Spiced oats cookies

When I lady baked a batch if butter cookies, the hubby wanted oats cookies. This one is for him!

3/4 cup quick cooking oats

1/4 cup maida

1/4 cup granulated sugar*

2 tbsp butter

2-3 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp pepper powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp ginger powder

A pinch of nutmeg powder

A pinch of salt

1/4 cup raisins 

Method:

Mix the oats, flour and sugar well. Add the spices and mix well. 

Add the butter, and mix well till crumbly. 

Add milk one spoon at a time, mixing well. 

Add the raisins and mix well. 

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 175 degrees. 

Grease the baking tray. Till the dough into balls, flatten and place on the baking sheet. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes, checking to ensure it doesn't burn. 

Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container. 

Kadhai Mushroom

Ever since I made the kadhai paneer last week, I've been wanting to make kadhai mushroom. I adapted this from the same recipe.

200 gms mushroom

2 onions chopped fine

2 tomatoes chopped fine

1 green capsicum chopped fine
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp jeera powder
2 tsp dhania powder
1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp red chilli sauce

1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
Salt to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

Wash the mushrooms well, then cut them vertically. 

Heat 1 tbsp oil, sauté the mushrooms till lightly browned. Keep aside.
In the same pan, add rest of the oil, add chopped onions, and saute till transparent. Add ginger garlic paste, and spices, and saute till the raw smell goes. Add tomatoes and sauté till mushy.
Allow the masala to cool, then grind it till you get a fine paste.

In the pan, add 1 tsp oil and sauté the capsicum. Add the ground masala, salt to taste and mix well. Add the sauted mushrooms, and mix well. Add water, bring to boil, simmer for 2 minutes and serve. 

Pasta in mushroom sauce

When you are doing all the cooking yourself, the family tends to have a more varied diet. Pasta often make sn appearance twice a week, and mushrooms grave the table at least once. And spices too- I've consumed more nutmeg in the last month than I did in the year before!!!!

This pasta tasted much better than it looked. 

300 gms pasta

1 packet mushrooms

1 large onion, sliced long 

1 tbsp butter

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp ground pepper

2 tbdp cornflour

1/2 cup chicken stock (I substituted with water)

Salt to taste

Method:

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack. Drain and keep aside. 

Heat the butter, sauté the onions till brown. 

Meanwhile wash mushrooms well and slice longitudinally. 

Add mushroom to the onions and sauté on a low flame till browned. 

Add cornflour, salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir till mushrooms are well coated. Sauté till browned. 

Add stock, and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes. 

Add the pasta, mix well. Serve hot. 

Oatmeal cookies

More cookies- oatmeal cookies this time- to help the kid while he studies for his exams! These rustic looking cookies are very high on the taste quotient, and disappeared almost before I could click a photograph.

1 cup instant oats
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used less)
1/3 tsp cinnamon powder
1/3 tsp ginger powder
1/3 tsp pepper powder
1/3 tsp nutmeg powder
Water as per need.

Method:Dry roast the instant oats till they smell toasty
Mix the butter into the flour till it looks like breadcrumbs
Add oats, sugar and spices mix together so it holds together when pressed.
Gradually add water till the dough is able to hold together- when you pull, it should break away easily- do not overknead

Roll the dough into a cylinder and put in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Cut into discs, press lightly between the palms, and set on the tray distributing equally- the cookies shouldn’t be too thin as they will not be very crunchy.
Bake for 15- 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 degrees- keep checking after 12 minutes to ensure it doesn't burn.

Methi Chicken with a medley of spices

This was another of those recipes that had me at "Hello". One  look at the photograph, and I knew I  had to go through the recipe. One scan of the recipe and I had to bookmark it to make someday.
Strangely, despite the presence of many iffy spices, the recipe was a hit at home, and every last bit of it was polished off.

1 curry cut chicken

Marination:
1 cup hung curd
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 green chill, minced
1/2 tsp javitri (mace powder)

2 tsp oil /butter
4 Cloves
1/2 tsp whole jeera
1 inch piece of cinnamon
salt to taste
1 cup milk /milk plus water
1 tbsp roasted besan
1/2 tbsp Kasoori methi

Method:

Marinate the chicken after cleaning it well. Wrap with clingfilm and keep in refrigerator overnight.

Heat oil and put whole garam masala.

When it stops spluttering, add the marinated chicken with salt and let it cook on medium heat. Stir off and on. 

After 10 to 15 minutes, add milk or milk and water and the roasted besan - cook for another 5 minutes. 

