Blueberry muffins

Blueberry muffins

Made this for breakfast for my son for breakfast instead of the usual fruit cake for Christmas.

Flour                                     - 1/2 cup
Oats(slow cooking)               - 1/2 cup(lightly toasted)
Yogurt(curd)                          - 1/2 cup
Baking powder                      -  1 tsp
Baking soda                           - 1/8 tsp
Agave                                    - 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup
(have put it this way for easier measure for the recipe instead of 0.375 cups)
Butter                                     - 3 and 3/4 tbsps
Unsweetened Cocoa powder - 1/2 tsp
salt                                          - a small pinch
lemon zest                               - 1/2 tsp
Almonds(chopped).               - 1/2 cup
Blueberries(fresh or frozen)    - 1/2 cup *

* I had stored the freshly picked blueberries in summer in the freezer which I used for this recipe.


Melt the butter and mix it with the agave in a vessel. Beat this well with a fork or hand blender until fluffy. Add the yogurt, salt and lemon zest and beat it well. Mix the flour, oats,cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda in a separate bowl. Slowly add the flour into the butter mix until it all blends together.Finally add the blueberries and akmonds to the mixture and mix it well. The dough will be thick.
Meantime grease the muffin pan and pre-heat the oven to 375F.

Scoop out the dough and fill the muffin pans about 3/4 full. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top browns and the fork/tester comes out clean.Let it cool on the rack for few minutes. Take the muffins out once cooled down completely.

The baked muffins

Recipe source : http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2010/08/perfect-blueberry-muffins/
I replaced some of the flour with oats, agave for the sugar and yogurt for the egg.
The recipes from the smittenkitchen blog for muffins and short breads has always come out well for me.

Blueberry Jam using Agave

Blueberry Jam

I tried making blueberry jam with agave instead of sugar this time and tasted good.

 Frozen Blueberries*    - 2 cups

Agave                          - 1/2 cup

Lemon juice                 - 1 1/4 tbsps

* I had stored the freshly picked blueberries in summer in the freezer which I used for this recipe. You can use fresh blueberries too.

Mix all ingredients together and heat on stovetop on medium heat.

Once the blueberry softens and the mixture thickens, keep stirring and mash the blueberries with the spoon.

It would take about 30 minutes to get to the consistency  shown below. If you want it runny and not thick you could switch off the stove in about 20 minutes.

Store in a clean dry glass container once it cools down in the refridgerator.

Vegetable/cheese toast

Home made bread with chopped vegetables  with cheese and seasoned home made cream topping baked at 350 F for breakfast this morning.

Oat cookies

Ingredients:

Old fashioned Oats     - 1 cup

All purpose flour        -  1/2 cup

Brown Sugar              - 1/2 cup

Butter (softened)         - 1/6 cup

Baking soda                - 1/4 tsp

Dried plums(chopped)- 1/2 cup

Salt                              - 1/8 tsp

Yogurt(curd)               - 1/4 cup

Cocoa powder            - 1 tsp

Mix the butter, brown sugar, cocoa powder and yogurt into a smooth batter. Add the flour, baking soda and salt to this butter mixture and mix well. Finally fold in the oats and dried plums to this mixture.

Chill the mixture for an hour or two. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F(175 C).Scoop out the batter onto a baking dish. Place the scoops at least 2 inches apart from each other. Bake for about 15- 20 minutes until they turn light brown. Switch off oven and let them rest on the rack of the hot oven before taking them out.

Recipe source : http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/02/thick-chewy-oatmeal-raisin-cookies/

Orange bread

Maida                     - 1 1/2 cups *

Butter                     -  2 tbsps

Palm sugar crystals - 2 tbsps

Orange juice          - 1 cup( juice from 2 oranges)

Active dry yeast     - 1 1/4 tsp

Liquid egg whites  - 1/2 tsp(optional used to replace the wheat gluten)

Salt                        - 1/4 tsp

Add  the salt to the flour followed by the butter. Mix it well so that the butter blends with the flour. Then add the sugar, yeast to the flour and mix well with your hands.

Add 1/2 cup lukewarm water to the orange juice and add this along with the egg whites to the flour and mix well into a soft dough. Knead for about 3-5 minutes. Cover and place it in a warm place until the dough doubles in size. It took me about 4 hours for this when placed in the oven with the light on.

