Oven roasted potatoes

 On Christmas tried a baked variation of my mother's stovetop potato recipe with regular potatoes and sweet potatoes. This with the dhokla provided a warm cozy breakfast though we had a very warm Christmas day this year, humid and a temperature of 75 F.

Ingredients:

Regular baking potatoes - 2 (medium size)

Sweet potatoes                  - 1 (medium size)

Salt.                                      - as needed

Turmeric powder.              - 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder.             - 1/2 tsp

Garlic powder.                    - 1/4 tsp

Fresh ginger (chopped)     - 1 tsp

Asoefatida.                          - a small pinch

Black pepper.                      - 1 tsp

Lime                                     - 1/2

Oil of choice.                       - 2-3 tsps

Chop the potatoes to small cubes. Preheat oven to 375 F. Marinate the sweet potatoes and potatoes separately with spices and oil for about 15-20 minutes.

 Do not add the lime juice. Bake the potatoes in an oven safe dish for 20-30 minutes or until well done.  Squeeze lime over the potatoes once they cool a little ( about 5-10 minutes after removing from oven).

Serve with dhokla, dosa, rice,chapathi on the side. It can used with cheese or egg for as a filling for a sandwich.

Tips:

1. You can use your choice of spices.

2. Can be done on stove top also if you do not have the option of baking.

3. Bake it longer if you need it crispier.

4. You can marinate for longer for a stronger flavour.

Pumpkin pineapple fruit cake

This was my first attempt to bake a fruit cake and it turned out very tasty. I wanted to try it out for Christmas. Got a good review from my 6 year old and my neighbour. I tried two versions one with carrot pineapple and the other with pumpkin/pineapple. My little one helped me with the pumpkin version.
Happy Holidays to all.


Ingredients:

Flour                             - 1 cup
Baking soda.                - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder.            -1/2 tsp
Salt                               - 1/4 tsp
Brown sugar.                - 1/2 cup
Pumpkin  and
pineapple puree           - 1/2 cup.
Butter(room temp)        - 1/4 cup
Milk.                              - 40 ml (0.17 cups)
Egg.                               - 1
Dark chocolate powder - 1 tsp
Cardamom powder       - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon powder.       - 1/4 tsp
Raisins                          - 1/2 cup
Walnuts(chopped)        - 40 gms (0.17 cups)

Combine dry ingredients - flour,baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon/ cardamom and chocolate powders together in a bowl.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Cream the butter and brown sugar together to a smooth batter followed by the egg and the pumpkin/ pineapple purees. Blend in half of the flour mix into the butter mix followed by part of the milk and mix well. Blend in the rest of flour mix and milk. Blend them together, do not beat the mix. Fold in the raisins and walnuts mixing well.

Bake the mix in a buttered baking pan for about 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Tips:

1. You can use a mix of whole wheat and all purpose flour for a healthier version.
2. You can use only pumpkin or carrot puree without pineapple. I used 75% pumpkin puree and 25% pineapple puree.
3. The egg can be replaced with 1/4 cup banana/ 1/3 cup applesauce or flaxseed(1 tbsp ground flaxseed with 1/3 cup of water).
4. The dried raisins can be replaced partly or completely with dried cranberries.

Recipe source:

https://www.dairygoodness.ca/recipes/pumpkin-bread-with-dried-fruit

The carrot pineapple cake below :

Made 2 loaves of the size shown below.

 Recipe source for the carrot pineapple version :

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/pineapple-carrot-muffins/c8384951-0e3b-4a18-82d2-39f03c8f6bec

Adai muffins (lentil)

Adai is a healthy protein rich vegan pancake in South India. To make it kid friendly we tried a fancy twist to it. It serves as a good healthy breakfast or snack.

 Ingredients 

Channa dal               - 1/4 cup

Urad dal                    -  1/4 cup

Whole moong dal     - 1/4 cup

Toor dal                    - 1/4 cup

whole grain wheat    - 1/2 cup

red chillies                - 5 (optional)

salt                            - as per taste

asoefatida                 - a small pinch

Soak the dals and wheat grain for 3-4 hours. Grind to a smooth paste in the blender adding salt and the red chillies.

Leave it overnight in a warm place. Pour the batter in greased muffin cups and microwave for 2-3 minutes. Enjoy the muffins as such or with sweet/spicy chutney.