Sprinkle kasoori methi and cook away for another 5 minutes.

Serve with parathas.

Atta dosa with stewed apples, and some apple raita too

Coming up with lunch ideas for the kids is just not easy. I guess I could train them to have dal-chawal every single day, but that somehow doesn't seem fair to me. So, the quest continues.....
This is one of the easy ones that worked well for the kids.

For dosas:
1 measure atta
2 tbsp grated/ dessicated coconut
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
Sufficient water to make batter
Ghee

For stewed apple:
1 apple
2 tsp sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 cup water

Method:
Mix the atta with the other ingredients,adding sufficient water to make batter of the same consistency as dosa batter. Let it stand for 10-15 minutes.
Heat the dosa pan, pour the batter, making a circular shape. Edge with ghee, and let it cook on a low flame till the edges start to rise up. Turn the dosa over, and let the other side cook.
Serve with stewed apples.

Dissolve the sugar in water, and heat it till boiling.
Once it starts boiling, add the apple pieces and the cinnamon stick. Bring to boil, then reduce flame and let it cook for about 5 minutes

If you have some stewed apple left over, you can mix the syrup well with curds, and add the apple pieces to make an apple raita.

Pasta in creamy carrot sauce

"Can we have pasta tomorrow?", asked my older one. How could I say no, specially since my Italian basil plant was in need of a haircut? This is a recipe I made up, and it worked superbly well.

200 gms pasta
1 carrot
1/2 onion
1 tomato
3 pods garlic
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp paprika powder
Salt to taste
1 cup milk
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp grated cheese
Basil leaves for garnish

Method:
Cook the pasta according to the directions on the packet. Drain and keep aside, and reserve some of the drained water.
Heat the butter, add sliced garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add chopped onions and saute till it turns transparent.
Meanwhile, blend the tomatoes and carrot til you get a fairly smooth paste. Add to the frying onions, and saute till the raw smell goes. Add the spices, mix well, then add milk.
When the milk comes to a boil, add the cornflour, and mix so it forms a nice sauce. Add grated cheese, and let the sauce bubble for about a minute.
Add pasta to the sauce, mix well, and add the reserved water if needed.
Garnish with torn basil leaves, and serve.

Rajma-chawal - a quick version

After maintaining an uneasy truce with it for several years, my relationship with rajma chawal has finally started thawing. Though I still don't make it very often, I do end up making it once in two or three months, which is much better than the way it was earlier. Today, I tried out an easier version, which tasted as good as the original. Will that make me cook it more often- only time will tell.

250 gms rajma, soaked for 6 hours
2 bay leaves
1 stick cinnamon
1 star annise
1 badi elaichi

3 tomatoes, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
1 green chilli
Cooking oil
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp dhania powder
1 tbsp kasoori methi
1 tsp garam masala powder
salt to taste
A pinch of nutmeg powder
2 tbsp cream (or milk)


Method:
Pressure cook the rajma with the whole spices and sufficient water (it takes me 20 minutes).
Meanwhile, saute the chopped onions till it starts to turn transparent. Add tomato and green chilli  and when the tomatoes turn mushy, add the ginger garlic paste, dhania powder, kasoori methi and garam masala powder, and saute for an additional 2 minutes.
Let it cool, then grind it in a mixer till you get a smooth paste. Return the paste to the kadhai on which you fried it.
Remove the whole spices, and add the cooked rajma and water to the ground masala. Mix well, and cook in a low flame for about 10 minutes.
Add nutmeg powder, salt and cream/ milk. Bring to a boil, turn off the flame, cover and let it cook in its own steam for 5 minutes.
Serve with steamed rice.

Paneer in mango gravy

The moment I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it, even though it involved making a long and hot trip to the diary to pick up the paneer. And it tasted every bit as good as I hoped it would. Definitely making it again.

300 gms paneer cut into cubes
2 onions, finely chopped
3 tomatoes
1 green chillie
1 inch ginger
1 big mango, chopped into pieces and pureed
3 tbsp cream (I replaced it with milk)
1 tsp turmeric powder
Salt as per taste
1 tsp red chilly powder
Pinch of nutmeg powder
1 tsp garam masala


Method:
Saute the onions till golden.
Puree the tomatoes with the green chilli and ginger, and add the mixture to the onions. Add turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt and saute till the oil starts leaving the masala.
Add the mango puree, cream/ milk and nutmeg powder, and let it simmer for about 5 minutes till the colour turns to orange
Add the paneer, garam masala and some water, and let it simmer for 3-5 minutes.
Serve hot, with rotis or parathas.