Take the dough and knead it for a couple of minutes and place it in the greased/floured baking pan and leave it for another half hour.

Preheat oven to 450 F and bake the dough until the top is light brown or well done.

It took about 30 minutes for mine to bake.

Recipe source : http://chefinyou.com/2009/09/orange-wheat-bread-recipe/

* Using whole wheat is a healthier option.

Oats Laddu

Ingredients

Old fashioned oats                    - 1 cup

Powdered Jaggery                     - 1/2 cup

Chopped Pecans and walnuts    - handful

Cardamom powder                   - 1/2 tsp

Clarified butter (ghee)              - 1 tbsp

chopped fresh coconut              - 1/2 cup

a very small pinch of salt                 

water as needed

Heat a pan and add all ingredients into it.Cover the pan and let the the oats cook and all the ingredients blend together. Switch off stove once the oats is cooked. 

Roll them into balls while mixture is warm. Makes about 15 small sized balls.

Recipe source : http://quicknhealthy.blogspot.com/2013/03/aval-laddu.html

Made the below nutriball with chopped dried plums, chopped toasted walnuts, almonds and pecans.

stuffed caterpillar bread

Made by Mahesh.

Carrot moong dal Kozhakattai

Ingredients for stuffing(poornam):

Carrot pulp            - 1 cup ( the pulp from two carrots made into carrot juice)
Jaggery                  - 1/2 cup (broken into small pieces or powdered)
Split moong dal      - 1/4 cup
Cardamon powder  - 1/4 tsp
Salt                         - a pinch

Ingredients for outer covering:

Rice flour             - 1 cup
Oil of choice         - 1 tsp
Water                   - as required
salt                        - a small pinch

Recipe for the stuffing:

Heat a pan on the stove top.Add the jaggery and carrot pulp together with the salt to the pan. Once the jaggery is melted add the cardamom powder and saute till they blend together. Take off stove. Dry roast the dal and cook it with a little water on stove top. Add this to the carrot jaggery mixture. Mix it well and roll into balls.

Recipe for the outer covering:
 http://www.jeyashriskitchen.com/2013/07/kozhukattai-with-kadalai-paruppu.html under the heading "METHOD FOR MAKING OUTER DOUGH"

Roll the dough into small balls. Take a ball and make a small cup of it.  Now place one ball of the stuffing and seal the dough all around the stuffing. Do the same with the rest of the stuffing and dough.

Steam the balls for about 10 minutes or until done.

peanut raisin energy balls

dry roasted peanuts        - 1/4 cup

toasted sunflower seeds - 1/8 cup

raisins                               - 10

pitted prunes                     - 2

black peppercorn              - 1

salt                                    - a small pinch

dry grind the peanuts,sunflower seeds, black peppercorn and raisins together to a coarse powder.  Add the chopped prunes to this and grind so that they blend together. Add the salt and roll it into balls. It made 9 balls.

Store in airtight container.

Recipe source:

http://quicknhealthy.blogspot.com/2013/07/spicy-pistachio-goji-berry-energy-balls.html

White bean Pizza

Ingredients

Base:
Whole Wheat flour - 2 cups ( I used 1 cup each of atta and whole wheat flour)
All purpose flour    - 1 1/4 cups
Active dry yeast     - 2 1/4 tsps
Honey                    - 1 tbsp
Oil of choice          - 1 tbsp
turmeric powder    - 1/2 tsp
Salt as per taste
Water as required
Makes 1 large pizza and 2 medium pizza

Topping:
Cooked white beans                      - 1 cup
Chopped spinach                           - 1 cup *
Garlic(chopped fine)                     -  1 bulb
Pablano pepper(juliened)             -  1
turmeric powder                            - 1/2 tsp
Aoefatida                                      - a small pinch
black pepper powder                    - 1/2 tsp
oil                                                  - 2 tsps
salt as per taste
Mozzarella and cheddar cheese   - 1 to 1 1/2 cups
* I used 1 can of chopped spinach.

Base(thin crust):
Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the honey, oil and water and mix well to form a dough. You could roll it out immediately to make the pizza or let it rise for a couple of hours.

Topping:
Heat oil in a pan, add chopped garlic and let it saute for a few minutes. Then add the peppers and spices saute for a few minutes. Add the spinach, salt and saute for about 7-10 minutes. Take off heat.