Tips:

1. You can mix and match dals/lentils of your choice. 

2. You can replace whole grain wheat with other grains like millet/quinoa/oats/rice/grits

3. Do not microwave for too long as these may dehydrate the muffins and they will become too hard in texture.

4. You can skip the red chillies and add black pepper/cayenne pepper or green chillies instead.

 

Rosemary Foccacia

Inspired by the abundant rosemary from our backyard and a recipe from a book of fun recipes for kids, we made this recipe with our 6 year old son.

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Active dry yeast  - 2 1/2 tsps
Rosemary leaves - a large handful
Olive oil              - 3 tbsps
Salt                      - as per taste
Lukewarm water - 1/4 cup
Sour buttermilk   - 1/4 cup

Put the olive oil and rosemary into a bowl. Infuse the oil with rosemary leaves by squeezing the leaves. Take a bowl add the flour, yeast and salt to mix well. Add about 1 to 1 1/2 tbsps of rosemary infused olive oil and about 1-2 tbsps warm water and mix well with your hands. Keep adding the water with buttermilk alternatively mixing well until you get a soft non-sticky dough.
Knead the dough on  floured surface for 5-10 minutes with flour on your hands to get a smooth,  pliable dough.
Roll the dough into a rectangle using a rolling pin to fit the baking pan. Flour the baking pan and add the dough into it. Cover it with a clean towel and let it rest in a warm place until an hour or until the dough is double the original size.
Pre-heat the oven to 400 F . Make big dimples on the risen dough with your fingers/thumb. Pour the rest of the rosemary oil over the bread to flavour it while baking. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until done.
Remove bread from oven when done and turn it over. Let it cool over the wire rack before serving.
Slice it and enjoy once it cools or it can be stored for 2 or 3 days at room temperature.

Tips

1. For a healthier version you can use whole wheat flour.
2.You can use thin slices of garlic on the top of the bread in the dimples to give an added flavour or replace it for the rosemary.
3. When you turn over the bread upside down after baking on  a wire rack, tap the underside with your knuckles, if it sounds hollow then the bread is cooked. If not bake for another 5-10 minutes.

Mint and red chilli hummus

We have a lot of home grown mint so wanted to try this recipe using some of it.

Ingredients:

Chickpeas      - 16 oz can
Red chillies     - 4-5 (depending on taste)
Mint               - 1 small cup
Garlic            - 2 cloves

Lemon           -  1
sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Salt                - as per taste

Soak the red chillies in water just enough to cover them. Slice the garlic and toast them lightly.Toast the sesame seeds and powder them. Drain the chickpeas. Add it to the mint, toasted garlic and salt in a processor and grind them to a coarse paste. To this add the red chillies with the water and give a two or three pulses until the chillies blend with the chickpea paste. Finally add the sesame seed powder to this and grind them to a smooth paste.
Transfer to a bowl and squeeze the lemon juice and mix well. This goes well as a dip with pita chips/pita/chapathi/ naan or as a chutney for dosai/idli.

Tips:

1. You can use fresh chick peas instead of canned chick peas. Soak the fresh chickpeas overnight or for 12 hours  and steam cook it before using it for the hummus.
2. For a milder taste you could replace the red chillies with black pepper powder.
3. A lime could be used instead of the lemon.
4. If you prefer to have a non-garlic version of hummus just skip the garlic.

 

Avocado Mango soup

I wanted to make a simple quick recipe with the avocado. I did not want to repeat the "guacomole" so tried this recipe.

 Ingredients:

Avocado                     - 1 small
Mango                        - 1 small cup(half ripe or raw chopped)
Mint leaves                 - 4 or 5 leaves
Tomato sauce/paste   - 2 tbsps(optional)
Salt                             - as per taste
Black Pepper powder - as per taste
Sour cream                 - 1 tbsp

Scoop out the avocado into a pan and add the chopped mango pieces to it. Heat this on medium flame until the mango softens and blends with the avocado. Add chopped the mint leaves and tomato paste to the mixture. Let it boil or a few minutes and switch off the stove. Use a hand blender if needed to blend the mixture well. Now add the salt and pepper to this. Serve the soup with a dollop of sour cream and mint leaves.
This soup can be served hot or chilled. It goes well as a gravy with rice or chapathi too.

Tips:
1.You can add spices of your choice to flavour the soup.
2.I had my soup with a few chunks of mango and avocado without blending them completely. It can be blended to a smooth mixture if preferred.
3.A tablespoon of nut butter can be added when the avocado mixture is heating in the pan to give a nutty flavour to the soup.

Vegetable muffins

We try to make meals which are healthy,easy to make and appealing for our 6 year old to eat. We made this muffin which serves as good breakfast,lunch or snack.

