Kara Kuthiraivali - Ravai Pidi Kozhukatta

 Kara Kuthiraivali - Ravai Pidi Kozhukatta - 

This traditional dish is from Tamil Nadu - Kongunad region. In Andhra it’s known as Kudumulu. In Karnataka it’s known as Kadubu. In Kerala it’s known as Pidi Kozhukattai. This dish is usually made during Ganesh Chaturthi or during occasion… family gathering. Usually made with rice. The rice flour is cooked in hot water with spices and salt. Then once the dough is easy to handle, the Kozhukatta are usually oval shaped and moulded by hand (Pidi) and then steamed. A very healthy comfort steamed dish that can be eaten for breakfast. 

There is a sweet and a savoury version of Kozhukatta. We are making the savoury version. 

Here I have made Kozhukatta not with rice flour but with semolina and barnyard millet mixed in equal portion. 

This can be had for fasting and can be good substitute for rice. This dish can be served with coconut chutney. 

Ingredients 

1/2 cup Semolina / Rava 

1/2 cup Barnyard millet / Sama 

Few Curry leaves 

Few chopped Coriander leaves 

2 to 3 chopped Green Chillies 

1 small piece for Ginger Grated 

1/2 cup Grated Coconut 

Salt to taste 

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds 

1 tsp Chana dal

1 tsp Urid dal 

Pinch of Asafoetida 

2 cups of Water 

2 tbsp Oil 

1 tsp Ghee 

Method 

Take a wok, add 2 tbsp oil, heat the oil. Reduce the flame. Add the chopped chillies, ginger, curry leaves, urid dal and chana dal. Sauté, add the mustard seeds and asafoetida. Sauté for few seconds. Add the water. Add salt, let the water simmer. Add the coconut and stir. After few seconds add the washed semolina and sama millet. Stir as the batter shouldn’t form a lump. Stir and cook until it forms a soft dough.. once cool. Switch off the flame… and cover the wok and wait until the dough is easy to handle. Take a steamer, on the top vessel, brush some ghee or place a banana leave. Apply ghee or oil on your palm. Take small portions and shape the Kozhukatta with the help of the palm. Place the Kozhukatta into the vessel. Steam the Kozhukatta for 10  minutes. Serve them hot with chutney.

Panch meshali Sabji r Chechki

 

Now this time of the season the market is flooded with winter vegetables - it’s fresh,  vibrant and adds special flavour to the dish … and we tend to buy varieties of vegetables… and then finishing them is a task specially when we have less members in the family. 

Here is a Bengali recipe that is very easy to make, with many varieties of vegetables and this absolutely pairs up with paratha, luchi, ruti for breakfast, snacks or dinner. 

Panch meshali means medley of vegetables.. and chechki means vegetables cut in small strips and stirred fried in mustard oil, tempered with nigella seeds and seasoned with just salt, turmeric powder and little sugar (optional) and I have used little ghee and coriander leaves for garnishing 

We make Alu Kumro r chechki, alur chechki, phulkopi alur chechki, badakopir alur chechki that goes will for breakfast… 

Here in this recipe I used cauliflower/ Phool kopi, Kumro / pumpkin, Carrot/ gajar and  French beans and Potatoes… 

Ingredients 

1 big bowl of vegetables -  Carrot, Potato and Pumpkin cut into small strips, small cauliflower florets and French beans cut into half.. 

2 to 4 Green Chillies slit 

Few Coriander leaves chopped 

1/2 tsp Nigella seeds 

Salt to taste 

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder 

1/4 tsp Sugar (optional) 

1/2 tsp Ghee (optional) 

1 tbsp Mustard oil 

Method 

Take a wok, add mustard oil, once the oil heats up, reduce the flame and add nigella seeds, once the seeds crackle, add all the vegetables and green chillies, salt and turmeric powder, stir and cook on low flame, sprinkle little water once in a way, cover continue cooking until the vegetables are almost tender, add sugar and continue to cook without the lid until the vegetables are cooked completely, drizzle ghee and sprinkle coriander leaves. Serve the dish with luchi, porotha or ruti. 

Poee / Poi

This is a popular Goan flat bread eaten with curries or vegetable. It’s delicious. 

