Lemon Blueberry Bread

I have been making different muffins so I thought of trying a bread for a change. I saw this recipe in Aparna's blog. I wanted to try it immediately. The bread was very tasty with the lemon flavour. Here is the link to the original recipe. I added some grated apples to the batter. As I didn't have slivered almonds I topped the bread with streusel topping.

Ingredients

-1 3/4 cup flour
-3/4 cup sugar
-2 tsps baking powder
-1/4 tsp salt
-1 egg
-1 cup milk
-1/4 cup vegetable oil
-1/2 tsp vanilla
-finely grated zest of 1 lemon
-2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
-1 cup of dried blueberries
-1/4 cup grated apple

Method

1.Preheat oven to 350F. Spray Pam and apply flour a 9 ¼ x 5-inch loaf pan.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients flour,baking powder,sugar,salt,grated zest of lemon in a bowl.
3.Whisk the egg,vanilla essence,lemon juice and milk in another bowl
4.Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredient in the well and blend it with a hand blender until it becomes a smooth batter.
5.Toss the blueberries with flour. Fold the blueberries and grated apple in the batter.
6. Pour the batter in the loaf pan.
7.Top the batter with streusel topping. Streusel topping is a mixture of flour,sugar and room temperature butter. Combine 2 tablespoons flour, 5 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons butter with fork until mixture resembles course crumbs. Sprinkle over batter.
8.Bake the bread for 50-55 minutes. Test if it is baked by inserting a knife in
the center of the bread. The knife should come out clean.

Navy bean and Vegetables

This is a fun curry with dhal and all sorts of vegetables. The fresh ground masala adds an additional flavor to this wonderful dish. I got the idea for this masala from Vaishali blog. I have been using this masala in all sorts of dishes. The combination of Fennel and Methi seeds give this recipe a unique flavor to this dish.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of mixed vegetable - I used bell peppers, carrots, purple potatoes-
- 1 cup of cooked navy beans
- 1 tomato chopped
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 tsp jeera seeds
- 1 green chili - (optional)
- salt to taste


Masala (Dry roast and grind to a fine powder)
- 2 tsp Coriander seeds
- 1 tsp jeera seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/2 tsp methi seeds
- 10 peppercorns (adjust to taste)
- 3-4 dried red chilies (adjust to taste)

Method:

1. Chop all the vegetables to bite size pieces.
2. In a pan pour oil and add the jeera seeds. Once it splutters add the green chilies and after about 30 seconds add the onion and cook till it becomes translucent.
3. Add the chopped vegetables, salt cover and cook till the vegi's become tender.
4. Now add the tomatoes and the ground masala powder. Give it a mix and let it cook for 3-5 minutes.
5. Finally add the boiled navy beans. Do not add it before because the navy bean tend to become mushy. Reduce the heat and let it cook for 10 minutes.

Serve it hot with roti or jeera rice.

Spinach Channa and avocado Roti

The whole recipe is an inspiration from veg Inspirations. The spinach channa I think is very similar to the Ghea Channa we make in our home. So I am calling it spinach channa. We do not use a lot of garam masala in our cooking so I kind of came up with my own masala mix for this wonderful subzi. I combined it with avacado roti. This was one of my wow moment of my life. Think about it - Avacado is so buttery and it really does not have any strong taste to it. By mixing it with the roti flour it makes the roti soft without any butter. The roti was very tasty and it was really good with the spinach channa..

