Crab Claw Shaped Rolls

Back again with a baking recipe after a long long time.  A bread recipe it is, as you all know something which I love to do at any given time.  Saying that, I realised, I have put very few recipes on baking or bread for that matter.  So, I decided that it is high time a bread recipe gets posted.  Wow!! home smells like am in a bakery and whoa do I love that or what.  So this wonderful bread is such that not only goes well with soups but tastes great with just butter and preserves too.  Or you could also enjoy it with a nice curry and there you go.  I came across this recipe while wondering which healthy bread recipe I could try.  This recipe is slightly adapted from priyas of priyas easy and tasty recipes.  So let's get baking.

 INGREDIENTS:

All purpose flour (maida)	3/4 cup
Wheat flour (atta)	3/4 cup
Flax seeds (ground)	1 tbsp
Wheat bran	1 tbsp
Sugar	1 tsp
Active dry yeast	1/2 tbsp
Olive oil	1/8 th cup
Salt	1/2 tsp
Lukewarm water	1/2 cup

METHOD:

1.       In a bowl, dissolve sugar in lukewarm water, add yeast and let it stand for 10 minutes.  The yeast should turn frothy by then.

2.       In a bowl, add the flours, wheat bran, ground flax seed and salt and mix well.  To this add the frothy yeast and olive oil and knead into a smooth, elastic and soft dough.  (This can be done using a stand mixer or you could knead it by hand).  Kneading should take about 10-15 minutes. 

3.       Place the dough in a well greased bowl, cover it and let it rise in a warm place for an hour to hour and a half.  (It should double in size). 

4.       Punch down the risen dough into a ball.  Roll out the ball into a circle and cut it into 8 wedges.  Like you would slice a pizza).

5.       Now roll the wedges, rolling up the wide end and going towards the centre.  Arrange them on a baking tray and let them rise covered, for another half an hour.

6.        Preheat the oven at 175⁰ for 10 minutes.  Bake these croissants in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or till the bread gets a wonderful golden colour.

7.       Enjoy this bread with soup or just the way you would like it.



NOTES:

1.       I got 8 croissants with this measure.

2.       Adjust the salt according to your preference.

3.       Water should be just lukewarm, you could test it by dipping your finger and count upto five,  if you can withstand the heat it is the right temperature.

4.       If you add yeast to hot water then it will not bloom.  The yeast should always be of good quality,  if the yeast doesn’t bloom up then please start all over again.

5.       If using a stand mixer to knead, then knead it with the dough attachment for 10 minutes and knead again by hand for another 5 minutes or till u get a smooth elastic and soft dough.





Mangalore Buns

A nice recipe to try, mildly sweet with a hint of banana flavour.  This is a popular Mangalore recipe.  A regular feature in our Saraswat household.  Well, that is what our grannies would make often.  But as time flew we hardly make it that much, call it health reasons or our busy schedules.  I made it recently and had been meaning to post it, but kept pushing it down the line and posted other goodies.  So let me not take this talk any further but get to the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

Bananas (long variety & ripe)	2
Sugar	2-3 tsp
All purpose flour (maida)	3/4 cup
Whole wheat flour (atta)	3/4 cup
Baking powder	1/2 tsp
Salt	A pinch
Water	To knead
Oil	To fry

METHOD:

1.       In a bowl, mash the bananas and add sugar, salt and mix well.

2.       To this banana mixture add the flours and baking powder and mix again till well combined.

3.       Add water as required to knead into a stiff dough.  Cover and keep this dough aside to rest for about an hour.

4.       Heat oil in a wok and fry the puris one by one till golden brown.

NOTES:

1.       With this measure I got 18 medium sized puris.

2.       You could make them like rotis and smear them with a tsp of ghee on each side.

3.       You could add cumin seeds (just about a 1/2 a tsp) or ground cardamom if you like a little different flavour.

Guava cooler

This cool drink that can be made with ease.  When you have guests over, at dinner parties, kitty parties or just for yourself.  A drink which can be made within a few minutes and a few ingredients is a must try.  This can be made with fresh pink guavas.  So here goes my take on this cool guava drink.

INGREDIENTS:

Pink guava juice	250 ml
Chilli powder	1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp (to coat the rim of the glass)
Salt	1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp (to coat the rim of the glass)
Ice cubes	10-12
Lime juice	1 tsp
Lime wedge	To garnish

METHOD:

1.       In a mixer jar add the ice cubes and whisk it a couple of times,  Till u get crushed ice.

2.       Add the guava juice, salt chilli powder, lime juice to the crushed ice and whisk it again so that all the ingredients blend well together.

