Spinach and Jalapeno Scones

Mmmmmm... I am having these scones right now and they are an absolute delight. They are easy to make and are perfect for a snack or brunch.

Ingredients

All-purpose flour (maida) – 2 cups

Salted Butter – ½ Stick/ ¼ cup, chilled

Cheese – 1 cup, grated

Baking Soda – ½ tsp

Milk – ½ cup

Spinach – 1 ½ cups, chopped

Jalapenos – ¾ cup, chopped

Chili Flakes – 1 tbsp.

Ground Pepper – ½ tsp

Salt to taste

Yields – 4 large pies

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C/ 400 deg F.

2. Sift the flour into a large bowl and add baking soda. Grate the butter and add it to the flour along with chili flakes, ground pepper, spinach and jalapenos. Mix all the ingredients with fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in ½ a cup of cheese, and season well with salt. Add the milk into the dry mixture and knead in to dough - do not over mix.

3. Roll the mixture in to a round with about ½ inch thickness. Cut in desired shape.

4. Grease and flour a baking tray. Place the mixture onto the prepared tray. Brush the top of the scones with extra milk and sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
5. Serve warm with either butter or ketchup.

Aloo Tikki

Aloo tikki was one of the dishes I made in my early cooking career :) I love experimenting and my lab rat then was my brother. He really liked the tikkis and I was kind of convinced that I am not that bad a cook.

Well, times have changed now. I have evolved as a cook (at least in my eyes) and aloo tikki is one such dish which I can confidently make and be sure of its awesome taste :)

Take a look at the recipe below.

Happy Tikking..!

Ingredients

Potato/ Aloo – 2 large, boiled and mashed

Rice Flour – 1 tbsp.

Green Peas – ¼ cup, either frozen or fresh

Mint Leaves – 5 to 6 leaves, chopped

Coriander Leaves – ¾ cup, chopped

Onions – ¾ cup, finely chopped

Grated Carrot – ½ cup

Chilies – 3 to 4, finely chopped

Ground Pepper – ¼ tsp.

Chili powder – ½ tsp.

Dahnya and Jeera powder – ½ tsp.

Salt – to taste

Oil – enough amount for shallow frying

Method

1. Mix mashed potato and all the ingredients (except oil) and make dough out of it.

2. Divide the dough in to equal sized small patties. The measurements mentioned above yield about 23 – 25 tikkis.

3. Take a wide pan and put enough oil for shallow frying the tikkis. Once the oil gets heated, place the tikkis on to the pan with enough space between them for easy flipping.

4. Let the tikkis cook till their bottom layer becomes golden brown. Flip them over and cook until the other side turns golden brown too.

5. Continue steps 3 and 4 for all the tikkis.

6. Serve the hot mouthwatering tikkis with mint-cilantro chutney or tomato ketchup.

7. Or even better - you can make aloo tikki chat out of it by adding chana masala, green chutney, onions and sev on top of it.

M&M and Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

We often realize someone’s or something’s importance only when we don’t have it. In my case, I often get the urge to eat fruits (especially banana) only when they are out of stock. When the urge arises, I go to the supermarket and buy loads of fruits the very next day.

And alas..! The fruits then don’t find their way to our tummies.

So yea, there was this day when my living room smelled ripe bananas. I felt sorry when I looked at them. They were sitting on the table, waiting to be eaten/ consumed in one way or the other. I started thinking what to do, and here’s what I did or baked. :)

Go Bananas with baking..! :)

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour/ Maida – 2 ½ cups

White Sugar – 1 cup

Dark Brown Sugar – ¾ cup

Unsalted Butter – ¾ cup

Baking Soda – 1 tsp.

Eggs – 3

Ripe Bananas – 2 or 3, mashed

Salt – Pinch (if using salted butter, salt can be avoided)

Buttermilk/ Sour Milk – ¾ cup

Maple Syrup/ Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp.

Milk Chocolate Chips – ½ cup/ a handful

Milk Chocolate M&Ms/ Cadbury Gems – ½ cup

Note:

· I didn't have sour milk, so I made my own instant sour milk by adding 2 tsp. of vinegar to ¾ cup of milk. I let it stand for a few minutes and the sour milk was ready.

