Veg Omelette

I saw this recipe in Global Vegan and I wanted to try ...So with some changes I made like...omitted "Dill" and added Rice flour with besan in the ratio 1:3,cumin seeds I added a little..and Littleasafetida/hing....,Curry leaves....just like the mix for bajji ....;))...and tried....Turned out very nice colourful dosa...just like Kumuda's....from global vegan. Can have this as a tiffin..

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SMALL POTATO BRIYANI

 I took this recipe from a cook book...This is very spicy kind of rice...so here is the recipe of small potato briyani. 

Ingredients

Basmati rice	1 cup
Small potato	10 - 15
Tomato juice	3/4 cup
Water	1 cup
Curd(Not sour)	1/4 cup
Coriander leaves	1/2 bunch
Garam masala powder	1/4 tsp
Salt	As needed
Oil	As needed
Onions	2 (cut lengthwise)

TO ROAST & GRIND

Coriander seeds	1 tsp
Red chilli	3 - 4
Coconut scrapping	2 tblsp
Ginger(Do not roast)	1 small piece
Green chilli	3 - 4

Optional:
Whole garam masala  to season.

Method

• Wash and soak rice for 10 minutes.
• Grind the coriander leaves and mix it with curds and keep a side.
• Cook rice with tomato juice,salt and 1 cup water. (Season with whole garam masala if desired)
• After done,add a tsp of ghee and cool down the rice to make it separate separate grains.
• Cook the small potatoes in a pressure cooker,peel the skin and deep fry it in a really hot oil till golden brown(Pierce the potatoes carefully with fork in 2,3 places,b4 frying)
• Heat a kadai with oil,add the onion and fry till brown.
• Add the ground masala (Under the “To roast & Grind Table)and sprinkle little water and fry for 3 minutes till a nice aroma rises.
• Then add the fried potates and coriander mixed in curd,Mix gently.
• Add this in a heavy bottomed vessel(cooker),add the cooked rice sprinkle 2 tblsp of water,mix well and simmer the stove and cook for 7-10 minutes.
• Serve hot with raitha!!

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Ravakesari

“ Rava kesari” is the easiest sweet,that can be prepared in a jiffy.

       

Ingredients

Rava/sooji/semolina	1/2
Sugar	3/4 to 1 cup
Water	1 & 1/2 cup
Ghee	1/4 cup
cardamom powder	A pinch
Cashew nuts	7-8 nos
Kesari colour	A pinch

Method

1. Heat a pan(non stick to make it easy) add the rava with the ghee (mentioned minus a tblsp). Fry in medium flame,with constant stirring until a nice aroma comes (the rava will start turning golden brown).
2. Transfer the mixture to a plate and set aside. Add the water to the pan and bring to boil.
3. Add the fried rava little by little to the boiling water and keep stirring simultaneously.
4. Take care no lumps are formed,keep in medium flame and stir well.
5. Keep in low flame and cook covered for 3-4 minutes or until the rava gets cooked well.
6. Add the sugar,kesari colour and keep the flame in medium and stir well.
7. some times,when u add sugar and mix,immediately you may find very few lumps,but don't panic,stir well as in a way to mash those lumps gets mashed well.
8. Stir in medium flame for 4-5 minutes or still the kesari forms as a whole mass(doesn't stick to the pan at all).
9. Add ghee fried cashews,elachi to this if desired.(in a tblsp of ghee we reserved before)
10. Optional :Grease a plate with ghee and spread the kesari in it and after cooling down,draw as diamonds with a knife.

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Badhusha

     INGREDIENTS:

Maida/All purpose flour	1 & 1/2 cups
Butter+oil	1/4 cup+1/8 cup
Sugar	1/2 tsp
Curd	1& 1/2 tsp
Cooking soda/sodium bi carbonate	2 pinches
Water	1/4 cup (approx.)
Oil	for deep frying

For Syrup:

Sugar	1/2 cup
Water	Just to immerse the sugar
Elachi powder	2 pinches
Saffron	Optional,A pinch
Lemon Juice	1 tsp

METHOD:

1. Melt butter and add oil,sugar,curd and sodium –bi-carb. to it and use a whisk to mix well,to make it almost frothy.Add the flour to it.
3. Mix well to make it crumbly. Add water to make it dough,please be careful when adding,the 1/4 cup is what I used,it was just right,still you adjust accordingly. Make it to a smooth dough without any lumps.
4. I kept on kneading for sometime to get a smooth dough..may be 10 mins,I made 11 small lemon sized balls out of it. You can adjust the size accordingly. 