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour   - 1 cup

All purpose flour      - 1 cup

Shredded zucchini  - 1/2 cup

Sweet potato           -  1/2 cup(shredded)

Spinach                   - 1/4 cup(chopped fine)

Baking powder       -  2 tsps

Baking soda.            - 1/4 tsp

Egg                          - 1(room temperature)

Buttermilk                 - 1 cup

Butter                        - 1/3 cup

Salt                            - as per taste

Heat the oven to 400 F. In the meantime steam cook the vegetables. Melt the butter and add this to the vegetables. Let it cool to room temperature. In a bowl add the flours,baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix well. Add the buttermilk to the vegetable mixture once it is cool, mix well. To this vegetable mixture add the egg and blend with a fork well. Make a hole in the center of the flour mixture and mix well. Grease the muffin pan and add the mixture into the cups.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center of muffin comes out clean.This proportion makes about 10-12 small muffins.

Tips:

1.You can use quinoa flour or almond flour instead of the whole wheat flour.

2.Spices of your choice can be added to give an extra flavour to the muffins.

3.Any vegetables of your choice could be added, I used the ones I had available.
4.The shredded can be added directly to the flour instead of steaming.

Red bean broccoli soup

We tried this broccoli soup for a quick dinner meal with minimum ingredients and short cooking time on a weekday. It turned out to be flavourful and a beautiful green colour.

Ingredients:

Small head of broccoli   - 1 to 1 1/2 cups(florets and tender stems)

Garlic                               - 2-3 cloves(finely chopped)

Red beans                      - 16 oz can

Salt                                   - as per taste

Fresh ginger                    - 1/2 inch piece (finely chopped)

Black pepper corns        - 2-3 (roast and powder them fine)

Scallions(green onions)- 1/4 cup(finely chopped)

Mint leaves                      - 2-3

Oil                                     - 2 tsps

Wash and break the broccoli into small florets and stems. Use the stems which are tender. Bring a pot of water to boil and add the broccoli to it. Cook them with half the salt required until tender. Make sure not to over cook to maintain the green colour. In the meanwhile heat a pan and add the oil to it. Once oil is hot add the garlic and roast till light brown. Drain the water from the red beans and add it with the ginger to the pan. Cover the pan and let it cook in low for a few minutes. The broccoli should be cooked by this time, drain the water but do not throw it. Transfer the cooked broccoli to the blender and grind it to a smooth paste. Add this  to the pan with the beans with the cooked broccoli water. Let it simmer down to a thick consistency with the chopped mint leaves. Add the rest of the salt and ground pepper and switch off heat. Serve the soup topped with chopped chopped scallions or a tsp of yogurt(curd) on the top.

Tips:

1. You can use 1 cup of dry red beans. Soak it for 5-6 hours and pressure cook .

2.Rosemary is a good alternative to mint.We used fresh home grown mint.

3.The roasted garlic and chopped ginger could be blended with the cooked broccoli. If you prefer you could add the fresh garlic to the cooked broccoli before returning it to the pan with the beans.

4.If you prefer the broccoli could be steamed instead of cooked in water.

Tomato lentil coconut milk soup (Thakkali pachadi)

This is a modified version of a recipe my mother used to make when we were kids. This goes well with salted cracked wheat porridge. The cracked wheat porridge is made by cooking cracked wheat in water with salt. A bowl of porridge was then served with a teaspoon of clarified butter and this gravy.
I added cooked lentils to the gravy to pack more nutrition into it.

Ingredients :

Red ripe tomatoes - 3-5
Green chillies        - 2-3 (chopped according to spice level)
Garlic                    - 3-4 cloves ( chopped)
salt                        - as per taste
Coconut milk        - 1/2 cup(thick)
Fresh dill              -  1 tsp (chopped fine)
Lentils                  - 1 cup (pressure cooked)
Water                    - as required

To season:
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Oil                   - 1-2 tsps
cumin seeds    - 1 tsp


 Chop the tomatoes into small cubes. Heat a pan and add a tsp of oil. Once the oil is hot add the chopped garlic and green chillies. Saute for a couple of minutes and add the tomatoes. Let them cook for 5-10 minutes until they become a little thick in consistency. Now add the cooked lentils, salt and water and cook covered for another 5- 10 minutes. Now lower the heat and add the thick coconut milk. Switch off stove once the liquid form small bubbles and before it boils. Once it cools down a little add the chopped dill leaves.
Heat a small pan and add 1 tsp of oil. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds to the hot oil. Once the mustard seeds splutter add this to the soup.

