Eggless- Blueberry Crumb Cake

Yesterday evening I was busy with studying and reading research papers for a journal club presentation. 'M' was going to take the kids and his parents out to see the beautiful fall colors at Brown County State park.

'E' was nagging that 'I want mumma' to go with us. To convince him...I fell into the trap of offering to bake him some goodies before they came back. And so came into being this "Eggless Blueberry Crumb Cake"!

Ingredients:
2 Cups All purpose flour
1 cup cold water
3/4 cup sugar
1/3rd cup oil
5tsp Yogurt
1tbsp White distilled vinegar
1tsp baking soda
1tsp vanilla essence
1pinch salt
1/2 cup frozen blueberries

For the crumb
1/3rd cup quick oats
3tbsp Brown sugar
3tbsp butter
2tbsp All purpose flour
1/2tsp vanilla
 Mix together with fingers till crumbly

Garnish-
Powdered sugar
Blueberries

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 9 inch baking pan with cooking spray and flour
2) Sieve all dry ingredients . Mix all wet ingredients separately
3) Gently mix wet+dry ingredients
4)Fold in the blueberries

5)Pour the batter in the pan evenly.Spread the crumb on top. Decorate with blueberries.

6) Bake at 350F for 30-40 mins

7) After cooling, cut and sprinkle with powdered sugar

Enjoy with a scoop of ice cream or just as is!

"Dabeli Wrap"

"Dabeli" is one of my favorites 'Anytime' food. I can have it anytime and every time all day long:)
You can read more about "Dabeli" and how to make it/ recipe here-
http://my-kitchens-aroma.blogspot.com/2009/11/chatpata-chaat-kutchi-dabeli.html

Now, we had made Dabeli just a couple days ago....and had left over of all the fixings. To make one more meal....I turned to the "Babus Wrap" idea. Don't know Babu's wrap??? You can find them in the Indian grocery stores frozen section.They come in many varieties- Aloo Chat, Pav Bhaji, Dabeli etc. Not that we buy that often....but I like the idea of eating a 'handy' wrap with your favorite stuffing!

 So..I put together my own "Dabeli Wrap" for dinner and it was delicious...and yet so handy to eat! It will be a nice variation on the regular Dabeli!
1) Spread the Tamarind-date chutney on the tortilla.
2) Add the all the dabeli fixings- potato stuffing, onion, cilantro, peanuts, sev, pomegranate etc.
3) Roll it up and toast it on few drops of oil till 'toasty'
Done!!

Tomato Rice and Mixed Vegetable Pickle

Blogging has become a rare treat for me lately. Sometimes I miss the laid back life I had, with ample time to make whatever delicious food I wished for and taking plenty of pictures and writing about it.
Anyways, here I am today sharing the lunch we had this afternoon...
I made this tangy- spicy 'Tomato Rice' and a side of 'Mixed Vegetable Pickle' made by my mom in law...

 

Tomato rice
Ingredients:
2 Cups cooked rice cooled
2 ripe tomatoes chopped
1/2 onion chopped
2 clove garlic chopped
1/2tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
2-3 Red chilies
7-8 curry leaves
1tb each Urad daal, Chana daal
2tb groundnuts
1tbsp oil
1tsp mustard and cumin seeds
salt
sugar
Chopped Cilantro

Method:
1)  Heat 1tsp oil, fry the dal and peanuts till golden brown, keep aside.
2)Heat oil, add mustard, cumin,curry leaves,garlic,tomatoes and onion.Fry till the onions and tomatoes are cooked well and the water evaporates.
3) Add the garam masala,red chili powder,salt,sugar cooked rice mix well.Add the fried dal and peanuts.Garnish  with chopped cilantro.
Serve hot along with Pickle or Yogurt.

 Mixed Vegetable Pickle:
1/2 cup each of Cauliflower(chopped), carrots (chopped) and frozen green peas(thawed).
1tsp chopped ginger
2tbsp Suhana Pickle masala
2tsp Lemon juice
1tsp oil
1/2tsp mustard seeds
salt
sugar

Heat oil, add the mustard seeds till they splutter. Mix with the chopped vegetables,ginger, pickle masala, lemon juice,salt and sugar.Mix well.
This pickle can stay in the refrigerator for few days.

Filo Cups with Sweet Coconut-Cranberry and Nuts filling (Just like 'Karanji" ) !!!