Ingredients for spinach channa:

- 3 cups chopped spinach
- 1/2 cup channa dhal
- 1 small onion
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 green chili
- small piece of ginger
- 1 tsp turmeric
- chili powder to taste
- salt to taste


Fry and grind:
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp jeera seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/2 tsp methi seeds
- 2 tsp pepper corn
- 3-4 red chili

Seasoning:
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp jeera

Method:

1. Boil the channa dhal till it becomes soft. I do not pressure cook this as I want it to be whole but soft. If you are using the cooker then be careful to not make it mushy.
2. In a large pan add oil and jeera. Once the jeera splutters add the onions and fry till tender. Now add the chopped spinach. In about 2-4 minutes it will start to wilt.
3. Now add the chopped tomatoes and cook till they become mushy. Add the ground masala, salt and if needed chili powder. Mix them well and let it cook for a couple of minutes
4. Add the boiled channa dhal. If you find that it is dry then add some water. Simmer for 15 minutes and serve it hot with roti

Ingredients for Roti :
- 2 cups atta/ wheat flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 ripe avocado mashed
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp of masala (I used the same one I ground for the spinach channa - see above)
- 1/2 tsp ajwin

Method :
1. Mix all the above ingredients to form a stiff dough. Roll them to form small rotis.
2. Heat a flat pan and cook the roti's till you see brown spots on both sides. Add little bit oil while cooking. This will not be like pulka roti's so you just need to cook in the tawa.

The combination is very tasty so definitely give this a try..

This one goes to the Green Foodie event Green Foodie event hosted by Preeti of relishing recipes

Chepankilangu roast/ Taro root roast

The credit to this recipe goes to chefinyou. This is a fabulous site and I have tried quite a few recipes from there. It always turns out good and her recipes are very unique. When I saw this recipe I fell in love with it because she has used very little oil. I cooked mine using about 1 tsp oil and that for a chepankilangu roast to me is pretty good. The one thing I might modify the next time is to chop the the taro root once I boil it. I think that would spread the masala evenly throughout the dish. This is my take on the original recipe...


Ingredients:
- 10 taro root
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- bit of hing
- 1 tsp oil

Method:
1. Boil the taro root and remove the skin. I microwaved it for 10-15 minutes and then pealed its skin. Check the consistency every 5 minutes so you don't overcook the taro root.
2. In an bowl add the oil then the turmeric powder, chili powder, hing and salt. Mix the boiled taro root in this masala. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes.
3. Take a baking sheet and line it with aluminum foil. Spray some oil. Place the taro root on it so that they don't touch each other
4. Turn on the oven to broil. I turned mine on to 500 degree. Now cook for 25-30 minutes.
5. Remove it and you are ready with your roast. I did not bother to do the last few steps in the original recipe as the roast was yummy as it is is.

Quinoa Chocolate Zucchini muffins

I wanted to bake something with quinoa. I had some sorry looking zucchini in my fridge and so I decided to try out a vegan version of zucchini bread. I hunted down some zucchini bread recipe's but my only issues with them were that they used too much oil. I try to cook with as little oil as possible so I started to modify the recipe and ended up with a pretty tasty version. Here is the link to my original inspiration. I used apple sauce instead of oil or eggs.



Ingredients :
(Yields 18 muffins if you bake in the standard 12 muffin pan)
- 1 cup qunioa flour
- 1 cup flour (I used 1/2 all purpose and 1/2 whole wheat flour)
- 2 cups apple sauce (As there are no eggs or butter you need quite a bit of apple sauce)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar (If you don't want your bread too sweet then half cup will do)
- 1/2 cup walnuts (optional - they give a nice crunch to the muffin)
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 2 tbs unsweetened coco powder
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 2 cups shredded zucchini

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350F degree
2. In a bowl mix all the ingredients until they are all incorporated. If you find your zucchini is not moist then add a little bit more apple sauce.
3. Now fill the muffin tin to about 2/3rd and bake them for 20 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean when you insert it in the middle,

Serve them warm with a hot cup of tea.

Note: If you don't have quinoa flour just take the 3/4 th cup whole qunioa and grind it in a mixer till it becomes a smooth powder. If you don't have chocolate chip then increase your coco powder.

This one goes to Whole Grain Baking Event – Quinoa hosted by Maduram's eggless cooking and to Bake-off event at Versatile Kitchen.