Ingredients 

2 cups Wheat flour 

2 cups All Purpose Flour (Optional) 

Can replace with whole wheat flour 

2 tsp Instant Yeast

Salt to taste 

2 tsp Sugar

1/4 cup or as required Wheat bran

Luke warm water as required 

1 tbsp Oil

Method 

Take a bowl, add both the flours, sugar, yeast and add little water at a time, and start to knead the dough. Take 1/2 tbsp oil and salt, add the ingredients to the dough and continue to knead the dough until the dough is soft and smooth. Apply the remaining oil, cover the dough and keep the dough to rise double in size. Once done take the dough and knead the dough once more for few seconds. Divide the dough into 10 portions. Keep the rolled ball aside covered for 10 minutes. Remove the center rack of oven and place it on the lowest rack. Preheat the oven at 250 degrees celsius. Take a portion of the dough, take the wheat bran on a plate,  apply the wheat bran on the dough, and either roll the dough out or pressure the dough with the help of your hand, make a thick disc about 5 inches. Repeat the process with other portions. Place the rolled dough on the baking tray. Cover and keep the disc aside for 45 minutes. Now bake the poi on the lower rack of the oven for 8 to 10 minutes at 250 degrees celsius, depending upon your oven temperature.  The poi will fluff up and turn brown in colour. Remove the poi from the baking tray and keep it on the cooling rack to cool it down further. Enjoy the poi with any kind of curries.. 

 

Badam Milk Mix Cupcake

Bangalore has many shops that serves delicious hot Badam Milk... you also get Badam milk powder that you can purchase and mix a spoon of the powder with hot milk. I got a packet of the Badam milk powder this time while I was in Bangalore. Preferably it’s better to make the powder at home. Since no one in my house wanted to drink Badam milk, I used the powder to make these cupcakes. 

Ingredients 

2 cups All Purpose Flour 

1/2 cup Badam Milk Mix Powder

1/3 cup Powder Sugar 

1/4 tsp Salt

1 tsp Baking Powder 

1 tsp Soda Bicarbonate 

3 tbsp melted Ghee 

1/2 cup Curd beaten 

1 1/2 cup Warm Milk 

2 tbsp chopped Almonds 

Few Saffron strands

Method 

Add all purpose flour, Badam Mix powder, Baking powder, Soda bicarbonate and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix all the ingredients together. Take another bowl, add 1 cup milk, curd,  ghee and sugar. Stir and whisk well until the sugar dissolves well with the milk.  Now gradually add the flour and whisk. Add the remaining milk and continue to whisk until the batter forms a thick dropping consistency. Pre heat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Take cupcake liners and arrange it into the cup cake cavity mould or use aluminium cups. Fill up the liners with the batter. Fill upto 3/4 of the quantity of the liner. Sprinkle the chopped almonds and few saffron strands on the top. Bake the cupcakes for 20 - 25 minutes at 180 degree celsius. Insert a tooth pick and check if the cupcakes are done after 20 minutes. Once done then remove the cupcakes and place them on a cooling rack and cool it. Enjoy the cupcakes for breakfast or tea.

Dhuska

Since it's raining continuously here for last 2 days, I was craving for something fried, but at the same time, lazy me wanted to be a couch potato. So here is a simple recipe to satisfy my soul....

It's a traditional dish of Jharkhand. It's made during festivals and can be had for breakfast and snacks. It's a fried savoury pancake. Easy to make with few ingredients. Rice and lentils are soaked in water and made into a smooth batter with garlic and ginger.  Cumin seeds, chopped chillies, green peas, coriander leaves, salt and turmeric powder are added to the batter and it is deep fried. It's serve with ghugni or aloo rassa. 

