Bread pakoras

There are days when the heart craves for deep fried stuff. You know it is a calorie bomb, but when the raindrops are pattering down and everything is clean and fresh, your heart overrules your mind, and ou give in to temptation.

8 slices bread

1 medium potatoes

1 beetroot

1 big carrot

1/3 cup besan

1/2 tsp haldi powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp garam masala powder

1 tsp oil

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method:

Boil the potatoes. Peel, mash and keep aside. 

Peel and chop the beetroots and carrots. Steam till just cooked. Keep aside. 

Mix the potatoes, vegetables, and salt. Divide into four equal parts. 

Start heating the oil. 

Mix besan, haldi powder, chilli powder, garam masala powder and salt. Add the oil and mix. Add water gradually to make a smooth paste. 

Spread the potato stuffing on the bread evenly. Cover with another slice and cut into triangles. 

Drop a bit of batter in the oil- if it immediately rises to the top, the oil is ready. 

Dip the triangles in the batter so it is coated evenly, and slide into the oil. Slide as many triangles as will fit comfortably. When one side is browned, turn over and let the other side brown. Drain on a kitchen towel and serve with ketchup or green chutney. 

Sprouted moong dhokala

Sprouted moong is a perennial favourite of mine. When I was young, I would consume enormous quantities of it, and I still can. But with age, the tongue gets more demanding, and I need to sprinkle salt on it now. I also love experimenting with dishes that have it as a primary ingredient, and this dhokla was particularly good. 

1 cup sprouted moong

1/2 cups spinach

1/4 cups grated carrot

1 tsp ginger- green chilli paste

2 tbsp besan

A pinch of hing

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp haldi powder

1 packet Eno fruit salt

For tempering:

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp urad dal

1 tsp mustard seed

1 tsp sesame seeds

Method:

Grind the moong sprouts, spinach and carrot till you get an even but slightly coarse consistency 

Mix in the ginger green chilli paste, salt, hing, besan, haldi powder. 

Grease a flat plate and keep aside

Add Eno fruit salt to the mixture, and while the fizzing is still taking place, spread the mixture on the plate

Steam in a pressure cooker with the whistle removed for 12 minutes. 

Cut after allowing to cool

Heat the oil, add mustard seeds, and after it stops spluttering, add urad dal and sesame seeds. Pour over the dhokla, garnish with grated carrot and serve. 

Palak paneer, with yoghurt

Palak paneer is a dish I make often, because almost everyone in the family loves it. But today, I wasn't in a mood to make it the conventional way, and so innovated with spices and cooking style. And it came up trumps- not only did it look very different, it tasted lighter than usual, and disappeared as soon as it was placed on the table!

250 gms paneer

1 bunch spinach, cleaned well

2 small onions chopped

4-6 pods garlic

1/2 inch piece ginger

1/2 tsp jeera

1/2 tsp saunf

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

3 tbsp curds

Salt to taste

Cooking oil

Method:

Heat the oil, temper with jeera and saunf, and when they stop spluttering, add onions, garlic and ginger, and saute till the onions turn transparent.

Meanwhile, boil 1 cup water, and blanch the spinach for about 15 minutes.

Grind the onions to paste, and keep aside

Grind the spinach till smooth, and keep aside.

Beat the curds and salt till smooth.

Mix the spinach puree, onion paste and curds. Return to the fire, adding water if required. Once it starts boiling, reduce the flame and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add paneer pieces (reserving a few to grate on top as garnish), bring to boil, before turning off the flame.

Garnish with grated paneer, and serve hot with rotis.

Red Velvet Cake- aspirations are made of these- even if a tad healtier than they should be

Ever since I read about it, I have been fascinated by the idea of a Red Velvet Cake. Isn't there something incredibly Audrey Hepburnish about the name. Can't you just picture yourself in a Little Black Dress, with a strand of classy pearls, biting into a cupcake of maroon awesomeness?

And yet, the amount of food colouring that it consumed was a huge deterrent. Someday, I will attempt it with beets, I promised myself. 

That day arrived, when I decided to inaugurate my new OTG on my friend, MM's birthday. About a year back, I had introduced her to the glories of the humble beet root, and in the ensuing months, she surpassed me in finding uses for it. This, then, is in Pinky's honour!

1 1/2 tbsp dark cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup fresh pureed beets*

1/3 cup oil

1 1/2 capful vinegar (this I to maintain the colour of the beet- recipe asked for more, but I wasn't brave enough)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

*3 medium sized beets give approximately 1 1/2 cups of purée.

Wash the beets, scrape/ peel and slice them. Cook them (steam cook or microwave) till they’re well done. Cool and purée the cooked beets along with about 3 or 4 tbsps of water, in a blender till smooth. Keep aside. You can do this ahead and refrigerate the purée for a day or else freeze it till required.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a bowl till well mixed. Keep aside.

Put the puréed beets, oil, lemon juice and vanilla extract into another bowl and lightly whisk together till mixed well.

Pour this into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix just enough to combine. Line a cake dish with butter paper, and pour the batter into it.

Bake at 200C for about 20 to 25 minutes. A skewer/ toothpick inserted into the centre should come out clean once they’re done.

Cool completely and decorate with frosting of your choice- I did not.

Bajra Whatever

This dish is special, because it is the first meal I cooked for myself in the kitchen of our new house. About a week after we moved in, I got fed up of ordering takeaways (though there are some awesome places to order from here), and soaked some bajra with the intention of making bajra khichdi for lunch.
But when the time came to actually make it, I couldn't find the coconut grater and someone had finished off my stock of singdana, so I had to innovate.

I stir fried garlic, onions and a carrot, added salt, pepper and dry parsley to taste. Threw in the cooked bajra, and some milk, and let the whole thing simmer till I got a consistency I liked.

Tasted much better than I hoped, and the intention is to make it more often, because it makes a change from a regular bajra khichadi.