Eggless banana muffin

I love baking muffins. My 2 year old son likes muffins and by baking it for him at home I can be sure he eats healthy stuff. We had lot of over ripe banana sitting in the counter. I was debating between banana bread or banana muffin. When I was browsing I saw Saffron hut blog and there was a very easy recipe for a banana muffin. I made some minor changes and tried it out. The muffins are so easy to make and it tastes wonderful. Try it out. Here is the link to the original recipe.

Ingredients

-1 cup all purpose flour
-1/2 cup Whole wheat pastry flour
-4 ripe bananas (blended this nicely)
-3/4 cup sugar
-1/3 cup melted butter (unsalted)
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 tsp Vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degree F.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients(flour,baking soda,baking powder,salt) in a bowl.
3. Melt the butter in a microwave. Add sugar,mashed banana,vanilla essence and mix it properly
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix it with a spoon. Don't over mix the muffin batter.
5. Pour the mixture in a muffin pan. This makes 12 muffins.
6. Bake it for 20 min or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

Enjoy yummy muffins for breakfast or as a snack with your tea.

This goes to the Bake-off event at Versatile Kitchen

Corn Muffins with jalapeño and cheddar cheese and Vegetarian Chili

We had a very hearty chili and corn muffin for our lunch. It was easy to put together and it tasted great. Here is the recipe..

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup corn meal
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk (I used low fat milk)
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 jalapeño pepper finely chopped (adjust to taste)
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/8 cup oil

Method:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl beat the egg well with milk and oil.
2. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir till they are all well combined.
3. Finely chop the jalapeño pepper and add it to the corn bread mixture. Stir in the cheddar cheese.
4. Grease your muffin tins. Pour the batter so the tins are half full. Bake in a 400F oven for 20-25 minutes. Ovens vary in heat so check it after 18 minutes.

Serve it hot with chili.

Ingredients for Chili:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 3 bell peppers (any color is fine), chopped
- 2 jalapeño peppers, chopped
- 2 tomatoes
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups pinto beans boiled
- 2 fresh corn boiled and kernels removed

Method:
1. In a croak pot add oil and the onions. Sauté till the onions become transparent.
2. Add the bell pepper, jalapeño and sauté for a few minutes.
3. Now add the tomato and let it boil till they become tender. Add all the spices (cumin powder, chili powder, pepper powder, oregano, salt) and beans. Pour 3 to 4 cups of water and reduce the heat to simmer.
4. After it has cooked for at least 45 minutes add the fresh corn. Now allow it to boil for another 20-30 minutes. The more it simmers the better it tastes. So if you start it in the morning reduce the heat and let it simmer the whole morning.

Serve it with some fresh cheddar cheese and tortilla chips on the side. You can dip the corn muffin and eat the soup with it. It is definitely a satisfying lunch or dinner.

Corn Meal Buttermilk Pancakes

This recipe is an inspiration from here. When you have time definitely check this site out. They seem to have a good collection of healthy food choices. I particularly liked their glossary of whole grains. I found it very informative and useful. This is a different take on pancakes with corn meal in it. So it has got a slightly crumbly texture and I think that makes them taste better. The only big variation in my version of the recipe is that I reduced the eggs and increased the buttermilk.

Ingredients :
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cornmeal
- 1/3 cup whole-wheat flour (I did not have pastry flour)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp flax seeds ground to a powder or flaxseed meal
- 1 egg
- 1 1/4 cup low fat buttermilk
- 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 cup of blueberries (I used the frozen kind)

Method:

1. In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl crack the egg and whisk it. Add butter milk and oil. Mix well.
2. Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine it all together. Do not over beat it. You just want the wet and dry ingredients combined. Finally mix in your blueberries with the batter.
3. In a hot skillet pour the batter. Wait till you start seeing bubbles. Takes about a minute for this. Flip the pancakes over and cook for another 45 seconds. Both the sides should be golden brown in color.

These are best eaten hot with maple syrup and if you want with a pat of butter.

Mixed Thogayal

I am a big fan of thogayal. Thogayal can be mixed with rice or can be used as a side dish for idli, dosa or chaapathi. So I make it in the morning and use it as a side dish for dinner also. This thogyal has all vegetables and the oil used is also very less. This is a healthy and low-fat side dish.

