Whole wheat, Nachni and Soya Bread Loaf

Whole wheat, Nachni and  Soya  Bread Loaf
Ingredients
3 cup Whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Soya flour
1/2 cup Nachni flour
1/4 cup All Purpose flour
1 1/2 tbsp Dry Yeast
2 tbsp Sugar
1/2 cup Lukewarm water
1 tbsp Olive oil
Salt to taste

Method
Take a cup. Add the sugar, yeast and Luke warm water, let it rise. Take a mixing bowl. Add all types of flours and salt. Mix it. Make a well in the centre of the flour. Add the yeast. Stir the yeast and start mixing the flour... Add the water little at a time to make a soft dough. Add 1 tbsp oil, Knead the dough for 10 minutes. Drizzel some oil on top of the dough, cover and keep for rising double in size. It takes 3 hours to rise. Punch the dough and knead it again for few seconds. Grease a bread tin. Place the dough in the bread tin. Let it rise double in size.  Bake it in a pre heated oven at 160 degrees celcius for 25 to 30 minutes or till brown on top.Cool the bread loaf a bit and remove it from the tray. Cool it completely before cutting.... Give at least 3 hours to cool down since it is a bit heavy bread.

Multi grain Round Focaccia Bread

Multi grain Round Focaccia Bread
Ingredients
3 cup Whole wheat flour
1/4 cup Soya flour
1/4 cup Amarnath flour
1/4 Jowari flour
1/4 cup All Purpose flour
1/2 cup Nachni flour
2 tsp Dry Yeast
1 tbsp Sugar
1/2 cup Lukewarm water
1/2 cup or more Milk  / Water as required
Few sliced Black Olives
1 Coriander / Parsly Strand
3 Cherry Tomatoes
2 tbsp Olive oil
Salt to taste

Method
Take a cup. Add the sugar, yeast and Luke warm water, let it rise. Take a mixing bowl. Add all types of flours and salt. Mix it. Make a well in the centre of the flour. Add the yeast. Stir the yeast and start mixing the flour... Add the milk little at a time to make a soft dough. Add 1 tbsp oil, Knead the dough for 10 minutes. Give the dough a round shape. Drizzel some oil on top of the dough, cover and keep it for 10 hours.Grease a round baking tin. Gently press the dough in the round tin. Gently poke the top with finger tips. Keep it for 30 minutes in the tin.  Add olives, coriander and tomatoes on the top for garnishing. Drizzel olive oil on top. Bake it in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees celcius for 30 minutes or till brown on top.Cool the bread loaf a bit and remove it from the tray. Cool it completely before cutting.... Give at least 3 hours to cool down before cutting.

P.S. Minced garlic, spring onions, chillies, dry herbs can be added while kneading the bread...

Bottle Gourd Savoury Muffins

Bottle Gourd Savoury Muffins

This is my winning recipe in a contest conducted by Mumbai Chapter Indian Food Freak.... 

Ingredients
4 Eggs
1 cup Grated Bottle Gourd along with the skin
1 small Onion minced
2 Green chillies minced
1/4 tsp Ginger grated
1/4 tsp Garlic grated
1/4 cup +  2 tbsp Whole wheat
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Olive oil
1/2 tsp Pepper powder
Salt to taste

Method
Take the eggs. Very gently with a metal skewer, prick one end of the egg and make a hole. Take a mixing bowl, pour out the yolk and the egg whites in the mixing bowl and wash the egg shells very gently. Remove the water out and keep it under the fan to dry. Mean while add all the above ingredients in the mixing bowl except 2 tbsp flour. Mix it well. The batter has to be thick dropping consistency.  If required add 2 tbsp flour. Take a 6 cavity cupcake mould. Take a piece of foil paper and adjust the foil in the cup cake cavity, so that the egg shell can sit well. 

Repeat the process for other cavities also. Spray the inner side of the egg shells with oil. Pour the batter in the egg shell filling 2/3 of the egg shell. The remaining batter can be poured into the greased cup cake cavities or turned into an egg Paratha. Bake the muffins at 160 degrees celcius for 35 to 40 minutes. To check insert a tooth pick. If the tooth pick comes out clean then the muffins are done. 

Remove it from the oven and cool the muffins before peeling the egg shell out. Enjoy the Bottle Gourd Savoury Muffins with Tea... The remaining batter can be used in making cup cake muffins and parathas. 

   

Thandai Chocolate

Thandai Chocolate
Ingredients
250 grams of White chocolate compound
Some candy colours of your choice

Ingredients for Thandai powder
10 Almonds
10 Pistachios
2 tbsp  Melon Seeds
8 Rose Petals
1/4 tsp Poppy Seeds
2 Green Cardamom
4 Peppercorns
1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
1/2 tsp Rose Essences
Few strands of Saffron

Method
Grind all the ingredients together and keep aside. Take white chocolate and melt it. Temperature of the White chocolate should be 100 – 110° F (37 – 43° C). Be very careful as the high milk and sugar content in white chocolate will cause it to burn easily.
Add the powder to the melted chocolate . Mix it. Add colours to the mould and fill the moulds with chocolate . Keep it in the fridge till it sets.
The Thandai powder can be used in the milk adding sugar to it to make Thandai drink...

Fried Modak Stuffed with Bottle Gourd and Mava stuffing.......

Modaks have a special significance during Ganesh festival,  as it is believed to be the favourite food Lord Ganesha, due to which he is called moniker modakapriya (the one who likes modak) in Sanskrit. During Ganesh Chathurthi the deity is offered with Modak and distributed as Prasad..  Modaks are made with rice flour and jaggary coconut stuffing  which are steamed.  Innovative recipes for modaks have also been created like chocolate modak, motichoor modak, cake modak....

Fried Modak Stuffed with Bottle Gourd  and Mava stuffing.......
For the Stuffing
Ingredients
3 cups  Bottle gourd grated along with the skin
1/2 cup Mava
1 cup Milk
1/2 cup Condensed milk
5 tbsp or More Sugar according to the sweetness required
1/4 tsp Cardomon powder
Pinch of Salt
1 tbsp Almond flakes
1 tbsp Raisin
1 tbsp Broken Cashew nuts
1 tbsp Ghee

Method
Take a wok. Add grated bottle gourd, cover and cook till the juices of the bottle gourd reduces. Mean while in another pot mix 1/4 cup Mava , milk, condensed milk, sugar and salt. Let it boil and then let it simmer on low flame for 5 minutes. Add the bottle gourd in the milk. On a low flame cook the bottle gourd stirring it occasionally till the bottle gourd has incoperated well with the other ingredients. Add raisins, broken cashew nuts, Almond flakes, Cardomon powder, remaining Mava and ghee. Cook for another 10 minutes. Keep it aside.

For the dough
2 cups All purpose flour OR 1 cup APF and 1 cup Whole wheat
1 tbsp Ghee
Salt to taste

Method
Mix flour and salt. Add ghee and mix the flour well. Add water as required and knead the flour to get a semi soft dough. Keep it covered for 15 minutes.

For the Modak
Dough
Stuffing
Oil for frying

Method
Make equal portion of the dough. Take a portion of the dough and roll it into a 2 inch circle. Add one spoon of the stuffing. With the help of the fingers curl up the edges of the dough. Gently get the edges together and close the edges. Take oil for frying in a wok. Heat the oil. Fry the modaks till brown in colour from all the sides.