Ingredients

1 cup Rice 

1/2 cup Split Black Gram / Urid dal 

1/4 cup Split Bengal Gram / Chana dal

2 tbsp Green Peas - optional 

2 Green Chillies chopped 

1 tbsp Coriander Leaves Chopped 

2 to 3 Garlic cloves 

1 small piece of Ginger 

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder 

1/4 tsp Cumin seeds

Oil to fry 

Method 

Wash and soak the rice and the lentils separately for 5 to 6 hours or overnight. Grind the rice and the lentils along with the garlic and ginger in a grinder into a smooth batter. The batter should be of thick dropping consistency. Add the salt, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, chopped chillies and coriander leaves. Mix the batter well, for the air to incorporate well, let is stand for 10 minutes. Heat oil in a pan, add a ladle of batter and fry it till golden brown on both the sides. Serve it hot with Aloo Rassa..

Incase if you don’t want to fry, add little oil on the skillet and pour the batter on the skillet. Spread it a little and cook it until done.

Aloo Rassa...

You can follow the recipe here 👇🏼

http://www.suskitchenbysumitra.com/2017/06/aloo-rassa_28.html?m=0

Baked Dosa Sandwich...

This a healthy breakfast or snack made out of a dosa batter with vegetables. Some thing different.. Where Mumbai meets Chennai.. Enjoy the Bombay sandwich with dosa batter, an innovation in my kitchen... 

Ingredients

1 kg Dosa Batter

1 medium bowl of Green Chutney

1 big Tomato sliced 

1 big boiled Potato sliced 

1 big boiled Beetroot sliced

1 big Cucumber sized

1 big size Onion sliced

1 tsp Sandwich masala or Chaat Masala 

1 tsp Pepper powder

1/2 cup Cheese grated or 3 slices of Cheese 

2 tbsp Butter

Method 

Take a rectangular baking tin. Apply butter. Pour 2 to 3 ladle of the dosa batter into the tin. Bake for 15 minutes at 200 degrees celcius in a preheated oven. Take the tin out. Brush some butter and chutney on the baked dosa. Arrange the potato and beetroot. Sprinkle with chaat masala and pepper powder. Pour 2 to 3 ladle more dosa batter on top of the vegetables. Bake for another 15 minutes or until the batter sets. Remove from the oven, brush with butter and chutney. Arrange the cucumber and tomato slices. Sprinkle with chaat masala and pepper powder. Pour 2 to 3 ladle of the dosa batter and bake it again for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Arrange the onion slices and spread the grated cheese or add the sliced cheese on the top and cover it with the dosa batter. Bake for 20 minutes. Insert a tooth pick to check. Remove the tin from the oven. Cool it to unmould it. Cut it into pieces and serve it with chutney and sauce.. 

Instant Crispy Dosa with Mix Lentils and Semolina... Served with Turnip and Coconut Chutney....

I wanted to make something instant as I was super hungry and did not feel like having bread for breakfast and as I am alone for lunch, did not feel like making a meal. So this dish was great for brunch and it is healthy too. 

So here is the recipe of how I made this Instant Dosa with mix lentils and semolina..... which is served with spicy Turnip and Coconut Chutney. 

For the Dosa

Ingredients

2 cups of Semolina or Idli Rawa

1/2 cup Sago flour 

1/4 cup Black split lentil

1/4 cup Green split lentil

2 tbsp split Bengal Gram 

1 tsp Eno 

Salt to taste 

Method 

Wash all the lentils together and soak it for 15 minutes. Take a grinder and grind the lentils and salt together  into a smooth paste. Add the sago flour, semolina and some water. Make it into a medium thick batter. Remove it into a mixing bowl. Add Eno and mix it. The batter is ready for making dosas. Take a dosa skillet. Let it heat on low flame. Add 2 ladles of the batter. Spread it and drizzle some ghee. Let it cook on low flame until crispy and brown. Serve it hot with the turnip and coconut chutney.

Turnip and Coconut Chutney 

Ingredients 

1 medium size Turnip cut into pieces 

1 small piece Ginger 

2 Green Chillies cut into pieces 

1 small piece raw Mango or preserved Mango piece 

1/4 cup Fresh or Desiccated Coconut 

Salt to taste 

Few Curry leaves 

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds 

1 tsp Oil

Method 

In a grinder, grind all the above ingredients except curry leaves, mustard seeds and oil into a thick paste. Take a small pan. Add oil, let it heat. Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add the seasoning into the chutney.

Spicy Lasuni Papad Ka Paratha...

