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...

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 !!!

Apple & Strawberry Quick Bread

Apple Strawberry Bread

Omg ....I have to write about this, have baked banana bread so many times - love it...and muffins with apples & applesauce..amazing....but they are all totally different in taste and texture from this - once you start eating this, you cannot stop with just one piece. 

Have to confess that this actually was a recipe for applesauce bread - but I had this jam on hand a combi of strawberries and apples - decided to use that instead of the applesauce...and oh wow !!! ....

This has a mix of all purpose flour(maida) and whole wheat flour(atta), hint of cinnamon, sweetness of the fruits(strawberry & apple - though you could use just the apples), goodness of yogurt, nourishment from egg & nuts, reduced fat with oil instead of butter, brown sugar and that too just 1/2 cup...with all those healthy options...the taste is just awesome...definitely gotta try this one out. And it is one of the most easiest things to put together - just 2 bowls - one for dry, one for wet ingredients - mix the two...and voila...there you have it..one of the most fantastic, moist, flavorful, healthy snacks, breakfast, dessert, sweet...call it as you like it.

Onion Bread

Onion Bread

Well, this was not the first bread that I had baked - and some of them have turned out pretty good - and some not that great ....some with yeast and some quick bread (of which banana bread is my all time fav.).

But somehow I was quite impressed with this bread that I had experimented with this morning...am not quite sure how I got around to doing this today - had not really planned it so...but sometimes I find myself just working on a new recipe without realising it...it just happens...and those are sometimes the best dishes.

This is one of them...I had earlier backed some buns with coriander, garlic & cheese stuffed in them - it was pretty good...and T and discussed that onion would be a good stuffing too...while reading up some recipes, I got this one which is not exactly a stuffing but the onions are fried ( browned ) and then mixed with the dough - so you get the flecks of it all thru - not just in the centre...
As usual I made some changes - added some garlic too (one of our favourite ingredients) - and also brushed the top with some milk and put some sesame seeds onto it...gave it a more professional look and feel.

Methi Dhebra / Methi Paratha / Methi Thepla

T's cousins were visiting...they had a late night flight (almost early morning ) - and I was wondering what I should make ...in case they are hungry and would like a bite...

Thought something light would be good...and hence decided on methi dhebra....traditionally dhebra is made of jowar or bajra flour....generally I stick to thepla or paratha which is made of wheat flour...

If the dhebra is made wholly of bajra - then it does not have to be rolled out - it is patted into a small circle and put on the tava to cook..

The ones I made were a mix of wheat flour, and bajra and methi leaves...so it could be rolled out into a thin circle of about 6-7 inches and then fried on the tava with oil.
It turned out real good...and this stays good for a couple of days - you could store it in the refrigerator and warm it before serving.

Rava Idli

Rava Idli

This is one dish which is so amazing, it is quite difficult to explain how such a simple thing can turn out to be an awesome meal....just paired (or is that trioed - if that is a word,should check that out ) with sambhar & chutney of course...

Surprisingly though we are a south Indian family (my folks ) and for us idli, dosas etc.....form quite a staple in our diet, and Mom had tried out quite a few varieties of  dosas - where as in case of the idli - we would stick to the traditional rice & udad dal variety.
In our native place ( S. Karnataka ) they would sometimes add "tadi"  or "kali" - got from the trees grown at home (coconut in our case, some also use the sap from palm tree ) - that was supposed to soften the idli by helping in the fermenting process and amp up the taste factor too...did not have access to that in B'bay so here we would rely on good old heat and keeping the batter overnight...

So nyways coming back to the rava idli, I have had it at restaurants and other friends/ relatives place, so decided to try my hand at making it too,
tried quite a few recipes from the net...and after a few failures and near successes...managed to zero in down on a basic recipe ( from Show me the curry ) with a few modifications taken from other sites.

Have made it many times since....and all who have had it have loved it - so here's the final version...

I have found it easier to make it in two stages - first is the preparation of the rava. I find that roasting rava with the dry ingredients and keeping it ready either much prior to making the dish ( or even the day before ) helps, as it needs to be cooled for the final mix before steaming.
I generally make double the quantity of the roast rava mix - and use half in my idli mix and keep the other half for another day - to be used either for rava upma or rava idli again.