3.       Line the glass rim with a slice of lime and dip the glass in salt and chilli powder so as to cover the rim of the glass.

4.       Pour the juice in the glass garnish with a lime wedge and served chilled.

NOTES:

1.       As a variation and if you prefer, you could add a little bit of ginger juice to the guava juice.

Bisi Bele Bhaat

Today am back, with another rice recipe.  This recipe is synonymous with Bengaluru, Karnataka.  Though I must say I make two versions of this lovely rice recipe.  This one that I am putting up today is a shortcut or a cheat recipe to the actual one, why do I say so, cause I make this with a sambhar powder.  Will put up the authentic recipe soon.  So let's see how to make this wonderful rice. 

Serves: 2

INGREDIENTS:

Rice	1 cup
Pigeon peas lentil (toor dal)	3/4 cup
Onions	2 medium
Tomatoes	2
Green peas	1/4 cup
Carrot	1 chopped
French beans	10-12 chopped
Salt	1 tsp
Ghee	1 tbsp+ 1 tsp
Cashew-nuts	10-12
Cumin seeds	1/4 tsp
Tamarind paste	1/2 tsp
Curry leaves	6-8
Sambhar powder	2 tsps

METHOD:

1.       Wash the rice and lentils a couple of times and soak it in water for 15 minutes.

2.       Cut the onions into thin long slices, chop the tomatoes, reserve. 

3.       Heat a pressure cooker and add a tablespoon of ghee, once it is hot add the cumin seeds and let it splutter.  Add curry leaves and the chopped onions and tomatoes.  Sauté  till the onions turn translucent and the tomatoes turn mushy.

4.       Add the french beans, carrots and green peas and mix well.  Add the tamarind paste and mix well with the veggies. 

5.       Drain the water from the rice and lentils and transfer them into the pressure cooker.  Add the sambhar powder and 5 cups of water.  Add the salt and let it cook upto 5 whistles.

6.    Garnish with cashew nuts roasted  in ghee.

7.       Serve hot with pappadams/potato wafers or like they serve in Bengaluru, with spicy boondi (spicy chickpea pearls) and raita.

Authentic way and pictures coming up soon. 

Spinach Kebab

This is a recipe for keeps.  A wonderful melt in the mouth kebab's/tikki's.  I prefer to call them kebab's.  Not to mention, spinach is rich in iron and the channa dal (bengal gram dal) with protein gives this kebab a soft yet firm texture.  A great starter for lunch/dinner parties.  I am sure your guests will be all praises for you.  Do try this wonderful and melt in mouth kebab's.

Serves: 3
Preparation time: 1 hour (including refrigeration time)
Cooking time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

Spinach (blanched and pureed)	150 gms
Bengal gram dal (channa dal)	1/2 cup
Green chilli (finely chopped)	1 no
Chilli powder	1 tsp
Turmeric powder	1/2  tsp
Garam masala	1 1/2 tsp
Cardamom n mace powder	1 1/2 tsp
Salt	1 1/2  tsp
Ginger garlic paste	1 tbsp
Dry fenugreek leaves powder (kasoori methi)	1 tbsp
Ghee to shallow fry	2 tbsp

METHOD:

1.       Wash the dal/lentil well and soak it for 15 minutes.  Cook the dal in a pressure cooker along with turmeric powder, chilli powder and ginger garlic paste, until soft.  Alternatively you can cook the dal in a wok.  If cooking in the wok, add a tsp of oil, add the ginger garlic paste, chilli powder and turmeric powder (be careful as putting the ginger garlic paste in hot oil might cause it to burn).  Mix well and add the lentils and a cup of water and cook till it is soft.  Cook this on medium flame.  See notes

2.       Wash, blanch and puree the spinach, reserve. 

3.       Once the lentils have cooked and cooled, grind them to fine paste.  Do not add water while grinding.

4.       Transfer the pureed spinach in a kadai/wok and keep it on low flame.  Add the finely chopped green chillies, Garam masala and salt.  Mix well.  Let it come to a boil.  

5.       Add the ground lentils and combine it well.  The spinach puree and the lentils should come well together.  Cook this mixture for 5-7 minutes.  Add the cardamom and mace powder.  At this stage you might feel that it is too wet and will not be able to form the kebab's/tikki's.  Once the mixture cools down, you will be able to form them very easily.

6.       Once all the kebab's are made, keep them in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes.

7.       Shallow fry them on a griddle with 2 tbsp ghee on a medium flame to a light brown colour.

8.       Enjoy the kebab's with mint or coriander chutney.  Don’t forget to serve them hot.       

NOTES:

1.       The lentils should be very soft, it should get squeezed easily when pressed between two fingers. Cook the lentils, till completely dry.