 Papad ka Paratha is an unique dish sold in Gali Paranthe Wali or Paranthe Wali Gali, a narrow street in Chandi Chowk of Purani Delhi; where different types of Parathas are sold. This paratha is made with Urid dal papad. The papad is fried and crushed and stuffed into a dough and then it rolled out into a disc and deep fried. 

I have made this paratha with a twist... 

I had some green garlic leaves growing in a pot. I ground the garlic leaves and used it in the stuffing along with the roasted crushed chilli papad and some more fresh garlic.  This gives a garlicy flavour to the dish. 

For the Suffing 

Ingredients 

4 roasted Chilli Papad 

4 Garlic cloves coarsely ground 

3 tbsp Green Garlic leaves paste 

1/2 tsp Chaat Masala 

1/2 tsp Dried Mango powder 

1/2 tsp Garam Masala powder 

1/2 tsp Chilli powder 

1/8 tsp Asafoetida powder 

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder 

Method 

Take a mixing bowl , crush the roasted papad. Add rest of the above ingredients and mix it well. 

To make the Paratha 

Ingredients 

Semi hard Dough made with 3 cups of Whole Wheat Flour 

Stuffing 

Ghee to shallow fry the Paratha

Method 

Take a big lemon size portion of the dough. Roll it into a ball. With the help of your fingers and thumb; make a deep hole in the centre. Add 2 tsp of the stuffing in the centre. Close the edges of the dough. Press the dough. Apply little ghee on the dough and roll it out in to a round disc. Heat a skillet. Place the disc on the skillet. Cook the paratha by pressing it. Pour 1 tbsp of ghee and cook it for a minute. Turn the paratha. Add another tbsp of ghee and cook it till golden bubbles appear on both the sides. Remove and serve it hot. 

Achari Sattu ki Puri...

Most of the time oil and the masala from the pickle remains back. This comes to me quite handy when I want to make a quick spicy dish. Just add some spoons of it to the vegetable or meat or fish and it gives a achari flavour to it. Today I have made Achari Sattu Ki Puri using this achar masala. This Puri is quite flavourful and can be eaten with a cup of tea or accompanied with some potato bhaji. 

Ingredients 

1 cup Sattu 

2 1/2  cups All Purpose Flour 

4 tbsp leftover Oil and Masala from any Achar / Pickle

1/2 tsp Carom seeds 

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

Salt to taste 

Oil to deep fry the puris 

Method 

Take a mixing bowl. Add the Sattu, All purpose flour, salt, turmeric powder, carom seeds and 3 tbsp of left over achar masala. Mix all the ingredients together well. Add water little at a time to get a semi hard dough. Knead it well. Add the remaining achar masala, knead it for 2 minutes more. Cover and keep it aside for 15 minutes. Make lime size equal portions. Heat the oil for frying the puris. Take a portion, apply little oil on the rolling board. Roll out the dough in to round shape disc. Fry the puri until golden brown on both the sides. Remove it on an absorbent paper. Repeat the process with the remaining portions. Serve it hot with aloo tarkari. 

Aloo Morich ar Chirebhaja....

It’s a favourite breakfast at our place. It’s a very simple dish made in all Bengali household for snacks. 

 
For Aloo Morich
Ingredients
1 big potatoes boiled and cut into cubes.
1 green chilli slit
1 tbsp ghee
Salt to test
1/2 tsp pepper pd.
Method
Take a wok, add ghee and heat it up. Add green chilli. Stir it for few seconds. Add the potato, salt and pepper. Stir fry it for 2 minutes.

For Chirebhaja
Ingredients
1 bowl Thin Flatten Rice
3 tbsp Peanuts (optional)
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Pepper powder
2 tbsp Mustard oil

Method
Take a wok. Add oil, let it heat. Add the peanuts. Fry it till brown. Fry for for few seconds. Add the thin flatten rice. Add salt and pepper. Stir fry till crispy.