Ingredients:
1) For rava roast:
     Rava - 2 cups
     Oil    - 2 Tblspns
     Chopped Cashews - 1 Tblspn
     Udad dal - 1 tspn
     Chana dal or Dalia - 1 tspn
     Dry Red Chilli  - 1 split in half
     Mustard - 1 tspn
     Pinch of asafoetida

2) For making idli mix:
     Take half of the above rava roast mix.
      Yogurt - 1/2 cup
      Water - 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup
      Green Chilli - 1
      Ginger grated - 1/2 tspn
      Salt - 1/2 tspn
      Eno Fruit salt - 1 tspn
      Grated Fresh Coconut  - 1 Tblspn
      Carrot grated - 1 medium
     


Method:

1) For rava roast :

• Take a non-stick pan, heat the oil, add mustard - wait till it splutters, then add  red chilli split, udad dal, chana dal, cashew, and fry till it changes  color a bit - then add rava and roast till it just start to change  color ( do not allow it to become brown/red ).
• Take out the rava in another dish and allow it to cool completely
• Now divide the rava into 2 portions - store one portion subsequent use - this can be refrigerated or even frozen for longer time.
• One half portion to be used for the second step - i.e making of the idlis, this makes approx 15-16 medium sized idlis...enough for 3-4 people for breakfast/snack...in case of lunch it is sufficient for 2-3 people.

2)    For the idli mix and steaming :

• Take a large mixing bowl - mix the yogurt and 1/2 cup of water thoroughly - add the grated carrot, ginger, coconut, chilli, salt and mix well.
• Then add the half portion of the rava roast mixture which was prepared and cooled earlier.
• Mix the entire batter so that there are no lumps.
• At this stage if the batter appears to be too thick add the remaining 1/4 cup of water bit by bit - the batter should be thicker than dosa batter.
• Keep the mix for about 20 minutes. The rava absorbs the water and the batter becomes a bit thicker - adjust water if required.

• Prepare the idli stand by greasing it with oil or butter.
• Prepare the idli cooker with requisite water and cover and keep on gas for heating.
• Put 1 tspn of Eno in the batter - and mix - it will froth a bit.

• Pour the idli batter into the idli trays and keep it in the idli cooker for steaming for about 15 minutes.

 

Serve hot with coconut chutney and sambhar.

 

Note : The carrot and coconut are optional - but the taste and color and texture that it imparts makes it so special and so out of this world.
You could also add some curry leaves and coriander leaves to the mix in Stage 2.

Enjoy !!!

Adai Dosa



Adai Dosa

 

 It is our anniversary today – and we have planned to go out to dinner, but I had wanted to make something different, something special at home…so decided I would make dosa the previous evening for dinner along with sambhar, potato veggie, chutney….hubby loves dosas ( I think he married a south Indian hoping he would have dosa, idli  everyday,  didn’t happen ) …...but as I said special occasion calls for special dosa…and so today it was the turn of adai dosa…....a mix of various dals (lentils) & rice …..

For a South Indian idli, dosas are normally a common affair…. at Mom’s place she would make the regular rice-udad dal dosa, or else neer dosa – which is only rice ( some make it with coconut & rice ), and she had her own concoctions when she had leftover batter – she would add rava, or maida or even egg and increase the quantity so that she had sufficient dough for another breakfast ( that was when we normally had it ) ….

In my case initially I would make only the regular dosa – rice-udad dal combo, tried neer dosa a couple of times without much success…it requires a skill to pour the batter and turn the skillet  to cover the entire pan and make a paper thin dosa – my mom’s were so amazing that we would generally coax her to make some for us.

Later I broadened my scope ( thru net, friends etc..) and tried  few other variations of dosa – one of which is already on my blog – pesarattu and the other is adai dosa. Am hoping to attempt the neer dosa one day ( hopefully with more success than my previous attempts, wish me luck )….nyways thought I should post my adai on the blog, this is one of the tastiest dosa and sometimes I feel that it can be had on it’s own ( almost )…it is that good….and here’s how I go about it…..

Oh and before I get down to the recipe let me tell you that there are many different combinations and proportions for this recipe – you could try out your combi too….so not too worry about the exact proportions….if you do not have any one dal, omit it or use more of the others…

Ingredients:

1 cup regular rice

½ cup idli rice, or you can use boiled rice

½ cup each of tuvar, moong, chana, udad dal  ( total 2 cups )

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

2-3 green chillies

A few sprigs of coriander

1 medium onion chopped ( optional )

 

Method :

1)      Soak  both rice, all dals, fenugreek seeds in sufficient water for 6-8 hrs or overnight.

2)      Chop green chillies  roughly…and add to above mixture.

3)      Grind with little water to make a fine batter. Do not add too much water initially, you can add it later if required to get dosa batter consistency.

 

4)      Keep for 6-8 hrs or overnight, the batter will ferment and rise to twice it’s quantity.

5)      Add salt to taste and chopped coriander and lightly mix it in.

