Savoury Mini Cake Loaf

This is a healthy vegetarian dish which can be served as snacks.

Here I have used Amaranth Flour and Semolina for the base along with vegetables. I have used chickpea leaves as it's available in the market in this season but we can use spinach leaves instead of chickpea leaves. 

Amaranth Flour contains high source of Protein, Calcium and Fiber. It is ideal for gluten intolerent. It has high levels of the amino acid lysine which help your body to properly absorb calcium from the digestive tract. Here I have used Amaranth flour from Original Indian Table which I had received it as a prize in  a contest. 

Ingredients

1 cup Amaranth Flour

1 cup Fine Semolina

1 small Onion chopped

1 medium size Carrot chopped 

1 medium size Capsicum chopped 

1/2 cup Chickpea Leaves or Spinach chopped 

2 Fresh Green / Red Chillies chopped

1 tsp Garlic chopped

1/2 tsp Ginger chopped

2 1/2 tbsp Walnut chopped

Salt to taste

1 tsp Sugar 

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder 

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Soda Bicarbonate

1/4 cup Melted Ghee

500 ml Butter Milk

Method

Mix together amaranth flour, semolina, salt, turmeric powder, sugar and baking powder. Mix it. Add the ghee. Now add the butter milk little at a time into the flour and whisk it. Whisk it properly so that no lumps remain and it forms into a thick batter. Add all the vegetables. Mix the batter well. Add the soda bicarbonate and mix it again. Here I have taken 3 mini loaf tin and greased it with ghee. Pour the batter into the pan until 3/4 of the pan is filled. Sprinkle the chopped walnut on top.

Bake it in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. After 45 minutes, insert a tooth pick and check. If it comes out clean then it’s done. Remove it from the oven and let it cool a bit. Remove it from the tin, cool it further before slicing. Enjoy it with a cup of tea. 

Chingri Macher Matha diye Kochu Saag Batta..

Prawn head and Colocasia leaves Paste....

 I love traditional dishes. Many of the authentic dishes or traditional home recipes are not available in any restaurants. It’s when some one personally shares them, we get to know. These recipes are not showy but one must taste them to experience it. Recently my love for these kind of traditional simple home cooked recipes have got more rooted in me.. 

This is one such recipe I am going to share with you which is my recipe connecting to my roots. 

 I had some prawn heads left with me after making  the prawn pickle for order. I didn’t feel like throwing them as I personally love to chew the prawn heads and I feel it’s more tastier than the prawn. I also had a bunch of Colocasia leaves in the fridge. So taking these two ingredients, put together... this recipe was created... 

Ingredients 

500 grams Prawn head after cleaning the prawns.. 

(Cleaned, marinated with salt and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder. And fried in Mustard oil.) 

1 bunch of Colocasia leaves chopped without stems

1 medium size Onion chopped 

2 to 3 or more Green chills chopped 

1 tsp Garlic paste

1/2 tsp Ginger paste

1 tsp Tamarind paste

1/2 tsp Nigella seeds / Kalonji 

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp Cumin powder

2 tbsp + 1/2 tsp Mustard Oil

1 roasted dry whole chilli for garnishing.. 

Method 

Take 2 cups of water in a wok and add 1/2 tsp salt and colocasia leaves and let it cook till the water begins to bubble. Switch off the flame and drain the water out from the leaves. Keep it aside. Traditionally the Prawn heads and the Colocasia leaves should have been ground on a shil batta, but I have used a chopper. So first grind the prawn head and then add the leaves and grind them together again. As we don’t want fine paste, it’s better to use a chopper or a food processor. Add 2 tbsp oil in a wok. Let it heat up. Add the kalonji. As the kalonji begins to crackle, add the green chillies, ginger paste and garlic paste. Sauté it for few seconds. Add the onions and let it cook for 2 minutes or till the onions become light pink in colour. Add the prawn head and colocasia leaves paste. On a low flame, stir and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the cumin powder, stir for few seconds. Add the tamarind paste and stir for few seconds more. Now add the salt. Stir and continue to cook for another 2 minutes or till the paste starts to leave the sides of the wok. Remove the paste in a bowl, garnish with roasted whole red chilli and drizzle 1/2 tsp Mustard oil. Later you can crush the red chilli and sprinkle on top. This paste taste even better the next day. Server it with hot steaming rice... 