Instant Kanchipuram Idlis

Instant Kanchipuram Idlis

I remember my best friend's gradmother Patti. Some of the people though they are no more in this world, they will always remain in my heart forever, she is one of them. As a teenager I use to visit my friend's house everyday, infact it was my second home. Patti use to make many Tamilian dishes and I picked up few of them from her, though few of the dishes are forgotten and few I remember. One of the dish was Kanchipuram Idlis. She used black lentils with skin and rice, soaked it over night and she use to ground it on a stone grinder. Then the batter was left to ferment overnight and it was seasoned with salt, some curry leaves, mustard seeds, chana dal, few peppercorn, few broken cashwenuts and 2 pinch of asafoetida. Then the rest of the process remained the same for making the idlis. She served it with coconut chutney and milagai podi which was again homemade. 

      Here I followed the recipe but since it is an instant idli, it was not kept for fermentation. I used Eno, but soda bicarbonate can also be added if there is no Eno. It helps in instant fermentation and incoperates air in the batter. I added desiccated coconut in the batter as I love it. Also I replaced rice with idli rawa and oats...

For the Seasoning 

Ingredients 

1/4 tsp Bengal Grams / Chana Dal

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Pepper Corn crushed 

Few broken pieces of Cashwenuts 

1 tsp minced Green Chillies 

Few Curry leaves

2 Pinch of Asafoetida 

1 tbsp Ghee 

Method 

Take a pan and add ghee in it. Let it. Heat add the chana dal, stir it for a minute. Add the mustard seeds, let it crackle. Add peppercorn and few Cashwenuts, stir it for a minute. Add the green chillies and curry leaves. Stir for another minute. Add asafoetida and stir it for few seconds. Remove it from the flame. 

For the Batter 

Ingredients 

1 cup Oats

2 cups Idli Rawa

1/2 cup Split Black Lentils with skin soaked for an hour

2 tbsp Desiccated Coconut

Salt to taste 

1 tsp Eno / Soda bicarbonate 

1/2 cup Curd

Water as required 

Seasoning 

1 tbsp Seasam oil

Method

Grind the soaked lentils in a grinder. Remove it in a mixing bowl, add oats, ldli rawa, coconut, salt, curd, seasoning and water as per required to make a batter. It should be dropping consistency. Add eno. Mix it and let it stand for 10 minutes. Take idli moulds and apply seasam oil on it. Add the batter and steam it till done. Serve it with chutney and sambhar.

Masala Akki Rotti with leftover Rice

Masala Akki Rotti with leftover Rice....

Akki rotti is a rice-based dish, extremely popular from the state of Karnataka.It is made of rice flour which is mixed with salt and water and kneaded well to make a soft dough. Sliced onions and carrots, chopped dill leaves, chopped coriander, cumin seeds and sesame seeds can also be added while kneading the dough.Traditionally some oil is spread on the skillet and a small amount of the dough is place on the skillet and spread to a thin sheet. Oil is then drizzled on the the Rotti. It is cooked until the Rotti is brown on both the sides. It is served hot and is eaten along with chutney. Another way of making akki rotti is to spread the dough over a plantainleaf or a plastic sheet and then cooked on the skillet. The dough should be made just when you are making the rottis.

Here I have made it with leftover rice and rice flour with onion, green chill, coriander leaves and spices. 

Ingredients 

2 cups Left over cooked Rice

1 1/2 cups Rice flour

1 Onion chopped

2 Green chillies chopped

1 tbsp Coriander leaves chopped 

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp Garam Masala

1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder 

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds 

4 tbsp Oil 

Method 

Mix all the above ingredients except oil well and form a dough. Add a tbsp of oil and knead it well. If the dough is sticky add more rice flour. Take a lime size portion of the dough. Roll it into a ball. Take a plastic sheet. Apply water on the sheet. Place the ball on the sheet and with the help of the finger start pressing the ball and spreading it. It will be sticky, apply water on the fingers. Heat a skillet, very gently left up the plastic sheet, turn it upside down and with the other hand remove the plastic sheet out. The Rotti may crack. Place the the Rotti on the skillet and seal the cracks. Cook the Rotti for 2 minutes. Trun it. Drizzle it with oil. Cook it till brown on both the sides. Serve hot with chutney.

Potato and Rice Flour Latkes..

Potato and Rice Flour Latkes....

 Latkes are potato pancakes that are prepared by Ashkenazi Jews as a part of the Hanukkah festival since the mid-1800s, but the connection actually goes back to at least the Middle Ages.