Mash or blend the cooked white beans to a spread/hummus consistency, it could be flavoured with salt and spices of your choice. I soaked white beans and pressure cooked them for this recipe.Canned white beans can be used too.

Pre-heat oven to 375 F.
Divide the pizza dough into 3 balls and roll it out into thin circles.

Spread the white bean spread on the rolled out base.Top it with the vegetables and the cheese.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until done.

Serve once cool.

Recipe source for making the dough.
www.ciaoitalia.com/seasons/season-2100/episode-2114

Recipe source for topping:

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-spinach-white-bean-and-86176

Guacamole

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_guacamole/

Avocado Millkshake

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/teacoffeebeverages/r/Avocado_Shake.htm

Lauki radish kofta

Ingredients:

For Kofta:

Shredded lauki/bottle gourd (chorakkai) and white radish(mullangi) - 1 cup 

Chick pea flour (besan, kadala maavu)                                                - 1 tbsp

Red Chilli powder                                                                                     - 1/2 tsp

turmeric powder                                                                                       - 1/2 tsp

Salt as per taste

For Gravy:

Moong dal ( split green gram with or without skin)                      - 1 cup

chopped tomato*                                                                            - 1 cup

ginger                                                                                               - 1 inch piece

green chillies                                                                                   - 2

garlic                                                                                                 - 4- 5 cloves

chopped onions                                                                              - 1 cup

turmeric powder                                                                              - 1 tsp

mustard seeds                                                                                - 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds (Jeera)                                                                      - 1/2 tsp

Water                                                                                                - 1/2 to 1 cup

salt as per taste

* You could replace the chopped tomatoes with 1/2 cup of thick tomato paste.

Kofta

Squeeze the excess water from the shredded lauki and radish. Use the squeezed water for the gravy.Mix the flour, spices and salt with the shredded lauki/radish. Make them into small balls or flat patties.Bake them at 350- 400 F until brown or cooked well on a lightly greased aluminium foil. It may take about 30- 40 minutes. Flip them after about 15- 20 minutes so that they brown evenly on both sides.

Baked Koftas

Gravy:

Crush the garlic, ginger and green chilles into a paste. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter add chopped onions and saute it for a couple minutes and then add the ginger/garlic/green chilli paste to it.  Add the turmeric powder and saute for about five minutes and add the chopped tomatoes. In the meantime dry roast the green gram dal. Once the mixture in the pan is sauteed well add the roasted dal into it with water. Add the salt and cook on low to medium heat for about 20- 30 minutes or until the dal is cooked well. Part of the dal could be mashed to get a gravy consistency.

Add the baked koftas in the gravy just before serving. The gravy can be garnished with chopped coriander(cilantro) leaves.

The gravy goes well with rotis/chapathis(Indian bread) or rice.

Peach Preserve

A recipe which may come in handy if you have too many peaches.

Ingredients:

Peach - 2 large ones

Jaggery*- 1/2 cup(powdered)

turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

chilli powder/flakes - 1/2 tsp

salt a small pinch 

* could replace jaggery with brown sugar or regular sugar

Peel the skin off the peaches by placing them in a pot of boiling water for a minute and then placing them in a bowl of water with ice cubes - Alton Brown way :-) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZSHj0JooQk). His recipe videos are interesting to watch and easy to make.

Chop the peaches into small pieces and cook them in medium heat until softened. Add the jaggery to this along with the spices and salt. Close the container or pan and cook on medium heat until they blend together. Reduce heat and use a hand blender to puree it. Continue to cook it on low heat until it thickens.

Take off heat and store in a glass jar in the refrigerator once cool.

Recipe source from - http://litebite.in/recipe-healthy-fruit-preserves/

Peach Shortbread

I made fruit shortbread/ fruit cookie for the first time.

Recipe Source :

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2010/09/peach-shortbread/

Replaced the following ingredients in that recipe:

butter with ghee (since I already had ghee)

Flour  with a combination of whole wheat flour, all purpose flour and soy flour.

Egg with yogurt (curd)

Cinnamon with cardamom powder

Followed the steps of the recipe as in the link above.

On the baking tray I placed a layer of flour crumble, layer of peach, layer of crumble, layer of peach and layer of flour crumble and topped it with chopped almonds. 

before baking

Bake it at 375 F for 40 minutes or until the top browns a little. Once it cools down slice it into pieces.