· I once didn't have vanilla essence. So my good old friend 'lethargy' gave me an idea of substituting vanilla essence with maple syrup. And trust me, the cake turned out to be just fine. In fact it had this tinge of maple flavor which made the cake even more delicious.      

· If you don’t have brown sugar (light/ dark), just add white sugar.

Method

1. In a large bowl, mix together butter (melted/ at room temp), sugar, eggs and vanilla. Set aside.

2. In another bowl, sift together flour, salt, soda. Add these dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Add sour milk and bananas to the batter. Also add chocolate chips. Beat together well. Make sure the banana is well mashed and gets properly mixed with the batter. If not, there are chances of the cake becoming too moist.

3. Pre-heat the oven at 350 degrees F/ 175 degrees C.

4. In the meanwhile, take a cake pan and grease it with butter. Pour half of the mixture. Scatter ½ a cup of M&Ms over the batter. Pour rest of the batter on top of it and scatter the remaining M&Ms. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

         

Lauki Chana Dal

I love this version of bottle gourd curry. It’s absolutely delicious. :)

Try it out and go YUUUUMMMMMM…..

Ingredients

Bottle Gourd/ Lauki/ Ghiya – 4 cups, peeled and chopped in to small pieces

Chana Dal – 1 cup, uncooked

Onion – 1 cup, finely chopped

Green Chilies – 3, slit vertically

Ginger Garlic Paste – ½ tbsp.

Mustard Seeds – ¼ tsp.

Cumin Seeds – ¼ tsp.

Asafetida – 1/8 tsp.

Chili Powder – ¼ tsp.

Dhanya Jeera Powder – ½ tsp.

Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp.

Mint Leaves – 1 tbsp., chopped

Coriander Leaves – ½ cup, chopped

Oil – 2 tbsp.

Water – 1 cup

Salt – to taste

Servings – Serves 3 to 4

Note – Don’t worry about the amount of lauki. It eventually reduces while cooking.

Method

1. Cook the chana dal in such a way that it doesn't become too mushy. The grains shouldn't stick to each other.

2. Take a saucepan; add oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafetida. Once the seeds start spluttering, add chilies. After about 6 – 7 seconds, add the finely chopped onions and saute till they become golden brown in color.

3. Once the onions attain golden brown color, add ginger garlic paste. Saute the onions for a few seconds and add the lauki pieces.

4. Put in the red chili powder, turmeric powder and dhanya jeera powder. Also add mint and coriander leaves at this step. Semi cook the lauki (covered).

5. Once the lauki is semi cooked, add chana dal. Pour in 1 cup of water (amount of water can be varied depending upon the choice of consistency for the curry) and cook covered. Add salt at this step.

6. Keep stirring once in a while till the lauki is completely cooked.

7. Turn off the flame and serve hot with either rice or roti.

Tangy Okra Rice

Well, I was tired of making the few dishes I know with okra. So I thought let’s try something new :)

Check out the recipe below..!

Ingredients

Okra/ Ladies Finger – 3 cups, chopped in to small round pieces

Onion – 2 cups, finely chopped

Ground Nuts – 2 to 3 tbsps., roasted

Green Chilies – 2, finely chopped/ 1 tbsp. chopped

Mustard Seeds – ¼ tsp.

Cumin Seeds – ¼ tsp.

Fenugreek – 1/8 tsp.

Asafetida – 1/8 tsp.

Chili powder – ¼ tsp.

Dhanya Jeera powder – ½ tsp.

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp.

Tamarind Concentrate – 1 tbsp.

Rice – 2 cups, cooked

Sugar – ¼ tsp.

Oil – 2 tbsp.

Water – 1 cup

Salt – to taste

Method

1. Take a saucepan; add oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafetida. Once the seeds start spluttering, add fenugreek and chilies. After about 6 – 7 seconds, add the finely chopped onions and saute till they become golden brown in color.

2. Add chili powder, dhanya jeera powder and turmeric powder in to the cut okra pieces along with ½ a tbsp. of oil. Mix all the contents nicely and microwave it for about 3 minutes or till the okra pieces soften a little.