Latkes need not necessarily be made from potatoes. Earlier day before the potatoes were introduced, latkes were, and in some places still are, made from a variety of other vegetables, cheeses, legumes, or starches, depending on the availability of the local ingredients.  Numerous modern recipes call for the addition of ingredients such as onions and carrots. The word latke itself has derived from the Russian word 'ladka', 'oladka',"small pancake". The word leviva, the Hebrew name for latke, refers in the Book of Samuel to a dumpling made from kneaded dough, as part of the story of Amnon and Tamar. Some interpreters have noted that the homonym levav means "heart".

Net source... 

I have adopted this recipe for the net... 

Very quick and easy to make and ingredients are easily available in the kitchen. Taste good with garlic and mustard flavoured yogurt sauce. 

Ingredients

1 large potato peeled and grated and excess water squeezed out ( Here instead of the raw potato, I have used half boiled potato)

1 large onion chopped finely 

2 Eggs

1 cup Rice Flour

Salt to taste 

1/2 tsp Pepper powder 

Oil for frying

Method 

Take a mixing bowl, Add potato, onion, eggs, flour, salt and pepper. Mix well. Heat a skillet. Add a tbsp of oil. On a low flame, heat the oil. Place 1 large tablespoon of the batter on the skillet. Press and flatten the batter. Fry it until golden brown from both the sides. Drizzle more oil if required.  Remove it from the skillet and place on paper towels to drain excess oil. Continue with remaining batter until done. Serve it with garlic and dejon mustard Yogurt sauce...

Ingredients 

1/4 cup Yogurt 

1/4 tsp Garlic paste

1 tsp Dejon Mustard paste

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp Pepper powder 

Method 

Mix all the above ingredients well. 

Palak Paneer Stuffed Paratha

Palak Paneer Stuffed Paratha...

This paratha is good for children who refuses to eat green leafy vegetables. This can be eaten with curd and pickles.
Ingredients
4 cups of Whole Wheat Flour
1 bowl Spinach Purée
1 tsp Ginger Chilli paste
1 tbsp Mint chopped
2 Green chillies chopped
1 bowl of grated Cottage cheese
1/2 cup Curd beaten
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Cumin powder
1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
1/2 tsp Curry powder
1/2 tsp Chilli powder
1/4 tsp Cumin powder for stuffing
Salt to taste
Ghee to fry the Parathas

Method
Take a mixing bowl. Add the flour, spices, salt and oil. Mix it well. Add curd and spinach purée. Mix it, add water as required and start kneading into a dough. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, cover and keep it aside for 15 minutes. Take the grated cottage cheese, add salt, cumin powder, chopped chillies and mint leaves. Mix it. Divide the dough into lemon size balls. Take a ball. Flatten it. Fill a tbsp of the stuffing. Seal the dough from the edges. Coat the dough with dry flour. Roll it. Heat a skillet up. Place the rolled dough on the skillet. Cook the paratha on both the sides for 2 minutes until bubbles appear.  Apply ghee and fry the paratha... Serve it hot..

Eggless Fruity Nutty Sweet Bread Loaf.... Using Tangzhong made from Custard powder...

Eggless Fruity Nutty Sweet Bread Loaf....

Using Tangzhong made from Custard powder... 

Normally “tangzhong” or “water roux,” is made mixing water and flour, some times milk is also used instead of water. It is cooked and stirred until it forms a paste. Then, this paste is removed from the heat and allowed to cool, and added to the flour and yeast. By doing so it enhances and improves the texture and moisture in the bread. It stays soft and fluffy. 

Here I have used custard powder instead of flour and milk instead of water and added vanilla essence and sugar. The bread has turned out to be soft and has a rich and enhanced taste. 

This is an experimental recipe from my kitchen.

For the Custard Tangzhong

Ingredients

4 tbsp Vanilla Custard Powder

1 1/4 cup Milk

1/2 cup Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla essence

Method

Take a pan, add a cup of milk, on low flame let it simmer. Take the remaining milk in a cup. Add the custard powder and mix it. Add sugar to the simmering milk. Stir it till the sugar dissolves. Add the custard paste to the milk, stirring it continuously cook it till it thickens. Add the essence, stir and switch off the flame. Stir the mixture till it cools downs a bit. Keep it aside till it cools down completely. 