6)      Take a ladle full of batter and pour onto a non-stick pan. Keep on high heat for a minute and then reduce the heat, keep covered, after a minute check if dosa is done on one side, turn the dosa over and keep for a minute on medium to low heat on the other side.



 

7)      Once done on both sides – take out and serve hot.

8)      If adding onions  - you could either put it in the batter along with coriander or after pouring the batter onto the pan you could sprinkle the onions on the top.

Enjoy !!!

The dosa was a big hit – took some over to Mom’s too…she too loved it, made some mini masala utappam with it the next day ( day of anniversary – so breakfast also was made special )…..here’s wishing my dearest hubby a very happy anniversary….and a big thank you for all the wonderful years that we have spent together.

Rice Chilla

When I first heard this name I was not sure what it was, how it looked, how was it made....then I realised that it was a modified version of  what we called a tomato omelet - we use to have it in restaurants ( Mom did not prepare it at home when we were kids ) -  do not know why they called it omelet ( it did not have eggs ) - was basically made from besan and served with a couple of triangles of bread.

While the tomato omelet is made of besan & onions, chillies, tomatoes...rice chilla as the name suggests has rice flour in it too...I was introduced to the above variation by my friend.

We were invited to lunch at my friend's place, they stay in the neighbouring state - it was a hour and half drive to their place ( but since it was mainly on the interstate - not really that bad a drive and quite scenic so the time really does tend to fly by)...
 
We always have a great time at my friend's place - she is part of my group of college friends and hence we have known each other a long time...there is something very comforting about meeting up with old friends...and having known her family too for as long....you feel totally at home with them...so we were looking forward to meeting them all again and since G ( my friend ) and her mom ( aunty) are great cooks, were anticipating a yum lunch.

When we arrived there, G and aunty were busy getting the lunch organised and then after most of the main dishes were all set, G started pouring out ladle full of the batter ( rice chilla ) onto the pan...and serving it to us piping hot in turns ...it was really delicious ( chilla and the entire meal ).....so had to get the recipe from her right away.

G gave me the info on the dish - but those days we were busy with winding up our stuff in US and the move back to India and settling down and other issues ....so for a while this dish was out of my mind.
Later remembered it ( sort of ) - tried to recreate it...made some changes...not sure how true to G's recipe I have managed to come to....but have gotten an amazing result...and thought let me share it....

Apple muffins

Apple muffin

The original recipe given to me by my friend has applesauce in it...and even when I was in the US with easy access to that product, I never used it...would generally make do with Gala apples - the red delicious apples which we would regularly stock at home...

Back here in India - I use whatever I tend to have at hand...am not sure of the names of any of the varieties - one they call Chinese, the large one sold with a mesh cover, then another small red variety and another large red types...just shows how ignorant I am....not that it matters which one but generally for these muffins if using the Chinese ones which are pretty large I use one and half - whereas if using the small red variety - I tend to use 2...

While in US, I used to make these many times, somehow here I have broadened my scope of baking and keep trying out different recipes and have not really baked these as much...but it is one of my all time favourites - the flavours, taste, smell of these are more subtle than the banana muffins which have a more intense, in your face types,  taste & smell of bananas...
The delicate taste of apples as it comes thru when you bite into it...along with the aroma of cinnamon and brown sugar is something to relish.

So when we were invited to dinner along with my visiting sis-in-law and her hubby to a cousin's place, I decided to bake these apple muffins...it was her favourite muffin and so I thought she would enjoy it...and so would our hostess and her two lovely daughters...

The dinner was amazing, we also had a delayed Raksha Bandhan since both my husband's sister and cousin had not met my husband since then...it was a fun party with lots of jokes and remembrances of past Raksha Bandhan. B ( our hostess ) is a very lively person and keeps us all in splits with her take on all matters....so thanks to all of them  for the lovely time we had...

Sheera - Rava Halwa

We got good news today in the morning - my nephew ( brother's son ) had got admission in the college of his choice for engineering...and also got the stream he was looking for..electronics.

Nowadays the competition is so stiff with re. to schools, colleges, jobs...etc...regardless of how hard you work - you still have the stress when applying...and along with the kids, so do the parents, aunts ( in my case ), uncles, grandparents ( Mom & Dad )....well you get the picture !!!

So when we were all relieved of our nail-biting ( ?) tension, we decided ( me & Mom ...I was at her place at the time ) to celebrate with something sweet...( this was after our hugs and kisses )....

The first thing I could think of was sheera...actually not true I thought of a lot of other stuff - but either they required a lot of pre planning or preparation...or ingredients that I did not have on hand...so the easiest and quickest sweet that I could immediately whip up was sheera...