    5.  Now take a ball and pinch the edges and fold it inwards to make rims decoratively as shown in the picture.  Repeat to finish everything and keep covered.

 

VIDEO UPDATED TO SHOW HOW TO FOLD : 

Video of how to make Badusha..

One more video: 

One more video..

6. Meanwhile add sugar to a pan and just add water to immerse it and boil till one string consistency ,i.e; if you pour in little water,it should not dissolve and it should lay a fine thread. Add saffron,elachi if desired and squeeze the lemon juice lastly. Heat oil just enough,check it by adding a pinch of batter,if it rises immediately,then its just right. Dont let the oil fume at any point.

 
8. Add some five badushas,we prepared ,carefully in to the oil. Remove from fire and let it get cooked in the pre heated oil. Approximately it wud take 5 mins. 

9. At  one stage the badushas float, then again keep the kadai on fire and cook in medium-low flame,adjust heat at the end to make it golden brown,for me it took around 5-8 mins. 

10. Drain in a paper towel and immediately add to the hot sugar syrup,to cover the badusha ,I did this in batches 2-3 at a time.  Leave for a minute and then drain the badushas to a greased surface. 

After it cools down,the sugar syrup should have turned non sticky,transfer to an clean container.  And enjoy! 

Notes: If you reduce the quantity of butter or oil,then there will be drastic change in the texture of the badushas too,it will turn hard or crispy. You wont get the layers inside too. Badushas will be nice after cooling down,but I found,after a day or two it tastes even better .. Adding lemon juice is to prevent crystallization of the sugar syrup. Don’t hurry up while frying,please do as mentioned,otherwise the texture gets affected too. consume within a week.Do not refrigerate. You can simply make the shapes like a doughnut(mini) , a faster way to do :)

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Instant Oats Idly

        I wanted to try instant oats idly for a long time. I used to make a version of this before,by adding a oats as major part in the rava idly,but when I saw the Instant oats idli at sharmis passions,they looked very tempting to try,more over,I wanted to try godumai rava idly too,and this recipe is a double treat for me as it combines both. I love this recipe very much and this tastes very similar to the usual rava idly,more healthy undoubtedly! I made variations a bit to suit my taste buds and convenience..

INGREDIENTS

Oats(I used quick cook)	1 cup
Wheat rava(godhumai rava)	1/2 cup
Curd	1/2 cup
Vegetables of ur choice	As needed
Water	1/2 cup+more if needed
salt	1 tsp(adjust per ur taste)
Eno fruit salt	1/2 tsp
Lemon Juice	from 1/2 of a lemon
Green chillies,finely chopped	2 nos
Chopped coriander leaves	1 tblsp
Chopped ginger	1 tsp

To Temper

Oil	11 tsp - tblsp
Mustard	3/4 tsp
Urad dal	1 tsp
Channa dal	1 tsp
Curry leaves	1 sprig

Method:

1. Dry roast Oats for 3 minutes in medium flame until nice aroma comes.Powder it coarsely after it cools down.

2. Heat a pan with oil and temper the items in the table ‘To temper’ ,followed by the veggies u decided to add and ginger,green chillies,coriander leaves. Give it a quick fry and add the wheat rava and fry for a minute in medium flame.
3. Transfer to mixing bowl,add salt,curd,lemon juice,water as required and make a batter,which consistency is similar to our idly batter.(neither too runny nor too thick). Mix well. Add Eno fruit salt just before making idlies and mix well. This will give you a frothy/airy batter which gives a soft spongy idly.

4. Pour the batter in a greased idly plate and cook just like you cook the regular idlies but for more time,say 10-15 minutes,until done.
5. Serve hot with any chutney of your choice.

Notes:

I used quacker quick cook oats,you can use any kind of oats and follow the same process I added carrot and sometimes also green peas,you can use the veggies of ur choice and its optional too. Add a pinch of cooking soda if u dont have eno fruit salt. U can use the regular rava also.. Adding ginger and coriander leaves gives a great flavour to the idlies. You can adjust the curd quantity.Accordingly adjust water quantity too.

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Palak Paneer

  To get a perfect palak paneer,we must take care to retain the green colour of the palak, also there should not be any green smell of the palak and without any bitterness too. 

