - both of which just barely flavours the bread - and that is good for a breakfast bread..which is where I was going with this one...
However if you would like it more like a dessert you make add more honey or dates or even sugar to the mix.

The spices in this bread brings out the flavours of dates, the slight aroma of banana...and brings to mind the Christmas plum cake...making it absolutely yummy !!!