In the "Food Network"jargon this would be called a "Deconstructed Karanji".....something which has pretty much the components of Karanji...tastes similar too...but looks totally different and has a enhanced taste /texture...

I took the 'coconut filling' idea from the karanjis, brightened it up with nuts and raisins and filled it in the buttery, crunchy filo cups!Now you have a whole new 'dessert' which is sweet-crunchy-eye pleasing-classy looking and tasty too!

 Here is how to make them: The Recipe from the last time I made them-
http://www.my-kitchens-aroma.blogspot.com/2011/08/sweet-treats-filo-cups-with-sweet.html 
This time I added 'dried cranberries' for more color.

You will love these Sweet Coconut-Cranberry-Nuts in the crisp Filo Shells!

"Potato Masala" Quesadillas

Yes this is one of those "Fusion" Cuisine entries....but it was also totally 'Fixing' Cuisine. I had 'Potato Masala' leftovers from a 'Masala Dosa' lunch...and I had few Spinach tortillas in the pantry....and most important ....hungry tummies in need of something quick!!
This was perfect ...Quick Fix snack/ lunch/ dinner dish...made in few minutes and tastes awesome!

The Potato masala, cheese and the Hot and Sweet sauce make a perfect combination to make your mouth water!!

Ingredients:
4 Large Spinach tortillas
1/2 Cup Shredded cheese
1/4 cup chopped raw onions
4tbsp Maggie Hot and Sweet  Sauce
1tsp oil

For Potato Masala (Like the Bhaji from Masala Dosa)
1cup boiled potato-chopped
1/2 onion sliced
2 green chil1es
1/2tsp ginger garlic paste
few curry leaves
turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin and mustard seeds
salt
2tsp oil

 Method:
1) Heat 2tsp oil, add the mustard and cumin.Let it splutter.Add curry leaves and onions.Fry till golden.
2) Add the turmeric, green chilies, ginger garlic paste and mix.Add the boiled potato, salt and mix.
3) Heat a flat nonstick skillet. On the tortilla, spread the hot and sweet sauce, the potato masala, raw chopped onions and cheese. Fold the Tortilla into semi circle.
4) Toast on low flame on both sides with little oil till slightly crispy and golden brown.
5) Serve hot along with more sauce/ chutney!

Zucchini 'non fried' Kofta Curry

Since the time I got my new 'Appe' pan from India....all I can think is...what other than 'appe' can I make in this pan??? This, morning I had planned to make Zucchini Kofta Curry for lunch. Since we are skimping on oil, it suddenly clicked....I can make Koftas in the Appe pan!! Super Idea..isn't it?

They came out gorgeous....perfect round shape and were made in few minutes and I would say ..about 16 of them were done in 2-3 tsp oil! If I were to fry these..you can guess how much oil it would have taken!!

Ingredients
Zucchini Koftas:
1 Cup grated Zucchini, water squeezed out
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup Besan
3tsp Corn flour
1tsp ginger-garlic paste
1tsp sesame seeds
1tsp cumin seeds
1/2tsp Red chili powder
1/2tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp Baking soda
salt
some water
2-3 tsp oil

Curry:
2 Finely chopped onions
1/2 cup Crushed tomatoes
2tsp ginger garlic paste
2tsp Kitchen King masala
1tsp red chili powder
1/2tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp shah jeera
1/2tsp sugar
salt
2 tsp oil
few cloves, black pepper corns, bay leaf
water

 Method:
1) Heat 2tsp oil in a pan, add the cloves, black pepper, shah jeera, bay leaves. Add the onions and fry till translucent. Add the ginger -garlic paste, crushed tomatoes and fry for few minutes.Add the rest of the spices and water and bring to a boil.
2) Mix the ingredients for the koftas. Add little water to make batter, which is not too thin.
3) Add few drops of oil to each well in the Appe pan.Add spoonful of batter.Cover with lid.
4) Turn the appe once they are golden on one side. Cook for 1 min on other side.
5) Add the Koftas to the curry,bring to a boil, add chopped cilantro and serve hot along with Chapati/Roti or Rice

'Green Pepper and Feta cheese' Spicy "Caterpillar" rolls

"Caterpillar rolls"......don't they look sort of caterpillars? Well I don't know..what else would you call this shape?