INGREDIENTS

Palak/Indian spinach	2 bunches
Onion	1 big
Paneer cubes	1 cup
Tomato	2 small
Green chillies	5 –6 nos.
Turmeric	A pinch
Coriander/dhaniya powder	1 tsp
Kasoori methi	1 pinch
Milk	1/4 cup
Oil/butter	3 tblsp
Salt	as needed

To roast and powder 

Cinnamon	1/2 inch piece
Elachi	1 no.
Cloves	1 no.
Pepper	1 tsp
Cumin seeds/Jeera	1 tsp

 

Method:

1. Clean the spinach and remove the stem part from the leaf. (Tear off any thick stem part in the middle of the leaves too..)
2. Chop the onion and tomatoes finely.
3. In a pan,heat 1/2 tsp of ghee and fry the items in the To roast and powder table. Add every thing together except cumin seeds and roast. Add cumin seeds lastly as it gets fried in no time. Do not burn anything which will turn the gravy bitter. Keep a side.I powdered this using a hand mortar and pestle in to a fine powder.

4. In the same pan, add the washed palak leaves and fry till it reduces in volume. The water in the leaves is enough to make it shrink. If you need all few drops of oil while frying. I sautéed  in two batches.Transfer to a plate and cool down.
5. Grind it with the green chillies.
6. Heat the pan and add the oil and fry onions thoroughly till it turns golden brown. Add the turmeric and coriander powder and give it a quick stir in low flame.
7. Add the tomatoes and little salt to make the tomatoes cook fast. Add the kassori methi now,while you crush them in between your palms.
8. When the tomatoes turn mushy,add the ground palak paste. Fry in low flame for 4-5 minutes till oil separates or till the raw smell disappears and the palak gets cooked well.
9. Mean while boil water and add the paneer and switch off the stove and keep covered till use.
10. Drain the paneer and add it to the paalak gravy. Add milk and mix carefully and bring to boil.Add the powdered garam masala.Mix well.
11. Transfer to the serving bowl and serve with hot roti or naan.

I had with roti!

 

Notes:

I preferred sautéing the leaves than boil,you can try boiling too. Make sure not over cook the palak,or you wont get green gravy.Add a pinch of sugar to retain its green while boiling… I have avoided using red chilli powder and used green chilli and pepper for spiciness. You can use cream in place of milk for extra richness. Also curd or sour cream works fine.  I would like to add a dash of lime juice while serving.

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Vanilla Cake

This is a basic eggless vanilla cake recipe without any butter or condensed milk in it. I bookmarked this cake long time back from Divya’s Blog – the baking encyclopaedia for me. Today made it and came out really well. The frosting is such a simple one,perfect for the beginners like me!  I dint made any changes, made it as such as I am always scared in experimenting in baking ventures. I myself bake once in a blue moon, so if it doesn’t comes out well, then I will never try again… 

INGREDIENTS

All purpose flour/maida	1 & 1/2 cups minus 3 tblsp
Corn flour	3 tblsp
Sugar	3/4 cup
Baking powder	1 tsp
Baking soda	1/2 tsp
Oil	1/2 cup
Curd	1 cup
Vanilla essence	1 tsp

Method

Pre heat oven to 180 oC. Sieve maida with corn flour twice to ensure even mixing. Mix curd and sugar in a bowl well. Add the baking powder and baking soda and let it rest for 2 – 3 minutes. You can see the mixture now to be slightly frothy. Now mix oil and vanilla well to it. Add the flour one tablespoon at a time and mix well. After mixing all the flour, pour it in the baking pan,greased with oil and dusted with a tsp of flour. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the toothpick inserted inside comes out clean. Mine took 40 minutes for getting done. let it be in the pan for 5 minutes and invert carefully in a wire rack for cooling.

If you want you can enjoy this simple vanilla cake as such with tea /coffee. Otherwise if you want you can frost it with the chocolate frosting given below.

INGREDIENTS

Butter	1/4 cup
Coco powder	1/3 cup
Milk	1/6 cup
Powdered sugar	1 & 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence	1/2 tsp

Method

Melt butter in a pan in low flame and add the coco powder, mix to well. Add the powdered sugar,milk and vannila and stir well to get a spreading consistency frosting. Trim the crusted top and apply the frosting all over with a cutlery knife. Decorate with silver/golden beads if desired. I used ready made sugar candied flowers.

Let it set for some time before you dig in!! I hope I learn the techniques of applying the frosting by experience, still for the first time, this is not bad right?

Notes

You can use 1 & 1/2 cup cake flour instead of maida and cornflour. Use icing sugar for frosting if you have. If you powder,make sure its powdered very fine. If you don’t like oil in this cake, you can try replacing with 1/2 cup melted butter. All the aroma gets incorporated well the next day :)

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