 P. S. You can add 2 tbsp fresh coconut paste at the end after you add salt and mix it. The coconut flavour will enhance the taste of the fish. 

Vegetable Gateau

The vegetable gateau is layered with vegetables, savoury custard and cheese which after baking becomes soft, fluffy and creamy in texture. 

This dish can be served for breakfast or dinner with bread...

It is made with vegetables, cheese, egg and sour cream. 

For the Sautéed Vegetables 

Ingredients 

2 small size Potatoes cut into cubes 

4 tsp of Garlic finely minced 

1 Carrot cut into cubes

1 medium size Egg plant cut into small cubes

1 medium Broccoli cut into small florets  

1 medium bunch of Spinach chopped 

1/2 cup of Green peas 

1 of each colour ( yellow, red and green ) medium size Capsicum cut into cubes 

Salt to taste 

1 tsp Pepper powder

2 cubes / 2 tbsp of Butter

Method

Take a pan, add a cube of butter, let it melt, add 2 tsp of garlic, sauté it for few seconds. Add the 1/2 of the onion chopped, potato, carrot, broccoli, egg plant and green peas. Stir and sauté it for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water, stir and cover the pan with a lid. Let it cook for 5 minute on low flame. After 5 minuets, open the lid. Season the vegetables with salt and 1/2 tsp pepper powder and stir it. Add the capsicum and stir it again. Remove it in a bowl and keep it aside. 

In the same pan, add the remaining butter and melt it. Add the remaining garlic and onions, sauté it till the onions are light pink in colour. Add the spinach and stir it for a minute. Sprinkle salt and remaining pepper powder. Stir and cook it till the water from the spinach evaporates. Remove and keep it in a bowl. 

P. S. You can also  add cauliflower, mushrooms, French beans too... 

For the Savoury Custard

Ingredients 

1 packet of Sour Cream

4 Egg Whites

4 Egg yolks

Salt to taste 

1/2 tsp Black Pepper powder

Method 

Beat the egg whites till stiff. Separately beat the cream cheese till fluffy. Add salt, pepper and egg yolks. Beat it well. Fold in the egg white and that goes with the vegetables for baking. 

To Assemble 

Ingredients 

Savoury Custard 

Sautéed Vegetables 

1 cup Cheddar cheese grated

Method 

Take a greased baking pan,  pour in 3 to 4 ladles of the custard and spread it. Now add 1/2 of the sautéed mix vegetables and spread it. Pour 2 to 3 ladles of custard over the vegetables and spread it. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cheese on the vegetables. Bake it in a preheated oven for 10 minutes at 180 degree celsius. Remove the baking pan from the oven. Add the sautéed spinach and spread it. Pour 2 ladles of the custard over the spinach. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese. Bake for 10 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 degree celsius. Remove the baking pan from the oven. Now add the remaining vegetables and spread it. Pour the remaining custard over the vegetables. Sprinkle the remaining cheese. Now bake it for 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 degree celsius. Serve and enjoy this dish with garlic bread...

Bolo Rei - King’s Cake

Merry Christmas to all...

Bolo Rei (King’s Cake) is a traditional Portuguese cake that is eaten around Christmas, that’s 25th December to 6th January. There won’t be any Christmas without Bolo Rei on the table. Each family in Portugal either buys or makes it at home during the season. 

This recipe made it’s way to Portugal from France during the 19th century when Confeitaria Nacional opened it’s official bakery in 1829. The Confeitaria was the first to introduce this recipe. 

Although it is called a cake,  Bolo Rei is more like a sweet bread.  Traditionally there is a large fava bean and a coin placed inside the Bolo Rei. And the one who gets the bean has to make the cake  for the following year and the one who gets the coin, is the lucky one. 

Normally you can add 50 ml of Port wine into the dry fruits and keep it for overnight but I haven’t add the port wine into my recipe. The dough is kept overnight for rising, but I kept it for 2 hours. 