Baked slices

Cauliflower verde

Ingredients

cauliflower florets and chopped stems  - 2 cups
turmeric powder                                   - 1 tsp

To grind:
Cilantro leaves(coriander)                   - 1 cup
green chillies                                        -  2 (chopped)
Ginger                                                  - 1/2 inch piece

For tempering

oil                                         - 1 tsp
mustard seeds                      - 1/2 tsp
urad dal( ulutham paruppu) - 1 tsp


Wash cauliflower florets and drain it to dry. Grind the cilantro, green chillies and ginger to a coarse paste.
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, urad dal and let the mustard seeds splutter. Once it splutters add the cauliflower florets, turmeric powder and saute for a couple of minutes. Add a little water ( about 1/4 cup or less) and close the pan and cook for about 5 minutes.Then add the salt and the ground paste. Leave it open and cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve with rice.

Recipe source:  My mother :-)

Banana swirl

Banana swirl made by my 4 year old son with a little help from me.

Ripe banana            - 1

Honey.                      - 1 tsp

Chocolate powder - 1/4 tsp

Peel the banana and freeze for about 7-8 hours.

Then remove from freezer and use a hand blender and mash it. Scoop it and place in a bowl top it with the honey and chocolate powder.

You can top it with a couple of slices of banana.

Recipe source - PBSKids program "Daniel tiger's neighbourhood" :-) .

dhokla

Ingredients

Chickpea flour(besan/kadala maavu)        -1 cup

Curd (yogurt)                                             - 1/2 cup

Green chillies                                             - 2

Ginger                                                        - 1 inch piece

Water                                                         - 1/4 to 1/2 cup

Eno fruit salt *                                            -  1 tsp

Lime juice                                                  -  1 tsp

Carrots and celery( finely chopped)          - 1/4 cup

Turmeric powder                                        - 1 tsp

For ganishing:

Oil of choice                                               - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds                                            - 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds(jeera)                                    - 1/2 tsp

Salt according to taste

* I used 1/2 sachet of antacid powder which contains sodium bicarbonate and citric acid.

Grind the green chillies and ginger with little water.Take a bowl and add the flour, chopped vegetables,salt, turmeric powder, curd ,lime juice and green chilli paste. Mix the ingredients to a thick batter.let it sit for ten minutes. Heat water in a steamer/idli cooker. Grease a deep dish or a plate with oil. Add the Eno salt just before you pour the batter in the plate and put it in the steamer. Steam cook for about 10 - 15 minutes or until done. Let it cool and turn it over. Heat 1/2 tsp oil and add mustard seeds, curry leaves and cumin seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter add it on top of the dhokla.

Slice it and serve with chutney of choice

Recipe source:

http://www.rakskitchen.net/2011/09/dhokla-recipe.html

Watermelon rind Olan

Ingredients:

Watermelon rinds    - 1 cup(thin slices)

Long beans             - 1/2 cup(3/4 inch pieces)

Celery                     -  1/2 cup ( thin slices)

Green chillies          -  2 ( slit into halves)

Coconut milk          -  1 tbsp

Curry leaves            -  4-5 leaves

Coconut oil              - 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder     - 1 tsp

Salt                          - according to taste

Water                       - 2 cups( approximate)

Cook the vegetables in water along with salt,turmeric powder and green chillies. Once cooked reduce heat to low and add the coconut milk. Make sure the coconut milk blends well with the water.

Switch off heat after about 5 minutes. Add the curry leaves and the coconut oil over the curry leaves.If you prefer the olan to be thicker you can add more coconut milk or add less cooking water.

It serves as a good side for rice.

Cranberry chutney

Ingredients:

Cranberry(fresh or frozen)  - 1/2 cup

Green chilli(jalapeno)*         - 1

Ginger                                  - 1 inch piece

Almonds                               - 10-12

Channa dal                           - 1 tbsp

Urad dal                               - 1 tbsp

Salt according to taste

* add more or less chillies according to your taste  

Toast /dry fry the dals until light brown.Add them to the blender along with the other ingredients and grind with little water to form a thick paste. If using frozen cranberries, thaw them before adding to the blender.

 It goes well with idli/dosai or can be used as a spread.