2.       I served them with roomali rotis.  We made it like a meal and hence the rotis.  You could serve them as a starter.

3.       As a variation, you could add chopped cashew-nuts too in the mixture. 

Will update the recipe with step by step pictures soon.

Papdi Chaat

YUM!!! That is what comes to mind when we hear of chaats, isn't it.  Am sure chaats, are loved everywhere and by everyone.  A nice and tangy snack.  Can be made as starters when you have guests at home or sometimes as a meal during hi-tea.  So today we decided, let us shift from our daily dinner stuff to this nice tangy snack as our meal.  Once in a while, it is ok to let go and have this wonderful and mouth-watering snack.  So here goes, my take on papdi chaat.  We teamed it up with Pani Puris.  And guess what, the puris for papdi chaat and Pani Puris were home-made.  So let's begin!!

Ingredients:

For the Papdi:

All-purpose flour (maida)	1/2 cup
Ghee	2 tbsp
Salt	1/2 tsp
Water	To knead
Oil	To fry

For making the chaat or main dish:

Papdi's	20-30
Boiled potatoes	2 medium
Boiled chickpea's or peas	1/2 cup
Yoghurt (whisked)	1 cup
Date & tamarind chutney	As required
Green coriander chutney	As required
Chilli powder	1/2 tsp
Chaat masala	1/2 tsp
Sev	As required

METHOD:

1.       Take the flour in a bowl, add ghee and salt.  Mix well to form crumb like mixture.  Add water little by little and knead to form a hard but smooth dough.

2.       Rest the dough for 15 minutes.

3.       Make small balls and roll out the dough and roll it out into thin rotis. (chappatis).  Poke them with a fork so that they bloom once dropped in oil.

4.       Cut them into small round shapes with a round cookie cutter or you could use the lid of any bottle.

5.       Heat oil in a wok.  Once hot, drop the puri's and fry them till golden brown and crisp.

6.       To assemble the main dish.  Crush the papdi's and  reserve.

7.       Cut the potatoes into cubes or you could mash them too.  Mash the chickpeas or green peas very lightly.

8.       In a plate, place the crushed papdi's/puri's.  Top it with mashed or diced potatoes and the chickpeas.

9.       Cover the papdi, potatoes and peas with yoghurt. 

10.   Drizzle the curd with the sweet and the coriander chutney's.  Sprinkle chilli powder and the chaat masala.  Top it up with Sev and serve immediately.

NOTES:

1.       This measure serves 2-3 people.

2.       I got 25 papdi's with this measure.  It entirely depends on the cutter you use.

3.       Serve the dish immediately, once done else it will turn soggy.

4.       You could add sugar to the yoghurt if you like the yoghurt to be mildly sweet. 

5.       The potatoes and the peas should be boiled very well.

6.       Posting the chutney recipes soon.

Soya Kheema

Today's recipe is a high protein dish "Soya keema", an alternate to "mutton kheema" for vegetarians.  A wonderful dish is what, my hubby says.  You can enjoy the same with the accompaniments you would prefer, rotis or pulav to name a few.  Here I have served it with Idli's, as done in Mangalore. So let's check out the recipe, shall we.

Serves: 1-2
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

Soya granules	1/3 cup
Onion (finely chopped)	1 medium
Tomato (finely chopped)	1 small
Ginger garlic paste	1/2 tsp
Meat masala	1 tsp
Chilli powder	1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder	1/4 tsp
Oil	1 1/2 tsp
Salt	As per preference
Coriander leaves	To garnish

METHOD:

1.       Soak the soya granules in 3/4 cup of hot water for half an hour.

2.       While the granules are getting soaked, finely chop onions and tomatoes.

3.       In a wok, add oil, put in the onions and sauté well.  Add the ginger garlic paste and mix well.  Sauté till the onions turn translucent.

4.       Add the tomatoes and blend well again.  Sauté this till the oil separates.

5.       Add the chilli powder, turmeric powder and the meat masala.  Stirring well all the time.

6.       Squeeze out the soya granules real well.  Yes, put in all your strength to squeeze out all the water.

7.       Once done add the granules to the prepared masala, add salt.  Blend well the soya granules and the masala.  Add a little water, cover and cook for ten minutes on low flame stirring in between.

8.       Garnish it with coriander leaves and serve hot.  Enjoy with rotis or pulav.

NOTES:

1.       Squeezing out the water well, is important cause if the granules retain water then taste may vary.

2.       You can also add green peas to it.  If some like it spicier and extra heat you can add chopped green chillies to the dish.

3.       Like I said, instead of soya granules you could use minced meat for non-vegetarians.