Here is my version of the recipe - 

Ingredients

500 grams All Purpose Flour 

125 ml Lukewarm Milk

65 grams Caster Sugar 

1 sachet / 11 grams Dry Yeast 

2 Eggs

1 Egg white

100 grams Butter

2 tbsp Candied Apricot chopped 

2 tbsp Candied Cherry chopped 

2 tbsp Raisins chopped 

2 tbsp Black Raisins chopped

1/2 cup Dried Fruits chopped

2 tbsp Walnuts chopped 

2 tbsp Almond chopped 

2 tbsp Cashews chopped 

1 Egg yolk to brush 

2 tbsp Powder Sugar for sprinkle 

For Garnishing 

Ingredients 

1 tbsp Almond chopped 

1 tbsp Walnut chopped 

1 tbsp Dried Fruits

1 tbsp Candied Apricot sliced 

1 tbsp Candied Cherries whole 

Some Lemon Candied peels sliced 

Method 

Take 1/2 the quantity of the lukewarm milk, add 1 tbsp of caster sugar, stir the milk, then add the yeast.  Stir it once again and let it rise. Meanwhile mix all the dried fruits, candied fruits and nuts together and keep it aside. 

Take flour, sugar, butter, eggs, remaining milk and yeast in a mixing bowl and knead it into a dough for 5 to 7 minutes. I have used a kneading machine, but you can also knead it by hand. Cover and keep it aside to rise. Now add the dried fruits and nuts. Knead the dough again. Divide the dough into 2 portions. Take a portion of the dough, roll it into a thick rope and round it into a wreath on a baking sheet.  Cover and keep it for 30 minutes. Then brush the dough with the egg.

Garnish the cake with candied peels, nuts and dried fruits. Bake it in an pre heated oven for 25 minutes at 180 degree celsius. Remove it from the oven and let it cool a bit. Sprinkle with some powdered Sugar.

Ram Rochak Tarkari

It’s a delicious Oriya vegetarian dish popular in the Baripada region of Odisha. This dish is made during Ratha Yatra. This a very simple dish. Mung dal dumplings are cooked with vegetables like brinjal and potatoes.  This dish can be served with rice.

This recipe is adapted from Sweta Biswal's blog Oriya Rasoi....

For the Dal Dumplings / Bara

Ingredients

1/2 cup Yellow Split Lentils(Mung Dal) soaked for 1 to 2 hours

1/4 cup Whole Green Gram (Whole Green Mung Dal) soaked for 4 to 5 hours

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

2 Red Dry Chillies

A pinch of Asafetida

Salt to taste

Oil for fry the dumplings

Method

Add the cumin seeds, dry red chillies, asafetida, salt, yellow mung dal and green whole mung dal in a grinder. Add very little water as the batter should be thick. Grind the dal into a batter. Take oil in a wok and let it heat up. Add a tsp of the batter in the oil. Repeat the process for 3 to 4 times. Fry it till golden brown in colour. Remove it from the oil and keep it aside.

For the Masala Paste

Ingredients

2 to 3 small pieces of Ginger

2 Dry Red Chillies

1 small Green Chilli

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

3/4 tsp Coriander seeds

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

Method

Add the ginger, red chillies, green chilli, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and turmeric powder in the grinder and grind the ingredients. Add 2 to 3 tbsp water and grind it again into a paste.

For the Curry

Ingredients

Mung Dal Dumplings

1 cup Brinjal cut into medium cubes

2 medium size Potatoes cut into medium size cubes

1 Green Chilli slit

1 Green Cardamom

1 small piece Cinnamon

2 Cloves

Salt to taste

Masala paste

2 tbsp Oil

1/2 tsp Ghee

Method

Reduce the oil in which the dumplings had been fried to 2 tbsp. Add the cumin seeds, clove, cardamom, cinnamon and green chilli. Let it crackle. Add the masala paste. Sauté it till the oil leaves the masala. Add the potatoes. Stir and cook for a minute. Add the brinjal. Stir and cook for another minute. Add 1 1/2 cups of water. Stir, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Open the lid, add salt to taste. Stir, cover and continue to cook until the potatoes are 80 percent done. Open the lid, check if the potatoes are almost done. Add the dumplings and continue to cook for another 4 to 5 minutes. Drizzle ghee and switch of the flame. Serve it with hot steaming rice.