This is a dish which we all love, it is made many a time as a prasad when it is a festive occasion...sometimes we make it just to have as dessert after a special occasion meal...and sometimes just because... and sometimes cuz we want to have something sweet to eat...or like today to celebrate ...
We used to have it at times in breakfast instead of powa or dosa or upma - it would make a sweet change :-)
Whatever the reason or occasion - it is a quick and easy recipe and the results are awesome...

Pesarattu Dosa - Green Gram Dosa

Pesarattu
Green gram dosa

A few days back it was raksha bandhan / balev...and I wanted to make some sweet for the occasion - decided to make puran poli / vedmi...though that is not the ideal sweet for decorating the rakhi thali...but it has been some time since we had made it and it is a particular favourite of Mom's ( which is another odd thing...you would have thought that I would have probably made something my brother liked...but he is not that fussy about sweets - so it was ok ...I guess ...I hope...I think I had better ask?!?). Regardless it was a good raksha bandhan.....got calls from my sister-in-laws too wishing me...thank you To & Ru....

So nyways thought I would post that down - but the past few days was too busy, besides which I had not taken any pictures of the process or the end product....and now it is all eaten and done with...so maybe the next time I make it....

I had missed blogging the past week...and so when I made dosa yesterday, immediately got out my camera - took pictures before, after and during...and here I am...pictures and post all set to go...

.....In Ahmedabad.....Poha with Beans

Generally when I think of a new post it is with some recipe in mind - some new dish or an old one with a new twist...but today I just felt like putting down some thoughts ...

Have been here in Ahmedabad for a week now - and boy is it hot....that is the first thought that comes to mind...there have been no rains here at all and it is almost end of July - so everyday all of us look to the hopeful skies, and after seeing the gray clouds hovering above us, we all predict ( like the weatherman ) that today it will rain...and just like the weatherman - the Gods, and heavens, and rains prove us to be wrong....so there we go taking cool showers, sitting under fans or a/c's and eating ice creams - all in a desperate attempt to cool off....

The past week has evoked a mixed bag of emotions...on the one side my mother-in-law ( who we call Ma ) has not been well - but her spirits are so high, she is a very strong person and is bearing up very well ...and does not let us feel down either...it is an education spending time with her...she is still as involved in life ( people, recipes, events ) as ever....
I admire her a lot, she has been a good mentor, advising without preaching or judging...and always letting us be...allowing us to live our own lives, gently guiding us if she felt it was required....I could go on and on....but it suffices to say that I feel she is a great lady...and I am very proud and honored to have her as my mother-in-law....

From thoughts of Ma ....automatically my thoughts move on to one of her passions...cooking....she loves to try out different recipes, any new dish makes her very curious to figure out the ingredients and how it was made....
Under her guidance her cook ( at 3B, as this place is more fondly referred to as ) ....churns out dishes which could be compared favourably with any fancy restuarant chef's...

This week we had a quite a few...some dishes are complex and some simple - but all absolutely delicious ....a couple of days back, we had poha but with a healthy twist...it was made with moong beans and matki (moth ) beans...instead of the usual potato...
I thought I would try it out once I get back to Mumbai...but decided to put down the recipe...( is it cheating a bit to put down something I have not as yet made myself...only observed and eaten?...well...nyways never mind...)

Sweet Appam

When we were kids mom used to make a lot of the typical Karnataka dishes both sweet and savoury...but slowly our cuisine changed incorporating a lot of Mumbai cosmopolitan flavours and tastes, our neighbours were a mixed lot and it was from them that she picked up new dishes, recipes, masalas etc...

Many of the south dishes are time consuming to make, most involve soaking, grinding etc...earlier most of our veg curries included coconut which had to be ground to a paste with other spices ( so the first step is to grate the coconut before even grinding)...and me and my brother and sister were pressed into service ...we had the old stone grinder ...where in we had to sit on the floor and rotate the oval stone in one hand over the base which had a flat portion and centre hollow...not sure I am explaining it properly enough - and do not have a picture of the same...suffice to say that it was not an easy task...but according to Mom it would not taste the same if ground in an electric grinder...
Even our idli and dosa batter were ground the same way...

Later we started using the electric grinder for all our tasks - age and lack of time contributed to the change ..I think....

But as I mentioned all these south delicacies reduced to quite an extent and our general fare was quick and easy meals....