Ingredients

-1 cup chow-chow
-1 cup cabbage
-1 cup bell pepper
-1 cup zucchini
-1 cup carrot
-1 cup red pumpkin
-1 tomato
-1/4 cup chana dhal
-1/4 cup urad dhal
-7-8 red chillies (based on your spice level)
-1/4 tsp asafoetida
- 1/2 lime size tamarind- soak in hot water (increase tamrind if tomato is not used)
-2 tsp oil
-salt to taste

Method

1.Chop all the vegetables in bite size pieces. Microwave the vegetables with salt until it becomes a little tender.
2. In a frying pan add oil. Add channa dhal, urad dhal,asafoetida and the red chillie. Fry until it becomes brown.
3.In a blender first blend the dhals. Then add the vegetables,salth and blend it together.

Serve it with rice, rotis ,idli or dosa.

Thai Pineapple fired rice and bean sprouts

My adventures with Brown Rice continues. Today it was thai pineapple fired rice with bean sprouts. Inspiration for the thai fired rice came from here.It was nice and easy recipe. I substituted brown rice in place of the white rice. One more way to disguise brown rice I guess..

Ingredients for Fried Rice:
- 1 cup brown rice cooked
- 2 cups chopped pineapple (I had fresh pineapple but canned will work great too)
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 red chillies - adjust to taste (Brown rice is tougher so you can add a little bit more then you would if it was white rice)
- 1 carrot shredded
- 1/2 cups peas
- 1 egg optional
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup unsalted cashews
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp coriander & cumin powder
- 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
- 2 tsp oil

Method:
1. You need old dried rice for this recipe. I did not have any so after I cooked the brown rice I put it away in the fridge for an hour.
2. In a tsp oil fry your raisins and cashews to a golden brown. Keep it aside. Now mix the soy sauce the cumin and cilantro powder and keep that aside too.
3. Meanwhile in a large pan/skillet add oil and your onions. Sauté till it becomes translucent. Move the onions to the side and add the eggs and scramble it. This will go really fast so keep an eye.
4. Add carrots, peas and cook for a few minutes. If the pan is dry keep sprinkling some water. Do not over cook these as you want your vegetables to have a crunch to it. Add the pineapple after the vegetables are cooked. Cook it for another minute or so.
5. Add the soy sauce mixture you prepared. Stir it all well. Taste test it and add salt accordingly.
6. Fluff up your cold rice. Add it to the vegetables and mix it all well. Add more soy sauce if you prefer. I add a couple more teaspoons in the end.
7. Reduce the heat and mix in your fried cashews and raisins.

Serve the rice hot in a bed of bean sprouts. Putting the bean sprouts is very easy. In a smoking hot pan add 2 teaspoons oil. Dump the bean sprouts. Sauté really fast. Add some sugar, salt, 1/2 tsp vinegar, black pepper and mix them all well. The whole dish comes together in 5 minutes as you want your sprouts to retain its crunch.

Millet Upma

Thanks to the blogging world I am discovering so many different ways to cook the same item. Upma - Never a big fan of it but when I was browsing through various blog sites I came across Millet. I have never tasted this grain and I was curious to try it today. So I picked up some Millet (it is called white millet). The simplest and the safest way I could think of trying this grain was to add a bunch of vegetables and make something that resembles a upma. It turned out to be not only a healthy dish but also a tasty one..

Ingredients:
- 1 cup millet
- 2 cups of chopped mixed vegetables - use anything you like (I used peas, potatoes, sweet bell pepper and some frozen black eye peas)
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 2 green chilies
- small piece of ginger chopped
- salt to taste

Seasoning:
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp channa dhal
- 1 tsp urad dhal
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp oil

Method:
1. Wash the millet and cook it. For one cup of millet I used 2 cups of water and micorwaved it for 35 minutes. Add salt when you cook the millet. It tastes better when you make the upma
2. In a pan add oil and the seasoning. Once the dhal turn color add chilies and ginger. Cook for 30 seconds.
3. Add onion and sauté it. Add the other vegetables and salt. Cook till they become soft.
4. Now add the cooked millet and mix well. If it is too dry sprinkle some water and mix it well. Simmer it for 3-5 minutes.