The soup can be had as such or with rice/chapathi/bread/Porridge.

Tips:

1.To cook the lentils , add 2 cups of water to 1 cup of lentils and pressure
   cook for 2 whistles.
2. To cook lentils on stove top, soak them for a couple of hours and cook on
    stove top for about 45-60 minutes.
3. You could use green tomatoes or tomatillos instead of red tomatoes.

Vegetable flat rice cakes ( Nombu adai)

These rice cakes are made on the occasion of "Kaadayain nombu". This is celebrated in relation to an ancient Indian tale of a princess who prayed to the God of death to bring her husband back from death - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savitri_and_Satyavan.
The sweet and savory cakes are made for this occasion. These cakes are made from rice flour and dal(lentils or black eyed peas). We added a few veggies to our savory ones to make it a complete meal.

INGREDIENTS

Rice flour           - 1 cup
Carrots               - 1/4 cup(finely chopped or grated)
Celery                - 1/4 cup(finely chopped)
curry leaves       - 4-5 
Ginger                - 1/4 inch(finely chopped)
Green chillies     - 1-2 (finely chopped) - optional
Black eyed peas - 1/2 cup (soaked for 2-3 hours and pressure cooked)
Water                  - about  2 cups
Salt                     - as per taste

In a pot boil about 2 cups of water. Once the water starts boiling lower the heat to low and add chopped veggies, ginger, chillies,salt and cooked black eyed peas. Slowly add the rice flour and keep stirring to avoid lump formation. Switch off the heat once all the rice flour is mixed well with the water and the color changes to off-white.

Make small balls about 1.5 to 2 inches in size. Then flatten them on your palm or on plastic or wax paper to thin circles and place a hole in the center. Wet your hands while flattening the flour mixture to avoid it from sticking to your hands.

Steam them until done. This should take about 15-20 minutes. Serve them with chutney.

Rice cakes before steaming

Steamed rice cakes

Tips

1. You can use an idli steamer or rice steamer to cook these. I used idiyappam plates to steam them.

2. You can  avoid black eyed peas and add chopped nuts if you prefer.

 

Samosas with edamame and potatoes (Jain version)

After a long pause I am blogging this tasty snack recipe. This was the recipe we tried as part of our New year celebration. We made a Jain version so that all family members could enjoy the snack. We added the edamame to make a nutritionally complete meal.


Ingredients
Maida                      - 1 cup
Atta                         - 1 cup
water                       - as required
yeast                        - 2 tsps
Salt                          - 1 tsp

Stuffing
Potatoes                   -  2 medium size
Edamame(shelled)  -  1 cup
Carrots(chopped)     - 1/2 cup
Celery(chopped)      - 1/2 cup
Curry leaves            - 5 to 10


Turmeric powder     - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds          - 1 tsp
Carraway seeds        - 1 tsp
Ginger(chopped)      - 1 tsp
Green chillies           - 2 (chopped)
Salt                           - as per taste
Asoefatida                - a small pinch
Oil                            - 1- 2 tsps


Oil for deep frying.


Mix the flours yeast and salt together. Add water little by little to the mixture until it forms a firm non sticky dough.

Meanwhile wash the potatoes and poke a hole in the center. Then place it in a microwave bowl with a little water and cook until 3/4 th done.

Place a pan on the stove and heat it on medium heat. Once hot add the oil, mustard seeds, carraway seeds and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds splutter add the green chillies and ginger and saute for a minute.Add the chopped vegetables, edamame,  turmeric powder except the potatoes and saute for 5-7 minutes.  Cut the cooked potatoes into cubes and add them to the pan. Add the salt and asoefatida and cook until the potatoes are well done.

Roll the dough into small balls. Spread each ball on a wooden board and roll it into a circle like for chapathis. Then fold them into half like in the photo below.

Join the ends together to form a cone like this.

 

Place the stuffing inside the cone and seal the top.

 

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and fry the samosas once the oil is hot. Turn them frequently take them out once done(light brown). We got about 18- 20 samosas. Serve them warm or hot with tomato/hot sauce or chutney. Our 5 year old loved them.

 Tips

1. You can use just maida instead of a mix of flours.

2.The stuffing and spices can be anything of your choice though adding potatoes gives them a good  texture. 

3.You can reduce or avoid the green chillies if you prefer it less spicy.

4. We used red potatoes but you could use the regular ones too.

5. You can try baking them in an oven instead of deep frying.