 “Sending this to Berry Merry Summer June 2013 event hosted by Jayanthi”
http://kuttybear-toddlerfoodideas.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/a-berry-merry-summer-june-2013-event.html

Blueberry Lassi (sweet)

Ingredients

Yogurt (fresh or frozen)       - 1/2 cup
Blueberry(fresh or frozen)   - 1/2 cup
Honey                               - 1 tbsp (use more or less depending on the amount of sweetness you need)

Blend all ingredients together.

"Sending this to Berry Merry Summer June 2013 event hosted by Jayanthi”
http://kuttybear-toddlerfoodideas.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/a-berry-merry-summer-june-2013-event.html

Cranberry thokku

Cranberry thokku aka Cranberry spicy jam

Ingredients:

Cranberry(frozen or fresh)*  -  1 1/2 cups
Turmeric powder                    -  1 tsp
Chilly powder                        -  1 tsp
Sambar powder                     -  1 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds                    -  1/2 tsp
(or)  Fenugreek seed powder 1 tsp  
Mustard seeds                        - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves(optional)            -  7-10 leaves
Oil of choice(I used Canola) - 1 to 1 1/2 tbsps
Salt according to taste

* I used freshly bought cranberries from last Thanksgiving season(November) which was stored in the freezer.

Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.

 Once the mustard seeds splutters add the cranberries, turmeric powder and saute for a few minutes until the cranberries start to soften. Then add the spice powders and salt. If you are using fenugreek powder instead of fenugreek seeds add it at this point.

Saute it in medium flame until the cranberries are softened and form a paste.

Keep adding the rest of the oil as the cranberry paste starts getting a little dry. Cook in low flame until most of the oil is absorbed and switch off. The remaining oil can help preserve the thokku.
Once cool can be stored in a glass jar in the refrigerator for a week to 10 days.

Cranberry thokku has a spicy, sour taste and goes well with chapathi(Indian bread), rice or serves as a spread on top of breads. It could also be used to spice up gravies. You could add more chilly powder or sambar powder depending on the amount of spice you want.

 “Sending this to Berry Merry Summer June 2013 event hosted by Jayanthi”
http://kuttybear-toddlerfoodideas.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/a-berry-merry-summer-june-2013-event.html

Strawberry kulfi

Ingredients:

Strawberries(chopped)           - 2 big ones

Almond milk                          - 1 cup

Honey*                                  - 2 tbsps 

Cardamom powder(elaichi)    - 1/2 tsp

slivered almonds                    - 1/4 cup

* You can add more or less of the honey depending on the sweetness in the strawberries and according to your taste.

Blend all the ingredients together in a hand blender and freeze in kulfi molds/ popsicle molds for about 3 -4 hrs. I got 6 kulfis.

“Sending this to Berry Merry Summer June 2013 event hosted by Jayanthi”

Blueberry Vathal kuzhambu (gravy)

Picked blueberries at a farm today and tried this recipe since we had some unripe berries.
Since fresh ripe Manathakkali (black nightshade) and blueberries are similar in taste, and also
because we had tried cranberry vathal kuzhambu before, we came up with this recipe.

Recipe:

Blueberries *                          - 1 cup
Manathakkali vathal              - 1 tsp (optional, you can substitute with  any other vathal of your choice)
Tamarind juice(concentrated) - 1 tsp ( squeezed from fresh tamarind)
Water                                      - 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups
Salt                                          - according to taste
Turmeric powder                     -  1 tsp
Sambar powder                       -  2 tsps
Red Chilli powder                   - 1 tsp
Asoefatida                               -  about 1/2 tsp
appalam/pappadam                  - 1 small, microwaved, for thickening.
* The blueberries have to be green/red or not fully ripe.

For tempering:
Oil                                         - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds                        - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds                    - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves                           - 4 - 5 leaves if available.

Fresh picked blueberries from the farm 

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and fenugreek seeds. Let the mustard seeds splutter. Add the blueberries, manathakkali vathal, turmeric powder, spice powders, asoefatida and saute for 4- 5 minutes.

 Add the tamarind juice, water and salt to this and let it boil.

Once it is boiled, reduce the heat and add the microwaved appalam( crispies made with urad dal). Let it thicken to a gravy.

 “Sending this to Berry Merry Summer June 2013 event hosted by Jayanthi” 
http://kuttybear-toddlerfoodideas.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/a-berry-merry-summer-june-2013-event.html