Recently we moved from our apartment ( due to redevelopment of the building complex ) to another part of Mumbai...our new apartment was quite close to a cousin's place - my Dad's nephew V....his wife (A) is a very lovely lady who still makes all the traditional dishes of Karnataka and since we are now close by she drops in at Mom's place often with some dish in tow...
Mom relishes all of them...and it tempted me to try it out too...one of them being the sweet appam.

Savoury Tomato Seviyan

Savoury Tomato Seviyan

A hot breakfast had been an everyday affair at my parents place....and we are all breakfast eaters ...can not imagine starting off a day without it...not so much hubby & his family...he did not prefer to eat anything ( at least before 9 or so )....
So he would look on in disbelief  when I would sit with a full plate of whatever even if I had to catch a very early flight or train or anything else...."it is like almost night time, ( this at  3 or 4 in the morning )...how can you eat"...but as I said once you are a breakfast person - you are hungry no matter what the time it is...cannot just have tea or coffee and leave...

And that is why, after I got married I would prepare a hot breakfast like powa, upma or idli, dosa, dhokla etc...only on weekends...another reason of course was on a regular working day it would be a big rush to cook early in the morning, and since I would be the only one eating it, it did not make it worthwhile...
Whereas on weekends both of us could have and it satisfied the second criteria of timing - I would prepare it leisurely and we could have it at 8:30 or 9...at a more "civilised time" according to T....

Peanut Butter

Peanut Butter

When in Rome....as the saying goes

I have found this to be quite true of my eating patterns...while I was in US, was quite enamoured of their crackers ( as they call it ) ...here we call it biscuit...and now some have started calling their products cookies( ? ) ...anyhow...

So some of my favourites were Oreos, Graham crackers ( Nabisco's )...and the very light with a delicate salty flavour Club crackers in it's original form...and it's varieties, honey flavoured, and puffed etc...and also Wheat thins ( with it's varieties )....every trip to the grocery store would see me stocking up on them...so as to have them as my tea time snack...
But when we settled back here in India...all of those favourites were replaced by those available here...one of my current favourites is the toast made by Britannia, and biscuits like Hide-n-seek, Bourbon ....

Coming back to old favourites...the reason why I meandered into the crackers lane...was cause I saw a recipe for making peanut butter and felt a wave of nostalgia come over me...this was something else that I used to relish with the above mentioned crackers or bread ( ... do not have it here though it is now readily available )

Anyways decided to make it at home, checked out a few different recipes...and got 'cracking' on it :-) ....ok so not that funny...never mind...

Healthy hearty bread

The current trend is to eat healthy -anywhere and everywhere you read, there is talk of how to make the food that we eat more healthier, 
There are so many things that are considered bad for you,  that finally we may have to give up eating all together...[ though that may not be so bad, I hear fasting is good for you :) ]

The most confusing part is that the powers that be keep changing the rules of the game...how do we keep it all straight ?

Sometimes it is wine that is bad, now a glass of red is considered good..chocolates were bad...now dark chocolate has the nod...whole wheat flour was considered better than all purpose flour or maida...oh wait...that is still considered  to be so...but now there are a whole bunch of other flours which is said to be better that WWF...millet flour, sourgham flour, soyabean flour, amaranth flour.....

After going through the net I found some recipes for rotis, chapatis with a combination of all these above along with a little bit of  flax seed, sesame seeds, fenugreek seeds all powdered...
tried various combinations and now try to make it the healthy way most of the times.

Then of course the natural progression was from rotis to breads...got some recipe for healthy bread...tweaked it a bit to make it more healthy and also added some fruit pulp, either banana or apple ...along with some nuts ( love the crunchiness in all baked goods )...
This also contains oats ..yogurt, milk and honey ...with so much goodness ....it would be hard to improve upon...but that did not stop me !?
So here's the healthy hearty bread recipe...

Ingredients :

1 cup oats + 2 Tblspns
11/3 cup wheat flour
1 cup AP flour
1 cup yogurt
3/4 cup milk
2 tsps Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 banana mashed
1 egg
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup chopped nuts - I used almonds

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 F or 190 C.
Coat a 9 x 5 pan with oil and sprinkle one tablespoon of oats all around it.
Mix the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, flax seed, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a bowl with a whisk
Mix all the wet ingredients along with 1 cup of oats.
Mix the flour mixture with the oats mixture stirring gently - do not overmix - put in the chopped nuts, vanilla essence and mix gently.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes - 1 hour or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool for 10 mins in the pan - and after removing for another 15 mins on the rack.
Enjoy !!!

Tips : You can make it healthier by reducing the oil and adding applesauce.
I reduced the 1 cup of AP flour to 1/2 and substituted the remaining 1/2 with a mix or millet flour, sourgham flour, a tablespoon of soya flour...