3. Now add the semi cooked okra to sautéed onions. Sautee all these contents till the okra is completely cooked.

4. Add the tamarind concentrate along with 1 cup of water in to the okra mixture.

5. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for about 3 – 4 minutes.

6. Now add cooked rice and ground nuts in to it.

7. Mix all the contents well and turn off the flame.

8. Serve hot with papad or it can be eaten all by itself :)

Caramel Custard

Caramel custard is one such dessert on which I can live. I LOVE it. As am writing this, my mouth is watering :)

Every time I went home for vacations, I would demand my mom to make this dish. I love it so much so that I used to not allow anyone else to touch it.

This morning when I woke up, I had this weird craving for caramel custard. I immediately called up mom and asked her for the recipe. I got in to the battlefield and the end result is as follows :)

Ingredients

Milk – 2 cups

Eggs – 2

Sugar – 8 tsp.

Vanilla Essence – ½ tsp.

Water – 4 to 5 cups

Note – The ratio of milk, egg and sugar should be 1:1:4. The quantities of these ingredients can be increased/ decreased as per this ratio.

For Caramel

Sugar – 3 to 4 tbsps.

Water – 3 to 4 drops

Note – The amount of sugar used for preparing the caramel should be in such a way that it can be spread nicely along the walls of the container in which it is made.

Method

1. In a pan add milk and sugar and bring it to a boil. Let it rest till it cools down completely.

2. In the meanwhile, beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Add the vanilla essence at this step.

Note – Vanilla Essence is optional. Its main purpose is to reduce the smell of eggs which many people might not like. Besides, it adds to the flavor too.

3. Once the milk cools down, add it to the beaten eggs and whisk nicely.

4. For making the caramel, take a container such that it fits in to a pressure cooker (as we’d be steaming the egg and milk mixture). Put sugar and water (2 - 3 drops) in to it and keep it on very low flame. As the sugar starts melting, keep rotating the container such that the caramelized sugar spreads evenly along its sides. Let the sugar be on flame till it caramelizes completely and spreads easily.

5. Now add the milk and egg mixture in to the container with evenly spread caramel.

6. Take a pressure cooker, add water and bring it to a boil.

7. Place the caramel and milk container in to the cooker and cover it with a lid. Make sure the water doesn't fall in to it while steaming.

8. Cover the cooker with its lid and let it steam for about 25 – 30 minutes.

9. Keep an eye on the cooker. Once the steam starts to come out (approximately after 5 – 10 minutes), let it simmer for 20 minutes

10. Take the container out and let it cool. Refrigerate it for about 1 to 2 hours before serving.

Cabbage Kofta

One evening, I opened my refrigerator to see what I should make for dinner. Right in the front there was lying a big cabbage, almost shouting “pick me, pick me”. And I did listen to it. :)

I took it out and told, “Let me try something new with you”.

The end result turned out to be real yum and my husband couldn't help but finish all of them in no time. It was a perfect snack for a lazy rainy evening.

Take a look at what I made.

Ingredients

Cabbage – 2 ½ cups, finely chopped

Besan/ Gram Flour – ¾ cup

Mint Leaves – 5 to 6 leaves, chopped

Coriander Leaves – ½ cup, chopped

Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp.

Oil – 1 tbsp.

Pepper – ¼ tsp.

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp.

Chili powder – ¼ tsp.

Dahnya and Jeera powder – ¼ tsp.

Salt – to taste

Method

1. Take a pan and add oil. Once the oil gets heated a little, add cumin seeds. As soon as the cumin seeds start changing color, add the cabbage.

2. Saute the cabbage and cook uncovered until it loses all the water (quantity of the cabbage reduces to almost half). Add salt at this step.

3. Pre-heat the oven at 350 degrees F.

4. While the oven gets pre-heated, mix the cooked cabbage, gram flour, mint and coriander leaves, turmeric powder, chili powder and dhanya jeera powder. Check for the salt and add more if needed.

5. Mix all the contents and make dough out of it. Divide the dough in to equal sized small balls. The measurements mentioned above yields about 12 – 13 balls.