For the Bread

Ingredients

3 cups of All Purpose Flour

3 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 cup lukewarm Milk

2 tbsp Dry Yeast

1 tbsp Sugar

Salt to taste

Custard Tangzhong

Few dried Cranberries

Few Raisins

Few dried Blue Berries

Few Broken Cashewnuts

Few Almond Flakes

2 tbsp Butter

1/2 tbsp Butter + 1/2 tbsp Milk for Brushing

Method

Take the yeast in a cup. Add sugar and lukewarm milk. Stir it and keep it aside to rise. Take a mixing bowl. Add the flours (keeping 1 cup flour aside) and salt. Mix it. Make a well. Add the yeast water and the custard. Mix all the ingredients together to form a dough. The dough will be sticky so add little of the remaining flour while kneading the dough. Knead it for 5 minutes. Add a tbsp of butter and knead it well for 5 minutes more. Grease the dough. Cover and keep it till it rises double in size. Once it is double in size, sprinkle with some flour and punch and knead the dough. Add the dry fruits  (cranberries, raisins, cashewnut and almond). Mix it with the dough. Take a bread loaf pan. Grease it. Shape the dough and place it in the pan. Keep it aside till it rises again. Brush the loaf with butter and milk wash.   Bake it at 180 degrees celcius for 25 to 30 minutes in a preheated oven. Take it out and cool it completely before cutting.

Kulcha Buns Stuffed with Chatpata Choley...

Kulcha Buns stuffed with Chatpata Choley.... 

I remember having Choley kulcha in Manali... Instead of making two different dishes.. I thought of stuffing the Choley in the kulcha.. It taste awesome with the buttery taste. Have it hot... 

For the Choley

Ingredients

1 cup Chickpeas soaked overnight and boiled 

2 Boiled Potatoes chopped into small pieces

1 Onion chopped

1 Tomato chopped 

1 tsp Garlic minced

1/2 tsp Ginger minced

2 Green chillies chopped 

1/4 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tsp Chaat Masala

Salt to taste 

1 tsp Roasted Cumin powder 

Few Coriander leaves chopped 

Juice of 1 Lime 

1 tbsp Oil 

Method 

Take a wok, add oil, add cumin seeds. Let it crackle, add the garlic, ginger and chopped chillies. Sauté it for 1 minute. Add the onions, sauté it till translucent. Add the tomato, stir it, add the chopped potato and the chickpeas. Stir and add 1/4 cup of water.Cover and cook till the water has dried up. Add the salt, chaat masala,roasted cumin powder and lime juice. Mix it. Take it off the flame. Add the coriander leaves for garnishing. Keep it aside while we make the Kulcha buns. 

Kulcha Buns

Ingredients 

3 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 cup Luke warm water

1 tbsp Sugar

1 1/2 tsp Dry Yeast

Salt to taste

1/2 cup or more Water

2 tbsp Butter (room temperature)

Method 

Take the yeast and sugar and mix it into the lukewarm water. Let it rise. Add the salt into the flour and mix it. Make a well in the centre of the flour. Pour in the yeast water and little more water and knead it into a soft dough. Add little butter and knead the dough well for 10 minutes. Apply little butter on the dough, cover and keep till it rises double in size. Punch the dough and divide the dough into equal portions, size of a tennis ball. Cover and keep for another 15 minutes.

To make the stuff Buns... 

Grease a baking tin with oil. Take one portion of the dough, flatten it. Add the chatpata Choley in the centre. Close the edges of the bun. Place the bun on the baking tin.leave some distance for the next bun. Apply oil on the bun and flatten the bun. Keep it for 20 minutes. Bake at 180 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes in a preheated oven. Apply butter on top of the hot buns.

Whole Wheat Sweet Chocolatey, Minty and Spicy Soda Bread.....

Whole Wheat Sweet Chocolatey, Minty and Spicy Soda Bread.....