Remove and serve it hot with a subzi of your choice.

Eggplant Puli kotsu

This is another recipe from my mother-in-law. We had this with Arisi Upma. This is a very easy kotsu. If you like sour and tangy taste you can try this out.

Ingredients

1 Big eggplant (not the indian eggplant)
1 big lemon sized tamarind

Seasoning

1 tsp Chana Dhal
4-5 red chili torn into small pieces
1/2 tsp mustard seed
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1 tsp Oil

Method
Extract 3 cups of tamarind water from the soaked tamarind. Roast the eggplant over the gas cooktop or use the broiler to roast the eggplant. Once the eggplant has cooled down peel the skin out. You can either mash the eggplant with hand or blend it once.
In a frying pan add oil and add the seasoning items. Add tamarind water and the blended eggplant. You can switch of the stove. You do not have to boil the kotsu.

This can be served as a side dish for idli or dosa also

Tip. Here is the link to roast the eggplant in the broiler

CholaPuri with Channa Masala

My mother-in-law makes yummy cholapuri. Everytime she visits us I ask her to make this. This time I noted down the recipe finally. I also made a channa masala as a side dish for the puri. Forget your diets and enjoy this delectable combo of puri and channa


Ingredients to make Chola Puri

2 cups maida
1.5 cup Wheat Flour
2 tbsp rava
salt to taste
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup curds

Oil for frying

Method.
Mix everything and make it into a dough. Adjust the quantity of curds to get a soft dough. Heat oil in a frying pan. The oil should be hot so that puris become fluffy. Once it gets too hot after frying two three puris reduce the heat. We have to adjust the heat of the oil so that thepuri does not become brown.


Ingredients for making Channa Masala

2 onions
2 tomatoes
1/2 can diced tomato
2-3 green chili
ginger
4 garlic clove
1 can channa
1 tsp kasoori methi
1/2 tsp of sugar

Salt to taste

Method

In a frying pan add garlic,ginger,green chili,onions and fry for few minutes. Add tomatoes and diced tomato to the pan. Once the mixture has become mushy blend it along with handful of channa.

In the frying pan add oil and add jeera and 2 cloves. Add the ground paste and remaning chana. Add chole masala, garam masala and salt. Let it simmer for few minutes. Add some kasoori methi and salt. Garnish with coriander

Brown Rice puli pongal

After reading various blogs our family decided we will try a week with various grains. So the rule is we will eat a different grain for all the day of the week. I am starting the week with a big bang. My all time favorite puliyodarai. I have good memories of my family going on road trips stopping near a field and eating puliyodari and curd rice. I think my liking for the dish is partly these memories. I did not have pulicachal so it was kind of my make up puliyodari with brown rice.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup of brown rice
- small lemon size tamarind - extract 2 cups of water
- 4-5 dried red chilies
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp urad dhal
- 1 tsp channa dhal
- 3 tbsp peanuts
- 1/4 tsp hing powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp oil - You can add more oil if you want.
- salt to taste.

Method:
1. Soak brown rice for 1/2 hour and cook it till it becomes tender. I pour close to 4 cups of water and microwave it for 30 minutes
2. In a pan add the mustard seeds and once it starts to splutter add urad dhal, channa dhal, peanuts, red chilies, curry leaves and fry till they turn color. Now add turmeric and hing powder.
3. After 30 seconds add the tamarind water, salt and let it boil. You need to give this at least 10 minutes otherwise your tamrind water will have a raw smell.
4. Now reduce the heat add the brown rice and mix it well. Cook it for another 3 minutes and take it off the heat.

Tastes well with any vegetable curry.