6. Place these balls on an oven tray lined with greased aluminum foil or parchment paper.

7. Place the tray in to the oven and bake for about 20 – 25 minutes.

Note – It is possible that the portion of the balls resting on the tray might get cooked more. In order to have it evenly cooked, turn over the balls after 10 minutes or so.

8. Take the koftas out of the oven and serve hot with mint chutney or ketchup.

Note – These koftas can be added in to any gravy (tomato & onion or white) for a mouthwatering cabbage kofta curry.

The No Nonsense Vegetable Rice

One morning I woke up really late. My hubby had to leave for work in half an hour and I was perplexed as to what lunch should I pack for him. Obviously, there wasn’t enough time to do anything laborious. In such situations, I generally rely on quick easy dishes made with rice; be it khichdi or pulao.

But this time, I didn’t want to make either of the above. Didn’t feel like using any spices and wanted the cutting part to be minimal. I opened my refrigerator, chose the veggies I’d be using and the rest is as follows :)

Ingredients

Carrots – 1 cup, chopped

Beans – ½ cup, chopped

Green Peas – ¼ cup, either frozen or fresh

Mint Leaves – 2 to 3 tbsps. / ¼ cup, chopped

Coriander Leaves – 3 to 4 tbsps. / ¼ cup, chopped

Chilies – 3 to 4 medium sized, cut vertically

Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp.

Asafetida – 1/8 tsp. (optional)

Oil/ Ghee – 1 ½ to 2 tbsps.

Rice – 200 grams/ 1 ¼ cup

Water – 2 ½ cups

Salt – to taste

Note – The amount of veggies used can be altered as per one’s convenience.

Method

1. In a pressure cooker, put oil and add cumin seeds once the oils heats up a little.

2. When the cumin seeds change color, add chilies, carrots, beans, green peas, mint leaves and coriander leaves.

3. Sauté the vegetables for about 5 – 7 minutes on medium flame.

4. In the meanwhile, wash the rice and keep ready. I used sona masoori rice, but the dish tastes even better when made with basmati rice.

5. Add the washed rice and water in to the pressure cooker.

6. Add salt and mix all the contents well.

7. Pressure-cook the rice.

8. When done, take it off the flame and serve hot with any raita.

Eggless Cookies

Nan khatai

Nan khatai was the only version of cookies I knew when I was a kid. I remember mom baking these and giving us hot hot right out the oven. Trust me, these cookies are just yumm. Try out the recipe below and you’ll know for yourself. :)

Ingredients

All-purpose flour (maida) – 1 Cup

Salted Butter – 1 Stick (1/2 cup) at room temperature

Baking Soda – ¼ tsp

Powdered Sugar – ½ cup

Cardamom Powder – ¼ tsp

Salt – 1/8 tsp (if using unsalted butter)

Cashew Nuts – 12 – 13, half broken

Method

1. In a mixing bowl, mix powdered sugar little at a time with the butter until the mixture becomes a little fluffy.

2. If the butter isn't at room temperature and you are in a hurry to make the snack, soften the butter in microwave and follow step 1.

3. In a separate bowl, sift all the dry ingredients. I.e. maida, baking soda and salt if using unsalted butter.

4. Combine the dry ingredients with butter mixture by adding little at a time.

5. Add cardamom powder and mix all the ingredients in to soft dough.

6. Let the dough rest (covered) for about 20 minutes.

7. In the meanwhile, preheat the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit/ 150 degrees Celsius.

8. Take the dough and knead it once again and divide it in to equally sized balls. These measurements yield about 12 – 13 small sized balls.

9. Place the balls on a cookie sheet lined with slightly greased aluminum foil, or lined with wax/ parchment paper. Leave enough space between the balls.

10. Garnish the top of the balls with half broken cashew nuts. Press the nuts a little on to the balls. Any type of nuts can be used. If you want the cookies to look colorful, garnish them with pistachios or almonds.

11. Place the cookie sheet with balls in to the oven and bake them for about 22 – 25 minutes.

12. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool for 20 minutes. You can place the cookies on a cooling rack too.

13. The cookies are ready to eat and can also be stored in an air tight container.