I had seen someone make these and post pictures on the forum I follow on facebook...'ChefatLarge'. I thought the idea was really cool ...the way you shape this dough...and couldn't wait to try it out.
I had some 'biscuit dough' in the refrigerator.I used it to make these "cheesy spicy caterpillar rolls'.
Ingredients:
1  can biscuit dough
Cooking oil spray
2tsp  olive oil
flour for rolling dough

Filling:
1/2 cup chopped Green pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup feta cheese
1/3 cup mozzarella+ cheddar cheese shredded
1/2tsp red pepper flakes
1/4tsp black ground pepper
salt

Method:
1) Separate the biscuit rounds from the can.
2) Mix together the green pepper,onion,cheeses and other ingredients.No need to cook..they will cook in the oven when the rolls bake.
3) Pre heat the oven to 400F
4) Roll out the dough into circle, place a spoonful filling at the top end. Fold the top side upto the center

5) To the bottom half of the dough, cut into strips
(In the pic below, the upper half is yet to be folded )

6) Drape the strips around the folded upper part of the dough

7) Place on greased cookie sheet ( sprayed with oil spray)
8) Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 400F till golden..about 10-12 mins.
9) Serve hot along with Maggie hot and sweet sauce.

Laccha Paratha and Saag Paneer

The 'Saag' making started with a funny incident at the Indian store....There were a few different greens and I didn't know the names of all.The store owner told me the name of this green(which I don't remember now) in his language.I asked him what all can you make with this green and he told a few dishes.He saw I still wasn't 'sold'....then he said to me.."Just buy it....why are you thinking....it's a Green vegetable....It won't harm you for sure' and then you don't have to worry about calories either'!!!
I bought the bunch:)

Saag Recipe

1 bunch greens chopped(Spinach/ Mustard/ any other)
1 cup cubed paneer
1/2 onion chopped
2 clove garlic minced
1/2 cup heavy cream/whole milk
1/4 cup yogurt
2tsp corn flour
1/2tsp Garam masala powder
1/2tsp Shah jeera
1/2tsp red chili powder
salt
sugar
oil

Method:
1) Chop the greens and pressure cook. Coarse Puree/ mash them up.
2) Heat 2tsp oil, saute jeera, onions and garlic,Add the cooked greens, milk and some water.
3) Fry the paneer cubes till golden or leave them as is.
4) Add the rest of the spices,salt sugar and yogurt to the saag.Add paneer cubes and let it simmer for few minutes.

Laccha Paratha

 I had heard about this unique technique of rolling the dough for Laccha Paratha and wanted to try it out myself.
The dough is first rolled out in a circle, then pleated like a paper fan, then rolled like a snail, pressed and then rolled out again. The result is a unique circular layered texture to the parathas!!!

1)I used regular chapati dough to make these. I applied some oil+flour on the inside to get the texture.Ideally you should apply oil/ghee liberally to get more layered texture......but I skimped on it.

2) After all the dough balls were done rolling this way..I let them sit for some time and then rolled them out into parathas.

3) Baked them on hot tava with some oil  and served them with the Saag Paneer!

Brown Rice- Spicy Green Chili and Onion "Appe"

It's weekend and have promised myself to write a blog post at least every week or two.
Since a long time, I had been wanting this 'Appe' pan, and finally I have it!!!

 Now, there might be many "Appe' batter recipes...but I remember the ones my mom made when I was little. She used the plain 'Idli' batter and added onions,green chilies and cilantro to the batter.I did just the same!! I used brown rice to make a healthier version.

Ingredients:
1.5 Cups brown rice
0.5 Cup white rice
1 cup Urad daal
salt

1 Finely chopped Onion
2 -4 green chilies finely chopped
1tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tsp cumin

Method:
1) Soak brown rice, white rice and daal separately for 5-6 hrs. Grind them into a fine paste and mix.
2) Let the batter ferment overnight.
3) Brush the Appe pan with oil and keep on the hot stove.
4) Add the chopped onion,green chilies, cilantro,salt and cumin to the batter.
5) Add 2tsp batter to the appe pan and cook with lid on for 2-3 mins.Turn the appe gently with a wooden dowel/ spoon.
6) Add a few drops oil. Let it cook for 1-2 mins till golden brown.

7) Serve  hot with your favorite chutney and sambar!