Soda bread is a variety of quick bread traditionally made in which sodium bicarbonate is used as a leavening agent instead of the yeast. The ingredients of traditional soda bread are flour,soda, salt, and buttermilk. The buttermilk in the dough contains lactic acid, which reacts with the soda to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide. Other ingredients can be added such as butter, egg, raisins, or nuts.

   In Europe, soda breads began to appear in the mid-19th century when bicarbonate of soda first became available for use as a raising agent. Breads, griddle cakes and scones with soda bicarbonate and cream of tartar or tartaric acid became popular in Austria, Polish cuisine, Britain and Ireland. Traditional soda bread, eaten in Serbian cuisine, also uses soda bicarbonate. 

Whole wheat soda bread  is known as wheaten bread in parts of Ireland and Polish flat soda bread is known as Proziaki.

Net Resouce.... 

I wanted to cook up something quick for my hungry caterpillar who was going to come back from the school picnic... The door bell would ring any moment.. While I was thinking, the recipe of soda bread ran in my mind. It had to be of her liking... So gave a twist to it and here is my version of soda bread... 

Ingredients

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 cup Milk powder

1/4 cup of Chocolate Chips

Few Mint leaves broken

8 Sweet Pepper Chillies whole or 1 fresh Red Chilli sliced

1 tsp Baking powder

2 Pinches of Salt

1/2 cup Caster Sugar

2 tbsp Melted Butter

3/4 cup Butter Milk

1/4 cup Club Soda

P. S. You can use 1 tsp soda bicarbonate instead club soda and increase the butter milk quantity by 1/4 cup. 

Method

Take a mixing bowl, add whole wheat flour, milk powder and caster sugar. Mix it. Add salt and baking powder. Mix it. Make a well in between. Add butter milk, mix it. Add club soda. Mix it. Add the chocolate chips, chillies and mint. Mix it. The dough will be a bit sticky. Brush an iron pan or any baking tray with butter. Add the bread dough, spread it. Bake it for 40 minutes or till done at 180 degrees celcius in a preheated oven. Cool a bit and the remove the bread from the pan. Cool it completely before cutting it.

Methi Thepla with Instant Chilli pickle....

Methi Thepla with Instant Chilli pickle..

I just love it. Can be eaten any time of the day and taken while travelling too. It remains for 1 or 2 days. Easy to make and delicious too. 

Ingredients 

4 cups Whole Wheat Flour 

1 cup Gram Flour

Salt to taste 

2 tsp Chilli powder

2 tsp Cumin powder

1 tsp Coriander powder

1/2 tsp Garam Masala powder 

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1 bowl or 1/2 bunch Fenugreek leaves (Methi) chopped 

1/2 cup Curd 

Water as required 

2 tbsp Oil 

Oil to drizzle on the Theplas 

Method

Take a mixing bowl, add whole wheat flour, gram flour, chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala and turmeric powder. Mix it, add 2 tbsp oil. Mix it well. Add the methi leaves and mix it again. Add curd and water little at a time and make a  soft dough. Cover an keep it for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into equal portion.  Heat a skillet. Take one portion of the dough, sprinkle little flour and roll the dough into a round disc. Put the thepla on the skillet and roast both the sides. Drizzle oil on the thepla and roast till done. Repeat the process with the remaining thepla. Serve with instant chilli pickle and green chutney. 

Instant Chilli Pickle

Ingredients

6 Big Jalpano Red and Green Chillies or any Chillies 

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Mustard dal

1 tbsp Fenugreek dal

1/2 tsp Fennel seeds coarsely ground

1 tbsp Red Chilli powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1/4 tsp Asafoetida powder

Juice of 1 Lime

1 cup Mustard oil

Method

Wash the chillies, wipe it dry and cut it into round pieces. Add salt mix it. Add the mustard dal, fenugreek dal, fennel powder, chilli powder and turmeric powder. Mix it well and let it stand for 30 minutes. Take oil in a pan. Heat the oil well. Add asafoetida. Cook it for few seconds. Add the chill mix. Stir and cook for 2 to 3  minutes. Add lime juice and cook for about 1 minute more. Cool it and keep it in a clean and dry glass container. This pickle can eaten immediately and can be kept in the fridge for 15 days to a month.